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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 15-11-2001

PART #3/4 - From  NIGER to  SOUTH AFRICA

* Niger. Conférence sur le travail forcé — Plus de 70 chefs coutumiers se sont rendus à Niamey pour participer à une conférence sur le travail forcé, qui a débuté le 13 novembre dans la capitale nigérienne. Durant les trois jours de travaux de la conférence, organisée sous l’égide du Bureau international du travail, les participants examineront les différents types d’asservissement dans le pays. Au programme figure l’esclavage traditionnel, pratiqué encore dans certaines localités, ainsi que la coercition et la violence que  subissent les mineurs, comme la prostitution infantile par exemple. La conférence s’adresse aux chefs traditionnels à cause de leur influence sur leurs communautés. (Misna, Italie, 14 novembre 2001)

* Nigeria. Oil price to fall — The oil dependent economy of Nigeria is expected to suffer a near one-third fall in revenues next year because of a fall in world oil prices, Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo warned. «Our revenue projection in this budget, which some may regard as optimistic, is in fact 30% less than the current 2001 budget,» he said in his presentation of the government’s budget to parliament. Mr Obasanjo expects the Nigerian government to spend $7.6bn next year, compared with the $9.2bn spent this year. Oil prices have fallen sharply in recent months from record levels seen last year, partly due to the global economic gloom that was made worse by the terrorist attacks on the US. «The events of 11 September in the United States and its aftermath have accelerated recession in most regions of the world,» said Mr Obasanjo. As much as 95% of Nigeria’s foreign earnings come from oil sales. So a fall in the price of crude oil from $22 per barrel, which was the basis for the last budget, to $18 per barrel, which is the price forecast on which next year’s budget, is painful for the country. Currently the price of a barrel of oil is just under $19. (BBC News, UK, 8 November 2001)

* Nigeria. Cholera kills hundreds — More than 200 people have died in a outbreak of cholera in northern Nigerian in the past few weeks. The worst affected area is the state of Kano, but the neighbouring states of Katsina and Jigawa have also been affected. Records in the infectious diseases hospital in Kano clearly show that at least 250 people have died as a result of the cholera outbreak. This contrasts strongly with an official figure of eight deaths given on 12 November by the State Commissioner of Health, Dr Mansur Kabir, in response to a question put to him by a journalist. (BBC News, UK, 14 November 2001)

* Nigeria. 250 morts du choléra — Quelque 250 personnes sont mortes du choléra depuis la semaine dernière, notamment à Kano, la plus grande ville du nord du Nigeria. Le responsable de la santé de l’Etat, Mansur Kabir, a indiqué que le gouvernement local a sollicité des dons de médicaments. (Libération, France, 15 novembre 2001)

* Rwanda. Child genocide suspects released — Rwanda has begun the large scale release of hundreds of children who have been held for years on the grounds that they took part in the 1994 genocide. The children, who were aged between five and 12 at the time of the mass killings, are among 600 young people who will be freed to their families or foster families. They have spent the last three years in rehabilitation centres run by the  Rwandan government and UNESCO, being taught literacy and technical skills. Most were originally held in prison after the genocide in which up to a million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by Hutu extremists. The BBC‘s Helen Vesperini in Kigali says that before the children were taken to resettle in an area, the government had done preparatory work with villagers, explaining to them the logic of the programme. She said some had earlier been taken to their communes for approval by villagers before they were finally handed over to their families. Since 1998 children have been sent home in small numbers to test whether villagers were ready to accept them back into the community. (BBC News, UK, 13 November 2001)

* Rwanda. 552 enfants libérés — Un groupe de 552 enfants soupçonnés de génocide et d’autres crimes contre l’humanité a recouvré sa liberté, après trois mois passés dans le camp de rééducation de Gaculiro, dans la capitale Kigali, a annoncé le 14 novembre le chargé d’information auprès de l’Unicef. Treize filles font partie de ce groupe, après qu’un tribunal villageois traditionnel a entendu des témoignages confirmant leur innocence. La libération, le 12 novembre, porte à 1.500 le nombre de mineurs que le gouvernement a libérés jusqu’à présent. (IRIN, Nairobi, 14 novembre 2001)

* Rwanda/Uganda. Britain to help monitor peace in Central Africa — Britain has agreed to help monitor a Uganda and Rwanda peace agreement aimed at pre-empting another war in central Africa, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni said on 7 November. The pact was signed by President Museveni and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda in London on 6 November after talks brokered by Clare Short, Britain’s aid minister, with the personal backing of Tony Blair. In a move seen as an attempt to give substance to his pledge to play a more constructive interventionist role in Africa, the prime minister met the two leaders at Downing Street, his London residence, and encouraged them to resolve their differences. At subsequent talks in London, Mr Museveni and Mr Kagame agreed to try to ease the simmering tensions between their countries by cracking down on cross-border support for dissidents, and allowing third country monitoring of the deal. This will include inspection of alleged rebel training camps. «The important thing now is that we have a mechanism involving a third party,» said Mr Museveni. «Within the next seven days there will be the first inspection.» Each government accuses the other of sponsoring the internal opponents of its rival. Observers are concerned that any further degeneration of the situation could bring more instability to the volatile Great Lakes region, already ravaged by war in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda’s 1994 genocide. (Financial Times, UK, 8 November 2001)

