Burundi: En bref ce 9 AVRIL 2006 ...

BURUNDI : Annan wants peacekeepers re-deployed to DR Congo
The Tide / Andnetwork .com / April 9, 2006

United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan has announced his intention to redeploy peacekeepers from the organisation’s operation in Burundi (ONUB) to its mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) to boost security and monitor elections.

In a letter addressed to the President of the Security Council, which has already authorised the redeployment but must decide on the specifics, Annan said he would transfer one infantry battalion, a military hospital and up to 50 military observers for an initial period running through the end of this year.
The military units, he said, would operate in troubled Katanga province of the huge central African country, where UN agencies have reported that fighting between the army and Mai Mai rebels has driven over 150,000 people from their homes in the last six months.
Observers would be deployed throughout the country to increase observer capacity for the June 18 poll, which the UN is helping to organise in the largest and most expensive electoral operation the world body has ever undertaken.
Pakistan and Jordan, the troop contributing countries, have indicated their agreement in principle to the transfer.
In a December resolution extending ONUB’s mandate, the Council had authorised redeployment of military and civilian police personnel between the two missions as a step toward draw-down of the Burundi force after last year’s successful elections as it emerge from its 12-year civil war.

Burundi commemorates 12th anniversary of Ntaryamira`s death
ANDnetwork .com / April 9, 2006

Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza joined his compatriots Thursday at ceremonies commemorating the 12th anniversary of the death of former President Cyprien Ntaryamira, which sparked the 1994 ethnic genocide that killed some 800,000 people in neighbouring Rwanda.
Nkurunziza, who was part of the congregation at a Church service at the Regina Mundi Cathedral here, later laid a wreath on the late president`s grave in central Bujumbura.
Ntaryamira and his Rwandan counterpart, Juvénal Habyarimana, were killed when the plane in which they were returning from a regional summit in Tanzania on the Burundi crisis, was shot down 6 April 1994, off Kigali, the Rwandan capital.
Ntaryamira died less than three months after he assumed power following the assassination in a military coup of Burundi`s first democratically-elected President Melchior Ndadaye.
Twelve years on, responsibility for the air attack that killed the two heads of State, has not been established even after official enquiries, but their countries continue to experience sporadic bloody ethnic violence.

Arrestation en Allemagne du chef de la rébellion rwandaise des FLDR
XINHUA / 2006-04-09

BERLIN, 8 avril -- Le chef de la rébellion hutue rwandaise des Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR), Ignace Murwanashyaka, a été arrêté à Mannheim, dans l'ouest de l'Allemagne, a annoncé samedi la police locale.
Le porte-parole de la police s'est contenté d'indiquer que l'enquête était suivie par le procureur général fédéral, Kay Nehm, à Karlsruhe (sud-ouest).
Ce chef rebelle est depuis le 1er novembre 2005 sous le coup de sanctions du Conseil de sécurité de l'Onu qui prévoient une interdiction de voyager et le gel de ses avoirs.
M. Murwanashyaka vivait depuis plusieurs années à Mannheim. Fin

Uganda hosts Hutu rebels - Rwanda
Charles Etukuri / Sunday, 9th April, 2006

RWANDAN authorities have accused Uganda of arranging meetings with dissidents fighting President Paul Kagame’s government.
The government-owned Rwanda Times on Thursday claimed that Uganda was planning to host a meeting for the dissidents between April 8 and 14. Ugandan army authorities have, however, rubbished the allegations, describing them as baseless.
The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) spokesman, Major Felix Kulaigye, said, “As far as we are concerned there is no meeting of Rwandan dissident rebels that scheduled to take place, neither do we have dissidents here.”
Quoting intelligence sources in Rwanda, the Rwanda Times says, “The leader of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDRL), Ignace Murwanashyaka, has arrived in Kampala, Uganda from his base in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for a meeting with top Ugandan military officials.”
FDLR is a rebel group led by mostly Hutu extremists who are accused of participating in the 1994 genocide, which claimed the lives of an estimated one million ethnic Tutsi and Hutu moderates.
The paper alleges Murwanashyaka entered Uganda through Kihihi, Kanungu on the night of April 4.
The paper further states the FDLR chief joined other rebel officials staying in Kampala, including Colonel Ntibiragaba alias Omar Ba and Major Mpiranyi alias James Kakure.
Kulaigye said that the UPDF did not want to discuss its issues with Rwanda in the media.
He said there were established mechanisms and avenues through which the matters could be discussed.
“I would have expected our colleagues to utilise such avenues rather than going to the media,” Kulaigye said.

RWANDA : Lessons for Darfur from remembering the genocide
UN News / Andnetwork .com / April 9, 2006

Marking 12 years since the horrific genocide in Rwanda, when at least 800,000 people were massacred, mostly butchered with machetes, for being ethnic Tutsis or Hutu moderates, the United Nations adviser on preventing such crimes today warned of similarities with what is happening in Sudan’s Darfur region, as he urged the global community to do more to stop the increasing bloodshed there.
The Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, Juan E. Mendez, said the international community had failed by allowing the events of Rwanda to happen, and while stopping short of describing events in Darfur as genocide, he highlighted the increasing killings going on and said the situation had deteriorated markedly over the past year.
“Remembering Rwanda, debates about troop strength on the ground and about mandate of our troops on the ground are very eerily reminiscent of what happened then and we’re still debating today,” Mr. Mendez told reporters in New York, referring to ongoing discussions on how to stop the killings in Darfur, by possibly strengthening the African Union force there or putting in a UN mission.
“There’s definitely ethnic cleansing, there’s definitely crimes against humanity, there’s definitely war crimes and attacks on civilian population; all of those things should prompt the action of the international community, whether we call it genocide or not,” he added.
Since becoming the Special Adviser in July 2004, Mr. Mendez has visited Darfur twice, and made various recommendations to the Secretary-General and to the Security Council about what needs to be done in the strife-torn region, consisting of four main themes that he says should be addressed simultaneously as much as possible.
“One is protection, meaning physical protection from harm of vulnerable populations…the second one is humanitarian assistance…the third is accountability: the cycle of impunity has to be broken before the victims can expect to find conditions of security that will allow them to return…and the fourth is support for the peace process.”
Echoing today’s remarks to reporters, Mr. Mendez also wrote an Op-Ed on the 12th year commemoration that was published by several European and Asian newspapers, in which he also stressed that despite international obligations – such as the 1948 Genocide Convention – the global response continues to fall short of what is required.
“We cannot claim to have learned the lessons of the 1994 Rwandan genocide if our action in the face of genocidal violence remains half-hearted. Action is particularly needed in Darfur, where the threat of genocide continues to loom large,” he wrote.

