IGIHE

Category: Rubrique

  • S. Sudan Opposition Wants Govt Peace Team Dissolved

    S. Sudan Opposition Wants Govt Peace Team Dissolved

    {{The leader of the opposition United Sudan African Party (USAP), Joseph Ukel has asked President Salva Kiir to dissolve the government delegation involved in the Addis Ababa peace talks, citing “disunity” among its members.}}

    Speaking to reporters in the capital, Juba on Tuesday, Ukel said president Kiir should, as leader a registered political entity, organise a meeting before the next rounds of talks.

    “In his capacity as the leader of the majority party, he (Kiir) should now call a meeting of the registered political parties to elect new members to the IGAD peace talks before the next talks begin,” said Ukel.

    A rift emerged last week between the two warring parties, with the leader of political parties at the talks, Lam Akol blaming mediators from the East African regional bloc (IGAD) of tabling for signatures a proposal that was not discussed by the two rivals.

    Akol said he was surprised that president Kiir signed the documents on formation of transitional government, yet it was not passed by delegates.

    South Sudan’s information minister, Michael Makuei Lueth, however, accused the opposition politician of harboring ambition to lead the transitional government of national unity.

    “Lam [Akol] met with rebel leader Riek Machar in Addis Ababa without government knowledge, hence, leading to him being sidelined in most of discussion.

    MEDIA WAR NOT HEALTHY

    Meanwhile, Ukel urged the government team to desist from trading accusations in the media.

    “The situation cannot remain as it is in the media. Somebody must intervene and this is why USAP is proposing that a meeting of the seventeen registered political parties should be called by the Chairman (President Kiir) or his nominated person,” he said.

    President Kiir is the chairman of ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) party. When conflict started in December, Kiir appoint government ministers and leaders of opposition parties to the talks being host in Ethiopia.

    IGAD “BIAS”

    Last week, South Sudan’s armed faction of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM in Opposition) led by the former vice-president Riek Machar sharply criticised IGAD for what they said was its “bias” towards president Kiir in the peace process which the regional bloc has been mediating for the past eight months.

    IGAD heads of state and government on Monday in Addis Ababa signed a protocol on transitional government of national unity in which the regional leaders imposed that president Kiir remained the South Sudanese president and commander-in-chief of the army for the next two-and-a-half years until elections are conducted.

    They also proposed that the Machar-led rebel group would nominate somebody to fill a new would-be prime minister’s position, but the official occupying this position would not be eligible for elections.

    The regional bloc also gave a 45-day ultimatum within which the two parties should work out details of the peace agreement.

    sudantribune

  • Ukraine Agrees ‘Permanent Truce’ With Rebels

    Ukraine Agrees ‘Permanent Truce’ With Rebels

    {{Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko says he has agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone on a “permanent ceasefire” with rebels.}}

    “Their conversation resulted in agreement on a permanent ceasefire in the Donbass region [the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk],” his office said.

    “They reached a mutual understanding on steps leading to peace.”

    The announcement comes as US President Barack Obama meets Baltic leaders in Estonia ahead of a Nato summit.

    He is due to hold talks in the capital Tallinn with the presidents of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, all former Soviet states which joined Nato a decade ago.

    The Nato summit in Wales is expected to back plans for a rapid response force.

    More than 2,600 civilians and combatants have been killed and more than a million people have fled their homes since fighting erupted in eastern Ukraine in April, when pro-Russian separatists there declared independence.

    Russia has denied accusations by the West and the Ukrainian government that it is sending troops and military equipment over the border to support the separatists, who recently gained the upper hand against government forces.

    In another development, the death of a Russian photojournalist in Ukraine last month has been confirmed.

    Rossia Sevodnya news agency photojournalist Andrei Stenin was killed on 6 August in a Ukrainian government ambush on a convoy of rebels and refugees near Donetsk, Russia’s Investigative Committee announced. His charred remains have only now been identified.

    agencies

  • Kagame Says RPF Will Continue to Surmount Challenges

    Kagame Says RPF Will Continue to Surmount Challenges

    {{President Paul Kagame over the weekend chaired RPF congress bringing together over two thousand RPF members.

