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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 08-04-1998   PART #1/ 

* Africa. Action against the Media - Burundi: On 25 March, the
authorities seized copies of a pro-opposition newspaper, L'Aube de
la Democratie. On 27 March, internal intelligence service agents
closed down the office of the Bujumbura news agency Net-Press and
took its director Jean Claude Kavumbagu in for questioning. Chad:
Reporters sans Frontieres said that on 29 March, Dieudonne
Djonabaye, editor-in-chief of the independent weekly N'Djamena
Hebdo, and Chad's correspondent for Radio France international, was
flogged in a cell at police headquarters in N'djamena. Kenya: On 30
March, President Moi told Attorney-General Amos Wako to instruct
the Police Commissioner to crack down on "irresponsible
publications".Nigeria: John Edward, publisher of Prime Suspect
newspaper, and his assistant editor, Ganiyu Adeoye, were arrested
on 22 March by operatives of the State Security Service. Chidi
Nkwopara, Imo State correspondent for the National Concord, and
Donatus Njoku, a reporter with the The Statesman, were arrested on
24 March. Danlami Nmodu, Kaduna bureau chief of Tell magazine, was
arrested on 27 March. On 26 March, the military administrator of
Osun State, proscribed two publications -- in-house newsletters of
the state chapter of the National Union of Local Government
Employees --Nulge News and The True Nulge News. Sierra Leone: On 26
March, Sorie Fofana, editor of The Vision newspaper, was detained
by police and held at the CID in Freetown. A group of journalists,
most of them working for the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service, are
currently being detained at Pademba Road Prison in Freetown. They
were arrested on 31 March. South Africa: On 2 April, two
journalists from YCE Television News of Finland were allegedly
assaulted by a farmer in the Northern province, before being
arrested on charges of trespassing. They had been interviewing
workers on the Schuitdrist Farm at Tshipise near Messina.  (IFEX,
Canada, 1-3 April 1998)

* Africa. Kofi Annan to report on Africa conflicts - UN Secretary-
General Kofi Annan will introduce a report on the sources of
conflict in Africa, at a Security Council meeting tentatively set
for 17 April. About a week after the formal meeting of the Council,
it will hold a full-scale debate on Annan's report, also with the
participation of many non-members of the Council. The report was
requested by the Council at a meeting held at foreign ministers'
level on 25 September last year, to discuss the need for promoting
peace and security in Africa.  (InfoBeat, USA, 2 April 1998)

* Africa. Two boat disasters - Nigeria: At least 280 people drowned
when their overcrowded boat capsized on 1 April during a trip from
Nigeria to Gabon. It said the passengers, mostly traders, were
travelling from south-eastern Nigeria when the boat capsized in
heavy seas. Sudan: 31 Sudanese army recruits drowned when a boat
carrying them capsized in the River Nile near Khartoum, the
Sudanese News Agency (SUNA) said on 5 April. SUNA quoted sources as
saying the boat sank in the Blue Nile on 2 April. "Salvage teams
rushed to the area of the accident and some 31 bodies were
recovered". The agency did not say how many people were on board,
nor did it give the location of their camp.  (InfoBeat, USA, 6
April 1998)

* Algerie. Plaintes en justice - Le chef du gouvernement algerien,
Ahmed Ouyahia, a confirme le 1er avril que Abdelhamid Brahimi,
Premier ministre algerien de 1984 a 1988, qui reside actuellement
en Grande-Bretagne, fait l'objet de deux plaintes en justice pour
des propos accusant des militaires d'etre impliques dans les
massacres dans son pays.  (La Croix, France, 3 avril 1998)

* Algeria. New legislation on women's rights - On 6 April, the
government approved a draft law on women's rights that would
require women's agreement to polygamous marriages and improving
women's rights to the custody of their children. A cabinet
statement summarized the draft outlines, approved at a cabinet
meeting and awaiting a vote in parliament later this year. If
passed, the new legislation will replace a law inspired by Islamic
Sharia law. Current legislation gives men huge powers over women in
matters relating to marriage and divorce and total control of a
couple's children.  (InfoBeat, USA, 7 April 1998)

* Algerie. Massacres dans l'ouest - Trente-cinq civils ont ete
massacres lors de deux attaques terroristes dans la nuit du 5 au 6
avril, selon un bilan officiel (des sources hospitalieres parlent
de 57 morts). 27 personnes ont ete assassinees pres de la ville
d'Arzew, qui abrite un important terminal gazier dans l'ouest, et
8 autres dans la region de M'Sila, au sud-ouest. Depuis plusieurs
semaines l'armee mene des operations contre les maquis de cette
region. La situation est en revanche particulierement calme a Alger
et dans la plaine de la Mitidja, aux portes de la capitale. 
(d'apres Le Soir, Belgique, 7 avril 1998)

* Angola. L'Unita a Luanda - L'Unita, mouvement national de
liberation, a reintegre ses locaux a Luanda, la capitale angolaise,
le 2 avril, plus de cinq ans apres avoir pris le maquis. Ce retour
s'inscrit dans les accords de paix signes en novembre 1994 entre le
gouvernement de Jose Eduardo dos Santos, homme du compromis, et
Jonas Savimbi, le chef historique de l'Unita. Reconnu desormais
comme parti politique, l'Unita n'avait pas ete autorisee a
s'installer a Luanda avant la fin de ses operations de
demilitarisation. Jonas Savimbi, devenu officiellement "chef du
principal parti d'opposition", a le droit de disposer de 400 gardes
de corps.  (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 3 avril 1998)

* Angola. Talk of peace - 2 April: UNITA says it has closed its
short wave propaganda radio station in compliance with a UN peace
accord. A broadcast on the Voice of the Resistance of the Black
Cockeral, or Vorgan radio, says the network will be replaced by a
commercial station. Vorgan has been on air for 19 years, defying
efforts by President Dos Santos' government to silence it. 6 April:
The government is preparing to reopen peace talks with separatists
in the northern oil-rich enclave of Cabinda, to end 21 years of
guerrilla warfare. Separatists from the Front for the Liberation of
the Cabinda Enclave-Cabindan Armed Forces (FLEC-FAC) demand
independence for Cabinda which produces over 60% of Angola's
750,000 barrels of oil per day.  (InfoBeat, USA, 2 & 7 April 1998)

* Burundi. Human Rights Watch accuse - L'organisation americaine de
defense des droits de l'homme, Human Rights Watch, dans un rapport
publie le 8 avril, accuse armee et guerilla de tuer, exploiter et
prendre en otages les civils, plus qu'elles ne se combattent. "La
guerre civile est une guerre contre les civils", affirme le
rapport. L'armee attaque les civils de maniere indiscriminee, les
tue, les pille, les viole, brule leurs maisons et les force parfois
a travailler pour elle; elle les regroupe de force dans des camps
insalubres pour mieux les controler. Les guerillas hutu, de leur
cote, attaquent et executent des civils (principalement des Tutsi,
mais aussi des Hutu accuses de collaboration); elles violent,
blessent et pillent des civils et en retiennent certains comme
otages. A la communaute internationale, HRW demande un embargo sur
les armes, d'envoyer des observateurs et d'etendre au Burundi les
competences du Tribunal international sur le Rwanda.  (d'apres La
Libre Belgique, 8 avril 1998)

* Burundi. Disturbing reports - On 1 April, Father Paolo Cereda,
who heads the efforts of the relief agency, Caritas, in Africa's
Great Lakes region, reported that the bloody warfare in Burundi
continues to claim dozens of lives -- in massacres of civilians --
every day. His report denounces the general public silence which
has covered up the massacres in Burundi. The killing continues to
take an enormous toll especially among the young. According to the
agency, extremists on both sides of the conflict have carefully
contained the violence below the level that commands public
attention. A vicious cycle of attacks and counter-attacks, raids
and reprisals, accounts for the death of 10, 15 or 20 civilians
every day. On 8 April. Human Rights Watch reported that the
opposing sides in the civil war that has raged in Burundi since
1993 have killed, raped, tortured and looted thousands of
civilians. The organization charges that the largely Tutsi armed
forces and various Hutu rebel groups, have both attacked civilians
as proxy targets in the four-year-old conflict.  (ANB-BIA,
Brussels, 8 April 1998)

* Burundi. Security incidents - Regular security incidents around
Bujumbura during March have provoked population movements around
the capital and into neighbouring Congo RDC. Around 3,000
Burundians have sought refuge near Sange and Kiliba, 40 and 24 kms
north of Uvira respectively. Refugees have told UNHCR in Uvira, of
renewed fighting in the Buganda, Murwi and Gihanga communes of
Cibitoke, as well as in Bubanza and Bujumbura rural. However, UNHCR
missions have for the first time in two years been granted access
to the communes of Murwi, Mabayi and Bukinanyana in Cibitoke. Staff
travel to the areas with military escorts.  (IRIN, Nairobi, 1 April
1998)

* Centr. Afr. Rep. Canada joins UN force - On 3 April, Canada
announced it would contribute 45 soldiers to a new UN force that
will try to provide security before and after elections in the
Central African Republic. Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy
said the region had a history of instability that made a UN mission
important. Canada and France will be the only non-African nations
in the 1,350-member peacekeeping force, to be known by the French
acronym MINURCA.  (InfoBeat, USA, 3 April 1998)

* Congo (RDC). Inondations a Kinshasa - Des pluies diluviennes se
sont abattues sur Kinshasa, les 25, 26 et 27 mars. Les rivieres
Makelele, Ndjili et Kalamu ont deborde et inonde les quartiers
environnants. On deplore des centaines de sans abris, plusieurs
disparitions et une dizaine de morts: 2 enfants emportes par les
eaux a Ngaba et Makelele, 2 personnes electrocutees a Yolo-Sud, et
5 personnes qui ont trouve la mort a Kisenso quand leur maison
s'est ecroulee sur elles. Une autre personne est morte a Matete. 
(DIA, Kinshasa, 1 avril 1998)

* Congo (RDC). Civil society under attack - 2 April: As President
Clinton recognizes the efforts of civil society in Africa, civil
society activists in Congo RDC are facing new attacks from their
government. Human Rights Watch charged today that the Congolese
authorities are cracking down on a range of independent voices --
including journalists, academics, development experts, and in
particular human rights defenders -- in order to silence criticism
of their increasingly repressive policies. Human Rights Watch
states: "While the Congolese government is paying lip service to
human rights and making declarations about a transition to
democracy, these attacks on independent voices speak louder than
their words".  (Human Rights Watch, USA, 3 April 1998)

