Associated Press
31 May 2008
Being in the same Minneapolis hotel building is about as close as Peter Omot wants to get to Omot Obang Olom, the Ethiopian official he holds responsible for the massacre of more than 400 of his ethnic kin.
Peter Omot, a 35-year-old member of the Anuak ethnic minority, says he won’t enter the room where Omot, the governor of the country’s western Gambella region, will speak to the local community-in-exile on Saturday. Gov. Omot was in charge of security when, according to human rights groups, Ethiopian troops attacked the local Anuak population in December 2003.
"He prepared the ground," Peter Omot, who lives in Savage, Minnesota, said Friday.
The regional governor’s appearance at the community meeting has set off debate in the Anuak diaspora over whether it’s appropriate even to be in the same room as Omot, who is Anuak himself.
The Anuak Justice Council in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, has been pushing U.S. and Canadian authorities to arrest and try Omot for war crimes. He is expected to continue on to Canada next week. But advocates have not been able to confirm whether he is traveling on a diplomatic visa that would grant him wide-ranging immunity.
"He should not be meeting the Anuak in a town hall meeting. He should be meeting the Anuak in chambers — you know, in a court of law," said Obang Metho, an advocate with the Anuak Justice Council in Saskatoon who is boycotting the meeting.
He added: "He has blood on his hands."
State Department spokesman Bill Strassberger confirmed that Omot had received a visa, but said that because visa records are confidential, he could not discuss his application. He also declined to discuss whether Omot had a role in the 2003 killings.
Human rights groups have detailed a campaign of killings, rape, torture and displacement against the Anuak by government soldiers and members of other ethnic groups. Wholesale attacks started on Dec. 13, 2003, in the town of Gambella in southwestern Ethiopia. Thousands fled, some to southern Sudan.
An estimated 2,500 to 3,000 Anuak live in Minnesota, in what is thought to be the largest concentration outside Africa, said Akway Cham, who heads the Minneapolis-based Anywaa Community Association in North America.
Obang, the advocate in Canada, said he expects Omot to try to get Anuaks living abroad to move back and help develop their region, and will say that the region has become safe and democratic.
Akway is at the center of the furor over Omot’s visit because he is the facilitator of Saturday’s forum. He planned to pick up Omot and other Ethiopian officials at the airport Friday.
He acknowledged the stir the visit is creating but said he hopes people will come away with answers to their questions. He said the meeting will focus on the 2003 killings after a similar meeting in April with other government officials left many in the community dissatisfied.
"This guy is the governor, and he was there when the things happened, and people are expecting that he should be able to give some clear answers," he said.
31 May, 2008
30 May, 2008
TENSION IN BENI AND PANDO, AWAITING AUTONOMY POLL.
MISNA
29 May 2008
The tension in Bolivia is rising in view of the two autonomy referenda next Sunday in the depts. Of Beni and Pando, after the one held in Santa Cruz last May 4th, where there have already been riots between opposition militants and backers of the Morales government. There were incidents between the ‘campesinos’ and autonomists in Guayaramerín (Beni) and Cobija (Pando) leavin several slightly wounded, while in Riberalta, some people blocked the airport, after news that Morales was planning to visit the area, only to cancel it.
In La Paz the ‘Movimiento al socialismo’ (MAS) party in power, and the two minority coalitions, ‘Unidad Nacional’ and ‘MNR’, along with the Catholic Church and the ‘friendly countries’ group has meanwhile called for a ‘national reconciliation roundtable’ starting next June 9. So far neither the ‘prefectos’ (regional governors) nor the main opposition ‘Podemos’ party have joined. A five point document read by monsignor Jesús Juárez, gen. sec. of the Bolivian Episc. Conf. (CEB) asks that parliament serve as the venue to find a consensus on the project of the new Constitution, that a ‘fiscal pact’ be concluded to outline the manner in which state resources should be allotted and that a ‘technical table’ also be formed, featuring the participation of all political forces, accompanied by the Church, the OAS and ‘friendly countries to integrate the departmental for the autonomy in the new National Charter.
29 May 2008
The tension in Bolivia is rising in view of the two autonomy referenda next Sunday in the depts. Of Beni and Pando, after the one held in Santa Cruz last May 4th, where there have already been riots between opposition militants and backers of the Morales government. There were incidents between the ‘campesinos’ and autonomists in Guayaramerín (Beni) and Cobija (Pando) leavin several slightly wounded, while in Riberalta, some people blocked the airport, after news that Morales was planning to visit the area, only to cancel it.
In La Paz the ‘Movimiento al socialismo’ (MAS) party in power, and the two minority coalitions, ‘Unidad Nacional’ and ‘MNR’, along with the Catholic Church and the ‘friendly countries’ group has meanwhile called for a ‘national reconciliation roundtable’ starting next June 9. So far neither the ‘prefectos’ (regional governors) nor the main opposition ‘Podemos’ party have joined. A five point document read by monsignor Jesús Juárez, gen. sec. of the Bolivian Episc. Conf. (CEB) asks that parliament serve as the venue to find a consensus on the project of the new Constitution, that a ‘fiscal pact’ be concluded to outline the manner in which state resources should be allotted and that a ‘technical table’ also be formed, featuring the participation of all political forces, accompanied by the Church, the OAS and ‘friendly countries to integrate the departmental for the autonomy in the new National Charter.
MONARCHY ABOLISHED, NATION WANTS MODERNITY.
MISNA
29 May 2008
The royal flag is no longer waving above the Narayanhiti palace after the Constituent Assembly voted to abolish the monarchy overnight. No one knows who pulled down that banner that had been waving over the Kathmandu Valley for 240 years, even the royal guards told the Nepali TV that they didn’t know who did it. In compliance with the decision, also the royal emblems on the palace entrance came down. King Gyanendra Shah, the last unpopular sovereign of the 450-year Nepali dynasty, was given 15 days to formally abdicate and leave the Royal palace. Despite being late at night, activists and common people gathered outside the Birendra International Convention centre, where the Constituent “fathers” and “mothers” convened – 33% of the assembly are women – rejoicing at the declaration of the Federal Republic of Nepal and celebrating until the early hours of the morning, when others joined the festivities. Only four on 564 Assembly members, of the monarchic party, voted against abolishing the monarchy. Gyanendra never managed to gain popular affection and not only because of his tilted down mouth that seemed like a constant frown.
Already Gyanendra’s succession to his brother Birendra was marred by suspicions in an intricate web of plots that involved the Shah dynasty, since they reigned the city of Gorkha before conquering and uniting the various Himalayan principalities. In 2001, Nepal was shocked when the crown prince Dipendra, who was mentally unstable like many of his predecessors, exasperated by his father’s veto on his marriage to the woman he loved – a famous Nepali actress – shot his father, the king, the queen and eight other members of the royal family, and then himself, leaving his uncle in direct line to the throne and suspected of having taken advantage of his nephew’s mental instability. Everyone was in fact aware of Gyanendra’s objection to landmark decisions made by his brother, who despite not being a progressivist but rather pushed by a popular outcry, in 1990 approved democratic reforms introducing a multi-party system. Gyanendra’s popularity dropped further, when in the midst of the Maoist conflict he dissolved parliament, sacked the prime minister and seized administrative powers, accusing the parties of being too engaged in internal disputes to efficiently confront the Maoist rebellion. His government however merely had the effect of further exasperating the conflict and deepening the popular objection to his rule.
“I am convinced that 99% of the Nepali society agrees with the Assembly’s decision”, said to MISNA Subodh Raj Pyakurel, president of INSEC, a major Nepali human rights group (to which around 9% of the Assembly members belong). Under the interim Constitution drawn up in 2006 at the end of the Maoist rebellion, the Assembly is the nation’s top legislative body and therefore there will be no need for a referendum to approve the final Charter. “Initially, the hostility was only directed against Gyanendra, but under his government and after the democratic revolt that in 2006 forced him to step down, the Nepalis increasingly rejected the monarchic institution in itself. We do not reject tradition, but we know how to distinguish it from feudalism and today Nepal wants a modern country”, added Pyakurel.
The Nepali monarchy is closely tied to the Hindu religion, with the king revered as the incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu, and therefore prone to a caste system that, when applied, creates a hierarchy among the people, marginalising the dalit and ethnic minorities. An outcasting that fomented the Maoist rebellion that began in 1996 and ended in 2006 and that today landed the former rebel group and the main political formation of the country and Constituent Assembly, alongside other central, left and regional parties. “For the first time a decision was made by a force that is truly representative of the Nepali society, which includes all the social classes, dalit, women and ethnic minorities”, said Pyakurel, referring to the abolition of the monarchy, adding that “17% of the Assembly members are human rights activists. It is an unrepeatable opportunity to introduce in our Charter the fundamental rights of all individuals and groups, without compromise”.
There is concern that the military will remain loyal to the King and unite with the minority that defines itself both nationalist and Hindu, which in the past months carried out bomb attacks. Unexpected developments of the past years however play favourably against this possibility. The army, or better the “royal army” and particularly the leadership, was made up by members of few “aristocratic” families belonging to the “warriors caste” and related to the royal family, but in 1994, mainly from necessity of the conflict, there was a substantial democratisation in terms of a major number of troops and officers of “common” origin. Also in the police corps the number of common people tripled.
It is unclear whether King Gyanendra will remain in the nation or opt for self exile abroad. Pyakurel referred that according to well informed sources, he has full intention of remaining in the country and taking care of his business, being among the nation’s wealthiest men with hotels, tourist structures and companies. A possibility was discussed in the past months for the Assembly to recognise a ceremonial role to the monarchy, with the king as the top national representative. A possibility ruled out probably because of the crown Prince Paras, son of Gyanendra, who doesn’t exactly have a curriculum of prince charming: disliked by the population due to his playboy behaviour and being “above the law”, he was accused of running over and killing Praveen Gurung, a popular singer, who refused to sign for him. But two real challenges lay ahead for the nation. The first regards the federal structure, fruit of an accord with the population that calls itself Madheshi (inhabitants of the plains) in the southern Terai Plain that wants to create an autonomous province, over which numerous violent protests were staged.
“Nepal counts around a hundred ethnic groups and the autonomist trend could lead to disintegration. Better solutions for everyone must be sought”, said Pyakurel. The other challenge consists in ensuring that the Maoist party controls its far from moderate non-integrated former rebels and youths organisations. On the institutional structure of the nation, the Assembly appears set on a Republic with a president with a ceremonial role and supreme command of the armed forces, and a prime minister with executive powers. The formation is still attended of a new cabinet, fruit of the Constituent Assembly elections, whose leadership should go to the Maoist party. The new government and Assembly, which also has functions of legislative parliament, will head the nation until the political elections due to be held in two and a half years, when the Constitution will be defined.
(Translation of article by Barbara Fabiani)
29 May 2008
The royal flag is no longer waving above the Narayanhiti palace after the Constituent Assembly voted to abolish the monarchy overnight. No one knows who pulled down that banner that had been waving over the Kathmandu Valley for 240 years, even the royal guards told the Nepali TV that they didn’t know who did it. In compliance with the decision, also the royal emblems on the palace entrance came down. King Gyanendra Shah, the last unpopular sovereign of the 450-year Nepali dynasty, was given 15 days to formally abdicate and leave the Royal palace. Despite being late at night, activists and common people gathered outside the Birendra International Convention centre, where the Constituent “fathers” and “mothers” convened – 33% of the assembly are women – rejoicing at the declaration of the Federal Republic of Nepal and celebrating until the early hours of the morning, when others joined the festivities. Only four on 564 Assembly members, of the monarchic party, voted against abolishing the monarchy. Gyanendra never managed to gain popular affection and not only because of his tilted down mouth that seemed like a constant frown.
Already Gyanendra’s succession to his brother Birendra was marred by suspicions in an intricate web of plots that involved the Shah dynasty, since they reigned the city of Gorkha before conquering and uniting the various Himalayan principalities. In 2001, Nepal was shocked when the crown prince Dipendra, who was mentally unstable like many of his predecessors, exasperated by his father’s veto on his marriage to the woman he loved – a famous Nepali actress – shot his father, the king, the queen and eight other members of the royal family, and then himself, leaving his uncle in direct line to the throne and suspected of having taken advantage of his nephew’s mental instability. Everyone was in fact aware of Gyanendra’s objection to landmark decisions made by his brother, who despite not being a progressivist but rather pushed by a popular outcry, in 1990 approved democratic reforms introducing a multi-party system. Gyanendra’s popularity dropped further, when in the midst of the Maoist conflict he dissolved parliament, sacked the prime minister and seized administrative powers, accusing the parties of being too engaged in internal disputes to efficiently confront the Maoist rebellion. His government however merely had the effect of further exasperating the conflict and deepening the popular objection to his rule.
“I am convinced that 99% of the Nepali society agrees with the Assembly’s decision”, said to MISNA Subodh Raj Pyakurel, president of INSEC, a major Nepali human rights group (to which around 9% of the Assembly members belong). Under the interim Constitution drawn up in 2006 at the end of the Maoist rebellion, the Assembly is the nation’s top legislative body and therefore there will be no need for a referendum to approve the final Charter. “Initially, the hostility was only directed against Gyanendra, but under his government and after the democratic revolt that in 2006 forced him to step down, the Nepalis increasingly rejected the monarchic institution in itself. We do not reject tradition, but we know how to distinguish it from feudalism and today Nepal wants a modern country”, added Pyakurel.
The Nepali monarchy is closely tied to the Hindu religion, with the king revered as the incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu, and therefore prone to a caste system that, when applied, creates a hierarchy among the people, marginalising the dalit and ethnic minorities. An outcasting that fomented the Maoist rebellion that began in 1996 and ended in 2006 and that today landed the former rebel group and the main political formation of the country and Constituent Assembly, alongside other central, left and regional parties. “For the first time a decision was made by a force that is truly representative of the Nepali society, which includes all the social classes, dalit, women and ethnic minorities”, said Pyakurel, referring to the abolition of the monarchy, adding that “17% of the Assembly members are human rights activists. It is an unrepeatable opportunity to introduce in our Charter the fundamental rights of all individuals and groups, without compromise”.
There is concern that the military will remain loyal to the King and unite with the minority that defines itself both nationalist and Hindu, which in the past months carried out bomb attacks. Unexpected developments of the past years however play favourably against this possibility. The army, or better the “royal army” and particularly the leadership, was made up by members of few “aristocratic” families belonging to the “warriors caste” and related to the royal family, but in 1994, mainly from necessity of the conflict, there was a substantial democratisation in terms of a major number of troops and officers of “common” origin. Also in the police corps the number of common people tripled.
It is unclear whether King Gyanendra will remain in the nation or opt for self exile abroad. Pyakurel referred that according to well informed sources, he has full intention of remaining in the country and taking care of his business, being among the nation’s wealthiest men with hotels, tourist structures and companies. A possibility was discussed in the past months for the Assembly to recognise a ceremonial role to the monarchy, with the king as the top national representative. A possibility ruled out probably because of the crown Prince Paras, son of Gyanendra, who doesn’t exactly have a curriculum of prince charming: disliked by the population due to his playboy behaviour and being “above the law”, he was accused of running over and killing Praveen Gurung, a popular singer, who refused to sign for him. But two real challenges lay ahead for the nation. The first regards the federal structure, fruit of an accord with the population that calls itself Madheshi (inhabitants of the plains) in the southern Terai Plain that wants to create an autonomous province, over which numerous violent protests were staged.
“Nepal counts around a hundred ethnic groups and the autonomist trend could lead to disintegration. Better solutions for everyone must be sought”, said Pyakurel. The other challenge consists in ensuring that the Maoist party controls its far from moderate non-integrated former rebels and youths organisations. On the institutional structure of the nation, the Assembly appears set on a Republic with a president with a ceremonial role and supreme command of the armed forces, and a prime minister with executive powers. The formation is still attended of a new cabinet, fruit of the Constituent Assembly elections, whose leadership should go to the Maoist party. The new government and Assembly, which also has functions of legislative parliament, will head the nation until the political elections due to be held in two and a half years, when the Constitution will be defined.
(Translation of article by Barbara Fabiani)
TALIBAN SEIZE RASHIDAN DISTRICT.
MISNA
30 May 2008
Taliban insurgents captured the Rashidan district in the central Ghazni province, taking hostage eight policemen and the district officials, as reported to the international press by the provincial police chief and a Taliban spokesperson. The Taliban referred that three people were killed in last night’s attack, while all the prisoners are alive. Rashidan, situated 120km south-west of the capital Kabul, is not the first district to be seized by the Taliban, who in most cases maintain their position for days or months until they are repelled by the international and Afghani forces. Some areas however remain under their control: the NATO in fact said that five districts in the southern provinces remain in the hands of the Taliban.
