In this issue:

African, Ibero-American Members of the Security Council Played Crucial Role

Zimbabwe Opposition MDC Gives President Mugabe Two Weeks

Commonwealth Secretary General Overrides Nigeria, South Africa

11 Million Ethiopians 'On Brink of Famine'

Coup in Central African Republic

International Reaction to the CAR Coup

Algeria's government was one of the first in Africa to condemn the coup.

allAfrica Reporter Claims U.S. Role in CAR Coup

Chad Opposition Parties Want Government Troops out of CAR, But Chad Sends More

From Volume 2, Issue Number 12 of Electronic Intelligence Weekly, Published Mar. 24, 2003
Africa News Digest

African, Ibero-American Members of the Security Council Played Crucial Role

"A final UN resolution and vote were abandoned by the allies," wrote William Pfaff in the International Herald Tribune March 20, "not only because they lacked the votes for authorizing war, but also because they faced the possibility of a majority vote against them—sending them to war in actual defiance of the Security Council.

"The problem was not the French veto. America and Britain had already said they would be satisfied with a 'moral victory'—a majority vote the French were forced to veto. The allies were blocked by concern that Angola, Chile, Pakistan, Cameroon, Guinea and Mexico might vote against them. This inability to persuade (or even intimidate or bribe) friendly countries on a matter so vital to the U.S. government is unprecedented in postwar history." Pfaff notes that unwavering French resistance played a role in rallying other governments against the resolution (and indeed, the U.S. and Britain have charged that France's announced determination to veto a resolution acted as a chill on other countries).

Zimbabwe Opposition MDC Gives President Mugabe Two Weeks

After a successful two-day general strike, the British-owned opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change, MDC, on March 19 gave Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe a two-week deadline to meet its demands for a negotiated political settlement, according to the Financial Gazette (Harare) March 20.

The demands of the MDC, presented to Mugabe in a letter on March 21, include the immediate release of all political prisoners; government agreement to restore the legitimacy of government—this seems to mean new elections; an end to state-sponsored violence; restoration of freedom of assembly, association, expression and movement; depoliticization of relief food aid; disbandment of militia groups; and a halt to state-sponsored electoral violence and fraud.

The strike of March 18-19 included the closing of "most businesses ... with many employees staying away from work," according to the Gazette. "Commuter bus services and traffic from Harare's townships and suburbs were halted when protesters built makeshift barricades of rocks and wooden poles," the Gazette wrote. Police said explosions damaged three small businesses, destroyed a supermarket, and caused superficial damage to a bridge, according to Reuters March 19. Several buses were burned. The stay-away was most successful in Harare and Bulawayo, but did spread to other cities and town.

While confirming the success of the stay-away, Reuters claimed that street action was less successful than reported in the Gazette. "Zimbabwe police kept their grip on Harare's black townships on Wednesday," March 19, according to Reuters, which added, "Harare police said they arrested 63 people [March 18] after mobs stoned motorists and blocked roads before officers moved in, backed by army helicopters and armored cars."

This has been virtually the only successful mass action since President Mugabe's reelection last March, because of heavy police repression.

Senior officials of the MDC, according to the Gazette, said the stay-home-from-work action was a "test run" to gauge the mood of the people, and would take a different form if the party's demands were not met. MDC officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Gazette that the next phase would involve street protests and marches around the country.

Commonwealth Secretary General Overrides Nigeria, South Africa

Zimbabwe will remain suspended from the Commonwealth until the issue can be taken up by the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (CHOGM) in December, Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon announced March 16, at a meeting of Commonwealth diplomats in London. It is not clear how, and by whom, this decision was reached. McKinnon's written statement claimed, "The members of the Troika have now concluded" that continued suspension is best. The Troika are the heads of government of South Africa, Nigeria, and Australia.

But South Africa and Nigeria were apparently not party to any such decision. The South African Deputy High Commissioner in London, Sisa Ncwana, "said South Africa and Nigeria strongly condemned Mr. McKinnon's statement, which they said they were not party to," according to the Herald (Harare) March 19.

The Herald said the decision also could not have been based on a consensus among Commonwealth members.

The South African Broadcasting Corporation on March 18 restated that "South Africa and Nigeria are opposed to the suspension being renewed." South African President Thabo Mbeki was to hold a press briefing on the matter March 18, but no news of the briefing has yet been made available.

11 Million Ethiopians 'On Brink of Famine'

Eleven million people in Ethiopia are "on the brink of famine" because of prolonged drought, according to the executives of Catholic Relief Services, Lutheran World Relief, and Africare. In a press conference in Washington March 18, they warned that famine could only be avoided if the international community takes immediate action. They said 3 million more would be "at risk if there is yet another failed harvest." The three had just returned from an assessment in Ethiopia.

Coup in Central African Republic

General Francois Bozizé, head of the Central African Republic (CAR) Army until October 2001, ousted President Ange-Felix Patassé in a coup that began in the afternoon of March 15, while President Patassé was flying back to Bangui, the capital, from Niger. The two men, both from the north of CAR, had been allies until Patassé accused Bozizé of supporting an attempted coup by a former military ruler of CAR in October 2001. Bozizé denied it. Earlier, Bozizé had "called on Patassé to negotiate with his opponents or step down to allow a transition based on consensus to take place," according to Reuters March 16.

Bozizé staged the coup just as Patassé was beginning to take his advice—that is, in present circumstances, to negotiate with Bozizé himself, and his supporters, whose insurgency has been active in the Northwest of the country. Plans for the talks were being arranged with Gabon's President Omar Bongo and the Roman Catholic Sant'Egidio community, with some financial support from China.

