2009-09-22

Cape Town - The US embassy and other American government offices in South Africa were closed on Tuesday due to an undisclosed security threat which police said was under control.

South African Police Commissioner Bheki Cele said he could not give details of the threat.

"Our intelligence world is dealing with it. It is under control," he told reporters in Cape Town.

"There are things that have happened. There are things that are happening," he said, adding that police were in touch with US officials.

South Africa, due to host the soccer World Cup finals next year, is not itself seen as a target for terrorists.

Somali rebels have vowed to avenge the killing last week of one of the continent's most wanted al-Qaeda suspects in a raid by US commandos, but there has been no previous link between Somali insurgents and South Africa.

Bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 killed 224 people and wounded thousands.

A State Department spokesperson in Washington said the US government was warning American citizens to be extra vigilant while near US government facilities in South Africa.

"We are maintaining close contact with South African authorities on this issue," he said, adding that the facilities would reopen as soon as the security situation permits.

As well as the embassy, there are US consulates in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. US embassy spokesperson Sharon Hudson-Dean said the current assumption was that the offices would reopen on Wednesday.

In addition to the embassy and consulates, there are also other U.S. government offices, including that of USAid.
A spokesperson for the British High Commission said it had not been informed of anything.

(Additional reporting by Ed Cropley in Johannesburg; Wendell Roelf in Cape Town and Eric Beech in Washington; Writing by Marius Bosch; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)

news24

2009-09-22

Pretoria - All US government facilities in South Africa, including the Pretoria embassy and regional consulates were closed on Tuesday because of an unexplained security threat.

A notice on the embassy's website had the following notice:

"CLOSURE OF ALL U.S. GOVERNMENT FACILITIES IN S.A.
Based on information recently received by the Regional Security Office, all US Government facilities in South Africa will be closed on Tuesday, September 22, 2009.

"Our current assumption is that all US Government facilities will be open on Wednesday, September 23, 2009."

There was no answer at the Pretoria office when News24 tried to contact the embassy, while officials at the Cape Town consulate refused to comment. There is also a consulate in Durban.

Embassy bombings

AFP reported that offices of the US Agency for International Development were also closed.

"We received information from the regional security office which I cannot discuss," embassy spokesperson Sharon Hudson-Dean said.

In 1998, suicide bombers targeted US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing a total of 213 people, including 12 Americans and 34 local embassy staff, in one of the most devastating attacks carried out by al-Qaeda prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks.

These blasts sparked an enormous effort to bolster security at US embassies around the world, and particularly across Africa.

news24

2009-09-22

Johannesburg - The impact of climate change is devastating in Africa and will severely undermine development and poverty eradication efforts, President Jacob Zuma said in a message to the 64th session of the UN General Assembly.

Zuma will attend and address the opening of this year's UN General Assembly due to resume on Wednesday in New York.

He said climate change affected agricultural yields, and therefore food security.

"It affects people's access to water in an already water-stressed region. Rural people are compromised by the impact on ecosystems that support their livelihoods."

Coastal areas would be flooded

Coastal areas would be flooded, affecting people's homes and livelihoods and damaging coastal infrastructure.

Zuma said these developments affected every aspect of society - social, economic and environmental.

"We need to act now to ensure there is a global agreement on this critical challenge.

"The global agreement should be guided by a shared vision. It should be inclusive, fair and effective," he said.

Climate, poverty are one problem

Zuma said the agreement should recognise that solving the climate problem could not be separated from eradicating poverty.

He said the agreement should be based on sound science.

"It must strike a balance between adaptation and mitigation, and it must address the means of implementation."

Zuma said another agreement on new, additional, sustainable and predictable financing for adaptation was needed.

"On mitigation, the agreement must contain ambitious, quantified, and legally binding emission reduction commitments by developed countries."

news24

2009-09-22

Cape Town - South Africa's murder rate declined again last year but remains around 50 a day while house robberies increased by nearly a
quarter, according to the annual crime figures released on Tuesday.

Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said police were perturbed by a 41.5% hike in the number of business robberies in the 2008/09 financial year, mostly targeting small businesses, and an increase of 27.3% in residential robberies.

"We are deeply concerned about the increase in house robberies ... it is one of the crimes that are the most intrusive and personalise the crime experience," he told a media briefing in Cape Town.

"We simply cannot tolerate a situation where people do not feel safe in their homes."

Cash-in-transit robberies declined by 2.3% during the period, which ended on March 31 this year.

"This, we agree, is not much decrease compared to the same period last year. It is a decrease nevertheless," the minister said.

Bank robberies dropped by 29.2% and ATM attacks by 10%.

