Africa

Algeria

News 24 SA 7 Jan 2003 Algerian rebels kill 58 - claim Rebels kill 43 govt troops Algiers - In one of the worst weekends of violence in more than a decade of trouble in Algeria, rebels with suspected links to al-Qaeda killed at least 58 people, local media reported on Monday. Daily newspaper Liberté said fighters from al-Qaeda network had joined forces with Algeria's Islamic rebel Salafist for Preaching and Combat group (GSPC) to ambush a convoy of government forces, killing 43 and wounding 19 others on Saturday. "The information according to which foreign elements belonging to al-Qaeda participated with GSPC members in the massacre had been confirmed by several sources," it said. Government officials were not available for comment. The government says the GSPC faction has links to al-Qaeda, and its leader, Hassan Hattab, had at least one telephone conversation with Osama bin Laden before September 2001. The attack, near Theniet el Abed village in Biskra province, 320km south of Algiers, is believed to be the worst single rebel assault on government troops in the past six years. On Sunday, suspected rebels killed two local government officials and 13 civilians from two families, media reported. State news agency APS said Chetaibi mayor and his first deputy were shot dead, and the second deputy mayor was missing after their vehicle was stopped by rebels on the short journey home from a conference in Annaba, 420km east of Algiers. A few hours earlier, rebels had killed 13 civilians from two families in a raid on a village in the Zabana area, 50km south of Algiers. Algeria has been racked by violence since early 1992 when the authorities cancelled a general election that radical Islamists were poised to win. More than 100 000 people have been killed since then, according to the government, although independent sources put the death toll at up to 150 000.

News 24 SA 9 Jan 2003 Islamists kill 8 Algerians - report Algiers - Eight Algerian soldiers were killed in an ambush by Islamist militants accused of links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, local newspapers reported on Thursday. The latest killings push the year's death toll over 100 in just nine days, which have included the deadliest attack since civil war erupted more than a decade ago after the army moved to block Islamists from taking power. The newspapers, Le Matin and La Depeche de Kabylie, said two bombs were set off by remote control as troops made a routine patrol on Tuesday evening in the Tizi Ouzou region 100 kilometres from the capital, Algiers. They blamed the attack on the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), and said members of the group have links to al-Qaeda. The United States has also accused the GSPC of ties to bin Laden's militant group. The GSPC also carried out an ambush on Saturday that killed at least 39 paratroopers and four armed civilian guides. Newspapers have since said the death toll from that attack has climbed to 49. Algeria has been gripped by unrest which has claimed at least 150 000 lives since the army moved in January 1992 to call off the second round of parliamentary elections that a Muslim fundamentalist party was poised to win. Algerian officials say a top al-Qaeda operative, Emad Abdelwahid Ahmed Alwan from Yemen, was killed in September in the Batna region where Saturday's attack took place. He was reportedly in charge of north Africa for al-Qaeda. - Sapa-AFP

Burundi

AFP 8 Jan 2003 'Imminent clash' with Hutu rebels threatens Burundi truce: army chief GITEGA, Burundi, Jan 8 (AFP) - Burundi's army chief of staff warned Wednesday that an imminent "major confrontation" between government forces and the main Hutu rebel movement threatened a truce signed last month. "I wouldn't be surprised if in the next few days there is a major confrontation with the FDD (Forces for the Defense of Democracy) which would threaten the peace accord, despite the restraint we have shown," General Germain Niyonkana told reporters in the central town of Gitega. The army had called a press conference here to parade 52 FDD recruits and two experienced rebel fighters before journalists. The rebels had been taken prisoner by the army on Tuesday after clashes in neighbouring Ruyigi province, near the border with Tanzania, despite a historic peace deal signed by President Pierre Buyoya and FDD leader Pierre Nkurunziza in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha on December 3. Under the accord, both sides agreed to abide by a ceasefire starting December 6, with a definitive truce to take hold by December 30. However, the truce did not come into effect because both sides said other aspects of the Arusha accord had not been implemented. These included the arrival in the country of an African peace-monitoring mission, the setting up of a joint ceasefire commission and the cantonment of the belligerents. Burundi has been ravaged since 1993 by a conflict that has pitted Hutu rebels against the mainly Tutsi army and claimed nearly 300,000 lives, mostly civilians. Last week, Burundi's army accused the FDD of repeatedly violating the ceasefire in a bid to increase territory under its control, and warned it would attack rebel positions if they continued to do so. On Tuesday, the army said it had killed 14 rebel fighters in the clashes in Ruyigi. Niyonkana appealed for the international community to ensure that the African observer mission provided for in the accord be put in place quickly. "The FDD appears to be mocking the international community by continuing with its policy of enrolling and training new recruits in spite of the accord, possibly with the aim of waging all-out war," he said. "More than a thousand schoolchildren and farmers have been recruited by the FDD, by our calculations, since the signing of the accord," army spokesman Adolphe Manirakiza said. Some of the rebel prisoners in Gitega told AFP they had joined the FDD of their own free will, while others said they had been forced to join the insurgents. "I joined the rebels three weeks ago after an awareness campaign," said 30-year-old Leonidas, a teacher. "They are recruiting because they are worried the army will not abide by the accord and, if that is the case, they will continue the war," he said. The restoration of peace in Burundi is also hampered by the fact that Burundi's second largest rebel group, the National Liberation Forces (FNL), is not party to the Arusha accord, having refused to enter into peace talks with the government. On Wednesday, Buyoya called in his New Year address on "this recalcitrant group (the FNL) to finally and without delay join other Burundians who have decided to bury the hatchet of war" by engaging in peace talks.

AFP 20 Jan 2003 Fighting in Burundi Causes 15,000 to Flee BUJUMBURA, Burundi, Jan. 19 (Agence France-Presse) — More than 15,000 civilians in Burundi have fled an outbreak of fighting between government troops and Hutu rebels in central Gitega Province, an administrative official said today. Troops set up outposts four miles out of Gitega, the country's second-largest city, and were shelling rebel strongholds in the hills, said the local governor, Tharcisse Ntibarirarana. Officials said between 15,000 and 20,000 people had fled their homes since Friday. News of the fighting followed government reports that Hutu rebels from the main rebel group, Forces for the Defense of Democracy, had killed 10 soldiers in an ambush on Saturday in the eastern province of Ruyigi. A rebel spokesman confirmed the attack but said the government had broken a cease-fire. Burundi has been torn apart since 1993 by a civil war pitting Hutu rebels against the mainly Tutsi army in which nearly 300,000 people have died, most of them civilians. Meanwhile, fighting in the west with rebels from the National Liberation Forces, another group, left two paramilitary officers dead on Friday, a local official said. The Forces for Defense of Democracy signed a peace pact with the head of Burundi's transitional government, Pierre Buyoya, on Dec. 3 in Tanzania. Both sides agreed to stop hostilities starting Dec. 6, with a definitive truce to take effect on Dec. 30. But the starting date was put off, with both sides saying aspects of the peace accord were unresolved. The National Liberation Forces group has steadfastly refused to enter into negotiations with the government.

AFP 28 Jan 2003 African Union troops could be in Burundi within week: S.African mediator PRETORIA, Jan 28 (AFP) - The first African Union troops to oversee a ceasefire agreement in Burundi could be deployed there as early as next week, South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma said late Monday night. "I cannot give dates for their deployment," said Zuma, who mediates the peace process in the war-ravaged central African country, "but I believe that by next week we will be in a position to see the African Mission force landing in Bujumbura." Burundian President Pierre Buyoya and the country's largest Hutu rebel force, the Forces for the Defence of Democrcay (FDD) headed by Pierre Nkurunziza, Monday concluded two days of talks in the South African capital. Both leaders signed a declaration "recommitting themselves to a permanent cessation of hostilities in Burundi to ensure an end to all forms of violence between the two parties". The two groups signed a historic truce early in December to end conflict between the mainly Tutsi army and the Nkurunziza's main wing of the FDD. Burundi, a small former Belgian colony bordering Rwanda in east-central Africa's Great Lakes region, has for nearly 10 years been ravaged by a largely ethnic war, sparked by the assassination in 1993 of the first elected Hutu president and has claimed more than 300,000 lives. The declaration on Monday agreed to the urgent establishment of a Joint Ceasefire Commission. The parties also undertook to give Zuma the names -- which were already available -- of people who will serve on the commission. Both Buyoya and Nkurunziza urged Zuma to "expedite the processes that will lead to the rapid deployment of the African Mission to Burundi." Monday's talks also revolved around food, with rebel soldiers being accused of breaking off from round-up points to look for livestock, a source close to the talks said. Buyoya has charged that these forays were a pretext for renewing the fighting and recruiting new rebels. South Africa, Mozambique and Ethiopia have announced their commitment to send peacekeeping troops as part of an African mission to Burundi. Military experts from the United Nations, the AU and the South African National Defence Force have been meeting in Pretoria since last Tuesday to draw up a comprehensive plan for African Mission troops to monitor the ceasefire.

IRIN 29 Jan 2003 Peacekeeping troops for Burundi ADDIS ABABA, 29 Jan 2003 (IRIN) - Ethiopia is expected to send a battalion of troops, or 800 men, to act as peacekeepers in war-torn Burundi, senior sources within the African Union told IRIN on Wednesday. The move would be a temporary step until UN peacekeepers move in. However, there have been growing calls within the diplomatic community for Ethiopian troops to act as peacekeepers within the UN. “Ethiopian troops ought to be used in regional peacekeeping operations, in peacekeeping operations in western Africa, and indeed in peacekeeping operations around the globe, operating under a UN framework,” said Myles Wickstead, the British ambassador to Ethiopia. According to an AU spokesman, the troops would make up a pan-African force which would observe the Burundi ceasefire until the UN moves in. “The African mission would prepare the groundwork and ensure a conducive atmosphere in readiness for the UN to provide peacekeepers," the spokesman said. The move comes after a recent visit to Ethiopia by South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma who is leading the Burundi ceasefire process and who described the situation as “very urgent”.

Central African Republic

IRIN 9 Jan 2003 WFP resumes food distribution to May 2001 coup victims BANGUI, 9 Jan 2003 (IRIN) - The World Food Programme (WFP) in the Central African Republic has resumed food distribution in the southern suburbs of the capital, Bangui, to 84,000 victims of a coup attempt in 2001, according to the agency's programme officer. WFP suspended distributions in the area on 26 December 2002 after its employees received verbal and physical threats from discontented people whose names were not on the food distribution lists. "We received threats from armed civilians who claimed to belong to a self-defence group and who wanted food at all cost," Albert Bango-Makoudou, the WFP programme officer, told IRIN on Tuesday. He said that during one distribution, conducted in Bangui's second district, youngsters detained the WFP logistics officer, who subsequently had to be freed by the UN security team. With a view to resolving the situation, the WFP and the Femmes croyantes mediatrices de la paix, a local Christian women's NGO that distributes WFP food in southern Bangui, convened a meeting on 3 January with leaders of Bangui's sixth district. "We held this meeting to ask them to brief their people about the objective of the [food distribution] project and on how the census of the beneficiaries was carried out," Bango-Makoudou said. In total, 1,700 families - that is about 5,000 people - then received their one-month rations, composed of maize flour, beans, corn-soya blend flour, salt and vegetable oil. Only women were allowed to represent their families at the distribution site. "No incident was reported today. We think that the message was understood," Bango-Makoudou! said. He said the effort had initially targeted 55,000 of the most needy people, whose living conditions had been severely affected by the 28 May 2001 coup attempt, allegedly mounted by former President Andre Kolingba. "We redefined the goal of the project as we took into account those who came back [from exile] and the neediest and priority groups," Albert Bango-Makoudou told IRIN on Thursday.