Meanwhile, the US coalition reported that it killed “several militants” and captured 16 others last night in Ghazni province; the Andar governor, Abdul Rahimd Daisiwal, confirmed the operation, but said that a man and a boy were killed and 17 other people were arrested. The governor added that he is investigating if the detained and dead were linked to militants.
30 May 2008
Taliban insurgents captured the Rashidan district in the central Ghazni province, taking hostage eight policemen and the district officials, as reported to the international press by the provincial police chief and a Taliban spokesperson. The Taliban referred that three people were killed in last night’s attack, while all the prisoners are alive. Rashidan, situated 120km south-west of the capital Kabul, is not the first district to be seized by the Taliban, who in most cases maintain their position for days or months until they are repelled by the international and Afghani forces. Some areas however remain under their control: the NATO in fact said that five districts in the southern provinces remain in the hands of the Taliban.
Meanwhile, the US coalition reported that it killed “several militants” and captured 16 others last night in Ghazni province; the Andar governor, Abdul Rahimd Daisiwal, confirmed the operation, but said that a man and a boy were killed and 17 other people were arrested. The governor added that he is investigating if the detained and dead were linked to militants.
Croatia jails war crimes general.
BBC News
30 May 2008
A Croatian court has convicted a former general, Mirko Norac, of war crimes against Serbs.
He was sentenced to seven years in prison for failing to stop his soldiers killing and torturing Serbs in 1993.
A second general on trial, Rahim Ademi, was acquitted of the same charges. They were the highest-ranking officers to be tried in Croatia for such crimes.
The case was forwarded from The Hague and was seen as a test of Croatia's approach to wartime atrocities.
The charges referred to the massacre of Serb civilians in 1993 in the "Medak pocket" in southern Croatia.
Croatian forces briefly recaptured the village from the self-declared Serb Krajina republic that at one time took up nearly 30% of Croatian territory.
The charge sheet included the killing of 28 civilians and five prisoners.
Some of the victims were tortured before they were killed.
The operation ended in a clash between Croatian forces and UN peacekeepers.
EU readiness
Gen Norac is already serving a 12-year sentence for war crimes committed in the Gospic area in 1991.
The ethnic-Albanian Gen Ademi had surrendered voluntarily to the tribunal in 2001 and was at liberty while awaiting trial.
Correspondents said the trial was seen as a test of Croatia's readiness to join the European Union.
The UN war crimes tribunal's decision to transfer the case to Zagreb was in recognition of the progress Croatia had earlier made in dealing with war crimes investigations, the BBC's Balkans analyst Gabriel Partos said.
30 May 2008
A Croatian court has convicted a former general, Mirko Norac, of war crimes against Serbs.
He was sentenced to seven years in prison for failing to stop his soldiers killing and torturing Serbs in 1993.
A second general on trial, Rahim Ademi, was acquitted of the same charges. They were the highest-ranking officers to be tried in Croatia for such crimes.
The case was forwarded from The Hague and was seen as a test of Croatia's approach to wartime atrocities.
The charges referred to the massacre of Serb civilians in 1993 in the "Medak pocket" in southern Croatia.
Croatian forces briefly recaptured the village from the self-declared Serb Krajina republic that at one time took up nearly 30% of Croatian territory.
The charge sheet included the killing of 28 civilians and five prisoners.
Some of the victims were tortured before they were killed.
The operation ended in a clash between Croatian forces and UN peacekeepers.
EU readiness
Gen Norac is already serving a 12-year sentence for war crimes committed in the Gospic area in 1991.
The ethnic-Albanian Gen Ademi had surrendered voluntarily to the tribunal in 2001 and was at liberty while awaiting trial.
Correspondents said the trial was seen as a test of Croatia's readiness to join the European Union.
The UN war crimes tribunal's decision to transfer the case to Zagreb was in recognition of the progress Croatia had earlier made in dealing with war crimes investigations, the BBC's Balkans analyst Gabriel Partos said.
29 May, 2008
ICTR Deems Rwandan Judiciary System Currently Unfit to Try Munyakazi.
AFP
29 May 2008
The UN-backed tribunal for Rwanda has refused to refer a case related to the country's 1994 genocide to the small central African state's courts, saying the state cannot guarantee a fair trial.
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) judges denied the chief prosecutor's request to transfer Yussuf Munyakazi -- a Rwandan trader facing genocide and crimes against humanity charges -- to be tried in Rwanda.
"The chamber is not satisfied that the accused, if transferred to Rwanda at the present time, would receive a fair trial," the tribunal said in a decision reached Wednesday.
"In light of the past actions of the Rwandan Government, the chamber is not convinced that Rwanda respects the independence of the judiciary."
In April, the court opened a hearing to determine whether cases can eventually be transferred to the Rwandan judiciary.
29 May 2008
The UN-backed tribunal for Rwanda has refused to refer a case related to the country's 1994 genocide to the small central African state's courts, saying the state cannot guarantee a fair trial.
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) judges denied the chief prosecutor's request to transfer Yussuf Munyakazi -- a Rwandan trader facing genocide and crimes against humanity charges -- to be tried in Rwanda.
"The chamber is not satisfied that the accused, if transferred to Rwanda at the present time, would receive a fair trial," the tribunal said in a decision reached Wednesday.
"In light of the past actions of the Rwandan Government, the chamber is not convinced that Rwanda respects the independence of the judiciary."
In April, the court opened a hearing to determine whether cases can eventually be transferred to the Rwandan judiciary.
US To Revamp Central African Roads to Reduce Fuel Costs and Facilitate the Transport of Western-Bound Goods.
The Peacock Report
By Steve Peacock
28 May 2008
Rising fuel prices and truck-based shipping expenses are spelling trouble for U.S. policymakers, who now are exploring ways to strengthen, as an alternative, new highways, commercial railways and ports. Specifically, the federal government is taking action through an endeavor known as... the Sub-Saharan Africa Trade Corridor Transportation Initiative.
Conflict stemming from elections in Kenya -- and the increased time its takes to transport goods in and out of neighboring countries -- purportedly has caused the governments of nearby Uganda and Rwanda to begin rationing fuel, according to a federal planning document that The Peacock Report has located. Consequently, for [Kenyan, Rwandan, and Ugandan] national security reasons, the U.S. must take action.
"[T]he cost of shipping to the Port of Mombasa has increased 25% since the political stalemate," according to the original solicitation document. "Costs are expected to continue to rise until the power sharing accord has been reached. The cost implications for Uganda and Rwanda are tremendous and will constrain these fragile economies even more [emphasis added]. Therefore, alternative transport corridors are a necessary investment for the region."
In order to alleviate these fuel shortages while addressing the concomitant impact on the [Sub Saharan African] economy, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) recently awarded a $94,000 contract to a private firm to assess the situation -- and to report back to USAID on whether U.S. taxpayers should bear the brunt of more significant "investments" into that region.
Interdisciplinary Research Consultants (IdRC), an international consulting firm with offices in Jordan and the U.S., will develop a preliminary plan to help modernize, among other possibilities, the East African Central Corridor. The original plan for the corridor, which links Tanzania and Rwanda, was to facilitate the transport of gold and nickel from inland mining operations to main ports. The corridor still may be expanded to Burundi, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the document says.
Documents:
https://www.fbo.gov/files/db2/db2944ab8eff8d9f71d8385ee0b70b61.pdf?i=8b4badd1b8a9154dbdb345e4dee097d3
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=2deeef4beada9c5d35d715fdabf6c3c5&tab=core&_cview=1&cck=1&au=&ck=
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&tab=core&id=2deeef4beada9c5d35d715fdabf6c3c5&_cview=0
http://idrc-jo.com/index.php
By Steve Peacock
28 May 2008
Rising fuel prices and truck-based shipping expenses are spelling trouble for U.S. policymakers, who now are exploring ways to strengthen, as an alternative, new highways, commercial railways and ports. Specifically, the federal government is taking action through an endeavor known as... the Sub-Saharan Africa Trade Corridor Transportation Initiative.
Conflict stemming from elections in Kenya -- and the increased time its takes to transport goods in and out of neighboring countries -- purportedly has caused the governments of nearby Uganda and Rwanda to begin rationing fuel, according to a federal planning document that The Peacock Report has located. Consequently, for [Kenyan, Rwandan, and Ugandan] national security reasons, the U.S. must take action.
"[T]he cost of shipping to the Port of Mombasa has increased 25% since the political stalemate," according to the original solicitation document. "Costs are expected to continue to rise until the power sharing accord has been reached. The cost implications for Uganda and Rwanda are tremendous and will constrain these fragile economies even more [emphasis added]. Therefore, alternative transport corridors are a necessary investment for the region."
In order to alleviate these fuel shortages while addressing the concomitant impact on the [Sub Saharan African] economy, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) recently awarded a $94,000 contract to a private firm to assess the situation -- and to report back to USAID on whether U.S. taxpayers should bear the brunt of more significant "investments" into that region.
Interdisciplinary Research Consultants (IdRC), an international consulting firm with offices in Jordan and the U.S., will develop a preliminary plan to help modernize, among other possibilities, the East African Central Corridor. The original plan for the corridor, which links Tanzania and Rwanda, was to facilitate the transport of gold and nickel from inland mining operations to main ports. The corridor still may be expanded to Burundi, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the document says.
Documents:
https://www.fbo.gov/files/db2/db2944ab8eff8d9f71d8385ee0b70b61.pdf?i=8b4badd1b8a9154dbdb345e4dee097d3
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=2deeef4beada9c5d35d715fdabf6c3c5&tab=core&_cview=1&cck=1&au=&ck=
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&tab=core&id=2deeef4beada9c5d35d715fdabf6c3c5&_cview=0
http://idrc-jo.com/index.php
Mbeki Criticizes Bush Over Zimbabwe Policy.
News 24
29 May 2008
President Thabo Mbeki has accused US President George W Bush of interfering in Zimbabwe, telling the US to "butt out, that Africa belongs to him", according to a US official.
Mbeki reportedly sent the four-page letter to Bush in late April, following the Zimbabwean elections, criticising Bush for taking sides against Robert Mugabe's government and disrespecting the views of the Zimbabwean people, according to Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson.
In his column, Gerson quoted a US official who said Mbeki had written that "it was not our business."
White House working on a response
A US embassy official in Pretoria confirmed to News24 on Thursday that the White House had received the four-page letter, and that President Bush's office was working on a response to it.
The official said she hadn't seen the letter and could not comment on its contents personally, but said she understood the White House disagreed with certain points, and felt that the US could play an important role in the region and in Zimbabwe.
Repeated attempts to get comment from the Presidency failed, as Mbeki and his spokesperson, Mukoni Ratshitanga, are out of the country, but the Star reported that Ratshitanga said he had no knowledge of the letter.
29 May 2008
President Thabo Mbeki has accused US President George W Bush of interfering in Zimbabwe, telling the US to "butt out, that Africa belongs to him", according to a US official.
Mbeki reportedly sent the four-page letter to Bush in late April, following the Zimbabwean elections, criticising Bush for taking sides against Robert Mugabe's government and disrespecting the views of the Zimbabwean people, according to Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson.
In his column, Gerson quoted a US official who said Mbeki had written that "it was not our business."
White House working on a response
A US embassy official in Pretoria confirmed to News24 on Thursday that the White House had received the four-page letter, and that President Bush's office was working on a response to it.
The official said she hadn't seen the letter and could not comment on its contents personally, but said she understood the White House disagreed with certain points, and felt that the US could play an important role in the region and in Zimbabwe.
Repeated attempts to get comment from the Presidency failed, as Mbeki and his spokesperson, Mukoni Ratshitanga, are out of the country, but the Star reported that Ratshitanga said he had no knowledge of the letter.
New demands from Guinea troops.
News 24
By Alistair Thomson
29 May 2008
Guinean soldiers raised new demands on Thursday for the sacking of army, navy and air force chiefs, refusing to abandon a violent four-day-old mutiny despite a government offer to pay them years of wage arrears.
Since Monday, junior soldiers in several towns across the world's top bauxite exporter have fired guns in the air, attacked senior officers, and looted shops and rice stores to press demands ranging from cash to leadership changes.
Several people have been killed and dozens hurt by stray bullets raining down on crowded slums.
New Prime Minister Ahmed Tidiane Souare granted most of the soldiers' demands late on Tuesday, including for the sacking of the defence minister, but the concessions appeared to have only emboldened the rebels.
"They are demanding that the heads of all military services quit," said one, a junior officer at Camp Alpha Yaya Diallo in the capital Conakry, where the protests began on Monday.
Analysts say Souare's capitulation to most of the soldiers' demands, including paying them five million Guinean francs each, risks encouraging further unrest.
Airport targeted
Mutinous soldiers on board three military trucks burst into the international airport adjacent to the Alpha Yaya Diallo camp late on Wednesday, forcing a cargo plane that had just landed to leave again, an airport worker and a soldier told Reuters.
Later, heavily armed loyalist forces, including members of President Lansana Conte's guard, took control of the airport.
Other renegade troops ransacked the house of the navy chief overnight, and others shot into the air in poor parts of town, provoking fear in a population which has suffered years of military uprisings and abuses by Conte's security forces.
Military sources say the mutineers include some who fought as mercenaries in pro-Guinean rebel factions during a 1990s civil war in neighbouring Liberia.
Several private radio stations as well as RFI, the foreign radio service of former colonial power France and a key source of information for many West Africans, could not be found on their usual FM bands in Conakry.
Souare was named by Conte to replace Lansana Kouyate, a consensus prime minister appointed under a deal to end a strike last year which saw bloody anti-government riots in which some 130 people were killed and which disrupted shipments of the aluminium ore bauxite.
Some union leaders have threatened another general strike which would pose a fresh challenge to the authority of the ageing Conte, a chain-smoking diabetic whose ill-health has caused uncertainty over his succession.
By Alistair Thomson
29 May 2008
Guinean soldiers raised new demands on Thursday for the sacking of army, navy and air force chiefs, refusing to abandon a violent four-day-old mutiny despite a government offer to pay them years of wage arrears.
Since Monday, junior soldiers in several towns across the world's top bauxite exporter have fired guns in the air, attacked senior officers, and looted shops and rice stores to press demands ranging from cash to leadership changes.
Several people have been killed and dozens hurt by stray bullets raining down on crowded slums.
New Prime Minister Ahmed Tidiane Souare granted most of the soldiers' demands late on Tuesday, including for the sacking of the defence minister, but the concessions appeared to have only emboldened the rebels.
"They are demanding that the heads of all military services quit," said one, a junior officer at Camp Alpha Yaya Diallo in the capital Conakry, where the protests began on Monday.
Analysts say Souare's capitulation to most of the soldiers' demands, including paying them five million Guinean francs each, risks encouraging further unrest.
Airport targeted
Mutinous soldiers on board three military trucks burst into the international airport adjacent to the Alpha Yaya Diallo camp late on Wednesday, forcing a cargo plane that had just landed to leave again, an airport worker and a soldier told Reuters.
Later, heavily armed loyalist forces, including members of President Lansana Conte's guard, took control of the airport.
Other renegade troops ransacked the house of the navy chief overnight, and others shot into the air in poor parts of town, provoking fear in a population which has suffered years of military uprisings and abuses by Conte's security forces.
Military sources say the mutineers include some who fought as mercenaries in pro-Guinean rebel factions during a 1990s civil war in neighbouring Liberia.
Several private radio stations as well as RFI, the foreign radio service of former colonial power France and a key source of information for many West Africans, could not be found on their usual FM bands in Conakry.
Souare was named by Conte to replace Lansana Kouyate, a consensus prime minister appointed under a deal to end a strike last year which saw bloody anti-government riots in which some 130 people were killed and which disrupted shipments of the aluminium ore bauxite.
Some union leaders have threatened another general strike which would pose a fresh challenge to the authority of the ageing Conte, a chain-smoking diabetic whose ill-health has caused uncertainty over his succession.
SOMALILAND: POLITICAL DEADLOCK RESOLVED WITH ELECTION DATE?
MISNA
29 May 2008
The next presidential and local elections will respectively be held in December 2008 and March 2009 in the breakaway Somaliland region, in northern Somalia. The leaders of the local parties reached an agreement on request of the Electoral Commission for an end to the political deadlock underway since May 14, when the parliament approved a one-year extension of the term of President Dahir Riyale to consent the completion of a census. The opposition and majority agreed on the election dates, but according to the local press it remains unclear if in the meanwhile they will form a national unity government. A spokesman for the opposition Kulmiye party indicated that several factors have to first be ironed out, including a guarantee that the elections be held on time as approved by the Electoral Commission.