    President Kagame began by warning RPF members against any sense of entitlement:}}

    “Anything you may have sacrificed and all the hard work was also for your benefit. We cannot go around thinking we are heroes. No one owes you anything. You cannot go around asking to be paid for your sacrifice. We cannot live in the past. Don’t tell me about your excellent past when you are not telling me about your excellent present or future. ”

    Speaking on the challenges Rwanda continues to face, President Kagame pointed to resilience as key to who RPF has been and will always be:

    “Those who think the struggle is over are wrong. The struggle continues every day. But if the RPF did not perish in 1990, in 1994 or after, it will not perish now. RPF may have been beaten but our wounds always heal and we will remain standing.”

    President Kagame added that Rwanda owes its progress to the trust citizens have placed in the RPF and the possibility of a better tomorrow:

    “We have made progress because Rwandans have placed their trust in us and because today people know that a brighter future is possible. The most important right is the right to live. RPF has given Rwandans back their right to live, the right to be. This right cannot stop at the past, we must uphold this right in the present and the future.”

  • Russia ‘to Alter Military Doctrine Towards Nato’

    Russia ‘to Alter Military Doctrine Towards Nato’

    {{Russia is to alter its military doctrine as a result of the Ukraine crisis and Nato’s presence in eastern Europe, a top Russian official says.}}

    Mikhail Popov, a Kremlin adviser, said that deteriorating relations with the US and Nato would be reflected in the updated military strategy.

    Nato said on Monday it would boost its presence in eastern Europe to protect its members.

    Ukrainian troops are battling pro-Russian rebels in east Ukraine.

    About 2,600 people have died since fighting began in April.

    Ukraine’s defence minister on Monday accused Russia of launching a “great war” that could claim tens of thousands of lives – claims dismissed by Russia, which denies actively supporting the rebels.

    {{‘Aggravating tensions’}}

    Mr Popov, deputy secretary of Russia’s National Security Council, told Russia’s RIA news agency that “the military infrastructure of Nato member states” was “getting closer to [Russian] borders, including via enlargement”.

    Nato’s actions were one of the key “external threats” to Russia, he said.

    “Nato’s planned action… is evidence of the desire of US and Nato leaders to continue their policy of aggravating tensions with Russia”, Mr Popov said.

    There were no details on how the doctrine might change.

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    Nato Secretary-General Rasmussen: “We must face the reality that Russia does not consider Nato a partner”

    Nato announced its plans on Monday for a rapid response force of several thousand troops to protect eastern European members against possible Russian aggression.

    The force, to be made up of troops provided by member states on a rotating basis, would be able to be deployed within 48 hours, Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.

    Military equipment and supplies would be pre-positioned in member states in the east so the force could “travel light, but strike hard if needed”, he added.

    Mr Rasmussen insisted that the plans would not breach the 1997 Nato-Russia Founding Act, which forbids the presence of permanent bases in eastern and central Europe.

    The new measures are set to be approved at a Nato summit in Wales this week.

    {{‘Runway destroyed’}}

    The Nato security alliance covers 28 member states, including eastern European countries such as Poland and the Czech Republic. It does not include Ukraine.

    Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk has said that he aims to put the country on the path towards Nato membership.

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday said such efforts were “undermining” attempts to reach a peace deal with the rebels.

    Crisis talks between Ukraine officials, rebels and Russian envoys ended without agreement on Monday.

    Ukraine’s army has been forced to retreat amid a series of gains by pro-Russian rebels in both the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, and further south around the port of Mariupol.

    On Monday, Ukraine’s army said it had been forced to withdraw from Luhansk airport after it was attacked by Russian tanks.

    The acting Luhansk region administration chief Irina Verihina told Ukraine’s 112 TV: “Our troops have withdrawn, but the runway is completely destroyed. There’s no way planes can land there.”

    The UN’s refugee agency estimates that at least 260,000 people have been displaced inside the country, with most of those affected from eastern Ukraine.

    ‘I can take Kiev’
    Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has accused Russia of “direct, overt aggression against Ukraine”.

    Russia has repeatedly denied Ukrainian and Western accusations that it is providing troops and equipment to the rebels.

    Meanwhile, a Russian official responded to allegations that Russian President Vladimir Putin had commented: “If I want to, I can take Kiev in two weeks”.

    The reported comments were said to be made in a phone call to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, and were reported in Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper.

    Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said that whether or not the words were spoken, the quote “was taken out of context and had a totally different meaning”, Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency reported.

    BBC

  • Lesotho Seeks Regional Peace Force After “Coup”

    Lesotho Seeks Regional Peace Force After “Coup”

    {{Lesotho’s prime minister has asked southern African states to send peacekeepers into his mountain kingdom to restore order after an apparent coup over the weekend, his aide said on Monday.}}

    Thomas Thabane fled to South Africa, whose territory surrounds Lesotho, early on Saturday, hours before the army surrounded his residence and overran police stations in the capital, Maseru, in what the prime minister called a coup.

    Lesotho’s army said it had not tried to oust Thabane but had moved against police suspected of planning to arm a political faction. One policeman was shot dead and four others wounded.

    The unrest stems from a power struggle between Thabane, who is supported by the police, and Deputy Prime Minister Mothetjoa Metsing, who has the loyalty of the army, diplomats said.

    Tension has risen since Thabane, who has accused Metsing of orchestrating the coup, suspended parliament in June amid feuding in the two-year-old governing coalition.

    The Southern African Development Community (SADC) defence and security troika, which includes foreign ministers from South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe, met through the night with Thabane and Metsing to try to find a peaceful settlement to the crisis.

    Thabane asked SADC, a cooperative group of 15 southern African states, for military support, said officials.

    “On top of the table was a need for intervention based on the situation. We called on the SADC peace force to intervene,” said Thabane’s aide Samonyane Ntsekele.

  • Zuma, Lesotho Leaders in Talks After ‘Coup’

    Zuma, Lesotho Leaders in Talks After ‘Coup’

    {{South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma has reportedly summoned Lesotho’s political leaders for emergency talks following an apparent coup in the landlocked kingdom.}}

    NewsAfricaNow quoted spokesperson for South Africa’s department of international relations and co-operation (Dirco) Clayson Monyela as confirming that talks took place “throughout the night” and were set to continue today (Monday).

    Meanwhile, foreign ministers of three Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries also met on Sunday to find a solution to end the political crisis in Lesotho, reports say.

    According to Eyewitness News, Dirco confirmed that foreign ministers from SA, Zimbabwe and Namibia to map the way forward following an reports of an attempted coup in Lesotho.

    {{‘Refrain from violence’}}

    It could not be ascertained what came out of the meeting.

    SA called the meeting in its capacity as the chairing nation of SADC’s organ on politics and defence.

    On Saturday, Lesotho Prime Minister Tom Thabane told the BBC he had fled for his life across the border to South Africa, accusing the military of seizing power in a coup and leaving the country in flux.

    The military, however, denied staging a coup, a claim which few inside the country or abroad seemed to believe.

    The United Nations voiced concern about the military takeover in the southern African nation and called on all parties to resolve their differences peacefully.

    According to the UN news Centre, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, urged “all parties to refrain from violence and work together towards a peaceful and lasting resolution to their differences”.

    – News24

  • Putin Calls For Talks on East Ukraine ‘Statehood’

    Putin Calls For Talks on East Ukraine ‘Statehood’

    {{Russian President Vladimir Putin called on Sunday for immediate talks on the “statehood” of southern and eastern Ukraine, although his spokesman said this did not mean Moscow now endorsed rebel calls for independence for territory they have seized.}}

    The Kremlin leader’s remarks, two days after a public appearance in which he compared the Kiev government with Nazis and warned the West not to “mess with us”, came as Europe and the United States prepared possible further sanctions to halt what they say is direct Russian military involvement in the war in Ukraine.

