UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER
Central and Eastern Africa: IRIN Update 481 for 14-17 Aug e: bulk

Central and Eastern Africa: IRIN Update 481 for 14-17 Aug e: bulk

U N I T E D N A T I O N S Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Integrated Regional Information Network for Central and Eastern Africa

Tel: +254 2 622147 Fax: +254 2 622129 e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org

IRIN Update No. 481 for Central and Eastern Africa (Friday-Monday 14-17 August 1998)

RWANDA: 14 killed in "revenge" attack

Fourteen people were murdered yesterday (Sunday) night at Ruhango trading centre, in Nyamagana sector, 80 km southwest of Kigali, in what has been described as a revenge killing. The Rwanda News Agency said the attackers targeted two families. One of the victims, Emmanual Gasana, had recently been found not guilty of genocide charges by a Gitarama court. Gasana's entire family was hacked to death with traditional weapons, the news agency reported.

Meanwhile, Rwandan state radio said 10 rebels out of a force of 300 were killed on Thursday in an attack on Cyungo commune in the northern prefecture of Byumba. The radio reported three soldiers died and five were wounded in the clash.

UGANDA: Museveni holds talks with envoys on DRC

Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni yesterday held talks on the DRC crisis with an OAU delegation. The OAU team led by Mamadou Beh, special envoy for the Great Lakes, met Museveni at a lodge in the Murchison Falls national park, state radio said. On Thursday, Belgium's special envoy for the region also discussed the widening DRC rebellion with Museveni, news reports said.

[For today's news on DRC, see separate IRIN item headlined: "Rebels formally announce new movement, leadership"].

Two million Ugandans climb above poverty line

An estimated two million Ugandans climbed above the poverty line between 1990 and 1996, the 'East African' weekly today (Monday) reported recent household surveys as revealing. Statistics indicate the proportion of people living in absolute poverty declined by 10 percent, from 56 percent in 1992, to 46 percent in 1996. The studies attribute the improvement in living standards mainly to the liberalisation of the coffee sector, Uganda's leading export crop.

Meanwhile, AFP reported that coffee production recorded a surprise recovery in July. A bumper crop in the south and west of the country allowed the volume to bounce back after a 50 percent fall in production over recent months and a slump in export earnings of 35 percent in the 1997/98 fiscal year. Uganda Coffee Development Authority officials said 406,027 bags of 60 kg, valued at US $36.6 million, were exported in July. It represents a volume increase of 14 percent, the highest ever for July since the 1991/92 coffee year.

KENYA-TANZANIA: Bomb suspect flown to Nairobi

A suspect in the Nairobi bombing was arrested in Pakistan and flown to Kenya on Sunday after admitting playing a role in the blast, media reports said. The man, described as an Arab national, arrived in Pakistan from Nairobi on forged papers on the day of the bombing and was planning to take a connecting flight to Afghanistan.

The Tanzanian authorities have meanwhile released 10 people held in connection with the blast at the US embassy in Dar es Salaam, AFP said. Two men however remain in custody. The police have not revealed their identities. US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is to make a one-day visit to Kenya and Tanzania on Tuesday to visit the bombed US embassies.

Police reinforced in Mombasa

Anonymous threats of a repeat of the political violence which rocked Mombasa last year has prompted the dispatch of police reinforcements to Coast Province, AFP reported. It quoted police sources as saying that more than 100 officers travelled to the port city last week after anonymous leaflets reappeared warning of attacks by locals on settlers from upcountry Kenya.

SUDAN: Flooding threatens Khartoum

The threat of flooding led to a turnout of soldiers and civilians in Khartoum over the weekend to build sandbag embankments. The regional parliament was suspended for a week to participate in the effort to shore up defences against the rising Nile. Fifteen houses in the Kalaka district of the city collapsed on Saturday, forcing an evacuation of the area, AFP reported. Tuti island, Uzuzab and Fitaihab are also threatened.

Sudan warns Egypt over supporting opposition

The Sudanese opposition umbrella group the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) opened its congress in Cairo on Saturday amid warnings from Sudan against Egyptian support for the organisation. The Egyptian news agency MENA reported that the meeting's chairman Mohamed Uthman al-Mirghani stressed the joint views held by Cairo and the alliance over peace in the Sudan and opposition to terrorism.

"The NDA is getting close to its ultimate goal: overthrowing the government ... and restoring muliparty democracy," NDA spokesman Faruq Abu Issa said at the congress, attended by Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) leader John Garang. In Sudan on Friday, the governor of Jonglei state Riak Ghai said Egypt would commit a serious mistake if it listened to Garang and backed the opposition group, the Sudanese news agency SUNA said. Meanwhile, the NDA said in a statement it repulsed a government attack in the southeastern Blue Nile province on Friday and killed five militia soldiers.

Nairobi, 17 August 1998, 15:15 gmt

[ENDS]

[The material contained in this communication comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. UN IRIN Tel: +254 2 622123 Fax: +254 2 622129 e-mail: irin@dha.unon.org for more information or free subscriptions. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. IRIN reports are archived on the WWW at: http://www.reliefweb.int/ or can be retrieved automatically by sending e-mail to archive@ocha.unon.org. Mailing list: irin-cea-updates]

From: IRIN - Central and Eastern Africa <irin@ocha.unon.org> Subject: Central and Eastern Africa: IRIN Update 481 for 14-17 Aug e: bulk

Editor: Dr. Ali B. Ali-Dinar, Ph.D

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