ANB-BIA - Av. Charles Woeste 184 - 1090 Bruxelles - Belg TEL **.32.2/420 34 36 fax /420 05 49 E-Mail: anb- bia@village.uunet.be _____________________________________________________________ WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 20-01-2000 PART #1/2 (Gambie -> Zimbabwe) ==> (From Africa to Egypt see 20a_01_2k) * Gambie. Calme apres la tentative de coup d'Etat - Un officier de l'armee a ete tue le 15 janvier dans une fusillade qui, selon le gouvernement, faisait suite a une tentative de coup d'Etat. Le lieutenant Almano Mane, charge de la logistique au palais presidentiel, a ete abattu alors qu'il refusait de se rendre aux forces de l'ordre, apres la decouverte d'un complot visant a renverser le gouvernement du president Yahya Jammeh. Le lieutenant Momodou Landing Sanneh, commandant de la garde presidentielle, soupconne d'etre le cerveau du presume complot, a ete blesse et maitrise lors d'un bref echange de tirs a son domicile en banlieue. Les forces de securite gambiennes ont arrete un nombre non divulgue de soldats soupconnes d'avoir fomente le complot. La situation etait calme dimanche 16 janvier dans la capitale, Banjul. (ANB- BIA, de sources diverses, 17 janvier 2000) * The Gambia. Quiet after reported coup attempt - 16 January: Banjul, the capital of The Gambia, is reported quiet, a day after a ranking army officer was killed in a shoot-out the government says was a coup plot. Lt. Almano Mane, a logistics officer in the presidency, was shot dead on 15 January while resisting arrest, following the uncovering of a plot to overthrow the government of President Yahya Jammeh. The commander of the state guard, Lt. Momodou Sanneh, was arrested on 15 January for the same reason. Libya's President Gaddafi confers over the phone with President Jammeh, who reassures him that the situation is "under control". 17 January: The Interior Minister, Osman Baji, appeals for calm. He was speaking on state radio after rumours of a fresh coup attempt, which led to panic and the closure of shops and offices in Banjul, when gunfire was heard near the presidential palace. Mr Baji said the shooting was a minor incident. He said more soldiers had been arrested but refused to give details for what he called "security reasons". Many people are doubting if there really has been a coup attempt. Its announcement coincides with opposition allegations of corruption against President Jammeh. Mr Baji denies the coup was "stage managed". 18 January: President Jammeh tells Gambians the plot against him was hatched about four months ago by his own presidential guards. He said that intelligence agents, after learning of the plot, monitored the alleged plotters until 15 January, the day they were expected to stage the coup, when he ordered their arrest. He places the blame for the plot squarely on the presidential guards, let by their commander, Lt. Sanneh. "More heads will roll", says the President. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 20 January 2000) * Grands-Lacs. Mini-sommet sur la RDC a Maputo - Un mini-sommet de la Communaute pour le developpement de l'Afrique australe (SADC), s'est ouvert dimanche a Maputo, pour examiner la situation en Angola et au Congo-RDC. La SADC regroupe l'Angola, la RDC, la Tanzanie, la Zambie, la Namibie, le Mozambique, le Zimbabwe, le Lesotho, le Swaziland, le Botswana, l'Afrique du Sud, les Seychelles et l'ile Maurice. Le sommet -- qui s'est deroule en marge de l'investiture du president mozambicain Joaquim Chissano, reelu en decembre dernier pour un mandat de cinq ans -- s'est acheve sur un appel a une reunion urgente des belligerants sur les retards du processus de paix: "Nous sommes preoccupes par la lenteur de l'application du processus de paix de Lusaka", a declare le president Chissano. Le Zimbabwe, l'Angola et la Namibie ont envoye des troupes en RDC pour preter main forte aux forces armees congolaises fideles au president Kabila, confronte a une rebellion armee depuis le 2 aout 1998, soutenue par l'Ouganda et le Rwanda. Les presidents Yoweri Museveni (Ouganda) et Pasteur Bizimungu (Rwanda) ont assiste au sommet; le president Kabila, au contraire, ne s'est pas presente. Le president du Mozambique, au nom des pays de la SADC, a demande au Conseil de securite de l'ONU d'"envoyer les effectifs complets de la force de maintien de la paix en RDC", comme prevu par l'accord de Lusaka. Plusieurs pays africains ont en effet souligne que les crises en Afrique ne suscitent pas les meme reactions d'urgence que celles qui se produisent sur d'autres continents. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 17 janvier 2000) * Guinea-Bissau, Elections -- round two - 16 January: Opposition leader Kumba Yala (Socialist Renewal Party) says he is confident of winning todays presidential election. "I am confident -- I will beat my opponent, Malam Bacai Sanha. Today's election, a run-off for the presidency, will wrap up a transition brokered after the army revolted against then President Joao Bernardo Vieira in 1998. 17 January: Voting continues in southern Guinea-Bissau. 18 January: With over a quarter of the votes counted, electoral officials say that Kumba Yala has a strong lead. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 18 January 2000) * Guinee-Bissau. Elections - Apres 18 mois d'instabilite due a une rebellion militaire sanglante, les electeurs se sont rendus aux urnes, nombreux et dans le calme, pour le second tour de l'election presidentielle, qui doit permettre un retour a une vie politique normale. Le taux de participation a depasse 80 %, chiffre rarement atteint en Afrique. A Bissau, les bureaux de vote ont ete ouverts a l'heure prevue, contrairement au premier tour, organise le 28 novembre dernier, ou le materiel n'avait pas ete mis en place, provoquant des incidents dans plusieurs bureaux de vote et, dans certains cas, le report du vote au lendemain. Ce second tour opposait Kumba Yala, leader du Parti de la renovation sociale (PRS, opposition), a Malam Bacai Sanha, candidat du PAIGC (Parti africain pour l'independance de Guinee-Bissau et du Cap-Vert, au pouvoir depuis l'independance, en 1974). Soutenu par la majorite des formations du pays, Kumba Yala avait recueilli 38,81% des voix lors du premier tour, suivi immediatement de Malam Bacai Sanha (chef d'Etat par interim, apres le coup d'Etat militaire du 7 mai 1999), avec 23,34%. Le general Ansumane Mane, dont le limogeage a ete a l'origine de la mutinerie du 7 juin 1998 qui a culmine avec la chute du president Joao Bernardo Vieira, a lance un appel a la population pour qu'elle "accepte le verdict des urnes". D'apres les resultats provisoires publies mercredi 19 janvier, Kumba Yala l'emporterait sur Malam Sanha par 72,8% contre 27,2% des voix. Les resultats definitifs sont attendus pour le 22 janvier. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 20 janvier 2000) * Malawi. Fighting donors over privatisation - Malawi has said it will put up a fight to stop the forced privatisation by donors of the crucial parastatal, the Agriculture Development and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC). Reserve Bank of Malawi Governor, Matthews Chikaonda, told the press in the commercial capital, Blantyre, that the government is not just going to say "yes". "We shall put up the usual fight and not just roll over and play dead," he said. Chikaonda was speaking weeks before World Bank and International Monetary Fund officials arrive in the country to continue negotiations on the privatisation of the politically sensitive and giant parastatal. The World Bank and the IMF are sponsoring the country's tough economic reforms and have pressurised the government to speed up the privatisation of over 30 parastatals within three years. The governor said the government was re- examining the case of the privatisation of ADMARC because it is an important parastatal to all Malawians as it sells and buys produce from all farmers in the country. Malawi's economic backbone is agriculture. (A. Sumbuleta, ANB-BIA, Malawi, 14 January 2000) * Malawi. Religious groups differ with Government - Major religious groups in Malawi are at war with the Government, accusing it of encouraging promiscuity by promoting the use of condoms. Recently, the Government, through the Ministry of Health, accused some religious groups of hindering the process of protecting people against HIV/AIDS, by discouraging the use of condoms. Angered by the Government's remarks, major religious leaders from the Catholic Church, the Central African Presbyterian, the Seventh Day Adventist, and the Muslim Association of Malawi attacked the Government for encouraging people to use condoms. "AIDS or no AIDS, the Church is against the advertising of promiscuous tendencies, and the Church will never change its stand on that", said a minister from the Church of Central African Presbyterian, Livingstonia Synod. (Binson Musongole, ANB-BIA, Malawi, 18 January 2000) * Mali. Military men join government - President Alpha Omar Konare has appointed some members of the armed forces to posts within his civilians administration. Two generals have been appointed special envoys to Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone, while other senior officers have been attached to the communications and health ministries. The appointments come two weeks after the government said it had foiled an attempted coup. (BBC News, 18 January 2000) * Morocco. Spanish claims to Setba and Mellilia - 13 January: The Moroccan government continues to deplore Spanish claims over the cities of Setba and Mellilia during a recent visit of Spanish Prime Minister Jose Aria Aznar to the enclaves, saying it is of "serious concern" to the country. Aznar is quoted as saying: "Setba is Spanish and remains part and parcel of future projections of Spain. At Mellilia, the prime minister is reported to have used more or less the same words by insisting on the "Spanish character of that city". (PANA, Dakar, 13 January 2000) * Mozambique. Chissano urges ministers to fight corruption - Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano on 18 January urged his government to play an active role in the fight against corruption. Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony of his new cabinet announced the previous day, Chissano said the ministers should improve their individual performance as well as talk openly about corruption. "We must do amongst ourselves what is possible, and perhaps do what seems impossible in order to eradicate this problem from our country", he said. "Civil society must help the government attain its goal, which is to improve the lives of the population", he said, adding that the society should not hold back from pointing accusing fingers at the government, should it be seen to do wrong. At a press conference afterwards, Chissano said that because he had urged his ministers to fight against corruption, it did not mean that he thought some of them were corrupt. He also announced that he had chosen the members of his government on a basis of political, rather than technical, merit. "These posts are a political choice, although I took technical competence into consideration", he said. "The most important aspect in these cabinet posts is the political leadership of the ministries", he said. "That is what is most important today. Technical expertise can be hired, it can be purchased, but political leadership is a personal commitment, a commitment that puts material gains into second place, it can't be bought, neither can it be borrowed or hired." Chissano urged his minsters to work as a group, and shy away from seeking individual recognition. "Success in the cabinet will be a reason for happiness for all of us, and failures should constitute a concern for all of us", he said. (Africa Press Bureau, Johannesburg, 18 January 2000) * Namibia. Nurses murdered in Caprivi ambush - 15 January: Three nurses are among four people killed in a car ambush close to the Angolan border, near the spot where suspected UNITA rebels shot dead three French children on 3 January. A survivor says he believes UNITA fighters were responsible for the latest attack. All four victims were Namibian nationals. (CNN, 15 January 2000) * Niger. Le Niger demande reparation - Les autorites nigeriennes ont exige "une reparation juste et equitable" des dommages causes a leur pays et a son peuple suite a la suppression des quatre etapes du rallye Paris-Dakar-Le Caire. Dans une declaration de protestation, la Convention democratique et sociale (CDS) et le Mouvement national pour la societe de developpement (MNSD), deux formations politiques de la mouvance presidentielle, ont affirme que les "dommages moraux, pyschologiques, materiels et financiers" subis par l'Etat et le peuple nigeriens meritaient "une reparation juste et equitable" de la part des organisateurs du rallye. L'opposition nigerienne a demande au gouvernement d'engager des poursuites contre la "Thierry Sabine Organisation", organisatrice du rallye, en vue du dedommagement de la partie nigerienne. Le gouvernement nigerien s'est declare "choque" par la decision des organisateurs du rallye, malgre toutes les dispositions prises avec les forces de defense et de securite pour assurer le bon deroulement de la traversee du territoire nigerien. Dans un communique, il a fait savoir que "plus de 2.000 hommes, militaires, gendarmes, gardes republicains, avaient ete deployes avec les moyens logistiques appropries" pour assurer la securite de la caravane du rallye, et il a deplore que "malgre toutes ces mesures, les organisateurs aient decide de se soumettre aux injonctions indiscutablement infondees" des autorites francaises. (D'apres