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  • AU Special Summit to Debate Cutting Links with ICC

    AU Special Summit to Debate Cutting Links with ICC

    {{The African Union will hold an extraordinary summit this week to discuss its continued cooperation with the International Criminal Court (ICC).}}

    Diplomats say member states of the court, which was founded primarily to try genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, are expected to discuss a possible united pullout from the ICC.

    African countries account for 34 of the 122 parties to have ratified the Rome Statute, the court’s founding treaty, which took effect on July 1, 2002.

    But the ICC is instead urging African states, who appear unhappy about the handling of the cases of Kenya’s leaders, to instead register their grievances with the Assembly of State Parties who are signatories to the Rome Statute, instead of resorting to the AU.

    The 15th extraordinary AU summit will be held October 11 and 12 in Addis Ababa at the request of Kenya and Mauritania with only two items on the table for discussion.

    The meeting comes exactly a month to the opening of the trial of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta at The Hague for crimes against humanity.

    As such, its resolutions would be closely studied, including whether the African Union would actually change the tenor or its relations with the ICC.

    According to the draft agenda, on the first day of the AU meeting, delegates are expected to discuss Africa’s relationship with the ICC and the election of the Commissioner for Peace and Security.

    Among those listed to speak during the opening session will be AU Commission chairperson Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and Ethiopia’s foreign minister Tedros Adhanom before the delegates go into private discussions that will last approximately six and half hours.

    The second item on the agenda would be the election and appointment of the Commissioner for Peace and Security.

    The meeting takes place behind closed doors with the executive council of the foreign ministers attending on the first day of the meeting.

    The Heads of State will then meet the following day to ratify the decisions of their ministers. Dr Dlamini-Zuma says 35 of 54 countries have confirmed attendance.

    {{‘Not judicial’}}

    The second day of the summit of the Heads of State will also be in closed session, except the opening remarks by Dr Dlamini-Zuma and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn who is also AU chairperson.

    However, the ICC believes the best forum for the discussion would be an assembly of signatories to the Rome Statute.

    “It is important to discuss openly all the issues that are in the mind of the leaders. We believe that the best place for that would be within the Assembly of State Parties of the Rome Statute because this is not a judicial discussion,” ICC spokesman Fadi el-Abdallah said.

    Mr Abdallah added that ICC was not targeting any particular person but working in the interest of victims.

    “We want to highlight that the ICC is intervening to protect the victims and not to target the accused. We need to always remember that there are thousands and thousands of victims and this is for whom the ICC is intervening and for the future generations because we need to stop the repetition of such crimes and the only way to stop that is to show that justice is taking its own course,” Mr Abdallah said.

    The AU endorsed a resolution supporting the referral of the ICC cases against President Kenyatta, his deputy William Ruto and journalist Joshua back to Kenya.

    Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi,and Eritrea have appealed to have Mr Ruto excused from continuous presence during the trials but this was rejected.

    The ICC maintains that it is not targeting Africa as a continent, pointing out that many of the cases under investigation in Africa were referred to the court by the countries themselves.

    NMG

  • Botswana Named ‘Most Prosperous Country in Africa’

    Botswana Named ‘Most Prosperous Country in Africa’

    {{Botswana has been ranked as the most prosperous economy in Africa for the second year in a row in the 2013 Legatum Institute Prosperity Index}}

    According to a report Insight on Africa prepared by the Legatum Institute, South Africa and Morocco occupy the first and second runners up positions, respectively. South Africa moved up one notch from last year’s rankings displacing Morocco to the third spot.

    The prosperity index report on Africa ranked 38 countries in the continent based on their overall level of prosperity according to national wealth and wellbeing in eight sub-categories.

    It investigated changing demographics, safety, and corruption in the continent, among other parameters.

    The report revealed that only 26 per cent of the people in Botswana felt that their government was not doing enough to address the poverty crisis. It is the least when compared with the other African countries.

    Botswana scored well in both the governance and the entrepreneurship and opportunity sub-indices, the report stated.

    In Rwanda, about 34 per cent of the general masses felt that the government was not doing enough to address poverty in the country.

    This year Senegal and Rwanda have risen up in rankings and come into the top ten, occupying the eighth and ninth positions, respectively, while Zambia moves into the 10th position from 12th last year.

    Legatum Institute member Professor Daniel Chirot said, “Countries like Botswana have small populations and low population densities, which could be part of the reason why they have proved to be more politically stable states.

    In parallel, people are competing for space in countries like Rwanda, Nigeria and Uganda.”

    Legatum Prosperity Index programme director Nathan Gamester said, “High growth rates, declining poverty, substantial improvements in health, educational enrolment and attainment, a reduction in internal and cross-border conflicts, and an increase in the number of democracies over the past 20 years all point towards a continent that has reached a tipping point.”

    He added, however, that to continue their progress, African states need to undertake further reforms, build better institutions, and improve education and infrastructure.

    “Good governance and a supportive business environment remain crucial for building a prosperous country. As such, our hope is that growing prosperity across the region will empower the people of Africa to demand more from their governments and institutions, enabling them to progress yet further on the path to prosperity,” Gamester said.

    wirestory

  • Zimbabwe Shuts Door on Hostile Countries

    Zimbabwe Shuts Door on Hostile Countries

    Zimbabwe government has said it’s fed up with the lack of sincerity by Western countries in their dealings with Zimbabwe and will no longer pursue re-engagement with hostile countries until they lift the illegal sanctions which continue bleeding the economy, Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi ({pictured}) has said.

    He said Zimbabwe was not happy with the West’s intransigence and lack of objectivity as evidenced by their refusal to endorse the July 31 harmonised elections as credible despite that the rest of the world declared the polls as peaceful, free, fair and credible.

    Ahead of the elections, there was a flurry of delegations from Western nations talking re-engagement with the EU going as far as pronouncing that it would be guided by Sadc’s verdict on the elections.

    The African Union, Sadc, Comesa, the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries as well as over 40 countries worldwide have since endorsed the elections as free, fair, peaceful, credible and reflective of the will of Zimbabweans.

    While the EU has since moved to remove diamond companies from its sanctions list, the US, Britain and its dominions of Australia and Canada — that have traditionally sponsored the MDC-T — are still smarting from the MDC-T’s heavy drubbing and refuse to endorse the harmonised elections.

    In an interview with the media after officially opening a Ministry of Foreign Affairs strategic planning workshop at the Great Zimbabwe Hotel, Minister Mumbengegwi said there was no need for more negotiations with the West on sanctions because the embargo was unilaterally imposed in the first place.

    Minister Mumbengegwi said it was the West which is supposed to re-engage with Zimbabwe, not vice-versa.

    “Any country that does not want to accept the will of the people of Zimbabwe, that’s their own business. I am saying it clearly that there is nothing more to negotiate with them.

    “It’s not Zimbabwe which should re-engage the West, but it is the West that should re-engage Zimbabwe. We are not going to engage them anymore because it is them who unilaterally imposed sanctions on us and they should first unilaterally lift them.

    “What we are demanding first is the unconditional lifting of sanctions. We will not negotiate with them over sanctions because we never negotiated with them to impose the sanctions in the first place,’’ he said.

    The minister said the July 31 elections were one of the best polls to be held anywhere in the world, saying the handling was close to perfection.

    Minister Mumbengegwi said it was shocking that some Western countries went on to try to discredit the poll outcome even though they were not part of countries and organisations from around the world that observed them.

    “Our elections (July 31) were free, fair, and the most credible you will ever find in the whole world. We came almost close to perfection.

    “We never put a foot wrong in the conduct of those elections and it is strange that the West who were never part of the observers afterwards said the elections were not free and fair.

    “This shows that the West is not objective when it comes to Zimbabwe, especially when dealing with the country’s biggest political party Zanu-PF.

    “How could they say the elections were not free and fair when they did not observe them? Why not go by what observers from Africa and beyond said of the elections-that they were free and fair?’’ he said.

    Minister Mumbengegwi said Zimbabwe did not invite Western countries to observe the elections because those countries imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe in a futile bid to effect regime change and propel their local puppet political parties into power.

    Cde Mumbengegwi said the thunderous win by Zanu-PF and President Mugabe in the last harmonised election was a big statement by Zimbabweans that they do not want regime change in the country.

    He said the Zanu-PF Government would continue to strengthen ties with countries that have a friendly disposition towards such as India, China, Russia and Brazil among other emerging economies as part of ongoing efforts to improve the economy and fulfill Zanu-PF’s election promises to Zimbabweans.

    Cde Mumbengegwi described President Mugabe as a leader with unparalleled foresight because he was the first world leader to enunciate the Look East policy as part of measures to revive the economy.

    The economic power of the world has shifted to the East and even Western nations were now looking that side for economic salvation putting paid to allegations that President Mugabe enunciated the Look East policy as a desperate measure.

    Speaking at the same meeting Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Christopher Mutsvangwa said Zimbabwe should use its vast mineral resources such as gold, platinum and chrome to bargain for better deals with other countries saying the illegal sanctions could be defeated through use of those resources.

    Cde Mutsvangwa said the West imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe in a bid to remove the country from the economic nexus of the world to stifle growth and perpetuate rampant exploitation of the country’s resources by Western companies at the behest of their mother Governments.

    The Foreign Affairs ministry strategic planning workshop is expected to map specific targets and objectives over the next five years in line with Zimbabwe’s national strategic interests economically.

    herald

  • US Says ‘Will Never Stop’ Hunting Extremists

    US Says ‘Will Never Stop’ Hunting Extremists

    {{Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday said two high profile raids in Libya and Somalia showed the United States’ unflinching determination to hunt down those responsible for terrorism.}}

    “We hope that this makes clear that the United States of America will never stop in its effort to hold those accountable who conduct acts of terror,” he told reporters in the Indonesian island of Bali after Saturday’s raids.

    The action should also make clear that “those members of Al Qaeda and other terrorist organisations literally can run, but they can’t hide”, Kerry added.

    In Libya US forces seized a militant known as Abu Anas al Libi, a long sought Al Qaeda operative indicted in the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

    A separate raid was launched before dawn against a Shebab leader in the southern Somali port of Barawe. It failed to capture the senior militant and it was unclear whether he had been killed, but a US official said several Shebab members were slain.

    “We will continue to try and bring people to justice in the appropriate way with hopes that ultimately these kinds of activities against everybody in the world will stop,” the secretary of state said.

    Kerry was speaking in Benoa, a Bali fishing port, after inspecting a USAID development project during a break from meetings of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

    He also praised “the quality and courage” of the US personnel who took part in the raids.

    Libi, who was on the FBI’s most wanted list with a $5 million reward, was indicted in US federal court in New York for allegedly playing a key role in the east Africa bombings.

    The attacks left more than 200 people dead.

    His capture ended a 15 year manhunt for a key Al Qaeda operative, who was born under the name Nazih Abdul Hamed Al Raghie.

    It also paved the way for Libi, 49, to be brought to the United States to face trial.

    “Capture of Abu Anas al Libi would represent major blow against remnants of al Qaeda’s core,” Democratic Representative Adam Schiff, who serves on the House Intelligence Committee, wrote on Twitter.

    AFP

  • Ghanaian Arrested at Aiport in Kenya Trafficking Cocaine

    Ghanaian Arrested at Aiport in Kenya Trafficking Cocaine

    {{Kenya Police at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport have detained a Ghanaian man found trafficking Cocaine worth Sh4m to Benin.}}

    The 34-year-old man was arrested on Saturday night while connecting a flight to Benin on arrival from Sao Paulo, Brazil.

