[An overnight fire has gutted one of Uganda’s largest markets, devastating traders who lost all of their merchandise in the blaze.]

BURUNDI :

Pas de vacances pour Céline Blas, qui passera le mois à travailler au Burundi

lundi 01.08.2011/ La Voix du Nord

Alors que beaucoup de jeunes mettent à profit la période estivale pour prendre des vacances

ou tout simplement se reposer, la Valenciennoise Céline Blas a mis le cap vers le Burundi. Elle a décidé de consacrer tout le mois d’août à aider à sa mesure les Burundais.

Céline Blas a 21 ans. Étudiante en histoire, elle est aussi secrétaire de l’association Aujourd’hui Burundi. Cette association d’une vingtaine d’étudiants a pour objectif d’aider l’un des pays les plus pauvres au monde. Situé dans la région des Grands Lacs, en Afrique, le Burundi a en outre été gravement touché par les luttes inter-ethniques entre Tutsi et Hutu. Nous avons rencontré Céline juste avant son départ.

Quelle est votre motivation personnelle ?

« J’ai voulu participer car je partage avec les autres membres de l’association les mêmes valeurs d’entraide, de partage et de curiosité face aux autres cultures. » Pourquoi avoir choisi le Burundi et pas un autre pays défavorisé ?

« Les communautés burundaise et rwandaise sont bien implantées à Lille. J’ai discuté avec des étudiants burundais et cette proximité culturelle a fait que je me suis intéressée à ce petit pays plein de richesse et où l’échange semble être une valeur collective. Mes amis m’ont sensibilisée à la situation au Burundi. L’opportunité ne pouvait qu’être saisie pour se rendre utile mais également apprendre dans un projet de solidarité. » Quel est ce projet ?

« Nous avons deux projets, chacun de deux semaines. Le premier consistera à construire un poulailler dans l’orphelinat de Makamba afin de rendre l’établissement autonome en nourriture. Le second se réalisera dans la capitale, Bujumbura. Les journées de travail seront employées à la reconstruction après le génocide Hutu Tutsi. Nous serons dans un centre d’été et les journées seront ponctuées de moments de détente entre jeunes. » •

http://aujourdhuiburundi.free.fr

Burundi – L’arrestation d’un bâtonnier mobilise les avocats de l’Afrique de l’Est

Source Afp/ www.afreekelection.com/ Dimanche, 31 Juillet 2011

Le barreau des avocats d’Afrique de l’Est (EALS) a protesté contre l’arrestation et la mise en détention, cette semaine, du bâtonnier de l’ordre des avocats du Burundi, dénonçant un acte d’intimidation, dans une lettre au président burundais, Pierre Nkurunziza, a-t-on appris dimanche.

Le barreau d’Afrique de l’Est est basé à Arusha (Tanzanie), siège de la Communauté d’Afrique de l’Est (EAC) dont la présidence est actuellement assurée par le chef de l’Etat burundais.

“Nous voudrions exprimer notre plus forte condamnation de l’arrestation et de l’emprisonnement de Me (Isidore) Rufyikiri”, écrit le barreau régional dans son courrier, dont l’AFP a obtenu copie dimanche.

Le bâtonnier de l’ordre des avocats du Burundi a été arrêté “pour outrage à magistrats” et écroué mercredi, après des propos tenus lors d’une manifestation en vue d’exiger la libération d’une consoeur emprisonnée.

Il a été conduit à la prison centrale de Mpimba de Bujumbura pour y être incarcéré.

Pour les avocats d’Afrique de l’Est, l’arrestation de leur confrère s’inscrit dans “une escalade inquiétante d’intimidation, arrestations, pièges et détention de défenseurs des droits de l’homme à travers la région, parmi lesquels les avocats”.

Par ailleurs, poursuit le barreau d’Afrique de l’Est, cette arrestation témoigne de “l’impunité grandissante et du manque de responsabilité, de rigueur et de transparence de la part de différentes institutions étatiques au sein des pays membres de l’EAC”.

Ce bloc régional regroupe la Tanzanie, l’Ouganda, le Kenya, le Rwanda et le Burundi.

Source Afp

RWANDA :

Uganda is full of thieves, Museveni tells Rwanda

By Benon Herbert Oluka / www.monitor.co.ug/Posted  Monday, August 1  2011

President Museveni says Uganda has “so many thieves” who have frustrated government programmes that should have benefitted its citizens. Mr Museveni made the remarks after participating in Rwanda’s monthly community work programme (Umuganda) on Saturday at Kanombe in Kigali.

Speaking to Rwandans and other guests who had also come to participate in the Umuganda exercise at Nyarugunga Primary School, Mr Museveni said similar programmes had existed in Uganda, with some of them being carried out by the army.

Umuganda concept

“This Umuganda, we have been doing it but it is not like here,” he said. “But if the military does it alone, what will civilians do? But this is a very good idea and this one will help our annual budget,” he said.

However, Mr Museveni, who spoke a mixture of Kiswahili, Runyankole and Kinyarwanda, decried the commercialisation of such programmes, saying they had failed because they were hijacked by individuals fleecing ordinary Ugandans.

“I have been fighting with these thieves because they had spoilt this issue of Umuganda. You know Uganda has so many thieves. I don’t know whether Rwanda has so many thieves like Uganda,” he said to prolonged laughter.

Explaining one of the areas where he says a programme similar to Umuganda was hijacked, Mr Museveni said, “They were telling people that bring money (and) so Umuganda becomes money. That if you don’t bring money, your kids will not go to school. So if you expel a child from school because their parent can’t pay money, what will happen to the future of that child?” Mr Museveni commended the Rwandans for participating in the development of their country through Umuganda.

RPF applauded

He applauded President Kagame and the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) for developing the country through programmes that he said revived African culture.

“We lost our culture and went to practice other people’s culture that is not compatible with our way of thinking,” he said. “But what I want to inform President Kagame and RPF is that they have changed our way of thinking. It is very good that they have brought back out traditional history and culture. This culture is going to help us for our development.”

Mr Museveni said while his government had built many schools in Uganda, a lot of the work involved investment of money that had led to corruption.

“When we entered the government with your friends of Uganda, they had 28,000 schools in the whole country. Now we have 90,000 schools. But on this one we have invested in a lot of money. We have put up so many contracts that so many thieves of Uganda have benefitted. On the other hand, they built schools that are not compatible with the amount of money we have put in,” he said.

Mr Museveni later donated $300,000 (about Shs780 million) to Nyarugunga Primary School, saying he had felt that his contribution of laying three stones on the foundation of a new classroom block had not been sufficient.

“I don’t want the people of Nyarugunga to do more than me. What sense do three stones make? So, for that matter, when I come back I will sponsor this school with $300,000 (about Shs780 million). That is my Umuganda for this school. It is not only putting in three stones when others have done more,” he said.

President Museveni also toured the free trade zone that is under construction in Kigali, the Inyange milk plant and a low cost housing project.

Later on Saturday, the two presidents and their wives travelled to President Kagame’s country home in Muhazi, where they held closed door talks and spent the night.

Packed schedule

Yesterday, they toured a series of projects in the countryside, before returning to Kigali for a state banquet prepared in President Museveni’s honour.

President Museveni winds up his visit later today with a series of meetings in which they will be briefed on the outcome of the Joint Permanent Commission meetings that were held by ministers from both countries ahead of the state visit.

Assad sends in his death squads. Students of Lebanon and Rwanda, take note

By Michael Weiss /blogs.telegraph.co.uk/Last updated: July 31st, 2011

Several months ago I had a conversation with an American academic specialising in the Middle East. Wouldn’t it be difficult, I’d asked, for Bashar al-Assad to repeat his father’s 1982 massacre in Hama all over again in 2011, in the age of YouTube, Twitter and Facebook? “Why?” came the frigid reply. “Why do you think having an atrocity filmed in broad daylight and exhibited to the world would stop a dictator like Assad from committing one?”

At the time, I still gave the chinless human ferret of Damascus points for political savvy. Not for nothing had he spent millions of dollars courting and convincing the Washington establishment – from John Kerry and Chuck Hagel to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – that he was the sin qua non of an elusive Israeli-Palestinian peace. Now, the only people defending Assad are deeply compromised extremists.

Days before Ramadan turns the Syrian revolution from a weekly protest movement into a 24-hour national convulsion, Assad has dispatched his tanks and death squads and snipers into the largely liberated city of Hama, which is still haunted by a 30 year-old memory. More than 88 have reportedly been killed, with tanks using heavy munitions against civilians and snipers shooting from rooftops. One unnamed doctor was quoted by Reuters as saying: “They are firing their heavy machine guns randomly and overrunning makeshift road blocks erected by the inhabitants.” Hospitals report that they’ve run out of blood to transfuse to the wounded. Corpses lay uncollected on the streets.

According to my sources, the regime’s plan is to lay siege to rebel cities sequentially rather than all at once whilst also consolidating its security and military forces into a hardcore of Alawite loyalists. In other words, here comes the balkanization of Syria. Students of Rwanda and Lebanon, take note.

Assad has recently promoted himself to the rank of Field Marshal, a move which may strike the casual observer as just the latest in a self-aggrandising postures – I’m waiting for him to declare himself the Last King of Atlantis – but which actually hints at more severe repercussions. As Ammar Abdulhamid wrote on his Syrian Revolution Digest blog Friday: “[I]t means that the battle lines have been drawn, and that they will straddle confessional lines.”  Just as Saddam Hussein burned oil fields as his troops retreated from the coalition invasion – one last gasp of nihilistic fury – so too does his fellow Ba’athist look to destroy anything he can before his downfall. In this case, it’s an entire country.

An eyewitness on the ground in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor described the scene Saturday to me via an intermediary:

Since yesterday, there have been over 60 injured, over 15 dead, and 5 areas of the city are completely cut off, with snipers on roofs shooting anything that moves. Army units, around 50 soldiers, defected yesterday at al-Durra square, and airplanes took off from Damascus to destroy their armored units. Nothing happened as the mutineers left their gear. Tanks from Raqqa sent to intercept them did however bomb the areas they were supposedly hiding in. The defectors did manage to shoot at the new governor and military intelligence chief…The city is a ghost town at the moment.

Despite reports to the contrary, the governor and intelligence chief who led the assault on Deir Ezzor survived. The latter is in fact Jamea Al-Jamea, a man formerly jailed by the regime on suspicion of his involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. But that such high-profile functionaries were fired upon in the first place suggests more and more defections of trained, professional soldiers.

Indeed, Al Jazeera has shown a video showing a group of seven unnamed soldiers who describe themselves as the “Syrian Free Army.” The man speaking on video reads from a text:

Because we realise the need for decisive actions at this difficult stage to stop the massacres carried out by this regime and based on the army’s sense of responsibility to protect the innocent, unarmed people, we announce the formation of the Syrian Free Army to work hand in hand with the people to win freedom and bring down the regime.