29 May 2008
The next presidential and local elections will respectively be held in December 2008 and March 2009 in the breakaway Somaliland region, in northern Somalia. The leaders of the local parties reached an agreement on request of the Electoral Commission for an end to the political deadlock underway since May 14, when the parliament approved a one-year extension of the term of President Dahir Riyale to consent the completion of a census. The opposition and majority agreed on the election dates, but according to the local press it remains unclear if in the meanwhile they will form a national unity government. A spokesman for the opposition Kulmiye party indicated that several factors have to first be ironed out, including a guarantee that the elections be held on time as approved by the Electoral Commission.
China Oilfield Services Starts Onshore-Well Drilling in Libya.
Bloomberg
By Ying Lou
29 May 2008
China Oilfield Services Ltd., a unit of the nation's third-largest oil producer, started an onshore well drilling operation in Libya as it seeks increased income from overseas.
Construction of a second drilling rig to be used in Libya will soon be completed, Chief Executive Officer Yuan Guangyu said in a statement posted on the Beijing-based company's Web site yesterday. Yuan didn't give any further details on the timing or of the company's investment.
China Oilfield also signed a well cementing and drilling fluids contract with China Petroleum Ocean Engineering Co., it said in a separate statement yesterday. Ocean Engineering is a unit of China National Petroleum Corp., the country's biggest oil company.
By Ying Lou
29 May 2008
China Oilfield Services Ltd., a unit of the nation's third-largest oil producer, started an onshore well drilling operation in Libya as it seeks increased income from overseas.
Construction of a second drilling rig to be used in Libya will soon be completed, Chief Executive Officer Yuan Guangyu said in a statement posted on the Beijing-based company's Web site yesterday. Yuan didn't give any further details on the timing or of the company's investment.
China Oilfield also signed a well cementing and drilling fluids contract with China Petroleum Ocean Engineering Co., it said in a separate statement yesterday. Ocean Engineering is a unit of China National Petroleum Corp., the country's biggest oil company.
Ugandan AU soldier shot dead in El Fasher.
Reuters
29 May 2008
A Ugandan officer working for international peacekeeping forces in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region has been found shot dead in his car, a spokesman for the UNAMID force said on Thursday.
The spokesman said that the body of the Ugandan was found on Wednesday evening in the North Darfur capital of El Fasher, and an investigation was underway. He said the man had been working as a police adviser with the joint U.N./African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).
(Writing by Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Matthew Jones)
29 May 2008
A Ugandan officer working for international peacekeeping forces in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region has been found shot dead in his car, a spokesman for the UNAMID force said on Thursday.
The spokesman said that the body of the Ugandan was found on Wednesday evening in the North Darfur capital of El Fasher, and an investigation was underway. He said the man had been working as a police adviser with the joint U.N./African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).
(Writing by Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Matthew Jones)
Rwanda Violates Ugandan Airspace.
The Monitor (Kampala)
29 May 2008
Alfred Tumushabe and Rodney Muhumuza
Diplomatic talks have begun to ease tensions and offset the fallout from the May 18 violation of Uganda's airspace by a helicopter gunship belonging to the Rwandan military.
Security sources, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media, said a Rwanda's Mi-17 gunship hovered over the south-western frontier district of Kisoro for a distance of about 80km inside Uganda.
The aircraft spent an hour in Ugandan airspace on the afternoon of May 18, the sources said. It entered through Kyanika border post and flew over Kisoro airstrip, Murora and Kanaaba sub-counties and Icuya forest, the sources said.
It was also claimed that the aircraft flew at a low altitude of 80-100 meters above sea level, causing panic among residents. Days before, there had been massive deployment of the Rwandan military on the borderline stretch of Kyanika.
Mr James Mugume, the Foreign Affairs permanent secretary, said yesterday the violation "is an issue" that is being discussed between Kampala and Kigali. "It's being discussed, but I think that they have admitted that it was a mistake [on the part of the Rwandans]," Mr Mugume said. "It is an issue...Everything is taken seriously."
Mr Kamali Karegesa, Rwanda's ambassador in Kampala, said he was not comfortable commenting on the issue.
The Rwandans have reportedly said the pilot flying the gunship believed he was in Rwandan territory when he was in fact flying over foreign territory, according to Mr Mugume. "All we wanted was an explanation from Rwanda. We are [still] discussing," Mr Mugume said.
The spokesman for the UPDF's Second Division, Capt. Tabaaro Kiconco, said the violation was suspicious. "A [Rwanda] military helicopter entered into Uganda [without the knowledge of Ugandan officials] and there was deployment of [Rwandan Defence Forces] along the border," Capt. Kiconco said on Tuesday.
A security meeting, chaired by the commander of the Mbarara-based 2nd Division, Brig. Charles Otema, was convened on May 20 to discuss the violation. Our sources could not say whether they suspected the gunship to have been on a reconnaissance mission.
Asked whether the gunship would have been shot down had it stayed much longer, Capt. Paddy Ankunda, the Defence and Army spokesman, could only say that the violation had a diplomatic bearing, not a military one.
Some sources claimed that the FDLR has recently been regrouping in the areas of Kihito and Mpimbi, about 30 km from the common border.
It is suspected that the deployment of the Rwandan military along the border with Uganda reflects the intensity of a new military effort to fight the rebels. Brig. Otema reportedly said during the May 20 security meeting that no rebel group would use Uganda's territory to launch an attack on Rwanda.
Under the Tripartite Plus Commission, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Congo and Burundi have held several meetings whose ultimate goal is to rid the region of "negative forces".
Funded by the United States, the TPC is supposed to provide a framework within which member states can arrest the leaders of rebel forces operating within the region. But the arrangement has not been so successful.
29 May 2008
Alfred Tumushabe and Rodney Muhumuza
Diplomatic talks have begun to ease tensions and offset the fallout from the May 18 violation of Uganda's airspace by a helicopter gunship belonging to the Rwandan military.
Security sources, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media, said a Rwanda's Mi-17 gunship hovered over the south-western frontier district of Kisoro for a distance of about 80km inside Uganda.
The aircraft spent an hour in Ugandan airspace on the afternoon of May 18, the sources said. It entered through Kyanika border post and flew over Kisoro airstrip, Murora and Kanaaba sub-counties and Icuya forest, the sources said.
It was also claimed that the aircraft flew at a low altitude of 80-100 meters above sea level, causing panic among residents. Days before, there had been massive deployment of the Rwandan military on the borderline stretch of Kyanika.
Mr James Mugume, the Foreign Affairs permanent secretary, said yesterday the violation "is an issue" that is being discussed between Kampala and Kigali. "It's being discussed, but I think that they have admitted that it was a mistake [on the part of the Rwandans]," Mr Mugume said. "It is an issue...Everything is taken seriously."
Mr Kamali Karegesa, Rwanda's ambassador in Kampala, said he was not comfortable commenting on the issue.
The Rwandans have reportedly said the pilot flying the gunship believed he was in Rwandan territory when he was in fact flying over foreign territory, according to Mr Mugume. "All we wanted was an explanation from Rwanda. We are [still] discussing," Mr Mugume said.
The spokesman for the UPDF's Second Division, Capt. Tabaaro Kiconco, said the violation was suspicious. "A [Rwanda] military helicopter entered into Uganda [without the knowledge of Ugandan officials] and there was deployment of [Rwandan Defence Forces] along the border," Capt. Kiconco said on Tuesday.
A security meeting, chaired by the commander of the Mbarara-based 2nd Division, Brig. Charles Otema, was convened on May 20 to discuss the violation. Our sources could not say whether they suspected the gunship to have been on a reconnaissance mission.
Asked whether the gunship would have been shot down had it stayed much longer, Capt. Paddy Ankunda, the Defence and Army spokesman, could only say that the violation had a diplomatic bearing, not a military one.
Some sources claimed that the FDLR has recently been regrouping in the areas of Kihito and Mpimbi, about 30 km from the common border.
It is suspected that the deployment of the Rwandan military along the border with Uganda reflects the intensity of a new military effort to fight the rebels. Brig. Otema reportedly said during the May 20 security meeting that no rebel group would use Uganda's territory to launch an attack on Rwanda.
Under the Tripartite Plus Commission, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Congo and Burundi have held several meetings whose ultimate goal is to rid the region of "negative forces".
Funded by the United States, the TPC is supposed to provide a framework within which member states can arrest the leaders of rebel forces operating within the region. But the arrangement has not been so successful.
28 May, 2008
Indonesia to Quit OPEC; May Rejoin if Oil Output Rises.
The Wall Street Journal:Asia Edition
28 May 2008
by Tom Wright and Deden Sudrajat
Reduced to the status of a marginal net oil exporter, Indonesia will quit the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries at the end of this year, Energy Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said Wednesday.
East Asia's only OPEC member, Indonesia still exports natural gas, but its aging oil fields and lack of fresh investment in exploration have undermined the country as a crude producer and forced it to slash costly domestic fuel subsidies as global oil prices soar.
Earlier this month, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the government would soon decide whether to quit the organization because of its declining oil production. Purnomo said he would sign a letter to OPEC on Wednesday informing the grouping of Indonesia's intention to leave when its 2008 membership lapses. "Today we decided that we are pulling out from OPEC," Purnomo said. "We are an (oil) consuming country."
The last country to leave OPEC was Gabon in 1994, citing the cost of membership. Ecuador also quit in 1992 before rejoining the group as its thirteenth member last year.
For Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy, the EUR2 million annual membership fee isn't an issue, analysts said. Instead, Indonesia's interests lie with lower oil prices, putting it at odds with OPEC's mission to keep crude prices higher, said Kurtubi, an independent Jakarta-based oil analyst who goes by a single name. "Our interests are much different" than OPEC's, he said.
Indonesia's decision to pull out will not affect global oil markets because the country's relatively low crude production and exports are the result of a decade of under investment in new oil fields and aren't related to OPEC restraints on output.
But some industry analysts said Indonesia would do better to stay in OPEC, allowing the nation to try to influence global crude prices from inside the organization. OPEC members produce about 40% of the world's oil.
"There is no benefit for Indonesia to quit OPEC," said Subroto, a former Indonesia oil minister and secretary general of OPEC from 1988 to 1994 who goes by a single name. "If we remain in OPEC there is some obligation for members to help each other."
Indonesia is still, on balance, a small net exporter of crude oil, despite steady declines in production since 1995. The Asian financial crisis of 1997-98 hit confidence in the nation and investment in exploration ground to a standstill. In the past decade, lack of regulatory clarity and disagreements between the state-owned oil company Pertamina and major global oil companies like ExxonMobil over contracts have slowed the development of new fields.
Currently, Indonesia is producing just short of one million barrels of crude per day - much lower than a peak of 1.6 million barrels in the mid-1990s, Purnomo said.
But Indonesia, which has relatively few oil refineries, imports large amounts of refined products such as gasoline and diesel. When crude oil was cheap and production high, Indonesia could afford to heavily subsidize the cost of gasoline, diesel and kerosene for Indonesian consumers.
The cost of these subsidy programs has ballooned in recent months as crude oil moved above $130 per barrel. Last weekend, the government was forced to increase fuel prices almost 30% to stop a budget blowout, sparking some protest demonstrations across the country.
Even with the price increases, the government plans to spend about $20 billion on fuel and electricity subsidies this year, almost a third of total government expenditures - a huge amount for a country with a chronically underfunded health and education system.
Indonesia could rejoin OPEC in a few years if it can kickstart crude oil production, Purnomo said.
A few big oil field projects under development are expected to start production in 2009. Among them is the Cepu field on Java island, which is estimated to hold 600 million barrels of crude oil. Pertamina and ExxonMobil agreed in 2005 to spend $2.6 billion to develop the field after a four-year contract dispute.
28 May 2008
by Tom Wright and Deden Sudrajat
Reduced to the status of a marginal net oil exporter, Indonesia will quit the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries at the end of this year, Energy Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said Wednesday.
East Asia's only OPEC member, Indonesia still exports natural gas, but its aging oil fields and lack of fresh investment in exploration have undermined the country as a crude producer and forced it to slash costly domestic fuel subsidies as global oil prices soar.
Earlier this month, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the government would soon decide whether to quit the organization because of its declining oil production. Purnomo said he would sign a letter to OPEC on Wednesday informing the grouping of Indonesia's intention to leave when its 2008 membership lapses. "Today we decided that we are pulling out from OPEC," Purnomo said. "We are an (oil) consuming country."
The last country to leave OPEC was Gabon in 1994, citing the cost of membership. Ecuador also quit in 1992 before rejoining the group as its thirteenth member last year.
For Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy, the EUR2 million annual membership fee isn't an issue, analysts said. Instead, Indonesia's interests lie with lower oil prices, putting it at odds with OPEC's mission to keep crude prices higher, said Kurtubi, an independent Jakarta-based oil analyst who goes by a single name. "Our interests are much different" than OPEC's, he said.
Indonesia's decision to pull out will not affect global oil markets because the country's relatively low crude production and exports are the result of a decade of under investment in new oil fields and aren't related to OPEC restraints on output.
But some industry analysts said Indonesia would do better to stay in OPEC, allowing the nation to try to influence global crude prices from inside the organization. OPEC members produce about 40% of the world's oil.
"There is no benefit for Indonesia to quit OPEC," said Subroto, a former Indonesia oil minister and secretary general of OPEC from 1988 to 1994 who goes by a single name. "If we remain in OPEC there is some obligation for members to help each other."
Indonesia is still, on balance, a small net exporter of crude oil, despite steady declines in production since 1995. The Asian financial crisis of 1997-98 hit confidence in the nation and investment in exploration ground to a standstill. In the past decade, lack of regulatory clarity and disagreements between the state-owned oil company Pertamina and major global oil companies like ExxonMobil over contracts have slowed the development of new fields.
Currently, Indonesia is producing just short of one million barrels of crude per day - much lower than a peak of 1.6 million barrels in the mid-1990s, Purnomo said.
But Indonesia, which has relatively few oil refineries, imports large amounts of refined products such as gasoline and diesel. When crude oil was cheap and production high, Indonesia could afford to heavily subsidize the cost of gasoline, diesel and kerosene for Indonesian consumers.
The cost of these subsidy programs has ballooned in recent months as crude oil moved above $130 per barrel. Last weekend, the government was forced to increase fuel prices almost 30% to stop a budget blowout, sparking some protest demonstrations across the country.
Even with the price increases, the government plans to spend about $20 billion on fuel and electricity subsidies this year, almost a third of total government expenditures - a huge amount for a country with a chronically underfunded health and education system.
Indonesia could rejoin OPEC in a few years if it can kickstart crude oil production, Purnomo said.
A few big oil field projects under development are expected to start production in 2009. Among them is the Cepu field on Java island, which is estimated to hold 600 million barrels of crude oil. Pertamina and ExxonMobil agreed in 2005 to spend $2.6 billion to develop the field after a four-year contract dispute.
RADIO CONFIRMS RUMOURS ON RUSSIAN PLANE SHOT DOWN IN KHARTOUM.
MISNA
28 May 2008
Also a Russian national was among the victims of a May 10 surprise attack conducted in the outskirts of Khartoum by the rebels of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) that left hundreds dead (mainly combatants). According to the Russian radio station “Ekho Moskvy”, quoted this morning by the Sudanese press, a Russian fighter jet was shot down by a missile during the clashes and the Russian pilot onboard died. Rumours in regard had circulated in the hours following the rebel attack, while the government of Khartoum a few days later closed down the Arabic language ‘Alwane’ newspaper for publishing news on the missing fighter jet and its Russian pilot. According to the Russian radio, the pilot had managed to eject after his plane was shot, but his parachute failed to open. Russia’s Defence ministry denied the report. Moscow was accused last year of supplying arms to Khartoum, in breach of a UN embargo under resolution 1591 that prohibits the sale of weapons to the nation.
28 May 2008
Also a Russian national was among the victims of a May 10 surprise attack conducted in the outskirts of Khartoum by the rebels of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) that left hundreds dead (mainly combatants). According to the Russian radio station “Ekho Moskvy”, quoted this morning by the Sudanese press, a Russian fighter jet was shot down by a missile during the clashes and the Russian pilot onboard died. Rumours in regard had circulated in the hours following the rebel attack, while the government of Khartoum a few days later closed down the Arabic language ‘Alwane’ newspaper for publishing news on the missing fighter jet and its Russian pilot. According to the Russian radio, the pilot had managed to eject after his plane was shot, but his parachute failed to open. Russia’s Defence ministry denied the report. Moscow was accused last year of supplying arms to Khartoum, in breach of a UN embargo under resolution 1591 that prohibits the sale of weapons to the nation.
Chinese mining groups to pay $808m for Afghan project.
