MISNA
28 December 2007
16 rebels and a soldier died yesterday in the morning in Ntamugenga, in the region of Rutshuru, North-Kivu, in an outburst of violence between the army (FARDC) and dissident general Laurent Nkunda’s followers. The only available toll, still unconfirmed by indipendent sources, was released by army general François Olenga in a press conference. Olenga said that FARDC’s positions were “attacked by the rebels”. The National Congress for People’s Defence (CNDP), Nkunda’s armed political movement, gave a different version of the events, saying that “government forces attacked in the areas of Ntamugenga and Rubare on December 27, when the preliminary works of the peace conference were opened” in Goma, capital of North-Kivu. “Our forces had to respond in a strong and determined way in order to placate guns on the other side,” the CNDP declared in a note which was signed by Nkunda and condemns a “breach of the ceasefire” which was unilaterally declared by the movement on December 24.
29 December, 2007
FNL Rebels Attack Miltary Positions.
MISNA
28 December 2007
A simultaneous attack against three military bases was led by the National Liberation Forces (FNL) rebels, the last armed group still operating in the country. A soldier died and several were injured in Musigati, in the province of Bubanza, West of the country. According to military sources, a few dozens of rebels attacked the military positions at dawn using mortar and machine guns. The Burundian press reported that local poulation left their houses in fear and assaulters broke into them. Musigati’s governor asked Bujumbura’s government and the FNL’s leaders to resume peace negotiations,which were interrupted several months ago. On Christmas day, Bujumbura’s bishop Evariste Ngoyagoye had asked for “a ceasefire” for the sake of the Burundian people. Early in December, leaders of the Great Lakes region gave FNL an ultimatum on December 31 for their return to the peace negotiations. If they don’t comply to the deadline, they might be prevented from circulating in the area, face an arms embargo and be registered within the ‘black list’ of ‘negative forces’ in the region.
28 December 2007
A simultaneous attack against three military bases was led by the National Liberation Forces (FNL) rebels, the last armed group still operating in the country. A soldier died and several were injured in Musigati, in the province of Bubanza, West of the country. According to military sources, a few dozens of rebels attacked the military positions at dawn using mortar and machine guns. The Burundian press reported that local poulation left their houses in fear and assaulters broke into them. Musigati’s governor asked Bujumbura’s government and the FNL’s leaders to resume peace negotiations,which were interrupted several months ago. On Christmas day, Bujumbura’s bishop Evariste Ngoyagoye had asked for “a ceasefire” for the sake of the Burundian people. Early in December, leaders of the Great Lakes region gave FNL an ultimatum on December 31 for their return to the peace negotiations. If they don’t comply to the deadline, they might be prevented from circulating in the area, face an arms embargo and be registered within the ‘black list’ of ‘negative forces’ in the region.
28 December, 2007
Army Bombs Tamil Rebels Base.
MISNA
27 December 2007
Sri Lanka’s army bombed and destroyed a naval base of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) after a day of intensive fighting. According to military sources, the toll of the clashes, which took place in Mullaittivu, in the northern peninsula of Jaffna, is of 52 killed rebels. The ‘Tigers’ did not comment over their loss, but mentioned “an attack to the defence lines near the peninsula of Jaffna,” which led to the death of a soldier. The attack took place a day after a naval fight between the Colombo navy force and some rebel ships, which led to the killing of about 40 separatists. Eleven marines are also missing after the naval battle. The ‘Tigers’ have been fighting against the regular army since 1983, in order to obtain independence for a territory inhabited by the Tamil minority in the north and the east of Sri Lanka. According to recent reports, over 68,000 people have so far been killed in the conflict, 5,000 of which starting from 2006, when the war resumed after a 4-year cease-fire.
27 December 2007
Sri Lanka’s army bombed and destroyed a naval base of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) after a day of intensive fighting. According to military sources, the toll of the clashes, which took place in Mullaittivu, in the northern peninsula of Jaffna, is of 52 killed rebels. The ‘Tigers’ did not comment over their loss, but mentioned “an attack to the defence lines near the peninsula of Jaffna,” which led to the death of a soldier. The attack took place a day after a naval fight between the Colombo navy force and some rebel ships, which led to the killing of about 40 separatists. Eleven marines are also missing after the naval battle. The ‘Tigers’ have been fighting against the regular army since 1983, in order to obtain independence for a territory inhabited by the Tamil minority in the north and the east of Sri Lanka. According to recent reports, over 68,000 people have so far been killed in the conflict, 5,000 of which starting from 2006, when the war resumed after a 4-year cease-fire.
Tensions Continue in North-Kivu as Peace Conference is Postponed.
MISNA
27 December 2007
The opening of the Conference for Peace, Security and Development in the provinces of North and South Kivu, which was scheduled for today in Goma, was postponed to January 6. “Preparation works will start today, while from tomorrow until January 4 we will be involved in the sensibilization, participants designation and finalization of work documents,” said father Apollinaire Malu Malu, head of the Indipendent Electoral Commission (CEI) who was nominated to direct the peace conference’s works. “This delay is not surprising,” Kinshasa newspaper ‘Le Potentiel’ reported today. According to the paper, the conference was postponed “due to a not very serious preparation.” As late as two days ago, the newspaper reports, “facilitators’ names were still unknown, as well as the order of the day and the crucial points which had to be debated during the conference.”
In the past few days civil society in the region expressed concerns over the organization of the conference, which was called in order to find a solution to the conflict which erupted in August between pro-Rwandan dissident general Laurent Nkunda’s militias and the regular army (FARDC). Hundreds of thousands of civilians were forced to flee their villages in the past few months due to high insecurity in the area. Today, further tensions erupted in North Kivu. According to the FARDC, soldiers repulsed an infiltration attempt led by rebels in the region of Kalengera. A UN, FARDC and Congolese police joint troup was attacked by civilians on its way to the area. A policeman was wounded and two vehicles were damaged by a launch of stones by a group of reportedly 1,000 people who accused the UN Mission to Congo of not helping FARDC in its fight against the rebels. The UN Mission and its 4,500 soldiers have been ensuring a logistic support to almost 25,000 FARDC soldiers in North Kivu.
27 December 2007
The opening of the Conference for Peace, Security and Development in the provinces of North and South Kivu, which was scheduled for today in Goma, was postponed to January 6. “Preparation works will start today, while from tomorrow until January 4 we will be involved in the sensibilization, participants designation and finalization of work documents,” said father Apollinaire Malu Malu, head of the Indipendent Electoral Commission (CEI) who was nominated to direct the peace conference’s works. “This delay is not surprising,” Kinshasa newspaper ‘Le Potentiel’ reported today. According to the paper, the conference was postponed “due to a not very serious preparation.” As late as two days ago, the newspaper reports, “facilitators’ names were still unknown, as well as the order of the day and the crucial points which had to be debated during the conference.”
In the past few days civil society in the region expressed concerns over the organization of the conference, which was called in order to find a solution to the conflict which erupted in August between pro-Rwandan dissident general Laurent Nkunda’s militias and the regular army (FARDC). Hundreds of thousands of civilians were forced to flee their villages in the past few months due to high insecurity in the area. Today, further tensions erupted in North Kivu. According to the FARDC, soldiers repulsed an infiltration attempt led by rebels in the region of Kalengera. A UN, FARDC and Congolese police joint troup was attacked by civilians on its way to the area. A policeman was wounded and two vehicles were damaged by a launch of stones by a group of reportedly 1,000 people who accused the UN Mission to Congo of not helping FARDC in its fight against the rebels. The UN Mission and its 4,500 soldiers have been ensuring a logistic support to almost 25,000 FARDC soldiers in North Kivu.
27 December, 2007
Serb parliament adopts Kosovo resolution.
AFP
26 December 2007
Serbian lawmakers endorsed on Wednesday a resolution underlining their opposition to Kosovo's independence and warning of repercussions for the Balkan country's European integration.
After almost eight hours of debate, 220 deputies voted for the resolution, 14 MPs were against and three abstained from the vote.
The resolution, which comes ahead of Kosovo's expected unilateral declaration of independence, was backed by pro-European President Boris Tadic and conservative Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and their parties.
The opposition nationalists of the Serbian Radical Party also endorsed the resolution which said that Serbia would "particularly reconsider diplomatic and all other relations with the states that possibly recognise the independence of Kosovo."
"All international accords Serbia concludes, including the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA), must be in function of preserving the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country," said the resolution.
The United States and a number of EU countries have indicated they will recognise a unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo Albanians.
"This resolution on Kosovo confirms the united state policy to protect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia, but also the further improvement of our country's European integration," Tadic told parliament.
He added that Serbia "will do its best to preserve Kosovo in Serbia and Serbia on its European path, but both principles must be carried out by a wise policy, and through peaceful and diplomatic means."
"Serbia will never accept an independent Kosovo," he added.
Kostunica, a moderate nationalist who has put the province at the heart of his political agenda, said an independent Kosovo would be a "pure puppet state that has to disappear."
He accused the United States of supporting Kosovo's independence "for its own military and security interest."
"Kosovo is an example that America, which used to be a symbol of freedom, has become a symbol of the policy of force," he said.
The resolution would be a message to Kosovo's Serb minority to "ignore a declaration of independence as an illegal act," Kostunica said.
Kostunica insisted that Serbia "is determined to find a solution" for the future status of Kosovo "through negotiations and compromise, the only way to solve this issue."
The resolution rejects a proposed EU police mission to the Albanian-majority province and indicates that Belgrade might turn its back on closer integration with Europe if EU states recognised Kosovo's independence.
But Tadic played down the anti-Western tone of his prime minister, warning that an isolated Serbia could "neither preserve Kosovo nor provide an economic outlook for the citizens."
Tadic, who will run in presidential polls in January, said that the "Serbian army is ready to help and protect" Kosovo minority Serbs against any violence "with the approval of all relevant international institutions and respecting international law" if NATO-led peacekeepers in the province (KFOR) failed to do so.
The sole voice opposed to the resolution belonged to the opposition Liberal Democratic party whose leader Cedomir Jovanovic said the draft represented "a blow to Serbia's ambitions to become an EU member."
Serbia initialled the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, which is considered the first step towards EU accession, in November.
Brussels has indicated it could sign the agreement in January in a bid to accelerate Serbia's integration into the EU.
26 December 2007
Serbian lawmakers endorsed on Wednesday a resolution underlining their opposition to Kosovo's independence and warning of repercussions for the Balkan country's European integration.
After almost eight hours of debate, 220 deputies voted for the resolution, 14 MPs were against and three abstained from the vote.
The resolution, which comes ahead of Kosovo's expected unilateral declaration of independence, was backed by pro-European President Boris Tadic and conservative Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and their parties.
The opposition nationalists of the Serbian Radical Party also endorsed the resolution which said that Serbia would "particularly reconsider diplomatic and all other relations with the states that possibly recognise the independence of Kosovo."
"All international accords Serbia concludes, including the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA), must be in function of preserving the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country," said the resolution.
The United States and a number of EU countries have indicated they will recognise a unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo Albanians.
"This resolution on Kosovo confirms the united state policy to protect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia, but also the further improvement of our country's European integration," Tadic told parliament.
He added that Serbia "will do its best to preserve Kosovo in Serbia and Serbia on its European path, but both principles must be carried out by a wise policy, and through peaceful and diplomatic means."
"Serbia will never accept an independent Kosovo," he added.
Kostunica, a moderate nationalist who has put the province at the heart of his political agenda, said an independent Kosovo would be a "pure puppet state that has to disappear."
He accused the United States of supporting Kosovo's independence "for its own military and security interest."
"Kosovo is an example that America, which used to be a symbol of freedom, has become a symbol of the policy of force," he said.
The resolution would be a message to Kosovo's Serb minority to "ignore a declaration of independence as an illegal act," Kostunica said.
Kostunica insisted that Serbia "is determined to find a solution" for the future status of Kosovo "through negotiations and compromise, the only way to solve this issue."
The resolution rejects a proposed EU police mission to the Albanian-majority province and indicates that Belgrade might turn its back on closer integration with Europe if EU states recognised Kosovo's independence.
But Tadic played down the anti-Western tone of his prime minister, warning that an isolated Serbia could "neither preserve Kosovo nor provide an economic outlook for the citizens."
Tadic, who will run in presidential polls in January, said that the "Serbian army is ready to help and protect" Kosovo minority Serbs against any violence "with the approval of all relevant international institutions and respecting international law" if NATO-led peacekeepers in the province (KFOR) failed to do so.
The sole voice opposed to the resolution belonged to the opposition Liberal Democratic party whose leader Cedomir Jovanovic said the draft represented "a blow to Serbia's ambitions to become an EU member."
Serbia initialled the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, which is considered the first step towards EU accession, in November.
Brussels has indicated it could sign the agreement in January in a bid to accelerate Serbia's integration into the EU.
U.S. Troops to Head to Pakistan.
Early Warning Blog
Washington Post
By William M. Arkin
26 December 2007
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/2007/12/musharrafs_woes_have_opened_a.html?nav=rss_blog
Editor's Note: Keep in mind that Pakistan provides a potential backdoor to Iran to the west.
Beginning early next year, U.S. Special Forces are expected to vastly expand their presence in Pakistan, as part of an effort to train and support indigenous counter-insurgency forces and clandestine counterterrorism units, according to defense officials involved with the planning.
These Pakistan-centric operations will mark a shift for the U.S. military and for U.S. Pakistan relations. In the aftermath of Sept. 11, the U.S. used Pakistani bases to stage movements into Afghanistan. Yet once the U.S. deposed the Taliban government and established its main operating base at Bagram, north of Kabul, U.S. forces left Pakistan almost entirely. Since then, Pakistan has restricted U.S. involvement in cross-border military operations as well as paramilitary operations on its soil.
But the Pentagon has been frustrated by the inability of Pakistani national forces to control the borders or the frontier area. And Pakistan's political instability has heightened U.S. concern about Islamic extremists there.
