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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 30-08-2001

PART #3/4 - From LIBYA - SOUTH-AFRICA

* Libya. Meeting opens in Tripoli to discuss peace in Sudan — Experts involved in the Libyan-Egyptian initiative for peace in Sudan started meeting on 27 August in Tripoli under the chairmanship of the move’s co-ordinator, Soleiman Chhoumi and the Egyptian deputy foreign minister, Rafik Khalil. Sources close to the conference said the experts are examining the different clauses of the initiative sponsored by Cairo and Tripoli, as well as the basis and principles for its implementation. According to a Libyan diplomatic source, the meeting will draw a timetable for holding a national reconciliation conference under the initiative. The meeting also reviewed the reactions of different Sudanese parties towards the initiative. Informed sources said that the committee will submit its conclusions to the next ministerial meeting to be held in Cairo on 9 September. That meeting would be attended by the Libyan Secretary of the People’s Committee for the African Union (minister), Dr Ali Triki as well as the Egyptian and Sudanese foreign ministers, Ahmed Maher and Mustapha Othman Ismail, respectively. On 26 August, members of the special committee had met with Dr Ali Triki, who reiterated the need to accelerate the implementation of the initiative so as to end the bloodshed in Sudan and pave the way for development and progress in that country. Triki welcomed the endorsement of the initiative by both the Sudanese government and the opposition, saying this would expedite its implementation. (PANA, Senegal, 27 August 2001)

* Malawi. SADC summit — Some reflections on the recent Southern African heads of state summit which ended on 14 August: — At the close of the summit there was a unanimous resolve to impose sanctions against the rebel movement of Jonas Savimbi fighting the Angolan government. President Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania hadn’t any kind words for UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi. He said: «Savimbi should have been arraigned in the Hague, rather than Milosevic. The SADC needs responsible leaders.» Another issue discussed was the ongoing war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo RDC). President Muluzi who took over as the SADC‘s chairperson told the summit members that he due to meet Congo RDC‘s President Joseph Kabila who arrives in Malawi today. Angola’s president, Eduardo dos Santos, is also invited. President Frederick Chiluba of Zambia bemoaned the slow pace of withdrawing troops from Congo. He said that although there was some progress since the signing of the Lusaka Peace Agreement, movement to withdraw foreign troops from Congo was still slow. Malawi’s Vice-President Justin Malewezi pleased with SADC leaders to do their utmost to work towards ending conflicts in the region. (Hobbs Gama, Malawi, 24 August 2001)

* Maroc/Espagne. Clandestins — L’interpellation sur les côtes espagnoles de 800 immigrés clandestins en provenance du Maroc, le week-end dernier, a provoqué de nouvelles frictions diplomatiques entre les deux pays. Le mercredi 22 août, le gouvernement espagnol a convoqué le chargé d’affaires du Maroc, jugeant “insuffisante” la collaboration marocaine contre l’immigration. Le 23 août, le ministère marocain des Affaires étrangères a reçu à son tour le représentant diplomatique espagnol à Rabat et qualifié de “réductrice” la position de l’Espagne. Rabat a assuré qu’entre le 1er janvier 2000 et le 30 juin 2001, les services marocains ont refoulé plus de 15.000 personnes s’apprêtant à traverser le détroit de Gibraltar. - Le 23 août, au moins neuf Africains se sont noyés alors qu’ils tentaient d’atteindre à la nage l’île de Fuerteventura aux Canaries. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 24 août 2001)

* Maroc. Boukhari condamné — Le 28 août, l’ancien agent secret marocain Ahmed Boukhari, auteur de récentes révélations explosives sur l’affaire Ben Barka, mais inculpé pour l’émission de chèques sans provision, a été condamné à un an de prison ferme par le tribunal de première instance de Casablanca. La cour n’a pas retenu les arguments de la défense, qui assurait que M. Boukhari avait déjà été condamné en 1998 pour deux de ces chèques et avait purgé sa peine. Son avocat, Me Abderrahim Jamaï, qui a décidé de faire appel, a estimé que l’emprisonnement de son client visait “à éviter qu’il ne puisse faire d’autres révélations”. Plusieurs associations des droits de l’homme ont également dénoncé le procès. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 29 août 2001)