PANA, Senegal, 16 janvier 2000) * Rwanda/France. Seeking to repair ties with Rwanda - 15 January: France sends the highest-ranking official to Rwanda since the 1994 genocide in a bid to mend ties with a government still suspicious over the French role in central Africa and its involvement in the Rwandan massacre. Vice-President Paul Kagame tells Charles Josselin, the French minister for international cooperation that it is up to France to make a difference in the volatile region by playing a constructive role on ending the war in Congo RDC, and contributing more assistance to postwar Rwanda. (CNN, 15 January 2000) * Rwanda. Mixed signals from war-crimes trials - The Vatican's Fides news agency has observed "contradictory signals" from the government of Rwanda, regarding the legal prosecution of individuals charged with war crimes in connection with the 1994 massacres. Fides observes that 9 out of 10 people in prison are facing charges connected with the 1994 massacres. The number of minor children facing trial has increased dramatically, suggesting a new vigour among the prosecutors. But at the same time, the judges involved in the cases seem to be showing greater leniency towards those accused. (Africa Infodoc, 15 January 2000) * Rwanda. Proces Misago - Le proces contre Mgr Misago a pris une tournure dramatique quand, le 18 janvier, au cours de la 15e session, un temoin de la defense a revele qu'il a recu des menaces. Le temoin, une employee du Centre nutrionnel de Kigeme, a dit a la cour que les menaces ont commencees des qu'on a su qu'elle allait temoigner. Un autre temoin, un seminariste, s'est presente a la barre malgre les fortes oppositions de l'accusation pour l'en empecher. Par ailleurs, selon le dernier rapport de la Ligue rwandaise pour la promotion et la defense des droits del'homme (LIPRODHOR ), entre decembre 1998 et juin 1999, le nombre de mineurs detenus sous l'accusation de genocide est passe de 2.674 a 4.454, et seulement 1,5% du total des detenus accuses de genocide a ete juge. (D'apres Fides, Rome, 19 janvier 2000) * Sahara Occidental. Referendum - L'ONU a termine, lundi 17 janvier, l'identification des derniers electeurs pour le referendum d'autodetermination au Sahara occidental (reporte en 2002 au plus tot) et a aussitot ouvert quatorze centres d'appel (dont huit au Maroc), indique un communique de la Minurso, la mission des Nations unies, publie le meme jour. Au total, 84.251 electeurs ont ete recenses, auxquels viennent s'ajouter les 2.130 votants supplementaires retenus parmi trois tribus considerees comme sahraouies par le Maroc mais contestees par le Front Polisario, le mouvement independantiste. Ces trois tribus comptent 49.000 personnes environ. Pres de 79.000 personnes ont deja forme des recours sur les 190.000 identifiees par l'ONU depuis 1994, et il est fort probable que les quelque 49.000 membres des trois tribus rejetes par l'ONU feront de meme. Le ministre des Affaires etrangeres sahraoui a menace de recourir a la lutte armee si l'ONU ne reussissait pas a organiser le referendum dans le delai imparti, a souligne mardi 18 janvier l'agence PANA. (D'apres Le Monde, France, 19 janvier 2000) * Sierra Leone. Cheminement vers la paix - Le secretaire general de l'ONU, Kofi Annan, a demande au Conseil de securite l'accroissement, "des que possible", de la Minusil (Mission des Nations unies en Sierra Leone), rendu necessaire par le depart des soldats du Nigeria, du Ghana et de la Guinee. Dans un rapport publie le 12 janvier, M. Annan estime que les effectifs de cette force pourraient etre portes de 6.000 a 12.000 soldats pour consolider une paix qu'il qualifie de "tres fragile". Par ailleurs, le 13 janvier, l'agence missionnaire MISNA a fait savoir que les rebelles sierra-leonais avaient libere 227 enfants soldats. Ces enfants, selon l'agence, avaient ete enroles de force dans les rangs de la rebellion et auraient ete victimes de "violences ahurissantes". Cette liberation est une des clause des accords de paix signes le 7 juillet 1999 a Lome. Leur liberation etait la premiere requete que le Conseil inter-religieux sierra-leonais avait faite aux rebelles. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 15 janvier 2000) * Sierra Leone. Helping the fragile peace - 14 January: Britain says it will help to set up a South African-style Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Sierra Leone. Britain's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Peter Hain, says Britain will give $400,000 to the project. However, many Sierra Leoneans say Britain has operated double standards by pursuing war criminals in European conflicts, while telling African victims they have to forgive, if not forget. 