Côte d'Ivoire - Also read News Monitors for Côte d'Ivoire from 2002 and 2001

COTE D IVOIRE: Army denies killing civilians ABIDJAN, 2 Jan 2003 (IRIN) - The spokesman of Cote d'Ivoire's armed forces, Lt Col Jules Yao Yao, denied on Thursday that the military had killed civilians in an attack on a rebel-held village in the centre of the country. The attack had been disclosed by Lt Col Ange-Antoine Leccia, spokesman of a French force that has been monitoring a 17 October ceasefire in the West African nation. Leccia was quoted as saying by BBC, Radio France Internationale and AFP that French soldiers had found the bodies of 11 civilians who had died in the helicopter attack on Minankro, a village 100 km north of the capital, Yamassoukro. The death toll mounted to 12 on Thursday when another victim of the attack died in hospital in the central town of Bouake, AFP reported. Minankro is 50 km north of the ceasefire line between government forces and Patriotic Movement of Cote d'Ivoire (MPCI) rebels who control most of northern Cote d'Ivoire. Yao Yao said on RFI that the military had not killed civilians. "We reacted to an attack by the rebels against our position in Gohitafla [another village in central Cote d'Ivoire] and this was not mentioned by anybody," Yao Yao said on RFI. "We carried out a number of operations to clear the area of all rebels. So, as far as we are concerned, those killed were rebels, not civilians." The French government has come out against the attack. "France strongly condemns the bombardment of Minankro by a helicopter belonging to the Ivorian armed forces which killed 12 civilians and wounded several others," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Francois Rivasseau said on RFI. "This followed an earlier cease-fire violationon 23 December at Pelezi [another hinterland town]. "We consider this violation of 17 October 2002 to be unacceptable," he added. "We shall be asking the Ivorian authorities for an explanation. The cease-fire must be respected by everyone." Meanwhile, news media reported that rebels in the west of the country had invaded an oil palm plantation south of the ceasefire line by crossing the border into Liberia, skirting the French forces and re-entering Cote d'Ivoire.

AFP 7 Jan 2003 Chronology of Ivory Coast crisis ABIDJAN, Jan 7 (AFP) - Following is a chronology of three and a half months of crisis in Ivory Coast, where rebels are fighting the army of President Laurent Gbagbo: September 2002 - 19: Rebellious soldiers launch attacks in Abidjan, the country's economic capital; the second biggest town of Bouake in the centre, and Korhogo, an army garrison town in the north. Former president General Robert Guei and Interior Minister Emile Boga Doudou are killed in Abidjan. - 22: French troops arrive from other bases in Africa to help a 600-strong garrison permanently based in Abidjan to protect expatriates. Some 3,000 foreign nationals are evacuated in one week. - 24: The newspaper of the ruling party accuses President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast's northern neighbour, of "destabilising" the country. Compaore denies any involvement. - 28: The Ivory Coast government activates a defence agreement with France, the former colonial ruler. - 29: The Economic Community of West African states (ECOWAS) sets up a "contact group" and decides to send a peacekeeping force. October - 1: Rebels declare they have overthrown Gbagbo's regime and call on France to remain neutral. - 6-7: Intense fighting in Bouake, forces loyal to the government are repulsed. - 17: Rebels sign accord in Bouake to end hostilities. President Gbagbo accepts deal and asks France to police it. - 22: France sends more troops to enforce ceasefire. - 23: President Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo, another former French colony in west Africa, is named mediator of peace talks. - 29: Guillaume Soro, secretary-general of the Ivory Coast Patriotic Movement (MPCI), the main rebel group, says army generals support the rebellion. - 30: First direct talks between government and rebels begin in the Togolese capital Lome. November - 1: Government agrees in principle to an amnesty and reintegration of rebel forces into army. - 27: French Foreign Minister Dominque de Villepin visits. The main opposition figure, Alassane Ouattara leaves the country after having taken refuge in the French embassy in Abidjan. - 28: Two new rebel groups, the Movement for Justice and Peace (MJP) and the Far West Ivory Coast People's Movement (MPIGO), emerge, claim to control the western towns of Man and Danane. December - 1: Some 160 foreigners evacuated from Man. - 3: Meeting at Bamako between Gbagbo and Campaore. - 12: MPCI demands total neutrality and withdrawal of France. - 15: French troops authorized to open fire on anyone impeding their mission. - 16: De Villepin condemns "external meddling" in conflict. - 18: ECOWAS summit held in Dakar, shunned by many key players. - 19: Amnesty International calls for UN investigation after discovery of mass graves. - 20: The Far West Ivory Coast People's Movement (MPIGO) capture town of Bangolo, south of Man. The United Nations give its full support to the "elected government" and calls for a political solution. - 21: French forces at Duekoue in west Ivory Coast return fire on MPIGO rebels approaching their positions. - 23: MPCI spokesman Soro calls on France and the UN to take over mediation role, saying the rebels no longer have confidence in an inter-African solution. - 24: ECOWAS announces the deployment of 1,264 men, but the arrival of the first soldiers is put back to January 3. - 28: French contingent swells to 2,500 with arrival of some 300 reinforcements. - 31: MPCI rebels blame the crisis on the government's policy of "Ivorianness", which they see as divisive. Government forces bombard Menakro, a village inside the ceasefire zone. French army says 12 civilians are killed, the rebels say 14. France says a previous ceasefire violation at Pelezi on December 23 killed 12 civilians. January 2003 - 2: France denounces Menakro attacks, demands "explanation" from the government. - 3: French Foreign Minister de Villepin visits. Gbagbo pledges to observe a "total ceasefire" and ensure the departure of mercenaries fighting on his side. - 4: The main rebel group (MPCI) calls for French troops to leave and dismisses Gbagbo's peace offer. After talks with De Villepin, however, the group agrees to a ceasefire, and to peace talks to be held in Paris. - 6: Two smaller rebel groups say they'll attend peace talks in Paris, expected to start around January 15. However new clashes between rebels and French forces leave an estimated 30 rebels dead in the west. - 7: France ascribes the new fighting to uncontrolled elements, says clashes will not affect planned peace talks.

AFP 9 Jan 2003 Ivorian rebels accuse govt of bombing western town, killing 15 civilians ABIDJAN, Jan 9 (AFP) - Ivory coast helicopter gunships on Thursday killed civilians and rebels in an attack on a town in the west of the country, rebels said, less than a week after President Laurent Gbagbo pledged to ground his combat aircraft and abide by a truce before upcoming peace talks. Felix Doh, head of the Ivorian Popular Movement of the Far West (MPIGO) rebel group based in the west of the world's top cocoa grower, told AFP that two government helicopter gunships strafed the town of Grabo. "Two of Laurent Gbagbo's Mi-24 helicopters arrived over Grabo this morning (Thursday) and opened fire," killing 15 civilians and injuring "some rebels," he said. Ivorian army spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jules Yao Yao confirmed that government troops "were engaged in operations in the Grabo region," but did not specify whether helicopter gunships were involved. Gbagbo on Friday pledged to observe a truce signed in October and ground military helicopters. He also agreed to expel foreign mercenaries fighting on his side against rebels who rose up on September 19, who are intent on forcing him from power. The embattled Ivorian leader made his promises after talks with French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, who paid an impromptu visit to the former French colony after government troops bombarded a fishing village inside a ceasefire zone on New Year's Eve, killing at least 12 civilians. De Villepin also got the main rebel group, the Ivory Coast Patriotic Movement (MPCI) holding the northern half of the country since September, to agree to abide by the tattered truce. On Wednesday, MPIGO and the other western-based rebel group, the Movement for Justice and Peace (MJP), signed a truce with French troops, but stressed that they would not lay down arms against the government. All three rebel movements and political parties from Ivory Coast are due to hold peace talks brokered by France in Paris starting next Wednesday which will be followed by a summit of African leaders, also in the French capital. United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan is due to attend the summit, de Villepin has said. The once-dominant Ivory Coast Patriotic Party (PDCI), which ruled from independence in 1960 until a military coup in 1999, has already held a brainstorming session to prepare for the talks. "The security of all people and their belongings across the entire expanse of the nation should be a pre-condition for the talks," PDCI secretary general Djedje Madi said in a statement. The ruling party's delegation will be led by Prime Minister Pascal Affi N'Guessan. Thursday's attack could jeopardise the Paris talks which have been billed as possibly the last hope for ending the ruinous war which has not only split Ivory Coast geographically but also divided it along religious and ethnic lines. French President Jacques Chirac has described the talks as a possible "last chance" for peace in the former French colony. The Paris talks appeared to be compromised by violent clashes on Monday between western-based rebels and French peacekeepers in the town of Douekoue -- which left 30 insurgents dead and nine French soldiers injured. The main rebel group, the MPCI, slammed French troops for their barbarism in the clashes, but later reaffirmed its commitment to the dialogue. The Ivorian rebels appear unwavering in their objective to oust Gbagbo, saying this was necessary to secure the rights of Muslim "northerners" and ethnic groups in the west, who they claim have been marginalised by the government. Nearly four months of unrest has been further complicated by the discovery of mass graves, the presence of foreign mercenaries fighting for both sides and government accusations that neighbouring Burkina Faso masterminded the rebellion.

AFP 10 Jan 2003 UN team investigates reported atrocities in eastern DR Congo by Rose-Marie Bruballa KINSHASA, Jan 10 (AFP) - A team from the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) has been investigating reports of atrocities against Pygmies and other local peoples by warring groups, a UN spokesman said Friday. "One of our teams, specialised in humanitarian law, has since January 6 been investigating the human rights violations denounced in Ituri" Province in northeastern DRC, Madnodje Mounoubaye said. Thousands of people have fled clashes in this part of the vast DRC, where fighters of the rebel Congolese Liberation Movement (MLC) and its allies have been advancing southwards on Beni, held by a pro-government force. On December 22, Bishop Melchisedek of Butembo, a town south of the Ituri provincial capital, said that rebels, "in their advance on Beni and Butembo, are carrying out the worst atrocities, forcing their prisoners to eat the organs of killed men, Pygmies in particular." "They've called their operation to conquer Ituri 'Wipe the Slate'," the bishop added. Since then, many witnesses have come forward with reports of slaughter, cannibalism, rape and other atrocities. Aid agencies and journalists have reported that scores of thousands of people have been displaced. The UN mission, which was due to "return to Kinshasa on Saturday, has been investigating these cannibalism allegations," Mounoubaye told AFP, without giving further details. MLC leader Jean-Pierre Bemba, based in the northern town of Gbadolite, has denied in the "strongest possible fashion" that the MLC was involved in the atrocities, and on Thursday said he would look into the charges levelled against his men. "I've set up a commission led by a senior officer to investigate any war crime or crime against humanity committed by the MLC and the RCD-N (the allied Congolese Rally for Democracy-National)," Bemba told AFP. Bemba said he had contacted Amos Namanga Ngongi, UN special representative in the DRC, to solicit the help of the United Nations in getting "information that will allow us to apprehend those behind such terrible acts against the civilian population." When the clashes in Ituri were initially reported late last month, Bemba denied that his forces were advancing and said that there was "confusion" between his men and the RCD-N, which some observers regard as an MLC proxy. Ethnologists have said the violence and the flight of local people is a disaster for the Pygmies who live in the forests of the region. One specialist told AFP that MLC fighters could be tracking down these people to eat their hearts and livers "to take their strength", in line with witchcraft beliefs prevalent in the region. The DRC is emerging from a conflict which began with a rebellion against the Kinshasa government in August 1998, drew in the armies of half a dozen other African countries at its height, and has directly or indirectly claimed an estimated 2.5 million lives. Several eastern parts of the country remain wracked by violence, since the official withdrawal completed last year of almost all the foreign soldiers involved in the war has been followed by bitter struggles for territory and control of valuable natural resources by local rebel groups and militias.

