256 News
24 April 2010
Rwandan opposition presidential hopeful, Mrs. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, got the shock of her life after being released from detention on bail this week.
After arriving at her home, she reportedly found her house ransacked by Rwandan state security personnel. Her personal documents and other items including computers and telephones were missing. Mrs. Ingabire’s passport was also confiscated by police.
It was reported that there was tight security deployed at her home located in the Gacukiriro, a Kigali surburb inhabited mainly by the upper-class of Rwanda.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Ingabire will be defended by US lawyers sent by the International Humanitarian Institute. Specifically, Mrs. Ingabire is to be defended by Mr. Peter Erlinder, a reputable US lawyer. Mr. Erlinder, in his letter to Rwandan Justice Minister, Hon. Tharcisse Karugarama, insists that respect for democratic principles and the rule of law be observed and requested the Rwandan government immediately return all of the confiscated computers, political and/or personal documents and other items seized from Madame Ingabire’s home.
He also called for the removal of all restrictions on Madame Ingabire’s ability to campaign amongst the Rwandan people, including the return of her passport and elimination of police reporting requirements; full-recognition of her political party and other Rwandan opposition political parties; full unimpeded access to the press and media, and an end to all intimidation tactics used against opposition party political activities and allow the safe passage for all members of Mrs. Ingabire’s defense team.
24 April, 2010
E-mails show Goldman Sachs top executives boasting as meltdown unfolds.
AFP
By DAN STRUMPF
24 April 2010
E-mails released Saturday morning show top executives at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boasting about the money the firm was making as the national housing market collapsed in 2007.
The e-mails suggest Goldman benefited from its bets that securities backed by subprime mortgages would lose value. The messages seem to contradict previous statements by the investment bank that it lost money on the securities.
"Of course we didn't dodge the mortgage mess," CEO Lloyd Blankfein wrote in an e-mail dated Nov. 18, 2007, according to e-mails released by the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. "We lost money, then made more than we lost because of shorts."
Short positions are bets that the market will go down. As the housing bubble burst, Goldman and a few powerful hedge funds took short positions on the market. Many of those bets required other investors to bet the market would rise.
When the market went bust, people with short positions cleaned up.
"We were just smaller in the toxic products," Goldman's president, Gary Cohn, writes back to Blankfein that same Sunday evening.
Critics say their bets added fuel to the financial crisis.
One of those bets is at the heart of civil fraud charges the Securities and Exchange Commission filed against Goldman this month. The SEC says Goldman let hedge fund Paulson & Co. help select investments for a portfolio that was designed to lose value, then marketed the deal to investors who were betting the portfolio's value would rise.
The SEC says Goldman did not tell the investors — mostly European banks — that the deal was created in part by the hedge fund and therefore was designed to fail.
The subcommittee, whose probe is not connected with the SEC's, has been investigating the causes of the financial crisis for 18 months. Its fourth and final hearing Tuesday will include testimony from Blankfein and Fabrice Tourre, a trader named in the SEC case.
Goldman has denied wrongdoing and says it will fight the charges. In a statement Saturday, spokesman Lucas Van Praag said the bank lost $1.2 billion in the residential mortgage market during 2007 and 2008.
"As a firm, we obviously could not have been significantly net short since we lost money in a declining housing market," Van Praag said in a statement. He said the Senate panel "cherry-picked" four e-mail threads out of 20 million pages Goldman provided.
Van Praag is one of the handful of top executives who contributed to the e-mails the Senate committee released Saturday.
In one, Goldman Chief Financial Officer David Viniar says that in one day the firm made more than $50 million on bets that the housing market would collapse, according to a statement from Levin's office.
Viniar, also scheduled to testify Tuesday, summed up the position of investors who had not bet against the market:
"Tells you what might be happening to people who don't have the big short," Viniar writes in the message dated July 25, 2007.
The e-mails were released by subcommittee chair Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. In a statement, Levin called banks like Goldman "self-interested promoters of risky and complicated financial schemes that helped trigger the crisis."
Goldman said in its 2009 annual report that its short positions sought to offset its long positions in the mortgage market and did not generate large profits. Through 2006, Goldman "generally was long in exposure" in the mortgage-backed securities market, according to the report, and after taking losses on those securities in 2006 it reduced its exposure.
"Although Goldman Sachs held various positions in residential mortgage-related products in 2007, our short positions were not 'a bet against our clients,'" according to the report.
___
AP business writers Daniel Wagner in Washington and Stevenson Jacobs in New York contributed to this report.
By DAN STRUMPF
24 April 2010
E-mails released Saturday morning show top executives at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boasting about the money the firm was making as the national housing market collapsed in 2007.
The e-mails suggest Goldman benefited from its bets that securities backed by subprime mortgages would lose value. The messages seem to contradict previous statements by the investment bank that it lost money on the securities.
"Of course we didn't dodge the mortgage mess," CEO Lloyd Blankfein wrote in an e-mail dated Nov. 18, 2007, according to e-mails released by the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. "We lost money, then made more than we lost because of shorts."
Short positions are bets that the market will go down. As the housing bubble burst, Goldman and a few powerful hedge funds took short positions on the market. Many of those bets required other investors to bet the market would rise.
When the market went bust, people with short positions cleaned up.
"We were just smaller in the toxic products," Goldman's president, Gary Cohn, writes back to Blankfein that same Sunday evening.
Critics say their bets added fuel to the financial crisis.
One of those bets is at the heart of civil fraud charges the Securities and Exchange Commission filed against Goldman this month. The SEC says Goldman let hedge fund Paulson & Co. help select investments for a portfolio that was designed to lose value, then marketed the deal to investors who were betting the portfolio's value would rise.
The SEC says Goldman did not tell the investors — mostly European banks — that the deal was created in part by the hedge fund and therefore was designed to fail.
The subcommittee, whose probe is not connected with the SEC's, has been investigating the causes of the financial crisis for 18 months. Its fourth and final hearing Tuesday will include testimony from Blankfein and Fabrice Tourre, a trader named in the SEC case.
Goldman has denied wrongdoing and says it will fight the charges. In a statement Saturday, spokesman Lucas Van Praag said the bank lost $1.2 billion in the residential mortgage market during 2007 and 2008.
"As a firm, we obviously could not have been significantly net short since we lost money in a declining housing market," Van Praag said in a statement. He said the Senate panel "cherry-picked" four e-mail threads out of 20 million pages Goldman provided.
Van Praag is one of the handful of top executives who contributed to the e-mails the Senate committee released Saturday.
In one, Goldman Chief Financial Officer David Viniar says that in one day the firm made more than $50 million on bets that the housing market would collapse, according to a statement from Levin's office.
Viniar, also scheduled to testify Tuesday, summed up the position of investors who had not bet against the market:
"Tells you what might be happening to people who don't have the big short," Viniar writes in the message dated July 25, 2007.
The e-mails were released by subcommittee chair Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. In a statement, Levin called banks like Goldman "self-interested promoters of risky and complicated financial schemes that helped trigger the crisis."
Goldman said in its 2009 annual report that its short positions sought to offset its long positions in the mortgage market and did not generate large profits. Through 2006, Goldman "generally was long in exposure" in the mortgage-backed securities market, according to the report, and after taking losses on those securities in 2006 it reduced its exposure.
"Although Goldman Sachs held various positions in residential mortgage-related products in 2007, our short positions were not 'a bet against our clients,'" according to the report.
___
AP business writers Daniel Wagner in Washington and Stevenson Jacobs in New York contributed to this report.
Tanzania passes new mining law.
Reuters
24 April 2010
Tanzania's parliament has passed a new mining law that increases the rate of royalty paid on minerals like gold from 3 percent to 4 percent and requires the government to own a stake in future mining projects.
The Mining Act 2010 passed late on Friday also requires mining companies to list on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange.
As part of the new legislation, Tanzania will not issue new gemstone mining licences to foreign companies. Current agreements with foreign mining companies remain unchanged.
24 April 2010
Tanzania's parliament has passed a new mining law that increases the rate of royalty paid on minerals like gold from 3 percent to 4 percent and requires the government to own a stake in future mining projects.
The Mining Act 2010 passed late on Friday also requires mining companies to list on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange.
As part of the new legislation, Tanzania will not issue new gemstone mining licences to foreign companies. Current agreements with foreign mining companies remain unchanged.
Ethiopian oppression continues as opposition activist is murdered.
The Guardian
23 April 2010
An opposition activist has been bludgeoned to death with a gun butt in the second politically motivated murder of Ethiopia's election campaign, it was claimed on Thursday.
Biyansa Daba was attacked and killed at home by members of the ruling party, according to Bulcha Demeksa, a leader of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC).
"Biyansa Daba was beaten on 7 April with the butt of a gun," Bulcha told Reuters. "He died in hospital on 16 April. He was a very strong up-and-coming figure.
"Of course it was political. They asked him to stop converting people to OFC, they warned him many times. Why else would anyone beat him?"
Government spokespersons were not available to comment but routinely deny that members of the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front intimidate the opposition.
Last month Aregawi Gebre-Yohannes, an opposition candidate for the eight-party coalition Medrek -- of which the OFC is a member -- was stabbed to death in what the opposition described as a political murder. The government insists that Aregawi was killed in a bar fight. A man has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for the crime.
The government has been accused by Human Rights Watch of waging a coordinated assault on political opponents, rights campaigners and journalists ahead of the national elections on May 23.
Ruling party and state are becoming one
A report by the group said journalists and activists have fled the country because of government repression. Some radio broadcasts by the Voice of America have been jammed.
Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said: "The ruling party and the state are becoming one, and the government is using the full weight of its power to eliminate opposition and intimidate people into silence."
The results of the last elections in 2005 were challenged by the opposition and some international observers. Street riots erupted, security forces killed at least 193 civilians and the main opposition leaders were imprisoned. The prime minister, Meles Zenawi, claimed they were trying to overthrow him.
The OFC and other parties representing the Oromo -- Ethiopia's biggest ethnic group -- say ruling party officials are again intimidating and jailing their members.
The government denies that it targets Oromo politicians and points to the fact that there are several Oromo government ministers and a ceremonial president of the country as proof.
23 April 2010
An opposition activist has been bludgeoned to death with a gun butt in the second politically motivated murder of Ethiopia's election campaign, it was claimed on Thursday.
Biyansa Daba was attacked and killed at home by members of the ruling party, according to Bulcha Demeksa, a leader of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC).
"Biyansa Daba was beaten on 7 April with the butt of a gun," Bulcha told Reuters. "He died in hospital on 16 April. He was a very strong up-and-coming figure.
"Of course it was political. They asked him to stop converting people to OFC, they warned him many times. Why else would anyone beat him?"
Government spokespersons were not available to comment but routinely deny that members of the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front intimidate the opposition.
Last month Aregawi Gebre-Yohannes, an opposition candidate for the eight-party coalition Medrek -- of which the OFC is a member -- was stabbed to death in what the opposition described as a political murder. The government insists that Aregawi was killed in a bar fight. A man has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for the crime.
The government has been accused by Human Rights Watch of waging a coordinated assault on political opponents, rights campaigners and journalists ahead of the national elections on May 23.
Ruling party and state are becoming one
A report by the group said journalists and activists have fled the country because of government repression. Some radio broadcasts by the Voice of America have been jammed.
Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said: "The ruling party and the state are becoming one, and the government is using the full weight of its power to eliminate opposition and intimidate people into silence."
The results of the last elections in 2005 were challenged by the opposition and some international observers. Street riots erupted, security forces killed at least 193 civilians and the main opposition leaders were imprisoned. The prime minister, Meles Zenawi, claimed they were trying to overthrow him.
The OFC and other parties representing the Oromo -- Ethiopia's biggest ethnic group -- say ruling party officials are again intimidating and jailing their members.
The government denies that it targets Oromo politicians and points to the fact that there are several Oromo government ministers and a ceremonial president of the country as proof.
23 April, 2010
Nigeria enacts new oil law.
AFP
23 April 2010
Mixed reactions on Friday greeted the Nigerian acting leader's enactment of a law giving preference to local service firms in the oil business, a sector hitherto dominated by multinational giants.
"The bill signed into law by Acting President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday is a welcome development because, if implemented, it will increase the capacity of local players in the oil industry," the president of Trade Union Congress, Peter Esele, said.
"The challenge is how to implement the law and maintain discipline in the industry," he said.
The new law directs that "exclusive consideration" be given to Nigerian firms to provide services to oil majors, Jonathan said as he signed the legislation.
"Henceforth, there shall be exclusive consideration to Nigerian indigenous service companies which demonstrate ownership of equipment, Nigerian personnel and capacity to execute jobs in the Nigerian oil and gas industry," he said.
"The bill means nothing to the local people in the Niger Delta. It is simply aimed at making money for the elites who have no pity or consideration for the suffering masses of the Niger Delta," Joseph Eva, president of the Ijaw Monitoring Group, also said.
Reorganisation of the oil industry
The Ijaw are the largest ethnic group in the restive oil-rich Niger Delta.
A western diplomat, who demanded anonymity, said that the success of the law "will depend on its application".
"In reality, the big deal will be the reorganisation of the oil industry, a project which has been on the drawing board for years and in parliamentary debate for several months," he said.
Armed rebels in the oil-producing Niger Delta have in recent years staged attacks, claiming they are after a greater share of the oil wealth to go to the local communities.
"We are surely on the road to greater security through ownership and participation as well as industrial technology development," said Jonathan, who hails from the oil-rich region.
Crude is the main foreign exchange earner in the world's eight oil exporter.
23 April 2010
Mixed reactions on Friday greeted the Nigerian acting leader's enactment of a law giving preference to local service firms in the oil business, a sector hitherto dominated by multinational giants.
"The bill signed into law by Acting President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday is a welcome development because, if implemented, it will increase the capacity of local players in the oil industry," the president of Trade Union Congress, Peter Esele, said.
"The challenge is how to implement the law and maintain discipline in the industry," he said.
The new law directs that "exclusive consideration" be given to Nigerian firms to provide services to oil majors, Jonathan said as he signed the legislation.
"Henceforth, there shall be exclusive consideration to Nigerian indigenous service companies which demonstrate ownership of equipment, Nigerian personnel and capacity to execute jobs in the Nigerian oil and gas industry," he said.
"The bill means nothing to the local people in the Niger Delta. It is simply aimed at making money for the elites who have no pity or consideration for the suffering masses of the Niger Delta," Joseph Eva, president of the Ijaw Monitoring Group, also said.
Reorganisation of the oil industry
The Ijaw are the largest ethnic group in the restive oil-rich Niger Delta.
A western diplomat, who demanded anonymity, said that the success of the law "will depend on its application".
"In reality, the big deal will be the reorganisation of the oil industry, a project which has been on the drawing board for years and in parliamentary debate for several months," he said.
Armed rebels in the oil-producing Niger Delta have in recent years staged attacks, claiming they are after a greater share of the oil wealth to go to the local communities.
"We are surely on the road to greater security through ownership and participation as well as industrial technology development," said Jonathan, who hails from the oil-rich region.
Crude is the main foreign exchange earner in the world's eight oil exporter.
Africa Action Denounces Arrest of Rwandan Opposition Leader, Calls for U.S. Condemnation.
By Africa Action (Washington, DC)
22 April 2010
PRESS RELEASE
Africa Action, an organization that has stood in principled solidarity with the struggle for human rights, democracy and economic justice in Africa since 1953, strongly condemns the arrest of Rwandan opposition leader Victoire Ingabire.
The arrest of Ms. Ingabire follows a series of intimidation and harassment of opposition leaders. On February 3rd, Ms. Ingabire and her aid Joseph Ntawangundi were assaulted while collecting documents necessary for the party’s registration. During the attack Ms. Ingabire’s passport was stolen and Mr. Ntawangundi was severely beaten.
Today Ms. Ingabire is currently imprisoned on charges of “genocide ideology, divisionism and cooperating with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda.”
Africa Action calls U.S. government to condemn the human rights violation and that the Rwandan Government to take immediate steps to respect the rights to freedom of expression, freedom of association and peaceful assembly of opposition parties. The arrest appears to be a continuation of a troubling but predictable trend in several African countries where strong ties with the U.S. military are coinciding with the elimination of democratic processes and the arrests of political opposition leaders.
Gerald LeMelle, Executive Director of Africa Action said today, “This is a perfect illustration of when a key U.S. military satellite country in Africa, such as Rwanda, openly mocks the U.S. government’s stated interests in human rights and democracy. Sadly, the U.S. silence on this speaks volumes.”
Africa Action notes that while Rwanda has demonstrated leadership in social development and economic recovery in the region, militarily, they have been tied to the violence and destabilization in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and politically, there has been a rapid decline of constructive engagement with civil society and political opposition parties over the past few months. These developments are indications that the U.S. Government must reconsider its relationship with President Kagame, and demand that human rights and democratic principles of accountability are a priority for the Rwandan Government.
22 April 2010
PRESS RELEASE
Africa Action, an organization that has stood in principled solidarity with the struggle for human rights, democracy and economic justice in Africa since 1953, strongly condemns the arrest of Rwandan opposition leader Victoire Ingabire.
The arrest of Ms. Ingabire follows a series of intimidation and harassment of opposition leaders. On February 3rd, Ms. Ingabire and her aid Joseph Ntawangundi were assaulted while collecting documents necessary for the party’s registration. During the attack Ms. Ingabire’s passport was stolen and Mr. Ntawangundi was severely beaten.
Today Ms. Ingabire is currently imprisoned on charges of “genocide ideology, divisionism and cooperating with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda.”
Africa Action calls U.S. government to condemn the human rights violation and that the Rwandan Government to take immediate steps to respect the rights to freedom of expression, freedom of association and peaceful assembly of opposition parties. The arrest appears to be a continuation of a troubling but predictable trend in several African countries where strong ties with the U.S. military are coinciding with the elimination of democratic processes and the arrests of political opposition leaders.
