The ambitions of the now-exiled Liberian President Charles Taylor fuelled Sierra Leone's long conflict, says David Crane, the chief prosecutor of the United Nations-created Special Court for Sierra Leone - a war crimes tribunal. Although Taylor has been given sanctuary in Nigeria, Crane says that he believes Nigeria will eventually turn him over to the Special Court. And, says Crane, Sierra Leone's Special Court is ushering in a new approach to war crimes.

The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) said on Friday in The Hague that it would investigate the role of business operating in Europe, Asia and North America in fuelling crimes against humanity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Mounting grassroots concern over the imposition of King Mswati's constitution became increasingly evident this week as women's groups launched education campaigns, and was borne out in submissions by ordinary Swazis to the palace-appointed Constitutional Drafting Committee (CDC).

The cold reality is that the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) needs to be a good deal more efficient in handling trials, says a new briefing from the International Crisis Group. Among other things, it should maintain its priority of judging the main suspects from the army and 1994 government, whose trials have been set to begin in the last three months of 2003. It will only be possible to wrap up the initial proceedings within four to five years if the court vigorously reforms how its judges conduct the trials and if it refuses to start any new genocide investigations.

A 226-strong contingent of Ethiopian soldiers led by Lt-Col Meley Amare arrived in Bujumbura, capital of Burundi, on Saturday to begin peacekeeping duties. "We are awaiting for another 226, due to arrive on Monday or Tuesday," Amare told reporters at the International Airport of Bujumbura. "The force is due to be complete by Saturday or Sunday next week, when a 900-soldier contingent will be here in Burundi."

Countries such as Britain which are destroying the environment of poorer nations by contributing to global warming and using tropical hardwoods should be prepared to take a fair share of the refugees they have created, says a think tank report. The New Economics Foundation says the idea of being responsible for environmental refugees is an extension of the "polluter pays" principle.

The next few weeks will go far to determining whether Ethiopia and Eritrea resume a path toward war – which took some 100,000 lives between 1998 and 2000 – or solidify their peace agreement. Ethiopia must decide whether to allow demarcation of the border to begin in October 2003 even though the international Boundary Commission set up under the Algiers agreement that ended the fighting has ruled that the town of Badme – the original flashpoint of the war – is on the Eritrean side. The outcome will have profound implications for both countries and the entire Horn of Africa, as well as for international law and the sanctity of binding peace agreements and arbitration processes, says the International Crisis Group.

Santigie Kanu, a member of the military junta that ruled Sierra Leone in the late 1990s, protested that he was being tried by white men as he pleaded not guilty to war crimes and crimes against humanity, at the country's UN-backed Special Court. "I do not understand why I am standing before white people," he told a court hearing, presided over by Canadian judge Pierre Boutet, on Tuesday.

The Somali leaders committee at peace talks currently underway in Kenya have dismissed a recent statement by the president of the Transitional National Government, (TNG) Abdiqassim Salad Hassan, rejecting the adoption of the interim constitution. In a press statement issued on 18 September, the leaders said that Abdiqassim made the statement "in his personal capacity and do not necessarily represent that of the Somali people since his term of office has officially ended on 12 August, 2003".

Polling results from the weekend's parliamentary primary elections released on Tuesday show Swazi voters want change, and are demonstrating a new independence. Voters retired several cabinet ministers appointed by King Mswati III, as well as most incumbent members of parliament.

Protection of refugees and funding for their support in the midst of current financial crises are the two key issues up for discussion as the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) meets this week with its NGO partners ahead of the agency's annual executive committee meeting. But southern NGOs have warned that any funding shake-up could mean yet more bad news for hopes of sustainable funding that allows them to do high quality work with refugees and also build their capacity for future action.

More than 4,500 new Liberian refugees have arrived in the last week in southern Guinea's forest region, stretching the UN refugee agency's capacity in this part of the country.

Fresh fighting and armed groups harassing villagers for food have sent thousands of civilians fleeing their homes in central Liberia in a new mass movement that has alarmed the UN refugee agency.

A court has jailed Sierra Leone's former transport minister for two years for illegal possession of diamonds in a trial seen widely as a test of the government's willingness to fight corruption.

Sudanese refugees are continuing to flee from Darfur in western Sudan into Chad to escape militia attacks, according to the NGO, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). While the numbers remained unclear, pockets of people continued to cross the border every night when they could get across more easily, Sonia Peyrassol, MSF Operational Coordinator for Chad, told IRIN. Border officials appeared to be trying to stop the flow, she said, but it was unclear whether it was on the Sudanese or the Chadian side.

A candidate nominated by the coup leaders in Guinea Bissau to head the interim government, Antonio Sangha, was rejected this week by an adhoc committee set up to ratify the appointment. The committee which acted in consonance with public opinion said the businessman was an ally of coup leader, General Verissimo Correia Seabra.

Zambian Defence Minister Michael Mabenga has lost his job and been stripped of his parliamentary seat after the Supreme Court annulled his election victory. After the elections in December 2001, which brought current President Levy Mwanawasa to power, the opposition launched a series of legal challenges to the results of both the presidential and parliamentary polls.

The government of Sudan and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) have agreed on security arrangements for the south of the country. This has been the main stumbling block at peace talks that have been taking place in the Kenyan town of Naivasha. Under the deal Sudan will have two armies under separate command and control during a six-year interim period.

A three-day "Aids Indaba", or traditional Swazi meeting, concluded at the weekend with the enlistment of church leaders in the national campaign to combat the disease by tapping into their influence. "It is good that the church leaders are getting involved, and we support the training of pastors in AIDS awareness," said Derrick Von Wissel, director of the government's National Emergency Response Committee on HIV/AIDS.

The rebel movement in Cote d'Ivoire suspended its participation in the country's broad-based coalition government on Tuesday and delayed the start of a disarmament programme, accusing President Laurent Gbagbo of obstructing the peace process. Rebel leaders announced the radical move following a two-day meeting in the central city of Bouake and warned there was a real danger that hostilities could resume.