Libya Ex-deputy PM Kidnapped in Tripoli: Family

Smoke from fighting in Tripoli, Libya.

AFP, Tuesday 29 Jul 2014

An armed group abducted a former Libyan deputy prime minister and newly-elected MP, Mustapha Abu Shagur, in the capital Tripoli on Tuesday, his nephew said.

"Men in three cars kidnapped my uncle from his house and took him away to an unknown destination," Issam al-Naass told AFP.

"Twenty minutes before his abduction, Mr Abu Shagur received a call from a stranger who asked him to leave the house because of imminent danger," he added.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the kidnapping.

Abu Shagur was elected a deputy in Libya's June 25 legislative election, in which he stood as an independent candidate.

He is due to take up his post on August 4, at the opening session of the Chamber of Representatives, elected in place of an interim parliament, the General National Congress.

Abu Shagur was deputy prime minister for a year under Abdelrahim al-Kib, who led a first transitional government in the wake of the 2011 uprising that ousted revolutionary Pan-Africanist Muammar Gaddafi.

Kidnappings and assassinations of politicians, rights activists and journalists have multiplied in the chaos gripping Libya since Gaddafi's fall.

Ex-prime minister Ali Zeidan was abducted for several hours last October, highlighting the failure of authorities to rein in dozens of militias across the country.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/107353.aspx

Security: Tunisia Troops Wounded in Clash With Militants

Area where Tunisian soldiers have engaged armed rebels.

Tuesday, 29 July 2014
Al-Arabiya

Three members of Tunisia’s security forces were wounded Tuesday when militants near the border with Algeria shot at the helicopter they were travelling in, security and medical officials said.

The two soldiers and a national guardsman received treatment but their wounds were not serious enough to be admitted for more medical care, said a source in the hospital in Kasserine where the men were taken.

A security source said the three men were in a helicopter fired on by an armed “terrorist” group as they flew over Mount Semmama.

The area is near the Mount Chaambi region, where for more than a year and a half Tunisian security forces have been hunting Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists who have launched bloody attacks on the army.

In July, the suspected jihadists killed 15 soldiers in the restive border region, the bloodiest day in the army’s history.

And two more soldiers were killed on July 26 in the Kef region further north.

Since the 2011 revolution that toppled dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia has faced a resurgence in jihadists, who were among Islamist groups suppressed by the previous regime.

SOMALIA: Puntland President Pardons 120 Prisoners Due to Eidul Fitr Celebrations

President of Puntland Abdiweli Ali Gaas.

July 28, 2014

Garowe (RBC) The President of Somalia’s Semi-autonomous State of Puntland Dr Abdiweli Miamed Ali Gaas has today extended his official pardoning to 120 prisoners in the Puntland prisons including Garowe and Bosasso,

President Gaas has declared the presidential pardon after he attended the Eid Prayers in Garowe Football Stadium in Garowe, the capital of the Puntland State of Somalia.

“As this month is the symbol of forgiveness, compassionate and joy, I have extended presidential pardoning to 120 prisoners,” President Abdiweli Gaas said.

“I hope these prisoners were not the dangerous ones, and I hope they will avail this opportunity to integrate into their people and start new life,” he added.

Somalis in Somalia have today started to celebrate the first day of Eidul Fitr which stated on Monday ending the Ramadan Month.

RBC Radio

Somalia: Mogadishu Mayor Survives Assassination Attempt

Mayor of Mogadishu greets European Union military officer.

Mayor of Mogadishu and Governor of Benadir region General Hassan Mohamed Hussein Mungab survived a landmine explosion in Mogadishu's Huriwa district on Sunday (July 27th), Somalia's RBC Radio reported.

Mungab was en route to his office near the Lafweyn hotel when the explosion hit his vehicle, said Ali Farah, spokesman for the regional administration.

An elderly man who was passing by was confirmed dead in the blast, and a woman was injured.

Security operations were scaled up in Mogadishu over the weekend after the assassination of singer and Somali lawmaker Saado Ali Warsame on Wednesday.

Police recovered a cache of weapons in Hodan district during the operations, spokesman for the Ministry of National Security Mohamed Yusuf told Goobjoog News.

The weapons cache was found in a garage and included sharp shooters, bombs, mortars and other explosives.

In addition, several suspected al-Shabaab members were rounded up during door-to-door searches conducted by Somali and African Union Mission in Somalia soldiers in the Sei Piani and Taleeh neighborhoods, Radio Mogadishu reported.

Meanwhile on Friday, journalist Mohammed Abdullahi Haji of Radio Mogadishu and SNTV narrowly escaped death when an explosive affixed to his vehicle detonated moments before he got in.

The car was destroyed in the blast but Haji was uninjured, according to RBC Radio.

On Sunday evening, after a meeting with city district commissioners to discuss security measures for Eid al-Fitr, Mungab told Mogadishu residents to stay vigilant and continue to help security forces protect the city throughout the Eid al-Fitr festivities.

"We will continue playing our role but we tell the civilians to play theirs," he told residents.

Gold and Diamonds Feed Central African Republic’s Religious Violence

Central African Republic under French occupation.

July 29, 2014 @ 1:07 pm
Reuters
By Daniel Flynn

Three young rebels, their AK47s propped against wooden stools in the afternoon heat, guard the entrance to the giant Ndassima goldmine carved deep into a forested hilltop in Central African Republic.

Sat in a thatched shack at the edge of a muddy shantytown, the gunmen keep the peace – for a price – among hundreds of illegal miners who swarm over the steep sides of the glittering open pit, scratching out a living.

The mine, owned by Canada’s Axmin (AXM.V), was overrun by the mainly Muslim Seleka rebels more than year ago. It now forms part of an illicit economy driving sectarian conflict in one of Africa’s most unstable countries, despite the presence of thousands of French and African peacekeepers.

Seleka fighters – many from neighboring Chad and Sudan – swept south to topple President Francois Bozize in March last year. Months of killing and looting provoked vicious reprisals by Christian militia, known as “anti-balaka”, that pushed the rebels back, splitting the landlocked country of 4.5 million people into a Muslim north and the Christian south.

“We control the mine. If there is a problem there, we intervene,” said Seleka’s local commander Colonel Oumar Garba, sipping tea outside a villa in Axmin’s abandoned compound. “People don’t want the French peacekeepers here because they know they’ll chase them away from the mine.”

Axmin suspended activity at the mine in late 2012 after rebels occupied its camp. The firm says it is monitoring the situation. CEO Lucy Yan did not respond to requests for comment.

Thousands of people have died and more than a million fled their homes in Central African Republic amid the violence between the Muslim Seleka rebels and Christian militia.

Scenes of cannibalism and the dismemberment of Muslims by Christian mobs in Bangui sowed fears of ethnic cleansing, prompting France to deploy 2,000 peacekeepers to its former colony. After tens of thousands of Muslims fled the south, the United Nations agreed to a 12,000-strong mission from September.