AFP 10 Jan 2003 Ivorian rebel group pulls out of peace talks, urges others to follow suit ABIDJAN, Jan 10 (AFP) - A rebel group based in western Ivory Coast Friday pulled out of next week's peace talks in Paris after accusing government forces of continuing to attack its positions and urged the main insurgent movement to follow suit. Guillaume Gbatto from the Ivorian Popular Movement of the Far West (MPIGO) said in a statement that Friday's attacks by government forces on the towns of Toulepleu and Blolekin were the second in 48 hours. "For the MPIGO the meeting in Paris has ended today with the attacks on its positions," the statement said, adding that the group felt betrayed by former colonial power France, whose troops are enforcing a ceasefire in the four-month war. Military sources confirmed the attacks on the two towns Friday but gave no details. Gbatto also exhorted the main rebel Patriotic Movement of Ivory Coast (MPCI) group holding the northern half of the country since September 19, "to disassociate itself from the fools' meeting which will take place in Paris". "Nobody should be taken in, because Laurent Gbagbo will never change," Gbatto said in an MPIGO statement. The Paris talks are due to start Wednesday. All Ivorian political parties and the two other rebel groups have committed to the dialogue. Gbatto said as far as his group was concerned, there was only one way to resolve the crisis -- "the departure of Laurent Gbagbo." The MPIGO also accused the government of using "numerous Liberian mercenaries" during its offensive on Toulepleu and Blolekin. The MPIGO had accused Gbagbo's forces of using helicopter gunships Thursday against the western town of Grabo, killing 15 civilians and injuring an unspecified number of rebels. The Ivorian army has officially confirmed that its troops "were engaged in operations in the Grabo region", about 200 kilometres (125 miles) south of Blolekin and of strategic importance to the port of San Pedro, but gave no details. French and some Ivorian sources said helicopters had indeed been used in attacks Thursday. But the Ivorian army pointed out that the two rebel groups in the west of the country had only agreed to a truce with French soldiers.

The Independent (Banjul) OPINION 10 Jan2003 Banjul And the International Criminal Court: The Need for Implementing Legislation Posted to the web January 10, 2003 Abubacarr M. Tambadou Banjul There is no doubt that the establishment of an international criminal court is a landmark achievement in the pursuit of international justice. The International Criminal Court therefore represents the apex of an international criminal justice system where the international and national complement each other. At the Rome conference in 1998, it was agreed by delegates that upon ratification by sixty countries, the International Criminal Court shall be established. Barely four years after the adoption of the Rome statute, more than sixty countries signed and ratified the statute. The rapidity with which this took place surprised even the most enthusiastic supporters of the court. Finally, after more than fifty years of debate, an international court for the trial and punishment of those who commit international crimes of the greatest concern to the international community was established. However, a closer look at events and the statute itself reveals that what went on in Rome was not a result of wholehearted willingness on the part of states parties to establish such a court, but rather, like all International Agreements, the statute was a product of political compromise. The root of the debate about the mechanisms of the court lies deep in history. One view was that for the court to function effectively and be accorded due regard by the international community, it must be seen to be above national systems as is the case in the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and Yugoslavia. For those who subscribed to this view, the supremacy of such a court is paramount. The other view was that such an international court must not usurp the functions of domestic criminal justice systems. They held further, that the imposition of criminal sanctions is better and more effective with national systems and that the court must only be seen to complement national systems rather than dismantle it. Although both camps had legitimate reasons for holding their respective views, the history of trials for international crimes points to a bit of both. As far back as the first world war 1914 - 1919, trials for international crimes took place in national courts. Examples of these were the trial of German war criminals in leipzig by German courts, the trial of Turks for the massacre of Armenians in Turkish courts, Eichmann in Israel and Barbie in France to name but a few. Then in 1945, the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg was established to try Nazi war crimes. In this respect, and notwithstanding some shortcomings on the part of the tribunal, the Nuremberg trials became a watershed in the history of war crimes trials. Apart from the expansion of the jurisprudence of international criminal law which saw the first attempt at giving Crimes Against Humanity a legal definition, the Nuremberg tribunal recorded successes in other areas including being the first such international criminal tribunal to be recognised as such by the General Assembly of the newly formed United Nations. Therefore, having progressed from national systems in 1914-1919 to an international system in 1945, the 1990's saw the creation by the United Nations Security Council of two ad hoc International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and Yugoslavia. These two tribunals were established to try those most responsible for "crimes that shook the conscience of the world" in the conflicts in these countries including genocide in the case of the former. Despite initial difficulties about the nature of these ad hoc tribunals, it was agreed in the end that these two tribunals shall have concurrent jurisdiction (both personal and subject-matter) with national courts, but where in any particular case there appears to be a multiplicity of jurisdiction, the ad hoc tribunals shall prevail. In this case therefore, it is clear that the Security Council no doubt thought that the supremacy of such an international criminal tribunal is vital for its effectiveness. In the end, this decision by the Security Council to give supremacy to such an International Criminal Tribunal over National Court Systems and backed up by its authority to use its enforcement powers under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, and international relations being dominated by narrow state interests, led many states to seek to join and take part in the shaping of an International Criminal Court which may serve their interests rather than take a back seat and play no part in a process that will surely come around to affect them and their citizens. In the final analysis, those who favoured complementarity rather than supremacy got their way. The newly established International Criminal Court shall only complement national systems for the trial and punishment of international crimes. As a result, the system of international criminal justice has come full circle and has reverted back to Leipzig and Turkey. Under the present Rome Statute, it is the national systems of state parties who are entrusted with the primary task of ensuring an effective International Criminal Justice System. The jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over international crimes is therefore residual. It is only where a state party to the statute is unable or unwilling to investigate and/or prosecute a crime which falls under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court that the latter can invoke its residuary powers of exercising jurisdiction over those crimes. In view of this, the duties upon states parties to bring their respective national judicial systems in conformity with their obligations under the statute cannot be more relevant. The idea of the principle of complementarity is to provide states with the first opportunity to contribute positively to the effective functioning of an international criminal justice system which they themselves created. The responsibilities include prosecuting their own citizens and those found in territories accused of such crimes. It is in this regard that The Gambia, which has done well to become a party to the Rome Statute, must take a step further to adopt an implementing legislation and incorporate the provisions of the statute into National Law. It is this, and only this, which can ensure that The Gambia has presently fulfilled to the fullest her obligations under the Statute. This is all relevant as The Gambia continues to fulfill its traditional role of sending peacekeepers throughout the world. An implementing legislation simply means that when members of our security forces on peacekeeping missions abroad are accused of crimes either by virtue of superior orders or command responsibility (ie, through no direct fault of theirs), it is our national courts with our national judges here in The Gambia who will sit in judgement over them. Therefore, the International Criminal Court may not prima facie exercise jurisdiction over them. However, where there is no implementing legislation as is the case presently, and given that our existing criminal laws do not provide for either the exercise of universal jurisdiction or for the trial and punishment of international crimes under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, The Gambia may well be regarded as being unable or unwilling to try those accused of these crimes. As a result therefore, the International Criminal Court shall then, under the provisions of the Rome Statute, be empowered to exercise jurisdiction. It is my view that national judges are better placed to sit in judgement over their nationals. They are much better placed than international judges, sitting in an international forum in a far away land and seeking to administer international justice, when it comes to mitigating circumstances including the sensitivities of the local populace, their psyche and cultural relativism, which is all essential elements of determining a man and his motives. The urgent need for the adoption of such a legislation cannot be over stated. The international criminal court has started recruiting personnel. The court is presently situated at The Hague, also hosting the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, the International Court of Justice. The Gambia may also contribute to troops to a proposed West African Peacekeeping and / or reinforcement force to the current crises in The Ivory Coast, which seems to have taken an ethnic and religious dimensions with no possible solution at hand. The situation in Ivory Coast, amidst allegations of mass murder and ethnic cleansing could well give rise to the first test case of the International Criminal Court. If The Gambia does send troops to the Ivory Coast as part of the proposed regional force and they, like the French presently in Ivory Coast and Ecomog in Liberia, and through no fault of theirs, get sucked into the war, no one can determine with absolute certainty what the result will be. There is an old adage which says "Prevention is better than cure" and "make hay while the sun shines". I hope that those who have the power to influence the destiny of this country would take heed and act wisely. We, on our part, can only contribute to the debate in the best interest of The Gambia.

