PART #1/4 - From AFRICA to ANGOLA 

* Africa. Noma Award for Publishing in Africa — Established in 1979, the Noma Award is open to African writers and scholars whose work is published in Africa. The US $10,000 prize is given annually for an outstanding new book in any of these three categories: Scholarly or academic; books for children; literature and creative writing. Books are admissible in any of the languages of Africa, both local and European. This year, the 2003 Noma Award Winner is: Walter and Albertina Sisulu. In our Lifetime, by Elinor Sisulu. The author is a journalist, academic amd daughter-in-law of Walter and Albertina Sisulu. The Jury’s citation reads: «This is a powerful and searing book, told with honesty and authority, of the lives of two heroic figures in South Africa’s history». The Noma Award Jury is chaired by Walter Bgoya from Tanzania, one of Africa’s most distinguished and respected publishers. (Noma Award, 10 October 2003)

* Afrique. Journée mondiale de l’alimentation — L’humanité a “un siècle de retard” dans sa lutte contre la malnutrition, a constaté le 16 octobre la FAO, à l’occasion de la Journée mondiale de l’alimentation. Selon cette organisation de l’Onu, 840 millions de personnes souffrent de faim chronique, dont 799 millions dans les pays en développement. Selon les statistiques de la FAO, 194 millions de personnes souffrent de la faim en Afrique subsaharienne; un tiers de la population souffre de malnutrition. 21 pays sont particulièrement touchés, dont l’Ethiopie, le Soudan, la Somalie et l’Angola. Si rien n’est fait, indique la FAO, l’objectif de réduire de moitié, d’ici 2015, le nombre de victimes de la faim ne sera atteint qu’en 2115. L’organisation appelle à la création d’une alliance internationale contre la faim. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 17 octobre 2003)

* Afrique. Le Vatican plaide l’annulation de la dette — Contre la marginalisation de l’Afrique, le Saint-Siège invite d’urgence à la solidarité et à l’annulation de la dette. Le 16 octobre à New York, Mgr Migliore, observateur permanent du Saint-Siège aux Nations unies, est intervenu au cours de l’assemblée générale de l’Onu en affirmant: “Le montant global de la dette extérieure de l’Afrique est peu élevé selon les paramètres mondiaux, mais son poids en matière de justice et de capacités économiques requiert une solution globale rapide. Le processus d’annulation ne doit pas être trop longtemps bloqué sous des prétextes techniques ou bureaucratiques”. Il a aussi plaidé pour un nouveau modèle de coopération entre pays riches et pays africains. “Pour que le commerce extérieur devienne un facteur essentiel du développpement de l’Afrique, la communauté internationale doit soutenir et appliquer efficacement les véritables valeurs du commerce, en éliminant toute compétition incorrecte”, a affirmé Mgr Migliore. (D’après Zenith, Vatican, 17 octobre 2003)

* Africa. The desperation of migrants — 20 October: At least 70 migrants have been found dead on a boat off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, officials say. Some 15 people were found alive on the 10-metre boat. Italy has demanded action on both sides of the Mediterranean to tackle traffickers who exploit the desperation of clandestine migrants. Many of the estimated 85 people who boarded the boat in Libya were Somalis. The Italian captain who sighted the ship said the living and the dead were piled on top of one another. He said: «When we came closer to the drifting boast, what we saw was like a vision of hell». The deaths are the latest in a long series of disasters at sea. Last week, seven Somali migrants reportedly drowned when their boat capsized off Italy. The captain of the vessel has been arrested and charged with multiple manslaughter and aiding and abetting illegal immigration, Italian radio reported. In another incident, a group of 45 Egyptian illegal migrants who set sail for Italy on 19 October were said to have been rescued after their boat capsized during bad weather at sea near Malta. Maltese marine police had rescued the Egyptians and transferred them to a refugee camp on the Mediterranean island to await deportation, the Egyptian government Al-Akhbar daily said. A group of 148 Egyptians were flown back to Egypt under Maltese police escort in late September after they also tried to enter Italy illegally by boat. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 20 October 2003)

* Afrique. Mortalité maternelle — Les femmes africaines ont une chance sur 16 de mourir lors d’un accouchement, soit un taux de mortalité 175 fois supérieur à celui enregistré dans les pays occidentaux, indique une étude publiée le 20 octobre par les Nations unies. Elle estime que 95% des 529.000 décès maternels survenus en 2000 ont été enregistrés en Afrique et en Asie. Selon le directeur général de l’OMS, Lee Jong-wook, de nombreuses femmes africaines accouchent par leurs propres moyens ou avec l’aide de personnes non qualifiées. “La présence d’accompagnateurs qualifiés est vitale car ils peuvent reconnaître et empêcher des crises médicales”, estime-t-il. La directrice de l’Unicef, Carol Bellamy, qualifie pour sa part ce taux de mortalité d"inadmissible" et souligne le besoin urgent de soins plus adaptés, en particulier en Afrique. (AP, 20 octobre 2003)

* Africa. Childbirth deaths too high — A UN report says that African women are 175 times more likely to die in childbirth and pregnancy than Westerners. Overall, African women have a one in 16 chance of dying in childbirth and pregnancy — but the report says many deaths could be avoided. UNICEF‘s Executive Director, Carol Bellamy, says the figures show «an unacceptably high number of women dying in childbirth» and calls for increased access to emergency obstetric care. Many women deliver their children alone or with untrained attendants, says the report. In 2000, 95% of the 529,000 deaths among pregnant women occured in Africa and Asia. The report is the first time a new analytical technique has been used to estimate the number of deaths among pregnant women in countries where accurate figures are hard to come by. The two countries with the worst record are Sierra Leone and Afghanistan, both suffering from years of civil strife, where the risk of deaths among women is one in six. In Angola, Malawi and Niger, it is one in seven. (BBC News, UK, 20 October 2003)

* Afrique. Classement de la liberté de presse — Reporters sans frontières (RSF) publie son second classement mondial de la liberté de presse. Pour établir ce classement, RSF a demandé à des journalistes, des juristes ou des militants des droits de l’homme de remplir un questionnaire permettant d’évaluer la situation dans un pays donné. 166 nations figurent dans cet index (contre 139 l’an passé). Ce classement démontre que le respect de la liberté de la presse n’est pas uniquement lié au développement économique. Ainsi, des pays les plus pauvres de la planète, comme le Bénin (29e) et Madagascar (46e), figurent dans les cinquante premiers. Sur le continent africain, les guerres et les graves crises politiques ont inévitablement des conséquences sur la liberté de la presse. Les trois pays qui ont perdu le plus grand nombre de places par rapport à 2002 sont la Côte d’Ivoire (137e), le Liberia (132e) et la Guinée-Bissau (118e). Le pays africain classé le plus bas est l’Erythrée (162e). (D’après RSF, France, 20 octobre 2003)

* Africa. Sahara hostages asked to pay up — 20 October: German tourists taken hostage in the Sahara desert this year have been told to pay for being rescued. One of them, Rainer Bracht, said the Foreign Ministry asked him for about 2,300 euros, a fraction of the total. He said the request was «totally populist», and that victims of violence should not have to pay. The nine Germans were among 14 European tourists freed in August more than five months after being seized in small groups by Islamic militants in Algeria. A 15th tourist, a German woman, died during the ordeal. Germany is reported to have paid a ransom for the hostages, but the government has refused to confirm or deny this. The hostages are expected to pay towards the costs of communications and trips by officials in negotiation with the hostage-takers, and their own flight home on a German Air Force plane. Press reports have put the total cost at around 20 million euros. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 20 October 2003)