Elsewhere in the world commemorations to mark the Rwandan massacres took on a similar sombre tone, including a minute’s silence for the victims in a gathering at the UN Office in Nairobi, Kenya, and further calls to the world community to make sure such horror never gets repeated.
“If the international community had acted promptly and with determination, it could have stopped most of the killing. But the political will was not there, nor were the troops,” the Deputy Executive Director of UN Habitat, Inga Björk-Klevby, told UN and other officials, echoing the words of the Secretary-General in a speech he made in 2004 marking the Memorial Conference on the Rwanda Genocide.
“If the United Nations, government officials, the international media and other observers had paid more attention to the gathering signs of disaster, and taken timely action, it might have been averted.”
In Geneva, the UN Under-Secretary-General Sergei Ordzhonikidze expressed similar sentiments at a ceremony at the Palais des Nations, describing the events of 1994 as a “stark reminder to the world, of the dangers that prejudice and discrimination can breed.”

ICTR lawyer calls for Kagame’s prosecution
Sunday News / Correspondent in Arusha / 09.04.2006

A LAWYER at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Peter Erlinder, asserted on Friday that given the amount of evidence and testimony at the tribunal against President of Rwanda Paul Kagame, the latter should be indicted.
This vigorous challenge happens as Rwanda is commemorating the 12th anniversary of the 1994 genocide. The ICTR endeavours to judge and bring charges against the alleged authors of the genocide, but has laid no charges against those now in power for alleged war crimes.
And yet this court, created a few months after the genocide, is entitled to do so. Its mandate comprises not only the authors of the genocide, but the perpetrators of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in 1994 by all parties.
Erlinder is an American lawyer pleading for former Major Aloys Ntabakuze, who commanded the elite paratrooper battalion.
Erlinder used the announcement of an official visit of President of Rwanda Paul Kagame to Canada as an occasion to tell the Canadian government to beware.
According to him, the court has documentary proof, should the Canadians ask for them, that the Patriotic Front of Rwanda (RPF, former rebel movement now in power in Kigali) was the only military force capable of putting to an end the genocide, but did not lift a finger.
Several testimonies and documents of the United Nations that Erlinder has mentioned, state that the regular army in Rwanda did not have the means to stop the genocide because it had been struggling and losing ground for four years against the rebel invasion.
He has quoted both General RomÈo Dallaire, head of the United Nations armed forces in Rwanda at the time, and the former American ambassador in Kigali to further support his thesis.
Erlinder has also mentioned the testimony of a former RPF officer, Abdul Ruzibiza, who accused the RPF and its commandant Paul Kagame of having shot two missiles at the plane of President JuvÈnal Habyarimana, thus giving the signal for the start of the genocide.
Kagame, said the lawyer, gave his soldiers orders for the final assault before any retaliation acts in reaction to the attack against President Habyarimana’s plane.
Moreover, when the Rwandan army repeatedly asked for a ceasefire to interrupt the ongoing massacres, the RPF turned down their request.
Kagame is alleged to have been in person in the stadium of Byumba, a city in the northern part of the country under control of the RPF, during one of these slaughter scenes. Thousands of civilians were murdered there, he adds.

ANGOLA

De notre correspondante à Lisbonne

Le Portugal dépend à 80 % de ses échanges économiques avec l’Union européenne. Et « quand l’Europe s’enrhume, le Portugal a la grippe » comme le faisait remarquer non sans malice un commentateur politique. . Et, signe des temps, pas moins de 80 chefs d’entreprises et hommes d’affaires ont fait le voyage en compagnie du chef du gouvernement portugais pour cette visite de 4 jours qui a pris fin le 7 avril. La presse portugaise a d’ailleurs noté avec un bel ensemble que « c’est 1/3 du PIB portugais qui a fait le déplacement ». L’Angola, c’est évident, ressemble au nouvel Eldorado. En 2002, la mort brutale de Jonas Savimbi, le leader historique de l’UNITA, met fin à la guerre civile qui dure depuis 27 ans, conséquence de la terrible guerre coloniale du Portugal. Désormais « pacifié », l’Angola et sa croissance à deux chiffres depuis 2004 (un rythme de 18% /an en moyenne) attire les investisseurs. Le Portugal y est déjà fortement implanté, et en 2005 les ventes lusitaniennes ont atteint pour la première fois 800 millions d’euros, plaçant ce pays en deuxième position derrière les Etats-Unis comme fournisseur de l’Angola. Le Premier ministre José Socrates a fixé un objectif clair : atteindre d’ici à 2007 le seuil historique de 1 milliard d’euros. Dans un pays dont l’économie dépend à 80 % des ressources pétrolifères, le « petit » Portugal n’a pas vraiment les moyens de lutter contre les gros investisseurs dans ce secteur : la chine en tête, ainsi que les Etats-Unis, l’Afrique du Sud et la Russie. En revanche, et probablement en raison des liens historiques et de la langue commune, les Portugais ont su s’implanter avec succès dans des secteurs comme la construction, la métallurgie, les transports, les chantiers navals. Les PME portugaises développent de nouveaux segments : la banque, le commerce, les services en général. Largement dominée par l’économie la visite a permis à Socrates de signer avec son homologue angolais Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos à Luanda dix nouveaux protocoles allant de la récupération du centre ville de la capitale à la réhabilitation de l’hôpital de Prenda. Contre toute attente, ce n’est pas les 100 millions d’euros de crédits prévus initialement qui seront débloqués par le Portugal, mais 400 millions d’euros afin de permettre la reconstruction du pays.

