20100411
ALL AFRICA

Kampala — PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has warned politicians against telling lies, saying this would cause them problems. Citing the case of the FDC president, Museveni said Kizza Besigye was attacked by people in Mpigi district because he was telling lies.

"Besigye was going around telling people that I sold Lake Kyoga. When he went to Gomba to tell those lies, he fell into problems. I hear some people attacked him because he is used to telling lies," he said.

The President was on Saturday speaking at the pass-out parade of over 500 cadre trainees at Mpunge in Mukono district.

They completed a two-month course in political and military science.

The course was organised by the Mukono deputy RDC, Namatovu Ssemakula.

Besigye was attacked during a political rally at Madu trading centre in Mpigi on Thursday evening.

The attacker, whom residents identified as John Bisasso, jumped onto his car and attempted to pull him down.

"I pushed him away. Some of our supporters jumped onto the car and pulled him as the other members of his group tried to protect him," Besigye told a press conference later.

The FDC president said he reiterated his earlier position that the Government had leased out lakes to foreign investors.

Museveni recently ordered the Police to investigate him over the remarks.

The Criminal Investigations Directorate yesterday summoned Besigye and he is expected to appear at the CID headquarters in Kibuli tomorrow at 10:00am.

The Police said Besigye made inciting and inflammatory remarks in three places, Amolatar and Arua districts and at Maddu in Mpigi district.

"We have dispatched a team to serve him with the summons," CID director Edward Ochom said yesterday in a telephone interview.

The Police said Besigye, on a tour of Amolatar, accused the Government of selling part of Lake Kyoga to a foreign investor.

In Arua he is quoted as having urged FDC supporters to break the thumbs of NRM supporters should they flash their thumbs-up symbol in public.

"We want him to come and help us with investigations over the remarks he allegedly made in those three areas," Ochom said.

Besigye could not be reached for comment but his campaign spokesperson, Sarah Eperu, said she had no knowledge of the summons.

The development comes days after a team of detective's quizzed residents of Amolatar over the matter before proceeding to Arua where they questioned more than 10 people in connection with the thumbs remarks.

Speaking at the pass-out parade on Saturday, Museveni said there was need to organise more patriotism courses to "immunise" the people against such lies.

He tasked the recruits to go out and preach the Movement gospel of improving household incomes and helping people know the significance of markets.

"We should first answer the question: of what significance is Uganda to one's life? If you look at yourself, what does Uganda mean to you?" he asked.

He said as a cattle keeper, he cannot sell his milk to fellow cattle keepers in Ankore or Rwakitura but he benefits from markets elsewhere. "If I was blocked from accessing other Ugandans, I would die of poverty because my tribesmen all produce their own milk and bananas. It is the Ugandans in Kampala who save me from poverty," he said.

He said 18 buses ply the roads from Lira to Kampala everyday to bring "riches" in terms of purchasing power to Kampala.

People in Kayunga had asked him for a ferry on Lake Kyoga and those in Arua wanted a road.

"What pulls all these people? The magnetism is the market in order to solve each others' problems. That's the right way to look at Uganda," he said.

Museveni lamented that the whites divided Africa along borders, hence the need for regional economic integration to remove the obstacles to trade.

"We have to work together with the people of Rwanda Tanzania, Kenya and Burundi to become one East African market," he added.

20100411
ALL AFRICA

U.S. Secretary for Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, is due in Abuja today on the invitation of the federal government to assess steps taken so far to strengthen aviation security at the nation's international airports.

Her invitation, it was learnt, may be connected with efforts by the Nigerian government to convince its U.S. counterpart on the need to remove the country's name from its terror watch list.

Nigeria got on the list in the wake of last December's terror attempt on an American airliner by a Nigerian, Farouk Mutallab, in Detroit, Michigan.

The visit, Vanguard also gathered, is to enable her meet with officials in charge of security matters from other African countries who are converging on Abuja, alongside those of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), to review steps already taken by African governments to ward of threats to aviation security.

Confirming the visit in a statement, Press Secretary, Homeland Security Department, Steven Clark, said the visit, the fourth in the series, was part of efforts by the U.S. government to guide Nigeria to put in place all the infrastructure and facilities necessary to guarantee safety and security at the nation's airports.

