2010-04-18


MOGADISHU, April 18 (Xinhua) -- An overnight roadside bomb explosion targeting a Somali government soldiers killed at least ten people including five soldiers and wounding almost 20 others mostly by-standers in Mogadishu, police and witnesses said.

Witnesses said that the remotely-controlled bomb was planted near a police station close to the international airport in the south of the Somali capital Mogadishu and detonated as Somali government troops came near it.

"The bomb killed 5 of the soldiers and wounded eight others while 5 civilians around the vicinity also died as a result of the blast. At least 12 other civilians were wounded," Sahal Guure, police officer told Xinhua.

The wounded were rushed to the near-by hospitals in the government controlled part of the restive Somali capital.

Witnesses, local media reports and medical officials gave the same casualty figures from the explosion.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the assault but Islamist fighters wage near daily attacks on Somali government forces and African Union (AU) peacekeepers who are based in Mogadishu.

Meanwhile Islamist rulers in the central Somali town of Jawhar, 90 km north of Mogadishu, banned the use of bells in schools to announce the beginning or ending of classes. Islamist officials said bells were used by Christians in churches thus was "un- Islamic influence" in Muslim Somali society.

It was not immediately clear what would be used in substitute for bells which has been widely used in Somali schools for decades.

Islamist rulers have previously imposed the separation of boys and girls in classes in schools and encouraged the teaching of Arabic, the language of Islam, and Islamic studies.

Somalia has been without a strong central government for nearly the past two decades of civil strife following the overthrow of Somalia strongman Mohamed Siyad Barre in 1991.

2010-04-18
KHARTOUM, April 17 (Xinhua) -- An independent U.S. observation team on Saturday said Sudan's first multiparty elections since 24 years, which started on April 11, were positive and would contribute to Sudan's internal political situation.

"What we have seen over the course of five days of voting was a positive event that could contribute to stability of the internal political situation in this country and improve its image abroad," said Imam Feisal Abdul Raouf, the chairman of the non-governmental Cordoba Initiative (CI), at a press conference.

He said that the elections were important step towards democratic exercise and a leap foreword that should not be downplayed.

He further agreed with some foreign observers who said the Sudanese elections did not meet international standards, but added that "however, given the challenges posed by the first multiparty elections in 24 years in a large, a developing nation with little electoral experience and recent history of conflict, it would have been, frankly, unrealistic to expect such a result."

He also referred to the logistical and technical difficulties which faced Sudan's elections and said that those difficulties did not mean the elections have not achieved successes.

He said that denying those successes would mean denying the right of the Sudanese people and its achievement.

The CI observation team participated in monitoring the Sudanese elections, and deployed its observers in Khartoum, Juba in southern Sudan, and El Fasher in Darfur region.

2010-04-18
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir scored overwhelming victories in a sample of results from national elections marred by fraud accusations and boycotts, state media reported on Sunday.

Both European Union and Carter Center observers have said last week's elections did not meet international standards, but stopped short of echoing opposition allegations of widespread rigging.

The presidential and legislative polls, set up under a 2005 peace deal that ended two decades of north-south civil war, were supposed to help transform the troubled oil-producing nation into a democracy.

Bashir won between 70-92 percent of votes cast in presidential ballots in around 35 scattered polling centres, foreign voting posts and one state, said state news agency Suna.

Those figures represent a fraction of the country and have not been confirmed by authorities.

Separately, Sudan's National Elections Commission announced the first official results of the contest on Sunday -- eight state assembly seats from north Sudan's River Nile state that all went to Bashir's National Congress Party (NCP) with big majorities.

Senior NCP official Rabie Abdelati told Reuters he was expecting similar results across Sudan.

"This victory is a real victory ... The counting of the votes took place under the sun, not in a dark room. The observers saw everything," he said.

Opposition groups said the huge majorities proved their accusations that the NCP had rigged the vote in the north, justifying the decision of many of the opposition parties to boycott.

WAR CRIMES

"This proves what we said: that this election is false from A to Z. It was planned from the beginning," said Farouk Abu Issa, spokesman for a loose coalition of opposition groups.

"If he thinks that being re-elected by a big majority will protect him from the International Criminal Court, he is mistaken."

Analysts say Bashir is keen to win a convincing victory to legitimise his rule and fend off International Criminal Court charges that he masterminded war crimes during the seven-year conflict in Sudan's western Darfur region.

Bashir was always likely to win the presidency after most of his main rivals, including candidates from the opposition Umma party and south Sudan's dominant Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), pulled out of the race alleging fraud.

The president of Sudan's semi-autonomous south and SPLM leader Salva Kiir is also likely to win the vote to keep his job, maintaining the status quo as the country prepares for a referendum on southern secession in January 2011.

Both the current elections and the looming referendum were promised under the 2005 peace deal.

According to Suna, Sudanese expatriates overwhelmingly supported Bashir in polling centres set up in Libya, Oman, Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, with majorities of between 77 and 92 percent.

