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Weekly ANB1023_04.txt #7

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 23-10-2003      PART #4/7
* Côte d'Ivoire. Journaliste assassiné - Le journaliste français, Jean Hélène, correspondant de Radio France Internationale en Côte d'Ivoire, a été assassiné par balles mardi 21 octobre par un policier ivoirien, dans le quartier général de la police ivoirienne à Abidjan, où il attendait la libération des onze opposants arrêtés la semaine dernière pour les interviewer. M. Hélène aurait reçu une balle dans la tête "suite à une altercation avec le policier qui a mal tourné", selon le porte-parole de la mission française en Côte d'Ivoire. Les autorités ivoiriennes ont d'ailleurs annoncé l'arrestation du policier soupçonné. "C'était un amoureux fou de l'Afrique. Nous aimions tous cette folie et cette passion", a déclaré à l'antenne de RFI Jérôme Bouvier, directeur de la rédaction. Jean Hélène est né en 1953 à Mulhouse, et était devenu un collaborateur de Radio France Internationale en tant que pigiste en 1988. Amoureux de l'Afrique, il a intégré la rédaction en 1998 en tant que journaliste spécialisé avant de partir pour Libreville, au Gabon, en tant qu'envoyé spécial permanent à partir de novembre 1999. Il ainsi couvert les guerres du Rwanda, de République démocratique du Congo, de Somalie et du Liberia. (D'après AP, 22 octobre 2003)
* Erythrée/Ethiopie. La paix menacée - Le 18 octobre, l'Erythrée a évoqué un risque de nouvelle guerre dans la Corne de l'Afrique. En cause: le refus de l'Ethiopie de reconnaître la frontière entre les deux pays tracée par une commission indépendante mise sur pied à la suite d'un accord international. Signé en 2000, cet accord d'Alger avait mis fin à une guerre de deux ans (70.000 morts) entre les deux voisins. Le Premier ministre éthiopien, Meles Zenawi, a de nouveau contesté, devant le Parlement, le tracé de cette frontière, la qualifiant d'"illégale" et appelant à une médiation de l'Onu. - 20 octobre. Lors d'une conférence de presse à Asmara, l'envoyé spécial de l'Onu en Ethiopie et en Erythrée, M. Legwaila, a appelé les parties concernées à un retour au calme. Il a souligné que, malgré les tensions politiques, la situation dans la zone frontalière demeurait stable sur un plan militaire, et il a demandé aux journalistes d'éviter d'alarmer outre mesure la population. (La Libre Belgique, 20 octobre 2003)
* Ethiopia. Resisting the border ruling - 16 October: Ethiopia's prime minister has warned that the border dispute with Eritrea could erupt at any time. Meles Zenawi told Members of Parliament (MP)s that any attempt to force Ethiopia to accept the legally binding decision would raise tensions. A Hague-based commission was set up to rule on the demarcation of the 1,000 km border but awarded the hotly-disputed village of Badme to Eritrea. He said his government did not want to see a return to war, and emphasised that urgent action was needed. "It is impossible to say that these illegal and unjust decisions must be implemented as they stand," he said in a speech to Ethiopia's parliament. Mr Meles said that he felt that dialogue with Eritrea was the way forward, as had occurred after an international ruling over a territorial dispute between Nigeria and Cameroon. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 16 October 2003)
* The Gambia. Army takes to farming - Africa's many coups have led some countries on the continent to devise other ways of engaging their armed forces. The aim is to make the military more productive and relevant to society, instead of toppling elected governments. In The Gambia, the army men and women are being provided with various skills including farming. Every morning after their normal military parade in the main army barracks in Yundum, about 25 kilometres from the capital, Banjul, the soldiers are lined up for their day's tasks on the farm. They are proving just as capable and efficient on the farm as they would in their barracks or when they are manning guard posts dressed in their military fatigue, armed with AK47 guns. The army has already cultivated over 40 hectares of land including rice, maize, water melon, bitter tomato and other foodstuffs that are often consumed in the barracks. In addition to the farm, the soldiers are also being allocated a huge piece of land so they can grow fresh vegetables to supplement their meals. (BBC News, UK, 21 October 2003)
* Ghana. Ashanti board backs Anglo bid - 15 October: Ghana's biggest gold miner, Ashanti Goldfields, has decided to back a $1.4bn buyout offer from UK-South African giant AngloGold. Anglo clinched the deal by raising its offer to 29 shares per 100 Ashanti shares from 26. Ashanti's shareholders -- including Ghana's government, which holds 17% -- must now back the deal. But jilted suitor Randgold Resources is considering upping its own $1.5bn offer by offering more cash and fewer shares. The response of investors was to back Anglo and sell Randgold shares. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 15 October 2003)
