Over 38,000 Somali Children Facing Starvation: UN

AFP, Thursday 29 Jan 2015

Over 38,000 Somali children are at "high risk" from dying from starvation despite hunger levels improving by almost a third across the war-torn nation, UN experts said Thursday.

The grim assessment, based on the latest data collected by the UN, comes just over three years since intense drought and war sparked famine in the Horn of Africa nation, killing more than a quarter of a million people.

In total, over 731,000 people, including 203,000 children who are severely malnourished, face "acute food insecurity", according to a joint report released by the UN's Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU) and the US-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network(FEWS NET).

But the total number affected is a drop of 29 percent from last assessments covering the past six months, with "relatively good rains" in late 2014 helping farmers.

"Many children remain acutely malnourished, despite a small decrease in their numbers over the past six months," the statement read.

"An estimated 202,600 children under the age of five are acutely malnourished, including 38,200 who are severely malnourished and face a high risk of morbidity and death."

Three-quarters of those in dire need are those who have fled their homes, mainly due to continued fighting.

"Malnutrition rates remain stubbornly high," UN aid chief for Somalia Philippe Lazzarini said. "The outlook for 2015 is worrisome."

More than 250,000 people, half of them children, died in the devastating 2011 famine.

Fighting continues between Somalia's Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shebab rebels and government and allied forces, backed by more than 20,000-strong African Union force.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/121674.aspx

Egypt's Democratic Current Still Ponders Election Boycott

Ahram Online
Thursday 29 Jan 2015

Grouping still mulls whether to take part in upcoming parliamentary poll; observers say a boycott is unlikely to have serious political consequences

Egypt's Democratic Current Alliance says it is still mulling its stance on the country's upcoming parliamentary poll, but observers say a possible boycott of the elections is unlikely to have significant political consequences.

The umbrella group of liberal and leftist parties said earlier this week its participation in the March elections is subject to the sacking of the interior minister along with other demands, amid an uproar sparked by the shooting to death of a female protester earlier this week.

Thirty two-year-old Shaimaa El-Sabagh died from birdshot allegedly fired by police during a peaceful rally on Saturday near Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square.

There is a strong inclination within the grouping to boycott elections amid calls by youth members thereof, but a final say lies separately with the leadership of each party, a leader of Karama Party, one of the groups making up the alliance, said.

"The leadership of each party is now pondering whether to take part or not. Some might boycott and others might decide otherwise," Mohamed Basiouny, Karama Secretary General, told Ahram Online.

The Democratic Current Alliance comprises of the left-of-centre Constitution Party, founded by former vice president Mohamed ElBaradei and the Nasserist Popular Current – led by former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi. Both parties were formed late in 2012.

The alliance also includes the 18-year-old Karama Party, the Socialist Popular Alliance Party, the Egypt Freedom Party and Al-Adl Party— which together secured a meagre 15 seats in the 2011-2012 election.

Egypt has since been without a parliament after a court dissolved the Islamist-dominated chamber shortly before president Mohamed Morsi took office, ruling that laws under which parliament was elected were unconstitutional.

Several of the grouping's parties have been hesitant about participation in the elections even before El-Sabagh's death, voicing opposition to laws regulating the poll where individual candidates hold the majority of seats in parliament, rather than candidates of party lists.

They had said the system weakens the standing of political parties and allows wealthy businessmen and influential local figures to use local patronage networks to get into parliament.

Earlier in January, the Popular Current said it won't take part in elections, citing discontent with the legislation.

Khaled Dawood. spokesman of the Constitution Party, said on Thursday his group is more likely to boycott to protest against the current political climate, saying the election now is secondary to achieving justice, namely following El-Sabagh's death.

Given the small quota secured by the alliance groups in the last election, some observers believe a boycott would not have serious fallout on the ground.

"The alliance is using the threat of the boycott as a bargaining chip to make the authorities compromise," Yousry Azabawy, political analyst at Ahram Centre for Strategic Studies, said.

Among other demands the alliance has put forward are overhauling the interior ministry, the release of detainees in cases involving freedom of expression, amending a restrictive protest law and reviewing a parliamentary elections law

"That might have some effect, politically and in the media, more than on the ground," Azabawy argued, saying that Brotherhood might exploit a boycott by a liberal-leftist alliance to further criticise the authorities.

El-Sabagh was a leading member of the Socialist Popular Alliance Party and her death has stirred up strident criticism of Egypt's heavy-handed police and its lethal use of force against protesters.

An interior ministry official, Gamal Mokhtar, said on Wednesday that El-Sabagh was killed by a type of projectile not used by the security forces, adding that images and videos showing policemen pointing their rifles at her were fabricated.

Egypt will hold the long-awaited election in two phases starting on 22-23 March, the election commission said earlier this month. The second phase of the poll is scheduled for 26-27 April.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/121694.aspx

Smuggled Ancient Egyptian Artifacts Seized in Spain

Nevine El-Aref
Thursday 29 Jan 2015

Agents discover canopic jars, statues of Isis and Sekhmet on shipping container from Alexandria

The Spanish police prevented hundreds of ancient Egyptian artefacts from being smuggled into Europe on Wednesday.

Agents discovered the artefacts hidden in cheap vases during an inspection of a shipping container in provenance from Alexandria at the port of Valencia, on Spain’s Mediterranean coast, according to AFP. The inspection was part of a broader European crackdown on looting and illicit trafficking of cultural objects.

The recovered artefacts include two canopic jars, vessels used by ancient Egyptians to preserve a vital organ of a newly-mummified individuals, a statue of the goddess Isis, a black granite bust of goddess Sekhmet, and a limestone head of god Amun. A collection of alabaster and clay vases, as well as a collection of bronze and limestone statuettes, were also found.

The Spanish police has arrested Spaniards and Egyptians as part of the investigation.

The objects are now in Madrid's National Archeological Museum pending transportation back to Egypt.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/121712.aspx

ElBaradei Speaks Out for First Time Since 2013 Resignation

Ahram Online, , Tuesday 27 Jan 2015

Driving the Muslim Brotherhood underground will only result in more extremism and violence, say former vice president Mohamed ElBaradei

In an interview with Austrian broadsheet newspaper Die Presse, Mohamed ElBaradei has publicly addressed political conditions in Egypt for the first time since his resignation as vice president in the post-Mohamed Morsi transitional government.

ElBaradei, who has only commented on developments in Egypt in the last 18 months through occasional tweets, told Die Presse that the desire of many in Egypt to return to the Mubarak era is the result of a limited choice on the ground between the Muslim Brotherhood and army rule.

He said the situation has returned to pre-Arab Spring conditions: the Brotherhood, which had learned to organise underground for 80 years, is back underground, and the army, which has been in power effectively for 60 years and refuses to give up its privileges, is in power.

“This will not be the end of the story,” he said.

Referring to how Europe struggled for centuries to reach democracy, the 72-year-old Noble Peace Award winner said societal change does not take place in a “linear manner,” and that a revolution is always accompanied by a counter-revolution.

He said the youth have been disappointed, as they sought social justice, freedom, equal opportunities and an end to corruption. Now, he said, they are suffering from repressive laws that heavily restrict demonstrations, as well as imprisonment under flimsy pretexts.

However, a complete restoration of the old regime is not possible, in spite of the return of old regime figures, he added.

ElBaradei said the “culture of fear” is gone, and the existing elites will no longer exist in 20 years. The youth, according to him , simply needs to be ready by then.

He said that in 2011 there was not enough experience with democratic institutions and not enough will to cooperate, as those could not emerge in an authoritarian system.

He said that Egyptian society is now polarised and angry. Islamists, he believes, will not “vanish into thin air.” He argued that driving the Brotherhood underground could have negative consequences because moderation can only be reached if the Brotherhood is included in the political arena. He predicted that if they are driven underground, the result will be extremism and violence.

“We need national unity and inclusion,” he said. “We will be able to afford the luxury of political competition later.”

Asked why he had supported the protests that led to the ouster of Morsi, he said that he had only supported the call for early elections. The purpose would have been for Morsi to leave the presidency, and the Brotherhood to remain in the arena.

ElBaradei, who was appointed Vice President for Foreign Affairs after the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013,submitted his resignation in August 2013 in a letter to the interim president Adly Mansour after the police forcefully dispersed pro-Brotherhood sit-ins in Cairo and Giza. The operation led to violent clashes that left hundreds dead.

He said he accepted the position of vice president to help “avoid civil war.” Elections would have restored calm, he said, but he did not find cooperation from the military, and fire was opened on Brotherhood demonstrations in spite of existing intentions to resolve the standoff peacefully.

ElBaradei revealed that he had insisted “from day one” in government that he would not condone violence and sought to avert the bloodshed that took place after 3 July.

He said personal threats, which he did not name, were the main reason for his departure from Egypt.

He added that a figure like him would have no role to play in the current violent circumstances.

ElBaradei is also of the opinion that the Islamist-written 2012 constitution gave the clergy the last word; a decision that at least half the population did not agree with.

“Morsi failed, because he polarised [the nation],” he said.

He also said the decision in March 2011 to hold parliamentary elections before a constitution was passed was a mistake.

A society, he said, cannot be stable without agreement on its basic values.

“In a country without a democratic tradition, everyone must work together to build institutions,” he said, giving Tunisia as an example.

ElBaradei said the Middle East is experiencing a meltdown and that the real victims are the people.

He also slammed Western diplomats who favoured despots under the pretext of stability. “Hitler, Mussolini and the Soviet Union had stability, too,” he said. “Stability that is not based on freedom, dignity and democracy is not real stability and […] is apt to explode.”

He also criticised the international community’s interventions in Libya and Syria, saying these interventions only take place when they serve geopolitical interests. The international community did not consider the consequences or the fate of civilians, according to ElBaradei. He condemned the violent intervention in Iraq, saying that dissolving Saddam’s army was one of the mistakes that led to the rise of IS.

“When we talk of extremism, we cannot limit our concern to the symptoms.”

“It is bad enough for the Islamic world to have these terrible leaders,” he said, “but in addition, many Muslims living in the West are treated like dirt, and are not sufficiently integrated.” However, he added, these realities are not an excuse for the attacks in Paris, but are still a breeding ground for jihadists.

On the other hand, he urged the Middle East not to blame all its troubles on the West, but he still urged Europe to realise that it is not “the world.”

He concluded that it should be a goal to show people in countries such as Afghanistan and India that the international community is interested in their issues, and to solve existing problems without violence, or else these social and political “bombs will explode in our faces.”

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/121508.aspx

Beyond the Dam: Egypt Looks for a Foothold in Africa

Dina Ezzat, , Thursday 29 Jan 2015

For the second time in six months President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi is travelling to the Ethiopian capital to lead the Egyptian delegation at the African Union summit

Enthusiastic presidential participation at the African Summit is only a part of a larger Egyptian attempt to re-engage with Africa.

The presence of the head of state at the top of the Egyptian delegation to the twice yearly summit is a clear and keen message, according to the narrative of Egyptian diplomacy, about the commitment of Egypt to re-engage with Africa.

African countries had for over a decade complained about the ‘decided absence’ of former president Hosni Mubarak from summits and other meetings of the continent where Egypt was once a leading and inspiring state.

Following an attempt on his life in Ethiopia in the mid-1990s, Mubarak decided to skip Africa his schedule – with a very late attempt at re-engagement with the rise of concerns over the Renaissance Dam that is currently being constructed by Ethiopia – against all objections made by Cairo.

In Addis Ababa, El-Sisi is set to hold an extended meeting with the prime minister of Ethiopia Hailemariam Desalegn to discuss the “disagreements” there.

And there seems to be tough talks ahead of the Egyptian president who had been, along with his media and diplomatic machinery, toning down the Egyptian anger over what officials in Cairo openly qualify as “a unilateral Ethiopian decision to build a dam that would effectively impose full Ethiopian control over the Blue Nile” the source of over 80 percent of Egypt’s share of Nile waters.

According to one informed high-level source “what the president would be trying to do in these talks is to ease the firm and almost stubborn rejection of Addis over Egyptian proposals for a damage-control policy to the considerable loss of a no small part of Egypt’s share of water, at least during seven consecutive years that would probably start in 2016, while the Ethiopians fill their dam.”

The Egyptian proposal revolves around three points: reconsider the structure of the dam reserve to space out the filling; to include Egypt as a partner in the project and thus make Cairo eligible to relatively easy access to the imports of electricity to be generated by the new dam – which could help Egypt with an acute electricity shortage; and an agreement on the right of Egypt to ‘make up’ for the shortage it is set to suffer in subsequent years.

Egypt is not so certain that any of these demands will be met but it is trying very hard, according to all diplomatic sources that have spoken to Ahram Online since the beginning of this crisis surfaced in 2009, to secure sufficient international support for its case based on two points: the first is that Egypt is officially a country that suffers water poverty and the second is that international law does not allow any of the member states to any river basin to pursue unilateral projects that could cause substantial harm to other member states.

In Addis this week, El-Sisi will particularly try to lobby for the support of as many African countries as possible. He will also aim to encourage the other Nile Basin states to show more flexibility about what otherwise seems to be a united position to cut down on Egypt’s share.

In press statement that he made upon his participation in the summit preparatory foreign ministers meeting, top Egyptian diplomat Sameh Shoukry spoke of a realisation on the side of some Nile Basin countries of the legitimate concerns that Egypt has over water resources.

El-Sisi is scheduled to meet with the head of the delegations of the Nile Basin countries.

However, concerned Egyptian officials, in the ministries of foreign affairs and irrigation, argue that there is no such thing as good intentions and sympathy. They argue that short of structuring a new set of joint interests whereby the Nile Basin states would secure developmental benefits they would have no reason to be forthcoming about accommodating the Egyptian demands.

“Let us face it, we are not living in a world today where the ‘historic leadership’ of any country counts much and to be honest we have over-stretched the history of the 1950s and 1960s Egyptian support for the liberation movements in Africa,” said a concerned Egyptian diplomat.

He added that there is a serious financial deficit that handicaps the development schemes that Egypt would like to take to Africa. He also said that Arab Gulf countries have “basically declined” an Egyptian proposal to establish a three way, GCC-Egypt-Africa, cooperation that could have helped the Egyptian interests and demands.

Egypt was counting considerably on the influence of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait in East Africa to help the Nile Basin countries to accommodate the concerns over the Renaissance Dam.

“It is not only that this influence has not been sufficiently used but also Qatar is using its strong economic influence in East Africa in general and in Ethiopia in particular to antagonise the Egyptian interests,” the same diplomat said.

GCC affairs researchers at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, Eman Ragab, argues that the GCC are not even coordinating their policies in Africa. “It really varies considerably from one country to the other – with some very keen on supporting Muslim communities and building mosques while others are keen on establishing strategic influence around the Red Sea or in the case of a third group creating a zone for food security by buying large farms where they grow wheat.”

How far any of the GCC countries, which are clearly have a weight to bare in Africa, would go depends in the view of Ragab on the strength of the bilateral relations that Egypt has with each of the six GCC members.

Other influences, argued Hani Raslan, a Sudan/Africa senior researcher at the same center, are those of the US and the EU whose strategic presence in East Africa is considerable.

Western diplomats in Cairo argue that their respective capitals are keen to lend support to Egypt – both political and technical. This support they say is also to be considerate with the developmental needs of the populations of east Africa.

Egypt, Raslan added, would also need to invigorate its political relations with all the countries of the Nile Basin especially those of the down-stream states – Sudan and South Sudan.

“Egypt is on good terms generally with South Sudan but this is a country that is living on a very fragile truce between conflicting armed political factions and that could easily slip into a devastating civil war,” he argued.

