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WEEKLY NEWS - ISSUE of 28/03/96 -  PART 1/


* Afrique. Epidemie de meningite
Une epidemie de meningite cerebro-spinale, identifiee au Nigeria,
progresse en Afrique de l'Ouest et en Afrique centrale, des cas
ayant deja ete recenses en Tanzanie. Le dernier bilan officiel,
diffuse a Brazzaville par le bureau regional de l'OMS, fait etat
de pres de 5.400 deces dans dix pays, l'epidemie ayant deja
touche plus de 38.000 personnes. Ces chiffres semblent nettement
inferieurs a la realite. Au-dela du Nigeria, l'epidemie sevit au
Burkina, au Niger, au Mali et au Tchad. Des cas sont observes au
Benin, au Togo, en Republique centrafricaine, en Tanzanie et au
Cameroun. Compte tenu des donnees sanitaires disponibles, la
situation qui prevaut en Afrique subsaharienne impose une serie
de mesures d'urgence de grande ampleur.
(D'apres Le Monde, France, 26 mars 1996)

* Algerie. Sept religieux francais enleves
Sept religieux francais ont ete captures tot mercredi 27 mars
dans un monastere isole du fief islamiste de Medea, au sud-ouest
d'Alger, lors du plus important enlevement d'etrangers en quatre
ans. Le commando appartient, selon toute vraisemblance, au Groupe
islamique arme (GIA), le plus radical des mouvements pronant le
"djihad" (guerre sainte), qui voulait faire de Medea la
"capitale" de son "gouvernement du Califat". Deux autres moines
et une dizaine de pretres de passage dans ce monastere de
Tibehirine, qui dormaient dans une ferme voisine, ont echappe a
l'operation. Selon l'hypothese privilegiee par l'eveque d'Oran,
Mgr Henri Claverie, il s'agirait d'une action ponctuelle d'un
groupe a la recherche d'une aide medicale. Par ailleurs, neuf
militants islamistes ont ete condamnes a mort par contumace, le
23 mars, par le tribunal de Medea. Ils etaient accuses
d'assassinats et de constitution d'association criminelle dans
le but de destabiliser l'Etat. (D'apres AFP, France, 28 mars
1996)

* Angola. Hospital without funds
Luanda's biggest hospital has no medicine, no food, no running
water and only broken equipment. The Health Service in Angola has
been ground down by nearly 20 years of civil war, like the rest
of the country's shattered infrastructure. But this latest crisis
in the public health service is not a direct result of the war,
rather because of the medical personnel being on strike, claiming
long-overdue salaries. The city's doctors and nurses are on
strike over wage demands and better working conditions. Nurses
and other workers are demanding a minimum wage of $20 per month
from the current low wage of $1. Qualified doctors in Luanda earn
about $3 a month. Some health workers complain they have not
received their wages for several months. According to a 1995
United Nations report, only 24% of Angolans have access to health
services, 38% to safe water and 22% to sanitation.
(AFJN, Washington, 24 March 1996)

* Benin. Soglo persiste a contester
Le general Mathieu Kerekou a pris sa revanche: il a ete elu
president de la Republique du Benin, en l'emportant avec 52,49%
des voix au second tour, le 18 mars, contre le president sortant,
Nicephore Soglo, qui a recueilli 47,51%. Alors que des rumeurs
de coup de force circulaient depuis plusieurs jours a Cotonou,
Nicephore Soglo a limoge, vendredi 22 mars, le ministre de la
defense, Desire Vieyra, "numero deux" du gouvernement et beau-
frere du chef de l'Etat, ainsi que le chef d'etat-major
particulier de M. Soglo, le general Basile Dadele. Mais M.
Nicephore Soglo n'accepte pas sa defaite et, lundi 25 mars, en
contestant de nouveau l'election de Kerekou, il a denonce une
"vaste conspiration" contre la democratie. Au cours d'une
manifestation publique a Cotonou, qui rassemblait quelque dix
mille personnes, M. Soglo, entoure de sa famille et de la plupart
de ses ministres, a confirme qu'il allait "elever des
reclamations devant la Cour constitutionnelle". M. Soglo a mis
en cause un "pays du Nord" et accuse "un pays voisin" d'etre
"intervenu pour faire echouer les negociations avec les forces
politiques". Des tracts avaient circule accusant le president
togolais, le general Gnassingbe Eyadema, d'avoir "achete" les
soutiens des candidats arrives en troisieme et quatrieme position
au premier tour, Me Adrien Houngbedji, ancien president de
l'Assemblee nationale, et Bruno Amoussou, actuel titulaire du
perchoir.
(ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 25-28 mars 1996)

