Cempaka Africa

Peres to tell AIPAC: Israel not 'rushing into war' with Iran

2012-03-05T13:41:00.001-08:00

The Israelipresident will also thank Obama for the assistance he has given Israel duringthe three-and-a-half years of his presidency.

Haaretz, by Barak Ravid, 4 Mar 2012

WASHINGTON,D.C. - President Shimon Peres will meet with President Barack Obama in the U.S.capital on Sunday. Peres will also tell delegates of pro-Israel lobby AIPACthat Israel is not rushing into a war with Iran.

President Shimon Peres (Photo: GPO)

Ahead ofhis meeting with the American leader, Peres will deliver a speech to AIPAC inwhich he will express his support for, and faith in, the friendship betweenIsrael and the United States. He will also thank Obama for the political andsecurity assistance he has given Israel during the three-and-a-half years ofhis presidency to date.

Sourcesclose to Peres told Haaretz on Saturady that the Israeli president's speechwill focus mainly on the debt that Israel owes the U.S., the American peopleand Obama for the close ties between the two countries.

Peres willtell delegates attending the AIPAC conference that Israel should "get backto the basics" of the Israeli-American relationship, and that"sometimes it does no harm to say 'Thank you'." Peres will concludehis speech by saying he is "confident that the United States will alwaysstand by Israel."

Peres willalso dedicate a large portion of his speech to Iran, telling delegates that"Israel is not rushing into war. We are a country that always seeks outpeace and peace is always our preferred option, but our enemies should make nomistakes. We have fought six wars that were forced upon us and we have won themall. If another war is forced upon us, we will fight it and we will winit."

Peres willalso talk about the importance of renewing negotiations between Israel and thePalestinians. Peace, he will say, is not just in Israel's interest, it is"a moral duty for the Jewish people."

Immediatelyafter Peres' speech, Obama will take to the podium. The American leader is notexpected to unveil any new initiative on the Iranian issue. Instead, he willreiterate a message he has been relaying for several months - that the UnitedStates will not allow the Islamic Republic to become a nuclear-armed power.Obama is expected to focus on the series of measures that his administrationhas taken to tighten security cooperation with Israel.

Sourcesclose to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, do not believe thatObama's speech will include anything dramatic on the Iranian issue, but,rather, that it will stress the severity of the threat posed by a nuclear-armedIran and the United States' commitment to thwarting Tehran's aspirations onthis front.

Netanyahu,who began his North America trip on Friday in Canada, told the Canadian primeminister, Stephen Harper, that the international community should not allowwhat he called "Iran's relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons" tosucceed.

BinyaminNetanyahu said to Barack Obama: 'When it comes

to security, Israel has thesovereign right to make its own

decisions.' Photograph: SaulLoeb/AFP/Getty Images

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(Religions – Zionism - March 1, 2012 - Matthew Channelled by Suzanne Ward)

9. It canbe no other way—simply, this is the physics that governs life in this universe.As Earth continues apace into successively higher planes, nothing with lowvibrations in any form—physical bodies, subversive plans, theft, dishonesty,unjust laws and imprisonment, bigotry, cruel customs and deeds—can survive.

10. Movingon, no, it will not be quite like religions being “totally discarded and replacedby universal laws in the Golden Age.” When the truths come forth that scienceand spirit are one and the same and that religious dogmas were originated byearly leaders of church and state to control the masses, people whoseconsciousness has risen beyond the constraints of third density will adhere tothe spiritual aspects of their respective religions and the devised,controlling aspects will fall by the wayside.

11. One ofthe truths to come forth is that Zionism, which by dark intent has been madesynonymous with Judaism, actually is a bellicose political movement within theIlluminati, and its aim for more than six decades has been to create conflictand instability in the entire Middle East. Zionists, who have wielded powerfulinfluence within and behind major governments and their military forces, do NOTrepresent the Jewish peoples in Israel or anywhere else. And, like all otherIlluminati factions, they have been committed to that cabal’s goal of globaldomination.

12.Although Semites are of diverse national origins and religions, the Zionistshave been successful in convincing many that “anti-Semitic” is exclusivelyprejudice against the Jewish peoples and opposition to Israel’s right to defenditself from its “enemies.” By means of that blatant distortion, they obtainednot only world sympathy, but also massive defense funding from Israel’s allies,most especially the United States, all of which served to increase theIlluminati’s vast profits from their industrial-military machine.

13. In additionto controlling the masses through dogmatic teachings, religions have served thedark purpose of divisiveness to such an extent that it resulted in centuries oftrauma and bloodshed. Witness the Crusades, wars between Catholics andProtestants, pogroms against Jews, executions of “blasphemous” individuals whorefused to “recant.” (Read More …)

"Matthew preparing us for the Golden Age." - Jan 19, 2012 (Channelled by Suzy Ward)

Senegal president facing election defeat

2012-02-29T08:02:00.000-08:00

AbdoulayeWade admits he will fall short of required 50% majority and is likely to bechallenged by former PM Macky Sall

guardian.co.uk,David Smith in Johannesburg, Wednesday 29 February 2012

Abdoulaye Wade suffered a humiliating defeat in areas of Senegal that
were once his stronghold. Photograph: Nic Bothma/EPA

AbdoulayeWade, one of Africa's oldest leaders, is facing the prospect of defeat inSenegal after an election that protesters say he should never have been allowedto contest.

The85-year-old had been confident of gaining enough votes in the first round tosecure an outright victory.

But Wadehas admitted he will fall short of the required 50% majority. He is now likelyto be challenged by Macky Sall, 50, his former prime minister.

Wade's bestchance of clinging to power may have gone. In the first round the oppositionwas split between 13 candidates. They are likely to unite behind one in therunoff.

Senegal'snewspapers on Tuesday ran headlines such as: "It's finished,""Wade suddenly becomes a lamb!" and "It feels like theend!"

Criticssuch as the singer Youssou N'Dour have argued that the constitution should barWade, who has been in power for the past 12 years, from seeking a third term.He brushed off the complaint, triggering street protests in which at least six people died, a shock in the usually stable west African state.

Spectatorsbooed and jeered Wade loudly when he went to cast his vote on Sunday, a onceunthinkable scene that caused his bodyguards to whisk him away. The polls wereotherwise calm and ran smoothly, however.

Withresults from around half the country's polling stations in, Wade was on 32%,ahead of Sall on around 25% but still well short of the 50% needed to end thecontest.

Thepresident suffered a humiliating defeat in areas of the country that used to behis stronghold. In the capital, Dakar, he trailed in third.

Withcounting ongoing, EU and US observers said they thought a first-round winnerwas increasingly improbable.

Wadehimself conceded as much. Amadou Sall, a spokesman for the Wade campaign, toldReuters: "The results that we have clearly indicate that there will be asecond round. We don't need to be told it. We voted peacefully, with dignityand in complete transparency. We don't need to be taught any lessons – we knowhow to count."

MoustaphaNiasse, another ex-premier under Wade, now heading for third place with around13%, has called for opposition supporters to vote against Wade in the runoff."Stopping Wade is an imperative, it is a necessity, this is a must,"he told French RFI radio.

Turnout wasaround 60% in the election, with many Senegalese having to queue for hours tovote. In Dakar's working-class neighbourhood of Parcelles Assainies, residentssaid they were confident in electoral democracy.

MamadouDiane, an unemployed teacher, told Reuters: "Maybe the president thoughtthat with the force of the state he could push the vote through, but people aredetermined to make a change."

The90-member EU observer mission questioned why Senegal's government is notpublishing real-time results, saying that in the internet age there is no reasonfor the delay.

Finalresults will be announced on Friday, with a second round scheduled for 18March.

Ex-South African Leader Nelson Mandela, 93, Admitted to Hospital

2012-02-25T01:48:00.001-08:00

JakartaGlobe, February 25, 2012

This file photo shows South African former President Nelson Mandela in
Johannesburg. Nelson Mandela, 93, was admitted to hospital on Saturday
after doctors advised specialist medical attention for a long-standing
abdominal complaint. (AFP Photo/Alexander Joe)

Relatedarticles

Johannesburg.Former South African leader Nelson Mandela, 93, was admitted to hospital onSaturday after doctors advised specialist medical attention for a long-standingabdominal complaint.

“PresidentJacob Zuma wishes to advise that former president Nelson Mandela was admittedto hospital today, the 25th February 2012,” a statement from the presidencysaid.

“Madiba hashad a long-standing abdominal complaint and doctors feel it needs properspecialist medical attention.”

The healthof the increasingly frail anti-apartheid icon, who is affectionately known asMadiba, sparked national fears after he was hospitalized early last year for anacute respiratory infection.

“We wishhim a speedy recovery and assure him of the love and good wishes of all SouthAfricans and people throughout the world,” the statement from the presidencysaid.

“We requestthat all respect the privacy of Madiba and that of his family during thisperiod.”

Mandelareturned to his Johannesburg home last month from his rural home village in theEastern Cape. He last appeared in public at the final of the football World Cuphosted by South Africa in July 2010.

He won theNobel Peace Prize in 1993, a year before he was elected the country’s firstblack president in South Africa’s first all-race vote and served one termbefore stepping down in 1999.

Agence France-Presse

Hamas ditches Assad, backs Syrian revolt

2012-02-24T10:28:00.000-08:00

Reuters, byOmar Fahmy and Nidal al-Mughrabi, CAIRO/GAZA, Fri Feb 24, 2012

Feb 24(Reuters) - Leaders of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas turned publiclyagainst their long-time ally President Bashar al-Assad of Syria on Friday,endorsing the revolt aimed at overthrowing his dynastic rule.

The policyshift deprives Assad of one of his few remaining Sunni Muslim supporters in theArab world and deepens his international isolation. It was announced in Hamasspeeches at Friday prayers in Cairo and a rally in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas wentpublic after nearly a year of equivocating as Assad's army, largely led byfellow members of the president's Alawite sect, has crushed mainly Sunniprotesters and rebels.

In a MiddleEast split along sectarian lines between Shi'ite and Sunni Islam, the publicabandonment of Assad casts immediate questions over Hamas's future ties withits principal backer Iran, which has stuck by its ally Assad, as well as withIran's fellow Shi'ite allies in Lebanon's Hezbollah movement.

"Isalute all the nations of the Arab Spring and I salute the heroic people ofSyria who are striving for freedom, democracy and reform," Hamas leaderIsmail Haniyeh, visiting Egypt from the Gaza Strip, told thousands of Fridayworshippers at Cairo's al-Azhar mosque.

"Weare marching towards Syria, with millions of martyrs," chanted worshippersat al-Azhar, home to one of the Sunni world's highest seats of learning."No Hezbollah and no Iran.

"TheSyrian revolution is an Arab revolution."

Contemporarypolitical rivalries have exacerbated tensions that date back centuries betweenSunnis - the vast majority of Arabs - and Shi'ites, who form substantial Arabpopulations, notably in Lebanon and Iraq, and who dominate in non-Arab Iran.

Hamas andHezbollah, confronting Israel on its southwestern and northern borders, havelong had a strategic alliance against the Jewish state, despite opposingpositions on the sectarian divide. Both have fought wars with Israel in thepast six years.

But as theSunni-Shi'ite split in the Middle East deepens, Hamas appears to have cast itslot with the powerful, Egypt-based Sunni Islamists of the Muslim Brotherhood,whose star has been in the ascendant since the Arab Spring revolts last year.

HAMAS MAKESITS CHOICE

"Thisis considered a big step in the direction of cutting ties with Syria,"said Hany al-Masri, a Palestinian political commentator. Damascus might now optto formally expel Hamas's exile headquarters from Syria, he told Reuters.

Banned bydeposed Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, the Muslim Brotherhood has moved to thecentre of public life. It is the ideological parent of Hamas, which was founded25 years ago among the Palestinians, the majority of whom are Sunni Muslims.

Shi'iteHezbollah still supports the Assad family, from the minority Alawite sect, anoffshoot of Shi'ite Islam, which has maintained authoritarian rule over Syria'sSunni majority for four decades but now may have its back to the wall.

Hamas,however, has been deeply embarrassed among Palestinians by its association withAssad, as the death toll in his crackdown on opponents has risen into thethousands.

In Gaza,senior Hamas member Salah al-Bardaweel addressed thousands of supporters at arally in Khan Younis refugee camp, sending "a message to the peoples whohave not been liberated yet, those free peoples who are still bleeding everyday."

"Thehearts of the Palestinian people bleed with every drop of bloodshed inSyria," Bardaweel said. "No political considerations will make usturn a blind eye to what is happening on the soil of Syria."

ANTI-ISRAELAXIS WEAKENED

The divorcebetween Hamas and Damascus had been coming for months. The Palestinian grouphad angered Assad last year when it refused a request to hold public rallies inPalestinian refugee camps in Syria in support of his government.

Hamas'sexile political leader Khaled Meshaal and his associates quietly quit theirheadquarters in Damascus and have stayed away from Syria for months now,although Hamas tried to deny their absence had anything to do with the revolt.

Haniyehvisited Iran earlier this month on a mission to shore up ties with the powerthat has provided Hamas with money and weapons to fight Israel. It is not clearwhat the outcome of his visit has been, though the tone of the latest Hamascomments is hardly compatible with continued warm relations with Tehran.

Rallies infavor of Syria's Sunni majority have been rare in the coastal enclave but onFriday it seemed the Islamist rulers of the territory had decided to break thesilence.

"Nationsdo not get defeated. They do not retreat and they do not get broken. We are onyour side and on the side of all free peoples," said Bardaweel.

"Godis Greatest," the crowd chanted. "Victory to the people ofSyria."

Hamas-Hezbollahrelations have been good in the past. But Hamas did not attack Israel when itwas fighting Hezbollah in 2006 and Hezbollah did not join in when Israelmounted a major offensive against Hamas in Gaza in the winter of 2008-2009.

Anythingthat divides Hamas and Hezbollah is likely to be welcomed by Israel, which hasbeen watching warily recent moves by Hamas to reconcile differences with itsPalestinian rivals in Fatah, the movement of President Mahmoud Abbas.

There wasno immediate Israeli comment on Friday's speeches.

(Additionalreporting by Tom Perry in Cairo; Writing by Douglas Hamilton; Editing byAlastair Macdonald)

Burning buildings in Baba Amr, Homs, an area heavily
shelled by the Syrian regime. Photograph: Local
Co-ordination Committees/EPA

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Syrian regime accused of crimes against humanity by UN

2012-02-23T14:05:00.000-08:00

A UN listof senior Syrian officials who should face investigation is reported to includethe president, Bashar al-Assad

guardian.co.uk,Julian Borger and Peter Beaumont, Thursday 23 February 2012

Burning buildings in Baba Amr, Homs, an area heavily shelled by the
Syrian regime. Photograph: Local Co-ordination Committees/EPA

The UN hasaccused the Syrian regime of "crimes against humanity" – includingthe use of snipers against small children – and has drawn up a list of seniorofficials who should face investigation, reportedly including President Basharal-Assad.

The UNreport was delivered as two journalists injured in the attack that killedSunday Times reporter Marie Colvin and French photographer Rémi Ochlik issueddramatic appeals to be evacuated from the besieged city of Homs, where they aretrapped.

A video of Edith Bouvier, a reporter for Le Figaro who suffered serious leg injuries, was released by activists in the city who say she is too badly wounded to be movedwithout an ambulance and guarantee of safe passage. In a second video releasedshortly after, Sunday Times photographer Paul Conroy, who was also injured inthe attack, made a similar appeal for evacuation.

