Subject: Africa News Digest August 6-7, 2000
Date: Mon, 7 Aug 2000 20:28:09 -0400


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Africa Newswire Network (ANN) News Digest for August 6-7, 2000.

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SIERRA LEONE: Disarmament picks up pace
Freetown, Sierra Leone (ANN, August 7, 2000) - In a development welcomed by United Nations officials, over 300 people have presented themselves to a disarmament centre in Lungi, Sierra Leone, over the past 10 days.

ZIMBABWE: SADC concerned over threatened US sanctions
Windhoek, Namibia (ANN, August 7, 2000) - Southern African leaders appeared ready on Monday to rally around Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe against threatened US sanctions.

BURUNDI: Arusha talks resume
Arusha, Tanzania (ANN, August 7, 2000) - Heads of 19 delegations taking part in the Arusha peace process arrived in the northern Tanzanian town over the weekend for another round of talks which began on Monday, the Hirondelle news agency reported.

EGYPT: Egyptian Human Rights Activist Charged for Espionage
Cairo, EGYPT (ANN, August 7, 2000) - A prominent Egyptian human rights activist, Dr. Sadhedine Ibrahim, has been charged for espionnage by the authorities, amongst other allegations.

SIERRA LEONE: Sierra Leone Soccer-PlayingYoungsters Seek Asylum in Norway
Freetown, SIERRA LEONE (ANN, August 7, 2000) - Several members of a Sierra Leone U16 soccer squad have gone missing in Norway. The side was expected to take part in a soccer fiesta bringing together teams from around the world.

IVORY COAST: Refugees Warn Ivoriens against Civil War
Abidjan, IVORY COAST (ANN, August 7, 2000) - Refugees residing in Ivory Coast have advised women in the country to work hard for peace in order to avoid a civil war.

KENYA: Nairobi Remembers
Nairobi, Kenya (ANN, August 7, 2000) =96 Today is a day of mourning for hundreds of Kenyans as the country remembers and mourns the 213 people who perished in the deadly bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi two years ago, destroying the embassy and adjacent buildings.

ZIMBABWE: Whites Take Land Crisis to Court
Harare, ZIMBABWE (ANN, August 7, 2000) - White farmers in Zimbabwe, in what appears a more refined approach to the land crisis, may have decided to appeal to the Supreme Court in that country to intervene.

MOZAMBIQUE: Rainy season brings new threats
Maputo, Mozambique (ANN, August 7, 2000) - The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) in Mozambique is concerned that next month's rainy season might washout flood-damaged roads under repair, again cutting off people from food aid.

NIGERIA: Senate Deputy Speaker Apologizes
Abuja, NIGERIA (ANN, August 7, 2000) - Some of the senators indicted in the Senate contract scams by the Idris Kuta-led panel may have decided to toe the path of repentance, as the Deputy Senate President, Alhaji Haruna Abubakar, apologized at the weekend to the entire nation over the N16 million collected as =91welfare package=92 by his office, explaining that it was not an attempt to misuse funds.

NAMIBIA: Southern African Leaders Gang up Against Savimbi
Windhoek, NAMIBIA (ANN, August 7, 2000) - Leaders of the Southern African states meeting over the weekend in Windhoek, Namibia, intend to put Angolan rebel leader Jonas Savimbi under intense pressure.

ZIMBABWE: Government Makes Moves to Thwart US Sanctions
Harare, ZIMBABWE (ANN, August 7, 2000) =96 The Zimbabwe government over the weekend embarked on a regional diplomatic offensive to enlist the support of Southern African states in an attempt to ward off the punitive economic sanctions to be imposed by the United States on the country for tolerating lawlessness by government supporters.

NIGERIA: Senate President Refuses to Step Down
Abuja, NIGERIA (ANN, August 7, 2000) - "Leaders don=92t quit, quitters don=92t lead." With these memorable words, embattled Senate president, Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, set the tone for his defense, in preparation of the debate on the Senate panel=92s report on contract awards scheduled to open on Tuesday.

DR CONGO: Kabila Absent from SADC Summit
Windhoek, Namibia (ANN, August 6, 2000) =96 President Laurent-Desire Kabila failed to appear at the SADC (Southern African Development Community) that opened today in Windhoek, Namibia.