L’effet Socrates

Visiblement, le courant est passé entre le président José Eduardo dos Santos et le Premier ministre Portugais. Le chef de l’État angolais, fait plutôt rare, a consacré plus de 45 minutes à une rencontre en tête à tête à l’issue de laquelle il s’est déclaré « positivement impressionné par la force de conviction de Socrates ». Les deux hommes ne se connaissaient pas, et une nouvelle fois le style « je peux, je veux et je commande » de Socrates, selon l’expression d’une éditorialiste portugaise, semble avoir fait merveille. La cordialité qui régnait entre les deux hommes était évidente alors que les relations entre l’Angola et le Portugal sont quelques peu tendues : l’absence d’Eduardo dos Santos à la cérémonie d’investiture du président Cavaco Silva le 9 mars dernier a fait beaucoup parlé d’elle. En annonçant à l’issue de sa rencontre avec José Socrates que des élections se dérouleront d’ici à 2007, le chef de l’État angolais a donné une impulsion politique à la rencontre bilatérale. Ce qui a rendu encore plus légitime son appel à l’implication des Portugais dans la reconstruction du pays. Pour sa part, le chef du gouvernement portugais a évoqué « l’Agenda de Luanda », faisant ainsi référence à l’accord destiné à établir des rencontres régulières entre les dirigeants et les ministres des deux pays. Au Portugal, les observateurs ont souligné qu’on a assisté à la naissance d’une ère nouvelle entre les deux pays. Avec ses 15 millions d’habitants (ils seront 21 millions dans dix ans selon les démographes) l’Angola, considéré comme l’un des pays les plus pauvres d’Afrique en est aussi potentiellement le plus riche, avec ses immenses gisements pétroliers, ses mines de diamants, d’or et d’uranium. Une richesse virtuelle pour la plupart des habitants confrontés aux énormes retards du développement : infrastructures quasi inexistantes, conditions sanitaires déplorables, corruption institutionnelle, bureaucratie tiermondiste et criant déficit démocratique sont l’autre versant du « miracle » économique angolais. Et c’est probablement en avançant des atouts comme la proximité culturelle et linguistique, voire l’histoire commune si troublée que le Portugal pourra s’implanter durablement sur un territoire que de puissants investisseurs se partagent déjà.

LUANDA - A queue of homeless people stands outside Angola's parliament waiting to hand in individual petitions -- a rare scene of political protest in this tightly controlled oil-rich country.
Former residents of slums on the outskirts of the capital Luanda, their makeshift homes were razed to make way for an extension of an upscale state-sponsored housing project called "Nova Vida" or "New Life."
"Our houses have been destroyed by the government," explained one man in the queue, a 20-year-old who gave his name as Felizao. "We are demanding compensation."
An oil boom in Africa's second largest crude producer has sparked a scramble for high-end housing in mostly run-down Luanda as foreigners flock in for a piece of the action.
Left out of the oil bonanza, the residents of Luanda's squalid shantydowns are being squeezed out of their homes.
The petitioners came from Cambamba I and Cambamba II, poor areas close to President Jose Eduardo dos Santos' official residence of Futungo dos Belas.
In March, police and members of a private security company moved into the area and proceeded to destroy the houses of 600 families to make way for the New Life expansion.

WRECKAGE

In Cambamba, the tracks were still fresh days after government bulldozers destroyed the fields that residents used to grow food to eat and sell at a nearby market.
What's left of the houses, splintered wood and stray pieces of sheet metal, sits below the nearby Nova Vida condominiums arranged neatly in pretty pink and white rows.
"The Europeans get to live in condos while we live like this. There is no law for us," said Manuel Antonio as he stood outside his makeshift shack in a nearby field. He had salvaged what he could of his former home.
"And now we have to live like this, sleeping rough in the outside -- no food, no doctors. Just mosquitoes," he said.
Witnesses said the demolition was done swiftly.
The police came at about lunchtime, just before Maria de Gonga was due to return with her sick infant from the hospital.
"I came back and my house was destroyed," she said as she cradled her feverish baby by a baobab tree under which she had slept for the past week along with other residents.
Other witnesses described how they were beaten with whips including one woman who, eight months pregnant, was kicked in her abdomen, causing haemorrhagic bleeding.
According to the United Nations human rights office in Luanda, this was the fourth forcible eviction carried out in the area in recent months, leaving thousands homeless.
The U.N. and Amnesty International have launched a campaign against the security forces involved, alleging that they acted with excessive force against an unarmed population.

CITY OF SLUMS

Despite Angola's burgeoning oil wealth, Luanda remains a city of slums. Over the past 3 decades the city has swollen from 500,000 to more than 4 million.
Housing is suddenly big business.
According to government figures, the state-run private investment agency Anip approved 290 investment projects amounting to $2.577 billion in 2005 -- with the construction sector representing 85.4 percent of this total.
Construction has also been slated for roads and bridges as the country attempts to rebuild infrastructure left in ruins by war and neglect.
The government says that may include slum clearance.
"Look around in this area. You need order and you need the space to build social services. We must take a long-term approach," district administrator Jose Frank told Reuters as he pointed to the slums outside his window.
He said some people had moved into the area that had been demolished recently in an attempt to cheat the government.

"We will compensate those who are genuine," he said.
Back at parliament, no rough tactics were used on the petitioners -- a fact that impressed onlookers.
The ruling MPLA has brooked little dissent in more than three decades of its rule and critics say it will be reluctant to give up power and the oil revenues that go with it.
"This is not typical. To challenge the government here is very difficult -- I am impressed," said one.

Angola`s Ombudsman Works In Spain
ANDnetwork .com / April 9, 2006

Angola`s Ombudsman, Paulo Tjipilica works since early April in the Kingdom of Spain with the objective of establishing friendship and co-operation ties with his Spanish counterpart, Enrique Mugica Herzog.
On the start of works, Paulo Tjipilica was welcomed by his counterpart who was accompanied by the Angolan Ambassador to Spain, General Armando da Cruz Neto.
During the occasion, both sides discussed about the importance of Abril 04 (peace day) to Angolans, having praised the Government`s efforts for the consolidation of peace and national reconciliation.
The referred session was marked by the exchange of experiences with various specialised commissions that make up the Ombudsman Office of Spain, in the sector of structure, organisation and functioning of various departments of that institution.
The Angolan delegation visited the Senate, where they were received by the Vice President, Javier Rojo, and after signing the book of honours, the delegation attended a solemn session of the Senate that welcomed the presence of Angola`s Ombudsman.

UGANDA

UGANDA : Museveni urges US to support IGAD projects in Somalia
New Vision / Andnetwork .com / April 9, 2006

PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has asked the United States and other Western powers to support the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) initiative to stabilise security in Somalia.

