IGIHE

Author: admin

  • Germany envoy visits Rwanda National Police

    Germany envoy visits Rwanda National Police

    {{The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Emmnauel K. Gasana, on Tuesday received in his office, His Excellency Peter Fahrenhotz, the Germany’s Ambassador to Rwanda.}}

    The visit aimed at strengthening the existing bilateral cooperation between Rwanda National Police and Germany.

    IGP Gasana expressed gratitude to the Germany Government for its continued cooperation support to Rwanda National Police in various fields.

    The Germany support is mainly in training especially in criminal investigation, traffic and forensic science.

    Through GIZ, the Germany government also supported the construction of the Peace Support Training Centre in Gishari, Rwamagana District, which conducts peacekeeping pre-deployment trainings for local and regional police officers.

    The Germany envoy pledged continued cooperation to accomplish the force’s mandate.

    source:RNP

  • Nairobi Attacker told kid, We are not Monsters

    Nairobi Attacker told kid, We are not Monsters

    {{One of the Islamist attackers besieging a Nairobi shopping mall handed chocolate to a 4-year-old British boy caught up in the crisis and asked for forgiveness, his uncle told a newspaper on Tuesday.}}

    Four-year-old Elliott Prior, who had been shopping with his mother and sister at the Westgate Mall when it came under attack on Saturday, confronted one of the militants, telling him “you’re a very bad man”, his uncle told The Sun.

    Alex Coutts said the attacker took pity on the family and allowed them to escape, handing the children Mars bars as he told them: “Please forgive me, we are not monsters”.

    Elliott and his sister Amelie, both clearly distraught, were later pictured outside the mall, clutching the chocolate as a dead body lay behind them.

    The Sun reported that their mother Amber, a film producer, had scooped up two other children – including a wounded 12-year-old whose mother had been murdered – and pushed them outside in a shopping trolley.

    “They had a lucky escape,” said Coutts.

    “The terrorists said if any kids were alive in the supermarket they could leave. Amber made a decision to stand up and say, ‘Yes’.

    “Then Elliott argued with them and called them bad men. He was very brave.

    “The terrorists even gave the kids Mars bars.”

    The family, who live in Nairobi, had been on a regular visit to a supermarket inside the mall.

    One of the militants told the children’s mother he only wanted to kill Kenyans and Americans, The Sun quoted her as saying.

    “He told me I had to change my religion to Islam and said, ‘Do you forgive us?’” she said.

    – AFP

  • ZIM Diamonds saga: Supreme Court speaks

    ZIM Diamonds saga: Supreme Court speaks

    {{A Zimbabwea court order used to release Ghanaian businessman Kingsley Attah Ghansah, who together with his business partner are involved in the US$6 million diamonds bribery case, is genuine and was issued above board, the Supreme Court said yesterday.}}

    Investigations by local media revealed that the original court order was filed with the courts and was issued procedurally.

    There were reports that Ghansah fled Zimbabwe after obtaining a fake High Court warrant of release.

    This was after Ghansah was convicted and jailed by Harare magistrate Mr Don Ndirowei for contravening the Gold Trade Act and was slapped with a five-year mandatory prison sentence last year.

    Supreme Court registrar Mr Walter Chikwana yesterday said Ghansah was released on genuine bail of US$10 000 which was still being held at the Harare Magistrates’ Court after being issued bail at the High Court by Justice Hlekani Mwayera.

    “The applicant was granted bail on 10 April, 2012, that is when he was released and there is a clear paper trail of what happened,” Mr Chikwana said.

    “From what is contained in the fake document, it was meant to facilitate the release of property stated, but all that property was never released to the appellant, except the passport.”

    Mr Chikwana said the US$33 000, the exhibit of 7,189kg of gold valued at US$323 745, was forfeited to the State.

    “The passport was returned to the applicant on the basis of variation of bail conditions order issued by a magistrates’ court and not the fake bond of release,” Mr Chikwana said.

    It has since emerged that the fake “bond of release” which is being peddled as the original one was date stamped October 16, 2012, long after Ghansah had been granted bail.

    “This order (which is being touted) was never issued by the High Court,” said Mr Chikwana.

    “It is not part of the record at the High Court and the record at the magistrates’ court. It is a fake document.”

    Mr Chikwana noted that it would have been improper for the lawyers and the Attorney General’s Office to place an application for variation of bail conditions issued by the High Court before the magistrate’s court.

    Ghansah was granted bail on April 5, 2012 at the High Court and was asked to deposit US$10 000 with the Clerk of Court, stay at number 24 McLaunghlin, Kensington in Harare until the determination of his appeal.

    He was also to surrender his passport and report once a week at Avondale Police Station.
    On May 10 2012, Ghansah’s lawyers appeared before a Harare magistrate applying for variation of bail conditions, which had been issued by the High Court.

