Cash, sexism and violence keep women out of Kenyan politics

Violence, a deeply chauvinistic society and a lack of cash are locking women out of elected office in Kenya, east Africa's leading economy but a laggard when it comes to female representation. The country's new constitution guarantees women a third of seats in parliament, but two and a half years since its adoption, Kenya's male-dominated assembly has still not passed the necessary legislation to put the constitutional principle into practice. In next month's general election only one of eight presidential runners is female, and women held just 10 percent of seats in the last parliament, half the sub-Saharan average. "Society sees our place being the kitchen and the bedroom. Nothing beyond there," parliamentary candidate Sophia Abdi Noor told Reuters. Noor is the only woman running for parliament in the remote, arid northeast. Hailing from Kenya's conservative ethnic-Somali community, Noor and her family have been on the receiving end of public taunts and curses since her first foray into politics in 1997. "People abused my husband. They told him, 'Now wear the skirt, let Sophia wear the trousers'," said Noor, who in 2007 was handed a seat reserved for marginalized groups. The northeastern region has never elected a female lawmaker. Across Kenya, from the fertile slopes of the Rift Valley to the steamy Indian Ocean coastline, female political aspirants painted the same picture: politics is the preserve of men in a country that struggles to deal with women in authority. Many look with envy to Rwanda, where more than half of legislators are women, more than anywhere in the world. There women have pushed through reforms granting them equal inheritance, property and citizenship rights. The lack of women in Kenyan politics, critics say, means women's and children's rights rarely get a proper hearing in the rowdy parliamentary chamber. "We are a patriarchal society. Power and money are two things that are very difficult for men to let go of," said Naisola Likimani, a former head of advocacy at the Africa Women's Development and Communication Network. GUNS, THREATS AND CONDOMS That desire for power and money - and political office tends to bring both in Kenya - means that violent attacks, or threats of violence, against women are not uncommon. Last month, Millie Odhiambo was seeking her party's nomination for the Mbita parliamentary constituency in western Kenya. Before voting even began in the party primary, she says, supporters of a rival loaded the ballot papers on to a pickup truck as three men in police uniforms entered the polling station firing guns in the air. Their intent, she said, was to spoil the vote. "I literally had to jump on the pickup to protect that ballot," Odhiambo told Reuters. She went on to win the ticket. In other primaries, female candidates said they were threatened with rape and shunned by elders for violating tradition. One found a rival had littered the polling station with condoms with her name on them in an attempt, she said, to portray her as promiscuous in the eyes of conservative voters. In next month's general election, 156 women will battle it out against men for parliamentary seats, a sharp fall on the 269 who contested the last ballot in 2007. This is, in part, because another 300 will focus their bids on the 47 seats reserved for women representatives of each county, a new post. This, however, will only guarantee women 16 percent of the overall seats in the chamber. A complete lack of political will was to blame for the last parliament's failure to implement constitutional guarantees of affirmative action, said social policy analyst Atieno Ndomo. "People who are benefiting from this arrangement have no interest whatsoever to change it," she said. Kenyan lawmakers are among the best paid in the world. THE "IRON LADY" One woman determined to shatter the common belief that Kenya is not ready for a female president is Martha Karua. Nicknamed the 'Iron Lady' after the steely former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the former justice minister is the only female presidential candidate in the March 4 vote. She won't win. The latest opinion polls show her with just 1-2 percent of the vote, a sign Kenyan voters are still not ready to depart from the old-boys-club style of politics that has defined Kenya's political scene since independence. Karua's gender, and the fact she is divorced, often count against her in this deeply religious society. "A woman is supposed to be under men," said 23-year-old Hyphe Ouya at a rally attended by Karua. "We don't believe a woman could be president." Women politicians don't only need to change the minds of men like Ouya, they also need cash to run their campaigns. One Nairobi think-tank estimates that the front-runners Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Uhuru Kenyatta will spend a combined $350 million on their campaigns, a record for Kenya [ID:nL5N0BDC7X] Personal wealth and political and business ties are key to wracking up such huge campaign funds. Karua has said she can't match their spending power. But sidelining women from politics when they make up more than half of Kenya's 40 million-strong population is not an option, says Karua.

Read more »

In Libya, the man who would avenge Amb. Stevens

The camera captured a clamor of voices, a crush of bodies in a corridor, and then the blond hair and white T-shirt of a man lying on the floor.

Amateur videographer Fahed Bakoush didn’t know it then, but the blond man, Christopher Stevens, was about to become the first US ambassador killed while on duty in more than three decades.

The attack on the US consulate in Benghazi last month was, for Bakoush, a call to action. Part of a young generation of activists who cut their teeth in last year’s revolution, he was spurred to redouble his efforts to help build a stable country.

Ambassador Stevens’s death, a result of the consulate attack, has left Washington focused on the fear that militant Islamists are gaining a foothold in post-Qaddafi Libya. Bakoush says armed groups of all stripes are holding Libya back. In the wake of the attack, he helped organize demonstrations that gave new voice to Libyans’ growing weariness of guns and instability.

At one such demonstration, the anger directed toward a local militia was so fierce that the group withdrew from its compound without a fight.

“I want to see political parties, not militias with guns,” says Bakoush, 21.

RELATED – Blasphemy riots – 6 examples around the world

It’s still unclear how a protest at the consulate over an anti-Islam film made in the US became the occasion for the attack that killed Stevens. But for many Libyans, it highlighted a fundamental problem: War has flooded the country with weapons, while the fledgling government has struggled to absorb militias into national security forces.

A PERSONAL REVOLUTION

Bakoush’s own revolution started small: following exiled dissidents via the Internet and an instance of modest civil disobedience in December 2010, when he was an engineering student.

When the director of the engineering institute asked the class if anyone had the then-national anthem on his mobile phone, Bakoush saw a chance for dissidence. He went to the intercom, and the director told him to press play. Seconds later, the pre-Qaddafi anthem resounded through the classrooms.
“What are you doing?” the director cried. “Get out!”
Bakoush was expelled the next day. But two months later, he had a new occupation as revolt erupted. He joined a militia and went to the front. Later, he traveled the region as an activist to promote Libya’s revolution.