The President, who recently handed over the IGAD chairmanship to President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya, was on Friday meeting an American military delegation at State House, Nakasero.
The delegation was led by Maj. Gen. Timothy F. Ghormley, the Commandant of the combined joint task force in the Horn of Africa. Other members of the delegation included Rear Admiral Richard Hunt.
Museveni said the Western world should trust Africa’s ability to deal with its own problems. He cited the example of Burundi which has stabilised after the intervention of neighbouring countries.
The President allayed fears that sending African troops to Somalia would escalate the problem.
Museveni said it may not be possible to stabilise Somalia without some military action. He said, “We need a protection force for a transitional government as it was in Burundi. We think it can be done quickly. Those warlords who refuse consensus should be suppressed.”
Museveni said the continued anarchy in Somalia was tantamount to genocide and the world should put an end to it.
The President thanked the US military for its assistance in the training of the UPDF to fight terrorism.
Ghormley, who is leaving his posting in the Horn of Africa to take up other duties, said the main interest of the US military in Africa was to suppress terrorism, eliminate landmines and render humanitarian assistance.
He hailed the UPDF for being a disciplined and determined army. “They have big hearts and are not quitters,” he observed.
The Minister of Defence, Amama Mbabazi, his Permanent Secretary, Brig. Noble Mayombo, the US Charge d’Affaires in Uganda, N. Holt and the Chief of Training in UPDF, Brig. Silver Kayemba, attended the meeting.

Uganda: Two ADF commanders killed
Monitor / ANDnetwork .com / April 9, 2006

As the pursuit of the Allied Democratic Forces rebels enters the second week, the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces say they have killed four rebels, including two commanders.
“We killed Bhata, one of the ADF commanders, who has been mobilising, recruiting and gathering intelligence, and one of his fighters. We killed another commander and one of his fighters," Lt. Robert Kamara, the UPDF spokesman for the Alpine Mountain Brigade, told Sunday Monitor during a telephone interview yesterday.
Last week, the UPDF launched an operation to repulse ADF rebels who had sneaked into the country from their bases in eastern Congo.
Kamara said in both battles which were brief, left four rebels dead and several others wounded. He did not, however, say whether the UPDF lost any soldier or suffered casualties.
Kamara said the ADF were trying to set bases in Uganda after UN peacekeeping troops and the DR Congo army recently attacked their camps in eastern DRC killing many of them.
The UN-DR Congo joint attack on the rebel positions was to pave way for elections in the war-torn DR Congo mid this year. Kamara said: "We shall pursue them to their bases. We shall not fold our hands as they unleash mayhem, rape, maim and halt progress.”

Tanzania: Mbeki,Kikwete push for more balanced ties
Sunday Observer / ANDnetwork .com / April 9, 2006

South African President Thabo Mbeki and his Tanzanian counterpart, Jakaya Kikwete, have directed that the first Presidential Commission on Economic Co-operation be convened in June this year.

The move is intended to ensure that Tanzania benefits from the business and economic association that Tanzania has with the southern African country.
Addressing a joint press conference after emerging from closed-door discussions, the two leaders resolved that the envisaged meeting will be held in Tanzania.
President Kikwete is in South Africa on a broadly two-faceted official visit: to introduce himself after becoming Tanzanian head of state after winning last December’s polls, and discussing a couple of issues with his host.
Highlights of the discussions include consolidation and enhancement of economic business and social ties between the two countries.
President Mbeki said the commission’s meeting was crucial as it would set the tone for a fairer economic relationship to Tanzania’s advantage.
He pointed out that presently, the situation was characterized by an imbalance that favours South Africa, whose 150 companies are operating in Tanzania.
’’We want Tanzania to benefit by increasing the volume of commodities it sells to South Africa,’’ the host president stressed.
On his part, President Kikwete remarked that greater trading opportunities for Tanzania would not only boost the country’s revenue, but contribute immensely to poverty eradication.
He said Tanzania is eager to have a bigger flow of tourists from South Africa.
The two presidents said they believe that under their close supervision, initiatives to forge closer, more beneficial ties at faster speed between Tanzania and South Africa would be facilitated more effectively than if the task was left solely in the hands of lower-ranking officials.
The joint commission was launched by retired Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa and President Mbeki in September last year when Mr Mkapa visited South Africa on a farewell mission ahead of the December general elections.
Responding to a question, President Kikwete said the Tanzania government was still pondering on the issue of rejoining Comesa.
On mining contracts that are said to be inimical to the country’s interest, he said they would be studied and shortcomings ironed out.
The ultimate aim, he stressed, was to create a win-win situation.
The two presidents told journalists that in their closed-door meeting, they discussed, among other issues, the political situations in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
President Mbeki thanked his guest for fulfilling his pledge to visit South Africa as soon as possible, and praised him as a focused, hard-working leader.

Tanzania: Polls re-run only solution to Isles’ crisis, says Shariff
Sunday Observer / ANDnetwork .com / April 9, 2006

The Civic United Front (CUF) Secretary General, Seif Sharif Hamad, has said that the lasting solution to political division in Zanzibar is to have a re-run of what he calls a free, transparent elections in the Isles as soon as possible.

Addressing a public rally at Kibanda Maiti grounds in the municipality, Hamad said that he was ready to work closely with President Jakaya Kikwete in resolving the political stalemate in Zanzibar.
’’The root-cause of political division in Zanzibar is that Zanzibaris were robbed of their democratic rights.
Therefore having fresh polls is inevitable,’’ Hamad told the cheering crowd.
He claimed that some people, benefited from the division, ’’and therefore they do not want to see people of Zanzibar unite.’’
This was the first rally Hamad addressed since the October 30, 2005 Zanzibar general elections, whose conduct and outcome CUF has all along disputed.
He emphasized the need to have fresh elections in Zanzibar under the supervision of the United Nations, and ’’President Kikwete should consider that if he reality wants to resolve the Zanzibar crisis.’’
Hamad maintained that his party would stick to its decision not to recognise the Zanzibar government.
The majority of Zanzibar election observers gave a nod to the elections despite the reported irregularities.
In the last elections, the Zanzibar Electoral body declared the incumbent president Amani Abeid Karume winner by 53 per cent against Hamad’s 47 per cent.
However, CUF has rejected the results accusing the ruling party of fraud.
Meanwhile, a representative for Chambani Constituency in Pemba, Abasi Juma Mhunzi (CUF) accused sate media for not covering the Opposition in House of Representatives sessions.