A ceasefire signed last week in the capital of neighboring Congo Republic raised hopes of an end to the conflict. But many fear local warlords on both sides will resist attempts to break their grip over resources, especially diamond and gold mines.

Israeli Aviation Strikes at House of HAMAS Leader in Gaza

Home of Hamas leader attacked near Gaza and destroyed.

July 29, 8:31 UTC+4

CAIRO, July 29. /ITAR-TASS/. The Israeli Air Force has fired a missile at the house of Hamas Gaza leader Ismail Haniyeh, former prime minister of the Palestinian enclave. Arab TV channels reported that three missiles were fired at the residence of the leader of Islamists in the Al-Shati camp of Palestinian refugees west of Gaza.

Ismail Haniyeh’s son said that the house was empty in the moment of the attack, and no one was hurt, but the building was completely ruined.

Overnight to July 29, the Israeli Air Force delivered strikes on several targets in the Gaza Strip.

Because of a bombing of a residential house in Elburej refugee camp situated in the central part of the Gaza Strip, 11 people were killed, including two women and three infants, according to Palestinian sources. About 15 people were wounded.

In Rafah, located on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, some 30 people were injured as a result of a missile attack on a three-story residential house overnight to Tuesday.

On July 28 a missile strike was delivered on the Al-Shate refugee camp near the city of Gaza.

According to Palestinian authorities, it resulted in 10 casualties: two grown-ups and eight children.

Another 40 people were wounded.

The missile went off near the local amusement park, where many Palestinian children were together with their parents celebrating the first day of Muslim feast Eid al-Fitr.

The Israeli army accused Palestinian militants of the incident.

In response to the incident in Al-Shati, Hamas military wing Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades attacked the Eshkol Regional Council bordering the Gaza Strip, which resulted in four to six victims from the Israeli side, according to different sources.

In three weeks since the beginning of Israeli military Operation Protective Edge in the enclave, more than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed and more than 6,500 injured.

Western Countries Are Unlikely to Defend Ukrainian Communists - Experts

Ukraine Communist Party flags. The organization was expelled from the
fascist-led parliament.

July 25, 18:56 UTC+4
Lyudmila ALEXANDROVA

MOSCOW, July 25. /ITAR-TASS/. Ukrainian deputies have disbanded the Communist faction in parliament and are planning to ban the Communist Party of Ukraine altogether in open violation of the principles of pluralism and democracy. However, the West is unlikely to react with any radical protests.

Ukraine’s parliament speaker Oleksandr Turchynov announced his decision to disband the faction at a parliamentary session last Thursday, adding that hopefully he would never see Communist factions in Ukraine’s legislature again.

Amendments to parliamentary procedures which Ukrainian deputies had adopted last Tuesday made it possible for Turchynov to disband the Communist faction. President Petro Poroshenko signed the amendments bill into law the same day. The Kiev authorities were absolutely open in saying that the law had been passed in pursuit of one single goal - to get rid of the Communist faction in parliament.

On July 8, Ukraine’s Justice Ministry filed a lawsuit to Kiev’s district administrative court urging it to ban the Communist Party of Ukraine for the reason that its members were linked to financing separatists (in Eastern Ukraine) and actions that led to the ‘annexation’ of Crimea in March 2014.

The measures followed a statement by Communist Party leader Petro Simonenko, made early in May, that he would have immediately withdrawn all troops from Ukraine’s eastern provinces, if he were president. He also described Kiev’s military operation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as a war against ordinary people.

Meanwhile, the parliament’s decision did not upset Simonenko at all. He said the authorities’ pressure would not prevent the Communist Party of Ukraine from taking part in long-term parliamentary elections scheduled for autumn.

Russia’s reaction, however, was sharp.

“The disbandment of the Communist Party faction in Ukraine’s parliament and an attempt to ban the party is another example of how Kiev is infringing on the right to free speech and pluralism.

"Combined with a crackdown on unsuitable media and persecution of dissidents, this latest move by the Kiev authorities is taking Ukraine far away from the democratic path,” Konstantin Dolgov, the Russian Foreign Ministry human rights ombudsman, wrote in Twitter.

He said it was high time for the West, including the European Union, which had in vain tried to portray itself as a stronghold of democracy, to stop pretending not to notice this iniquity.

Gennady Zyuganov, the leader of the Communist Party of Russia, has urged the leaders of Germany, France and Italy to demand the termination of a case aimed at banning the Communist Party of Ukraine.

“We insist that countries like Germany, Italy and France that suffered most from fascism in Europe should be the first to raise their voices against this kind of trial and ban,” Zyuganov said.
Russian experts, however, believe that the West will not rush to help the Ukrainian communists.

“Left-wing parties will be the only force to oppose the ban in the West. But even they are unlikely to take any radical actions and demand sanctions,” Alexei Makarkin, the first vice-president of the Center for Political Technologies, told ITAR-TASS.

“The Western reaction will not be radical,” he said.

The disbandment of the Communist faction under a procedural pretext is unlikely to stir any protests in the West. However, the ban of the party itself may cause protests, according to Mikhail Remizov, the president of the National Strategy Institute.

“At the same time, part of the elites in Europe, let alone the United States, would welcome the Communist Party ban. They put Communism and Nazism on a par in their assessment of the events of the 20th century,” Remizov told ITAR-TASS.

Anyway, Remizov said, this move “would not become a matter of principle or a kind of painful issue for Kiev.”

Alexei Makarkin explained the motives behind the Ukrainian authorities’ actions.

“They are in line with the destruction of monuments to Lenin in Ukraine. They regard the Communist attributes and Communist Party symbols as the Soviet legacy of which they want to get rid of,” Makarkin said.

Besides, Makarkin noted, several prominent figures from the Communist Party of Ukraine, have joined the self-proclaimed republics in the east of the country. Many of those who support the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic voted for the Communists.
Makarkin described Kiev’s decision as dangerous.

“Applied to one political force, these rules can later be used against anybody many times,” he said.

Political scientist Mikhail Remizov said Ukrainian politicians had started playing according to new rules and those new rules of the game could be the root cause behind the decision to ban the Communist Party of Ukraine.

“In previous years, Ukrainian politics was designed to reflect the country’s regional diversity. Now, this diversity has been deprived of the right to exist. Communists have been branded as the traitors of national interests only because they have a different view on what’s going on,” Remizov said.

ITAR-TASS may not share the opinions of its contributors

EU Adopts New Anti-Russian Sanctions to Favor US Military Industry - Experts

Ukraine checkpoint amid escalating tensions.

July 28, 17:24 UTC+4
Tamara Zamyatina

MOSCOW, July 28./ITAR-TASS/. The European Union expands anti-Russian sanctions against its own interests under tough pressure from the US in favour of the American military-industrial complex, say experts polled by ITAR-TASS.

