Garowe Online
9 May 2009
The president of Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland has been accused of signing a 'secret deal' with the President of Somalia's U.N.-backed Government of National Unity, Radio Garowe reports.
The two leaders of Somaliland's opposition parties, Kulmiye and UCID, held a joint press conference in the regional capital Hargeisa last Thursday where they accused Somaliland President Dahir Riyale of "refusing" to a sign the ruling issued by the mediation committee to end the months-long dispute over election delays.
Mr. Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo, chairman of the Kulmiye Party and Riyale's main political challenger, told reporters at Hotel Imperial that the leaders of the three official political parties must sign the mediation committee's ruling. READ: Somaliland mediation committee defends extension
"We are ready to fulfill the decisions reached by the mediation committee…It is a must that all three political party leaders come together and sign that agreement so that the public can have confidence," Mr. Silanyo said.
The UCID Party chairman, Mr. Faisal Ali Warabe, said: "It is clear to us that the [Somaliland] President is not ready to hold elections."
He went on to accuse Mr. Riyale was signing "secret deals" with Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, the president of the U.N.-backed Somali interim government, which is facing a bloody anti-government insurgency in the national capital Mogadishu.
According to Mr. Warabe: "Riyale could face treason for entering into such an agreement with a government that opposes the independence of Somaliland."
Mr. Warabe, who is notorious for public outbursts and accusations against government officials, did not provide details of the alleged "secret deals" between Riyale and Sheikh Sharif.
The mediation committee's ruling was largely in favor of Mr. Riyale's administration, with the ruling approving the six-month term extension that was initially rejected by opposition parties as illegal.
It is not clear why the Somaliland leader has refused to sign the mediation committee's ruling.
Somaliland, located in northwestern Somalia, unilaterally declared independence from the rest of Somalia in 1991 but has not been recognized internationally.
09 May, 2009
European Union Signs a Pact on a Pipeline for Gas From the Caspian Sea.
New York Times
By DAN BILEFSKY
Published: May 8, 2009
The European Union signed an energy agreement on Friday aimed at speeding up the construction of a long-delayed pipeline that would bring gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe and help offset the bloc’s dependence on Russian energy.
The agreement, signed by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and Egypt at a summit meeting in Prague, centers on the 2,000-mile Nabucco pipeline, which would bring Central Asian gas to Europe without passing through Russian territory. The European Union hopes the pipeline will start pumping gas to Europe by 2014. The pressing need to find an alternative to Russian supply was underlined in January when a pricing dispute between Russia and Ukraine resulted in a shortage of gas supplies in several European countries.
Turkey, whose cooperation is essential for the pipeline, has haggled for months over transit rules. It indicated on Friday that it was prepared to sign a transit deal by June. But Turkey’s president, Abdullah Gul, also made it clear that his acquiescence would depend on some progress in Turkey’s talks on membership in the European Union, which have stalled in recent months.
Diplomats said representatives of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan refused to sign the agreement because of pressure from Russia, which supplies one-fifth of Europe’s gas. The Kremlin views the Nabucco pipeline as a potential geopolitical challenge, and it has sought to frustrate its developers at every turn. But the recent decline in energy prices has weakened its influence with the gas producers, creating more of an opening for the West.
Nabucco would supply up to 31 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually — about 5 percent of the European Union’s gas needs.
By DAN BILEFSKY
Published: May 8, 2009
The European Union signed an energy agreement on Friday aimed at speeding up the construction of a long-delayed pipeline that would bring gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe and help offset the bloc’s dependence on Russian energy.
The agreement, signed by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and Egypt at a summit meeting in Prague, centers on the 2,000-mile Nabucco pipeline, which would bring Central Asian gas to Europe without passing through Russian territory. The European Union hopes the pipeline will start pumping gas to Europe by 2014. The pressing need to find an alternative to Russian supply was underlined in January when a pricing dispute between Russia and Ukraine resulted in a shortage of gas supplies in several European countries.
Turkey, whose cooperation is essential for the pipeline, has haggled for months over transit rules. It indicated on Friday that it was prepared to sign a transit deal by June. But Turkey’s president, Abdullah Gul, also made it clear that his acquiescence would depend on some progress in Turkey’s talks on membership in the European Union, which have stalled in recent months.
Diplomats said representatives of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan refused to sign the agreement because of pressure from Russia, which supplies one-fifth of Europe’s gas. The Kremlin views the Nabucco pipeline as a potential geopolitical challenge, and it has sought to frustrate its developers at every turn. But the recent decline in energy prices has weakened its influence with the gas producers, creating more of an opening for the West.
Nabucco would supply up to 31 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually — about 5 percent of the European Union’s gas needs.
U.S. Oil Company Optimistic About Rovuma Basin
Aim News
8 May 2009
Experts of the American oil company Anadarko remain optimistic that they will find oil in the Rovuma basin near the Mozambican border with Tanzania.
They told a group of Mozambican journalists visiting the company's headquarters in Houston, Texas, that the geological data from the basin, both on and off shore, are very similar to those in other parts of the world where oil and natural gas have been found.
Carol Law, the Anadarko exploration project manager for east Africa and the Caribbean, said the company has no intention of stopping its activities in the Rovuma basin until it concludes that there is no oil there. But to date the geological evidence points to hydrocarbon deposits.
Anadarko has completed its seismic exploration, and is now preparing to send in heavy equipment to drill exploratory wells on land and off shore. This work will start in late 2009 or early 2010, and will be conclusive in determining whether a commercially viable oil field really does exist in the basin.
Ade Adeleyede, a Nigerian oil engineer who specialises in drilling, told the reporters that drilling "gives you a kind of geological X-ray", and was the only means of determining whether oil does indeed exist in any particular place. Everything else was just preparatory, giving indications of the likeliest places to drill.
He warned that it is common for an area with no oil to have geological and geophysical characteristics similar to places that do have oil. "That's why, although the Rovuma Basin is geologically similar to other parts of the globe where we have found oil, we cannot be sure right now that it too has oil", Adeleyede said. "Sure, we remain optimistic and willing to continue working, but we cannot be certain that we will be rewarded".
He noted that even in areas where oil fields have already been found, it is perfectly possible to sink new wells that find nothing, or hit such small amounts of oil that they cannot be commercially exploited. Anadarko had experienced this problem last year in Alaska.
Adeleyede remarked that companies spent many, apparently fruitless years looking for oil in Ghana. Only last year did they actually find some.
Even on the periphery of an oil rich region such as the Niger Delta, there were areas that appeared to have good potential, but when the wells were drilled, they were dry. This was a risky business, since it was quite possible to sink many millions of dollars into drilling without any return.
Adeleyede said that so far Anadarko has spent more than 125 million dollars in exploring for oil in Mozambique, and by September this figure may have risen to 150 million dollars. The company's costs will then rise much more when the eight exploratory wells it plans (one on-shore and seven off-shore) are drilled.
Anadarko has to hire the heavy equipment used in drilling. Adeleyede said it would cost a million dollars a day. As a rule, it takes 45 days to drill and test each well.
Final results are not expected for a further one or two years. After the drilling, the Anadarko laboratories must carefully analyse everything the drills have brought up to the surface.
And no-one should imagine that, even if oil is found, Mozambique will become an oil producer overnight. Setting up the oil wells, and all the equipment needed to pump the oil out, could take another five or six years
Anadarko's optimism is shared by the chairperson of the Mozambican Petroleum Institute, Arsenio Mabote. He told AIM that other companies, exploring in other Rovuma basin blocks, have found the same geology as Anadarko.
Companies from Canada, Italy, Norway and Malaysia are exploring, and they had also found "strong signs" of the presence of oil in the blocks that the government has attributed to them.
Mabote too admitted that there is still nothing certain about the presence of oil in the Rovuma Basin. Only drilling would give definitive results. Nonetheless, he argued, the country must prepare for the possibility of becoming an oil producer.
That was why he had come to Texas - he was negotiating with Anadarko for 25 scholarships so that young Mozambicans can be trained as oil engineers in the United States. Such training schemes are already under way in other countries, notably Malaysia.
Such preparations go back a long way. Even the first post-independence government, under President Samora Machel, had suspected that the country might have oil deposits, and sent people abroad for training in oil technology. Mabote himself was trained as an oil engineer in Romania in 1977.
"There are many others like me who were trained in this area", he said, "and that's very good, because if one day we do strike oil, we will enough trained people to deal with it".
8 May 2009
Experts of the American oil company Anadarko remain optimistic that they will find oil in the Rovuma basin near the Mozambican border with Tanzania.
They told a group of Mozambican journalists visiting the company's headquarters in Houston, Texas, that the geological data from the basin, both on and off shore, are very similar to those in other parts of the world where oil and natural gas have been found.
Carol Law, the Anadarko exploration project manager for east Africa and the Caribbean, said the company has no intention of stopping its activities in the Rovuma basin until it concludes that there is no oil there. But to date the geological evidence points to hydrocarbon deposits.
Anadarko has completed its seismic exploration, and is now preparing to send in heavy equipment to drill exploratory wells on land and off shore. This work will start in late 2009 or early 2010, and will be conclusive in determining whether a commercially viable oil field really does exist in the basin.
Ade Adeleyede, a Nigerian oil engineer who specialises in drilling, told the reporters that drilling "gives you a kind of geological X-ray", and was the only means of determining whether oil does indeed exist in any particular place. Everything else was just preparatory, giving indications of the likeliest places to drill.
He warned that it is common for an area with no oil to have geological and geophysical characteristics similar to places that do have oil. "That's why, although the Rovuma Basin is geologically similar to other parts of the globe where we have found oil, we cannot be sure right now that it too has oil", Adeleyede said. "Sure, we remain optimistic and willing to continue working, but we cannot be certain that we will be rewarded".
He noted that even in areas where oil fields have already been found, it is perfectly possible to sink new wells that find nothing, or hit such small amounts of oil that they cannot be commercially exploited. Anadarko had experienced this problem last year in Alaska.
Adeleyede remarked that companies spent many, apparently fruitless years looking for oil in Ghana. Only last year did they actually find some.
Even on the periphery of an oil rich region such as the Niger Delta, there were areas that appeared to have good potential, but when the wells were drilled, they were dry. This was a risky business, since it was quite possible to sink many millions of dollars into drilling without any return.
Adeleyede said that so far Anadarko has spent more than 125 million dollars in exploring for oil in Mozambique, and by September this figure may have risen to 150 million dollars. The company's costs will then rise much more when the eight exploratory wells it plans (one on-shore and seven off-shore) are drilled.
Anadarko has to hire the heavy equipment used in drilling. Adeleyede said it would cost a million dollars a day. As a rule, it takes 45 days to drill and test each well.
Final results are not expected for a further one or two years. After the drilling, the Anadarko laboratories must carefully analyse everything the drills have brought up to the surface.
And no-one should imagine that, even if oil is found, Mozambique will become an oil producer overnight. Setting up the oil wells, and all the equipment needed to pump the oil out, could take another five or six years
Anadarko's optimism is shared by the chairperson of the Mozambican Petroleum Institute, Arsenio Mabote. He told AIM that other companies, exploring in other Rovuma basin blocks, have found the same geology as Anadarko.
Companies from Canada, Italy, Norway and Malaysia are exploring, and they had also found "strong signs" of the presence of oil in the blocks that the government has attributed to them.
Mabote too admitted that there is still nothing certain about the presence of oil in the Rovuma Basin. Only drilling would give definitive results. Nonetheless, he argued, the country must prepare for the possibility of becoming an oil producer.
That was why he had come to Texas - he was negotiating with Anadarko for 25 scholarships so that young Mozambicans can be trained as oil engineers in the United States. Such training schemes are already under way in other countries, notably Malaysia.
Such preparations go back a long way. Even the first post-independence government, under President Samora Machel, had suspected that the country might have oil deposits, and sent people abroad for training in oil technology. Mabote himself was trained as an oil engineer in Romania in 1977.
"There are many others like me who were trained in this area", he said, "and that's very good, because if one day we do strike oil, we will enough trained people to deal with it".
Rwandan Government Report On Habyarimana's Plane Shoot Down Ready.
Hirondelle News Agency
7 May 2009
The committee set up by the Rwandan government to inquire into the missile attack which cost the life on 6 April 1994 of President Juvenal Habyarimana, and his Burundian counterpart, Cyprien Ntaryamira, and the members of the French crew, has completed its findings, reports Hirondelle Agency.
The two presidents were returning from a regional peace meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
"The team has already presented its report which will be made public in the next few days", an official statement of Rwanda Council of Ministers was read Thursday on Radio Rwanda.
Set up in October 2007, this committee was presided by Jean Mutsinzi, former President of Supreme Court of Rwanda, and the current President of the Arusha-based African Court of Human and People's Rights.
The shooting down of the presidential plane near the capital, Kigali, and his subsequent death, sparked the 1994 genocide.
This theory has been challenged by Rwanda, which claims that the genocide against Tutsis started with the pogroms of 1959, 1963, 1973, and 1990.
At the end of 2006, an investigation by French Judge Jean-Louis Bruguière determined that the current President Paul Kagame was the main instigator of the attack, as he commanded the armed wing of the former rebellion of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), currently in power. Kagame has always and repeatedly denied any involvement in the attack.
Judge Brugiere had issued arrest warrants against nine close associates of Kagame and suggested to the United Nations to start investigations against the Rwandan President. Kigali reacted sharply by severing diplomatic ties with Paris.
The Rwandan government, instead, published, in August 2008, an investigation conducted by a commission into the role of France in the genocide, which blames about 30 civil and military French officials, including the late President François Mitterrand.
7 May 2009
The committee set up by the Rwandan government to inquire into the missile attack which cost the life on 6 April 1994 of President Juvenal Habyarimana, and his Burundian counterpart, Cyprien Ntaryamira, and the members of the French crew, has completed its findings, reports Hirondelle Agency.
The two presidents were returning from a regional peace meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
"The team has already presented its report which will be made public in the next few days", an official statement of Rwanda Council of Ministers was read Thursday on Radio Rwanda.
Set up in October 2007, this committee was presided by Jean Mutsinzi, former President of Supreme Court of Rwanda, and the current President of the Arusha-based African Court of Human and People's Rights.
The shooting down of the presidential plane near the capital, Kigali, and his subsequent death, sparked the 1994 genocide.
This theory has been challenged by Rwanda, which claims that the genocide against Tutsis started with the pogroms of 1959, 1963, 1973, and 1990.
At the end of 2006, an investigation by French Judge Jean-Louis Bruguière determined that the current President Paul Kagame was the main instigator of the attack, as he commanded the armed wing of the former rebellion of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), currently in power. Kagame has always and repeatedly denied any involvement in the attack.
Judge Brugiere had issued arrest warrants against nine close associates of Kagame and suggested to the United Nations to start investigations against the Rwandan President. Kigali reacted sharply by severing diplomatic ties with Paris.
The Rwandan government, instead, published, in August 2008, an investigation conducted by a commission into the role of France in the genocide, which blames about 30 civil and military French officials, including the late President François Mitterrand.
Kosovo approved for membership in IMF.
Deutsche Press Agentur
8 May 2009
The International Monetary Fund on Friday became the first major international institution to offer Kosovo membership.
Kosovo has been struggling for international recognition since it unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in February 2008. It has been recognized by dozens of countries, including the United States and many Western European governments.
The IMF's voting structure allowed Kosovo to gain membership despite the objections of Serbia, Russia and others that have refused to recognize its independence.
Only the United States has an effective veto over the IMF's decisions, unlike the United Nations, where Russia could block any efforts by Kosovo to join.
Kosovo's Prime Minister Hashim Thaci on Wednesday said that IMF membership 'represents another historical act for Kosovo and its future in Europe and Euro-Atlantic structures.'
Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic said the IMF's approval was to be expected. 'The important thing is that they are not members of UN,' he said.
The IMF on Friday said its executive board had certified a vote by the organization's 185 members, approving Kosovo's membership. Pristina still must formally accept the offer to join.
In addition to expanding Kosovo's international profile, membership in the IMF would give the country access to economic aid from the global lender. World leaders last month agreed to triple the IMF's resources to help countries suffering in the ongoing global recession.
Joining the IMF will allow Kosovo to apply for membership in the World Bank, the IMF's sister agency, which focuses more on aid to developing countries.
Thaci said he expected Kosovo to join the World Bank in June.
8 May 2009
The International Monetary Fund on Friday became the first major international institution to offer Kosovo membership.
Kosovo has been struggling for international recognition since it unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in February 2008. It has been recognized by dozens of countries, including the United States and many Western European governments.
The IMF's voting structure allowed Kosovo to gain membership despite the objections of Serbia, Russia and others that have refused to recognize its independence.
Only the United States has an effective veto over the IMF's decisions, unlike the United Nations, where Russia could block any efforts by Kosovo to join.
Kosovo's Prime Minister Hashim Thaci on Wednesday said that IMF membership 'represents another historical act for Kosovo and its future in Europe and Euro-Atlantic structures.'
Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic said the IMF's approval was to be expected. 'The important thing is that they are not members of UN,' he said.
The IMF on Friday said its executive board had certified a vote by the organization's 185 members, approving Kosovo's membership. Pristina still must formally accept the offer to join.
In addition to expanding Kosovo's international profile, membership in the IMF would give the country access to economic aid from the global lender. World leaders last month agreed to triple the IMF's resources to help countries suffering in the ongoing global recession.
Joining the IMF will allow Kosovo to apply for membership in the World Bank, the IMF's sister agency, which focuses more on aid to developing countries.
Thaci said he expected Kosovo to join the World Bank in June.
08 May, 2009
Kosovan ex-PM expelled from Colombia Following Arrest Warrant.
Radio Netherlands
8 May 2009
Former Kosovan prime minister Agim Çeku has been forced to cut short a visit to Colombia because of a warrant issued for his arrest by Serbia. Mr Çeku was attending a conference in Colombia when he was expelled. The authorities were apparently not willing to arrest him.
Serbia wants to put Mr Çeku on trial for war crimes. He was the highest commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army, or UÇK, which carried out a violent campaign against the Serbian state security forces at the end of the 1990s.
8 May 2009
Former Kosovan prime minister Agim Çeku has been forced to cut short a visit to Colombia because of a warrant issued for his arrest by Serbia. Mr Çeku was attending a conference in Colombia when he was expelled. The authorities were apparently not willing to arrest him.
Serbia wants to put Mr Çeku on trial for war crimes. He was the highest commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army, or UÇK, which carried out a violent campaign against the Serbian state security forces at the end of the 1990s.
Culprits or Scapegoats? Revisiting the role of Belgian mineral traders in Eastern DRC.
IPIS
8 May 2009
http://www.ipisresearch.be/att/Culprits_or_scapegoats_IPIS.pdf
Ever since the eruption of the second Congo war in August 1998, the
mining sector in eastern DRC has been under scrutiny of UN Sanctions
Committees, academics, NGOs, and local and international media, who have
been worried and disturbed by the links between natural resource
exploitation and armed conflict in the region. It has been argued that
both state and non-state armed actors are deriving benefit from the
local mining business by levying taxes on mineral exports, by selling
minerals for their own profit, and by trading mining rights for
financial and military support.
