Category: Politics

Obama to visit Saudi Arabia for defence talks

US president and defence chief on a two-day trip to the Gulf to talk counter-terrorism and regional security threats.

US President Barack Obama will talk next week with leaders in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries about agreements on counter-terrorism and bolstering ballistic missile defence systems, a White House official said on Thursday.

Obama will travel to Saudi Arabia with his defence chief Ashton Carter to meet with King Salman on Wednesday and then attend a summit with other leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council on Thursday.

“As you’ll hear more coming out of the summit, there’s been agreements reached to increase our cooperation on counter-terrorism, streamlining the transfer of critical defence capabilities to our GCC partners, bolstering GCC ballistic defence … systems, and defending against the cyber threat,” said Rob Malley, a senior adviser to Obama on the Middle East.

“On all of those, I think you’ll see progress has been made, there’s been much deeper cooperation between us and the GCC,” Malley told reporters on a conference call.

Obama plans to discuss the fight against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Saudi-led conflict in Yemen, and Iran and regional stability issues, the AP news agency quoted Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser, as saying.

The president also wants to hear about ideas from King Salman and other leaders for dealing with economic issues, given the sharp drop in oil prices, Malley said.

Obama then will travel to London to meet British Prime Minister David Cameron and to Hanover for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, where ISIL – also known as ISIS – and counter-terrorism cooperation also will be on the agenda, the White House said.

Obama plans to also discuss Afghanistan and Russian moves in Ukraine with Cameron and Merkel, the White House officials said.

April 15, 2016
Zimbabwe protest: Thousands call for end to Mugabe rule

In the first anti-government rally in years, thousands hit streets of Harare to protest against economic mismanagement.

Thousands of opposition supporters marched through the streets of Zimbabwe’s capital Harare on Thursday calling for an end to the rule of longtime President Robert Mugabe.

In the first anti-government protest in nearly a decade, supporters of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) carried anti-Mugabe placards and sang party songs before party leader Morgan Tsvangirai gave a speech against the presidency.

“Mugabe has no solution to the crisis,” Tsvangirai told supporters gathered in Africa Unity Square wearing T-shirts in the party’s red colours.

“We are here to tell Mugabe and his regime that you have failed.”

Anti-government protests in Zimbabwe have often been brutally broken up by police during the rule of Mugabe, who has been in power since independence in 1980.

Al Jazeera’s Haru Mutasa, reporting from Harare, said police had initially threatened to ban Thursday’s protest but were eventually ordered by the High Court to allow it to go ahead.

“It’s been several years since the opposition has marched in the streets of Harare like this; people are surprised and the numbers are huge,” she said.

“They are in their thousands, marching to the parliament saying they want President Robert Mugabe – who is 92 years old – to step down. They say he is too old and that he is mismanaging the country. They also say they want corruption dealt with, they want jobs.”

Zimbabwe’s economic crisis has worsened in recent months, taking a toll on employment rates and government expenditure.

Mugabe remains active but his increasingly fragile health has sparked intense speculation over his successor, and the fate of the country when his rule comes to an end.

April 15, 2016
Balkan leaders visit flashpoint area on the Greece-Macedonia border

Clashes have raged on Greek, Macedonia border where many have been blocked.

Croatia’s President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic on Wednesday demanded the EU implement a clear policy on migrants as she and two other Balkan heads of state visited a flashpoint area on the Greece-Macedonia border.

“EU should be clear in its policy towards migrants and take care of those who have the right to asylum, who are fleeing war,” Grabar-Kitarovic said after visiting a reception centre in Gevgelija on Macedonia’s southeastern border with Greece.

She was accompanied by her Macedonian and Slovenian counterparts, Gjorge Ivanov and Borut Pahor.

“The migrant wave will not stop by itself, not until those messages are clear,” she said.

Since Sunday, there has been a wave of clashes at Idomeni on the Greece-Macedonia border where more than 11,000 migrants have been stranded for weeks after Balkans countries closed their frontiers, effectively shutting off access to northern Europe.

