Saturday, December 28, 2024
Libyan minister meets Syrian officials on security issues
DAMASCUS, Syria
The Libyan State Minister for communications and political affairs arrived in Damascus on Saturday to hold meetings with new Syrian officials.
At the Al-Shaab Palace in Damascus, Libyan State Minister Walid Al-Lafi held talks with the Syrian HTS (Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham) leader Ahmad al-Sharaa.
After the meeting, Al-Lafi told reporters that he discussed with the new Syrian officials the military and security issues between the two countries.
“It was an important meeting, its importance is because of the timing and the cross files between Libya and Syria especially the military and security files and the consequences of the major events that took place in Syria on the region,” said Walid Al-Lafi.
Foreign and Arab officials are flocking to Syria after the toppling of the former Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government, pledging cooperation, and support for the reconstruction of the devastated country and the peaceful transition of power.
Friday, December 27, 2024
Mozambicans flee to neighbouring Malawi amid post-election unrest
BLANTYRE, Malawi
More than 2,000 Mozambican households have actually sought refuge in Malawi today, Malawian authorities stated, as lots of individuals were reported eliminated in spreading unrest over a disputed election in October.
Some services including banks were closed in Mozambique's. capital Maputo on Friday and patrols were established in some locations. following a fatal prison riot and breakout on Wednesday.
Mozambique has actually been gripped by violent protests for about. two months because the electoral commission stated the judgment. Frelimo celebration had actually maintained power and its prospect won the. presidency in the election. Frelimo denies opposition. accusations of electoral fraud.
A decision by Mozambique's Constitutional Council to. validate the election results on Monday activated more. presentations.
Keeping track of group Plataforma Choose put the death toll at 125. since the court's choice and at 252 given that late October.
A senior Malawian authorities stated that since Wednesday, 2,182. Mozambican households running away the violence had crossed into. Malawi's Nsanje district, which surrounds Mozambique.
The scenario stays dire as these people urgently. require humanitarian support, Nsanje district commissioner. Dominic Mwandira stated in a letter to the country's commissioner. for refugees seen .
Mozambique's primary opposition leader Venancio Mondlane, who. the Constitutional Council stated had actually come second in the. governmental election and who turns down the results, has actually called. for more protests from his fans however urged them not to loot. and damage infrastructure.
The unrest has affected foreign companies operating in. Mozambique, including mining business Gemfields Group. and South32 and petrochemical company Sasol.
Operations at Gemfields' greatest ruby mine in Mozambique. were briefly stopped on Tuesday after violent occurrences near. the mine, it said in a declaration on Friday.
More than 200 people had tried to get to a. property site for mine staff members and set fire to structures,. it said. Mozambican security forces shot and killed 2 individuals,. Gemfields said.
The prison riot in Maputo on Christmas Day left a minimum of 33. individuals dead and saw more than 1,500 detainees get away before some. were recaptured.
Frelimo has actually ruled Mozambique considering that the end of the war. against Portuguese colonial rule in 1975. Western observers have. stated this year's election was not complimentary and reasonable.
UN approves new African Union force to take on Al-Shabab in Somalia
UNITED NATIONS, New York
The UN Security Council on Friday gave the green light to a new African Union force in Somalia that is meant to take on the Islamist armed group Al-Shabab, with the soldiers due to deploy in January.
The resolution was adopted by 14 of the Council’s 15 member states, while the United States abstained due to reservations about funding.
It provides for the replacement of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), whose mandate ends on December 31, by the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM).
Somalia is one of the world’s poorest countries, enduring decades of civil war, a bloody insurgency by the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab, and frequent climate disasters.
Representatives from Somalia and its western neighbor Ethiopia were invited to participate in the council’s meeting, although they were not allowed to vote.
“We emphasize that the current AUSSOM troops allocations are completed through bilateral agreements,” said the Somali representative, adding 11,000 troops were currently pledged.
On Monday, Egypt’s foreign minister announced his country would take part in the new force.
