IGIHE

Category: Politics

  • DRC’s powerful Catholic church sides with Congolese people who want political change

    {With less than a week to go before President Joseph Kabila’s second term ends, the Catholic Church is hoping to broker an agreement between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’s political actors in a bid to avoid bloodshed.}

    President Kabila has been in power since 2001 and served two full terms, as permitted by the Congolese constitution. Kabila is due to stand down on 19 December, but he has been accused of manoeuvring to ensure he can remain in power indefinitely.

    Commentators believe the president may have reservations about stepping down because of fears he may face charges for alleged crimes and may be distressed about his personal security or his wealth being cut off.

    As the fateful date looms, the future of the largest country in Africa is being played on the second floor of a small building in the capital Kinshasa’s city centre at the Diocesan Centre of DRC’s powerful Catholic church, the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (Cenco).

    IBTimes UK exclusively spoke to Père Clément Makiobo Malelo, executive secretary of the DRC Episcopal Justice and Peace Commission, as he waited to enter the national dialogue room at Cenco’s offices.

    “The church’s mission is to work towards the emergence of the rule of law, and for peace. Every time the country has faced issues, the church did not withdraw within itself but instead committed to help the DRC to recover and arise,” Makiobo Malelo said. “In the eyes of many Congolese, it is absolutely normal that the church would take this initiative to reach out to political actors and invite them to be responsible in the face of the great dangers facing the DRC.”

    ‘The Congolese people is waiting for change’

    Highlighting how Cenco’s stance is “biased” towards the side of the Congolese people, the clergyman said: “The aspirations of the people is where our interests lay.”

    The Catholic mission has not hidden its inclination towards ensuring upcoming elections are not delayed, and has been outspoken on the subject of Kabila’s future.

    Makiolo Malelo added: “When we look back to the recent events that have unfolded here in the DRC, we can see that the people is expecting a great deal from a political alternance [changeover], they want transparent, democratic and appeased elections. The Congolese people is waiting for change, and improvements in its welfare especially with regards to its social needs, access to drinking water, electricity, healthcare, education – these are all things the Congolese people is waiting for. But in order to achieve this, they believe the elections – even if they don’t solve everything – can be a gateway to a responsible and democratic governance.”

    Cenco has been mediating talks between Kabila’s political alliance, the presidential majority (MP) and the Rassemblement, a broad coalition of opposition groups. The mediation is seen as the last chance to prevent the DRC from erupting into violence on 19 December, when some in Congo have pledged to remove Kabila from office. It suspended its involvement after a brutal crackdown on 19 September protests which left more than 50 dead. If Cenco also refused to sign the 18 October political agreement – boycotted by the Rassemblement – it agreed to find a way to reconcile all different political parties.

    Commentators have admitted reservations about the success of this potential eleventh minute accord, but Makiobo Malelo said the Catholic Church’s role relative to the state could ensure unrest is prevented.

    “To understand the role of the Cenco and the church’s implication in the political life would be difficult in a country such as the United Kingdom. In DRC, however, since Independence, it is the Church which has organised most structures, including education, and who has helped educate the Congolese elite who is today in power,” the clergyman explained.

    “Cenco has a code of conduct: first, as actors of Cenco and the Catholic Church, we don’t get involved in politics and so we have no interest at stake other than the nation’s interest. We are not candidate for a position, and this gives us much more freedom.”

    Delegates and members of Congolese Episcopal conference (Cenco) are hoping to broker a last minute accord between President Kabila's presidential majority and opposition coalition dubbed the Rassemblement in Kinshasa, DRC

  • No deal yet for Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh to leave power

    {Liberia’s president said Tuesday no deal has yet been reached by a heavyweight delegation for Yahya Jammeh to transition power to opposition leader Adama Barrow, who was declared the victor of a recent presidential election.}

    A day of talks with Jammeh and Barrow yielded constructive conversations but no resolution.

