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Luanda — None of Egypt's three successive triumphs in the last African Nations Cup titles have been convincing but the Pharaohs still emerged as continual champions for a record seventh time.

The 1-0 win over Ghana in the 2010 final in Luanda on Sunday makes this Egyptian team the most successful of all time, but they toiled in vain for much of the match at the November 11th stadium before scoring a winner five minutes from the end of the game.

Super substitute Mohamed Nagui grabbed a stunning winner, from a tight angle, almost out of nowhere in a rare attack from the defending champions, whose three back-to-back triumphs is a first ever in the history of a major international tournament.

Nagui's goal was his fifth of the finals, making him the leading scorer in the tournament despite the fact he did not start a single game in Angola.

He played a quick one-two with Mohamed Zidan to deliver the killer blow at a time when Egypt looked to be tiring and Ghana's youthful side were on the ascendency.

Sydney Mahlangu/Backpagepix

But that has been the hallmark of the Egyptian side, who needed penalties to overcome Cote d'Ivoire in the 2006 final at home in Cairo and also snatched a late winner to beat Cameroon in Accra two years ago.

Ghana had looked the more dangerous although both teams were restricted in the main to long-range shots in their bids to find the net.

Ahmed Hassan tried several shots for Egypt but did not find his range, while Asamoah Gyan came much closer for Ghana.

Egypt looked particularly frustrated as they failed to find the tempo and rhythm which had been such an important part of their run to the final, in which they scored 14 goals in five games.

But there were half-chances for Emad Moteab and Mohamed Zidan in the second half - squandered because of a poor first touch.

Ghana's young side might have snatched an improbable win had Asamoah Gyan been more accurate with his shooting but their application at the back was commendable again, even if Egypt were able to break their defences right at the end.

Hassan Shehata hailed his side as the best ever in the history of African football, as many of the key players now contemplate the end of their careers.

But Ghana, who unlike the Egyptians will be going to the World Cup later this year, can draw much heart from their final performance, and indeed their showing in earlier matches, as they prepared to travel to South Africa.

They played without many key stars and coach Milovan Rajevac now has a difficult, but satisfying, selection dilemma.

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Addis Ababa — Libyan leader Muammar Gadaffi yesterday failed in his bid to stay on as chairman of the African Union (AU) for another year.

He also stunned the AU summit by parading kings and traditional leaders, saying those who earlier opposed their presence, like President Yoweri Museveni, had now been convinced of their role.

While handing over power to Malawi president Bingu wa Mutharika, an acrimonious Gadaffi later said, after all, it was an empty chair with mere symbolic powers since many declarations and decisions were made without his consent.

Early reports indicated that he struggled hard to retain the rotating chair, which dragged a preliminary Saturday meeting into the late hours of the night.

The Libyan leader also used his farewell speech to accuse the African Union of wasting time while failing to meet global challenges.

He again urged the African leaders to begin the process of political unification, which was a large part of his agenda.

"It was like we were building a new atomic bomb or something," he said, referring to meetings that had lasted long into the night and that he characterised as "really useless".

"The world's engine is turning into seven or ten countries and we are not aware of that," Gaddafi said, dressed in a white robe and black fur hat.

"The EU is becoming one country and we are not aware of it. We have to get united to be united. Let's be united today."

Gaddafi, supported by leaders like Senegal's Abdoulaye Wade, has been pushing for an African unity government for years, saying it is the only way Africa can develop without Western interference.

But members, led by South Africa and Ethiopia, argue the plan is impractical and would infringe on sovereignty.

After the opening speeches, there were murmurs of confusion when Gadaffi invited representatives of African kings and traditional leaders to speak.

They were not on the agenda and they surprised both security and heads of state as they walked in behind Gadaffi with their flowing robes, animal skins and staffs embroidered in gold.

No sitting provisions had been made for them by the organisers, which prompted them to hijack seats marked "First Ladies".

The leader of the delegation, Tchiffi Zif Gervais from Ivory Coast, told the heads of state that the forum of kings, sultans and traditional leaders that was established by their leader and "king of kings" Gadaffi was to unite and serve the African people.

"It is a privilege for you to have us here. I would like to thank the President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, who met us and is now our honorary member. He has also agreed to write a dictionary in his local language and to help African traditional leaders."

He said their role was not to engage in politics. "Ours is not a political tool. Our role is to give support and stability, a tool for social cohesion that has already mediated in some conflicts on the continent like Guinea."

He blamed the leaders for Africa's poverty that has persisted half a century after independence, saying there is need to forge a united front with traditional leaders to address the imbalance of trade.

"Africa must develop on the basis of its own culture. Some heads of state had not understood what our role was but our king of kings took the decision and arranged for us to meet some leaders," he said.

Gadaffi stressed that there was no conflict between the role of traditional leaders and politicians, saying even Museveni has understood that after he met them.

In his opening speech, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon expressed concern over the slow pace of the implementation of the millennium development goals.

He called for the adoption of better farming technologies, saying Africa's small holder farms cannot feed Africans and produce for export.

He also appealed to Sudan's indicted president Omar al Bashir, who was in attendance, to clean up his act and organise a free and fair election and referendum to avoid the continuing displacement of people in Darfur.

The UN boss also criticised the re-emergence of unconstitutional change of government in Africa, and constitutional amendments aimed at retaining power.

On Somalia, he said they would continue to provide financial support to the Ugandan and Burundian peacekeepers as the conflict has a "direct bearing on global security".

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Nairobi — UN chief Ban Ki-Moon on Sunday criticised power-grabs in Africa in a speech to the continent's leaders as Libya's Muammar Gaddafi reluctantly handed over the presidency of the African Union to Malawi.

The build-up to the three-day AU summit in Addis Ababa had been dominated by the expectation that Gaddafi would try to extend his 12-month tenure as head of the 53-member body.

On the first day of a summit in Addis Ababa, Malawi's President Bingu wa Mutharika was selected to succeed Gaddafi, even though diplomats said Gaddafi was seeking another term.

The Libyan leader used his farewell speech to again urge African leaders to begin the process of political unification, which was a large part of his agenda during his chairmanship.

He also criticised the AU for "tiring" him with long meetings and making declarations and reports without asking him.

"It was like we were building a new atomic bomb or something," he said, referring to meetings that had lasted long into the night and that he characterised as "really useless".

"The world's engine is turning into 7 or 10 countries and we are not aware of that," Gaddafi said, dressed in a white robe and black fur hat.

"The EU is becoming one country and we are not aware of it. We have to get united to be united. Let's be united today."

An African unity government is a goal of the AU's founding charter goal and Gaddafi, supported by leaders like Senegal's Abdoulaye Wade, has been pushing for union for years, saying it is the only way Africa can develop without Western interference.

But members, led by South Africa and Ethiopia, argue the plan is impractical and would infringe on sovereignty.

The Malawian leader promised to make battling hunger a top priority.

"Africa is not a poor continent but the people of Africa are poor," wa Mutharika said. "Achieving food security at the African level should be able to address the problem."

In recent years, Malawi has enjoyed bumper harvests following the introduction of a fertiliser and seed subsidy programme.

Although leaders fought over who would be chairman, they agreed on the need to support leaders of transitional governments in Somalia, Guinea and Sudan, and for tough action against feuding politicians ignoring AU directives in Madagascar.

The chairman of the AU commission, Jean Ping, said there would be unspecified consequences for parties that go it alone in resolving Madagascar's year-long political crisis. They have been given 15 days to respond to AU power-sharing proposals.

Mr Ban said the United Nations also would continue to provide financial support to AU peacekeepers in anarchic Somalia, as the conflict has a "direct bearing on global security".

An AU peacekeeping force of 5,000 -- provided by Burundi and Uganda -- is struggling to hold back Islamist rebels in Somalia. The AU has repeatedly asked for UN peacekeepers to bolster its efforts but has only been given funding.

The veteran Libyan leader's presidency of the body has been marked by his efforts to promote his vision of a "United States of Africa" -- a project that has made little progress during his 12 months in charge.

It has also prompted awkward questions about the continent's commitment to democracy, given the absence of free elections in Libya ever since Gaddafi took power in a bloodless coup in 1969.