According to Pentagon sources, reaching a different agreement with Pakistan became a priority for the new head of the U.S. Special Operations Command, Adm. Eric T. Olson. Olson visited Pakistan in August, November and again this month, meeting with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Pakistani Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman Gen. Tariq Majid and Lt. Gen. Muhammad Masood Aslam, commander of the military and paramilitary troops in northwest Pakistan. Olson also visited the headquarters of the Frontier Corps, a separate paramilitary force recruited from Pakistan's border tribes.
Now, a new agreement, reported when it was still being negotiated last month, has been finalized. And the first U.S. personnel could be on the ground in Pakistan by early in the new year, according to Pentagon sources.
Washington Post
By William M. Arkin
26 December 2007
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/2007/12/musharrafs_woes_have_opened_a.html?nav=rss_blog
Editor's Note: Keep in mind that Pakistan provides a potential backdoor to Iran to the west.
Beginning early next year, U.S. Special Forces are expected to vastly expand their presence in Pakistan, as part of an effort to train and support indigenous counter-insurgency forces and clandestine counterterrorism units, according to defense officials involved with the planning.
These Pakistan-centric operations will mark a shift for the U.S. military and for U.S. Pakistan relations. In the aftermath of Sept. 11, the U.S. used Pakistani bases to stage movements into Afghanistan. Yet once the U.S. deposed the Taliban government and established its main operating base at Bagram, north of Kabul, U.S. forces left Pakistan almost entirely. Since then, Pakistan has restricted U.S. involvement in cross-border military operations as well as paramilitary operations on its soil.
But the Pentagon has been frustrated by the inability of Pakistani national forces to control the borders or the frontier area. And Pakistan's political instability has heightened U.S. concern about Islamic extremists there.
According to Pentagon sources, reaching a different agreement with Pakistan became a priority for the new head of the U.S. Special Operations Command, Adm. Eric T. Olson. Olson visited Pakistan in August, November and again this month, meeting with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Pakistani Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman Gen. Tariq Majid and Lt. Gen. Muhammad Masood Aslam, commander of the military and paramilitary troops in northwest Pakistan. Olson also visited the headquarters of the Frontier Corps, a separate paramilitary force recruited from Pakistan's border tribes.
Now, a new agreement, reported when it was still being negotiated last month, has been finalized. And the first U.S. personnel could be on the ground in Pakistan by early in the new year, according to Pentagon sources.
Iranian vice president on visit to Libya.
African Press Agency
26 December 2007
Iran’s first Vice President, Parviz Davoudi, on Wednesday arrived in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, on a two-day official visit at the head of a large delegation, APA observed here.
During his visit, Davoudi will meet with Libyan senior officials and "probably" with the country’s leader Moummar Qaddafi to discuss issues of mutual interest, sources said.
Iranian officials said discussions will mostly focus on promoting of ties with other African states in keeping with Iran’s foreign policy.
The visit stems from an official invitation by the Libyan Prime Minister al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmodi.
Several cooperation agreements in different fields are expected to be signed during the visit.
26 December 2007
Iran’s first Vice President, Parviz Davoudi, on Wednesday arrived in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, on a two-day official visit at the head of a large delegation, APA observed here.
During his visit, Davoudi will meet with Libyan senior officials and "probably" with the country’s leader Moummar Qaddafi to discuss issues of mutual interest, sources said.
Iranian officials said discussions will mostly focus on promoting of ties with other African states in keeping with Iran’s foreign policy.
The visit stems from an official invitation by the Libyan Prime Minister al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmodi.
Several cooperation agreements in different fields are expected to be signed during the visit.
26 December, 2007
Singapore wealth fund set to inject $5bn into Merrill Lynch.
The Independent
By Danny Fortson
22 December 2007
Singapore's Temasek is locked in talks with Merrill Lynch that would make it the latest government-owned fund to providefinancing to a Wall Street giant laid low by America's sub-prime mortgage crisis.
Temasek, the $108bn fund that is led by Ho Ching, wife of the Prime Minister of Singapore, is locked in talks with Merrill's chief executive, John Thain, over a capital injection of $5bn that would give Singapore up to a 9.9 per cent stake in the bank.
The deal would be the latest in a flurry of Middle East and Asian government funds stepping in to ballast the world's top investment banks, which have together written off $40bn worth of bad bets on the American sub-prime mortgage market.
It is understood that an agreement between Temasek and Merrill could be struck as early as next week. The board of Temasek is understood to have already granted preliminary approval, though details over how much equity the fund will be given and regulatory matters must still be worked out.
The deal would the first significant move by Mr Thain, who was parachuted into the bank on the first of the month after his pre-decessor, Stanley O'Neal, was forced out over a $7.9bn writedown due to poor subprime bets.
News of the talks stoked fears, however, that Mr Thain was getting the cash injection in place to shore up the bank before what some analysts are predicting could be another $8bn in writedowns.
The deal would be the second such intervention from Singapore recently. Earlier this month, UBS received a $10bn injection from Middle East investors and GIC, a larger fund that invests the Singapore government's excess capital.
The country's intervention is part of an unprecedented wave of similar deals struck by some of the world's biggest financial heavyweights with the so-called sovereign wealth funds. Observers say it is indicative of the changing balance of power in the global financial markets, with power slowly tilting toward the developing markets in the Middle East and Asia. Awash in cash from foreign exchange reserves and petrodollars, sovereign wealth funds control an estimated $2.2trn between them.
Wall Street's finest, on the other hand, are feeling the squeeze. This is due mainly to the massive investments made in vehicles underpinned by packages of millions of American home loans. When Americans began defaulting on their loans in record numbers this year, the value of those vehicles collapsed, leading to the massive writedowns.
Citigroup, which posted a massive $11bn writedown, received a $7.5bn injection from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority that gave the emirate a 4.9 per cent in the world's largest bank.
Thanks to a $9.4bn writedown, Morgan Stanley last week reported its first ever quarterly loss, spurring an investment from China.
Bear Stearns, which had earlier struck a similar deal with the country, also posted its first ever loss in its 84-year history last week.
By Danny Fortson
22 December 2007
Singapore's Temasek is locked in talks with Merrill Lynch that would make it the latest government-owned fund to providefinancing to a Wall Street giant laid low by America's sub-prime mortgage crisis.
Temasek, the $108bn fund that is led by Ho Ching, wife of the Prime Minister of Singapore, is locked in talks with Merrill's chief executive, John Thain, over a capital injection of $5bn that would give Singapore up to a 9.9 per cent stake in the bank.
The deal would be the latest in a flurry of Middle East and Asian government funds stepping in to ballast the world's top investment banks, which have together written off $40bn worth of bad bets on the American sub-prime mortgage market.
It is understood that an agreement between Temasek and Merrill could be struck as early as next week. The board of Temasek is understood to have already granted preliminary approval, though details over how much equity the fund will be given and regulatory matters must still be worked out.
The deal would the first significant move by Mr Thain, who was parachuted into the bank on the first of the month after his pre-decessor, Stanley O'Neal, was forced out over a $7.9bn writedown due to poor subprime bets.
News of the talks stoked fears, however, that Mr Thain was getting the cash injection in place to shore up the bank before what some analysts are predicting could be another $8bn in writedowns.
The deal would be the second such intervention from Singapore recently. Earlier this month, UBS received a $10bn injection from Middle East investors and GIC, a larger fund that invests the Singapore government's excess capital.
The country's intervention is part of an unprecedented wave of similar deals struck by some of the world's biggest financial heavyweights with the so-called sovereign wealth funds. Observers say it is indicative of the changing balance of power in the global financial markets, with power slowly tilting toward the developing markets in the Middle East and Asia. Awash in cash from foreign exchange reserves and petrodollars, sovereign wealth funds control an estimated $2.2trn between them.
Wall Street's finest, on the other hand, are feeling the squeeze. This is due mainly to the massive investments made in vehicles underpinned by packages of millions of American home loans. When Americans began defaulting on their loans in record numbers this year, the value of those vehicles collapsed, leading to the massive writedowns.
Citigroup, which posted a massive $11bn writedown, received a $7.5bn injection from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority that gave the emirate a 4.9 per cent in the world's largest bank.
Thanks to a $9.4bn writedown, Morgan Stanley last week reported its first ever quarterly loss, spurring an investment from China.
Bear Stearns, which had earlier struck a similar deal with the country, also posted its first ever loss in its 84-year history last week.
Iran, Malaysia Sign $16 Billion Gas Deal.
AFX News Limited
26 December 2007
Iran and Malaysia signed a $16 billion agreement to develop two Iranian gas fields, state-run television reported Wednesday, describing the deal as the largest energy contract in Iran.
Iran's Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC) and Malaysia's SKS Ventures signed the multibillion dollar contract to develop Golshan and Ferdows gas fields in southern Iran.
The contract was formally signed by Ali Vakili, director of POGC, and Mokhtar Al-Bokhari, director of SKS Ventures, in the capital Tehran on Wednesday, according to the report.
"This contract worth $16 billion. Some $6 billion is for development of offshore and $10 billion for development of onshore gas fields for a period of 25 years," Vakili told the official IRNA news agency.
Iran's Oil Minister, Gholam Hossein Nozari, said the deal was a vindication of his country's efforts to counter pressures to isolate his nation.
"This is the biggest investment contract in the country's energy sector," the official IRNA news agency quoted Nozari as saying.
The multibillion dollar contract was signed weeks after China's biggest oil refiner, Sinopec, and Iran signed a $2 billion agreement on developing the Yadavaran oil field despite U.S. calls for sanctions over Iran's nuclear program.
China rejected U.S. complaints about the deal. That agreement, coinciding with U.S.-led efforts to pressure Iran with threats of tighter economic sanctions to rein in Tehran's nuclear program, drew a sharp rebuke from Washington.
Nozari said an economic boom in southeastern Asia has sharply increased its need for imported oil and gas and that the contract with Malaysia has to be seen in that light.
The reserves at the Golshan gas field, 65 kilometers from the southern port city of Bushehr, is estimated more than 50 trillion cubic feet of gas and it is expected to produce 2.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.
The Ferdows' gas reserves is estimated at around 10 trillion cubic feet and it would produce more than 880 million cubic feet of gas on a daily basis.
26 December 2007
Iran and Malaysia signed a $16 billion agreement to develop two Iranian gas fields, state-run television reported Wednesday, describing the deal as the largest energy contract in Iran.
Iran's Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC) and Malaysia's SKS Ventures signed the multibillion dollar contract to develop Golshan and Ferdows gas fields in southern Iran.
The contract was formally signed by Ali Vakili, director of POGC, and Mokhtar Al-Bokhari, director of SKS Ventures, in the capital Tehran on Wednesday, according to the report.
"This contract worth $16 billion. Some $6 billion is for development of offshore and $10 billion for development of onshore gas fields for a period of 25 years," Vakili told the official IRNA news agency.
Iran's Oil Minister, Gholam Hossein Nozari, said the deal was a vindication of his country's efforts to counter pressures to isolate his nation.
"This is the biggest investment contract in the country's energy sector," the official IRNA news agency quoted Nozari as saying.
The multibillion dollar contract was signed weeks after China's biggest oil refiner, Sinopec, and Iran signed a $2 billion agreement on developing the Yadavaran oil field despite U.S. calls for sanctions over Iran's nuclear program.
China rejected U.S. complaints about the deal. That agreement, coinciding with U.S.-led efforts to pressure Iran with threats of tighter economic sanctions to rein in Tehran's nuclear program, drew a sharp rebuke from Washington.
Nozari said an economic boom in southeastern Asia has sharply increased its need for imported oil and gas and that the contract with Malaysia has to be seen in that light.
The reserves at the Golshan gas field, 65 kilometers from the southern port city of Bushehr, is estimated more than 50 trillion cubic feet of gas and it is expected to produce 2.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.
The Ferdows' gas reserves is estimated at around 10 trillion cubic feet and it would produce more than 880 million cubic feet of gas on a daily basis.
Russia Offers Serbia $1.5 Billion for Gas Control.
United Press International
26 December 2007
Russia has offered Serbia $1.5 billion for control of its oil industry and additional deals related to a gas pipeline and a gas underground storage.
The Russian government offered $750 million in cash and $750 million in investments for a majority interest in Serbia's NIS oil company, the Serbian daily Blic reported Wednesday.
No international tender would be involved, Blic said quoting an unidentified Serbian government official.
The offer includes arrangements for a leg of the Russian South Stream gas pipeline, yet to be built, that would transport natural gas from the Black Sea across Bulgaria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia and on to Western Europe.
The construction of large natural gas underground storage at Banatski Dvor, 65 miles north of Belgrade, is also included in the offer.
The deal would give Russia full control of Serbia's gas and oil markets, Blic said.
26 December 2007
Russia has offered Serbia $1.5 billion for control of its oil industry and additional deals related to a gas pipeline and a gas underground storage.
The Russian government offered $750 million in cash and $750 million in investments for a majority interest in Serbia's NIS oil company, the Serbian daily Blic reported Wednesday.
No international tender would be involved, Blic said quoting an unidentified Serbian government official.
The offer includes arrangements for a leg of the Russian South Stream gas pipeline, yet to be built, that would transport natural gas from the Black Sea across Bulgaria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia and on to Western Europe.
The construction of large natural gas underground storage at Banatski Dvor, 65 miles north of Belgrade, is also included in the offer.
The deal would give Russia full control of Serbia's gas and oil markets, Blic said.
Iraq Threatens to Halt Oil Exports to Korea.
Arirang News
26 December 2007
Iraq, angered by an ongoing development project by Korean firms in northern Iraq, may suspend exports of crude oil to Korea.
The Iraqi government has reportedly warned of a possible delay or problem in renewing contracts of crude oil to Korea.
Media reports say Baghdad views the oil development project as a challenge to its authority as the rights for the undertaking were given by the Kurdistan regional government.