Tensions flared in the Horn of Africa after Ethiopia signed a maritime deal in January with the breakaway region of Somaliland, pushing Mogadishu closer to Addis Ababa’s regional rival Cairo.
This month, Turkiye brokered a deal to end the nearly year-long bitter dispute between Somalia and Ethiopia, although Ethiopian troops would not be involved in the new AU force.
Burundi will not be taking part in the new force either, a Burundian military source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The text adopted by the UN Security Council provides for the possibility of using a mechanism that it created last year, under which an African force deployed with the green light of the UN can be up to 75 percent financed by the UN.
“In our view, the conditions have not been met for immediate transition to application of” that measure, US representative Dorothy Shea said, justifying her country’s abstention.
Chad prepares for legislative elections with a divided opposition
N'DJAMENA, Chad
Candidates for Chad's local and parliamentary elections are holding their last rallies ahead of voting on Sunday.
In the capital Ndjamena, residents and young people decry poor representation. They want the election to produce better leaders for the city.
‘'There are a lot of things to be done. The city needs a lot of things for its urbanisation,'' said Tadjo Djabongodi, a resident of Ndjamena.
But disenchanted by the outcome of the presidential vote in May, many do not think Sunday's exercise will bring much change.
‘'We don't have a real candidate who's going to win, so I am not expecting anything. It won't be any different from the elections that have already taken place,'' said Samadar Abdou in Ndjamena.
The ruling MPS party has been exhausting every avenue to hold on to its majority. Its leaders say they aim to win all the seats in the town halls and parliament to hand President Mahamat a stronger mandate.
The party of the runner up in the presidential election and former prime minister Succes Masra party is boycotting the exercise. Chad's opposition is deeply divided and fragmented, with little means to mount any meaningful challenge against the ruling MPS.
The election comes just seven months after the presidential election which extended the Deby family rule over the Central African oil producer.
Russia may be responsible for downed Azerbaijani plane, says US
WASHINGTON, United States
White House spokesman John Kirby has said the US has seen "early indications" that Russia may have been responsible for the downing of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed on 25 December, killing 38 people.
Mr Kirby did not elaborate further, but told reporters the US had offered assistance to the investigation into the crash.
The plane is thought to have come under fire from Russian air defence systems as it tried to land in Chechnya before being diverted across the Caspian Sea to Kazakhstan, where it crashed.
The Kremlin has refused to comment, but the head of Russia's civil aviation agency said the situation in Chechnya was "very complicated" due to Ukrainian drone strikes on the region.
Mr Kirby said the indications the US had seen went beyond widely circulated photos of the damaged plane, the Washington Post reported.
Aviation experts and others in Azerbaijan believe the plane's GPS systems were affected by electronic jamming and it was then damaged by shrapnel from Russian air-defence missile blasts.
Azerbaijan has not accused Russia, but the country's transport minister said the plane was subject to "external interference" and damaged inside and out as it tried to land.
"All [the survivors] without exception stated they heard three blast sounds when the aircraft was above Grozny," said Rashad Nabiyev.
Mr Nabiyev said investigators would now examine "what kind of weapon, or rather what kind of rocket was used."
However, pro-government MP Rasim Musabekov was clear: "The plane was shot down over Russian territory, in the skies above Grozny. Denying this is impossible."
He told AFP news agency the plane had been damaged and the pilot had asked to make an emergency landing in Grozny. Instead of being directed to nearby airports, he said it was "sent far away" across the Caspian Sea without GPS.
Flight attendant Zulfuqar Asadov described the moments when the plane was hit by "some kind of external strike" over Chechnya.
"The impact of it caused panic inside. We tried to calm them down, to get them seated. At that moment, there was another strike, and my arm was injured."
The pilots of the Embraer 190 plane are credited with saving 29 of those on board by managing to land part of the plane, despite themselves being killed in the crash.
