12 Aug 2009
Somali gunmen have finally released four European aid workers from a French charity and two Kenyan pilots seized last November in central Somalia.

Two French women, a Belgian and a Bulgarian working for Action Contre La Faim (ACF - Action Against Hunger) were freed in Somalia on Tuesday after being held hostage for nine months.

"Apparently all are in good health, they'll have a medical check-up," the French channel NGO confirmed in a statement.

The six were snatched by some 20 heavily-armed men on November 5 as they were trying to leave the airstrip in Dhusamareb, some 360 miles (580 kilometers) north of Mogadishu and near the Ethiopian border, to fly to Nairobi.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy in a statement offered "his warmest congratulations to all those whose involvement brought an end to the hostage-taking."

Press TV correspondent in Somalia learned the kidnapped were released in return for a huge ransom, amounting to nearly $6 million.

Somali waters, which remain a hotbed of piracy despite the presence of foreign navy missions, have seen scores of kidnappings in recent months.

Those kidnapped, mostly foreigners or Somalis working with international organizations, are often released unharmed in return for ransom.

Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout and Australian photographer Nigel Geoffrey Brennan, abducted on August 23 last year; and two French intelligence agents, seized last month in Mogadishu, have not been released yet.

This is while Lindhout reportedly gave birth to a baby boy in captivity nearly two weeks ago.
presstv

12 Aug 2009
Somalia's most powerful militant group al-Shabaab has been forced to leave Eldher, a town in the central Somali region of Galagaduud, residents say.

According to eyewitnesses, al-Shabaab fighters had left the town, located 350 kilometers the north of the capital Mogadishu, after pro-Somali government militia, Ahlu Sunna Wal-Jamaa, made military advance into the town.

It is not clear why the militant group left the town so easily but residents attribute it to report that the pro-government militia fighters were planning to attack the town, a Press TV correspondent reported.

Shortly after the town's takeover, sporadic gunfire could be heard in the outskirts of the town but no casualties have been reported.

Residents also told our correspondent that Ahlu Sunna fighters have captured another town in Galagaduud region called Ceel-Dheer.

Ahlu Sunna fighters are taking over 10 bases of al-Shabaab with heavy weapons in Galagaduud region.

Sheikh Abdi Risaq al-Qaadi, a spokesman for Ahlu Sunna, have praised Ahlu Sunna fighters and claimed they have captured several bases.

The two groups have been engaged in deadly power struggle in the central region where both sides have large swathes of the region under their control.

Somalia has been without an effective central government for more than 18 years.
presstv

12 Aug 2009
Unidentified assailants have reportedly shot and killed eight Muslim preachers at a mosque in Somalia's northeastern and autonomous Puntland region.

The lethal attack occurred early on Wednesday when masked gunmen forced a group of eight Muslim sheikhs out of Tawfiq mosque in Gaalkacyo -- almost 400 miles (644 km) northeast of Mogadishu -- and shot them, eyewitnesses told Press TV.

Five Pakistanis died on the spot and three others, two Pakistanis and a Somali, later succumbed to death in hospital. The motive behind the attack remains unclear.

Somalia has been in turmoil since 1991 when warlords toppled the former dictator president Mohammed Siad Barre. Since his ouster the Horn of African nation has been plagued with violence and insurgency.

Meanwhile, Somali kidnappers on Tuesday released four foreign aid workers along with their two Kenyan pilots who had been held captive since November.

The six were flown to the Wilson Airport at Kenyan capital, Nairobi. The Europeans -- two French citizens, a Belgian and a Bulgarian -- worked for French aid group Action Against Hunger.

Aid workers have been the target of assassinations and kidnappings in Somalia where insurgent groups control most of the country. Many aid groups have ceased operations in the Horn of Africa nation because of death threats and attacks.

presstv

12 Aug 2009
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is set to meet a number of Nigerian opposition figures to confer electoral and anti-corruption reforms with them.

Former head of state Muhammadu Buhari and former vice president Atiku Abubakar are among those to be invited to the meeting with Clinton, allafrica reported Wednesday.

"The meeting with the political leaders is to discuss the challenges of Nigerian politics and possible ways forward for democratic development in the country," said an American embassy official in Abuja.

Clinton's visit to the Nigerian capital, Abuja, is the most important in sub-Saharan Africa, as Nigeria is described as the most corrupt state in the world's third largest continent.

She will leave Nigeria on Thursday for Liberia and will round off her seven-nation tour in Cape Verde. Her visit to the world's second-largest continent comes a month after the US President Barack Obama paid a visit to Ghana.

Nigeria recently witnessed week-long fierce clashes between security forces and Taliban-inspired insurgent group, Boko Haram. The bloody skirmishes eventually came to an end following the death of the sect's leader, Mohammed Yusuf.

About 700 people lost their lives and nearly 4,000 others were forced to abandon their homes in last week's violence in northern Nigeria.
presstv

BAMAKO, 11 August 2009 (IRIN) - While rights groups are celebrating a newly-adopted family code in Mali that changes marriage laws and expands girls’ rights, Muslim leaders and youths have vowed, even threatening violence, to block the code from becoming law.

The code – under discussion for 10 years before its adoption on 3 August – includes more than 1,100 new articles, including setting the legal minimum age for marriage at 18, abolishing the death penalty, recognizing only secular marriages and expanding inheritance rights to girls. The code must be approved by the president to become law.

The secretary of Mali’s highest ruling Islamic council, Mohamed Kimbiri, told IRIN the council will do all it can to block enforcement. “This code is a shame, treason [for Muslims]…We are not against the spirit of the code, but we want a code appropriate for Mali that is adapted to its societal values. We will fight with all our resources so that this code is not promulgated or enacted.”

He said despite consulting members of the religious community on the code’s wording, parliament members ignored religious leaders’ suggestions and bowed to donor wishes.

“We do not want a code imported from donors, notably the European Union, which conditions its aid on certain social reforms, including the adoption of this code,” Kimbiri said. “The assembly adopted it under pressure. But we will not be pressured [into accepting] a code that is not ours.”

From 2000 to 2007 the European Union gave some US$640 million for poverty reduction in Mali.

But the president of a national women’s association of NGOs, Oumou Touré, said the family code is a “constitutional and democratic demand” that promotes social justice. “Many girls married at 10, 11 or 12 have died in recent years in the region of Kayes [500km northeast of Bamako]… The new code will put the brakes [on this] because the guilty will from now on be punished and fined.”

Amnesty International estimated in 2005 that more than 60 percent of young women in Mali married before the age of 18.

Threats

At a meeting called by the Islamic council on 9 August at the largest mosque in the capital Bamako, hundreds of religious and village leaders gathered in opposition to the code.

“We cannot ban traditional marriages,” said one of Bamako’s district leaders, Bouramablen Traoré. The president of a Muslim youth group, Amadou Bah, asked followers to “curse government officials who voted yes to the family code”, calling them “anti-Islamists” who “will be sanctioned by the All-Powerful”.

Religious leader El Hadj Koké Kallé intervened to stop would-be arsonists from reaching the National Assembly 100m from the mosque.

One of five parliament members who voted against the code, Abdoulaye Dembélé, said he could not risk upsetting his constituents. “I cannot go before my voters and tell them that religious marriages are not legal… that a woman should no longer obey her husband and that they should respect one another equally… If I do this, voters will punish me in the next elections.”

National Assembly President Dioncounda Traoré, one of 117 lawmakers who voted for the code, said all lawmakers must now educate their communities. “All representatives have the obligation to get information to their constituents about the advantages of this [proposed] law.”

Noise

The government has not yet indicated how it will enforce the proposed law.

Minister of Justice Maharafa Traoré told IRIN there will always be opposition to reform. “We cannot create change without triggering some noise; it is difficult to have unanimous agreement around any one reform. That is why we will educate citizens in order to…overcome all resistance.

“We never said the text [of the code] is perfect, far from it. But we will correct the gaps so that the law is enacted,” the Justice Minister said.

Bamako-based Muslim leader Daouda Dia told IRIN the code contains needed changes. “Women have always been considered second rank here, which is not normal. We are all equal. I do not see any problem with the article that women and men should have mutual respect. If women have the money to contribute to family finances, I would not be against that.”

The difficult part is to get the word out to women about the new code, said NGO association leader Touré. “We know there are sectors that oppose the code that will sow discord in the citizens’ spirits.”
irinnews

CONAKRY, 11 August 2009 (IRIN) - Families living near chemical stocks recently uncovered throughout the Guinean capital Conakry are appealing to the authorities and NGOs for help in coping with potential health problems from the substances, which have yet to be removed.

In July Guinea’s armed forces seized throughout Conakry large quantities of chemicals that can be used to make and refine illicit drugs. While the substances are commonly used in industrial processes, the quantities discovered were in excess of Guinea’s legitimate demands, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which recently assessed the situation in Guinea.

Health officials told IRIN the full extent of risk to the population is not yet known and more analysis is needed. UNODC in a 7 August statement said the substances’ proximity to populations poses a health danger.

In the neighbourhood of Gbessia Port 1, security forces with Guinea's anti-drug, anti-crime unit are posted to keep watch on a high-walled courtyard, one of the sites where the substances were found. Several families live near the courtyard, including that of Binty Camara, member of a community association appealing for aid.

“It is just recently we learned that there are toxic substances next-door to us,” Camara told IRIN, seated in her nearly empty compound adjacent to the chemicals. Most of the 20 people of the extended-family household have left the area and are living with relatives, she said. “We had to evacuate the children.”

Camara Ousmane, doctor at the Gbessia Port 1 health centre, said the ideal would be to have anyone living near the sites to move away pending more analysis but people cannot afford it. “The storage of these products in our environment constitutes a real danger."

The community association has sent letters to the Health Ministry, the Guinean Red Cross, the governor and the mayor to tell them people are ill, asking them to do everything possible to help cover the costs of medical tests and treatment needed as a result of the chemicals, Binty Camara said.

“When we would see people delivering things here, we thought it was just a construction project," she told IRIN. "We never thought it was something like this. It was from the television that I learned that there were toxic substances here. That night I did not sleep.”

Removal

Junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara, who took power in a coup in December, has appealed to the international community for help to remove the substances.

“We do not have the means to do so,” Tiegboro Camara, minister in charge of the fight against drugs and crime, told IRIN. “It is critical that the affected populations be rid of this danger.”

He added: “The Guinean government of President Moussa Dadis Camara is counting enormously on the international community. This is a question of security after all.”

For now the government has taken measures recommended by chemical experts to securely store the products, Minister Camara said.

Antonio Mazzitelli, UNODC representative for West Africa, said the agency is coordinating a follow-up mission of UN and other partners in Guinea to finalize the forensic analysis and advise on the disposal of the substances.

Mazzitelli said while for now no operational drug-making labs were found in Guinea, the scenario indicates that traffickers were headed in that direction.

“We cannot conclude that narcotic labs are operating in Guinea,” he said. “But based on the evidence of the presence of these substances and the fact that some equipment [that could be used for drug manufacturing] was also seized, we can legitimately state that traffickers in Guinea had developed the capacity to produce drugs like ecstasy and refine cocaine and heroin.”

Guinea is among several West African countries now hubs for the trafficking of cocaine from Latin America to Europe as well as other illegal substances, according to UNODC.
irinnews

At least 30 people have been killed and several houses destroyed as a result of a latest series of clashes in southern Sudan, according to a government official.

Paul Dhel Gum, an official with the South Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission, also said that a number of civilians had been kidnapped in the fighting.

"There are at least 30 people killed, and there are more than 15 women and children who have been abducted," Gum said Tuesday.

The clashes in the south were between two clans of the Dinka ethnic group - the Luach and the Awan - and were reportedly started over cattle and grazing rights.

A detachment of troops from south of the country was reportedly sent to the area in an attempt to end the fighting. The clashes started on Saturday and lasted until Tuesday morning.
presstv

JOHANNESBURG, 11 August 2009 (IRIN) - Zimbabwe's food insecurity is being eased by private imports but prices remain high, making basic commodities unaffordable to many of the few people who have a job, said the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) Food Security Outlook released on 7 August.

Food security has greatly improved since the 2008/09 season, when nearly 7 million people were receiving food assistance, compared with projections for the 2009/10 period, when an estimated 2 million to 2.4 million people will require aid.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization and UN World Food Programme Crop and Food Assessment Mission forecast the 2009 cereal harvest at 1.3 million tons, compared to 690,000 tons in 2008.

A better harvest, lifting import duties on basic commodities, and the dollarization of the economy have ameliorated food scarcity, the FEWS NET report said. The Zimbabwe dollar, which was fuelling hyperinflation, was discontinued earlier his year.

The use of multiple currencies - South African rand, Botswana pula and US dollar - coupled with the introduction of an across-the-board US$100 monthly wage for government employees in February 2009, has seen market-driven forces providing the impetus to fill shop shelves. Donor organizations are also paying medical staff a US$100 monthly stipend.

According to the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe, in June 2009 the US$100 monthly salary was only sufficient for 20 percent of a family's monthly requirements; even if other essentials, such as health, education, clothing and housing were discounted, it would only cover about 70 percent of household food expenses.

Zimbabwe's economy has been in recession for a decade and around 94 percent of the population are unemployed; many rely on remittances from family members working in neighbouring states or further afield in Britain and the US.


"Between January and June 2009, some basic food items fell by between 30 [percent] and 60 percent, but prices still remain between three and six times higher than the five-year average for June [2009]. Between April and June 2009, maize grain price dropped by 31 percent and maize flour went down by 15 percent," the report said.

"This decline was attributed to both improved supply on the market and the good harvest. In the rural areas, grain prices are even lower than those in urban areas, with grain selling at US$0.17/kg on average, and between two times and three times less than urban prices," FEWS NET noted.

The tax holiday on imported basic commodities has been extended to the end of the 2009, however; should the duty be reimposed, this could mean a "reduced supply of maize-meal on the market lead[ing] to increased prices and reduced purchasing power for market-dependent households."

Between 500,000 and 900,000 of Zimbabwe's urban population are viewed as food insecure, the report said, while "about 1.4 million rural people will not be able to meet their cereal requirements during the 2009/10 consumption year."
irinnews

BODITI, 11 August 2009 (IRIN) - The green landscape around Abebech Angelo's home in Agaza Duge village near Boditi town, 370km south of Addis Ababa, belies the food shortages that southern Ethiopia is facing.

The area was dry and parched only a few weeks ago, but has turned green with the arrival of recent rains. However, "the rain did not come on time", said Abebech. "Because of that we did not have a good harvest; and this led to the [current] food shortage.”

Reports by the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS Net) and the World Food Programme (WFP) say the rains in the country's cropping areas were below normal this year.

Farmers who had prepared their land could only sow 50-70 percent. Even where they planted crops, the harvest was lost due to erratic rainfall.

"The current hunger season is particularly severe and will be longer than normal this year," FEWS Net said in an overview of the country's food security.

Damot Gale, where Abebech's village is located, was one of the hardest-hit districts in the Southern region. Along with severe food shortages, the area is also experiencing rising malnutrition.

Abebech and other women like her have lost children to malnutrition-related illnesses and say they are concerned about the surviving ones. Many are being sustained by therapeutic food distributed by aid agencies.

The UN Children's Agency, UNICEF, estimates that 242,000 children under the age of five from 309 districts in Ethiopia will suffer from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) this year.

Over the past months, increased numbers of SAM cases have been reported from Southern Nations, Nationalities and People's Region (SNNPR), Oromiya and Somali regions, UNICEF said in a humanitarian update on 7 August.

One NGO that has been providing therapeutic food is the Irish charity, GOAL Ethiopia. Abebech's twins, Nuhe and Mekeb, for example, relied on Plumpy'nut therapeutic food that the charity distributes.

The food tastes like sweetened peanut butter and is made from peanut paste, vegetable oil, sugar, milk powder, vitamins and minerals.


Lack of medicines

Abdo Shafi, a child health coordinator at Alaba special woreda health bureau, said a shortage of "routine medications", such as gentamicin and crystalline penicillin, had also caused difficulties in the treatment of severely malnourished children with medical complications.

Shortage of medicines also posed a threat to the fight against malaria, which exacerbates malnutrition. In Alaba, for example, most of the children admitted to the stabilization centre often had malaria.

Health officials said the combination of malaria and malnutrition was common in hotspot areas of the Southern region, such as Sidama, Wolayita and Hadiya.

Water shortages

A critical water shortage has been reported in parts of Somali Region, particularly in Warder, Gode, and parts of Afder and Shinile zones.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the onset of the dry season has followed the poor performance of the rains.

"Local communities are reporting that the situation is unusually bad as there is no water in the areas to which they usually migrate during the dry season, while water shortages are also occurring much earlier than usual," OCHA said in a humanitarian update on 10 August.

"Humanitarian partners are increasingly of the view that water tankering operations, although expensive and unsustainable, are required in the driest areas, alongside more sustainable interventions, including rehabilitation of boreholes and birkads [water catchment pools]."
irinnews

NAIROBI, 11 August 2009 (IRIN) - Peace-building and reconciliation in Kenya have taken centre-stage following the 2008 post-election violence which killed at least 1,200 people and displaced more than half a million.