Uniquely random, violent

Mthethwa bemoaned the "uniquely random and violent character" of the 2.1 million serious crimes reported in South Africa last year, of which 32.7% were "contact" crimes associated with violence.

He said rampant crime was in part to blame on "the high number of firearms among civilians, greed and conspicuous consumption, the psychology of patriarchal power relations and inconsiderate attitudes towards vulnerable members of society, especially children".

Mthethwa said those vulnerable to crime remained the poor, as evidenced by the nature of most of the 18 148 murders reported last year.

Half of the victims died of stab wounds and about 70% of murders were the results of arguments turned violent, which suggested they happened in poor socio-economic settings, assistant commissioner Chris de Kock said.

Mthethwa and national police commissioner Bheki Cele said the police needed to do more, and had begun an audit of how they deployed their human and material resources, and the timing of that deployment.

"Am I happy? No, I'm not happy," Cele told reporters.

"You cannot be happy when 10 people are killed let alone 18 000."

Wider powers

He said the measures police would take included pushing ahead with the controversial change to section 49 of the Criminal Procedure Act to give police wider powers to shoot at criminals, strengthening special units, and improving the way police stations respond to distress calls.

Mthethwa said it was vital to have "greater engagement" with community policing forums to help police "refine" their efforts to curb household robberies.

He stressed that murder and attempted murder had been steadily declining over the past couple of years, and the police were pleased that they continued to do so.

During the year under review murder dropped by 3.4% and attempted murder by 4.3%. Compared to 1994/95, the murder rate was down 44%.

Common assault was 4.3% down, and assault with intention to commit grievous bodily harm down by 4.7%.

Sexual offences increased by 10.1%. Part of this could be accounted for by changes in legislation, which had introduced new categories of crime. But it was still "not good".

Mthethwa said the release of the statistics was not merely to quantify crime or create a debate in society.

Call to action

"We believe that this is a call to action for government, business, NGOs and communities," he said.

"As you will observe ...there are areas where we are making progress. At the same time there are those where we are still lagging behind.

"Nevertheless, the ANC government remains unmoved in its commitment to securing a better life for all, and the fight against crime is an integral part of ensuring this better life."

The police were therefore encouraged by the decrease in five of the seven contact crime categories.

The police's annual report painted a bleak picture of conviction rates, with that for murder rising only 0.15% to 12.8% last year.

The ANC said it was concerned about the crime figures while opposition parties were scathing in their criticism of Mthethwa's report.

The Democratic Alliance said it is clear why the ruling party did not risk releasing the statistics earlier in an election year.

United Democratic Movement chief whip Stanley Ntapane said the crime statistics were schocking, adding: "There are war zones with lower rates of killing."

news24

DAKAR, 22 September 2009 (IRIN) - While a lack of capacity in the health sector contributes to Sierra Leone’s maternal death rate – the highest worldwide – corruption is a significant culprit, according to Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Khan.

“Obviously the health system is under-resourced and it clearly needs more capacity,” Khan told IRIN from the capital Freetown at the launch of Amnesty’s global maternal health campaign. “But at the same time it is riddled with corruption…It is important to give free health care to pregnant women, but it has to be managed well and governments have to be held accountable for providing health care.”

One in eight women in Sierra Leone dies in pregnancy or childbirth, according to the UN – a “human rights emergency”, Amnesty says in a communiqué accompanying its new report, ‘Out of reach: the cost of maternal health in Sierra Leone’.

Amnesty says women’s status in society is a detriment to their health.“Lack of maternal health care is a form of discrimination,” said Khan. “Women are unable to make decisions about access to health care or to access contraception. We need to empower and women to make decisions about their own health.”

Six of Sierra Leone’s 13 districts have no emergency obstetric care.

World leaders are expected to discuss access to health care in developing countries at the UN General Assembly on 23 September.

irinnews

JOHANNESBURG, 22 September 2009 (IRIN) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced a three-year US$21.5 million loan to Comoros on 21 September to assist in poverty alleviation and progress towards achieving its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The loan was made under the IMF's Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility, which has an annual interest rate of 0.5 percent, repayments that only begin after 66 months and end 10 years after disbursement; $6.7 million will be made available immediately.

The loan dovetails with the Comoros Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy, which aims to achieve sustainable economic development by stimulating the private and agricultural sectors, and strengthening governance and the judiciary in the Indian Ocean island state.

The loan will boost the government's medium-term macro-economic programme, which hopes to expand gross domestic product (GDP) from the current 1 percent to 3 percent or 4 percent by 2012; in 2008 about 25 percent of GDP was comprised of remittances from expatriates working in other countries.

An IMF spokesman told IRIN the increased expenditure by the government would assist in improving road infrastructure, the health and education systems, and providing energy.


irinnews

22 Sep 2009

The United Nations food agency has warned that Somalia is experiencing its worst humanitarian crisis in 18 years as war continues to devastate the country.

In a statement released on Monday, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said drought, conflict and displacement have pushed some 3.6 million people, about half the Somali population, to the brink of starvation.

The FAO explained that nearly 1.3 million Somalis have been displaced by fighting and about 1.4 million farmers are facing a severe drought. The two factors combined have caused a food shortage - even in staples - and driven up prices. This has particularly affected the urban poor, who number around 665,000.

The Horn of Africa country has witnessed more than 18 years of unrelenting civil chaos as armed groups have engaged in heavy fighting, terror attacks and bombings during a power struggle following the ouster of President Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

This is while the Gulf of Aden remains rife with piracy as foreign naval patrols fail to safeguard Somali waters, which serve as a key trade route between Asia and Europe.

According to the FAO statement, Somalia is the worst of a number of hunger-stricken countries dotting east Africa and the Horn of Africa, where currently some 20 million must depend on international food aid.

Moreover, the figure is expected to rise still further during the 'hunger season', particularly among marginal farmers and low-income urban dwellers, it said.

Besides 'below-average rainfall combined with conflict and displacement', the FAO blamed the mounting starvation on the 'El Nino' phenomenon, which is an abnormal warming of the waters of the equatorial Pacific.

"The effects of El Nino, which usually brings heavy rains towards the end of the year, could make matters worse ... destroying crops both in the field and in stores (and) increasing livestock losses," the statement added.

The UN agency also warned of growing insecurity regarding food due to continued low purchasing power in the impoverished region, where Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya are also located.


presstv

Government and education officials have dismissed a statement by the Al-Shabab warning schools against using "un-Islamic" text books provided by the UN and aid agencies (file photo)

NAIROBI, 22 September 2009 (IRIN) - The government and education officials in Somalia have condemned and dismissed a statement by the Islamist group Al-Shabab warning schools against using "un-Islamic" text books provided by the UN and aid agencies.

"The government and the education fraternity make sure that any books that are being used in our schools do not violate our religion and culture, so their statement does not concern us,” Education Minister Ahmed Abdullahi said on 22 September.

He said Somalia needed all the help it could get in the education sector, as in all other sectors, and “we will welcome any help that meets our needs”.

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was singled out by Al-Shabab’s spokesman on 20 September.

However, UNESCO Somalia told IRIN by email: “The four pillars of UNESCO's mandate cover education, science, culture and communication, and under culture falls religion. It is therefore surprising to read that our organization could be promoting the use of 'un-Islamic subjects' in textbooks.”

Furthermore, “the very limited available textbooks are not UN textbooks but textbooks produced by Somali Education Authorities with the assistance of its national and international partners in order to provide the country with the materials necessary to maintain a minimum of basic education services, at least,” it said.

Blocking children’s progress

Abdullahi accused Al-Shabab of being against the interests of the Somali people, particularly children.

"The one thing Somali children need more than anything else is peace and they [Al-Shabab] are the ones engaged in violence that affects our children," he said.

The minister called on Al-Shabab to engage in peaceful dialogue and stop the violence.

A civil society source, who requested anonymity, told IRIN Al-Shabab was trying to muscle in on the education sector. “They don’t have much involvement with education and I think this is their way of saying, ‘we are players now’.”

He said Somali schools were struggling to provide a modicum of education and “if they [Al-Shabab] were to succeed then it will kill what little education our children are getting”.

After the collapse of Somalia's central government in 1991, schools and universities were destroyed as the city was torn apart by militia. But private schools have been gradually re-established over the past few years.

Rare peace

Meanwhile, the Somali capital Mogadishu enjoyed a rare day of quiet with no violence on 22 September - a day after the end of Ramadan.

“For the first time in a long while we enjoyed a very quiet day with no sound of guns,” said Hassan Mahamud, a local journalist.

There is, however, a palpable fear among the population that the violence will resume "with a much greater frequency", he said.

Early Deyr rains have arrived in the city. "The rains have been welcomed but there is also fear of the effects they will have on those who live in the open," he added.

irinnews

Southern Sudanese police officers on the streets of Juba where a disarmament drive was been launched to seize illegally held weapons

JUBA, 22 September 2009 (IRIN) - The recent campaign by the Southern Sudanese authorities to seize illegal arms has yielded a "fearsome arsenal" of weapons, but critics warn that forcible disarmament could spark further violence.

Security forces launched the campaign in the Southern capital of Juba on 9 September, with police and soldiers searching houses for illegal weapons.

