South American drug cartels are invading the West African region with the help of local criminal groups to find their way to the European market. Some senior officials in the region have been indicted for the illegal trade including the son of former President Lansana Conte who openly admitted to the illegal business.
Mexican and Colombian drug cartels have expanded their activities to various countries in West Africa including Nigeria where they used local gangs to find safe haven for their onward distribution for the profitable European market, the Cable News Network (CNN) reported on Tuesday.

Burkina Faso in particular has come under the microscope over the last year for its involvement in the million dollar drug trade. Some senior military officials are reported to be actively involved in the cocaine business. Some members of the army nearly clashed with Police officers who were trying to search a cargo plane full of cocaine which landed at the country’s main airport.

The army rejects for a search on that plane thereby allowing the crew to disembark and does their transaction with impunity This incident happens exactly one week after a small cargo plane with cocaine substance make a forceful landing at the Sierra Leone International airport.

A senior official of the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) told the US Senate that "West Africa is a smuggler's dream, suffering from a combination of factors that make the area particularly vulnerable. It is among the poorest and least stable regions in the world. Governments are weak and ineffective and officials are often corrupt.”

Similarly, retired four-star Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, who was drug policy director for US former President Clinton said according to the Daily Trust newspaper that West Africa also is particularly attractive to traffickers because it is near "the soft underbelly of Europe.”

A UN report said about 1,000 tons of pure cocaine are produced each year, nearly 60 percent of which evades law enforcement interception and makes it to market, that's a wholesale global market of about $70 billion. According to the report at least nine top-tier Latin American drug cartels have established bases in 11 West African nations because there is "less law enforcement in West Africa," just as there is more profit in Europe than the United States.

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon recently stated in his report to the Security Council that Drug trafficking still poses serious threat to the regions stability.

onstruction work for school blocks in Malawi's Lakeshore district of Mangochi is on course, a development that would help shelter otherwise helpless children from the area of Senior Chief Makanjira from the on-coming rains, said Michael Studnitz, Co-founder and Chairman of the German NGO Reisende Werkschule Scholen.
The German NGO has since 2001 been making periodic trips to Malawi, a Southern African Development Community (Sadc) member state, where students have been working with local communities to bring about sustainable social-economic development through school blocks’ infrastructure.

Some of the beneficiary schools include Nangungu Primary in Mangochi’s Makanjira area, developments that have excited traditional leaders from the area.

The Germans are back to Malawi this year and plan to construct some more school blocks for the less privileged in that country, where most pupils learn under trees.

Education rights NGOs claim that over 10 pupils may have died over the past 10 years after trees fell on them, something that speaks volumes about the country’s education infrastructure.

Studnitz said this week construction work was well on course for the October 26, 2009 handover ceremony, and hailed the German students for their high spirits.

“The guys have been great ever since they arrived in Malawi. We are really grateful that everyone is alright and also that we have managed to mingle and integrate well into the communities. They are really part of the communities now,” said Studnitz.

Studnitz said he was even encouraged that almost all of the Germans have expressed wishes to visit Malawi again at some point in their lives, hailing the people’s friendliness.
“Everyone smiles here. Malawians are real wonderful people,” said Studnitz.

Malawi is endowed with a great variety of natural resources, something the Germans are enjoying quite well. They take time to relax and feel the breeze of Lake Malawi, the world’s third largest fresh water lake. Elephants are also a common sight, as they walk in groups and fill their long trumpet-like mouths.

Women from Makanjira almost compliments this great sight with their hard work, ferrying water from nearby rivers to help their make the work of their men easier during block construction.

Some of the Germans could be heard laughing in the background.

all africa
The major international financial and economic arrangements are unfair and have not kept pace with a changing world, South Africa's President told the United Nations today, calling for the reform of key institutions so that poorer countries have a greater say in how they are run.

In an address to the annual General Debate at the 192-member General Assembly, Jacob Zuma said the current global economic crisis spotlights the need to reform the mandate, governance and responsiveness of the so-called Bretton Woods institutions - the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"These institutions have been unrepresentative since their formation half a century ago," Mr. Zuma said. "The current arrangements are inadequate and unfair. They do not reflect the changes that have taken place in the global economy.

"We should ensure that the election of the heads of all these institutions is more democratic, and opens opportunities to developing countries. The emerging and developing economies, including the poorest, must have a greater voice and greater participation in these institutions."

Mr. Zuma also stressed the need for an urgent conclusion to the current, long-running Doha round of global trade negotiations, which have stalled, "in a manner that prioritizes development."

He noted that efforts to eradicate poverty have slowed down as a result of the global recession, and that the world's poorest countries have been suffering the most, even though they did not cause the crisis.

"The United Nations must play a significant role in finding solutions to the global economic crisis. The crisis should not be an excuse to delay further action on the delivery of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)," he added, referring to the set of socio-economic targets which world leaders have agreed to try to achieve by 2015.
Turning to his country's legacy of apartheid, Mr. Zuma observed that it was 20 years ago that the General Assembly adopted a resolution on international solidarity with the liberation struggle in South Africa.