AP 11 Jan 2003 In Ivory Coast's rich West, arrival of Liberian fighters pushes fear to fever pitch By CLAR NI CHONGHAILE The Associated Press 1/11/03 1:13 AM ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) -- Doped-up and trigger-happy, ex-combatants from Liberia and Sierra Leone are pouring into Ivory Coast to fight alongside rebels, terrorizing the West African nation with their reputation for savage bloodletting. Thousands of Ivorians have fled the border region since foreign fighters first appeared in the area a few weeks ago. No one knows exactly how many fighters there are, but their numbers are sufficient to shadow prospects for a peaceful end to the war in this former French colony. "They break down the doors, they come to steal and rape," said Soro Koronan, a teacher, fleeing the western rebel-held town of Danane in the back of a pickup truck. Danane is just 17 miles from Liberia. Beside him, Elisabeth Bohoussou unscrewed a plastic container to show a cell phone submerged in thick peanut sauce. "It's the only way we could make sure they didn't take it," she said. Liberian fighters are easily identified in Francophone Ivory Coast because they speak English. Liberia was founded by freed American slaves. Another distinguishing characteristic is their indiscriminate violence. During Liberia's 1989-1996 civil war, fighters hacked hands off civilians, raped women and murdered civilians. In neighboring Sierra Leone, rebels of the Revolutionary United Front likewise became infamous by chopping off the hands, feet, ears and noses of civilians. In both conflicts, fighters habitually geared up for battle with cocaine and marijuana. Sierra Leone's civil war ended in 2001 -- but as in Liberia, the gunmen are still around. So far there is no evidence of the worst of those atrocities in Ivory Coast, where the government and French troops are trying to contain a 4-month-old rebellion. But rebel attacks on civilians already are surging. Last month on the main road south of the western rebel-held city of Man, rebels sprayed a minibus with machine-gun fire, robbed the passengers and then set fire to the bus. Five people were killed and 11 injured. The gunmen were believed to be Liberians. In Toulepleu, near the border with Liberia, a priest said rebels, including Liberians, came to his mission and aimed their guns at him. "Some are not in their right minds," the priest said by telephone, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. "Some wanted to attack us. Others were calmer." Nobody knows why the Liberians have come -- some diplomats suspect looting may be the only aim -- but their arrival has complicated a war that has already claimed hundreds of lives and displaced tens of thousands. Ivorian army officers say the rebels use the Liberians as an advance team -- letting them loot villages before moving in to claim control. Ivory Coast's conflict started when a northern rebel group tried to oust President Laurent Gbagbo in September. The group quickly seized the northern half of the country. In contrast with insurgents in the west, the northern rebels won an early reputation for good behavior, although there have recently been some reports of looting. Northern insurgents are fighting to safeguard the mainly Muslim northern tribes from alleged discrimination by southern tribes -- mainly Christian and animist -- that have traditionally dominated Ivory Coast. Some northern residents describe the insurgents there as protectors. It's not something you hear in the west, the world's top cocoa-producing region. "If there were no Liberians, we would have stayed," said Kamel Assaf, a Lebanese trader evacuated by the French from western Man. "They loot, they take cars by force. That's what scared us, because they told us they were Liberians." The western rebels deny they are linked to the northern faction, although government officials say they are all working together. "The developments in the west are more worrying than anything that has happened in the north previously, because we are dealing with people who are unpredictable and we know less about them," said one Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. Gbagbo's supporters have accused Charles Taylor, Liberia's warlord-turned-president, of funneling guns and cash to the rebels. Liberian Information Minister Reginald Goodridge's response: His government cannot rule out the presence of Liberian mercenaries, but the government does not sanction their actions. The French are trying to broker a peace deal but one of the two western rebel factions on Friday pulled out of talks set for Paris next week. Even if rebel leaders were to agree to peace, it's not clear they could get foreign fighters to go along. The French army says there may be many intractable groups in the west, operating with different aims. Originally, western rebels said they wanted to avenge former junta ruler, Gen. Robert Guei, who was shot dead at the start of the September uprising. Now, their demands match those of northern rebels, who want Gbagbo to resign, and who accuse the president of fanning ethnic hatreds.

Reuters 24 Jan 2003 Warring Ivory Coast Factions Agree Peace Plan By Mark John and Henri-Pierre Andre PARIS (Reuters) - Rival Ivory Coast factions said on Friday they had united in a bid to end four months of bloody civil war with a peace plan calling for a coalition government and emergency measures to ease ethnic strife. Delegates said the plan, to be ratified by a summit of West African leaders in Paris this weekend, kept President Laurent Gbagbo in office but would force him to share power with a new prime minister chosen by broad political consensus. A copy of the peace plan obtained by Reuters carried the signatures of representatives of all the Ivorian political parties and rebel groups around the table, including from Gbagbo's ruling Ivorian Popular Front (FPI). Gbagbo, who flew into France on Thursday, was not at the talks but was due to meet French President Jacques Chirac on Friday afternoon ahead of the summit of West African leaders. "Anything that allows the Ivorian people to sort things out and make peace must be hailed," Gbagbo's adviser and spokesman in Paris, Toussaint Alain told Reuters. "It's now up to Gbagbo to give it substance, and the people must also be consulted on certain points of the accord so that it's democratic," he said, adding that Gbagbo would meet current Ivory Coast Prime Minister Pascal Affi Nguessan early on Friday. Cocoa prices were expected to come off recent peaks on the accord, although regional tensions could slow the implementation of the plan, which seeks to end bloody clashes in a country that was for decades a haven of stability in a war-torn region. Traders said they were poised for a sell-off in London cocoa futures which surged on Thursday as market players bought on news of renewed tension in Ivory Coast, the top cocoa producer. "The market will slip on the peace plan," one dealer said. Despite new violence that flared this week, participants emerging from nine days of talks near Paris insisted there was a chance the plan could halt a conflict that has killed hundreds and displaced up to a million people. "It is a good accord to start the reconstruction and reconciliation of Ivory Coast," said Konate Siriki of the Patriotic Movement of Ivory Coast (MPCI), the main rebel group in fighting since a failed September 19 coup. Participants said a new prime minister could be named within days to replace Nguessan. "According to the constitution, it's the president who must name the prime minister, but the term 'by consensus' means he'll have to be accepted by other parties," Nguessan, a Gbagbo party ally, told Reuters. PM TO BE NAMED SOON? A source close to talks who did not want to be identified said the new prime minister could be named at the weekend summit, to be attended by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. "This government of national reconciliation will be led by a prime minister of consensus who will stay in place until the next presidential election, at which he will not be able to stand," the text of the accord said. It called on a future government -- to be formed from all the parties present at the talks -- to set dates for "credible and transparent" elections and to organize the disarmament of fighting forces active on the ground. Political parties at the talks included Gbagbo's FPI, the Democratic Party (PDCI) of former President Henri Konan Bedie and the Rally of the Republicans (RDR) linked to exiled former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara. Aside from the MPCI, the talks at the French National Rugby Center, some 30 km (20 miles) south of Paris, included two western rebel factions, the Ivorian Patriotic Movement of the Far West (MPIGO) and the Movement for Justice and Peace (MJP). NEW TENSIONS ON GROUND The agreement came a day after the Ivorian government army accused Liberia of being involved in a rebel attack on the western town of Toulepleu on Wednesday. Liberia insisted its regular forces were not involved, but Ivory Coast Defense Minister Kadet Bertin rejected the denial and called on France -- which already has deployed 2,500 soldiers -- to commit more troops to his country's defense. Aside from offering a blueprint for a shake-up of political power, the plan tries to address ethnic tensions many say are at the root of the strife in Ivory Coast, where a quarter of the 16 million population are immigrants. An annex to the text calls for the country's nationality code to be more consistently applied, in particular by speeding up the naturalization process for the many Ivorians entitled to citizenship on residency grounds but caught up in red tape. Eligibility clauses that have prevented Ouattara from running for president would also be relaxed under the plan, requiring candidates to have just one parent of Ivorian nationality instead of both currently. A clause invalidating candidates who at any time renounced their Ivorian nationality for another would also be dumped. Other proposals would seek to protect land ownership rights and media freedom, and to establish an international committee to probe reports of human rights abuses since the failed coup. Under disarmament proposals, forces on the ground would be put under the control of French and West African troops now upholding the cease-fire and would be ultimately disarmed. The plan urged the creation of an international surveillance committee to ensure the peace accord was respected. It recommended the committee include representatives from various African bodies, the United Nations, the European Union, France, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund among others.

AFP 28 Jan 2003 10 killed in ethnic clashes as anti-French demos rock Ivory Coast by Abhik Kumar Chanda ABIDJAN, Jan 28 (AFP) - Ethnic clashes sparked by a French-brokered peace deal for Ivory Coast claimed some 10 lives Tuesday while thousands of angry youths ran riot for a fourth day in Abidjan and sought US backing against the pact. A doctor in the town of Agboville, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of Abidjan, said "nearly 10 people" died in violence between Christian southerners and Muslim northerners since Monday, but declined to give a precise figure. Other medical sources said "many people were injured by bullets and knives" in clashes which began when southerners staged a demonstration against the accord, which gives rebels key portfolios in a new unity government. They then started attacking Muslims, who they view as rebel supporters, and several mosques and churches were torched. A resident told AFP by telephone that "the situation is very serious". "Looting has resumed and they are burning the shacks of small traders," he said, adding that water supplies had been cut off, making it difficult to fight the flames. "All night long there were appeals for war," another said, adding that "all Dioula (northern Muslim) merchants have been attacked." Meanwhile, thousands of supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo raced through the streets of Abidjan and converged on the US embassy, where they urged Washington to intervene and help scrap the French-backed accord. The demonstrators called the pact a humiliation to Ivory Coast and said it promoted "terrorism" by giving the defence and interior ministries to rebels who sparked a ruinous four-month war in the world's top cocoa grower. "We have come to ask the Americans to save Ivory Coast," a youth leader, Eugene Djue, told the hysterical crowd. Many youths waved placards saying: "Like Judas, France has betrayed Ivory Coast," "Down with France, long live the US" and "No more French, from now on we speak English." Cries of "Gooood morning America" rent the air as Marines stood guard on the roof of the US embassy building until afternoon, when the crowd dispersed. Charles Ble Goude, a firebrand leader of the pro-Gbagbo Young Patriots movement, which spearheaded sweeping anti-French violence from Saturday, called on his followers to eschew violence. "We must allow shops and banks to open so that our relatives can stock up," he said. France on Tuesday announced tighter security measures for citizens living in its former west African colony, and President Jacques Chirac urged Gbagbo to respect the accord he had accepted over the weekend. French foreign ministry spokesman Francois Rivasseau said security measures would be decided in concert with 2,500 French forces on the ground, whose mission has been to protect French nationals and other foreigners and to enforce a truce between the belligerents. Gbagbo on Monday appealed to his backers to stop the violence, but also sowed confusion by describing the Paris accord he had signed as just a set of "proposals." French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin put pressure on Gbagbo to persuade his hardline supporters to accept the deal. "It's up to President Gbagbo to explain to his militants, and to the extremists in his camp that these accords are indeed in the interest of all and in the interest of Ivory Coast," de Villepin told French television. The leader of the main rebel group in Ivory Coast, Guillaume Soro, meanwhile accused Gbagbo of using "doublespeak" by calling the peace deal into question. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees said its activities in Ivory Coast had been suspended since the weekend due to the violent protests. "Our operations have been paralyzed due to the events. We have advised our personnel to stay at home for security reasons," spokeswoman Delphine Marie said in Geneva. Four days of violent protests in Abidjan saw the French embassy besieged for several hours and several French-owned businesses and offices vandalised, including those of Air France and telecoms firm Orange.

AFP 29 Jan 2003 Ivory Coast peace deal is 'nul and void': minister LOME, Jan 28 (AFP) - Ivory Coast's Interior Minister Paul Yao N'dre said late Tuesday that a French-brokered accord signed last week to end four months of conflict is "nul and void." "These accords say that the prime minister shares power with the president. That is unacceptable," he said in the Togolese capital. "...This regime does not share power between the democratically elected president and a prime minister named overseas," the minister said in a speech broadcast on Togolese television. Thousands of youths ran riot for a fourth day in Abidjan on Tuesdays against the French-brokered pact which keeps President Laurent Gbagbo in office but clips his powers and offers key cabinet posts to members of the rebel movement which controls half the country. Yao N'dre scoffed at the idea of rebels in the government ranks: "All you have to do is fire off a few rounds to get invited into the government and to destabilise the whole of the sub-region." Gbagbo on Monday appealed to his backers to stop the violence, but also sowed confusion by describing the Paris accord he had signed as just a set of "proposals." On Tuesday Ivory Coast's armed forces refused point-blank to accept rebels in a unity government as the main rebel group in the four-month war urged government forces to respect the deal. An informed source said the joint armed forces, with police, customs and other security services, clearly indicated they would not see rebels given the key interior and defence ministries in a memorandum submitted to Gbagbo. Gbagbo meanwhile said he would not step down in the face the growing unrest over the peace deal signed in France last week, saying the country would descend into civil war. "I have been elected for five years, I will govern and I will remain," he told a women's group, according to extracts of the speech broadcast on state television. "I do not want to leave my country to civil war. If Gbagbo resigns today, his supporters will also rebel... To resign today in Ivory Coast would be to open up a dangerous path, and I do not want to open that path." Yao N'dre was categorical in his dismissal of the peace deal; "This accord in light of what has happened, is nul and void," he said here after a meeting with Togolese President Gnassingbe Eyadema.

