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ABUJA (AFP) – Nigeria's government will open talks with an Islamist sect blamed for scores of deadly bomb blasts and shootings in the northeast, a federal government statement said Saturday.
The panel will negotiate with the Boko Haram sect and report back to the government on or before August 16, the statement from the office of the secretary of the federal government said.
President Goodluck Jonathan has named the seven members of the panel, including the ministers of defence and labour as well as the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, which encompasses Abuja, the statement added.
Describing the panel's duties, it said they would include acting “as a liaison between the federal government … and Boko Haram and to initiate negotiations with the sect.”
It would also work with the national security adviser to ensure the country's security forces were acting with “professionalism,” the statement said.
A police-military task force in the northeastern city of Maiduguri, where most of the violence has occurred, has been accused of carrying out raids in recent weeks that have left dozens dead and residents' homes burnt.
The panel will be inaugurated on Tuesday, the statement said.
The decision to negotiate with the sect is almost sure to be controversial.
Many people have argued against such a move, objecting in particular to any suggestion the Islamists be given an amnesty similar to that provided to militants in the oil-producing Niger Delta.
Jonathan appointed the panel after meeting with leaders from the mainly Muslim north earlier this month, the statement said.
Nigeria's northeast, particularly Maiduguri, has seen almost daily bomb blasts and shootings in recent weeks blamed on the sect.
The sect has claimed to be fighting for the establishment of an Islamic state in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation of 150 million people split roughly in half between Christians and Muslims.
Boko Haram launched an uprising in 2009 put down by a brutal military assault that left hundreds dead.
It seemed to re-emerge last year with assassinations by gunmen on motorcycles of police, soldiers, politicians and community leaders.
Bomb blasts have become more common in recent months, with most occurring in Maiduguri, though an explosion ripped through a car park at police headquarters in the capital Abuja last month and several blasts have occurred in Suleija, near the capital.
There has been intense speculation over whether some of the violence has been politically linked and if the sect has received support from Islamist groups outside of Nigeria.
The DR Congo conflict has become notorious for the sexual abuse of women and girls
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DR Congo: Dreaming of Democracy
Justice but no peace
Rape dilemma
Can rainforests survive logging?
50 years of chaos
An army colonel accused of mass rape in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has surrendered to the military.
A military spokesman said Col Nyiragire “Kifaru” Kulimushi gave himself up with more than 150 of his fighters, who are also accused of mass rape.
Last month, about 100 women accused former rebels who had been integrated into the army of sexually abusing them in DR Congo's South Kivu province.
A UN envoy last year called DR Congo the “rape capital of the world”.
The 16 years of unrest in eastern DR Congo have become notorious for the widespread sexual abuse of women and young girls.
Army spokesman Lt Col Vianney Kazarama told the BBC that Col Kifaru had surrendered after coming out of the bush in his eastern stronghold.
“There were 150 of them, with their weapons – including heavy weapons,” he said.
‘Men raped’
Lt Col Kazarama said Col Kifaru and his men would stay at an army base, until the military and the UN officials in DR Congo conclude a joint investigations into the mass rape allegations.
The soldiers are accused of raping women and looting villages near the South Kivu town of Fizi between 10 and 12 June.
Col Kifaru had earlier deserted from a military training centre to protest against the reorganisation of the local military command.
The UN said the rapes highlighted poor discipline in the army, and the failure to properly vet rebels integrated into the army following a peace deal to end years of unrest.
Troops from Col Kifaru's group were recently convicted of raping at least 50 women in Fizi on New Year's Day.
Nine of those men, including Col Kifaru's deputy Lt Col Kibibi Mutware, were later found guilty of crimes against humanity and jailed.
Earlier this week, the UN released its findings into the mass rapes that took place last July and August when militiamen attacked villages in the Walikale area of North Kivu province within miles of a UN base.
It said the rapes of 387 people, including 44 children and 23 men, could constitute crimes against humanity.
Only one person has been indicted in connection with the case and the UN said the government needed to do more to bring the perpetrators to justice and to provide protection for victims and witnesses.
DR Congo's justice minister said he had given orders for criminal proceedings into the rapes.
RABAT (AFP) – Morocco's King Mohammed VI called Saturday for speedy elections and the reopening of his country's border with Algeria in his first throne speech since a referendum voted to curb some of his prerogatives.
In the July 1 referendum, more than 98 percent of Moroccans approved a set of political reforms backed by the king following a series of youth-led, pro-democracy demonstrations in several cities.
In the annual speech on the anniversary of his 1999 coronation, the king said elections should be held soon, warning that any delay threatened the “dynamic of confidence” generated by the reforms.
The date of the upcoming elections is a subject of regular negotiations between the interior ministry and the country's political parties but has remained undetermined so far.
“Political parties are asked to redouble their efforts in favour of the reconciliation of citizens, particularly the young, with political action,” he said, in a speech attended by civilian and military leaders, as well as foreign diplomats.
He called for the election of a new house of representatives to begin, “so that a new head of government can be named from the party which comes first.”
In transferring some of the monarchy's political powers to elected leaders, the king hoped to prevent contagion of the Arab Spring protests that have sent shockwaves across the region.
But the political climate in Morocco remains tense and rather than satisfying the democratic aspirations of protesters the July 1 referendum fuelled popular demands for greater social justice.
Thousands of people gathered in several cities on July 17 for rallies demanding more sweeping reforms of the Arab world's oldest reigning monarchy.
Morocco's youth-based February 20 movement, which has spearheaded the pro-democracy protests, has called for fresh rallies on Sunday to continue pressing for a parliamentary monarchy.
Faced with persistent political tensions at home, the king also said it was time to improve relations with neighbouring Algeria.
He advocated reopening a border that was closed in 1994 following a Islamist militant attack in Marrakesh that Morocco blamed on the Algerian secret services.
“We are keen to launch a new open dynamic on resolving all remaining problems, as a prelude to total normalisation of bilateral relations… including the reopening of terrestrial borders,” the king said.
Tensions in the border region occasionally flare and last week a clash between Moroccan border guards and armed men coming from Algeria left one soldier dead.
Relations between Morocco and Algeria have also been strained by the long-running dispute over the Western Sahara.
Morocco's 1975 annexation of the territory, a former Spanish colony, sparked a war between its forces and Algerian-backed Polisario guerrillas.
The two sides agreed to a ceasefire in 1991 but UN-sponsored talks on Western Sahara's future have since made no headway.
Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika congratulated the king on his 12-year rule, which has seen improved ties between the countries, said a statement published by the APS news agency prior to the monarch's address.
But a spokesman for Algeria's National Liberation Front (FLN), one of the country's main political parties, said following the speech that declarations on improving ties usually came with “nothing concrete” to back them up.
Kassa Aissi told AFP the party was committed to “more fruitful” relations with the Moroccan people.
Since independence from Portugal in 1975, Mozambique has been battered by civil war, economic mismanagement and famine.
A peace deal in 1992 ended 16 years of civil war, and the country has made much progress in economic development and political stability.
Portugal began to colonise the area that became Mozambique in the early 16th century. An anti-authoritarian coup in 1974 in Portugal ended colonial rule and its ten-year war with the Frelimo independence movement.
Mozambican support for armed groups fighting the white-minority rule governments in Rhodesia and South Africa led to those two countries sponsoring the Renamo movement, which fought Frelimo in the 1977-1992 civil war.
This conflict, combined with Rhodesian and South African intervention and central economic planning by the Marxist leadership of Frelimo left the country in chaos. About a million people died in the civil war and millions more fled abroad or to other parts of the country.
An attempt to secure a ceasefire with South Africa in the Nkomati Accord of 1984 broke down, and the government and Renamo eventually began talks brokered first by Christian groups and then by the United Nations. Frelimo inaugurated a new constitution in 1990 that enshrined free elections, and both sides signed the resulting Rome Peace Accords of 1992.
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At a glance
Politics: Frelimo party has been in power since independence from Portugal in 1975
Economy: Critics complain that Mozambique is pursuing capital-intensive, showpiece mega-projects that generate little social benefit; natural disasters have slowed post-civil war reconstruction
International: Mozambican UN peacekeepers have served in Burundi
Frelimo has won all subsequent elections, some of which have been disputed by Renamo and smaller opposition groups. Political life has nonetheless remained stable, with Renamo continuing to work within the constitutional system.
Foreign investors are showing interest in Mozambique's untapped oil and gas reserves, and titanium mining is a growing source of revenue. Most of the population works the land, however, and infrastructure nationwide still suffers from colonial neglect, war and under-investment.
The economy suffered serious setbacks when in 2000 and 2001 Mozambique was hit by floods which affected about a quarter of the population and destroyed much of its infrastructure.
Furthermore, in 2002 a severe drought hit many central and southern parts of the country, including previously flood-stricken areas. Poverty remains widespread, with more than 50% of Mozambicans living on less than $1 a day.
Kakenya Ntaiya has been a member of the Vital Voices Global Leadership Network since 2007. She is an active participant in multiple programs run by the organization across Africa and around the world. Her story has inspired countless others with its messages of determination and hope. To raise your vital voice, go to: vitalvoices.org Design and Animation for this film are by Pistachios at Blacklist. The music is by Dan Radlauer. Vital Voices Global Partnership is a leading non-governmental organization that identifies, invests in and brings visibility to extraordinary women leaders around the world. An international staff and team of over 1000 partners, pro bono experts and leaders, including senior government, corporate and NGO executives, have trained and mentored more than 8000 emerging women leaders from 127 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East since 1997. These women have returned to their communities to train and mentor more than 500000 additional women and girls. They are the Vital Voices of our time. A special thanks to Vital Voices board member, Diane von Furstenberg, for lending her voice to bring attention to the vital voices of so many others.
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TRIPOLI (AFP) – Libya said three journalists were killed in a NATO air strike on state television on Saturday and that the murder of the rebels' army chief proved Al-Qaeda was instigating the country's armed revolt.
“Three of our colleagues were murdered and 15 injured while performing their professional duty as Libyan journalists,” said Khaled Basilia, director of Al-Jamahiriya television's English-language service.
He branded the air strike “an act of international terrorism and in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.”
Earlier, NATO in Brussels announced it had carried out precision strikes on three Libyan television transmitters to silence “terror broadcasts” by Moamer Kadhafi's regime.
“NATO conducted a precision air strike that disabled three ground-based Libyan state TV satellite transmission dishes in Tripoli… with the intent of degrading Kadhafi?s use of satellite television as a means to intimidate the Libyan people and incite acts of violence against them,” the alliance said.
“In light of our (UN) mandate to protect civilian lives, we had to act. After due consideration and careful planning to minimize the risks of casualties or long-term damage to television transmission capabilities, NATO performed the strike,” he said.
But Basilia said the channel posed no threat to civilians. “We are not a military target, we are not commanders in the army and we do not pose threat to civilians,” he insisted.
“We are performing our job as journalists representing what we wholeheartedly believe is the reality of NATO's aggression and the violence in Libya,” Basilia said.
Libyan rebels, meanwhile, probed the killing of their army chief, General Abdel Fatah Yunis.
“The NTC has appointed an investigative committee and we will publish all the facts of this investigation,” said Ali Tarhuni, who handles economic affairs for the rebel National Transitional Council.
Yunis was the faithful right-hand man of Kadhafi, participating in the 1969 coup that brought him to power, before defecting to the rebels fighting to oust the strongman since February.
Tarhuni said Yunis's bullet-ridden and partly burned body was found early on Friday on Benghazi's outskirts, but that the NTC had received news of his death late on Thursday when the head of a militia behind the crime confessed.
“The head of the militia is imprisoned now,” Tarhuni said, adding that some of the perpetrators, who he said belonged to Jirah Ibn al-Obeidi brigade, were yet to be incarcerated, and the motive for the killing remained unclear.
Tripoli pinned the blame squarely on Al-Qaeda and argued the killing exposed the impotence of the NTC.
“By this act, Al-Qaeda wanted to mark out its presence and its influence in this region” of eastern Libya controlled by the rebels, regime spokesman Mussa Ibrahim told reporters in Tripoli.
“The other members of the National Transitional Council knew about it but could not react because they are terrified of Al-Qaeda,” he added.
An AFP journalist in Tripoli said a dozen explosions shook the Libyan capital on Friday night — the latest of many blasts in a city which has been targeted almost daily by NATO air raids.
The alliance, in its daily update, said warplanes also hit 13 military targets in the strategic oil town of Brega and 12 in Zliten, west of the rebel-held city of Misrata, among a total of 56 strike sorties on Friday.
