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Weekly anb0410_1.txt #6

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 10-04-2003      PART #1/6
* Africa. Africa and the war in Iraq - The war in Iraq continues to exercise leader writers across Africa as the conflict enters a third week. Newspapers are mostly united in their condemnation of the war. Many papers turn their criticism to the way they believe some media coverage of the conflict is being manipulated. "Media barons have declared clear support for the war while media houses have taken the cue from their bosses to toe the line," rails a commentary in Kenya's Nation. "Journalists "embedded" in military propaganda will no doubt erode public trust in the fourth estate," the paper adds. "To restore this confidence will take longer than the conflict in the Gulf." A commentator in South Africa's Business Day shares these concerns. "If journalism has indeed become an offensive military weapon," he asks, "have news agencies turned journalists into combatants?" The Tanzanian Islamic weekly Nasaha says that those journalists seeking to report objectively on the Iraqi conflict are under pressure to file one-sided stories. "The US is hiding the truth and that is why journalists who are reporting the truth are being sacked in order to stop the flow of information from the other side and to ensure that only information from their side is heard," the paper warns. A commentary in Kenya's Standard also takes up the theme of objective journalism, arguing that the armed forces have little sympathy for cooperating with war correspondents. "Let's not mince words. A military, any military -- hates the media in general and war correspondents in particular... The basic problem is that the aims of the two groups are different," the paper says. An editorial in South Africa's Sowetan runs the headline "Time for soul-searching". This paper also worries about the way the Iraq war is covered by some journalists, accusing them of turning the conflict into a "spectacle". (BBC News, UK, 5 April 2003)
* Afrique. Génériques pour le sida - Bonne nouvelle. Même si les détails techniques doivent encore être finalisés courant avril, l'essentiel est acquis: l'Union africaine a signé, le 28 mars, un accord avec le Brésil pour la construction de trois usines (une dans le nord, une au centre et une au sud du continent) de fabrication de versions génériques des antirétroviraux. Le gouvernement brésilien, grand producteur de ces copies, est parvenu à endiguer l'épidémie en les distribuant à sa population. Même si les génériques seront bien moins onéreux que les médicaments actuellement disponibles, il restera aux gouvernements africains à organiser leur distribution. (J.A.I., France, 6 avril 2003)
* Afrique. Aggravation de la crise alimentaire - Le 7 avril, le Programme alimentaire mondial (PAM) a attiré l'attention du Conseil de sécurité sur l'aggravation de la crise alimentaire en Afrique, occasionnée par la sécheresse et les guerres civiles. Selon l'agence, plus de 1,8 milliard de dollars sont nécessaires pour satisfaire la demande en vivres du continent cette année. Le directeur exécutif du PAM, James Morris, a préconisé l'implication des pays membres dans les efforts pour aider l'Afrique à surmonter ses problèmes alimentaires et sanitaires. Il a en outre appelé les gouvernements africains à prendre les orientations nécessaires par le biais de politiques internes encourageant la production alimentaire, comme la diminution de la violence politique, la dotation en infrastructures et l'engagement en faveur d'une révolution verte. (PANA, Sénégal, 8 avril 2003)
* Africa. UN slams aid "double standards" - The head of the United Nation's food agency has accused western countries of ignoring Africa because of the war in Iraq. The World Food Programme (WFP)'s James Morris said that 40 million people in Africa faced starvation and were in greater danger than the Iraqi population of 26 million. Harvests in countries across Africa, from Zimbabwe to Eritrea to Mauritania have failed, leading to widespread food shortages. He said that the WFP appeal for emergency food aid was currently $1bn short. The Iraqi appeal could spiral to $1.3bn, he said. "As much as I don't like it, I cannot escape the thought that we have a double standard," he said. (BBC News, UK, 8 April 2003)
* Africa. Action against the Media - Benin: On 8 April, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) condemned the assaults by police officers on Etienne Houessou, publication director of the newspaper Le Télégramme, and three of his colleagues on 1 April 2003. "Whatever their mistake was, nothing can justify the inappropriate detention of these journalists and the acts of violence committed against them. In this country, which views itself as a democratic model in West Africa, legal provisions exist preventing the assault or detention of citizens for their writings. We hope that this is an isolated incident and ask that you punish those responsible for these violent acts," Robert Ménard, the organisation's secretary-general, said in a letter to Minister of Communications and the Promotion of New Technologies Gaston Zossou. Egypt: On 2 April, the Writers in Prison Committee said that the outbreak of military action in Iraq has led to concerns that governments of many countries will restrict the ability of their citizens to gather and speak out against the coming war. These concerns have unfortunately been borne out by the actions of governments throughout the world, most noticeably those of the Egyptian authorities. Since 20 March 2003, hundreds of people associated with the anti-war movement in