NAIROBI, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan leaders held a crisis meeting on Thursday night but failed to agree on key contentious issues in the draft constitution after a four-hour meeting of the grand coalition management committee.

A brief statement issued following the meeting, however, said President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga expressed optimism that the grand coalition government will resolve the litigious issues soon.

The statement said the leaders agreed that all the contentious issues in the draft constitution should be resolved through negotiations in the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) session in Naivasha, about 90 kilometers north of Nairobi.

"The two sides of the coalition have agreed that all the contentious issues should be resolved through negotiations in the Parliamentary Select Committee session in Naivasha," said statement read by Odinga.

The two parties differed on the revised draft with each party accusing the other for the stalemate. Kibaki's Party of National Unity (PNU) has maintained that it will push for a presidential system that has a single center of power.

It has indicated it will only accept a prime minister if the country adopts Tanzania's model of government, where the president is the head of state and government.

PNU is also against the Senate idea, noting that the matter is still under discussion. The party has also indicated that it will push for members of the National Assembly to be elected directly.

Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) favors a parliamentary system. ODM has maintained that power and resources must be devolved and dispersed to ensure that the government is closer, responsive and accountable to the people.

The party said devolution should be in tiers -- national, regional and county levels -- to achieve equity for all in development.

The statement said the two sides of the coalition reached the agreement during a consultative meeting aimed at advancing consensus on the contentious issues of the constitution draft.

In the statement read by the prime minister in the presence of President Kibaki and other members of the Grand Coalition Management Committee, the two principals mandated their respective teams to ensure that the negotiations are conclusive because Kenyans have waited for a new constitution for too long.

The statement disclosed that Thursday's meeting yielded substantial progress on some of the major contentions issues but finer details will be sorted out by the PSC in the Naivasha retreat.

The coalition partners assured all Kenyans that they are committed and optimistic that the constitution review process will be finalized in due course for the benefit of all Kenyans.

Sources at the meeting said Odinga and Kibaki had asked the members to put the country first in discussing the contentious issues, adding, they expected nothing short of consensus in the PSC when their members go to Naivasha retreat.

However, the two sides are said to have stuck to their positions during the talks. Part of the proposals presented to Kibaki and Odinga included a pure presidential system in which election losers in the race for State House will not sit in Parliament.

The systems of the government under consideration are: pure presidential system; pure parliamentary system; and two hybrid proposals -- with one leaning towards the presidential system while the other has more elements of the parliamentary system. The president is not an MP in both systems.

It is hoped one of the four proposals may be settled so as to mend the polarized positions adopted by PNU and ODM Coalition Management Committees' representatives.

The 27-member Parliamentary Select Committee, which comprises 14 lawmakers from PNU and 13 from ODM, starts a one-week retreat in Naivasha on Sunday to try and reach consensus on the contentious issues to facilitate easy passage of the constitution in referendum.

However, analysts warn that it would may still sound foolhardy for the PSC to proceed to Naivasha before the parties agree to a common position through the management committee, especially given the clout of the ministers sitting in the Cabinet arbitrating committee.

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Ghana's transportation network is fast growing. Many transport companies use the country's road network to service their passengers to the various part of the country. The road network in most parts of Ghana is nothing good to talk about and this bring about numerous accidents in that country.
Vehicles plying the country’s routes must always be maintained well to ensure that they are in good shape. This brings to light the role that local mechanics play in the maintenance of these vehicles.

AfricaNews photographer takes pictures of these mechanics at work and adds that, the role local mechanics play in Ghana cannot be relegated to background as they work on fault vehicles and accidents ones as well to bring them to shape and worthy for the road again.

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Leaders from the southern African region have urged the international community to reject plans by Madagascar's military-backed Andry Rajoelina to ignore power-sharing talks and hold an election.
The leaders said after a special meeting on Madagascar and Zimbabwe organized by the security organ of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) that they were deeply concerned about the Indian Ocean Island’s political crisis.

Rajoelina, who toppled former President Marc Ravalomanana in a military-backed coup last March, is forging ahead with unilateral plans for parliamentary polls, weeks after a power-sharing government appeared within grasp.

"The summit rejects any attempt to use democratic means, institutions and processes to legitimize governments that came to power through unconstitutional means," said a SADC statement after the meeting in the Mozambican capital Maputo.

