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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 25-01-2001

PART #2/4 - From COTE D'IVOIRE to LIBYA

* Côte d’Ivoire. Gouvernement et Parlement — Le 21 janvier, le président Gbagbo a démis son gouvernement et chargé le Premier ministre sortant, Affi N’Guessan, de former un gouvernement d’unité ouvert à tous les grands partis. Cette initiative survient la veille de la session inaugurale de la nouvelle Assemblée nationale, où le Front populaire ivoirien (FPI) du président Gbagbo n’aura qu’une majorité étroite face à l’ancien parti unique PDCI. M. Gbagbo a indiqué que le nouveau gouvernement devra “poser les bases de la refondation”. Parmi les lois particulièrement attendues, celle sur la décentralisation devrait intervenir dès le mois de février. - Le 22 janvier, le Parlement a élu son président et vice-président. Seul candidat en lice, M. Mamadou Koulibaly, du FPI, a été élu président de la nouvelle Assemblée nationale. M. Koulibaly, 43 ans, ministre de l’économie et des finances du gouvernement démissionnaire, est un homme du nord musulman. Le PDCI n’a pas jugé nécessaire de présenter de candidat, pour la sauvegarde de l’unité nationale, a expliqué un de ses responsables. Mme Marthe Amon a été élue vice-présidente. - Le 24, M. Affi N’Guessan a formé un nouveau gouvernement, qui compte 28 membres, dont 19 sont issus du FPI, 5 du PDCI, 2 du PIT (Parti ivoirien des travailleurs) et 2 indépendants. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 25 janvier 2001)

* Egypt. Culture battle haunts Cairo fair — Cairo’s annual international book fair, opened on 24 January by President Hosni Mubarak, is a prestigious event, sponsored by the state and intended to reflect Egypt’s cultural weight in the Arab world. Officials say 3,000 Egyptian, Arab and international publishers are exhibiting and 7m visitors are expected. The fair is taking place, however, against the background of a big dispute between the country’s intellectuals and the government over the sacking of a senior culture official earlier this month. They are alleging that the government has caved in without a fight to Islamists who want to impose their norms on the country’s cultural life. Ali Abu Shadi, the head of the General Authority for Culture Palaces, a government body involved in a wide range of activities including literary publishing, was dismissed from his position two days after an Islamist deputy raised questions about three novels released by the authority. The deputy, Gamal Heshmat, said the novels violated the norms of decency because they contained sexually explicit passages. Mr Heshmat belongs to the banned but tolerated Muslim Brotherhood — the largest opposition movement in Egypt. Despite repeated arrests and security crackdowns by the authorities, the movement is represented in the newly-elected parliament by 17 members who stood as independents. Analysts say the Brotherhood are treading carefully. «Attacking intellectuals is easier than attacking the state,» said Mohamed Al Sayed Saeed, a political analyst. «The Brotherhood is trying to reduce the areas of confrontation with the state. They don’t want to attack it over the issues it really cares about. Going for the intellectuals is a low cost alternative which creates the desired propaganda effect that there are Freemasons, and communists and agents who want to spread immorality.» (Financial Times, UK, 24 January 2001)

* Ethiopia. Urgent need for food aid — The authorities in Addis Ababa are appealing to donor countries for nearly 470,700 metric tonnes of food aid and 21.4 million US dollars to meet the needs of some 6.2 million Ethiopians this year. The head of the government’s Relief Agency, Simon Mechale, launched the appeal on 22 January explaining that the announced food grain need does not include about 168,590 metric tonnes of net carry-over stocks from last year and undelivered pledges in the year 2000. He added that it does not include food and other assistance needed for people displaced by war and those deported from Eritrea, for whom separate appeals were made in November. Simon told diplomats representing the donor community, representatives of NGOs and international agencies that his appeal for the current year was for addressing «recovery, rehabilitation and preparedness programmes» in such areas like water, health, agriculture and employment generating schemes. He lauded the donor community’s response to appeals last year to meet the food needs of some 10 million victims of severe drought that persisted for three years in parts of the country. However, Simon said the overall food situation in the country was expected to improve this year due to adequate rainfall in the country as a whole during the June-September main rainy season. (PANA, Senegal, 23 January 2001)

* Ethiopie. Sécheresse et développement — Le 23 janvier, l’Ethiopie a lancé un appel à l’aide internationale pour fournir 470.000 tonnes aux populations touchées par la sécheresse. La situation est toutefois meilleure que l’an dernier: des récentes pluies ont réduit le nombre de personnes menacées de famine de 10,5 millions de personnes l’an dernier à 6,2 millions cette année. -D’autre part, des ministres et experts d’Ethiopie, d’Egypte et du Soudan et des hauts conseillers de la Banque mondiale visitent actuellement le bassin du Nil du côté éthiopien, pour étudier comment le pays pourrait utiliser ses ressources hydrauliques pour réduire la pauvreté. La visite sera suivie d’une réunion des experts en vue de préparer une conférence ministérielle des trois pays qui vont explorer les domaines de coopération entre eux. La réunion discutera aussi de projets spécifiques que l’Ethiopie souhaite initier en matière de développement, y compris l’irrigation et d’autres plans destinés à améliorer les conditions de vie de sa population. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 24 janvier 2001)