Egypt, 16 of whom are writers, have been detained and some have reportedly been tortured solely for the peaceful practice of their right to freedom of expression and assembly. Liberia: On 9 April, RSF called on the Liberian authorities to search for four journalists -- Grody Dorbor, editor of the Inquirer news paper; Oscar Dolo, Nyahn Flomo, and William Quiwea, local correspondents of the radio station Talking Drun Studio -- Liberia, who have been missing for more than two weeks in the central part of Liberia. Morocco: On 3 April, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said it is alarmed by state-owned Moroccan public television's (TVM) decision to bar the satellite television station Al-Jazeera from using its facilities to feed broadcasts to the station's headquarters in Doha, Qatar. Al-Jazeera's correspondent in Morocco, Iqbal Ilhami, told CPJ that on March 30, she and her crew had completed a report on demonstrations in the capital, Rabat, opposing the US-led war in Iraq and went to TVM's facilities to feed the tape to Doha. Ilhami said that when she arrived at TVM, she was told that there were orders not to allow Al-Jazeera to use the facilities. Ilhami was not told who gave these orders or why they were given. Tunisia: On 4 April, RSF repeated its call for the immediate release of jailed cyber-dissident Zouhair Yahyaoui, who began another hunger strike a few days ago to protest against his recent ill-treatment. "We are not surprised to see the Tunisian regime taking advantage of the international media's focus on Iraq to step up pressure on political prisoners such as Yahyaoui," said RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard. "This is disgraceful and we call on the president to free him at once, along with another journalist, Hamadi Jebali, who has been in jail since 1991." (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 9 April 2003)
* Algérie. Pas de nouvelles des touristes - Partis en vacances dans le Sahara algérien, huit Autrichiens "n'ont pas donné signe de vie à leurs familles depuis plusieurs jours", a indiqué en fin de semaine un diplomate algérien, ce qui porte à 29 le nombre d'Européens disparus ces dernières semaines dans des conditions mystérieuses. "Aucun indice n'est apparu ces derniers jours", selon une source algérienne qui a souligné que des recherches, menées avec l'aide d'avions et d'hélicoptères, étaient en cours dans la région d'Illizi (1.500 km au sud-est d'Alger) près de la frontière libyenne pour tenter de localiser une partie des disparus, dont certains n'ont pas donné signe de vie depuis le 21 février. Répartis en six groupes, 15 Allemands, 8 Autrichiens, 4 Suisses, un Suédois et un Néerlandais, en villégiature dans ce désert de deux millions de kilomètres carrés, sont portés disparus. Des policiers allemands ont été envoyés en renfort pour épauler les autorités algériennes. -- L'agence AFP indique que le système de guidage par satellite GSP ne fonctionne plus dans la région de Tamanrasset depuis au moins une semaine, selon un professionnel sur place. Cela a pu tromper ceux qui ont disparu, estime-t-il. A priori, l'hypothèse la plus plausible est qu'ils se soient perdus, avait estimé une source sécuritaire. Des journaux algériens avaient indiqué que le GPS, financé et contrôlé par le ministère américain de la Défense, avait été brouillé ces dernières semaines, pour que les unités américaines dans le Golfe ne soient pas repérées. Mais des experts français avaient indiqué qu'ils excluaient cette explication. L'hypothèse de l'enlèvement par des groupes armés islamistes ou des contrebandiers, afin d'exiger des rançons, est également évoquée. Les autorités algériennes ont déployé plus de 1.200 hommes, militaires et gendarmes, pour ratisser le triangle Ouargla-Djant-Tamanrasset, en collaboration avec des guides locaux, originaires de Djanet ou d'Illizi. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 9 avril 2003)
* Algeria. Tourists missing in Sahara - 5 April: The BBC says that eight Austrian tourists have gone missing in the Sahara desert in southern Algeria, bringing the number of foreign travellers who have disappeared in the region recently to 29. The eight "adventure tourists" were reported missing by relatives on 4 April after they failed to board a ferry in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, as scheduled. The Austrian Foreign Ministry has sent two diplomats and two officers from a special police unit to the region to help the search for those missing. Austria has also issued a travel warning for the country, urging all its citizens to leave the country or contact its embassy in the country. Officials in Algeria are still searching for several groups of tourists -- 16 Germans (in several different groups), four Swiss and one Dutch national -- who have all gone missing in the desert wilderness since mid-February. The tourists were travelling through the Sahara Desert by car or motorbike, a spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry said earlier this week. Most of them disappeared between the towns of Ouargla and the towns of Illizi and Djanet in the far south of Algeria. Helicopters using heat-seeking devices -- capable of locating bodies and machines buried under sand -- have been enlisted to find those who have disappeared, so far without success. Germany has also sent five federal police agents to Algeria to help official search efforts, the Associated Press news agency reported. Smugglers and drug traffickers are known to haunt the area around southern Algeria, near the borders with Niger and Libya, and there are fears the tourists may have been kidnapped. Several of these criminal groups have been linked to Islamic militants fighting the Algerian Government. However authorities have said that the travellers could also have experienced vehicle problems because of sand and extreme temperatures. 