20100103
france24

Mount Nyamulagira, the volcano that destroyed much of the city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2002, has erupted again, threatening the Virunga National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Mount Nyamulagira erupted early Saturday in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo near the city of Goma, threatening rare wildlife species in the surrounding Virunga National Park, according to wildlife officials. But the eruption does not pose a danger to Goma, a local government said.

In an interview with the AFP news service, Feller Lutaitchirwa, the vice governor of Goma, said the city appeared to be out of harm’s way.

Mount Nyamulagira erupted in 2002, destroying much of Goma, and is about 22 kilometres away from the city, which is on the Rwandan border.

Lutaitchirwa also told AFP that the eruption started at 1:07 am local time, and that the lava is heading in the direction of Virunga National Park. This is a UNESCO World Heritage site, home to critically-endangered mountain gorillas.

Wildlife experts however say the mountain gorillas are safe as they live further east. But about 40 endangered chimpanzees and other animals living in the area are threatened, according to park officials.

20100103

ZALAM BESA, Ethiopia (Reuters) - Eritrea's government has said its troops killed 10 Ethiopian soldiers after they attacked Eritrean positions on New Year's day, something Addis Ababa has denied.

A statement dated January 2 on the www.shabait.com website, run by the Eritrean ministry of information, said: "In the early morning hours of January 1st 2010, TPLF soldiers launched successive attacks in the Zalam besa front and were swiftly driven back with 10 of their soldiers killed and two captured."

TPLF is a partner in Ethiopia's ruling coalition.

Bereket Simon, the Ethiopian government's head of information, accused the Eritrean government of trying to cover up an attack by Eritrean rebels in which 25 Eritrean government soldiers were killed.

"This new allegation that it killed Ethiopian soldiers is an attempt by the regime in Asmara to deflect its internal crisis by implicating Ethiopia," he told Reuters.

The two Horn of Africa neighbours have had long running hostilities and tensions simmer along their common border due to a dispute over the lines of the border.

The U.N. security council voted to slap sanctions against Eritrea last week on accusations of supporting and arming Somalia's hardline Islamist insurgents.

20100103

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - The opposition Popular Congress Party has nominated a southern Sudanese as its presidential candidate for the first multi-party elections in 24 years in April, a move it says will promote national unity.

"The candidate is Abdullah Deng Nhial from the south," the party's top defence and security official, Mohamed al-Amin Khalifa, told Reuters on Sunday. "He is a relative of (late vice president) John Garang."

Garang was the charismatic leader of the former southern rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) which fought a civil war lasting more than two decades with the north, ending in 2005.

His peace deal with President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's National Congress Party provided for north and south to share wealth and power, for national democratic elections in April 2010 and a southern referendum in 2011 on independence.

"This nomination can be a symbol of unity for Sudan because we are not separatists at all, and there is no racial discrimination within our party as within Islam itself," Khalifa added. Nhial is a Muslim and deputy head of the PCP.

The PCP leader, Islamist Hassan al-Turabi, will not stand for president because he prefers to remain head of the party, whose policy is that one person should not hold both posts, Khalifa said.

Turabi, once close to Bashir, left government and formed his opposition party after a bitter leadership battle with Bashir in 1999/2000.

Turabi won notoriety for his links to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden during bin Laden's stay in Sudan, Africa's largest country, in the 1990s.

Garang died in a helicopter crash just three weeks after being sworn in as Sudanese vice president. His death sparked riots in Khartoum in which dozens were killed, widening the north-south rift.

20100103

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Somali government troops are ready to launch a major offensive against insurgents and expect to drive them out of the capital by the end of this month, the country's prime minister told Reuters on Sunday.

Talk of an imminent government attack on the rebels has been rife in recent weeks and al Shabaab, the main insurgent group, is reported to have stepped up the forced recruitment of youths into its ranks in readiness for the assault.

"Our troops are prepared to act, and flush these terrorists out of the capital before the end of January, and continue taking over the control of more territories from these fighters," said Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke.

Somalia has had no effective central government since 1991. The West's efforts to install one have been undermined most recently by the insurgency led by al Shabaab, which Washington views as al Qaeda's proxy in the region.

Sharmarke said the government's preparations centred on recruiting and training the troops and reforming the command structure.

"We could not go to war overnight, but we put most of our efforts into preparing our forces to act, so that the work can yield some results at the end of the day," he said.

U.S.-led military action in Afghanistan and Iraq is piling pressure on al Qaeda groups there, raising Somalia's appeal as a safe haven for the militants, the prime minister said.

20100103

ACCRA (Reuters) - A Nigerian charged with trying to blow up a U.S. passenger jet on Christmas Day may not have begun his journey in Ghana, a Ghanaian airport official said on Saturday.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had been thought to have started his journey on December 24, taking a Lagos-Amsterdam flight, but Nigeria said on Thursday he had first flown from Accra to Lagos.

