July 2

scoop.co.nz - Two tribal communities in eastern Chad have agreed to end a long-running feud and live peacefully together under an initiative co-sponsored by the United Nations peacekeeping mission to the country.

MINURCAT, the UN mission to Chad and the neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR), and local authorities in the town of Adre brought together members of the ethnic Zaghawa and Massalit communities yesterday to formalize the end to their feud.

Daniel Howden | July 1

The Independent - The streets are no longer burning, but smouldering corruption at every level of government threatens to rip the country apart. Once the pride of East Africa, it has now been judged a failure of a state, writes Daniel Howden

Symbols rarely come as obvious or appropriate as Nairobi's Integrity Centre. A stone's throw from State House Avenue, the headquarters of Kenya's Anti-Corruption Commission (Kacc) is both a rusting hulk and a public joke. It was built to project the arrival of a brash new world but its metal panels have oxidised and bled, scarring its bronze facade with rivulets like the tracks of filthy brown tears.

In a country so traumatised by the consequences of corruption this ought to be a hive of activity. Instead it is a place which most experts would be happy to see closed. "They should be locked in and paid to stay there," says Mwalimu Mati, an anti-corruption campaigner. "They're not ever going to fight grand corruption. They are managers of scandal and no action is ever taken."

Eighteen months after East Africa's island of stability was brought to the brink of civil war by the fallout from a stolen election, there is a temptation to assume that if the country is not burning, it must be healing. That would be wrong, according to the annual index of failed states, issued yesterday, which put Kenya in the critically failed group, one place below Burma.

Daniel Howden | June 30

The Independent - The troubled unity government of Zimbabwe is locked in a "make or break" battle over the constitution that could see the party of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai walk out.

Members of Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) boycotted a cabinet meeting led by Robert Mugabe yesterday, but sources in the former opposition group said they were not yet ready to disengage.

The power-sharing administration is facing its most serious challenge yet following the start of talks about redrawing the bankrupt southern African nation's constitution. Plans put forward by Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party would concentrate more power in the hands of the President, an idea that was rejected in a referendum in 2000.

"If they insist on this draft then it will break the unity government, its content is unacceptable," said one MDC minister, speaking on condition of anonymity. "But I don't see that happening for several months, you don't want to walk out before trying to deal with this issue."

June 26

BBC - Russia's energy giant Gazprom has signed a $2.5bn (£1.53bn) deal with Nigeria's state operated NNPC, to invest in a new joint venture.

The new firm, to be called Nigaz, is set to build refineries, pipelines and gas power stations in Nigeria.

Analysts say the move could further strengthen Russia's role in supplying natural gas to Europe.

The agreement comes during a four-day African tour by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

As well as forming Nigaz, Russia is keen on developing a trans-African pipeline to transport Nigerian gas to Europe.

This could further reinforce Gazprom's already-strong influence over Europe's energy supplies.

Camillus Eboh | Abuja | June 24

Reuters - Nigeria's president will propose a 60-day amnesty programme for militants in the Niger Delta on Thursday, in an effort to end years of attacks on Africa's biggest oil and gas industry, a senior official said.

The government estimates as many as 20,000 militants could participate in the programme, but sceptics question whether an amnesty alone will be enough to halt widespread oil theft, pipeline bombings and kidnappings for ransom.

David Montero | June 24

CSM Media Roundup - Some armed groups who adhere to a more moderate interpretation of Islam have begun battling Al Qaeda-linked extremists.

Somalia is beginning to seem more and more like the Swat Valley of eastern Africa – a place where Al Qaeda-linked insurgents are setting up religious law courts, assassinating government ministers, and spreading their tentacles farther and deeper.

This week, Al Shabab, the top militant Islamist force that controls most of the country, tried and convicted four thieves. Their punishment: amputation of one hand and one foot each, in accordance with a strict, literal reading of Islamic law. The sentence has been temporarily delayed, but it's the latest sign that Somalia is fast becoming an extremist haven. (Last month, Islamists invited a crowd to see a man suspected of stealing $90 worth of clothing get his hand cut off, BBC reports in a detailed eye witness account.)

And as in Pakistan, many are looking to armed tribes in Somalia who adhere to Sufism – a mystical, moderate interpretation of Islam – as the best chance for peace.

Scott Baldauf | Johannesburg | June 23

CSM -

With or without an international mandate, Ethiopian forces have entered Somali territory to back up a fast-failing Somali government.

Sources close to Western embassies in Nairobi confirmed news reports that Ethiopian troops have taken positions in the Central Somali town of Beledweyne, and that Ethiopian troops were also active in the Gelgadud region north of the capital of Mogadishu. Kenyan forces, too, are reportedly amassing along the Somali border as a defensive measure, in what Kenya's foreign minister described in a press conference as a matter of "national security."

Tracy McVeigh | June 21

The Observer - Africa's longest-running civil war is over and a new country is supposed to grow out of it. But there are few schools or roads and the people live in fear of kidnap and death. Soon, Southern Sudan's humanitarian disaster could dwarf that of its neighbour Darfur

Gallery: guns and disease ravage south Sudan

June 20

BBC - The speaker of Somalia's parliament has called for neighbouring states to send troops to the country within 24 hours.

Sheikh Aden Mohamed Nur made the appeal as fierce fighting that has spread to the north of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, continued for a second day.

Islamist forces battling the country's transitional government briefly took over a police station and other key buildings in Karan district.

Thousands are fleeing the area, previously a refuge for the displaced.

"The government is weakened by the rebel forces," AFP news agency quoted Sheikh Aden Mohamed Nur as saying.

"We ask neighbouring countries - including Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Yemen - to send troops to Somalia within 24 hours."

Mogadishu | June 19

AFP - Somalia's internal security minister was among 10 people killed on Thursday in a suicide bombing at a hotel in Beledweyne, north of the capital, management at the hotel who witnessed the blast told AFP.

Hotel worker Ahmed Abdi said up to 13 people could have died in the attack, staged at the hotel where minister Omar Hashi Aden was staying with his entourage.

"His body is lying at the reception," he said.

Abdi said the suicide bomber drove an explosives laden Toyota saloon car up to Hotel Medina as the minister and his delegation was preparing to leave.

Witnesses told AFP the blast destroyed much of the hotel and left a thick pall of smoke over the town, around 300 kilometres (185 miles) north of the capital.

David Smith | Johannesburg | June 18

The Guardian - One in four men in South Africa have admitted to rape and many confess to attacking more than one victim, according to a study that exposes the country's endemic culture of sexual violence.

Three out of four rapists first attacked while still in their teens, the study found. One in 20 men said they had raped a woman or girl in the last year.

South Africa is notorious for having one of the highest levels of rape in the world. Only a fraction are reported, and only a fraction of those lead to a conviction.

The study into rape and HIV, by the country's Medical Research Council (MRC), asked men to tap their answers into a Palm Pilot device to guarantee anonymity. The method appears to have produced some unusually frank responses.

Professor Rachel Jewkes of the MRC, who carried out the research, said: "We have a very, very high prevalence of rape in South Africa. I think it is down to ideas about masculinity based on gender hierarchy and the sexual entitlement of men. It's rooted in an African ideal of manhood."

June 17

BBC -

A UN base in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has been fired on by army soldiers in a dispute over pay.

It is the latest in a string of mutinies in North Kivu by soldiers who have not been paid for six months.

A senior UN peacekeeper told the BBC that army commanders are not handing over soldiers' wages.

The army and UN forces are conducting an offensive in the region against ethnic Hutu rebels many of whom fled to DR Congo after the Rwandan genocide.

A UN spokesman told the BBC the situation needed to be dealt with urgently.

"There is a risk of a potential disintegration of the Congolese army," he said.

Over the last few months, members of the Tutsi-dominated rebel militia, the Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), have been integrated into the national army.

"There has been a fast-track integration of the CNDP and we are now seeing the results. The commanders are getting the money but not distributing it," the UN spokesperson said.

Daniel Howden | Berbera, Somaliland

The Independent - “In our culture we were nomads and we believed it was our right to take sheep, to take cattle. That is how we see the ships. They are our sheep and we will take them.”

The ships that Farrah Ismail speaks of are those plying the sea lanes off the Horn of Africa. And the culture he refers to is that of the Somali nomads who have been raiding rival tribes or clans for centuries.