IRIN 29 Jan 2003 Two more shantytowns attacked ABIDJAN, 29 Jan 2003 (IRIN) - Several houses were set on fire on Tuesday night when "armed men in military clothing" raided and set fire to dwellings in 'Washington', a shantytown in Abidjan. The men also kidnapped seven young men who, at the time of writing, had not been found, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on Wednesday. There were about 200 dwellings in 'Washington', where hundreds of low-income immigrants and Ivorians lived. The raid, according to residents, took place between 12:00 GMT and 12:30 GMT during the night. Last night's raid was the second in two days after a group of "armed men" in the early hours of Tuesday set ablaze another 50 houses in the shantytown of 'Abdoulaye Diallo, in the Abidjan suburb of Yopougon. 'Washington' is one of the many shantytowns in the economic capital Abidjan. Since the beginning of the Ivorian crisis, shantytowns have been the targets of demolitions by security forces who accused residents of sheltering those who launched the 19 September failed coup d'etat. President Laurent Gbagbo had ordered that destruction of shantytowns be stopped unless the shantytown was located in the vicinity of a security or military facility. However his orders have not always been followed. Meanwhile, the UN's humanitarian envoy, Carolyn McAskie, began today the sub-regional leg of her mission. McAskie, who has been in Cote d'Ivoire since 15 January was due to travel to Accra, Ghana, where she would meet with government officials, UN agencies and others organisations to discuss the four-month old crisis which has displaced thousands of people. McAskie's was due to travel to Burkina Faso, Guinea and Liberia from Ghana.

DR Congo

Reuters 4 Jan 2001 Congo Clashes Force New Exodus of 35,000 By Matthew Green NAIROBI (Reuters) - Clashes in northeast Congo forced 35,000 people to flee their homes in the past week, adding to a growing tide of residents uprooted by fighting between rebel factions, an aid agency said on Saturday. Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) said it feared this brought the total number of people displaced by fighting in the area in recent months to an estimated 155,000. The exodus -- one of the biggest mass movements in the Democratic Republic of Congo in years -- left the refugees prey to rising levels of hunger and disease as well as atrocities committed by fighters, it added. Combatants have roasted people alive, raped women in front of their families and forced prisoners to eat human flesh, according to testimonies of people treated at health centers set up by MSF in the area in recent weeks. "The patients we are treating in our clinics tell us really horrible stories," MSF's Nicolas Louis told Reuters by satellite telephone from the town of Beni. "I've worked in African war zones for 15 years, and what we are seeing here are among the worst things I've ever seen." Fighting between rebel factions in the mineral-rich former Zaire, where a four-year war has killed an estimated two million people mainly through hunger and disease, has intensified around the strategic town of Beni in the past month. The clashes have raised fears that a broad Congo peace deal signed in South Africa in December will fail to stem fighting in the chaotic war in the vast country. MSF said rival rebel groups had fought artillery battles around the small town of Makeke on Tuesday, forcing an estimated 35,000 people out of their homes, despite the signing of a truce by various rebel factions in the area on Monday. Louis said the area around Beni had been calm for the past few days, but it was unclear whether the truce would hold. A high-level team from the United Nations Mission in Congo (MONUC) was due to visit Beni on Monday to assess the cease-fire and meet human rights observers checking reports of massacres in the area, U.N. officials in Kinshasa said. FEARS OF BLOODBATH Lawless parts of northeastern Congo have been plagued for several years by clashes between various factions, often along ethnic lines, which have killed thousands of people. U.N. officials and Amnesty International have previously warned of a possible ethnic bloodbath in the area, comparable to the 1994 genocide in neighboring Rwanda, in which 800,000 people were massacred. MSF said "extreme levels of violence" stopped aid workers gaining access to large areas around Beni, placing many people beyond the reach of the few relief workers in the remote region. "We see only part of the displaced population," said MSF Head of Mission Philippe Hamel in a statement. "There may be many more. We fear that in total there might be over 155,000 displaced people in the area between Butembo, Beni, Mambasa and Komanda alone," he said, referring to a cluster of towns in the mineral-rich northeast, toward the border with Uganda. Further south, thousands of people fled this week after rebels clashed with forces backing the government of President Joseph Kabila near the lakeside port of Uvira, which has changed hands repeatedly in recent months. Congo's warring parties signed a deal in December to share power and reunify the country that has been divided since war broke out in August 1998, sucking in six foreign armies. Many foreign soldiers have pulled out, but local militia violence has surged in the vacuum they left behind.

IRIN 7 Jan 2003 Bishop accuses militias of cannibalism KINSHASA, 7 Jan 2003 (IRIN) - Monsignor Melchisedec Sikulu Paluku, the bishop of Beni-Butembo in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has accused two local militias of cannibalism. The militias are the Mouvement pour la liberation du Congo (MLC), headed by Jean-Pierre Bemba, and the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie-National (RCD-N), led by Roger Lumbala. "People who have fled the advance of MLC fighters and their RCD-N allies in the Beni-Mambasa axis have reported that prisoners and hostages were being forced to eat their own ears, big toes and other body parts," Sikulu told IRIN from Beni. He said that pygmies were particularly affected by "these unimaginable atrocities". Quoting reports by internally displaced persons (IDPs) who had fled to areas near Beni, he said: "The invaders - that is the fighters of Jean-Pierre Bemba and those of Roger Lumbala - eat pygmies." Fighting along the Beni-Mambasa axis between the MLC and their RCD-N allies against the RCD-Kisangani-Mouvement de liberation (RCD-K-ML) of Mbusa Nyamwisi resumed just days after the signing on 17 December of a comprehensive power-sharing accord providing for a transitional government for the country. On 30 December, the three rebel movements signed an UN-sponsored ceasefire agreement; on the following day, however, they resumed hostilities. This fighting has caused the displacement of 180,000 people since 17 December, according to the UN Mission in the DRC, known as MONUC. Sikulu said pygmies had also been displaced, but were not part of that number. "Even I have not had access to them, because, unlike the other populations, the pygmies are hiding in the forest 60 km north of Beni and are not in reception sites." He said humanitarian bodies had reported 60,000 IDPs, but pointed out that another 130,000 had fled during the two-day end-of-year celebrations. In Ituri District, at least people 600,000 have been displaced since 1999. RCD-K-ML Secretary-General Kolosso Sumahili told IRIN that he had received similar reports from IDPs. "People have seen - for the first time - that at least 3,000 pygmies have left their natural habitat because of war. It is a catastrophe," he said. Kolosso also said that the MLC often used the sexual organs of their victims as charms, believing that these afforded enhanced vitality. MONUC said it had been informed of the charges of cannibalism, but had been unable to verify the claims. "We are waiting for our observers to reach the area during their mission to monitor the 30 December ceasefire accord [and] to verify these grave accusations of human rights [abuses]," Gen Mountaga Diallo, the MONUC force commander, said.

BURUNDI-DRC: Thousands of Congolese flee to Burundi NAIROBI, 8 Jan 2003 (IRIN) - A new wave of at least 8,500 Congolese refugees has arrived in Burundi following renewed fighting in South Kivu Province in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UNHCR reported on Tuesday. The latest conflict erupted on 26 December between the Mayi-Mayi traditional militia and the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie-Goma (RCD-Goma) in rural areas of South Kivu. By 31 December, the fighting had engulfed the strategic town of Uvira on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, sending thousands of refugees across the border, the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported. It added that since 26 December, UNHCR in Burundi had registered 7,386 refugees at a transit site in Rugombo in Cibitoke Province, and 1,200 at another site in Gatumba, Bujumbura Rural. Wartorn Burundi already shelters at least 12,000 Congolese refugees who had fled an outbreak of hostilities between the two rebel groups in October 2002, UNHCR said. The latest fighting in South Kivu comes nearly three weeks after the signing of a power-sharing deal between the Kinshasa government, the main rebel groups and the DRC's political opposition to end the four-year war and pave the way for elections in two years. "There are growing concerns that RCD-Goma, which controls much of the Kivu region and various border crossings in South Kivu, is preventing people from leaving the strife-torn area to neighbouring Burundi," UNHCR reported. It added that Congolese refugees who had crossed the border had reported that the rebels were allowing only possessors of travel documents to leave South Kivu. Most of those fleeing to Burundi, the agency said, did not have such documents. They were therefore being "forced to cross the Rusizi river - which separates eastern DRC from Burundi - before dawn, when the checkpoints are unmanned". Many refugees, it said, started crossing the river border at about 4 a.m., then sneaked through the bush along the shores of Lake Tanganyika and arrived in safer areas of Burundi by early morning, exhausted from the three-hour journey. UNHCR said the waters of the river were rising steadily due to rains, "raising concerns for the safety of those trying to cross". It said that Burundian military personnel had been registering the new arrivals. They then escorted the refugees through the Rusizi National Park to the temporary site at Gatumba. UNHCR said recent arrivals included some 40 fishermen who had fled with their fishing boats and equipment. "They have asked to be allowed to remain among local fishermen along the shores of the lake," it added. Meanwhile, UNHCR said it had been compelled to transfer Congolese refugees displaced by October's conflicts from border sites in Rugombo and Gatumba to safer inland camps in Cishemeye in Cibitoke Province, and Gasorwe in Muyinga Province. So far, the agency reported, it had moved 3,013 refugees to Cishemeye and 2,373 to Gasorwe. At least 6,500 others remained at the two temporary sites, awaiting relocation to the camps. "The latest influx of refugees from South Kivu will delay the expected closure of the border sites," UNHCR said.

