Mali Court Appoints Assimi Goita as Interim President

Coup leader’s appointment raises the stakes as West African leaders prepare to respond to the coup in Mali.

Court says Assimi Goita would 'lead the transition process to its conclusion' and carry the title of 'president of the transition, head of state' [File: Francis Kokoroko/Reuters]

29 May 2021

Mali’s constitutional court has named the colonel who led a military coup this week as the country’s new interim leader.

The ruling, issued late on Friday, said Assimi Goita would “lead the transition process to its conclusion” and carry the title of “president of the transition, head of state”.

The court said it had made the decision due to the “vacancy in the presidency” following the resignation of caretaker President Bah Ndaw.

Goita, 38, was previously Ndaw’s deputy, and had ordered the former leader’s arrest on Monday following a cabinet reshuffle that stripped two soldiers of their ministerial posts.

Ndaw resigned while in detention on Wednesday and was later released.

Friday’s ruling raised the stakes as West African leaders prepared to meet on Sunday to decide how they would respond to the takeover, which regional and Western governments fear could could exacerbate instability in northern and central Mali and undermine a regional fight against armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS).

Goita’s power grab is his second in less than a year.

Last August, the young colonel led a coup that deposed Mali’s elected President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita amid protests against perceived corruption and the government’s failure to quell armed groups. But faced with the threat of regional sanctions, Goita and other coup leaders agreed to hand over power to a transitional government that would steer the country back to civilian rule.

The colonel was then appointed vice president of the interim government and his fellow soldiers were given key cabinet posts.

At the time, mediators from the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) insisted that Mali’s transition, which is due to end with elections in February, remain civilian-led. The bloc stipulated in a joint declaration that the vice president of the transition “cannot under any circumstances replace the president”.

ECOWAS heads of state are due to meet in Ghana on Sunday.

Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque, reporting from Mali’s capital, Bamako, said Goita’s appointment as interim president was a “long time coming”.

Ndaw’s detention on Monday lifted any illusions of a civilian-led transition, said Haque, while the constitutional court’s ruling made clear that “the real strongman of Mali is Assimi Goita”.

“In the run-up to this announcement, Goita has been meeting religious leaders, union leaders, the opposition in a bid to rally them to his cause,” said Haque. “So this court ruling does not come as a surprise.”

Goita, however, still has to deal with the looming threat of regional sanctions, the correspondent added.

Earlier on Friday, the colonel made his first public remarks since his latest power grab and said the military had had little choice but to intervene.

“We had to choose between disorder and cohesion within the defence and security forces and we chose cohesion,” he said.

He added that he would name a new prime minister from among the members of the M5-RFP coalition, which led protests against Keita last year and fell out with Ndaw and Ouane during the transition.

Jeamille Bitar, a member of the coalition, said its pick for the post would be Choguel Maiga, a former government minister.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

Mali Coup Leader Heads to Ghana for ECOWAS Crisis Talks

West African bloc fears latest coup could imperil Mali’s transition to democracy and exacerbate regional insecurity.

Colonel Assimi Goita will face questions on Sunday after Mali's second coup in nine months [File: Francis Kokoroko/Reuters]

30 May 2021

Colonel Assimi Goita, Mali’s coup leader and newly appointed interim president, has been summoned to an emergency meeting of West African leaders in Ghana.

At Sunday’s extraordinary summit, the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is set to discuss how to deal with Mali’s second coup in nine months.

Goita left Bamako for Ghana’s capital, Accra, on Saturday after receiving an ECOWAS letter asking for “consultations”, according to the AFP news agency.

The office of Mali’s president, in a statement on Facebook, said Goita would take part in the extraordinary summit “alongside his counterparts” and would also hold bilateral talks with regional leaders.

The summit is set to begin at 2pm (14:00 GMT) on Sunday.

ECOWAS – which acted as a mediator last August when Goita and others toppled Mali’s democratically elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita – has warned it may reimpose sanctions after the colonel’s latest power grab.

The bloc fears the takeover could exacerbate instability in northern and central Mali and undermine a regional fight against armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS).

ECOWAS, the United States and France have all warned of new sanctions.

French President Emmanuel Macron, during a visit to Rwanda and South Africa, said on Saturday that he told West African leaders they could not back a country “where there is no longer democratic legitimacy or transition”.

The turmoil in Mali began last week when Goita ordered the arrest of  President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane following a dispute over a cabinet reshuffle that left out two members of the military.

Goita was serving as the vice president at the time.

Ndaw and Ouane resigned while in detention on Wednesday and were later released.

Then the constitutional court – contravening a joint declaration issued following talks in the wake of last August’s coup – named Goita as Mali’s new transitional president. The declaration, reached between ECOWAS and Mali’s civil and military leaders, said the vice president of the transition “cannot under any circumstances replace the president”.

With the military going back on its previous commitment to civilian political leaders, doubts have been raised about its other pledges, including holding elections in early 2020.

The military said this week it would continue to respect that timetable, but added that it could be subject to change.

West African Leaders Hold Emergency Mali Summit in Ghana

By FRANCIS KOKUTSE

FILE- In this Friday, Sept. 25, 2020 file photo, retired Col. Maj. Bah N'Daw, right, is sworn into the office of transitional president, and Col. Assimi Goita, left, head of the junta that staged the Aug. 18 2020 coup, is sworn into the office of transitional vice president, at a ceremony in the capital Bamako, Mali. Mali's military has released the transitional president and prime minister Moctar Ouane from detention Thursday May 27, 2021, after they resigned from their respective posts.(AP Photo, File)

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — Leaders of the West African regional bloc gathered in Ghana for an emergency summit on Mali in response to the latest political crisis that threatens the stability of the country, Ghana’s president said Sunday.

President Nana Akufo-Addo opened the summit in Accra, saying the regional political grouping the Economic Community of West African States, known as ECOWAS, must “ remain resolute in supporting the people of Mali to find a peaceful solution, and restore democracy and stability in the country.”

Mali’s constitutional court on Friday named Col. Assimi Goita as the West African nation’s government days after he seized power by deposing the president and prime minister and forced their resignations. Their arrests Monday by the military took place hours after a new Cabinet was named the left out two major military leaders. The court Friday said that Goita would take the responsibilities of the interim president “to lead the transition process to its conclusion.”