The self-described leader of the Syrian Free Army (SFA) is Colonel Riad al-Asaad, who recently told Agence France-Presse from somewhere near the Turkish border that he has “hundreds” of rebellious soldiers under his command and that they will gladly intervene in Deir Ezzor if the regime crackdown there continues. Maybe.

Ausama Monajed, a prominent London-based Syrian dissident, told me today:

Regarding the SFA, they are low ranking officers who managed to defect in large numbers, probably from the Bukamal garrison two weeks ago. This initiative is definitely threatening to the regime, as it will likely cause more mutineer army units to create their own militias to fight against the regime. Morale is sometimes enough to win a war/revolution. Though I don’t think the SFA will be able to do anything at the moment. Many army divisions are waiting to defect, but now is not the right time.

Meanwhile, “Field Marshal” Assad is assembling Syria’s version of a Hutu Power gang of butchers whilst the West remains quiescent. No wonder this past Friday’s protest rally was termed “Your Silence is Killing Us“.

Rapid, cheap HIV test finds success as first of its kind tested in the field

By Christian Torres/ www.washingtonpost.com/ Published: July 31

The first field trial for a “lab on a chip” accurately detected both HIV and syphilis among a Rwandan population, researchers reported Sunday.

Blood samples injected into the clear plastic, credit card-shaped device produced results within 20 minutes. This kind of test could offer a faster, cheaper and easier way to detect infectious diseases that afflict developing countries, according to the report published online by Nature Medicine.

“This is a big step,” said Doris Rouse, a vice president at RTI International in North Carolina, who specializes in global health technologies and was not involved with the study. “What’s especially exciting about this device is that it’s rugged, easy to use and doesn’t require a lot of infrastructure or training,” she added.

Cheap HIV tests that provide results within 30 minutes have been available for years, but many rely on a decades-old method called lateral flow. A sample of blood or oral fluid is placed on a strip of paper, and like a pregnancy test, a colored band appears and can be interpreted to indicate infection.

Few lateral flow tests, however, have proven reliable across multiple settings and types of infection. Many people in developing countries instead rely on expensive and time-consuming laboratory analysis, “but this [new] test can be done outside the lab with all the same advantages and sensitivity [for detection,]” said Rosanna Peeling, a diagnostics researcher at the London School of Hygeine and Tropical Medicine, who was not part of the study.

The lab on a chip trial shows 100-percent detection of HIV-positive cases, with only one false positive out of 70 total samples, according to the report. When a dual test of HIV and syphilis was performed, the chip had similar accuracy for HIV; 94 percent of syphilis cases were detected, though there was a higher rate — four out of 67 total samples — for false positives.

Overall, the test proved successful in a difficult environment with little infrastructure, said Samuel Sia, one of the study’s authors and a biomedical engineer at Columbia University. “We’ve taken what’s long been a great theoretical concept and shown that it can be done in the field,” he added.

Sia tested the device in Rwanda, where about 3 percent of the adult population is infected with HIV, according to the World Health Organization. Currently, patients in the city of Kigali have to provide blood at the local hospital, which then sends samples to a national laboratory for analysis. Turnaround time for results could be days or weeks, but the chip, which can be used at the hospital, detected both HIV and syphilis within 20 minutes.

According to Sia, the chip could also potentially detect hepatitis B and C, herpes, gonorrhea and chlamydia — infections that are often found in combination with HIV and have few reliable and cheap tests available. All infections could be detected on a single device, at the same time and with a small amount of blood — a fraction of a needle prick’s worth.

The chip, which the research team named mChip, is comparable in price to lateral flow tests. Sia estimated his device would cost about $2 to $3; lateral flow tests can cost more than $4 and lack the cost-efficiency of detecting multiple infections. Most lateral flow tests also require interpretation, but Sia is developing a separate reading device — much like an ATM for the credit card-sized lab on a chip — that can provide an easy, yes-or-no diagnosis within seconds.

Gottfried Hirnschall, director of the WHO HIV/AIDS department, wrote in an e-mail that the organization “welcomes this development” of testing technology, adding that these devices “will be particularly useful” in eliminating transmission of HIV and syphilis from mother to child through earlier treatment.

Shiva Goudar, a researcher at Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College in Belgaum, India, helps test for HIV among local pregnant women. He said many patients live two or three hours away from the hospital centers where blood samples are collected, and it can take two days to receive results.

The lab on a chip could be used by primary-care providers within the same village, Goudar said, and “doing this test at the point of care cuts down on the time, effort and logistics of transport for the blood sample.” It would provide a “tremendous advantage” over current testing practice.

Sia presented the chip test at a technology competition for maternal and child health last week in Washington. Sponsored by USAID, the Gates Foundation and others, the “Saving Lives at Birth” challenge will award a total of $14 million to relevant projects. Sia’s lab on a chip is one of 18 nominees for an undecided number of grants to be awarded by the end of 2011.

Funding is crucial for further development of the lab on a chip. A lack of interest from companies is likely keeping the test from reaching the ground within two or three years, Sia estimated, despite excitement from the global health community. “The challenge now,” he added, “is how to go from an academic study to distributing this test in the field.”

Mentorship program fosters bond between Phoenix businesswoman, Rwandan entrepreneur

DIANNA M. NANEZ  The Arizona Republic/ www.therepublic.com/ August 01, 2011

PHOENIX — In her native Rwandan village, Allen Joy Mbabazi’s surname means kind.

Joy for a middle name. Kind for a last.

The names are fitting for a young woman determined to count her blessings, not her misfortunes, said Laurie Johnson, a Phoenix resident and businesswoman who will spend the next year mentoring Mbabazi.

Johnson is the first metro Phoenix resident to participate in the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women’s Peace Through Business mentorship program.

Since its 2007 launch, the Oklahoma-based program has educated more than 200 Afghan and Rwandan women in leadership and commerce.

The program pairs American businesswomen who specialize in trades similar to those of their mentees.

In July, 15 women from Rwanda and 15 women from Afghanistan visited the U.S. to spend time living and working with their mentors as well as to study leadership at Northwood University near Dallas. The students will participate in a women’s summit and graduate from the program at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

Johnson volunteered to be a last-minute mentor for 27-year-old Mbabazi after the program struggled to find an American woman who specialized in retail merchandising and was willing to accept the yearlong commitment.

Johnson said she has a swamped schedule, but she couldn’t say no.

“This is the meaning of purpose,” she said.

Johnson and Mbabazi described their recent introduction as fateful, and their friendship as powerful enough to inspire a cultural exchange that will bridge and benefit their native countries.

Johnson owns Miche Bag of Arizona, a budding purse-manufacturing business headquartered in Tempe.

Mbabazi lives in Kigali, Rwanda, and owns East Africa and Beyond, a small shop that sells crafts and arts made by villagers from Rwanda, Kenya, Burundi, Uganda and Tanzania.

In July, Johnson hosted Mbabazi at her Phoenix home. She introduced Mbabazi to American culture and showed her how U.S. female entrepreneurs manage businesses.

The lessons proved to be a two-way street, Johnson said.

“It’s by far the greatest week of my life,” she said, smiling at Mbabazi on the last day of her Phoenix visit. “It’s really about the cultural exchange. It’s not facts and figures. It’s a heartfelt exchange.”

The women spent days working and nights up late talking. On July 22, Johnson took Mbabazi on a traditional American shopping trip to Arizona Mills. Mbabazi was floored by the mass of items for sale.

“Here you have a machine to do everything for you,” she said.

When Mbabazi returns home, she will share Johnson’s tips about merchandising and networking with her co-workers and the crafters she buys from.

She’s especially excited to pass her knowledge on to a group of widowed Rwandan villagers who weave Peace Baskets. The baskets have become famous for their detail and for helping to build an economy for villagers.

“They put their money in a cooperative,” Mbabazi said. “The women who need it most get (money) first. But the others know it will be there for them when they need it. I think if I can teach them about what I learned here, we can all do better.”

Johnson shakes her head, reflecting on Mbabazi’s goal.

“See, this is exactly what I’m talking about,” she said. “After everything she’s been through. I look at her . . . and I think, how can we not stop and look around, and see how we can help others.”

Mbabazi’s eyes filled with tears when she recalled her family’s experience fleeing Rwanda. She will never forget the past, but she’d rather focus on the future.

Mbabazi dreams of a prosperous Rwanda.

Now Johnson does, too.

Mbabazi said the Rwandan government’s investments in helping people start small businesses are essential to her country’s economic success.

“I’m telling you, when you see how far our country has come in these few years . . . you will see we are a country of loving people who will come together,” she said.

Johnson and Mbabazi are brainstorming ways to sell East Africa and Beyond products in the U.S.

“I’m already planning a visit,” Johnson said. “I think of how much I learned while she was here, and if I spent time in her home, in her country . . . I would be able to understand so much more.”

Terry Neese, the institute’s founder and chief executive officer, was not surprised to hear Mbabazi and Johnson are thinking about how to expand their resources to help others.

“That’s what this program is about — paying it forward,” she said.

Information from: The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.com

RDC CONGO:

Choléra : l’eau du fleuve source de contamination au Congo

publiée le 31 juillet 2011 /www.maxisciences.com

Depuis le mois de mars, une épidémie de choléra se propage dans le nord-est de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC). Elle s’étend désormais à l’ouest, jusqu’à la capitale, Kinshasa, qui borde le fleuve Congo.

L’épidémie de choléra qui sévit en RDC depuis le mois de mars s’est étendue depuis la province orientale jusqu’à celle de Bandundu, avant de rejoindre celles de l’Equateur et de Kinshasa en juin. Ces deux dernières provinces bordent le fleuve Congo et la population continue de boire son eau, par habitude, malgré la maladie qui a déjà emporté 280 personnes et contaminé 4.062 autres.

“Je bois l’eau du fleuve, et pourquoi pas ? L’eau, c’est l’eau !”, déclare un habitant. Le choléra “je ne sais pas comment il s’attrape, ça a commencé où ?”, demande-t-il. Il raconte n’avoir jamais été malade après avoir utilisé l’eau du fleuve et “en tout cas, moi, je n’ai jamais entendu” que cela pouvait rendre malade, dit-il. Comme lui, faute d’eau courante, les riverains utilisent l’eau du fleuve pour boire, cuisiner et faire la lessive. En l’absence de toilettes, ils y font aussi leurs besoins, multipliant ainsi les risques de contamination, rapporte l’AFP.

Le dispensaire de Ngamanzo a connu le premier cas à la mi-juin. Depuis, la petite structure hospitalière, en pénurie de gants stériles, a enregistré une quinzaine de malades, dont une femme de 35 ans qui est décédée. Ngamanzo n’avait jamais été frappé jusque-là par la “maladie des mains sales”, indique les responsables. Caractérisé par des diarrhées, de fortes fièvres et parfois des vomissements, le choléra inquiète sans que pour autant les habitants refusent de consommer l’eau du fleuve, rapporte TV5monde.