Last month a consortium led by the Korea National Oil Corporation secured the rights to explore the Bazian oil field of Dahuk region. The group includes Korea's biggest oil refiner SK Energy and GS Holdings.
Korea's Energy Ministry is looking to work with the Foreign Ministry in seeking cooperation from the Iraqi government for the oil project.
According to the ministry Iraq accounted for 5.2 percent of Korea's total crude oil imports this year until November.
26 December 2007
Iraq, angered by an ongoing development project by Korean firms in northern Iraq, may suspend exports of crude oil to Korea.
The Iraqi government has reportedly warned of a possible delay or problem in renewing contracts of crude oil to Korea.
Media reports say Baghdad views the oil development project as a challenge to its authority as the rights for the undertaking were given by the Kurdistan regional government.
Last month a consortium led by the Korea National Oil Corporation secured the rights to explore the Bazian oil field of Dahuk region. The group includes Korea's biggest oil refiner SK Energy and GS Holdings.
Korea's Energy Ministry is looking to work with the Foreign Ministry in seeking cooperation from the Iraqi government for the oil project.
According to the ministry Iraq accounted for 5.2 percent of Korea's total crude oil imports this year until November.
Sudan central bank to switch trading from dollar to Euro next week.
Sudan Tribune
26 December 2007
Sudan Central Bank is set to switch its foreign currency reserves from dollar to Euro next week to hedge the impact of US economic sanctions.
The central bank released a set of instructions on Monday outlining practical steps that will be taken to enforce the new policy of trading in Euro as well as recommendations to the business community.
The central bank notice advised the banks to inform their clients of the risks involved in keeping an account in US dollars.
However should the clients wish to keep their dollar accounts they are obliged to provide a written risk disclaimer acknowledging their understanding of the potential financial risks involved.
Last October Sudan’s central bank made a decision to convert all dollar reserves into Euro and other currencies by year end.
Hussein Yahya Jangoul, head of financial markets at Sudan’s central bank said at the time that the decision was taken to circumvent both current and future sanctions imposed by the US.
This is not the first time Sudan Central bank took such a decision. A similar decree was issued in 1997 following US sanctions imposed by former US president Bill Clinton. However the implementation of the decision has failed.
Sudan’s monetary authority said that banks should recommend that its clients who import or export goods to use the local currency of the country they are dealing in or a currency other than the US dollar.
The Central bank also authorized the local banks to meet any pending US dollar obligations in other currencies.
However the notice stressed that the process of switching from US dollars to other currencies is “optional” for local banks and that recommendations set forth are advisory in nature.
The decision by the government caused concern among some Sudanese businessmen who argued that the switch might increase risks rather than mitigate it.
Al-Ja’ali Tag Al-Sir, a Sudanese business man told Al-Sudani daily the Euro “is not a stable currency”.
“The proposal is not optional and we will be forced to change currencies” he added.
Another businessman Sadeeg Hadoob called for more discussion on the negative impact of the currency change.
“The Central bank issues decisions without consulting with business community. They have made similar moves before that hurt the private sector” Hadoob said.
26 December 2007
Sudan Central Bank is set to switch its foreign currency reserves from dollar to Euro next week to hedge the impact of US economic sanctions.
The central bank released a set of instructions on Monday outlining practical steps that will be taken to enforce the new policy of trading in Euro as well as recommendations to the business community.
The central bank notice advised the banks to inform their clients of the risks involved in keeping an account in US dollars.
However should the clients wish to keep their dollar accounts they are obliged to provide a written risk disclaimer acknowledging their understanding of the potential financial risks involved.
Last October Sudan’s central bank made a decision to convert all dollar reserves into Euro and other currencies by year end.
Hussein Yahya Jangoul, head of financial markets at Sudan’s central bank said at the time that the decision was taken to circumvent both current and future sanctions imposed by the US.
This is not the first time Sudan Central bank took such a decision. A similar decree was issued in 1997 following US sanctions imposed by former US president Bill Clinton. However the implementation of the decision has failed.
Sudan’s monetary authority said that banks should recommend that its clients who import or export goods to use the local currency of the country they are dealing in or a currency other than the US dollar.
The Central bank also authorized the local banks to meet any pending US dollar obligations in other currencies.
However the notice stressed that the process of switching from US dollars to other currencies is “optional” for local banks and that recommendations set forth are advisory in nature.
The decision by the government caused concern among some Sudanese businessmen who argued that the switch might increase risks rather than mitigate it.
Al-Ja’ali Tag Al-Sir, a Sudanese business man told Al-Sudani daily the Euro “is not a stable currency”.
“The proposal is not optional and we will be forced to change currencies” he added.
Another businessman Sadeeg Hadoob called for more discussion on the negative impact of the currency change.
“The Central bank issues decisions without consulting with business community. They have made similar moves before that hurt the private sector” Hadoob said.
25 December, 2007
World Bank grants Ethiopia $215 million dollars.
Sudan Tribune
25 December 2007
By Tesfa-alem Tekle
The World Bank approved a 215 million US dollars International Development Association (IDA) grant to Ethiopia to continue protecting and promoting the delivery of basic services (PBS).
The current 215 million US dollars grant will bring the total IDA financing of the implementation of the Ethiopia Protection of Basic Services PBS project to 430 million USD, the World Bank said
The project has four components, namely Basic Services Program, Promoting the Health Millennium Development Goals, Strengthening Governance Systems on Financial Transparency and Accountability, and Social Accountability.
The World Bank’s Executive Board, in approving the additional financing, recognized and appreciated the impressive impact the PBS is having on the expansion of basic services in Ethiopia, the strong commitment that the government has demonstrated in expanding pro-poor public services, and this being a good example of result-focused donor harmonization in an area that is so central to achievement of the MDGs.
The additional financing of 215 million dollars will enable to cover up finanancial gap largely associated with the completion of core activities under the existing Components of Promoting the Delivery of Basic Services by Sub-national governments, and Promoting the Health Millennium Development Goals (MDG) of the Project, the release said.
''The PBS is pushing the frontier in terms of improving service delivery on a large-scale and making it more accountable to the people,’’ Kenichi Ohashi, World Bank Country Director for Ethiopia and Sudan was quoted as saying. ’’ The challenges are significant but these are the building blocks for true local empowerment,’’ he added.
The PBS project is supported by a broad coalition of development partners including the African Development Bank (AfDB), Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Britain’s Department for International Development (DFID), the European Commission (EC), Irish Aid, Germany’s KfW, the Netherlands, and the World Bank, it was learnt.
The government and the international community have agreed that these additional funds will be utilized for the next year, during which time preparations will be launched to develop a successor to the PBS in support of decentralized service delivery for the medium-term, the Bank stated.
25 December 2007
By Tesfa-alem Tekle
The World Bank approved a 215 million US dollars International Development Association (IDA) grant to Ethiopia to continue protecting and promoting the delivery of basic services (PBS).
The current 215 million US dollars grant will bring the total IDA financing of the implementation of the Ethiopia Protection of Basic Services PBS project to 430 million USD, the World Bank said
The project has four components, namely Basic Services Program, Promoting the Health Millennium Development Goals, Strengthening Governance Systems on Financial Transparency and Accountability, and Social Accountability.
The World Bank’s Executive Board, in approving the additional financing, recognized and appreciated the impressive impact the PBS is having on the expansion of basic services in Ethiopia, the strong commitment that the government has demonstrated in expanding pro-poor public services, and this being a good example of result-focused donor harmonization in an area that is so central to achievement of the MDGs.
The additional financing of 215 million dollars will enable to cover up finanancial gap largely associated with the completion of core activities under the existing Components of Promoting the Delivery of Basic Services by Sub-national governments, and Promoting the Health Millennium Development Goals (MDG) of the Project, the release said.
''The PBS is pushing the frontier in terms of improving service delivery on a large-scale and making it more accountable to the people,’’ Kenichi Ohashi, World Bank Country Director for Ethiopia and Sudan was quoted as saying. ’’ The challenges are significant but these are the building blocks for true local empowerment,’’ he added.
The PBS project is supported by a broad coalition of development partners including the African Development Bank (AfDB), Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Britain’s Department for International Development (DFID), the European Commission (EC), Irish Aid, Germany’s KfW, the Netherlands, and the World Bank, it was learnt.
The government and the international community have agreed that these additional funds will be utilized for the next year, during which time preparations will be launched to develop a successor to the PBS in support of decentralized service delivery for the medium-term, the Bank stated.
24 December, 2007
17th AF to be revived for Africa Command duty.
Stars and Stripes
December 11, 2007
By Scott Schonauer
-The new command is estimated to include 300 airmen.
The Air Force plans to resurrect its historic 17th Air Force to become the
assigned unit for airmen serving in the Pentagon's new Africa Command (AFRICOM).
U.S. Air Forces Europe headquarters, based at
Ramstein, formed a transition team to develop its
newest numbered command, Capt. Greg Hignite said
Monday. The team had its first meeting less than two
months ago.
The history of the 17th dates to the 1950s when it was
based in Morocco.
Africa Command is a new regional command that will
eventually oversee U.S. military operations on the
continent.
While some of the details on the 17th's command are
still being worked out, it will be led by a two-star
general and a one-star vice commander, Hignite said.
Both officers have not been named.
The new command is estimated to include 300 airmen.
Half of the airmen will serve on the headquarters
staff, while the rest will make up an air operations
center.
The transition team, which includes about a dozen
people from USAFE headquarters, has set a goal of
establishing initial operations by October next year.
The 17th won't reach "full operational capability"
until October 2009.
In addition, the Air Force has shuffled some general
officers to new positions throughout Europe.
Brig. Gen. Michael Snodgrass, the director of USAFE
Plans, Programs and Analyses, has been reassigned to
be chief of staff of U.S. Africa Command in Stuttgart.
Snodgrass arrived at USAFE in May 2005.
Brig. Gen. Richard Johnston, commander of the 86th
Airlift Wing and Kaiserslautern Military Community,
has been reassigned to be USAFE's director of plans
and programs. Col. William J. Bender, executive
officer to the deputy commander, U.S. European
Command, will take his place at a change-of-command
ceremony Dec. 19.
December 11, 2007
By Scott Schonauer
-The new command is estimated to include 300 airmen.
The Air Force plans to resurrect its historic 17th Air Force to become the
assigned unit for airmen serving in the Pentagon's new Africa Command (AFRICOM).
U.S. Air Forces Europe headquarters, based at
Ramstein, formed a transition team to develop its
newest numbered command, Capt. Greg Hignite said
Monday. The team had its first meeting less than two
months ago.
The history of the 17th dates to the 1950s when it was
based in Morocco.
Africa Command is a new regional command that will
eventually oversee U.S. military operations on the
continent.
While some of the details on the 17th's command are
still being worked out, it will be led by a two-star
general and a one-star vice commander, Hignite said.
Both officers have not been named.
The new command is estimated to include 300 airmen.
Half of the airmen will serve on the headquarters
staff, while the rest will make up an air operations
center.
The transition team, which includes about a dozen
people from USAFE headquarters, has set a goal of
establishing initial operations by October next year.
The 17th won't reach "full operational capability"
until October 2009.
In addition, the Air Force has shuffled some general
officers to new positions throughout Europe.
Brig. Gen. Michael Snodgrass, the director of USAFE
Plans, Programs and Analyses, has been reassigned to
be chief of staff of U.S. Africa Command in Stuttgart.
Snodgrass arrived at USAFE in May 2005.
Brig. Gen. Richard Johnston, commander of the 86th
Airlift Wing and Kaiserslautern Military Community,
has been reassigned to be USAFE's director of plans
and programs. Col. William J. Bender, executive
officer to the deputy commander, U.S. European
Command, will take his place at a change-of-command
ceremony Dec. 19.
Bishops Message on Situation in the East: "Stop This War."
MISNA
24 December 2007
“The prevailing situation of war is preoccupying the highest level of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO)… Has our population not suffered enough to impose further trials?” starts the message of the Bishops of the Democratic Republic of Congo, entitled “Stop this War”, issued on Saturday from Kinshasa and signed by Monsignor Laurent Monsengwo, chairman of CENCO, Archbishop of the capital and diocesan administrator of Kisangani.
“Grieved by this dramatic situation, the CENCO invited a delegation in October for an evaluation of the real situation and organise an urgent humanitarian assistance. The CENCO intervenes again today, on one hand to strongly denounce all the unspeakable crimes committed against peaceful citizens and on the other, to urge another look at the situation with focus on the drama lived by the people. It is also urgent to identify the real protagonists and causes of this cycle of violence in the region. In conclusion, the political leaders, international community and multinationals must be called to seek an adequate response able to restore a lasting peace in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo”.
According to the Bishops, “this catastrophe in the east is the result of a complex political situation in the region, with social-economic consequences that demand major solidarity. In this sense, the CENCO appreciates the convocation of a conference on peace and security in Kivu. It appreciates it more given that at the moment the situation in the east risks being badly managed and out of control. But the CENCO knows that the success of this conference depends on the spirit of dialogue in transparency and truth, on the determination and sincerity of the participants."
"There will be no results if the conference doesn’t address fundamental issues in all their dimensions: humanitarian, innate, historic, economic, political, ethical, juridical”. Insisting on the concept that “a political problem is resolved with sincere dialogue respectful of national and international law”, the CENCO “takes the occasion to remind that the principle of the territorial integrity and intangibility of the frontiers must be respected”. The international community is invited, conclude the Bishops, “to join efforts to resolve the crisis in the east, to avoid compromising hopes of peace and instability in the region. Congo today needs to open the large ‘roadworks’ of its reconstruction, development and the consolidation of its young democracy”.
(Translation of passages from the original text, published in Church and Mission section in French)
24 December 2007
“The prevailing situation of war is preoccupying the highest level of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO)… Has our population not suffered enough to impose further trials?” starts the message of the Bishops of the Democratic Republic of Congo, entitled “Stop this War”, issued on Saturday from Kinshasa and signed by Monsignor Laurent Monsengwo, chairman of CENCO, Archbishop of the capital and diocesan administrator of Kisangani.
“Grieved by this dramatic situation, the CENCO invited a delegation in October for an evaluation of the real situation and organise an urgent humanitarian assistance. The CENCO intervenes again today, on one hand to strongly denounce all the unspeakable crimes committed against peaceful citizens and on the other, to urge another look at the situation with focus on the drama lived by the people. It is also urgent to identify the real protagonists and causes of this cycle of violence in the region. In conclusion, the political leaders, international community and multinationals must be called to seek an adequate response able to restore a lasting peace in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo”.
According to the Bishops, “this catastrophe in the east is the result of a complex political situation in the region, with social-economic consequences that demand major solidarity. In this sense, the CENCO appreciates the convocation of a conference on peace and security in Kivu. It appreciates it more given that at the moment the situation in the east risks being badly managed and out of control. But the CENCO knows that the success of this conference depends on the spirit of dialogue in transparency and truth, on the determination and sincerity of the participants."
"There will be no results if the conference doesn’t address fundamental issues in all their dimensions: humanitarian, innate, historic, economic, political, ethical, juridical”. Insisting on the concept that “a political problem is resolved with sincere dialogue respectful of national and international law”, the CENCO “takes the occasion to remind that the principle of the territorial integrity and intangibility of the frontiers must be respected”. The international community is invited, conclude the Bishops, “to join efforts to resolve the crisis in the east, to avoid compromising hopes of peace and instability in the region. Congo today needs to open the large ‘roadworks’ of its reconstruction, development and the consolidation of its young democracy”.
(Translation of passages from the original text, published in Church and Mission section in French)
North Kivu: Cholera Epidemic Among Displaced.
MISNA
24 November 2007
Over 1,300 cases and 5 deaths: this is the still preliminary toll of a cholera outbreak in Rutshuru (also known as Rutchuru), a town north of Goma, capital of the north-eastern North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, epicentre of fighting underway since this morning. According to the MSF (Doctors Without Borders), which runs a health facility in the Rutshuru area, the epidemic is spreading among the people displaced by the recent fighting. According to the MSF representative in the area Augustine Roger, the rapid spread of the disease is due to the lack of drinking water and toilets in the camps set up for the displaced. The figures emerging on the cholera outbreak in Rutshuru appear to confirm concerns expressed in the past days by aid workers in the area that had warned of a possible health emergency in both the Rutshuru and Masisi areas.
24 November 2007
Over 1,300 cases and 5 deaths: this is the still preliminary toll of a cholera outbreak in Rutshuru (also known as Rutchuru), a town north of Goma, capital of the north-eastern North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, epicentre of fighting underway since this morning. According to the MSF (Doctors Without Borders), which runs a health facility in the Rutshuru area, the epidemic is spreading among the people displaced by the recent fighting. According to the MSF representative in the area Augustine Roger, the rapid spread of the disease is due to the lack of drinking water and toilets in the camps set up for the displaced. The figures emerging on the cholera outbreak in Rutshuru appear to confirm concerns expressed in the past days by aid workers in the area that had warned of a possible health emergency in both the Rutshuru and Masisi areas.
LRA Attack on Comboni Mission in Duru.
MISNA
24 December 2007
A group of North Ugandan rebels of the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) attacked the town of Duru, a few dozen kilometres from the border with South Sudan, looting the local Comboni mission, hospital and the house of the sisters and briefly holding hostage an Italian priest. The episode was referred today to MISNA by Father Fermo Bernasconi, provincial superior of the Combonis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, specifying that the attack occurred on December 16 but was reported late due to difficult communications with Duru. “The LRA rebels looted our mission, taking away everything they could carry, stealing and throwing in the river our only two radios. They also took one of our confreres, who was later released, threatening that they would return”, specified Father Bernasconi. “The real problem is the civil population. Though I can’t say exactly how many, I was told that thousands of terrified people fled Duru and surrounding villages, seeking refuge in the forest”, added the missionary.
According to Fr. Bernasconi, the LRA attack in Duru was unprecedented: since the Ugandan rebels arrived in Congolese territory around two years ago, settling in the Garamba natural park, no actions against the civil population were reported. However, local sources contacted by MISNA explained that peacekeepers of the United Nations Mission in DR-Congo (MONUC) stepped up pressures on the rebels, setting up bases in Dungu, around 90km from Duru, from where they began repatriating some groups of rebels. The governments of Kinshasa and Kampala two weeks ago gave an ultimatum to the LRA founder and leader Joseph Kony to leave the Garamba park by January 31 or be forced out. A warning to which Kony responded strongly over the weekend, accusing President Yoweri Museveni of jeopardising the negotiations between the government and rebels hosted in Juba, South Sudan, due to resume at the start of January and lead to the signing of ‘a global peace accord’.
24 December 2007
A group of North Ugandan rebels of the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) attacked the town of Duru, a few dozen kilometres from the border with South Sudan, looting the local Comboni mission, hospital and the house of the sisters and briefly holding hostage an Italian priest. The episode was referred today to MISNA by Father Fermo Bernasconi, provincial superior of the Combonis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, specifying that the attack occurred on December 16 but was reported late due to difficult communications with Duru. “The LRA rebels looted our mission, taking away everything they could carry, stealing and throwing in the river our only two radios. They also took one of our confreres, who was later released, threatening that they would return”, specified Father Bernasconi. “The real problem is the civil population. Though I can’t say exactly how many, I was told that thousands of terrified people fled Duru and surrounding villages, seeking refuge in the forest”, added the missionary.
According to Fr. Bernasconi, the LRA attack in Duru was unprecedented: since the Ugandan rebels arrived in Congolese territory around two years ago, settling in the Garamba natural park, no actions against the civil population were reported. However, local sources contacted by MISNA explained that peacekeepers of the United Nations Mission in DR-Congo (MONUC) stepped up pressures on the rebels, setting up bases in Dungu, around 90km from Duru, from where they began repatriating some groups of rebels. The governments of Kinshasa and Kampala two weeks ago gave an ultimatum to the LRA founder and leader Joseph Kony to leave the Garamba park by January 31 or be forced out. A warning to which Kony responded strongly over the weekend, accusing President Yoweri Museveni of jeopardising the negotiations between the government and rebels hosted in Juba, South Sudan, due to resume at the start of January and lead to the signing of ‘a global peace accord’.
23 December, 2007
Lettre de Maître Luc de Temmerman aux Avocats de la défense au TPIR.
Lettre de Maître Luc de Temmerman aux Avocats de la défense au TPIR
J'ai lu avec attention votre déclaration du Bureau de l'ADAD du 28 novembre 2007 concernant votre demande pour obtenir un statut « Amicus » au TPIR que je joins en annexe.
Je soutiens bien entendu entièrement le principe d'une intervention pour empêcher les transferts de dossiers, mais elle me paraît juridiquement impossible car votre association ne peut pas être en même temps « avocat au TPIR» et « Amicus ». Quel peut-être votre intérêt à part de vouloir continuer à prolonger votre présence et vos membres dans le cadre de ce Tribunal partial? Un Amicus est un tiers.
Il me paraît beaucoup plus judicieux de protester et de manifester tous les jours devant les bâtiments du TPIR et les bureaux du Procureur contre l'absence d'une justice équitable à Arusha et au Rwanda. Malheureusement vous ne serez pas payés pour cette prestation…mais elle sera au moins utile car elle sera médiatisée.
Une autre solution consiste à faire le nécessaire pour empêcher la tenue des audiences par des moyens légaux et je suis à votre disposition pour donner quelques idées.
Enfin, vous avez compris qu'il ne s'agit pas d'un Tribunal mais plutôt d'une instance politique.
En effet, quand nous constatons que Louise ARBOUR, que j'ai rencontré deux fois, et qui est la première coupable du refus des poursuites à charge de KAGAME et son FPR ainsi que de la dissimulation des dossiers et preuves, a été nommée par les Nations Unies comme Haut Commissaire des Droits de l'homme, il y a lieu de se poser des questions. Il suffit donc de ne pas respecter les droits de l'homme (droit a un procès équitable) pour être promu dans le Nations Unies. Elle est bien entendu une servante docile des intérêts des dirigeants politiques du monde, et elle parle également le Français….
Son successeur, Madame DEL PONTE n'avait de leçon à recevoir de personne et si elle n'a pas mis en accusation KAGAME et les membres du FPR, elle en est la principale responsable. Elle n'avait pas besoin de consulter Koffi ANAN pour inculper KAGAME et elle a choisi de garder son job jusqu'à ce jour (Procureur du TPIY jusqu'au 31.12.2007).
Je rappelle également pour les anciens, le rôle de PIERRE PROSPER qui ne pouvait cacher de travailler pour le Gouvernement Américain et le CIA au lieu du Bureau du Procureur auprès le Tribunal Pénal International pour le Rwanda.
Le Juge d'Instruction Belge VANDERMEERSCH l'avait bien compris et il a suivi les mêmes chemins que le Procureur du TPIR. Je n'ai pas hésité une seconde de le dénoncer auprès de ses supérieurs mais un juge d'instruction n'est qu'un « témoin » dans un procès d'Assises. Aucun Procureur en Belgique n'a eu le courage de contredire les instances internationales, .mais mes différentes plaintes se trouvent dans les dossiers pour les « historiens ».,Le système judiciaire Belge actuel ne permet pas de faire ses propres enquêtes, ni de vérifier la crédibilité d'un témoin à charge. Une défense pleine et entière est donc impossible, sans le concours des autorités judiciaires. Il n'y a donc pas de justice dans un dossier politique dans mon pays, à mon vif regret.
Ce qui est malheureux, c'est que les avocats qui se plaignent maintenant ont refusé les deux premières années de l'existence du TPIR d'être solidaires pour ne pas permettre le déroulement des procès sans avoir la possibilité d'une défense pleine et entière qui permettait de démontrer depuis le début la fabrication des faux témoignages par le nouveau pouvoir au Rwanda, l'absence d'enquêtes indépendantes quelconques, et de fournir la preuve que la plupart des massacres étaient organisés et provoqués par le FPR. Il y avait suffisamment de témoignages et documents disponibles.
Ces avocats étaient tous convaincus que la défense individuelle de leur client était le plus indiquée nonobstant que tous les détenus contestaient formellement l'existence d'un plan de « génocide » au Rwanda Les avocats refusaient de voir le Parquet comme une association de manipulateurs qui n'avait aucune ambition de travailler pour la justice, mais simplement pour faire condamner l'accusé, sans le moindre respect des obligations statutaires. Sans une vue de l'ensemble du dossier Rwanda, il était pourtant impossible de défendre correctement un dossier individuel.
Ce sont quelques journalistes- enquêteurs et quelques autres connaisseurs du dossier Rwanda qui ont ouvert les yeux du monde. Ils sont tous qualifiés de négationnistes et/ou révisionnistes par le FPR et ses sponsors.
En ce qui concerne le Greffe du TPIR et ceux qui devaient s'occuper des désignations d'avocats, il ne me paraît pas nécessaire d'insister encore sur leur manque d'objectivité et de neutralité.
J'ai fait l'impossible pour obtenir la collaboration et la solidarité dans les équipes de défense, en organisant des réunions, en hébergeant les avocats qui n'avaient pas les moyens, mais les « bonnes relations » avec le Greffe pour percevoir leurs émoluments étaient plus importants. La manipulation et désinformation des prisonniers par certains avocats en a fait partie intégrante.
Soutenir aujourd'hui que les clients sont des « prisonniers politiques », est au moins tardif.
Dénoncer après 10 ans ce qui se voyait après une année de fonctionnement du TPIR et depuis le début du procès n'est pas signe d'un grand professionnalisme. Même les premiers magistrats étaient déjà convaincus de la responsabilité des accusés et les salaires octroyés ne permettaient pas aux magistrats d'être objectif. Je l'ai dénoncé à maintes reprises lors de mes discussions avec eux dans les restaurants et hôtels d'Arusha et à la presse. Ils n'ont pas voulu me croire mais aujourd'hui même l'ex porte parole du TPIR le dénonce avec vigueur.
Les avocats qui n'ont pas dénoncé publiquement devant les Tribunaux et la presse depuis leur désignation le caractère « politique » de l'accusation pour « génocide », les manœuvres inadmissibles du bureau du Procureur, du Greffe et l'impossibilité de tenir un procès équitable ont trahi leur client, la vérité et le peuple rwandais.
Aujourd'hui il est malheureusement trop tard.
KAGAME ne sera plus inquiété sur le plan juridique et la politique internationale l'a déjà adopté partout dans le monde comme incontournable, y compris en RDC. KAGAME ne tuera pas en prison les « génocidaires » mais en fera des « monstres du génocide » dans des cages à visiter par l'humanité entière pour des motifs politiques.
Ses experts ont étudié en détail comment utiliser le « fonds de commerce » du terme génocide, même si le « génocide des juifs » qui n'a jamais fait l'objet de la moindre contestation, négation ou minimisation -à juste titre- dans le cadre des procès rwandais, n'a aucune comparaison avec le « génocide rwandais » qui a été programmé, provoqué et utilisé principalement par le FPR, une association de guerriers et de manipulateurs de la vérité, soutenu principalement par certains milieux politiques des USA, UK et la Belgique pour des motifs différents.
Aujourd'hui il ne reste plus qu'à espérer un renversement du régime à Kigali si les condamnés espèrent de sortir avant leur terme de la prison.
Ce ne sont pas les quelques acquittements qui sont obligatoires pour parler d'une « justice équilibrée » à Arusha, qui vont changer le cours de l'histoire.
Un deuxième noyau à démanteler et à dénoncer sont les « experts » du Procureur, et principalement Alison DE FORGES, Filip REYNTJENS et André GUICHAOUA qui sont à la base de la plupart des actes d'accusations avec leurs mensonges, inventions et interprétations rocambolesques dans leurs écrits « scientifiques ».
Ce « petit comité » est même arrivé à empêcher des poursuites à charge de RUSATIRA, un « modéré » qui aurait pu arrêter le génocide…comme il le prétend lui-même. Pour l'inculpation de NDINDILYIMANA, ils étaient trop tard car lui aussi est considéré par eux comme un « hutu modéré » qu'il ne fallait pas poursuivre. Il était ami avec feu le Premier Ministre Agathe UWILINGYIMANA… une autre modérée, selon ces experts, qui aurait pu éviter le « génocide » selon leurs plans machiavéliques pour un changement de pouvoir au Rwanda, mais qui en aurait été empêchée par les « extrémistes hutu »., et en particulier quelques uns qui sont poursuivis à ce jour.
Pourtant, ce sont les élèves et soldats de RUSATIRA qui ont tué le Premier Ministre et certainement pas sur ordre reçu du Comité de Crise ou d'un réseau parallèle.
L'assassinat de certains politiciens d'opposition et de Joseph Kavaruganda démontre en plus que le début des massacres au Rwanda n'avait aucune « intention » de génocide, car la plupart de ces personnes étaient des hutu. Les analyses de F. Reyntjens concernant un coup d'état « constitutionnel » par les « extrémistes » en organisant les assassinats des opposants sont simplement de la « fantaisie scientifique ».
Nos spécialistes, experts des « droits de l'homme » sont donc concernés directement par les massacres au Rwanda car ils ont stimulé la destruction du tissu social par le soutien apporté dans la presse internationale à des accusations mensongères, obtenues auprès d'individus qui n'avaient aucune assise populaire mais uniquement des ambitions personnelles pour exercer le pouvoir. Ils ont permis à Kagame et le FPR d'assassiner le Président HABYARIMANA avec l'accord tacite de la « communauté internationale ». Qui va maintenant défendre un « diable »…..désigné nommément par les « experts ».
« It was time to solve the matter »
Le fait que REYNTJENS, suivi récemment par GUICHAOUA critiquent sévèrement le FPR ne change rien à leur comportement plus que douteux entre 1990 et 1994, en collaboration avec ALISON DES FORGES pour déstabiliser le pouvoir en place au profit de quelques opportunistes politiques (mondialisation des inventions Réseau Zéro, Escadrons de la Mort , Akazu etc.)
Leur rôle d' « Expert » pour le Procureur du TPIR a simplement été une défense rémunérée contre leurs propres erreurs et implications dans le drame rwandais, ainsi que pour la protection de leurs informateurs- manipulateurs. (p.e. NSANZUERA) Eux étaient en réalité les « enquêteurs » du Tribunal et certainement pas des experts en sociologie ou politologie comme ils se sont présentés devant les TPIR pour faire condamner les accusés.
Le FPR et ses sponsors (voir liste établie par STRIZEK) et les experts du Procureur, les DES FORGES, REYNTJENS et GUICHAOUA ont des intérêts communs dans l'occultation de la vérité et leur implication directe dans la destruction du tissu social du Rwanda entre 1990 et 1994, où les organisations dites « droits de l'homme » ont fait de la basse politique pour déstabiliser le régime d'HABYARIMANA. Le FPR a donné le coup final par l'attentat.
Le combat pour la reconnaissance du « génocide », les discussions sur le « double génocide » ou les « crimes contre l'humanité » commis par le FPR ne sont là que pour imposer le caractère juridique que veulent donner ces « spécialistes » au drame Rwandais alors qu'il s'agissait d'une vulgaire lutte pour le pouvoir, qui a entraîné des massacres à grande échelle, et qui a certainement poussé certains hutu à avoir l'intention de commettre un génocide sur les tutsi après l'assassinat du Président HABYARIMANA, et de son homologue Burundais, tous deux hutu, ainsi que du chef d'Etat major Rwandais:
Il faut donc d'abord déterminer qui a commis l'attentat contre l'avion présidentiel pour savoir qui a planifié le « génocide », annoncé par nos « experts » irresponsables depuis 1992 à travers un réseau de menteurs. Aujourd'hui seul KAGAME et le FPR contestent encore leur responsabilité pour cet attentat.
le FPR voulait le pouvoir total et avait prévu des massacres ethniques au Rwanda.
les « experts » voulaient soutenir une reprise du pouvoir par les « modérés », étant les partis d'opposition (ou une faction) qui collaboraient avec le FPR, mais n'avaient pas prévus les massacres à une si grande échelle, ni l'audace du FPR d'abattre l'avion Présidentiel. .
Leur jeu morbide a coûté la vie à plus de 5.000.000 de personnes et les éliminations politiques continuent encore aujourd'hui en RDC. Celui qui a du succès ne s'arrête pas si facilement.
Sans leur concours pour convaincre la « communauté internationale » du prétendu caractère diabolique du Président HABYARIMANA et son entourage, comme responsable des problèmes au Rwanda, KAGAME et son FPR n'auraient jamais osé abattre l'avion Présidentiel. Le Professeur LUGAN a bien décrit leur rôle dans cette destruction du tissu social et de l'autorité de l'état dans son récent rapport déposé au TPIR.
Que les USA et les UK se sont opposés à la France et que la Belgique veut se dégager de toute responsabilité, suite à l'assassinat de 10 soldats et l'abandon du peuple rwandais, est une suite de ces petits jeux.
La géopolitique cherche appui auprès de ceux qui peuvent servir les intérêts des uns et des autres et les choix sont souvent opportunistes. Le TPIR a ainsi vu le jour pour protéger les intérêts de la communauté internationale, qui a laissé faire le FPR et certainement pas pour faire la « justice ». Le nombre des morts obligeait néanmoins de faire quelque chose.
Les avocats auprès du TPIR ont refusé de porter cet élément essentiel quotidiennement dans la presse internationale et le TPIR et ont ainsi trahi leurs clients et le peuple rwandais. Ce n'est pas dans la petite sale d'audience d'Arusha qu'on influence la justice internationale, avec quelques journalistes payés par des puissances (notamment la Belgique qui finance Hirondelle à Arusha) impliquées dans le drame.
Pourtant les avocats du TPIR ont eu les moyens et ils ont visité suffisamment de pays pour faire entendre leur point de vue. Pendant 10 ans je n'ai rien entendu, ni vu une conférence en Belgique…..nonobstant qu'au moins 100 avocats du TPIR y sont passés.
Vous écrivez que l'héritage du TPIR est une honte sans une reconnaissance que les détenus du TPIR sont des « prisonniers politiques ».Un innocent en prison est une injustice et le qualifier de « politique » ne l'avance pas à grand-chose.
Je pense que beaucoup d'avocats sont également la honte du TPIR car leur rôle consistait justement à prouver et de dénoncer ce caractère criminel de la lutte pour le pouvoir par le FPR et les « experts » du Procureur, qui est la cause essentielle des massacres après l'attentat du 6 avril 1994, et certainement pas une planification d'un « génocide sur les tutsi par le régime en place », comme voulu par le Procureur, qu'ils n'ont jamais osé critiquer ouvertement. et publiquement. Ce manque de loyauté à la vérité historique est l'erreur principal de beaucoup d'avocats.
L'histoire jugera donc également votre compétence.
Je vous prie de croire, mes chers Confrères, l'expression de mes sentiments dévoués.
Luc DE TEMMERMAN
20/12/2007
J'ai lu avec attention votre déclaration du Bureau de l'ADAD du 28 novembre 2007 concernant votre demande pour obtenir un statut « Amicus » au TPIR que je joins en annexe.
Je soutiens bien entendu entièrement le principe d'une intervention pour empêcher les transferts de dossiers, mais elle me paraît juridiquement impossible car votre association ne peut pas être en même temps « avocat au TPIR» et « Amicus ». Quel peut-être votre intérêt à part de vouloir continuer à prolonger votre présence et vos membres dans le cadre de ce Tribunal partial? Un Amicus est un tiers.
Il me paraît beaucoup plus judicieux de protester et de manifester tous les jours devant les bâtiments du TPIR et les bureaux du Procureur contre l'absence d'une justice équitable à Arusha et au Rwanda. Malheureusement vous ne serez pas payés pour cette prestation…mais elle sera au moins utile car elle sera médiatisée.
Une autre solution consiste à faire le nécessaire pour empêcher la tenue des audiences par des moyens légaux et je suis à votre disposition pour donner quelques idées.
Enfin, vous avez compris qu'il ne s'agit pas d'un Tribunal mais plutôt d'une instance politique.
En effet, quand nous constatons que Louise ARBOUR, que j'ai rencontré deux fois, et qui est la première coupable du refus des poursuites à charge de KAGAME et son FPR ainsi que de la dissimulation des dossiers et preuves, a été nommée par les Nations Unies comme Haut Commissaire des Droits de l'homme, il y a lieu de se poser des questions. Il suffit donc de ne pas respecter les droits de l'homme (droit a un procès équitable) pour être promu dans le Nations Unies. Elle est bien entendu une servante docile des intérêts des dirigeants politiques du monde, et elle parle également le Français….
Son successeur, Madame DEL PONTE n'avait de leçon à recevoir de personne et si elle n'a pas mis en accusation KAGAME et les membres du FPR, elle en est la principale responsable. Elle n'avait pas besoin de consulter Koffi ANAN pour inculper KAGAME et elle a choisi de garder son job jusqu'à ce jour (Procureur du TPIY jusqu'au 31.12.2007).
Je rappelle également pour les anciens, le rôle de PIERRE PROSPER qui ne pouvait cacher de travailler pour le Gouvernement Américain et le CIA au lieu du Bureau du Procureur auprès le Tribunal Pénal International pour le Rwanda.
Le Juge d'Instruction Belge VANDERMEERSCH l'avait bien compris et il a suivi les mêmes chemins que le Procureur du TPIR. Je n'ai pas hésité une seconde de le dénoncer auprès de ses supérieurs mais un juge d'instruction n'est qu'un « témoin » dans un procès d'Assises. Aucun Procureur en Belgique n'a eu le courage de contredire les instances internationales, .mais mes différentes plaintes se trouvent dans les dossiers pour les « historiens ».,Le système judiciaire Belge actuel ne permet pas de faire ses propres enquêtes, ni de vérifier la crédibilité d'un témoin à charge. Une défense pleine et entière est donc impossible, sans le concours des autorités judiciaires. Il n'y a donc pas de justice dans un dossier politique dans mon pays, à mon vif regret.
Ce qui est malheureux, c'est que les avocats qui se plaignent maintenant ont refusé les deux premières années de l'existence du TPIR d'être solidaires pour ne pas permettre le déroulement des procès sans avoir la possibilité d'une défense pleine et entière qui permettait de démontrer depuis le début la fabrication des faux témoignages par le nouveau pouvoir au Rwanda, l'absence d'enquêtes indépendantes quelconques, et de fournir la preuve que la plupart des massacres étaient organisés et provoqués par le FPR. Il y avait suffisamment de témoignages et documents disponibles.
Ces avocats étaient tous convaincus que la défense individuelle de leur client était le plus indiquée nonobstant que tous les détenus contestaient formellement l'existence d'un plan de « génocide » au Rwanda Les avocats refusaient de voir le Parquet comme une association de manipulateurs qui n'avait aucune ambition de travailler pour la justice, mais simplement pour faire condamner l'accusé, sans le moindre respect des obligations statutaires. Sans une vue de l'ensemble du dossier Rwanda, il était pourtant impossible de défendre correctement un dossier individuel.
Ce sont quelques journalistes- enquêteurs et quelques autres connaisseurs du dossier Rwanda qui ont ouvert les yeux du monde. Ils sont tous qualifiés de négationnistes et/ou révisionnistes par le FPR et ses sponsors.
En ce qui concerne le Greffe du TPIR et ceux qui devaient s'occuper des désignations d'avocats, il ne me paraît pas nécessaire d'insister encore sur leur manque d'objectivité et de neutralité.
J'ai fait l'impossible pour obtenir la collaboration et la solidarité dans les équipes de défense, en organisant des réunions, en hébergeant les avocats qui n'avaient pas les moyens, mais les « bonnes relations » avec le Greffe pour percevoir leurs émoluments étaient plus importants. La manipulation et désinformation des prisonniers par certains avocats en a fait partie intégrante.
Soutenir aujourd'hui que les clients sont des « prisonniers politiques », est au moins tardif.
Dénoncer après 10 ans ce qui se voyait après une année de fonctionnement du TPIR et depuis le début du procès n'est pas signe d'un grand professionnalisme. Même les premiers magistrats étaient déjà convaincus de la responsabilité des accusés et les salaires octroyés ne permettaient pas aux magistrats d'être objectif. Je l'ai dénoncé à maintes reprises lors de mes discussions avec eux dans les restaurants et hôtels d'Arusha et à la presse. Ils n'ont pas voulu me croire mais aujourd'hui même l'ex porte parole du TPIR le dénonce avec vigueur.
Les avocats qui n'ont pas dénoncé publiquement devant les Tribunaux et la presse depuis leur désignation le caractère « politique » de l'accusation pour « génocide », les manœuvres inadmissibles du bureau du Procureur, du Greffe et l'impossibilité de tenir un procès équitable ont trahi leur client, la vérité et le peuple rwandais.
Aujourd'hui il est malheureusement trop tard.
KAGAME ne sera plus inquiété sur le plan juridique et la politique internationale l'a déjà adopté partout dans le monde comme incontournable, y compris en RDC. KAGAME ne tuera pas en prison les « génocidaires » mais en fera des « monstres du génocide » dans des cages à visiter par l'humanité entière pour des motifs politiques.
Ses experts ont étudié en détail comment utiliser le « fonds de commerce » du terme génocide, même si le « génocide des juifs » qui n'a jamais fait l'objet de la moindre contestation, négation ou minimisation -à juste titre- dans le cadre des procès rwandais, n'a aucune comparaison avec le « génocide rwandais » qui a été programmé, provoqué et utilisé principalement par le FPR, une association de guerriers et de manipulateurs de la vérité, soutenu principalement par certains milieux politiques des USA, UK et la Belgique pour des motifs différents.
Aujourd'hui il ne reste plus qu'à espérer un renversement du régime à Kigali si les condamnés espèrent de sortir avant leur terme de la prison.
Ce ne sont pas les quelques acquittements qui sont obligatoires pour parler d'une « justice équilibrée » à Arusha, qui vont changer le cours de l'histoire.
Un deuxième noyau à démanteler et à dénoncer sont les « experts » du Procureur, et principalement Alison DE FORGES, Filip REYNTJENS et André GUICHAOUA qui sont à la base de la plupart des actes d'accusations avec leurs mensonges, inventions et interprétations rocambolesques dans leurs écrits « scientifiques ».
Ce « petit comité » est même arrivé à empêcher des poursuites à charge de RUSATIRA, un « modéré » qui aurait pu arrêter le génocide…comme il le prétend lui-même. Pour l'inculpation de NDINDILYIMANA, ils étaient trop tard car lui aussi est considéré par eux comme un « hutu modéré » qu'il ne fallait pas poursuivre. Il était ami avec feu le Premier Ministre Agathe UWILINGYIMANA… une autre modérée, selon ces experts, qui aurait pu éviter le « génocide » selon leurs plans machiavéliques pour un changement de pouvoir au Rwanda, mais qui en aurait été empêchée par les « extrémistes hutu »., et en particulier quelques uns qui sont poursuivis à ce jour.
Pourtant, ce sont les élèves et soldats de RUSATIRA qui ont tué le Premier Ministre et certainement pas sur ordre reçu du Comité de Crise ou d'un réseau parallèle.
L'assassinat de certains politiciens d'opposition et de Joseph Kavaruganda démontre en plus que le début des massacres au Rwanda n'avait aucune « intention » de génocide, car la plupart de ces personnes étaient des hutu. Les analyses de F. Reyntjens concernant un coup d'état « constitutionnel » par les « extrémistes » en organisant les assassinats des opposants sont simplement de la « fantaisie scientifique ».
Nos spécialistes, experts des « droits de l'homme » sont donc concernés directement par les massacres au Rwanda car ils ont stimulé la destruction du tissu social par le soutien apporté dans la presse internationale à des accusations mensongères, obtenues auprès d'individus qui n'avaient aucune assise populaire mais uniquement des ambitions personnelles pour exercer le pouvoir. Ils ont permis à Kagame et le FPR d'assassiner le Président HABYARIMANA avec l'accord tacite de la « communauté internationale ». Qui va maintenant défendre un « diable »…..désigné nommément par les « experts ».
« It was time to solve the matter »
Le fait que REYNTJENS, suivi récemment par GUICHAOUA critiquent sévèrement le FPR ne change rien à leur comportement plus que douteux entre 1990 et 1994, en collaboration avec ALISON DES FORGES pour déstabiliser le pouvoir en place au profit de quelques opportunistes politiques (mondialisation des inventions Réseau Zéro, Escadrons de la Mort , Akazu etc.)
Leur rôle d' « Expert » pour le Procureur du TPIR a simplement été une défense rémunérée contre leurs propres erreurs et implications dans le drame rwandais, ainsi que pour la protection de leurs informateurs- manipulateurs. (p.e. NSANZUERA) Eux étaient en réalité les « enquêteurs » du Tribunal et certainement pas des experts en sociologie ou politologie comme ils se sont présentés devant les TPIR pour faire condamner les accusés.
Le FPR et ses sponsors (voir liste établie par STRIZEK) et les experts du Procureur, les DES FORGES, REYNTJENS et GUICHAOUA ont des intérêts communs dans l'occultation de la vérité et leur implication directe dans la destruction du tissu social du Rwanda entre 1990 et 1994, où les organisations dites « droits de l'homme » ont fait de la basse politique pour déstabiliser le régime d'HABYARIMANA. Le FPR a donné le coup final par l'attentat.
Le combat pour la reconnaissance du « génocide », les discussions sur le « double génocide » ou les « crimes contre l'humanité » commis par le FPR ne sont là que pour imposer le caractère juridique que veulent donner ces « spécialistes » au drame Rwandais alors qu'il s'agissait d'une vulgaire lutte pour le pouvoir, qui a entraîné des massacres à grande échelle, et qui a certainement poussé certains hutu à avoir l'intention de commettre un génocide sur les tutsi après l'assassinat du Président HABYARIMANA, et de son homologue Burundais, tous deux hutu, ainsi que du chef d'Etat major Rwandais:
Il faut donc d'abord déterminer qui a commis l'attentat contre l'avion présidentiel pour savoir qui a planifié le « génocide », annoncé par nos « experts » irresponsables depuis 1992 à travers un réseau de menteurs. Aujourd'hui seul KAGAME et le FPR contestent encore leur responsabilité pour cet attentat.
le FPR voulait le pouvoir total et avait prévu des massacres ethniques au Rwanda.
les « experts » voulaient soutenir une reprise du pouvoir par les « modérés », étant les partis d'opposition (ou une faction) qui collaboraient avec le FPR, mais n'avaient pas prévus les massacres à une si grande échelle, ni l'audace du FPR d'abattre l'avion Présidentiel. .
Leur jeu morbide a coûté la vie à plus de 5.000.000 de personnes et les éliminations politiques continuent encore aujourd'hui en RDC. Celui qui a du succès ne s'arrête pas si facilement.
Sans leur concours pour convaincre la « communauté internationale » du prétendu caractère diabolique du Président HABYARIMANA et son entourage, comme responsable des problèmes au Rwanda, KAGAME et son FPR n'auraient jamais osé abattre l'avion Présidentiel. Le Professeur LUGAN a bien décrit leur rôle dans cette destruction du tissu social et de l'autorité de l'état dans son récent rapport déposé au TPIR.
Que les USA et les UK se sont opposés à la France et que la Belgique veut se dégager de toute responsabilité, suite à l'assassinat de 10 soldats et l'abandon du peuple rwandais, est une suite de ces petits jeux.
La géopolitique cherche appui auprès de ceux qui peuvent servir les intérêts des uns et des autres et les choix sont souvent opportunistes. Le TPIR a ainsi vu le jour pour protéger les intérêts de la communauté internationale, qui a laissé faire le FPR et certainement pas pour faire la « justice ». Le nombre des morts obligeait néanmoins de faire quelque chose.
Les avocats auprès du TPIR ont refusé de porter cet élément essentiel quotidiennement dans la presse internationale et le TPIR et ont ainsi trahi leurs clients et le peuple rwandais. Ce n'est pas dans la petite sale d'audience d'Arusha qu'on influence la justice internationale, avec quelques journalistes payés par des puissances (notamment la Belgique qui finance Hirondelle à Arusha) impliquées dans le drame.
Pourtant les avocats du TPIR ont eu les moyens et ils ont visité suffisamment de pays pour faire entendre leur point de vue. Pendant 10 ans je n'ai rien entendu, ni vu une conférence en Belgique…..nonobstant qu'au moins 100 avocats du TPIR y sont passés.
Vous écrivez que l'héritage du TPIR est une honte sans une reconnaissance que les détenus du TPIR sont des « prisonniers politiques ».Un innocent en prison est une injustice et le qualifier de « politique » ne l'avance pas à grand-chose.
Je pense que beaucoup d'avocats sont également la honte du TPIR car leur rôle consistait justement à prouver et de dénoncer ce caractère criminel de la lutte pour le pouvoir par le FPR et les « experts » du Procureur, qui est la cause essentielle des massacres après l'attentat du 6 avril 1994, et certainement pas une planification d'un « génocide sur les tutsi par le régime en place », comme voulu par le Procureur, qu'ils n'ont jamais osé critiquer ouvertement. et publiquement. Ce manque de loyauté à la vérité historique est l'erreur principal de beaucoup d'avocats.
L'histoire jugera donc également votre compétence.
Je vous prie de croire, mes chers Confrères, l'expression de mes sentiments dévoués.
Luc DE TEMMERMAN
20/12/2007
Allegations resurface against deputy commander of UN-AU force in Darfur.
Sudan Tribune
23 November 2007
US based rights watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the United Nations and the African Union (AU) to further investigate alleged human right violations believed to be committed by the deputy commander of the Darfur peacekeeping force.
General Karenzi KarakeIn a letter sent to Jean-Marie Guéhenno, UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations and Alpha Oumar Konare, chairperson of AU, HRW accused Major General Karenzi Karake of involvement in killings of civilians in the city of Kisangani in the Democratic Republic of Congo in June 2000.
“Press accounts identify General Karake as the commanding officer of Rwandan troops who fought against Ugandan army forces at Kisangani during that period” HRW letter said.
Karake came under the spotlight last August when the Rwandan United Democratic Forces (UDF) opposition group said that the general is responsible for a number of killings between 1992 and 2000.
UDF allege in one incident that Karake as Head of Military Intelligence directed an assault against an Internally Displaced Camp (IDP) camp on April 22, 1995 leading to the death of 8,000 people.
The UN at the time invited groups and individuals to submit any supporting evidence against Karake after which they concluded that there was no evidence to support the charges.
HRW said that while there is no proof that Karake ordered the attacks but stressed that he “was undoubtedly aware of the impact of Rwandan military operations on the civilian population, and had the authority to end these egregious violations.”
The Sudanese and Rwandan government defended Karake and insisted that he be endorsed as the deputy commander of the UN-AU force.
The rights watchdog said that Karake should be removed if implicated.
“If it is found that he bore responsibility for violations of international law, General Karake should be removed from his position as the Deputy Commander of UNAMID”.
23 November 2007
US based rights watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the United Nations and the African Union (AU) to further investigate alleged human right violations believed to be committed by the deputy commander of the Darfur peacekeeping force.
General Karenzi KarakeIn a letter sent to Jean-Marie Guéhenno, UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations and Alpha Oumar Konare, chairperson of AU, HRW accused Major General Karenzi Karake of involvement in killings of civilians in the city of Kisangani in the Democratic Republic of Congo in June 2000.
“Press accounts identify General Karake as the commanding officer of Rwandan troops who fought against Ugandan army forces at Kisangani during that period” HRW letter said.
Karake came under the spotlight last August when the Rwandan United Democratic Forces (UDF) opposition group said that the general is responsible for a number of killings between 1992 and 2000.
UDF allege in one incident that Karake as Head of Military Intelligence directed an assault against an Internally Displaced Camp (IDP) camp on April 22, 1995 leading to the death of 8,000 people.
The UN at the time invited groups and individuals to submit any supporting evidence against Karake after which they concluded that there was no evidence to support the charges.
HRW said that while there is no proof that Karake ordered the attacks but stressed that he “was undoubtedly aware of the impact of Rwandan military operations on the civilian population, and had the authority to end these egregious violations.”
The Sudanese and Rwandan government defended Karake and insisted that he be endorsed as the deputy commander of the UN-AU force.
The rights watchdog said that Karake should be removed if implicated.
“If it is found that he bore responsibility for violations of international law, General Karake should be removed from his position as the Deputy Commander of UNAMID”.
Thaksin ally claims Thai poll win.
BBC News
23 December 2007
The leader of the party allied to Thailand's ousted PM Thaksin Shinawatra has claimed victory in the nation's general election.
Samak Sundaravej said his People Power Party (PPP) would form the next government, though partial results show it is short of an outright majority.
The election is the first since the 2006 coup that overthrew Mr Thaksin.
Correspondents say a PPP win would be a big setback to the military, which has tried to counter Mr Thaksin's allies.
Phone call
Full results are expected by about midnight (1700 GMT).
But Mr Samak, 72, said: "I will be the next prime minister for sure."
He said that the PPP might be "only 10 seats short of a majority", adding: "I invite all the parties to join our government."
POST-COUP TIMELINE
September 2006: Coup overthrows Thaksin Shinawatra
October 2006: Retired General Surayud Chulanont is appointed interim leader
May 2007: Court bans Mr Thaksin from politics for five years, and dissolves his party
August 2007: Voters approve a new constitution
23 December 2007: Election held
A total of 241 seats are needed for a majority in the 480-seat house.
Thai media reports said the PPP was on course to win 220-230 seats.
Mr Samak said he had spoken to Mr Thaksin, who is in Hong Kong, by telephone.
"Thaksin said 'congratulations'," Mr Samak said.
The PPP leader added: "This is a victory for all Thai people who unreasonably lost their freedom on September 19."
That was the date in 2006 when the military removed Mr Thaksin and his Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party from power.
Mr Thaksin, who is now banned from Thai politics, has since lived in self-imposed exile abroad, mainly in Britain.
However, his allies have promised he would return.
Mr Samak said on Sunday: "Thaksin said he will come back after the government is formed."
If he does return to Thailand, Mr Thaksin will have to answer a number of corruption charges levelled against him in the courts.
Election monitors said that voting had mostly proceeded smoothly and been well-organised, despite complaints of vote-buying and other irregularities.
The BBC's Jonathan Head says that if the PPP has not won an outright majority, there will be considerable pressure on smaller parties to form a coalition with the PPP's main rival, the Democrats.
But he says this could lead to further instability as a multi-party government could well prove weak and short-lived.
What stance the military takes will also be a key issue.
23 December 2007
The leader of the party allied to Thailand's ousted PM Thaksin Shinawatra has claimed victory in the nation's general election.
Samak Sundaravej said his People Power Party (PPP) would form the next government, though partial results show it is short of an outright majority.
The election is the first since the 2006 coup that overthrew Mr Thaksin.
Correspondents say a PPP win would be a big setback to the military, which has tried to counter Mr Thaksin's allies.
Phone call
Full results are expected by about midnight (1700 GMT).