Tanzania: President cheers up the needy during Maulid
Sunday Observer / ANDnetwork .com / April 9, 2006

Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete has donated some 800 kilogrammes of rice, 16 goats and 160 litres of cooking oil to eight centres for people with disabilities, orphans and the handicapped.

This is a gesture of goodwill coinciding with Maulid festivities. The beneficiaries got the items at the State House in Dar es Salaam yesterday, from the Comptroller, Ambassador Fanuel Kuzilwa, who represented the President,.
The orphanages which have benefited from the President’s donations include Arqam, Sinza Mori and Bagamoyo, as well as Mabaoni and Istikama of Pemba.
Others are the Kigamboni Home for the Disabled, Limbani Elderly Home in Wete and Sebleni eldery home in Zanzibar.

7 April - In its first food airdrops outside Sudan in eight years, the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) is facing what it calls "a logistical nightmare" in Congo Kinshasa (DRC) as it seeks to aid up to 200,000 people uprooted by fighting in the violence-wracked south-eastern province of Katanga. Heavy rains have cut normal transport modes.
The airdrops from an Antonov-12 aircraft for camps near the town of Dubie started on Wednesday and are the first ever into Congo Kinshasa, where WFP usually transports food by trucks and airlifts. But rains have made it especially difficult to move in by road enough food to Dubie, where malnutrition rates are increasingly alarming. Especially internally displaced people living in camps are affected by the far-ranging food deficit in Katanga.
"People are trapped in these camps and our access to them is very difficult because of fighting and very poor roads," WFP Country Director Felix Bamezon said in a statement today. "These airdrops allow us to preposition food for distribution rather than risk long delays bringing food in by road."
Some 38 metric tonnes of cereals were dropped on Dubie airstrip, 500 kilometres north of Lubumbashi, the capital of mineral-rich Katanga. In all, 80 tonnes will be dropped for distribution by a local non-governmental organisation to 13,000 internally displaced people. A recent nutritional survey by the Paris-based humanitarian group Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) described the malnutrition rates in three camps as "staggering".
"We have long been calling attention to the deteriorating situation in Katanga," Mr Bamezon said. "Over the next three months, WFP plans to assist as many as possible of the estimated 220,000 internally displaced persons in the province, but reaching them depends on safe access, security and sufficient resources."
Over the next few weeks, 200 tonnes of food, including cereals and corn-soya blend, which is especially beneficial for malnourished children and mothers, will be airdropped. Malnutrition and mortality rates are above emergency levels in Katanga, exacerbated by recent offensives against militia groups.
Since a WFP convoy came under attack last year, transport costs have more than doubled because of insecurity. The dreadful road conditions in southern Congo Kinshasa following the rains and a lack of vehicles also hamper transport. In one example, food took nearly a month to arrive by road in Dubie. After Dubie, the airdrop operation moves to Mitwaba, WFP informs. Here, the food will be immediately distributed, and to Sampwe.
In addition to facing severe security and logistical obstacles, WFP's operations in the vast country were said to be "grossly under-funded". With three months left of its two-and-a-half year relief and recovery operation in the country, it complains at a "critical shortfall" of 36 percent, or US$ 69 million, of the total US$ 191 million required to help up to 1.6 million internally displaced and other vulnerable people.
"It is very hard to raise sufficient funds for our operations in the DRC, which is one of the most difficult environments in the world for humanitarian agencies to operate in because of its size, continued insecurity in the east and a critical lack of even basic infrastructure," Mr Bamezon said.
The UN's food agency has had to turn to costly air drops of relief food in several occasions, where war-ravaged Sudan has dominated. Last year WFP airdropped 150,000 tonnes of food into south Sudan and the strife-torn western Darfur region.

KENYA : 430 emergency water sources to beat drought
KBC News / Andnetwork .com / April 9, 2006

President Mwai Kibaki said on Saturday that the government has mobilized over 1.2 billion shillings to sink 178 boreholes and complete 263 pans and dams around the drought-stricken country.
President Kibaki was speaking at State House Nairobi when he flagged off 25 water trucks donated by the Norwegian Red Cross to drought stricken areas.
The President said over 1.3 billion shillings was required for immediate intervention in water provision until the end of May this year.
He emphasized that the planned actions and other long-term strategies for drought preparedness will continue until the country becomes water secure.
He added that numerous programmes were being undertaken with development partners in water services provision, sanitation, information management and other cross cutting issues.
President Kibaki thanked the Norwegian Red Cross, the Norwegian Government and the Kenya Red Cross for their response in helping alleviate the effects of drought in the country.

Kibaki may not be Narc-Kenya’s automatic presidential candidate
The Standard / ANDnetwork .com / April 9, 2006

