Tunisia: Killer of Opposition Leader Remains at Large, Authorities Say

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

February 21, 2013

 

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The police have arrested four ultraconservative Islamists who are suspected of being accomplices to the assassination of the leftist leader Chokri Belaid this month, but they have not arrested the killer himself, Interior Minister Ali Laarayedh said Tuesday. Earlier reports citing unnamed sources had said the assassin was under arrest. Mr. Laarayedh said the police believed they had identified the killer as a hard-line Islamist who is still on the run.

New violence clouds future for South African mines

By Teo Kermeliotis, for CNN

updated 1:27 PM EST, Thu February 21, 2013

Thousands of striking miners march to the offices of Anglogold Ashanti in Carletonville on October 18, 2012.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Violence at South African mines creating uncertainty in the industry
• Last year, thousands of striking workers halted operations at many of the country's mines
• Strike-related violence at Lonmin's Marikana mine in August left 44 dead
• The unrest has prompted some investors to look at alternative options

(CNN) -- Six months on from the strike-related violence that left 44 people dead at the Marikana mine in South Africa, unrest and uncertainty still plague the country's mining sector.

At least nine mine employees were hurt Monday when security guards shot rubber bullets to break up a confrontation between rival union groups at Anglo American Platinum's Siphumelele mine, in northwest South Africa, Anglo American said in a statement.

It's the latest in a number of incidents at South African mines that have disrupted the industry. A string of wildcat labor actions, coupled with rising power costs and depressed commodity prices on the international market, have put pressure on many mining companies operating in South Africa, the continent's largest economy.

"Mining companies have really struggled to get back onto production levels prior to the strikes," says Abrie Olivier, mining leader for southern Africa at Deloitte. He adds that the "heightened tensions" witnessed last year have also raised questions about the role of unions within the mining sector.

Last year's tensions have been widely blamed on competition for members between rival trade unions -- the more established National Union of Mineworkers and the fast-expanding Association of Mineworkers and Construction, which is seen as the more militant of the two.

Olivier adds: "Six months down the line, there's quite a big process in terms of redefining the landscape of the unions -- who's in control and who's not, who's got the voice of the workers and who doesn't, how do mining companies engage with labor through union."

Read: Dune mining whips up sandstorm

South African miners face uncertainty

Mining firms and social responsibility

Last August, violent clashes at a platinum mine owned by Lonmin, in Marikana, about two hours northwest of Johannesburg, sparked national outrage after 34 people died when police opened fire on striking workers. Ten others died in the earlier days of the protests, including two police officers.

After the carnage, wildcat strikes marred by violence became the order of the day in South Africa's mining sector. Fatal clashes between rival unions, as well as underground sit-ins, brought several operations to a halt and cost the country big money in lost production.

In December, Harmony Gold cited security concerns for its decision to suspend operations in its Kusasalethu mine, about 100 kilometers west of Johannesburg. The company, which is one of South Africa's top gold producers, has only now reached an agreement with unions and expects the mine to return to full production toward the end of June.

Last month, discontent among workers rose again after Anglo American Platinum, the world's top platinum producer, announced plans to mothball two mines, sell an unprofitable one and put 14,000 jobs at risk, although those plans are currently on hold.

The potential job losses could spell trouble for the ruling African National Congress party that's already struggling to deal with the country's 25% unemployment. Unfulfilled promises of a better life post-apartheid have already led to an increase in urban unrest in recent times.

Read: South Africa's private security forces

Analysts say that mining is the backbone of South African economy. According to the country's Chamber of Mines, the sector employed about 513,000 people in 2011. Over the past 10 years, the industry has contributed just over $213 billion (1.9 trillion rand) to both the country's GDP and export earnings, in real money terms.

After more than a century of mining gold, platinum had become South Africa's new cash cow. But the sector is struggling with an oversupply in the international market and soaring production costs.

We are seeing some investors looking to Zimbabwe, Namibia and increasingly Mozambique, which has vast untapped natural resources.
Simiso Velempini, Control Risks

At the same time, pending increases in electricity costs and the potential of further labor unrest over the coming months, when wage contracts will be up for renegotiation, as well as uncertainty over mining legislation, have all helped exacerbate an already challenging situation. This has prompted some investors to look for opportunities in other countries.

"It will vary according to the mineral group and project life cycle but we are likely to see investors looking elsewhere in the region ... particularly if the South African government doesn't come out quite strongly and say what its plans for the sector are going forward," says Simiso Velempini, South Africa analyst for global business risk consultancy Control Risks. "We are seeing some investors looking to Zimbabwe, Namibia and increasingly Mozambique, which has vast untapped natural resources," she adds.

Police fire tear gas as striking miners protest

In December, the government, which is currently amending its Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, moved to ease investors' concerns by ruling out nationalization as a policy option.

Instead, it opted for "strategic" state involvement in key sectors of the industry and hinted at new taxes as it declared that the "state must capture an equitable share of mineral resource rents through the tax system and deploy them in the interests of long-term economic growth, development and transformation."

But, Velempini says, lack of clarity about the level of state intervention in the industry is keeping investors wary.

"That is going to be something that investors want to hear more about and want to be reassured about in 2013," she says. "Which state-owned enterprises will potentially increase their involvement in the mining sector but also how the government plans to increase the local South African participation in the sector, through what means and ways."

But despite the sector's recent woes, most analysts agree that mining holds the key to a prosperous South Africa.

"It's an industry that's going through a lot of change and it's going through a lot of pain, for the better," says Olivier. "If there's one industry that is very resilient it is the mining industry and South Africa will get through it and I think it will be for the better in the long run."

Velempini agrees. "The mining sector in 2013 is in for quite a tumultuous period but having considered the sector's contribution to the country's GDP, but also its contribution to employment levels, the government will have a strong reason to try and ensure that there is policy clarity and also a measure of stability in the medium term," she says.

South Africa mine fires 1,4000 striking miners

ICC-charged Kenyatta cleared to run in Kenya poll

Kenya’s High Court cleared the way for Uhuru Kenyatta’s presidential bid on Friday by refusing to rule in a case seeking to bar the ICC-charged politician from running for next month’s poll.

By Leela JACINTO (text)

Four days after Kenyan presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta staunchly defended his candidacy in a televised public debate, the country’s High Court cleared the way for Kenyatta’s presidential bid - effectively dismissing arguments that his looming trial on charges of crimes against humanity disqualified him.
Dismissing the case against Kenyatta on Friday, the High Court maintained that it did not have jurisdiction over the petitions filed by various legal and human rights groups.
The court also cleared the way for Kenyatta’s running mate, William Ruto, to stand in the March 4 presidential and general elections.
Kenyatta and Ruto are among four Kenyans facing an ICC (International Criminal Court) trial for their alleged roles in orchestrating murder, rape and violence after the 2007 polls. More than 1,200 people were killed and over 600,000 displaced in the inter-tribal violence.
A former finance minister and son of Kenya’s founding father, Jomo Kenyatta, Uhuru Kenyatta is a leading candidate, with polls showing him running a close second to Prime Minister Raila Odinga in the presidential race.
Responding to the ruling, Kenyatta said it "affirmed what we have always held; (that) the people of Kenya -- and they alone -- have the power and the mandate to determine the leadership of this great country."
For his part, Odinga said he welcomed the ruling to allow "my main competitor.. to face me in a free and fair election whose outcome is determined by the people of Kenya."
Putting the focus back on the elections
Reading the decision on Friday, Justice Mbogholi Msagha said the court lacked the authority to decide who is eligible to run for president and that it was a matter for the Supreme Court to decide.
The ICC case has dominated the 2013 election campaign, putting Kenyatta on the defensive during Monday’s first-ever presidential debate.

