CONTENTS
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Nairobi confirmed as possible talks venue
RWANDA: No power to stop Interahamwe youth, Rutaganda says
BURUNDI: Sharp fall in coffee revenue
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Nairobi confirmed as possible talks venue Kenyan Foreign Minister Bonaya Godana has confirmed that Nairobi is a possible venue for inter-Congolese peace talks. Interviewed by IRIN on Friday, he said the Kenyan capital "is available, and we want to see an end to the problem, but the idea at this stage is not of some sort of mediation, but to get all the Congolese stakeholders together". DRC Information Minister Didier Mumengi announced earlier this week that inter-Congolese discussions would be held in Rome on 30 April, under the mediation of the Catholic Sant'Egidio community, and would be concluded in Nairobi. Rebels of the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD) have said they are not opposed to the idea of talks, but certain conditions have to be met first. Godana added that "nothing is yet concretised in terms of a definite commitment to talks by a certain date". However, ideas, "maybe even timeframes", had been proposed, he said. Mayi-Mayi-Banyamulenge community peace moves Banyamulenge herders are now able to reach previously inaccessible areas in south Kivu, while people affiliated to Mayi-Mayi fighters can visit markets that were formerly off limits, a local NGO reported. The rapprochement between Banyamulenge from the Gitoga area and Mayi-Mayi from the Kalungwe area came after a meeting on 17 February brokered by the Banyamulenge NGO Groupe Milima. The NGO, in a statement sent to IRIN on Friday, claimed that a Mayi-Mayi commander Thomas Ndagazwa said he had been "plunged into a pointless war". The meeting, between the traditionally hostile communities, was made possible as a result of members of Ndagazwa's family living safely in Banyamulenge-controlled areas, the report said. Groupe Milima also announced another peace meeting in Lubuga in late March between Banyamulenge, Babembe, Bafulero and Banyindu communities. Security Council welcomes Libyan "peace deal" The UN Security Council on Thursday welcomed the peace agreement signed in the Libyan town of Sirte on Sunday by some of the parties involved in the conflict in the DRC. Council president Alain Dejammet said in a statement that council members welcomed, in particular, the fact that the signatories had decided on an "immediate cessation of hostilities". The Council also reiterated its support for Mustafa Niasse - the Secretary General's special envoy to DRC - in his efforts to strengthen the peace process "with all concerned leaders of the OAU, in particular President Frederick Chiluba of Zambia". UNHCR urges support for Chiluba's peace efforts Albert Alain Peters, Africa Bureau director of UNHCR, on Wednesday called on the international community to strongly support President Frederick Chiluba in his mediation efforts in the DRC. Stressing the agency's keen interest in the ongoing peace negotiations during a visit to the Zambian president, Peters said "lasting peace is the only viable solution to the current refugee problem as it will allow Congolese refugees to return to their homes". Chiluba meanwhile arrived in Tanzania on Friday for talks with government leaders, expected to focus on the Great Lakes crisis, news organisations reported. Kosovo refugees should not eclipse 22 million others - UNICEF The Kosovo refugee crisis should neither eclipse the plight of 22 million other displaced people throughout the world nor dictate the allocation of humanitarian aid to crises that attract the most media coverage, UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy said on Thursday. News outlets tended to focus on "the crisis of the moment", she said in a press release, but "relatively little attention has been paid to similar conflicts in Angola, Sierra Leone, Eritrea and Ethiopia, and many other places, where thousands of persons are displaced from their homes, tortured and killed every day". She noted that a total of some seven million people were displaced in Africa. Bellamy noted that UNICEF's initial fund-raising goal for Kosovo was "substantially met in just a few weeks" while its appeal for US $180 million to deal with emergencies in 22 countries had so far achieved only 15 percent of its goal. "Commensurate attention should be given to the situation of children and women at risk - wherever they may be", she said. RWANDA: No power to stop Interahamwe youth, Rutaganda says A former leader of the Interahamwe militia, Georges Rutangada, broke down in tears as he ended his testimony at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania, on Thursday, the independent Hirondelle news agency reported. It said Rutaganda maintained throughout his testimony that although he was the second vice-president of the Interahamwe, he had no power to stop the massacres in 1994. In a previous testimony, he claimed the Interahamwe was just a "think tank" and could not control the youth "who gave it a bad name". New ICTR judge appointed A new judge has been appointed for the ICTR, to replace Judge Dionysios Kondylis of Greece who resigned last month. The new appointee is Judge Asoka de Zoysa Gunawardena from Sri Lanka, an ICTR press release announced on Friday. BURUNDI: Sharp fall in coffee revenue Burundi's coffee revenues fell sharply in the 1998/99 season to under US $30 million from US $55 million in the previous season, the national coffee agency OCIBU said, according to Reuters. The news agency quoted Burundi's Presidential Economics Adviser Damas Ntiranyibagira who forecast a further fall in coffee output this year. "The weather was bad at the beginning of the year and I think production will be less than we had this year," Ntiranyibagira said. Coffee is Burundi's main export and a Burundian journalist told IRIN that unless foreign aid started arriving in the country, a fall in coffee revenue would be a serious blow to the economy.