    According to minutes of the record of proceedings at the magistrates court, chief law officer Mr Rodrick Tokwe wrote to the Area Public Prosecutor at the Harare Magistrate’s Court stating that they had received a request for a temporary release of Ghansah’s passport through his lawyers Govere Law Chambers.

    “The basis of the request is that the accused’s wife who is based in Ghana suffered maternity complications and gave birth to a child who suffers from Kenicterus and cannot travel,” read part of the letter by Mr Tokwe.

    The letter also stated that Ghansah’s status was resolved with the immigration authorities despite his conviction.

    It was further stated in the letter that Ghansah should give additional security before his passport could be released and one Fungai Katerere offered his vehicle a Toyota Altezza registration ACD6348 as surety for the duration Ghansah would be out of the country.

    “We are, therefore, requesting your office to cause this matter to be placed before the trial magistrate to take note of the request,” Mr Tokwe said in the letter.

    “In the event that the said surety is reasonable, we have no objection to accede to the temporary release of the accused’s passport as well as temporary relaxation of the bail conditions for the requested period.”

    Mr Tokwe in the letter also copied to deputy AG Mrs Florence Ziyambi, acting director public prosecutions Mr Tawanda Zvakare, chief law officer Mr Michael Mugabe and Mr M Dube and Govere Law Chambers also encouraged the Harare magistrate Area Public Prosecutor to assess the proposed conditions least they could have overlooked other conditions relevant to the request.

    Meanwhile, police said yesterday that they were still investigating the case of the US$6 million alleged corruption case which has also sucked in former Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation board chairman Mr Godwills Masimirembwa.

    Mr Masimirembwa is alleged to have demanded and received the US$6 million bribe from the Ghanaian firm, to which Ghansah was a partner, which sought to invest in diamond mining at the Chiadzwa diamond fields in Marange.

    herald

  • Quake kills 45, creates new island in sea

    Quake kills 45, creates new island in sea

    {{A major earthquake hit a remote part of western Pakistan on Tuesday, killing at least 45 people and prompting a new island to rise from the sea just off the country’s southern coast.}}

    Tremors were felt as far away as the Indian capital of New Delhi, hundreds of kilometers to the east, where buildings shook, as well as the sprawling port city of Karachi in Pakistan.

    The United States Geological Survey said the 7.8 magnitude quake struck 235km southeast of Dalbandin in Pakistan’s quake-prone province of Baluchistan, which borders Iran.

    The earthquake was so powerful that it caused the seabed to rise and create a small, mountain-like island about 600m off Pakistan’s Gwadar coastline in the Arabian Sea.

    Television channels showed images of a stretch of rocky terrain rising above the sea level, with a crowd of bewildered people gathering on the shore to witness the rare phenomenon.

    Officials said scores of mud houses were destroyed by aftershocks in the thinly populated mountainous area near the quake epicentre in Baluchistan, a huge barren province of deserts and rugged mountains.

    Abdul Qadoos, deputy speaker of the Baluchistan assembly, told Reuters that at least 30% of houses in the impoverished Awaran district had caved in.

    The local deputy commissioner in Awaran, Abdul Rasheed Gogazai, and the spokesperson of Pakistan’s Frontier Corps involved in the rescue effort said at least 45 people had been killed.

    In the regional capital of Quetta, officials said some areas appeared to be badly damaged but it was hard to assess the impact quickly because the locations were so remote.

    wirestory

  • Aggreko aids Tunisia to Meet Summer Power Demands

    Aggreko aids Tunisia to Meet Summer Power Demands

    {{Aggreko has delivered a 120MW temporary power package to Tunisia in an attempt to consolidate and secure local power supplies during the summers}}

    The additional generation capacity was placed at strategic locations across the country for a period of two months to act as a back-up for the Tunisian grid.

    The Aggreko plants helped ensure a consistent and reliable power supply throughout the summer when energy demands were at their highest.

    The contract, awarded by the Société Tunisienne d’Electricitié et du Gas (STEG), saw Aggreko install four separate power plants of 30MW each at Enfida, Mateur, Bouficha and El Jem.

    Aggreko claimed that the solution has helped to ensure a continuous supply of power to major population and industrial areas, while also supporting key tourist centres vital to the Tunisian economy.

    Aggreko North and West Africa managing director Christophe Jacquin said, “This project highlights Aggreko’s ability to not only provide large and complex power solutions to our customers but also our ability to do so both rapidly and for relatively short periods of time.

    “The tactical use of temporary power to address seasonal energy shortfalls is a valuable option for our large utility customers as it allows them to maintain critical supply while taking the steps to address the gaps in their generation and supply networks.”

