Thursday, November 29, 2012

Rwanda 'wanted new DR Congo rebel front'

Ex-rebel Bestfriend Ndozi said their orders were to 'demoralise the government'

DR Congo Seeks Democracy

Rebel city
Why Goma matters
UN under fire
Q&A: DR Congo's M23 rebels

Rwandan support for rebels in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo may be more widespread than previously believed, the BBC has found.

Kigali has already rejected UN accusations that it is backing the M23 rebel group which recently captured the strategic eastern city of Goma.
Two ex-rebel fighters told the BBC they were offered money from Rwanda to set up a new front further south.

Former rivals deputy PM Kenyatta and ex-minister Ruto, facing trial at the ICC, in talks ahead of next year's election.

Uhuru Kenyatta (left) and William Ruto were bitter rivals in a 2007 poll that ended in deadly violence [Reuters]

Two key Kenyan presidential hopefuls, both charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court ICC, are in negotiations for an alliance ahead of a presidential election in March 2013.
Talks between Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and ex-minister William Ruto are "going on", said Kenyatta's director of communications Munyori Buku, backtracking on an earlier statement that a formal deal had been struck.
He withdrew an earlier statement claiming the two politicians had already "agreed on an alliance whose goals will be national unity, prosperity for all Kenyans [and] reconciliation".

Rebels believed to be backed by Rwanda began retreating from the territory they seized last week and pulled out of the region of Masisi, their military leader said Wednesday, in a sign that international pressure has stemmed the advance of the fighters.M23 rebels began leaving the region they captured last week and will abide by an ultimatum issued by neighbouring nations to withdraw from Goma by Friday, their leader said Wednesday, in a sign that international pressure has slowed their advance.

Gen. Sultani Makenga, the military chief for the eight-month-old rebellion known as M23, said his fighters intend to abide by an ultimatum issued by neighboring nations that called for their withdrawal from Goma by Friday. He said he had ordered his fighters to retreat along the southeastern axis from Masisi to Goma, and they will then leave Goma via the northern route to Rutshuru.

Accused Kenyan presidential candidates mull alliance

Two candidates for the Kenyan presidential elections, who have been charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court are in talks over a possible alliance ahead of the vote next March, it was reported on Tuesday.

Two key Kenyan presidential hopefuls, both charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court, are in negotiations for an alliance ahead of a presidential election in March 2013.

Talks between Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and ex-minister William Ruto are "going on", said Kenyatta's director of communications Munyori Buku, backpedalling on an earlier statement that a formal deal had been struck.

He clawed back an earlier statement claiming the two politicians had already "agreed on an alliance whose goals will be national unity, prosperity for all Kenyans (and) reconciliation."

Details of any deal will be unveiled at a rally on Sunday, he added.

Sierra Leone's President Koroma wins second term

Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma won his re-election bid on Friday, avoiding a run-off ballot by taking more than 55% of all votes cast in the west African country`s third national vote since the end of the 1991-2002 civil war.

Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma was sworn in for a second term on Friday after winning elections, promising to boost foreign investment and crack down on corruption in the war-scarred nation.

Koroma took 58.7 percent of the ballots in a Nov. 17 poll, just above the 55 percent he needed to avoid a run-off, election officials announced. His main rival, Julius Maada Bio, a 48-year-old retired army brigadier, took 37.4 percent.

Congo M23 rebels set demands for withdrawal

The leader of the Congolese M23 rebel group set conditions Tuesday for withdrawal of his troops from the key eastern Congolese cities of Goma and Sake, hours after a deadline for the pullout expired.

The political leader of the M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo said Tuesday the group would only withdraw from Goma if the government meets its demands, despite earlier announcing that it would pull out of the key eastern city.

Runiga’s demands included the opening of national negotiations with Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila and a call to ensure the freedom of movement of opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi.

Tahrir Square braced for anti-Morsi rally

Clashes between police and demonstrators broke on Cairo’s Tahrir Square early Tuesday as Egypt braced for mass protests against Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi’s controversial edicts granting himself sweeping powers.

A day after Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi declined to rescind decrees granting himself sweeping powers, clashes broke out between police and protesting youths in Cairo’s Tahrir Square as the country braced for demonstrations against the controversial edicts Tuesday.