* Mozambique. Smelter seen as driving economy forward — Visitors to the «pot room» of the Mozal aluminium smelter are asked to declare whether they are fitted with pacemakers and to remove their watches. The electro-magnetic field that encircles the hub of the aluminium smelting process is so powerful it knocks out time pieces, weak hearts and the electronics of passing vehicles. The gentle warning is a sign that the $1.3bn smelter, which is the standard-bearer of industrial development and foreign investment in Mozambique, may not reflect at its core the human face of the warm smiling children that beam out of its social responsibility brochures. Mozal is one of the most modern smelters in the world, relying on only 750 people to operate its advanced technology. But the sense of modernity stops abruptly at its boundary fence. The suburbs of Maputo and scrubland small holdings leave little doubt that this is one of the world’s poorest countries. The smelter has increased Mozambique’s investment earnings by 150 per cent, or $400m, much to the government’s delight, and given it the opportunity of boasting global competitiveness. It is hard to imagine that in a country starved of investment and wallowing in unemployment that labour issues could have jeopardised the decision finally taken in June to go ahead with a $1bn expansion of Mozal. Yet a half-day strike over salaries in February set investors thinking that the human part of the project might be its Achilles’ heel. «We have a peaceful workforce. That is not to say that we don’t have arguments over salaries. We are over what was a crisis and we have a much better understanding between management and labour. But it was one of the factors holding up the decision [to invest],» says Rob Barbour, the chairman of Mozal. (Financial Times, UK, 28 August 2001)

* Namibia. NNFU denounces lack of cooperation — The Namibia National Farmers Union (NNFU) has denounced the lack of co-operation of commercial farmers with the government, with land reform and resettlement. The Namibian newspaper says the NNFU has underlined that any attempts to derail government plans to redistribute land, could face a serious legal onslaught. The Union also urged all its members to explore legal means to help the government make land available for redistribution. (MISNA, Italy, 22 August 2001)

* Nigeria. Chevron venture to end gas flaring — Nigeria’s National Petroleum Corporation has struck a blow against climate change by finalising a joint venture with Chevron of the US that will help the west African country end gas flaring by 2008. This gives the go-ahead to the third stage of the Chevron-led projects at Escravos to gather waste gas from western Niger delta oilfields and pipe it to Lagos and to convert waste gas into liquid fuels for domestic use and export. Gas often comes out of the ground along with oil and has to be flared or burnt off when it cannot be stored or used. Lacking a developed pipeline network and industrial base, Nigeria accounts for a quarter of all gas flared in the world, and is under pressure to reduce this atmospheric pollution and resource waste. Until the Chevron projects were finalised there were doubts that the 2008 deadline for an end to flaring could be met. The Escravos projects will cost a total of $2bn - $800m for gas gathering and $1.2bn for the gas-to-liquids plant. The latter will use technology developed by Chevron in a joint venture with Sasol of South Africa, which, during the apartheid era, produced synthetic fuel to get around international oil sanctions. It will convert some 300m cubic feet of gas a day that is currently being flared into 33,000 barrels a day of clean liquid fuels. (Financial Times, UK, 24 August 2001)

* Nigeria. Bus carnage mounts — A bus has plunged into a river in northern Nigeria, killing 49 people and injuring 23, eyewitnesses told the French news agency AFP. The agency said the accident occurred at Dakatsalle Bridge, around 50 km south of the northern city of Kano, at around 1400 local time (1300GMT) on 26 August. The bus was an overnight service from the capital, Lagos. It was the latest, and deadliest, bus crash in Nigeria in the space of a few days. One survivor among the 72 passengers, Garba Mohammed, told AFP that the bus had been speeding when it blew a tyre as it started across the bridge. Twenty-three people were rescued, 10 bodies recovered and the remaining 39 are still trapped inside the submerged bus, staff at the Murtala Mohammed hospital in Kano said. Mr Mohammed said that local fishermen had helped pull out many of the survivors as well as 10 of the bodies. Nigeria has earned a grim reputation for its road accidents. Only on 25 August, 12 people were killed when a mini-bus hit a trailer and plunged into a canal in Lagos. And on 22 August two buses collided head-on near the central town of Lokoja, killing 13 and injuring about 30. (BBC News, 27 August 2001)