KENYA Tana Delta Blues: A deadly mix of land grabs, ethnic strife and politics

Amid widespread fears that the March 4 elections would spark another deadly round of post-electoral violence, political platforms and promises have taken a backseat during the 2013 campaign.
“This matter should have been dealt with a long time ago and not days before the elections,” said Abdullahi Halakhe, a seasoned Horn of Africa analyst, in an interview with FRANCE 24. “Now that the court has ruled, it should put the focus back on the elections. If the court had blocked Kenyatta, it would have gone through a protracted appeals process, which would attract attention away from the elections.”
But at least one of the groups seeking to block Kenyatta's bid said it would take the case to the Supreme Court.
"For sure, we are ready for Supreme Court engagement," Ndung'u Wainaina, executive director of the International Center for Policy and Conflict, told Reuters. "Uhuru Kenyatta is not free to seek and hold public or state office."
A ‘calibrated narrative’ of international interference
The ICC case has put the international community in a delicate position over an issue that has polarised one of East Africa’s most stable nations and a key Western ally.

Unrest in Kenya KENYA Kenya’s mysteriously killed, disappeared Islamic clerics

On Monday, Kenyan Foreign Minister Sam Ongeri summoned EU ambassadors to relay his displeasure over statements by some European governments that they would have only essential contact with Kenya’s top leadership if Kenyatta wins the presidency.
Ongeri is a key Kenyatta ally.
In the lead-up to the March 4 poll, Kenyatta’s campaign has effectively cast international responses to the ICC case as a sign of Western interference in Kenya’s domestic affairs.
Last week, the top US diplomat for Africa warned Kenyans of the “consequences” of their “choices”. Although US diplomat Johnnie Carson did not name a candidate, his statement was widely viewed as a warning that a Kenyatta victory would affect the country’s relations with the international community.
Reacting to the statement, Kenyatta’s spokesman Munyori Buku said, "On March 4 the people of Kenya will go to the polls to make their choice, Johnnie Carson not withstanding - unless of course Johnnie Carson is campaigning for someone."
“I think the international community should be extremely circumspect because the ICC narrative is being carefully calibrated and choreographed,” said Halakhe. “Anyone making statements attacking Uhuru Kenyatta and William Rutto are viewed as supporters of Raila Odinga.”
Tribal politics in a volatile mix
Both Kenyatta and Odinga draw their support from their tribal bases and alliances with other tribal groups.
Kenyatta is a Kikuyu - the majority tribe that has dominated Kenyan politics since independence. Odinga, on the other hand, belongs to the Luo tribe, which has historically felt deprived of its share of Kenya’s political pie.
Five years ago, violence gripped this East African nation after current President Mwai Kibaki, a Kikuyu, was declared winner of the 2007 presidential election. His rival, Odinga, alleged electoral manipulation triggering ethnic clashes.
In a country where leaders have long exploited tribal loyalty to advance their political goals, analysts warn that the risk of ethnic violence following the March 4 poll is high.
In this combustible mix of tribal politics, the ICC case threatens to reinforce ethnic competition in a campaign that has focused on tribal alliances and voting blocs while paying scant attention to electoral platforms and promises.
“With the ICC case, the two candidates [Kenyatta and Ruto] are being portrayed as victims, while the victims of last elections’ violence, the people displaced, living in IDP [Internally Displaced Persons] camps are all forgotten,” said Halakhe.

Tunisian president testifies in Belaid murder probe

Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki gave testimony on Thursday in Tunis related to the investigation into the assassination of opposition leader Chokri Belaid. Belaid's family has repeated claims that Marzouki was aware of threats to Belaid's life.

By News Wires (text)

Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki on Thursday testified in the murder probe of Chokri Belaid, his office said in a statement, after the opposition leader's family said he had received death threats.
"President Moncef Marzouki received this morning the judge of the Tunis first instance tribunal who heard his testimony as a witness in the assassination of Chokri Belaid," said a brief statement.
The family of Belaid, who was gunned down outside his Tunis home on February 6, say the president was aware the vocal critic of the ruling Islamist party Ennahda had received threats before his murder.
But presidential spokesman Adnene Mancer denied these claims when they were first made following the assassination.
On Thursday, Belaid's brother, Abdelmajid Belaid, repeated the claims to AFP.
"My brother had told me, and I quote him: 'The presidency has contacted me to tell me that I am threatened with death. And the president offered me protection but I refused because it would be tantamount to controlling me'," he said.
"As far as I am concerned, the president knows who ordered the murder, those who decided to kill Chokri," he added.
Tunisia says radical Salafist Muslims murdered Belaid.
Interior Minister Ali Larayedh, who is also prime-minister designate, said Tuesday the killer of the leftist opposition leader had been identified and four suspects arrested.
Those held were "Tunisians and belong to a radical religious strand... which we refer to as the Salafist movement," said Larayedh.
But some family members have dismissed any involvement of Salafists in the assassination, insisting Ennahda was responsible -- a claim the Islamist party staunchly denies.
Belaid's murder sparked deadly street protests and strikes and exposed the widening fissures between the ruling Islamists and liberals.
It also threw Tunisia into its worst political crisis since the revolution two years ago that ousted strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, prompting prime minister Hamadi Jebali to resign last week.

In its new Sub-Saharan Africa Credit Overview,

(CSD) Fitch Ratings says that it expects regional growth to remain above 5%, retaining its place as the second-fastest growing emerging market region after Asia. Growth will remain supported by infrastructure spending, the development of mineral resources and growing consumer spending. Strengthened policy regimes, efforts to improve the business environment, and rapid credit growth in some countries as financial markets continue deepening will support the development of the private sector.
In 2013, Africa is expected to continue benefiting from an influx of foreign direct investment, while some domestic capital markets are proving attractive for international investors. Low global yields and a growing appetite for African exposure may prompt more countries to issue debut Eurobonds, following Zambia's recent success.
Fitch's two rating actions since January 2013 reflect the divergent credit patterns across the continent. South Africa was downgraded to 'BBB/Stable' from 'BBB+/Negative' in early January, reflecting a deterioration in growth prospects, a widening in the current account deficit, delayed fiscal consolidation as well as heightened political uncertainty associated with high unemployment, social inequalities and strike action. In contrast, the Outlook on the Seychelles' 'B' rating was revised to Positive due to the country's improving credit profile supported by continued fiscal discipline, the reduction of contingent liabilities as well as the authorities' success in diversifying the tourist market - the main source of foreign earnings.
Fitch believes that a number of events will shape sovereign ratings across the continent in the coming months.
Kenya's upcoming elections in March could be an important inflection point. The likelihood of a repeat of the scale of violence seen in 2007/2008 is moderate, but incidents of ethnic violence are likely to increase in the run up to the polls and immediately after. Smooth elections that bring continued stability and a favourable impact on the investment climate would bolster creditworthiness whilst a repeat of the violence seen in early 2008 would be a major setback.
Ghana's full year fiscal figures for 2012, due to be released in the coming weeks, will reveal the extent of the election-year spending overshoot, particularly

Sexual Encounters Outside Partnership Major Cause Of HIV In Sub-Saharan Africa

A study published in The Lancet indicates that current anti-HIV strategies which focus solely on couples in which one member is infected with HIV, might not be enough to decrease the prevalence of HIV in the region. (CSD)

Leader of the study, Steve Bellan from the University of Texas, Austin, said:

"Because of the large contribution of extra-couple transmission (from outside partnerships) to new HIV infections, interventions should target the larger sexually active population and not just serodiscordant couples.

Pre-couple (prior to relationship), extra-couple, and within-couple transmission are all common, and HIV control policies that address all these routes are needed to stem the HIV epidemic in Africa."

Sub-Saharan Africa is an area with an ever-growing HIV problem, and targeting the groups at high risk of contracting the infection is crucial for intervention strategies. The proportion of transmission of the disease by heterosexual couples versus single people continues to cause much debate among experts.

Researchers created a complex modeling system that combined serostatus and relationship data from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). This model helped identify the routes by which people from 27,201 cohabiting couples became infected with HIV in the sub-Saharan region.

The results showed that 30-65% of HIV infections in men and 10-47% in women - who were in a stable relationship with their partners - were caused by extra-couple transmission.

Interestingly, the study also revealed that the majority of transmissions in couples occurs from men to women rather than from women to men. Women were found to be at a high risk of infection before entering a cohabiting relationship.

Connie Celum and Jared Baeten from the University of Washington add:

"HIV prevention for only HIV serodiscordant couples will not be enough to reverse the HIV epidemic completely. HIV prevention is at a crucial stage: strategies to deliver evidence-based combination prevention efficiently and effectively, targeted at high risk populations and with high coverage for those at risk, will maximise this incredible opportunity in the history of the HIV epidemic."

Previous interventions have provided HIV testing at African homes as well as voluntary counseling, these have managed to increase awareness of HIV status among those who are undiagnosed.

Mali: the worst is yet to come

A Malian soldier rounds up suspected Islamist extremists in Gao, northern Mali, to stop them being lynched by a mob. Photograph: Jerome Delay/AP

Retaking the north was the easy part. Now Mali faces guerrilla attacks, reportedly increasing cooperation between rebel groups, "the Tuareg problem", and a divided government.
Early on during the French intervention, many journalists in the international press were quick to note that Islamist militants had just "melted away" into the vast desert regions of northern Mali. As French jets attacked key strongholds, hundreds of Islamist fighters prepared convoys, which would escort leaders, weapons and fighters away from major towns.
Witnesses confirmed suspicions that the militants' departure was "orderly" and well-prepared. Their planned withdrawal may indicate their clear intention to redefine the nature of the conflict in Mali on their terms. Indeed, in a document allegedly left behind by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in Timbuktu, a senior commander admits that an international intervention would exceed the group's capability and that they ought therefore to retreat to their "rear bases" for the time being.
Recent events have also shown that local and international troops should prepare for increased resistance and a protracted campaign. Malian soldiers faced the first wave of attacks when various suicide bombers targeted army bases and checkpoints in the city of Gao. A day later, two militants (one Arab and one Tuareg) were intercepted with explosive belts strapped to their bodies. Malian troops were also tested by a significant counter-offensive led by the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) in the same city on 10 February.
As Mali's northern provinces become more secure, Islamist militants will increasingly engage in targeted attacks, using asymmetric warfare to test international troops and regain the upper hand. The caves and mountains of the Adrar des Ifoghas region, for example, are ideal locations for militant groups to hide and prepare hit and run operations.
Another worrying development in recent weeks has been allegedly increasing cooperation between Islamist militant groups across west Africa. Locals in Timbuktu claim Nigeria's rebel group Boko Haram had training camps in the city. A flyer from another Nigerian militant group, Ansaru, was apparently discovered in Gao in the abandoned home of Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the leader of the group believed to be behind the In Amenas attack on a gas plant facility in Algeria. And further suggestions have been made that Boko Haram militants might be using Chad as a rear base to prepare attacks. Chad has sent 1,800 men to fight alongside French and African troops in Mali.
Chad and other fragile states across the Sahel will struggle to police their highly porous borders as heavily armed gunmen move freely across them. The threat Islamic militancy poses to regional stability and beyond cannot be overstated. Mali's neighbours face a direct threat from militants spilling over. Niger, for example, has agreed to allow the US to deploy drones from its airspace to help police its vast desert regions.
With over 4,000 French ground troops stationed in Mali, the number and size of their base camps growing by the day, and a deteriorating security climate, French forces are unlikely to fully withdraw from the region any time soon.
The deteriorating security climate will have an important effect on western companies operating there. The tragic hostage crisis in In Amenas prompted security audits among western companies throughout the region. Policymakers are already urging firms to assess, review and rethink security at their facilities in order to adapt to the mobile nature of these militant groups. French Special Forces have already begun securing vital uranium mines in Niger.
Back in Bamako, the alleged alliances developed over the years between the political elite, smugglers and drug dealers greatly undermined the country's stability and development. More importantly, Mali and other states in the region will have to address seriously what some are now calling 'the Tuareg problem'. This will require dialogue and political will to curb marginalisation and stigmatisation from which they and other minority ethnic groups suffer throughout the Sahel.
But divisions at the highest levels of the Malian state hinder Bamako's ability to adequately address the concerns of Tuareg groups in the north. More recently, differences between pro- and anti-coup factions within the army led to outright clashes in Bamako. The Malian army has also used the French intervention to issue arrest warrants against Tuareg leaders and brush aside their demands. Malian troops are believed to have actively participated in reprisals against local Tuareg and Arab populations in the north. This behaviour, if it is not curbed, will only stoke the flames of ethnic tension.

Africa is becoming more peaceful, despite the war in Mali

 (CSD)

UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Photograph: Reuters

Recent events in Mali, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Sudan seem to confirm one of the most durable stereotypes of Africa, namely that the continent is unstable and uniquely prone to nasty political violence.

