[The African Union (AU) plans to refer the situation in Mali to the United Nations Security Council so that it can create a framework for tackling the worsening crisis there, a diplomatic source close to the AU president said on Wednesday.]
BURUNDI :
La Belgique étudie l’octroi d’une tranche supplémentaire de 50 millions d’euros au Burundi
2012-06-01/ xinhua
La Belgique étudie l’octroi d’une tranche supplémentaire de 50 millions d’euros au Burundi, dans le cadre du Programme indicatif de coopération (PIC) 2009-2013.
Le comité spécial des partenaires de la coopération belgo- burundaise se réunit depuis jeudi à Bujumbura pour évaluer les critières liés à la libération de cette somme.
Guy Boreux, directeur général de la coopération au développement au ministère belge de la Coopération au développement, a rappelé à cette occasion que cette tranche s’ajoute aux 150 millions d’euros déjà inscrits dans le budget.
Il a expliqué que le déblocage du supplément de 50 millions d’ euros est conditionné par des avancées burundaises en matière de bonne gouvernance.
A cet égard, il a souligné que la performance déjà atteinte par l’Office burundais des recettes (OBR) dans l’exécution de son cahier de charges, constitue un indicateur de la détermination du gouvernement burundais pour la mise en oeuvre de la stratégie nationale de bonne gouvernance et de lutte contre la corruption adoptée il y a cinq mois.
RWANDA :
Rwanda accuses U.N. of fomenting regional tensions
By Jonny Hogg/ Reuters/ Thu May 31, 2012
GOMA, Congo (Reuters) – Rwanda accused the United Nations of stirring tensions in the Great Lakes region on Thursday after the world body said that men recruited in Rwanda had been tricked into fighting for a rebel group in neighboring Congo.
Rwanda has in the past backed rebels in Congo, citing a need to stamp out fighters who operate there and who are linked to its 1994 genocide. The two neighbors have enjoyed warmer ties since 2009 when the Rwandan-backed CNDP rebel group signed a peace deal and integrated into the Congolese armed forces.
However the eastern Congolese provinces of North and South Kivu have experienced new fighting in recent weeks after former CNDP elements launched a fresh rebellion, rallying behind the renegade Congolese general, Bosco Ntaganda.
Speculation of Rwandan involvement in the mineral-rich zone grew as the U.N. mission said this week 11 rebel fighters had given themselves up in Congo, saying they had been recruited in Rwanda and tricked into crossing the border to fight for the rebels.
Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikwabo rejected the assertions as untrue.
“She has requested Roger Meece to come to Kigali to explain why MONUSCO is spreading false rumors aimed at aggravating the volatile situation.. (and) undermining ongoing collaboration between Rwanda and DRC (Congo),” a Foreign Ministry statement said of the head of the local UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO.
There was no immediate reaction from MONUSCO but earlier this week one of its officials said it was clear from their contacts with the fighters that they were Rwandan, without going as far as implying direct involvement of Rwandan authorities.
“They gave us information about where they came from, where they were recruited, before being taken to the frontline… The fact that they’re Rwandan, I think that it’s undisputable,” Patrick Cyrille-Garba, head of the UN disarmament programme in North Kivu, told Reuters.
Cyrille-Garba said three more fighters also alleging to have been forcibly recruited in Rwanda had since given themselves up and were now being questioned by MONUSCO with the 11 others.
Mushikwabo also criticized groups such as New York-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch, which is investigating suggestions of Rwandan support to the mutineers.
“The irresponsible words of lobbies like Human Rights Watch are no less dangerous than bullets or machetes,” she said.
Ida Sawyer, HRW’s researcher in Congo, said the group was continuing its checks.
“Instead of attacking the UN or civil society groups, Rwanda should focus on investigating these allegations,” Sawyer said.
(Reporting by Jonny Hogg; editing by Mark John)
RDC CONGO:
RDC : à Kinshasa, les parlementaires s’emparent du rapport polémique de la Monusco
Par RFI / vendredi 01 juin 2012
Une fois n’est pas coutume, la situation à l’est de la République démocratique du Congo mobilise la classe politique à Kinshasa, capitale de la RDC. Demain samedi 2 juin, une manifestation contre la guerre est prévue dans la capitale à l’initiative d’une partie de l’opposition et de la société civile. L’attitude du Rwanda est dénoncée de toutes parts depuis qu’un rapport des Nations unies, parlant de l’implication de combattants rwandais, a été révélé. Un débat s’est ouvert à l’Assemblée nationale, à huis clos. Il reprendra lundi.
