SITUATION IN SOMALIA GROWING WORSE: AID GROUPS

Aid organisations warned on Thursday that Somalia’s worst fighting in months was aggravating an already dire humanitarian emergency in the Horn of Africa state, and joined world powers in condemning the violence. Somalia’s 18 years of anarchy has left millions displaced, killed tens of thousands and created one of the world’s worst aid crises. Attacks on relief workers, extortion and regular clashes have hampered groups trying to work there. “In the midst of an already exiting catastrophe, reports of continued fighting, civilian deaths, including women and children, are extremely worrying,” said Andrea Pattison, spokeswoman for the charity Oxfam.

Since late last week, clashes between militant al Shabaab fighters and pro-government forces have killed more than 113 civilians in the Somali capital and sent 27,000 others fleeing. A respite from more than a decade of violence following a takeover by the Islamic Courts Union in 2006 was short-lived, and battles erupted again when Ethiopian tanks and troops crushed the sharia courts movement later that year.

An Islamist-led insurgency since early 2007 has killed some 17,700 people and wounded almost 30,000 others, worsening the humanitarian crisis for Somalis, who have lived without effective central rule since the 1991 ousting of a dictator. “The people of Somalia have once again been subjected to unbearable violence,” said Pascal Mauchle, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross’s Somalia delegation.

“The daily struggle for survival is exhausting their capacity to cope. After almost two decades of armed conflict they yearn desperately for security and a stable environment.” Aid agencies fear renewed clashes in Mogadishu will only complicate access to thousands of civilians fleeing the city.

SOURCED FROM REUTERS

IRAN SENDS TWO WARSHIP TO CONFRONT SOMALI PIRATES

Iran has sent two warships to the Gulf of Aden to protect oil tankers and other vessels from the world’s fifth-largest crude exporter against attacks by pirates off the coast of Somalia, state radio said on Thursday. Pirate attacks, fuelled by large ransoms, have continued almost unabated despite the presence of an armada of foreign warships patrolling the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden.

In January, pirates released an Iranian-chartered cargo ship carrying 36,000 tonnes of wheat to Iran from Germany that was seized in November. In March, a regional maritime official said Somali villagers had detained another Iranian vessel. “The mission of these warships is to protect Iranian merchant ships and oil tankers against pirate attacks,” state radio said.They would arrive in the Gulf of Aden in the next two days and stay there for five months, state television said.

Iran said in December it had dispatched a warship to the same waters, but Thursday’s reports did not say whether it was still there. Nearly 20,000 ships pass through the Gulf of Aden each year, heading to and from the Suez Canal. Seven percent of world oil consumption passed through the Gulf of Aden in 2007, according to Lloyd’s Marine Intelligence Unit. Analysts say the only way to stop bandits on the high seas is to resolve Somalia’s political crisis on land where pirates profit from lawlessness as Islamist-led rebels fight government troops and African Union peacekeepers.

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SOUTH AFRICAN SHANTY TOWN BILL PROTESTED

The South African government is being taken to court over plans to abolish shanty towns in the city of Durban. Community organisations representing Durban shack dwellers say the bill is unconstitutional because it seeks to re-locate residents against their will. They say many have schooling and work nearby and the move could mean families being separated.

It has been estimated that almost 10% of South Africans still live in such settlements. They were first set up on the outskirts of major towns and cities during the apartheid era. The shack dwellers’ movement, Abahlali baseMjondolo, tried unsuccessfully to get certain provisions of the KwaZulu-Natal Slums Act declared unlawful in a lower court.

The movement is now bringing its case to the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg. “It’s taking people far away from where they are staying, to the places where they don’t want to go ”
Community leader Zweli Nzimande The campaigners warn that if the act is introduced in KwaZulu-Natal, it will be brought in to other provinces.

It says a few informal settlements have already been demolished in Western Cape province. The respondents, led by the Department of Land Affairs, are adamant they are acting within the constitution. Community leader Zweli Nzimande told the BBC’s Network Africa programme: “This is not a good act at all. It’s taking people far away from where they are staying, to the places where they don’t want to go.

SOURCED FRON BBC

INVESTORS NEEDED TO END ENERGY CRISIS IN AFRICA

The world’s poorest continent needs $21 billion annually to overcome its power problems despite sitting on large energy resources, the African Union (AU) infrastructure head said on Thursday. Power shortages are common in many African nations, costing economies billions of dollars, shutting down industries and dampening investment, even though resources of solar, hydro, oil, gas, coal and geothermal power are abundant.

“Power means factories. It means farms. It means everything,” the AU infrastructure and energy commissioner, Elham Ibrahim, told Reuters in an interview. Only 30 percent of Africans have access to electricity compared with an average of 40 percent in other emerging markets, Ibrahim said. Wariness on the part of foreign investors has increased with the global economic slowdown. Where once they saw one of the last frontier markets, now they see too much risk.

“The financial crisis affected everything,” Ibrahim said. “But should everything stop because of it? The potential (for investment in energy) here really is very high.” Ibrahim said that more private investment was needed. Pooling power supplies across a number of African countries may help the continent meet its energy needs and grow its economies more quickly, Ibrahim said.

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POWER SHARING ISSUE THREATENS AID: TSVANGIRAI

Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said on Wednesday violations of a power-sharing deal with President Robert Mugabe were depriving the country of aid from Western donors pushing for democratic reforms. Old foes Tsvangirai and Mugabe formed a unity government in February that raised hopes of an end to years of political tensions and economic meltdown.

But Tsvangirai said at the launch of a 100-day government economic plan that some members of Mugabe’s ZANU-PF were opposed to reforms and were putting the power-sharing deal at risk. “The continued violations of the rule of law and the GPA (Global Political Agreement) prevent the inflows of development aid, obstructing a progressive legislative agenda and risk keeping Zimbabwe mired in poverty and the fear of persecution,” he said.

International donors are yet to release any funding to the government, insisting the new administration carry out political and economic reforms and open up the media. But Economic Planning Minister Elton Mangoma said the government had nevertheless exceeded its target of securing $1 billion in credit lines from Africa.

The southern African country, ravaged by a decade of economic decline blamed on Mugabe’s policies, urgently needs cash to revive its stricken industries. It estimates it needs a total of $8.3 billion to restore the economy.  Mangoma said the $1 billion would come from African financial institutions such as the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Cairo-based African Export-Import Bank and $150 million from neighbouring South Africa and Botswana.

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NIGERIAN MILITANTS HIJACK A VESEL, KIDNAP 15

Nigeria’s most prominent militant group said on Thursday one of its affiliate groups have hijacked a vessel in the Niger Delta and kidnapped 15 of its passengers. “The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) can confirm that an affiliate group hijacked the MV Spirit yesterday in Delta state and have taken 15 foreign crew members hostage,” the militant group said in an emailed statement.

It was not possible to independently verify the claim. MEND, a loose coalition of militant groups, on Thursday gave oil companies an additional 48 hours to evacuate their staff in the Niger Delta and threatened to attack helicopters and planes after the deadline.

SOURCED FROM REUTERS

BBC: BASHIR REJECTS ICC CHARGES OVER DARFUR CRISIS

Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has said the international arrest warrant issued against him for war crimes in Darfur is part of a plot against Sudan and denied responsibility for large-scale killings there. Bashir told the BBC in an interview broadcast on Thursday that the fighting in Sudan’s western Darfur region began as an insurrection and that he had had a responsibility to send troops to fight the rebels there.

Much of the fighting was between local tribes, and allegations of large-scale killing by government forces and government-backed militias were hostile propaganda, he said. United Nations officials say the six-year conflict in Darfur has resulted in up to 300,000 deaths and the displacement of more than 2.7 million people. The International Criminal Court in the Netherlands has issued a warrant against Bashir for crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur.

“The ICC ruling is fundamentally null and void,” said Bashir. “For us the ICC’s ruling is a political one,” he added, saying of the ICC charges against him: “This is all lies.” “We do not recognise the court,” he stated. “We refuse to negotiate with them, and we will not hand over anyone.” The ICC has issued arrest warrants for two senior Sudanese officials who Khartoum has refused to send to The Hague to stand trial.

“I challenge anybody to bring me evidence that proves the Sudanese armed forces attacked and killed citizens in Darfur,” Bashir said. Dismissing U.N. estimates of the number of deaths in the Darfur conflict, Bashir said the toll “did not reach 10,000.”

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ZIMBABWE’S TOP HUMAN RIGHT LAWYER ARRESTED

Zimbabwean police arrested a prominent human rights lawyer on Thursday, accusing him of defeating the course of justice, one of his lawyers said. The accused lawyer, Alec Muchadehama, was part of a legal team representing political activists facing terrorism charges.

“He was arrested at the Rotten Row magistrate’s court as he went about his duties. They are charging him with obstructing and defeating the course of justice in the case involving the activists. We don’t know what exactly they say he did,” lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa told Reuters.

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FINAL BURIAL FOR KENYAN’S ELECTION VICTIMS

Victims of a church arson attack which came to symbolise the ferocity of last year’s post-election violence in Kenya are finally being laid to rest. The 36 bodies have been stored in a mortuary in the western town of Eldoret since the January 2008 mob burning. Attempts by the authorities to bury them earlier this year in mass graves were thwarted by their families.

Relatives of the victims are attending a ceremony on the grounds of the church where the burials will take place. President Mwai Kibaki is among the mourners at the ceremony, which is being broadcast live on Kenyan television. The funerals were delayed amid problems identifying the dead and a dispute over where they should be interred.

In January the authorities tried to bury the bodies in a mass grave in a public cemetery without notifying the relatives. Furious families rushed to the graveyard and forced officials to dig up 10 of the bodies buried thus far and return them with the rest to the morgue. “At first we were bitter but we don’t feel bitter anymore and we are just ready to lay our beloved to rest ”
Survivor.

SOURCED FROM BBC

KENYAN’S ARISTOCRAT SENTENCE TO EIGHT MONTHS IMPRISONMENT

A white Kenyan aristocrat convicted of the manslaughter of a poacher on his estate in 2006 has been sentenced to eight months in prison. The judge told a packed courtroom that he had decided to give Thomas Cholmondeley a light sentence. The Eton-educated 40-year-old has spent the last three years in jail.

Last week, the judge cut Cholmondeley’s murder charge to manslaughter as he did not show “malice aforethought” in the shooting of Robert Njoya. The case, involving the descendant of one of Kenya’s first British settlers, has attracted huge media attention. “There should not be one law for the rich and another for the poor ”
Justice Muga Apondi

Justice Muga Apondi told the court he had not taken into account the accused’s offer to pay compensation to the dead man’s family. “There should not be one law for the rich and another for the poor,” the judge said. But he noted the accused had used his own car to take the man to hospital, after shooting him. Justice Apondi said the process had humbled the accused, so he wanted to deliver a light sentence, which is to start immediately, to let him reflect on his life.

After the sentence was read out, people started protesting in court and waving placards, one of which read: “The Butcher of Naivasha.” In 2005 Cholmondeley admitted shooting a Maasai ranger, but the case was dropped owing to insufficient evidence. That decision provoked outrage and mass protests among the Maasai community.

SOURCED FROM BBC