A radio station defends peace and tolerance in CAR

Amidst the ongoing sectarian violence in the Central African Republic, a radio station called Be-Oko, or "One Heart", is broadcasting a rare message of peace to listeners in the town of Bambari and across the country.

Muslims in CAR pray for an escape routeAn endless agony

An endless agony Those stranded in PK-12 have only one wish: to slip quietly into a protected convoy of vehicles headed across the border to Chad.

Exiled ex-president Wade returns to Senegal

Senegal's former president Abdoulaye Wade made a controversial homecoming from exile in France on Friday with security forces on high alert.

Algeria's Bouteflika makes rare appearance in talks with Kerry

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika met with US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday to discuss better security cooperation in the Maghreb region in one of his longest public appearances since suffering a stroke a year ago.

EU launches military operation in Central African Republic

The European Union announced on Tuesday that it is launching an immediate military operation in the Central African Republic (CAR) to help restore order to the country, which has been wracked by months of inter-religious violence.

Kenyan Muslims issue warning over cleric killings

The Muslim community in southern Kenya has threatened mass protests if the government does not make progress on the spate of murderers targeting Muslim clerics in the next three days.

Police ‘mishandled’ evidence in Pistorius murder case

The officer who arrested Oscar Pistorius on the night Reeva Steenkamp was killed last year testified Friday that police at the crime scene mishandled evidence, including a ballistics expert who handled the murder weapon without gloves.

Gunmen kill scores in central Nigeria

Gunmen killed more than 100 people in an attack on three villages in central Nigeria, an area where longstanding disputes over land, religion and ethnicity often erupt into violence, two local government officials said on Sunday.

French court sentences Rwandan army captain for 1994 genocide

A French court on Friday sentenced a former Rwandan army captain to 25 years in prison for genocide and complicity in crimes against humanity in the first-ever trial in France over the 1994 atrocity.

Scenes of ‘absolute terror’ amid Muslim exodus from Bangui

Some 10,000 Muslims fled for their lives from the Central African Republic’s capital Bangui on Friday, climbing aboard trucks guarded by heavily armed Chadian forces amid scenes of “absolute terror”.

Video: Chaos in CAR as thousands of Muslims flee violence

More than 800,000 people have been displaced in the Central African Republic as the inter-religious violence continues unabated.

Lawmaker among those killed in latest Bangui violence

Violence and looting in Bangui over the weekend left at least 11 people dead in the Central African Republic, including a lawmaker who was gunned down in a drive-by shooting and two Muslims who were lynched in revenge attacks.

Hague hears DR Congo's Bosco Ntaganda 'ordered killings'

Former Congolese rebel leader Bosco Ntaganda ordered troops to kill and rape civilians, prosecutors say.

Guinea ruling party 'wins' parliamentary poll

President Alpha Conde's ruling party in Guinea took just under half of the seats in last month's parliamentary poll, electoral officials have said.

They said the Rally of the Guinean People (RPG) secured 53 seats in the 114-member parliament.
The main opposition party had 37 seats, while the rest went to smaller parties.
The opposition said it would not recognise the result of the poll, which international observers said was marred by "irregularities".

South Africa soap opera stand-off stops filming

The producer of the South African soap opera Generations has told the BBC he does not intend to comply with the contract demands of striking actors.

Nearly the entire cast of South Africa's most popular drama series did not turn up on set when filming of the show was supposed to restart on Monday.
They refused to sign contracts with "out clauses" which allow for characters to be killed off.
Producer Mfundi Vundla said flexibility was needed to make a ratings success.
The soap opera, which is produced by Mr Vundla's Morula Pictures for South Africa's SABC 1 channel, is also hugely popular across Africa and a big revenue earner for the public broadcaster.
'Well paid' Mr Vundla said the trouble began at an anniversary party last month to celebrate 20 years of the show, which is set in the cut-throat advertising industry in Johannesburg and centres around the lives of the Moroka family.

