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Young King Mohammed VI faces a tide of economic and social problems bequeathed by his father Hassan II

The mass outpouring of grief after the death of King Hassan II, one of Africa's most ruthless and canniest rulers, is fast being overtaken by worries about the future, particularly the shaky economy. A week after his father's sudden death from a heart attack on 23 July, King Mohammed VI went to Fez...

MOROCCO

Desert kingdom or desert republic?

SIERRA LEONE

Problematic peace

BLUE LINES

THE INSIDE VIEW

KENYA

Leakey's big game

Once more, President Daniel arap Moi has confounded his critics and surprised everyone else. On 23 July, he appointed his political adversary, palaeontologist and wildlife enthusiast Richard Leakey, to head the Civil Service. Leakey's appointment follows, we hear, direct discussions between Moi and World Bank President James Wolfensohn. Moi was told that the only way to end the stand-off with donors and the country's economic free-fall was to appoint a credible economic and civil service reform team.

ZIMBABWE

U-turns, screw turns

The latest international plan for turning Zimbabwe's economy around looks sound, in narrow economic terms. In narrow political terms, though, it ignores reality, including next year's parliamentary elections and the rock-bottom unpopularity of President Robert Mugabe's government (AC Vol 40 No 14). To make the recovery plan work, Mugabe must junk his most sacred economic and political precepts or else resign. Neither is likely.

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

Too close to call

Whoever wins the presidential election starting on 29 August faces a huge task in keeping order. Incumbent President Ange-Félix Patassé is the favourite, though probably not in the first round. The winner will be helped for a time by the Mission des Nations Unies en République Centrafricaine (Minurca) which is to supervise the poll and is already overseeing the restructuring of the army. So far, election preparations - ten candidates have registered - are going better than the military reforms. Minurca cannot afford to fail on either count. It is one of the United Nations' first attempts at 'preventive peace-keeping'; it has also been run by Europe (particularly France), without United States' cash or logistics. It will face its toughest test this month: the danger is that political rivals will resort to violence again if they don't like the election result, especially if they smell fraud.


Pointers  

SENEGAL

Presidential field

The arrival of a contingent of Legionnaires in the latest French troop rotation raised eyebrows in Dakar. A presidential election is due next February and the country has a history of election violence.

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