The News Review:

- Sierra Leone poor despite huge diamond revenues.
- Straw under fire over embassy closures
- Conflict With DRC Inevitable Without Action From the International…
- LIBERIA: War rapists must face justice, victims need more help, says…
- Labour Congress Vows to Cripple Government.

Sierra Leone poor despite huge diamond revenues.
Free with registration – Asia Africa Intelligence Wire – AccessMyLibrary.com – Dec 15, 2004
Sierra Leone poor despite huge diamond revenues. | Asia Africa Intelligence Wire (December, 2004).

Straw under fire over embassy closures
Times Online – Dec 15, 2004
More than a dozen posts have opened in the past five years, including embassies in Libya and East Timor and another in Asmara after Eritrea’s breakaway from Ethiopia, as well as a post in Pristina after the Kosovo war. In 2001, Britain established its first embassy in North Korea and in Tajikistan, the Kabul embassy was re-opened and missions were set up in Lahore and Bamako, Mali. In 2002 an embassy was opened in Moldova and the Sierra Leone crisis brought the need for a diplomatic presence in neighbouring Guinea. The most recent, and some of the most expensive, openings have been the embassy in Baghdad, relocated into the green zone, and consulates in Mosul and Basra. Furious opposition greeted the last attempt to close British consulates in Europe a decade ago, when a campaign was mounted to keep a diplomatic presence in Venice and Florence. Venice was eventually downgraded. Today’s announcement is the first diplomatic redeployment linked to a review of international priorities published by the Foreign Office a year ago.

Conflict With DRC Inevitable Without Action From the International…
Free with registration – Asia Africa Intelligence Wire – AccessMyLibrary.com – Dec 15, 2004
Does your government expect that the UN will end this problem or do you plan to send troops in the near future? We have not given up on the United Nations because the UN has demonstrated the capacity to confront such type of forces – you would recall that the RUF in Sierra Leone was forcefully disarmed by the UN. What has been lacking up to this time is the will within the UN to disarm this force that committed genocide in Rwanda. In that, I see a certain consistency. You would recall that in January 1994, three months before the genocide started, a leader of the infamous militia called the Interhamwe went to see General [Romeo] Dallaire, who was the commander of the UN mission in Rwanda. He informed Dallaire that they have deployed militias, [that] they have arms caches and gave Dallaire the details of where the arms caches were.

LIBERIA: War rapists must face justice, victims need more help, says…
IRINnews.org – Dec 15, 2004
They beat me and my unborn baby died. “Bringing the perpetrators to justice will be difficult in a country where most courts no longer function and much of the infrastructure has been destroyed or looted, Amnesty noted. It said that one example for Liberia to follow might be found in neighbouring Sierra Leone, which suffered its own brutal decade-long war, and has since set up a UN-backed Special Court to try those who bear the greatest responsibility for crimes against humanity, including rape and sexual slavery. Amnesty said Liberia’s interim government, which took over after an August 2003 peace deal and will shepherd the nation to elections in October 2005, must come up with a clear policy to deal with those who had raped and sexually abused their countrymen. And the UN, international donors and the World Bank should provide sufficient funds to help Liberia develop an effective justice system, it said. The human rights group said sending a clear signal would prevent further crimes being committed and warned that women remained at risk, particularly in camps for Liberians who had been forced to flee their homes during the conflict and who had still not returned. As far as helping the victims of the wartime assaults, equally big hurdles remain.

Labour Congress Vows to Cripple Government.
Free with registration – Asia Africa Intelligence Wire – AccessMyLibrary.com – Dec 15, 2004
Labour Congress Vows to Cripple Government. | Asia Africa Intelligence Wire (December, 2004).