Avec notre correspondant à Kinshasa
Plusieurs parlementaires n’apprécient pas que les échanges avec le ministre de la Défense, Charles Mwando Nsimba, se passent à huis clos. « Les Congolais doivent savoir ce qui se passe à l’Est, ce que fait le Rwanda », dit le député d’opposition Clément Kanku. Il appelle à une manifestation ce samedi pour protester contre la reprise de la guerre : « Ca fait plus de treize ans que le Rwanda occupe l’est du Congo, rappelle le député. Et l’exemple de Charles Taylor, ancien président du Liberia, en Sierra Leone, doit bien nous inspirer aujourd’hui et inspirer le Rwanda. »
Un de ses collègues de la majorité, Vénant Tshipasa, député du Nord-Kivu, pense la même chose, et n’est pas du tout confiant dans le dialogue entre Kinshasa et Kigali : « Je ne crois pas à la sincérité du Rwanda. Je crois que notre gouvernement caresse le gouvernement du Rwanda avec les deux mains. Par contre, le Rwanda caresse à tout vent avec la main gauche et la main droite prend les kalashnikov pour nous faire la guerre. »
Ancien parlementaire du Sud-Kivu, Enock Ruberangabo, membre de la communauté Banyamulege apparentée aux Tutsis, adopte une position plus mesurée. Pour lui, il faut un dialogue franc avec le Rwanda : « Il faut que Kigali parle avec Kinshasa pour trouver des solutions. Nous, les communautés frontalières, nous sommes fatiguées de cette instrumentalisation. »
La situation de l’Est a souvent été ignorée à Kinshasa, mais elle est cette fois venue occuper la première place dans le débat politique.
UGANDA :
Uganda to back Turkey for 2015 UN Security Council seat
Date: Jun 01, 2012/By Vision Reporter
President Yoweri Museveni has urged the Turkish government to provide soft loans for infrastructure development especially in the roads and energy sector to accelerate development and strengthen economic ties.
He hailed the government of Turkey for supporting Uganda for the International Court of Justice, strengthening the relationship between the two countries by opening up a Turkish Airlines route to Uganda and for meeting the joint economic commitments agreed on.
The President said Uganda would be happy to support Turkey for the 2015 UN Security Council seat and 2020 Turkey Expo.
President Museveni was Thursday meeting President Abdullah Gul at the Presidential Palace in Istanbul, Turkey where he paid a courtesy call on him. The President is in Turkey to attend the 2nd Istanbul Conference on Somalia.
The conference held under the theme, “Preparing Somalia’s Future: Goals for 2015,” has attracted over 54 countries, representatives of the TFG in Somali, UN donors, private sector, civil society and the members of the diaspora.
On Somalia, President Museveni commended the government of Turkey for organizing the Somali conference, adding that the challenge now is that of unelected leaders who do not concentrate on uniting their country but instead concentrate on getting external sponsors to keep them in power.
“I’m glad the Prime Minister visited and spent a night there. At the conference we must work to seeing to it that there is transparency so that we can set the country on a fresh footing,” he said.
President Gul pledged to follow up with a feasibility study on the dam projects, adding that Turkish companies will evaluate and assess the needs for such projects for the Turkish companies.
TANZANIA:
Tanzania: BADEA to Give Dar U.S.$10 Million Loan
Tanzania Daily News (Dar es Salaam) /By John Kulekana/1 June 2012
Arusha — THE Arab Bank for Economic Development of Africa (BADEA) is to give Tanzania a concessional loan of 10 million US dollars (about 15.9bn/).
An agreement to that effect was signed here on Thursday by the Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs, Dr William Mgimwa, on behalf of the government and BADEA Director General, Mr Abdelaziz Khelef, on the sidelines of AfDB Annual General Meeting.
Dr Mgimwa said in a statement that the funds will be spent on the construction of Wete-Chakechake road on Pemba Island.He said the total cost of the project is $23 million (about 34.5bn/-).The minister said apart from BADEA, the Saudi Fund would contribute 10 million US dollars and the government of Tanzania 3 million US dollars.
He said construction of the road is scheduled to start in October, this year and be completed in October 2014.”The objective of the project is to improve access between Wete and Chakechake on Pemba Island,” he said.