16 January: Nigeria has halted the pullout of intervention troops, so as to help keep the fragile pace until the UN force is fully deployed. 18 January: The press agency MISNA reports that 227 children have been released today by the rebels in Kabala. They are all former child soldiers. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 19 January 2000) * South Africa. Alfred Nzo - On 13 January, Alfred Nzo (74), a veteran of the African National Congress (ANC), died. He had impeccable struggle credentials, starting as a 20-year-old member of the militant new ANC Youth League (founded by Nelson Mandela) and serving as ANC secretary-general from 1969-1991. Nzo qualified educationally through part-time studies at a Johannesburg technical college, completing a sanitary (health) inspector's course in 1951. Then he based himself in Alexandra, working as health inspector. Sacked for his political activities, Nzo lost his right to residence in Alexandra, and afterwards was the victim of banning orders and frequent arrests. While never having star quality, he was solid rather than sparkling. When Mbeki was elected President of South Africa in June last year, he quietly dropped Nzo from the cabinet, as everyone knew he would. (The Guardian, UK, 15 February 2000) * South Africa. Key cabinet talks ahead of speech - On 17 January, President Thabo Mbeki led ministers into a crucial two-day cabinet meeting expected to reshape the country's economic policy and address governance issues. The talks defined Mbeki's keynote State of the Nation address, which he will deliver on 4 February, when he will outline economic, domestic and foreign policy goals for the year. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 17 January 2000) * South Africa. Battling the Cape Town blaze - Since last weekend, the worst fires since 1968 have spread through one of Cape Town's prime tourist areas, threatening houses, vineyards and nature reserves. Despite the efforts of firefighters, changes in wind directions have fanned the fires out of control once way. Some believe that arsonists must be involved for so many fires to have taken so rapidly at the same time. But a police spokeswoman denies this theory. (BBC News, 19 January 2000) * Soudan. Attentat contre un oleoduc - Un attentat attribue a l'opposition a vise le 16 janvier l'oleoduc qui achemine le petrole destine a l'exportation, a 30 km de Sinkat, sur la mer Rouge. Le vice-ministre de l'information a precise qu'on avait retrouve sur place des tracts signes par "des elements subversifs" appartenant a la faction Congres de Bejah, formee de membres de la tribu de Bejah, dans l'est du pays. Dans la breche de trois metres creee par l'attentat, s'etait developpe un incendie immediatement eteint. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 18 janvier 2000) * Sudan. Peace talks amid continuing violence - 16 January: The Government extends a cease-fire with the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) for another three months. The SPLA has already extended the ceasefire in parts of the south. The Constitutional Court agrees to examine the legitimacy of a Presidential decree issued last month, which dissolved parliament and declared a state of emergency. 17 January: The Government and representatives of the SPLA have begun peace talks in Nairobi amid angry protests from rebels that government planes have bombed Yei in the south. The Government says a newly-developed oil export pipeline in the east has been sabotaged. An official says the blast had caused damage and a fire, but he does not expect the flow of oil to be disrupted for long. He blames the attack on the eastern- based Bejah Congress, a member of the opposition umbrella grouping, the National Democratic Alliance. 18 January: The peace talks start in earnest after lengthy opening consultations. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 19 January 2000) * Swaziland. Speaker caught in the act - The Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mgabhi Dlamini, has been accused of stealing cow dung from the national cattle byre at Ludzinini Royal Residence (the royal traditional stronghold) during the sacred Incwala Ceremony. This act, has not only shamed his Ngwempisi Inkhundla (constituency), but the whole Swazi nation. By Swazi traditional standards, Dlamini has committed one of the most heinous crimes possible -- a crime which used to be punishable by death in the olden days. Removal of anything, not to mention the sacred cow dung, from the royal cattle byre during the dancing of the sacred Incwala ceremony, an occasion steeped in mystic ritual, was unheard of, until this occasion. The age-old sacred Incwala rituals are performed to cleanse the kingship of the past year's misfortunes and also to strengthen its unlimited powers. No wonder King Mswati III has instructed the traditional authorities to tell the Speaker that the King doesn't want to see him anymore! (Vuyisile Hlatshwayo, ANB-BIA, Swaziland, 14 Jan 2000) * Tanzania. Zanzibar -- Constitutional reform - The General Council of the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar is expected to meet this week to discuss the proposed constitutional amendments for the islands, aimed at paving the way to the extension of Dr. Salim Amour's presidency. Zanzibar's Minister for Home Affairs, said the proposed constitutional amendments were not ready to be tabled by Zanzibar's House of Representatives yet. (Tomric Agency, Tanzania, 17 January 2000) * Zambia. A study suggests an AIDS campaign a success - Research in Zambia shows a substantial decline in the number of women testing HIV-positive between the ages of 15 and 19. The survey was carried out by the Zambian Department of Health and involved 12,000 women tested at ante-natal clinics in locations throughout the country. The decline was most dramatic in Lusaka, where in 1994, 28% of women were testing positive. But by 1998 that figure had almost halved. The results have been verified by an independent team from the UN and have been hailed as extremely encouraging by AIDS campaigners. (BBC News, 13 January 2000) * Zambia. Angolan refugees in Zambia face starvation - More than 8,000 Angolan refugees face starvation at Sinjembela in western Zambia unless more food rations are rushed to the area as soon as possible, a spokesman for the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said on 17 January. Musengo Kayombo of the UNHCR in Lusaka said every effort was being made by the UNHCR and the World Food Programme to send relief food and medicines to refugees comprising mostly women, children and elderly people. Kayombo said the Kalahari sandy terrain was inaccessible by conventional motor vehicles other than the four-wheel drive trucks, but promised that the UNHCR was mobilising more trucks to deliver the basic human needs there. Refugees from Angola have flooded Zambia's western province following the onslaught of the Angolan government forces against UNITA rebel strongholds in the southern and central highlands of Angola. According to Kayombo, the refugees were fleeing the intense fighting in Angola's Cuando Cuvango province bordering the southern tip of Zambia's western province. Kayombo said the UNHCR had recorded that more than 20, 000 Angolan refugees have entered Zambia since last October and predicted the figure could rise to more than 30,000 in the next few weeks. "We have however, made planned contingencies for this eventuality in order to cope with the streaming influx of refugees from Angola," Kayombo said. The UNHCR has also opened another semi-permanent refugees transit centre at Sinjembela to cope with the asylum seekers arriving in droves than earlier envisaged. Kayombo however, said refugees entering Zambia through northwestern province had drastically declined to about 20 daily arrivals as compared to more than 60 a few weeks ago. (Africa Press Bureau, Johannesburg, 17 January 2000) * Zambia. Opposition leader arrested - More than 20 members of Zambia's opposition United Party for National Development (UPND), including party president Anderson Mazoka, have been arrested and charged with holding an illegal meeting, a police spokesman said on 17 January. Mazoka, a former managing director for the Anglo- American Corporation in Zambia, and the mayor of Solwezi, Morgan Shamena, were arrested for allegedly turning a weekend barbecue into a political meeting in Solwezi, administrative centre for North-Western Province. Police spokesman Lemmy Kajoba said all of those arrested would appear in court soon. Kajoba said that the UPND had asked for a police permit to hold a barbecue on 16 January when Mazoka visited the area. He said people convened at a place called "Carol's Restaurant" owned by Shamena, but the function culminated in a full political meeting where Mazoka addressed his cadres. Kajoba said the police who had been initially assigned to maintain peace and order at the barbecue, warned Mazoka that he had abrogated the