Mr Ban expressed concern about what he called a recent resurgence of "unconstitutional" power changes in Africa and rapped attempts by incumbents to change the law in order to help them stay in office.

"The resurgence of unconstitutional changes of government in Africa is a matter of serious concern," said Mr Ban, the United Nations secretary general.

"We must also guard against the manipulation of established processes to retain power."

In an interview with AFP yesterday, Mr Ban put particular emphasis on the fate of Sudan, where tension has been mounting in the run-up to a 2011 referendum in which the south is widely expected to choose independence from Khartoum, only six years after signing a peace deal.

He called the situation prevailing in the western Sudanese province of Darfur "a serious situation which reflects and exposes our limitations".

"The UN has a big responsibility with the AU to maintain peace in Sudan and make unity attractive... "This year will be crucially important for Sudan with the election in three months and the referendum in a year," he said.

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Kampala — Chantal Rugamba, the deputy chief executive officer in charge of tourism and conservation at the Rwanda development board, said tourism is expected to increase by 7 percent. "This translates into visitor numbers increasing from 698,952 registered in 2009, to 750,000 in 2010, with revenue increasing from $174m to $187m in 2010," she added.

Speaking at a phone interview, Rugamba said tourism went down in 2009 not only due to the world economic crisis, but also the instability in the DRCongo which borders the volcanoes national park.

This has affected tourism activities in the first quarter of the year. The park is home to mountain gorillas.

Rugamba blamed the shortage to lack of diversification of tourism activities and the dependency on gorilla tracking.

Diversification would have accommodated tourists who wished to visit other sites, she added.

Rugamba said the financial crisis played an insignificant role in the decrease of tourism activities in the country.

However, the downturn affected potential investors like Dubai world which was investing over $20m dollars in Rwanda's tourism sector but pulled out at last minute citing the global crisis.

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An Ethiopian plane Boeing 757 with 150 passengers on board made an emergency landing in Chad on Friday. The Addis Ababa bound flight set off from the Senegalese capital Dakar via Bamako, Mali. The problem was attributed to a radar issue.
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However, the Airline officials have said the landing in Ndjamena was made as an extra precaution although nothing serious has been established on the ground.

The plane is said to have taken-off on Saturday after some mechanical checks even though some of the passenger refused to re-board, claiming the same plane had earlier had electrical problems.

The emergency landing in Chad follows just last week's crash of another Ethiopian Airline's plane into the Mediterranean killing all the 90 passengers on board.

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South African President Jacob Zuma has assured Ugandans of his country's readiness to host the 2010 World Cup.
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President Zuma was meeting Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where the 14th ordinary session of the Assembly of the African Union is taking place. He said preparations are almost complete to host the world Cup in Africa for the first time.

He also briefed him about his country’s 20-year celebration of Former President and World hero Nelson Mandela’s release from prison on February 11th. The celebrations will coincide with the opening of the parliament of South Africa.

President Yoweri Museveni invited president Zuma to Uganda for the African Union (AU) summit meeting due in July this year, an invitation that has been accepted by President Jacob Zuma.

The African Union (AU) Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) recommended Uganda's candidacy to host the AU summit in 2010. Uganda offered to host the July 2010 summit "in a bid to respect the vision of the African Union as a continent led by peoples and not by governments", which implies the need "to ensure the rotation of the holding of the summits in various countries.

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UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for national unity in Sudan in an effort to stop a possible partitioning of the country by the 2011 referendum.

Ban said that the United Nations would work with the African Union (AU) in order to prevent secession by the southern Sudan region.

"The UN has a big responsibility with the AU to maintain peace in Sudan and make unity attractive," he told AFP and Radio France Internationale on Saturday.

"Whatever the result of the referendum, we have to think how to manage the outcome. It is very important for Sudan but also for the region," he added.

North and south Sudan ended more than two decades of war between Muslims and Christians over the independence of the oil-rich south with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Accord in 2005, which paved the way for a partial autonomy of the south.

The UN chief, who was speaking before a three-day African Union summit in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, also remarked that a possible separation of the north and south Sudan would create several issues.

"There are many fundamental issues: citizenship, borders. All should be resolved so that the referendum could be held peacefully. I'm going to discuss these issues extensively with the African leaders," he went on to say.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has already agreed to recognize the autonomy of southern Sudan in the event of a pro-independence vote in the ballot next January.

Leaders from the 53 AU member-states are to choose a new annual president for the bloc to replace the current chair, Libyan Muammar Gaddafi, during the 14th summit that starts Sunday, January 31.

In addition to the summit's agenda, participants are expected to discuss Africa's pressing issues, including Somali unrest, the power struggle in Guinea and political rows in Madagascar.

AFP - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called Saturday for national unity in Sudan and ruled out deploying UN peacekeepers in Somalia, on the eve of an African Union summit.

African leaders are officially gathering in Addis Abada for three days of talks on information technology, but esclating violence in Somalia and the looming risk of a secession by south Sudan are set to dominate the summit.

Ban said the coming 12 months would be crucial for Sudan, with elections planned for April -- the troubled African country's first multi-party ballot since 1986 -- and a referendum on independence to be held in January 2011.

In a joint interview with AFP and RFI radio, the UN chief said the United Nations and the African Union had a duty to work for national unity in Sudan and avoid the south seceding.

"The UN has a big responsibility with the AU to maintain peace in Sudan and make unity attractive," he said.

"Whatever the result of the referendum we have to think how to manage the outcome. It is very important for Sudan but also for the region."

"We'll work hard to avoid a possible secession."

Sudan's mainly Muslim north and largely Christian south ended 21 years of civil war in January 2005.

The Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA), as the deal is known, allowed the creation of a semi-autonomous government for the south and paved the way for April's presidential, parliamentary and regional polls, and next year's referendum.

Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir said this week that Khartoum would recognise the independence of southern Sudan if it chose to secede in the referendum.

North and south are due to draw the 2,100 kilometre (1,300 mile) border between their regions this year -- a delicate issue because of the significant oil reserves in the area.

Ban said the African Union must help ensure the elections and the referendum are carried out in a credible, transparent way.

"There are many fundamental issues: citizenship, borders. All should be resolved so that the referendum could be held peacefully. I'm going to discuss these issues extensively with the African leaders," he said.

Asked about Somalia, Ban again ruled out any deployment of UN peacekeepers until the end of the country's decade-old civil war.

"Practically and realistically it is not possible at this time to deploy a UN peacekeeping force in Somalia," he said.

"We need a peace to keep and now there is no peace."

The African Union has called several times on the UN to take over from its own beleaguered peacekeeping force in Somalia, AMISOM, which has been powerless to stop fighting between Islamist rebels and a weak transitional government.

Other African crises set to loom large at the Addis Ababa summit include the political standoff in Madagascar, which is still in institutional limbo almost a year after Andry Rajoelina took power.

Niger is also on the brink after the president changed the constitution to pave the way for potential lifelong rule, and progress is fragile in Guinea, where an interim administration has taken over from the junta that seized power in December 2008.

Heads of state from the organisation's 53 members are expected to pick a new annual chairman, to take over from Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, as soon as the AU's 14th summit kicks off on Sunday.

The system of rotating regional blocs should hand the job to a southern African leader -- with a consensus emerging around Malawi -- but some diplomats fear Kadhafi will put up a fight to hold on to the job.

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Sudan has rejected three presidential candidates, including the only woman, for its first democratic elections in 24 years.

"Three candidates did not meet the requirements to run for the presidency," Salah Habeeb, a national elections commission official, said on Saturday, leaving 10 contenders for April's vote.

The ruling raises further doubts about the presidential and legislative elections after opposition accusations of fraud during registration and of intimidation and vote buying by the ruling National Congress Party (NCP).

President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's NCP denies fraud and says the opposition is unprepared.

Sudan's opposition has long complained the requirements for standing for the presidency were too tough in Africa's largest country, devastated by decades of civil war. Candidates must gather 15,000 supporting signatures from 18 of 25 states.

The opposition says the commission's stringent rules are to skew the vote in favour of Bashir's party, which has ruled since taking power in a bloodless coup in 1989.

Many parties want to field multiple candidates to split the vote and prevent Bashir getting the 50 per cent plus one vote he needs to win, forcing a second round where they would support the opposing candidate.

'Discrimination against women'

The only female candidate, Fatima Abdel Mahmood, leader of the Sudanese Socialist Democratic Union, said the ruling was a conspiracy against women and the party would appeal to the courts.

"This is a form of discrimination," she told Reuters news agency.

Her deputy Abdullilah Mahmoud said the NEC rejected them as they had not stamped their papers at state level, despite being told by the NEC leadership that the central office in Khartoum could do that when they handed their papers in a day ahead of the January 27 deadline.

"We even collected our signatures twice because the first time they said it had to be done on their papers," he said.

"When we handed in our papers again they said they were accepted. This is their error not ours."

Weak opposition

Independent candidate Abdallahi Ali Ibrahim said he had expected to be rejected as he had collected 16,000 signatures from only 15 states, but had submitted his candidacy anyway to highlight the problems with the system.

"We have a percentage of illiteracy of 70 per cent in this country but they ask for 15,000 signatures," he told Reuters.

He said he doubted the elections would be free or fair "not just because the government is dictatorial but because the other dancer in this tango is a bad dancer."

Ibrahim was referring to what he called the weak opposition who have, despite complaints, accepted all the electoral irregularities and continued their campaigns.

The election system will require about 1,000 different ballot papers for at least six different votes and has been called one of the most complex in the world.

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Libya has struck a deal to buy Russian arms worth almost two billion dollars, Russian news agencies quoted Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, as saying.

"Yesterday (Friday), a contract worth $1.8bn was signed. It does not only involve firearms", Putin was quoted as saying by Ria Novosti and Interfax on Saturday.

The Russian prime minister did not specify the type of arms or military equipment involved in the deal.

But a Russian diplomatic source told Interfax on Tuesday, however, that Libya wanted to acquire 20 fighter planes, at least two S-300 air defence systems, several dozen T-90C tanks and other arms.

Close ties

Putin was speaking following a meeting with the head of the Izhmash factory, which manufactures Kalashnikov rifles.

Russian officials said early this week that negotiations were under way with Younes Jaber, the Libyan defence minister, in Moscow over the sale of Russian weapons.

Moscow and the North African state enjoyed close ties during the Cold War, and much of Libya's arsenal was purchased from the Soviet Union in its last years.

Moscow and Tripoli have stepped up their contacts in recent years.

In 2008, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi visited the Russian capital in his first visit to Moscow since the 1980s.

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Nigeria's main fighters have postponed a three-month-old ceasefire in the Niger Delta, threatening more attacks on the country's oil and gas industry.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), responsible for years of attacks on Nigerian oil facilities, said it could no longer trust the government to negotiate demands for greater control of the region's natural resources.

"It is sufficiently clear at this point in time the government of Nigeria has no intentions of considering the demands made by this group for the control of the resources and land," said the group.

The slow progress in implementing the post-amnesty program has been made more complicated by the absence of President Umaru Yar'Adua, who has departed his country to receive medical treatment in a Saudi Arabian hospital more than two months ago.

Attacks by MEND on Nigeria's oil and gas industry over the past few years have prevented the OPEC member from producing much above two-thirds of its production capacity, costing the country about $1 billion a month in lost revenues.

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REUTERS - Togo will be suspended from the next two African Nations Cups following their withdrawal from this year’s competition after two members of their delegation were killed in an ambush, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) said on Saturday.

“The players publicly expressed their willingness to return to the Nations Cup to compete. But the Togo government decided to call back their national team,” CAF said in a statement.

“The decision by political authorities contravenes CAF and African Nations Cup regulations. The executive committee therefore has banned Togo from the next two African Nations Cup and fined the Togo FA 50,000 U.S. dollars.”

Two members of the Togolese delegation died following an ambush on their bus in the northern Angolan province of Cabinda on Jan. 8, prompting the government to recall the team for three days of mourning.

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At least 11 people have been killed in violent fighting between al-Shabab fighters and AU peacekeepers in Mogadishu.

The violence erupted early Friday near the K4 area in southeastern Mogadishu, a major flashpoint.

The development comes as the Somali government had planned to celebrate the first anniversary of President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed's election on Friday.

According to paramedics, the bodies of at least nine civilians, including a mother and her two children, were found in various locations while the al-Shabab fighters, who claimed responsibility for the attacks, have only admitted the death of two of their members.

"Around seven civilians died in the clashes, including women and children. Most of them were killed by mortar shells and stray bullets," Abdi Adan, an eyewitness, told AFP.

"Four civilians died in Wardhigley district and three others were killed in Holwadag and Bakara area. It was the worst fighting we have seen recently," Mohamoud Ahmed, another local resident, said.

Several people, mostly civilians, were also injured in the offensive.

The local fighters have stepped up attacks against Somalia's UN-backed transitional government and African Union peacekeepers in order to topple the embattled government.

Somalia's main opposition fighters, al-Shabab, are the military off-shoot of the Council of Islamic Courts. They have been fighting the Somali government troops and African Union peacekeepers in and around the Somali capital of Mogadishu.

The Council of Islamic Courts came to power in 2006 after defeating Somali warlords. It was, however, forced out of power in 2007 through an Ethiopian invasion aided by the United States.

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ABIDJAN (Reuters) - The World Bank warned Ivory Coast on Friday that further debt relief hinged on long-delayed elections taking place, and urged it to end quickly a political stalemate that has persisted since its civil war.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick expressed concern about any failure by the west African country to hold the elections this year.

"It would not be good," he told a news conference on a visit to country's main city of Abidjan. "The world has waited for these elections. They've been postponed in the autumn. They've now been postponed to March."

However, Zoellick said he had been encouraged that President Laurent Gbagbo, whom he met on Friday, seemed to understand the importance of moving quickly to a vote. Zoellick said he had told Gbagbo that "moving forward on those elections would enable us to move forward with further debt relief".

The polls were meant to take place in 2005 but have been repeatedly postponed, prolonging a political limbo since a war in 2002-3 split Ivory Coast in two and scared off investors.

"CONDITIONS"

Instability and repeated delays to presidential polls have scuppered Ivory Coast 's efforts to resume its place as a west African economic hub.

Badly needed reforms to the cocoa sector in the world's top grower, which supplies 40 percent of global demand, have been kept on the back burner until after the polls.

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UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Sudan's U.N. ambassador on Friday dismissed as "irresponsible" U.S. allegations that weapons from northern Sudan were going to armed groups in the semi-autonomous south ahead of a nationwide April election.

Earlier this week the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said Washington was concerned about the flow of arms, including heavy weapons, into southern Sudan, and believed they were coming from northern Sudan and neighboring countries.

Sudanese Ambassador Abdalmahmoud Abdalhaleem told Reuters that Khartoum "categorically denied" Rice's allegations.

"The statement by the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. attributing arms flows to south Sudan to the north is most irresponsible," he said in an interview.

"It demonstrates that Susan Rice is still imprisoning herself in the past and failed to move from an activist position to that of a worthy representative of a superpower."

He added that it was U.S. arms sales that were making the world less safe, not weapons from his oil-rich African nation.

U.N. officials have said privately that they, too, suspect the north was supplying southern militants with weapons.

The oil-producing nation's north and south fought each other for more than two decades until a 2005 peace deal that promised national elections, due in April, and a referendum on southern independence in January 2011.

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DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Trade ministers were sceptical on Saturday about the prospects of concluding stalled global trade liberalisation talks this year, with some blaming the United States for foot-dragging.

Ministers from about 20 major economies held informal talks on the sidelines of the annual World Economic Forum meeting in the Swiss ski resort of Davos, but Egypt's trade minister said they made little progress.

"I don't think very much came out of this meeting unfortunately," Rachid Mohamed Rachid said.

"If we don't have the participation at ministerial or even ambassador level from the United States, of course it doesn't give us a positive signal," he said. Washington sent only a deputy ambassador and no political representative.