The statement read: "Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will travel to Abuja, Nigeria, on April 11 at the invitation of the Nigerian government to meet with her African counterparts and officials from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to discuss ways to bolster global aviation security.

"This will be the fourth in a series of major international meetings hosted by ICAO member states in which Secretary Napolitano will participate to build consensus on strengthening global aviation security and determining specific steps which nations can take individually and collectively to protect all passengers from threats of terrorism."

A source told Vanguard that the recent security breah at Margaret Ekpo International Airport in Calabar will form part of the agenda of discussions between Napolitano and Nigerian aviation and security officials.

20100411
PRESS TV

The European Union anti-piracy naval force says Somali pirates have successfully boarded another cargo ship in the Indian Ocean near the Seychelles.

The mission said Sunday that the number or the nationality of the crew members onboard the hijacked vessel, the Rak Afrikana, was not yet known.

The vessel, bearing the St. Vincent and Grenadines flag, is now anchored 520 nautical kilometers (280 miles) west of the island nation of Seychelles, an area around which suspected Somali pirates have broadened their lucrative operations.

No information was available about the destination or the nature of the ship's cargo.

Despite the growing International naval presence in the area, pirates continue to cash in on the enterprise with millions of dollars in ransom money.

While some of their comrades have been arrested, many of the sea bandits have managed to evade patrolling frigates to launch attacks on trade ships in one the world's busiest commerce routes.

20100411

Djibouti (Alshahid) – The United States Naval force patrolling the busy lanes of Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean have captures 6 Somali pirates after the pirates attacked a US naval warship on Saturday according to a statement from the US navy.

The navy said the USS Ashland; a US naval taking part in the patrolling of the waters of Somalia, came under attack from pirates stiff. The warship responded to the shooting from the pirates destroying the pirates’ skiff and rescuing the 6 who were on board.

The navy said that they are considering a numbers of options on how to deal with the six pirates.

On 31st March, Somali pirates mistakenly attacked another US warship; USS Nicholas which led to the capture of 5 pirates and the destruction of their skiffs

20100411

Nairobi (Alshahid) – The Supreme Council of Kenya (SUPKEM) and other Muslim organizations in Kenya have on Saturday welcomed the draft constitution which will be adopted if the people of Kenya vote for it on June.

The general secretary of SUPKEM; Abdalla Wachu told reporters in a press conference that the Muslim community in Kenya will wholly welcome the new constitution as it is better than the current on.

Wachu urged Kenyans to join the Muslims in passing the new constitution as it takes Kenya to a better future.

Also the National Muslim Leaders Forum (NAMLEF); Sheikh Abdullahi Abdi stated that the Muslims are not amused with the Church leaders who are opposed to the new constitution because it has the Khadi’s Court.

Sheikh Abdi said “They have the right to express their opinions” talking about the church leaders.

The draft law will replace the current one if Kenyans vote YES on the referendum that will take place on 2nd June.

CAIRO, Apr 11 (IPS) - Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), rocked Egypt's political arena last year by announcing his desire to contest the presidency. But while the idea has fired the imagination of political activists, many analysts remain sceptical.

"ElBaradei set a number of conditions for his candidacy, but the chance of even one of them being implemented is virtually nil," Amr Hashem Rabie, expert in parliamentary affairs at the semi-official Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, told IPS.

Currently the darling among reformist circles, ElBaradei in recent weeks has attempted to raise his profile among ordinary Egyptians. On Mar. 26, he performed Friday prayers - wearing traditional Egyptian garb - at a prominent mosque in a low-income district of Cairo.

"We hope this street tour… sends a message not only to the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) but to old opposition parties that ElBaradei and his supporters are serious about change," ElBaradei spokesman Hamdi Qandil was quoted as saying.

Ranking members of President Hosni Mubarak's NDP, meanwhile, dismissed the move.

"[ElBaradei] is wrong if he thinks performing Friday prayers at a famous mosque and hugging poor citizens on the street is the pathway to the presidency," Shura Council spokesman and NDP stalwart Mohamed Ragab was quoted as saying.

Having finished his tenure as IAEA chief, ElBaradei first floated the notion of running in 2011 presidential elections last December, but conditioned his candidacy on an ambitious list of demands. These included guarantees that elections would be free and fair, along with constitutional amendments to allow independent candidates to run for president and ensure electoral oversight by independent monitors.

"My hope is that in the year-and-a-half run-up to the presidential elections the rules of the political game in Egypt will change," ElBaradei declared in a recent television interview.

As it currently stands, presidential candidates must be members of an established - i.e., government-licensed - opposition party, which ElBaradei is not. NDP officials, meanwhile, have repeatedly stressed that constitutional amendments are not in the offing.

Despite a savaging by the ruling party's formidable state media machine, ElBaradei received a hero's welcome when he arrived in Egypt on Feb. 19. Over a thousand euphoric supporters turned out to greet him at Cairo International Airport.

In a series of subsequent interviews in the independent media, ElBaradei - taking a page, perhaps, from U.S. President Barack Obama - trumpeted the need for "change."

"I want to change the country, and if the way to change it is to become president, then first I want that opportunity, then I will decide whether I will run," he announced shortly after his arrival.

Capitalising on the widespread unpopularity of Mubarak's almost three-decade-long rule, ElBaradei's vows of change drew positive reactions from large swathes of the public, particularly among politically-active young people.

Within days, an "ElBaradei for President" group on social-networking website Facebook sailed passed the 100,000-member mark. On Feb. 23, independent daily ‘Al-Masry Al-Youm’ reported that the group was averaging 13 new members per minute. It currently boasts more than 200,000 members.

"People have begun to join the campaign from all political orientations, from the extreme right to the extreme left," Mahmoud Adel al-Heta, 22-year-old university student and founder of the pro-ElBaradei Facebook group, told IPS.

ElBaradei upped the ante in late February, establishing the National Assembly for Change (NAC), a broad coalition of opposition forces devoted to political reform. Along with other demands, including an end to the Egypt's longstanding Emergency Law, the NAC wants to see three articles of the constitution - 76, 77 and 88, which determine how the president is elected and set presidential term limits - amended.

"ElBaradei's purpose for setting political conditions isn't necessarily to win the presidency, but to promote political reform in Egypt," said al-Heta. "The most important demand is that elections be held freely and fairly and that independent candidates are allowed to run."

Some critics, however, say these conditions are unrealistic.

"Whatever happens, elections will feature an NDP candidate, along with a couple candidates from small opposition parties that don't represent the public -- and, of course, the ruling party candidate will win," said Rabie. "And it would be difficult for ElBaradei to backtrack on these conditions once they're made."

Rabie also expressed doubt that ElBaradei and his NAC would succeed in their effort to rally the broader public behind the need for constitutional reform.

"The ruling regime won't meet these demands because the Egyptian public has become inured to the notion that economic and social issues, such as unemployment and rampant inflation, are more important than political reform," he said. "Only the intelligentsia and the small politically-active class put political reform at the top of the agenda."

While ElBaradei has focused on domestic matters - frequently citing figures on poverty, illiteracy and Egypt's economic growth - he has largely avoided addressing regional or international issues. ElBaradei's performance as IAEA director, meanwhile, has been subject to little if any scrutiny by most political commentators.

Soheir Morsy, former university professor and author of a UNICEF report on the impact of pre-war sanctions on Iraqi children, criticised ElBaradei's role in the U.N.-imposed sanctions regime. According to Morsy, the sanctions -- which lasted from 1990 to 2003 -- were prolonged by the regular dispatch of U.N. inspectors, including ElBaradei, to Iraq.

ElBaradei "could have declared his disapproval and resigned," Morsy was quoted as saying in the Mar. 11 edition of the government-run Al-Ahram Weekly. She pointed out that several high-level diplomats within the U.N. tendered their resignations in protest over the sanctions' deadly effects on the Iraqi people, especially children.

By contrast, ElBaradei "served for three terms at the helm of the IAEA and was rewarded, receiving a Nobel Prize in 2005," she said, adding: "The blood of the Iraqis is on his hands."

KHARTOUM/JUBA (Reuters) - Sudanese queued to vote on Sunday in the first elections for almost a quarter of a century that will test the fragile unity of Africa's biggest country but which have already been marred by fraud allegations.

There were chaotic scenes at some polling centres -- south Sudan's president Salva Kiir had to wait 20 minutes under a tree for his voting station to open in the southern capital Juba and then spoiled his first ballot by putting it in the wrong box.

Queues started forming in the morning in Khartoum, where the streets were unusually quiet amid a heavy police presence. There were reports of delays, ballot paper mixups and names missing from voters' lists in other areas.

The three-day election is a key indicator of whether Sudan can fend off renewed conflict and humanitarian crisis as it heads toward a 2011 referendum that could split apart this oil-producing nation and bring independence for south Sudan.

Police said they would deploy 100,000 officers across the north to ward off unrest during the voting to choose a national president, a leader for the semi-autonomous south, assemblies and governors.

Sudan's incumbent president Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court for allegedly planning war crimes in the western Darfur region, seems certain to win another four-year term after the leading opposition parties pulled out of the race.

"It's not going to be a perfect election. There are no such things," former U.S. President Jimmy Carter told reporters as he joined observers from his Carter Center in Khartoum.

"But if we feel that in the elections the will of the voters has been expressed adequately then that would be the primary judgement we will make."

Opposition groups and activists have put forward myriad complaints of vote-rigging, fuelling doubts about the credibility of Sudan's first multi-party polls in 24 years.

VOTING PROCESS

In Khartoum, voters stood or sat in long lines for more than three hours to go through the complex voting process -- electors receive eight voting forms in the north and 12 in the south.

Men and women waited in separate lines and had to dip a finger in indelible green ink before voting at cardboard booths.

One of the voters in the capital's Riyadh district, El-Fatih Khidr, a 55-year-old pilot, told Reuters authorities should have opened more voting centres to cope with the crowds.

"There are a lot of crowds and there should have been more information because there is a whole new generation that have never voted," he said.

President Bashir shouted "God is great" to supporters, then took ten minutes to cast his vote at a Khartoum station where queues were dominated by voters from the army and security services.

There was a palpable sense of excitement on the streets of Juba, where many see the elections as a prelude to the referendum on southern independence. Both votes were promised under a 2005 peace deal that ended more than two decades of north-south civil war.

"This is my first time to vote and it is a good beginning that Sudan is going back to democracy. I hope it will be a foundation for future democracy," said South Sudan's president Kiir after voting.

Up to 300 women in bright clothes and other voters waited patiently for more than an hour in the southern town of Malakal as officials tried to find a vehicle to deliver voting forms, said a Reuters witness.

In Sudan's western Darfur region, the scene of a seven-year conflict between government militias and rebels, aid groups moved staff out of remote areas to cities in case of unrest.

"We're not expecting widespread violence, only things that might blow up in pockets," an aid official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"Everyone is prepared to hibernate if there is any trouble ... People have stocked up their houses with food and water."

In Khartoum, bus companies added vehicles as a huge number of residents poured out of the city, some of them fearing possible election reprisals and others simply happy to take advantage of the election period to visit home villages.

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria (Reuters) - Dozens of doctors at a leading hospital in Nigeria's southern Edo state ended a four-day strike and returned to work on Saturday after a colleague was freed by kidnappers, the group's spokesman said.

More than 50 doctors from the main teaching hospital in Benin went on strike on Wednesday after unidentified gunmen abducted the chief medical doctor on his way home from work.

The doctors had demanded that authorities find the captors and bolster security in the area.

"The professor has regained freedom and is feeling well. With his release, we have called off the strike and since resumed work," said Dr. Osahon Enabulele, state chairman of the Nigeria Medical Association.

Kidnappings and other violent crimes are increasingly common, especially in the oil-producing Niger Delta. Most hostages are released unharmed after a ransom is paid.

It was not clear whether a ransom was paid for the doctor's release.

The four-day strike had forced the hospital to turn away new patients because nurses and interns were too overwhelmed in the doctors' absence.

CAIRO (Reuters) - The retrial of Egyptian property tycoon and politician Hesham Talaat Moustafa will be held on April 26, an appeal court said on Sunday.

A court had in March ordered the retrial for Moustafa, a member of parliament for Egypt's ruling party and former chairman of the Talaat Moustafa Group who had been sentenced to death for paying a security man to kill a Lebanese singer. No date had been set until now.

