Ghana and Sunderland star Asamoah Gyan has been crowned BBC African Footballer of the Year for 2010.
The Black Stars striker clinched the title with an overwhelming majority - receiving more than half of the vote.
He finished well ahead of fellow Ghanaian Andre 'Dede' Ayew, Ivorians Yaya Toure and Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto'o of Cameroon.
"I'm so happy, I can't believe it," he said. "I'm so thankful to all the fans who voted for me."
He added: "It was really hard to win this award, especially because of all the other players I was up against.
"So I'm so appreciative to all my fans in Africa - especially my family and fans in Ghana."
Gyan had a memorable year internationally, leading Ghana to second place at the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola, scoring three of the four goals that helped Ghana reach their first final in 18 years.
At the World Cup in South Africa, the 24-year-old grabbed the world's attention as his three goals helped the Black Stars progress from the group and into the quarter-finals.
But he shot to prominence through unfortunate circumstances as his missed penalty against Uruguay with the last kick of the game denied Africa its first semi-final berth.
He then earned widespread praise and went some way to redeeming his error when recovered his composure to score in the shoot-out following a 1-1 draw.
Despite the disappointment of the World Cup exit, the finals boosted his career as he left French side Rennes to become Sunderland's record signing at £13m.
"Asamoah has been a fantastic addition to the Sunderland squad," said Sunderland coach Steve Bruce, who presented Gyan with the African Footballer of the Year trophy.
"As our record signing, he had a lot of expectation placed on his shoulders but he has embraced the club wholeheartedly and has settled in very well.
"He's a strong, quick player and brings something different to the side.
"He has formed positive partnerships with other strikers and he's a real bright spark around the place too - always smiling and happy.
"He has an infectious joy for football, and we are reaping the rewards of that.
"I'm thrilled for Asamoah that he has been awarded this honour, it is thoroughly deserved."
The search for BBC African Footballer of the Year 2010 began on 15 November when fans were given a chance to choose their African football hero from a shortlist selected by experts from each of the continent's 52 countries.
Public voting closed on 10 December 2010 - with votes cast online at bbc.com/africanfootball or via text messages
Friday, December 17, 2010
AKUFO-ADDO WARNS MILLS
Ghanaian Chronicle
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the 2012 elections, has descended heavily on the Majority side in Parliament that voted to allow revenue from the new oil find to be used as collateral, to enable the government raise loans.
According to Nana Akufo-Addo, he envisages a number of disturbing developments if the revenue and reserves from the oil would be haphazardly treated, and has therefore, prevailed upon President Mills not to give assent to the amendment of the bill. The collaterisation of the nation's oil revenue, he emphasised, was unfortunate and ill-informed,
'Much as the nation is rejoicing at the first pouring of the oil, there are already expressions of disquiet, as to the manner in which our oil reserves and revenues are to be treated. The decision by the majority in Parliament to amend its own bill to allow for collateralisation of our oil revenue is rather unfortunate and ill-informed.'
The NPP aspirant was making an address after holding a party in honour of former President John Agyekum Kufuor, as part of the latter's 72nd Birthday. The ceremony also marked the 10th Anniversary of the party's victory at the polls in December 2000.
Addressing the teeming supporters of the party at his residence at Nima on Wednesday evening, Nana Akufo-Addo said available evidence from the experience of other oil producing countries suggest that the policy of collateralisation of oil revenues became prominent during the oil boom of the 1970s, when oil-rich countries such as Angola, Nigeria and Venezuela, excited by the prospects of increased future oil revenues, embarked on heavy borrowing, usually on projects with inflated price tags.
The effect of the inflated cost of projects was that the economies of such countries were tied to their creditors, whilst the subsequent servicing of these debts crippled economic transformation, arguing, 'Ghana risks joining this tried and tested cursed path.'
'To avoid trouble, I would like to take this opportunity to urge the President of the Republic, not to give his assent to the bill containing the amendment of Clause 5, which removes the urgency of restraint on government expenditure, as embodied in the original bill, approved by his own cabinet. It is not in the interest of both the current and future generations,' he complained.
Touching on the achievements of Mr. Kufuor, Nana Akufo-Addo, who was full of joy, minced no words in applauding Mr. Kufuor over his eight years administration.
He described the eight year administration of the NPP, under the leadership of Mr. Kufuor, as the most progressive administration, which brought to life the concept of development in freedom.
According to him, the discovery of oil in commercial quantities in 2007, under the leadership of former President Kufuor, was one of the myriads of achievements that the NPP government recorded in its eight-year rule.
'It took a careful and determined effort on the part of the NPP government, led by President John Agyekum Kufuor, together with all the Jubilee Partners, for this feat to be achieved. Like many others who know how far our nation has come on that front, and how much you personally put in to ensure this discovery, we say to you your Excellency, 'Ayekoooo!' he said.
Nana Akufo-Addo told the ecstatic crowd that a few days ago, Ghana's Social Health Insurance Model was recognised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), and singled out for the coveted South-South Cooperation Excellence Award, in Geneva, Switzerland.
He added that a documentary, aired on the BBC in 2008, stressed the importance of the School Feeding Programme and the Capitation Grant, and the positive impact the two were having on primary school enrolment in Ghana. Both social interventions were instituted under the NPP's rule, led by President Kufuor.
'In the area of governance, Ghana scored an excellent record of good governance under NPP's rule. The separation of powers, the independence of the Judiciary and the Legislature were respected. The media enjoyed unprecedented freedom. The rule of law prevailed, and the fundamental human rights of the people were respected,' Akufo-Addo said. The 2012 presidential candidate recalled what he underscored as rapid economic progress which helped half the national poverty rate from approximately 50 per cent in 1991, to 28.5 per cent by 2006.
He further went on to say that those who fiercely challenged the fact that the GDP of Ghana had quadrupled (or grew tenfold per rebasing) under the Presidency of John Agyekum Kufuor, were today basking in the recent assertion that Ghana had now reached Middle Income status.
'The argument as to who is the best President in our history will in due course be settled by the historians. For me, it is enough to say how proud I was, and am, to have been a member; dare I say that even as a senior member of the most progressive administration in my adult life, an administration that brought to life the concept of development in freedom,' Nana Addo said.
Nana Akufo-Addo recounted, particularly, how proud he was to have been the instrument chosen by President Kufuor to facilitate the repeal of the Criminal Libel Law, which has led to a radical expansion of media freedom in our country.
'There are many people today, who, when they see the abuse to which that freedom is being subjected by some irresponsible elements in the media, question the wisdom of the repeal. Even though I am one of the greatest victims of that abuse, I still insist that media freedom is of itself vital for the welfare of the society,' Akufo-Addo further added.
Mr. Jake Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey, National Chairman of the NPP, read the citation of the party to the former President. 'Your eight years in office from January 2001 to 2009 were a success story of the New Patriotic Party's philosophy, and the application of Social Economic Policies that continue to be praised at home, across Africa, and indeed the world,' part of the citation said.
Responding, Mr. Kufuor expressed gratitude for the honour done him, and told the cheering supporters that it was only the NPP that could transform the lives of Ghanaians. To this end, he urged party members to remain loyal and work together as a team for the victory ahead of the party in 2012.
The former Head of State promised to do everything within his power to see to the success of the party, and urged its members to eschew internal bickering, and consider themselves as one family.
Many party gurus, including former Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the 2008 vice-presidential running mate, and a host of others, graced the occasion.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Wikileaks on Cuba: Fidel Castro 'nearly died'
Cuban leader Fidel Castro came close to death in 2006, according to the latest secret US diplomatic cables published by Wikileaks.
Mr Castro almost died after suffering a perforated intestine during an internal flight, unnamed sources told US diplomats in Havana.
The illness led Mr Castro to hand power to his brother Raul, although he has since returned to public life.
The 84-year-old's health is considered a state secret in Cuba.
The Wikileaks cables, published by the Spanish newspaper El Pais, reveal the intense efforts made by US diplomats in Havana to find out the nature of Fidel Castro's illness and his chances of recovery.
The names of the sources of information reported in the cables have been redacted by Wikileaks, but some apparently knew people who were close to the Cuban leader, or had access to his medical records.
The details of what they say cannot be independently verified.
One cable, sent in March 2007 by the then-head of the US interests section in Havana, Michael Parmly, quotes a report by an unnamed doctor on the moment Mr Castro fell seriously ill in July 2006.