Interim President Bah N’Daw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane had been appointed following an August 2020 coup led also by Goita. The military staged a coup d’etat against former President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita that led to mediations then by ECOWAS that were also led by Nigeria’s former leader, Goodluck Jonathan. The transitional government was set up with Goita as transitional vice president. Elections were to be held in February and March 2022.

After taking power this week, Goita assured that elections would still be held, however, it’s unclear what part the military will play in the government given his latest actions.

The international community has condemned this latest power grab, demanding a transitional civilian government be put in place immediately. The African Union and ECOWAS were in Mali for mediations when N’Daw and Ouane resigned. The U.N. Security Council says they resigned under duress. The U.S. has already pulled its security force support and other bodies, including the EU and France, are threatening sanctions.

Goita has justified his actions saying there was discord within the transitional government and that he wasn’t consulted, per the transitional charter, when the new government was chosen.

Akufo-Addo said Sunday that ECOWAS was committed “to the peaceful transition in Mali, with the basic goal of restoring democratic government, and working for the stability of Mali and of our region.”

He acknowledged that a May 14 dissolution of the government by the transitional prime minister was worrying and the reappointment of the new, broad-based government on May 24 hours before the arrests “generated considerable tension between various groups, particularly the military, as the former ministers for defense and security were not reappointed.”

Goita attended the summit as his first order of duty after being named transitional president by the court. Presidents Umaro Sissou Embalo of Guinea Bissau, Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone, Alassane Outtara of Ivory Coast, Adama Barrow of The Gambia and Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria were also in attendance, along with presidents from Burkina Faso, Niger, Togo and Liberia. The summit should wrap up Sunday and is again led by Jonathan.

Ghana’s minister for foreign affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, said the actions in Mali this past week “necessitated a reevaluation of the strategies adopted by ECOWAS to bring normalcy to the country.”

Students Abducted by Gunmen in North Central Nigeria

By SAM OLUKOYA

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — A large number of students were abducted Sunday and one person was killed at a school in Nigeria’s north central Niger State, a police spokesman said.

Nigerian media, including the independent Channels TV, said about 200 students were abducted at the Salihu Tanko Islamic School in Tegina in the local government area of Rafi.

Wasiu Abiodun, the Niger state police spokesman, confirmed the incident, though without giving a number for those abducted.

He said the abduction was carried out by “armed bandits on board motorcycles in their numbers.” The gunmen fired “indiscriminately and abducted a yet to be ascertained number of children,” he said, adding that the gunmen shot one person dead in the process.

All “tactical teams” have been mobilized to rescue the victims and the police will “ensure that the children are rescued unhurt,” he said.

The incident is the latest in a series of mass abductions in Nigerian schools by armed gangs who collect money for ransom. Armed groups have carried out raids on schools in northern Nigeria, kidnapping hundreds of students since December. The worst incident this year occurred at the Government Girls Secondary School Jangebe in February, when 279 girls were abducted and later released.

Many schools have been forced to close due to the frequent incidents.

On Saturday, 14 university students and staff who had been abducted from Greenfield University in Kaduna state on April 20 were released after spending more than a month in captivity.

ICC Prosecutor Urges Sudan to Hand over Darfur Suspects

By SAMY MAGDY

CAIRO (AP) — The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor on Sunday urged Sudan’s transitional government to hand over suspects wanted for war crimes and genocide in the Darfur conflict, the Sudanese official news agency reported.

ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda arrived in Sudan’s western Darfur region on Saturday to meet with authorities and affected communities in the region, the court said. Bensouda said she was inspired by “the resilience and courage” of the Darfur people.

Among those wanted by the international court is former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who has been in jail in Khartoum since his ouster in April 2019 and is facing several trials in Sudanese courts related to his three decades of authoritarian rule.

The conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region broke out when rebels from the territory’s ethnic central and sub-Saharan African community launched an insurgency in 2003, complaining of oppression by the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum.

Al-Bashir’s government responded with a campaign of aerial bombings and raids by militias known as Janjaweed, who stand accused of mass killings and rapes. Up to 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million were driven from their homes.

The ICC charged al-Bashir with war crimes and genocide for allegedly masterminding the campaign of attacks in Darfur. Sudanese prosecutors started last year their own investigation into the Darfur conflict.

Also indicted by the court are two other senior figures from al-Bashir’s rule: Abdel-Rahim Muhammad Hussein, interior and defense minister during much of the conflict, and Ahmed Haroun, a senior security chief at the time and later the leader of al-Bashir’s ruling party. Both Hussein and Haroun have been under arrest in Khartoum since the Sudanese military, under pressure from protesters, ousted al-Bashir in April 2019.

The court also indicted rebel leader Abdulla Banda, whose whereabouts are unknown, and Janjaweed leader Ali Kushayb, who was charged last week with crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Bensouda and her team met Saturday with Darfur’s Gov. Mini Arko Minawi, who said the prosecutor’s main concern is to hand over those wanted by the court as soon as possible, and speed up the transfer of Harun since his case is related to that of Kushayb.

In a Sunday meeting with officials in North Darfur province, the ICC prosecutor said they would continue demanding the government to hand over all those wanted by the court, SUNA reported.

Sudan’s transitional government, which has promised democratic reforms and is led by a mix of civilian and military leaders, has previously said that war crime suspects including al-Bashir would be tried before the ICC, but the trial venue is a matter for negotiations with The Hague-based court.

GERMANY SAYS IT COMMITTED GENOCIDE IN NAMIBIA DURING COLONIAL RULE

German colonial settlers killed tens of thousands of indigenous Herero and Nama people in 1904-1908 massacres -- labelled the first genocide of the 20th century by historians -- poisoning relations between Namibia and Germany for years.

AFP 

BERLIN, Germany - Germany for the first time on Friday recognised it had committed genocide in Namibia during its colonial occupation, with Berlin promising financial support worth more than one billion euros to aid projects in the African nation.

German colonial settlers killed tens of thousands of indigenous Herero and Nama people in 1904-1908 massacres -- labelled the first genocide of the 20th century by historians -- poisoning relations between Namibia and Germany for years.

While Berlin had previously acknowledged that atrocities occurred at the hands of its colonial authorities, they have repeatedly refused to pay direct reparations.

"We will now officially refer to these events as what they are from today's perspective: genocide," said Foreign Minister Heiko Maas in a statement.

He hailed the agreement after more than five years of negotiations with Namibia over events in the territory held by Berlin from 1884 to 1915.

"In light of the historical and moral responsibility of Germany, we will ask forgiveness from Namibia and the victims' descendants" for the "atrocities" committed, Maas said.