Westernofficials urged Damascus to give immediate humanitarian access to trapped civilianpopulations in Homs and elsewhere, including the evacuation of the westernjournalists, but said the lack of a security council mandate meant they werepowerless to provide assistance without the regime's permission.

The UNreport found evidence that "army snipers and Shabbiha gunmen [frompro-Assad militias] posted at strategic points terrorised the population,targeting and killing small children, women and other unarmed civilians.Fragmentation mortar bombs were also fired into densely populatedneighbourhoods."

It said:"Security agencies continued to systematically arrest wounded patients instate hospitals and to interrogate them, often using torture, about theirsupposed participation in opposition demonstrations or armed activities."

The list ofSyrian regime officials claimed to be involved in the crackdown will remainsealed until the alleged crimes can be investigated by an international humanrights court. Such an investigation has so far been blocked by Russian andChinese UN security council vetoes of concerted international action againstthe Damascus regime.

Onecommissioner who helped draw up the UN report, Yakin Ertürk, said: "Allthe crimes we listed came from several consistent witness accounts and showedsystematic abuses."

She saidthe list of the named top officials believed to be involved had been keptsealed because "we are not a court. We could not investigate and sentencelike a court.

"So ithas been deposited with the UN high commissioner for human rights. When and ifthese incidents are investigated by a court, it will be made available andprovide an input into the investigation."

The UNinquiry said it found "a reliable body of evidence" implicating"commanding officers and officials at the highest levels ofgovernment" in the commission of "crimes against humanity and othergross human rights violations". Although no names were released, Assad wasreported to be top of the list.

The reportalso says rebel groups, known collectively as the Free Syrian Army, havecommitted torture and extra-judicial executions, but argues those violationsare in no way "comparable in scale and organisation" to the abusesbeing carried out by the Assad regime, which have led to thousands of deaths.

"I am appalledby the evidence that young children are being targeted by snipers, and thatsecurity forces continue to arrest and torture wounded patients in statehospitals," said Alistair Burt, the Foreign Office minister for the MiddleEast.

"I amalso very concerned at evidence of abuses by the Free Syrian Army, though thereport makes clear these are on a far smaller scale than the widespread andsystematic violations by the Syrian authorities. I call on all Syrians torespect human rights standards, end the violence immediately and ensure neutraland impartial access for humanitarian organisations to deliver desperatelyneeded supplies and medical care. "

Speaking inLondon, on the sidelines of a conference on Somalia, the French foreignminister, Alain Juppé, warned that the Assad regime would be held accountablefor its crimes "one day or another". He said: "With everypassing day it gets more revolting, scandalous and shameful. The regime ismassacring its people."

Theminister said he had received reports that the Syrian government had orderedthe governor of Homs to lift the siege on the rebel-held parts of the city, butsaid he could not confirm the news. He said a meeting of the Friends of Syriagroup in Tunis would demand a ceasefire and for humanitarian access to beallowed to besieged civilians, but he warned the international community couldnot force its way in.

"Thereis no military option at the moment on the table," Juppé said. "Weare hugely frustrated. I can understand the sense of impotence. The dead arepiling up. I can't say it's anything but a very deep source of anguish for me.We are doing everything we can, but we can't break the rules and act withoutthe approval of the UN security council."

Syrianforces continued their onslaught against opposition strongholds throughout thecountry, with heavy artillery barrages against Baba Amr, the district of Homswhere Colvin and Ochlik were killed.

Oppositionactivist Omar Shaker told the Associated Press that food, water and medicalsupplies were running dangerously low. "Every minute counts. People willsoon start to collapse from lack of sleep and shortages in food," he said.

In aseparate incident, opposition activists reported that government forces hadlined up and shot dead 13 men and boys from one extended family in the villageof Kfartoun in Hama province.

Chinese andRussian vetoes have complicated the international response to the humanitariandisaster unfolding in Homs and other Syrian cities in the line of fire asAssad's forces seek to liquidate rebel strongholds.

Western andArab leaders will meet in Tunis on Friday, without Russian or Chineseparticipation, in an attempt to unify the opposition to the regime, increasepressure for a ceasefire and prepare humanitarian relief.

The latestdevelopments come amid strong indications that UK and US officials are workingbehind the scenes to attempt to unify Syria's fractured opposition.

Earlierthis week the International Committee of the Red Cross called for temporaryceasefires so it could reach those trapped and wounded in the worst-affectedareas.

The UNpanel was denied entry to Syria by the government, which accused it of ignoringofficial information and exceeding its mandate.

The panelinstead gathered much of its information from sources outside the country,including human rights activists and Syrian army defectors.

The reportclaims the ruling Ba'ath party's national security bureau was responsible fortranslating government policies into military operations that led to thesystematic arrest or killing of civilians.

It says thefour main intelligence and security agencies reporting directly to Assad –military intelligence, air force intelligence, the general intelligencedirectorate and the political security directorate – "were at the heart ofalmost all operations".

The reportdetails how businessmen helped hire and arm informal pro-government militias knownas the Shabbiha.

"In anumber of operations, the commission documented how Shabbiha members werestrategically employed to commit crimes against humanity and other grossviolations," it said.

The reportalso identifies 38 detention centres "for which the commission documentedcases of torture and ill-treatment since March 2011".

UN list

A panel ofUnited Nations investigators has accused regime officials "at the highestlevel" of human rights violations which could subject them to prosecution.

The UNreport accuses the regime of systemic attacks on the political opposition,human rights defenders and the media. It also alleges there have beenwidespread patterns of arbitrary arrests, disappearances and abductions.

The nameson the UN list are as yet confidential but they are likely to include thefollowing leading members of Syria's formidable security apparatus, who arealleged to have played prominent roles in the crackdown.

MajorGeneral Jumah Al-Ahmad

Thecommander of Syria's special forces and one of the most influential figures inthe country's military. His unit is alleged to have played a key roledisrupting rights protests with lethal force across the country.

ColonelLu'ai Al-Ali

Head ofSyrian military intelligence in Dera'a. The south-western city near the borderwith Jordan was the birthplace of the Syrian uprising last March. Violencestarted when troops opened fire on demonstrators who had gathered to protestagainst the detention of children who had been accused of writing graffiti ontown walls. Dera'a remained a hub of dissent and regime-led violence throughoutlast summer.

Lt GeneralAli Abdullah Ayyub

The deputychief of general staff (personnel and manpower), who is the officer primarilyresponsible for moving military forces around Syria. He is seen as a logisticalkey to the crackdown.

Lt GeneralJasim Al-Furay

The chiefof general staff and one of the most trusted advisers to President Basharal-Assad. He has supervisory oversight across all of Syria's military operationsand is a key strategist and tactician.

General Aous Aslan

The head ofa battalion in the Republican Guard. He is also a key adviser to Assad and tohis brother, Maher al-Assad, who directs the fourth division of the SyrianArmy, the unit that has been at the frontline of most of the country'sflashpoint areas, particularly Dera'a, Homs and Hama.

Ethiopia dam project rides roughshod over heritage of local tribespeople

2012-02-23T10:13:00.001-08:00

Humanrights abuse allegations as tens of thousands forced off traditional lands tomake way for Gibe III dam project plantations

guardian.co.uk,John Vidal, environment editor, Thursday 23 February 2012

The Gibe III dam and its accompanying plantations pose a threat to
the serenity of the Omo river valley, home to various local tribes.
Photograph: Remi Benali/Getty Images

Thousandsof semi-nomadic tribespeople are being forcibly moved from their traditionallands in southern Ethiopia to make way for European and Indian sugar cane andbiofuel plantations, according to testimonies collected by Survival International researchers.

Agriculturaldevelopments along the Omo river valley have accompanied the building of the243-metre-high Gibe III dam, expected to be Ethiopia's largest investmentproject and Africa's largest hydropower plant. But allegations of human rightsabuses have marred both the dam's construction and the creation of a140-mile-long reservoir intended to provide water for irrigation ofindustrial-scale plantations.

"Clearanceof people and bush has started in earnest in the Omo Valley and violenceagainst tribal people by the military, and tribal resistance, isincreasing", says a Survival researcher who has just returned to Londonfrom the region.

"Thetribes have been told the plan is to resettle them, and that this will happenby the end of 2012. These people are among the most self-sufficient in acountry where famine and hunger are prevalent."

New sugarcane and biofuel plantations are already affecting about 10,000 people from theBodi, Mursi and Kwegu tribes. But as the government clears more land, morepeople will be affected. Between 20,000 and 40,000 could be affected by onecane project alone, claims Survival.

"Theplantations and resettlement of people [into new villages] will destroy theirlivelihoods and ability to fend for themselves," said a spokesman."They will almost certainly end up languishing in the villages or 'camps',relying on donor aid [and] having lost all sense of identity and self worth, ashas happened with other tribes forcibly resettled in many othercountries."

The Omotribes, who are among the most diverse in the world, have until now depended onthe annual, three-month long flood of the Omo river, which flows from southernEthiopia into Lake Turkana in northern Kenya, depositing fertile silt andallowing them to plant sorghum, maize and other crops. But without land forcultivation or grazing, the tribes will be destitute and foodless, sayinternational observers.

"Thegovernment came to take the land for itself for the sugar caneplantations," said one man in a testimony given to Survival. "Itnever came to ask us. It came, took our land, and told us it wants to move allthe people in the Omo Valley to stay in one place like a camp. It took my land.Now it beats us."

A secondman said: "The government says cattle and people have to move from the Omovalley to where there are no grass and no crops. We and the cattle will dietogether. We are not rich people, we are pastoralists."

"Thereare many machines clearing the bush and the road. The government is coming toclear our houses and throw our sorghum in the river. Now we live in the bushbecause all the land has been cleared," said a third.

Theconstruction of large dams has a history of insensitive relocations of peopleand environmental problems. More than 400,000 people have been resettled as adirect result of dam construction in Africa. But the construction of Gibe IIIcould eventually affect more than 1.5 million people, according to watchdoggroup International Rivers.

Some of thegreatest hydrological effects could be seen near Lake Turkana, into which theriver Omo flows. When the dam is complete and the reservoir is full, possiblyin 2015, the lake could shrink to one third of its present size, jeopardisingthe livelihoods of up to 300,000 people.

TheEthiopian government in London did not respond to the allegations this week,but late last year it strongly denied accusations of human rights abuses in thevalley, saying: "The government is fully committed to rural development tobenefit the people and it is equally committed to the rights of all thenations, nationalities and peoples in the country, including those in the Omoriver basin. The reality on the ground in the Omo Valley shows a totallydifferent picture to that painted by Survival International. Followingconsultations, local people have confirmed agreement to the plantationprojects, and to the proposed resettlement; the projects, designed for everybody'sbenefit and well-being, are progressing smoothly."

A spokesmanfor International Rivers said: "The dwindling of resources caused by thedam would increase local conflicts between ethnic groups. Firearms are alreadyomnipresent among the region's communities. But the dam is just one factor in aperfect storm rapidly descending on the Lower Omo Valley. The government ofEthiopia is exploring the area for oil and minerals and planning large-scaleagricultural and biofuel schemes, which could further fuel conflicts overtraditional land and water resources."

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Marie Colvin's killing piles pressure on Assad as civilian death toll rises

2012-02-22T11:17:00.003-08:00

NicolasSarkozy calls death of Colvin and photographer Remi Ochlik an assassination,and says: 'This regime must go'

guardian.co.uk,Martin Chulov and Angelique Chrisafis in Paris, Wednesday 22 February 2012

Fires burning in the Bab al-Amr district of Homs where Marie Colvin and
Remi Ochlik died. Photograph: AP

The deathsof veteran Sunday Times correspondent Marie Colvin and French photographer RemiOchlik, and the rising toll of civilian dead in Syria, has prompted renewedcalls for an end to the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

Theirdeaths came on a day in which, according to activists, more than 80 people werekilled in the besieged district of Bab al-Amr in the city of Homs, which hasbeen under daily attack by the Syrian army for the past three weeks.

The Frenchpresident, Nicolas Sarkozy, described the deaths of the two journalists as anassassination, and said that the Assad era had to end.

"That'senough now," Sarkozy said. "This regime must go and there is noreason that Syrians don't have the right to live their lives and choose theirdestiny freely. If journalists were not there, the massacres would be a lotworse."

The foreignsecretary William Hague described the deaths as "a terrible reminder ofthe suffering of the Syrian people – scores of whom are dying every day.

"Marieand Remi died bringing us the truth about what is happening to the people ofHoms," Hague said. "Governments around the world have theresponsibility to act upon that truth – and to redouble our efforts to stop theAssad regime's despicable campaign of terror in Syria."

DavidCameron paid tribute to Colvin, telling the House of Commons that the death ofthe "talented and respected foreign correspondent" was "adesperately sad reminder of the risks journalists take to inform the world ofwhat is happening and the dreadful events in Syria."

Colvin andOchlik were killed in Homs after an artillery shell hit the house in which theywere staying.

Three otherforeign reporters, as well as seven activists from Bab al-Amr, were alsowounded on Wednesday. One of the injured is freelance photographer Paul Conroy,who was travelling with Colvin.

EdithBouvier, a freelance journalist working for the French paper Le Figaro,suffered serious injuries to her leg in the attack, and activists warned thatshe was at risk of bleeding to death.

Jean-PierrePerrin, senior foreign correspondent at the French daily Libération, told theGuardian he had been with Colvin and other journalists at a makeshift presscentre in Homs and had left with her several days ago after being warned thatthe Syrian army were preparing a major offensive and that journalists could betargeted. Colvin waited, decided the offensive against the press centre had nothappened, so returned to Homs a few days later.

He said thereporters had discussed concerns about Syrian army deliberately targetingjournalists.

Perrin toldLibération that the press centre, which had a generator and a patchy internetconnection, was the only means of informing the outside world of what washappening in the city. "If the press centre were destroyed, there would beno more information out of Homs."

Perrin saidthe Syrian army recommended "killing any journalist that stepped on Syriansoil". He said the journalists had been aware of this, and of reports ofintercepted communications between Syrian officers that recommended killing alljournalists found between the Libyan border and Homs, and making out they hadbeen killed in combat between terrorist groups.

He said ofhis departure from Homs with Colvin: "We had been advised to leave thetown [of Homs] urgently, we were told 'If they find you, they will kill you.'So I left with the Sunday Times journalist [Marie Colvin], but later she wantedto go back when she saw the offensive hadn't happened."

In thedeadliest period for the media since the uprising in Syria began, at leastthree citizen journalists have also been killed in recent days, in an apparentattempt by the regime to prevent news emerging from Homs. The three Syrians hadall played prominent roles in chronicling the army's assault on Homs. One ofthose killed was the video blogger Rami al-Sayed, also known as Syria Pioneer,who had uploaded to the internet at least 200 videos of killing and destructionin his neighbourhood.

Colvin, adecorated foreign correspondent with more than 30 years of experience inconflict zones, and Ochlik, who last month won a World Press Photo award, diedinstantly when the shell struck the safe house that had been provided for themby local activists just after 9am. Colvin's body, along with Ochlik's, wasrecovered from the rubble just after 1pm.

Colvin'seditor, John Witherow, released a statement that said: "Marie was anextraordinary figure in the life of the Sunday Times, driven by a passion tocover wars in the belief that what she did mattered. She believed profoundlythat reporting could curtail the excesses of brutal regimes and make theinternational community take notice. Above all, as we saw in her powerfulreport last weekend, her thoughts were with the victims of violence.

"Throughouther long career she took risks to fulfil this goal, including being badlyinjured in Sri Lanka. Nothing seemed to deter her. But she was much more than awar reporter. She was a woman with a tremendous joie de vivre, full of humourand mischief and surrounded by a large circle of friends, all of whom fearedthe consequences of her bravery."

