http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-10/14/content_3614394.htm
Malawi cancels fertilizer deal over al-Qaeda fears
www.chinaview.cn 2005-10-14 01:26:04
LUSAKA, Oct. 13 (Xinhuanet) -- Malawi government is canceling a fertilizer deal with a Saudi
Arabian supplier after it was revealed the Saudi company has connections with Osama Bin
Laden's al-Qaeda terror network, Malawi's main newspaper The Nation reported on its website
Thursday.
The report quoted Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe as saying this at the parliament
Wednesday, when he stood to explain government efforts to deal with Malawi's current food
shortage.
"We came to know of this news through an American based bank, Citi Bank, who refused to
deal with the Saudis because they had al-Qaeda connections," Gondwe told the parliament.
The minister said government officials went all over the world looking for cheaper fertilizer that
could be imported and identified the Saudis because their fertilizer was the cheapest.
He said government had not yet effected payment for the Saudi fertilizer and that the 30 million
US dollars for purchasing the fertilizer was still at the country's central bank.
"We are now dealing with firms from Ukraine and Thailand," saidGondwe. He did not give the
name of the Saudi company.
Opposition legislators cautioned government over its fertilizerimportation deals warning that
further delays would adversely affect the country's food production in the coming cropping
season,which begins in November once the rains start.
Opposition members expressed their disappointment at how government was handling the food
crisis and demanded that President Bingu Wa Mutharika should appear before the house to
explain the situation.
With five million of its 11.6 million population in need of food aid, Malawi is among Southern
African countries that are undergoing a food shortage affecting over 10 million people. Enditem
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1502197/posts
"New greening disease could become deadlier to Florida citrus than canker"
By David Fleshler
Staff Writer
Posted October 13 2005
ARTICLE SNIPPET #1: "Helen Ackerman, a Plantation homeowner who has been active in the opposition to the canker eradication program, said the state and federal agriculture agencies should take the opportunity to avoid the mistakes of the past -- although she said it appears they're already stumbling."
ARTICLE SNIPPET #2: "Agriculture officials began to worry about citrus greening in 1998, when the insect that carries the disease was found in Delray Beach. Inspectors surveyed citrus trees but didn't discover the first case of citrus greening until last August.
Known as "yellow dragon disease" in China, where it may have originated, citrus greening is found throughout east Asia and in some major citrus-growing countries, including Florida's arch-rival, Brazil. The disease attacks the vascular system of plants, leading to mottled leaves, severe fruit drop, aborted seeds and underdeveloped, lopsided, bitter fruit."