Uganda Rural Community Support USA

The accused person in the US Embassy bombing case
which began here on Monday, Mr. Rashid Salehe Hemed, has pledged not
quilty to the charges of murder in a bomb attack on August 7, 1998.

The case, which the committal proceedings of which were held at
Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court on Monday, came for preliminary
hearing before Judge Amir Manento.

The prosecution was led by Principal State Attorney, Geoffrey Shaidi,
who read the charges of conspiracy of murder against Hemed. Alleging,
the prosecutor said, Hemed was at all material time a businessman
dealing in spare-parts and had two shops in Kariakoo area in the city
of Dar Es Salaam.

“Hemed had two close business friends, Ahamed Khalifan Ghailan and
Fahad Mohamed Ally Msalam from Mombasa Kenya,” he alleged, adding,
“Sometime in 1997 and 1998, other two people, Khalifan Hamisi Mohamed
and Mustapha Fadhili alias Hussein or Hassan used to stay in the same
house with him.” He said the vehicle which carried the bomb to the
American Embassy on August 7, 1998 was a Nissan Atlas, TZH 6134. The
internal design of the vehicle was changed and some of its tools were
sold at Hemed’s shop.

“Samples of substances or ingredients that were found in the car were
taken and subjected to analysis. It was proved that they had remains
of chemicals known as 2,4,6 TNT which were used in making the bomb
that was detonated at the American Embassy building on 7th August,
1998, the prosecutor told Judge Manento.

He said following their search, the investigation found that a
blasting cap, six glass beaker, a roll of aluminium foil, a box of
carbon switch brush, for AGA batteries and 36 pieces of shirts one of
which belonged to Ahmed Khalfan. Also found were fire envelops
containing miscellaneous documents, diaries, a photo album and
envelop of electric components, he alleged.

Shaidi told the court that the blasting cap or detonator and six
glass beakers are items believed to be connected with the preparation
and the detonation of the bomb which he said might be remains of the
items used to prepare the bomb that was blasted at US Embassy. He
however submitted that there was no strong evidence to show that the
suspects at large were preparing the bomb because of their close
relationship and the fact that they were sharing the same house.

“But when subjected to chemical analysis some of the clothes
belonging to Hemed were found to contain remains of ingredients used
in preparing the bomb,” he alleged. The postmortem reports of the 11
people who were killed in the blast was submitted.

The defense council, Dr. Fauz Twaib objected to the allegation except
the first paragraph of the fact sheet on the facts of the case. The
case was adjourned until when it is cause-listed by the registrar.

Hemed who has been in custody for almost two years, answers a charge
of conspiracy to kill 11 people at the US Embassy in 1998.

Hemed and One Mustafa Mahmoud Said Ahamed, had earlier been charged
with 11 counts of murder but on the completion of investigation of
the case, the charge were reduced to one. Hemed is the second accused
person.

The first accused person in the case, Mr. Mustafa Mahmoud Said Ahmed
an Egyptian was set free by the court after the Director of Public
Prosecution (DPP) had drawn the charge against him.

When the case came for preliminary inquiry in April this year the
court ordered that witnesses’ statements should be read by the
prosecution. Hemed, a Tanzanian from Zanzibar, is alleged to have
taken part in conspiracy of murder of 11 persons during the US
Embassy bomb blast in Dar Es Salaam on August 7, 1998.

The Dar Es Salaam US Embassy bombing incident occurred simultaneously
with that of the US Embassy in Nairobi Kenya. Over 200 persons died
and more than 5,000 others were injured in Nairobi.

A team of international researchers today
presented findings at the XIII International AIDS Conference The
Female Health Company announced today the results of two new studies
that demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of The Female Condoms in
preventing sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV/AIDS.

The Chicago-based Female Health Company owns certain worldwide rights
to The Female Condom

In an 11 July 2000 letter to Interior Minister Dah Ould Abdel
Jellil, WAN and the World Editors Forum (WEF) expressed their serious
concern over the seizure of the privately owned weekly “La Tribune”.

According to reports, on 3 July, Mauritanian authorities seized the
most recent issue of “La Tribune”, under Article 11 of the Press Law.
The newspaper contained an interview with an exiled former army
colonel who expressed views critical of the government, an article on
the 1 July expulsion from Mauritania of two French citizens, one of
whom was a diplomat, and an editorial on police violence.

Article 11 permits the seizure of publications “which threaten the
principles of Islam or the credibility of the state, are against the
public interest or threaten national security”.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Send appeals to the interior minister: - respectfully reminding him
that the seizure of “La Tribune” is a clear breach of the right to
freedom of expression, which is guaranteed by numerous international
conventions, including the African Charter on Human and People’s
Rights, to which Mauritania is a party - stating that you are
seriously concerned at what appears to be a pattern of government
harassment of the press and noting that four weekly publications have
been seized this year under Article 11 of the Press Law -
respectfully calling on him to ensure that the authorities desist
from seizing publications which express opinions that are critical of
the government - urging him to do everything in his power to ensure
that Article 11 of the Press Law is rescinded so that his country
might fully respect its international obligations to press freedom

APPEALS TO:

The Right Honourable Dah Ould Abdel Jellil Interior Minister
Nouakchott Islamic Republic of Mauritania C/o H.E. Ambassador to
France Fax: +33 1 40 72 82 96

Please copy appeals to WAN.

