Africa

Burundi

AFP 3 May 2004 Mini summit on Burundi to be held Friday BUJUMBURA, May 3 (AFP) - The presidents of Burundi, Uganda and Tanzania are due to meet in Dar es Salaam on Friday to discuss the peace process in Burundi and how to deal with the country's last active rebel group. "This meeting is due to be held on May 7 in Dar es Salaam to prepare the ground for a (larger) regional summit on Burundi by studying the question of the FNL (Forces for the Defence of Democracy) and the application of the peace accord and the progress of the electoral process," Burundian Foreign Minister Therence Sinunguruza told AFP. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni chairs a group of regional states overseeing efforts to end Burundi's civil war, which has claimed some 300,000 lives since 1993. The FNL has yet to join Burundi's other armed Hutu groups in signing peace deals with the government.

AFP 3 May 2004 Former rebels pull out of Burundi government, parliament BUJUMBURA, May 3 (AFP) - The main former rebel group in Burundi said Monday it was boycotting a transitional government and parliament because of disagreements over implementing a peace accord. "From today, ministers from the Forces for the Defence of Democracy (FDD) will no longer take part in cabinet meetings because our partners do not want fully to implement the comprehensive peace accord" signed in November, FDD Secretary General Hussein Radjabu told AFP. He added that the FDD would also boycott parliament "until the president changes his attitude." The FDD is the largest of several armed Hutu groups that have been involved in a civil war which has killed more than 300,000 since 1993. It signed a peace deal with the transitional in November, winning several ministerial posts and leaving the much smaller National Liberation Forces as the only Hutu group still at war. "The accord granted the FDD three provincial governerships, 30 administrators and two ambassadors... six months later, we are still awaiting these nominations," said Radjabu. "These are deliberate delays... Our ministers will no longer take part in meetings, but they will continue to work for the good of the people," he added. The deal gave the FDD 15 seats in the transitional assembly. About 30 other MPs from the Hutu-dominated Democratic Front party have since crossed over to the FDD, making it the second-largest force in the legislature. President Domitien Ndayizeye reacted by appointing 10 senior officers from the Tutsi-dominated army to the assembly, in keeping with an ethnic ratio set out in an earlier power-sharing deal signed in Tanzania in 2000. These appointments "were not part of the deal signed with the government (in November). It worries us," said Radjabu. "We refuse to resume the war some people are pushing us towards. This is why we appeal to the international community and the mediators to rescue the peace accord," he said.

IRIN 17 May 2004 BURUNDI: UN to review viability of inquiry into massacres BUJUMBURA, 17 May 2004 (IRIN) - Assistant UN Secretary-General Tuliameni Kalamoh arrived in the Burundian capital, Bujumbura, on Sunday, heading a delegation that is in the country to establish whether or not a judicial commission of inquiry should be set up to investigate massacres that may have been committed since Burundi's independence in 1962. During the seven-day visit, Kalamoh's delegation will hold talks with the signatories of the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Accord. Burundi is currently in the second phase of a three-year transitional period that was set under the accord that was signed in August 2000 in Arusha, Tanzania, by 19 Burundian groups, including political parties, the government and the military. "We will look at a number of technical and political issues about whether it would be feasible or indeed advisable to establish a judicial commission of inquiry," Kalomoh told reporters when he arrived at the Bujumbura airport on Sunday. However, he added, it would not be up to his delegation to make "a determination whether a genocide or a massacre was committed, it would be up to the commission of enquiry". The Arusha accord recommends the establishment of a judicial commission of inquiry into massacres allegedly committed in Burundi since its independence from Belgium until August 2000. If formed, the commission would be expected to qualify the type of crimes committed, determine who was responsible, and submit a report to the UN Security Council. The delegation is also due to hold consultations with the UN country team, officials of the African Union's mission in Burundi, senior government and military officials, representatives of civil society, religious institutions, diplomats and refugees returning home. Another UN commission of inquiry had, in 1996, investigated events that occurred in the country in 1993. One of its recommendation was the establishment of another inquiry team that would not limit itself to that period but would investigate other crimes committed in the course of the country's decade-long civil strife that has claimed the lives of at least 300,000 people. At least four other reports already exist on alleged massacres in Burundi.

Chad

AFP 29 Apr 2004 Sudan accused of Darfur truce breach as militia attacks Chad town by Ali Abba Kaya NDJAMENA, April 29 (AFP) - Khartoum is still backing Arab Janjawid militias in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region, a Chadian official accused Thursday, saying the Janjawid have attacked a town inside Chad, killing one civilian and wounding many others. "The Janjawid attacked the civilian population in Kulbus-Chad," said Allami Ahmat, diplomatic adviser to Chadian President Idriss Deby and a member of the Chadian mediation team that is trying to broker an end to the Darfur war, which pits rebels in Sudan's far west against the Khartoum government and allied militias. "This situation is all the more unacceptable because the Sudanese army tolerates and offers land and air backup to the Janjawid militias," said Ahmat. The pro-Khartoum militiamen also tried to steal the Chadian villagers' cattle and herd it back across the border into Sudan, said Ahmat. The villagers pursued the Janjawid into Sudan but were pushed back to the border by the Sudanese army, he said. There, the Sudanese soldiers had a verbal spat with their Chadian counterparts, said Ahmat. "We can confirm that the Janjawid militia is still very active and has not been disarmed," said Ahmat, backing accusations by Darfur rebels that Khartoum had breached an accord signed on April 8 in the Chadian capital. On Tuesday, the military spokesman for the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) told AFP: "Rather than disarm the Janjawid militias, Khartoum is setting them up in four places to integrate them into the army... This is a violation of the Ndjamena accord." Under the terms of the deal signed in the Chadian capital, the parties agreed to cease hostilities, guarantee safe passage for humanitarian aid to the stricken region, free prisoners of war and disarm militias blamed for much of the violence. The agreement, the third to call for a ceasefire following two short-lived truces, was signed by the Sudanese government and two rebel groups -- the JEM and the Sudan Liberation Movement. The war in Darfur is estimated by the United Nations to have claimed at least 10,000 lives, uprooted a million people from their homes, and driven more than 100,000 to seek shelter across the Chadian border. The United Nations has accused the Janjawid of ethnic cleansing in Darfur, where rebels rose up in February 2003, accusing the Arab-Muslim government in Khartoum of backing ruthless militias and neglecting their region, peopled mainly by black Africans. Last week, the top UN human rights forum meeting in Geneva split over the Darfur situation, adopting a softly worded text on the alleged atrocities despite the United States demanding tough action. Khartoum welcomed the mildly worded UN text, calling it "a victory for law." Sudanese President Omar el-Beshir said during a visit to Darfur on Tuesday that the war in the region was over. And when the pact was signed on April 8, Beshir said his government was "committed to respecting the Ndjamena agreements." The conflict in Darfur is running parallel to Sudan's wider war, in which southern rebels have been fighting Khartoum's forces for more than 20 years, at a cost of some 1.5 million lives. After making great progress towards peace, talks to end that war, Africa's longest civil conflict, have stalled, hung up on the technicality, agreed to in earlier parleys, of whether Islamic law should apply to Muslims and non-Muslims alike in Khartoum during a six-year transition period before a referendum on self-determination is held for the south.

