Nov 18, 2009

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's parliament on Wednesday unanimously approved a bill to reform the central bank, including reducing the powers of the bank governor accused by critics of policies that ruined the economy.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti said last week the government had failed to attract funding from foreign donors for next year's budget because they feared the money could be misused by the Reserve Bank.

The bill is the first major law to be passed by parliament since the formation of a unity government between Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and rival President Robert Mugabe in February.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Bill will reduce the powers of the governor by appointing an independent chairperson and board, and restrict the bank to dealing with interest rates, currency management and regulating banks.

The governor's core function would be to chair a planned monetary policy committee.

"There have been extreme discussions with the Minister (Biti) that there be amendments ... and we have agreed on these amendments," Paul Mangwana, a member of parliament's legal committee and from Mugabe's ZANU-PF party told parliament.

The bill will now be debated in the upper Senate, and if approved would be signed by Mugabe.

ZANU-PF legislators had last week threatened to block the bill, arguing that it targeted central bank governor Gideon Gono, a Mugabe ally with whom Biti has had an uneasy relationship.

2009-11-18

(Xinhua) -- Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on Tuesday called for a common position for Africa in the upcoming Copenhagen climate talks.

"It is high time that the group of ten, mandated by the African Union Summit of Heads of State and Government to speak on behalf of Africa during the Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change, work out a common position for Africa," Meles said in a declaration.

On Tuesday, Meles was presiding at the meeting of the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC). The meeting took place in the presence of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and African Union Commission Chairperson Jean Ping.

Meles, who is also the coordinator of the CAHOSCC, underscored the need for a robust and fair practical agreement to be arrived at, in Copenhagen just a few weeks from now.

"Africa has contributed nothing to the global warming but the continent will be hardest hit by climate change as compared to other continents," he said.

Meles, who will represent Africa at next month's Copenhagen climate change talks, has asked the rich industrialized nations to compensate the less developed Africa for the impact of global warming.

Earlier, African Union Commission Chairperson Jean Ping expressed the wish for an all inclusive agreement to be arrived at, during the Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change so that Africa should be given the necessary support in terms of technology and capacity building to overcome the threat of global warming, given that Africa produces less gas but is greatly impacted by the effect of climate change.

Ping explained that, what Africa is expecting from the international community today is not only a mere declaration but to institute concrete practical measures that will help resolve the present climatic crises and spare the continent from catastrophes.

"This threat is not only endangering the continent but it is our lives that are at stake," said Ping.

The countries that make up the CAHOSCC are Libya, Algeria, Republic of Congo, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, Mauritius, Mozambique and Ethiopia.

The meeting discussed strategies for Copenhagen climate talks on the basis of the current state of play concerning ongoing negotiations and the proposal made by ministers as well as the institutional mechanism for continuation of the CAHOSCC consultations, amongst other climate change related issues.

LIBREVILLE, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Gabon's new President Ali Bongo Ondimba on Wednesday begins a two-day official visit to France, his first to the African country's former colonial power and top economic partner.

According to official sources, French President Nicolas Sarkozy will give a dinner party in his honor on Thursday in a sign to reassure the continuation of historical ties between the two countries.

Son to the late president Omar Bongo Ondimba, Ali Bongo was elected to the post during the polls held on Aug. 30, with 41.73 percent of votes. His father died on June 8 in Spain after ruling the Central African country for more than four decades.

Ali Bongo has been slowly shedding off the elements serving during his father's regime. He has dismissed many of the heavy weights of the former regime and named new personalities in charge of pushing for reforms in the country. His main challenge today is the clean up the management of public finances and the revival of the economy.

LOME, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Togo is likely to open a second phosphate mining site in early 2011, with feasibility studies being underway, the independent Union publication reported on Tuesday.

According to the newspaper, studies are also conducted on the development of a carbonated coat and setting up of a sulfuric acid plant at the beginning of 2010.

It made reference to the eight recommendations of the study by Deloitte on the report of the financial audit and accounts of the industry in 2008.

These recommendations are presented as a development plan before being validated by the new phosphate company for Togo (SNPT) and adopted as a strategic tool for the development of the phosphate sector.

The newspaper reported on the development program of the industry which aims to increase production gradually from 1.2 million tons to 1.3 million tons in 2010, 1.5 million tons to 1.8 million tons in 2011 and 2.3 million tons to 2.5 million tons in 2012.

