Africa

• 22 June 2004
  AFRICA/MALAWI - Disappointment in Malawi after last month’s elections. Disbanding of Opposition could cause precipitation of precarious balance of democracy Lilongwe (Fides Service)- Unfortunately growing confusion in the political situation is causing such a reaction among the people who can hardly believe what is happening and has to accept that it has been tricked” said ...
• 22 June 2004
  AFRICA/RWANDA - “ I have never known peace or justice, neither has my father nor has my son ”. Testimony from a displaced Rwandan refugee Kigali (Fides Service)- Testimony on the conditions of refugees and internally displaced persons is worth more than a thousand speeches. On the occasion of World Refugee Day, marked on June 20, we present the following t ...
• 21 June 2004
  AFRICA/BURUNDI - Good chance for Burundian refugees in Tanzania to return home Bujumbura (Fides Service) - More than 300,000 Burundian refugees in Tanzania had good reason to celebrate yesterday 20 June, World Refugee Day, in fact they are preparing to return to their own country. The peace agreeme ...
• 21 June 2004
  AFRICA/SUDAN - “How can it be that people asking for a school and a hospital get only bullets and bombs in reply?” asks Sudanese Catholic Bishop Macram Max Gassis with regard to the war in Darfur Rome (Fides Service)- “Peace must be built on reciprocal trust. This is why the Khartoum government should take concrete measures to show it sincerely wants peace” Sudanese Catholic Bishop Macram Max Gassis of El Obe ...
• 21 June 2004
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - Crisis in supplies heightens in Bukavu in eastern Congo. “ If this continues we will soon run out of fuel ” local sources told Fides Bukavu (Fides Service)- “The city is slowly being strangled. Supplies are ever fewer and far between. If this continues we will soon run out of fuel” said local sources in Bukavu, main town in south Kivu, in the east ...
• 18 June 2004
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - Bukavu diocesan broadcaster attacked by rebels: Dramatic report from operators at Radio Maria,: “Our Lady protected her Radio and her cathedral ” Bukavu (Fides Service)- Some days ago when Bukavu, the main town in south Kivu was taken by Tutsi Rwandan Banyamulenger rebels (resident in Congo for decades) for a brief period few, one of the places attacked was the Ca ...
• 18 June 2004
  AFRICA/ CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC - “Religious cults are a threat to public order ”. Central African government is concerned Bangui (Fides Service)- The Central African Republic is concerned about the growing phenomenon of religious cults which it says are a threat to public order. According to local authorities some sects have hidden weapons ...
• 15 June 2004
  AFRICA - Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo humanitarian emergencies. UN sounds the alarm Rome (Fides Service)- At least 10 million people are unable to receive aid from humanitarian organisations because of 20 conflicts in different parts of the world. This was said by Jan Egeland UN co-ordinator for emergen ...
• 15 June 2004
  AFRICA/CONGO RD - Dramatic humanitarian situation in east Congo. “The alarm sounded by the UN is a positive fact but it should not be forgotten that war is the cause of all this” say local Fides’ sources Bukavu (Fides Service)- “ The alarm sounded by the UN is a positive signal. At last the spotlights are turned to Congo’s tragedy ” say Fides’ local sources in Bukavu, main town of the South Kiu region in Democrat ...
• 14 June 2004
  AFRICA/NIGERIA - Clashes in Nigeria: “the religious element is not the only provocation” Fides sources say. The shadow of oil stretches across the country Lagos (Fides Service)- Over the past weeks hundreds of people have been killed in episodes of violence in various parts of Nigeria. The highest numbers of victims were reported in riots in the north eastern state of Adam ...
• 14 June 2004
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - “Faced with misinformation supplied by those who want war, we must let the moderates have their say” say Fides sources in Bukavu Bukavu (Fides Service)- The situation of uncertainty remains in Bukavu main town in south Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, after rebel General Laurent Nkunda threatened to take back the city unless a commissio ...
• 12 June 2004
  AFRICA/KENYA - “Katiba Kama Ilivyo”, Catholic radio programme in Nairobi informs people about final draft of new Constitution Nairobi (Fides Service)- “Following a statement issued by the Catholic Bishops in March we wanted to help people understand the contents of the final draft of the new Constitution” Jesuit Father Ludwig Van Heucke tol ...
• 11 June 2004
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - Military ‘coup attempt’ in capital Kinshasa fails. “Coup leaders miscalculated absence of presidential guard and President’s apparent loss of popular support” local sources told Fides Kinshasa (Fides Service)- A ‘coup attempt’ in Kinshasa, capital of Democratic Republic of Congo appears to have failed. “The shooting has stopped. The state radio has announced that President Joseph Kabila is about ...
• 9 June 2004
  AFRICA/IVORY COAST - Who wants to increase tension in Ivory Coast and why? Abidjan (Fides Service)- In Ivory Coast people are wondering who wants to increase tension and why after an incident during the night of 6 June when armed men attacked regular troops and French peacekeepers in Gohitafla ...
• 8 June 2004
  AFRICA/BURKINA FASO - “Caring for the sick helps me realise their agony and distress”, Camillian Missionary reports to Fides… Ouagadougou (Fides Service) - “For some time now I have been working at the Centre for Care and Solidarity in Ouagadougou to replace a confrere away on a refresher course. I came from the S. Camillo Medical Centre Oua ...