KENYA:
Militants threaten Kenyan skyscrapers
June 1, 2012/AP/ news.smh.com.au
A private intelligence firm says the Somali militant group, al-Shabab, has threatened to bring down Kenya’s skyscrapers within two weeks, a warning that followed a bomb attack in Nairobi’s city centre.
IntelCentre said al-Shabab posted threats on a website on Wednesday that said “something big is coming” within the next two weeks. The posting said the country would soon “watch your towers coming down”.
“Two weeks from now you will weep,” the al-Shabab threat said.
The threat is the third time al-Shabab has said it would target Kenya’s tall buildings. The first came days after Kenya sent troops into Somalia in October last year to fight al-Shabab militants. A second threat came in January.
Al-Shabab is suspected in Monday’s bomb attack in central Nairobi that killed one person and wounded more than 30.
The IntelCentre said the threat of a large attack in Kenya over the next six months is high given the increasing number of threats from al-Shabab.
“The towers most likely to be targeted are those housing hotels, especially those frequented by Westerners, government offices, media and prominent corporations. The building volume of threats and low-level activity indicate that such an attack may be attempted sooner rather than later,” the Virginia-based IntelCentre said.
Al-Shabab and al-Qaeda formally joined organisations earlier this year, though the ties between the groups were already strong. Al-Shabab counts hundreds of foreign fighters among its ranks, including fighters with experience in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
In April the US government warned that it continues to receive information about potential terrorist threats aimed at US, Western and Kenyan targets inside Kenya.
ANGOLA:
Angolan troops to leave Bissau next week -official
Thu May 31, 2012 / Reuters
* Withdrawal could ease tensions in coup-stricken country
* Bissau junta accused Angola of seeking to destroy army
* Regional bloc’s force was deployed to oversee transition
BISSAU, May 31 (Reuters) – Angola will begin withdrawing its troops from Guinea Bissau next week, an Angolan official said on Thursday, denying reports the mission’s departure from the coup-stricken state would be delayed indefinitely.
The withdrawal of the roughly 270-strong force could ease tensions in the country after Bissau soldiers seized power in April and accused Angola of having had a secret pact with the ousted government to destroy its military.
“It will be between June 2 and June 10,” the official said. “There is a ship on the way and there will also be four planes arriving from Luanda to help with the withdrawal,” he said, asking not to be named.
West African regional bloc ECOWAS had said the Angolan force was meant to leave on May 30, and a Guinea-Bissau military source said on Wednesday the Angolans had delayed their departure “indefinitely”.
“This is simply not true,” the Angolan source said.
The Angolan mission has been in Guinea-Bissau – staying in a hotel in the capital – since early 2011 and was charged with helping reform the country’s military after a string of coups since independence from Portugal in 1974.
Guinea-Bissau is a hub for narcotics trafficking between South America and Europe, and the United States has named two of its top military officials ‘drugs kingpins’.
Angola announced it would withdraw its force days before an April 12 coup that derailed an election process and forced the poll’s front-runner, former Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior, and some of his allies to flee the country.
The junta said Gomes Junior, a vocal supporter of efforts to reform the military and combat cartels using the tiny country as a cocaine transhipment point, had a deal with Luanda to “annihilate Guinea-Bissau’s armed forces”.
Gomes Junior, who was briefly detained in the coup, went into exile in Portugal, but has said he wishes to return to Guinea-Bissau to rule.
Some of his allies: former army chief of staff Jose Zamora Induta, former interior minister Fernando Gomes, and former election commission chief Desejado Lima Dacosta, fled to Gambia where they have been arrested.
ECOWAS mediated a deal with Guinea-Bissau’s Military Command, which the regional group and the U.N. says is still run by armed forces chief Antonio Indjai, that paved the way for a civilian transitional government to take back power in mid-May.
The Military Command said it had deposed Indjai.
ECOWAS has also deployed to Bissau a 600-strong force, made up mainly of Nigerians, that is charged with overseeing a transition to new elections within 12 months, and eventually with taking over the security sector reform role played by the Angolan troops.
The CPLP grouping of Portuguese-speaking countries and the United Nations have expressed frustration over the ECOWAS deal, saying it does not adhere to a ‘zero tolerance’ policy for military coups.
Western diplomatic sources said the ECOWAS deal has rewarded the coup leaders with the removal of would-be president Gomes Junior and may reflect a rivalry between Angola and Nigeria for influence in the tiny country, which has rich bauxite deposits and possible oil offshore. (Reporting by Alberto Dabo in Bissau and Richard Valdmanis in Dakar; Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Louise Ireland)
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