BBC 30 Apr 2004 Chad army deploys on Sudan border The Arab militia are accused of ethnic cleansing in Sudan Chadian troops have deployed on their border after a clash with Sudan forces. A Chadian government spokesman said the troops would protect local civilians and refugees from the Darfur region of Sudan who are sheltering in the area. The clash is the first to involve army troops since Sudanese civilians began fleeing into Chad a year ago. The incident occurred after Arab militia staged a cross-border raid in Chad. Chad troops pursued them until they encountered Sudanese forces. The United Nations estimates that 10,000 people have died in the conflict and one million have fled their homes in Darfur. More than 100,000 people have crossed into Chad, but militia raids have targeted refugees across the border. The United Nations plans to move the refugees away from the border to safer areas, but UN agencies have been slow to transfer the refugees who remain vulnerable and desperately in need of humanitarian assistance. 'Proof' Chadian official Allami Ahmat, who helped to negotiate a ceasefire in the conflict in the western Sudanese region of Darfur earlier this month, said the incident was proof that the Janjaweed militia had not been disarmed as promised by the Sudanese government delegation at the peace talks. "This situation is all the more unacceptable because the Sudanese army tolerates and offers land and air backup to the Janjaweed militias," he said. The UN has accused Sudan of backing Arab militias in a campaign of "ethnic cleansing" against black residents in Darfur. During a visit to Al-Fashir in Darfur earlier this week, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said peace had been restored to the region. Two rebel groups in Darfur took up arms last year, accusing the government of ignoring the region. However, recent reports blame rebels in Darfur for an attack on a humanitarian aid convoy in the region and for the killing of a local chief. A United Nations human rights team is in Darfur, investigating claims of atrocities.

Côte d’Ivoire

ICRC 27-04-2004 ICRC News 04/57 Côte d’Ivoire: Aiding villagers in the west The ICRC has just completed a vast distribution of basic necessities in the western part of Côte d’Ivoire on behalf of people displaced by war who have returned to their home villages. Over the last eight months, 175,000 individuals benefited from this aid, the aim of which was to ease their relocation in regions affected by the fighting last year. Farming tools, clothing for adults and children, blankets, sleeping mats, soap, buckets, cooking utensils, plastic sheeting and mosquito nets were distributed in eight districts and sub-prefectures to benefit 253 villages. In accordance with its standard working procedures, the ICRC had first carried out an assessment to determine the needs of the people in the various areas and also a painstaking census to ensure that the distributions would be fair. In addition, a pilot project was begun in partnership with a national non-governmental organization to help women residents of the regions particularly affected by the war to do farm work. Some 3,000 women from approximately 100 villages near Bin-Houyé, Zouhan-Hounien and Danané belonging to farming associations received tools and five kinds of seed, which should enable them to increase their production of vegetables.

BBC 3 May 2004 Ivory Coast protest 'left 120 dead' The UN said victims were targeted according to their ethnic group At least 120 demonstrators were killed by the security forces in Ivory Coast in March, according to a UN report. Several hundred others were said to be injured when the security forces opened fire on the demonstrators - 20 are still believed to be missing. "What happened on 25 and 26 March was the committing of massive human rights violations," the report said. At the time, the government said that only 37 people had died in clashes in commercial capital, Abidjan. But opposition leaders say more than 300 people were killed during the demonstrations that were dispersed by government forces. The clashes put further strain on the peace deal between northern-based rebels and the government in the south. The opposition had accused President Laurent Gbagbo of breaching the terms of a peace deal designed to end the civil war. It called the March protest in spite of a presidential ban on public protests. Mr Gbagbo, in turn, accused them of planning a rebellion under the guise of peaceful demonstrations. 'Targeted' The report - by the UN Human Rights Commission - said the security forces targeted people according to their names and ethnic groups. Many of the victims were killed "not in the street" during the demonstration, "but in the dwellings of would-be demonstrators or even innocent civilians targeted by the security forces simply because of their name, origin or community group," said the UN report. March's violence was the worst to hit Abidjan since September 2002, when a coup attempt triggered civil war. The West African state, once a symbol of stability in a very unstable region, has become increasingly vulnerable to political violence and coups. The country has been divided in two since the latest military rebellion.

AFP 3 May 2004 At least 120 killed in crackdown on Ivory Coast demo: UN report PARIS, May 3 (AFP) - At least 120 people were killed in Ivory Coast in March when government forces cracked down on a demonstration against President Laurent Gbagbo, Radio France International (RFI) said Monday, quoting a UN report. "What happened on 25 and 26 March was the indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians and the committing of massive human rights violations," said the report, drawn up by a UN team set up to investigate allegations of massive rights abuses committed during and after the thwarted demonstration. "At least 120 people were killed, 274 wounded and 20 disappeared," said the report, adding that there were still 81 bodies in the morgue of one hospital in Abidjan. "These figures are by no means final," said the report. The opposition and rights groups have said up to 500 people were killed but the Ivory Coast government has stuck to a figure of 37 dead. Many of the victims were killed "not in the street" during the demonstration, which the opposition had called in spite of a presidential ban on public protests, "but in the dwellings of would-be demonstrators or even innocent civilians targeted by the security forces simply because of their name, origin or community group," said the UN report.

AFP 11 May 2004 Ivory Coast opposition wants UN court to try leaders of rally crackdown ABIDJAN, May 11 (AFP) - Ivory Coast's opposition on Tuesday called on the United Nations to set up a special court to try those responsible for a violent crackdown on an anti-government rally in March, in which at least 120 civilians were killed, according to a UN report. "To end this cycle of murderous violence and to close the book on the drama crippling our country, it is time to end the impunity gripping Ivory Coast... and ask the UN to create a special international court to judge those Ivorians with genocidal intentions," the seven-party opposition coalition said in a statement. "Only then can we re-engage in real democratization as we move towards credible, free and open elections in 2005." The UN report, the result of two weeks of interviews and investigations into the worst violence to hit the main Ivory Coast city Abidjan in months, was leaked at the beginning of last week by Radio France International, provoking indignation from the government of President Laurent Gbagbo. According to the report, which was received late last week by authorities here, at least 120 people were killed and 274 wounded in the crackdown on the March 25 opposition rally and the days following it. The opposition, which had called the rally to protest Gbagbo's failure to implement a peace pact signed in January 2003 to end a civil war that had begun four months earlier, said up to 500 people were killed in the crackdown, while the government has camped on an official death toll of 37. The report said there was "overwhelming evidence" of the indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians and massive human rights violations that were "mostly unprovoked and unnecessary", including targeted killings of ethnic minorities whose "summary and extrajudicial executions, torture, arbitrary detention and disappearance had little or nothing to do with the march." It said the crackdown was "carefully planned and executed" by security forces under orders from "the highest state authorities." Seven opposition parties, including the political arm of rebels who rose up against the president in September 2002, sparking the civil war, have quit a unity government set up under last year's peace pact and refused communication with Gbagbo, whom they blame for the violence.

DR Congo

AFP 30 Apr 2004 At least 78 killed in week of clashes in eastern DR Congo GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo, April 30 (AFP) - At least 78 people including civilians, rebels and soldiers have been killed over the last week in clashes in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to military, UN and other sources. On April 23, Rwandan Hutu weapons killed 19 civilians in Kihinga, in Sud-Kivu province, according to local adminstrator Medard Majaribu. In the same province, 39 fighters from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebel group and three government soldiers were killed in several clashes over the last week, according to MONUC, the UN mission in DR Congo. The FDLR, which comprises various groups blamed for carrying out the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, claims to be fighting to force the Tutsi government in Kigali to the negotiating table. In one area in Nord-Kivu, clashes between DRC government forces and Rwandan rebels left at least 17 dead, mostly rebels, over the last five days, according to an army commander Major David Rugayi. MONUC said it was unable to travel to the area in question to verify the clashes had taken place but reported receiving information from independent sources about fighting on April 27 and 28 around Katoyi, 70 kilometres (45 miles) northwest of the regional capital, Goma. The east of the country was one of the main theatres of a major war ignited in 1998 when Rwanda deployed troops there to counter the threat posed by the forerunners of the FDLR, and which eventually sucked in more than half a dozen AFrican states.

VOA 3 May 2004 UN Peacekeepers Predict Instability if Rwanda Sends Troops Into DRC Cathy Majtenyi Nairobi The U.N. peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo predicts much instability in the area if Rwandan troops are sent into DRC to flush out Hutu rebels. A spokeswoman for the U.N. peacekeeping mission, Eliane Nabaa, criticizes the threat by Rwandan President Paul Kagame to send troops into the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo to capture Hutu rebels if the rebels continue attacking Rwanda. Ms. Nabaa urges the Rwandan and DRC governments to talk face-to-face about how to capture and return Hutu militiamen and soldiers who fled Rwanda's 1994 genocide in which Hutu extremists killed up to 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. "So it is better to cooperate and to dialogue and to avoid, for instance, new clashes or new war that, only once again, the civilian population will pay for," she says. The peacekeeping mission and the Rwandan government disagree on several key issues. Ms. Nabaa says the United Nations has not witnessed any preparations for, or received any reports of, Hutu rebels attacking Rwanda from DRC Borders or Burundi, contrary to what President Kagame said on state radio during the weekend. But Rwandan army spokesman Colonel Patrick Karegeya says Hutu rebels attacked places along the DRC and Burundian borders on April 7, 8 and 9. He says that in one battle, 16 rebels were killed, and the rest ran back to DRC. Colonel Karegeya estimates there are more than 15,000 Hutu rebels still hiding out in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He says that contrary to what the United Nations says, no Hutu rebels have been disarmed and repatriated back to Rwanda. The ones who have returned, he says, have come on their own. Ms. Nabaa maintains that, since the signing of a regional peace deal in 2002, the United Nations has disarmed and repatriated about 11,000 rebels back to Rwanda, with eight-thousand more rebels still hiding out in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Colonel Karegeya says the Rwandan foreign minister and other officials went to the Democratic Republic of Congo several times to talk to that government about cooperating in capturing and returning the rebels, but that they do not respond. He also says that despite a meeting in South Africa late last year in which the presidents of both countries agreed to work together on the issue, nothing has happened. Colonel Karegeya would not say exactly when or under what circumstances Rwanda would send troops into, only that the troops would go in if the rebels continued with their attacks.

Mail & Guardian ZA 3 May 2004 www.mg.co.za Rwanda's reluctant rebels Helen Vesperini | Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo 03 May 2004 13:31 Fear, rather than loyalty or ideology, is what keeps many young Rwandan rebels holed up in the bush in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to men who surrendered from the insurgency. "If they catch you trying to leave they kill you or they beat you up until you're maimed. We asked for leave to go to the market and then we ran away," Jean Damascene Nyitegeka, a former sergeant in the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) who gave himself up the DRC army a week ago, said in Goma, a DRC town on the Rwandan border. "Nearly everyone wants to leave but there are a handful of leaders who were implicated in [Rwanda's 1994] genocide and who do everything possible to stop people from leaving." The FDLR, created in 2000, is made up of Rwandan Hutus who fled their country after the genocide and who have from their bases in the DRC launched incursions into Rwanda with the aim of toppling the Kigali government. Among the fighters are both extremists with blood on their hands from the genocide and boys who were recruited by force in the refugee camps in the eastern DRC. The FDLR, which used to be allied officially to the Kinshasa government, is currently fighting DRC forces in the eastern DRC provinces of Nord and Sud Kivu. "My heart hadn't been in it for the past two years. But when the chiefs started to understand I wanted to go back to Rwanda they said I'd be killed there [in Rwanda] or that I'd be put in prison," explained Ndayumujinya (31), another defector, sprawled in tracksuit and wellington boots in a chair on the terrace of the home of the local DRC army commander. Morale in the FDLR ranks has been badly dented over the past two years by the landslide re-election victory scored in Rwanda by Paul Kagame in last year's presidential polls, by the surrender of FDLR commander-in-chief General Paul Rwarakabije in November 2003 and by Kinshasa's decision to stop paying the FDLR. "Before, Kinshasa used to send us $100 a month. The leaders took nearly everything but we normally got to keep $10 a month. But we haven't had any money since August 2002," added Nyitegeka. He and two other FDLR defectors spent the five months prior to their surrender at Kibua, a village in the middle of the forest about 70km northwest of Goma in Nord Kivu province. They were part of a battalion that had received orders to clear the forest to grow food in preparation for the start of operations. The last big wave of attacks on Rwanda launched by the FDLR was in 2001, when the severely undermanned and underarmed group proved no match for the well-equipped Rwandan military. "Almost all of us have known since then that we stand no chance against the Rwandan army," said Sergeant Jean de Dieu Ngendahimana, one of the three defectors. All three regret the years spent in the bush. Nyitegeka has a wife in Rwanda but torments himself with the idea that she has perhaps gone off with another man. "The other young men [who stayed in Rwanda] have settled down: they have wives and children and they have built houses. Me, I've lost 10 years of my life," he noted sadly. -- Sapa-AFP

International Herald Tribune 10 May 2004 The UN in Congo: The failure of a peacekeeping mission Herald Tribune WASHINGTON The charter of the United Nations is to ensure world peace, but this mandate is being sorely tested in Congo, where the organization has 10,800 peacekeepers. The United Nations Mission in Congo, known by its French acronym MONUC, embodies the failure and all the contradictions that have characterized the organization worldwide in the last decade. In eastern Congo, where rape and insecurity are the daily lot of hopeless civilians, the mission has, in fact, become the symbol of impunity. The UN troops were sent to Congo in 1999, in the midst of a civil war that killed more than 3.3 million people. The war drew in many of Congo's neighbors, including Uganda and Rwanda - which accused President Laurent Kabila of supporting the Rwandan insurgents who had participated in genocide. In a 2002 agreement that established a power-sharing government in Kinshasa, the foreign troops were supposed to withdraw while the UN and Congo pledged to send home the insurgents. Rwanda, however, saying that Congo hasn't held to its part of the agreement, has repeatedly violated the agreements with impunity, sending troops in and saying they are searching for rebels that stage raids on Rwandan villages. A run-in between UN troops and hundreds of Rwandan soldiers in eastern Congo last month underscores the mission's ineffectiveness. In the confrontation, on April 21, the Rwandan Army ordered UN troops to withdraw from the area, and in a shocking reversal of roles, they complied - even though under their mandate they can use force to protect the peace. This incident, which is denied by Rwanda, is the latest to leave Congolese wondering what exactly is the purpose of the UN troops. In addition, in the last three months, several weapons caches have been found in areas in the eastern provinces that are controlled by Rwandan and Ugandan proxies. As far as is known, the UN has neither seized these weapons nor arrested anyone in connection with them, even though they signal another war on the horizon. Instead, the UN seems reluctant to disturb the status quo. But the trading of accusations about insurgents is merely a front for the real issue at stake, Congo's natural resources. A report last year by a UN expert panel led by Mahmoud Kassem, Knight-Ridder newspapers reported, accused both Rwanda and Uganda of prolonging the civil war so that they could illegally siphon off Congo's wealth with the help of Western corporations. While neither Uganda nor Rwanda have gold or diamond deposits of significance, both countries have become important exporters of these minerals. The Security Council, however, refused to publish the report in its entirety. By classifying the most damning portions of the report, the United Nations has become an accomplice to those who are guilty of atrocities and human rights violations so they and their patrons can continue to plunder Congo. Warlords will continue to endanger the peace process as long as their patrons go unchallenged and unrecognized. Rwanda and Uganda have no incentive to stop the financing and arming of their proxies. The UN needs to take a stand by pushing for sanctions, like an arms embargo and the withholding of financial aid from international institutions, on Rwanda and Uganda and by using force, if necessary, to keep their troops out of Congo. Today, the Congolese disillusionment is all too obvious. Children throw rocks at the UN mission trucks as they pass on the road. The current transitional government in Kinshasa includes several officials who have been accused of war crimes. For the frightened civilians in eastern Congo, neither the so-called transitional government nor the UN matters. They face mass rape and violence on their own. The United Nations must take an active and forceful role in its Congo mission. Their passive presence has become a mockery of peace.