The state agency said Bashir had secured 90 per cent of the votes for the presidency in the country's Northern State.

At one voting station in Khartoum's notorious Kober prison, Suna added, Bashir won 851 out of 1,234 votes.

Election officials will hold off announcing the new president until results have come in from all states, National Elections Commission member al-Hadi Mohamed Ahmed told Reuters.

Officials in the south warned there might be some delays in counting results.

2010-04-18
HARARE (Reuters) - President Robert Mugabe on Sunday urged Zimbabweans to end political violence and focus on rebuilding a devastated economy that critics say is a victim of his three decades in power.

Addressing a rally to mark 30 years of independence from Britain, Mugabe said Zimbabwe would pursue its controversial land seizure policy and plans to transfer control of foreign firms to locals as part of a black empowerment drive.

In a fairly mild speech by his strident standards, Mugabe, now 86, denounced Britain, the United States and other Western countries for imposing sanctions on Zimbabwean leaders over charges of vote rigging and rights abuses.

But there was none of the usual name-calling in what has become a traditional attack on what he sees as imperialist forces.

In a conciliatory message to his domestic political opponents, Mugabe urged Zimbabweans to stop inter-party violence which local rights groups invariably blame on militant supporters of the president's ZANU-PF party bent on destroying the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) of rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

"Your leadership in the inclusive government urges you to desist from any acts of violence that will cause harm to others and become a blight on our society," he said at a rally attended by about 30,000 people.

BICKERING

Mugabe -- who spearheaded a guerrilla war against white minority rule in the then Rhodesia -- denies accusations that he has hung onto power over the last 10 years through violence and vote rigging.

On Sunday, the veteran leader called on people to support a constitutional reform programme intended to lead to free and fair elections by 2013. But critics say his ZANU-PF is stalling the process to buy time to reorganise the party.

Mugabe was last year forced into a power-sharing government with Tsvangirai after a political crisis sparked by the disputed general election in 2008.

Although ZANU-PF and Tsvangirai's MDC continue to bicker over the pace of reforms and appointments of senior state officials, Mugabe said on Sunday the power-sharing deal was working and the country was focused on the economy.

"Many of the key provisions of the global political agreement which is the maker of our inclusive government, have been and continue to be in the process of being fulfilled."

Despite criticism that the move will damage the economy and discourage foreign investment, Mugabe said he was pressing on with plans to transfer 51 percent of shareholdings in foreign companies over the next five years to black Zimbabweans after a decade of seizing and transferring white-owned farms to blacks.

"The economic empowerment policies are chiefly designed to redress the historic imbalances in the ownership of the economy," he said.

Tsvangirai and members of his MDC executive -- who have criticised the new policy -- attended the rally and his MDC supporters in the crowd cheered when Mugabe acknowledged the presence of his arch rival.

The ageing president, who says he will run again for office if his party nominates him, said although the national economy was in a bad shape, Zimbabweans should celebrate their freedom and remain vigilant against incorrigible racism.

"No challenge or hardship can overcome our sense of freedom, independence and sovereignty," he said.

2010-04-18
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Julius Malema, the outspoken youth leader of South Africa's ruling ANC, will face a disciplinary hearing for bringing the party into disrepute, two weeks after being rebuked by the president, local media said.

The ANC Youth League president had been ordered by the ANC to cool his racially tinged rhetoric, and was criticised for ignoring official policy on Zimbabwe and publicly backing Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe.

He also embarrassed the party by throwing a foreign journalist out of a news conference and defied orders to stop singing songs that could add to racial tension.

Malema has no policy-making role but has a loyal following within the youth league and among some black South Africans who feel the end of apartheid should have delivered more. He has spooked investors for demanding nationalisation of mines.

Sunday newspapers said Malema would soon be called before a disciplinary committee, chaired by the ANC's Derek Hanekom, who is currently a deputy minister in the cabinet.

ANC Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe had written to him detailing the charges that could lead to punishment ranging from a reprimand to expulsion.

This follows several calls by the party and President Jacob Zuma for an end to infighting and damaging public statements.

The Sunday Times reported the charges included promoting racism, sexism, tribal chauvinism, religious and political intolerance, adding that youth league officials would meet with the ANC on Monday.

ANC spokesman Ishmael Mnisi would not confirm the reports, saying such issues were never discussed in public. "We don't discuss (in the media) any issues relating to ANC internal organisational matters," he said.

Youth league spokesmen could not be reached for comment.

Earlier this month Zuma slammed Malema for acting in a manner that was "alien" to the culture of the ANC, listing issues from comments on Zimbabwe to the treatment of the media.

The firebrand youth leader refused to stop singing an old anti-apartheid song, "Kill the Boer", that has been banned by the courts, and ranted at BBC journalist Jonah Fisher, calling him a "bastard" and "bloody agent" for interrupting him during a press conference.