Colvin andOchlik had been in Bab al-Amr for the past week reporting on the bloody siegeof opposition-held parts of Syria's third city, which has claimed hundreds oflives and led to a humanitarian crisis.

The housein which the reporters were based was located next to a hospital and had beenthe main refuge for all reporters who had made it to Bab al-Amr in the face ofa relentless barrage by regime forces.

An activistfor the campaigning group Avaaz who witnessed Wednesday's attack said: "Ileft the house after it got struck and headed to a house across the street. Theshelling continues and the bodies of the journalists are still on the ground.We can't get them out because of the intensity of the shelling even thoughwe're only a few metres away from them."

Anotherwitness told the Guardian that rockets were continuing to rain down on the areaas the wounded tried to escape the bombed house. A graphic video posted on theinternet showed the two-storey house in ruins – a scale of damage that couldonly be caused by a heavy artillery round. Two bodies were visible in therubble.

Three ofthe wounded are understood to be in a serious condition and in urgent need oftreatment.

They face along and perilous drive to the Lebanese border where Red Cross officials arepreparing to meet them.

The foreigneditor of the Times, Richard Beeston, released a short statement on Twitterthat read: "Terrible news about Marie Colvin. First worked with her Beirut85. Most courageous, glamorous foreign corr I have ever met. Tragic loss."

Colvin useda web forum to make what is believed to be her last post on Tuesday. "Ithink the reports of my survival may be exaggerated," she wrote. "InBaba Amr. Sickening, cannot understand how the world can stand by and I shouldbe hardened by now. Watched a baby die today. Shrapnel, doctors could donothing. His little tummy just heaved and heaved until he stopped. Feelinghelpless. As well as cold! Will keep trying to get out the information."

On Tuesdaynight, Sayed also lodged a final missive. "Baba Amr is being exterminated.Do not tell me our hearts are with you because I know that. We need campaignseverywhere across the world and inside the country. People should protest infront of embassies and everywhere. Because in hours, there will be no more BabaAmr. And I expect this message to be my last."

Related Article:

Arab Spring: Journalist deaths during uprisings

Somali Leaders Sign Deal for New Govt Structure

2012-02-19T02:16:00.005-08:00

Jakarta Globe, February 19, 2012

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Mogadishu,Somalia. Somalia’s disparate leaders have agreed on the basic structure of anew parliament and government to replace the fragile transitional body that hasfailed to bring peace to the war-torn country.

Constantinfighting, rampant corruption and bloody attacks by Islamist Shebab insurgentshave undermined Somalia’s unelected Transitional Federal Government, whoseWestern-backed mandate ends in August.

Somalia’spresident, the presidents of the breakaway Puntland and Galmudug regions, andthe commander of the powerful anti-Shebab militia Ahlu Sunna Wal Jamaa signedthe deal under UN auspices.

The accordproposes a parliamentary system for anarchic Somalia, with both Puntland andGalmudug recognized as states within a federal system.

A new225-member lower house — including at least 30 percent women — will benominated by “traditional elders assisted by prominent civil society members,”the agreement reads, released late Saturday after a three-day meeting.

Theagreement is the latest among more than a dozen attempts to resolve Somalia’smore than two decade-old civil war, with the country split between rivalfactions and pirate gangs who hijack ships far across the Indian Ocean.

Al Qaedaallied Shebab fighters, who control large parts of central and southern Somaliawhere they are battling African Union-backed government forces as well asKenyan and Ethiopian troops, immediately condemned the deal.

“Theagreement is treason because it is part of a master plan of the internationalcommunity to send Somalia back to colonisation,” Shebab spokesman Sheikh AliMohamud Rage told reporters.

“Themujahedeen fighters will not accept such conferences and their outcomes —instead we fight against them and, with the help of Allah, we will win thewar,” he said.

Somalia hasbeen without an effective central government since 1991, and the leadership inthe capital Mogadishu is propped up by a 10,000-strong AU force from Uganda,Burundi and Djibouti.

Inaddition, a 1,000-member upper house — the National Constituent Assembly — willbe nominated by agreement signatories “assisted by traditional leaders andcivil society” groups. The upper house too must include at least 30 percentwomen.

“To ensuretrust in the federal parliament, members must be patriotic, honest and of goodstanding in Somali society,” the agreement reads, noting that anyone guilty of“serious crime or crimes against humanity” will be barred.

“They mustrespect and uphold the rights of all Somalis and demonstrate tolerance towardsall,” says the deal, signed in the northern town of Garowe.

Upper housemembers will be selected from a “cross-section of society” includingrepresentatives from the youth, businesses, diaspora, religious and traditionalleaders and “existing and emerging regional administrations.”

The dealalso recommends “a compensation package” to appease existing lawmakers notselected for the new parliament, many of whom command militia forces.

The dealcomes ahead of a London conference on Thursday aimed at mobilizinginternational players to tackle Somalia’s multiple political and humanitariancrises.

Faminezones in Somalia declared by the UN last August were announced to have improvedto emergency conditions earlier this month, but despite massive internationalaid efforts, conditions remain grim.

A third ofSomalia’s population need emergency aid and mortality rates remain among thehighest in the world, the UN warns.

Agence France-Presse

China backs Assad before Syrian forces open fire at funeral

2012-02-18T10:05:00.001-08:00

Beijing'sdeputy foreign minister argues for 'stability' as regime continues to targetprotesters

guardian.co.uk,Conal Urquhart and agencies, Saturday 18 February 2012

An image grab taken from a video uploaded to YouTube showing
Syrian mourners coming under fire. Photograph: -/AFP/Getty Images

China hasexpressed support for President Bashar al-Assad's regime as Syrian securityforces continue to target pro-democracy protesters.

Theendorsement of Assad by Chinese deputy foreign minister Zhai Jun on Saturdaycame shortly before Syrian troops opened fire on a funeral procession inDamascus.

Zhai, whomet Syrian opposition and government representatives before backing Assad, saidChina was "deeply concerned by the escalating crisis" but added that"the Chinese experience shows a nation cannot develop withoutstability".

The Chineseofficial said his government supported Syria's plan for a referendum onconstitutional reform next week. "China supports the path of reform takingplace in Syria and the important steps that have been taken in thisrespect," he said.

A few hourslater, Syrian forces opened fire on the funeral of three men killed by securityforces on Friday, killing at least one person.

"Theystarted firing at the crowd right after the burial. People are running andtrying to take cover in the alleyways," a witness told Reuters by telephone.

Theopposition Syrian Revolution Co-ordination Union said the gunfire near thecemetery had killed one mourner and wounded four, including a woman who was hitin the head.

Up to30,000 demonstrators had taken to the streets in the capital's Mezze district,near the headquarters of air force intelligence and that of the ruling Ba'athparty.

Footage ofthe funeral broadcast on the internet showed women ululating to honour thevictims. Mourners shouted: "We sacrifice our blood, our soul for you martyrs.One, one, one, the Syrian people are one."

YouTubefootage from the Damascus suburb of Douma showed several thousand protesters atthe funerals of two people said to have been killed there by security forces.The bodies were carried though crowds of mourners waving pre-Ba'ath Syrianflags.

The Chineseembassy said Zhai held separate meetings with moderate opposition figures QadriJamil, Louay Hussein and Hassan Abdulazim, but gave no details.

"Wetold the Chinese envoy that most of the opposition accept a dialogue if thatdialogue is serious and responsible, meaning that the Syrian authorities wouldimplement what is agreed. But the problem with dialogue is that the authoritieshave lost credibility," Hussein told Reuters.

Fightinghas continued across Syria during the envoy's visit. In Homs, there was nolet-up in the bombardment of the city by government forces. Rebels set fire toa fuel tank at a refinery in the city.

The statenews agency, Sana, said that 10 members of the security forces were buried onSaturday. A soldier and a local councillor were killed by gunmen in Idlib andAleppo, the agency said.

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Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping (L) and his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden

show T-shirts with messages on them presented by students at the

International Studies Learning Center in Los Angeles, the United States,

Feb. 17, 2012. (Xinhua/Liu Jiansheng)

Anthony Shadid: tributes pour in for New York Times journalist

2012-02-17T04:47:00.001-08:00

Journalistsand senior politicians have been reacting to the death of 'one of the world'sbravest and best journalists'

guardian.co.uk,Ben Dowell, Friday 17 February 2012

Anthony Shadid 'changed the way we saw Iraq, Egypt and Syria over the last,
crucial, decade,' said one former colleague. Photograph: Ho/AFP/Getty Images

Journalistsand senior politicians have paid tribute to Anthony Shadid, the Pulitzerprize-winning New York Times correspondent who died in Syria on Thursday while reporting the uprising.

Accordingto New York Times photographer Tyler Hicks, who was with Shadid in Syria, hedied from an asthma attack brought on by an allergy to the horses used by hisguides. Hicks carried his body to Turkey, the New York Times reported.

"Istood next to him and asked if he was OK, and then he collapsed," Mr.Hicks said. "He was not conscious and his breathing was very faint andvery shallow." His efforts to revive the reporter failed, the paperreported.

Susan ERice, the US ambassador to the UN, wrote on Twitter that she was"heartbroken" by the loss of Shadid, who had been reporting insideSyria for a week. She called him "one of the world's bravest and bestjournalists".

CNN anchorAnderson Cooper also took to Twitter to mourn the "terrible loss" andpay tribute to the "brave and smart reporter".

MartinBaron, the editor of Shadid's old paper the Boston Globe told the New YorkTimes that the he "had such a profound and sophisticated understanding ofthe region". Baron added: "More than anything, his effort to connectforeign coverage with real people on the ground, and to understand their lives,is what made his work so special."

"Hechanged the way we saw Iraq, Egypt, Syria over the last, crucial decade,"said Phil Bennett, a former managing editor of The Washington Post who workedclosely with Shadid, told the paper. "There is no one to replacehim."

Shadid, a43-year-old American of Lebanese descent and a fluent Arabic speaker, joinedthe New York Times from the Washington Post as Baghdad bureau chief at the endof 2009, and became the newspaper's bureau chief in Beirut, Lebanon, last year.

In 2002 hewas shot in the shoulder while reporting in Ramallah for the Boston Globe andin March last year he and three colleagues were kidnapped in Libya and held forsix days. Shadid won the Pulitzer prize for his coverage of Iraq in 2004 and2010.

In 2004 thePulitzer board praised "his extraordinary ability to capture, at personalperil, the voices and emotions of Iraqis as their country was invaded, theirleader toppled and their way of life upended".

Shadid hasalso been nominated, along with a team of his colleagues, for the 2012 Pulitzerin international reporting, which are to be announced in April.

In itscitation accompanying the nomination, the New York Times wrote: "Steepedin Arab political history but also in its culture, Shadid recognized early onthat along with the despots, old habits of fear, passivity and despair werebeing toppled. He brought a poet's voice, a deep empathy for the ordinaryperson and an unmatched authority to his passionate dispatches."

Hiseloquence was also praised by Steve Fainaru, a former Washington Post reporterwho worked with Shadid in Iraq. "He wrote poetry on deadline,"Fainaru told his newspaper, adding that he "was able to somehow findcompassion and empathy in everything he touched and wrote about."

UN General Assembly passes Syria resolution

2012-02-16T14:18:00.003-08:00

Deutsche Welle, 16 February 2012

The UnitedNations General Assembly passed a resolution calling for an end to violence inSyria and an end to the rule of President Bashar al-Assad.

The UnitedNations General Assembly has passed an Arab-led resolution condemning rightsviolations in Syria and calling on President Bashar al-Assad to step down.

The measurewould be non-binding and is expected to make little difference on the ground.

Theresolution passed 137-12, with 17 abstentions. China and Russia were among thecountries their votes against the measure. Both countries vetoed a similarresolution earlier this month at the UN Security Council. Vetoes are notallowed in the 193-member General Assembly.

Killingcontinues

As the GeneralAssembly convened to discuss Syria, violence on the ground in oppositionhotspots around the country intensified. At least 41 people were reportedlykilled when regime tanks moved on protest hubs.

Tanks have been bearing down on
Syrian opposition cities for weeks

Assad'stroops pummeled the central city of Homs for a 13th straight day, with 18people killed in central Hama province and four others dying in the southerncity of Daraa, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring groupreported.

The groupalso said it feared security forces had carried out killings in Daraa province,where dozens of civilians disappeared on Wednesday.

"Thereare fears regime forces carried out a massacre in Sahm al-Julan," theBritain-based group said in a statement.

"Witnessessaid security forces shot at the civilians and then piled them onto pick-uptrucks. Their fate is unknown," said the Observatory, which provided thenames of 14 of those feared killed.

There werealso reports Thursday that the well-known blogger Razan Ghazzawi and rightsactivist Mazen Darwish had been detained by security forces.

Humanrights groups put the cumulative civilian death toll from 11 months ofcrackdown and conflict in Syria at around 7,000.

Bancondemnation

EarlierThursday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had called for an urgent end to the"indiscriminate" shelling of civilians in Syria, highlighting thelikelihood that the regime had committed crimes against humanity.

Homs has been under bombardment
for nearly two weeks

"Wesee neighborhoods shelled indiscriminately, hospitals used as torture centers,children as young as 10 years old killed and abused. We see almost certaincrimes against humanity," Ban told reporters in Vienna.

"Whatis important at this time is that first the Syrian authorities must stopkilling their own people," Ban said after meeting Austrian President HeinzFischer.

Internationalattention continues to focus on Syria away from the United Nations forum, withChina announcing that Deputy Foreign Minister Zhai Jun would visit Damascus onFebruary 17 and 18 for talks aimed at ending the violence.

The UnitedStates, meanwhile, has announced new sanctions against the Iranian intelligenceministry, claiming it has supported the crackdown on dissent in Syria.

dfm/rc (AFP, dpa)

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UN general assembly backs call for Assad to quit as Syrian president

Is an Arab Spring in the air for Algeria?

2012-02-15T10:19:00.000-08:00

Reuters, byLamine Chikhi and Christian Lowe, ALGIERS, Wed Feb 15, 2012

Riot policeconfront protesters during clashes in Oued Koriche,

Algiers in this March 23,2011 file photo. (Credit: Reuters/Louafi Larbi)

(Reuters) -When Moncef Marzouki, a former dissident transformed by the "ArabSpring" into Tunisia's president, paid an official visit to Algeria onSunday, red and white Tunisian flags flew from lamp-posts in his honor.

Just twodays earlier, another former dissident and leading figure of Tunisia'srevolution had been barred from entering. Sihem Bensedrine was allowed into thecountry after a seven-hour wait only after protests from fellow human rightsactivists.

The"Arab Spring" is knocking on Algeria's door, but the authoritiescannot decide whether to let it in or shut it out.

Bensedrine,for one, believes the choice has been made.

"Ithink the Tunisian revolution is not particularly welcome," Bensedrinetold Reuters in the capital, Algiers.

Alone amongits neighbors in North Africa, Algeria has been largely untouched by theuprisings which last year ousted leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen andtouched off the revolt still raging in Syria.

Helped byrevenues from energy exports that have bequeathed it the world's 14th biggestforeign exchange reserves, the Algerian authorities handed out pay rises,grants and subsidies that blunted a brief flare-up of protests demandingreform.

Thecountry's rulers continue to run the country much as they have sinceindependence from France 50 years ago: with a huge state apparatus backed bythe powerful security forces and elections dominated by the ruling FLN partyand its allies.

That islooking more and more out of step with the mood of the times, however, and aparliamentary election set for May 10 could be a watershed.