Egypt

AP 20 Apr 2004 Mubarak: Arab Hatred of Americans Growing PARIS (AP) - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, a major Arab ally of the United States, said in published remarks Tuesday that hatred of Americans in the Arab world was stronger now than ever because of the war in Iraq. Mubarak also said Arab opinion of the United States had grown more negative because of Washington's continuing support for Israel. ``At the start, some believed that the Americans were helping them,'' Mubarak said in comments published Tuesday by French daily Le Monde. ``There wasn't any hatred toward the Americans.'' ``After what has happened in Iraq, there is an unprecedented hatred and the Americans know it,'' he added. ``There exists today a hatred never equaled in the region.'' Mubarak, whose country is among the biggest beneficiaries of U.S. foreign aid, said U.S. missteps in Iraq had made the situation worse. ``In Iraq, they said: 'We are not going to allow the creation of an Islamic state.' Result: people are attached even more to the idea of religion,'' Mubarak said. Many Arabs feel a sense of ``injustice'' in the way the United States has offered strong backing for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Mubarak said. ``What's more - they see Sharon act as he wants, without the Americans saying anything,'' Mubarak said. The Egyptian leader met with French President Jacques Chirac in Paris on Monday, on his way home from a trip to the United States to meet with President Bush at his Texas ranch. Also Tuesday, King Abdullah II of Jordan - another Arab ally of the United States - postponed a White House meeting with Bush this week, citing questions about the U.S. commitment to the Mideast peace process. Mubarak also denied reports that he is grooming his son Gamal to succeed him. ``We are not a kingdom. We have a constitution,'' he said. Mubarak took over after Egypt's last president, Anwar Sadat, was assassinated in 1981. He has never appointed a vice president. Gamal Mubarak heads the ruling National Democratic Party's policy-making committee.

Ethiopia

The Daily Monitor (Addis Ababa) 27 May 2004 Court "Erroneously" Acquits Genocide Offenders, Condemns Innocents Judges Undergoing Judicial Discipline Panel By Dawit Ketema Addis Ababa The Sixth Criminal Bench of the Federal High Court had acquitted those defendants meant to proceed additional criminal trials while it had sent to jail those who should have righteously gone home. The judges that caused the alleged embarrassment to the court are put on a judicial discipline panel, The Daily Monitor learnt. Genocide cases are mostly tried at the Sixth Criminal Bench of the Federal High Court. In a session the bench held on June 8th 2003, the three judges who sat on the bench decided to acquit certain defendants while some others were told to defend the charge. Mysteriously, those defendants who are acquitted had later been ordered to present defence testimonies while those who are ordered to defend the charges are acquitted. The order that carried the signature of the three judges states at the beginning, the rational behind the decision and the list of defendants who had to defend themselves or be acquitted. In the ending paragraphs of the order, the list of acquitted defendants is mixed with those condemned for more imprisonment as well as the other way round. As a result, those defendants that should have stayed at prison were released for free while acquitted defendants were until recently suffered in prison. A senior executive of the Federal High Court told The Daily Monitor on the basis of anonymity that the scandal is not caused due to elementary clerical errors. The three judges are now undergoing judicial discipline panel whose case is still pending. The same bench, but now composed of two different judges, has reviewed the decision it gave last year in a bid to rectify its mistake. Accordingly, a new order is given last week for the mistakenly acquitted defendants to be arrested, it was learnt.

Liberia

IRIN 30 APr 2004 Disarmament Official Estimates 60,000 Combatants MONROVIA, 30 Apr 2004 (IRIN) - The head of Liberia's disarmament commission Moses Jarbo estimates that about 60,000 combatants expected to be disarmed, substantially more than the 40,000 projected by the United Nations. Jarbo told IRIN on Friday that the commission’s figures are based upon preliminary estimates gathered from former fighting forces during a series of meetings in Monrovia. "The commission, along with the political leadership of the former warring factions, unanimously believes that the figure being represented by the UN is under-estimated. As the disarmament progresses, we would be working around a figure of between 55,000-60,000 ex-fighters", Jarbo contended. UN Force commander Daniel Opande agreed that the estimated figure of 38,000- 40,000 as presented by the UN was what he called, "an initial planning figure". "That is why we have been prevailing on warring groups to submit their listing of fighters to enable us to properly plan for them during this disarmament period", Opande explained. However, force commander Opande agreed that the initial figure could be misleading due to the ex-fighters high enthusiasm to disarm, but he declined to state how this might affect the final number of combatants expected. According to Jarbo, a comprehensive list of fighters from all the warring groups was requested by the UN in December, but it took until early April to get what he described as "a provincial listing". Meanwhile, UN peacekeepers on Friday opened the fourth round of the national disarmament programme. The new cantonment site for former combatants loyal to the ex-government of Charles Taylor is located at the VOA camp 25 km north of the Liberian capital, Monrovia. The camp was open to those former government fighters who were disarmed during the first disarmament period in December, but were not demobilised and did not receive cash benefits. On December 7, the UN commenced the country's disarmament beginning with former fighters loyal to the former government, but the programme was suspended after pro-Taylor fighters rioted in Monrovia for three days, protesting their right to money for guns. Calm was restored when the fighters were later given an initial payment of US$ 75 out of the US$ 300 which each is to receive after undergoing the disarmament, demobilisation and rehabilitation and reintegration (DDRR) process.

Nigeria

Reuters 13 Apr 2004 Three dead in Nigerian religious feud, total 226 JOS, Nigeria, April 13 (Reuters) - Muslim militia killed three Christians in central Nigeria bringing the unofficial death toll from two months of tit-for-tat violence to 226. A police spokesman said Hausa Fulani ethnic militiamen attacked the villages of Rwang Doka and Jenkur in the southern part of Plateau state on Sunday killing three and destroying several houses. "It was a reprisal attack in the ongoing communal crisis," the spokesman told reporters in the state capital Jos. Inter-ethnic fighting in the remote farming communities of Plateau state had already killed at least 223 people since mid-February and displaced more than 6,000 across three states, according to Red Cross officials, army officers and witnesses. The Muslim Hausa-Fulani people, mostly cattle herders, lived alongside the Christian Tarok farmers in relative peace for decades until fighting broke out in 2001. About 1,250 people have been killed in the area since then. In this case, the attackers retreated to neighbouring Taraba state when security forces closed in on them, the police said. Fighting between the same groups was also reported in Jawando village, in Plateau state, but no one was killed there. The police sent reinforcements to the area to restore order. A Christian leader in Kaduna state, which also borders Plateau, said last week that Islamic extremists in the region were being funded by foreign militant groups, although Islamic leaders have said there is no evidence for this. At least 10,000 people have been killed in religious, ethnic and political fighting in Nigeria since the restoration of democracy to the oil exporting country in 1999.

The Guardian UK 1 May 2004 100 die in communal fighting in Nigeria Andrew Meldrum in Pretoria Saturday May 1, 2004 More than 100 people were killed and 1,000 wounded in fresh ethnic and religious fighting in central Nigeria, the country's Red Cross reported yesterday. The border clashes highlight Nigeria's continuing tensions, with rural violence combining with growing friction between Muslim and Christian communities in Zamfara state over new restrictions imposed under sharia law. The fighting between Muslims and Christians broke out on Tuesday in six remote farming villages on the border between Plateau and Taraba states. A Nigerian Red Cross official said the death toll "must have been more than 100, but we cannot confirm a specific number". Nigerian newspapers said 120 people had been killed. More than 5,500 others were displaced, according to the Red Cross. The latest attacks bring the death toll from two-and-a-half months of violence to at least 350, according to unofficial figures. The Muslim Fulani, who are mainly cattle herders, and the Christian Tarok, who are subsistence farmers, fight over land and cattle. Most of the killing is done with cutlasses and in arson attacks. New sharia regulations give the state authorities the power to demolish any "illegal structures", which Christians fear will be used to tear down their churches. They also call for businesses to close five times a day for Muslim prayers. The clashes have been local so far, but there are concerns that President Olusegun Obasanjo is not taking decisive action to stamp them out.