Over the past three days, hundreds of people have tried to force their way across, with Macedonian police using tear gas and other riot control means to stop them in scenes of violence which have drawn criticism in Europe and sparked a row with Greece.

The Macedonian president said the unrest was the result of “major pressure by the migrants to obtain (the) re-opening” of the Balkans route, and underlined the country’s right to protect its border.

As they visited, further clashes erupted just a few hundred metres (yards) away, with Macedonian police firing tear gas and stun grenades at around a hundred migrants protesting on the Greek side of the fence, an AFP correspondent said.

Spread along a 100-metre stretch of the border, they tugged at the wire fence until a group of Greek riot police arrived, blocking their access to the fence, the reporter said.

April 14, 2016
ICC ruling on Ruto spells doom — Raila

Kenya has led a high-profile campaign against the ICC among African nations, accusing the court of bias against the continent.

Cord leader Raila Odinga on Wednesday hit out at the ICC, saying its failure to try top Kenyan leaders for crimes against humanity over the 2007 post-election violence spells “doom” for global efforts to fight impunity.

Speaking to AFP in France, Mr Odinga said the International Criminal Court had allowed itself to be blackmailed by Kenya.

However, he said African countries must not quit the International Criminal Court as the continent is “the biggest violator currently of human rights”.

ICC judges dropped cases against President Uhuru Kenyatta at the end of 2014 and against Deputy President William Ruto last week. Charges against four other suspects were also dropped.

More than 1,100 people died and some 600,000 others were left homeless after the 2007 election violence.

“This decision spells doom for the international justice system and fight against impunity,” said Mr Odinga an interview during his visit to Paris. “No African head of State needs to fear being tried by the court because you can destroy the evidence, you can kill witnesses.”

He said the ICC allowed itself to be blackmailed by Kenya through the AU, which had said that African countries would pull out if the court continued trying African heads of state.

Kenya has led a high-profile campaign against the court among African nations, accusing it of bias against the continent.

Last week, Mr Odinga congratulated Mr Ruto after the court declared that the Deputy President and former radio presenter Joshua arap Sang had no case to answer. Mr Odinga at the time said ODM, to which Mr Ruto belonged during the chaos, did not organise any violence over the disputed 2007 presidential election results.

Both Mr Odinga’s Cord and the governing Jubilee coalitions have previously traded accusations over who fixed the other in the ICC cases.

Of the nine investigations the court has opened so far, eight are on African countries; Kenya, Cote d’Ivoire, Libya, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Uganda, Mali and Georgia.

The 2007 post-election violence broke out after Mr Odinga, then and still in the opposition, refused to accept the verdict of the electoral commission, which declared that President Mwai Kibaki had won.

Mr Odinga said that since the ICC dropped charges against Kenyatta and his co-accused, “it was good that Ruto was set free” as a matter of fairness between the opposing camps.

Odinga said African countries’ abysmal rights record was all the more reason for them to remain in the ICC.

“There is no alternative mechanism in Africa to deal with these cases and second, Africa needs ICC more than any part of the world,” he said.

Mr Odinga also criticised African leaders for forcing constitutional amendments to extend their decades-old rule. These include presidents Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Obiang Nguema who have both been in power for 36 years while Jose Eduardo dos Santos has steered Angola since 1979.

“We are seeing the emergence of strongman presidencies and almost presidents for life where term limits are being changed for presidents to remain for life,” said Mr Odinga.

Asked about those who say he is too old to make a third bid for the presidency, Mr Odinga pointed to his “agemates” running for the Democratic nomination for the US presidency. Mr Bernie Sanders is 74 and Mrs Hillary Clinton is 68. Mr Odinga is 71.

“I don’t know why people think I am old,” he said.

April 14, 2016
Tanzania, US keen on bilateral ties

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, East Africa, Regional and International Cooperation, Dr Augustine Mahiga, yesterday met with the United States Ambassador to Tanzania, Mr Mark Childress and discussed bilateral issues among other important matters.

