Gaddafi Courts an African Queen
JOHANNESBURG, 2 FEB 2003--What lies behind the Libyan strongman's strange but abiding interest in the attractive young mother of a 10-year-old Ugandan king? LIBYA'S Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has developed a mysterious obsession with an ancient Ugandan kingdom whose 10-year-old monarch is the youngest in the world.

According to long-standing rumours, there are two reasons for Gaddafi's interest in Toro, one of five historic kingdoms that make up present-day Uganda.

EDITOR'S PICK:Blaming white for the horrors black invents
NAIROBI, 2 FEB 2003 (DAILY NATION)--Though I condemn the historic white atrocities against black, I cannot condone any black injustice against white. I am more keenly aware that whites still enjoy grotesque privileges – some even crass racists – in our country.

Yet I know that whiteness has nothing to do with it. For I know very many white individuals as committed as I am to the fight.
My task, then, is only to fight the injustice, the historical conditions that cause it and the individuals who perpetrate or apologise for both. My education teaches me that evil and virtue are not black-and-white.

Women stripped in street drama
NAIROBI, 2 FEB 2003--A group of youths went on the rampage in Eldoret streets and stripped women wearing trousers yesterday. Two suspects were arrested.The youths claimed that Vice-President Michael Wamalwa had given orders that women stop wearing trousers.

'War Wont Stop Us'
KAMPALA, 1 FEB 2003--Torn by strife in their homeland, Somalia's football champion Elman dumbfounded the East African community by coming from behind to defeat the Rwandese champion's Rayon 2-1 in their opening game of the CECAFA championship in Kampala last Monday.

President receives Libyan delegation in Hargeysa
HARGEISA, 1 FEB. 2003--A delegation from the Libya's Jamahiriyah, comprising officials from the foreign ministry in charge of African relations, agriculture, livestock, and companies for investment in Africa, was today received by the president, Hon Dahir Riyale Kahin, in his Hargeysa office.

Pirate warning for Somalia's coastline
LONDON, 30 JAN 2003 (BBC)--Ships' captains are being warned that if they make an unscheduled stop or slow down along the coast of Somalia their vessels will almost certainly be boarded by armed militia. The International Maritime Bureau [IMB] has highlighted the growing danger in its Annual Piracy Report. It has increased its rating for the risk of attack along the Somali coastline from possibility to certainty.

ETHIOPIA: African Union summit about to open in Addis Ababa
ADDIS ABABA, 31 JAN 2003 (IRIN) - Ethiopia has said it will welcome Eritrean President Isayas Afeworki if he comes to the capital, Addis Ababa, for the African Union (AU) summit, which will convene on Saturday. Haile Kiros, who in charge of the preparations for the summit for Ethiopia, which is hosting the four-day meeting, said differences had to be put aside for the sake of Africa.

Boys rescued from Kenya's Islamic school of torture
NAIROBI, 30 JAN 2003--Eleven teenage boys have been rescued from an Islamic correction centre in Nairobi where they were chained, tortured, and indoctrinated with violent anti-Christian ideas. Armed police raided the school in a rundown Nairobi neighbourhood after Guleed Ahmed, a 16-year-old from Leicester, faked an illness to escape and raise the alarm.

SOMALIA: Renewed clashes in Baidoa
NAIROBI, 30 JAN 2003 (IRIN) - Fighting resumed in the southern town of Baidoa on Wednesday when forces loyal to the Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA) chairman, Hasan Muhammad Nur Shatigadud, attacked troops loyal to the RRA faction of Shaykh Aden Madobe and Muhammad Ibrahim Habsade, his former deputies.

Talks on Somalia stall again
NAIROBI, 31 JAN 2003--Somali peace talks in Eldoret have stalled due to financial difficulties. There was no activity yesterday at the 10 hotels hosting the peace talks, which are aimed at finding a legal all-inclusive government for Somalia.

Inside a starving Africa:Subject: The Supermarket and the Starving
ADDIS ABABA, 22 JAN 2003--As soon as I clear the Addis Ababa Sheraton's gates, Derej and Abush accost me. The two 15-year-old boys, who hang around outside the hotel waiting for confused-looking foreigners like me, unleash a cheerful and practiced routine. They're seventh-graders, on holiday because it's exam week and so can they show me around. What do I want to see? Derej proposes taking me to the national museum. When I try brushing them off, Abush offers another idea: "The supermarket? We show you the supermarket?"

Widespread Attacks On Children Raise Concern
MOGADISHO, 29 JAN 2003--United Nations agencies working in Somalia have condemned recent violent attacks on children in parts of the country. The killing and kidnapping of children has been going on since October last year, and the number has been increasing over the months.

ETHIOPIA: US writes off debt
ADDIS ABABA, 29 JAN 2003 (IRIN) - The US has written off almost US $30 million in debt for drought-stricken Ethiopia, which is strapped with a massive US $6 billion debt burden.