* Sénégal. Un prêtre tué dans une embuscade — Le 7 novembre, l’abbé Siméon Coly, prêtre du diocèse de Ziguinchor (Casamance), a été tué au cours d’une attaque survenue sur la route qui relie le nord au sud du Sénégal. L’abbé se rendait à Dakar en taxi collectif, quand des hommes armés sont apparus et ont fait signe au chauffeur de s’arrêter. Devant son refus, les assaillants ont tiré des coups de feu, blessant trois personnes et en tuant deux autres. L’abbé Coly a été atteint d’une balle en plein coeur. (Fides, Rome, 14 novembre 2001)

* Sierra Leone. Govt regains Liberia border area — After almost a decade since the outbreak of civil war in Sierra Leone, the Government has at last re-established its authority on the country’s border with Liberia. Sierra Leone Army’s information director, Major Desmond Henry told journalists on 7 November that it took the army 20 days to prepare and 10 days to secure the border area between Liberia and Sierra Leone. He said the military would prevent dissidents from operating within Sierra Leone and the border area. Member countries of the Mano River Union, namely Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, recently agreed on joint patrol of their common frontiers. Henry said the area along the Mano River and through out the north and north-east of Gola Forest (south of Kenema, Sulima, Joru and Zimmi) were under the full control of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces and the Sierra Leone Police Force. Sierra Leone’s naval wing reinstated its presence in the area by establishing a forward operating base in Sulima, covering a distance of over 250 kilometres. During the operation, the army repaired and rebuilt seven bridges which had been destroyed by rebels of the Revolutionary United Front. «The bridges have begun facilitating cross-border trade between Liberia and Sierra Leone», Major Henry said. (PANA, Senegal, 7 November 2001)

* Sierra Leone. Contrôle de la zone frontalière — Le gouvernement sierra-léonais a établi son contrôle le long de sa frontière avec le Liberia, près d’une décennie après l’éclatement de la guerre civile dans le pays. Le chef des services de renseignements de l’armée a expliqué, le 7 novembre, qu’il a fallu dix jours à l’armée pour sécuriser la zone frontalière. Il a ajouté que les militaires empêcheront toute opération des dissidents sur leur territoire et le long de la frontière. Les pays membres de l’Union du fleuve Mano, le Liberia, la Guinée et la Sierra Leone, ont récemment convenu de mener des patrouilles conjointes le long de leurs frontières communes. (PANA, Sénégal, 8 novembre 2001)

* Sierra Leone. Peace conference underway — A three-day conference in Sierra Leone, which brings together the government, political parties and civic groups, has begun in the capital, Freetown. The Information Minister, Cecil Blake, said that all opposition parties were represented at the talks and the atmosphere was positive. He said the key issues to be discussed included building a  sustainable peace in Sierra Leone, and how best to organise next year’s elections. Mr Blake stressed though that decisions taken at the conference would not be binding on the government. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 13 November 2001)

* Sierra Leone. Désarmement et avenir — Le 8 novembre, le gouvernement sierra-léonais et les rebelles du RUF se sont mis d’accord pour entreprendre des “actions immédiates afin de faciliter un désarmement rapide” dans tous les districts du pays. Les deux parties sont convenues de commencer la récupération des armes non couvertes par le programme de désarmement du 15 novembre au 31 décembre. D’autre part, le 12 novembre, plus de 7.600 armes récupérées par les casques bleus durant le désarmement des ex-combattants ont été détruites dans la capitale Freetown. - Par ailleurs, le 13 novembre, s’est ouverte à Freetown une conférence de consultation nationale de trois jours visant à jeter les bases de l’avenir de la Sierra Leone. Plus de 250 délégués de différentes parties y participent, incluant des responsables gouvernementaux, des anciens rebelles, des chefs de file politiques et des membres de la société civile. Les opposants politiques ont cependant exprimé leur scepticisme quant aux résultats de cette conférence. (IRIN, Abidjan, 9-14 novembre 2001)

* Somalia. New PM pledges reconciliation — The new interim Prime Minister of Somalia, Hassan Abshir Farah, has said he will make reconciliation among Somali communities and armed groups a top priority for his administration. Addressing a women’s meeting in the former police high school, he said he was prepared to talk to any group opposed to the interim administration. Mr Farah, who was appointed by the president on 12 November, said that within 30 days, he would form a new government which he hopes would cover the entire country. Mr Farah himself comes from Puntland, where he was once interior minister before leaving for Djibouti to chair the peace conference, which culminated in the establishment of the Transitional National Government. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 13 November 2001)