    The situation was further complicated by Jammeh’s political party filing a legal challenge to the result in the afternoon.

    “We come to help Gambians find their way through a transition. That’s not something that can happen in one day. It’s something that one has to work on,” said Liberia’s Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, acting as the head of a delegation of four West African heads of state visiting the country.

    Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, Sierra Leone’s Ernest Bai Koroma and Ghana’s outgoing President John Mahama all flew in with Sirleaf in an attempt to find common ground between the two sides.

    The Liberian leader said Jammeh had “expressed some concerns” on the same day his party filed the petition with the country’s Supreme Court.

    “The ECOWAS mission was here to meet with him to understand the status quo a bit better,” Sirleaf added, referring to a West African regional bloc.

    The ECOWAS community would now consider the results of the visit on Saturday, she said.

    Nigeria’s Buhari had said earlier the longtime ruler had been “receptive” to their pleas, but president-elect Barrow said the talks were in gridlock.

    “There has not been an agreement so far,” said Barrow, who also met the delegation.

    The leader of the opposition described a “standoff” with the government. Referring to the court challenge filed by the ruling party, he said Jammeh “doesn’t have the authority” to annul the result.

    The lack of a deal will come as a blow to the opposition, who had hoped Jammeh would leave power within a month under international pressure.

    That transition will be all the more complicated given the legal petition, seen by AFP, claimed the country’s Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) had violated the law, that Barrow was not the elected president and the result was void.

    The ruling Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) said it was not present when the IEC issued a recount on December 5, claimed there were irregularities in the process and alleged voter intimidation.

    {{SANCTIONS THREAT?}}

    A top ECOWAS official had said that if Jammeh and the delegation do not reach an agreement, West African states would “contemplate more draconian decisions”, but the quartet would not elaborate on this Tuesday.

    Jammeh had surprised observers by initially conceding defeat in the poll but then reversed his stand last Friday, triggering an avalanche of international condemnation and a multitude of calls for him to cede power peacefully.

    His decision was triggered in part by a readjustment of the votes counted in the election was made by the IEC on Monday last week, reducing the number of ballots for all three candidates but ultimately confirming Barrow’s victory.

    Earlier on Tuesday, police locked down the offices of the electoral commission, raising fresh fears Jammeh might not leave office without a fight.

    The electoral commission chairman, Alieu Momar Njie, told AFP that when he went to work riot police prevented him from entering the premises.

    Later Tuesday Njie maintained the results still stood, and questioned Jammeh’s ability to bring a legal challenge.

    Jammeh in mid-2015 dismissed a string of Supreme Court judges after criticising the court’s move to commute several death sentences.

    “The only recourse when you have any problems with the results of the elections, one has to appeal to the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court has been dormant since May 2015,” Njie said.

    A group of the country’s most influential lawyers has said there is “no legitimate legal mechanism available in The Gambia to hear and determine the election petition”, as Jammeh would have to stuff the court with his own appointees.

    {{ARMY LOYALTY}}

    Earlier in the day, opposition coalition members had been more confident of a breakthrough.

    “Remember President Buhari is from the military. Jammeh is from the military. I think that will make a difference,” said Hamat Bah, a senior coalition official.

    Up until now the president of the tiny country of fewer than two million people may have exasperated his regional peers but has never threatened peace in the area.

    The situation has dramatically shifted, however, since Jammeh’s move to void the election.

    Gambian army chief Ousman Badjie also seemed to reverse a previous declaration of support for Barrow and arrived at delegation preparation talks wearing a badge that featured Jammeh’s face on his uniform.

    Badjie said he supported the “commander in chief, President Yahya Jammeh” in brief comments to journalists.

    President of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, flanked by the president of Sierra Leone Ernest Bai Koroma (left), the president of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari (right) and the outgoing president of Ghana John Dramani Mahama walk in a hotel in Serekunda on December 13, 2016 after a meeting in a bid to persuade veteran leader Jammeh to accept his election defeat and hand over power.

  • Bilal Kayed released after 15 years in Israeli jail

    {Bilal Kayed’s case caused outrage when he was placed under administrative detention by Israel on June 15.}

    East Jerusalem – Palestinian prisoner Bilal Kayed has been released after spending 15 years in Israeli jails, his family has confirmed.

    His case caused outrage within the Palestinian community when he was placed under administrative detention on June 15 – the day he was due to be released after serving his full sentence.

    Administrative detention is a military court order that allows Israel to detain Palestinians on “secret evidence” without trial or charge for renewable six-month intervals.

    “We cannot express how happy we are that he has been released but it is an incomplete happiness because he carries the message of all the other prisoners who remain in Israeli jails,” Kayed’s brother Mahmoud told Al Jazeera on Monday.

    “The hardest part was when he was transferred to administrative detention because we were preparing ourselves for his release, but he wasn’t, which was extremely unjust.”

    {{Mass hunger strike}}

    In protest against his detention, Kayed refused food for 71 days, before reaching a deal with Israeli authorities to be released at the end of the six months.

    Hundreds of other prisoners also expressed solidarity by participating in a mass hunger strike.

    Muhannad al-Azza, a lawyer with the Jerusalem-based Addameer prisoner rights group, says “Kayed’s case was an exception”.

    “Normally, no one spends that much time in prison and is then placed under administrative detention. At least 250 prisoners went on hunger strike to call for his release,” Azza told Al Jazeera.

    Under international law, the use of administrative detention is permitted only in exceptional cases related to security.

    Israel, however, has detained thousands of Palestinians for years without charging them or allowing them to defend themselves in trial.

    Of the estimated 7,000 Palestinians behind Israeli bars, at least 720 are administrative detainees, according to Addameer’s statistics.

    In 2001, Kayed was imprisoned by the Israeli authorities at the age of 19 and served a fourteen-and-a-half-year sentence for his affiliation with the Abu Mustafa Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a leftist political party.

    “If he did not go on hunger strike, they would have renewed his administrative detention. Freedom is not served on a silver platter,” said Azza.

    Kayed was jailed at 19 for his affiliation with Abu Mustafa Brigades

  • African leaders head to Gambia for mediation talks

    {West African heads of state to arrive in Banjul to ask President Jammeh to step down, according to Senegalese official.}

    West African leaders are to head to Gambia to try to persuade incumbent President Yahya Jammeh to agree “to leave office” after his defeat at the ballot box, according to a Senegalese foreign ministry source.

    The delegation headed by Liberian leader Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a Nobel Peace laureate and the current chairwoman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), will include Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, Sierra Leone leader Ernest Bai Koroma and outgoing Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama.

    “These leaders will ask him to leave office,” the source said.

    Mankeur Ndiaye, Senegalese foreign minister, said an ECOWAS delegation was previously due in Banjul last week but Jammeh did not allow them to visit.

    Gambian presidential election: Yahya Jammeh demands new vote
    Celebrations erupted across the West African nation last week when Jammeh unexpectedly conceded defeat after the elections commission announced the victory of opposition candidate Adama Barrow.

    However, in a dramatic about-face that drew international condemnation, the former coup leader on Friday decried “serious and unacceptable abnormalities” and called for fresh polls.

    In a statement broadcast on state television late on Saturday, Jammeh’s Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) party said it was preparing a petition “against the flawed decision of the Independent Elections Commission”.

    The deadline for submitting a challenge to the court is Tuesday.

    Barrow is due on Tuesday to welcome the ECOWAS leaders along with a delegation of UN representatives, which the president-elect said gave him hope that he would soon take power.

    Sirleaf said over the weekend that the reversal of Jammeh’s decision “threatened peace”.

    She asked him on Saturday to “do the right thing and take actions to facilitate a smooth and peaceful transition in Gambia”.