Gerald LeMelle, Executive Director of Africa Action said today, “This is a perfect illustration of when a key U.S. military satellite country in Africa, such as Rwanda, openly mocks the U.S. government’s stated interests in human rights and democracy. Sadly, the U.S. silence on this speaks volumes.”
Africa Action notes that while Rwanda has demonstrated leadership in social development and economic recovery in the region, militarily, they have been tied to the violence and destabilization in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and politically, there has been a rapid decline of constructive engagement with civil society and political opposition parties over the past few months. These developments are indications that the U.S. Government must reconsider its relationship with President Kagame, and demand that human rights and democratic principles of accountability are a priority for the Rwandan Government.
Government Has no Evidence Against Me, Says Rwanda Opposition Leader.
By Peter Clottey
VOA News
22 April 2010
The leader of Rwanda’s opposition United Democratic Forces (UDF) says President Paul Kagame’s government is determined to prevent her from participating in the upcoming election scheduled for August 9th.
Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, who was released Thursday after being accused of collaborating with a terrorist group and denying Rwanda’s genocide said she is currently under house arrest.
“I am glad that I am home but you know that I am free but on condition. I don’t have my passport, they took it and I don’t have to go out of Kigali. And of course I have two times in a month I have to go and report to the police,” she said.
Ingabire was arrested Wednesday after she was accused of genocide denial and having strong ties to the mainly Hutu Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebel group operating in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.
President Kagame’s government has often accused the FDLR of playing a part in the country’s 1994 genocide in which hundreds of thousands of Rwandans were killed in a 100-day massacre.
Ingabire said her life is currently not in danger despite her arrest.
“I don’t think so. The only problem is that I don’t have any freedom; I cannot go where I want, I cannot do what I want and that is something my lawyer will take a look at. We can ask that I can keep my freedom,” Ingabire said.
She denied the allegations against her, saying the government has so far failed to provide evidence linking her to the charges.
“Nothing has changed. First the prosecutor said they don’t have any evidence against me, but that they need more time to check where they can find evidence. I talked to him and for two months they have been investigating if you didn’t find anything what do you want? It is clear that it is the political process not criminal because you are forcing to get evidence,” she said.
Ingabire said she is being politically intimidated despite the lack of evidence to support the charges against her.
She was recently prevented from travelling abroad after police said she was under investigation because of comments she made about the 1994 genocide.
Shortly after returning to Rwanda, Ingabire called for the prosecution of those responsible for the death of Hutus during the genocide.
But a group of genocide survivors called on the government to prosecute the opposition leader, saying her pronouncement belittled the genocide in which hundreds of thousands of Rwandans were killed.
Ingabire said she is being targeted for having a different opinion about the genocide.
“There is one truth in Rwanda. There was genocide against Tutsis but there were also humanity crimes against Hutus and we have to accept that and we have to find a solution to that…what I’m asking is a dialogue that we can talk about it and to see what we can do to prevent future violence,” Ingabire said.
VOA News
22 April 2010
The leader of Rwanda’s opposition United Democratic Forces (UDF) says President Paul Kagame’s government is determined to prevent her from participating in the upcoming election scheduled for August 9th.
Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, who was released Thursday after being accused of collaborating with a terrorist group and denying Rwanda’s genocide said she is currently under house arrest.
“I am glad that I am home but you know that I am free but on condition. I don’t have my passport, they took it and I don’t have to go out of Kigali. And of course I have two times in a month I have to go and report to the police,” she said.
Ingabire was arrested Wednesday after she was accused of genocide denial and having strong ties to the mainly Hutu Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebel group operating in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.
President Kagame’s government has often accused the FDLR of playing a part in the country’s 1994 genocide in which hundreds of thousands of Rwandans were killed in a 100-day massacre.
Ingabire said her life is currently not in danger despite her arrest.
“I don’t think so. The only problem is that I don’t have any freedom; I cannot go where I want, I cannot do what I want and that is something my lawyer will take a look at. We can ask that I can keep my freedom,” Ingabire said.
She denied the allegations against her, saying the government has so far failed to provide evidence linking her to the charges.
“Nothing has changed. First the prosecutor said they don’t have any evidence against me, but that they need more time to check where they can find evidence. I talked to him and for two months they have been investigating if you didn’t find anything what do you want? It is clear that it is the political process not criminal because you are forcing to get evidence,” she said.
Ingabire said she is being politically intimidated despite the lack of evidence to support the charges against her.
She was recently prevented from travelling abroad after police said she was under investigation because of comments she made about the 1994 genocide.
Shortly after returning to Rwanda, Ingabire called for the prosecution of those responsible for the death of Hutus during the genocide.
But a group of genocide survivors called on the government to prosecute the opposition leader, saying her pronouncement belittled the genocide in which hundreds of thousands of Rwandans were killed.
Ingabire said she is being targeted for having a different opinion about the genocide.
“There is one truth in Rwanda. There was genocide against Tutsis but there were also humanity crimes against Hutus and we have to accept that and we have to find a solution to that…what I’m asking is a dialogue that we can talk about it and to see what we can do to prevent future violence,” Ingabire said.
Green Party Members Defect.
Rwanda News Agency
23 April 2010
Mr. Charles Kabanda, the ex-RPF founding member who had defected to the Green Party and two others have now left after accusing party head Mr. Frank Habineza of misrepresenting the views of the party.
Mr. Kabanda, along with media officer Vincent Nyimiyimana and executive committee member Ms. Jeanne Marie Vianney Kantengwa told a press conference that they are dissociating from party leader Mr. Habineza.
According to them, Mr. Habineza misrepresented the Democratic Green Party at a conference in Uganda last week when he allegedly siad Rwanda still has troops in DR Congo. He also supposedly claimed that Rwanda is partnering with the United States and Britain to plunder timber in Congo.
Mr. Habineza allegedly also told delegates representing African green parties that his party has two million members. The dissenting executive members say that is completely false because the party only has between 2000 to 3000 members.
The elderly Mr. Charles Kabanda was the first chairman of the now ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). He left the party and helped found the Democratic Green Party in 2008.
Mr. Habineza is said to have accepted his mistakes, but the two men and woman told reporters that they cannot continue working with him. He is currently in the Netherlands attending Green Party conferences.
The Green Party has not yet been registered.
23 April 2010
Mr. Charles Kabanda, the ex-RPF founding member who had defected to the Green Party and two others have now left after accusing party head Mr. Frank Habineza of misrepresenting the views of the party.
Mr. Kabanda, along with media officer Vincent Nyimiyimana and executive committee member Ms. Jeanne Marie Vianney Kantengwa told a press conference that they are dissociating from party leader Mr. Habineza.
According to them, Mr. Habineza misrepresented the Democratic Green Party at a conference in Uganda last week when he allegedly siad Rwanda still has troops in DR Congo. He also supposedly claimed that Rwanda is partnering with the United States and Britain to plunder timber in Congo.
Mr. Habineza allegedly also told delegates representing African green parties that his party has two million members. The dissenting executive members say that is completely false because the party only has between 2000 to 3000 members.
The elderly Mr. Charles Kabanda was the first chairman of the now ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). He left the party and helped found the Democratic Green Party in 2008.
Mr. Habineza is said to have accepted his mistakes, but the two men and woman told reporters that they cannot continue working with him. He is currently in the Netherlands attending Green Party conferences.
The Green Party has not yet been registered.
U.S. Lawyers to Defend Rwandan Opposition Leader Victoire Umuhoza.
NEWS ADVISORY
By The International Humanitarian Law Institute
April 22, 2010
KIGALI, RWANDA/ST. PAUL, MN, USA
Rwandan opposition presidential candidate Madame Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza was released on bail one day after being jailed by the Kagame-led government of Rwanda. President Paul Kagame, her would-be opponent in an apparent re-run of the 2003 sham “elections” that brought him to power with 95% of the vote, when opposition parties were outlawed and opposition candidates jailed or exiled, according to EU election monitors and later confirmed by Human Rights Watch and the British Commonwealth Human Rights Institute.
According to Ingabire’s U.S. lawyer Peter Erlinder, “Ingabire was arrested on trumped-up, political thought-crimes, including: association with a terrorist group, propagating the genocide ideology, genocide denial, revisionism and divisionism, all arising from the “crime” of publicly objecting to the Kagame military dictatorship, and Kagame’s version of the Rwandan history.“
According to Erlinder, “The arrest of Madame Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza in the run-up to the 2010 election is a carbon copy of Kagame’s tactics in 2003 when all serious political challengers were jailed or expelled from the country, including former Kagame loyalists like former Rwandan President and Prime Minister Pasteur Bizimungu and Faustin Twagiramungu. In 2003, Kagame declared all opposition political parties illegally divisionist, which he has recently repeated with Rwanda’s Green Party and Madame Ingabire’s UDF-Inkingi…” Kagame pioneered the same election tactics in Rwanda that earned international condemnation for Zimbabwe’s Mugabe.”
Hundreds of Hutu and Tutsi former supporters of President Kagame have gone into exile in the recent past, including: former Speaker of the Rwandan Parliament, Mr. Joseph Sebarenzi; the Rwandan Ambassador to the Netherlands (who granted Mrs. Ingabire’s visa to return to Rwanda in January); numerous senior military officers and political figures, as well as Mr. Paul Rusesabagina, the man portrayed by Don Cheadle in the movie Hotel Rwanda.
In late February 2010 notes reported to reflect Kagame’s meeting with Rwandan ambassadors (who had not yet gone into exile) targeted seven non-Rwandan lawyers, journalists and academics for discrediting or assassination. Erlinder’s name was one of those on the list. Erlinder expressed concerns for his own safety when he travels to Rwanda to defend Madame Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza. With this history we all have to take Kagame’s threat seriously. The Ingabire Defense Team insists that: “the Obama administration; President Dennis Byron of the UN Rwanda Tribunal and the Kagame government provide safe-passage guarantees for Madame Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza and all defense team members, while we are defending democratic principles and human rights in Rwanda.”
Recently, U.S. political scientists Dr. Alan Stam of the University of Michigan and Dr. Christian Davenport of the University of Notre Dame documented all reported crimes committed in Rwanda during 1994 and concluded that both warring sides committed war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Now that Mrs. Ingabire has been released, Mr. Erlinder insists that President Kagame’s Justice Minister Tharcisse Karugarama ensure respect for democratic principles and the Rule of Law, by:
(a) the immediate return of all computers, political and/or personal documents and all other items seized from Mrs. Ingabire’s home;
(b) removal of all restrictions on Mrs. Ingabire’s ability to campaign freely among the Rwandan people, including the return of her passport and elimination of police reporting requirements;
(c) full-recognition and registration of her political party, the UDF-Inkingi, and all other Rwandan opposition political parties;
(d) full access to the press and the media and an end to all intimidation tactics against opposition political activities;
(e) safe passage for all members of Mrs. Ingabire’s defense team.
Contact:
The International Humanitarian Law Institute, St. Paul, MN, USA
Director - Prof. Peter Erlinder,
Associate Director - Gena Bergland
Phone: +1-651-290-6384
E-mail: peter.erlinder@wmitchell.edu
Peter Erlinder is a Professor of Constitutional Criminal Law and International Humanitarian Law at William Mitchell College of Law, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger’s Minnesota alma mater. Mr. Erlinder is also a Defense Counsel in the Military-1 trial at the United Nations Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). This case found all four former top military leaders acquitted of conspiring and/or planning to commit genocide or any other crimes. The highest-ranking defendant was acquitted of all charges on December 18, 2008. Mr. Erlinder is also President of the ICTR-ADAD (Association des Avocats de la Defense), past-President of the National Lawyers Guild, NY, and Director of the International Humanitarian Law Institute in St. Paul, MN, USA.
By The International Humanitarian Law Institute
April 22, 2010
KIGALI, RWANDA/ST. PAUL, MN, USA
Rwandan opposition presidential candidate Madame Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza was released on bail one day after being jailed by the Kagame-led government of Rwanda. President Paul Kagame, her would-be opponent in an apparent re-run of the 2003 sham “elections” that brought him to power with 95% of the vote, when opposition parties were outlawed and opposition candidates jailed or exiled, according to EU election monitors and later confirmed by Human Rights Watch and the British Commonwealth Human Rights Institute.
According to Ingabire’s U.S. lawyer Peter Erlinder, “Ingabire was arrested on trumped-up, political thought-crimes, including: association with a terrorist group, propagating the genocide ideology, genocide denial, revisionism and divisionism, all arising from the “crime” of publicly objecting to the Kagame military dictatorship, and Kagame’s version of the Rwandan history.“
According to Erlinder, “The arrest of Madame Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza in the run-up to the 2010 election is a carbon copy of Kagame’s tactics in 2003 when all serious political challengers were jailed or expelled from the country, including former Kagame loyalists like former Rwandan President and Prime Minister Pasteur Bizimungu and Faustin Twagiramungu. In 2003, Kagame declared all opposition political parties illegally divisionist, which he has recently repeated with Rwanda’s Green Party and Madame Ingabire’s UDF-Inkingi…” Kagame pioneered the same election tactics in Rwanda that earned international condemnation for Zimbabwe’s Mugabe.”
Hundreds of Hutu and Tutsi former supporters of President Kagame have gone into exile in the recent past, including: former Speaker of the Rwandan Parliament, Mr. Joseph Sebarenzi; the Rwandan Ambassador to the Netherlands (who granted Mrs. Ingabire’s visa to return to Rwanda in January); numerous senior military officers and political figures, as well as Mr. Paul Rusesabagina, the man portrayed by Don Cheadle in the movie Hotel Rwanda.
In late February 2010 notes reported to reflect Kagame’s meeting with Rwandan ambassadors (who had not yet gone into exile) targeted seven non-Rwandan lawyers, journalists and academics for discrediting or assassination. Erlinder’s name was one of those on the list. Erlinder expressed concerns for his own safety when he travels to Rwanda to defend Madame Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza. With this history we all have to take Kagame’s threat seriously. The Ingabire Defense Team insists that: “the Obama administration; President Dennis Byron of the UN Rwanda Tribunal and the Kagame government provide safe-passage guarantees for Madame Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza and all defense team members, while we are defending democratic principles and human rights in Rwanda.”
Recently, U.S. political scientists Dr. Alan Stam of the University of Michigan and Dr. Christian Davenport of the University of Notre Dame documented all reported crimes committed in Rwanda during 1994 and concluded that both warring sides committed war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Now that Mrs. Ingabire has been released, Mr. Erlinder insists that President Kagame’s Justice Minister Tharcisse Karugarama ensure respect for democratic principles and the Rule of Law, by:
(a) the immediate return of all computers, political and/or personal documents and all other items seized from Mrs. Ingabire’s home;
(b) removal of all restrictions on Mrs. Ingabire’s ability to campaign freely among the Rwandan people, including the return of her passport and elimination of police reporting requirements;
(c) full-recognition and registration of her political party, the UDF-Inkingi, and all other Rwandan opposition political parties;
(d) full access to the press and the media and an end to all intimidation tactics against opposition political activities;
(e) safe passage for all members of Mrs. Ingabire’s defense team.
Contact:
The International Humanitarian Law Institute, St. Paul, MN, USA
Director - Prof. Peter Erlinder,
Associate Director - Gena Bergland
Phone: +1-651-290-6384
E-mail: peter.erlinder@wmitchell.edu
Peter Erlinder is a Professor of Constitutional Criminal Law and International Humanitarian Law at William Mitchell College of Law, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger’s Minnesota alma mater. Mr. Erlinder is also a Defense Counsel in the Military-1 trial at the United Nations Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). This case found all four former top military leaders acquitted of conspiring and/or planning to commit genocide or any other crimes. The highest-ranking defendant was acquitted of all charges on December 18, 2008. Mr. Erlinder is also President of the ICTR-ADAD (Association des Avocats de la Defense), past-President of the National Lawyers Guild, NY, and Director of the International Humanitarian Law Institute in St. Paul, MN, USA.
Rwandan News Round-up - Early Edition: April 23, 2010.
World News Journal
23 April 2010
The Rwandan Senate has called for an investigation into former PS-Imberakuri party leader, Mr. Bernard Ntaganda, amidst vague allegations of "incendiary language and propagating hatred."
General Fred Ibingira, former commander of the infamous 157th Mobile Brigade who is indicted for numerous crimes against humanity by Spanish Judge Fernando Andreu, was yesterday promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and appointed the Reserve Force Commander, replacing suspended Lt. Gen. Charles Muhire. Brig. Gen. Jerome Ngendahimana was also promoted to the rank of Major General and appointed the Deputy Reserve Force Commander.
Lt. Col. Tharcisse Mbiturende and Lt. Col Noel Habiyakare, both senior commanders of the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda), along with Lt. Jean-Marie Karuta, are all alleged without concrete proof by the Rwandan government to have been working with Mrs. Victoire Ingabire, Chairperson of the FDU-Inkingi. They have all been summoned to appear in court soon.
The Rwandan government claims 3 senior members of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, Secretary General Charles Kabanda, Secretary for Information Vincent Nshimiyimana, and Deputy Treasurer Jeanne Marie Vianney Kantengwa, have defected and are going to form their own political party. WNJ will follow up on this story as it develops.
Carina Tertsakian, Human Rights Watch's representative to Rwanda, has reportedly been ordered to leave the country by Saturday night.
23 April 2010
The Rwandan Senate has called for an investigation into former PS-Imberakuri party leader, Mr. Bernard Ntaganda, amidst vague allegations of "incendiary language and propagating hatred."
General Fred Ibingira, former commander of the infamous 157th Mobile Brigade who is indicted for numerous crimes against humanity by Spanish Judge Fernando Andreu, was yesterday promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and appointed the Reserve Force Commander, replacing suspended Lt. Gen. Charles Muhire. Brig. Gen. Jerome Ngendahimana was also promoted to the rank of Major General and appointed the Deputy Reserve Force Commander.
Lt. Col. Tharcisse Mbiturende and Lt. Col Noel Habiyakare, both senior commanders of the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda), along with Lt. Jean-Marie Karuta, are all alleged without concrete proof by the Rwandan government to have been working with Mrs. Victoire Ingabire, Chairperson of the FDU-Inkingi. They have all been summoned to appear in court soon.
The Rwandan government claims 3 senior members of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, Secretary General Charles Kabanda, Secretary for Information Vincent Nshimiyimana, and Deputy Treasurer Jeanne Marie Vianney Kantengwa, have defected and are going to form their own political party. WNJ will follow up on this story as it develops.
Carina Tertsakian, Human Rights Watch's representative to Rwanda, has reportedly been ordered to leave the country by Saturday night.
22 April, 2010
Rwanda's most wanted 'not in Kenya.'
AP
22 April 2010
The Kenyan government says statements by the US and a UN tribunal that on of the most wanted individuals accused of involvement in the Rwandan genocide is hiding in Kenya are misleading and acts of bad faith.
In an official statement issued Wednesday, five Kenyan Cabinet ministers and the Attorney General say their investigations have shown businessman Felicien Kabuga is not in Kenya. Mr. Kabuga is wanted for allegedly financing and inciting murder during the 1994 genocide.
22 April 2010
The Kenyan government says statements by the US and a UN tribunal that on of the most wanted individuals accused of involvement in the Rwandan genocide is hiding in Kenya are misleading and acts of bad faith.
In an official statement issued Wednesday, five Kenyan Cabinet ministers and the Attorney General say their investigations have shown businessman Felicien Kabuga is not in Kenya. Mr. Kabuga is wanted for allegedly financing and inciting murder during the 1994 genocide.
Ethiopia troops expel Al Shabaab from border town.
Garowe Online
22 April 2010
Heavily-armed Ethiopian troops accompanied by Somali troops have reportedly crossed the border into south central Somali town of El Barde in a bid to oust insurgent Al-Shabaab, Radio Garowe reports.
Al-Shabaab captured the town on Tuesday after bloody confrontation with Somali forces, leading to the death of at least 10 people.
"They came with 30 armored vehicles and we don’t where Al-Shabaab fighters fled to because they are nowhere to be seen,” searching for a well-known local man who also works with Al-Shabab," said a town resident who requested not to be named.
Somali officials confirmed the presence of Ethiopian troops in the town, saying they came to deter Al-Shabaab military advance in border area.
"The troops came to the town to drive Al-Shabaab elements out of the area which is near the border between Somalia and Ethiopian," said an official.
Witnesses said the Ethiopians troops are now positioned in the outskirts of the town with Al-Shabaab fighters reportedly fleeing to neighboring Rabdhere town.
Ethiopian soldiers withdrew from southern Somalia in January 2009 after two years of military presence but residents, have been reporting several incursions in the past few months.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, an area near the central Somali town of Dhusamareb witnessed intense fighting between Al-Shabaab fighters and pro-government Ahlu Sunnah forces.
Residents said exchange of artillery fire rocked the area early morning. There were no reports of casualties.
22 April 2010
Heavily-armed Ethiopian troops accompanied by Somali troops have reportedly crossed the border into south central Somali town of El Barde in a bid to oust insurgent Al-Shabaab, Radio Garowe reports.
Al-Shabaab captured the town on Tuesday after bloody confrontation with Somali forces, leading to the death of at least 10 people.
"They came with 30 armored vehicles and we don’t where Al-Shabaab fighters fled to because they are nowhere to be seen,” searching for a well-known local man who also works with Al-Shabab," said a town resident who requested not to be named.
Somali officials confirmed the presence of Ethiopian troops in the town, saying they came to deter Al-Shabaab military advance in border area.
"The troops came to the town to drive Al-Shabaab elements out of the area which is near the border between Somalia and Ethiopian," said an official.
Witnesses said the Ethiopians troops are now positioned in the outskirts of the town with Al-Shabaab fighters reportedly fleeing to neighboring Rabdhere town.
Ethiopian soldiers withdrew from southern Somalia in January 2009 after two years of military presence but residents, have been reporting several incursions in the past few months.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, an area near the central Somali town of Dhusamareb witnessed intense fighting between Al-Shabaab fighters and pro-government Ahlu Sunnah forces.
Residents said exchange of artillery fire rocked the area early morning. There were no reports of casualties.
Opposition party leader Victoire Ingabire released in Rwanda.
BBC News
22 April 2010
A Rwandan opposition leader has been conditionally released on bail after being arrested on Wednesday.
Mrs. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza was accused of collaborating with a terrorist group, the FDLR, and allegedly denying the 1994 genocide of the Tutsi.
Mrs. Ingabire, who plans to run against President Paul Kagame in August's election, has been ordered to report to the authorities twice a month.
She is also banned from leaving the capital city, a Rwandan court ruled on Thursday.
Mrs. Ingabire, an ethnic Hutu, was accused of propagating a "genocide ideology" after she called for action to be taken against those responsible for murdering Hutu during 1994.
22 April 2010
A Rwandan opposition leader has been conditionally released on bail after being arrested on Wednesday.
Mrs. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza was accused of collaborating with a terrorist group, the FDLR, and allegedly denying the 1994 genocide of the Tutsi.
Mrs. Ingabire, who plans to run against President Paul Kagame in August's election, has been ordered to report to the authorities twice a month.
She is also banned from leaving the capital city, a Rwandan court ruled on Thursday.
Mrs. Ingabire, an ethnic Hutu, was accused of propagating a "genocide ideology" after she called for action to be taken against those responsible for murdering Hutu during 1994.
Belgian prime minister 'to resign.'
BBC News
22 April 2010
Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme has decided to resign after a key partner withdrew from his governing coalition.
Mr Leterme had gone to King Albert to tender his government's resignation following an emergency cabinet meeting on Thursday, officials said.
The king did not immediately accept Mr Leterme's resignation.
The collapse of the government threw into doubt the scheduled parliamentary debate on a law that would ban full-face Muslim veils being worn in public.
It would have been the first such law introduced by a European country.
Third resignation
The coalition fell apart after the Flemish liberal party, Open VLD, withdrew over a long-running dispute on the rights of French speakers living in Dutch-speaking areas near the capital Brussels.
"There was no other choice but for the government to resign," Finance Minister Didier Reynders told reporters.
It is the third time Mr Leterme, 49, has offered his resignation to the king.
The first time, in July 2008, he offered to quit because of failures to patch up the rift between the Dutch-speaking Flemish and French-speaking Walloons.
The king refused to accept his resignation - but accepted it in December the same year, amid allegations that the government had interfered with the courts.
Mr Leterme, however, returned as prime minister after his replacement, Herman von Rompuy, was elected president of the European Council.
The king was considering his response to the latest move on Thursday. He could ask the prime minister to try to form another administration. If that fails, elections could follow.
Divided community
"The king and the prime minister jointly underlined that, in the current circumstances, a political crisis would be inopportune and would seriously damage both the economic and social well-being of the citizens and the role of Belgium in Europe," the palace said in a written statement.
Belgium is due to take over the six-month presidency of the European Union in the next few months.
The latest row between the Dutch and French speaking communities is about communities on the outskirts of Brussels that have been trying to maintain their Flemish identity by blocking French speakers from moving in, and trying to remove their special voting rights.
Talks on the issue have failed to reach agreement.
"A negotiated solution has not been found and that's why the Open VLD is withdrawing its confidence in the government," said party president Alexander De Croo.
22 April 2010
Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme has decided to resign after a key partner withdrew from his governing coalition.
Mr Leterme had gone to King Albert to tender his government's resignation following an emergency cabinet meeting on Thursday, officials said.
The king did not immediately accept Mr Leterme's resignation.
The collapse of the government threw into doubt the scheduled parliamentary debate on a law that would ban full-face Muslim veils being worn in public.
It would have been the first such law introduced by a European country.
Third resignation
The coalition fell apart after the Flemish liberal party, Open VLD, withdrew over a long-running dispute on the rights of French speakers living in Dutch-speaking areas near the capital Brussels.
"There was no other choice but for the government to resign," Finance Minister Didier Reynders told reporters.
It is the third time Mr Leterme, 49, has offered his resignation to the king.
The first time, in July 2008, he offered to quit because of failures to patch up the rift between the Dutch-speaking Flemish and French-speaking Walloons.
The king refused to accept his resignation - but accepted it in December the same year, amid allegations that the government had interfered with the courts.
Mr Leterme, however, returned as prime minister after his replacement, Herman von Rompuy, was elected president of the European Council.
The king was considering his response to the latest move on Thursday. He could ask the prime minister to try to form another administration. If that fails, elections could follow.
Divided community
"The king and the prime minister jointly underlined that, in the current circumstances, a political crisis would be inopportune and would seriously damage both the economic and social well-being of the citizens and the role of Belgium in Europe," the palace said in a written statement.
Belgium is due to take over the six-month presidency of the European Union in the next few months.
The latest row between the Dutch and French speaking communities is about communities on the outskirts of Brussels that have been trying to maintain their Flemish identity by blocking French speakers from moving in, and trying to remove their special voting rights.
Talks on the issue have failed to reach agreement.
"A negotiated solution has not been found and that's why the Open VLD is withdrawing its confidence in the government," said party president Alexander De Croo.
Victoire Ingabire Released on Bail.
Rwanda News Agency
22 April 2010
Mrs. Victoire Ingabire has just been released on bail by a court in Kabuga after her lawyers assured the judge that she would not leave the country, RNA can exclusively report.
The ruling essentially rubbishes prosecution claims that the FDU-Inkingi chairperson would flee the country. Prosecutor General Martin Ngoga also argued that Mrs. Ingabire could also tamper with crucial evidence as investigations continue.
Details to follow.
WNJ Editor's Update - Not only can she not leave the country, but the Kigali court ruled that she cannot leave the city of Kigali and must report to the CID on a regular basis. The strategy is clear. Bail was given to provide the impression of judicial independence while preventing her from leaving the city will cripple her campaign capabilites and she will largely be unable to reach people outside the city.
22 April 2010
Mrs. Victoire Ingabire has just been released on bail by a court in Kabuga after her lawyers assured the judge that she would not leave the country, RNA can exclusively report.
The ruling essentially rubbishes prosecution claims that the FDU-Inkingi chairperson would flee the country. Prosecutor General Martin Ngoga also argued that Mrs. Ingabire could also tamper with crucial evidence as investigations continue.
Details to follow.
WNJ Editor's Update - Not only can she not leave the country, but the Kigali court ruled that she cannot leave the city of Kigali and must report to the CID on a regular basis. The strategy is clear. Bail was given to provide the impression of judicial independence while preventing her from leaving the city will cripple her campaign capabilites and she will largely be unable to reach people outside the city.
Belgium PM tenders resignation.
Al-Jazeera
22 April 2010
Belgium's prime minister has handed in his government's resignation to the country's king after the Flemish liberal party pulled out of his coalition.
Yves Leterme called an emergency meeting of his cabinet on Thursday to inform ministers that his term in office was at an end, before heading to the royal palace of King Albert II.
"[He] had no other choice than to inform us that he would go to the king immediately to tender the government's resignation," Laurette Onkelinx, Belgium's health minister, said.
However the king has warned the a political crisis stemming from Leterme's resignation "seriously threatens" Belgium's standing within the European Union, and has not yet accepted his offer.
'Economic damage'
"The king and the prime minister jointly underlined that ... a political crisis would be inopportune and would seriously damage both the economic and social well-being of the citizens and the role of Belgium in Europe," the palace said in a written statement.
Economists have expressed concern that political paralysis would harm prospects of reducing Belgium's budget deficit, forecast at 4.8 per cent of gross domestic product in 2010.
Without the backing of the centre-right Open VLD, the remaining four parties in government still have 76 of the 150 seats in the lower house of parliament but it would be hard to govern with such a slim majority.
The Flemish liberal party said it had lost confidence in the government because of its failure to resolve a dispute between French- and Dutch-speaking parties over electoral boundaries around the capital, Brussels.
"We have not agreed on a negotiated solution and therefore Open VLD no longer has confidence in the government," Alexander De Croo, the party's chairman, said.
Leterme became prime minister for a second time last November when Herman Van Rompuy left the post to become president of the European Union.
Veil vote
It came after the federal parliament's home affairs committee voted unanimously on March 31 to endorse a nationwide ban on clothing that does not allow the wearer to be fully identified.
The ban would include the full-face niqab and the burqa, a shapeless full-body cloak that covers the face with a fabric grille.
Those who ignore the ban could face a fine of up to $34 and/or a jail sentence of up to seven days.
If enacted, the bill would make Belgium the first European country to ban the garments.
Thursday's crisis occured as Belgian politicians were due to vote on a controversial bill banning Islamic veils in public places. President Sarkozy of France has called for similar legislation.
22 April 2010
Belgium's prime minister has handed in his government's resignation to the country's king after the Flemish liberal party pulled out of his coalition.
Yves Leterme called an emergency meeting of his cabinet on Thursday to inform ministers that his term in office was at an end, before heading to the royal palace of King Albert II.
"[He] had no other choice than to inform us that he would go to the king immediately to tender the government's resignation," Laurette Onkelinx, Belgium's health minister, said.
However the king has warned the a political crisis stemming from Leterme's resignation "seriously threatens" Belgium's standing within the European Union, and has not yet accepted his offer.
'Economic damage'
"The king and the prime minister jointly underlined that ... a political crisis would be inopportune and would seriously damage both the economic and social well-being of the citizens and the role of Belgium in Europe," the palace said in a written statement.
Economists have expressed concern that political paralysis would harm prospects of reducing Belgium's budget deficit, forecast at 4.8 per cent of gross domestic product in 2010.
Without the backing of the centre-right Open VLD, the remaining four parties in government still have 76 of the 150 seats in the lower house of parliament but it would be hard to govern with such a slim majority.
The Flemish liberal party said it had lost confidence in the government because of its failure to resolve a dispute between French- and Dutch-speaking parties over electoral boundaries around the capital, Brussels.
"We have not agreed on a negotiated solution and therefore Open VLD no longer has confidence in the government," Alexander De Croo, the party's chairman, said.
Leterme became prime minister for a second time last November when Herman Van Rompuy left the post to become president of the European Union.
Veil vote
It came after the federal parliament's home affairs committee voted unanimously on March 31 to endorse a nationwide ban on clothing that does not allow the wearer to be fully identified.
The ban would include the full-face niqab and the burqa, a shapeless full-body cloak that covers the face with a fabric grille.
Those who ignore the ban could face a fine of up to $34 and/or a jail sentence of up to seven days.
If enacted, the bill would make Belgium the first European country to ban the garments.
Thursday's crisis occured as Belgian politicians were due to vote on a controversial bill banning Islamic veils in public places. President Sarkozy of France has called for similar legislation.
Ethiopian activist clubbed to death in 'politically motivated' murder.
The Guardian
22 April 2010
By David Smith
An opposition activist has been bludgeoned to death with a gun butt in the second politically motivated murder of Ethiopia's election campaign, it was claimed today.
Biyansa Daba was attacked and killed at home by members of the ruling party, according to Bulcha Demeksa, a leader of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC).
"Biyansa Daba was beaten on 7 April with the butt of a gun," Bulcha told Reuters. "He died in hospital on 16 April. He was a very strong up-and-coming figure.
"Of course it was political. They asked him to stop converting people to OFC, they warned him many times. Why else would anyone beat him?"
Government spokesmen were not available to comment but routinely deny that members of the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front intimidate the opposition.
Last month Aregawi Gebre-Yohannes, an opposition candidate for the eight-party coalition Medrek – of which the OFC is a member – was stabbed to death in what the opposition described as a political murder. The government insists that Aregawi was killed in a bar fight. A man has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for the crime.
The government has been accused by Human Rights Watch of waging a coordinated assault on political opponents, rights campaigners and journalists ahead of the national elections on 23 May.
A report by the group said journalists and activists have fled the country because of government repression. Some radio broadcasts by the Voice of America have been jammed.
Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said: "The ruling party and the state are becoming one, and the government is using the full weight of its power to eliminate opposition and intimidate people into silence."
The results of the last elections in 2005 were challenged by the opposition and some international observers. Street riots erupted, security forces killed at least 193 civilians and the main opposition leaders were imprisoned. The prime minister, Meles Zenawi, claimed they were trying to overthrow him.
The OFC and other parties representing the Oromo – Ethiopia's biggest ethnic group – say ruling party officials are again intimidating and jailing their members.
The government denies that it targets Oromo politicians and points to the fact that there are several Oromo government ministers and a ceremonial president of the country as proof.
Oromos, numbering 27m of Ethiopia's 80m people, have not held power in modern history. Ethiopia has more than 80 ethnic groups.
Meles is from the Tigrayan ethnic group, who make up 6% of the population and dominate the political and military elite.
Analysts expect the Meles government to win the election.
22 April 2010
By David Smith
An opposition activist has been bludgeoned to death with a gun butt in the second politically motivated murder of Ethiopia's election campaign, it was claimed today.
Biyansa Daba was attacked and killed at home by members of the ruling party, according to Bulcha Demeksa, a leader of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC).
"Biyansa Daba was beaten on 7 April with the butt of a gun," Bulcha told Reuters. "He died in hospital on 16 April. He was a very strong up-and-coming figure.
"Of course it was political. They asked him to stop converting people to OFC, they warned him many times. Why else would anyone beat him?"
Government spokesmen were not available to comment but routinely deny that members of the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front intimidate the opposition.
Last month Aregawi Gebre-Yohannes, an opposition candidate for the eight-party coalition Medrek – of which the OFC is a member – was stabbed to death in what the opposition described as a political murder. The government insists that Aregawi was killed in a bar fight. A man has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for the crime.
The government has been accused by Human Rights Watch of waging a coordinated assault on political opponents, rights campaigners and journalists ahead of the national elections on 23 May.
A report by the group said journalists and activists have fled the country because of government repression. Some radio broadcasts by the Voice of America have been jammed.
Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said: "The ruling party and the state are becoming one, and the government is using the full weight of its power to eliminate opposition and intimidate people into silence."
The results of the last elections in 2005 were challenged by the opposition and some international observers. Street riots erupted, security forces killed at least 193 civilians and the main opposition leaders were imprisoned. The prime minister, Meles Zenawi, claimed they were trying to overthrow him.
