20091227

LAGOS (Reuters) - A Nigerian charged on Saturday with trying to blow up a U.S. passenger plane is the son of a prominent former banker, a family member said on Saturday, shocking the country's wealthy elite.

The 23-year-old, named by U.S. officials as Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was taken into custody after being overpowered by passengers and crew as the Christmas Day flight approached Detroit from Amsterdam.

Abdul Mutallab, son of prominent former banker Umaru Mutallab, told Reuters the suspect was his brother. He declined to comment further ahead of an expected joint statement by the family and the Nigerian government on Sunday.

Vice President Goodluck Jonathan called a meeting of the country's security chiefs for Sunday to set up an investigative panel and try to find out more about the suspect's background and any links to foreign groups, a presidency source said.

Investigators in the United States are trying to confirm the man's claims that he has connections to al Qaeda.

"(Nigeria's) National Intelligence Agency spoke with his father today," a family friend said on condition of anonymity.

The friend told Reuters Abdulmutallab had attended the British School in Lome, Togo -- a boarding school mostly serving expatriates and students from around West Africa -- before studying engineering at University College London (UCL).

UCL said it had enrolled a student by the name of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab between September 2005 and June 2008, but said it had no evidence that this was the same person.

20091227

DETROIT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. authorities on Saturday charged a Nigerian man with trying to blow up a U.S. passenger jet with high explosives and were investigating his claim that he had links to al Qaeda.

The suspect, who was being treated for burns at a Michigan hospital, was overpowered by passengers and crew on the Delta Air Lines plane from Amsterdam on Christmas Day.

The Justice Department identified the suspect as a 23-year-old Nigerian, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, and charged him with attempting to blow up the plane by setting alight an explosive device attached to his body.

"Had this alleged plot to destroy an airplane been successful, scores of innocent people would have been killed or injured," U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.

"We will continue to investigate this matter vigorously, and we will use all measures available to our government to ensure that anyone responsible for this attempted attack is brought to justice."

The charges were read to Abdulmutallab during a hearing at the hospital, where he appeared in a medical gown and wheelchair. Another hearing will be held on Monday in federal court in Detroit and bail will not be considered until a separate hearing on January 8.

An initial FBI analysis found the device contained PETN, also known as pentaerythritol, one of the explosives carried by "shoe bomber" Richard Reid in his failed attempt to blow up a U.S. passenger jet days before Christmas in 2001, months after the September 11 attacks.

A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said authorities were looking at the possibility that Abdulmutallab had ties to al Qaeda in Yemen.

20091226

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Airports and airlines across Europe moved rapidly to tighten security on U.S.-bound flights on Saturday after a man tried to set off explosives on a plane flying from Amsterdam to Detroit.

Authorities in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands either increased passenger checks or reinforced security measures already stepped up ahead of the busy Christmas and New Year travel period, officials said.

The measures follow a formal request from the U.S. Department of Transportation to airports worldwide to ratchet up security following the failed Christmas Day attack on a Delta Air Lines flight by a Nigerian suspect, officials said.

German authorities said they were considering increasing airport security but hadn't done so yet.

British airports group BAA, which manages two of the 10 busiest airports in Europe -- Heathrow and Gatwick -- said airlines had strengthened security and travellers should expect delays during one of the busiest travel periods of the year.

"Passengers travelling to the United States should expect their airline to carry out additional security checks prior to boarding," the company said in a statement.

A spokesman for Aeroports de Paris said the U.S. transport authority had specifically asked airports to search passenger luggage more thoroughly and to carry out extra pat-down searches of passengers before they board U.S.-bound flights.

"We received instructions from the U.S. Federal Transit Administration last night and it's up to the individual airlines to put them in place," the spokesman said, referring to a unit of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

20091226

LONDON (Reuters) - British police were searching premises in London on Saturday after a Nigerian man tried to ignite an explosive device on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Britain had been working closely with U.S. authorities and investigating the incident since it had happened.

"Because of the serious potential threat posed by the incident, I have spoken to the Commissioner of the Metropolitcan police, whose offices have been carrying out searches of properties in London," Brown said in a statement.

The man was believed to have spent time in Britain as a student and authorities were working to establish the details about his activities in the country, a British counter-terrorism source said.

20091226

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigerian Vice President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered the country's security agencies to investigate an apparent attempted attack on a U.S. passenger plane, the government said on Saturday.

A Nigerian man believed to be linked to al Qaeda militants was in custody on Saturday after he tried to ignite an explosive device on the plane as it approached Detroit, U.S. officials said.

"As a nation we abhor all forms of terrorism. The Vice President ... has directed Nigerian security agencies to commence full investigation of the incident," Information Minister Dora Akunyili said in a statement.

"While steps are being taken to verify the identity of the alleged suspect and his motives, our security agencies will cooperate fully with the American authorities in the ongoing investigations," the statement said.

Officials from Nigeria's Civil Aviation Authority and its Federal Ports Authority met on Saturday to discuss the incident.

"All the necessary security measures are in place in Nigeria. Any passenger, including crew members, on any flight is subject to the same security screening," a spokesman for Nigeria's Federal Airport Authority said.

Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation, roughly equally divided between Christians and Muslims spread across more than 200 ethnic groups who generally live peacefully side by side.

There has been no conclusive evidence of an al Qaeda presence in the West African nation, although it arrested a group of Islamists with suspected links to al Qaeda in 2007.

Some Western diplomats have expressed concern that -- with its huge population, widespread poverty and strategic importance as an oil supplier to the West and to China -- Nigeria could become a target for radical Islamic groups.

20091226

DETROIT (Reuters) - A Nigerian man linked to al Qaeda tried to set off an explosive device aboard a U.S. passenger plane as it approached Detroit on Friday, but was overpowered by passengers and crew and the aircraft landed safely, officials said.

The suspect suffered extensive third-degree burns and was taken into custody. The passengers, two of whom suffered minor injuries, disembarked safely from the Delta Air Lines plane, which had departed from Amsterdam.

"We believe this was an attempted act of terrorism," a White House official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

President Barack Obama is on vacation in Hawaii and was monitoring the situation after conferring with Homeland Security and National Security Council officials.

Representative Peter King of New York, the senior Republican on the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, said the explosive device was "fairly sophisticated," and identified the suspect as Abdul Mudallad, a 23-year-old Nigerian.

"When it did go off, he himself was seriously injured. He has third-degree burns," King told Fox News. ... (The device) "appears to be different from what we've encountered before."

Mudallad tried to ignite the device or mixture as the aircraft was approaching Detroit.

King told CNN that Mudallad "did appear in a database as far as having a terrorist connection. ... My understanding is ... that he does have al Qaeda connections, certainly extremist terrorist connections, and his name popped up pretty quickly" in a search of intelligence data bases.

DAR ES SALAAM, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- Tanzania has received over three billion Tanzanian shillings (about 2.2 million U.S. dollars)from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency to implement rural solar power project in the eastern African country, the local media reported on Friday.

After the inauguration of the project, Tanzania Assistant Commissioner of Energy and Minerals Hosea Mbise said that the project was aimed to remove impediments in the development of solar power sector in Tanzania as it is geared at ensuring that rural-based communities in Tanzania are supplied with reliable power.

Mbise named other impediments as high installation charges of the solar power facilities as well as low level of awareness amongst the people.

Limited numbers of technicians in solar power equipment installation and low participation of the private businesses in the investment were among of the major challenges facing the sector.

"This project is very important for people living in rural areas," Mbise said.

Since the project started in 2005, more than 150 businesspersons had been trained in business related to solar power investment, while about 152 technicians had been trained on better ways of connecting solar power and service provision after selling equipment to customers, according to Mbise.

He added that more efforts were being made to ensure that the training spread all-over the country so that villagers can enjoy power service.

For his part, project consultant Jeff Michael Felten said some customers have been failing to purchase equipment needed for solarpower installation.