"The summit also rejects the unilateral plan of the 'de facto' government of Madagascar to 'reorganize' the transition and hold legislative elections in March 2010," it said.

Power-sharing

SADC, which has suspended Madagascar from membership of the bloc, called for the resumption of power-sharing talks.

Rajoelina, 35, tore up a series of internationally-brokered agreements shortly before Christmas and appointed a senior military officer as prime minister to govern the country, which is increasingly eyed by outsiders for its oil and minerals.

The SADC said little on Zimbabwe, apart from urging all parties to "implement decisions made".

President Robert Mugabe and long-time rival Morgan Tsvangirai, now prime minister, formed a unity government last February after disputed elections, but the coalition has been hobbled by feuds over power-sharing.

Mugabe and Tsvangirai are haggling over the appointment of provincial governors and the 85-year-old president's refusal to swear in Tsvangirai ally Roy Bennett as deputy agriculture minister.

He has also refused to sack allies he appointed as central bank governor and attorney general.

Mugabe says the MDC should call off Western sanctions against his ZANU-PF party and ask its backers in the West to shut down what he calls pirate radio stations broadcasting into Zimbabwe from the United States and Britain.

The unity government is struggling to reverse a decade of economic collapse in Zimbabwe.

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A Zimbabwean tourist has died after a shark attack him off Fish Hoek Beach near Cape Town in South Africa. Lifeguards and beach goers are on high alert following the attack, which happened early this week, according to reports out of South Africa.
Eye-witnesses said the massive shark attacked Loyd Skinner three times before dragging him under water. It is believed that the man was on holiday in South Africa when the attack occurred.

Johan De Witt, an inspector of marine and coastal management said: "According to the witnesses, it was a very big shark; it was a very big one you know. They reckon it came all along the side of the catwalk, it swam all along the side there and they only saw it at the last minute because that black flag was up to show that the water was dirty and murky and, as I said, the last attack we had was two years ago and we've had thousands of people in the water since then."

Great white sharks, which can grow to six metres in length and weigh three metric tonnes, have been responsible for most of the attacks off Cape Town's beaches in the past.

The City of Cape Town released a statement saying that beaches from Glencairn to Muizenberg would be closed until further notice as a result of the attack, while the search for the victim continues.

This is the second fatal attack on the beach since 2004, when a 77-year-old local woman was killed by a shark 150 metres from shore.

Eight sharks were sighted near Fish Hoek at the weekend by the city's Shark Spotters service, which has recorded 570 sightings over six years, AFP reports.

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The Italian government has pledged to train anti-terrorist police forces and coast guard from the Somali government battling Islamist insurgents.
Speaking to reporters in Nairobi, Italy foreign Minister Franco Frattini said that Italian military police were ready to train these forces in neighboring Kenya.

Frattini said: "We offered to President Sharif to form a very strong anti-terrorist police for Somalia".

Italy mentioned Ahmed's government as the best option, "We have no choice but to support this government", Frattini said after talks with Somali President Sharif Ahmed in Nairobi.

Islamist insurgents run most of southern Somalia and government controls a few areas in the capital Mogadishu, where AU sent 5,000- strong peacekeepers. Western security agencies warned that Somalia is becoming a haven for international terrorists.

Frattini said Italy will pay the daily operation of Somalia's foreign affairs, finance and national security ministries although he was short of stating an amount.

USA gave weapons to the government last year, but sources said some of those weapons were handed over to insurgents by Somali Forces who complain of not being paid.

Italian foreign minister has urged other international donors to fulfill their pledges to fund Somali government.

Nicholas Bwakira, former AU envoy to Somalia had said that donors had only paid 30% of promise made in Belgium nine months ago. Donors pledged more than $250 million to support Somali government and AU peacekeepers at that time.

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More than 107,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have fled to the Republic of Congo since early November of last year. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, another 17,000 refugees have crossed into the Central African Republic (CAR).
'In CAR we estimate that at least 60 per cent are children, many of whom fled from orphanages,' the UN refugee agency said in a statement.

It also stressed the urgent need for sites to host DR Congo refugees in the Republic of Congo and CAR.

It noted that the refugees fled from the Equateur province of DR Congo after fighting started late in October last year when Enyele militiamen launched deadly assaults on ethnic Munzayas over fishing and farming rights in the Dongo area.

'The tensions have since expanded to most parts of Equateur province. The DR Congo army has launched an offensive against the Enyele militia," the UN agency said.

It further said there was an acute need for formal refugee sites to be established in both CAR and Republic of Congo as the majority of the DR Congo refugees occupied public buildings and spaces.

'This massive influx is severely stretching the meager resources of this impoverished region, which could lead to tensions with the local community."

In Mougoumba in CAR, the refugees outnumber the locals by 200 to one, while the Likouala region in northern ROC has seen its population double with the arrival of 107,000 refugees.

Meanwhile, UNHCR said it had sent emergency staff to support the displaced refugee communities in this region.

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Six Sudanese men have been hanged in Sudan's capital on Thursday for their various roles in a demonstration staged at a refugee camp, officials and witnesses said. They were convicted for killing 13 policemen in a deadly clash between police and residents in 2005 at the Soba Aradi Camp in Khartoum.
The clashes erupted in May, 2005 a few months after the end of Sudan's north-south civil war, as police tried to force refugees out of the Soba Aradi Camp in Khartoum, the official news agency SUNA reported.

Thirty civilians and 14 security forces were killed in the event. Most of those arrested for violence were released; except the six people who were sentenced to death.

The six men were hanged on January 14 in Kober prison in northern Khartoum after the appeal process was finally exhausted, according to SUNA.

However, Amnesty International has denounced the executions and said the men might have been tortured into admitting their offence.

Tawanda Hondora, deputy Africa director at Amnesty International, told media "Six men have lost their lives due to the courts' blatant failure to ensure their right to a fair trial".

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Trade unions in Niger have rejected President Mamadou Tandja's call for economic sacrifices as signs of hardship begin to appear in the West African nation following a number of financial and diplomatic sanctions it faces. Niger's troubles began last year when Tandja refused to leave office after completing two terms last December.
Niger’s constitution allowed only two terms for a president.

But Tandja held a referendum in August 2009 to change the constitution and prolong his stay. The vote was boycotted by the opposition and widely criticised by the international community.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the European Union suspended collaborations with Niger following an October 2009 parliamentary elections held by the government to replace the MPs Tandja disqualified for failing to support his bid to remain in power.

The United States also imposed diplomatic and economic sanctions. On Tuesday, Tandja called on Nigeriens to brace for sacrifices to counter effects of the international sanctions.

“The struggle has only just commenced and this forcibly imposes on us a lot of sacrifice, courage, and determination to overcome numerous challenges that may face us,” Tandja said at a ceremony in Niamey (Capital), according to AFP.

On Thursday, a number of trade unions responded by tagging such a call for sacrifice as useless.

“We don't intend to make useless sacrifices of ourselves for the pleasure of a few Nigeriens,” Innocent Raphael, leader of the Democratic Confederation of Workers of Niger (CDTN), told Dounia Radio – a private station.

“What the president asks isn't responsible. He himself is the cause of the sanctions,” Chaibou Tankari, of the Progressist Trade Union of Workers (USPT) said in a statement.

The trade unions say the sanctions will affect the payment of wages for civil servants.

Tandja critics say he wants to remain in power so he and his collaborations could benefit from a number of projects going on across the uranium-rich nation.

His supporters say his administration brought remarkable prosperity to the arid nation and so needs more terms to complete the billion dollar projects he initiated.

El FASHER, Sudan, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Thursday urged the Darfur rebels to stop fighting and resort to dialogue to achieve comprehensive peace in the region.

"We have promised to achieve peace, and we call on our brothers who are carrying arms to put down their weapons and make efforts to achieve peace, development and stability," al-Bashir said when addressing a gathering at the el-Fasher stadium in the capital of North Darfur state.

The Sudanese president said it was important for all the Darfurians to participate in the forthcoming elections scheduled for April, saying "we want to organize free, credible and comprehensive elections, and it is important that all the people of Darfur participate in general elections."

"We want the Darfurians to choose their representatives to the legislative councils and the governor for their region and to elect the president of the republic upon their free will," he added.

"We want the coming elections to be a Sudanese model for the world in peaceful transition of power," he said.

The Sudanese president arrived in el-Fasher on Thursday to attend conclusion of the 21st national school tournament, hosted by North Darfur state.