Narc-Kenya yesterday appeared undecided over President Kibaki becoming its presidential candidate.
The 64 MPs who are allied to the new party resolved that the candidate will now be known after the party’s constitution is drawn.
The resolution, which was read after a two-day retreat in Mombasa, was an about-turn to an earlier declaration that President Kibaki was their preferred candidate. Vice-President Moody Awori attended the retreat.
The agreement was reached after a series of closed-door meetings that ended at 3pm yesterday.
They declared that the candidate would only be known after the party’s constitution is finalised and presented to the party’s National Convention.
On Friday, when the MPs began their retreat, a section of members had indicated that the party’s choice for President was Kibaki.
Assistant ministers Abu Chiaba and Kalembe Ndile had indicated that the President should seek re-election through the party ticket and wanted him to declare his stand.
Kalembe had said that should Kibaki refuse to vie for the Presidency next year, then the floor would be open for anybody who qualifies. He said he would be one of the candidates.
Chiaba had intimated that majority of members wanted Kibaki to be the party’s torchbearer in 2007.
But yesterday, the statement which was read by Wajir South MP Abdulrahman Ali Hassan declared that the presidential candidate should only be known after the party’s constitution is ready and handed over to the top organ.
Hassan was accompanied by Cabinet ministers Kivutha Kibwana and Raphael Tuju and assistant ministers Beth Mugo, Danson Mungatana and Stephen Tarus.
The statement said that the vision of the party was not centred around the presidency. It said other top party positions would be shared.
In the resolutions, the party members also officially announced the party’s countrywide recruitment.
28 steering committee members, including Cabinet ministers Njeru Ndwiga, Amos Kimunya, Martha Karua, Gedion Konchella, Mohammed Kuti, Maina Kamanda, Morris Dzoro, Kivutha Kibwana, Suleiman Shakombo and Tuju, drafted the resolutions. Former Energy minister Kiraitu Murungi also attended.
Hassan said the meeting resolved that the party’s secretariat be opened from next Tuesday.
Members will also embark on a programme of consultation with a cross-section of Kenyans that will include the youth, farmers, workers, women organisations, religious bodies, jua kali artisans, professionals, the business community and the Civil Society.
"The various commissions and committees will begin work immediately and will co-opt members from the society," said Hassan.
Other MPs who attended the retreat were William Kabogo, Asman Kamama, Mwangi Kiunjuri, Peter Munya, Alicen Chelaite, Betty Tett, Ananiah Mwaboza and Nominated MP Njoki Ndung’u.
Elsewhere, Narc-Kenya suffered a major setback yesterday when about 200 leaders from the greater Meru region snubbed the new party.
Consequently, the leaders cautioned the nine MPs from Meru North, Meru Central, Meru South and Tharaka districts against associating with the party, which is said to enjoy President Kibaki’s backing.
The group, comprising religious leaders, politicians, businessmen, Mau Mau veterans and the influential Njuri Ncheke elders warned the MPs against joining Narc-Kenya without consulting the electorate.
Addressing a news conference in Meru town, the group said the MPs would blunder if they joined the party without consulting voters.
"Our senior most politicians have been ejected from the Government on corruption allegations. Others linked to the vice are still in their offices. This is betrayal," said the leaders’ spokesman, Samuel Murugu.

AFRIQUE DU SUD :

Journée mondiale contre les OGM

actualites-news-environnement.com / 09 avril 2006

OGM - La journée mondiale contre les OGM s’est déroulée hier, samedi 7 avril, à l’initiative et à l’appel de l'organisation écologiste Greenpeace, "pour dire NON aux OGM pendant qu'il en est encore temps!". De multiples actions anti-OGM ont eu lieu en France et à l’étranger dans quelque 70 pays comme l'Italie, les Etats-Unis, la Bolivie, l'Afrique du Sud, l'Inde ou l'Australie. Les opposants aux OGM ont manifesté contre le projet de loi, présenté mercredi dernier, en conseil des ministres par le ministre délégué à la recherche, François Goulard, qui vise à encadrer l'utilisation des OGM en milieu ouvert ou confiné, à des fins de recherche ou de mise sur le marché.
En France, la principale manifestation s'est déroulée à Vannes, Morbihan, avec 5.000 personnes selon la police et 12.000 selon les organisateurs. Les manifestants ont organisé un pique-nique sur le port avant de défiler dans la ville dont le maire François Goulard, également ministre délégué à la Recherche, est à l'origine du projet de loi. Le leader de la confédération paysanne, José Bové, qui s’était invité au début du cortège, a demandé « à ce que toute la loi soit reprise à 0. Il faut reprendre le débat au début et lancer une vraie concertation pour éviter toute pollution génétique ». José Bové menace de reprendre les fauchages : « S’ils ne retirent pas cette loi, les actions de désobéissance civique reprendront ». José Bové a également sommé Jean-Yves Le Drian, président PS de la région Bretagne, « d’assumer ses responsabilités et de mettre en application ce qu’il a dit avant son élection ». A savoir, une Bretagne sans-OGM.

Journée mondiale contre les OGM

A Paris, 200 personnes ont participé à un débat organisé dans la cour de la mairie du IIe arrondissement par Greenpeace et Les Verts. Des stands de cultures "bio" étaient installés sur une place voisine. A Lyon, des "biotechno girls" ont appelé à une collecte de cheveux par le biais "d'un bio-sacrifice". "Nous allons amener les cheveux collectés au siège français de Monsanto, groupe américain d'agrochimie, afin de promouvoir les expériences sur les êtres humains", a ironisé Laurence Meyrat, de Greenpeace. Des centaines de personnes ont aussi tenu par ailleurs des stands et organisé des prises de parole, concerts... A Auch, le collectif anti-OGM du Gers a organisé un "parrainage de graines" au marché de la ville en offrant aux passants des sachets d'une quinzaine de graines traditionnelles menacées de disparition (maïs blanc, millet ..) dont ils devaient s'engager à favoriser la protection, la culture et la dissémination. En Aveyron, 150 manifestants anti-OGM et membres de la Confédération Paysanne se sont rassemblés devant une ferme expérimentale proche de Rodez. Ces "faucheurs volontaires" ont été empêchés par les forces de l'ordre de "visiter" une parcelle OGM en plein champ près de Druelle. A Dijon, une centaine de manifestants ont défilé jusqu'à la préfecture, où une délégation a été reçue et a remis une motion demandant notamment l'organisation d'un référendum sur les OGM. Plusieurs manifestations se sont aussi déroulées dans de nombreuses autres villes françaises.
Ainsi, les milliers de manifestants anti-OGM protestent contre le projet de loi qui autorise les cultures d'OGM en plein air à des fins de recherche et de commercialisation, sous réserve pour les agriculteurs concernés de déclarer les parcelles qu'ils consacrent à des plantes transgéniques. Les opposants aux OGM craignent une dissémination de gènes susceptibles de se combiner avec ceux de plantes non génétiquement modifiées. Ce texte soumet à autorisation, accordée pour 10 ans maximum, la mise sur le marché des OGM et instaure une obligation d'étiquetage. Ce projet de loi est ainsi une transposition dans le droit français de deux directives européennes : la directive 98/81/CE du 26 octobre 1998 modifiant la directive 90/219/CEE du 23 avril 1990 relative à l'utilisation confinée de micro-organismes génétiquement modifiés ; la directive 2001/18/CE relative à la dissémination volontaire d'organismes génétiquement modifiés (OGM) dans l'environnement. Bien qu'adopté par le Sénat, il n'est pas encore passé devant l'Assemblée nationale.
De son côté, Greenpeace avait appelé à la mobilisation générale pour la grande Journée internationale d'opposition aux OGM du samedi 8 avril. Pour la troisième année consécutive, dans une vingtaine de villes françaises, les bénévoles de Greenpeace organisaient de nombreuses activités pour interpeller le grand public. « On prétend que les OGM peuvent coexister avec les autres cultures, mais c'est faux ! La preuve dans notre dernière enquête réalisée en Espagne, affirme Arnaud Apoteker, responsable de la campagne OGM de Greenpeace France. Après sept ans de cultures transgéniques, les Espagnols s'aperçoivent que leurs filières conventionnelle et bio sont contaminées par les cultures transgéniques. Il faut que les députés français tirent la leçon de cet exemple et votent une loi qui nous protège des OGM. »
Des activités très variées ont été organisées : stands d'information, défilés, conférences, concerts, marchés paysans, pique-niques, projections de films, expositions... Quelques exemples : A Paris, à la Mairie du IIème arrondissement (8, rue de la Banque), les bénévoles de Greenpeace proposaient aux Parisiens de faire tourner une roue de loterie aux couleurs d'« OGM, j'en veux pas » pour tester leur connaissances et s'informer sur les OGM tout en s'amusant. Un badge à gagner pour toute bonne réponse ! A Lyon, place de la République (IIème arrdt), les bénévoles de Greenpeace organisaient des concerts, des stands d'infos, un défilé éco-dandy… Le tout sous le regard bienveillant des deux créatures géantes, montées sur échasses, qui avaient surgi au Salon de l'Agriculture pour interpeller Jacques Chirac !
« Pour les citoyens opposés aux OGM, la Journée du 8 avril constitue une excellente occasion d'exprimer leur refus et de faire pression sur leurs élus !, reprend Arnaud Apoteker. En France, ils sont nombreux : 78% des Français réclament même un moratoire tant ils craignent leur impact sur l'environnement et sur leur santé. » Le projet de loi sur les OGM, déjà adopté par le Sénat et attendu début juin à l'Assemblée nationale, va légaliser la contamination génétique alors que les Français veulent en être protégés. En France, plus de 2000 arrêtés ont déjà été pris par des municipalités pour interdire la culture des OGM ; 11 départements et 17 régions se sont déclarés « zone sans OGM ».