Abdulmutallab, 23, has been charged with trying to blow up Northwest Airlines flight 253 as it approached Detroit from Amsterdam with almost 300 people on board.

"The fact that he possibly boarded a Virgin Nigeria flight from Accra to Lagos does not mean he began his journey in Ghana as is being claimed by some officials in Nigeria," said Yaw Kwakwa, deputy managing director of Ghana Airports.

Nigerian Information Minister Dora Akunyili said on Thursday the suspect took a Virgin Nigeria flight from Accra to Lagos before boarding a KLM flight from there to Amsterdam. He began his journey in Ghana and spent less than 30 minutes at Lagos airport, she said.

He changed planes at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport and flew to Detroit. Nigerian and Dutch officials have said he passed through the normal security screenings at Lagos and Schiphol airports.

"We realised (he) probably could have been in Ghana ... so we heightened our security checks, but that does not mean he began his plans from Ghana," Kwakwa said.

Ghana tightened security checks at Accra's Kotoka International Airport the day after Abdulmutallab's arrest, Kwakwa said, but no decision had been taken on whether to use body scanners. Explosives were found strapped to his leg.

"Body scanners are effective tools, but apart from the cost, there are issues such as the infringement of privacy still around its use, so we want to weigh all the options before deciding whether we should buy it or not," he said.

Nigeria and the Netherlands have already said they will introduce full body scanners, Italy will use them on passengers boarding some flights, and Britain has said it is reviewing airport security.

20100103

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - A Libyan judge has postponed until later this month the trials of two Swiss businessmen who have been refused permission to leave Libya for nearly 18 months, a lawyer for the two men said on Sunday.

Their cases have prompted criticism at home that the Swiss government has mishandled the affair, and have also unsettled some of the foreign investors who are flocking in growing numbers to Libya's buoyant economy.

Salah Zahaf, a lawyer for the Swiss businessmen, told reporters in Tripoli that one of the two, Rachid Hamdani, would now be tried on January 17 while the trial of the second man, Max Goeldi, would take place on January 16.

The decision to adjourn the trials, on charges of violating business regulations, was made by a judge at court hearings on Saturday and Sunday, the lawyer said.

The two men were barred from leaving Libya in July 2008 after Swiss prosecutors arrested a son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on charges -- later dropped -- of mistreating two domestic employees during a visit to Switzerland.

Libyan officials deny any connection between the arrest in Switzerland and the case of the two businessmen.

In a separate trial last month, Goeldi and Hamdani were convicted of immigration offences and given 16-month prison terms. The two are in the Swiss embassy in Tripoli, where they have been staying since before they were sentenced.

Hamdani works for a construction company and Goeldi is head of Libyan operations for the Swiss-Swedish engineering group ABB.

20100103

CAIRO (Reuters) - A Cairo court ruled on Sunday in favour of the Egyptian government's decision to ban female students wearing the niqab, or full face veil, in university examinations.

The case, and that of a religious edict banning the niqab in girls' schools dormitories, has bounced back and forth among various courts after the minister of higher education imposed the ban in October and it was then appealed by 55 students.

The government has long been wary of Islamist thinking, and in the 1990s crushed Islamists seeking to set up a religious state. It also is keen to quell opposition ahead of a parliamentary election expected by December, to be followed by a presidential vote.

The government said it brought in the ban in part because students, male and female, were sitting exams disguised as other candidates by wearing a face veil.

However, Sunday's administrative court ruling will not necessarily be an end to the case because such cases can be appealed and refiled many times in Egypt.

The right to wear the niqab in universities has long been an issue for Egypt's courts.

In 2007, a court ruled that the American University in Cairo, seen as a bastion of Western liberal education in Egypt, was wrong to bar a female scholar who wears the niqab from using its facilities. The court cited personal and religious freedom as grounds for its ruling.

Just 30 years ago, women attended Egypt's flagship Cairo University wearing miniskirts and sleeveless tops. They strolled along the beaches of Alexandria in skimpy swimsuits at a time when society was apparently more liberal and tolerant.

Today, majority Sunni Muslim and minority Christian Egypt has seen the growing influence of strict Saudi-based Wahhabi ideology on an already conservative and Islamised society. This has resulted in a huge increase in the number of women wearing veils, or headscarfs, and the full face veil.

A majority of Islamic scholars say they believe wearing a headscarf is a must, while few consider the niqab obligatory. Egypt, unlike other Muslim states such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, does not require women to cover their heads with a scarf.

20100103
africanews

Gambia civil servants are to receive a salary increment of 20% this year, President Yahya Jammeh announced on the eve of the year 2010. He said the salary adjustment applies to all categories of civil servants, but urged them to work hard saying some civil servants are "very lazy."

