2010-04-13
ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's anti-corruption police said on Tuesday it wanted to question former Delta state governor James Ibori, one of the OPEC member's most influential politicians, in its probe into money laundering.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said it was investigating allegations from the Delta Elders Forum that 44 billion naira was looted from the Delta state government while Ibori was governor.

"Following persistent public enquiries over the status of the case involving the former governor, we will like the public to know that Chief James Ibori is wanted by the Commission for interrogation," the EFCC said in a statement.

Ibori, a senior member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) and close associate of President Umaru Yar'Adua, said he not been contacted by the EFCC for questioning.

"Ibori maintains that EFCC's action is just political and not criminal," said Ibori's spokesman Tony Eluemunor.

He is among several former state governors to have been charged by the EFCC since 2007, and several of his associates are facing money laundering charges in the United Kingdom.

A Nigerian court in December dismissed charges against Ibori of looting more than $85 million during his eight-year tenure. The EFCC has said it would appeal the ruling.

Nigeria's 36 state governors have discretionary powers over millions of dollars of public funds. Critics say they sometimes behaved like feudal monarchs, doling out cash as perks to political supporters and persecuting opponents.

The cases against the former governors were seen as a test of Nigeria's commitment to fighting graft, but they have made little progress, moving from one adjournment to another in the past two years.

Acting President Goodluck Jonathan, who assumed executive powers in the absence of ailing President Yar'Adua, has made fighting graft one of his top priorities.

2010-04-13
KHARTOUM/JUBA (Reuters) - Sudanese politicians said on Tuesday poor logistics were preventing hundreds of thousands of voters from taking part in the country's first full election in 24 years, with some early turnout figures below 10 percent.

Voting began on Sunday and had been due to last three days, but authorities announced a two-day extension until Thursday to allow more time for the complex presidential, legislative and gubernatorial polls in Africa's largest country.

The vote seeks to transform the oil producing nation, emerging from decades of civil war, into a democracy, but several major parties announced a boycott on grounds of fraud.

The election looks likely to confirm the 21-year rule of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court to face charges of war crimes in Darfur.

"The elections (in south Sudan) so far have been a slow process with many pockets of confusion and polling stations facing major obstacles," Anne Itto, a senior member of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), told reporters.

South Sudan's heavyweight SPLM sparked a crisis of confidence in the polls this month when it withdrew its presidential candidate, seen as the main contender to Bashir. It is boycotting most of the votes in the north.

The former rebels ended more than two decades of north-south civil war by signing a peace deal with Bashir in 2005, and are now part of a tense national coalition government.

The elections have been free of violence, a major achievement for a country whose history is full of conflict.

On Tuesday an al-Arabiya television cameraman was punched in the face by a police colonel in Khartoum, a staff member said.

"We took it to the police and we met two colonels who offered an official apology," said Bassim al-Jamal who was with the cameraman who was attacked.

"This was just one crazy man," al-Jamal said of their attacker, adding the cameraman was not injured.

NAMES MISSING

Officials and observers said in both the south and north missing names in the electoral register was a major problem.

"People are too impatient to walk to seven different locations and not get their names ... In (one area of) Torit town for example, the total number of registered voters was 1,323 but the number of people who voted (on the first day) was 29, only two percent." Itto listed six other areas where she said the first day's turnout was between three and 10 percent.

The SPLM's boycotting presidential candidate Yasir Arman said his party and opposition groups would hold rallies after the results protesting against government fraud and logistical mix-ups leading to poor turnouts in some states.

Election officials and monitors across Sudan said early voting had been affected by missing ballot boxes, poorly trained staff and confusion over the location of voting centres.

Tamam, an alliance of more than 100 civil society groups in Sudan monitoring the elections, said the turnout was very low on the third day and there were numerous cases of missing voters' names and ballot paper mix-ups.

"We are advocating to stop the elections and repeat the process. (The problems are) so widespread that the whole process, the whole election has to be repeated," said Shamseddin Dawalbeit, deputy head of Tamam.

"The turn out is going to be very low. I don't know if they are going to reach 50 percent," International Crisis Group analyst Fouad Hikmat told Reuters.

The elections are seen as a test of stability as Sudan prepares for a referendum on southern secession in 2011.

Bashir's National Congress Party (NCP) acknowledged there was low turnout in some regions, particularly in the south, but said participation in Khartoum and other areas was encouraging.

"I think that in some areas in the south the turnout may be a bit weaker ... with the logistics problems and transport problems and the high illiteracy rate," senior NCP official Ibrahim Ghandour told Reuters.

"But overall, the voting process is going on very well. There is a very peaceful atmosphere and a considerable rush from the voters in some areas."

HERALD

HARARE City Council could lose 33 trucks to its chief accountant, Mr Tendai Kwenda, who wants to attach the cars to recover US$650 000 he says the municipality owes him in unpaid salaries and benefits.

Mr Kwenda’s lawyer, Mr Joel Mambara, yesterday said he was working on the issue and the Deputy Sheriff of the High Court would soon be duly informed.

The High Court awarded the city chief accountant Z$3,1 septillion, which was to be paid by any legal tender, for the two months of December 2008 and January 2009 when he was unprocedurally suspended from work.

