/ 25 August 1999

NAMIBIA LIFTS EMERGENCY STATUS

NAMIBIAN President Sam Nujoma announced that the state of emergency in the troubled north-eastern Caprivi region will be lifted at midnight on Wednesday. Namibian Broadcasting Corporation reported that Nujoma Tuesday visited the remote northern town of Katima Mulilo, which came under attack from a separatist rebel group on August 2, to announce that the emergency is to be lifted. The emergency, which was declared on the day of the attack, gave the security forces wide powers of search and arrest, while suspects could be held incommunicado without having to be brought to court. NBC television quoted Nujoma as telling a community meeting ”the state of emergency can only be allowed to continue if there is fighting in the region.” He added there had been no clashes in Caprivi since August 2.