AFP 9 Jan 2003 Top Belgian official takes peace mission to DR Congo KINSHASA, Jan 9 (AFP) - Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel met with Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila on Thursday, during an African tour focused on bolstering efforts to help quickly set up a transitional government in the war-ravaged country. "I hope all the Congolese parties will rapidly reach an understanding and create a transitional government as soon as possible, to put an end to the crisis," Michel said after lengthy talks with President Joseph Kabila. The number two in the Belgian government was nearing the end of his tour, during which he has repeatedly urged all the parties who signed a peace accord to end the four-year-old war in the country to swiftly implement interim power-sharing provisions. Michel gave no details of his discussion with the president of the former Belgian colony, a vast country ravaged by years of conflict and misrule by previous regimes. But Kabila's spokesman Mulegwa Zihindula said in a statement that Michel had praised the young Congolese head of state for his ability to reunify the DRC's divided communities. Michel "congratulated the head of state for his multiple peace initiatives" and pledged "to do everything in his power to help him" the DRC spokesman said. On Thursday, Michel, who is also Belgian deputy prime minister, left for talks in the far north of the DRC with a rebel leader, Jean-Pierre Bemba. Under a power-sharing pact signed in the South African capital Pretoria on December 17, Bemba is due to take up one of four vice presidential posts in the new government. His Congolese Liberation Movement (MLC), long backed by Uganda in the complex war that started in August 1998, is based in the Equateur province town of Gbadolite and controls a large tract of northern DRC. The situation in the country since most of the foreign troops involved on either side of the conflict withdrew last year has been aggravated by renewed heavy fighting in the northeast, as local forces jockey for control of territory and considerable natural resources. Some of this fighting has pitted Bemba's MLC or small proxy rebel movements against forces allied with the Rwandan-backed Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD), which controls much of eastern DRC, and which is due to get another of the vice-presidential posts. During a brief trip to Pretoria, Michel on Wednesday announced an indefinite extension of the mandate of the top UN official assigned to the DRC, the Secretary General's special envoy Moustapha Niasse of Senegal. The Belgian vice prime minister said he had been informed of this decision during talks he was having with South African President Thabo Mbeki, adding that the extension of the mandate would provide the best chances for peace. "The peace process was short of leadership because Mr. Niasse's mission ended at the end of December, and as he was responsible for convening parties (to dialogue among rival Congolese), this left a bit of a vacuum," Michel said. His remarks were also aimed at deflecting criticism he had stirred up among Congolese parties when he warned Tuesday of a lack of leadership in the DRC peace process, saying "there is no-one at the controls". On Wednesday, Michel said these comments had referred to "outside leadership", and not to all the various forces insides the country. These forces, including the fractious political opposition and representatives of civil society, are due to form an interim government to pave the way two years hence for the country's first democratic general elections since independence from Belgium in 1961. After the DRC, he was due to go to Senegal to brief Niasse at the end of his mission, which has also taken him to Angola, a DRC government ally, and Rwanda and Burundi on the eastern border of the DRC, before returning to Brussels.

AFP 9 Jan 2003 DR Congo rebel group to probe war crimes allegations KIGALI, Jan 9 (AFP) - The leader of a Ugandan-backed rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) said Thursday he was setting up a commission to look into allegations of war crimes levelled against his fighters. Jean-Pierre Bemba, the head of the Congo Liberation Movement (MLC), told AFP the move followed "accusations against MLC troops in various clashes between RCD-N (Congolese Rally for Democracy-National), our allies, and the RCD-Liberation Movement, which is close to the Kinshasa government." "I've set up a commission led by a senior officer to investigate any war crime or crime against humanity committed by the MLC and the RCD-N," said Bemba. Bemba referred to allegations of rape, cannibalism and executions that he said he had heard reported on the radio. Inhabitants of northeast DRC have spoken of such acts but there have been no confirmed or corroborated reports. Bemba said he had been in touch with Amos Namanga Ngongi, the special representative in the DRC of UN chief Kofi Annan, to solicit the help of the UN in "providing information that will allow us to apprehend those behind such terrible acts against the civilian population."

IRIN 9 Jan 2003 UN opens inquiry into reports of cannibalism KINSHASA, 9 Jan 2003 (IRIN) - The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, known as MONUC, announced on Wednesday it had opened investigations into reports of cannibalism and human rights violations by rebels near the northeastern town on Beni, North Kivu Province. "A MONUC team has started the investigations [in the area] where 80,000 to 120,000 people are displaced," Patricia Tome, MONUC's chief of public information, told reporters in the capital, Kinshasa. The Bishop of Beni-Butembo, Monsignor Melchisedec Sikuli Paluku, and human rights activists have accused the Mouvement pour la liberation du Congo (MLC), led by Jean-Pierre Bemba, and its ally, the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie-National (RCD-N) of practising cannibalism. "Internally displaced people have reported that [the rebels] have eaten pygmies and forced prisoners to eat their own ears, big toes and other body parts," Sikuli said. Investigators have already interviewed 200 displaced people. Tome said those interviewed were mostly rape victims, those whose properties were looted, those whose animals were slaughtered, and witnesses to summary and extrajudicial executions. However, she said, the investigators had not yet uncovered "precise information" indicating cannibalism. The outcome of the investigation would be sent to the UN Security Council "Mbusa Nyamwisi [leader of the RCD-Kisangani-Mouvement de Liberation [RCD-K/ML] has promised to hunt for those responsible for these violation, and Jean-Pierre Bemba has promised to punish those responsible," Tome said. The MLC and the RCD-N resumed fighting against the RCD-K-ML a day after signing an UN-sponsored ceasefire accord in the northwestern town of Gbadolite on 30 December. The renewed fighting has caused nearly 130,000 people to flee.

AP 16 Jan 2003 U.N. Says Congo Rebels Carried Out Cannibalism and Rapes KINSHASA, Congo, Jan. 15 (AP) — A six-day investigation in a remote region in northeast Congo has confirmed systematic cannibalism, rape, torture and killing by rebels in a campaign of atrocities against civilians, with children among the victims, United Nations officials said today. Accused rebel groups include the Congolese Liberation Movement of Jean-Pierre Bemba, one of two major insurgent movements now promised a leading role in Congo's government under a hard-won power-sharing agreement to end the central African nation's war. Rebels called their terror campaign "Operation Clean the Slate," said Patricia Tome, spokeswoman for the United Nations Congo mission in the capital. "The operation was presented to the people almost like a vaccination campaign, envisioning the looting of each home and the rape of each woman," she said. The charges are laid out in a preliminary report based on a six-day mission by United Nations investigators last week to the Ituri region. The investigation was prompted by reports from clergy and nonprofit groups operating in Ituri. The findings have been given to the Security Council and to the high commissioner for human rights, the Congo mission said. As word of the allegations emerged, Mr. Bemba announced Tuesday that the rebel group had arrested five of its own members, including its chief of operations in Ituri, Lt. Col. Freddy Ngalimo. Mr. Bemba said the five would be tried by a rebel military court. The allegations named Mr. Bemba's movement and the allied Congolese Rally for Democracy-National, which are fighting the rival rebel Congolese Rally for Democracy-Liberation for mineral-producing areas of Ituri. A series of peace deals secured the withdrawal of most foreign troops last year in Congo's four-year war, which split the country, the former Zaire, into rebel- and government-held zones. Despite the peace accords, fighting among the rebel groups intensified at the end of 2001 in the lawless east. United Nations investigators said the attacks occurred at Mambasa and Mangina, near the northeastern city of Beni. The report cited 117 instances of arbitrary executions between Oct. 24 and 29. It cited 65 cases of rape, including the rape of children, 82 kidnappings and 27 cases of torture in the same period. "The testimony given by victims and of witnesses was of cannibalism and forced cannibalism," including people made by rebels to eat members of their own families, Ms. Tome said. United Nations investigators have previously reported that the victims also included Pygmies, whom rebels routinely enlist as hunters to provide food for the insurgents. Investigators said they interviewed Pygmies who had gone into hiding after the rebel campaign.

ICG 24 Jan 2003 The Kivus: The Forgotten Crucible of the Congo Conflict Serious fighting in the eastern Kivu region is threatening peace plans for the Democratic Republic of Congo. A power sharing agreement signed in December between Congolese parties is supposed to lead to the finalisation of the Inter-Congolese Dialogue and the formation of a transitional government. However, ongoing violence in the East is jeopardising the positive results achieved so far. Plans by the UN observer mission (MONUC) to deploy a reinforced contingent of 3,000 will not be enough to make a difference. Unless a peace process is crafted specially for the Kivus and made central to the government's transition program and international efforts, the peace accords will remain words on paper. This report contains important new information based on extensive research on the ground by ICG analysts. -- For the full report, please see CrisisWeb - http://www.crisisweb.org

IRIN 28 Jan 2003 Pygmies demand a tribunal for crimes against them in Ituri KINSHASA, 28 Jan 2003 (IRIN) - Indigenous people from the Ituri District of Province Orientale in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have demanded that the Kinshasa government create a criminal tribunal to hold accountable those who have committed crimes against them, including murder and cannibalism. "We are here to demand that the authorities of this country create a tribunal," Abengandula Baloi, head of a delegation of indigenous persons - commonly referred to as pygmies - from Ituri who have been in Kinshasa since Thursday, told IRIN. The group of five made their appeal at the end of a human rights seminar for pygmies that was held from 20 to 25 January in the capital. One of the pygmies, Nzoki Amzati, said he witnessed cannibalism committed by soldiers of the Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC). "I was returning from the field and had time to hide in the brush, from where I saw members of my family being killed and eaten by soldiers of [MLC leader] Jean-Pierre Bemba," said Amzati, who lives in Teturi, near the town of Mambasa where the majority of massacres took place. "From my hiding place I saw soldiers tear out the heart of a child and then eat it after having roasted it over a fire," he added. The Ituri delegation of pygmies were among 30 pygmies who participated in a human rights seminar organized by two NGOs, the Fondation Ipakala and the Centre international de defense des droits de Batwa. Eight pygmies taking part in the seminar came from the neighbouring Republic of Congo while the 22 from the DRC were from the provinces of Bandundu, Katanga, and Orientale. The seminar organizers instructed the pygmies on international human rights law, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. "We demand a policy of protection for pygmies, because it is inconceivable that there is a policy of protection for animals of the forest and not for pygmies who are as much human beings as we are," Prosper Nobirabo, one of the organizers of the seminar, said. The UN Mission in the DRC, known as MONUC, confirmed on 15 January that rebel groups in the northeast of the country had been engaging in acts of cannibalism. MONUC said it had received witness reports of rebels belonging to the MLC and its ally, the RCD-National, being involved in cannibalism and forcible cannibalism in Mambasa and Mangina, respectively 50 km and 70 km northwest of Beni.

