Congo News Update 2/4/97 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit source - congo-news@thor.cmp.ilstu.edu Wed Feb 4 12:33:27 1998 CIA chief predicts more upheaval in Africa 03:17 p.m Jan 28, 1998 Eastern WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Serious problems appear likely to rock Burundi and Rwanda again in what may be another rough year for Africa, CIA Director George Tenet told Congress on Wednesday. ``We have no reason to believe that 1998 in Africa will be any more stable than was 1997,'' he told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. In an annual report on current and projected national security threats, Tenet said the Central African instability that led to the overthrow of governments in Zaire and Congo (Brazzaville) ``lingers.'' ``And it is probably only a matter of time until serious problems erupt again in Burundi and Rwanda,'' he added. The CIA chief said the impact of the weather pattern known as El Nino, particularly in southern and eastern Africa, ``will bear careful watching -- especially water shortages and consequent food scarcity.'' Hundreds of thousands of people were killed in ethnic massacres in Rwanda in 1994, mainly Tutsis and moderate Hutus opposed to a hardline Hutu genocide campaign. At least 150,000 Burundians, mostly civilians, have died since unrest erupted in October 1993 when the country's first elected Hutu president, Melchior Ndadaye, was killed by Tutsi troops in a coup bid. ^REUTERS@ World leaders flock to S.Africa for Mandela magic 02:46 p.m Jan 30, 1998 Eastern By Emma Thomasson CAPE TOWN, Jan 30 (Reuters) - If Bill Clinton is still U.S. president in March, he will be one of a line of world leaders visiting South Africa this year and hoping for a bit of ``Madiba magic'' from Nelson Mandela. Clinton, currently fending off a damaging sex scandal, is just one of a swathe of prominent figures queuing up to visit the country in the last full year in office for Mandela, who is known affectionately by his clan name Madiba. ``You wouldn't believe the demand for his time. Everyone who's anyone wants to come to see him before he bows out. I mean big names,'' a foreign ministry official said privately. Mandela will host King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway and Danish Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen in February, closely followed by German President Roman Herzog and Clinton in March. U.S. Vice President Al Gore will also be in town in February for the sixth meeting of a binational commission promoting trade and other links between the United States and South Africa. Other leaders including British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac are thought to be looking for gaps in Mandela's packed diary later in the year. A high-level visit from new ally China may also be on the cards after Pretoria switched allegiance to Beijing from Taiwan on January 1. All these guests, each likely to visit Robben Island where Mandela spent almost two decades in jail, are keen to come before the living legend hands over to Deputy President Thabo Mbeki at general elections due next year. But Mandela, 79, has been feeling the strain recently, calling off a trip to Russia because of the intense cold and being told to rest by his doctors this week after a hectic trip to Uganda where he worked 18 hours without a break. Mandela's spokeswoman Priscilla Naidoo said the president's schedule had been particularly busy recently. ``The doctors have said he's fine and he just has to take it easy a bit,'' Naidoo told Reuters. ``He's not ill.'' ``Obviously our office will look at his programme and make sure he doesn't have back-to-back visits, which can be very exhausting,'' she said. Last year Mandela was inundated with guests including the late Princess Diana, Hillary Clinton, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Britain's Prince Charles, pop group the Spice Girls and Michael Jackson. Mandela, who has shuttled around the globe trying to broker peace in countries including the former Zaire, East Timor and Sudan, is also in heavy demand for visits abroad. Analysts say Mandela has had more time for his role as an ambassador for South Africa since Mbeki took over most of the daily running of the country. ``While entertaining is taxing, it's not as taxing as running government,'' said independent political analyst David Welsh. ``I hope it will be a relatively tranquil year for him.'' ``For a man of his age his stamina is quite incredible,'' Welsh said. REUTERS Burundi army says rebels kill five near capital 05:00 a.m. Feb 02, 1998 Eastern BUJUMBURA, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Burundi rebels killed a family of five just west of the capital Bujumbura on Sunday, an army spokesman said on Monday. Army spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Isaie Nibizi told Reuters the killing took place at Gatumba, 10 km (six miles) from Bujumbura. He said the assailants were Palipehutu, one of several rebel groups fighting Burundi's Tutsi-dominated army. The attack could not be independently confirmed and Nibizi had no other details. Last weekend witnesses said unknown attackers bayoneted eight people to death a few kilometres (miles) east of Gatumba near the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Zaire. Fighting between the Burundi army and Hutu rebels has killed at least 150,000 people, mostly civilians, since 1993. ^REUTERS@ Kenya police say Mombasa highway is ``partly open'' 04:27 a.m. Feb 03, 1998 Eastern By Wambui Chege NAIROBI, Feb 3 (Reuters) - The highway linking Kenya's Mombasa port