| Daily Press Cuttings |  |
| Daily Press Cuttings | |
Friday 8th September 2000
The Express: Jubilee 2000/UN: U2 rock star Bono last night presented the world's biggest petition to UN chief Kofi Annan, bearing 21 million names and calling for the cancellation of Third World debt. The petition, organised by Jubilee 2000 in 160 countries including Britain, urges financial compassion for poor nations. Sir Bob Geldof, the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Muhammad Ali, David Bowie and Sir Anthony Hopkins were amongst those who signed.
The Guardian: IMF/World Bank/HIPC: The IMF and the World Bank last night sought to defuse growing protests at the sluggish pace of international debt relief efforts, with a pledge to give help to 20 of the world's poorest countries by the end of the year. With the IMF's new managing director, Horst Köhler, set for a confrontation with debt campaigners and charities at a lunch hosted by the chancellor Gordon Brown today, the Fund and the Bank issued a joint statement promising to end the delays and bottlenecks. “We are doing everything possible to achieve speedy implementation of the initiative,” said the joint statement. The IMF and World Bank have agreed to show greater flexibility when assessing the economic track records of poor countries applying for debt relief—a move which they say will increase the number of countries eligible for debt relief this year from 20 to 24. Debt campaigners believe that the current deal is not just too slow but is also not generous enough. Adrian Lovett, deputy director of Jubilee 2000, said: “The international effort to relieve debt had become hopelessly bogged down in red tape. The scheme is totally discredited.” UN Millennium Summit: Picture of the world's leaders assembled at the New York Millennium Summit. The UN recognises 189 countries and only 14 of the world leaders attending the summit were missing from the photograph. UN/Africa: The UN security council last night agreed to overhaul its much-maligned peacekeeping operations, with special focus on Africa.
FT: Oil: The oil price reached a 10-year high yesterday when October Brent crude closed at $34.55 a barrel. IMF/World Bank: A panel charged with examining new ways of calculating how government's shares in the IMF are divided up has come up with a formula that would substantially increase the US stake in the institution and roughly double Japan's. Horst Köhler, the IMF's managing director, has spoken of giving developing countries a bigger voice in the IMF, but the formula, recommended by Harvard economist Richard Cooper, would run counter to that idea. IMF/Ukraine: The IMF yesterday condemned the actions of the Ukraine central bank for overstating its reserves to the IMF between 1996 and 1998.
The Economist: UN Millennium Summit: Editorial comments that a main target set by Mr Annan and agreed to by the summiteers is to halve by 2015 the 22 per cent of people who live on less than a dollar a day and to ensure primary education for all by the same date. Towards this end, the declaration calls on the industrialised world to adopt a policy of duty-free access from exports from the least developed countries, and to be much more generous about debt cancellation. The special needs of Africa, the poorest continent, receive special attention. If such commitments do succeed in making the rich world a little less selfish in its dealings with the poor world, the puff and flummery will have been worth while.
Wall Street Journal: UN Summit: Comment from journalist David Rieff that the UN's biggest accomplishment is tying up traffic in New York.
The Guardian: UN Millennium Summit: The UN millennium summit opened yesterday. Each of the more than 150 world's leaders has been allotted five minutes at the general assembly podium to make grand statements about fighting to end the scourge of war and eradicate poverty. Clinton who was introduced as “His Excellency, William Jefferson Clinton” made the first speech although recognisably, the US is frequently the least supportive of legitimate UN aspirations such as the international criminal court, is holding back $1.7bn in unpaid dues, and has a congress that has been “quasi-neurotic” in its attempts to safeguard American sovereign power. Britain has proposed expanding the security council and professionalising peacekeeping through the creation of a staff college in Britain to train officers from around the world for UN duty. There were no demonstrations on the scale of the globalisation protests in Seattle and Washington with protesters being content to stay in the police designated area beneath the shadow of the fast-rising Donald Trump tower. The loudest protests were from the Chinese Falun Gong religious group, the Free Tibet campaigners and posters were noticeable condemning the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Barak as a traitor. Nigeria: Britain has no equivalent to the American concept of reviewing the origins and assets of a “public figure” or what the Swiss call “politically exposed persons” and has yet to act on Nigeria's formal request in June to restrain and confiscated all the stolen money identified, believed to be about $450m held in 20 accounts. The banks are thought to be branches of HSBC, the French bank Credit Agricole-Indosuez, and Barclays, with a convenient branch opposite the Nigerian high commission, as well as subsidiaries of two Nigerian and four other European banks. Afghanistan: The fall of Taloqan in northern Afghanistan to the Taliban Islamic militia will strengthen the Taliban's demand for international diplomatic recognition, particularly during the current UN summit in New York.
FT: Indonesia: Four UN staff were killed yesterday in rioting after an attack led by pro-Indonesian militias on a UN refugees office in West Timor. It was the deadliest attack since the UN agency arrived in the Indonesian province a year ago. IMF/World Bank: Responding to criticisms about the way they handled the financial crises of the 1990s, the two institutions say they will attempt to redefine their responsibilities and reduce a growing overlap that has been in evidence in recent years. The bank also plans to introduce new poverty reduction credits in the poorest countries aimed at linking bank financial support to a country's poverty reduction strategy. Saudi Arabia/Oil: Although Saudi Arabia tried to calm markets by stressing its commitment to achieving price stability, it did say that such stability rested not only with oil-producing countries but also on consuming nations that levied heavy taxes on gasoline and other oil products. Iran signalled it would resist moves to increase overall output beyond the informally agreed 500,000 bpd saying the market will be dealt with in terms of fundamentals and the logic of demand and supply rather than politically-motivated interference.
IHT: Rwanda: UN Millennium Summit: President Kagame of Rwanda has said to the UN that until the fewer than 10,000 Hutu Rwandans who are responsible for killing Tutsi and their moderate Hutu allies are separated from Congolese troops and its allies, Zimbabwe and Angola, disarmed and resettled in Rwanda or somewhere else in peace, Rwandan troops will stay in Congo.
The Times: Africa: UN Millennium Summit: In his speech to the UN, Tony Blair told the assembled leaders that deaths in Africa were caused not my fate but by man i.e. through bad governance, factional rivalries, state sponsored theft and corruption. Britain he said had granted debt relief and by 2004 would have increased its aid budget by 70% since 1997 with much of the money going to Africa.
FT: UN/Millennium Summit: Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General, yesterday set the tone for this week's Millennium Summit, urging world leaders in New York to reaffirm a commitment to peace and tolerance and promote freedom from fear and want. Tolling the Japanese peace bell, a joint gift from Japan and Israel, he said: “Let it ring out a century of cruelty and destruction and ring in a millennium of hope and peace.” Two-page Survey of the UN, emphasising its fight to regain respect and relevance. World leaders meeting for this week's Millennium Summit will find much to praise in the organisation's record since 1945—and reasons to look at their own countries' record of support. In particular the UN has been starved by the US legislature of resources for peacekeeping and other tasks. Survey looks at the organisation's peacekeeping record, the UNHCR, the Global Compact (a bridge between business and its critics), the UNDP, UNEP and carries an interview with Kofi Annan. Nigeria/UK: Bankers and regulators in London yesterday refused to comment on UK involvement in the acceptance by Swiss banks of $660 million plundered by the Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha. Article looks at the role of Citibank in accepting investment of stolen funds from Abacha's sons. Switzerland: Article says that Switzerland's new justice minister, Ruth Metzler, is seeking to recruit 480 extra staff for the Federal Prosecutor's office in a move to rid the country of its image of a money-laundering centre. Nigeria: FT leader says that Sani Abacha, Nigeria's former dictator, stole billions of dollars from his own country, leaving it debt-ridden and economically crippled. His corrupt behaviour might not have been possible on such a scale had Western banks not been so keen to accept his cash. Money laundering rules state that banks should identify the source of large transactions where they believe there to be cause for concern and report their suspicions to the authorities. The huge scale of the flows associated with Mr Abacha show that many banks' systems have failed badly. The leader calls for countries to follow Switzerland's example in naming banks that have taken money from corrupt or criminal sources.