“This week, the EU is going to expand and toughen anti-Russian measures. This is obviously an operation staged by Washington that used the Malaysian airliner downed in Ukraine with most of its passengers being Europeans as an excuse to defeat Russia,” said director of the department for strategic analysis and developments at sanctioned Vnesheconombank Vladimir Andrianov. “The unprecedented propaganda campaign against Russia has turned the public in the Old World against Russia to such an extent that politicians are afraid of looking indecisive and losing voters' support to blindly take the cue from the US”

“The European Union has no chance to withstand US pressure over anti-Russian measures,” the expert told ITAR-TASS. “Washington overtly interferes with Russian-EU gas supply talks and blackmails France over its contract on helicopter carrier Mistral supplies to Russia. It means the US flagrantly pursues its own policy in Europe and appoints its own people to key posts in the EU.”

“The EU countries now experience a deficit of strong leaders; the European governments are weak. Meanwhile, the EU bureaucratic machine proves incompetent in issues of global politics and economy, and totally dependent on the US will,” Andrianov said. “The fact that even German Chancellor Angela Merkel suddenly switched tactics after several months of moderate approach shows European leaders’ dependence on the US Washington keeps a record of all prominent politicians. It certainly has blackmail against Merkel as it’s no coincidence her cellphone was bugged by US special services. For this reason, the German chancellor yielded to pressure from Washington.”

“All US foreign policy starting from Vietnam was tailored to military needs. Amid global competition, the US as the world’s gendarme cannot bear the thought that Russia remains the only major geopolitical opponent it cannot control,” the expert said.

Washington aims to arm the Ukrainian army with modern weapons and equipment and pull Russia into confrontation with Ukraine, Andrianov believes.

“For this purpose, the US Congress plans to recognise Ukraine as a major non-NATO ally and provide the country with direct military aid. The S.2277 - Russian Aggression Prevention Act of 2014 - has passed two readings in the US Both are clearly aimed to serve the interests of the US military-industrial complex in order to kindle the fire in Europe and line US pockets on weapon supplies to the crisis zone,” Andrianov said.

“The scenario of pulling Russia into armed conflict with Ukraine is so dangerous that it is just unacceptable,” dean of the Higher School of Economics Faculty for World Economy and International Affairs Sergey Karaganov told ITAR-TASS. “But the EU sanctions already announced and those on the table mean that the large-scale US anti-Russian campaign caused by the Boeing's downing in Ukraine bears fruit.”

“US pressure for the EU to adopt anti-Russian sanctions is aimed to split Europe, weaken Germany and inflict as grave damage as possible on Russia and deprive the country of its power in the world,” the expert said.

“Europe blindly obeys the US and imposes anti-Russian sanctions as EU welfare directly relies on the US in financial terms, Deputy Director of Russia's Academy of Sciences Institute for the USA and Canadian Studies Major General Pavel Zolotarev told ITAR-TASS. “In terms of security policy, the EU is peaceful under the US umbrella. Washington bears the lion’s share of NATO spending, enabling the EU countries to reduce defense spending to two percent of gross domestic product.”

“EU countries lay out 6-7 times more for education and healthcare than defense,” the analyst added. “Russia cannot afford such budget distribution, while EU countries can do it thanks to the US Hence their obedience to Washington.

ITAR-TASS may not share the opinions of its contributors

Ukraine’s Political Crisis May Lead to Disintegration of Its Statehood - Experts

Crash scene of Malaysian airline.

July 25, 20:04 UTC+4

MOSCOW, July 25. /ITAR-TASS/. The West-encouraged Maidan in downtown Kiev - a symbol of Ukraine’s desire for integration with the European Union - has led the country to a power vacuum, economic collapse and a full-scale civil war, say Russian experts polled by ITAR-TASS.

The ruling coalition in the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s unicameral parliament, broke up on Thursday, and parliament-appointed Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk tendered his resignation.

Maidan is the name for downtown Kiev's Independence Square, which is the symbol of Ukrainian protests. The words “Maidan” and “Euromaidan” are used as a collective name for anti-government protests in Ukraine that started when then-President Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign the association deal with the European Union last year.

“The factor of anarchy is taking effect in Ukraine. The Ukrainian statehood keeps fading. The process was triggered by a state coup organized on Maidan by European integration supporters with US approval on February 22 this year, when President Viktor Yanukovych was illegally removed from power,” Mikhail Delyagin, the director of the Globalization Problems Institute, told ITAR-TASS.

“Power institutions in Ukraine are more and more replaced by oligarchic influence groups. Private states are established in the country. This is well seen by the example of Dnepropetrovsk Region Governor Igor Kolomoisky, who owns industrial assets, a bank, mercenary battalions and buys the political system,” he said.

“These influence groups cannot solve social tasks by definition, because this is within the competence of state power institutions,” the expert said.

“The loss of statehood and sovereignty by Ukraine is explained by the West’s huge influence upon the country’s domestic and foreign policy pursued by invisible foreign specialists and military experts,” Delyagin said.

“In these conditions, the legitimacy of elections to the Verkhovna Rada, scheduled for October, will be determined not by the Ukrainian people but by the US Department of State, as it was during the recent presidential elections,” he said.

“The new Verkhovna Rada will be worse and more radical than the previous one, as its aim will be support for President (Petro) Poroshenko in his urge to spare no shells for destruction of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s republics,” the analyst said.

“The scenario to dissolve the Verkhovna Rada and Prime Minister Yatsenyuk’s resignation are quite logical events, as Ukraine’s parliament did not approve the government’s draft laws.

Poroshenko needs his own majority coalition in the Verkhovna Rada, and he will get it,” Center for Political Technologies (CPT) Director-General Igor Bunin told ITAR-TASS.

Yatsenyuk’s resignation on Thursday automatically means the resignation of the entire Ukrainian government. But the cabinet members will continue fulfilling their duties until a new coalition is formed in the Rada.

Earlier Thursday, the parliament did not support the government’s bill on 2014 budget sequestration, as well as a draft law on reforming the country’s gas transportation system.

“The problem of the Kiev authorities is not in organizing new parliamentary elections, but in the inability to conduct reforms in the interests of society, rebuild their corrupted mentality, when agreements are reached not in power institutions but on the sidelines and in bathhouses,” Bunin said, adding that the authorities apparently do not show any urge to make Ukraine a unified state.

“The war-struck Ukrainian state is trying to pretend that everything in the country is proceeding in the normal mode - there are debates in the Verkhovna Rada, flights of aircraft above Ukraine have not been terminated, and an association agreement with the European Union is being prepared for ratification,” CIS Countries Institute Director Konstantin Zatulin told ITAR-TASS.

“In reality, the breakup of the majority coalition in parliament and the resignation of premier Yatsenyuk are elements of the Ukrainian statehood’s agony,” Zatulin said.

“The elections to the Verkhovna Rada, scheduled for fall, have a rather odious hidden motive. The country’s Supreme Court is considering the issue of banning the activity of Ukraine’s Communist Party, whose faction in parliament was dissolved the day before. It means that the new parliament will have no communists, representatives of the Ukrainian East or Party of Regions deputies,” the expert said.

“Punishment of political opponents means that Ukraine, contrary to the opinion of Kiev’s friends in Washington and Brussels, is going further away from the principles of democracy. Instead of an attempt to consolidate society in Ukraine, the country sees the victory of the temptation to eliminate opponents at any cost - by both military and political means,” Zatulin said.

“By fall, a social and economic collapse will start in Ukraine. The country will have no funds to pay wages to public sector workers and military, problems will deteriorate in the sphere of the housing and communal services and the population will begin protests,” he said.

“This will be the prologue of further disintegration of the Ukrainian statehood,” Zatulin said.

“Ukraine’s statehood is teetering on the brink of breakup. The Kiev authorities apparently do not have an economic strategy. The continuing military operation in the country’s east is destructive for Ukraine,” Vyacheslav Nikonov, a deputy of the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, told ITAR-TASS.

“Nevertheless, the United States is pushing the Kiev authorities toward a war with their own nation to the bitter end. This is a dead-end,” Nikonov said. “Premier Yatsenyuk realized that the path chosen by Kiev leads to a deadlock and was the first to leave the sinking ship.”

Crisis in Ukraine

Violent anti-government protests, which started in November 2013 when Ukraine suspended the signing of an association agreement with the EU in favor of closer ties with Russia, resulted in a coup in February 2014.

Crimea seceded from Ukraine and reunified with Russia in mid-March 2014. Crimea’s example apparently inspired residents of Ukraine’s southeastern regions who did not recognize the coup-imposed authorities, formed militias and started fighting for their rights.

Kiev has been conducting a punitive operation against the breakaway Donetsk and Luhansk regions to regain control over them. The operation has claimed hundreds of lives, including civilian.

Western-leaning billionaire businessman and politician Petro Poroshenko won the May 25 early presidential election in Ukraine set by the provisional Kiev authorities propelled to power during the February coup. He was sworn in and took office June 7.

Poroshenko signed the association deal with the EU on June 27, on the sidelines of an EU summit in Brussels. Poroshenko, dubbed “the chocolate king” because his structures control Ukraine’s Roshen confectionery manufacturer, had funded anti-government protests that led to February's coup.

ITAR-TASS may not share the opinions of its contributors

Kiev Says Rocket Blast Downed MH17, Dutch Probe Says Info ‘Premature’

Malaysian Boeing 777 black box flight recorder.

July 28, 2014 12:42
Rt.com

Ukraine says analysis of the black box flight recorders from the downed Malaysia Airlines plane shows it was destroyed by shrapnel from a rocket blast. Dutch investigators, however, say they have not shared data with Kiev, calling the claim “premature.”

The Ukrainian Security Council on Monday said that passenger flight MH17 crashed in eastern Ukraine due to “massive explosive decompression.”

The spokesman for the Council, Andrey Lysenko, told a news conference in Kiev the information came from experts analyzing the recorders from the plane that came down in territory held by anti-government forces in eastern Ukraine on July 17, killing all 298 passengers on board.

However, the Dutch Safety Board (DSB), which is heading the investigation into the crash, was puzzled by statements coming from Kiev. According to DSB spokeswoman Sara Vernooij, the “premature” release of details of MH17 black boxes is “not in the best interest of the investigation.”

Speaking to The Independent, Vernooij refused to confirm the claims or comment on the nature of the source used by Lysenko, saying that the board was not going to release anything until the crashed plane’s black boxes are analyzed in full.

“We want to analyze [and] combine information of several sources before we bring out anything, so we can give a coherent view on the whole investigation. Bringing out fragmented pieces of information is not on behalf of the investigation,” Vernooij was quoted as saying.

The DSB is expected to release its initial findings on the MH17 crash on August 1.

Britain was earlier tasked with downloading the data from two black boxes recovered from the crash site and handing that information over to international investigators for analysis.

The Ukrainian Security Service’s statement on the data retrieved from the black boxes of the downed Malaysia Airlines plane is “unacceptable,” as it contradicts the rules of the International Civil Aviation Association (ICAO), Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) said.

According to Rosaviatsiya’s deputy head, Oleg Storchevoy, “the Ukrainian side has violated the underlying principles of cooperation in investigating air accidents.”

Such comments are unacceptable, as they “discourage a calm, unbiased and professional investigation into the causes of the accident,” Storchevoy added.

Meanwhile, international monitors have failed to reach the crash site of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 for the second day in a row, due to clashes in the vicinity, Reuters reports citing militia leader Vladimir Antyufeyev.

The OSCE tweeted that its experts traveling with Australian and Dutch ones were forced to return to the provincial capital of Donetsk for "security reasons."

The group of police officers and international aviation experts went to the suburbs of the town of Torez on Monday to work on trying to find out what caused the Boeing 777 to crash, according to a member of the OSCE, RIA Novosti reports. There were a number of Australian and Dutch experts within the group, as well as Dutch police. The convoy had to alter their route as fighting was continuing in the town of Shakhtersk. The delegation was unable to reach the crash site on Sunday, for the exact same reason.

The mandate of the police team is to secure the area, currently controlled by anti-government forces, so that comprehensive investigations can begin and any remaining bodies can be recovered.

Kiev and anti-government forces are blaming each other for hampering the investigation.

Ukraine has accused the local militia of tampering with evidence and trying to cover up their alleged role in bringing MH17 down with an anti-aircraft missile.

Meanwhile, militia forces claim that Kiev is not interested in a fair and unbiased investigation into the downing of the Malaysian plane over Ukraine, so it is sabotaging the work of international experts.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a report out Monday that at least 1,129 people have been killed from mid-April, when fighting began, and July 26. The report said at least 3,442 people had been wounded and more than 100,000 had left their homes. A UN report from mid-June put the death toll at 356.

Anti-government forces accuse Kiev of deploying artillery against residential areas. Authorities deny that charge, saying the militia forces are firing at residential areas themselves “to recruit more fighters to their cause, and to discredit the Ukrainian government.”

The UN said heavy damage to electrical, water and sewage plants and estimated the costs of rebuilding at $750 million — money the government would have to find by cutting social programs.

NSA Mass Spying Undermines Journalists and Attorneys’ Ability to Work

The headquarters of the National Security Agency (NSA).

July 28, 2014 15:50
Rt.com

Dozens of journalists and attorneys surveyed by the American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Watch for a new report say that the United States government’s surveillance operations are eroding their ability to work.

