In this issue:

Canada's Drug Companies Favor Plan for AIDS Generics for Africa

Half of Malawi's Professionals Could Die of AIDS by 2005

First Trace of Ramses the Great's Archive Found in Egypt

Turbulent Developments Continue in D.R. Congo

Rwanda-Backed "Ex"-Rebels of RCD-Goma Prepare to Hold One-Third of Congo Despite UN's Peacekeepers

Kinshasa Daily: Rwanda Preparing New War Against Congo

U.S.-Controlled Opposition Leader Breaks With RCD-Goma, Returns to Congo From Exile

Uganda Sends Troops to D.R. Congo Border on a Pretext

Belgian Daily: Congo President Kabila Still a Target

Sudan Peace Talks Achieve Breakthrough, But to What?

From Volume 2, Issue Number 40 of Electronic Intelligence Weekly, Published Oct. 7, 2003
Africa News Digest

Canada's Drug Companies Favor Plan for AIDS Generics for Africa

Canada's brand-name drug companies have embraced a plan for a law allowing generics companies to make otherwise patented AIDS drugs available to Africa. Canada's Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies, the lobby group for brand-name drug industry, announced in a press release Oct. 1 that Canada "has an opportunity to show international leadership" by passing such a law, Canada's Globe and Mail reported Oct. 2. The planned legislation is to include drugs for tuberculosis and malaria.

The Director-General of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations, Harvey Bale, in Geneva, had gone berserk the week before over the alleged danger of "erosion of patent protection," adding that Canadian manufacturers of generics would lose because they would be undercut by Indian and Chinese competition. Jeff Connell of the Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association skewered him, saying the project "will not be commercially significant for any of our member companies. They're not going to make money doing this." Bale fumed, it will be a "black eye for Canada" and may "very well affect the investment climate," the Globe and Mail reported Sept. 27.

Federal officials still expect tough negotiations with brand-name manufacturers over the scope of patent exemptions.

Industry Minister Allan Rock and Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew, responding to a call from Canadian Stephen Lewis, the UN special envoy on AIDS in Africa, announced the plan for such a law Sept. 25. Federal officials are working around the clock to get the law enacted quickly, but some say the legislative agenda seems too full for action this fall. Incoming Prime Minister Paul Martin also supports the proposal.

Half of Malawi's Professionals Could Die of AIDS by 2005

Half of Malawi's professional workforce could die of HIV/AIDS by 2005, according to a World Bank report issued at the opening of the 13th International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA) in Nairobi Sept. 21. "Professionals in the education and health sectors are particularly affected... as are members of the army and police, the study says," according to AFP.

First Trace of Ramses the Great's Archive Found in Egypt

The first trace of the archive of Pharaoh Ramses II has been found in Egypt. The find, by the German archaeologist Edgar Pusch, was made in the mud along the Nile's eastern delta. A cuneiform fragment measuring 5 x 5 cm, was found 15 cm under the mud. It has 15 lines in cuneiform, the Babylonian language, which was the diplomatic language at the time. "The five-by-five centimeters, change the world," said Pusch, "because they are the corner of an archive; not an archive of books, but a diplomatic correspondence from the period of 1200 BC, between the two major great powers, Egypt and the Hittites."

Ramses II (reigned 1279-1213 BC) is reported to have collected a huge archive, which includes reports of various aspects of life in the oriental world, before everything was destroyed in a sea storm after his death.

Turbulent Developments Continue in D.R. Congo

During the past week, preparations for war in eastern Congo continued, and the assassination threat against President Joseph Kabila was still in the news in Belgium and Zaire. The major English-language press and non-Belgian French-language press continue their blackout of these developments. Decisions are evidently now being made as to which forces controlled by the United States directly, or through Rwanda and Uganda, will be positioned in the government, and which will remain at war with it. The following stories chronicle the week's developments.

Rwanda-Backed "Ex"-Rebels of RCD-Goma Prepare to Hold One-Third of Congo Despite UN's Peacekeepers

The Congolese Minister of Information has accused a faction of RCD-Goma of fomenting a new rebellion, and charged Rwanda with providing political and military assistance to them, according to Voice of America (VOA) Sept. 25. The charge came after "a handful of legislators from the ex-rebel movement... refused to come to the capital and issued a statement denouncing the peace process. The legislators said the eastern territories should remain under the control of RCD," VOA said.