Teenagers on the outskirts of Cairo’s iconic Square threw rocks at police who responded with tear gas, according to witnesses, even as protest organizers took to the podium urging calm.

The Congolese rebel group M23 marched into the strategic eastern city of Goma on Tuesday, declaring the city is "in our hands". Earlier, M23 captured Goma's airport after days of intense fighting with government troops.

Congo’s M23 rebels took control of the eastern city of Goma after days of clashes with UN-backed Congolese soldiers, a spokesman for the rebel group said on Tuesday.

A Reuters witness saw scores of heavily armed rebels walking through the city unchallenged as UN peacekeepers watched and small groups of residents greeted them.

“The town of Goma fell at 11:33 local time; despite the attack helicopters, despite the heavy weapons, the FARDC (Congo army) has let the town fall into our hands,” M23 spokesman Colonel Vianney Kazarama said by telephone.

The leader of the Congolese M23 rebel group set conditions Tuesday for withdrawal of his troops from the key eastern Congolese cities of Goma and Sake, hours after a deadline for the pullout expired.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference in a hotel in Goma Tuesday, M23 political chief Jean-Marie Runiga said the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) must dissolve the country’s election commission before a withdrawal could be considered.
Runiga’s demands included the opening of national negotiations with Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila and a call to ensure the freedom of movement of opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi.

African leaders urge Congo rebels to quit hostilities

(CNN) -- Regional leaders meeting in Uganda on Saturday called on a rebel group in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo to withdraw from a city seized by its fighters this week and to "stop all war activities."

The M23 group must also "stop talk of overthrowing an elected government," said a statement issued by the regional leaders at the end of the Great Lakes region summit in the Ugandan capital, Kampala.

It states the rebels should withdraw at least 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Goma and that the U.N. mission for DR Congo, MONUSCO, should monitor the buffer zone.

The statement also calls on the Congolese government to listen to and resolve the grievances of the rebels, who took control of the city of Goma on Tuesday after days of fighting with government forces.

Life in Goma amid crisis

At least 11 killed in suicide attacks on church at Nigerian military base

Lagos, Nigeria (CNN) -- Two bombs killed at least 11 people and wounded 30 in a church inside the military barracks in Jaji, Nigeria, on Sunday.

Armed Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Muhammad Dole said a suicide bomber drove a vehicle into the side of St. Andrew Military Protestant Church and exploded a bomb at about noon. A second vehicle exploded just outside the church several minutes later.

The wounded were taken to three hospitals. An investigation is under way, Dole said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the militant Islamist group Boko Haram has frequently carried out suicide bombings in churches in northeastern Nigeria.

Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is forbidden," seeks to impose a strict version of Sharia law in the Muslim-dominated northern part of the country. (alessia a)

Uganda lawmakers to vote on anti-gay law

(CNN) -- Lawmakers in Uganda are preparing to vote on a new anti-homosexuality bill that proposes tough jail sentences for consensual same-sex behavior.

Homosexual acts are already illegal in the east African nation, where most gays and lesbians face physical attacks and are treated as social outcasts, but the new bill proposes harsher penalties.

Uganda's maximum penalty would be life in prison.

Amnesty International said it was "extremely concerned" about the bill and called on the Ugandan parliament not to pass it.

Rebel march continues in Eastern Congo

Sake, Democratic Republic of Congo (CNN) -- Anti-government rebels on Friday continued their march through the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, withstanding an army counterattack to maintain control of the strategically important town of Sake.

The town is on the road to Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu, and a group of fighters started to march in its direction, journalist Phil Moore told CNN.

Moore and U.N. spokesman Kieran Dwyer said the M23 fighters held Sake after two days of battling government troops in the town they first entered Wednesday.

The United Nations, which supports the Congolese army, as well as Britain have condemned the rebel campaign intended to overthrow the government.

Read more: Rebel leader in Uganda for Congo crisis talks

On Friday, the Congolese army was near the town of Minova, about 15 miles south of Sake, according to Moore.

Rebel leader in Uganda for Congo crisis talks

(CNN) -- A fight for the control of Sake, a strategically placed town in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, raged Thursday, while regional leaders sought to end the crisis.

