AU Pledges to Send More Troops to Somalia
Kampala, Uganda
African Union leaders meeting in Kampala, Uganda have agreed to send additional AU peacekeepers to Somali, bowing to increased attention on the troubled state after a recent bomb attack on Uganda that left that left over 70 people dead.
Somalia’s main Islamist insurgents, Al-Shabaab, claimed responsibility for the Kampala attacks, attributing them to the presence of Ugandan and Burundi troops in Somalia. The Al Qaeda-linked group is fighting to depose the country’s UN-backed transitional federal government.
The AU heads of state approved 2,000 additional troops and more arms to the 6,100-strong AU mission in Somalia (AMISOM). The leaders have also considered changing the mission’s mandate from peacekeeping to peace enforcement, a decision that is awaiting approval from the UN Security Council.
The three-day summit was aimed to discuss maternal mortality and child health but was largely dominated by security matters. [ER].
Darfur: Talks on Progress, Security Remains Grounded
New York, USA
The peace process between Sudanese government and Darfuri rebels are progressiong steadily but the security situation in the region has deteriorated, the head of the UN-AU Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) has told the UN Security Council.
UNAMID chief Ibrahim Gambari said there were prospects of a deal to end the conflict in the latest round of talks in Qatar between the government and the rebel Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM), but warned that insecurity had risen. Of recent there have been clashes between government troops and Darfur’s main rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), and also inter-tribal conflicts between two semi-nomadic Arab tribes that left over 250 civilian casualties.
Gambari also expressed concern over attacks on UN and humanitarian personnel in the region. Over 300,000 people have died in the seven-year conflict, figures which the Khartoum government denies.
The ICC recently issued a second warrant of arrest of President Omar Al-Bashir for atrocities committed in Darfur. [ER].
Four Plead Guilty to Racism Charges in South Africa
Bloemfontein, South Africa
Four white South Africans have pled guilty to charges of humiliating black domestic staff after a video of their actions was posted on the internet.
The four, who are former students of the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, were charged with impairing the dignity of five black employees buy making them kneel and eat food mixed with urine in a video filmed three years ago.
A sentence is expected midweek, and the case has drawn protests at the campus where the four were enrolled. [ER].
Deadly Liquor Kills 17 in Nairobi Slum
Nairobi, Kenya.
Over 17 people have died and a dozen left blind after consuming illicit liquor on Monday in the Nairobi slum of Kibera.
Police believe the poisonous moonshine, locally known as Chang'aa, was laced with methanol. Some victims were found dead in their homes while others died in hospital. Samples of the drink have since been taken to government chemist for testing as the woman accused of distilling the liquor has been arrested.
The illegal drink is popular among Nairobi’s urban poor because it is cheap, and its unregulated distillers sometimes use toxic additives to make it more potent. [ER].