But Mr Samak, 72, said: "I will be the next prime minister for sure."
He said that the PPP might be "only 10 seats short of a majority", adding: "I invite all the parties to join our government."
POST-COUP TIMELINE
September 2006: Coup overthrows Thaksin Shinawatra
October 2006: Retired General Surayud Chulanont is appointed interim leader
May 2007: Court bans Mr Thaksin from politics for five years, and dissolves his party
August 2007: Voters approve a new constitution
23 December 2007: Election held
A total of 241 seats are needed for a majority in the 480-seat house.
Thai media reports said the PPP was on course to win 220-230 seats.
Mr Samak said he had spoken to Mr Thaksin, who is in Hong Kong, by telephone.
"Thaksin said 'congratulations'," Mr Samak said.
The PPP leader added: "This is a victory for all Thai people who unreasonably lost their freedom on September 19."
That was the date in 2006 when the military removed Mr Thaksin and his Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party from power.
Mr Thaksin, who is now banned from Thai politics, has since lived in self-imposed exile abroad, mainly in Britain.
However, his allies have promised he would return.
Mr Samak said on Sunday: "Thaksin said he will come back after the government is formed."
If he does return to Thailand, Mr Thaksin will have to answer a number of corruption charges levelled against him in the courts.
Election monitors said that voting had mostly proceeded smoothly and been well-organised, despite complaints of vote-buying and other irregularities.
The BBC's Jonathan Head says that if the PPP has not won an outright majority, there will be considerable pressure on smaller parties to form a coalition with the PPP's main rival, the Democrats.
But he says this could lead to further instability as a multi-party government could well prove weak and short-lived.
What stance the military takes will also be a key issue.
Oil firm denies Putin has any stake in its ownership.
The Guardian
By Luke Harding
December 22, 2007
The secretive oil company Gunvor yesterday broke its silence over its alleged links with Vladimir Putin, denying that the Russian president was the company's "beneficiary" owner but admitting that he was a friend of its founder.
In a statement, Gunvor's chief executive officer, Torbjorn Tornqvist, said it was "plain wrong" to suggest the company had benefited from its alleged close connections with the Kremlin.
The company said Putin "was not a beneficiary" of its activities. "None of the shares of this organisation are held by President Putin or anyone allied by him," Tornqvist wrote in a letter published in today's Guardian.
The letter is the first time that Gunvor, which is based in Geneva, has contested persistent claims in the media that Putin "effectively" owns much of the firm.
In the Guardian yesterday, Stansilav Belkovsky, a Russian political scientist, claimed that Putin controlled "at least 75%" of Gunvor, through a "non-transparent network of offshore companies".
He told the Guardian: "Putin's name doesn't appear on any shareholders' register, of course. There is a non-transparent scheme of successive ownership of offshore companies and funds. The final point is in Zug [Switzerland] and Liechtenstein. Vladimir Putin should be the beneficiary owner."
Additionally, the president controls 37% of the shares of Surgutneftegaz, an oil exploration firm and Russia's third biggest oil producer, and 4.5% of Gazprom, Belkovsky alleged. Putin's personal fortune was $40bn (£20bn), he added.
The claims, which have appeared in several publications over the past month, appear to have leaked from the Kremlin as rival factions battle for supremacy ahead of Putin's departure in May.
In the letter, Tornqvist confirmed for the first time that Putin is friends with the company's co-founder, Gennady Timchenko, a publicity-shy Russian businessman who lives in Switzerland. The size of his fortune is not known.
"[Timchenko] did indeed know President Putin in the days before the latter became famous," Tornqvist wrote. "However, suggestions that they share a KGB heritage or have been in business together are completely wide of the mark."
Gunvor declined to say how Timchenko and Putin met. The firm said Timchenko denies having ever worked for the KGB or its foreign intelligence service - an allegation made repeatedly by the Russian media over the past eight years. The two met via KGB circles, it was reported.
Founded 10 years ago, Gunvor is now the world's third biggest oil trader and handles 30% of Russia's seaborne oil exports. The company's competitors say it has used its political contacts to cut favourable deals with Russia's state-owned energy companies, including Rosneft, which is chaired by Putin's deputy chief of staff, Igor Sechin.
In his letter Tornqvist claimed that Gunvor's profits have been exaggerated. They amount to "hundreds of millions" of dollars rather than the billions previously suggested, he said. The firm refused to give a figure for its 2007 profits but confirmed turnover was $43bn.
"This is the norm for a business of our scale operating in our sector ... It is simply wrong to suggest that we benefit from favours granted over trading contracts in Russia and leading to multi-billion profits," Tornqvist wrote.
Discussion of Putin's wealth has previously been taboo. But the claims of his fortune have leaked out against the backdrop of the vicious fight inside the Kremlin between a group led by Sechin and a "liberal" clan that includes Dmitry Medvedev.
The Sechin group is made up of siloviki, Kremlin officials with security/military backgrounds. It is said to include Nikolai Patrushev, the head of the federal security service (FSB), Russia's KGB successor agency, his deputy, Alexander Bortnikov, and Putin's aide Viktor Ivanov.
Those associated with the "liberal" camp include Roman Abramovich, the Russian oligarch who is close to Putin and the Yeltsin family, Viktor Cherkesov, head of the federal drug control service, and Alisher Usmanov, the Uzbek-born billionaire.
Insiders say the struggle has little to do with ideology but is a war between business rivals. Putin's decision to endorse as president Medvedev, who has no links with the secret services, dealt a blow to the hardline Sechin clan, they add.
Yesterday's Vedomosti newspaper, meanwhile, suggested that Putin could become chairman of Gazprom, in effect swapping jobs with Medvedev.
By Luke Harding
December 22, 2007
The secretive oil company Gunvor yesterday broke its silence over its alleged links with Vladimir Putin, denying that the Russian president was the company's "beneficiary" owner but admitting that he was a friend of its founder.
In a statement, Gunvor's chief executive officer, Torbjorn Tornqvist, said it was "plain wrong" to suggest the company had benefited from its alleged close connections with the Kremlin.
The company said Putin "was not a beneficiary" of its activities. "None of the shares of this organisation are held by President Putin or anyone allied by him," Tornqvist wrote in a letter published in today's Guardian.
The letter is the first time that Gunvor, which is based in Geneva, has contested persistent claims in the media that Putin "effectively" owns much of the firm.
In the Guardian yesterday, Stansilav Belkovsky, a Russian political scientist, claimed that Putin controlled "at least 75%" of Gunvor, through a "non-transparent network of offshore companies".
He told the Guardian: "Putin's name doesn't appear on any shareholders' register, of course. There is a non-transparent scheme of successive ownership of offshore companies and funds. The final point is in Zug [Switzerland] and Liechtenstein. Vladimir Putin should be the beneficiary owner."
Additionally, the president controls 37% of the shares of Surgutneftegaz, an oil exploration firm and Russia's third biggest oil producer, and 4.5% of Gazprom, Belkovsky alleged. Putin's personal fortune was $40bn (£20bn), he added.
The claims, which have appeared in several publications over the past month, appear to have leaked from the Kremlin as rival factions battle for supremacy ahead of Putin's departure in May.
In the letter, Tornqvist confirmed for the first time that Putin is friends with the company's co-founder, Gennady Timchenko, a publicity-shy Russian businessman who lives in Switzerland. The size of his fortune is not known.
"[Timchenko] did indeed know President Putin in the days before the latter became famous," Tornqvist wrote. "However, suggestions that they share a KGB heritage or have been in business together are completely wide of the mark."
Gunvor declined to say how Timchenko and Putin met. The firm said Timchenko denies having ever worked for the KGB or its foreign intelligence service - an allegation made repeatedly by the Russian media over the past eight years. The two met via KGB circles, it was reported.
Founded 10 years ago, Gunvor is now the world's third biggest oil trader and handles 30% of Russia's seaborne oil exports. The company's competitors say it has used its political contacts to cut favourable deals with Russia's state-owned energy companies, including Rosneft, which is chaired by Putin's deputy chief of staff, Igor Sechin.
In his letter Tornqvist claimed that Gunvor's profits have been exaggerated. They amount to "hundreds of millions" of dollars rather than the billions previously suggested, he said. The firm refused to give a figure for its 2007 profits but confirmed turnover was $43bn.
"This is the norm for a business of our scale operating in our sector ... It is simply wrong to suggest that we benefit from favours granted over trading contracts in Russia and leading to multi-billion profits," Tornqvist wrote.
Discussion of Putin's wealth has previously been taboo. But the claims of his fortune have leaked out against the backdrop of the vicious fight inside the Kremlin between a group led by Sechin and a "liberal" clan that includes Dmitry Medvedev.
The Sechin group is made up of siloviki, Kremlin officials with security/military backgrounds. It is said to include Nikolai Patrushev, the head of the federal security service (FSB), Russia's KGB successor agency, his deputy, Alexander Bortnikov, and Putin's aide Viktor Ivanov.
Those associated with the "liberal" camp include Roman Abramovich, the Russian oligarch who is close to Putin and the Yeltsin family, Viktor Cherkesov, head of the federal drug control service, and Alisher Usmanov, the Uzbek-born billionaire.
Insiders say the struggle has little to do with ideology but is a war between business rivals. Putin's decision to endorse as president Medvedev, who has no links with the secret services, dealt a blow to the hardline Sechin clan, they add.
Yesterday's Vedomosti newspaper, meanwhile, suggested that Putin could become chairman of Gazprom, in effect swapping jobs with Medvedev.
Nepal PM's kin killed by unidentified gunmen.
KUNA
21 December 2007
Two relatives of the Nepal Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala were shot at in Biratnagar town on Friday, which resulted in the death of one of them.
Unidentified assailants attacked Kiran Arryal, the brother-in-law of Koirala's nephew Shekhar Koirala, and his younger brother Ashish Arryal today in Nepal's Biratnagar town.
Kiran was killed on the spot while Ashish has been admitted to a local hospital, news agency Indo Asian News Service reported quoting Nepal's state television.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Shekhar Koirala is a member of PM's Nepali Congress party and his close confidant.
21 December 2007
Two relatives of the Nepal Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala were shot at in Biratnagar town on Friday, which resulted in the death of one of them.
Unidentified assailants attacked Kiran Arryal, the brother-in-law of Koirala's nephew Shekhar Koirala, and his younger brother Ashish Arryal today in Nepal's Biratnagar town.
Kiran was killed on the spot while Ashish has been admitted to a local hospital, news agency Indo Asian News Service reported quoting Nepal's state television.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Shekhar Koirala is a member of PM's Nepali Congress party and his close confidant.
UN votes to end Sierra Leone peacebuilding mission.
Mail & Guardian
By Edith M Lederer
22 December 2007
The Security Council voted unanimously on Friday to wrap up the United Nations peacebuilding mission in Sierra Leone in September next year, praising this year's peaceful and democratic elections in the West African nation and efforts to professionalise its armed forces.
A UN peacekeeping force helped put Sierra Leone back on the path to stability after a bloody 11-year civil war, which lasted from 1991 to 2002. But poverty continues to plague the country, which has one of the world's lowest life expectancy and literacy rates.
The peacekeeping force was replaced in January last year by a small peacebuilding mission of about 350 people -- mainly civilians -- along with 14 military observers and 26 international police.
The resolution adopted unanimously by the council extends the mandate of the peacebuilding mission until September 30, well beyond local elections scheduled for June 21.
It calls for a staff reduction of at least 20% by March 31, the continuation of the mission at 80% of the current strength until June 30, and the termination of its mandate by September 30.
The council said the mission should be replaced by a UN political office "to focus on carrying forward the peacebuilding process, mobilising international donor support", promoting national reconciliation and constitutional reform, and supporting the work of the UN Peacebuilding Commission.
World leaders decided at a summit in September 2005 to establish the Peacebuilding Commission to bring together all the key international players involved in ending conflicts and promoting reconstruction and economic development of countries emerging from war. Sierra Leone and Burundi were the first countries it chose to assist.
The council emphasised the importance of continued UN and international support "for the long-term peace, security and development of Sierra Leone, particularly through strengthening the capacity of the government".
It welcomed "the holding of peaceful and democratic parliamentary and presidential elections in August and September 2007." It also stressed that "the wide acceptance of the local elections in June 2008 will be another important milestone in consolidating a sustainable peace in Sierra Leone".
The council urged the current UN mission to provide assistance for the June elections, and to help national commissions and institutions promote good governance and human rights.
While welcoming "the progress made in reforming the security sector ... and, in particular, the developing professionalism of the Sierra Leone armed forces and police", the council also urged further action to strengthen and reform the police and army.
By Edith M Lederer
22 December 2007
The Security Council voted unanimously on Friday to wrap up the United Nations peacebuilding mission in Sierra Leone in September next year, praising this year's peaceful and democratic elections in the West African nation and efforts to professionalise its armed forces.
A UN peacekeeping force helped put Sierra Leone back on the path to stability after a bloody 11-year civil war, which lasted from 1991 to 2002. But poverty continues to plague the country, which has one of the world's lowest life expectancy and literacy rates.
The peacekeeping force was replaced in January last year by a small peacebuilding mission of about 350 people -- mainly civilians -- along with 14 military observers and 26 international police.
The resolution adopted unanimously by the council extends the mandate of the peacebuilding mission until September 30, well beyond local elections scheduled for June 21.
It calls for a staff reduction of at least 20% by March 31, the continuation of the mission at 80% of the current strength until June 30, and the termination of its mandate by September 30.
The council said the mission should be replaced by a UN political office "to focus on carrying forward the peacebuilding process, mobilising international donor support", promoting national reconciliation and constitutional reform, and supporting the work of the UN Peacebuilding Commission.
World leaders decided at a summit in September 2005 to establish the Peacebuilding Commission to bring together all the key international players involved in ending conflicts and promoting reconstruction and economic development of countries emerging from war. Sierra Leone and Burundi were the first countries it chose to assist.
The council emphasised the importance of continued UN and international support "for the long-term peace, security and development of Sierra Leone, particularly through strengthening the capacity of the government".
It welcomed "the holding of peaceful and democratic parliamentary and presidential elections in August and September 2007." It also stressed that "the wide acceptance of the local elections in June 2008 will be another important milestone in consolidating a sustainable peace in Sierra Leone".
The council urged the current UN mission to provide assistance for the June elections, and to help national commissions and institutions promote good governance and human rights.
While welcoming "the progress made in reforming the security sector ... and, in particular, the developing professionalism of the Sierra Leone armed forces and police", the council also urged further action to strengthen and reform the police and army.
Sierra Leone government probes diamond mine shootings.
Mineweb
By Frank Jomo
21 December 3007
The government of Ernest Bai Koroma in Sierra Leone has instituted an inquiry into the bloody conflict at Koidu Holdings Mining Company in the country's eastern mining district of Kono where two people were killed and several others hospitalized last week.
The police opened fire on 400 villagers who were protesting mining operations at Koidu Holdings owned by Geneva based diamond company, Steinmetz Group. Youths stormed the mining site and set fire to surrounding bush before looting mining equipment at the company. According to residents of Kono, people were protesting against the delay by the company in compensating families affected by its mining operations.
Following the arrest, Sierra Leone government imposed a 10pm to 6am curfew in the district, according to UN's IRIN news agency. But the curfew did not go down well with Members of Parliament who visited Kono after it was imposed. They accused the government of taking a heavy handed action in quelling the unrest.
"We believe it was a peaceful demonstration which could have been settled through negotiations," IRIN quotes a statement issued by the Members of Parliament who toured the district.
However police officials say the demonstrators were armed and the police acted in self defense and rebutted allegations that four people were killed, saying only two died from gun wounds.
The Commission of Inquiry set by Bai Koroma intends to look into events leading to the demonstrations which were staged Friday last week.
But Samuel Ngaujah, spokesperson for a group calling itself Affected Property Owners told the press that Koidu Holdings has not met promises to help in the resettlement of residents displaced by its operations, a statement supported by an NGO - Network Movement for Justice and Development (NMJD) which claims that Koidu has reneged on agreements to provide better living conditions for people affected by their mining operations.
According to NMJD, Koidu should re-house 5,000 people affected by its mining operations but the miner said only 155 households will be resettled, a development that is likely to see tensions in the area simmering. A report on the inquiry is expected in three weeks.
Koidu is Sierra Leone's biggest mine and has had problems with illicit miners invading its property. Koroma's All People's Congress (APC) government has expelled over 1, 000 illicit miners since assuming mantle of leadership in September this year.
Steinmetz Group holds the majority stake in Koidu Holdings, which mines the deepest vertical kimberlite pipe in the world after buying a 40 percent equity from Vancouver-based Energem Resources at US$18.25 million. Energem abandoned diamond mining to fully venture into oil, gas and biofuel projects.
By Frank Jomo
21 December 3007
The government of Ernest Bai Koroma in Sierra Leone has instituted an inquiry into the bloody conflict at Koidu Holdings Mining Company in the country's eastern mining district of Kono where two people were killed and several others hospitalized last week.
The police opened fire on 400 villagers who were protesting mining operations at Koidu Holdings owned by Geneva based diamond company, Steinmetz Group. Youths stormed the mining site and set fire to surrounding bush before looting mining equipment at the company. According to residents of Kono, people were protesting against the delay by the company in compensating families affected by its mining operations.
Following the arrest, Sierra Leone government imposed a 10pm to 6am curfew in the district, according to UN's IRIN news agency. But the curfew did not go down well with Members of Parliament who visited Kono after it was imposed. They accused the government of taking a heavy handed action in quelling the unrest.
"We believe it was a peaceful demonstration which could have been settled through negotiations," IRIN quotes a statement issued by the Members of Parliament who toured the district.
However police officials say the demonstrators were armed and the police acted in self defense and rebutted allegations that four people were killed, saying only two died from gun wounds.
The Commission of Inquiry set by Bai Koroma intends to look into events leading to the demonstrations which were staged Friday last week.
But Samuel Ngaujah, spokesperson for a group calling itself Affected Property Owners told the press that Koidu Holdings has not met promises to help in the resettlement of residents displaced by its operations, a statement supported by an NGO - Network Movement for Justice and Development (NMJD) which claims that Koidu has reneged on agreements to provide better living conditions for people affected by their mining operations.
According to NMJD, Koidu should re-house 5,000 people affected by its mining operations but the miner said only 155 households will be resettled, a development that is likely to see tensions in the area simmering. A report on the inquiry is expected in three weeks.
Koidu is Sierra Leone's biggest mine and has had problems with illicit miners invading its property. Koroma's All People's Congress (APC) government has expelled over 1, 000 illicit miners since assuming mantle of leadership in September this year.
Steinmetz Group holds the majority stake in Koidu Holdings, which mines the deepest vertical kimberlite pipe in the world after buying a 40 percent equity from Vancouver-based Energem Resources at US$18.25 million. Energem abandoned diamond mining to fully venture into oil, gas and biofuel projects.
Ghana Leader: Oil Reserves at 3B Barrels.
Associated Press
By Francis Kokutse
22 December 2007
Ghana's president said Saturday that offshore oil reserves discovered in the West African country's waters total 3 billion barrels.
"Ghana has struck oil in commercial quantities," President John Kufuor said, speaking at a ruling party congress in the capital, Accra. "This is only the beginning. The future is very bright indeed."
British-based oil explorer Tullow Oil PLC announced over the summer that it had had success with a well off the coast of Ghana. It gave no details at the time, saying only that it had discovered "a significant light oil accumulation" and was appraising it.
Tullow operates the Deepwater Tano license that covers the new stake, holding a 50 percent stake. Its partners are Kosmos Energy and a subsidiary of Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Sabre Oil & Gas and the Ghana National Petroleum Corp. Tullow also holds a 23 percent stake in the West Cape Three Points license, off Ghana.
Kufuor gave no other details.
Energy Minister Kofi Adda also declined to comment on the announcement, but told The Associated Press the find was part of the ongoing explorations involving Tullow in western Ghana.
By Francis Kokutse
22 December 2007
Ghana's president said Saturday that offshore oil reserves discovered in the West African country's waters total 3 billion barrels.
"Ghana has struck oil in commercial quantities," President John Kufuor said, speaking at a ruling party congress in the capital, Accra. "This is only the beginning. The future is very bright indeed."
British-based oil explorer Tullow Oil PLC announced over the summer that it had had success with a well off the coast of Ghana. It gave no details at the time, saying only that it had discovered "a significant light oil accumulation" and was appraising it.
Tullow operates the Deepwater Tano license that covers the new stake, holding a 50 percent stake. Its partners are Kosmos Energy and a subsidiary of Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Sabre Oil & Gas and the Ghana National Petroleum Corp. Tullow also holds a 23 percent stake in the West Cape Three Points license, off Ghana.
Kufuor gave no other details.
Energy Minister Kofi Adda also declined to comment on the announcement, but told The Associated Press the find was part of the ongoing explorations involving Tullow in western Ghana.
Le Conseil du gouvernement a décidé de placer la SNCC et l’Onatra sous gestion des firmes belge et espagnole.
La réunion hebdomadaire du gouvernement de vendredi a examiné, outre la situation sécuritaire dans le pays, des accords avec des partenaires extérieurs auxquels a été confiée la gestion certaines entreprises publiques.
La réunion ordinaire du Conseil des ministres de ce vendredi 21 décembre 2007 s’est tenue à la Cité de l’Union africaine sous la présidence de Son Excellence Antoine Gizenga, Premier ministre, chef du gouvernement.
Quatre points ont figuré à l’ordre du jour :
1. L’Etat du territoire et la situation sécuritaire du pays ; 2. L’audition du rapport de la Commission interministérielle chargée de finaliser l’Accord entre la République démocratique du Congo et la firme brésilienne HRT Petroleum ; 3. L’examen des résultats du dépouillement des offres relatives aux contrats de gestion de la Société nationale des chemins de fer du Congo (SNCC) et l’Office National des Transports (Onatra) ; 4. L’examen du projet d’Ordonnance portant institution d’une Cour Militaire Opérationnelle.
Concernant l’Etat du territoire, le gouvernement a pris acte des préparatifs de la Conférence sur la paix, la sécurité et le développement au Nord-Kivu et au Sud-Kivu qui se tiendra à Goma du 27 décembre 2007 au 05 janvier 2008. La situation sécuritaire du pays reste marquée par le front du Nord-Kivu contre les insurgés. Le gouvernement rassure la population congolaise que les Forces Armées de la République démocratique du Congo consolident l’avantage sur le terrain opérationnel.
Avant d’aborder le deuxième point, le gouvernement s’est appesanti sur le cas du naufrage du bateau HB/TARMAC, survenu le dimanche 16 décembre dernier sur la rivière Ruki, à 80 Km en aval de Boende, dans le district de la Tshuapa, province de l’Equateur. Le bilan dressé fait état de 43 morts et de 48 rescapés.
Tout en présentant ses condoléances aux familles éprouvées, le Conseil des ministres a décidé d’y dépêcher une délégation pour apporter l’aide nécessaire aux victimes de la catastrophe.
Au deuxième point, le gouvernement a approuvé le projet d’Accord entre la République démocratique du Congo et la firme brésilienne HRT-Petroleum sur l’évaluation pétrolière du Bassin de la Cuvette centrale de la République démocratique du Congo, présenté par le ministre des Hydrocarbures.
Le gouvernement s’est ensuite penché sur le troisième point relatif aux contrats de gestion de la Société nationale de chemin de fer du Congo et de l’Office national des transports présenté par Mme la ministre du Portefeuille.
Le rapport conjoint du ministre des Transports et des Voies de Communications et de Mme la ministre du Portefeuille sur le dépouillement des offres relatives aux contrats de gestion de ces deux entreprises recommande la sélection des soumissionnaires qui ont obtenu la meilleure cotation au double plan technique et financier, à savoir : la firme belge Vectoris pour la SNCC et la compagnie espagnole Progosa pour l’Onatra.
Le Conseil des Ministres a approuvé cette recommandation et autorisé la signature de ces contrats.
Abordant le dernier point à l’ordre du jour, le Conseil des ministres a examiné et approuvé le projet d’ordonnance portant institution d’une Cour militaire opérationnelle dans le Nord-Kivu, présenté par le ministre de la Justice et des Droits humains.
Je vous remercie.
Fait à Kinshasa, le 21 décembre 2007.
Emile Bongeli Yeikelo ya Ato, Ministre de la Communication et des Médias
La réunion ordinaire du Conseil des ministres de ce vendredi 21 décembre 2007 s’est tenue à la Cité de l’Union africaine sous la présidence de Son Excellence Antoine Gizenga, Premier ministre, chef du gouvernement.
Quatre points ont figuré à l’ordre du jour :
1. L’Etat du territoire et la situation sécuritaire du pays ; 2. L’audition du rapport de la Commission interministérielle chargée de finaliser l’Accord entre la République démocratique du Congo et la firme brésilienne HRT Petroleum ; 3. L’examen des résultats du dépouillement des offres relatives aux contrats de gestion de la Société nationale des chemins de fer du Congo (SNCC) et l’Office National des Transports (Onatra) ; 4. L’examen du projet d’Ordonnance portant institution d’une Cour Militaire Opérationnelle.
Concernant l’Etat du territoire, le gouvernement a pris acte des préparatifs de la Conférence sur la paix, la sécurité et le développement au Nord-Kivu et au Sud-Kivu qui se tiendra à Goma du 27 décembre 2007 au 05 janvier 2008. La situation sécuritaire du pays reste marquée par le front du Nord-Kivu contre les insurgés. Le gouvernement rassure la population congolaise que les Forces Armées de la République démocratique du Congo consolident l’avantage sur le terrain opérationnel.
Avant d’aborder le deuxième point, le gouvernement s’est appesanti sur le cas du naufrage du bateau HB/TARMAC, survenu le dimanche 16 décembre dernier sur la rivière Ruki, à 80 Km en aval de Boende, dans le district de la Tshuapa, province de l’Equateur. Le bilan dressé fait état de 43 morts et de 48 rescapés.
Tout en présentant ses condoléances aux familles éprouvées, le Conseil des ministres a décidé d’y dépêcher une délégation pour apporter l’aide nécessaire aux victimes de la catastrophe.
Au deuxième point, le gouvernement a approuvé le projet d’Accord entre la République démocratique du Congo et la firme brésilienne HRT-Petroleum sur l’évaluation pétrolière du Bassin de la Cuvette centrale de la République démocratique du Congo, présenté par le ministre des Hydrocarbures.
Le gouvernement s’est ensuite penché sur le troisième point relatif aux contrats de gestion de la Société nationale de chemin de fer du Congo et de l’Office national des transports présenté par Mme la ministre du Portefeuille.
Le rapport conjoint du ministre des Transports et des Voies de Communications et de Mme la ministre du Portefeuille sur le dépouillement des offres relatives aux contrats de gestion de ces deux entreprises recommande la sélection des soumissionnaires qui ont obtenu la meilleure cotation au double plan technique et financier, à savoir : la firme belge Vectoris pour la SNCC et la compagnie espagnole Progosa pour l’Onatra.
Le Conseil des Ministres a approuvé cette recommandation et autorisé la signature de ces contrats.
Abordant le dernier point à l’ordre du jour, le Conseil des ministres a examiné et approuvé le projet d’ordonnance portant institution d’une Cour militaire opérationnelle dans le Nord-Kivu, présenté par le ministre de la Justice et des Droits humains.
Je vous remercie.
Fait à Kinshasa, le 21 décembre 2007.
Emile Bongeli Yeikelo ya Ato, Ministre de la Communication et des Médias
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