* Burundi. Ethnic hatred publications banned
The Burundian authorities have banned seven publications which
they accuse of inciting ethnic hatred among both Tutsis and
Hutus. These are: La Nation, Le Carrefour des Idees, L'Etoile,
L'Aube de la Democratie, Le Temoin-Nyabusorongo, Le Miroir and
L'Eclaireur.. The international press freedom organisation,
Reporters Sans
Frontieres, in a report issued earlier this year called for the
banning of six of the seven publications on the grounds they were
being used as tools of both Hutu and Tutsi extremism.
International aid agencies, fearing an outbreak of violence
similar to the 1994 genocide in neighbouring Rwanda, have urged
the banning of radio stations and publications stirring up ethnic
hatred.
(AFJN, Washington, 24 March 1996)

* Burundi. Nouvelles conditions des rebelles hutus
Le Conseil national pour la defense de la democratie (CNDD),
organisation rebelle hutu burundaise, a pose lundi 25 mars de
nouvelles conditions a un cessez-le-feu, en reclamant notamment
la "liberation immediate de 5.000 prisonniers politiques". Le
CNDD, cree par l'ancien ministre Leonard Nyangoma, est oppose a
la convention de septembre 94 qui a defini le partage du pouvoir
entre majorite (principalement hutu) et opposition (tutsi). Ces
dernieres semaines, le CNDD a deja pose comme condition prealable
a un cessez-le-feu que "l'armee rentre dans les casernes".
(La Libre Belgique, 26 mars 1996)

* Burundi. Cri d'alarme du rapporteur de l'ONU
Avec une rare virulence, le Bresilien Paulo Sergio Pinheiro,
rapporteur special de l'ONU au Burundi, a exhorte hier la
communaute internationale a agir devant "un genocide au compte-
gouttes" qui a fait "quinze mille morts en 1995". S'exprimant
devant la Commission des droits de l'homme, il a mis en demeure
les Etats d'intervenir afin qu'ils cessent "d'entretenir ou de
laisser se developper la radicalisation des extremes, avant qu'il
ne soit trop tard". Les avertissements du rapporteur special de
l'ONU n'ont guere sensibilise les diplomates et, devant
l'attentisme de la communaute internationale, M. Pinheiro doute
ouvertement "des chances de survie du pays tant que perdureront
la violence generalisee, l'impunite persistante, ainsi que la
pauperisation croissante des Burundais". Par ailleurs, le Haut
commissaire des Nations unies a Geneve a annonce que les cinq
premiers observateurs internationaux des droits de l'homme, dont
le deploiement vise notamment a prevenir les violences inter-
ethniques, arriveront "dans quelques jours" au Burundi.
(D'apres P.H., Liberation, France, 28 mars 1996)

* Cameroon. Ruling party won't concede.
A bid by the ruling party, the Cameroon People's Democratic
Movement (CPDM) to neutralise opposition mayors, has spawned
protests in which five people have died and prompted at least one
party to announce a civil disobedience campaign. Protests have
come in reaction to the government's decision to appoint
commissioners to oversee municipal councils in 11 key towns and
rural districts, nine of which went to the opposition at local
government elections held on 21 January. Officially, these have
been baptised "districts under a special system" and their mayors
will be answerable to the commissioners who will head them.
According to the Opposition, the appointment of the special
commissioners violates Cameroon's constitution which states that
the municipal districts "shall enjoy administrative and financial
autonomy in all management of regional and local interests, and
shall be administered freely by elected councils under the
conditions established by law".
(AFJN, Washington, 24 March 1996)

* Egypte. Mufti liberal a la tete d'Al Azhar.
Le mufti d'Egypte, Mohammad Sayyed Tantatoui, 67 ans, a ete nomme
par le president Hosni Moubarak a la tete d'Al Azhar, la plus
haute autorite de l'islam sunnite. M.Tantaoui, 43e imam d'Al
Azhar, dont les decisions n'affecteront pas seulement l'Egypte
mais tout le monde islamique, est considere comme plus liberal
que son predecesseur, l'ultraconservateur Gad al Haq, mort d'une
crise cardiaque le 15 mars a 79 ans.
(La Libre Belgique, 28 mars 1996)

