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ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's Senate on Thursday approved a constitutional amendment to allow politicians who are accused of fraud, but not convicted, to run for federal and state office.

The Senate also voted to require candidates to have a university degree, which civil rights advocates said unfairly favoured the OPEC member's wealthy minority.

The changes were among a series of constitutional amendments passed by the Senate and now must be approved by the lower house of parliament, two-thirds of state legislatures and the presidency.

More than a dozen former governors and ministers have been accused of corruption in one of the world's most tainted countries, but few have been convicted, with cases getting bogged down in legal wrangling.

The Senate voted by 82-8 to delete the constitutional provision disqualifying candidates indicted by a federal panel for fraud or embezzlement. The Supreme Court ruled against the provision a few years ago.

Corruption is endemic in Africa's most populous nation, from policemen at checkpoints demanding bribes to senior government officials accused of embezzling millions of dollars.

A federal election is due to take place before the current presidential term ends in May 2011.

The Senate approved changes making it more difficult to run for office by requiring candidates to be college educated. Currently, a politician only needs a high school-level certificate.

Nigeria's higher educational system is highly competitive and expensive, with few families able to afford the cost of tuition. Most Nigerians live on less than $2 a day.

"These changes systematically disenfranchise a lot of Nigerians. Eligibility to contest elections will continue to be limited to the children of the rich," said Shehu Sani, president of the Civil Rights Congress.

The Senate also voted to require a vote to take place between 150 and 90 days before the end of a presidential term. If passed, that would mean a poll would need to take place between late December 2010 and early March.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has proposed voting to take place on January 22, 2011 if electoral reforms are passed or on April 23, 2011 if not.

Mauritania has officially ended its relations with Israel one year after freezing all bilateral ties over Israel's deadly siege on the Gaza Strip.

The northwest African nation's foreign minister, Naha Mint Hamdi Ould Mouknass, said late Saturday that her country's break of diplomatic relations with Israel was "complete and definitive."

The announcement was made at a gathering in Nouakchott aimed at rallying support for policies of President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz.

Nouakchott has also expelled Israel's representative and closed Tel Aviv's embassy in the country.

The move leaves Egypt and Jordan as the only Arab countries to have signed peace treaties with Israel that host Israeli embassies.

Relations between the two soured after Israel's offensive on the tiny but densely populated enclave in late 2008. Mauritania and Qatar froze relations with Tel Aviv a few months later.

Several other nations, including Bolivia and Venezuela, suspended ties with Israel over the 22-day air and ground assault that killed more than 1,400 Palestinians.

The number of fatalities at the Israeli side by the end of the conflict reportedly stood at 13.

An international conference organized by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has raised $850 million to help people in Sudan's Darfur.

The Sunday one-day conference co-chaired by Egypt and Turkey in Cairo planned to raise $2 billion to help the war-ravaged Darfur region.

"Stability and development in Darfur is the only guarantee that will lead to the voluntary return of refugees and displaced Sudanese back to their homes," Press TV correspondent in Cairo quoted the Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul-Gheit as saying.

"I hope this is a turning point that will help Darfur overcome its crisis once and for all," the Egyptian top diplomat added.

In addition to Muslim nations representatives from, European states, UN agencies and aid groups as well as the US were present in the conference.

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa who participated at the conference urged international support for the reconstruction of Darfur.

"The reconstruction of Darfur is our obligation. It is essential at this time to create an atmosphere of stability and peace in Sudan before the presidential election, which will take place next month in addition to the referendum that will determine whether Sudan will be divided into north and south or will be united as one state," Moussa added.

According to the United Nations' figures, clashes that erupted in Sudan in early 2003 have claimed up to 300,000 lives and drove more than two million people from their homes.

A cholera outbreak has killed at least five people in northern Kenya, mainly because of water shortage that has forced people to drink unclean water, health officials say.

The deaths were reported in Msambweni, a township thirty kilometers north of the Kenyan coastal town of Mombasa.

"We have had a serious cholera outbreak in the area and five deaths have been confirmed," Dr. Maureen Mboya, a senior health official in the area, told Press TV correspondent.

The Kenyan town has been plagued with acute water shortage in the recent past, leaving its residents with no option but to drink unclean water.

"People are just dying at their homes and this is sad. Many people cannot even get to the hospitals because they are far away," said Ramadhan Kongo, a villager who said he has witnessed dome of the deaths.

Government officials say they have begun distributing drinking water door to door in the affected areas to avoid further outbreak of the disease.

At least 13 people have been killed and a number of others injured in clashes between the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and northern Misseriya nomads.

The clashes broke out on Wednesday in the volatile oil-producing Unity state close to the north-south border. Two southern soldiers and 11 nomads were killed.

The south Sudan's army says the situation is now under control.

This comes ahead of the country's first presidential and legislative elections in 24 years, scheduled to be held in April.

The army says political rivals in the north are encouraging tribal violence in order to hamper national elections.

According to the UN, up to 400 people have been killed and thousands have fled their homes this year as a result of the violence in south Sudan.

An unaccounted-for gold mine has reportedly fallen into ruin in Sierra Leone, killing at least 200 people, but officials deny reports of the accident.

Reuters earlier quoted the country's Ministry of Mineral Resources as saying, Over 200 artisanal gold miners were killed when a ... trench dug by the miners collapsed."

The incident took place on Friday about 180 miles (290 kilometers) from the capital, Freetown, according to Reuters.

However, BBC reported that Minister of Mineral Resources Alpha Kanu visited the site and denied an accident had occurred.

People at the mine were surprised to see him because nothing was wrong, Kanu told the BBC, dismissing the reports as "wicked rumors".

The West African nation of plentiful mineral resources relies on mining for its economic base.

Artisanal miners are independent workmen, not on any official payroll, who would prospect for minerals for personal profit.

Sudan's government has signed a new ceasefire agreement with a coalition of Darfur rebels, raising the prospect of long-lasting peace in a region torn by civil conflict.

The three-month peace deal with a newly formed umbrella group of 10 movements called the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) marks the government's second ceasefire agreement in the past two months.

Under the deal, which was finalized in the Qatari capital of Doha on Thursday, rebel fighters are offered integration into the Sudanese army. It also paves the way for the return of millions of people displaced by the fighting.

The region's main rebel group, Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), also signed a similar deal with Khartoum in February.

However, one major group still remains in open conflict with the government. A faction of the Sudan Liberation Army led by Abdul Wahid al-Nour has boycotted the peace talks.

The UN says over 300,000 people have lost their lives since the start of the 2003 clashes, while the unrest has uprooted another three million.

Previous efforts to restore peace in the region have usually failed due to the fragmentation of the rebel groups while the warring parties' relations remain mired in distrusts.

Sudan hopes to sign peace deals with all of Darfur's rebel groups before national elections next month.

South African President Jacob Zuma's large ruling party has defeated a vote of no-confidence called by opposition parties over the leader's admission to fathering a love child.

The motion was called by the Congress of the People (COPE) and backed by the Democratic Alliance. It marks the first such vote since the end of apartheid in 1994, when the African National Congress (ANC) party came to power.

"The president has by his own willful conduct and dangerously flawed judgment lost the confidence of this house and the nation," COPE leader Mvundla Dandala told parliament after proposing the motion.

Zuma, who reportedly has 19 children by his three wives, sparked national uproar with the controversy. Opposition movements say his actions contradict the country's crucial fight against HIV/Aids.

He survived the vote with 84 votes of no-confidence against 241, with eight abstentions.

The scandal broke out last year with the revelation that the 67-year-old had fathered a baby last year with the daughter of a top World Cup organizer, Irvin Khoza.

Zuma is currently in Zimbabwe in an attempt to break a fresh impasse within the country's fragile year-old unity government.

Nigeria has reacted angrily to the recent comments by the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in which he suggested “partitioning” of the country between Christians and Muslims.

Nigeria summoned its envoy to Tripoli yesterday, after Gaddafi referred to the recent deadly violence between Christians and Muslims in central Nigeria and suggested that the Muslim majority in the north follow Pakistan-style separation from southern areas with more Christian population.

"The only thing that could put an end to the bloodshed ... is the appearance of another Mohammed Ali Jinnah (Pakistan's founder) who established a state for the Muslims and another for the Christians," AFP quoted Gaddafi as saying earlier.

The comment drew Nigerian government's fire, with the country's foreign ministry censuring the Libyan president for his "irresponsible utterances."

"Our ambassador in Tripoli has been recalled for urgent consultations," said foreign ministry spokesperson Ozo Nwobu.

He also expressed his government's 'serious concerns' over the remarks that had "diminished" Gaddafi's "status and credibility."

Last week, the International Committee of the Red Cross said about 8,000 Nigerians had fled their homes following sectarian clashes that killed over 100 people in the key central city of Jos, which is considered a buffer zone between the Muslim and Christian communities.

Despite deployment of government forces, violence over land, livestock and water disputes has claimed hundreds of casualties in the worst sectarian clashes of recent months.

Watchdog Transparency International has called for the transformation of Egypt's electoral system in order for the country to rid itself of 'rising' corruption.

The Germany-based non-governmental organization wrote in a Saturday report that Egypt has been losing a fight against corruption and efforts were needed to counter the abuse of power driven by 'widespread conflict of interest, political interference, weak enforcement of laws and a lack of access to public information,' Reuters quoted the report as saying.

The report also urged an overhaul of the country's 'ineffective voter registration system' before Egypt's 2010 parliamentary elections and its presidential vote in 2011.

Egypt's opposition parties have already made an attempt to reform the elections system.

"Without serious reform of the wage system corruption is likely to increase," the watchdog said, adding, "Corruption is likely to take place when wages cannot cover basic living expenses."

It also called for more transparency of political issues and their media coverage.

South African President Jacob Zuma says Zimbabwean leaders have agreed on a roadmap towards an end to the Zimbabwe's crisis.

South African leader, who is on a state visit to Zimbabwe, has acted as a regional mediator under a Southern African Development Community (SADC) mandate to settle differences between Zimbabwe leaders and to uphold a power-sharing deal meant to sustain he country's much-needed unity.

Zuma has already met with President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Opposition leader Arthur Mutambara in Harare.

He has made an attempt to solve the political parties' disputes stemming from rows over key government posts, foreign sanctions and other domestic problems amid an economic meltdown in the impoverished country.

"The parties have agreed to a package of measures to be implemented concurrently as per the decision of the SADC troika in Maputo," Zuma said at a briefing, referring to a November 2009 meeting between Zimbabwe's rival parties in Mozambique in order to resolve the political stand-off.

"I believe that the implementation of this package will take the process forward substantially," AFP quoted him as saying.

Meanwhile, Vincent Magwenya, spokesman for the South African leader, said that Zuma's separate talks with Mugabe and Tsvangirai on March 17 were "quite encouraging, in the sense that President Zuma got an impression that parties were as keen as we are to move things forward."

"There was commitment all round to work harder in finding a lasting solution," Magwenya noted.

According to Ahlul Bayt News Agency (ABNA.ir), The Rwandan Muslim community, in partnership with Aid Africa Muslim Agency (AAMA), yesterday donated foodstuff and clothes worth Rwf 7m to 100 families in Nyarugenge district affected by floods two weeks ago.
Each of the families received an assortment of items that included 50kgs of rice, 50kgs of maize flour, 25kgs of sugar, 5 litres of cooking oil and clothes.

The head of the Muslim community, Mufti Sheikh Saleh Habimana, said the donation would not solve the problem entirely but will help ease it.

“The relief aid shows the love of the Muslim community to all vulnerable people, irrespective of their religion and culture,” Sheikh Habimana said.

The Mayor of Nyarugenge, Theophila Nyirahonora, praised the community for their good initiative to help victims, whom she said were in dire need of shelter, food and clothing.

“You have assisted us in helping some of the affected families; I hope that this (donation) will generate the momentum to ease the tragedy.” she noted.

“A friend in need is a friend indeed,” said the Director of AAMA, Khalid Houda. “It is part of the Islamic religion to help all the vulnerable people”.

(Irna)Tehran, March 17, IRNA – The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Navy sent Wednesday a vessel (the 7th one) to the Gulf of Aden to fight pirates and protect the country’s shipping lines from piracy.
A number of Iran’s Navy commanders as well as country’s officials were in the southern Iranian region of Bandar-Abbas to attend the event.
The Gulf of Aden is located in the Arabian Sea between Yemen on the south coast of the Arabian Peninsula and Somaliland in the Horn of Africa.
In the northwest, it connects with the Red Sea through the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, which is about 20 miles wide.

(Press TV) Two bomb explosions rock Nigeria's southern oil-rich city of Warri just outside the site of talks over granting amnesty to fighters in the area.
The blasts took place minutes after a bomb threat issued by the fighters, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND).
According to eyewitnesses, two car bombs went off minutes apart from each other outside the state governor's office, prompting the delegates to run for their lives. One person was killed, police said.
MEND said the explosions were meant to "announce our continued presence" and warned of renewed attacks against the oil industry in the coming days, threatening firms such as French energy giant Total that have so far avoided significant strikes on their infrastructure.
Government officials had gathered at the place to discuss the implementation of an amnesty program brokered last year. Several armed groups recently agreed to the terms of the amnesty program, but some MEND leaders rejected the government's offer.
The blasts were a major setback for Nigeria's acting President Goodluck Jonathan as his government is trying to calm ethnic tensions in the center of the country.
Armed groups have for years caused havoc in the oil-rich Niger Delta by carrying out a wave of assaults on oil installations. They complain that despite vast oil output in the area, the region has remained poor and undeveloped.

(Press TV) A chemical tanker and its North Korean crew have been released by Somali pirates after being held captive for four months, a maritime official says.
On November 16 last year, the 22,294 deadweight ton MV Theresa VIII, a Virgin Islands owned and Kiribati-flagged chemical tanker was seized in the south Somali Basin, northwest of the Seychelles with 28 crew members on board.
The vessel was released after they were paid a ransom of about $3.5 million, said Andrew Mwangura of the Kenya-based East African Seafarers Assistance Programme.
"MV Theresa VIII is now free and she is underway heading to Mombassa. She is expected here in the next three to four days," said Mwangura.
"MV Theresa VIII and her 28 North Korean crew was hijacked by pirates about 140 nautical miles northwest of Seychelles on November 16 while underway to Mombassa laden with palm oil."
Somali pirates hijacked 47 vessels and took 867 crew members as hostage in 2009. They were also held responsible for more than half of the 406 reported highjack incidents in 2009.

(Press TV)The Somali government has signed a cooperation framework deal with commanders of the Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jama'a militia group.
Ahead of an expected military push against militants threatening to topple the government, representatives of the two sides signed a power-sharing deal at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Monday, the Press TV correspondent in Mogadishu reported.
According to the deal, Ahlu Sunnah would be given five as yet undetermined ministries and would appoint deputy commanders of the military, the police, and the intelligence service, Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke said.
Welcoming the agreement, he stated, "The peace deal is a part of the open door strategy of the Transitional Federal Government to genuine national reconciliation."
He added that the government aims to politically and militarily integrate Ahlu Sunnah into the Transitional Federal Government in the framework of the Djibouti peace process.
The agreement is an essential step in the strategy to restore peace and stability to the country, the Somali prime minister added.
Delegations from the African Union, the Arab League, and the Organization of the Islamic Conference attended the signing ceremony.
Somalia has had no effective government for 19 years. At least 21,000 Somalis have been killed since the start of 2007, 1.5 million have been uprooted from their homes, and nearly half a million are refugees in other countries in the region.

NIAMEY, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Nigerien President of the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy Salou Djibo has signed two laws, reaffirming the ineligibility of military officers to stand in future presidential elections.

According to the laws, personnel of the defense and security forces, the prime minister and ministers in the transition government are ineligible to contest during the elections which will be organized after the transition period, Niger's News Agency (ANP) reported on Thursday.

The order also covers the national police, the customs and the water and forest guards.

"This ineligibility of the defense and security forces is applicable particularly to the president and other members of CSRD. No exemption to this ineligibility will be accepted whether through one taking leave or resigning and the present order will not be amended during the transition period," the statement said.

The order calls for neutrality of transition government members, provincial governors, mayors and traditional chiefs.

"All their partisan activities are prohibited," the order said, warning that "in case of failure to apply the above mentioned regulations, the current laws should be enforced."

Djibo assumed the functions of the head of state and government since the Feb. 18 coup d'etat, which overthrew president Mamadou Tandja.

LOME, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Togo's security forces are put on guard against acts of vandalism being planned on Saturday after the presidential election.

Some "uncontrollable groups of youth are planning to infiltrate" the authorized demonstrations that are supposed to take place on Saturday in the capital Lome to commit acts of vandalism by using petrol bombs, a senior official of the 2010 presidential election security forces (FOSEP) warned on Friday.

"According to the information that we have, certain groups of uncontrollable youths are preparing to infiltrate the protests and either spread panic or commit acts of vandalism by use of petrol bombs," a senior FOSEP officer said in a statement.

The revelation came amid reports that the West African country's top opposition United Forces for Change (UFC) and the ruling Assembly of Togolese People (RPT) would both organize demonstrations in the Togolese capital.

The Provincial Administration Ministry has given the green light to the holding of demonstrations on both side along the well defined routes in the city.

The UFC has rejected the provisional results of the March 4 polls and staged a series of protests against the re-election of outgoing President Faure Gnassingbe, while the RPT plans to celebrate his victory and rally more support on Saturday.

Facing the threats of vandalism, FOSEP "would like to warn any one who would want to cause any trouble and asks everyone to be vigilant so that these demonstrations can go on peacefully," the statement said.

The FOSEP 2010 commander, lieutenant colonel Yark Damehane, assured the organizers and the civilian population that proper security measures will be taken during the demonstrations.

FOSEP is a security unit with 6,000 officers from the police force and the gendarme. It was set up for the purposes of the 2010 presidential election.

LIBREVILLE, MARCH 13 (Reuters) -- Gabon, Africa's seventh largest oil producer, is offering 42 additional offshore deepwater and ultra-deepwater oil blocks for exploration, the government said on Friday.

The West African nation, which currently produces roughly 250,000 barrels of crude oil per day and relies on energy for about half of its gross domestic product, is seeking bids from international firms by May 5, it said.

The country will "engage in a marketing plan for the Gabonese oil sector in the financial centers of Paris, Houston, Singapore, London and the Canadian city of Calgary," a government spokesman said.

Gabon's oil sector, one of the continent's most mature and already home to several international oil companies including France's Total, has been in decline since the late 1990s when output was over 350,000 bpd.

WASHINGTON, march 13 (Reuters) -- The United States on Friday denied coordinating plans by Somalia's embattled government to launch an offensive against Islamist fighters, saying it had no plans to "Americanize" the conflict.

Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson described as inaccurate reports suggesting that U.S. officials were ready to get more militarily involved as Somalia's government fights the Islamist al Shabaab, which has been linked to al Qaeda.

"The United States does not plan, does not direct, and does not coordinate the military operations of the TFG (transitional federal government) and we have not and will not be providing direct support for any potential military offensives," Carson said.

Carson told a news briefing the United States had provided limited military support to the transitional government, but that almost all of this was channeled through an African Union peacekeeping effort.

Al Shabaab Islamist fighters attacked government positions this week seeking to seize the advantage before a long-awaited government offensive to drive them out of Mogadishu, the capital.

Somalia has lacked an effective central government for 19 years. Western and neighboring countries say it has become a sanctuary for militants.

Carson said the United States had provided about $185 million over the last 19 months to support African Union peacekeepers and about $12 million in direct support to the Somali transitional government.

"The amounts of money that we're talking about are really relatively small," he said. Funds were spent on communications equipment, uniforms, and to support training of government soldiers by other African countries.

The United States also provides about $150 million in food aid to Somalia. This has been complicated by a U.N. World Food Program's decision to suspend work in much of southern Somalia due to threats against staff and al Shabaab demands for payments for security.

Carson said the United States continued to seek an "inclusive" political resolution to Somalia's crisis and believed that the transitional government, which only controls a portion of Mogadishu, was best placed to promote one.

"The TFG has demonstrated an enormous capacity to survive," he said.