    Africanreview

  • Uhuru: Siege Over, 3 Days of Mourning

    Uhuru: Siege Over, 3 Days of Mourning

    {{President Uhuru Kenyatta has declared that the siege at the Westgate mall is over, as he announced three days of national mourning in honour of those who lost their lives.}}

    Flags will fly at half mast during the mourning period.

    “It has not been easy for any of us least of all the affected; our losses are immense. To the honour and memory of those who lost their lives in this attack, I have declared three days of national mourning starting tomorrow (Wednesday) during which official flags will fly half mast throughout the country,” he announced.

    He disclosed that 61 civilians lost their lives, while six security personnel who went to the rescue of hostages died.

    He further said 62 survivors were admitted to hospitals in Nairobi whereas others had suffered trauma and mild injuries and had been discharged to receive counselling.

    The President said forensic teams had moved into the besieged mall to identify the five slain attackers as well as other bodies that may have been trapped inside the building.

    “Towards the end of the operation, three floors of the mall collapsed and there are still several bodied trapped including the terrorists,” the President regretted.

    He said the forensic team would help to ascertain the nationalities of the attackers, as he acknowledged – but declined to confirm – reports that some of the terrorists were British and American.

    “Intelligence reports had suggested that a British woman and two or three American citizens may have been involved in the attack. We cannot confirm the details at present but forensic experts are working to ascertain the nationalities of the terrorists,” he said.

    Earlier British High Commissioner Christian Turner while confirming that six of those who died in the attack were British nationals said he could not ascertain the nationality of the attackers but urged for patience as investigations continue.

    President Kenyatta pledged frequent updates to ensure everyone is informed on the happenings that have left the country in mourning after the Saturday attack.

    Eleven suspects were being held in relation to the attack.

    “I promise we shall have full accountability for the mindless destruction, deaths, pain, loss and suffering we have all undergone, these cowards will meet justice as well as their accomplices and patrons wherever they are,” he vowed.

    While he thanked leaders from other parts of the world who called to comfort and assist, the President urged Kenyans to continue praying and most importantly stay united amidst the attack.

    Security around Westgate mall remained tight and a no-go zone even for the media.

    Capitalfm

  • Nigeria tells U.N. Sparing no effort tackling terrorism ‘menace’

    Nigeria tells U.N. Sparing no effort tackling terrorism ‘menace’

    An Islamist insurgency in Nigeria’s northeast is challenging the country’s stability and every effort is being made to tackle the extremists with “due regard for fundamental human rights,” Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said on Tuesday.

    Violence has intensified over the past two months, as the Islamists – known as Boko Haram and linked to al Qaeda’s African wing – fight back against a military operation ordered by Jonathan in May to crush their 4-year-old rebellion.

    “The threat of terrorism in a few states in the northeastern part of our country has proven to be a challenge to national stability,” Jonathan told the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations.

    “We will spare no effort in addressing this menace,” he said. “We are therefore confronting it with every resource at our disposal with due regard for fundamental human rights and the rule of law.”

    Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission said in July that it had credible reports the country’s own forces carried out extra-judicial killings, torture, rape and arbitrary detention to quell the insurgency.

    Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other campaign groups have made similar allegations over the past three years.

    Thousands have been killed since Boko Haram launched its uprising in 2009, turning itself from a clerical movement opposed to Western culture into an armed militia.

    Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is sinful” in the northern Hausa language, wants to revive the medieval Islamic kingdoms that used to rule northern Nigeria, before its amalgamation with the largely Christian south by the British colonial authorities.

    They are seen as the gravest security threat to Africa’s top oil producer. Although Boko Haram’s activities are located hundreds of miles away from southern Nigeria’s oil fields, the group has bombed the capital Abuja at least three times, including a deadly attack on the United Nations’ Nigeria headquarters in 2011.

    reuters

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

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

    {{A British woman nicknamed the “white widow” has emerged as a possible suspect in Saturday’s deadly terrorist attack carried out by al Shabaab Islamic militants on the Westgate mall in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.}}

    Speculation over the involvement of Samantha Lewthwaite, the wife of one of the suicide bombers who carried out the London 7/7 attacks, was fuelled by comments made by Kenya’s Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed on Monday, in which she said that a British woman was one of the attackers.

    “From the information that we have, two or three Americans [were involved] and I think, so far, I have heard of one Brit… a woman … and I think she has done this many times before,” she told the PBS NewsHour programme.

    Should the minister’s comments prove accurate, Lewthwaite, who has been previously linked to terrorist activity and is wanted by Kenyan police over an alleged plot to bomb the country’s coast, would appear a likely suspect.

    The daughter of a British soldier, Lewthwaite, 29, appears to have enjoyed an ordinary upbringing in the English market town of Aylesbury, around 45 miles northwest of London.

    She first came to the attention of the British media in the wake of the July 7 bombings in London in 2005, which killed 52 people. Her husband, Germaine Lindsay, was one of four suicide bombers involved in the attack.

