Ghana has expressed readiness to send its troops as part of the "international protection force" to monitor peace in Burundi, Ghanaian defence minister, Kufuor Kwame, told journalists in Bujumbura on Wednesday. The country would send the troops "if the situation stabilised," Rwandan radio quoted him as saying.

The Ugandan People's Defence Forces (UPDF) on Tuesday claimed to have rescued more than 6,000 children to date from enforced fighting and slavery with the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). The army's 4th Division spokesman, Captain Khelil Magara, was quoted by the independent 'Monitor' newspaper as saying that the children had been rescued while fighting against the UPDF, and that a child protection unit had been formed in the 4th division to help those rescued.

The President of the semi-autonomous Tanzanian archipelago of Zanzibar, Amani Abeid Karume, on Monday denied accusations by the human rights watchdog Amnesty International that the administration was holding political prisoners. Amani invited Amnesty to send representatives to Zanzibar to "witness what was happening for themselves," according to Tanzanian radio.

The need for physical shelter and for a government decision on the situation of a displaced people's camp have emerged as key issues for over 8,000 newly displaced people in Ed Daein (Al-Duwaym), Southern Darfur, according to local government and humanitarian sources.

Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt has called on the European Union to pay greater attention to the central African countries. In a speech to members of the European Commission in Brussels on Monday to mark Belgium's presidency of the EU, Verhofstadt said the EU countries must take a leading role in trying to resolve the conflicts in central Africa.

The move to prosecute Milosevic several years after his indictment should send a chilling message to all dictators who have committed war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Fear is without doubt gripping Zimbabwe’s State House as Robert Mugabe, our very own Balkan tyrant, begins to see that the arm of the law is long enough to reach even those in the highest positions of power.

The Algerian authorities have prevented thousands of Berber-speaking protesters from holding a planned protest march through the capital Algiers. Soldiers wielding machine guns and aided by police dogs set up road-blocks around the capital Algiers and turned back buses coming from the mainly-Berber eastern region of Kabylia to prevent a planned march by on Thursday.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, are meeting on Friday morning at Katuna border post - a stretch of no-man's land which lies between their two countries. The meeting is the first of its kind in close to a year and the presidents will be trying to find ways to repair their damaged relationship.

The former campaign manager of Zambian President Frederick Chiluba has been murdered in front of his horrified wife in a pre-dawn attack, his lawyers and family say. Paul Tembo, 41, was due to give evidence on Friday at a tribunal investigating corruption and abuse of office by three cabinet ministers.

Villagers have hacked to death about 200 suspected witches in rebel-held northeastern Congo since June 15, blaming them for diseases that have gone untreated since Congo's war broke out three years ago, a senior Ugandan army official said Thursday.

Refugees in Guinea are vulnerable to serious human rights abuse at the hands of Guinean authorities and civilian vigilantes, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Guinean security personnel and civilians regularly harass refugees near their camps or as they move through the country to safer areas.

During the past three years, thousands of unarmed civilians, including children, women, journalists and human rights defenders, have been subjected to torture in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), said Amnesty International today in its latest report Torture: a weapon of war against unarmed civilians.

The European Union (EU) executive branch has taken a step toward suspending aid to Liberia in light of the country's "worsening situation in the areas of human rights, democratic principles, the rule of law and corruption."

The Royal Decree of 22 June 2001, which allows banning of publications without appeal, denies bail for an unlimited range of offences and raises the penalties for defamation, is a further reminder of official hostility towards the independent media and critical voices. A new report from ARTICLE 19, the Global Campaign for Free Expression, calls for urgent reform to guarantee fundamental human rights. The report will be launched at the annual meeting of MISA Swaziland, on 30 June 2001.

The rate of severe malnutrition among Somali child refugees in northeastern Kenya has risen by 172 percent in the last six months, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Tuesday.

The government raised the price of fuel two weeks ago. This means our already meagre incomes will become even less. They-ve raised the price of fuel because their corruption and mismanagement has put them in huge debt. Why must we pay for their mistakes? It's time to remind the government that the power is in the hands of the people. The ZCTU has announced that the dates for the stayaway are: Tuesday 3rd July and Wednesday 4th July. The ZCTU strongly request that Zimbabweans do not engage in any violent action. Please stay peaceful.

As gays around the world are celebrating their pride, Zimbabwe's only gay and lesbian organisation has received death threats and been told to quit the building that houses its office, SAPA reported on Wednesday.

A French court has dropped its investigation into allegations that the son of the late President Francois Mitterrand was involved in illegal arms sales to Angola, BBC has reported.

The 15-nation European Union (EU) this week gave the Zimbabwe government a 60-day ultimatum to end political violence in the country and stop the illegal occupation of farms by its supporters or face tough penalties, 'The Financial Gazette' reported on Thursday. Hardening its position on Zimbabwe, the EU said the government also had to take urgent and concrete steps to protect the freedom of the media, uphold the independence of the judiciary and respect court rulings.

A Chadian investigative journalist, Daniel Bekoutou, is among a group of writers from 20 countries to receive grants from Human Rights Watch (HRW) in recognition of their courage in the face of political persecution, HRW announced on Wednesday.