Pressure isbuilding inside Algeria and abroad to ensure a fair election. As elsewhere inthe Middle East, it is likely to give greater power to Islamists who for yearshave been pushed to the fringes by the strongly secularist state.

"Peopleexpect Algeria to come into line with the region," said a diplomat basedin Algiers. "There's an expectation that Islamists will have greaterinfluence."

MANAGEDTRANSITION

Mostindependent observers predict that the ruling establishment will adapt to thenew circumstances in the same way it has for decades when its hold on power hasbeen challenged.

Algeriawill probably follow the model of neighboring Morocco, the observers say.There, the ruling elite conceded to pressure by allowing a moderate Islamistopposition party to head a new government, but kept the levers of real power inits hands.

Westernpowers favour this scenario. They depend on the help of Algeria, the biggestmilitary power in the region, to contain the spreading threat from al Qaeda'snorth African wing around the southern edge of the Saharan desert.

They alsofear that any turmoil could disrupt the flow of natural gas through pipelinesunder the Mediterranean Sea. Algeria supplies about one fifth of Europe's gasimports.

One factorthat could derail this managed transition to limited democracy is Algeria'sbloody history: after the military-backed government annulled a democraticelection in 1992 fearing an Islamist takeover, security forces and Islamistsfought a war that killed an estimated 200,000 people.

The shadowof the conflict still hangs over the country. In the Chifa mountain gorge, oncea favorite picnic spot an hour's drive south of Algiers, security forces haveposts on top of almost every ridge, where they hunker down behind concrete,sandbags and razor wire.

Theinsurgency, now affiliated to al Qaeda, has lost momentum but still carries outsporadic kidnappings, ambushes and suicide bombings - a young soldier died thismonth after stepping on an improvised explosive device.

Few expecta return to the "black years" as they are known in Algeria; theIslamists are much weaker now while the state is richer and stronger. But it isunclear how security forces will react if Islamists muster huge support in theelection and demand a share of real power.

"AnIslamist majority in parliament ... would probably trigger a reaction from themilitary elite," said Riccardo Fabiani, North Africa analyst with EurasiaGroup. "The strongly secular security forces are ready to intervene toguarantee their vested interests."

Commentatorssay there are divisions inside the ruling elite.

One campbelieves the pragmatic thing to do is to allow more democracy. PresidentAbdelaziz Bouteflika has said the authorities should not manipulate theupcoming election as they have done in the past.

Nearly 20new parties have been given the green light to compete, including at least onewhich represents a serious challenge to the establishment.

Acommission of judges will oversee the vote count, replacing the interiorministry officials who usually do the job. The European Union has been invitedto send observers for the first time.

There aresubtle signs that a nervous security apparatus is tightening control overdissent, however.

Mourad Dhina,an Algerian scientist who used to work at the CERN physics research institutein his adopted home of Switzerland, was arrested last month in Paris afterattending a meeting of Rachad, an Algerian Islamist opposition movement whoseleaders are based mostly in Europe.

He is nowin La Sante prison awaiting a hearing to decide if he will be extradited toAlgeria, where a court in 2003 found him guilty of having links to armedIslamist groups.

MichaelRomig, a spokesman for the Al Karama human rights organization which Dhinaheaded up, said it was odd that he had been arrested now. Dhina had livedopenly in Switzerland for years and travelled often to France.

"Weare as confused as everyone," Romig said.

However,Rachad, of which Dhina is a founder, had in the past few months launched aLondon-based satellite television station broadcasting into Algerian homes, andplaced links on one of its Internet sites on "how to free yourcountry" and "organize and participate in unrest."

SOCIALPEACE

ManyAlgerians do not think the parliamentary election in May will provide the sparkthat sets off an upheaval.

Parliamenthas limited powers under the constitution, they say, and anyway, most peopleare apathetic about a political system that they do not feel has any relevanceto their lives.

Much of thediscontent has been contained by the authorities' spending spree. In oneexample, thousands of young unemployed people have been taken on the payroll atstate-owned firms, even when there is no work for them to do.

"I get15,000 dinars ($200) to do nothing," said Ahmed Selmi, 27, from Haizar, avillage about 150 km (95 miles) southeast of the capital, who is employed at astate company but was out drinking coffee with friends at 11 a.m.

"Ihave no task to do there," he said.

AhmedBenbitour, prime minister of Algeria at the end of the 1990s, said all thestate had done with its largesse was to buy itself a temporary reprieve.

"We'rea long way from having bought social peace," he told Reuters. "All weare doing is putting out fires.

"Theconditions which prevailed for the Arab Spring are present in all Arabcountries. There are no theoretical reasons why one country should be able toescape this movement."

The strongestevidence for this argument is in the almost daily protests, strikes and riotsthat show no sign of abating.

A week-longperiod provides a snapshot.

On January31, riot police in a suburb of Algiers battled petrol-bomb-throwing residentswho accused the authorities of failing to investigate the murder of a youngman. A day later, in Tiaret, 250 km west of Algiers, 30 people were injured andbuildings ransacked after a local man set himself on fire.

On February5, residents burned down the local government headquarters in a village nearBoumerdes, east of the capital, because heavy snow left them with noelectricity.

Theprotests have not come together into any kind of national movement, and theprotesters do not appear to have a political agenda beyond railing againstlocal bureaucrats.

But AbdouBendjoudi, a 27-year-old opposition activist in the capital, thinks it is justa matter of time before that changes and Algeria stages its own "ArabSpring".

He sayspeople have lost faith in a government that has failed to provide real jobs andopportunities for young people or to deliver decent public services.

"Thereis not a single province where there are not daily protests," Bendjoudi,one of the leaders of a group called the Movement of Independent Youth forChange, said in a cafe. "It is a political message. People are saying theyhave had enough of the catastrophic management of the country.

"Ifthe authorities do not move now towards democracy, it will be too late."

(Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)

Uganda gay workshop raided by ethics minister Lokodo

2012-02-14T14:36:00.000-08:00

BBC News, 14February 2012

RelatedStories

Prominent campaigner Kasha
Jacqueline Nabagesera fled the
workshop to avoid arrest

A Ugandacabinet minister has raided a workshop for gay activists and tried to arrestthe organiser, a Ugandan paper and UK-based rights group have said.

Ministerfor Ethics and Integrity Simon Lokodo said the gathering was"illegal" and ordered delegates out of the hotel near the capital.

It comesdays after an MP retabled a controversial anti-gay bill.

It proposesincreasing the penalties in Uganda for homosexual acts, which are illegal, from14 years in jail to life.

DavidBahati, the MP behind the proposed legislation, says a clause proposing thedeath penalty will be dropped.

The billwas first introduced in 2009 but never debated.

Itoriginally said those found guilty of "aggravated homosexuality" -defined as when one of the participants is a minor, HIV-positive, disabled or a"serial offender" - would face the death penalty.

In astatement last week, the government defended its right to debate the anti-gaybill but said the draft legislation did not have official backing.

'Outrageous'

Theworkshop was organised by Freedom and Roam Uganda, an organisation founded byprominent Uganda gay rights activist Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera, at a hotel inEntebbe 40km (25 miles) from the capital, Kampala, Uganda's Daily Monitornewspaper reports.

"Ihave closed this conference because it's illegal. We do not accepthomosexuality in Uganda. So go back home," the paper quotes Mr Lokodo assaying.

Accordingto UK-based rights group Amnesty International, Mr Lokodo said if the activistsdid not leave immediately he would use force against them.

Theminister also ordered the arrest of Ms Nabagesera , who was given the prestigious Martin Ennals rights award last year for her work fighting homophobia in Uganda, but she fled the hotel.

"Thisis an outrageous attempt to prevent lawful and peaceful activities of humanrights defenders in Uganda," Salil Shetty, Amnesty International'ssecretary general, said in a statement.

"Thegovernment's claimed opposition to the bill needs to be supported through theiractions. The Ugandan government must allow legitimate, peaceful gatherings ofhuman rights defenders, including those working on LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexualand transgender] rights," Mr Shetty said.

Both the USand UK have recently urged developing countries to respect gay rights or risklosing aid.

Since thebill was retabled there have been reports of increased harassment againsthomosexuals, gay rights groups say.

In January2011, gay rights activist David Kato was killed in what some said was a hatecrime - the police said it was linked to a robbery.

At hisfuneral, the priest condemned gay people.

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'Lundin may have led Bildt to the heart of darkness'

2012-02-12T10:09:00.001-08:00

The Local, by Leo Lagercrantz, Sweden, 22 Dec 2011

Swedish journalists (r) jailed in Ethiopia

After two Swedish journalists claiming they wereinvestigating the presence of the Lundin Group in Ethiopia were found guilty ofterror crimes on Wednesday, Swedish investigative journalist Leo Lagercrantztakes a closer look at the Swedish company and foreign minister Carl Bildt'sinvolvement with it.

Swedes convicted of terror crimes in Ethiopia (21 Dec 11)
Swedish journalists 'must be freed': Reinfeldt (21 Dec 11)
Bildt avoids Sudan war crimes probe (21 Oct 11)
Bildt slams paper over 'amateur' reporting (17 Oct 11)

On July 1st of this year, Swedish journalists Johan Perssonand Martin Schibbye were arrested after having ventured into the disputedOgaden Province in eastern Ethiopia in the company of soldiers from the ONLFguerrillas.

They were found guilty of terror crimes by an Ethiopiancourt on Wednesday.

The story of the Swedes is more than business as usual, forthe Ethiopian regime and for the Swedish government.

The affair has once again put the spotlight on Carl Bildt'sprevious involvement in the mining and oil group, The Lundin Group - founded bythe now deceased, controversial Adolf H. Lundin - and listed on the Stockholmand Toronto stock exchanges.

This time it's about Carl Bildt sitting on the board andbeing involved in negotiating the agreement between Lundin Petroleum and theEthiopian regime in Addis Ababa.

And it was precisely the Lundin Group's presence and crimesagainst humanity allegedly committed in connection with the establishment ofthe deal that the Swedish journalists wanted to investigate.

When it became known that the Swedes had been arrested CarlBildt commented: "It's an area we have been advised against traveling tobecause it is a dangerous area."

The foreign minister's statement has caused concern andanger among Schibbye and Persson's fellow journalists, and many Swedishpublishers are today asking the question: Whose interests does Carl Bildtrepresent - the captured Swedish citizens’ or the Ethiopian regime?

Or perhaps his own?

And Sweden's largest newspaper, Aftonbladet, is campaigningon its cultural pages for his resignation.

The suspicion has not exactly diminished afterGöteborgs-Posten (GP) got an interview with the head of Africa Oil in AddisAbeba, James Phillips, where he claims that he had a close cooperation with theformer Swedish ambassador to Ethiopia, Staffan Tillander, and that Africa Oiland the Swedish ambassador on a regular basis exchanged “security info” andtravelled in Ogaden together.

This leads to the conclusion that it's OK for Swedishcompanies with questionable reputations to be in Ogaden, but for Swedishjournalists investigating crimes against humanity, it is not.

But the Ethiopian affair is just one of several that arehaunting the Swedish foreign minister after his seven years in the Lundinsphere.

Let us go back ten years to the year 2000. It was the yearthat the former prime minister (1991-1994) and EU envoy to the Balkans (1995)joined the Lundin Petroleum's board of directors.

The seven years with the Lundin Group that followed wouldmake Carl Bildt a wealthy man. But at what price?

His time as a “Lundin man” follows him like a dark shadowthat he can’t shake.

This is because The Lundin Group is not just any otherlisted company.

The founder, the Swedish rock engineer and oil and gasmagnate Adolf H. Lundin, made a fortune back in the 1970s when he came acrosshuge natural gas fields in Qatar.

However, the company attracted international attention thefirst time in 1984, when, despite the UN boycott, it mined gold in SouthAfrica. Adolf H. Lundin, however, couldn’t be bothered with the criticism:"I do not understand the Swedish rage against this beautifulcountry," he told the Swedish newspaper Expressen.

The next storm of criticism came in 1996. This time, afterThe Lundin Group was blacklisted by the United Nations who believed that thecompany had plundered the Congo for its assets.

Today, the Lundin sphere is the second largest owner of theTenke Fungurume facility (ownership amounts to 24.5 percent) but the minecontinues to be the subject of criticism from NGOs.

Among other things, the Lundin sphere and the other ownershave been criticized for having displaced people who today are forced to liveunder canvas, although they were promised decent housing.

After the deals in the Congo, the Lundin ravage there hasbeen compared to the ruthless imperialism in Joseph Conrad's novel "Heartof Darkness" in the Swedish media.

So who then was Adolf H. Lundin (1938 - 2006)? A modernvariant of the ivory collector Kurtz in Joseph Conrad's novel, or a charmingIndiana Jones type?

Bildt, who wrote Lundin's obituary, described him like this:

"Adolf is a true global entrepreneur of a species thatunfortunately we hardly have in Sweden."

The descriptions of Adolf H. Lundin as 100 percentcontractor is substantiated by his own description of himself:

"We work without regard to political risks. (...) Theonly thing that is important to us is that what we are looking for can besomething big.”

But for those who read the authorized biography written byjournalist Robert Eriksson, now responsible at the company for InvestorRelations in Europe, a different picture is presented of the tycoon who builtup the Lundin empire: Adolf H. Lundin did indeed have political passion.

He was an ardent anti-Communist who was involved in theWashington, DC-based conservative think tank, The Heritage Foundation.

Adolf H. Lundin sponsored Ronald Reagan's election campaign;in return, he and his wife Eva were invited to the Reagent inauguration in1981. The program included a show with Frank Sinatra that the couple watchedfrom the front row.

So what was Adolf H. Lundin’s position towards doingbusiness with communist countries?

He answered author Robert Eriksson like this:

"I would not have dreamed of doing business with SovietCommunist politicians."

When it came to the German Nazis, however, the answer isdifferent:

"That I certainly would have done. There was no one whoknew what really happened there until very late, at the end of World WarII."

Among all of the controversial projects that Adolf H. Lundininitiated, there is one which even today - five years after Adolf H. Lundin'sdeath – continues to drain the company and the Swedish foreign minister's trustcapital: Sudan.

Since the summer of 2010 there has been an ongoing criminalinvestigation by the International Public Prosecution Office in Stockholmconcerning Lundin Petroleum's operations in Sudan.

When Carl Bildt in 2000 agreed to become a member of theboard of the Lundin Group, the company had already been active there for threeyears. Human rights groups were early to assert that the government bombedvillages and killed and expelled the local population in the province of Unity State(also called the Western Upper Nile), so that Lundin Petroleum could prospectfor oil undisturbed.

But as usual, when accused of unethical business, thecompany was unresponsive to criticism. When Carl Bildt was questioned in theRiksdag's Constitutional Committee in April 2007 (this time about his optionsin the Lundin company Vostok Nafta, all of whose assets were in RussianGazprom) he rejected the criticism, countering that his commitment hascontributed to peace in the region.

When after the hearing in the constitutional committee,reporters pressed Carl Bildt it ended as it often does with the Swedish foreignminister: he berated them, pushed on factual errors, often petty, in thequestions - and got laughs and sympathy on his side.

After the hearing in the constitutional committee heappeared in the Swedish media more as a hero of peace in Sudan, rather than adubious businessman.

And he has continued to be one of the Reinfeldt government’smost popular ministers. The criticism of him and his commitment to The LundinGroup has been brushed aside as "leftist propaganda.”

However, lately support for Carl Bildt has begun to fade.

His arrogant attitude to the case of the Swedish journalistDawit Isaak, who has been imprisoned for 10 years in Eritrea without trial, hascreated discontent among Swedish journalists. His unwillingness to criticize firstIran (where Lundin has been active through its subsidiary Lundin Munir) andthen Qaddafi, whose regime the Lundin Group long had close relations with, hasdisappointed many of his former supporters.