* Africa. Action against the Media  
  — THE GAMBIA: On 20 October, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issued a press release condemning the 17 October arson attack on the offices of the private, biweekly Independent newspaper, located in a suburb of the capital, Banjul. According to local journalists, on the evening of 17 October, three unidentified men assaulted a private security guard in front of the paper’s offices, using tear gas and an iron bar and knocking the guard unconscious. After tricking a second guard into leaving his post, the assailants doused the building’s windows and doors with gasoline and set it on fire, as well as the electrical meter located outside. The attackers fled the scene without entering the building, local journalists said. The first guard was hospitalized and is recovering from his injuries. 
— LIBYA: On 16 October, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) said it has the Libyan authorities for more information about the suspension of the official newspaper Al-Zahf Al-Akhdar. The Standing Revolutionary Court suspended the daily on 13 October for having «damaged national interests and harmed Libya’s position».
 —MAURITANIA: On 21 October, RSF urged the Mauritanian authorities to lift a suspension order against the weekly Le Calame. The Ministry of the Interior, Posts and Telecommunications, which regulates the press, suspended issue 414 of the weekly on 19 October 2003, citing Article 11 of the Press Law, which allows for censorship without explanation. A member of the weekly’s editorial staff said the suspension is believed to be linked to an article entitled, «The big silence at the centre of the debate». 
 —MOROCCO: On 17 October, RSF condemned the legal harassment of two Moroccan weekly newspaper editors. Mohammed el-Hourd, of Asharq, and Mustapha Kechnini, of Al Hayat al-Maghribia. They were previously convicted under the country’s new press law, but they are being tried again for the same offenses by a court in the northeastern city of Oujda, where their respective newspapers are published. They have been summoned to appear in court on 19 October 2003. 
— MOZAMBIQUE: On 16 October, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) said that on 7 October, Mozambique Television journalist Hermínio Nhanombe and Ruben Jossai, of Savana newspaper, were threatened and harassed by the bodyguard of Afonso Dlakhama, leader of the opposition Resistencia Nacional Mocambicana. The journalists were covering a political gathering in the Vilankulos district, in southern Mozambique. In addition to openly harassing the journalists, Dlakhama’s bodyguards also threatened to confiscate their equipment. The journalists were also denied an opportunity to take photographs or notes relative to the event. 
— SOUTH AFRICA: On 15 October, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) called upon the South African authorities to withdraw subpoenas issued to journalists, which could force them to reveal their sources of information. «Protection of sources is of paramount importance to professional and ethical journalism,» said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. «South Africa should avoid any judicial procedures that threaten this key principle.» — On 17 October, the International Press Institute (IPI) criticised the decision of the South African Hefer Commission to widen the pursuit of journalists. The IPI is alarmed that although the South African Hefer Commission is now «inviting» journalists to attend, it is still threatening to use subpoenas if they fail to appear. In recent days, the Commission has extended these «invitations» to two journalists, Sunday Times editor Mathatha Tsedu and City Press journalist Elias Maluleke. Both Tsedu and Maluleke have refused to accept the Commission’s «invitation». The IPI is worried at the apparent statement of Commission secretary John Bacon who was quoted as saying that if Maluleke failed to appear he would be «summonsed to do so». 
— TANZANIA: On 16 October, MISA reported that on 10 October, the Kome Kichangani village authority expelled a group of local and foreign journalists from the Lake Victoria island of Kome, in Tanzania’s Mwanza region. The foreign journalists, who are from the United States and France, and a local reporter from the East African newspaper were undertaking research on fisheries in the lake region for documentaries and feature articles. In addition to being expelled, the journalists’ passports and accreditation cards, which they had obtained from the Department of Information Services were also confiscated. 
—ZAMBIA: On 21 October, MISA reported that on 18 October, journalists from both private and state-owned media outlets were barred from reporting on the deliberations of various committees at a government-organised national convention (Indaba) taking place in Lusaka, Zambia. The journalists, who had been accredited to cover the four-day meeting, were told on 18 October that, in order to avoid intimidating the delegates, they would not be allowed to cover the deliberations of the 12 committees formed at the convention. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 21 October 2003)