Raslan added that meanwhile “Egypt has a very serious problem in its relations with Sudan that had aligned with the position of Ethiopia upon the Islamist political orientations of the regime in Khartoum which was more sensitive to the Egyptian concerns during the [one-year] rule of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.”

A Cairo-based Sudanese diplomat categorically denies any deliberate attempt on the side of Khartoum to harm Egyptian interests. He argued that Sudan’s position on the Renaissance Dam has to do with the Sudanese interests “as this Dam could actually improve the kind of irrigation water for Sudanese farmers.” He added that Ethiopia had promised Sudan relatively low-price electricity exports.

In Addis, El-Sisi is scheduled to meet with Sudanese President Omar Bashir. Egyptian diplomatic sources say that Egypt has been turning a blind eye to some of the “things that Sudan do to upset Egyptian security interests either in Egypt or Libya” by “providing Qatar and Iran generated support to militant Islamists” in order to encourage a more positive stance from Khartoum on the file of the Renaissance Dam.

“El-Sisi tried to send positive signals to the regime of Bashir when he deliberately stopped by Khartoum upon his return from Addis during his last participation in the African Union summit and I think that he will continue to do so this time,” Raslan argued.

This said, Egyptian diplomats and other officials insist that the Egyptian interest in Africa goes way beyond the issue of the Renaissance Dam, no matter how crucial, and is not at all constrained to the East Africa zone.

Egypt is looking at Africa as the most prominent of all economic venues it could have. It is, according to the consensus official line, ‘an opportunity that has for long been missed’ – with ample opportunities for joint industrial investments, agricultural cooperation and political support.

Egypt is therefore trying to be more involved in the management of African conflicts, to encourage more of the generally reluctant business community to go to Africa to build factories and plant farms and to pursue cooperation with African countries on the international scene.

“It is actually frustrating to see non-African countries like Qatar and Turkey having a wide economic presence in and close political cooperation with Africa when the Egyptian presence there is still highly challenged,” said a high-ranking official.

Cairo is particularly apprehensive about the influence of two ‘hostile’ capitals, Ankara and Doha, in its immediate backyard and is considering its option to break even.

National Security Advisor to President El-Sisi, Fayza Aboul-Naga, one of the most prominent Africa experts in the Egyptian regime whose presence is always welcomed in almost every African capital, is currently, according to informed sources, working on a comprehensive strategy on Africa.

The basic line of this strategy is to make sure that Egypt has a strong presence in almost every African country one way or the other. “It does not have to be economic, although economy is essential, but it could also be at any of the cultural or educational fronts for example.”

The Africa Support Fund, a foreign ministry function, is expected to expand its activities of providing technical and medical training and assistance in the coming months.

Egypt is also considering the chances to start a stable economic cooperation mechanism with all of the African countries, alongside with the sub-regional groupings to which Egypt belongs.

The beginning might be with a form of Egypt-Africa economic cooperation conference that Cairo is trying to explore. Cairo has been getting some good feedback that could allow for the conference to convene this year.

Egyptian officials are fully aware that the road to regain Africa is neither short nor easy. There are so many challenges that include the by now an accumulated sense in many African countries that Egypt is not really interested in Africa and is only trying to exploit it as a venue of resources – “just like any other colonial country,” in the words of one Cairo-based African diplomat.

Building cultural bridges, with a great share of the responsibility going to both Al-Azhar and the Orthodox Church, is considered as one of the top tools to ease this sentimental unease in Africa. Expanding the volume of Egyptian visits, especially at the top level, to African capitals is also considered in Cairo as essential.

A presidential source told Ahram Online that African capitals will have a good share of President El-Sisi throughout 2015. Egyptian Ambassador to Ethiopia, Mohamed Edrees, who has been quite successful in the span of the last three plus years to diversify the profile of Egypt-Ethiopia relations to go well beyond the controversial Nile waters, is currently preparing for a presidential bilateral visit to Addis in the early Spring – maybe even as early as March or in April at the latest.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/121699.aspx


Relations have improved since El-Sisi came to power: Ethiopian PM

Ahram Online, , Thursday 29 Jan 2015

Ethiopian premier reiterates his country's commitment to Egypt's Nile share, as it continues building
its controversial Grand Renaissance Dam

Ethiopia has realised that the new Egyptian leader is a man of change, understanding and engagement, the Ethiopian prime minister has said.

In an interview given to the Egyptian private television channel Tahrir, Ethiopian Premier Hailemariam Desalegn said the bilateral relations have improved since President Abdel-Fatah El-Sisi came to power.

"[El-Sisi] has an exceptional character… and [is] a man of state," Desalegn said in the interview aired on Wednesday.

El-Sisi travelled on Thursday to Addis Ababa for a three-day visit to attend the African Summit, his first since he became president. He will be leading the Egyptian delegation at the summit, which starts on Friday.

Egyptian-Ethiopian relations have been tense in recent years since Cairo raised concerns about the impact of Ethiopia’s project to build the Grand Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile, as it may affect Egypt’s water supply.

Ethiopia has repeatedly said that Egypt, a downstream country, will not be negatively affected by the dam.

Both countries, along with Sudan that is also downstream, have agreed to commission a new report by an international consultancy firm on the probable effects of the dam.

"Egypt and Ethiopia will either swim together or drown together," Desalegn said. "This is a shared destiny… I think this is an important historic time for Egypt and Ethiopia."

The Ethiopian official said the previous, more hostile strategy followed by former presidents Mohamed Morsi and Hosni Mubarak "was not going to work".

"The Nile is a gift from God for all of us and we have to use this gift in a legal, reasonable way, so that Ethiopia develops and the Egyptian people get their safe portion of water," he said. "We have no reason to make the Egyptians feel insecure."

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/121692.aspx

At Least 26 Killed, More Than 100 Wounded in North Sinai Rocket Attack

Ahram Online
Friday 30 Jan 2015

At least 26 people, including civilians, were killed Thursday when a series of militant attacks, involving "car bombs" and mortar rounds, struck several army and police positions in Egypt's volatile Sinai Peninsula, medical and security sources said.

A source in the local ambulance services said that 105 have been injured in the attacks in the town of Al-Arish, in North Sinai, where the army is battling an Islamist insurgency that has spiked since the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

Suspected militants fired mortar rounds and used "car bombs" in the consecutive attacks that targeted the headquarters of the North Sinai security directorate in the provincial capital of Al-Arish, a nearby army base, a hotel and several security checkpoints, state TV and the Ahram Arabic news website reported.

ًWalls of surrounding buildings were cracked and windows were smashed, as troops combed the area in search of suspects.

The office of Al-Ahram in Al-Arish, located near the targeted police building, was slightly damaged in the attack, office head Ahmed Selim said.

The building was vacant during the time of the attack due to a dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed in North Sinai late in October, following deadly militant attacks that killed 31 soldiers earlier in the month, the worst violence on Egyptian troops in recent times.

One army personnel was killed and another wounded in a separate attack on a security checkpoint in the North Sinai town of Rafah.

The military said in a statement that the violence came in response to the "successful" security campaign against militants in the restive province, without elaborating on the death or injury toll.

Egypt's army has struggled to crush the militant insurgency in the peninsula, which has at times expanded to mainland cities, including Cairo.

Militants have mainly targeted police and troops, killing hundreds in the past 18 months.

Egypt's most active Jihadist group Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, based in Sinai, has claimed some of the deadliest attacks. The group in November pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, which has seized swathes of Syria and Iraq.

The violence has prompted the army to demolish houses and clear residents in the North Sinai border city of Rafah to set up a buffer zone aimed at deterring militant infiltration and arms smuggling.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/121728.aspx

Egypt Military Targeted in Deadly Sinai Attacks

BBC World News

At least 26 people have been killed in a series of attacks by Islamist militants in the north of Egypt's Sinai peninsula.

A car bomb and mortars hit military targets in the North Sinai capital El-Arish, killing a number of soldiers.

