20100403
PRESS TV

The Egyptian former director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohamed ElBaradei, has issued a public call for change in Egypt.

ElBaradei, protected by plainclothes security officials, urged about 700 people in a village in northern Egypt on Friday to add their names to a petition calling for reform, reported Reuters.

"Once we gather as many names as possible we will put it forward and bring about real change," ElBaradei said.

The petition seeks constitutional change to make it easier for independents like ElBaradei to run for president after decades of autocratic rule under President Hosni Mubarak. It also aims to revoke the Emergency Law that allows detention without charge and bans anti-government political activity like ElBaradei's outdoor public speech and earlier visit to Mansoura, where up to 1,500 supporters greeted him.

"The state may be a centralized power, but the people are stronger," he told the crowd, part of which had come with him from the nearby provincial capital Mansoura in the Nile Delta.

Returning home after 12 years as head of the Vienna-based IAEA, ElBaradei said that he may run for next year's presidential election.

Mubarak, 81, who returned from Germany on March 27 after gallbladder surgery, has not said whether he plans to run for a sixth six-year term in the election. If he does not, many Egyptians believe he will try to hand power to his son Gamal. Both father and son deny such plans.

20100403
PRESS TV

At least 25 civilians have been killed during heavy clashes between government forces and local fighters, witnesses and medical sources say.

The fighting erupted on Friday evening in four northern Mogadishu districts considered as a strongholds used by the fighters. The clashes then spread to the southern areas of the city, mainly controlled by the UN-backed government, a Press TV correspondent reported.

Ali Muse, the head of the Mogadishu Ambulance Services, said late Friday that they collected at least 17 bodies from different areas. On Saturday, eight more bodies were found inside and outside Mogadishu's Bakara Market, he said.

Colonel Ibrahim Kalmoy, a spokesman for the Somali military, blamed the fighting on "rebel groups," which he said had attacked government positions.

Al-Shabab fighters claimed responsibility for the attacks against the government forces.

The war-battered Mogadishu has been the scene of deadly civil strife since the collapse of the country's central government in 1991.

Darfuri Muslims are working with Christians to build a church in Southern Sudan as a symbol of reconciliation and gratitude.

The Muslims, members of the Darfur Students Association at the University of Juba, say they want to express gratitude to Lopez Lomong, a Sudan-born American track and field athlete who has publicly urged China to pressure the Sudanese government to end the conflict in Darfur.

Lomong had the honour of carrying the US flag in the Opening Ceremony at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He is a member of Team Darfur, a coalition of Olympic athletes that call for the end to the violence against Darfurians.

“We appreciate that Lopez stood up for us in Beijing,” said Rudwan Dawod, president of the Darfur Students Association at the University of Juba, in a statement this week. “We are helping to build this church to show we never again want the people of Darfur to be used against their brothers in the South.”

Around 200 Darfuri Muslims have volunteered to build the Roman Catholic church in Kimotong, Southern Sudan – the home village of Lomong. The construction process began in January and is slated to be completed this fall.

"As Sudanese Christians celebrate Holy Week, we want them all to know about this church,” said Dr Abdelgabar Adam, the president of Darfur Human Rights Organisations USA. “It is our way, as Darfuri Muslims, to thank every Sudanese Christian who has helped us in our hour of need.

“We need our brothers in the South to stand with us now more than ever, so that we will have a just peace,” added Adam, whose organisation is partnering with Kansas-based non-profit group Sudan Sunrise in sponsoring the reconciliation church project.

Composed of American and Sudanese Christians and Muslims, Sudan Sunrise works to achieve reconciliation and end the oppression in Sudan. The organisation also works with Sudanese born former NBA player Manute Bol, who at 7’7’’ is the tallest player in NBA history.

Bol lost 250 family members at the hands of the Muslim North during the Second Sudanese Civil War. He is working with Sudan Sunrise to build 41 schools that will benefit Southern Sudanese Christian, Darfurian and Muslim children alike.

ABUJA, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has condemned in strong terms the reported attempt by a section of the military junta in Guinea-Bissau to destabilize that country.