"For instance, expenses to install solar power in the homes starts at 200,000 shillings (about 150 dollars) and goes up depending on the needs, though after installation life span for the facility is about 20 years," he observed.

Marketing Manager for Sollatek Power Control, Mrisho Ramadhani urged suppliers of solar power equipment to refrain from doubling the prices of the items, saying the move discouraged people to opt for the service.

KHARTOUM, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- Sudan and Chad have agreed to revive a security protocol to control joint borders and ban any activities by armed opposition groups in the two countries, senior officials of Sudan and Chad said on Friday.

"We have agreed to revive the security protocol through a joint meeting of military and security officials from the two countries, to be held in the Chadian capital of N'djamena in two weeks," Chadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Moussa Faki Mahamat told reporters in Khartoum Friday.

Mahamat stressed his country's seriousness to normalize political ties with Sudan and resolve all issues of difference.

"We held deep, serious and frank talks in Khartoum. We came here to confirm our real desire to overcome differences and make sure that our brothers in the Sudanese government share this desire, something which we really sensed," he said.

He underscored importance of building trust between the two sides, adding that "we will begin with controlling the borders and banning the opposition activities along the joint borders as it is the core of the conflict, and then we will discuss the other files."

Mahamat further expressed N'djamena's readiness to support the forthcoming Doha-hosted peace talks between Sudanese government and Darfur armed movements.

"We support these talks and we have participated in most of its meetings. If Khartoum asked for any type of support on our part that would achieve positive outcome, we will be there," he said.

The Chadian official did not ruled out the possibility of holding a summit between Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and his Chadian counterpart Idriss Deby.

"If positive movement is achieved in all files, then it is natural that a summit for the two leaders would be convened to bless what we have achieved," he said.

Sudanese Presidential Adviser Ghazi Salahuddin, for his part, told reporters that the Sudanese government was keen to normalize relations with Chad and remove all obstacles that caused the tension in bilateral ties.

"We honestly desire to improve the relations with Chad. There is no justification for this difference between the two sister countries," said Salahuddin.

He affirmed importance of controlling the joint borders and implementing all protocols signed by the two sides.

"As the conflict represented the hostile activities which were launched across the joint borders, we focused on the implementation of the signed security protocol without the need for new ones," he said.

The Sudanese official denied that foreign intervention would affect the ongoing efforts to normalize the ties between Khartoum and N'djamena.

"It is in the interest of any country that has influence in the region, particularly France, to see the Sudanese-Chadian relations back to normal. War doesn't serve any party," Salahuddin said.

The Chadian foreign minister arrived in Khartoum on Thursday and met the Sudanese president and officials from the Sudanese Ministry of Defense and Security and Intelligence Service.

LAGOS, Dec. 25 (Xinhua)-- Nigeria's Minister of Petroleum Resources Rilwanu Lukman flew out of the country to Vienna, Austria, in defiance of a ban on vacation until normalcy returned to the nation's oil and power sectors, local media reported on Friday.

The country's Vice President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday directed that some key ministers suspend any plans to travel and remain at their posts throughout the festivities until the restoration of normal supply of fuel and power.

Others affected by the order include Minister of State Petroleum Odein Ajumogobia, Minister of Power Lanre Babalola and Minister of State Nuhu Wya.

Dora Akunyili, the country's minister of information and communications, disclosed this to reporters in the capital Abuja at the end the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, noting that the federal government felt deeply concerned about the situation particularly at this time of the year.

Lukman left for Vienna abandoning the planned meetings to tackle the lingering fuel crisis. He has spent his Christmas and New Year vacation for years in the European city.

LAGOS, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- Twenty-three persons aboard a trailer loaded with cattle were confirmed dead after a crash in northern Nigeria's Zamfara State, local media reported on Friday.

Twenty passengers were killed on the spot in the accident on Wednesday night at the Gidan Kano village along the Sokoto Gusau road. Another three died in a hospital.

An witnesses said the trailer's driver lost control when he approached a very sharp bend at high speed at Gidan Kano and could not control it. The articulated vehicle then skidded off the road and somersaulted, witnesses said.

The witnesses said the trailer, which was conveying cattle to Lagos, was also overloaded with passengers who were poor travelers mostly hanging along the edges of the truck's body.

Public Relations Officer of the Federal Road Safety Corps Musa Kankiya said 16 other passengers sustained various degrees of injuries and were taken to Talata Mafara General Hospital for treatment.

Kankiya urged road users to avoid high speeding and reckless overtaking during the festive periods.

20091225

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict called on the world to abandon violence and vengeance on Friday and showed no sign of strain after an "unstable" woman lunged at him, forcing him to the ground, on Christmas Eve.

In his traditional "Urbi et Orbi" message to the city and the world from the central balcony of St Peter's Basilica, the pope urged the world to rediscover the simplicity of the Christmas message and read Christmas greetings in 65 languages.

As the pope spoke to tens of thousands of people in the square below, the Vatican remained focused on Thursday night's incident, which raised again the question of how the pope can be protected while still having close contact with people.

Susanna Maiolo, 25, an Italian-Swiss national, shocked the Catholic world and Vatican security when she jumped over a barricade in the basilica, lunged at Pope Benedict, grabbed his vestments and caused him to fall to the marble floor.

The Vatican said she was "psychologically unstable" and unarmed and the pope was not hurt in any way. She was taken to an Italian hospital for psychological treatment.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said on Friday that it was impossible to provide watertight security for the pope because being close to people is part of his mission.

"It is impossible to prevent every possibility of something happening, even at close range," Lombardi told reporters.

"The pope wants to have a direct, pastoral relationship with people where you can touch children, shake hands and do what you want to do and what the people want you to do," Lombardi said.

20091225

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's government has asked food giant Nestle to resume operations in the country, saying it guaranteed the operations of the firm and its staff from interference, state media reported on Friday.

Nestle this week temporarily shut down its factory, citing harrassment by the authorities.

The firm said it had received an unannounced visit from government officials and police on December 19 and was forced to accept a milk delivery from non-contracted suppliers. Two of its managers were questioned by police and released without charge the same day.

On Friday the Herald newspaper quoted Industry and Commerce Minister Welshman Ncube -- tasked by President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to intervene in the matter -- as saying a deal had been reached allowing Nestle to continue operating.

"The parties have collectively reached an understanding to work together in ensuring that milk produced at Gushungo Dairies is absorbed by the local dairy processors," Ncube told the paper.

"For its part, government has given its assurance on the safety of staff and management at both Nestle Zimbabwe and Gushungo Dairies."

Nestle officials were not immediately available to comment.

Business bodies Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries, Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber of Mines welcomed the news of a resolution to the row, which Tsvangirai said on Wednesday undermined efforts to rebuild investor confidence.

20091224

BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Friday defended the role played by premier Wen Jiabao at climate change talks in Copenhagen this month after a barrage of international criticism blaming China for obstructing negotiations.

The Copenhagen meeting ended with a broad political agreement but left specifics to be ironed out in 2010, angering many of the poorest nations as well as Western groups who had hoped for a more ambitious commitment.

China insisted that firm targets agreed to by European nations not be included in the final deal, and Wen himself was absent from a final round of direct negotiations between national leaders. British climate minister Ed Miliband said China and its allies had "hijacked" talks, according to the Guardian newspaper.

In a long account of the Copenhagen meeting, Xinhua gave Wen credit for "the last minute attempt to exchange ideas and reach consensus" despite his belief that it was "impossible" to reach a legally binding agreement.

"China showed the greatest sincerity, tried its best and played a constructive role," Xinhua said.

Issues of verification of emissions cut pledges plagued the meeting, with rich nations saying China's efforts to slow greenhouse gas growth should be subject to international verification to ensure that Beijing is keeping its word. China has said such checks would violate its sovereignty.

"On the transparency issue in self-mitigation actions, Wen said China was willing to conduct talks and cooperation," Xinhua said.

China has made its own pledges to reduce carbon intensity, or the amount of emissions produced per unit of GDP, but blocked European countries from including their commitment to cut absolute emissions by 80 percent by 2050, as well as commitments to specific dates when emissions would peak.

Other Reuters sources had also said China blocked the inclusion of specific targets.

20091224

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan police said on Thursday they had arrested two more people suspected of being behind the killing of an Irish Catholic priest who had worked as a missionary in the country for more than four decades.

A week ago the authorities detained three suspects in the murder of Jeremiah Roche, a 68-year-old from west Limerick who was stabbed to death this month at his home near Kericho town, some 200 km (120 miles) west of Nairobi.

The burglars made off with a laptop, a mobile phone and cash. Violent crime is a major problem in east Africa's biggest economy, and armed robberies are common.

"We have managed to arrest two other suspects during our investigations and we are now holding five of them in custody ... On Monday they are likely to be arraigned in court", North West regional police boss Peterson Maelo told Reuters by phone.

Roche had worked in Kenya since 1968. His body was found by parishioners after he failed to appear for a 6 a.m.

20091224

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Strikes by Ivorian judicial staff, technical hitches to voter lists and a wind down for the Christmas holiday may scupper Ivory Coast's plans to hold badly needed post-war elections by early next March.

The polls are crucial if the world's top cocoa grower is to heal the wounds opened by a 2002-3 war that left half of West Africa's former economic hub in the hands of guerrillas trying to oust President Laurent Gbagbo.

Key reforms to the cocoa sector, which supplies 40 percent of the world market, hinge on the vote. Foreign investors are waiting to see whether Ivory Coast can hold peaceful polls.

Poll deadlines have been repeatedly missed since 2005.

A two-week strike by clerks has created a backlog in the courts just as they must rule on challenges to the provisional voter list. They have eight days to do so from Boxing Day.

"One of the problems has always been: are there enough magistrates to do this?" said a diplomat who declined to be named. "And will the magistrates work on December 27th? This week, people in offices start to go back to their homes."

According to the latest agreement, Boxing Day is the end of a 30-day window for the electoral commission to process challenges to the voter list.

Six million voters are registered but a million of them are contested. Around a third of the contested cases have been processed, the U.N. said this week.

20091224

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he has terminated trade benefits for Guinea, Madagascar and Niger, three African countries where democratic progress is threatened by political turmoil.

In a statement, Obama said the three countries had failed to make "continual progress" in meeting U.S. requirements for the African Growth and Opportunity Act.

"Each of these countries has experienced an undemocratic transfer of power, which is incompatible with making progress toward establishing the rule of law or political pluralism," said a White House official.

"These circumstances also make it extremely difficult to achieve the progress necessary to satisfy the other AGOA eligibility criteria," the official added.

At the same time, Obama said he was adding Mauritania to the list of sub-Saharan African countries eligible for preferential U.S. tariff treatment under the program.

Separately, the State Department said the United States had suspended non-humanitarian aid to Niger and imposed travel bans on some government officials in response to Niger President Mamadou Tandja's moves to extend his time as leader.

Tandja's original term was to end on December 22.

Earlier this month, Obama sent Tandja a message calling for more democracy in Niger. The United States has also frozen $20 million in aid for Niger under its U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation agreement with the country.

20091224

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council voted on Wednesday to renew the mandate of peacekeeping forces in Congo by five months instead of the usual year amid plans to overhaul their role in the war-torn country.

The extension, diplomats say, will give the United Nations time to prepare a plan to reconfigure the mandate of the force, known as MONUC, to focus more on training the army of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and protecting civilians.

A resolution unanimously approved by the 15-nation council extended the deployment of approximately 20,000 uniformed personnel, the biggest U.N. force in the world, until May 2010. But diplomats say it will be prolonged again after that.

They say the Security Council is under pressure from Congo President Joseph Kabila to come up with an exit strategy for MONUC ahead of the 50th anniversary of Congo's independence from its former colonial master Belgium on June 30, 2010.

