* Sierra Leone. Retrait des casques bleus — La force de maintien de la paix des Nations unies a commencé à se retirer de Sierra Leone, ce que le gouvernement a considéré, le 31 octobre, comme une preuve de ce que la paix était revenue après l’une des plus longues et des pires guerres en Afrique. Un groupe de 71 soldats nigérians a été le premier à partir cette semaine. Le Conseil de sécurité a voté en septembre dernier la réduction de la force de 17.000 à 4.500 avant juin. Environ 300 casques bleus devraient quitter le pays d’ici à la fin de l’année, la plupart la semaine prochaine. (AP, 31 octobre 2002)

* Somalie. Le Somaliland boude les pourparlers — Le 3 novembre, des milliers d’habitants du Somaliland sont descendus dans les rues de Burao dans la ville portuaire de Berbera, manifestant contre la conférence pour la paix en Somalie qui se déroule actuellement à Eldoret, au Kenya. Les manifestants sont opposés à l’unification proposée de la Somalie, arguant que le Somaliland est un Etat indépendant et qu’il ne fera pas partie de la Somalie. La République autoproclamée du Somaliland s’est détachée de la République unie de Somalie en 1991. Selon certains hommes politiques somaliens, les pourparlers d’Eldoret n’aboutiront pas à grand chose en l’absence des représentants du Somaliland. (PANA, Sénégal, 4 novembre 2002)

* South Africa. Man charged with overthrow plot — A white South African man suspected of  leading a right-wing extremist group has appeared in court in connection with an alleged plot to overthrow the black-run government. Tom Vorster, a 52-year-old businessman, was arrested on 4 November after being on the run from police since August. Police believe Vorster is one of the leaders of the Boeremag, a shadowy right-wing group accused of planning attacks on police and army bases in a bid to seize control of the South African government and chase black people out of the country. Of South Africa’s 43 million people, only about 10 percent are white. Vorster, who was remanded in custody on 5 November, will stand trial next May along with 17 other men alleged to be part of the coup plot. They will face charges of terrorism, treason and sabotage, public prosecutors said. Police said Vorster had not been linked to nine bombings in the black township of Soweto last week that killed one woman and which government officials blamed on white racists. But police said on 5 November they were expecting to make four or five more arrests linked with the alleged coup plot. So far 20 men have been arrested in connection with the suspected plan to overthrow the government. Charges against two have been withdrawn and four have been released on bail. All are members of the white Afrikaans-speaking community, descended from Dutch and French settlers who arrived on the southern tip of Africa three centuries ago. (CNN, USA, 5 November 2002)

* Afrique du Sud. Membre de l’extrême droite poursuivi — M. Tom Vorster, un haut responsable de l’extrême droite blanche sud-africaine “Bouremag”, a comparu le 5 novembre devant la justice à la suite d’accusations de terrorisme et de complot pour renverser le gouvernement. Il avait été arrêté dans la nuit du 4 au 5 novembre dans une chasse à l’homme de grande ampleur. La police avait intensifié ses efforts pour arrêter les membres des groupes d’autodéfense de l’extrême droite à la suite des attentats à la bombe de la semaine dernière à Soweto. Le tribunal de Pretoria a rejeté la demande de M. Vorster de libération sous caution. La reprise de son procès avec 17 autres personnes accusées d’avoir trempé dans le complot, est prévue au mois de mai 2003. (PANA, Sénégal, 6 novembre 2002)

* South Africa. Six miners shot — 6 November: Six South African miners have been shot and seriously wounded by unknown gunmen outside a platinum mine near the town of Rustenburg, police said. «The miners were walking from their hostel to the mine shaft when they were attacked. Six people were seriously wounded and taken to hospital,» said police spokesman Captain David Serepa, today. The gunmen — armed with shotguns, rifles and pistols — attacked the miners at around 4 a.m. (0200 GMT). Police said the motive for the attack was not immediately known. The mine owner, Anglo American Platinum, confirmed the incident near one of its mines  outside Rustenburg, 100 km from Johannesburg. «We think it has to do with crime in the area,» said Amplats spokesman Mike Mtakati. (CNN, USA, 6 November 2002)

* Soudan. Tourabi sort de prison — Les autorités soudanaises ont transféré, fin octobre, Hassan Tourabi, 70 ans, leader du Parti national du congrès populaire, dans une villa à Khartoum, où il sera maintenu en résidence surveillée. Cette décision fait suite à son hospitalisation, au début du mois, consécutive à une chute survenue dans la prison de Kubar, où il était détenu depuis septembre dernier. Opposant au régime d’Omar el-Béchir — après en avoir été l’éminence grise et le principal allié — Tourabi avait été arrêté en février 2001. (J.A./L’Intelligent, France, 4-10 novembre 2002)