* Congo (RDC). Sud-Kivu - Selon des sources locales au Sud-Kivu, la
tension reste toujours elevee entre soldats banyamulenge et les
autres soldats dans la region. 27 soldats banyamulenge ont ete
arretes pour incitation presumee a mutinerie au debut de l'annee;
ils seraient actuellement interroges et tortures a Bukavu. La
securite des civils banyamulenge, soupconnes de collaborer avec
leurs congeneres, serait en danger. -- D'autre part, selon des
sources humanitaires, le cholera se propage rapidement dans tout le
Sud-Kivu. La maladie s'est d'abord declaree dans les alentours de
Bukavu et s'est ensuite propagee dans plusieurs zones rurales de la
province. Un comite de crise a ete forme.  (IRIN, Nairobi, 3 avril
1998)

* Congo (RDC). L'enquete de l'ONU - Les medecins legistes,
enquetant pour l'ONU sur les presumees violations des droits de
l'homme, ont quitte le pays et sont rentres chez eux. Ils ne
retourneront en RDC que si la mission est autorisee "a travailler
librement", a declare le responsable de l'equipe, Atsu-Kofi Amega,
le 1er avril. Selon lui, les enqueteurs ont encore ete confrontes
a des difficultes dans la ville de Goma et l'incident de la fosse
commune a Mbandaka les a pousses a quitter le pays le 28 mars. Pour
sa part, un haut representant du gouvernement, E. Kambali, charge
des liaisons avec l'equipe ONU, a declare que l'enquete se
deroulait sans entrave.  (IRIN, Nairobi, 3 avril 1998)

* Congo (RDC). Congo invites more mining sector tenders - 3 April:
A senior mining official of Congo RDC invited more companies to
tender for exploration contracts in his country and said the
government was working to make investment more attractive.
Addressing an international mining forum in Accra, Ghana, Sampu
Lwanyi, secretary-general of the Ministry of Mines said: "Congo RDC
wants to promote prospecting and research in zones that have not
yet been given out. Operators are invited to sign exploration
contracts with the State. Over 420,000 sq. km of Congo's total
surface of 2,450,000 sq.km have been given out to exploration
companies from all over the world. These companies have promised to
invest over $500 million in exploration over the coming five
years".  (Andre Kapanga, Canada, 3 April 1998)

* Congo (RDC). L'Azadho dissoute - Le gouvernement a "dissous", le
3 avril, la principale association de defense des droits de l'homme
du pays, l'Azadho,a annonce le ministre de la Justice, Mwenze
Kongolo. Les autres associations de droits de l'homme ont trois
jours pour se faire enregistrer aupres des autorites, faute de quoi
elles seront egalement dissoutes, a ajoute le ministre. --D'autre
part, le 3 avril, la presidence a annonce que la liste de 248
personnalites qui seraient exclues de la vie politique, etait
"nulle et de nul effet", ajoutant que le president de la commission
constitutionnelle avait agi a titre individuel et que le
gouvernement avait pris ses distances par rapport a cette liste. 
(ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 4 avril 1998)

* Congo (RDC). Kabila rules out talks with rebels - 6 April: State
radio reports that President Kabila has ruled out negotiations with
rebels in the east, and has accused international organisations of
meddling in its domestic affairs. The radio, in a report on a visit
by the President to Goma in the province of North Kivu, says the
visit follows clashes, pitting government troops against Congolese
ethnic Mai-Mai rebels and allied Ugandan rebels in the Beni area.
The radio quotes Kabila as saying: "The government is seeing how to
wipe out all the enemies who are in this region. It does not plan
to negotiate with anybody, despite the interference of the so-
called international organisations".  (InfoBeat, USA, 6 April 1998)

* Congo/Belgique. Malaise et crise - Apres que la Belgique ait
recemment exprime des inquietudes vis-a-vis du Congo, notamment
concernant l'exclusion de 248 personnalites de la vie politique et
la suppression de l'Azadho, les autorites congolaises ont arrete,
le 3 avril, trois diplomates belges a Lubumbashi et les ont
relaches le lendemain a Kinshasa, apres les avoir accuses de
detenir des armes militaires. La television officielle denoncait
"le scandale et la provocation", se demandant s'il ne fallait pas
classer la Belgique parmi les Etats terroristes. D'apres le
ministere belge des Affaires etrangeres, il s'agit de deux caisses
d'armes, envoyees a Lubumbashi en 1997 afin de proteger
eventuellement les ressortissants belges lors de la guerre civile,
que Bruxelles entreprit de rapatrier avec l'assentiment des
responsables congolais. Le ministre Derycke a denonce "la
meconnaissance du dossier" et "une facon de proceder
irresponsable".  (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 6 avril 1998)

