JOHANNESBURG, 23 March 2007 (IRIN) - JOHANNESBURG, 23 March 2007 (IRIN) - CONTENTS

MOZAMBIQUE: Weapons depot explosion kills 76 and injures hundreds more ZIMBABWE: Govt declares drought, but says no to food aid ZIMBABWE: Rural opposition supporters live in fear ZIMBABWE: Regional intervention "long time coming" ANGOLA: Govt sidesteps IMF's transparency concerns as oil money pours in MOZAMBIQUE: Demining operations wind down after 15 years SWAZILAND: Govt looks at ways to bring water to people

MOZAMBIQUE: Weapons depot explosion kills 76 and injures hundreds more

A series of explosions at a military weapons depot in the Mozambican capital, Maputo, late on Thursday afternoon showered rockets and other ballistic debris into densely populated poor neighbourhoods, killing at least 76 people, wounding hundreds more, and sending thousands of residents fleeing from their homes.

The blasts began at about 4 p.m. and grew in intensity for six hours, sending concussive gusts, which were felt 10km away in downtown Maputo, and shockwaves that shattered windows in buildings as far as 25km away. It is believed that hundreds of tonnes of decaying munitions went up in flames, sending columns of fire hundreds of feet into the air.

Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70909

ZIMBABWE: Govt declares drought, but says no to food aid

The Zimbabwean government has officially declared 2007 a drought year, but insisted it would not ask for food assistance because it has the capacity to feed its own people. Agricultural minister Rugare Gumbo told IRIN the government had issued the declaration after a countrywide food assessment revealed that most provinces had been severely affected by a ravaging dry spell that had wilted crops, especially maize, Zimbabwe's staple food.

As the country endures its seventh successive year of drought, Zimbabweans are battling with shortages of food, foreign currency and fuel, on top of an annual inflation of more than 1,700 percent.

Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70845

ZIMBABWE: Rural opposition supporters live in fear

Fear has gripped opposition supporters in rural Zimbabwe after a police crackdown on the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in the past few weeks. Dubani Mlotshwa, a small-scale farmer and grassroots opposition party official in the rural Nkayi district, in the western province of Matabeleland North, said unknown assailants, whom he suspected were ruling ZANU-PF party agents, had visited his homestead and threatened his family for supporting the opposition.

Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70848

ZIMBABWE: Regional intervention "long time coming"

Southern Africa is "finally" assuming leadership in trying to resolve the burning Zimbabwean crisis on their doorstep, but it has been a long time coming, said analysts, as three members from a regional powerhouse met in Lesotho to chalk a way forward. The Southern African Development Community (SADC), which has pushed for an approach of "quiet diplomacy" to the Zimbabwean crisis, has increasingly come under fire for failing to wield any influence.

"But the brutal public attack on civic and leaders of the opposition leaders [last week] has forced the private rumblings of discontent over Zimbabwe to become public and break away from their traditional solidarity response," said Brian Raftopoulos, a Zimbabwean academic and African affairs specialist at the South African-based Institute for Justice and Reconciliation.

Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70906

ANGOLA: Govt sidesteps IMF's transparency concerns as oil money pours in

A welter of multibillion dollar projects to rebuild Angola's devastated roads, airports and administrative buildings are part of a post-war reconstruction boom that is changing the face of the country. Much of the development has been dependent on oil-backed commercial credit agreements from countries such as China. But these loans tend to be larger, more expensive and less restrictive than money Angola could potentially receive from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or other donors.

Now oil-rich Angola has distanced itself further from the IMF by announcing it had succeeded in repaying much of its US$2.3 billion debt to the Paris Club, an informal group of the world's richest countries that provides financial services to indebted countries, without the Fund's help.

Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70839

MOZAMBIQUE: Demining operations wind down after 15 years

Fifteen years after the end of Mozambique's devastating civil war, efforts to clear the country of deadly landmines are entering the final phase. The largest humanitarian group involved in demining, HALO Trust, a UK-based nongovernmental organisation (NGO) that specialises in removing the debris of war, said their work was nearly done.

HALO will end its demining operations in June after working in Mozambique's four northern provinces for 13 years. In 2006, the NGO accounted for more than 98 percent of all mines cleared in the country.

Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70770

SWAZILAND: Govt looks at ways to bring water to people

As Swaziland battles with yet another rainless year, the government has launched an initiative to find long-term solutions to end the water crisis. An Emergency Water Crisis Committee was formed on Wednesday, when government leaders and water-resource experts convened in the commercial town of Manzini, 35km southeast of the capital, Mbabane, to confront water-scarcity issues.

The Ministry of Natural Resources warned the meeting of diminishing stream flows, lower water levels in all dams, and an expected fall in groundwater levels if the dry spell persisted. In the last few months, Swaziland has suffered delayed rainfall, heavy winds and hailstorms, followed by scorching dry spells, which have all contributed to the worst food shortage in 25 years.

Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70870

IRIN news