"This is the first step we have taken to collect the guns from the people, and it will continue until we make sure that all these weapons are in the stores," said Southern President Salva Kiir on 13 September.

"The presence of the guns in the hands of the people increases insecurity, because there are people who want to keep the guns so they can loot at night, and can kill," said Kiir, who is also the first Vice-President of Sudan.

The Southern government plans to roll out the programme across the semi-autonomous region. "These operations are continuing daily," Maj-Gen Gier Chuang, Minister of Internal Affairs, said in a broadcast on Sudan Radio on 17 September.

"These things will not stop only in Juba - we will continue doing the same exercise in the other states," he added. "We have instructed the leaders of the organized forces in all states in Southern Sudan to conduct the same operations."

Awash with weapons

Supporters say the campaign was badly needed, as the region is awash with weapons after the 22-year-long civil war, which ended in a 2005 peace deal.

Chuang said more than 1,000 weapons were seized in Juba town, with TV screening images of hundreds of AK-47 assault rifles, several heavy machine guns, and rocket-propelled grenades with launchers.

"This is a good thing, because civilians should not have weapons like this," said trader James Gatch. "Why do you need big weapons unless you are preparing to make war?"

The campaign follows a string of bloody clashes in the south.

More than 2,000 people have died and 250,000 been displaced in inter-ethnic violence across Southern Sudan since January, Lise Grande, UN Deputy Resident Coordinator in Southern Sudan, told reporters on 12 August.

In the latest clash, state authorities in Jonglei reported that at least 102 people were killed on 20 September when Lou Nuer gunmen attacked the Dinka Hol village of Duk Padiet.

According to the UN, the rate of violent deaths in the south now surpasses that in the war-torn western region of Darfur.

"Taking illegally held guns will mean there are [fewer] weapons for people to cause trouble with," said Major General Kuol Dein Kuol, spokesman for the south’s military, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA).

"Only the official security forces and the police should hold weapons, and it is their job to provide security."

Forces behind the violence

Many in the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) claim the violence is backed by former civil war enemies in the north.

“Senior figures in the SPLM have blamed the north for supplying arms, and there are plenty of grassroots reports of military aircraft being used, and military uniforms and brand new weapons being seen,” wrote Sudan analyst John Ashworth in a September report for campaign group Pax Christi.

Northern officials in Khartoum have repeatedly denied all claims they are backing militias in the south. Osman al-Agbash, spokesman for the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), has called such allegations "baseless".

Ashworth warned that others might be responsible too. "Not all the culprits can be traced to Khartoum, and some may have links to SPLM," he added, warning that local ethnic tensions may be being exploited.

Kiir has said he fears violence will escalate ahead of elections due in April 2010, and an independence referendum for the South due in January 2011.

Rural security problems

Removing the weapons is key but disarmament outside urban centres is complex. With often extremely limited security in remote regions, many feel forced to re-arm to protect themselves.

"Outside the town, we need to protect ourselves and our cows," said Matthew Deng, who comes from the eastern state of Jonglei. "If they make me give up my gun and my neighbour keeps his, then they will take all we have and kill us. We don’t feel safe without a weapon."

Previous disarmament campaigns have been criticized for exacerbating violence through selective targeting of communities based on ethnic and political lines.

Heavy-handed and ineffective, they have left regions at risk of attack from their still armed neighbours.

"While reducing the circulation of small arms is essential in order to yield a peace dividend, disarming the civilian population in a fragile post-conflict environment presents many pitfalls," warned Adam O’Brien in a January report for the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey.

Other observers point to the long years of bitter fighting between rival communities during the civil war. At the time, rival factions of the SPLA split between Nuer and Dinka forces and battled each other.

"Some communities have perceived disarmament as being targeted along ethnic lines, which has exacerbated inter-communal divisions," the Small Arms Survey warned in another report in May.

It is a grievance that is repeated across the region. "It is better that no one has weapons than everyone have guns," said John Tut, who comes from the Lou Nuer region of Akobo, the scene of recent heavy attacks.

"If it is only one side that is strong and the other that is [weak], then that will make more fighting and not less," he added. "That is what has happened in Akobo."

Jonglei precedent

Critics say forcible disarmament has not worked in the south. For example, the authorities launched a forcible disarmament in 2006 in Jonglei State, securing some 3,000 guns. Subsequent battles, however, have left at least 1,600 people dead.

"The Jonglei campaign turned into one of the bloodiest military actions in [Southern] Sudan since the end of the second civil war and failed to improve long-term security," O’Brien said.

Kiir has urged people to “work together with the security forces to get rid of all the guns”, warning that those who try to hide their weapons will be caught in subsequent arms sweeps.

"We know some people have run outside Juba with their guns to go and hide them so that they will come back with them again, but we will track them down," Kiir said.

