Burundi: En bref ce 30 MAI 2006 ...

Le Président du Sénat assiste au tournoi de Tennis à Gitega

30 mai 2006. http://www.senat.bi

Le Président du Sénat, Honorable Gervais Rufyikiri a rehaussé de sa présence à la remise des coupes et divers prix du tournoi de Tennis du Burundi qui s’est tenu à Gitega, ce Dimanche 28 mai 2006.

Lors dudit tournoi, plusieurs autorités dont le Ministre de la Jeunesse et des Sports, Jean Jacques Nyenimigabo, le Président de la Fédération de Tennis au Burundi, le Président de tennis à Gitega et les sponsors de ce tournoi dont les représentants de Finalease Bank, liquides et Total Burundi étaient présents dans ces cérémonies.

Ce tournoi regroupait les jeunes et adultes des provinces de Bujumbura, Ngozi, Gitega, Muyinga et Kirundo.

A la fin des matches, on a procédé à la remise de plusieurs coupes et prix aux gagnants suivi par des discours prononcés par pas mal d’autorités qui avaient assisté à ce tournoi.

Dans son discours, le Président du Sénat, Mr Gervais Rufyikiri a remercié les sponsors, les organisateurs de ce tournoi ainsi que les participants d’avoir prêté main forte aux joueurs.

Il a aussi encouragé les joueurs d’aller toujours de l’avant afin de participer dans les compétitions internationales dans les prochains jours.

S’adressant aux représentants de la fédération de tennis du Burundi, l’Hon. Rufyikiri leur a demandé de doubler d’efforts pour que ce jeu soit répandu dans tout le pays et que le gouvernement ne ménagera aucun effort pour les soutenir étant donné qu’il est fortement engagé dans la promotion des sports.

Signalons que dans ce tournoi les équipes de Gitega ont fortement dominé en obtenant beaucoup de coupes et prix accordés aux premiers gagnants.

South African mediated talks with Burundi underway

May 30, 2006 http://www.sabcnews.com

Peace talks between the government of Burundi and that country's only active rebel group have begun. The two groups are in a bid to stop recent bloodshed that left ten rebels and four Burundian soldiers dead.

South Africa is at the helm of the peace negotiations. Charles Nqakula, the safety and security minister, who is the mediator of the talks, says he urgently wants peace for Burundi before more lives are lost.

More than 300 000 have been killed in the strife-torn country over the last decade.

Burundi, FNL rebels hold talks

2006-05-30 SOURCE: Guardian By Pacifique Nkeshimana and agency

The government of Burundi and PALIPEHUTU-FNL fighters have expressed their commitment in Dar es Salaam yesterday to bring to an end the civil strife which has claimed over 300,000 people, leaving behind thousands of refugees in neighboring countries.

’’The decision as to how you end the conflict is yours,’’
President Jakaya Kikwete said in comments directed at FNL rebels at the start of the talks.

’’You may choose to take the path to triumphalism, or you can choose to recognise the need for an inclusive peace,’’ he added.

Burundi Minister for Home Affairs, Public Safety and Security Brig Gen Evariste Ndayishimiye, who is leading the government delegation to the peace talks brokered by South Africa, said the government of Pierre Nkurunziza was committed to the talks.

’’We are here to talk with our fellows we are ready to integrate them in the government, the police and the army,’’ he said, adding that the delegation had been given one condition before leaving home: To return home with an olive branch.

Brig Gen Ndayishimiye said the implementation of the peace agreement would be ’very soon’.

’’I hope we will sign a peace agreement very soon. The international community has to assist us,’’ he said.

Palipehutu-FNL Agathon Rwasa told The Guardian in an interview that his movement was now ready for peace.

Rwasa added: ’’We need peace to be restored in the whole country? the government has to respect the rule of law and good governance.’’

Burundi’s government, backed by African governments and the international community, has said the FNL must follow Burundi’s U.N.- backed peace plan to end 12 years of conflict that killed 300,000 people in bouts of ethnic clashes.

That would mean the rebels, like other insurgents that have signed the deal, join Burundi’s new army and police force.

The FNL rebels have refused, saying they will not have a position forced upon them.

Burundi’s Minister for the Interior and Public Security, Evariste Ndayishimiye, said he hoped the talks would find a way of incorporating FNL into Burundi’s leadership.

’’We have a formula of integration. Now we have come here to talk about how to bring Palipehutu FNL to Burundi leadership,’’ Ndayishimiye said.

But as yesterday’s session was about to begin, the two sides seemed divided even on what they would discuss, a harbinger of more trouble for talks that have failed time and again to remove one of the last barriers to true peace in Burundi.

’’We want freedom of opinion, so that more people can give their views, and for our group to be recognised and be allowed to undertake political activity,’’ Agathon Rwasa, the FNL leader, told reporters after opening remarks at the talks.