* Guinée. La présidentielle fixée au 21 décembre - Citant un décret signé du président Lansana Conté, les médias guinéens ont annoncé, mardi 21 octobre, que l'élection présidentielle en Guinée aura lieu le 21 décembre prochain. Ce scrutin était déjà prévu en décembre, mais aucune date officielle n'avait jusqu'alors été fixée. Le 14 septembre, l'actuel chef d'Etat, malade, avait déclaré qu'il se portait candidat à sa propre succession, selon la demande exprimée en janvier par sa formation, le Parti de l'unité et du progrès (PUP). Le 19 octobre dernier, c'était au tour de l'Union des forces républicaines (UFR, opposition) de présenter son candidat, l'ancien Premier ministre Sidya Touré. Arrivé au pouvoir par un coup d'Etat en 1984, élu président en 1993 et réélu en 1998, Lansana Conté n'aurait donc pas pu se porter candidat. Mais un référendum constitutionnel organisé en novembre 2001 a supprimé la limitation du nombre de mandats (deux), permettant ainsi au général-président de se représenter. (D'après AFP, France, 21 octobre 2003)
* Kenya. Hotel attack: 2 more charged - On 14 October, Kenyan state prosecutors charged two more suspects with murder for their alleged role in last year's attack on an Israeli-owned hotel which the United States blamed on al Qaeda. The pair were charged in a Nairobi court with 15 counts of murder -- the number of people prosecutors say were killed by an unknown number of suicide bombers in the attack. "We have charged two more people with 15 counts of murder in relation to last year's attack on the Mombasa Paradise Hotel," John Gachibi, a senior state prosecutor said. The charges brought against Hassan Mohammed and Abdullah Shariff bring to eight the number of suspects accused of the attack, which took place in November. They were not required to enter a plea for the charges until 15 October. The other six suspects have all pleaded not guilty to murder charges. The Paradise Hotel near the east African country's tourist resort of Mombasa was bombed within minutes of a failed attempt to shoot down an Israeli airliner leaving Mombasa airport. (CNN, USA, 14 October 2003)
* Kenya. Judges suspended - 16 October: President Mwai Kibaki appoints two tribunals to investigate corruption allegations against half of Kenya's most senior judges who have been suspended. Local newspapers have printed the photographs and names of the 23 suspended judges. The President says in a statement the tribunal will investigate "allegations that the said judges... have been involved in corruption, unethical practices and absence of integrity in the performance of the functions of their office". A report released last month said corruption was rampant in the Kenyan legal system, with almost half of the country's judges and close to a third of its magistrates said to be corrupt. President Kibaki, who was elected last year, vowed to rid the country of corruption to win back donor support and made cleaning up the judiciary a key target. The International Monetary Fund stopped lending to Kenya three years ago because of the country's corruption. President Kibaki says the tribunal will investigate six of the country's nine judges in the Court of Appeals -- the highest court -- and 17 judges out of the 36 in the High Court. The judges, who were named for the first time, have been suspended with immediate effect while the investigations are being conducted. The tribunal investigating the High Court judges is to be chaired by influential Kenyan constitutional lawyer Lee Muthoga, while the panel investigating the Court of Appeal judges will be headed by prominent Ghanaian Judge Akilano Akiwumi. The President's decision to name the tribunals comes after the judges implicated in the Ringera report released at the end of September, are given the option to either resign and leave quietly or be investigated by tribunals. Confusion reigns in the courts. Nairobi High Court is a beehive of activity as judges hurriedly pack their personal belongings ready to vacate their chambers. Scores of people sit idly outside after being informed that their cases cannot not be heard, or just watching the unfolding drama. One of the few judges who has escaped the purge looks overwhelmed after several urgent civil cases are moved to him. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 16 October 2003)
* Kenya/UK. Claims of gang rape by British troops rape are being taken seriously - Claims that British troops gang raped scores of African tribeswomen while serving in Kenya were given fresh credibility by the Army on 20 October. A senior officer in the military police confirmed the allegations against British soldiers were being taken seriously, despite recent attempts to undermine the testimony of their "victims". Last month, the British High Commission in Nairobi announced, after a forensic examination, that all police records alleging rape of about 600 women by troops in the 1980s and 1990s were forgeries. But a letter from Brigadier Maurice Nugent, of the military police, confirmed that, although a "large proportion" of files had been "altered", there were numerous cases "where we are confident the evidence has not been fabricated". A team of 40 investigators from the British military police, Kenyan police and civil service has recently completed initial checks on police files of rape claims by women from the Masai and Samburu tribes. As many as 100 cases are likely to be pursued. Police have proceeded to interview 37 women in the Dol Dol area and are continuing investigations in Archers Post and Womba -- areas in northern Kenya where the British Army has trained since Kenya gained independence from Britain in 1963 -- now they are satisfied the claims have not been forged. In the letter to the women's solicitor, Martyn Day, dated 6 October, Brigadier Nugent adds: "We should be able to link an incident with a particular unit since we have records detailing who was in Kenya training during any given period. However, identifying potential suspects is likely to be protracted. Investigations into the assertion that members of the Army failed to act on reports are also under investigation." (The Independent, UK, 21 October 2003)