Many of those who took part in the violence were young. IRIN spoke to 17-year-old James Otieno in Nairobi's Mathare Valley slum; he was displaced and spent months in an internally displaced people’s camp.

"It was very bad here in Mathare. Luos and Kikuyus who had been living together before the elections started to fight each other. Mathare was very divided [along ethnic lines].

"The Luos controlled Mathare C and the Kikuyus Kosovo area. No one could cross to the other side. They would be chased, beaten or killed.

"I lived with my aunt in Mathare C since I lost my parents as a child. When things got very bad, we had to leave; we moved to camps.

"When the politicians started to talk [about forming a coalition government], things got better. Then there was Operation Rudi Nyumbani [a government resettlement plan in May 2008]. My aunt and I left the camps to come back home.

"It was hard at first; everybody was scared. We were not free. I could not even see my friends. But then calm returned to Mathare slowly. Russia [a local multi-tribal youth vigilante group] was formed. They patrol and provide security. I started to see my friends again. We played football and did things like before. I have friends from all tribes.

"I don’t like fighting. But we must forget the past and go on with the future. I don’t want any more violence. In 2012 [when Kenya is scheduled to hold general elections], I don’t want to see any more violence.

"These days, I help my aunt to brew and sell changaa [an illegal alcoholic drink] like we did before. This is our life. It is not a good life. That is why I want to be a photo-journalist. I like to take pictures.

"Last year, I was one of the winners of Shoot Nation, a competition organized by Plan UK. They showed our pictures in UN offices. My aunt was very proud. I want to be a professional photographer one day."
irinnews

AKOBO, 11 August 2009 (IRIN) - Tensions have remained high in Akobo County of Jonglei State, Southern Sudan, a week after inter-ethnic clashes left at least 185 people, mainly women and children, dead.

"The Murle have attacked us, and the Jikany [Nuer] are stopping the boats from getting to us," John Tut, a Lou Nuer in Akobo said.

"We have to act as men to protect our people and fight back or they will continue to crush us."

Amid warnings of possible retaliatory raids, aid workers are also pointing to rising levels of malnutrition following significant displacement of people and the blocking of river access routes.

Akobo County Commissioner Goi Jooyul Yol said the 2 August dawn attack by the Murle occurred at Geni River in Mareng, 40km southwest of Akobo town. The women and children had camped in the area for three weeks trying to catch fish.

The leader of the Murle community, Chief Ismail Konyi, was quoted by the Sudan Tribune as calling for peace-building between the communities in Jonglei.

"If you ask who recently attacked the other in the area, you will only hear the name of [a community] because nobody is determined to go further and find out who was behind the raid and what actually caused that attack," he reportedly said in Juba.

"For any incident, there must be a cause and this cause, if not addressed, results into losing either lives of innocent people or properties."

Following the latest clash, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned that its ability to deliver much-needed supplies was being hampered by the violence.


"WFP and its partners have called on the government to put an end to inter-tribal fighting, which is endangering the delivery of humanitarian aid," UN spokeswoman Marie Okabe said.

Extra helicopter and airplane flights are bringing in food, but the supplies cannot meet the needs of the community. At least 19,000 people were displaced in April after earlier Murle attacks, while more are reported to have fled the recent attack.

"Food assistance is the number-one humanitarian need in Akobo, besides protection," said Michelle Iseminger, head of WFP in Southern Sudan.

The roads to Akobo are closed most of the year due to rains, while the main river route has been blocked at Nassir by the Jikany Nuer upstream from Akobo, who have also clashed with the Lou Nuer.

"There is a massive need, there are many people who are hungry and need to be fed," Yol said.

Feeding programmes

An extra outpatient feeding programme targeting children has been opened by aid agency Medair, which had been providing inpatient paediatric care in Akobo County hospital since June.

"Many children are suffering from malnutrition," said Eunice Kavoi, team leader for Medair in the area.

The aid agency is also setting up a water treatment centre but it is currently forced to fly in basic materials such as fuel and cement at high cost due to the difficulties of bringing supplies into Akobo by river or road.

"We fear the situation in terms of nutrition will get worse if nothing is done to fly in more food for the community," Kavoi added.

Engage, government urged
On 11 August, the US-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on the Southern government and the UN to “step up their efforts” to provide protection.