Reuters 3 May 2004 Nigerian Ethnic Clash Kills at Least 67 Mon May 3, 2004 03:27 PM ET By Shuaibu Mohammed JOS, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigerian police said they had recovered 67 corpses Monday after new fighting between rival Christian and Muslim tribes in a remote farming town in central Nigeria. Sunday's attack by a Christian Tarok militia on Muslim Fulanis in Yelwa town took the death toll from three months of ethnic violence to at least 410, according to unofficial figures. The conflict is rooted in competing claims over the fertile farmland of southern Plateau state in the heart of Africa's most populous nation. "They succeeded in removing 67 dead bodies," assistant police commissioner Sotonye Wakama told reporters after returning from a trip to Yelwa, adding that more would probably be recovered Tuesday. The attack in Yelwa follows on the heels of clashes further south in Taraba state last month, in which over 100 were killed as marauding Tarok fighters hunted retreating Fulani militia. Analysts say the feud between the Tarok farming tribe and nomadic Fulani cattle herders has been fueled by irresponsible allocation of land by the government, and growing lawlessness across Nigeria, the world's seventh largest oil exporter. A witness who said he escaped the fighting Sunday night estimated 120 people were killed in Yelwa, although authorities would only confirm "heavy casualties." "It is the Tarok men who attacked us," Mallam Mohammed Ahmed, a Yelwa resident, told reporters in the state capital Jos. He said he escaped by taking a small footpath out of town because all roads to Yelwa were blocked by Tarok warriors. "If you hear the sound of their guns you will think the heavens want to fall. Many women and children were killed," he said. Yelwa town has already witnessed one of the most horrific massacres of the conflict, when 48 Christians were killed by Fulani militia in a church that was later burned. The last three months have seen the bloodiest fighting in the region since Jos was torn apart by ethnic violence in 2001 that killed 1,000 people. Tens of thousands have already had to leave their homes in Plateau because of the fighting and thousands now live in temporary accommodation in schools and other public buildings across three states. Ethnic, religious and political violence in Nigeria has killed more than 10,000 people since the election of President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999 ended 15 years of military rule.

Vanguard (Lagos) 9 May 2004 ANALYSIS Genocide On the Plateau PBy Taye Obateru Jos Why it happened, by Gov. Dariye WHILE the Muslim and Christian communities in Yelwa Shendam, a commercial nerve centre in Plateau State, are trading blames on last Monday's bloodletting that claimed about 100 lives, Governor Joshua Dariye explains why it is difficult to find solution to the problem that triggered the massacre. As the top government officials and security chiefs beheld the "crowd" of corpses that littered the ground of the open field, they took extra care not to step on any of them. Those who could not stand the gory sight that the shattered heads and mutilated bodies presented stood a distance away fighting back tears. The corpses included men, women and children, a sight that rendered members of the entourage dumbfounded for a while. But the grave silence was quickly broken as members of the delegation led by Plateau State Deputy Governor Chief Michael Bot-Mang, which visited Yelwa town located in the Southern axis of the state where about 100 lives were lost to communal violence last week, openly lamented the barbarism that would make people massacre fellow human beings in such a heartless manner. "Even animals will not be this heartless", a member of the entourage managed to utter. The mass of dead bodies was like a scene in an action-packed war movie. But this was for real. For the second time in a little over two months, Yelwa-Shendam, a commercial nerve centre which attracted people from every part of the country, acquiring a cosmopolitan identity, drew the attention of the entire country and the larger world to itself again. It received an earlier negative attention in February when about 48 people were massacred in a church during a similar ethno-religious disturbance in the area. The belief now is that the February massacre laid the foundation for last week's attack which was largely believed to be a reprisal. Sunday Vanguard gathered that like a tinder box waiting to be ignited, last Monday's violence resulted from an attack on Kabong village by suspected Hausa-Fulani people. It was a clear indication that the wound of the February incident was still festering. As gathered, it was another case of "who owns the land?", the indigenous groups having been put on edge by the apparent upper hand gained by those who to them are stranger elements allegedly assisted by mercenaries during the attack on Yelwa in February. Many of them had to flee the area since then and as Victor Ajuji a civil servant who fled to Jos during February crisis told Sunday Vanguard then, "where else can I go if I have to run from my own state?" It was alleged that the Hausa-Fulani settlers assisted by the insurgents from some neighbouring countries declared Yelwa town a Muslim town after their February "conquest". In fact some alleged that they hoisted a signboard declaring the town part of Zamfara State. The displaced indigenous groups were therefore alleged to have been waiting for an opportunity to "recapture" the town. It has therefore become a vicious circle that has no end as the two sides- the predominantly Christian indigenous population and their Hausa-Fulani Muslim neighbours continue to trade blames as to which of them is the aggressor. Each time there is a skirmish, the two sides trade accusations, blaming the other thereby leaving impartial observers confused as to which side is saying the truth. As an instance, while the Muslim community in Yelwa and their sympathizers would want the world to believe that the attack on them Monday was unprovoked, the indigenous people alleged that it was a reaction to series of silent killings of their people perpetrated by suspected Hausa-Fulani insurgents. The people alleged that they had been living in fear of attack by the assailants, who they said, launched surprise attacks on them at random. When therefore another attack was launched on Kabong village on May 2, by suspected Hausa-Fulani people from Yelwa, which left three people dead, the stage was set for another blood bath, Sunday Vanguard learnt. The indigenous groups were reported to have mobilized to, "defend" themselves from the constant attack. They vented their anger by taking over the Yelwa-Shendam road for hours before the onslaught at 3:00am Monday. As was the case during the February attack, the victims were unprepared for what befall them. Women had no time to look for their children before taking to their heels in an attempt to escape from the hail of bullets allegedly fired by the attackers. As a woman survivor told the visiting team on Wednesday, "it was as if the heavens were falling down" On the other hand, the Muslim population and their supporters elsewhere are alleging that the attack was part of a grand design to "chase" Hausa-Fulani Muslims out of the state. They alleged that the security agencies withdrew from Yelwa just before the attack to give their assailants a free reign to unleash terror, an allegation the State Police Commissioner, Mr Innocent Ilozuoke, described as bunkum. He told Sunday Vanguard that the situation could have been worse but for the presence of a combined team of soldiers and policemen. "How is that (withdrawal of security men) possible? The thing is, like in every crisis situation, there is the tendency for people to say anything. But it is not true that we withdrew our men," he stated. Similar accusations of a deliberate agenda to flush out Hausa Muslims out of the state have been leveled against the State governor, Chief Joshua Dariye. The Jassawa Youth Association, in an advertorial in a national daily, accused the governor of supporting a plot to "annihilate" the Hausa -- Fulani people in the state. They referred to an interview granted a national daily sometime ago in which the governor was said to have supported the giving of unruly tenants quit notice, among others, to justify their allegation. The national secretariat of the Jama'atu Nasril Islam echoed this feeling in a statement last Tuesday, urging the Federal Government to call the governor to order. However, the governor in a telephone interview with Sunday Vanguard, Friday, said his statement was being blown out of proportion to suit a campaign of calumny against the state government. How does a statement made to stress the need for settler groups to respect the culture and sensibilities of their indigenous hosts translate to giving them a quit notice?" he asked. The governor noted that it is the failure by people to address issues truthfully and the tendency to find scapegoats rather than conduct a self-examination that had made it difficult to find a solution to the problem. He added that resort to cheap blackmail and sentimental outbursts would never help the situation. "When you find yourself in this position (of governor) you receive a lot of insults and people accuse you of all sorts of things. It is normal. You will recall that initially, it was the Beroms and the Tarok people that were accusing one of colluding with the Hausa-Fulani to annihilate them. The point which I stressed in that interview and which I will stress again is that we must respect one another's religious and ethnic sensibilities for peace to reign. "These same Hausa-Fulani people and other ethnic groups have lived with those same indigenous people for over a century without any problem. Why is it difficult to live together now?" he said. Dariye appealed to the people of the state to resolve to live in peace reminding them that it is impossible for government to decree peace. He said he will not be distracted by what he called "the orchestrated campaign by fifth columnists designed to worsen the security situation in the state. Meanwhile, many residents of the state are hopeful that the Presidential Peace Committee headed by the Emir of Zauzau, Dr. Shehu Idris, which met following the latest violence would be able to come up with a solution to the violence which has turned the state into a theatre of blood letting for some years now.

AFP 11 May 2004 Ten dead in attacks on Christians after Muslim protest KANO, Nigeria, May 11 (AFP) - At least 10 people were killed Tuesday when Mulsim youths rioted in the northern city of Kano following a rally called to protest a massacre carried out last week by a Christian ethnic militia. An AFP reporter at the scene counted 10 bodies in the streets around Gyadi-Gyadi Court Road and Bayero University Kano Road in the city, where mobs had set up roadblocks and were attacked by suspected Christians. One young girl who had been stabbed and badly injured was rescued by a motorcycle taxi driver. Many of the bodies were burned. Gangs of youths torched and looted at least five Christian properties and a delivery truck in the Gyadi-Gyadi, the mainly Muslim-district of the city, triggering explosions in a cooking gas store. Police jeeps were racing around the area, with heavily armed officers sporadically firing warning shots, but security forces appeared to be holding back to avoid triggering a full-scale confrontation with the mob. One police jeep had its windows smashed. Most businesses, including the main Christian market in the minority community's ghetto, Sabon Gari, had been closed before Tuesday's mass rally called in protest at last week's attack on the Muslim town of Yelwa. On Sunday last week a heavily armed gang of militants from the Christian Tarok ethnic group stormed Yelwa, in the Shendam local government area of central Nigeria's Plateau State, and killed between 200 and 300 people. At Tuesday's protest, Islamic leaders demanded that President Olusegun Obasanjo put an end to the Plateau State crisis within seven days "or bear the blame of whatever happens".

BBC 11 May, 2004 Muslims riot in northern Nigeria Thousands of Muslims fled Yelwa during the violence Rioting has broken out in the northern city of Kano at a rally to protest at the recent killing of hundreds of Muslims in central Nigeria. Reporters and eyewitnesses have seen at least 10 bodies at the scene. Some 10,000 Muslims marched to the state governor's office from a mosque to hand over a letter of protest. More than 10,000 people have died in ethnic, religious and sectarian violence in Nigeria since the end of military rule five years ago. Reporters said several Christian-run businesses were looted and burned in Kano, with heavily armed officers in police vehicles sporadically firing warning shots. Many businesses, including a large Christian market, had been shut ahead of the rally. Tensions have risen in Nigeria in the past week, since members of the Christian Tarok community attacked the mainly Muslim town of Yelwa in the central Plateau State in a dispute over land and cattle. Ultimatum In Kano, Muslim leaders gave Nigeria's government seven days to act against the Christian militia that carried out the killings "or bear responsibility for whatever happens". Eyewitness: Town of death "The Federal Government should put a stop to the killing of Muslims in Plateau State or else the Muslims will have no option but to defend themselves," the leading Islamic cleric in Kano, Ibrahim Kabo, was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying. The New York-based organisation, Human Rights Watch, had earlier warned of the dangers of violence escalating if concrete measures were not taken against the killers in Yelwa. They urged the government to bring those responsible for the killings to justice, disarm local militias and deploy an adequate number of police in tense areas. Violence In 2001, more than 1,000 people died in religious clashes in the Plateau State capital, Jos. The government set up a commission of inquiry into the violence in Jos, but has still to publish its findings. The latest violence in Plateau State followed the deaths in February of 48 Christians killed by armed Muslim Fulanis in Yelwa after they had taken refuge in a church. Muslims are prediominant in the north of Nigeria, with Christians dominating in the south of the country.

BBC 13 May, 2004, Thousands seek Nigeria sanctuary Christians are a small minority of Kano's population Some 22,000 people have sought shelter in police stations in the northern Nigerian city of Kano. They are mostly Christians from other parts of Nigeria, who fled from Muslim youths with knives and machetes. The city is now calm but casualties are still arriving at hospitals. The Red Cross has confirmed 36 deaths. Police have deployed in Lagos and other cities to prevent the spread of rioting - sparked when hundreds of Muslims were killed in central Nigeria. AFP news agency reports that doctors at Kano General Hospital are refusing to allow anyone near the morgue for fear of inflaming the tense situation. "We will wait until everything is calm until we give the bodies out or allow anybody to go in to check for his relations," a doctor told AFP. 'Excuse for violence' According to the BBC's Anna Borzello in the mainly Muslim city of Kano, many described the attackers as unemployed youths who were using religion as an excuse to loot and cause mayhem. Unless an enabling economic environment is available in Nigeria, these clashes will continue Ibrahim Gereng, Abuja, Nigeria What can stop the violence? Kano riots: In pictures Our correspondent saw one woman with a bandage tied around her wrist where she had been cut trying to protect her baby from attack. Another man had a scar on his head, bloodstained trousers and knife marks sliced into his back. "I saw them put an old tyre on his neck and set him ablaze," said a 30-year-old Christian, Barry Owoyemi, of a dead Christian neighbour. Police commissioner Ganiyu Dawudu told our correspondent that he believed the fighting was over following Wednesday's clashes. Armed police and soldiers are patrolling the city's streets. They also turned out in the capital Lagos and northern cities in an attempt to keep the peace. Earlier, Kano's Islamic leaders joined Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo in urging calm. Retaliation President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday visited Yelwa, the central town where the crisis began when Christian militants killed hundreds of people. Mr Obasanjo went on to visit a relief camp where 27,000 people who had fled Yelwa were staying. He strongly rebuked Christian and Muslim leaders for not doing more to stop the violence, AFP reports. "Did your own Christianity teach you about revenge?" he said after a Christian leader asked him why the authorities had not helped Christians attacked by Muslims two months ago. Blessing Adaiyi's sister was killed in the violence He has been given a report into the Yelwa massacre but this has not been made public. The president has vowed to end the cycle of violence but did not say how. The most recent rioting began after a demonstration to protest at the Yelwa killings, at which Mr Obasanjo was given a seven-day ultimatum to deal with the situation or face the consequences. More than 10,000 people have been killed in ethnic, religious and political violence in the country since the end of military rule in 1999. Nigeria's combined Christian and animist communities are roughly equal in size to its Muslim population, with the Christians living predominately in the south.

Rwanda (see DR Congo)

IRIN 14 May 2004 Rwanda: Kagame Dismisses District Leaders Over Genocide-Related Deaths Nairobi Rwandan President Paul Kagame has dissolved a district executive committee in the southwestern province of Gikongoro where several killings of genocide survivors has occurred, the Rwandan News Agency reported on Thursday. Kagame's action followed his two-day visit to Gikongoro that ended on Tuesday, the agency reported. Cabinet approved his decision on Wednesday, at a meeting during which replacements for the dismissed officials were named. Killings of genocide survivors in Kaduha District occurred in 2003. Four genocide survivors were reportedly killed in Gikongoro in late 2003 by a group of genocide suspects in order to prevent them from testifying in the Gacaca justice system, introduced in the country in 2001. Similar killings were also reported in the central province of Gitarama. In early March, nine people were sentenced to death and another one to life imprisonment over the killing of a genocide survivor who was due to testify under the Gacaca justice system. The Court of First Instance ruled then that the nine were guilty of jointly killing Emile Ntahimana in November 2003 in Gikongoro. The March convictions brought to 14 the number of people sentenced to death and three to life imprisonment for killing genocide survivors. In February, the court had sentenced five people to death and two to life imprisonment for killing Charles Rutinduka, another potential witness in the Gacaca trials. Gacaca, based on a traditional communal justice where elders at the village level judge offenders, was introduced to speed up trials for an estimated 85,000 suspects held in Rwanda's prisons, in connection with the genocide that claimed the lives of at least 800,000 people.