Mining Journal Online
26 May 2008
China`s top integrated copper producer, and China Metallurgical Group Corp, will pay US$808 million for the right to explore and exploit minerals in a copper mine field in Afghanistan.
The amount was part of an expected initial investment of US$2.9 billion to develop Aynak copper deposit, Pan Qifang, board secretary of Jiangxi Copper told Reuters.
Jiangxi Copper and state-owned mining and investment firm China Metallurgical won the contract through a tender last year to develop the vast Aynak Copper Mine, as the Chinese companies accelerate a search for minerals abroad to feed the world`s fastest-growing major economy.
The project has been in the spotlight since then as it is expected to contribute huge revenues to mineral-rich Afghanistan, where violence has escalated in the past two years, the bloodiest period since the Taliban`s removal from power in 2001.
Kabul-based independent group Integrity Watch said in December local communities needed to benefit from the mine and be properly compensated, otherwise it could lead to further unrest, which could raise risks as well as the cost of the project.
The site for the mine at Aynak, 60km (38 miles) south east of Kabul, contains the world`s second-largest unexploited copper deposit.
Mr Pan said China Metallurgical was working on a detailed feasibility study, which would include the scale of production and shares of the two companies on the Aynak project. The shares would determine Jiangxi Copper`s actual investment in the project.
He said the study would be completed in the second half of this year. Jiangxi Copper expected the project to start providing copper concentrates to its Guixi smelter in Jiangxi province five years from now.
The contract with the Afghan government grants mining rights in the central and western mineralised zones for 30 years, Jiangxi Copper said in the statement, in a move set to boost copper concentrate supplies to the copper producer.
The mining area has total resources reserves of 705Mt of ores and an average copper content of 1.56%, comprising 11Mt of copper metal deposits.
China`s largest integrated copper producer said it would buy at least 50% of the copper concentrate products generated upon operation of the mine.
In March, Jiangxi Copper`s chairman Li Yihuang said the Aynak project would expand to 200,000-300,000t/y, from a previously planned 200,000t.
The project would increase supply of copper concentrate to Jiangxi Copper, which was expanding capacity to 900,000t of refined copper a year in 2010 from 700,000t, Mr Li said. Shares of Jiangxi Copper were down more than 1% at HK$17.30 on Wednesday afternoon, lagging a slight rise in the index of Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong.
26 May 2008
China`s top integrated copper producer, and China Metallurgical Group Corp, will pay US$808 million for the right to explore and exploit minerals in a copper mine field in Afghanistan.
The amount was part of an expected initial investment of US$2.9 billion to develop Aynak copper deposit, Pan Qifang, board secretary of Jiangxi Copper told Reuters.
Jiangxi Copper and state-owned mining and investment firm China Metallurgical won the contract through a tender last year to develop the vast Aynak Copper Mine, as the Chinese companies accelerate a search for minerals abroad to feed the world`s fastest-growing major economy.
The project has been in the spotlight since then as it is expected to contribute huge revenues to mineral-rich Afghanistan, where violence has escalated in the past two years, the bloodiest period since the Taliban`s removal from power in 2001.
Kabul-based independent group Integrity Watch said in December local communities needed to benefit from the mine and be properly compensated, otherwise it could lead to further unrest, which could raise risks as well as the cost of the project.
The site for the mine at Aynak, 60km (38 miles) south east of Kabul, contains the world`s second-largest unexploited copper deposit.
Mr Pan said China Metallurgical was working on a detailed feasibility study, which would include the scale of production and shares of the two companies on the Aynak project. The shares would determine Jiangxi Copper`s actual investment in the project.
He said the study would be completed in the second half of this year. Jiangxi Copper expected the project to start providing copper concentrates to its Guixi smelter in Jiangxi province five years from now.
The contract with the Afghan government grants mining rights in the central and western mineralised zones for 30 years, Jiangxi Copper said in the statement, in a move set to boost copper concentrate supplies to the copper producer.
The mining area has total resources reserves of 705Mt of ores and an average copper content of 1.56%, comprising 11Mt of copper metal deposits.
China`s largest integrated copper producer said it would buy at least 50% of the copper concentrate products generated upon operation of the mine.
In March, Jiangxi Copper`s chairman Li Yihuang said the Aynak project would expand to 200,000-300,000t/y, from a previously planned 200,000t.
The project would increase supply of copper concentrate to Jiangxi Copper, which was expanding capacity to 900,000t of refined copper a year in 2010 from 700,000t, Mr Li said. Shares of Jiangxi Copper were down more than 1% at HK$17.30 on Wednesday afternoon, lagging a slight rise in the index of Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong.
Sudan, South Korea to cooperate in on energy and resource development.
Sudan Tribune
27 May 2008
Sudan and South Korea presidents agreed in a meeting held Monday in Seoul to enhance bilateral cooperation in the fields of energy, resources development and infrastructure construction.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak (R) and visiting Sudanese President Omer Hassan Ahmed El-Bashir shake hands at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on May 26 before holding summit talks. (Yonhap) The visiting Omer al-Bashir is in Seoul to meet with his Korean counterpart Lee Myung-bak and attend an international conference held here to commemorate the inauguration of the Korea-Arab Society.
The two presidents agreed that Sudan government would support Korean firms wanting to participate in energy and resource development as well as infrastructure construction projects in Sudan; including the modernization of Red Sea-area oil refinery plants.
Also, South Korea which is the seventh-largest trading partner for Sudan, committee its self to widen economic cooperation an exchange with Sudan. Seoul also promised to transfer Korea’s know-how in economic development and increase grants to Sudan."
Sudan is the largest country in Africa and the 10th-largest country in the world by area. It is bordered by Egypt to the north and the Red Sea to the northeast. South Korea and Sudan established diplomatic ties in April 1977.
Korea also agreed to take part in Sudan’s farmland development project as part of efforts to secure Korea’s offshore grain resources.
At the request of the Sudanese president, President Lee agreed to send a group of South Korean delegates to assist with Sudan’s farmland development project. He instructed his Cabinet in mid-April to map out specific measures to build grain storage facilities abroad as part of his government’s drive to heighten grain and natural resource security.
South Korea intensified security Monday at an international conference attended by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, whose country remains mired in a drawn-out civil war, a South Korean security official said.
Further, a major South Korean business organization said Monday that it has signed an agreement with its Sudanese counterpart to expand cooperation between the two countries’ companies.
The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and the Sudanese Businessmen & Employers Federation signed the deal, with KCCI Chairman Sohn Kyung-shik and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in attendance.
27 May 2008
Sudan and South Korea presidents agreed in a meeting held Monday in Seoul to enhance bilateral cooperation in the fields of energy, resources development and infrastructure construction.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak (R) and visiting Sudanese President Omer Hassan Ahmed El-Bashir shake hands at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on May 26 before holding summit talks. (Yonhap) The visiting Omer al-Bashir is in Seoul to meet with his Korean counterpart Lee Myung-bak and attend an international conference held here to commemorate the inauguration of the Korea-Arab Society.
The two presidents agreed that Sudan government would support Korean firms wanting to participate in energy and resource development as well as infrastructure construction projects in Sudan; including the modernization of Red Sea-area oil refinery plants.
Also, South Korea which is the seventh-largest trading partner for Sudan, committee its self to widen economic cooperation an exchange with Sudan. Seoul also promised to transfer Korea’s know-how in economic development and increase grants to Sudan."
Sudan is the largest country in Africa and the 10th-largest country in the world by area. It is bordered by Egypt to the north and the Red Sea to the northeast. South Korea and Sudan established diplomatic ties in April 1977.
Korea also agreed to take part in Sudan’s farmland development project as part of efforts to secure Korea’s offshore grain resources.
At the request of the Sudanese president, President Lee agreed to send a group of South Korean delegates to assist with Sudan’s farmland development project. He instructed his Cabinet in mid-April to map out specific measures to build grain storage facilities abroad as part of his government’s drive to heighten grain and natural resource security.
South Korea intensified security Monday at an international conference attended by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, whose country remains mired in a drawn-out civil war, a South Korean security official said.
Further, a major South Korean business organization said Monday that it has signed an agreement with its Sudanese counterpart to expand cooperation between the two countries’ companies.
The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and the Sudanese Businessmen & Employers Federation signed the deal, with KCCI Chairman Sohn Kyung-shik and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in attendance.
SPLM official claims US Winter is not an adviser of South Sudan Government despite his claim.
Sudan Tribune
27 May 2008
Editor's Note: In 1988-1989, as the Executive Director of the U.S. Committee for Refugees, Mr. Winter helped Tutsi intellectuals in exile like Professor Alexander Kimenyi and Dr. Charles Murigande form the United States cell of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF).
Mr. Pagan Amum, the Secretary General of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), denied reports published in Khartoum saying that the former US envoy to Sudan, Roger Winter was appointed as special adviser for Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS).
Speaking at a talk show in the Sudan TV on Monday evening, Pagan said that Winter has been a close friend to the SPLM for a long time and helped the party “during the national struggle period”.
Last October the Sudanese press reported that Winter advised the SPLM on withdrawing from the national unity government.
Amum said that a" vicious campaign" is being carried out against the SPLM to show that the success of the party is due to foreigners and that the SPLM is manipulated by foreign hands.
In an interview with the Arabic Language Akhbar Al-Youm, during his participation in the SPLM Second Convention in Juba last week, Roger Winter said he serves as adviser to the Southern Sudan government on a volunteer basis.
Pagan hailed efforts and services done by the former Special Representative of the Deputy Secretary of State for Sudan to the SPLM. He cited what former official had done to promote the cause of the Nuba in southern Kordofan and that of the Beja in Eastern Sudan at the time when the area was under the control of the joint forces of the Sudanese opposition.
He also said that Winter had lobbied the cause of the SPLM in the United States and its project "for a New Sudan".
27 May 2008
Editor's Note: In 1988-1989, as the Executive Director of the U.S. Committee for Refugees, Mr. Winter helped Tutsi intellectuals in exile like Professor Alexander Kimenyi and Dr. Charles Murigande form the United States cell of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF).
Mr. Pagan Amum, the Secretary General of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), denied reports published in Khartoum saying that the former US envoy to Sudan, Roger Winter was appointed as special adviser for Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS).
Speaking at a talk show in the Sudan TV on Monday evening, Pagan said that Winter has been a close friend to the SPLM for a long time and helped the party “during the national struggle period”.
Last October the Sudanese press reported that Winter advised the SPLM on withdrawing from the national unity government.
Amum said that a" vicious campaign" is being carried out against the SPLM to show that the success of the party is due to foreigners and that the SPLM is manipulated by foreign hands.
In an interview with the Arabic Language Akhbar Al-Youm, during his participation in the SPLM Second Convention in Juba last week, Roger Winter said he serves as adviser to the Southern Sudan government on a volunteer basis.
Pagan hailed efforts and services done by the former Special Representative of the Deputy Secretary of State for Sudan to the SPLM. He cited what former official had done to promote the cause of the Nuba in southern Kordofan and that of the Beja in Eastern Sudan at the time when the area was under the control of the joint forces of the Sudanese opposition.
He also said that Winter had lobbied the cause of the SPLM in the United States and its project "for a New Sudan".
27 May, 2008
UN group on mercenaries to visit Britain.
AFP
26 May 2008
The United Nations said Monday that a group of human rights experts will visit Britain this month to discuss the growing use of mercenaries in global conflicts and their impact on human rights.
The working group "will use this opportunity to take stock of the activities of private companies registered in the United Kingdom, offering military assistance, consultancy and security services on the international market and its effect on the enjoyment of human rights," it said in a statement.
The May 26-30 visit will include meetings with government officials, NGOs, academics and representatives of the private military security industry.
Many private security firms are registered in Britain, and many former British military personnel have become key players in the sector in recent years.
One of the most high-profile recent cases involved Mark Thatcher, son of former Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
Thatcher pleaded guilty in South Africa in 2005 to violating anti-mercenary laws. He claims he unwittingly helped plotters against Equatorial Guinea's President Teodor Obiang Nguema.
Prosecutors in the West African country have issued an international arrest warrant against Thatcher, accusing him of being an instigator in the failed coup attempt by mercenaries in 2004.
Prosecutor Jose Olo Obono said they believed Thatcher was involved in the alleged plot with a former school friend, former British special forces soldier Simon Mann, who is currently awaiting trial in Equatorial Guinea.
Private companies have also been deployed extensively in Iraq, where they have come under increasing criticism over the past year because of the high number of civilian deaths and injuries they inflict.
Jose Luis Gomez del Prado, president of the working group that will visit Britain, said in March that such companies were operating in a "grey zone" where rights violations were likely to occur.
"The current framework regulating the activities of private military and security companies, based essentially on self-regulation and voluntary codes of conduct, turns out to be insufficient," del Prado said in a report to the UN Human Rights Council.
26 May 2008
The United Nations said Monday that a group of human rights experts will visit Britain this month to discuss the growing use of mercenaries in global conflicts and their impact on human rights.
The working group "will use this opportunity to take stock of the activities of private companies registered in the United Kingdom, offering military assistance, consultancy and security services on the international market and its effect on the enjoyment of human rights," it said in a statement.
The May 26-30 visit will include meetings with government officials, NGOs, academics and representatives of the private military security industry.
Many private security firms are registered in Britain, and many former British military personnel have become key players in the sector in recent years.
One of the most high-profile recent cases involved Mark Thatcher, son of former Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
Thatcher pleaded guilty in South Africa in 2005 to violating anti-mercenary laws. He claims he unwittingly helped plotters against Equatorial Guinea's President Teodor Obiang Nguema.
Prosecutors in the West African country have issued an international arrest warrant against Thatcher, accusing him of being an instigator in the failed coup attempt by mercenaries in 2004.
Prosecutor Jose Olo Obono said they believed Thatcher was involved in the alleged plot with a former school friend, former British special forces soldier Simon Mann, who is currently awaiting trial in Equatorial Guinea.
Private companies have also been deployed extensively in Iraq, where they have come under increasing criticism over the past year because of the high number of civilian deaths and injuries they inflict.
Jose Luis Gomez del Prado, president of the working group that will visit Britain, said in March that such companies were operating in a "grey zone" where rights violations were likely to occur.
"The current framework regulating the activities of private military and security companies, based essentially on self-regulation and voluntary codes of conduct, turns out to be insufficient," del Prado said in a report to the UN Human Rights Council.
Sao Tome government falls after losing confidence vote.
Reuters
21 May 2008
Sao Tome and Principe's coalition government led by Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada fell on Tuesday after losing a parliamentary vote of confidence tabled by the opposition.
Parliamentary Speaker Francisco Silva said the censure motion against Trovoada's administration in the tiny West African state, a former Portuguese colony, was passed by 30 votes to 23, with two abstentions, in the 55-seat assembly.
Since 2002, Sao Tome and Principe, volcanic islands located in the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea, have been shaken by a brief coup, corruption scandals and a succession of fallen governments.
Trovoada, the son of a former president, was named premier by President Fradique de Menezes in February after de Menezes' ruling MDFM-PCD coalition agreed a power sharing deal with Trovoada's Independent Democratic Action (ADI) party.
But in Tuesday's vote of confidence, the main opposition grouping of the Movement for the Liberation of Sao Tome and Principe-Social Democrat Party (MLSTP-PSD) obtained support from members of the Party of Democratic Convergence (PCD) in the ruling coalition to topple the government.
The backers of the censure motion accused Trovoada of "lack of transparency" in his running of the country, and said he had not respected the power sharing deal that had led to his appointment as premier.
Silva said the vote, which occurred when President de Menezes was away on a visit to Taiwan, could lead to early general elections. The last elections were held in 2006.
Trovoada rejected the opposition criticism of his administration and accused opponents of putting personal interests before those of the country.
Sao Tome and Principe has in recent years attracted interest from international oil companies which have been exploring offshore areas following major past discoveries in nearby Equatorial Guinea.
21 May 2008
Sao Tome and Principe's coalition government led by Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada fell on Tuesday after losing a parliamentary vote of confidence tabled by the opposition.
Parliamentary Speaker Francisco Silva said the censure motion against Trovoada's administration in the tiny West African state, a former Portuguese colony, was passed by 30 votes to 23, with two abstentions, in the 55-seat assembly.
Since 2002, Sao Tome and Principe, volcanic islands located in the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea, have been shaken by a brief coup, corruption scandals and a succession of fallen governments.
Trovoada, the son of a former president, was named premier by President Fradique de Menezes in February after de Menezes' ruling MDFM-PCD coalition agreed a power sharing deal with Trovoada's Independent Democratic Action (ADI) party.
But in Tuesday's vote of confidence, the main opposition grouping of the Movement for the Liberation of Sao Tome and Principe-Social Democrat Party (MLSTP-PSD) obtained support from members of the Party of Democratic Convergence (PCD) in the ruling coalition to topple the government.
The backers of the censure motion accused Trovoada of "lack of transparency" in his running of the country, and said he had not respected the power sharing deal that had led to his appointment as premier.
Silva said the vote, which occurred when President de Menezes was away on a visit to Taiwan, could lead to early general elections. The last elections were held in 2006.
Trovoada rejected the opposition criticism of his administration and accused opponents of putting personal interests before those of the country.
Sao Tome and Principe has in recent years attracted interest from international oil companies which have been exploring offshore areas following major past discoveries in nearby Equatorial Guinea.
CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY SWORN IN, TOMORROW VOTE ON MONARCHY.
MISNA
27 May 2008
The Constituent Assembly elected in April was sworn in today in an official ceremony at the Birendera International Convention Centre in the capital Kathmandu. The 575 delegates, a third of which women and a large part from ethnic minorities and ‘dalit’ (outcasts), took oath in their mother languages, in a chorus that reflects the multi-ethnicity of the nation. Another 26 assembly members are yet to be appointed by the new cabinet, due to disputes among parties. The delegates are set to rewrite the nation’s Constitution, probably changing the institutional structure and abolishing the monarchy, as in the declared objective of the Maoist party that with 202 seats holds a majority in the Assembly.
Ten-thousand soldiers and police were deployed yesterday in the capital over concerns of unrest ahead of the opening of the works, after attacks and threats of violence in case of the abolition of the 240 year-old Hindu monarchy, transformed in 1991 with democratic reforms into a multi-party Constitutional monarchy, however leaving the king special powers.
27 May 2008
The Constituent Assembly elected in April was sworn in today in an official ceremony at the Birendera International Convention Centre in the capital Kathmandu. The 575 delegates, a third of which women and a large part from ethnic minorities and ‘dalit’ (outcasts), took oath in their mother languages, in a chorus that reflects the multi-ethnicity of the nation. Another 26 assembly members are yet to be appointed by the new cabinet, due to disputes among parties. The delegates are set to rewrite the nation’s Constitution, probably changing the institutional structure and abolishing the monarchy, as in the declared objective of the Maoist party that with 202 seats holds a majority in the Assembly.
Ten-thousand soldiers and police were deployed yesterday in the capital over concerns of unrest ahead of the opening of the works, after attacks and threats of violence in case of the abolition of the 240 year-old Hindu monarchy, transformed in 1991 with democratic reforms into a multi-party Constitutional monarchy, however leaving the king special powers.
…MOGADISHU (2): TOLL RISES, GUNMEN SEIZE UNIVERSITY OF KISMAYO.
MISNA
27 May 2008
“Twenty some wounded people were brought to the hospital, six of which died overnight”, said to MISNA a medical source contacted in Mogadishu, where the toll rose to 18 dead, for the most part civilians, in the attack against a military base of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
“The fighting halted today, also thanks to the rain, but we fear it will resume with the same ferocity of the past weeks’, added the source. The violence is not however only concentrated in the Somali capital. Armed militias today occupied the University of Kismayo, in the southern Middle Shabelle region, seizing all the teaching material in the structure. The teachers of the campus reported that the gunmen evicted the students and professors from the university, barricading themselves in. Meanwhile, in Jowhar, in the same region, the Shebab (youths), the militia hired by the more radical branch of the ousted Islamic Courts that ruled Mogadishu and large parts of south Somalia from June to December 2006, issued an order banning carrying weapons in the city. Any person carrying a weapon inside Jowhar will be considered a troublemaker trying to bother the people”, said Sheikh Dahir, the Islamist leader in Jowhar, adding that the decision was reached after consultations with local community activists, elders and business leaders.
27 May 2008
“Twenty some wounded people were brought to the hospital, six of which died overnight”, said to MISNA a medical source contacted in Mogadishu, where the toll rose to 18 dead, for the most part civilians, in the attack against a military base of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
“The fighting halted today, also thanks to the rain, but we fear it will resume with the same ferocity of the past weeks’, added the source. The violence is not however only concentrated in the Somali capital. Armed militias today occupied the University of Kismayo, in the southern Middle Shabelle region, seizing all the teaching material in the structure. The teachers of the campus reported that the gunmen evicted the students and professors from the university, barricading themselves in. Meanwhile, in Jowhar, in the same region, the Shebab (youths), the militia hired by the more radical branch of the ousted Islamic Courts that ruled Mogadishu and large parts of south Somalia from June to December 2006, issued an order banning carrying weapons in the city. Any person carrying a weapon inside Jowhar will be considered a troublemaker trying to bother the people”, said Sheikh Dahir, the Islamist leader in Jowhar, adding that the decision was reached after consultations with local community activists, elders and business leaders.
HEAVY FIGHTING IN MOGADISHU, AU FORCE BASE ATTACKED.
MISNA
27 May 2008
At least 15 civilians were killed in the past 24 hours in Mogadishu. According to the local press, four civilians were shot dead in the Dharkley neighbourhood west of the capital, while another 11 were killed in fighting that erupted last night after armed insurgents attacked a base housing a Ugandan troop contingent from the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). “There was an attempted attack by these violent people on our base in the KM4 area”, said the mission spokesman Baridgye Bahuko, adding that the attack was launched with artillery that also claimed civilian casualties. The attack was claimed by the Shebab (youths), the militia hired by the more radical branch of the ousted Islamic Courts that ruled Mogadishu and large parts of south Somalia from June to December 2006.
In a rare interview released yesterday to the Reuters news agency from an undisclosed location in Somalia, Sheikh Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki, considered a ‘Shebab’ leader, said “there is no solution except war” to solve Somalia’s problems, urging the United Nations not to send soldiers in support of AMISOM and Ethiopian troops, saying “all foreign troops are like united lions that devour us. We shall not tire from fighting them”.
In regard to the peace talks between representatives of the Somali transitional federal government (TFG) and members of the opposition in exile in Asmara, mediated by the UN and to resume at the end of the month, al Turki said: “The talks in Djibouti will never change anything. I urge our colleagues to come back, take their guns and fight our enemy. We shall defeat Ethiopians, Burundians, Ugandans and the coming UN forces as we defeated the warlords”.
27 May 2008
At least 15 civilians were killed in the past 24 hours in Mogadishu. According to the local press, four civilians were shot dead in the Dharkley neighbourhood west of the capital, while another 11 were killed in fighting that erupted last night after armed insurgents attacked a base housing a Ugandan troop contingent from the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). “There was an attempted attack by these violent people on our base in the KM4 area”, said the mission spokesman Baridgye Bahuko, adding that the attack was launched with artillery that also claimed civilian casualties. The attack was claimed by the Shebab (youths), the militia hired by the more radical branch of the ousted Islamic Courts that ruled Mogadishu and large parts of south Somalia from June to December 2006.
In a rare interview released yesterday to the Reuters news agency from an undisclosed location in Somalia, Sheikh Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki, considered a ‘Shebab’ leader, said “there is no solution except war” to solve Somalia’s problems, urging the United Nations not to send soldiers in support of AMISOM and Ethiopian troops, saying “all foreign troops are like united lions that devour us. We shall not tire from fighting them”.
In regard to the peace talks between representatives of the Somali transitional federal government (TFG) and members of the opposition in exile in Asmara, mediated by the UN and to resume at the end of the month, al Turki said: “The talks in Djibouti will never change anything. I urge our colleagues to come back, take their guns and fight our enemy. We shall defeat Ethiopians, Burundians, Ugandans and the coming UN forces as we defeated the warlords”.
SPECIAL TRIBUNAL CREATED TO TRY WAR CRIMES.
MISNA
27 May 2008
The Ugandan government has set up a special tribunal to try the leaders of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), for crimes of war and against humanity. The announcement was made by Foreign Minister Daniel Omara Atubo, adding that the tribunal – made up by three judges - was formed last week under the terms of a peace accord with the LRA, which the founder and leader of the movement Joseph Kony refused to sign in April. “It is an indication that the government is still committed to the peace process despite the LRA’s unseriousness”, Atubo said. In July 2005, The Hague-based ICC issued arrest warrants against Kony and his commanders Vincent Otti, Okot Odhiambo and Dominic Ongwen for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Kony delayed the signing of the peace accord with the government several times, requesting clarifications on the judicial competence of the Ugandan special court and the ‘Mato Oput’, the traditional justice system of the Acholi population, the worst affected by the two-decade conflict in North Uganda.
27 May 2008
The Ugandan government has set up a special tribunal to try the leaders of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), for crimes of war and against humanity. The announcement was made by Foreign Minister Daniel Omara Atubo, adding that the tribunal – made up by three judges - was formed last week under the terms of a peace accord with the LRA, which the founder and leader of the movement Joseph Kony refused to sign in April. “It is an indication that the government is still committed to the peace process despite the LRA’s unseriousness”, Atubo said. In July 2005, The Hague-based ICC issued arrest warrants against Kony and his commanders Vincent Otti, Okot Odhiambo and Dominic Ongwen for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Kony delayed the signing of the peace accord with the government several times, requesting clarifications on the judicial competence of the Ugandan special court and the ‘Mato Oput’, the traditional justice system of the Acholi population, the worst affected by the two-decade conflict in North Uganda.
Iraq replaces southern oil chiefs in major shake-up.
Reuters
26 May 2008
The Iraqi government has replaced some of the top officials in state-owned oil companies in southern Iraq, tightening its grip on an industry that fuels the economy but has been outside of its direct control.
The shake-up, which has largely escaped public notice, affects industries in the southern oil hub of Basra, where 30,000 government troops were deployed in March to clamp down on Shi'ite militias and criminal gangs that dominated the city.
The Baghdad government has removed the heads of the South Oil Company, which is in charge of exports, the South Gas Company and the Iraqi Oil Tankers Company since mid-May, local officials and the Oil Ministry told Reuters.
Analysts warned the move could trigger fresh violence in the unstable but strategic area, home to Iraq's main oil reserves.
The head of Basra airport has also been replaced by the Transport Ministry in the shakeup, and the local officials said the head of Basra port could be next.
The officials told Reuters the move was an attempt by the central government in Baghdad to take advantage of the improved security situation in Iraq's second city to wrest control of the industry from the locally powerful Shi'ite Fadhila party.
Iraq, which wants to boost oil exports this year to a post-war high, exports the bulk of its crude through Basra, its gateway to the Gulf, at an average of around 1.5 million bpd a day.
The oil industry provides more than 90 percent of government revenues and is seen as crucial to rebuilding an economy shattered by decades of war and sanctions.
PROVINCIAL ELECTIONS
The local officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, accused the government of making politically motivated appointments, saying the incoming general directors were linked to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Dawa party.
"Bringing officials close to Dawa to take key posts in the Southern Oil Company is a clear plan to have control over this vital sector before the provincial elections," said one senior provincial official aligned with Fadhila.
The Oil Ministry defended the shakeup on Monday, saying the officials had been removed under the ministry's "right man in the right place policy".
Control of Basra and its oil will be a key prize in the elections due on Oct. 1. Fadhila will be competing with Dawa Party ally the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) and supporters of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
"The move should be recognised as a major development in the intra-sectarian conflict," Babak Rahimi, a professor at the University of California in San Diego, told Reuters.
"The move by Maliki's government is risky because its going to upset many local Shia factions, potentially leading to another major military conflict in the port city, where security is still unstable."
BROADER CONFLICT
Rahimi said the shakeup was part of a broader conflict between Dawa and SIIC, which were in exile in Iran during Saddam Hussein's rule, and other factions such as Fadhila.
"The exiled factions are trying to undermine the native Shia factions in light of the October provincial elections," he said.
Fadhila, whose members include the provincial governor, withdrew from Maliki's government last year after losing control of the Oil Ministry. But it continues to hold considerable power in the oil industry in southern Iraq.
A letter signed by Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani and seen by Reuters, ordered Jabbar al-Ebi, general director of the South Oil Company, to be reassigned as a ministry adviser and his deputy Kifah Nauman to take his place temporarily.
It said the order was effective from May 15, but Ebi was still in his office last week when Reuters called him for comment on his removal. He declined to answer any questions.
Similar letters were sent on the same day to the other two oil officials, officials said.
The Basra Provincial Council has protested that the government is acting illegally by failing to consult it before making the changes.
"The ministry has so far not submitted convincing reasons for changing him. The provincial council has decided not to approve the ministerial order," said Munadhil Khanjar, head of the provincial council's economic committee.
Oil Ministry spokesman Asim Jihad denied any irregularities.
"The Oil Ministry has the authority to assign or remove any official from his post under the ministry's policy -- the right man, in the right place," Jihad said.
He said Ebi's appointment as a ministry adviser was in fact a promotion, while the general directors of the South Gas Company and Iraqi Oil Tankers Company had been removed because their appointments had never been approved by the cabinet.
(Editing by Peter Blackburn) (Additional reporting by Ahmed Rasheed and Ross Colvin in Baghdad, writing by Ross Colvin)
26 May 2008
The Iraqi government has replaced some of the top officials in state-owned oil companies in southern Iraq, tightening its grip on an industry that fuels the economy but has been outside of its direct control.
The shake-up, which has largely escaped public notice, affects industries in the southern oil hub of Basra, where 30,000 government troops were deployed in March to clamp down on Shi'ite militias and criminal gangs that dominated the city.
The Baghdad government has removed the heads of the South Oil Company, which is in charge of exports, the South Gas Company and the Iraqi Oil Tankers Company since mid-May, local officials and the Oil Ministry told Reuters.
Analysts warned the move could trigger fresh violence in the unstable but strategic area, home to Iraq's main oil reserves.
The head of Basra airport has also been replaced by the Transport Ministry in the shakeup, and the local officials said the head of Basra port could be next.
The officials told Reuters the move was an attempt by the central government in Baghdad to take advantage of the improved security situation in Iraq's second city to wrest control of the industry from the locally powerful Shi'ite Fadhila party.
Iraq, which wants to boost oil exports this year to a post-war high, exports the bulk of its crude through Basra, its gateway to the Gulf, at an average of around 1.5 million bpd a day.
The oil industry provides more than 90 percent of government revenues and is seen as crucial to rebuilding an economy shattered by decades of war and sanctions.
PROVINCIAL ELECTIONS
The local officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, accused the government of making politically motivated appointments, saying the incoming general directors were linked to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Dawa party.
"Bringing officials close to Dawa to take key posts in the Southern Oil Company is a clear plan to have control over this vital sector before the provincial elections," said one senior provincial official aligned with Fadhila.
The Oil Ministry defended the shakeup on Monday, saying the officials had been removed under the ministry's "right man in the right place policy".
Control of Basra and its oil will be a key prize in the elections due on Oct. 1. Fadhila will be competing with Dawa Party ally the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) and supporters of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
"The move should be recognised as a major development in the intra-sectarian conflict," Babak Rahimi, a professor at the University of California in San Diego, told Reuters.
"The move by Maliki's government is risky because its going to upset many local Shia factions, potentially leading to another major military conflict in the port city, where security is still unstable."
BROADER CONFLICT
Rahimi said the shakeup was part of a broader conflict between Dawa and SIIC, which were in exile in Iran during Saddam Hussein's rule, and other factions such as Fadhila.
"The exiled factions are trying to undermine the native Shia factions in light of the October provincial elections," he said.
Fadhila, whose members include the provincial governor, withdrew from Maliki's government last year after losing control of the Oil Ministry. But it continues to hold considerable power in the oil industry in southern Iraq.
A letter signed by Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani and seen by Reuters, ordered Jabbar al-Ebi, general director of the South Oil Company, to be reassigned as a ministry adviser and his deputy Kifah Nauman to take his place temporarily.
It said the order was effective from May 15, but Ebi was still in his office last week when Reuters called him for comment on his removal. He declined to answer any questions.
Similar letters were sent on the same day to the other two oil officials, officials said.
The Basra Provincial Council has protested that the government is acting illegally by failing to consult it before making the changes.
"The ministry has so far not submitted convincing reasons for changing him. The provincial council has decided not to approve the ministerial order," said Munadhil Khanjar, head of the provincial council's economic committee.
Oil Ministry spokesman Asim Jihad denied any irregularities.
"The Oil Ministry has the authority to assign or remove any official from his post under the ministry's policy -- the right man, in the right place," Jihad said.
He said Ebi's appointment as a ministry adviser was in fact a promotion, while the general directors of the South Gas Company and Iraqi Oil Tankers Company had been removed because their appointments had never been approved by the cabinet.
(Editing by Peter Blackburn) (Additional reporting by Ahmed Rasheed and Ross Colvin in Baghdad, writing by Ross Colvin)
Independent Inquiry Sought for ICTR Witness who Dissapeared.
Hirondelle News Agency
26 May 2008
The defence counsels in the trial of four former top Rwandan army officers, known as Military II, Monday called for an independent inquiry into the mysterious disappearance of a protected witness from a safe house in Arusha early this month and his whereabouts are still unknown.
The defense counsels were concerned over the laxity of the tribunal and time already lapsed in tracking down the witness, code-named "GFA", who claimed before the court of having presented false testimony. The witness who has also appeared in several other trials, under the code-name" BTH ", had also raised a number of allegations in connection with other testimonies of other prosecution witnesses, claiming that he and others had given false evidence as a result of pressure exerted on them by the Rwandan government so that they can be released from prison in Rwanda.
The witness vanished on 6 April, just a few hours before he was to re-testify in the court over his remarks. The safe house where he was living was protected by the UN security and Tanzanian police.
The counsels expressed their anguish following their dissatisfaction over the preliminary report presented by the Registry on the circumstances leading to the disappearance of the witness.
The defense counsels went to the extend of dubbing the "safe houses as are no longer safe."
The defendants in the trial who are facing charges of genocide and crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) are two former Chiefs of Staff, Generals Augustin Bizimungu and Augustin Ndindiliyimana in charge of the army and the gendarmerie respectively in 1994, and two former officers of the reconnaissance battalion, Major Francois-Xavier Nzuwonemeye and Captain Innocent Sagahutu. They have all pleaded not guilty.
Speaking in turns at the resumption of Military II trial, the defense counsels wondered how the witness could disappear from the safe house, which was under very tight security surveillance.
"How safe is the safe house?" queried Charles Taku, lead counsel for the one of accused Nzuwonemeye. He also asked the Chamber on how that would impact other witnesses expected to testify in different trials.
Fabien Segatwa, lead counsel for Captain Sagahutu mentioned five people who were either connected with trials or were witnesses who disappeared or were killed in mysterious circumstances, causing an alarm to the security of such important people in search for justice. "The safe house is no longer secured," he told the Trial Chamber, Presided over by Judge, Joseph Asoka de Silva from Sri Lanka.
Among those he referred to included the former Rwandan Minister for Interior, Seth Sendashonga, who was assassinated in Nairobi, Kenya in 1998 just as he was to come to testify in a trial at the Arusha-based ICTR. He had earlier survived an earlier assassination attempt in 1996, when he and his nephew were both injured after being shot in Nairobi by people the deceased had identified as Rwandese.
The other was former Rwandan Minister Juvenal Uwingiliyimana who was killed in Belgium after a meeting with ICTR prosecution team. Uwingiliyimana's naked body was found in the Charleroi canal in Brussels on December 17, 2005. He went missing on November 21 when he was scheduled to meet tribunal investigators.
"I would rather leave my witnesses under the care of the almighty God than in the hands of the safe houses," lamented Segatwa.
Reacting on the defence complaints, the prosecution Attorney, Van Alphonce, said the defence submissions were pre-mature as investigations were still on going, saying what they have received was just a preliminary report from the Registry, the fact which was also supported by the Chamber.
The Chamber then resumed the defence case of General Ndindiliyimana, which was adjourned on 6 March, 2008.
26 May 2008
The defence counsels in the trial of four former top Rwandan army officers, known as Military II, Monday called for an independent inquiry into the mysterious disappearance of a protected witness from a safe house in Arusha early this month and his whereabouts are still unknown.
The defense counsels were concerned over the laxity of the tribunal and time already lapsed in tracking down the witness, code-named "GFA", who claimed before the court of having presented false testimony. The witness who has also appeared in several other trials, under the code-name" BTH ", had also raised a number of allegations in connection with other testimonies of other prosecution witnesses, claiming that he and others had given false evidence as a result of pressure exerted on them by the Rwandan government so that they can be released from prison in Rwanda.
The witness vanished on 6 April, just a few hours before he was to re-testify in the court over his remarks. The safe house where he was living was protected by the UN security and Tanzanian police.
The counsels expressed their anguish following their dissatisfaction over the preliminary report presented by the Registry on the circumstances leading to the disappearance of the witness.
The defense counsels went to the extend of dubbing the "safe houses as are no longer safe."
The defendants in the trial who are facing charges of genocide and crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) are two former Chiefs of Staff, Generals Augustin Bizimungu and Augustin Ndindiliyimana in charge of the army and the gendarmerie respectively in 1994, and two former officers of the reconnaissance battalion, Major Francois-Xavier Nzuwonemeye and Captain Innocent Sagahutu. They have all pleaded not guilty.
Speaking in turns at the resumption of Military II trial, the defense counsels wondered how the witness could disappear from the safe house, which was under very tight security surveillance.
"How safe is the safe house?" queried Charles Taku, lead counsel for the one of accused Nzuwonemeye. He also asked the Chamber on how that would impact other witnesses expected to testify in different trials.
Fabien Segatwa, lead counsel for Captain Sagahutu mentioned five people who were either connected with trials or were witnesses who disappeared or were killed in mysterious circumstances, causing an alarm to the security of such important people in search for justice. "The safe house is no longer secured," he told the Trial Chamber, Presided over by Judge, Joseph Asoka de Silva from Sri Lanka.
Among those he referred to included the former Rwandan Minister for Interior, Seth Sendashonga, who was assassinated in Nairobi, Kenya in 1998 just as he was to come to testify in a trial at the Arusha-based ICTR. He had earlier survived an earlier assassination attempt in 1996, when he and his nephew were both injured after being shot in Nairobi by people the deceased had identified as Rwandese.
The other was former Rwandan Minister Juvenal Uwingiliyimana who was killed in Belgium after a meeting with ICTR prosecution team. Uwingiliyimana's naked body was found in the Charleroi canal in Brussels on December 17, 2005. He went missing on November 21 when he was scheduled to meet tribunal investigators.
"I would rather leave my witnesses under the care of the almighty God than in the hands of the safe houses," lamented Segatwa.
Reacting on the defence complaints, the prosecution Attorney, Van Alphonce, said the defence submissions were pre-mature as investigations were still on going, saying what they have received was just a preliminary report from the Registry, the fact which was also supported by the Chamber.
The Chamber then resumed the defence case of General Ndindiliyimana, which was adjourned on 6 March, 2008.
26 May, 2008
Burundi rebels in ceasefire pact.
BBC
26 May 2008
Burundi's government and last active rebel group, the National Liberation Forces (FNL), have signed a ceasefire.
In the deal signed on Monday morning, both parties agreed to stop fighting by 1530 local time (1330 GMT).
The BBC's Prime Ndikumagenge in the capital, Bujumbura, says it is a significant move and is the first step in implementing a 2006 peace agreement.
More than 100 people have been killed and some 40,000 people displaced in renewed fighting since April.
Rebel spokesman Pasteur Habimana said the signing of the peace deal meant that "war would stop forever".
Our correspondent says the 2006 deal broke down after the government rejected rebel demands for power-sharing.
An FNL delegation has been in Bujumbura for the last 10 days in talks with the government.
The army had kept up its shelling of rebel positions in the hills around the capital during the talks, but this eased over the weekend, our correspondent says.
Details of the disarmament and the process of integrating rebels into military and political life - agreed under the 2006 deal - have yet to be made public.
26 May 2008
Burundi's government and last active rebel group, the National Liberation Forces (FNL), have signed a ceasefire.
In the deal signed on Monday morning, both parties agreed to stop fighting by 1530 local time (1330 GMT).
The BBC's Prime Ndikumagenge in the capital, Bujumbura, says it is a significant move and is the first step in implementing a 2006 peace agreement.
More than 100 people have been killed and some 40,000 people displaced in renewed fighting since April.
Rebel spokesman Pasteur Habimana said the signing of the peace deal meant that "war would stop forever".
Our correspondent says the 2006 deal broke down after the government rejected rebel demands for power-sharing.
An FNL delegation has been in Bujumbura for the last 10 days in talks with the government.
The army had kept up its shelling of rebel positions in the hills around the capital during the talks, but this eased over the weekend, our correspondent says.
Details of the disarmament and the process of integrating rebels into military and political life - agreed under the 2006 deal - have yet to be made public.
BENI: MORE MASS GRAVES UNEARTHED.
MISNA
26 May 2008
Seven mass graves have been unearthed in the past days in the Maboya area, south-west of Beni, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The news was referred by sources of the United Nations mission in DR-Congo (MONUC), specifying that after those discovered in the past days, another 4 mass graves were found in the area on Saturday on indications of local residents. Based on a preliminary and still unofficial toll reported by the local press, the graves contain the corpses of between 120 and 132 civilians, including children.
“Some of the bodies present signs of summary executions”, specified a MONUC spokesperson. Based on initial research, the graves date back to the most recent war in Congo at the end of the 90’s and early 2000s, when Maboya, situated between the large commercial cities of Beni and Butembo, was theatre to heavy fighting between the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (AFDL), led by Laurent-Desire Kabila (father of current DR-Congo President Joseph Kabila) and the various militias active in the area.
26 May 2008
Seven mass graves have been unearthed in the past days in the Maboya area, south-west of Beni, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The news was referred by sources of the United Nations mission in DR-Congo (MONUC), specifying that after those discovered in the past days, another 4 mass graves were found in the area on Saturday on indications of local residents. Based on a preliminary and still unofficial toll reported by the local press, the graves contain the corpses of between 120 and 132 civilians, including children.
“Some of the bodies present signs of summary executions”, specified a MONUC spokesperson. Based on initial research, the graves date back to the most recent war in Congo at the end of the 90’s and early 2000s, when Maboya, situated between the large commercial cities of Beni and Butembo, was theatre to heavy fighting between the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (AFDL), led by Laurent-Desire Kabila (father of current DR-Congo President Joseph Kabila) and the various militias active in the area.
ALSO FORMER PRESIDENT ARRESTED FOR COUP PLOT.
MISNA
26 May 2008
Former Malawian president Bakili Muluzi was arrested yesterday on landing from Britain at the international Lilongwe airport in connection with an alleged coup plot foiled by security forces that in the past days led to the arrest and investigation of top armed forces and police officers and two prominent figures of the opposition party. The former leader’s lawyer said that he was unaware of the reasons for the arrest and that he hadn’t yet received a warrant. Based on his reconstruction, on landing on an Air Malawi flight Muluzi was arrested by police, questioned at the airport and then flown in a military plane to an undisclosed destination. Judicial authorities in the past days issued an arrest warrant against Muluzi, claiming that a coup plot was due to begin on his return to the nation. All those arrested in the past days face charges of plotting to topple the current government. The case comes amid a political impasse over the right of lawmakers to change political allegiance ahead of the next elections, to be held on an unspecified date in 2009.
26 May 2008
Former Malawian president Bakili Muluzi was arrested yesterday on landing from Britain at the international Lilongwe airport in connection with an alleged coup plot foiled by security forces that in the past days led to the arrest and investigation of top armed forces and police officers and two prominent figures of the opposition party. The former leader’s lawyer said that he was unaware of the reasons for the arrest and that he hadn’t yet received a warrant. Based on his reconstruction, on landing on an Air Malawi flight Muluzi was arrested by police, questioned at the airport and then flown in a military plane to an undisclosed destination. Judicial authorities in the past days issued an arrest warrant against Muluzi, claiming that a coup plot was due to begin on his return to the nation. All those arrested in the past days face charges of plotting to topple the current government. The case comes amid a political impasse over the right of lawmakers to change political allegiance ahead of the next elections, to be held on an unspecified date in 2009.
REBELS READY TO CEASE HOSTILITIES.
MISNA
23 May 2008
The FNL rebels have announced their intention to cease hostilities after the talks in Bujumbura to apply a ceasefire (MCVS) first discussed in September 2006. In a communiqué, the FNL places conditions for the ceasefire including the immediate separation of the parties, supplies for the FNL combatants, aid to the population in the areas of the fighting and the deployment of an interposition force”. The FNL and government resumed heavy fighting last April 17, marked by offensives and counteroffensives in the area of Bujumbura and other areas of the country. “The war ended upon the signing of the accords of June 18 and September 19, 2006 and if there is war today it is because of the government’s bad faith, which has not honored its commitments” says the note. The armed group was the only one not to have signed the local peace accords which ended ten years of civil war in 2003. The FNL enjoy considerable popular support and aspire to high level posts in the army and government, something their counterpart has not conceded thus far.
23 May 2008
The FNL rebels have announced their intention to cease hostilities after the talks in Bujumbura to apply a ceasefire (MCVS) first discussed in September 2006. In a communiqué, the FNL places conditions for the ceasefire including the immediate separation of the parties, supplies for the FNL combatants, aid to the population in the areas of the fighting and the deployment of an interposition force”. The FNL and government resumed heavy fighting last April 17, marked by offensives and counteroffensives in the area of Bujumbura and other areas of the country. “The war ended upon the signing of the accords of June 18 and September 19, 2006 and if there is war today it is because of the government’s bad faith, which has not honored its commitments” says the note. The armed group was the only one not to have signed the local peace accords which ended ten years of civil war in 2003. The FNL enjoy considerable popular support and aspire to high level posts in the army and government, something their counterpart has not conceded thus far.
Power Struggles Delay Training Of Somali Army In Tanzania.
The Citizen
By Tom Mosoba
May 21, 2008
Plans to train 1,000 Somali soldiers in Tanzania have hit a snag because of power struggles in the transitional Somali government, The Citizen can reveal today.
Lack of funds to pay for transportation and allowances for the soldiers has also been identified as another reason behind the one-year delay.
Sources in the diplomatic cycles confided in The Citizen that Tanzania halted the initial deployment of the troops mid last year over leaked information on the tribal composition of the soldiers.
"There was inside information from within the Somali government that influential tribal chiefs were lining up own people to be trained," the source that requested for anonymity said.
By then, the source noted, a serious power struggle had broken out between Somali president Abdulahhi Yusuf and his former Somali Prime Minister, Mr Ali Mohamed Gedi, who went on to resign in October last year.
Mr Gedi who clashed with his President over separation of executive powers was immediately replaced by Mr Salim Aliyow Ibrow, a former deputy prime minister in the interim.
"A top leader in the Somali government raised alarm over massing of people from one region to attend combat training in Tanzania," the source explained.
Tanzania 's Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Bernard Membe confirmed this information on Monday when contacted by The Citizen.
"It is true we intervened to temporarily halt any deployment after it emerged that there were internal differences in the Somali government over the training," Mr Membe said in an interview in Dar es Salaam.
He said the government was privy to the information that some individuals wanted to send their preferred candidates for the training, a factor he cautioned could enhance creation of warlords in the war torn country.
It could have been dangerous to allow anybody to use the opportunity to train people who could later become personal armies, he added.
Mr Membe said the Tanzanian government, has however, not withdrawn its offer to train the 1000 soldiers in three batches of 330, 330, and 340 when the Somali government agrees on their composition.
He said concerns raised by the parliamentary committee on security and defence that was critical of the intended exercise was amicably solved, to show the readiness of the government to help.
But Mr Membe said the inclusion of all Somali people in the troops will be one of the criteria for use by Tanzanian to commence any military training.
"We have also devised our means to screen the soldiers to ensure the benchmark is adhered to. Specialists will be involved in the exercise," said Mr Membe.
Meanwhile, the said the Somali government has also indicated it had not enough money to send the soldiers to Tanzania over allowances and transport.
"They say they have no means to airlift the soldiers to Tanzania but we cannot also risk sending our planes due to the fluid security situation. There is also the matter to do with allowances that is out of our mandate."
Tanzania offered in February 2007 to train Somali troops in response to a call by the African Union to put together an international peacekeeping force for the war-torn nation.
Mr Gedi later held high level talks with Dar es Salaam authorities after a pledge made by President Jakaya
The soldiers were to be trained in Manyara, northern Tanzania at the Monduli Military Academy in efforts to assist in the peacekeeping operation without sending troops into Somalia.
The AU called for 8,000 troops to be sent to Somalia to replace Ethiopian soldiers who teamed up with the government to fight Islamic insurgents but the response from countries has been dismal, with only Uganda responsing to send in 1500 soldiers from the very beginning.
By Tom Mosoba
May 21, 2008
Plans to train 1,000 Somali soldiers in Tanzania have hit a snag because of power struggles in the transitional Somali government, The Citizen can reveal today.
Lack of funds to pay for transportation and allowances for the soldiers has also been identified as another reason behind the one-year delay.
Sources in the diplomatic cycles confided in The Citizen that Tanzania halted the initial deployment of the troops mid last year over leaked information on the tribal composition of the soldiers.