A statement from the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja expressed serious concerns about reports of ongoing attempts to destabilize the country by a section of the military junta.

The statement warned those responsible for the act of a robust response and dire consequences from ECOWAS and the entire international community.

According to the statement, the attempt was coming at a time when the successful presidential election of July 2009 had created the required environment for ECOWAS and the international community to strengthen the democratic and national reconciliation process.

"ECOWAS is therefore, watching the developments in the country very closely and will leave no stone unturned in its efforts to defend the democratic gains and maintain stability in the country, " the statement said.

The regional bloc urged the AU and the UN to view the latest act by the military as an opportunity to scale-up joint efforts to stabilize the political, security and economic situation in the country.

Meanwhile, the statement has appealed to Guineans to remain calm while efforts were being made to restore normalcy.

KHARTOUM, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The Sudanese opposition Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), led by Mohamed Osman al-Merghani, on Friday decided to pull out from Sudan's presidential race and withdraw its presidential candidate Hatim al-Sir.

"We have decided to pull out from the coming presidential elections, and we are currently in consultation with the party leadership regarding our participation at the remaining levels of the elections or boycotting them," Ali al-Sayed, a leading DUP member, told Xinhua on Friday.

He attributed his party's decision to what he termed as "unfair procedures" by the National Elections Commission (NEC), and continuation of the Darfur crisis.

He acknowledged that the Sudanese opposition parties have failed to reach consensus regarding the elections, saying that " each party started to decide what it believes conforming to its top interests."

Earlier in the day, the Sudanese opposition Umma Party decided to continue in the elections provided that the NEC responds to its demands.

Sudanese opposition parties on Thursday divided among themselves where some decided to boycott the general elections, slated for this month, some decided to participate and others said would announce their positions later.

The Umma Party (Reform and Renewal) and the Communist Party have affirmed that they decided to boycott the elections at all levels.

The Popular Congress, the National Alliance and the Sudanese Congress parties have said they would participate in the elections.

The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), the major partner in the Sudanese government, on Wednesday announced withdrawal of its presidential candidate and said it would boycott the elections in the Darfur region.

KHARTOUM, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The Sudanese Umma party, led by Sadiq al-Mahdi, decided Friday to continue participation in the country's general elections, salted for April 11 this year.

"The party's strategy is to continue in the electoral process, provided that the National Elections Commission (NEC) responds to certain demands," Siddiq Mohamed Ismail, secretary general of the Umma party, told reporters in Khartoum.

"If our demands have been fulfilled, we will carry on with our participation in the elections, and if not, the party will then decide its final position, which will likely to be boycotting the elections," he added.

The party had demanded postponement of the elections for four weeks till the end of first week of May, 2010.

The Umma party stressed importance of admitting that the elections in Darfur region would be incomplete and called for working out necessary measures to ensure involvement of the region in all power institutions.

The party secretary general said his party had also demanded the NEC to abide by the election law regarding funding electoral campaigns of the parties, freedom of press and information, stopping utilization of the state resources and potentialities in the electoral campaigns and setting a ceiling for the expenditure on the elections.

Sudanese opposition parties on Thursday divided among themselves as some decided to boycott the general elections, some decided to participate and others would announce their positions later.

DAKAR, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Guinea-Bissau Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior said Friday he will not resign after a coup attempt in his country, and that the situation is now stable.

Gomes Junior said he will not resign because he was democratically elected, and he considered what happened on Thursday as an "incident."

He said after meeting with President Malam Bacai Sanha that the situation in the West African country had stabilized after apparent coup attempts.

Arrested by renegade soldiers on Thursday morning and reportedly freed hours later, Gomes Junior was escorted to the presidency for the meeting with Sanha, while still appearing to be under watch.

"The situation is now stable," he said, adding that institutions will return to their normal functions. Repeated coup attempts have rocked the African country since late 2008.

Minister of Territorial Administration Luis Sanca, Chief of defense staff General Jose Zamora Induta, and 40 other officers were also detained after a group of soldiers broke into the office of the prime minister in the capital Bissau.