* Afrique. Menace de criquets au Sahel — Le 20 octobre, l’Organisation des Nations unies pour l’agriculture et l’alimentation (FAO) a lancé un appel à l’aide pour le nord de l’Afrique noire où une invasion de criquets pourrait “rapidement” ravager les cultures. Les trois principaux foyers d’infestation repérés par les experts sont le nord-ouest de la Mauritanie, le nord du Niger et le nord-est du Soudan. Des équipes d’épandage de pesticide ont été dépêchées en Mauritanie et au Soudan, mais “le nombre de criquets augmente rapidement. Ils commencent à se regrouper, ce qui est caractéristique d’une invasion”, a insisté la FAO. L’alerte est destinée aux gouvernements africains concernés et à la communauté internationale des bailleurs de fonds, a ajouté l’organisation. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 21 octobre 2003)

* Africa. IMF admits it is failing Africa — 21 October: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has admitted that one of its key African initiatives is in trouble. In a working paper published in Washington, two of the IMF‘s researchers show that its programme to relieve some of Africa’s poorest countries of their debt burden may not produce a sustainable economic situation. The IMF‘s initiative for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries was launched in 1996. Its aim was simple: to cut the mountain of debts that countries had run up, reducing them to more manageable levels. At the same time, the programme encouraged states to increase their spending on the poor — on badly needed policies aimed at building schools and paying teachers. This study looks at the performance of 12 African countries — all of which were heavily indebted before the programme got under way. These include Mozambique, Tanzania, Ghana and Cameroon —countries chosen to represent a variety of economic conditions. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 21 October 2003)

* Africa. Blitz on polio — Fifteen million children in five west and central African states are being immunised against polio in an emergency three-day blitz aimed at preventing the crippling disease regaining a hold in those countries. Hundreds of thousands of health workers and volunteers yesterday began administering oral vaccine in an attempt to turn back the disease, which has spread from Nigeria, where it is still endemic. The crisis threatens to undermine the goal of eradicating polio throughout the globe, and has prompted a remarkable grassroots effort to reach families whose homelands border or are in the danger zone. The political uncertainty surrounding elections in Nigeria this year has helped to undermine the country’s immunisation programmes. About a dozen cases of children paralysed by polio of a type linked to northern Nigeria by genetic tests have recently been found in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Niger and Togo. Children in these four countries, plus Benin, are regarded as being at risk of contracting the disease. The global eradication initiative is spearheaded by the World Health Organisation and is supported by private foundations, donor governments, humanitarian organisations and companies. The blitz, organised at a cost of more than $10m, will mean more financial problems for the initiative, which is already short of the $210m it says is still needed to help wipe out the disease by 2005. Population movements, including nomadic journeys and family and business trips, are likely to have helped to spread the disease, although tracking its exact path would be almost impossible. Chad, where a case has also been identified, and Cameroon will become extra targets for immunisation programmes next month. (The Guardian, UK, 23 October 2003)

* Afrique du Nord. Drames de l’immigration — Après une trêve qui a duré l’espace d’un été, les débarquements de petits rafiots et autres embarcations de fortune en provenance d’Afrique a repris au sud de la Sicile, avec son cortège de morts et de disparus. Le 19 octobre, seules 15 personnes, d’origine somalienne, ont été sauvées après que leur esquif parti de Libye eut été repéré à cinquante milles nautiques de Lampedusa, l’île la plus méridionale d’Europe. Quinze corps gisaient au fond du bateau. Des dizaines d’autres auraient été balancés à la mer par les survivants. Au total, entre 60 et 80 personnes seraient mortes de faim et de froid dans cette nouvelle traversée tragique. Après une avarie de moteur, la petite barque de douze mètres avait dérivé pendant près de 20 jours. Déjà le 17 octobre, 25 immigrés africains étaient arrivés exténués à Lampedusa après avoir perdu en route onze de leurs compagnons de voyage, dont trois petites fillettes, dont les corps avaient été jetés à l’eau par leurs parents désespérés. - Le lundi 20 octobre à l’aube, six personnes ont encore péri et 22 autres sont portées disparues dans le naufrage d’une embarcation avec des candidats à l’immigration clandestine au large des côtes tunisiennes, rapporte mardi le journal Assabah de Tunis, sans préciser la nationalité des naufragés. Mais, selon des sources informées, ils seraient tous Tunisiens. Deux personnes ont survécu à ce drame. De petite dimension, le bateau transportait au total 30 personnes, qui projetaient de se rendre dans l’île italienne de Lampedusa. Il a coulé à environ 5 km de la localité de Bouficha, dans le centre tunisien. L’alerte a été donnée par un rescapé qui a pu gagner le rivage à la nage. Les unités de secours ont repêché les corps de six noyés. Les recherches se poursuivent encore pour retrouver les disparus. Dimanche, les services de sécurité tunisiens avaient fait échec à une tentative d’immigration illégale vers l’Italie et arrêté 74 personnes. Face au renforcement de la surveillance du littoral tunisien, les clandestins ont de plus en plus recours aux côtes libyennes pour tenter de se rendre dans “l’Eldorado européen”. - Le 22 octobre, les dix pays africains et européens du groupe dit “Dialogue 5+5" entament une concertation ministérielle de deux jours sur le phénomène migratoire en Méditerranée. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 22 octobre 2003)

