IGIHE

Category: Politics

  • Top IS commanders ‘taking refuge’ in Libya

    Top IS commanders ‘taking refuge’ in Libya

    {Several senior commanders from the so-called Islamic State have moved to Libya from Iraq and Syria in recent months, according to a top Libyan intelligence official.
    The official told BBC Newsnight that increasing numbers of foreign fighters had arrived in the city of Sirte.}

    Representatives from 23 countries, including the US and UK, met in Rome on Tuesday to discuss the growing threat from Islamic State (IS) in Libya.
    IS took control of Sirte last year.

    Disagreements between rival administrations in the country have hampered efforts to fight IS.

    Control and crucifixions: Life in Libya under IS

    Lawless Libya: Can peace be achieved?

    Guide to Libya’s militias

    Islamic State took control of the city of Sirte last year. Sirte was the hometown of the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The Islamist group is believed to have received support from some loyalists of the former regime.

    But Ismail Shukri, the head of intelligence in the city of Misrata, told Newsnight there had been an influx of foreign fighters in recent months.

    “The majority [of IS fighters in Sirte] are foreigners, around 70%. Most of them are Tunisians, followed by Egyptians, Sudanese and a few Algerians.

    “Add to that the Iraqis and the Syrians. Most of the Iraqis come from Saddam Hussein’s disbanded army.”

    Mr Shukri said senior IS commanders were taking refuge in Libya, under pressure from international airstrikes in Iraq and Syria.

    “Some of their members, especially those with long-term importance to IS, are taking refuge here. They view Libya as a safe haven.”

    Authorities in Misrata say they are preparing an offensive against Islamic State militants in Sirte.

    But in the town of Abugrein, 120km (75 miles) south of Misrata, the BBC saw little evidence of an imminent confrontation.

    Abugrein represents the final line of defence against IS. Beyond that, IS controls the road east.

    Commanders in Abugrein told Newsnight that their forces, loyal to the government in Tripoli, numbered around 1,400 – less than half the estimated strength of IS.

    Mohammed al-Bayoudi, a commander with Battalion 166, acknowledged that, without international help, they would not be able to defeat IS.

    “Certainly we would welcome Nato support. But air strikes alone cannot defeat IS. What the army really needs is logistical support.”

    The prospect of international military involvement in Libya is a vexed topic. The United States has acknowledged that it has sent in small numbers of special forces on at least one occasion in recent weeks.

    Similar groups from other Nato countries are also understood to be exploring potential local allies on the ground for a looming battle with IS.

    But fighters in Abugrein said they did not want to see Western boots on the ground.
    “We Libyans will fight. There is no need for foreign troops,” said Mr al-Bayoudi.
    Western governments, including the UK, are becoming increasingly concerned, and impatient.

    A proposed Italian-led training force, with up to 6,000 troops from a number of Nato countries including the UK and France, has yet to be agreed.

    A major stumbling block is a lack of consensus from Libya’s rival parliaments.
    A UN-brokered deal to create a unity government has stalled, amid opposition from both the Islamist-backed authorities in Tripoli and the internationally recognised government in Tobruk in the east.

    Source:BBC:[Top IS commanders ‘taking refuge’ in Libya->http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35486158]

  • Angolan rebel Savimbi’s family sues Call of Duty makers

    Angolan rebel Savimbi’s family sues Call of Duty makers

    {The family of late Angolan rebel leader Jonas Savimbi are suing the makers of Call of Duty over his depiction in the best-selling video game.}

    Three of Savimbi’s children accuse Activision Blizzard of defamation by representing him as a “barbarian”.

    They are seeking €1m ($1.1m; £0.75m) in damages. Activision said the depiction was “rather favourable”.

    Savimbi founded the Unita movement, waging a long civil war with the Angolan government.

    Angola became a Cold War battleground, with Unita backed by the US and the apartheid government in South Africa, while Angola’s ruling party was supported by the Soviet Union and Cuba.

    The rebel leader was eventually killed in clashes with state forces in 2002.

    In the last years of the Angolan war, Jonas Savimbi became a symbol to the outside world for everything that was wrong in Angola.

    Although it’s difficult to separate the truth from the propaganda and the “Heart of Darkness” stereotypes that stick to many African conflicts,

    Savimbi’s reputation is based on some confirmed incidents.

    Suspected witches were burnt alive at Savimbi’s headquarters in the early 1980s.
    Fred Bridgland, Savimbi’s previously admiring biographer, later wrote a horrifying tale of the murder of the Chingunji family who had fallen from grace with Savimbi.
    Yet the Angolan civil war lasted for 27 years and both sides committed acts of brutality.

    It would be wrong to pin everything on one man, who is still remembered with awe by many who lived under the rule of Unita, and admired by a generation that has grown up since the war.

    Justin Pearce is a former BBC Angola correspondent, now at the Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Cambridge

    {{That isn’t Dad’}}

    Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 shows him rallying his troops with phrases like “death to the MPLA”, referring to the party that has governed Angola since independence from Portugal in 1975.

    But his family said they are outraged at the depiction.
    “Seeing him kill people, cutting someone’s arm off… that isn’t Dad,” said Cheya Savimbi.

    The three children live in the Paris region and have taken the French branch of Activision to court in Nanterre, near the French capital.

    A lawyer for Activision Blizzard, Etienne Kowalski, said the firm disagreed with Savimbi’s family, saying it showed the former rebel as a “good guy who comes to help the heroes”.

    The latest Call of Duty was the world’s top selling game last year, and the game has often featured versions of real-life figures.

    In 2014, a bid by former Panama dictator Manuel Noriega to claim damages over his depiction in the game was dismissed by a US court.
    {{
    Savimbi timeline:}}

    Founded Unita movement in 1966 in eastern Angola

    Abandoned his medical studies in Portugal to join anti-colonial struggle

    Despite Angola’s independence in 1975, Unita continues to fight the government

    Savimbi considered himself leader of Angola’s struggle against communism

    He received strong support from the US and met President Reagan at the White House in 1986

    More than 500,000 people were killed in the four-decade conflict

    His death in 2002 was celebrated in the capital, Luanda

    Source:BBC:[Angolan rebel Savimbi’s family sues Call of Duty makers->http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35486651]

  • Syrian army encircles Aleppo as ceasefire talks fade

    Syrian army encircles Aleppo as ceasefire talks fade

    {Government offensive intensifies around Syria’s largest city, threatening to cut off rebel supply routes in the north.}

    A Syrian military offensive backed by heavy Russian air strikes threatened to cut critical rebel supply lines into the northern city of Aleppo, as peace talks in Switzerland appeared to be in jeopardy on Wednesday.

    The government attack north of Aleppo that began in recent days is its first major offensive there since Russian air strikes began on September 30.

    Rebels described the assault as the most intense yet. One commander said opposition-held areas of Syria’s largest city were at risk of being encircled entirely by the government and allied militia, appealing to foreign states that back the rebels to send more weapons.

    Chances of achieving a ceasefire at talks in Geneva appear to be receding as the government, supported by Russian air power, advances against rebels, some of them US-backed.

    The refugee crisis and spread of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) through large areas of Syria, and from there to Iraq, had injected a new urgency to resolve the five-year-old Syria war.

    US Secretary of State John Kerry called on Moscow to stop the bombing during the peace process. “We are beginning the talks, we are at the table and we expect a ceasefire,” he said after a meeting in Rome of countries opposed to ISIL.

    The area around Aleppo safeguards a rebel supply route from Turkey into opposition-held parts of the city and stands between government-held parts of western Aleppo and the Shia villages of Nubul and al-Zahraa, which are loyal to Damascus.

    “The supply routes were not cut but there is heavy bombardment of them by the jets,” said a commander in the Levant Front rebel group who gave his name as Abu Yasine. “The Russian jets are trying to hit headquarters and cut supply routes.”

    The Russian jets had been working “night and day” for three days, he added, and reiterated the rebels’ long-held demand for anti-aircraft missiles to confront the assault.

    “If there is no support, the regime could besiege the city of Aleppo and cut the road to the north,” said Abu Yasine, whose group is one of the rebel movements that have received military support from states opposed to President Bashar al-Assad, funnelled via Turkey.

    Advancing government forces seized the village of Hardatnin some 10km northwest of Aleppo, building on gains of the previous day, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring body.

    Another rebel commander said he had sent reinforcements to the area.