While the majority of the world’s democratic leaderscondemned Qhaddafi when he attacked demonstrators with fighter jets, Bildt tookanother position.

“It has nothing to do with supporting one or the other, ithas to do with obtaining stability and a reasonable development,” he said.

Yet again the question needed to be raised: Did the Swedishforeign minister’s peculiar, tactful attitude towards crimes against humanityhave any connection with his time as a Lundin board member?

His veto recently against EU-sanctions against Syria –called “The Ericsson factor” because of Swedish pundits' analysis that he votedagainst full sanctions to protect the Swedish telecom company’s interests – hasalso created amazement.

And now, on Wednesday, two Swedish journalists were foundguilty of terror crimes by an Ethiopian court.

Lundin Petroleum first established itself in Ethiopia in2006. The situation in Somali Ethiopia, as the area is also called, wasdifficult even before Lundin started looking for gas and oil there. Securityconsultants warned Lundin against establishing operations in the Ogaden - butin vain.

The company signed a contract with the Ethiopian regime.

And in connection with the establishment, the governmenttook the opportunity to "clean up" so that no one or anything couldinterfere with the exploitation.

That they wanted to get rid of various rebel groups andwarring tribes is not surprising, but the allegations of the methods used arefamiliar ones when it comes to how the Lundin Group does business in Africa:burned villages, people displacement, and systematic rape.

That is at least what human rights organizations like HumanRights Watch and other experts claim. But the documentation of the regime'sabuses in Somali Ethiopia is far from satisfactory.

The regime has effectively isolated the area, and to visitit unlawfully is considered a terrorist crime.

This means that the army can feel safe – it's not possibleto produce any evidence that could lead to prosecution in The Hague.

But multinationals in place there, such as the SwedishLundin Group (Lundin Petroleum's operations were taken over by African Oil, inwhich they still have a strong interest) have had little to fear.

The same applies to political socialites such as Carl Bildt.

The Lundin Group's business in Ethiopia has received littlemedia exposure.

Until now.

And while the criticism of Bildt's handling of theEthiopia-Swedes is growing in strength, there is also a preliminaryinvestigation which should may also cause the foreign minister to lose sleep:the International Public Prosecution Office in Stockholm's investigation ofcrimes against humanity in Sudan 1997-2003.

No one yet has been informed they are under suspicion, andthe prosecutor, Magnus Elving, has not even mentioned that it is Lundin Oilcurrently under investigation.

But he confirmed that the investigation started because of areport by a human rights organization that explicitly criticized thisparticular company.

When I talk with Magnus Elving he says:

"So far we have devoted ourselves to gatheringdocumentation. Now we are beginning to approach the stage where it becomesnecessary to call in [people] for questioning."

Prosecutor Elving is optimistic: "The investigationwill take at least another year, but we will not give up so easily."

Adolf H. Lundin died in 2006 and today the group is led bysons Lukas and Ian Lundin.

They have investedconsiderable resources in re-profiling the Group and making it more sociallyacceptable. They have started a philanthropic operation - Lundin for Africa,and have also donated $100 million to the Clinton Foundation.

In a business context, The Lundin Group has made headlinesrecently for having made a giant oil discovery in the North Sea that caused itsshares to shoot up.

Despite happy charities and investors, questions about whatreally happened when Lundin Petroleum established itself in Somali Ethiopiahave not disappeared.

Recently, when The Lundin Group was discussed at aconference on conflict minerals at Clark University in Worcester Massachusetts,a participant commented:

"Was it the Lundin family that Stieg Larsson had in mindwhen he drew his portrait of capitalists?"

Leo Lagercrantz is an award winning investigative journalistand former editor of the opinion pages at the Swedish tabloid Expressen.

Interview.Expressen's reporter Karl-Johan Karlsson

interviewing Carl Bildt in Brussels onthe oil business

with Libya. Photo: Erik Luntang

Related Articles:

Lundin Oil's oil deals with Gaddafi

Protesters question Carl Bildt as foreign minister

Ethiopian court jails Swedish journalists

Uganda revives anti-gay bill but drops death penalty

2012-02-07T10:09:00.000-08:00

BBC News, 7February 2012

RelatedStories

David Bahati says homosexuality
has been imported from the West

A UgandanMP has revived a controversial anti-gay bill but dropped the provision for thedeath penalty for certain homosexual acts.

A BBCcorrespondent says MPs laughed, clapped and cried out: "Our bill, ourbill," when its architect David Bahati reintroduced the draft legislationon Tuesday.

TheAnti-Homosexuality Bill was shelved in 2011 after an international outcry.

It stillincreases the punishment to life in prison for homosexual offences.

Homosexualacts are already illegal in Uganda - a largely conservative society, where manycondemn homosexuality.

Anyonefailing to report to the authorities a person they knew to be homosexual wouldalso be liable to prosecution.

The BBC'sJoshua Mmali in Kampala says Mr Bahati, the primary backer of the bill, hasconfirmed the draft legislation has changed in one fundamental way.

Those foundguilty of "aggravated homosexuality" - defined as when one of theparticipants is a minor, HIV-positive, disabled or a "serial offender"- would no longer face the death penalty, as originally proposed.

Aparliamentary committee recommended the revision, after the originallegislation was condemned by Western leaders, including Barack Obama whodescribed it as "odious", and threatened to cut off aid to Uganda.

Mr Bahatihopes his private member's bill will finally be debated during thisparliamentary session, which opened on Tuesday.

The billwas first introduced in 2009, but has never made it to a debate in the chamber.

In recentyears, some gay rights groups have been set up in Uganda.

In January2011, gay rights activist David Kato was killed in what some said was a hatecrime - the police said it was linked to a robbery.

At hisfuneral, the priest condemned gay people.

Related Articles:

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Ugandan journalist fighting for gay rights

Uganda jails murderer of gay activist for 30 years

Uganda fury at David Cameron aid threat over gay rights

Cameron threat to withhold UK aid to anti-gay nations

Europe to focus on democracy and human rights in aid projects

About the Challenges of Being a Gay Man – Oct 23, 2010 (Saint Germain channelled by Alexandra Mahlimay and Dan Bennack) - “You see, your Soul and Creator are not concerned with any perspective you have that contradicts the reality of your Divinity – whether this be your gender, your sexual preference, your nationality – or your race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, or anything else.”

"The Akashic System" – Jul 17, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Religion, The Humanization of God, Benevolent Design, DNA, Akashic Circle, (Old) Souls, Gaia, Indigenous People, Talents, Reincarnation, Genders, Gender Switches, In “between” Gender Change, Gender Confusion, Shift of Human Consciousness, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

Rival Palestinian factions agree on unity government

2012-02-07T01:48:00.001-08:00

Deutsche Welle, 6 February 2012

After fouryears of division, Fatah and Hamas have agreed to form a joint government toend the split between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The two Palestinianfactions hope to hold elections as soon as possible.

The rivalPalestinian factions Fatah and Hamas reached an agreement on Monday to form aunity government, with Fatah leader and Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas atthe helm in the run up to elections later this year

Abbas andKhaled Mashaal, the chief of the militant Islamic group Hamas, signed theagreement in the Gulf nation of Qatar whose government helped broker the deal.

"Wepromise our people to implement this agreement as soon as possible," Abbassaid.

Palestinehas been politically divided between the Gaza Strip and West Bank since 2006,when Hamas beat the secular Fatah movement in parliamentary elections. Hamasthen kicked Fatah out of the Gaza Strip after a series of deadly clashes inJune 2007.

Reconciliationdeal

UnderMonday's agreement, Abbas is set to become prime minister of the unitygovernment, replacing Western-backed Salam Fayyad. The two factions originallyagreed to the reconciliation deal in May, 2011 in Cairo, but disagreements overwho would head the unity government had delayed a final deal. Hamas was opposedto Fayyad.

Mashaalsaid that Hamas and Fatah were "serious about healing the wounds" inorder to "reunite our people on the foundation of a political partnershipin order to devote our effort to resisting the (Israeli) occupation."

ThePalestinian factions agreed to hold elections, currently scheduled for May, asquickly as possible.

"Weagreed on the importance of holding the elections quickly… and removing anyobstacles that might delay the polls," said Fatah spokesman Azzamal-Ahmad.

It remainedunclear whether or not the West would back the unity government. Israel, theEuropean Union and the United States consider Hamas a terrorist organization.While Fatah supports a negotiated settlement with Israel, Hamas is officiallysworn to the destruction of the Jewish state.

slk / rg (AP, AFP, Reuters)

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France impounds African autocrats' 'ill-gotten gains'

2012-02-06T12:22:00.000-08:00

Frenchauthorities are investigating the conspicuous Paris fortunes of three servingAfrican leaders and their families

guardian.co.uk,Angelique Chrisafis in Paris, Monday 6 February 2012

Eleven supercars worth up to €5m have been seized from outside an
African leader's Paris mansion as part of money-laundering investigations.
Photograph: Alexsmolik

At 42Avenue Foch, the tree-lined boulevard that is one of Paris's most expensivestreets, looms a five-storey private mansion complete with disco, spa room,hair salon, gold- and jewel-encrusted taps, lift, pastel pink dining room and abreathtaking balcony-view of the Arc de Triomphe.

Localpeople always knew when there was about to be a visit from its 41-year-old"playboy" resident, Teodorin Obiang, eldest son of the autocraticpresident of Equatorial Guinea. Days before Obiang Jr's private jet toucheddown, two massive lorries would pull up outside and disgorge a sea of freshflowers to dress the interior of the mansion.

When Obiangwas in residence, passersby would see a parade of couturiers from Paris's topdesign houses, including Yves Saint Laurent, Dior, Louis Vuitton, waiting to beadmitted for fittings before returning with vanloads of made-to-measureclothes. Crates of the most expensive burgundy were another regular delivery.

On oneoccasion 15,000 DVDs were hauled in on wooden pallets – roughly 41 years worthof viewing.

But themost public statement of opulence was the fleet of luxury, turbo-charged,yellow, red and blue sports cars, parked in garages or in the cobbledcourtyard.

"Thenoise-factor was extreme," one local said. "He seemed obsessed withsecurity so when he wanted to go out between midnight and 2am, he'd order thechauffeur to warm up four cars so no one knew which he'd take. Can you imaginethe noise of Ferraris, Porsches and Maseratis all running at once? Then he'dcome down and decide to take a fifth car and that would have to bestarted."

But thecourtyard has fallen quiet, the mansion empty of occupants. Three months ago,in a morning raid, French police towed away 11 luxury cars, including aMaserati, a Porsche Carrera, an Aston Martin and a Mercedes Maybach.

At thetime, Obiang Jr, whose salary as Equatorial Guinea's agriculture and forestryminister was €3,200 (£2,700) a month, owned two Bugatti Veyrons, the mostexpensive and fastest street car in the world, costing about €1m a piece andreaching 250mph . He was in the process of acquiring a third.

The raidwas the first in the landmark French inquiry known as the case of the"ill-gotten gains".

In anunprecedented move, three serving African leaders and their families are underinvestigation in Paris over whether they embezzled state funds to acquire vastassets in France including bank accounts, Riviera villas and fleets of luxurycars.

The clan ofGabon's late leader Omar Bongo and its current leader, his son Ali Bongo; theCongo-Brazzaville leader, Denis Sassou-Nguesso and his family, and PresidentTeodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea and his clan are accused of having assets worth €160m in France, from penthouses and villas to scores of bank accountsand luxury car fleets.

The leadersand their families have denied building up personal wealth in France throughembezzlement, money-laundering and misuse of public funds.

Judges arebeginning the detailed task of trying to prove such spectacular wealth wasdirectly siphoned from the coffers of the oil-rich states to the detriment ofpopulations left to live in misery.

In 2000,just as Obiang began building up his car collection, Equatorial Guinea was onpaper the wealthiest African country per inhabitant, yet a majority of itspeople lived below the UN poverty threshold.

Withbillions of dollars worth of assets of Muammar Gaddafi frozen by the UN andmember countries, and other legal moves to recover the wealth of deposedautocrats such as Tunisia's Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak,the drive to seize billions plundered by corrupt leaders has never been higher.

But the Frenchcase against three serving African leaders, initiated by anti-corruption NGOsas part of a long legal battle, also illustrates the limits on westernwillingness to act against rulers still in power.

"Withdeposed heads of state after the Arab spring, there was no problem, the wholecommunity was scandalised at the plundering of money from their countries.We're warning against double standards: why should you have to wait for aleader to fall to put a stop to corruption?" said Maud Perdriel-Vaissiere,head of Sherpa, one NGO leading the case.

The policeinquiry has given an unprecedented insight into the lifestyle of certainAfrican leaders. When the spectacular art collection from the homes of the latefashion designer Yves Saint Laurent went up for auction in Paris in 2009 it wascalled the art sale of the century and raised more than €370m. Frenchauthorities later revealed that Obiang Jr bought 109 lots at the sale, costing€18m.

OlivierPardo, lawyer for Equatorial Guinea in France, said the case of the"ill-gotten gains" violated international law and that he wouldcontest the case and pursue France through the international courts. It may notjust be France.

A USgovernment court action is seeking to seize $71m (£45m) of assets from ObiangJr in the US which it claims were paid for through corruption. His US assetsare said to include a $38.5m Gulfstream V private jet, a $30m mansion inMalibu, California, and $1.8m of Michael Jackson memorabilia, including a white crystal-covered glove and a crystal-covered pair of socks. A spokesman forEquatorial Guinea denied wrongdoing. An inquiry into the Obiangs' assets isalso underway in Spain.

On a cornerof Paris's chic Avenue Rapp, in the heart of the wealthy 7th arrondissement, ashort walk from the Eiffel tower, the gentlemen's outfitters Pape tells its ownstory of the lifestyle of leaders of oil-rich states.

TheSenegalese tailor Pape Ibrahima N'diaye, a Paris institution known as"Monsieur Pape", is a favourite of French lawyers, politicians andbusinessmen.

DenisSassou N'Guesso, the 68-year-old leader of Congo-Brazzaville, famous for hisimpeccable suits and dress sense, did not hold back in his private fittings.

A new book,The Scandal of the Ill-Gotten Gains, by the investigative journalists ThomasHofnung and Xavier Harel, has sent shockwaves through the French establishmentwith fresh details of spending habits.

In it, theauthors reveal a note by Tracfin, the French anti-money laundering authority,which states that in April 2010, Sassou N'Guesso ordered 91 suits from Pape for€276,000. A month earlier, in March 2010, he had bought 48 shirts for €24,000.In one year, in the 12 months from November 2009, Sassou N'Guesso spent morethan €652,000 on clothes there. His lawyer dismissed the sum as "false andabsurd".

The SassouN'Guesso clan have 24 properties in France in their own name, 112 bank accountsand various sports cars. Meanwhile, NGOs point out that 70% ofCongo-Brazzaville people live on less than $1 a day.

In theheart of the 8th arrondissement, not far from the French president's Elyséepalace, a mansion on the quiet Rue de la Baume has come to symbolise the wealthof Gabon's late leader Omar Bongo. When Bongo died in 2009, he was the world'slongest-ruling head of state, save for the British and Thai monarchies.

A friend ofall recent French presidents, at one time he owned more Paris properties thanany other foreign leader. The Bongo clan has the biggest property portfolio inthe "ill-gotten gains case".