Faire bouillir l’eau avant de la consommer

“Ils disent que Dieu a créé l’eau, qu’ils ont commencé à prendre l’eau il y a longtemps et qu’il n’y a jamais eu de problème”, confie Gilbert Kanyinda, l’un des responsables communautaires qui sensibilisent la population depuis le 18 juillet. “Ils disent qu’on fabrique la maladie pour que le gouvernement nous donne de l’argent”, explique-t-il. Malgré tout, il continue, armé de son pulvérisateur et de son mégaphone estampillé au marqueur “Croix-Rouge”, de donner des conseils en lingala dans les rues, sur le port et au marché, où les femmes connaissent le message par coeur. “Il faut faire bouillir l’eau avant de la consommer. Avant de sortir des toilettes, il faut se laver les mains avec du savon monganga”, un savon médical, répète une commerçante. Mais d’autres relèvent que si “il faut bouillir l’eau, si on n’a pas l’argent pour acheter la braise, on ne la bout pas…”

Dans un centre de traitement d’eau improvisé près du dispensaire, un collègue de Gilbert Kanyinda verse du chlore dans les seaux ou les bidons apportés par les femmes. Plusieurs milliers de litres d’eau sont ainsi traités chaque jour. “Avec la quantité que nous traitons, je pense que c’est bon”, juge Gilbert Kanyinda. Toutefois, ne disposant pas d’embarcations, il n’est pas possible pour eux de se rendre sur les îles d’où de nombreux malades proviennent. Pourtant, “il faut assainir là où chaque malade a habité, et les vingt maisons alentour”, explique-t-il.

RD Congo – L’opposant Tshisekedi a “rêvé” toute sa vie de devenir président

Source Afp,/ Dimanche, 31 Juillet 2011

L’opposant et candidat à la présidentielle de novembre en RDCongo, Etienne Tshisekedi, 79 ans, a déclaré avoir “rêvé” toute sa vie de devenir président et que ce rêve devenait devenir “réalité”, lors d’un meeting samedi dans la province du Katanga (sud-est).

“Tous les jours de ma vie j’ai rêvé de devenir président de la République. Voilà venu le moment que ce rêve devienne réalité”, a-t-il dit devant plusieurs milliers de militants réunis à Lubumbashi, la capitale de la riche province minière, fief du président actuel Joseph Kabila.

“Notre pays est mort à cause de la corruption notamment”, a lancé le leader de l’Union pour la démocratie et le progrès social (UDPS), fustigeant “les dirigeants voleurs” qui ont amené, selon lui, la République démocratique du Congo “au bas de l’échelle par rapport aux autres pays du monde”.

“L’UDPS fera du Congo un pays nouveau et moderne”, a-t-il affirmé, ajoutant qu’en Europe, aux Etats-Unis et en Afrique, où il a fait une tournée ces dernières semaines, des pays lui avait promis “une aide sans précédent pour le développement du Congo”.

Opposant historique au Maréchal Mobutu, revenu en RDC en décembre 2010 après trois ans d’exil médical, Etienne Tshisekedi est apparu parfois fatigué mais il a esquissé des pas de danse en montant sur le podium avant de tenir un discours de près de deux heures, a constaté l’AFP.

Après avoir boycotté les précédentes élections de 2006, l’UDPS, fondé en 1982, prendra part au cycle électoral qui doit débuter le 28 novembre avec la présidentielle et les législatives –les deux à un tour– et se prolonger jusqu’à l’été 2013.

M. Tshisekedi est l’un des trois candidats de l’opposition à la magistrature suprême, avec Jean-Pierre Bemba, président du Mouvement de libération du Congo (MLC), qui est détenu et jugé à la Cour pénale internationale (CPI) à la Haye, et Vital Kamerhe, ex-président de l’Assemblée nationale entré dans l’opposition mi-2010 en créant l’Union pour la nation congolaise (UNC).

L’opposition n’a jusque-là pas réussi à s’entendre sur une candidature commune pour la présidentielle, à laquelle Joseph Kabila, élu en 2006, devrait se représenter.

UGANDA :

Ugandan traders well entrenched in S. Sudan

Guest Writers  /Written by Julius N. Uma    / www.observer.ug/Monday, 01 August 2011

As the once semi-autonomous South Sudan officially attained independence, becoming Africa’s – and the world’s – newest nation, an interesting debate ensued on whether neighbouring Uganda can economically take advantage of this opportunity.

Discussions mainly focused on how Ugandans allegedly mastered the art of selling ‘nsenene’ (seasonal grasshoppers), while their Kenyan counterparts did more meaningful trade. Well, we shall get to that later.

South Sudan’s independence, made possible after an overwhelming vote for separation in the January self-determination referendum, came as welcome news. The vote was a key part of Sudan’s 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), the accord that ended over two decades of war between the Christians in the south and the Muslim-dominated north.

In the run-up to this historic July 9th event, analysts were already of the view that as the new nation begins to stand on its own and its infrastructure and population continue to expand, trade within the region was also likely to grow. This bring me back to the ‘nsenene’ versus ‘real business’ issue, which journalists Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda and Charles Onyango Obbo explored in their respective columns.

It should be noted that from the time the south signed the CPA with the Khartoum regime, trade between the former and neighbouring Uganda has been booming. The trade obstacles aside, many Ugandan traders who flocked to South Sudan in the aftermath of the peace agreement, will tell you how they made ‘a killing.’

In 2008, statistics from Uganda’s Tourism, Trade and Industry ministry indicated that the country’s exports to South Sudan grew by 181% from $91.7 million in 2006 to 257.9 million in 2008. In 2009, for instance, South Sudan was ranked as the number one market destination for Uganda’s exports.

In February 2010, Uganda and South Sudan signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at improving trade relations between the two neighbouring nations. Up until that point, no formal structures or mechanisms had been in place to address disputes.

Traders had long complained of paying double taxes whenever they attempted to move goods from one South Sudan state to the next and dishonest practices among their South Sudanese business counterparts.

Habib Migadde, Head of Chancery at the Juba-based Uganda Consulate, acknowledges some of these reported cases of harassment, but says Ugandans too have breached business agreements they have signed with their trading partners, leading to tension among these traders. Nevertheless, Migade remains optimistic that the improved trade relations between Uganda and South Sudan, spurred by the signed memorandum of understanding, will create better opportunities in South Sudan’s post-referendum era.

“We expect Uganda’s GDP figures to double or even triple, given the good trading relationship currently existing between its traders and their South Sudan counterparts,” Migadde confidently said.

There are approximately 150,000 traders from Uganda in South Sudan involved in business-related activities across all the 10 states in the newly independent nation. The majority of them deal in general merchandise and the supply of foodstuffs, and 1,500 of them, according to the Ministry of Regional Cooperation, are employed in the construction industry, a field that suffers a shortage of technical expertise and materials in the country.

Meanwhile, plans are already underway to construct a large market for Ugandan traders in South Sudan, courtesy of a joint venture between the Uganda Government and its South Sudan counterparts. The market, estimated to cost Shs 1.7bn, will be constructed at Munuki payam, located about 10km, southwest of Juba.

Construction of the market will be funded by the Ugandan Government on land donated by South Sudan’s Central Equatoria state government. Economically, South Sudan, which still heavily relies on oil revenues, has widely been regarded as a hub for regional trade and business opportunities.

In the past, its attempts to join the East African Community (EAC) were reportedly rejected due to its semi-autonomous status. However, with South Sudan’s potential integration, EAC analyst say, we may be looking at the creation of one of the biggest and potentially wealthier economic blocks on the African continent, going  by the sheer size of the market which is 130 million people strong and boasts of a solid resource base.

The author is a journalist based in Juba, Republic of South Sudan.

umajulius@gmail.com

Fire Ravages Uganda’s Largest Market

VOA News /July 31, 2011

An overnight fire has gutted one of Uganda’s largest markets, devastating traders who lost all of their merchandise in the blaze.

Local officials say the fire in Kampala’s Parkyard market broke out in the early hours of Sunday morning, when the market was empty.

There were no reported injuries but the flames burned through thousands of stalls, destroying the goods of small traders who depend on the market to make their living.

Firefighters needed several hours to put out the blaze.  Police say they are investigating the cause of the fire.

This is the second time in two years a major fire has struck the Parkyard market, which is part of the larger Owino market.

TANZANIA:

EAC: Talk to Tanzania govt, you’ll get food

By ADAM IHUCHA  /www.theeastafrican.co.ke/   Sunday, July 31  2011

The East African Community Secretariat wants its hunger-stricken partner states to contact Tanzania for emergency food procurement.

EAC Director for Economics Dr Nyamajeje Weggoro, told The EastAfrican that under the Common Market protocol, the partner states with food surplus are required to remove non-tariff barriers to allow free movement of food within the region.

Dr Weggoro said that the EAC believes that Tanzania’s ban on food export is an in-house protective measure and does not mean that it has locked out “its hungry partner states from purchasing emergency food.”

Dr Weggoro particularly implored Kenya to open talks with Tanzania to obtain food for its starving population.

Responding to a question by The EastAfrican, whether Tanzania has breached the Common Market Protocol by banning food exports, he said: “In my understanding, Tanzania hasn’t breached the Protocol by imposing a ban on food exports because the EAC countries are still sovereign states,” said Dr Weggoro.

Tanzania’s change of heart

With a severe drought ravaging the Horn and East Africa, Tanzania has asked drought-affected countries to negotiate directly with it at government level to procure food for their vulnerable populations.

“Neighbouring countries confronted with a food crisis are welcome to deal directly with the government instead of farmers, traders or agents in border regions for food purchases,” said Prof Jumanne Maghembe, Tanzania’s Minister For Agriculture, Food Security and Co-operatives.

Prof Maghembe said Tanzania has a food surplus of 1.7 million tonnes that it is considering selling to the EAC members.

Tanzania’s move comes against a backdrop of rampant food smuggling to neighbouring countries. Police in Arusha recently impounded several trucks that were said to be carrying grains to Kenya.

Tanzania police estimates that more than 400 tonnes of maize is trucked daily out of the country through Mara, Arusha and Kilimanjaro regions to Kenya, South Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia.

Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda are among the drought-affected countries.

According to Josette Sheeran, executive director of the UN World Food Programme, the food crisis in the region has left at least 10 million people food insecure due to widespread poor and erratic rainfall, combined with rising food prices in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda.

Ms Sheeran said hunger was looming across the region, threatening the lives of millions of people already facing rising food prices and internal conflict.

With the failure of the April-June long rains in some areas, and below-average rainfall in others, the number of people in need of assistance is expected to rise in coming weeks.

“We should move quickly to break the destructive cycle of drought and hunger that forces farmers to sell their produce as part of their survival strategy,” Ms Sheeran said.