The political leader of M23, the rebel group that captured Goma, a key city near Sake, two days earlier, flew to Uganda Thursday for talks with that country's president.

The United Kingdom's minister for Africa, Mark Simmonds, arrived in Kigali, Rwanda, Thursday and immediately issued a statement saying "there can be no attempt to unseat the legitimate government of the Democratic Republic of Congo" while calling on the DRC government to "address the underlying causes of the conflict."

"I call on the M23 to stop its advance and to withdraw from Goma immediately," Simmonds said. "This would benefit the people of the DRC and is the will of the governments of the region and the whole international community."

Oxfam, which is monitoring humanitarian conditions in the area, warned Thursday that the fall of Goma to the rebels poses "a very real risk of complete collapse of state authority and the humanitarian crisis reaching new depths."

Rebels seize control of Goma amid clashes in Democratic Republic of Congo

(CNN) -- Congolese rebels took control of the eastern city of Goma and part of the border with Rwanda on Tuesday after days of heavy clashes, a Congolese reporter there said.

The rebels took control of the government radio station in Goma and were seen walking through town, entering government and police buildings, said the reporter, who could not be named for security reasons.

The rebels are part of the M23 rebel group, which has been engaged in heavy fighting with Congolese army forces in the region since last Thursday.

Though 1,500 United Nations peacekeeping troops are in Goma and have control of the airport there, a U.N. spokesman said the situation is at a "critical stage."

Rebels recruiting in the Congo

A casualty of a suspected bomb attack is carried away by medics from the scene of the attack in Nairobi on Sunday.

Nairobi, Kenya (CNN) -- A grenade explosion killed seven people and wounded another 24 on Sunday in a predominantly Somali neighborhood of Nairobi, a Kenya Red Cross official said.

The grenade was tossed onto a minibus, known as a matatu, full of passengers riding through the Eastleigh section, according to local media reports.

No group has claimed responsibility for this attack.

Such attacks have escalated since Kenyan forces invaded neighboring Somalia last year to battle the Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab, blaming it for kidnappings of foreigners in the nation.

A grenade thrown into a Kenyan church two weeks ago turned a prayer service into carnage, killing one worshipper and wounding 13 others.

Kenya grenade attack: Somalis attacked in Nairobi

A woman flees from tear gas fired by police in Eastleigh (19 November 2012)

Kenyan police have fired tear gas to end riots that broke out in the capital, Nairobi, after a grenade blast killed at least seven people.

Shops were looted in the Eastleigh neighbourhood, as angry youths blamed ethnic Somalis for Sunday's explosion, a businessman said.
Somalia's al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab group has been blamed for a spate of attacks in Kenya in recent years.
Meanwhile, two Kenyan soldiers have been shot dead near the Somali border.
The two were part of the African Union mission in Somalia but crossed back into Kenya to repair their truck in the town of Garissa when they were attacked, an army spokesman said.
Kenya sent troops across the border last year to fight al-Shabab but its forces have since been merged with the AU force in Somalia.

The man pleaded for his life before apparently being shot

Nigeria's military has dismissed as fake a video said to show a soldier shooting dead a captive at close range in the northern city of Maiduguri.

A soldier who said he filmed the killing two weeks ago passed the recording to the Reuters news agency.
Nigeria's security forces have repeatedly been accused of summary executions while fighting the militant Islamist group, Boko Haram.
The BBC has not been able to verify the video's authenticity.
BBC Nigeria correspondent Will Ross says the video shows a man being pushed to the ground by a soldier, kicked in the head and then shot dead.

New Ebola outbreak erupts near Uganda capital

Officials say three new deaths confirmed and several evacuations under way in central region only 62km from Kampala.

The virus also struck Uganda in July when it claimed 14 lives.

Up to three people have died in Uganda from an outbreak of the Ebola virus in its central region, near the capital Kampala, according to officials.

Health Minister Christine Ondoa said on Thursday that two of the dead were from one family in Luwero district.

Ondoa told reporters: "Another viral hemorrhagic fever, Ebola, has broken out in the country ... a total of three people have, since the onset of the outbreak ,died".