According to a statement from the ministry, during the meeting, they discussed ongoing partnership including shared goals and continuing US assistance to improve health and education of Tanzanian people.

Ambassador Childress, who was accompanied by senior teams, spoke on promoting broad-based economic growth and advancing regional security in the spirit of continuing partnership and friendship between the two countries.

According to the US Department of State fact sheet, the US and Tanzania have a deep partnership characterised by mutual respect, mutual interest, shared values and aspirations for a more peaceful and prosperous future.

The United States respects Tanzania’s record of democratic progress, which has made it a model for the region and beyond and supports Tanzania’s continuing efforts to strengthen the institutions of democracy.

The United States is committed to working with Tanzania on nutrition and food security, energy, women’s and children’s health, HIV/AIDS and sustainable development, according to the fact sheet updated in August, last year.

The US has provided development assistance to Tanzania for development and capacity building to promote transparency, address health and education issues and target development indicators to sustain progress.

The US Agency for International Development has provided funding to improve public health and quality of basic education, biodiversity conservation and natural resource management.

Feed the Future has provided funding to boost agricultural growth and productivity, promote market development and trade expansion along with equitable rural economic growth, invest in global innovation and research and address mother and child malnutrition.

April 14, 2016
South Sudan deputy rebel leader arrives in Juba

Alfred Ladu Gore back in Juba after two years of fighting in move that may herald return of rebel leader Machar.

The deputy chief of a South Sudanese rebel group has returned to the capital Juba as part of a peace deal, raising hopes that the opposition leader will return next week.

Alfred Ladu Gore, a former general and minister, flew into the capital’s airport after more than two years fighting in the bush.

“I am very happy to be home … our advance team came here to proclaim peace and I have come to reaffirm that peace will not be reversed,” Gore said, after arriving with a delegation of around 60 people.

Gore, though, condemned the arrest of 16 of his supporters who had been mobilising people to welcome him.

“Peace means freedom to express your mind, to gather together even if it means you disagree,” he said.

He was welcomed by Akol Paul, a senior member of the ruling party. “His arrival today signifies that indeed the war has come to an end,” Paul said.

A 1,370-strong force of opposition soldiers and police completed also arrived in Juba over the weekend.

They are to supposed to ensure the security of rebel chief Riek Machar – named vice president in February – who is due to arrive in Juba next week.

Civil war erupted in December 2013 when President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Machar of planning a coup, setting off a cycle of retaliatory killings that have split the country along ethnic lines.

Machar has said he will come to Juba on April 18 to form a unity government, which would be the first time he has returned to the capital since he fled two years ago.

The arrival of the rebels – especially Machar – would be a major symbolic step, though many warn that the practical implementation of the peace deal will be a long and tough task.

Tensions remain high, with the rebels accusing the army of boosting its presence in the capital.

Under the peace deal, Juba is supposed to be officially demilitarised to within a 25 kilometre radius, apart from a number of units given an exception. Other troops are meant to gather in special “cantonment” sites.

The United States on Monday condemned army attacks on rebel positions, “which destroyed a declared opposition cantonment site” near the town of Wau in the country’s northwest.

Washington said there were “credible reports” rebel troops had also attacked the army and civilians.

“There is no military solution to the conflicts in South Sudan,” the US said . “We call on all parties to fulfil their commitments to implement the provisions of the peace agreement in full.”

April 13, 2016
Trouble boils in Burundi after year of chaos

Nairobi – A year after Burundi was plunged into chaos, peace efforts are deadlocked in the troubled central African country with the opposition divided and power in the hands of hardliners, analysts say.

The government insists that a year of unrest is at an end with the capital Bujumbura relatively calm after a string of attacks, including a failed coup in May 2015 but tensions remain and many warn of the risk of a fresh explosion of violence.

Hundreds have been killed and quarter of a million people have fled Burundi since President Pierre Nkurunziza’s controversial decision last April to run for a third term, a vote he won amid opposition boycotts in July.

