Brenda Fassie (1964-2004), Queen of South African Pop, Remembered in the Aftermath of the Death of Lucky Dube

South African superstar Brenda Fassie (1964-2004) was known throughout the continent as the Queen of Township Pop. She is fondly remembered in the aftermath of the tragic death of reggae icon Lucky Dube in October, 2007.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

Brenda Fassie Remembered in the Aftermath of the Transition of Another Great Artist Lucky Dube

http://www.google.com/musicaaid=7Szbq6EU0hH&sa=X&oi=music&ct=result

PANW Editor's Note: With the tragic death of reggae icon Lucky Dube on October 18, 2007, the world is reminded of the great contributions of other contemporary artists in South African society. Of course Brenda Fassie was one the great cultural figures that touched the hearts and minds of millions throughout the region and the world.

In this article below her life history and musical journey are chronicled. Her music will live on and be recognized for the monumental impact it made on untold multitudes.

Abayomi Azikiwe, Editor
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Brenda, Township Madonna

Originally Published on 24 May 2004

Brenda Fassie, South Africa's undisputed queen of pop, was buried at her birthplace in Langa, Cape Town on Saturday 22 May 2004.

"MaBrrr", as Fassie was known by millions of fans in worldwide, died on 9 May at Johannesburg's Sunninghill Hospital, where she was admitted on 26 April after an asthma attack led to cardio-respiratory arrest. She was 39 years old.

Nelson Mandela and President Thabo Mbeki were among those who visited Fassie as she lay in a coma for over a week, but it was already "Too Late for Mama" - one of many songs that Fassie was famous for.

Fassie was the best-known - and arguably most controversial-figure in South African township pop, scoring a huge hit in 1983 with her debut maxi single "Weekend Special", recorded with her band The Big Dudes, before embarking on two decades of hard living that put The Rolling Stones to shame.

The outspoken Fassie went through drug addiction, divorce, the death of her lesbian lover and more, yet throughout her turbulent life she continued to deliver the goods, becoming the biggest-selling artist South Africa has produced.

'Madonna of the Townships'

Born in Langa township in 1964, the youngest in a family of nine, Brenda Fassie's musical career began at the age of four when, inspired by her pianist mother, she formed a singing group, the Tiny Tots.

By the time she was 14, armed with a power-packed, gutsy voice and determination to match, she had moved to Johannesburg to seek fame and fortune.

Dubbed the "Madonna of the Townships" in a 2001 Time Magazine interview, Fassie emerged at the height of the anti-apartheid struggle in the 1980s to give a voice to marginalised black South Africans.

But while songs like "Black President" told of the destruction of black aspirations under apartheid, Fassie was also capable of getting people dancing across the colour line - a feat she achieved from the start with "Weekend Special" (1983), a funky disco groove which became South Africa's fastest-selling single and a hit on both sides of the Atlantic, making the Billboard Hot Black Singles chart and featuring in concerts in the US, UK, Europe, Brazil and Australia.

Brenda left The Big Dudes in the late 1980s to team up with Sello "Chicco" Twala, one of South Africa's most accomplished musical producers, a collaboration that resulted in the 1989 hit album "Too Late for Mama", which included the hits "Black President", "Shoot Them Before They Grow", "Stay Away From My Man", and "Don't Follow Me I'm Married".

During the 1980s Fassie was involved with Big Dudes band member Dumisani Ngubeni, giving birth to a son, Bongani - now 19 years old.

In 1989 she married Nhlanhla Mbambo, only to divorce him in 1991 amid rumours of physical abuse.

Descent and return

Fassie's life went into a downward spiral after her divorce, and for years she checked in and out of drug rehabilitation clinics, missed gigs, alienated fans, was sued by concert promoters, sank into debt, and finally woke up next to the body of her lover, Poppie Sihlahla, who had died after a drug binge, in Johannesburg in 1994.

The following year, 1996, Fassie made the first of many comebacks, producing her own album, "Now Is The Time", in which she performed two duets with Congolese superstar Papa Wemba.

Her 1997 album "Paparazzi" failed to impress, but in 1998 she teamed up with Twala again on the album "Memeza" ("Shout"), which included the song "Vulindlela" and earned Fassie the South African Music Awards (Samas) award for best-selling release of the year.

"Vul'indlela" ("Clear the path" or "Make way") became a hit through Africa and also earned Fassie the 1999 continental Kora award for best female artist.

Fassie scooped the Samas best-selling release award for the next three years running with the albums "Nomakanjani" (1999), "Amadlozi" (2000) - featuring the hits
"Thola 'madlozi" and "Nakupenda" - and "Mina Nawe" (2001), all produced by Twala.

In 2001 Fassie released "Brenda's Greatest Hits" - also a massive seller - followed by "Myekeleni" in 2002 and "Mali" in 2004.

According to The Star Tonight, "Nomakanjani" sold 525 000 copies, while "Memeza" sold half a million copies. "No other South African artist has ever come close to this record", Tonight notes, "not even top-selling gospel star Rebecca Malope, whose album sales are thought to be closer to the 250 000 mark.

"This means Brenda will take the Best-Selling Album of the Decade award at the South African Music Awards (Samas) at the end of the month."

'I'm a shocker'

Throughout, Fassie continued to stir controversy with outrageous behaviour and a turbulent private life. She openly admitted to being a drug addict and bisexual - taboo in the townships - and her antics, both on and off the stage, made her a regular target for tabloid fodder in the Sunday papers.

Jan Hennop, writing for AFP, recalls a 2001 performance in a club in Washington, DC, during which Fassie's breasts popped out of her costume. "The audience gasped, but Fassie unabashedly grabbed her bare bosom and thrust it at the crowd", Time Magazine said of the show. "This", she proclaimed, "is Africa!"

"I'm a shocker. I like to create controversy. It's my trademark", she once said in an interview.

At the same time, Fassie remained a central figure in the development of township pop, as her music shifted from the "bubblegum" of the 1980s to the edges of the dominant kwaito style of the late 1990s.

Hennop writes: "In the latter stages of her career her voice also matured, as she sang in the 'kwaito' township style - a combination of hip-hop, slowed-down 'house' music with traditional African bass, sung mainly in Xhosa, Zulu and Sotho."

Right up until her death, Fassie was the consummate rock 'n roll survivor, and the outrageous template for musical superstardom township-style.

'What Brenda meant to South Africa'

The Cape Times, in an editorial entitled "Forever young", echoed the sentiments of many of her fans: "Brenda Fassie was many things: immensely talented, tempestuous and outrageous being among them. But she was never boring. Indeed, she has been called a pioneer, a trendsetter and an icon whose passing will leave a huge vacuum in the music industry.

"Farewell, Brenda. You will stay forever young in the hearts of your millions of fans around the world."

ThisDay, in its editorial, "What Brenda meant to South Africa", went deeper: "Whoever tells Fassie's story will remind us that she could sing like no other, and that she gave us music to last a lifetime ...

"Beyond the politics and the music, however, it should never be forgotten that Fassie was always enveloped by a deep sadness ... Could it have been because she had a hole in her soul that all the fame, money and hangers-on could not fill?

"Many of the world's greatest musicians had a similar affliction, and they too died prematurely: Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain. In all of their lives something was amiss.

"In Fassie's case the causes are not hard to find: she grew up black and a woman in a country that hated black people and women. Though she ended up dying in a luxury clinic in Johannesburg, her childhood was spent in Langa, a rough township on the Cape Flats where not much has changed in the three decades since she left it in pursuit of bigger dreams ...

"For every Fassie who makes it out, who knows how many others are lost to drugs, Aids and general despair? Who knows how a Weekend Special turns out?

"All the politicians who streamed to her bedside during the last week of her life, and who were at her funeral, would do well to consider that perhaps Fassie died of a broken heart."

As Fassie herself once said: "I wanna be loved. I just wanna be loved."

SouthAfrica.info reporter

Celeste Williams of Cape Town Has Been a Musician Since the Age of Three

Celeste, Cape Town, South African artists began as a musician at the age of three.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

Celeste Williams

Cape Town

Celeste Williams is a stunning solo entertainer on keyboards and with vocals of note!

Celeste started playing the piano at the tender age of 3 and continued studying music, completing her classical foundation when she passed the grade 8 examinations through UNISA. She went on to study B.Mus.Education at the University of Cape Town, which is when she began to enter the jazz arena. As she moved away from classical music, she started exploring the electronic world and soon started to sequence her own music, a side of the entertainment game she enjoys very much.

Because of Celeste’s classical background, she is naturally able to provide background and cocktail hour music. Couple to this her sequencing skills and vocal talent, you have here a musician who is able to cater for any type of function, from laid-back right through to a “party ‘till dawn” affair.

Celeste has been spotted entertaining at the Table Bay Hotel, Cape Sun Hotel, Villa Moura (Camps Bay), Lord Charles Hotel (Somerset West), Spier Wine Estate (Stellenbosch), Wild Coast Sun (KwaZulu Natal), Graceland Casino (Secunda) and Sun City. She has done some television recordings, including one for Carte Blanche. She currently holds a weekly resident spot doing the cocktail hour at the Peninsula Hotel in Sea Point.