The OFC and other parties representing the Oromo – Ethiopia's biggest ethnic group – say ruling party officials are again intimidating and jailing their members.
The government denies that it targets Oromo politicians and points to the fact that there are several Oromo government ministers and a ceremonial president of the country as proof.
Oromos, numbering 27m of Ethiopia's 80m people, have not held power in modern history. Ethiopia has more than 80 ethnic groups.
Meles is from the Tigrayan ethnic group, who make up 6% of the population and dominate the political and military elite.
Analysts expect the Meles government to win the election.
President Ahmadinejad to sign cooperative agreements with Mugabe.
SAPA
22 April 2010
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrives in Zimbabwe on Thursday to sign a raft of trade and cooperation agreements with his Zimbabwean counterpart, Zimbabwe's foreign minister said.
"The memorandum of understanding will officially be signed by the two presidents tomorrow [Thursday], together with the other trade agreements," said Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi late on Wednesday during a Zimbabwe-Iran joint commission meeting.
The Iranian leader will proceed to open Zimbabwe's main trade fair in the second city of Bulawayo on Friday.
The two countries also agreed to form joint ventures in the agriculture, manufacturing, mining and water management sectors, according to a communiqué issued after the meeting.
"The joint commission agreed to establish a joint investment company to identify and implement projects of mutual benefit to the two countries, including in the areas of banking, finance and insurance," it said.
The trade fair was a major calendar event in Zimbabwe, but has become more localised in recent years as the country has battled an economic crisis that saw inflation reach 231-million percent at one stage.
Zimbabwe enjoys good relations with Iran as well as several east Asian countries after launching a "Look East" policy in response to its isolation by the West.
22 April 2010
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrives in Zimbabwe on Thursday to sign a raft of trade and cooperation agreements with his Zimbabwean counterpart, Zimbabwe's foreign minister said.
"The memorandum of understanding will officially be signed by the two presidents tomorrow [Thursday], together with the other trade agreements," said Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi late on Wednesday during a Zimbabwe-Iran joint commission meeting.
The Iranian leader will proceed to open Zimbabwe's main trade fair in the second city of Bulawayo on Friday.
The two countries also agreed to form joint ventures in the agriculture, manufacturing, mining and water management sectors, according to a communiqué issued after the meeting.
"The joint commission agreed to establish a joint investment company to identify and implement projects of mutual benefit to the two countries, including in the areas of banking, finance and insurance," it said.
The trade fair was a major calendar event in Zimbabwe, but has become more localised in recent years as the country has battled an economic crisis that saw inflation reach 231-million percent at one stage.
Zimbabwe enjoys good relations with Iran as well as several east Asian countries after launching a "Look East" policy in response to its isolation by the West.
Amidst Poland's Tragedy, Patriot Battery seen in Poland late May.
Reuters
21 April 2010
A planned battery of Patriot missiles that has irritated Russia will now arrive in Poland in late May, the state news agency PAP said Wednesday, nearly two months behind schedule.
The temporary deployment of the battery, along with a 100-man team to operate it, is part of a Polish-U.S. agreement signed late last year to upgrade the NATO member's air defenses.
PAP quoted defense ministry spokesman Janusz Sejmej as saying the battery was now expected to reach Morag, a town in northern Poland near Russia's Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad, around May 24.
Neither the ministry nor the U.S. embassy was immediately available for comment and PAP gave no reason for the delay in the deployment, previously envisaged for early April.
Russia is wary about the deployment of U.S. troops and hardware near its borders, though its defense ministry denied in January suggestions that it might bolster its Baltic Fleet in response to the Patriot deployment in Poland.
The Patriot deal is primarily about training and is not linked to broader U.S. talks with Poland and other ex-communist states about future missile defense systems that Moscow opposes.
The battery, which would come to Poland from Germany several times a year, also has symbolic value for Warsaw, which has long complained that it hosts no U.S. troops or major military installations 10 years after it joined NATO.
The arrival of the Patriot battery coincides with fresh efforts by Moscow and Warsaw to improve frosty ties after a plane crash on Russian soil on April 10 killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski and scores of other senior officials.
At Kaczynski's funeral in the Polish city of Krakow last Sunday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev promised to cooperate fully with Poland in the crash investigation and also backed closer economic and other relations.
(Writing by Gareth Jones, editing by Lin Noueihed)
21 April 2010
A planned battery of Patriot missiles that has irritated Russia will now arrive in Poland in late May, the state news agency PAP said Wednesday, nearly two months behind schedule.
The temporary deployment of the battery, along with a 100-man team to operate it, is part of a Polish-U.S. agreement signed late last year to upgrade the NATO member's air defenses.
PAP quoted defense ministry spokesman Janusz Sejmej as saying the battery was now expected to reach Morag, a town in northern Poland near Russia's Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad, around May 24.
Neither the ministry nor the U.S. embassy was immediately available for comment and PAP gave no reason for the delay in the deployment, previously envisaged for early April.
Russia is wary about the deployment of U.S. troops and hardware near its borders, though its defense ministry denied in January suggestions that it might bolster its Baltic Fleet in response to the Patriot deployment in Poland.
The Patriot deal is primarily about training and is not linked to broader U.S. talks with Poland and other ex-communist states about future missile defense systems that Moscow opposes.
The battery, which would come to Poland from Germany several times a year, also has symbolic value for Warsaw, which has long complained that it hosts no U.S. troops or major military installations 10 years after it joined NATO.
The arrival of the Patriot battery coincides with fresh efforts by Moscow and Warsaw to improve frosty ties after a plane crash on Russian soil on April 10 killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski and scores of other senior officials.
At Kaczynski's funeral in the Polish city of Krakow last Sunday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev promised to cooperate fully with Poland in the crash investigation and also backed closer economic and other relations.
(Writing by Gareth Jones, editing by Lin Noueihed)
Madagascar crisis talks in SA.
Reuters
21 April 2010
The protagonists in Madagascar's political crisis have agreed to attend talks in South Africa on April 28.
President Andry Rajoelina ousted Marc Ravalomanana with the help of dissident soldiers in March last year after weeks of popular protests. The two have been at loggerheads ever since as international mediators work to install a unity government.
Rajoelina's office said late on Tuesday he would go to the talks in the interests of the nation. A spokesperson for Ravalomanana said on Wednesday he planned to attend to try to return democracy to Madagascar, the world's fourth largest island and the biggest producer of vanilla.
The crisis has hit foreign investment into the Indian Ocean island with potentially substantial oil and mineral reserves and battered the tourism industry.
The army said last month Rajoelina had until the end of April to come up with an acceptable way out of the political impasse.
The latest round of talks has been arranged by mediators from France, South Africa and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Since the crisis erupted, there has been a diplomatic divide among African nations with Anglophones largely seen favouring Ravalomanana and Francophones tending to side with Rajoelina, according to African Union sources and analysts.
Dialogue urged
Ravalomanana had a rocky relationship with France and has accused the island's former colonial power of supporting Rajoelina's rise to power.
Rajoelina has been suspicious of SADC since Ravalomanana fled to exile in South Africa and an economic bloc of eastern and southern African nations (COMESA) said it was mulling military intervention to restore constitutional order.
France and the United Nations then warned against military intervention and urged further dialogue.
Tension in Madagascar has grown in recent weeks. There have been rumours of coup plots and the security forces have arrested 21 people since Sunday on suspicion of plotting attacks.
The military police in the capital Antananarivo told Reuters a grenade was thrown at the home of the justice minister on Tuesday evening but no one was hurt.
21 April 2010
The protagonists in Madagascar's political crisis have agreed to attend talks in South Africa on April 28.
President Andry Rajoelina ousted Marc Ravalomanana with the help of dissident soldiers in March last year after weeks of popular protests. The two have been at loggerheads ever since as international mediators work to install a unity government.
Rajoelina's office said late on Tuesday he would go to the talks in the interests of the nation. A spokesperson for Ravalomanana said on Wednesday he planned to attend to try to return democracy to Madagascar, the world's fourth largest island and the biggest producer of vanilla.
The crisis has hit foreign investment into the Indian Ocean island with potentially substantial oil and mineral reserves and battered the tourism industry.
The army said last month Rajoelina had until the end of April to come up with an acceptable way out of the political impasse.
The latest round of talks has been arranged by mediators from France, South Africa and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Since the crisis erupted, there has been a diplomatic divide among African nations with Anglophones largely seen favouring Ravalomanana and Francophones tending to side with Rajoelina, according to African Union sources and analysts.
Dialogue urged
Ravalomanana had a rocky relationship with France and has accused the island's former colonial power of supporting Rajoelina's rise to power.
Rajoelina has been suspicious of SADC since Ravalomanana fled to exile in South Africa and an economic bloc of eastern and southern African nations (COMESA) said it was mulling military intervention to restore constitutional order.
France and the United Nations then warned against military intervention and urged further dialogue.
Tension in Madagascar has grown in recent weeks. There have been rumours of coup plots and the security forces have arrested 21 people since Sunday on suspicion of plotting attacks.
The military police in the capital Antananarivo told Reuters a grenade was thrown at the home of the justice minister on Tuesday evening but no one was hurt.
Retired Rwandan Army Colonel Arrested After Trying to Flee the Country.
256 News
21 April 2010
By Godwin Agaba
Retired Colonel Ludovic Twahirwa Dodo, the President of the Association of
Commuter Taxis (ATRACO) in Rwanda, will face prosecution tomorrow (Thursday)according to Criminal Intelligence Division (CID) sources in Kigali.
Afande Dodo, as he is commonly referred to, will appear at CID headquarters
tomorrow morning to answer for charges related to mismanagement, abuse of office and corruption.
According to security operatives in Kigali, Dodo was issued a summons today by the CID to report tomorrow at exactly 8:00am.
We were told that he was caught trying to escape from Rwanda this week but was stopped at the northern border post of Gatuna at the border of Uganda.
According to a family source, the wealthy Dodo sold some of his properties in Rwanda, including houses and a school called Esse Nyarugunga. He also owns TopSec Security, a company that deals in electronic security systems and hiring out private security guards.
According to the family source, Dodo bought a house on the shores of Lake Victoria in Uganda where some of his relatives are staying and he also bought two petrol stations in Kampala, the Ugandan capital, where he intended to relocate.
According to this reliable family source, Dodo’s petrol stations are
managed by his nephew Karemara. 256 News is working around the clock to establish more details.
Col. Twahirwa Dodo is one of the former fighters of the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA) who started and finished fighting the war against Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana. During the Ugandan Bush war, Col. Dodo commanded the Bravo unit.
Meanwhile, the fate of the two senior officers, Lt. Gen. Charles Muhire and
Maj. Gen. Emmanuel Karenzi Kareke, who were arrested two days ago on
allegations of corruption, misuse of office and immoral conduct, will be
decided this week by the Army Disciplinary committee, according to a military source.
It is still not clear whether their cases will end in trials, but what is clear now is that the two Generals are being held in detention at Kanombe Military Camp.
21 April 2010
By Godwin Agaba
Retired Colonel Ludovic Twahirwa Dodo, the President of the Association of
Commuter Taxis (ATRACO) in Rwanda, will face prosecution tomorrow (Thursday)according to Criminal Intelligence Division (CID) sources in Kigali.
Afande Dodo, as he is commonly referred to, will appear at CID headquarters
tomorrow morning to answer for charges related to mismanagement, abuse of office and corruption.
According to security operatives in Kigali, Dodo was issued a summons today by the CID to report tomorrow at exactly 8:00am.
We were told that he was caught trying to escape from Rwanda this week but was stopped at the northern border post of Gatuna at the border of Uganda.
According to a family source, the wealthy Dodo sold some of his properties in Rwanda, including houses and a school called Esse Nyarugunga. He also owns TopSec Security, a company that deals in electronic security systems and hiring out private security guards.
According to the family source, Dodo bought a house on the shores of Lake Victoria in Uganda where some of his relatives are staying and he also bought two petrol stations in Kampala, the Ugandan capital, where he intended to relocate.
According to this reliable family source, Dodo’s petrol stations are
managed by his nephew Karemara. 256 News is working around the clock to establish more details.
Col. Twahirwa Dodo is one of the former fighters of the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA) who started and finished fighting the war against Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana. During the Ugandan Bush war, Col. Dodo commanded the Bravo unit.
Meanwhile, the fate of the two senior officers, Lt. Gen. Charles Muhire and
Maj. Gen. Emmanuel Karenzi Kareke, who were arrested two days ago on
allegations of corruption, misuse of office and immoral conduct, will be
decided this week by the Army Disciplinary committee, according to a military source.
It is still not clear whether their cases will end in trials, but what is clear now is that the two Generals are being held in detention at Kanombe Military Camp.
Nigeria: Shake-Up Looms in Oil Industry.
This Day
Chika Amanze-Nwachuku
21 April 2010
Lagos — A major shake-up is imminent in the oil industry, which is likely to affect key officials in the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).
Meanwhile, the PPPRA has paid petroleum products marketers N340 billion between August last year and February 2010, as subsidy for imported petroleum products.
Although details of the planned shake-up were sketchy last night, sources said it may see Dr. Wole Oluleye returned as the Executive Secretary of the agency. Oluleye was sent on compulsory leave in 2008 over alleged irregularities in the disbursement of funds for the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF) and Petroleum Support Fund (PSF).
Other key officials affected are to be removed or redeployed in the exercise, which is likely to be announced anytime from now.
Two NNPC group executive directors are to be retired, while the heads of at least two parastatals will be removed and redeployed.
THIS DAY learnt that the new Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, has been mandated by Acting President Goodluck Jonathan to clean up the oil sector bodies.
A key change was made two weeks ago with the removal of Dr. Sanusi Barkindo as the Group Managing Director of NNPC and the appointment of Alhaji Shehu Ladan as his successor.
On subsidy, PPPRA's Executive Secretary, Mr. Abiodun Ibikunle, confirmed the payment to THIS DAY and said government was finalising the payment process for March subsidy, which is the only month outstanding.
He said these payments are in respect of petroleum products subsidy on the 32 million to 35 million litres consumed per day in the country.
Statistics obtained from the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) yesterday revealed that between January and March this year, the NNPC, major and independent petroleum marketers imported a total volume of 3,053,184.40 Metric Tones of PMS, 995,393.68 Metric Tones of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), 475,257.34, Metric Tones of Dual Purpose kerosene (DPK). The quantity of ATK imported was 111,793.99, while 109,331.25 Metric Tones of Low Pour Fuel Oil.
(LPFO) was imported
However, as at January this year, the government had paid about N300 billion to the marketers, in an effort to ensure steady supply of fuel. Ibikunle put the agency's outstanding debt as at then at N27 billion, and pledged government's efforts to ensure that marketers get their subsidies at the right time.
To make good that promise, the agency is said to have processed the claims for the month of March, which will be disbursed to the marketers as soon as approval is given by the Ministry of Finance.
Delay in payment of outstanding subsidies had forced oil marketers to withdraw from fuel importation, a development which resulted in a crippling fuel crisis across the country. Although the NNPC, which was responsible for importation of about 47 per cent out of the 32 million litres of fuel consumed in Nigeria daily, was prompted to import 100 per cent of the national consumption, the crisis persisted until marketers resumed fuel importation after their subsidies were paid.
Industry sources spoken to yesterday commended the agency for the prompt payment of subsidies. They described the development as "healthy for petroleum products supply and the only short term solution to the incessant fuel crises since it is not feasible to get the refineries functioning overnight".
PPPRA had initially awarded petroleum products importation licences for the second quarter, 2010 to 53 oil importers but whittle it down to 25. The agency's decision to withdraw the allocation earlier granted to some marketers has elicited a lot of reactions in the industry, with many accusing it of foul play. However, the PPPRA has explained that the decision was for sanity and better co-ordination. Before now, only a handful of marketers applied to import products.
A senior executive of one of the major marketing companies commented: "The development is healthy for the industry. It is interesting seeing how major and independent marketers are now scrambling to import products, including those who, months back, did not want to have anything to do with PPPRA. It is an irony that some of them are now complaining of not being given much allocation. Did they expect PPPRA to consider them above those very few marketers that showed understanding when the agency was making efforts to resolve the issue of backlog?"
Economic watchers are however concerned that for a government to cough out over N2 trillion in fuel subsidy in the last five years is an indication that all is not well with the economy.
"What this points out is that Nigeria needs to drop the current arrangement fast. Deregulation has not been more urgent than now. Such huge amount could have been used to turn the economy around. We are throwing good money at bad business because we are not willing and ready to do the right thing," a source who spoke on condition of anonymity said.
Meanwhile, indications have emerged that PPPRA workers have resolved their differences with the leadership of the agency. A section of the workers under the aegis of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) had written a letter to the Minister of Petroleum Resources seeking for an overhaul of the agency's leadership cadre.
The workers had alleged the non implementation of salary increment, failure to implement the agency's budget and other issues bordering on pension, medical entitlements and promotions. They also claimed that the Executive Secretary of the Agency did not resign from the DPR (from where he was appointed the PPPRA Executive Secretary) even after his appointment at PPPRA and had continued to earn salary from DPR.
Chika Amanze-Nwachuku
21 April 2010
Lagos — A major shake-up is imminent in the oil industry, which is likely to affect key officials in the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).
Meanwhile, the PPPRA has paid petroleum products marketers N340 billion between August last year and February 2010, as subsidy for imported petroleum products.
Although details of the planned shake-up were sketchy last night, sources said it may see Dr. Wole Oluleye returned as the Executive Secretary of the agency. Oluleye was sent on compulsory leave in 2008 over alleged irregularities in the disbursement of funds for the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF) and Petroleum Support Fund (PSF).
Other key officials affected are to be removed or redeployed in the exercise, which is likely to be announced anytime from now.
Two NNPC group executive directors are to be retired, while the heads of at least two parastatals will be removed and redeployed.
THIS DAY learnt that the new Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, has been mandated by Acting President Goodluck Jonathan to clean up the oil sector bodies.
