IGIHE

Author: Publisher

  • ‘Al-Shabab Point Man Shot Dead in Mombasa

    ‘Al-Shabab Point Man Shot Dead in Mombasa

    {{Abubakar Shariff Ahmed, has been shot dead outside the coastal city of Mombasa, police and witnesses say.

    His corpse lay on a road with what appeared to be wounds to the head and body, Reuters news agency reports. It is not yet known who killed the cleric.

    Mr Shariff, known as Makaburi, had been listed by the UN as a recruiter for the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab group.

    He is the third Muslim cleric to be killed in Mombasa since 2012.

    Riots broke out in parts of the city as news of the cleric’s killing spread,

    .}}

  • Nigeria Armed Forces Command & Staff College Students in Rwanda

    Nigeria Armed Forces Command & Staff College Students in Rwanda

    {{A delegation of twenty one General and Senior Officers from the Nigeria Armed Forces Command and Staff College are in Rwanda for a regional study tour from 31March – 6 April 2014.}}

    The tour is intended to give the students first-hand knowledge of the socio-economic, political and internal development of Rwanda. The theme of the study is “Facilitating Regional Integration and Development through Socio- Economic Activities.

    The delegation visited yesterday the Rwanda Defence Forces Headquarters at Kimihurura where they were received by the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Patrick Nyamvumba. They were briefed on RDF role in socio-economic development of the country and contribution in peacekeeping mission.

    Rear Admiral Stanley Ehije Ogoigbe, Team leader said that “Rwanda and Nigeria Military are brothers and sisters’’ and commended the Defence Forces on high organization, experience on ground and in peacekeeping” We can learn from one another” he said.

    The delegation visited Rwanda Development Board, and then on 1st April they visited Gisozi Genocide memorial center where they paid respect to the victims of 1994 genocide against Tutsi. They also visited Rwanda Governance Board and MINEAC, Ministry of East African Community.

    The Permanent Secretary in MINEAC, Safari Innocent said that they have discussed with the students on how Regional integration facilitated socioeconomic development in East African Community Countries.

    He cited single tourist visa, Non-tariff barriers, one stop border post, free movement of people and regional pact to use one currency as achievements in EAC countries.

    While in the country, the delegation will visit government and private institutions such as Rwanda Government Board, The University of Rwanda, Rwanda Revenue Authority, CEPGL, Rwandair, Immigration Office, Rwanda Military Academy Gako, Gisozi genocide memorial center.

    MOD

  • Senior Police Officer Killed in Cairo Bombing

    Senior Police Officer Killed in Cairo Bombing

    {{A police brigadier-general has been killed in a twin bomb blast near Cairo university, Egyptian state media say.

    Four others were also injured in the attack, the health ministry confirmed.

    The explosives were planted next to a police post, officials at the scene said. No group has so far said it carried out the bombings.

    Egypt has witnessed several attacks against government targets by militant groups, following the ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood in July.}}

  • President Kagame Attends 4th EU-Africa Summit

    President Kagame Attends 4th EU-Africa Summit

    {{President Paul Kagame arrived Tuesday in Brussels where he will be attending the 4th EU-Africa Summit themed “Investing in People, Prosperity and Peace.” }}

    The summit brings together leaders from Africa and the European Union to discuss issues including peace and security, economy and climate change.

    The summit will also hold a special meeting on the Central African Republic hosted by President Van Rompuy, President Hollande of France and President Abdel Aziz of Mauritania.

    Rwanda currently has deployed 800 troops serving as peacekeepers in Central African Republic.

    Received by President Kagame in March of this year, the European Union Commissioner for development, Andris Piebalgs announced a new six-year development partnership between Rwanda and the European Union:

    “For the period of 2014-2020 our goal is to strengthen economic growth in the country by focusing on the energy sector reform and Agriculture because they create job and economic growth. We also have this big Europe Africa Summit in Brussels in April.”