"Senior RCD-Goma members dismiss such accusations and say that those within its midst who oppose the peace process represent a small minority. The Rwandan government also flatly denies it is stirring up unrest in the Congo," according to VOA.

But reports in last week's Africa Digest, and the new reports that follow, tell a different story, as do a few exchanges of gunfire between "ex"-rebels and UN forces.

VOA cites unnamed "western diplomats" who "say the political split in the east ... could re-ignite fighting in the country."

Other voices provide additional specifics:

* The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Lotus Group issued a press release Sept. 22 reporting the arrival at Bangboka airport (Kisangani) of weapons and ammunition Sept. 4 and 8 on flights of Victoria Air from Goma on the Rwandan border. They also report that troops are being concentrated in Kisangani and in towns along the Kisangani-Bukavu axis.

* The RCD-Goma governor of Orientale Province, in a Sept. 16 radio broadcast, ordered the suspension of all activity of political parties except that of RCD-Goma, "to prevent anarchy," according to FIDH and Lotus Group.

* RCD-Goma Sept. 16 shut down Radio Communautaire Ushirika (RACOU) in North Kivu, founded by farmers, and suggested that it merge with an RCD-Goma-run radio station, according to the International Freedom of Expression Clearing House Sept. 24.

* Heritiers de la Justice, a Congolese NGO, reported Sept. 16, at a Kinshasa press conference, that Congolese soldiers based on a Lake Kivu island (north of Bukavu) were leaving the island en masse and fanning out to several locations. The RCD-Goma commander of Bukavu military region has also ordered his men to seek out child soldiers who "deserted," Heritiers said.

Kinshasa Daily: Rwanda Preparing New War Against Congo

"Kigali is actively preparing a new war against the transitional government in Kinshasa," charged a Kinshasa daily, La Reference Plus, Sept. 26. It reported that Raphael Katebe Katoto, first vice-president of RCD, after spending several days in Kigali, returned to Goma (North Kivu Province, Congo) and organized several meetings of the people that the press were not permitted to attend. People are saying that these meetings "look strangely like black masses, of which nothing is later said," according to the article. Katoto was unable to explain away these meetings when confronted by the press.

The article includes, inter alia, the following elements: The military organization for the new war will be built around the Rwandan army and the private militia of the Governor of North Kivu Province, Eugene Serufuli. Serufuli is alleged to have said, at the funeral of a Rwandan-Congolese officer a few days ago, "Know that we shall free the eastern country." A declaration of war or secession is said to have been written already, in the name of the "Congo Liberation Front (FLIC)." Some Goma inhabitants say that columns of Rwandan troops are already crossing the border at night. The truth of these elements is as yet uncertain.

U.S.-Controlled Opposition Leader Breaks With RCD-Goma, Returns to Congo From Exile

Congo's U.S.-controlled, veteran opposition leader Dr. Etienne Tshisekedi has broken with the Rwanda-backed RCD-Goma and returned from exile. President Joseph Kabila said through a spokesman that he should be welcomed. Tshisekedi returned to Congo Sept. 28, after nearly two years of self-imposed exile in South Africa. He was met by Minister of Information Vital Kamerhe on behalf of President Kabila. RLAI news service claimed the event was "a decisive turn in national political life."

Tshisekedi continues to have a popular base in his Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS)—he was met at the airport by tens of thousands—and is now in favor of working within the framework of President Kabila's government, bringing his base with him. He is a skillful politician with presidential ambitions.

"RCD[-Goma] could look like an empty shell" without Tshisekedi's base, RLAI claimed Sept. 30. If true, Tshisekedi's move may help to explain the sudden willingness of the eight recalcitrant RCD-Goma legislators to come to Kinshasa to play their roles in government. The last 4 of the 8 holdouts were to arrive Sept. 30 in a delegation led by the Governor of North Kivu Province, Prof. (and warlord) Eugene Serufuli of RCD-Goma.