    “We sent new fighters this morning, we sent heavier equipment there. It seems it will be a decisive battle in the north, God willing,” said Ahmed al-Seoud, head of a Free Syrian Army group known as Division 13.

    The Russian intervention has reversed the course of the war for Damascus, which suffered a series of major defeats to rebels in western Syria last year before Moscow deployed its air force as part of an alliance with Iran.

    Syria rebels face strong government threat in Aleppo

    Source: Reuters:[Syrian army encircles Aleppo as ceasefire talks fade->http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/02/syrian-army-encircles-aleppo-ceasefire-talks-fade-160203033045269.html]

  • Zimbabwe chief prosecutor charged over Mugabe bomb plot case

    Zimbabwe chief prosecutor charged over Mugabe bomb plot case

    {Zimbabwe’s chief prosecutor has been charged with obstructing the course of justice after allegedly dropping charges against people accused of plotting to bomb the president’s dairy.}

    Four army officers also appeared at the magistrates court in the capital Harare charged with treason.

    Attorney General Johannes Tomana denies the charges. He was brought to court in the back of a police pick-up truck.

    The milk production plant is run by President Robert Mugabe’s wife, Grace.

    The prosecutor told the court that the four army officers were allegedly caught with firearms and sought to get bombs designed to blow up the dairy, reports the BBC’s Brian Hungwe from the capital, Harare.

    Our correspondent adds that the court was told the four had formed a political party called Zimbabwe People Front and had set up a military training camp.

    Mr Tomana is accused of dropping charges against two of the four army officers.

    Mr Mugabe has been in power since 1980.

    The ruling Zanu-PF party has been hit by factionalism as rivals disagree on who will succeed 91-year-old Mr Mugabe.

    One faction of the ruling party is backing Grace Mugabe to take over from her husband while another camp is backing Deputy President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

    Source:BBC:[Zimbabwe chief prosecutor charged over Mugabe bomb plot case->http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35475067]

  • Nigeria anti-corruption agents ‘raid’ ex-VP Sambo’s office

    Nigeria anti-corruption agents ‘raid’ ex-VP Sambo’s office

    {Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency has raided the offices of ex-Vice-President Namadi Sambo, the BBC has learned.}

    The raid was carried out on Saturday by agents from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as part of a probe into an arms deal, a source said.

    Mr Sambo is the most senior member of the former government to be targeted by the EFCC since President Muhammadu Buhari took office last May.
    The former vice-president has not yet commented on the raid.

    He was believed to have been out of the country when his office in the capital, Abuja, was targeted.

    Mr Sambo is not the first ally of former President Goodluck Jonathan to come under scrutiny from the anti-corruption watchdog.

    In December, Nigeria’s former national security advisor, Sambo Dasuki, was charged over an alleged $68m (£47m) fraud. He denied any wrongdoing.

    A wider investigation is currently under way into the disappearance of $2bn of government money, which was meant to be spent on the fight against Boko Haram Islamist militants.

    The Islamist militant group has killed thousands in north-eastern Nigeria in its six-year campaign.

    Mr Sambo served as vice-president for five years, until the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) was defeated in elections last April.

    Mr Buhari took office with a pledge to tackle corruption in Africa’s most populous state and biggest oil producer.

    Source:BBC:[Nigeria anti-corruption agents ‘raid’ ex-VP Sambo’s office->http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35471989]

  • Amnesty Calls on Republic of Congo to Free Opposition Figure

    Amnesty Calls on Republic of Congo to Free Opposition Figure

    {Amnesty International has called on Republic of Congo authorities to unconditionally release an opposition leader detained for more than two months.}

    The organization said Monday that Paulin Makaya was detained and charged for exercising his right to freedom of expression by participating in an October protest against amendments to the constitution in Brazzaville.

    Amnesty International says Makaya and others arrested are prisoners of conscience. It says all charges should be dropped in the run-up to national elections.

    Republic of Congo opposition leaders called for a boycott of an Oct. 25 referendum vote that ultimately passed to allow the country’s longtime president to seek another term.

    Amnesty says 16 people died in clashes during demonstrations in Brazzaville and Pointe Noire.

    Elections originally scheduled for July, will be held March 20.

