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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 22-08-2002

PART #3/4 - From  ERITREA to NAMIBIA 

* Eritrea/Ethiopia. UNMEE‘s mandate changed to support Boundary Commission — The mandate of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) has been adjusted to include mine clearance, and administrative and logistical support for the field offices of the independent Boundary Commission. A resolution adopted by the UN Security Council on 14 August stated that the adjustment would permit UNMEE to assist in the «expeditious and orderly» implementation of the Boundary Commission’s decision on the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea. The resolution urged the parties «to provide their full and prompt cooperation in the process with a view to ensuring an expeditious transition for the benefit of the affected populations». Both sides were also called upon to cooperate «fully and promptly» with the Commission. (IRIN, Kenya, 15 August 2002)

* Ethiopia. Officials held over violence — The Ethiopian Government has arrested 10 of its own officials accusing them of instigating violence in the Southern Region. The ten are members of parties involved in the coalition government. They are accused of responsibility for the loss of life, injuries and damage to property when violence erupted in the town of Awassa in May, in Tepi in March and in the districts of Burji and Amaro last year. More than 100 people are thought to have died in the clashes. The European Union demanded that the Ethiopian Government investigate and take action over the violence.  The ten officials were arrested at the weekend, according to Haile Mariam Desalegn, President of Ethiopia’s Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Regional State (SNNPRS). He said the arrests were made following the decision last week to lift their immunity from prosecution. (BBC News, UK, 21 August 2002)

* Guinée. Ne plus arrêter les journalistes — Le ministre guinéen de la Justice, Abou Camara, a indiqué qu’il était désormais interdit à la police d’arrêter les journalistes pour des délits de presse. Désormais, “les journalistes coupables de délits de presse comparaîtront en citation directe devant les tribunaux”, a-t-il dit. Depuis l’apparition, en 1992, de journaux privés en Guinée, plusieurs journalistes guinéens ont été arrêtés, puis condamnés à des peines de prison ferme. (La Libre Belgique, 19 août 2002)

* Liberia. Voinjama reconquise — Le 15 août, le gouvernement du Liberia a affirmé qu’il avait reconquis la localité de Voinjama (capitale du comté de Lofa, à 270 km au nord de Monrovia), que les rebelles du mouvement Libériens unis pour la réconciliation et la démocratie (Lurd) utilisaient comme quartier général. Des sources diplomatiques ont indiqué qu’il n’y avait pas de confirmation immédiate de la proclamation du gouvernement, mais ont confirmé que le gouvernement avait repoussé les rebelles vers les frontières guinéenne et sierra-léonaise. Elles ont précisé que les troupes gouvernementales se battaient aussi contre les rebelles dans le comté de Bong, qui se trouve à l’est de Lofa et à la frontière avec la Guinée. Voinjama avait été capturée trois fois par les rebelles et reprise par le gouvernement. Le Lurd se bat depuis 1998 pour renverser le gouvernement de M. Taylor. (IRIN, Abidjan, 15 août 2002)

* Liberia. Blind people abducted by rebels are now back in Monrovia — Sixty blind people who were abducted by rebels in the western town of Tubmanburg have been evacuated to the Liberian capital, Monrovia, by Liberia’s first lady, Jewel Taylor, who also provided some food for them, a civil society official said on 19 August. The chairman of the Liberian Christian Association of the Blind, Bean Kota, told reporters that the former abductees were living in desperate conditions and were in dire need of help. The group had been reported missing in May when the rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) overran Tubmanburg, which is some 60 km west of Monrovia. They were found after government forces recaptured the town in late July. However, the fate of five nurses abducted by the LURD on 20 June during an attack on Sinje, 80 km northwest of Monrovia, remains unknown. Government and NGO sources said on 20 August the rebels were yet to indicate when they would release the nurses. (IRIN, Kenya, 20 August 2002)

* Libya. «We will pay compensation over Lockerbie» — On 7 August, the Libyan government said that it was ready to pay compensation for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing and address UN demands that it accept responsibility for the attack, which killed 270 people. Libya’s Foreign Minister, Mohammed Abderrahman Shalgam, made the announcement after talks between the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, and the Foreign Office minister Mike O’Brien. He also said Libya was ready to normalise relations with the US. Mr Shalgam said: «Regarding compensation, as a principle, yes, we are going to do something on that topic. Regarding responsibility, we are discussing this issue. We are ready to get rid of this obstacle.» The minister’s comments mark a sea-change in Libya’s official position. While a team of lawyers and business leaders has been involved in discussions about compensation for the past 18 months, the Libya has until now expressed reluctance to make such payments. On a visit to London in June, the Libyan parliament’s foreign affairs secretary, Suleiman Sasi al-Shahoumi, said: «Compensation was not on the agenda of our negotiations and never was. We have never accepted the principle of paying compensation.» British officials said the comments were Libya’s clearest declaration so far that it was prepared to comply with conditions for lifting all sanctions imposed over its role in the Lockerbie bombing, for which the Libyan agent Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi was convicted last year at the specially established Scottish court in the Netherlands. (The Independent, UK, 8 August 2002)