* Swaziland. Royal kidnap case shelved — 4 November: Amnesty International says it is gravely concerned by the recent attempts by agents of King Mswati III to undermine the independence of the judiciary. The king’s agents ordered the Chief Justice and two other High Court judges to drop the case brought by Lindiwe Dlamini. 5 November: The mother of a girl allegedly abducted to become the 10th wife of Swaziland’s King Mswati III has agreed to indefinitely postpone the case. Lindiwe Dlamini had sued royal aides in a case which called into question the king’s absolute powers and brought the royal family into conflict with the judicial system. But her daughter, Zehna Mahlangu, was made a royal fiancee in a traditional ritual at the weekend, effectively making her the king’s latest wife. This seems to have placated Ms Dlamini but she did not drop the court case in case she was not satisfied with her daughter’s future treatment, her lawyer told the court, today. «For the first time my client was allowed to only have a telephone conversation with her daughter at the weekend,» lawyer Lucas Maziya said. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 5 November 2002)

* Tunisia. Eight arrested in France over Tunisian synagogue bombing — French police have detained eight people in connection with an attack on a synagogue in Tunisia that killed 19 people in April this year. The suspects were arrested near Lyon for questioning by agents from France’s counter-intelligence service, the DST. Police were acting on orders from the leading anti-terrorism judge, Jean-Louis Bruguiere. One of those detained was identified as Walid Naouar, the brother of the man believed to have been driving the gas-laden truck that exploded outside the synagogue on the resort island of Djerba. Mr Naouar’s parents and three people close to the family were among the others detained, the Lyon prosecutor Christian Hassensrat said. Under French anti-terrorism laws, the authorities can hold the suspects  for up to four days without charging them. Fourteen of the victims in the 11 April attack on the Ghriba synagogue were German tourists. The 2,000-year-old synagogue, the oldest in Africa, was crowded with tourists at the time of the blast. Djerba, 370 miles south of Tunis, is one of the country’s most popular resorts. German investigators have found evidence suggesting links between the synagogue attack and Osama bin Laden’s al-Qa’ida network. Germany’s chief federal prosecutor, Kay Nehm, said he believed a German citizen identified only as Christian G. travelled five times to Afghanistan and was possibly developing computer software for al-Qa’ida. Investigators traced the 35-year-old man as the recipient of an intercepted phone call from the main suspect in the synagogue attack. The Tunisian government initially maintained the explosion was accidental, but then acknowledged it was «a premeditated criminal act». The authorities have said they believe the attack was the work of a Tunisian, Nizar Naouar, and an unidentified accomplice who also lived in Tunisia. They believe Naouar died in the explosion, but they have not said what happened to his alleged accomplice. A group linked to al-Qa’ida that claimed to have launched the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania has claimed responsibility for the Tunisia blast. (Independent, UK, 6 November 2002)

* Uganda. Ugandans profit from Kenya’s elections — This year’s presidential election campaign in Kenya is already turning out to be a boost for the business community across the border in Uganda. The date of the election, 27 December, was only announced on Tuesday, but Ugandan businessmen have been generating profits for some time from the sale of special handkerchiefs, caps and wall calendars bearing the portraits of the two main presidential contenders, Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta. Eastern Uganda’s FM radio stations are also set to benefit from money coming in from their wealthier neighbour. Nearly all the bars and private offices in eastern Uganda display calendars of Kenya’s big political rivals conspicuously pinned on the walls, ahead of the 27 December election. But the biggest beneficiaries of the Kenyan presidential campaign could be the proprietors of private FM radio stations in eastern Uganda. Campaign agents for both Kenyan candidates want to use FM stations like Open Gate FM in Mbale and Rock Radio in Tororo to send special campaign messages to their supporters in western Kenya. The managing Director of Rock Radio, Paul Etiang, said his radio station whose signal can reach areas as far into Kenya as Kisumu and Eldoret would strike a deal with the Kenyans. But only on the condition that Kenyan politicians do not insult their opponents over the air waves. (BBC News UK, 30 October 2002)

* Zambie. L’aide alimentaire OGM — Le PAM va retirer les 15.000 tonnes de maïs américain génétiquement modifié que la Zambie a refusées et envisage de les envoyer au Malawi et au Zimbabwe, a indiqué le 5 novembre son porte-parole à Genève. L’agence de l’Onu est en train d’acheter 20.000 tonnes de nourriture ne contenant pas d’OGM, dont “une partie” ira à la Zambie, mais les besoins de ce pays (estimés à 21.000 tonnes) ne seront pas couverts immédiatement en raison des délais d’acheminement. La Zambie est frappée de plein fouet par la crise alimentaire affectant l’Afrique australe et 2,9 millions de ses habitants sont menacés de famine. Le PAM s’attend à ce que la crise alimentaire dans ce pays atteigne son point culminant en décembre-janvier. (AFP, France, 6 novembre 2002)