Egypt

Al-Ahram 1 Jan 2003 Issue No. 619 Contaminated goods - Osama El-Baz* reminds Arab and Islamic proponents of anti-Semitism that they are purveying shoddy goods of purely Western make. The article is an abridged version of a three-part study published in the Arabic daily Al-Ahram -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Over the last three centuries European society has given rise to an idiosyncratic series of events and ideas that are absolutely specific, both geographically and historically. The peoples of the Middle East, like other non-Europeans, remained remote from these developments, not only in terms of physical distance but also in terms of their outlook on human nature and their own social and psychological circumstances. They have found -- and continue to find -- it difficult to comprehend the nature of such developments, to understand the ethos and spirit that gave rise to an important body of humanitarian thought. Europe witnessed several revolutions and widespread social upheaval while simultaneously experiencing rapid and intensive scientific and technological progress. It also witnessed many manifestations of a blend of blind prejudice and a sense of inherent superiority over other "uncivilised" and "backward" peoples producing, among other things, an imperialist colonial movement, which proceeded in tandem with a vaunted spirit of enlightenment and the prodigious philosophical, intellectual and practical accomplishments that benefited all mankind. Another manifestation of the irrationality peculiar to the European mindset was the prevalent attitude towards Jews, collectively and as individuals. Jews were inferior and the object of suspicion because they were "different" in their religion, appearance and behaviour. And it was precisely these differences that served as pretexts for intimidation, persecution and, at times, the annihilation of entire populations. Fear and hatred of Jews existed across all of Europe and assumed its most virulent forms in the Russian pogroms and, later, in the Nazi holocaust. It was during this period of glaring inconsistency between leaps forward in material and intellectual progress and jumps backwards in moral attitudes and behaviour that the term anti-Semitism was first used, coined in Germany in 1873 by Wilhelm Marr. Subsequently, some European intellectuals would distinguish between "anti-Jewish" and "anti-Semitic" sentiments. The former, they argued, denotes prejudice of a purely religious nature, and is grounded in the Jews non-acknowledgment of Jesus Christ as the Messiah and their responsibility for his crucifixion. Anti- Semitism, on the other hand, was directed against a group of people, a volk, thought to share certain physical and behavioural characteristics that have no direct bearing on religious affiliation. The term thus signified a hatred of Jews based on ethnic and racial prejudices and, consequently, assumed secular connotations. According to this distinction "anti-Jewish" ceases once a Jew converts to Christianity whereas "anti-Semitism", a fundamentally racist concept, persists and pursues its victim regardless of religion. Because anti-Semitism is a secular concept and not contiguous with religious affiliation, its proponents required particular proofs to back the theory. Among the most broadly disseminated "proofs" were the notorious Protocols of the Elders of Zion and the tales of Christian blood in Jewish matzo. Although such claims have never been corroborated, their widespread currency fuelled hatred and fear of Jews. The so-called Protocols -- of which there were 24 in the original 110-page version -- were attributed to a cabal of rabbis who ostensibly published them in 1897, with the purpose of recording their conspiracy to create a global empire subject to Jewish rule . Freemasons, liberals, secularists, atheists and socialists were variously accused of conspiring with these rabbis to achieve their dream of world domination. There is a large body of evidence suggesting the Protocols were a forgery. It is hardly credible that a handful of individuals from a small minority should meet and set down their scheme to rule the world in a 110-page pamphlet that would be exposed sooner or later. Several experts have also pointed to a work that appeared in 1864 by Maurice Joly, Dialogue in Hell Between Machiavelli and Montesquieu, or Politics in the 19th Century, which has many stylistic similarities to the Protocols. And is it not a little strange that a group of rabbis would write a document of this type without using a single word of Hebrew, the language of the Torah and Talmud, or Yiddish, the language of Ashkenazi Jews which is still used in newspapers in Europe and the Americas today? Given the revolutions and upheavals Europe experienced in the late 19th and early 20th centuries it is likely that the Protocols were produced by conservative elements seeking to halt what they perceived as decline by attributing it to a vast conspiracy masterminded by European Jews. One needs only read the opening pages of the Protocols to realise its fraudulent nature. In the first protocol, for example, the authors attribute to themselves the vilest traits: "Through the press we have gained our influence while we remained behind the curtain. Through the press we accumulated gold, and we did not care that that caused rivers of blood to flow." Senior clergymen of any religion do not voluntarily level such charges against themselves and their coreligionists and then disseminate them on paper. The blood in the matzo myth has a long history. In its original form Jews were accused of killing a Christian, preferably a child, on Easter to mock Christ on the day commemorating his crucifixion. Since Easter and the Jewish Pesach, or Passover, fall at the same time in the year, the tale evolved to include the claim that the Jews used the blood of their victims in religious rituals, particularly in making matzo, the unleavened bread used to commemorate the Exodus. It was also said that Jews used blood in the manufacture of medicines. Some Arab writers, commentators and individuals belonging to groups that describe themselves as Islamic have evinced a crude sympathy for Nazism despite the fact that it is alien to the beliefs and practices of Arab and Muslim peoples. Nazism is founded on a fanatical racist theory, expounded by Hitler in Mein Kampf, that holds that the Aryan race is inherently superior and therefore has the right to subjugate other peoples. Towards the Jews, the Nazis adopted what they called the "final solution", rubric for a programme of systematic physical extermination. Jews were not the only group to suffer such barbarity. The Nazis also targeted gypsies, Slavs, the infirm, crippled and indigent. 'The Arab cause is just and there is no excuse for borrowing from a legacy inconsistent with the tenets of our beliefs and the realities of our history, no excuse for not presenting our cause in its proper logical and moral framework' Those who admire Hitler for his demagogic hold over the masses or for his enmity to Britain, once the occupying power over Egypt and other Arab countries, would do well to recall the disasters he inflicted on his people. Hitler executed those who opposed him. He masterminded the horrors of the concentration camps into which the Jews and other "undesirables" in Germany and the countries occupied by the Nazis were rounded up and eventually exterminated in vast numbers. Some writers have questioned the numbers of Jews that died as the result of Nazi atrocities. It is also true that some Jewish writers, such as Norman Finklestein in The Holocaust Industry, maintain that Zionist organisations capitalised on the Holocaust, an exploitation that has tarnished the memory of the victims of the concentration camps, including the author's mother. What concerns us here, however, is not scale of the tragedy, or how it was later used, but rather that it happened at all. Jews in Europe were the victims of a rabid anti- Semitism. To anthropologists and ethnologists, the term "Semitic" refers to all peoples, Jews, Arabs and others descended from Abraham. The apologists for anti- Semitism, however, do not use the term in its technical sense, but rather to target Jews in Europe and this, in turn, gave rise to such concepts as the "Jewish character", "Jewish morals", "Jewish culture", and "Jewish people". Such notions are founded on two fallacies. The first is that Jews share inherent biological, physical and moral traits and tend towards specific occupations. These allegedly distinct ethnic, behavioural and cultural traits make the Jews a singular race. To the proponents of such concepts Jews are "alien", the "other". Anti-Semitism, as here defined, is a purely European phenomenon, a manifestation of specific psychological, sociological and historical realities. And if, in the 20th century, this phenomenon has sometimes extended beyond the European continent, it has never done so with anything approaching Europe's fanaticism. Have the Arabs or Muslims ever been anti- Semitic, in the sense of anti-Jewish? I believe that the impartial scholar must reply in the negative. Above all, the Arabs believe that they, like the Jews, are descended from Abraham and that they are thus cousins. Sharing the same cultural and ethnic origins, Arabs can hardly regard Jews as inherently "different". It does not stand to reason that Arabs could harbour hatred or a sense of superiority towards people that share the same ethnic origins. Arab Nationalism was never anti-Jewish. It was not founded on an ethnic or religious basis, but rather on the basis of common bonds of language, culture and interests shared by all Arab speaking peoples. Its aim was to unify these peoples and mobilise their moral and material energies towards the defence of vital interest, the expulsion of the "colonialist enemy" and the restoration of freedom and dignity. Only then could the Arab Nation play a part in world civilisation commensurate with its cultural legacy, safeguard the collective security of the Arab peoples, and secure their right to progress. If anything, therefore, the "other" in that epoch were the colonisers. Rather than setting itself in juxtaposition to Judaism or Christianity, Islam presents itself as an extension of the Judeo-Christian tradition. The Qur'an pays tribute to all the Jewish prophets, recognises the Jewish and Christian faiths and establishes Islam as the culmination, or seal, of divinely revealed messages. The attitude of Islam towards Jews, whom it regards as one of the "peoples of the Book", should be seen within the context of the principles it establishes for the relationship between man and his fellow man. The Qur'an and the Sunna are replete with strictures calling for peace, mutual tolerance, justice and equality among the "People of the Book". Because of the spirit of tolerance inherent in Islam, Muslims, Jews and Christians coexisted in harmony from the beginning of the Islamic Empire, through the Ummayid and Abbasid eras until the end of the Ottoman Empire. Nor should we forget that in Spain both Jews and Muslims, who had lived peacefully for seven centuries, suffered at the hands of the Christian inquisitions. It is also interesting to note that when French Jews began to flee the Nazi occupation of France the only country to offer them refuge was Morocco under the late King Mohamed V. This leads us to a second important question: did the spirit of brotherhood between the Arabs and Muslims, on the one hand, and Jews on the other, continue after the creation of the state of Israel. Sadly, one must answer that this spirit was impaired for a number of reasons. Firstly, the methods used by the founders of Israel against the Arabs of Palestine were brutal. Secondly, Israel, and the Zionist movement abroad, frequently used Jewish and Israeli interchangeably. This confusion caused Arabs to wonder whether the conflict that had erupted in Palestine and later spread to other Arab countries was between the Arabs and Israel or between the Arabs and Jews. Right-wing parties in Israel espoused expansionist beliefs inimical to peaceful coexistence in the region. The call for Eretz Israel, a greater Israel extending from the Nile to the Euphrates, naturally provoked alarm among neighbouring countries. Since its creation, Israel has also routinely discriminated between its Jewish and Arab citizens, excluding the latter from military service and certain civil rights. Indeed, some claim that political society in Israel discriminates between Ashkenazim and Sephardim Jews. Israeli leaders have always insisted on the necessity of preserving the "Jewish identity" of the state. This stress on the ethnic composition of the state has contributed to the rift between Jews and Arabs and gives the impression that Israeli society is racist. Religious political movements on both sides have also generated the erroneous impression that the conflict is between Judaism and Islam. That such rhetoric presents the two religions as incompatible deepens the gulf and creates the impression that the conflict is a battle for existence in which only one side can survive. And many Jewish and Zionist groups abroad, especially in the US and Europe, wittingly or not, have contributed to augmenting the gap between Arabs and Jews by misrepresenting the nature of the Arab-Israeli conflict as a form of protracted feud with deep historical roots. They exacerbate matters further in their anti-Islamic rhetoric and activities while blindly defending the extremist policies of Israel. It must be stressed here, however, that not all Jewish groups and individuals abroad are prey to such attitudes; many remain insistent upon the distinction between Israel and Judaism and do not hesitate to openly criticise Israeli policies. One might possibly understand those Arab writers and media figures who attack Jews on the basis of the racist fallacies and myths that originated in Europe had the Arab cause not been firmly grounded in just demands. But the Arab cause is just and there is no excuse for borrowing from a legacy inconsistent with the tenets of our beliefs and the realities of our history, no excuse for not presenting our cause in its proper logical and moral framework. Most Israeli policies and attitudes are refutable because they fail to acknowledge the methods by which Israel was created, the uprooting and expulsion from their homeland of a people. It is also clear that many Israeli governments pursued policies inimical to the cause of peace and in violation of agreements signed by previous governments. It is possible to expose the fallacies and dangers of Israeli policy through rational argument and there is no excuse for borrowing from an alien, inhuman and outmoded anti- Semitic lore. Perhaps it is useful to simplify the issue for the reader by posing two questions. First, let us suppose that the Jewish state was founded on a land other than Palestine and accepted by the indigenous inhabitants of that land. Would the Arab and Islamic peoples have objected to such a state and entered into conflict with it? Second, if the people who had founded a non-Arab state in Palestine were not Jews -- if they were Christians, Buddhists or even non- Arab Muslims -- would the Arabs of Palestine and elsewhere have been anymore welcoming of that foreign implant? The answer to both of these questions is no. The origin of the Arabs' conflict with Israel has nothing to do with the ethnic or religious affiliations of its founders. It has everything to do with the threat to a portion of the Arab national entity, which was eventually severed off and handed to a foreign people as a solution to a problem in which the Arabs had no hand in creating. Arab opposition to Israel never emanated from antagonism by Arab Muslims and Christians towards Jews and Judaism. The Arab conflict with Israel has always been, and should always be depicted as, a contemporary conflict over usurped national rights. In light of the foregoing I have a number of recommendations to make to fellow Arabs and Muslims and then to Israel and its supporters abroad. Firstly, to Arabs and Muslims I say: We must uphold the correct perspective on our relationship with the Jews, as embodied in the legacy of Arab civilisation and in our holy scriptures. This legacy holds that ours is not a tradition of racism and intolerance, that the Jews are our cousins through common descent from Abraham and that our only enemies are only those who attack or threaten to attack us. It is an incontrovertible fact that Hitler forced the Jews of Germany and the other countries he occupied to wear the Star of David and to place that symbol on the outside of their homes. This was to facilitate rounding them up and dispatching them to concentration camps. Although that star is the emblem on the Israeli flag, if used by others to allude to the Jews it evokes painful memories of one of the most hideous forms of racist persecution. I therefore advise against using this symbol when criticising Israeli officials and policies, all the more so since there is no need to import such outmoded and abhorrent practices from another culture. In addition to avoiding over-generalisations whereby we attribute to all Jews responsibility for the actions of some, I counsel against conspiracy theorising. It is all too easy to suggest that Jews or Israelis who criticise Israeli policy are simply playing the role assigned to them as part of a greater scheme to deceive the Arabs and the rest of the world. History cannot be condensed into a series of conspiracies. It is also important, in this regard, that we refrain from succumbing to such myths as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and the use of Christian blood in Jewish rituals. We should not sympathise in any way with Hitler or Nazism. The crimes they committed were abominable, abhorrent to our religion and beliefs. We should simultaneously take close heed of the positive aspects of Jewish affiliations. For example, one cannot help but to admire Britain's Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sachs who, in an interview with the Guardian on 27 August 2000 harshly criticised Israeli policies as radically contradictory to true Jewish values. We must bear in mind that not all Jews are Israelis or Zionists. It is sufficient, here, to recall that some of the most outspoken critics of Israel have been Jews, such as the late American Rabbi Elmer Berger, Naom Chomsky, Henry Seigmann and Anthony Louis. It is imperative that we continue to draw a distinction between Jewish, on the one hand, and Zionist or Israeli on the other. Nor should we regard all Jewish groups outside of Israel as necessarily pro- Israel and anti-Arab. Most frequently, such groups' sympathy for Israel emanates from their concern for the security and safety of Jewish people everywhere. Such anxieties are understandable: Jews, numbering approximately 14 million, form a very small minority of the world's population and, more importantly, as the atrocities suffered by the Jews under the Nazis have made them wary of any resurgence of anti- Semitism that could lead to other acts of genocide. To Israel and its supports abroad I advise the following: In response to the demand lodged by the leaders of Arab parties in Israel with the central electoral board, Israel should immediately redefine itself as "a state for all its citizens" rather than "a democratic Jewish state". Israel should cease reiterating such claims to the effect that the Arabs want to "throw it into the sea". This allegation flies in the face of the resolutions of successive Arab summit conferences, beginning with that in Fezin 1982 which called for the need to use all possible means to reach a just peace in the Middle East, through to the Cairo summit of 1996 in which Arab leaders resolved that peace was their strategic goal and the Beirut summit of 2001 which adopted the peace initiative of Crown Prince Abdallah Bin Abdel-Aziz. Israel must call a complete halt to all settlement activity, including the expansion of existing settlements. Israel must cease its attempt to justify its attacks against Arabs and Muslims on the grounds that it is combating terrorism. Israel is aware that the crimes it has committed -- officially sponsored assassinations of Palestinian leaders, killing Palestinians in their beds while asleep, firing missiles at peoples' homes, demolishing buildings with people still inside, opening fire at random on pedestrians -- are terrorist. Israel must stop acting as though it aims to undermine Arab and Islamic interests. It should exercise the utmost self-restraint and objectivity in its behaviour towards the Arab and Islamic world and refrain from attempts to set countries against one another. Israelis and Zionists in general should cease accusing anyone who criticises Israel of being anti- Semitic. This unwarranted misuse of the term blurs the distinction between an unacceptable racist phenomenon and legitimate criticism of a state's policies and practices. Israelis must acknowledge that Arabs are right to want to end Israeli occupation of their land, a demand backed by the provisions of international resolutions and humanitarian law. It should be a sobering thought to Israelis and Jews abroad that Israel's inhuman practices against the Palestinians have unleashed a new tide of anti-Semitism in many European countries. Israel must acknowledge that the legitimacy of the creation of Israel will remain incomplete as long as Israel persists in evading its legal and moral obligations and in preventing the establishment of a state for Palestinian people who had lived on that land, uninterruptedly, for thousands of years. If Israel is truly sincere in affirming the legitimacy of its existence, it must practically demonstrate its agreement to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, enter immediately into serious peace negotiations on the Palestinian and Syria tracks and withdraw unilaterally from the stretch of land it still occupies in southern Lebanon. Israelis should dismiss from government those officials who incite racial hatred against Arabs or espouse the notion of "transfer" of Palestinians in the occupied territories or even in Israel itself. Transfer is not a far remove from ethnic cleansing. Israel should issue an official declaration, deposited with the UN General-Secretariat, stating that Israel has no expansionist designs on Arab territories. It should further state that it will refrain from demanding military superiority over all the Arabs, a demand that fuels Arab suspicions. President Mubarak has issued a call to make the Middle East a region free of weapons of mass destruction. Israel should signal its approval of this initiative and demonstrate its sincerity in this regard by entering into negotiations towards eliminating its nuclear arsenal in tandem with the elimination of other weapons of mass destruction in the region. Finally, a word to both sides: I believe that it is in everyone's interests to overcome the accumulated rancour of the past and the pains of the present and not to yield to the culture of despair. We must set our sights towards a better future in which all can live in peace and security instead of remaining rooted in a cycle of bloodshed, destruction and ruined opportunities. * The writer is chief political advisor to President Hosni Mubarak.