"Some people have dug their guns inside their own houses, but we will still get them out from those graves."

irinnews

September 22, 2009
South African President Jacob Zuma has reiterated his support for Zimbabwe’s inclusive Government, adding that his country has a direct interest in seeing its neighbour prosper.

His sentiments came soon after former Namibian president Cde Sam Nujoma told a Swapo rally over the weekend that his country and the rest of the region would not sit back and watch the West carry out their illegal regime change agenda to topple President Mugabe.

The support for Zimbabwe came as the United States admitted openly for the first time that it had sanctions on Zimbabwe, but said it would not be lifting them.

Addressing over 4 000 delegates at the Congress of South African Trade Unions’ 10th National Congress in Johannesburg yesterday, President Zuma said his African National Congress and its allies — the South African Communist Party and Cosatu — as well as Sadc were rallying behind Zimbabwe’s inclusive Government in order to find solutions to the current challenges.

"As the Alliance we must continue to assist the Zimbabweans to find solutions. We must emphasise the need for the full implementation of the Global Political Agreement.

"As neighbours, the Zimbabwean situation is real for us, it is not theoretical. We have a direct interest in the sustainable finalisation of the political settlement," said President Zuma.

Two weeks ago, President Zuma made a similar call as he handed over the Sadc chairmanship to DRC President Joseph Kabila.

Sadc leaders at the summit also said they were backing the inclusive Government and urged the West to lift the sanctions.

Over the weekend, Namibia’s founding president, Cde Nujoma, came out strongly against Western powers that funded opposition parties on the African continent and elsewhere in the world for their own interests and took exception to illegal attempts to topple President Mugabe.

"The white imperialists should be careful not to topple Cde President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, because if you touch Zimbabwe, then you touch Namibia and the whole Southern African Development Community."

He was addressing a Swapo star rally at Ongwediva in the Oshana region.

"It is because of the Western powers and those colonialists that oppositions are formed in our countries in the African continent and elsewhere in the world," he said.

Cde Nujoma said the US and Britain imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe because the Zimbabwean people had demanded their land from the white minority who were historically privileged by the racist colonial system.

"How could one impose sanctions against people who are demanding their own land? It was made that those who have too much land or many farms should give some to the Government so that the landless black people could be resettled there.

"The whites have been on our necks and colonised us for a long time, they crossed with our people through the Atlantic Ocean and made us slaves in their countries. ‘Omushiningwa iha dhimbwa, ashike omushiningi oye owala ha dhimbwa’. (The victim will not forget, but the wrongdoer will forget easily.)

"The whites must be careful, if they play with us we will thoroughly deal with them," Cde Nujoma said in his fiery speech.

He said imperialist countries were facing the prospect of poverty and were redoubling their efforts to loot African resources to sustain their own economies.

Cde Nujoma compared the white minorities who refused to fully integrate after African independence to a black mamba, which even if you keep it in a room for years, it would one day bite you.

"Whites are dangerous, just like a black mamba, if they oust President Mugabe, they will oust another president in the African continent," he said.

Last week, US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson tacitly said Washington had imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe.

The West and its allies in Zimbabwe have often denied the existence of sanctions on the country and instead claimed these were either "restrictive" or "targeted" measures.

However, Mr Carson added: "We reserve the right to lift those sanctions when we want to do so and when we see progress."

He said the sanctions were primarily "targeted at individuals".

Observers have questioned this claim, pointing out that the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act, which provides the framework for the sanctions, has seen the US president placing an embargo on entities such as Ziscosteel, ZB Bank and the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation which are not owned by any one individual. — CAJ News-New Era-Herald Reporter.

September 22 2009

Investors will focus on two key issues set to dominate local financial markets today, and that is the Reserve Bank's interest rate call and August's consumer inflation data. Analysts expect the CPI to ease slightly, but remain out of its target range of 3% to 6%. The consensus forecast for CPI is 6.4%.

Analysts expect the Reserve Bank to cut lending rates by a further 50 basis points to address the recent rand strength. The rand is a tad firmer at this hour. Analysts say the currency received support from the stronger Euro and recovery in precious metal prices.

On the capital market, the yield on the R153 government bond ended yesterday at 8.07%.

US and European markets

In New York, blue chips and the broader market fell yesterday as a drop in oil and other commodity prices hurt energy and materials stocks. But, the tech stocks rose, buoyed by a broker's upgrade in the biotechnology sector. The Dow Jones gave up 41 points to close at 9 779. The Nasdaq Composite climbed five points to 2 138. The S & P 500 dipped four points to 1 065.

