Technical committees discussing core issues of the Somali conflict should conclude their work this month, Kenya’s special envoy for Somalia Elijah Mwangale announced on Tuesday. This means that the power-sharing phase of peace talks should start early next month, he told a news conference in Nairobi.

Ivory Coast political leaders and rebel chiefs began talks near Paris on Wednesday to end a war that risks plunging West Africa into turmoil, with a peace call by ex-colonial power France ringing in their ears. Opening nine days of closed-door talks, Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin told delegates only they could end four months of bloodshed that has killed hundreds in the world's top cocoa producer.

An alleged rightwinger accused of planning to blow up the Vaal Dam testified on Tuesday in the Bloemfontein Regional Court with his Bible at hand. Leon Peacock (42) regularly quoted from the small Bible while testifying in his defence. He told Regional Court President WA du Plessis, who was presiding, that the prophesies of the book of Revelations in the Bible were similar to those of 19th century Boer prophet Siener van Rensburg. One of Van Rensburg's prophesies is about the so-called Night of Terror, which some right-wing groups believe will precipitate a rightwing coup d'etat in South Africa.

The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition has said they are concerned about the welfare of MDC MP Job Sikhala and NGO Human Rights Forum research lawyer Gabriel Shumba, both of who were arrested and detained on Tuesday. The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition is deeply concerned for the welfare of these two individuals and urges the police to release them immediately, the organisation said in an urgent alert.

The widespread and systematic use of rape and other sexual violence during the ten-year civil war in Sierra Leone is documented in a new Human Rights Watch report. The 75-page report, "We'll Kill You If You Cry:" Sexual Violence in the Sierra Leone Conflict, presents evidence of horrific abuses against women and girls in every region of the country by the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF), as well as other rebel, government and international peacekeeping forces.

The pro-presidential coalition in Djibouti has taken all 65 seats in the national assembly, following the country's first full multi-party elections held last week, according to official results. The announcement, reported by the Djibouti news agency, was made by the country's Interior Minister, Abdulkader Doualeh Wais, last Saturday.

A commission set up to investigate human rights abuses in Ghana has begun hearing petitions from people who say they, or their families, suffered during past periods of military rule. The National Reconciliation Commission (NRC), modelled on South Africa's truth and reconciliation commission, is looking into allegations of torture and killings.

The outlook for human rights in Africa at the close of 2002 was more hopeful than it had been for several years, says Human Rights Watch in its World Report 2003, released this week. During the year, there were significant moves towards resolving longstanding conflicts in Angola, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and African leaders made significant commitments to transparent and accountable governance and respect for human rights. But HRW notes that African leaders had promised reform on many previous occasions while continuing to embezzle national funds and to violate human rights. New or ongoing crises and longstanding repression in some countries continued to undermine progress towards respect for human rights and the rule of law across the continent.

A prominent Mogadishu-based faction leader Muse Sudi Yalahow left the Eldoret peace talks on Monday because he is unhappy over the progress of the meeting. Yalahow's departure follows that of another Mogadishu-based faction leader Muhammad Qanyare Afrah and of Colonel Barre Hiiraale, the leader of Juba Valley Alliance, which controls the port city of Kismayo and much of the Juba valley area of southern Somalia.

The National Assembly of the Republic of Congo (ROC) has adopted a law creating a national human rights commission, as stipulated by the country's new constitution, which was approved by referendum in January 2002 and entered into effect in August 2002 following a five-year transition period.

The Mouvement de liberation du Congo rebel group (MLC) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has arrested five of its soldiers accused of committing human rights violations in Ituri District, in the northeast of the country. Ituri has been the scene of heavy fighting in recent weeks between the MLC and its ally, the Rassemblement congolais pour la Democratie-National (RCD-N), against the RCD-Kisangani-Mouvement de liberation.

A Zimbabwe private newspaper reported that Zimbabwean, South African and British authorities have hatched a plan for embattled President Robert Mugabe to hand power to his chosen successor, before the end of his current term in 2006. The Zimbabwe Sunday Mirror said the plan, which it claimed had the support of Zimbabwe's army commander, included the appointment of an interim government with the support of the main opposition and the holding of parliamentary and presidential elections in 2005.
Related Link:
* I won't step down just now - Mugabe
http://allafrica.com/stories/200301160214.html

The Combined Harare Residents Association, together with other representatives of civil society, including the 350 members of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, has strongly condemned the continuing repression of democratically elected representatives and the citizens of Zimbabwe in general.

Two mass graves have been discovered in Mambasa, 50 km northwest of Beni, in the Ituri district of northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to the United Nations Mission in the DRC, known as MONUC.

Aid agencies in the Republic of Congo (ROC) do not have enough relief supplies to assist the growing number of people displaced as populations in the Pool region have been forced to flee repeated bombings, banditry and attacks on villages, according to the United Nations.

A quarter of children in Ethiopia could be orphaned by the HIV/AIDS virus within eight years, experts warned last Friday. The warning came during a conference on HIV/AIDS in Addis Ababa, where it was also revealed that 2.2 million Africans are dying of the virus each year.

The Uganda Red Cross (URC) at Mpondwe border in Kasese district have expressed concern over the rising number of Congolese refugees entering the country.

President Mwai Kibaki is expected to unveil major changes in Government structure after the completion of the reorganisation of his ministries next week. The East African Standard has established that the President and his staff were putting final touches to the exercise which targets bloated ministries and departments as well as transferring "misplaced functions to their rightful areas".

Sudanese government troops will be deployed in camps which Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group was occupying in southern Sudan to avert any attacks against Uganda.

Malawi President Bakili Muluzi has declared a "state of national disaster" and called for international assistance following severe floods in several parts of the country.