’’For the peace to hold, we need the police, army and intelligence not to break the law,’’ Rwasa added.

President Nkurunziza, a former Hutu rebel leader, was elected in August under the peace plan, viewed as an African solution for stability in the nation of 7 million.

The FNL said late last week they would accept a South African mediator, dropping an objection in earlier talks that led neighbouring Tanzania to assume that role behind the scenes.

Despite peace overtures, Burundi’s army continues pursuing the FNL.

Last week they killed 10 rebels in helicopter raids on the remote Kibira forest in the northwest of the tea- and coffee-growing country.

Fourteenth Round of Tripartite Talks Conclude Positively
Progress made on Fusion Cell operation, list of sanctioned groups and leaders

By Jim Fisher-Thompson Washington File Special Correspondent
28 May 2006 http://usinfo.state.gov

Kigali, Rwanda -- Conflict resolution talks aimed at curbing the movements of rebel forces in the Great Lakes region concluded May 27 with agreement on a number of issues, including enhancing information-gathering and formalizing a "wanted list" of individuals and groups subject to travel restrictions and asset sanctions.

Rwanda’s Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region Richard Sezibera briefed journalists following the two-day session of the Tripartite Plus Joint Commission (TJC) Subcommission on Security and Defense describing it as, "a very productive meeting."

Sezibera, a former Rwandan ambassador to the United States, addressed reporters and close to 30 delegates from Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda in the conference hall of the Des Milles Collines. Several observers from the United Nations and the MONUC peacekeeping force in DRC also attended the two-day talks. (See related article.)

The Kigali meeting was the 14th in a conflict-resolution process that began more than two years ago with help from then Secretary of State Colin Powell. The process has been facilitated by a team of U.S. diplomats led by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Donald Yamamoto, who has traveled to Kigali seven times to attend Tripartite meetings.

In a speech he gave to United Nations in January, the former U.S. ambassador to Djibouti said, "We deplore the violence and condemn the hostilities of the FDLR, the LRA and FNL [Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, Lord's Resistance Army and National Liberation Front] and other negative forces and militias operating in the Great Lakes region."

Militias like the FDLR, whose leaders were involved in the genocide in Rwanda, depend on young recruits, many of whom are just hostages taken by force from refugee camps and their villages. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer outlined the problem when she spoke to the press during a visit to Rwanda in April.

Frazer described visiting a refugee camp in eastern Congo where she "had the chance to talk extensively to some of the young soldiers who were part of the FDLR; they spoke about being held hostage there by the FDLR leaders. And that they were being shot when they tried to reach MONUC positions for repatriation home."

In Kigali, Ambassador Sezibera declared the latest round of talks "very productive."

He said, "We have put into place operational procedures to make the Fusion Cell more effective both as a conduit for information we share on armed groups and also to enable it to analyze this information even more effectively."

The Fusion Cell is a jointly operated data-gathering and analysis operation in eastern Congo meant to keep track of the movements of militias and verify or deny reports of cross-border violations.

Sezibera also said, "We have agreed on lists of individuals who are leaders of the armed groups operating in the region. This list will be transmitted to the Ministers of the Tripartite Plus countries for approval and submission to the African Union and United Nations."

He added that delegates to the meeting "agreed or reaffirmed on the measures to take against sanctioned individuals and groups that have been put on the sanctions list and we have agreed on what measures to take against them.

"We have reaffirmed the need to impose travel bans on them; freeze their assets; restrict them from having fund-raising activities on our territories and limit, in the manner that we can, their mobilizing activities including through the media."

Sezibera concluded by thanking the United States for facilitating the Tripartite process and the four member nations for "the spirit of cooperation that has characterized the work of the Subcommission."

Yamamoto also remarked on the spirit of cooperation the Tripartite process seems to have engendered. "I think we’ve built up a good feeling of trust and confidence with each other in the talks. We share information about each other’s families for example. And because of that there’s a lot more commitment to getting things done now."

Speed is important now, he added, because "every day rebels operating in the region kill 1,000 people. So, you have to be serious about them; you have to apply a lot of pressure. It’s not acceptable to have these negative forces running around killing people."

For additional information about U.S. policy in the region, see Africa.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

Validation des plaintes visant l'armée française au Rwanda
lundi 29 mai 2006 Reuters

La cour d'appel de Paris a validé les plaintes déposées en février par six survivants des massacres de 1994 au Rwanda, qui accusent des soldats français de complicité dans le génocide, apprend-on auprès d'un de leurs avocats, Me William Bourdon.