    Jammeh seized power in a coup in 1994 when he was an army lieutenant and has ruled ever since, wining four elections, that were criticised by rights monitors, and surviving several coup attempts. International human rights groups accuse him of widespread violations and repression.

    He declared Gambia an Islamic Republic last year.

    A statement from the opposition coalition read to reporters in Barrow’s presence on Monday called for Jammeh to step down immediately.

    Before his surprise change of mind, he had pledged to hand over power to Barrow in January following the transitional period dictated by Gambian law.

    However, Gambia has no sitting Supreme Court. In order to hear Jammeh’s complaint, legal experts believe at least four judges must be hired.

    “We do not recognise that the outgoing president has the constitutional authority in the last days of his presidency, to appoint any Supreme Court judges in Gambia for the purpose of receiving his petition,” opposition figure Mai Fatty said.

  • Gambia president-elect Adama Barrow demands Jammeh step down ‘now’

    {Gambian president-elect Adama Barrow said on Monday longtime leader Yahya Jammeh should leave power immediately after the incumbent president announced he would challenge the election result despite previously accepting defeat.}

    “I think he should step down now,” Barrow told AFP. “He has lost the election, we don’t want to waste time, we want this country to start moving.”

    Barrow is due to welcome a heavyweight group of African heads of state and UN representatives Tuesday to persuade Jammeh to go, which the president-elect said gave him hope that he would soon take power.

    The high level delegation will include UN West Africa envoy Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, and Liberian leader Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in her capacity as head of the west African ECOWAS bloc, the Senegalese foreign ministry confirmed.

    The delegation would “ask him to leave power”, a source at the Senegalese foreign affairs spokesman said.

    Jammeh’s swift concession of defeat had initially stunned observers and led to celebrations across the country.

    But Jammeh’s party complicated what was expected to be a peaceful handover when it announced Saturday that a legal complaint would be filed with the Supreme Court challenging the December 1 election result, as well as calling for new polls.

    Outgoing Ghanaian President John Mahama is also expected to join the group on Tuesday, a regional example of a leader who just lost his own election but is nonetheless expected to hand power over without issue.

    The delegation and international support “(is) giving us confidence and it will give confidence to every Gambian that the world is concerned about Gambia,” Barrow said.

    REJECT THE RESULTS IN TOTALITY

    Barrow urged Jammeh to meet the heads of state when they arrive but could not confirm that the longtime leader would be present, saying that he had not spoken to him since December 2.

    “I urge him and advise him to meet the international community. They are partners to The Gambia and The Gambia is a signatory to those institutions, so we have to give them that respect,” he said.

    Adding that his own safety was “a concern”, Barrow said he believed the army’s declaration that he had top brass backing still held.

    The president-elect said that Jammeh’s legal complaint over a vote recount was baseless and that he had no power to appoint to the Supreme Court new judges who would be necessary to hear the case. The court has sat dormant for more than a year.

    “We don’t have time to fight again. The Supreme Court wasn’t existing for the last one year. There are a pile of cases that are waiting… but he doesn’t care about it,” Barrow told AFP.

    A readjustment of the votes counted in the election was made on Monday, reducing numbers of ballots for all three candidates but ultimately confirming Barrow’s victory.

    In his speech on Friday, Jammeh said he would now “reject the results in totality”, and called for new elections.

    Jammeh has led the tiny sliver of a nation of just under two million people for 22 years since taking power in a coup.

    Gambian president-elect Adama Barrow speaks during an interview in Banjul on December 12, 2016.

  • EU, US sanction DR Congo officials over protest violence

    {The United States and the EU on Monday imposed sanctions on top DR Congo officials after clashes with protesters against President Joseph Kabila in September left more than 50 people dead.}

    DR Congo — once ruled from Brussels as a Belgian colony — immediately slammed the EU move as an “illegal” throw-back to imperial days, warning it would take unspecified action against them.

    Washington had previously targeted several senior figures close to the president and on Monday added Deputy Prime Minister Evariste Boshab and Kalev Mutondo, head of the national intelligence agency, for rights abuses.

    “The Congolese government continues to undermine democratic processes in the DRC and to repress the political rights and freedoms of the Congolese people, putting the long-term stability and prosperity of the country at risk,” the US Treasury said in a statement.

    European Union foreign ministers had made clear in October they would go ahead with sanctions if Kabila showed no sign of leaving office when his term ends on December 19.

    The 28-nation bloc accordingly hit seven officials with travel bans and asset freezes for their role in the September deaths when the security apparatus “exercised a disproportionate use of force,” a statement said.

    The seven included army commander Major General Gabriel Amisi Kumba, former inspector of police General John Numbi, and Celestin Kayama, chief of police, who were previously sanctioned by the United States.

    {{IMPERIAL LAW}}

    The bloc also listed Ilunga Kampete, head of the president’s Republican Guard; Ferdinand Ilunga Luyoyo, commander of the anti-riot squad; Roger Kibelisa, in charge of internal security and Delphin Kaimbi, alias Kahimbi, who ran military intelligence.

    The EU said it would follow developments in DR Congo very closely and further sanctions “may be considered in the event of further violence or the political process being impeded”.

    It also called on the government to cooperate with a “transparent and independent investigation” to bring those responsible for the violence to justice.

    Last week, the Catholic Church launched “reconciliation talks” in an effort to broker a deal between the opposition and Kabila on holding new elections.

    The EU wants polls and a new government to ensure stability in DR Congo, a mineral-rich and strife-torn former Belgian colony which sits astride Africa’s strategic crossroads.

    Kabila first took office in 2001 after the assassination of his father Laurent-Desire Kabila and a 2006 constitutional provision limited the presidency to two terms.

    Kinshasa immediately condemned the move.

    “(These sanctions) are illegal because they are a sort of imperial law that is at odds with international law. The DRC, a non-European country, condemns them and intends to take action against them,” said government spokesman Lambert Mende.

    Democratic Republic of Congo Prime Minister Evariste Boshab (right), flanked by his Vice President Borice Mbuku (centre) and an unidentified official, during a press conference in Kinshasa on January 3, 2012. The US government and European Union on December 12, 2016 sanctioned senior Democratic Republic of Congo officials for suppressing the opposition and delaying political progress in the African nation.

  • Uhuru warns on chaos as Kenya readies for polls

    {President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday gave a tough warning against possible election violence.}

    He told politicians to settle poll-related grievances through the courts instead of inciting supporters to cause chaos.

    Addressing the last Jamhuri Day celebrations of his current term, eight months to the General Election, the President also warned foreign governments against interfering in local politics. He said that Kenyans should be allowed to make independent decisions on who should lead them.

    “In the United States, following the last election, much has been said about potential foreign interference with the electoral process. We are also going into elections next year. There is already money coming into Kenya from abroad in the guise of supporting good governance or civic education.

    However, its true intention is to influence our electoral choices,” he said in his speech at the Nyayo National Stadium. The event was televised while the President’s speech was also read in all the county headquarters.

    The President said that Kenyans should not forget what happened in 2007-2008 after political differences escalated into ethnic hatred, leading to the post-election violence in which 1,133 people were killed. Another 650,000 displaced from their homes.

    The violence led the International Criminal Court to open charges against six Kenyans, including President Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto, who were serving as Deputy Prime Minister and Cabinet minister, respectively, at the time.

    On Monday, the President made it clear that Kenya would be rethinking its relationship with the court in The Hague.

    “I do not have to remind you what disunity looks like,” President Kenyatta said. “We know all too well what happened the last time we failed to treat each other as one family. So I will close by asking every Kenyan one single thing: in 2017, I ask you to be your brother’s keeper.”