SOMALIA: Conditions attached to faction leader's release
NAIROBI, 29 JAN 2003 (IRIN) - A civil society member attending the Eldoret peace talks has said he will withdraw charges against a faction leader, whose supporters kicked him and attacked him with a lead pipe, if certain conditions are met.

Up to 50 % Tax Revenue Lost Due to Corruption:African Development Bank Finding
ADDIS ABABA, 29 JAN 2003--Corruption can cost African governments up to 50 percent in lost tax revenue, and in some instances, could be more than a country's total foreign debt, according to a research finding by the African Development Bank.

SOMALIA: Puntland administration lifts ban on BBC reporters
NAIROBI, 29 JAN 2003 (IRIN) - The authorities in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, have lifted the ban on two BBC reporters, according to a senior official in the region's commercial capital, Bosaso.

Somalia: Government, two faction leaders to discuss ways of forming alliance
MOGADISHU, 28 JAN 2003--Officials of the Transitional Government of Somalia [TGS], Jubba Valley Alliance [JVA, pro-government southern alliance] and Muhammad Ibrahim Habsade's wing of the Rahanwein Resistance Army [RRA] are expected to hold a tripartite meeting in Mogadishu in the next couple of days.

Students freed from Kenyan 'torture'
NAIROBI, 28 JAN 2003 (BBC)--Kenyan police have rescued 11 boys from an Islamic correctional centre in the capital, Nairobi, where they were kept in chains and tortured.

Delegates Reject Shift of Talks Venue
NAIROBI, 29 JAN 2003--Somali delegates in the on-going peace talks yesterday opposed the transfer of the conference from Eldoret to the outskirts of Nairobi.

SOMALIA: Fighting breaks out at peace conference
NAIROBI, 28 JAN 2003 (IRIN) - A fist fight erupted at the Somali peace conference in Eldoret, Kenya, when civil society delegates were barred from a meeting of the leaders' committee, a source close to the talks told IRIN on Tuesday.

Minister attacks statements by faction leaders at Kenyan peace talks
HARGEISA, 28 JAN 2003--The minister of water and mineral resources, Hon Mahmud Abdi Farah today criticized the recent remarks made by some ignorant Somali faction leaders. He was speaking at a news conference in his office.

Turning Strategic Location into Economic Advantage
NAIROBI, 27 JAN 2003--It's no mystery why Ismail Omar Guelleh, the leader of one of Africa's smallest nations, received red-carpet treatment during his visit to Washington last week. As the president of Djibouti is quick to acknowledge, the key to his country's popularity is its location.

Leaders' Committee Proposes Delegates for Somaliland
NAIROBI, 27 JAN 2003--Somali leaders attending the peace talks in the Kenyan town of Eldoret have proposed that extra delegates be allocated to represent the self-declared republic of Somaliland in northwestern Somalia, according to one of the leaders.

Somaliland appoints special envoy to promote country's cause
HARGEISA, 28 JAN 2003--Somaliland President Dahir Riyale Kahin today appointed Dr. Omar Elmi Dihood as a special
envoy to promote the country's cause, particularly finding recognition, in the region and worldwide.

Somaliland Upper House rejects statements of Somali leaders attending Eldoret
HARGEISA, 28 JAN 2003--Somaliland's Upper House today a proposal presented by Somali leaders meeting in Eldoret on allocating more seats to Somaliland to entice it to join the peace talks. The House issued a strong worded statement, calling upon the Somali delegates to make use of the opportunity provided to them by resolving their problems and not to waste their time on talking about Somaliland.

The statement has reminded the Somali delegates that IGAD countries, EU states and the International Community were aware f the reality and achievements of Somaliland.

Turning Strategic Location into Economic Advantage
WASHINGTON D.C, 27 JAN 2003--It's no mystery why Ismail Omar Guelleh, the leader of one of Africa's smallest nations, received red-carpet treatment during his visit to Washington last week. As the president of Djibouti is quick to acknowledge, the key to his country's popularity is its location.

Leaders' Committee Proposes Delegates for SomalilandNAIROBI, 27 JAN 2003--Somali leaders attending the peace talks in the Kenyan town of Eldoret have proposed that extra delegates be allocated to represent the self-declared republic of Somaliland in northwestern Somalia, according to one of the leaders.

Clone cows 'to transform' cheese industry
LONDON, 27 JAN 2003 (BBC)--Scientists in New Zealand have created the world's first cloned cows that produce special milk which can increase the speed and ease of cheese-making.

Is this the end of WASP empire?
NAIROBI, 27 JAN 2003--The photographs show British Prime Minister Tony Blair to be a changed man: his face is resolute and his hand stabs at the air as he takes questions from journalists at a Downing Street press conference.