Financial shares stumped Europe's major markets yesterday. London's FTSE 100 retreated 39 points to 5 134. In Paris, the CAC 40 shaved off 16 points to 3 812. Frankfurt's DAX ended 35 points lower at 5 669.

Asian markets

Markets in the Asia-Pacific region are mixed this morning. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gained 117 points to 21 589. Sydney's ASX lost eight points to 4 670. Markets in Tokyo are closed for a long weekend.

Platinum is trading at $1319.50/oz and the spot price of Brent crude oil has dipped to $68.51 a barrel.

September 22 2009

Judge Sisi Khampepe told the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) that the overall objective of the Constitution is to give legitimacy to the judiciary, which is relevant since the judiciary was in the past seen as an extension of Government.

Khampepe was addressing the JSC as one of the candidates for appointment to the Constitutional Court. She added that transformation is a far more complex issue than race and gender

The JSC continues with interviews for four posts on the Constitutional Court bench today. Yesterday, a total of 9 judges were questioned about their work experience and what they can bring to the highest court in the land.

Non-racial bench

During the last interviews of the day, Chairperson of the Legal Aid Board, Justice Dunstan Mlambo, said that transformation should not become a simple numbers game.

North West Judge President Mogoeng wa Mogoeng said the judiciary was not performing as efficiently as it should. He added that the system should be improved rapidly for the benefit of the country. Cape Judge Dennis Davis said he believed a non-racial bench was important.

The JSC is expected to conclude the interviews today.

sabcnews

Sep 22, 2009

NEW YORK, Sept 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. raid in Somalia that killed a senior al Qaeda militant last week raises questions about "lone ranger behavior" by the United States, Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula said on Monday.

U.S. special forces killed Kenya-born Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, 28, who was wanted for a hotel bombing and a failed missile attack on an Israeli airliner leaving Kenya's Mombasa airport in 2002.

Asked about the U.S. raid, which analysts say risks further inflaming anti-Western opinion a region of growing concern, Wetangula expressed mixed feelings.

"To the extent that the United States has said that the operation had some limited success ... if their operation has any value to add, we would welcome it," Wetangula told Reuters in New York where he was attending the U.N. General Assembly.

"What I do not feel comfortable with is the fact that the U.S. would want to conduct operations in our neighborhood without information or cooperation or collaboration," he said.

"That lone ranger behavior has often not succeeded in many places."

reuters

Sep 22, 2009

MUMBAI, Sept 22 (Reuters) - India's Bharti Airtel (BRTI.BO: Quote) has offered to retain the top management at MTN (MTNJ.J: Quote) for at least three years and given the option of an all-cash offer to minority MTN shareholders to sew up the planned tie-up between the two firms, the Economic Times reported on Tuesday.

The paper, citing a person familiar with the revised tie-up plan, said MTN would get a 27-percent stake in Bharti instead of the 25 percent earlier proposed.

MTN's minority shareholders would have the option to take $13 billion in cash instead of $7 billion cash and $6 billion worth of stock, the paper said.

Bharti would also cap its holding in MTN at 49 percent for at least five years. These moves would pacify the South African government keen on retaining MTN's national character, the paper said. [ID:nBOM447515]

A Bharti Airtel spokesman said the company would not like to comment beyond an earlier statement. The company had said on Sept. 9 that despite reports in the media, no agreement had been reached between the two companies and discussions were still ongoing.

The planned tie-up between the two firms, which may lead to an eventual merger, would create the world's third-largest mobile phone group by subscribers but is subject to end-September deadline. The firms have extended the talks twice. (Reporting by Narayanan Somasundaram; Editing by Valerie Lee)

reuters

Sep 22, 2009

JOHANNESBURG, Sept 22 (Reuters) - The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and currency market moves and political events may affect South African markets on Tuesday.

- - - -

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian shares inched up on Tuesday with softer commodity prices weighing on Australian stocks, while the New Zealand dollar hit a 13-month high on signs of a recovery in prices for the country's key dairy exports.

The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks traded outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS edged up 0.7 percent and the Asian Development Bank raised its growth forecasts for developing Asia to 3.9 percent for 2009, from 3.4 percent, and lifted its 2010 forecast to 6.4 percent from 6 percent. [ID:nLM137965]

SOUTH AFRICAN MARKETS

South Africa's rand fell against the dollar on Monday but was off its day's lows after retail sales data reinforced views that rates will remain steady while local stocks closed in the red as metal prices retreated.

South Africa's central bank started its two-day meeting on rates and will announce its decision around 1300 GMT on Tuesday. ...

reuters

Sep 22 2009

An intersexed Kenyan has applied to Kenya’s constitutional court to be released from Nairobi’s Kamiti Maximum Security Prison on the grounds that he belongs in neither a jail for men nor women.

