AFRICANEWS
War and PeaceEthiopiaEfforts to restore peace between Ethiopia and its immediate neighbor Eritrea, who have been involved in a two-month border conflict, have taken another twist with Ethiopia's Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, traveling to Nairobi for consultations with President Daniel arap Moi of Kenya.Reports from the tree-hour meeting between the two heads of state, however, said that the talks were not a new initiative but he would help in boosting the on-going talks being held by a delegation of the organization of African Unity (OAU). Ethiopia and Kenya are both members of the inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) which was formed to resolved problems among its members in the horn of Africa and the East Africa region. The war in Ethiopia and Eritrea has displaced over 100,000 people, mostly Eritreans, and has caused economic consequences to both nations. Over 130,000 Eritreans residing in Ethiopia are face with a threat of deportation if a peaceful solution is not reached soon. (Source: Daily Nation)
RwandaThree catholic sisters, two Rwandans, Emma and Suzanne and a 59 year old Canadian, Gisele Allard, were released on July 11 in the northern town of Ruhengeri. The three had been kidnapped on July 7 by about 100 interahamwe Hutu militia and former Rwandan army soldiers some of whom were armed with guns.The kidnapping took place in Bungwe, Kivuye commune, Byumba prefecture, near the border with Uganda. During the attack, the militiamen looted a local dispensary of its medicines. They also attacked a local branch of the Popular bank and took away 700,000 Rwandan francs (US$2,300) and killed a local administrative official. The three sisters belonged to the order of Sainte Chretienne. On the treatment they got from the kidnappers, she said "We suffered no trauma, no threats. That's why we are still alive. I admire them for their honesty", sister Gisele told the BBC Kinyarwanda programme. Hutu militias have in the recent months been targeting religious people and the chances of one being released alive or dead depends greatly on one's tribal original. (Source: AANA)
KenyaA powerful bomb blast rocked Nairobi on August 7, killing hundreds of civilians and injuring thousands more and extensively damaging three adjacent buildings which included the target, the US embassy. Though the casualty figure was not conclusive a day after the blast, it was put at 100 confirmed dead including seven Americans. Other nearby buildings which were extensively damaged by the blast are the Co-operative and Ufundi Co-operative Houses. The latter was reduced to rubble.According to eye witnesses, the bomb was set off by three men in a pick up packed between the embassy and the Co -operative building. The three who perished in the blast had begun the operation by first firing into the embassy before detonating the bomb. Among the injured survivors was the American ambassador to Kenya, Ms Prudence Bushnell and Mr Joseph kamotho, Kenya's minister for trade. The two had just finished a meeting in Co-operative House. In condemning the attack President Daniel arap Moi told the perpetrators of the attack to instead take their criminal activities elsewhere, while the US President, Bill Clinton labeled it as inhumane vowing to track down the masterminds no matter how long it takes. Though by the time we went to press nobody had claimed responsibility of the fatal bombing, it came a week after the banned Egyptian Islamic group, the Jihad vowed to attack American interests all over the world. On August 11 Daily Nation reported at least 230 people are now feared to have died, with 193 of them officially confirmed dead.