    On ICC, the President said: “Our experience at the ICC demonstrated a glaring lack of impartiality in this institution. We have started to see many more nations openly recognising that the ICC is not impartial. Some have withdrawn. Others have considered that step. Twice, our Parliament has passed motions to withdraw.

    “We have sought the changes that will align the ICC to respect for national sovereignty. Those changes have not been forthcoming. We will, therefore, need to give serious thought to our membership.

    “The ICC is only one instrument in seeking to shape the choices of free people.”

    Even as he spoke, in at least seven counties, the supporters of rival political leaders clashed, in some instances violently, an indication of what 2017 could look like unless the violence is checked.

    VIOLENT CLASH

    The most violent clash was in Meru, where Governor Peter Munya’s supporters and those of Senator Kiraitu Murungi clashed openly. Confrontations were also reported in Mombasa, Homa Bay, Siaya, Kisii, Migori and Garissa.

    President Kenyatta said that even when people differ politically, violence should not be the only way to solve problems. He particularly challenged the youth not to be used by political leaders to cause mayhem.

    The President said the future of Kenya belongs to the youth and it is the responsibility of all leaders to prepare them to be the new heroes.

    Said President Kenyatta: “We will disagree robustly because we are a democracy. But that disagreement will have limits. We will not fight.

    “We know that no family ever sees things all exactly the same way. But even when we disagree at home, we don’t burn the house down. Fellow Kenyans that is the story of next year.”

    Even as he asked voters to re-elect him, he challenged his opponents to accept the results and pledged that he too will respect the outcome if he is defeated.

    “We will either accept the results, or challenge them following the legal means laid down for that purpose. Those who win will use their offices to serve in humility,” he said.

    GOVERNMENT’S ACHIEVEMENTS

    The President also enumerated the achievements of the Jubilee administration, which took power in 2013.

    He said the government had made huge investments in education where it has ensured every public primary school has electricity. He said the Government has worked hard to reform the education system and to preserve the integrity of national examinations.

    He said investments in technical education had also been increased to form the foundation for industrialisation.

    “The objective of all these efforts is to create a sufficient number of jobs for the young people we have educated,” he said.

    He efforts to industrialise the country were in top gear and that a motor vehicle assembly plant in Thika is expected to produce the first VolksWagen car to be assembled in Kenya. This, he said, is expected at the end of December.

    “Plants that had once lain dormant have been refurbished. For example, the first phase of the revival of Panpaper is due for commissioning. And by the time we meet again to celebrate Jamhuri, the revival of Rivatex will be complete.”

    On digital learning, President Kenyatta said that about 80,000 teachers have been trained and digital content finalised. By next year, every child from Standard One to Three will have access to the digital devices, bringing digital learning to every corner of the republic.

    President Uhuru Kenyatta addressing the public during Jamhuri Day Celebrations at Nyayo National Stadium on December 12, 2016.

  • Italy: President names Paolo Gentiloni prime minister

    {Following Matteo Renzi’s resignation over referendum defeat, foreign minister is entrusted with forming new government.}

    Italy’s foreign minister has been named the country’s new prime minister following Matteo Renzi’s resignation in the wake of a referendum defeat.

    Paolo Gentiloni, 62, was asked by President Sergio Mattarella on Sunday to form a new centre-left government that will guide Italy to the elections that are due by February 2018.

    A close ally of the outgoing premier, Gentiloni now has to put together his own government team in advance of a parliamentary approval vote expected on Wednesday.

    Al Jazeera’s Sonia Gallego, reporting from Rome, said Gentiloni was already meeting speakers of the lower house and the Senate.

    “The process involves a series of consultations that will take approximately a couple of days,” she said.

    “Following that, he will announce whether he has been successful or not.”

    In a brief statement, Gentiloni said there was an “urgent need for a fully functioning government” to address a series of pressing international, economic and social issues.

