Thirteen 'Bushmen' who were being prosecuted for allegedly 'over-hunting' have had the case against them dropped after Botswana authorities refused to produce a witness to confirm their accusations. The men, from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, were tortured by wildlife officials and police when they were first arrested in August 2000.

Former South African president, Nelson Mandela has lost patience with diplomacy and launched a scathing personal attack on U.S. president George W. Bush for his apparent determination to take military action against Iraq, if the middle-eastern country does not prove it has no weapons of mass destruction to the satisfaction of the United States.
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* Mbeki highlights differences with UK over Iraq
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A sustained financial and diplomatic commitment from the United States to conflict resolution in Africa was crucial to regional and international security, with the historical role that the US had played in destabilizing many African countries giving Washington a "unique responsibility" to engage with African efforts to achieve peace and stability, according to a new Africa Action report entitled "Africa Policy for a New Era: Ending Segregation in U.S. Foreign Relations." At a media briefing launching the report Adotei Akwei, Africa Advocacy Director of Amnesty International USA, said "the U.S. pre-occupation with the geo-strategic value of African countries in the 'war on terrorism' must not trump efforts to promote human rights and advance democracy."

It appears that all the major obstacles involving the Burundi peace process have been overcome and a peace force will be in that country soon, Deputy South African President Jacob Zuma said on Wednesday. "We believe that in a matter of days many things will be happening. We believe we have crossed all the major hurdles and implementation (of the peace force) will start soon," he told the Johannesburg Press Club.

Malawi President Bakili Muluzi on Tuesday sacked a senior minister opposed to his plans to amend the constitution so he can stay in office beyond the current legal limit of 10 years. Commerce and Industry Minister Peter Kaleso had been removed and his position handed to Muluzi ally Paul Maulidi.

Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo has returned home to uproar after signing a peace accord with rebels at a meeting near Paris. The deal has sparked huge anti-French protests in a country already split by civil war. Tens of thousands of protesters attacked the French embassy and French-owned businesses. But in France, other African leaders, the European Union and the United Nations gave their stamp to the deal.

Liberia's Catholic Justice and Peace Commission on Wednesday reported that extensive instances of human rights abuses and violations including arbitrary arrests of civilians by government forces were committed in Liberia in 2002.

The Ugandan authorities have discounted local media reports of 79 deaths from severe famine in the semi-arid northeastern part of the country.

Despite a 2002 power-sharing agreement between Congolese parties, serious fighting continues in Eastern Congo, particularly Kivu and Ituri Provinces, where the population is suffering enormously under an almost complete absence of international attention. Unless peace-building processes are crafted specifically for the East and made central to the transitional government’s program, the headlined political agreements and other peace accords that have been brokered will remain never implemented words on paper says a report from the International Crisis Group, which warns against Congolese elections until serious progress is made in the peace process.

President Sam Nujoma has expressed dismay over corruption in some State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) in which some individuals are enriching themselves with funds that are meant for improving living standards of the Namibian people.

The influx into Uganda of Rwandan refugees expelled from Tanzania continues unabated, breaking down the screening capacity at Uganda's border posts. Refugee rights' lawyers have called on the governments of Uganda and Tanzania to intervene to avert conflict between the refugees and locals who are increasingly competing for land.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has provided return and reintegration assistance to 293 illiterate and impoverished Malian children trafficked to work as domestic and agricultural labourers in Cote d'Ivoire.

The recurrence of violent conflicts in the northern part of the country is one of the major factors that discourages doctors and other health workers from accepting postings to the area, says Doctor Elias Sory, Northern regional director of health.

A Somali professor says that his arm was broken by thugs hired by warlords at the ongoing peace talks in the Kenyan town of Eldoret. Professor Mohammed Abdi Gandhi told the BBC that he was beaten up after he and other representatives of civil society, including women, stormed a meeting of warlords.

For the San people who live in the forests of Makhulela, about 120km west of Plumtree town in Bulilima District, the transition from abandoning their traditional life of hunting and gathering to that of cultivation and rearing livestock has left them trapped in a time-warp.

The Ministry of Health, listed among the most corrupt institutions in the country, will ensure corrupt staff are sacked and prosecuted, the Minister, Charity Ngilu, has warned.

Former vice-president and defeated presidential aspirant of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Alex Ekwueme, has called on all Nigerians across political divides to join hands in confronting the PDP.

Prof Ngugi wa Thiong'o, planning a visit to Kenya after many years in exile, has called on Kenyans to strongly guard against a serious ailment called "Moism without Moi". Prof Ngugi says this in his message of gratitude to Kenyans for bringing the momentous change that has ended "Moi's reign of terror and set me and many others free from exile".

The United States last Friday signed a deal with Djibouti that gives US troops in the Horn of Africa country immunity from prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC).