CLIPPINGS
Algiers, Algeria
slamic militants fighting the military-backed regime vowed to make this year's
Ramadhani, the Muslim Holy month that began on January 10 a "bloody" one. In
thier last atrocity, witnesses reported that 40 people had their throats slit.
The total known death toll was 250 in just 15 days. In all about 60,000 people
have been killed in the violence since 1992 following the cancellation of
elections that the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) was poised to win.
The French Prime Minister Alain Juppe said in a radio interview on February 4
that "legal political groups should participate" in a ballot and that "as long
as one uses bombs, booby-trapped cars and knives, one is not a party which
adheres to democratic values."
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Khartoum, Sudan
On January 27, Sudan government said it had attacked a rebel base near Southern
border with Uganda, openning another front in the war agains rebels trying to
overthrow the Islamic government. The State television reported that "several
rebels were killed and wounded and a big number of heavy and light guns were
seized."
Later, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda said that Uganda and Sudan were on
the brink of war as Khartoum accused Kampala of supporting the Sudanese rebels.
He added that efforts to ease tension through the Intergovernmental Authority
on Development (IGAD), a regional grouping, had failed to bear fruits. His
remarks came hours after Sudan alleged that Uganda and Ethiopia were backing
the rebel forces which have seized a swathe of territory in Sudan's Eastern
Blue Nile State since January 12.
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Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Ethiopias Prime Minister Meles Zenawi ruled out the possibility of war with
neighbouring Sudan despite charges of aggression from Khartoum's Islamic-backed
government, the national news agency reported on February 8. Relations between
the two nations have been chilly since Addis Ababa accused Khartoum of
harbouring gunmen who attempted to assassinate Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak
in the Ethiopian capital in 1995.
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Rabat, Morocco
On February 8, President Mobutu Seseko of Zaire, in a brief statement before
leaving for Zaire, told reporters which he had a 35-minute meeting with
Moroccan King Hassan on february 6, the latest developments in the Great Lakes
region. He denied he was seeking military aid to crash the rebellion in the
eastern part of his country. In 1977, the Moroccan King provided troops to
take part in a military operation to put down a rebellion in Shaba province.
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Cairo, Egypt
A militant Islamic group issued a statement on February 7, to mark the Muslim
feast of Eid-el-Fitr vowing to continue its "Holy war" against the United
States and President Hosni Mubarak's secular government until Islamic laws
prevail. The "vanguards of conquest", one of the three main radical Islamic
groups battling Mubarak's government also threatened "important changes" that
it said will spark a popular and military uprising.
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Cape Town, South Africa
Five former South Africa security policemen are seeking amnesty for the 1977
death in detention of black consciousness leader, Steve Biko, who died in
Pretoria after being driven 800 Km in the back of a police land rover. The
policemen resposible for this detention and interogation were all repeatedly
promoted.
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Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
On January 6, the minister for Higher Education Research and Technological
innovation, Mr.Saliou Toure, told a conference of some 200 delegates that
African's brain drain which has sucked 1.5 million of the continent's best
economists and scientists to industrialised nations should be reversed. He
said the expatriates from African countries contribute to the economic,
scientific and technological development of western Europe, the United States,
Japan and Canada.
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Dakar, Senegal
A plane carrying French hunters crashed on take-off and burst into flames,
killing 23. The son of the President of Guinea-Bissau, the co-pilot was among
the dead. A total of 29 people survived. "The plane broke into two. That's
what saved us by allowing us to get out," a victim told Radio France saying he
had made his way forward towards a white light through black smoke.
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Antananarivo, Madagascar
On February 31, Admiral Didier Ratsiraka won Madagacar's presidential poll with
50.71 percent of the vote against 49.29 percent for his rival Albert Zafy
Ratsiraka, 62, who ruled Madagascar for 16 years before he was overthrown in
1991.
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Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania
More than a million Tanzanians are facing famine because of severe drought.
Agriculture minister Paul Kamiti told the National Assembly on February 8, that
up to 470,000 people would have to be given food assistance as they did not
have the means to provide for themselves. He further said that there are
predictions that there will be less rain again in most parts of the country
this year.
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Nairobi, Kenya
In a bid to contain the calamitious famine, President Moi invoked a section of
the Preservation of Public Security Act which gives him sweeping powers to make
regulations to deal with such situations. The declaration of disaster came
within hours of demands by the Catholic Bishops that "the Government declare a
national famine disaster" to enable churches and other organisations to help
the victims of hunger.
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