* Eritrea. Tiny shipping fleet
Eritrea's tiny shipping fleet, set to increase from five to six
this year, is diminutive by any standards. Up to 1990, it had
just one vessel. Small though it may be, it has aroused a great
deal on interest in companies as far away as Japan and in Europe.
Tekeste Asgedom of the Eritrean Shipping Line says: "In January,
we placed an advert in the Financial Times of London and it
immediately brought us ten enquiries. We must communicate our
services to the world". Eritrean ships ply mainly the Red Sea and
the Persian Gulf, calling at Djibouti, Port Sudan, Sharjah,
Hodeidah, Aden, Dubai and Jeddah. However, there are plans to go
further afield. "We have been asked if we can ship goods to
Europe, and that involves expansion", says Asgedom.
(AFJN, Washington, 27 March 1996)

* Guinea. Officers charged with treason
8 military officers have been formally charged with treason in
connection with an army mutiny last month, the head of Guinea's
lawyers association said on 21 March. Amadou Thidiane Kaba told
journalists that Prosecutor-General Andre Leno had also charged
the eight with murder and destruction of public buildings. He had
no details on when the eight would stand trial. Lassan Conte, an
army general who seized power in 1985 and was elected head of
state in 1993, narrowly escaped death during the February 2-3
revolt in the capital Conakry. His presidential palace office
complex was destroyed by shell-fire as he hid for more than 24
hours in a bunker. Dozens of people died in the revolt over pay
and working conditions. Conte signed an accord with mutineers and
personally announced that they would be paid higher salaries but
he has also described the mutiny as an attempt by politicised
officers to topple him. The eight include the head of the
parachute battalion, Kader Doumbouya, also Yahya Sow, who
commanded Guinea's artillery unit in Sierra Leone.
(AFJN, Washington, 24 March 1996)

* Kenya. Britain frees aid
On 22 March, Kenya ended its pariah status among nations as
Britain gave its seal of approval for Nairobi's economic recovery
plan and released œ5 million (pounds sterling) in aid that had
been frozen since 1994. Britain's approval is likely to encourage
other donors to release œ385 million, also pledged in 1994, to
help Nairobi soften the blow of a World Bank economic
restructuring programme. The current plan calls for privatisation
of state-owned companies, civil service cuts and an anti-
corruption drive.
(The Times, U.K., 23 March 1996)

* Kenya. Paul Tergat conserve le titre mondial
Un tronc d'arbre a fait basculer les championnats du monde de
cross-country. En desequilibrant l'Ethiopien Haile Gebreselassie
dans le dernier tour du circuit de Stellenbosch, en Afrique du
Sud, le franchissement de cet obstacle a prive le double
recordman du monde du 5.000 et du 10.000 metres de la possibilite
de participer a l'"emballage" final de l'epreuve. Le Kenyan Paul
Tergat a profite de l'incident pour produire une acceleration
decisive, qui lui a permis de remporter, a vingt-six ans, le
titre mondial pour la deuxieme annee consecutive. La pointe de
vitesse du favori ethiopien avait deja ete emoussee par la course
d'equipe des Kenyans, qui avaient multiplie les attaques et donne
de multiples a-coups au rythme de la course.
(Le Monde, France, 26 mars 1996)

* Liberia. Summit postponed
On 22 March it was announced that a West African Summit on
Lineria has been postponed at the request of Nigeria until a date
to be fixed. The Summit had been due to take place in Ghana's
capital, Accra, on 27 March to discuss a rescue plan for the
Liberian peace process following new fighting a delays in
disarmament. Nigeria had asked for the postponement because it
was tied up with local council elections.
(AFJN, Washington, 22 March 1996)

* Liberia. Propping up a sagging peace
Ghana is spearheading an effort by West African governments to
salvage a Liberian peace process several months behind schedule
and in danger of collapse. Liberian leaders are expected in Accra
(Ghana) on 27 March to be joined by foreign ministers of the
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to oversee the
peace process. The peace agreement brokered last year in Abuja,
Nigeria, after five-years of brutal civil war, stipulates a
ceasefire and disarmament of the estimated 60.000 faction
fighters before elections to usher in a new government by January
1997. Disarmament however has hardly begun and the country's six
faction leaders maintain an unstable truce. Pockets of fighting
between rival warlords has repeatedly flared while an
understrength West African peace-keeping force (ECOMOG) has been
unable to deploy throughout the country. According to Liberia's
Chairman of the council of State, the faction leaders are willing
to hand over territory to ECOMOG but the peace keeping force
cannot take over these territories because it lacks logistics.
The extent of the commitment of the warlords however was brought
into question earlier this year when Nigerian ECOMOG troops
deployed to Tubmanburg 75km west of Monrovia to oversee
disarmament were attacked by the ULIMO-J militia of Roosevelt
Johnson.
(AFJN, Washington, 24 March 1996)

* Libye. Affrontement a la frontiere egyptienne
Des affrontements entre les forces de securite et des detenus
islamistes en fuite auraient fait vingt-six morts, dont une
vingtaine de militaires, selon les informations recueillies,
lundi 25 mars, aupres de voyageurs, au poste-frontiere de
Salloum, en Egypte. Les detenus, qui se sont echappes il y a cinq
jours, sont refugies dans la region montagneuse de Dirna, a l'est
de Benghazi. Dans une reaction officielle a ces informations, la
Libye a accuse les medias occidentaux "de propager des mensonges
tendancieux" sur la Libye.
(D'apres AFP, France, 27-28 mars 1996)

* Mozambique. Donors push for economic reforms
Mozambique's main aid donors are urging it to press ahead with
economic reforms ahead of a crucial international conference next
month, the Maputo weekly Savana said on 23 March. Savana said it
had obtained a document delivered by the donors to the Mozambican
government in January which sets the agenda for the 17-19 April
meeting in Paris of the World Bank's Consultative Group on
Mozambique. The Consultative Group will bring together the major
donors, and discuss Mozambique's funding needs for the coming
year. (AFJN, Washington, 27 March 1996)

* Mozambique. Norway to provide assistance
Norway is to provide Mozambique with about 360 million kroner (57
million US dollars) as aid for 1966. 250 million kroner will go
to fund bilateral projects, while the remainder will be devoted
to multilateral programmes in which other agencies are involved.
Priority will be given to such areas as energy, health, marine
transport, fisheries, rural development and financial support.
Norway will also maintain its support for mine clearance, by
assisting the National Demining Commission, and by funding
Norwegian non-governmental organisations involved in this work.
(PANA News, 27 March 1996)

* Nigeria. Deputes africains favorables a un embargo
Lors de la rencontre entre parlementaires europeens et deputes
d'Afrique, des Caraibes et du Pacifique (ACP), associes au Quinze
au titre de la convention de Lome, l'assemblee paritaire a
condamne la junte nigeriane avec une large majorite -- le college
ACP se prononcant par 34 voix pour, 13 contre, et 7 abstentions.
La majorite des Africains s'est associee a la condamnation voulue
par les Europeens, les representants des voisins du Nigeria se
retrouvant dans le camp de ceux qui s'y sont opposes. Le texte,
qui demande l'interdiction des ventes d'armes, y compris celles
qui font deja l'objet de contrats, invite l'Union europeenne a
"envisager un embargo petrolier et les compagnies petrolieres,
surtout Shell, a mettre un terme a toutes leurs activites qui
nuiraient a la population ogonie".
(D'apres M.S., Le Monde, France, 26 mars 1996)

* Nigeria. Raising funds by Internet against Meningitis
Nigerians around the world communicating by Electronic Mailing
or Internet, have launched a fund drive to help combat the
meningitis epidemic currently wrecking havoc in some parts of the
country. They have so far pledged about 3,000 dollars to the
Nigerian Meningitis Assistance Fund, which was established some
weks ago through the Nigerian Information Network, Naijanet. The
predominantly Nigerian subscribers to Naijanet were initially
using the network as a forum for discussing the political
situation in Nigeria, but have now found a common cause in
contributing to the meningitis fund.
(PANA News, 27 March 1996)

* Rwanda. Children's lingering trauma
On 21 March, Dr Postponed Gupta of UNICEF said that trauma among
children in Rwanda after the genocide two years ago is so deep
it will be decades, if not generations, before the society
recovers. Some 95% of children interviewed for a countrywide
study had witnessed violence and killing. 80% had lost family
members and more than a third had seen other children take part
in killings, Dr Gupta said. Drawings and stories produced by the
children many months after the genocide still show in graphic
detail scenes such as the child's pregnant mother being
disembowelled with a machete, the child's father being hacked to
death, their home burned, the child hiding under a heap of dead
bodies. Dr Gupta, a specialist in grief and trauma went to Rwanda
immediately after the three months of killings in 1994 and worked
as a volunteer for the new government, overwhelmed by unmeetable
needs and swamped with offers of inappropriate Western
psychiatric care.
(The Guardian, U.K., 22 March 1996)