The soldiers said they had ousted Induta, replacing him with his deputy, General Antonio Indjai.
Local media reports said the mutiny was linked to a simultaneous incident on Thursday in which soldiers entered a UN compound in the capital and emerged with the chief suspect in a failed 2008 coup bid who had sought refuge there.

The suspect, former navy chief Bubo Na Tchuto, is an ally of Indjai and was due to be handed over to Gomes's government. Na Tchuto was standing at Indjai's side at a news conference on Thursday.

Thursday's incident has drawn worldwide condemnation. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has issued a statement condemning in strong terms the coup attempt.

The statement said the coup attempt came at a time when the successful presidential election in July 2009 had created the required environment for ECOWAS and the international community to strengthen the democratic and national reconciliation process.

"ECOWAS is therefore, watching the developments in the country very closely and will leave no stone unturned in its efforts to defend the democratic gains and maintain stability in the country," the statement said.

The regional bloc urged the African Union and the United Nations to use the latest act by the military as an opportunity to scale up joint efforts to stabilize the political, security and economic situation in the country.
The UN Security Council also voiced concern over the military incidents, and urged all parties to respect the rule of law in the West African country.

Japan's U.N. Ambassador Yukio Takasu, whose country holds the rotating Council presidency for April, said in a statement Thursday night that "the members of the Security Council urge all parties to avoid acts of violence, uphold constitutional order and respect the rule of law in Guinea Bissau."

"The members of the Security Council express their concern and also support the statement of the Secretary General over the recent military incidents in Guinea Bissau," the statement said.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon earlier Thursday called on the military and political leadership in Guinea-Bissau to resolve their differences by peaceful means and "to avoid any risks to the gains" made by the country in its current peace consolidation efforts.

2010-04-02
ABUJA (Reuters) - A senior Islamic cleric said on Friday he had prayed with Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua, who has not been seen in public since last November, and he believed he would recover after receiving treatment for a heart ailment.

Ustaz Musa Mohammed, the chief imam of Nigeria's National Mosque, told Reuters he and three other Islamic clerics shook hands and prayed with Yar'Adua during a 15-minute meeting at the president's residence in the capital Abuja late Thursday.

"We set up the meeting because we wanted to know the truth to see whether he is alive," Mohammed said. "We have now seen him and we are satisfied that he is recovering."

He said Yar'Adua had some difficulty speaking, saying only one or two words to them. The president also remained seated during the meeting with his wife Turai at his side.

No doctor was present.

Presidency officials could not immediately be reached for comment on the meeting.

The 58-year-old president has not made a public appearance since he left for treatment in Saudi Arabia at the end of November. He was flown back to Nigeria two months ago but remains too frail to govern.

His deputy Goodluck Jonathan has taken over executive powers in his absence.

POLITICAL UNCERTAINTY

Yar'Adua's secretive return in late February raised fears that his inner circle of aides, led by his wife Turai, would fight to maintain their influence over Africa's most populous nation and seek to undermine Jonathan.

A power struggle at the top of the OPEC member could paralyse the government, threaten an amnesty programme in the oil-producing Niger Delta and jeopardise reforms in sectors from banking to oil and gas.

Jonathan has sacked Yar'Adua's cabinet in a bid to assert his authority and ease political uncertainty for Africa's biggest energy producer.

The Senate on Wednesday confirmed 38 new ministers proposed by Jonathan for his new cabinet.

The nominees confirmed so far include 13 returnees from the outgoing cabinet and while political analysts hope progress on key reforms may accelerate, few expect Nigeria's broad policy direction to change.

2010-04-02
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - A day after pulling out of Sudan's presidential election, two leading opposition parties were split on Friday on whether to boycott voting on the same day for parliament and regional governorships.

Three sources told Reuters on Thursday that at least five political parties had decided to boycott all of the contests on April 11, alleging widespread fraud.

By shunning the presidential election, they aim to discredit incumbent Omar Hassan al-Bashir's bid to secure a new term in oil-producing Sudan, Africa's biggest country.

But two big opposition groups, the Umma and Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), appeared divided on Friday on whether to boycott the other votes as well, adding to uncertainty that has blighted the elections.