The Guardian: US/UN: US President Bill Clinton will give his backing today to a proposal to reform the UN's peacekeeping activities after their disastrous failures in Rwanda, Srebenica and Sierra Leone. He will endorse a plan to establish a permanent peace-keeping high command to replace the present slow, ad hoc arrangement. Rwanda: Journalist Linda Melvern, author of “A people betrayed: the role of the west in Rwanda's genocide” comments on UN security council secrecy and failure over Rwanda.
IHT: Nigeria/Congo (Kinshasa): President Obasanjo of Nigeria has offered to play a mediating role to bring the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo to an end.
The Independent: UN Summit: Joint article by four leading left-of-centre premiers in Europe—Tony Blair, Gerhard Schroder, Wim Kok and Goran Persson—on how globalisation can be made fairer. “We cannot stop change, but we can shape it for the benefit of the many, not the few.” Full page coverage of the summit, identifying five major pressure points: the Middle East, Zimbabwe law reform, Kashmir, lifting sanctions against Iraq, and poverty and health.
The Guardian: HIPC/UK: UK government ministers Gordon Brown and Clare Short are to meet the heads of the IMF and World Bank in Washington this week to discuss the faltering progress of international efforts to relieve the debts of the world's poorest countries. Debt campaigners were bitterly disappointed that this year's G8 summit in Okinawa failed to provide a more generous deal for the 40 countries that the World Bank and IMF have identified as being seriously in debt to western creditors. Jubilee 2000 has called on the British government to set an example to other G8 countries by ceasing to take any more payments from the worst affected countries. Adrian Lovett, Jubilee 2000 deputy director said: “I hope that Gordon Brown and Clare Short are going to really hammer home the message that there needs to be significant progress on debt.” (Monday's paper) Zambia/IMF: Letter from Lucy Matthew of Jubilee 2000 says that the IMF and World Bank continue to reschedule rather than cancel Zambia's debt, giving new loans that add to the future debt burden. Furthermore aid money is used to pay off multilateral debts—in Zambia in 1999 70 per cent of donor aid to Zambia was used for debt repayments. Straightforward cancellation would mean that the $225 million owed by Zambia in 2001 and payments in the future could instead be used to fight extreme poverty. NGOs: Kelly Curragh, policy officer at World Vision, comments although corporations are approaching NGOs to lend legitimacy to their operations, it is crucial NGO's hold on to their independence. He advocates traditional campaigning tactics by NGOs as the best way to make corporations address their business practices.
IHT: Nigeria/US: Throughout Mr Clinton's two-day visit here, Mr Obasanjo has repeatedly raised the issue of debt relief. “We know that we cannot achieve our desire for economic development if we continue to bleed from the gushing wounds of an ever-penetrating debt repayment lance,” he said. Somalia: Abiqassim Salad Hassan took the oath Sunday as the first president of Somalia since 1991, but the ceremony had to be held in neighbouring Djibouti because of continued instability in his own country. Indonesia/IMF: Two days after he was sworn in as Indonesia's economics helmsman, Rizal Ramli said on Monday that the IMF had become too involved in the nuts and bolts of the country's economy in the course of its $43 billion bailout.
FT: Burundi/US: With US President Bill Clinton and about a dozen regional leaders looking on, Burundi's president and another 13 parties last night signed a limited agreement aimed at ending the central African state's seven-year civil war. Nigeria/US: The Nigerian government hopes that Clinton's visit will cement Washington's support for relief on an external debt of $28-$34bn and help inspire a steady increase in direct investment from the US. The accent would be on ambitious government plans to expand Nigeria's 2m barrels-per-day oil industry (Chevron, Exxon-Mobil and Texaco have placed bids in a new round of licensing for potentially lucrative deep-offshore blocks scheduled for reallocation before the end of the year) and rehabilitate collapsing electricity sector infrastructure. The US administration was instrumental in helping Nigeria secure the controversial $1bn credit facility with the IMF that enables it to launch debt rescheduling talks with the Paris Club whose debt, accumulated from arrears and penalties under former military governments, accounts for more than two thirds of total debt. US/Latin America: Beyond renewing his commitment to free trade agreements in Latin America, George W Bush's policy proposals appeared small in scale. He pledges to seek $100m to fund micro-loans to small businesses in Latin America and a further $100m to support debt reduction in exchange for the protection of tropical forests.