“After the election fever and the violence that accompanied this process, the situation has returned to normal,” presidential press chief Willy Nyamitwe told AFP.

“Now the time is to work for development and the fight against poverty,” he added.

The lakeside capital Bujumbura is certainly calmer, after weeks of battles between the security forces and those opposed to Nkurunziza’s third term.

The once near-daily grenade blasts have also decreased.

‘System of repression’

“Burundi’s government can’t hide their satisfaction because they believe that the terrorist forces have been destroyed and order restored,” said Andre Guichaoua, from France’s Paris-Sorbonne University, a leading specialist in Africa’s Great Lakes region.

The government crackdown involved the brutal repression of street protests, but today security forces stem opposition more discreetly, after rights groups reported dead bodies being found on the city’s streets almost daily.

Last month, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said reports of torture have increased since the beginning of the year and many people there now “live in terror”.

Diplomats say the crushing of the opposition has further undermined respect for the law.

One described how “power is now in the hands of a small hard core”, mainly top generals close to Nkurunziza since they fought together in the bush in the 1993-2006 civil war between the mostly Tutsi army and predominantly Hutu rebel groups.

Those controlling power today are, like Nkurunziza, Hutus and have “set up a system of repression” based on core loyalist units within the varied security forces — police, army, intelligence and the notorious Imbonerakure, the ruling party’s youth wing militia.

The Imbonerakure, whose name means “The Watchmen” or, literally, “Those Who See Far”, have been accused of carrying out the regime’s dirty work using barbaric methods.

The UN says more than 400 people have been killed since the beginning of the crisis, thousands arrested and more than 250 000 have fled abroad, while rights groups say that torture and extrajudicial killings have become commonplace.

Things may appear more calm, but “the situation is not under control”, warned Thierry Vircoulon of the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank.

He said the appearance of a lull in violence was “deceptive”, and had been driven by “international pressure on the government” and the opposition’s change of tactics in launching attacks against the security forces.

Government exploits international divisions

With the opposition split, despite efforts to bring them together under the main umbrella opposition group CNARED, whose leaders are in exile there seems little chance of a solution in the near future.

Rebel forces and armed opposition are divided and they “discredit themselves with a war of communiques”, added Vircoulon.

The international community is little better however, with analysts criticising the inability to find a “real” solution to the crisis, and the government is exploiting those divisions.

It is acutely aware of a “red line” the international community would not allow them to cross, genocide or regional destabilisation said Christian Thibon an expert on Central Africa from Franc’s University of Pau.

As long as the trouble in Burundi remains “a low-intensity conflict” and the international community is not forced to act to avert disaster, those divisions are “here to stay”, Thibon added.

Despite repeated calls from the international community for “inclusive dialogue”, the government has remained defiant and has refused to sit with the opposition in exile, which it accuses of being behind the violence.

“In light of the divisions within the international community, nothing is pressuring the government to act swiftly,” the diplomat said, suggesting it will “take several months at a minimum before real negotiations start.”

Without solutions, the pressure mounts.

One Burundi-based analyst warned of a “potentially explosive situation” amid the continued violence with fears the conflict is increasingly based along ethnic lines.

April 13, 2016
Top committee backs Brazil leader impeachment

Latest survey of 513 lower house MPs shows 298 in favour short of 342 needed.

A Brazilian congressional committee Tuesday recommended impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff, setting the stage for a crucial vote in the lower house to decide whether she should face trial.

The committee voted 38 to 27 in favour of Rousseff’s ouster.

Both sides yelled slogans and waved placards as the vote was completed after hours of bad-tempered debate that often descended into shouting matches, reflecting Brazil’s increasingly bitter divisions.

Ms Rousseff is accused of fiddling accounts to mask the dire state of the government budget during her 2014 re-election.

The committee’s decision is non-binding but symbolically important as a preview of the decisive battle in the full lower chamber expected Sunday or the following Monday.

“It was a victory for the Brazilian people,” said opposition deputy Jovair Arantes, predicting the result would carry with “strong” pro-impeachment momentum into the full chamber’s vote.

In the Chamber of Deputies, a two-thirds majority would send Rousseff’s case to the Senate, which would then have the power to put her on trial and ultimately drive her from office. Anything less would torpedo the procedure.

DESPERATE FIGHT

Rousseff is fighting desperately to secure enough anti-impeachment votes or persuade deputies to abstain.

The latest survey of the 513 lower house deputies by the Estadao daily on Monday showed 298 in favour — still short of the 342 needed to carry the motion — with 119 opposed and 96 undecided. Pro-government deputy Silvio Costa said he was confident.

“The opposition is very arrogant” after the committee victory, he said.

With Latin America’s biggest country gripped by recession, political paralysis and a vast corruption scandal, passions on both sides are intense.

A barricade was erected along the Esplanade of Ministries in the capital Brasilia to separate opposing protesters that police expect could number as many as 300,000 during the lower house vote.

STEPPING DOWN

If the case is taken up by the Senate after being confirmed by the lower house, Ms Rousseff would have to step down for up to 180 days while a trial is held.

Her vice president, Michel Temer, who has gone over to the opposition, would take the reins.

Mr Temer would also remain president if a two-thirds majority in the Senate votes to depose Ms Rousseff.

Some in the opposition have declared Rousseff politically dead ever since Mr Temer’s PMDB party, the largest in Brazil, quit her ruling coalition and joined the pro-impeachment ranks last month.

However, Rousseff, who was tortured under Brazil’s military dictatorship, has fought back, helped by ally and former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is overseeing frantic negotiations to build an impeachment-proof coalition.

Lula, addressing thousands of supporters Monday evening in Rio, said “putschists” were trying to oust a freely elected president.

“I would never have thought that my generation would see putschists trying to overthrow a democratically elected president,” said Lula, who ruled from 2003 to 2011. He specfically named Temer and the speaker of the lower house, Eduardo Cunha.

TEMER IMPEACHMENT

Rousseff has rock-bottom popularity ratings but as the moment of truth approaches, it has emerged that Brazilians are not much keener on her would-be replacement Temer.

A poll by the respected Datafolha institute on Saturday showed that 61 percent support impeachment, down from 68 percent in mid-March.

However, 58 percent also said they would like to see Temer impeached.

Controversy erupted Monday with the release — said by Temer’s office to have been accidental — of a recording in which he practices the speech he would give if he took over from Rousseff.

Temer adopts a presidential tone, calling for “unification of the country.”

Rousseff’s Workers’ Party called the premature speech evidence of “a brazen coup plot.”

Several factors could still turn events on their head in the countdown to the lower house vote.

One is the “Operation Car Wash” probe that has revealed a giant corruption network based around state oil company Petrobras.

A Who’s Who of Brazilian executives and high-ranking politicians, including many linked closely to Rousseff and Lula, have been prosecuted or investigated. Lula himself has been charged with money laundering.

The government says that the probe has become a political tool to boost the impeachment drive and Rousseff loyalists fear explosive new revelations before the vote.

Another wild card is Lula. An attempt to name him to the government was blocked in the Supreme Court after accusations that he and Rousseff were conspiring to win him ministerial immunity from the Car Wash prosecutors.

The Supreme Court is due to rule in the near future on whether he can formally enter government and the decision would be sure to make waves — as would new charges or legal action.

April 13, 2016
Dar, Juba to sign protocol on South Sudan

President John Magufuli, in his capacity as the Chairperson of the East African Community’s Heads of State Summit, will lead the delegation from South Sudan in signing the protocol which will see the world’s newest country join the regional bloc.