* Egypt. Concern over press clampdown - On 3 April, Human Rights
Watch urged President Hosni Mubarak to reverse what it called a
sharp deterioration in press freedom in Egypt. The group sent
Reuters in Cairo a copy of the letter it had sent to Mubarak the
previous day. "The disturbing pattern of censorship, banning of
newspapers and criminal prosecution and imprisonment of independent
journalists thus far in 1998 creates a formidable atmosphere of
intimidation for all members of the profession", it said. 
(InfoBeat, USA, 3 April 1998)

* Egypte. Adhesion au COMESA - Au mois de mai prochain, l'Egypte
adherera au Marche commun des Etats d'Afrique orientale et australe
(COMESA), auquel elle avait presente sa candidature en novembre
1997, a annonce le 25 mars un responsable du ministere des Affaires
etrangeres. Le but du COMESA est de creer une zone de libre echange
en l'an 2000 pour arriver a une union douaniere en 2004. Cree en
1993, le COMESA regroupe les pays suivants: Angola, Burundi,
Comores, Djibouti, Ethiopie, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Maurice,
Mozambique, Namibie, Ouganda, Rwanda, Somalie, Swaziland, Tanzanie,
Zambie et Zimbabwe.  (Marches Tropicaux, France, 3 avril 1998)

* Egypt. Possible guerrilla attacks - On 3 April, the US said it
had warned its citizens in Egypt that a guerrilla attack could be
carried out in Cairo shortly. The State department said the US
government had received "information of undetermined reliability
that extremist groups may be planning terrorist attacks against US
interests in the near future. US citizens travelling to or residing
in Egypt are advised to exercise greater caution than usual", the
statement said.  (InfoBeat, USA, 6 April 1998)

* Ethiopia. Haile Gebrselassie - The story of the man whose life
began in a hut in the Ethiopian highlands, who was described as
being close to Muhammed Ali in talent, and who missed winning $1
million by a second, is to be made into a film. Channel 4 Films and
Disney are supporting the biopic, named "Endurance", about Haile
Gebrselassie, the man described as the greatest distance runner of
all time. Gebrselassie, aged 24 and just 5ft 4in tall, astonished
the athletics scene after breaking 12 world records in five years
and winning Olympic and World Championship titles. When he broke
the 2,000 metre indoor record in Birmingham last year, there was a
track invasion by his Ethiopian fan club. "I have never seen
anything like it", said Jason Henderson of Athletics Weekly. The
film, which is being made by Pressman Films in Los Angeles, will
cover Gebrselassie's life, starting from his childhood on a farm
near Arsela, the capital of Arsi province, about 120 miles
southeast of Addis Ababa. He was one of 10 children from one of the
poorest parts of Ethiopia, and his father tried to stop him being
interested in athletics because turning on the radio for all the
commentaries used up too many batteries. "This is a story of
courage, a story of an Ethiopian athlete who, after a long series
of hardships, triumphs at the 1996 Olympics", the film's synopsis
says.  (The Guardian, U.K., 6 April 1998)

* Guinee. Leader arrete apres emeutes - Ba Mamadou, le leader de
l'Union pour la nouvelle Republique et president de la Coordination
de l'opposition democratique, qui regroupe une douzaine de partis
d'opposition, a ete arrete a son domicile le dimanche 29 mars, a la
suite de manifestations qui ont tourne a l'emeute le lundi
precedent dans la banlieue nord de la capitale Conakry et qui ont
fait neuf victimes. Une trentaine d'autres personnes (dont trois
deputes), impliquees dans ces troubles, ont egalement ete arretees
et deferees devant la justice. L'emeute faisait suite a la
demolition d'habitations pour permettre l'ouverture de nouveaux
troncons de route et pour construire une cite administrative. 
(d'apres L'Autre Afrique, France, 1-7 avril 1998)

* Kenya. Media concerns - In its issue of 27 March, police
brutality was the Daily Nation's concern. The article stated: "On
26 March, cabinet minister Maalim Mohammed and eight other MPs from
North Eastern Province, accused the Commissioner of Police of
"protecting brutes in the force" and told him to resign." On 28
March, in the same newspaper, the National Convention Executive
Council denied they were planning to topple the government through
mobilisation of the masses. In its issue of 30 March-5 April, The
East African sounded the alarm for Kenya's tourist industry. "If
hotel bookings in January and February are anything to go by, the
forthcoming season is likely to be very low indeed". The Daily
Nation (30 March) reported that on 29 March, opposition leaders and
activists had accused the government of being behind a wave of
anti-Kikuyu leaflets being circulated in parts of the country. 
(ANB-BIA, Brussels, 6 April 1998)

* Madagascar. Resultats du referendum contestes - Apres la victoire
tres serree du "oui" (34.000 voix d'ecart seulement avec le "non")
au referendum du 15 mars sur la question de l'elargissement des
pouvoirs presidentiels et de l'autonomie des provinces,
l'opposition a depose, fin mars, devant la Haute Cour
constitutionnelle, un recours en annulation. Elle constate que 2
millions de personnes n'avaient pu voter par rapport a la
presidentielle de 1996 et accuse des irregularites dans la
constitution des listes electorales.  (L'Autre Afrique, France, 1-7
avril 1998)