Writing in Foreign Policy two years ago, New York Times east Africa correspondent and Pulitzer Prize winner Jeffrey Gettleman espoused this view. He painted a dismal picture of pointless wars waged by brutes and criminals "spreading across Africa like a viral pandemic."
Gettleman is right that warfare and political violence are changing on the continent, but he is wrong to portray that change as one of brutal violence increasing out of control.
In fact, as I show in a recent piece in African Affairs, looked at since the end of the cold war, wars are not becoming more frequent in sub-Saharan Africa. To the contrary: according to the Uppsala Armed Conflict Data Program, the pre-eminent tracker of warfare worldwide, wars in the 2000s are substantially down from their peak in the early 1990s. Even if one counts an uptick during the past two years, there were about one-third fewer wars in sub-Saharan Africa in the period compared to the early-to-mid 1990s.
Another prevailing view is that sub-Saharan Africa is the most war-endemic region. Not so, especially if one looks at the continent's history since 1960. Wars in sub-Saharan Africa (compared to other world regions) are not longer or more frequent on a wars-per-country basis. Those distinctions effectively go to Asia, where between wars in India, Afghanistan, the Philippines, and Vietnam, among others, wars are more frequent and longer lasting.
The pattern holds true for extreme cases of mass killing, like Rwanda in 1994 and Darfur in the mid-2000s. Such events are on the decline in Africa; viewed across time, Africa is also not the regional leader of such events on a per-country basis.
My point is not to engage in crude regionalism, but rather to suggest that what often transpires as common sense about sub-Saharan Africa is wrong.
The bigger point is that we may be witnessing significant shifts in the nature of political violence on the continent. Wars are on the decline since the 1990s, but the character of warfare is also changing. Today there are fewer big wars fought for state control in which insurgents maintain substantial control of territory and put up well-structured armies to fight their counterparts in the state – Mali not withstanding. Such wars were modal into the 1990s. From southern Africa in Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, and even Zimbabwe to the long wars in the Horn in Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Sudan to the Great Lakes wars in Rwanda and Uganda, the typical armed conflict in Africa involved two major, territory-holding armies fighting each other for state control.
Today's wars typically are smaller. They most often involve small insurgencies of factionalised rebels on the peripheries of states. Today's wars also play out differently. They exhibit cross-border dimensions, and rather than drawing funding from big external states they depend on illicit trade, banditry, and international terrorist networks.
Typical of today's wars are the rebels in Casamance, in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia, various armed groups in Darfur, and the Lord's Resistance Army. The latter typifies an emerging trend of trans-national insurgents. The LRA moves across multiple states in the Great Lakes region. Northern Mali is another case in point – prior to seizing control of the north, the Islamists moved across multiple countries in the Sahel. Once they gained territorial control in 2012, they attracted fighters from Nigeria and across North Africa. Moreover, these are not non-ideological wars, as Gettleman claims. The jihadis in Mali and Somalia, the separatists in Casamance, and the rebels in Darfur are certainly fighting for a cause.
To be sure, no one in his or her right mind could claim that warfare or political violence has ended in Africa. Many countries in the region have features that political scientists believe make countries vulnerable to armed conflict: weak states, high dependence on natural resources, and horizontal inequalities. Of the recent armed conflicts in Somalia, Sudan, Mali, the Central African Republic, Chad, and eastern Congo, one obvious commonality is the lack of effective state control. Rebels survive in remote regions where state authority is tenuous. The fact of weak states in these and other countries will not end any time soon.
Moreover, other forms of violence deserve greater scrutiny. Consider, for example, electoral violence. As African states have turned to multiparty elections, so too has the risk of violence during those electoral campaigns increased. Electoral violence on the scale of Kenya in 2007 and 2008, Côte d'Ivoire in 2010, or Zimbabwe in 2008 is not the norm, but in many locations there is often some form of violence between incumbent and opposition forces. Yet we know substantially less about patterns and causes of electoral violence.
Consider too violence over vital resources, such as land, water, and pasture. Trends are harder to detect, but one new data collection effort from the University of Texas shows an increase in such violence events since the early 1990s. With climate change, rapidly growing urbanisation, and other changes that increase the pressure on vital but often scarce resources, we can expect more violence of the type recently seen in northern Kenya. Yet again, we know much less about this form of violence.
What explains the recent decline in warfare across Africa? I don't know for certain, but would point to geo-political changes since the end of the cold war.
First, the end of the cold war meant that the opportunities for rebels to receive substantial weaponry and training from big external states declined. To be sure, states across Africa still meddle in the affairs of their neighbors, but insurgent funding from neighbouring states is usually enough to be a nuisance to, but not actually overthrow, existing governments.
Second, the rise of multi-party politics has sapped the anti-government funding, energy, and talent away from the bush and into the domestic political arena.
Third, China is a rising external force in sub-Saharan Africa. China's goals are mainly economic, but their foreign relations follow a principle of non-interference. To my knowledge, China supports states, not insurgencies.

Courtney Morgan - Nigeria: Boko Haram Demands Trade-Off for French Nationals

Boko Haram, which claimed responsibility for the abduction of the seven members of a French family kidnapped in Cameroun last week, Monday turned the pressure on President Goodluck Jonathan as security agents continued manhunt for the abductors with the aim of rescuing their victims.
The kidnappers, for the first time since the vacationing French family was abducted in northern Cameroun, gave conditions for the release of the victims. A video appeared on YouTube yesterday, showing the seven kidnapped members of the French family with their abductors, who claimed to be from Islamist extremist group, Boko Haram. The kidnappers demanded the release of the Islamic sect's members and relatives in government custody as a precondition for freeing the French family members.
The kidnappers, according to a report by AFP, claiming to be from Boko Haram, said they carried out the abduction partly due to France's "war against Islam," apparently a reference to French military action in Mali.
The more than three-minute video shows the family, including four children, held in an undisclosed location, surrounded by at least three of the abductors whose faces are hidden. It was not clear when the video was made.
"If you want us to release these French citizens, quickly release all our women you are detaining," one of the abductors said in Arabic, addressing President Jonathan.
He also called on Cameroun to release "our brothers".
At the start of the video, the father of the family read a statement from a piece of paper, his four children in front of him, his wife and brother beside him.
Two of the abductors hold weapons and ammunition, while a banner with two rifles hangs behind them.
The family, with the children aged 5 to 12, were kidnapped in Cameroun while visiting a national park.
Cameroun authorities said the family was taken over the border into the North-east, which is the epicentre of Boko Haram's insurgency.
Despite claims in the video, it was not immediately clear if the abductors were from Boko Haram, which has carried out a violent insurgency for years in the North but has never before claimed a kidnapping.
Most previous Boko Haram videos have featured suspected leader of the group, Abubakar Shekau, speaking in the Hausa language.
Meanwhile, the umbrella body for the Southern Kaduna people, the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU), yesterday urged the Kaduna State House of Assembly to speed up the passage of a bill on the establishment of neighbourhood watch to enable communities in the southern part of the state protect themselves from frequent attacks by terrorists.
The union also called on the state government to ensure that last Sunday's attack on Aduwan village in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area by unknown gunmen would not recur as the people are ready to defend themselves.
SOKAPU President, Dr. Ephraim Goje, said at a news conference in Kaduna yesterday that the government must do everything possible to halt the persistent attacks on the peaceful communities in the southern part of the state.
According to him, those who attacked Aduwan village, in which five persons, were killed were dressed in military uniform and armed with sophisticated weapons.