Mr Kwenda demanded US$650 000 arguing it tallied with the official exchange rate of the time.

The Labour Court — on its part — has said the payment of foreign currency awards to workers unprocedurally dismissed during the Zimbabwe dollar era would need a Supreme Court ruling.

Labour Court Senior President Mr Andrew Mutema said though giving the workers local currency was like "giving them stones to buy bread", they could not impose forex payments on companies.

"It would have been better if there had been a precedent like a Supreme Court ruling that the workers be paid in forex, but there is none," said Mr Mutema.

He said it was up to companies and workers to agree on forex restitution.

Management and Mr Kwenda reportedly agreed on a foreign currency package, but the municipality feels US$650 000 is too much.

Should Mr Kwenda have his way, city operations could greatly be compromised.

The vehicles earmarked for attachment include Mazda BT50 and Toyota trucks, all with 2,2-litre engine capacities.

Three of the vehicles have been attached with one already removed from council premises.

A public auction for the removed vehicle was stopped at the 11th hour when Mr Mambara said he wanted the matter resolved "amicably".

However, Mr Kwenda now says he is fed up with town clerk Dr Tendai Mahachi, human resources director Mr Cainos Chingombe, chamber secretary Mrs Josephine Ncube, and the chief legal officer.

"I have never had faith in the management mandated to resolve this issue as they have exhausted my patience and willpower as they are waiting for some divine intervention," he said in his letter.

Mr Kwenda said scheduling more discussions was just "buying time".

At the weekend, Mr Mambara postponed the sale of the removed vehicle but warned that any further delays in settling the matter would result in instant disposal.

In a letter to a Mr F. Gumunyu at the Deputy Sheriff’s Office he said: "We are in the process of trying to resolve this matter amicably.

"In the circumstances, will you please suspend the sale of the attached motor vehicle scheduled on Saturday, 10 April 2010 until further notice from ourselves.

"If no meaningful progress is made in this matter, we shall insist on the removal and sale of the other motor vehicles you attached."

HERALD

INVESTIGATIONS into the alleged unlawful eviction of tenants from council houses in Harare end today with councillors giving evidence.

Senior council officials, including chamber secretary Mrs Josephine Ncube, director of urban planning services Mr Psychology Chiwanga, and human resources director Mr Cainos Chingombe yesterday gave their evidence.

Senior housing officials were also interviewed.

Members of the public continued to give evidence with some alleging council officials were harassing them by daily coming to the houses and telling them to move out.

Ms Spiwe Nyamadzawo, who stays in Room 502m at Trafalgar Court, said: "I have told city officials to allocate me a residential stand but they are refusing.

"Where do I go? My husband worked for the city but unfortunately he died."

The media were not allowed into the interview room with investigators saying they wanted officials and members of the public to freely give evidence.

The investigating team, headed by lawyer Mr Pisirayi Kwenda, had initially said it would conduct public hearings.

Mr Kwenda said they might recall some people who gave evidence following revelations that required further clarification.

Last week, the committee interviewed Harare Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda and town clerk Dr Tendai Mahachi.

The committee also visited Glen Norah to meet district officials and affected families.

Local Government, Rural and Urban Development Minister Dr Ignatius Chombo will get a report of their findings and will subsequently take appropriate action.

In a statement, Mr Kwenda said: "All interested persons are invited to give oral evidence during the interviews."

The interviews start at 8:30am and end at 4pm.

Several councillors and council officials have been implicated in the clandestine eviction of tenants.

Dr Mahachi’s role in the evictions and allocation of houses to councillors has come under the spotlight.

Harare residents have demonstrated against councillors and officials on two occasions.

About 13 MDC-T councillors have so far been implicated in the house takeovers, but some of them are now blaming management for misleading them.

HERALD

US-BASED Operation of Hope has embarked on its seventh programme in Zimbabwe to assist children with cleft lip and palate conditions.

Dr Joe Clawson is leading the team of doctors, nurses and various assistants comprising of 17 health professionals.

The team started operating children on Monday at St Anne’s Hospital with eight undergoing successful operations.

Operation of Hope executive director Ms Jennifer Trubenbach said they were targeting at least 70 children.

"We have 70 children at hand who need to be operated and we hope that by the end of our visit in two weeks time, we would have undertaken the operations successfully."

Most of the children to be operated on are referrals from provincial hospitals around Zimbabwe.

Two-year-old Rutendo Chinodya from Hurungwe had a successful palate operation on Monday and is expected to leave the hospital in two days.

Mrs Elizabeth Mutukwa, whose four-month-old son Wonderful was also operated on, expressed gratitude for the programme.

"I never expected that my child would get help and many thanks to Operation of Hope for helping these innocent souls.

"Now my son can eat properly and grow up healthy."

The team said it would return in October this year.

The organisation is working with the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare and has urged people to disseminate information on its mission to rural areas.

HERALD

ILORIN. One of the white farmers from Zimbabwe working in Kwara State, Mr James Chisohm, was mysteriously found dead beside a stream in Labintan Village in Asa at the weekend.

Informed sources told Vanguard that the deceased had earlier sent his workers to get him drinkable water.

On their return, the source said, the boys could not locate 63-year-old Chisohm, prompting the launch of a search party.

The search, which started on Friday, continued till Saturday and they eventually discovered Chisohm’s corpse in the village.

On Sunday, Kwara State Police Command confirmed the development.

According to police public relations officer Dabo Ezekiel: "The Kwara State Police Command wishes to announce to the general public the death of a white Zimbabwean farmer.

"The deceased Zimbabwean farmer, Hamish James Chisohm aged 63, was confirmed dead on Saturday at about 12:06hrs after a severe search.

"Hamish James Chisohm, the deceased Zimbabwean farmer, Sunday, Baba Azeez, Elemosho and Seyi Adedo-kun, all of Starch Mill Farm, went to measure the land and set the boundary.

"At a stage, Hamish sent them to get him water from the office and later directed them to meet him at another location of the farm. When they came back with the water at the said location, Hamish was nowhere to be found."

Dabo continued: "A search party was put in place to go round the farm to look for him, but the search proved abortive. On 10 April 2010, the search resumed and about 12:06hrs of the same date, the body was found dead by the side of a stream in Labintan Village."

The police spokesperson noted that investigations showed no signs of violence or wounds on the body and no foul play was suspected.

He said the corpse had been moved to the state specialist hospital morgue where autopsy would be conducted after which it would be released to the family for burial.

A delegation comprising state Police Commissioner Muhtari Ibrahim, the Commissioner for Planning and Economic Development Abdulfatah Ahmad, Security Adviser to the Governor Yinka Aluko, Mike Fields and John Sawyer (both Zimbabwean farmers) and other staff of the farm visited the place where Chisohm was found dead.

postzambia

PATRIOTIC Front (PF) president Michael Sata yesterday observed that President Rupiah Banda's instruction to immediately mobilise funds for main roads like the Mutanda-Chavuma in North Western Province is part of official systematic rigging.

And UPND president Hakainde Hichilema said much as the construction of roads was important and welcome, President Banda's corrupt mind was at work once again.

Reacting to President Banda's directive to finance minister Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane to immediately mobilise additional funds for the construction of main roads throughout the country, Sata described President Banda's act as a desperate attempt to hoodwink the people of North Western Province to vote for the MMD in the Mufumbwe parliamentary by-election.

“Mr Banda is using the same old gimmick of UNIP, and the old gimmick of MMD because, for example, there is a by-election in Mufumbwe, then somebody says 'we are going to look for money, we have hired three contractors to finish the tarring of Mutanda-Chavuma road'.

Where have they been? Where have they found the money all of a sudden?” Sata asked. “Is that not part of rigging? This is part of official systematic rigging.

And Luwingu road is as old as MMD government itself, former president Frederick Chiluba survived 10 years without finishing Kasama-Luwingu-Mansa road; late president Levy Mwanawasa seven years without doing anything on Kasama-Luwingu-Mansa road and Rupiah Banda is just playing with it…nobody talks about Kasama-Mporokoso-Kaputa road.”

Sata said President Banda was talking about the development of other roads to cover up for the current works on the Chipata-Mfuwe road, which passes through his farm.

“It has already brought political upheaval in Eastern Province where major roads like Chipata-Chadiza, Katete-Chadiza have been ignored,” he said.

Sata said people were already aware of the desperate moves from the government because these schemes were applied in Kasama and Kapoche where they sent graders to work on the roads during campaigns, and were withdrawn immediately after the by-elections.

“We remember the sugar-daddy in Milanzi, so this is just an eye opener, people of Zambia must open their eyes,” said Sata. “There is a lot more that is going to happen. Money will come from heaven where they are going to spend between now and 28th April 2010 and after 28th of April they will forget about it.”

And Hichilema said the rehabilitation of the Mutanda-Chavuma road was not President Banda's main interest.

He said chiefs in North Western Province recently threatened not to vote for the MMD if the Mutanda-Chavuma road was not tarred.

“While I think it is important that first Zambia gets the road network improved, I think that is important development, there is no question about that. Mutanda-Chavuma road is extremely important. It is a road that has been going on forever, 20 years, even more… I am sure he can also raise money for the Bottom road which they have been cheating people for 20 years,” Hichilema said.

“But the reason he President Banda is doing that, on one hand whilst it's important that the road is done, but the main reason Rupiah Banda is doing that is simply to buy the votes of the people in those areas.

You are aware that I think some chiefs in North Western Province said 'if the Mutanda-Chavuma road is not tarred completely, they will not vote for the MMD'. I am sure you remember those statements. So really looking at Rupiah Banda's mentality, for him, yes, the roads are important, but for him it's mainly to see if he can buy votes.”

Hichilema said rehabilitation works on the roads being talked about by the government were long overdue.

However, he said people were entitled to good roads and they should not feel indebted to the MMD by giving them a vote.

He said the MMD had failed to work on those roads for over 20 years and they wanted to work on them in an election year.

Hichilema said the plans to commence works on the said roads were also an opportunity for the MMD government to award contracts to their friends and children's friends without following proper tender procedures.
He said the MMD and corruption were inseparable.

“So for them it is actually a fundraising exercise rather than more of helping the people. But I want to say the roads must be done and the roads must be done in an efficient manner, in the manner that the contract must be transparent so the corruption we have seen in Zamtel, we have seen in oil procurement does not prevail in the issuance of contracts,” Hichilema said.

“We want a full disclosure of where the money is coming from so that the people of Zambia are not having to pay for expensive roads as they are paying K40 million per borehole…but after the roads, we want to make sure that people have fertiliser…if you look at a lot of roads that are being done under MMD, you find that a kilometre costs almost twice the price.”

Hichilema said the UPND were experiencing violence on their camps in Mufumbwe but police and the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) had failed to do anything over the matter.

“MMD know they will lose the election, they are collecting names of dead people from Mufumbwe Hospital and issuing new National Registration Cards in the name of the dead. Even the people that have relocated, they are making sure that they find a way of making those people vote in absentia,” said Hichilema.

“So what should people like us be doing? Should we just be watching? No, we are going to do everything to stop that, and we will not tolerate anybody saying we are being difficult, because the democratic right of the people of Zambia is being taken away. We reserve the right to do anything we want.”

President Banda was quoted in Monday's Daily Mail as having instructed Dr Musokotwane to immediately mobilize extra money from bilateral and multilateral institutions, specifically for the road sector.

He also directed works and supply minister Mike Mulongoti to mobilize contracts to ensure that the construction of key roads in the country was completed this year.

President Banda said he specifically wanted to see the completion of the Mutanda-Chavuma, Choma-Chitongo-Namwala roads in Southern Province and the Kasama-Luwingu road in Northern Province.

20100413

LILONGWE, 13 April 2010 (PlusNews) - Male circumcision (MC), which can reduce HIV among men by up to 60 percent, is controversial in Malawi and government has yet to implement mass male circumcision. But a chain of private clinics has rolled out the measure with some surprising results.

Banja La Mtsogolo (BLM) – Future Family in the local Chichewa language - a private family planning organization, rolled out the procedure at its network of 30 national clinics in 2009 and is the only organization offering it as part of an HIV prevention package.

The UN World Health Organization recommends circumcision and Malawi's National HIV Prevention Strategy 2009-2013 acknowledges its role, but falls short of outlining a clear policy.

Brendan Hayes, the head of BLM, admitted that MC has been a hard sell.

"In Malawi, you've got very big differences in the HIV epidemic from north to south and those differences don’t correlate to differences in circumcision prevalence. High prevalence rates are in the southern part of the country, which is also where we have the most circumcision ... but you're still only talking about one in three men," he told IRIN/PlusNews.

"These differences aren't totally inexplicable but I think it's made people more cautious about moving forward with male circumcision."

2010-04-13
GENEVA (Reuters) - A Geneva court has backed a claim by a son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi that the publication of leaked police photos of him by a Swiss newspaper infringed his privacy.

Monday's verdict in favour of Hannibal Gaddafi, cautiously welcomed by the Swiss government, raised hopes that the row between the two countries, in which a Swiss businessman is also being held in Libya on visa offences, could soon be resolved.

At one stage the 21-month-old row blocked travel and growing business ties between oil-exporter Libya and most of Europe.

But at the end of March the European Union defused the broader dispute with Libya sparked by a travel blacklist of 188 senior Libyans imposed by non-EU member Switzerland.

Swiss foreign ministry spokesman Lars Knuchel declined on Tuesday to comment on what impact the Geneva ruling would have on the case of Max Goeldi, serving a four-month prison sentence in Libya, or whether it would lead to renewed efforts for his release.

"We welcome the Geneva tribunal's verdict. The release of the police identification photos of Hannibal Gaddafi constitutes an offence," he told Reuters in answer to an enquiry.

Police arrested Hannibal and his wife at a Geneva hotel in July 2008 on charges -- later dropped -- of assaulting two domestic staff.

Libya reacted furiously to what it saw as a deliberate insult to Gaddafi's family, withdrawing $5 billion from Swiss banks and cutting the sale of oil to the Alpine state.

It subsequently detained Goeldi, the local head of Swiss-Swedish engineering group ABB, as well as another businessman of joint Swiss-Tunisian nationality who was released in February.

Libya has denied any connection between their detention and the case of Hannibal, who visited Goeldi in prison on March 1.

Hannibal was particularly incensed at the leaking of his police mugshot to a Geneva daily, the Tribune de Geneve, and sued the paper and Geneva authorities for breach of privacy.

The court confirmed that there had been a breach of privacy as there was no overriding public interest in publishing the photos, and ordered the newspaper and the canton of Geneva to publish its ruling and pay costs. But it rejected Hannibal's claim for 100,000 Swiss francs in damages.

20100413
SABC

The Mpumalanga Health Department says it has spent over R424 million on projects related to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The department says a helicopter, ambulances and forensic vehicles have been acquired. These will be dispatched to the Mbombela Stadium, the local fan park and other public viewing areas in the province.

"We are ready - we have already employed professionals in terms of the doctors, nurses and emergency staff. We have already made a plan - we know specifically how many people will be deployed per area, per game. We have made sure that we have the necessary skills where we were running short of the skills. We have made sure that we skill our officials in terms of the requirements," says health MEC Dikaledi Mahlangu.

Nearly 20 000 rooms have already been sprayed as part of communicable disease control in Mbombela, Nkomazi and Bushbuckridge municipalities. About 86 000 people will be vaccinated for H1N1 and plans are also afoot to curb drugs and human trafficking.

South Africans urged to buy tickets

Meanwhile, with just weeks to the World Cup in South Africa, the world football governing body FIFA and the Local Organising Committee have appealed to South Africans to buy the remaining 500 000 tickets that have been made available.

Jerome Valcke of FIFA told CNN: "This final ticket phase is very important. We will not want to give that picture of empty seats to the world; all will need to be done in these last days. I am very happy with the progress that has been made in the last four ticketing phases. What is important now is to sell the remaining tickets."

The head of the World Cup local organising committee Danny Jordaan said: "We have done everything we were asked to do. We have created a reduced price category of tickets exclusively for South Africa. We have now implemented over-the-counter sales to make sure the tickets are accessible. The final thing is that South Africans must respond. If you are a good host, you must be there. We do not want the World Cup experience to end at the stadiums or the match venues, we want to go beyond that. People who visit our country must be able to enjoy many aspects of our culture and visit many iconic sites."

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian police detained one protester and scuffled with others among a group of about 200 demonstrating on Tuesday for an end to President Hosni Mubarak's 29-year rule, a security source and witnesses said.

The protest was organised by Egypt's two most active grassroots groups, the Sixth of April Youth and Kefaya (Enough), which want changes to the constitution to free up politics and an end to emergency law that allows indefinite detentions.

Egypt holds a parliament election later this year and a presidential vote next year. The president's ruling party is expected, as usual, to dominate in the assembly. Rights groups have cited widespread abuses in past votes.

Mubarak, 81, had gallbladder surgery in Germany in March and has not been seen in public since returning last month. He has not said if he will run for another term.

The protesters were surrounded by police in riot gear and scuffles started when some demonstrators tried to break through a cordon to start a march from a court complex in central Cairo, Reuters witnesses said.

Protesters chanted "Down, down, Hosni Mubarak" and other anti-government slogans.

Reuters Television images showed police hitting several protesters.

"The police were rough with us and attacked and detained one of us ... We tried to get away from the police surrounding us, but they did not let us," Fawzy, a protester who gave only his first name, told Reuters.

A security source confirmed one protester had been detained.

The protest followed a police crackdown on a demonstration for political reform in Cairo on April 6, in which 93 protesters were detained, most were freed the same day and the rest later.

Egypt's ally, the United States, said after that protest that it was "deeply concerned" about the arrests. Egypt, one the largest recipients of U.S. aid, dismissed criticism as interference in its internal affairs.

Such demonstrations are rare. Protests briefly gained momentum around the 2005 presidential election, Egypt's first multi-candidate race, at a time when Washington was pushing for democratic change in the region.

But protests rarely numbered more than a few hundred people and police cracked down as U.S. pressure to change eased.

ALGIERS (Reuters) - A decision by Algeria's government that women should pose for passport photographs without their Islamic headscarves has re-opened wounds still raw after nearly two decades of Islamist militant violence.

Algeria's secular-minded government says that as part of the introduction of new biometric passports, all women should be photographed without the veil, a requirement that has angered the country's influential religious traditionalists.

"We are in an Islamic country and the state should not be issuing laws that contradict our religion," said Abderahmane Chibane, the head of the Muslim Ulema Association which groups leading Islamic scholars.

The issue has even caused disagreement inside the ruling coalition that backs President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, with the moderate Islamist MSP party, a junior coalition member, saying women should be able to wear the veil in passport photos.

Algeria is emerging from a conflict that broke out after the military backed government in 1992 scrapped legislative elections that a radical Islamist party was poised to win. About 200,000 people were killed in the violence.

As part of efforts to end the fighting, Bouteflika made concessions to the Islamists, including offering an amnesty to rebel fighters, setting up religious television and radio stations and turning a blind eye to radical propaganda.

However, analysts say the row over passports risks damaging the truce between the government and the Islamists that has helped reduce the violence and usher in a period of relative stability.

GLOBAL TRAVEL RULES

Interior Minister Yazid Zerhouni, who is in charge of the new passports, has said the rules are needed to bring Algeria into line with international conventions.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) set April 1 this year for all member countries to start issuing machine readable passports incorporating biometric data.

"The veil should be taken off in accordance with international regulations which require that the person's forehead and the ears should be visible on the photograph," Zerhouni said.

This has been received with anger in a country which is one of the most devoutly religious in North Africa and where the majority of women wear the hijab -- a veil which covers the head -- though very few cover their faces.

"I will never take off my veil, I would rather never travel," Nachida Belili, a 19-year-old student, told Reuters in the Algerian capital.

Bouguera Soltani, leader of the MSP party, said this point of view should be respected. "It is not the people that should follow the government but the government that should follow the people, " he was quoted as saying in the Algerian media.

Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti, Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Al al-Sheikh -- who is a moral authority for many Algerian Islamists -- has issued a fatwa, or religious edict, on the issue.

"It is haram (forbidden) for a Muslim to ask a woman to take off her veil," two Algerian dailies quoted him as saying.

According to Mohamed Mouloudi, an independent Algerian scholar who specialises in Islamic issues, a compromise is needed to prevent the row causing even more tension between the government and the Islamists.

"It is up to Bouteflika now to solve the dispute between the two camps. He has enough authority to convince both sides," Mouloudi told Reuters.

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa intends buying antiretroviral (ARV) drugs at the lowest prices, even from foreign companies, despite opposition from local drugmakers, the health minister said on Tuesday.

South Africa -- where an estimated 1,000 people die each day due to AIDS-related complications -- has the world's largest ARV programme as it tries to combat one of the globe's highest HIV/AIDS caseloads. At least 5.7 million out of a population of 50 million are infected with HIV.

A regimen of ARV drugs can prolong the life of those diagnosed with the incurable disease that kills millions each year.

"The prices that South Africa pays for ARVs are significantly higher than all other countries," Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi told parliament during his budget vote speech.

"This just does not make sense. We must be able to purchase ARVs at the lowest prices as we are the largest consumers of ARVs in the world and must benefit from economies of scale," he said, without indicating what prices were paid.

The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) -- part of a global drive to increase access to ARVs and reduce its cost to developing countries -- said South Africa has paid hundreds of millions of rand more to purchase drugs that could be sourced cheaper on the international market.

Mark Heywood, an executive member of the TAC, told Reuters that after the finalisation of ARV supply contracts, the prices of several drugs, such as Efavirenz, dropped significantly but the government continued to be locked into the tender prices.

Motsoaledi said attempts to reduce the ARV prices and introduce new tender specifications had already generated opposition from some local pharmaceutical manufacturers who claim the approach will lead to job losses.

"There is no choice. We must purchase ARVs at the lowest possible cost from whatever source that can guarantee us the lowest prices, whether inside or outside the country," Motsoaledi said.

Shares in the country's top drugmakers Aspen Pharmacare, Adcock Ingram and Cipla Medpro have risen 12-30 percent since South Africa announced a new approach to AIDS last year, although analysts say they are unlikely to raise big profits from the plan as activists lobby for lower prices and greater competition.

South Africa has a 7 billion rand plan to expand HIV/AIDS treatment as it seeks to ramp up access to 80 percent of those living with HIV/AIDS and reduce the number of new infections by 50 percent by 2011/12.

Motsoaledi said unless decisive action was taken, South Africa will not overcome the burden of HIV/AIDS.

"This is why the new ARV tender specifications will be prepared in a way that opens the way for us to purchase ARVs at the lowest possible price. I will not compromise on this," he said.

2010-04-13
LAGOS (Reuters) - Hundreds of Nigerian youths rallied in the commercial capital Lagos on Tuesday demanding Acting President Goodluck Jonathan implement much needed electoral reforms to ensure credible national polls next year.

Political demonstrations have become more common in Africa's most populous country since the departure of ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua from the public eye five months ago.

Jonathan has taken over executive powers and has tried to quickly assert his authority in the absence of Yar'Adua, who remains too sick to govern.

But concerns linger of a possible power struggle between Jonathan and key Yar'Adua allies, especially if the president begins to recover from his heart ailment.

The political uncertainty in sub-Saharan Africa's second biggest economy has stalled key reforms, slowed state business, and threatened a popular amnesty programme that has brought relative peace to the oil-producing Niger Delta.

"We are saying enough is enough. Nigeria is not going forward," said Shade Ladipo, a 28-year-old event planner.

The protesters, some carrying placards saying "Jonathan We are Watching", and "We want to talk for ourselves", marched to the office of Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola, giving him a list of demands to forward to Jonathan and other political leaders.

"We want electoral reforms. We want our votes to count," said Christopher Ehindero, a film maker in Lagos. "I'm 34 and I have never voted in my life."

Jonathan has made overhauling Nigeria's electoral system a top priority to avoid a repeat of the flawed 2007 polls, which brought Yar'Adua to power.

Reform legislation is currently before parliament. But time is quickly running out for changes to be implemented in time for next year's elections, which are due by April 2011.

The United States, by far Nigeria's biggest trading partner, said the West African country's election chief should be replaced if it wants to hold credible national polls.

The 2007 elections were so marred by ballot-stuffing and voter intimidation that local and international observers said they were not credible.

2010-04-13
GENEVA (Reuters) - Eight Red Cross staff were seized by an armed group in eastern Congo last week, and an outbreak of fighting in the area could put the hostages at greater risk, the aid group said on Tuesday.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the Swiss citizen and seven Congolese were seized on Friday by Mai Mai militia after their convoy was stopped in the remote area of Fizi, in Democratic Republic of Congo's South Kivu province.

"We are concerned because they are being held in a region of open military operations," Inah Kaloga, communications coordinator at ICRC in Congo, told Reuters.

Congo's army and the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the country said on Tuesday that the Mai Mai group had been involved in fighting that erupted in Fizi overnight on Monday.

Kaloga said traditional community leaders were helping in talks with the gunmen and the ICRC had been able to confirm that its seized staff were in good health. However, contact had been cut since the start of the fighting.

"We have been in contact with the group to explain we were on a humanitarian mission and as such have a neutral stance on the conflict," Kaloga said.

Franz Rauchenstein, head of the ICRC delegation in Congo, called on the gunmen to release the aid workers as soon as possible.

ICRC said that its staff were being held by the Mai Mai Yakutumba group, one of several factions of the Mai Mai, a broad term used to describe the local defence militia that fought for the government against rebels during Congo's wars.

The Yakutumba faction last year pulled out of efforts to integrate its fighters into Congo's new army, complaining about conditions on offer. Its leader, Yakutumba Amuli, rejected a senior rank in the army.

Last week the group ambushed the army northwest of Fizi and killed an officer, the United Nations said.

The ICRC said the group stopped a convoy of two ICRC vehicles and six people on a road in the area last week. Two ICRC guards who went to investigate were subsequently held.

The ICRC is among the few aid groups working in the area, whose remote hills and lack of roads make it hard to reach. The humanitarian organisation maintains a permanent presence in South Kivu province in Bukavu, Uvira, Marungu and Fizi.

A U.N.-backed military operation to oust Rwandan Hutu rebels from North and South Kivu launched attacks at the end of February, involving dispersed and sporadic fighting that has displaced thousands of people.

It is not clear if the recent fighting in Fizi is related.

2010-04-13
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Somalia's interim government and the semi-autonomous region of Puntland vowed on Tuesday to work together to attack pirate lairs along the Horn of Africa nation's coast to try to stem a spate of hijackings.

Somali sea gangs continue to roam the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean, seizing vessels and their crews and making off with millions of dollars in ransoms, while international warships patrol the vast seas in a desperate bid to stop them.

"Our forces are joining troops of (the interim government) and are going to face and fight against the pirates and their operations in Puntland's coast," Puntland Interior Minister Abdullahi Ahmed Ilkajiir told reporters in Kenya's capital.

Pirates take advantage of Somalia's lack of central control since the 1991 ousting of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre to create havens mainly in the northeast region of Puntland whose authorities, critics say, turn a blind eye.

A cash bonanza from ransoms has filled pirate coffers and led to an influx of gleaming cars, new villas and luxury goods into areas in Puntland, which declared itself independent in the early 1990s when Somalia was plunged into anarchy and civil war.

Puntland security officials and residents of an area where pirates are holding the Bermuda-flagged MV Talca said the region had sent troops to cut supplies to pirates on that ship.

But the pirates warned Puntland not to underestimate them.

"If this blockade is not lifted soon, the prime victims will be the crew. They will no longer get food and water," pirate Abdi told Reuters from the MV Talca.

"They think they are hurting us alone. We shall eat, but the crew will not if this continues."

An international flotilla patrols the area -- one of the world's busiest shipping lanes -- with only sporadic success in stopping the hijackings of cargo and other vessels.

Russia's U.N. envoy said earlier this month that the piracy was getting worse, partly due to the legal limbo that has led some countries to release captured suspects.

Analysts say it will be difficult to solve the problem without first tackling Somalia's onshore security challenges. Islamist rebels control large swathes of the nation and the interim government is hemmed into small portions of the capital.

Somalia's western-backed government has battled al Shabaab rebels, who have professed loyalty to al Qaeda, and Hizbul Islam militants for several years and has vowed over the last few months to launch a major offensive.

20100413
SABC

The Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) claims large numbers of people are joining the far right wing organisation after the brutal murder of its former leader Eugene Terre'Blanche. Terre'Blanche was bludgeoned and hacked to death at his farm outside Ventersdorp almost two weeks ago. Two farm workers have been arrested and have appeared in court.

"Our membership is rocketing because the people are fed-up of murders, crimes and the way the ANC government is running this country. I honestly can tell you that our membership is rocketing," says AWB spokesperson, Pieter Steyn.

Steyn has dismissed reports that they are regrouping in order to participate in the forthcoming local government and general elections. He says they are a cultural group that believes in self determination.

"We are a cultural organisation - we are not involved in politics. We are not a political party, we are the boere-volk and what we are saying is that we want our homeland where we can govern ourselves according to our religion, our beliefs, without Nigerian drug lords, abortion, prostitution and corruption and all those horrible things that we are seeing in our communities," adds Steyn.

Death threat

Meanwhile, a former Bophuthatswana policeman who shot dead three AWB members in 1994 is living in fear for his life after finding a threatening note in his room recently. Ontlametse Menyatsoe, who is a member of the SAPF in the North West, discovered the note in his room at the Hammanskraal Police College where he was on a course.

The note read: "Wat ek belowe aan jou is pyn, hartseer, honger of self die dood. Pasop" (What I promise you is pain, heartache, hunger and death. Beware).

Gauteng provincial police spokesperson Captain Julia Claassen has confirmed that police are investigating a case of intimidation.

2010-04-013
GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday that fighting was taking a heavy toll on civilians in Somalia and casualties were overwhelming a dwindling health care staff in the capital Mogadishu.

"In March 2010 alone, at least 900 conflict-related injuries and 30 deaths were reported at Mogadishu's three main hospitals," WHO spokesman Paul Garwood told a news briefing.

He told Reuters: "Health care workers are struggling to cope, they are overwhelmed with the huge increase in wounded. It is stretching an already weak health care system to the limit."

Children aged under 5 years old accounted for 10 percent of reported injuries, which included shrapnel and gunshot wounds, fractures and crush injuries, he said.

At least 13 civilians were killed in fighting between Somali government forces and hardline Islamist militants in Mogadishu on Monday and bomb blasts killed six people, rescue services and the police said.

Somalia's fragile government controls just a few blocks in the capital and al Shabaab rebels, who want to impose a harsh version of sharia law on the anarchic nation, control large swathes of southern and central Somalia.

The Western-backed government has said for several months it will launch a major offensive against al Shabaab rebels, who have professed loyalty to al Qaeda, and Hizbul Islam militants.

At least 3.2 million people are affected by Somalia's humanitarian crisis, according to the WHO, a U.N. agency. Some 1,400 women die per every 100,000 live births and at least 86 infants among 1,000 die before reaching their first birthday.

Omar Saleh, a WHO specialised trauma surgeon, has just returned from training 33 doctors, nurses and midwives in Mogadishu to improve their skills in responding to the escalating conflict, the WHO said. He has trained about 100 workers in the past year.

Only 250 qualified doctors, 860 nurses and 116 midwives work today in Somalia, home to the lowest number of health workers of any country in the Horn of Africa or Middle East, it added.

The rate translates into 0.11 health workers per 1,000 people, about half of the minimum threshold required to conduct essential health services, it said.

Somalia had 300 doctors as recently as 2006, but some have fled the country, part of a "brain drain", while others have been victims of the violence, including some killed by a deadly blast at a graduation ceremony last December, Garwood said.

20100413
SABC

The Afrikanerbond has lodged a complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) about ANC Youth League president Julius Malema's outburst against a BBC journalist. "As the custodians of human rights in South Africa, we expected that the South African Human Rights Commission would have spoken out or taken action against Mr Malema," Afrikanerbond chief secretary Jan Bosman said today.

It had also expressed its ‘discontent’ about this in a letter to the SAHRC, containing the complaint, he said in a statement. "We can only hope that the Human Rights Commission will now act in a manner which will restore confidence in this constitutional institution."

At a press conference in Johannesburg on Thursday, Malema called BBC journalist Jonah Fisher, among other things, a 'bastard' and an 'agent'.

Malema had been criticising Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change for operating out of the upmarket Johannesburg suburb of Sandton when Fisher remarked that Malema himself lived there.

The Afrikanerbond has already brought hate speech complaints against Malema over his public singing of the words Shoot the boer. “We believe that the promotion of human rights and constitutional values must now be a priority.”

In its complaint, the Afrikanerbond accused Malema of not only violating the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of the press in his ‘tirade’, but of "a racist attack which amounts to hate speech".

In an apology to the BBC over Malema's outburst last week, the Afrikanerbond wrote that millions of honest, decent, hard-working and civilised South Africans bore the brunt of Malema and the ANCYL's agenda which it claimed was to 'polarise' South Africa with 'renewed racism'. – Sapa

2010-04-13
LUANDA (Reuters) - Human Rights Watch urged the Angolan government on Tuesday to step up its fight against corruption and mismanagement, noting that most of the population still lived in poverty.

In a 31-page report, the New York-based group said, despite undertakings to eradicate graft, the government of President Jose Eduardo dos Santos had yet to show it was prepared to take action.

"The government needs to take strong action to combat the corruption and secrecy that undermine Angolans' rights," Arvind Ganesan, director of the New York-based group's Business and Human Rights Program, said in a statement.

"Here is a nation with a wealth of resources while its people live in poverty."

Angola ranks with Nigeria as Africa's biggest oil producer.

The report said the publication of oil revenue figures and calls last year by dos Santos for "zero tolerance" of corruption showed the government's willingness to improve transparency.

"However, given that the president and ruling party have been in power for more than three decades, including the entire period in which oil-fuelled corruption has been rampant, sceptics will wait to see whether meaningful action will accompany these statements," HRW said.

A spokesman for dos Santos was not immediately available for comment.

About $2.4 billion went missing from the central bank between 1999 and 2002, HRW said.

In 2004, the group accused the Angolan government of siphoning off billions of dollars in oil revenues. The government dismissed the report at the time, saying it was an attempt to tarnish its image after the end of the 27-year civil war in 2002.

Angola is ranked among the world's 18 most corrupt countries, according to Transparency International's 2009 corruption index.

Its gross domestic product increased by more than 400 percent in the past six years, yet millions of Angolans had limited access to basic social services, HRW said.

A $1.4 billion loan obtained by Angola from the International Monetary Fund in November, after years of wrangling, offered hope for greater transparency, HRW added.

The African country relied on oil exports and loans from China to rebuild after the civil war.

"This (loan) may be an opportunity for the Chinese government to address problems with transparency and accountability," HRW said.

"The Chinese government and Chinese companies have invested billions in oil-for-infrastructure deals while remaining relatively silent on governance in Angola and elsewhere."