The present report aims to clarify the position of Belgian mineral
traders in the area. The purpose of the report is not only to shed more
light on the activities of Trademet and Traxys, the two companies
featuring in the latest UN report, but also to discuss the activities of
two other companies that have received no attention so far, namely
Services and Trading International (STI) and Société pour le
Développement et l'Expansion d'Entreprises (SDE).
8 May 2009
http://www.ipisresearch.be/att/Culprits_or_scapegoats_IPIS.pdf
Ever since the eruption of the second Congo war in August 1998, the
mining sector in eastern DRC has been under scrutiny of UN Sanctions
Committees, academics, NGOs, and local and international media, who have
been worried and disturbed by the links between natural resource
exploitation and armed conflict in the region. It has been argued that
both state and non-state armed actors are deriving benefit from the
local mining business by levying taxes on mineral exports, by selling
minerals for their own profit, and by trading mining rights for
financial and military support.
The present report aims to clarify the position of Belgian mineral
traders in the area. The purpose of the report is not only to shed more
light on the activities of Trademet and Traxys, the two companies
featuring in the latest UN report, but also to discuss the activities of
two other companies that have received no attention so far, namely
Services and Trading International (STI) and Société pour le
Développement et l'Expansion d'Entreprises (SDE).
Four killed in Burundi grenade attack
IOL News
7 May 2009
Attackers in Burundi hurled a grenade into a home on Thursday overnight, killing four members of a family and wounding five others, an official said.
"on Wednesday night, an entire family was gathered in its living room when someone hurled a grenade through the window... It exploded, killing four on the spot and seriously wounding five others," said Maximilien Ngendakuriyo, a senior official in Nyabiraba town.
Nyabiraba is located some 20 kilometres south-east of the capital Bujumbura.
"Preliminary findings in the investigation point to a land dispute," the official said, adding that one suspect was detained early on Thursday.
A mother and her three children were killed in a similar attack further to the south of Bujumbura late in April.
7 May 2009
Attackers in Burundi hurled a grenade into a home on Thursday overnight, killing four members of a family and wounding five others, an official said.
"on Wednesday night, an entire family was gathered in its living room when someone hurled a grenade through the window... It exploded, killing four on the spot and seriously wounding five others," said Maximilien Ngendakuriyo, a senior official in Nyabiraba town.
Nyabiraba is located some 20 kilometres south-east of the capital Bujumbura.
"Preliminary findings in the investigation point to a land dispute," the official said, adding that one suspect was detained early on Thursday.
A mother and her three children were killed in a similar attack further to the south of Bujumbura late in April.
Guinea junta sacks two ministers.
AFP
7 May 2009
Guinea's military junta sacked two government ministers on Thursday, according to a decree read on state radio, a day after it recalled about 30 ambassadors posted abroad.
Cooperation Minister Abdou Aziz Bah and Fodeba Toure, minister for youth, sports and youth employment, were dismissed and replaced by Diallo Djenabou Saifou and Fodeba Isto Keira respectively, according to the decree.
It gave no reason for the dismissals.
The junta, led by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, recalled some 30 ambassadors on Wednesday, including its representatives in Paris, Washington, the European Union and the United Nations.
Most of the ambassadors were appointed by former prime minister Lansana Kouyate, in office from February 2007 until May 2008.
7 May 2009
Guinea's military junta sacked two government ministers on Thursday, according to a decree read on state radio, a day after it recalled about 30 ambassadors posted abroad.
Cooperation Minister Abdou Aziz Bah and Fodeba Toure, minister for youth, sports and youth employment, were dismissed and replaced by Diallo Djenabou Saifou and Fodeba Isto Keira respectively, according to the decree.
It gave no reason for the dismissals.
The junta, led by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, recalled some 30 ambassadors on Wednesday, including its representatives in Paris, Washington, the European Union and the United Nations.
Most of the ambassadors were appointed by former prime minister Lansana Kouyate, in office from February 2007 until May 2008.
07 May, 2009
Guinea recalls 30 ambassadors, from US to China.
Daily Times
7 May 2009
Guinea’s ruling junta has recalled 30 ambassadors in cities from Washington to Beijing, nearly five months after seizing power when the West African country’s longtime dictator died.
The military junta gave no reason for the diplomatic reshuffle, ordered by a presidential decree read on state television Tuesday night. Almost all of Guinea’s embassies abroad will be affected by the reshuffle, including those in Paris, London, Moscow, Cairo and Pretoria, South Africa. The Guinean representatives to the European Union and African Union were also included.
It is the first major diplomatic move by self-proclaimed president Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara since he seized power in a bloodless coup on Dec. 23, hours after dictator Lansana Conte died. Conte’s inner circle had ruled Guinea for a quarter century. Camara suspended the constitution, launched an anti-corruption crackdown and publicly interrogated officials of the former regime accused of drug trafficking and graft. Guinea has an abundance of gold, copper, diamonds and bauxite, the raw material used to make aluminum. But despite its mineral wealth, the country remains one of the world’s poorest. In 2006, Transparency International rated it Africa’s most corrupt country, and many officials routinely traversed the capital’s potholed roads in imported SUVs and lived in glitzy, seaside villas.
7 May 2009
Guinea’s ruling junta has recalled 30 ambassadors in cities from Washington to Beijing, nearly five months after seizing power when the West African country’s longtime dictator died.
The military junta gave no reason for the diplomatic reshuffle, ordered by a presidential decree read on state television Tuesday night. Almost all of Guinea’s embassies abroad will be affected by the reshuffle, including those in Paris, London, Moscow, Cairo and Pretoria, South Africa. The Guinean representatives to the European Union and African Union were also included.
It is the first major diplomatic move by self-proclaimed president Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara since he seized power in a bloodless coup on Dec. 23, hours after dictator Lansana Conte died. Conte’s inner circle had ruled Guinea for a quarter century. Camara suspended the constitution, launched an anti-corruption crackdown and publicly interrogated officials of the former regime accused of drug trafficking and graft. Guinea has an abundance of gold, copper, diamonds and bauxite, the raw material used to make aluminum. But despite its mineral wealth, the country remains one of the world’s poorest. In 2006, Transparency International rated it Africa’s most corrupt country, and many officials routinely traversed the capital’s potholed roads in imported SUVs and lived in glitzy, seaside villas.
US State Dept. Security Expert Named UN Security Chief.
The Associated Press
May 6, 2009
UNITED NATIONS — Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday announced the appointment of Gregory Starr, the U.S. State Department's security director, as the new U.N. security chief overseeing the world body's far-flung security operations.
Starr is responsible for protecting more than 285 U.S. embassies and consulates overseas as well as 100 domestic facilities.
U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas, who announced Starr's appointment as undersecretary-general for safety and security, said he was chosen "mindful of the immediate need to tackle the heightened serious security risks facing the organization around the world."
He replaces David Veness of Britain who resigned last June over the December 2007 truck bombing at U.N. offices and another building in Algiers that killed 17 U.N. staffers and injured 40 others. An expert panel found "gaps and weaknesses" in the U.N.'s overall security operations due to cost-cutting.
Starr, 56, previously served with the State Department in Israel, Senegal, Tunisia and Congo.
May 6, 2009
UNITED NATIONS — Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday announced the appointment of Gregory Starr, the U.S. State Department's security director, as the new U.N. security chief overseeing the world body's far-flung security operations.
Starr is responsible for protecting more than 285 U.S. embassies and consulates overseas as well as 100 domestic facilities.
U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas, who announced Starr's appointment as undersecretary-general for safety and security, said he was chosen "mindful of the immediate need to tackle the heightened serious security risks facing the organization around the world."
He replaces David Veness of Britain who resigned last June over the December 2007 truck bombing at U.N. offices and another building in Algiers that killed 17 U.N. staffers and injured 40 others. An expert panel found "gaps and weaknesses" in the U.N.'s overall security operations due to cost-cutting.
Starr, 56, previously served with the State Department in Israel, Senegal, Tunisia and Congo.
06 May, 2009
Zuma elected South African leader.
BBC News
6 May 2009
The leader of South Africa's African National Congress, Jacob Zuma, has been officially elected the country's president by members of parliament.
He will be inaugurated on Saturday. The ANC won the general election in South Africa two weeks ago.
Mr Zuma's government is expected to focus on the faltering economy, fighting crime, poverty and HIV/Aids.
Pro-poor populist
Mr Zuma, 67, was challenged in the vote by Mvume Dandala of the opposition Congress of the People (Cope), which broke away from the ANC last year.
Mr Zuma received 277 votes compared to 47 for Mr Dandala.
South Africa's fourth democratic parliament, seated in Cape Town, began by swearing in 400 MPs when it convened for the first time on Wednesday.
The BBC's Mohammed Allie in Cape Town says the MPs then elected the speaker and deputy speaker before voting for Mr Zuma.
Tens of thousands of people and some 5,000 dignitaries are expected on Saturday to attend what is considered to be the main event: Mr Zuma's inauguration in Pretoria. His new cabinet will be announced by Sunday.
Mr Zuma won over voters on a pro-poor populist ticket and the ANC gained 264 seats in parliament.
But the party which has governed South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994 fell just short of its previous two-thirds majority, which had enabled it to pass constitutional changes.
It lost ground to the official opposition, the Democratic Alliance, which has swelled to 67 seats and Cope (third place with 30 seats).
Our correspondent says former President Thabo Mbeki was criticised for not spending enough time in parliament but many analysts believe Mr Zuma will have a different approach.
6 May 2009
The leader of South Africa's African National Congress, Jacob Zuma, has been officially elected the country's president by members of parliament.
He will be inaugurated on Saturday. The ANC won the general election in South Africa two weeks ago.
Mr Zuma's government is expected to focus on the faltering economy, fighting crime, poverty and HIV/Aids.
Pro-poor populist
Mr Zuma, 67, was challenged in the vote by Mvume Dandala of the opposition Congress of the People (Cope), which broke away from the ANC last year.
Mr Zuma received 277 votes compared to 47 for Mr Dandala.
South Africa's fourth democratic parliament, seated in Cape Town, began by swearing in 400 MPs when it convened for the first time on Wednesday.
The BBC's Mohammed Allie in Cape Town says the MPs then elected the speaker and deputy speaker before voting for Mr Zuma.
Tens of thousands of people and some 5,000 dignitaries are expected on Saturday to attend what is considered to be the main event: Mr Zuma's inauguration in Pretoria. His new cabinet will be announced by Sunday.
Mr Zuma won over voters on a pro-poor populist ticket and the ANC gained 264 seats in parliament.
But the party which has governed South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994 fell just short of its previous two-thirds majority, which had enabled it to pass constitutional changes.
It lost ground to the official opposition, the Democratic Alliance, which has swelled to 67 seats and Cope (third place with 30 seats).
Our correspondent says former President Thabo Mbeki was criticised for not spending enough time in parliament but many analysts believe Mr Zuma will have a different approach.
French judge wants to investigate 3 Africa leaders.
AP
5 May 2009
A French judge has decided to investigate three African heads of state for money laundering and other alleged crimes linked to their wealth in France.
The probe follows a complaint by Transparency International France, an association that tracks corruption, against Gabon's Omar Bongo, Republic of Congo's Denis Sassou-Nguesso and Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea.
Association lawyer William Bourdon claimed Tuesday the decision was "unprecedented" for such a probe against heads of state.
A preliminary investigation turned up numerous signs of wealth among the three that Bourdon says belongs to their people.
The prosecutor's office opposed the opening of an investigation April 20 and now has five days to appeal the decision by investigating Magistrate Francoise Desset.
Bongo is among the last of the so-called "African Big Men" who came to power by the gun and resisted the democratic tide sweeping the continent. He faces little political opposition in his oil-rich West African nation, ruling through a mixture of patronage and quiet intimidation.
Last year, Bongo became the world's longest-ruling head of state, not counting the monarchs of Britain and Thailand. He has been in charge since 1967.
French media have reported his family owns abundant real estate in France — at one time with more Paris properties than any other foreign leader.
Equatorial Guinea is Africa's No. 3 oil producer. Its leader, Obiang, has faced several attempts to topple his government since he seized power in a coup three decades ago. His government is considered among Africa's worst human rights violators.
Sassou-Nguesso of the Republic of Congo seized power for a second time in 1997 with help from Angolan troops.
5 May 2009
A French judge has decided to investigate three African heads of state for money laundering and other alleged crimes linked to their wealth in France.
The probe follows a complaint by Transparency International France, an association that tracks corruption, against Gabon's Omar Bongo, Republic of Congo's Denis Sassou-Nguesso and Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea.
Association lawyer William Bourdon claimed Tuesday the decision was "unprecedented" for such a probe against heads of state.
A preliminary investigation turned up numerous signs of wealth among the three that Bourdon says belongs to their people.
The prosecutor's office opposed the opening of an investigation April 20 and now has five days to appeal the decision by investigating Magistrate Francoise Desset.
Bongo is among the last of the so-called "African Big Men" who came to power by the gun and resisted the democratic tide sweeping the continent. He faces little political opposition in his oil-rich West African nation, ruling through a mixture of patronage and quiet intimidation.
Last year, Bongo became the world's longest-ruling head of state, not counting the monarchs of Britain and Thailand. He has been in charge since 1967.
French media have reported his family owns abundant real estate in France — at one time with more Paris properties than any other foreign leader.
Equatorial Guinea is Africa's No. 3 oil producer. Its leader, Obiang, has faced several attempts to topple his government since he seized power in a coup three decades ago. His government is considered among Africa's worst human rights violators.
Sassou-Nguesso of the Republic of Congo seized power for a second time in 1997 with help from Angolan troops.
AI calls on Ethiopian govt to reveal fate of political prisoners.
Afrol News
5 May 2009
Amnesty International (AI) has today called on the Ethiopian government to immediately disclose the names and fate of more than 35 people believed to be held by its security forces on political grounds since 24 April.
The group has further said it had learned that additional arrests were reportedly been carried out over the past several days, with further arrests expected.
According to AI, many of the victims are believed to have been arrested for their alleged involvement in planning a thwarted attack on the government, while others appear to have been arrested for their own or family members’ peaceful political opposition to the government.
Amnesty further said that amongst the 35 people, is an 80-year-old grandfather in urgent need of medical care.
“We are very concerned about the fate of those arrested,” said Michelle Kagari, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Africa Programme.
“Several may have been detained solely for their family ties to men who have expressed political opposition to the government. They should be released immediately. Any others should be charged with a recognisable criminal offense or released. All should have immediate access to their families, lawyers and any medical care they may require,” further lamented the deputy director.
Amnesty International said that while protection of national security is a responsibility to which governments rightfully attach high priority, it cannot be used to justify human rights violations.
The group stressed that several of those detained have been arrested solely on the basis of family ties with members of Ginbot 7, an opposition group established in the aftermath of the disputed 2005 elections.
In addition to General Tefera Mamo and other former military officers who have recently been detained, Amnesty International also said it had confirmed that at least one opposition party member and family members of opposition party leaders have also been detained, including a cousin of the opposition figure Berhanu Nega.
Many or all of those recently arrested are believed to be held in Maekalawi Prison in Addis Ababa, though the government has not yet confirmed, according to AI, adding that due to the secret nature of their detention, they are at significant risk of torture or other forms of ill-treatment.
After an initial court appearance last week, those detained were remanded into custody for 14 additional days to allow for further investigation and charges to be filed, said Amnesty International, adding that it expects their next court appearance to take place on or about 12 May 2009.
“Peaceful opposition to the government is not a crime - and being related to someone who opposes the government is not a crime. The Ethiopian government must not detain, harass or intimidate opposition party members or their family members in the course of ongoing security operations. This will only serve to exacerbate an already tense political climate pervading the country,” said Michelle Kagari.
5 May 2009
Amnesty International (AI) has today called on the Ethiopian government to immediately disclose the names and fate of more than 35 people believed to be held by its security forces on political grounds since 24 April.
The group has further said it had learned that additional arrests were reportedly been carried out over the past several days, with further arrests expected.
According to AI, many of the victims are believed to have been arrested for their alleged involvement in planning a thwarted attack on the government, while others appear to have been arrested for their own or family members’ peaceful political opposition to the government.
Amnesty further said that amongst the 35 people, is an 80-year-old grandfather in urgent need of medical care.
“We are very concerned about the fate of those arrested,” said Michelle Kagari, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Africa Programme.
“Several may have been detained solely for their family ties to men who have expressed political opposition to the government. They should be released immediately. Any others should be charged with a recognisable criminal offense or released. All should have immediate access to their families, lawyers and any medical care they may require,” further lamented the deputy director.
Amnesty International said that while protection of national security is a responsibility to which governments rightfully attach high priority, it cannot be used to justify human rights violations.
The group stressed that several of those detained have been arrested solely on the basis of family ties with members of Ginbot 7, an opposition group established in the aftermath of the disputed 2005 elections.
In addition to General Tefera Mamo and other former military officers who have recently been detained, Amnesty International also said it had confirmed that at least one opposition party member and family members of opposition party leaders have also been detained, including a cousin of the opposition figure Berhanu Nega.
Many or all of those recently arrested are believed to be held in Maekalawi Prison in Addis Ababa, though the government has not yet confirmed, according to AI, adding that due to the secret nature of their detention, they are at significant risk of torture or other forms of ill-treatment.
After an initial court appearance last week, those detained were remanded into custody for 14 additional days to allow for further investigation and charges to be filed, said Amnesty International, adding that it expects their next court appearance to take place on or about 12 May 2009.
“Peaceful opposition to the government is not a crime - and being related to someone who opposes the government is not a crime. The Ethiopian government must not detain, harass or intimidate opposition party members or their family members in the course of ongoing security operations. This will only serve to exacerbate an already tense political climate pervading the country,” said Michelle Kagari.
The Case For The Congo.
By Ali M. Malau
5 May 2009
Opinion
Foreign Policy magazine recently published a rather disturbing article on the Congo (There is No Congo, posted March 2009, Web Exclusive, http://www.foreignpolicy.com), by Mr. Jeffrey Herbst of Miami University of Ohio, and Mr. Greg Mills, who directs the Johannesburg-based Brenthurst Foundation. The article argues against Congo as a unified entity. As a Congolese citizen, I could not disagree more with their argument, and I believe it warrants an appropriate rebuttal.
Their article is a perfect illustration of the flawed approach with which much of the so-called international community, and some scholars on Africa, have analyzed the situation in the Congo since its nominal independence in 1960, and frankly, part of the reason why they never get it right. It is often not due to inaccurate facts, or lack of knowledge on the region, but more due to inadequate prisms molded in the group-think of Western-centric academia.