"To protect civilians, the Southern government needs to engage over a sustained period with state and local authorities from the communities involved, and with youth leaders in the cattle camps who carry out the attacks, to address the root causes of the conflict," said Georgette Gagnon, HRW's Africa director.

"They also need to track warning signs of revenge attacks, and deploy security forces accordingly."

Southern Sudanese officials have promised security will be boosted and the river opened to ship in more supplies. "I am optimistic the river will be opened in the coming days," said Yol. "I have had fruitful talks and have been assured that the boats will be able to pass along the river soon."

Some boats with supplies were seen in Akobo on 7 August, coming from Ethiopia on separate river channels from the main route via Nassir.

However, despite official assurances, no boats have been reported to have moved past Nassir. Aid workers stress that more must be done to ensure supplies get through.
irinnews

11 Aug 2009
Somali pirates have released an Italian-flagged tugboat and its 16 crew members, four months after seizing the vessel in the Gulf of Aden.

Commenting on the news, the Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini expressed his satisfaction about the vessel's release and said that it was the result of exceptional work on the part of Somali authorities and Italian intelligence.

This is while news reports suggest that a ransom of USD 2 million was paid to the pirates in exchange for the release of the ship and its crew of 10 Italians, 5 Romanians and one Croatian.

The tugboat and its crew had been held hostage since April 11. The ship is reportedly being escorted by navy vessels and is on its way to Djibouti. Its crew members expect to be home by mid-August.

Last week, Somali pirates released a Malaysian tugboat, TB Masindra 7, and its 11 Indonesian crew members after a ransom of USD 2 million was paid to the bandits.

Piracy off Somalia, one of the world's busiest shipping areas, and other coasts of Africa has increased sharply over the past year, earning the pirates millions of dollars in ransom payments and pushing up maritime insurance rates.

Dozens of international naval ships are patrolling the waters off Somalia. However, they have not been successful in stopping pirate attacks.
presstv

Emma Amaize, Jimitota Onoyume and Daniel Idonor

10 August 2009
Port Harcourt — THE crack in the rank of militants further deepened, yesterday, with a statement from the Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC), an umbrella body of militants in the region which distanced the body from the recent action and pronouncements of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND).

The statement signed by Cynthia Whyte said some persons within MEND had become self-centered in the name of pursuing the struggle for the region. The statement which noted the right of Boyloaf to embrace the amnesty by the Federal Government reaffirmed the commitment of the JRC to the struggle of the region

"The JRC has no relationship whatsoever with the 'entity' tagged Gbomo Jomo. Our campaign is not driven by the despicable penchant of self seeking elements to arrogate to themselves virtual powers. We will not allow the struggle for the liberation and emancipation of the Niger Delta to be wholly hijacked by self-seeking elements. MEND is a clearing house. Jomo and some others hold the key to some of the storage boxes within that clearing house.

"We do not have any relationship whatsoever with that MEND even though we have a real relationship with commanders within its virtual structure.

"General Boyloaf is an outstanding hero of the Ijaw and Niger Delta struggle. The attempt to malign him and rubbish his name is the handiwork of a dubiously ungrateful cabal who have soiled their hands with filthy lucre which they have collected from a presidential aide.

"It is the height of ingratitude for anyone to try to undermine General Boyloaf. If he wants amnesty like any other, he should go for it. What is good for the goose is also good for the gander."...
allafrica

Posted on Monday 10 August 2009

Murtala Mohamed Kamara, AfricaNews reporter in Freetown, Sierra Leone
The French authorities have condemned a suicide bombing at its embassy in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott which left three people injured. No group has so far claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack but Mauritanian authorities point fingers at Al-Qaeda with network in North-West Africa.
Mauritania map
According to a BBC report, the suicide bomber had been wearing a belt packed with explosives which he detonated at 1900 GMT outside the embassy leaving him dead instantly and three other embassy staffs injured.

A statement by the French Foreign ministry condemning the attacks said "France reiterates its determination to fight against terrorism together with the authorities and the people of Mauritania."

The once peaceful North West African country of Mauritania has witness violence in recent times. Reuters quoted a senior Mauritania security official as saying that "An attempted suicide bombing is a new event in Mauritania, we have to be wary of this new type of threat."

The official who spoke on condition of anonymity according to the news agency said "From now on we will have to take extra security measures, but even so, there is no such thing as zero risk."