* North Africa. Fears of locust outbreak — 21 October: Crops in North Africa are under threat from swarms of locusts, says the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Outbreaks of locusts have been reported in Mauritania, Niger and Sudan and observers fear they could spread across the northern half of the continent. Affected governments and international donors have been alerted. «The situation has the potential to develop rapidly and it could be a matter of weeks,» said the FAO‘s Locust Group in a statement. We must immediately boost the number of surveys, the level of monitoring and prepare for expanded intervention." (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 21 October 2003)

* Algérie. Salaheddine Sidhoum libéré — Le militant des droits de l’homme Salaheddine Sidhoum, condamné par contumace en 1997 à ving ans de prison pour “assistance aux terroristes”, a été acquitté le jeudi 16 octobre. Selon son avocat, “M. Sidhoum a été totalement acquitté et aucune charge n’a été retenue contre lui”. En fuite en Europe, M. Sidhoum avait décidé le 29 septembre dernier de se rendre aux autorités algériennes. Incarcéré, il avait entamé une grève de la faim qu’il a arrêtée dimanche dernier, une fois fixée la date de son procès. Accusé “d’appartenance à un groupe terroriste et apologie d’actes terroristes”, il a toujours clamé son innocence, tout en reconnaissant avoir soigné des islamistes et avoir recueilli des informations et des témoignages sur des exactions et des bavures des forces de sécurité, qu’il avait livrés à la presse et à des ONG internationales. L’issue de ce procès pourrait ouvrir la porte à d’autres personnes condamnées pour assistance ou complicité avec les groupes armés islamistes. (D’après AP, 16 octobre 2003)

* Algeria. Flood kills at least 13 — Torrential rains battered parts of Algeria, triggering flooding and mudslides that killed more than a dozen people, including three children, newspapers reported on 18 October. At least 13 people were killed in the rain and hail storms that pounded parts of this North African country 15-17 October, according to the reports. The flooding was concentrated mainly in three western regions, but spread on 17 October to the Berber region east of Algiers. A young girl was killed by a falling wall in a village near the Berber capital of Tizi Ouzou, 100 kms east of Algiers, the daily Liberte reported. The wall had reportedly been weakened by a deadly earthquake in May. In the west, rescue squads retrieved the bodies of five people who were swept away by floods early 15 October in Ain Sefra, 500 kilometres from Algiers, according to the newspaper El Watan. More than 40 millimetres of rain fell in one hour in Saida, 440 kilometres west of Algiers, where two people died in mudslides, the paper reported. Two children were carried away by floodwaters that gushed through a ravine. The roofs of several old homes in Saida caved in, El Watan reported. In nearby, in Mascara, hailstorms destroyed potato and olive crops, the paper said. (CNN, USA, 18 October 2003)