and the east African hinterland was partly reopened on Tuesday after the army threw a temporary bridge over the Thange river, police officials said. The bridge was installed on Monday night. Raging flood waters swept away a culvert on the Thange bridge in eastern Kenya on Sunday after subjecting it to forces ``that the bridge was never intended to hold,'' a Kenyan minister said. Light vehicles began crossing the bridge cautiously and trucks and buses were expected to cross later in the day, said King'ori Mwangi, spokesman at Kenya's police headquarters. ``The road has been partly opened. Light vehicles started passing the bridge at 8.00 a.m. (0500 GMT),'' King'ori said. ``We're planning to allow vehicles of up to 40 tonnes at 11.00 a.m. (0800 GMT) after the situation has been monitored,'' he added. The independent Daily Nation newspaper, quoting a military officer, said the new bridge could take a maximum weight of only 40 tonnes and many trucks stuck on the highway were too heavy to pass. Angry transporters -- some stuck on the road for four days -- blamed the government for failing to maintain the highway, a vital business link to Burundi, Uganda, Rwanda, and the former Zaire as well as Kenya, it reported. ``We know the state of this road is pathetic and we are asking everyone to be patient. We are working on repairs,'' Public Works Minister Kipkalya Kones told state television. Public transport companies said they had incurred massive losses because of the closure and the generally poor state of the road while railways authorities reported heavy bookings. The road was first closed on January 16 after freak rains triggered by the El Nino weather phenomenon washed away three bridges. The road closed for the second time on Sunday after heavy rains on Thursday. The rains have virtually washed away what remained of the tarmac on long stretches of the highway and damaged many of Kenya's other roads. On Tuesday, Nairobi newspapers reported that the Meru-Nanyuki highway in Eastern province, which leads to key coffee and tea producing areas, remained closed after a landslide. Traders said on Monday that the Mombasa road problems could disrupt the supply of Kenyan tea to the market in coming weeks. ``There is bound to be an effect. We envisage it will be very difficult to close tomorrow's sale because a lot of tea is held up on the Nairobi-Mombasa road,'' said Norman Wilson, managing director of brokerage house Africa Tea Brokers Ltd. Kenya's weekly tea auctions are held in Mombasa. Deliveries for auction are made at least 20 days before the relevant auction. Wilson was referring to the auction to be held on February 23 for which the delivery deadline is Tuesday. ``Even if the trucks start moving, the initial slug (jam) will affect...deliveries,'' Wilson told Reuters. Kenya also faces a severe food deficit after the heavy rains reduced production of food crops, including maize, beans, wheat, rice and vegetables, the agriculture ministry says. In addition, police have reported a locust invasion from southern Ethiopia. ((Nairobi newsroom, +254 2 330261/2 fax +254 2 338860, nairobi.newsroom+reuters.com)) Soccer-Democratic Congo's ``Simbas'' face early exit 10:02 p.m. Feb 02, 1998 Eastern By Arthur Malu-Malu KINSHASA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Democratic Congo, champions in 1974 as Zaire, will be playing their first African Nations Cup under their new name the Simbas -- the Swahili for lion. But lack of cash following the civil war that toppled veteran dictator Mobutu Sese Seko last May, indifferent form and low morale make them candidates for early elimination. Speaking on state television, National Coach Mukeba Mulamba pleaded for understanding from the soccer-crazy nation. ``I want Congo's sports fans to be understanding. On the economic front, we can't perform miracles. Without a strong economy, sport cannot do well,'' he said, before the squad left for Mali to acclimatise. ``We have tried to do what we can. If it works so much the better, if it doesn't then they should not judge us too harshly.'' Pundits expect little from the Simbas, who were known as the leopards under Mobutu. In 1974, Zaire became the first black African team to reach the final stages of the World Cup -- only to crash out of the first round without scoring a goal. They won the 1968 Nations Cup as Congo-Kinshasa. This year's squad is dominated by home-based players. President Laurent Kabila's government said the country could only afford seven foreign-based professional players. ``The president promised $250,000,'' one sports official said, adding that only part of the money had been paid. ``Nothing has changed in the way the national team prepares for major soccer tournaments. Everything is improvised, and the authorities interfere in the work of the coach. We've been making the same mistakes for years,'' one commentator said. The Simbas will be playing World Cup hopefuls and 1996 runners-up Tunisia, four-times champions Ghana and Togo for a place in the quarter finals of this year's Nations Cup. They kick off their campaign in Burkina Faso's second city of Bobo Dioulasso on February 9 against Togo, another likely no hoper but with the advantage of playing close to home. Much could depend on a return to form of 20-year-old star striker Emeka Mamale, who has lacked form since returning from a disastrous stay in South Korea. The former striker of Kinshasa's Daring Club Motema Pemba may, however, draw inspiration from his signing by Belgian Division One side Charleroi. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytaf-02.05.98-00:50:30-16647