Central African Republic and rebels agree to talks

The Central African Republic and rebels have agreed to hold unconditional talks, an official from the regional bloc ECCAS said late Friday. But heavy fighting was still reported in the city of Bambari, which the rebels seized last Sunday.

The government of the Central African Republic government and the rebel coalition Seleka have agreed to talks without pre-conditions, Guy-Pierre Garcia, the deputy secretary general of the Economic Community of Central African States, said Friday.
"No one asked for conditions," said Garcia, noting the talks would start in Libreville, the capital of Gabon, "without delay", though no date was immediately set.

AU chief, Bozize to meet as rebels advance on Bangui

African Union chief Thomas Bani Yayi is due to hold talks with Central Africa Republic’s embattled president, François Bozize, after rebels on Saturday seized the town of Sibut, around 150 kilometres from the country’s capital Bangui.

Rebels in the Central African Republic who have advanced towards the capital Bangui warned Sunday they could enter the city even as the head of the African Union prepared to launch peace negotiations.

Seized Argentine naval ship leaves Ghana

The ARA Libertad, an Argentine naval ship, was allowed to leave Ghana on Wednesday after it was detained in the West African country on October 2 at the request of a hedge fund looking to collect $300 million on defaulted government bonds.

An Argentine naval vessel detained in Ghana at the request of a hedge fund seeking payment on defaulted government bonds left the West African country on Wednesday, a port official said.
The ARA Libertad, a tall sailing ship used for training, was detained on a court order obtained by NML Capital Ltd, which claims it is owed $300 million resulting Argentina’s debt default in 2002.
The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea ruled on Saturday that Ghana should release the ship after Argentina argued that a U.N. Convention on the law gives warships immunity from civil claims when they dock at foreign ports.
The Argentine ship was detained in the port of Tema, Ghana on Oct. 2.
“The boat has just set sail after supplies (arrived),” Jacob Kwabla Adokor, the director of the Tema port, told Reuters. “Everything went smoothly. The ropes came off 20 minutes ago.”
A Reuters witness watched from a distance as the ship glided away from its berth in the late afternoon, its masts and colours visible above the roofs of surrounding buildings.
A plane arrived in Ghana from Buenos Aires, Argentina’s capital, earlier in the day carrying 98 sailors to replace the 326 crew members who evacuated the detained ship in October, leaving behind only a skeleton crew for essential maintenance.
The Libertad is due to arrive in the Argentine seaside resort of Mar del Plata on Jan. 9, at the height of the southern hemisphere summer vacation season.
“There will be a lot of tourists and they’ll be able to visit the ship, which has become a symbol of sovereignty and national dignity,” Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez said in a speech late on Tuesday.
“Holdout” creditors including NML have won several billion dollars in damages in U.S. courts over Argentina’s $100 billion debt default. But they have struggled to collect since most Argentine assets abroad are protected by sovereign immunity laws.
These creditors recently won a U.S. court ruling ordering Argentina to pay $1.3 billion to NML and other sovereign bondholders who shunned debt restructuring deals in 2005 and 2010. The court decision was halted pending appeal.
The Libertad was visiting Ghana as part of a west African tour and was due to sail on to Angola when it was detained.
Argentina’s Defence Ministry initially filed a motion contesting the detention claiming sovereign immunity for the military vessel, but a court in Ghana’s capital of Accra upheld the seizure as legal.
Argentina’s government has consistently rejected claims for debt repayment by NML and other hedge funds, calling them “vulture funds.”

Nigerian militants 'kill 15 and slit throats'

Suspected Islamist militants killed at least 15 Christians in northern Nigeria, slitting the throats of their victims, witnesses said.

The attack happened on Friday near Maiduguri, a stronghold of Islamist militants Boko Haram, but details were slow to emerge.

In a second attack, gunmen killed two people, including a policeman, and burnt down government buildings in Maiha, on the border with Cameroon.

No group has claimed responsibility.

ICC acquits Congo militia boss of war crimes

The ICC freed Congolese ex-militia chief Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui Tuesday after acquitting him of war crimes in the 2003 deaths of 200 villagers. The verdict has cast doubt over the ICC's ability to collect evidence of atrocities in faraway conflicts.

Group claims kidnap of French citizen in Nigeria

The radical Islamist group Ansaru claimed responsibility on Sunday for the recent kidnapping of a French citizen in Nigeria, saying the abduction was in response to France’s push for a military intervention in northern Mali.

Gunmen kill six at Nigerian Christmas service

Gunmen attacked a church in northern Nigeria during a midnight mass on Christmas Eve, killing six people including the pastor, before setting the building ablaze, residents and police said Tuesday.

UN, US issue warnings in Central African Republic

The UN has begun evacuating staff and families from the Central African Republic, while the US has also urged its citizens to leave the country as rebel forces close in on the capital, Bangui.

Six Hyundai workers kidnapped in southern Nigeria

Gunmen in southern Nigeria have kidnapped four foreigners and two Nigerians employed by South Korean construction firm Hyundai, police say.

The incident took place "in a forest" on the Atlantic coast of the oil-rich Bayelsa state, police official Fidelis Odunna said.

"The police are going to beef up security around all companies that have expatriates," he said.

Kidnappings are common in the Niger Delta, Africa's main oil region.

Bayelsa has one of the largest crude oil and natural gas deposits in Nigeria.

Mr Odunna did not specify the nationality of those kidnapped.

Nigeria's Okonjo-Iweala: Kidnappers 'demanded resignation'

In her first public comments since her 82-year-old mother's release, Mrs Okonjo-Iweala said the kidnappers mentioned her battle against a multi-billion dollar fuel scam.

Nigeria's Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala says her mother's kidnappers demanded her resignation. 

Kamene Okonjo was freed on Friday after gunmen held her for five days.

Mrs Okonjo-Iweala pushed a government policy to end fuel subsidies in January, sparking a nationwide strike.

The government then agreed to partially restore the subsidy.

Kidnapping is common in southern Nigeria, where it is a lucrative criminal enterprise.
'No backing down'
She said her mother, a retired professor, was held without food or water.

Africa: President Obama and Sub-Saharan Africa: What's Missing

12 December 2012

analysis

Richard Joseph analyzes the Obama administration's June 2012 policy paper on Africa and provides specific policy recommendations for the President's second term. This article was written as a guest post for John Campbell's 'Africa in Transition' blog on the Council of Foreign Relations' website. It can be read below, or on the Council's website here.

On June 14, 2012, President Obama affixed his signature to the "U.S. Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa." It identified four focus areas: democratic institutions; growth, trade and investment; peace and security; and opportunity and development. The response from the policy community was a shrug. Mwangi Kimenyi of the Brookings Institution claimed that the policy document was neither "new" nor "strategic," and did not establish a "foundation for creative engagement with an emerging Africa."

WHO: Financial Shortfall Threatens Anti-Malaria Fight In Sub-Saharan Africa

 

Mon, 17/12/2012 - 6:20pm | AGENCY REPORT

The WHO World Malaria Report 2012, says financial shortfall threatens progress on malaria deaths throughout sub-Saharan Africa, just as historic gains are being realised.
The WHO said in a statement on Monday that the progress continued in 2012.
It also sounded the alarm on a looming financial crisis that threatened to stall or even wipe out recent gains against the disease.

Grabbing at Solutions: Water for the Hungry First

 

Posted by Sandra Postel of National Geographic's Freshwater Initiative in Water Currents on December 14, 2012

Drip irrigation, shown here in Niger, can help save water, eventually reducing the pressure that drives water grabs. Photo: Bernard Pollack, Worldwatch Institute

 Posted by Sandra Postel of National Geographic's Freshwater Initiative in Water Currents on December 14, 2012
This piece is part of Water Grabbers: A Global Rush on Freshwater, a special National Geographic News series on how grabbing land—and water—from poor people, desperate governments, and future generations threatens global food security, environmental sustainability, and local cultures.