"Within months of the adoption of this important resolution, the South African liberation movements were unbanned. Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners were released. The stage was thus set for the negotiations that would eventually lead to the achievement of freedom and democracy in our country.

"The role of the United Nations in the struggle to end apartheid is an exceptional example of the collective political will of the international community. It represented the victory of unity over division, of negotiation over confrontation. It represented a clear commitment to the promotion of basic human rights. As South Africans we will always be grateful for that international solidarity."

The South Korean Navy destroyer Dae Jo Yeong is part of the international anti-piracy patrols off the coast of Somalia.

23 Sep 2009

South Korea's military says one of its ships has repelled pirates pursuing freighters off the coast of Yemen and rescued three foreign vessels from being hijacked.

On September 20, ROKS Dae Jo Yeong - a destroyer with the South Korean naval unit Cheonghae - rescued three ships sailing under the flags of Cyprus, the Marshal Islands, and the Bahamas from Somali pirates, the Yonhap news agency reported.

The previous day, a South Korean Navy ship had rescued five Yemeni fishermen hijacked with their boat on September 17. Somali pirates had intended to use the Yemeni boat, the Monfiq, for attacking ships passing in the region.

The Gulf of Aden, which links the Indian Ocean with the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea, is the quickest route for more than 20,000 vessels going from Asia to Europe and the Americas every year.

Attacks by heavily-armed Somali raiders in speedboats have prompted some of the world's biggest shipping firms to switch routes from the Suez Canal and send cargo vessels around the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa, causing a hike in shipping costs.

The pirate-infested Somali waters remain dangerous despite the presence of foreign navies in the area.

presstv

Sep 23, 2009

* Gaddafi tent would violate local laws, attorney says

* Seven Springs estate owned by developer Donald Trump (Updates with details, quotes)

By Ellen Wulfhorst

NEW YORK, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was having a tent pitched on suburban New York property owned by Donald Trump on Tuesday until local officials stopped the work because it violated regulations, a town attorney said.

Gaddafi, a famously eccentric figure known for pitching a large Bedouin tent on his trips abroad, was scheduled to address the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Wednesday.

The tent was partly erected and satellite dishes were being put in place when a building inspector arrived at the property in Bedford, New York, that belongs to famed real estate developer Trump, said Bedford town attorney Joel Sachs.

Authorities in Bedford, an affluent suburb about 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of New York City, learned of Gaddafi's plans from the U.S. Secret Service, the attorney said.

The building inspector gave a "stop work" order to workers at the scene but they did not speak English, so he issued the order to a Trump caretaker, Sachs said. It was unclear whether the work had stopped, Sachs said.

Gaddafi last month had plans to erect a tent in suburban New Jersey where the Libyan embassy owns property, but the U.S. government said he could not use the land for that purpose. A request to set up his tent in New York's Central Park also was turned down.

The tent in Bedford needed various permits that it did not have, Sachs said. "It isn't like a wedding tent," he said.

Trump, owner of the 213-acre Seven Springs estate, issued a statement saying it was leased on a short-term basis to Middle Eastern partners "who may or may not have a relationship to Mr. Gaddafi." He said he was looking into the matter.

Gaddafi has come under criticism over the recent decision by the Scottish government to release a Libyan citizen convicted of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people. Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, the only person convicted of the bombing, was greeted with cheers and celebration upon his return to Libya.

"I don't think the residents of this town would be comfortable with him here, and I know I wouldn't be. He has killed Americans," said Arik Wolf, a rabbi at the Chabad of Bedford in Bedford Hills, when asked earlier in the day.

In Bedford, the roof of a tent and ropes were visible from behind a stone wall in a photograph published on Tuesday by the website of the local newspaper Journal News.

Bedford is a mere 13 miles (20 km) from Chappaqua, where former President Bill Clinton and his wife Secretary of State Hillary Clinton own a home. It also is home to such celebrities as homemaking expert Martha Stewart and to actor Richard Gere and his actress wife Carey Lowell who own a bed and breakfast there.

(Additional reporting by Joshua Schneyer, editing by Daniel Trotta and Philip Barbara)

reuters

Gregoire Ndahimana is accused of taking part in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has transferred a chief suspect in the Rwandan genocide to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania.

Gregoire Ndahimana, who was the mayor of the Rwandan town of Kivumu in 1994, was arrested on August 11 during operations against Rwandan rebels in North Kivu in the eastern Congo. He is wanted for helping organize the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

According to his ICTR indictment, he is responsible for the deaths of at least 2,000 Tutsis, most of whom were killed when Hutus bulldozed a church where they had sought refuge.

"We have done humanity a service, because the crime of genocide is an attack upon the peace and security of humankind," Congolese Justice Minister Luzolo Bambi Lessa said after Ndahimana boarded a plane on his way to being surrendered to the court.

His wife and five children will be sent to Rwanda, according to a report released by the AFP news agency.