As it was a short flight there was no doctor on board and they had to land urgently once they knew of Mr Castro's bleeding. He was diagnosed with diverticulitis of the colon.
The source said Mr Castro had a perforation of the large intestine and needed surgery.
But it says he "capriciously" refused to have a colostomy, with the result that his condition deteriorated over time and he required further surgery.
"This illness is not curable and will not, in her opinion, allow him to return to leading Cuba," the report concludes.
"He won't die immediately, but he will progressively lose his faculties and become ever more debilitated until he dies."
Defiance
Further leaked cables quote other sources as saying Mr Castro was terminally ill, and examine statements by his medical team and reports of specialist drugs being brought into Cuba
But the reports of his imminent death have proved to be exaggerated.
Mr Castro has since made an apparent recovery and earlier this year returned to making speeches and appearing in public, though he has not taken back the reins of power from his brother Raul.
The former Cuban leader recently praised Wikileaks and its founder, Julian Assange, saying the leaks of thousands of diplomatic cables had brought the US "morally, to its knees".
"Julian Assange, a man who a few months ago hardly anyone in the world had heard of, is showing that the most powerful empire in history can be defied," he wrote in an article published by Cuban state media.
The US government and its intelligence agencies have been staunch enemies of Mr Castro and the communist government in Cuba for more than half a century.
So far, all their predictions of the imminent demise of communist party rule on the island have proved false.
Mr Castro almost died after suffering a perforated intestine during an internal flight, unnamed sources told US diplomats in Havana.
The illness led Mr Castro to hand power to his brother Raul, although he has since returned to public life.
The 84-year-old's health is considered a state secret in Cuba.
The Wikileaks cables, published by the Spanish newspaper El Pais, reveal the intense efforts made by US diplomats in Havana to find out the nature of Fidel Castro's illness and his chances of recovery.
The names of the sources of information reported in the cables have been redacted by Wikileaks, but some apparently knew people who were close to the Cuban leader, or had access to his medical records.
The details of what they say cannot be independently verified.
One cable, sent in March 2007 by the then-head of the US interests section in Havana, Michael Parmly, quotes a report by an unnamed doctor on the moment Mr Castro fell seriously ill in July 2006.
As it was a short flight there was no doctor on board and they had to land urgently once they knew of Mr Castro's bleeding. He was diagnosed with diverticulitis of the colon.
The source said Mr Castro had a perforation of the large intestine and needed surgery.
But it says he "capriciously" refused to have a colostomy, with the result that his condition deteriorated over time and he required further surgery.
"This illness is not curable and will not, in her opinion, allow him to return to leading Cuba," the report concludes.
"He won't die immediately, but he will progressively lose his faculties and become ever more debilitated until he dies."
Defiance
Further leaked cables quote other sources as saying Mr Castro was terminally ill, and examine statements by his medical team and reports of specialist drugs being brought into Cuba
But the reports of his imminent death have proved to be exaggerated.
Mr Castro has since made an apparent recovery and earlier this year returned to making speeches and appearing in public, though he has not taken back the reins of power from his brother Raul.
The former Cuban leader recently praised Wikileaks and its founder, Julian Assange, saying the leaks of thousands of diplomatic cables had brought the US "morally, to its knees".
"Julian Assange, a man who a few months ago hardly anyone in the world had heard of, is showing that the most powerful empire in history can be defied," he wrote in an article published by Cuban state media.
The US government and its intelligence agencies have been staunch enemies of Mr Castro and the communist government in Cuba for more than half a century.
So far, all their predictions of the imminent demise of communist party rule on the island have proved false.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
A $15 million loan credit to Ghana
The government of Turkey has granted a $15 million loan credit to Ghana to support export promotion.
The Turkish Trade Minister, Zafar Caglayan, who is at the head of a 150 member delegation to the country, said this at a media briefing in Accra.
Mr. Caglayan said his government is also providing an amount of USD 3 to 24 million to help boost Ghana's tourism industry.
He said to deepen the economic ties between Turkey and Ghana, negotiations are ongoing to address the issue of double taxation to protect and encourage mutual investments as well as contractual agreements to ensure development in both countries.