* Algérie. Inondations meurtrières — Treize personnes, dont deux enfants, ont été tuées ces dernières 48 heures lors d’inondations provoquées par des pluies torrentielles dans une partie de l’ouest et du centre de l’Algérie, a annoncé samedi, 18 octobre, la radio nationale, qui fait état de dégâts significatifs. La montée des eaux a endommagé des routes et des bâtiments et emporté la toiture de certaines habitations. Les précipitations ont également coupé plusieurs axes routiers dans l’ouest, notamment à Oran. Dans la nuit du jeudi au vendredi, d’importantes chutes de pluie ont aussi été enregistrées sur tout le territoire de la région de Tizi-Ouzou en Kabylie (100 km à l’est d’Alger). (Reuters et AP, 18 octobre 2003)

* Algeria. US assets of Algerian group frozen — The United States said on 20 October it had frozen the US assets of an Algerian group that it believed could commit «acts of terrorism» that threaten US citizens or US national interests. The State Department described the Dhamat Houmet Daawa Salafia group as well-organized and well-armed and said it had «engaged in terrorist activity in Algeria and internationally» that had killed numerous people since the mid-1990s. «The designation of the Dhamat Houmet Daawa Salafia, which is effective October 17, 2003, blocks its assets in the US and bars US persons from most transactions with that entity,» State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said in a statement. In the Federal Register, the US government said it acted because of a belief that the group «has committed, or poses a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of US nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States.» The State Department said the group emerged after its leader, Mohammed Benslim, broke from the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), one of the key militant organizations that have battled the Algerian authorities since they cancelled a 1992 election that an Islamist party was poised to win. (CNN, USA, 21 October 2003)

* Algérie. Grèves — Les cheminots et les professeurs de lycées sont en grève depuis sept jours. Tous réclament des hausses de salaire de 2.000 à 2.500 dinars (22,50 à 28 euros) par mois. Les autorités de tutelle ont refusé ces demandes, jugées “excessives”. Les grévistes estiment qu’ils ne peuvent faire face à la flambée des prix à l’approche du ramadan, le 26 octobre. (La Croix, France, 21 octobre 2003)

* Algérie. Réduire l’hécatombe sur les routes — Le nombre d’accidents enregistré ces dernières années en Algérie a dépassé le seuil du “tolérable”: 4.314 morts pour 41.757 accidents ont été dénombrés durant la seule année 2002, a indiqué mardi le ministère algérien des Transports, qui souligne que le pays figure parmi les pays où la route est devenue un véritable fléau. Pour tenter d’enrayer l’hécatombe routière, qui coûte annuellement 35 milliards de dinars (390 millions d’euros) au Trésor public dans un pays où le parc automobile n’est que de trois millions de véhicules, une batterie de textes législatifs plus répressifs est en phase de finalisation pour contraindre les automobilistes et les passagers à attacher leur ceinture de sécurité, a annoncé le ministère. Ainsi, le non-port de la ceinture de sécurité constituera une infraction très grave qui sera sanctionnée par le retrait pur et simple du permis de conduire. Le non-respect d’un passage piéton, l’excès de vitesse, le changement de direction sans en avoir droit, l’embarquement des enfants sur les banquettes avant du véhicule constitueront également des infractions punies par la nouvelle législation. (D’après AFP, France, 21 octobre 2003)

* Angola. Rebuilding bridges to reunite the country — As new bridges are laid in Angola, replacing those broken or blown up during the war, previously isolated communities are slowly being opened up. The quickly-built military bridges are not only a short-term solution to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid, they also open the door to trade and long-term development in many rural areas. The bridge over the Quissafo river, 65 km north of N’dalatando, the provincial capital of Cuanza Norte, was blown up during the 1980s. Driving between N’dalatando and the provincial capital of Uige further to the north required a detour through the bush and the use of a small, temporary bridge — a route that was only passable during the dry season. The new bridge and road will provide tens of thousands of people with access to World Food Programme (WFP) aid, and the markets in N’dalatando. The Quissafo river bridge is the last of nine key bridges around the country to be built by the Swedish Rescue Service Agency (SRSA) on behalf of WFP. (IRIN, Kenya, 22 October 2003)