"There was inside information from within the Somali government that influential tribal chiefs were lining up own people to be trained," the source that requested for anonymity said.
By then, the source noted, a serious power struggle had broken out between Somali president Abdulahhi Yusuf and his former Somali Prime Minister, Mr Ali Mohamed Gedi, who went on to resign in October last year.
Mr Gedi who clashed with his President over separation of executive powers was immediately replaced by Mr Salim Aliyow Ibrow, a former deputy prime minister in the interim.
"A top leader in the Somali government raised alarm over massing of people from one region to attend combat training in Tanzania," the source explained.
Tanzania 's Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Bernard Membe confirmed this information on Monday when contacted by The Citizen.
"It is true we intervened to temporarily halt any deployment after it emerged that there were internal differences in the Somali government over the training," Mr Membe said in an interview in Dar es Salaam.
He said the government was privy to the information that some individuals wanted to send their preferred candidates for the training, a factor he cautioned could enhance creation of warlords in the war torn country.
It could have been dangerous to allow anybody to use the opportunity to train people who could later become personal armies, he added.
Mr Membe said the Tanzanian government, has however, not withdrawn its offer to train the 1000 soldiers in three batches of 330, 330, and 340 when the Somali government agrees on their composition.
He said concerns raised by the parliamentary committee on security and defence that was critical of the intended exercise was amicably solved, to show the readiness of the government to help.
But Mr Membe said the inclusion of all Somali people in the troops will be one of the criteria for use by Tanzanian to commence any military training.
"We have also devised our means to screen the soldiers to ensure the benchmark is adhered to. Specialists will be involved in the exercise," said Mr Membe.
Meanwhile, the said the Somali government has also indicated it had not enough money to send the soldiers to Tanzania over allowances and transport.
"They say they have no means to airlift the soldiers to Tanzania but we cannot also risk sending our planes due to the fluid security situation. There is also the matter to do with allowances that is out of our mandate."
Tanzania offered in February 2007 to train Somali troops in response to a call by the African Union to put together an international peacekeeping force for the war-torn nation.
Mr Gedi later held high level talks with Dar es Salaam authorities after a pledge made by President Jakaya
The soldiers were to be trained in Manyara, northern Tanzania at the Monduli Military Academy in efforts to assist in the peacekeeping operation without sending troops into Somalia.
The AU called for 8,000 troops to be sent to Somalia to replace Ethiopian soldiers who teamed up with the government to fight Islamic insurgents but the response from countries has been dismal, with only Uganda responsing to send in 1500 soldiers from the very beginning.
Carter says Israel has arsenal of 150 nuclear weapons.
Haaretz
26 May 2008
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has said Israel holds at least 150 nuclear weapons, the first time a U.S. president has publicly acknowledged Israel's atomic arsenal.
Asked at a news conference at Wales's Hay literary festival on Sunday how a future U.S. president should deal with the Iranian nuclear threat, Carter put the nuclear risk in a global context by listing all nations with atomic weapons.
"The U.S. has more more than 12,000 nuclear weapons, the Soviet Union (Russia) has about the same, Great Britain and France have several hundred, and Israel has 150 or more. We have a phalanx of enormous weaponry ... not only of enormous weaponry but of rockets to deliver those missiles on a pinpoint accuracy target," he said, according to a transcript of his remarks.
26 May 2008
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has said Israel holds at least 150 nuclear weapons, the first time a U.S. president has publicly acknowledged Israel's atomic arsenal.
Asked at a news conference at Wales's Hay literary festival on Sunday how a future U.S. president should deal with the Iranian nuclear threat, Carter put the nuclear risk in a global context by listing all nations with atomic weapons.
"The U.S. has more more than 12,000 nuclear weapons, the Soviet Union (Russia) has about the same, Great Britain and France have several hundred, and Israel has 150 or more. We have a phalanx of enormous weaponry ... not only of enormous weaponry but of rockets to deliver those missiles on a pinpoint accuracy target," he said, according to a transcript of his remarks.
US, French warships arrive in Somali.
Press TV (Iran)
16 May 2008
More than four American and French warships have reached the Somali capital, Mogadishu, dropping soldiers in the southern coastal city.
The reason for the presence of the vessels off the Somali coast remains to be seen, a Press TV correspondent reported.
Upon arrival, the soldiers left for the Adden Adde international airport where they later met with African Union Mission (AMISOM) soldiers and Somali government troops.
Meanwhile, more than 19 helicopters, reportedly guarding the troops on their way to the airport, set the locals ill at ease.
There are, however, fears of a violent outbreak as fighters from the armed opposition group Al-Shabaab and Union of Islamic Courts (ICU) fighters were at the same time moving towards the airport.
In the absence of a central administration in Somalia, the Ethiopian-backed interim government has been maintaining an uneasy control over the war-scarred country.
16 May 2008
More than four American and French warships have reached the Somali capital, Mogadishu, dropping soldiers in the southern coastal city.
The reason for the presence of the vessels off the Somali coast remains to be seen, a Press TV correspondent reported.
Upon arrival, the soldiers left for the Adden Adde international airport where they later met with African Union Mission (AMISOM) soldiers and Somali government troops.
Meanwhile, more than 19 helicopters, reportedly guarding the troops on their way to the airport, set the locals ill at ease.
There are, however, fears of a violent outbreak as fighters from the armed opposition group Al-Shabaab and Union of Islamic Courts (ICU) fighters were at the same time moving towards the airport.
In the absence of a central administration in Somalia, the Ethiopian-backed interim government has been maintaining an uneasy control over the war-scarred country.
25 May, 2008
Burundi rebels say they will halt clashes with govt.
Reuters
24 May 2008
Burundi's last resisting rebel group has said it will stop sporadic fighting with the government to give a stalled peace deal a chance.
Burundi's government and the Forces for National Liberation (FNL) rebels signed a pact almost two years ago to end a persistent insurgency. But the FNL pulled out from a truce monitoring team over objections to parts of the agreement.
"We proclaim to the Burundi people and the international community an immediate stop of hostilities," the group said in a statement late on Friday.
"We decided to stop war because we are at a negotiating table. We call upon the government to show its good will and do the same," it added. Government officials declined to comment.
Nearly 100 people have been killed in clashes over the last month in the hills surrounding the capital.
Exiled FNL leaders returned home last week from Tanzania -- which has spearheaded peace efforts in the nation of eight million people -- to begin implementing the delayed deal.
The pact between rebels and President Pierre Nkurunziza's government 19 months ago is seen as one of the last hurdles for a nation emerging from more than a decade of civil war that saw about 300 000 people killed in ethnic clashes.
On Thursday, the United Nations Security Council called on both sides to fully implement the deal, seen as a home grown African success story since it was fronted by regional leaders.
24 May 2008
Burundi's last resisting rebel group has said it will stop sporadic fighting with the government to give a stalled peace deal a chance.
Burundi's government and the Forces for National Liberation (FNL) rebels signed a pact almost two years ago to end a persistent insurgency. But the FNL pulled out from a truce monitoring team over objections to parts of the agreement.
"We proclaim to the Burundi people and the international community an immediate stop of hostilities," the group said in a statement late on Friday.
"We decided to stop war because we are at a negotiating table. We call upon the government to show its good will and do the same," it added. Government officials declined to comment.
Nearly 100 people have been killed in clashes over the last month in the hills surrounding the capital.
Exiled FNL leaders returned home last week from Tanzania -- which has spearheaded peace efforts in the nation of eight million people -- to begin implementing the delayed deal.
The pact between rebels and President Pierre Nkurunziza's government 19 months ago is seen as one of the last hurdles for a nation emerging from more than a decade of civil war that saw about 300 000 people killed in ethnic clashes.
On Thursday, the United Nations Security Council called on both sides to fully implement the deal, seen as a home grown African success story since it was fronted by regional leaders.
FRANCE WILL ALIGN ITS CRIMINAL CODE WITH ICC.
Hirondelle News Agency
24 November 2008
The French Parliament will discuss next June the law of adaptation to the International Criminal Court (ICC), a legal text several times amended, has been subject of many debates since Paris ratified the ICC statute in 2000.
Adopted by treaty in July 1998, the permanent Court has the jurisdiction to prosecute persons responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed since 1 July 2002. But contrary to the ad hoc tribunals, the Court only intervenes if the concerned states do not have the means or the will to prosecute themselves. By signing the Geneva Conventions, those on torture, countries already had the obligation to prosecute before their courts the authors of such crimes.
But this provision was never really put into practice and it is the advent of the ICC which has slowly pushed countries to adapt their criminal codes as to have the legal instruments allowing them to proceed with such trials. Due to an inability to prosecute, countries faced the risk of seeing their citizens be prosecuted before an international court.
The bill presented before the French Parliament does not give “universal jurisdiction” to France. It makes it only possible for French judges to prosecute suspected French citizens for such crimes. To date, this universal jurisdiction - which in theory must make it possible to try any person responsible for such crimes, whatever the place where they were committed, the nationality of the victims or that of the criminals - is only exerted in France to prosecute persons responsible for acts of torture, terrorism, as well as the authors of crimes committed during the war in the former Yugoslavia or during the Rwandan genocide.
In an official statement, the coalition of non-governmental organizations is protesting the bill, asserting in particular that the law leaves open the possibility, for the authors of such crimes, who would not be French, to find sanctuary on French territory in all impunity.
For their part, the rapporteurs of the commission of the laws of the Senate estimate, in their report from 14 May, that it does not belong to the State Parties but to the “ICC to replace the failing country which would have normally had the jurisdiction to try the author of an international crime .Which jurisdiction is more legitimate than the International Criminal Court, without wounding the principle of equality between the states within the international community, to assume such a mission?”, the rapporteurs wrote, basing themselves on the example of Belgium. “Belgium which had risked for a time to recognize a truly universal jurisdiction of its jurisdiction had to renounce it. Our European neighbours generally recognize universal jurisdiction only under very strict conditions”, they noted.
The introduction of war crimes into the criminal code is the most important advancement of this bill. But the NGOs are also against the maintenance of statutory limitations, extended to 30 years, for war crimes, whereas the Rome Statute stipulates that the crimes of the jurisdiction of the Court do not lapse.
In 1998, during the negotiations in Rome, and which led to the adoption of the treaty on the statute of the Court, France had amended article 124, according to which a state, by ratifying the treaty, can suspend for seven years the jurisdiction of the Court in connection with war crimes. To date, only France and Colombia have used this clause. The adoption of the law of adaptation by the Parliament should “lead France to lift very shortly its reservation concerning the jurisdiction of the ICC in regards to war crimes”, they added.
24 November 2008
The French Parliament will discuss next June the law of adaptation to the International Criminal Court (ICC), a legal text several times amended, has been subject of many debates since Paris ratified the ICC statute in 2000.
Adopted by treaty in July 1998, the permanent Court has the jurisdiction to prosecute persons responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed since 1 July 2002. But contrary to the ad hoc tribunals, the Court only intervenes if the concerned states do not have the means or the will to prosecute themselves. By signing the Geneva Conventions, those on torture, countries already had the obligation to prosecute before their courts the authors of such crimes.
But this provision was never really put into practice and it is the advent of the ICC which has slowly pushed countries to adapt their criminal codes as to have the legal instruments allowing them to proceed with such trials. Due to an inability to prosecute, countries faced the risk of seeing their citizens be prosecuted before an international court.
The bill presented before the French Parliament does not give “universal jurisdiction” to France. It makes it only possible for French judges to prosecute suspected French citizens for such crimes. To date, this universal jurisdiction - which in theory must make it possible to try any person responsible for such crimes, whatever the place where they were committed, the nationality of the victims or that of the criminals - is only exerted in France to prosecute persons responsible for acts of torture, terrorism, as well as the authors of crimes committed during the war in the former Yugoslavia or during the Rwandan genocide.
In an official statement, the coalition of non-governmental organizations is protesting the bill, asserting in particular that the law leaves open the possibility, for the authors of such crimes, who would not be French, to find sanctuary on French territory in all impunity.
For their part, the rapporteurs of the commission of the laws of the Senate estimate, in their report from 14 May, that it does not belong to the State Parties but to the “ICC to replace the failing country which would have normally had the jurisdiction to try the author of an international crime .Which jurisdiction is more legitimate than the International Criminal Court, without wounding the principle of equality between the states within the international community, to assume such a mission?”, the rapporteurs wrote, basing themselves on the example of Belgium. “Belgium which had risked for a time to recognize a truly universal jurisdiction of its jurisdiction had to renounce it. Our European neighbours generally recognize universal jurisdiction only under very strict conditions”, they noted.
The introduction of war crimes into the criminal code is the most important advancement of this bill. But the NGOs are also against the maintenance of statutory limitations, extended to 30 years, for war crimes, whereas the Rome Statute stipulates that the crimes of the jurisdiction of the Court do not lapse.
In 1998, during the negotiations in Rome, and which led to the adoption of the treaty on the statute of the Court, France had amended article 124, according to which a state, by ratifying the treaty, can suspend for seven years the jurisdiction of the Court in connection with war crimes. To date, only France and Colombia have used this clause. The adoption of the law of adaptation by the Parliament should “lead France to lift very shortly its reservation concerning the jurisdiction of the ICC in regards to war crimes”, they added.
ICTR REPORT: COMPLETION STRATEGY NOT POSSIBLE BY DECEMBER 2008.
Hirondelle News Agency
24 May 2008
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has recognised for the first time that it will not be able to meet the deadline of completing all first instance trials by end of December, 2008 as ordered by the Security Council.
According to a draft report submitted to the UN Secretary General at the beginning of the month, the ICTR underscores that it was confronted with two major challenges: the exodus of its more qualified personnel and a growing delay in the transfer of certain cases to national jurisdictions. The report is scheduled to be tabled on 4 June before the Security Council by the ICTR President, Justice Dennis Byron.
The report, whose copy Hirondelle was in possession, notes regrettably that the retention plan for its personnel, which envisaged the granting of bonuses to the employees, was not approved by the Budgetary Committee of the UN, adding that as a result high rate of resignation of essential personnel will continue.
” The Tribunal is requesting the support of the Member States of the UN and reminds that the capacity of the Tribunal to maintain its current level of effectiveness, to even improve it, will depend on a large part on the maintenance of its eminently experienced and highly qualified judges and personnel,” cautions the report.
The report also discusses the Tribunal’s inability to implement its project to transfer certain cases to national courts.
To date, only two cases have actually been transferred to another country-- Father Wenceslas Munyeshyaka and the former Governor, Laurent Bucyibaruta, who were already in France, and will be tried there before an Assize Court.
The case of former tea authority boss, Michel Bagaragaza, for whom two transfer decisions-- the first to Norway and the second to The Netherlands-- were cancelled for reasons of jurisdiction of these countries, can be seen as a prediction for the failure of the transfer strategy. Bagaragaza was brought back to Arusha this week.
“It is necessary to consider the possibility that these transfer requests will be rejected and that consequently, it will be necessary to take into account the schedule of the Tribunal four new trials”, says the report.
It specifies that the prosecutor considered a certain number of African countries for the possibility of transferring some cases to national courts. However, except for Rwanda, no African country, up to now, has agreed to receive cases that would be transferred by the Tribunal. The prosecutor has filed four transfer requests of defendants to Rwandan courts and the decisions are yet to be rendered.
The Office of Prosecutor (OTP) has already indicated to the UN Member States the difficulties it has in meeting the deadline decided by the Security Council in 2003.
“If new trials open at the Tribunal due to the arrest of other people or because of the impossibility to transfer certain cases to national courts, the OTP will be obligated to re-examine the use of its resources and, if necessary, to plan to obtain additional resources”, warns the report.
Regarding 13 key accused who are still at large, the ICTR considers that four of them must be tried before the Tribunal in case of their arrest.
Moreover, the Prosecutor claims to continue to carry out investigations into the cases against the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) for alleged massacres committed during the 1994 genocide.
The document points that an individual trial takes approximately 10 months and six defendants are still awaiting trial whereas four, who are still at large, have been designed to be tried before the Tribunal.
With three chambers in operation at the ICTR, theoretically the tribunal’s work goes beyond 2010, the scheduled date for the end of Appeal procedures.
The ICTR, created in 1994 by the UN, has since its first hearing in January 1997 tried 35 people.
Twenty eight others are currently on trial, six on standby and 13 are at large.
At the end of 2007, it has cost more than a billion US dollars. Its budget for 2008/2009, voted last January in New York, is of US dollars 267 million.
24 May 2008
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has recognised for the first time that it will not be able to meet the deadline of completing all first instance trials by end of December, 2008 as ordered by the Security Council.
