IGIHE

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  • Thai Army Chief Urges Dialogue in Rare TV Address

    Thai Army Chief Urges Dialogue in Rare TV Address

    {{Thai army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha said on Monday the military had no plans to intervene in the current political crisis and urged dialogue between Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s government and protesters who are aiming to oust her.}}

    In a rare televised address, he said there were many more groups involved in the protest than in previous unrest in 2010 and it was difficult to know who was on what side.

    “Somebody has to take responsibility but that doesn’t mean soldiers can intervene without working under the framework [of the law],” army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha also noted. “How can we be sure that if we use soldiers, the situation will return to peace?”

    The military, which cracked down on a protest movement in 2010, has staged numerous coups since Thailand became a constitutional monarchy in 1932. It overthrew the embattled prime minister’s brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, in 2006, but has stayed above the fray this time round.

    {{Thai PM leaves Bangkok}}

    Meanwhile, Yingluck Shinawatra has left the city and is staying 150 km (90 miles) away, her office said on Monday, without specifying the location.

    The protests, punctuated by occasional gunfire and bomb blasts, including one on Sunday that killed a woman and a young brother and sister, are aimed at unseating Yingluck and erasing the influence of her brother, who is seen by many as the power behind the government.

    Yingluck’s office told reporters she was not in Bangkok and asked media to follow a convoy outside the city to where they said Yingluck was “undertaking official duties”.

    The office would not confirm how many days Yingluck had been working outside the capital. She was last seen in public in Bangkok nearly a week ago, last Tuesday, and is due to attend a corruption hearing there on Thursday.

    Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said Yingluck would hold a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

    “It is highly likely that we will hold the cabinet meeting outside of Bangkok. As for the prime minister’s exact whereabouts today, I have not been informed,” Surapong told reporters.

    The political crisis, which pits the mainly middle-class anti-government demonstrators from Bangkok and the south against supporters of Yingluck from the populous rural north and northeast, shows no sign of ending soon.

    But the army, which toppled Thaksin in 2006 in the latest of 18 coups or attempted coups since Thailand became a constitutional monarchy in 1932, said it would not intervene this time round.

    Protesters, who disrupted and boycotted this month’s general election, have been urged by their leader to target businesses linked to Thaksin and gathered outside a television station on Monday managed by Thaksin’s son.

    They also headed for the foreign and finance ministries.

    The Election Commission had said it would try to complete the election process in late April, but has since suspended that date pending a court decision, leaving the country in limbo under a caretaker government with limited powers.

    Bomb blast leaves three dead

    It was not immediately clear who was responsible for Sunday’s bomb blast in a busy central shopping district, but the polarisation of Thai society raises the possibility of wider civil strife.

    The six-year-old sister of a boy killed in the attack died on Monday, doctors said, taking the death toll to three.

    Each side has accused the other of instigating violence, while armed provocateurs have a history of trying to stir tension. Protesters and the police have blamed violence on shadowy third parties.

    Yingluck described Sunday’s attack, and one on Saturday in the eastern province of Trat in which a five-year-old girl was killed, as terrorism.

    “I strongly condemn the use of violence in recent days … since the lives of children were lost,” she said on Facebook.

    At least 20 people have been killed and hundreds wounded since the protests began in November, according to the Erawan Medical Center, which monitors hospitals.

    france24

  • US to Seek Guzman’s Extradition

    US to Seek Guzman’s Extradition

    {{Judicial authorities in the United States say they will seek the extradition of the world’s top drug baron, Joaquin “Shorty” Guzman.}}

    Guzman, the leader of the Sinaloa drugs cartel, was arrested in Mexico on Saturday after 13 years on the run.

    He was detained in the beach resort of Mazatlan without a shot being fired.

    He is wanted in the US on charges of smuggling vast amounts of drugs into the country, but Mexican authorities are also likely to want to charge him.

    ‘Best course’

    A spokesman for the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York said prosecutors there “planned to seek his extradition”.

    But an official in the Mexican attorney general’s office said Guzman would first have to serve the remainder of his jail sentence before being extradited.

    In 2001, Guzman escaped from a high-security jail in Mexico hidden in a laundry basket. He was eight years into his 20-year sentence.

    Chairman of the US House Homeland Security Committee Michael McCaul said extraditing Guzman to the United States would prevent another escape.

    “I think that would be the best course not only for Mexico, but also the United States, in ensuring that what happened in 2001 does not happen again,” he told ABC television.