A spontaneous, largely under-the-radar blue revolution is gaining steam in sub-Saharan Africa and has the potential to boost food security and incomes for tens of millions of the region’s poorest inhabitants.
Small-scale irrigation techniques with simple buckets, affordable pumps, drip lines, and other equipment are enabling farm families to weather dry seasons, raise yields, diversify their crops, and lift themselves out of poverty.

Rwanda's genocide and the bloody legacy of Anglo-American guilt

The United States is allowing one tragic foreign policy failure to compound another.
Eighteen years ago, President Bill Clinton watched passively as the Hutu extremist regime in Rwanda oversaw the murder of hundreds of thousands of Tutsis. His administration refused even to utter the word genocide for fear it would oblige the US to intervene.

DR Congo's rebel kaleidoscope

While the M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have dominated headlines in recent months, they are just one of more than two dozen armed groups fighting in this resource-rich region.

A new report by the aid agency Oxfam, published along with a remarkable map, shows that the recent unrest in Goma - a strategically important trading city - is just the tip of an iceberg of human suffering.

Congo Rebel Group Demands President's Resignation

By By MELANIE GOUBY Associated Press

BUNAGANA, Congo December 13, 2012 (AP)

The rebel group starting negotiations with the Congolese government wants the country's president to resign, according to a rebel document.
Jean-Marie Runiga, president of the M23 rebels said to be backed by Rwanda, on Thursday showed The Associated Press a list of demands that he said will be presented to the Congolese government.
The rebels' demand for Congolese President Joseph Kabila to step down comes as a leading advocacy group says the president is "unable to effectively govern the country."
The M23 recently withdrew from Goma, the capital of North Kivu province in eastern Congo, in order to begin negotiations with Congolese President Joseph Kabila's government.
But the Congolese government and the rebels have so far disagreed on how the negotiations should be conducted, who they should include and what issues should be discussed.
On Monday, the M23 delegation refused to attend the preliminary meetings in Uganda after the government representative objected to their opening speech, saying it was "insulting."
The rebels came back to the table Tuesday, but observers are skeptical that the talks will lead to concrete results and resolve the conflict. The delays have already increased tensions, threatening to restart the fighting.
Speaking from eastern Congo territory that the rebels control, Jean-Marie Runiga, the president of the M23, said if given the opportunity, the rebels could retake the city of Goma in eastern Congo.
"The information that I have is that Kinshasa is reinforcing its positions. It is bringing troops, weapons and ammunition. If we are attacked, we grant ourselves the right to defend ourselves and go very far. And this time we will not retreat," Runiga told the Associated Press from his living room in the border town of Bunagana.
Since the beginning of the conflict, the M23 rebels have called for the Kabila government to fully implement the 2009 peace agreement. As the rebels gained ground in eastern Congo, including the seizure last month of the provincial capital Goma, their demands have increased to encompass a wide range of issues in Congo including governance, the economy and social matters.
The full list of M23's demands, seen by AP, includes the resignation Kabila and the dissolution of the national assembly. The rebels call for the creation of a transitional government that would run the country while new elections are organized, starting with local elections.
The president of M23 says the rebels' political branch should resume its control of the city of the Goma as a precondition to the negotiations. He and Gen. Sultani Makenga, the M23 troops commander, are staying in eastern Congo until the negotiations deal with substantial issues.
"I think our members who are in Kampala represent us. In due time I will be there, too. I am waiting for things to be organized and when Kabila will be there, I will go, too," Runiga said.
The rebels' demands come as Congo's president faces growing criticism for his handling of the crisis in the country's east.
On Thursday, the Enough Project expressed concerns about Kabila's leadership and said the current talks between the president and M23 were not inclusive enough to address wider, underlying issues in eastern Congo.
"President Kabila has now lost nearly all confidence among the Congolese people and is unable to effectively govern the country," the group said in a policy brief.
"In order to restore political order, a national dialogue process must take place, in which leaders from across the country actively participate and decide on a national consensus to move the country forward," said the Enough Project report. "If he does not successfully build out such a process, Kabila may not survive politically."

Nigerian governor, ex-security head die in air crash

The governor of Nigeria's volatile Kaduna state and a former national security adviser were among six killed when a helicopter crashed in the southerly oil-producing Bayelsa state on Saturday, officials said.
The helicopter wobbled in the sky before nose-diving into a forest in Ogbia Creek at around 3:30 p.m. (0930 ET), a local resident who witnessed the crash told Reuters.
"By the time we got to the scene it was in flames," said Hitler Adunion, a local community leader. "We tried to put them out but it was difficult. We saw the roasted bodies of those inside."
The Nigerian Navy confirmed that its Agusta helicopter had crashed while carrying VIPs to Port Harcourt but it didn't give a reason and civilian authorities declined to speculate on the cause. President Goodluck Jonathan ordered an investigation.
"(The) President has expressed utter shock and sadness over the crash ... (he) extends deep and heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the deceased," a statement from the presidency said.
The statement confirmed the deaths of Kaduna state governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa, former national security adviser General Owoye Azazi, their aides Dauda Tsoho and Mohammed Kamal and the two pilots, Muritala Mohammed Daba and Adeyemi Sowole.

  (Patrick Yakowa)

Post-election tension shakes African beacon of stability

Political leaders as well as election observers in Ghana have called for calm after the top opposition party threatened to contest the results of the recent presidential poll. Are Ghanaians likely to listen?

 

 

NEWS ANALYSIS

The World’s Worst War

     LAST month, as I was driving down a backbreaking road between Goma, a provincial capital in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Kibumba, a little market town about 20 miles away, I came upon the body of a Congolese soldier. He was on his back, half hidden in the bushes, his legs crumpled beneath him, his fly-covered face looking up at the sun. The strangest thing was, four years ago, almost to the day, I saw a corpse of a Congolese soldier in that exact same spot. He had been killed and left to rot just as his comrade would be four years later, in the vain attempt to stop a rebel force from marching down the road from Kibumba to Goma. The circumstances were nearly identical: a group of Tutsi-led rebels, widely believed to be backed by Rwanda, eviscerating a feckless, alcoholic government army that didn’t even bother to scoop up its dead.

DR Congo fighting 'sees refugee numbers rise'

Humanitarian workers have warned of a sharp rise in refugees in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo as a result of recent fighting.

The charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) told the BBC that there were now more than 800,000 displaced people in the province of North Kivu.

That marks a sharp rise from the 500,000 estimated in the province before the latest violence.

Nigeria air crash kills Kaduna governor Patrick Yakowa

The governor of Nigeria's Kaduna state has been killed in a helicopter crash in the southern delta region along with other senior officials, his party says.

Governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa and former national security adviser Gen Owoye Azazi were on the helicopter which came down in Bayelsa state.

14/12/2012 / DR CONGO

Hellish scenes of mob killings and cannibalism in DR Congo

• photo
 
• Democratic Republic of Congo

Residents stare at the scene on the early morning on December 3. Screen capture from a video filmed by Saidi Abasi Madjij, editor-in-chief of Hope Channel, a Goma-based television station.

Recent fighting between government forces and rebel groups has dramatically destabilised the Democratic Republic of Congo. During the night between December 2 and 3, a barbaric scene unfolded in the capital Goma, in North Kivu province.

ATEST UPDATE: 11/12/2012 

- HEALTH - NELSON MANDELA - SOUTH AFRICA

Nelson Mandela suffering from lung infection

© AFP

South Africa's former president Nelson Mandela has a recurring lung infection and is responding to medical treatment, officials revealed on Tuesday. The 94-year-old has been in a Pretoria hospital since Saturday.

By News Wires (text)

South Africa’s former President Nelson Mandela is suffering from a recurring lung infection and is responding to medical treatments, the nation’s presidency said Tuesday.
The ailing Mandela, 94, has been hospitalized since Saturday for medical tests at 1 Military Hospital near South Africa’s capital, Pretoria.

DR Congo gov't, M23 rebels start talks in Uganda

KAMPALA, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- Talks aimed at ending fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Sunday opened in the Ugandan capital Kampala with warring parties, government and M23 rebels committing themselves to peace.