U.S. Sudan envoy Scott Gration was in Khartoum to try to salvage the polls. He has so far been unable to reconcile the opposition and Bashir's ruling National Congress Party (NCP).

Any decision by the Umma and DUP to boycott all levels of elections would undermine the votes and may prompt international observers to reconsider their missions.

Two sources within the opposition told Reuters a decision on a full boycott from the Umma party was unlikely on Friday, with the rank and file split.

"Their lower ranks have invested time and personal money in their campaigns," said one source. "They may see a revolt if they go for a full boycott."

The DUP had told an opposition alliance meeting on Thursday it would boycott fully. But on Friday it also looked to be wavering, party sources said. The party has been in talks with both the opposition and the ruling NCP.

The move followed a shock announcement on Wednesday by south Sudan's leading party, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), that it was withdrawing its presidential candidate Yasir Arman and boycotting all elections in the western Darfur region, citing ongoing conflict there and alleged fraud.

Arman was seen by many as the main challenger to Bashir, who is now almost certain to win the vote.

A senior official of Bashir's NCP mocked the opposition's tactics. "If you know beforehand that this is a lost contest, why waste your time and resources on a lost bet?" the official, Ibrahim Ghandour, told Reuters. "This does not affect the legitimacy of the contest."

Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes during a brutal counter-insurgency campaign in Darfur. He rejects the court's jurisdiction.

2010-04-02
KAMPALA (Reuters) - The leader of Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels has left western Sudan and crossed back into the Central African Republic (CAR) due to food shortages, Uganda's army said on Friday.

The Ugandan rebel group -- notorious for chopping off limbs and lips and recruiting children -- has moved around remote parts of central Africa since a 2008 offensive ousted them from bases in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Guerrilla leader and wanted war crimes suspect Joseph Kony was believed to be in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Sudan's leader Omar Hassan al-Bashir is wanted by the same war crimes tribunal and analysts say his government has supported the Ugandan group for years, an allegation it denies.

"Kony and his men crossed early this week from Darfur back to CAR. He failed to find food in Darfur and was faced with starvation," Uganda's military spokesman Felix Kulayigye said.

"They also failed to find any forest cover in Darfur and they were exposed to danger."

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said in March that Ugandan forces believed Kony had crossed into the Darfur region. . Since the offensive against LRA rebels, the guerrillas have continued killing and other violence.

A Washington-based anti-genocide group, Enough Project, said last month there was a "possibility of rekindled collaboration between LRA leader Joseph Kony and Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir."

Khartoum angrily dismissed the allegation.

More than ten thousand people were killed in the two-decade civil war in Uganda's north, and thousands more died after the guerrillas were pushed into south Sudan and the Congo.

2010-04-02
BUJUMBURA (Reuters) - Burundi needs $5.8 billion for infrastructure such as telecommunications, electricity and transport projects over the next two decades, a study by the government and African Development Bank (AfDB) showed on Friday.

The tiny central African nation is recovering from years of civil war in the mid-1990s that halted development and impoverished its citizens.

Only 2 percent Burundians have electricity, compared with an average 16 percent in sub-Saharan Africa, while only 3 percent of the population has access to a landline or mobile phone, and 90 percent of them are in urban centres, the report said.

"In preparing this report, it becomes very clear to us that infrastructure is key to linking Burundi with its neighbours, is key to linking Burundi with the entire continent, and is key to position Burundi in a rapidly changing global environment," said Aloysius Uche Ordu, an AfDB Vice President and author of the report.

"So the purpose ... is to provide a broad framework around which all of us as key development partners can begin to have a conversation on how best to overcome the huge infrastructure gaps that Burundi faces, like many countries in Africa."

Burundi and AfDB anticipate the coffee-growing country of 8 million people would reach annual GDP growth of 6-7 percent once those key infrastructures are in place.

One of the main objectives of the project is to boost electricity access to 25 percent by 2020 while ensuring constant supply throughout.

It also aims at rehabilitating and paving all 1,960 km (1,218 miles) of the country's main roads and extending neighbouring Tanzania's rail system to Burundi.

The landlocked country relies on the Kenyan port of Mombasa for trade, which often drives up the costs of merchandise and exposes the country to uncertain supply if the route is disrupted, like when Kenyan had post-election violence in 2008.

Transporting a tonne of fertiliser from the Mombasa port costs $230, $100 more than the regional rate, the report said.

"Low levels of infrastructure also translate into much higher costs, with service costs running at two or three times that of other countries," an AfDB statement said. "In agriculture, transports costs are 35 percent of import prices and 40 percent of export prices."

Burundi will require some $160 billion in donor funding over the next 10 years, the report said. AfDB said the country receives $450 million annually in aid from all sources.

The government, private sectors and donor countries are the proposed funders of the infrastructure plan, Ordu said.

Exploitation of Burundi's nickel reserves, estimated at 258 million tonnes, is also key in lifting the country out of poverty, AfDB said. The report assumes mining taxes and royalties would earn Burundi an estimated $200 million annually.

2010-04-02
BISSAU (Reuters) - Guinea Bissau's leaders held emergency talks on Friday after renegade soldiers ousted the army chief, with the United Nations appealing for a return to order in the fragile West African state.

The new chiefs of the country's armed forces, long a source of instability in a country which is a major drugs trafficking route to Europe, denied their seizure of military command on Thursday had been an attempt to overthrow the government.

Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior, who was briefly held by soldiers on Thursday, rushed in a police convoy to the palace of President Malam Bacai Sanha on Friday morning, a Reuters witness in the capital said.

Sanha played down the affair as an internal army dispute, but there was concern it would undermine his efforts to bring stability to the country since soldiers assassinated his predecessor Joao Bernardo Vieira in March 2009.

"(U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon) calls on the military and political leadership ... to resolve differences by peaceful means and to maintain constitutional order and ensure respect for the rule of law," Ban's office said in a statement.

Yet Gomes Junior's political future remained in question after the new armed forces chief issuing a stark warning to him and supporters who had protested against his temporary detention by the soldiers behind the command grab on Thursday.

"If the demonstrators do not leave the streets, I will kill them all, and I will kill Carlos Gomes Junior," General Antonio Njai told a news conference shortly after former armed forces chief of staff Admiral Jose Zamora Induta was arrested.

FORMER COUP SUSPECT

The core of the grievances between Njai and Gomes was not clear in a country where the army -- which credits itself with a decisive role in wresting independence from Portuguese in 1974 -- has long jostled for power with civilian leaders.

But a Western diplomat in the capital said it was linked to a simultaneous incident on Thursday in which soldiers entered a U.N. compound in the capital and emerged with the chief suspect in a failed 2008 coup bid who had sought refuge there.

The suspect, former navy chief Bubo Na Tchuto, is an ally of Njai and was due to be handed over to Gomes's government. Na Tchuto was by Njai's side at the news conference on Thursday.

The instability in Guinea-Bissau, whose meagre $400 million-a-year formal economy is based on cashews and phosphates, has not tended to spill over to neighbouring Senegal or its equally unstable larger neighbour Guinea.

But it has become a hub for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Latin American cocaine trafficked into Europe, and U.S. officials had raised concerns of it becoming a "narco-state" comparable to Afghanistan under its former Taliban rulers.

2010-04-02
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Hardline Islamist insurgents have plans to attack the Somali capital's seaport with vessels packed full of explosives, African Union peacekeepers and moderate Islamists said on Friday.

Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab fighters are waging a deadly insurgency against the fragile Western-backed government, intent on imposing a harsher version of Sharia law throughout the impoverished nation.

"We have information that al Shabaab want to use a boat laden with explosives to attack the seaport," Major Barigye Ba-hoku, spokesman for the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM), told Reuters.

"We don't know when they might attack, but they are planning it," he said.

The AU also received intelligence from inside al Shabaab that trucks and animals such as donkeys and dogs could be used to target African Union (AU) troops and destabilise President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's administration further.

"We know they are preparing trucks in the lower Shabelle region for suicide attacks," said Ba-hoku.

CREDIBLE INTELLIGENCE

The moderate Islamist group Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca, which signed a power-sharing deal with the government last month, also said it had credible intelligence of a planned attack on Mogadishu's port.

"We have concrete information that al Shabaab is planning to use boats to attack Mogadishu, Bossaso and Yemen ports," said Sheikh Abdullahi Yusuf, an Ahlu Sunna spokesman.

More than 5,000 peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi are deployed in Mogadishu, but their operations are largely restricted to protecting the port, airport and the presidential palace.

Clan rivalries have deprived Somalia of an effective government for nearly 20 years.

Western and neighbouring countries say the anarchic nation is a breeding ground for militants intent on launching attacks on east Africa and beyond.

It is also a base for pirates seizing foreign ships for ransom. The last week has seen a spike in attacks on vessels heading for and out of Mogadishu.

201-04-02
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia rejected allegations that building one of Africa's biggest hydropower dams would leave 200,000 self-sufficient people reliant on aid.

Rights group Survival International (SI) said last week the dam would disrupt fishing and farming for tribal people, among them the Kwegu and Hamar tribes, and a group of charities have launched an online petition against the dam.

"We have made an extensive survey," government spokesman Shimeles Kemal said late on Thursday.

"Highly renowned, independent experts have assured that the construction of the dam in no way causes concern for people living around there," he said. He did not name the experts involved in the survey.

An SI researcher who did not want to be named told Reuters last week the dam would ruin the economy of those living near it.

"It will end the annual flooding some rely on to make the land they farm fertile, and for tribes who rely on fishing, it will deplete stocks. They will need aid."

Shimeles said the project had the backing of neighbouring Kenya, despite SI claims its construction could threaten the livelihoods of 300,000 people there.

The dam is being built on the Omo river, the main source for Kenya's Lake Turkana.

"Various concerned bodies, including the Kenyan parliament, have endorsed the Ethiopian government's plans and have openly criticised the position pursued by these NGOs to prevent the construction of the Gibe III dam," Shimeles said.

Salini Costruttori, the Italian firm building the dam, this week also dismissed the accusations of rights groups saying the project would not cause drought or block the flow of water to the river, but merely redistribute it during the year.

Ethiopia is building the 1.4 billion euro dam as part of a campaign to beat chronic power shortages and become a power exporter.

The dam is expected to generate 1,800 MW, almost doubling the country's current capacity of just under 2,000 MW.

The Horn of Africa nation is negotiating further funding for Gibe III, whose construction began in 2006, with the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the European Investment Bank and the Italian government.

2010-04-02
DAKAR (Reuters) - Shell Oil said on Thursday it was considering selling most of its service stations and other downstream assets in 21 African countries, as part of a wider effort to reduce its global refining and marketing exposure.

The decision comes close on the heels of fellow European oil major BP's announcement it would pull out of five countries in southern Africa, underscoring expectations of lacklustre returns in the region's fuel retailing business.

"While a number of options are being considered, the preferred outcome is the sale of most businesses concerned," the company said in a release.

Shell said the review would not include its operations in South Africa, or its exploration and production activities anywhere on the continent, and comes as part of its plan to reduce its global refining and marketing exposure by 15 percent and 35 percent, respectively.

Analysts have said oil majors are anticipating better profit margins from exploration and production than from refining and marketing, hard-hit by slower consumer demand growth since the global economic slowdown.

The sale review will include service stations, commercial fuels, lubricants, and other downstream businesses in countries like Egypt, Algeria, Kenya, Ghana, and 17 others.

2010-04-02
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's parliament adopted a draft constitution on Thursday as part of reforms agreed in 2008 by politicians to end post-election violence, paving the way for it to go to a referendum.

Analysts have said a widespread culture of impunity in Kenya can only be uprooted through changes to the constitution and reforms to the police, judiciary and election authority.

The Interim Independent Electoral Commission is now expected to put it to a referendum in July.

Some politicians fear critics could use the months ahead of the referendum to whip up sentiment against the constitution and have the electorate scuttle it at the vote.

"I don't want us to bury our heads in the sand," Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula told parliament.

"We still have issues in this document on land, devolution, on armed forces, on transitional clauses and many others. I want to urge the house ... to relook at the process set out in the act and see whether we can still take time out before rushing this draft to the Attorney General."

The draft constitution was passed without any of the 160 changes proposed by legislators being passed.

Some of the most controversial issues in the draft are the executive powers and a devolved government.

The new constitution would institute regional governments to distribute some of the activities undertaken centrally. Some Kenyans have opposed this saying it would be too expensive and further entrench ethnic divisions in Kenya.

President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga agreed to share power to end the political violence that killed at least 1,300 people after a disputed election, uprooted more than 300,000 and dented the country's image as a stable trade, tourism and transport hub.

They also agreed to the so-called Agenda Four reforms that included the constitutional review.

The draft will now be passed to Attorney General Amos Wako, who will publish it ahead of the referendum.

2010-04-01
BISSAU (Reuters) - Soldiers briefly held Guinea Bissau's prime minister on Thursday and ousted the army chief of staff in the latest bout of military infighting to hit a country that is a major drugs trafficking hub to Europe.

President Malam Bacai Sanha declared the situation under control but questions over Guinea Bissau's leadership remained after the same group of soldiers teamed up with the chief suspect in a failed 2008 coup against Sanha's late predecessor.

"The situation is already under control. There was a problem between soldiers which spilled over into the civilian government," Sanha said after meeting the new officials in charge of the army.

"I will use my influence to find a friendly solution to this problem between soldiers," said Sanha, who has made tentative steps to restoring order in the country since renegade soldiers killed his predecessor Joao Bernado Vieira in March 2009.

Earlier, a Reuters witness said armed soldiers walked into the U.N. compound in the capital Bissau and emerged with former navy chief Bubo Na Tchuto, who had sought refuge there after being suspected of leading a 2008 coup attempt.

The same group of soldiers briefly detained Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior and said they had ousted armed forces chief of staff Admiral Jose Zamora Induta, replacing him with his deputy, General Antonio Njai.

"(Gomes) was detained this morning. Bubo Na Tchuto has voluntarily left the U.N. compound. The events are related," a Western diplomat in Bissau told Reuters by telephone.

"It's a coup within the army," the diplomat said.

STARK WARNING

Njai later declared his leadership of the armed forces in a joint news conference with Na Tchuto and issued a stark warning to Gomes and his supporters, hundreds of whom had earlier taken to the streets to demand his release.

"If the demonstrators do not leave the streets, I will kill them all, and I will kill Carlos Gomes Junior," Njai said.

The capital Bissau was calm, with some banks and shops shutting and little traffic in the streets.

Guinea-Bissau, a former Portuguese colony, is one of the world's poorest nations. The official economy relies on cashew nut exports, though the country has unexploited bauxite, phosphate and oil deposits.

Already prone to coups and revolts, the nation has become a hub for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Latin American cocaine trafficked into Europe. Analysts say drugs have corrupted officials and deepened competition between factions.

Thursday's incident comes after last year's peaceful election had raised hopes for progress in reforming the armed forces and instilling confidence in the weak government.

"It has happened at a bad time as Guinea-Bissau was regaining confidence and support from abroad. We will try and see if we can help Guinea-Bissau overcome this," Vladimir Monteiro, a spokesman for the United Nation mission said.

2010-04-01
NAIROBI (Reuters) - A U.S. warship captured five suspected pirates on Thursday after an exchange of fire in the Indian Ocean west of the Seychelles, the U.S. navy said.

After the clash, the U.S. warship chased the suspected pirate ship, which had been damaged, until it stopped, it said.

It captured three pirates on the skiff and another two on the mother ship. The United States said that it expected pirates to increase attacks on merchant vessels due to better weather from March through May.

"USS Nicholas captured suspected pirates on Thursday after exchanging fire, sinking a skiff, and confiscating a suspected mother ship," the U.S. Navy said in a statement. It did not say whether the pirates were Somalis.