"Cairo Appeal Court ... has set April 26 as the date for the retrial of Hesham Talaat Moustafa and (security man) Muhsen el-Sukkari in front of a criminal court," the court said.

NAIROBI, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Somalia pirates have hijacked a St. Vincent and Grenadines flagged cargo ship in the Indian Ocean waters near Seychelles with 23 Chinese crew members aboard, a regional maritime official confirmed on Sunday.

Andrew Mwangura, the East African coordinator of Seafarers Assistance program (SAP), said that MV Rak Afrikana was hijacked early Sunday approximately 280 nautical miles west of Seychelles.

"All the crew members in the Rak Afrikana are 23, all Chinese, " Mwangura told Xinhua by telephone from Mombasa.

Earlier, EU Naval Force Commander John Harbour said Rak Afrikana with deadweight of 7,561 tons has currently stopped due to engine problems.

"The cargo vessel is owned by Rak Afrikana Shipping Limited from Seychelles. The nationality of the crew is at this moment unknown," Harbour said.

Piracy has become rampant off the coast of Africa, especially in the waters near Somalia which has been without an effective government since 1991.

Ransoms started out in the tens of thousands of U.S. dollars and have since climbed into the millions.

The Horn of Africa nation is at the entrance to the Gulf of Aden which leads to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, one of the world's most important shipping channels.

Somalia has been plagued by factional fighting between warlords and hasn't had a functioning central administration since the 1991 ouster of former dictator Mohammed Siad Barre.

The Gulf of Aden, off the northern coast of Somalia, has the highest risk of piracy in the world. Every year about 25,000 ships use the channel south of Yemen, between the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea.

NAIROBI, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Somalia pirates have hijacked a St Vincent & Grenadines flagged cargo ship in the Indian Ocean waters near Seychelles with unknown crew members, the EU Naval Force said on Sunday.

Naval Force Commander John Harbour said the MV Rak Afrikana was hijacked early on Sunday approximately 280 nautical miles west of Seychelles.

Harbour said Rak Afrikana with deadweight of 7,561 tons has currently stopped due to engine problems. "The cargo vessel is owned by Rak Afrikana Shipping Limited from Seychelles. The nationality of the crew is at this moment unknown, " he said. Piracy has become rampant off the coast of Africa, especially in the waters near Somalia, which has been without an effective government since 1991.

Ransoms started out in the tens of thousands of dollars and have since climbed into millions. The Horn of Africa nation is at the entrance to the Gulf of Aden, which leads to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, one of the world's most important shipping channels.

The country has been plagued by factional fighting between warlords and hasn't had a functioning central administration since the 1991 ouster of former dictator Mohammed Siad Barre.

KHARTOUM, April 11 (Xinhua) -- International observers of Sudan's national elections on Sunday said that they do not expect any sort of disturbance or violence during the first multi-party elections in this country for more than 24 years.

"I do not think that there is any party that is threatening at all of either sort of disturbance or violence or intimidation of disorders", former U.S President Jimmy Carter told reporters at a voting center in Khartoum.

"I think all the participating parties, and even those withdrawing from the national elections, I think they want to see a peaceful transition and peace in this country," he said.

He added that he believed these elections would be a good opportunity to achieve the aspired stability in Sudan.

In the meantime, former Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Al-Akhdar Al-Ibrahimi told Xinhua that "these elections are very important and we hope they will lead to stability of Sudan and consolidation of peace between its north and south".

He said what they have seen of the elections so far was encouraging, but with little problems such as delay in arrival of some electoral papers and that some centers opened late.

"However, these little problems will not affect the electoral process because it lasts for three days", he added.

Former U.S. President Carter, former Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs Al-Akhdar Al-Ibrahimi, as well as Joseph Waribu and John Hardman, two leading members of the U.S.-based Carter Center founded by the former U.S. president, on Sunday visited a number of voting centers in the Sudanese capital city of Khartoum.

The Carter Center, which is the only U.S. non-governmental organization authorized by the Sudanese government to monitor the general elections, has sent 65 observers to Sudan.

Around 840 foreign observers, from 18 countries, participate in monitoring the elections besides about 20,000 local observers.

