Burundi: En bref ce 28 JUIN 2006 ...

Burundi talks stall in Nqakula's absence
June 28 2006 - Sapa-AFP
Dar es Salaam - Peace talks aimed at ending Burundi's 13-year civil war have remained snagged, with the government and the country's last active rebel group trading blame on the deadlock.

Despite the insistence of Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula, who is the main mediator, that negotiations were progressing as planned, and would result in a settlement by a Sunday deadline, the two main parties said on Tuesday they had been stalled.

Delegates from the capital, Bujumbura, and the National Liberation Forces (FNL) blamed each other for the breakdown, which came to light on Monday when the rebels walked out of talks, complaining of threats from the South African mediators.

Both sides said they did not expect the talks to resume until Nqakula returned to Tanzania.

"We find it difficult to justify our presence here," said Burundian delegation chief Brigadier-General Lazare Nduwayo.

"We are waiting for a response from the mediators."

A Burundian negotiator, Melchiade Nzopfabarushe, said the FNL was responsible for the impasse as it had raised new and unreasonable demands, including that the army be disbanded and replaced with foreign troops.

FNL spokesperson Pasteur Habimana denied that the rebels were throwing up hurdles to prevent the deadline from being met.

A Western diplomat monitoring the talks in Dar es Salaam said the talks were at a "real deadlock".

UGANDA

Uganda: Oil Level 8 Times Higher
The Monitor (Kampala) June 28, 2006
Posted to the web June 27, 2006 Elias Biryabarema Kampala

YEARS of oil exploration are promising good results. Uganda's petroleum deposits are far in excess of what the exploration companies had expected to find.

Hardman Resources Ltd, the Australian company, that is prospecting in Block 2 of the exploration field in South Western Uganda, announced on Monday that the tests over the weekend indicate that Waraga-1 well has a considerably profound flow rate of 4,200 barrels of oil per day.

The Commissioner for Petroleum Exploration and Production Department at Entebbe, Mr Reuben Kashambuzi told Daily Monitor yesterday that the newly discovered flow rate was "exceedingly exciting" because it was eight times more that the expected rate.

The well has three hydrocarbon zones, that will all be eventually flow-tested.

He said Hardman's geologists had anticipated the first zone, (the bottom most), to gush only 1,000 barrels per day at its maximum flow rate. Tests at the beginning of last week, however, confirmed a slightly larger amount of 1,500 barrels per day.

After those initial tests, the company "shut in" the well for pressure to build up and conducted further tests at the weekend that confirmed the 4,200 barrels.

"It was surprising to find that that zone could produce 1,500 barrels and now comes this great discovery of 4,200 barrels per day, it's a huge milestone," Kashambuzi said.

Hardman's press release said the oil is light but waxy, with a low gas to oil ratio and that "pressure build-up tests" also showed the petroleum has good permeability.

This demonstrates the oil's ability to flow in the reservoir and is a determinant of how much oil a well can produce. Thick oil on the other hand may necessitate numerous wells to be drilled for exploitation, which spikes production costs and in the worst cases such oil may be declared unviable and abandoned.

Apparently fired by the hot news, Kashambuzi asserted, "frankly, now Uganda has moved to another level and internationally we can now start speaking with firm confidence."

With the new development, Uganda has now raced past its two East African Community counterparts of Kenya and Tanzania in petroleum resource development and while Uganda's economy has been the smallest of the three, the discovery of oil could constitute a turning point in the balance of the Community's economic power.

The three countries jointly spend in excess of $1.2 billion in petroleum products imports annually.

At the cost of $70 a barrel, the average current price, 4,200 barrels would generate about $294,000 (Shs546 million a day) and Shs199. 5 billion annually just from one well.

Heritage also found vast oil in Turaco well located in Semliki Basin (Block 3) but was contaminated with carbon dioxide. Even then, experts say that that carbon dioxide has plenty of use and can be commercially exploited. In certain cases it's pumped into wells that have insufficient pressure to enable oil to flow to the surface.

Mr Simon Potter, Hardman's Chief Executive Officer said the flow rates of Waraga-1 had exceeded their expectations of the well's productivity, "demonstrating that the reservoir is highly permeable and, despite the waxy nature of the crude oil it is highly mobile in a production configuration."

The company has so far drilled three exploratory wells-Waraga 1, Waraga 2 and Mputa-1-and they have all showed vast traces of petroleum deposits. Potter contended that although the oil field does not seem connected between various wells, it is still an extensive and significant resource.

Block 2, which was licensed on October 8, 2001 to Hardman Resources and Tullow Oil of UK (50 percent shareholding each), has 4,675Sq Km and stretches over Hoima and Masindi districts.