On Sept. 11 of this year, a friend called with urgent news: A mob was burning the US consulate. Bakoush rushed to the scene.

“I heard them crying ‘We have entered!’,” he says. “Some were looting the buildings, others seemed afraid. It was chaos.”

Clutching his mobile phone with its video camera feature running, he followed young men into the depths of the consulate, where they discovered the prone body of a blond-haired man.

“We didn’t know who he was, just that he was foreign,” says Bakoush. “They wanted to protect him. He was alive, still breathing.”
The video clip he uploaded afterwards to YouTube shows the young men carrying Stevens toward an exit. The ambassador was brought to a hospital, where he was found to have died of smoke inhalation
'THE LAST STRAW'
For Bakoush – as for many Libyans – the attack was a last straw. The following week, he and other activists had one of Libya’s two mobile phone operators send a mass SMS urging customers to demonstrate that Friday against violence and “militias not integrated into the army.”
Details of the attack remain murky, but it underscored the persistence of armed groups despite the end of revolution.

On Sept. 21, thousands marched in Benghazi to call for peace. Among them was the engineering institute director.

“You’re like a son to me!” he said when he saw Bakoush. “I only expelled you because we were under pressure."

The Benghazi marchers proceeded to a compound occupied by Ansar al Sharia, a hardline Islamist militia accused of involvement in the consulate attack. Perhaps swayed, or at least awed, by the show of people power, the group peacefully left the compound. Today it stands empty.

However, some marchers later clashed with members of the Rafallah al Sahati brigade, an officially pro-government militia that was apparently targeted by mistake. Eleven people were killed when members of the brigade opened fire.

Bakoush has not rejoined his old militia since war ended last year. He is planning to take an engineering exam to complete his studies, and in July run unsuccessfully in congressional elections.

Read more »

Malawi halts talks with Tanzania on border dispute

Malawi has cut off dialogue with Tanzania in a long-time territorial dispute concerning Lake Malawi, thought to sit over highly coveted oil and gas reserves.

Malawi claims sovereignty over the entirety of Africa's third largest lake, while Tanzania says 50 percent is part of its territory. The row, which goes back half a century, could worsen if significant oil and gas discoveries are made.

Malawian President Joyce Banda said late on Tuesday she believed Tanzania had raised tension by moves such as alleged intimidation of Malawian fishermen on the lake, which also borders on Mozambique.

"I was of the view that the matter is being resolved through dialogue but now it looks bigger than I thought. While in New York, I wrote them (Tanzania) telling them that there is no point going on with the dialogue," Banda told a news conference in Lilongwe.

Tanzanian foreign ministry officials were not immediately available for comment on Banda's remarks.

The Malawian leader also cancelled a planned visit to Tanzania this month for talks on the dispute.

Malawi, an impoverished southern African country, a year ago awarded oil exploration licenses to UK-based Surestream Petroleum to search for oil in Lake Malawi, which is known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania.

But in July, Tanzanian authorities asked Surestream Petroleum to postpone any planned drilling on the lake. The company has not yet started to drill.

Tanzania, east Africa's second-biggest economy, became a player in energy this year with several onshore and offshore gas finds, attracting multinational energy concerns to the area.

French oil major Total is close to signing a deal to explore for oil and gas in Tanzania's Lake Tanganyika. The government is also processing deals for deep sea exploration spots off Tanzania's Indian Ocean coast.

Lake Malawi contains more than 2,000 different fish species, attracting scuba divers, and environmentalists are concerned that oil exploration will disturb its freshwater ecosystem.

Read more »

Official: Sudan planes drop 8 bombs on South Sudan

Sudan continued with its aerial bombardment of South Sudan on Tuesday, dropping eight bombs overnight, an official said, as South Sudan's president said the attacks amounted to a declaration of war by Sudan.

South Sudan's military spokesman Col. Philip Aguer said that Sudanese Antonovs dropped eight bombs overnight between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. in Panakuac, where he said ground fighting had been ongoing since Sunday. Aguer said he has not received information on whether there were casualties from the attack because of poor communications.

On Monday, Sudanese warplanes bombed a market and an oil field in South Sudan, killing at least two people after Sudanese ground forces had reportedly crossed into South Sudan with tanks and artillery.

South Sudan seceded from Sudan last year as a result of a 2005 peace treaty that ended decades of war that killed 2 million people. The countries have been fighting over the sharing of oil revenues and a disputed border.

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir on Tuesday during a visit to Beijing told China's president that attacks by rival Sudan amount to a declaration of war on his country.

There has yet to be a formal declaration of war by either of the Sudans, and Kiir's remark, made during talks with President Hu Jintao, signals a ratcheting up of rhetoric between the rival nations which have been teetering on the brink of war.

Kiir arrived in China late Monday for a five-day visit lobbying for economic and diplomatic support. He told Hu the visit comes at a "a very critical moment for the Republic of South Sudan because our neighbor in Khartoum has declared war on the Republic of South Sudan."

South Sudan broke away from its neighbor and became independent last year. The two countries have been unable to resolve disputes over sharing oil revenue and determining a border. Talks broke down this month after attacks started between the two countries with South Sudan invading the oil-rich border town of Heglig, which Sudan claims it controls.

Following international pressure, South Sudan announced that it has withdrawn all its troops from Heglig but Sudan claimed its troops forced them out.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has vowed to press ahead with his military campaign until all southern troops or affiliated forces are chased out of the north.

In a fiery speech to a rally Friday, after he declared the liberation of Heglig, al-Bashir said there will be no negotiations with the "poisonous insects" the Sudan People's Liberation Movement. At the time he also said, he would never allow South Sudanese oil to pass through Sudan "even if they give us half the proceeds."

Landlocked South Sudan stopped pumping oil through Sudan in January, accusing the government in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, of stealing hundred millions of dollars of oil revenue. Sudan responded by bombing the South's oil fields.

Earlier this month, South Sudan government spokesman Barnaba Marial Benjamin said Chinese and American investors want to build oil refineries in the South in the next six to seven months.

Benjamin said the refineries will help South Sudan process fuel for local consumption. South Sudan will also build a pipeline to the Kenyan coast and another to Djibouti to be able to export its oil, he said. He said both projects were meant to make South Sudan independent of Sudan's fuel infrastructure and processing plants.

Kiir on Tuesday told Hu that he came to China because of the "great relationship" South Sudan has with China, calling it one of his country's "economic and strategic partners."

China's energy needs make it deeply vested in the future of the two Sudans, and Beijing is uniquely positioned to exert influence in the conflict given its deep trade ties to the resource-rich south and decades-long diplomatic ties with Sudan's government in the north.

Both have tried to win Beijing's favor, but China has been careful to cultivate ties with each nation. Like others in the international community, China has repeatedly urged the two sides to return to negotiations.

Read more »

Tuareg rebels advance as junta asserts control

Tuareg rebels closed in on a key city in northern Mali Saturday, taking advantage of a power vacuum in Bamako where putschists insisted they were in firm control after ousting the government.

As the junta concentrated on stamping out rumours it was losing control and condemned widespread looting, soldiers in the distant north recruited militia to help them fight Tuareg rebels waging a battle for independence.

"Thanks to Allah the almighty and his blessings, we will soon take our land in Kidal," Tuareg rebel group Ansar Dine (Defenders of Faith) said in a statement as its fighters surrounded one of the north's main towns.

Ansar Dine is an Islamist group fighting alongside the Azawad National Liberation Movement (MNLA) for the independence of the traditional homeland of the nomadic desert Tuareg in the northern triangle of the bow-tie shaped nation.

In the southern triangle where the capital Bamako is situated, mutinous soldiers seized power on Thursday, saying they were fed-up with the government's inability to deal with the Tuareg insurrection which has completely overwhelmed the military.

The light-skinned desert tribes which sparsely populate the north are a minority in the vast country and have staged several uprisings in recent decades as they feel marginalised by Bamako.

On January 17, the Tuareg launched their first rebellion since 2009, boosted by the return of heavily-armed and battle-hardened fighters from Libya, where they had worked for slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

Several towns have fallen and scores of soldiers are said to have been killed and captured.

Angry soldiers revolted Wednesday, leading to a full-blown coup by early Thursday as they seized government buildings and attacked the presidency, forcing President Amadou Toumani Toure to flee.

Soldiers left facing the Tuareg are being supported by two notorious militia groups from black communities, mostly Fulani and Songhai, who were involved in earlier Tuareg uprisings.

"We are about 200 youths, the Malian army gave us weapons today and uniforms to fight the country's enemies. We are already in the Gao military camp", said one of these militia, Mahamane Maiga. A Malian officer confirmed the information.

Back in Bamako, a junta frozen out by the international community was at pains to assure citizens it was firmly in power, appearing on state television at regular intervals.

"I am Captain Sanogo and I am in good health, all is well," the coup leader said in a segment broadcast on Saturday, after rumours of his death swirled the evening before.

He insisted he had the backing of all of the armed forces, asking the camera to pan over representatives of the police, paratroopers, air force and paramilitary police -- all low-ranking officers.

Sporadic looting continued despite calls to order by the putsch leaders, sparking anger and fear in Bamako.

"We are scared they come steal from us," said Becaye Soukoule, who says he left his shop closed.

The soldiers also urged petrol station owners to open up and assured they would be secured. Writing ran across the bottom of the television screen telling citizens to call a hotline with any concerns.

"The junta looks increasingly isolated and rudderless," said analyst Paul Melly, of the London-based Chatham house, in Dakar.

"There's no sign of a coherent plan and the putschists seem to be feeling their way hour by hour," he said.

"They don't seem to have expected the rebuff they have encountered from the political class, where all the main parties have united in condemning the coup."

The coup also prompted swift international condemnation. The African Union temporarily suspended Mali, Europe and Canada froze aid and the United States has threatened to follow suit.

A joint mission from the African Union and Economic Community of West African States met representatives of the junta on Friday, according to Malian state television, however details on the talks were not divulged.

Early Saturday, a group of soldiers briefly arrested an opposition politician who had spoken out against the coup and several others told AFP they had gone underground, fearing they were being sought by armed men.

A presidential election in which President Toure was to step down after two terms had been scheduled for April 29.

Toure, who led his own coup in 1991, has not spoken publicly since his ouster, but was believed to be safe.

Sanogo has said all arrested government officials are "safe and sound" and promised the African Union the safe return of top foreign officials stranded in Bamako after the coup.

Read more »

Egypt liberal MPs quit constitution panel vote

Egyptian liberal MPs withdrew on Saturday from a crucial parliament vote for a panel to draft a new constitution amid a rift with Islamists over the constituent assembly's make up, liberals said.

The liberals accused the majority Islamists of trying to monopolise the 100-member panel, whose constitution will replace the one annulled by the ruling military after an uprising toppled president Hosni Mubarak last year.

"All our MPs withdrew," said Naguib Sawiris, founder of the Free Egyptians Party, the largest liberal party in the Islamist-dominated parliament.

"It's ridiculous," he said. "A constitution being written by one force and one force alone. We tried our best and there was no use."

Sawiris said two parties, including his and a coalition of secular and left-leaning parties, withdrew from the vote for the 100-member panel, half of which will be senators and parliamentarians.

Lawmakers are to vote for 50 members from the upper and lower houses of parliament, and 50 people outside parliament to sit on the panel.

According to preliminary results of the vote, published by the official MENA news agency, the panel will include 25 lawmakers affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, 11 lawmakers from the ultra conservative Salafist Al-Nur party and 14 independents or members of other parties.

The 50 members chosen outside parliament include Islamists, several liberal figures, a handful of Copts and a member of the ruling military council, according to MENA and press reports.

Ahead of the vote, at least two other parties had boycotted the voting from the start, including the leftwing Tagammu party.