* Zambia. Zambia furious over GM food — 6 November: The Zambian Government has summoned aid officials working in a refugee camp to ask them why they have been distributing genetically modified (GM) maize, despite a government ban. A senior government official held what is described as a «furious meeting» with aid agency staff at the Makeba refugee camp in North-Western province. Aid workers say they have nothing to replace the GM maize, which is currently feeding 125,000 refugees in five camps, and fear that riots will break out if they attempt to remove it. The World Food Programme (WFP), which provides the food, says that the Government of Zambia has allowed it to mill and distribute the maize already stocked in the refugee camps. The WFP says it has received no written instructions to cease these activities. The Zambian Government decided last week to reject donations of GM food for nearly three million of its people hit by drought and famine. The decision was made on the basis of a scientific report on the implications of using GM food on the health and economic welfare of the country. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 6 November 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Menaces américaines d’intervention — Le 6 novembre, les autorités zimbabwéennes ont réagi avec colère aux menaces américaines d’intervention militaire éventuelle dans le pays, en vue d’assurer une distribution apolitique des vivres, tout en accusant Washington de tenter d’utiliser l’aide alimentaire comme prétexte pour destituer le gouvernement et installer l’opposition au pouvoir. Deux hauts responsables américains, accusant le président Mugabe d’utiliser l’aide alimentaire à des fins politiques, avaient averti, ce week-end, que Washington pourrait intervenir au Zimbabwe pour éviter une famine de masse au sein des partisans de l’opposition, qui seraient privés de nourriture par le gouvernement (ce que ce dernier a nié). Les relations entre le Zimbabwe et les Etats-Unis connaissent un coup de froid  depuis plus de deux ans en raison de la confiscation controversée des terres des fermiers blancs. Les Etats-Unis ont imposé des sanctions personnelles aux leaders du pays, y compris l’interdiction de voyager. (PANA, Sénégal, 6 novembre 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Crise économique — Selon le FMI, le Zimbabwe s’achemine vers l’effondrement de son économie. Le représentant du FMI au Zimbabwe, Gerry Jonhnson, a déclaré que la “mauvaise gestion” du gouvernement pourrait rapidement entraîner le pays dans une spirale d’hyperinflation qui mettra à genou l’économie nationale. Les prévisions parlent d’un taux d’inflation autour de 522% sur toute l’année 2003, mais il pourrait être encore plus élevé. La situation pourrait conduire à la faillite de plusieurs compagnies zimbabwéennes parmi les plus importantes et faire doubler, chaque mois, les prix des principaux biens de consommation. Johnson décrit un scénario apocalyptique sur le point de toucher le pays déjà épuisé par la crise alimentaire et par la séchersse qui a endommagé tout le secteur agricole. Selon lui, le parti de M. Mugabe a créé un “monstre à trois têtes” qui s’articule autour de la baisse de la production, des taux d’intérêts maintenus artificiellement à un bas niveau, et un taux d’échange de la monnaie nationale qualifié de “fictif”. Pendant ce temps, le pays continue à défendre ses choix et a récemment refusé les prescriptions du FMI en matière d’assainissement économique. (Misna, Italie, 6 novembre 2002)

* Zimbabwe. AIDS deepens — Aids is reducing Zimbabwe’s agricultural labour force by about 10 per cent a year, the United Nations estimated yesterday. It forecasts that the disease will shrink the Zimbabwean agricultural workforce by 22.7 per cent in 2020. In neighbouring Namibia the effects will be worse. By 2020 the disease is expected to cut the country’s agricultural labour force by 26 per cent. (Financial Times, UK, 6 November 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe accuses USA of invasion threat — 6 November: Zimbabwe has accused the United States of planning to invade the country under the pretext of guaranteeing the distribution of food aid. The accusation —carried by a state-owned newspaper — comes after remarks in a newspaper interview in which US State Department official Mark Bellamy was quoted as saying America might have to take «very intrusive interventionist measures» to ensure food aid was delivered. Opposition groups and aid agencies have accused Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe of only allowing the foreign aid to reach his own supporters. Nearly seven million Zimbabweans face starvation after a drop in maize production, which critics have blamed on Mr Mugabe’s expropriation of white-owned farms. The Zimbabwean Government has said the decline in agricultural output is due to a lengthy drought.  The government-controlled Herald newspaper ran a front page story, today, accusing America of plotting against Zimbabwe. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 6 November 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Bishop calls on Mugabe to quit — 7 November: A leading Zimbabwean churchman has called on President Robert Mugabe to stand down because his controversial land reform programme is ruining the country’s economy and putting millions at risk of hunger. The Bishop of Bulawayo, Pius Ncube, says black farmworkers are the real victims when white farms are handed over to government supporters. Mr Mugabe, he says, seems ready to starve his own people to keep power. The Bishop of Bulawayo said that Zimbabwe’s economy was in tatters, with both professional people and the poor leaving the country in droves because of Mr Mugabe. He said the president did not care if his people starved and he should stand down. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 7 November 2002)