Most of the former Rwandan military and Interahamwe militia members responsible for the genocide fled to Rwanda's giant western neighbor, Congo, after Tutsi rebels came to power in July 1994 and ended the carnage. Their presence in the eastern Congo sparked a war and humanitarian catastrophe that has killed at least 5.4 million people over the past decade.

presstv

Tue Sep 22

* Egyptian favourite loses bid to lead UNESCO

* Bulgarian outsider set to become first female UNESCO head

* Accusations of heavy handed lobbying

(Adds quotes from victor paragraph 4)

By Tamora Vidaillet

PARIS, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Egyptian Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, who said last year he was ready to burn Israeli books, failed on Tuesday to become the next head of the U.N. culture and education body, losing out to a Bulgarian diplomat.

Irina Gueorguieva Bokova, a former foreign minister, won the fifth and final round of voting by 31 to 27 in a ballot that laid bare bitter divisions within the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

Given little chance of victory before the vote, Bokova will become the first woman to head the Paris-based body if, as expected, its 193 member states validate the result next month.

"I will use all good ideas and we will work together," the 57-year-old career diplomat told Reuters. "I have never considered that such a competition was a war, a battle pitting one side against the other," she added.

However, sources within UNESCO said the bruising contest risked leaving its mark, with accusations of heavy handed lobbying and foul play hanging in the air.

"It became very conflictive. As delegates, we were very concerned about the reputation of UNESCO," said Homero Aridjis, a delegate from Mexico.

Hosni, 71, was favourite to become the Arab world's first UNESCO director-general, but his candidacy created outrage amongst Jewish organisations, while media rights activists accused him of turning a blind eye to censorship in Egypt.

His supporters said Tuesday's vote was a missed opportunity to send a positive signal to the Muslim world.

"What I find disappointing is not the quality of the winner but the fact that the road has been blocked to a different cultural voice," said Nasser Hossam, who had led Hosni's election campaign.

"No one from the Arab or Muslim world has made it to the top of UNESCO while Europe has had the post several times," he said.

CONTROVERSY

Hosni stirred fierce controversy last year in an angry exchange in the Egyptian parliament, when he said he would burn Israeli books if he found them in Egyptian libraries. He has also been quoted as calling Israeli culture "inhuman".

A painter who has served as culture minister for more than two decades, he later said he regretted the comments.

Israel did not openly oppose his candidacy and some European countries, such as France, backed his bid, believing Egypt deserved a high profile international post.

However, UNESCO sources told Reuters the United States and a number of northern European countries, including Germany, supported the Bulgarian on Tuesday.

There was a muted response in Cairo, although some commentators said the ballot was not aimed against Egypt.

"I do not believe that this should be read as an attitude towards Egypt. I think the question was related to the candidate," said Egypt's former foreign minister, Ahmed Maher.

"I am sure that relations between us and the countries, however they voted, will remain as they were. I don't think they will be affected by this," he told Reuters.

For others, Hosni's failure reflected a failed chance to improve dialogue with the Muslim world.

"I think it was a real opportunity to confirm the dialogue between West and East ... I think it was time to have one Muslim, even one who was very secular like Hosni, (as UNESCO head)," said Egyptian analyst Dia Rashwan.

It is not the first time UNESCO has become embroiled in controversy. In 1999, the election of the current director-general, Japan's Koichiro Matsuura, was marred by allegations of corruption, bidding wars and rigged votes. -- Additional reporting by Elizabeth Pineau in Paris and Edmund Blair in Cairo (Editing by Crispian Balmer)

reuters

2009-09-22

Johannesburg - The US Embassy and other American offices in South Africa will remain closed for a second day on Wednesday after closing on Tuesday because of unspecified security concerns, US and South African officials said.

Neither US Embassy spokesperson Sharon Hudson-Dean nor Nonkululeko Mbatha, spokesperson for the South African national police commissioner, would say whether a threat had prompted the closure.

Hudson-Dean said the offices were closed because of information provided by US security officials.

"We are not discussing the nature of the information," she said.

The closure affected the embassy in Pretoria, consulates in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, and aid and development offices.

May reopen on Friday

Hudson-Dean had said earlier the facilities would reopen on Wednesday, but later said officials had decided to remain closed "because of this information, this same information".

The facilities also would be closed as previously scheduled for a South African public holiday on Thursday, Hudson-Dean said.

She said a decision on whether to reopen on Friday would be made later.

"The matter is under control," Mbatha said. "Our agencies, particularly crime intelligence, are working closely with US Embassy personnel."

Warning about al-Qaeda

A message from US diplomats about the closure advised American citizens to review a July 29 US State Department warning expressing concern "that al-Qaeda and affiliated organisations continue to plan terrorist attacks against US interests in multiple regions, including Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East".

The warning followed suicide attacks earlier in July on two American-owned hotels in Indonesia's capital that killed seven people and wounded more than 50.

On September 14, a US commando raid in Somalia, in eastern Africa, killed an al-Qaeda operative.

