Anxious' Nigerians await name of next President

ABUJA, Nigeria

Nigeria's general elections were on almost everyone's lips, Sunday (Feb. 26). The vote was mostly peaceful despite some cases of violence, delays and technical glitches.

However, the slow uploading of results online was starting to stir up fears of electoral malpractice. Voters waited anxiously in Lagos.

"We are anxious for the result because this election is going to determine Nigeria unity moving forward because whoever that comes as a president, he knows that he has a lot of work to do," businessman Yusufu Eshinuku said. 

"I pray for Nigerians, something positive should happen to us."

Nearly 90 million voters were eligible to vote on Saturday for a successor to President Muhammadu Buhari, who is stepping down after two terms marked by worsening security and growing poverty.

The election pits former Lagos governor Bola Tinubu, 70, of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) against an old rival, former vice president Atiku Abubakar, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), 76.

But for the first time since the end of military rule in 1999, a third-party candidate, Peter Obi of the Labour Party, has challenged the APC and PDP dominance with a campaign message of change.

Spread over more than 176,000 polling units, voters also cast their ballot for Nigeria's two houses of parliament, the National Assembly and Senate.

In Lagos and other cities, crowds stormed polling stations late on Saturday as electoral officials tallied the first results by hand and read out the counts before transmitting them to a central database.

"We just finished counting, but we need to make sure they upload the results," said Chizoba Onuoha, an IT manager, watching the count at her Lagos polling station.

In the southern oil hub of Port Harcourt, a dozen people were still at their polling unit after the counting had finished on Saturday, shouting at the electoral official to destroy unused ballots.

"The empty ballots, we want them to void them, so that they don't use them!" said Nkechi Njoku, 42, who sells fabric and said she had not left since arriving to vote in the morning.

"We are protecting our votes," said Robert Ihuoma, a 38-year-old data analyst standing next to her.

Votes were cast in Benue, Adamawa and Bayelsa states even as the counting of ballots ballots was underway Sunday in places where polls had closed, election observers said. Preliminary results were expected as early as Sunday evening.

As of Sunday morning, results for the presidential election were not yet available on the website of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Yiaga Africa, the country’s largest election monitoring body, said it was "deeply concerned with the delay."

The commission has 14 days to officially announce results, but an online tally could be made available in the next hours or days.

Despite the isolated cases of violence and technical problems, INEC remained confident about the electoral process.

"We have lost ballot boxes here and there... but we will continue to protect the process and we will continue to proceed courageously and ensure that we conclude this in a very free, fair and credible manner," said INEC's chairman Mahmood Yakubu.

The historically tight presidential election has some analysts forecasting an unprecedented runoff between the two frontrunners.

To win the presidency, a candidate must get the most votes but also win 25 percent in two-thirds of Nigeria's 36 states.

The competitive race has some analysts forecasting an unprecedented runoff between the two frontrunners if no candidate meets election requirements. It would have to be organised within 21 days.

UN calls for Russia to immediately withdraw troops from Ukraine

UNITED NATIONS, New York

The United Nations General Assembly has approved a non-binding resolution that calls for Russia to end hostilities in Ukraine and demands the withdrawal of its forces.

The move sends a strong message on the eve of the first anniversary of the invasion that Moscow's aggression must end.

The 141-7 vote with 32 abstentions was slightly below the highest vote for the five previous resolutions approved by the 193-member world body since Russia sent troops and tanks across the border into its smaller neighbour on February 24, 2022.

The General Assembly's resolutions may be non-binding but are a powerful barometer of international opinion. 

The UN Security Council is the world body responsible for maintaining peace and security but is paralysed by Russia's veto because the country is a permanent member. 

Foreign ministers and diplomats from more than 75 countries addressed the assembly during two days of debate, with many urging support for the resolution that upholds Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

That is a basic principle of the UN Charter that all countries must subscribe to when they join the world organisation.

In his appeal to the assembly, Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau said Ukrainians deserve “not only our compassion but also our support and solidarity.”

Germany’s Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, asked countries that claim “that by arming Ukraine, we are pouring oil into the fire” why Western nations would do that.

"The West didn’t want or choose the war and would rather focus all its energy and money on fixing schools, fighting the climate crisis or strengthening social justice," she told the assembly. “But the truth is: If Russia stops fighting, this war ends. If Ukraine stops fighting, Ukraine ends.”

Venezuela’s deputy ambassador addressed the council on behalf of 16 countries that either voted against or abstained on almost all five previous resolutions on Ukraine: Belarus, Bolivia, Cambodia, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Laos, Mali, Nicaragua, North Korea, St. Vincent, Syria, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

While other countries focused on Russia’s actions, Deputy Ambassador Joaquín Pérez Ayestarán said Wednesday that all countries without exception "must stringently comply with the United Nations Charter."

He said the countries in his group were against what he called divisive action in the General Assembly, and for "a spirit of compromise."

China’s deputy UN ambassador Dai Bing told the assembly Thursday: “We support Russia and Ukraine in moving towards each other, resuming direct dialogue as soon as possible, bringing their legitimate concerns into the negotiation, setting out feasible options, and giving a chance to an early end of the crisis and the rebuilding of peace.”

“The international community should make joint efforts to facilitate peace talks.”

But European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters the aggressor and the victim can’t be put on equal terms, and Ukraine cannot be asked not to defend itself.

Captain Thomas Sankara and 12 ministers reburied in Burkina Faso

By Arsene Kabore, OUAGADOUGOU Burkina Faso

The late Burkina Faso revolutionary leader, Captain Thomas Sankara was reburied Thursday, eight years after his body was exhumed as part of an investigation.

A man poses for a picture as he stands next to the coffin containing the remains of Burkina Faso's revolutionary leader, Thomas Sankara, during his reburial ceremony in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023.

Sankara’s body, and those of the 12 people who died with him, were reburied at the site of his assassination, which has since become a memorial for Sankara featuring a life-sized statue of the former leader pumping his fist in the air.

Soldiers and community leaders paid tribute during a ceremony Thursday, some posing for pictures by Sankara’s coffin. All the coffins were draped in Burkina Faso flags with a photo beside them.

Sankara and the others were gunned down in the capital, Ouagadougou, during a 1987 coup and buried hastily. Their bodies were allowed to be dug up in 2015, after the ousting of former President Blaise Compaore.

Sankara, a charismatic Marxist leader with a reputation as “Africa’s Che Guevara,” came to power in 1983 at the age of 33 after he and Compaore led a leftist coup that overthrew a moderate military faction. But in 1987, Compaore turned on his former friend in a coup in which he seized power and then ruled the country for 30 years.

Last year, Compaore, who now lives in Ivory Coast, was tried in absentia and convicted of complicity in their murders. A Burkina Faso military tribunal sentenced him to life imprisonment. Compaore’s right-hand man, Gilbert Diendere, and former spy chief Tousma Yacinthe Kafando were also given life sentences.

Eight other people were found guilty of a range of charges including giving false testimonies and complicity in undermining state security.

While Sankara’s family was happy that he was finally laid to rest, they said the place of burial was like a slap in the face because of the horrors that occurred there. The family asked the government to bury him elsewhere but was told it was at the army’s discretion since Sankara was a soldier.

People stand next to a statute of Burkina Faso's revolutionary leader, Thomas Sankara, during his reburial ceremony in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023. Sankara, was reburied, eight years after his body was exhumed as part of an investigation. The revolutionary leader and twelve others were gunned down in the capital, Ouagadougou, during a 1987 coup and buried hastily, their bodies only allowed to be dug up in 2015, after the ousting of former President Blaise Compaore, who ruled the country with an iron fist for nearly 30 years and prevented the exhumation.

“That place is painful for us to put our feet there. A lot of people were tortured there and crimes committed there and murders,” his younger brother Paul Sankara told The Associated Press by phone from the United States, where he lives.

The West African nation has struggled with a jihadi insurgency linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group that has killed thousands and displaced nearly 2 million people and sowed division among the population, leading to two coups last year.

The current junta leader, Capt. Ibrahim Traore, has been likened by some to Sankara, as an anti-imperialist pan-African leader, and is using the reburial to increase support, analysts said.

“With undertaking a symbolic state funeral for Sankara, Traore aims to boost his image by appealing to the collective memory of the young revolutionary leader that still shapes society in Burkina Faso,” said Mucahid Durmaz, senior analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, a global risk intelligence firm. - AP

Nigeria's main presidential candidates sign "peace" deal

ABUJA, Nigeria

Four top Nigerian presidential candidates signed a "peace" deal on Wednesday ahead of presidential elections on Saturday.

The only candidate absent from the ceremony was Bola Ahmed Tinubu from the ruling party All Progressives Congress (APC) who was represented by his vice presidential running mate.

The head of the Nigerian electoral commission confirmed the organisation is ready to hold the election.

"The signing of the Peace Accord today comes at a critical moment in the electoral calendar. Campaign for Presidential and National Assembly elections ends at midnight tomorrow Thursday 23rd February 2023. Election will hold on Saturday this week. INEC is ready." said the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mahmood Yakubu.

Past presidential elections in Nigeria have been marred by violence, fraud, court challenges and a rise in ethnic tensions.

The peace deal is a private initiative of religious, traditional and opinion leaders who urged candidates to focus on issues and steer away from incitement to violence.

"The Commission is committed to free, fair and credible elections in compliance with the electoral legal framework and the letter and spirit of the Peace Accord. 

All political parties and candidates are hereby reassured of the Commission's neutrality. INEC is not a political party, we have no candidate in the election.

Our allegiance is to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and our loyalty is to Nigerians", announced the electoral chief.

A total of 18 presidential hopefuls are running, including one woman.

According to analysts, the election race will be close with third party candidate Peter Obi challenging the traditional dominance of the ruling APC and main opposition PDP.

Russia denies plans to test new missile off South Africa

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa

The Russian military denied Wednesday that it was planning to test its new Zircon hypersonic missiles during naval drills off the coast of South Africa this week that will coincide with the one-year anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine.

China’s navy also is participating in the Indian Ocean exercises, which come at a time when Russia’s relationship with the West is at its lowest point since the Cold War, and ties between China and the United States are under serious strain.

As Russian and Chinese warships prepared in South Africa for their joint drills, Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted China’s most senior foreign policy official at the Kremlin. Those meetings showed the strengthening of Russia’s relationship with China and raised concern in the West that Beijing might be ready to offer Moscow stronger support for its war in Ukraine.

Russia’s aims for the naval exercises came under scrutiny because of the involvement of the Admiral Gorshkov, a frigate which is armed with hypersonic missiles and has served as the main testbed for them. The ship arrived in Cape Town last week emblazoned with the letters Z and V, letters also seen on Russian weapons on the front lines in Ukraine and which are used as patriotic symbols in Russia.

Russia has said the Zircon missiles can penetrate any missile defense systems by flying at an astounding 7,000 miles per hour (11,265 km/h) — around nine times the speed of sound — to strike targets at sea and on land. They have a range of more than 1,000 kilometers (over 620 miles), Russia claims.

Putin sent the Admiral Gorshkov on a trans-ocean cruise last month in a show of force as tensions with the West escalated over Ukraine. But a Russian navy officer in South Africa said Wednesday that the exercises would focus on maritime security, including the fight against piracy, and the Zircons would not be fired.

The drills will involve “mutual maneuvering of the three sides, assistance of the suffering vessel in a disaster, liberation of a captured vessel by the pirates, and artillery fire which, according to our schedule, does not include the firing with the hypersonic missiles,” Capt. Oleg Gladkiy said. He spoke through a translator.

The Admiral Gorshkov and a Russian oil tanker for refueling, a Chinese destroyer, frigate and a support vessel, and a South African frigate will be involved in the exercises, according to a South African military statement released last week.

Ukraine’s ambassador to South Africa, Liubov Abravitova., criticized the timing of the drills, which will overlap with Friday’s one-year anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine.

Abravitova noted that China, Russia and South Africa, which are partners in the BRICS bloc of emerging economies, have undertaken joint naval drills before but said “it is a concern for us that they are happening at the time of the anniversary of the brutal Russian invasion.”

“The vessel that came to the shores of South Africa basically brought a piece of the war to this peaceful land through having the letters Z and V, which they are using as a marking on their military equipment while bombing Ukrainian cities,” Abravitova said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Last week, a small yacht flying Ukraine’s flag sailed by the Admiral Gorshkov in Cape Town’s harbor in protest. On Wednesday, a group of protesters gathered outside the Russian Embassy in the South African capital, Pretoria. They criticized the presence of the Russian warship and South Africa’s decision to host it.

One protester held up a placard that read: “DON’T PLAY with bullies.”

South Africa, a key partner of the West in Africa, has come under criticism for holding the naval exercises but has defended itself by saying they were planned two years ago, well before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The exercises are to be held around the Indian Ocean port cities of Durban and Richards Bay. Media access was restricted.

US first lady arrives in Namibia on Africa tour

WINDHOEK, Namibia 

The United States first lady Jill Biden has arrived in Namibia on the first stop on a five-day Africa tour, part of a push by the United States to strengthen its ties on the continent.

The airplane carrying US first lady Jill Biden lands in the Namibia capital Windhoek on February 22, 2023

She landed at the airport in Namibia's capital Windhoek on Wednesday afternoon before heading to Heroes' Acre, a war memorial, together with the first lady of Namibia Monica Geingos.

Her trip will focus on education, health and empowering youth and women, she said in a statement on social media.

After Namibia she will go to Kenya where she will hear from those affected by drought and food insecurity, she said.

The Biden administration is planning a slew of high-level visits to Africa this year in an effort to counter the influence of China and Russia on the continent.

South Africa is currently hosting a joint naval exercise with Russia and China, a move the country says is routine but which has alarmed the United States and other Western partners.

It is Jill Biden's first trip to Africa as first lady.

DR Congo and Rwanda army commanders to face sanctions

BRUSSELS, Belgium

The United States, Britain and European Union are to announce fresh sanctions targeting military commanders and militia leaders involved in the ongoing fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

This fresh round of sanctions will target military commanders from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, the BBC has learnt.

The two countries have traded accusations over the conflict in the mineral rich region of DR Congo.

Eastern DR Congo has seen an escalation of fighting in recent days between Congolese forces and rebel groups that has killed thousands and displaced millions more.

Diplomats have told the BBC that others on the list include leaders from the M23 rebel group, Rwanda-backed militias and the Islamic State affiliate ADF.

Fighting has escalated in recent weeks in the east with all the warring sides accused of violating a ceasefire agreement.

Regionally backed peace talks to end the violence have collapsed. - BBC

Kenya comedian and 16 artists arraigned in court for demonstrating against high cost of living

NAIROBI, Kenya

Kenya comedian, Eric Omondi and 16 other content creators were charged Friday with taking part in unlawful assembly outside Parliament, Nairobi, following their protest against the high cost of living.

They were apprehended on Tuesday, after staging a sit-down on the road and attempting to storm into Parliament.

In their protests, they had demanded to speak to National Assembly Speaker, Moses Wetang'ula about the rising cost of living in Kenya.

Before Milimani Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina on Wednesday, the 17 denied the charge and pleaded for release on a "reasonable' cash bail of not more than 5,000 Kenya shillings or personal bonds. 

In his arguments for their release, their lawyer Danstan Omari said they were content creators whose intention was to push government to tame the rising cost of living.

"All these persons are international content creators. They went to Parliament to agitate for measures that will deal with the current high cost of living in the country. I urge the court to take the judicial notice that six million Kenyans are on the verge of hunger as per the government report." Mr Omari said.

"The young men represented 55 million Kenyans [in telling] Parliament to tame the high cost of living. The State has criminalized these national heroes fighting for the whole country. The people cannot afford food on their tables."

Mr Omondi and the 16 others were released on 20,000 Kenya shillings bond or 10,000 Kenya shillings cash bail each.

The case will be mentioned on March 6 for a pretrial conference.

Nigeria’s election by the numbers

ABUJA, Nigeria

Nigerians go to the polls on Saturday to elect a successor to the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), who is stepping down after eight years at the helm of Africa’s largest economy.

This combination photo shows the Presidential candidates of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi (L); All Progressives Congress, Mr Bola Tinubu (C); and Peoples Democratic Party, Mr Atiku Abubakar (R).

Candidates for the federal parliament — the House of Representatives and Senate — will also be on the ballot sheet.

Governorship elections will also take place on March 11 in most of the 36 states in the country, with the voters also casting ballots for state lawmakers in all the states.

