- Designation of 39 Organizations on the USA PATRIOT Act's "Terrorist Exclusion List"
- Treasures plundered by the British to be returned to Ethiopia
- Paris Club cancels US $72-million debt Sierra Leone
- The Netherlands provides US $ 3.6 million for South African defence forces
- TOGO: Preparations for parliamentary elections underway
- SUDAN: Khartoum against UN draft on human rights
- CAMEROON: WWF and loggers inaugurate partnership
- Archbishop criticises injustice in Liberia
- Limpopo river in Mozambique nearing alert levels
- UNHCR concerned over Dordabis detainees
Designation of 39 Organizations on the USA PATRIOT Act's "Terrorist Exclusion List"
Washington: December 6, 2001:
- Ostensibily to protect the safety of the United States and its citizens,
US Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, in consultation with the Attorney
General, on December 5 designated 39 groups as Terrorist Exclusion List
(TEL) organizations under section 212 of the Immigration and Nationality Act,- as amended by the new USA PATRIOT Act. By designating these groups,
- the Secretary has strengthened the United States' ability to exclude supporters
- of terrorism from the country or to deport them if they are found within our borders,
- Philip T.Rekker, Deputy Spokesman, US State Department said in a statement.
The campaign against terrorism will be a long one, using all the tools
of statecraft. We are taking a methodical approach to all aspects of
the campaign to eliminate terrorism as a threat to our way of life.
This round of Terrorist Exclusion List designations is by no means the
last. We will continue to expand the list as we identify and confirm
additional entities that provide support to terrorists.Terrorist Exclusion List Designees: December 5, 2001 Al-Ittihad al-Islami (AIAI) Al-Wafa al-Igatha al-Islamia Asbat al-Ansar Darkazanli Company Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC) Islamic Army of Aden Libyan Islamic Fighting Group Makhtab al-Khidmat Al-Hamati Sweets Bakeries Al-Nur Honey Center Al-Rashid Trust Al-Shifa Honey Press for
Industry and CommerceJaysh-e-Mohammed Jamiat al-Ta'awun al- Islamiyya Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB) Army for the Liberation of Rwanda (ALIR) - AKA: Interahamwe, Former Armed Forces (EX-FAR) First of October Antifascist Resistance Group (GRAPO) AKA: Grupo de Resistencia Anti-Fascista Premero De
OctubreLashkar-e-Tayyiba (LT) - AKA: Army of the Righteous Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA) - AKA: Continuity
Army CouncilOrange Volunteers (OV) Red Hand Defenders (RHD) New People's Army (NPA) People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD) Revolutionary United Front (RUF) Al-Ma'unah Jayshullah Black Star Anarchist Faction for Overthrow Red Brigades-Combatant Communist Party (BR-PCC) Revolutionary Proletarian Nucleus Turkish Hizballah Jerusalem Warriors Islamic Renewal and Reform Organization The Pentagon Gang Japanese Red Army (JRA) Jamiat ul-Mujahideen (JUM) Harakat ul Jihad i Islami (HUJI) The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA The Netherlands provides US $ 3.6 million for South African defence forces
NAIROBI, 6 December (IRIN) - The Netherlands government has agreed to
grant at least 40 million rand (US $3.6 million) to support the 701 South
African troops in Burundi, news organisations reported on Wednesday.South Africa's secretary of defence, January Masilela, and The Netherlands
ambassador to South Africa, Laetitia van den Assum, signed the agreements
on Tuesday in Pretoria, the capital. The South African news agency, SAPA,
quoted Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota as say Belgium, the European Union,
the United Kingdom, and the US have also promised financial aid for his
troops.South African President Thabo Mbeki told parliament recently that it would
cost about 1.5 billion rand ($134.5 million) per year to deploy the
troops, for which donor funds had been negotiated. Eventually, South
Africa plans to deploy 1,431 troops - as part of a multinational
peacekeeping force, SAPA reported. Ghana, Senegal and Nigeria are
considering contributions to this effort.South African troops were deployed to Bujumbura in October to protect
returning exiled Burundian politicians who are taking part in a three-year
power-sharing government that was installed on 1 November.CAMEROON: WWF and loggers inaugurate partnership
ABIDJAN, 6 December (IRIN) - The World Wildlife Foundation in Cameroon
(WWF) have signed a preliminary agreement with two logging companies to
implement programmes for sustainable management of forests in the
south-eastern region's Lobeke National Park and Boumba-Bek Reserve, as
well as in the Campo Ma'an National Park.A final agreement between the foundation, Société Industrielle des Bois
Africains (SIBAF), and Forestière de Campo (HFC) - subsidiaries of the
Groupe Bolloré- is expected to be signed early in 2002, a WWF statement
said on Thursday."The signing of this preliminary partnership agreement is the culmination
of two years of discussions between WWF and a company that was willing to
commit to sustainable forest management," said the statement.The two companies are among those which committed themselves to
sustainable forest management and certification under standards of the