President Jammeh’s pledge came just days after the country’s parliamentarians expressed concern about the plight of civil servants. The prices of basic commodities including sugar, rice, oil among others continue to hike over the last 10 years, whilst the salaries of civil servants remain low.

The legislators say the wage of civil servant cannot keep up with their commitments especially at a time when the prices of commodities are increasing.

Some civil servants expressed their satisfaction with the government’s promise in different radio and television phone-in programmes across the country.

An opposition MP Momodou L K Sanneh of the United Democratic Party drew the attention of the House before going on recess on the civil service reform package that was overwhelmingly voted for.

The package which was approved in April 2009 was to keep the critical experts of the civil service from cross carpeting to the private sector for better offers.

20100103
africanews

The number of journalists killed around the world rose to a record 68 in 2009, largely in part due to a slaughter in the Philippines and Somalia, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said. Somalia was the second most deadly country for journalists with nine media deaths in 2009.

According to the press group, those fighting in Somalia have carried attacks against the Somali press, murdering journalists and seizing news outlets.

On 3rd December, three Somali journalists were killed in same place after suicide bomb hit at a university graduation ceremony in the Somali capital Mogadishu.

Al Arabia camera journalist Hassan Zubeyr Haji and Mohamed Amin Adan shabelle reporter were among those killed in suicide bomb in Mogadishu including a freelancer. More than five other journalists were wounded in the event. The CPJ lists Somalia in 2009 as the seventh most deadly nation in the world for journalists.

A journalist Mohamud Mohamed Yusuf who was working for a local FM called IQK in Mogadishu was killed on 4th July, and in June unknown gunmen shot dead Muktar Mohamed Hirabe, director of Shabelle Media Network, one of the largest media houses in Somalia, while he was walking in the main market Bakara area, insurgent stronghold area. In that event, another Shabelle journalist Ahmed Omar Hashi-Ahmed Tajir was also wounded.

More deaths

The correspondent of Mogadishu based Radio IQK Nur Muse Hussein died in the centre town of Beledweyn, some 300 kilometres (180 miles) north of the capital of war-torn nation in the Horn of Africa as he was reporting the fight between government forces and the insurgents in town in May 26, 2009.

Abdirisak Mohamed Warsame of Radio Shabelle was also shot dead on May 22 during fierce fighting in Mogadishu. On February 2nd, Said Tahlil Ahmed, the director of Horn Afrik Radio, was assassinated in Mogadishu after the killing of another Radio Shabelle journalist Hassan Mayow Hassan on 1st January.

In a recently-released report, The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said a total of 137 journalists and media personnel were killed in 2009, making the year "one of the worst on record for the deliberate killing of reporters and media staff."

According to the report, the “most shocking statistics” of 2009 was in the Philippines, where around 38 journalists and media staff were killed in cold blood, mostly in a massacre in Maguindanao province on November 23.

In the last three years, most of old Somali journalists fled the country because of attacks and harassment but young journalists have taken over their works.

The young journalists are risking theirs lives and working under dangerous conditions.
Most of the exiled journalists are now living in Kenya, our correspondent said.

Abdirahman Sharif Mohamed, an exiled journalist in Nairobi told Africa News that they need a lot of assistance to survive in Kenya. "Two years in here, Nairobi, we got no aid except refugee status" said Mohamed.

20100103

KINSHASA (Reuters) - More than 150 people were killed last week in fighting between government troops and armed groups in the Equateur province of Democratic Republic of Congo, the U.N. mission in the central African country said on Sunday.

U.N.-backed Radio Okapi said 157 insurgents and one soldier from the Congolese army, known as the FARDC, were killed in and around the town of Inyele between December 31 and Jan 1.

Inyele is 65 km (40 miles) from Dongo, in the northwest of the country, where ethnic violence erupted in late October.

That conflict began as a dispute over fishing rights between the Enyele and Monzaya communities. Since then, a number of groups have posted statements on the Internet saying they were launching a rebellion from Equateur against President Joseph Kabila's government in Kinshasa.

"Information received from peacekeepers indicate fierce fighting between FARDC and armed elements," Lt Col Jean-Paul Dietrich, military spokesman for U.N. force MONUC told Reuters.

"It was reported that 157 armed elements were killed. FARDC reportedly suffered several casualties," he said, adding the Congolese army had taken control of Inyele.

Last week, the United Nations said it had extended the mandate of its peacekeeping forces in the country for only five months instead of a full year.

The shortened extension will allow the United Nations to work with Kinshasa on a revised mandate for the forces that will focus on training the Congolese army ahead of withdrawal.

MONUC, the biggest U.N force in the world with approximately 20,000 uniformed personnel, has been in the mineral-rich central African nation since a 1998-2003 civil war in which millions of people are believed to have died.