Uganda alert after US warns of 'Westgate-style' attack

Security has been increased in Uganda after the US warned of a terror threat similar to last month's attack by militants in neighbouring Kenya.

The BBC's Patience Atuhaire in Kampala says that car boots and pedestrians' bags are being searched as they enter the Nakumatt Oasis shopping centre.
Government spokesman Ofwono Opondo told the BBC he was glad that the US had passed on its intelligence.

International monitors cite 'irregularities' in Guinea vote

UN monitors and diplomats observing Guinea's first parliamentary vote in more than a decade cited "irregularities" Tuesday in the September 28 poll amid opposition accusations of fraud and calls for the ballot to be annulled.

Clashes erupt in Guinea ahead of election

 

 Clashes between rival political parties erupted in Guinea’s capital Conakry on Monday, killing at least one person and injuring 50 others, the government said. 

At least one person was killed and more than 50 others wounded in Guinea’s capital Conakry during fierce clashes between supporters of rival political parties, the government said on Monday.
The fighting, which blocked roads leading to the city’s centre, comes just days before a long-awaited parliamentary election, which is scheduled to be held on Saturday.
The government issued a statement saying that a military police officer in training had been shot dead and that two other military police were wounded by gunfire. Another 49 people were injured in the clashes, according to the statement.
“Once again, the government appeals to political parties to calm down their supporters and abstain from violence against peaceful citizens,” it read.
The violence erupted despite a UN-brokered deal at the weekend to postpone the election, initially scheduled for Tuesday, to allow the electoral commission to address concerns raised by opposition parties over preparations for the vote.
Security officials on Monday issued warnings to people to limit their movements around the opposition stronghold neighbourhood in the capital where the clashes occurred.

Was UK’s 'white widow' involved in Kenya mall attack?

A British woman nicknamed the “white widow” has emerged as a possible suspect in Saturday's deadly terrorist attack carried out by al Shabaab Islamic militants on the Westgate mall in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.
Speculation over the involvement of Samantha Lewthwaite, the wife of one of the suicide bombers who carried out the London 7/7 attacks, was fuelled by comments made by Kenya’s Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed on Monday, in which she said that a British woman was one of the attackers.
“From the information that we have, two or three Americans [were involved] and I think, so far, I have heard of one Brit... a woman ... and I think she has done this many times before,” she told the PBS NewsHour programme.
Should the minister’s comments prove accurate, Lewthwaite, who has been previously linked to terrorist activity and is wanted by Kenyan police over an alleged plot to bomb the country's coast, would appear a likely suspect.
Lewthwaite: From grieving widow to international terrorist
The daughter of a British soldier, Lewthwaite, 29, appears to have enjoyed an ordinary upbringing in the English market town of Aylesbury, around 45 miles northwest of London.
She first came to the attention of the British media in the wake of the July 7 bombings in London in 2005, which killed 52 people. Her husband, Germaine Lindsay, was one of four suicide bombers involved in the attack.
She met Jamaican-born Lindsay in an internet chatroom at the age of 17, two years after she converted to Islam.
Pregnant with the couple’s second child at the time, Lewthwaite initially seemed appalled by her husband’s actions.
“I totally condemn and am horrified by the atrocities which occurred in London," she said, describing Lindsay as "a good and loving husband and a brilliant father, who showed absolutely no sign of doing this atrocious crime".
The ‘myth’ of Samantha Lewthwaite
However, in the years following 7/7, media reports have linked Lewthwaite with a number of attacks across the Horn of Africa and named her as a prominent member of al Shabaab, earning her the nickname “white widow” in the press.
In February 2012 it was reported that Kenyan police were hunting for Lewthwaite after finding a fake passport containing her picture during a raid on a house linked to terrorist activity, while in August 2013 she was accused of orchestrating a grenade attack on a bar in Mombasa.
But while she is “undoubtedly involved in some way” with al Shabaab, “there is not a great deal of information” on Lewthwaite’s exact activities in recent years, Shiraz Meher, a senior fellow at the London-based International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation, told FRANCE 24.
“She pops up periodically from time to time across the Horn of Africa. But there’s very little in the way of concrete facts,” he said.