Ugandan gay people often fear living openly

A Ugandan gay man who has sought exile in Nairobi

The AP news agency quoted Rebecca Kadaga as saying that Ugandans were "demanding" the law.
Homosexual acts are already illegal in Uganda, but the bill which is before parliament proposes tougher sentences for people convicted.
Foreign donors have threatened to cut aid if gay rights are not respected.
The bill, tabled by MP David Bahati, proposes jail terms for homosexual acts, including a life sentence in certain circumstances.

A harsh form of Islamic law has been imposed by Islamists in parts of Mali they control

Islamist fighters in Timbuktu, Mali, in August 2012

The African Union (AU) has backed a plan to send troops into Mali to clear the north of Islamist extremists.

It endorsed the decision by West Africa's regional bloc Ecowas on Sunday to send 3,300 troops to help Mali's government retake the region.
The plans will now go before the UN Security Council for approval before the end of the year.
Islamist groups and Tuareg rebels took control of the north after Mali's president was overthrown in March.
The UN has warned that the Islamist militias are imposing a harsh version of Islamic law on the areas they control and that forced marriage, forced prostitution, and rape are becoming widespread.

Egypt's Coptic Christians choose new pope

Bishop Tawadros (pictured) was chosen to serve as Egypt's new Coptic Christian pope from among three candidates on Sunday. Pope Shenuda III died in March amid fears of how Christians would fare under the ruling Muslim Brotherhood.

Bishop Tawadros was chosen as new Pope of Egypt's Coptic Christians Sunday when a blindfolded altar boy picked his name from a chalice in a ceremony invoking divine guidance for the beleaguered minority.

Acting head of the church Bishop Pachomius took the ballot from the boy's hand and, showing it to those crowded into St Mark's Cathedral, announced: "Bishop Tawadros."

The crowd erupted in cheers and applause as church bells tolled in celebration across the country.

The new Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of All Africa in the Holy See of St Mark the Apostle succeeds Pope Shenuda III, who died in March leaving behind a community anxious about its future under an Islamist-led government.

Tawadros, 60, a bishop in the Nile Delta province of Beheira, was among three potential candidates -- the other two being Bishop Rafael, 54, a medical doctor and current assistant bishop for central Cairo, and Father Rafael Ava Mina, 70.

Regional envoys, Islamists to meet for Mali peace talks

Regional envoys met with Islamist group Ansar Dine on Sunday for talks on resolving Mali's political crisis in the wake of media reports saying the militants are ready to distance themselves from al Qaeda's North African branch, also known as AQIM.

Senior mediators in the Mali crisis will try to convince one of the Islamist groups controlling the country's north to cut ties with Al-Qaeda's North Africa branch, an official said Saturday, as an Algerian newspaper said the group was considering such a move.

Islamist fighters in Kidal in northern Mali (7 August 2012)

Militant Islamists in northern Mali are imposing strict Sharia law despite opposition from the local Muslim population

West African regional leaders have agreed to deploy 3,300 soldiers to Mali to retake the north from Islamist extremists.

At a summit of Ecowas, the group's chairman said it was ready to use force to "dismantle terrorist and transnational criminal networks".
The soldiers would be provided mainly by Nigeria, Niger and Burkina Faso.
Islamist groups and Tuareg rebels took control of the north after Mali's president was overthrown in March.
Ivory Coast President Alassane Outtara told reporters in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, that the soldiers could be deployed as soon as the UN approved the military plan.

Tunisia to grant US access to Benghazi attack suspect

Tunisia will allow US investigators access to a suspect in the September attack on the American consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi, US senators said Friday. Ali Ani al Harzi was arrested in Turkey in October and deported to his native Tunisia.

By News Wires (text)

The Tunisian government will allow the United States access to a suspect in the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, two senators said Friday.

Islamist Mali rebels Ansar Dine urge dialogue

Ansar Dine, an Islamist group occupying northern Mali, called for dialogue Tuesday as it faced the prospect of a violent ouster by interstate troops, dispatching envoys to Burkina Faso and Algeria in a bid to negotiate an end to the crisis.

By News Wires (text)

Ansar Dine, an Islamist group occupying northern Mali, called Tuesday for other fighters to join them in political dialogue, as military chiefs plot strategies to expel the extremists using force.
As diplomatic efforts for a military solution to the seven-month occupation of Mali's vast arid north intensify, Ansar Dine has dispatched envoys to Burkina Faso and Algeria in a bid to negotiate an end to the crisis.