BBC: Malawi/World Bank: The government of Malawi has turned down a loan of $40 million from the World Bank intended to make up for a shortfall in funds that Malawi needs to combat Aids. Deputy Health Minister Philip Bwanali said it would be immoral to accept the loan because Malawi is already heavily indebted and could not repay it. He said it would be better if the World Bank offered a grant instead of a loan. Malawi is among the countries hardest hit by the epidemic, with at least 14% of Malawi's population infected with HIV, the virus that can lead to Aids. Mr Bwanali added that Malawi had joined other developing countries in pressing for debt cancellation so the money saved could be used for anti Aids programs. Malawi owes more than $2bn to external creditors.
Times: Sierra Leone: The British and Sierra Leonean Governments were at odds yesterday about how to deal with the hostage crisis, with London pushing for a dialogue with the kidnappers while Freetown ruled out negotiations. The SAS will be assessing the risks of military action to resolve the crisis, which is said to be a last resort option. The West End Boyz are demanding the release of their commander “Bomb Blast” and for the provision of food and medicine before the hostages could be released.
IHT: UN Summit/Globalisation: Report from Barbara Crossette of the New York Times Service entitled “ Globalisation Battle Moves to UN.” The three-day UN Millennium Summit in New York, a meeting of more than 150 world leaders intended to focus on poverty and peace, appears to be turning into a debate about the future of the organisation and the world. A more diversified organisation than the World Bank, IMF & WTO, the UN is not expected to attract the same heated demonstrations seen in Washington and Seattle. However debate over globalisation will be intense. The issue means different things to different people at the UN and the organisation could find itself the target of protests if it aligns with new power centres: the big corporations, high technology gurus and cultural icons of the industrialised world. US/Colombia: A new US-backed military and police offensive aimed at drug trafficking and guerrilla groups in Colombia has been rebuffed by a meeting of twelve South American presidents. Instead they have expressed support for the efforts of President Pastrana of Colombia to negotiate an end to the long-running civil conflict.
FT: IMF/Jubilee 2000: (Friday's international edition): Letter from the IMF's Jack Boorman in response to Jubilee 2000. He emphasises the importance of the link between debt relief and poverty reduction. “The need to secure this link is precisely the rationale for the approach to debt reduction being implemented by the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and their member governments - the approach that Jubilee 2000's Lucy Matthew decries. An important feature of the strategy is that members of civil society in the countries concerned have a role in designing the policy framework to promote the reduction of poverty. Without an approach that promotes the effective use of debt relief for poverty reduction, our shared goal of improving the lot of the poor is likely to remain elusive. Debt cancellation alone is no answer.” (Today's edition) UN/UK: The UN should establish a military inspectorate to help stop its peacekeeping operations falling apart, Labour and the Liberal Democrats will propose today.
The Independent: IMF reform: A new report released today by the New Economics Foundation argues that protests against the IMF will continue unless the organisation is reformed to give greater say to poor countries. The respected London-based think-tank estimates that poor countries lose $2 billion a day from unfair trade rules, pay $60 million a day in debt interest to rich countries and see 30000 children die daily from preventable diseases. Together with other organisations the NEF is launching in Prague Charter 99, a manifesto for economic freedom, which urges for an increase in the voting rights of poor countries in the IMF, faster and fairer debt relief, and a greater role for the UN in negotiating international investment rules. Campaigners hope the UN can play a more powerful part in international financial management especially as developing and transitional countries have 83 per cent of the vote in its General Assembly.
Wall Street Journal: Czech Republic: Several thousand antinuclear activists blockaded three border crossings with Austria this weekend.
The Guardian: Burma/Myanmar: The pro-democracy Burmese leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, was under police guard yesterday after her nine-day protest against travel restrictions in a suburb of the capital, Rangoon, had been forcibly ended. UN Millennium Summit: Madeleine Bunting comments that the big idea whose time has finally come is the need to address the global democratic deficit. The UN has always been squeezed out of any significant input into managing the global economy by the far less democratic IMF and World Bank.
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