* Mali. Report des elections municipales - Les elections
municipales au Mali, initialement prevues pour le 19 avril, ont ete
reportees a une date ulterieure, ont fait savoir les autorites.
Dans un communique, cite par 'Reuters' le 27 mars, elles justifient
ce report par leur souci de favoriser la participation d'un plus
grand nombre de partis, notamment ceux du Collectif de
l'opposition, qui regroupe 18 formations, qui avaient decide de
boycotter le scrutin.  (Marches Tropicaux, France, 3 avril 1998)

* Niger. Muslim holiday amnesty - Niger's president has amnestied
prisoners with six moths or less of their sentence to serve, plus
all detained minors, pregnant or breastfeeding women, and prisoners
with such diseases as leprosy or AIDS. Ibrahim Bare Mainassara's
decree, timed to coincide with the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha or
Tabaski as it is known in West Africa, applies to murderers,
forgers and embezzlers of public funds only if they had two months
or less to serve.  (InfoBeat, USA, 7 April 1998)

* Nigeria. Appeal to military tribunal - 30 March was the deadline
for the submission of reports of the Special Military Tribunal
(SMT) trying the former Chief of General Staff, Lt. Gen. Oladipo
Diya and 25 others, arrested on 21 December 1997 for an alleged
coup plot. But reports say the Tribunal has yet to complete its
task. Inaugurated on 14 February, the SMT, headed by General Victor
Malu, former Commander of ECOMOG forces, was expected to hand down
judgement on the alleged coup plotters last weekend, and later to
submit its report to General Abacha. The verdict will be decided
upon by the highest military ruling body in the land, the
Provisional Ruling Council (PRC). Before this verdict is made known
to the public, the PRC will comment on its verdict, either to
ratify or reject the SMT recommendations. The Anglican bishop of
Akure Diocese and the Roman Catholic Bishop of Abuja, warn that if
Diya is sentenced to death, it would trigger off a chain reaction
which would mar the country's peace process.  (Taye Babaleye,
Nigeria, 1 April 1998)

* Nigeria. Oil spillage - Another major oil spillage has been
reported in the riverine areas of Delta State. This time, the
spillage is from Shell's pipeline. According to a press statement
by the company, the spillage which occurred on the weekend of 27-29
March at the Jones Creek Field Pipe line, is about 20,000 barrels.
The statement said the impacted areas have however, been boomed off
to contain the oil which is now being recovered into barges, adding
that the operation will be followed by further clean up exercises
to prevent more damage to the environment. In addition, the company
said it was providing relief materials to support the affected
communities while the regulatory authorities have been promptly
informed of the accident. The oil giant said all efforts are being
made to determine the cause of the leak and rectify the faults on
the pipes. Only last January, a similar oil spillage of about
40,000 barrels of crude occurred at the Mobil Oil Producing Company
exploration fields in the Niger Delta area of the country.  (Taye
Babaleye, Nigeria, 2 April 1998)

* Nigeria. Condemning US stance - On 3 April, Nigeria's Foreign
Affairs Minister, Chief Tom Ikimi, summoned the US ambassador,
Mr.William Twaddel, to his office to formerly protest recent
statements credited to some American officials about Nigeria's
political transition program. Chief Ikimi complained about the
recent statements of Ms.Susan Rice, and Ms.Madeline Albright to the
effect that the US government will not accept a military person
becoming Nigeria's next president. Also the American government
will continue to maintain sanctions against the military
dictatorship in Nigeria above other things.  (Taye Babaleye,
Nigeria, 3 April 1998)

* Nigeria. Clinton admet son impuissance - Bill Clinton s'est
livre, le 2 avril a Dakar, ou il terminait sa tournee africaine, a
un aveu d'impuissance, rare pour un president des Etats-Unis, en
admettant franchement qu'il ne parvenait pas a influencer le
comportement du regime militaire nigerian et que son gouvernement
etait divise sur le moyen d'y parvenir. "En toute franchise, la
question du Nigeria est la plus difficile a resoudre [...] parce
que toutes les approches que nous avons essayees pour regler le
probleme pose par le gouvernement du general Abacha se sont
revelees decevantes pour nous", a-t-il dit lors d'une table ronde
sur les droits de l'homme et la democratie en Afrique.  (Le Monde,
France, 4 avril 1998)

* Nigeria. Catastrophe maritime - Le 1er avril, 280 personnes ont
trouve la mort quand leur bateau a coule au large de la cote
nigeriane, a annonce le journal nigerian 'Daily Times' sur base
d'un rapport de la police. Le bateau faisait route vers le Gabon.
Vingt passagers ont pu se sauver. On ne connait toutefois pas le
nombre exact des personnes qui etaient a bord.  (De Standaard,
Belgique, 6 avril 1998)

* Rwanda. France and the Rwandan genocide - "The missiles which
brought down a French plane carrying the Presidents of Rwanda and
Burundi -- sparking the 1994 Rwandan genocide -- came from French
armouries." (Le Figaro, France, 2 April 1998) "I read in Le Figaro,
someone said it was a French missile. That's false. The missiles
almost certainly came from United States stocks of Russian-made
weapons". (Bernard Debre, France's former African Affairs Minister,
6 April 1998). "The fourth anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda
will be marked next week at Bisesero, where new evidence shows that
Tutsi survivors fought hand-to-hand battles against Hutu extremists
led by local officials and businessmen for ten weeks. The
survivors' testimony also reveals how French soldiers drove away,
leaving wounded and starving Tutsis at the mercy of these killers.
The flood of information coming out for this anniversary, mainly
from French journalists and academics, is likely to increase
international guilt about both the past and current situations"
(The Guardian, U.K., 3 April 1998).  (Assembled by ANB-BIA,
Brussels, 7 April 1998)

* Rwanda. Tuerie - Neuf personnes ont ete tuees par des rebelles
hutu dans la nuit du 30 au 31 mars dans la commune de Nyabikenke
(prefecture de Gitarama), a indique le 2 avril l'Agence rwandaise
d'information, citant des sources officielles. C'est dans cette
commune que le vice-president Kagame s'etait declare satisfait, il
y a deux semaines, de la situation en matiere de securite dans la
prefecture de Gitarama.  (La Libre Belgique, 3 avril 1998)

* Rwanda. Genocide anniversary - On 6 April, Rwanda marked the
fourth anniversary of the genocide in which an estimated 800,000
Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered. The violence was
unleashed on 6 April 1994, after a plane crash in which Rwandan
President Juvenal Habyarimana was killed. The Rwandan government
has planned a week of remembrance ceremonies including the formal
reburial of thousands of genocide victims.  (IRIN, Nairobi, 6 April
1998)

* Rwanda. Semaine nationale de deuil - Le Rwanda a celebre, du 1 au
7 avril, le quatrieme anniversaire du genocide de 1994. La premiere
journee, anniversaire de l'assassinat du president Habyarimana, a
ete marquee par la visite du vice-president Kagame a Karubamba (au
nord-est) ou il a preside aux ceremonies d'inhumation des restes de
plus de 5.000 victimes. Le 7 avril, a Bisesero, dans un discours
cloturant la semaine de deuil devant des representants de la
communaute internationale, le president Bizimungu a rendu hommage
aux resistants tutsi tues au printemps 1994.  (ANB-BIA, de sources
diverses, 8 avril 1998)

* Sao Tome et Pincipe. Forum de reconciliation - Un Forum de
reconciliation nationale s'est ouvert le 27 mars a Sao Tome, cense
mettre fin a l'instabilite politique chronique que connait
l'archipel depuis son ouverture au multipartisme. Reunissant 724
delegues representatifs de toutes les couches de la population, ce
Forum accueillait aussi une trentaine d'invites de l'exterieur. Il
devait elaborer un projet de revision de la Constitution et decider
d'un nouveau gouvernement, qui devrait mettre fin aux dissensions
paralysantes entre le chef de l'Etat et le gouvernement actuel. 
(Marches Tropicaux, France, 3 avril 1998)

* Sierra Leone. Charniers - Plus de 550 corps ont ete decouverts
par des miliciens, le 31 mars, dans deux charniers sur l'ile de
Sherbro, a 140 km de la capitale Freetown. Les corps sont
essentiellement ceux de femmes et d'enfants qui auraient ete
enterres a la hate quand les troupes nigerianes de l'Ecomog (la
force d'interposition ouest-africaine) avancait sur Freetown pour
chasser la junte. Cela laisse subsister un doute sur les auteurs de
ce massacre sanguinaire de civils.  (d'apres Liberation, France, 3
avril 1998)

* Sierra Leone. 21 charged with treason - On 6 April, 21 Civilians
were charged with treason in a Freetown court in connection with
last May's coup in Sierra Leone. The accused, who appeared in a
crowded courtroom, included former Planning Minister Victor
Brandon, former Sports Minister Deen Sesay, ex-Deputy Minister for
Energy Hassan Barie, and the director of the Sierra Leone
Broadcasting Corporation. These are the first to be charged since
President Kabbah regained his office last month.  (InfoBeat, USA,
6 April 1998)

* Somaliland. Repatriating refugees - On 3 April, the UN refugee
agency appealed for $24 million for its Somalia program as it
restarted an operation to repatriate refugees to Somaliland from
Ethiopia. The UNHCR appealed for the money to help 240,000 refugees
who, starting in 1989, fled war and famine in Somalia for Ethiopia
and Kenya. The UNHCR moved 470 Somali refugees in 13 UN trucks 2
April from Darawnaji camp in Ehtiopia to Borama, a dusty town in
the unrecognized republic of "Somaliland". Most fled to the camp at
Darawnaji, 15 miles inside Ethiopia, from northwest Somalia in 1990
and 1991.  (InfoBeat, USA, 3 April 1998)

* Afrique du Sud. Pigeons voleurs - L'Afrique du Sud a decide de
sevir contre des pigeons de la region nord-ouest du pays. Depuis
quelques mois, des oiseaux bien entraines derobent des diamants sur
le domaine d'exploration de la societe miniere Alexkhor et livrent
la marchandise subtilisee de l'autre cote des frontieres. Manda
Msomi, le president du comite de suivi des entreprises publiques,
a annonce le 24 mars que la loi permettait "a compter de ce jour,
d'abattre systematiquement les oiseaux volant au-dessus des sites
diamantiferes".  (L'Autre Afrique, France, 1-7 avril 1998)