The Kremlin has refused to comment on the increasing number of reports that the Azerbaijan Airlines plane was hit by Russian air defence.
"An investigation into this aviation incident is underway and until the conclusions are made as a result of the investigation, we do not consider ourselves entitled to give any assessments," said spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Kazakh authorities have been treating the injured and working closely with Azerbaijan on the investigation.
Reports in Baku suggest both Russia and Kazakhstan have proposed having a committee from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) - a regional organisation dominated by Russia - investigate the crash, but Azerbaijan has instead demanded an international inquiry.
At least 69 dead after boat sinks in Morocco waters
By Danai Kupemba, BAMAKO Mali
At least 69 people, including 25 Malians, have died after a boat bound for Spain from West Africa capsized off Morocco, Mali's authorities have confirmed.
The "makeshift boat" was carrying about 80 people, but only 11 people survived, said a statement from the Ministry of Malians Abroad. At least nine of the survivors are from Mali.
The boat capsized last week, but the ministry confirmed the incident on Thursday.
A crisis unit has been dispatched to monitor the situation, it said.
Mali has suffered years of jihadist and separatist violence - resulting in military coups in 2020 and 2021.
The junta promised to hold elections to return to civilian rule by March 2024, but this has not happened yet.
The instability in the country, due to widespread jihadist insurgency, has made much of the north and east ungovernable.
Unemployment and the effects of climate change on farming have also forced many to seek greener pastures in Europe.
But the crossing is perilous.
According to a Spanish rights charity, Caminando Fronteras, more than 10,000 people have died attempting to reach Spain by boat from Africa this year, making it one of the world's most dangerous migrant routes.
The organisation found there was an average of 30 deaths a day.
The migration route, which spans from the Atlantic coasts of Mauritania and Morocco to Spain, is regarded as one of the most dangerous in the world.
Many of those taking this dangerous route come from sub-Saharan Africa, escaping poverty and conflict in their home countries.
Morocco is just eight nautical miles (14km) from Spain's mainland at its closest point.
At Least 134 dead this week in Mozambique protests
MAPUTO, Mozambique
At least 134 people have died since Monday in post-election protests in Mozambique, raising the total death toll to 261 since October 21, with 573 people shot, according to a new tally released this Friday by the electoral platform Decide.
According to the latest data from this Mozambican Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) monitoring electoral processes, with figures updated through Thursday evening, 36 people died in Maputo city and 20 in the province, in the south of the country, in just four days, in addition to 34 in Nampula in the north and 33 in Sofala in the center.
Since Monday, the NGO has recorded 228 people shot, including 62 in Maputo city and 37 in Maputo province, as well as 43 in Nampula and 65 in Sofala.
Since October 21, when disputes over the October 9 general election began, the Decide platform has recorded 573 people shot nationwide, along with 261 deaths and six disappearances.
Additionally, 4,199 people have been detained since the start of the post-election unrest, including 161 since Monday.
Mozambique has been experiencing social tension since Monday following the announcement of the final general election results, marked in the preceding days by looting, vandalism, and barricades, particularly in Maputo.
The Constitutional Council of Mozambique on Monday afternoon declared Daniel Chapo, the candidate supported by the ruling Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), as the winner of the presidential election with 65.17% of the votes, succeeding Filipe Nyusi. Frelimo also retained its parliamentary majority in the October 9 general elections.
This announcement triggered chaos nationwide, with pro-Venâncio Mondlane protesters—who, according to the Constitutional Council, received only 24% of the votes—taking to the streets with barricades, looting, and clashes with the police, who have been firing shots to try to disperse the crowds.
At least 1,534 inmates escaped on Wednesday afternoon from the Central Prison of Maputo, a maximum-security facility. The general police commander described this as a “premeditated” act by post-election protesters, which resulted in 33 deaths.
“We expect a sharp rise in all kinds of crime in Maputo city over the next 48 hours,” said Bernardino Rafael during a press conference on Wednesday night. He assured that among the escapees, of whom only 150 have been recaptured, are 29 “terrorists,” some of whom are “highly dangerous.”