* Nigeria. Pétrole: otages libérés — * 99 employés d’un groupe pétrolier, dont 19 étrangers, pris en otage depuis le 23 août sur une plate-forme au large du sud du Nigeria, ont été relâchés, a annoncé le 27 août un porte-parole de la société Shell. La plate-forme, gérée par Trans-Ocean Sedco, un sous-traitant de Shell, a été envahie le 23 août par de jeunes Nigérians de la région. Depuis plusieurs années, les violences se multiplient, en protestation contre la spoliation des populations locales, qui ne recueillent de l’exploitation de l’or noir que... la pollution. (La Libre Belgique, 28 août 2001)

* Nigeria. «Restore hope to people on the brink of despair» — To «restore hope to people on the brink of despair». This call was launched by the new Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, in a Message to the Bishops of English-speaking West Africa (AECAWA), holding their 9th Plenary Assembly at Enugu, Nigeria, 25-31 August. The Assembly’s theme was: «The Church as an Agent of Reconciliation and Social Transformation». The Cardinal encouraged the Bishops to promote the very much cherished African values of unity, solidarity, co-responsibility, fraternity, mutual trust. On 26 August, Bishop Peter Sarpong, Bishop of Kumasi in Ghana and Chairman of AECAWA, led 53 other Bishops in a solemn Eucharistic celebration. In his homily, the Bishop challenged that if the Church is the Sacrament of the risen Lord’s presence in the world, then the Church’s task is to demonstrate this truth to the world in a convincing manner. In her keynote address, Professor Joy Ogwu, Director General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs said that the Church in West Africa is challenged by a myriad of problems centring around war and conflict, post-conflict reconstruction, social economic crises, deepening poverty, democratic consolidation, and the pace and content of regional integration. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 28 August 2001)

* Nigeria. Signs of unrest — 25 August: The leader of a banned vigilante group in Nigeria has been charged with murder, robbery, firearms offenses and incitement. Ganiyu Adams was arrested on 22 August a year after a warrant had been issued for his detention. He appeared in court in Lagos with three other members of the Odua People’s Congress (OPC), all accused of orchestrating ethnic violence and the murder of a police man last year. They pleaded not guilty and were remanded in custody until next month. On 23 August, members of the OPC had brought the main market in Lagos to a standstill, demanding the release of their leader. As leader of the OPC, Gani Adams had been taunting police in Lagos for many months, appearing at public meetings and speaking openly to the press despite being wanted on murder charges. 28 August: Almost 100 oil workers held captive since 23 August on an oil rig in southern Nigeria have been released. Nineteen of the workers - including at least five Britons and five Americans — are foreign nationals. The group had been held captive by a group of militant youths on a rig almost 100km off Nigeria’s coast. News of the incident was only released after the incident was resolved. The BBC correspondent in Nigeria, Dan Isaacs, says incidents such as this are not uncommon in the country’s troubled oil-producing region, but oil companies rarely provide details of kidnap situations such as this until they have been resolved, for fear of jeopardising negotiations. He says it is now clear that the gang required motor boats to travel the substantial distance out to sea. Once there, they took control for three days while oil industry officials negotiated for the release of those on board. The offshore rig, Trident, is owned by Houston-based Transocean Sedco Forex. It was drilling on behalf of oil giant Shell. According to the Reuters news agency, the situation was resolved when community elders were called in by Shell to ask the youths to leave. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 28 August 2001)

* Nigeria. L’armée dément les rumeurs d’un coup d’Etat — Le chef d’état-major de l’armée nigériane, le général Alexandre Ogomudia, a démenti les rumeurs d’un coup d’Etat militaire au cours duquel des jeunes officiers auraient été arrêtés, rapporte l’Agence nigériane de presse (NAN) le 29 août. Ces rumeurs ont été relayées par le journal local Insider Weekly Magazine. Le général a mis au défi le magazine de prouver ses informations. Selon lui, aucun officier n’avait été arrêté pour être interrogé sur un coup d’Etat. (PANA, Sénégal, 29 août 2001)