Courtney Morgan - Lagos-Kano Railway: Heralding Hope For Nigerians

On December 21, 2012, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) began the long-awaited movement of passengers and haulage of petroleum products along the western axis from Lagos to Kano. SAMSON ECHENIM, who was onboard the maiden train trip from Lagos to Kano writes that the feat opens a new chapter in the history of the nation’s transportation system.
The children wailed and waved in excitement, coming rather too close to the snaky moving train, while their parents watched from just outside their mud or grass-made huts. It was a sight long experienced for the parents, while most of the children were just beholding the train for the first time ever. It has been nearly a decade since the trains last passed the tracks to Kano all the way from Lagos.
It was the first travel on rail, conveying hundreds of passengers from Lagos to Kano by the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) after rehabilitation works that cost the federal government N24.3 billion were completed on the 1126-kilometre Western corridor Lagos-Kano railway line.
The minister of transport, Sen. Idris Umar had the previous morning, December 21, 2012 in Lagos flagged off the much awaited Lagos-Kano Intercity Train Services, commuting thousands of passengers along the western axis through to Kano while the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, same day, unveiled haulage of petroleum products by railway, which lifted 450,000 litres of diesel billed from Lagos to Offa that first day.
The event attracted stakeholders such as the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, his transport commissioner, Kayode Opeifa, SURE-P representatives, past MDs of NRC, the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress, freighters and oil marketers, among others, who expressed joy that the good old days of the NRC were gradually crippling in again, as the 10-tanker wagon and a 20-coach locomotive left the Ebute-Meta Terminal to Offa and Kano respectively.
“The inter modal transport system is one thing that the government of Lagos State has strived to build in the state to make movement a lot easier, as well as stir up economic growth. We are happy that by the rehabilitation of Lagos-Kano rail route, the federal government is thinking along same line for the betterment and growth of this great nation,” said Governor Fashola, who was represented by his Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) boss, Dr. Dayo Mobereola.
The maiden trip was made by 25-horse power locomotive on which 20 coaches were anchored. The computerised engine has a capacity to pull as much as 45 loaded coaches, meaning it could carry over 4000 passengers if the coaches were all loaded with people. The new system has economy, restaurant and bar, air-conditioned sleeper and seater-coaches, baggage vans and effective power generating sets to alternate energy supply for the comfort of travellers.
Moving through the Western Corridor of the country, the zealous train negotiated doggedly and diligently through the nation’s vegetations breaking its seasonal boundaries as it left the wet woods of the Western part of the country through the shrubby lands of the Central region to the dry savannahs of the North and berthing at stations designed to include all state capitals and all major towns in the axis, such as Abeokuta, Ibadan, Osogbo, Ilorin, Kutienji, Minna Zaria and Kaduna, before it finally arrived the Kano Terminal destination on Saturday.
“The journey may be long, but the experience tells more of fun. It is a lot cheaper to travel by railway and one has no fear of any mishap. To say the truth, I had missed travelling by train all these years and I’m happy that the service is now back. For anyone who has the time and for traders and passengers with heavy loads, the train service is highly recommended,” said Isa Yusuf, a Minna-based businessman, who boarded the train from Lagos to Minna.
A New Beginning
For the managing director of the NRC, Engr. Adeseyi Sijuwade, the maiden train trip from Lagos to Kano is very symbolic in that it heralds tidings of hope for Nigerians. It is the beginning of a new system of things that will boost the country’s economic terrain in no small measure.
He said, “This is very symbolic in that from now on what you will see is steady movement of freight and passengers by rail. We have already quite a number of customers falling on each other to move their freights by rail—likes of Nigeria Flour Mill, Lafarge WAPCO, Total, Dangote and A-Z, among others.
“What we are going to experience in the next couple of weeks is that major influx of passengers from the road to rail and we are starting off with the weekly service from Lagos to Kano, departing Lagos Iddo Terminal 9am every Friday and departing Kano station 9am every Monday. We are starting with this service, passing through all state capitals in the western axis and that will be in addition to the Lagos –Ilorin service that will keep running.
“We also have the Kano to Kaduna train services, which has become a very popular service and we will continue that. Gradually, we will step up the speed, availability and reliability of these train services. We are going to grow organically because it is important that we ensure that every single service is safe, reliable and with reasonable comfort.”
The Federal Ministry of Transport had in 2009 awarded contracts for the rehabilitation of the long-awaited flagship project to CCECC and Constain West Africa Plc. The Chinese corporation got the 488-kilometre Lagos-Jebba axis, while Constain was awarded the 638-km Jebba-Kano end.
However, the project suffered a major setback, leading to the withdrawal of Constain from the project. Constain had to involve the CCECC in “a strategic partnership when it was obvious that it could not deliver on time, due to a major challenge at the Akire Bridge where flood washed away part of the tracks several times.
In preparation for fuel haulage by rail, the NRC had in February last year imported 20 units of pressurised fuel tanker wagons with a capacity of 40 tons and said it had plans to import additional 50 when the project kicks off. With such capacity, the 20 tank wagons are expected to take off about 30 trailers from the roads as the system begins operation.
Even though the system remains steps away from the modern rapid rail system seen in the first and some second world countries, those who witnessed the inauguration of the Lagos-Kano Intercity Train Services and passengers who boarded the train from Lagos to Kano were quick to shower eulogies on the government and the NRC.
Stakeholders had said the revival of the hitherto moribund railway infrastructure was a litmus test on the commitment of the Goodluck Jonathan-led administration.
NRC’s managing director, Engr. Adeseyi Sijuwade, who noted the unceasing federal government support to ensure success of the landmark project, said the opening of the Lagos-Kano Rail route would no doubt bring a lot of socio-economic benefits to the development of the country, such as provision of employment, enhancing trade and commerce as well as taking pressure off the overstressed roads.
Govt promises more
According to the minister of transport, Sen. Idris Umar, the successful rehabilitation of the 1126-kilometre Lagos-Kano railway line and other railway projects going on all over the different corridors in the country are concrete indications of the President Gooodluck Jonathan’s administration’s commitment to enhance the transport sector.
Speaking at the flag-off ceremony of the project, which was part-funded by the Subsidy Reinvestment Programme (SURE-P) Umar said, “This segment which holds the key to the development of the economy of the nation from the commercial ports city of Lagos to the commercial hub of Northern Nigeria in Kano is seen as vital to the start-off of the transformation of the Nigerian economy. Government therefore invested heavily to ensure the completion of the rehabilitation of the rail line for freight and passenger services.”
He further disclosed that numerous rehabilitation of railways across the country along various corridors, as well as feasibility studies for the new standard gauge rail in several areas, which were expected to be developed through public-private partnership, would place the country in great stead for global competition in transportation.
Challenges ahead and need for private sector involvement
Despite this huge success recorded by the NRC, obvious challenges are still staring at the face of the railway corporation. More engines are needed and the coaches are far from being enough. Again, a quick metamorphosis from the narrow gauge system, through the standard gauge and to the rapid train system needs to be played out. But the NRC boss revealed a smart plan to tackle the challenge of inadequate coaches.
Appealing to the government, especially the National Assembly for more funds, Engr. Sijuwade said, “We face a number of challenges, such as insufficient locomotives and rolling stock and inadequate skilled manpower, due to funding constraints.
It is true that we do have some challenges particularly in the area of coaches and wagons, but we are doing all we can to continuously rehabilitate what we have and most importantly we are grateful to the federal government under the leadership of president Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, which has actually given the approval for the manufacturing of brand new modern coaches and more units are expected to be delivered soon.”
Amidst the euphoria of what appears to be NRC’s milestone achievement and a historic bounce back, stakeholders have advised that the corporation ensures regular maintenance of the tracks and sidelines to avoid the mistake of the past. They also urged a quick review and amendment of the NRC Act by the National Assembly to ensure  investment by the private sector in the nation’s railway development.

Courtney Morgan: What 'hostage video' reveals about Nigeria's Boko Haram

In the three-and-a-half minute video, one of the hostages, reading from a piece of paper, states that his captors are Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad. This is the official name for the Nigerian Islamist militant group popularly known as Boko Haram, which has waged an insurgency for more than a decade.

It is impossible to independently verify that this is the group holding the seven French tourists. It is also not clear if the masked militants in the video are speaking on behalf of the entire group or its leader, Imam Abubakar Shekau, or whether they are a faction.
If the video is genuinely from Boko Haram then it shows us how this organisation is metamorphosing from being a local group with a mainly Nigerian agenda into a more international jihadist outfit.
Securing a ransom payment could be an objective of the kidnappings but it seems just as likely that the overall aim of the Islamist militants is more political - to use hostages as a bargaining chip to pressure the West to end its military involvement in countries like Mali and Somalia.

“Start Quote

Let the French president know that he has launched war against Islam and we are fighting him everywhere”

Militant Islamist spokesman

Up to now, Boko Haram had never said it had taken hostages.

Its grievances have mainly been within Nigeria - especially with what it sees as the corrupt political elite and Islamic establishment.
The car bombing of the UN building in the capital, Abuja. in August 2011 was the only clear evidence of an attack on an international target.
France is clearly the focus of this latest video which was posted on YouTube.
A militant criticises the French President Francois Hollande for sending troops to fight Islamist militants in northern Mali.
"Let the French president know that he has launched war against Islam and we are fighting him everywhere. Let him know that we are spread everywhere to save our brothers," the man reads as the French hostages, including four children, sit behind him.
'Factionalised' He speaks in Arabic whereas previous Boko Haram videos have been in the local Hausa language - an indication of a shift in the group's agenda.

Boko Haram has carried out many bombings in north and central Nigeria

Although in the recording there were calls for colleagues to be released from detention in Nigeria and Cameroon, Nigeria's President Jonathan Goodluck was not criticised for sending troops to Mali.
It seems Boko Haram - or a faction of the group - is expanding its focus beyond Nigeria's borders.
"People have had the impression that this organisation was Nigeria based," says Abubakar Kari, a political scientist at the University of Abuja.