    Source:ABC NEWS:[Amnesty Calls on Republic of Congo to Free Opposition Figure->http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/amnesty-calls-republic-congo-free-opposition-figure-36648616]

  • Myanmar: New era as parliament holds historic session

    Myanmar: New era as parliament holds historic session

    {Politicians from Aung San Suu Kyi’s party take their seats in parliament for the first time after decades of army rule.}

    Myanmar’s newly elected politicians, most of them from pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, have taken their seats in parliament for the first time, in a landmark session that was meant to install the first democratically chosen government in half a century.

    The session on Monday marked a historic turnaround for the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which was suppressed by the country’s army for years.

    The party won 80 percent of the elected seats in general elections in November, qualifying it to form a government and end nearly 50 years of military rule.

    Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride, reporting from Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw, said there is a real sense of historic change in the country.

    “It is known here as a democracy on a leash. The military still retains a huge amount of power here but with that being said, the NLD, with their victory do get to choose the next government and they get to formulate government policy as well,” he said.

    “However, the danger for the NLD is that they are now seen as the cure of all the problems that have exisited here through decades of alleged mismanagement by the military … so there is real sense of expectation that they will sort all the problems.”

    One of the NLD’s central campaign promises was to reform the constitution to curtail the power of the military. This may prove difficult as military appointees still hold a quarter of the seats in each house of parliament, enough to block any changes.
    First decision

    The lower house of parliament elected NLD party member Win Myint to the powerful post of speaker.

    Suu Kyi is constitutionally barred from taking the presidency, and has vowed to rule from behind the scenes through a proxy.

    The Southeast Asian nation started moving from a half-century of dictatorship toward democracy in 2011, when military rulers agreed to hand over power to a nominally civilian government headed by President Thein Sein, a general turned reformist.

    He will stand down in late March or early April when an NLD president will take over.

    Source:Al Jazeera:Myanmar:[ New era as parliament holds historic session->http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/02/myanmar-era-parliament-holds-historic-session-160201043336484.html]

  • African Union decides against peacekeepers for Burundi

    African Union decides against peacekeepers for Burundi

    {Pan-African body will not send troops to crisis-hit country after government said any such force would be an invasion.}

    The African Union (AU) has decided against sending peacekeepers to crisis-hit Burundi after the embattled government said that any such move would be considered an invasion.

    Smail Chergui, AU commissioner for peace and security, told a press conference in the Ethiopian capital on Sunday that a proposed deployment of 5,000 troops would be deferred until permission was granted by Bujumbura.

    The decision came after a closed-door session at the AU where African leaders are meeting for a two-day summit.

    Al Jazeera’s Catherine Soi, reporting from African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, said the decision was not a surprise considering Burundi’s opposition to the plan.

    “It is going to be interesting to see how this delegation will be able to convince them to accept the troops,” she said.

    Chergui said an AU delegation would now fly to Burundi to hold talks aimed at ending the violence.

    Speaking to Al Jazeera, Stephanie Wolters, from the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), said the decision could galvanise the armed opposition and lead to an escalation of violence in the country.

    “It would appear that [Burundian] government propoganda about the situation in the country, had won over certain countries, and this may have led to this decision.

    “Also i think there is no indication that the Burundian government will give its consent to the deployment of troops any time soon,” Wolters, who heads the conflict prevention and risk analysis program at the South African based think-tank said.

    The AU charter’s Article 4 (h) gives it the right to intervene in a fellow nation state “in respect of grave circumstances, namely: war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.”

    Analysts say other African nations are wary of setting a precedent of deploying troops against the government’s wishes.

    Solomon Dersso, a political analyst, told Al Jazeera that while Burundi has demonstrated some flexibility on the issue of dialogue, there has been “complete disagreement between Bujumbura and the AU when it has come to the deployment of [AU] troops”.

    On Saturday as the AU summit opened, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, made clear troops were needed to stem the violence.
    The UN has warned Burundi risks a repeat of a 1993-2006 civil war, with hundreds killed since April 2015 when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced he would stand for a controversial third term in office.

    At least 230,000 people have fled to neighbouring countries.

    Since Nkurunziza’s re-election in July, clashes between government loyalists and the opposition have turned increasingly violent.