Additionally, about 350 foreign journalists are covering the Sudanese elections, which constitute a historical transformation in Sudan's political history.

The voting process in Sudan's general elections started Sunday in all parts of the country, with over 16 million voters expected to cast their votes for three days in 13,000 centers to select their representative for the presidency, the state governors, president of government of southern Sudan and the legislative councils.

KHARTOUM, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Sudanese President Omar al- Bashir on Sunday cast his vote here in Sudan's general elections, the first multi-party election in the country in 24 years.

The president cast his vote at the voting center of San Francis School in Khartoum, in presence of leaders of his ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and a huge number of citizens.

Al-Bashir raised his hand, which was soaked with ink, and said "Allahu Akbar... Allahu Akbar," amid applause of the citizens who were at the center.

The Sudanese president is running for the country's presidential elections representing his NCP, which has been ruling the county since 1989.

Expectations are high that al-Bashir would achieve a sweeping victory in the elections after pulling out of his most prominent contenders including Yassir Arman of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and Sadiq al-Mahdi, leader of the national opposition Umma Party.

09042010
Afranblog
MUSLIM LEADERS remained cautious on going public with their stand on the Proposed Constitution.
They said they were still consulting and holding meetings before taking a position. Prof. Abdullghafoor H.S. Elbusaidy, Chairma of Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims said Muslim leaders have started a series of meetings towards understanding the Proposed Constitution as presented to the Attorney General. He was issuing a statement after a three-hour meeting with Muslim Ulamaa at the Jamia Mosque in Nairobi.

Also present were Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya Secretary-General and Nominated MP Sheikh Mohammad Dor, Al-Hajj Yusuf Murigu from the National Muslim Leaders Forum and Chief Kadhi Sheikh Hammad Kassim Al-Mazrui. Also presents were MPs Hassan Ali Joho (Kisauni), Shabir Shakeel (Kisumu Town East) and some former North Eastern MPs. The leaders appealed for calm and sobriety, saying they were concerned by remarks from some leaders out to cause anxiety, bordering on incitement. Currently, the Muslim leaders are looking at the Draft and are concerned about how it will better the lives of Kenyans, and how it will contribute to national togetherness, justice and equity.

In Mombasa, Muslim leaders appealed to Coast MPs and their Rift Valley counterparts to support the Proposed Constitution, despite failing to defend the majimbo clause in Parliament. Under the Kenya Muslim National Advisory Council (Kemnac), the clerics also pleaded with the Church leaders not to shoot down the draft on grounds it includes the Kadhi courts. KEMNAC Chairman Sheikh Juma Ngao said in the absence of majimbo (Federal), the counties contained in the document could also ensure devolution of resources. He also urged all the pro-majimbo MPs to rally behind the proposed law and ensure its passage at the referendum. They should not use removal of the majimbo clause to shoot down the draft.

The leaders endorsed the Proposed Constitution, saying it addresses the problem of a bloated Cabinet and ensures the President cannot appoint top public servants without Parliament’s approval. The Proposed Constitution also addresses the problem of landlords keeping land idle and this may make it accessible to majority of Kenyans.

KHARTOUM, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Sudanese voters went to the polling stations on Sunday in multi-party general elections, the first of its kind in more than 20 years.

TUNIS, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali on Saturday sent his condolences to Poland over the death of Polish President Lech Kaczynski in a plane crash, state-run TV channel reported.

"President Ben Ali sent a condolence message to Polish interim President and Diet Speaker Bronislaw Komorowski following the death of Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife and several senior officials in a plane crash in Smolensk region west of Russia," TV7 channel reported.

In this message, the head of state expresses heartfelt condolences, sincere feelings of compassion and sympathy and wishes for patience and solace to the people of Poland and families of the victims, it added.

A plane carrying the Polish president crashed in thick fog near the Smolensk airport in western Russia on Saturday, killing all 97 people on board.

EL FASHER, Sudan, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Concerned authorities in Sudan's North Darfur State on Saturday affirmed readiness of the state's regular forces to secure the general elections slated on Sunday.

"We have finalized all the necessary arrangements to secure the elections. The regular forces are ready to confront whoever attempts to cripple the electoral process," Osman Yousif Kibir, North Darfur State governor, told Xinhua Saturday.