La chambre de l'instruction a rejeté une requête du parquet qui estimait que quatre de ces plaignants n'avaient pas qualité à agir car ils n'avaient pas subi de préjudice direct.
L'instruction va donc pouvoir se poursuivre au Tribunal aux armées de Paris (TAP).
Elle donne lieu à une controverse politique et judiciaire car Paris a toujours vivement nié tout rôle dans le génocide.
Le 3 juillet, la cour d'appel examinera une nouvelle demande du parquet qui souhaite faire annuler pour vice de procédure les dépositions des plaignants recueillies au Rwanda par la juge Brigitte Raynaud.
Les six témoins, cinq hommes et une femme de l'ethnie tutsie, ont déposé plainte pour "complicité de génocide et complicité de crimes contre l'humanité".
Ils affirment que des soldats français engagés dans l'opération Turquoise, menée entre juin et août 1994 au Rwanda sous mandat de l'Onu, ont aidé les miliciens "Interahamwe", principaux auteurs du génocide, à débusquer leurs victimes et ont commis eux-mêmes des exactions.
Huit cent mille Tutsis et Hutus modérés ont été massacrés d'avril à juin de cette même année par les milices et les militaires d'un régime que soutenait Paris.
L'opération Turquoise a été menée alors que l'Onu et les autres membres du Conseil de sécurité avaient retiré le contingent de casques bleus présent sur place avant 1994.

Norway trial for genocide suspect refused
Legalbrief Africa Date: Mon 29 May 2006

The UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has denied a bid to transfer a genocide case to Norway, arguing that the country lacks specific laws on cases of war crimes.

The UN News Service reports the case involves former Rwandan business official Michael Bogaragaza who is suspected of planning to fund, arm and train a militia to carry out attacks on Tutsi civilians in 1994. Prosecutors wanted the ICTR to transfer Bogaragaza's case to Norway on the grounds that it would provide for wider understanding of how genocide could happen. Bogaragaza, who denies the charges of his involvement in the genocide, is being held in a UN detention unit in the Netherlands. The ruling is subject to appeal by both parties within next two weeks.

UGANDA

UGANDA: Containing cholera in IDP camps
30 May 2006 Source: IRIN
More KITGUM, 30 May (IRIN) - Torrential rain in northern Uganda has created conducive conditions for cholera to spread in the squalid, overpopulated camps where 90 percent of the population of Kitgum District live. Six people have died, and 504 have been infected by the disease.

Nyeko Benson, 15, sits beyond the black plastic sheeting that creates a makeshift cholera ward at Kitgum's government hospital. He is holding a hamper of food for his mother, who came to the facility that morning, violently ill with cholera.

"Her eyes went black and started rolling in her head. And then she just fell down. It was very frightening. She had really bad vomiting and diarrhoea. We are very worried but praying she will get cured, because she is the only person to take care of us," he said.

The odds are good that Benson's mother will recuperate: with proper treatment, survival rates for those afflicted with cholera are high.

Benson's mother is one of almost two million civilians in northern Uganda who have been forced to abandon their homes by a two-decade war between the government and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). Many of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) live in camps dotted throughout the region, fearing attacks by Joseph Kony's LRA rebels, who are infamous for abducting children and carrying out grizzly night raids.

These camps are the perfect breeding ground for contagious diseases like cholera. Huts are built only metres apart, and sanitation is poor. Many people relieve themselves near streams rather than using the camp latrines. Queues for borehole water are long, leading people to drink from those same streams. Rain turns the camps to mud, and children are left to play in yesterday's sewage. When cholera hit Agoro 14 camp, new bylaws were introduced covering everything from where not to defecate to when not to attend funerals. It had some effect, but behaviour does not change overnight.

Doctors fighting cholera in the camps have now called for cattle fairs to be banned until the epidemic is brought under control. They blame Sudanese cattle traders for introducing the waterborne disease to the district in mid-April. The traders' continued cross-border movement threatens to intensify the outbreak, said Oringa Vincent, Kitgum's acting district health officer.

More cases expected

Cholera was introduced to northern Uganda at Agoro camp through cattle fairs in April. One month on, Oringa said, the district, which is near the Sudanese border, is bracing itself for a renewed outbreak.

"It is still a very bad situation. We expect it to continue increasing over the next few days because of the rains. The Sudanese are still coming in to trade cattle. We had another market in Agoro yesterday. We have recommended that the cattle markets are stopped until the cholera is brought under control," he said.

Senior officials from Kitgum were travelling to Agoro to discuss the feasibility of suspending cattle markets with local leaders. Around 2,000 people flock to the monthly market from Kitgum, the neighbouring districts of Gulu and Pader, as well as southern Sudan. The market is vital to the fragile camp economy but a dangerous mechanism for spreading diseases like cholera across the region.

Cholera has raged in southern Sudan this year, killing over 500, according to aid workers. Since arriving in Agoro, the killer bug has swept through Kitgum's camps in a counterclockwise arc: Potika, Palabek Gem, Kitgum town and now the western sub-county of Naam-Okora, perilously close to the camps of Pader District.

Kitgum District has set up 12 cholera treatment centres in coordination with humanitarian agencies, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), the UN World Health Organization and the International Medical Corps (IMC). Patients are quarantined; cleaners wear gum boots, plastic overalls and gloves, and anyone entering or exiting is sprayed down with a chlorinated solution.

Moses Kiwanuka, IMC's director in Kitgum, said the agencies have moved from fire-fighting to preparing camps unaffected by cholera for the disease's arrival. "Originally, we were chasing the cholera," he said. "We heard it was here; we came here. We heard it was there; we went there. But now the cholera is chasing us. We are a step ahead, sensitising areas before cholera has struck. That is how we are ambushing this epidemic."

Before the recent rains, the rate of increase was on the wane, with 108 new cases weekly, down from 204 earlier this month. However, Oringa said, not enough money had been provided to the district to educate people on the importance of hygiene and sanitation. "Financial support is a big problem," he said. "Our biggest consideration is sensitisation, but road shows cost money. I went to the ministry in Kampala to ask for more money and came back with 500 litres of [oral rehydration] fluids. It was finished within the week."

At the hospital, Nyeko said he was going to draw a lesson from what has happened to his mother. "We do not usually bother to use the latrine, because it is such a long way from our house. Now we are going to speak to the owner or build a latrine for the house, because this is too bad," he said. "We will also clean up the area near the house - cut down the bushes and throw away the rubbish - because we don't want this happening again."

African Presidential Term Limits: How Uganda Extended the Status Quo
By Angel Tabe / Washington, DC / 30 May 2006

In a number of African countries, the Constitution has been changed to allow the president to seek a third term. Among them are Zimbabwe, Chad and Uganda. Voice of America takes a closer look at Uganda's constitutional amendment permitting President Yoweri Museveni a third term in office.

Richard Mutumba is a political journalist who has covered the Parliament in Uganda for many years. Voice of America’s English to Africa reporter Angel Tabe asked him about the political climate that enabled President Museveni to get more time in office. “…The president had earlier been able to get control over Parliament, which had the final say whether he should get a third term or not. His party controlled more than two-thirds of the membership, and when the issue came to vote, he had the upper hand over the other political forces.”

Motumba says the decision for President Museveni to have another term was popular is tricky, especially for a population that had never known political pluralism. “There was no choice…people had never had another political force… or even a presidential candidate who could contest the president. The slogan has been, “Vote Museveni; there‘ll be peace. If you don’t, back to chaos.” It’s very difficult to assess, although at the end of the day, the president got it.”

Although other political forces had been relatively dormant, Motumba adds, there were known opponents, both in civil society and the political arena. “There were still some pressure groups, human rights groups, and even some members of Parliament in the opposition…. They said the man was violating the Constitution to suit the people in power.… They were not a majority, so they could not make any change.”

Motumba believes that professionalizing institutions of governance will make it more difficult for African leaders to hold power for life: “… A good example is Nigeria, where Parliament has refused to give [President Olusegun] Obasanjo another term. And I think ten or twenty years from now, it will not be as easy for the president to change the Constitution….”

Oil pipeline tender put on suspension
Tuesday, 30th May, 2006 http://www.newvision.co.ug

By Mikaili Sseppuya COMPLETION of the tender process for the extension of the oil pipeline from Kenya to Uganda has been suspended until a petition against the process is heard on June 12.

According to The East African of May 29 to June 4, the Kenyan Public Procurement Complaints, Review and Appeals Board issued the suspension notice after a petition from East African Petronet Consortium, one of the bidders.

The notification was addressed to Kenya’s permanent secretary in the energy ministry, who along with his Ugandan counterpart, chair the Joint Co-ordinating Commission on Pipeline Extension.

“Under the Exchequer and Audit (Public Procurement) Regulations 2001, no contract may be signed between the procuring entity and the tenderers awarded the contract unless the appeals have been finalised,” the notice said.

The paper says under procurement regulations in both countries, once a petition is filed against a project, it is suspended until the matter is resolved.

However, it quotes Uganda’s energy permanent secretary, Kabagambe Kaliisa, as saying that the evaluation continued and they were making clarifications and administrative reviews.

“We usually encounter such problems when we call for tenders. If complaints are being heard, it is not new. This is a joint tender. We have guiding principles, which is the law,” Kaliisa said.

Financial documents for China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Corporation, Tamoil East Africa Ltd. and MISA Incorporation/Shell Uganda Ltd were being evaluated in the final stage of getting the winner from the original 23 applicants.

Energy ministry officials said on Monday they were yet to meet and decide.

“We do not conduct business through the press, but we have only got the papers and are studying it,” an official said.

Petronet’s complaint arose over a decision by the Joint Co-ordinating Commission to exclude it from the technical evaluation stage even after it had posted a $400,000 (sh732m) cash bond.

Petronet also objected to the evaluation committee’s decision not to evaluate tender documents it submitted in 2004 that enabled it to be shortlisted for the final bid and a decision to sideline M/S Nexant, a global firm retained by the Joint Committee to prepare a feasibility study.

Tanzania to increase sisal production to 190,000 tons annually
Source: Xinhua May 30, 2006

Tanzania has set an annual sisal production target of 190,000 tons by 2016 for its sisal farmers, according to reports on Tuesday from Tanga in northeastern Tanzania.

The target was revealed by the Tanzania Sisal Board. Tanga is the country's major sisal plantation area.

Tanzania now has an annual production of some 27,000 tons of the sisal fibre.

Dubbed "white gold" back in the 1960s and 1970s by the sisal farmers in Tanzania, sisal production of 240,000 tons a year in the late 1960s and early 1970s had been a money spinner for the country 's economic development.

Revenues from sales of sisal fibre, now at 105 million U.S. dollars a year, are expected to increase to 126 million dollars by 2016.

The board has also envisaged to enlarge the area of sisal plantation from the current 8,000 hectares to 20,000 hectares by the year 2016, with a projected share of 30 percent of the world market for sisal fibre exports.

Sisal, a native plant from Mexico, occupies the sixth place among fibre plants, representing 2 percent of the world's production of plant fibres which provide 65 percent of the world's fibres.

Tanzania now ranks behind Brazil and Kenya in the production and exportation of sisal fibres.

Brazil produces 199,000 tons of sisal annually and exports 65, 000 tons while Kenya produces 40,000 tons and exports 31,000 tons.

Tanzania exports some 18,000 tons annually.

US Senators Promote Improved US-Congo Legislation
By Howard Lesser - Washington, DC - 30 May 2006

A bipartisan group of US senators will promote legislation outlining US policy toward the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The bill is spearheaded by Illinois democrats Barack Obama and Dick Durbin and republicans Sam Brownback of Kansas and Michael DeWine of Ohio. It promotes humanitarian relief, democracy, and clear management of natural resources as a means to encourage peace, stability, and free and fair elections next month.

Deputy Director of Advocacy for the International Rescue Committee, Shannon Meehan told Voice of America the legislation marks a shift in direction, made necessary by an ongoing war that has cost more lives than any other conflict since World War II.

“This bill establishes core principles of U.S. policy to continue to help save lives and rebuild this war-torn country. One of the first things it calls for is to reinvigorate the political action needed to secure the D.R.C. on a path to representative democracy and stability.”

Ms. Meehan says the United States has been very supportive of Congo’s humanitarian needs over time. She notes that Kinshasa recognizes the importance of the relationship and seeks to continue it.

“I think the Congolese see the United States as important to their future. The United States State Department has played a very significant role in the regional talks that are called the Tripartite Plus, with Rwanda, the Congo, Burundi, and Uganda. And we think that the last six months of advocacy and the language of this bill have helped solidify that to continue after this June. It was originally slated to end, and the U.S. sees that their influence in keeping those regional relationships on a path to development, as Burundi has moved to democracy, Rwanda is on….representational democracy in Uganda, that the region can move forward together, that Congo is not in isolation and the U.S. sees that that’s a very important role to play.”

RDC: sept casques bleus enlevés pour obtenir une rançon
30 mai 2006 SDA-ATS http://www.swissinfo.org

KINSHASA - Sept casques bleus népalais ont été enlevés dans l'est de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC). Les ravisseurs, des membres d'une faction du Mouvement révolutionnaire du Congo, réclament 140.000 dollars pour leur libération.

Les casques bleus ont été capturés dimanche dans l'est de la RDC, a-t-on appris lundi de sources congolaise et proche de l'ONU.

Ce rapt montre que les 17.000 casques bleus en mission au Congo ont encore du pain sur la planche pour pacifier le pays avant les élections pluralistes prévues le 30 juillet - les premières depuis 40 ans.

En janvier, huit casques bleus guatémaltèques avaient été tués et cinq autre blessés lors d'une opération visant à mettre la main sur un leader rebelle ougandais dans l'est du pays.

3 freed captives fly into Orlando after Paris stop
BY GARY TAYLOR Mon, May. 29, 2006
The Orlando Sentinel
ORLANDO, Fla. - Three Americans held captive for nine days by the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo flew into Orlando Executive Airport on Monday and were whisked away in a limousine to be reunited with their families.

"There were a lot of very happy people," said Marc Middleton, a spokesman for Orlando-based AQMI Strategy Corp., the men's employer.

Only a handful of friends and company officials, including AQMI President Frank Amodeo, were on hand to meet the private jet carrying retired Orlando Police Department Capt. Joe Robinson, former Secret Service Agent Kevin Billings of Maitland, Fla., and security specialist Seth Taylor of San Diego.