A key change was made two weeks ago with the removal of Dr. Sanusi Barkindo as the Group Managing Director of NNPC and the appointment of Alhaji Shehu Ladan as his successor.
On subsidy, PPPRA's Executive Secretary, Mr. Abiodun Ibikunle, confirmed the payment to THIS DAY and said government was finalising the payment process for March subsidy, which is the only month outstanding.
He said these payments are in respect of petroleum products subsidy on the 32 million to 35 million litres consumed per day in the country.
Statistics obtained from the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) yesterday revealed that between January and March this year, the NNPC, major and independent petroleum marketers imported a total volume of 3,053,184.40 Metric Tones of PMS, 995,393.68 Metric Tones of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), 475,257.34, Metric Tones of Dual Purpose kerosene (DPK). The quantity of ATK imported was 111,793.99, while 109,331.25 Metric Tones of Low Pour Fuel Oil.
(LPFO) was imported
However, as at January this year, the government had paid about N300 billion to the marketers, in an effort to ensure steady supply of fuel. Ibikunle put the agency's outstanding debt as at then at N27 billion, and pledged government's efforts to ensure that marketers get their subsidies at the right time.
To make good that promise, the agency is said to have processed the claims for the month of March, which will be disbursed to the marketers as soon as approval is given by the Ministry of Finance.
Delay in payment of outstanding subsidies had forced oil marketers to withdraw from fuel importation, a development which resulted in a crippling fuel crisis across the country. Although the NNPC, which was responsible for importation of about 47 per cent out of the 32 million litres of fuel consumed in Nigeria daily, was prompted to import 100 per cent of the national consumption, the crisis persisted until marketers resumed fuel importation after their subsidies were paid.
Industry sources spoken to yesterday commended the agency for the prompt payment of subsidies. They described the development as "healthy for petroleum products supply and the only short term solution to the incessant fuel crises since it is not feasible to get the refineries functioning overnight".
PPPRA had initially awarded petroleum products importation licences for the second quarter, 2010 to 53 oil importers but whittle it down to 25. The agency's decision to withdraw the allocation earlier granted to some marketers has elicited a lot of reactions in the industry, with many accusing it of foul play. However, the PPPRA has explained that the decision was for sanity and better co-ordination. Before now, only a handful of marketers applied to import products.
A senior executive of one of the major marketing companies commented: "The development is healthy for the industry. It is interesting seeing how major and independent marketers are now scrambling to import products, including those who, months back, did not want to have anything to do with PPPRA. It is an irony that some of them are now complaining of not being given much allocation. Did they expect PPPRA to consider them above those very few marketers that showed understanding when the agency was making efforts to resolve the issue of backlog?"
Economic watchers are however concerned that for a government to cough out over N2 trillion in fuel subsidy in the last five years is an indication that all is not well with the economy.
"What this points out is that Nigeria needs to drop the current arrangement fast. Deregulation has not been more urgent than now. Such huge amount could have been used to turn the economy around. We are throwing good money at bad business because we are not willing and ready to do the right thing," a source who spoke on condition of anonymity said.
Meanwhile, indications have emerged that PPPRA workers have resolved their differences with the leadership of the agency. A section of the workers under the aegis of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) had written a letter to the Minister of Petroleum Resources seeking for an overhaul of the agency's leadership cadre.
The workers had alleged the non implementation of salary increment, failure to implement the agency's budget and other issues bordering on pension, medical entitlements and promotions. They also claimed that the Executive Secretary of the Agency did not resign from the DPR (from where he was appointed the PPPRA Executive Secretary) even after his appointment at PPPRA and had continued to earn salary from DPR.
21 April, 2010
Bomb targets Madagascar minister's home.
SAPA-AFP
21 April 2010
A home-made bomb blew up outside the home of Madagascar's justice minister in the country's capital, authorities said Wednesday.
The incident late Tuesday was the third bomb explosion in less than a week in Antananarivo, which has been mired in a political crisis since 2008.
"The house of the justice minister (Christine Razananahasoa) was targeted around 9:00 pm (1900 GMT)," local gendarmerie commander Colonel Richard Ravalomanana told AFP.
He said a bomb thrown at the property fell around 15 metres (yards) from the house and no one was injured.
Two bombs exploded at service stations in the capital last Friday.
The Indian Ocean island has been swept by persistent rumours of a coup in recent weeks, and police said they foiled a planned attack on the prime minister's office at the weekend.
"The objective is to spread fear, but we mustn't play their game and begin to panic. We are taking measures and are remaining calm," said the colonel.
The the opposition is expected to hold talks in South Africa, where Ravalomanana is exiled, on April 28.
21 April 2010
A home-made bomb blew up outside the home of Madagascar's justice minister in the country's capital, authorities said Wednesday.
The incident late Tuesday was the third bomb explosion in less than a week in Antananarivo, which has been mired in a political crisis since 2008.
"The house of the justice minister (Christine Razananahasoa) was targeted around 9:00 pm (1900 GMT)," local gendarmerie commander Colonel Richard Ravalomanana told AFP.
He said a bomb thrown at the property fell around 15 metres (yards) from the house and no one was injured.
Two bombs exploded at service stations in the capital last Friday.
The Indian Ocean island has been swept by persistent rumours of a coup in recent weeks, and police said they foiled a planned attack on the prime minister's office at the weekend.
"The objective is to spread fear, but we mustn't play their game and begin to panic. We are taking measures and are remaining calm," said the colonel.
The the opposition is expected to hold talks in South Africa, where Ravalomanana is exiled, on April 28.
FDU/UDF-Inkingi Press Release on arrest of Victoire Umuhoza.
UDF/FDU-Inkingi Support Committee
Press Release
CONTACT: EUGENE NDAHAYO
TEL. 00 33 676758434
The UDF – Inkingi Support Committee condemns in the strongest possible terms the arrest this morning of the party Chairperson, Mrs. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, for publicly speaking about her views on how to bring about genuine national reconciliation and peace to Rwanda through the installment of the rule of law, equal opportunity, and discussing ways to end the cycle of political violence through non-violent, peaceful, and democratic electoral competition. We know that this unwarranted arrest and oppression will not deter her determination. Instead, it elevates the struggle of this icon of Rwandan freedom to a higher level.
It is a tragedy for Rwanda that her call for justice for all Rwandans irrespective of their political and ethnic affiliation, an all-inclusive national dialogue for all Rwandans to give their views on how to put in place institutions that protect the rights of every Rwandan, have been twisted by Rwandan officials into accusations of: genocide ideology, divisionism and collaboration with a terrorist organisation, the FDLR.
Such an oppressive and unlawful act against a peace-loving mother who braved Rwanda's undemocratic environment to show that there is another direction for Rwanda, one that strives to bring about lasting peace and development in Rwanda, is not only a challenge to the conscience and dignity of the Rwandan people but also to the international community, in particular foreign governments who are sponsoring the current Rwandan government.
It is a great irony and a direct challenge to the international community that this is happening at a time when the Governor General of Canada, a lady herself and whose government was not only at the forefront of countries that sponsored Rwanda to join the commonwealth on the grounds that it meets democratic standards and other values of that organisation, is visiting the country. During her visit she is scheduled to meet the women and men of Kibirizi and participate in a discussion on the growing participation of women in Rwandan society.
We call upon governments, peace-loving people, and international organisations to support us in getting our chairperson immediately and unconditionally released.
Done in Brussels,
21 April 2010
For the UDF INKINGI Support Committee,
Eugene Ndahayo
President
Press Release
CONTACT: EUGENE NDAHAYO
TEL. 00 33 676758434
The UDF – Inkingi Support Committee condemns in the strongest possible terms the arrest this morning of the party Chairperson, Mrs. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, for publicly speaking about her views on how to bring about genuine national reconciliation and peace to Rwanda through the installment of the rule of law, equal opportunity, and discussing ways to end the cycle of political violence through non-violent, peaceful, and democratic electoral competition. We know that this unwarranted arrest and oppression will not deter her determination. Instead, it elevates the struggle of this icon of Rwandan freedom to a higher level.
It is a tragedy for Rwanda that her call for justice for all Rwandans irrespective of their political and ethnic affiliation, an all-inclusive national dialogue for all Rwandans to give their views on how to put in place institutions that protect the rights of every Rwandan, have been twisted by Rwandan officials into accusations of: genocide ideology, divisionism and collaboration with a terrorist organisation, the FDLR.
Such an oppressive and unlawful act against a peace-loving mother who braved Rwanda's undemocratic environment to show that there is another direction for Rwanda, one that strives to bring about lasting peace and development in Rwanda, is not only a challenge to the conscience and dignity of the Rwandan people but also to the international community, in particular foreign governments who are sponsoring the current Rwandan government.
It is a great irony and a direct challenge to the international community that this is happening at a time when the Governor General of Canada, a lady herself and whose government was not only at the forefront of countries that sponsored Rwanda to join the commonwealth on the grounds that it meets democratic standards and other values of that organisation, is visiting the country. During her visit she is scheduled to meet the women and men of Kibirizi and participate in a discussion on the growing participation of women in Rwandan society.
We call upon governments, peace-loving people, and international organisations to support us in getting our chairperson immediately and unconditionally released.
Done in Brussels,
21 April 2010
For the UDF INKINGI Support Committee,
Eugene Ndahayo
President
Canadian Greens ask Gov. Gen. of Canada to press Rwanda on political and human rights oppression.
Green Party of Canada
April 14, 2010
To: H.E. Michaëlle Jean
Governor General of Canada
Rideau Hall
1 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A1
Your Excellency,
We would like to wish you a very enjoyable and fruitful visit to Africa.
We are sure you have been briefed about Rwanda and the progress it is making following the genocide. We also believe it is important to draw your attention to some of the recent problems with respect to human rights and political freedoms.
A number of human rights organizations and observers have implicated the ruling party in electoral irregularities, restrictions on press freedom and intimidation of opposition parties. The most recent was an expert report published by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative.
The Green Party of Canada has already expressed our concerns to international media and directly through the Rwandan High Commission in Ottawa. Unfortunately, the Rwandan government has not only prevented the Green Party of Rwanda from registering but some of the intimidation has resulted in violence. The notes enclosed, provide additional background.
We would appreciate you using your good offices to encourage the Rwandan government to live up to its international agreement and Commonwealth principles. The following actions are proposed:
- undertake an independent review of the human rights situation, and
- require the RPF to report on its efforts to encourage an environment where opposition parties and democracy can flourish in
Rwanda.
We would therefore appreciate whatever opportunity you may have to discuss this with Rwandan officials. With the progress being made, it would be tragic to see democratic and human rights suffer between now and the next election.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth May, Leader Green Party of Canada
Adriane Carr, Deputy Leader
Jacques Rivard, Deputy Leader
Johan Hamels, Former Treasurer, European Greens, Former Member of the Global Green Coordination
Joe Foster, GPC Human Rights Critic
WNJ Editor's Note: Original official letter is available upon request by leaving a comment on this article with an e-mail contact.
April 14, 2010
To: H.E. Michaëlle Jean
Governor General of Canada
Rideau Hall
1 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A1
Your Excellency,
We would like to wish you a very enjoyable and fruitful visit to Africa.
We are sure you have been briefed about Rwanda and the progress it is making following the genocide. We also believe it is important to draw your attention to some of the recent problems with respect to human rights and political freedoms.
A number of human rights organizations and observers have implicated the ruling party in electoral irregularities, restrictions on press freedom and intimidation of opposition parties. The most recent was an expert report published by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative.
The Green Party of Canada has already expressed our concerns to international media and directly through the Rwandan High Commission in Ottawa. Unfortunately, the Rwandan government has not only prevented the Green Party of Rwanda from registering but some of the intimidation has resulted in violence. The notes enclosed, provide additional background.
We would appreciate you using your good offices to encourage the Rwandan government to live up to its international agreement and Commonwealth principles. The following actions are proposed:
- undertake an independent review of the human rights situation, and
- require the RPF to report on its efforts to encourage an environment where opposition parties and democracy can flourish in
Rwanda.
We would therefore appreciate whatever opportunity you may have to discuss this with Rwandan officials. With the progress being made, it would be tragic to see democratic and human rights suffer between now and the next election.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth May, Leader Green Party of Canada
Adriane Carr, Deputy Leader
Jacques Rivard, Deputy Leader
Johan Hamels, Former Treasurer, European Greens, Former Member of the Global Green Coordination
Joe Foster, GPC Human Rights Critic
WNJ Editor's Note: Original official letter is available upon request by leaving a comment on this article with an e-mail contact.
Rwandan opposition party head arrested for alleged 'genocide denial'
AFP/WNJ
Editor's Update - Her initial hearing over bail was held this evening (Kigali time) and the verdict will be given tomorrow at 11am Kigali time.
Rwandan opposition leader and presidential hopeful Victoire Ingabire was arrested Wednesday at 9am on charges of denying the 1994 genocide and "collaborating with a terrorist organisation", an official said. Police officials remain in front of her townhouse, where her assistance remain inside.
"She was arrested today in Kigali. She is accused of collaborating with a terrorist organisation, dividing the population, denying and downplaying the genocide," a judicial official told AFP on condition of anonymity. She is being held at the Kicukiro Police station.
Mrs. Ingabire, who wants to run against President Paul Kagame in the August presidential election, is the head of the United Democratic Forces (FDU), a party formed in exile.
Last month she was prevented from leaving the country to go home and visit her family in Holland because she was under police investigation.
"We are suspecting her of having committed serious crimes," police spokesman Eric Kayiranga said. "We have sufficient evidence to begin prosecution."
She is also accused of links with the Rwandan Hutu rebels operating in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Rwanda.
The FDU leader was to be handed to over the prosecutor later Wednesday to press the charges.
Mrs. Ingabire returned to the country on January 16 and called for the trial of those responsible for the death of Hutu.
Those remarks, according to the government, amounted to denying the 1994 massacre and Ingabire has since been repeatedly questioned by the police.
Authorities have yet to register her FDU party and she has accused the officials of trying to lock her out of presidential polls set for August.
In February, FDU party member Joseph Ntawangundi was arrested to serve a sentence handed down in absentia in 2007 by the local court trying genocide suspects.
The FDU, which operates out of the Netherlands, has experienced repeated harassment ahead of the elections in which President Paul Kagame is expected to seek re-election.
Editor's Update - Her initial hearing over bail was held this evening (Kigali time) and the verdict will be given tomorrow at 11am Kigali time.
Rwandan opposition leader and presidential hopeful Victoire Ingabire was arrested Wednesday at 9am on charges of denying the 1994 genocide and "collaborating with a terrorist organisation", an official said. Police officials remain in front of her townhouse, where her assistance remain inside.
"She was arrested today in Kigali. She is accused of collaborating with a terrorist organisation, dividing the population, denying and downplaying the genocide," a judicial official told AFP on condition of anonymity. She is being held at the Kicukiro Police station.
Mrs. Ingabire, who wants to run against President Paul Kagame in the August presidential election, is the head of the United Democratic Forces (FDU), a party formed in exile.
Last month she was prevented from leaving the country to go home and visit her family in Holland because she was under police investigation.
"We are suspecting her of having committed serious crimes," police spokesman Eric Kayiranga said. "We have sufficient evidence to begin prosecution."
She is also accused of links with the Rwandan Hutu rebels operating in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Rwanda.
The FDU leader was to be handed to over the prosecutor later Wednesday to press the charges.
Mrs. Ingabire returned to the country on January 16 and called for the trial of those responsible for the death of Hutu.
Those remarks, according to the government, amounted to denying the 1994 massacre and Ingabire has since been repeatedly questioned by the police.
Authorities have yet to register her FDU party and she has accused the officials of trying to lock her out of presidential polls set for August.
In February, FDU party member Joseph Ntawangundi was arrested to serve a sentence handed down in absentia in 2007 by the local court trying genocide suspects.
The FDU, which operates out of the Netherlands, has experienced repeated harassment ahead of the elections in which President Paul Kagame is expected to seek re-election.
Saharan states to open joint military headquarters.
BBC News
21 April 2010
Four Saharan desert states are to open a joint command headquarters in Algeria to co-ordinate efforts to counter the growing regional threat from terrorists.
The Joint Military Staff Committee of Algeria, Mali, Mauritania and Niger will be based in Tamanrasset.
They want to increase co-operation and move towards joint operations against terrorism, kidnappings and trafficking.
Militants have exploited a lack of co-ordination in the past, evading capture by crossing from one state to another.
The US and other Western countries have warned that unless the governments of the region join forces, terrorists could turn the Sahara desert into a safe haven and use it as a base for launching large-scale attacks.
Last year an alleged affiliate of the militant network called al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb killed a British man, Edwin Dyer, who was kidnapped on the border between Niger and Mali, and shot dead.
Members of the group are also believed to be holding hostage two Spaniards who disappeared in November in Mauritania. An Italian married couple seized in December were last week freed in Mali.
The countries did not say what powers the command centre would have, but a military source in Niger told the Reuters news agency they planned to "move towards joint military operations against terrorism, kidnappings and the trafficking of drugs and weapons".
21 April 2010
Four Saharan desert states are to open a joint command headquarters in Algeria to co-ordinate efforts to counter the growing regional threat from terrorists.
The Joint Military Staff Committee of Algeria, Mali, Mauritania and Niger will be based in Tamanrasset.
They want to increase co-operation and move towards joint operations against terrorism, kidnappings and trafficking.
Militants have exploited a lack of co-ordination in the past, evading capture by crossing from one state to another.
The US and other Western countries have warned that unless the governments of the region join forces, terrorists could turn the Sahara desert into a safe haven and use it as a base for launching large-scale attacks.
Last year an alleged affiliate of the militant network called al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb killed a British man, Edwin Dyer, who was kidnapped on the border between Niger and Mali, and shot dead.
Members of the group are also believed to be holding hostage two Spaniards who disappeared in November in Mauritania. An Italian married couple seized in December were last week freed in Mali.
The countries did not say what powers the command centre would have, but a military source in Niger told the Reuters news agency they planned to "move towards joint military operations against terrorism, kidnappings and the trafficking of drugs and weapons".
Uganda to tap oil rigging experience from Iran.
Afrol News
20 April 2010
Uganda is leaving no stone un-turned in forging partnerships for its newly found oil riches. Iran is invited to become a major partner.
This week the Ugandan leadership is expected to seek fresher investment partnerships in Iran, when President Yoweri Museveni hosts Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Ugandan Foreign Affairs officials have confirmed that the Iranian leader will arrive in Kampala on Friday on a two-day state visit, during which he will hold bilateral talks with President Museveni on Iran's interest to invest in the country's oil sector.
The visit by Mr Ahmadinejad follows last year's trip by the Ugandan President to Iran, where the two leaders agreed on launching talks to help Uganda build an oil refinery.
Amongst some of the immediate partnerships was on training of Ugandans on the oil sector in Iran.
Iranians would also be invited to join the construction of a planned oil refinery in Uganda. This comes shortly after China had promised President Museveni to build a refinery.
Uganda has recently discovered huge oil and gas deposits inland, bringing a new promise to the country’s economic health and wealth. The opposition and civil society groups however have complained about an increasing lack of transparency in the Ugandan government's oil dealings.
20 April 2010
Uganda is leaving no stone un-turned in forging partnerships for its newly found oil riches. Iran is invited to become a major partner.
This week the Ugandan leadership is expected to seek fresher investment partnerships in Iran, when President Yoweri Museveni hosts Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Ugandan Foreign Affairs officials have confirmed that the Iranian leader will arrive in Kampala on Friday on a two-day state visit, during which he will hold bilateral talks with President Museveni on Iran's interest to invest in the country's oil sector.
The visit by Mr Ahmadinejad follows last year's trip by the Ugandan President to Iran, where the two leaders agreed on launching talks to help Uganda build an oil refinery.
Amongst some of the immediate partnerships was on training of Ugandans on the oil sector in Iran.
Iranians would also be invited to join the construction of a planned oil refinery in Uganda. This comes shortly after China had promised President Museveni to build a refinery.
Uganda has recently discovered huge oil and gas deposits inland, bringing a new promise to the country’s economic health and wealth. The opposition and civil society groups however have complained about an increasing lack of transparency in the Ugandan government's oil dealings.
20 April, 2010
Rwanda arrests two high-ranking military officers.
BBC News
20 April 2010
Editor's Note: President Kagame's politcal base continues to shrink and Rwanda's military institution continues to crumble and divide. At this point, his only trusted high-ranking military officials are Gen. Jack(son) Nkurunziza, Chief of the Presidential Guard, and Dr. Emmanuel Ndahiro, Director of the Department of Military Intelligence. It is no coincidence the Presidential Guard recieved a pay increase. They will serve the same function as the Presidential Guard of DRC President Kabila, and the DSP of Mobutu. They will act as a de facto private militia of the sitting president answerable only to him given the task of dealing with real or percieved political threats and "enemies of the state."
In the event some elements of the state military and/or an outside armed force actually does try to seize power at some point in the future, the Presidential Guard will be the one to defend fiercely against any possible attempt. Due to the fact they are paid well and hold a position of esteem even amongst the military institution, it is rational for them to protect the current status quo in Rwanda to preserve these benefits. In addition, the Presidental Guard soldiers are hand-picked, recieve foriegn training, and are better equipped than the rank-and-file of the RDF (SOPMOD M4s). They are politically socialized in a very specific way during their training to cultivate their unwavering dedication and loyalty to President Kagame. There are also signs President Kagame may be losing confidence in the loyalty of the rank and file of the RDF. The number of Hutu in the rank and file has grown tremendously over the years since the beginning of the second Congo War in 1998, sources, including former RDF soldiers, claim there is concern in Kigali where their ultimate loyalties lie and there is also concern they may bandwagon with dissident officers if they decide to take action against the state. As Mr. Kris Berwouts astutely pointed out, the initial withdrawal of Rwandan soldiers based in Congo back to Rwanda left the state with too large a standing army.
Rwanda has dealt with this situation in 3 ways: 1. Demobilize soldiers, which carries the potential problem of creating relative deprivation for them and they may join a rebellion if one breaks out. 2. Send them to serve in Darfur as part of UNAMID. 3. Send them back to Masisi and Lubero Territories under the cover of night disguised as Congolese Tutsi returnees. Since the UNHCR did not registered the Congolese Tutsi, many of them have returned with weapons and are involved in ethnic cleansing campaigns against the Nande and Hunde in Lubero and northern Masisi Territory to drive them off the land to make room for returning Congolese Tutsi and the Rwandans hiding amonst them. Such a move would expand their sphere of influence into Lubero territory, inching up towards the Nande business and commerce center of Beni, where a decent airport exists in a city relatively close to the Ugandan border. Reports of Rwandans working in tandem with ex-CNDP soldiers in Lubero territory committing terrorist acts along the main roads and targeting assassinations of political and business elites in the cities have been coming in for weeks. Other Rwandans arriving with Congolese Tutsi have joined Bosco Ntaganda's FLEC posing as Congolese Tutsi. Others are seizing small farmland holdings from indiginous Congolese in FLEC territory and may be acting on behalf of the large-scale landowners living in Congo and Rwanda, some of whom were documented in past UN Group of Experts reports. It is perhaps more likely they are trying to secure their own land as reports claim some of the "refugees" are crossing the border with cattle, therefore they need their own grazing land. It remains to be seen if this strategy will work.
Finally, loyalists of Mr. Laurent Nkunda, arrested by Rwanda in January 2009 but has yet to have his trial start much less actually be charged with a crime, is still on "house arrest" in Kabuga. A number of his loyalists who were staying in Rwanda were arrested in March 2010. Some have been released. A few of them were accused of aiding Gen. Nyamwasa's escape. Sources also claim retired Lt. John Museminali, husband of Mrs. Rosemary Museminali, was also arrested and released over the Nyamwasa affair. She was abruptly removed from her position as Foreign Minister in December 2009 and replaced by Ms. Louise Mushikiwabo, a member of the Rwandan Diaspora in the United States prior to the RPF taking power and party loyalist who will not question the party and do as she is instructed to hold on to her newfound and more prominent cabinet position (prior, she was the Minister of Information). Mrs. Museminali currently does not hold a cabinet position. In an interesting note, Mr. Nkunda's loyalists that were integrated into the FARDC army were in opposition to the FLEC, particularly one of Mr. Nkunda's deputies, Col. Sultani Makenga, a fellow Jomba clan member. Col. Makenga and some of the other Jomba clan loyalists were re-deployed to South Kivu, away from FLEC territory.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Two high-ranking officers have been suspended from Rwanda's military and put under arrest, a military spokesperson told the BBC.
Maj-Gen Charles Muhire has been accused of corruption and misuse of office, Lt-Gen Karenzi Karake of immoral conduct.
This comes just days after a reshuffle in Rwanda's military leadership and ahead of elections due in August.
It follows reports in a local newspaper that the men had misunderstandings with President Paul Kagame.
However, the government has dismissed these reports as rumours.
A few days later, the Kinyarwandan (one of Rwanda's official languages) independent newspaper was suspended for publishing false information and inciting resentment in the army, says the BBC's Geoffrey Mutagoma in Kigali.
Investigations into the two generals' alleged crimes are still underway and it is still not clear whether their cases will end in trials, Rwandan army spokesperson Maj Jill Rutaremara told the BBC.
Military divisions
Our correspondent says the two generals are popular and important figures in the Rwandan military.
Gen Karake is a former director of intelligence and deputy head of the African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force in Darfur, Sudan.
Gen Muhire is a former air force chief.
Both men held top positions in the military campaign conducted by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) to end the 1994 genocide.
BBC Great Lakes analyst Kasim Kayira says the arrests will be seen by ordinary Rwandans as further evidence of divisions in the military.
A few months ago, President Kagame increased the salaries of his Presidential Brigade - the soldiers responsible for guarding the president - but not those of other military personnel.
20 April 2010
Editor's Note: President Kagame's politcal base continues to shrink and Rwanda's military institution continues to crumble and divide. At this point, his only trusted high-ranking military officials are Gen. Jack(son) Nkurunziza, Chief of the Presidential Guard, and Dr. Emmanuel Ndahiro, Director of the Department of Military Intelligence. It is no coincidence the Presidential Guard recieved a pay increase. They will serve the same function as the Presidential Guard of DRC President Kabila, and the DSP of Mobutu. They will act as a de facto private militia of the sitting president answerable only to him given the task of dealing with real or percieved political threats and "enemies of the state."
In the event some elements of the state military and/or an outside armed force actually does try to seize power at some point in the future, the Presidential Guard will be the one to defend fiercely against any possible attempt. Due to the fact they are paid well and hold a position of esteem even amongst the military institution, it is rational for them to protect the current status quo in Rwanda to preserve these benefits. In addition, the Presidental Guard soldiers are hand-picked, recieve foriegn training, and are better equipped than the rank-and-file of the RDF (SOPMOD M4s). They are politically socialized in a very specific way during their training to cultivate their unwavering dedication and loyalty to President Kagame. There are also signs President Kagame may be losing confidence in the loyalty of the rank and file of the RDF. The number of Hutu in the rank and file has grown tremendously over the years since the beginning of the second Congo War in 1998, sources, including former RDF soldiers, claim there is concern in Kigali where their ultimate loyalties lie and there is also concern they may bandwagon with dissident officers if they decide to take action against the state. As Mr. Kris Berwouts astutely pointed out, the initial withdrawal of Rwandan soldiers based in Congo back to Rwanda left the state with too large a standing army.
Rwanda has dealt with this situation in 3 ways: 1. Demobilize soldiers, which carries the potential problem of creating relative deprivation for them and they may join a rebellion if one breaks out. 2. Send them to serve in Darfur as part of UNAMID. 3. Send them back to Masisi and Lubero Territories under the cover of night disguised as Congolese Tutsi returnees. Since the UNHCR did not registered the Congolese Tutsi, many of them have returned with weapons and are involved in ethnic cleansing campaigns against the Nande and Hunde in Lubero and northern Masisi Territory to drive them off the land to make room for returning Congolese Tutsi and the Rwandans hiding amonst them. Such a move would expand their sphere of influence into Lubero territory, inching up towards the Nande business and commerce center of Beni, where a decent airport exists in a city relatively close to the Ugandan border. Reports of Rwandans working in tandem with ex-CNDP soldiers in Lubero territory committing terrorist acts along the main roads and targeting assassinations of political and business elites in the cities have been coming in for weeks. Other Rwandans arriving with Congolese Tutsi have joined Bosco Ntaganda's FLEC posing as Congolese Tutsi. Others are seizing small farmland holdings from indiginous Congolese in FLEC territory and may be acting on behalf of the large-scale landowners living in Congo and Rwanda, some of whom were documented in past UN Group of Experts reports. It is perhaps more likely they are trying to secure their own land as reports claim some of the "refugees" are crossing the border with cattle, therefore they need their own grazing land. It remains to be seen if this strategy will work.
Finally, loyalists of Mr. Laurent Nkunda, arrested by Rwanda in January 2009 but has yet to have his trial start much less actually be charged with a crime, is still on "house arrest" in Kabuga. A number of his loyalists who were staying in Rwanda were arrested in March 2010. Some have been released. A few of them were accused of aiding Gen. Nyamwasa's escape. Sources also claim retired Lt. John Museminali, husband of Mrs. Rosemary Museminali, was also arrested and released over the Nyamwasa affair. She was abruptly removed from her position as Foreign Minister in December 2009 and replaced by Ms. Louise Mushikiwabo, a member of the Rwandan Diaspora in the United States prior to the RPF taking power and party loyalist who will not question the party and do as she is instructed to hold on to her newfound and more prominent cabinet position (prior, she was the Minister of Information). Mrs. Museminali currently does not hold a cabinet position. In an interesting note, Mr. Nkunda's loyalists that were integrated into the FARDC army were in opposition to the FLEC, particularly one of Mr. Nkunda's deputies, Col. Sultani Makenga, a fellow Jomba clan member. Col. Makenga and some of the other Jomba clan loyalists were re-deployed to South Kivu, away from FLEC territory.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Two high-ranking officers have been suspended from Rwanda's military and put under arrest, a military spokesperson told the BBC.
Maj-Gen Charles Muhire has been accused of corruption and misuse of office, Lt-Gen Karenzi Karake of immoral conduct.
This comes just days after a reshuffle in Rwanda's military leadership and ahead of elections due in August.
It follows reports in a local newspaper that the men had misunderstandings with President Paul Kagame.
However, the government has dismissed these reports as rumours.
A few days later, the Kinyarwandan (one of Rwanda's official languages) independent newspaper was suspended for publishing false information and inciting resentment in the army, says the BBC's Geoffrey Mutagoma in Kigali.
Investigations into the two generals' alleged crimes are still underway and it is still not clear whether their cases will end in trials, Rwandan army spokesperson Maj Jill Rutaremara told the BBC.
Military divisions
Our correspondent says the two generals are popular and important figures in the Rwandan military.
Gen Karake is a former director of intelligence and deputy head of the African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force in Darfur, Sudan.
Gen Muhire is a former air force chief.
Both men held top positions in the military campaign conducted by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) to end the 1994 genocide.
BBC Great Lakes analyst Kasim Kayira says the arrests will be seen by ordinary Rwandans as further evidence of divisions in the military.
A few months ago, President Kagame increased the salaries of his Presidential Brigade - the soldiers responsible for guarding the president - but not those of other military personnel.
School President Mike O’Neal Shames Oklahoma Christian University by Inviting President Kagame as Commencement Speaker.
Oklahoma Christian University
Press Release
Paul Kagame, president of Rwanda, will be one of Oklahoma Christian’s keynote speakers during spring commencement on April 30. The First Lady of the Republic of Rwanda, Mrs. Jeannette Kagame, will receive an honorary doctorate for her significant contribution to the worldwide fight against HIV/AIDS and poverty.
Because of the large graduating class, there will be two commencement ceremonies—at 10:00 a.m. for the Colleges of Arts and Sciences and Biblical Studies, and at 2 p.m. for the College of Professional Studies. Kagame will speak during the afternoon session and Dr. Jack L. White, who currently practices law with The Lanier Law Firm, P.C. in Houston, will be the morning speaker.
During his first visit to Oklahoma Christian in 2006, Kagame and OC signed the Rwandan Presidential Scholars program that now brings 10 top Rwandan high school students to OC each year. There are now 60 Rwandan students at OC and the first class of 10 Rwandan scholars will graduate this spring along with 300 classmates, making this Oklahoma Christian’s largest graduating class in the school’s 60 year history.
“The Rwandan students have been outstanding performers in the classroom and good citizens in our university community,” said President Mike O’Neal. “Oklahoma Christian has formed a strong relationship with the leaders of Rwanda to help meet the long-term needs of President Kagame’s Vision 2020. Our involvement in Rwanda began through the efforts of OC Trustee and alumni Richard Lawson and his wife, Pat, who hosted President Paul Kagame in Minneapolis.”
In 2004, O’Neal and his wife, Nancy, accompanied the Lawsons to Rwanda as guests of President Kagame. In 2006, Kagame, Mrs. Kagame, the Rwandan ambassador and four cabinet ministers made a state visit to the OC campus and the state capitol.
Press Release
Paul Kagame, president of Rwanda, will be one of Oklahoma Christian’s keynote speakers during spring commencement on April 30. The First Lady of the Republic of Rwanda, Mrs. Jeannette Kagame, will receive an honorary doctorate for her significant contribution to the worldwide fight against HIV/AIDS and poverty.
Because of the large graduating class, there will be two commencement ceremonies—at 10:00 a.m. for the Colleges of Arts and Sciences and Biblical Studies, and at 2 p.m. for the College of Professional Studies. Kagame will speak during the afternoon session and Dr. Jack L. White, who currently practices law with The Lanier Law Firm, P.C. in Houston, will be the morning speaker.
During his first visit to Oklahoma Christian in 2006, Kagame and OC signed the Rwandan Presidential Scholars program that now brings 10 top Rwandan high school students to OC each year. There are now 60 Rwandan students at OC and the first class of 10 Rwandan scholars will graduate this spring along with 300 classmates, making this Oklahoma Christian’s largest graduating class in the school’s 60 year history.
“The Rwandan students have been outstanding performers in the classroom and good citizens in our university community,” said President Mike O’Neal. “Oklahoma Christian has formed a strong relationship with the leaders of Rwanda to help meet the long-term needs of President Kagame’s Vision 2020. Our involvement in Rwanda began through the efforts of OC Trustee and alumni Richard Lawson and his wife, Pat, who hosted President Paul Kagame in Minneapolis.”
In 2004, O’Neal and his wife, Nancy, accompanied the Lawsons to Rwanda as guests of President Kagame. In 2006, Kagame, Mrs. Kagame, the Rwandan ambassador and four cabinet ministers made a state visit to the OC campus and the state capitol.
Burundi protest turns violent.
SAPA
20 April 2010
Editor's Note: The demobilization program in Burundi has largely failed. These former combatants are ripe for recruitment and some of them have left for Congo as mercenaries. The lack of improvement of conditions, dashed expectations, and relative deprivation compared to other Burundians leave this group open to exploitation that could lead to a resumption of civil war in Burundi and the derailing of Burundi's slow transition towards democracy and peace.
Former Burundi rebels clashed with riot police when a protest in the capital Bujumbura turned violent and eight people were arrested, police said on Tuesday.
Police spokesperson Pierre Chanel Ntarabaganyi said that about 300 members of the former National Liberation Forces (FNL) were involved in the violence during Monday's protest and that "police intervened to restore calm and arrested eight ring-leaders".
Demonstrators threw stones at police and passing cars, said Ntarabaganyi, adding that in any case, the protest was "illegal".
"The police charged while we were calmly asking for our money, they beat us, threw tear gas and pursued us to the market place," said David, a 25-year-old former fighter who declined to give his full name.
Hundreds of the former fighters had demonstrated outside the offices of the service responsible for demobilising fighters from the small central African country's 13 years of civil war.
Jeroboam Nzikobanyanka, the co-ordinator of the Emergency Project for Demobilisation and Transitional Reintegration in Burundi, deplored the unrest, saying that it had broken out shortly after he had talks with representatives of the demobilised rebels.
"We told them that we were settling the last questions with the World Bank and that we were going to begin to finance their projects from one moment to the next," Nzikobanyanka said.
According to Nzikobanyanka, the World Bank has agreed to spend $22m on a programme to fund the demobilisation and social integration of some 7 760 ex-combatants, to the tune of about $485 each.
20 April 2010
Editor's Note: The demobilization program in Burundi has largely failed. These former combatants are ripe for recruitment and some of them have left for Congo as mercenaries. The lack of improvement of conditions, dashed expectations, and relative deprivation compared to other Burundians leave this group open to exploitation that could lead to a resumption of civil war in Burundi and the derailing of Burundi's slow transition towards democracy and peace.
Former Burundi rebels clashed with riot police when a protest in the capital Bujumbura turned violent and eight people were arrested, police said on Tuesday.
Police spokesperson Pierre Chanel Ntarabaganyi said that about 300 members of the former National Liberation Forces (FNL) were involved in the violence during Monday's protest and that "police intervened to restore calm and arrested eight ring-leaders".
Demonstrators threw stones at police and passing cars, said Ntarabaganyi, adding that in any case, the protest was "illegal".
"The police charged while we were calmly asking for our money, they beat us, threw tear gas and pursued us to the market place," said David, a 25-year-old former fighter who declined to give his full name.
Hundreds of the former fighters had demonstrated outside the offices of the service responsible for demobilising fighters from the small central African country's 13 years of civil war.
Jeroboam Nzikobanyanka, the co-ordinator of the Emergency Project for Demobilisation and Transitional Reintegration in Burundi, deplored the unrest, saying that it had broken out shortly after he had talks with representatives of the demobilised rebels.
"We told them that we were settling the last questions with the World Bank and that we were going to begin to finance their projects from one moment to the next," Nzikobanyanka said.
According to Nzikobanyanka, the World Bank has agreed to spend $22m on a programme to fund the demobilisation and social integration of some 7 760 ex-combatants, to the tune of about $485 each.
British Regulator Opens Goldman Inquiry.
New York Times
By JULIA WERDIGIER
April 20, 2010
The Financial Services Authority, Britain’s financial regulator, said Tuesday that it had opened an investigation into Goldman Sachs in relation to recent accusations in the United States that the firm defrauded investors.
“Following preliminary investigations, the F.S.A. has decided to commence a formal enforcement investigation into Goldman Sachs International in relation to recent S.E.C. allegations,” the regulator said in a two-sentence statement, referring to the Securities and Exchange Commission. “The F.S.A. will be liaising closely with the S.E.C. in this review.”
In an e-mailed statement, Goldman Sachs Group said it would cooperate with British investigators. The S.E.C.’s charges are “completely unfounded in law and fact,” the bank said in the statement. In earlier statements, Goldman has said that it would “vigorously contest them and defend the firm and its reputation.”
Pressure has been mounting on the British regulator to investigate Goldman Sachs’s international business outside the United States since the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil fraud suit against the bank on Friday. Prime Minister Gordon Brown had called for a formal investigation over the weekend, and in an interview with the BBC said he was "shocked at this moral bankruptcy.”
The opposition Conservative party and Liberal Democrats called on the government to suspend using Goldman Sachs as an adviser until the case was solved. The suit against Goldman Sachs is “yet another reminder of how reckless and greedy the global banking industry had become” and illustrates the need for “a complete overhaul” of the sector, the Liberal Democratic leader, Nick Clegg, said in a statement Tuesday.
The British regulator has been stepping up its enforcement of market abuse cases over the last 12 months after criticism of being asleep at the wheel ahead of the financial crisis. The agency hired staff and grew its budget to increase the number of criminal cases it brought against individuals rather than companies as part of what it called its “credible deterrence” plan.
The only person named in the S.E.C. suit is Fabrice P. Tourre, who was part of the mortgage unit at the center of the accusations. Mr. Tourre, 31, who worked for Goldman in London, is voluntarily taking some time off from work, a Goldman Sachs spokesman Michael Duvally said Tuesday.
“It is voluntary. He decided to take some time off,” Mr. Duvally said in a statement.
By JULIA WERDIGIER
April 20, 2010
The Financial Services Authority, Britain’s financial regulator, said Tuesday that it had opened an investigation into Goldman Sachs in relation to recent accusations in the United States that the firm defrauded investors.
“Following preliminary investigations, the F.S.A. has decided to commence a formal enforcement investigation into Goldman Sachs International in relation to recent S.E.C. allegations,” the regulator said in a two-sentence statement, referring to the Securities and Exchange Commission. “The F.S.A. will be liaising closely with the S.E.C. in this review.”
In an e-mailed statement, Goldman Sachs Group said it would cooperate with British investigators. The S.E.C.’s charges are “completely unfounded in law and fact,” the bank said in the statement. In earlier statements, Goldman has said that it would “vigorously contest them and defend the firm and its reputation.”
Pressure has been mounting on the British regulator to investigate Goldman Sachs’s international business outside the United States since the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil fraud suit against the bank on Friday. Prime Minister Gordon Brown had called for a formal investigation over the weekend, and in an interview with the BBC said he was "shocked at this moral bankruptcy.”
The opposition Conservative party and Liberal Democrats called on the government to suspend using Goldman Sachs as an adviser until the case was solved. The suit against Goldman Sachs is “yet another reminder of how reckless and greedy the global banking industry had become” and illustrates the need for “a complete overhaul” of the sector, the Liberal Democratic leader, Nick Clegg, said in a statement Tuesday.
The British regulator has been stepping up its enforcement of market abuse cases over the last 12 months after criticism of being asleep at the wheel ahead of the financial crisis. The agency hired staff and grew its budget to increase the number of criminal cases it brought against individuals rather than companies as part of what it called its “credible deterrence” plan.
The only person named in the S.E.C. suit is Fabrice P. Tourre, who was part of the mortgage unit at the center of the accusations. Mr. Tourre, 31, who worked for Goldman in London, is voluntarily taking some time off from work, a Goldman Sachs spokesman Michael Duvally said Tuesday.
“It is voluntary. He decided to take some time off,” Mr. Duvally said in a statement.
Russia urges Guinea to protect RusAl plant.
RIA Novosti
20 April 2010
Russia hopes that the Guinean government will help ensure the security of a plant run by Russian aluminum giant RusAl that has been hit by recent militant attacks, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
"Moscow closely watches the development of the situation at the enterprises of United Company RusAl in the town of Fria where extremist elements made an attempt to seize the Friguia alumina plant," the ministry said in a statement.
The attack, which happened earlier this month, temporarily paralyzed the production process at the enterprise and threatened the lives of RusAl's Russian personnel in the West African country, the statement said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry also expressed hope that the persons responsible for the attack would be brought to account.
RusAl, the world's biggest aluminum producer, is fighting attempts by the Guinean junta that seized power in the West African country last year to renationalize the Friguia alumina refinery, which RusAl bought from Guinea in 2006 for $19 million.
The Guinean junta has valued the asset at $257 million and accused RusAl of failure to pay a large sum of taxes and royalty, which has allegedly brought up the company's debt to $860 million.
RusAl has repeatedly said it legitimately acquired the Guinean refinery, which produces about 52,000 metric tons of alumina a month, and insists that the dispute be resolved in an international tribunal.
Guinea is the world's biggest exporter of bauxite, which is refined into alumina that is then processed into aluminum.
20 April 2010
Russia hopes that the Guinean government will help ensure the security of a plant run by Russian aluminum giant RusAl that has been hit by recent militant attacks, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
"Moscow closely watches the development of the situation at the enterprises of United Company RusAl in the town of Fria where extremist elements made an attempt to seize the Friguia alumina plant," the ministry said in a statement.
The attack, which happened earlier this month, temporarily paralyzed the production process at the enterprise and threatened the lives of RusAl's Russian personnel in the West African country, the statement said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry also expressed hope that the persons responsible for the attack would be brought to account.
RusAl, the world's biggest aluminum producer, is fighting attempts by the Guinean junta that seized power in the West African country last year to renationalize the Friguia alumina refinery, which RusAl bought from Guinea in 2006 for $19 million.
The Guinean junta has valued the asset at $257 million and accused RusAl of failure to pay a large sum of taxes and royalty, which has allegedly brought up the company's debt to $860 million.
RusAl has repeatedly said it legitimately acquired the Guinean refinery, which produces about 52,000 metric tons of alumina a month, and insists that the dispute be resolved in an international tribunal.
Guinea is the world's biggest exporter of bauxite, which is refined into alumina that is then processed into aluminum.
Ravalomanana denies role in 'attack'.
AFP
20 April 2010
Madagascar's deposed president Marc Ravalomanana on Tuesday denied charges he was involved in an alleged attack targeting the prime minister's office.
De facto authorities said on Monday they had arrested 21 people over the incident planned for Sunday night, although some observers said the attack could have been staged.
"I firmly deny any involvement in an attempt to bring the political crisis to an end through undemocratic means. Any rumours suggesting otherwise are completely untrue," Ravalomanana said in a statement.
Ravalomanana was ousted in March 2009 by rival Andry Rajoelina who led weeks of street protest against the president and was later backed by the military to topple him.
Since then the vast Indian Ocean island has been mired in a political crisis that has seen the African Union slap sanctions on Rajoelina and scores of his backers for refusing to form a unity government.
The two men are to hold talks in South Africa, where Ravalomanana is exiled, in the coming days in a bid to seek a way out to the prolonged crisis.
There have been persistent rumours of a coup in recent weeks in the capital Antananarivo.
20 April 2010
Madagascar's deposed president Marc Ravalomanana on Tuesday denied charges he was involved in an alleged attack targeting the prime minister's office.
De facto authorities said on Monday they had arrested 21 people over the incident planned for Sunday night, although some observers said the attack could have been staged.
"I firmly deny any involvement in an attempt to bring the political crisis to an end through undemocratic means. Any rumours suggesting otherwise are completely untrue," Ravalomanana said in a statement.
Ravalomanana was ousted in March 2009 by rival Andry Rajoelina who led weeks of street protest against the president and was later backed by the military to topple him.
Since then the vast Indian Ocean island has been mired in a political crisis that has seen the African Union slap sanctions on Rajoelina and scores of his backers for refusing to form a unity government.
The two men are to hold talks in South Africa, where Ravalomanana is exiled, in the coming days in a bid to seek a way out to the prolonged crisis.
There have been persistent rumours of a coup in recent weeks in the capital Antananarivo.
Iranian President Ahmadinejad to visit Uganda.
SAPA
20 April 2010
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will visit UN Security Council member Uganda this week for talks over its nuclear programme and Kampala's oil industry, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
"He's coming for a two-day visit where will be discussing bilateral relations," said James Mugume, the permanent secretary of Uganda's foreign ministry.
The Iranian leader is scheduled to arrive in Kampala on Friday.
"Obviously as a member of the Security Council we are going to discuss the issue of nuclear energy," Mugume told AFP, without giving details.
Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Sunday that Tehran planned to open talks with all 15 Security Council members in an effort to break a deadlock on a nuclear fuel supply deal that has put it at odds with Western powers.
Uganda currently holds one of the rotating Security Council seats.
Mugume added that Ahmadinejad and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni will hold talks specifically on the issue of potential UN sanctions related to Iran's nuclear programme.
"Of course it will come up. We've been engaging Iran on this issue for some time," he said.
The two leaders will also discuss development of Uganda's oil industry.
Uganda's north-west Lake Albert region is believed to hold at least two billion barrels of oil. Museveni visited Tehran last year to discuss the feasibility of building an oil refinery in Uganda.
Museveni has consistently said he wants to refine Uganda's oil locally, and the country is currently looking for partners with technical expertise.
20 April 2010
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will visit UN Security Council member Uganda this week for talks over its nuclear programme and Kampala's oil industry, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
"He's coming for a two-day visit where will be discussing bilateral relations," said James Mugume, the permanent secretary of Uganda's foreign ministry.
The Iranian leader is scheduled to arrive in Kampala on Friday.
"Obviously as a member of the Security Council we are going to discuss the issue of nuclear energy," Mugume told AFP, without giving details.
Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Sunday that Tehran planned to open talks with all 15 Security Council members in an effort to break a deadlock on a nuclear fuel supply deal that has put it at odds with Western powers.
Uganda currently holds one of the rotating Security Council seats.
Mugume added that Ahmadinejad and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni will hold talks specifically on the issue of potential UN sanctions related to Iran's nuclear programme.
"Of course it will come up. We've been engaging Iran on this issue for some time," he said.
The two leaders will also discuss development of Uganda's oil industry.
Uganda's north-west Lake Albert region is believed to hold at least two billion barrels of oil. Museveni visited Tehran last year to discuss the feasibility of building an oil refinery in Uganda.
Museveni has consistently said he wants to refine Uganda's oil locally, and the country is currently looking for partners with technical expertise.
Soldiers in custody after Antananarivo raid in Madagascar.
SAPA-AFP
20 April 2010
Madagascan authorities on Monday said they had put down an attack on the building housing the prime minister's offices in Antananarivo and arrested 21 people since Sunday.
"Twenty-one people, including soldiers, four of them colonels, have been arrested yesterday and today (Monday), when they intended to take Mazoharivo," the prime minister's building, said Alain Ramaroson, the president of the security and defence commission in the High Transition Authority (HAT) set up by Madagascan leader Andry Rajoelina.
"We must continue the arrests until the movement is decapitated," he added.
Ramaroson claimed that "those mainly responsible" had confessed that they were financed by toppled president Marc Ravalomanana, who was ousted by Rajoelina with army support in 2009.
"There are a lot of shady areas, this is a complex affair," said an observer who asked not to be named, adding that the attack could have been "staged".
Only an automatic pistol has been found in the operation so far, but Ramaroson said that "enormous quantities of weapons have disappeared in Madagascar these past few months".
While a new mediated meeting is planned for the end of this week in South Africa between Rajoelina and Ravalomanana to try to settle the crisis, the Madagascan security forces seem divided.
At the beginning of April, the minister of the armed forces was sacked, accused of "organising meetings to find a solution to the crisis" without informing his superiors.
Several persistent rumours of coup attempts have been circulating in Antananarivo over the past fortnight.
20 April 2010
Madagascan authorities on Monday said they had put down an attack on the building housing the prime minister's offices in Antananarivo and arrested 21 people since Sunday.
"Twenty-one people, including soldiers, four of them colonels, have been arrested yesterday and today (Monday), when they intended to take Mazoharivo," the prime minister's building, said Alain Ramaroson, the president of the security and defence commission in the High Transition Authority (HAT) set up by Madagascan leader Andry Rajoelina.
"We must continue the arrests until the movement is decapitated," he added.
Ramaroson claimed that "those mainly responsible" had confessed that they were financed by toppled president Marc Ravalomanana, who was ousted by Rajoelina with army support in 2009.
"There are a lot of shady areas, this is a complex affair," said an observer who asked not to be named, adding that the attack could have been "staged".
Only an automatic pistol has been found in the operation so far, but Ramaroson said that "enormous quantities of weapons have disappeared in Madagascar these past few months".
While a new mediated meeting is planned for the end of this week in South Africa between Rajoelina and Ravalomanana to try to settle the crisis, the Madagascan security forces seem divided.
At the beginning of April, the minister of the armed forces was sacked, accused of "organising meetings to find a solution to the crisis" without informing his superiors.
Several persistent rumours of coup attempts have been circulating in Antananarivo over the past fortnight.
Lt. Gen. Muhire and Maj. Gen. Karake suspended and arrested.
The New Times
20 April 2010
Editor's Note: The saga of the alleged coup attempt and those accused of helping Gen. Nyamwasa escape continues. Gen. Karenzi, the former deputy head of UNAMID, was indicted in the Spanish arrest warrant issued by Judge Merelles.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lieutenant General Charles Muhire and Major General Emmanuel Karenzi Karake have been suspended from duty and arrested.
This was revealed by military spokesman, Major Jill Rutaremara, who alleged that the two senior army officers had committed serious offences.
“Lt. Gen. Muhire was suspended due to serious charges of corruption and misuse of office while Maj. Gen. Karenzi was suspended on serious charges of immoral conduct that contravenes and undermines the values and ethos of the Rwanda Defence Force,” Maj. Rutaremara said in a statement released yesterday. He added that investigations into the 2 officers will continue.
20 April 2010
Editor's Note: The saga of the alleged coup attempt and those accused of helping Gen. Nyamwasa escape continues. Gen. Karenzi, the former deputy head of UNAMID, was indicted in the Spanish arrest warrant issued by Judge Merelles.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lieutenant General Charles Muhire and Major General Emmanuel Karenzi Karake have been suspended from duty and arrested.
This was revealed by military spokesman, Major Jill Rutaremara, who alleged that the two senior army officers had committed serious offences.
“Lt. Gen. Muhire was suspended due to serious charges of corruption and misuse of office while Maj. Gen. Karenzi was suspended on serious charges of immoral conduct that contravenes and undermines the values and ethos of the Rwanda Defence Force,” Maj. Rutaremara said in a statement released yesterday. He added that investigations into the 2 officers will continue.
19 April, 2010
Djibouti Amends Constitution to Allow for 3rd Presidential Terms.
AFP
19 April 2010
Djibouti's parliament on Monday approved a constitutional amendment allowing President Ismael Omar Guelleh to run for a third term, an AFP correspondent reported.
The 59 parliamentarians present spent one and a half hours studying the amendment before unanimously adopting it. It had already been adopted at its first reading on April 14.
"The procedure is that the bill should be adopted at its first reading by the Assembly," the speaker of the National Assembly Idriss Arnaoud Ali said.