Apreliminary police report claimed he and his close relatives own 39 propertiesin France, mostly in exclusive districts of Paris and on the French Riviera.They also have 70 French bank accounts and at least nine luxury cars in France,including Ferraris and Mercedes worth a total of €1.5m. Bongo's son, Ali Bongo,was elected president in 2009 after his father's death. That year he boughthimself a Bentley Continental Flying Spur for more than €200,000, which can runfor 1,500 miles without refuelling despite the fact that oil-rich Gabon hasless than 500 miles of asphalt roads.

Anti-corruptioncampaigners have already trooped past the €18.9m mansion on Rue de La Baume,bought in 2007 in the name of two Bongo children, then 13 and 16, and otherrelatives, in what some call Paris's "ill-gotten gains" walking tour.Rooms are full of unopened boxes of electrical kitchen goods which suggest thehouse hasn't yet been moved into. A broken doorbell hangs from a wire besidethe entrance.

When inpower, Omar Bongo's official salary was reportedly €14,940 to €20,000 a month.French officials are now investigating where the money came from. A 2007 Frenchpolice report indicated that the payments for some vehicles "appeared atleast atypical".

The casehas shed further light on allegations of French collusion in corruption underthe cosy system known as "françafrique" – in which kickbacks,petrodollars and privileged relations defined Paris's foreign policy towardsits former colonies.

Recent allegations about African leaders regularly giving briefcases of cash to French politicianshas ruffled feathers in Paris. "It has contributed to a climate ofmistrust of politicians, one of a number of different affairs which havesparked revulsion in France," said Hofnung, co-author of the Scandal ofthe Ill-Gotten Gains.

Paris, withits image as the capital of the art of living, was always popular withhigh-spending dictators. ¬

Thequestion now is what impact the case has in other countries where servingleaders placed their cash.

Tim Daniel,a British lawyer and anti-corruption specialist, said: "London is a No 1destination for kleptocrats." But British law does not allow for cases tobe brought by NGOs, so any recovery of assets would depend on the money-launderingauthorities.

One ofNigeria's most influential and wealthy politicians, James Ibori, has beencharged in London with 25 offences relating to alleged money-laundering andfraud and will soon face trial.

"Theinternational anti-corruption community is following the French caseintensely," Daniel said. "It's a very interestingprecedent."

Under investigation: President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, above left,
was not present as the cars were taken away, but a staff member told
police most of the vehicles were ‘mainly used by his son, Teodorin Obiang'

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Assad should resign says Obama, as UN debates resolution

2012-02-04T09:01:00.000-08:00

Damascusregime described as 'cynical' and 'cold blooded' as security council remains atloggerheads over resolution

guardian.co.uk,David Batty and Damien Pearse, Saturday 4 February 2012

An anti-regime demonstration in the city of al-Qsair, south-west of Homs
where activists say Syrian forces have killed more than 200 people.
Photograph: Alessio Romenzi/AFP/Getty

Major worldpowers remain at loggerheads over a key UN vote on Syria, calling for theresignation of President Bashar al-Assad following the massacre of more than200 people by security forces in the city of Homs.

BarackObama called for Assad to step down following the latest bloodshed and urgedthe UN security council to back the resolution censuring the Syrian regime.

The USpresident said Assad had lost his legitimacy as a ruler and had "noright" to cling to power. He said the regime's policy of terrorising itspeople "only indicates its inherent weakness and inevitablecollapse".

Britain andFrance also condemned the violence and called for decisive action by theinternational community in an apparent rebuke to Russia, which has threatenedto veto the draft security council resolution censuring Assad's regime.

Death tollscited by activists and opposition groups ranged from 217 to 260, making theHoms attack the deadliest so far in Assad's crackdown on protests that erupted11 months ago in response to uprisings that overthrew three Arab leaders.

The foreignsecretary, William Hague, said it was time for countries to stop giving"shelter" to the regime after the assault on Homs. "The Syrianregime's actions display President Assad's cold-blooded cynicism in the face ofmounting international pressure for the UN security council to do its utmost toend the bloodshed.

"Thetime is long past for the international community, particularly those that haveso far sheltered the Assad regime, to intensify the pressure to end over 10months of violence."

The Frenchforeign minister, Alain Juppe, said the Homs bloodshed was a crime againsthumanity and "those who block the adoption of such a resolution are takinga grave historical responsibility".

But theRussian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, criticised the UN resolution, sayingit made too few demands of anti-government armed groups, and could prejudge theoutcome of a dialogue among political forces in the country.

Russiannews agencies reported that Lavrov and Russia's foreign intelligence chief,Mikhail Fradkov, will meet with Assad in Damascus on Tuesday. Syria has been akey Russian ally since Soviet times and Moscow has opposed any UN demands thatcould be interpreted as advocating military intervention or regime change.

Earlier onSaturday, Tunisia decided to expel Syria's ambassador in response to the"bloody massacre" in Homs and said it no longer recognised the Assadregime. As news of the violence spread, a crowd of Syrians stormed theircountry's embassy in Cairo and protests broke out outside Syrian missions inBritain, Germany and the US.

Homsresidents said pro-Assad forces began shelling the Khaldiya neighbourhood ataround 8pm on Friday using artillery and mortars. They said at least 36 houseswith families inside were destroyed. "We were sitting inside our housewhen we started hearing the shelling. We felt shells were falling on ourheads," said Waleed, a resident of Khaldiya.

It was notimmediately clear what had prompted Syrian forces to launch such an intensebombardment, just as diplomats at the security council were discussing thedraft resolution supporting the Arab League demand for Assad to step aside.

Someactivists said the violence was triggered by a wave of army defections in Homs,a stronghold of protests and armed insurgents whom Assad has vowed to crush."The death toll is now at least 217 people killed in Homs, 138 of themkilled in the Khaldiya district," Rami Abdulrahman, head of theBritish-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told Reuters, citingwitnesses.

"Syrianforces are shelling the district with mortars from several locations, somebuildings are on fire. There are also buildings which got destroyed."

An activistsaid forces bombarded Khaldiya to scare other rebel neighbourhoods. "Itdoes not seem that they get it. Even if they kill 10 million of us, the peoplewill not stop until we topple him."

Theopposition Syrian National Council said 260 civilians were killed, describingit as "one of the most horrific massacres since the beginning of theuprising in Syria". It said it believed Assad's forces were preparing forsimilar attacks around Damascus and in the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour.

Anothergroup, the Local Co-ordination Committees, gave a death toll of more than 200.It is not possible to verify activist or state media reports as Syria restrictsindependent media access. Video footage on the internet showed at least eightbodies assembled in a room, one of them with the top half of its head blownoff. A voice on the video said the bombardment was continuing as the video wasbeing filmed.

Related Article:

Syria: '300 killed' as regime launches huge attack on besieged city of Homs

BBC Persian staff face Iranian intimidation

2012-02-03T15:28:00.001-08:00

Relativesof BBC staff in London detained and threatened by intelligence agents and oneemployee interrogated online

guardian.co.uk,Ian Black and Saeed Kamali Dehghan, Friday 3 February 2012

Popular talkshow presenter Pooneh Ghoddoosi, who has been the subject
of slurs on the internet and in government media. Photograph: BBC

Iran iscarrying out a campaign of intimidation and smears against the BBC's Persian TVservice, watched by millions of people in the Islamic Republic but loathed bythe government in Tehran.

In recentincidents, relatives of BBC staff in London have been detained and threatenedby Iranian intelligence agents, top presenters targeted by malicious rumoursand one employee subjected to an online interrogation in London after a familymember in Iran was jailed. Iran is thought to be preparing a documentary filmdiscrediting the channel in the runup to parliamentary elections next month.

Sadeq Saba,the head of BBC Persian, was accused live on air by an unknown caller of rapingPooneh Ghoddoosi, then presenter of popular Persian-language talk show YourTurn. Both insist the charge is entirely without foundation but it has sincebeen repeated as fact by leading Iranian government media outlets.

Iran hasrepeatedly jammed BBC Persian TV since it was founded in 2009. The latest boutof harassment comes against a background of sharply deteriorating relationsbetween the UK and Iranian governments. Last November Britain shut its Tehranembassy after it was stormed by demonstrators in apparent retaliation forsanctions imposed over Iran's nuclear programme. Iran's London embassy was thenordered closed.

Tensionsworsened in recent weeks after the closure of Press TV, the English-languageIranian state broadcaster, in London. The UK regulator, Ofcom, revoked itslicence for breaching the Communications Act. BBC Persian staff say theybelieve Tehran wants to stop the channel covering the elections on 2 March.

Followingweeks of angry internal debate about how to handle the issue, Mark Thompson, the BBC director general, on Friday issued a strongly worded complaint about"disturbing new tactics" and called on the Iranian government"to repudiate the actions of its officials".

Anonymouscallers or others using names such as the Cyber Army of Allah have accused BBCPersian staff of being drug dealers, converting to Bahaism or Chrstianity –potentially a capital offence in Iran as it is considered to be apostasy – ortaking bribes. "We are well trained to cut these people off when they sayrude or libellous things," said Ghoddoosi, whose image has been used inpornographic montages posted on the internet. "They use F-words andC-words non-stop."

Saba said:"Even Stalin or other dictators never did what the Iranian regime is doingwith this campaign of intimidation against our journalists. Iran has arrested agroup of people and forced them to confess that they have worked for BBCPersian. We have not hired anyone in the country and we condemn these brutalactions."

Journalistsarrested recently include Marzieh Rasouli and Parastoo Dokouhaki. Friendsbelieve they are under pressure to confess on camera that they have beencollaborating with BBC Persian in Iran.

Saba andGhoddoosi are popular in Iran, despite the profound official hostility to theBBC channel. The channel is considered such a threat that someone has created awebsite identical in design to that of BBC Persian to spread allegationsagainst BBC employees. The fake site uses an .ir domain name, which requiresgovernment permission.

BBCPersian's reporting has challenged government versions of both the domesticpolitical scene and Iran's troubled relationship with the west. Iranianofficials often cite BBC Persian's work as evidence of a foreign plot againstthe clerical regime. Saba says one news programme is watched by 12 million to15 million people per week.

Tehran wasfurious with the BBC's extensive coverage of the disputed 2009 presidentialelection, which gave Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a second term. During the unrest thatfollowed, BBC Persian conducted hundreds of telephone interviews withprotesters who described deaths, injuries and arrests by security forces. TheBBC's correspondent was expelled. Last year the BBC secured Iranian agreementto deploy a new resident correspondent, but it has never been implemented.

Last monthsecurity forces raided the home of a BBC Persian employee's relative in Tehran,searched and confiscated their belongings and transferred the person to Evinprison. Hours later, a man claiming to be the relative's interrogator at Evincontacted the employee in London, seeking information about the BBC in returnfor the family member's freedom.

"Mybrother and mother have both been subject to interrogations in the past twoyears," said a colleague. "My brother's personal belongings,including his computer, were confiscated. They were asked to persuade me tocollaborate and gather information from the BBC."

Fifty-twoBBC Persian staff complained this week about the corporation's handling of theissue, calling it "scandalous" that Iranian intelligence was able tointerrogate a BBC employee in London. Thompson's statement followed. "Thisissue is wider than the BBC – other international media face similarchallenges," he said. "But it is behaviour that all people whobelieve in free and independent media should be deeply concerned about."

Initially,BBC staff believed it was best to simply ignore the Iranian campaign. "Iand others have received death threats," said Ghoddoosi. "They say'you are a servant of the imperialist English government. We will kill you likedogs and crush your bones.'

"Virtualharassment is tolerable – being called a whore or whatever. We dismissed it bysaying silence was the right answer. But when it came to the point of ourrelatives getting arrested at airports and having their passports confiscated,or Iranian intelligence being so brazen that they interrogated someone onBritish soil, we finally decided to speak out."

African Union leaders fail to elect commission head

2012-01-30T09:29:00.000-08:00

Deutsche Welle, 30 January 1012

Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma wanted to
see an AU that is a 'formidable force'

A bid bySouth Africa to propel a woman to the upper reaches of African decision-makingran aground on Monday. The election for the head of the African UnionCommission yielded no outright winner.

The vote byAfrican leaders for the head of their bloc's influential executive ended indeadlock on Monday between Gabon's Jean Ping, who was seeking a new term, andchallenger Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma of South Africa.

AU sourcessaid the election was tight, with Ping holding a slender lead in three roundsof voting in which neither candidate secured the required two-thirds majority.

Dlamini-Zumawas then forced under AU rules to pull out leaving Ping to face a fourth roundon his own, but he stilled failed to garner the votes he needed.

Africa leaders failed to elect a new
head of the AU Commission

SouthAfrican delegates broke into song and dance after the stalemate vote conductedat the two-day summit in the new AU headquarters built by the Chinese andunveiled at the weekend.

In astatement before the vote, Dlamini-Zuma had pledged to spare no effort inbuilding on the work of those African women and men who wanted to see "anAfrican Union that is a formidable force striving for a united, free, trulyindependent, better Africa."

Post neverheld by a woman

Dlamini-Zumahas served in the cabinet of every South African president since NelsonMandela. One of the country's most powerful women, she is known for competentmanagement and her stern personality. Her ex-husband, the current president,Jakob Zuma, found her indispensable enough to appoint her home affairsminister, the post she now holds.

No womanhas ever held the post of chair of the AU Commission. The job will be takenover by AU Commission deputy chairman, Erastus Mwencha, from Kenya, until freshpolls at the next summit in the summer.

This is thefirst time in the history of the 54 member regional body that the AU Commissionhas failed to a elect a new head.

'Peacecomes back to our continent'

Ban Ki-moon warned the AU Sudan
was 'threatening regional stability'

Earlier, thesummit of African leaders was addressed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon whowarned that a furious row between Sudan and South Sudan was threateningregional security. "The international community needs to act, and itsneeds to act now," Ban added.

The UNSecretary General also berated African nations for treating gays as"second-class citizens, or even criminals."

The post ofAU chairman, which rotates once a year, passed from Equatorial Guniea'sPresident Tedodor Obiang Nguema to Benin's President Thomas Boni Yayi, thoughwith none of the attention lavished on the AU Commission vote. With strife inSomalia, violence in Nigeria and riots in Senegal following an octogenarianpresident's resolve to cling to power, Boni Yayi said he wanted to ensure that"peace comes back to our continent." Obiang summed up his one yearstint by accusing "external powers" of trying to "perpetuatetheir influence" in Africa.

Author:Mark Caldwell (AFP, dpa)

Editor: Daniel Pelz / rm

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African Union to open Chinese-funded HQ in Ethiopia

UN chief Ban tells African Union summit to uphold gay rights

2012-01-29T10:55:00.000-08:00

Deutsche Welle, 29 January 2012

African Union leaders gathered
at their new headquarters

Widespreadlegal bans on homosexuality in most African countries have been challenged byUN chief Ban ki-moon at the African Union summit in Addis Ababa. Ban said gayand gender rights must be respected.

UNSecretary General Ban accused many nations of the 54-member African Union ofignoring or "even sanctioning" discrimination based on sexualorientation or gender identity for "too long."

OutgoingAfrican Union chairman Tedoro Obiang Nguema, who is president of EquatorialGuinea, speaking just before Ban delivered his speech, had accused"external powers" of perpetuating their influence.

SouthAfrica is the only country on the continent that legally recognizes gay rightsand same-sex marriage. Late last year, Uganda's parliament re-introduced acontroversial bill that calls for the death penalty for certain homosexualacts.

Blunt talking by UN's Ban in Addis
Ababa

Ban toldsummit leaders, whose two-day agenda is supposed to be focused on intra-Africatrade, that confronting homophobic discrimination was a "challenge."

"But,we must not give up on the ideas of the universal declaration of humanrights," Ban said.