Last month he was found guilty of hate speech for comments made about a woman who had accused Zuma of rape.

Malema was an important backer of Zuma in his campaign to lead the ANC and the country, but relations have soured, with the youth leader dismissing Zuma's rebuke and comparing him unfavourably to former President Thabo Mbeki.

2010-04-18
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - A landmine blast in the Somali capital Mogadishu killed eight people, and mortar rounds fired by insurgents at the city airport as the president returned killed six, eyewitnesses and medics said on Sunday.

Al Shabaab Islamist fighters fired the mortar rounds shortly after President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed and the parliament speaker landed late on Saturday. Government troops and African Union (AU) peacekeepers responded by shelling rebel strongholds.

"All the mortar rounds missed the airport but landed in civilian areas," Ali Muse, coordinator of ambulance services, told Reuters.

He said five of the six people killed died in the bustling Bakara market from where al Shabaab often launches its attacks. Four of them were women.

On Tuesday, the United Nations urged Somali security forces, AU troops and Islamist militants not to indiscriminately shell densely populated areas, saying this was a blatant violation of the laws of war.

Mired in violence and awash with weapons since the ousting of a dictator in 1991, Somalia has lacked an effective government for almost two decades.

Residents in the battle-scarred capital's Waberi neighbourhood said eight people died when a landmine buried near a tea shop popular with government soldiers exploded late on Saturday in an apparent attack on the security forces.

"The explosion killed five soldiers and three (civilians). Human flesh was everywhere and some of the injured victims were screaming for help," eyewitness Yusuf Abdulqader told Reuters.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but bitter relatives of the dead pointed the finger at al Shabaab.

"They have massacred our people, they don't care for our people, our flag and sovereignty," wept Fadumo Abdi, whose son was killed in the blast.

Somalia's parliament had been expected to convene on Sunday for the first time since December after repeated setbacks, but the meeting was postponed for four days for "technical reasons".

Scores of Somali legislators have fled violence at home to the safety of countries in Africa and Europe and to the United States, leaving parliament without a quorum to meet.

20100417
press tv

International election monitors say Sudan's landmark multiparty vote, seen as a test of the country's stability, failed to meet international standards.

The presidential election — already tainted by fraud allegations, major opposition boycotts and polling errors — looks certain to extend the two decade rule of President Umar al-Bashir.

While hailing the election efforts as "a major step that opens up democratic space in Sudan," EU vote monitoring chief Veronique de Keyser told reporters in Khartoum on Saturday that the election had shown "significant deficiencies."

Presenting the EU monitoring mission's preliminary report, de Keyser put the turnout at around 60 percent, citing different sources.

Former US President Jimmy Carter, whose Carter Centre was one of the two major mentoring teams in the country, also said that the elections would probably “fall short of international standards that are expected of advanced democracies.”

"It is too early to offer a final, overall assessment…[but] the people's expectations have not been met," Carter added.

Some 16 million people had registered for the vote, but the process was hampered by logistic problems and procedural errors, such as ballot mix-ups, to such an extent that authorities extended the election period from three to five days.

The Sudanese also cast ballots for their parliamentary and regional representatives, with southerners voting to elect their local president for the semi-autonomous oil-rich south ahead of the region's 2011 independence vote.

According to the EU monitors, Irregularities and delays were more pronounced in the south of the country.

20100417
aljazeera

Sudan's first multi-party elections in 24 years have failed to meet international standards, observers from the US and EU said.

Monitors from the US Carter Centre, run by former US president Jimmy Carter, echoed earlier criticism by the European Union on Saturday in their first official judgements on the poll.

"It is apparent that the elections will fall short of meeting international standards and Sudan's obligations for genuine elections in many respects," a statement from the Carter Centre said.

"Unfortunately, many political rights and freedoms were circumscribed for most of this period, fostering distrust among the political parties.

"Ultimately the success of the elections will depend on whether Sudan's leaders take action to promote lasting democratic transformation."

Earlier, Veronique de Keyser, the head of a 130-member EU observer mission in Sudan, also criticised the poll, saying there had been "significant deficiencies" including logistical problems and intimidation.

She said names were missing from voter registries, election resources were not evenly spread to all parts of the vast country and there were cases of voter intimidation.

"These elections have struggled to reach international standards. They have not reached them all," she said.

"Although these elections paved the way for democratic progress, it is essential that the shortcomings are addressed."

Final results due

Final results from the election are due on Tuesday, with Omar al-Bashir, the country's president, widely expected to win after his rivals boycotted the race.

Sudanese officials began counting millions of ballots on Friday after five days of voting.

The election, which was tainted by boycotts and accusations of fraud, was extended for two days after many polling stations opened without ballot papers.

Obsververs had said the election was a step forward for the oil-producing country hoping to evolve into a democracy before a referendum scheduled for next year on independence for south Sudan.

But as the election entered its final day on Thursday, nine members of Sudan's ruling party National Congress Party (NCP) were reportedly killed in a shooting while voting took place in the south of the country.

Election shooting

Agnes Lokudu, the head of the National Congress Party in south Sudan, blamed Thursday's shooting in Western Bahr al-Ghazal state on the region's local military.

The NCP, which dominates the north of the country, rules alongside the southern-based Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) as part of a peace deal that ended civil war in 2005, but there are significant tensions between the two parties.

The SPLM denied that the separate south Sudan army was involved in the incident.

The SPLM pulled out of parliamentary voting in most northern states and withdrew Yasser Arman as a candidate for the presidency. The Umma party also pulled its candidate out the presidential race.

Those decisions left little competition for al-Bashir, the leader of the NCP who has been in power for 22 years.

20100417
africanews

Sudan "struggled to meet international standards" in its recent controversial elections, EU observers said."Turnout is very high, 60%, but with significant deficiencies. These elections did not reach international standards, not yet," EU mission chief Veronique de Keyser said at a news conference in Khartoum.

The chief of the EU's monitoring mission said Sudan had "not reached all [standards] but some of them".
The polls were intended to effect a democratic transformation in Africa's largest country.

The complicated ballot has already been heavily criticised by the Sudanese opposition and local observers. Final results are expected on Tuesday.

The EU's team was withdrawn from Darfur, where a low-level civil war continues, because of fears about safety and whether the monitors could observe freely.

Final results of the presidential and legislative ballots are due on Tuesday, and President Omar Hassan al-Bashir is widely expected to win, most of his rivals having boycotted the proceedings, accusing him of vote rigging.

"It is apparent that the elections will fall short of meeting international standards and Sudan's obligations for genuine elections in many respects," said a statement from the U.S. Carter Center seen by Reuters.

The preliminary statements will be a blow to Bashir who, analysts say, is looking for an internationally recognised win to legitimise his rule and fend off International Criminal Court charges that he masterminded war crimes in Sudan's western Darfur region.

The elections were set up under a 2005 peace deal that ended more than two decades of north-south war in the oil producing state and also promised southerners a 2011 referendum on whether they should split off and become an independent country.

20100417
africanews

Security forces in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland in north eastern Somalia arrested about 113 illegal Ethiopian migrants in a 48-hour raid in the coastal areas, security officials said. Ethiopian migrants were arrested as they are planning crossing the red sea between Somalia and Yemen, officials said.

Puntland security minister Yusuf Ahmed Kheyr told reporters that security forces have carried operation against the smugglers in coastal areas in the commercial town of Bosaso.

“This is a clear message to those exploiting human lives by involving smuggling and risking their lives," Puntland security minister Yusuf Ahmed Kheyr said.

"If they don't stop smuggling people they will regret the consequences", he warned.
The officials threatened to continue the operations to crack down on the illegal migrants in Puntland.

"They are Ethiopians and we will return them to their country safely", Bari province governor Abdihafid Ali Yusuf also said.
Thousands of Ethiopians and Somalis were in Bosasso, with the plan of crossing the red sea into Yemen to look for better life.
Hundreds of them have died in recent years as they tried to cross the Gulf of Aden to Yemen.
About 74,000 migrants from the Horn of Africa used to travel to the Red Sea to Yemen in the last year, which rise 50% in 2008, according to the UN Refugee Agency.

The number of Somali migrants remained same in 2008 and 2009 but the migrants from Ethiopia increased to 42,000 in 2009. 5,032 migrants have crossed in the Red sea to Yemen while four have died in the newly year of 2010.

The crisis and poverty were forcing Somalis and Ethiopians to carry out dangerous journeys to better places.

The fighting in Somalia has killed over 19,000 Somalis since 2007 and displaced another 1.5 million while southern Ethiopia is also mired rebellions against the Ethiopian government.

press tv

Nigeria says after three days of heavy clashes with militants, its security forces have rescued 13 hostages and destroyed a key militant camp.

The military said they were successful in rescuing nine Filipinos and four Nigerians, out of a total of 20 people, who were kidnapped two days earlier when their oil vessel MV Spirit, chartered by oil firm NNPC, was hijacked by militants near Warri in the heart of Africa's biggest oil industry region of Niger Delta.

The rescued crew members told reporters on Saturday that two Filipinos were killed and at least five others were wounded by crossfire.

The militant camp, located along Chanomi Creek in Delta state near Chevron's Escravos export terminal and Nigeria's 125,000 barrels per day Warri refinery, was largely destroyed on Friday in the heaviest fighting in the area in eight months, Colonel Rabe Abubakar, spokesman for the military taskforce in the Niger Delta said.

The heavy fighting has been centered around the camp belonging to militant leader, Government Tompolo, who had been involved in negotiations over a possible amnesty with the authorities.

As the clashes are continuing, his militant group has declared an "all-out war" and warned oil companies to evacuate their staff in the Niger Delta.