For further information, contact Anne-Marie Stott or Larry Kilman at
WAN, 25, rue d’Astorg, 75008 Paris, France, tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00,
fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48, email: a.stott@wan.asso.fr,
lkilman@wan.asso.fr, Internet: http://www.wan-press.org

The information contained in this action alert is the sole
responsibility of WAN. In citing this material for broadcast or
publication, please credit WAN

Aime Kakese Vinalu, publisher of the weekly “Le
Carroussel”, is to appear before the Court of Military Order, charged
with “threatening State security”. The date of his appearance has yet
to be determined. Kakese was arrested on 23 June 2000.

“I was told of the charge on Thursday 6 July 2000, in an underground
cell at the National Information Agency (ANR), after my hearing with
the military prosecutor, Commander Tsinu Pukuta,” the journalist told
JED. Members of the organisation visited him on Sunday 9 July, at the
Kinshasa Penitentiary and Re-education Center (Centre penitentiaire
et de reeducation de Kinshasa, CPRK, formerly known as Makala Central
Prison), where he was transferred in the evening of the same day.

During his cross-examination, the military prosecutor asked Kakese to
give his “intention and source of inspiration” for two articles
published in the 22 June edition of his newspaper. The articles were
titled “Kabila-Victor Mpoyo Dispute” and “A call for Opposition
Unity”. The military prosecutor suggested that the purpose of the
editorial titled “A call for Opposition Unity” was to “incite the
Congolese opposition to rebel against the established power.”

The journalist told JED that prior to his transfer to the CPRK
central prison, he was repeatedly beaten by officers of the Congolese
National Police in the underground cells of “Kin- Maziere”.

For further information, contact D. M’Baya Tshimanga, president, or
Mwamba wa ba Mulamba, secretary-general, Journaliste en Danger (JED),
73, avenue Maringa, Kinshasa/Kasa- Vubu, Democratic Republic of
Congo, tel/fax: +243 12 61576/20659, e-mail: jedkin@ic.cd, Internet:
http://www.congonline.com/Jed/

The information contained in this alert update is the sole
responsibility of JED. In citing this material for broadcast or
publication, please credit JED.

Organised agriculture has warned that the Southern
African Development Community (SADC) must improve the policing of its
borders if the SADC trade protocol signed in Windhoek yesterday by
President Thabo Mbeki is to succeed and not result in a flood of
subsidised products coming through the porous borders of SA’s
northern neighbours.

AgriSA executive director Jack Raath said yesterday that trade deals
and, in particular, the rules of origin details had to be policed at
border posts. He said SA points of entry would not be the first line
of defence for illegal imports, but the border posts of its northern
neighbours would be.

Considering the instability in Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe, it was
possible that products with an unfair advantage over SA producers
could enter the SADC system.

There was a chance of dumping of agricultural products, particularly
from Europe, where farmers still enjoyed considerable state
assistance under the common agricultural policy.

Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin announced last week that the
cabinet had endorsed the trade protocol and approved its
implementation on September 1. Mbeki was mandated to sign the deal.
All SA products which enjoy tariff protection of 17% or less will be
reduced to a zero tariff for intra- SADC trade.

President Thabo Mbeki’s office has rejected as
“insulting” and deserving of an apology speculation that a cabinet
reshuffle is imminent.

Presidential spokesman Parks Mankahlana, reacting to reports that
three ministers were set to be fired for failing in their portfolios,
said the denigration of some of the best ministers since 1994 was
“unacceptable”.

He said those who had published the reports should apologise to the
ministers concerned.

Weekend reports suggested that Education Minister Kader Asmal,
Transport Minister Dullah Omar and Public Service and Administration
Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi were set to lose their jobs. It
was also suggested the African National Congress strongman in Western
Cape, Tony Yengeni, was set to be removed from his position as chief
whip.

The reports suggested that Asmal had antagonised cabinet colleagues
through unilateral actions, and that Omar had underperformed
particularly in the sensitive plans to recapitalise the taxi
industry. Fraser-Moleketi was to be axed because of the mess she left
the welfare department in and an unimpressive performance at public
service.

Asmal received support from an unexpected quarter. New National Party
education spokesman Andre Gaum said the speculation that Asmal was to
be removed was bad news for education in the country.

Government hopes to sell Abakor, the financially
troubled stateowned abattoir company, to a black empowerment group by
November.

Abakor chairman Tim Davidson confirmed on Thursday that the company
was up for sale. The name of the prospective buyer was not released.

This follows an announcement by the land and agriculture, and private
enterprises ministries that the abattoir would be privatised before
the end of the year.

Several of the company’s unprofitable abattoirs, including City Deep,
were mothballed two years ago when former land and agriculture
minister Derek Hanekom fired the management and appointed a new board
of directors.

Abakor is jointly owned by the state and the Meat Industry Trust, a
nonprofit concern that took over the assets of the defunct Meat Board
when the board closed.