* South Africa. Alleged left-wing plot - 2 April: President Mandela
tells his military top brass he never believed a report on an
alleged left-wing plot against himself. The report, which a
judicial inquiry led by Chief Justice Ismail Mohamed dismissed as
flawed, was compiled by military intelligence and endorsed by the
chief of the South African Defense Force, General George Meiring.
It alleges a left-wing military coup plot against Mandela's ruling
ANC government. 6 April: General Meiring takes early retirement. A
statement from the presidency says his retirement has been accepted
"with regret". The President is quoted as saying the decision is
"appropriate" and "honourable". 7 April: President Mandela says
that a breakdown in trust between himself and General Meiring over
a false coup report, had led to Meiring's resignation.  (ANB-BIA,
Brussels, 8 April 1998)

* Afrique du Sud. Le chef de l'armee s'en va - Le president Nelson
Mandela a accepte, le 6 avril, la demission du chef de l'armee. Le
general Georg Meiring etait sur la sellette pour avoir echoue a
expliquer l'origine d'un rapport des Renseignements militaires, qui
faisait etat d'un complot antigouvernemental prepare par d'anciens
combattants de l'ANC. Un rapport sans fondement et etabli en depit
des regles, selon une contre-enquete gouvernementale. Tres
probablement le lieutenant-general Siphiwe Nyanda succedera a
Meiring, devenant ainsi le premier militaire noir a occuper cette
haute fonction.  (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 8 avril 1998)

* South Africa. Priest defends Clinton communion - Father Mohlomi
Makobane, parish priest of Regina Mundi Church in Moroka, Soweta,
said he knew President Clinton was likely to come up for Communion,
but that he had not asked permission to give It to him from Bishop
Reginald Orsmond of Johannesburg. Fr. Makobane said that after he
had read the Directory on Ecumenism in Southern Africa, accepted by
the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference at its plenary
meeting in January, he "took it for granted" that President Clinton
would be allowed to receive the Eucharist". Mr Clinton, a Southern
Baptist, and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, a Methodist, joined
more than 1,000 people at the Mass in the Church which is widely
regarded as a symbol of the struggle against apartheid. Both
received Communion.  (The Southern Cross, South Africa, 5-12 April
1998)
* Soudan. Vols humanitaires au Bahr el-Ghazal - L'Operation ligne
de vie pour le Soudan (OLS) s'est felicite, le 2 avril, de la
decision prise par le gouvernement soudanais de permettre la
reprise des vols humanitaires dans toutes les regions du Bahr el-
Ghazal. Les vols ont recommence le meme jour. Selon OLS, les
largages sont essentiels dans les quatre prochaines semaines, car
c'est la saison des semences. La livraison de semences est urgente
avant l'arrivee des pluies. Cependant, le ministre soudanais des
Affaires etrangeres a souligne que la levee d'interdiction etait
temporaire et visait a creer une atmosphere propre au succes de
negociations de paix.  (IRIN, Nairobi, 3-4 avril 1998)

* Sudan. Impending famine - 2 April: Relief agencies step up air
support operations in southern Sudan, after the government grants
them full access to airstrips in the famine-hit area. The
government decision allows UN agencies to land at 50 airstrips in
the Bahr el-Ghazal region, 25 of which are key to the relief
effort. Brenda Barton, spokeswoman for the WFP, says that only
eight airstrips were accessible before 2 April. 3 April: The
Sudanese foreign minister stresses the lifting of the aid ban is
only temporary and aimed at "creating a suitable atmosphere for the
success of forthcoming peace negotiations in Nairobi this month".
6 April: Aid agencies operating in the Bahr el-Ghazal province warn
that an impending famine could lead to huge loss of life with as
many as 500,000 people displaced by recent fighting, in imminent
danger of starvation. The Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation
Association estimates that 90% of Wau's one million people have
fled to outlying rural areas, and the pattern of flight has been
repeated across the nine counties of Bahr el-Ghazal.  (ANB-BIA,
Brussels, 7 April 1998)

* Swaziland. Happy birthday, King Mswati - 19 April, a national
holiday in Swaziland, sees "Africa's most famous boy king since
Tutankhamen" reach his 30th birthday. The occasion will be formally
celebrated on another national holiday, on 6 September, the 30th
anniversary of this tiny landlocked country's independence from
Great Britain. It is no accident that both the King and his
independent modern nation are the same age. Officially, the
sovereign state of Swaziland is embodied in the person of the
sovereign himself. To the irritation of progressive forces intent
upon full democracy, but to the delight of traditionalists who make
up the political majority in a land of less than one million
people, King Mswati's hold on power seems secure for the
foreseeable future.  (James Hall, New African, U.K., April 1998)

* Tanzania. Delivery of aid disrupted - Heavy rains have disrupted
delivery of aid to the camps along unpaved roads between Kigoma and
Ngara. UNHCR and the non-governmental TCRS have worked to make the
worst sections near Kobondo passable, but sections on the road to
Lugufu camp (population 30,000) are underwater, and large trucks
bringing food overland from Dar-es-Salaam are routinely
immobilized. The supply delays have forced aid workers to
distribute half rations of food. UNHCR staff in Tanzania have
registered some 500 Rwandan refugees since the beginning of the
year. The new arrivals have been transferred away from the Rwandan
border to Mkugwa camp, by agreement with the Tanzanian government,
pending individual status determination. Tanzanian policemen have
identified and separated from refugee camps around 40 Burundi
suspected of engaging in military activities. The number was taken
to Kigwa in the Tabora region, around 200 kms from the border with
Burundi. UNHCR has strengthened local law enforcement capacities --
with personnel, communications equipment and transport -- in an
effort to ensure the civilian nature of the refugee camps.  (IRIN,
Nairobi, 1 April 1998)