CONGO: Rail traffic resumes between Pointe-Noire and Brazzaville
Brazaville, Congo (ANN, August 6, 2000) =96 A train carrying goods, gasoline and cement from the port of Pointe-Noire arrived Saturday in Brazzaville, marking the resumption of the rail link between the two cities after it was stopped two years ago due to the civil war in the Republic of Congo.

MOROCCO: Moroccan Migrants Film Drama Becomes Reality
Casablanca, MOROCCO (ANN, August 6, 2000) - Some 70 Moroccan film extras, shooting a movie on illegal immigrants, lost the pilot and fled to Spain for real. They abandoned the set and sailed rickety old boats over the Strait of Gibraltar.

TUNISIA: Tunisia Sacks Activist for Criticizing President
Tunis, TUNISIA (ANN, August 6, 2000) - A leading Tunisia human rights activist last Sunday said that he was fired from his job because of a threat by President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to prosecute critics of his rule.

BURUNDI: Burundi Army Accused of Killing 53 People
Bujumbura, BURUNDI (ANN, August 6, 2000) - The Burundian Army has been linked in a recent massacre involving 53 civilians, many of them women and children in a remote village east of Burundi.

DR CONGO: UN Urges African Leaders to Put Pressure on Kabila
Kinshasa, DR CONGO (ANN, August 6, 2000) - The United Nations representative to the Democratic Republic of Congo has said African leaders must intensify pressure on President Laurent Kabila to abide by the Lusaka peace agreement.

NIGERIA: Court Restrains Government over Abalaka=92s HIV Vaccines
Abuja, NIGERIA (ANN, August 6, 2000) - The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja last weekend granted embattled Dr. Jeremiah Ojonemi Abalaka=92s prayers by making sure the Federal Government is restrained from investigating his HIV preventive and curative vaccine.

SENEGAL: Senegal, Morocco, Others to Build Trans-African Highway
Dakar, SENEGAL (ANN, August 6, 2000) - The Moroccan and Senegalese Ministers of Equipment have sent word to the Mauritanian President on the proposed Trans-African Highway.

NIGERIA: HIV Carriers, Students Seek Reversal of Ban of HIV Vaccines
Abuja, NIGERIA (ANN, August 6, 2000) - People living with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) more than a week ago took their plight to the House of Representatives in Abuja, seeking a reversal of the Federal Government=92s recent ban on the HIV vaccines purported to have been invented by some Nigerian medical practitioners.

SOCIETY

MALAWI: Malawian Church Oppose Women=92s Ordination
Lilongwe, MALAWI (ANN, August 7, 2000) - Churches in Malawi are reluctant in allowing women to preach from the pulpit with male counterparts, a recent survey has shown.

EGYPT: Man Kills Bastard Son after Wife=92s Confession
Cairo, EGYPT (ANN, August 7, 2000) - Reality was made out of what seemed like a tale book story when a man killed a six-year-old boy after his wife admitted she had been engaging in extra-marital affairs and that the child was another man=92s son.

MOROCCO: Moroccan Migrants Film Drama Becomes Reality
Casablanca, MOROCCO (ANN, August 6, 2000) - Some 70 Moroccan film extras, shooting a movie on illegal immigrants, lost the pilot and fled to Spain for real. They abandoned the set and sailed rickety old boats over the Strait of Gibraltar.

GHANA: Asylum Seeker Goes Home in Chartered Jet
Accra, GHANA (ANN, August 6, 2000) - A Ghanaian asylum seeker has been flown home in a private jet at a cost of =A330,000, the Home Office has confirmed. British Home Office officials chartered the jet after commercial airlines refused to fly Patience Sapani-Awnobi when she became hysterical about leaving her sick son.

UGANDA: Ugandan Doomsday Cult Followers Poisoned to Death
Kampala, UGANDA (ANN, August 6, 2000) - Most of the hundreds of the people who died at the hands of the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God at Kanungu in South western Uganda had been poisoned to death, police said in Kampala on Friday last week.