In a "gesture to recognise the immense suffering inflicted on the victims", the country will support the "reconstruction and the development" of Namibia via a financial programme of 1.1 billion euros ($1.34 billion), he said.

The sum will be paid over 30 years, according to sources close to the negotiations, and must primarily benefit the descendants of the Herero and Nama.

However, he specified that the payment does not open the way to any "legal request for compensation".

REBELLION, REPRISAL

Namibia was called German South West Africa during Berlin's 1884-1915 rule, and then fell under South African rule for 75 years, before finally gaining independence in 1990.

Tensions boiled over in 1904 when the Herero -- deprived of their livestock and land -- rose up, followed shortly after by the Nama, in an insurrection crushed by German imperial troops.

In the Battle of Waterberg in August 1904 around 80,000 Herero, including women and children, fled and were pursued by German troops across what is now known as the Kalahari Desert. Only 15,000 survived.

German General Lothar von Trotha, sent to put down the rebellion, ordered the peoples' extermination.

At least 60,000 Hereos and around 10,000 Namas were killed between 1904 and 1908.

Colonial soldiers carried out mass executions; exiled men, women, and children to the desert where thousands died of thirst; and established infamous concentration camps, such as the one on Shark Island.

'OVERCOME THE PAST'

The atrocities committed during colonisation have poisoned relations between Berlin and Windhoek for years.

In 2015, the two countries started negotiating an agreement that would combine an official apology by Germany as well as development aid.

But in August last year, Namibia said that Germany's offered reparations were unacceptable. No details of the offer were provided at the time.

President Hage Geingob had noted Berlin declined to accept the term "reparations", as that word was also avoided during the country's negotiations with Israel after the Holocaust.

But in an effort to ease reconciliation, in 2018 Germany returned the bones of members of the Herero and Nama tribes, with the then foreign minister Michelle Muentefering asking for "forgiveness from the bottom of my heart".

SECOND DR CONGO VOLCANIC ERUPTION A 'FALSE ALARM'

The government had said that Murara volcano had a "low intensity" eruption on Saturday morning, sending lava flowing into an uninhabited area of Virunga Park

Congolese fleeing from Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), sleep with their belongings on a street after the Nyiragongo volcano erupted near the border in Gisenyi, Rwanda, on May 23, 2021. Picture: Simon Wohlfahrt / AFP

AFP |

GOMA – DR Congo's government said Saturday that the eruption of a second volcano it had announced hours earlier was a "false alarm," the scare coming a week after Mount Nyiragongo roared back into life, causing devastation and sparking a mass exodus.

The government had said that Murara volcano had a "low intensity" eruption on Saturday morning, sending lava flowing into an uninhabited area of Virunga Park, a wildlife reserve home to a quarter of the world's critically endangered mountain gorillas.

Murara is a small volcano considered to be a crater of Mount Nyamuragira, which along with Nyiragongo is known for strong volcanic activity.

However the communications ministry then issued another statement saying "false alarm on Nyamuragira".

"A plane has just flown over the entire area on the sides of this volcano. No eruption was observed," it added.

"It was instead intense activities of carbonising wood into charcoal, the smoke of which was perceived as volcanic activity."

Aerial images of Nyamuragira taken Saturday morning and viewed by AFP showed just a few wisps of white smoke in the volcano's crater.

Murara rises 25 kilometres north of Goma, capital of North Kivu province.

400,000 EVACUATED

Located on the shores of Lake Kivu in the shadow of Nyiragongo, Africa's most active volcano, the city has lived in fear since it erupted last Saturday.

The strato-volcano spewed rivers of lava that claimed nearly three dozen lives and destroyed the homes of some 20,000 people before the eruption stopped.

Hundreds of aftershocks have rocked the region since and around 400,000 people have been evacuated from Goma.

Scientists have warned of a potentially catastrophic scenario -- a "limnic eruption" which occurs when lava combines with a deep lake and spews out lethal, suffocating gas across a potentially large area.

The Goma Volcano Observatory (OVG) said in its latest report on Saturday that 61 earthquakes had shaken the area in the previous 24 hours.

The quakes were "consistent with the continued movement of magma in the Nyiragongo fissure system towards Lake Kivu", it said.

"Several information sources still confirm the presence of magma under the ground in Goma and under the northern end of the lake."

However the OVG report said that a "landslide or large earthquake destabilising the deep waters of the lake causing the emergence of dissolved gases" was now much less likely, while it still "cannot be excluded".

A report on an emergency meeting Friday said 80,000 households -- around 400,000 inhabitants -- had moved out on Thursday following a "preventative" evacuation order.

Goma was quiet on Saturday, a handful of vehicles on the streets which were semi-deserted and only some small shops were open, an AFP journalist said.

'URGENT, GLOBAL SUPPORT'

Most people have headed for Sake, around 25 kilometres (15 miles) west of Goma where tens of thousands are now gathered, or the Rwandan border in the northeast, while others have fled by boat across Lake Kivu.

Late Friday, Rwandan President Paul Kagame said those fleeing needed "urgent, global support".

Aid efforts are being organised to provide drinking water, food and other supplies, and workers are helping to reunite children who became separated from their families.

Nearly 10,000 people are taking refuge in Bukavu on the southern bank of Lake Kivu, according to governor Theo Ngwabidje, many of them in host families.

Nearly 3,500 metres (11,500 feet) high, Nyiragongo straddles the East African Rift tectonic divide.

Its last major eruption, in 2002, claimed around 100 lives and the deadliest eruption on record killed more than 600 people in 1977.

Volcanologists say the worst-case scenario is an eruption under the lake.

This could release hundreds of thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) that are currently dissolved in the water's depths.

The gas would rise to the surface of the lake, forming an invisible cloud that would linger at ground level and displace oxygen, asphyxiating life.

In 1986, one of these limnic eruptions killed more than 1,700 people and thousands of cattle at Lake Nyos in western Cameroon.

Egypt Now Approaching Djibouti amid Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Dispute

May 27, 2021

Abiy Ahmed meeting with Egyptian president in 2018

Borkena 

Egyptian President Abdul Fatah al Sisi on Thursday arrived in Djibouti to meet with  Djibouti’s President,  Ismail Omar Guelleh, to foster bilateral ties. 

It is said to be the first time for an Egyptian leader to visit the tiny Horn of African Nation.

According to a report by the Associated Press, the bilateral meeting between the two countries will focus on military and economic ties. 