"They looked good," Middleton said. "They sounded good."

There were no family members at the airport, but the company released a statement from Billings' wife, Karlynn.

"We are so grateful that they are back, especially on this family-oriented holiday weekend," she said. "Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers."

Robinson, 47, and Billings, 48, arrived in Congo on May 13 to provide security for Oscar Kashala, a physician with dual U.S. and Congolese citizenship who is running for president.

The two were detained, along with Taylor, their driver, when they boarded a flight for Paris on May 18. After seizing their passports, officials released them. Hours later they were arrested at a private home.

Congo officials said the men were suspected of plotting to overthrow the west-central African government, a charge AQMI officials denied.

Company officials said the men were not abused, but were exposed to unsanitary conditions.

Once they were released, the men, suffering from dehydration, flew to Paris, taking only the clothes they had been wearing for more than a week. A company psychologist and AQMI officials flew to Paris to meet them.

The men were expected to spend several days in Paris, but were eager to get home, Middleton said. After it was determined they were physically up to the long flight, they flew to Orlando via Bangor, Maine, he said.

"Considering the conditions in which they were held, their health seems to be pretty good," Amodeo said in a written statement. "They have displayed some symptoms of malaria but we're hoping that the medicines they took to prevent the disease prior to their detention, combined with the fact that they were denied preventative medicines for no more than eight days, will be enough to fight off the disease."

Most of their symptoms seem to be related to the unhealthy conditions where they were held. While detained, they were only given one piece of moldy bread and one piece of meat every two days.

The men are expected to speak out about their ordeal, perhaps as early as Tuesday afternoon, Middleton said.

"Their emotional condition is surprisingly good," Amodeo said in the prepared statement. "Joe said he feels even more devoted to getting Dr. Kashala elected in order to bring the DRC into the modern world."

In a company release, Billings was quoted as saying: "This was just another week of training."

Robinson, a married father of two, left Orlando after more than 26 years. He retired as a captain with the Orlando Police Department and had served as driver, bodyguard and law-enforcement liaison for former Mayor Glenda Hood and Mayor Buddy Dyer. He was a deputy chief of staff for Dyer when he left in January to do corporate security.

For years, he had conducted security-training seminars and classes for local, state, federal and foreign governments, former colleagues said.

Billings, a 21-year veteran of the Secret Service, retired in February 2004 to become a security consultant. He worked in Iraq before becoming affiliated with Nexia Strategy Corp. and AQMI. Nexia's Web site lists him on its board of directors and as an executive officer. He is married and has two teenage daughters.

Kenya Bans Smoking in Public
05/30/2006 Source: news.bbc.co.uk
A smoking ban in Kenya started and states that anyone smoking in a public place (including offices, bus stations, sports venues and some bars and restaurants) will be fined 50,000 Kenyan shillings ($700 or £375) or sentenced to 6 months in prison.
Manufacturers had to stop producing cigarettes for the local market because they didn't print the required warnings that cover 50% of the packet size.
Meanwhile 300,000 Kenyan farmers growing 20,000 tons of tobacco a year fear the impact of the ban.
Although no arrests have been made, it has been reported that smokers are panicking and looking for safe places to smoke.
According to the Kenyan Director of Medical Services, the ban might reduce the 12,000 tobacco related deaths per year.

Kenya Airways ups European links

May 30, 2006 http://news.cheapflights.co.uk/
Kenya Airways is poised to up its service between the UK and Nairobi to ten flights a week this summer.

Additional Friday, Saturday and Sunday daylight flights will take off from Terminal 4 at London Heathrow.

Meanwhile, Kenya Airways is also increasing service between Amsterdam and Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, partly in response to demand from UK customers.

Together with strategic partner KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Kenya Airways will add a third daily flight from the Dutch capital to Nairobi from Saturday, July 1.

Kenya Airways' country manager, David Granville, noted that the additional weekend daylight flights came after increased demand from British customers was seen for the Amsterdam to Nairobi route.

"[The extra flights] will provide our UK passengers with greater freedom and flexibility of connectivity and choice, when flying to Kenya and our onward destinations this summer," he said.

Those wishing to make an onward hop to Zanzibar can also benefit from Kenya Airways' additional flights to the Tanzanian island on its Dar es Salaam service.

Cholera death toll hits over 1,500 in Angola
May 30, 2006 Source: Xinhua

The World Health Organization said in Luanda on Monday that a cholera outbreak in Angola that broke out mid-February has claimed 1,514 lives from more than 40,557 cumulative cases.

In its latest update on the epidemic that has affected 13 of Angola's 18 provinces, the WHO said that 282 new cases of the disease and six deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours.

The province of Luanda, where cholera erupted in slum districts of the capital on February 13, continues to bear the brunt of the epidemic and 275 fatalities have occurred from over 20,781 cases.