Xinhua.net 17 May 2004 Nearly 2,800 Rwandans confess roles in 1994 genocide www.chinaview.cn 2004-05-17 02:53:03 KIGALI, May 17 () -- Some 2,793 suspects have so far confessed their roles in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and have requested to be included in the Gacaca (Rwanda's traditional justice system) proceedings around the country. Rwanda's National Coordinator for Gacaca Domitila Mukantaganzwasaid here Monday that about 376 others have been convicted after the courts found them guilty of committing genocide crimes or threatening witnesses during their trials, and the communal courtshave so far acquitted 386 suspects. The coordinator said Gacaca is an important justice system in Rwanda as it has tried to bring perpetrators and victims together through dialogue to solve disputes, adding that it existed earlieras a mechanism of solving disputes in the community. She expressed optimism about the effectiveness of the proceedings and believed that it will bear fruitful deliberations as they proceed with endeavor to the unity and reconciliation of Rwandans. In the recent Unity and Reconciliation summit, Rwandan President Paul Kagame urged the Rwandan community to support the traditional justice system so as to foster national development.

BBC 26 May, 2004 Genocide lawyers reject jail move The vast majority of those killed were Tutsis Lawyers defending those accused of masterminding Rwanda's genocide have condemned talks about moving them to prisons in Rwanda. They say that members of Rwanda's government are also accused of committing war crimes. United Nations officials have been in Rwanda to discuss the possible transfer of those found guilty of genocide, from the UN tribunal in Arusha, Tanzania. Some 800,000 people, mostly ethnic Tutsis, were slaughtered in 1994. The genocide ended when the then rebel Rwanda Patriotic Front came to power in 1994. But they have been accused of carrying out revenge attacks against members of the Hutu majority. 'Reconciliation' "Members of the Kagame regime are suspected of the same crimes over which the UN is prosecuting the ICTR detainees," said a statement from the Association of Defence Lawyers working at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Jailing ICTR convicts in Rwanda would "place them under the control of people accused of war crimes," it said. ARUSHA TRIBUNAL 21 suspects on trials 22 suspects awaiting trial 19 convictions 1 acquittal Q&A: Long search for justice The Rwandan government denies the charges but says that RPF individual soldiers have been punished for their acts in 1994. Rwanda's prisons are already overcrowded with those accused of taking part in the genocide. But Deputy Prosecutor General, Martin Ngoga, told the BBC's Network Africa programme that Rwanda wanted the suspects transferred to help the reconciliation process. "We are going to put them in the best facilities we have," he said. The lawyers went on strike earlier this year, saying that the tribunal was biased in favour of the prosecution and so fair trials were not possible. Eight years after being set up, the ICTR has convicted 19 people of genocide - six of whom are serving their sentences in Mali. Twenty-one suspects are on trial, while another 22 are in detention, waiting for their trials to start. .

Somalia

IRIN 30 Apr 2004 Preparations continue for final phase of peace talks NAIROBI, 30 April (IRIN) - Preparations for the third and final phase of the Somali peace talks were proceeding smoothly on Friday, according to an Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) source involved in the proceedings. He told IRIN that the organisers of the talks, which are being held in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, under the auspices of IGAD, were pleased with "the way things were moving". "We have already started bringing in traditional elders from Somalia," he said. The organisers, the source added, were confident that Somali political leaders who were in Somalia "will be here before the [IGAD foreign] ministers' meeting on 6 May". "We are putting all the pieces together, so we don't have any hitches," he told IRIN. The source predicted that the process would go ahead despite a boycott threat by some faction leaders. "Those who matter on the ground will be here. We cannot afford to allow a few selfish individuals to hold the process hostage," he said. A group of faction leaders who abandoned the current peace talks in Kenya have been holding separate talks in Jowhar, 90 km north of the Somali capital, Mogadishu. They said they would not return to Nairobi as requested by the IGAD mediators, but would rather hold the final phase inside the country, one the leaders told IRIN this week. The IGAD source told IRIN that the charge brought by some delegates that IGAD was selecting delegates for the final phase was mistaken. "Unfortunately, in this process there will always be lamentations," he said. "In this final phase delegates must come through their respective clans. Nobody comes automatically. Those who are complaining should prevail upon their clans to select them. It [selection] has nothing to do with IGAD." He added that as the final phase involved the contentious issue of power-sharing: "We should not rush it, but take as much time as we need to ensure that the outcome is acceptable to both the Somalis and the international community, but we are hopeful that we will meet all of our deadlines," he added. The IGAD-sponsored talks began in October 2002 in the western Kenyan town of Eldoret, but were moved to Nairobi in February 2003. They have been dogged by wrangles over issues such as an interim charter, the number of participants and the selection of future parliamentarians.

South Africa

Mail & Guardian ZA 13 May 2004 www.mg.co.za Aristide to move to Pretoria Cape Town 13 May 2004 14:01 South Africa has agreed to give former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide a temporary home nearly three months after an armed revolt forced him to flee his poor Caribbean country, the Government Communications and Information Services (GCIS) confirmed on Thursday. This followed a day-long Cabinet lekgotla (meeting) on Wednesday to discuss this and other issues. GCIS spokesperson Joel Netshitenzhe said the arrangement will be a temporary one until the situation in Haiti has stabilised to the extent that it will be possible for Aristide and his family to return. On Monday an official request to offer Aristide a place to stay until his situation has "normalised' was received. The African Union made the request after it was approached by the Caribbean Economic Community (Caricom). In a media briefing in Pretoria, Netshitenzhe said South Africa has agreed to take responsibility for Aristide's residence and upkeep. "In acceding to this request South Africa seeks to contribute to international efforts to bring stability to Haiti. South Africa has a responsibility, as an African country and as part of the international community, to ensure that democracy and peace prevail in Haiti and that the people of this country are able democratically to elect their leaders," he said. Netshitenzhe said the government supports the call for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Aristide's removal from office and is committed to building international consensus against unilateral regime changes. "We hope that all South Africans will handle this matter with dignity and maturity. We believe that as we mature as a democracy and as a country that has got this important role to play in international relations, we would all come to appreciate that international diplomacy does not lend itself to mathematical equations where you would have precise condition of comfort and discomfort, precise resolutions to problems with precise answers," he said. He said the Aristide government was the first democratically elected government in "many, many decades" in Haiti. "There might have been weaknesses yes, but this can't be comparable with dictatorial regimes that came before them," he said. The South African government believes it is not correct that any country, no matter how powerful, should unilaterally seek to remove governments from power, especially democratically elected governments, he said. South Africa seeks to create an environment that will contribute towards the return of peace and security to Haiti. "While he is here he will contribute either directly or indirectly with the United Nations to ensure that peace and stability is returned in Haiti," said Netshitenzhe. Aristide's arrival date and number of entourage are still to be determined. Aristide (50) is currently in Jamaica, where he arrived on March 15 from the Central African Republic, his first destination following his resignation in late February. It is believed Aristide will take up residence in Pretoria under tight security. The government said the United States and France have agreed that Aristide should go to South Africa. Responding to speculation surrounding the length of time Aristide is to stay in South Africa, Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad said Haiti will be holding elections shortly and that Aristide's own party is participating. He believed the outcome of the elections will determine the length of Aristide's visit to South Africa. The former priest, who was first elected in 1990 and was ousted in a coup in 1991, only to return to power with US military backing in 1994, had said from the outset that he wanted to come to South Africa. But the government has let it be known that it did not want to agree to the controversial move ahead of the April 14 election, which President Thabo Mbeki's African National Congress won by a landslide. The main opposition Democratic Alliance has spoken out against allowing Aristide into South Africa, arguing that his democratic credentials are in doubt and that taxpayers should not have to foot the bill to support him. It also said that France and the US should take him if they forced him to step down. "The governments that are responsible for removing him from power should take responsibility for looking after him in exile. France and the US were very prominent in this regard; why not send him to Paris?" said Douglas Gibson, foreign affairs spokesperson for the party. -- Sapa .