"Darfur is secured and stable, and we are ready for the elections," he said.

Kibir further criticized the EU observation team over its decision to withdraw from the region, saying that "there is no justification for this measure."

The EU Observation Team earlier decided to withdraw its observers from Darfur for security reasons.

"I have decided to go back with all the other six observers that are still in Darfur," Veronique de Keyser, head of European Union Election Observation Mission to Sudan (EU EOM), told reporters earlier this week.

The Sudanese government, however, regarded the EU EOM's decision as based on anticipated judgments.

In the meantime, Head of the Higher Elections Committee in North Darfur State al-Sir al-Meck told Xinhua Saturday that all the organization arrangements for the elections in the state have completed.

He said that number of voters in the state has amounted to 691, 871, who will cast their votes through the 420 voting centers all around the state.

UNITED NATIONS, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The historic presidential and parliamentary elections in Sudan must be conducted peacefully and credibly, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Saturday, urging the Sudanese government, electoral authorities and political parties to play their part to ensure the polls take place free of violence or intimidation.

Sudanese will go to the ballot box on Sunday for the first time in 24 years to elect a national president, and they are also being asked to cast a vote for a southern president, state governors and for members of national and local assemblies.

These elections are "an important milestone in the implementation of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA)" that ended the long-running north-south civil war in Sudan, Ban said in a statement issued by his spokesperson here Saturday, in which he welcomed the poll and called on all Sudanese to exercise their right to vote.

"For the international community, the holding of peaceful and credible elections is of paramount importance," Ban added.

Sudanese Ambassador to the UN Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad expressed confidence here Thursday that the upcoming Sudanese national elections set for Sunday will be "fair, transparent and successful."

"I can ensure that everything is set for a fair, democratic and transparent elections that everybody in Sudan will be proud about, " Mohamad told reporters here at the UN Headquarters after Security Council consultations on Sudan, which will hold the elections on Sunday.

The lead-up to the election, which will take place over three days beginning on Sunday, has been marked by international concerns over the conduct of the vote. European Union (EU) observers had withdrawn from the war-scarred Darfur region because of security concerns and some opposition parties reportedly said they would boycott the poll.

In the UN statement, Ban said he hoped the election would " contribute to the opening of political space in Sudan" in advance of two critical referenda scheduled for next January that will determine whether southern Sudan will secede and the status of a disputed region in the center of the country.

"The secretary-general encourages the government, the National Elections Commission (NEC) and political parties to ensure that the elections are conducted in a peaceful atmosphere, free of violence, harassment or intimidation and to engage in dialogue to address outstanding concerns," the statement said.

The UN has provided technical assistance and limited logistical support to the NEC following a request from the UN Security Council, but both Ban and the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Alain Le Roy have stressed this week that the polls are a nationally-owned process.

On Thursday, Le Roy, who briefed the 15-nation Security Council on the status of preparations for the polls, told the press that while he was encouraged by some steps regarding political freedom and ensuring candidates have equal access to the media, some concerns remain.

"It will be for observers -- 750 international and 18,000 domestic -- to assess the elections," Le Roy said. "It will be important that the process and results be regarded as legitimate by the Sudanese population."

ALJAZEERA

Sudanese have begun voting in the country's first multi-party elections in 24 years, despite the credibility of the process being marred by an opposition boycott and accusations of fraud.

Polls opened at 0500 GMT on Sunday as 16 million registered voters are asked to vote for their president as well as for parliamentary and local representatives.

The polls run over three days and will close on Tuesday.

Southern Sudanese are also voting for the leader of the semi-autonomous government of south Sudan.

Omar al-Bashir, the incumbent president, is almost certain of victory in the presidential race after opposition candidates pulled out, alleging widespread bias against them in the electoral system.

Yasser Arman, a northern Muslim representing the former southern rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement(SPLM), and Sadiq al-Mahdi of the Umma Party,have both withdrawn from the race.

Controversial vote

They accuse al-Bashir of fraud and say free and fair conditions for the elections are not in place, particularly in Darfur, the western region under a state of emergency since civil war broke out seven years ago.

Darfur rebel movements, who control parts of the vast region, firmly rejected the elections but have so far not stated any intentions to derail the process.