Gas route: Tanzania favours Mwanza

Sunday, 31 July 2011 /Mac Tom  /www.busiweek.com  .

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania –  CHANCES of extending the gas pipeline from Dar es Salaam Mombasa look very slim after realisation by the Tanzania government that it would be more beneficial to construct a pipeline to the Lake Zone area through the Central Corridor.

According to senior government officials who are privy to the process, the Government wants to have the pipeline  through Dodoma, Singida and other regions to run up to Mwanza built before any plans to extend it to Mombasa are taken on board.

“Local experts have convinced the government that it would be more advantageous to have the gas pipeline built through the Central Corridor than one that runs from Dar es Salaam through Tanga to Mombasa,” said one of the officials who attended last months Sectoral Council on Energy meeting.

The official further said that even though the study for Dar es Salaam-Tanga-Mombasa pipeline was done whereby it showed the project was viable “the study noted that Dar es Salaam, from where Mombasa was to be connected, was having gas constraints but they still recommended the project was economically justified.”

“However, if you look at the other side of the coin and taking into consideration what the Sectoral Council of Ministers said, last month that Tanzania should make sure and take into consideration the needs of partners states, it goes without saying that having a pipeline that goes all the way to Mwanza would serve the region much better than one that passes through Tanga to Mombasa,” said the official.

The official further said that: “If you look at Mwanza, it easily connects with all the regional hubs in the Partner states, so having it pass through the central corridor will serve the local needs as well as those of the region.”

They wondered why the study that was undertaken with blessings of the EAC would want the gas taken to Mombasa, which is a coastal town, then from there distributed to other EA countries.

They further contend that the benefits to the Tanzanian economy would be immense because it would be easy to put up industries along the central corridor where the pipeline would pass.

“Our country has been experiencing and having perennial electricity problems, as is the case currently but, this would be mitigated by having the pipeline due to the fact that power generation would be done in regional centres thus reducing the burden of transmitting electricity from Dar Salaam and Morogoro, all the way to Mwanza,” one official argued. A total of 497 kilometres of pipeline is to be laid once the right contractor is found and the government through the Tanzania Petroleum Development Company (TPDC) now wants to carry out an environmental and social impact assessment for the proposed Mtwara-Dar es Salaam natural gas pipeline.

According to the TPDC managing Director, Mr. Yona Killaghane the scope of the service would include identifying and analysing all the relevant stakeholders in the project including -but not limited to-government relevant ministries, departments, landowners and all neighbours; north, south, east and west) and communities and all other relevant stakeholders.

“There are two projects one is to carry out a land survey and lay a pipeline from Mtwara to Somangafungu and another pipeline from Mtwara to Dar es Salaam bringing the total to be constructed to 497 kms,” said Mr. Killaghane.

However, the projects would be undertaken in two lots one for environmental and social impact assessment for the proposed Mtwara-Dar natural gas pipeline and a survey for pipeline route from Mnazi Bay Mtwara to Somangafungu.

Buckreef gold mining for $25m revival

Sunday, 31 July 2011 /John Mbalamwezi / www.busiweek.com.

DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA – Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corporation Company is set to construct a US$25 million gold plant at the Buckreef Gold project in the gold rich belt around Lake Victoria.

The firm will be reviving an old reef mine which has been abandoned for decades.

According to Mr James Sinclair, the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer, the firm is currently in discussions with international consulting firms with respect to a turnkey price for the construction of plant and mine-related facilities at the Buckreef Gold Project.

He said “To speed up development of Buckreef Gold Project in Tanzania, which hosts approximately 2.0 million ounces of 43-101 compliant resources at a 0.5 g/t cut-off grade gold, the firm will inject a $25 million obtained from the bought deal offering.

“The amount will see the completion of a feasibility study on the mine located in the Rwamagaza greenstone belt, 115 kilometer South West of Mwanza city,” said Mr. Sinclair.

“To obtain $ 25 million”, he said “the firm has entered into an underwriting agreement with Casimir Capital Ltd”.

According to Mr. Sinclair, the Underwriter has agreed to purchase 4,237,289 units of the Company on a bought deal basis at a price of US$5.90 per unit, for sale to the public in Canada and the United States.

Each Unit consists of one common share of the Company and one common share purchase warrant exercisable at a price of US$7.00 per warrant share for a period of two years following closing of the offering.

The Units will be offered by way of a short form prospectus in the provinces of British Columbia, Ontario and Alberta and will be offered in the United States pursuant to a registration statement filed under the multi-jurisdictional disclosure system.

“In consideration for the services to be rendered by the Underwriter under the Offering” the firm says, “the Underwriter will receive a cash commission of 7% of the gross proceeds of the Offering and compensation warrants entitling the Underwriter to purchase, in the aggregate, that number of Common Shares that is equal to 7% of the aggregate number of Units sold pursuant to the Offering.”

Mr. Peter Zizhou, the Exploration Manager of Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corporation Limited said that  “of particular interest to our company  is the Buckreef Eastern Porphyry area where the potential to establish additional resources along a continuous mineralized zone that is known to extend for at least 300 metres has yet to be fully evaluated.

“If these projects unfold as expected they could be major cash generators to further development work at Buckreef” he said.

In addition to the Buckreef Feasibility Study, some of the funds will be allocated to plant and equipment purchases for the mining of surface gravels at Buckreef and on the Company’s Kigosi and Lunguya prospects where gravel deposits of commercial interest are also indicated.

“We are not looking at a Cadillac operation – more of a Ford in fact – that will generate the returns that shareholders expect and deserve from such a robust gold mining project,” said Zizhou.

He said that a major priority for the Company will be the initiation of exploration work along established mineral trends within the Buckreef Project area.

According to Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corporation, Buckreef is licensed for mining and in fact saw some commercial production as an underground producer during the 1980s.

In May this year, the Company announced that it has completed a detailed review of historical diamond drilling results on the Buckreef Main, South and North Prospects which form the core of its recently acquired Buckreef Gold Project in Tanzania.

Several drilling programs were conducted on the Buckreef property between 1995 and 2004 by Kinross Gold, East Africa Mining, AngloGold Ashanti, Spinifex Gold and Gallery Gold among others. These drillings targeted the main strike and down dip extension of the Buckreef shear zone along a strike length exceeding one kilometre.

According to the statistics available to the ministry of energy and minerals, Tanzania stands as a third largest producer of gold in Africa after South Africa and Ghana and is also well known for the Tanzanite gemstones. In addition to gold, the country has expansive amounts of natural resources including gas, uranium, diamonds, coal, iron ore, nickel, copper, chrome, tin, platinum, coltan, niobium, kaolin and other minerals.

KENYA:

Kenya Central Bank Says Power Rationing May Drag on Economy

August 01, 2011/By Sarah McGregor/ www.businessweek.com

Aug. 1 (Bloomberg) — Kenya’s central bank said scheduled power outages announced last week will curb growth in East Africa’s biggest economy.

“The recently introduced power rationing targeting manufacturing firms will create a further drag on economic recovery and supply of goods and services,” Central Bank of Kenya Governor Njuguna Ndung’u said in an e-mailed statement today from Nairobi, the capital.

Kenya Power Ltd., the country’s sole distributor, began scheduled outages on July 27 amid a shortage caused by machine breakdowns and a lack of infrastructure. The blackouts may last as long as three months, the company said. Kenyan commercial lenders and businesses surveyed by the central bank said they expect economic growth to slow this year to “within the government target” of 5.3 percent, Ndung’u said today. The economy grew 5.6 percent last year.

Kenya’s central bank last week surprised financial markets by keeping its key lending rate unchanged at 6.25 percent, failing to stem currency weakness and raising concern among investors the bank is moving too slowly to contain rising consumer prices.

“The markets were looking for a clear sign of their tightening intent,” Razia Khan, head of African economic research for Standard Chartered Bank Ltd. in London, said on July 27. “They have not delivered this, having failed market expectations of further central bank rate tightening.”

Inflation quickened for the ninth straight month in July to a more than two-year high of 15.53 percent on surging food costs amid drought and higher prices for imported fuels, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics said today.

Shilling Weakens

The shilling has weakened 0.7 percent against the dollar since last week’s interest-rate decision, having lost 11 percent of its value since January when inflation surpassed the government’s 5 percent goal and accelerated every month since.

The central bank’s analysis of inflation showed that most of the 12 industries that are surveyed by the national statistics agency to compute consumer inflation have “strong peaks and troughs rather than trends,” Ndung’u said. “This cyclical behaviour could be expected to continue in the future, moderating the current high inflation rates.”

–Editors: Paul Richardson, Gordon Bell.

Kenyan inflation accelerates to 15.5pc in July

Written By:Stanley Wabomba,  /www.kbc.co.ke/  Posted: Mon, Aug 01, 2011

The month of July saw the inflation rate in Kenya shoot up to 15.53 percent from 14.49 percent in June.

Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) indicates that the high rate of inflation was driven by the rising cost of food, Energy and fuel.

Since October last year, inflation has been rising in the country and according to the KNBS of Statistics last October had the lowest rate of 3.18 percent.

This has risen to the current figure of 15.53 percent in the month of July driven by increasing cost of food prices and fuel.

The average price of a 2kg sifted maize flour, continued to increase from Ksh 130 in June to Ksh 136 in July. The price of sugar rose from 102 shillings in June a kilo to 122 a kilo last month.

In the month however there was a notable decrease in the price of Potatoes, Onions, sukumawiki and cabbages.

The housing, water and fuel rose by 0.85 percent, due to increase in rent and the cost of cooking fuel.

Inflation may slow to between 8 percent and 9 percent by the end of the year if the central bank raises rates, while failure to tighten monetary policy may keep the inflation rate above 12 percent, the International Monetary Fund said July 7.

Inflation has surpassed the government’s 5 percent target every month since January.

In a statement Monday, KNBS director Anthony Kilele says the hotels and restaurants index went up by 2.17 percent due to high cost of food.

The latest rise in inflation continues to put pressure on the government to lower the cost of food and fuel even as Central Bank on Thursday last week maintained the lending base point at 6.25 arguing that any further tightening of the policy would be counterproductive in lowering the high inflation.

Somali women fleeing famine preyed on by rapists

By KATHARINE HOURELD, Associated Press /31072011

DADAAB, Kenya (AP) — Refugee Barwago Mohamud huddles silently beneath a few blankets stretched over sticks at night, fearing for her life after a neighbor was raped, and a naked woman who had been kidnapped and gang-raped for three days in front of her terrified children was delivered to the medical tent next door.

Only a few hundred feet away stands a newly built camp with a police station, toilet blocks and schools. Neat thornbush fences in the camp separate residential areas for families to move into. But all the facilities are empty. The Kenyan government is refusing to open the new Ifo 2 facility as part of the world’s biggest refugee camp, Dadaab, saying the desperate Somali refugees flowing into the country are a security risk.

But for the women and children who fled war and famine and are now forced to build their shelters farther and farther away from the center of the camps, the extension would be a refuge from the armed men who prowl the bush at night. Some may be deserters from Somali forces across the border; others are Kenyan bandits who rob and gang-rape the stream of refugees fleeing the famine in Somalia.

The contrast between the squalid, insecure outskirts of the sprawling camp and the empty, silent facilities shows how regional politics can interfere with aid efforts, causing millions of dollars to be wasted and leaving women and children vulnerable to attack.

“What can we do?” Mohamud asked. “Our neighbors have been raped at night. We are afraid. Some boys are helping watch at night in case of trouble but they also work during the day.”

Mohamud and eight other women and girls share their rickety shelter on the outskirts of Dadaab, a camp designed for 90,000 people which now houses around 440,000 refugees. Almost all are from war-ravaged Somalia. Some have been here for more than 20 years, when the country first collapsed into anarchy. But now more than 1,000 are arriving daily, fleeing fighting or hunger.

The U.N. said this month that at least two regions in Somalia are suffering from famine and 11.3 million people in the Horn of Africa need aid.

To help ease the overcrowding, international donors including the U.S. and European Union spent $16 million building the Ifo 2 extension, which could house 40,000 people. But it is still unclear when or if the Kenyan government will open it.

Research shows that women are often attacked when they leave their families to go to the bathroom or gather firewood. When Mohamud’s three young daughters need to relieve themselves, she insists on going with them, and takes the only torch the nine women share between them. She has no shoes, so she walks barefoot over the thorny ground.

“Women express a lot of fear about going to the bush. They say there are men with guns there,” said Sinead Murray, an aid worker with the International Rescue Committee. Her organization has recorded a spike in rapes and attempted rape. Since the beginning of June, they have had double the number of attacks reported from January-May.

“More and more women are coming forward who have been raped,” said Murray, who said consultations with communities show the vast majority of rapes go unreported. Women may not know where to seek help, or fear ostracism by their community.

They are women like Sahan, who was on a bus coming over from Somalia when four gunmen stopped the vehicle. The women were ordered off and raped in the bush for three hours. She has not reported the rape because she was living far away from any medical services on the outskirts of the camp and did not want to leave her family. She asked her last name not be used to protect her privacy.

A reporter for The Associated Press drove around the newly constructed area in Dadaab and found rows of new toilet blocks standing amid the rows of empty lots, where women could more safely go to the bathroom and easily walk to police or medical services if they were attacked.

The Ifo 2 camp also houses a freshly painted primary and secondary school, police station, and headquarters for aid organizations ranging from Handicap International to the Norwegian Refugee Council padlocked shut. A medical facility for Doctors Without Borders lay half-built after aid workers said they were told to stop building early this year. The group now treats people in nearby tents instead.

More than two weeks ago, Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga visited Dadaab and said the Ifo 2 extension would open in 10 days. On Saturday, Kenyan government spokesman Alfred Mutua said that no decision had yet been reached.

Kenyan officials have said that they consider the influx of Somalis a security risk because part of the country is held by al-Qaida linked rebels. They also fear that if they provide the schools and medical care lacking in Somalia, families will simply move to Kenya to get better services. The Kenyans want aid agencies to deliver food in Somalia instead but charities face attack by bandits and harassment by Kenyan officials at the border.

But Somalis say they have no other choice than to flee their homes because they will be killed by gunmen or starve to death if they stay at home.

In the meantime, the refugees keep coming as the hunger crisis worsens but there is nowhere for them to go. The camps are full to bursting, and medical staff are setting up tents to treat new arrivals. Women and their children are being forced farther out, away from services and security. Aid agencies are appealing for more donations, unable to use the facilities they built. And Mohamud, whose door is only a blanket draped on a stick, keeps her daughters close and dreads each sunset.

“We are afraid,” she said again, as her 13-year-old daughter played in the dirt in front of her. “Maybe they will come back. But we have nowhere else to go.”

Kenyan mosque’s past link to Shabaab banker

By PETER LEFTIE pmutibo@ke.nationmedia.com/www.nation.co.ke/Posted  Sunday, July 31  2011

Leaders of a mosque at the centre of terrorist funding allegations on Sunday confirmed that a suspected al Shabaab financier was an official of Pumwani Riyadha Mosque in Nairobi.

But they denied ever having been involved in terror activities and threatened to sue their bank, which they accused of breaching client confidentiality.

They also claimed many more public figures gave money to their mosque construction project.

Building committee

Pumwani Riyadha Mosque Committee members said ‘Amiir’ Ahmad Iman was the secretary of the building committee at the mosque but left in 2009 without notice.

In Mombasa, politicians and Muslim leaders defended Tourism minister Najib Balala and Nominated MP Amina Abdallah against allegations in the UN report that they gave money that could have ended up with terrorists.

Kisauni MP Hassan Ali Joho, Mayor Ahmed Muhdhar and Mvita politician Abdullswamad Nassir set a side their political differences with Mr Balala and defended him against the allegations.

Speaking at Madrasatul Islah Al-Islamiyya in Mvita, they said Mr Balala had never associated himself with terrorism.

“We know Najib Balala is clean on this issue and we cannot support what is wrong because of our political differences. Let UN go into Somalia and deal with al Shabaab instead of soiling the image of our leaders,” Mr Joho said.

Mayor Muhdhar said this “was a plot to weaken Islam and frustrated leaders’ efforts to support religious activities in this country and we should now unite to stand as one team.”

Mr Nassir said: “It is very unfortunate that Mr Balala is reported as having helped al Shabaab. I view this as a tactic to stop Muslims from financing their religious activities,”

Mr Hassan Omar of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said Mr Balala was opposed to fundamentalism.

“Of all people, it is unbelievable to read that Balala in funding al Shabaab. We have differed with him on many instances but allow me to defend him on this issue,” Mr Omar told a public forum on new constitution on Sunday at a Mombasa hotel.

The UN Security Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea says ‘Amiir’ Ahmad Iman funnelled funds from the mosque and the Muslim Youth Council to al Shabaab.

The committee also said ‘Amiir’ Ahmad Iman, who is named as the terrorist group’s point man in fundraising through the mosque, was no longer their member.

Mr Hashim Kamau, the secretary of Youth Affairs at Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (Supkem) and Mr Abdulkarim Mohsin, an elder, said Mr Iman was the secretary of the committee until 2009.

The committee’s vice chairman, Mr Ali Abdulmajid and treasurer Dr Iddi Abdallah in a statement also denied links with al Shabaab.

“He was the secretary at that time and according to our constitution, the secretary and the treasurer are automatic signatories to the mosque accounts,” Mr Hashim said.

But he emphasised that Mr Iman worked within the policies and decisions of the entire committee, which did not authorize funding al Shabaab.

“All the money that Mr Balala and Ms Abdalah donated went into the construction of the mosque which is yet to be completed.

“We have spent Sh30 million so far in the construction and the committee is still fundraising to attain our budget of Sh48 million. And in fact, we are still asking Balala and others to assist us,” he said.

According to Mr Mohsin, the suspect stopped being the secretary of the building committee after missing three sittings.

No longer our member

“Our constitution says that if one misses three consecutive committee sittings, then he automatically forfeits his place. He missed three such meetings and left. He is no longer our member,” he said.

The committee has now threatened to sue Habib Bank, one of the banks where the mosque’s accounts are, accusing it of breaching client confidentiality.

Mr Kamau said a pledge of Sh50,000 on behalf of Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka was made to the mosque but not honoured.

ANGOLA:

Angola’s Banco BIC to buy Banco Português de Negócios

August 1st, 2011/macauhub

Lisbon, Portugal, 1 Aug – Portugal’s Finance Ministry announced in a note issued on Sunday that the sale of Banco Português de Negócios (BPN) will be exclusively negotiated with Angola’s Banco BIC, with an agreement implying the immediate payment of 40 million euros to the state and the eventual release of half of BPN’s employees.

“The government made the decision today to select the proposal of Banco BIC Português S.A. with a view to negotiating on exclusive terms an agreement to dispose of the shares representing the social capital of BPN,” the government indicates in the note.

The document states that the process should be completed in 180 days – six months.

“The proposal presented by Banco BIC ensures the integration of at least 750 of the current 1,580 BPN employees,” the Finance Ministry note indicates.

Banco BIC Português was founded in January 2008 and is the only Angolan private bank in Portugal.

The Portuguese BIC is based in Lisbon and has the same shareholding structure as Banco BIC (Angola).

Its CEO is Fernando Teles. Members of the management board include Isabel dos Santos and Américo Amorim, according to Forbes magazine Portugal’s richest man, who holds about 25 percent of Banco BIC’s shares. (macauhub)

AU/AFRICA:

Pirates eye share of Gulf of Guinea riches

By Stabroek staff  /www.stabroeknews.com/Reuters/Monday, August 1, 2011

LONDON/DAKAR, (Reuters) – Pirate attacks on ships in  the Gulf of Guinea are threatening one of the world’s emerging  trade hubs and are likely to intensify unless the region’s weak  naval and coastguard defences are beefed up soon.

Stretching from Guinea on Africa’s northwestern tip down to  Angola in the south, the Gulf spans a dozen countries and is a  growing source of oil, cocoa and metals to the world’s markets.

While piracy has yet to hit levels seen off Somalia’s coast, analysts say pirates have spotted a window of opportunity with  weak local maritime security structures and a craggy coastline  which offers natural hideouts from which to mount attacks.

“Piracy in West Africa is fundamentally different to Somali  piracy as the perpetrators are interested in stealing cargoes  rather than demanding ransoms,” said Paul Gibbins of maritime  security company Protection Vessels International (PVI).

“It is reasonable to assume that the problem is likely to  escalate if there are no resources to help police and control  the situation,” he added.

Despite NATO and European Union operations to protect local  shipping, there were 163 attempted or actual attacks by Somali  pirates in the first half of this year, according to  International Maritime Bureau.

That compares with just 27 reported incidents in Gulf of  Guinea states such as Nigeria, Benin, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Ghana  and Democratic Republic of Congo during the same period.

KEEPING IT QUIET

But that may be only the tip of the iceberg.

Because many of the attacks take place within national  waters, they are not deemed “acts of piracy” under international  law and so are not catalogued as such.

Moreover, the fact that a distress call will not elicit a  rescue by a Western warship is seen dissuading many ship owners  from reporting an attack, fearing the unwanted side-effect of  seeing their insurance premiums rise.

“In Nigeria it is estimated that approximately 60 percent of  pirate attacks go unreported,” said John Drake, a senior risk  consultant with security firm AKE.

Pirates have operated in the Gulf of Guinea since the 1980s  at least, but there has been a rise in attacks in the past year.

The attack this week on an Italian tanker carrying diesel  fuel off the coast of Benin — which has already seen 15 such  incidents since the start of the year — highlighted the chronic  lack of combat resources in the region.

Benin naval commander Maxime Ahoyo said the July 24 attack  occurred outside the range of the local security systems and  authorities lost contact with the ship, whose crew was released  on Thursday.

L’inquiétante division des rebelles libyens

Par Renaud Girard/www.lefigaro.fr/ Publié le 29/07/2011

La mort du chef d’état-major des forces armées du CNT met en lumière le manque de discipline au sein des troupes rebelles.

Il y avait déjà l’enlisement militaire. Se profile désormais le spectre de la discorde chez les rebelles libyens. Par sa portée symbolique, la mort violente du chef d’état-major des forces armées du CNT (Conseil national de transition siégeant dans la ville rebelle de Benghazi) est une mauvaise nouvelle pour les grandes puissances occidentales.

Ne s’est-on pas un peu précipité en reconnaissant le CNT comme seule institution représentant le peuple libyen ? Était-ce bien raisonnable, pour la France, de livrer des armes à des rebelles qu’elle connaissait mal, combattants indisciplinés aux loyautés changeantes ? Savait-on vraiment où l’on mettait les pieds ? Les leçons des désastres afghan et irakien n’auraient-elles pas dû être tirées ? Autant de questions que les parlementaires, les experts en géopolitique et les opinions publiques d’Amérique, de France et d’Angleterre ne manqueront pas désormais de poser à leurs exécutifs respectifs.

À longueur de conférences de presse à Benghazi, le CNT s’est en effet présenté depuis cinq mois comme une institution capable d’apporter la démocratie, la concorde et la prospérité à la totalité du territoire libyen. Or voilà que la capitale de la «Libye libre» a donné jeudi le spectacle de lamentables chicaneries tribales. Elles feront immanquablement le jeu du dictateur Kadhafi, lequel a toujours répété à qui voulait l’entendre que seule une poigne comme la sienne pouvait maintenir ensemble les tribus libyennes et éviter le chaos au pays.

Pourquoi le CNT a-t-il, mercredi soir, rappelé Abdel Fatah Younès du front de Brega ? Pourquoi l’a-t-il fait comparaître, dans la journée de jeudi, devant une commission politique, comme aux plus belles heures du Comité de salut public de 1793 ? Pourquoi le général mis en accusation est-il ensuite sorti libre de son interrogatoire ? Pourquoi et par qui a-t-il été assassiné trois heures plus tard ­devant son domicile, avec deux officiers de son état-major ? Moustapha Abdel­jalil, le président du CNT, n’a pas été en mesure de répondre à ces questions lors de la conférence de presse qu’il donna pour annoncer la mort du général Younès, dont l’heure de gloire avait été sa réception à l’Élysée le 16 avril dernier.

Fantasia à Benghazi

Selon une source française très proche du CNT, Abdeljalil a personnellement téléphoné, durant l’interrogatoire du général, pour convaincre ses accusateurs de laisser tomber cette affaire, visiblement provoquée par des rumeurs affirmant que Younès aurait secrètement repris langue avec Kadhafi. Voir leur chef vilipendé puis assassiné quelques heures plus tard mit en furie, jeudi soir, la puissante tribu des Obeidi, à laquelle appartenait Younès. Des hommes armés de la tribu procédèrent à une dangereuse fantasia devant l’Hôtel Tibesti, où venait de se tenir la conférence de presse du maître supposé de Benghazi. Rafalant à la kalachnikov la façade de l’hôtel, ils en brisèrent les fenêtres. Le service de sécurité de l’établissement se rua sur les journalistes internationaux, pour les mettre à l’abri de ces tirs fous. Mauvais moment pour les relations publiques du CNT…

L’incapacité du CNT à faire régner l’ordre dans les rues de Benghazi ne constitue pas son seul handicap. Militairement, il ne s’est pas montré capable de tirer, sur le terrain, un avantage décisif des deux atouts considérables qui sont les siens : le soutien aérien des chasseurs-bombardiers de l’Otan depuis la mi-mars ; la livraison d’armes modernes par la France et le Qatar à partir du début du mois de juin. Aucune coordination réelle n’existe entre les trois fronts rebelles que sont Brega, Misrata et le Djebel Nefousa. Lorsque les insurgés de Misrata furent reçus à l’Élysée il y a une semaine, ils demandèrent à la France un soutien qui ne passe pas par les «autorités» de Benghazi.

Politiquement, les analyses du CNT apparaissent, à l’expérience, sujettes à caution. Combien de fois les hiérarques du CNT, relayés par les chancelleries occidentales, n’ont-ils assuré que la chute de Kadhafi n’était pas «une question de mois, mais de semaines» ! À la fin du mois de juin, l’on nous avait exposé un plan imparable, digne des meilleurs scénarios de la CIA. Les armes françaises livrées aux Berbères du Djebel Nefousa devaient faire de ces derniers un fer de lance, capable de prendre en tenaille Tripoli, avec l’aide des combattants de Misrata, qui, eux, attaqueraient la capitale par l’est. Dans ce schéma idyllique, la population de Tripoli se soulevait alors à l’approche des forces rebelles, et c’était la fin de Kadhafi. Un film aussi beau que celui du mois d’août 1944 à Paris… Il semble que le général Younès n’ait pas été le seul Libyen à avoir une tribu derrière lui et que Kadhafi dispose, lui aussi, de tels soutiens.

Sur le plan des principes, le CNT dispose d’une feuille de route impeccable : ces hommes promettent la construction d’un État démocratique, respectueux de l’ordre international et où le religieux serait séparé du politique. Fort bien. Mais le problème est qu’on ne fait pas la guerre sans un minimum de discipline. Tant que le CNT n’aura pas réussi à imposer à lui-même et à ses troupes un minimum de discipline, le tyran Kadhafi continuera à couler des jours heureux à Tripoli…

La télévision Libyenne bombardée par l’Otan : Trois employés tués et 15 autres blessés, selon les autorités

30.07.2011/lavoixdesmartyrsdelalibertedexpression.blogs.nouvelobs.com

L’OTAN a bombardé dans la nuit de vendredi à samedi plusieurs installations de la télévision publique libyenne à Tripoli. Ces tirs visaient à “réduire le colonel Kadhafi au silence”. Selon Tripoli, elles ont fait trois morts et 15 blessés.

L’OTAN a confirmé les frappes aériennes qui ont mis hors service trois centres émetteurs satellitaires de la télévision libyenne à Tripoli.  “Notre intervention était nécessaire car la télévision est utilisée par le régime pour opprimer les populations civiles. Kadhafi se sert de ses interventions télévisées pour installer la haine entre les Libyens et mobiliser ses partisans”, a-t-elle ajouté. La chaîne de télévision Al-Jamahiriya, diffusant en langue anglaise, a de son côté affirmé que son siège à Tripoli avait été bombardé et que trois employés avaient été tués et quinze autres blessés “durant l’exercice de leur devoir professionnel en tant que journalistes libyens”. Le directeur de la chaîne, Khaled Bazilia, a dénoncé un “acte de terrorisme international” en violation des résolutions du Conseil de sécurité de l’ONU. “Nous sommes des employés de la télévision officielle libyenne. Nous ne sommes pas une cible militaire, nous ne sommes pas des commandants de l’armée et nous ne constituons pas une menace pour les civils”, a-t-il affirmé. La télévision libyenne continuait d’émettre samedi matin, ont constaté des  journalistes. Imaginez un peu si une autre station de télévision en occident a été attaquée ??

US/AFRICA:

Congressional Leaders to Pitch Debt-Reduction Compromise to Caucuses

Published August 01, 2011/ FoxNews.com

Democratic and Republican leaders in both chambers of Congress will meet with their caucuses Monday for a hard sell of a compromise debt-reduction package that gives President Obama up to a $2.5 trillion hike in the debt limit as long as lawmakers can find an equal or greater amount in spending cuts.

But even if they can’t come up with solutions, the cuts will be found for them. If a committee set up by the proposal fails to have their recommendations for additional cuts approved by the end of this year, a “trigger” in the plan will automatically enact across-the-board cuts.

Party leaders are corralling their troops to take a head count of the votes needed to pass the legislation that President Obama said Sunday night will “life the cloud of uncertainty that hangs over our economy” and prevent the nation from potentially defaulting on its financial obligations.

Hard-right Tea Party-backed Republicans, hard-left progressives and Congressional Black Caucus members have already whipped up a frenzy over the deal. But cooler heads are urging cooperation as financial markets abroad rallied over the news.

According to the president, the deal means an immediate cut of $1 trillion in government spending over a 10-year period accompanied by a $900 billion increase in the debt ceiling. That will be followed by the creation of the committee to come up with additional cuts worth at least $1.5 trillion. The debt ceiling will be raised by $1.5 trillion if the committee recommendations are approved by the end of the year.

Each of the GOP and Democratic leaders in the chamber will nominate lawmakers to the 12-member committee to report back in the fall. Tax hikes are not part of the package and a pledge for a Balanced Budget Amendment vote is.

Obama said everything will be on the table and both parties will find some of the cuts objectionable.

“Despite what some Republicans have argued, I believe that we have to ask the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations to pay their fair share by giving up tax breaks and special deductions. Despite what some in my own party have argued, I believe that we need to make some modest adjustments to programs like Medicare to ensure that they’re still around for future generations. That’s why the second part of this agreement is so important,” Obama said from the White House briefing room.

The Senate adjourned Sunday night without a vote on a deal, but Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said that the parties are going to have to give ground and compromise so the country doesn’t default.

“I am relieved to say that leaders from both parties have come together for the sake of our economy to reach a historic, bipartisan compromise that ends this dangerous standoff. The compromise we have agreed to is remarkable not only because of what it does, but because of what it prevents: a first-ever default on the full faith and credit of the United States,” Reid said.

Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will both present the agreement to their caucuses on Monday morning. House Democrats also set a morning meeting to discuss the details.

McConnell, R-Ky., said that the framework calls for a “review that will insure significant cuts in Washington spending.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said after the president’s speech that she’ll see what kind of support her caucus can provide.

Several objections are expected, including from Republican defense hawks who don’t want the military gutted and from the Congressional Black Caucus, which called the deal a “sugar-coated Satan sandwich.”

House Speaker John Boehner told his Republican caucus on a Sunday night conference call that the deal isn’t done yet. But Boehner said it does not violate GOP principles.

“We got 98 percent of what we wanted,” he said adding that the framework cuts more spending than it raises the debt limit. It also caps future spending to limits in the growth of government.

“It would also guarantee the American people the vote they have been denied in both chambers on a balanced budget amendment, while creating, I think, some new incentives for past opponents of a BBA to support it,” Boehner said.

The 12-member committee, composed of six Republicans and six Democrats, three from each party and each chamber, will report the legislation by Nov. 23. The vote, to take place by Dec. 23, would be an up-or-down vote with no amendments allowed.