    Guzman is also likely to face fresh charges in Mexico, including drug trafficking, involvement in organised crime and possession of weapons restricted to the military.

    {{Criminal mastermind}}

    Guzman’s Sinaloa cartel is believed to be one of the biggest criminal organisations in the world, trafficking drugs into more than 50 countries worldwide.

    Forbes magazine has estimated Guzman’s fortune at about $1bn (£0.6bn).

    His capture has been hailed as a major victory for the government of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

    Guzman was arrested by Mexican marines working with US law enforcement officials in the early hours of Saturday.

    He was detained in a four-storey condominium in Mazatlan, on the Pacific coast of Mexico, where he was hiding with a bodyguard and, according to some sources, with a woman believed to be his wife.

    Guzman had a military-style assault rifle on him but no shots were fired.

    {{Key communications}}

    Saturday’s operation was the culmination of a 13-year manhunt for Guzman, who had been rumoured to be hiding everywhere from Mexico’s remote mountain region to Argentina.

    US law enforcement officials told the Associated Press news agency that their big break came when they tracked a mobile phone to one of Guzman’s hideouts in the city of Culiacan, the capital of north-western Sinaloa state.

    A day later, the authorities managed to capture one of Guzman’s close associates, who – according to the officials – provided them with details of seven houses in Culiacan that Guzman was using to hide from the authorities.

    All the houses were secured with steel-reinforced doors and had escape hatches hidden underneath the bathtubs leading to tunnels linked to the city’s drainage system.

    It is through these tunnels that Guzman again evaded capture as Mexican marines were closing in on him, one of his detained associates revealed to investigators.

    The associate, Manuel Lopez Ozorio, said he had picked up Guzman, his communications chief. and a woman from a drainage pipe and took them to the resort town of Mazatlan.

    US law enforcement officials told AP that further wiretaps allowed them to pinpoint Guzman’s location to the building on Mazatlan’s beachfront where he was detained.

    Mexican security forces continue to search for Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, Guzman’s number two and the man tipped to to take over Guzman’s operations.

    BBC

  • Sudan Assets worth $48.2m Frozen Under US Sanctions

    Sudan Assets worth $48.2m Frozen Under US Sanctions

    {{Sudan’s ministry of foreign affairs has disclosed that Sudanese financial assets amounting to $48.2 million are frozen in the United States under decade-long sanctions imposed by Washington on Khartoum.}}

    The ambassador at the foreign ministry, Mohamed Abdalla, said in a hearing before the parliament on the US sanctions and their impact on Sudanese citizens on Monday that the $48.2 million represents the total amount of frozen money until 2007 while the total number of rejected financial transaction during the period from 2000 to 2008 reached 5,777 transactions at the value of $745.3 million.

    He further said that Washington imposed penalties and intimidated states, banks, and financial institutions dealing with Sudan.

    Several MP’s warned the government against confronting the international community, urging it to review its foreign policy and avoid hasty decisions.

    They also called for changing the current approach for dialogue with US through selecting acceptable figure to lead the negotiations with Washington.

    MP Abdalla Ali Masar called for using popular means of pressure such as holding banners in front of the White House, demanding that the government seek to achieve national interests.

    MP Abdel-Ra’uf Babiker for his part urged the government to change its political rhetoric, criticizing its support for Iran and Palestine.

    “Our sons should have the priority over the children of Gaza strip. The people in Kordofan are in need for a sip of water”, Babiker said.

    He further underscored the need to stop gum Arabic exports for two years in order to make the whole world “bow” and stressed that the fifth column within the country is spreading rumors that stopping gum Arabic exports would negatively impact the economy, saying those claims are incorrect.

    Babiker also pointed that 3 companies owned by the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) continue to export gum Arabic in violation of a presidential decree.

    Earlier this month, the secretary general of Gum Arabic Council (GAC), Abdel-Magid Abdel-Gadir, disclosed that Sudan exported 42 tonnes of gum Arabic to the United States in 2013 yielding $103 million.

    Sudan has been on the US blacklist of states sponsoring terrorism since 1993 on allegations of harboring Islamist militants despite reports of Sudan being a cooperative intelligence partner of Washington in the “war on terror”.

    Sudan is also subject to comprehensive economic sanctions since 1997 over terrorism charges as well as human right abuses. Further sanctions, particularly on weapons, have been imposed since the 2003 outbreak of violence in the western Darfur region.