Other attacks took place in the nearby town of Sheik Zuwayid and the town of Rafah, bordering Gaza.

Militant group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, which pledges allegiance to Islamic State, said it carried out the attacks.

The insurgents have intensified attacks since Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi was ousted in 2013.

Tensions have also been raised across Egypt this week amid protests marking the anniversary of the 2011 uprising that ousted then-leader Hosni Mubarak.

Egyptian officials said a car bomb had been detonated outside a military base in El-Arish and mortar rounds were also fired at a military hotel, a police club and more than a dozen checkpoints.

Newspaper al-Ahram said its El-Arish office - which is opposite the hotel and base - had been completely destroyed.

An army major was later shot dead at a checkpoint in Rafah, medical and security sources said.
Another 30 people were also wounded in Thursday's attacks.

North Sinai has been under a state of emergency and a curfew since October when an attack on a checkpoint killed dozens of soldiers.

The army has launched major operations to try to quell violence in the region, but has so far failed.
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis has become the biggest threat, staging many attacks on security targets.

Analysts say Thursday's wide-ranging attacks indicate a previously unseen level of co-ordination.

The group, which was originally inspired by al-Qaeda but later pledged allegiance to Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, has called on Egyptians to rebel against President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi.

President Sisi is the former military chief who led the crackdown on Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood has said it rejects violence.

Egypt is creating a 1km (0.6-mile) buffer zone along the border with Gaza in a bid to stop militants smuggling weapons in from the Palestinian territory using tunnels.

The project has displaced more than 1,000 families in Rafah and severed an economic lifeline for many Palestinians.

Military Solution Not Viable for Libya: AU

Ending conflict in Libya can only be achieved through a political deal, Libyan and regional leaders said Wednesday after African Union-led talks.

"The only solution to bring an end to the current crisis in Libya is a political settlement," Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamed Dayri said after meeting with the AU's International Contact Group for Libya, ahead of a summit on Friday of the continent's leaders in the 54-nation bloc.

The Contact Group, set up by the AU's Peace and Security Council, includes regional nations - Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Niger, Sudan and Tunisia - as well as the Arab League, European Union and United Nations.

"The situation in Libya cannot be resolved by force, but only by a political agreement between Libyans themselves," said Jacob Enoh Eben, spokesperson for AU chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. "The AU is ready to support them in this goal."

Libya has been wracked by conflict since the overthrow of Revolutionary Pan-Africanist leader Muammar Gaddafi in a 2011 Pentagon-NATO coordinated uprising and bombing, with rival governments and powerful militias battling for control of key cities and the country's vast oil riches.

"We are aware that many African nations have voiced their concerns at the increasingly deteriorating security situation in Libya," Dayri told reporters after the meeting.

"We are aware of the spillover... this situation has represented for Mali, Tunisia, Algeria, Niger, Egypt and Chad."

Several countries, such as Niger and Chad, had been in favour of military action to target extremist and jihadi groups in Libya, but now support a political solution, diplomats said.

"A dozen armed groups control territory in Libya," UN envoy for the Sahel region, Hiroute Guebre Sellassie, told AFP. "Military intervention cannot make sense... We need a political consensus."

A second round of UN-brokered peace talks between Libya's warring factions ended in Geneva on Tuesday. "The work done in Geneva is encouraging," Dayri added.

AFP

- See more at: http://www.tvcnews.tv/?q=article/military-solution-not-viable-libya-au#sthash.OOxK5Tlv.dpuf

Raúl Castro Demands That US Return Guantánamo Base to Cuba

‘If these problems aren’t resolved, rapprochement wouldn’t make sense’

Cuban leader demands end to US propaganda broadcasts

Cuba will not give ‘one millimetre’ of its sovereignty, says president Raúl Castro. Source: Reuters
Associted Press in San José
Wednesday 28 January 2015 17.08 EST

Cuba’s President Raúl Castro has demanded that the United States return the US base at Guantánamo Bay, lift the half-century trade embargo on Cuba and compensate his country for damages before the two nations re-establish normal relations.

Castro told a summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States that Cuba and the US are working toward full diplomatic relations but “if these problems aren’t resolved, this diplomatic rapprochement wouldn’t make any sense”.

Castro and the US president, Barack Obama, announced on 17 December that they would move towards renewing full diplomatic relations by reopening embassies in each other’s countries. The two governments held negotiations in Havana last week to discuss both the reopening of embassies and the broader agenda of re-establishing normal relations.

Obama has loosened the trade embargo with a range of measures designed to increase economic ties with Cuba and increase the number of Cubans who don’t depend on the communist state for their livelihoods.

The Obama administration says removing barriers to US travel, remittances and exports to Cuba is a tactical change that supports the United States’ unaltered goal of reforming Cuba’s single-party political system and centrally planned economy.

Cuba has said it welcomes the measures but has no intention of changing its system. Without establishing specific conditions, Castro’s government has increasingly linked the negotiations with the US to a set of longstanding demands that include an end to US support for Cuban dissidents and Cuba’s removal from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism.

On Wednesday, Castro emphasised an even broader list of Cuban demands, saying that while diplomatic ties may be re-established, normal relations with the US depend on a series of concessions that appear highly unlikely in the near future.

“The re-establishment of diplomatic relations is the start of a process of normalising bilateral relations, but this will not be possible while the blockade still exists, while they don’t give back the territory illegally occupied by the Guantánamo naval base,” Castro said.

He demanded that the US end the transmission of anti-Castro radio and television broadcasts and deliver “just compensation to our people for the human and economic damage that they’re suffered”.

The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Castro’s remarks.

Raul Castro Warns U.S. Against Meddling in Cuba's Affairs

Wed, Jan 28 2015
By Enrique Pretel

SAN JOSE (Reuters) - Cuba will not accept any interference from the United States, President Raul Castro said on Wednesday, warning that meddling in its internal affairs would make rapprochement between the two countries "meaningless."

His comments came after U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson, the highest-ranking U.S. government official to visit the island in nearly 40 years, last week met with dissidents a day after talks with Cuban government officials.

"Everything appears to indicate that the aim is to foment an artificial political opposition via economic, political and communicational means," Castro told a summit in Costa Rica.

"If these problems are not resolved, this diplomatic rapprochement between Cuba and the United States would be meaningless," he said.

However, Castro made it clear he was committed to the talks despite his concern that Washington might try to foment internal opposition within Cuba through greater telecommunications access and the internet.

He also urged U.S. President Barack Obama to use executive powers to ease a decades-long embargo against Cuba, saying Washington could extend measures like those announced for telecoms to other areas of the economy.

Obama's new policy specifically singled out telecoms in Cuba as an area that Washington is willing to allow U.S. companies to invest in, and for its part Havana has said it is ready to let that happen.

Castro reiterated that he has no plans to budge from Cuba's single party political system, although observers say that does not rule out the possibility that independent politicians might be given space to run for election in the future.

Castro said Obama's decision to hold a debate in Congress about eliminating the embargo was "significant", adding he was aware that ending it "will be a long and hard road".

The United States and Cuba held historic high-level talks in Havana last week that are expected to lead to the re-establishment of diplomatic ties severed by Washington in 1961.

Obama needs approval from the Republican-controlled Congress to completely normalize relations with Cuba, and Republicans such as Florida Senator Marco Rubio have opposed engagement as long as Cuba maintains a one-party state, represses dissidents and controls the media.

(Additional reporting by David Adams in Miami; Writing by Simon Gardner; Editing by Gunna Dickson, Kieran Murray and Christian Plumb)

United States Military Intelligence Contractor Killed in Libyan Hotel Attack

By Dan Lamothe
January 28 at 4:32 PM

Growing up in the shadow of the Army’s Fort Huachuca in Arizona, David J. Berry wanted to join the military from the time he was a child. He studied its history, its tactics, and the intertwined relationship it had with foreign policy, his father said.

Berry, 33, was killed in an attack by militants on the luxury Corinthia Hotel in Libya’s capital on Tuesday. A private security contractor, he was a Marine Corps veteran who had served in Special Operations units and performed counterintelligence. He had been working in Libya for nearly a year, but had recently visited his family in the United States. He leaves a wife, Elizabeth, and four children between the ages of 13 and nearly 2, said his father, James Berry.

“He loved what he was doing, and he was a true American patriot,” Berry’s father said. “He had told Elizabeth and myself when he was back in the States about a week ago on a brief visit that he was very happy with what he was doing. He felt like he was making progress in Libya, in Tripoli, with the warring factions there and really felt that his presence was extremely important.”

Berry was a project security manager with Team Crucible LLC, a private security training and operations firm in Fredericksburg, Va., the company said. The company’s chief operating officer, Cliff Taylor, declined to disclose the nature of Berry’s work.

“On January 27th our company was the victim of a terrorist attack at The Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli, Libya,” Taylor said in a statement. “During the attack one of our employees, David Berry was killed. Our company mourns this extraordinary loss with his family and friends.”

Berry is the only American victim to be identified following the attack, in which gunmen stormed the seaside hotel and a car bomb exploded, killing at least 10. He and his wife own a home in Gainesville, Va., about 40 miles west of Washington, and have other family in his native state of Arizona.

Elizabeth Berry was not ready to comment on her husband’s death, James Berry said. She did not return a voice mail left Wednesday morning.

Berry’s death highlights both the spiraling violence in Libya, and the quiet work that U.S. veterans sometimes do as contractors after leaving military service.

An offshoot of the Islamic State militant group in Libya claimed responsibility for the attack, saying on Twitter it was launched in solidarity with a Libyan man who was allegedly involved in al-Qaeda’s 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. That man, Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, was snatched in a U.S. Special Operations raid outside his home in Libya in 2013 and died in a New York hospital earlier this month before going to trial. He had advanced liver cancer when he was captured, authorities said

Libya has been rocked by a series of bombings and ongoing fighting between rival militias in recent months. The U.S. Embassy in Tripoli was evacuated in July. At least 156 military and diplomatic personnel left in a convoy of 39 armored vehicles for Tunisia. The operation required Air Force fighter jets and U.S. Marines in MV-22 Osprey aircraft to fly overhead in case violence erupted. Last week, the State Department warned U.S. citizens against traveling to Libya and recommended that any Americans there leave immediately.

Berry went to boot camp within months of graduating high school, serving in the Marine Corps from September 2000 to September 2012. He earned the rank of staff sergeant before leaving the service, said Yvonne Carlock, a Marine Corps spokeswoman at Quantico, Va.

Berry initially served as a rifleman in the infantry but eventually became an intelligence specialist and a Special Operations capabilities specialist. Berry deployed at least five times beginning in 2002, including twice to Afghanistan and three times to Iraq, and earned the Combat Action Ribbon after personally being involved in combat.

As a Marine, Berry liked serving in the infantry but was enamored with the counterintelligence world. He learned Arabic and noted with pride how important Fort Huachuca — in his hometown of Sierra Vista, Ariz. — was to the intelligence world as the home of the U.S. Army Intelligence Center, his father said.

“At that point in time, he became very, very happy with what he was doing,” James Berry said of his son working in the intelligence world. “He said, ‘Dad, I have a lot of stories to tell you but I can’t tell you anything about what I’m doing. But I love my job.’”

He decided to leave the service as military operations in Afghanistan drew to a close. Berry joined another private security firm, the Surveillance Reconnaissance Intelligence Group, in August 2012, and he later helped train Lebanese armed forces in Beirut while working for American Systems Corp., a firm with headquarters in Chantilly, Va., according to his LinkedIn profile.

Berry joined Team Crucible in July 2014 and worked as both a site security manager and project security manager, according to the profile. He stayed in touch with family frequently through e-mail while he was gone, his father said.

“He knew about the warring factions in the place he was at, and he knew about the conflict, and he was trying to bring a conciliatory voice into the conflict,” James Berry said. “He was trying to bring some kind of unity to that country. I would say that practicality was definitely one of his strong suits. That, and patience. He knew how to work in the system there because he knew the culture, and he expressed extreme optimism when I wanted to talk to him about what he was currently doing.”

Julie Tate contributed to this report.

Dan Lamothe covers national security for The Washington Post and anchors its military blog, Checkpoint.

'Friendship Nine's' Convictions for Lunch Counter Civil Rights Sit-in Vacated

Black students take part in a civil rights sit-in at the whites-only lunch counter at McCrory's in Rock Hill, S.C., in 1961 (The Herald)

By DAVID ZUCCHINO

Convictions are erased for the 'Friendship 9' black civil rights protesters of 1961
The old men walked into the courtroom with halting steps, grayer and a bit slower than when they were young.

They had been hauled into a nearby courtroom here 54 years ago this week. That time, a white judge, B. Drennan Hayes, convicted them of trespassing for staging a sit-in at a whites-only lunch counter in this Southern textile town.

He gave the nine men a choice: a $100 fine or 30 days on the York County chain gang.

They chose the chain gang. So began the civil rights “jail, no bail” movement, which helped galvanize opposition to public segregation in the Jim Crow South.

On Wednesday morning, seven of those men faced the judge's nephew, Judge John C. Hayes III. This time, Judge Hayes threw out their 1961 convictions as an overflow courtroom of blacks and whites erupted in a standing ovation.

“We cannot rewrite history, but we can right history,” the judge told the defendants, who minutes later rose unsteadily to acknowledge cheers from friends and strangers.

The judge's ruling was a stirring rebuke to this city's racist past. For Rock Hill, it was a belated gesture of reconciliation and an acknowledgment of its shameful treatment of its black citizens half a century ago.

For the former student activists, now in their 70s, it was vindication for a bold, youthful act of defiance that helped inspire the civil rights movement.

“My heart was leaping,” defendant Clarence Graham, 72, said minutes after Hayes vacated the convictions. “I can hold my head a little bit higher.”

The men — Graham, Robert McCullough, John Gaines, Thomas Gaither, W.T. “Dub” Massey, James Frank Wells, Willie McCleod, David Williamson and Mack Workman — became known as the Friendship Nine, after the now-defunct Friendship Junior College most of them attended.

They were knocked off lunch counter stools by white police officers and dragged out of McCrory's Variety Store in Rock Hill on Jan. 31, 1961. It was a year after the better-known Woolworth's lunch counter sit-ins in Greensboro, N.C.

On the chain gang, the convicts defied their white jailers and sang songs in protest as they dug up dirt and stones. A 10th defendant, Charles E. Taylor, was tried before them and accepted an offer by the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People to pay his fine, to avoid being stripped of an athletic scholarship.

The men's convictions haunted them for decades. Graham, a retired social worker, said it complicated his efforts to find a decent job. They were abused and spat on by local whites and, as Graham put it, “called the N-word.”

Seven of the nine were in the courtroom Wednesday. McCullough died in 2006, and one defendant was unable to attend Wednesday's hearing.

A clerk read from the original 1961 docket sheet, calling out each defendant's name and their fate: “Sent to chain gang.”

The men appeared in court with the same lawyer they had in 1961 — Ernest A. Finney Jr., who later became the first black South Carolina Supreme Court justice since Reconstruction.

Finney, 83, a retired chief justice, rose slowly in court to move to vacate the convictions. “Justice and equity demand that this motion be granted,” he said.

Hayes told the men: “Those who, like the Friendship Nine, sat down at lunch counters were in reality standing up for the best in the American dream and our most sacred values.”

York County Solicitor Kevin Brackett, a white man who was born four years after the sit-in, supported the defense motion.

After he was contacted last fall by Kimberly Johnson, a children's author who wrote a book about the Friendship Nine, Brackett and Johnson worked to get the convictions erased, aiming for the 54th anniversary of the sit-in this week.

“There is only one reason these men were arrested and charged … and that is because they were black,” Brackett told the judge.

Then Brackett turned to the defendants sitting a few feet away and offered what he called his “heartfelt apologies.”

“Our community, our country, is a better place today because of what you all did,” Brackett said. “On behalf of the state, you are my heroes.”

Brackett said that vacated convictions are usually expunged but he asked to preserve them for their historical value. The judge agreed.

Rock Hill's white mayor, Doug Echols, also spoke of the terrible injustice committed in 1961. “This history that is bent straight here … is what courage looks like when good people step forward to lead,” he told a standing-room-only courtroom of 250 people.

After Hayes' ruling, the Friendship men were hugged and backslapped by supporters. One former convict burst out in the courtroom with a vigorous rendition of Sam Cooke's 1960 ballad “Chain Gang.”

Graham wept as he described an elderly white woman who recently approached him at the lunch counter site, now called Five & Dime, to apologize for failing to intervene while at the counter that day in 1961.

While Graham, now a great-grandfather, said he felt vindication and relief, he said he also wished the ruling had come in 1968, when he returned from serving in Vietnam and couldn't find a job. The men's names were later engraved on stools at the sit-in site.

One of the Friendship Nine, Williamson, was asked whether he ever thought his name would one day be cleared. “Nope,” he said firmly. “But it's never too late, and I'm grateful.”

Finney, the retired justice, sat quietly at the defense table as the defendants accepted congratulations. It was a momentous day, he said, and one he did not think he would see in his lifetime.

Finney was asked if he thought Rock Hill and the South had made significant strides toward true racial equality.

“We'll see,” the judge said. “There's still work to be done.”

Twitter: @davidzucchino

Zambia Appoints First Woman Vice President

Inonge Wina appointed Vice President.

By NICHOLAS BARIYO
Updated Jan. 26, 2015 2:24 p.m. ET

KAMPALA, Uganda—Zambia’s newly-elected President Edgar Lungu on Monday appointed the country’s first female vice president and retained the country’s finance minister in a bid to arrest flagging growth in the copper-rich southern African nation.

Inonge Wina, national chairwoman of Mr. Lungu’s Patriotic Front and the former gender minister, assumes the post vacated by Guy Scott, who became Zambia’s acting president in October after the death of President Michael Sata.

In other personnel moves, the new Zambian leader also decided to keep on Alexander Chikwanda as finance minister and Harry Kalaba as the foreign minister to foster economic and foreign policy continuity, the office of the president said.

Mr. Lungu on Sunday narrowly defeated his rival, Hakainde Hichilema of the opposition United Party for National Development, winning by about 27,000 votes the right to complete the late Mr. Sata’s term. The next general election is scheduled for September 2016.

His toughest challenge is to revive the economy of Africa’s second-largest copper producer. Zambia’s economic growth last year was estimated at 5.5%, its slowest pace in more than a decade. The slowdown has been blamed on reduced mining output and less domestic investment due to tax disputes.

During his campaign, Mr. Lungu pledged to continue Mr. Sata’s populist policies, such as improving workers’ conditions and supplying cheaper food and fuel to the country’s 15 million people.

But with global copper prices at close to their lowest level in six years and with mining companies such as Barrick Gold Corp. threatening to shut down operations over a new tax regime introduced by the government this month, it won’t be easy for Mr. Lungu to fulfill those campaign promises.

He also faces divisions within his own ruling party.

After he took over as acting president in October, becoming Zambia’s first white head of state, Mr. Scott fired Mr. Lungu from his party post. But riots the capital Lusaka forced Mr. Scott to reinstate him.

Mr. Scott, who was barred under Zambia’s constitution from running for president because his parents weren’t born in the country, couldn’t be reached for comment.

Write to Nicholas Bariyo at nicholas.bariyo@wsj.com

We Are Witnessing a Quiet Revolution on the Political Scene’

Juliet Ibekaku is a lawyer and women's rights advocate in Nigeria.

Wednesday, 28 January 2015 00:00
Written by KODILINYE OBIAGWU
Nigerian Guardian

Juliet Ibekaku, a lawyer and women’s rights advocate, says it is time for women to stand up and be counted. The pioneer staff member of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), an active member of the civil society and deputy governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State, told KODILINYE OBIAGWU in Enugu that her objective “is to be an example for other women, who would want to join politics,” as her plans are beyond the February elections.

WHAT her participation as a deputy governorship candidate means to the womenfolk and herself

MOST importantly for me, I think this is the first time in Enugu State that the political class is looking beyond the male folks to pick a woman as a running mate.

  It is exciting because potentially, this could lead to a situation where a woman could be governor.

  For women, it opens a new vista of possibilities; it raises hopes and reassures them that they could have a voice in the Government House.

On her qualification, more than any other woman, to be in the race

  Certainly, there are a lot of qualified women; some very experienced in politics. But I reckon that my background in development projects prepared me adequately for this.

  I have worked extensively on development projects, both locally and internationally — on anti-corruption programmes; building up governance structures across the world; working closely with the United Nations on drugs and crimes, and closely with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

  I have also worked with the British Department for International Development as an anti-corruption manager.

  My contribution within the development sector is essentially built up on how to develop government structures that work for the Nigerian people.

  My background cuts across governance, security, law enforcement and criminal justice. With this background, I believe that we, in APC, have a lot to offer the people of Enugu.

Exactly what the APC offers the people of Enugu

  We are critically interested in four areas of concern. They range from education, the health systems, agriculture and water.

  We want to build an enduring education system, making sure the young people can get quality education that is comparable with any system anywhere in the world.

  There are local communities without clinics or the presence of any doctor and we believe it is critical. We cannot think of having a strong system without a thriving health sector where the health of the people is secured.

  We are looking at agriculture as an alternative source of revenue instead of relying on federal allocation. One way of doing this is to build up the infrastructure in the sector and enhance the agro-based industries.

  Water offers a major challenge. Most people in Enugu don’t have access to water. The taps are always dry and people rely of water hawkers. The question is: What have successive governments have been doing on this matter?

   The development of infrastructure is tied to industrial development because we cannot talk of industrial development without a strong power base, and good road network, for example.

  Infrastructural development has to happen for us to have that boost in agricultural development, which will reduce poverty and create jobs.

Her plans for the womenfolk

I AM deeply involved in women rights, and working with women is something I have done almost all my life. I want to promote women and their capability to participate in political, social and economic agendas.

  I am concerned at those women issues such as economic empowerment, where they can have access to credit facilities and those without skills will be trained at skills acquisition centres.

  We have to think out schemes on how to empower women economically because, when you build their economic power base, you empower them to go into politics.

  I believe that women who are able should get into politics. I also believe that without a solid economic base, we can’t talk about politics.

  Politics today involves a lot of resources. A woman is more likely to participate better in politics and I encourage them to, by creating those economic bases and letting them know that with these, they can go out there and stand on their own.

  We have been able to empower and train young women by providing leadership training to them because we know that when you are trained as a leader, you are able to go out there and participate in politics.

On the seeming singing and dancing role of women at campaigns

  The men sing and dance too; it is not really all about singing and dancing for the womenfolk. The women I work with are not there just to sing; it is wrong to deploy them as just an appendage to the political process.

  At every level of the APC structure, there is an effort to ensure the greater participation of women in the process of decision-making.

  For example, in most APC states, like Lagos, Osun and Ogun, the governors have women as running mates or deputies.

The kind of demand her first time outing on this level of politics exert on her

  It is my first time I am running a campaign on the platform of a political party as a deputy governorship candidate.

  I have run for election as a students’ union leader, a member of the Nigerian Bar Association and in different fora.

  In comparison, I think it is a different process in terms of how we negotiate and share political power, at the state or federal levels. It is different from the way you share it when you are talking about associations.

  Here, we are talking of how to ensure that everybody in Enugu is represented. What I see is defining those power dynamics and making sure every interest is catered for.

