SOUTH AFRICA: A controversial ANC document asserts that Nkosi Johnson, the black boy whose moving plea on behalf of AIDS victims at the UN conference on the disease in mid-2000 made world headlines, died of the anti-retroviral drugs he was "forced to consume", Patrick Laurence reports.
The document depicts Mr Park Mankahlana, who served as spokesman for former president Nelson Mandela and, for a shorter time, President Thabo Mbeki, as another fatal victim of anti-retroviral drugs. It states that Mr Mankahlana, who reportedly died of AIDS-related causes, was "vanquished by the anti-retroviral drugs that he was persuaded to consume".
Circulation of the document in ANC structures coincides with the adamant defence by the ANC national executive of the Mbeki administration's resistance to growing pressure to make anti-retroviral drugs more freely available to AIDS patients in public hospitals.
The document echoes views expressed by Mr Mbeki in an address last year. It implies that those who are sharply critical of the government's AIDS policy are unconscious or - worse - knowing racists, who see black Africans as "germ carriers" unable to control their sexual urges. The document declares in heavy tones of sarcasm: "Yes, we are sex-crazy. Yes, we are diseased."
Bangladeshi police block protest
DHAKA - Bangladeshi police used batons and tear gas yesterday to block the main opposition party from staging a protest against the repeal of a law requiring the display of portraits of the state's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The police tried to disperse a crowd of some 500 opposition activists, who retaliated by throwing pieces of bricks, witnesses said. Several protesters sustained minor injuries, they said. Police took control of the park after the government banned protests following the parliament's scrapping of the law which required portraits of Sheikh Mujibur to be displayed in public buildings. - (AFP)
Air disaster report challenged
CAIRO - The Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority released yesterday its official rebuttal of the National Transportation Safety Board's final report into the crash of EgyptAir Flight 990 in October 1999, Siona Jenkins reports.
After two years' investigation, the board concluded last Thursday that co-pilot Gamil el-Batouty deliberately downed the plane, killing all 217 passengers, although it failed to give a reason for his actions.
In a dense four-page statement the authority challenged the board on a number of points, saying the investigation failed to respond to queries about possible mechanical failure. It also raised the possibility that the aircraft had been shot down accidentally. None of the allegations is new and it is unclear what, if any, action will be taken in response to the rebuttal.
Employee charged with spying
LONDON - A British employee of defence and avionics group BAE Systems has been charged with spying, police said yesterday. Mr Ian Parr (45) was arrested in Southend, east of London, and charged with nine offences under the Official Secrets Act. "The British national has been charged with obtaining information intended to be passed on to an enemy." The man is to appear in court today. - (AFP)