The investment plan to this effect is valued at 85 million U. S. dollars.

The Deloitte study was commissioned, among other studies, to help come up with a business plan for 2009 to 2012 and proposed the bold steps for the development plan of 2009 to 2019.

The Togolese phosphate industry, cited to be among the best in the world, entered into a complete stagnation with a considerable drop to 800,000 tons from a high of 2 million tons in the previous years.

SNPT was created in 2007 to replace OTP/IFG company stuck in difficulties.

The World Health Organization has announced an epic project to vaccinate about 12 million people against the highly infectious Yellow Fever disease in West Africa.

According to a press release from WHO, the exercise - the largest-ever mass vaccination campaign – begins next week in Benin, Liberia and Sierra Leone. These countries the statement said form part of the ‘13 high-risk countries’ of the continent.

As a UN-supported initiative, the campaign will have local health teams administer the vaccinations and offer a package of pre-emptive measures, including vitamin A, deworming tablets and, in the case of Sierra Leone, additionally administer measles vaccine.

Dr William Perea, WHO Epidemic Readiness and Intervention Unit Coordinator, said: “High vaccination coverage will prevent outbreaks of yellow fever, a disease that is very difficult to diagnose in the early stages of infection. A single dose of the vaccine offers full protection.”

Dr. Perea added that he hoped the vaccination campaigns would be carried out throughout all high risk African countries by 2015.

The release stated that an earlier funding of $103 million that came through of a vaccine-financing partnership called GAVI Alliance, a total of 29 million people have been protected from the disease through mass vaccination programs since 2007. It was conducted in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Mali, Senegal and Togo, as well as a first phase completed in Sierra Leone.

“Thirty-seven countries in Africa and the Americas have introduced yellow fever vaccine in their routine childhood immunization schedule up from 12 countries a decade ago,” said the Director of WHO’s Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals, Jean-Marie Okwo-Bele.

Dr. Okwo-Bele however warned that 160 million people could still be at risk in Africa if further funding was not secured for the emergency stockpile and preventive vaccination in the remaining high-risk countries, which are Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea and Nigeria.

“Yellow fever is reappearing in countries that have not reported cases in many years,” added Fenella Avokey, WHO African Regional Office Medical Officer for Yellow Fever Control.

Edward Hoekstra, Senior Health Specialist, UNICEF, said, “Children and adults in West and Central Africa are unnecessarily affected by yellow fever, when one dose of vaccine would prevent them getting the disease at all. We must finish the job we started to sustain the gains achieved so far.”

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The European Union plans to send troops to train Somali security forces in Uganda next year, as the interim government in Mogadishu struggles to maintain control over the embattled country.

The European Union plans to send some 100 troops to Uganda next year to train Somali government forces who are fighting Islamist insurgents, European officials said on Tuesday.

The mission still needs final approval but could start in the first half of next year, and is likely to be led by Spain, which takes over the EU presidency for six months from January.

French Defence Minister Herve Morin said Paris intended to contribute 30 soldiers. Spain has also committed troops and Britain, Slovenia, Hungary and Greece may also contribute.

"We agreed today that the EU as a whole can participate ... but we will take this decision in the next weeks when we have an operational plan," said Cristina Gallach, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

"It can be done rather quickly."

The intention is to train up to 2,000 Somali troops, which will complement other training missions and bring the total number of better-trained Somali soldiers to 6,000.

Defence ministers also confirmed, as expected, an extension of the EU naval operation Atalanta, to tackle piracy off the coast of Somalia until the end of 2010.

Somalia has had no central government since 1991, despite governments pledging hundreds of millions of dollars to help it develop its security forces with the aim of combating piracy and restoring order after decades of fighting.

Since the start of 2007, conflict has killed around 19,000 civilians and uprooted 1.5 million Somalis from their homes. The government is now confined to a few small blocks of the capital, with an African Union force protecting critical sites.

As well as the growing cost of piracy in the Gulf of Aden, with Somali gangs pocketing millions of dollars in ransoms, the United States has concerns Somalia could become a haven for training militants allied to al Qaeda and other groups.

The EU-led training of Somali forces is expected to take place in Uganda, but France has offered Djibouti as an alternative if Uganda falls through.