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), after the government allocated the
country's forests in July 2001. "The agreement between WWF and SIBAF/HFC
is one of the results of the Sustainable Forest Management/Certification
(SFM/C) Project initiated by WWF-Belgium and funded by the European Union
(EU)," the statement added.Implementation of activities under the partnerships will be done in close
collaboration with the ministry of environment and forestry, Laurent Some,
Cameroon Programme Representative of WWF, was quoted as saying.Nicholas Jamet, director general of the two companies, echoed
determination for the programme to succeed, while Didier Bastin, Executant
of the WWF Sustainable Forest Management and Certification project, said
another three such agreements may be signed by the end of the year.Treasures plundered by the British to be returned to Ethiopia
ADDIS ABABA, 6 December (IRIN) - Ethiopia welcomed on Wednesday the
imminent return of treasure plundered in the 19th century by British
soldiers. An ancient tablet bearing a picture of the Ark of the Covenant
is to be handed back early next year after it was found in a cupboard of a
Scottish church. It is part of an impressive haul including a solid gold
crown, 550 bibles and manuscripts looted in 1868 after the battle of
Magdala between British and Ethiopian forces.The Ethiopian-based Association for the Return of the Magdala Treasures
said the move now paved the way for Britain to hand back all the artefacts
seized by troops under the command of General Robert Napier. Professor
Endrias Eshete, chairman of the association, said: “These treasures are
some of the most important items in Ethiopian history. It would be the
equivalent of Ethiopia refusing to hand over the British crown jewels.”The association was set up four years ago to pressurise the British
Government into handing back the treasure – much of which is housed in
London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. Prof Endrias added: “Hopefully this
generous act of handing back the tablet will flush out further items held
by private collectors. And it can only serve to apply more pressure for
the return of all the items. This is a genuine breakthrough and wonderful
for the country.”“The British Government will now have to come up with compelling reasons
why they should keep the items,” he said. He estimated the treasure could
be worth more than US $1 billion – and form part of the first national
archive of Ethiopia. The intricately carved wooden tablet – known as a
tabot - was found by the Reverend John McLuckie from the Episcopal Church
of St John the Evangelist in Edinburgh who stumbled upon it while looking
for a communion set early this year. Traditionally wrapped in cloths, they
form the centrepiece of the country's Orthodox religion.The tabot itself was bought by an officer from Edinburgh who set it on a
plinth and presented it to his home church. It was part of booty seized
after the battle between Gen Napier and Emperor Tewodros. The British
forces routed the Ethiopians with 700 of the emperor’s warriors being cut
down by British rifle fire to avenge the imprisonment of two British
envoys. The booty was collected and later auctioned off for £5,000.
Britain returned part of the treasure when King George V presented Empress
Zawditu with a crown when Ethiopian Regent Haile Selassie visited London
in 1924.Archbishop criticises injustice in Liberia
ABIDJAN, 6 December (IRIN) - Condemnation of corruption, immorality, and
injustice in Liberian society by the Catholic Archbishop, Michael Francis,
on Sunday, drew immediate concern from the government, Liberian newspapers
reported."Our lives as individuals and as a nation are characterised with
corruption, lies and deception, injustices and low salaries," the Inquirer
newspaper on Monday reported Francis as saying in a pastoral letter. "The
political and social structures in our country are sinful, leading to
pressure on the people. We see daily how our people are being treated and
their rights violated with impunity".But the government, in an Information Ministry statement, said these vices
were "not new to the Liberian society neither were they created by the
Taylor administration", the New Liberia newspaper reported on Tuesday.It expressed concern that Francis would condemn vices of a social and
political nature and ignore the carnage that is being carried out against
innocent Liberians by the dissidents in the northern Lofa County, the
paper said."By failing to condemn this war in his pastoral message leaves one to
wonder whether the good Bishop approves of the action of the dissidents,"
the statement said, adding that the government welcomed his criticisms and
invited him to "use his vast experiences and resources to help solve the
problem".Last week, fighting intensified in Liberia's northwestern Gbarpolu County,
neighbouring the war-wrecked northern Lofa County, forcing aid workers to
withdraw to Monrovia. Calm was, however, restored in the area and the aid
agencies returned as of Tuesday. The defence ministry blamed the fighting
on the armed opposition fighters of the Liberians United for
Reconciliation (LURD).Limpopo river in Mozambique nearing alert levels
JOHANNESBURG, 6 December (IRIN) - The level of the Limpopo river, in the