In my view, and to illustrate some of the points I am rebutting, the article boils down to the following citations:
" … And indeed, for centuries, this is precisely what Congo's colonial occupiers, its neighbors, and even some of its people have done: eaten away at Congo's vast mineral wealth with little concern for the coherency of the country left behind. Congo has none of the things that make a nation-state: interconnectedness, a government that is able to exert authority consistently in territory beyond the capital, a shared culture that promotes national unity, or a common language. Instead, Congo has become a collection of peoples, groups, interests, and pillagers who coexist at best."
"The very concept of a Congolese state has outlived its usefulness. For an international community that has far too long made wishful thinking the enemy of pragmatism, acting on reality rather than diplomatic theory would be a good start."
There is one general sense in this article that is right: the Congo has been a disappointment. With the vast swathes of fauna, flora, mineral, agricultural, hydroelectric, and human resources it inherited at its independence, one would expect the Congo today to rival if not exceed such rising powers as South Africa, Brazil, India, China, Korea, Singapore, Saudi Arabia or the UAE. Instead, as the article justly points out, the level of deliquescence in Congo today is almost unprecedented; not acknowledging that reality would be intellectually dubious.
Nevertheless, what is equally dubious, is the misdiagnosis of the root causes of the current situation. The authors of this article repeatedly, and I believe questionably, confuse causes and consequences, to support and justify a desire, long-held in certain circles, for the balkanization of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The authors point out the weakness of the Congolese central state in governing the vast country, without fully and honestly addressing the international geo-strategic reasons why that reality came to be. The authors point out the various secessions and minor uprisings during the past 40+ years to justify their diagnosis of the Congo. Yet they fail to shine a light on the multiple foreign state and corporate backers that participated in those early attempts at derailing the Congo. The authors claim that " the Congolese government's inability to control its territory has resulted in one of the world's longest and most violent wars", without actually addressing the reasons why the government was - and still is - not able to control its territory in the first place.
My contention is quite simple. The current conflict(s) in the Congo, the deliquescence of the state, the lack of infrastructures and "interconnectedness", are not merely unforeseen, pathological consequences of bad colonial and/or cold war policy gone awry. The current situation is a direct, calculated, and progressively manufactured result of a long-standing operation by Western nations to maintain a weak state in this vast mineral rich swath of land in the heart of Africa and perpetuate the systematic plunder of Congo's resources by various foreign interests, and their proxies in the local elite.
Seems far-fetched? Let us consider that, until proven otherwise, the Congo is a sovereign country, recognized as such by international law, the United Nations, and, in theory, every country on the planet. Yet despite that, over the past five decades, these very countries, (including supposed champions of the rule of law like The United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Belgium, France and South Africa), have allowed their mining companies (like Banro, Freeport-McMoran, Anglo American, DeBeers, and others) to enter into odious contracts with corrupt elements of the leadership in Kinshasa, and worse, with murderous warlords, and near-genocidal militias, unhindered and unpunished. Furthermore, several of these very countries and their corporations have provided the military, logistical and ideological support to the secessionist regimes in the 60's and 70's, Rwanda, Uganda, Angola, their proxy militias and/or their rival militias, thus destabilizing and creating a de facto partition of the country, and further guaranteeing maximized profits through cheap/slave/child labor under warlords. That is not happenstance, but cold, calculated, predatory business planning. In fact, one only has to examine the history of the ties between the Oppenheimer mining magnate family of South Africa - which founded, and finances, the Brenthurst foundation that one of the authors of "There is No Congo," Greg Mills, leads - and the various regimes and rebellions we have seen in the Congo, to understand how integral these foreign corporate and state interests are to the conduct of ANY business in the Congo.
I contend that it is not so much that there is No Congo; nor is it that the Congo as a country is not possible. I contend that since 1959, it was deemed too much of a potential threat to several world and regional powers, and to the coffers of their corporate acolytes, to allow the rise of a strong, large, potential Brazil-type power, in the heart of Africa.. And we can see why. Let us consider the Congo today. Despite being one of the poorest, badly-managed countries in the world, by virtue of its position and of its potential, the country is poised - should there be a great deal of change in leadership - to be a major guarantor of the development of a truly functional African continent, and African Union. As Herbst and Mills themselves justly point out, "the country is the region's vortex ". Former South African President, Thabo Mbeki notes “There cannot be a new Africa without a new Congo.” President Barack Obama himself rightly notes “If Africa is to achieve its promise resolving the problem in the Congo will be critical.”
Over the years, despite all the adversity the Congo faces, and despite the desires they secretly harbor to see the Congo disintegrate to begin annexing its pieces, its neighbors in the region were forced to recognize its central and crucial position for the advent of further economic development for the entire continent. As a result, despite currently being, admittedly, an economic drag on all of them, the countries of Southern, Central, and Eastern Africa have all secured some form of regional economic/political supranational alliance with the Congo, whether through SADC, CEPGL, CEEAC or COMESA (all groups that constitute regional clusters in the building of the larger African Union).
There lies the issue for this country. Left to its own devices, a big, strong, unified Congo would be a powerful engine for the development, and the industrialization of the entire continent. Herbst and Mills, I believe justly state that "economically, the various outlying parts of Congo are better integrated with their neighbors than with the rest of the country." But that is not in Congo's disfavor. Whether in terms of its abundant precious and strategic minerals, the tremendous amount of renewable energy that could be generated by the Inga dam project on the Congo river, the natural gas in Lake Kivu or the geo-thermal potential of the volcanic mountains in the east, the second lung of our planet that is its rainforest, or the extraordinary - and exhaustively demonstrated - resilience of its people, the Congo has everything to be the central pillar around which Africa rises. Should the people of the Congo find a way to build the infrastructure to interconnect its outlying parts, the country would instantly become the key piece in regional development. That prospect has always unsettled many, whose interests might not be as well served should there be a strong government, a functioning army and police, and rule of law.
Herbst and Mills claim that "the very concept of a Congolese state has outlived its usefulness." When was it ever truly - and democratically - implemented, I ask? When, since 1885, have the affairs of the Congo ever truly been left to the Congolese people? See, I contend that the Congo has, intentionally, never even been given a fighting chance to live up to its potential.. Its challenge since 1885 has been both an internal and external one. Under colonial rule, the people were voluntarily under-educated, and the infrastructure built was limited to basic transportation needs for minerals, and the comfort of colons. Under Mobutu, the regime, backed by Western powers, ruled with an iron fist, promoted corruption, allowed the deliquescence of the already meager infrastructure and mining industry, and progressively engineered a weakening of the state apparatus, the army and the police, in order to strengthen and impose Mobutu's personal rule, and better protect the mechanisms of the systematic plundering of the country's resources. The Congo today is the result of a systematic, documented, and fully reversible process of manufactured under-development, with roots in colonial and neo-colonial policies, but more importantly, in greed. Fomenting and perpetuating misery, turmoil, tribalism, destructive autocratic rule, and angling for the "Somalization" of the Congo, was more profitable to key greedy domestic elites and foreign groups, and more dependable for key foreign powers, than actually allowing this country to build the infrastructure it needed - and still needs - to succeed.
That is a far more accurate prism to consider the events that have befallen the Congo over the decades. It explains the secession of Katanga, the mineral rich southern province, only 7 days after independence in 1960, with the help of Belgium, the very colonial power the people of the entire country had just successfully sought to get rid of. It also explains the assassination of the first democratically elected Prime Minister, Patrice E.. Lumumba, with, at the very least, the tacit backing of Belgium and the United States. It explains, for instance, the documented contacts between the Oppenheimer family of South Africa and Albert Kalonji Mulopwe, the "Emperor" of the secessionist South-Kasai, Moise Tshombe, leader of the Katanga secession, and rebel groups of more recent years. Finally, and most tragically, it explains how the Congo's neighbors - Rwanda, Uganda, and to some degree Angola, their proxy militias, their rival militias, and corrupt elements of the so-called leadership of the Congo and their militias, have been not only allowed by the international community, but backed and supported primarily by the United States and Britain:
* to systematically destroy, ransack and plunder an entire country, unhindered and unpunished;
* to brutally rape and sexually terrorize tens of thousands of women in front of their sons, fathers and husbands, unhindered and unpunished;
* to turn children into soldiers, unhindered and unpunished;
* and to cause the death of nearly 6 million people - a scale for another century - to this day, seamlessly, unhindered and unpunished.
All the above has been accomplished in blatant violation of every principle of International Law, and every principle of human decency, and in full view of the inadequately-led, inadequately-sized, ineffective, inept, overhyped, overpriced and overpaid so-called "largest United Nations peacekeeping force" (MONUC), and with logistical support from Western powers, and recently, the dreaded AFRICOM of the United States. Herbst and Mills argue that "the international community does not have the will or the resources to construct a functional Congo"? It seems more accurate to say that over the years, the international community has been - more or less intentionally - actively, and systematically undermining a functional Congo. It is for this reason that Antonio Guterres, High-commissioner of the UNCHR reminded us in his interview with the Financial Times, in January 2008, that we must not forget that “the international community has systematically looted the Congo” and that is a far different and, in my opinion, far more easily remediable problem.
The ultimate solution to the Congolese situation lies in investing on a key element that Herbst and Mills discount too quickly, and wrongly so: the Congolese people, its sense of citizenship, and its resilience. Through all the humiliations of colonialism and dictatorships, the scheming, the gaming, the profiteering, the raping, the oppression, the daily humiliations of poverty, the hunger, the injustice, the corruption, the tribalism and the morbid reality of living in a needlessly war-torn country, the Congolese people have emerged as quite the resilient people, AND quite the cohesive people; at least as cohesive as can be expected for any multi-cultural people, whether in the Congo, in South Africa, or in the United States. Congo may yet have "none of the things that make a nation-state", but I contend that you would be hard-pressed to find a Congolese citizen, rural or urban, who does not identify with the Congolese nation, and the "boundaries that the king of Belgium helped establish in 1885 ".
Yes, the lack of infrastructures makes the task to establish and solidify the regal functions of a strong, centralized state on the entire territory, unusually daunting. But the Congo is not the first, and will certainly not be the last, multi-cultural nation, that has to, in its formative years, struggle with translating their sense of national identity into stable, and accepted state institutions. It may be hard, but the argument that it is not worth thriving for, fighting for, and supporting, is simply untenable; especially coming from two scholars from the two countries in the world - the United States and South Africa - that symbolize the most (and I admire them for that) the possibility of overcoming tremendous and varying odds to build united and strong countries, that combine multi-cultural peoples, and effective, democratic states. Maybe the Congolese can learn from them, and Brazil, and India, and establish a strong, but truly federal state. When the Congo's affairs are left to the Congolese people, the possibilities are endless.
Now, that is definitely not to say it will be a cakewalk. The Congo we envision, thrive and advocate for is possible, but it will entail a great deal of work and investment from the Congolese people. Those in the “learned class” – economists, agronomists, engineers, teachers, doctors, etc - that have managed to maintain their integrity by not partaking in the plunder of the Congo, will have to outgrow this sense of cynicism, hopelessness and apathy that has seeped into their consciousness due to years of despair and lack of prospects for change, and roll-up their sleeves. The Congolese will need to revitalize the education sector, so as to ensure that the coming generations have access to the knowledge they need to continue the task of rebuilding their country. They will also need to organize education/training initiatives for urban and rural adults, in various fields, among which – and most importantly – sustainable agriculture, construction, urbanization, sanitation, and salubrity. They will need to reinforce notions of civics, citizenship, human rights, civil and civic rights, law and order, and respect for women, which years of oppression and mis-education, of Leopoldism, colonialism, Mobutism and other -isms have caused to somewhat crumble away in the general consciousness. Finally, on a national level, they will need to seek worthy partners to do all the above, and also begin the work of reconnecting the Congo to the main grids of modern technology, starting with the electrification of the country, through the rehabilitation and completion of the Inga hydroelectric complex.. The task is not complex for the Congolese people; it is simply tedious. The prescriptions we put forth imply a laborious, time-consuming but necessary grassroots work, that needs to start yesterday, but is absolutely achievable. And given a true opportunity, I believe the Congolese people are up to the task.
So, instead of giving up on the Congo, and dismissing it as an irredeemable failure, I say let the Congo and its people truly amaze you. Give the Congo a fighting chance. It is quite simple, really. Intel, Nokia, Dell, T-Mobile, IBM, Banro, Freeport-McMoran, Anglo American, Chevron, Tullow and all the other companies identified in the Financial Times and United Nations Reports from 2001 – 2003, that romp through Congo for coltan, cassiterite, tin cobalt, gold, diamonds, oil, etc, should cease and desist from buying minerals illegally from warlords, from neighboring countries that have looted our resources, or through odious or illegal contracts. By all means, invest in Congo, but be deliberate and intentional about doing it through the proper channels. Stop financing and arming warlords. All people of goodwill should discourage the Congo's neighbors from meddling in its affairs and support and finance education and healthcare institutions. Support local institutions, and help the civil society hold the central government, the provincial governments and the security forces truly accountable.
And finally this time, this time, help the Congolese ensure that they conduct truly free, fair, transparent and democratic elections in 2011. The International Crisis Group's 2007 report "Congo: Consolidating the Peace", shows quite clearly that the last time around, the International community was more concerned about access to lucrative mining contracts as opposed to a democratic process that would reflect the interests of the people. Let us all thrive to prevent a repetition of that. The Congolese have an imperfect constitution, with imperfect prescriptions, and imperfect institutions, but they are all theirs to perfect. Let the Congolese people choose its own leaders, and manage its own territory. Give them the chance they have never had: to demonstrate their capacity to be a viable nation, and establish for themselves a state that helps their country live up to its full potential. Is that really a concept that has outlived its usefulness? I dare think not.
Ali Malau is an adviser to The Friends of the Congo (FOTC), a 501 (c) 3 tax-exempt advocacy organization based in Washington, DC.
5 May 2009
Opinion
Foreign Policy magazine recently published a rather disturbing article on the Congo (There is No Congo, posted March 2009, Web Exclusive, http://www.foreignpolicy.com), by Mr. Jeffrey Herbst of Miami University of Ohio, and Mr. Greg Mills, who directs the Johannesburg-based Brenthurst Foundation. The article argues against Congo as a unified entity. As a Congolese citizen, I could not disagree more with their argument, and I believe it warrants an appropriate rebuttal.
Their article is a perfect illustration of the flawed approach with which much of the so-called international community, and some scholars on Africa, have analyzed the situation in the Congo since its nominal independence in 1960, and frankly, part of the reason why they never get it right. It is often not due to inaccurate facts, or lack of knowledge on the region, but more due to inadequate prisms molded in the group-think of Western-centric academia.
In my view, and to illustrate some of the points I am rebutting, the article boils down to the following citations:
" … And indeed, for centuries, this is precisely what Congo's colonial occupiers, its neighbors, and even some of its people have done: eaten away at Congo's vast mineral wealth with little concern for the coherency of the country left behind. Congo has none of the things that make a nation-state: interconnectedness, a government that is able to exert authority consistently in territory beyond the capital, a shared culture that promotes national unity, or a common language. Instead, Congo has become a collection of peoples, groups, interests, and pillagers who coexist at best."
"The very concept of a Congolese state has outlived its usefulness. For an international community that has far too long made wishful thinking the enemy of pragmatism, acting on reality rather than diplomatic theory would be a good start."
There is one general sense in this article that is right: the Congo has been a disappointment. With the vast swathes of fauna, flora, mineral, agricultural, hydroelectric, and human resources it inherited at its independence, one would expect the Congo today to rival if not exceed such rising powers as South Africa, Brazil, India, China, Korea, Singapore, Saudi Arabia or the UAE. Instead, as the article justly points out, the level of deliquescence in Congo today is almost unprecedented; not acknowledging that reality would be intellectually dubious.
Nevertheless, what is equally dubious, is the misdiagnosis of the root causes of the current situation. The authors of this article repeatedly, and I believe questionably, confuse causes and consequences, to support and justify a desire, long-held in certain circles, for the balkanization of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The authors point out the weakness of the Congolese central state in governing the vast country, without fully and honestly addressing the international geo-strategic reasons why that reality came to be. The authors point out the various secessions and minor uprisings during the past 40+ years to justify their diagnosis of the Congo. Yet they fail to shine a light on the multiple foreign state and corporate backers that participated in those early attempts at derailing the Congo. The authors claim that " the Congolese government's inability to control its territory has resulted in one of the world's longest and most violent wars", without actually addressing the reasons why the government was - and still is - not able to control its territory in the first place.
My contention is quite simple. The current conflict(s) in the Congo, the deliquescence of the state, the lack of infrastructures and "interconnectedness", are not merely unforeseen, pathological consequences of bad colonial and/or cold war policy gone awry. The current situation is a direct, calculated, and progressively manufactured result of a long-standing operation by Western nations to maintain a weak state in this vast mineral rich swath of land in the heart of Africa and perpetuate the systematic plunder of Congo's resources by various foreign interests, and their proxies in the local elite.
Seems far-fetched? Let us consider that, until proven otherwise, the Congo is a sovereign country, recognized as such by international law, the United Nations, and, in theory, every country on the planet. Yet despite that, over the past five decades, these very countries, (including supposed champions of the rule of law like The United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Belgium, France and South Africa), have allowed their mining companies (like Banro, Freeport-McMoran, Anglo American, DeBeers, and others) to enter into odious contracts with corrupt elements of the leadership in Kinshasa, and worse, with murderous warlords, and near-genocidal militias, unhindered and unpunished. Furthermore, several of these very countries and their corporations have provided the military, logistical and ideological support to the secessionist regimes in the 60's and 70's, Rwanda, Uganda, Angola, their proxy militias and/or their rival militias, thus destabilizing and creating a de facto partition of the country, and further guaranteeing maximized profits through cheap/slave/child labor under warlords. That is not happenstance, but cold, calculated, predatory business planning. In fact, one only has to examine the history of the ties between the Oppenheimer mining magnate family of South Africa - which founded, and finances, the Brenthurst foundation that one of the authors of "There is No Congo," Greg Mills, leads - and the various regimes and rebellions we have seen in the Congo, to understand how integral these foreign corporate and state interests are to the conduct of ANY business in the Congo.
I contend that it is not so much that there is No Congo; nor is it that the Congo as a country is not possible. I contend that since 1959, it was deemed too much of a potential threat to several world and regional powers, and to the coffers of their corporate acolytes, to allow the rise of a strong, large, potential Brazil-type power, in the heart of Africa.. And we can see why. Let us consider the Congo today. Despite being one of the poorest, badly-managed countries in the world, by virtue of its position and of its potential, the country is poised - should there be a great deal of change in leadership - to be a major guarantor of the development of a truly functional African continent, and African Union. As Herbst and Mills themselves justly point out, "the country is the region's vortex ". Former South African President, Thabo Mbeki notes “There cannot be a new Africa without a new Congo.” President Barack Obama himself rightly notes “If Africa is to achieve its promise resolving the problem in the Congo will be critical.”
Over the years, despite all the adversity the Congo faces, and despite the desires they secretly harbor to see the Congo disintegrate to begin annexing its pieces, its neighbors in the region were forced to recognize its central and crucial position for the advent of further economic development for the entire continent. As a result, despite currently being, admittedly, an economic drag on all of them, the countries of Southern, Central, and Eastern Africa have all secured some form of regional economic/political supranational alliance with the Congo, whether through SADC, CEPGL, CEEAC or COMESA (all groups that constitute regional clusters in the building of the larger African Union).
There lies the issue for this country. Left to its own devices, a big, strong, unified Congo would be a powerful engine for the development, and the industrialization of the entire continent. Herbst and Mills, I believe justly state that "economically, the various outlying parts of Congo are better integrated with their neighbors than with the rest of the country." But that is not in Congo's disfavor. Whether in terms of its abundant precious and strategic minerals, the tremendous amount of renewable energy that could be generated by the Inga dam project on the Congo river, the natural gas in Lake Kivu or the geo-thermal potential of the volcanic mountains in the east, the second lung of our planet that is its rainforest, or the extraordinary - and exhaustively demonstrated - resilience of its people, the Congo has everything to be the central pillar around which Africa rises. Should the people of the Congo find a way to build the infrastructure to interconnect its outlying parts, the country would instantly become the key piece in regional development. That prospect has always unsettled many, whose interests might not be as well served should there be a strong government, a functioning army and police, and rule of law.
Herbst and Mills claim that "the very concept of a Congolese state has outlived its usefulness." When was it ever truly - and democratically - implemented, I ask? When, since 1885, have the affairs of the Congo ever truly been left to the Congolese people? See, I contend that the Congo has, intentionally, never even been given a fighting chance to live up to its potential.. Its challenge since 1885 has been both an internal and external one. Under colonial rule, the people were voluntarily under-educated, and the infrastructure built was limited to basic transportation needs for minerals, and the comfort of colons. Under Mobutu, the regime, backed by Western powers, ruled with an iron fist, promoted corruption, allowed the deliquescence of the already meager infrastructure and mining industry, and progressively engineered a weakening of the state apparatus, the army and the police, in order to strengthen and impose Mobutu's personal rule, and better protect the mechanisms of the systematic plundering of the country's resources. The Congo today is the result of a systematic, documented, and fully reversible process of manufactured under-development, with roots in colonial and neo-colonial policies, but more importantly, in greed. Fomenting and perpetuating misery, turmoil, tribalism, destructive autocratic rule, and angling for the "Somalization" of the Congo, was more profitable to key greedy domestic elites and foreign groups, and more dependable for key foreign powers, than actually allowing this country to build the infrastructure it needed - and still needs - to succeed.
That is a far more accurate prism to consider the events that have befallen the Congo over the decades. It explains the secession of Katanga, the mineral rich southern province, only 7 days after independence in 1960, with the help of Belgium, the very colonial power the people of the entire country had just successfully sought to get rid of. It also explains the assassination of the first democratically elected Prime Minister, Patrice E.. Lumumba, with, at the very least, the tacit backing of Belgium and the United States. It explains, for instance, the documented contacts between the Oppenheimer family of South Africa and Albert Kalonji Mulopwe, the "Emperor" of the secessionist South-Kasai, Moise Tshombe, leader of the Katanga secession, and rebel groups of more recent years. Finally, and most tragically, it explains how the Congo's neighbors - Rwanda, Uganda, and to some degree Angola, their proxy militias, their rival militias, and corrupt elements of the so-called leadership of the Congo and their militias, have been not only allowed by the international community, but backed and supported primarily by the United States and Britain:
* to systematically destroy, ransack and plunder an entire country, unhindered and unpunished;
* to brutally rape and sexually terrorize tens of thousands of women in front of their sons, fathers and husbands, unhindered and unpunished;
* to turn children into soldiers, unhindered and unpunished;
* and to cause the death of nearly 6 million people - a scale for another century - to this day, seamlessly, unhindered and unpunished.
All the above has been accomplished in blatant violation of every principle of International Law, and every principle of human decency, and in full view of the inadequately-led, inadequately-sized, ineffective, inept, overhyped, overpriced and overpaid so-called "largest United Nations peacekeeping force" (MONUC), and with logistical support from Western powers, and recently, the dreaded AFRICOM of the United States. Herbst and Mills argue that "the international community does not have the will or the resources to construct a functional Congo"? It seems more accurate to say that over the years, the international community has been - more or less intentionally - actively, and systematically undermining a functional Congo. It is for this reason that Antonio Guterres, High-commissioner of the UNCHR reminded us in his interview with the Financial Times, in January 2008, that we must not forget that “the international community has systematically looted the Congo” and that is a far different and, in my opinion, far more easily remediable problem.
The ultimate solution to the Congolese situation lies in investing on a key element that Herbst and Mills discount too quickly, and wrongly so: the Congolese people, its sense of citizenship, and its resilience. Through all the humiliations of colonialism and dictatorships, the scheming, the gaming, the profiteering, the raping, the oppression, the daily humiliations of poverty, the hunger, the injustice, the corruption, the tribalism and the morbid reality of living in a needlessly war-torn country, the Congolese people have emerged as quite the resilient people, AND quite the cohesive people; at least as cohesive as can be expected for any multi-cultural people, whether in the Congo, in South Africa, or in the United States. Congo may yet have "none of the things that make a nation-state", but I contend that you would be hard-pressed to find a Congolese citizen, rural or urban, who does not identify with the Congolese nation, and the "boundaries that the king of Belgium helped establish in 1885 ".
Yes, the lack of infrastructures makes the task to establish and solidify the regal functions of a strong, centralized state on the entire territory, unusually daunting. But the Congo is not the first, and will certainly not be the last, multi-cultural nation, that has to, in its formative years, struggle with translating their sense of national identity into stable, and accepted state institutions. It may be hard, but the argument that it is not worth thriving for, fighting for, and supporting, is simply untenable; especially coming from two scholars from the two countries in the world - the United States and South Africa - that symbolize the most (and I admire them for that) the possibility of overcoming tremendous and varying odds to build united and strong countries, that combine multi-cultural peoples, and effective, democratic states. Maybe the Congolese can learn from them, and Brazil, and India, and establish a strong, but truly federal state. When the Congo's affairs are left to the Congolese people, the possibilities are endless.
Now, that is definitely not to say it will be a cakewalk. The Congo we envision, thrive and advocate for is possible, but it will entail a great deal of work and investment from the Congolese people. Those in the “learned class” – economists, agronomists, engineers, teachers, doctors, etc - that have managed to maintain their integrity by not partaking in the plunder of the Congo, will have to outgrow this sense of cynicism, hopelessness and apathy that has seeped into their consciousness due to years of despair and lack of prospects for change, and roll-up their sleeves. The Congolese will need to revitalize the education sector, so as to ensure that the coming generations have access to the knowledge they need to continue the task of rebuilding their country. They will also need to organize education/training initiatives for urban and rural adults, in various fields, among which – and most importantly – sustainable agriculture, construction, urbanization, sanitation, and salubrity. They will need to reinforce notions of civics, citizenship, human rights, civil and civic rights, law and order, and respect for women, which years of oppression and mis-education, of Leopoldism, colonialism, Mobutism and other -isms have caused to somewhat crumble away in the general consciousness. Finally, on a national level, they will need to seek worthy partners to do all the above, and also begin the work of reconnecting the Congo to the main grids of modern technology, starting with the electrification of the country, through the rehabilitation and completion of the Inga hydroelectric complex.. The task is not complex for the Congolese people; it is simply tedious. The prescriptions we put forth imply a laborious, time-consuming but necessary grassroots work, that needs to start yesterday, but is absolutely achievable. And given a true opportunity, I believe the Congolese people are up to the task.
So, instead of giving up on the Congo, and dismissing it as an irredeemable failure, I say let the Congo and its people truly amaze you. Give the Congo a fighting chance. It is quite simple, really. Intel, Nokia, Dell, T-Mobile, IBM, Banro, Freeport-McMoran, Anglo American, Chevron, Tullow and all the other companies identified in the Financial Times and United Nations Reports from 2001 – 2003, that romp through Congo for coltan, cassiterite, tin cobalt, gold, diamonds, oil, etc, should cease and desist from buying minerals illegally from warlords, from neighboring countries that have looted our resources, or through odious or illegal contracts. By all means, invest in Congo, but be deliberate and intentional about doing it through the proper channels. Stop financing and arming warlords. All people of goodwill should discourage the Congo's neighbors from meddling in its affairs and support and finance education and healthcare institutions. Support local institutions, and help the civil society hold the central government, the provincial governments and the security forces truly accountable.
And finally this time, this time, help the Congolese ensure that they conduct truly free, fair, transparent and democratic elections in 2011. The International Crisis Group's 2007 report "Congo: Consolidating the Peace", shows quite clearly that the last time around, the International community was more concerned about access to lucrative mining contracts as opposed to a democratic process that would reflect the interests of the people. Let us all thrive to prevent a repetition of that. The Congolese have an imperfect constitution, with imperfect prescriptions, and imperfect institutions, but they are all theirs to perfect. Let the Congolese people choose its own leaders, and manage its own territory. Give them the chance they have never had: to demonstrate their capacity to be a viable nation, and establish for themselves a state that helps their country live up to its full potential. Is that really a concept that has outlived its usefulness? I dare think not.
Ali Malau is an adviser to The Friends of the Congo (FOTC), a 501 (c) 3 tax-exempt advocacy organization based in Washington, DC.
05 May, 2009
Gunned down Irishman ‘linked to neo-Nazi group’
Belfast Telegraph
4 May 2009
The Bolivian authorities have claimed that Michael Dwyer, the Tipperary man shot dead by police two weeks ago, was heavily involved in neo-Nazi terror group Szekler Legion.
Last week the Bolivian government released pictures of Mr Dwyer and other members of the group posing for photographs surrounded by guns. The group is also suspected of planting a bomb at the home of a Catholic cardinal in Bolivia the day before he and two Hungarian terrorists were shot dead.
The same terror group, which the Bolivians say Mr. Dwyer (24) joined last October, was suspected of carrying out a series of attacks on the homes of Bolivian cabinet ministers, civil servants and politicians since 2006 when its leader Eduardo Rozsa-Flores sneaked into the country.
One of Rozsa-Flores' closest associates, also a 32-year-old Hungarian, is living in Ireland and met Michael Dwyer when they worked together for the security firm I-RMS during its contract with Shell. I-RMS was making no comment on the affair but sources in the security industry said the Hungarian they employed had proper credentials and has no known criminal record in Hungary or elsewhere.
On Friday the Bolivian government released pictures taken from cameras found in the rooms in the four-star hotel where five member of the gang were staying. The pictures include several of Dwyer holding guns and rifles.
The 32-year-old Hungarian ex-soldier travelled to Bolivia with Dwyer on October 20 along with two other Hungarians. While Dwyer stayed on the three Hungarians returned, two to Hungary and the 32-year-old ex-soldier to Cavan.
It is believed he and a number of other men of east European nationality attended Dwyer's funeral in Tipperary on Thursday but did not speak to any mourners. Despite repeated claims that Mr Dwyer was an innocent party and had been associated with “adventurers”, photographs released by the Bolivian authorities last week show he was heavily armed and close with the terrorist ring-leader Rozsa-Flores, a man who has been implicated in ethnic cleansing in former Yugoslavia and who, at his own admission, was actively seeking the overthrow of left-wing Bolivian president Evo Morales.
He is also believed to have been an active member of Szekler Legion, led by Rozsa-Flores, until he was shot dead in Santa Cruz.
In one of the pictures apparently taken on New Year's Day, Dwyer and Rosza-Flores are sitting at a table covered with firearms and ammunition smiling to the camera.
Dwyer also he had a Nazi SS insignia tattooed on his arm. The tattoo was disguised in an elaborate, larger design but is clearly visible on his arm. He joked about it with associates on his Facebook page.
Gardai are now investigating the activities of the neo-fascist Hungarians and Romanians who have come to the Republic in recent years.
4 May 2009
The Bolivian authorities have claimed that Michael Dwyer, the Tipperary man shot dead by police two weeks ago, was heavily involved in neo-Nazi terror group Szekler Legion.
Last week the Bolivian government released pictures of Mr Dwyer and other members of the group posing for photographs surrounded by guns. The group is also suspected of planting a bomb at the home of a Catholic cardinal in Bolivia the day before he and two Hungarian terrorists were shot dead.
The same terror group, which the Bolivians say Mr. Dwyer (24) joined last October, was suspected of carrying out a series of attacks on the homes of Bolivian cabinet ministers, civil servants and politicians since 2006 when its leader Eduardo Rozsa-Flores sneaked into the country.
One of Rozsa-Flores' closest associates, also a 32-year-old Hungarian, is living in Ireland and met Michael Dwyer when they worked together for the security firm I-RMS during its contract with Shell. I-RMS was making no comment on the affair but sources in the security industry said the Hungarian they employed had proper credentials and has no known criminal record in Hungary or elsewhere.
On Friday the Bolivian government released pictures taken from cameras found in the rooms in the four-star hotel where five member of the gang were staying. The pictures include several of Dwyer holding guns and rifles.
The 32-year-old Hungarian ex-soldier travelled to Bolivia with Dwyer on October 20 along with two other Hungarians. While Dwyer stayed on the three Hungarians returned, two to Hungary and the 32-year-old ex-soldier to Cavan.
It is believed he and a number of other men of east European nationality attended Dwyer's funeral in Tipperary on Thursday but did not speak to any mourners. Despite repeated claims that Mr Dwyer was an innocent party and had been associated with “adventurers”, photographs released by the Bolivian authorities last week show he was heavily armed and close with the terrorist ring-leader Rozsa-Flores, a man who has been implicated in ethnic cleansing in former Yugoslavia and who, at his own admission, was actively seeking the overthrow of left-wing Bolivian president Evo Morales.
He is also believed to have been an active member of Szekler Legion, led by Rozsa-Flores, until he was shot dead in Santa Cruz.
In one of the pictures apparently taken on New Year's Day, Dwyer and Rosza-Flores are sitting at a table covered with firearms and ammunition smiling to the camera.
Dwyer also he had a Nazi SS insignia tattooed on his arm. The tattoo was disguised in an elaborate, larger design but is clearly visible on his arm. He joked about it with associates on his Facebook page.
Gardai are now investigating the activities of the neo-fascist Hungarians and Romanians who have come to the Republic in recent years.
Camec Says It Finds 439 Million-Ton Bauxite Resource in Mali.
Bloomberg
By Brett Foley
May 5, 2009
Central African Mining and Exploration Co., a producer of copper and cobalt, said it discovered a so- called inferred bauxite resource of about 439 million metric tons in Mali.
The resource estimate, which complies with the JORC standard, referring to the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, is equal to 152 million tons of “smelter- grade” alumina, the London-based company said today in a statement distributed by the Regulatory News Service. Alumina is refined from bauxite ore and sent to smelters to produce aluminum metal.
By Brett Foley
May 5, 2009
Central African Mining and Exploration Co., a producer of copper and cobalt, said it discovered a so- called inferred bauxite resource of about 439 million metric tons in Mali.
The resource estimate, which complies with the JORC standard, referring to the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, is equal to 152 million tons of “smelter- grade” alumina, the London-based company said today in a statement distributed by the Regulatory News Service. Alumina is refined from bauxite ore and sent to smelters to produce aluminum metal.
L'enquête du juge Bruguière sur l'attentat du 6 avril 1994 : rien qu'un vulgaire pétard mouillé?
Rappel des faits
L'enquête du juge français fut initiée en 1998 suite à une plainte contre X déposée initialement par la fille d'un des membres de l'équipage du Falcon présidentiel, plainte à laquelle se sont joints ensuite d'autres membres des familles. Fin novembre 2006, le juge Bruguière, Premier vice-président du Tribunal de grande instance de Paris en charge de la coordination antiterroriste, rend une ordonnance par laquelle il demande que neuf mandats d'arrêt internationaux soient décernés à l'encontre de proches collaborateurs de Paul Kagame. En ce qui concerne le président en exercice du Rwanda, couvert par son immunité de chef d'Etat, le juge se tourne vers le Secrétaire Général de l'ONU et préconise que le Tribunal pénal international pour le Rwanda (TPIR), compétent en la matière, prenne le relais des poursuites.
L'instruction couvre donc une période de huit ans. Le moins que l'on puisse dire est qu'elle fut menée en dehors de toute précipitation. Les autorités gouvernementales rwandaises se rendirent parfaitement compte de la portée réelle de la procédure en cours et réagirent bien avant que l'ordonnance ne soit rendue. En 2005 elles menacèrent à différentes reprises la France de poursuites judiciaires pour complicité de génocide. Effectivement des plaintes furent déposées en ce sens à Paris, par des rescapés rwandais, contre l'armée française. Ensuite, en avril 2006, une commission (dite Mucyo du nom de son président) fut mise sur pied pour enquêter sur "le rôle de la France avant, pendant et après le génocide".
Longue de près de 70 pages, l'ordonnance signée par le juge Bruguière est plutôt inhabituelle en ce sens qu'il n'était pas tenu de motiver l'émission de mandats d'arrêt internationaux. Mais ce moment essentiel dans l'instruction du dossier lui permet de faire une synthèse des investigations conduites avec la division nationale antiterroriste (DNAT). Sa conclusion est catégorique : l'implication de Paul Kagame dans l'attentat du 6 avril 1994 est directe.
Les réactions de Kigali vont en sens divers, qualifiant l'ordonnance d'allégations totalement infondées, basée sur des ragots et des rumeurs et reprochant à la justice française d'être plus motivée politiquement que judiciairement dans cette affaire. D'autres réactions frisent le surréalisme, certains officiels affirmant que le président Habyarimana et le général Nsabimana, le chef d'état-major des forces armées rwandaises, étaient des cibles légitimes dans le cadre d'un conflit armé. Oubliant sans doute que le Front patriotique rwandais (FPR) avait signé des accords de paix et que le président du Burundi et d'autres officiels des deux pays se trouvaient à bord du Falcon 50. Plus concrètement le Rwanda rompt également ses relations diplomatiques avec la France et en mars 2007 deux généraux rwandais, inculpés par le juge Bruguière, déposent plainte contre lui devant la justice belge, de même que contre l'Etat belge.
Rappelons encore dans ce contexte deux éléments majeurs. Le premier est que, fin 2006, le Juge Møse, président à l'époque du TPIR et président de la Chambre compétente dans le procès dit "Militaires I", verse dans son intégralité l'ordonnance du juge Bruguière comme pièce au dossier des quatre officiers rwandais inculpés dans ce procès. Le second élément est l'aboutissement, en février 2008, de l'enquête menée par le juge espagnol Fernando Andreu Merelles. Cette enquête, initiée suite aux assassinats de neuf ressortissants espagnols perpétrés au Rwanda entre 1994 et 2000, se clôture par la délivrance de 40 mandats d'arrêt internationaux à l'encontre d'officiers de l'Armée patriotique rwandaise (APR). Dans un arrêt circonstancié de 181 pages, le juge estime que les personnes visées ont commis des actes de génocide, crimes contre l’humanité, crimes de guerre et terrorisme sur ordre du président Kagame. Ce dernier bénéficie de l’immunité que lui confère sa fonction et n’est donc pas l’objet d’un mandat d’arrêt. Dans ses conclusions, le juge accuse le FPR d’avoir mis en place une véritable méthode criminelle. Il estime que depuis sa prise du pouvoir à Kigali, en juillet 1994, le parti a créé un véritable règne de la terreur, non seulement par l'organisation même de son régime dictatorial, mais surtout par la mise en place de structures parallèles responsables de crimes odieux commis contre la population civile, tant nationale qu’étrangère. Le point culminant de cette politique, poursuit-il, est l'invasion du Congo qui, sous couvert de motif sécuritaire, devait permettre, entre autres, la réalisation du pillage de ressources naturelles précieuses, de façon à se maintenir au pouvoir et exercer une domination géostratégique sur la région. Le juge relève par ailleurs que les crimes commis en 1994 sont du ressort du TPIR et plus spécifiquement de son procureur, le Gambien Hassan Bubacar Jallow, responsable des poursuites.
Une enquête contestée qui se réduirait à une peau de chagrin
Dans un article paru dans le quotidien ''Le Soir'' du 6 avril dernier et qui n'est pas le premier du genre, la journaliste belge Colette Braeckman (CB) tente de démontrer que le "dossier Bruguière" se dégonfle comme une vulgaire baudruche. Que reproche-t-elle concrètement au juge français et à son enquête?
Précisons avant tout que le seul document porté à la connaissance du commun des mortels est l'ordonnance datée du 17 novembre 2006. Le dossier répressif proprement dit n'est accessible qu'aux ayants droit. C'est-à-dire, au stade actuel, à Madame Rose Kabuye (entendue par la justice française) et ses avocats. Dès lors nous nous demandons en vertu de quelle compétence Madame Braeckman aurait eu accès au dossier du juge Bruguière pour pouvoir le commenter en connaissance de cause ?
Soyons clair. Nous n'avons pas la prétention de croire que nous détenons "la Vérité". Nous entendons cependant que si nous sommes dans l'erreur on nous le démontre avec des éléments objectifs et non par des affirmations gratuites, des demi-vérités, des amalgames et autres subterfuges en vue d'éluder le débat de fond. Dans un dossier aussi émotionnel que celui du Rwanda et du Congo (en près de vingt années la région des Grands Lacs a été transformée en un immense charnier de plusieurs millions de victimes), le citoyen est en droit d'être informé avec la plus grande rigueur. Que le dossier du juge Bruguière, à l'instar de n'importe quelle œuvre humaine, comporte le cas échéant certaines imperfections ou lacunes est dans l'ordre des choses. Mais, de là à réduire un travail d'investigation de huit années à un vulgaire pétard mouillé, voire à mettre en cause la probité du juge et de ses collaborateurs, il y a une marge à ne pas franchir. En la franchissant, ce que nous estimons être le cas, on perd toute objectivité et toute crédibilité.
Trois éléments significatifs sont invoqués, parmi d'autres, dans l'article de CB pour justifier la piètre appréciation qui est la sienne quant à la consistance du dossier ?
· Les principaux témoins à charge se sont rétractés.
· Un interprète et traducteur rwandais, Fabien Singaye, qui assistait le juge Bruguière et ses enquêteurs dans les interrogatoires de témoins était tout sauf neutre.
· L'autorisation faite à Madame Kabuye de regagner le Rwanda et d'y poursuivre ses activités officielles, même si le mandat d'arrêt la concernant n'est pas formellement levé, est symptomatique de la légèreté des charges retenues contre elle.
Qu'en est-il de ces différentes assertions ?
Quant à la rétractation des principaux témoins à charge
Deux témoins à charge se sont rétractés : Abdul Ruzibiza et Emmanuel Ruzigana. Il s'agit, en effet, de deux témoins importants mais qui sont loin d'être les seuls à avoir témoigné à propos des mêmes choses.
Prenons le cas d'Abdul Ruzibiza, le plus connu. Son livre "Rwanda l'histoire secrète", paru aux éditions du Panama en 2005, a jeté un fameux pavé dans la mare lors de sa parution. En synthèse, ce livre met en évidence la responsabilité directe de Paul Kagame dans l'attentat du 6 avril 1994 et dans l'ampleur des massacres perpétrés au Rwanda ainsi qu'au Congo-Zaïre. Pareilles accusations n'avaient cependant à l'époque rien d'un scoop. Elles avaient déjà été exprimées à l'encontre de l'homme fort de Kigali bien avant celles de Ruzibiza ou de Ruzigana. Notamment par Jean-Pierre Mugabe, Aloys Ruyenzi et Déogratias Mushayidi, pour ne citer que ceux-là.
Il est vrai que dans l'article du journal Le Soir du 6 avril dernier, CB précise qu'elle avait rencontré à l'époque Ruzibiza et qu'elle l'avait jugé peu crédible. Etonnant quand on sait que le livre de Ruzibiza a été préfacé par deux experts reconnus de la région des Grands Lacs : Claudine Vidal, directrice de recherches émérite au CNRS et André Guichaoua, professeur de sociologie à l'université de Paris 1. Ce n'est quand même pas rien !
Ce n'est pas parce que Ruzibiza s'est rétracté que forcément les 494 pages de son livre ne sont qu'un salmigondis d'inventions, de mensonges et d'élucubrations diverses. C'est d'autant moins le cas que pour avoir vécu certaines des circonstances décrites dans le livre, nous pouvons attester que les détails fournis les concernant sont tout à fait corrects. Quoi qu'il en soit, il nous semble un peu court de déclarer que Ruzibiza n'est qu'un affabulateur et que par conséquent le dossier du juge Bruguière se dégonfle en même temps que son principal témoin.
Il est peut-être utile de rappeler à Madame Braeckman que l'intéressé a aussi été témoigner au TPIR et que son témoignage, qui reprenait les principaux thèmes de son livre, a été fait sous serment. Dans ces conditions, il est étonnant que le procureur du TPIR n'ait pas jugé utile de rappeler ce témoin pour parjure, alors qu'il a autorité pour le faire et qu'il a déjà fait usage de cette prérogative par le passé.
Sur le plan journalistique la démarche aurait été tout autre si, au lieu de prendre la rétractation de Ruzibiza au premier degré, une enquête sérieuse avait été menée pour essayer de déterminer les véritables raisons pour lesquelles l'intéressé est revenu sur ses affirmations. N'est-ce pas cela en réalité le travail du journaliste ?
En conclusion de ce premier point, nous disons que si Ruzibiza avait été le seul à accuser nommément Paul Kagame pour son implication directe dans la tragédie rwandaise, il faudrait, en effet, remettre en question la matérialité de ses affirmations. Etant donné que ce n'est pas le cas et que bien d'autres témoins directs disent en substance la même chose, il serait dès lors plus opportun de rechercher les véritables raisons pour lesquelles Ruzibiza et Ruzigana sont revenus sur leurs dires. Pareille démarche permettrait, sans aucun doute, d'appréhender de façon beaucoup plus exacte l'enjeu réel de cette volte-face.
Quant au rôle controversé de Fabien Singaye
Selon CB "des documents inédits découverts en Suisse – et dont nous avons pu prendre connaissance en exclusivité – établissent que le traducteur rwandais qui assista Bruguière dans l'interrogatoire de ses témoins était tout sauf neutre (…) rien d'étonnant à ce que des témoins comme Emmanuel Ruzindana (qui ne parle pas le français) aient déclaré par la suite n'avoir rien reconnu des propos qu'ils avaient réellement tenus …".
De grâce restons sérieux. Peut-on imaginer un seul instant que le juge Bruguière, avec le pedigree qui est le sien, se soit laissé intoxiquer comme un vulgaire débutant ? Si les documents inédits évoqués par Madame Braeckman sont de même nature que le soi-disant "témoin capital de l'assassinat de Habyarimana" (Le Soir du 6 mai 2006), le seul à affirmer que ce sont trois missiles sol-air qui ont été tirés sur l'avion présidentiel, cela ne mérite en aucun cas le détour. Aller dénicher pareil témoin, il fallait le faire. C'est vraiment très fort ! Alors que tout qui se trouvait à Kigali le soir du 6 avril 1994 vous confirmera que ce sont bien deux missiles et non trois qui ont pris le Falcon présidentiel pour cible. Consacrer un article d'une page, à semblable témoignage farfelu, constituait déjà à l'époque une manière de jeter le doute sur le sérieux de l'enquête du juge qui ne mentionne que deux missiles.
Le fait que Fabien Singaye soit le beau-fils de Félicien Kabuga, accusé d'être l'un des financiers du génocide, constitue-t-il vraiment l'argument irréfutable de sa compromission ? Tant que l'on y est, pourquoi ne pas affirmer tout simplement que le juge Bruguière s'est entouré de génocidaires pour l'assister dans son travail ? Pareille association entre Kabuga et son beau-fils ne trompe guère de monde. L'amalgame est une technique éculée dont le but est surtout de camoufler l'indigence de l'argumentation. Si les documents inédits évoqués sont à ce point probants, pourquoi ne pas être plus précis quant à leur contenu ? Ceci éviterait à tout le moins de se cantonner dans le vague et le sous-entendu, si pas la diffamation.
En conclusion de ce second point soulignons que celui qui est accusé, par Madame Braeckman, d'être un interprète "engagé" a été requis pour la transcription des bandes d'enregistrement de la tour de contrôle de Kigali et pour l'audition de deux témoins. Fabien Singaye n'a été impliqué, ni de près ni de loin, dans le témoignage de Ruzibiza ou de Ruzigana. Pas plus, du reste, que dans celui de Emmanuel Ruzindana dont le nom n'apparaît même pas dans l'ordonnance du juge Bruguière !
Quant au régime de faveur dont bénéficie Madame Rose Kabuye
Nous avons tout récemment connu en Belgique une crise gouvernementale provoquée par une simple "suspicion" d'ingérence entre le pouvoir exécutif et le pouvoir judiciaire, à moins que ce ne soit l'inverse. De quelle façon nos amis français perçoivent-ils la notion de "séparation des pouvoirs" ? En tout cas, à suivre les déclarations engagées et les salamalecs répétés de Bernard Kouchner, ministre des Affaires étrangères, à propos de l'affaire Kabuye, nous avons le sentiment (que beaucoup partagent) que le bouillant Monsieur K. a pris de sérieuses latitudes par rapport à ce principe de séparation des pouvoirs. Bizarrement, son ingérence flagrante est loin d'avoir suscité de la part des parlementaires français la même réaction que celle que nous avons connue en Belgique.
Parler d'un "énorme malentendu", en évoquant l'inculpation de Madame Kabuye, a quelque chose de provoquant à l'égard du pouvoir judiciaire. C'est aussi plus que choquant pour les proches des victimes de l'attentat du 6 avril 1994. Même si tout inculpé reste, jusqu'à preuve du contraire, présumé innocent des faits qui lui sont reprochés.
Le souci du président de la République française et de son ministre des Affaires étrangères de normaliser les relations tumultueuses de la France avec le Rwanda est louable en soi. Néanmoins nous restons convaincu que tout n'est pas justifiable au nom de la realpolitik et ce, d'autant moins qu'une normalisation des relations équivaudrait, de facto, au renvoi dans les oubliettes de l'histoire de plusieurs millions de victimes immolées sur l'autel du pouvoir absolu. Non, il y a des limites qui ne peuvent être franchies.
Tout aussi interpellant est cette exhortation lancée par le président Sarkozy, au début de cette année, à mettre en œuvre une nouvelle gestion des ressources et de l'espace géographique des provinces orientales de la République Démocratique du Congo. Se prendrait-il pour le Bismarck des Grands Lacs ? Aurait-il vraiment oublié ce que les Français chantaient jadis la main sur le cœur et le trémolo dans la voix : ils n'auront pas l'Alsace et la Lorraine… ? En vertu de quels critères voudrait-il faire accepter par les Congolais ce que les Français ont combattu à l'époque au prix de lourds sacrifices ? A quoi est-il donc prêt pour dérouler le tapis rouge devant les pieds du nouveau Mwami du Rwanda ? En tout cas, ce dernier doit en ricaner à se démettre les mâchoires !
Aussi, étant donné ce qui précède, invoquer, comme le fait CB, le régime de faveur de Madame Kabuye pour tenter de démontrer que le dossier Bruguière ne serait qu'une calebasse vide, c'est vraiment prendre les lecteurs pour des imbéciles.
Conclusion
Si autant d'années après l'attentat du 6 avril 1994 les choses n'ont toujours pas repris un cours normal. Si autant d'années après cet acte terroriste tant de livres et de documents sont toujours rédigés sur ses conséquences, c'est qu'objectivement les choses ne sont toujours pas claires. Elles le sont d'autant moins que certains s'évertuent, envers et contre tout, à vouloir imposer "leur vision" unilatérale de l'histoire, vision qui ne résiste, mais alors plus du tout, à l'analyse historique. Force nous est aussi de constater que ces tenants de la pensée unique exercent urbi et orbi une véritable dictature intellectuelle en récupérant avec cynisme les concepts de "révisionnisme" et de "négationnisme" dont ils accablent tout qui ose contester un tant soit peu leur version de l'histoire.
Que la presse se contente d'exercer le noble rôle qui est le sien : informer le public en toute objectivité. Qu'elle évite, pour d'obscures raisons qui lui sont propres, de vouloir se substituer à la justice. Cette dernière est parfaitement en mesure d'assumer ses propres responsabilités.
Prétendre que l'enquête du juge Bruguière est sur le point d'imploser par manque de consistance, c'est faire peu de cas d'une autre enquête qui l'a précédée et dont la conclusion va dans le même sens. En 1997, Michael Hourigan, chef d'une équipe d'enquêteurs du TPIR travaillant à Kigali, avait constitué un dossier dont les éléments mettaient l'actuel régime de Kigali en cause dans l'assassinat des présidents Habyarimana et Ntaryamira. Cette enquête a bien été menée à charge et à décharge, puisqu'elle visait initialement à établir l'implication des extrémistes hutus dans cet attentat, mais que les éléments recueillis pointèrent, en réalité, la responsabilité directe du Front patriotique. Nous savons ce qu'il est advenu du "dossier Hourigan" : rangé de façon péremptoire au fond d'un tiroir par la procureur du TPIR de l'époque, la canadienne Louise Arbour. Quant à Michael Hourigan il fut sommé d'arrêter, sine die, ses investigations et de détruire tous les documents s'y rapportant.
Aussi, ce n'est pas la tentative de dénigrement de l'enquête du juge Bruguière de la part d'une certaine presse qui nous fera changer d'avis sur la nécessité que la procédure judiciaire suive son cours normal et débouche sur un procès. Seul le procès permettra un véritable débat par la confrontation des arguments. Un procès, c'est aussi l'espoir qu'après autant d'années d'obscurantisme, toute la clarté soit enfin faite sur l'attentat du 6 avril 1994.
Luc Marchal
Le 04/05/2009
L'enquête du juge français fut initiée en 1998 suite à une plainte contre X déposée initialement par la fille d'un des membres de l'équipage du Falcon présidentiel, plainte à laquelle se sont joints ensuite d'autres membres des familles. Fin novembre 2006, le juge Bruguière, Premier vice-président du Tribunal de grande instance de Paris en charge de la coordination antiterroriste, rend une ordonnance par laquelle il demande que neuf mandats d'arrêt internationaux soient décernés à l'encontre de proches collaborateurs de Paul Kagame. En ce qui concerne le président en exercice du Rwanda, couvert par son immunité de chef d'Etat, le juge se tourne vers le Secrétaire Général de l'ONU et préconise que le Tribunal pénal international pour le Rwanda (TPIR), compétent en la matière, prenne le relais des poursuites.
L'instruction couvre donc une période de huit ans. Le moins que l'on puisse dire est qu'elle fut menée en dehors de toute précipitation. Les autorités gouvernementales rwandaises se rendirent parfaitement compte de la portée réelle de la procédure en cours et réagirent bien avant que l'ordonnance ne soit rendue. En 2005 elles menacèrent à différentes reprises la France de poursuites judiciaires pour complicité de génocide. Effectivement des plaintes furent déposées en ce sens à Paris, par des rescapés rwandais, contre l'armée française. Ensuite, en avril 2006, une commission (dite Mucyo du nom de son président) fut mise sur pied pour enquêter sur "le rôle de la France avant, pendant et après le génocide".
Longue de près de 70 pages, l'ordonnance signée par le juge Bruguière est plutôt inhabituelle en ce sens qu'il n'était pas tenu de motiver l'émission de mandats d'arrêt internationaux. Mais ce moment essentiel dans l'instruction du dossier lui permet de faire une synthèse des investigations conduites avec la division nationale antiterroriste (DNAT). Sa conclusion est catégorique : l'implication de Paul Kagame dans l'attentat du 6 avril 1994 est directe.
Les réactions de Kigali vont en sens divers, qualifiant l'ordonnance d'allégations totalement infondées, basée sur des ragots et des rumeurs et reprochant à la justice française d'être plus motivée politiquement que judiciairement dans cette affaire. D'autres réactions frisent le surréalisme, certains officiels affirmant que le président Habyarimana et le général Nsabimana, le chef d'état-major des forces armées rwandaises, étaient des cibles légitimes dans le cadre d'un conflit armé. Oubliant sans doute que le Front patriotique rwandais (FPR) avait signé des accords de paix et que le président du Burundi et d'autres officiels des deux pays se trouvaient à bord du Falcon 50. Plus concrètement le Rwanda rompt également ses relations diplomatiques avec la France et en mars 2007 deux généraux rwandais, inculpés par le juge Bruguière, déposent plainte contre lui devant la justice belge, de même que contre l'Etat belge.
Rappelons encore dans ce contexte deux éléments majeurs. Le premier est que, fin 2006, le Juge Møse, président à l'époque du TPIR et président de la Chambre compétente dans le procès dit "Militaires I", verse dans son intégralité l'ordonnance du juge Bruguière comme pièce au dossier des quatre officiers rwandais inculpés dans ce procès. Le second élément est l'aboutissement, en février 2008, de l'enquête menée par le juge espagnol Fernando Andreu Merelles. Cette enquête, initiée suite aux assassinats de neuf ressortissants espagnols perpétrés au Rwanda entre 1994 et 2000, se clôture par la délivrance de 40 mandats d'arrêt internationaux à l'encontre d'officiers de l'Armée patriotique rwandaise (APR). Dans un arrêt circonstancié de 181 pages, le juge estime que les personnes visées ont commis des actes de génocide, crimes contre l’humanité, crimes de guerre et terrorisme sur ordre du président Kagame. Ce dernier bénéficie de l’immunité que lui confère sa fonction et n’est donc pas l’objet d’un mandat d’arrêt. Dans ses conclusions, le juge accuse le FPR d’avoir mis en place une véritable méthode criminelle. Il estime que depuis sa prise du pouvoir à Kigali, en juillet 1994, le parti a créé un véritable règne de la terreur, non seulement par l'organisation même de son régime dictatorial, mais surtout par la mise en place de structures parallèles responsables de crimes odieux commis contre la population civile, tant nationale qu’étrangère. Le point culminant de cette politique, poursuit-il, est l'invasion du Congo qui, sous couvert de motif sécuritaire, devait permettre, entre autres, la réalisation du pillage de ressources naturelles précieuses, de façon à se maintenir au pouvoir et exercer une domination géostratégique sur la région. Le juge relève par ailleurs que les crimes commis en 1994 sont du ressort du TPIR et plus spécifiquement de son procureur, le Gambien Hassan Bubacar Jallow, responsable des poursuites.
Une enquête contestée qui se réduirait à une peau de chagrin
Dans un article paru dans le quotidien ''Le Soir'' du 6 avril dernier et qui n'est pas le premier du genre, la journaliste belge Colette Braeckman (CB) tente de démontrer que le "dossier Bruguière" se dégonfle comme une vulgaire baudruche. Que reproche-t-elle concrètement au juge français et à son enquête?
Précisons avant tout que le seul document porté à la connaissance du commun des mortels est l'ordonnance datée du 17 novembre 2006. Le dossier répressif proprement dit n'est accessible qu'aux ayants droit. C'est-à-dire, au stade actuel, à Madame Rose Kabuye (entendue par la justice française) et ses avocats. Dès lors nous nous demandons en vertu de quelle compétence Madame Braeckman aurait eu accès au dossier du juge Bruguière pour pouvoir le commenter en connaissance de cause ?
Soyons clair. Nous n'avons pas la prétention de croire que nous détenons "la Vérité". Nous entendons cependant que si nous sommes dans l'erreur on nous le démontre avec des éléments objectifs et non par des affirmations gratuites, des demi-vérités, des amalgames et autres subterfuges en vue d'éluder le débat de fond. Dans un dossier aussi émotionnel que celui du Rwanda et du Congo (en près de vingt années la région des Grands Lacs a été transformée en un immense charnier de plusieurs millions de victimes), le citoyen est en droit d'être informé avec la plus grande rigueur. Que le dossier du juge Bruguière, à l'instar de n'importe quelle œuvre humaine, comporte le cas échéant certaines imperfections ou lacunes est dans l'ordre des choses. Mais, de là à réduire un travail d'investigation de huit années à un vulgaire pétard mouillé, voire à mettre en cause la probité du juge et de ses collaborateurs, il y a une marge à ne pas franchir. En la franchissant, ce que nous estimons être le cas, on perd toute objectivité et toute crédibilité.
Trois éléments significatifs sont invoqués, parmi d'autres, dans l'article de CB pour justifier la piètre appréciation qui est la sienne quant à la consistance du dossier ?
· Les principaux témoins à charge se sont rétractés.
· Un interprète et traducteur rwandais, Fabien Singaye, qui assistait le juge Bruguière et ses enquêteurs dans les interrogatoires de témoins était tout sauf neutre.
· L'autorisation faite à Madame Kabuye de regagner le Rwanda et d'y poursuivre ses activités officielles, même si le mandat d'arrêt la concernant n'est pas formellement levé, est symptomatique de la légèreté des charges retenues contre elle.
Qu'en est-il de ces différentes assertions ?
Quant à la rétractation des principaux témoins à charge
Deux témoins à charge se sont rétractés : Abdul Ruzibiza et Emmanuel Ruzigana. Il s'agit, en effet, de deux témoins importants mais qui sont loin d'être les seuls à avoir témoigné à propos des mêmes choses.
Prenons le cas d'Abdul Ruzibiza, le plus connu. Son livre "Rwanda l'histoire secrète", paru aux éditions du Panama en 2005, a jeté un fameux pavé dans la mare lors de sa parution. En synthèse, ce livre met en évidence la responsabilité directe de Paul Kagame dans l'attentat du 6 avril 1994 et dans l'ampleur des massacres perpétrés au Rwanda ainsi qu'au Congo-Zaïre. Pareilles accusations n'avaient cependant à l'époque rien d'un scoop. Elles avaient déjà été exprimées à l'encontre de l'homme fort de Kigali bien avant celles de Ruzibiza ou de Ruzigana. Notamment par Jean-Pierre Mugabe, Aloys Ruyenzi et Déogratias Mushayidi, pour ne citer que ceux-là.
Il est vrai que dans l'article du journal Le Soir du 6 avril dernier, CB précise qu'elle avait rencontré à l'époque Ruzibiza et qu'elle l'avait jugé peu crédible. Etonnant quand on sait que le livre de Ruzibiza a été préfacé par deux experts reconnus de la région des Grands Lacs : Claudine Vidal, directrice de recherches émérite au CNRS et André Guichaoua, professeur de sociologie à l'université de Paris 1. Ce n'est quand même pas rien !
Ce n'est pas parce que Ruzibiza s'est rétracté que forcément les 494 pages de son livre ne sont qu'un salmigondis d'inventions, de mensonges et d'élucubrations diverses. C'est d'autant moins le cas que pour avoir vécu certaines des circonstances décrites dans le livre, nous pouvons attester que les détails fournis les concernant sont tout à fait corrects. Quoi qu'il en soit, il nous semble un peu court de déclarer que Ruzibiza n'est qu'un affabulateur et que par conséquent le dossier du juge Bruguière se dégonfle en même temps que son principal témoin.
Il est peut-être utile de rappeler à Madame Braeckman que l'intéressé a aussi été témoigner au TPIR et que son témoignage, qui reprenait les principaux thèmes de son livre, a été fait sous serment. Dans ces conditions, il est étonnant que le procureur du TPIR n'ait pas jugé utile de rappeler ce témoin pour parjure, alors qu'il a autorité pour le faire et qu'il a déjà fait usage de cette prérogative par le passé.
Sur le plan journalistique la démarche aurait été tout autre si, au lieu de prendre la rétractation de Ruzibiza au premier degré, une enquête sérieuse avait été menée pour essayer de déterminer les véritables raisons pour lesquelles l'intéressé est revenu sur ses affirmations. N'est-ce pas cela en réalité le travail du journaliste ?
En conclusion de ce premier point, nous disons que si Ruzibiza avait été le seul à accuser nommément Paul Kagame pour son implication directe dans la tragédie rwandaise, il faudrait, en effet, remettre en question la matérialité de ses affirmations. Etant donné que ce n'est pas le cas et que bien d'autres témoins directs disent en substance la même chose, il serait dès lors plus opportun de rechercher les véritables raisons pour lesquelles Ruzibiza et Ruzigana sont revenus sur leurs dires. Pareille démarche permettrait, sans aucun doute, d'appréhender de façon beaucoup plus exacte l'enjeu réel de cette volte-face.
Quant au rôle controversé de Fabien Singaye
Selon CB "des documents inédits découverts en Suisse – et dont nous avons pu prendre connaissance en exclusivité – établissent que le traducteur rwandais qui assista Bruguière dans l'interrogatoire de ses témoins était tout sauf neutre (…) rien d'étonnant à ce que des témoins comme Emmanuel Ruzindana (qui ne parle pas le français) aient déclaré par la suite n'avoir rien reconnu des propos qu'ils avaient réellement tenus …".
De grâce restons sérieux. Peut-on imaginer un seul instant que le juge Bruguière, avec le pedigree qui est le sien, se soit laissé intoxiquer comme un vulgaire débutant ? Si les documents inédits évoqués par Madame Braeckman sont de même nature que le soi-disant "témoin capital de l'assassinat de Habyarimana" (Le Soir du 6 mai 2006), le seul à affirmer que ce sont trois missiles sol-air qui ont été tirés sur l'avion présidentiel, cela ne mérite en aucun cas le détour. Aller dénicher pareil témoin, il fallait le faire. C'est vraiment très fort ! Alors que tout qui se trouvait à Kigali le soir du 6 avril 1994 vous confirmera que ce sont bien deux missiles et non trois qui ont pris le Falcon présidentiel pour cible. Consacrer un article d'une page, à semblable témoignage farfelu, constituait déjà à l'époque une manière de jeter le doute sur le sérieux de l'enquête du juge qui ne mentionne que deux missiles.
Le fait que Fabien Singaye soit le beau-fils de Félicien Kabuga, accusé d'être l'un des financiers du génocide, constitue-t-il vraiment l'argument irréfutable de sa compromission ? Tant que l'on y est, pourquoi ne pas affirmer tout simplement que le juge Bruguière s'est entouré de génocidaires pour l'assister dans son travail ? Pareille association entre Kabuga et son beau-fils ne trompe guère de monde. L'amalgame est une technique éculée dont le but est surtout de camoufler l'indigence de l'argumentation. Si les documents inédits évoqués sont à ce point probants, pourquoi ne pas être plus précis quant à leur contenu ? Ceci éviterait à tout le moins de se cantonner dans le vague et le sous-entendu, si pas la diffamation.
En conclusion de ce second point soulignons que celui qui est accusé, par Madame Braeckman, d'être un interprète "engagé" a été requis pour la transcription des bandes d'enregistrement de la tour de contrôle de Kigali et pour l'audition de deux témoins. Fabien Singaye n'a été impliqué, ni de près ni de loin, dans le témoignage de Ruzibiza ou de Ruzigana. Pas plus, du reste, que dans celui de Emmanuel Ruzindana dont le nom n'apparaît même pas dans l'ordonnance du juge Bruguière !
Quant au régime de faveur dont bénéficie Madame Rose Kabuye
Nous avons tout récemment connu en Belgique une crise gouvernementale provoquée par une simple "suspicion" d'ingérence entre le pouvoir exécutif et le pouvoir judiciaire, à moins que ce ne soit l'inverse. De quelle façon nos amis français perçoivent-ils la notion de "séparation des pouvoirs" ? En tout cas, à suivre les déclarations engagées et les salamalecs répétés de Bernard Kouchner, ministre des Affaires étrangères, à propos de l'affaire Kabuye, nous avons le sentiment (que beaucoup partagent) que le bouillant Monsieur K. a pris de sérieuses latitudes par rapport à ce principe de séparation des pouvoirs. Bizarrement, son ingérence flagrante est loin d'avoir suscité de la part des parlementaires français la même réaction que celle que nous avons connue en Belgique.
Parler d'un "énorme malentendu", en évoquant l'inculpation de Madame Kabuye, a quelque chose de provoquant à l'égard du pouvoir judiciaire. C'est aussi plus que choquant pour les proches des victimes de l'attentat du 6 avril 1994. Même si tout inculpé reste, jusqu'à preuve du contraire, présumé innocent des faits qui lui sont reprochés.
Le souci du président de la République française et de son ministre des Affaires étrangères de normaliser les relations tumultueuses de la France avec le Rwanda est louable en soi. Néanmoins nous restons convaincu que tout n'est pas justifiable au nom de la realpolitik et ce, d'autant moins qu'une normalisation des relations équivaudrait, de facto, au renvoi dans les oubliettes de l'histoire de plusieurs millions de victimes immolées sur l'autel du pouvoir absolu. Non, il y a des limites qui ne peuvent être franchies.
Tout aussi interpellant est cette exhortation lancée par le président Sarkozy, au début de cette année, à mettre en œuvre une nouvelle gestion des ressources et de l'espace géographique des provinces orientales de la République Démocratique du Congo. Se prendrait-il pour le Bismarck des Grands Lacs ? Aurait-il vraiment oublié ce que les Français chantaient jadis la main sur le cœur et le trémolo dans la voix : ils n'auront pas l'Alsace et la Lorraine… ? En vertu de quels critères voudrait-il faire accepter par les Congolais ce que les Français ont combattu à l'époque au prix de lourds sacrifices ? A quoi est-il donc prêt pour dérouler le tapis rouge devant les pieds du nouveau Mwami du Rwanda ? En tout cas, ce dernier doit en ricaner à se démettre les mâchoires !
Aussi, étant donné ce qui précède, invoquer, comme le fait CB, le régime de faveur de Madame Kabuye pour tenter de démontrer que le dossier Bruguière ne serait qu'une calebasse vide, c'est vraiment prendre les lecteurs pour des imbéciles.
Conclusion
Si autant d'années après l'attentat du 6 avril 1994 les choses n'ont toujours pas repris un cours normal. Si autant d'années après cet acte terroriste tant de livres et de documents sont toujours rédigés sur ses conséquences, c'est qu'objectivement les choses ne sont toujours pas claires. Elles le sont d'autant moins que certains s'évertuent, envers et contre tout, à vouloir imposer "leur vision" unilatérale de l'histoire, vision qui ne résiste, mais alors plus du tout, à l'analyse historique. Force nous est aussi de constater que ces tenants de la pensée unique exercent urbi et orbi une véritable dictature intellectuelle en récupérant avec cynisme les concepts de "révisionnisme" et de "négationnisme" dont ils accablent tout qui ose contester un tant soit peu leur version de l'histoire.
Que la presse se contente d'exercer le noble rôle qui est le sien : informer le public en toute objectivité. Qu'elle évite, pour d'obscures raisons qui lui sont propres, de vouloir se substituer à la justice. Cette dernière est parfaitement en mesure d'assumer ses propres responsabilités.
Prétendre que l'enquête du juge Bruguière est sur le point d'imploser par manque de consistance, c'est faire peu de cas d'une autre enquête qui l'a précédée et dont la conclusion va dans le même sens. En 1997, Michael Hourigan, chef d'une équipe d'enquêteurs du TPIR travaillant à Kigali, avait constitué un dossier dont les éléments mettaient l'actuel régime de Kigali en cause dans l'assassinat des présidents Habyarimana et Ntaryamira. Cette enquête a bien été menée à charge et à décharge, puisqu'elle visait initialement à établir l'implication des extrémistes hutus dans cet attentat, mais que les éléments recueillis pointèrent, en réalité, la responsabilité directe du Front patriotique. Nous savons ce qu'il est advenu du "dossier Hourigan" : rangé de façon péremptoire au fond d'un tiroir par la procureur du TPIR de l'époque, la canadienne Louise Arbour. Quant à Michael Hourigan il fut sommé d'arrêter, sine die, ses investigations et de détruire tous les documents s'y rapportant.
Aussi, ce n'est pas la tentative de dénigrement de l'enquête du juge Bruguière de la part d'une certaine presse qui nous fera changer d'avis sur la nécessité que la procédure judiciaire suive son cours normal et débouche sur un procès. Seul le procès permettra un véritable débat par la confrontation des arguments. Un procès, c'est aussi l'espoir qu'après autant d'années d'obscurantisme, toute la clarté soit enfin faite sur l'attentat du 6 avril 1994.
Luc Marchal
Le 04/05/2009
Rwanda Govt, U.S. Move to Shield Recession-Hit Trade.
East African Business Week
2 May 2009
By Bosco Hitimana
Top Rwandan and United States of America trade officials met in Kigali recently to address reports of declining trade.
The meeting followed reports that trade between the two countries has been falling since the beginning of the year.
The US delegation was headed by the Assistant US Trade Reprehensive for Africa, Ms. Florizelle Liser and hosted by Rwanda's Trade and Industry Minister, Ms. Monique Nsanzabaganwa.
Rwanda-US trade is laid on the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) signed in 2006 and the now nine-year-old African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA).
The US Foreign Trade Statistics website reports that US exports to Rwanda fell from $3 million in January to $0.9 million in February 2009. In that same period, imports fell from $2.3 million to $1.7 million.
This, however, is attributed to the surging global economic downturn which has hit the USA causing dramatic job losses and reducing the US citizens' purchasing power, analysts said.
The Rwandan minister said her country was going to focus on how to increase exports to the USA under the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) and increase the flow of investments between the two countries.
Rwandan exports to the USA include agricultural products, mainly coffee, tea, pyrethrum, flowers, minerals, handicrafts and gift articles. Rwanda imports many goods from the USA.
The head of the US delegation, Liser said: "We went through our action plan; we talked about each of the specific items in the action plan and we then added some things that we want to do and we think will enhance further the US-Rwanda investment and trade relationship."
She said the meeting agreed both parties to keep contacting each other at least every three months to keep TIFA very vibrant and alive.
Total trade between the United States and Rwanda was valued at $34.2 million in 2008, a 19% increase over 2007.
During that same period, US exports to Rwanda were valued at nearly $20.5million, increasing by 27% and Rwandan exports to the United States were valued at $13.7 million, increasing by 8%.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry said value of Rwanda coffee exports to the US under AGOA reduced from $2.4 million in 2007 to $0.77 million in 2008.
Metal ores and concentrates exports reduced from $4.61 million in 2007 to $1.74 million in 2008. The Rwanda Private Sector Federation(PSF) told local media that the export revenue from the USA reduced from about Rfw 5 billion in 2007 to Rfw 2 billion in 2008 (Freight On Board).
2 May 2009
By Bosco Hitimana
Top Rwandan and United States of America trade officials met in Kigali recently to address reports of declining trade.
The meeting followed reports that trade between the two countries has been falling since the beginning of the year.
The US delegation was headed by the Assistant US Trade Reprehensive for Africa, Ms. Florizelle Liser and hosted by Rwanda's Trade and Industry Minister, Ms. Monique Nsanzabaganwa.
Rwanda-US trade is laid on the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) signed in 2006 and the now nine-year-old African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA).
The US Foreign Trade Statistics website reports that US exports to Rwanda fell from $3 million in January to $0.9 million in February 2009. In that same period, imports fell from $2.3 million to $1.7 million.
This, however, is attributed to the surging global economic downturn which has hit the USA causing dramatic job losses and reducing the US citizens' purchasing power, analysts said.
The Rwandan minister said her country was going to focus on how to increase exports to the USA under the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) and increase the flow of investments between the two countries.
Rwandan exports to the USA include agricultural products, mainly coffee, tea, pyrethrum, flowers, minerals, handicrafts and gift articles. Rwanda imports many goods from the USA.
The head of the US delegation, Liser said: "We went through our action plan; we talked about each of the specific items in the action plan and we then added some things that we want to do and we think will enhance further the US-Rwanda investment and trade relationship."
She said the meeting agreed both parties to keep contacting each other at least every three months to keep TIFA very vibrant and alive.
Total trade between the United States and Rwanda was valued at $34.2 million in 2008, a 19% increase over 2007.
During that same period, US exports to Rwanda were valued at nearly $20.5million, increasing by 27% and Rwandan exports to the United States were valued at $13.7 million, increasing by 8%.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry said value of Rwanda coffee exports to the US under AGOA reduced from $2.4 million in 2007 to $0.77 million in 2008.
Metal ores and concentrates exports reduced from $4.61 million in 2007 to $1.74 million in 2008. The Rwanda Private Sector Federation(PSF) told local media that the export revenue from the USA reduced from about Rfw 5 billion in 2007 to Rfw 2 billion in 2008 (Freight On Board).
Work begins on Niger uranium mine.
BBC News
4 May 2009
Work on what will become the world's second largest uranium mine has begun in the west African state of Niger.
After it opens in three years' time the $1.5bn (£1bn) mine is expected to yield 5,000 tonnes of uranium per year.
French nuclear energy company Areva is building the mine and will take a majority share in it.
Niger is one of the world's poorest countries and the export of uranium provides one of its few sources of foreign currency.
The open pit mine at Imouraren will employ 1,400 people and more than double Niger's current uranium exports.
The mine is in the north of Niger, home to the semi-nomadic Tuareg people.
Rebel groups
For the past two years armed rebel groups from the region have been fighting the government for a greater share of Niger's uranium wealth.
Niger's president, Mamadou Tandja, made his first trip to the north since the rebellion started to lay the first stone at the mine, and on Sunday evening he met with rebel leaders in the town of Agadez.
The president promised an amnesty to those who laid down their weapons.
Also at the inauguration were Anne Lauvergnon, director of Areva, and France's junior minister for co-operation, Alain Joyandet.
Areva and Niger signed an agreement in January for the firm to operate the mine, describing it as "the biggest in Africa and the second largest in the world".
France keeps close ties with its former colony and uranium from Niger is vital to its nuclear energy programme.
Areva already has other mines in the landlocked sub-Saharan country.
Other than uranium mining, Niger's population relies on subsistence farming and livestock production.
The BBC's West Africa correspondent, John James, says the fluctuating world price in uranium has brought repeated instability to the country's economy.
Niger is the world's fourth biggest producer of uranium after Canada, Australia and Kazakhstan, according to the British Geological Survey.
4 May 2009
Work on what will become the world's second largest uranium mine has begun in the west African state of Niger.
After it opens in three years' time the $1.5bn (£1bn) mine is expected to yield 5,000 tonnes of uranium per year.
French nuclear energy company Areva is building the mine and will take a majority share in it.
Niger is one of the world's poorest countries and the export of uranium provides one of its few sources of foreign currency.
The open pit mine at Imouraren will employ 1,400 people and more than double Niger's current uranium exports.
The mine is in the north of Niger, home to the semi-nomadic Tuareg people.
Rebel groups
For the past two years armed rebel groups from the region have been fighting the government for a greater share of Niger's uranium wealth.
Niger's president, Mamadou Tandja, made his first trip to the north since the rebellion started to lay the first stone at the mine, and on Sunday evening he met with rebel leaders in the town of Agadez.
The president promised an amnesty to those who laid down their weapons.
Also at the inauguration were Anne Lauvergnon, director of Areva, and France's junior minister for co-operation, Alain Joyandet.
Areva and Niger signed an agreement in January for the firm to operate the mine, describing it as "the biggest in Africa and the second largest in the world".
France keeps close ties with its former colony and uranium from Niger is vital to its nuclear energy programme.
Areva already has other mines in the landlocked sub-Saharan country.
Other than uranium mining, Niger's population relies on subsistence farming and livestock production.
The BBC's West Africa correspondent, John James, says the fluctuating world price in uranium has brought repeated instability to the country's economy.
Niger is the world's fourth biggest producer of uranium after Canada, Australia and Kazakhstan, according to the British Geological Survey.
04 May, 2009
Museveni's popularity waning.
AFP
4 May 2009
Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has lost popularity in recent years, with less than 50% of respondents in a rare opinion poll released on Monday saying they would vote for him.
Forty-one percent of those polled would choose him, 21% would go for the opposition leader, Kizza Besigye and the rest other candidates if elections were held tomorrow, said the poll by Wilksen Agencies done on behalf of Afro-Barometer, a democracy promotion group.
"Trust in both the ruling party and the president has gone down tremendously since the last poll was taken three years ago," said Robert Sentamu, Wilkens Agencies director.
The poll, which surveyed 2 434 people, was conducted between July and October 2008 and had a 2% margin of error.
Asked how much they trusted the president, 30% said "somewhat trust" and 26% said "a lot" compared to 78% in 2006 who said they trusted Museveni either somewhat or a lot.
Museveni took power in 1986 following a six-year armed struggle and has not ruled out running for another term in elections scheduled for February 2011.
Uganda's constitution does not place limits on presidential terms.
He has won Uganda's three previous elections although his margin of victory has declined with each vote. He won 75% of the vote in 1996, 69% in 2001 and 59% in 2006.
Also in the polls, 31% described their living conditions as "fairly bad", 21% "very bad" and 29% said they expected those conditions to get worse over the next 12 months.
4 May 2009
Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has lost popularity in recent years, with less than 50% of respondents in a rare opinion poll released on Monday saying they would vote for him.
Forty-one percent of those polled would choose him, 21% would go for the opposition leader, Kizza Besigye and the rest other candidates if elections were held tomorrow, said the poll by Wilksen Agencies done on behalf of Afro-Barometer, a democracy promotion group.
"Trust in both the ruling party and the president has gone down tremendously since the last poll was taken three years ago," said Robert Sentamu, Wilkens Agencies director.
The poll, which surveyed 2 434 people, was conducted between July and October 2008 and had a 2% margin of error.
Asked how much they trusted the president, 30% said "somewhat trust" and 26% said "a lot" compared to 78% in 2006 who said they trusted Museveni either somewhat or a lot.
Museveni took power in 1986 following a six-year armed struggle and has not ruled out running for another term in elections scheduled for February 2011.
Uganda's constitution does not place limits on presidential terms.
He has won Uganda's three previous elections although his margin of victory has declined with each vote. He won 75% of the vote in 1996, 69% in 2001 and 59% in 2006.
Also in the polls, 31% described their living conditions as "fairly bad", 21% "very bad" and 29% said they expected those conditions to get worse over the next 12 months.
Museveni's popularity waning.
AFP
4 May 2009
Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has lost popularity in recent years, with less than 50% of respondents in a rare opinion poll released on Monday saying they would vote for him.
Forty-one percent of those polled would choose him, 21% would go for the opposition leader, Kizza Besigye and the rest other candidates if elections were held tomorrow, said the poll by Wilksen Agencies done on behalf of Afro-Barometer, a democracy promotion group.
"Trust in both the ruling party and the president has gone down tremendously since the last poll was taken three years ago," said Robert Sentamu, Wilkens Agencies director.
The poll, which surveyed 2 434 people, was conducted between July and October 2008 and had a 2% margin of error.
Asked how much they trusted the president, 30% said "somewhat trust" and 26% said "a lot" compared to 78% in 2006 who said they trusted Museveni either somewhat or a lot.
Museveni took power in 1986 following a six-year armed struggle and has not ruled out running for another term in elections scheduled for February 2011.
Uganda's constitution does not place limits on presidential terms.
He has won Uganda's three previous elections although his margin of victory has declined with each vote. He won 75% of the vote in 1996, 69% in 2001 and 59% in 2006.
Also in the polls, 31% described their living conditions as "fairly bad", 21% "very bad" and 29% said they expected those conditions to get worse over the next 12 months.
4 May 2009
Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has lost popularity in recent years, with less than 50% of respondents in a rare opinion poll released on Monday saying they would vote for him.
Forty-one percent of those polled would choose him, 21% would go for the opposition leader, Kizza Besigye and the rest other candidates if elections were held tomorrow, said the poll by Wilksen Agencies done on behalf of Afro-Barometer, a democracy promotion group.
"Trust in both the ruling party and the president has gone down tremendously since the last poll was taken three years ago," said Robert Sentamu, Wilkens Agencies director.
The poll, which surveyed 2 434 people, was conducted between July and October 2008 and had a 2% margin of error.
Asked how much they trusted the president, 30% said "somewhat trust" and 26% said "a lot" compared to 78% in 2006 who said they trusted Museveni either somewhat or a lot.
Museveni took power in 1986 following a six-year armed struggle and has not ruled out running for another term in elections scheduled for February 2011.
Uganda's constitution does not place limits on presidential terms.
He has won Uganda's three previous elections although his margin of victory has declined with each vote. He won 75% of the vote in 1996, 69% in 2001 and 59% in 2006.
Also in the polls, 31% described their living conditions as "fairly bad", 21% "very bad" and 29% said they expected those conditions to get worse over the next 12 months.
New justice minister for Kenya.
AFP
4 May 2009
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki on Monday named a new justice minister to the post vacated last month by a close ally who complained of being undermined, his office said.
Kibaki appointed Mutula Kilonzo, a lawmaker from an allied party in the coalition government, replacing Martha Karua, who quit on April 6 citing the appointment of judges made by Kibaki without her knowledge.
Karua's resignation rattled the power-sharing government formed last year to heal rifts caused by the bitterly disputed 2007 presidential elections that plunged the country into weeks of bloody clashes.
At least 1 500 people were killed in the violence, some of the worst the east African nation has seen since independence in 1963.
Kenya's cabinet has lately been strained by tensions between Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga over appointments to key government posts.
Mutula was minister with responsibility for Nairobi's metropolitan development.
4 May 2009
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki on Monday named a new justice minister to the post vacated last month by a close ally who complained of being undermined, his office said.
Kibaki appointed Mutula Kilonzo, a lawmaker from an allied party in the coalition government, replacing Martha Karua, who quit on April 6 citing the appointment of judges made by Kibaki without her knowledge.
Karua's resignation rattled the power-sharing government formed last year to heal rifts caused by the bitterly disputed 2007 presidential elections that plunged the country into weeks of bloody clashes.
At least 1 500 people were killed in the violence, some of the worst the east African nation has seen since independence in 1963.
Kenya's cabinet has lately been strained by tensions between Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga over appointments to key government posts.
Mutula was minister with responsibility for Nairobi's metropolitan development.
Senators Accuse Pentagon of Delay in Recovering Millions.
New York Times
By JAMES GLANZ
Published: May 3, 2009
The Pentagon has done little to collect at least $100 million in overcharges paid in deals arranged by corrupt former officials of Kellogg Brown & Root, the defense contractor, even though the officials admitted much of the wrongdoing years ago, two senators have complained in a letter to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates.
The letter also said that the Army had almost completely failed to move away from the monopolistic nature of the logistics contract that has paid the contractor, now called KBR, $31.3 billion for logistics operations in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan.
The New York Times obtained a copy of the letter, dated Friday, by the senators, Claire McCaskill, Democrat of Missouri, and Susan M. Collins, Republican of Maine. Senator McCaskill is chairman of a contracting oversight subcommittee of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Senator Collins is the subcommittee’s ranking Republican.
Their letter is likely to revive allegations that the Pentagon has become so close to KBR, and relies so heavily on it, that there is little inclination or incentive to discipline the company, in response to either Congress or critics outside the government.
In 2007 the Army split the logistics contract, known as Logcap, in a way that allowed several companies to compete for each new need. The Army did this partly to avoid relying solely on KBR, whose pricing practices, even when technically legal, have sometimes received criticism as exorbitant. But the Army has seldom used the newly competitive arrangement.
The senators wrote that as of February, the latest date for which the subcommittee had received information, the Army had “not awarded a single task order for work in Iraq,” the biggest source of logistics work.
In pressing for use of the new competitive arrangement, the senators cited 2008 legislation that calls for competition by multiple companies on military contracts unless there is “a compelling reason not to do so.” The senators also brought up Congressional testimony by the Army’s chief of logistics that they said indicated the Army had no such compelling reason.
Reached for comment, Dan Carlson, a spokesman at the Army Sustainment Command in Rock Island, Ill., which administers the work, pointed out that under the new competitive arrangement, in which KBR, Fluor and Dyncorp submit bids, Fluor and Dyncorp have received some work in Afghanistan and Kuwait. Mr. Carlson said that the Army was working toward awarding work in Iraq under the new competitive arrangement.
A spokeswoman for KBR, Heather L. Browne, said all of KBR’s logistics contracts have been won competitively. She added that “when KBR has discovered wrongdoing of any sort by an employee, we have swiftly reported it to the government,” and said the company “in no way condones or tolerates illegal or unethical behavior.” KBR itself has not been accused of wrongdoing in any of the cases of fraud by former employees.
Ms. Browne made clear that the company intended to continue its logistics work, saying KBR remained committed to high quality and to “engaging in a transparent and fact-based dialogue with the government.”
The letter and the Pentagon auditing documents that back up its conclusions are likely to be a point of discussion in Washington on Monday, when the Wartime Contracting Commission, a bipartisan legislative commission, is scheduled to meet on the logistics program, according to its Web site.
To the irritation of KBR’s critics, the Army has generally upheld the bills the company has submitted to the military, even when the Pentagon’s own auditors have questioned the amounts. But the argument that the Army was overcharged appears to be more clear-cut in the cases of several former KBR officials convicted of accepting bribes and kickbacks.
In those cases, the Army asked KBR to perform a certain task under the Logcap contract, like buying living trailers or building a dining facility, and the KBR officials found subcontractors in the region to carry out the actual work. The officials took bribes to steer the work toward subcontractors who were not the low bidders, or simply inflated the worth of the contracts once they had been awarded.
In the contracts handled by just one of those officials, Stephen Lowell Seamans, who pleaded guilty to bribery and conspiracy in March 2006, Pentagon auditors quickly found potential excess profits by a Kuwaiti subcontractor of $49.8 million, or 76 percent, “as a result of Mr. Seamans’s fraudulent activities,” the senators wrote.
Of $306 million in tainted contracts, at least $100 million of the charges appeared to be unjustified, wrote the senators.
By JAMES GLANZ
Published: May 3, 2009
The Pentagon has done little to collect at least $100 million in overcharges paid in deals arranged by corrupt former officials of Kellogg Brown & Root, the defense contractor, even though the officials admitted much of the wrongdoing years ago, two senators have complained in a letter to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates.
The letter also said that the Army had almost completely failed to move away from the monopolistic nature of the logistics contract that has paid the contractor, now called KBR, $31.3 billion for logistics operations in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan.
The New York Times obtained a copy of the letter, dated Friday, by the senators, Claire McCaskill, Democrat of Missouri, and Susan M. Collins, Republican of Maine. Senator McCaskill is chairman of a contracting oversight subcommittee of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Senator Collins is the subcommittee’s ranking Republican.
Their letter is likely to revive allegations that the Pentagon has become so close to KBR, and relies so heavily on it, that there is little inclination or incentive to discipline the company, in response to either Congress or critics outside the government.
In 2007 the Army split the logistics contract, known as Logcap, in a way that allowed several companies to compete for each new need. The Army did this partly to avoid relying solely on KBR, whose pricing practices, even when technically legal, have sometimes received criticism as exorbitant. But the Army has seldom used the newly competitive arrangement.
The senators wrote that as of February, the latest date for which the subcommittee had received information, the Army had “not awarded a single task order for work in Iraq,” the biggest source of logistics work.
In pressing for use of the new competitive arrangement, the senators cited 2008 legislation that calls for competition by multiple companies on military contracts unless there is “a compelling reason not to do so.” The senators also brought up Congressional testimony by the Army’s chief of logistics that they said indicated the Army had no such compelling reason.
Reached for comment, Dan Carlson, a spokesman at the Army Sustainment Command in Rock Island, Ill., which administers the work, pointed out that under the new competitive arrangement, in which KBR, Fluor and Dyncorp submit bids, Fluor and Dyncorp have received some work in Afghanistan and Kuwait. Mr. Carlson said that the Army was working toward awarding work in Iraq under the new competitive arrangement.
A spokeswoman for KBR, Heather L. Browne, said all of KBR’s logistics contracts have been won competitively. She added that “when KBR has discovered wrongdoing of any sort by an employee, we have swiftly reported it to the government,” and said the company “in no way condones or tolerates illegal or unethical behavior.” KBR itself has not been accused of wrongdoing in any of the cases of fraud by former employees.
Ms. Browne made clear that the company intended to continue its logistics work, saying KBR remained committed to high quality and to “engaging in a transparent and fact-based dialogue with the government.”
The letter and the Pentagon auditing documents that back up its conclusions are likely to be a point of discussion in Washington on Monday, when the Wartime Contracting Commission, a bipartisan legislative commission, is scheduled to meet on the logistics program, according to its Web site.
To the irritation of KBR’s critics, the Army has generally upheld the bills the company has submitted to the military, even when the Pentagon’s own auditors have questioned the amounts. But the argument that the Army was overcharged appears to be more clear-cut in the cases of several former KBR officials convicted of accepting bribes and kickbacks.
In those cases, the Army asked KBR to perform a certain task under the Logcap contract, like buying living trailers or building a dining facility, and the KBR officials found subcontractors in the region to carry out the actual work. The officials took bribes to steer the work toward subcontractors who were not the low bidders, or simply inflated the worth of the contracts once they had been awarded.
In the contracts handled by just one of those officials, Stephen Lowell Seamans, who pleaded guilty to bribery and conspiracy in March 2006, Pentagon auditors quickly found potential excess profits by a Kuwaiti subcontractor of $49.8 million, or 76 percent, “as a result of Mr. Seamans’s fraudulent activities,” the senators wrote.
Of $306 million in tainted contracts, at least $100 million of the charges appeared to be unjustified, wrote the senators.
Charles Taylor loses Hague bid.
BBC News
4 April 2009
War crimes judges have rejected a request to acquit Liberia's former President Charles Taylor on charges of crimes against humanity.
Mr Taylor's defence team argued that there was not enough evidence for the trial to proceed.
The decision by the Special Court for Sierra Leone at The Hague means that Mr Taylor, who has pleaded not guilty, must now present his defence.
Tens of thousands of people died in Sierra Leone's decade-long civil war.
"The prosecution has produced evidence capable of supporting a conviction of the accused, " the presiding judge told the court as he dismissed the defence's request.
It is not unusual for a defence team to lodge a request for dismissal at this stage in an international tribunal's proceedings, analysts say.
The judge also stressed that the decision does not mean that the tribunal will convict Mr Taylor.
The trial is scheduled to continue on 29 June.
Charges
Charles Taylor faces 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over his alleged role in the brutal civil war in neighbouring Sierra Leone, where he is accused of backing rebels responsible for widespread atrocities.
Prosecutors argue that Mr Taylor planned the atrocities, committed by Revolutionary United Front rebels, during the civil war, which only ended in 2002.
The specific charges relate to terrorising the civilian population, murder, sexual violence, physical violence such as cutting off limbs, using child soldiers and enslavement.
4 April 2009
War crimes judges have rejected a request to acquit Liberia's former President Charles Taylor on charges of crimes against humanity.
Mr Taylor's defence team argued that there was not enough evidence for the trial to proceed.