"The constitution should not reflect the majority, it should reflect all forces in society," said Rifaat al-Said, the head of Tagammu.

"There is an attempt to posses everything," he said of his party's Islamist opponents. "Possessing the constitution is the most dangerous thing."

Mustafa al-Naggar, head of the Adl (Justice) Party, said parliamentarians should not even be on the panel, which will also include 50 public figures.

"Parliamentarians have a special interest," he said.

The constitution will lay out the powers of the legislature, which Islamists dominated in elections after Mubarak's fall.

According to a schedule established by the military, the panel is meant to finish its work before presidential elections, which now seems unlikely ahead of the vote due to be held in May.

Some presidential candidates fear that could leave the new president without constitutionally defined powers, as the dominant Islamist Freedom and Justice Party angles to give more powers to a prime minister in the new charter.

The FJP, the political arm of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood, has been pressuring the military to sack the cabinet and appoint an FJP-led government.

At Saturday's joint session, which began at noon local time (1000 GMT), the lawmakers were each to list 100 members they want appointed to the panel and then cast their ballots in 14 boxes, parliamentary speaker Saad al-Katatni said.

Liberals fear that the Islamists will try to beef up references to Islam in the new constitution.

The old charter said that the principles of Islamic law were the source of legislation, a vague formulation that hardliners in the ultra-conservative Salafi Nur party want clarified in the new constitution.

But the Muslim Bortherhood's FJP has sought to allay fears that it wants a stricter adherence to Islamic law in the new constitution.

In a comment on his Twitter account, Mohamed ElBaradei, the former UN nuclear watchdog chief turned Egyptian dissident, also questioned parliament's right to form the panel.

"A parliament whose legitimacy is in doubt will elect a panel, half of it from parliament, that is not partial to forming a constitution for Egypt rather than for the (parliamentary) majority," he wrote.

Read more »

UNHRC throws out Russia proposal on Libya detentions

The UN Human Rights Council on Friday adopted a resolution urging Libya's new rulers to probe all alleged abuses, but threw out a Russian proposal calling for a halt to arbitrary detentions.

The council also rejected an amendment tabled by the Ugandans, who sought to include a reference to "express deep concern about the deliberate killings ... of persons of Sub-Saharan origins."

The amendments tabled by the two delegations hours before the council session was due to close sparked frantic negotiations among ambassadors.

Russia said its proposal would have made the resolution backed by Western states "more balanced."

"It calls upon the Transitional Government of Libya to address the cases of arbitrary detention, including of foreign nationals, and to release them immediately or to bring them to fair trial," said Russia.

Uganda meanwhile said its amendment was tabled as it feared that "impunity and a deliberate targeting of a particular ethnic group would continue."

"We hope that this amendment will in some nature treat all situations of abuse with equal measure," said the Ugandan envoy.

However, the United States and Italy both said they could not support the proposals as they came too late.

Read more »

Explosion in Rwanda leaves one dead, five injured: police

An explosion killed one person and wounded five others Friday in northern Rwanda, a police spokesman said, adding that a probe had been launched to determine the nature of the explosive device.

The blast occurred on Friday evening at a bus park in the town of Musanze, around 90 kilometres (56 miles) north of the capital Kigali, Theos Badege told AFP.

"We don't know the nature of the explosive device. Investigations are under way to determine whether it was a grenade or not," added Badege, saying that the blast also damaged nearby vehicles.

Several civilians have been killed or wounded in grenade attacks in the past. In January, 10 people were injured in a central Rwanda town, days after two others were killed and 16 wounded in the capital Kigali.

Security forces have previously blamed attacks on the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, a Rwandan Hutu rebel group based in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as former security officials in exile.

Read more »

Mali coup: the revenge of the rank and file

At the barracks where Mali's junta has set up camp, mutinous soldiers expressed their pride Friday at having snatched the reins of power from a leadership they perceive as incompetent.

"Yes, it's power to the rank and file," shouted one corporal, his eyes red with fatigue, as hundreds of troops lined up inside the Soundiata Keita camp, named after the founder of the 13th century empire of Mali.

Located around 15 kilometres (nine miles) north of the capital Bamako, the camp is bustling with hundreds of soldiers awaiting orders, a day after the junta announced on state television that it seized power.

Sitting on a stool, a pen in hand, the corporal patiently jotted down the names of those who request a meeting with the troubled west African country's new strongman: Amadou Sanogo.

There were no portentous generals bristling with medals in Mali's new centre of power, rather mostly low-ranking enlisted soldiers with a grudge.

Sanogo himself, who set up an office in a rundown building inside the camp, is only a captain.

A handful of "Red Berets" from the presidential guard appear to have joined the putsch and now form part of Sanogo's bodyguard.

The captain, who declared himself the leader of a National Committee for the Establishment of Democracy on Thursday, led the troops who shot their way to the palace on Wednesday evening and forced President Amadou Toumani Toure to flee.

The junta claims the rank and file was fed up with the regime's failure to snuff out a rebellion launched by Tuaregs in the north two months ago.

On Friday, around 20 soldiers guarded the location at the entrance of the camp where senior members of the ousted regime, including several ministers, were held.

"We have orders to treat them well," said one sergeant. "We will not harm them."

He did not comment on the fate of the ousted president. Sanogo only said Friday that Toure, who has not spoken publicly since the coup, was "doing very well" and in a safe location.

In the middle of a courtyard, women are cooking rice in a large pot. "This is for the soldiers. They have worked well for the country," said one of them.

Those soldiers who took part in the fighting two nights earlier were still in a defiant mood.

"The organisation of the attack on the presidential palace? That was me," Sergeant Alissa Garba boasted, brandishing his weapon. "I took over command of the operation and charged towards the palace."

The presidential guard tried to fight back on the night of the assault "but the mutineering soldiers were irresistible," said Moussa Kante, another corporal.

Another soldier, corporal Didier Dicko, joined the enthusiastic reenactment and let rip at army top brass.