20100103

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - At least 47 people have been killed in central Somalia in fighting between Islamist rebels and a pro-government group for control of a strategic town, a human rights group and residents said on Sunday.

Al Shabaab, which seeks to impose strict Islamic rule on Somalia, attacked Dusamareb, 560 km (350 miles) north of the capital on Saturday, pounding positions of moderate Muslim group Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca.

The clashes were the first in the town since December 2008 when the Ahlu Sunna took it after ousting al Shabaab fighters.

The town is the capital of the central region of Galgadud, coveted by al Shabaab, who would like to extend their area of control between Mogadishu and the pro-government northeast region of Puntland.

"We have counted 47 dead bodies and one hundred injured," Ali Yasin Gedi, vice chairman of Elman peace and human rights group told Reuters.

"Most of the casualties are from the two groups. The death toll might be double that as residents are still collecting bodies from alleys and under the trees. The whole region is tense and residents are fleeing from other towns."

A town resident agreed with Gedi's assessment:

"We have collected 77 dead bodies from inside and around Dusamareb town. We have reports that there are more dead bodies in the suburbs of the town. Yesterday afternoon's fighting was very fierce," local elder Hussein Aden told Reuters by phone.

20100102
allafrica

Lagos — The State Security Service has blamed the Nigerian Intellingence Agency for failing to share key information two months ago about Umar Abdulfarouk Abdulmutallab, the young man who allegedly tried to blow up a plane on Christmas day over the United States with nearly 300 people on board.

If the charge is confirmed, it could highlight the disarray within the Nigerian intelligence community which parallels the mistakes President Barack Obama said had been made by US officials, reports the BBC.

As the blame game gathers momentum, it has emerged that the US gave Nigeria four full-body scanners for deployment to the country's international airports as a deterrent against explosives and drugs, but none were used on Abdulmutallab when he boarded the Detroit-bound flight, officials working for the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have confirmed.

This is just as Vice President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has again described Abdulmutallab's attempt to blow up the Delta airline plane, as an embarrassment to all Nigerians.

The reported failure by one part of the Nigerian government to share information with other parts of the administration could also, of course, have had potentially catastrophic consequences - although, in the event, Abdulmutallab allegedly failed to completely detonate explosives on the plane.

In the spacious grounds of the Abuja headquarters of the Department of State Security, (formerly, and still better-known as the "SSS" - the State Security Service), the building is protected by high walls, and the gates are guarded by plain clothes agents wielding new and lethal-looking machine guns believed to be Israeli manufactured Uzzis, reports the BBC.

Inside the offices two senior DSS officials said that Nigeria's other main security outfit, the Nigerian Intelligence Agency had not shared key information given to it by the father of the suspect - information which could potentially have stopped Mr Abdulmutallab boarding the plane.

The father, respected Nigerian banker Alhaji Umaru Abdulmutallab said in a written statement on December 29 that when he became concerned about the behaviour of his son, who was living abroad, he signalled this concern "to the Nigerian security agencies about two months ago and to some foreign security agencies about a month-and-a-half ago, then sought their assistance to find and return him home."

The two senior DSS officials said the agency that Mr Abdulmutallab Snr. had briefed had been the NIA.

The DSS officials went on to claim that although their agency was responsible for maintaining airport "watch-lists" of people under suspicion, the NIA had not shared the father's information with them.

The DSS officials explained that their agency dealt with Nigeria's internal security while the NIA was responsible for external threats. The NIA has yet to comment on the allegation.

When the Foreign Affairs Minister, Ojo Maduekwe was asked about the DSS officials' allegations, he said he would reserve judgement on the truth of the matter pending government enquiries being led by the vice president.

The apparent lack of coordination between the DSS and NIA is one more riddle in a dangerous affair which has rocked the US and Nigeria alike.

Nigeria has promised to beef up security at its airports with more and better body scanners in response to the Christmas Day incident.

But sceptical Nigerian travellers have said there is still a "big man" syndrome at play where the rich or well-connected can sometimes be waved through by junior staff unwilling to challenge them.

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has announced new, stricter procedures, one traveller leaving a major airport in the country however said that although there did appear to be increased vigilance by the security services, the traveller was still asked on two occasions for "dash", or tips, by airport officials.

Meanwhile, Nigerian officials have admitted that the US gave Nigeria four full-body scanners for its international airports in 2008 to detect explosives and drugs, but none were used on Abdulmutallab.

The alleged terror suspect was only tracked by cameras through the security check, went through a metal detector and had his bag X-rayed when he arrived at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport to continue his journey, the officials say.

The Soter RS scanners delivers 3-D (3 dimensional) images that would have shown something hidden under his clothing.