JOHANNESBURG, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- South African President JacobZuma has been declared newsmaker of the year 2009, the South African National Press Club said on Thursday.

Zuma came in ahead of Julius Malema, who leads the youth league of South Africa's ruling African National Congress. He also scored higher than South Africa's gender-tested world 800-meter champion athlete Caster Semenya and former captain of the Springbok rugby team, Joost van der Westhuizen.

"President Zuma was in the news for various reasons throughout 2009. He dominated... column space in the print media and much of the airwaves in the electronic media," said press club chairman Yusuf Abramjee in a statement.

The 2009 general election campaign, the withdrawal of corruption charges against Zuma and his election to the presidency kept him in the spotlight.

Other issues included the launch of the presidential telephone hotline, Zuma's choice for the appointments of a new chief justice, new national director of public prosecutions, and national police commissioner.

The award would be presented to Zuma at a date still to be announced. Zuma also won the award in 2005, and was a nominee in 2008.

LAGOS, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has condemned the listing of Nigeria as a terror risk country by the U.S. government.

Muhammed Tukur, the assistant secretary-general of AON, told a news conference in Lagos Wednesday that the development is unfortunate.

Nigeria is listed as a country of interest following the failed attempt by 23-year-old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to blow up an American airliner on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, the United States on Dec. 25.

The airline operator said the Nigerian government has been making efforts to improve its international image through improved security.

"We the airline operators are against the U.S. listing of Nigeria as a terrorist country," he said.

"The Nigerian government has been doing its best to contain pockets of crises such as those of the Boko Haram, Jos, Bauchi and Niger Delta militants," he added.

Tukur advised the Nigerian government and the aviation authorities to tighten security in all the nation's airports.

He also said Nigerians traveling outside the country should subject themselves to screenings at the airports, noting that those that would not want to subject to complete body screening should not venture traveling.

Abdulmutallab is accused of trying to blow up a Northwest Airlines Airbus as it made its descent to Detroit on Dec. 25, 2009from Amsterdam's Schiphol airport.

He is alleged to have boarded a plane at the Lagos Murtala Muhamed International Airport, and transferred onto a trans-Atlantic flight at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands.

KHARTOUM, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- The next 12 months will be critical for Sudan in view of general elections scheduled for April and a referendum on self-determination for south Sudan slated for January 2011.

Local observers said that Sudan would face various challenges in two stages, the first before the general elections and the second between the elections and the referendum, adding that these challenges would reshape Sudan's political landscape.

The general elections will be the first multi-party democratic elections in Sudan since incumbent President Omar al-Bashir took power in 1989.

However, local analysts expect a comfortable win for al-Bashir and his National Congress Party (NCP) if no emergency takes place before the elections.

With the electoral process in Sudan entering a decisive phase, there are still doubts regarding the level of participation of opposition political forces together with their readiness for the elections.

"The political parties, except the NCP (ruling National Congress Party), are not financially or organizationally ready to contest in the elections," Hassan al-Saaoury, a professor of political science at the University of Khartoum told Xinhua on Wednesday.

"Therefore they are seeking to postpone the elections through repeated complaints of possible forgery," he said.

He expected President al-Bashir to win the coming presidential elections, saying "there are three reasons. First there is no prominent rival for al-Bashir. Second the International Criminal Court (ICC) had made al-Bashir a favorite via its arrest warrant against him, and third there are accomplishments achieved during his presidency."

The Sudanese people call the governments formed by al-Bashir since 1989 the "salvation governments," saying they are the most successful ones since the country's independence in view of the achievements in the past 20 years.

Sudan witnessed rapid economic growth, tremendous social changes, and the improvement of living conditions, and particularly the signing of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement which ended a two-decade-long north-south civil war and the Darfur Peace Agreement in May 2006.

Mahmoud Abdin, a Sudanese political analyst, told Xinhua on Wednesday that there were two major challenges the Sudanese aim to overcome through the general elections -- how to ensure a peaceful transition of power and how to preserve unity and stability of Sudan.

"The coming elections may resolve the issue of the peaceful transition of power, but there are other challenges in this respect, including consolidation of democratic exercise and acceptance of the elections' result, and above all, the issue of how to manage a rational, free and credible electoral process away from negative aspects of violence," he said.