Yunis's death, and that of two officers with him, left the rebels facing a military leadership crisis on the same day they made fresh gains in the western Nafusa mountain range.
The United States urged the rebels to stand united and stay focused on ousting Kadhafi, and blamed the veteran Libyan leader for creating the conditions that led to the murder.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the rebels should “work both diligently and transparently to ensure the unity of the Libyan opposition.”
The assassination of Yunis, Libya's former interior minister, sparked speculation he had been killed as a traitor by one of the two warring camps or as a form of revenge for his past role in crushing the Islamists.
A senior opposition figure in the rebel capital of Benghazi accused Kadhafi of playing a role in the murder in an attempt to press rebels to back off from Brega.
Yunis was killed as he returned to Benghazi from the front line near Brega on the orders of the NTC. “Whoever took part in this crime will be brought to justice no matter who they are,” Tarhuni said.
The unity of rebels in the east — where there are more than 30 brigades — is crucial for the many Western powers which have recognised the NTC as the sole legitimate authority in Libya.
WASHINGTON (AFP) – US envoys held a rare meeting with representatives of Moamer Kadhafi's regime over the weekend and urged the Libyan strongman to cede power, a US official said Monday.
The one-off meeting on Saturday came a day after the United States and other Western and regional powers recognized the rebel Transitional National Council as Libya's legitimate authority.
US officials “met with regime representatives to deliver a clear and firm message that the only way to move forward is for Kadhafi to step down,” the US official said in Washington on condition of anonymity.
“This was not a negotiation. It was the delivery of a message,” the official said.
“We have no plans to meet again, because the message has been delivered,” she said.
Another US official, who was traveling with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in India, said that the meeting included Jeffrey Feltman, the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, and Gene Cretz, who is the US ambassador to Libya but has left the country.
The official would not say who was on Kadhafi's side or where the meeting took place, other than that it was outside of Libya. CNN, quoting a spokesman for Kadhafi's regime in Libya, said the talks took place in neighboring Tunisia.
Kadhafi, who has ruled Libya for four decades, has been hanging on to power despite rebel advances and four months of NATO-led bombings.
Western and regional powers, in the fourth so-called contact group meeting on Libya, agreed Friday in Istanbul to consider the rebels as the country's legitimate rulers — a move that gives them access to vital funds.
The United States spoke with the rebels before speaking to Kadhafi's regime and they agreed that the meeting was “the right step to take,” said the US official who was traveling with Clinton.
The US official in Washington said that the United States wanted to express major powers' views “directly and unequivocally” in the aftermath of the talks in Istanbul.
“The message was simple and unambiguous and the same message we deliver in public — Kadhafi must leave power so that a new political process can begin that reflects the will and aspirations of the Libyan people,” she said.
The United States and Libya exchanged ambassadors in 2009 after a break of 36 years as the two countries tried to repair relations that had long been clouded by Western suspicions that Kadhafi supported terrorism.
But Kadhafi's relations with the West rapidly deteriorated after he launched an assault on rebels. The US embassy in Tripoli shut operations on February 25 when Washington imposed sanctions and froze the regime's assets.
Libyan rebels have reported advances in recent days and said Monday that they were in control of the refinery town of Brega. But Kadhafi's forces insisted that they had repulsed the assault.
WELLINGTON (AFP) – The All Blacks carved up an under-strength Springbok side to open their Tri-Nations account with an emphatic 40-7 victory at Westpac Stadium in Wellington on Saturday.
They scored six tries to one in the runaway win as they exposed the inexperience of the South African line-up.
A week after being humbled 39-20 by Australia, the Springboks slumped even further as they found themselves comprehensively outplayed in the forwards and could not cope with the speed and width of the All Black backs.
The New Zealanders stepped up several levels with a far more controlled performance from the decidedly rusty shake-down against Fiji last week.
Coach Graham Henry rated the performance at 70 percent and saw the biggest improvement in the work of the forwards.
“The lineout was very fluent tonight and obviously the boys got scrum dominance as the game went on and we played well at the breakdown. They were the areas last week where we were not as effective as we should have been.”
McCaw said he could feel a greater intensity in the All Blacks but they could not afford to get carried away by the 33-point winning margin.