Celeste’s versatility as an artist allows her to work with a 2, 3 and 4 piece band who have entertained the likes of our President, the Mayor of Cape Town, various weddings at Cape wine farms along the famous Stellenbosch Wine Route. They also work with well-known local artist Alistair Izobel who uses Celeste and her band to back him at various functions of which the latest has been a show in the Baxter Concert Hall.

Celeste’s repertoire is extensive, to say the least, and covers classics such as Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Richard Clayderman, all the jazz standards; through to the latest pop hits including Britney Spears, Cher, Tracy Chapman, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Roberta Flack, Boyzone, UB40, Brenda Fassie, Chris de Burgh, Macy Gray, and many, many more.

Celeste is currently one of the music anchors on the hugely popular LIERIEKERAAI which screens on a Monday evening on M-Net.

A versatile, professional and extremely talented artist, book her with confidence and let her do what she does best – make music!

Poppy Fields Continue to Expand in US/NATO Occupied Afghanistan

Poppy Cultivation is Flourishing Under US/NATO Occupation of Afghanistan
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire Photo File

November 7, 2007
Books of The Times

Afghan Struggle to Change Poppy Fields Into Roads

By WILLIAM GRIMES

OPIUM SEASON: A Year on the Afghan Frontier

By Joel Hafvenstein

Joel Hafvenstein returned to Afghanistan in late 2004 armed with nothing but good intentions. Employed by Chemonics, a private company with a contract from the United States Agency for International Development, he was part of a team trying to discourage cultivation of the opium poppy by providing an alternative income for poor farmers.

Within months the mission was in disarray, its American workers huddled in a fortified bunker after eight of its Afghan employees had been murdered. The next year’s poppy harvest would be the largest on record.

The sobering dispatches in “Opium Season,” a wrenching account of lofty hopes and bitter disappointments, shed a dismal light on American efforts to improve the lot of ordinary Afghans. All over the country development projects are under way aimed at winning over the Afghan people, depriving the Taliban of popular support and propping up Hamid Karzai’s government. The obstacles are as steep as the surrounding mountains, as Mr. Hafvenstein discovered and ruefully recounts in this bitter but affectionate book about his three stints in Afghanistan from October 2003 to May 2005.

In Helmand Province, where Mr. Hafvenstein had his final tour of duty, the immediate plan was simple: hire local people for big public-works projects and put money in their pockets before the government started cutting down profitable poppy fields. This stopgap effort would be the prelude to large-scale infrastructure projects that would lift the local economy permanently. Easier said than done.

Getting a multimillion-dollar project up and running plunged Mr. Hafvenstein and his co-workers into a social, political and economic morass that eventually sucked them under. In a country with scant resources, every dollar shifted the local balance of power in unforeseen ways.

The influx of international development companies distorted the Afghan economy, driving up the cost of housing and drawing educated Afghans away from vital but poorly paid jobs in, for example, education. Local power brokers, whether government officials or tribal leaders, eyed the Americans askance, worried that their own influence might be diminished. Big landowners schemed to steer benefits in their direction.

Mr. Hafvenstein arrived eager but unprepared in a region known to the ancient Persians as “the land of the unruly.” Racing to set up a project office, he interviewed a long line of Afghans with spotty qualifications and modest expectations. One stated on his application that he looked forward to working in “a mullet-cultural environment.” Another, hesitant to accept a job that required him to travel with payroll money, said, “I would like a job where I will not be killed.”

The security situation was indeed tenuous. Early on Mr. Hafvenstein got a cold dose of reality when the company’s security officer rattled off a list of must-buy items for the offices. These included blast film for the windows, razor wires for the walls and a windowless safe room lined with sandbags “if things get ugly.” Nevertheless, before safes arrived, Mr. Hafvenstein carried around bricks of American, Afghan and Pakistani currency in the inside pockets of his waistcoat.

The cash-for-work program showed progress. Chemonics hired thousands of laborers to do roadwork or dig out the silt from canals in a huge irrigation system built in the 1940s by Morrison-Knudsen, the engineering company that built the Hoover Dam and the San Francisco Bay Bridge. Spurred on by an energetic, idealistic Afghan-American in the office, the company made every effort to extend its reach to remote valleys badly in need of development aid.

But the hard realities of the poppy economy quickly reasserted themselves. The local government would plow under the poppy fields belonging to poor farmers just enough to mollify the central government, while powerful landlords paid the police to pass them by. After a particularly heavy rain in Lashkargah, the provincial capital, Mr. Hafvenstein noticed a thriving poppy field directly across the street from the American military outpost, its existence revealed by a collapsed section of earthen wall.

Everyone in Helmand, directly or indirectly, depended on poppy income, including top officials. In June 2005 police raided the mansion of Helmand’s governor, Sher Muhammad Akhundzada, and found nine metric tons of opium. Mr. Akhundzada, who enjoys close family ties to Mr. Karzai, explained that he had seized the opium from traffickers and was merely waiting for the appropriate moment to dispose of it.

Mr. Hafvenstein and his team disturbed the status quo, although they were never clear precisely when or how. When several workers were victimized by a carjacking, informants blamed common thieves, but the act might have been retaliation for giving too many jobs to members of the wrong clan. Later, in the same area, two Afghan workers were ambushed and killed. A party that set out the following day to transport the dead bodies to a cemetery in Kabul was also ambushed and its members executed. One man, an ethnic Hazara (member of the Shiite minority) was shot through the eyes.

Local leaders blamed the Taliban. But the killings might have been ordered by poppy growers angry that the American project was depriving them of badly needed labor for the harvest. The police showed little enthusiasm for investigating the matter.

That was it for Mr. Hafvenstein and his American colleagues. They headed home, sadder and wiser. “We had come to Helmand thinking of opium as the local currency, and had tried to replace it with cash,” Mr. Hafvenstein writes. “But security was the real currency of Afghanistan. The traumatized population of Helmand would trade anything for it, follow anyone who could offer it.”

In a country where violence trumps money every time, the United States, Mr. Hafvenstein suggests, will have to work out a different equation.

Many Say No to the New United States Africa Command (AFRICOM)

Abayomi Azikiwe (right), editor of the Pan-African News Wire, along with (right to left) David Sole of MECAWI, Mike Kelly of Finding Alternatives to Military Enlistment (FAME) and Derrick Grigsby of MECAWI. (Photo: Cheryl LaBash, WW).
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-americas-africa-command,1,1129543.story

http://www.chicagotribune.com

Skepticism Greets New US Africa Command

By TODD PITMAN
Associated Press Writer
1:55 PM CST, November 6, 2007
DAKAR, Senegal

Just a few years ago, the U.S. military was rarely seen in the oil-rich waters of West Africa's Gulf of Guinea. This year, it plans to be there every day.

The strategic importance of Africa and its natural resources is on the rise, and the Defense Department last month created a new unified U.S. military command for the continent called Africom.

The first American mission to Africa since that move began Monday when a Navy cruiser, the USS Fort McHenry, arrived in Senegal's capital to begin a half-year training exercise for African naval forces around the Gulf of Guinea.

For American commanders, Africom means consolidating responsibility for a continent previously split among three other regional commands, each of which viewed Africa as a secondary interest.

However, Africom's creation has provoked so much skepticism on the continent that one of the most basic questions -- where it will be located -- remains unresolved.

Some Africans are concerned the new command could draw the continent deeper into the global war on terrorist groups.

Others wonder if it is meant to protect America's competitive stake in African oil and other resources increasingly sought by rising powers like China and India. The continent has surpassed the Persian Gulf as the leading supplier of oil to the United States.

"Africans have a feeling Africom represents something more than what is being sold to them," said Wafula Okumu, an analyst at South Africa's Institute for Security Studies. "If it was packaged a different way and better explained, maybe it could be a success."

U.S. officials concede America's strategic interests come first. But Africom's deputy for military operations, Vice Adm. Robert T. Moeller, said the command will allow the United States "to do more with our African partners when it makes sense to do so and where it's in their interest to do so."

There is a misconception that Africom is part of "a U.S. effort to militarize Africa, and that's definitely not the case," Moeller said in an interview with The Associated Press.

The U.S. military is already well-entrenched in Africa, spending around $250 million a year on military assistance programs, said J. Stephen Morrison, director of the Africa program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Since 2002, about 1,800 American military personnel have been stationed in Djibouti as part of efforts to stifle terrorist networks in the Horn of Africa, particularly Somalia. Money is also being poured into the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Initiative, which has focused on training armies in western and northern African nations from Algeria to Nigeria.

Moeller said Africom will bring no new U.S. military bases to the continent and no substantial changes in America's military role here for the foreseeable future. Its aim is to help Africans with military training and support peacekeeping and aid operations crucial to stability and the prevention of conflict, he said.

Regional powers including Libya, Nigeria and South Africa have expressed deep reservations, partly because they believe Africom could undermine their influence, analysts said. So far, only Liberia has publicly stated a willingness to host Africom, though even critics like Nigeria welcome the continuation of the U.S. training programs.

Led by Gen. William E. "Kip" Ward, Africom is expected to be fully operational within a year, spending the next 12 months getting ready.

With a budget of $50 million this fiscal year, Africom is responsible for 53 countries in Africa and the island nations surrounding it -- everything except Egypt, which will remain under the U.S. Central Command because of its proximity and importance to the Middle East.

Kurt Shillinger, an analyst at the South African Institute of International Affairs, said the Pentagon has failed to allay concerns of Africans who see "this as a Trojan horse through which the U.S. will pursue and defend its key interests in Africa."

African nations supply the United States with more than 24 percent of its oil -- more than the Persian Gulf, at 20 percent, the U.S. government's Energy Information Administration says. Much of that crude comes from or through the Gulf of Guinea.

Moeller said increasing security in the gulf is partly an issue of open markets. The U.S. wants to work with "African partners to make sure the resources that emanate from the continent are available to the global community," he said.

Internal conflict in Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer, has sporadically disrupted the flow of its crude, and offshore platforms along the western coast are little-protected because most countries have only small navies.

The U.S. naval presence in the Gulf of Guinea -- measured by "ship days" -- has increased more than 50 percent since last year, said Lt. Brian Badura, a spokesman for the 6th Fleet in Naples, Italy, which commands American warships in these waters. From just a handful of days in 2004, the Navy expects to have a daily presence over the next year.

In a first for America's global combat commands, Africom will have a deputy commander who is a civilian responsible for overseeing civil-military affairs and coordinating with other U.S. government agencies.

Africom officials say that post highlights the importance of humanitarian operations to U.S. goals in Africa, but even that has spurred controversy.

"Why should they be using the military to promote development when they already have institutions within the U.S. government that are better capable and more acceptable?" asked Okumu at the Institute for Security Studies.

Analysts said there has been criticism of the command within the U.S. government itself, notably from State Department officials.

Shillinger said some officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development worry their humanitarian programs could be "stigmatized" by direct links with the military, which has melded aid programs with combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan -- wars unpopular in most of Africa.

Moeller said the command's relationship with Africa and other U.S. agencies will be "collaborative." It will "not be taking the lead" in aid operations or U.S. policy, he said.

For now, Africom has just over 200 staff members, and is based in Stuttgart, Germany.

Moeller said where it is established is an issue to be decided with "our African partners." Instead of one central headquarters, there may be smaller offices in five regions, each with one or two dozen staff, officials said.

Theresa Whelan, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for African affairs, estimates 80 percent of the command's eventual staff of around 800 will be based outside Africa.

"Having a presence on the continent in some form is certainly a goal," Moeller said. But "ultimately it has to be agreed to by the Africans."

The cruiser now in the region, the Fort McHenry, can skirt the issue. The self-sustaining, helicopter-equipped warship can serve as a mobile base for training African forces in maritime security -- and move on.

Copyright © 2007, The Associated Press


This article can be found on the web at
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071119/glover_lee

Say No to Africom

by DANNY GLOVER & NICOLE C. LEE
from the November 19, 2007 issue

With little scrutiny from Democrats in Congress and nary a whimper of protest from the liberal establishment, the United States will soon establish permanent military bases in sub-Saharan Africa. An alarming step forward in the militarization of the African continent, the US Africa Command (Africom) will oversee all US military and security interests throughout the region, excluding Egypt. Africom is set to launch by September 2008 and the Senate recently confirmed Gen. William "Kip" Ward as its first commander.

General Ward told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Africom would first seek "African solutions to African problems." His testimony made Africom sound like a magnanimous effort for the good of the African people. In truth Africom is a dangerous continuation of US military expansion around the globe. Such foreign-policy priorities, as well as the use of weapons of war to combat terrorist threats on the African continent, will not achieve national security. Africom will only inflame threats against the United States, make Africa even more dependent on external powers and delay responsible African solutions to continental security issues.

The US militarization of Africa is further rationalized by George W. Bush's claims that Africom "will enhance our efforts to bring peace and security to the people of Africa" and promote the "goals of development, health, education, democracy and economic growth." Yet the Bush Administration fails to mention that securing and controlling African wealth and natural resources is key to US trade interests, which face growing competition from China. Transnational corporations rely on Africa for petroleum, uranium and diamonds--to name some of the continent's bounty. West Africa currently provides 15 percent of crude oil imports to the United States, and that figure is expected to rise to 25 percent by 2015.

Policy-makers seem to have forgotten the legacy of US intervention in Africa. During the cold war, African nations were used as pawns in postcolonial proxy wars, an experience that had a devastating impact on African democracy, peace and development. In the past Washington has aided reactionary African factions that have carried out atrocities against civilians. An increased US military presence in Africa will likely follow this pattern of extracting resources while aiding factions in some of their bloodiest conflicts, thus further destabilizing the region.

Misguided unilateral US military policy to "bring peace and security to the people of Africa" has, in fact, led to inflamed local conflicts, destabilization of entire regions, billions of wasted dollars and the unnecessary deaths of US soldiers. The US bombing of Somalia in January--an attempt to eradicate alleged Islamic extremists in the Horn of Africa--resulted in the mass killing of civilians and the forced exodus of refugees into neighboring nations. What evidence suggests Africom will be an exception?

In contrast, Africa has demonstrated the capacity to stabilize volatile situations on its own. For example, in 1990 the Economic Community of West African States set up an armed Monitoring Group (Ecomog) in response to the civil war in Liberia. At their height, Ecomog forces in Liberia numbered 12,000, and it was these forces--not US or UN troops--that kept Liberia from disintegrating. In another mission, Ecomog forces were instrumental in repelling rebels from Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown.

There are a range of initiatives that can be taken by the US government and civil society to provide development and security assistance to Africa that do not include a US military presence. Foremost, policy toward Africa must be rooted in the principles of African self-determination and sovereignty. The legitimate and urgent development and security concerns of African countries cannot be fixed by dependence on the United States or any other foreign power. Instead of military strategies, African countries need immediate debt cancellation, fair trade policies and increased development assistance that respects indigenous approaches to building sustainable communities. Civil wars, genocide and terrorist threats can and must be confronted by a well-equipped African Union military command.

American policy-makers should be mindful that South Africa, whose citizens overthrew the US-supported apartheid regime, opposes Africom. In addition, Nigeria and the fourteen-nation Southern African Development Community resist Africom. These forces should be joined by other African governments and citizens around the world, to develop Africa's own strong, effective and timely security capacities. Progressive US-Africa policy organizations and related civil society groups have not been sufficiently organized to bring this critical issue before the people of the United States. It is urgent that we persuade progressive US legislators to stop the militarization of aid to Africa and to help ensure Africa's rise to responsible self-determination.

Plans for Anti-Racist March Continues in West Virginia

Megan Williams, with mother, Carmen Williams, at the Kanawha County Magistrate Court in Charleston, W.Va., Sept. 18, 2007. Williams is at the center of media attention after her alleged kidnapping and torture by six whites.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

November 02, 2007

Plans for march moving forward

By Gary Harki
Staff writer

As Saturday’s march supporting Megan Williams nears, police and organizers are discussing logistics and more groups are deciding whether to march.

About five people gathered in front of a nearly equal group of reporters at the state Capitol Thursday to voice their support for the march.

Sandra Mosley, leader of a community outreach group affiliated with First Baptist Church in Charleston, said the community needs to stand together against acts perpetuating violence against women.

“I feel its important people come out and be a part of the march and support Megan Williams because of the issues of violence against women,” she said. “I believe the march on Saturday will be very peaceful. It will be the first time we bring the community together to show support for our own.”

Doris Rowe, local leader of the group Women of Color, says the march is important for the community.

“We are also here to thank [Black Lawyers for Justice leader] Malik Shabazz and all of our African-American brothers who are standing with us,” she said. “We are also here today to let the world know we will not be intimidated.”

Shabazz, a leader of the march, has become a polarizing figure, partly because of previous comments that some groups have labeled anti-Semitic.

“We are tired of the media capitalizing on anti-Semitic remarks,” Rowe said.

Another group, West Virginians United for Social and Economic Justice, supports the NAACP and the Charleston Black Ministerial Alliance in their decision not to participate in the march, said Gary Zuckett, chairman of the group. Member organizations of the group include the state AFL-CIO, the state chapter of the National Association of Social Workers and the West Virginia Council of Churches.

“Now is the time for all West Virginia citizens to resist any action which would result in divisiveness between the races and people in our community. We must be united in our effort to see justice done in the courtroom,” Zuckett said in a prepared statement.

The Rev. Jim Lewis, an organizer of the group, said after the march is over local white and black leaders need to sit down and discuss the issues raised by the Megan Williams tragedy and the march.

An e-mail sent to a local television station alluded to the possibility that white supremacist groups may be coming to protest the march, said Charleston Police Chief Brent Webster. He cautioned that the e-mail was the only sign that such groups might show up.

Sgt. Jason Beckett, special events coordinator for Charleston police, would not say how many officers would be on hand Saturday. He said the march would cost the city about $8,000.

People will be able to start gathering at the south side of the Capitol about 10 a.m., he said. The rally itself starts at noon.

About 24 speakers are expected, including the Rev. Al Sharpton and Minister Hashim Nzinga, chief of staff for the New Black Panther Party, according to an event flier.

The march will start at about 3 p.m. at the Capitol. The route follows Washington Street, then south on Court Street, west on Virginia Street and ends at the federal building, Beckett said.

“We will have officers along the march route working traffic,” he said.

Officers will shut down parts of the route as the marchers walk, he said.

A pre-march prayer vigil will be held at the Logan County trailer where Williams was held today at 7 p.m. A caravan will leave the First Baptist Church on Shrewsbury Street at 5 p.m.

Shabazz told police the first time they met that he expected about 300 people, Beckett said.

“Now with all the attention it has gotten, that could have grown,” he said. “I don’t think anyone really knows.”

To contact staff writer Gary Harki, use e-mail or call 348-5163.

Rev. Edward Pinkney Speaks in Kalamazoo at Western Michigan University

Rev. Edward Pinkney speaks to guests at his home after the sentencing hearing on May 14 in Benton Harbor. Pinkney was given five years probation. (Photo: Abayomi Azikiwe).
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

Monday, November 05, 2007
Oct. 28 Event Report

Report on Rev. Pinkney's Speaking Engagement in Kalamazoo

We would like to comment on the inspirational meeting on Western Michigan University's campus last Sunday. Clearly, Kalamazoo and Benton Harbor need to blend in their efforts to establish a voice from the People regarding racism, corporatism, and police brutality. Other cities, too.....

Kalamazoo resident, Mary Watson sadly spoke about the police beating of her son. He received a concussion, broken facial bones, ringing in ears, and no white can be seen in one of his eyes. He has never carried a weapon in his life. He is still in the Kzoo county jail and cannot get medical help. Mary Watson has NOT BEEN ABLE TO FIND ANY HELP OF ANY KIND IN KALAMAZOO. Another speaker said people die every week in that county jail and no one knows about it.

Kalamazoo's speakers, particularly Joseph Anderson ( as well as two other excellent speakers), echoed speakers from Lansing and Detroit. The establishment, as witnessed through the police force, the city councils, and the land developers are getting away with practices that diminish the poor, and the people of color of Southwestern Michigan. Benton Harbor is the worst. Kalamazoo needs to reach out to the citizens of Benton Harbor (highest unemployment in the country) who live in a horrifying state of institutional poverty and fear.

Whirlpool is currently working on stealing BH land for a corporate develoment and a multimillion dollar golf course. As identified by the speakers, institutions are getting away with practices of racial profiling, jailings, land acquisitions while deteriorating the cities of Michigan because little ethical behavior can be seen on a federal and state level. Clearly, the passivity of Michigan residents is catching up. WE cannot rely on the judicial system. Corruption has become an acceptable precident as set by the federal government (e.g. Blackwater, etc., etc..etc.).

Why do we turn away from Benton Harbor? Why do we accept what Whirlpool has done to them? Take a drive to Benton Harbor and then look for the parks, the museums and the art centers that Fred Upton's company has so generously built in St. Joe (a quarter of mile down the road).

Drive around the East side of Kalamazoo and the North side of Kalamazoo. Drive around all of inner city Detroit. Drive around Lansing or Division St. in Grand Rapids. Then take a trip to the county jail in Benton Harbor (housed in St. Joe) or watch a court hearing in any one of the these cities. You may be video taped if you are watching in Berrien County (by the police).

Most of us can barely live with the horror of Iraq. Most of us need to barely live with the horror of Benton Harbor. Watch for civil rights fighter, Rev. Pinkney. They have him on house arrest (5 YEARS) for watching over the racial profiling in Benton Harbor and for speaking about the racisim of Whirlpool. They locked him up, then again...... he has black skin.

The Speakers last Sunday made significant connections between our federal and local policies and the resulting behaviors/acts of inhumane treatment of black people. If we care about the humanity abroad, we also must care about the humanity at home.

Legal Fee Donations (non-profit, ie, tax-deductible):
BANCO
1940 Union St.
Benton Harbor, MI 49022

(World Headquarters and North America Region)
Whirlpool Corp.
2000 N. M-63
Benton Harbor, Michigan 49022-2692
269-923-5000

Boycott Whirlpool and it's subsidiaries: Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Amana, Gladiator, GarageWorks, Inglis, Estate, Roper, Magic Chef, Acros, Supermatic. ABROAD - Bauknecht, Brastemp, Consul, Eslabon de Lujo.

Buy NON-Whirlpool brands! - Frigidaire, General Electric, LG, Samsung, Viking, Subzero, Dacor, some Kenmore, Electrolux, etc.

Sandra Hines, Grassroots Candidate for the Detroit School Board in District Five

Sandra Hines of the DCAPB at Speak Out on Sunday, October 21, 2007. She is a candidate for the Detroit School Board in the 5th District. (Photo: Abayomi Azikiwe).
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

Sandra Hines, grassroots school board candidate

By T. Kelly
The Michigan Citizen

DETROIT—Children, schools, community. For Sandra Hines the links among the three must be restored.

“That is why I am running for school board,” she told a group of supporters Oct. 27.

Her struggle to save her neighborhood school—and others in the McKenzie High constellation—from the massive school closures enacted this year by the current board prompted her run for the board.

“For the last 30 years I have fought for our people in every movement struggle,” Hines said. “My mother and her mother before her were activists. It’s just in me.”

She said not one school board member walked through Courtis, her neighborhood school, before they made the decision to close it. “Teachers, parents, students were all walking around like zombies when they heard Courtis was to be closed,” said Hines. “The decision to close the school wiped everyone out spiritually.”

“The decisions that our officials are making have been brash and devastating to say the least. They have severely hurt Detroit’s economy, schools, workers, families, neighborhoods, morale and image,” Hines says in her campaign literature.

And in public comments she makes it plain how “devastating” those decisions are because she believes the board is focused on contracts, not children.

She described how the board allowed school communities effected by the closings to have five minutes each to present an argument for keeping their school. We got “proactive” Hines said, with parades and banners, prompting Interim Supt. Lamont Satchel to respond, “these people aren’t going away.” He gave Courtis a reprieve.

Not without reason. Its MEAP scores are strong and above required norms, its teachers highly qualified, excellent safety record, support from Lear Corp., Renaissance Links Chapter, Quaker Corp. and GMAC. All achieved with strong parental involvement.

More teachers are to be laid off, buildings closed, Hines said.

Smaller class size and more text books are two of her goals. Hines also said she is not waiting until elected to continue her work for better schools.

Forming the Coalition to Restore the Hope to DPS, a coalition of educators, parents and students, the group has called for a state investigation of the missing school books in Detroit schools. The Coalition is also working to help students’ transition following the mass closures.

The Coalition has called on Supt. Connie Calloway to develop a program to assist schools not making Annual Yearly Progress for three or more years.

Hines’ platform consists of five elements: Rebuilding community through education, mandatory site visits for Board Members, children before contracts, accountability for Title I Funds and programs that improve literacy and reduce truancy.

The Hines campaign is an uphill battle. She faces incumbent Joyce Hayes Giles, senior vice president of customer service for Detroit Edison. Giles voted for school closings and despite the $6 million penalty imposed by the state for mismanagement of the Last Chance schools, voted to renew those as well.

One of the Last Chance schools is run by the Rev. Horace Sheffield. On his radio program Sat. Oct. 27, Sheffield urged listeners to vote for Giles, despite the apparent conflict of interest.

While Hines won the first round in her battle to keep Courtis open, the battle for a seat on the school board hangs on voters Tuesday, Nov. 6.

Many Venezuelans March in Support of Constitutional Reforms

President Hugo Chavez greets supporters in Austria during 2006 visit. Since re-election the Venezuelan leader has intensified the struggle for socialism.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

Over Hundred Thousand Venezuelans March in Support of Constitutional Reform

November 5th 2007
http://www.Venezuelanalysis.com

Caracas, November 5, 2007 (venezuelanalysis.com)- Over a hundred thousand Venezuleans marched in support of President Chavez and of his constitutional reform on Sunday, which Chavez described as the most important referendum of his presidency.

Marchers, almost all dressed in red - the color of Venezuela's Bolivarian movement-filled the entire 1.3 km
(0.8 mi) Bolivar Avenue and spilled into side streets. The demonstration proceeded without incident and culminated with a three hour speech by Chavez. During the 8.5 km (5.3 mi) march, which passed through most of Caracas, rains poured down on marchers for part of the time.

The constitutional reform referendum, which will take place on December 2nd, will be in two parts, where Chavez is urging his supporters to vote "Yes" in both parts of the reform. If passed, the reform would revise 69 articles of Venezuela's 350-article constitution. Sunday's march marked the beginning of the "Yes" campaign.

"Now 'Yes!' Here begins another great battle to obtain another great victory, but we have to fight in all parts of the country," said Chavez to the cheering crowd on Sunday. "Every year will have a battle. The path of revolution is the path of a thousand battles. We have managed to coincide with the path of a thousand battles the path of a thousand victories," he added.

Chavez also said that this was the most important referendum of his presidency. "I have no doubt that this is the most important of all the referenda that have taken place, including the recall referendum of August 2004 and the one of December 1999 with which the current constitution was approved," said Chavez.

One of the key challenges in this referendum, argued Chavez, is to overcome abstention. He mentioned that in the recall referendum abstention was at 30% and during the approval of the constitution it was at 53% of registered voters. "We have to defeat abstention so that there is no doubt that the great majority of Venezuelans approve of the constitutional reform." What is needed is a "resounding" victory, according to Chavez.

During his speech Chavez warned that the opposition will try to do anything to stop the reform, including destabilizing the country. "I warn he leaders of the opposition, who are going about playing with fire, invoking a military coup and filling the streets with violence -I suggest to them that they forget about this possibility because if they continue on this path they will regret it because by no path will they be able to defeat us."

Referring to opposition students who had rampaged down the same avenue where the pro-reform march was taking place and set fire to several trees and a police car, Chavez warned, "We won't allow these spoiled little brats, these rich kids with a silver spoon in their mouths to go around tearing up the center of Caracas." He asked the city mayor to closely examine permits for marches, in case the violence was their main objective. One of the opposition's main goals, according to Chavez, was a death that they can blame on the government.

The international news channel CNN was another target during Chavez's speech, which he accused of having joined the opposition because it was broadcasting unverified reports about Chavez supporters supposedly killing an anti-Chavez student during a demonstration last week. Police have already arrested the killer, who was hired to assassinate the student due to a dispute within the university that had nothing to do with the constitutional reform protests.

Chavez also said that the reform represents a historic break with the past and would usher in 21st century socialism in Venezuela. "Although there still is much to do, Caracas already has a new face," he said. Also, by the year 2021, when Chavez says the Bolivarian Revolution will be complete, "There will be no favelas [slums], but a socialist and beautiful city."

The reform, which changes 69 out of 350 articles of Venezuela's 1999 constitution, is supposed to bring the country closer to 21st century socialism by deepening grassroots or participatory democracy and by organizing the country's state institutions more efficiently. Also, in one of the more controversial changes, it would extend the president's term of office from six to seven years and eliminate the two consecutive term limit on holding presidential office.

According to a recent opinion poll reported by Venezulea's largest circulation paper Últimas Noticias, 46.6% of Venezuelans believe that the reform is necessary, while 35.0% oppose it. Also, 72% of Venezuelans evaluate Chavez's job performance as being good to excellent, versus 25% who evaluate it as being bad to terrible.


Congress chair rebuts Baduel's criticism

National Assembly president Cilia Flores accused Monday former Minister of Defense Raúl Baduel of "betraying the people" for speaking up against the changes to the Constitution proposed by President Hugo Chávez.

"A big treason by him (Baduel) is being consummated against the people. He does it because of selfishness, envy and personal ambition," said Flores.

The general claimed that the intended amendment to the constitution was a "coup" and asked to vote against it during a referendum that would be held next December 2nd.

"Baduel went to the other side of the sidewalk, with the most radical arguments characteristic of these sectors; he is a traitor, and people here repudiate traitors, even more if he was a person who was seen besides President Chávez," Flores told reporters.

Earlier, during a press conference held on Monday, Baduel complained that Chávez and the National Assembly had used the draft constitutional reform to stage a "coup" and establish a socialist system in Venezuela.

Published on venezuelanalysis.com http://www.venezuelanalysis.com


Representatives Colombian Guerrilla Arrive in Venezuela for Humanitarian Accords

by Chris Carlson
Venezuelanalysis.com

Mérida, November 5, 2007- Representatives from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have arrived in Venezuela to meet with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, according to an announcement made by Chavez yesterday. The long-awaited meeting between the Venezuelan president and the FARC guerrilla group is a key step in Chavez' efforts to mediate in the Colombian conflict and obtain a humanitarian exchange of hostages.

The announcement came on Sunday during a political rally in Caracas in support of the proposed constitutional reform. President Chavez spoke to a massive crowd of supporters, and gave an update on the situation with the mediation efforts.

"Several representatives of the FARC just arrived. They have finally arrived to Venezuela to search for a solution to the humanitarian agreement, which is our task," he said. "I will meet with them either tonight or tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."

Chavez indicated that the FARC representatives had managed to enter Venezuela without any problems. A previous attempt to hold a meeting between the FARC and Chavez was postponed in early October due to a lack of security for the FARC representatives to leave Colombia.

Chavez later called on the Colombian government of Alvaro Uribe to assist in securing that the representatives could travel outside of FARC territory.

Chavez mentioned that a representative from the French government of Nicolas Sarkozy is also in the country to take part in the meetings.

The French government has praised Chavez' efforts to mediate in the conflict, and has been involved in working towards an agreement because one of the hostages being held by the FARC, Ingrid Betancourt, is a French citizen.

In Paris, government representatives as well as family members of Betancourt expressed their hope in the current efforts of the Venezuelan president to obtain the release of the hostages. Family members said they consider the meeting between Chavez and the FARC to be the biggest advance towards solving the crisis in years.

"It is the most positive thing that has happened so far for the agreement," said Betancourt's mother Yolanda Pulecio. Family members also called on Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to "loosen" his position on the FARC to avoid frustrating Chavez' efforts.

French Minister of Foreign Relations Bernard Kouchner also expressed hope, and stated that there is "indirect proof" that Ingrid is still alive. "There exists hope. We have to continue. In any case we will dedicate ourselves intensely," he said.

Today, during a phone call to a nightly television talk show on the state TV channel, Chavez said that he had received a message from the FARC leader Marulanda that he would be willing to provide proof of life of Betancourt and other hostages the FARC holds. This, according to Chavez, is a first as the FARC has in the past always refused to provide such proof.

In preparation for this week's meeting, Chavez met with the so-called foreign minister of the Colombian guerrilla group, Rodrigo Granda. Granda was released from jail last June by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe as a part of the efforts to obtain the humanitarian exchange.

His release was requested by French President Nicolas Sarkozy so that Granda could travel to Havana and Caracas and facilitate the negotiations with the FARC. The Colombian government announced last week that Granda had arrived in Venezuela to build a "bridge of communication" between Chavez and the Colombian guerrilla group.

"We hope that this can further increase those channels of communication and that the FARC finally makes the decision, which is very important, that the person that is going to speak with President Chavez is very high level and capable of making decisions," said a Colombian government representative.

The immediate agenda of the negotiations is to obtain the release of 45 hostages in the hands of the FARC, in exchange for the release of some 500 imprisoned guerrilla rebels. The FARC, however, has also demanded the demilitarization of certain regions of the country as a part of the agreement.

Also being held are three U.S. citizens, contractors of the US State Department, as well as dozens of other politicians, police and military officials.

Chavez agreed to work on achieving an agreement a couple months ago at the request of the Colombian Senator Piedad Cordoba. The Venezuelan president has also expressed a desire to go further than a humanitarian exchange, and work towards negotiating a solution to the decades-long conflict.

Source URL: http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/2805
Links: http/www.venezuelanalysis.com

Measha Brueggergosman Releases New CD "Surprise" on Deutsche Grammophon

Measha Brueggergosman on her new CD cover entitled "Surprise." This is her first release on Deutsche Grammophon.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

Measha Brueggergosman Releases New CD Surprise on Deutsche Grammophon

Don't forget to check out Measha's new MySpace profile!

Noted by the San Francisco Chronicle as “a singer of rare gifts and artistic intensity” and by the Miami Herald for possessing “a superb voice capable of just about everything,” Canadian soprano Measha Brueggergosman has emerged as one of the most magnificent performers and vibrant personalities of the day.

She is critically acclaimed by the international press as much for her innate musicianship and voluptuous voice as for a sovereign stage presence far beyond her years. Her extraordinary versatility, intuitive musicality, and radiant star quality have yielded an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon. Her first recording on the label, Surprise, will be released in North America in autumn 2007.

A dynamic scope of repertoire coupled with a profound depth of artistic commitment bring Measha Brueggergosman together with many of the finest international orchestras and most esteemed conductors of our day. During the 2007-08 season performances include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Pinchas Zukerman and the National Arts Centre Orchestra and with Leonard Slatkin and the National Symphony Orchestra, Janáaek’s Glagolitic Mass with Michael Tilson Thomas for her London Symphony Orchestra debut, Berlioz’s Les nuits d’été with Vasily Petrenko and the NDR Hannover Orchestra, and Messiaen’s Poèmes pour Mi with David Robertson and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. She also makes her Philadelphia Orchestra debut as soloist for the 2007 Marian Anderson Award Gala concert honoring Richard Gere and his humanitarian leadership.

Deeply committed to the art of recital, Measha Brueggergosman brings a program inspired by her Deutsche Grammophon recording, featuring songs by, among others, Bolcom, Satie, and Schoenberg, to many of North America’s major cultural centers including Boston, Chicago, New York, Toronto, and Washington DC as well as to numerous cities in Brazil, Great Britain, and Spain.

During the past season her concert schedule included performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony with Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Franz Welser-Ma‘st and the Cleveland Orchestra (in Cleveland and on tour), with Daniel Barenboim and the Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro alla Scala.

In addition the performance is with Paavo Järvi and the Deutsche
Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, opera arias with Sir Andrew Davis and the New York Philharmonic, season opening gala concerts of Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Peter Oundjian and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Schanberg’s Brettl-Lieder and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Gershwin songs with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra at Glasgow’s Proms in the Park concert, and, with Gustavo Dudamel, performances of Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and of Strauss’ Vier Letzte Lieder with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra on tour in Sweden, Paris, and in London.

She also joined Michael Tilson Thomas, Maxim Vengerov, and the New World Symphony for a gala concert inaugurating Miami’s Carnival Center for the Performing Arts. She gave solo recitals at London’s Wigmore Hall and the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels with Roger Vignoles, in Gstaad with Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and at Hertz Hall in Berkeley and at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor with J.J. Penna.

Notable performances of the recent past have included Strauss’ Vier Letzte Lieder with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Janáeek’s Glagolitic Mass with the Stuttgart Philharmonic and Sebastian Weigle as well as with the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas, the Verdi Requiem with Sir Andrew Davis and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Hans Graf and the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood and with Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and the Detroit Symphony, Krzysztof Penderecki’s Credo conducted by the composer, as well as Dvorák’s Te Deum with Jiaí Balohlávek and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, opera arias with Patrick Summers and the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and William Bolcom’s Songs of Innocence and Experience with Leonard Slatkin and the orchestra and chorus of the University of Michigan (recorded and released commercially by the Naxos label and winner of multiple Grammy Awards).

In addition to a highly acclaimed sold-out recital at Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall, appearances have brought her in solo recital to the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Spivey Hall, University Musical Society, the Edinburgh, Bergen, Tuscan Sun, and Verbier festivals, and to concert series in Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Augsburg, Berlin, Bamberg, and Barcelona amongst many others. On the opera stage, she has bowed as Madame Lidoine in Dialogues des Carmélites under Jonathan Darlington for Vancouver Opera, as Juno in Joseph Martin Kraus’ Aeneas in Karthago conducted by Lothar Zagrosek at the Staatstheater Stuttgart, and as Sister Rose in Dead Man Walking and as Liù in Turandot at the Cincinnati Opera.

Ms. Brueggergosman has been honoured to participate in a number of very special events including the gala re-openings of Roy Thomson Hall and of the University of Michigan’s Hill Auditorium, Canada Day celebrations from Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and the opening ceremonies of the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto – her performance presented under the auspices of MAC Cosmetics - sharing the stage with Bill Gates and President Bill Clinton. She has performed at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland during two consecutive years, and has given a Royal Command Performance for Queen Elizabeth II. She also has sung for the Prince of Wales, President Tarja Halonen of Finland, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson and numerous other leaders of Canada, as well as for Nelson Mandela and Kofi Annan.

Beyond the great concert halls of the world, Ms. Brueggergosman lends her voice, passion, and energy to social and environmental causes as a Canadian good-will ambassador for three international organizations: African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF); Learning Through the Arts; and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Her commitments to these organizations have taken her on a broad spectrum of missions, including internally displaced persons camps in northern Uganda.

So Much to Tell, Ms. Brueggergosman’s first solo commercial recording on the CBC Records label, with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and conductor Roy Goodman, features music by Barber, Copland and Gershwin. Her second release for CBC Records, Extase, presents a sumptuous program of Berlioz’s Les nuits d'été and Massenet opera arias with Yoav Talmi and the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec.

Measha Brueggergosman has been the subject of a full-length feature documentary, Spirit in her Voice, aired by the CBC network and she has starred in numerous independent short music-films including Go Diva! and Infinite Dream. She has served as television hostess of the Toronto Variety Show and has taken centre stage in Bravo! Canada’s Gemini Award-winning concert series Live at the Rehearsal Hall, performing a mixed selection of classical repertoire, gospel hymns, and jazz standards.

Ms. Brueggergosman joined an illustrious panel of celebrity judges on the Idol Underground competition, an artist driven alter-ego of the American Idol and Canadian Idol brand, and appeared as a special celebrity guest on television episodes of The Surreal Gourmet, Opening Night, Bathroom Divas, and Bravo Arts & Minds.

Measha Brueggergosman was awarded the Grand Prize at the 2002 Jeunesses Musicales Montreal International Competition and has been a prizewinner at The Dutch International Vocal Competition's-Hertogenbosch, the Wigmore Hall in London, George London Foundation in New York, The Queen Sonja International Music Competition in Oslo, and the ARD Music Competition in Munich. She also is a recipient of the prestigious Canada Council and Chalmers Performing Arts Grants. She studied at the University of Toronto with Mary Morrison and pursued postgraduate studies in Germany with Edith Wiens. She also has worked with such distinguished musicians as Christoph Eschenbach, Ruth Falcon, Brigitte Fassbaender, Margo Garrett, Håkan Hagegård, Jessye Norman, Rudolf Piernay, and Thomas Quasthoff. Comprehensive performance and career information is also available at http://www.deutschegrammophon.com

London Metropolitan Police Found Guilty in Civil Suit Over the Execution of Charles DeMenezes

Charles DeMenezes was gunned down by London Police in 2005. The Metropolitan Police were found guilty in his murder.
Originally uploaded by panafnewswire

De Menezes: London police guilty

Thu, 01 Nov 2007

London's Metropolitan Police force was convicted Thursday of breaching health and safety laws in the fatal shooting of a Brazilian in 2005 who officers mistook for a suicide bomber.

Jean Charles de Menezes was shot seven times in the head at a London Underground train station two weeks after 52 people were killed in a series of attacks on the city's public transport system.

His death came the day after another attempted attack was foiled. Police thought de Menezes was one of the plotters, Hussain Osman, who was jailed for life earlier this year.

Shortly after the verdict, Len Duvall, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority which oversees the force, announced a review of how police handled the situation and expressed full support for police chief Ian Blair.

He said the incident highlighted "operational and communication processes which proved to be inadequate when Londoners' lives were put under threat of terrorist attack."

Last year, British prosecutors ruled out bringing criminal charges against the officers who shot the electrician, citing "insufficient evidence."

That decision prompted outrage from the de Menezes family and their supporters, who accused the police of trying to cover up their mistake, while the Brazilian government also expressed its disappointment.

The Metropolitan Police had denied breaching health and safety laws during the month-long trial at London's Central Criminal Court. It now faces an unlimited fine.

AFP

A Response to Lies Printed About MOVE in the Guinness Book of World Records

Janet Africa of the MOVE 9 who is currently serving a 30-100 year sentence. These political prisoners have been incarcerated for thirty years. They are up for parole after August 8, 2007.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

OnaMOVE!

Below is an article written by MOVE/Mumia supporter Kevin Price regarding the latest attack on MOVE involving the Guinness Book of Records.

Guinness Sets Record for the Most Lies in One List.../ MOVE's Battle with Guinness

by Kevin Price

If you look close enough you can see history altered before your eyes. Pick up the latest Guinness Book of World Records (Guinness World Records – 2008), flip to page 123 and you will see what I mean. Under the section “Cults, Fans and Followers” the police bombing of the MOVE Organization in 1985 is listed as the sixth most deadly mass suicide in recent history….

Yes, you did read that correctly. A deliberate massacre, in which police dropped a bomb on a house, intentionally allowed the fire to burn and fired automatic weapons at those that dared attempt an escape, was labeled as mass suicide.

This would seem to be very sloppy research for a fundamental resource such as Guinness, but MOVE doesn’t believe that it is as simple as that. MOVE and its support network have been expecting increased attacks and misinformation about the organization. After 29 long years that MOVE prisoners Mike, Chuck, Janet, Janine, Debbie, Phil, Del and Eddie have spent in maximum security prisons, they will finally be coming up for parole in 2008.

The MOVE 9 (Merle Africa died in prison under suspicious conditions March 13, 1998) have been in prison since 1978 for the wrongful conviction of police officer James Ramp. They are serving 30-100 year sentences and MOVE knows that the battle for parole is going to be uphill.

As history is re-written those in power tell the tale with MOVE framed as unrepentant, cop killing cultists who in 1978 shot at police and firemen, murdering James Ramp and then in 1985 remaining members committed suicide. This is exactly how those that are opposed to MOVE would prefer that the history be told. After all what parole board would ever release those people and what public would join a movement in their support?

If you do a little research into their list it becomes clear that the whole thing is bullshit…no other word is fitting. It seems as though not only do they have the facts on MOVE all wrong, almost every item on the list is questionable. The first group listed, with the highest death toll (924), is “the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God”.

This Cult was located in Uganda and the deaths occurred in 2000. Five hundred and thirty of the deceased died in a church which was intentionally set aflame. Many believe that these 530 were unwilling to participate and where murdered by other members and leaders of the cult. This suspicion is strengthened by the fact that the windows and doors of the church were nailed from the outside. http://www.religioustolerance.org/dc_rest.htm

Next listed is the Peoples Temple, known as Jonestown, with a death toll of 913 in Guyana in 1978. Again, in this situation many group members unmistakably committed suicide. However, there was evidence of murder of many by other members and leaders of the cult (just click on the URL listed below. http://www.religioustolerance.org/dc_jones.htm

Other than the police bombing of MOVE the other two situations that were most inappropriately and irresponsibly labeled mass suicides are the stand off with the Branch Davidians in 1993 and the police murder of members of the Symbionese Liberation Army in 1974.