AFRIQUE / U A :

09/04 :Tchad : Armée Française, nous en appelons à la conscience humanitaire internationale et universelle
Alwihda / Makaila Nguebla / 09/04

Il est incontestablement de rappeler que dans le génocide Rwandais de 1984, la responsabilité partiale de l’Armée Française était prouvée pour être circonscrite. Le mépris du Président Rwandais Paul Kagamé à l’égard des autorités Françaises est légitime et justifiée au regard de l’ampleur de cruauté causée par cette armée étrangère en terre africaine.
En dépit d’une levée de bouclier et de répréhension unanime internationale à l’encontre de la France, nous remarquons encore et toujours que la politique de cette ancienne puissance coloniale demeure inchangée sur le continent noir.
L’attitude en terme de politique tchadienne de la France sous le régime actuel d’Idriss Deby Itno est une grave illustration qui ne nous laisse pas indifférents à tous les niveaux.
Après avoir atomisé l’opposition démocratique pendant tout le règne du régime Deby puis annihiler la moindre résistance citoyenne même pacifique contre le Président Tchadien, la France est à nouveau en ce temps de guerre au devant de la scène pour soutenir le même régime en fin de règne.
Par le biais de l’ « opération Epervier » immobilisée au Tchad, la France assure une surveillance aérienne intempestive et répétée sur les mouvements des rebelles tchadiens doublée d’un contrôle terrestre des machines motorisées de ses troupes aux côtés des forces de Deby anéanties et réduites.
Il est évident de dire que le rôle de l’Armée Française est viscéralement à visée coloniale au Tchad. Face à cette situation d’une extrême complexité, tout laisse à croire que la France est engagée à récidiver le génocide Rwandais au Tchad à travers ses actions dévastatrices.
Le moment est venu et indiqué pour nous de saisir en urgence IRIN (Réseau d’Information Régional Intégré des Nations Unies), Bureau pour la Coordination des Affaires Humanitaires basée en Afrique de l’Ouest. Nous allons leur demander de relayer nos informations et inquiétudes au siége de l’Organisation des Nations Unies (ONU) face à ce risque de génocide potentiellement prêt de dégénérer orchestré par la France. Nous exigeons à ce que ce des sanctions soient prises à l’encontre de la France pour son ingérence complice avérée
Cette démarche vise donc à en appeler à la conscience humanitaire internationale et universelle pour éviter aux Tchadiens le drame Rwandais.

CÔTE D IVOIRE: Le président de l’UA à Abidjan pour relancer les pourparlers de paix
IRIN / 09/04/2006

ABIDJAN, le 7 avril (IRIN) - Le Chef d’Etat congolais et Président en exercice de l’Union africaine (UA), Denis Sassou Nguesso, est arrivé jeudi à Abidjan, la capitale économique de la Côte d’Ivoire, où il rencontra les principaux protagonistes de la crise ivoirienne.
Dès son arrivée, M. Nguesso a informé la presse que l’ UA ferait « tout ce qui est en son pouvoir » pour faire avancer la question du désarmement des combattants et du recensement des populations, étapes préalables à l’organisation d’élections générales prévues fin octobre 2006.
« La présence du président en exercice de l’UA est réellement nécessaire à l’accélération le processus. Certes, nous avons l’impression que des progrès ont été accomplis, mais en réalité, les acteurs politiques et militaires sont dans une impasse », a déclaré un diplomate.
Depuis septembre 2002, après l’échec du coup d’Etat contre le Président Laurent Gbagbo, la Côte d’Ivoire – premier producteur mondial de cacao – est divisée entre le nord, occupée par la rébellion, et le sud, resté sous contrôle des forces gouvernementales. Et malgré de nombreuses tentatives de médiation, le processus de paix est resté dans l’impasse et les élections prévues en octobre 2005 n’ont pas eu lieu.
Les ivoiriens ne croient pas que les protagonistes puissent s’entendre pour sortir de la crise, malgré l’intervention de l’UA, l’organisme pan-africain le plus important du continent. « Chaque fois qu’une occasion se présente pour qu’ils puissent faire la paix, ils sont incapables de la saisir », déclare Nadine Konan, une femme d’affaires.
Le 28 février, et pour la première fois depuis le début de la crise, le Premier ministre, Charles Konan Bany, a réussi à organiser en terre ivoirienne une table ronde réunissant le Président Gbagbo, le leader de la rébellion, Guillaume Soro, Henri Konan Bédié et Alassane Ouattara, les deux principaux leaders de l’opposition.
Au cours de cette réunion hautement symbolique qui s’est déroulée dans une ambiance « fraternelle », les participants ont accepté de poursuivre les discussions sur le processus de paix et le désarmement. Ils ont également rappelé tout leur attachement à la résolution 1633 de l’ONU, le plan de paix élaboré fin 2005 par les médiateurs africains et les Nations unis.
Toutefois, le communiqué final n’a fixé aucun chronogramme précis pour le désarmement des milliers de combattants de la rébellion et des milices pro-gouvernementales, ni la date des élections présidentielles qui, selon la résolution 1633, devraient avoir lieu d’ici octobre 2006.