Boko Haram at a glance

• Founded in 2002
• Official Arabic name, Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, means "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad"
• Initially focused on opposing Western education
• Nicknamed Boko Haram, a phrase in the local Hausa language meaning, "Western education is forbidden"
• Launches military operations in 2009 to create an Islamic state across Nigeria
• Founding leader Mohammed Yusuf killed in same year in police custody
• Succeeded by Abubakar Shekau, who is said to be well-versed in theology
• Suspected to have split into rival factions in 2012

" If it now makes demands which are not Nigeria related then finally it has become an international organisation."

The situation in Mali seems to have played a key role in the change of direction. There have been unconfirmed reports in recent months of Boko Haram members linking up in Mali with Islamist militants from the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (Mujao) - a group which has used multi-million dollar ransom payments to help fund its operations in Mali.
Malian officials say prior to the French military action, hundreds of Boko Haram recruits were training at a camp outside the city of Gao in northern Mali.
"There is evidence that the group has been factionalised - there is the classic al-Qaeda type of group with an international jihadist agenda whilst the other faction is responding more to local issues," says Jibrin Ibrahim, director of the Nigeria-based Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD).
It is widely suspected that Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has not been well for months - possibly after being injured. Analysts believe this could be contributing to splits within the Islamist militants.
'Grand fiction' The day before the YouTube video was released a man who said he was speaking on behalf of the Boko Haram leadership denied the group had been responsible for the kidnapping of the French family.
"We have nothing to do with the French people or their abductors," said Sheikh Abu Muhammad Ibn Abdulazeez.
However, some people question his credibility. The fact that he made this statement during a 30-minute press conference at a television station in Maiduguri in north-east Nigeria makes some people doubt whether he has anything to do with Boko Haram.
The Nigerian military may at times have been criticised for its response to the insurgency, but you have to wonder how the army which has a very heavy presence in Maiduguri would not have noticed a Boko Haram press conference taking place.

France's military intervention in Mali has led to retaliatory attacks

"I know enough about the leadership of the sect and its protocols to know that the so-called Abdulazeez is a grand fiction created by those who want to feather their personal nests," journalist and Boko Haram-watcher Ahmad Salkida wrote earlier this month in Nigeria's Premium Times.
Last month, the man, who gave his name as Sheikh Abu Muhammad Ibn Abdulazeez, announced that Boko Haram had declared a ceasefire.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

There is a theory that Boko Haram became a franchise adopted by all sorts of organisations and groups in order to mask their true identity”

Abubakar Kari Political scientist

The attacks did not stop leading one newspaper to print the headline: "Ceasefire or ceaseless fire?"

There are also many Nigerians who believe some politicians are fuelling the insurgency for their own personal gain.
The group popularly known as Boko Haram used to own up to attacks via email. It has even posted videos of its bombings, including the April 2012 car bombing of This Day newspaper in Abuja.
But after its spokesman, known as Abu Qaqa, was reportedly killed by Nigerian troops during a gun battle in Kano last September, the emails have dried up.
Even when those emails were sent to local newsrooms, it was never possible to verify that they were the views of the group's leadership.
Boko Haram vehemently denied having anything to do with the first kidnappings in northern Nigeria in May 2011 when Christopher McManus, a British national identified as a quantity surveyor, and his Italian colleague Franco Lamolinara, were seized by the Islamist group called, "al-Qaeda in the land beyond the Sahel".
The two hostages were killed, apparently by their captors, as British and Nigerian troops attempted a rescue mission in March 2012.
The UK later said the hostage-takers were from a group known as Ansaru.
Also known as Jama'atu Ansarul Musilimina Fi Biladis Sudan (Vanguards for the Protection of Muslims in Black Africa), Ansaru emailed newsrooms to say it was behind the kidnapping earlier this month of seven foreigners in northern Nigeria.
Opinion differs on possible links between all these groups.
Some analysts believe they simply share a similar Islamist ideology whilst others believe they are products of Boko Haram splits.
With so much violence in northern Nigeria it is increasingly difficult to know who is behind it all.
"There is a theory that Boko Haram became a franchise adopted by all sorts of organisations and groups in order to mask their true identity," says Mr Kari, adding that the kidnapping of the French family may not have been done by Boko Haram but by another organisation with a separate objective.
But it is clear that kidnapping is now a major strategy of the Islamist militants in northern Nigeria.

South Africa: Rekindling The South African Dream

Speech by Mamphela Ramphele

Fellow South African citizens, I am here today to invite you to join me on a journey to build the country of our dreams. I ask those of you of my generation: let us cast our minds back to the run up to 1994 and the moments immediately following the dawn of our freedom. Do you remember our patience and quiet dignity as we waited in long queues to cast our very first votes as citizens of a free South Africa? Do you remember how you choked with emotion and had goose bumps as you made your very first cross on the ballot? Do you remember the tears of joy and relief when we watched our first President, Rolihlahla Mandela, being honoured with a fly-past by the air-force that was to have its first democratically elected commander in chief? Do you remember how Madiba inspired us to action in these words of his inaugural address?

“Our daily deeds as ordinary South Africans must produce an actual South African reality that will reinforce humanity’s belief in justice, strengthen its confidence in the nobility of the human soul and sustain all our hopes for a glorious life for all.”

Tunisia government talks postponed

 

CSD Following meetings with the leaders of Tunisia’s main political parties on Saturday, Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali said that talks to form a new government of technocrats will be postponed until Monday.

Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali announced on Friday that talks on the formation of a new government of technocrats had been rescheduled for Monday, after he met the leaders of the main political parties.

"There has been some progress on all the points raised... That is why we have decided to continue the discussions on Monday," Jebali told reporters.

He said a previous Saturday deadline for the announcement of his planned new cabinet, intended to extricate the country from its worst political crisis since the revolution, had been cancelled and no new date set.

Jebali, number two in the ruling Islamist party Ennahda, had said earlier this week that he would resign if he failed to win enough support for his plan, first announced amid public outrage over the killing of leftist leader Chokri Belaid.

"The delay is important, but more important are the interests of Tunisia and finding a solution for the people," the Islamist premier said on Friday, in justifying the latest postponement of his initiative.

Jebali's latest comments came after he sought to hammer out a new government line-up in talks with the heads of Tunisia's ruling parties, namely Ennahda's Rached Ghannouchi, Ettakatol's Mustapha Ben Jaafar and Mohamed Abbou of President Moncef Marzouki's Congress for the Republic (CPR).

Also present at the meeting were prominent opposition leader Beji Caid Essebsi, a former premier who heads the popular centre-right party Call of Tunisia, and the Republican Party's Neji Chebbi.

Since the February 6 assassination of Belaid, who was an outspoken critic of the ruling Islamists, Jebali has sought to achieve consensus for his plan.

He is broadly supported by the secular opposition parties, by the UGTT, Tunisia's powerful workers union, and by civil society groups, who see the proposal as the only way out of Tunisia's unfolding crisis.

But Ennahda and its centre-left ally in the ruling coalition, the CPR, along with two smaller parties, have voiced opposition, demanding that the new administration include both politicians and independents.

If those parties vote comprehensively against it, they would have a big enough majority in the assembly to block the planned new administration, even though Jebali has said it does not require parliament's approval.

Ennahda is planning a huge demonstration in Tunis on Saturday to defend its right to rule as the party voted to power in October 2011 elections, in an effort to discredit Jebali, who has crossed swords before with his party's hardliners.