    In 2010 however, the US announced it was easing sanctions on agriculture equipment and services which allowed half a dozen companies to obtain export licenses.

    Last August, Sudan’s former foreign ministry undersecretary, Rahmatallah Mohamed Osman, said that US economic sanctions on Sudan contain some loopholes which could be exploited to boost the economy.

    {sudantribune}

  • Algeria’s Bouteflika to Seek Fourth Presidential Term

    Algeria’s Bouteflika to Seek Fourth Presidential Term

    {{Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika will seek a fourth term in the April election, his office said in comments carried by national television Saturday.}}

    A screen caption said the presidency had confirmed that Bouteflika had informed the interior ministry of his intention to run in the April 17 poll and to collect the appropriate documents for signature.

    Bouteflika, 76, who suffered a stroke last year is now set to run for election mid-April in the North African oil producing country.

    Bouteflika, who has governed Algeria since 1999, will almost certainly win due to the ruling FLN nationalist party’s dominant role and his backing from the party’s machinery and its allies.

    One of the few remaining veterans of the war of independence against France, Bouteflika helped to end the country’s civil war in the 1990s.

    But in addition to health concerns in recent years, his rule has also been dogged by corruption scandals implicating members of his inner circle.

    However, opposition parties are still weak and most Algerians have little appetite for upheaval after the civil war with Islamist militants that killed around 200,000.

    wirestory

  • Juba Rejects Interim Administration Without Salva Kiir

    Juba Rejects Interim Administration Without Salva Kiir

    {{The South Sudan government on Monday rejected any proposal to form an interim government that excludes president Salva Kiir or his former deputy, Riek Machar amid accusations that both were responsible for the violence that plunged the country into chaos.}}

    The government delegation participating in the second round of peace talks in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, officially opened on 11 February, have not responded to the proposed agenda put forward by the East African mediating team.

    {{PROPOSAL EXCLUDES LEADERS}}

    The contents of the proposed agenda remains unclear as the two sides have not shared it with the media, although sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations claimed that mediators are prioritising the interests of the people of South Sudan and not the rival warring factions.

    “I have not seen the proposal but I am told the mediators have presented a proposal similar to the proposal used in [the] Central Africa conflict. It proposes the formation of the interim government which does not include president Salva Kiir and the former vice-president, Riek Machar”, a senior government official close to president Kiir told Sudan Tribune on Monday.

    “This proposal is argued to be based on the expressed views of the majority of the people of South Sudan who have shared with mediators in various forums and engagements, either as groups or individuals, that the only way to bring the country back is to form an interim government without participation of the two principals”, added the official.

    Any such proposal that involved president Kiir stepping down would not be accepted by the leadership of South Sudan’s ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) or the people of the world’s youngest nation, according to the source.

    Ateny Wek Ateny, South Sudan’s presidential spokesperson, said the Juba government would like the talks to be confined between it and the SPLM-In-Opposition, adding that it opposed the participation of civil society representatives and former political prisoners invited to attend the second round of talks.

    Forces loyal to both leaders are accused of committing human rights abuses during the conflict that began in the capital, Juba, on 15 December, with Nuer civilians allegedly targeted by members of the security services following the outbreak of violence.

    When large parts of the military mutinied in Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile states, forces allied to Machar targeted civilians of Dinka ethnicity. An estimated 10,000 people have died and over 700,000 people have been internally displaced, with almost 150,000 fleeing to neighbouring countries.

    President Kiir was elected in 2010, with Machar as his deputy and running mate, achieving over 93% of the vote, but the relationship between the two has deteriorated since South Sudan became independent in 2011 as part of a peace deal that ended decades of civil war.

    {{SPLM SPLIT}}

    In July last year, shortly after Machar made public his intention to challenge Kiir for the chairmanship of the SPLM, he was removed. Kiir also sacked his entire cabinet and although some were reappointed, those who were not given new posts went on to form a group of senior SPLM figures highly critical of the president.

    In early December, the group held a press conference in Juba describing Kiir as “increasingly dictatorial” and calling for political reform. When fighting broke out in Juba in mid-December most of this group was arrested and accused – along with Machar – of allegedly conspiring to oust Kiir in a coup.

    All the accused deny the charges, but Machar has since assume leadership of segments of the army who have defected and armed civilians angered at the targeting of Nuer in the capital during the first days of the conflict.

    Machar was welcomed back into the SPLM fold in 2003 following a split that began in 1991, the memories of which have been rekindled by the current conflict. Some analysts believe that reconciliation is much less likely this time and that many in the rebel-group-turned-ruling party will not countenance Machar becoming president.

    The mediator’s proposal for Kirr and Machar to step aside appears to be an attempt to satisfy both those who do not want Machar’s armed rebellion to be rewarded with his appointment to a senior government position and those who feel that Kiir’s overall leadership and his response to crisis means that he should step down.

    However, the government source claims the proposal “will not work” and “will not be accepted because even if the government accepts it, the people of South Sudan would not accept it because they elected President Salva Kiir in 2010.”

    If the people of South Sudan want a change of president “they will demonstrate that at the end of his term”, which ends in 2015, he said.

    Attempts by Machar and others to contest for the chairmanship of the SPLM, which would see the winner would become the overwhelming favourite to contest for the leadership, was one of the main causes of the tension that preceded the split in the army, triggering the current crisis.

    {{KIIR TO REMAIN}}

    Gordon Buay, the spokesperson of the South Sudan Liberation Army (SSLA) – a former rebel group now allied to the government – said on Sunday that Kiir would not step down before completing his term.

    “Let me advise everyone that Salva Kiir was elected in 2010. He can only be removed via the same democratic process. He will not step down because Riek Machar attempted a coup. That will not happen”, Buay said.

    South Sudan’s foreign affairs minister, Barnaba Marial Benjamin, also rejected the idea that Kiir should step down on the same ground that he was elected.

    “Why would he step down when you know that he was elected by the people of South Sudan with 93% votes? There is no reason to qualify such suggestions. If there are people who want to contest the same position they can do that in the 2015 [elections]. They will not be denied their right because we are a democratic country”, Marial told Sudan Tribune on Monday.

    Many analysts have expressed fears that Machar’s presidential ambitions and the desire by president Kiir to remain in power beyond 2015 is becoming a stumbling block for success in the peace talks.

    {{PRESIDENTIAL AMBITION}}

    Anthony Sebit, a Juba-based local political analyst, expressed doubts about the possibility of the two sides agreeing on a deal that would not secure participation of the leaders of the two rival groups.

    “You have Riek Machar with long ambition and goal to become a president of South Sudan and of course we are not seeing any sign indicating that president Kiir would leave power”, Sebit told Sudan Tribune from Nairobi, Kenya.

    “Even though he is not interested and may want to retire from politics now, the people around him will not accept that and they may want to use the system so that he could remain in power so that they could continue to enjoy the privileges”, Sebit added.

    According to the analyst, these are very difficult ambitions to be reconciled without the intervention of the South Sudanese people with help from their friends in the region and the international community.

    “President Kiir has widely been criticised for showing lack of strong leadership, specifically on corruption, human rights, good governance and recently for dictatorial tendencies given the way he has been running the country through presidential orders”, he said.

    “Little is discussed and handled by relevant institutions, including the appointment of senior civil servants, as well as the approvals of appointments in junior ministers in the states”, the political analyst added.

    {{MACHAR NOT RIGHT SUCCESSOR}}

    Some independent observers have observed that Machar would not be the right successor to Kiir should the international community persuade the latter to step aside, citing what occurred in the neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR).

    “People are looking for change but there are people who do not see Riek Machar as the right replacement at the moment. The feeling with different people now is that even [if] president Salva Kiir accepts to step down, Riek Machar does not appear to be the right person. His involvement in the present rebellion reminds most about his past. Indeed there are people who now appear reserved to talk about his participation in power sharing, considering the behaviours of his followers in this crisis”, Abraham Dut, a native of Bailiet county, Upper Nile state said in an interview with Sudan Tribune on Monday.

    Dut said most places in his county were reduced to ashes by armed elements allegedly allied to Machar and that people on the ground had not wanted to participate in the revolt.

    “What happened in Bailiet is something that nobody had expected considering we are from the same state and the same region. Our people became the victim of political differences [that] they do not have any idea [about]. They also came to know when the anger was transferred to them through attacks, targeted killings and the burning of their settlements”, Dut explained.

    But Yien Mathew, a former SPLM spokesperson, said an interim government without president Kiir would bring peace.

