Nigeria: Fierce Bomb Attack Kills 25 in Maiduguri
Abuja, Nigeria
Fierce bomb attacks in Maiduguri town in north-eastern Nigeria on Sunday have left at least 25 people killed and several others wounded.
The attacks targeting outdoor beer gardens in Dala Ward of Maiduguri were carried out by the notorious Islamic sect Boko Haram responsible for the bombing of police headquarters in Abuja earlier this month.
Two men believed to be Boko Haram member riding on a motorcycle threw bombs and fired shots indiscriminately at a packed outdoor beer garden at Dala Kabompi neighbourhood killing at least 25 people and left about 30 others seriously injured.
An eyewitness on the site told reporters that he heard a loud bang followed by indiscriminate shootings and plumes of black smoke filled the area with people screaming and running in all directions.
The attack comes after a man purported to be the spokesman of the Islamic sect distributed leaflets to journalists warning that the group would launch more attacks following angering remarks from the country’s police chief during his visit to the city, where he cited that days of Boko Haram were numbered.
The leaflet also warned residents of all northern states to stay indoors to avoid getting caught in the violence.The group has been involved a recent in a wave of attacks in Borno and Bauchi states in northern Nigeria mainly targeting the police.
President Goodluck Jonathan has said there would be a possible sanction on the country’s security forces over what he termed as “an intelligence failure” to which the fundamentalist terror group has exploited to its advantage.
The group claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing of police headquarters in Abuja earlier this month where 15 people were believed to have died. Several of the sect’s followers were killed in the 2009 clashes between the group and security forces in its Maiduguri strong-hold leading to arrest of its leader Mohammed Yusuf who later died in custody.
Boko Haram has vowed to continue with its trademarked attacks on police installations until Islamic laws are adopted in predominantly Muslim northern states alongside its other demands.
Tripoli, Libya
Zuma condemns NATO Operation
South African President Jacob Zuma has criticised NATO’s operation in Libya for exceeding its mandate during the opening of the African Union (AU) panel on Libya held in Pretoria, South Africa on Sunday.
Zuma said that the UN resolution that mandated NATO’s operation was not to authorise a campaign for regime change or political assassination, rather to protect the Libyan people and facilitate the humanitarian efforts.
The high-level ad hoc committee on Libya attended by four heads of state met to discuss developments on the Libyan situation and also review efforts towards establishing a political solution to the conflict. The panel called for suspension of NATO air operation in Libya and observance of a humanitarian pause.
The meeting was attended by Presidents Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of Mauritania, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Amadou Toumani Toure of Mali and Jacob Zuma of South Africa.
In a statement, the committee said it agrees to work with Libyan parties on the AU Roadmap, calling for an immediate suspension of all hostilities and commencement of national dialogue for ceasefire and democratic transformation.
“The national dialogue would be followed by the establishment of an interim government, with the support of the AU and the UN,” read the statement.
The panel welcomed a decision by the embattled Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi of not being part of the negotiation process. Rebels through their French and South African representatives have said they expect a proposal from Col Gaddafi very soon.
Elsewhere rebels have clashed with pro-Gaddafi forces near the strategic Bir al-Ghanam town 50 miles south-west of the capital, Tripoli. A rebel spokesman told the BBC that they were making a push for Tripoli during the heavy fighting in the area.
The International Criminal Court three-judge panel has issued warrants of arrest for Col Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam and country’s head of intelligence Abdullah Senussi on counts of alleged murder and persecution.
The NATO air strike entered its 100 days on Monday as it increasingly comes under pressure to end the operation over its validity following the recent accidental raid in a civilian held area.
Kigali, Rwanda
Ex-Women’s Minister Convicted of Genocide
A former Rwandan women’s minister has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a UN court for her role in the country’s 1994 genocide, the first woman to be convicted of the crime by the tribunal.
Pauline Nyiramasuhuko then minister for family affairs and women’s development was sentenced on charges of genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide and rape. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) based in Arusha, Tanzania accused her of ordering and assisting in the massacre in her home district of Butare in southern Rwanda.
The 65 year-old Nyiramasuhuko ordered during the genocide women and girls to be raped and forced people into trucks where they were driven away to be killed. She was accused on similar charges alongside her son Arsene Shalom Ntahobali and four other local government officials. Her son then in mid 20s led the militia wing that carried out the atrocities in the region.
Ntahobali and one of the officials were sentenced to life in prison while the other three were given prison terms of between 25 to35 years.
The ruling by the three-judge bench read that “the chamber convicts Pauline Nyiramasuhuko of conspiracy to commit genocide, crimes against humanity, extermination, rape, persecution and... violence to life and outrages upon personal dignity.”
Nyiramasuhuko was captured in Kenya in 1997 after fleeing Rwanda through neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo after the genocide. Her trial was opened in 2001 where she was found guilty on seven of the 11 counts of charges against her.
About 800,000 people were killed en masse during the 100 day-long 1994 massacre targeting Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The killings were mostly planned by members of the government who held high positions in coordination with the military and local officials.
Mogadishu, Somalia
Six Illegal Ransom Payers Released
President of the transitional government of Somalia Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has pardoned six foreign nationals arrested trying to pay more than $3million in ransom to Somali Pirates.
The six, three British nationals, two Kenyans and an American were arrested May after landing in Mogadishu airport with the money and later sentenced to jail in the first ever case involving foreigners delivering ransom.
Two of the men accused of being in possession of the money were given a 15-year jail term and a fine $15,000 each while the other four- two pilots and their assistants got 10 years and $10,000 each also. The six whose names have not been officially released were pardoned on Sunday by the president but left the country without the money, which the government confiscated.
Government spokesman Abdirahman Omar Osman said that the two planes were each fined $50,000 because of their illegal arrival so that they could be released.
Rising cases of piracy off the coast of Somalia has become a threat to the international shipping which has contributed to increase in shipping costs. Hefty ransoms from the piracy trade have been seen clearly to fund the resistance from rebel fighters. The UN says more than $110m were paid in ransoms to Somali pirates last year.
Elsewhere the UN refugee agency has expressed worry over the dramatic rise in number of new refugees arriving in Kenya from Somalia who are fleeing conflict and drought. The UNHCR said over 20,000 Somali refugees mostly farmers and pastoralists from Lower Juba and Dhobley have arrived at Dadaab refugee camp in northern Kenya over the past two weeks.
This is the largest arrival at the refugee complex which is the largest in the world formed since inception of the fighting in 1991.
Somalia has never had an operational government since the ousting of dictatorial leader Siad Barre in 1991. The UN-backed interim government continues to come under pressure from rebel factions, who are in control of much of southern region seeking control of the capital, Mogadishu.