    “He displayed a peculiar character that clearly matched that of drug traffickers and that is when he was taken in for further interrogation and examination,” Airport CID chief Joseph Ngisa said.

    The suspect was found to have swallowed 48 pellets of Cocaine which he has since emitted.

    “He is still under observation before he is arraigned in court tomorrow,” Ngisa said.

    Police in Kenya have lately intensified the war against drug trafficking following President Uhuru Kenyatta’s directive.

    Two months ago, police deported over 30 Nigerian nationals suspected of involvement in drug trafficking in Kenya, including controversial businessman Antony Chinedu who had stayed in Kenya for several years and even acquired property.

    “We will allow them to turn our country to a drug haven. That is why I have ordered that all drug traffickers be deported to countries,” the president said.

    Three of those deported were however, arrested several weeks later after sneaking back.

    capitalFM

  • UN Experts ‘Begin Destroying Syria Stockpile’

    UN Experts ‘Begin Destroying Syria Stockpile’

    {{A team of disarmament inspectors in Syria have begun the process of destroying the country’s chemical weapons and production facilities, news reports say.}}

    A source in the international mission told media on Sunday that members of the team from the UN and The Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) “have left for a site where they are beginning verification and destruction”.

    “Today is the first day of destruction, in which heavy vehicles are going to run over and thus destroy missile warheads, aerial chemical bombs and mobile and static mixing and filling units,” the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added.

    Media said it had spoken to a UN official who confirmed that inspectors had begun destroying the stockpile.

    The official, who spoke to media on condition of anonymity, couldn’t confirm what specifically was destroyed, but said that by the end of Sunday, a combination of both weapons and some production equipment would be put out of order.

    wirestory

  • Four Suspects in Westgate Mall Attack Named

    Four Suspects in Westgate Mall Attack Named

    {{Kenya’s government said a Sudanese man trained by al Qaeda was among the leaders of a raid on a Nairobi shopping mall in which at least 67 people were killed, the worst attack in the country in 15 years.}}

    Al Qaeda-linked group al Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the assault two weeks ago on the Westgate centre, saying it was an act of revenge for Kenya’s military campaign in Somalia, but the identities of the gunmen have remained unclear.

    A Kenyan military spokesman on Saturday named four of the attackers, saying they also included a Kenyan Arab and a Somali.

    Closed-circuit television footage from the Westgate mall was broadcast on Kenyan television channels that appeared to show four men with guns walking around the mall’s supermarket and a storage room.

    Major Emmanuel Chirchir, the spokesman for the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), named the four as Abu Baara al-Sudani, Omar Nabhan, Khattab al-Kene and Umayr.

    “I confirm these were the terrorists. They all died in the raid,” Chirchir told Reuters, citing the findings of the KDF and national intelligence bodies.

    He said Al-Sudani, which means “The Sudanese”, was the leader of the group shown in the CCTV footage and was trained by al Qaeda.

    “He is an experienced fighter and sharpshooter,” he said.

    Nabhan, a Kenyan of Arab origin, was born in the coastal city of Mombasa and travelled to Somalia with his uncle at the age of 16, said Chirchir.

    Al-Kene was thought to be from the Somali capital Mogadishu, and was linked to country’s al Shabaab militants, he said.

    Umayr’s full name, nationality and background were “not yet identified”, Chirchir added.

    Kenya has said as many as 15 militants took part in the raid and the authorities were holding nine of them. The government said five of the attackers were killed, but survivors say some may have escaped.

    {agencies}

  • Tunisia Reaches Deal on Power Transfer

    Tunisia Reaches Deal on Power Transfer

    {{Tunisia’s political rivals agreed Saturday on a timetable for the unpopular Islamist-led ruling coalition to stand down and be replaced by a government of independents, ending a festering political crisis.}}

    The Islamist Ennahda party and opposition groups in the country that gave birth to the Arab Spring signed a roadmap aimed at creating a new government within three weeks.