    “There will be an interim government which will change everything befalling in our country to reconcile communities, rebuild trust, protect civilians, provide badly needed services to our people, and above all, restore national sovereignty”, said Yien.

    “It is time South Sudanese come out and say loud and clear that enough is enough to the presidency of Salva Kiir as the only means to give peace a chance”, he added.

    (ST)

  • Nigerian President Defends Military Efforts

    Nigerian President Defends Military Efforts

    {{The Nigerian president has defended the army’s efforts against Islamist militants in the north, after over 200 civilians died in attacks last week.}}

    Addressing recent criticism, President Goodluck Jonathan said the fight against Boko Haram “will improve”.

    It comes after the governor of the worst affected state, Borno, called for more troops to be deployed to the area.

    Boko Haram has been conducting a four-year campaign of violence to push for Islamic rule in northern Nigeria.

    Speaking at a press conference on Monday, President Jonathan criticised the governor of Borno state, Kashim Shettima, who recently stated that the Boko Haram militants were better armed and more motivated than the Nigeria military.

    He also defended his decision to suspend the outspoken central bank governor, Lamido Sanusi, suggesting it had nothing to do with the governor’s decision to expose corruption in the oil sector.

    {War of words}

    Mr Jonathan told reporters if the Borno state governor felt the military were not useful, he would pull them out of the state for a month. He then suggested it would become so unsafe that even the governor would not be able to stay there.

    Witnesses complain that Boko Haram attacks have at times lasted for several hours without any response from the armed forces.

    Governor Kashim Shettim called for reinforcements in the wake of a five-hour attack on the Nigerian border town of Bama last week. A week earlier, 106 people were killed by gunmen in a raid on the town of Izghe.

    BBC

  • Pistorius Trial Broadcast Ruling Due

    Pistorius Trial Broadcast Ruling Due

    {{A South African judge is due to rule whether the trial of athlete Oscar Pistorius can be televised.}}

    Mr Pistorius shot his girlfriend, the model and reality TV star Reeva Steenkamp, more than a year ago, and his murder trial begins next Monday.

    State prosecutors allege the killing was premeditated, but he claims he mistook her for an intruder.

    The court in Pretoria will decide how much, if any, of the proceedings can be filmed and broadcast live.

    As a result the media are allowed access to courtrooms to cover any case they express interest in – even TV cameras are allowed based on the merits of the case, she says.

    But should the application be allowed, it would be the first time a trial would be televised live, setting a precedent in South Africa for future cases, our reporter says.

    The application to film proceedings was brought by media groups MultiChoice, eNCA and Eyewitness News, reported Sapa news agency.

    It would allow the evidence of experts, police witnesses and any other consenting witness to be televised, along with audio of the full trial, the media groups said in a 18 February media release.

    They argue that it is in the public interest for cameras to be allowed into the trial, and have secured the agreement of state prosecutors, who argue that this would allow the world to see that South Africa’s justice system works well.

    MultiChoice is even planning 24-hour coverage of the trial on its own dedicated channel – the Oscar Pistorius Trial channel – which is due to begin broadcasting on Sunday.

    But defence lawyers vehemently disagree, claiming it could lead to an unfair trial.

    Barry Roux SC – lawyer for Mr Pistorius – asked why his client’s trial was not being treated like any other, Sapa reported.

    Ms Steenkamp, 29, was shot three times through the toilet door of Mr Pistorius’ Pretoria home in the early hours of Valentine’s Day last year.

    Mr Pistorius said he thought she was a burglar and denies prosecution claims that they had an argument in the hours before the shooting.

    Much of the case will depend on ballistic evidence from the scene of the shooting, correspondents say.

    The arrest of the national sporting hero astounded South Africa.

    The 27-year-old double amputee won gold at the London 2012 Paralympic Games and also competed at the Olympics.

    As well as the charge of premeditated murder, Mr Pistorius also faces a charge of illegal possession of ammunition.

    agencies

  • Cameroon Frees French Businessman After 17 years in Jail

    Cameroon Frees French Businessman After 17 years in Jail

    {{Cameroonian authorities freed a French businessman on Monday whose 17-year imprisonment on corruption charges became a source of tension between the two countries and drew appeals from President François Hollande and the UN human rights agency.}}

    Michel Thierry Atangana (pictured), was released from jail in the capital, Yaoundé, on Monday.

    “Atangana was freed this evening. He is at the French embassy,” his lawyer in Cameroon, Charles Tchoungang, told journalists outside the embassy gates.