* Ghana. Driving away a bargain — A controversy has erupted just two weeks after President Rawlings was replaced by John Kufuor as Ghana’s president. Official cars belonging to ministers in the old administration, are being sold off at a small fraction of their market value. A slightly used Volkswagen Passat saloon is selling for only $1,000, a brand new Mercedes Benz E-Class, with all the bells and whistles, is going for just over $3,000. But these goodies are not for everyone. They are only for former ministers and senior officials who served under President Rawlings. Since losing the elections three weeks ago, more than 100 officials have driven off with vehicles belonging to the State. (BBC News, 23 January 2001)

* Guinée. Cri d’alarme — 250.000 civils “terrifiés et pris au piège” dans le sud-est de la Guinée, devraient être transférés de toute urgence à l’intérieur du pays, a demandé Médecins sans frontières (MSF) dans un communiqué qualifié de “cri d’alarme”. Selon l’organisation humanitaire, environ 180.000 réfugiés sierra-léonais et libériens ainsi que 70.000 Guinéens sont exposés, dans la “langue de Guékédou” (qui s’enfonce dans le territoire voisin de la Sierra Leone), aux combats transfrontaliers qui y ont lieu depuis septembre. “Un retard dans leur relocalisation, aussi petit soit-il, peut provoquer une crise humanitaire majeure”, estime MSF. -Le 23 janvier, de nouveaux combats ont été signalés dans la zone de Guékédou. On ignore encore le bilan des victimes. Selon des sources officieuses, la gendarmerie de la ville a été prise par les assaillants. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 24 janvier 2001)

* Guinea. Guinea’s crisis the «worst in the world» — The United Nations refugee agency says that the security situation in southern Guinea is deteriorating on a daily basis. The UNHCR now describes the situation as the most dramatic faced by the agency anywhere in the world. A UNHCR spokesman in Guinea, Peter Kessler, told the BBC that 250,000 refugees lie trapped in the area where the army and rebels are battling for control. No food aid has reached the area around the town of Gueckedou for four months, and the last aid workers were forced to withdraw over a week ago as the fighting intensified. There are reports of heavy gunfire and a renewed rebel attack on the area along the border with Liberia. Truckloads of Guinean soldiers were seen heading towards Gueckedou to try to expel the insurgents. The refugees caught between the warring factions had fled into Guinea to avoid other regional conflicts, now they are forced to run for their lives once again. Access for aid workers is extremely dangerous, and in large parts of the border region law and order has broken down completely. The borders of three countries join around Gueckedou and all three — Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone — are in a state of political and military turmoil. The rebels fighting the Guinea army are believed to be a mixture of Guinean dissidents and mercenaries from Liberia and Sierra Leone. The chaos in the area is so severe that many of the Sierra Leonean refugees there say they would rather return to their own country, which has itself been described by the UN as one of the most dangerous places in the world. Plans are now being drawn up for regional countries to send 1,600 peacekeeping troops to the area in the coming weeks. But the UNHCR says that in the meantime, hundreds of thousands of civilians are having to move across a region where there is no security. (BBC News, 24 January 2001)

* Guinea-Sierra Leone. Bigger boats for refugees — The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Guinea and other humanitarian organisations have decided to increase the number of departures for Sierra Leonean returnees to Freetown by chartering a second 500-seater boat. The agency said the need for a bigger vessel had become urgent, as more refugees need to be sent home. It said the smaller boat called «Over beck», with a capacity of 350 seats currently in used could no longer bear the heavy load. The UNHCR has since 20 December been involved in repatriating Sierra Leonean refugees home following appeals by Guinean authorities to evacuate them. They say fresh fighting between Guinean troops and insurgents believed to come from across the border between Sierra Leone and Liberia had made the evacuation necessary. The boats would transport returnees throughout the week except on Mondays, in a bid to increase the number of weekly average departures from 1,400 to 2,550 returnees, the organisation said. Even though the security situation in Sierra Leone is not conducive for repatriation, the UNHCR said it undertook the task only to ensure that refugees returned home in more human and secure conditions. It said that the living condition of Sierra Leonean refugees who managed to reach their embassy in Conakry (Guinea), was deplorable. This it said, forced as many as 2,500 people to cross in boats whose capacity was 500. The UNHCR and the Organisation of International Migrations (OIM) in a news briefing in Geneva on 23 January, said they have already repatriated 4,700 Sierra Leonean refugees. (PANA, Senegal, 24 January 2001)

* Guinea-Bissau. Coalition threatened — The junior party in the ruling coalition in Guinea-Bissau is reviewing its future within the government following the reshuffle announced by President Kumba Iala earlier today. Mr Iala appointed new ministers at foreign affairs, justice and communications and increased the number of cabinet members from his own party for Social Renovation from fourteen to seventeen. Correspondents say the influence of the junior party, the Bafata Movement and its leader, Helder Vaz, was diminished by the reshuffle and they are considering whether to leave government. The Bafata Movement withdrew from the coalition last September after all five of its cabinet members were dismissed in an earlier reshuffle, but agreed to return when Mr Iala backed down and reinstated those he had sacked. (BBC News, 23 January 2001)