Insight: Congo army debacle at Goma raises specter of betrayal

 

By Jonny Hogg and Ed Stoddard

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo | Mon Dec 10, 2012 8:08am EST

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) -

When Congo's government army retreated in panic from the eastern city of Goma last month, many observers blamed the poor morale and leadership, ill discipline and corruption that have sapped its fighting capacity for years.In the hours before Goma fell to M23 rebels on November 20, drunk and terrified Congolese soldiers roamed the streets or huddled in doorways before melting away, witnesses said.
M23's 11-day occupation of the city was one of the worst battlefield defeats for Democratic Republic of Congo's armed forces (FARDC), which at 150,000-strong are among the largest in Africa. They are also backed by 17,000 U.N. peacekeepers.

DR Congo rebels, govt to start talks Friday: Uganda

DR Congolese government policemen walk alongside the runway at the airport in Goma, eastern DR Congo, during a visit by the interior minister on December 4, 2012. Rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo will start talks with Kinshasa's government in Kampala on Friday, a Ugandan official said.

AFP - Rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo will start talks with Kinshasa's government in Kampala on Friday, a Ugandan official said.

"Delegations from the DRC government and M23 (rebels) shall begin preliminary meetings tomorrow," Ugandan government spokesman Fred Opolot told reporters Thursday, adding the talks were "to resolve the conflict in eastern DRC."

M23 rebels threaten to take back Congo’s city of Goma if government doesn’t negotiate

 

By Associated Press,

Dec 02, 2012 05:17 PM EST

AP Published: December 2

GOMA, Congo — Rebels believed to be backed by Rwanda said Sunday they would take back Congo’s city of Goma if the government does not agree to negotiate with them by Monday.
The M23 rebels completed their withdrawal from the strategic eastern city on Saturday, in compliance with an agreement reached between the rebel group and a regional body.

“It pained us to withdraw from Goma after having lost men on the battlefield to conquer the city. But if it is the price for peace, we accept it,” said Bertrand Bisimwa, the spokesman for M23’s political branch. “There was no external pressure. Friends of Congo have advised us to give negotiations a chance.”
The M23 rebels took the capital of North Kivu on Nov. 20, after battling the Congolese army for nearly a day. The group had defied two earlier ultimatums to leave Goma, raising the possibility they did not intend to leave and giving credence to a U.N. report accusing Rwanda of using the rebels as a proxy to annex territory in the mineral-rich eastern Congo.
The eight-month-old M23 rebellion is led by fighters from a now-defunct rebel group, who agreed to lay down their arms on March 23, 2009, in return for being allowed to join the ranks of the Congolese army. The rebellion, which takes its name from that accord, began in April when hundreds of soldiers defected from the military, saying that the terms of the agreement had not been respected.
Bisimwa said that by Sunday the rebels have not received information on whether the government had decided to negotiate.
“If negotiations have not started by tomorrow at 2 p.m. , 48 hours since our withdrawal, or if there are attacks on citizens in Goma, we will take back the city,” he said. “We know that President Kabila is not trustworthy, but we want to give a chance for our friends to realize that too.”
Despite the rebels’ retreat from Goma, which was a pre-requisite set by the Congolese government for negotiations, President Joseph Kabila has not yet made clear if the government will negotiate.
“The head of state said that he will listen to the M23’s grievances and re-evaluate the 2009 peace agreement, and then he will give an answer,” said the spokesman for the government Lambert Mende. “No one will give them the chance,” to return to Goma, he told The Associated Press.
The rebels have demanded the implementation of the 2009 accord that oversaw their integration in the army and the recognition of their ranks, and also positions in the government. Following their seizure of Goma, the rebels have also added a list of demands meant to re-establish good governance in Congo, such as the liberation of all political prisoners, the dissolution of the current electoral commission who was in charge during fraudulent elections in 2011, and the opening of negotiations inclusive of the civil society, the opposition and the diaspora.
But most analysts believe the origin of the rebellion is a fight over Congo’s vast mineral wealth, a good chunk of which is found in the North Kivu province where Goma is the capital. Starting this spring, the fighters seized a series of small towns and villages in North Kivu, culminating with the capture of Goma, a population hub of 1 million and a key, mineral trading post.
“It’s a vicious cycle in which these people rebel and then they are rewarded with high-ranking positions in the army and they can exploit our resources,” said Thomas d’Acquin, the president of the civil society in North Kivu.
In Goma, people were worried that violence may flare up again soon if a compromise is not reached.
“We live in fear, it’s unbearable,” said 38-year-old resident Anatole Bilemba. “The M23 comes, they leave, the Congolese army will come back and then the M23 says they will too. How do we do anything?”
A security vacuum followed M23’s departure from Goma, which has not yet been filled by the Congolese army. Only several hundred policemen are securing the city.
In Mugunga, a camp outside Goma, the U.N. confirmed that armed men raped six women and looted displaced people’s belongings last night.
___
Associated Press reporter Saleh Mwanamilongo in Kinshasa, Congo contributed to this report.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