The decision by the Special Court for Sierra Leone at The Hague means that Mr Taylor, who has pleaded not guilty, must now present his defence.
Tens of thousands of people died in Sierra Leone's decade-long civil war.
"The prosecution has produced evidence capable of supporting a conviction of the accused, " the presiding judge told the court as he dismissed the defence's request.
It is not unusual for a defence team to lodge a request for dismissal at this stage in an international tribunal's proceedings, analysts say.
The judge also stressed that the decision does not mean that the tribunal will convict Mr Taylor.
The trial is scheduled to continue on 29 June.
Charges
Charles Taylor faces 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over his alleged role in the brutal civil war in neighbouring Sierra Leone, where he is accused of backing rebels responsible for widespread atrocities.
Prosecutors argue that Mr Taylor planned the atrocities, committed by Revolutionary United Front rebels, during the civil war, which only ended in 2002.
The specific charges relate to terrorising the civilian population, murder, sexual violence, physical violence such as cutting off limbs, using child soldiers and enslavement.
Rwanda to Build Memorial Site in London.
Hirondelle News Agency
29 April 2009
The Rwandan government obtained from the City Hall of London a piece of land on which will be erected a memorial for the genocide committed against Tutsis in 1994.
"We obtained the land. The British architects (who will build the memorial) have already come to Rwanda for a visit of the existing memorials",the Rwandan Minister for Culture and Sports, Joseph Habineza, told Hirondelle Agency Wednesday on phone from Kigali.
The minister indicated that the funds for the project would come from the Rwandan government and various donors.
It will be the first international genocide memorial erected outside Rwanda, according to the Minister..
The Rwandan deputies also asked their government in March to carry out negotiations with Uganda so that a memorial was erected in the neighbouring country in memory of the thousands of people who were washed ashore in 1994 on the banks of Lake Victoria.
29 April 2009
The Rwandan government obtained from the City Hall of London a piece of land on which will be erected a memorial for the genocide committed against Tutsis in 1994.
"We obtained the land. The British architects (who will build the memorial) have already come to Rwanda for a visit of the existing memorials",the Rwandan Minister for Culture and Sports, Joseph Habineza, told Hirondelle Agency Wednesday on phone from Kigali.
The minister indicated that the funds for the project would come from the Rwandan government and various donors.
It will be the first international genocide memorial erected outside Rwanda, according to the Minister..
The Rwandan deputies also asked their government in March to carry out negotiations with Uganda so that a memorial was erected in the neighbouring country in memory of the thousands of people who were washed ashore in 1994 on the banks of Lake Victoria.
Taliban using gemstones’ money to fund terrorism.
Daily Times
4 May 2009
By Akhtar Amin
Swat Taliban are using money earned from mining and selling gemstones in Swat and Shangla for terrorism, entrepreneurs from the Swat valley said on Sunday.
Entrepreneurs in a Gem Bazaar – organised by the Pakistan Gems and Jewellery Development Company at Namak Mandi – told Daily Times that Taliban were using the money for terrorist activities in Swat, Buner and Dir districts of Malakand division.
Babu Khan, an entrepreneur from Swat who had displayed emeralds in the bazaar, said that Taliban had started extensive mining through hired labourers and were selling the precious stones in the black market.
He said plunderers had also taken over several mines of high quality gemstones, one of which had earned the government about Rs 90 million in a single auction in the past.
Another entrepreneur from Swat, Muhammad Ali, told Daily Times that Taliban had also taken over the Mingora emerald mine.
The Shamozai emeralds mine, some 25 kilometres from Mingora, and the Gujaro Killay emerald mine in the adjacent district of Shangla, are also under the control of the Swat Taliban.
Stones extracted from these mines are auctioned in the premises of the Mingora mine every Sunday, where dealers from all over Pakistan come to shop, he said.
The federal and provincial governments have not taken any action over “this looting and plunder of state property”, Muhammad Ali said.
Imran Inam, a senior official of the Gems and Jewellery Development Company, told Daily Times that the US was also concerned over the Taliban occupation of emerald mines in Swat and Shangla and had talked to the Pakistani government.
4 May 2009
By Akhtar Amin
Swat Taliban are using money earned from mining and selling gemstones in Swat and Shangla for terrorism, entrepreneurs from the Swat valley said on Sunday.
Entrepreneurs in a Gem Bazaar – organised by the Pakistan Gems and Jewellery Development Company at Namak Mandi – told Daily Times that Taliban were using the money for terrorist activities in Swat, Buner and Dir districts of Malakand division.
Babu Khan, an entrepreneur from Swat who had displayed emeralds in the bazaar, said that Taliban had started extensive mining through hired labourers and were selling the precious stones in the black market.
He said plunderers had also taken over several mines of high quality gemstones, one of which had earned the government about Rs 90 million in a single auction in the past.
Another entrepreneur from Swat, Muhammad Ali, told Daily Times that Taliban had also taken over the Mingora emerald mine.
The Shamozai emeralds mine, some 25 kilometres from Mingora, and the Gujaro Killay emerald mine in the adjacent district of Shangla, are also under the control of the Swat Taliban.
Stones extracted from these mines are auctioned in the premises of the Mingora mine every Sunday, where dealers from all over Pakistan come to shop, he said.
The federal and provincial governments have not taken any action over “this looting and plunder of state property”, Muhammad Ali said.
Imran Inam, a senior official of the Gems and Jewellery Development Company, told Daily Times that the US was also concerned over the Taliban occupation of emerald mines in Swat and Shangla and had talked to the Pakistani government.
03 May, 2009
Press freedom declining around the world: study.
AFP
1 May 2009
Press freedom declined around the world last year, deteriorating for the first time in every region, according to a study released by Freedom House.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), meanwhile, unveiled its list of "10 worst countries to be a blogger," naming Myanmar, Iran, Syria, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Tunisia, China, Turkmenistan and Egypt to its "dishonor roll."
Out of the 195 countries and territories covered in the Freedom House study, 70, or 36 percent, were rated "free," 61 (31 percent), were rated "partly free" and 64 (33 percent) were rated "not free."
Freedom House, which is funded by the US government and private groups and has been conducting an annual study of press freedom since 1980, said that 72 countries were rated free the previous year.
It said that while press freedom had declined in 2008 for the seventh year in a row, last year marked the first time it had deteriorated in every region.
"The journalism profession today is up against the ropes and fighting to stay alive, as pressures from governments, other powerful actors and the global economic crisis take an enormous toll," executive director Jennifer Windsor said.
Freedom House said gains in South Asia and Africa were "overshadowed by a campaign of intimidation targeting independent media, particularly in the former Soviet Union and the Middle East and North Africa."
It said Israel, Italy and Hong Kong slipped from free to partly free status in 2008.
Among the worst-rated (least free press) states in the world were Belarus, China, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Iran, Laos, Libya, Myanmar, North Korea, the Palestinian occupied territories, Rwanda, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Zimbabwe.
In Asia, Cambodia fell to not free status because of increased violence against journalists, while Hong Kong slipped to partly free as Beijing exerted growing influence over the media.
China's media environment remained "bleak" while media in Taiwan faced assault and growing government pressure this past year.
South Asia saw improvement in Bangladesh, the Maldives and Pakistan while Sri Lanka and Afghanistan suffered setbacks.
Myanmar also got poor marks from the CPJ.
"With a military government that severely restricts Internet access and imprisons people for years for posting critical material, Burma is the worst place in the world to be a blogger," it said.
Freedom House said the biggest drop in press freedom occurred in Central and Eastern Europe with several journalists murdered in Bulgaria and Croatia, assaulted in Bosnia and denied judicial protection in Russia.
The Middle East and North Africa continued to have the lowest level of press freedom.
Restrictions on journalists and official attempts to influence coverage during the Gaza conflict led to Israel's downgrading to partly free status.
Freedom House said press freedom fell in Senegal, Madagascar, Chad, South Africa, Tanzania and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa while Comoros, Sierra Leone, Angola and Liberia all showed improvement.
It said Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala and Nicaragua registered major declines while Guyana regained its free rating and Haiti and Uruguay saw significant improvement. Mexico's score dropped because of increased domestic violence.
Western Europe boasted the highest level of press freedom although Italy slipped into the partly free category with free speech limited by courts and libel laws and concerns over the concentration of media ownership.
1 May 2009
Press freedom declined around the world last year, deteriorating for the first time in every region, according to a study released by Freedom House.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), meanwhile, unveiled its list of "10 worst countries to be a blogger," naming Myanmar, Iran, Syria, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Tunisia, China, Turkmenistan and Egypt to its "dishonor roll."
Out of the 195 countries and territories covered in the Freedom House study, 70, or 36 percent, were rated "free," 61 (31 percent), were rated "partly free" and 64 (33 percent) were rated "not free."
Freedom House, which is funded by the US government and private groups and has been conducting an annual study of press freedom since 1980, said that 72 countries were rated free the previous year.
It said that while press freedom had declined in 2008 for the seventh year in a row, last year marked the first time it had deteriorated in every region.
"The journalism profession today is up against the ropes and fighting to stay alive, as pressures from governments, other powerful actors and the global economic crisis take an enormous toll," executive director Jennifer Windsor said.
Freedom House said gains in South Asia and Africa were "overshadowed by a campaign of intimidation targeting independent media, particularly in the former Soviet Union and the Middle East and North Africa."
It said Israel, Italy and Hong Kong slipped from free to partly free status in 2008.
Among the worst-rated (least free press) states in the world were Belarus, China, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Iran, Laos, Libya, Myanmar, North Korea, the Palestinian occupied territories, Rwanda, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Zimbabwe.
In Asia, Cambodia fell to not free status because of increased violence against journalists, while Hong Kong slipped to partly free as Beijing exerted growing influence over the media.
China's media environment remained "bleak" while media in Taiwan faced assault and growing government pressure this past year.
South Asia saw improvement in Bangladesh, the Maldives and Pakistan while Sri Lanka and Afghanistan suffered setbacks.
Myanmar also got poor marks from the CPJ.
"With a military government that severely restricts Internet access and imprisons people for years for posting critical material, Burma is the worst place in the world to be a blogger," it said.
Freedom House said the biggest drop in press freedom occurred in Central and Eastern Europe with several journalists murdered in Bulgaria and Croatia, assaulted in Bosnia and denied judicial protection in Russia.
The Middle East and North Africa continued to have the lowest level of press freedom.
Restrictions on journalists and official attempts to influence coverage during the Gaza conflict led to Israel's downgrading to partly free status.
Freedom House said press freedom fell in Senegal, Madagascar, Chad, South Africa, Tanzania and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa while Comoros, Sierra Leone, Angola and Liberia all showed improvement.
It said Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala and Nicaragua registered major declines while Guyana regained its free rating and Haiti and Uruguay saw significant improvement. Mexico's score dropped because of increased domestic violence.
Western Europe boasted the highest level of press freedom although Italy slipped into the partly free category with free speech limited by courts and libel laws and concerns over the concentration of media ownership.
Gunmen kill Albanian opposition MP ahead of polls.
Reuters
2 May 2009
Gunmen shot and killed an Albanian opposition Socialist Party lawmaker on Saturday evening, police said, as the west Balkan country prepares to hold elections seen as crucial in its bid for European Union accession.
The killing of Fatmir Xhindi, 49, is likely to heighten tension ahead of the June 28 general elections, which pit the ruling Democratic Party of Prime Minister Sali Berisha against the main opposition Socialist Party led by Edi Rama.
Albania is one of Europe's poorest countries and faces an uphill struggle to join the EU, which remains to be convinced of its democratic credentials. The country formally applied for EU membership on April 28.
The Interior Ministry said Xhindi was shot inside the courtyard of his own home just after parking his car.
"He was shot and killed with six bullets and died on the way to hospital," said police spokesman Klodian Branko, quoting from a statement by police in Fier, the regional centre near Roskovec in southern Albania where Xhindi was killed.
Xhindi is the second lawmaker to be killed in Albania since the fall of communism in 1990. The assassination of Democratic Party lawmaker Azem Hajdari in September 1998 enraged his supporters, who took over government offices and the public television broadcaster for several days.
The Socialists said they were shocked by Xhindi's killing.
Describing him as a "symbol of maturity and friendship who exuded benevolence", senior Socialist Gramoz Ruci said he did not exclude the possibility that the killing was politically motivated.
Parliament's speaker Jozefina Topalli, a Democrat, and Socialist Party leader Edi Rama travelled to Roskovec to comfort Xhindi's family.
Rama said the Socialists were "impatiently waiting" for police to shed light on the killing.
No violence was reported.
(Reporting by Benet Koleka; Editing by Louise Ireland)
2 May 2009
Gunmen shot and killed an Albanian opposition Socialist Party lawmaker on Saturday evening, police said, as the west Balkan country prepares to hold elections seen as crucial in its bid for European Union accession.
The killing of Fatmir Xhindi, 49, is likely to heighten tension ahead of the June 28 general elections, which pit the ruling Democratic Party of Prime Minister Sali Berisha against the main opposition Socialist Party led by Edi Rama.
Albania is one of Europe's poorest countries and faces an uphill struggle to join the EU, which remains to be convinced of its democratic credentials. The country formally applied for EU membership on April 28.
The Interior Ministry said Xhindi was shot inside the courtyard of his own home just after parking his car.
"He was shot and killed with six bullets and died on the way to hospital," said police spokesman Klodian Branko, quoting from a statement by police in Fier, the regional centre near Roskovec in southern Albania where Xhindi was killed.
Xhindi is the second lawmaker to be killed in Albania since the fall of communism in 1990. The assassination of Democratic Party lawmaker Azem Hajdari in September 1998 enraged his supporters, who took over government offices and the public television broadcaster for several days.
The Socialists said they were shocked by Xhindi's killing.
Describing him as a "symbol of maturity and friendship who exuded benevolence", senior Socialist Gramoz Ruci said he did not exclude the possibility that the killing was politically motivated.
Parliament's speaker Jozefina Topalli, a Democrat, and Socialist Party leader Edi Rama travelled to Roskovec to comfort Xhindi's family.
Rama said the Socialists were "impatiently waiting" for police to shed light on the killing.
No violence was reported.
(Reporting by Benet Koleka; Editing by Louise Ireland)
Presidential security forces 'sell armed trucks' to Shabaab.
Garowe Online
2 May 2009
Somali government security forces aboard four armed trucks escaped from the Villa Somalia presidential compound on Friday with the goal of selling their weaponry to Islamist hardliners, Radio Garowe reports.
A security official at Villa Somalia who spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed the report that the soldiers belonged to the Villa Somalia security force, guarding the palace where President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed calls home alongside African Union peacekeepers.
"The soldiers made a secret deal with Al Shabaab to sell four trucks and the big guns on top," said the security source.
A businessman at Mogadishu's Bakara Market said armed trucks with government insignia were seen around the market, which has been a stronghold of Islamist rebels since the Ethiopian intervention.
A government spokesman could not be reached for comment.
2 May 2009
Somali government security forces aboard four armed trucks escaped from the Villa Somalia presidential compound on Friday with the goal of selling their weaponry to Islamist hardliners, Radio Garowe reports.
A security official at Villa Somalia who spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed the report that the soldiers belonged to the Villa Somalia security force, guarding the palace where President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed calls home alongside African Union peacekeepers.
"The soldiers made a secret deal with Al Shabaab to sell four trucks and the big guns on top," said the security source.
A businessman at Mogadishu's Bakara Market said armed trucks with government insignia were seen around the market, which has been a stronghold of Islamist rebels since the Ethiopian intervention.
A government spokesman could not be reached for comment.
AFRICOM's Yates Going to Kenya.
African Press Agency
2 May 2009
Ambassador Mary Carlin Yates, U.S. Africa Command deputy to the commander for civil-military activities will be visiting Kenya on 4 and 5 May.
2 May 2009
Ambassador Mary Carlin Yates, U.S. Africa Command deputy to the commander for civil-military activities will be visiting Kenya on 4 and 5 May.
Guinean leader orders legal action on mine take over by a Russian company.
African Press Agency
2 May 2009
Directors at the Russian Aluminum headquarters in Moscow reported that the Guinean President Moussa Dadis Camara has ordered the Guinean Justice Ministry to consider legal action over 2006 transactions that gave control of the Friguia bauxite and alumina complex to the Russian firm of United Company RusAl, APA learns here Saturday.
The company directors said that the Guinean government launched fresh investigations into operations that were concluded previously that gave RusAl full legal rights to the bauxite mines.
“Guinea has to exercise its rights by getting back this factory, which belongs to it,” Camara said to the local media. “It is not a question of leaving this refinery, which has to serve future generations.”
Camara took power on December 23 after a coup that followed the death a day earlier of President Lansana Conte, who had ruled for 24 years. Conte’s government concluded the agreement, and the new government has said mining deals made by the earlier regime will be investigated.
“A commission on the privatization of Friguia....will thoroughly study the situation and give its final conclusion,” a RusAl spokeswoman said. “We…welcome this decision because RusAl privatized Friguia legitimately and in full compliance with the legislation.”
Friguia has the capacity to produce 640,000 tons of alumina and 1.9 million tons of Bauxite per year, according to RusAl’s web site.
Camara said RusAl paid $19 million for the assets, while consultants had valued it at $257 million. The president, who did not name the consultants, said action would be taken against the Guineans who negotiated the transfer.
Anatoly Patchenko, head of RusAl’s Guinean operations, has taken refuge in the Russian embassy in the capital, Conakry, Guinea’s state-owned radio reported.
2 May 2009
Directors at the Russian Aluminum headquarters in Moscow reported that the Guinean President Moussa Dadis Camara has ordered the Guinean Justice Ministry to consider legal action over 2006 transactions that gave control of the Friguia bauxite and alumina complex to the Russian firm of United Company RusAl, APA learns here Saturday.
The company directors said that the Guinean government launched fresh investigations into operations that were concluded previously that gave RusAl full legal rights to the bauxite mines.
“Guinea has to exercise its rights by getting back this factory, which belongs to it,” Camara said to the local media. “It is not a question of leaving this refinery, which has to serve future generations.”
Camara took power on December 23 after a coup that followed the death a day earlier of President Lansana Conte, who had ruled for 24 years. Conte’s government concluded the agreement, and the new government has said mining deals made by the earlier regime will be investigated.
“A commission on the privatization of Friguia....will thoroughly study the situation and give its final conclusion,” a RusAl spokeswoman said. “We…welcome this decision because RusAl privatized Friguia legitimately and in full compliance with the legislation.”
Friguia has the capacity to produce 640,000 tons of alumina and 1.9 million tons of Bauxite per year, according to RusAl’s web site.
Camara said RusAl paid $19 million for the assets, while consultants had valued it at $257 million. The president, who did not name the consultants, said action would be taken against the Guineans who negotiated the transfer.
Anatoly Patchenko, head of RusAl’s Guinean operations, has taken refuge in the Russian embassy in the capital, Conakry, Guinea’s state-owned radio reported.
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