* Kenya. Déforestation — Le Kenya a perdu durant ces deux dernières années, plus de 25% de sa couverture forestière avec le consentement du gouvernement. Alarmé par le taux rapide de déforestation, une organisation internationale, le Greenbelt Movement, exhorte le gouvernement à revenir sur sa décision de réduire la pénurie de terres cultivables en allouant des parts de forêts à des cultivateurs et pour l’abattage des arbres. A l’issue d’une tournée dans les versants du Mont Kenya, le coordinateur du mouvement a affirmé que “certaines personnes ayant reçu des lopins de terre sur les versants des montagnes causent des destructions massives dans les espaces de forêts restants”. Les forêts gravement endommagées par les allocations concernent le Mont Kenya, la forêt de Nyandarua dans le centre du pays, Kakamega dans l’ouest, Mau Summit et Mont Elgon dans la Rift Valley. Ces forêts ont été détruites au vu et au su du gouvernement. - D’autre part, la FAO, dans son dernier rapport d’évaluation publié le 22 janvier à Rome, a exprimé sa forte préoccupation face au taux de destruction des forêts en Afrique en Amérique latine. Ses conclusions révèlent une image diverse: dans certains pays le taux de déforestation est très élevé (principalement quand la forêt est supprimée pour un autre usage de la terre), alors que d’autres présentent un taux de reboisement important par le biais de plantations ou de la repousse naturelle. (PANA, Sénégal, 22 janvier 2001)

* Libéria. Désengagement de Taylor — Evoquant les hostilités croissantes envers son administration, le président du Libéria, Charles Taylor, a annoncé le 19 janvier, que son gouvernement se retirait du processus de paix sierra-léonais. Le Libéria est confronté à une menace de sanctions de l’Onu à l’issue d’un rapport publié par une commission chargée d’enquêter sur les liens entre le trafic d’armes et de diamants et le conflit sierra-léonais. Le rapport a confirmé l’implication du Libéria et de M. Taylor, une accusation récusée par ce dernier. A la lumière du rapport de l’Onu, les Etats-Unis ont introduit une résolution au Conseil de sécurité qui imposerait des sanctions au gouvernement libérien jusqu’à ce qu’il cesse d’apporter un appui financier, militaire et matériel au RUF et à d’autre forces dans la région. (IRIN, Côte d’Ivoire, 22 janvier 2001)

* Liberia. Taylor offers to resign — Charles Taylor has offered to step down as Liberian president if it is found that he has benefited from illicit diamond sales. The statement comes at a time when the United Nations is considering measures to isolate Liberia. The country is being accused of aiding the Sierra Leonean rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF), through diamond dealing. The resignation offer came in the form of a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. But Mr Taylor demanded a UN investigation to determine whether he had profited from diamonds. «In the event that it is determined that I own large personal funds in any foreign accounts, the information should be made public and the funds confiscated, and transferred to the Liberian people,» he declared. Mr Taylor asked the secretary-general to, in his words, «utilise this opportunity and expeditiously confirm the allegation... or publicly exonerate me and the government of Liberia.» He argued that it was reasonable to assume that if indeed he was or still is involved in the sale of such a huge quantity of diamonds, the money trail would inevitably lead to him. In requesting the investigation into his foreign accounts, President Taylor said he has waived all rights of non-disclosure to all banking institutions, and asked the UN secretary-general to pass the message on to all UN member states. The Liberian president described his latest move as «unique and unprecedented». (BBC News, 23 January 2001)

* Libye. Procès des violences de septembre — Plus de 300 personnes présumées impliquées dans les violences qui ont éclaté en septembre dernier entre des Libyens et des travailleurs immigrés de l’Afrique au sud du Sahara, ont comparu le 23 janvier devant la Cour du peuple en Libye. Selon l’acte d’accusation, 15 charges ont été retenues contre eux, notamment: conspiration contre le régime de la Jamahirya, tentative d’entraver son orientation vers le continent africain, incitation au désordre public et à la dissension entre les Libyens et leurs hôtes, déstabilisation de la sécurité, port illicite d’armes, homicide volontaire. Cinq de ces charges au moins sont passibles de la peine capitale. Tous les accusés, 291 Libyens et 26 de différentes nationalités africaines, ont plaidé non coupables. Les avocats de la défense, une cinquantaine, ont demandé la libération immédiate de leurs clients. Le parquet a rejeté cette demande et a appelé à infliger les plus lourdes peines. (PANA, Sénégal, 23 janvier 2001)

* Libya. 331 people on trial for riots targeting foreigners — Libya has put 331 people on trial for rioting and murder, charges that stem from four days of deadly September clashes between Libyans and workers from other African countries. The defendants include 300 Libyan citizens and 31 nationals of other African states. It is unclear what sentences they will face if convicted. The trial will continue on 31 January. (CNN, 24 January 2001)