* Kenya. "Day of reckoning" for those thriving on corruption - 20 October: President Mwai Kibaki says the "day of reckoning" has arrived for those used to thriving on corruption. Ruling out the possibility of pardoning the culprits, President Kibaki says that his government's war on corruption is a serious one and that nobody should treat the crusade as a joke. "Corruption has been one of the key problems with governance in the country," President Kibaki said on 20 October in a speech to mark Kenyatta Day, a public holiday set aside to honour Kenyans who fought for the country's independence. "The writing is on the wall...those who choose to engage in this vice must know they will be called to give an account of their actions," says Mr Kibaki. 22 October: An inquiry into Kenya's biggest corruption scandal has been abruptly adjourned because its vice-chairman has been suspended following the investigation into malpractice in the judiciary. Justice Daniel Aganyanya is among the 23 senior judges suspended by President Kibaki. The Commission of Inquiry into the Goldenberg scandal, in which Kenya lost up to $600 million through questionable exports of gold and diamonds between 1990 and 1993, was appointed by President Kibaki in February. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 22 October 2003)
* Liberia. Arms to be surrendered - 16 October: The disarming of some 45,000 fighters is due to begin today, with out-going President Moses Blah handing over a "big quantity" of weapons he has collected from pro-government militias. The head of the United Nations mission, Jacques Klein, says that the two rebel groups and government militias will start giving up their weapons in mid-November. The man who replaced Mr Blah on 14 October, Gyude Bryant, has met the rebel leaders to urge them to disarm and to nominate the people they want to be part of the power-sharing government he heads. Each group has five of the 21 new ministers, including foreign affairs, justice and finance. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 16 October 2003)
* Liberia. Nouveau gouvernement - nouveaux heurts - 16 octobre. M. Gyude Bryant a formé son nouveau gouvernement de large ouverture, composé de 21 membres. A noter en particulier que M. Daniel Chea, qui était ministre de la Défense de l'ex-président Taylor et avait dirigé la guerre contre les mouvements rebelles, a été confirmé à ce poste. L'autre ancien ministre à avoir gardé son poste est M. Peter Coleman, ministre de la Santé. - D'autre part, l'envoyé spécial de l'Onu, Abou Moussa, s'est dit inquiet de rapports faisant état de reprises de combats entre les forces du LURD (Libériens unis pour la réconciliation et la démocratie) et du gouvernement près de Gbarnga, à 150 km au nord de Monrovia. La force de maintien de la paix de l'Onu (Minul) a déjà déployé la majorité de ses 4.000 militaires à l'intérieur et aux alentours de Monrovia. Elle garantira la sécurité de tout le Liberia lorsqu'elle aura atteint son plein effectif de 15.000 hommes dans environ trois mois. -- 19 octobre. L'ancien président Moses Blah a remis aux forces des Nations unies un important stock d'armes, entreposées dans un abri de sa résidence à Monrovia, déclarant "nous ne voulons plus nous battre". D'autres armes ont également été remises aux Casques bleus, provenant notamment du camp des forces armées de Sheffelin, près de l'aéroport international. -- 20 octobre. Un membre fondateur du LURD, George Dweh, a été élu président du Parlement de transition du pays. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 20 octobre 2003)
* Liberia. New Speaker elected - 20 October: Liberia's transitional assembly has elected George Dweh -- a founding member of the former rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (Lurd) -- as its new speaker. Mr Dweh -- who belongs to the movement's political wing and was the only candidate for the post -- garnered 49 votes out of a possible 72. He said that his first task in his new capacity would be to promote the process of national healing and disarmament in Liberia. "I will go beyond the factional level so as to reach all the members of the assembly," Mr Dweh said. His election comes six days after businessman Gyude Bryant was sworn-in as Liberia's new interim leader, tasked with steering the war-torn West African country to elections in 2005. Officials to be appointed by Mr Bryant will have to be confirmed by the National Transitional Legislative Assembly before assuming office. The country's three armed factions and 18 political parties signed a power-sharing agreement on 18 August after the then president Charles Taylor's departure for exile in Nigeria. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 20 October 2003) 

Weekly anb1023.txt - #4/7