Here’s election day in 11 numbers:

Of the 18 candidates vying for the presidency, analysts see three frontrunners:

– Atiku Abubakar, 76, of the Peoples Democratic Party, the main opposition party. A former vice president, Abubakar is a perennial hopeful for the top job — he ran in 2007 and 2009, lost his party’s primaries in 1993, 2011 and 2015.

– Bola Tinubu, 70, of the ruling All Progressives Congress. A former legislator and two-time governor of Lagos State, Tinubu is nicknamed “City Boy” and “the Godfather of Lagos” by supporters for his clout in Nigeria’s economic capital.

– Peter Obi, 61, of the Labour Party. The two-time governor of Anambra State in southeast Nigeria enjoys wide popularity among young voters. His supporters — “OBIdients” — are very popular on social media, declaring he is the only candidate who can turn the economy around.

– 93.5 million –

That’s the number of eligible voters, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission, which is in charge of the election. Lagos State, in the southwest, has the highest number, with 7.06 million registered voters. Ekiti State, also in the southwest, has the lowest, with 987,647.

– 1,265,227 –

INEC says it will need 707,384 presiding and assistant presiding officers, 17,685 supervisory presiding officers, 9,620 returning officers and 530,538 security officials to oversee the elections.

– 52.5 and 47.5 –

Of the total of eligible voters, 49,054,162 (52.5 per cent) are male. Female voters constitute 47.5 per cent, with 44,414,846.

– 176,606 –

Elections will be held in 176,606 polling units located in 8,809 registration areas or electoral wards in 774 local government areas nationwide.

– 240 –

Elections will not be held in 240 polling stations, mainly because of insecurity or because communities there have been displaced by violence.

– 6 –

Polling stations will be open for six hours, from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm. Voters who are still in the queue as of 2:30 pm will be allowed to go through and cast their ballots.

– 200,000 –

Over 200,000 so-called Bimodal Voter Accreditation Systems are being deployed to verify voter identity through fingerprint or facial recognition to help combat fraud, corruption, and tallying errors.

– 14 –

Under the 2022 Electoral Act, the returning officer for the presidential election has to officially confirm the result, in the form of a sealed certificate, within 14 days of the ballot.

– 2/3 –

To be declared winner of the presidential election, a candidate must have obtained the highest number of votes and must also poll at least 25 percent of the ballots in at least two-third of the 36 states and Abuja.

–  21 –

If none of the candidates meet the requirements, there will be a run-off between the two top candidates within 21 days, although this has never happened in Nigerian history. - AFP

Ukraine’s year of pain and deaths

By John Leicester, KYIV Ukraine

In the final hours before the Russian onslaught, a last grasp at peace. Russian troops would soon pour across Ukraine’s borders and Russian missiles would fill Ukrainian skies, taking Ukrainian lives in the biggest air, sea and ground assault in Europe since World War II. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy still appealed, on war’s brink, for reason to prevail.

Staring intently into the camera in a last-ditch, dead-of-night, video-recorded plea against the invasion, Zelenskyy warned Russia that the consequences would be “an abundance of pain, filth, blood and death.”

“War is a huge calamity,” Zelenskyy said, in what proved to be one of his last outings in a suit before his switch to military-style casual wear. “This calamity carries a huge cost — in every meaning of this word.”

The date was Feb. 24, 2022 — cataclysmic for Ukraine, course-changing for Russia, history-shaping for the wider world. Every hour of every day since has proven those words to be right.

As milestones go, the invasion’s first anniversary Friday is both grim and vexing. It marks a full year of killing, destruction, loss and pain felt even beyond the borders of Russia and Ukraine — with war-related price shocks being just one example. But it also raises a question that is unsatisfying because it can’t be answered at this partway point: How much longer until this stops?

“Not soon enough” might be one response, though any peace deal looks far off as Russia’s invasion force meat-grinds into Year Two, with neither side close to reaching hoped-for objectives.

The misery of 365 days of bloodshed and the full scale of the global repercussions are difficult to sum up with mere words. Russia is more isolated than at any time since the Cold War. Western nations are banding together for Russian President Vladimir Putin ’s defeat while also gambling that the ex-KGB spy won’t go nuclear. China is filing away lessons that could be used against Taiwan.

And how to measure all the tears? How to adequately describe all the suffering and atrocities? Or even the broken heart of just one of the children who have lost loved ones and futures?