Congo (DRC)Fresh civil war has broken out in the DRC following the decision by the twin eastern Tutsi- dominated provinces of North and South Kivu, to secede from the rest of the country. This was after the country's President, Laurent Kabila, ordered all Rwandan troops then present in the country to leave immediately. The war which broke out on August 1 in the capital Kinshasa, three days after the order, has made the central government charge it as an invasion by its small eastern neighbor Rwanda.But both the commander of the rebel troops, Sylvan Bikelege and the Rwandan government have denied any involvement of Rwandan troops. Instead they have termed the rebellion as Congolese affair out to overthrow Kabila, who has already seen his foreign minister Dr. Bizima Karaha, a Tutsi join the rebels. The war is most intense in the eastern towns of Goma, Kindu , Bukavu and Uvira. And it is also raging in the oil rich western region around Cabinda and the north-central town of Kisangani. This latest flare-up in the volatile Great Lakes region has sparked diplomatic furor by the regional leaders fearful of yet another round of turmoil. Already a peace summit has been planned to be held in Zimbabwe to meditate the conflict. Apart from the hosts it is to be attended by Zambia, Rwanda, Namibia, Uganda and Tanzania. Notably absent is South Africa which has publicly vowed to support Kabila's regime. It also represents a serious fall out between Kinshasa and its eastern ally, Kigali, who was the mastermind of Kabila's overthrow over the late dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, last June. (Source: Daily Nation)
TanzaniaPolice in Arusha were at the weekend said to be on the tracks of a group of muslims fundamentalists who arrived in the town late on August 7, spent the night in a mosque before leaving for the Namanga border post for onwards travel into the bomb attacks on US embassies in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam gained momentum. The death toll in bombing had by August 8 reached nine. The bombing is believed to have been placed under the engine of an embassy water tanker and detonated by remote control when the tanker was within the embassy compound beiong inspected for explosives.(The EastAfrican)
UgandaSeveral hundreds Acholi delegates from all over the world gathered in London on July 17-19 for this year's Acholi Peace Conference, known as Kacoke Madit ( Big Meat).The participants were suprised to hear that Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni had made peace overtures to Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony of the Lords Resistance Army (LRA). According to Alphonce Owiny-Dollo, Ugandan minister in charge of northern Uganda who addressed the meeting the Sudan based rebels abruptly terminated contacts with the government and the rebel official who had the made the contacts with the government was nearly killed.Anglican bishops from the northern Uganda who are attending the coinciding Lambeth Conference also attended the peace meeting. They have regularly urged President Museveni to end the war peacefully. (Source: AANA)
NigerFrance voiced its pleasure on August 6 at an accord signed last month between Niger's government and 11 oppositon parties, AFP reported. The news agency said the 10-point agreement on key political changes - mediated by the French Parti Socialiste (PS) envoy for Africa, Guy Laberti - had broken two years of political deadlock between the two sides.The accord revises electoral procedures and institutions and also sets safeguards for appointing officials to bodies such as the supreme court, AFP reported. Both parties have also agreed that all political groups should have equal access to state media and that the right to demonstrate be respected. AFP quoted a French foreign ministry spokeswoman as saying France hoped the international community would now step in to help prepare Niger for local and municipal elections in November, which the opposition has now agreed to contest. (Source: IRIN)
RwandaTwo Belgian priests, Mark Francois and Jean Lefevre, aged 51 and 65 respectively, kidnapped on July 21 in the northern precture of Ruhengeri, have been released and are in good health. The kidnappes were as usual Hutu miliatiamen accused of the 1994 Rwanda genocide.The two members of missionaries of Africa belong to the white Fathers congregation and had been living in that country for over 20 years. They were kidnapped from their parish situated in Ruhondo commune of the norther prefecture of Ruhengeri. According to the secretary general of the Rwandan Episcopal Conference. Munguarareba, the fathers were not mistreated though they were tired of the long march they had made. He also said he believed the kidnappers wanted publicity. However, analysts add that Rwandan militiamen always loot dispensaries run by religious congregations following heavy fighting withthe army. They beileve that getting medical supplies could be a primary objective, and kidnapping a secondary one. (Source AANA)
SudanThe suffering of women and chldren will only be averted if the recently announced ceasefire between the warring parties is adhered to, according to the UNCEF Executive Director, Carol Bellamy. She visited southern Sudan three weeks ago and witnessed mass starvation of children and women.The UNICEF chief visited famine-stricken towns of Wau and Panthou in Bahr al-Ghazal to take a first hand look at the humanitarian situation on the ground just days after a cease fire was announced by the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's liberation Movement (SPLA). "The suffering I witnessed in these famine-stricken areas was horrific. Children, who should be running and playing, have become mere skeletal figures, too weak to stand and barely able to feed themselves," said Bellamy. "Most shocking of all were the rows of freshy dug graves in Wautown, where 51 children and adults had died hours earlier." (Source: AANA)
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