Islamist Mujao fighters in Mali - July 2012

The al-Qaeda linked militants have introduced strict Islamic law

French radical Muslim Ibrahim Ouattara has been arrested in central Mali, defence officials have said.

The 24 year old is suspected to have links to Islamist militants who took control of the north earlier this year.
Earlier this week West African army chiefs adopted a military plan to expel the al-Qaeda linked rebels.
It was reported last month that groups of foreign fighters from Algeria and Western Sahara were arriving in northern Mali to boost Islamist forces.
The details of the plan adopted by the military chiefs have not been made public - and came as one of the main Islamist groups, Ansar Dine, committed to peace talks with the new unity government in Bamako.
'Too moderate'

Somalia to get first female foreign minister

Abdi Farah Shirdon took office as prime minister last month

Somalia is to get its first female foreign minister in a cabinet formed by new Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon.

Fauzia Yusuf Haji Adan is among 10 politicians joining a cabinet that has been significantly reduced in size.

She described her inclusion as "historic" for both the country and Somali women in particular.

However, correspondents say Mr Shirdon may struggle to get his choices through parliament because some clans feel they have not been properly represented.

Mr Shirdon, an ex-businessman, took office last month after his nomination - by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud - was approved by MPs.

The election of Mr Mohamud in September was considered the first fair poll in the capital Mogadishu for 42 years.

They take on a country that has been without effective central authority for more than 20 years while clan-based warlords, Islamist militants and Somalia's neighbours all battled for control following the 1991 overthrow of President Siad Barre.
Big challenge
"After long discussions and consultations, I have named my cabinet which consists of only 10 members. Among them is a female foreign affairs minister for the first time in Somali history," the prime minister said.

Ms Adan hails from the self-declared independent state of Somaliland and lived for a long time in Britain, the AFP reports.

"My nomination as the foreign minister is historic for the Somali country and particularly for the women of Somalia, it turns a new page for the political situation of our country and will lead to success and prosperity," she said.

The biggest challenge facing Somalia's new UN-backed leaders is the al-Qaeda-aligned Islamist group, al-Shabab.

Despite losing key towns over the last few months, the militants still control large areas of rural southern and central Somalia.

Al-Shabab supporters have carried out a number of suicide attacks in the capital, Mogadishu, since the group was driven out of the city by African Union and pro-government forces last year - including several since Mr Mohamud's election.

Kenya policeman killed, 11 injured in church attack

An injured man is brought to Garissa district hospital following the grenade attack on a police church on 4/11/12

The injured were taken to Garissa district hospital, with some then airlifted to the capital Nairobi for further treatment

A grenade attack on a church in a police compound in eastern Kenya has killed one police officer and injured at least 11 other people, reports say.

The man who died was serving as pastor of the targeted church, in Garissa town near the border with Somalia.

Most of the wounded are also reported to be police officers; some of whom were airlifted to hospital in Nairobi.

In July, 15 people were killed in raids on churches in Garissa, and suspicion fell on the al-Shabab militant group.

Police blamed the Somalia-based group and its sympathisers for the attack, and said they were angry over Kenya's role in a UN-backed intervention force.

Kenya's capital Nairobi and the port city of Mombasa have suffered a series of grenade attacks since Kenya sent troops into Somalia last October.
'Confusion'
Witnesses were quoted as saying that the grenade in Sunday's attack was thrown from outside the compound, and landed on the iron-sheeted roof of the church while the officers and their families were inside attending a prayer session.

"It is believed to be a motor thrown or a grenade because it penetrated the roof before landing within the crowd. There is confusion," one police officer at the scene was quoted by Kenya's The Standard as saying.

Gunfire was also reportedly heard at the scene of the explosion.

Kenya's Red Cross said 11 wounded people were taken to hospital in Garissa, with three evacuated by air to Nairobi for further treatment.

Regional police chief Philip Tuimur said a major operation was under way to track down the attackers.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion will once again fall on al-Shabab.

In September, one child was killed and three seriously injured in a grenade attack on a church in Nairobi.

A mob later rounded on Somalis living near the church, injuring 13 people with sticks and stones.