The numbers are dizzying: hundreds of thousands of Russian men escaping abroad to avoid being thrown into battle, millions of Ukrainians uprooted from their homes, tens of billions of dollars poured into weaponry that is making war ever-more lethal, trillions more dollars estimated lost for the global economy. And even those figures don’t do justice to the human and economic costs.

Of the body count — surely the most important tally, but kept under wraps by both sides — all that can be said with certainty is that it is horrific. Western officials estimate it to be in the many tens of thousands and growing inexorably.

But Ukraine is still here. That in itself is a stinging defeat for the Kremlin. Putin seemingly believed his forces and secret services would have turned Ukraine into a puppet state by now. The invasion plan called for resistant Ukrainian officials to be liquidated, weeded out or flipped into collaborating, according to a British think tank’s study based in part on captured Russian documents.

Instead, the threat of extinction as a free nation is pushing Ukraine into an ever-closer orbit with the European Union, the United States and the wider West — the very outcome Putin wanted to avoid. Each additional delivery of NATO-standard weapons, the billions of dollars in other Western aid, and pledges to stand with Ukraine for “as long as it takes” are hard-wiring bonds that, in peacetime, might have taken many more years to build.

Ukraine, independent from the ex-Soviet Union only since 1991, has also grown in war as a nation. Fighting to remain Ukrainian has forced clarity about what exactly that means, sharpening the contours of national identity.

In what have become daily video addresses to share news from the fronts and boost morale, Zelenskyy sometimes wears black hoodies emblazoned on the front with the words, “I’m Ukrainian.” Many more Ukrainians have joined the president in ditching Russian for Ukrainian as their primary language. Statues of Russians are also being torn down, street names are being changed and Russian history is being expunged from school textbooks.

Says Olena Sotnyk, a lawyer and former legislator: “Putin did for us something which nobody did. He helped us to become a free nation.”

AU asks members to cut ties with Israel

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia

The African Union is asking member states to cut scientific or cultural ties with Israel until the Jewish nation stops “colonial” practices against Palestine.

The recommendation is contained in a declaration fronted to member states at the end of the recent African Union Summit last week, in which Israel had also sought approval to join as an Observer State.

The decision on the fate of Israel is still pending, following failure to achieve consensus on admittance. But the continental bloc returned the toughest commentary yet on Israel’s alleged mistreatment of Palestinians.

A declaration said the Summit would “further request member states to end all direct and indirect trade, scientific and cultural exchanges with the State of Israel.

“Moreover, to take all measures to stop such dealings in accordance with the resolutions of United Nations, in particular resolution 2334 (2016), paragraph 5, and the relevant decisions of the African Union.”

The UN Security Council Resolution 2334 calls on member states to “distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967.”

And it says the establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law” and that it is a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-State solution and lasting peace.

While some member states already have existing scientific ties with Israel including in technology and modern agriculture, the advisory on suspending such ties is the heaviest such recommendation against Israel in the bloc’s 21-year existence. Some member states may, however, still defy the bloc as the decision is simply a recommendation.

In an unusual harsh language, however, the AU condemned what it called “the Israeli colonialist practices in the occupied Palestinian territories, discriminating between the Palestinian and Israeli people on the basis of race and religion, and giving the Israelis more rights and privileges over the Palestinian landowners.”

“The international community is called on to dismantle and prohibit the Israeli system of colonialism and apartheid in accordance with the International Convention for the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid adopted in 30 November 1973.”

The decision came days after members of an Israeli delegation were thrown out of AU’s closed-door meetings for lacking proper accreditation. A spokesperson for the African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat indicated the officials thrown out of the meeting were neither invited nor accredited. But she did suggest the final decision on Observer status was still pending before a special committee of heads of state.

Israel, once an observer member of the old Organisation of African Unity (OAU), had left the Union shortly after it was established in 2002 following pressure from Libya’s then leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Last year, Mr Mahamat had tabled the proposal to admit Israel as an Observer but South Africa and Algeria opposed the move, accusing Israel of discriminating Palestinians. When the delegation was thrown out, Israeli’s foreign ministry blamed Algeria and South Africa.

But South African Minister for International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor rejected the accusation.

“I was very surprised to hear the reference in very pejorative words to South Africa because I am not a security official at the African union, nor do I work for the administration of the Commission. The notion that I stand up and remove any person in a hall is quite insulting and demeaning,” she said.