Mr. Caglayan said his country is prepared to be an open gate to Asia and Europe for the development of commercial and economic co-operation.
The Turkish Trade Minister earlier signed the Exim Bank Credit for Ghana and extended his President's invitation to Vice President, John Mahama to visit that country.
The Turkish Trade Minister, Zafar Caglayan, who is at the head of a 150 member delegation to the country, said this at a media briefing in Accra.
Mr. Caglayan said his government is also providing an amount of USD 3 to 24 million to help boost Ghana's tourism industry.
He said to deepen the economic ties between Turkey and Ghana, negotiations are ongoing to address the issue of double taxation to protect and encourage mutual investments as well as contractual agreements to ensure development in both countries.
Mr. Caglayan said his country is prepared to be an open gate to Asia and Europe for the development of commercial and economic co-operation.
The Turkish Trade Minister earlier signed the Exim Bank Credit for Ghana and extended his President's invitation to Vice President, John Mahama to visit that country.
Manhyia Tight-Lipped Over $5m UK Mansion
The MANHYIA Palace in Kumasi, the official seat of the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, says it is not making any comments about reports alleging that the King has bought a $5 million country-side mansion in the United Kingdom.
Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Asantehene, Osei Antwi said 'no comment' when DAILY GUIDE contacted him on the report of the acquisition yesterday.
He did not indicate that the palace was planning to officially issue a statement on the report which was published in a UK newspaper, the Sunday Times.
It would be recalled that BBC radio alleged that the Asante King had purchased a mansion in the UK.
The PRO of the king refused to make any further statement about the nagging issue which has suddenly become the major topic of discussion in town.
Pushed to the wall, the Asantehene's PRO, who seemed not to have been ordered by the King to comment on the report, reiterated his earlier statement of 'no comment.'
As at press time yesterday, DAILY GUIDE gathered that Otumfuo Osei Tutu II was chairing an Asanteman Council meeting at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi.
Please read the full report as carried by the BBC Radio and the Sunday Times:
The Ashanti King is the most influential traditional figure of authority in Ghana. He lives in a palace in Kumasi, the capital of his gold-rich kingdom, but he travels the world often to meet subjects and raise funds for his many charitable educational projects.
This six-bedroom neocolonial property bought in November is expected to provide an aside from his work. It has an outdoor swimming pool, a tennis court and stables.
It sits on a 20-acre estate with creamy marble floors throughout and a cinema room. However, it is the drawing room with double windows, a decorative fireplace and paneling that caught the eye of the 60-year-old king.
Before getting to the throne in Ghana, he lived a modest life in London working for a local council, but like his fifteen predecessors, he now lives a grand life holding court with his subjects, playing golf and meeting some of the world's most important people. That includes the queen of England who he met on one of his many visits to Britain.
Ghana, a producer of gold since the 16th Century, today has one of the largest and richest reserves of gold in the world.
The Obuasi gold mine, some thirty minutes drive from the kingdom's capital, Kumasi, is the biggest in the country.
So with the mining industry that has been a relative success story, the influence of a king who presides is immense.
Though without constitutional powers, his approval is sought in many political appointments and decisions.
His office is so revered that public criticism is rare but with this new purchase, many in his kingdom and beyond might just muster the courage to ask questions about the king's priorities. BBC Radio
1,000 detained in Moscow to prevent ethnic clashes
MOSCOW – At least 1,000 people were detained in Moscow on Wednesday in an attempt to prevent ethnic clashes, police said, after weekend rioting by racist hooligans fueled rumors that minorities were planning to retaliate.
Resentment has been rising among Slavic Russians over the growing presence in Moscow and elsewhere of people from the southern Caucasus region, the home of numerous ethnic groups, most of them Muslim. People from other parts of the former Soviet Union, including Central Asia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, also face ethnic discrimination and are frequent victims of hate crimes.
New scuffles erupted Wednesday outside the Kievsky train station, which is popular with street merchants from the Caucasus. Hundreds of riot police were deployed and they detained young men and teenagers shouting racist slogans.
Some men who appeared to be from the Caucasus also were detained, while others were let go after a quick check. Most of those detained Wednesday were rounded up at the Kievsky station, where officers also confiscated dozens of knives and other weapons, police spokesman Viktor Biryukov said.