A look at the al-Shabaab militant group

But whether or not she has been directly involved in any terrorist acts, her importance to al Shabaab and the wider Jihadist movement is more symbolic, says Meher.
“The first thing is that she’s a convert to Islam, she’s white, English. She has great propaganda value.
“And her husband was a July 7 bomber, which gives her a kind of pedigree as a jihadist. It feeds into the ‘myth of Samantha’.”
Confusion remains over Lewthwaite’s role
Despite the rife press speculation, whether Lewthwaite, or any women for that matter, were involved in the Nairobi attack, remains unclear with conflicting reports coming from witnesses, security forces and the Kenyan government.
Early reports at the time of the attack, which began Saturday and led to a hostage standoff between the Islamists and police that was still in progress on Tuesday, cited witnesses who said at least one of the attackers was a woman.
However, Kenyan Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku said earlier on Monday that all of the terrorists were male, though some had dressed as women, before being contradicted by Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed’s comments.
Meanwhile, a British security source told Reuters that it was possible that Lewthwaite was involved in the Nairobi siege. "It is a possibility. But nothing definitive or conclusive yet" the source said.
Meher believes it is “impossible to speculate” at this stage over Lewthwaite's possible involvement.
“There’s so much conflicting information even from government officials in Kenya,” he said. “It would be unusual though for a woman to be involved in this kind of attack.”
The British Foreign Office, meanwhile, has refused to comment on whether one of its citizens may have taken part in the attack.

Nairobi mall siege over, says Kenyan president

After a harrowing four-day siege in a Nairobi mall, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said security forces had defeated the terrorists and the assault was finally over in an address to the nation on Tuesday night.
"We have ashamed and defeated our attackers, that part of our task is completed," said Kenyatta.
"We have been badly hurt, but we have been brave, united and strong. Kenya has stared down evil and triumphed. We have defeated our enemies and showed the whole world what we can accomplish."
Kenyatta said 61 civilians and six members of the security forces died in the siege. He said five attackers had been killed and that there were 11 suspects in custody.
The Kenyan president also revealed that towards the end of the security operation, three floors of the Westgate mall had collapsed and there were several bodies buried in the rubble.
Kenyatta’s televised address to the nation came a day after the Kenyan Interior Ministry said security forces had taken control of the mall. But on Tuesday, sporadic gunfire and explosions were heard from the sealed-off site, prompting questions over whether the siege had finally ended and the site had been secured.
Kenyatta declared a three-day period of national mourning starting Wednesday.
The Somali militant group al Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the Nairobi mall attack, which began on Saturday afternoon as the popular, upscale mall was packed with shoppers and families dining in the food court section.
An official investigation into the attack is currently underway.

KENYA Global jihad: smoke signals from Mumbai to Nairobi

In his speech on Tuesday night, Kenyatta acknowledged reports that one British woman and two or three Americans may have been involved in the attacks.
But the Kenyan president said he could not confirm the reports and that forensic experts were working to ascertain their nationalities.

The attack began on Saturday when an estimated 12 to 15 al Shabaab militants invaded the mall, wielding grenades and firing on civilians inside the complex, which includes shops for Nike, Adidas and Bose and is popular with foreigners and wealthy Kenyans.
The militants specifically targeted non-Muslims, and at least 18 foreigners were among the dead, including six Britons, as well as citizens from France, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, Peru, India, Ghana, South Africa and China. Nearly 200 people were wounded, including five Americans.
The attack at the Westgate mall in Nairobi's Westlands neighborhood was the deadliest terrorist attack in Kenya since the 1998 al Qaeda truck bombing of the US Embassy in Nairobi, which killed more than 200 people.