The political crisis in Tunisia, which has for months been rocked by social unrest including protests that often degenerate into violence, has sown fear and uncertainty in the first country to undergo regime change caused by Arab Spring protests.

Poverty and unemployment, two key factors that led to the revolution that ousted Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011, continue to grip Tunisia.

Belaid's killing has enflamed tensions between liberals and Islamists over the direction of the once proudly secular Muslim nation, with opposition protesters engaging in street clashes with police.

As well as the pro-Ennahda rally, Saturday will see two memorial ceremonies for Belaid, one in southern Tunis and another in Jendouba in the northwest, from where his family originates.

Belaid's wife Besma Khalfaoui, who has become a symbol of Tunisia's secular opposition and scourge of the ruling Islamists since her husband was gunned down outside their home in a Tunis suburb, is expected to attend the Jendouba ceremony.

Belaid's family has accused Ennahda of orchestrating his murder, a claim the Islamist party strongly denies.

As well as the row over the new government, there is deadlock over the drafting of the constitution, with parliament divided over the nature of Tunisia's future political system 15 months after it was elected.

The country has been further destabilised by a spate of attacks blamed on radical Salafists.

Pistorius family denies charge of premeditated murder

 

(CSD) The family of Oscar Pistorius spoke out for the first time Saturday, saying the Paralympic star is “numb with shock” after the fatal shooting of his girlfriend at his home. Pistorius' uncle said the family rejects the charge of premeditated murder.

Oscar Pistorius is “numb with shock as well as grief” after the shooting death of his model girlfriend at his home in South Africa, the runner’s uncle said Saturday, as his family strongly denied prosecutors’ claims that he murdered her.
Arnold Pistorius spoke with The Associated Press and two other South African journalists about his nephew’s arrest in the killing of Reeva Steenkamp, who was shot four times on the morning of Valentine’s Day. Arnold Pistorius spoke to reporters from the garden of his three-story home in the eastern suburbs of South Africa’s capital, Pretoria.
The statement, the first on camera and directly made in person by Pistorius’ family, also came out strongly against prosecutors seeking to upgrade the charge against Pistorius to one of premeditated murder, which carries a sentence of life in prison.
“After consulting with legal representatives, we deeply regret the allegation of premeditated murder,” Arnold Pistorius said. “We have no doubt there is no substance to the allegation and that the state’s own case, including its own forensic evidence, strongly refutes any possibility of a premeditated murder or murder as such.”
He said the family was “battling to come to terms with Oscar being charged with murder.”
The track star’s arrest in the killing of 29-year-old Steenkamp shocked South Africa, where Pistorius was a national hero and icon dubbed the Blade Runner for his high-tech carbon fiber running blades and revered for overcoming his disability to compete at the London Olympics. She was discovered in a pool of blood before dawn Thursday by police called to Pistorius’ upscale home in a gated community. Authorities said she had been shot four times, and a 9 mm pistol was recovered at the home.
Pistorius remains held at a police station pending a bail hearing Tuesday. Police have already said they’ll oppose Pistorius being released before trial. A premeditated murder charge also makes it more difficult for his defense team to get bail.
On Saturday afternoon, Pistorius’ lawyers visited the Brooklyn police station in Pretoria, where the athlete is being held. His younger sister Aimee, who stood alongside Arnold Pistorius when he made his statement, also was at the police station later.
There will be a variety of hearings before Pistorius, 26, could go on trial. In South Africa, there are no juries, so a judge ultimately would decide Pistorius’ guilt or innocence, sometimes with the help of two advisers. At an initial hearing Friday, Pistorius sobbed and held his head in his hands at times. He has yet to enter a plea in the case.
The family denial that Pistorius committed murder doesn’t necessarily mean that they say he didn’t shoot her, as murder is a legal term. Initial speculation immediately after the shooting Thursday suggested that it could have been accidental, though police say they are not currently considering that.
Arnold Pistorius did not discuss the circumstances of the shooting, but said that his nephew and Steenkamp had become very close since they started dating in November.
“They had plans together and Oscar was happier in his private life than he had been for a long time,” the uncle said.
As Arnold Pistorius read his statement, Pistorius’ sister Aimee stood nearby and broke down in tears at one point. Her uncle stopped reading for a moment to put his right arm around her. Pistorius remains very close with his uncle, a man he once lived with as a teenager.
“Words cannot adequately describe our feelings,” his uncle said. “The lives of our entire family have been turned upside down forever by this unimaginable human tragedy and Reeva’s family have suffered a terrible loss. As a family we are trying to be strong and supportive to Oscar as any close family would be in these dreadful circumstances.”
The entire family was “devastated,” Pistorius’ uncle said, and was “grieving for Reeva, her family and her friends.”
Since news of the killing, shock waves have rippled across South Africa, a nation of 50 million where nearly 50 people are killed each day, one of the world’s highest murder rates. U.N. statistics say the nation has the second highest rate of shooting deaths in the world, behind only Colombia. Others have focused their attention on Pistorius and his fascination with fast cars, cage fighting and firearms.
Steenkamp, who graduated from law school, is known in South Africa for appearing in commercials and as a bikini-clad model in men’s magazines. On Saturday, South Africa’s state broadcaster SABC planned to air a reality TV show featuring the model. Another portion of the show released earlier Saturday included a clip of her swimming with two dolphins, which tap her on the cheek with their snouts.
“I think the way that you go out, not just your journey in life, but the way that you go out and the way you make your exit is so important,” the blonde-haired Steenkamp says in the video. “You either made an impact in a positive or a negative way, but just maintain integrity and maintain class and just remain true to yourself.
“I’m going to miss you all so much and I love you very, very much.”

ICC-charged Kenyatta cleared to run in Kenya poll

 

CSD Kenya’s High Court cleared the way for Uhuru Kenyatta’s presidential bid on Friday by refusing to rule in a case seeking to bar the ICC-charged politician from running for next month’s poll.

Four days after Kenyan presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta staunchly defended his candidacy in a televised public debate, the country’s High Court cleared the way for Kenyatta’s presidential bid - effectively dismissing arguments that his looming trial on charges of crimes against humanity disqualified him.
Dismissing the case against Kenyatta on Friday, the High Court maintained that it did not have jurisdiction over the petitions filed by various legal and human rights groups.
The court also cleared the way for Kenyatta’s running mate, William Ruto, to stand in the March 4 presidential and general elections.
Kenyatta and Ruto are among four Kenyans facing an ICC (International Criminal Court) trial for their alleged roles in orchestrating murder, rape and violence after the 2007 polls. More than 1,200 people were killed and over 600,000 displaced in the inter-tribal violence.
A former finance minister and son of Kenya’s founding father, Jomo Kenyatta, Uhuru Kenyatta is a leading candidate, with polls showing him running a close second to Prime Minister Raila Odinga in the presidential race.
Responding to the ruling, Kenyatta said it "affirmed what we have always held; (that) the people of Kenya -- and they alone -- have the power and the mandate to determine the leadership of this great country."
For his part, Odinga said he welcomed the ruling to allow "my main competitor.. to face me in a free and fair election whose outcome is determined by the people of Kenya."

Putting the focus back on the elections
Reading the decision on Friday, Justice Mbogholi Msagha said the court lacked the authority to decide who is eligible to run for president and that it was a matter for the Supreme Court to decide.
The ICC case has dominated the 2013 election campaign, putting Kenyatta on the defensive during Monday’s first-ever presidential debate.

Foreign workers kidnapped in northern Nigeria

 

Gunmen kidnapped seven foreign nationals and killed a security guard after storming the compound of Lebanese construction company Setraco in northern Nigeria’s Bauchi state early on Sunday, authorities said.

