In this issue:

Annan: Large and Systematic War Crimes on Darfur

Qaddafi Joins Bush's War on Terror

Nigeria Mass Strike Will Resume Nov. 16

Nigerian Labor Leaders Broaden Strike Issues

CFR Fellow Fans Flames of Religious Strife in Nigeria

War Breaking Out Again in Côte d'Ivoire

Nigeria Seeks Investment from India

From Volume 3, Issue Number 45 of EIR Online, Published Nov. 9, 2004
Africa News Digest

Annan: Large and Systematic War Crimes on Darfur

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan told the Security Council Nov. 3 that there are strong indications of war crimes "on a large and systematic scale," in Darfur, Sudan. Annan based his statement on the report of the chief UN envoy to Sudan, Jan Pronk, who was to present it to the Security Council Nov. 4. The report says, "There are strong indications that war crimes and crimes against humanity have occurred in Darfur on a large and systematic scale. This has been confirmed by a number of senior UN human rights experts who have visited the region."

The UN Security Council plans to meet in Nairobi, Kenya, where the Sudan North-South peace talks are underway, on Nov. 18-19. U.S. Ambassador to the UN John Danforth, currently Security Council president, claims the Nairobi meeting will show the Sudanese what the country would look like if there were peace, according to Associated Press Nov. 4.

Qaddafi Joins Bush's War on Terror

Libyan strongman Moammar Qaddafi ordered the handing over to Algeria of Amar Saifi, leader of the Algerian Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, which Libya claims is linked to al-Qaeda terrorists, the Guardian reported Nov. 2. Saifi, a former Algerian paratrooper, was being held in Chad by a local insurgent group. It is not clear how Qaddafi was able to gain control of Saifi, but it is believed he paid a ransom for him. The act is considered a demonstration that the Libyan leader is now cooperating with the Bush Administration on the so-called "war on terror."

Nigeria Mass Strike Will Resume Nov. 16

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) leadership announced Oct. 31, after a meeting of its National Executive Committee, that the mass strike it has been leading will resume Nov. 16, after Ramadan ends, and will continue indefinitely. In this second phase, the production and export of oil will be affected. In the first phase of the strike, from Oct. 11-14, oil production and export were exempted.

Nigerian Labor Leaders Broaden Strike Issues

According to Nigeria Labour Congress president Adams Oshiomhole, the aims of the strike (see above) will now be "deregulated," to target "bad governance," and not be limited to reducing fuel prices. According to the Nigeria Sun Nov. 1, "Like the deregulation of the oil sector, Oshiomhole said the struggle would also be deregulated to go beyond the fight against [fuel] price hike to now include those things that are making Nigerians to gnash their teeth such as bad governance. 'We cannot be tired as long as they have the capacity to punish us, impose foreign ideas on us,' ... he vowed." He thus seemed to be moving closer to the position of his allies in the human rights movements that have been targetting the IMF by name.

Speaking to press Nov. 1, Oshiomhole criticized President Obasanjo for refusing to allow discussion—in talks that involved Oshiomhole—of reversing the September price rises. This despite motions asking for reversal in the House of Representatives (unanimous) and Senate. Oshiomhole said, "I would have wanted to see a government that will say, convince me that my decisions are wrong, but not a government that says you ... can't debate my decisions.... The political regime that does not allow a President to harvest the ideas, the views, [the] freedom of its citizens, is not something we want to defend. People fought and died for democracy.... This system cannot go on like this," Vanguard reported Nov. 2.

The Yoruba Council of Elders Oct. 30-31 urged Obasanjo to roll back the fuel price rises. Its Secretary General, Dr. Kunle Olajide, said on Osun State radio that weekend that, "We are totally against [the price rises]. It will compound the sufferings of Nigerian masses and Obasanjo should not allow this to continue." Obasanjo is a member of the Yoruba.

CFR Fellow Fans Flames of Religious Strife in Nigeria

Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow Princeton Lyman—a former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria—says in an op-ed in the Baltimore Sun Oct. 19 that Nigeria's problem is Muslim "extreme poverty," and Muslim "marginalization," and that a "new Taliban" must be avoided. Only days before, the first phase of Nigeria's mass strike had demonstrated national unity against IMF-dictated deregulation and privatization. Only half of the Nigerian people are Muslims, but the vast majority of Nigerians are poor and getting poorer.

Lyman made much of Nigeria's self-styled Taliban and their attacks on police stations in the North. He titled his piece, "Prevent the Rise of Another Taliban."

War Breaking Out Again in Côte d'Ivoire

After two years of ceasefire and maneuvering by both sides, Côte d'Ivoire's government is again turning to arms to defeat the northern insurrection. Government warplanes Nov. 4 strafed insurrectionist positions and military buildings in Bouake, the northern capital, and later bombed the town of Korhogo further north.

Captain Jean-Noel Abbey, who commands a unit of armored vehicles, told Reuters in Yamoussoukro, the capital, "It's the start of operations to reconquer the territory. We've started with an aerial bombardment and we will start using armored vehicles for a terrestrial assault. We think we can finish the war in six days."

Bombing and strafing of the North continued Nov. 5. Electricity and telephone service to the North have been cut. In Abidjan, the offices of three opposition newspapers and of Alassane Ouattara's RDR opposition movement were sacked and burned by mobs Nov. 4-5. Mobs attacked unarmed UN personnel in Abidjan and burned two UN vehicles.

Kofi Annan briefed the UN Security Council behind closed doors Nov. 4.

Ever since the civil war broke out in September 2002, the North has been without effective government, social services, or even much commercial activity. According to UNICEF, 700,000 students have been out of school for these two years, 70% of health-care professionals have left, and UN emergency relief programs have been funded at 20% of what the UN says it needs. Neither side has a clear sense of inclusive and sovereign nationhood.

Nigeria Seeks Investment from India

Nigerian Foreign Minister Oluyemi Adeniji, who is visiting India during the week of Nov. 1, urged India to invest more in Nigeria. Adeniji was addressing a meeting in New Delhi jointly organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the Press Trust of India reported Nov. 3. Nigeria is India's largest trading partner in Africa. Currently, the annual turnover of trade between India and Nigeria is pegged at around $3 billion.

"We are providing all assistance to overseas investors by minimizing the regulatory impediments and streamlining the system of the country," the Nigerian Foreign Minister said. Nigeria and India trade is now centered around India exporting computer software and computer peripherals, and importing crude oil from Nigeria. But the Nigerian minister pointed out that his country is looking for Indian project exports in sectors like railways, power generation, and telecommunications, defense and machine tools. India's import of Nigerian crude is also very substantial, as the African country is one of the few producers of a variety of crude required by Indian refineries. Indian companies have sizeable investments in Nigeria in textiles, chemicals, electrical equipment, pharmaceuticals, and fishing.

All rights reserved © 2004 EIRNS