But a spokesman for the anti-drug agency, which operates the Nigerian machines, told the Associated Press that the one at Lagos airport is used sporadically and only on potential narcotics smugglers.

THISDAY also learnt that even though the full-body scanners have been in the country, they were not put to use due to cultural and privacy concerns.

However, word of the scanners' presence in Nigeria's four main airports apparently hasn't reached top officials, including those responsible for airline safety.

Harold Demuren, the head of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, told reporters on Wednesday that his government would buy 3-D full-body scanners for the airports, and insisted there were currently none there.

But on Thursday, Ofoyeju Mitchell of NDLEA, told the AP that one of the machines sits in a room near the security checkpoint at the Lagos international airport.

He said they aren't used on every passenger. Instead, drug agents select frequent flyers, travellers heading to and from drug shipment points, and people who seem deceptive or under stress.

"The frequency of checks is determined by the risk level of our assessment ... (and) reasonable cause for suspicion," Mitchell said.

Such limited use is not what the US State Department intended when it gave Nigeria the scanners.

According to an April 30, 2009, US State Department report, the scanners were installed in March, May and June of 2008 "to detect explosives and drugs on passengers."

The US Embassy in Nigeria would not comment on the use of the scanners.

However, Demuren and the country's Information Minister have said Abdulmutallab did go through a metal detector and had his bag X-rayed, citing security camera footage which they have not released.

Sam Adurogboye, a spokesman for the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, did not deny that some passengers have been allowed to breeze past security checkpoints.

"It is possible in the past that people may have gone above the law," he said. However, he insisted that new rules and their strict enforcement would prevent such practices from recurring.

Passengers can fly directly from Nigeria to Europe and the US. The most recent available statistics show some 2.1 million international travellers passed through the airport in 2006.

Abdulmutallab raised no alarms as he boarded the flight to Amsterdam. He also underwent a second set of searches in Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport that turned up nothing.

Schiphol has 15 scanners, but the US has discouraged their routine use on privacy grounds. Dutch authorities say Abdulmutallab raised no suspicions that would require a scan.

In a related development, the Minister of Information and Communications, Professor Dora Akunyili is insisting that Abdulmutallab spent just half an hour at the airport in Lagos before transferring to an Amsterdam flight.

But Ghanaian authorities have disputed Nigeria's timings, saying Abdulmutallab's stop-over was at least three hours.

A senior Ghanaian government official told the BBC that the suspect bought a one-way ticket to Lagos from Accra that would have given him more than three hours at the airport.

He accused the Nigerians of attempting to "pass the buck" as the search for security lapses continues.

Akunyili previously stated that it was now known Abdulmutallab had boarded a Virgin Nigeria plane from Accra to Nigeria, arriving at Lagos' Murtala Muhammed airport on December 24.

20100102
allafrica

A Nigerian charged with trying to blow up a U.S. passenger jet on Christmas day may not have begun his journey in Ghana, a Ghanaian airport official said yesterday.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had been thought to have started his journey on December 24, taking a Lagos-Amsterdam flight, but Nigeria said on Thursday he had first flown from Accra to Lagos.

Abdulmutallab, 23, has been charged with trying to blow up Northwest Airlines flight 253 as it approached Detroit from Amsterdam with almost 300 people on board. "The fact that he possibly boarded a Virgin Nigeria flight from Accra to Lagos does not mean he began his journey in Ghana as is being claimed by some officials in Nigeria," said Yaw Kwakwa, deputy managing director of Ghana Airports.

Nigerian Information Minister Dora Akunyili said on Thursday the suspect took a Virgin Nigeria flight from Accra to Lagos before boarding a KLM flight from there to Amsterdam. He began his journey in Ghana and spent less than 30 minutes at Lagos airport, she said. He changed planes at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport and flew to Detroit. Nigerian and Dutch officials have said he passed through the normal security screenings at Lagos and Schiphol airports.

"We realized (he) probably could have been in Ghana ... so we heightened our security checks, but that does not mean he began his plans from Ghana," Kwakwa said. Ghana tightened security checks at Accra's Kotoka International Airport the day after Abdulmutallab's arrest, Kwakwa said, but no decision had been taken on whether to use body scanners. Explosives were found strapped to his leg.

20100102
allafrica

Lagos — One hundred legal practitioners under the auspices of Lawyers of Consciences have given President Umaru Yar'Adua till January 31, 2010 to resign or be removed by the National Assembly, failing which the group will be left with no alternative than to mobilize their learned colleagues and the Nigerian electorate to "take their destiny into their hands by any legitimate means possible."

The president has been away in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for forty days and forty nights owing to ill health brought on by an inflammation of the membrane surrounding his heart. The president also has a history of kidney disease.