Al-Qaeda in the Magreb has been active in recent times. The group has held hostage of several Westerners and were responsible for killing of senior security officials in that region. A terror expert said the group cannot be ‘overlook’ in the fight against world terror.
africanews

Posted on Monday 10 August 2009
Sam Banda Junior, AfricaNews reporter in Blantyre, Malawi
Political rivals of Madagascar - President Andry Rajoelina and Marc Ravalomana - are reported to have agreed to form a unity government during a meeting which started last Wednesday in southern Africa's Mozambique. Media reports say Ravalomanana currently in South Africa has agreed to return home.
army in madagascar
Ravalomanana has since pledged to help resolve the crisis in the southern African nation.

The deal to form the unity government is said to have been brokered on Saturday and that the talks continued on Sunday with the meeting discussing the power sharing administration. AfricaNews reporter said this is expected to be good news for the country as well as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) as peace will now prevail.

Media reports said that the two leaders agreed a power sharing deal having met for the first time since Ravalomanana was ousted in March. He has since been in exile.

Some analysts have since said that the agreement by the two rivals to form the unity government would help bring back investors in the country who were threatened by the violence.

The southern African country has been rocked up in political violence following Ravalomanana’s ouster as president by Rajoelina in March backed by the army. SADC brought the two leaders together through its appointed representative and peace keeper, former Mozambican president Joachim Chissano. Madagascar’s former presidents Didier Ratsiraka and Albert Zafy were also part of the meeting.

Elections

Apart from the unity government, the two leaders are also said to have agreed to hold elections within 15 months. Rajoelina was quoted recently as saying that the elections would be held by the end of 2010.

A Reuters report was quoted as saying that a national unity government would be set up and comprise a prime minister, three deputy prime ministers and 28 ministers.

"They agreed the transition period will not exceed 15 months ... and will end with elections under international supervision that will lead to the restoration of democratic institutions and stability in Madagascar," the statement said.

Since his ouster, Ravalomanana has insisted that he was the legitimate president whereas Rajoelina said he was the president and accused the former president of corruption and abuse of office.

The meeting however, is said to have cleared Ravalomanana of all these charges.
africanews

Posted on Saturday 8 August 2009
Kingsley Kobo, AfricaNews reporter in Abidjan, Ivory Coast
American civil rights activist and Baptist minister, Reverend Jesse Jackson will be paying a four-day visit to the Ivory Coast on August 10. Although invited privately by a youth movement, COJEP, Jackson's visit will be assuming a national status due to the programme cut out for him.
Ivory coast map
According to organiser Blé Goude Charles, Jackson would be given a popular welcome at the airport by thousands of youths.

He would then participate beside President Laurent Gbagbo at the opening ceremony of COJEP’s convention, which has for theme: “Resolution of African Conflicts by Africans – The Ivorian Scenario”, according to state media, RTI

Next on his programme, Jackson would hold a meeting with the country’s religious leaders at Saint Paul Cathedral in Plateau before leaving for Krindjagbo, headquarters of a local tribal kingdom, few miles away from capital city Abidjan, where a traditional ruler would confer a chieftaincy title on him.

Michael Jackson, during his 1992 visit to the Ivory Coast, was also honoured with a similar title at Krindjagbo.

Closing his visit, Jackson is expected to address a stadium gathering at Yopougon, north of the city.

Mr Goude told reporters that Jesse Jackson was chosen by Ivorian youths because his personality is “a symbol of the long journey of Blacks towards freedom, which culminated in the election of Barack Obama as US 44th president.
africanews

Posted on Monday 10 August 2009
Kingsley Kobo, AfricaNews reporter in Abidjan, Ivory Coast
A suicide bomber has blown himself up outside the French embassy on Saturday in the Mauritanian capital of Nouakchott.
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The young man, a negro-Mauritanian, was dressed in boubou – a traditional loose outfit, and was wearing a belt packed with explosives which he detonated as two Frenchmen, who are employees at the embassy, jogged by, AFP reported.

The Frenchmen, slightly hurt, were immediately rushed to the hospital. Another victim was a Mauritanian lady, who was also passing by. She received minor injuries, but doctors say she is doing fine.

Mauritanian authorities, who have commenced investigations, say the French embassy was certainly the bomber’s target, although no damages were done to the building.

The bomber died in the blast, his body ripping across the street according to eyewitnesses. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which is coming only three days after Mohamed Abdel Aziz was sworn in as president.

