Reuters Africa Highlights / [Dec 7]

[Reuters]

BENI, Zaire - Rebels backed by tribal militia tightened
their grip around the Zairean town of Bunia as aid agencies and
Western powers argued over how many Rwandan refugees were still
missing because of the fighting. Rebel officers told journalists
visiting this eastern town that their forces and those of the
Mai Mai militia had reached the outskirts of Bunia on Saturday
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KASESE, Uganda - Villagers were streaming out of the
mountainous border region to escape Ugandan rebels who have been
rampaging since they were forced from their bases in eastern
Zaire. Both Ugandan and Zairean villagers arriving in the border
town of Bwera in eastern Uganda said Allied Democratic Forces
rebels were looting homes, raping women and abducting children
to use as porters.
KAMPALA - President Yoweri Museveni has moved to northern
Uganda to direct a war against Sudanese-based rebels which the
United Nations says has displaced up to 200,000 people and
produced horrific human rights abuses.
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BANGUI - Army rebels in Central African Republic observed a
truce at the start of foreign mediation in their mutiny that has
spiralled into ethnic bloodshed, residents said. But embattled
President Ange-Felix Patasse came under renewed attack from an
alliance of opposition parties accusing him of responsibility
for ethnic violence following the impoverished nation's third
army mutiny this year.
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ACCRA - Ghanaians voted in large numbers with populist
leader Jerry Rawlings, who twice came to power through military
coups, seeking a final term as elected president against a
rejuvenated opposition. Long queues formed in the capital Accra
as Ghanaians turned out in force to vote in presidential and
parliamentary elections in the gold-rich West African nation
that was a pioneer in post-colonial African nationalist
politics.
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CAPE TOWN - Seven people burned to death when fire gutted a
block of flats in the South African port city of Cape Town, a
fire brigade spokesman said.
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ADDIS ABABA - Ethiopia opened a two-day photo exhibition
honouring Mohamed ``Mo'' Amin, the award-winning cameraman who
brought the country's 1984 famine to world attention. He died
aboard a hijacked Ethiopian Airlines plane last month.