AFRICA NEWS DIGEST
Israeli Attacks on Palestine Trigger African Actions
The Israel incursions into the Palestinian Territories and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF killings of hundreds of civilians have triggered protests against Israel in several African countries. The developments related to Middle East crisis range from diplomatic concerns to mass demonstrations in the streets.
* On April 12, in South Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad, President Thabo Mbeki's Middle East policy spokesman, met with Israeli Ambassador Tova Herzi to report to him that "the Arab group has conveyed the view to the South African government that Israel's current military offensive" in Palestinian territory warrants sanctions. Pahad conveyed South Africa's position that Israel's attempts to isolate and humiliate President Yasser Arafat "are grave errors."
* Mass demonstrations took place in Tunis, Tunisia, beginning April 2, in support of the Palestinian state and President Arafat. "Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets to protest the Israeli military siege and ... indiscriminate use of deadly force against the Palestinian people and their legitimate leadership," Tunisia Online reported. Six political parties, including the ruling Constitutional Democratic Rally, and numerous unions and organizations took part. Blood-donation and fundraising drives to support Palestinians are also underway.
Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali expressed strong support for Arafat, in a phone conversation with the beseiged Palestinian leader, on March 29. The same day, a Tunisian Foreign Ministry statement charged, "the Israeli government has launched a total war all over the Palestinian territories." In an address March 27 at the Arab Summit, President Ben Ali called for support for all efforts at a dialogue of cultures, civilizations, and religions.
* Sudan's Ambassador to the U.S., Khidir Haroun Ahmed told the news service, allAfrica.com on April 8 that "the Sudanese people are very angry.... Emotions are running very, very high. Out of this anger people might say something that cannot really be materialized." The Ambassador was responding to reports that the commander of Sudan's Popular Defense Forces, Maj. Gen. Ahmed Abbas, reportedly called for volunteers in a nationally televised address April 6 to carry out a "jihad" to support Palestine. After receiving a formal query from the U.S. State Department, the Ambassador emphasized no training camps will be set up in Sudan, but warned that the emotional response to the Israeli killings of thousands of Palestinians is high.
Kenyan Muslims Protest U.S.-Led 'Clash of Civilizations'
The East African Standard of Nairobi reported April 3 that Muslim leaders in Kenya are planning to meet the U.S. Ambassador, Johnnie Carson, to oppose the use of Kenyan territory in the U.S. war on terrorism. The German Navy and British Royal Air Force have established themselves in Kenya in the past weeks in support of the U.S., and the buildup continues.
Secretary general of the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya (CIPK), Mohamed Dor, said the Muslim leaders would present Carson with a "memorandum demanding the removal of foreign naval personnel from Kenyan waters." He said the U.S. should look for another base, because Kenya is part of the African Union (AU), and an AU member-state cannot host a force which is fighting another AU member, i.e., Somalia. The organization's leaders saw no evidence of al-Qaeda in Somalia, added Dor, and the U.N. had not given the go-ahead to the U.S. and its allies to set up bases in Kenya, adding that if the U.S. hits Somalia from Kenya, coastal people will suffer, and Kenya could be hit with retaliation.
The protest against the U.S. "war on terrorism" is also linked to the American toleration of Israeli military actions. "America should not protect a terrorist country like Israel if at all they are anti-terrorism," Dor said.
Mugabe: Zimbabwe Dumping West's Economic, Political Advice
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has declared that his country is abandoning the West's economic and political advice, and henceforth will collaborate with such countries as Malaysia and Libya that are more "friendly to Zimbabwe than to the West. On April 5, Mugabe told ZANU-PF Party leaders that organizations such as the World Bank and IMF have worsened the country's economic crisis. Hours after addressing his party's Central Committee meeting, Mugabe flew to Tripoli, Libya.
The next day, a Zimbabwean company signed a $16.5-million deal to export 5,000 tons of beef to Libya over the next eight months. John Mapondera, chairman of Farirai Quality Foods, signed the deal with Milad Faraj Alwassa, secretary of administration for the Libyan Livestock and Meat National Company. Alwassa said Zimbabwe would become the first African country to sell beef to Libya, which has until now bought its meat from Europe. The contract is significant for Zimbabwe, which had seen its European beef markets disappear after the outbreak of hoof-and-mouth disease in August of last year.
The Herald of April 9 noted that Libya is now providing 70% of Zimbabwe's oil imports, valued at $30 million, as trade links between the two countries strengthen.
IMF-World Bank Being Challenged in Kenya
Leading forces inside Kenya are at odds over economic policies, with a stronger current challenging the IMF and World Bank plans, emerging. What is known so far, is that Labor and Human Resources Minister Joseph Ngutu, and the head of the trade union umbrella organization are openly against the IMF. On the other side, a loose coalition of opposition parties known as the National Alliance for Change (NAC) has issued a program offering wonderful sounding economic measures, without opposition to the IMF. Kenya's President, Daniel arap Moi, does not publicly oppose the IMF, and is carrying out its prescriptions.
On April 9, according to the East African Standard, Labor Minister Ngutu, speaking at a labor union seminar in Nairobi, said that the Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs), prescribed by the international financial institutions, have contributed to the economic woes facing many African countries. SAPs had failed to increase production in agriculture and reduce dependence on external assistance, as well as imposing constraints that inhibited growth. He said that the program had also failed, as would have been expected, to encourage greater investment.
He said the Kenyan government had intensified its efforts to implement the IMF reforms, including some that contained radical and drastic changes. He urged attendees to explore the possibility of reviewing and replacing the current policies and programs with alternative ones.
The Secretary-General of the Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU), Francis Atwoli, went much further. According to the Standard, he said the government should look for home-grown solutions, and discard conditionalities imposed on it by the Bretton Woods institutions (the IMF and World Bank). He told the government to abandon the current Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), which he described as a back-door reintroduction of the SAPs.
The seminar was jointly sponsored by COTU and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). ICFTU General Secretary Andrew Kailembo was present.
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