The area around Kievsky station was feared to be a target of those who rioted outside the Kremlin, mainly soccer fans, who chanted "Russia for Russians!" during Saturday's clashes that left dozens injured. Many soccer fans are linked with neo-Nazis and other radical racist groups that mushroomed in Russia after the 1991 Soviet collapse.
Russian media have been abuzz with rumors that some people from the Caucasus could try to take revenge for Saturday's riots, even as community leaders described the allegations as a provocation and called for calm.
A shopping mall just outside the station shut down hours ahead of schedule, and most stands at a nearby flower market, operated mostly by people from the Caucasus, were shut. Authorities towed cars early in the morning in anticipation of possible clashes.
The weekend rally began as a protest against the killing of a member of the Spartak Moscow soccer team's fan club, who was shot with rubber bullets during clashes with Caucasus natives at a bus stop earlier this month. Spartak fans claimed corrupt policemen detained one suspected killer following the fight, but they released others because they had powerful backers in the Caucasus.
Lebanese army says Israeli spy cameras found
BEIRUT – Lebanese military experts have discovered and dismantled two spy cameras planted in the country's mountains by Israel, Lebanon's army said Wednesday.
One of the long range spying systems was placed on Sannine mountain, which overlooks Beirut and the eastern Bekaa Valley, and the second was on Barouk mountain, southeast of the capital, the army said in a statement.
The system found in Sannine included a camera, a device to send images and a third to receive signals, the army said. The device found in Barouk was "much more complicated."
The army said it plans to remove the cameras and urged citizens to inform authorities about any suspicious objects they find. The military was tipped off about the systems by the militant Hezbollah group, the statement said.
Earlier this month, Hezbollah said it discovered an Israeli device spying on its private telecommunications network.
Lebanon and Israel are officially in a state of war. More than 100 people in Lebanon have been arrested since last year on suspicion of collaborating with Israel.
One of the long range spying systems was placed on Sannine mountain, which overlooks Beirut and the eastern Bekaa Valley, and the second was on Barouk mountain, southeast of the capital, the army said in a statement.
The system found in Sannine included a camera, a device to send images and a third to receive signals, the army said. The device found in Barouk was "much more complicated."
The army said it plans to remove the cameras and urged citizens to inform authorities about any suspicious objects they find. The military was tipped off about the systems by the militant Hezbollah group, the statement said.
Earlier this month, Hezbollah said it discovered an Israeli device spying on its private telecommunications network.
Lebanon and Israel are officially in a state of war. More than 100 people in Lebanon have been arrested since last year on suspicion of collaborating with Israel.
AP Enterprise: Bombs hit south Sudan before vote
KIIR ADEM, Sudan – Craters and damaged huts mark this town that lies near the divide between north and south Sudan — the result, southern officials say, of repeated bombings by warplanes sent by Khartoum in hopes of scuttling an independence vote.
The Associated Press saw the damage during a visit to the site this week. Sudan's government denies it was involved in any aerial attack against the south. Southern officials and commanders reject that claim of innocence.
Fearful of more attacks, thousands of civilians have fled the verdant fishing village of Kiir Adem. The southern army, which fought a two-decade civil war with the north until a 2005 peace agreement, has moved in three anti-aircraft guns but says it will exercise restraint against what it calls northern provocations.
Southern Sudan's Jan. 9 independence vote was agreed on in the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, or CPA. That vote will likely see Africa's largest country split in two and create a new nation — Southern Sudan.
"Definitely they are making aggressions, calculated moves," said Col. Philip Aguer, spokesman for the southern military, the Sudan People's Liberation Army, or SPLA. "We know the other side wants war, because it will make the CPA come to an end."
Standing near two of the newly arrived anti-aircraft guns, SPLA Lt. Col. Steven Bol Kuany held out a gnarled piece of metal that he identified as shrapnel from a bomb dropped by northern Sudanese MiG or Antonov aircraft in sorties that began last month.
The first happened late in the day of Nov. 11, when three Chinese-made MiG fighter jets and two Antonovs passed over Kiir Adem, dropping at least one bomb. At first, southern officials downplayed the event, saying the bomb landed on the north side of the Kiir River in what they consider to be northern territory. The north said at the time it was targeting fighters from Darfur's most powerful rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement
But the aircraft returned the next day. This time bombs fell on the southern side of the river, wounding seven southern troops and five civilians, said the south's top officer in the region, Maj. Gen. Santino Deng Wol.
