Weekly anb11284.txt #5

[anb-bia <anb-bia at village.uunet.be>]

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 28-11-2002      PART #4/5

* Maroc. Programme du gouvernement  -  Le 21 novembre, le Premier ministre 
Driss Jettou a présenté au Parlement le programme de son gouvernement. Ses 
quatre priorités sont l'emploi productif, le développement économique, 
l'enseignement utile et l'habitat décent. Parmi les grands projets annoncés 
on peut noter la construction du port de Tanger et d'un complexe industriel 
attenant, ainsi que la construction de 400 km d'autoroutes. Dans le domaine 
de l'éducation, le gouvernement se fixe comme priorités des mesures visant 
la généralisation de l'enseignement primaire, l'encouragement des deux 
cycles de l'enseignement secondaire et l'élargissement de l'enseignement 
secondaire professionnel. Il envisage aussi la construction à moyen terme 
de 100.000 logements sociaux.   (D'après PANA, Sénégal, 22 novembre 2002)

* Maroc. Pluies torrentielles  -  Le 25 novembre, des inondations ont fait 
plus de 35 morts et causé d'importants dégâts matériels, surtout dans la 
région de Settat (ouest) où des oueds ont connu de très fortes crues. Des 
pluies torrentielles ont provoqué la mort d'au moins 28 personnes dans la 
plaine agricole de Gharb, située dans le nord-ouest du Maroc, et 8 
personnes sont également portées disparues. L'oued Bengueribi a débordé de 
son lit et balayé le petit village de Douar Chtioui Loussi, près de 
Berrechid, ville située à 130 km au sud de Rabat. Près de Fès, un homme et 
quatre de ses enfants ont été tués dans l'effondrement de leur maison; son 
épouse et le cinquième enfant ont survécu. -- Le soir du même jour, un 
incendie s'est déclaré dans la plus grande raffinerie du Maroc, la SAMIR, à 
Mohammedia (70 km au sud de Rabat), alors que la région était submergée par 
les eaux. Cette raffinerie constitue le poumon du secteur énergétique 
marocain. Le lendemain, l'agence officielle MAP a rapporté que l'incendie 
avait été maîtrisé. La montée des eaux avait soulevé les hydrocarbures 
résiduels qui sont entrés en contact avec les parties chaudes de la 
raffinerie, et ont déclenché plusieurs foyers d'incendie et l'explosion de 
canalisations. Jusqu'au 27 novembre au soir on déplorait deux morts et 
trois disparus. La valeur d'assurance de la raffinerie, écrit L'Economiste, 
s'élèverait à 500 millions d'euros.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 28 
novembre 2002)

* Morocco. Dozens killed in floods  -  25 November: At least 25 people have 
been killed in flash floods in central Morocco. Twenty bodies have been 
recovered by rescue teams near Settat, but 11 people are still missing. 
Torrential rain has been falling in the area for a week, but no casualties 
were reported until today. 27 November: Morocco's oldest oil refinery has 
been closed down following flash floods which have killed at least 37 
people.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 27 November 2002)

* Nigeria. USA urges Nigeria to combat money laundering  -  The US has 
warned Nigeria that it will support international sanctions starting as 
early as next month if it fails to fall into line with a global campaign 
against money laundering. Western diplomats in Nigeria are urging the 
country's parliament to pass laws proposed by President Olusegun Obasanjo 
in an attempt to avert punitive action threatened last month by the 
Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an anti-money-laundering body set up by 
leading industrialised nations. The pressure reflects growing concern about 
Nigeria's poor record on fraud and money laundering despite improvements in 
transparency in the world's big economies and tax havens over the past few 
years. "We support the FATF's call for counter-measures on December 15," 
the US Treasury said. "We take our commitment to the FATF seriously." The 
taskforce, a Paris-based organisation set up in 1989 by the Group of Seven 
industrialised countries, criticised Nigeria last year for its "obvious 
unwillingness or inability to co-operate" with efforts to combat money 
laundering and said earlier this year that the country had "continued to 
fail to adequately engage".   (Financial Times, UK, 21 November 2002)

* Nigeria. The Eucharistic Congress  -  Hundreds of thousands of Catholic 
faithful from all the 48 dioceses and archdioceses of Nigeria, between 
November 15th and 17th converged on Ibadan between 15-17 November, for the 
third National Eucharistic Congress celebrations. The Eucharistic Congress' 
closing Mass, on the theme: "Christ, Bread Broken for the Life of the 
World", was presided by the Papal Legate, Cardinal Francis Arinze, Prefect 
of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Disciplines of the Sacraments, 
together with nearly all the bishops from Nigeria concelebrating. Also at 
the Mass were about 1,000 Nigerian priests as well as men and women from 
various religious congregations. In his homily, Cardinal Arinze recalled 
that the celebration of this Eucharistic Congress is a special moment of 
grace and blessing for both the Church and society in Nigeria because, the 
Holy Eucharist is the centre of the Church's life, an admirable sacrifice, 
a sacrament of love and a sign of unity. "The Holy Eucharist sends us on 
mission. Therefore, its celebration and reception call on us to give a 
response full of faith and which will also manifest itself in due worship 
of the Holy Eucharist outside the Mass."   (Peter Ajayi Dada, Cath. Secr. 
of Nigeria, 21 Nov. 2002)