    Saturday’s deal, signed in the presence of politicians and media, was brokered to end a simmering two-month crisis sparked by the assassination in July of opposition MP Mohamed Brahmi.

    The document, drawn up by four mediators, foresees the nomination of an independent prime minister by the end of next week, who would then have two weeks to form a cabinet.

    The ceremony got under way after a delay of several hours that underscored the mutual distrust between the rival camps.

    “I want to thank you for joining this dialogue because you are opening the door of hope for Tunisians,” said Houcine Abassi, whose UGTT trade union confederation was the lead mediator behind the roadmap.

    Delegates at the Palais des Congres said the launch of the hard-won dialogue with a symbolic ceremony had earlier been jeopardised by a last-minute dispute.

    The UGTT said Ennahda had initially refused to formally sign the text that underlines the timetable of the national dialogue.

    It was not immediately clear how it was resolved, but Ennahda leader Rached Ghannouchi on Twitter blamed the almost four-hour delay on “last-minute blackmail” by the opposition.

    wirestory

  • Djokovic beats Nadal for fourth China Open win

    Djokovic beats Nadal for fourth China Open win

    {{World number one Novak Djokovic overcame Spain’s Rafael Nadal in straight sets on Sunday to win the China Open and maintain a remarkable 100 percent record in the Beijing tournament.}}

    The defending champion, who has won the event the four times he has entered, was at his ruthless best to defeat Nadal 6-3, 6-4, a day before he is set to be unseated at the top of the world rankings by the number two Spaniard.

    The result was Nadal’s first hardcourt loss of the season.

    The second seed in Beijing only showed rare glimpses of the form that has seen him win 10 titles this year, with his Serbian opponent racing to a 3-0 lead in the first ten minutes.

    Top seed Djokovic then powered ahead, showing formidable power-hitting to take the first set 25 minutes later.

    The pair displayed incredible movement in the opening game of the second set, engaging in quickfire net-play, much to the delight of the crowd.

    Nadal came out on top of that duel, winning the point, but Djokovic took the game to break serve.

    Djokovic then kept his nerve, holding serve until the conclusion of the match on one hour 27 minutes.

    The victory represents a sweet one for Djokovic, who is spending his 101st week at number one, and will have his current streak of 48 weeks ended on Monday when the ATP announce its new rankings with Nadal at the top.

    The Spaniard only needed to make the final to unseat him.

    After the match, Djokovic congratulated Nadal on his achievement.

    “I have to say congratulations to Rafael because he deserves definitely to be number one of the world this year with the season that he has had,” he said in an interview on court.

    “He is the best player so far in 2013, there is no question about it.

    “I am just very happy to be able to continue to play well and hopefully I can maintain the rhythm.”

    Djokovic has been in dominant form at the China Open, where he has an unbeaten run stretching back to 2009. He did not attend in 2011.

    france24

  • South Africa’s Shocking Child Pregnancy Statistics

    South Africa’s Shocking Child Pregnancy Statistics

    {{In South Africa, the Annual Schools Survey by the Department of Basic Education has left children’s organisations shocked over new figures showing girls as young as eight are falling pregnant.}}

    According to South Africa’s newspaper, Sunday Times, the survey found that 582 girls between the ages of eight and 14 fell pregnant in 2010.

    They were among 36 702 school girls to fall pregnant. The highest school-girl pregnancy rate was in KwaZulu-Natal with 14 340 recorded gymslip moms.

    Jackie Schoeman, CEO of Cotlands, an NGO that provides early-learning opportunities to vulnerable children said the high number of child pregnancies were as a result of poverty and either single or no-parent households.

    However, Joan van Niekerk, manager of Childline’s national office, attributed the shocking statistics to sexual abuse in the home.

    – News24