permit. Mazoka entered politics in 1998 after retiring from the Anglo-American Corporation of South Africa for which he had served since 1986 as its main representative in Zambia. As head of the Anglo-American operations in Zambia, Mazoka was also one of the five "B" directors on the board of the state- owned Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM). (Africa Press Bureau, Johannesburg, 18 January 2000) * Zimbabwe. Doubts and concerns - 13 January: Zimbabwe is introducing an AIDS levy to help fight the disease. From this month, Zimbabweans will pay 3% more income tax than they did previously. The additional revenue will be channelled into a fund to care for those affected by AIDS, and in particular, the almost one million children left orphaned. But the levy has come in for some fierce criticism. "Why should I pay more taxes to look after the promiscuous?" ask some. Also, the IMF has said that Zimbabwe should reduce its defence expenditure to win back suspended financial support from the Bretton Woods institution. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 13 January 2000) * Zimbabwe/UK/Congo (RDC). Britain's Hawk fighter jets - On 20 January, The Guardian (UK) revealed that Prime Minister Tony Blair has overruled the foreign secretary, Robin Cook, by giving the go- ahead for the sale of spare parts to Zimbabwe for British Hawk fighter jets being used in Congo RDC's civil war. The Downing Street decision drives the biggest hole yet through Mr Cook's ethical foreign policy, which was supposed to deny arms to countries engaged in external aggression or internal repression. Zimbabwe, which is deeply involved in the Congo war, fails on both counts. The background to British involvement with the Zimbabwean military is laid out in a restricted foreign office document from the British High Commissioner in Harare, which has been leaked to The Guardian. (...) Mr Blair's decision, reached last week and circulated internally in government circles at the weekend, ends a protracted debate between the ministry of defence and the department of trade and industry battling for the defence industry on one side and the foreign office on the other. (The Guardian, UK, 20 January 2000) * Zimbabwe. Statement on the process of constitutional reform - "We, the priests and brothers of the Jesuit religious order of the Catholic Church in Zimbabwe, believe that the process by which the draft constitution was created and is to be ratified is inadequate. While we have worries about certain substantial issues within the draft (such as the separation of legislative, executive, and judicial arms of government, the independence of the public commissions, the functions and independence of the attorney general, and the protection of the right to life of even the unborn child), it is the hasty procedure of drafting and ratification that is our greatest concern now. The draft contains interpretations of the desires of the people that are disputable and sometimes implausible. The early referendum seems further to restrict the possibility of settling these. Some of these matters of disputed interpretation are the following: - * Concerning the presidential powers, it is a more plausible interpretation of the questions asked by the Commissioners and the people's answers to say that what the people want is a non-executive president (head of state) and a head of government (prime minister) who is more responsible to the people and their elected representatives. - * Concerning the electoral system, the people's desire for "proportional representation" need not be taken as contradicting their desire for having MPs who are accountable to constituencies, since "proportional representation" can include a variety of systems, such as the preferential system used in Ireland, or the mixed proportional-and-constituency systems used in Germany. - It is essential that the new constitution of Zimbabwe obtain the widest possible support of the people of Zimbabwe, across the range of political parties, interest groups, and lobbies. Since the procedure for drafting has been so rushed, the referendum should allow the people to express a desire for continued discussion. - We propose, therefore, that in the referendum the voters be asked two questions: firstly, whether they wish to say YES or NO to the new draft constitution; and secondly, whether or not they want discussion to continue before the final adoption of a new constitution for Zimbabwe. (The Jesuits in Zimbabwe, 18 January 2000) End of Part 2 of 2 (From Africa to Egypt see 20a_01_2k)