Richard Mwanzia Muasya, who was convicted and jailed for robbery with violence, says he is subjected to continuous human-and constitutional-rights violations at the prison, which is for men only. He claims to suffer inhuman and degrading treatment at the hands of male convicts, prison warders and the public.

Muasya was born with both male and female sex organs, but regards himself as a man. He has asked the court to release him because, he says, he is neither man nor woman and there is no special prison for people like him. He argues that if he is transferred to a female prison he will suffer the same fate.

The second leg of his case challenges Kenyan law for discriminating against him. He argues that the law recognises only the two sexes, male and female, and should be changed.

The fact that Kenyan law does not recognise intersexuality makes it difficult for him to acquire vital documents, including the national identity card, Muasya says in papers filed in court. This is because he does not know whether to complete application forms as a man or a woman.

The birth and death registration law also does not provide for intersexuality, making it impossible for him to acquire a birth certificate.

Muasya was arrested with three other suspects in February 2005 after a robbery during which a woman was gang-raped. However, the rape charge against him was dropped after medical reports confirmed that he is intersexed.

The medical examination determined that none of his sex organs was fully developed and that it was unlikely that he could commit rape.

Muasya and other intersexed people in Kenya suffer ridicule and discrimination. In some instances they are kept out of the public eye because people are ashamed of them.

The problem facing Kenya’s constitutional court is that he has been convicted of an offence, yet the country has no separate facility for holding intersexed offenders.

In addition, the Kenyan constitution does not recognise the unique rights of intersexed citizens. Under South African law, the intersexed are recognised and their rights are protected.

www.mg.co.za

2009-09-22

KHARTOUM, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- About 100 people were killed during the latest tribal clash in southern Sudan, where witnessed mounting tribal violence this year, sources from the UN peacekeeping forces said Monday.

Thousands of armed men from the Lou Nuer tribe attacked the village of Duk Padiet in Jonglei state Sunday. The fighting killed about 100 people, including about 80 civilians, the sources of the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) said.

Last month, about 185 Lou Nuers were killed during the tribe clash in the same state.

Some 2,000 people have died in tribe violence across the south this year, according to UN figures.

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement, inked in 2005 to end a two-decade war between northern and southern Sudan, stipulates a referendum in the south in 2011 to decide whether an independent state would be set up in the currently semi-autonomous region.

However, the two peace partners, namely the ruling National Conference Party (NCP) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), have not ironed out their differences on the referendum.

The SPLM accused the NCP of being involved in the tribal violence in southern Sudan, but the NCP denied the claim.

xinhuanet

2009-09-22

NAIROBI, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- Poor harvests due to lack of rain, worsening conflict and effects of El Nino threaten to hit millions of east African people with food shortage this year, the UN food agency said on Monday.

With almost 20 million people in East Africa dependent on food assistance, this number may increase as the hunger season gets under way, especially among marginal farmers, pastoralists and low-income people in urban areas.

Also compounding the problem is the El Nino meteorological phenomenon, which typically brings heavy rains to the area at the end of the year.

This could result in floods and destroying crops, livestock, infrastructure, and homes, FAO said in a statement issued on Monday.

Kenya is already feeling the heat as dwindling stocks at the national grain stores and the high prices are making it difficult for the growing population of the urban poor to buy food.

This is worrying the government and relief agencies who have warned the gloomy situation is deteriorating fast.

The UN food agency said the number of people in Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia depending on food assistance is likely to rise beyond 20 million in case of a drop in cereal production.

In Kenya, the vital maize crop which accounts for 80 percent of annual cereal production is forecast 28 percent below usual levels at 1.84 million tons.

A report by the Kenya Food Security Steering Group, a government crisis group that monitors drought situation, has said about 355 million U.S. dollars are needed to feed more than 3.8 million starving people between this month and next February.

"Food assistance will be required for the next six months to fill the gap in areas where terms of trade and loss of incomes and own production have made it impossible for vulnerable poor population to access the minimum food required until end of February 2010. Total amount required is an estimated 398,000 tons of assorted food commodities," the organization said.

The steering group operating under the Prime Minister's Office monitors drought in the country and recommends intervention. It said about 3.8 million people are living at the risk of hunger and need daily food rations to survive.

Although global prices have been on a downward trend recently, prices of maize, a major staple, are still higher than they were two years ago, with households having low purchasing power.

This year's harvest is predicted to be the fourth successive poor harvest in Uganda, with some regions possibly seeing food production well below 50 percent average.

Over 1 million people are estimated to be food insecure in the country, with more possibly becoming hungry.

In Kenya, this year's poor maize crop has reduced access to food.