Tracing much of what the womenfolk have got to the Affirmative Action (AA), which they have religiously latched on

  Affirmative Action became necessary given that over time, men have always been in control to the detriment of the women, especially when you talk of control in terms of resources.

  In order to create at least 35 per cent level-playing field, it became necessary to enact that principle. Without AA, it would not have been possible in Nigeria to get the number of women we have today in government.

  But still, some parties do not find it necessary to have women at the highest level of governance.

  For example, except for Taraba State, where Senator Aisha Jumai Alhassan, representing Taraba North, is the governorship candidate of the APC, there is no other state where a woman is the governorship candidate. Why should that be so?

  The AA has become a way of discouraging the men from taking everything. It has created an opportunity for women but it doesn’t mean that women should just sit down and wait for the AA to be invoked before they can get positions.

  It also means that before you can give that position to the woman, it has to be a woman who has the right mix of capabilities to manage that position.

  We are looking for women with such credentials and who are able to take those positions and make a difference in the lives of other women.

What she will do differently in her work with women if the APC is elected

WORKING in government will create more opportunities for me to extend my reach. Whichever party wins in Enugu, the womenfolk will be looking forward to having a deal better than ever before.

  They are hoping that the woman that eventually comes in as deputy will have their interests at heart, look out for them and probably do more for them.

  The difference, for me, is that because I already have established a framework for engagement for women, I am looking forward to reaching out to every woman, youth, as everyone is looking up to me as a woman who has done this before and who could translate that into a government framework and development policies.

In case the APC does not win

  When you fight a good fight and lose, you don’t feel any different, because you know you have put in your best. And you look forward to another time. There will be no regrets.

On a particular thing(s) she has seen in campaigns that struck her

  The level of poverty is worrisome. If we don’t see a change in the administration of this country at all levels, Nigeria might be facing a revolution.

  We are already a failed state by some definitions, but there are some parameters that are showing that we are almost failed.

  The level of poverty is disturbing and the capability of those who are impoverished to begin to take the laws into their hands is very disturbing.

  Some people come to rallies because they expect they will be given as little as N500 or N1,000, and you wonder if people are interested in changing government or just collecting the handouts.

  I am bothered about the implication of this situation. It is obvious that those waiting for the handouts see election as a time to get something back from the government that has denied them so much.

Assessment of strength of the APC going into the election at both federal and state levels

  The impact of the APC has gone beyond the expectations of the ruling party. It is a quiet revolution and all of us are waiting to see what will happen after the February elections.

  What we have now is a strong party that can stand toe to toe with the ruling party. If the APC wins, it would mean that it has become as strong as the PDP.

  I believe that Nigerians are looking forward to the change in government because of the shortcomings of the ruling party in the last 16 years.

   I think it is a good thing for Nigeria because the political process has become more competitive. We need the sort of competition between the Republicans and the Democrats in the United States.

  Nigeria needs to have a competitive democratic process in a way that we can have enduring institutions and lasting development.

Chances of the APC in Enugu

  We want to see a transparent electoral process in terms of knowing that INEC has created a level-playing field for all parties.

  The contest is not between the PDP and the APC; there are 18 parties in this race.

  If the APC is giving the ruling party at the centre a good fight, it means that it has that capacity in the states to replicate the fight.

- See more at: http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/features/policy-a-politics/195604-we-are-witnessing-quiet-revolution-on-political-scene#sthash.hoBAQ5Zb.dpuf

Nigerian Striking Health Workers Storm Ibadan

by Oseheye Okwuofu, Ibadan
The Nation, Nigeria

•Strike goes on

The industrial action by members of the Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP) and the  Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) yesterday took a new dimension as the striking  health workers  stormed Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

They vowed to continue the over three months strike, until the government responds to their demands.

The workers, led by the National President of the Nigeria Society of Physiotherapy, Dr Taiwo Oyewumi of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, declared that President Goodluck Jonathan had been fed with lies on the strike.

Adewumi warned the Federal Government not to withhold the salaries of the striking  workers, saying such method would aggravate the situation.

Many lives, he said, have been lost, while all government hospitals have been deserted, leaving patients in agony.

Addressing reporters at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Adewumi said the workers were aware of the plan to frustrate their efforts to press home their demands.

He said the workers were eager to return to work but were yet to receive the Federal Government’s circular that would formalise the agreements reached.

“We are aware of the effect of the strike. This is because hospital services require team work. No profession can stand on its own unless the teams work together as a unit.

“The eight-point demands of JOHESU and Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals are still the same but it is disappointing that the government has refused to do the right thing.

“Since the declaration, there have been meetings with government representatives. Six meetings were held between October 15 and December 24, last year.

“The minister of Labour and Productivity, who presided over the December 22 meeting, promised to meet President Goodluck Jonathan to get approval leading to the issuance of circulars on the said matters.

“Of the 10 circulars we are expecting, only one was issued which is the one concerning consultant status of other health professionals. We are ready to call off the strike but it seems the President is being fed with wrong information on the effect of the strike.”

Adewumi said the workers have rejected some of the recommendations of the Yayale Ahmed Report because some of the issues raised were matters pending in court.

“The Yayale Ahmed Report duplicated duties and that is one of the reasons why we rejected it. We rejected the office of the Surgeon General so there is no reason for the report to introduce or recommend it again.”

Boko Haram: Regional Force Without Nigeria?

by Our Reporter on Jan 25, 2015
Nigerian Mirror

Latest reports that Cameroun, Chad and Niger, all of them French-speaking African countries, launched a new regional force against Boko Haram, without carrying Nigeria along, seem a strong indicator that there exists a major disconnect among the neighbouring francophone countries and Nigeria, whose North-East region of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe have been the thresholds of ceaseless violent assaults by the Boko Haram Islamist sect since 2009. Cameroun, Chad and Niger are said to have kicked against any major military deployment in areas occupied by the Boko Haram in Nigeria; and their aim of coming out with the regional force is to ward off Boko Haram insurgency and protect their own sides of joint borders with Nigeria, particularly in the Lake Chad region.

The three neighboring countries were said to have taken the initiative because of Nigeria’s weak response to the insurgents’ horrendous killings, abductions and destructions in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states, among others. Niger’s Defence Minister, Karidjo Mahamadou, was quoted as saying, for example: “The most worrying situation for us today is Nigeria. It’s the situation of Boko Haram. Since November (2014), we have no longer been at that post (Baga in Borno State). We explained to the Nigerians that we could not stay since we did not wish to put the lives of our soldiers in danger”.  Cameroun was said to be strongly opposed to the Baga deployment option, too; and would not send any troop into Nigeria on a permanent basis henceforth. President Paul Biya, the Camerounian leader, was said to favour the exchange of intelligence reports to enable coordinated operations, instead of joint military operations with Nigerian soldiers. He is insisting that each nation – Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroun – should act on its own territory around Lake Chad, according to reports.

Cameroun has for months been complaining about Nigerian army’s lack of fighting spirit and mass desertions in the face of the ostensibly more gallant Islamists. An unnamed Camerounian military officer was quoted as saying recently that “Nigerian soldiers abandon their weapons when they desert their positions. Those are the weapons with which we are attacked.” Perhaps, Chad opted to work with Cameroun because of what was tagged as “the courageous and determined response of (Cameroun’s) armed forces against the criminal and terrorist acts of Boko Haram”.

We recall, nonetheless, that in February last year, the Boko Haram sect threatened to declare war on Cameroun if she did not cease to support Nigeria’s military campaign against it. This followed vicious attacks and casualties Cameroun’s military inflicted on members of the sect who sought refuge from the onslaughts of the Nigerian military in Cameroun, Niger and Chad. Until the latest development, however, Cameroun did not relent in repelling the terrorists. The country has, of late, reportedly killed them in their hundreds. But it is not unlikely that the latest turn of events has to do with the January 3 to 7, 2015 terrorist attacks on Baga, which led to the massive destruction of a large expanse of civilian settlements and huge loss of lives; in addition to increasing terrorist attacks on the Lake Chad Basin region along Nigeria’s borders with Chad and Cameroun; and in the northern provinces of Cameroun, especially.

But with the outcomes of the May 17, 2014 Paris Summit convened a little over a month after the abduction of over 200 school girls from Chibok, Borno State; which underscored the commitment of countries in the Lake Chad Basin region to enhance information sharing, coordination and joint operations, in addition to the support of bilateral and multilateral partners to more effectively combat Boko Haram; the follow-up London and Abuja ministerial meetings; the October 7, 2014 communiqué of the Extraordinary Summit of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) Heads of State; and the November 25, 2014 communiqué of the African Union Peace and Security Council on the efforts of the LCBC member states and Benin Republic to combat Boko Haram, etc., the decision of Cameroun, Chad and Niger to float a new regional force without Nigeria in the picture is a huge shock. It strongly indicates that LCBC Heads of State are incapable of raising a sustainable, viable and effective Multinational Joint Task Force to fight the insurgents.

Nigeria, for whatever reasons, may have been weak in tackling Boko Haram. Her soldiers may have acted cowardly, too, by deserting their duty posts at the slightest opportunity and abandoning their weapons. Yet no country in the Lake Chad Basin region is truly safe with the Boko Haram lurking around. It is bad enough that Cameroun, Chad and Niger withdrew their troops from joint border patrols with their Nigerian counterparts, when what is actually needed to hound Boko Haram out of the region is a concerted African onslaught. If Europe and America are foot-dragging in rendering assistance to Africa in the latter’s fight against Boko Haram; and a discriminatory regional force is being formed behind Nigeria, African leaders should ask themselves far-reaching questions. Cameroun, Chad and Niger should have a rethink. Besides, the Nigerian government owes its citizens detailed explanations on what is really happening.

Nigerian Federal Government, States to Cut Cost Over Oil Slump

Nigerian Finance Minister Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

JANUARY 28, 2015
BY IFEANYI ONUBA
Nigerian Punch

The Federal Ministry of Finance, the commissioners of finance and accountants-general of the 36 states of the federation have begun moves to reduce the high cost of governance in the country following the continuous decline in crude oil prices in the international market.

The need to prune expenditure, according to the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, is necessitated by the persistent drop in oil prices, which has continued to have a negative impact on the revenue of government.

The minister in Abuja on Tuesday at the opening session of a three-day national treasury workshop, with the theme: ‘Optimum funds management in the midst of cash flow challenges’, called on states to align their spending with the austerity measures recently announced by the Federal Government.

Apart from the commissioners of finance, the workshop was attended by head of accounts of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the government and other relevant stakeholders in the finance and accounting subsectors of the nation’s economy.

Represented by the Minister of State for Finance, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda, Okonjo-Iweala predicted a tough fiscal year for the country but added that the Federal Government’s economic management team had the capacity to address the challenges.

She said while oil revenue accruing to the government had continued to decline, adequate measures had been put in place to shore up non-oil revenue.

For instance, she said that within the last few months, non-oil revenue receipts had increased, noting that the trend was expected to continue due to some of the reforms that had been put in place to improve tax administration.

The minister said, “The idea of the workshop is to discuss the challenges that we are having due to the fall in the revenue of the government

“How do we prioritise our products? How do we curtail unnecessary expenses? How do we reduce overheads and recurrent expenditures? How do we improve on the revenue profile in the country and diversification of the economy?

“This is the best time for us to be applying more of the knowledge that we have so that we should be able to navigate through the challenges we are having, and I believe that after this workshop, we should be able to come up with measures that align with what we have started already.

“We also called on the sub-national level of government to try to key into what we have been talking about. For us at the Federal Ministry of Finance, we are here to guide them and to share our own experiences and we are here to streamline strategy because what affects anyone of us as a nation, affects all.”

The Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr. Jonah Otunla, said the workshop would not only add value to the government’s effort in keeping the treasury functional at all times, but would also assist in addressing the challenges of resource management.

He said, “The effect of dwindling oil price is not only peculiar to the country but to the entire world. This workshop is therefore coming at a very appropriate time, especially as the national budget is being processed by the National Assembly.

“It thus gives us a better opportunity to look at several other ways that will enable successful implementation of the budget and guarantee effective and efficient governance.”

Earlier, the Director, Funds, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Dikwa, said since government resources would not be able to cater for the needs of the people owing to revenue shortfall, the effects might be felt in the area of job losses, rising poverty, financial crisis and insecurity.

Nigerian Military Deploys Drones to Battle Boko Haram

Yusuf Alli, Abuja and Duku Joel, Maiduguri
The Nation, Nigeria

Sect hoists flag in Monguno

Come drones and other sophisticated equipment have been deployed in the Northeast to curtail Boko Haram’s insurgency, The Nation learnt yesterday.

It was also learnt that the military intensified air strikes on Boko Haram bases in Monguno to reclaim the town, which fell to the sect’s fighters last weekend.

The acquisition of the drones is part of the  new massive military campaign to be launched soon against Boko Haram.

A source, who spoke in confidence, said most of the equipment were sourced from the Far East, including Russia and Ukraine, following lack of cooperation by some Western countries.

The source said the arrival of the hardware has boosted the morale of troops.

The source said: “The military has deployed some drones and sophisticated hardware in the North-East in line with its timeline to end Boko Haram insurgency.

“These drones will complement ongoing air and land strikes against some bases of the sect.

“The simultaneous attacks on Monguno, Konduga and Maiduguri  by Boko Haram insurgents were pre-emptive steps against the military by the sect.

“With effective equipment, the insurgents were aware that the game is up and in annoyance, they decided to attack military installations and troops.”

The military has intensified air strikes on the insurgents’ locations in Monguno.

Another source said: “Troops will soon reclaim Monguno because the insurgents in the town have been trapped. They cannot move away from the town since troops have laid siege to all entry and exit points.

“You see, the insurgents also struck in Monguno, Konduga and Maiduguri to divert attention of the military from the relocation of some of their commanders from one of their strategic camps to another.”

Fleeing residents yesterday disclosed that the insurgents are in full control of the town.
Abdullahi Jibril, who fled to Maiduguri through Gajiganna told our correspondent that there was no military presence in Monguno.

Jibril said residents of Gajiganna, a town on the Baga/ Monguno road, were also on the run for fear of an impending attack by the insurgents.

“As I am talking to you now, there is no single soldier in Monguno. Anybody that is saying that there are soldiers fighting in Monguno is lying. The Boko Haram have put their flag in the hospital, police station and the military barracks. They are preaching in the place right now.

“I was lucky to escape after I moved my father and my mother to Gajiganna. They killed the Imam Bachila of  Bakasi area.  They also caught the chief Imam of Monguno town, Liman Modu who is the most respected in the town,” Abdullahi Jibril informed.

Hundreds of soldiers from Monguno are stranded and loitering on the streets of Maiduguri after the Sunday attack on the military formation in the area.

The soldiers were denied access to Maimalari Barracks and some of them were rather camped at AIT on Damboa Road.

Our correspondent who was on Baga Road saw many stranded soldiers among other hundred displaced civilians from Monguno, Baga and Gajiganna sitting under tree, with nowhere to go.

Some of the soldiers had their guns on their shoulders, their shuttle bags on their back.

Some of the soldiers who spoke on condition of anonymity expressed anger with the Federal Government for, according to him, not doing enough for them in the fight against Boko Haram.

“I can’t imagine that a Federal Government will abandon her soldiers to die in a fight that cannot take one hour to finish with serious commitment. We fight in the bush with Boko Haram and no one sends us any jet but when one man is coming for campaign, you see many Alpha Jets with helicopter gunships patrolling, flying in the air. Is this fair?” a soldier said.

Some of the soldiers were angry that they were denied access to the Maimalari Barracks in Maiduguri.

One said: “Can you imagine that as soldiers, we came into Maiduguri and the army authorities turned us down from entering the barracks. Where is the esprit de corps that we preach among us?”