    Among those is a looming crisis in the troubled banking sector as well as the ongoing relief efforts after a series of deadly earthquakes between August and October.

    Mattarella turned to Gentiloni after opposition parties rebuffed overtures about a possible national unity government. The president rejected opposition demands for an immediate election.

    “Not by choice but out of a sense of responsibility, I will be forming a government based on the outgoing majority,” Gentiloni said.

    Renzi, who had been in power for two years and 10 months, resigned last week after voters overwhelmingly rejected a package of constitutional reforms on which he had staked his future.

    The populist Five Star Movement, which has led calls for immediate elections, said it would boycott Wednesday’s vote because the new government would have no legitimacy.

    “This government is not even worthy of a vote against it,” said Giulia Grillo, head of the Five Star group in the Senate.

    All major parties have called for election as soon as possible.

    But before any vote can take place, Mattarella has said Italy needs a new electoral law to replace one that applies only to the lower house and could be declared illegitimate in January by the Constitutional Court.

    Elections are not due until 2018 but could be called as soon as parliament finishes rewriting the electoral law. Gentiloni said he would “facilitate, if possible, the parliamentary forces’ task of quickly defining new electoral rules”.

    Gentiloni said there was an 'urgent need for a fully functioning government'

  • Nigeria Maiduguri: Two ‘young girls’ used as human bombs

    {Two girls said to be aged seven or eight have been used to bomb a market in north-east Nigeria, killing at least one other person and wounding 18.}

    Police in the town of Maiduguri, Borno state, say the attack happened when the market was crowded with shoppers.

    The girls detonated their explosives minutes apart, witnesses said. Both were killed.

    No group has said it was behind the bombings but Boko Haram militants have carried out similar attacks.

    In the past few months, the Nigerian army has made gains against the group but it still carries out regular bombings.

    A member of a militia in Maiduguri, Abdulkarim Jabo, told media the girls were aged about seven or eight and had arrived at the market in a rickshaw.

    “They got out of a rickshaw and walked right in front of me without showing the slightest sign of emotion,” he said.

    “I tried to speak with one of them, in Hausa and in English, but [they] didn’t answer. I thought they were looking for their mother.”

    He said the first girl had headed towards a market stall and then detonated her belt of explosives.

    Militants have carried out a string of deadly attacks in north-east Nigeria in recent weeks.

    On Friday, a double suicide attack carried out by female bombers killed at least 45 people and wounded 33 at a marketplace in the town of Madagali.

    In October, female suicide bombers also killed 17 people at a camp for displaced people in Maiduguri.

    {{Boko Haram}}

    Founded in 2002, initially focused on opposing Western-style education – Boko Haram means “Western education is forbidden” in the Hausa language

    Launched military operations in 2009

    Has killed thousands, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria, and abducted hundreds, including at least 200 schoolgirls

    Joined so-called Islamic State, now calls itself IS’s “West African province”

    Seized large area in north-east, where it declared caliphate

    Regional force has retaken most territory since last year

  • Gambia leader Yahya Jammeh to contest election defeat in court

    {Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh says he will launch a legal challenge to contest an election defeat that will bring an end to his 22-year rule.}

    President Jammeh initially conceded after rival Adama Barrow won last week’s vote, but then backtracked on Friday, saying he “totally” rejected the result.

    The United Nations Security Council has demanded he accepts defeat.

    The streets remain calm despite a heavy army presence in the capital Banjul.

    Mr Jammeh’s Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction party announced, late on Saturday, that a petition will be filed to The Gambia’s Supreme Court.

    By law, election results can be contested up to 10 days after the vote.

    President-elect Barrow said on Sunday that he feared for his safety. He had previously accused his rival of damaging democracy by refusing to agree to hand over power.

    Mr Jammeh, who took power in a coup in 1994, has cited “abnormalities” in the vote and wants a re-run.

    Incumbent Gambian President Yahya Jammeh gesturing at a Banjul polling station on election day