Arising from its Annual General Meeting held on December 30, 2009, the organisation in a communiqué stated that it had arrived at the decision after undertaking "a surgical appraisal of the comatose state of the nation and the abysmal performance of the present government in Nigeria in 2009, due to the ill health and the resultant incapacity of the president."

The group stated that if by the expiration of its ultimatum of January 31, President Yar'Adua has not come back to actively assume and perform his functions as the president, and he neither resigns nor is removed by the National Assembly in the application of sections 144 and 146 of the 1999 Constitution to enable the vice president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan be sworn-in, it should not be held responsible for whatever may result from such legitimate action(s).

In an open reference to the civil protests carried out by Pakistani lawyers in 2007, which contributed to the ouster of the country's military leader, General Pervez Musharraf, the group prayed that the brave and revolutionary action(s) of lawyers and their learned brothers in Pakistan is not replicated in Nigeria, "with its may-not-be-too-good consequences for our fledging democracy."

In the communiqué signed by the body's National Coordinator, Benedict Ezeagwu; National Secretary General, Princewill U. Akpakpan; South-south Coordinator, Matthew Edeghese; South-west Coordinator, Samuel Adefila; North-east Coordinator, Musa Abubakar; and North-west Coordinator, Abdullahi Mohammed, among other members, the group took the following resolutions:

"That it is on record that President Yar'Adua and his PDP bakers were fully aware of his serious health condition before he was picked as the presidential flag-bearer of the PDP and subsequently foisted on the nation through a totally flawed and the worst general election in the history of Nigeria.

"That in view of the above, it is a great act of wickedness for the innocent Nigerian masses to be made to suffer the negative consequences of this premeditated leadership failure as a result of the greed of a political cabal in the country.

"That the already impoverished Nigerian populace should not be made to bear any further, the brunt of the President Yar'Adua self-inflicted burden of rulership which has worsened his health condition.

"That in as much as we pray for President Yar'Adua's quick recovery from his current ailment, we boldly state here that it is not at the discretion of the Federal Executive Council or the Attorney-General of the Federation to decide on what interpretation should be given to any of the sections of the Constitution/our laws or when to apply sections 144, 145, and 146 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, but a duty they owe the country and which they must carry out."

The group went further to condemn in its entirety the jaundiced interpretation of the essence and applicability of Sections 144, 145, and 146 of the constitution by the FEC, AG of the Federation, the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremmadu and his co-travellers at the so-called National Asse-mbly, as these sections were not inserted in the constitution for fancy/decoration but to be applied/put into effect in a situation like the one Nigeria currently finds herself.

The Lawyers of Cons-cience added that the absence of President Yar'Adua from the country for more than a month, without any honest information on his current condition, on account of his ill-health; the current biting fuel scarcity; the confusion being brewed by the swearing in of Justice Katsina-Alu as the new CJN by the former CJN, Justice Kutigi; and alleged signing of the 2010 Appropriation Act by the President are a clear manifestation of the incapacity of Yar'Adua to perform the functions of the president.

It also identified lack of seriousness on the part of National Assembly particularly with respect to issues of Constitutional Amendment/Electoral Reform; the lachrymal hardship/growing poverty in the country; the near collapse of governance; and increasing constitutional crises in Nigeria among others, as part of the problems bedeviling the country as a result of the president's continuing absence.

It added: "That consequent upon the above reality and in the spirit of rule of law (one of the so-called 7-point agendas of Yar'Adua's government), we hereby join the group of eminent Nigerians and the Nigerian Bar Asso-ciation to call on the FEC and National Assembly to immediately begin to take steps to give effect to sections 144, 145 and 146 of the constitution now that the ill-health and incapacity of President Yar'Adua has almost paralyzed governance in/and the nation.

The group vowed that no amount of intimidation, blackmail or persecution will stop it and the Nigerian masses from demanding and claiming our constitutional rights of good governance, rule of law and democracy.

The communiqué was copied to the Federal Executive Council, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, the National Assembly, the Inspector General of Police, the State Security Service, the Nigerian Bar Association and the Nigerian Union of Journalists.

Other signatories to the Communique are:

Rosemary Enaboifo, National Treasurer; Princewill Agasa, North-central Coordinator; Gabriel Nwokeiwu, South-east Coordinator; Sadiq Mohammed, PRO; Ehi Judith Esq.; Afolabi Apo Esq.; Taiye Emiye Esq.; Okolo Rosemary Esq.; Adebayo Shade Esq.; Irabor Sam Esq.

Chukwu Uzoamaka Esq. Lilian Okoh Esq.; Oluwa Olajumoke Esq.; Iko Mariam Esq.