The results of the collaborative effort between the ACLU and HRW was published on Monday this week and contains a number of chilling accounts from Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters and acclaimed attorneys alike who say the US government’s spy programs have put a damper on their professions.

After surveying 92 participants — 46 reporters, 42 lawyers and a handful of current or former government officials — the authors of the 126-page "With Liberty to Monitor All" study conclude that US surveillance practices are “harming journalism, law and American democracy” by making it increasingly difficult for professionals tasked with keeping governments accountable and preserving justice from accomplishing as much.

In the wake of last year’s National Security Agency disclosures, the report found, journalists and attorneys who handle sensitive information are changing their work habits and how they communicate to keep personal details private and prevent government eavesdroppers from interfering.

“Freedoms of expression and association, as well as rights to a fair trial, are protected by the Constitution, and US officials speak with pride of the freedom of the media to report on matters of public concern and hold government to account for its actions,” the paper reads in part. “Yet, as this report documents, today those freedoms are very much under threat due to the government’s own policies concerning secrecy, leak prevention, and officials’ contact with the media, combined with large-scale surveillance programs.”

Several of the people surveyed told the study’s authors that they’ve drastically altered the way they do work in order to elude federal investigators: US President Barack Obama’s precedent-setting number of leak prosecutions has made national security sources more hesitant than ever to speak with reporters, and attorneys tasked with keeping their clients’ details safe told the ACLU and HRW that they fear they’re being spied on as well.

Among the chances those professionals have made to counter those fears, the report reveals, are tactics that range from relying on encrypted email and burner phones, to sending information through the Postal Service instead of the web and making fake travel plans to confuse any curious government eavesdroppers.

“I don’t want the government to force me to act like a spy. I’m not a spy; I’m a journalist,” one prominent reporter told the researchers.

“I’ll be damned if I have to start acting like a drug dealer in order to protect my client’s confidentiality,” added national security defense attorney Tom Durkin.

Nancy Hollander, the lawyer for convicted WikiLeaks source Chelsea Manning, told interviewers that she now concludes every professional email with a warning: “Based on recent news reports, it is possible that the NSA is monitoring this communication.”

“If the US fails to address these concerns promptly and effectively,” report author G. Alex Sinha writes, “it could do serious, long-term damage to the fabric of democracy in the country.”

President Mugabe Backs FRELIMO

President Mugabe speaks to Frelimo presidential candidate Cde Jacinto
Filipe Nyusi, while Frelimo general secretary Cde Fernando Francisco
Faustino (centre) and members of the delegation look on during a
courtesy call at State House in Harare on July 28, 2014.
— (Picture by Munyaradzi Chamalimba)

July 29, 2014
Herald Reporter

President Mugabe yesterday said Zanu-PF supports Mozambique’s ruling party, Frelimo’s presidential candidate Mr Jacinto Filipe Nyusi in that country’s elections pencilled for October 15.The Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces expressed confidence that Frelimo would romp to victory, the same way Zanu-PF did in last year’s July 31 harmonised elections.

He said this at State House after holding an hour long meeting with Mr Nyusi, who had paid a courtesy call on him.

“Zanu-PF and Frelimo are one, so their candidate is our candidate,” said President Mugabe. “We will also support them. We wish him well. We wish him success.”

“We will not say anything because we know that people will always chose those who have their interest at heart. You have Renamo there which is like MDC and you know what happened last year on July 31. That is what is going to happen on 15 October (in Mozambique’s election). We say victory is certain. Aluta continua.”

Mr Nyusi said his objective would be to improve the bilateral relations that exist between Harare and Maputo.

“My objective will be to improve the relationship between Zanu-PF and Frelimo, but now I am running for election as President for the Republic of Mozambique,” he said. “It means improving our relationship between Zimbabwe and Mozambique, mainly in the economic area.”

Mr Nyusi said his discussions with President Mugabe centred on how to explore areas of mutual interest and how each country could benefit from each other.

“Our discussion was around how to improve our relationship mainly in the economic area,” he said. “And also your experience in agriculture, how to manage the mineral resources because we are now running out (of resources) in Mozambique. We need to do more than political relationships.”

Frelimo elected the 55-year-old Mr Nyusi, the country’s Defence Minister, as its presidential candidate in March this year.

Mozambican President Armando Guebuza, who took over from Mr Joaquim Chissano in January 2005 is due to step down this year after two terms, the maximum allowed by the constitution.

Frelimo has been the ruling party in Mozambique since independence in 1975.

Leagues Throw Weight Behind Amai Mugabe

Republic of Zimbabwe First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe.

July 29, 2014
Susan Nyabunze  Herald Reporter

Zanu-PF provincial youth leagues have thrown their weight behind the appointment of the First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe as Secretary for the Women’s League at the party congress slated for December.The Women’s League last week recommended her appointment to the position and Matabeleland North and South are also supporting the proposal.

In separate interviews yesterday, youths leaders in various provinces confirmed their support.

Manicaland provincial youth chairperson Cde Kelvin Manyengavana said he respected the Women’s League decision.

“I respect the Women’s League and as the party’s league they are free to make any decision they want,” he said.

“Whatever decision they make we rally behind them all the way in full support.”

Cde Godwin Gomwe, the zanu-pf Harare provincial youth chairperson, paid tribute to those who proposed the idea.

“It was very thoughtful and I am proud to say that we support it,” said Cde Gomwe.

Matabeleland South provincial youth leader Cde Washington Nkomo said they are fully aware of the roles played by the First Lady in nation building.

“We are in full support of her as the youth,” he said.

“She has been exemplary and we are confident that she has already proved that she befits the position.” Midlands provincial Youth League chairperson Cde Edmore Samambwa said the First Lady could be trusted with the position given the role she is playing in taking care of the President.

“We believe she can handle the task and can be entrusted with that position,” he said.

Another youth leader from Mashonaland Central Cde Godfrey Tsenengamu said: “As a mother figure she has played her role extremely well and as her children we will be by her side.”

Attempt to Steal Zimbabwe Diamonds Foiled

Zimbabwe diamonds under threat.

July 29, 2014
Tendai Mugabe Senior Reporter
Zimbabwe Herald

Government has identified a conman who attempted to steal Zimbabwe’s diamonds at the ongoing Dubai Tender Facility last week.

Mines and Mining Development Minister Walter Chidakwa yesterday said he could not divulge the names of the culprits as that could jeopardise investigations. “We are still investigating the matter, so it will be too early for me give names of the people involved,” he said.

The attempted theft occurred on Tuesday last week at the Zimbabwe Diamond Tender held at Dubai Diamond Exchange Tender Facility.

In a statement, Mines and Mining Development permanent secretary Professor Francis Gudyanga said the sophisticated security system installed by the tender facilitator First Element helped to identify the culprit.

He said the criminal had since been apprehended and handed over to the authorities in Dubai.

Prof Gudyanga said the individual involved was well known to the diamond buying and selling community of Harare.

“The Ministry of Mines and Mining Development has now received a formal report on attempted diamond theft from the ongoing Dubai Tender Facility,” he said. “Investigations have revealed that the apprehended individual, his family and business associates are well known to the diamond buying and selling community of Harare.

“With the successful resolution of this incident, it is sincerely believed that significant inroads into damaging black market syndicate and its operations inside Zimbabwe and further afield have been made.”

It is not the first time that Zimbabwe encountered challenges in selling its diamonds in Dubai.

In May, Dubai Diamond Exchange which was commissioned to organise diamond sales on behalf of Zimbabwe, illegally held on to US$30 million realised from the sale of the diamonds for almost a month. The situation severely affected Government and exporting mining firms which had earmarked the proceeds for key projects and operations.

This was after Government exported almost 400 000 carats to the Dubai Diamond Exchange under a market-testing exercise and the diamonds were then sold at an average price of US$76 per carat, marking a 5,4 percent improvement from the second Antwerp sale which attracted US$72 per carat.

Time SADC Expedites Response to Power Deficit

Inga Dam in western Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is
expected to supply electricity to Southern African states.

July 28, 2014 Opinion & Analysis
Zimbabwe Herald

The Inga Dam power project is expected to ease Sadc’s power challenges

Lloyd Gumbo

Sadc member-states need to expedite their response to the electricity deficit in the region if they are to keep pace with developmental trends throughout the world.

The forthcoming 34th Sadc Summit of Heads of State and Government to be held in Victoria Falls must come up with practical resolutions on addressing the power crisis in the region if leaders are serious about development in this part of the continent.

Renewable energy sources is one area that analysts believe has the practical solution to the region’s energy deficiencies.

Electricity demand in Sadc continues to outstrip supply at a time when the region needs to attract investment to boost socio-economic development.

Load-shedding and power rationing have become the order of the day in most Sadc countries and analysts argue that the development has crippled economic growth, since most of the economic drivers, for instance manufacturing and agriculture, require uninterrupted power supply.

Sadc countries have failed to adequately invest in the power sector for decades, yet it was apparent that a time would come when demand surpasses supply to the extent that neighbouring countries would not have excess power.

The southern African region has on countless times mulled a number of initiatives to reduce the power deficit, yet the power crisis that existed in the 1990s is still there, if it has not worsened given that there is a lot of industrialisation and rural to urban migration taking place.

The pace with which these two areas are progressing is not corresponding with the increase in power generation.

The power deficit has continued despite the establishment of the Southern African Power Pool in 1995 to develop a regional electricity infrastructure for the benefit of all countries in Sadc.

Priorities of the Sadc member states seem to lie elsewhere when energy improvement should be at the core of each country’s developmental agenda.

Delays in implementing a number of energy projects in the region has been Sadc’s Achilles heel.

The countries in the region have made several undertakings like making resolutions and drafting strategies of mitigating the energy crisis, yet not much has materialised.

They have talked of the Grand Inga Falls project on the Congo River that was expected to generate more than 40 000 megawatts and supply most of the Sadc countries, but its over a decade now with nothing tangible having come from the project, besides about 1 500MW being generated there.

The Inga power project is on the Grand Inga Dam in the DRC.

It is a fact that big projects require huge capital and as such, African countries, especially those in the Sadc region, have found it difficult to start the big projects.

But there are alternatives that could answer the region’s current problems in the short-term.

The Sadc Heads of State and Government must prioritise renewable energy projects if they are to avert the energy deficit in the short-term.

While renewable energy projects are relatively capital intensive, experts say they are the answer to the region’s energy crisis given the abundance of solar, wind and mini-hydropower opportunities.

Several researches have been conducted, project proposals in renewable energy given thumbs up, yet the Sadc region continues to lag behind in electricity generation despite having readily available renewable energy sources.

Sadc leaders must know that it is not business as usual, given the industrialisation and urban expansion taking place that will definitely result in increased demand for energy.

For instance, Zimbabwe has resolved that platinum miners must start refinery of the precious metal locally from 2016, a move that will require more uninterrupted electricity supply at a time the country is producing electricity that is about half the peak demand of at least 2 200MW.

Development practitioners argue that for development to be sustainable, it has to be socio-economically driven, as such, there is need to ensure people who live in rural areas also have access to electricity of which by now they are rarely connected to the national grid.

The United Nations estimates that more than 60 percent of the population in Africa lives in rural areas, as such having renewable sources of energy would facilitate that the majority of the population have access to electricity, while at the same time reducing deforestation where people rely on firewood for lighting.

It is important to note that while small renewable energy sources projects may be desirable, huge renewable energy stations remain the answer to Sadc’s energy   crisis.

The reason most of the energy projects mulled by the region have not materialised is because of reliance on donors, instead of the countries making their own initiatives to raise capital.

Donor countries who are expected to fund these projects are also facing their own economic challenges, so it would be difficult for them to fund mega projects in Africa.

Commenting on the funding gap affecting African projects, Carlos Lopes, executive secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa recently said governments must set aside just one percent of their Gross Domestic Product for infrastructure.

That could then be pooled for electricity projects to guarantee socio-economic development.

Research findings indicate that over half a billion Africans without access to modern forms of energy spend at least US$10 billion annually buying alternative sources of energy like paraffin, candles and firewood.

Fostering renewable energy is one of the initiatives captured in the Sadc Regional Infrastructure Development Master Plan Vision 2027 that was adopted by the Summit of Sadc Heads of State and Government held in Maputo in  2012.

The 15-year plan was to be implemented in three phases 2012-2016 (short-term), 2017-2022 (medium term) and 2022-2027 (long term), which if fully implemented would exceed the projected 96 000MW by 2027.

A mid-term review of the Renewable Energy Strategy and Action Plan (RESAP) between the Sadc secretariat and Finland indicate that the region has not covered much ground in pursuing the renewable energy route.

“There is widespread agreement among stakeholders that in order to develop and utilise abundant regional renewable energy resources, limited capacity at the Sadc level and the adverse impact this has on the implementation of regional energy programmes needs to be addressed going forward,” reads the report that was done through consultants,  Camco.

“Barriers to RE (renewable energy) development in the Sadc region are due to numerous compounding factors such as inadequate legal and institutional frameworks to support RE, difficulties in accessing financing to support RE market development, capacity and information barriers and lack of political will to support long-term RE planning and integration into regional energy markets.

”In most cases, RE projects, particularly those involving more than one Sadc member states, often take long to get off the ground.”

It is, therefore, important that the Victoria Falls Summit comes up with practical resolutions on how to expedite energy crisis mitigation in the region if sustainable development is to be achieved.

Environmental friendliness must be the guiding principle on how the region wants to develop by making sure no harm is done to the environment, especially on fossil fuels that contribute to global  warming.

Editorial Comment: President Mugabe Outlined the Template

President Robert Mugabe prior to a recent trip to the African Union
23rd Summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea,

July 28, 2014
Opinion & Analysis
Zimbabwe Herald

President Mugabe has once again spelt out the hallmarks of good leadership, defining what it takes to be a good leader and what his or her responsibilities are.

These are nuggets that people should bear in mind as they elect leaders at any given time, and words of wisdom that should also be taken into consideration by men and women who aspire to lead at whatever level.

The President’s remarks made during the unveiling of his sister Cde Bridget Mugabe’s tombstone come at a time the Zanu-PF Women and Youth leagues are gearing for their conferences next month.

They are also words of counsel, which should guide the ruling party’s cadres as they prepare for the December elective Congress.

President Mugabe defined a leader’s major traits: embodying qualities that identify himself/herself with the people and the willingness to make sacrifices that drive national objectives forward.

He also underscored an important element for successful leadership — love. “You need love with the family, love with the community, love that exceeds the narrow vicinity of village, cell district, province and other limits of the nation. Sacrificing, the struggle was about that.”

Selfless love and love for others irrespective of status is a major building block for anyone seeking to be a leader. Leaders should know, live and propagate this love for people.

Love does not impose itself on others but it should come naturally that a person loves everything that is Zimbabwean, including its people.

An aspiring leader who lacks this important value system — love — will not succeed. Their leadership will be a façade, not rooted in reality, which are the people they intend to lead.

If there is no rapport between the leader and his/her followers it will be like an unequally yoked pair or oil and water.

President Mugabe’s remarks also come on the back of people who want to assume leadership positions but with little understanding of what leadership entails.

For some of these people, the desire is self-centred where they would want to get the rich pickings from the leadership positions, while the people gain nothing.

Some of the people seeking leadership positions believe in a sense of self-entitlement where they benefit instead of ensuring that the people they lead are the major beneficiaries.

Failure to understand that a leader is a servant of the people has also led to a failure to realise that when you work for the people, they should not only benefit, but that if need be, you sacrifice all, including limb and life if need be. That’s leadership.

President Mugabe went on to say: “That is why we regard those who dedicated their lives in order to free us, to give us the freedom and Independence; those who died for the country, worked for the country, sacrificing so that we live a happy life in this country.

“They were above those who say ‘I want my kids to live a good life’. They dedicated their lives for the whole country to be free. That is why we say leadership should be like that, dedicated so that we continue to empower our people, to continue giving them ideas so that they empower themselves.

“Giving them a good living, empowering them: that is what our leaders should do. If you say, ‘I want people to work for me so that I get a status in community’, you would have lost track.”

Legacies are made out of these trademarks of good and preferred leadership.

Zimbabwe First Lady Amai Mugabe Raps Factionalism

First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe with Deputy President of the
ZANU-PF Women's League Comrade Eunice Sandi Moyo.

July 26, 2014
Elita Chikwati Senior Reporter
Zimbabwe Herald

FIRST Lady Amai Grace Mugabe warned Zanu-PF leaders to desist from factionalism lest they go the way of the MDC which was dividing like an amoeba.

Launched on September 11, 1999, the original MDC has since spawned MDC-T, MDC, MDC-99 and MDC-Team.

“You see what is happening to the MDC. The party will get to 20 parties because of divisions and if we are not careful the same thing will happen to our party,” she said.

Amai Mugabe urged those in positions of authority to be humble and not to behave like former Finance Minister Tendai Biti who blows his own trumpet.

She urged party cadres to emulate President Mugabe whom she described as a humble, consistent, clever and intelligent man dedicated to serving Zimbabweans. Addressing the Women’s League at the Amai Mugabe Children’s Home in Mazowe yesterday, the First Lady said she still does not know what makes her husband tick.

“I stay with a very clever man. I stay with a man called Mugabe. The man is so clever. Sometimes you do not even know what makes him tick. As the wife, when I look at him I fail to understand him. For the whole period that I have known and lived with the President, I have failed to understand him,” she said.

Amai Mugabe paid tribute to President Mugabe for being honest and humble.

“He is not pompous, loud or corrupt. At one time the Zimbabwe Liberation War Collaborators Association members confessed that they have never seen the President engaging and bribing people to support him. I have also not seen him doing that at all,” said Amai Mugabe.

“He is truthful and dedicated and has sacrificed his life for the good of the nation. Baba does not care much about his happiness as he is dedicated to fighting for the nation and he remains firm despite challenges that may come along.”

She said President Mugabe was a man of his word. Amai Mugabe condemned vote buying by some party leaders.

“This is the meaning of true leadership. I have never heard the President calling Vice President, Cde Joice Mujuru to accumulate wealth for themselves or discuss on how people can be paid to vote for him.

“We should not buy votes. This practice will backfire and affect those practising it. The system may have dismal results,” she said. Amai Mugabe said leaders were chosen by God and people must patiently wait for their turn and desist from back biting their leaders.

“Leadership comes from above. People will elect you into leadership because of your merits. The opportune time will always come if you were meant to be a leader without backbiting others.”

Matabeleland Backs Zimbabwe First Lady’s Endorsement

Zimbabwe First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe.

July 28, 2014
Herald Reporters

Zanu-PF Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South provinces yesterday threw their weight behind First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe’s candidature to lead the revolutionary party’s Women’s League, saying the move would help strengthen and unite the party.Women’s League members from the country’s 10 provinces met in Mazowe on Friday and unanimously resolved to second the First Lady to head the organ.

“It’s something that we are happy about and that we really support,” Politburo member Dr Obert Mpofu from Matabeleland North said. “The move will help strengthen the party and bring about unity.

“President Mugabe and the First Lady campaigned throughout the country ahead of last year’s elections, leading to our subsequent victory as a party. The First Family also helped in mobilising resources, so the First Lady really deserves that post.”

Dr Mpofu said the first family was against factionalism that was eating into the party.

“It is the positions that divide people because some tend to buy people and badmouth others when they want certain positions and in the end that affects the party,” he said.

Dr Mpofu’s sentiments were echoed by Zanu-PF Matabeleland North provincial chairman Cde Richard Moyo during the provincial elections directorate meeting in Lupane.

“We really support what was done by members of the Women’s League in Mazowe,” he said.

“We are rallying behind them in their decision.”

Matabeleland South provincial chairman Cde Andrew Langa commended the Women’s League for recommending the elevation of the First Lady.

“We are happy that the Women’s League appreciates that the First Lady is a hard worker,” he said.

Political analysts said yesterday First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe will give the Zanu-PF Women’s League a new impetus if she eventually becomes its chairlady since she has all the attributes and there is nothing unusual with her entrance into mainstream politics.