southern Mozambican province of Gaza, has been rising over the past few
days, and in places is nearing the flood alert point, Mozambican news
reports said on Thursday.The increase in water levels is mainly due to heavy rainfall in countries
upstream, such as South Africa. In recent weeks parts of South Africa's
eastern Mpumalanga, which borders Zimbabwe, and the northern parts of the
Free State have been experiencing heavy rains."We need to remember that in Mozambique's case, even if they do not
receive heavy or above normal rainfalls, any heavy rains in countries like
South Africa and Zimbabwe will have an impact on water levels in
Mozambique. Most of the regions major rivers flow into Mozambique," a
South African disaster management official told IRIN.He said that officials would continue to monitor the situation in
Mozambique and in South Africa. "Experience has shown that disaster
management in the two countries are very much inter-linked," he said.Meanwhile, humanitarian sources in Mozambique told IRIN that one of their
biggest concerns at the moment was in convincing local people to leave
their homes and move to higher ground. "It is not easy telling people to
leave their homes behind and move on, even if it is just for a short
period of time. And the trick is convincing people to move before rivers
burst their banks, in this way we can prevent potential disasters," one
aid worker said.Mozambique has suffered two consecutive years of flood disasters. At the
beginning of this year, some 500,000 people were affected by flooding
after heavy rains deluged the southern African region.UNHCR concerned over Dordabis detainees
WINDHOEK, 6 December (IRIN) - The United Nations refugee agency in Namibia
has expressed concern over the fact that 80 suspected Angolan UNITA rebels
who have been held in Dordabis, about 100 km southeast of the capital
Windhoek, have not appeared in court for around 18 months.A UNHCR spokesperson in Windhoek, David Nthengwe, told IRIN on Wednesday
that the agency was supposed to meet officials from the ministry of home
affairs this week but that the meeting had to be postponed indefinitely
due to other commitments by the government officials."It is just a question of finding time. One of the issues to be discussed
will be why the people have not appeared before a court. We have raised
our concern before but will do it again," Nthengwe said.He said UNHCR was not the "arresting authority" and thus could not explain
why the 80, accused of being UNITA fighters and collaborators, had been
detained for so long without trial.Delmi Cupido from a public law firm called the Legal Assistance Centre
said they were approached by one of the detainees and were in the process
of visiting the person for consultations. The group have never been
charged with committing any crime, despite the government's insistence
that they are UNITA bandits and are linked to atrocities carried out in
Namibia's northeast region.Last week, Home Affairs Permanent Secretary Niilo Taapopi said his
ministry would recommend that the 80 be given refugee status and moved to
a camp other than the main Angolan settlement at Osire. The recommendation
followed talks with UNHCR and the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC).According to Taapopi, the accused are a security threat to Namibia and
Angola. He said they are divided into three groups - those who want to go
back to Angola, those who want refugee status, and those who say they have
been in Namibia long enough to become citizens. He said their main
challenge was to prove that they were not a security threat while the
government maintained that they were UNITA collaborators.At least 82 people were taken to Dordabis after being rounded up in the
Kavango region in June and July last year as security forces tried to
clamp down on banditry attacks mainly on civilians. Two of those
transferred to Dordabis died from illnesses while in custody.Paris Club cancels US $72-million debt Sierra Leone
ABIDJAN, 6 December (IRIN) - The Paris Club has agreed to restructure
Sierra Leone's public external debt, cancelling about US $72 million of
it. The agreement followed a recent meeting of the West African country's
creditors."We hope it will come into effect early next year," a senior official in
Sierra Leone's finance ministry told IRIN on Thursday. The restructuring
is expected to reduce debt service payments due to Paris Club creditors
between October 1, 2001 and September 30, 2004 from around US $180 million
to about US $45 million, according to the Paris Club internet site. The
reason behind the debt relief, the ministry official said, is to allow the
country to put more money into priority areas such as health, education
and agriculture. He added that the Sierra Leonean economy would "be in
better condition in 2002 after disarmament has been completed."Sierra Leone is slowly emerging from 10 years of brutal civil war between
rebels and government forces which left its social, political and economic
infrastructure in tatters.The Paris Club is an informal group of official creditors whose role is to
find solutions, including debt rescheduling, to the payment difficulties
experienced by debtor nations. The Club has 19 permanent members and its
creditors meet in the French capital, after which it is named, about 10-11
times a year.