* Somalia. Run for peace — A peace run through the streets of Mogadishu, sponsored by the United Nations Sport for Peace Programme in collaboration with the Somali Olympic Committee, was successfully completed on 12 November, a UN press release said. The winners of the six races were on 13 November their prizes in front of the Olympic building in south Mogadishu, said the release. More than 650 people, including men, women and 180 children had participated in the races through the city. The races were respectively of 5,000, 3,000, 2,000, 1,500 and 1,000 meters. The release quotes Philippe Gourdin, the Sport for Peace Programme Coordinator, as saying: «This is the first time in a decade that we saw such a peaceful and animated crowd supporting their fellow brothers and sisters, regardless of  their clan affiliation.» There had been no security incidents, «and the event went very well». Gourdin described the run as «a successful start for our Programme, and we hope to continue and expand with the support of our partners». All registered participants received a Sport for Peace tee-shirt, and the winners collected prizes of US $40, $30 and $10 for first, second and third places respectively. (IRIN, 14 November 2001)

* South Africa. Police raid on platinum smugglers — South African detectives have smashed five syndicates believed to represent the world’s biggest platinum-smuggling ring and charged 46 people, including two police officers, with theft and illicit trading. The country is the world’s principal producer of platinum, which is more valuable than gold and is used in catalytic converters for cars and for toughening steel. Jewellery platinum is $425 an ounce. Captain Ronnie Naidoo, a police spokesman, said 150 officers were involved in the two-year, top-secret investigation, Operation Gold. Nearly 44,000kg of unrefined platinum (platina), had been seized. (The Independent, UK, 8 November 2001)

* Afrique du Sud. Opposition éclatée — Le 7 novembre, l’alliance de l’opposition sud-africaine a éclaté. Le Nouveau parti national (NNP, l’avatar du parti au pouvoir pendant l’apartheid) a rompu avec le Parti démocratique (DP) après une réunion de ses instances dirigeantes. La scission du bloc de l’opposition, seize mois seulement après sa formation, ouvre la voie à des coalitions entre le NNP et l’ANC, le parti du président Mbeki, notamment dans la province du Cap occidental. (Le Monde, France, 9 novembre 2001)

* South Africa. Telephone lines reduced because of fraud — About 500,000 fixed telephone lines were disconnected in South Africa last year as a result of fraud or non-payment, according to a report by the Geneva-based International Telecommunications Union (ITU). In the early 1990s South Africa had one of the highest ratios of telephone subscribers in Africa, after the island states of the Seychelles and Reunion. Telkom, which is part owned by the US-based SBC, was required to meet ambitious targets to roll out services to previously unserviced black communities in rural areas. Since 1998 Telkom has installed about 2m new lines. It had a total of 5m customers. But the contraction in its fixed-line network has pushed South Africa back to fifth place in the continental ranking, according to the ITU‘s African Telecommunication Indicators 2001, released this week. In the meantime the country has witnessed an explosive growth in mobile telephone use over the past six years. Although calls are more expensive, consumers have favoured the pre-paid payment system and quicker connection. Vodacom and the Mobile Telephone Network (MTN) have about 8m subscribers  between them among South Africa’s 40m population. Cell C, a third network, is launched this week. «The decline in the fixed-line user base casts a shadow over the future expansion of the internet, where South Africa had a lead among developing countries,» the report said. «Hopefully the launch of the third mobile operator and the eventual introduction of competition in the fixed-line market will restore some of South Africa’s lustre.» (Financial Times, UK, 13 November 2001)

* South Africa. New bill could change politics — The ruling party in South Africa, the African National Congress, has proposed draft legislation which would allow members of parliament and the provincial assemblies, to switch party affiliation without losing their seats. The bill comes at a time of upheaval in opposition politics in South Africa - and it could allow the governing ANC to gain control of the Western Cape, the only province where it has no role in government. The party that ruled South Africa during the apartheid era, the New National Party, has decided to break from the opposition Democratic Alliance to seek a coalition with the ANC. A new acting Premier — Cecil Herandien — has been chosen in the Western Cape from within the New National Party to replace Gerald Morkel, who opposed the break from the Democratic Alliance. (BBC News, UK, 12 November 2001)

* South Africa. To expand nuclear capacity — South Africa committed itself on 13 November to an ambitious expansion of its nuclear capacity at a time when the world is gripped by the threat of possible nuclear terrorism after the attacks on the US on September 11. At a conference hosted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, South African minister of minerals and energy, said the country was striving to expand its role in nuclear technology by developing mini nuclear reactors. Eskom, the state-owned electricity utility, is developing 110-megawatt (MW) pebble bed modular nuclear reactors in partnership with British Nuclear Fuels and Exelon, the US electricity utility. The government believes the reactors have considerable export potential, particularly to the US, and could earn the country more than R18bn ($1.9bn) a year. Countries interested in buying pebble bed reactors include the UK, China, Indonesia, Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia. «It is recognised worldwide as the leading innovation in nuclear technology,» Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka said. The construction of the first pebble bed reactor is expected to begin next year in South Africa at a cost of about $120m. South Africa developed its nuclear capacity in the apartheid era. (Financial Times, UK, 14 November 2001)