University of Zimbabwe political scientist, Dr Charity Manyeruke, said Amai Mugabe had shown her leadership abilities and strong personality in various sectors.

“I think the First Lady has the required personality to lead the Women’s League,” she said. “We are talking of a personality who has been involved in the activities of Zanu-PF for a long time anyway.

“You only need to look at how she campaigned for the party in last year’s elections, calling on Zimbabweans to vote peacefully. It was the kind of message you would expect from such a principled person.

“She has encouraged entrepreneurship among Zimbabweans and has led by example as can be seen by the success we see at Gushungo Dairy.  This shows that she is multi-skilled and if you consider her philanthropic work with disadvantaged communities, I do not see how she can fail to lead the Women’s League.”

Dr Manyeruke said Amai Mugabe stood by President Mugabe at the most difficult times, gaining the requisite experience to deal with the challenges facing the country.

Midlands State University lecturer in the Department of Media and Society Studies Dr Nhamo Mhiripiri said there would be nothing unusual in the First Lady entering main stream politics.

“There is nothing unusual in the First Lady taking up the position because we have a number of examples across the world where husband and wife run for high offices,” he said.

“The First Lady, because of her relationship with the President, she is in a better position to lead the Women’s League successfully. In any case, she has not imposed herself, but has been recommended by the Women’s League, so with that backing she can lead the organisation.”

Dr Mhiripiri cited former US president Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary as an example of a couple that was politically active, while in Argentina former president the late Nestor Carlos Kirchner was succeeded by his wife Cristina Hernandez.

Another analyst, Mr Goodwine Mureriwa, said Zimbabwe’s history since the liberation struggle had many examples of spouses who were politically active.

“I think it is important to note that if you look at the history of the liberation struggle you will find that the spouses of national heroes were also politically active,” he said.

“Such examples include the late Vice President Joshua Nkomo and his wife Mama Mafuyana, Herbert Chitepo and his wife Victoria, Leopold Takawira and his wife Sunny and many others.

“The role of the mother in the struggle cannot be separated from her husband, so the elevation of the First Lady into mainstream politics is only natural, in fact she has been playing that role as mother because there is no way the President would have been such a strong leader if he did not have strong support from his wife.

“What we are seeing is history repeating itself and I don’t see any reason why she cannot lead the Women’s League.

Zanu-PF spokesperson Cde Rugare Gumbo said it was within the rights of the Women’s League to make their recommendations.

“It is within their democratic rights to make their recommendations as Zanu-PF is a democratic party and the recommendation will be looked into by the relevant authorities,” he said.

The recommendation was endorsed by the Women’s League provincial leadership in all the 10 provinces, while several female war veterans welcomed the decision, saying it would help end the problem of factionalism.

If her appointment is confirmed in December, the First Lady will become a member of the Politburo, Zanu-PF’s highest decision-making body outside congress.

Zanu-PF Youth Conference Preparations Advanced

ZANU-PF Youth League to hold national conference.

July 26, 2014
Zimbabwe Herald
Herald Reporter

Preparations for the Zanu-PF youth conference set for next month are now at an advanced stage, with nominations of the youth executive members starting on Monday.

The conference is set for between August 7 and 10 and would precede the Women’s League conference that would be held later in the month.

Both conferences a precede the Zanu-PF National People’s Congress that will be held in December.

In an interview yesterday, Secretary for Youths Cde Absolom Sikhosana said each province would have to come up with four representatives from their respective zones.

“Names will be received on Monday,” he said. “Each province will be zoned into four. Each province will have to come up with four representatives because each zone should come up with one person.

“The four names who will be nominated would be submitted to an inter-district level that would be convened next week.”

The idea, said Cde Sikhosana, was to have representations at national level of all provinces. He said the four nominees from each province would constitute an electoral college that would elect people for senior positions such as deputy secretary for the Youth League who would become a Politburo member.

The office of deputy secretary held by Cde Edson Chakanyuka is the most coveted position in the Youth League.

Cde Sikhosana said the recently announced Zanu-PF guidelines to select candidates would apply.

Zimbabwe Police Quiz Minister Kasukuwere Over Baba Jukwa

Zimbabwe Minister for Environment Saviour Kasukuwere second
from right.

Tinashe Farawo
Zimbabwe Sunday Mailo
Sunday, Jul 27, 2014

Environment, Water and Climate Minister Saviour Kasukuwere was yesterday questioned by police detectives investigating the case involving shadowy Facebook character “Baba Jukwa”.

Minister Kasukuwere, who was reportedly accompanied to Criminal Investigation Department headquarters by lawyer Mr Farai Mutamangira, is the second Cabinet minister to assist police with the case after his Information, Media and Broadcasting Services counterpart Professor Jonathan Moyo last Thursday.

Minister Kasukuwere tendered a sworn affidavit after the investigators subpoenaed him.

Mr Mutamangira could not be reached for comment.

In a statement last night, the minister said: “This is to confirm that today Saturday July 26, 2014 I had audience with members of the ZRP team that is investigating the Baba Jukwa case at the CID Headquarters in Harare during which I tendered a sworn affidavit.

“This was pursuant to a subpoena extended to me yesterday by the investigating team. While I am unable to divulge the content or substance of the exchange of information that took place between me and the investigating team given that the matter in question is before the courts, I can nevertheless say that the exchange was professional, cordial and mutually respectful within the confines of the law.

“I left the CID headquarters with a very strong and satisfying reaffirmation of the fact that the rule of law is alive and well in our constitutional democracy.”

The Sunday Mail Editor Edmund Kudzayi and his brother, Phillip, are allegedly linked to the Baba Jukwa syndicate and face charges of attempting to subvert a constitutionally-elected government and undermining the authority of the President.

Kudzayi says he became aware of the Baba Jukwa issue when Minister Kasukuwere called him as an information technology expert to assess information provided by an Australian-based hacker identified as Kennedy.

After reporting back to Minister Kasukuwer, Kudzayi says, he was referred to Prof Moyo who in turn took him to the Defence Ministry where he worked to help unmask the Baba Jukwa syndicate.

Police have expressed interest in several people as they investigate the matter.

A fortnight ago, police said they were looking for a 13th suspect – South Africa-based Chawarika Matongorere – who they alleged was responsible for sourcing funds and posting subversive material on the online social networking site.

Other suspects include Wilf and Trish Mbanga, publishers of The Zimbabwean newspaper in the UK, as well as the weekly newspaper’s South Africa correspondent Mxolisi Ncube.

Other suspects are UK-based computer programmer Samson Chifamba, UK-based systems and software engineer Walter Shoko, George Chirakasha who is resident in the UK, and Anomie Drew, Piniel Nhokodi, Romeo Musemburi and Sarudzai Florence.

Both Edmund and Phillip are currently out of custody on bail, coupled with stringent conditions.