Anthony Okoye Esq.; Osita Onwukwe Esq.; Henry Osigbeme Esq.; Ejiro Akpoghene Esq.; Zainab Bola Esq.; Moses Akanno Esq.; Iyidobi Callistus Esq. Dadison Ikpuka Esq.; Innocent Ekpen Esq. Ben Chris Esq.; Okhilwa Osadebe Esq. Uduma Sarah Esq.; Alonu Ifeanyi Esq. Idahosa Nosa Esq.; Iyamu Ehis Esq. Abiri Constance Esq.; Omakor Daniel Esq.; Nwaeke Ephraim Esq.; Aholo Patience Esq. Ude Ifeanyi Esq.; Precious Mbreh Esq.; Clifford Ebueni Esq.; Jaclyn Odion Esq.; Kwesi Gina Esq.


Ojeh Onome Esq. Isege Ihomehe Esq.; Omokide Florence Esq. Ife Cindy Esq.

Others are Okonji Ynonne Esq.; Ifoh Brenda Esq.; Aliogo Victor Esq.; Hycernt Ubah Esq.; Odia Stacey Esq.; Afokwalam Chima Esq.; Nosa Andrew Esq. Habu Audu Esq. ; Bashirat Abdul Esq.; Oba-mero Majek Esq.; Agheyere Joshua Esq.; Agbon Clement Esq.; Basira Buhari Esq.; Onoja Esther Esq.

Onunemuhie Collins Esq. Ganiyu Yusuf Esq.; Aibangbe Nosayaba Esq.; Michael Okafor Esq.; Tony Mordi Esq.; Akhigbe Joseph Esq.; Boye Ganiyat Esq.; Aliyu Galadima Esq.; Idonu Emmanuel Esq.; Joy Alero Esq.; Hawau Aliyu Esq. Bayei Nana Esq.; Garba Husseni Esq.; Lucky Edobor Esq.; Ibrahim Ahmed Esq. Dirisu Ewijiele Esq.; Sule Momodu Esq.; Ejim-adu Emmanuel Esq.; Olodia Nathan Esq. and Girei Fatai Esq.

20100102

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya is likely to have a new constitution in 2010, the east African nation's president said in his New Year address to the country.

The search for a new constitution -- viewed by some as a tool to check state powers and a guarantee of an equitable distribution of resources -- began in the early 1990s, but its realisation has been held back by various political interests.

The quest was given fresh impetus in 2008 when the former British colony, long held up as a model of stability in a region blighted by civil wars, erupted in deadly violence after disputed presidential polls in December 2007.

Under the terms of a peace deal brokered by international mediators, a team known as the Committee of Experts (COE) on the Constitution was formed and published a draft constitution in November, seeking the public's input.

"Our country is at the threshold of a new constitutional dispensation in the New Year... They (the COE) must now carefully and prudently harmonise these views," Mwai Kibaki said in the speech.

Kenyans expect a unifying, final document that reflects the will of the majority, the president said, adding the government would step up the implementation of projects aimed at stimulating east Africa's largest economy.

"I am confident that we are now ready to begin works on Kenya's second transport corridor linking us to Southern Sudan and Ethiopia and a new port at Lamu," Kibaki said.

He said the government would start various initiatives to help the country combat the growing effects of climate change.

"More emphasis will be placed on energy production via green pathways including geothermal and wind energy. We will also begin an ambitious plan of planting trees and get our forest cover to 10 percent," he said.

20100102

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigerian Vice President Goodluck Jonathan said on Friday he was hopeful that President Umaru Yar'Adua, who is in hospital in Saudi Arabia, would return soon and continue to govern Africa's most populous nation.

Yar'Adua has been absent for more than a month and Jonathan has been presiding over cabinet meetings. But executive powers have not officially been transferred, leading to questions over the legality of government decisions.

Political analysts, senior lawyers and a former U.S. envoy have warned Nigeria is on the brink of a constitutional crisis. The Bar Association has brought legal action to try to compel Yar'Adua to temporarily hand over power.

But in a wide-ranging New Year's Day address to the nation, Jonathan said "the ship of state continues to sail" and that "the nation remains united and driven by a common purpose".

"Although Mr President has been away from us for sometime on account of a medical condition, he has maintained sustained interest and optimism (in state affairs)," Jonathan said.

"We are hopeful Mr President would return to us before long to continue his good works, with renewed vigour and vitality."

Lawyers and members of the opposition who have challenged Yar'Adua's failure to formally transfer powers say affairs of state are already being affected.

A new chief justice was sworn in on Wednesday in Yar'Adua's absence, leading legal experts to question the legality of the ceremony. The top judge is a key position because he would in turn swear in a new president, legal experts say.

20100102

HONOLULU (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday it appeared the man suspected of trying to bomb a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas was a member of al Qaeda and had been trained and equipped by the Islamic militant network.

Defending his administration's counterterrorism efforts amid scathing Republican criticism, Obama said he received preliminary results of the reviews he ordered into air travel screening procedures and a "terrorist watchlist system" and expected final results in the days to come.