7 April: The Independent says that desert nomads reported to have discovered an abandoned vehicle and a network of tunnels in a remote region of southern Algeria thought likely to provide clues about the disappearance of the tourists. The off-road vehicle was found in a mountainous district north of Tamanrasset by a camel train of nomads passing through the district. 9 April: The authorities in Algeria have deployed more than 1,000 soldiers, gendarmes and border guards in the search for the missing. The push to find them follows pressure from the German government, which is anxious to locate 18 German nationals who have disappeared in the region. The others include eight Austrians, four Swiss nationals, one Dutch national and one Swede. They made up six separate tour groups which all went missing as they crossed from Tunisia into the Algerian Sahara. Two helicopters and a reconnaissance plane equipped with thermal detection instruments are criss-crossing the search area between Ouargla, Djanet and Tamanrasset, three or four times a day. Guides known as "bloodhounds of the desert" are also taking part in the search. Units of frontier guards, companies of gendarmes, and units of the National Army, totalling 1200, all supported by experienced guides, are out searching. The search operation was stepped up following a visit to Algeria earlier this week by German Interior Minister Otto Schily, who was looking at efforts being made to find the German tourists. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 9 April 2003)
* Angola. One year of peace - 4 April: Tens of thousands of people have gathered in a sports stadium in the Angolan capital, Luanda, to mark the first anniversary of the peace accord between the government and the Angolan rebel group, Unita. An ecumenical service was held at the stadium, attended by President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, government officials, politicians and church leaders. At 1200 local time (1100 GMT), a minute's silence is observed in honour of the victims of the civil war. An estimated 500,000 people were killed and tens of thousands more were displaced during the 27-year civil conflict. "This is a great day, now we have peace. We have struggled for a long time for this, and now, thanks to the Lord, we have peace. Angola has changed, it's changed a lot", a woman named Hortense said. The government has planned a long weekend of celebrations -- but some people feel they have yet to see the benefits of peace. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 4 April 2003)
* Angola. 1er anniversaire de la paix - Le 4 avril, l'Angola a célébré le premier anniversaire de la fin de la guerre civile. Plusieurs dizaines de milliers de personnes ont participé dans la capitale à la cérémonie organisée par les Eglises chrétiennes pour commémorer la signature des accords qui ont mis fin à 27 ans de conflit, le 4 avril 2002. A midi, le pays a observé une minute de silence en mémoire des victimes de la guerre. "Les souffrances ne pourront être apaisées que si nous pratiquons la justice et le pardon", a affirmé l'archevêque de Luanda, Mgr Franklin, qui s'adressait à la foule en liesse rassemblée au stade Cidadela. Le président Dos Santos, les ministres et les représentants de l'opposition y étaient présents, mais aucun homme politique n'a pris la parole. La guerre civile avait été déclenchée au lendemain de l'indépendance, en 1975. (D'après Misna, Italie, 5 avril 2003)
* Angola. L'opposition demande des élections - La coalition des partis de l'opposition civile (POC) a sollicité du président Dos Santos la tenue d'élections générales dans un délai de 18 mois. Le POC propose aussi la formation d'un gouvernement de transition, qui préparera les conditions nécessaires au déroulement d'élections libres et justes en 2004. La coalition demande par ailleurs au gouvernement de garantir l'assistance matérielle et financière à tous les partis politiques. Le POC existe depuis 1993, et regroupe 15 partis politiques, en majorité sans siège parlementaire. 32 autres formations politiques y ont des observateurs. Les dernières élections générales dans le pays remontent à septembre 1992 et, onze ans après, les institutions qui en sont issues, en particulier le Parlement, continuent d'occuper leurs places, bien que leur mandat ait expiré depuis 1996. (D'après PANA, Sénégal, 7 avril 2003)
* Angola. Urgent need in transit centres - Thousands of people are without food and shelter in transit centres as the Angolan government closes gathering areas, where former UNITA soldiers and their relatives had been quartered. The gathering areas have housed about 400,000 UNITA ex-combatants and their families since the signing of the peace agreement in April 2002 that ended Angola's 27-year civil war. Earlier this year the government set a deadline of 31 March for closing all gathering areas and moving their populations to transit centres, from where they were to be transported to their areas of resettlement. However, there have been logistical delays which have caused thousands to be held up at the transit points. Last week the ACOMOL transit centre in Huambo city received an estimated 5,000 people, flown in by the government from gathering areas in Kuando Kubango, Uige, Malange and Moxico provinces, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said in its latest report. (IRIN, Kenya, 7 April 2003) 

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