The "Clash of Civilizations"-oriented Institute of Advanced Strategic and Political Studies (IASPS) will favor the coup, since it ends tensions between CAR and Chad, which had given refuge to Bozizé until recently. The Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline project—a part of IASPS' African oil grab—must run its pipeline fairly close to the CAR border, just where Bozizés insurgency has been active. Yet the coup may not provide the peace that IASPS says it needs.

International Reaction to the CAR Coup

Condemned by the African Union and France, the coup was endorsed by the United States and supported in the British press. As the wave of condemnations grew, the United States reversed course, and claimed to condemn the coup.

Reuters, the British wire service, described Bozizé March 16 as "a deeply religious man and stern leader." BBC called him an "intellectual" and said he is "widely respected for being a simple man." Such characterizations were absent from the wires of Agence France-Presse. The French government condemned "any armed attempt to overthrow a legitimately elected head of state," and France cancelled its weekly flight to Bangui, AFP reported March 16.

The U.S. State Department, reacting a day later, called on the coup-makers "to restore order" and "take measures toward national reconciliation that will lead to a democratically elected government," in the words of State Department spokesman Lynn Cassel March 17, according to AFP. It was, for all practical purposes, an endorsement of the coup.

Charles Cobb of allAfrica wrote, "A U.S. State Department official Monday [March 17] claimed to be 'still looking into' the sudden coup.... 'There's a lot of sorting out to do. The situation is unclear,' said the official." Perhaps the growing condemnation of the coup in Africa forced the State Department's hand. On March 18, a written statement by State Department spokesman Richard Boucher repeated Cassel's language, but opened with the claim that "The United States March 18 condemns the attack and seizure of power."

South African President Thabo Mbeki, in his capacity as president of the African Union (AU), issued a condemnation of the coup March 17, saying, "The African continent will never countenance any unconstitutional transfer of power from whatever quarter...." The seizure of power by force is in violation of AU principles. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan strongly condemned the coup and called for "the speedy restoration of the constitutional order."

In Addis Ababa, the Central Organ of the AU for dealing with conflicts recommended March 18 "the suspension of CAR's participation in the decision-making bodies of the African Union, until the constitutional order be restored," and demanded "that the authors of the coup take immediate measures to restore the democratically elected government of the country."

Niger's President Mamadou Tandja, as chairman of the Economic Community of Sahelo-Saharan States (CENSAD), called on the international community to take "concerted action" to immediately reestablish constitutional rule.

Algeria's government was one of the first in Africa to condemn the coup.

"President" Francois Bozizé, the coup-maker, in a national broadcast March 16, said talks with the IMF and World Bank are among his priorities. He said the Constitution was suspended and the government and National Assembly were dissolved. He announced plans for a National Transitional Council: "I will receive as soon as possible all the political parties and stakeholders so that we can agree on a consensual transitional program." According to IRIN March 17, "He said former heads of state would be honorary members of the Council. He said his administration's priorities would be to pursue talks with the IMF and World Bank on a 'post-conflict' accord ... and prepare free and fair elections."

allAfrica Reporter Claims U.S. Role in CAR Coup

In a March 17 article, Charles Cobb, the Washington reporter for allAfrica, wrote that there were two key factors behind the coup. First, "The recent denial of an IMF loan to help with payment of arrears to the African Development Bank that would, in turn, release money to pay civil servants and the military. The United States, while not directly opposing the loan, offered no help with the IMF to secure it.

"Pressure from the U.S. led to most of the Mouvement de Liberation du Congo (MLC) rebel forces led by Jean-Pierre Bemba returning to the Congo last year. They had entered the CAR in October 2002, ostensibly to 'protect' the Patassé government."

While an IMF loan is hardly the best way to fund a government, and the ruffian MLC forces were best known in CAR for their pillage and rape, these considerations do not invalidate Cobb's argument.

He pointed to a January report to the UN Security Council by Kofi Annan that "warned that the suspension of assistance by the World Bank and IMF, aggravated by civil war and work stoppages, threatened to cause the country to 'spin out of control...' "

Chad Opposition Parties Want Government Troops out of CAR, But Chad Sends More

Five of Chad's opposition parties that are in exile, united March 18 to demand that their government remove its troops from CAR, in a statement posted on Alwihda Actualité, a website of the Chadian opposition.

Meanwhile, the International Federation of Human Rights Organizations (FIDH) called March 17 for mercenaries and foreign forces involved in the coup to leave CAR without delay. Alwihda Actualité interpreted the FIDH call as a reference to forces deployed by Chadian President Idriss Deby.

Chad had hosted the CAR coup-maker, General Bozizé, until recently, causing CAR to close its border with Chad. French citizens reaching Paris confirm that there are Chadian soldiers (and CAR soldiers) among the mobs of CAR nationals that sacked Bangui, the capital city.

But Chad is, instead, sending more troops to CAR. The government of Chad announced March 18 that it was sending units of its army to CAR, at the request of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC), "to provide security to the population." The first arrived March 19. The Chadian communiqué of March 18, reported by AFP, protested too much in saying that the government "expresses its concern over the events of March 15 and reaffirms its commitment to the rules and principles of the UN, AU, CENSAD, and CEMAC." It added: "In these grave circumstances, the government of Chad reiterates its ... right to ensure the protection of its nationals in CAR."

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