South Africa, however, admits it is among those opposed to Israel’s Observer status “because we believe the continued occupation of the land of Palestinian people as well as the building of new settlements, prohibition on movement…travel on different roads than other people…are all infringements of the contents of the African Union Charter (actually the AU Constitutive Act).”

Being an Observer state means the country can't have a vote at the AU, but grants its diplomats a chance to join in high-level events and lobby for a positive policy.

Palestinian authorities are often given time to address the assembly. This year, Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh spoke at the opening session, thanking the continental body for giving his territory a voice.

The AU said it wants Palestine to be fully admitted as a UN member state.

Mass trial starts in Chad over former ruler Deby’s death

N’DJAMENA, Chad 

Authorities in Chad on Tuesday started the mass trial of hundreds of alleged rebels accused of killing longtime President Idriss Deby Itno, who died under murky circumstances in 2021 two days after winning a sixth term in office.

Apart from the assassination charges, the 454 alleged members of the Front For Change and Concord rebel group are also formally accused of terrorism, using child soldiers and undermining Chad’s integrity and security, according to a defense lawyer, Vounsia Vetada.

Debby ran the country for more than three decades and died of unspecified injuries during an April 21, 2021 visit to troops fighting the rebel group, which was seeking to gain control of the oil-rich Central African nation. No details of his death were made public.

The suspects were arrested and held at Klessoum prison some 20 kilometers (12 miles) east of the capital N’Djaména, where the trial is being held. The process is expected to last 10 days and is not open to the public. If convicted, the defendants face life imprisonment.

Members of the rebel group are believed to have been armed and trained in neighboring Libya before crossing into northern Chad in April. Deby was elected to a sixth term in an April 19, 2021 election that top opposition candidates boycotted. He died days later.

Deby seized power in 1990 when his rebel forces overthrew then-President Hissene Habre, who was later convicted of human rights abuses at an international tribunal in Senegal.

Hours after Deby’s death, Chad’s military named his son, Mahamat Idriss Deby, as the country’s interim leader for what was intended to be an 18-month period. However, last year the government announced it was extending the transition for two more years, which led to protests across the country.

An analyst described the mass trial that started Tuesday as a bid by Mahamat Idriss Deby to cement his grip on power and signal to potential challengers that he is a worthy successor to his father.

“Deby is using repression to consolidate his still-uncertain position,” said Benjamin Hunter, Africa analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, a risk analysis firm. “But this method has never stopped rebellions in Chad before and is unlikely to do so now.”

Three UN peacekeepers killed in Mali blast

BAMAKO, Mali

Three UN peacekeepers were killed on Tuesday when their convoy struck a roadside bomb in jihadist-torn central Mali, the mission said, in a fresh blow to the long-running operation.

"A MINUSMA Force convoy hit an Improvised Explosive Device #IED today," it said in a tweet that gave a preliminary toll of three dead and five seriously injured.

With more than 13,500 military personnel and police, Mali it is one of the biggest but also dangerous UN peacekeeping missions, suffering a high toll especially to IEDs.

In January, UN chief Antonio Guterres said in a report that 165 peacekeepers had died and 687 were wounded in hostile acts since July 2013.

The force recorded 548 IED attacks up to the date of the report, claiming 103 lives and 638 wounded among MINUSMA personnel.

Anger within the Malian military at the government's failure to roll back the insurgency led to a coup against the elected president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, in August 2020.

The junta wove closer ties with the Kremlin, bringing in Russian paramilitaries and equipment, as relations with France, the country's traditional ally, spiralled downwards.

France in 2022 withdrew its last troops from Mali deployed under its long-running Barkhane anti-jihadist force in the Sahel.

The junta in Bamako routinely claims that it is gaining the upper hand against the jihadists since it has pivoted to Russia.

On Monday, it protested after the head of the European Council, Charles Michel, last week said that the Malian state was "collapsing" and that the jihadists were gaining ground.

The jihadist insurgency began alongside a revolt by ethnic Tuaregs demanding self-rule in the north of the country in 2012.

France sent in troops to beat back the rebellion, but the jihadists regrouped and expanded into the centre of the country in 2015.

From there, they carried out bloody incursions into neighboring Niger and Burkina Faso.