    Atangana’s family, lawyers and many political observers have maintained that his arrest and imprisonment were purely political.

    A French national of Cameroonian origin, Atanga was accused in 1997 of embezzling public funds, put on trial without a lawyer and sentenced to 15 years in jail.

    Atangana, now 49, had been working in Cameroon on a motorway development project when he was accused of embezzling 1.1 billion CFA francs (90 million euros) of public money alongside former health minister Titus Edzoa.

    Before their imprisonment, Edzoa, 69, a former adviser to President Paul Biya, resigned from his cabinet position and announced he would challenge Biya in the 1997 election. Atangana was his campaign manager.

    {{Second sentence}}

    The two were due to complete their initial prison terms in 2012 but new charges were brought against them and both were found guilty and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in October 2013.

    The decision prompted an outcry from France, the UN rights commission and international rights groups who denounced the trial as unfair and politically motivated.

    Atangana and Edzoa have always denied the allegations against them.

    The release of the two came after Biya signed a special decree last week to pardon a category of prisoners – those sentenced for more than ten years on charges of embezzling public funds – as part of celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the reunification of the central African nation, Atangana’s French lawyer, Eric Dupond-Moretti, explained to reporters.

    In January 2013, French President François Hollande described Atangana’s detention as “unacceptable” and urged Biya to “push for a solution”.

    Biya, 81, has ruled central Africa’s largest economy for three decades after coming to power in 1982 when his predecessor resigned.

    He won a fresh seven-year term in 2011 polls that were criticised as unfair. Observers said the term would likely be his last due to his age.

    {wirestory}

  • Destroyed Documents Hint at Yanukovich’s Shady Deals

    Destroyed Documents Hint at Yanukovich’s Shady Deals

    {{Viktor Yanukovich clearly felt he had something to hide when he fled Kiev. Numerous documents that he attempted to destroy have been found at his residences – and even at first glance, there is plenty of incriminating evidence.}}

    As people roam the park surrounding one of the guest houses on the sprawling grounds of Viktor Yanukovich’s estate, inside the house a small team of volunteers is working day and night to save thousands of documents found dumped in a lake nearby. Most relate to financial transactions.

    “Not as much things were burned because we think they had no time to burn it, and that’s why they put it into the water,” said Inna Brozylo, of the Chesno anti-corruption project. “[We] think maybe the most important agreements between different companies were burned.”

    Documents are also spread around the house. For now, it’s not about analysing their content but about physically preserving them.

    “Here we save the folders that are already worked by us. Every wet paper, we cover it with two new ones,” Brozylo said.

    Volunteers say the evidence of wrongdoing fairly leaps off these pages – including apparent payoffs made to security service workers.

    “These documents are evidence that they were additionally financed by the president and his companies in cash,” said Chesno’s Tetyana Peklun, adding that the bribes were made not in Ukrainian hryvnias but in US dollars, which is strictly prohibited.

    Even professional anti-corruption campaigners are struggling to digest what they’ve found. The papers reveal the astronomical sums the president spent on his various homes – in a country where the average monthly salary is €300 – but also hint at largescale money laundering.

    “All [the] gossip, all [the] assumptions about Yanukovich, the amount of his corruption, are being proved,” Brozylo said. “A lot of activists at the Euromaidan think that death is a very easy way for him to go away. He should take all the pain that the people got from him.”

    france24

  • Ukraine Leader Warns of Separatism

    Ukraine Leader Warns of Separatism

    Ukraine’s interim President Olexander Turchynov has warned of the dangers of separatism following the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych.

    Many in Ukraine’s Russian-speaking regions oppose his overthrow and the installation of a more European-leaning interim administration.

    Russia is also angry at the changes, but Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said Moscow will not intervene.

    The formation of a unity government has been delayed until Thursday.

    Addressing parliament, Mr Turchynov said “a coalition of national faith must be elected”.

    And he said he would meet law enforcement agencies to discuss the risk of separatism in regions with large ethnic Russian populations.

    Separatism was a “serious threat”, he said.

    ‘Unilateral advantages’
    At a news conference in Moscow, Mr Lavrov warned other states against seeking “unilateral advantages” in Ukraine, but said Russia’s “policy of non-intervention” would continue.

    “It is dangerous and counter-productive to try to force on Ukraine a choice according to the principle of either being with us or against us,” he said.

    BBC