Diamond miners team up to exploit Angola projects
http://www.miningweekly.co.za 30/05/2006
Diamond exploration and mining companies Xceldiam and Petra Diamonds, both listed on the alternative bourse in London, have entered into a strategic cooperation agreement to develop the Luangue and Alto Cuilo diamond exploration projects in north-eastern Angola.

The companies said, in a joint-media release, that they would share information and cooperate on technical, operational and other related matters with regard to the development of Luangue and Alto Cuilo.

The likely contiguous underlying geology of the projects and consequent kimberlite mineralogical similarities, accelerating the exploration efforts on kimberlite targets at Luangue were expected to result in significant cost and time benefits.

The comparison and profiling of the mineralogy of kimberlitic occurrences, which were expected to be identified at Luangue against the Alto Cuilo kimberlitic occurrences, that had already been identified, were expected to enable Xceldiam to accelerate assessment and development of the Luangue targets.

Meanwhile, detailed information on Alto Cuilo diamond content would only emerge later in the year from large-diameter drilling and bulk sampling. This was expected to significantly enhance the selection and prioritisation long-distance drilling targets at Luangue, following the less expensive small-diameter drilling programme which would start shortly.

As part of the agreement, Petra had been granted warrants with a total exercise price of £14-million to acquire up to 26% of the issued share capital of Xceldiam’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Frannor Investment and Finance Limited, which holds Xceldiam’s interest in Luangue.

Luangue and Alto Cuilo projects, which shared a common border, Chairperson and CEO of Xceldiam, Tim George, said that Petra’s experience at Alto Cuilo, and the close proximity of the areas where exploration was focused at each project, would assist his company in further defining and progressing its work programmes, leading to the accelerated development of Luangue.

Adonis Pouroulis, chairperson of Petra, said major exploration developments had taken place at Alto Cuilo and that Petra was looking forward to the possibilities of similar discoveries at Luangue.

“Petra is confident that this area of Angola will prove, in time, to be of major significance with regard to the production of diamonds, hence our decision to also invest in Xceldiam when it was admitted to Aim. This agreement with Xceldiam gives Petra the opportunity to consolidate its position in one of the world’s most prospective areas for diamond exploration,” he said.

SOUTH AFRICA:

World Economic Forum on Africa to be held in South Africa
Source: Xinhua May 30, 2006

Leaders from business, government, civil society and academia will participate in the 16th World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town, South Africa, from May 31 to June 2 to discuss Africa's next steps along a sustainable growth path.

Under the theme of "Going for Growth," over 650 participants from 39 countries will identify action priorities to sustain a 5 percent growth rate, engage business as a catalyst for change in Africa, draw lessons from best-performing states and sectors, address new risks and assess new opportunities.

While focusing on the impact of China and India and the commodity price boom underpinning much of Africa's growth, the continent's premier gathering will also identify priorities to assess new opportunities and address the challenges of boosting the physical and social infrastructure needed to sustain the resurgence of Africa.

Meanwhile, the participants will review what was delivered during the "Year of Africa" in 2005 and what is in the pipeline, and seek ways to improve the branding and perception of the continent.

"Business has a key role in building credibility of reform and rebranding efforts, not least to counter the 'collective contagion ' still afflicting Africa," said Haiko Alfeld, director for Africa of the World Economic Forum on the eve of the summit.

The forum will launch a business alliance to reduce chronic hunger on the continent. In a proposed public-private partnership, committed forum member companies and hunger experts will jointly design a model to attack the root causes of hunger through initiatives including expanding rural market systems, disseminating effective business models and microfinance.

Among the participants are President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Armando Emilio Guebuza of Mozambique and Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania.

The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships for the global public interest. The forum works throughout the year on a range of initiatives in Africa.

AFRICA / AU :

Some African nations see DDT as solution to malaria
By Edmund Sanders Tue, May. 30, 2006 Los Angeles Times
NAIROBI, Kenya - DDT is making a comeback here.
Concerns over environmental damage led to a ban on the pesticide in the United States in 1972 and subsequently in many parts of the world, including in several African nations.

But now, some leaders in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania say the ability of the chemical to kill mosquitoes is their last hope to stem the continent's No. 1 killer: malaria.

Although AIDS receives far more attention, malaria kills 1 million Africans annually, and the toll is rising. One African child dies every 30 seconds from malaria, three times Africa's toll from AIDS.

``DDT is the answer to our problems,'' said Dr. John Rwakimari, head of the national malaria program in Uganda, where malaria rates over the last 15 years have increased fivefold.

European Union officials recently warned Uganda it would be ``taking a risk'' if it reintroduced DDT. In Kenya, flower growers say Western supermarkets are wary of the chemical, putting the nation's $400 million horticulture industry at risk.