* Madagascar. Remonter la pente — La récente crise politique qui a secoué Madagascar a frappé de plein fouet l’économie du pays, a déclaré la directrice générale du Trésor au ministère des Finances. “La crise a frappé lourdement les entreprises, le tourisme, les transports, le secteur agricole à un moindre degré, et un ralentissement des services”. Au niveau du gouvernement, tout est actuellement mis en oeuvre pour relancer l’économie. - Par ailleurs, la presse malgache souligne l’éventualité d’une reconnaissance imminente du nouveau pouvoir malgache dirigé par M. Ravalomanana, suite à la visite officielle d’une délégation conduite par la ministre sud-africaine des Affaires étrangères, Mme Zuma. Le secrétaire général de l’Onu, Kofi Annan, a déjà reconnu officiellement M. Ravalomanana comme président de Madagascar et l’a invité au sommet de la Terre fin août à Johannesburg. Le chef de l’Etat a par ailleurs indiqué que, suite aux négociations avec les bailleurs de fonds, le budget de fonctionnement des ministères serait débloqué dès la semaine prochaine. (D’après PANA, Sénégal, 16-18 août 2002)

* Madagascar. Epidémie de grippe — L’épidémie de grippe qui a débuté dans les premiers jours de juin continue à Madagascar. Elle aurait fait, pour l’instant, entre 374 et 444 morts selon les différentes sources. L’île est touchée chaque année par la  grippe, mais cette année le virus est parvenu jusque dans les villages les plus reculés. Pour expliquer les 2% de morts parmi les malades, un taux très important, les épidémiologistes poursuivent leurs analyses sur la souche pour savoir s’il y a l’émergence d’un nouveau variant de la grippe. Mais M. Manuguerra, de l’Institut Pasteur, avance aussi d’autres hypothèses pour expliquer l’ampleur et la gravité de l’épidémie. Il souligne d’abord l’état de malnutrition et de sous-alimentation des Malgaches, mais également la reprise des déplacements massifs de population depuis que la restriction sur l’essence a été levée, qui a entraîné un brassage important entre la ville et les campagnes. (Le Figaro, France, 21 août 2002)

* Malawi. World ignoring food crisis — The head of the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) says the world is ignoring the food crisis in southern Africa. Carol Bellamy, Unicef’s executive director, appealed for $30m in aid for the region when she visited Malawi, where three million people face starvation. «Without help from the international community, things will get out of hand,» she said at a feeding centre in the shanty town of Ndirande on the outskirts of Blantyre, Malawi’s commercial capital. Malawi’s national co-ordinator for nutrition, Thereza Banda, told Ms Bellamy that 7,000 Malawian children were on the verge of death. Another 65,000 children in the country were suffering from malnutrition, Ms Banda added. Malawi declared a state of disaster in February over a severe food shortage. The Unicef director said that the food crisis had also hit schools in the country, with more than 500,000 students dropping out. Malawi’s school enrolment had tripled in 1994 to 3.2 million when free primary education was introduced. Unicef has set aside $3.5m for Malawi’s malnourished children and lactating mothers, Ms Bellamy said. A spokeswoman for the World Food Programme, Thigo Mtegha, said that many families in Malawi were at the end of their resources. «What you are seeing are households that have a little bit of food that are saying that this food will last for a period of a month after which they will have no coping strategy whatsoever,» she said. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 20 August 2002)

* Mali. Recherche d’une majorité parlementaire — Le 10 août, le Conseil constitutionnel malien a inversé le résultat des élections législatives qui avaient donné la victoire en juillet dernier à l’Alliance pour la démocratie (ADEMA), le parti de l’ancien président Alpha Oumar Konaré. Des dizaines de milliers de suffrages ayant été invalidés en raison d’irrégularités diverses, la victoire revient désormais à la coalition regroupée autour de l’ex-Premier ministre Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, le candidat du Rassemblement pour le Mali (RPM). La coalition Espoir 2002 dispose désormais de 66 des 147 sièges à l’Assemblée nationale contre 51 à l’ADEMA, selon le Conseil. M. Keita a fait savoir qu’il était prêt à travailler avec le président Amadou Toumani Touré, élu en mai dernier et qui n’avait pas donné de consigne de vote pour ces législatives. — 21 août. A une dizaine de jours de la proclamation des résultats définitifs des législatives, la classe politique malienne n’a pas encore réussi à dégager une majorité absolue et élire, pour les cinq prochaines années, le nouveau président du Parlement. Ces derniers jours, des rumeurs persistantes font cas de défections de députés de leur formation politique vers d’autres partis ou groupements, ce qui rend très complexe la situation actuelle du paysage politique. Huit sièges d’ailleurs ne sont pas encore pourvus; des élections partielles seront organisées entre octobre et novembre. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 21 août 2002)

* Maroc. 26 naufragés — Vingt-six Marocains, dont deux jeunes filles, ont été portés disparus en mer, dans des circonstances non encore élucidées, alors qu’ils tentaient de rallier les côtes espagnoles. Les informations sur cette disparition ont été recueillies auprès de l’unique rescapé, retrouvé le 17 août au matin au large des côtes algériennes, à bord d’une embarcation pneumatique de sept mètres sur laquelle voyageait le groupe. (Libération, France, 19 août 2002)