The story of how this inherently nomadic view of the world was brought to bear on one of the industrial world's most valuable trading routes is the story of Ismail's life.

Mogadishu | June 17

BBC -

Islamist guerrillas have vowed to topple the UN-backed government

Mogadishu's police chief has been killed as government forces attacked insurgent bases in the Somali capital.

Witnesses saw the bodies of at least eight people, mainly civilians, in the latest battle to convulse the city.

"This is the strongest fighting we've seen in recent months," one resident, Asha Mo'alim, told the BBC. "We're ducking in our rooms."

Pro-government forces have been locked in fierce battles with radical Islamist guerrillas in the city since 7 May.

June 16

BBC -
Aid agencies estimate some four million Somalis need food aid

The UN World Food Programme in Somalia has launched an inquiry into a report that thousands of sacks of aid were being sold on the open market.

Maize, wheat and cooking oil - marked not for re-sale and bearing the UN logo - were found in Mogadishu markets.

One trader told Britain's Channel 4 News he bought food from WFP staff who allowed them to load lorries freely.

Another trader said he invented fictional refugee camps, which were then allocated food that he sold.

"You go to the WFP office and fill in an application form to create a camp," he told Channel 4 News.

"When we receive the food, we give out some, and then divide the rest between ourselves and the WFP guys, who negotiated the deal."

The WFP denied that its staff were implicated but said powerful clans in war-torn Somalia may be involved.

June 16

BBC - Congolese ex-Vice-President Jean-Pierre Bemba will face five counts of war crimes, the International Criminal Court has ruled.

The charges relate to the actions of his troops in the neighbouring Central African Republic in 2002 and 2003.

Mr Bemba has denied all charges, saying the militia was not under his command once they had crossed the border.

He led a rebel movement during DR Congo's long civil war but became vice-president under a peace deal.

Mr Bemba is the most high-profile of four Congolese warlords facing trial at the ICC.

The former head of the Guinean armed forces is among 20 people expected to appear in court charged with drug trafficking in the next few days.

State media said they were arrested after months of investigations carried out by the new military authorities.

They include the former army chief, General Diarra Camara, his son, and other ex-senior officers.

Eight Nigerians, a Ghanaian and an Israeli are also among those reported to have been charged.

In recent years, West African countries such as Guinea have become major transit points in the trafficking of narcotics, particularly cocaine from Latin America.

The BBC's Alhassan Sillah in the capital, Conakry, says the start of the trial against the alleged drug traffickers will mark a significant turning point in the war waged against them by the military government led by Moussa Dadis Camara.

Andy Rowell | June 14

The Independent - Documents seen by The IoS support claims energy giant enlisted help of country's military government

Serious questions over Shell Oil's alleged involvement in human rights abuses in Nigeria emerged last night after confidential internal documents and court statements revealed how the energy giant enlisted the help of the country's brutal former military government to deal with protesters.

The documents, seen by the IoS, support allegations that Shell helped to provide Nigerian police and military with logistical support, and aided security sweeps of the oil-rich Niger Delta. Earlier this month Shell agreed to pay $15.5m (£9.6m) in a "humanitarian settlement" on the eve of a highly embarrassing US lawsuit.

One of the allegations was that Shell was complicit in the regime's execution of civilians. The Anglo-Dutch firm denies any wrongdoing and said it settled to help "reconciliation". But the documents contain detailed allegations of the extent to which Shell is said to have co-opted the Nigerian military to protect its interests.

Mike Thomson | June 12

BBC -

_{(A young girl goes through a rubbish tip while carrying a doll (file photograph)Poverty is robbing many young Zimbabwean girls of their childhood)}

Growing numbers of children in Zimbabwe are turning to prostitution to survive, the charity Save the Children says.

The aid agency says increasing poverty is leading girls as young as 12 to sell their bodies for as little as a packet of biscuits.

It also claims that the coming football World Cup in neighbouring South Africa could soon make things worse.

Unemployment in Zimbabwe is thought to top 90% and many cannot afford to pay for food, medical care or school fees.

The deputy head teacher of a large school with 1,500 pupils east of Victoria Falls told the BBC that hundreds of her female students are now selling their bodies for whatever they can get.

"It could be books, it could be biscuits, chips, some even just to be given a hug."

_{** Zimbabwe appeals for more investment, end to sanctions at World Economic Forum
** Zimbabwe constitution hearings to go ahead: parties
** United States ready to assist Zimbabwe: Clinton
** Bomb Kills Boy}

Celia W Dugger | Alexandra | June 11

NYT - Like birds perched on a wire, the jobless men sat along a concrete wall, idle on a sun-drenched day and voicing an ardent hope that their new president, Jacob Zuma, would deliver for them.

“He promised we are going to get back our jobs,” said Godfrey Goodman, a laid-off union bricklayer from this bustling township, offering up this reason for his faith: “I’m one of those people who raised him up.”

Mr. Zuma must now manage the high expectations of South Africa’s unemployed multitudes and the trade unions that helped bring him to power even as he faces post-apartheid South Africa’s first-ever recession. It has arrived like a malevolent gift from the United States and Europe, authors of the global financial crisis, just as he assumed the presidency.

And the bad news just keeps coming. The government announced Wednesday that factory output plunged a record 21.6 percent from April 2008 to this past April.

For Mr. Zuma, who made jobs the cornerstone of his campaign, the recent surge in unemployment to 23.5 percent not only complicates his ability to fulfill his promises, but also aggravates a problem that has long bedeviled the governing African National Congress: extreme levels of joblessness that have persisted even when South Africa, the region’s richest nation, was growing robustly.

Heavy fighting in Wahbo in central Somalia between pro-government Islamists and anti-government Islamists claimed over one hundred lives this weekend. Rumors flew that Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, a major Islamist rebel leader, was among them. Rebel spokesmen, however, denied Aweys' death. On Sunday, AFP reported that Aweys was alive.

Despite the severity of the violence, neither group controlled the town when fighting paused. Somalia's stalemate continues, and which side will benefit - if either - remains unclear. Common ground is shrinking. The return of Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed to Somalia as president has not had the intended affect of convincing Islamists to lay down arms, and Sharif's overtures to Aweys seem to have backfired:

A few weeks ago, rumors began circulating that Ethiopian troops were again crossing the border into Somalia. Now Ethiopia confirms that (partly), saying they conduct "reconnaissance missions" to deal with threats from "terrorists and extremists." Ethiopian officials downplayed the likelihood and nature of further missions in Somalia and claimed the Islamist rebel militia al-Shabab has lost momentum in its fight against Somalia's government.

Guinea | June 4

BBC -

A senior member of Guinea's military government has been criticised after he called for robbers to be burnt alive.

Human rights groups said the idea by Capt Moussa Tiegoro Camara, in charge of fighting crime and drug trafficking, was "unacceptable" and "intolerable".

Capt Camara had said the country's prisons were full already and it was better to kill those who killed others.

But the Guinean Organisation of Human Rights said the laws of the country should not be by-passed.

"I am asking you to burn alive armed bandits who are caught red-handed," Capt Camara said at a meeting discussing security measures in the capital, Conakry, on Tuesday, reported Reuters news agency.

Robyn Dixon | Chegutu, Zimbabwe | June 3

LA Times -
He was severely beaten last summer by marauders who wanted his farm. He and his wife survived another invasion in the spring, but the thugs have returned and their grip on the homestead is slipping.

Possession is nine-tenths of the law. That's Mike Campbell's bitter motto.

"The moment you move off, you're finished," is how he puts it.

The thugs who want his farm almost finished him. They beat the 75-year-old so badly last July that he hasn't been quite the same since. They broke his wife's arm. But the Campbells weren't finished yet. Ignoring their nightmares and their forebodings, they went home to their farm.

Returning to the land where he'd lived for 36 years, Campbell prepared himself for the empty closets, the looted farmhouse.

But he wasn't ready for the sight that greeted him, driving through the gate that August day: All the farmworkers had gathered in welcome.

Jeffry Gettleman | Nairobi | June 2

NYT - Somalia is once again a raging battle zone, with jihadists pouring in from overseas, preparing for a final push to topple the transitional government.

The government is begging for help, saying that more peacekeepers, more money and more guns could turn the tide against the Islamist radicals.

But the reality may be uglier than either side is willing to admit: Somalia has become the war that nobody can win, at least not right now.