His Excellencies Presidents Salva Kiir Mayardit of the Republic of South Sudan and Dr John Magufuli of Tanzania are therefore scheduled to sign the Treaty of Accession of the Republic of South Sudan into the East African Community (EAC) on Friday, April 15, 2016 in Dar es Salaam City, according to Mr Richard Owora Othieno, the Head of Corporate Communications at the Arusha- based EAC Secretariat.

During their 17th Ordinary Summit held on March 2 here in Arusha, the EAC Heads of State received the report of the Council of Ministers on the negotiations for the admission of the Republic of South Sudan into the Community and decided to admit the Republic of South Sudan as a new member.

The Summit then designated the Chairperson, His Excellency President Dr John Magufuli of The United Republic of Tanzania, to sign the Treaty of Accession with the Republic of South Sudan, which becomes the 6th member of the regional bloc which was revived in 1999 after the collapse of the original community in 1977.

Other members of the EAC include the founding three — Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania — as well as Rwanda and Burundi that joined later in 2007.

The admission of South-Sudan to the Arusha pivoted EAC now paves way to its neighbour, further north at Khartoum, to also be considered to become the seventh member of the regional grouping which was revived back in 1999. It was actually North Sudan, headquartered at Khartoum, which was first to apply to be allowed to join the East African Community.

However, its request was placed on hold because in order for a country to be a member of the EAC it must share a common border with any of the initial five partner states.

South Sudan which borders the two EAC member states; Kenya and Uganda in the South, apparently stood in-between Khartoum, but now having become member, it is possible for North Sudan to reapply and be considered to join East African Community.

South Sudan now brings into the East African community an addition 620,000 square kilometres of real estate, boosting the region’s population with a total of 12.3 million more people.

Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi, that formed the original East African Community (EAC) had over 150 million people between them, with the land measuring over 1.8 million square kilometres, 50 percent of which falling into Tanzania.

Driving in the right, South Sudan traffic regulations will conflict with those in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania but complements the ones applicable in Rwanda and Burundi.

Its South Sudanese Pound as medium of exchange may also find a tough time operating alongside the dominating ‘Shilling,’ as applicable in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

April 13, 2016
African Union happy with Chad polls, despite anomalies

But while broadly satisfied, the AU report noted certain shortcomings.

Chad’s presidential election allowed voters to “freely choose their leaders” without fraud, despite certain anomalies, African Union observers said Tuesday, after polls expected to see President Idriss Deby extend his 26-year rule.

The report by the African Union (AU) — whose rotating presidency is currently held by Deby — noted that most polling station staff “did not show a great mastery of electoral operations.”

“Overall, presidential election gave citizens the opportunity to freely choose their leaders … in a peaceful atmosphere,” said the report presented by the head of the AU observer mission in N’Djamena, Dioncounda Traoré of Mali.

Thirteen candidates ran for the top job in Sunday’s polls including Deby, who is bidding for a fifth term with the support of state institutions and a strong presence on the ground of his party, the Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS).

But while broadly satisfied, the AU report noted certain shortcomings.

For example, in “81 per cent of polling stations visited the head of the polling station had not checked that ballot boxes were empty” at the start of the day, according to the report by 35 observers present in 15 out of 21 geographical departments.

In addition, the observers “noted with regret that in 10 per cent of polling stations visited, voting in secrecy was not guaranteed,” while “in the majority of cases … election staff did not show a great mastery of electoral operations,” notably “in how they emptied ballot boxes,” at nightfall, half of the time without sufficient lighting.

Nonetheless, despite opposition claims of ballot stuffing and buying-up of voter cards in the impoverished country, the head of the AU mission concluded that the election was carried out “without fraud.”

Provisional results are expected to be published in two weeks by the Independent National Electoral Commission, which was boycotted by rights groups and the country’s labour movement after five leading activists were detained during the last three weeks.

Under Deby’s leadership, once unstable Chad has become both an oil producer and key player in the fight against the jihadist groups on the rampage in west Africa.

But despite a wealth of new oil resources since 2003, half of the population of 13 million lives below the poverty line and seven out of 10 people cannot read or write.

April 13, 2016