    Germany aired suspicions that Moscow might be trying to create a land corridor to supply Crimea, which it annexed from Ukraine in March, while the four-month conflict moved onto the sea for the first time on Sunday.

    The separatists said they had fired on a Ukrainian vessel in the Azov Sea using land-based artillery, and a military spokesman in Kiev said a rescue operation was under way.

    Ukrainian troops and local residents were reinforcing the port of Mariupol on Sunday, the next big city in the path of pro-Russian fighters who pushed back government forces along the Azov Sea this past week in an offensive on a new front.

    Ukraine and Russia swapped soldiers who had entered each other’s territory near the battlefield, where Kiev says Moscow’s forces have come to the aid of pro-Russian insurgents, tipping the military balance in the rebels’ favor.

    agencies

  • Protesters in Pakistani Storm State TV Building

    Protesters in Pakistani Storm State TV Building

    {{In Pakistan Anti-government protesters have broken into the building of state television PTV in central Islamabad and cut transmissions of the broadcaster’s news services in Urdu and English for 45 minutes.}}

    Protesters, led by religious leader Tahir-ul-Qadri and politician Imran Khan, have been trying to reach government buildings for the last three days. They have been calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

    The South Asian nation’s powerful military said that further use of force to resolve an escalating political crisis would only worsen the situation.

    Reporters in Islamabad, said that Pakistan Rangers and paramilitary soldiers have arrived at the building and cleared it without any clashes taking place at the scene.

    “There were no clashes with the Rangers as protesters appeared to listen to them and back down. Rangers are now protecting the building. PTV News is back on air now, after being off-air for about 45 minutes,” Hashim said.

    Before the arrival of the soldiers, local media showed live footage of a crowd of men streaming into the building after breaking through its gate.

    In the footage, protesters were inside the building, with broken glass and other damage visible. Baton-wielding protesters were seen walking through the corridors.

    Both channels went dark, before having their transmission replaced by another non-news state-run channel called PTV Home.

    aljazeera

  • Lesotho’s Deputy Premier ‘Takes Power’

    Lesotho’s Deputy Premier ‘Takes Power’

    {{ Lesotho’s deputy prime minister, Mothetjoa Metsing, is in charge of government in the absence of the premier, a government minister said on Sunday, a day after Prime Minister Thomas Thabane accused the military of staging a coup.}}

    “Constitutionally, in the absence of the prime minister, the deputy prime minister takes the reins,” Selibe Mochoboroane, Minister of Communications, Science and Technology, told Reporters.

    “For now there hasn’t been any arrangement, but it goes without saying the deputy prime minister will still oversee other issues that need to be taken care of until the prime minister returns.”

    Thabane fled to neighbouring South Africa on Saturday after the army surrounded his official residence and police stations in Lesotho’s capital, Maseru. The Lesotho Defence Force has denied attempting a coup.

    – Reuters

  • China Rules Out Open Hong Kong Poll

    China Rules Out Open Hong Kong Poll

    {{Chinese authorities have ruled out open nominations for elections to choose Hong Kong’s leader.}}

    Authorities said two to three candidates will be nominated by a “broadly representative” committee.

    The decision is expected to limit elections to a selection of pro-Beijing candidates and is likely to trigger protests from pro-democracy activists.

    Some of them have threatened mass disobedience if elections in the former British colony are not opened up.

    The pro-democracy Occupy Central movement is expected to hold a rally later on Sunday to discuss its reaction to the decision.

    The election for Hong Kong’s chief executive is due in 2017 and will be the first time the holder of the post is directly chosen by voters.

    On Saturday China warned foreign countries against “meddling” in Hong Kong’s politics, with an article in a state-run newspaper accusing some in Hong Kong of “colluding” with unnamed “outside forces”.

    A foreign ministry spokesman was quoted as saying this would “absolutely not be permitted”.