However, local observers believed real challenges would come on the heels of the general elections, the most prominent of which was how to maintain the country's unity, and how to deal with the relations between the north and the south if the southerners decide to break away in the referendum.

"If south Sudan breaks away, there will be a weak and fragmented state which is susceptible to further disorder," Abdin said.

Some 200 people have been killed in two successive tribal fights in south Sudan since the beginning of this year, compared with the killing of more than 1,000 in tribal clashes in the semi-autonomous region last year.

The deaths have aroused deep concerns of the United Nations and the African Union, both of which warned of an escalation of tribal violence if no tangible step was taken by the southern Sudanese government.

Local observers also said external interference, in particular the stances of certain countries towards the situation in Sudan were also critical, forming another major challenge for this African country.

Political analyst Abdul-Rahim al-Sunni told Xinhua that "some countries are expected to intervene for the interest of a particular party."

The United States had expressed no intention to prevent al-Bashir from running for the presidency in the coming elections, local media reported on Wednesday.

MOGADISHU, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- The death toll in renewed clashes between rival Islamist groups in central Somalia have risen to 24 while more than 50 others were injured in fighting raging for the consecutive fourth day, witnesses and health officials said on Wednesday.

The latest flare up of violence erupted between fighters loyal to the Islamist rebel movement of Hezbul Islam backed by its ally of Al Shabaab and the moderate pro-government Islamist sect of Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jama.

Both sides have been fighting over the strategic central Somalia town of Beledweyne which has changed hands between the two sides for the past two days. Latest reports indicate the two sides partly control the town while sporadic fighting still continues in and around the town.

Both sides claim to have inflicted heavy losses on the other side but hospital sources in the region say that nearly 24 people mostly combatants from the warring sides were killed while more than 50 others were reportedly injured in the fierce clashes that continued for control of the town and adjacent districts.

Many civilians in the combat areas were reported to have fled their homes as the two sides exchanged heavy artillery in and around residential areas in Beledweyne, the provincial capital of Hiran region in central Somalia which has lately been in the hands of Hezbul Islam militias.

The pro-government Ahlu Sunna fighters control most districts in the central Somalia province of Galgaduud and Mudug and have been trying to take Hiran and its environs from the radical Islamist faction of Hezbul Islam which is allied to the Al Shabaab faction, a group that controls much of south and centre of Somalia.

Al Shabaab and Hezbul Islam factions are opposed to the internationally recognized Somali government. The groups, seen as terrorist entities, want to overthrow the Somalia government and create an Islamic state in the war-torn east African country of Somalia.

HARARE, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- The refusal by Zimbabwe's teachers to work on the first day of the school year on Tuesday is just but a tip of the iceberg with regards to the labor problems dogging the country and the pressure the government has to endure.

The teachers refused to take their classes insisting that they would only do so after they had been informed of their new salaries by their unions.

This is not the first time since the formation of the inclusive government in February 2009 that teachers have refused to take classes over salaries.

Education, art, sport and culture minister David Coltart had to convince them at the beginning of the third term to return to work, arguing that the government did not have enough funds to meet their demands.

In the same year, junior doctors spent time reporting to their stations but doing no work, also demanding higher salaries.

"We have our concerns, which we believe should be addressed because we have been neglected for too long," an official from the country's biggest teacher organization, the Zimbabwe Teachers' Association, said at the weekend.

The teachers' latest action came as the government and unions representing civil servants reached a stalemate over new salaries. The government offered 236 U.S. dollars for the highest worker, which the unions rejected as too little compared to their demands of a minimum monthly salary of between 500 U.S. dollars and 600 U.S. dollars.

Civil servants have been earning 150 U.S. dollars across the board for the past year and are now demanding more, accusing the government of taking them for granted.

However, teachers have generally been better rewarded than their colleagues in the civil service with parents giving them financial incentives to keep them in class.

Others conduct "extra lessons" to boost their wages. This practice is generally frowned upon by many people because the teachers do little during official hours and then work hard during the "extra lessons" which are not attended by children whose parents fail to pay.

Although the government has allowed the teachers to get incentives from parents, teachers' organizations are not happy with the arrangement, arguing that their members in rural areas where the country's poor live do not enjoy the same benefits. Thismeans, therefore, that wage distortions now exist among teachers, even in urban areas where some "elite" schools offer more than their counterparts in high-density areas.

