Mali's president names new prime minister

BAMAKO, Mali — Soldiers arrested Mali’s prime minister and forced him to resign before dawn Tuesday, showing the military remains the real power in this troubled West African nation despite handing back authority to civilians after a coup in March.

The prime minister’s ouster comes as the United Nations considers backing a military intervention in Mali, a once-stable country now in constant turmoil. The development raises questions about the viability of the operation, which would use the country’s military in an attempt to take back Mali’s north from Islamic extremists.

Prime Minister Cheikh Modibo Diarra, dressed in a dark suit and his forehead glistening with sweat, appeared on state television at 4 a.m. to announce his resignation, hours after soldiers stormed his house and forced him into their vehicle.

Congo rebels return to peace talks

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA | Posted: Tuesday, December 11, 2012 10:47 am

Peace talks with rebels in eastern Congo should end with the disbandment of the M23 rebel movement, Congo's foreign minister said Tuesday, declaring it a criminally-minded organization that has caused suffering in the country.

Foreign Minister Raymond Tshibanda delivered his indictment of M23 on Tuesday after representatives of the group did not show up to a meeting Monday where the Congolese government delegation wanted to respond to earlier criticism by the rebels.

M23's executive secretary, Francois Rucogoza, charged on Sunday that the Congolese government lacked "visionary leadership" in a lengthy statement at the start of talks in the Ugandan capital Kampala. The government delegation, which had already delivered a short, formal statement free of accusations, then said it had to respond to accusations of incompetence, xenophobia and corruption before substantive talks could begin.

Tshibanda said Tuesday he wanted the world to get "the real picture of this armed group and what they do in the area." M23, he said, is a criminal organization whose leaders routinely use child soldiers to win wars and whose troops rape women and carry out summary executions in territories they control in eastern Congo.

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.

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.

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.

Mali crisis: African Union backs plan to deploy troops

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

 

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.