The Albertine Graben, the area that forms the country's petroleum exploration frontier, has five prospecting blocks and only three are currently licensed. Canada's Heritage Oil and Gas and Tullow Oil are conducting drilling in the two other exploration areas.

Kashambuzi cautioned though that even with the new high watermark reached in Uganda's petrol power ambition, there were still lots of tests to be conducted and data analyses to be done before the country can embark on producing oil.

Hardman will this week continue flow tests on the other two oil zones (middle and shallow) on Waraga-1 well and will then proceed with commercial viability tests on its two other wells-Mputa and Waraga-2.

As a result of the oil prospects, the government has decided to expedite development of a national Oil & Gas Policy to guide the country in exploitation of its petroleum resources.

Kashambuzi said technocrats are scrutinising the first draft of that policy. With confirmation of greater quantities of oil deposits and more definitive geological data analyses, the government will commence negotiations with the companies on some of the critical issues like whether the oil should be refined in Uganda (if the country and the companies can afford to construct a refinery), or exported as crude for refinement in, say Kenya.

Though commercially viable Uganda's capacity of 4,200 barrels per day is far below Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer that has a daily maximum crude capacity of 2.5 million barrels per day or Angola (a million barrels daily) or Chad, the newest entrant in the continent's petroleum club, with 160,000.

Experts say these countries began with humble capacities at the exploration stage and that Uganda's possibly go into millions...

Inflation rises to new high in Tanzania
June 28, 2006 Xinhua

Inflation in Tanzania has reached a new high of 7.7 percent in May, up from 6.9 percent in April this year, according to the Tanzania National Bureau of Statistics.

Inflation was already at a five-year high of 6.5 percent at the end of March this year. The same month of last year witnessed an inflation rate of 4.0 percent.

The hiked inflation was mainly caused by drought that had affected food production, electricity generation in the country as well as by rising petrol and diesel prices in the country, according to the bureau's monthly report available here on Wednesday.

The food index, that carries 55.9 percent of the total consumption pattern, rose by 12.3 percent to 132.3 in May, up from 117.8 in the same month a year earlier.

The indexes for fuels, power and water, which account for 8.5 percent of the total consumption pattern, increased by 4.9 percent to 121.6 in May, up from 115.9 the same month in 2005.

The bureau also indicated that the purchasing power of the Tanzanian shillings had declined from 100 in 2003 to 85.57 in the past month.

South Africa to send 300 monitors to DRC for elections
June 28, 2006, Source: Xinhua By ANDnetwork .com

South Africa said it will send about 300 monitors and technicians to observe next month's elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

South African deputy foreign minister Aziz Pahad told a news conference in Pretoria on Tuesday that his country will send a 128-person mission, including 30 MPs, from government and civil society to DRC. They will be deployed from July 12 until August 3.

He added that the 14-member Southern African Development Community bloc also asked South Africa to nominate an additional 10 members for its delegation to oversee elections to be held on July 30.

In addition, the DRC has asked for 300 information technology and logistics personnel, Pahad said, adding that South Africa hoped the elections would unfold without too many problems, but cautioned that a country of that size, faced with logistical challenges, meant some technical difficulties were to be expected.

"We want these to be free and fair elections because the Congolese people need to get on dealing with their other challenges facing them," said Pahad.

Successful reintegration of refugees in DRC's Equateur province
27 Jun 2006 By David Nthengwe UNHCR

More DONGO, Democratic Republic of the Congo, June 27 (UNHCR) – The reintegration of thousands of refugees around Dongo in Democratic Republic of the Congo's (DRC) Equateur province is surpassing expectations and could encourage others to return from neighbouring Republic of Congo.

But despite the positive reintegration trends and the high level of returns, the lack of funding for UNHCR's voluntary repatriation programme for Congolese refugees remains a significant problem that could ultimately affect returns planned for the second half of this year.

UNHCR seeks US$75 million this year, but by June it had received only US$14.4 million. "When we look at available resources, we take pride in what we have been able to achieve with very little," said Vito Trani, head of the UNHCR office in Dongo.

Dongo is located on the east bank of the Oubangi River, facing the Republic of Congo. Some 60,000 Congolese crossed the Oubangi and Congo rivers and sought sanctuary in riverside villages in the Republic of the Congo and Central African Republic (CAR) when civil war flared in their homeland in 1998.

The Congolese began returning home from CAR to northern parts of Equateur province in October 2004. In April the following year, refugees started returning from the Republic of Congo to Libenge, Gemena and the provincial capital, Mbandaka.

The launch of organized returns to Dongo was delayed several times due to insecurity, extortion and harassment of civilians by local militias, while refugees were deterred by the harsh social and economic conditions in the area.

The operation also faced serious logistical difficulties, aggravated by devastated roads and destroyed bridges. "We were also unable to acquire construction materials locally which contributed to the late start of the operation," said Trani.