Rachid said there was very little prospect of meeting a G20 goal of concluding trade negotiations this year.

"We are not optimistic, we are very concerned," he said.

Leaders of the G20 grouping of major economies, including U.S. President Barack Obama, agreed in Pittsburgh last September on the goal of wrapping up the Doha round of World Trade Organisation negotiations in 2010.

But there has been scant progress since then and many participants say domestic politics and the impact of the financial crisis and high unemployment in the United States and Europe have made chances of an early trade deal more remote.

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TUNIS (Reuters) - A Tunisian court on Saturday rejected an appeal by anti-government journalist Taoufik Ben Brik against his six-month prison sentence for assault, his lawyer Radhia Nasraoui told Reuters.

Ben Brik was found guilty in November last year of assaulting a woman motorist. His case has angered freedom of speech campaigners who say the charges were fabricated to silence his criticism of the Tunisian authorities.

The trial of Ben Brik, a vehement critic of Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, has put the North African country's human rights record under intense scrutiny from Western governments and freedom of speech campaigners.

"The judge ... has confirmed the six-month sentence on Ben Brik," Nasraoui said after a court hearing on Saturday.

Tunisian officials have denied the case is political and said anyone convicted of assaulting a woman should expect to be punished and that no one is above the law.

Ben Brik's wife and other members of his family said earlier this month they had started a hunger strike to press for his release on the grounds of his poor health.

"I will take legal action against the Tunisian government at the United Nations court," Ben Brik's wife, Azza Zarad, told Reuters.

"We are disappointed because we believe that Ben Brik is innocent," said Jean-Francois Julliard, secretary general of the media advocacy group Reporters Without Borders.

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HARGEISA (Reuters) - A Cambodian vessel reportedly hijacked off Somalia instead was detained in the Somaliland port of Berbera on court orders, a port official said on Saturday.

The Kenya-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme earlier in the week had said the MV Layla-S had been hijacked after discharging its cargo in the breakaway northern enclave of Somaliland last year.

However, assistant chief of Berbera port Bile Hirsi said the ship was held after a local businessman, whose goods were destroyed in a fire on board another ship that belongs to the owners Layla-S, asked the court to detain it.

"The ship is in Berbera port by the order of the regional court of Berbera, because Abdillahi Omar -- a businessman who had a lot of merchandise on the ship that burned outside the port last October -- made a complaint to the regional court and the court ordered that the ship should remain in the port," he said.

Bile said the businessman wanted compensation for merchandise destroyed in the Maria Star fire.

Somaliland, which declared itself independent in 1991, is proud of its relative stability compared with the south of Somalia, where hardline Islamist rebels control large amounts of territory and are battling a weak Western-backed government.

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MOSCOW (Reuters) - Libya has signed a deal with Russia to buy weapons worth 1.3 billion euros, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was on Saturday quoted as saying.

"Only yesterday we signed a contract worth 1.3 billion euros. And it's not only small-arms," Putin said, according to RIA Novosti.

The deal was signed after talks with a senior Libyan military official in Moscow.

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ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's main militant group called off a three-month-old ceasefire in the Niger Delta on Saturday and threatened to unleash "an all-out assault" on Africa's biggest oil and gas industry.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), responsible for years of attacks on oil facilities, said it could no longer trust the government to negotiate demands for greater control of the region's natural resources.

The threat of unrest comes at a time when President Umaru Yar'Adua has been out of the country receiving medical treatment for more than two months and there is uncertainty over who is in charge of state affairs.

"It is sufficiently clear at this point in time the government of Nigeria has no intentions of considering the demands made by this group for the control of the resources and land," MEND said in a statement emailed to media.

"All companies related to the oil industry in the Niger Delta should prepare for an all-out onslaught against their installations and personnel," it said.

Attacks by MEND on Nigeria's oil and gas industry in the past few years have prevented the OPEC member from producing much above two-thirds of its capacity, costing it about $1 billion a month in lost revenues.

Nigeria's light crude is popular with U.S. and European refiners as it is easily processed into fuel products and previous attacks by MEND helped lift global oil prices to record highs near $150 a barrel in 2008.