    The previous EU-Africa summits took place in Cairo in 2000, in Lisbon in 2007 and in Tripoli in 2010.

  • NATO Suspends Russia Co-operation

    NATO Suspends Russia Co-operation

    {{Nato foreign ministers have agreed to suspend all practical civilian and military co-operation with Russia.}}

    Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region was the gravest threat to European security for a generation.

    There could be no “business as usual”, he added.

    He had earlier categorically denied reports that Russia was pulling its forces back from its border with Ukraine.

    Moscow is believed to have massed tens of thousands of troops on Ukraine’s eastern border in recent days, causing alarm in Kiev and the West.

    Foreign ministers from the 28-member Nato bloc, gathering in Brussels for their first meeting since Russia’s annexation of Crimea, issued a strongly worded statement in which they condemned Russia’s “illegal” annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region.

    They agreed to suspend Nato co-operation with Russia in a number of bodies but added that dialogue in the Nato-Russia Council could continue, as necessary, at ambassadorial level and above “to allow us to exchange views, first and foremost on this crisis. We will review Nato’s relations with Russia at our next meeting in June”.

    They are also looking at options including situating permanent military bases in the Baltic states to reassure members in Eastern Europe.

    Russia’s actions in Ukraine have caused concern in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which were part of the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

    Nato jets will take part in air patrols in the region later in a routine exercise that analysts say has taken on added significance due to the crisis. Several Nato countries, including the UK, US and France, have offered additional military aircraft.

    Separately, the US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to back a bill providing aid to Ukraine and imposing certain sanctions against Russia over the annexation of Crimea. The bill now goes to President Barack Obama for signature.

    {{‘Aggression’}}

    Announcing the formal suspension of ties, Mr Rasmussen said Nato’s message was clear: it stood by its allies, it stood by Ukraine and it stood by the international system of rules that had developed in recent decades. He urged Russia to be part of a solution “respecting international law and Ukraine’s borders”.

    He also said Nato would offer Ukraine greater access to alliance exercises and support the development of its military.

    {BBC}

  • ICTR Reveals Appeal Trial of Former Rwandan Minister of Youth

    ICTR Reveals Appeal Trial of Former Rwandan Minister of Youth

    {{The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) will hear on April 29, the Appeal trial of former Minister of Youth Callixte Nzabonimana, sentenced to life imprisonment in the first instance.}}

    In May 31st, 2012, the former minister was convicted of genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide and extermination.

    Nzabonimana was sentenced notably for his participation, along with other members of the government, in a famous meeting on 18 April 1994 at Murambi in his native prefecture of Gitarama.

    According to the judgment, the meeting sealed “agreement “between Nzabonimana and other ministers, to “encourage the killing of Tutsis.”

    Born in 1953, Nzabonimana is one of the few intellectuals of southern Province to have remained in the ranks of the MRND, the party of former President Juvenal Habyarimana, after the advent of multiparty in 1991.

    He studied geology at Dijon, France.

    He was appointed in 1984, Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic. Five years later, he entered the government as Minister of Planning, a department that President Habyarimana always wanted to entrust a brilliant academician.

    In 1990, he was transferred to the Ministry of Youth , a position he held until July 1994. Nzabonimana was arrested in Tanzania on 18 February 2008 and his trial began November 9, 2009.

  • Foreigners Urged to Recognise 20th Commemoration of Genocide

    Foreigners Urged to Recognise 20th Commemoration of Genocide

    {The Executive secretary of CNLG, Mucyo Jean de Dieu (centre)}

    {{The National Commission for the Fight against Genocide CNLG calls upon organisations especially those established after the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi’s in Rwanda, to recognise the 20th commemoration period.}}

    CNLG encourages these organisations operating in Rwanda to honour the genocide victims and make commemoration part of culture within their various organisations in order to prevent the repeat of a horrendous past that Rwanda experienced.