Abattoirs at East London, Port Elizabeth, Krugersdorp and Pretoria
were, however, still operating profitably, Davidson said. “Despite
that fact, Abakor’s debt burden is too high to service its debt and
it is kept running on money from government every month.” Two years
ago, Abakor received a R20m cash injection from the agriculture
department but the extent to which it is bankrolled now is not known.

Davidson declined to name the group wanting to buy Abakor, but said
negotiations were “well under way”. He said only one prospective
buyer had come forward. “No one is queuing up to buy abattoirs.”
Abakor started running into financial difficulties when the previous
government relaxed its grip on slaughtering and allowed private
abattoirs to start up.

It is believed Abakor’s debts total R65m, with a large chunk owed to
the Land Bank.

Last Friday’s interdict which halted South Africa’s
third cellular network licensing process will help restore investors’
faith in SA, according to directors of Nextcom, the consortium which
applied for the court order.

The Pretoria High Court’s decision to suspend the recommendation of
Cell C as the winner and to review the entire decision-making process
is a victory for the public, not just for Nextcom, said CEO Bushy
Kelobonye.

Judge Nico Coetzee ordered Communications Minister Ivy
MatsepeCasaburri not to award the licence, pending a review of the
processes followed by the SA Telecommunications Regulatory Authority
(Satra).

Coetzee said there was enough evidence to justify a review on five of
the six grounds cited by Nextcom. Those included apparent
interference by Matsepe-Casaburri and Satra’s decision to ignore
independent assessments of each bid. A judge will hear the review in
October.

If the review concludes that Satra’s processes were above board,
MatsepeCasaburri will be allowed to go ahead and grant the licence.
If the process is deemed to be flawed, the Independent Communications
Authority of SA will be ordered to reassess each bid. Kelobonye said
the verdict vindicated Nextcom’s belief that Satra’s recommendation
was fatally flawed.

Each bid would now be scrutinised without political interference, he
said. But Cell C director Zwelakhe Mankazana contended that the
effect would be just the opposite. “This has a debilitating effect on
the industry and the consumer and a particularly negative impact on
SA’s intention to encourage foreign investment. In a full judicial
review evidence will be tendered to demonstrate that the process was
proper and Cell C is a worthy winner.” Other industry players also
fear the process, which has been dogged by delays and controversy, is
destroying SA’s credibility overseas.

Political parties have applauded former justice
minister Kobie Coetzee South Africa’s longest serving justice
minister for his role in facilitating South Africa’s new democracy.

Coetzee, 69, died of a heart attack at his home in Bloemfontein on
Saturday morning.

He was instrumental in arranging meetings with former state
presidents Nelson Mandela and PW Botha, and later with FW de Klerk,
that led to Mandela’s release after 27 years in jail.

Deputy President Jacob Zuma said Coetzee served the country during
the crucial period after 1994 as chairman of the first senate where
he developed a reputation for impartiality and an ability to rise
above party politics.

Douglas Gibson, the Democratic Party’s chief whip and justice
spokesman, said yesterday Coetzee would be remembered as a legal
reformer of stature in SA. “He was responsible for farreaching
changes in our law, which affect millions of South Africans,” Gibson
said.

He said Coetzee was a master strategist and tactician whose failing
was that he sometimes could not communicate exactly what it was he
hoped to achieve.

“He was often criticised for taking an inordinately long time to make
decisions. Despite this, he will be remembered as a justice minister
of stature and consequence.” New National Party spokesman Sheila
Camerer said Coetzee’s role as a reformer should not be downplayed.
He was a good administrator who built up a loyal team.

She said the ministry pruned the law of about 35 divisions which
discriminated against women. Camerer said Coetzee started “a quite
courageous move, considering that there was a previous initiative
which had failed, to introduce a law which provided that rape could
take place within a marriage.”

Farm workers in the Western Cape will for the first
time be able to access housing grants from the provincial housing
department on the basis of a special scheme thrashed out between the
province’s housing and agriculture departments and the provincial
agricultural union, Agri Western Cape.

The scheme provides for preferential access government’s R16500
housing grant for workers who can come up with some capital of their
own.

Agri Western Cape GM Carl Opperman said: “The scheme will go a long
way to restoring relationships on farms that turned sour when the
extension of security of tenure legislation was introduced.” The law
provides for some categories of workers to gain permanent residential
rights on farms. Opperman said the new farm worker housing scheme
would enable workers to obtain property registered in their names in
townships where there was schooling for children beyond grade 4.

Farm schools catered only for education up to grade 4, he said. The
scheme would enable farm workers in the province who were able to
contribute at least R5000 to receive housing grants quicker.

Agriculture MEC Gerrit van Rensburg said: “To date it has been
extremely difficult for workers on farms to obtain the housing
subsidy.

“They abandoned their houses, jobs and income on farms, and squatted
in nearby towns in an effort to qualify for subsidy houses. Now a
worker can barter without losing his job on the farm,” he said.

Van Rensburg said the Extension of Security of Tenure Act stripped
farm workers of housing and gave rise to farms emplying fewer people
than in the past. Opperman said the first applications from farm
workers in terms of the new scheme were expected within weeks.