Extremist Islamic violence has not hit southern Africa to the extent it has east Africa, southeast Asia or the Middle East.

news24

2009-09-22

Cape Town - The US embassy and other American government offices in South Africa were closed on Tuesday due to an undisclosed security threat which police said was under control.

South African Police Commissioner Bheki Cele said he could not give details of the threat.

"Our intelligence world is dealing with it. It is under control," he told reporters in Cape Town.

"There are things that have happened. There are things that are happening," he said, adding that police were in touch with US officials.

South Africa, due to host the soccer World Cup finals next year, is not itself seen as a target for terrorists.

Somali rebels have vowed to avenge the killing last week of one of the continent's most wanted al-Qaeda suspects in a raid by US commandos, but there has been no previous link between Somali insurgents and South Africa.

Bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 killed 224 people and wounded thousands.

A State Department spokesperson in Washington said the US government was warning American citizens to be extra vigilant while near US government facilities in South Africa.

"We are maintaining close contact with South African authorities on this issue," he said, adding that the facilities would reopen as soon as the security situation permits.

As well as the embassy, there are US consulates in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. US embassy spokesperson Sharon Hudson-Dean said the current assumption was that the offices would reopen on Wednesday.

In addition to the embassy and consulates, there are also other U.S. government offices, including that of USAid.
A spokesperson for the British High Commission said it had not been informed of anything.

(Additional reporting by Ed Cropley in Johannesburg; Wendell Roelf in Cape Town and Eric Beech in Washington; Writing by Marius Bosch; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)

news24

2009-09-22

Pretoria - All US government facilities in South Africa, including the Pretoria embassy and regional consulates were closed on Tuesday because of an unexplained security threat.

A notice on the embassy's website had the following notice:

"CLOSURE OF ALL U.S. GOVERNMENT FACILITIES IN S.A.
Based on information recently received by the Regional Security Office, all US Government facilities in South Africa will be closed on Tuesday, September 22, 2009.

"Our current assumption is that all US Government facilities will be open on Wednesday, September 23, 2009."

There was no answer at the Pretoria office when News24 tried to contact the embassy, while officials at the Cape Town consulate refused to comment. There is also a consulate in Durban.

Embassy bombings

AFP reported that offices of the US Agency for International Development were also closed.

"We received information from the regional security office which I cannot discuss," embassy spokesperson Sharon Hudson-Dean said.

In 1998, suicide bombers targeted US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing a total of 213 people, including 12 Americans and 34 local embassy staff, in one of the most devastating attacks carried out by al-Qaeda prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks.

These blasts sparked an enormous effort to bolster security at US embassies around the world, and particularly across Africa.

news24

2009-09-22

Johannesburg - The impact of climate change is devastating in Africa and will severely undermine development and poverty eradication efforts, President Jacob Zuma said in a message to the 64th session of the UN General Assembly.

Zuma will attend and address the opening of this year's UN General Assembly due to resume on Wednesday in New York.

He said climate change affected agricultural yields, and therefore food security.

"It affects people's access to water in an already water-stressed region. Rural people are compromised by the impact on ecosystems that support their livelihoods."

Coastal areas would be flooded

Coastal areas would be flooded, affecting people's homes and livelihoods and damaging coastal infrastructure.

Zuma said these developments affected every aspect of society - social, economic and environmental.

"We need to act now to ensure there is a global agreement on this critical challenge.

"The global agreement should be guided by a shared vision. It should be inclusive, fair and effective," he said.

Climate, poverty are one problem

Zuma said the agreement should recognise that solving the climate problem could not be separated from eradicating poverty.

He said the agreement should be based on sound science.

"It must strike a balance between adaptation and mitigation, and it must address the means of implementation."

Zuma said another agreement on new, additional, sustainable and predictable financing for adaptation was needed.

"On mitigation, the agreement must contain ambitious, quantified, and legally binding emission reduction commitments by developed countries."

news24

2009-09-22

Cape Town - South Africa's murder rate declined again last year but remains around 50 a day while house robberies increased by nearly a
quarter, according to the annual crime figures released on Tuesday.

Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said police were perturbed by a 41.5% hike in the number of business robberies in the 2008/09 financial year, mostly targeting small businesses, and an increase of 27.3% in residential robberies.

"We are deeply concerned about the increase in house robberies ... it is one of the crimes that are the most intrusive and personalise the crime experience," he told a media briefing in Cape Town.

"We simply cannot tolerate a situation where people do not feel safe in their homes."

Cash-in-transit robberies declined by 2.3% during the period, which ended on March 31 this year.

"This, we agree, is not much decrease compared to the same period last year. It is a decrease nevertheless," the minister said.

Bank robberies dropped by 29.2% and ATM attacks by 10%.

Uniquely random, violent

Mthethwa bemoaned the "uniquely random and violent character" of the 2.1 million serious crimes reported in South Africa last year, of which 32.7% were "contact" crimes associated with violence.