Meanwhile, the arrest in Netherlands Sept. 26 of Mobutu's executioner, Col. "King of the Animals" Nzapali, may be a move to undercut the reported assassination plot against President Kabila. Nzapali has been living in Netherlands since 1998, when he requested political asylum. He was granted temporary status only.

Has Kabila gratified the Anglo-American powers by accepting some arrangement with Tshisekedi, only days after Kabila's return from New York? In July 1997, a senior U.S. official told the foreign minister of Kabila's father, President Laurent Kabila, that the senior Kabila could "kiss goodbye" hopes of U.S. help if he didn't appoint Tshisekedi as prime minister. He didn't.

Uganda Sends Troops to D.R. Congo Border on a Pretext

A spokesman for the Ugandan Army announced in Kampala Sept. 30 that the Army was reinforcing its units on the frontier with D.R. Congo to the south of Lake Albert. The spokesman, Commandant Shaban Bantariza, said a group of armed Ugandan rebels with hostile intentions had established a base on the Congo side of the border. AFP reported that Uganda said it had reliable intelligence of an imminent attack from these rebels, but that Commandant Bantariza was not able to identify the group, although he claimed there had been clashes with it last year.

Mulegwa Zihindula, speaking for the Congolese Presidency, told Le Phare of Kinshasa, said the Ugandan claim was without foundation.

Uganda was primarily responsible for stirring up the recent ethnic conflict between Hema and Lendu in Congo in this general area, Digitalcongo recalls.

Belgian Daily: Congo President Kabila Still a Target

The Belgian daily Le Soir claimed Oct. 1 that D.R. Congo's President Kabila is still targetted for assassination, and Multimedia Congo, publisher of the Digitalcongo website, said it received a report to the same effect in Kinshasa Oct. 1; Digitalcongo had nothing further to say on this latter report.

The original warning was published by another Belgian daily, Le Derniere Heure Sept. 10.

Le Soir cites circumstances that might raise the threat level against Kabila, but does not claim knowledge of a specific plot.

Author Colette Braeckman says Belgium is still a rearguard base for Mobutists, and it is notorious that numerous followers of Mobutu there are still trying to organize a coup in Kinshasa. Therefore, she says, if Kabila were to come to Belgium, he should wear a bulletproof vest. Those who do not want the transitional government to succeed, realize their time is running out. That also explains why there is now an influx of armed men in Kinshasa, and a rise in lawlessness there, Braeckman writes.

In a particularly outrageous case of lawlessness, Steve Nyembo, an official in the General Directorate of Taxes, was assassinated Sept. 27.

Kabila does plan to visit Belgium—in November.

Sudan Peace Talks Achieve Breakthrough, But to What?

An agreement on military organization in the Sudan peace talks was signed Sept. 25, after three weeks of talks between Sudanese VP Ali Osman Mohamed Taha and SPLA/M leader John Garang. It is seen as the sine qua non for agreements on wealth and power sharing, which are expected to follow more easily.

The agreement "will allow the Sudan People's Liberation Army, or SPLA [during 6-and-a-half years of transition], to retain its forces in southern Sudan—the main area of fighting—while government and rebel forces will be 'integrated' in the capital, Khartoum, and three conflict areas in central Sudan. Both sides' forces will also be downsized at a 'suitable time,' and the troops' command will fall under a joint defense board comprised of rebel and government chiefs of staff and other officers," according to AP Sept. 26. "Under the agreement, the rebels will also withdraw their forces from eastern Sudan, while the government will withdraw all but 12,000 of its 103,000 troops from southern Sudan.... The remaining 12,000 government soldiers will join integrated units in the South," AP says. "South" and "North" are defined by the 1956 line, which leaves the oil deposits in the South.

The U.S. State Department (which forced the agreement) issued a statement Sept. 25 saying, "We salute the extraordinary courage" of the two negotiators.

BBC on Sept. 24, wrote, "The BBC's East Africa correspondent Andrew Harding says ... the main threat to the peace process now comes from the capital, Khartoum, where hardliners in the Islamic government fear the South is heading inexorably towards independence." Is it? What do the oil majors want?

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