In April of this year, Egypt signed a military agreement with Uganda. And this week, Egypt signed a military agreement with Kenya. 

Egypt’s move is seen by many Ethiopians as a move to get a military foothold in Ethiopia’s neighbouring countries. 

Sisi’s visit to Djibouti – a country through which the bulk of Ethiopia’s import and export activity happens – came amid increasing tension with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

Daily News Egypt on Thursday reported that “Al-Sisi and Gulleh agreed that Ethiopian Nile Dam should be filled and operated according to a fair and binding legal agreement” – something Ethiopia has been rejecting. 

The US is Encouraging Terrorism in Ethiopia

May 29, 2021

“The US government, courted by lobbyists and duped by fake news, decided to put undue pressure on Ethiopia to force Abiy to negotiate with the TPLF“

By Tibebe Samuel Ferenji

Borkena                     

“You cannot have the right to do what is wrong!” Abraham Lincoln

For 27 years, Ethiopians lived under the brutal regime of the Tigrayan People Liberation Front (TPLF) and suffered tremendously under the watchful eyes of the world. Despite the human rights violations and crimes against humanity committed by the TPLF, the US provided aids in Billions and trained TPLF’s brutal police and military force. We opposed the US’s support of the TPLF to no avail. Today, the TPLF is ejected from power, dead as a viable political organization, and engaged in terrorism. Yet, the US is trying to resurrect this terrorist organization by pressuring the Ethiopian government to negotiate with it. Why is the US giving oxygen to a brutal organization responsible for the massacre of millions of Ethiopians now surviving in “life support”?

 After 27 years of  struggle and enormous sacrifices for their freedom, the people’s relentless effort paid a dividend in April 2018, when the TPLF regime was removed from power and replaced with a reform-minded leader, Dr. Abiy Ahmed. Since then, opposition organizations who lived in exile were allowed to return to the country; the sanction against political activists and journalists were lifted and the country began a new path towards a democratic system of government. 

Since the beginning of the reform, the TPLF was unhappy and made every effort to derail the progress made and return to power; it armed and funded terrorist groups in the Oromia and Benishangul regions; facilitated the massacre of ethnic Amharas. TPLF members, who were in the military, engineered the killing of civilians. Many Ethiopians were displaced from their homes, and TPLF’s propaganda machine claimed: “the new Ethiopian leaders are incapable of leading Ethiopia.” Extremist elements joined hands with the TPLF and tried to hijack the change in the country. 

 Abiy made all efforts to navigate the challenges he faced to lead a stabilized nation. On many occasions, his patience was tested. Instead of resorting to force, he pleaded with the TPLF and those who tried to take power through violence to make them part of the peaceful political process to no avail. Many criticized Abiy for showing enormous patience with the TPLF; some considered his patience as a sign of weakness. On more than 20 occasions, elders were sent to the TPLF to halt its illegal and provocative actions. The TPLF violated the constitution and held an illegal election in the Tigray region; Abiy’s patience emboldened the TPLF; instead of being part of the political process, it began beating the war dram to intimidate the federal government. 

On November 4, 2020, the TPLF crossed the redline and attacked the Ethiopian Defense Force Northern Command. These soldiers were deployed in Tigray to protect the border from enemy invasion. These soldiers did not only guard the border for 20 years before they were attacked, they contributed money to build schools in Tigray, helped farmers during harvest, and also engaged in many aspects of civic activities. Some are married Tigrayans and have children from their marriages. These soldiers were attacked by the TPLF Special Forces in their barracks while they were in bed. Thousands have died in a brutal manner. This brutality is condemned neither by the US nor by its allies. 

Abiy was forced to act militarily because no country in the world would allow such brutality to go unpunished. Since the conflict, the TPLF and its allies have been busy fabricating fake news and hiring lobbyists to put pressure on the Ethiopian government to negotiate with these terrorists. Make no mistake, the TPLF is a terrorist organization that has engineered the massacre of civilians and the destruction of properties. 

The US government, courted by lobbyists and duped by fake news, decided to put undue pressure on Ethiopia to force Abiy to negotiate with the TPLF. It is hypocritical for the US government that has a policy of no negotiation with terrorists, to pressure Ethiopia to negotiate with terrorists. What is more troubling is Ethiopia stood shoulder to shoulder with the US in the war against terrorism; now the US is turning its back on Ethiopia when Ethiopia is under attack. According to media reports, in October 2006, the United States and Ethiopia agreed to collaborate in intercepting terrorist cells seeking safe haven to incubate in the Horn of Africa. U.S. pursuit of reputed terrorists in Somalia coincided with Ethiopia’s decision to give crucial military support to the ouster of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) regime by the Transitional Federal Government. Ethiopia’s children died in defense of US’s interest; now, the Biden administration is throwing Ethiopia under the bus to protect the interest of lobbyists. 

Would Does the US negotiate with the January 6, insurrectionists? Isn’t the US hunting down and arresting those who took part in the insurrection? If the US has the right to hunt down and arrest the homegrown terrorists to enforce its law, why isn’t Ethiopia entitled to hunt down those who massacred its soldiers in their attempt to overthrow the government? 

The US has not learned anything from Iraq’s WMD propaganda; it was because lobbyists of the weapon industry engineered fake and fabricated news the US ended up invading Iraq; the same greedy lobbyists are now pushing the Biden administration to make a fatal mistake in dealing with Ethiopia. US’s action would only encourage terrorists to act and gives them a little “oxygen” to survive. This only helps destabilize the Horn of Africa. Such a fatal mistake will harm the US’s interest for years to come. The people of the United States should make a note of Biden’s policy on Ethiopia and its unjust approach. Ethiopia is a sovereign nation that will never surrender to the will of the West. It would be wise for the US to keep Ethiopia as a partner instead of giving comfort to terrorists and encouraging terrorism in Ethiopia.

Because the US is putting the terrorists and the government on equal footing and demanding the Ethiopian government to negotiate with the terrorists, the TPLF terrorist elements are engaged in assassination of government officials, killing civilians, destroying property. These criminal thugs want the starvation and the chaos to continue hoping the pressure will break the Ethiopian government and they will return to the helm of the power. These bloodsuckers do not care about the people of Tigray, they don’t even care for their own rank and file; all they care about is for the leaders to return to their past “glory” and continue to loot the country’s meager resources and rule with the brute. This is the US sanction and other actions inviting in Ethiopia. Such an approach is inviting endless civil war; no matter what, the people of Ethiopia will never stand for the TPLF to return to any form of power. We don’t need US officials’ apology and regret after the fact like they apologized and reflect their regret for the US’s egregious error in its unjust war in Iraq.  