* Sahara occidental. Nouvelle initiative — L’ancien secrétaire d’Etat américain James Baker, qui occupe actuellement le poste d’émissaire de l’Onu pour le Sahara occidental, a accueilli le 27 août dans son ranch du Wyoming quelques-uns des principaux protagonistes du conflit. Des représentants du Front Polisario ainsi que des gouvernements d’Algérie et de Mauritanie sont réunis à la résidence de M. Baker à Pindale. Le Maroc n’a pas été convié à participer à cette série de pourparlers. James Baker a proposé un accord-cadre qui accorderait une autonomie au Sahara occidental sous souveraineté marocaine. Le Maroc a donné son accord de principe sur cette proposition, mais le Front Polisario l’a rejetée. Les pourparlers au Wyoming seront centrés sur la question de l’autonomie ou sur “toute autre proposition pour une solution politique” susceptible de mettre fin au conflit, selon des responsables de l’Onu. (AP, 27 août 2001)

* Sierra Leone. Réinsertion en péril — Ce ne sont pas seulement les difficultés logistiques ou les tensions avec le RUF qui mettent en discussion le plan de désarmement et de réintégration des anciens combattants en Sierra Leone. Le programme, géré par l’Onu, risque d’échouer également par manque de fonds nécessaires. Selon la Minusil, le manque de financements a essentiellement des répercussions sur la délicate phase de réinsertion dans la société. Des représentants de la société civile soulignent que cette réintégration des anciens combattants se limite souvent à un court séjour dans les camps de démobilisation. Ensuite, ils se retrouvent livrés à eux-mêmes et risquent d’alimenter le banditisme. (D’après Misna, Italie, 23 août 2001)

* Sierra Leone. Elections retardées — Le président Ahmad Tejan Kabbah vient de reporter à une date ultérieure les élections générales en Sierra Leone en raison de la situation de guerre qui prévaut dans le pays, a-t-on appris cette semaine de source officielle. Il a rejeté les appels à une conférence consultative ou à un gouvernement intérimaire, en argumentant que ceux-ci étaient contraires à la Constitution. Des associations de la société civile ainsi que des organisations religieuses avaient réclamé une conférence consultative générale, afin d’ouvrir une voie pour le pays déchiré par la guerre. (PANA, Sénégal, 28 août 2001)

* Sierra Leone. Uncertainties — 23 August: The logistic difficulties and repressed tension between the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels and the government seems about to explode at any moment, thus casting doubts on the actual success of the programme for the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of former combatants in Sierra Leone. But that’s not the only fear — the UN-run programme in fact also risks stalling due to lack of funds for its implementation. This is the opinion of the spokesperson of the UN Peace Mission in Sierra Leone, Margaret Novicki. She has stated that the lack of funding particularly affects the delicate phase of reintegration back into society, of former rebels and pro-government militia. They need support to be taught a trade and to find a space in a Sierra Leone that really puts aside the years of civil war. But to offer such people perspectives for a better future is a complex task. 25 August: Preparations have begun for parliamentary elections in Sierra Leone, even though no date has been set. The national electoral commissioner Walter Nicol told reporters in Freetown that the London-based Commonwealth Secretariat had sent a team to Sierra Leone — including legal and voter registration advisors — to help prepare for the poll. He said more than 20 parties had already registered. The commissioner said all fighters would have to be disarmed before the elections could take place. So far, about 16,000 combatants — of an estimated total of 45,000 —have laid down their arms under a United Nations-sponsored agreement signed by the rebels and members of a government-backed militia in May. 27 August: President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah has postponed Sierra Leone’s national elections saying the country is still at war. «If Sierra Leone is at war...and the President considers that it is not practicable to hold elections, Parliament may by resolution extend the period of (government’s tenure of) five years... But such an extension shall not exceed a period of six months at any one time. I am obliged as President of Sierra Leone to ensure that elections are held only in accordance with constitutional provisions,» he stressed. Kabbah’s five-year term expired in April and was extended by six months until September. The Sierra Leonean leader also rejected calls for a consultative conference or an interim government, saying these were unconstitutional. The chairman of the National Electoral Commission says that with disarmament expected to be finished in November, elections could be held during «the first six months of next year». — Britain is to scale back its military commitment in Sierra Leone because of concern about overstretching the armed forces and tentative signs that the African country is moving towards a lasting peace. Ministers will decide on the precise scope of the withdrawal but a Whitehall official said the number of UK troops in Sierra Leone may be reduced from 450 to about 150 next month. The Ministry of Defence is expected to press for the biggest possible reduction because of expanding commitments in the Balkans. 28 August: The RUF says it is suspending co-operation in the peace process as a protest against the postponement of elections. — Police have unleashed a major operation to seize illegal «blood diamonds» and stop rampant smuggling of the stones. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 29 August 2001)