DR Congo forces take over Goma after rebel pullout

A Congolese police officer arrives in Goma with her child on Sunday after M23 rebels pulled out. Authorities in DR Congo's eastern city of Goma assumed gradual control of the key mining hub Sunday after a rebel pullout, amid reports of rape and looting and with government soldiers yet to arrive.

Congolese police officers prepare to disembark from a boat at Goma on Sunday. Over 160 police officers arrived by boat at Goma's lake port to reinforce some 300 colleagues who arrived on Saturday.

Map locating eastern DR Congo and the city of Goma, which M23 rebels have evacuated.

AFP - Authorities in Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern city of Goma assumed gradual control of the key mining hub Sunday after a rebel pullout, amid reports of rape and looting and with government soldiers yet to arrive.
Tensions are high, with gumen late on Sunday attacking the giant Mugunga camp, home to up to 35,000 displaced people, some ten kilometres (six miles) west of Goma. UN refugee agency officials reported cases of looting and rape.
Over 160 police officers arrived by boat at Goma's lake port to reinforce some 300 colleagues who arrived yesterday, and who have assumed control of the city of around million people following the planned withdrawal of M23 rebel fighters.

Congo rebels withdraw from Goma

Rebels have withdrawn from the Democratic Republic of the Congo's (DRC) eastern city of Goma, following an agreement brokered by neighbouring countries, according to a UN official.
On Saturday, hundreds of M23 fighters packed into trucks and headed in the direction of Kibumba, 20km north of the city, bringing an end to their 10-day occupation of Goma, which they seized control of on 20 November.

Congo rebels' withdrawal from Goma 'purely tactical', say analysts

After much initial confusion, reports indicate that rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo have finally withdrawn from the eastern city of Goma. This is, very tentatively, good news. Just a week ago, no one was quite sure whether the rebels intended to make good on their threat to march on the capital Kinshasa and overthrow the Congolese government, a move that could well have escalated into another regional war centered on the DRC.

Rebels in DR Congo withdraw 

from Goma

The deal calls for the rebels to withdraw towards the town of Kibumba.

The M23 rebels deserted from the army in April, with some 500,000 people fleeing their homes in ensuing unrest.

The last remaining 300 rebels sang as they left Goma on flat-bed trucks, AFP news agency reported.

"Now Congolese government policemen are controlling the central bank, the governor's office and the border post," Ugandan Brig Jeffrey Muheesi, who serves on a mission sent by regional leaders to observe the withdrawal, told the Associated Press news agency.

More than 270 Congolese policemen have arrived in the city port as part of the transition.

Congo's M23 rebels complete Goma pullout

© AFP

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s M23 rebels completed their retreat from the regional capital of Goma on Saturday, after defying two earlier ultimatums to leave the city.

By News Wires (text)

Hundreds of rebel fighters, singing and brandishing weapons, pulled out of Congo's eastern border city of Goma on Saturday, raising hopes for negotiations to end the insurgency.
The withdrawal of the M23 rebel movement from Goma on Lake Kivu, a strategic hub in Democratic Republic of Congo's war-scarred east, was agreed in a deal brokered by presidents of the Great Lakes states under Uganda's leadership a week ago.