ECONOMY

LIBERIA: Liberia=92s Economic Woes
Monrovia, Liberia (ANN, August 7, 2000) - Economic and commercial activity remain stagnant, the damage to infrastructure is still evident and most social services function poorly or not at all in Liberia, a country struggling to recover from a war that ended three years ago.

NIGERIA: Nigeria=92s External Debt Down by $1.4 Billion
Abuja, NIGERIA (ANN, August 7, 2000) - Nigeria=92s external debt stock has been reduced by $1.4 billion through the Debt Conversion Program (DCP) since its inception in 1988.

NIGERIA: $500 Million in Foodstuffs Imported by Nigeria in Six Months
Lagos, NIGERIA (ANN, August 7, 2000) - Nigeria, within the last six months, imported food items worth over $500 million with vegetable oil alone accounting for $66 million.

ZIMBABWE: Nationwide strike cost $12 million to Zimbabwe
Harare, Zimbabwe (ANN, August 6, 2000) - The strike of last Wednesday cost the Zimbabwean economy some 600 million Zim dollars, that is, an estimated US $12 million, according economists.

GABON: US Firm Acquires 38% Share in Gabon=92s Oil Blocks
Libreville, GABON (ANN, August 6, 2000) - A United States oil company, Triton Energy Limited (NYSE Oil) has acquired a 38% interest in the Tolo and Otiti blocks in offshore Gabon.

ALGERIA: $574 Million Gas Plant Projected
Algiers, ALGERIA (ANN, August 6, 2000) - The contract for the construction of a natural gas processing plant in Algeria has been awarded to Swiss-Swedish electrical engineering giant Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) at a cost of $574 million.

NIGERIA: South Korea Grants $250 Million Credit Facility
Abuja, NIGERIA (ANN, August 6, 2000) - The South Korean government has granted a $250 million credit facility to Nigeria, just as plans are on to remodel the Ajaokuta Steel Rolling Mill after South Korea=92s world largest steel company POSCO.

SOUTH AFRICA: Government Approves Free Trade Area for September
Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA (ANN, August 6, 2000) - The South African Executive Cabinet last week approved a regional free trade area that will begin to relax tariff barriers between the country and its neighbors in the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

SPORTS

SOUTH AFRICA-TENNIS: South Africa dominates tennis tournament
Windhoek, Namibia (ANN, August 7, 2000) =96 On Saturday, South Africa dominated the U-18 tennis tournament organized by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) in Windhoek, Namibia.

SIERRA LEONE: Sierra Leone Soccer-PlayingYoungsters Seek Asylum in Norway
Freetown, SIERRA LEONE (ANN, August 7, 2000) - Several members of a Sierra Leone U16 soccer squad have gone missing in Norway. The side was expected to take part in a soccer fiesta bringing together teams from around the world.

African Club Champions League: Lobi Stars Fail to Shine, Esperance Loses to Africa Sports
Cairo, Egypt (ANN, August 7, 2000) - Nigeria=92s Lobi Stars on Friday in Cairo, Egypt, lost 1-3 to Al-Ahly in a group B match of the on-going 2000 African Club Champions League.

ATHLETISM: Africans dominate IAAF Grand Price in London
London, UK (ANN, August 6, 2000) - Moroccan athlete, Hicham El Guerrouj, won IAAF (International Amateur Athletes Federation) athletism Grand Prize on Saturday at the Chrystal Palace in London.

GHANA-SOCCER: Ghana Appoints New Technical Adviser
Accra, GHANA (ANN, August 6, 2000) - Ghanaian Football Association on Monday sacked Italian soccer coach, Giuseppe Dossena and bowed to local pressure by appointing a former Ghanaian international, Fred Osema Dudo, to replace him.

LIBERIA: Liberia Will Win 2002 World Cup Ticket, Minsiter Says
Monrovia, LIBERIA (ANN, August 6, 2000) - Liberia is optimistic about winning one of the 2002 World Cup tickets for Africa, Francois Massaguot, Liberian Minister of Youth and Sports, said.

WORLD CUP: Blatter denies rumours of agreement with Africa
Zurich, Switzerland (ANN, August 5, 2000) - The president of the International Federation of Football (FIFA), Sepp Blatter, had denied the rumours alleging an agreement between the soccer body and Africa on the holding of the 2010 World Cup.

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