Nurses working in government hospitals are also not happy with alleged delays by the Health Services Board in negotiating new conditions of service with them. The board determines government medical staff's conditions of service, which are, however, generally aligned to those of other government employees.

The 236, 000-strong civil servants now want the lowest salary to be pegged at the 500 U.S. dollars breadline, a figure which, although realistic, is way above what the government can afford.

According to the consumer watchdog the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe, the breadbasket was at 488 U.S. dollars as of December 2009.

In his budget for the current financial year, Finance Minister Tendai Biti allocated 600 million U.S. dollars towards civil servants' salaries, which was about 40 percent of the 1.44 billion U.S dollars anticipated revenue.

He described the current financial environment as difficult, adding that meaningful review and improvement of public servants' conditions of service inclusive of remuneration and other benefits like transport and housing allowances, training loan and pension benefits could not be fully implemented.

As a starting point in addressing wage problems, Biti removed the blanket allowance of 150 U.S. dollars and replaced it with a package that recognizes skills, experience and grades. However, it will now be a matter of one earning slightly more than the other, yet all will be earning little.

The government must now do all it can, albeit with very limited resources, to avert a crippling industrial action which can derail its plans for a better economy and living conditions for its citizens.

LOME, Jan. 13 (Xinhhua) -- Guinea's wounded junta chief had been flown from Morocco to Burkina Faso, reports reaching here said on Wednesday.

The reports said Capt. Moussa "Dadis" Camara was flown into Burkina Faso late on Tuesday where he will receive further medical treatment.

A statement from Burkina Faso's Foreign Ministry said that Camara came to the country to continue his recovery.

Guinea's vice president Gen. Sekouba Konate would fly to Burkina Faso to visit Camara on Wednesday.

A statement read earlier on Guinea's state radio said Konate would go to Burkina Faso immediately to see Camara.

Konate flew to Morocco and visited Camara early this month.

Camara escaped an assassination attempt weeks ago but got injured in head. He was immediately flown to Morocco for treatment.

He was said not seriously injured and would give a televised speech to his nation but he failed so far.

Camara took power in a bloodless coup on Dec. 23, 2008, just hours after the announcement of long-standing ruler Lansana Conte's death from illness.

The regime has come under international pressure since the September massacre of opposition supporters by junta forces.

KINSHASA, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- The separatist Front for the Liberation of Cabinda Enclave (FLEC) seeking independence from Angola vows more attacks after Friday's deadly attack on the Togolese football team.

FLEC Secretary General Rodrigues Mingas said on Monday in Luxembourg that they would launch new assaults in Cabinda province during the African Cup of Nations (CAN) in Angola, according to the radio broadcast in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo).

Gunmen sprayed bullets on the bus carrying the Togolese football team in Cabinda on Friday ahead of its planned CAN games, killing three of them and injuring several others.

FLEC intends to continue with the fight until it achieves total liberation of Cabinda enclave, Mingas was quoted as saying.

"We had some months ago warned the president of the Confederation of African Football Issa Ayatou of the dangers of accepting to organize CAN 2010 matches in Cabinda territory," he said.

"But he did not want to listen to us. We regret what happened with the Togolese delegation for which we send our profound and sincere condolences. But I would wish to point out here that our target was the Angolan government," he added.

"And we are just beginning. As long as the Angolan government refuses to come to a round table for negotiations, we'll continue to fight until we get total liberation for Cabinda territory," the FLEC secretary general declared.

He said in their fight against the government in Luanda, FLEC has not received any form of help neither from DR Congo nor the Republic of Congo.

"These two countries are allies of the Angolan government," he said.

In a communique broadcast on Monday, the Angolan government reaffirmed its commitment to offering security in the province of Cabinda, where matches of group B of CAN were being played.

"All measures were taken to ensure that the CAN matches are played in the best secure conditions in Cabinda," a senior official of Angola's Interior Ministry pledged.

A former Portuguese colony, Cabinda is rich in oil, natural gas and tropical hardwood and the virgin fauna of the equatorial forest, which is commonly called Mayumbe forest.

It is situated between DR Congo and the Republic of Congo, boasting a magnificent coast along the Atlantic ocean with beautiful beaches.

FLEC accuses Luanda of looting Cabinda's wealth while leaving the local population in misery and poverty.