    Source:Al Jazeera:[African Union decides against peacekeepers for Burundi->http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/01/african-union-decides-peacekeepers-burundi-160131102052278.html]

  • Sweden: Arrests and scuffles after anti-refugee rampage

    Sweden: Arrests and scuffles after anti-refugee rampage

    {Witnesses report people were attacked by mob after group handed out leaflets threatening violence against foreigners.}

    Swedish police have made three arrests following reports that scores of black-clad men targeted foreigners as they rampaged through central Stockholm on Friday.

    Local media reported on Saturday that up to 100 men had attacked people and handed out leaflets threatening violence against foreigners, highlighting growing tensions in a country of 10 million people that received 163,000 asylum seekers last year.

    Friday night’s incident was followed by an anti-refugee protest on Saturday, which resulted in some scuffles with counter-demonstrators, according to local media.

    “Racist groups are spreading hate and violence in our streets. This has to be met with force,” Interior Minister Anders Ygeman said in a statement on Saturday.

    Swedish newspapers said that according to witnesses a number of people had been attacked by the gang on Friday, who they reported to be hooligans associated with local football teams.

    One witness told the Aftonbladet newspaper that he had seen a group of men beating people in the middle of the capital’s busy central Sergels torg square.

    Police said three arrests were made on Saturday, the Reuters news agency reported.

    The police also said one man had been arrested on Friday night for punching a plain clothes officer and another for carrying a knuckleduster, but the extent of assaults on immigrants was not clear.

    Friday’s incident came a day after a 22-year-old female worker was stabbed to death in a centre for unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors in the southwest of the country.

    ‘Our duty’

    The leaflets handed out on Friday, which police said were also posted to Swedish social media, said: “When Swedish streets are no longer safe for ordinary Swedes it is our DUTY to fix the problem … The police have amply shown that it lacks the means to rein them in and we now see no alternative than for us to mete out the punishment they deserve.”

    The Swedish government said this week it was likely to deport between 60,000 and 80,000 of last year’s applications for refugee status in a move that drew criticism from rights groups.

    More than 35,000 unaccompanied minors sought asylum in Sweden last year, roughly half of them registered as 16 or 17-years-old. More than 23,000 of them came from Afghanistan.

  • Turkey warns Russia after alleging new airspace breach

    Turkey warns Russia after alleging new airspace breach

    {Russian SU-34 jet reportedly flew into Turkish airspace despite radar warnings, prompting Ankara to summon ambassador.}

    Turkey has warned Moscow of “consequences” after saying that a Russian warplane ignored several radar warnings not to violate Turkish airspace, in the latest spat between the two countries.

    Two months after Turkey’s army shot down a Russian jet for allegedly crossing over its territory, Ankara said on Saturday that it had summoned the Russian ambassador after a Russian SU-34 jet crossed into Turkish airspace.

    The Russian defence ministry denied that there was any violation and dismissed the Turkish accusations as “baseless propaganda”.

    “There has not been a single violation of Turkish airspace by Russia air force planes in Syria,” ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told Russian news agencies.

    He added that Turkish radar installations were not capable of identifying a particular aircraft or its type or nationality, and that no verbal warning had been issued.

    Rising tensions

    Relations between the two countries are at their lowest point in decades, prompted by the November 24 downing of the Russian jet by Turkish forces.

    Moscow imposed a series of economic sanctions against Ankara after the incident, sparking the biggest crisis between the two countries since the Cold War.

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Friday’s incident was a sign that Russia wanted issues between the two countries to deteriorate.

    “We regard this infringement which came despite all our warnings in Russian and in English as an effort by Russia to escalate the crisis in the region,” Erdogan said on Saturday.

    “If Russia continues the violations of Turkey’s sovereign rights, it will be forced to endure the consequences,” he added, saying he wanted to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin after the incident.

    “I told our foreign ministry to convey my desire to meet Mr Putin personally. There has been no answer on this yet.”

    NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called on Russia to “act responsibly” and “take all necessary measures” to ensure the bloc’s airspace was not violated again.

    “A Russian combat aircraft violated Turkish airspace yesterday, despite repeated warnings by the Turkish authorities. Previous incidents have shown how dangerous such behaviour is,” Stoltenberg said in a statement on Saturday.

    Source:Al Jazeera:[Turkey warns Russia after alleging new airspace breach->http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/01/turkey-summons-russia-envoy-airspace-violation-160130164834131.html]