Kenya's National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) said it has about 2.5 million bags of maize in its stores against 8 million bags required to feed vulnerable communities till the end of the year.

The government has, in its 2009/2010 budget, allocated 2 billion shillings for drought relief, out of which 1 billion shillings will be used to develop a food subsidy scheme.

According to FAO, forced migrations in search of water suppliesand pasture have worsened livestock conditions, increased disease outbreaks and exacerbated resource-based conflicts among pastoralists.

In Ethiopia, production of the secondary "belg" season crop is also estimated at levels well below average. Scarce rains have resulted in crop losses of up to 75 percent in some of the hardest hit areas.

With the partial failure of the "belg" season crop, the number of people in need of emergency assistance is expected to increase by 1.3 million to 6.2 million, FAO said.

"Kremti" season crop prospects are also poor in Eritrea. FAO's Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit warned that Somalia is facing the worst humanitarian crisis in 18 years, with half the population, 3.6 million people, in need of life-saving assistance.

This includes 1.4 million people in rural areas affected by severe drought, over 650,000 urban poor facing high food prices and 1.3 million people who have been uprooted by violence.

xinhuanet

2009-09-22

KAMPALA, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- The population of the endangered mountain gorillas in Uganda has more than doubled in the last 30 years due to conservation efforts, an official said here on Monday.

Moses Mapesa, executive director of Uganda Wildlife Authority told a joint press conference with Hollywood celebrities that the current number of gorillas in the country is 380, more than half of the global population of 720.

He said because of the increasing population, Uganda is about to scrap mountain gorillas off the list of endangered species.

"In Uganda, we are about to declare the mountain gorillas not endangered although they will remain endangered globally," he said.

The executive director said the country is scheduled to launch online gorilla tracking next Saturday in a bid to raise revenues to conserve the gorillas.

Gorilla lovers on social networks like Facebook, Myspace and Twitter will be able to track the gorillas online in real time at a cost of one U.S. dollar.

Jason Biggs of American Pie and My Best Friend's Girl said their visit to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, home of the gorillas, will raise awareness on gorilla conservation.

"I think we are going to have really eye-opening experience but most importantly I'm thrilled by the idea of raising awareness for the conservation of mountain gorillas," said he, flanked by two other stars, Kristy Wu and Simon Curtis.

Uganda is home to 53 percent of the world's mountain gorilla population, with the other half spread in three trans-boundary national parks, Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda, Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and the Virungas in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

xinhuanet

22 September 2009

Goma is not a city that sits still. Less than a year after it was poised to fall to the army of renegade General Laurent Nkunda, the capital of Eastern Congo is conspicuously back in business.

Garish advertising hoardings now compete for space with billboards proclaiming the good works of international aid groups. A flood of cheap Chinese motorcycle taxis bounce along roads that only seven years ago were rivers of lava after the eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano.

Sadly, the new prosperity, however shallow, does threaten one of Goma's truly unique inventions – the "chikudu". A kind of wooden bicycle meets scooter that can be found nowhere else and is testament to the entrepreneurial spirit of Congo.

The chikudu is an ingenious invention, with high handlebars above a large front wheel trailing a plank on which the driver and cargo sit, and a smaller back wheel. The bikes, invariably ridden by young boys immune to fear, can bear loads up to one ton, flying down North Kivu's endless hills at breakneck speed with the rider's plastic sandalled foot on the back wheel as the only brake.

The logic of these machines – made of scrapwood, ballbearings and sometimes a strip of distressed rubber – is that most of what Goma needs to survive is grown high in the hills above it. The market town of Kibumba, about five miles out of the city is a magnet for the produce that sprouts from the fertile volcanic soil. This is then bagged up and loaded in unbelievable quantities onto the locally made chikudus which let gravity do the rest.

Better roads and a growing economy are to be welcomed if they ever appear in Eastern Congo, but if they signal the death knell for the chikudu then there will be a tiny note of regret.

Beware the jungle buffalo

No one will tell you that searching for gorillas in the Virunga mountains is without risks. You can expect an arduous trek of maybe eight hours or more, often in forest so dense it has to be hacked open with a machete in order to move forward. There's a risk of running into armed poachers, renegade soldiers, and of course an angry silverback.

But who knew about the buffalos? It's almost impossible to imagine these huge creatures navigating the dense vegetation, let alone the sheer slopes. But there they are. Just like gorillas they favour the bamboo shoots that are in season and like to sleep the day away in the shade and comfort of the bamboo groves. As for how they move in the claustrophobic jungle, the answer is fast. You can tell when they move as the ground shakes and the trees give way to their weight, allowing them to run in straight lines. Make sure you get out of the way quickly by whatever means necessary should you disturb one .

independent