Pirate sources and a maritime source said that a Taiwanese ship had also been hijacked on Thursday.

"My colleagues captured a Taiwanese ship after a hard chase today," a pirate named Hassan told Reuters. "They were two ships travelling together but one sped off."

Andrew Mwangura of the Kenya-based East Africa Seafarers Assistance Programme said the Taiwanese ship Jin-chun Tsai 68 could have indeed been captured.

Pirates operating off Somalia have stepped up hijack attacks on vessels in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden in recent months, making tens of millions of dollars in ransoms, despite the presence of foreign navies off the coast of Somalia.

INHUMAN

Attacks had created a two-year boom for specialist insurance cover, but stiff competition and moves by owners to better protect ships has taken the edge out of insurance costs.

But analysts say the menace of piracy is far from contained, and unchecked growth in the rest of Africa, possible attacks in other key shipping channels and higher ransom demands will keep insurers interested in the long term.

Somali pirates are seizing ships as far as the Mozambique Channel and off the coast of India and have started targeting ships bringing merchandise to Mogadishu's port.

They are holding captive at least eight mechanised Indian dhows, or small boats. Seven of them, with 100 crew members, were hijacked over the weekend on their way to the United Arab Emirates from Somalia.

Another dhow, the Al-Barari, was seized on Wednesday after discharging its cargo in Mogadishu.

Al Shabaab, an Islamist group fighting Somalia's western-backed government, condemned the attacks on ships serving Somali businessmen.

"It is inhuman to hijack ships carrying goods for Somali traders, there can be no excuse. They used to say they hunt foreign ships fishing illegally in Somalia. Those involved should release the ships," Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage, al Shabaab spokesman, told reporters.

However, a pro-government militia known as Ahlu Sunna said the rebels were boosting the pirate ranks.

"Piracy is not the same as before, al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam are now the majority of pirates," Sheikh Abdullahi Sheikh Abu Yusuf, an Ahlu Sunna spokesman, told Reuters.

"These rebel Islamists now hold many boats including boats hired by Somalia traders."

2010-04-01
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's main opposition parties have withdrawn from a presidential election, a senior member of one of the groups said on Thursday, a move that could wreck the vote and damage a faltering peace process.

"On the level of the candidates of the Presidency of the Republic, most of them (Sudan's opposition groups) decided to withdraw," said Mohamed Zaki, head of office for Sadeq al-Mahdi, leader of the opposition Umma party.

Zaki said only five independents and representatives of smaller parties had decided to stay in the race against incumbent President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

The announcement came a day after south Sudan's leading party, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) withdrew its candidate Yasir Arman from the presidential poll, protesting against irregularities and insecurity in Darfur.

2010-04-01
LONDON (Reuters) - Former British prime minister Tony Blair on Thursday added his voice to calls for African development strategies to go beyond aid, saying a predictable and transparent business environment was critical to sustainable development.

Blair whose African Governance Initiative advises three African governments, said developing countries needed to do more to promote government accountability, battle graft and create a "one-stop shop" for frontier investors.

Blair's comments echo proposals by Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo, who has called for a financial market-led approach to development.

"The problem with African countries is not just a matter of aid," Blair told Reuters in an interview.

"The two absolutely critical things for any African country that wants to develop sustainably are that you put together the right business environment and that (investors) can come in on a transparent and open basis."

Blair's initiative operates in Rwanda and Sierra Leone and recently began work in Liberia, all of which are recovering from conflicts and present good opportunities for intrepid financiers, Blair said.

"You've got to put all the caveats in, but the natural potential of these three countries is enormous and the political leadership and determination is there," he said.

"There are very few frontier markets that you go into where there isn't a risk-reward balance, but if the investment pays off, it's going to pay off in a very big way."

Moyo, who wrote the book "Dead Aid", has criticised aid flows, arguing instead for increased trade, foreign direct investment, and use of capital markets through bond issues.

African economies weathered the global economic slowdown relatively well.

The IMF recently forecast the continent's growth for 2010 at 4.5 percent, although this presents a significant drop from the six percent growth rates enjoyed over the past decade.