He said rampant crime was in part to blame on "the high number of firearms among civilians, greed and conspicuous consumption, the psychology of patriarchal power relations and inconsiderate attitudes towards vulnerable members of society, especially children".

Mthethwa said those vulnerable to crime remained the poor, as evidenced by the nature of most of the 18 148 murders reported last year.

Half of the victims died of stab wounds and about 70% of murders were the results of arguments turned violent, which suggested they happened in poor socio-economic settings, assistant commissioner Chris de Kock said.

Mthethwa and national police commissioner Bheki Cele said the police needed to do more, and had begun an audit of how they deployed their human and material resources, and the timing of that deployment.

"Am I happy? No, I'm not happy," Cele told reporters.

"You cannot be happy when 10 people are killed let alone 18 000."

Wider powers

He said the measures police would take included pushing ahead with the controversial change to section 49 of the Criminal Procedure Act to give police wider powers to shoot at criminals, strengthening special units, and improving the way police stations respond to distress calls.

Mthethwa said it was vital to have "greater engagement" with community policing forums to help police "refine" their efforts to curb household robberies.

He stressed that murder and attempted murder had been steadily declining over the past couple of years, and the police were pleased that they continued to do so.

During the year under review murder dropped by 3.4% and attempted murder by 4.3%. Compared to 1994/95, the murder rate was down 44%.

Common assault was 4.3% down, and assault with intention to commit grievous bodily harm down by 4.7%.

Sexual offences increased by 10.1%. Part of this could be accounted for by changes in legislation, which had introduced new categories of crime. But it was still "not good".

Mthethwa said the release of the statistics was not merely to quantify crime or create a debate in society.

Call to action

"We believe that this is a call to action for government, business, NGOs and communities," he said.

"As you will observe ...there are areas where we are making progress. At the same time there are those where we are still lagging behind.

"Nevertheless, the ANC government remains unmoved in its commitment to securing a better life for all, and the fight against crime is an integral part of ensuring this better life."

The police were therefore encouraged by the decrease in five of the seven contact crime categories.

The police's annual report painted a bleak picture of conviction rates, with that for murder rising only 0.15% to 12.8% last year.

The ANC said it was concerned about the crime figures while opposition parties were scathing in their criticism of Mthethwa's report.

The Democratic Alliance said it is clear why the ruling party did not risk releasing the statistics earlier in an election year.

United Democratic Movement chief whip Stanley Ntapane said the crime statistics were schocking, adding: "There are war zones with lower rates of killing."

news24

DAKAR, 22 September 2009 (IRIN) - While a lack of capacity in the health sector contributes to Sierra Leone’s maternal death rate – the highest worldwide – corruption is a significant culprit, according to Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Khan.

“Obviously the health system is under-resourced and it clearly needs more capacity,” Khan told IRIN from the capital Freetown at the launch of Amnesty’s global maternal health campaign. “But at the same time it is riddled with corruption…It is important to give free health care to pregnant women, but it has to be managed well and governments have to be held accountable for providing health care.”

One in eight women in Sierra Leone dies in pregnancy or childbirth, according to the UN – a “human rights emergency”, Amnesty says in a communiqué accompanying its new report, ‘Out of reach: the cost of maternal health in Sierra Leone’.

Amnesty says women’s status in society is a detriment to their health.“Lack of maternal health care is a form of discrimination,” said Khan. “Women are unable to make decisions about access to health care or to access contraception. We need to empower and women to make decisions about their own health.”

Six of Sierra Leone’s 13 districts have no emergency obstetric care.

World leaders are expected to discuss access to health care in developing countries at the UN General Assembly on 23 September.

irinnews

JOHANNESBURG, 22 September 2009 (IRIN) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced a three-year US$21.5 million loan to Comoros on 21 September to assist in poverty alleviation and progress towards achieving its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The loan was made under the IMF's Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility, which has an annual interest rate of 0.5 percent, repayments that only begin after 66 months and end 10 years after disbursement; $6.7 million will be made available immediately.

The loan dovetails with the Comoros Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy, which aims to achieve sustainable economic development by stimulating the private and agricultural sectors, and strengthening governance and the judiciary in the Indian Ocean island state.

The loan will boost the government's medium-term macro-economic programme, which hopes to expand gross domestic product (GDP) from the current 1 percent to 3 percent or 4 percent by 2012; in 2008 about 25 percent of GDP was comprised of remittances from expatriates working in other countries.

An IMF spokesman told IRIN the increased expenditure by the government would assist in improving road infrastructure, the health and education systems, and providing energy.


irinnews

22 Sep 2009

The United Nations food agency has warned that Somalia is experiencing its worst humanitarian crisis in 18 years as war continues to devastate the country.

In a statement released on Monday, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said drought, conflict and displacement have pushed some 3.6 million people, about half the Somali population, to the brink of starvation.

The FAO explained that nearly 1.3 million Somalis have been displaced by fighting and about 1.4 million farmers are facing a severe drought. The two factors combined have caused a food shortage - even in staples - and driven up prices. This has particularly affected the urban poor, who number around 665,000.

The Horn of Africa country has witnessed more than 18 years of unrelenting civil chaos as armed groups have engaged in heavy fighting, terror attacks and bombings during a power struggle following the ouster of President Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

This is while the Gulf of Aden remains rife with piracy as foreign naval patrols fail to safeguard Somali waters, which serve as a key trade route between Asia and Europe.

According to the FAO statement, Somalia is the worst of a number of hunger-stricken countries dotting east Africa and the Horn of Africa, where currently some 20 million must depend on international food aid.

Moreover, the figure is expected to rise still further during the 'hunger season', particularly among marginal farmers and low-income urban dwellers, it said.

Besides 'below-average rainfall combined with conflict and displacement', the FAO blamed the mounting starvation on the 'El Nino' phenomenon, which is an abnormal warming of the waters of the equatorial Pacific.

"The effects of El Nino, which usually brings heavy rains towards the end of the year, could make matters worse ... destroying crops both in the field and in stores (and) increasing livestock losses," the statement added.

The UN agency also warned of growing insecurity regarding food due to continued low purchasing power in the impoverished region, where Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya are also located.


presstv

Government and education officials have dismissed a statement by the Al-Shabab warning schools against using "un-Islamic" text books provided by the UN and aid agencies (file photo)

NAIROBI, 22 September 2009 (IRIN) - The government and education officials in Somalia have condemned and dismissed a statement by the Islamist group Al-Shabab warning schools against using "un-Islamic" text books provided by the UN and aid agencies.

"The government and the education fraternity make sure that any books that are being used in our schools do not violate our religion and culture, so their statement does not concern us,” Education Minister Ahmed Abdullahi said on 22 September.

He said Somalia needed all the help it could get in the education sector, as in all other sectors, and “we will welcome any help that meets our needs”.

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was singled out by Al-Shabab’s spokesman on 20 September.

However, UNESCO Somalia told IRIN by email: “The four pillars of UNESCO's mandate cover education, science, culture and communication, and under culture falls religion. It is therefore surprising to read that our organization could be promoting the use of 'un-Islamic subjects' in textbooks.”

Furthermore, “the very limited available textbooks are not UN textbooks but textbooks produced by Somali Education Authorities with the assistance of its national and international partners in order to provide the country with the materials necessary to maintain a minimum of basic education services, at least,” it said.

Blocking children’s progress

Abdullahi accused Al-Shabab of being against the interests of the Somali people, particularly children.

"The one thing Somali children need more than anything else is peace and they [Al-Shabab] are the ones engaged in violence that affects our children," he said.

The minister called on Al-Shabab to engage in peaceful dialogue and stop the violence.

A civil society source, who requested anonymity, told IRIN Al-Shabab was trying to muscle in on the education sector. “They don’t have much involvement with education and I think this is their way of saying, ‘we are players now’.”

He said Somali schools were struggling to provide a modicum of education and “if they [Al-Shabab] were to succeed then it will kill what little education our children are getting”.

After the collapse of Somalia's central government in 1991, schools and universities were destroyed as the city was torn apart by militia. But private schools have been gradually re-established over the past few years.

Rare peace

Meanwhile, the Somali capital Mogadishu enjoyed a rare day of quiet with no violence on 22 September - a day after the end of Ramadan.

“For the first time in a long while we enjoyed a very quiet day with no sound of guns,” said Hassan Mahamud, a local journalist.

There is, however, a palpable fear among the population that the violence will resume "with a much greater frequency", he said.

Early Deyr rains have arrived in the city. "The rains have been welcomed but there is also fear of the effects they will have on those who live in the open," he added.

irinnews

Southern Sudanese police officers on the streets of Juba where a disarmament drive was been launched to seize illegally held weapons

JUBA, 22 September 2009 (IRIN) - The recent campaign by the Southern Sudanese authorities to seize illegal arms has yielded a "fearsome arsenal" of weapons, but critics warn that forcible disarmament could spark further violence.

Security forces launched the campaign in the Southern capital of Juba on 9 September, with police and soldiers searching houses for illegal weapons.

"This is the first step we have taken to collect the guns from the people, and it will continue until we make sure that all these weapons are in the stores," said Southern President Salva Kiir on 13 September.

"The presence of the guns in the hands of the people increases insecurity, because there are people who want to keep the guns so they can loot at night, and can kill," said Kiir, who is also the first Vice-President of Sudan.

The Southern government plans to roll out the programme across the semi-autonomous region. "These operations are continuing daily," Maj-Gen Gier Chuang, Minister of Internal Affairs, said in a broadcast on Sudan Radio on 17 September.

"These things will not stop only in Juba - we will continue doing the same exercise in the other states," he added. "We have instructed the leaders of the organized forces in all states in Southern Sudan to conduct the same operations."

Awash with weapons

Supporters say the campaign was badly needed, as the region is awash with weapons after the 22-year-long civil war, which ended in a 2005 peace deal.

Chuang said more than 1,000 weapons were seized in Juba town, with TV screening images of hundreds of AK-47 assault rifles, several heavy machine guns, and rocket-propelled grenades with launchers.

"This is a good thing, because civilians should not have weapons like this," said trader James Gatch. "Why do you need big weapons unless you are preparing to make war?"

The campaign follows a string of bloody clashes in the south.

More than 2,000 people have died and 250,000 been displaced in inter-ethnic violence across Southern Sudan since January, Lise Grande, UN Deputy Resident Coordinator in Southern Sudan, told reporters on 12 August.

In the latest clash, state authorities in Jonglei reported that at least 102 people were killed on 20 September when Lou Nuer gunmen attacked the Dinka Hol village of Duk Padiet.

According to the UN, the rate of violent deaths in the south now surpasses that in the war-torn western region of Darfur.

"Taking illegally held guns will mean there are [fewer] weapons for people to cause trouble with," said Major General Kuol Dein Kuol, spokesman for the south’s military, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA).

"Only the official security forces and the police should hold weapons, and it is their job to provide security."

Forces behind the violence

Many in the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) claim the violence is backed by former civil war enemies in the north.

“Senior figures in the SPLM have blamed the north for supplying arms, and there are plenty of grassroots reports of military aircraft being used, and military uniforms and brand new weapons being seen,” wrote Sudan analyst John Ashworth in a September report for campaign group Pax Christi.

Northern officials in Khartoum have repeatedly denied all claims they are backing militias in the south. Osman al-Agbash, spokesman for the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), has called such allegations "baseless".

Ashworth warned that others might be responsible too. "Not all the culprits can be traced to Khartoum, and some may have links to SPLM," he added, warning that local ethnic tensions may be being exploited.

Kiir has said he fears violence will escalate ahead of elections due in April 2010, and an independence referendum for the South due in January 2011.

Rural security problems

Removing the weapons is key but disarmament outside urban centres is complex. With often extremely limited security in remote regions, many feel forced to re-arm to protect themselves.

"Outside the town, we need to protect ourselves and our cows," said Matthew Deng, who comes from the eastern state of Jonglei. "If they make me give up my gun and my neighbour keeps his, then they will take all we have and kill us. We don’t feel safe without a weapon."

Previous disarmament campaigns have been criticized for exacerbating violence through selective targeting of communities based on ethnic and political lines.

Heavy-handed and ineffective, they have left regions at risk of attack from their still armed neighbours.

"While reducing the circulation of small arms is essential in order to yield a peace dividend, disarming the civilian population in a fragile post-conflict environment presents many pitfalls," warned Adam O’Brien in a January report for the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey.

Other observers point to the long years of bitter fighting between rival communities during the civil war. At the time, rival factions of the SPLA split between Nuer and Dinka forces and battled each other.

"Some communities have perceived disarmament as being targeted along ethnic lines, which has exacerbated inter-communal divisions," the Small Arms Survey warned in another report in May.

It is a grievance that is repeated across the region. "It is better that no one has weapons than everyone have guns," said John Tut, who comes from the Lou Nuer region of Akobo, the scene of recent heavy attacks.

"If it is only one side that is strong and the other that is [weak], then that will make more fighting and not less," he added. "That is what has happened in Akobo."

Jonglei precedent

Critics say forcible disarmament has not worked in the south. For example, the authorities launched a forcible disarmament in 2006 in Jonglei State, securing some 3,000 guns. Subsequent battles, however, have left at least 1,600 people dead.

"The Jonglei campaign turned into one of the bloodiest military actions in [Southern] Sudan since the end of the second civil war and failed to improve long-term security," O’Brien said.

Kiir has urged people to “work together with the security forces to get rid of all the guns”, warning that those who try to hide their weapons will be caught in subsequent arms sweeps.

"We know some people have run outside Juba with their guns to go and hide them so that they will come back with them again, but we will track them down," Kiir said.

"Some people have dug their guns inside their own houses, but we will still get them out from those graves."

irinnews

September 22, 2009
South African President Jacob Zuma has reiterated his support for Zimbabwe’s inclusive Government, adding that his country has a direct interest in seeing its neighbour prosper.

His sentiments came soon after former Namibian president Cde Sam Nujoma told a Swapo rally over the weekend that his country and the rest of the region would not sit back and watch the West carry out their illegal regime change agenda to topple President Mugabe.

The support for Zimbabwe came as the United States admitted openly for the first time that it had sanctions on Zimbabwe, but said it would not be lifting them.

Addressing over 4 000 delegates at the Congress of South African Trade Unions’ 10th National Congress in Johannesburg yesterday, President Zuma said his African National Congress and its allies — the South African Communist Party and Cosatu — as well as Sadc were rallying behind Zimbabwe’s inclusive Government in order to find solutions to the current challenges.

"As the Alliance we must continue to assist the Zimbabweans to find solutions. We must emphasise the need for the full implementation of the Global Political Agreement.

"As neighbours, the Zimbabwean situation is real for us, it is not theoretical. We have a direct interest in the sustainable finalisation of the political settlement," said President Zuma.

Two weeks ago, President Zuma made a similar call as he handed over the Sadc chairmanship to DRC President Joseph Kabila.

Sadc leaders at the summit also said they were backing the inclusive Government and urged the West to lift the sanctions.

Over the weekend, Namibia’s founding president, Cde Nujoma, came out strongly against Western powers that funded opposition parties on the African continent and elsewhere in the world for their own interests and took exception to illegal attempts to topple President Mugabe.

"The white imperialists should be careful not to topple Cde President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, because if you touch Zimbabwe, then you touch Namibia and the whole Southern African Development Community."

He was addressing a Swapo star rally at Ongwediva in the Oshana region.

"It is because of the Western powers and those colonialists that oppositions are formed in our countries in the African continent and elsewhere in the world," he said.

Cde Nujoma said the US and Britain imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe because the Zimbabwean people had demanded their land from the white minority who were historically privileged by the racist colonial system.

"How could one impose sanctions against people who are demanding their own land? It was made that those who have too much land or many farms should give some to the Government so that the landless black people could be resettled there.

"The whites have been on our necks and colonised us for a long time, they crossed with our people through the Atlantic Ocean and made us slaves in their countries. ‘Omushiningwa iha dhimbwa, ashike omushiningi oye owala ha dhimbwa’. (The victim will not forget, but the wrongdoer will forget easily.)

"The whites must be careful, if they play with us we will thoroughly deal with them," Cde Nujoma said in his fiery speech.

He said imperialist countries were facing the prospect of poverty and were redoubling their efforts to loot African resources to sustain their own economies.

Cde Nujoma compared the white minorities who refused to fully integrate after African independence to a black mamba, which even if you keep it in a room for years, it would one day bite you.

"Whites are dangerous, just like a black mamba, if they oust President Mugabe, they will oust another president in the African continent," he said.

Last week, US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson tacitly said Washington had imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe.

The West and its allies in Zimbabwe have often denied the existence of sanctions on the country and instead claimed these were either "restrictive" or "targeted" measures.

However, Mr Carson added: "We reserve the right to lift those sanctions when we want to do so and when we see progress."

He said the sanctions were primarily "targeted at individuals".

Observers have questioned this claim, pointing out that the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act, which provides the framework for the sanctions, has seen the US president placing an embargo on entities such as Ziscosteel, ZB Bank and the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation which are not owned by any one individual. — CAJ News-New Era-Herald Reporter.

September 22 2009

Investors will focus on two key issues set to dominate local financial markets today, and that is the Reserve Bank's interest rate call and August's consumer inflation data. Analysts expect the CPI to ease slightly, but remain out of its target range of 3% to 6%. The consensus forecast for CPI is 6.4%.

Analysts expect the Reserve Bank to cut lending rates by a further 50 basis points to address the recent rand strength. The rand is a tad firmer at this hour. Analysts say the currency received support from the stronger Euro and recovery in precious metal prices.

On the capital market, the yield on the R153 government bond ended yesterday at 8.07%.

US and European markets

In New York, blue chips and the broader market fell yesterday as a drop in oil and other commodity prices hurt energy and materials stocks. But, the tech stocks rose, buoyed by a broker's upgrade in the biotechnology sector. The Dow Jones gave up 41 points to close at 9 779. The Nasdaq Composite climbed five points to 2 138. The S & P 500 dipped four points to 1 065.

Financial shares stumped Europe's major markets yesterday. London's FTSE 100 retreated 39 points to 5 134. In Paris, the CAC 40 shaved off 16 points to 3 812. Frankfurt's DAX ended 35 points lower at 5 669.

Asian markets

Markets in the Asia-Pacific region are mixed this morning. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gained 117 points to 21 589. Sydney's ASX lost eight points to 4 670. Markets in Tokyo are closed for a long weekend.

Platinum is trading at $1319.50/oz and the spot price of Brent crude oil has dipped to $68.51 a barrel.

September 22 2009

Judge Sisi Khampepe told the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) that the overall objective of the Constitution is to give legitimacy to the judiciary, which is relevant since the judiciary was in the past seen as an extension of Government.

Khampepe was addressing the JSC as one of the candidates for appointment to the Constitutional Court. She added that transformation is a far more complex issue than race and gender

The JSC continues with interviews for four posts on the Constitutional Court bench today. Yesterday, a total of 9 judges were questioned about their work experience and what they can bring to the highest court in the land.

Non-racial bench

During the last interviews of the day, Chairperson of the Legal Aid Board, Justice Dunstan Mlambo, said that transformation should not become a simple numbers game.

North West Judge President Mogoeng wa Mogoeng said the judiciary was not performing as efficiently as it should. He added that the system should be improved rapidly for the benefit of the country. Cape Judge Dennis Davis said he believed a non-racial bench was important.

The JSC is expected to conclude the interviews today.

sabcnews