"We don't trust the senior officers. We're between ourselves now, the rank and file, we understand each other. It's the end of all this waste and incompetence," he said.

A few kilometres away from Soundiata Keita camp, on a hill overlooking Bamako, the vacant presidential palace lies, partly gutted by fire.

An abandoned tank and pockmarked vehicles sat in the deserted courtyard. Official stationary flapped over on a bed of bullet casings.

In central Bamako, traffic was slowly resuming despite sporadic gunfire still ringing out in the city and cases of looting by soldiers.

"I am still afraid. I have no idea what is going to happen next so I'm staying at home," said Ahmed, a nurse in the Magnambougou neighbourhood.

Read more »

Mali junta shuts borders after coup, president safe

Coup leaders in Mali Thursday ordered all borders closed after taking over key buildings in Bamako and ousting President Amadou Toumani Toure overnight, sparking international concern and condemnation.

The band of mutineers, calling themselves the National Committee for the Establishment of Democracy, said their move was prompted by government's "inability" to put down a Tuareg-led insurrection in the north.

Sporadic gunfire rang out in the capital as condemnation poured in from western powers and the African Union urged "the mutineers immediately to put an end" to the country's first coup in 21 years.

France suspended cooperation with its former colony, urging soldiers not to harm Toure who was at a military camp under protection from his elite paratrooper guard. It remained unclear how tight the junta's grip on power was.

Washington, which has repeatedly voiced fears parts of Mali and neighbouring countries were becoming a safe haven for jihadi extremists, called "for the immediate restoration of constitutional rule."

While politically stable, smouldering troubles in Mali's north where light-skinned Tuareg tribes have long felt ignored by a southern government and Al-Qaeda has taken deep root, turned the region into a tinderbox.

This was ignited when the demise of Moamer Kadhafi sparked the return of hundreds of heavily-armed Tuareg rebels who had fought for him in Libya and were ready to take up a decades-long struggle for independence.

What began as a mutiny over the government's response to the rekindled Tuareg insurrection in the north on Wednesday afternoon turned into a full-blown coup as soldiers seized control of the presidential palace and the state broadcaster.

A few dozen soldiers appeared on the screens after hours of music videos played in a loop. They appeared to be largely rank-and-file green-beret soldiers, with only two officers present.

Their spokesman Lieutenant Amadou Konare said the takeover was a result of a "lack of adequate material to defend the nation".

Claiming to represent the nation's defence forces, Konare said the junta "solemnly commits to restore power to a democratically-elected president as soon as national unity and territorial integrity are re-established."

The man presented as their leader, Captain Amadou Sanogo, said a curfew would be imposed but did not specify hours and in a subsequent televised announcement, the junta said all borders were closed "until further notice".

Renegade soldiers in the northeastern city of Gao also detained their military chiefs to support the coup.

Little traffic circulated a day after wild shooting by mutineering soldiers sowed panic in the capital of the landlocked west African state and Malians were left disappointed at the blow to their democracy.

"We are worried for the future of our democracy. I am against this coup d'etat. We need a return to constitutional order," said motorcyclist Moussa Kante.

A female student, Nady, said: "Democracy does not mean anarchy. Calm must return quickly."

Toure was initially holed up in the palace as shots were traded outside but he managed to flee the premises.

"The president is in Bamako, he is not at an embassy. He is in a military camp where he is in command," a military source said on condition of anonymity, adding the elite "Red Beret" paratroopers were keeping watch.

The president is himself a former paratrooper who led the ouster of president-for-life Moussa Traore in 1991 before handing power to civilians. He later won an election in 2002 and was re-elected in 2007.

Under his leadership Mali -- which has battled successive Tuareg rebellions since independence and more recently Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb -- has since been hailed as a growing democratic success in the region.

The Tuareg, many of whom fled drought and discontent under a southern government to work and fight for Kadhafi in Libya, returned heavily armed, battle-experienced and jobless after last year's conflict.

In mid-January they launched a fresh rebellion for independence of what they call Azawad, their stomping ground which makes up the vast desert northern triangle of the bow-tie shaped nation.

The fighting has seen up to 200,000 flee their homes, creating a humanitarian disaster in a region gripped by drought and food shortages.

Mali has become a new frontline in Africa and Western powers concerned that the troubled north country could become a safe haven for Al Qaeda were quick to call for order to be restored.

"We believe that grievances should be addressed through dialogue, not through violence," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon voiced "deep concern", as did neighbouring Algeria, Bamako's main partner in the fight against Al Qaeda. Continental powerhouses Nigeria and South Africa also condemned the coup.

The African Union called the coup "a significant setback for Mali".

Former colonial power France, which has a military presence in several neighbouring countries, said a fresh election was the urgent next task at hand.

Read more »

EU set to back strikes on Somali pirate lairs

The European Union will likely approve plans Friday to strike Somali pirate equipment on beaches, widening the scope of its naval operations four years into a mission to protect shipping.

Germany had voiced reservations about plans to allow EU warships and helicopters to fire at trucks, supplies, boats and fuel stowed on the coast of Somalia, but a minister indicated Thursday that Berlin would now back the plans.

"Military officers say they want to render harmless the ships on the beach that could be used. This was a convincing argument," German deputy defence minister Christian Schmidt said after a meeting of EU defence chiefs in Brussels.

EU officials have stressed that the new mandate would not call for the deployment of troops on the ground in Somalia.

"We made clear that this should be limited actions against assets on the edge of the beach. Piracy must be fought at sea," Schmidt said.

Following months of debate, the decision is expected to be taken when EU foreign ministers meet Friday, one day after the defence chiefs, EU officials said.

The ministers will also formally approve the extension of the EU mission, Operation Atalanta, until December 2014.

The German participation in the expanded mandate, however, will have to be submitted to the parliament in Berlin for approval, Schmidt said.

The operation off the Horn of Africa, which will soon grow from six to nine ships, escorts vessels carrying humanitarian aid to Somalia and polices the key shipping route to thwart pirate attacks.

Warships and helicopters will have "very well defined conditions" for firing at pirate equipment in order to avoid harming people, a European official said, noting that Germany and other nations wanted strict rules of engagement.

The EU mission is one of several international anti-piracy operations off Somalia.

NATO agreed this week to extend its own mission until late 2014, with four ships under Turkish command. But the trans-Atlantic alliance has not authorised strikes on land targets.

Read more »

Uganda police restrict opposition leader movements

Ugandan police on Thursday restricted the movements of opposition leader Kizza Besigye after a police officer died in a violent clash between his supporters and the police.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said Thursday that those who defy police authority would "pay dearly" as he visited the family of the slain policeman. He called the demonstrators terrorists without guns and promised to look after the policeman's children.

Wednesday's death of a policeman — killed when a protester's rock hit him on the head — was condemned by both the police and the opposition politicians who have been organizing the marches.

"This was not a revenge killing," said Mathias Mpuuga, an opposition parliamentarian who heads Activists for Change, the pressure group responsible for most of the street walks. "The loss of a policeman was unfortunate, but so have been the lives of other Ugandans who are not policemen." He said the demonstrations would continue.

Besigye, who since 2011 has led popular "Walk to Work" street protests, is allowed access only to his home and office, an associate said.

"When he woke up this morning his house was surrounded," said Anne Mugisha. "He's being followed around by a truck of policemen."

Besigye's lawyer, Ernest Kalibala, said his client was charged with unlawful assembly and released on police bond after Wednesday's march.

Besigye has lost three elections against Museveni. The marches he has led over the last year often turn violent when his supporters clash with police.

Besigye says he is leading a campaign of peaceful demonstrations against a government he accuses of corruption and of mismanaging the economy. The disagreement between the two camps has often focused on where and how to manage the demonstrations, with the police often using tear gas to disperse crowds within Kampala's central business district.

Fred Opolot, a government spokesman, accused the opposition of courting violence to stay relevant.

"Without violence they would not get the attention they are craving for," he said.

Asuman Mugenyi, the police spokesman, said the policeman's killing was "a lesson to us, and so we are going to devise relevant strategies" to contain marches.

Read more »

S. Sudan invites 'brother' Bashir to summit

South Sudan on Thursday formally invited its "brother", Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, to a summit in April aimed at resolving outstanding issues which have pushed them to the brink of war.

"We delivered the message to President Bashir and he welcomed it. He expressed his readiness to visit Juba," the South's top negotiator, Pagan Amum, said in a statement to reporters at the cabinet offices in Sudan's capital.

Amum, who arrived with a delegation of ministers, said the South's leader Salva Kiir had invited his "brother president" to the April 3 summit "with the aim of solving the pending issues between the two states."

It would be Bashir's first visit to the South since it separated in July last year following an overwhelming vote at the end of Africa's longest war.

After months of failed negotiations, a dispute over oil fees, and mutual accusations of backing rebels on each other's territory, Amum last week said relations had turned positive after the latest African Union-led talks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

At those meetings the two sides reached agreements on safeguarding the status of each other's citizens and demarcating the oil-rich border.

When South Sudan gained its independence it took about three-quarters of Sudanese oil production but it has no facilities of its own to export the crude.

At the heart of their dispute has been disagreement over how much Juba should pay to use the northern pipeline and port.

The new nation shut crude production in late January after accusing Sudan of "stealing" its oil.

But Amum said last week that Sudan has agreed to pay back oil it had taken, while South Sudan would hand over months of unpaid transit fees, although further negotiations were still needed.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had warned the crisis between Sudan and South Sudan was a major threat to regional peace and security.

Tensions peaked in late February and early March when Khartoum threatened retaliation after accusing the South of backing a rebel attack in the disputed border area of Jau.

Air strikes followed on an oil field in the South's Unity State, an attack Juba blamed on Khartoum's forces.

"They really came to the brink of war... but they realised that the international community would not support them," an analyst who asked not to be named told AFP.

Some friction, however, remains.

On the eve of the South Sudanese visit Mohammed Atta, the head of Sudan's intelligence service, alleged rebels supported by South Sudan attacked the oil centre of Heglig in South Kordofan state.

He was quoted by the Sudan Media Centre, which is close to the security apparatus.

"I think it's propaganda," responded Arnu Ngutulu Lodi, of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N). "Nobody told me we have an operation going on."

The UN's Ban welcomed the planned summit and said the agreements on borders and citizenship were "an important step forward and an encouraging manifestation of both parties' spirit of cooperation and partnership."

Amum spoke in Khartoum before the two delegations headed into meetings aimed largely at preparation for the summit.

Read more »

Soldiers say they have seized power in Mali

Renegade soldiers said they seized power in Mali on Thursday and ordered its borders closed, threatening to reignite instability in a Saharan region shaken by the conflict in Libya.

The overnight coup bid was led by low-ranking soldiers angry at the government's failure to stamp out a two-month-old separatist rebellion in the north of the west African state.

Heavy weapons fire rang out throughout the night as the presidential palace came under attack. The whereabouts of President Amadou Toumani Toure, who oversaw a decade of relative stability, are unknown.

Mali's neighbors, the United Nations and world powers from Paris to Washington called for a return to constitutional rule.

The 7,000-strong army has for weeks sought better weapons to fight northern Tuareg rebels bolstered by heavily armed ethnic allies who fled Libya after fighting for ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Members of the newly formed National Committee for the Return of Democracy and the Restoration of the State (CNRDR) read a statement on state television saying they had taken over.

"The CNRDR ... has decided to assume its responsibilities by putting an end to the incompetent regime of Amadou Toumani Toure," said Lieutenant Amadou Konare, spokesman for the CNRDR.

"We promise to hand power back to a democratically elected president as soon as the country is reunified and its integrity is no longer threatened," said Konare, flanked by about two dozen soldiers, in a statement marred by sound problems.

Government and military sources told Reuters the mutineers entered the presidential palace overnight after it was vacated by Toure and his entourage.

A loyalist military source and two diplomats told Reuters they believed Toure was sheltering in a military camp run by soldiers still loyal to him. The 63-year-old was due to stand down at an election set for April.

The CNRDR declared all land and air borders shut and a subsequent statement by Captain Amadou Sanogo - described as president of the CNRDR - called for an immediate curfew that was widely flouted in the capital Bamako. Little is known about Sanogo except that he is an instructor at a military college.

While no deaths were reported, an official at the Gabriel Toure hospital in central Bamako said around 20 people had been admitted with bullet wounds, with some in a serious condition. Locals complained of soldiers pillaging gas stations for fuel.

"They came, they starting shooting live bullets to make people leave so they can refill their tanks with unleaded and diesel. There, look, the concrete proof," said airport worker Ibrahima Konte, pointing to bullet wounds in his hand.

The northern rebels vowed to exploit the confusion in the capital to make new advances in its bid to carve out a desert homeland twice the size of France.

"The situation (in Bamako) will allow us to take advantage of the chaos to gain more ground," Moussa Ag Acharatoumane, a Paris-based spokesman for the MNLA rebellion said by telephone.

Asked when they would seek to advance on key northern towns such as Kidal, Timbuktu and Gao, he said: "I don't think it will be long. We are preparing this."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for calm and for grievances to be settled democratically. The African Union said it was "deeply concerned by the reprehensible acts currently being perpetrated by some elements of the Malian army".

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said in a statement that Paris was suspending some security cooperation with Mali while the United States called on the army to place itself under civilian rule.

France and the United States have encouraged efforts by regional governments to combat local al Qaeda agents who have carried out a spate of kidnappings of Westerners.

Investor nerves over Mali's gold sector - a key export earner for the country - sent shares in London-(...)More.

Read more »

Senegal music star Youssou Ndour hits campaign trail

Senegalese superstar Youssou Ndour, who has lent his golden voice to politics, hit the campaign trail a week before run-off polls to rally support for presidential challenger Macky Sall.

Ndour, along with all 12 presidential candidates who fell out of the country's electoral race in a first round of voting, are campaigning hard for Sall, to block a controversial third term bid by 85-year-old incumbent Abdoulaye Wade.

The Grammy-award winning artist has been at the forefront of this campaign since his own attempt to run for office was thwarted by the constitutional court which said he did not have enough signatures supporting his candidacy.

In the troubled southern Casamance province, gripped by a low-level separatist conflict for the past three decades, Ndour whipped up a crowd of thousands in the regional capital Ziguinchor on Saturday night.

Taking to the stage, his fists raised in a victory sign, Ndour sang the phrase "We have won, we have won" before an old song of his on good governance called "Alalu Mbolo" played back over the speakers.

"We are holding an electoral show. In one week Wade will leave power," said Ndour to loud cheers. He was dressed in flowing traditional robes, topped off with scarf and cap bearing the image of the 50-year-old ex-prime minister Sall.

Sophie Diedhou, 32, was in the crowd. "I want Wade to leave, we have no hope of finding a job, I am a domestic worker despite being trained as a seamstress."

Wade is facing a stiff battle to retain power at the March 25 poll after a strong opposition showing crushed his hopes of overall victory in the first round and forced him into a run-off.

The election in a country known as a haven of stability is being closely watched by foreign allies, after a month of violent protests against Wade's candidacy in the run-up to the election left six dead and over 150 injured.

All the runners-up, who together totalled 60 percent of first round votes to Wade's 34.8 percent, have come out in support of Sall going into the run-off.

Sall, who polled 26.5 percent in the first round, is favourite to win.

A few dozen youths from the ruling party later tried to stop Ndour from arriving at the headquarters of the Women's Platform for Peace in Casamance, throwing stones and erecting a barricade of tyres before being swiftly removed.

"When people in power begin throwing stones, it is because they can already see themselves in the opposition. Normally it is they who throw stones, this shows they have accepted their fate," the singer said.

Ndour was invited by the women's group to speak on the conflict between the state and the rebel Casamance Movement of Democratic Forces, which has left thousands dead and displaced over the years.

It has also left the tropical province, separated from the rest of the country by Gambia and blessed with beautiful white sandy beaches, in limbo and deeply poor.

"It is possible to make Casamance the breadbasket of Senegal. But first we need peace. For that to arrive we need Wade to get out," said Ndour, telling the women they could count on Sall.

When former opposition leader Wade arrived in power in 2000 he promised to solve the crisis in 100 days, but peace talks have stalled due to splits in the rebel MFDC.

In 2007 he won in a first round vote with 55 percent, but his popularity has plunged in recent years amid rising food prices and power cuts which crippled activity in 2011, but have disappeared around the election campaign.

Growing social anger has combined with fury over Wade's perceived efforts to line up his unpopular son Karim to succeed him.

This erupted in four weeks of riots from January 27 when the country's highest court upheld Wade's case that a 2008 constitutional amendment altering the term lengths from five to seven years, allowed him another term.

Read more »

Guinea-Bissau poll overshadowed by assassination

Guinea-Bissau on Monday tallied votes cast in a presidential poll tainted by the murder of an ex-military intelligence chief, raising fears of further trouble in the chronically unstable country.

As election security was boosted, the military denied involvement in the shooting of in a country whose history is chequered by coups and deadly score-settling between the army and state.

The national elections commission said the murder was "an isolated case".

"Events last night have nothing to do with the electoral process," said polling chief Desejado Lima da Costa.

Election observers from the African Union and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said despite minor problems here and there the election was acceptably free, fair and transparent.

"The mission hopes that this election should pave the way for further political, economic and security reforms needed for the development of the country," said ECOWAS mission chief Salou Djibo.

Guinea-Bissau's election is being held up as a test of the country's commitment to stability -- with post-poll army reform seen as vital to normalising a dysfunctional state sorely in need of development.

However, just hours after a peaceful day of voting ended, former army intelligence chief Diallo was shot dead by men in military dress as he sat on the terrace of a restaurant near his home, sources said.

"There is a lot of concern and apprehension," political analyst Rui Landim told AFP as early results trickled in. "If everything is handled peacefully we can save the stability, but for now there is a risk that things degenerate."

No clear motive has emerged for the killing of Diallo, who was accused of involvement in a 2009 bombing that killed the country's then army chief and prompted the murder of president Joao Bernardo Vieira in a revenge attack a few hours later.

"They shot at him (Diallo) over five times," police said, adding the body was taken to his home.

Daba Na Wagna, co-ordinator of a joint military-police election security team said Diallo's murder was "deplorable because there was a loss of human life, but the army was not involved from any angle".

Diallo was director of military intelligence until April 2010, when he was arrested with other top officers on suspicion of involvement in the 2009 attack.

It was also in April 2010 that the country was rocked by an army mutiny in which the army chief was overthrown by his deputy and former prime minister Carlos Gomes Junior was briefly abducted and threatened with death.

The mutiny prompted the European Union and the United States to suspend monetary aid for badly needed reforms to the army, which receives 10 percent of the country's budget.

Gomes, who stepped down from government to run in the presidential election, was among three frontrunners in early results alongside former president Kumba Yala and national assembly speaker Serifo Nhamadjo.

A total of nine candidates contested the vote and provisional results should be released by the weekend.

Although the election period has been peaceful, some fear violence or even military intervention if the army does not approve of the winning candidate.

Guinea-Bissau achieved independence from Portugal in 1974, the only west African nation to do so through armed combat.

But ever since then, the army and state have remained in constant, often deadly conflict, with the result that no president has ever completed a full term in office. Three have been overthrown in coups and one was assassinated in office in 2009.

A dysfunctional state with a porous coastline and an archipelago where hidden airstrips can be set up, it has also provided fertile ground for Latin American drug lords looking for a hub to ship their cocaine to Europe.

Sunday's election came after the last president, Malam Bacai Sanha, died in January following a long illness.

Read more »

Mozambican trio get 25 years in S.Africa for rhino poaching

Three young Mozambican poachers will spend 25 years behind bars after they were found with two fresh rhino horns in South Africa's Kruger Park, the national parks agency said Wednesday.

A regional court sentenced the trio almost two years after they were arrested, said South African National Parks spokesman Reynold Thakhuli.

"We welcome the decision which is the harshest sentence in the country" for rhino poaching, Thakhuli told AFP.

The Phalaborwa Regional Court in northern province Limpopo convicted Aselmo Baloyi, Jawaki Nkuna and Ismael Baloyi of poaching and the possession of illegal firearms. They had an AK47 and a shotgun among others.

"They pleaded guilty. They were caught with two freshly-cut horns," said Thakhuli.

"They were arrested in July 2010."

A fourth man who had also been arrested died when he tried to escape from police custody.

Thakhuli did not give further details about the poachers' identities.

The sentence aims to scare off other poachers as authorities try to curb the massive killing of the animals, especially in the world-famous Kruger Park which borders Mozambique.

Last year a record 450 rhinos were poached in South Africa, a crushing blow for a country home to more than 70 percent of the animal's global population.

The dramatic spike in rhino killings -- up from 13 in 2007 -- feeds the Asian traditional medicine market, despite scientific evidence that the horns have no medicinal value. They are made of the same substance as human fingernails.

The increase is driven by highly organised syndicates who deploy shooters with night-vision goggles, high-powered rifles and sometimes even helicopters to make their kills.

Read more »

Gun fight erupts near Kadhafi beach house in Tripoli

A gunbattle erupted Wednesday near the beach house of slain Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi's son, Saadi, in central Tripoli, AFP correspondents reported.

Thick smoke billowed from near the house as rival militias, using heavy machineguns, clashed in the mostly business district not far from luxurious hotels like Corinthia Bab al-Africa and the yet-to-open J W Mariott.

The cause was unclear, but some witnesses said the militias were fighting for control of the house.

Saadi fled Libya across its southern frontier to Niger in August during the fall of Tripoli that ended his authoritarian father's 42-year regime.

Read more »

Morocco wants consensus resolution on Syria

Morocco, the only Arab country currently sitting on the UN Security Council, vowed Wednesday to push for a consensus resolution on the deadly crisis in Syria.

"We are committed with all our partners to achieving a consensus on this resolution," Foreign Minister Youssef Amrani was quoted as saying by the official MAP news agency.

Western powers and the Arab League are demanding immediate Security Council action to stop the bloodshed in Syria, where President Bashar al-Assad's repression of pro-democracy protests has killed some 6,000 people since March.

"What is important today is to stop the violence and support the Arab plan which will allow us to stabilise the country," Amrani said.

The Arab League plan, which envisages Assad transferring power to his deputy and the formation of a national unity government within two months, has been rejected by Syria.

Russia, which has staunchly supported Assad in recent years, has warned however it would use its veto in the Security Council against any resolution it deems "unacceptable".

Read more »

South African lesbian's killers get 18 years

A South African judge sentenced four men convicted of murdering a Cape Town lesbian to 18 years in prison Wednesday, six years after her killing cast a spotlight on homophobic crimes.

The four men were convicted in October of stoning, kicking and stabbing to death Zoliswa Nkonyana just metres (yards) from her home in 2006. The 19-year-old had lived openly as a lesbian.

Prosecutors welcomed the sentence and said it sent a message that hate crimes would not be tolerated in South Africa, where violence against gays is common despite a liberal constitution, the only in Africa to allow same-sex marriage.

"We are happy that the court agreed with us that these gentlemen did not show any remorse and had a slim chance of being rehabilitated," National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Eric Ntabazalila told the Sapa news agency.

Lesbians in South Africa are commonly targeted for attacks known as "corrective rape" by men trying to "cure" their homosexuality.

Three years ago a man was sentenced to life in prison and another to 32 years for the gang rape, robbery and murder of Eudy Simelane, a lesbian activist who had been a midfielder on the national football team.

In December, Human Rights Watch issued a report accusing South Africa of "desperately failing lesbian and transgender people" by not doing enough to stop attacks against them.

Read more »