"We clearly see that if we don’t help Somalia, then we could have the Atalanta operation for 20 or 30 years," France’s Morin told reporters referring to an EU-led naval campaign to patrol the waters off the coast of Somalia to prevent piracy.

Somali pirates are currently holding at least 13 vessels and more than 230 crew members hostage.

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Lubango - A seminar on the role of techno-professional training in the tasks of national reconstruction and development is taking place in Lubango city, the capital of southern Huila province, Angop learnt.

The seminar is an initiative of the National Institute of Employment and Professional Trainig (Inefop) and is gathering public managers to debate matters related to methods of professional training.

Participants are also speaking of measures and mechanisms of articulation of information between job centres and firms.

This is the first such a meeting held by Inefop in Huila province.

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Delegates from the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement will gather in Nairobi from 18 to 25 November to address today's most pressing humanitarian challenges. It's the first time ever that the world's largest humanitarian network will hold a Movement-wide meeting of its leaders in Africa.
Red Cross
From 18 to 21 November, the 17th session of the General Assembly of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) will address several key issues, starting with the adoption of its Strategy 2020, designed to better prepare Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies to effectively address the humanitarian challenges of the coming decade.

A new survey will be released by the IFRC at the opening of the conference, revealing how the world powers – known as the G20 – perceive today’s top challenges in the humanitarian field. It shows that climate change, a lack of humanitarian access, armed conflict, increased poverty and hunger, and ongoing disregard for international humanitarian law (IHL) top the list of their concerns.

Predicting an increase in humanitarian needs in coming years, G20 policy makers emphasize the importance of better linking relief and development, while focusing on security, capacity building and development at the community level. World powers also underline the crucial role of the Red Cross and Red Crescent in promoting and upholding fundamental humanitarian principles, and acknowledge the reach of the network and the effectiveness of its response.

“The findings of this survey fully resonate with the essence of our mission which, yes, is about saving lives, but is also about changing minds and systematically bridging emergency response, recovery and community-based development. Ultimately, our role is to help people help themselves,” says Bekele Geleta, Secretary General of the IFRC.

The General Assembly session will also see IFRC delegates elect a new president and governance bodies. It will provide an opportunity to recognize and praise the outstanding role played by its outgoing President, Juan Manuel Suárez Del Toro Rivero, after an eight-year mandate.

The Assembly will be followed by the Council of Delegates from 23 to 25 November, which brings together the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the IFRC and National Societies to adopt new policies and strategies on major humanitarian issues.

Discussions will focus on the growing number of people displaced within their own countries due to violence or disasters, international migration, and the human cost of climate change, as well as IHL-related topics such as limiting the use of deadly weapons and the protection of medical workers and health facilities in armed conflicts.

“The decisions taken by the Council will reinforce the commitment of the entire International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to work together to assist and protect people around the world, who have been affected by wars, disasters, violence and disease,” says Philip Spoerri, the ICRC’s director in-charge of cooperation within the Movement. “By focusing our collective attention on these issues and taking decisive action, we can go a long way in making vulnerable communities stronger.”

Hosted by the Kenyan Red Cross Society, the Nairobi meetings also offer an opportunity to call for a greater, joint effort to meet the needs of Africa’s most vulnerable and foster sustainable progress on the continent. A number of special events will take place during the meetings, notably a panel discussion on 20 November featuring African leaders and personalities who will debate “African leadership for African solutions”.

The Assembly and Council will also highlight the success of the Movement’s ‘Our world, Your move’ campaign, which was launched earlier this year to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the battle of Solferino, where the idea of the Red Cross and Red Crescent was born. ‘Our world, Your move’ promotes the power of individuals to make a difference and the role of tens of millions of young people and volunteers working around the world to help others.

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Somali pirates have released a Spanish tuna fishing trawler and its 36-member crew for a ransom of $3.5 million.
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Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Spain's prime minister, said on Tuesday that the crew is safe but did not mention any ransom. Zapatero said the Spanish government has done what it had to do.

Earlier one of the pirates – Nor - told Reuters by phone that Madrid had agreed to pay a ransom, adding "We hope it will finish in safety."

Zapatero told journalists in Madrid that he can confirm that the Alakrana fishing trawler would be freed to Spain. He said: "They are coming home, these difficult weeks have come to an end. This is very good news for the entire country".

Somali pirates hijacked the Alakrana ship with 16 crew, eight Indonesians and others from the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Madagascar, Seychelles and Senegal last month some 740km northwest of Seychelles.

africanews

Somali pirates have hijacked a North Korean tanker with 28 crew on board in the south Somali basin, some 180 miles northwest of Seychelles.
Somalian pirates in Eyl. Photo by Sheekh Aduun
The EU's naval forces have reported in statement that MV Therese VIII, a Singaporean-operated tanker, was seized on Monday by Somali pirates, while heading for Mombasa port in Kenya.

The MV Theresa VIII, registered in the U.S. Virgin Islands is loaded with 22,294 tones of goods. Somali pirates are currently holding10 ships and 200 hostages in the waters of Somalia.

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Close to 12 million people in Benin, Liberia and Sierra Leone will be vaccinated against yellow fever in the largest health campaign in Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday.

"High vaccination coverage will prevent outbreaks of yellow fever, a disease that is very difficult to diagnose in the early stages of infection," said William Perea, coordinator of WHO's epidemic readiness and intervention unit.

Recent yellow fever outbreaks in these three African nations have been severe.

"A single dose of the vaccine offers full protection." Perea said.

A total of 29 million people have been vaccinated against yellow fever in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Mali, Senegal and Togo since 2007, WHO said.

But the agency cautioned that more funding is needed to protect another 160 million people who could still be at risk in Africa.

"Yellow fever is reappearing in countries that have not reported cases in many years," said Fenella Avokey, medical officer for WHO's yellow fever control regional office.

WHO is to be joined in this effort by the UN Children's Fund, national Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Doctors Without Borders and other partners.

Sapa

IRKUTSK, November 18 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has completed the delivery of Su-30MKA Flanker multi-role fighters to Algeria, an aircraft maker said on Wednesday.

Under a $2.5 billion contract, signed in 2006, the Irkutsk manufacturer in affiliation with Irkut Corporation has built a total of 28 Su-30MKA fighters for Algeria.

Irkut Corporation, part of Russia's United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), created in 2006, manufactures variations of the Su-30MK for India, Algeria, and Malaysia.

The Su-30 MKA is a Flanker variant based on the Su-30MKI model and features customized avionics to meet Algerian specifications.

(Xinhua) -- Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on Tuesday called for a common position for Africa in the upcoming Copenhagen climate talks.

"It is high time that the group of ten, mandated by the African Union Summit of Heads of State and Government to speak on behalf of Africa during the Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change, work out a common position for Africa," Meles said in a declaration.

On Tuesday, Meles was presiding at the meeting of the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC). The meeting took place in the presence of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and African Union Commission Chairperson Jean Ping.

Meles, who is also the coordinator of the CAHOSCC, underscored the need for a robust and fair practical agreement to be arrived at, in Copenhagen just a few weeks from now.

"Africa has contributed nothing to the global warming but the continent will be hardest hit by climate change as compared to other continents," he said.

Meles, who will represent Africa at next month's Copenhagen climate change talks, has asked the rich industrialized nations to compensate the less developed Africa for the impact of global warming.

Earlier, African Union Commission Chairperson Jean Ping expressed the wish for an all inclusive agreement to be arrived at, during the Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change so that Africa should be given the necessary support in terms of technology and capacity building to overcome the threat of global warming, given that Africa produces less gas but is greatly impacted by the effect of climate change.

Ping explained that, what Africa is expecting from the international community today is not only a mere declaration but to institute concrete practical measures that will help resolve the present climatic crises and spare the continent from catastrophes.

"This threat is not only endangering the continent but it is our lives that are at stake," said Ping.

The countries that make up the CAHOSCC are Libya, Algeria, Republic of Congo, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, Mauritius, Mozambique and Ethiopia.

The meeting discussed strategies for Copenhagen climate talks on the basis of the current state of play concerning ongoing negotiations and the proposal made by ministers as well as the institutional mechanism for continuation of the CAHOSCC consultations, amongst other climate change related issues.

(Xinhua) -- Somali pirates on Tuesday released a Spanish trawler with 36 crew on broad after receiving more than three million U.S. dollars in ransom, a pirate commander said.

“The crew and the ship were released after our demands were met. They paid more than three million U.S. dollars for the freedom of the fishermen and their fishing boat who were caught looting our resources,” Omar Ali, a pirate commander with the gang holding the released Spanish trawler told Xinhua by phone from Harardheere, a pirate stronghold in north central Somalia.

The Spanish fishing ship, the Alakrana, had been seized early last month off Somalia coast by Somali pirates who demanded the payment of a ransom and the release of detained pirates in Spain.

During the holding of the Alakrana, Somali pirates have threatened to harm the hostages if their colleagues currently on trial in Spanish courts were not released, a move that triggered a wave of protests in Spain demanding the Spanish government to help secure the release of the hostages.

Reports in the pirate towns in north central Somalia speak about celebratory mood in Haradheere as pirates and their associates prepare to get their shares of the hefty ransom payout.

Several other ships are currently being held by Somali pirates who are demanding ransom for their release.

Piracy has been rife in the Indian Ocean off Somalia and the Gulf of Aden for the past years when dozens of commercial ships were abducted but most were released after payment of hefty ransoms to the pirates.

Since the start of the restless situation in Somalia in 1991, the coastal areas near the war-torn country and the Gulf of Aden were frequently infested by pirates.

(Xinhua) -- Armed Somali pirates have hijacked a chemical tanker with 28 North Koreans onboard in the latest attacks along the world's most dangerous waters, a regional maritime official said on Tuesday.

Andrew Mwangura, the coordinator of the East Africa Seafarers Assistance Program (SAP), said Kiribati flagged-MV Theresa VIII was seized on Monday 618 nautical miles North West of the Seychelles on its way to the Kenyan port of Mombasa.

“She was taken on Monday at 1053 hrs some 618 nautical miles north west of Seychelles. All 28 crew members on board are North Korean nationals. The vessel is Bulgarian owned,” Mwangura told Xinhua by telephone.

He said the Singaporean-operated chemical tanker was seized in the south of the Horn of African nation which has been without an effective central government for more than two decades.

Marshall Islands-registered Filitsa was captured last Wednesday, about 513 miles off north of Seychelles with three Greeks and 19 Filipinos on board.

The Filitsa vessel on its way to Somalia where pirates have increasingly been using highly sophisticated equipments to step up attacks on merchant vessels in the Gulf of Aden, increasing insurance costs for ship owners and raising the possibility of military intervention.

The Horn of Africa nation's coastline is considered one of the world's most dangerous stretches of water because of piracy.

Somalia is at the entrance to the Gulf of Aden, which leads to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, one of the world's most important shipping channels.

The country has been plagued by factional fighting between warlords and hasn't had a functioning central administration since the 1991 ouster of former strongman Mohammed Siad Barre.

(Xinhua) -- Islamist rebels on Tuesday publicly stoned a woman to death and flogged a man 100 times for alleged adultery in southern Somalia.

Sheik Ibrahim Sheik Abdurrahman, a Al-Shabaab court judge in ElBon village in Bakool region, told local media about the courts verdict.

"Haliimo Ibraahim Abdurrahman, 29, who had been previously married, had an illegal sex with Nanah Mohamed Maadey, 20, previously unmarried, and they have confessed to the acts in front of the court which sentenced Halimo to be stoned to death and Nanah to receive 100 lashes in accordance with the Islamic law," Sheikh Abdurrahman said.

Hundreds of local people, mostly women and children, saw the stoning of the woman and the lashing of the man which were carried out by Islamist fighters from the hard-line Al-Shabaab insurgent group which controls much of south and center of Somalia.

The group which is waging a deadly insurgency against Somali government applies stricter version of the Islamic law or the Sharia by carrying out similar punishments on people alleged to have "confessed" of committing crimes.

Al-Shabaab, considered by the Somali government as a terrorist group with links to Al-Qaeda, bans music, films the mixing of different sexes and demands women to wear dress that cover the whole body.

The movement wants to establish an Islamic state in war wrecked Somalia while the Somali government said it adopted a moderate version of Islamic rule.

The Somali government which is internationally recognized but is struggling for its survival controls only parts of the country's restive coastal capital of Mogadishu.

Somalia has had no strong central government for nearly two decades since the ouster of former ruler Mohamed Siyad Barre in 1991.