* Nigeria. Blast hits Lagos airport  -  21 November: An explosion believed 
to have been caused by a chemical spill has created a huge fire at the 
cargo terminal of Lagos airport in Nigeria. Police said no-one was killed 
in the blast, but a number of people were seriously injured. Hundreds fled 
from the scene of the blaze, which sent huge plumes of smoke into the sky. 
The fire was still burning three hours after the explosion in a cargo 
warehouse at about 1530 local time (1430 GMT), today. A customs official 
says the blast appears to have been caused by a falling container of 
chemicals. It fell off a fork-lift truck and set fire to other goods in the 
warehouse. The airport serves the country's commercial capital, and the 
terminal would have been crowded with agents and clients at the 
time.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 21 November 2002)

* Nigeria. Banking on $21 oil price  -  21 November: President Olusegun 
Obasanjo has unveiled Nigeria's 2003 draft budget, basing revenues on an 
average oil price of $21 a barrel. The budget has been slimmed down by 
about 30% to 765bn naira ($6bn). Mr Obasanjo has already said that 
parliament cannot afford the previous budget and is determined to prove to 
international creditors that the country will spend within its means. 
Administrative costs will be reigned in by creating a smaller but more 
skilled and productive civil service, he said. Africa's second largest 
economy is targeting real economic growth of 5% in 2003, and inflation of 
9%. Oil accounts for more than half of the government's revenues, and is 
estimated to bring in 1.120 trillion naira next year. But the volatile oil 
price makes it very difficult to predict the budget. Oil is currently 
trading at about $25 a barrel, but next year's price is particularly 
uncertain because of the threat of a US-led war against Iraq.   (ANB-BIA, 
Belgium, 21 November 2002)

* Nigeria. Explosion à l'aéroport de Lagos  -  Le 21 novembre, une 
explosion s'est produite dans le terminal fret de l'aéroport de Lagos, la 
capitale commerciale du Nigeria, tuant au moins une personne, alors que 
plusieurs autres étaient coincées à l'intérieur. Des témoins ont rapporté 
que des ambulances ont sorti de nombreux blessés de la scène de l'accident, 
qui a eu lieu à la limite du terminal international du plus important 
aéroport de l'ouest de l'Afrique. Aucune explication officielle n'a encore 
été donnée sur les raisons de l'explosion, mais selon des témoins, un 
conteneur de produits chimiques serait tombé sur un chariot provoquant 
l'explosion et l'incendie.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 22 novembre 2002)

* Nigeria. Emeutes sanglantes à Kaduna  -  Le jeudi 21 novembre, des 
émeutes sanglantes ont fait au moins 100 morts et 521 blessés dans la ville 
majoritairement musulmane de Kaduna. Les troubles avaient commencé la 
veille suite à la parution d'un article sur l'élection de Miss Monde jugé 
blasphématoire à l'égard du prophète Mahomet. L'article suggérait que le 
prophète aurait pu choisir pour femme l'une des participantes au concours. 
Le jeudi, les émeutiers se sont acharnés sur les chrétiens, incendiant des 
maisons et poignardant les gens en pleine rue, les battant à mort ou les 
brûlant vifs. Au moins quatre églises ont été incendiées, selon le 
président de la Croix-Rouge. Des groupes de jeunes chrétiens sont passés 
aux représailles. Des centaines de policiers ont été déployés dans la ville 
pour rétablir l'ordre. Cette explosion de violence fait craindre le retour 
d'affrontements entre chrétiens et musulmans, qui avaient fait plus de 
2.000 morts en 2000. -Le 22 novembre, dans la capitale Abuja, à la sortie 
de la prière du vendredi, des musulmans ont commencé à incendier des 
véhicules à proximité de l'hôtel où sont logées les "Miss". L'archevêque 
d'Abuja, Mgr Onaiyekan, a déclaré à l'agence Misna: "Il y a des enjeux 
politiques derrière ces heurts. Ce n'est pas un affrontement entre 
chrétiens et musulmans. Ce concours de Miss Monde n'a pas été organisé par 
les chrétiens. Mais les déclarations de certains chefs religieux ont été de 
véritables incitations au désordre. Il y a quelqu'un qui veut retirer un 
gain politique de cette situation". -- Le samedi 23 novembre, tôt au matin, 
les organisateurs du concours Miss Monde ont annoncé que la compétition 
n'aura finalement pas lieu au Nigeria, mais se déroulerait à Londres, le 7 
décembre, dans "l'intérêt du Nigeria et des candidates". Celles-ci se sont 
envolées dans la soirée pour la Grande-Bretagne. A Kaduna, le bilan de 
quatre jours d'émeutes ne cesse de s'alourdir. Un décompte (provisoire et 
incomplet) dressé par la Croix-Rouge nigériane le samedi soir, dénombrait 
215 morts. D'autres chiffres précisent l'ampleur du drame: 1.125 blessés, 
11.000 déplacés, 4.500 sans-abri, 22 églises et 8 mosquées détruites. Alors 
que le calme était revenu dimanche, des militants de droits de l'homme ont 
fait état d'exécutions extrajudiciaires perpétrées par les forces de 
sécurité. -- 26 novembre. Le gouvernement de l'Etat de Zamfara a lancé une 
fatwa appelant les croyants à tuer la journaliste Isioma Daniel, auteur de 
l'article incriminé qui a mis le feu aux poudres. Elle aurait quitté le 
pays.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 27 novembre 2002)

