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Tuesday 21 February 2006


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Regions

IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 316 28 January - 3 February 2006

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

CONTENTS:

GREAT LAKES: Regional summit to be held after DRC polls, UN envoy says
DRC: Continued attacks in North Kivu leave 37,000 IDPs without aid
DRC-SUDAN: New agreement could see thousands of refugee repatriations
DRC: Cholera outbreak in north Katanga could spread - MSF
BURUNDI: Government needs US $75 million to mitigate drought
TANZANIA: Zanzibar parliament endorses new education policy
KENYA: Finance minister resigns amid graft scandal
UGANDA: Jury recommends acquittal of opposition leader in rape case

ALSO SEE:
BURUNDI-RWANDA: Tension increases in ongoing land dispute
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TANZANIA: Condom taboo in Zanzibar hampers fight against HIV/AIDS
Full report

GREAT LAKES: Regional summit to be held after DRC polls, UN envoy says

The next international conference for Africa's Great Lakes region will be held in August or September, after the completion of the political transition in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to Ibrahima Fall, the special representative of the United Nations Secretary-General to the region.

"The political process in the Congo is due to end with the swearing in of a president on 30 June," Fall said on Wednesday at a news conference at UN headquarters in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. "The conference will be held after this."

The summit, which originally was scheduled to take place in December 2005, was postponed following the request by the DRC for more time to complete its electoral process, he said. Elections in the DRC are due to begin in April.

Full report

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DRC: Continued attacks in North Kivu leave 37,000 IDPs without aid

At least 37,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) are without humanitarian relief because of continued attacks by military insurgents in North Kivu Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), officials said.

"There seems to be a relative cessation of hostilities, but tensions are so high in the area that it is very difficult for us to access these populations for intervention," said Ibrahima Diarra, the head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the North Kivu town of Beni, on Thursday.

Attacks by military insurgents on loyalist Congolese army troops have been ongoing in the province since 17 January. The latest wave of attacks - on 28 and 29 January in Rutshuru territory, to the east of the province - displaced about 2,200 civilians.

According to OCHA, the 2,220 IDPS are in the main centre of Goma, the provincial capital, while the remaining 35,000 are in localities further north such as Kanyabayonga, Kahina, Kirumba and Lubero.

Full report

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DRC-SUDAN: New agreement could see thousands of refugee repatriations

Thousands of Sudanese refugees living in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Congolese refugees living in Sudan could soon be repatriated following the signing of corresponding tripartite agreements between the two governments and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), a spokesman for the agency said.

"The first repatriations could take place in March, mainly of Congolese who want to return home," Jens Hesemann said. "The repatriation of Congolese will mainly be made by plane, due to difficult access and in order to circumvent zones where insecurity prevails because of the activities of rebel armies."

Some 6,010 Congolese refugees are registered in Sudan and about 13,300 Sudanese are registered in the DRC. The agreements guarantee that the repatriations will be entirely voluntary.

Full report

[CAR-SUDAN: Thousands of Sudanese to return home by April]

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DRC: Cholera outbreak in north Katanga could spread - MSF

At least 770 new cases of cholera were recorded in January in villages in and around Kinkondja, northern Katanga, raising fears that the epidemic - which has already killed 34 people - could spread throughout the province, Medécins Sans Frontières (MSF) has said.

"We are seeing a similar pattern to the epidemic that infected 10,000 people in Katanga in 2002 and reached all the way south to Lubumbashi," said Roman Gitenet, MSF coordinator in Katanga province, southern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). "This time it could be even worse."

Full report

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BURUNDI: Government needs US $75 million to mitigate drought

At least US $75 million of the Burundian government's $168 million emergency plan for 2006 has been earmarked to feed the country's drought-affected populations.

In an emergency programme presented to representatives of donor countries and diplomats on Tuesday in the capital, Bujumbura, the government said it would distribute food to 460,000 families - 30 percent of the country's seven million people - between March and May.

Provinces in the country's north, northeast and southeast are suffering from a drought following poor rainfall and a prolonged dry season. Thirteen out of 17 provinces in Burundi need food assistance, according to the government.

Full report

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TANZANIA: Zanzibar parliament endorses new education policy

Members of the House of Representatives of the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar have endorsed a new education policy intended to make major reforms, including allowing students who fall pregnant to resume their studies after giving birth.

The 71-member parliament passed the reforms on Tuesday despite a walkout by members of the opposition Civic United Front (CUF). For more than 20 years, pregnant Zanzibari girls were forced to leave school permanently. Until the repeal of a law in 2005, they could even be imprisoned.

Full report

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KENYA: Finance minister resigns amid graft scandal

Kenyan finance minister David Mwiraria has resigned following claims of corruption involving high-ranking government officials but maintained that allegations against him are false.

"In order that my name be cleared and to protect the integrity of the president, the government and our country, Kenya, I hereby voluntarily step aside," Mwiraria said on Wednesday.

Claims of corruption involving senior government officials have rattled President Mwai Kibaki's administration, which was elected three years ago on an anti-graft platform.

Full report

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UGANDA: Jury recommends acquittal of opposition leader in rape case

Jurors in the rape trial of Ugandan opposition leader Kiiza Besigye recommended his acquittal on Wednesday, saying the prosecution had failed to prove its case in the alleged sexual assault.

"After examining and relating all the evidence on record, I am very much convinced that the present accused, now in the dock, Kiiza Besigye, is innocent of the charge of rape," Juliet Kasendwa, who led the opinion of the two "assessors" monitoring the trial, told trial judge John Baptist Katutsi.

Under Ugandan law, the assessors, who function like jurors, present their findings to the judge, who is free to accept or disregard them.

Full report

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[ENDS]

Theme(s)	Other

Other recent CENTRAL & EASTERN AFRICA reports:

Regional ministerial meeting opens, 20/Feb/06

IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 318 11-17 February 2006, 17/Feb/06

IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 317 4-10 February 2006, 10/Feb/06

Regional summit to be held after DRC polls, UN envoy says, 1/Feb/06

Highlights of draft protocols and programmes of action, 1/Feb/06

Other recent reports:

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Donors pledge support for humanitarian crisis, 21/Feb/06

ANGOLA: Ready to play larger security role in Africa, 21/Feb/06

CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap, 17/Feb/06

SOUTHERN AFRICA: IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 270 for 11-17 February 2006, 17/Feb/06

WEST AFRICA: IRIN-WA Weekly Round-up 317 covering 11-17 February 2006, 17/Feb/06

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