In both situations the deaths were the direct result of careless handling of sensitive situations by government officials or deliberate murder by police. The labeling of these events as mass suicide is even sloppier given that a thorough scan of mainstream media written during the time of these incidents gleaned no mention of either as mass suicide.

The same goes for the bombing of MOVE in 1985. In the case of the Branch Davidians in Waco, the event started as a firefight between the Branch Davidians and the ATF. To this day it is unknown who fired the first shot that led to that 51 day standoff. The details of all that led to the deaths of 82 members are still quite unclear.

It is undisputed that some members of the group did commit suicide but many died from FBI bullets. To label it a mass suicide takes all responsibility from the Federal government who should bear the weight of these deaths.

In 1974 when six members of the SLA were killed the police used fire as a tactical weapon in a similar fashion as the Philadelphia police in 1985. Police intentionally set fire to the apartment where SLA members were confined and when the first two members ran from the doors they were shot in the head by police.

The police claim that the SLA members ran from the building with weapons drawn “trying to kill cops” but other witness testimony tells a different story. Only one SLA member is said to have killed himself rather that surrender. The other 5 deaths were a direct result of police bullets, smoke and flames.

The strategy used in 1974 by the police with the SLA and in 1985 with MOVE brings to mind the methods of mass murder employed by the Puritans in Massachusetts after failing to destroy the Pequot Indians in the 1600’s. After failing to defeat the Pequots in legitimate battle the Puritans began setting fire to their wigwams in the middle of the night.

When the Pequots fled from their burning homes they were slaughtered, decapitated at the hands and swords of the English (Pg. 15, People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn). Historically, fire, or “smoking them out” has been a “tactical weapon” of the US government. How can this be misconstrued as suicide?

The bottom line is that the Guinness list is flawed from end to end. It seems that the folks at Guinness feel that if you resist against this government your death is imminent, justified and therefore suicidal. Now I am not saying that I am in support of the actions or beliefs of all of the groups that I have mentioned.

I am a strong supporter of MOVE but I have very deep disagreements with most other groups on the list. That does not mean that I will not fight against the lies and misinformation spread in their blood. Even in the situations in which mass suicide did take place it is a disservice to the dead and their families to lump those that have been murdered in with the rest. It also seems so wrong to list such tragic events with so little explanation and feeling, to list such horror on the same page as the largest assembly of Elvis impersonators is horrible.

In the interest of protecting the real stories of the past to build a brighter future this misinformation must be fought. This is a very large issue with broad consequence. Join MOVE in pressuring the Guinness Book of World Records to correct this serious problem. Don’t forget that there are eight people who have been in prison for 29 years due to such campaigns. Hell, there are so many political prisoners and prisoners in general serving life based on such deliberate revisions in history. Free the MOVE 9 and all political prisoners! No one wins unless we all win!

Racist Returns to Corporate Radio; Imus Insulted Women's Basketball Team From Rutgers University

Members of the Rutgers Women's Basketball Team who were insulted by racist talk show host Don Imus. They were attacked without provocation but were willing to meet.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

Shocking But True: Imus Returns to Radio

By Rory O'Connor, AlterNet
Posted on November 2, 2007
http://www.alternet.org/story/66814/

Has it really only been six months? It seems like just yesterday that we had Don Imus to kick around. And his racist and sexist remarks about the Rutgers University women's basketball team seem as freshly offensive today as they did when he made them last Easter.

Now, to no one's surprise, the self-styled "I-Man" is back, courtesy of the Citadel Broadcasting Corporation, which has announced that Imus will return to radio December 3 during morning drive time on WABC-AM in New York -- the same city where he was unceremoniously banished from the airwaves last spring.

To recap, briefly: Imus was up to his usual repugnant tricks of beating down the defenseless for cheap laughs when a sudden, perfect media storm erupted. The toxic combination of relentless, single-focus 24/7 news-cycle attention, sponsor desertion, and open employee revolt against executives at the corporations that distributed, enabled, promoted and protected Imus for so long suddenly toppled a man who had previously appeared immune to such pressures.

The surprising result -- after all, the loutish remarks and behavior of Imus and his on-air crew had been well documented for years -- was that, after first merely "deploring" their shock jock's characterization of the women as "nappy headed ho's," the corporate overlords at CBS and NBC were forced to suspend, and later fire, Imus for doing precisely what they had hired him to do in the first place: insult, "entertain," shock and enrage, thus creating controversy, boosting ratings, and making more money for himself, themselves, and the companies behind the whole pathetic crew.

Now the man even the normally staid Associated Press has taken to calling "the Rasputin of radio" is back from the brink, and, as the AP notes, "poised to do it again." I can't wait!

Neither can the I-Man's new bosses, apparently. "We are ecstatic to bring Don Imus back to morning radio," WABC President and General Manager Steve Borneman told the press. "Don's unique brand of humor, knowledge of the issues and ability to attract big-name guests is unparalleled. He is rested, fired up and ready to do great radio." And Citadel Broadcasting CEO Farid Suleman also defended Imus, telling The New York Times, "He didn't break the law. He's more than paid the price for what he did."

Las Vegas-based Citadel, which bought WABC and other ABC radio stations from Walt Disney Company last year, now owns more than 240 radio stations around the country. Its flagship station already airs other top-ranked, nationally syndicated right-wing talkers such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Mark Levin -- a "galaxy of stars," according to station manager Borneman, who called Imus, "certainly an amazing addition to our station and for our company." And Phil Boyce, vice president of news-talk programming for Citadel, gushed to the New York Times that "The chance to get Don is something we couldn't pass up." Boyce also said he expected other Citadel radio affiliates to carry Mr. Imus's show, but declined to identify which ones yet.

WABC station representatives confirmed that they will bring back much of the original cast of Imus' previous show, including his longtime "news anchor" Charles McCord. No mention was made of fellow cast member Bernard McGuirk, whose hateful observations about the Rutgers women's basketball team provoked the affair that got Team Imus fired in the first place, but it's safe to assume that McGuirk will return in some suitably slithery role as well.

Although his supporters try to differentiate Imus from other conservatives who dominate talk radio, and claim he is "more liberal" because his guests include media luminaries (some slightly left of center) such as Frank Rich of The New York Times, David Gregory, Andrea Mitchell and Tim Russert of NBC, and political bigwigs such as Senators John Kerry and Bob Kerrey, the political dimensions and ramifications of the current round of hiring and firings at WABC seem fairly clear. The new Imus show will replace a more politically balanced program that was quite popular locally -- more highly rated, in fact, than the previous Imus show on WFAN, which it aired opposite.

The program Imus will replace on WABC featured conservative Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa and radically left lawyer Ron Kuby. Although "Curtis and Kuby" had hosted the successful WABC drive-time show for nearly eight years, Kuby was told Thursday afternoon not to bother showing up for work on Friday. "I've had a fantastic, great run," Kuby told reporters, before adding pointedly, "Our show has enjoyed the best audience --intelligent, compassionate, decent and kind. The new owners don't want that kind of show."

Citadel honcho Boyce says he hopes to find another place on the WABC schedule for the conservative Sliwa -- but none for Kuby, a renowned civil rights lawyer and onetime protégé of the fiery William Kunstler. When asked to explain, he would make no further comment.

Nationally, the response to the return of the I-Man was quite predictable. Supporters and enablers hailed his 'resurrection," as if Jesus Himself had returned, only to talk 'on air' this time, rather than walk on water.

Prominent guests such as former Senator Kerrey vowed to return to the Imus airwaves to support his friend. Meanwhile outraged critics from the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Organization for Women told the press the idea of Imus returning to the airwaves "is nearly as insulting as the crude comments that took him off the air."

And Al Sharpton, who played a predictably prominent and recurrent role in the entire affair, said Citadel executives must meet with advertisers and minority groups to explain how the company plans to prevent a return to "his former vile and biased behavior" by Imus. "Mr. Imus has the right to make a living, but we have the right to make sure he does not come back to disrupt our living," Sharpton said.

Although no financial details were forthcoming about the new Imus/Citadel deal, "making a living" is not a real concern for him under any circumstances. Just before his dismissal, he had signed a five-year, $40 million contract with CBS. He later threatened to sue for $120 million after he was fired, and then settled in August for an undisclosed amount of money, presumed to be in the millions -- at the very least.

There were also no details offered about the future national syndication of the WABC broadcast, or about any companion television deal. (The previous "Imus In the Morning" show aired nationally on more than 70 stations, as well as on the MSNBC cable network.

Imus' "resurrection" is not the first in his decades-long career, and given his lengthy record as a serial abuser of people, drugs and alcohol, it seems safe to say it will not be his last. So who will win from his latest return from the dead?

First and foremost, of course, come the restored I-Man and his wrecking crew, led by McGuirk; also various racists and ranters and the people who like to listen to them; large media corporations and the single-focus greenheads who run them, along with the political and media elite, many of whom are already racing to embrace the I-Man in an evil exchange of their reputations for his audience; and probably even the likes of Al Sharpton, who is drawn to controversy (mostly for his own purposes and aggrandizement) like a moth to media light.

Finally, in fairness, I must selfishly add that the resurrection of the I-Man also provides wonderfully endless fodder for media commentators such as yours truly!

Let's never forget, however, in the immortal words of WABC President and General Manager Steve Borneman, "Most importantly, the real winners are morning radio listeners everywhere."

Filmmaker and journalist Rory O'Connor is now completing AlterNet’s first-ever book, which is on the subject of radio talkers like Imus, and will be available early in 2008. O'Connor also writes the Media Is A Plural blog.

2007 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/66814/

Cuba and the Liberation of Guinea-Bissau

Amilcar Cabral from Cape Verde was the leader of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Cape Verde (PIAGC). He was assassinated in 1973 before national liberation in Bissau.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

THE MILITANT
Vol. 71/No. 42 November 12, 2007

Cuba helped fight for Guinea-Bissau’s independence

(Books of the Month column)

Below is an excerpt from From the Escambray to the Congo: In the Whirlwind of the Cuban Revolution, one of Pathfinder’s Books of the Month in November. The author, Víctor Dreke, has been a leading participant in Cuba’s revolutionary movement for half a century. In 1965 he served as second in command to Ernesto Che Guevara of the Cuban internationalist combatants in the Congo. Dreke is currently Cuba’s ambassador to Equatorial Guinea in west-central Africa. Copyright © 2002 Pathfinder Press. Reprinted by permission.

BY VICTOR DREKE

When we left the Congo, a number of Africans returned to Cuba with us, and one of them came to live in my home. He was like a member of my family. His name was Sumba and here we called him Fidelito. He was killed after returning to the Congo to fight.

Soon after that, in 1966, I left for my first mission to Guinea-Bissau. I headed up our military mission there and in the Republic of Guinea. Keep in mind that Guinea-Bissau was still under Portuguese colonial rule, while the Republic of Guinea had won its independence from France in 1958.

Amilcar Cabral was the central leader of the liberation movement in Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, and because of his knowledge of Africa, he made a big impression on me. Che had held a high opinion of the PAIGC (African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde). At that time Che considered it a serious and organized revolutionary movement.

I arrived in Guinea-Bissau with the experience I had gained in the Congo and a little more knowledge about Africa.

From a strategic point of view, Amilcar and I didn’t always share the same opinion on how to wage the struggle. But you have to remember that it’s the leaders within each country who must decide the form to carry out the struggle.

I’ll give an example.

One day the liberation movement in Guinea-Bissau decided to recruit a group of young people. They went into a small town and took six young men and brought them to the camp. I didn’t understand this. How can you compel people to join? I said this to Amilcar. “You can’t force people to fight,” I told him. “You must win them over politically.”

Amilcar listened to me very respectfully. Keep in mind he had lots of experience and I was a young person—not yet thirty—and new to that country. “Everything you’re saying is true,” he said to me. “But here that can’t be done. Because tomorrow the Portuguese will come, and they’ll forcibly take them away and conscript them to fight against us. We have to incorporate them into our ranks before the Portuguese do.”

Another question was that of the neighboring Republic of Guinea, with its capital in Conakry. The command of the PAIGC was in Guinea-Conakry. Why? Because there were only two ways to enter Guinea-Bissau: through Senegal—which gave no assistance at all—or Guinea-Conakry, whose government was then headed by [Ahmed] Sékou Touré. Without that rear guard, the armed struggle in Guinea-Bissau would have been wiped out, since food supplies, armaments, and ammunition, which came from Cuba, China, the Soviet Union, and other socialist countries had to go through that country.

This was different from the struggle in our country, where our weapons were captured from the dictatorship’s army. The Portuguese remained in their garrisons and rarely came out to fight. So you couldn’t set ambushes to attack them and seize their weapons. They moved troops, supplies, everything, by plane and helicopter. The liberation movement needed a secure rear guard in order to survive.

That’s why in November 1970, the Portuguese imperialists decided on an operation directly attacking Guinea-Conakry, trying to overthrow Sékou Touré while simultaneously trying to wipe out the liberation movement in Guinea-Bissau. That invasion was defeated by militias trained by Cuban instructors.

The Cuban leadership supported the strategy of strengthening the government of Sékou Touré. He asked for our help. We had to prevent the imperialists from toppling his government. We also knew that the French imperialists still didn’t forgive Sékou Touré or the liberation movement for winning independence a few years earlier.

So Cuba responded to the request by Sékou Touré for Cuban instructors to help create a militia. We also responded to a proposal by Amilcar Cabral to help train artillery personnel and doctors to meet the needs of the people of Guinea-Bissau, sending a small military unit. We taught them the use of artillery and trained them to give medical care to the liberation fighters.

We lived together with these compañeros in the same camps. This brought us even closer to the African struggle, and it enabled us to appreciate and to better understand the African people. And at the same time, they made an effort to understand us.

Somali News Update: Fighting Escalates in Capital

Somali resistance fighters in Mogadishu remain armed. In late March 2007 fighting escalated aimed at forcing the withdrawal of the US-backed Ethiopian and Ugandan military units from the country.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

Somalis flee chaotic capital to a harder life

By Aweys Yusuf

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Abdio Qasim Elmi was desperate to hold onto the security of shelter, food and water in her Mogadishu home despite near daily gun battles between Ethiopian government troops and rebel insurgents.

But when a mortar shell killed three people in a neighbouring house in the Somali capital, the 50-year-old abandoned hope. She packed a few belongings and fled with her six children.

Now they are in a camp for displaced people in Elasha, 20 km (12 miles) south of the capital, along with another 482 families.

"We have no water, no food and no plastic to cover our shelter," Elmi told Reuters. "My older daughter is gravely sick and I cannot afford to buy her medicine. We are living a miserable life here."

About 88,000 Somalis have fled the coastal city during heavy fighting in Mogadishu since the last weekend, adding to hundreds of thousands who ran away earlier this year, according to the United Nations' refugee agency.

Many of them have erected makeshift shelters made of tattered sheets and sticks by the road.

"My family and I are exposed to the rain and cold at nights because we have not found any plastic to cover our shelter," said 30-year-old Ayan Osman Mohamed, with a three-month old baby strapped to her back.

"We came here because the government troops asked us to leave during a heavy fight between them and the insurgents."

The refugees say their biggest problem is water.

Young women sit by hundreds of jerry cans lined up outside the camp daily, waiting for local charities to deliver water in tankers. On many days, they head back to their shacks without a drop despite a whole day of waiting.

CATASTROPHIC SITUATION

Since early 2007, the Somalia government and its Ethiopian allies have been the target of almost daily attacks by mainly Islamists rebels who say the government is illegitimate and propped up by foreign "invaders".

Aid agencies say incessant violence has led to an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe. Other humanitarian hotspots such as Sudan's Darfur have also taken the spotlight away from Somalia.

The insecurity has forced most aid agencies to leave the country, leaving only the United Nations and a few other groups to run limited operations staffed almost entirely by Somalis.

"Only WFP has provided some food and people here desperately need clean drinking water. Children have began to fall sick and their families have no money," said Hassan Ali Aden, a refugee father of eight.

But even World Food Programme (WFP) operations have not been spared. The UN agency suspended food deliveries to the city when intelligence officers stormed its Mogadishu compound and detained a top official without charge for nearly a week.

It is now in negotiations with the government to resume the distribution.

Piracy on Somali waters compounds the problem and bringing food from neighbouring Kenya is almost impossible because of insecure roads.

But for many in the camps, going back to Mogadishu is not an option.

"Life here is hard, of course. In Mogadishu, I used a wheelbarrow to cart things for people and earned a little," said Ibrahim Abdi Ibrahim, living in another refugee camp dubbed Ex-Mogadishu Stadium camp.

"My children and I were happy, but we cannot go back as long the meaningless killing is underway."

(Additional Reporting by Abdi Sheikh)


ALMOST 90,000 SOMALIS DISPLACED AFTER LATEST ROUND OF FIGHTING

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on Thursday that up to 88,000 people have fled the Somali capital, Mogadishu, this past weekend due to increased fighting. The number exceeds that of the previous four months combined.

As The Media Line (TML) reported earlier in the week Mogadishu saw this week some of the worst fighting in recent months and, according to the United Nations, the attacks have become better organized.

The two sides, the transnational government and the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), issue evacuation orders and conduct house-to-house searches and large-scale detentions. Some reports claim that entire sections of the city have been emptied out.

The ICU is a rival administration to the transitional government whose mandate is based on fundamental adherence to Islam. It was in control of the country up until December 2006 when government forces, with the backing of Ethiopian troops, routed out most of the ICU.

The current fighting is just the most recent in a long line in a country that has not seen a stable government since the outbreak of the civil war in 1991.

The U.N. estimates that more than 400,000 civilians have left the capital after violence earlier in the year. Including the latest waves of displacement and the some 350,000 long-term displaced, the total number of internally displaced persons in Somalia now numbers more than 800,000. Overall, 1.5 million people in Somalia are in need of assistance and protection, marking a 50-percent increase since the beginning of the year.

U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes said respect for international humanitarian law in some parts of Somalia was negligible. He added he was very concerned that national and international Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) were now saying that they could not respond effectively to the crisis because access and security were deteriorating dramatically even as needs were increasing.

By The Media Line Staff on Thursday, November 01, 2007