* Somalia. Puntland elders meet to choose parliament — 26 August: A meeting of about 500 clan elders has been taking place in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland in northern Somalia. They have gathered in the town of Garowe to choose members of the self-styled parliament of Puntland. The parliament will then elect a leader for the region, which declared autonomy from Somalia in 1998. The meeting comes amid a bitter power struggle between the former leader of Puntland, Abdullahi Yousuf Ahmed, and the interim leader, Yousuf Haji Nur. The same day, Somalia’s interim president, Abdulkassim Salad Hassan, conceded that his provisional administration has failed to meet the needs of the people during the past year. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 27 August 2001)

* Somalie. Le président reconnaît l’échec — Le 26 août, le président intérimaire de la Somalie, Abdulkassim Salad Hassan, a reconnu que son administration provisoire avait échoué à satisfaire les aspirations du peuple depuis son installation il y un an, les groupes d’opposition armés locaux associés à d’autres bandes armées ayant empêché le fonctionnement normal du gouvernement national de transition. Malgré ces échecs, M. Hassan s’est vanté du fait que son administration jouissait désormais du soutien de la communauté internationale. Il a indiqué que le citoyen ordinaire en avait assez des combats et qu’il aspirait à une vie meilleure. Sur ses relations avec l’opposition locale, il a déclaré que le gouvernement avait formé un comité de réconciliation nationale composé des leaders de la communauté. (PANA, Sénégal, 27 août 2001)

* South Africa. Spotlight on children — 28 August: Children from across South Africa met in Cape Town last week for the first national conference of children with HIV/AIDS. The children ranged in age from 7 to 18, and discussed the impact of HIV/AIDS on their lives as well as proposals for improving the situation. The children participated in Workshops and used art and drama to express the impact of HIV/AIDS. Participants told of having to leave school to care for their infected siblings. Others told of being sexually abused and infected with HIV/AIDS because the perpetrator didn’t want to die alone. Rejected by their families, some spoke of having to support themselves by collecting firewood and tending cattle. «It’s like I am a slave», one of the children wrote in a testimonial. 29 August: Speaking on the BBC together with his wife, Graca Machel, Nelson Mandela attacks western countries for not doing enough to improve the living standards of the world’s poorest children. «One of the tragedies that we are facing is that of globalisation, which has not addressed questions of poverty, of disease and of ignorance», he says. Mr Mandela also criticises the impact on children of international «comprehensive sanctions» imposed on rogue states, saying that it is the leaders that should be targeted. (Editor’s note: The complete transcript of this phone-in programme can be found on: http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/talking_point/forum/new si d_1514000/1514704.stm). Nelson Mandela and Graca Machel are faced with a challenge as they try to persuade leading nations to help the world’s impoverished and abused children. It is a daunting challenge. In seeking to move children to the centre of the international agenda, Nelson Mandela has, at 83, set himself a mission that has defeated younger, though less charismatic figures. His central task is now to persuade the world’s political leaders to translate fair words into real action —ending discrimination and violence against children and adolescents. In setting up the Global Movement for Children, Mr Mandela has two formidable allies — his wife Graca Machel, and the Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Carol Bellamy. (Editor’s note: The United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children will be held on 19-21 September 2001 in New York. UNICEF will launch its flagship report: The state of the world’s children on 13 September). (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 29 August 2001)

* Afrique du Sud. Grève contre les privatisations — La centrale syndicale d’Afrique du Sud a appellé à une grève générale les 29 et 30 août, pour protester contre les projets de privatisations du gouvernement (électricité, télécommunications, transports et armement). Le syndicat de la métallurgie (Numsa) a par ailleurs suspendu jusqu’à nouvel ordre la grève qui touche l’automobile depuis trois semaines. Une augmentation des salaires de 9% est prévue. -Le 29 août, la grève générale a connu un démarrage inégal selon les régions. Elle a semblé bien suivie dans la province du Gauteng (Pretoria et Johannesburg) et à Port-Elizabeth, mais moins respectée dans d’autres centres urbains, comme au Cap, à Nelspruit ou à Durban. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 30 août 2001)