Obama, who is on vacation in Hawaii, had called for an immediate study of what he termed "human and systemic failures" that allowed 23-year-old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to get on a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on December 25 allegedly with explosives in his clothes.

"The investigation into the Christmas Day incident continues, and we're learning more about the suspect," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address, posted on the White House website on Friday local time.

"It appears that he joined an affiliate of al Qaeda, and that this group -- al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula -- trained him, equipped him with those explosives and directed him to attack that plane headed for America," Obama said.

The president's comments were his most explicit to date tying the suspect with the al Qaeda group.

Republicans have accused Obama, a Democrat, of mishandling the incident and not doing enough to prevent attacks on the United States.

Appearing on the defensive, Obama used much of his address to outline his administration's actions to keep the country safe, including withdrawing troops from Iraq, boosting troop levels in Afghanistan and strengthening ties with Yemen, where the suspect spent time before the attack.

20100102

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Yemeni rebels have sent arms in the last few days to support Somalia's Islamist al Shabaab insurgents, the Somali defence minister said on Saturday.

Al Shabaab, which is fighting to impose strict Islamic rule on Somalia, has said it is ready to send reinforcements to Yemen should the U.S. carry out strikes on Islamist militants there.

"Yemeni rebels sent two boats loaded with military logistics, light weapons, Kalashnikovs and ammunition, and hand grenades -- which is fuelling the flames in a country already burning," Sheikh Yusuf Mohammad Siad told Reuters by phone.

Somalia has had no effective central government for 19 years. The West's efforts to install one have been undermined most recently by the insurgency led by al Shabaab, which Washington views as al Qaeda's proxy in the region.

Western security agencies say Somalia's appeal is growing as a safe haven for foreign jihadists using it to plot attacks in the region and beyond.

"I think their intention is a worldwide network that can wage global war, and cause chaos in the whole region," the minister said. He said the boats carrying weapons from Yemen had docked in the southern port of Kismayu, which is under al Shabaab's control, last week.

CLASHES

Ten people were killed on Saturday in fighting between al Shabaab and the pro-government Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca group around Dusamareb, 560 km (350 miles) north of Mogadishu.

20100102

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - A Somali man armed with an axe and suspected of links with al Qaeda broke into the home of a Danish cartoonist whose drawings of the Prophet Mohammad caused global Muslim outrage and was shot and wounded by police.

Hours later, the 28-year-old was stretchered into court on Saturday and denied charges of trying to kill Kurt Westergaard.

The Somali also denied trying to murder a police officer at Westergaard's home in the town of Aarhus late on Friday after he broke into the house armed with a knife and an axe, police said.

Danish police intelligence said they believed the "attempted assassination ... is terror related" and accused the man, who was not named, of having links with Somalia's al-Shabaab militant group as well as al Qaeda militants.

The cartoonist, 74, pushed a panic button, fled to a safe room and was unhurt when police arrived. His grand-daughter was in the house during the attack. Police could not confirm reports he had tried to break down the safe room door with the axe.

Westergaard, who in 2005 depicted Prophet Mohammad with a bomb in his turban, has been under police protection since his caricatures of the Prophet led to death threats.

The Somali man appeared in court on a stretcher with a hand and leg in plaster casts due to gunshot wounds from a police officer who had narrowly dodged the axe thrown at him by the intruder who was trying to evade arrest, police said.

The accused did not speak in court, but denied the charges through his lawyer.

20100102

SOFIA (Reuters) - Somali pirates hijacked a British-flagged vehicle carrier off the Somali coast late on Friday, the Bulgarian foreign ministry said.

The Asian Glory was seized about 600 miles east of the Somali coast before it joined a convoy heading for the Gulf of Aden, ministry spokesman Dragovest Goranov said.

Somali pirates have made tens of millions of dollars from seizing ships for ransom in the Gulf of Aden, linking Europe to Asia, and are also hunting far into the Indian Ocean to evade foreign navies sent to protect commercial shipping.

The European Union's counter-piracy force, EU Navfor and the British Foreign Office confirmed that the British-flagged Asian Glory had been seized by pirates in the Indian Ocean on Friday.

Navfor spokesman Commander John Harbour said the ship was well outside Navfor's area of operation when seized.

It has 25 crew members -- eight Bulgarian, 10 Ukrainian, five Indian, two Romanian, he said.

Harbour said the ship had been seized by pirates but he could not confirm they were Somalis. He did not know where the ship was heading.

An official at the Bulgarian office of the British company Zodiac, which manages the 45,000 tonne ship, said it was travelling from Singapore to Saudi Arabia.

"One of the sailors managed to call the British management company and say the ship was hijacked, but that the crew were in good health and were not injured," Prodan Radanov said.