The trigger would be enacted for across-the-board cuts if the joint committee doesn’t reach at least $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction. If that happens, Obama would be allowed to request a $1.2 trillion debt increase and Congress would have to disapprove it subject to a presidential veto.

According to a Power Point presentation presented by Boehner to the caucus, roughly half of the proposal’s automatic cuts would come from defense and half from Medicare.

While the trigger is supposed to hurt as incentive to get Congress to act, other programs like Social Security, Medicaid, veterans benefits and military pay would be off-limits.

House Republicans spent nearly an hour on the conference call with Boehner. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., chairman of the House Budget Committee said that the plan starts from a better baseline than the proposal presented by Boehner last week.

But one House GOP lawmaker who told Fox News he intends to vote against the plan emerged from the call saying he doubted it was 98 percent in the GOP’s favor.

“The minority leader’s on board,” said the lawmaker who requested anonymity in order to speak freely. “Really? Nancy’s cool with only 2 percent? She’s that stupid?”

The lawmaker added that Obama’s health care law was protected while “the military got screwed,” saying the across-the-board trigger between defense and Medicare left Medicaid off the table. The theory was advanced that the health care law will be achieved by pushing greater numbers of recipients of government health care benefits onto Medicaid.

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., a fierce critic of the entire process, did not outright oppose the legislation but also expressed his disappointment in the chain of events that led to the 11th-hour deal. He said he had wanted seven days to review the bill.

“Republicans offered budgets and bills with trillions more in spending cuts than contained in the current legislation. They lowered their proposal substantially so Democrats would end their blockade. That took courage. But the one fact every American must know is that the level of cuts in this proposal are only a first step. Far more work and much greater reductions in spending are required to balance the budget,” said Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., also faulted the 11th hour negotiating but said, “We have settled on a reasonable compromise that all sides should immediately support and which I intend to vote for.”

With Aug. 2 put forth as the drop-dead date for a deal or a potential default of the nation’s loans by the Treasury Department, the Senate could begin voting on the legislation early Monday. The House has already approved rules that allow same-day voting on the measure.

États-Unis : accord in extremis sur le plafond de la dette

Par Guillaume Errard/www.lefigaro.fr/ Mis à jour le 01/08/2011

Les élus américains ont trouvé un accord pour relever le plafond de la dette de 2100 milliards de

dollars, en contrepartie d’au moins 1000 milliards de coupes budgétaires. Le Congrès a 48 heures

pour voter.

L’incertitude semble s’être enfin dissipée à Washington. Après de longues semaines de négociations,

républicains et démocrates ont enfin annoncé avoir trouvé un accord pour relever le plafond de la

dette américaine. Après un démenti dimanche dans l’après-midi, la Maison Blanche a confirmé

dimanche soir (lundi matin heure de Paris) que le président Barack Obama et le Congrès étaient

parvenus in extremis à s’entendre sur un déplafonnement de la dette de 2100 milliards de dollars. De

quoi empêcher un défaut de paiement aux conséquences potentiellement catastrophiques pour

l’économie mondiale, alors que les élus américains ne disposaient plus que de 48 heures avant la date

butoir fixée par le Trésor.

Point important de cet accord de principe: le montant du relèvement permettra aux Etats-Unis de

respecter le nouveau plafond et de pouvoir faire des emprunts jusqu’en 2013, soit après les élections

présidentielles. Ce que souhaitait ardemment Barack Obama, pour éviter d’avoir à rouvrir ce dossier

épineux dès l’année prochaine, en pleine campagne électorale.

Une première soumission au vote attendu dans la journée

Toutefois, le plan comporte encore quelques zones d’ombre. Peu de détails ont encore filtrés sur les

mesures complémentaires pour réduire le déficit américain. Selon un responsable américain, l’accord

prévoit une première réduction des dépenses de 1.000 milliards de dollars. Une commission spéciale

bipartite du Congrès sera ensuite chargée de trouver (avant Thanksgiving, soit fin novembre) des

baisses de dépenses supplémentaires de 1500 milliards de dollars. Ces chiffres sont toutefois loin de

ceux exigés par l’agence de notation Standard & Poor’s. Cette dernière s’est exprimée pour un plan

de 4.000 milliards de dollars sur 10-12 ans, menaçant de dégrader à moyen terme la note américaine

«AAA» si son conseil n’était pas suivi.

Par ailleurs, le plan ne prévoirait aucune hausse d’impôts sous aucune forme, ce qui risque de mal

passer sur la gauche du parti démocrate. Dans le cas où aucun accord n’interviendrait sur des

réductions budgétaires supplémentaires, un mécanisme contraignant se mettrait en place, imposant

automatiquement un certain nombre de coupes, y compris pour la défense et le programme de santé

Medicare pour les personnes âgées.

Un responsable de la Maison Blanche a néanmoins indiqué que la Sécurité sociale et Medicare, le

programme de santé pour les plus âgés, ne seraient pas touchés par ces coupes automatiques. C’est

d’ailleurs notamment sur ce point que les négociations avaient stagné ces derniers jours.

Si l’annonce de cet accord a redonné de l’air sur les marchés financiers, en particulier sur les places

asiatiques, toujours faut-il que le Congrès valide par le vote cet accord de principe. Ici aussi, le timing

est encore serré. Pour éviter définitivement tout défaut de paiement, l’accord devra être entériné

avant mardi minuit (mercredi 16 heures à Paris). Le terrain d’entente trouvé par les deux parties

devrait être soumis aux voix des deux chambres du Congrès dès ce lundi.

EU/AFRICA:

EU to toughen sanctions after Syria bloodbath

VALENTINA POP/euobserver.com/01082011

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – The EU is likely to toughen sanctions against the Syrian regime after some 100 people were reportedly killed in the city of Hama when government tanks stormed in on Sunday (31 July), crushing protests in the five-month-long stand-off with President Bashar Assad.

“I am shocked at the latest reports from Syria that large numbers of civilians have again been killed in a totally unjustified assault by Syrian security forces on the town of Hama, using tanks and other heavy weapons against citizens exercising their right to peaceful protest,” EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement.

Condemning the killing which took place on the eve of the holy month of Ramadam, Ashton said that the actions “once again show the hollowness of the promises of reform made by the government” and urged Assad’s government to engage in a real dialogue with opposition.

Germany has requested that the UN Security Council meets on Monday to discuss the situation. Punitive measures have so far been put in place at EU and US level only.

The UN Security Council – made up of 15 permanent and rotating members – has so far failed to agree even a resolution condemning the Syrian crackdown because Russia and China – both allies of Damascus – have threatened to veto it.

Brazil, India and South Africa have also indicated they do not support the draft French and UK text for fear it may lead to another military intervention as in Libya.

Meanwhile, the EU is likely to toughen sanctions against the Assad regime by blacklisting five further people from his entourage. The EU has already banned some 20 people from travelling or doing business with member states, including a dozen firms linked to the Syrian army.

The EU sanctions and US similar US measures have so far had little impact, however.

According to the Syrian National Organisation of Human Rights, the Sunday offensive is one of the deadliest since protests began in March, with more than 100 people killed by armoured units which overran makeshift barricades in the town of Hama.

The government said its actions were aimed at “protecting” the population from “armed gangs” vandalising public and private property in the city, the site of even greater atrocities under Assad’s father.

“It’s a massacre. They want to break Hama before the month of Ramadan,” an eyewitness who identified himself as Ahmed, told the Associated Press by telephone.

Unlike in Libya, Syria has not seen mass defections from the army, with only few soldiers refusing to execute civilians, Al-Arabiya TV has reported.

Norway terrorist & Europe growing right wing hate

On July 31, 2011 /BY HUGO ODIOGOR/www.vanguardngr.com

Ten years after the Maastricht treaty that laid the foundation for the emergence of European Union, EU, the continent is facing internal and external strictures, occasioned by globalisation and the worsening macro-economic crisis in the capitalist economies.

With the advent of the global village concept, what happens in one part of the world reverberates in another far flung corner with dire consequences. The right wing rage in Norway, last week, cannot therefore be treated as a problem for the Europeans alone because, as Dr. Rasheed Akinyemi, University of Lagos explains, the world has become so integrated that we may have Africans even Nigerians entangled in global crisis whenever they occur.

Norway is a far off Nordic country that is best remembered in this part of the world for its stock fish, which became a political weapon when a prominent politician threatened to ban its importation during the second republic. Norway is an oil producing country of less than five million people. It is known for its high quality newsprint. The country has consistently maintained the number one position in the list of countries with the best conditions for human existence, according to the Human Development Index compiled annually by the United Nations, UN, to match statistics of social and economic development human lives.

As an oil producing nation, Norway pays a percentage of its revenue from sale of crude oil into a trust fund for its citizens. For a country that boosts of its peace credentials, that image was shattered on July 22, when a powerful explosion ripped through the streets of Oslo as a large quantity of  improvised explosive device (IED) was detonated from a rented van parked between the government building housing the prime minister’s office and Norway’s Oil and Energy Department building. Anders Breivik, 32, who was arrested for the terror attack, confessed that he fabricated and placed the device in the van filled with 950 kilograms (about 2,100 pounds) of home-made ammonium nitrate-based explosives.

After detonating the IED, Breivik traveled to the island of Utoya, located about 32 kilometers (20 miles) outside of Oslo where Norway’s ruling Labor Party was having a youth camp-out, donning a uniform with police insignia. Breivik opened a surprised attack on the youths in Utoya with a semi-automatic rifle and a pistol.

Before the police arrived, he had enough time to kill 68 people and injured 60 others. Breivik had posted a manifesto on the Internet that includes his lengthy operational diary. Breivik wrote in his diary that he targeted the Labor Party because of his belief that the party is Marxist-oriented and is responsible for encouraging multiculturalism and Muslim immigration into Norway, to cause destruction of European culture. Breivik considers members of Norway’s ruling Labour Party as traitors and holds them in contempt than he does for Muslims. In fact, in the manifesto Breivik posted on his website, he urged others not to target Muslims because it would elicit sympathy for them.

Breivik said that he planned and executed the attack as a lone ranger but that he was part of a larger organization that he calls the Knights Templar, or the  “Pauperes Commilitones Christi Templique Solomonici (PCCTS, which seeks to encourage other lone attackers called “Justiciar Knights. ” He said there are small cells existing in other parts of Europe to carry out a plan to “save” Europe and European culture from multiculturalism which would lead to the destruction of Europe. It is not certain whether there are other self-appointed Justiciar Knights in Norway or in other parts of Europe.

European Jihad

It is also not clear whether Breivik acted alone. What is critical to this analysis, however, is the fact that he has sown the ideology of hate and set a manifesto propagate to copycat attacks that will engulf Europe in time to come. The Norway attack could be the opening shot to a wider campaign to liberate Europeans from what Breivik described as “malevolent, Marxist-oriented governments”. According to Breivik, the PCCTS was formed with the stated purpose of fighting back against “European Jihad” and to defend the “free indigenous peoples of Europe.” According to Brevik, the PCCTS wants to implement a three-phased plan designed to seize political and military power in Europe. In his manifesto, Breivik  outlines the plan as follows:

Phase 1: Cell-based shock attacks, sabotage attacks, etc. from 1999-2030

Phase 2: Same as above but bigger cells/networks, armed militias from 2030-2070.

Phase 3: Pan-European coup d’états, deportation of Muslims and execution of traitors from 2070-2100.

Migration and Xenophobia

Nothing best brings to reality the upsurge in right wing hate in Europe than the economic crisis engulfing the region and foreigners are seen as the scape goats for their national frustrations. An economic crisis, domestic insecurity and constant fear of possible foreigners swapping them and straining their resources is bringing out right wing ideology of hate. The reality of the international system is instability and the countries in the Eurozone can be least said to be stable.

Migration is a fact of human existence that has spread culture and civilisation, access to resources, knowledge and wealth, as human beings have moved from hostile region and environment to more habitable environment, where they have access to resources, security and comfort.

This was a key process that led to the evolution of nations and people. Migration therefore promotes development and advancement of civilisation, knowledge and socio-cultural interaction if properly managed. But since the emergence of the concept of defined national frontiers, there have been several measures and approaches taken by countries to secure their borders, protect themselves and their resources from outsiders, yet migration remains a potent force for the spread of civilisation, socio-cultural and economic development.

Equally worthy of mention is the fact that migration is an essential part of humanity as the phenomenon of people moving outside their national borders to other countries have provided a strong push for promotion of trade and development. With the end of the cold war, scholars and researchers believe that migration will be one of the hottest political issues of the next 15 years in Europe and America given the dwindling state of global economy.

Experience has shown that politicians and racial bigots often use migration as their most potent weapon to gain popularity by heaping the blame on their failures on migrants. The Tea Party in the US has become a rallying point for Americans promoting hate ideology and supremacist tendencies. The attacks on Nigerians and other Africans in South Africa is a case to mention here.

In Europe, there is a rising wave of ultra right political philosophy. The anti-migration sentiment, originally started as a fringe ideology of the right wing parties being relegated to the back ground.

Even though there is a general sense that globalisation has come to stay and that Europe, at least among the governing elites, share economic interests with the rest of the world, views from the likes of Jean Marie Le Pen,  which were repugnant in the 1990s, have gradually become mainstream ideas in France, and other European countries.

The resurgence of nationalist feeling has been against migrant, notably Arab/Muslims as well as blacks. Multiculturalism is seen as an accommodationist ideology which should not have a footing in fortress Europe.

Akinyemi, who spent over 25 years in Austria, said the idea of fortress Europe as an exclusive European continent for white people is under threat from globalisation. “Today, they see globalisation as a concept that could lead to Europe being swapped by immigrants and especially Arab Muslims who have been seen as irrational and potential terrorists”, the university don said.

Apart from the economic crisis ravaging Europe, political and religious violence has become the identity of the political face of Islam.  The proposed European jihad is to counter what is coming from the Muslim world. The end of the cold war has narrowed down ideological differences, but we now have what Samuel Huntington identified as the clash of civilization. Faith inspired terrorists espouse opposition to the Western culture and value system.

The Boko Haram sect, the Taliban in Afghanistan/Pakistan, the Al-Qaeda and many other fundamentalist religious groups view Judeo-Christian faith as a legitimate target for Islamic jihad. They have seen the superpowers as responsible for all the world’s wrongs and suggested that it was the obligation of all Muslims to mobilize to remove the superpowers from the global arena. All these redefined concept of martyrdom provided the basic justification of suicide on religious grounds. In conclusion, Breivik may be pointing to a clash of civilization.

Irish government team in Kenya assessing humanitarian crisis

31 July 2011 /www.sbpost.ie/By Susan Mitchell

A technical team from Ireland is in the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya this weekend assessing the escalating humanitarian crisis engulfing the Horn of Africa.

The team travelled to the camp in order to brief Jan O’Sullivan, the Minister of State for Trade and Development, on how Ireland can best to respond to the worsening crisis.

As the worst drought in 60 years grips east Africa, the conflict in Somalia continues to stymie relief efforts. Kevin Farrell, Ireland’s food envoy, said the crux of the problem was the difficulty in accessing regions in south Somalia hit by famine that are controlled by Islamist al Shabaab militants.

‘‘There are not a lot of ready-made solutions to that problem right now,” Farrell said.

On Friday, the United Nation’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) raised the amount it needs to raise from its Horn of Africa humanitarian appeal to $2.48 billion. So far, the UN has received around $1 billion. The total amount needed was last raised to $1.99 billion on July 25.

Ocha said the situation in the region was ‘‘rapidly deteriorating’’; it estimates that 12 million people are now affected by the crisis. Farrell said the UN and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in Dadaab, which is housing some 400,000 refugees, were overwhelmed by the scale and speed at which the crisis had developed.

He said there was a lack of equipment and staff at Dadaab, but that the UN and NGOs were cranking up their operations.

He expressed confidence that this would happen soon, but said aid agencies were grappling with ‘‘staggering’’ malnutrition rates.

Feilim McLaughlin, director of the emergency and recovery unit at the Department of Foreign Affairs, who travelled to Dadaab with Farrell, said the scale of the crisis was enormous, with 1,400 refugees arriving at the camp each day.

‘‘Dadaab is housing more people than Cork, Limerick and Galway put together,” McLaughlin said. The UN declared a famine in two regions of southern Somalia on July 20, as severe drought wiped out livestock and left millions in need of food and water in parts of country which are already suffering from civil unrest.

Thousands of Somalis continue to flee across the border to Ethiopia and Kenya every day.

More than €4.6 million has been raised in public donations over the past month by two of the biggest Irish indigenous charities operating in Somalia. Concern Worldwide has raised €2.6 million, while Trocaire has raised €2 million.

Non-governmental organisations launched their fundraising appeal for the Horn of Africa at the end of June, although many had been warning about the impending disaster for many months.

A government airlift of emergency humanitarian supplies arrived in the Somalian capital, Mogadishu on Wednesday, and 11 members of the Rapid Response Corps have been deployed to the region.

The government, through Irish Aid, is funding emergency feeding programmes run by Concern, Trocaire and the International Committee of the Red Cross in Somalia. To date, it has provided almost €7 million in aid to Somalia.

Dominion Petroleum snaps up new Kenyan acreage and walks away from Malta deal

by Jamie Ashcroft /www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/01082011

Dominion Petroleum (LON:DPL) told investors that it will not complete its proposed deal with Mediterranean Oil & Gas (LON:MOG) to earn-in to exploration assets in Malta.

At the same time it revealed that it has a strengthened position in East Africa, ahead of key farm-out talks, after it acquired more acreage offshore Kenya. It has successfully concluded negotiations with the Kenyan government and it has been awarded ‘Block L15’ in the Lamu Basin.

East Africa has become a major hydrocarbon hotspot of late following a series of major gas discoveries in the region – made by Anadarko (NYSE:APC), Cove Energy (LON:COV), BG (LON:BG.) and Ophir (LON:OPHR).

Dominion’s plan is to tie-up a major partner so it can progress a drill programme of its own. Crucially the company believes that its newly expanded acreage could attract even more ‘industry interest’ and it can now adopt a partnering strategy for these assets.

Chief executive Andrew Cochran said: “We are delighted to add Block L15 to Dominion’s East Africa deepwater exploration portfolio, one of the most sought after addresses in the exploration industry these days.

“The region is seeing both growing attention from, and accelerated activity by, major players with Kenya now due for deepwater drilling within the next year following the last year’s successes in Tanzania and Mozambique.

“Dominion’s new award represents a material expansion of an already enviable deepwater East African portfolio. We can now focus our attentions on the business of exploring these blocks, realizing their true value and embarking on substantive discussions with potential partners to establish plans for drilling.”

The company expects to formally sign a production sharing contract (PSC) in Nairobi in the coming weeks. Dominion will be the operator of Block L15 and it will have a 100 per cent stake in the block.

A well was previously drilled on the area covered by Block L15, back in 1985, by Union Oil which encountered good oil shows in the Palaeogene and Upper Cretaceous intervals.

Dominion believes that its assets may be de-risked further in the next twelve months, thanks to nearby exploration drilling.

The new asset, Block L15, lies immediately to the north of Block L8 where a consortium that includes Tullow Oil (LON:TLW) is expected to drill a well on the Mbawa prospect, estimated at 1 billion barrels, next year.

The proposed PSC will have an initial two year exploration period, with a minimum work commitment of US$2.85 million and the acquisition of 250 square kilometres of 3D seismic data.

Beyond this initial two year period Dominion can extend the PSC further by committing to drill a well on the block.

The company believes that the terms and the commitments for L15 compare very favourably to other countries in the region, relative to the block’s potential resource.

Meanwhile Dominion confirmed that it will no longer pursue its deal with Mediterranean Oil & Gas. The initial farm in deal was agreed in late June and alongside the proposed acquisition Dominion planned a US$50 million equity raise.

However last week the company’s investors shot down the proposal, with the funding failing to get the required support in a shareholder’s vote.  Dominion will now have to pay MOG a US$225,000 termination fee.

Norvège: Behring Breivik exige la démission du gouvernement pour parler

31/07/2011/www.lepoint.fr/AFP

L’auteur de la double attaque du 22 juillet en Norvège, Anders Behring Breivik, exige la démission du gouvernement et de l’état-major ainsi que l’abdication du roi de Norvège pour en dire plus aux enquêteurs, rapporte la télévision publique norvégienne NRK.

Outre la démission entre autres du Premier ministre Jens Stoltenberg et l’abdication de Harald V, l’extrémiste norvégien de 32 ans a réclamé d’être nommé à la tête de l’armée lors de son deuxième interrogatoire vendredi, a indiqué NRK samedi soir.

Même si la police a refusé ses exigences, l’auteur du carnage qui a fait 77 morts à Oslo et sur l’île d’Utoeya a finalement coopéré lors de l’interrogatoire de dix heures.

Samedi, dans un entretien à l’AFP, le chef de l’enquête judiciaire Paal-Fredrik Hjort Kraby a dit que Behring Breivik s’est montré “très disposé” à répondre aux questions de la police, à l’exception d’un domaine: les autres “cellules” de son organisation dont il avait auparavant évoqué l’existence.

En détention provisoire dans une prison de haute sécurité pour une période renouvelable de huit semaines, Behring Breivik doit faire l’objet d’examens psychiatriques pour déterminer s’il est pénalement responsable, l’expertise de deux médecins norvégiens devant être rendue d’ici à novembre.

Son avocat avait affirmé la semaine dernière que son client était probablement “dément”, mais jugé qu’il était trop tôt pour dire si cela serait sa ligne de défense.

EN BREF, CE 01 Août 2011… AGNEWS/DAM,NY,01/08/2011