African officials complain of hypocrisy and double standards on the part of Westerners, who used DDT to eradicate their own malaria problems decades ago but now push Africa to rely on harder-to-implement methods such as mosquito nets.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said his country would proceed with DDT spraying, despite the EU warning.

``Why should we look on and watch our people die, when it is within our means to make a difference?'' Museveni said during a speech in April on Africa Malaria Day.

The United States, where the international backlash against DDT started more than 40 years ago, has re-evaluated its stance. The Bush administration said recently that the Agency for International Development would provide money for spraying this year as part of its $99 million anti-malaria program.

UN /ONU :

Non-Alignés : Un sommet qui s’annonce pathétique

- 30/5/2006 http://www.afriquecentrale.info

Le Mouvement des Non-Alignés qui n’est plus qu’une coquille vide depuis la fin de la guerre froide ne cesse de se ridiculiser. Réuni en Malaisie, il a apporté mardi son soutien à l'Iran dans le conflit qui l'oppose aux Etats-Unis, affirmant le "droit inaliénable" de Téhéran à disposer de l'énergie atomique "à des fins pacifiques".Dans sa déclaration finale émise à l'issue de deux jours de réunion, les 114 Etats du MNA ont également condamné Israël pour son occupation "brutale" des territoires palestiniens.

"Les ministres réaffirment le droit inaliénable de tous les Etats de développer, rechercher, produire et utiliser l'énergie atomique à des fins pacifiques. Toute attaque ou menace d'attaque contre des installations nucléaires pacifiques, opérationnelles ou en construction, représente un grave danger pour les êtres humains et l'environnement, et constitue une grave violation du droit international", ajoute le texte.

Israël mène une campagne militaire "qui a eu pour conséquence le meurtre de civils palestiniens en raison de l'usage d'une force excessive", ajoute la déclaration finale.

Pas un mot en revanche sur le terrorisme pratiqué par certaines organisations palestiniennes dont le Hamas, actuellement au gouvernement, contre les populations civiles israéliennes.

Avec ce genre de position, le prochain sommet des Non-Alignés en septembre à Cuba s’annonce pathétique.

La plupart des pays d’Afrique centrale sont membres du Mouvement des Non-Alignés (Angola, Congo, RD Congo, Gabon, RCA, Thad, Guinée Equatoriale, Burundi, etc…). Mais pour certains, adhésion ne signifie pas soutien.

USA :

CANADA :

AUSTRALIA :

EUROPE :

South African Tamils join protest against EU ban

[TamilNet, May 29, 2006 ]
Hundreds of Tamils braved the cold winter evening in Durban South Africa to joined in solidarity with fellow Tamils across the world Monday to voice their objection to the impending ban of Liberation Tigers by the European Union. The protest demonstration was held at the Magazine Barracks Temple, Durban was organized by the Tamil Co-ordinating committee of South Africa.
Concerned Tamils and supporters of human rights held placards in silence. The placards highlighted the human rights violations by the Sri Lankan Government and demanded that the Government of Sri Lanka stop the Genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka.
A memorandum was handed to Dr K.V Moodley, who attended as a representative of the department of Foreign Affairs of South Africa.
The memorandum was an appeal to the foreign affairs ministry of South Africa to assist in finding a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Northeast Sri Lanka.
Dr KV Moodley, a stalwart of the African National Congress (ANC) assured all present that the memorandum will reach the Foreign Ministry and that the ANC as well as the Government of South Africa will make every effort to assist in the resolution of the conflict in Sri Lanka.

CHINA :

INDIA :

BRASIL:

Pele: Cole has skills of a Brazilian

30/05/2006 - http://breakingnews.iol.ie/

England midfielder Joe Cole has the skills of a Brazilian, according to Pele.

But the three-time World Cup winner believes the Chelsea star needs to work on his game and learn to concentrate on when to keep things plain and when to elaborate.

The Brazil legend told Sky TV magazine: “Joe Cole is a very good player.

“He has the skills of a Brazilian but he needs to learn when to show the skills and when to play the simple game.

“The tricks are fine at 3-0 or 4-0 but not at 0-0 or 1-1.

“When I was playing and it was 0-0 we would keep it the ball and pass it around.”

Pele says Cole could learn from current Brazil superstar Ronaldinho.

The Barcelona player was recently named World Footballer of the Year.

Pele said: “Ronaldinho knows when to do the tricks and when to keep it simple. That is why he is so good.”

Cole could be a crucial player in Germany but Pele fears for England should Michael Owen also struggle for fitness like Wayne Rooney.

“Then they will have problems,” said the man who picked up winners’ medals in 1958, 1962 and 1970.

“But if Brazil lose Ronaldo and Ronaldinho they have Kaka, Adriano or Robinho.

“They have two good players in every position. That is why they will win the World Cup.”