Tunisiareturns to AU fold

Making anactive return to the African Union is post-revolution Tunisia whose newpresident Moncef Marzouki said Tunis was looking to attract investors one yearafter its mass protests that triggered the so-called Arab Spring, also in Egyptand Libya.

Marzoukisaid ousted former ruler Ben Ali had not considered Tunisia as part of thecontinent. "Tunisia had no diplomatic role, especially in Africa. It (had)completely disappeared from the scene."

Tussle forAU leadership

AU leaderson Sunday elected Benin President Thomas Boni Yayi as their new president, toreplace Equatorial Guinea's President Obiang.

Obiang, inhis departing remarks, appeared to accuse former colonial powers ofinterfering. "Africa should not be questioned with regards to democracy,human rights, governance and transparency in public administration," hesaid.

Yayi, aneconomist who has led Benin for six years, acknowledged that he had a"high responsibility" in the one-year rotating job.

"Weshall continue to work hand in glove to ensure that we consolidate all that wehave achieved so far," he said.

Jean Ping (left) is counting on
Francophone support

The AUfaces a string of issues, including war and hunger in Somalia, violence in Nigeria, riots in Senegal and oildisputes between Sudan and the newly formed South Sudan.

Banhighlights Sudanese oil dispute

UN chiefBan, in his speech, urged African leaders to play "a more important role[in] solving regional issues." He highlighted the Sudanese oil dispute andurged South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashirto negotiate.

SouthSudan, which was born last July out of a peace deal, recently shut down oilproduction after it accused al-Bashir's Sudan of stealing oil along pipelinesused for export.

Ban said hewas also "deeply concerned" about a humanitarian crisis along Sudan'svolatile border with the south. He also accused Khartoum of blocking access toaid workers.

Tussle forAU's top executive post

Monday's AUdeliberations in the AU's new headquarter complex provided by China will centeron a secret ballot for the top executive job. The current AU commission headJean Ping of Gabon is being challenged by South Africa's Home Affairs MinisterNkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. Ping was first elected in 2008.

SouthAfrica's foreign ministry said it was "optimistic" that Dlamini-Zuma,62, and former wife of President Jacob Zuma, would receive the"necessary" two-third of the votes.

Dlamini-Zumahas the backing of the 15-member Southern African Development Community.Sources say Ping is counting on support of French-speaking AU member nations.

Ping toldthe opening ceremony that prospects for peace were "real" in war-tornSomalia. The AU has a 10,000-strong force protecting Somalia's fragileWestern-backed government from the al Qaeda-linked Shebab militia.

Author: IanP. Johnson (AFP, AP, dpa)

Editor: Nicole Goebel

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Riots in Senegal as Wade Cleared for Third Term Bid

2012-01-28T01:50:00.000-08:00

Jakarta Globe, January 28,2012

Tires burn in a street on Friday in Senegal's capital Dakar, where clashes
broke out between police and young protesters, following the publication
by the Constitutional Council of a list of candidates eligible to stand in the
country's presidential election in February. Rioters killed a policeman late Friday
in clashes after Senegal's top court cleared President Abdoulaye Wade to run for
a highly disputed third term in office, police said. (AFP Photo/Toure Behan)

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Rugby Changing Children’s Lives in Senegal

Dakar,Senegal. Riots erupted in Dakar on Friday night, leaving a policeman dead, asangry protesters took to the streets after a court cleared President AbdoulayeWade’s bid for a highly disputed third term in office.

The westAfrican nation’s Constitutional Council gave the 85-year-old the green light torun in February 26 polls, sparking anger among opponents who accuse him offiddling with the constitution to serve his own interests.

Amid theresulting unrest, Wade in turn told his opponents to stop throwing “tempertantrums.”

Thefive-judge council rejected the candidacy of music icon Youssou Ndour, whowarned of rising tension in the country and vowed to challenge hisdisqualification.

While theinternational community appealed for calm in one of Africa’s most stabledemocracies, violence spread through the seaside capital Friday night asrioters engaged in running battles with police, setting alight tires and shops.

“Theykilled a policeman,” Dakar police commissioner Arona Sy told AFP of clashes betweenpolice and demonstrators, without saying how he died.

Thousandshad gathered peacefully at the Place de l’Obelisque in the working class suburbof Colobane all day ahead of Friday’s highly anticipated ruling.

However,shortly after the announcement, tensions rose and police lobbed teargas atstone-throwing protesters who dispersed to set up barricades and burn tiresalong the city’s main arteries.

“I seefires, it is impossible to pass. There are fires in Sacre-Coeur (central), onthe VDN” a main road leading to the north of the capital, a witness drivingthrough the city told AFP.

The June 23Movement of opposition against Wade’s candidacy, which called Friday’s rally,appealed to Senegalese to march on the presidential palace in downtown Dakar to“remove Wade who is squatting there.”

TheConstitutional Council approved 13 other candidates including three ex-primeministers, Idrissa Seck, Macky Sall and Moustapha Niasse, and main oppositionleader Ousmane Tanor Dieng.

Ndour, whoshocked the music world when he announced this month he was quitting singingfor politics, was left off the list with the council saying thousands ofsignatures he provided could not be verified. A minimum of 10,000 were needed.

The singerwarned in an interview with France 3 television that the approval of Wade’s bid“is going to create tension.”

“Theopposition in its great majority does not support any fiddling with theconstitution,” said the singer, adding the Senegalese people were “tired” ofpoliticians flouting the law.

The rulingseals months of speculation over the interpretation of the constitution onpresidential mandates.

Wade wasfirst elected in 2000 for a seven-year mandate, and re-elected in 2007 under anew constitution for a five-year mandate.

He againrevised the text in 2008, reverting to a seven-year mandate, renewable once.

Wade arguesthat the law does not apply retroactively and that he is allowed to run again.

Rightsactivists have warned against a repetition of violent riots in June last year,and clashes between rival parties in December that left one person dead.

AmnestyInternational has warned the “potential for destabilization is huge,” and urgedpolitical leaders to make sure their supporters did not resort to violence.

On Friday,the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) appealed forcalm and restraint in a statement expressing “serious concern for the risingtensions among political parties and citizens.”

Wade, aveteran opposition figure who dislodged the Socialist Party after 40 years ofrule in 2000 elections, on his fifth shot at the presidency, has grownincreasingly unpopular as he attempts to cling to power.

He hasfaced criticism over corruption, financial scandals and nepotism, with manyaccusing him of trying to position his son Karim Wade, 44, as his successor.

Frenchforeign ministry spokesman Romain Nadal on Thursday: “It is up to everyone toprove their responsibility. The future of Senegal is at stake in theseelections.”

US deputyassistant secretary of state for African affairs, William Fitzgerald, saidMonday that Wade’s bid to stay in office was “regrettable.”

Senegal haslong been seen as a good example of democracy in Africa, with previous leadersLeopold Sedar Senghor and Abdou Diouf peacefully handing over power.

Unlike manycountries in the region, Senegal has never experienced a military coup.

Agence France-Presse

African Union to open Chinese-funded HQ in Ethiopia

2012-01-28T00:52:00.000-08:00

BBC News, 28January 2012

RelatedStories

The new AU headquarters is seen
as a symbol of China's new role in Africa

The AfricanUnion is due to inaugurate its newly built headquarters in the Ethiopiancapital, Addis Ababa.

The entire$200m (£127m) project was funded by China as a gift to the AU, as Beijingcontinues to strengthen its influence in Africa.

The 100mhigh tower overlooks a vast conference centre where African heads of state areexpected to meet for years to come.

Their firstAU summit in the building will take place on the weekend.

China'smost senior political adviser, Jia Qinglin, will attend the opening of the newheadquarters and will address African leaders at the start of their assembly onSunday.

The new AUbuilding dominates the skyline of Addis Ababa and is the city's tallestbuilding.

Most of thematerials used were imported from China and even the furnishings were paid forby Beijing, AFP news agency reports.

Constructionbegan in January 2009 and involved 1,200 Chinese and Ethiopian workers.

The projectco-ordinator, Fantalum Michael, says the new building signifies China's growingfriendship with Africa.

"It'sa testimony that this relationship will continue in the future," he toldAFP.

Thrivingrelationship

Tradebetween China and Africa has increased more than six-fold during the pastdecade to $120bn (£76bn) in 2011.

China isinterested in Africa's natural resources and in return is investing huge sumsin African infrastructure.

Roads arebeing built by Chinese firms at a staggering rate, says the BBC's Will Ross inAddis Ababa.

While otherrich nations impose conditions before aid is given, China's relationship withAfrican countries is strictly a business one, he says.

Human rightsgroups have criticised China for undermining efforts by western countries tolink aid to improvements in governance.

HoweverAfrican leaders have welcomed the Chinese approach and have embraced investmentfrom Beijing.

InEthiopia, many jobs have been created through Chinese-funded projects.

Chinesecars are being made in Ethiopian factories and China is also building a lightrailway across Addis Ababa.

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AU Conference Center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

South Africa investigates 'gay slur' King Zwelithini

2012-01-24T04:13:00.000-08:00

BBC News, 24January 2012

RelatedStories

South Africa's President Zuma (l) was
at the event where the Zulu king (r)
allegedly made the remarks

SouthAfrica's Human Rights Commission is investigating reports that Zulu KingGoodwill Zwelithini called gay people "rotten" during a speech.

The rightsgroup says it has obtained transcripts of the speech to look into the matter.

The royalhousehold has denied that the king made any homophobic comments - and hasblamed "reckless translation".

SouthAfrica's Times newspaper, which first carried the story, told the BBC it standsby its translation.

SouthAfrica's constitution specifically forbids discrimination on the grounds ofsexual orientation - but homophobia is widespread and gay people complain theyare often attacked.

HRCspokesperson Vincent Moaga says the traditional king is respected by millionsof South Africans - and they need "an accurate reflection of what hesaid".

The HRCsays it will be writing to the king and will demand an immediate retraction ifhe admits to making homophobic remarks.

"If itis indeed accurate that His Majesty, the Zulu king, made the utterances asreported, they constitute hate speech... and are inflammatory," Mr Moagasaid.

KingGoodwill Zwelithini allegedly made the anti-gay remarks in rural eastern SouthAfrica during a ceremony at the weekend to mark the Battle of Isandlwana - afamous 19th Century Zulu victory over British troops.

"Traditionally,there were no people who engaged in same-sex relationships," The Timesquoted the king as saying.

"Therewas nothing like that and if you do it, you must know that you arerotten," King Goodwill said, according to the newspaper, adding: "Idon't care how you feel about it ... same sex is not acceptable."

But theking's office says the newspaper reports were badly translated and the king'smeaning misconstrued.

"At nostage did His Majesty condemn gay relations or same relations,"spokesperson Prince Mbonisi Zulu told the Sapa news agency.

PresidentJacob Zuma - the first Zulu leader of modern South Africa - was also at theweekend ceremony and used the occasion to call on South Africans to enddiscrimination against gay people.

Last year'sbrutal murder of 24-year-old gay activist Noxolo Nogwaza highlighted SouthAfrica's growing homophobia, correspondents say.

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Arab League demands Assad delegate power, set up unity government

2012-01-23T00:40:00.000-08:00

RT.com, 23January, 2012

Arab foreign ministers during their meeting at the Arab League

headquarters in Cairo January 22, 2012 (Reuters / Suhaib Salem)

The ArabLeague's Foreign Minister demanded on Sunday that Syrian leader Bashar al-Assaddelegate the presidency to his vice president and set up a unity government, asa step towards early parliamentary and presidential elections.

That isaccording to Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, who spoke to anews conference following Arab League talks in Cairo. He also noted that theLeague would ask the UN Security Council for its endorsement.

The Leagueurged the Syrian leadership to form a new government within two months, and tostart dialogue with opposition forces. And according to the League’s statement,in three months the new unity government will have to elect a council to writea new constitution. None of the Arab League's proposals support the idea ofmilitary intervention in Syria.

Earlier,the League decided to extend its the fact-finding mission in Syria for anothermonth.

Butpolitical analyst Omar Nashabe says the observer mission to Syria has shownthat both sides of the conflict are guilty of abuses.

“I thinkit’s time in Syria for dialogue, and President Assad has created the platformfor such dialogue. At the same time, the Arab Leagues has declared an extensionfor the monitors’ mission – which lacks manpower, equipment and training. Itneeds more time to actually build a comprehensive report.”

However,Nashabe says, the first preliminary report had leaked to the media – and as aresult, he had already seen to parts of it.

“The reportshows that there are some grave violations on both sides – the opposition andthe so-called Syrian Free Army, they have been also using heavy gun fireagainst civilians. It’s time that the opposition shows good faith, showspositive signs because it is in the interests of no one that NATO steps in:there will be destruction, chaos as was the case in Libya. And as we haverecently seen there, things are not turning into the beautiful democracyeverybody was dreaming of.”

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Egypt pardons jailed blogger as generals brace for anniversary protests

2012-01-22T04:47:00.000-08:00

MaikelNabil Sanad among almost 2,000 prisoners convicted by military tribunal overthe past year now set to be released

guardian.co.uk,Jack Shenker in Cairo, Sunday 22 January 2012

Supporters stand with banners bearing an image of Maikel Nabil Sanad.
Photograph: Christian Science Monitor/Getty

An Egyptianblogger jailed by the military junta for insulting the army has been officiallypardoned, as the country's ruling generals attempt to bolster public supportbefore protests planned for the coming week.

MaikelNabil Sanad, a 26-year-old Coptic Christian who became a cause célèbre foractivists opposed to the post-Mubarak military government, was among almost2,000 prisoners convicted by military tribunal over the past year who are nowset to be released following an announcement by Egypt's de facto leader, FieldMarshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi.

Sanad wasincarcerated in March over a blogpost titled "The army and the people werenever one hand", inverting a popular Egyptian chant in support of themilitary.

He refusedto acknowledge the legitimacy of the army court that convicted him and mounted ahigh-profile hunger strike behind bars that saw him come close to death severaltimes. He resisted efforts by the authorities to certify him insane and havehim transferred to a secure psychiatric unit, and was designated a prisoner ofconscience by Amnesty International.

Criticsclaim that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf), which took powerafter the toppling of Mubarak in February last year, has proved itself to beeven more repressive than the regime it ostensibly replaced. A series of violentcrackdowns by the state's security forces against dissent and public protesthas left dozens dead and thousands injured, and up to 12,000 civilians arebelieved to have been processed through military tribunals in the past 12months – more than were processed during the entirety of Mubarak's 30-yeardictatorship.

Sanad'spardon follows months of campaigning by No to Military Trials, an activistgroup that has mobilised many Egyptians against army rule and helped turn thetide of public opinion. Last month Alaa Abd El Fattah, a prominentrevolutionary figurehead, was released from prison after bring falsely accusedof inciting violence against the armed forces, and Scaf has promised on morethan one occasion to end the practice of dragging civilians through militarycourts.

"Wewill never forget: the army and people were never one hand," Sanad'sbrother Mark Nabil said on Twitter as news of the pardon came through."Freeing Maikel is not enough though. The army must, before therevolution's anniversary [on 25 January], free all those who were convicted bymilitary courts."

AalamWassef, a journalist and campaigner who has followed Sanad's case closely, saidevents in Egypt over the past year vindicated the anti-junta post that landedthe blogger in jail. "Maikel's predictions were logical rather thanprophetic," he told the Guardian. "He had maintained a criticalstance towards the Egyptian military even before the revolution, so once thegenerals took power it was very obvious to him the way things woulddevelop."

Wassefaccused Scaf of offering empty gestures in place of genuine reform. "It'sa political concession, though a very provocative one," he said. "Howdare they call it a pardon for Maikel when it is they, the generals, who shouldbe requesting a pardon from the people?"

