Judging from their recent exchanges in parliament, the debate on race between President Thabo Mbeki and Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon is a dialogue of the deaf. Neither man seems willing to listen to his interlocutor. Mbeki interprets criticism of the pre-dominantly black ANC-led government as a campaign perpetuated to negatively stereotype black Africans, particularly when it focuses on allegations of corruption. Leon accuses Mbeki of seeking to deflect legitimate criticism by playing the race card and portraying his political opponents as people who have not excised the prejudices of the apartheid past from their minds.

President Thabo Mbeki urged religious leaders at a mass Christian gathering in Pretoria to actively help fight the legacy of racism. He said that religious bodies were in a unique position to support the government in the struggle against poverty and in promoting reconciliation. "As religious leaders, perhaps it would be important to take an active role in fighting the legacy of racism, ensuring that we find practical ways and means of reconciling our people and communities."

An application by Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and two senior party officials to have treason charges against them dropped has been postponed to next week, a newspaper reported on Monday.

Amnesty International says it deplores the recent clampdown by the Sudanese government and security forces on members of Sudanese civil society solely for peacefully discussing issues related to the future of their country. "This can only call into question the government's commitment to a peaceful future for all Sudanese," says Amnesty.

Zimbabwe’s internal situation has continued to worsen, producing increasingly destabilising effects in southern Africa through refugees and economic chaos and damaging the entire continent’s efforts to establish new political and trade relations with the rest of the world. In this context, South Africa is the single country with the ability to help its neighbour through the roughest patches, according to a new report from the International Crisis Group. A range of other international players will need to play supporting roles.
Related Links:
* "I pretended I was dead"
http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=37&o=24001
* Listen to me or else, Mugabe warns MP's
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=68&art_id=vn20030709044043642C9…

Nigerian trade unions on Tuesday ended an eight-day general strike to protest fuel price increases and accepted a compromise price deal offered by the government. Leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), who met all night to consider the government offer, settled for 34 naira (US $0.26) for a litre of petrol or a 31 percent hike instead of the 54 percent increase announced by President Olusegun Obasanjo's government on 20 June.

Swaziland may be entering a new and violent political phase with the proclamation at the weekend of a manifesto by the Swaziland Youth Congress, promising an armed response to alleged political repression by King Mswati's government. "We urge our members to take up arms against government," a Swaziland Youth Congress pamphlet was quoted as saying by the Times of Swaziland.

Presidential elections in Rwanda will be held on 25 August and parliamentary elections on 29 September, the government announced on Thursday. The election will mark the end of a nine-year transitional government established after the 1994 genocide that claimed the lives of some 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus.

An estimated 44,000 internally displaced people have returned to their homes in Kayanza Province, northern Burundi, as fighting between government forces and rebels has subsided, an official of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) told IRIN last Friday.

Mauritanian President Maaouya Ould Sid Ahmed Taya on Sunday named his Justice Minister, Sghaier Ould Mbarek, as the new Prime Minister replacing Cheikh El Avia Ould Mohamed Khouna, the latest in a string of changes within the ruling establishment since last month's failed coup.

Delegates to the Somali peace talks, taking place in Kenya, signed what was termed an "historic" agreement on 5 July to set up a federal government, but confusion was created when some political groups denounced the agreement the following day.

A truth, justice and reconciliation commission should be set up immediately to address human rights violations and economic crimes committed in Kenya between 1963 and 2002, a national conference has recommended.

A 3,800-strong force will soon be deployed in the embattled Ituri District of northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as well as in other locations, the new Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to the UN, William Lacy Swing, announced on Sunday.

Fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) town of Butembo had stopped on Monday, but the situation remained "tense", according to Hamadoun Toure, spokesman of the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC, known as MONUC.

Often it is said that the devil is in the detail. This is both true and not true of the new Anti-Terrorism Bill before Parliament. A week of public hearings recently saw speaker after speaker, including veteran human rights lawyer George Bizos, tear the bill to shreds and condemn it as an affront to the rights enshrined in the constitution.

Sudan’s peace process is entering its final, most difficult phase. As President George W. Bush begins his tour of Africa, he has an opportunity to help end one of the world’s longest-running and most destructive wars, says a new report by the International Crisis Group (ICG). 'Sudan Endgame' says it is essential that the United States makes a clear commitment to its bilateral relationship with Sudan and to remain closely involved with the post-agreement process.
Related Link:
* Tight Security As Sudanese Talks Resume
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307080050.html

The African Conflict Journal is becoming a clearing house of information, events, peer reviews, online resources and discussion concerning the topic of African conflict. The African Conflict Journal (ACJ) is an independent project that utilizes the latest online technology for community building, resource sharing and online information services. Latest additions to the site include a special feature on the crisis in Liberia.

A new June report from Watchlist on children and armed conflict calls on all parties to conflict in the DRC to immediately halt abuses against children and uphold all international obligations to protect children's security and rights. It is also a call to the international community, particularly the UN Security Council, to work vigorously to ensure the end of abuses against Congolese children and adolescents.

As a result of a combination of decades of poor governance and a fragile ecological system characterised by recurrent drought, the pastoral regions of northern Kenya are caught in a vicious cycle of violent conflicts that fuel poverty and diminish the prospects for development. This is all made worse by the easy availability of arms. What causes the proliferation of small arms? Can regional and national gun control policies be implemented in local contexts? Can grassroots campaigns find alternative ways of reducing the numbers of small arms in circulation?

The war in Congo has been miss-described as a local ethnic rivalry when in fact it represents an ongoing struggle for power at the national and international levels, Human Rights Watch says in a new report. The report provides evidence that combatants in the Ituri region of north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have slaughtered some five thousand civilians in the last year because of their ethnic affiliation. But the combatants are armed and often directed by the governments of the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda.