LAGOS, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has announced the suspension of Niger for its defiance of the ban on Tuesday's legislative elections.

The holding of Tuesday's elections in that country was in total disregard of the authority of ECOWAS, the News Agency of Nigeria said on Wednesday, citing a statement by the regional grouping.

At the weekend, the 16-member bloc banned Niger from holding the elections amid the country's standoff over a referendum in August, which allows President Mamadou Tandja to run for another term of office when his current tenure expires in December.

"It is a clear move by the authorities in Niger to further entrench the constitutional illegality currently prevailing in the country," said Olusegun Adeniyi, special adviser to Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua, who is also ECOWAS chairman.

"The Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority and President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Umaru Yar'Adua, regrets the failure of the authorities in the Republic of Niger to heed the decision of the extra-ordinary summit held on Oct.17, 2009, and postpone the legislative elections to allow for more dialogue," the statement added.

"The holding of the elections today in total disregard of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government is a clear move by the authorities in Niger to further entrench the constitutional illegality currently prevailing in the country," the statement said.

"As it remains committed to consolidating the culture of democracy, respect for constitutional legality and the rule of law that it has championed for the past two decades, ECOWAS will not recognize the outcome of today's elections in Niger," Adeniyi said in the statement.

"The violation of the 1999 Constitution by the authorities in Niger, the intolerance of divergent opinions, and the muzzling of the opposition political parties are serious breaches of the ECOWAS Protocol A/SP1/12/01 on Democracy and Good Governance," said the statement.

"The breaches also constitute sufficient grounds for the imposition of sanctions on Niger in accordance with Article 45 of the said Protocol," it said.

"The Republic of Niger is therefore suspended from ECOWAS until constitutional legality is reinstated," it declared.

The regional body said in the effort to continue to constructively engage the principal stakeholders in the Nigerien polity, ECOWAS would convene a consultative meeting of the major Nigerien political actors in Abuja on Oct. 30.

The meeting will be under the chairmanship of the ECOWAS mediator for Niger, Abdulsalami Abubakar, the statement said.

NIAMEY, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Niger's legislative elections ended smoothly late Tuesday after opened in the morning without major incidences being reported.

"We have not encountered any problem. All went on smoothly," declared Alio Idrissa, a presiding officer in a polling center the Urban Community in the capital Niamey.

Voters witnessed queuing at the polling centers into the night marked a high rate of turnout.

"The populations remarkably turned out in large numbers in the afternoon and by the time we were closing we had not encountered any problem. We are straight away going to start counting the votes and get results which we shall submit to the National independent electoral commission," another presiding officer of the Urban Community in Niamey said.

The elections were organized in conformity to the requirements of the new constitution which came after a referendum held on Aug.4 and promulgated on Aug. 18.

The elections will result in a new National Assembly after the dissolution of the previous one on May 26 by President Mamadou Tandja.

The opposition which was united under the name Forces for Democracy and the Republic (CFDR) boycotted the elections, challenging the legality of the referendum which allows Tandja to run for another term of office.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has banned President Tandja and Guinea military junta leader Moussa Camara from contesting elections in their countries.

ECOWAS condemned the referendum held in Niger on Aug. 4 to allow Tandja's participation in the presidential election, denouncing it as a violation of the ECOWAS supplementary protocol on democracy and good governance.

The regional leaders urged Tandja to suspend indefinitely the legislative elections and to go into dialogue with the political parties over the matter.

President Tandja, 71, has been in power since 1999. He dissolved the Nigerien parliament and called a referendum early last month in a bid to extend his tenure which expires in December2009.

NAIROBI, Oct. 21 (Xinhua)--The French government has agreed to give 7.2 billion shillings (97 million U.S. dollars) to Kenya's Geothermal Development Company (GDC) for the purchase of 2 rigs and capacity building for the new company.

A statement from the prime minister's office said on Wednesday that the French government has also agreed to increase funding for the Ol-Karia Geothermal Power project by 5.5 billion shillings (74million dollars) while pledging to help Kenya shift from reliance on fossil fuels to green energy.

The pledge for more funding for Ol Karia and support for green energy projects came after discussions between Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Director General of the French Agency for Development (AFD) Michel Severino in Paris late Tuesday.

The pledge was made pending approval by AFD board. Odinga, who is in France with other government officials, is pushing for French involvement in Kenya's drive to expand its energy generation by tapping into alternative sources of power.

At a meeting at the French agencies headquarters in Paris, the premier asked France to support Kenya's attempt to shift from reliance on hydrocarbons and fossil fuels.

"Odinga asked for more French support for Kenya's efforts to develop solar, wind and geothermal power. He asked France also to support the country's migration from rain fed agriculture to irrigated farming," the statement said.

Support for greater agricultural production, the prime minister said, also called for support of the country's environmental conservation efforts.

Responding to Odinga's requests, Severino praised Kenya's efforts to shift to green energy, saying recent research have indicated that the energy gap reduces the GDP of developing countries by about one per cent every year.

He said nations relying solely on fossil fuels are taking a great risk, predicting that the cost of fossil energy will rise tremendously in the next two decades.

"We will work with you on green energy issues," Severino said. "People relying on fossil energy will find life very difficult in the coming years in terms of balance of payments and cost of energy. Green energy is the best investment a nation can make in the coming years. You can count on us on this," he added.

The AFD director general said his organization is "open" on matters of conservation in Kenya adding that France has watched Kenya's struggle to conserve its water towers with a lot of interest.

"My understanding is that the issue of conservation is a social and political one that is about the future sustainability of Kenya. We are open on this kind of program," he said.

The official asked the prime minister to take up the issue of cooperation for development of nuclear power with the French government directly.

The prime minister is in France largely to seek support for the initiatives to increase power generation in Kenya and environmental conservation.

He told the French officials that Kenya is suffering from severe energy deficiency and it is paralyzing the country's capacity to move forward.

He is scheduled to hold discussions later Wednesday with senior officials of the French government including Prime Minister Francois Fillon and Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Bernard Kouchner. energy with the two senior officials.

afrol News, 20 October - The UN refugee agency says thousands of Angolans expelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo seeking refuge in three congested reception centers in Angola, need urgent humanitarian assistance.

According to a statement issued by UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees, an inter-agency assessment mission that visited the centres during the weekend, have discovered that close to 30, 000 people are living in overcrowded refugee camps in Cuimba and Mama Rosa.

The agency said the most pressing needs for refugees in the centres are shelter, food, medicine and sanitation facilities, further stating that the supply of clean water is also insufficient.

“Some of the expelled refugees in Cuimba drink from the nearby contaminated rivers. Many families reported cases of diarrhea and vomiting. Most of the population is sleeping in the open air,” the statement said.

According to the UNHCR spokesperson, Andrej Mahecic, the agency is also alarmed by the number of Angolans forcibly retuned to their home country despite having legal documentation certifying their refugee status.

He further said others have complained that they were forced back without having had a chance to take their identification documents or any of their belongings.

Most of them were deported from the Bas Congo Province in southern DRC. These forced returns came in response to the waves of expulsions of large numbers of Congolese from Angola since December 2008, the agency said.

The agency said today that it welcomes the DRC-Angola agreement to end cross-border expulsions.

However, Angolan authorities told the inter-agency mission that they expected further, large scale returns of Angolans who feel they can no longer remain in the DRC.

The agency said at the request of the Angolan government, UNHCR plans to provide assistance to the groups expelled, many of whom are now displaced and waiting to go back to their homes.

By staff writer

SA and Tunisia get Swiss funding for clean energy projects

afrol News, 20 October - Two projects signed today will help boost energy efficiency in the South African industry in the face of economy-threatening energy shortages and promote environmentally-friendly production in Tunisia.

The two new United Nations projects will be possible, thanks to the Swiss government help that will fund the UN Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) projects under the accord signed in Bern, the Swiss capital.

“South Africa’s energy intensive industry was developed based on abundant and cheap energy resources,” UNIDO Director-General Kandeh K. Yumkella said of the project that will help put in place energy management standards, ensure their adoption by industries at large and achieve a significant shift in energy practices by introducing a system optimization approach.

“But in 2008, the country experienced an energy crisis with frequent blackouts. The energy shortages directly threaten the growth rate in the country and the region. Taking advantage of its experience UNIDO will contribute to a substantial improvement of energy efficiency in industry.”

The Swiss government will contribute €2 million, while the South African government will give another €5 million to the project, which will also lead to significant reduction of carbon dioxide emissions and, at the same time, increase the competitiveness of industries.

A separate €1.5 million project, also financed by Switzerland, will focus on promoting environmentally-friendly production in Tunisia. It will help increase the competitiveness of small- and medium-sized enterprises, and support the development of a regional network of such centres in the Middle East and North Africa.

The project is aligned with a new programme that UNIDO is carrying out in cooperation with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and will contribute to UNIDO’s Green Industry initiative, which aims to create national capacities in cleaner production, strengthen dialogue between industry and governments, and promote investments for development and transfer of cleaner technology.

UNIDO is a specialised UN agency promoting industrial development for poverty reduction, inclusive globalization and environmental sustainability.

By staff writer

MAPUTO, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has called for a peaceful elections in Mozambique on Oct. 28, AIM reported on Tuesday.

The Mozambican general and provincial elections should be peaceful, and there should be consensus among the competing forces, the SADC deputy executive secretary, Joao Caholo, said at the ceremony launching the bloc's electoral observation mission on Sunday.

The scenarios of conflict that had emerged from some other African elections should not be repeated in Mozambique, he said.

"We hope that a legitimate winner emerges from the elections, who has a mandate to govern," he said. "We appeal to all Mozambicans to respect the law, and to Mozambique, as a member of SADC, to obey the SADC governance principles."

Caholo said the SADC mission will send teams into the provinces to accompany the election in the final stages of the campaign and up to polling day. "Only the facts verified on the ground, and not just what is said to us, will determine the opinion of the observers," he stressed.

He added that the SADC mission expects to issue its report on the elections three to five days after the results are proclaimed.

On the polling day, the SADC will have 120 observers. By Sunday,38 had arrived from Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Malawi, Swaziland, Tanzania and Mauritius. Observers from South Africa and Zimbabwe are also expected.

The head of the observer mission, Zambian Foreign Minister Kabinga Mpande, said that by Tuesday the SADC observers will be working throughout the country, "otherwise our work would have no impact."

Mpande said one SADC member, Madagascar, is sending no observers because it has been suspended from the regional organization following the coup d'etat that brought Andry Rajoelina to power in March.

Mpande urged all the Mozambican candidates and political parties to exercise their rights "with tolerance, mutual respect and strict observance of the law, so that these elections can be held in a peaceful environment."

LAGOS, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Female Parliamentarians of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are calling for laws that will reduce discrimination against women.

Victoria Seidou, the fourth deputy speaker of the Parliament and leader of the female parliamentarians, made the call on Monday at a session held in the Nigerian capital Abuja.

Seidou condemned the killing and raping of women in Guinea on Sept. 28.

"We condemn the brutal acts of massacre, rape as well as other atrocious acts of violence perpetrated by the security forces in Guinea against unarmed women and civilians," the News Agency of Nigeria quoted her as saying.

Seidou, who lamented the acts, called on Guinean authorities to produce immediately those women missing from the hospital where they went to receive treatment.

She urged regional leaders to ensure the implementation of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

She said the ECOWAS Parliament was working with NGOs to ensure better laws that would protect the interest of women.

A Guinean human rights watch reported that more than 150 civilians were killed on Sept. 28 in the capital Conakry in a protest against the head of the military junta's plan to contest elections in that country. The junta said 57 people died in the clash.

GABORONE, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Botswana President Ian Khama said on Tuesday that peace and stability remain elusive for many countries and that Batswana should not take their stable political environment for granted.

Speaking at his inauguration ceremony after his Party the Botswana democratic Party (BDP) won 78 percent of parliamentary seats, Khama said "We must use this opportunity to count our blessings, and remember that many societies find peace and stability elusive which we take for granted; that horrendous atrocities have fallen upon many countries; and that economic ruin has resulted from poor governance which places sectarian interests ahead of national interest."

"We must forever remain vigilant and guard our treasure of democracy jealously."

Khama also acknowledged that his government faces challenges such as unemployment, poverty, crime, HIV and AIDS, shortage of shelter, declining social values, environmental degradation and global competition.

"I am happy to report that we have put in place a number of policies, programs and projects, measures and initiatives to tackle most if not all of them and will continue to do so in the coming Term."

"These measures cover a whole range of the development agenda. Particular attention will also be paid to agriculture, education and skills development, health, housing, youth empowerment, sports,t he arts, diversification and sustainable use of resources", Khama said.

He vowed that he remains committed to turning around the agricultural sector so that production levels of both livestock and crops are increased significantly.

"Through commercialization of areas where we have comparative advantage, provision of infrastructure, as well as facilitation of credit, the agricultural sectors' contribution to GDP as well as our food security should improve."

Khama also outlined that skills development remains critical, adding that there is the need to move with speed into a knowledge society. "Communication, science and technology will be key in this. More use of ICT for service delivery, coupled with strengthened research and development, should not only give us greater efficiency, but opportunities for diversification beyond diamonds should be enhanced."

"Innovation and creativity, especially amongst the youth will be encouraged and promoted. Through communication infrastructure development, access for rural areas and international connectivity, as well as telemedicine will be greatly improved", Khama declared.

On minerals which have been the backbone of the Botswana economy, accounting for over 60 percent of GDP, Khama said considerable investment will continue to go into mineral beneficiation, as well as infrastructure development in all sectors including transport, energy and water.

Khama won the presidential election held on Friday.

NAIROBI, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- At least 35 people have been feared trapped inside after a building collapsed at the lunch hour on Monday in Kiambu town, Kenya, local media reported on Tuesday.

The reports quoted local people as saying that the five-storey building was still under construction when the accident took place. Two people were killed in the event while more than 10 others were injured. Some of the wounded have been admitted at the Kiambu District Hospital, with multiple fractures.

The General Service Unit, the Nairobi Fire Brigade and volunteers from the Red Cross mounted a massive rescue operation on Monday night. The rescue efforts have been slowed down by heavy downpour, the newspaper Daily Nation reported.

It added that a command post had been established at the site to coordinate the efforts, but the police met with traffic jam when they diverted vehicles from the main road from Nairobi to Kiambu and rushed to the scene.

The media reports said three bulldozers have been mobilized to help the rescue efforts and remove the debris.

The event came after another building also under construction collapsed last week in Huruma estate in Nairobi, leaving one person dead.

KAMPALA, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- African ministers meeting here at a Special African Union (AU) Summit on Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons on Tuesday adopted a draft convention on forced population displacement.

Zainab Hawa Bangwa, deputy chairperson of the Executive Council of AU, said the adoption of the convention was a clear sign that Africa is interested in solving the refugee and internally displaced persons problem that is affecting the continent.

"We as Africans have sent a clear message that Africa wants to move ahead collectively. We in Africa we have decided to take the leadership and ownership," she told the over 600 delegates at the conclusion of the two-day ministers' meeting, which preceded the heads of state meeting scheduled for Oct. 23.

Julia Dolly Joiner, AU commissioner for political affairs, said African countries need to move collectively while solving the refugee and internally displaced persons crisis.

"We do not always get what we want but we should focus on a larger picture. We need to move with caution to ensure what we have decided is implemented," she said, describing the deliberations as intense.

Under the convention, states commit to do everything possible to address the plight and to find durable solutions for refugees and internally displaced persons.

The states agreed to establish high-level national mechanisms to address the problem of forced displacement with focus on the root causes.

They also agreed to develop national strategies for the full implementation of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance by 2011.

According to experts, most of the forced displacement on the continent is caused by bad governance which leads to civil conflicts.

The outcomes of the ministers meeting will be forwarded to the heads of state who will meet here on Oct. 22-23 for approval.

Africa hosts the largest number of refugees and internally displaced persons in the world, whose population reaches a startling 17 million.

20 October 2009
PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma has moved to settle the turf war in the ruling alliance over economic policy, evidently acceding to trade union demands for Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel to be given a key role in policy formulation.

Minister in the Presidency for the National Planning Commission Trevor Manuel has been left off the economics cluster, and will serve instead in the infrastructure development cluster, which includes Patel. Neither minister will chair his cluster.

Patel’s role in the government has been a sore point in the alliance, with suggestions that without a pre-existing department his role could be window-dressing. Zuma’s move could take some of the sting out of that criticism while keeping Manuel central to the government’s planning efforts.

The move follows Zuma telling the fishing community of Hawston in the Western Cape on Sunday that he would end speculation on economic policy, and clearly pronounce on who captains the ship in the economic cluster.

The cluster has been altered drastically, and now also includes the departments of higher education and training and labour. Manuel’s absence from the economic cluster suggests that not all of his proposals presented in a recent green paper on national strategic planning will see the light of day. That document placed Manuel in the driving seat on economic planning.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) holds that the green paper gives Manuel too much power. It wants Patel to have more responsibilities.

Cosatu said recently Manuel had “ a history of unaccountability to the collective and the imposition of undemocratic structures in the form of the Treasury”.

The left in the tripartite alliance will also claim Zuma’s reshuffle as a victory, given Patel’s centrality in economic planning in the government. Patel, who was a Cosatu nomination, has not yet set up his office, and will get his budget only next week, but his prominence signals that supposed efforts to marginalise his ministry seem to have been quashed.

Zuma’s announcement follows a political council meeting of the alliance this month, which attempted to play down the fight for control. The South African Communist Party mooted a change in the clusters last year, arguing that they had not been working because of a lack of

co-ordination and clashes among ministers.

The Presidency said yesterday that the reconfiguration was part of the process of improving government planning, decision making and service delivery.

The rationale for the new arrangement was to ensure an alignment and provide “a consultative platform on cross-cutting priorities and matters being taken to Cabinet”, the Presidency said.

Transport Minister Sbu Ndebele will chair the infrastructure development cluster while Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti will chair the economic cluster.

The other clusters are human development, social protection and community development, international co-operation, trade and security, governance and administration, and justice, crime prevention and security.

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ANTANANARIVO, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- The chiefs of four Madagascan political camps will probably meet in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, from November 3 to 5 which is aimed at ending the current political crisis in the island country, media reports said here on Monday.

However, Tiebilé Dramé, the United Nations special envoy to Madagascar, said here on Sunday that nothing was yet official concerning this meeting. The chiefs are transitional president Andry Rajoelina and former presidents Marc Ravalomanana, Didier Ratsiraka and Albert Zafy.

Former president Ravalomanana welcomed the meeting to be held in Addis Ababa.

"We hope that the talk in Addis Ababa, early November, but not late this month, will lead to set up a neutral transitional government, which will be in charge of the preparation of the election", he said on Sunday afternoon during his telephone conversation with his supporters.

However, Ravalomanana insisted "I cannot accept a put schist to lead the transition. I don't want that Madagascar becomes a bad example in the world."

Quoted by l'Express, a French-language daily published on Monday, Ange Andrianarisoa from Ratsiraka's camp said that he was not yet informed of this new meeting between the four camps with the international community.

Transitional Vice Prime minister Emmanuel Rakotovahiny, who is from Zafy's camp, confirmed that Zafy's camp is ready to go to Addis Ababa.

Madagascan vice Prime minister in Charge of Foreign Affairs NyHasina Andriamanjato, who is from Rajoelina's camp, said that the proposition of this meeting in Addis Ababa exists but any date is not yet fixed.

The political crisis in Madagascar began in December last year when Ravalomanana closed a radio and television station which belonged to Rajoelina for broadcasting a speech of Ratsiraka against Ravalomanana.

Backed by the armed forces, Rajoelina came to power in March this year following two-month massive demonstrations against Ravalomanana who came to power in 2002.

Ravalomanana has been living in exile in Swaziland and South Africa since March 25 this year, four days after Rajoelina was sworn in before the High Constitutional Court as president of the High Transitional Authority.

20 October 2009

JOEL Natalino Santana’s turbulent 16-month reign as national team coach finally came to an end when he was fired by his South African Football Association (Safa) employers yesterday.

Insiders told Business Day that Santana’s departure had paved the way for his Brazilian compatriot Carlos Alberto Parreira to make a dramatic return after dumping Bafana last April.

“Depending on what happens in discussions in the coming days, Parreira should be confirmed as the new coach after the Safa executive committee meeting on Friday,” the insider said. “I can assure you he will replace Santana. Santana did not see it coming.” He was not aware he would be fired when he was called to Safa headquarters yesterday morning.

“He was so shocked when he was told that a decision was taken to relieve him of his duties that he became emotional. But after he regained his composure, he wished Bafana Bafana well.”

The Brazilian maintained since last week that even though he presided over a shocking run of eight defeats from nine matches, culminating with the loss to lowly Iceland last Tuesday, there was no way Safa could fire him for losing friendlies.

But it seems his fiery outburst just minutes after landing at OR Tambo International Airport after an overnight flight from Iceland made Safa’s decision easier as they could not wait to get rid of him.

Safa CEO Raymond Hack said Santana’s assistants, Jairo Leal and Pitso Mosimane, would assume the reins as caretaker coaches with immediate effect until a new coach was appointed.

“Santana thanked Safa for giving him the opportunity to coach a national soccer team, and wished Bafana Bafana success in the Soccer World Cup next year,” Hack said.

Parreira quit the Bafana coaching job last April, citing his wife’s ill health as the reason. The Safa insider said the Brazilian had indicated to him that he was keen to return to his old job on condition that Santana was no longer the coach.

But a cagey Safa president Kirsten Nematandani said they would cast their net wide, and the new coach could be a local or an international mentor.

Nematandani said the reports from the three assessors — Jomo Sono, Clive Barker and Gavin Hunt — were not a critique of Santana but rather of the national team as a whole.

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HARARE, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai will meet regional leaders this week to put pressure on coalition partner President Robert Mugabe to settle disputes in the unity government, a senior aide said on Monday.

Tsvangirai said on Friday his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party would disengage from Mugabe's "dishonest and unreliable" ZANU-PF party in the unity cabinet set up in February.

Political analysts say the MDC's decision may not mean the end of the power-sharing government but it will put pressure on the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the regional body under whose auspices former South African President Thabo Mbeki brokered a settlement in Zimbabwe last year.

The MDC boycott has created the country's most serious political crisis since the formation of the new administration. Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba said on Sunday Mugabe would chair a cabinet meeting on Tuesday without the MDC.

The SADC said Tsvangirai would meet Mozambican President Armando Guebuza, who chairs the SADC's political panel on defence and security, on Tuesday in Mozambique.

HARARE, Oct 20 (Reuters) - A fresh outbreak of cholera has killed five people from more than 100 recorded cases, state media reported on Tuesday, raising fears of a repeat of last year's epidemic that claimed more than 4,000 lives.

The southern African country suffered the continent's worst cholera outbreak in 15 years between August 2008 and June this year after its public health and water and sanitations systems collapsed.

A new unity government formed by rivals President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has managed to stabilise the economy, re-open hospitals and restore some water supplies, but the latest outbreak shows the disease remains a threat.

Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change said on Friday it would boycott cabinet meetings because of problems in the unity government, raising fears progress would unravel. A senior Health Ministry official, Gerald Gwinji, told the state-controlled Herald that the five deaths had been recorded from 117 cases in the Manicaland, Mashonaland West and Midlands provinces.

"Most of the cases were recorded ... among religious objectors, who for a long time have been reluctant to seek medical attention," Gwinji said.

Aid agencies have warned that while conditions have slightly improved since last year's cholera outbreak, water supply and sanitation problems that led to the epidemic still largely exist. (Reporting by Nelson Banya, editing by Richard Williams)

HARARE, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara's party is in total support of the decision taken by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democracy Change (MDC-T) to disengage from cabinet but will continue to attend cabinet meetings to prevent the Zanu-PF party led by President Robert Mugabe from passing unsound policies, Mutambara said on Monday.

He told a media conference that his party would try to bring President Mugabe and Prime Minister Tsvangirai to the negotiating table to come up with a workable solution to save the inclusive government from collapse.

"We understand why they (MDC-T) are upset," Mutambara said.

"As a party, we are equally upset and disgusted. But we hold the balance of power in the inclusive government and we are going to make sure we promote dialogue between the three parties."

Mutambara, who has accused the Zanu-PF party of deliberately refusing to fulfill provisions of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) signed by the three parties last year, said he has met Tsvangirai on the issue and is due to meet President Mugabe on Monday to discuss what he termed a "constitutional crisis" that has unfolded in country.

He said President Mugabe needs to appreciate that he could not govern the country alone, neither could any one of the parties to the inclusive government.

"We need to maintain the threesome in the government. None of us can run the country on their own," he said.

Mutambara said his party would soon convene a national council meeting to decide on the course to take, adding the party would not hesitate to pull out of cabinet if the council said so.

He said the incarceration last week of MDC-T treasurer Roy Bennett was uncalled for and provocative, adding a better way of handling the case could have been pursued, including tightening bail conditions.

He dismissed as "fiction" the argument by the Zanu-PF that all the outstanding issues being referred to by the MDC-T and MDC-M are not part of the GPA.

He said the issues have to be resolved as they are included in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) communiqué of January 27 that gave birth to the inclusive government.

"Without the communiqué we could not have formed a government in this country," he said.

The inclusive government has brought political and economic stability in the country, hence should not be left to collapse, Mutambara added.

The formation of the inclusive government in February this year has raised hope for many people, resulting in the availability of basic commodities on the market and renewing confidence in the country's economic performance.

Zimbabweans now wait to see what will happen next, and how Mugabe and his party will react.

Tsvangirai told a press conference at his party's headquarters on Friday that ministers from his party would no longer participate in Cabinet and Council of Ministers meetings until all outstanding issues in the GPA are resolved.

He said Mugabe's Zanu-PF party has proved that it is an unreliable and unrepentant partner in the inclusive government.

He said he will no longer attend meetings scheduled for every Monday with Mugabe, and that his trip to Sweden in the coming week to attend the European Development Day has also been cancelled.

Tsvangirai said it is time for the MDC to assert itself as the dominant party in Zimbabwe, declaring that it is the only one with the people's mandate to remain in government.

YAOUNDE, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- A cargo train carrying oil derailed on Monday afternoon near the central station in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, Xinhua's correspondent reported at the scene..

The derailment occurred at 14:10 local time just as the train was leaving the railway station for Ngaoundere.

Two wagons of the cargo train overturned in a curve, pouring out oil from inside the wagons. The leakage blocked hundreds of passersby.

The derailment was the third train accident in less than two months in Cameroon. On Aug. 28, a train loaded with oil from Douala, the West African country's economic capital, caught fire in Obobogo, the southern entrance to Yaounde, leaving two persons dead. The next day, a train with at least 1,000 passengers on board from Ngaoundere derailed at the northern entrance to Yaounde, killing nine people and injuring more than 300 others.

CAIRO, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Egyptian ceramics company Lecico (LCSW.CA: Quote) LCSWq.L plans to double the production capacity of its sanitary ware division to 10 million pieces by 2015 and will launch an existing higher-end brand in Egypt in 2010, the group's chairman said.

"We are looking to double our earnings (for) the next three or four years by filling up our capacity," Gilbert Gargour told Reuters in an interview on Monday.

Lecico, which exports a third of its sanitary ware products including toilets and sinks, wants to raise production in its sanitary ware division to between 5.5 and 6 million pieces in 2010. It would reach a capacity of 10 million by 2015, Gargour said.

The company had reduced production capacity of the division, its top seller in the domestic market, from 6.5 to 5 million pieces in 2008 to offset the effect of the global economic crisis and weakening European currencies.

Lecico, with a significant presence in Britain and France, posted a drop in net sales to 273 million Egyptian pounds ($50 million) in the second quarter of 2009 from 287 million in the same period a year earlier.

KHARTOUM, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Sudanese government Monday criticized the new U.S. strategy toward Sudan, while at the same time said it embodied ideas indicating a change in the U.S. policy.

At a press conference in Khartoum Monday, Ghazi Salahuddin, the Sudanese adviser to president, condemned the new U.S. strategy over the U.S. administration's description of the situation in Darfur as "genocide."

"The term 'genocide' is a misleading and wrong position, and it will isolate America from the rest of the world because there is no country that has adopted the term of genocide," said Salahuddin.

"Generally, we cannot evaluate the ideas embodied in American strategy because the American policy is full of political ideology. America should commit to a principle of neutrality in dealing with the parties to the conflict in Darfur as it is the arbitrator in many issues," he added.

Salahuddin also pointed out some positive aspects of the new U.S. strategy.

"The new American strategy did not include some of the extreme ideas adopted by the previous U.S. administration such as military intervention and flight ban, and this could be due to a change in the way the administration of the U.S. President Barack Obama thinks," he said.

"Additionally, the strategy reflects unification of the views inside the American administration regarding Sudan, and this facilitates the dialogue between Sudan and the United States. We, on our part, will positively continue the dialogue with Washington," he said.

In a statement Monday, Obama threatened to put more pressure on Sudan if the Sudanese government did not respond to a new U.S. policy that offers incentives to stop what Washington described as "genocide" and "abuses" in Darfur.

"Our conscience and our interests in peace and security call upon the United States and the international community to act with a sense of urgency and purpose. First, we must seek a definitive end to conflict, gross human rights abuses and genocide in Darfur," Obama said.

"If the Government of Sudan acts to improve the situation on the ground and to advance peace, there will be incentives, if it does not, then there will be increased pressure imposed by the United States and the international community," the statement read.

LONDON, Oct 19 (Reuters) - A $5 million prize for former African leaders who set examples of honest, democratic government will not be awarded this year, the prize committee said on Monday.

Mo Ibrahim, a Sudanese-born telecommunications entrepreneur who set up the award, denied the decision was a snub to leaders such as former South African President Thabo Mbeki or former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who would have been eligible.

"We have full respect to the people you mentioned. Some of those people are personal friends. There is no issue of disrespect here," he told a news conference at London's City Hall.

Committee members declined to give a reason for their decision, citing the confidentiality of their discussions, or to say if it meant no leader had met the standard required.

Ibrahim founded the world's largest individual award as a way to encourage good governance in a continent blighted by corruption and a frequently loose adherence to democratic principles.