* Morocco. King pardons hundreds of prisoners — 20 August: Morocco’s King Mohammed today pardons 465 prisoners on the occasion of his 39th birthday. 21 August: Morocco celebrates the birthday of the monarch who was enthroned after the death of his father, King Hassan, in July 1999. In July, the monarch granted an amnesty to more than 8,000 prisoners during his wedding ceremony. They included two Islamists. Moroccan jails have a capacity of 40,000 but hold about 57,000 inmates, according to the latest available official figures. (CNN, USA, 20 August 2002)

* Mauritania/Senegal. Hundreds of thousands threatened by drought — Hundreds of thousands of people, especially children and women are threatened by «a record breaking drought» in the Sahel region of West Africa. In Mauritania and Senegal, livestock were already dying and crops has been lost. Mauritania is the worst hit. Cattle are dying due to lack of water and pasture while herdsmen are moving remaining stock to the southern border where some feed still exists, leaving part of the population with little or no access to fresh meat and milk. Even if a short rainfall does occur in Mauritania, the best case scenario is a 40 per cent loss in crop production. If no rains fall, that could [mean] 90 per cent of crops destroyed. In Senegal, Mauritania’s southern neighbour, areas that usually received 24 inches of rain per year, had received only five inches as at 12 August. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 14 August 2002)

* Mauritanie-Sénégal. Sécheresse — Des centaines de milliers de personnes, surtout des enfants et des femmes, sont menacées par “une sécheresse sans précédent” dans la région du Sahel, en Afrique de l’Ouest, a rapporté World Vision International. En Mauritanie et au Sénégal, le bétail est en train de périr et les cultures sont perdues, a signalé l’ONG. La Mauritanie est la plus durement frappée. Le bétail meurt à cause du manque d’eau, tandis que les pasteurs déplacent le reste du cheptel vers la frontière sud où il y a encore un peu de pâturage, ce qui laisse une partie de la population avec peu ou aucun accès à la viande fraîche et à du lait. “Même s’il y avait une courte saison de pluies en Mauritanie, le meilleur scénario sera de 40% de perte dans la production agricole. S’il ne pleut pas du tout, ce chiffre pourrait grimper à 90%”. Au Sénégal, des régions qui recevaient d’habitude 24 pouces d’eau de pluie par an, n’en ont eu que 5 à la date du 12 août. “Même s’il se met à pleuvoir maintenant, la situation restera catastrophique”, a remarqué le directeur de WVI. Des plans de réponse d’urgence à la sécheresse sont en préparation. (IRIN, Abidjan, 14 août 2002)

* Mozambique. Train crew in the dock — State prosecutors have demanded stiff penalties for four railway workers accused of causing the crash which killed 195 people in May. They pleaded not guilty and said they were following the instructions of their managers. If convicted of involuntary homicide, they could face up to 24 years in prison and be made to pay compensation to the victims’ families. The crash occurred after a train travelling from the South African border to the capital, Maputo, encountered problems going down a hill. The train was stopped and rocks were used to wedge passenger carriages, while the crew went for help. But the rocks came loose and the wagons rolled down the hill into the freight sections of the train, near the town of Muamba. «Those who will be found guilty should be given an exemplary sentence,» state attorney Arone Nhaca said at the start of the trial before a Maputo magistrate. Prosecutors accused the crew of negligence for not verifying the mechanical state of the train before leaving Ressano Garcia, on the South African border. During the journey the passenger carriages became decoupled from the rest of the train on three occasions but the prosecution said the crew carried on regardless. Around 150 people, including crash survivors and victims’ relatives were in court. Many of those killed were women traders on their way to market. (BBC News, UK, 21 August 2002)

* Namibia. Rare impala threatened by conservationists — The endangered black-faced impala of Namibia are facing extinction because of misguided conservation efforts, zoologists have warned. The sub-species -– found only in northern Namibia and southern Angola, and numbering some 3,200 -– is under threat after the short-sighted  introduction of common impala into commercial game reserves around Etosha, one of Africa’s biggest game parks. In Namibia, the black-faced impala narrowly escaped extinction during the liberation war of the 1970s, when they were poached by warring forces from South Africa and the South West African People’s Organisation in Koakaland. The soldiers shot everything and their poaching might have reduced the sub-species’ population from tens of thousands. Far-sighted government conservationists moved 260 of the black-faced impala to Etosha, one of the world’s top game parks covering 22,270 sq km in northern Namibia which, despite being mostly arid, teems with game. Tammie Matson, an Australian zoologist who has studied the black impala for two years, said: «They thrived here in five populations that have today grown to between 1,500 and 2,000.» The sub-species also exists in limited numbers outside the park and in private reserves, where small populations were moved from Etosha to increase their range and abundance. A black-faced impala costs up to Nam$9,000 while a common impala costs only about a ninth of this sum. The problem is that impala move easily through game fences and black-faced impala have begun breeding with common impala imported from South Africa and the Caprivi Strip. (The Independent, UK, 15 August 2002)