SUDAN: Khartoum against UN draft on human rights
NAIROBI, 6 December (IRIN) - The Sudanese government has expressed its
opposition to a draft resolution on human rights adopted by the UN General
Assembly's Third Committee last week, saying the text was biased in favour
of the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A).The Sudanese government delegate to the Third Committee (Social,
Humanitarian and Cultural) said the draft resolution - approved by 82
votes in favour to 34 against, with 45 abstentions, on 30 November -
condoned the activities of the SPLM/A.The government envoy said the SPLM/A, which she described as a terrorist
movement, had carried out bombings, killed humanitarian workers and taken
innocent civilians as human shields in its attempt to prolong Sudan's
18-year civil war.The United States abstained in the vote, saying the resolution did not go
far enough to improve human rights in Sudan.Referring, in particular, to slavery, the US said that although the
resolution called for actions to end the abduction of women and children,
it did not reflect the true, tragic position of human rights in the
country.An undertaking to end slavery was one of four confidence-building measures
proposed by US peace envoy to Sudan, John Danforth, during a visit to the
country in November.The Khartoum government has repeatedly stated that there is no slavery
practised in Sudan, while admitting that there is a problem of some tribal
militias abducting civilians."If a proof of slavery is produced, the government will act to stop such a
practice, and if there is no evidence, the US should close this case," AFP
news agency quoted Sudanese President Umar Hasan al-Bashir as saying late
last month.In Sudan last month, Danforth also proposed a cessation of bombing attacks
on civilians; zones of tranquility and times of tranquility to enable safe
delivery of humanitarian assistance; and permanent humanitarian access to
the war-torn Nubah Mountains in Southern Kordofan.While the Sudanese government agreed to an initial four-week period of
tranquility in the Nubah Mountains to allow urgently needed deliveries of
food aid, it has concerns about any longer-term ceasefire in this region
alone."We have expressed to the American presidential envoy our reservation
towards the partial [Nubah] ceasefire he has proposed," AFP quoted Bashir
as saying.A ceasefire should include the oil pipeline which crosses the Nubah
Mountains as well as the oil production sites near those mountains,
according to Bashir. He also referred to a number of failed attempts since
the mid-1990s to implement ceasefires in Bahr al-Ghazal State, southern
Sudan.Khartoum has consistently called for a comprehensive ceasefire to allow
for peace talks, while the SPLM/A has long maintained that such a
ceasefire arrangement is only possible in the context of a comprehensive
political settlement.According to the draft resolution on human rights in Sudan adopted by the
Third Committee last week, the General Assembly would express deep concern
at continuing serious violations of human rights by both government and
rebel forces.The draft text highlighted the occurrence of extrajudicial and arbitrary
executions, the use of civilian premises for military purposes and the
forced displacement of populations living around the oilfields.The Sudanese delegate claimed that parts of the text regarding the
extraction of oil resources compromised the sovereignty of Sudan.Suggestions that development of the oil industry had led to forced
displacement were false, and the Sudanese government had every right to
utilise the natural resources of its country, she said.A US delegation is scheduled to spend five days in Sudan from Friday, 7
December, in order to gauge reactions from Khartoum and the SPLM/A to
Danforth's four proposals. The group of seven officials is expected to
discuss in detail plans for a truce in the Nubah Mountains region, and
also elicit opinions from political leaders on the other three
initiatives."My meetings were primary, but the group that is going will hold detailed
discussions," Danforth said at a US State Department briefing on 27
November.
TOGO: Preparations for parliamentary elections underwayABIDJAN, 6 December (IRIN) - Preparations in Togo for parliamentary
elections in March 2002, got underway and a review of voters' registers is
expected to start on Friday. The first round of polls will take place on
10 March while the second will take place two weeks later.A decree issued in the capital Lome, on Tuesday, by President Gnassingbe
Eyadema said the revision of the voters' rolls which were established in
1998 would continue until 16 December, news agencies reported. The new
election dates were announced in the same decree, the agencies added.The polls will be supported by UNDP which on Friday signed an agreement
with the government, under which the UN agency will second a senior
technical advisor and a specialist in election law to the National
Independent Electoral Commission.Togo's newspapers including the pro-opposition L'Evenement and le
Carrefour, as well as the pro-government La Nouvelle Republique, last week
widely reported that both the opposition and government were laying
strategies for the election. The PanAfrican News Agency on Tuesday
reported the government saying it was committed to the elections.The polls were postponed on 5 October, by the National Electoral
Commission for "reasons beyond its control". A UN team had recommended
that the polls be postponed by at least four months, IRIN reported on 8
October. The polls are meant to replace a 1999 legislative election which
the opposition boycotted afteraccusing the government of rigging a
presidential poll in mid-1998.