Last June, a US aid worker was killed in Mauritanian by a group linked to Al-Qaeda, which operates in several north-western African states.
africanews

Posted on Monday 10 August 2009
Tom Minney, AfricaNews reporter in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
The listing bell rang at the Namibian Stock Exchange last week for the listing of West Australian Metals Limited (WAM) on the NSX's Development Capital Board (DevX).
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It is the sixth uranium producer to be listed for trading on the NSX, according to industry website www.africancapitalmarketsnews.com, and it is also listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (www.asx.com.au, where it is listed as WME).

WAM is exploring for uranium and in 2006 acquired 80% of Marenica uranium project, with an inferred resource of about 34 million pounds of uranium oxide, just north of the Trekkopje uranium mine in the western desert Erongo Region which is being developed by French giant Areva.

Namibia is the fourth largest producer of uranium in the world, supplying 7%-10% of the total. This could rise driven by increased, in turn caused by rising uranium prices as the world takes keener interest in alternative energy sources which do not have global warming impact. WAM is the sixth dual-listed uranium producer on the NSX.

The company has pledged investment of AUD 8 mln ($6.7 mln) and could start production in 2012. Namibia is becoming a major uranium producer and WAM CEO John Young reported in local press at the listing ceremony to attribute the company's interest in Namibian uranium to the stable regulatory and political environment, as well as the high prospects of discovering both primary and secondary uranium deposits.

“This is one of the best places to explore, certainly in Africa, if not in the world," he is reported to have said. He said the mining project would have only positive effects on the surrounding communities and minimal environmental impacts. The company also intends some Black Economic Empowerment transactions and currently reportedly employs five Namibians.

WAM dual listed 448,740,896 fully paid shares, which closed at N$1.27 on 4 August - adding some N$567 mln ($71 mln) to the total market capitalization - and up 7 cents by the close of trading on 5 August. The listing was sponsored by IJG Securities (Pty.) Ltd.
africa news

Posted on Monday 10 August 2009
Frazer Potani, AfricaNews reporter in Lilongwe, Malawi Photo: Malawi's speaker of parliament
Some female members of parliament of Malawi have disclosed that their political parties influenced them to speedily approve the controversial minimum age for marriage for women at 16 years.
Malawi's speaker
The women legislators made the admission at a women’s forum in Lilongwe organized by Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) last week which drew some female parliamentarians from various political parties in the country to interact with members of the press.

“In Parliament we are free to make decisions on issues but we do it with our political parties in mind to avoid some embarrassments,” said Otilia Jere, a Democratic Progressive Party MP.

“We thought the bill will include 18 years as a minimum age for marriage for women in the country,” added Jere also Deputy Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology.

Another DPP legislator Dilia Kankhwani said most female parliamentarians voted for 16 years minimum marriage limit because they were coaxed by other contents in the said bill. “The 16 years age limit was just part of the bill because it contained several issues in it,” said Kankhwani.

Asked why the female legislators did not fight for the amendment of the marriage age limit for women in the country, the parliamentarians were silent at the forum. The female legislators’ admission that they approved for the marriage limit without seriously considering its implications on the girl child in the country comes after Health Minister Moses Chirambo and his deputy Theresa Mwale expressed concern on the matter.

The two cabinet members who were part of the approval of the marriage age, said it would have a negative impact on government’s efforts to reduce the country’s high maternal mortality rate to save lives of women dying from child birth complications.
africanews

09 Aug 2009
Leaders of Madagascar's main political movements have signed a transition blueprint, ending months of crisis on the island nation.

An accord and an accompanying transition charter foresee a transition period of 15 months during which legislative and presidential elections should be held under international supervision, according to UN mediator Tiebile Drame.

Madagascar has become increasingly isolated since Marc Ravalomanana was forced to abandon the presidency and flee in March following riots that left over 100 dead, with the international community pushing for a return to constitutional order and suspending the bulk of its aid to one of the world's poorest states.

Ravalomanana, who took part in the internationally-backed talks, indicated that under the terms of the accord he will not personally take part in the agreed political transition.

Ravalomanana said however that he would return home to Madagascar under the terms of the accord, which grants him an amnesty from a corruption conviction.

He has been living in exile in South Africa since fleeing Madagascar in March following the riots, handing over power to the army, which then transferred it to his rival Andry Rajoelina.
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