For these reasons returns to Dongo only started in November 2005, with about 200 people being ferried across the Oubangi River each week by pirogue. To date, 7,000 have returned to Dongo. The number of returnees for the whole province is 15,000, or about a quarter of those who fled in 1998.

Going back home was one thing – whether their return was sustainable was another matter. But 88 percent of those who have returned to Dongo have access to their land, 82 percent have obtained official identity documents – which will enable them to vote in landmark elections slated for July – and 96 percent of their children born in refugee camps in Republic of Congo within the past five years have received birth certificates.

According to AIDES, a local non-governmental organisation involved in education and registration of school children, identity documents have been issued to 1,296 children, allowing their enrolment in new schools.

Inter-agency support has also been encouraging in a province where most people survive on agriculture and fishing. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization explains to returnees the benefits of joining farming and fisheries associations and provides new arrivals with agricultural tools and fishing equipment. The UN World Food Programme has supplied returnees with three months of food rations.

Aid has also gone towards improving health care services in areas with high returnee figures. Additional medical equipment has been provided and some health care centres have been rehabilitated to cope with the influx.

Local officials do have concerns about potable water supplies and worry about sufficient shelter for the refugees. Even so, a staggering 64 percent of returnees have constructed their own homes, while host communities have built shelters for vulnerable families.

Land disputes are being resolved through joint interventions with an inter-ministerial government body overseeing repatriation and reintegration. "More local tribunals to resolve property disputes are being considered at this stage," said Trani, noting that claimants currently had to travel long distances without public transport to get legal aid.

The overall security situation has notably improved. Receiving communities have been prepared to accept the returnees back, while local and foreign partners intervene together whenever incidents have been reported.

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AU peacekeepers to quit Darfur by end of September
Wednesday 28 June 2006
June 28, 2006 (BANJUL) — The poorly-equipped African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur is set to quit the troubled western Sudan’s region by end of September due to a lack of funds, the AU’s security organ said Tuesday.

African Union (AU) soldiers parade at their base in el-Geneina in Sudan’s West Darfur state, March 16, 2006. (Reuters)."Whatever happens, our mandate ends on the 31st of September unless there are new developments," South African’s Foreign Minister Ncosazana Dhlamini-Zuma said after chairing an AU Peace and Security Council meeting ahead of a weekend summit of heads of state.

"Even if we wanted to continue, we don’t have the finances to continue beyond the date we have set... unless (there is) a new development which would mean there would be support for that (extension) from the UN," she told reporters.

Sudan has consistently opposed a handover of peacekeeping duties in Darfur to an international force, but has of late shown readiness to discuss the issue since reaching a peace agreement with the main rebel group last month.

However President Omar al-Bashir was quoted as saying Sunday that Sudanese troops were ready to take over from the AU force, in what was seen as a fresh rebuff to UN plans to deploy its own force.

Beshir has repeatedly warned he will turn Darfur into "a graveyard" for Western troops, accusing the West of seeking to "recolonise Sudan".

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan this month said that Darfur needed UN peacekeepers despite Beshir’s opposition.

Dhlamini Zuma said the AU would be "willing to review" its departure date from Darfur if there were new developments in Sudanese-UN discussions for a transfer of the operation to the world body.

"Maybe if the UN says it would need a little bit more time to come in, then we can review that," she said.

The world body wants to replace the cash-strapped poorly-equipped 7,000-strong AU contingent which has attempted in vain to maintain peace in Darfur over the past two years.

The UN stresses that the deployment of a strong peacekeeping contingent in Darfur is critical to the success of a peace agreement agreed on May 5.

Decades of tribal fighting in Darfur — an arid desert region the size of France — erupted into all-out violence in 2003, when ethnic minority rebels took up arms, accusing the Arab government in Khartoum of neglect and calling for autonomy.

In response, the regime unleashed its Janjaweed proxies on Darfur’s largely black population. The combined effect of war and famine has killed some 300,000 Darfuris and displaced 2.4 million.

The global rights watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday called on international donors to give more to the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS), for the AU to contribute more troops to protect civilians and for African leaders to put pressure on Khartoum.

"African leaders should tell Khartoum to accept a UN force. The AU has transferred to UN forces in Burundi and elsewhere in Africa; why should Sudan be different?" said HRW director Peter Takirambudde.

AU leaders meet at an upcoming weekend summit here.

Dhlamini-Zuma said the AU’s security council also discussed how to deal with individuals who seek to undermine the Abuja peace agreement signed in May by Sudan and Darfur’s biggest rebel group, the main faction of the Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLM).

"Those who actually undermine the agreement, we must take certain measures such as a ban on travel and look at assets," she said.

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