According to the general police commander, the escape from the Central Prison of Maputo, located in Matola, 14 kilometers from the center of the Mozambican capital and housing around 2,500 inmates, was caused by “unrest” by a “group of subversive protesters” in the vicinity.
However, earlier, the Minister of Justice, Constitutional, and Religious Affairs, Helena Kida, had stated that the escape resulted from a prison riot and was unrelated to the post-election protests.
In a statement posted on Facebook, Venâncio Mondlane accused the authorities of intentionally allowing the prisoners to escape to manipulate public opinion and divert society’s focus.
“It was all intentional. These are mass manipulation techniques in the style of Soviet secret services (…) to make people stop talking about electoral fraud. They want to divert our focus,” Mondlane declared, also accusing the authorities of “sacrificing” some of the escapees.
Mondlane stated that the protests would not stop and urged his supporters to “intensify” demonstrations while avoiding the destruction of public and private property.
“Our focus is not on businesses and their commercial establishments. Our focus is on the institutions responsible for this fraud. That is where the protests should occur,” he said.
Thursday, December 26, 2024
French military base in Chad officially handed over to government
N'DJAMENA, Chad
Less than a month after N’Djamena cut its defence cooperation agreement with Paris, a French army base has been handed over to the Chadian army.
According to a local source, French troops left the base in Faya and headed to the capital, around 780km southwest. The troops will then travel back to France in the coming weeks.
A French military official stated that the handover was in line with the schedule organised with N'Djamena. Officials in Chad added that they would keep the public up to date regarding other bases to be handed over.
Before the defence agreement ended, France had around 1,000 troops in the Central African country. They gave intelligence and logistical help to the Chadian army.
Explaining the reasoning behind the end of the pact, Chad's Foreign Minister had argued that it was time for his nation to "assert its full sovereignty".
The handing over of the base comes days ahead of the country’s legislative, provincial and local elections.
6,000 inmates escape from Mozambique jail amid post-election violence
MAPUTO, Mozambique
At least 6,000 prisoners have escaped from a maximum prison in Mozambique as widespread post-election riots and violence continue to engulf the country, officials said Wednesday.
Thirty-three of them are said to have died during confrontations with the police and the military.
Mozambican police chief Bernardino Rafael said 6,000 inmates broke out of a maximum security prison in the capital Maputo after a rebellion on Wednesday on the side lines of violent protests that have seen police cars, stations and general public infrastructure destroyed after the country's Constitutional Council confirmed the ruling Frelimo party as winner of the Oct.9 elections.
There have also been reports of widespread looting of shops.
Police say that prisoners at the facility snatched weapons from prison warders and started freeing other detainees.
“A curious fact is that in that prison we had 29 convicted terrorists, who they released. We are worried, as a country, as Mozambicans, as members of the defence and security forces,” said Rafael.
According to the police chief, the escape from the Maputo Central Prison, located 14 kms (nearly nine miles) southwest of the capital, took place around from around midday after “agitation” of a “group of subversive protesters” nearby.
“They (protesters) were making noise demanding that they be able to remove the prisoners who are there serving their sentences”, said Rafael, adding that the protests had led to the collapse of a wall, allowing the prisoners to escape.
“This confrontation resulted [in] 33 deaths, in direct confrontation with the prisoners. Fifteen were injured”, said Rafael as he called for the voluntary surrender of the escaping prisoners and for the population to be informed about the fugitives.
Videos circulating on social media show the moment prisoners escape from jail, while other recordings reveal captures made by military personnel and prison guards. Many prisoners tried to hide in homes to escape, but some were unsuccessful and ended up being detained.
One prisoner still with handcuffs on his right wrist says, in an amateur video, that he was in the disciplinary section of the maximum prison and was released by other prisoners
Friday, December 20, 2024
Wednesday, December 18, 2024
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