The attack has roused concerns about peace and security in Angola, which is considered a military power house in the region. The toll is appalling including the driver of the bus, the coach of Togolese goalkeepers and the media official.

The killing prompted the Togolese government to decide on Sunday evening to recall its national team to Lome. According to the Togolese government, security in Cabinda province is not yet guaranteed.

The issue of security for CAN in Angola and the World Cup in South Africa was among the agenda of the 29th conference of the heads of state and government of the South African Development Community (SADC) held in September in Kinshasa.

During the summit, SADC leaders stressed the necessity of member countries getting involved in the organization and the success of the two great sporting and cultural events -- The African Cup of Nations in Angola in January 2010 and the World Cup in South Africa in June 2010.

The SADC leaders wished that these two events would benefit SADC countries and be able to promote cooperation and development in various domains such us security, tourism, transport, infrastructure, and the free movement of goods and people.

Unfortunately, the FLEC attack has brought the SADC resolutions to a danger of becoming simple declarations without concrete actions. Angolan President Edouardo Dos Santos did not attend the SADC summit in Kinshasa amid reports of displeasure between the two neighbors.

"Such an attitude was aimed at showing that Angola was capable of organizing single handedly the African Cup of Nations without getting support from her SADC neighbors and Central African region. The bloody attack on the Togolese team on Friday will certainly make the Angolan government start thinking seriously on the necessity of involving other sub-regional countries in regional peace and security matters," said Mankenda Voka, a journalist with the Congolese newspaper Observateur.

RABAT, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Moroccan Prime Minister Abbas el Fassi said here on Tuesday that his country is willing to further the bilateral relations with China.

During his meeting with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi in the capital of Rabat, Fassi said that Morocco cherishes the friendly cooperative relations with China, and is willing to foster bilateral cooperation in various fields to push forward the bilateral relations.

Fassi said that China has made prominent contributions to world civilization and plays an important role in the international arena.

He said the Morocco-China relations have maintained healthy and steady development since the establishment of the diplomatic ties, and have achieved fruitful cooperation in political, economic and other fields.

He said that Morocco and China witness active communication and exchanges between political parties of the two countries and between other circles, noting that the two countries bear the same or similar opinions on international and regional issues.

Morocco highly appreciates the new measures China has adopted in Sino-African cooperation and is willing to enhance cooperation with China within the framework of Sino-African cooperation to push forward Sino-African relations, he said.

The top Chinese diplomat lauded the long-time friendship between Morocco and China.

He said that since the two countries established diplomatic ties 52 years ago, the two peoples have been understanding, supporting and cooperating with each other.

Since entering the new century, the successful exchange of visits between the leaders of the two countries have injected momentum to the traditional friendly relations, and designated a new direction for bilateral cooperation in various fields, said Yang.

Yang said that Morocco and China have enjoyed frequent exchange of high-level visits, continuously deepened economic and trade cooperation, ever increasing cooperation in culture, education, tourism and health, vigorous communication between the two peoples, and good coordination and cooperation on international and regional affairs.

The Chinese government is willing to work together with the Moroccan side to consolidate political mutual trust, maintain communication between senior officials, tap the potential of economic cooperation, promote people-to-people exchanges, boost communication and cooperation on international and regional affairs to push the bilateral friendly cooperative relations to new stages, said the foreign minister.

Yang said that Chinese government highly values the implementation of the follow-up actions of the fourth ministerial meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), and is willing to work together with Morocco and other FOCAC member countries to fulfill the tasks.

The Chinese foreign minister arrived in Morocco on Monday afternoon for a two-day visit. Yang is on his first official foreign visit of the year that includes five African nations, namely Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Algeria and Morocco, and Saudi Arabia.

JOHANNESBURG, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Xenophobic violence in South Africa has flared up again with mob attacks on Somali people in the Western Cape province, police said on Tuesday.

Western Cape police fired rubber bullets to disperse about 400 residents in Riviersonderend, 160 km from Cape Town, who went on arampage, attacking and looting shops owned by Somali nationals on Monday.

"Residents were angry because police had found a body of a 20-year-old in the bushes. The man was reported missing in December and was last seen with Somalis," Police Inspector November Filander said on Tuesday.

The residents mobilized and submitted a request for a march, but the municipality denied them permission. Residents went ahead anyway and police intervened when the march turned violent and the locals started looting Somali-owned shops at 8:00 p.m. on Monday.