The US must realize its simple-minded approach will not solve the predicament Ethiopia is in today. This is a very complex conflict with many invisible actors taking part to destroy Ethiopia as a nation. Such a gamble will harm the war against international terrorism and will harm the long Ethio-US relationship. The US has not learned from Iraq, Syria, Yemen, or Somalia. Acting in an irrational and arrogant manner in the horn of Africa will only lead to creating another terrorists’ hub, another terrorists’ heaven. One thing is for sure, no amount of sanction will push Ethiopians to negotiate with the TPLF. Our message to the US and others is also clear Hands Off of Ethiopia. US’s recent action against Ethiopia is nothing more than an encouragement of terrorism in Ethiopia. As President Lincoln said the US cannot have the right to do what is wrong! We simply ask for the US to stop interfering in our affairs. None of us want the Tigray people to suffer; the source of their sufferings is the TPLF, not the Ethiopian government. The Ethiopian government has shown its commitment to investigate any human rights violations in Tigray in collaboration with the UN and punish those responsible for any atrocities. Why couldn’t the US wait for this investigation before taking any actions? Why put the horse before the cart if the US truly wants justice? 

Mali’s Interim President, PM Resign After Arrest by Military Junta

By AFP

May 27, 2021 05:43 PM

Commandant Baba Cisse addresses the press in Bamako, Mali on Wednesday announcing that Mali's president and prime minister will be gradually released. Photo: AFP

Mali's interim president and prime minister resigned on Wednesday, a top junta aide said, two days after they were detained and stripped of their powers in what appeared to amount to the country's second coup in nine months.

In New York, the UN Security Council "strongly condemned" the ouster and arrest of President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane, and called for a return to civilian government - but did not discuss punitive measures.

The interim leaders, who had been tasked with steering the return to civilian rule after a coup in August 2020, resigned in the presence of mediators visiting the military base where they were being held, said Baba Cisse, special advisor to junta boss Assimi Goita.

However, a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), African Union and UN mission MINUSMA mediation mission told reporters that the leaders had in fact resigned before they arrived.

The delegation then went to speak to Goita - who holds the rank of vice president in the transitional government - again after seeing him late Tuesday.

Cisse said the president, prime minister and other transition leaders arrested on Monday would be released but this would happen "gradually for obvious security reasons." He gave no timeline.

The Security Council, which held an emergency meeting at the request of former colonial power France and others, called for "the safe, immediate and unconditional release of all the officials detained and urged the defense and security forces elements to return to their barracks without delay."

AFP

Sinovac Takes Leading Role in BRICS Vaccine R&D

By Chen Shasha and Hu Yuwei

May 29, 2021 05:11 AM

Global Times

Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine. Photo: VCG

China’s vaccine developer Sinovac is leading the initiative to develop the Chinese branch of the BRICS vaccine research and development center, a joint vaccine cooperation effort by the five BRICS countries.

Located in Beijing, the China Center will be based on Sinovac’s existing research and development bases and facilities, Sinovac told the Global Times.

It will promote joint research, development and clinical trials of vaccines, as well as the construction of factories, production licensing and mutual recognition of standards among the five BRICS countries through online and offline approaches, according to a statement the Global Times obtained from Sinovac.

Such joint efforts will not be limited to COVID-19 vaccines, but will focus on all the vaccines that Sinovac develops in the future, the company said.

The cooperation mechanism offers potential production licensing for overseas countries including BRICS nations to locally produce Sinovac’s vaccines, just as Sinovac coordinated with Brazil’s state-owned Butantan Institute in a bid to increase local production, the Global Times learnt.

The center will also cooperate with universities, scientific research institutions, health and disease control institutions and industries to monitor epidemics and virus variation, promote vaccine research and industrialization, and explore strategies for vaccine application.

Sinovac said that its cooperation with its Brazilian partner on COVID-19 vaccines has been fruitful, and it will promote vaccine cooperation with other countries in the future.

So far, Sinovac has provided 540 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine – a result of collaboration with scientists from Indonesia, Turkey and Chile – in China and nearly 40 other countries and regions, accounting for about a quarter of the total global supply, the company said. Nearly 400 million doses of Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccines have been administered globally.

China Successfully Launches Tianzhou-2 for First Space Station Supply Mission Despite Initial Delay

Craft to test extra fast rendezvous, docking technology

By Deng Xiaoci and Fan Anqi

May 30, 2021 05:20 AM

Photo: Guo Wenbin 

China has delivered a spectacular four-peat in space within a month following the successful launch of the Tianhe core cabin, Tianwen-1's soft-landing on Mars, and Zhurong rover kicking off its grand journey on the Red Planet after driving off the landing platform, as a Long March-7 Y3 carrier rocket took off from Wenchang spaceport on the tropical island of Hainan in South China late Saturday night, sending the Tianzhou unmanned cargo spacecraft into preset orbit for an epic space station supply mission.

At 8:55 pm on Saturday, the Long March-7 Y3 carrier rocket carrying the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft took off from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center. After a flight time of around 604 seconds, the spacecraft separated with the rocket and entered preset orbit. At 9:17 pm, the solar panels onboard the spacecraft smoothly unfolded, with all functions in normal operating condition, marking the success of the first launch of a spaceship to the space station core cabin, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA.)

The Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft was originally slated to be launched at around 1:30 am on May 20 and to head to China's Tianhe space station core cabin, which was launched into orbit on April 29, for a supply run. However, the launch was scrubbed narrowly following an announcement from CMSA on the early morning of May 20 for "technical reasons."  

Following the announcement of the successful launch, the People's Daily disclosed Saturday that on May 20, within less than four hours  of the planned launch, which was planned at around 1:30 am, the ground command center found a parameter indicating  pressure levels returning abnormal data, indicating that the rocket could no longer meet the launch requirements.

Research teams then decided, without hesitation, to delay the launch, two hours before the planned schedule. 

Research teams were dispatched immediately to check system functions, while the command center prepared for an attempt to recover the mission, which had been set to a day later in the early morning of May 21.

However, after liquid oxygen was refueled eight hours before the scheduled launch time, abnormal signals once again occurred. 

Space observers saw the postponement as a normal practice in the aerospace industry and said it showed China is not rushing into anything but keeping a steady pace, and is resolute in preventing any potential risks from going to space.

The Tianzhou cargo craft, dubbed the "delivery guy" of China's space station, is tasked with refueling the Tianhe space station core cabin for its maintenance in orbit, conducting space scientific experiments, and also shipping living necessities for astronauts on future crewed mission at the space station, Global Times learned from the project contractors.

It will conduct rendezvous and docking with the Tianhe core module cabin, refuel its propellant and then begin the combination flight, during which a range of key technology including robotic arms' movements will be tested.

As the first spaceship launched in the space station construction phase, Tianzhou-2 weighed 13.5 tons at launch, and is capable of sending a payload of 6.9 tons for supply missions. Its in-orbit service is at least one year, said Feng Yong, commander-in-chief of the Tianzhou-2 mission from the project contractor China Academy of Space Technology (CAST).

The 10.6-meter-long, 3.35-meter-diameter Tianzhou-2 cargo spaceship has two components - a totally enclosed cargo cabin and a propelling cabin, according to CAST. 

The carry-on onboard the Tianhe spacecraft includes consumables that are designed to support three astronauts on their space missions for three months, space suits for missions outside cabin and other supplies, Feng revealed, adding that during its docking with the space station core cabin, it will also carry out multiple in-orbit experiments. 

Tianzhou-2 will also deliver propellants to refuel the Tianhe core cabin, Mu Guoxin, a CAST publicity official said.

"Next, the Shenzhou-12 manned spaceship will dock with the core cabin at the front, and altogether the three sections will form the first linear structure for China's space station," Mu noted.

There were 6.8 tons of supplies onboard the Tianzhou-2, including some 160 parcels of goods and two tons of propellants, according to the CAST. "The load to total mass ratio is over 50 percent, indicating its world leading capacity."

The two space suits for the astronauts' outside-cabin activities weigh more than 100 kilograms each, it disclosed.

Another major function of the cargo spacecraft is refueling other in-orbit components of the space station with the propellants it has carried to space. After docking with the core cabin, it will autonomously connect and inject the propellants, ensuring a stable, long-term operation of the space station, the Global Times learned from its vice chief designer Dang Rong. 

The waste generated in the space station will also be stored in the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft. After completing its mission and separating from the space station, the cargo spacecraft will not directly return to the ground, but instead return to a predetermined sea area along with the waste, enter the atmosphere, and then get burned off, Yang Hong, chief designer of China's space station said during an interview with CCTV News.

It is the third flight of the 53.1-meter-long, 3.35-meter-diameter Long March-7 rocket, which is fueled by the new clean energy of liquid oxygen and kerosene.

The rocket has four 2.25-meter-diameter boosters and a weight at launch of 597 tons, and is capable of sending a payload of 13.5 tons to the low Earth orbit and of 5.5 tons to the 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit, the rocket's developer the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) told the Global Times. 

Long March-7 made its maiden flight on June 25, 2016 from Wenchang spaceport in Hainan, and a second flight on April 20, 2017.

Designed specially for China's manned space missions, Long March-7 went on its second mission sending the Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft for a successful rendezvous and docking with the Tiangong-2 space lab around two days after the launch. 

Compared to the Tianzhou-1, the new version will attempt to speed up the process of rendezvous and docking with the Tianhe core module cabin, shortening it from about two days to only a few hours, the Global Times learned from mission insiders. 

Tianzhou-2 has also developed skills in altitude control and course correction after it has docked with the core module.

CALT said in a statement it sent to the Global Times that the smooth execution of the Friday mission is of great importance, as it is the first spacecraft docking with the China's space station. CALT referred to the mission as the "decisive battle" that connects the first and later construction missions of the space station.  

In order to precisely send the payload of the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft to the same space orbit as the Tianhe core cabin for a smooth rendezvous, developers of the Long March-7 Y3 said they have adopted a new automatic course correction technology, enabling the rocket to overcome minor orbital deviance, if any occurs at launch or during flight, and expand the launch window from zero to some two minutes. 

They also said that the design reliability of the rocket type has reached 0.98, a world leading standard. Its transfer process is able to weather a strong Force 8 gale, and it can also be launched in rain. 

Apart from four cargo spacecraft launch missions in the following two years in the space station construction phase, Long March-7 will keep a mission frequency of two launches every year in the operation phase of the space station, developers revealed. 

Next, the Shenzhou-12 crewed spacecraft is scheduled for launch via the Long March-2F carrier rocket in June, sending three astronauts into orbit for about three months, during which the regenerative life support system and maintenance will be tested.  

An intense schedule of 11 launches has been set for the construction of China's space station, which started on April 29 with the launch of Tianhe core cabin and will continue through 2022. China's space station is expected to become operational by around 2022. 

US Mounts ‘Forced Labor’ Lies on Fishing Firm to Serve Strategy of Containing China Following Attack on Xinjiang Industries

By Ma Jingjing

May 29, 2021 06:47 PM

Fishermen work on an aquafarm at Changhai county in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning Province, July 8, 2019. Photo: Xinhua

While the US' groundless allegations of "forced labor" in Xinjiang's industries including cotton, tomatoes and solar energy did not achieve its goals of containing China, the US is turning to another Chinese industry by imposing a new import ban on seafood from a Chinese fishing company.

Experts said that the US aims to further suppress China by imposing bans on a wider range of Chinese industries and enterprises, but the wrong calculations from the US scapegoating China for its own inadequacies and internal problems will only accelerate its decline.

The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Friday issued a withhold release order against Dalian Ocean Fishing Co, citing "the use of forced labor" in the company's fishing operations, according to a statement on the bureau's website.

Many workers on the vessels are Indonesians, Reuters reported, citing CBP officials.

The CBP said it will immediately detain tuna, swordfish and other products from the entity at US ports of entry. It's worth noting that it's the first time that the CBP banned an entire fleet of fishing vessels, as opposed to individual vessels targeted in the past.

Established in 2000, Dalian Ocean Fishing Co is a leading ultra-low temperature long-line premium tuna fishing company headquartered in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning Province. It operates a fleet of 33 ultra-low temperature long-line fishing vessels, according to an introduction on the website.

"The US' latest move indicates that it would impose bans on a wider range of Chinese industries apart from Xinjiang industries in a bid to further weaken and suppress China in the competition between the two," Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations at China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times.

The US aims to draw a third party in to confront China over the issue of "forced labor" by claiming "abuses" against Indonesian workers, Li said, noting that this is in line with the Biden administration's consistent policy on China by drawing partners into strategic competition against China.

Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University, told the Global Times on Saturday that it's already widely known that the US' ulterior purpose is hindering China's national rejuvenation by seeking decoupling with China in technology and industrial chains, with issues like "forced labor" and privacy protection being major excuses.

"China's national rejuvenation is in line with market and globalization rules," Wang said. He said Washington's wrong actions of targeting China as a scapegoat for looming domestic social and economic contradictions will only allow the US to miss a golden opportunity to launch internal reforms, serving to speed up its decline.

The US has been confronting China with the excuse of "forced labor" for some time, which China has repeatedly denied with abundant evidence.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying reiterated at a regular press briefing on May 12 that the allegations of "forced labor" in Xinjiang are an outrageous lie, and those in the US and the West who hype the issue in order to harm Chinese companies and industries are following a malicious agenda to destabilize Xinjiang and contain China.

It is the US – the Role Model for Exploiting Forced Labor

By Li Chang’an

May 28, 2021 06:48 PM

Demonstrators protest against racial injustice to mark Juneteenth, commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, near the White House in Washington, D.C., the US, June 19, 2020. Photo:Xinhua

Ron Wyden, chairman of US Senate Finance Committee and a Democrat from Oregon, recently raised a seafood provision as an amendment to the proposed US Innovation and Competition Act. It requires US authorities to issue stricter regulations on seafood imports from China and over 20 other countries. According to a joint report from the US Commerce and State Departments last year, China was "a significant offender in the use of forced labor in their fishing sector," Politico reported. 

Some Western media outlets have been hyping the issues of Xinjiang cotton, claiming they are produced by "forced labor." As a matter of fact, the West's "concern" over Chinese labor has never ceased since reform and opening-up. They have smeared China as "a hub for sweatshops." Lately, they are again playing up the issue of "human rights" and "labor standards." This is not only a means to set up new trade barriers against China, but also an excuse to promote the recently passed Endless Frontier Act, which is also aimed at China. 

There is a strict definition of "forced labor" internationally. For example, according to the Forced Labour Convention, issued by the International Labour Organisation in 1930, "the term forced or compulsory labour shall mean all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily." In 1957, the International Labour Organisation issued the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention. China also has laws and regulations against forced labor.

Objectively speaking, China has taken firm and effective measures to protect the rights and interests of workers and to crack down on forced labor violations. Over the past 40 years of reform and opening-up, China has made world-renowned achievements in the protection of labor rights, including realizing the continuous rise of labor wages and the gradual improvement of the social security system. 

These achievements have not only benefited the working people, but also won widespread praise from the international community.

In September 2020, the US Customs and Border Protection Bureau announced a ban on imports from five Chinese companies from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and a manufacturer over "forced labor." Following this, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry commented at the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing that solar panel and other components in renewable energy produced in Xinjiang would be targeted as its new trade sanctions against China. It is worth noting that China is not the only country to be included in the seafood provision. This yet is another example of the US acting as an "international policeman" in the field of labor.

In fact, the US is a "role model" for exploiting forced labor. The US has a long history of selling black slaves. According to statistics, the labor value of black slaves exploited by US slave owners is equivalent to as much as $14 trillion in current prices. Even up to now, forced labor is still deep-seated in the US, with a mere shift of victims from black slaves to immigrants. According to relevant statistics, in the past five years, all 50 states and Washington D.C. reported cases of forced labor and human trafficking. In 2019 alone, the FBI reported 1,883 cases of human trafficking, over 500 more than 2018. 

Up to 100,000 people have been trafficked into the US for forced labor annually. Half of them are sold to sweatshops or enslaved in households. The problem of forced labor is particularly prominent in more than 20 industries, including domestic services, agriculture, planting, tourism, catering, medical care and beauty. 

Recently, it was revealed by some media that hundreds of Indian workers have been forced to work in the US, which once again put the protection of labor rights in the US into the forefront of international outrage. It is reported that those Indian workers are compelled to work more than 87 hours per week, receiving only US$1.2 per hour. This is far less than the minimum salary stipulated in federal and state laws and regulations. 

The US has a notorious record of not protecting labor rights and fair work. According to relevant reports of international labor organizations, systematic violation of labor rights exists in the US, a country with the worst performance among major developed countries.

The author is a professor of the Academy of China Open Economy Studies, University of International Business and Economics. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn

China Administers Over 600m Doses of COVID-19 Vaccine with Record 100m Shots Achieved within 5 Days

By Global Times

May 29, 2021 07:45 PM

Photo: VCG

The Chinese mainland has administered more than 600 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine as of Friday, and with an ever-accelerating speed, it took China only five days to bring the number from 500 million to 600 million. 

Since the Chinese mainland administered the first 100 million doses on March 27, the pace of the world's largest vaccination drive has been accelerated constantly. Finishing the second 100 million doses took China only 25 days, but the sixth 100 million only took five days, according to figures released by the National Health Commission (NHC).

Since May 12, more than 10 million doses have been administered every day in China, and on May 26, the daily number rose to 20 million.  

The US has only administered around 1.4 million doses on a daily basis in the past few days. According to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US administered 292.1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine as of Friday, and the number on Thursday was 290.7 million doses.   

China's top respiratory disease specialist Zhong Nanshan said on Friday that China needs to inoculate 80 percent of its residents in order to develop herd immunity, the China News Service reported on Saturday. 

Zhong said vaccine coverage will reach 40 percent by early July, and will reach 80 percent by the end of this year. He urged Chinese vaccine developers to further expand annual production capacity. 

Global Times 

SADC States to Enhance Cooperation on Funding Energy Projects

Mapolao Mokoena

NAIROBI. — Sadc member states have agreed to enhance cooperation to address policy challenges affecting funding for regional energy infrastructure projects and to find innovative ways to unlock projects from a funding and compliance point. 

This was reached at during a virtual workshop held by the SADC Secretariat in the Kenyan capital on Wednesday.

The workshop was held in collaboration with the Southern African Power Pool which runs the Accelerating Regional Energy Projects programme for the SADC. 

The programme aims to establish a sustainable framework of designing, preparing and financing regional generation and transmission infrastructure projects in SADC member states that would increase the number of projects in the construction phase.

Mapolao Mokoena, the director for infrastructure at the SADC Secretariat, said  that the gaps, risks and challenges facing SADC member states revolved around member states’ commitment to regional transnational projects, intergovernmental memoranda of understanding, tax and value-added tax issues on donor funds, and access and limitation to project development funding.

“Changes in priority of member states with respect to domestic and regional interconnected projects could be addressed through intervention from the SADC Secretariat at a ministerial level and designation of projects as Presidential Critical Infrastructure Project (PCIP) so that there is continuity.

“Under the PCIP, officials would be responsible for coordinating the various ministries. Ministers responsible for finance and investment could also engage at regional level to agree on currency, funding and sovereign guarantees to address these gaps and risks,” Mokoena said. 

— ChinaDaily.

Namibia: First Couple 'In Good Spirits' After Positive Coronavirus Tests

The Namibian

Namibian President Hage Geingob and First Lady Monica Geingob (left).

27 MAY 2021

The Namibian (Windhoek)

PRESIDENT Hage Geingob and first lady Monica Geingos are in self-isolation after testing positive for Covid-19 and are in "good spirits".

The Presidency announced on Thursday morning that the first couple had tested positive on Wednesday, 26 May.

"The president and the first lady are in good spirits and self-isolating at their residence. The Presidency wishes the president and the first lady a speedy recovery," a statement said.

By Wednesday, the Ministry of Health and Social Services had recorded 53 603 confirmed novel coronavirus infections in Namibia.

Since the start of the pandemic, 789 deaths linked to Covid-19 have been recorded in the country, with 24 deaths due to the disease announced since Monday.

The number of current active confirmed coronavirus infections in Namibia stood at 3 207 on Wednesday.

DRC: 30 Parliamentarians Died of Covid-19

Africa News

ARSENE MPIANA/AFP or licensors

By Michael Oduor with AFP

Some 32 parliamentarians in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have died of Covid-19 since the virus was first reported in the country in March 2020, the speaker of the National Assembly confirmed.

This was announced Thursday by the first vice president of the National Assembly, Jean-Marc Kabund.

The announcement comes as the authorities fear the third wave of coronavirus cases.

The infection rate has been increasing in recent days. At least 107 new cases were identified on Thursday, including 102 in Kinshasa.

As of May 28, official figures show 31,385 confirmed cases and 782 deaths. The capital Kinshasa has been the epicenter of the epidemic and has recorded more than 21,700 cases since the first case was reported in the country.

Several close associates of President Felix Tshisekedi have died from the disease according to local reports.

However, the majority of the capital's inhabitants remain skeptical about the presence, or even the existence, of Covid-19 in this sprawling suburbs, which has so far been relatively spared.

Already on its 40th day of the vaccination campaign, DRC has inoculated close to 20,000 people.

However, many Congolese remain suspicious or hostile to the vaccine, particularly due to rumors spread on social networks.

DRC had to give 1.3 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to its neighbors out of the 1.7 million received through the UN Covax system.

DRC has 384,000 doses in stock and has received 50,000 more doses from the Indian government," according to the government.

SADC Summit: Combat Terrorism and Ensure Peace in Mozambique

SADC summit in Maputo proves fruitful.

Africa News

By Kizzi Asala and Euronews with AFP

The crisis in Cabo Delgado is also posing a threat to other countries in the Southern African Development Community.

The matter was discussed in Maputo, the Mozambican capital, at a SADC summit.

The aim is to make efforts to combat terrorism in this region of northern Mozambique that has already resulted in hundreds of thousands of displaced persons and over 2,800 deaths.

In addition, to ensure lasting peace and security in the country.

For Filipe Nyusi the president of Mozambique, the talks were forward-moving.

"We came out of this Summit more resolute, stronger and clearer of the concrete steps we must take to contain the attacks perpetrated by men instrumentalized by principals who live off organised crime.

"We adopted measures aimed at eliminating the root cause of terrorist actions, by strengthening the operational capacity of the Defence and Security forces to combat them.

"Border security, elimination of terrorist financing sources and reconstruction of destroyed infrastructures''.

It was confirmed during the summit that progress has been made in finding a solution to the armed violence that has lasted for more than three years in Cabo Delgado.

A SADC technical mission visited the region last month and proposes to send nearly 3,000 troops and military assets to help Mozambique fight the armed groups responsible for the attacks that have wreaked havoc.

Thursday, the Portuguese defence minister João Gomes Cravinho announced that the European Union is preparing a mission to train elite Mozambican military forces -- which extends the work that Portugal has been doing in recent years. 

Germany Recognizes Colonial Killings in Namibia as Genocide

Africa News

KAY NIETFELD/AFP

The accord announced Friday is the result of more than five years of talks with Namibia on the events of 1904-1908, when Germany was the southern African country's colonial ruler.

Historians say German Gen. Lothar von Trotha, who was sent to what was then German South West Africa to put down an uprising by the Herero people in 1904, instructed his troops to wipe out the entire tribe. They say that about 65,000 Herero were killed and at least 10,000 Nama.

“In the light of Germany's historical and moral responsibility, we will ask Namibia and the descendants of the victims for forgiveness,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a statement.

“Our aim was and is to find a joint path to genuine reconciliation in remembrance of the victims,” he said. “That includes our naming the events of the German colonial era in today's Namibia, and particularly the atrocities between 1904 and 1908, unsparingly and without euphemisms.”

“We will now officially call these events what they were from today's perspective: a genocide.”

Talks between Germany and Namibia opened in 2015, more than a decade after a 2004 visit to Namibia in which then-Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul offered Germany’s first apology for the killings, which she said were “what today would be labeled as genocide.”

Maas said that, “as a gesture of recognition of the incalculable suffering," Germany plans to support Namibia and the descendants of the victims with a 1.1 billion-euro “rebuilding and development” program in whose design and implementation “the communities affected by the genocide will take a decisive role.”

At the same time, he said that “legal claims to compensation cannot be derived from this.”

That reflects Germany's position that the Genocide Convention of 1948 can't be applied retroactively, and that its liability is political and moral rather than legal.

The projects Germany will now fund are expected to stretch over a 30-year period and will cover areas such as land reform, including land purchases, agriculture, rural infrastructure, water supply and vocational training. They will be separate from continuing development aid to Namibia.

Germany says that representatives of the Herero and Nama were involved in the negotiations, though Berlin's direct dealings have been with the Namibian government.

Germany gained control of the desert country in the 1880s and surrendered the territory to South Africa in 1915. Namibia gained independence in 1990.