The army said the offensive will continue until the situation is stabilized.

afrol News, 16 April - Nigeria has released two new cowpea varieties to raise production and improve farmers' incomes. The varieties were developed in Nigerian research institutions.

The new cowpea varieties are being presented as Nigerian researchers are finalising their plans to attend the Fifth World Cowpea Research Conference to be held from 27 September to 1 October in Dakar, Senegal, to discuss the state of the art in cowpea research.

The varieties - so far going under the technical names IT89KD-288 and IT89KD-391 - were developed by scientists working at four Nigerian universities and research centres. "Both varieties have proven superiority over the current improved lines being cultivated and aim to overcome the challenges faced by cowpea farmers in the country," according to researchers.

One of the newcomers is a dual-purpose cowpea variety with large white seeds and a rough seed coat. It has combined resistance to major diseases including septoria leaf spot, scab, and bacterial blight, as well as to nematodes, and tolerance to Nigeria's strain of Striga gesnerioides - a parasitic weed that severely lowers yield.

"It also has a yield advantage of at least 80 percent over the local varieties," said Dr Alpha Kamara, agronomist at the Ibadan-based the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), who is leading efforts to rapidly disseminate the varieties to farmers.

The nematode-resistant variety was said to be "an equally good candidate for sowing in cereals or as a relay crop with maize in the moist and dry savannah zones, as well as for high grain production in the dry season."

Scientists recommend that the variety be planted in mid July in the Sudan savannah, early to mid-August in the northern Guinea savannah, and by the end of August in the southern Guinea savannah. However, where there is certainty of rains up till the end of October, the new variety could be planted in September.

The other newcomer is also a dual-purpose cowpea variety but it has medium-to-large brown seeds with a rough seed coat. These are preferred seed characteristics for commercial production in northeast Nigeria.

The new variety was said to be "a welcome improvement" over other cowpeas varieties earlier developed in and for Nigeria, now being the main improved brown-seeded varieties available in the country. "It has been tested extensively in this area and is well accepted by the farmers," said Dr Hakeem Ajeigbe, IITA dissemination specialist.

"The variety performs well as a sole crop and an intercrop. It could also be planted as a relay crop with maize in the Guinea savannas," he added.

Several on-station and on-farm trials have shown that new variety produces double the yields of local cultivars.

Nigeria has a major science community regarding cowpeas, being among the world's leading environments on that field. In 2008, Nigeria released the first workable Striga-resistant improved cowpea variety.

Currently, efforts are being made through the project on legumes funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to make available seeds of these improved varieties by setting up community-based seed production schemes.

According to Dr Kamara, "The demand for these improved varieties is high because of their superior yields and their acceptability by consumers."

With about 70 percent of world cowpea grown in the savannah region of Africa, the protein-rich legume provides not only incomes but also improves the health of its consumers. However, cowpea faces several production constraints among which are diseases, insect pests, parasitic weeds such as Striga, and drought, which is becoming increasingly important in the cowpea producing zones of sub-Saharan Africa.

The new cowpea varieties presented today were jointly developed by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, in collaboration with the Institute for Agricultural Research of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; the University of Maiduguri, Borno; and the Agricultural Development Programmes of Borno, Kaduna, Kano, and Katsina States - all based in Nigeria.

afrol News, 16 April - Police in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott used teargas and batons to disperse a student march protesting the Arabisation of the city's university. At least 30 students were arrested.

Yesterday's demonstration regarding "an Arabisation of university administration" was the second by Nouakchott students this week, both ending up in confrontation with teargas-using Mauritanian police forces. While the Tuesday protests were pro-Arabisation, Thursday marchers were anti-Arabisation.

Mauritanian students disagree about the official languages to be used at the University of Nouakchott, where authorities want to make classic Arabic the only administrative and teaching language.

Tuesday protesters demanded university administrators and lecturers should use only Arabic and "other national languages" such as Soninke and Wolof. Their main slogan was against the continued use of French. "No to French, the colonial language" student slogans said. The demonstration was dominated by sons and daughters of Mauritania's majority conservative population of Arab and Berber descent.

Yesterday's demonstration against Arabisation was more dominated by minority "African", non-Arab, students that have a tradition for using French as a lingua franca. Soninke and Wolof speaking Mauritanians traditionally have been educated in French language and customs and have less understanding of Arabic.

The non-Arab population of Mauritania traditionally has been discriminated against by the ruling Arab-Berber class, to a large degree being enslaved. Class division in Mauritania still mainly goes along ethnic lines. Many fear that an Arabisation of Mauritanian administration and education will deepen differences and segregation.

Mauritania's Prime Minister Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf on 1 March announced that classic Arabic would soon become the country's only official and administrative language. French, African languages and the majority language Hassaniya - a Berber-influenced dialect relatively far away from Arabic - are not to be used in administration and teaching.

20100416
afrol

afrol News, 16 April - Niger's National Advisory Council, which is charged with heading the transition process from the current military rule to "a model democracy", will present a timetable for elections by 26 April, it was announced today.

Since the 18 February coup ousting unpopular President Mamadou Tandja, a military junta headed by Djibo Salou has promised to turn Niger into a model democracy. After meetings with political parties and civil society, a National Advisory Council was established to oversee the transition process.

According to reports in the Nigerien weekly 'Sahel Dimanche', the Council now has speeded up works to outline the transition process. Meeting yesterday in the Niamey parliament, the Council elected trade unionist Yacouba Ibrahim as its spokesman.

The Council agreed to split its 120 members into three standing committees. The first committee is to treat political and institutional affairs and will revise the Nigerien constitution, prepare elections and promote good governance and democracy.

The second committee will treat economic affairs and is to oversee the consolidation of public finances. The last committee on social and cultural affairs is "responsible for the de-politicisation of public administration, reconciliation and national unity."

Meanwhile, at the Paris headquarters of the Francophonie, the visiting spokesman the ruling junta, Colonel Abdoulkarim Goukoye, today talked to the French press about Niger's transition process.

Mr Goukoye told the French news agency 'AFP' that the National Advisory Council had been asked to present a timetable for transition and elections by 26 April to be presented to junta leader Salou. Mr Salou would the review the proposed timetable and announce it before the end of the month.

It is expected that the timetable will include dates for election preparations, local, legislative and presidential elections, a revision of the constitution and other legislation such as the electoral code and press law, and dates for the handing over of powers to a civilian government.

The Niger junta, despite meeting initial protests against the coup, has been received relatively positively by the international community. Its early pledges to democratise Niger without junta members being eligible for the upcoming elections and its early steps to prepare a transition has given the junta goodwill at home and abroad.

However, the continued detention of ex-President Tandja causes regular protest from the African Union (AU). The AU also has pressurised the Niger junta to present a timetable for transition.

20100416
afrol

afrol News, 16 April - After five days of polling in Sudan, in the first multi-party elections in twenty-four years, there is still very little hope for peace after the opposition cried foul of irregularities and alleged vote rigging.

It may seem that Sudan's peace settlement may not actually come through the ballot box, but rather through more dialogue and ironing out of differences between the warring factions.

The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon is already commending and encouraging dialogue after the polls as promised by the ruling party under the President Omar al-Bashir, who still hasn't been let off the hook on the international wanted list for humanitarian crimes.

Elections in Sudan were last experienced in 1986 and almost two decades of civil war between the north and south are the only bitter fruits that the people of Sudan will ever remember as the end result of multi-party elections.

Even with the 2005 north-south peace deal, which ended two decades of war, there is very little peace that has been experienced in Sudan, especially in the South.

Sudan's 2010 election did also not attract all players to contend, with part of the opposition saying the poll was already misconstrued. Most parts of the South did not vote at all, while in those areas where voting took place, it was an uphill for most of the voters to find their names on the roll.

In some cases, where voters were persistent and determined, their names were found places in other areas, sometimes very far from the original polling stations.

Depending on what the international observers will say, Sudan's real peace settlement is far from being achieved, taking into consideration the long years of violence that displaced and disposed people of their homes, belongings and family.

President Bashir on the other hand, is already sure of a win and through his aides is already mapping the way forward for the country, 'the way forward' that may not necessarily be inclusive of all political players in the country, even for just their views.

For instance, the new government of Mr Bashir is ready and preparing for opposition protest of the election outcome. Whether preparation to respond to the protests would be positive or forceful, it is yet an issue to unravel, but not in the so very distant future.

Despite isolated cases of violence in some small pockets of the country during the polls, Sudan's hot-spot Darfur has been reportedly very quiet over the polling period. The region has seen continued fighting since 2003 even though the 2005 north-south peace deal was expected to cool tempers across the country.

The elections are regarded as an important milestone in the implementation of the CPA, which was signed in 2005 to end two decades of warfare pitting the Sudanese Government against the southern-based Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A). The SPLM formed the administration that runs southern Sudan after the signing of the CPA.

20100416
press tv

Sudan's electoral commission has begun counting the votes cast in the country's first multiparty five-day general and presidential elections since 1986.

The ballot results are expected to be revealed in several days, with incumbent President Umar al-Bashir leading the polls after two main candidates withdrew from the race shortly before voting started.

Bashir will most likely be named the president of the republic and Salva Kiir will likely remain president of semi-independent South Sudan, Reuters reported on Friday.

Rumors of vote-rigging and irregularities in Sudan's election surfaced after it was revealed that the electoral commission had contracted a local company to print the ballot papers.

As a result leading opposition parties boycotted the presidential race.

However, former US President Jimmy Carter, whose organization has been monitoring Sudan's election, told the BBC that it would be premature to predict the outcome of the race.

“As you know, almost all the candidates remained in the race until the end of the campaigning period was over. The National Election Commission unanimously told us that if any candidate gets a vote, whether that party has withdrawn or not, the candidate's vote will be counted,” he said.

"And if any of the candidates get a majority of the vote they will be declared to have won the election and they can hold office," Carter added.

The US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley had told a reporter last week that the US has no other "alternative" but to accept the results of the elections, even if the process was flawed.

20100416
presstv

Puntland authorities confirm capturing over a hundred would be immigrants who were on a voyage to Yemen to seek asylum.

Of those detained 103 were Ethiopians while 10 were Somalis. All have been transferred to the region's main police station till further decision is taken, a Press TV correspondent reported late Friday.

Puntland, declared an autonomous state in 1998, is a region in northeastern Somalia.

The immigrants, travelling in overcrowded boats, were apprehended off the coast of Bandar Ziyada, close to Bosaso the central town of Puntland.

Puntland's Minister of Security, Yusuf Ahmed Khayr, held a press conference at the police station where he said that the immigrants would be deported to their home country.

20100416
allafrica

Lagos — Thousands of air travelers were stranded yesterday within Nigeria and other parts of the world as a huge ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano turned the skies of Northern Europe into a no-fly zone.

The volcano began erupting on Wednesday for the second time in a month from below the Eyjafjallajokull glacier. It hurled a plume of ash six to 11 kilometres into the atmosphere and this spread South-east overnight.

In Nigeria, hundreds of flights coming in and going out of the country were cancelled.

An apology posted on British Airways website said "We are very sorry for the inconvenience to our customers but this is clearly something affecting all carriers and is beyond our control"

The statement also said, "All British Airways short-haul flights into and out of the UK will be cancelled until at least 9am on Friday. A number of longhaul flights due to arrive in the UK from 5.30am on Friday are also delayed or cancelled.

"We are keeping our flying schedule under constant review and will aim to give customers as much notice as possible once we receive more information from National Air Traffic Service (NATS)."

BA said that customers booked to travel on a cancelled flight could claim a full refund or rebook their flight for a later date.

Also, in a telephone interview, Spokesperson for Air France in Nigeria Funmi Odesina told THISDAY that although Air France flights arrived Nigeria yesterday but there would be cancellations to flights that would leave the country today to Paris.

Henceforth, until the airline's weather experts give go-ahead for resumption of flights, that would be the situation, she explained. She remarked that the incident is affecting the whole European airspace.

Air Canada said on its website that 12 flights between London and Canadian destinations have been cancelled. The airline is also waiving fees for those affected by the cancellations. So far, only flights to London are affected, but the airline said wind changes could affect flights to places like Frankfurt and Paris .

"It's unpredictable because of the nature of the situation," it said, noting advisories would be posted on the Air Canada website.

Air Transat also issued a travel warning yesterday to its passengers. The airline had one flight to Glasgow, Scotland, that arrived on time, but the aircraft is now stuck at the airport until the ash passes. Another flight to London 's Gatwick airport was cancelled on Thursday, but the airline's other flights to France and elsewhere remain unaffected at this time, a spokesman said.

Heathrow Airport announced this morning that it was suspending all flights in and out of the airport today. "This is due to the closing of British airspace by the U.K. air traffic control service because of volcanic ash spreading across the U.K. from Iceland ," the airport announced on its website.

"Passengers who are due to fly today should not travel to the airport but should contact their airline for re-ticketing information."

The European air safety organisation said the disruption, the biggest seen in the region, could last another two days and a leading volcano expert said the ash could present intermittent problems to air traffic for six months if the eruption continued. Even if the disruption is short lived, the financial impact on airlines is likely to be significant, a consultant said.

Volcanic ash contains tiny particles of glass and pulverised rock which can damage engines and airframes and an Icelandic volcanologist said on Thursday the eruption was growing more intense.

Britain barred flights in its air space, except in emergencies, until at least 0600 GMT on Friday, with a flight returning soldiers from Afghanistan having to be held in Cyprus .

It was the first time "within living memory" that a natural disaster had caused such a halt, a Spokeswoman for UK's NATS said. Even after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities, Britain did not close its air space, she said.

Northern French airports were due to be shut in stages on yesterday evening, with Paris airports to shut by 11 p.m. at the latest, authorities there said. Brussels, Amsterdam and Geneva airports said they had cancelled a large number of flights and Eurocontrol Spokesman Brian Flynn said yesterday afternoon the problem could persist for a further 48 hours.

Airline staff at Stansted airport, North-east London told customers it could be closed until Sunday, said stranded passenger Andy Evans. "People just don't know what to do," he said. "There are hundreds of people in the queues at the sales desks."

A Spokesman at Heathrow, Europe 's busiest airport, said 840 out of 1,250 flights yesterday were affected, disrupting about 180,000 passengers. More than 120,000 other passengers were affected at Gatwick, Stansted and Glasgow airports.

"There is a big financial impact on the airlines," said Director of Air Transport Consults JLS consulting John Strickland.

"We are now looking at at least a day's business wiped out for the airline business ... even if things were meteorologically fine to fly tomorrow by that time the airlines will have all their aircraft and crew out of position so they have no choice but to cancel further flights."

In 1982, a British Airways jumbo jet lost power in all its engines when it flew into an ash cloud over Indonesia, gliding towards the ground before it was able to restart its engines. The incident prompted the aviation industry to rethink the way it prepared for ash clouds, resulting in international contingency plans activated on yesterday.

Scientists said the ash did not pose any health threat because it is at such a high altitude. Professor at the Aon Benfield UCL Hazard Research Centre, Bill McGuire said if the volcano continued erupting for more than 12 months, as it did the last time, periodic disruptions to air traffic could continue.

"The problem is volcanoes are very unpredictable and in this case we have only one eruption to go on," he said. "And a lot depends on the wind. I would expect this shutdown to last a couple of days. But if the eruption continues - and continues to produce ash - we could see repeated disruption over six months or so."

Deputy Head of Operations at Eurocontrol Brian Flynn said the disruption was already unprecedented: "The extent is greater than we've ever seen before in the E.U, the meteorological situation is such that the volcanic ash is progressing very slowly eastwards but there is not a lot of wind... so it is very slow and very dense."

20100416
allafrica

Geneva — African farmers could have gained from a 3.5 percent average increase in world cotton prices, if the US had moved quickly to implement the recommendations of an international trade panel, a new study finds.

The study, commissioned by ICTSD and conducted by Mario Jales of Cornell University, suggests that cotton prices would have risen over a 1998-2007 base period if the US had cut subsidies that were deemed unlawful by a dispute panel at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), following complaints by Brazil.

A recently-announced deal to resolve the dispute, on the eve of punitive retaliatory trade measures that Brazil was due to impose on the US, could leave African countries dependent on a negotiated settlement at the WTO. Under the bilateral accord, the US will review its export credit programme and provide USD 150 million in compensation to Brazilian producers – leaving cuts to the controversial 'countercylical' payments and marketing loan payment programmes to be discussed in subsequent talks.

The paper also finds that farmers in poor countries could have gained from an average 6 percent increase in world cotton prices over the same base period, if the US had accepted proposals made by African nations to slash the lavish subsidies enjoyed by rich country producers.

Cotton production in the US could have declined by as much as 15 percent, the study suggests, if African proposals in the draft Doha accord were applied to historical output levels over the ten-year period examined by the study, and production in the EU could drop by as much as 30 percent. However, production volumes could increase by as much as 3-3.5 percent in Brazil, Central Asia and West Africa – with production values growing by up to 13 percent.

Similarly, if African proposals that are included in the Doha draft were applied to trade flows over the ten-year period that the study examines, US export volumes would have fallen by 16 percent on average. Average export volumes would have increased dramatically for Brazil and India (12-14 percent), and by a lower but still substantial amount in Uzbekistan, the 'C-4' West African cotton producing countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali), and Australia (2-2.5 percent).

“There is an urgent need to rebalance existing trade rules that permit developed countries to highly subsidize domestic production, depress world prices, push farmers elsewhere out of production and impair prospects for economic advancement in the developing world”, Jales said.

“The adoption of ambitious domestic support reforms for cotton in the Doha Round would be a significant step towards the establishment of a fair and market-oriented trading system” added Jales.

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allafrica

Nairobi — A study carried out amongst 1,500 Kenyans released on Thursday by a leading US research institute shows broad tolerance between Christians and Muslims.

But the study, "Tolerance and Tension: Islam and Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa," also pointed to suspicions and mistrust among some Muslims and Christians in Kenya. The survey can be accessed at http://pewforum.org/docs

Nearly half of Kenyan Christians see Muslims as violent, while a third of Muslims view Christians in Kenya the same way, says the study of 19 African countries.

One third of Kenyan Christians say many, most or all Muslims support al Qaeda or other violent Islamist groups, while nearly the same proportion of Kenyan Muslims - 29 per cent - have the same perception.

At the same time, most Muslims and Christians see members of the other faith as honest. And only 29 per cent view conflict between religious groups in the country as "a very big problem."
Pew Study Analyzes Religious Tolerance in Africa

The study also shows overwhelming opposition to abortion and homosexuality among Muslims and Christians, with more than 90 per cent regarding them as immoral.

The US research centre surveyed Africans on political topics as well. It found 80 per cent of Kenyans agreed that democracy is preferable to other forms of government.

Only 37 per cent agree, however, that their lives are better today than five years ago. Researchers spoke to 1,154 Kenyan Christians and 340 Kenyan Muslims from December 2008 to April 2009.

The percentage corresponds with what the survey says is the 88 per cent Christian and 11 per cent Muslim composition of Kenyan society.