"Thereafter the president of the republic can either decide to hold a referendum to validate the constitutional amendment or he can ask members of parliament to examine the law a second time, in which case it must be passed by two thirds of them," he explained.
19 April 2010
Djibouti's parliament on Monday approved a constitutional amendment allowing President Ismael Omar Guelleh to run for a third term, an AFP correspondent reported.
The 59 parliamentarians present spent one and a half hours studying the amendment before unanimously adopting it. It had already been adopted at its first reading on April 14.
"The procedure is that the bill should be adopted at its first reading by the Assembly," the speaker of the National Assembly Idriss Arnaoud Ali said.
"Thereafter the president of the republic can either decide to hold a referendum to validate the constitutional amendment or he can ask members of parliament to examine the law a second time, in which case it must be passed by two thirds of them," he explained.
Arrests in Madagasar over suspected coup plot.
Reuters
19 April 2010
By Alain Iloniaina
Security forces in Madagascar arrested 19 people on Sunday on suspicion of plotting a coup, the latest in a series of plot rumours to hit the Indian Ocean island's capital in the past few weeks.
Lieutenant Colonel Rene Lylison, the head of the security unit that carried out the arrests, told reporters the plan was to attack the prime minister's residence in the early hours of Monday morning.
"It was serious. Some officers had prepared a coup d'etat, to kill Malagasies ... fortunately, we were able to prevent the attempt," he said. "Their goal was to kill, and divide the military."
Analysts say some high-level military officials are frustrated at Rajoelina's failure to end the crisis and restore constitutional order.
On April 12, the army gave the president until the end of April to offer an acceptable way out of the political crisis and end the uncertainty that has hit foreign investment and left the economy struggling.
While some analysts said the army ultimatum might be just what is needed to bring the political groups to the negotiating table, there have been rifts within the army ever since dissident troops backed Rajoelina's power-grab.
Divisions have also emerged. In early April, Rajoelina's prime minister sacked Armed Forces Minister General Noel Rakotonandrasana in a show of no confidence. But Rakotonandrasana has refused to leave his post.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the suspected coup plot, although some army officers and a number of civilians were arrested. Lylison said more arrests were likely to follow.
19 April 2010
By Alain Iloniaina
Security forces in Madagascar arrested 19 people on Sunday on suspicion of plotting a coup, the latest in a series of plot rumours to hit the Indian Ocean island's capital in the past few weeks.
Lieutenant Colonel Rene Lylison, the head of the security unit that carried out the arrests, told reporters the plan was to attack the prime minister's residence in the early hours of Monday morning.
"It was serious. Some officers had prepared a coup d'etat, to kill Malagasies ... fortunately, we were able to prevent the attempt," he said. "Their goal was to kill, and divide the military."
Analysts say some high-level military officials are frustrated at Rajoelina's failure to end the crisis and restore constitutional order.
On April 12, the army gave the president until the end of April to offer an acceptable way out of the political crisis and end the uncertainty that has hit foreign investment and left the economy struggling.
While some analysts said the army ultimatum might be just what is needed to bring the political groups to the negotiating table, there have been rifts within the army ever since dissident troops backed Rajoelina's power-grab.
Divisions have also emerged. In early April, Rajoelina's prime minister sacked Armed Forces Minister General Noel Rakotonandrasana in a show of no confidence. But Rakotonandrasana has refused to leave his post.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the suspected coup plot, although some army officers and a number of civilians were arrested. Lylison said more arrests were likely to follow.
Obasanjo Named in Halliburton Bribery Scandal.
Daily Independent
18 April 2010
Editor's Note: The SEC's official filing in the case can be found at -
http://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2009/comp20897.pdf
Nigeria's own internal inquiry shows that those who include former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the man who trumpeted an anti-corruption hurricane benefited from the Halliburton bribery scandalthat swept away the jobs, the integrity, and the reputations of mainly his political opponents when he was the king in the Villa.
The first list of 80 beneficiaries compiled by American law enforcement agents was published exclusively by Daily Independent last Thursday.
Another report, an interim one by the Presidential Panel of Investigation headed by former Inspector General of Police, Mike Okiro, said Obasanjo; his former Deputy, Atiku Abubakar; and former Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Group Managing Directors, Gaius Obaseki and Funso Kupolokun; jointly got $74 million (N1.77 billion) from the slush fund.
The Okiro Report, obtained exclusively by Daily Independent at the weekend, was sent to President Umaru Yar'Adua in May last year.
It elongated the list of 80 persons, foreigners and Nigerians, alive and dead, among them four former Heads of State and two of their wives, as well as former Governors, and Ministers - indeed the highest reaches of the country's political and military establishments, including technocrats - indicted by the United States law enforcement officials for partaking in the N27 billion bribe Halliburton gave to win juicy oil contracts in the Niger Delta.
Though the Okiro Report was submitted almost a year ago, it was never made public and is shrouded in secrecy, some say because of the caliber of Nigerians alleged to have been involved in the scandal.
Members of the panel included Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman, Farida Waziri; representatives of the National Security Adviser; State Security Service (SSS) Director General; and National Intelligence Agency (NIA) Director.
It was raised by Yar'Adua to, among others:
• Probe the scandal in the Bonny Liquefied Natural Gas project.
• Liaise with agencies within and outside Nigeria to disclose the names of those involved.
• Establish the extent of their involvement and the amount collected.
• Liaise with the Swiss authorities to trace and recover any money stashed in that country's vault.
To do this, the report said the panel reviewed documents, such as court proceedings in the United States, and documents retrieved from key suspects and banks.
It also interrogated identified suspects, searched offices and homes of suspects, and interviewed persons linked to the saga.
The bribe was at the instance of Albert "Jack" Stanley, former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of KBR, a subsidiary of Halliburton.
Stanely reportedly met Obasanjo's predecessors, Sani Abacha and Abdulsalami Abubakar, for the same purpose.
The Okiro Report said the panel relied on Stanley's depositions before the U.S. District Court in Houston, and documents provided by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
It revealed that Obasanjo, Atiku, and Kupolokun, another former NNPC helmsman, Gaius Obaseki, received their own share of the bribe between 2001 and 2002.
Stanley, who has since been jailed seven years for the offence, according to the report, met Obasanjo and Obaseki in Abuja on November 11, 2001 to negotiate the bribe in respect of Trains four and five of the gas project.
The report disclosed that, "On December 20, Obaseki reportedly met with (Wojciech) Chodan and Stanley in London over lunch in furtherance of discussions. In March 2002, TSKJ won the Train 4 and 5 contracts for $3.6 billion."
Obasanjo collected a minimum $4 million, according to the report.
Atiku's link to the scam is said to be through his company, Intels Energy Limited, believed to have managed slush funds on behalf of Marubeni Corporation, a trading company with headquarters in Japan, which allegedly paid over $50 million to bribe low-level Nigerian Government officials.
In August 2002, Jeffrey Tesler, a British lawyer, said to have acted as intermediary with the Nigerian Government by Halliburton, reportedly wired $5 million into Intels' account in Citibank in Port Harcourt, meant for a top government official.
The Okiro Report stated that $1 million of this amount, in $100 bills, was given to NNPC officials at NICON Hilton Hotel in a "pilot briefcase" for onward delivery to Bodunde Adeyanju, said to be Obasanjo's former aide.
According to the report, the balance was delivered in the same manner and in bullion vans in Naira to Adeyanju.
"Reports suggest that Stanley met with Obasanjo and then (Obaseki) in Abuja on November 11, 2001 to negotiate pay-offs in respect of Trains 4 and 5.
"On December 20, 2001, Obaseki reportedly met with Chodan and Stanley in London over lunch in furtherance of discussions. In March 2002, TSKJ won the Trains 4 and 5 contracts for $3.6 billion.
"Allegations are that Obasanjo may have received a minimum of $4 million as pay-off.
"According to Tesler's indictment papers, Obaseki's meeting with him in London in 2001 served to negotiate pay-offs.
"In August 2002, Tesler is reported to have wired $5 million into the Citibank Nigeria account of Intels Energy Limited, Port-Harcourt, destined for a top government official.
"Reports suggest that $1 million in $100 bills was deposited with 'the NNPC official' at the NICON Hilton Hotel in a "pilot's briefcase' for onward delivery to Bodunde Adeyanju.
"The balance was delivered in the same manner and in bullion vans in Naira to the same Adeyanju, said to be one of the Special Assistants to Obasanjo."
18 April 2010
Editor's Note: The SEC's official filing in the case can be found at -
http://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2009/comp20897.pdf
Nigeria's own internal inquiry shows that those who include former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the man who trumpeted an anti-corruption hurricane benefited from the Halliburton bribery scandalthat swept away the jobs, the integrity, and the reputations of mainly his political opponents when he was the king in the Villa.
The first list of 80 beneficiaries compiled by American law enforcement agents was published exclusively by Daily Independent last Thursday.
Another report, an interim one by the Presidential Panel of Investigation headed by former Inspector General of Police, Mike Okiro, said Obasanjo; his former Deputy, Atiku Abubakar; and former Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Group Managing Directors, Gaius Obaseki and Funso Kupolokun; jointly got $74 million (N1.77 billion) from the slush fund.
The Okiro Report, obtained exclusively by Daily Independent at the weekend, was sent to President Umaru Yar'Adua in May last year.
It elongated the list of 80 persons, foreigners and Nigerians, alive and dead, among them four former Heads of State and two of their wives, as well as former Governors, and Ministers - indeed the highest reaches of the country's political and military establishments, including technocrats - indicted by the United States law enforcement officials for partaking in the N27 billion bribe Halliburton gave to win juicy oil contracts in the Niger Delta.
Though the Okiro Report was submitted almost a year ago, it was never made public and is shrouded in secrecy, some say because of the caliber of Nigerians alleged to have been involved in the scandal.
Members of the panel included Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman, Farida Waziri; representatives of the National Security Adviser; State Security Service (SSS) Director General; and National Intelligence Agency (NIA) Director.
It was raised by Yar'Adua to, among others:
• Probe the scandal in the Bonny Liquefied Natural Gas project.
• Liaise with agencies within and outside Nigeria to disclose the names of those involved.
• Establish the extent of their involvement and the amount collected.
• Liaise with the Swiss authorities to trace and recover any money stashed in that country's vault.
To do this, the report said the panel reviewed documents, such as court proceedings in the United States, and documents retrieved from key suspects and banks.
It also interrogated identified suspects, searched offices and homes of suspects, and interviewed persons linked to the saga.
The bribe was at the instance of Albert "Jack" Stanley, former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of KBR, a subsidiary of Halliburton.
Stanely reportedly met Obasanjo's predecessors, Sani Abacha and Abdulsalami Abubakar, for the same purpose.
The Okiro Report said the panel relied on Stanley's depositions before the U.S. District Court in Houston, and documents provided by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
It revealed that Obasanjo, Atiku, and Kupolokun, another former NNPC helmsman, Gaius Obaseki, received their own share of the bribe between 2001 and 2002.
Stanley, who has since been jailed seven years for the offence, according to the report, met Obasanjo and Obaseki in Abuja on November 11, 2001 to negotiate the bribe in respect of Trains four and five of the gas project.
The report disclosed that, "On December 20, Obaseki reportedly met with (Wojciech) Chodan and Stanley in London over lunch in furtherance of discussions. In March 2002, TSKJ won the Train 4 and 5 contracts for $3.6 billion."
Obasanjo collected a minimum $4 million, according to the report.
Atiku's link to the scam is said to be through his company, Intels Energy Limited, believed to have managed slush funds on behalf of Marubeni Corporation, a trading company with headquarters in Japan, which allegedly paid over $50 million to bribe low-level Nigerian Government officials.
In August 2002, Jeffrey Tesler, a British lawyer, said to have acted as intermediary with the Nigerian Government by Halliburton, reportedly wired $5 million into Intels' account in Citibank in Port Harcourt, meant for a top government official.
The Okiro Report stated that $1 million of this amount, in $100 bills, was given to NNPC officials at NICON Hilton Hotel in a "pilot briefcase" for onward delivery to Bodunde Adeyanju, said to be Obasanjo's former aide.
According to the report, the balance was delivered in the same manner and in bullion vans in Naira to Adeyanju.
"Reports suggest that Stanley met with Obasanjo and then (Obaseki) in Abuja on November 11, 2001 to negotiate pay-offs in respect of Trains 4 and 5.
"On December 20, 2001, Obaseki reportedly met with Chodan and Stanley in London over lunch in furtherance of discussions. In March 2002, TSKJ won the Trains 4 and 5 contracts for $3.6 billion.
"Allegations are that Obasanjo may have received a minimum of $4 million as pay-off.
"According to Tesler's indictment papers, Obaseki's meeting with him in London in 2001 served to negotiate pay-offs.
"In August 2002, Tesler is reported to have wired $5 million into the Citibank Nigeria account of Intels Energy Limited, Port-Harcourt, destined for a top government official.
"Reports suggest that $1 million in $100 bills was deposited with 'the NNPC official' at the NICON Hilton Hotel in a "pilot's briefcase' for onward delivery to Bodunde Adeyanju.
"The balance was delivered in the same manner and in bullion vans in Naira to the same Adeyanju, said to be one of the Special Assistants to Obasanjo."
Tamoil moves to sign final pipeline contract.
The Observer
18 April 2010
By Jeff Mbanga
The most crucial paperwork in the ongoing talks over the construction of the Kenya Uganda oil pipeline is expected to be signed today in Kampala, The Observer can reveal.
Managers of Tamoil East Africa Limited, who won the bid to construct the pipeline, and officials on the Joint Coordinating Committee, the body overseeing the interests of the two governments, are expected to meet today to sign the Final Investment Decision.
An agreement on this is expected to pave the way for construction to start. The oil pipeline remains one of the best solutions to Uganda’s fuel supply problems.
While details of what the two groups will discuss today remains scanty, at least two issues are likely to come up in the agenda: the cost of the pipeline and the new design of the pipeline that Tamoil now proposes.
The Observer can also reveal that the cost of the pipeline has shot from the $78.2 million that Tamoil quoted in its bid in 2006 to $300 million – an increase of more than 300%. Tamoil says this new cost is justified.
Tamoil officials note that due to the Kenyan riots in 2008, foreign consultants look at the region as a risky environment to operate in. They are, therefore, charging a higher figure for their services, Tamoil notes.
A Tamoil official, who did not want to be named because he is not the official company spokesperson, said that part of the increase in the project cost has been due to the delay in the construction and also a change in the design of the pipeline. The increase in the delay has seen a rise in the prices of products such as oil and steel on the international markets.
The design of the pipeline has also been changed from a single carriage to a dual carriage. The dual carriage, whose proposal is still being discussed by the two governments, would see Tamoil transport oil products to and from Kenya.
The design was changed to a dual carriage after it emerged that Uganda might want to export and import fuel at the same time. Huge amounts of oil have been found in western Uganda, and President Yoweri Museveni’s resolve to have a refinery built in the country, has heightened the need for a pipeline that transports oil products both from and to the port of Mombasa.
President Museveni, according to our source who did not want to be named, has already instructed Hilary Onek, the Minister of Energy, to seek a Memorandum of Understanding with Kenya that will allow Uganda’s products into Kenya through the pipeline.
That assignment is daunting. Uganda’s oil pipeline, according to our source, poses a financial threat to Kenya. Kenya has been reaping huge amounts of money from fees charged on Ugandan bound trucks that collected fuel from the reserve tanks in Eldoret and Mombasa.
Our source expects Kenya to play hardball before signing the MoU, and also place demands to safeguard its revenue streams from fuel charges on Uganda bound trucks. Whether Uganda will snub or succumb to these demands is hard to tell.
18 April 2010
By Jeff Mbanga
The most crucial paperwork in the ongoing talks over the construction of the Kenya Uganda oil pipeline is expected to be signed today in Kampala, The Observer can reveal.
Managers of Tamoil East Africa Limited, who won the bid to construct the pipeline, and officials on the Joint Coordinating Committee, the body overseeing the interests of the two governments, are expected to meet today to sign the Final Investment Decision.
An agreement on this is expected to pave the way for construction to start. The oil pipeline remains one of the best solutions to Uganda’s fuel supply problems.
While details of what the two groups will discuss today remains scanty, at least two issues are likely to come up in the agenda: the cost of the pipeline and the new design of the pipeline that Tamoil now proposes.
The Observer can also reveal that the cost of the pipeline has shot from the $78.2 million that Tamoil quoted in its bid in 2006 to $300 million – an increase of more than 300%. Tamoil says this new cost is justified.
Tamoil officials note that due to the Kenyan riots in 2008, foreign consultants look at the region as a risky environment to operate in. They are, therefore, charging a higher figure for their services, Tamoil notes.
A Tamoil official, who did not want to be named because he is not the official company spokesperson, said that part of the increase in the project cost has been due to the delay in the construction and also a change in the design of the pipeline. The increase in the delay has seen a rise in the prices of products such as oil and steel on the international markets.
The design of the pipeline has also been changed from a single carriage to a dual carriage. The dual carriage, whose proposal is still being discussed by the two governments, would see Tamoil transport oil products to and from Kenya.
The design was changed to a dual carriage after it emerged that Uganda might want to export and import fuel at the same time. Huge amounts of oil have been found in western Uganda, and President Yoweri Museveni’s resolve to have a refinery built in the country, has heightened the need for a pipeline that transports oil products both from and to the port of Mombasa.
President Museveni, according to our source who did not want to be named, has already instructed Hilary Onek, the Minister of Energy, to seek a Memorandum of Understanding with Kenya that will allow Uganda’s products into Kenya through the pipeline.
That assignment is daunting. Uganda’s oil pipeline, according to our source, poses a financial threat to Kenya. Kenya has been reaping huge amounts of money from fees charged on Ugandan bound trucks that collected fuel from the reserve tanks in Eldoret and Mombasa.
Our source expects Kenya to play hardball before signing the MoU, and also place demands to safeguard its revenue streams from fuel charges on Uganda bound trucks. Whether Uganda will snub or succumb to these demands is hard to tell.
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