    She met Jamaican-born Lindsay in an internet chatroom at the age of 17, two years after she converted to Islam.

    Pregnant with the couple’s second child at the time, Lewthwaite initially seemed appalled by her husband’s actions.

    “I totally condemn and am horrified by the atrocities which occurred in London,” she said, describing Lindsay as “a good and loving husband and a brilliant father, who showed absolutely no sign of doing this atrocious crime”.

    The ‘myth’ of Samantha Lewthwaite

    However, in the years following 7/7, media reports have linked Lewthwaite with a number of attacks across the Horn of Africa and named her as a prominent member of al Shabaab, earning her the nickname “white widow” in the press.

    In February 2012 it was reported that Kenyan police were hunting for Lewthwaite after finding a fake passport containing her picture during a raid on a house linked to terrorist activity, while in August 2013 she was accused of orchestrating a grenade attack on a bar in Mombasa.

    But while she is “undoubtedly involved in some way” with al Shabaab, “there is not a great deal of information” on Lewthwaite’s exact activities in recent years, Shiraz Meher said.

    “She pops up periodically from time to time across the Horn of Africa. But there’s very little in the way of concrete facts,” he said.

    But whether or not she has been directly involved in any terrorist acts, her importance to al Shabaab and the wider Jihadist movement is more symbolic, says Meher.

    “The first thing is that she’s a convert to Islam, she’s white, English. She has great propaganda value.

    “And her husband was a July 7 bomber, which gives her a kind of pedigree as a jihadist. It feeds into the ‘myth of Samantha’.”

    Confusion remains over Lewthwaite’s role

    Despite the rife press speculation, whether Lewthwaite, or any women for that matter, were involved in the Nairobi attack, remains unclear with conflicting reports coming from witnesses, security forces and the Kenyan government.

    Early reports at the time of the attack, which began Saturday and led to a hostage standoff between the Islamists and police that was still in progress on Tuesday, cited witnesses who said at least one of the attackers was a woman.

    However, Kenyan Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku said earlier on Monday that all of the terrorists were male, though some had dressed as women, before being contradicted by Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed’s comments.

    Meanwhile, a British security source told media that it was possible that Lewthwaite was involved in the Nairobi siege. “It is a possibility. But nothing definitive or conclusive yet” the source said.

    Meher believes it is “impossible to speculate” at this stage over Lewthwaite’s possible involvement.

    “There’s so much conflicting information even from government officials in Kenya,” he said. “It would be unusual though for a woman to be involved in this kind of attack.”

    The British Foreign Office, meanwhile, has refused to comment on whether one of its citizens may have taken part in the attack.

    France24

  • Clashes Precede Guinea Parliamentary Polls

    Clashes Precede Guinea Parliamentary Polls

    {{Protesters in the Guinean capital of Conakry have shot dead a trainee policemen, as renewed violence has broken out ahead of long-delayed elections in the former military dictatorship, the government says.}}

    The clashes, in which 51 people were wounded, came after the United Nations said parliamentary polls scheduled for Tuesday would be put back four days amid concerns by opposition activists over the organisation of the vote.

    The demonstrators opened fire on Monday as police broke through one of numerous barricades put up across the city, killing the trainee and wounding two officers, an administration spokesman said in a statement.

    “Once again, the government calls on political parties to get their supporters to exercise restraint and urges them to refrain from any form of violence against peaceful citizens,” the statement said.

    Legislative polls were initially due to have been held within six months of the swearing-in of President Alpha Conde in December 2010 but have been repeatedly delayed.

    wirestory

  • Nairobi mall siege over, says President Uhuru

    Nairobi mall siege over, says President Uhuru

    {{After a harrowing four-day siege in a Nairobi mall, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said security forces had defeated the terrorists and the assault was finally over in an address to the nation on Tuesday night.}}

    “We have ashamed and defeated our attackers, that part of our task is completed,” said Kenyatta.

    “We have been badly hurt, but we have been brave, united and strong. Kenya has stared down evil and triumphed. We have defeated our enemies and showed the whole world what we can accomplish.”

    Kenyatta said 61 civilians and six members of the security forces died in the siege. He said five attackers had been killed and that there were 11 suspects in custody.

    The Kenyan president also revealed that towards the end of the security operation, three floors of the Westgate mall had collapsed and there were several bodies buried in the rubble.

    Kenyatta’s televised address to the nation came a day after the Kenyan Interior Ministry said security forces had taken control of the mall. But on Tuesday, sporadic gunfire and explosions were heard from the sealed-off site, prompting questions over whether the siege had finally ended and the site had been secured.

    Kenyatta declared a three-day period of national mourning starting Wednesday.

    The Somali militant group al Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the Nairobi mall attack, which began on Saturday afternoon as the popular, upscale mall was packed with shoppers and families dining in the food court section.