Tuberculose: la crise se poursuit en Afrique
sciences.nouvelobs.com / Dimanche 9 avril 2006

Les objectifs de lutte contre la tuberculose sont presque atteints en Amérique, en Asie du Sud-est et dans la région du Pacifique-ouest, en revanche la situation est toujours très critique en Afrique, selon un rapport de l’Organisation mondiale de la santé publié à l’occasion de la Journée mondiale de la tuberculose, ce vendredi 24 mars. Près de 9 millions de nouveaux cas de tuberculose ont été enregistrés en 2004 et 1,7 million de personnes en sont mortes.
Les objectifs fixés par l’OMS sont la détection de 70% des cas de tuberculose et le traitement de 85% de ces cas à la fin de l’année 2005. Vingt-six pays y sont déjà parvenus, comme l’Algérie, le Pérou, le Liban, la Bulgarie, la Bosnie-Herzégovine, les Philippines ou encore le Vietnam –deux pays qui étaient lourdement touchés.
En revanche la situation est toujours très préoccupante en Afrique, où la tuberculose profite en partie de l’épidémie de VIH/sida pour progresser. L’OMS estime que les dirigeants africains ne s’impliquent pas assez dans la lutte contre cette maladie. Autre source de préoccupation : les résistances aux traitements continuent d’augmenter. Selon une étude de l’OMS et du Centre de contrôle des maladies américain (CDC), un cas de tuberculose sur 50 dans le monde est résistant aux deux lignes de traitements utilisés contre la maladie. Ces résistances sont particulièrement fréquentes en Europe de l’Est.
A la veille de cette Journée mondiale une fondation a inauguré hier aux Etats-Unis un laboratoire destiné à fabriquer des vaccins contre la tuberculose pour les pays pauvres. La Areas Global TB Vaccine Foundation est financée par la Fondation Gates, les CDC, l’Union européenne, le Danemark et le Japon. Son objectif est d’améliorer le vaccin existant, le BCG, dont l’efficacité est discutée, et de développer des nouveaux moyens de fabrication, plus rapides. Ce vaccin pourrait être disponible dans 7 à 10 ans.

UN /ONU :

Le Soudan revient sur son interdiction à M. Egeland de visiter le Darfour
xinhua / 2006-04-09

Le secrétaire général adjoint des Nations unies chargé des Affaires humanitaires, Jan Egeland, a annoncé samedi à Ryad que le gouvernement soudanais l'avait invité à visiter le Darfour peu après lui avoir interdit de se rendre dans cette région de l'ouest du Soudan en proie à une guerre civile. "on a reçu vendredi une lettre du gouvernement (soudanais) me demandant de venir", a-t-il déclaré à des journalistes lors d'une visite en Arabie saoudite.
"Mais nous n'avons pas encore décidé si j'y retournerais et quand", a-t-il cependant précisé.
Le représentant de l'Onu, qui effectuait une tournée au Soudan et en Afrique de l'Est, s'était vu refuser lundi l'accès à Khartoum et au Darfour par les autorités soudanaises.
Le gouvernement soudanais avait nié avoir interdit à M. Egeland de se rendre au Darfour, indiquant lui avoir juste demandé de reporter sa visite "à cause du ressentiment populaire à l'égard de l'Onu qui cherche à déployer des forces étrangères au Darfour".
La guerre au Darfour, qui a commencé il y a trois ans, oppose des milices appuyées par les forces de Khartoum à des rebelles, a fait près de 300 000 morts et 2,4 millions de déplacés et réfugiés, selon des estimations internationales.

USA :

CANADA :

Canada's Dallaire to review UN Darfur plan: CTV
CTV.ca / Sat. Apr. 8 2006

The United Nations will soon ask Sen. Romeo Dallaire to review a peacekeeping plan for Darfur -- something that could mean deploying more Canadian troops there, CTV News has learned.
"It needs not developing country's troops, it needs developed countries troops," Dallaire, who witnessed the 1994 Rwandan genocide firsthand while commanding handcuffed UN troops, told CTV News about the Darfur situation.
"It needs troops from the northern countries, it needs troops from middle powers like Canada."
MPs from all parties gathered this week to express sadness and horror at the ongoing violence that has killed more than 200,000 people and created more than three million refugees.
"As we gather here in Ottawa, mass atrocity and impunity continue in Darfur," Liberal MP Irwin Cotler said.
They issued a call for action, and it's one that Prime Minister Stephen Harper may act on.
"We have given that some preliminary consideration. We haven't reached any final decision," Harper said.
"This obviously is something that would have to be worked out in concert with all of our allies including the United States and others."
Canada has about 50 soldiers in Darfur acting as advisors or otherwise providing support to African Union troops. In addition, Canada has sent about 100 armoured vehicles.
Dallaire thinks Canada can and should do more.
"Does it have enough depth now to handle another mission? My estimate is yes but it doesn't have any more room after that," he said.
The government has not yet asked military officials to plan for an increased presence in Sudan, but that could soon change.
The UN releases its Sudan action plan on April 24, and that plan will likely call for more peacekeepers.
"We welcome the initiative to develop a plan, that as on the 60th anniversary of the whole concept of peacekeeping which emerged right here from Canada, that Canada's prepared to move from 33rd place in participation to a more significant role," NDP Leader Jack Layton said Friday.

EUROPE :

CHINE :

INDE :

BRAZIL: