The head of Nigeria’s electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof. Maurice Iwu insisted that he would continue with his assignment given to him by the federal government until the end of his tenure expected to round up in June this year.
Recently, there were serious agitations from various quotas especially the opposition political groups as well as civil society groups demanding for his sack. The groups also are warning federal government against any attempt to renew his tenure. But Iwu’s spokesman, Mr. Andy Ezeni said his boss would not quit his position until the end of his tenure if he was not reappointed.
Mr. Ezeani added that Prof Iwu has a constitutional mandate which ends in June and that all the excitement being generated is unnecessary, adding that, “Those calling for his head are only wasting their time because he has a tenure and once it is over he would take his leave unless he is ask to say.”
Earlier, this week, a government official working at the presidency revealed that Prof. Iwu’s five-year tenure as INEC boss will come to an end when he leaves office this weekend, but the report could not be ascertained as Iwu is still incharge.
In the words of his spokesman, “Iwu has always said that he is serving the country and going against such mandate will not be in the best interest of democracy and national development.”
Of recent, there have been various rallies for and against Iwu. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) together with several human rights and civil society groups staged a protest urging the government to quickly sack Iwu.
Also penultimate week, some youths staged a demonstration in Abuja urging the government to reappoint Iwu, who they said is the best person to deliver credible polls in Nigeria come 2011 general elections.
The United States of America has through its Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson demanded for Iwu’s sack saying that the electoral body under him has not served the interest of Nigerians.
However, the federal government has not said anything or taken any position on the matter.

YAOUNDE, April 12 (Xinhua) -- Already postponed from April 25 to May 16, the presidential and legislative elections in the Central African Republic could be postponed again, according to an official source.

The source close to the presidency told Xinhua on Sunday on telephone from Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, the new postponement had been justified by the authorities as a necessary guarantee for the success of elections.

Outgoing President Francois Bozize and ex-president Ange Felix Patasse, who came back from exile in Togo, had previously agreed on the polls will other politicians in an inclusive political dialogue held in Dec. 2008.

The election process has since met with disturbances from issues like persistent rebel movements, which still occupy parts of the territory, especially the north.

In addition, a boycott has been announced by opposition parties, which are calling for the return of peace before any voting operation is launched.

Bozize came to power on March 15, 2003 in a military coup to topple Patasse, who is today considered as a formidable opponent. Bozize was elected in May 2005 and is to run for his second term.

KHARTOUM, April 12 (Xinhua) -- Sudanese voters began to cast their votes on the second day of polling on Monday in the first multi-party elections in the country in more than 24 years.

The second day of polling is seen as a real challenge for the National Elections Commission (NEC) to prove its ability to overcome what it calls the "technical and administrative mistakes" in the first day of polling

On Sunday, the NEC acknowledged mistakes in voters' lists and some candidates' names, but said these mistakes were corrected.

In the meantime, many parties are demanding an extension of polling.

The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) on Sunday asked for an extension of voting in the southern part of the country due to mistakes in the polling process.

Susan Jambo, a senior official responsible for the SPLM's election campaign, told Xinhua in Juba, the regional capital of southern Sudan, that they had found a lot of mistakes since the polling process started.

The chairman of Khartoum State's National Congress Party (NCP), Abdul-Rahman al-Khader, also demanded an extension of polling, local newspapers reported Monday.

More than 16 million Sudanese voters started casting their votes on Sunday to choose their representatives for the presidency, state governors, the president of southern Sudan and legislative councils.

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, April 12 (Xinhua) -- The 3rd Common Market of East and South Africa (COMESA) Investment Forum kicked off here with an aim to lure investment to the countries of the regional bloc.

The two-day forum is expected to address key investment opportunities on the sectors relevant to the region and Africa as a whole.

The discussions will cover investment in infrastructure, agro- processing, renewable energy, financial services and tourism.

The forum, organized by COMESA Regional Investment Agency (RIA), in collaboration with the Egyptian Ministry of Investment and Egyptian General Authority for Investment (GAFI), will also take up mechanisms to finance investment projects and means to improve the climate of investment in COMESA's 19 member states.

COMESA was established in 1994 as an organization of free independent sovereign states which have agreed to cooperate in developing their natural and human resources with wide-ranging series of objectives including in its priorities the promotion of peace and security in the region.

DAKAR (Reuters) - Growth rates that outstrip the developed world are drawing emerging markets asset manager Silk Invest to open a 100 million euro fund to invest in African food processing and sales, the company said.

The London-based firm, which takes its name from the 'Silk Route' historical trade paths linking Europe and Asia, plans to launch the Africa Food Fund in June, it said at the weekend.

Unlike many investments in Africa, it is not a bet on raw commodities, but instead on their local processing and distribution to African consumers.

"(The) focus of the fund is to invest in companies across the food value chain and we especially like the companies who are servicing the local African consumers," chief executive Zin Bekkali told Reuters.

"Examples of target companies that we are analysing are ...

(a) fast food chain which wants to accelerate the number of outlets that it has, a cocoa processing company which wants to sell more of its own branded products, a flavoured fizzy drinks producer which is building capacity in mineral water, and a biscuit maker which is importing currently 50 percent of the products it sells but wants to replace it by its own goods."

Many Middle Eastern investment agencies are spending money to grow crops in Africa for shipment to their domestic markets to alleviate food insecurity in the Arab world, but Silk Invest is looking for companies that sell to African consumers.

"Moving to packaged sugar, milk or flour is a big driver of growth. In most African countries, food is still pre-dominantly sold through non-branded items," Bekkali said.

"(In) the last years we are seeing a dramatic change and African food companies are servicing the local need without increasing the cost of the product. Consumers are able to buy a higher quality branded food item for the same price."

POLITICAL STABILITY SOUGHT

The International Monetary Fund will forecast euro zone growth of 0.8 percent in 2010, according to a report this month, far below the fund manager's expectations for Africa.

"African growth on average is de-coupled from the Western world ...We think that Africa will move back to its pre-crisis annual growth level of 5 percent," Bekkali said.

The firm said it is looking for countries institutionally strong and politically stable enough to sustain high economic growth, and its investor presentation names Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Morocco and Nigeria as initial targets.

"Within this list we have excluded countries like Somalia. Many investors in Africa do not fully understand that Africa is moving on and that countries like Somalia are as much an exception in Africa as Afghanistan is in Asia."

As Ivory Coast, formerly one of Africa's economic powerhouses with world-leading cocoa exports, slips further away from elections that were slated for 2005, many commentators suggest foreign investors are staying away from the country until its political crisis is resolved.

"Ivory Coast is not in the focus list but is not in our exclusion list," Bekkali said. "It is definitely one of the countries which has a higher risk profile than let's say South Africa. On the other hand it remains one of the African countries with a reasonably well developed infrastructure."

Silk Invest is marketing the fund to development finance agencies, family offices, and private equity firms, but has found the latter the most resistant to the idea.

"The private equity industry is still focusing mostly on management buy-out deals or trying to find the next Google," Bekkali said. "When they look at Africa (it) is almost entirely focused on commodity type of investments which we see as the least attractive sector in Africa."

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Thousands of striking South African municipal workers took to the streets on Monday, demanding higher wages and threatening chaos in cities two months before the start of the World Cup.

Africa's biggest economy has suffered a wave of strikes in the past year as well as protests in townships.

The South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU), which represents about 130,000 workers, said the strike would affect basic services such as street sweeping, rubbish collection and vehicle licensing.

The protest raised fears of a repeat of chaotic scenes last year when workers left streets littered with rubbish.

While the municipal workers' strike is not expected to have a major economic impact, it does come as South Africa is under increasing scrutiny as it prepares to host the soccer World Cup, which kicks off in June.

The union expects the strike will be over by then.

"We won't strike during the World Cup period simply because we are expecting to resolve the situation much sooner than that," said Tahir Sema, SAMWU spokesman.

"(But) the living conditions of our South Africans are much more important to us than the World Cup. We see it as quite an important thing to close the wage gap between the rich and the poor," he added.

The biggest labour federation in South Africa and ally of the ruling ANC COSATU, has threatened to strike during the tournament to protest at high power price increases.

The municipal workers strike will not affect essential services such as emergency and metro police services.

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's former military leader Ibrahim Babangida, who ruled Africa's most populous country from 1985-1993, plans to run for president in next year's election, his spokesman said on Monday.

"Yes, General Babangida has decided to contest for the presidency under the (People's Democratic Party) in the 2011 presidential election," spokesman Kassim Afeagbu told Reuters.

"He is only waiting for the party timetable before he will formally declare."

Babangida seized power in August 1985 in a bloodless coup, ruling the OPEC member nation for nearly eight years before stepping down in June 1993.

Babangida was forced from power after cancelling an election generally regarded as fair, paving the way for another army dictator, Sani Abacha, to take over.

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Observers on Monday urged Sudan to extend voting in its first open elections in 24 years after thousands of ballots were cast incorrectly and polling faced serious delays in many areas of Africa's largest country.

The complex presidential, legislative and gubernatorial elections, which began on Sunday and were scheduled to last three days, had been hoped to transform Sudan from a nation emerging from decades of civil war to a democratic state.

But after a wave of opposition boycotts the vote now looks likely to confirm the 21-year rule of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir -- the only sitting head of state wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court, which alleges he was behind mass murder and rape in Darfur.

Sudanese election observers said polling stations in parts of the north and much of the south had experienced serious delays on Sunday and in some areas voting had not begun because ballot papers had not arrived.

"They may well really need to extend the period for these places where the materials haven't arrived," said al-Baqer Alafif, head of one of the largest Sudanese observer teams.

"In the south because the materials haven't arrived in many centres, some haven't even started voting yet," he added. He welcomed a call by the main south Sudan party for extended voting as many in the semi-autonomous south wasted hours searching for the correct voting stations.

"We want four on top of the three days ... in southern Sudan," said Samson Kwaje, campaign head of south Sudan's incumbent President Salva Kiir, who is also expected to be re-elected.

The elections and a plebiscite on independence for south Sudan next year are key parts of a 2005 peace deal that ended a two-decade-long civil war between Sudan's north and south.

'CLEARLY NOT READY'

While the first day of polling on Sunday ended with no reports of violence, Alafif said the National Elections Commission was "clearly not ready" to begin the elections on schedule and should have heeded calls from opposition parties and observers for a short delay to resolve logistical problems.

Problems were expected in the complex polls, with northerners using eight ballot papers and southerners grappling with 12, but the extent of the errors, election observers said, was very serious.

"It's quite clear that these violations were very serious ones," said Shamseddin Dawalbeit, the deputy head of Tamam, an alliance of more than 100 civil society groups working on the polls.

"These violations are being repeated systematically," he said.

Voting had not begun at all in White Nile state on Sunday, opposition representatives said, after ballots were printed incorrectly -- twice.

"The NEC did not have arrangements in place in Khartoum and the regions ... many places did not start voting until 4 p.m.," said observer al-Baqer Alafif. Voting for the state parliament in Port Sudan had stopped completely, he added.

Reuters witnesses saw many voting centres in Khartoum using the wrong ballots, with some not realising until hours into voting. Others were aware but refused to stop or change the ballots.

The NEC said there had been some "technical problems," but blamed British and South African printers for ballot errors and said voting had begun well across Sudan.

"(White Nile) will be compensated for by extra hours of voting in the next two days," a statement released late on Sunday said.

"Apart from these normal technical problems, the reports coming in from the south, Darfur and other regions of the country are that the voting process is going well," it added.

Sudan's main opposition parties had announced a boycott even before the polls began, citing widespread fraud and continuing conflict in Darfur. The NEC rejected their accusations that it was biased towards Bashir's National Congress Party.

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The South African ruling ANC's firebrand youth leader, Julius Malema, has taken a defiant stand over a rebuke by President Jacob Zuma, putting himself further at odds with the party leadership.

Malema's prominence and racially tinged rhetoric have drawn growing concern within the African National Congress as well among critics and at the weekend Zuma condemned Malema's behaviour, saying it was "alien to the ANC".

"I have not done anything to undermine the ANC," local media quoted Malema as saying on Sunday, criticising Zuma for the public rebuke and comparing him unfavourably with former President Thabo Mbeki, who was ousted by the ANC in 2008.

"Even President Thabo Mbeki, when he differed with the Youth League, and the Youth League had taken firm radical positions against him, he never did that," Malema told a news conference in the Limpopo region.

Zuma castigated Malema for throwing a foreign journalist out of a news conference, for diverging from official policy on Zimbabwe and for failing to halt inflammatory comment after the murder of white separatist Eugene Terre'blanche.

Malema has no policy-making role but has a loyal following within the ANC Youth League and among some black South Africans who feel the end of apartheid should have delivered more.

2010-04-11
ABUJA (Reuters) - A Nigerian man's botched attempt to blow up a U.S.-bound plane on Christmas Day probably would not have occurred if new U.S. airline security measures had been in place, the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary said on Sunday.

Washington has heightened its aviation security since January for travelers coming into the United States after Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to detonate explosives hidden in his underwear on a flight to Detroit from Amsterdam.

"I believe that (the new measures) would in all likelihood have gotten Abdulmutallab before he got on board his flight to Detroit," Secretary Janet Napolitano told Reuters in Nigeria's capital Abuja.

Napolitano was in Africa's most populous country to meet with her African counterparts ahead of a regional summit on bolstering global aviation security.

The new security measures replaced the mandatory screening of air travellers from 14 mostly Muslim countries that had angered some allies, including Nigeria, when it was imposed.

"(The measures) are not based on national origin, gender or anything else. It is based on particular passengers that is passed on before they board the plane," she said.

Nigeria said its inclusion on the U.S. list, which included Cuba, Iran and Iraq, could have threatened bilateral ties.

ADDITIONAL SCREENING

The new system announced on April 2 would require U.S.-bound travelers who match information about terrorism suspects, such as a physical description, partial name or travel pattern, to undergo additional screening.

"Aviation security begins before a passenger even gets to an airport," the 52-year-old former Arizona governor said.

"In other words, we are pushing the perimeter out. It is about information collection, it is about information sharing and passenger vetting so you know which passengers may be problematic."

Under this new system, Abdulmutallab would likely have received a second screening before boarding his flight in Amsterdam since he was in a database of about 550,000 people with suspected terrorist links.

The United States is by far Nigeria's largest trade partner, accounting for nearly 45 percent of the OPEC member's exports, mainly crude oil, according to the IMF.

Napolitano, who is the first woman to head the sprawling Homeland Security Department, is one of a few people being mentioned as a possible replacement to retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, according to legal experts.

"Look, I am focused on the job. It is a big job that I have as Secretary of Homeland Security," she said. "I need this speculation doused."

An administration official said on Friday that U.S. President Barack Obama is considering "about 10" people as potential nominees.

2010-04-11
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt must face up to increasing sectarian violence and prosecute offenders in order to stave off a further rise in such attacks, a rights group said on Sunday.

"The state does not have a plan to quash sectarian tension and it does not even acknowledge its existence," Hossam Bahgat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, said at a news conference to launch the study.

The group's study found the number of cases of sectarian violence rose between 2008 and 2009 in the overwhelmingly Muslim nation where Christians make up some 10 percent of the 78 million population.

It identified 53 examples of clashes, with 24 in 2008 and 29 last year, saying many cases were not being investigated sufficiently or had been ignored.

In one high-profile case, six Coptic Christians were killed in a drive-by shooting in Nagaa Hamady, south of Cairo, on Coptic Christmas eve on January 7 by Muslims who blamed the Christian community in the rape of a Muslim girl.

Several Muslims accused of the shooting are facing trial.

But activists say the government tends to act only in the biggest cases and in some instances works to block a victim from pursuing legal action against the suspected attackers.

"Authorities pressure the victims to renounce their rights the very moment they step into the police station," Bahgat said.

He said the state, as well as religious leaders on both sides who wanted to emphasise religious harmony, were sweeping incidents under the carpet rather than dealing with them openly.

SPILLING OVER

The government routinely plays down the significance of any clashes as isolated incidents.

The study found Minya, a governorate south of Cairo, had the highest percentage of clashes, with one case every 35 days in 17 villages, with rows often spilling over from village to the next. No one had been referred to trial in any of those cases.

"We fear the smallest clashes will explode into bigger sectarian conflicts," Bahgat said.

"Our nightmare will be when it triggers violence, quickly spilling over into entire governorates and beyond."

Clashes in Egypt have started over property rows or relationships between a couple from different religions.

But the study said it was more common for a minor non-religious dispute to escalate into retribution against a whole community. It cited examples of rows over livestock ownership or schoolyard fights turning into broader clashes.

The rights group noted some improvements with the Ministry of Religious Endowments beginning to send Muslim preachers to villages in southern Egypt to promote religious tolerance. But it said more work needed to be done.

"When you have a problem you fail to address for 40 years, it will continue to deteriorate," Bahgat said.

2010-04-11
LONDON (Reuters) - Africa's contribution to the global body of scientific research is very small and does little to benefit its own populations, according to a report from Thomson Reuters released on Monday.

Like India and China, Africa suffers from a "haemorrhage of talent", the report said, with many of its best brains leaving to study abroad and failing to return.

"The African diaspora provides powerful intellectual input to the research achievements of other countries, but returns less benefit to the countries of birth," Jonathan Adams, director of research evaluation at Thomson Reuters, said in a statement as the report was published.

More information about the report is available here

Adams and colleagues, who use a Thomson Reuters database to track scientific publications, found that three nations dominate Africa's research output -- with South Africa leading by a long way, ahead of Egypt in second place and then Nigeria.

"Africa's overall volume of activity remains small, much smaller than is desirable if the potential contribution of its researchers is to be realised for the benefit of its populations," said Adams.

The report found that part of the problem was down to a "chronic lack of investment in facilities for research and teaching" -- a deficit the authors said must be remedied.

Adams said the reason behind this was not simply money: "The resources available in some African countries are substantial, but they are not being invested in the research base."

In fields of research relevant to natural resources, however, the study found a relatively high representation of African research as a share of world publications.

South Africa's 1.55 percent share of research in plant and animal science is the continent's biggest share in any field, it said, with this output surpassing Russia's 1.17 percent but well behind China's 5.42 percent share in the same field.

The report pointed to a few examples of countries which, despite low output, produced much higher quality research than larger neighbours.

Malawi, for example, with one-tenth the annual research output of Nigeria, produces research of a quality that exceeds the world average benchmark while Nigeria hovers at around half that impact level, the report said.

"The challenges that the continent faces are enormous and indigenous research could help provide both effective and focused responses," it added.

The study is part of a series showing the changing landscape and dynamics of scientific research around the world.

Previous studies found that China had more than doubled its output of scientific papers to rank second only to the United States in terms of volume, while Russia's influence in science and scientific industries was rapidly shrinking.

2010-04-11
KHARTOUM/JUBA (Reuters) - Confusion, delays and allegations of fraud marked the start of Sudan's first multi-party elections in a quarter-century, a vote that will test the fragile unity of Africa's biggest country.

The three-day election will be a key indicator of whether Sudan can fend off renewed conflict and humanitarian crisis as it heads toward a 2011 referendum that could bring independence for the oil-producing south.

The results are widely expected to keep Sudan's two most influential men in power: President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court for allegedly planning war crimes in the western Darfur region, and Silva Kiir, who leads largely autonomous south Sudan.

In the capital Khartoum and across the country, there were long queues and chaotic scenes outside polling centres. Kiir was forced to wait 20 minutes under a tree for his voting station to open in the southern capital Juba and then spoiled his first ballot by putting it in the wrong box.

Would-be voters lined up in the morning in Khartoum, where police were out in force on unusually quiet streets. Many voters were hindered by delays in getting ballots to polling places, ballot mix-ups and names missing from voters' lists.

But by Sunday afternoon, no major unrest was reported as people voted to choose a national president, a leader of south Sudan, national and local parliaments, and governors of all but one of the country's 25 states.

Yet the elections' credibility took a blow even before voting started, as leading opposition parties pulled out candidates and blamed the government for widespread vote-rigging and intimidation. Election officials, trying to plan a complex election for the first time in a generation, denied the charges.

"It's not going to be a perfect election. There are no such things," former U.S. President Jimmy Carter told reporters as he joined observers from his Carter Center in Khartoum.

"But if we feel that in the elections the will of the voters has been expressed adequately then that would be the primary judgment we will make."

VOTING PROCESS

In Khartoum, voters stood or sat in the searing heat for more than three hours, many of them voting for the first time in a complex polling process. In northern Sudan, electors got eight voting forms; in the south, they must grapple with a dozen.

Men and women waited in separate lines, dipping a finger in indelible green ink before voting at cardboard booths.

El-Fatih Khidr, a 55-year-old pilot who came to vote in Khartoum's Riyadh district, complained that authorities should have opened more voting centres to cope with the crowds.

"There are a lot of crowds and there should have been more information because there is a whole new generation that have never voted," he said.

Up to 300 women in bright clothes and other voters waited patiently for more than an hour in the southern town of Malakal as officials tried to find a vehicle to deliver voting forms, a Reuters witness reported.

When Bashir, a military man who took power in a coup in 1989, turned up to vote at a school near Sudan's army headquarters, he shouted "God is greatest" to supporters. He then took ten minutes to cast his vote while voters from the army and security services waited outside.

In the south, where most follow Christianity or traditional beliefs, there was a palpable sense of excitement as people took part in polls they see as a prelude to the 2011 referendum that could give them independence from the mainly Muslim north.

Both votes were promised under a 2005 peace deal that ended more than two decades of north-south civil war.

After voting, Kiir called the vote "a good beginning" for Sudan. "I hope it will be a foundation for future democracy."

But that promising start could go awry if Bashir blocks the plebiscite. The south could try to secede by force or fiat -- which would likely mean a renewal of Africa's longest civil war.

Foreign aid workers and Sudanese were bracing themselves for problems in western Darfur, the scene of a seven-year conflict between government militias and rebels. Aid groups moved staff out of remote areas to cities in case of unrest.

"We're not expecting widespread violence, only things that might blow up in pockets," an aid official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Pirates seized a Saint Vincent and the Grenadines flagged merchant ship off the coast of the Seychelles on Sunday, the EU naval force said.

A regional maritime body warned other vessels to avoid the area for the next two days as the weather was suitable for more hijackings.

"The ... cargo ship MV Rak Afrikana has been hijacked this morning ... approximately 280 nautical miles west of Seychelles," EUNAVFOR said in a statement.

"The Rak Afrikana has currently stopped due to engine problems."

Andrew Mwangura, head of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme, said the ship had a crew of 23 Chinese.

EUNAVFOR said Seychelles' Rak Afrikana Shipping Ltd owned the 7,561-dwt ship.

Gangs have seized dozens of ships in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden over the last few years. Despite international naval patrols, pirate activity is predicted to rise in coming months as the weather improves.

Mwangura said ships should avoid the seas around where the Rak Afrikana was taken for the next two days.

"This area will remain high risk for the next 24-48 hours as weather conditions continue to be conducive to small boat operations," he said in a statement.

Somali pirates have made millions of dollars in ransoms by hijacking ships off their anarchic country's coast and have extended their range using mother ships, sometimes seized vessels, from which to launch attacks with smaller craft.

CAIRO (Reuters) - A retrial of Egyptian property tycoon and politician Hesham Talaat Moustafa will start on April 26, an appeal court said on Sunday, after his conviction for the murder of a Lebanese singer was found to be flawed.

A court in March ordered a retrial for Moustafa, a member of parliament for Egypt's ruling party and former chairman of Talaat Moustafa Group. He had been sentenced to death along with security man Muhsen el-Sukkari, whom the tycoon allegedly paid to stab Suzanne Tamim in Dubai.

The case has gripped the Arab world and his conviction and death sentence last year surprised many in Egypt where members of the elite are usually regarded as above the law.

"Cairo Appeal Court ... has set April 26 as the date for the retrial of Hesham Talaat Moustafa and (security man) Muhsen el-Sukkari in front of a criminal court," the court said.

A court on March 4 ordered a retrial, saying the original verdict had "mistakes in implementing the law" and the original court failed to respond to core requests of the defence.

"Every judge has a point of view but no one can disagree on the conviction that is very obvious, and supported by all the evidence presented in the case," said Reda Ghoneim, the lawyer acting for the husband of Tamim, who was 30 when she died.

Shawkat Ezz el-Din, one of a team of lawyers representing Moustafa and Sukkari, said he was confident his clients would be found not guilty. "We will secure an exoneration with God's will in four to five sessions," he said.

A retrial can run for many months in Egypt.

Moustafa was arrested in September 2008, after Tamim's death in July that year. He was convicted and sentenced to death by a criminal court in May 2009.

Media reports described the murder as an act of revenge after Tamim ended a relationship with Moustafa, who was born in 1959 and is married with children.

If found guilty, Moustafa and Sukkari will again be allowed to appeal the new ruling court and could face a third and final trial if that appeal is accepted, judge Ahmed Mekky, who was involved in the initial appeal process, told Reuters.

Moustafa handed over the chairmanship of property firm Talaat Moustafa Group to his brother Tarek after he was charged, but the share price has often moved with each twist of the case.

There was no big move on Sunday. The company's shares closed up 0.5 percent on Sunday, after the announcement. The benchmark index ended 2.8 percent higher.

LAGOS, April 12 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian military operating in the oil rich Niger Delta region has issued an alert on a plot to attack a facility of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in the region.

The military spokesman in the region Timothy Antigha disclosed this in a statement reaching here late on Sunday.

According to him, there have been plans by certain people in the region to inflict serious damage on Shell Petroleum Development Company's oil and gas infrastructure in the Niger Delta.

"The Joint Task Force (JTF) wishes to advise those behind the plot to abandon the idea immediately in their interest and that of the nation," the officer said.

Antigha also warned that the government's amnesty program and other measures taken to consolidate its gains had not in anyway diminished the capability of the JTF as a military outfit.

"Consequently, the JTF warns that it will destroy any group of ex-militants or emerging militants who attempt to sabotage oil and gas installations or dislocate the prevailing peace and tranquility in the Niger Delta," he stressed.

The military spokesman appealed to Nigerians and foreigners within and outside the Niger Delta area to disregard the threat and continue with their legitimate businesses.

"Parents, traditional rulers and well-meaning interest groups are advised to warn their children, subjects and adherents respectively, to refrain from tampering with government installations," he said.

"This is to enable the Federal Government to concentrate its efforts on addressing the multifaceted problems facing the region, "he added.

KINSHASA, April 12 (Xinhua) -- The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) has banned exportation of concentrated mineral products from Katanga province, forcing the mining operators to build metallurgic factories to produce raw copper.

Congolese Minister of Mines Martin Kabwelulu said on Sunday the measure should have come into force three years ago, but its implementation was delayed.

"There has been a grace period since 2007. We had asked the mineral operators to construct metallurgic factories to add value to our minerals. And those who did not do this and are still exporting the concentrated content, we are forced to tell them to stop. It is only those who are producing metallic copper and metallic cobalt who can export their products," he explained.

The minister acknowledged the fact that this decision might lead to reduction in revenues, but expecting it to increase them later because the collection of taxes from minerals will be done on the actual quantity of copper.

"I know that there are a number of operators who are unhappy. The revenues might drop. That is certain. But three or four months from now the revenues will increase because the payment of mineral taxes, when we export crude metal is 100 percent while when we export the concentrated one, the operator just pays for the quantity of metal contained in the concentrated product," he pointed out.

KHARTOUM, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Sudan's National Elections Commission (NEC) on Sunday acknowledged administrative and technical mistakes during the first day of the voting process in the general elections.

"Administrative and technical mistakes have accompanied the distribution of the ballots in 26 out of 821 polling stations in Khartoum State," said the NEC in a statement.

"The mistakes have been corrected by redistributing the correct ballots to the concerned centers," the statement said.

The reported mistakes included one technical mistake concerning symbols of candidates in one national constituency, one mistake in a state constituency and one mistake with the women's list of the National Assembly.

The NEC said the incorrect ballots were printed in South Africa and Britain, and the United Nations has been notified with this mistake.

"The incorrect ballots were reprinted at Sudan's currency printing press in the presence of representatives of the European observation team and the Carter Center," the statement said.

The U.S.-based Carter Center, which is the only U.S. nongovernmental organization authorized by the Sudanese government to monitor the general elections, has sent 65 observers to Sudan, alongside 130 observers sent by the European Commission.

The statement added that it was planned to increase the polling hours at the centers where the mistakes occurred during the coming polling days.

Sudanese voters on Sunday started casting their votes to select their representatives for the presidency, state governors, president of southern Sudan and legislative councils.

JUBA, Sudan, April 11 (Xinhua) -- The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) on Sunday asked for an extension of the three days of polling of the general elections in southern Sudan for administrative difficulties, a senior official of the former rebel movement in southern Sudan told reporters.

Susan Jambo, a senior official responsible for the SPLM election campaigns, told Xinhua in Juba, the capital of the semi- autonomous southern Sudan, that the SPLM had asked the National Elections Commission (NEC) for the extension without specifying the time it needed, denying earlier reports by foreign media that the SPLM was seeking a four-day prolongation of the elections.

"We have noticed a lot of mistakes since the polling process started on Sunday morning, including that names of candidates were wrongly printed on the ballots, and we need more time to correct these mistakes," the SPLM official noted.

"We have not specified a certain period, but the SPLM will study this matter to see how much time is needed," she added.

The first day of the polling process in south Sudan witnessed complaints on the part of many voters due to the confusing start and the administrative and technical mistakes.

James Wani Igga, candidate of the first constituency for southern Sudan parliament and a leading member of the SPLM, criticized what he termed as mismanagement and failure in organization, saying that "the national elections commission in south Sudan has made many mistakes due to mismanagement and absence of organization."

About 4 million registered southern Sudanese voters are casting their votes in the first multi-party elections in Sudan since 1986.

The southern Sudanese voters have to cast 12 ballots, which prompts concerns due to spread of illiteracy in the region which had suffered about two decades of civil war.

Meanwhile, the NEC acknowledged in a statement issued in Khartoum that there were administrative mistakes committed during the first day of the voting process, planned to last for three days.

"Administrative and technical mistakes have accompanied the distribution of the ballots in 26 out of 821 polling stations in Khartoum State," said the NEC in a statement issued in Khartoum.

The statement added that the NEC was planning to increase the polling hours at the centers where the mistakes occurred during the coming polling days.

Sudanese voters on Sunday started casting their votes to select their representatives for the presidency, state governors, president of southern Sudan and legislative councils.

AFRIK

Tensions have risen to a fever pitch on the campus of the University of Nouakchott, capital of Mauritania, since the month of March. Arabization of the educational system has angered Black Mauritanian students and awakened historical tensions.

The delicate linguistic balance between Arabo-Berbers and Black-Mauritanian communities was agitated with only a few words. Those words were spoken on the 1st of March by the Mauritanian Prime Minister, Mohamed Ould Moulaye Laghdaf and Minister of Youth and Culture, Cissé Mint Boide. According to them the Arabic language should serve as an instrument of exchange and work within the Mauritanian administration. "The national languages are obstacles to the emergence of the Arabic language," said the Minister of Culture. These remarks have been deemed inadmissible by the Black African students of Mauritania. They held a protest last Tuesday to express their contempt. Alain Antil, an associate researcher and director of sub-Saharan Africa programs at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) and a doctor in political geography, analyzes the complex historical background in which the subject of Arabization in Mauritania has evolved. Discover a rivalry that has gripped Mauritania for decades.