* Uganda. Parties' Bill ready for parliament - Uganda's long
awaited Political Organisations Bill will be tabled before
Parliament in May and will feature amendments in line with the new
1995 Constitution. The Bill requires every political organisation
to have a national character not based on religion, sex, or
ethnicity. Traditionally, if unofficially, the major political
parties in Uganda have been demarcated on religious or ethnic
grounds. The 1995 Uganda Constitution outlaws political party
activities, including opening and operating branch offices, holding
delegates conferences, sponsoring candidates for election and
staging political rallies.  (The East African, Kenya, 23-29 March
1998)

* Uganda. Tuberculosis second highest globally - Uganda now has the
second highest rate of tuberculosis infections per 100,000 people
in the world according to a new report from the WHO. It urges
urgent action from the international community. Uganda rates second
only to Congo RDC. The issue is regarded as urgent not only because
TB kills more people that any other infectious disease in the
world, but because it is spreading rapidly. According to WHO, "if
we allow TB to prosper in any corner of the world, we do so at our
own peril".  (The East African, Kenya, 23-29 March 1998)

* Uganda. Army put on alert at Sudan border - The Uganda Peoples
Defence Force (UPDF) at the Sudanese border, has been put on full
alert, security forces said on 31 March. Army sources told The New
Vision that the army is to occupy areas suspected of being
frequently used by Joseph Kony's Lord Resistance Army (LRA) rebels,
to enter Uganda from Sudan. Top UPDF reportedly toured the border
area with security officials to familiarise themselves with
developments there. The UPDF Fourth Division public relations
officer told The New Vision that the UPDF has the duty to regularly
evaluate the security situation at the border. In this case, he
said, the army is checking any possibility of LRA rebels wanting to
enter the country. (Editor's note: UNICEF has condemned the
barbaric behaviour of the LRA saying that between 6,000-8,000
children have been kidnapped over the past five years, half of whom
have managed to escape but who bear scars and mutilations. Many
others are feared dead.)  (New Vision, Uganda, 1 April 1998)

* Ouganda. Attentat meurtrier - Cinq personnes, dont deux
Burundais, ont peri et cinq autres ont ete blessees, le samedi soir
4 avril, dans deux attentats a la grenade qui visaient un bar et un
hotel du quartier commercant de Kampala. Personne n'a revendique
ces attentats.  (La Libre Belgique, 6 avril 1998)

* Western Sahara. Identifying voters - A UN team has identified
101,772 people in preparation for a referendum on the future of the
disputed Western Sahara. Disagreement on the number of those
eligible to vote has bogged down a peace plan for years. The
figures were issued late on 6 April by the identification
commission, headed by Robin Kinlock, in Laayoune, the main town of
the former Spanish territory.  (InfoBeat, USA, 7 April 1998)

* Zambia. Amnesty for tax cheats - In a bid to increase revenue for
taxation, Zambia's Minister for Finance and Economic development,
Ronald Penza, promised companies an amnesty on undeclared direct
taxes, customs duty, VAT, and other duties. However companies had
to apply for amnesty before the end of March. Tax evasion by both
foreign and local businesses, has been escalating over the past two
years. Mr.Penza's gesture was a last throw of the dice to stem the
tide. He had warned: "The amnesty gives businesses the chance to
begin afresh to operate legally under our new tax laws. If business
and individuals do not take this one chance, any one caught after
31 March 1998, who has not made full disclosure, will be dealt with
a lot more severely than before".  (African Business, U.K., 29
March 1998)

* Zambia. Human rights abuses - On 3 April, Amnesty International
urged Western donors to consider what it called human rights abuses
by Zambia's government, before pledging more aid at a meeting next
month. Amnesty International said in a report that President
Chiluba's government had used a state of emergency imposed after
the failed coup bid last October, to violate people's
rights."Amnesty International believes human rights violations
under the 1997 state of emergency, were allowed to take place,
because of the authorities' flouting of constitutional procedural
guarantees, governing detention under a state of emergency", the
report said.  (InfoBeat, USA, 6 April 1998

===== NOUS VOUS SIGNALONS... -- INTERESTING MATERIAL... =====
==> DETTE TIERS MONDE
Titre: "Dette du Tiers Monde et Jubile"
Source: "Que penser de..?" - n.35, 15 mars 1998, Ed. Fidelite, 61
rue de Bruxelles, B-5000 Namur (48pp. 15x10,5)
Description: A la fin de 1995, la dette exterieure des pays en
developpement se montait a 2.068 milliards de dollars, soit 150%
des recettes d'exportation. Diverses voix se font entendre, dans
l'Eglise et ailleurs, pour qu'a l'occasion de l'an 2000 soit remise
la dette du Tiers Monde.
--> Renseignements: fidelite@catho.be