While the result of the presidential poll holds little suspense, elections for parliamentary and local representatives are still fiercely competitive in many parts of the country.

Activists cautioned on Saturday that the credibility of the election had been undermined by the allegations, which they said have been ignored by al-Bashir's ruling National Congress Party(NCP).

"Violations of human rights - particularly restrictions on freedom of assembly and freedom of the press - are threatening prospects for a free, fair and credible vote across Sudan," Georgette Gagnon, Africa director of Human Rights Watch, said.

"Sudanese authorities are clearly failing to uphold international standards."

Frenetic preparation

Election organisers rushed on Saturday to get ballot papers to the more remote parts of the country.

Sixteen airplanes, 16 helicopters and more than 2,000 vehicles were mobilised in the past two weeks to transport ballot boxes around the country.

"I hope that it will be completely compatible with international standards, and safe and free and fair, and that the decision of individual voters will be expressed freely without intimidation," Jimmy Carter, a former US president, whose Carter Centre is monitoring the three-day vote, said.

Security forces have been deployed in strength, as have international peacekeepers in both the war-torn western region of Darfur and in the south.

More than 100,000 police officers will be on duty, a security official said, and embassies in the capital Khartoum have advised their nationals to adopt precautionary measures such as stocking up on food and fuel.

Looming referendum

Hopes have dimmed that the elections will be a watershed moment as Sudan attempts to put decades of conflict behind it.

Last-minute boycotts have revealed the fragility of the 2005 peace dealthat ended the country's long North-South civil war.

The NCP has ruled Sudan in a coalition with the SPLM since the signing of the peace agreement.

Part of that deal was an agreement that Southern Sudan could hold a referendum on independence and many in the south see these elections as step towards that goal.

"The people here are looking at these elections as a stepping stone to reach the referendum," Hoda Abdel-Hamid, Al Jazeera's correspondent, reporting from the southern city of Juba, said.

"It's a very important vote for the people in south Sudan, certainly more important than the vote that will happen in days to come."

Analysts said on Saturday that renewed violence over the outcome of the coming election is a distinct possibility.

"If elections are to take place in such compromised environment, conflicts about the legitimacy of the results might spark violence," the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies said in a statement.

20100410
ALLAFRICA

Sunday's historic presidential and parliamentary elections in Sudan must be conducted peacefully and credibly, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, urging the country's Government, electoral authorities and political parties to play their part to ensure the polls take place free of violence or intimidation.

Sudanese go to the ballot box for the first time in 24 years to elect a national president, and they are also being asked to cast a vote for a southern president, state governors and for members of national and local assemblies.

These elections are "an important milestone in the implementation of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA)" that ended the long-running north-south civil war in Sudan, Mr. Ban said in a statement issued by his spokesperson in which he welcomed the poll and called on all Sudanese to exercise their right to vote.

"For the international community, the holding of peaceful and credible elections is of paramount importance," Mr. Ban added.

The lead-up to the election, which will take place over three days beginning tomorrow, has been marked by international concerns over the conduct of the vote. European Union (EU) observers had withdrawn from the war-scarred Darfur region because of security concerns and some opposition parties reportedly said they would boycott the poll.

Mr. Ban said he hoped the election would "contribute to the opening of political space in Sudan" in advance of two critical referenda scheduled for next January that will determine whether southern Sudan will secede and the status of a disputed region in the centre of the country.

"The Secretary-General encourages the Government, the National Elections Commission (NEC) and political parties to ensure that the elections are conducted in a peaceful atmosphere, free of violence, harassment or intimidation and to engage in dialogue to address outstanding concerns.

The UN has provided technical assistance and limited logistical support to the NEC following a request from the Security Council, but both Mr. Ban and the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Alain Le Roy have stressed this week that the polls are a nationally-owned process.

On Thursday Mr. Le Roy, who briefed the Council on the status of preparations for the polls, told the press that while he was encouraged by some steps regarding political freedom and ensuring candidates have equal access to the media, some concerns remain.

"It will be for observers - 750 international and 18,000 domestic - to assess the elections," Mr. Le Roy said. "It will be important that the process and results be regarded as legitimate by the Sudanese population.