Police fired rubber bullets at the crowd, injuring one person. A 30-year-old woman was arrested for public violence.

About 20 Somali nationals fled to the local police station for refuge.

Police managed to calm the situation down at 10:00 p.m. and they kept a strong presence in the area, securing shops owned by Somalis.

On Tuesday morning, the Somalis moved to neighboring areas, police said.

NAIROBI, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) on Tuesday expressed concern over the escalating violence in Somalia, saying the widening strife in the lawless nation is having a devastating effect on the civilian population and sparking increased displacement.

In a statement, UNHCR said over 150 people were killed or injured and some 7,000 people displaced in the latest clashes between two rival militia groups, Al Shabaab and Ahlu Sunna Wal Jaama, in Dhusamareb in Galgaduud region of Central Somalia which begun last week.

"Sketchy reports indicate that the displacement figure might be higher. Local NGO partners have told UNHCR that the IDPs (the internally displaced persons) have fled to some 16 villages around Dhusamareb," the UN agency said.

According to UNHCR, most of them are reported to be living under trees and many children have been fallen ill as a result of the cold nights.

Fearing renewed fighting, the IDPs said they have no intention of returning to their homes until the situation stabilizes, it said.

Meanwhile, UNHCR said the number of Somalis streaming into the neighboring countries has also increased.

"Some 3,000 Somalis were registered as refugees in Ethiopia in December alone. The estimated rate of new arrivals has gone up from 100 to 150 a day," the UN agency said.

The Bokolmanyo refugee camp in south-eastern Ethiopia, which was established only nine months ago now hosts over 22,000 Somali refugees, and is already full to capacity.

"We have registered some 4,000 new refugees at the Dolo Ado transit centre on the Ethiopia-Somalia border, pending their relocation to a second camp that UNHCR is developing to respond to the growing influx from Somalia."

In Kenya, UNHCR said it has registered 4,175 Somalis as refugees in the Dadaab refugee complex since December.

More than 110,000 Somalis sought asylum in Kenya (55,000), Yemen (32,000), Ethiopia (22,000) and Djibouti (3,000) in 2009, bringing the total number of Somali refugees in the region to over560,000.

"As the security situation does not allow UNHCR's immediate intervention, we are in discussions with our local NGO partners to

find ways of delivering assistance to the people displaced by the latest fighting in the quickest time possible," it said.

Many parts of central Somalia are experiencing an upsurge in fighting, including parts of the capital Mogadishu and Beled Weyne, the regional capital of Hiraan region.

Due to the continued conflict, the civilian population is extremely vulnerable as services and livelihood have been badly interrupted and are increasingly limited.

Aid agencies fear that the growing insecurity, the drought and the suspension of food aid in south central regions could deepen Somalia's humanitarian crisis and trigger large-scale influx into the neighboring and nearby countries.

NAIROBI, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- More than 107,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) have now fled to the Republic of Congo (ROC) since early November of last year, the UN refugee agency said on Tuesday.

According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), another 17,000 refugees have crossed into the Central African Republic (CAR).

"In CAR we estimate that at least 60 percent are children, many of whom fled from orphanages," the agency said in a statement, warning of urgent need for sites to host DR Congo refugees in ROC and CAR.

The UNHCR said the refugees fled from the Equateur province of DR Congo after fighting started late in October last year when Enyele militiamen launched deadly assaults on ethnic Munzayas overfishing and farming rights in the Dongo area.

The tensions have since expanded to most parts of Equateur province. The DR Congo army has launched an offensive against the Enyele militia.

The UN agency said there is an acute need for formal refugee sites to be established in both CAR and ROC as the majority of the DR Congo refugees occupy public buildings and spaces.

"This massive influx is severely stretching the meager resources of this impoverished region, which could lead to tensions with the local community," it said.

In Mougoumba in CAR, the refugees outnumber the locals by 200 to one, while the Likouala region in northern ROC has seen its population double with the arrival of 107,000 refugees.

Although land has been allocated to accommodate 4,000 refugees in ROC, more space needs to be designated for refugee sites and discussions are ongoing with both ROC and CAR governments.

Meanwhile, UNHCR said it has sent emergency staff to support the widely dispersed refugee communities in this region.