Nov 17, 2009

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South African police fired rubber bullets on Tuesday to disperse a mob who attacked shacks belonging to 600 migrants, an incident reminiscent of 2008 xenophobic riots in which at least 42 people were killed.

Police in De Doorns, a town 150 km (90 miles) from Cape Town, said 600 foreigners, most of them Zimbabweans, had taken refuge in the local police station and government buildings.

There were no reports of injuries and no arrests were made.

"Police fired rubber bullets this morning because of the fact that people tried to dismantle shacks in De Doorns informal settlement area," station commander Superintendent Desmond van der Westhuizen told Reuters.

In 2008, a wave of xenophobic attacks in and around Johannesburg led to 15,000 migrants, most of them Zimbabweans, being forced into settlement camps. The violence also spread to Cape Town.

Van der Westhuizen said some of those in "Stofland", the largest squatter camp in the area, were unhappy about Zimbabweans taking jobs on nearby farms. He described the situation as "tense but under control".

A global economic downturn and the first recession in two decades have caused big job losses in Africa's largest economy. Unemployment is officially close to a quarter of the country's population of 49 million.

In May last year, a wave of xenophobic violence swept across South Africa, aimed mainly at the millions of Zimbabweans who fled their homeland in search of work and a better future.

Nov 17, 2009

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Ivory Coast's army deployed troops onto the streets of Abidjan on Tuesday in what it said was a step intended to discourage any attempt to undermine security in the world's top cocoa grower.

A Reuters witness said troops were present at strategic points of the port city, including main road junctions and outside the building of the state broadcaster.

"This is a dissuasive patrol," said a senior army officer who requested anonymity. "We are keeping our forces on alert, that's all."

Authorities are due to announce shortly a new date for a long-delayed presidential election. The latest target date for the poll was November 29 but officials acknowledged this month that preparations had slipped and a postponement was inevitable.

The eligibility of around one million voters has still not been clarified, a simmering dispute which harks back to the divisive issue of nationality which was at the root of the West African country's 2002-2003 civil war and subsequent crisis.

Some 2,000 soldiers last week carried out searches in the Banco forest surrounding Abidjan, known as a spot favoured by militants for arms caches. There has been no indication that anything was found.

Observers and analysts see early 2010 as a possible new date for the election. Rivals of incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo accuse him of manipulating the timing of the poll to maximise his chances of winning, an accusation he rejects.

Nov 17, 2009

BERLIN (Reuters) - Two Rwandan men suspected of war crimes in Democratic Republic Congo have been arrested by German police, the federal prosecutors office said on Tuesday.

Ignace Murwanashyaka, 46, was arrested in Karlsruhe and his deputy Straton Musoni, 48, near Stuttgart, prosecutors said in a statement.

They said the pair were suspected of crimes against humanity and war crimes as leaders of the FDLR -- Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, a Rwanda rebel group on Congo soil with links to the Hutu extremists behind the 1994 genocide of their Tutsi compatriots.

The prosecutors said Muranashyaka has been the president of FDLR since 2001. Musoni has been the vice president since 2005. They are suspected of being behind crimes against humanity on civilians in Congo from January 2008 and July 2009.

The prosecutors said German investigators had been gathering evidence for the last year.

Nov 17, 2009

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - African leaders agreed on Tuesday on how much cash to demand from the rich world to compensate for the impact of climate change on the continent but kept the figure secret ahead of next month's Copenhagen talks.

The United Nations summit in Denmark will try to agree on how to counter climate change and come up with a post-Kyoto treaty protocol to curb emissions.

"We have set a minimum beyond which we will not go," Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who will represent Africa at the talks, told reporters. "But I am not in a position to tell you what that minimum figure will be."

Exhaustive preparatory talks since 2007 have failed to solve splits between rich and poor countries or find extra funds to help developing nations to pay for expensive technology to ensure they do not over pollute as their economies grow.

"There are many calculations including up to the $100 billion (a year) mark that has been set by some experts. We will be very flexible," Meles said.

Poor nations want rich countries to cut emissions by 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2020. But some in the West complain that such cuts are not realistic, especially so soon after the global economic downturn.

So far, promises by the rich fall short, at cuts of about 11 to 15 percent.