The firstanniversary of Egypt's revolution is expected to spark some of the largestdemonstrations yet seen against the ruling generals. Under sustained pressurefrom activists, Scaf has sped up its transition programme to civilian rule andpromised a new constitution and presidential elections by the summer, thoughopponents claim the military cannot be trusted to keep its promises and warnthat a facade of democracy is being constructed in order to mask theentrenchment of the existing political elite.

In the pastfew days a series of additional measures have been announced by the governmentto try to dampen the energy of the protest movement, including plans for aseries of state-sponsored celebrations on the anniversary itself, and therehave been assurances from one cabinet member, Fayza Abul-Naga, that no soldiersor riot police will be deployed around Tahrir Square that day.

On MondayEgypt's newly elected parliament is set to open to much fanfare. The rulinggenerals hope it will be viewed as a demonstration of their commitment tocivilian-led democracy and thus dissuade the wider population from joininganti-Scaf rallies two days later. According to official results announced at the weekend, the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party will form thelargest parliamentary bloc with about 47% of the total representatives. Theultra-conservative Salafist al-Nour party came a strong second, with liberal,leftist and centrist parties gaining a smattering of seats each.

Wassef saidthere would be a high volume of protesters on Wednesday nonetheless."There will be a big turnout by revolutionaries, despite a huge effort byScaf to drown out the noise with celebratory activities," he said. "Idon't think anyone in their right minds wants to celebrate the deaths andincarcerations we have seen under Scaf rule over the past year."

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(Photo: Maikel Nabil)

Malawian women protest over 'trouser attacks'

2012-01-20T04:07:00.000-08:00

BBC News, 20January 2012

RelatedStories

Women cheered as politicians
and activists addressed the crowd

Some 3,000people have gathered in Blantyre in Malawi to protest about attacks on womenfor wearing trousers.

Some femalevendors were this week beaten and stripped on the streets of the capital, Lilongwe,and Blantyre for not wearing traditional dress.

Ademonstration organiser told the BBC she urged women to turn up in trousers andwhite tops to show their outrage.

PresidentBingu wa Mutharika has said on national radio that women had the right to wearwhat they want.

He deniedreports that he had ordered women to stop wearing trousers.

Until 1994,women in the deeply conservative southern African country were banned fromwearing trousers or mini-skirts under the autocratic rule of Hastings Banda.

Men werealso banned from having long hair.

Women havealso been attacked for wearing trousers in Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe inrecent years.

'Economicfrustrations'

The BBC'sRaphael Tenthani in Blantyre says Vice-President Joyce Banda, the genderminister, several MPs, university lecturers and other leading activistsattended Friday's protest.

SeodiWhite, a lawyer and leading women's rights activist and protest organiser, saidthe women were not dressing indecently.

"YesMalawi is a reasonably conservative country. But we have been dressing up inany way we want, to the best level of our own decency, which is standard foreveryone around the world, for 18 years. And nobody can stand up and say thisis un-Malawian," she told the BBC's Network Africa programme.

She saidwomen were being targeted by disaffected youth unhappy with the economicsituation.

"Thevendors that you see on the street are not old men. These are youngsters, youngenough to be my sons.

"Theyare telling me about culture? They are telling me about how to dress?

"Isthis really about culture or something else in terms of economic hardshippeople are looking for an outlet to vent on?"

Earlier,Mrs Banda also blamed the attacks on economic woes in Malawi, where there aresevere shortages of fuel and foreign currency at present.

"Thereis so much suffering that people have decided to vent their frustrations oneach other," the vice-president said.

Last year,the UK and other donors cut aid to Malawi, amid criticism of its economicpolicies and its attitude to the opposition and journalists.

PresidentMutharika on Thursday made a nationwide broadcast, calling for an end to theattacks.

"Iwill not allow anyone to... go on the streets and start undressing women andgirls wearing trousers, because that is illegal," he said.

"Youare free to wear what you want. Women who want to wear trousers should do so,as you will be protected from thugs, vendors and terrorists."

Ethiopia attack: British survivor endures 12-hour ordeal on volcano

2012-01-19T10:59:00.000-08:00

Briton andother survivors were stranded on edge of the Erta Ale crater after ambush thatleft five Europeans dead

guardian.co.uk,William Davison in Addis Ababa and David Smith in Johannesburg, Thursday 19January 2012

Some of the group that were attacked in Ethiopia prepare to depart from
Bole airport in Addis Ababa. Photograph: Jenny Vaughan/AFP/Getty Images

A Britishtourist was among a group that endured a 12-hour ordeal on the edge of anEthiopian volcano after a terrifying ambush that left five Europeans dead.

Two Germansand two Ethiopians were kidnapped in the pre-dawn attack on Tuesday in one ofthe world's lowest and hottest regions, known as the Danakil Depression. Thesearch for the gunmen and hostages continues.

The groupof 27 tourists had been visiting the Erta Ale volcano, one of Ethiopia's mostactive, in the northern Afar region. Armed escorts had remained at the bottomof the volcano, as is common practice.

"Theytrekked up the volcano alone before bedding down," said a diplomaticsource in Addis Ababa. "They were unguarded overnight."

Ethiopianauthorities have said the group was targeted by as many as 40 attackers.

After theincident, the middle-aged British tourist and other survivors were stranded onthe edge of the Erta Ale crater for more than 12 hours, the source said. It wasnot clear why the security team failed to launch a search party for them.

Finally thegroup managed to make contact with a German tour company that contacted theGerman embassy in Addis Ababa to organise a helicopter rescue.

The UKcitizen was medevaced from the city of Mekele on Thursday to an unidentifiedneighbouring country to seek treatment. There is no indication of whether hesuffered bullet wounds.

"Hehas been through a very serious ordeal," the diplomatic source said."He is in a serious, but stable condition."

A ForeignOffice spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that a British national wasinvolved in an incident on January 17 in Danakil. We are providing consularassistance."

TwoGermans, two Hungarians and an Austrian were killed, according to Interpol. TwoGerman tourists and an Ethiopian policeman and driver were abducted.

Authoritiesin Afar said they have sent elders to try to secure the release of thehostages. Ismael Ali Sero, president of the Afar Region, told state-runEthiopian Television: "The region is doing all it can to have them released."

Ali Serodid not disclose whether the group had already made contact with the captors orif officials had located their hideout. The Ethiopian government said thosekidnapped have been taken across the border into Eritrea, about 12 to 15 milesaway.

In 2007, agroup including British embassy staff from Addis Ababa was taken hostage in theregion and released a week later via the Eritrean capital, Asmara.

Some ofthis week's tourists were said to be travelling with Addis Ababa-based GreenLand Tours and Travel. Others were booked by a company in Germany calledDiamir. The company said it deeply regretted what had happened and that it hadno previous indication of risk to guests' security in the region.

AHungarian, a Belgian and a citizen of another country who resides in Brusselswere wounded in the attack and have been taken to a hospital in Mekele,northern Ethiopia's biggest city.

Theincident has sparked a fresh war of words between Ethiopia and its neighbour,Eritrea. The Ethiopian government said: "It is already clear that theattack was carried out with the direct involvement of the Eritreangovernment."

Ethiopia"will be obliged to take whatever action is necessary to stop theactivities of the Eritrean regime once and for all unless the internationalcommunity assumes its responsibilities and takes the necessary steps to bringthis abominable behaviour to an end," it added.

Eritrea'sambassador to the African Union, Girma Asmerom, has said the allegations are an"absolute lie" and that the attack was an internal Ethiopian matter.

The twocountries fought a border war from 1998 to 2000, claiming the lives of about80,000 people.

The onlyforeigners who normally venture into the Afar region

are researchers, aidworkers and adventure tourists visiting

geographical wonders such as theDanakil depression.

Photograph: Alamy

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Charles Taylor 'worked' for CIA

2012-01-19T03:37:00.000-08:00

BBC News, 19January 2012

CharlesTaylor

Charles Taylor was a CIA informant
in the 1980s

The US hasconfirmed long-held rumours that former Liberian leader Charles Taylor workedfor its intelligence agencies, including the CIA.

Therevelation comes in response to a Freedom of Information request by theUS-based Boston Globe newspaper.

A Globereporter told the BBC this is the first official confirmation of a relationshipbetween US intelligence and Mr Taylor.

Mr Tayloris awaiting a verdict on his trial for alleged war crimes.

Rumours ofCIA ties were fuelled in July 2009 when Mr Taylor himself told his trial, atthe UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone in the Hague, that US agents hadhelped him escape from a maximum security prison in Boston in 1985.

The CIA atthe time denied such claims as "completely absurd".

But now theDefence Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon's spy arm, has disclosed that itsagents - and those of the CIA - did later use Mr Taylor as an informant.

Globereporter Bryan Bender told the BBC's Network Africa programme that Pentagonofficials refused to give details on exactly what role Mr Taylor played, citingnational security.

But theydid confirm that Mr Taylor first started working with US intelligence in the1980s, the period when he rose to become one of the world's most notoriouswarlords.

He waslater elected president.

Mr Taylorhas been accused of arming and controlling the RUF rebels in neighbouringSierra Leone during a 10-year campaign of terror conducted largely againstcivilians.

Ifconvicted, Mr Taylor would serve a prison sentence in the UK.

He deniescharges of murder, rape and using child soldiers.

Rwanda: Top army officers arrested for 'indiscipline'

2012-01-18T10:28:00.000-08:00

BBC News, 18January 2012

Rwanda:Haunted Nation

Rwanda hassuspended and put under house arrest four of its top military officers, an armyspokesperson says.

They arebeing investigated over "acts of indiscipline" concerning allegedbusiness dealings in mineral-rich Democratic Republic of Congo.

One ofthose arrested is the military intelligence chief, who has also advisedPresident Paul Kagame on security issues.

Rwanda hasdenied past accusations that it plundered DR Congo's minerals.

The BBC'sPrudent Nsengiyumva in the capital, Kigali, says the arrests come as a shock tosome in Rwanda considering how senior the men are.

Ourcorrespondents says the house arrests may be seen as a signal that no-one isabove the law.

Thosearrested are Lt Gen Fred Ibingira, chief of staff of the reserves force; GenRichard Rutatina, the head of military intelligence; division commander GenWilson Gumisiriza, and Col Dan Munyuza, external intelligence chief.

Rwanda hastwice invaded DR Congo saying it was fighting rebel groups based there - butits army has been accused of looting minerals during the conflict in which anestimated five million people died.

In the lasttwo years, several close military allies of Mr Kagame have gone into exilewhere they have been critical of his authoritarian style of rule.

Ethiopia forces thousands off land - Human Rights Watch

2012-01-17T02:39:00.000-08:00

BBC News, 17January 2012

RelatedStories

Many Ethiopian farmers struggle to survive
on what they can grow

Ethiopia'sgovernment has been accused of forcing tens of thousands of people off theirland so it can be leased to foreign investors.

US-basedHuman Rights Watch says people are being forcibly relocated to new villagesthat lack adequate food, farmland and facilities.

Ethiopiahas already leased out more than 3.6 million hectares (8.8m acres) of land - anarea the size of The Netherlands - HRW says.

Addis Ababarejects HRW's allegations.

"HumanRights Watch has wrongly alleged the villagisation programme to be unpopularand problematic," government spokesman Bereket Simon told Reuters newsagency.

"Thereis no evidence to back the claim. This programme is taking place with the fullpreparation and participation of regional authorities, the government andresidents," he said.

'Weaker andweaker'

HRW says ithas evidence that some 70,000 indigenous people were relocated against theirwill to new villages that "lack adequate food, farmland, healthcare andeducational facilities".

The groupsaid it spoke to more than 100 people in May and June last year for the report.

"Myfather was beaten for refusing to go along [to the new village] with some otherelders," a former villager told HRW.

"Hesaid: 'I was born here - my children were born here - I am too old to move so Iwill stay'. He was beaten by the army with sticks and the butt of a gun.

"Hehad to be taken to hospital. He died because of the beating - he just becameweaker and weaker."

Thegovernment has said in the past that all the moves are voluntary, the newvillages will have adequate infrastructure and everyone who moves will be givenassistance to help their transition to a new livelihood.

But HRWsays many of the new villages have no access to government services at all, andpeople are arriving at the worst time of year - the beginning of the harvest -to find the land has not been cleared and prepared for growing.

"Thegovernment failure to provide food assistance for relocated people has causedendemic hunger and cases of starvation," HRW says.

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Kuwait Police Abused Transgender Women: HRW

2012-01-15T12:26:00.000-08:00

Jakarta Globe, January 15,2012

Rasha Moumneh, researcher for the Middle East and North Africa Human
Rights Watch (HRW), speaks during a press conference in Kuwait City on
Sunday, where HRW accused Kuwaiti police of torturing and sexually abusing
transgender women and called on the Gulf state to hold officers accountable.
(AFP Photo)

Relatedarticles

KuwaitCity. Human Rights Watch on Sunday accused Kuwaiti police of torturing andsexually abusing transgender women and called on the Gulf state to holdofficers accountable.

In areport, the New York-based group said that police have been using a “discriminatory”amendment to the penal code passed by parliament in 2007 which arbitrarilycriminalizes “imitating the opposite sex.”

Transgenderwomen are individuals who are born male but identify themselves as female.

Thearbitrary and ill-defined provisions of the law have allowed numerous abuses totake place against them, said the 63-page report based on interviews with 40transgender women, as well as with interior ministry officials, lawyers,doctors, and members of civil society.

Theaccusations were based on the accounts of the 40 victims “all of whom gavealmost a similar story on what they faced,” Rasha Moumneh, HRW’s Middle Eastand North Africa researcher, told a press conference in Kuwait City.

“We havemet with officials from the interior ministry ... and presented the findings tothem but have not yet received any response,” Moumneh said, adding that HumanRights Watch does not know the exact number of transgender women in Kuwait.

Kuwaitipolice have a free rein to determine whether a person’s appearance constitutes“imitating the opposite sex,” without any specific criteria being laid down forthe offence, the report said.

Transgenderwomen reported being arrested even when they were wearing male clothes and thenlater being forced by police to dress in women’s clothing.

In somecases documented by Human Rights Watch, transgender women said police arrestedthem because they had a “soft voice” or “smooth skin.”

“No one —regardless of his or her gender identity — deserves to be arrested on the basisof a vague, arbitrary law and then abused and tortured by police,” Sarah LeahWhitson, HRW’s Middle East director, said in a statement.

“TheKuwaiti government has a duty to protect all of its residents, including groupswho face popular disapproval, from brutal police behavior and the applicationof an unfair law,” the statement said.

Abusesinclude degrading and humiliating treatment, such as being forced to strip andparaded around police stations, being forced to dance for officers, sexualhumiliation, verbal taunts and intimidation, HRW said.

“In severalcases, Human Rights Watch found that police officers took advantage of the lawto blackmail transgender women into sex,” the report said.

Redress forthese violations was difficult for fear of retribution and re-arrest, said therights watchdog.

“HRW callson the Kuwaiti government to repeal the amendment to article 198, criminalizingimitating the opposite sex,” the report said.

Pendingrepeal of the law, the interior ministry should issue a moratorium on arrestsof individuals and the government also should work to protect transgenderindividuals, it said.

Agence France-Presse

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Equality now!

The Jakarta Post | Sat, 12/03/2011

A group of participants march in front of their gay pride flag during the annual

Pride March in Manila, Philippines, Saturday. Lesbians, gays, bisexual and

transgenders called for the urgent need to pass the anti-discrimination bill

and for government protection from hate crimes committed against them.

(AP/Pat Roque)