But the resolution said much needed to be done before a drawdown of MONUC could be considered "without triggering a relapse into instability." U.N. experts and human rights groups have alleged serious abuses by the Congolese army as well as rebel groups in eastern Congo.

More than 5 million people are thought to have died in mineral-rich Congo, many from hunger and disease, as a result of a 1998-2003 civil war and its aftermath. It was that war that led to MONUC being sent there 10 years ago.

But despite continued reports of murders and rapes by armed groups funded by illegal mineral exports, U.N. officials and diplomats say the regional situation has improved this year since ties improved between Congo and neighboring Rwanda.

The resolution asked U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to submit a "strategic review of the situation" by April 1 to enable the council to decide the future of MONUC.

20091224

BANGUI (Reuters) - A helicopter carrying Central African Republic's President Francois Bozize was forced to make an emergency landing in the jungle after a technical fault on Wednesday, but no one was hurt, his son said.

In a statement read out on national radio, Bozize's son Jean Francois Bozize, who is also minister for the presidency in charge of defence, said the president had been on a trip to his home village.

"Following a technical failure, the presidential helicopter had to make an emergency landing at around midday in a clearing, but without incident," the statement said.

It added that presidential guard and national armed forces were then called into the site, which lies about 242 km (150 miles) north of Bangui, to rescue the president.

"The Central African head of state and his entourage were returned to Bangui tonight in perfect health," it added.

Rich in gold, diamonds and uranium, CAR is one of Africa's most isolated states, where a weak government is struggling to contain both internal rebellions that still simmer despite peace deals and the spillover from violence in Chad and Sudan.

20091224

GENEVA (Reuters) - At least 11,516 people around the globe have died from the H1N1 flu virus since the pandemic emerged in April, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported on Wednesday.

But in its weekly update, which showed an increase in officially reported deaths of nearly 1,000 since its last report, it said the disease appeared to have peaked or plateaued in Western Europe and North America while transmission was declining in parts of Asia.

In the United States and Canada, the virus remained geographically widespread but overall levels of flu-like illnesses had declined substantially and hospitalisations and deaths were dropping, the WHO said.

In Europe, active transmission of the virus was still widespread across the continent but in a majority of countries its activity appeared to have peaked -- although it was increasing in central and eastern parts of the continent.

In an earlier report on Tuesday, the United Nations agency said the pandemic remained moderate but continued to infect and sometimes kill much younger people than traditional seasonal flu.

But although it gives figures of confirmed deaths from H1N1, sometimes known as swine flu, officials at the WHO say comparing mortality numbers from the two types of flu is complicated and can be misleading.

20091224

STONE TOWN, Zanzibar (Reuters) - A rapprochement between Zanzibar's ruling party and the opposition bodes well for a more peaceful election next year on the archipelago where ballots have often turned violent, the president has said.

Polls on the semi-autonomous islands off Tanzania were marred by bloodshed and allegations of vote rigging in 2000 and 2005, and three sets of reconciliation talks between the two main political parties had previously stalled.

Officials from the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party and opposition Civic United Front (CUF) are cagey about the details of any deal, but a historic handshake between their two leaders last month looked to be a step in the right direction.

Speaking to Reuters in Stone Town on the sidelines of a democracy conference on Tuesday, President Amani Karume said both sides had joined the talks out of good will and were doing their best to avoid any turmoil at the next election, which is expected at the end of October 2010.

"Unfortunately during the previous elections we didn't have such arrangements as we do now. There was a lot of suspicion amongst the different political parties here and especially the CCM and CUF leadership, members and so on," Karume said, adding that any repeat of the poll violence would be a "catastrophe".

Stone Town, Zanzibar's capital, is an opposition stronghold where bunting in the CUF party colours is strewn across a jigsaw of narrow 19th century streets and alleyways.

While dominant in the capital, Maalim Seif Sharif Hamad's party's real heartland is the more remote northern island of Pemba, where many of its supporters are unofficially boycotting election registration.

The Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) says 41 percent of some 550,000 eligible voters have registered so far, but that only a third have in Pemba. A second and final round of registration will conclude in April.