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Nairobi confirmed as possible talks venue Kenyan Foreign Minister Bonaya Godana has confirmed that Nairobi is a possible venue for inter-Congolese peace talks. Interviewed by IRIN on Friday, he said the Kenyan capital "is available, and we want to see an end to the problem, but the idea at this stage is not of some sort of mediation, but to get all the Congolese stakeholders together". DRC Information Minister Didier Mumengi announced earlier this week that inter-Congolese discussions would be held in Rome on 30 April, under the mediation of the Catholic Sant'Egidio community, and would be concluded in Nairobi. Rebels of the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD) have said they are not opposed to the idea of talks, but certain conditions have to be met first. Godana added that "nothing is yet concretised in terms of a definite commitment to talks by a certain date". However, ideas, "maybe even timeframes", had been proposed, he said. Mayi-Mayi-Banyamulenge community peace moves Banyamulenge herders are now able to reach previously inaccessible areas in south Kivu, while people affiliated to Mayi-Mayi fighters can visit markets that were formerly off limits, a local NGO reported. The rapprochement between Banyamulenge from the Gitoga area and Mayi-Mayi from the Kalungwe area came after a meeting on 17 February brokered by the Banyamulenge NGO Groupe Milima. The NGO, in a statement sent to IRIN on Friday, claimed that a Mayi-Mayi commander Thomas Ndagazwa said he had been "plunged into a pointless war". The meeting, between the traditionally hostile communities, was made possible as a result of members of Ndagazwa's family living safely in Banyamulenge-controlled areas, the report said. Groupe Milima also announced another peace meeting in Lubuga in late March between Banyamulenge, Babembe, Bafulero and Banyindu communities. Security Council welcomes Libyan "peace deal" The UN Security Council on Thursday welcomed the peace agreement signed in the Libyan town of Sirte on Sunday by some of the parties involved in the conflict in the DRC. Council president Alain Dejammet said in a statement that council members welcomed, in particular, the fact that the signatories had decided on an "immediate cessation of hostilities". The Council also reiterated its support for Mustafa Niasse - the Secretary General's special envoy to DRC - in his efforts to strengthen the peace process "with all concerned leaders of the OAU, in particular President Frederick Chiluba of Zambia". UNHCR urges support for Chiluba's peace efforts Albert Alain Peters, Africa Bureau director of UNHCR, on Wednesday called on the international community to strongly support President Frederick Chiluba in his mediation efforts in the DRC. Stressing the agency's keen interest in the ongoing peace negotiations during a visit to the Zambian president, Peters said "lasting peace is the only viable solution to the current refugee problem as it will allow Congolese refugees to return to their homes". Chiluba meanwhile arrived in Tanzania on Friday for talks with government leaders, expected to focus on the Great Lakes crisis, news organisations reported. Kosovo refugees should not eclipse 22 million others - UNICEF The Kosovo refugee crisis should neither eclipse the plight of 22 million other displaced people throughout the world nor dictate the allocation of humanitarian aid to crises that attract the most media coverage, UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy said on Thursday. News outlets tended to focus on "the crisis of the moment", she said in a press release, but "relatively little attention has been paid to similar conflicts in Angola, Sierra Leone, Eritrea and Ethiopia, and many other places, where thousands of persons are displaced from their homes, tortured and killed every day". She noted that a total of some seven million people were displaced in Africa. Bellamy noted that UNICEF's initial fund-raising goal for Kosovo was "substantially met in just a few weeks" while its appeal for US $180 million to deal with emergencies in 22 countries had so far achieved only 15 percent of its goal. "Commensurate attention should be given to the situation of children and women at risk - wherever they may be", she said. RWANDA: No power to stop Interahamwe youth, Rutaganda says A former leader of the Interahamwe militia, Georges Rutangada, broke down in tears as he ended his testimony at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania, on Thursday, the independent Hirondelle news agency reported. It said Rutaganda maintained throughout his testimony that although he was the second vice-president of the Interahamwe, he had no power to stop the massacres in 1994. In a previous testimony, he claimed the Interahamwe was just a "think tank" and could not control the youth "who gave it a bad name". New ICTR judge appointed A new judge has been appointed for the ICTR, to replace Judge Dionysios Kondylis of Greece who resigned last month. The new appointee is Judge Asoka de Zoysa Gunawardena from Sri Lanka, an ICTR press release announced on Friday. BURUNDI: Sharp fall in coffee revenue Burundi's coffee revenues fell sharply in the 1998/99 season to under US $30 million from US $55 million in the previous season, the national coffee agency OCIBU said, according to Reuters. The news agency quoted Burundi's Presidential Economics Adviser Damas Ntiranyibagira who forecast a further fall in coffee output this year. "The weather was bad at the beginning of the year and I think production will be less than we had this year," Ntiranyibagira said. Coffee is Burundi's main export and a Burundian journalist told IRIN that unless foreign aid started arriving in the country, a fall in coffee revenue would be a serious blow to the economy.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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