Gunmen stormed a construction site in northern Nigeria, kidnapping seven foreign workers and killing a security guard, police said Sunday, in one of the worst attacks on expatriates in the restive region.

Two Lebanese, an Italian and a Greek have been confirmed by their governments to be among those seized in the attack late Saturday on the Setraco construction site in the town of Jama'are in Bauchi State.

Bauchi, among the states in northern Nigeria where Islamist extremist group Boko Haram has carried out repeated attacks, saw two separate gun raids earlier Saturday, but it was not clear if the Islamists were behind the violence.

"From the report we have received, the hostages are seven in all. They include four Lebanese, an Italian, a Briton and a Greek," Bauchi state police spokesman Hassan Auyo said.

There has been no confirmation that a Briton was among those kidnapped nor that the number of Lebanese was four.

"We are aware of reports and are making enquiries with the local authorities," Britain's Foreign Office said.

The Lebanese foreign ministry said two of its citizens were among those seized.

Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos said in a statement that he had contacted his Italian counterpart regarding a response, adding that a plane was on standby should it be necessary to send a party from Athens to Nigeria.

Local government chairman Adamu Aliyu told AFP that residents believed a Lebanese mother and daughter were in the group taken by the gunmen, but those details could not be verified by police.

A security guard at the Setraco site was shot dead in the raid in Jama'are, about 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the state capital, Bauchi's police chief Mohammed Ladan told AFP.

Setraco Nigeria, a construction and civil engineering company with a road project in the region, is a subsidiary of Lebanese-owned Setraco International Holding group.

The attack on the site came after the same gunmen were repelled while trying to storm a police station and a prison in the town, the police chief said.

"The gunmen came in five all-terrain vehicles," said resident Musa Balla, estimating they arrived between 8:00 pm (1900 GMT) and 10:00 pm.

Gunmen also launched a similar attack on a police station in the town of Kafin Madaki, 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the state capital, triggering a shootout but causing no casualties, Ladan said.

Boko Haram, a group blamed for hundreds of deaths in northern Nigeria since 2009, has claimed several attacks on police stations as part of an insurgency it says is aimed at creating an Islamic state in the mostly Muslim north.

The south of the country, Africa's most populous with about 160 million people, is predominantly Christian.

The kidnapping of foreigners has long been a scourge in Nigeria's oil-rich south, with scores of hostages having been released following ransom payments.

Such incidents in the north remain relatively isolated and are considered a different phenomenon.

A Briton and an Italian kidnapped in the north in 2011 as well as a German engineer seized last year outside the region's largest city of Kano were all killed in captivity.

While many sought to blame Boko Haram for the deaths, the group, which often issues statements claiming attacks, has never acknowledged involvement in the abductions of Westerners.

In December, a group known as Ansaru claimed the kidnapping of a French citizen in the northern state of Katsina. The hostage's condition and whereabouts remain unknown.

Ansaru is thought by some to be an offshoot of Boko Haram which may have forged ties with other Al-Qaeda linked groups operating in north and west Africa, but little is known about its make-up even as its profile has risen.CSD

The World's Fast-Changing Oil Map: Sub-Saharan Africa

The previous stop on our tour of the world's key oil and gas production venues took us to South America, especially Venezuela and Brazil. We'll now find ourselves in Sub-Saharan Africa, with such important stops as Nigeria and Angola. We'll save northern Africa, with such producing nations as Algeria, Libya, and, to a lesser degree, Egypt, for later.
Once just a short hop
There was a time when traveling from, say, Brazil to Angola wouldn't have involved an especially lengthy journey. Indeed, about 200 million years ago, or when yours truly was but a wee lad, Africa and South America were each contained in a single supercontinent. By looking at a globe or a world map you'll notice that today the two continents' respective coastal features indicate that they once were firmly joined, only to be separated over time by the earth's plate tectonics.
That phenomenon is more than a relatively meaningless geographic tidbit. Rather, its importance for the world of oil lies in the respective latitudes of Brazil's Santos Basin and Angola's Cuanza Basin. They're virtually the same.
An invigorating new discovery
And so in just the past couple of years, geologists and geophysicists -- dedicated extrapolators all -- have taken the lessons learned from the sizable oil discoveries made in Brazil's pre-salt zone during the past five years to gain increased confidence that a remarkably similar pre-salt formation in the Cuanza also just might be hiding meaningful amounts of oil. Eureka! While exploratory looks into Angola's pre-salt only began in earnest a year ago, it appears that the formations there could mirror those in the Santos Basin.
In looking at Sub-Saharan Africa, we could theoretically traipse through Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, and the Ivory Coast, all of which generate varying amounts of production. However, we'll limit our tour to Nigeria and Angola, by far the two biggest producers in that portion of the continent.
Nigeria: The largest oil producer in Africa, Nigeria cranked out a daily average of 2.13 million barrels of oil a day last year, down from a peak of 2.63 million daily barrels in 2005. A member of OPEC since 1971, the country's southern coast runs along the Gulf of Guinea, facilitating both onshore and offshore production. However, the lion's share of the oil industry is located in the delta of the Niger River, which flows into the gulf.
The country's proven oil reserves total about 37.2 billion barrels of light, sweet crude. And while it has a limited infrastructure for the development of natural gas, its reserves of that fuel are tops in Africa.
Participation in the Nigerian energy industry -- by far the largest element in the country's economy -- involves many of the big Western oil companies, including Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS-B ) , France's Total (NYSE: TOT ) , and ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM ) . Virtually all producers working in Nigeria have been plagued at one time or another by terroristic activities by members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), which is made up of tribesmen indigenous to the delta, but who have typically been frozen out of energy-related jobs by those from other parts of the country who happen to hold more political clout.
Calming down
Incidents of attacks on production facilities have declined since late 2009. That was when amnesty was declared and the militants reached an accord with the government. Nevertheless, the country's decline in daily crude output during the past half-dozen years is largely attributable to the activities of MEND.
Recently, some of the big companies working in Nigeria have been unloading portions of their holdings. Since July, Shell has announced a pair of sales to local Nigerian companies, in connection with the avowed objective of the country's government to increase participation in upstream activities among local operators. And earlier this month, China's Sinopec (NYSE: SHI ) agreed to pay $2.5 billion to Total for a 20% stake in the offshore Usan field.
Angola: Long the site of active oil production, as I've already noted, Angola may have moved into a new era during just the past few months with the discovery of oil in the country's pre-salt. In February, for instance, Cobalt International Energy, which is largely owned by Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS ) , announced a discovery in Bloc 21 of the Kwanza Basin deepwater. The find may produce as much as 20,000 barrels of oil per day. And for perhaps obvious reasons, Brazil's Petrobras (NYSE: PBR ) also is involved in Angola's pre-salt.
Given the apparent potential of the zone, the country's current production of up to 1.66 million barrels a day and its reserves, which constitute an estimated 9.5 billion barrels, are both likely to increase, perhaps dramatically. Conventional oil operations in Angola began in 1915, with the drilling of the country's first exploratory well. Much of the historic activities in Angola have involved Chevron (NYSE: CVX ) , which remains the largest foreign oil industry employer.
Oil clearly is transforming Angola, which joined OPEC in 2007. As The New York Times noted in an article last year relating the country's pre-salt potential to prior discoveries in Brazil, "Luanda, Angola's capital, has become a testament to what oil can bring. A few years ago the city was just emerging from decades of civil war (which raged from 1975 to 2002). Now the streets are filled with cars, and for ex-pats, rents can be more expensive than in London."
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