    The Executive secretary of CNLG, Mucyo Jean de Dieu told reporters during a press conference on March 31 that some non governmental organisations and other private companies established after 1994 have not been honouring victims of the Tutsi genocide as required.

    Mr Mucyo noted that although some of the new organisations and companies do not have staff or any connection with genocide, the organisations staff could periodically meet and exchange ideas on genocide prevention.

    He said, “At the beginning, commemoration was always viewed as for survivors and government agencies. However, continued sensitisation enabled even the private organisations to establish monuments at their work premises in commemoration of genocide victims.”

    The theme for the 20th commemoration of Genocide against ethnic Tutsi’s is ‘Remember, Unite and Renew’.

    CNLG advises those organising the commemoration events from April 7, to carefully consider how to care for and treatment of the traumatised, long term support to widows and orphans resulting from the 1994 genocide against Tutsi’s that claimed over a million lives.

    Mucyo reminds citizens that GREY will be the official colour for commemoration. Grey colour is similar to the ash that was used since 2013 replacing the purple colour that has been in use for commemoration since after the 1994 genocide until 2013.

    He warned, “The commemoration colours should not be confused as has been the case since the adoption of Grey colour”.

    Meanwhile, CNLG reminds everyone that commemoration is not for Rwandan nationals alone but for all.

    According to CNLG’s Dr. Bideri Diogène, Foreigners working in Rwanda have been previously leaving for their home countries during the commemoration period in Rwanda; “However, there are new measures that will seek to have all foreigners stay in Rwanda during the commemoration period.”

    CNLG informs the general public that according to recent research conducted by the University of Rwanda, the number of victims has so far reached 1,070,000 victims and also confirmed by the Parliament.

    Thus the 1994 Genocide against ethnic Tutsi’s in Rwanda claimed over 1,070,000 victims and not 500,000 or 800,000 as claimed in other foreign reports.

  • Seoul Examines ‘North Korea Drone’

    Seoul Examines ‘North Korea Drone’

    {{South Korea says it is analysing what it believes to be a North Korean drone that crashed on a border island shortly after an exchange of artillery fire with North Korea.}}

    The drone crashed on Baengnyeong island on Monday afternoon.

    It fell as the two Koreas traded fire into each other’s waters in an incident Seoul says was provoked by the North.

    South Korean authorities say a preliminary investigation has concluded that the drone came from the North.

    “The relevant departments of the South Korean government have confirmed that North Korea is responsible for it,” said South Korea’s Unification Ministry spokesman Park Soo-jin.

    A similar drone was found in Paju, just south of the demilitarised zone that separates the two Koreas, on 24 March, Yonhap news agency reported.

    It was equipped with a a high-resolution camera and had taken pictures of military installations and South Korea’s presidential compound, the agency said.

    The two Koreas were divided at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty. They remain technically at war and the border is heavily fortified.

    Monday’s clash came after North Korea announced it would hold live-fire exercises in seven parts of the disputed western maritime border – a major flashpoint between the two nations.

    South Korea says it returned fire after North Korean shells landed in its territorial waters. Hundreds of shells were fired, but all fell in the sea and nobody was hurt.

    The exchange of fire happened days after North Korea tested medium-range missiles for the first time since 2009.

    North Korea is the subject of multiple UN resolutions relating to its pursuit of nuclear weapons’ development.

    {agencies}

  • CAR Tops Agenda at EU-Africa summit

    CAR Tops Agenda at EU-Africa summit

    {{The conflict in the Central African Republic is set to top the agenda in Brussels on Wednesday as the leaders of some 80 African and EU states meet.}}

    The summit takes place after the EU officially launched its delayed 1,000-troop military mission to CAR.

    Despite the deployment of 6,000 African Union and 2,000 French troops, violence has continued unabated in the country.

    Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is boycotting the summit after his wife was refused a visa.

    UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will attend a crisis meeting on CAR with some 30 heads of state and government, 15 from each continent, before the EU-Africa summit gets under way.

    World leaders hope the dispatch of EU troops can help some 8,000 French and African peacekeepers restore some calm to the country after it witnessed some of the worst violence ever seen on the continent.

    The conflict has taken on an increasingly sectarian nature, with UN human rights chief Navi Pillay warning that hatred between Christians and Muslims in CAR had reached a “terrifying level”.

    {{‘Partnership of equals’}}

    “I hope the summit will mark a new stage in our relationship with Africa,” EU council president Herman Van Rompuy said ahead of the two-day meeting.

    It was time for a “shift from development cooperation to a partnership of equals with trade and investment playing a key role,” he added.

    An overwhelming majority of leaders from both continents are attending but Zimbabwe will not be represented after President Mugabe took unkindly to an EU refusal to temporarily suspend a visa ban on his wife.

    Mr Mugabe received support from South African President Jacob Zuma, who chose to boycott the summit in a show of solidarity for his Zimbabwean counterpart.

    “I think that time must pass wherein we are looked [upon] as subjects,” Mr Zuma said. “We are told who must come, who must not come. It is wrong and causes this unnecessary unpleasantness.”

    BBC

  • $957m for US Embassy Terror Victims in Dar es Salaam

    $957m for US Embassy Terror Victims in Dar es Salaam

    {{A federal judge in Washington U.S. has awarded a total of $957 million as compensation to victims of the 1998 US embassy bombing in Dar es Salaam.}}

    Mr Thomas Bates ruled that the governments of Iran and Sudan were liable for the attack that killed or wounded 23 Tanzanians and Americans.

    However, the ruling is no guarantee the specified sum will be paid to the victims any time soon — or ever, according to a report in a US law journal. “Judgments are notoriously difficult to collect in state-sponsored terrorism cases,” says the report published on Monday.

    Mr Thomas Fortune Fay, an attorney representing the Tanzanian and US citizens, said on Monday that efforts would now begin to identify Iranian and Sudanese assets that could be seized to pay the damages awarded by Mr Bates.

    Mr Fay had noted earlier that Sudan paid $13.4 million in damages in 2009 to the families of victims of a bomb attack in 2000 on a US destroyer docked in Aden, Yemen.

    The attorney described the ruling as “a significant step in assuring that these American and Tanzanian victims of terrorism receive justice for the suffering they experienced as a result of deliberate and calculated mayhem by the governments of Sudan and Iran”.

    The US embassies in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi were hit in simultaneous bombings on August 7, 1998, killing over 200 Kenyans, 10 Tanzanians, 12 Americans and two attackers. Thousands of people were wounded.

    Mr Bates entered three sets of judgments on March 28.

    He awarded $488 million to 12 US victims and their family members; a total of $420 million to four Tanzanians wounded in the blast and to the estates of five Tanzanians killed in the attack; and $49 million to an additional two US citizens wounded in the explosions.

    “The 1998 embassy bombings shattered the lives of all plaintiffs in this case,” Mr Bates wrote. “Reviewing their personal stories reveals that, even more than 15 years later, they each still feel the horrific effects of that awful day.

    “Damages awards cannot fully compensate people whose lives have been torn apart,” the judge continued. “Instead, they offer only a helping hand. But that is the very least that these plaintiffs are owed.”

    A separate case involving about 500 Kenyans affected by the Nairobi attack has dragged on in the US court system for more than a dozen years.

    The attorney representing the Kenyans declared at the time of the 15th anniversary of the bombing last August that he remained “absolutely confident” of a favourable outcome.

    Sudan and Iran were held liable in Mr Bates’ judgments because of the assistance their governments are alleged to have given to Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda network, which carried out the twin attacks.

    Sudan harboured bin Laden from 1992 to 1996, a period when al Qaeda began plotting the attacks in Kenya and Tanzania.

    {{NMG}}