* Rwanda. Le Cameroun n'a pas extrade Bagosora
Le ministre rwandais des Affaires etrangeres, Anastase Gasana,
est revenu les mains vides, lundi 25 mars, du Cameroun, ou il
s'etait rendu dans l'espoir d'obtenir l'extradition de l'ancien
colonel Theoneste Bagosora, considere par le gouvernement
rwandais comme un des principaux responsables du genocide de 94.
La Belgique a egalement demande l'extradition de ce militaire
qu'elle soupconne d'etre fortement implique dans la mort des dix
casques bleus belges tues le 7 avril 94 a Kigali. M. Gasana a
explique qu'il n'avait pu s'entretenir avec le president
camerounais Paul Biya, -- seule personne habilitee a permettre
une extradition vers un pays avec lequel aucun accord n'existe
dans ce domaine --, le president residant actuellement en Europe.
Selon certaines sources, Bagosora pourrait etre extrade vers la
Belgique cette semaine encore. (La Libre Belgique, 26 mars 1996)

* Rwanda. Trois nouveaux eveques ont ete nommes
Le pape vient de donner, lundi, trois nouveaux eveques au Rwanda:
Mgr Thaddee Ntihinyurwa sera archeveque de Kigali, le P.
Servilien Nzakamwita eveque de Byumba et le P. Anastase Mutabazi,
eveque de Kabgayi. Les trois eveques assassines durant le
genocide de 1994 n'avaient, en effet pas ete remplaces, pour
plusieurs raisons. Le pouvoir rwandais et le Vatican semblent
donc etre parvenus a une solution acceptable. Le nouvel
archeveque de Kigali, Mgr
Ntihinyurwa, etait deja administrateur de l'archidiocese, seul
siege metropolitain du Rwanda. Comme l'eveque de Kabgayi, il est
d'origine hutu, tandis que Mgr Nzakamwita est d'origine tutsi.
Comptant desormais sept eveques en titre, la Conference
episcopale est composee de quatre eveques tutsis. Deux d'entre
eux, l'eveque de Butare, Mgr Jean-Baptiste Gahamanyi, et celui
de Nyundo, Mgr Kalibushi, ont toutefois atteint l'age de 75 ans,
tandis que deux sieges episcopaux restent encore a pourvoir. Le
clerge demeure cependant extremement diminue. Sur plus de 350
pretres avant les massacres, il en reste aujourd'hui environ une
centaine. Par ailleurs, sept familles rwandaises se sont pourvues
en cassation apres l'arret de la Chambre d'accusation de la cour
d'appel de Nimes annulant toutes les procedures engagees contre
un pretre rwandais, Wenceslas Munyeshaka, refugie a Bourg Saint
Andeol dans l'Ardeche. Les familles rwandaises soutiennent que
ce pretre avait ouvert son eglise aux tueurs pendant le genocide.
(D'apres B.G., La Croix, France, 27 mars 1996)

* Rwanda. Un nouveau parti
Deux anciens ministres rwandais, l'ex-premier ministre hutu
Faustin Twagiramungu et l'ex-ministre de l'Interieur Seth
Sendashongha, un dissident du Front patriotique rwandais (FPR,
au pouvoir a Kigali depuis juillet 1994), ont presente mardi 26
mars, a Bruxelles, le nouveau parti politique qu'ils ont fonde.
Ce parti s'appellera "Forces de resistance pour la democratie"
(FRD). Selon MM. Twagiramungu et Sendashongha, les FRD veulent
etablir une veritable democratie au Rwanda. Les deux anciens
ministres ont defini l'actuel gouvernement de Kigali "un regime
militaro-fasciste, qui pratique un double genocide".
(D'apres La Libre Belgique, 27 mars 1996)