“It was not a complete performance. We've still got to make sure we don't think we are good enough yet because at times we got things wrong and turned the ball over.”
With 21 key players left at home because of injury, the Springboks were always going to struggle, particularly in the forwards where the more experienced All Blacks feasted on a regular supply of turnover ball.
Springboks captain John Smit and backrower Danie Rossouw worked tirelessly to provide some opposition in the forwards but could not contain the All Blacks loose pairing of Richie McCaw and Adam Thomson.
With conditions ripe for running rugby, the All Blacks then focused on moving the ball wide where wings Cory Jane and Zac Guildford scored two tries each, and prop Wyatt Crockett also scored his try out towards the touchline.
Smit said his side was disappointed with their performance, especially being on the back foot so early in the game and never being in a position to recover.
“We'll try to pull as many positives as we can out of it. But at the end of the day it's disappointing,” he said.
With only four of the Springboks starting 15 having more than seven Test caps the inexperience showed as the All Blacks raced to an 18-7 lead by halftime, and added another 22 unanswered points in the second half.
In the process, McCaw overtook Smit as the most successful Test captain with his 52nd victory from 59 Tests.
It was also a record-breaking outing for All Blacks pivot Dan Carter, who suffered an off-night with the boot missing four shots at goal but still contributed 10 points to become the top all-time points scorer in Test rugby with 1204, nine clear of England's Jonny Wilkinson.
Carter opened the scoring with an early penalty and the All Blacks stamped their mark on the game soon after with two quick tries.
Crockett bagged the first when the Springboks ran out of defenders as the All Blacks over-stretched them by repeatedly moving the ball from one side of the field to the other.
From the restart, Ali Williams claimed the ball uncontested, it was chipped over the Springbok backs where the All Blacks were able to regather and Guildford scampered 40 metres to score.
South Africa enjoyed a brief period in control midway through the half and scored their sole try when Morne Steyn turned down a shot at goal from 38 metres and kicked for the corner.
They won the lineout and a series of forward drives eventually broke the All Black defence with Smit crashing over near the posts for Steyn to convert.
But they had little time to celebrate as the All Blacks struck back with Jane breaking free down the right wing and stepping around Steyn to score in the corner.
South Africa made an aggressive start to the second half but they no sooner looked threatening than they turned the ball over and promptly found themselves a further seven points down.
Carter exposed the limited defence on a long run which ended with Ma'a Nonu held up over the line in the left corner. From the resulting scrum Jane was able to stroll across the line unopposed on the right wing.
Guildford scored his second try when Sonny Bill Williams came on as a midfield replacement and created a hole with one of his trade-mark offloads.
The All Blacks rounded off their scoring with a planned backline move which put replacement Colin Slade over for a try.
The kingdom of Swaziland is one of the world's last remaining absolute monarchies.
Its king rules by decree over his million subjects, most of whom live in the countryside and follow traditional ways of life.
The power of the throne, however, has not gone unchallenged.
King Mswati III, on the throne since 1986, is upholding the tradition of his father, King Sobhuza II, who reigned for almost 61 years and had scores of wives.
King Sobhuza scrapped the constitution in 1973 and banned political parties.
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At a glance
Politics: King Mswati III – on the throne since 1986 – rules by decree and says the country is not yet ready for multi-party politics
Economy: Thousands have lost their jobs as garment and sugar export industries have lost trading concessions
International: Swaziland has diplomatic ties with Taiwan rather than China
King Mswati has shown no enthusiasm for sharing power, but banned opposition parties and trade unions have been vocal in their demands for greater democracy and limits on the king's power.
With peaceful change in neighbouring South Africa and Mozambique, Swaziland has been described as an island of dictatorship in a sea of democracy. Royalists have argued that democracy creates division, and that a monarch is a strong unifying force.
A long-awaited constitution, signed by the king in 2005 and introduced in 2006, cemented his rule.
Swaziland is virtually homogenous, most of the population being of the same tribe. Economically, it relies on South Africa, which receives almost half of Swazi exports and supplies most of its imports.
Many Swazis live in chronic poverty and food shortages are widespread.
Aids is taking a heavy toll. With an adult HIV prevalence of 26 percent in 2007, Swaziland has the most severe level of infection in the world. The virus has killed many workers and farmers and has created thousands of orphans. Life expectancy has plummeted.