* Nigeria. Tensions continue  -  21 November: At least 12 people have been 
killed in the Nigerian city of Kaduna after protests against next month's 
Miss World beauty competition descended into bloody violence. Many more are 
also believed to have died, after thousands of Muslim youths rampaged 
through the suburbs of the city, erecting barricades of burning tires, 
setting fire to buildings, and attacking churches. The authorities in the 
northern city have declared a curfew with immediate effect. Protests 
started after the newspaper ThisDay published an article which said that 
the Prophet Mohammed would probably have chosen to marry one of the 
contestants if he had witnessed the beauty pageant, which Nigeria is 
hosting next month. Kaduna is one of Nigeria's most volatile cities, and 
has been largely segregated into Christian and Muslim areas since clashes 
two years ago, in which more than 2,000 people died. 22 November: The 
number of deaths in Kaduna are now put at 100. Riots spread to the capital 
Abuja, when hundreds of Muslim youths go on the rampage following Friday 
prayers. 23 November: The Miss World contest is moving to London. The 
pageant's organisers said the show would be held in London on 7 December 
instead of the Nigerian capital, Abuja. In Abuja, police say they have 
regained control of the streets after violent protests spread to the city 
over the plans to hold the contest there. In a statement, the pageant 
organisers said the change of venue was in the "overall interests of 
Nigeria and the contestants". Hours earlier, Nigerian President Olusegun 
Obasanjo went on television along with religious leaders to appeal for 
national calm, blaming a media report, not the contest itself, for the 
violence. "It could happen at any time irresponsible journalism is 
committed against Islam," he said. The Nigerian Government has assured 
Muslims that those responsible for the offending article, which appeared in 
ThisDay newspaper, will be brought to account. ThisDay has retracted it and 
has published apologies. -- Further rioting has broken out in Kaduna. More 
casualties have been reported, and eyewitnesses say security forces have 
been shooting to try to control a large crowd of demonstrators. 24 
November: More than 200 people are now known to have died in violence 
between Christians and Muslims in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna, 
relief and civil rights workers say. The figure which emerged after four 
days of disturbances linked to the now-relocated Miss World beauty contest 
is double the previous estimate. In addition to 215 bodies counted on the 
streets and in mortuaries, others were thought to have been buried by their 
families. Thousands have been displaced by the violence. 26 November: 
President Olusegun Obasanjo says "irresponsible journalism" about the Miss 
World contest sparked mass communal bloodshed. He said fighting between 
Muslim and Christian communities in the northern city of Kaduna could have 
started at any time and blamed an article which was offensive to Muslims 
for provoking the violence. Calm has now returned to the city and mass 
funerals have begun for more than 200 people known to have died in the four 
days of rioting. Some 350 people arrested in the rioting have been charged 
with arson, rioting, culpable homicide and other offenses. -- The Catholic 
Secretariat of Nigeria condemns unreservedly the religious riots that took 
place in Kaduna and Abuja. 27 November: Christian leaders have warned that 
they will defend themselves if the authorities cannot protect 
them.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 27 November 2002)

* Nigeria. Fatwa is issued on journalist  -  An Islamist state government 
in northern Nigeria has issued a fatwa urging Muslims to kill the 
British-educated author of the newspaper article on the Miss World contest 
which triggered three days of religious rioting that left more than 220 
people dead. Isioma Daniel, who studied journalism and politics for three 
years at the University of Central Lancashire, is understood to have fled 
Nigeria for the US before the deputy governor of Zamfara state announced 
the death sentence on the local radio station on the evening of 25 
November. News of the fatwa was delivered as the Miss World organisation, 
which has evacuated its contestants to London, confirmed the beauty pageant 
will now go ahead on December 7 at Alexandra Palace in London.   (The 
Guardian, UK, 27 November 2002)

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