Sudan - Darfur

Al-Ahram Weekly 29 Apr 2004 weekly.ahram.org.eg/2004/688/fr3.htm 'Darfur in flames' International outrage against atrocities in Sudan is growing, writes Gamal Nkrumah Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Beshir angrily rejected an official request by the United States to send a fact-finding mission to the war-torn Darfur region of western Sudan. Speaking to thousands of supporters in Al-Fashir, the capital of Darfur, Al-Beshir warned of an "international neo-colonialist conspiracy to break-up Sudan and to demoralise Sudan's armed forces." In a deliberate show of defiance, and perhaps in a desperate bid to boost the morale of government forces and allied militias in Darfur, Al-Beshir reaffirmed the territorial integrity, unity and sovereignty of Sudan. The Sudanese government also turned down an offer by John Garang, leader of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), the largest armed opposition group in the country, to mediate between the Sudanese government and armed opposition groups in Darfur. "We are an important political factor on the Sudanese political scene. We must not be overlooked in efforts to reconcile the Sudanese government and armed opposition groups in Darfur," Garang said at the start of Sudanese peace talks in Kenya. The sixth round of face-to-face peace talks between Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha and Garang began on Monday in Naivasha, 80kms northwest of the Kenyan capital Nairobi. The Sudanese peace talks are taking place under the auspices of the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD), a regional grouping of seven East African countries, including Sudan. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the umbrella opposition organisation that includes the SPLA and other mainly northern Sudanese opposition parties, is not taking part in the Sudanese peace talks in Naivasha. Cairo-based Mohamed Othman Al- Mirghani, head of the NDA, expressed concern at the slow pace of the peace talks and the rapidly deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in Darfur. Last Friday the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva expressed concern about the overall situation in Darfur but stopped short of condemning the Sudanese government. The US envoy to the Commission, Richard Williamson, expressed outrage. "We must stand up and condemn unconscionable acts," he said. While the Sudanese government welcomed the Commission's verdict human rights groups contested it. "This once again calls into question the Commission's ability and willingness to rise above political wrangling and promote and protect human rights," an Amnesty International statement read. "This is a very meagre response to a situation that is at the point of spiralling into a full- fledged human rights catastrophe." Human rights groups warn against operations carried out by the Arab militias or Janjaweed who allegedly enjoy Sudanese government air cover during raids. Aerial bombardment has spread terror and devastation in Darfur, the rights groups claim. "The pattern of attacks on civilians includes killing, rape, pillage, including livestock, and destruction of property, including water resources," warned Amnesty International. "This is the most vicious hostile campaign this government has ever faced," said Sudanese Foreign Minister Mostafa Othman Ismail. Abdel-Wahid Mohamed Nour Musa, leader of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), has been collaborating closely with the SPLA and other political groups in the NDA. The SLA, the largest armed opposition group in Darfur, warned that the Darfur peace talks are faltering because of Sudanese government intransigence. 0n 8 April international pressure resulted in the signing of a cease-fire agreement in the Chad capital Ndjamena. But internecine fighting has continued and no monitoring force has been established. The SLA claims that 160 civilians have died since the signing of the cease-fire agreement. Amid growing international condemnation of its handling of Darfur, the Sudanese government has reacted angrily to calls for international military intervention in the war-torn region. Sudanese opposition groups also caution against military intervention. "We are against foreign military intervention in Darfur. We have before us the example of Iraq," Farouk Abu Eissa, former head of the Cairo-based Arab Lawyers Union and official spokesman for the NDA told Al-Ahram Weekly. "We do not want a similar situation to develop in Darfur, or Sudan. But we urge the international community to intervene in Darfur by facilitating humanitarian relief. We appeal to the international community to put pressure on the Sudanese government and to facilitate the flow of humanitarian relief assistance. But we reject foreign military intervention." Last week UN Secretary General Kofi Annan issued a strongly-worded statement calling on the international community to intervene militarily to contain the rapidly deteriorating situation in Darfur. The UN also released a report severely critical of the Sudanese government's scorched earth policy in Darfur. The UN report, Darfur in Flames: Atrocities in Western Sudan, came under criticism from different quarters, with the Sudanese government and Arabised tribes in Darfur complaining of Western bias. They argue that the fighting in Darfur has long been between pastoralists (predominantly Arabised tribes) and sedentary agriculturists (mainly indigenous non-Arab groups). The vast majority of Darfur's population is, like other regions of northern Sudan, predominantly Muslim. But like southern Sudan it is not Arabised. Most of the people of Darfur retain non-Arab ethnic identities and languages. The SLA is a political and military coalition of the three largest indigenous ethnic groups in Darfur -- the Fur, Zaghawa and the Masaleet. They joined forces in order to coordinate resistance against the Arab militias. "The armed conflict in Darfur is not simply between Arabs and non-Arabs. Fighting often occurs between Arab tribes such as the Beni Helba and Al-Mahiriya, who are part of the huge Rezeiquat tribal confederacy of western and central Sudan," Yaqub Al- Dumuki, an ethnic Arab from the Beni Halba tribe told the Weekly. Al-Dumuki, a London-based journalist who has just returned from a visit to Darfur, said the problem in Darfur is one of underdevelopment and poverty. He stressed the humanitarian situation. "We are concerned about the organised campaign against the Arabs of Darfur. The Arabs of Darfur are deeply disturbed by the comments made by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Annan accuses Arabs of committing atrocities of ethnic cleansing against the non-Arabs in Darfur," Al-Dumuki said. "[Annan's] remarks fuel the fire rather than helping rivals reach an amicable solution. Arabs constitute more than 55 per cent of Darfur's population and they have been subjected to a relentless campaign comprising unfounded accusations of ethnic cleansing."

ICRC 30 Apr 2004 Press Release 04/32 Sudan: ICRC and SRCS strive to deploy meaningful action in Darfur In response to the vast and pressing humanitarian needs in Darfur (west of the country) and in line with the appeal of the Sudanese authorities to increase aid to the affected civilian population, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), jointly with the Sudanese Red Crescent Society (SRCS), is currently striving to bring up its operations in the region to a meaningful level. In the past two months, in concert with local and federal authorities, the SRCS and the ICRC have provided more than 42,000 internally displaced people with material assistance, in particular shelter, and ensured access to safe water for over 72,000 persons, both displaced and resident, including ethnic Arab communities affected by the conflict, in various locations. The ICRC has also initiated rehabilitation and sanitation work in several health facilities and supplied a significant amount of drugs and medical materials to the hospitals in Nyala and Al Fashir. In order to support local hospital personnel overwhelmed by the increased demands, the ICRC is moreover deploying a surgical and medical team in Darfur. Up to date, the SRCS and the ICRC have registered dozens of children separated from their parents as a result of the conflict and have been approached by several hundred people asking for help in locating their relatives with a view to restoring family links. Last month, the ICRC, in its capacity as a neutral intermediary and with the full agreement of all the parties concerned, facilitated the release of a Chinese engineer held by a Darfur rebel group. In parallel, the ICRC has reinforced the SR