According to a draft report submitted to the UN Secretary General at the beginning of the month, the ICTR underscores that it was confronted with two major challenges: the exodus of its more qualified personnel and a growing delay in the transfer of certain cases to national jurisdictions. The report is scheduled to be tabled on 4 June before the Security Council by the ICTR President, Justice Dennis Byron.
The report, whose copy Hirondelle was in possession, notes regrettably that the retention plan for its personnel, which envisaged the granting of bonuses to the employees, was not approved by the Budgetary Committee of the UN, adding that as a result high rate of resignation of essential personnel will continue.
” The Tribunal is requesting the support of the Member States of the UN and reminds that the capacity of the Tribunal to maintain its current level of effectiveness, to even improve it, will depend on a large part on the maintenance of its eminently experienced and highly qualified judges and personnel,” cautions the report.
The report also discusses the Tribunal’s inability to implement its project to transfer certain cases to national courts.
To date, only two cases have actually been transferred to another country-- Father Wenceslas Munyeshyaka and the former Governor, Laurent Bucyibaruta, who were already in France, and will be tried there before an Assize Court.
The case of former tea authority boss, Michel Bagaragaza, for whom two transfer decisions-- the first to Norway and the second to The Netherlands-- were cancelled for reasons of jurisdiction of these countries, can be seen as a prediction for the failure of the transfer strategy. Bagaragaza was brought back to Arusha this week.
“It is necessary to consider the possibility that these transfer requests will be rejected and that consequently, it will be necessary to take into account the schedule of the Tribunal four new trials”, says the report.
It specifies that the prosecutor considered a certain number of African countries for the possibility of transferring some cases to national courts. However, except for Rwanda, no African country, up to now, has agreed to receive cases that would be transferred by the Tribunal. The prosecutor has filed four transfer requests of defendants to Rwandan courts and the decisions are yet to be rendered.
The Office of Prosecutor (OTP) has already indicated to the UN Member States the difficulties it has in meeting the deadline decided by the Security Council in 2003.
“If new trials open at the Tribunal due to the arrest of other people or because of the impossibility to transfer certain cases to national courts, the OTP will be obligated to re-examine the use of its resources and, if necessary, to plan to obtain additional resources”, warns the report.
Regarding 13 key accused who are still at large, the ICTR considers that four of them must be tried before the Tribunal in case of their arrest.
Moreover, the Prosecutor claims to continue to carry out investigations into the cases against the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) for alleged massacres committed during the 1994 genocide.
The document points that an individual trial takes approximately 10 months and six defendants are still awaiting trial whereas four, who are still at large, have been designed to be tried before the Tribunal.
With three chambers in operation at the ICTR, theoretically the tribunal’s work goes beyond 2010, the scheduled date for the end of Appeal procedures.
The ICTR, created in 1994 by the UN, has since its first hearing in January 1997 tried 35 people.
Twenty eight others are currently on trial, six on standby and 13 are at large.
At the end of 2007, it has cost more than a billion US dollars. Its budget for 2008/2009, voted last January in New York, is of US dollars 267 million.
UN COURT PONDERS OVER KABUGA’S SURRENDER OFFER.
Hirondelle News Agency
24 May 2008
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) was carefully studying the recent press report of Rwandan genocide fugitive, Felician Kabuga, that he preferred his surrender to the Rwandan government than the UN Court, to face charges of 1994 genocide.
In an interview purported to be conducted in Norway by Oslo-based African Press International (API) dated 12 May, Kabuga claimed that he was ready to negotiate a supervised surrender on agreeable terms.
Impeccable UN tribunal sources told Hirondelle Agency that the report was being thoroughly studied. “We are looking at all sides of the interview,” the source added.
However, the UN tribunal maintains that Kabuga was hiding in Kenya. “Our tracking team reports continuously points that Kabuga is hiding in Kenya,’’ stated the source.
Kabuga is accused of being a key financier and suppied machetes to Interahamwe to kill ethnic Tutsis.Kabuga was in 1994 thrown out of Switzerland and went to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) before seeking refuge in Kenya, where he has escaped several attempts to arrest him, largely because of his secret connections with top government and security officials.
The longest and the largest trial before the UN Court proceeded this week. A former Rwandan Mayor, Elie Ndayambaje, began his defence case Tuesday after 13 years in detention.
Ndayamabaje, 50, former Mayor of the Muganza commune in Butare, southern Rwanda, was arrested on 28 June 1995 in Belgium. He is jointly tried with five other accused officials in the case known as “Butare Trial”.
Started in June 2001, Butare Trial is the largest and longest trial involving six defendants, including the only woman, former Minister for Family and Women’s Development Pauline Nyiramasuhuko and her son an alleged ex-militia leader Arsene Ntahobali. The other co-defendants are the former mayor of Ngoma Joseph Kanyabashi, former Governor Sylvain Nsabimana; and Butare Governor, Alphonse Nteziryayo
Meanwhile, in another trial dubbed as Government II, a defendant, the former Rwandan Minister for Civil Service, Prosper Mugiraneza, Tuesday told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) that he was always worried about his life after he was suspected to be an ethnic Tutsi by some government officials shortly before the massacres began.
Mugiraneza is on a joint trial alongside three other ministers --Casimir Bizimungu (Health), Justin Mugenzi (Commerce) and Jerome Bicamumpaka (Foreign Affairs). All have pleaded not guilty.
According to Mugiraneza, Tutsis and Hutus co-existed peacefully but when the war started mistrust crept in between the two ethnic groups especially after, Hutus learned that young Tutsis were joining the RPF ranks to fight the government of the day.
The accused elaborated that during his reign as a minister, he abhorred ethnic discrimination among staff members or any sort of hostility because of political affiliation, unlike others.
Rwanda introduced multiparty system in 1992. Apart from the ruling party, MRND, other parties formed thereafter included MDR, PL, and PSD.
The case which started in November 2003 is before Trial Chamber III presided over by Judge Khalida Khan of Pakistan. The other judges are: Lee Muthoga (Kenya) and Francis Short (Ghana).
In another development this week, since the establishment of ICTR some 14 years ago for the first time, the Registry has appointed a counsel for an accused, Fulgence Kayishema, who is still on the run.
Kayishema, former Inspector of Judicial Police in Kibuye, western Rwanda, is sought by the Prosecution for 1994 killings and is in the list of five genocide accused persons considered for transfer to Rwanda to stand a trial.
According to the ICTR Spokesman, Roland Amoussouga, Tanzanian Jwani Mwaikusa, a law Professor at the University of Dar es Salaam, has been assigned to assist Kayishema.
Mwaikusa was also the lead Counsel for Yusuf Munyakazi, a former Rwandan trader and in the “list of five”, during the landmark hearing of the prosecutor’s transfer motion last month.
Next week resumes the “Military II Trial” in which four former army officers are jointly charged of genocide and crimes against humanity.
The defendants are two former chiefs of staff, Generals Augustin Bizimungu and Augustin Ndindiliyimana respectively in charge of the army and the gendarmerie in 1994, and two officers of the reconnaissance battalion, an elite unit of the former Rwandan army, Major François-Xavier Nzuwonemeye and Captain Innocent Sagahutu.
It was General Ndindiliyimana who was presenting his defence case when the trial was adjourned on 6 March. He replaced General Bizimungu, the first to call defence witnesses in this case. So far, Ndindiliyimana has called 27 witnesses.
Next week will also see closing arguments in the trials of former Rwandan musician, Simon Bikindi and former businessman, Protais Zigiranyirazo who is the brother-in-law of the ex-Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana. Both have pleaded not guilty.
24 May 2008
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) was carefully studying the recent press report of Rwandan genocide fugitive, Felician Kabuga, that he preferred his surrender to the Rwandan government than the UN Court, to face charges of 1994 genocide.
In an interview purported to be conducted in Norway by Oslo-based African Press International (API) dated 12 May, Kabuga claimed that he was ready to negotiate a supervised surrender on agreeable terms.
Impeccable UN tribunal sources told Hirondelle Agency that the report was being thoroughly studied. “We are looking at all sides of the interview,” the source added.
However, the UN tribunal maintains that Kabuga was hiding in Kenya. “Our tracking team reports continuously points that Kabuga is hiding in Kenya,’’ stated the source.
Kabuga is accused of being a key financier and suppied machetes to Interahamwe to kill ethnic Tutsis.Kabuga was in 1994 thrown out of Switzerland and went to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) before seeking refuge in Kenya, where he has escaped several attempts to arrest him, largely because of his secret connections with top government and security officials.
The longest and the largest trial before the UN Court proceeded this week. A former Rwandan Mayor, Elie Ndayambaje, began his defence case Tuesday after 13 years in detention.
Ndayamabaje, 50, former Mayor of the Muganza commune in Butare, southern Rwanda, was arrested on 28 June 1995 in Belgium. He is jointly tried with five other accused officials in the case known as “Butare Trial”.
Started in June 2001, Butare Trial is the largest and longest trial involving six defendants, including the only woman, former Minister for Family and Women’s Development Pauline Nyiramasuhuko and her son an alleged ex-militia leader Arsene Ntahobali. The other co-defendants are the former mayor of Ngoma Joseph Kanyabashi, former Governor Sylvain Nsabimana; and Butare Governor, Alphonse Nteziryayo
Meanwhile, in another trial dubbed as Government II, a defendant, the former Rwandan Minister for Civil Service, Prosper Mugiraneza, Tuesday told the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) that he was always worried about his life after he was suspected to be an ethnic Tutsi by some government officials shortly before the massacres began.
Mugiraneza is on a joint trial alongside three other ministers --Casimir Bizimungu (Health), Justin Mugenzi (Commerce) and Jerome Bicamumpaka (Foreign Affairs). All have pleaded not guilty.
According to Mugiraneza, Tutsis and Hutus co-existed peacefully but when the war started mistrust crept in between the two ethnic groups especially after, Hutus learned that young Tutsis were joining the RPF ranks to fight the government of the day.
The accused elaborated that during his reign as a minister, he abhorred ethnic discrimination among staff members or any sort of hostility because of political affiliation, unlike others.
Rwanda introduced multiparty system in 1992. Apart from the ruling party, MRND, other parties formed thereafter included MDR, PL, and PSD.
The case which started in November 2003 is before Trial Chamber III presided over by Judge Khalida Khan of Pakistan. The other judges are: Lee Muthoga (Kenya) and Francis Short (Ghana).
In another development this week, since the establishment of ICTR some 14 years ago for the first time, the Registry has appointed a counsel for an accused, Fulgence Kayishema, who is still on the run.
Kayishema, former Inspector of Judicial Police in Kibuye, western Rwanda, is sought by the Prosecution for 1994 killings and is in the list of five genocide accused persons considered for transfer to Rwanda to stand a trial.
According to the ICTR Spokesman, Roland Amoussouga, Tanzanian Jwani Mwaikusa, a law Professor at the University of Dar es Salaam, has been assigned to assist Kayishema.
Mwaikusa was also the lead Counsel for Yusuf Munyakazi, a former Rwandan trader and in the “list of five”, during the landmark hearing of the prosecutor’s transfer motion last month.
Next week resumes the “Military II Trial” in which four former army officers are jointly charged of genocide and crimes against humanity.
The defendants are two former chiefs of staff, Generals Augustin Bizimungu and Augustin Ndindiliyimana respectively in charge of the army and the gendarmerie in 1994, and two officers of the reconnaissance battalion, an elite unit of the former Rwandan army, Major François-Xavier Nzuwonemeye and Captain Innocent Sagahutu.
It was General Ndindiliyimana who was presenting his defence case when the trial was adjourned on 6 March. He replaced General Bizimungu, the first to call defence witnesses in this case. So far, Ndindiliyimana has called 27 witnesses.
Next week will also see closing arguments in the trials of former Rwandan musician, Simon Bikindi and former businessman, Protais Zigiranyirazo who is the brother-in-law of the ex-Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana. Both have pleaded not guilty.
'CIA used Portuguese airspace for 56 rendition flights.'
AFP
24 May 2008
A total of 56 flights used by the CIA for transporting prisoners used Portuguese airspace between July 2005 and December 2007, a member of Parliament said Friday. Communist MP Jorge Machado said the figures were contained in a report he had seen from the Transport Ministry to the government, which has previously said it had no proof of illegality. Machado said five of the flights stopped over at the military base of Lajes in the Portugese Azores archipelago, which the United States has used for over 50 years. Machado urged the government to come clean on what it knew, accusing it of passive connivance with the CIA practice of so-called extraordinary rendition, whereby terrorism suspects are flown covertly to a third country or to US-run detention centers.
The practice has been strongly criticized in many countries since it began in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks in the US. In February last year the Portuguese judiciary began an investigation into rendition as it concerned Portugal. Lisbon has rejected allegations by the British rights group Reprieve that 94 CIA flights from or to the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, carried more than 700 prisoners through Portuguese airspace between 2002 and 2006.
24 May 2008
A total of 56 flights used by the CIA for transporting prisoners used Portuguese airspace between July 2005 and December 2007, a member of Parliament said Friday. Communist MP Jorge Machado said the figures were contained in a report he had seen from the Transport Ministry to the government, which has previously said it had no proof of illegality. Machado said five of the flights stopped over at the military base of Lajes in the Portugese Azores archipelago, which the United States has used for over 50 years. Machado urged the government to come clean on what it knew, accusing it of passive connivance with the CIA practice of so-called extraordinary rendition, whereby terrorism suspects are flown covertly to a third country or to US-run detention centers.
The practice has been strongly criticized in many countries since it began in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks in the US. In February last year the Portuguese judiciary began an investigation into rendition as it concerned Portugal. Lisbon has rejected allegations by the British rights group Reprieve that 94 CIA flights from or to the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, carried more than 700 prisoners through Portuguese airspace between 2002 and 2006.
Former DR Congo leader arrested.
BBC News
24 May 2008
The former vice-president of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been arrested in Belgium on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Jean-Pierre Bemba, who fled Congo last year, was detained near Brussels late on Saturday after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant.
Mr Bemba is wanted for alleged atrocities committed by his forces in the Central African Republic in 2002.
He went into exile after being accused of high treason in his home country.
He was accused of refusing to disarm his militia after his defeat in presidential elections in 2006, and of unleashing violence in the capital, Kinshasa.
Mr Bemba has always denied the charges.
Coup attempt
The successful businessman was one of four vice-presidents in a transitional government in the war-torn African nation between 2003 and 2006.
He was leader of the rebel group, the Movement for the Liberation of Congo, which later became a political party.
In 2002, his group was asked by the former president of the Central African Republic, Ange-Felix Patasse, to help put down a coup attempt.
While there, Mr Bemba's forces were accused of widespread rights abuses.
After Mr Patasse was ousted the following year, his successor pressed charges against Mr Bemba of rape and murder.
The case was referred to the International Criminal Court in the Hague, which announced his arrest on Saturday.
24 May 2008
The former vice-president of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been arrested in Belgium on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Jean-Pierre Bemba, who fled Congo last year, was detained near Brussels late on Saturday after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant.
Mr Bemba is wanted for alleged atrocities committed by his forces in the Central African Republic in 2002.
He went into exile after being accused of high treason in his home country.
He was accused of refusing to disarm his militia after his defeat in presidential elections in 2006, and of unleashing violence in the capital, Kinshasa.
Mr Bemba has always denied the charges.
Coup attempt
The successful businessman was one of four vice-presidents in a transitional government in the war-torn African nation between 2003 and 2006.
He was leader of the rebel group, the Movement for the Liberation of Congo, which later became a political party.
In 2002, his group was asked by the former president of the Central African Republic, Ange-Felix Patasse, to help put down a coup attempt.
While there, Mr Bemba's forces were accused of widespread rights abuses.
After Mr Patasse was ousted the following year, his successor pressed charges against Mr Bemba of rape and murder.
The case was referred to the International Criminal Court in the Hague, which announced his arrest on Saturday.
Jean-Pierre Bemba Arrested in Belgium at the Request of the ICC
AFP
24 May 2008
Former Republic of Congo vice-president and ex-rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba was arrested near Brussels late Saturday at the request of the International Criminal Court, a court official said.
Bemba was one of four vice-presidents in a transitional government in the the war-torn African nation between 2003 and 2006.
The multi-millionaire businessman led the Movement for the Liberation of Congo rebel group, which later converted itself into a political party.
24 May 2008
Former Republic of Congo vice-president and ex-rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba was arrested near Brussels late Saturday at the request of the International Criminal Court, a court official said.
Bemba was one of four vice-presidents in a transitional government in the the war-torn African nation between 2003 and 2006.
The multi-millionaire businessman led the Movement for the Liberation of Congo rebel group, which later converted itself into a political party.
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