* Sierra-Leone. Poursuite des discussions de paix
Le nouveau president elu, M. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, qui beneficie
d'une large majorite a l'Assemblee nationale, son parti et ses
allies disposant de 51 sieges sur 80, a remporte le deuxieme tour
de l'election presidentielle avec 60% des suffrages. Entre-temps,
les pourparlers de paix entre la junte sierra-leonaise et la
rebellion se sont acheves, mardi soir 26 mars, sur un engagement
des deux parties a poursuivre les discussions avec le prochain
gouvernement civil et a respecter le cessez-le-feu. Cet accord
a ete signe apres deux jours de discussions dans la capitale
ivoirienne entre le chef de la junte, le general Julien Maada
Bio, et le dirigeant de la rebellion, l'ex-caporal Foday Sankoh,
destines a mettre fin a cinq ans de guerre civile. La junte doit
ceder vendredi le pouvoir, qu'elle detient depuis avril 1992, a
Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, elu le 15 mars.
(D'apres Le Monde, France, 28 mars 1996)

* South Africa. Mandela urges halt to KwaZulu violence
On 22 March President Mandela called for a new strategy to combat
political violence in KwaZulu/Natal after the massacre of eleven
people on the night of 21 March. Gunmen attacked two rural
homesteads in Donnybrook in the KwaZulu/Natal Midlands, shooting
dead seven women and three men. A two-month old baby died after
being smothered by one of the victims. Police have confirmed that
the motive for the attack was political: all ten adults were
supporters of the African National Congress.
(The Times, U.K., 23 March 1996)

* South Africa. ANC calls for Inkatha arrests
On 27 March, the South African Rand fell sharply on financial
markets in anticipation of a potentially violent showdown between
the government and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) on the streets
of Johannesburg on 28 March. The African National Congress (ANC)
called for the arrest of Inkatha leaders planning a mass march
through the commercial capital, after Chief Mangosuthu's
Buthelezi's party said the demonstrators would be carrying
"traditional" weapons in defiance of a police ban. The march will
mark the anniversary of the 1994 "Shell House massacre", when ANC
gunmen killed eight IFP demonstrators outside their Johannesburg
headquarters.
(The Guardian, U.K., 28 March 1996)

* Sudan/Ethiopia. Border fighting
On 26 March, Sudan's Army general Command said that Ethiopian
mechanized units had launched a series of attacks on its
positions along their common border. It said in a statement that
the attacks were on Sudan's Blue Nile and Upper Nile states. The
Sudanese army said the Ethiopian army had used heavy guns and
tanks to launch the attacks from inside Ethiopia. The Sudanese
army units had to withdraw from Yabus and Pochalla after the
areas had come under heavy Ethiopian attack. It said that the
Ethiopian army had, after the attacks, occupied the two areas
before handing them over to the rebel Sudan People's Liberation
Army (SPLA).
(PANA News, 26 March 1996)

* Uganda. Elections
President Museveni will face at least three challenges in
Uganda's first presidential election in 16 years, election
officials said on 20 March. He is expected to defeat his
challenger, Paul Semogerere, who resigned as foreign minister in
June to prepare for the campaign. Museveni, who has been in power
for a decade is Uganda's ninth leader since independence in 1962.
The exact dates for the presidential elections, round about May
or June is not announced yet. Museveni postponed the elections
originally scheduled for January 1990. Candidates must run
independently from political parties, which have not been banned,
but their activities were officially suspended in March 1986.
Parliament has refused to restore multi-party democracy for
another five years, claiming it would exacerbate existing ethnic
and religious divisions in the landlocked country of 17 million
people.
(AFJN, Washington, 24 March 1996)

* Zambia. Attacks on the Press
On 12 March, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a US
non-partisan advocate for press freedom, condemned the banning
of the Internet and printed editions of Zambia's leading
independent newspaper, The Post, and protested against the
continued legal harassment of The Post's editorial staff,
including CPJ's 1995 International Press Freedom Award winner,
managing director and editor-in-chief, Fred M'membe. The Post's
15 February issue was banned by presidential decree and declared
a "prohibited
publication". On 6 February, M'membe, managing editor Bright
Mwape, and special projects editor Masautso Phiri were arrested
and charged with possessing state secrets. On 7 February, they
were released on bail. The same day, President Chiluba ordered
the removal of the 5 February edition from The Post's World Wide
Web site. On 23 February, M'membe, Mwape and columnist Lucy Banda
Sichone went into hiding to avoid imprisonment on charges of
contempt of parliament. (Editor's note: On 27 March, a Zambian
court ordered the immediate release of two newspaper editors
jailed by parliament for criticising its members and the
government.) (APIC, Washington, 27 March 1996)

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