Ethiopia

News 24 SA 2 Jan 2003 E-mail story to a friend Ethiopian genocide: 20 freed Addis Ababa - Twenty Ethiopians have been acquitted of charges of genocide and crimes against humanity committed during the 1977-78 "Red Terror" period of Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam, reports the state-run Addis Zemen newspaper. The high court in the eastern region of Oromo State on Tuesday acquitted the 20 suspects, among them three women, because of insufficient evidence, said the paper. The court deemed the accusations were not borne out by material evidence and witness testimonies gathered by the special prosecutor in charge of the case. Nine of the accused were tried in absentia while 11 others had spent between two and 10 years in preventive custody. They were accused of summarily executing five civilians. Since 1994, Ethiopia has been conducting trials of people accused of genocide and crimes against humanity, particularly during the "Red Terror" period under Mengistu's military-communist regime. Tens of thousands of Ethiopians were killed or disappeared during the two-year period. Several tried in absentia Nearly 5 200 former soldiers and communist activists are due to be tried by the courts. About 2 200 are in prison in Ethiopia, but several of the key accused are to be or have been tried in absentia. Mengistu was convicted in absentia after fleeing to Zimbabwe, where he has lived in exile since 1991. About 500 people have been acquitted, and 600 are to be tried between January and September of this year. The "Red Terror" trials are due to be concluded in 2004, according to the Ethiopian judiciary. - Sapa-AFP

IRIN 8 Jan 2003 40 killed in tribal fighting ADDIS ABABA, 8 Jan 2003 (IRIN) - Tribal fighting is believed to have left as many as 40 people dead in recent clashes sparked by the severe drought in Ethiopia, humanitarian sources said on Wednesday. The clashes, which occurred near Fentale in eastern Ethiopia, broke out after Afar pastoralists moved into Kereyou territory to graze their animals. According to one local source, dozens of Kereyou tribesmen were killed in the fighting with armed Afar men. The clash, which took place in December, is the latest in a series of violent outbreaks over the past few months. “Kereyou men were killed in the incident," a humanitarian source in the area told IRIN. “It was a fight over pasture on the border of Kereyou and Afar. The pressure of the drought has pushed the Afar into the Kereyou area. The Afar were much better armed and so the consequences were inevitable.” Clashes between rival groups have been erupting with increasing regularity in Afar and neighbouring areas. In late November, some 16 people were shot dead in Gewane in Afar region. The killing has been blamed on ethnic violence between rival clans. Some 20 Afar women were also shot dead as they returned from a daily market near the town of Shewarobit, about 280 km north of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. The killing was blamed on a rival ethnic group. Days later 11 Ittus in Kereyou were killed by Afar. Aid organisations and the UN have warned that the drought has only exacerbated the conflict between groups competing for scarce water resources. The Ethiopian military is understood to have moved into some areas to try and keep a lid on tensions. Regional government officials have also been involved in talks to try and defuse the situation. The area has also seen an increase in guns – with AK47’s being smuggled in from neighbouring Djibouti.

Kenya

The Nation (Nairobi) 2 Jan 2003 PS Denies Shielding Man Wanted for Genocide Nairobi Permanent secretary Zakayo Cheruiyot yesterday denied accusations by the United States that he was protecting one of the most wanted war crimes suspects from the 1994 Rwanda genocide. Mr Cheruiyot, who holds the powerful provincial administration and internal security docket, is alleged by the top US official in charge of tracking genocide suspects to have helped to shelter Mr Felicien Kabuga, a wealthy Rwandese businessman wanted by the UN Tribunal on the Rwanda genocide. Yesterday Mr Cheruiyot dismissed the accusations, published in the respected London Sunday Times, as "far fetched" saying they were meant to spoil his name." He said: "Anybody with evidence should produce it. I have asked the Commissioner of Police to investigate this matter." Mr Pierre-Richard Prosper, the US ambassador-at-large for war crimes, said Mr Cheruiyot had used his position to protect Mr Kabuga, who is wanted for trial by the international war crimes tribunal based in Arusha, Tanzania. "The information indicates that this individual, Mr Cheruiyot, has used the government infrastructure to maintain the fugitive status of Kabuga," he said. "In the past few months information has really come in pretty concretely and focused on Cheruiyot and his apparatus." Speaking a day after newly elected President Mwai Kibaki took office, Mr Prosper said he had no reason to believe that then President Moi himself played any part in protecting the Rwandan, but the United States expected the new government to close in on Mr Kabuga. When Mr Moi visited Washington in early December, the United States asked him to help arrest Mr Kabuga and the Kenyan authorities had been helpful in the following weeks, he said. The US official also brought up the possibility of punishment for any Kenyan officials who had protected Mr Kabuga. "The first order of business is to end any protection that may be occurring and bring Kabuga into custody and it would be up to the new government to determine what punitive measures, if necessary, would be appropriate," he said. The information about Mr Kabuga was the direct outcome of a