During a visit to the bomb site, an AP reporter saw a crater 30 feet (10 meters) in diameter and about six feet (two meters) deep, several hundred yards (meters) from a major southern military instillation and 100 yards (meters) from the only major bridge in the area. A second, smaller crater was punched into the ground closer to the base.
Circular patches of charred earth marked the spots where Wol said a dozen soldier huts once stood before the munitions set them ablaze. He said some civilian huts also burned. Wol said he believes the north was targeting the bridge.
"When they said it was accidental, we gave them the benefit of the doubt, but when it repeated itself for the second and third time, no, you cannot believe it," Aguer told AP.
The Khartoum government has denied bombing southern areas. Sudan army spokesman Sawarmy Khaled said Sunday the repeated accusations by the south "are but attempts for a cover-up for its hosting of Darfur rebel movements."
"These are baseless accusations which we have repeatedly denied as baseless," Khaled said in remarks published by the daily newspaper Akhbar Ayoum. "We as armed forces, we operate in the areas north of the 1956 line, not south of it."
That may be technically true. Kiir Adem lies about 15 miles (25 kilometers) north of the north-south border line drawn on a map when Sudan gained independence from Britain in 1956.
But the 1,300-mile (2,100-kilometer) border has never been demarcated, and ethnic Dinkas — a southern tribe — have always occupied this area, making it a de facto southern region. Ethnic Arabs hold most of the power in the north.
Rabie Abdel Attie, the spokesman for the north's ruling party, denied Khartoum is bombing areas under southern control.
"If we wanted to make war, we wouldn't have stopped it in the first place," he said, referring to the peace agreement.
Wol said the north's planes returned again on Nov. 24 and dropped bombs near Kiir Adem, wounding four soldiers. The next day, another flyover took place, according to witnesses. This time the SPLA fired back, a witness told AP, speaking on condition of anonymity because of fears of reprisals from the south's military.
Wol, when asked about the eyewitness report, did not deny his forces may have fired on northern planes.
"If someone comes in our place we have to defend ourselves," he said. "Otherwise they'll finish us."
During the AP's visit, southern troops cleaned an anti-aircraft gun mounted on a cargo truck. Others dug a long trench running south, away from the military encampment where soldiers' families live. Asked if the SPLA would respond to provocations by the northern military, Kuany said no.
"We cannot respond to them because of our referendum," said Kuany.
Pagan Amum, the secretary-general of the south's ruling party, said the south is ignoring provocations by the north and instead has proposed a joint north-south committee investigate the bombings and civilian casualties.
Southern leaders, Amum said, are doing "everything to ensure the process of implementation of the CPA is not derailed, especially now that we are getting nearer to the referendum."
The total wounded in the attacks is believed to range from 16 to 22, with 10 to 11 of those being soldiers, according to interviews with southern army officials and multiple U.N. security reports. The AP was not able to confirm any deaths from the attacks, though southern army officials in Northern Bahr el Ghazal state reported one child went missing after one attack and was later found dead.
After the Nov. 12 attack, 1,500 people fled Kiir Adem to the town of Gok Machar, an hour's drive away or about 24 hours on foot, said Gabriel Deng, the official tasked with aiding the displaced. After the Nov. 24 bombing, 1,100 more people fled, he said.
For those who survived two decades of north-south war — a conflict that killed more than 2 million people — the recent attacks are reminiscent of wartime raids by the northern military that indiscriminately bombed villages and rebel bases alike.
Still, some of the residents of Kiir Adem are refusing to leave. Rebecca Duany, a frail elderly woman in a soiled, flower-patterned dress, said that even if the bombings worsen she will remain here, where she owns land and where she can fish in the river.
"We will just die here," she said dejectedly. Another woman sitting with her, the wife of a soldier, added that they had all registered here for the Jan. 9 vote, and "we were told that we have to vote where we registered."
The Associated Press saw the damage during a visit to the site this week. Sudan's government denies it was involved in any aerial attack against the south. Southern officials and commanders reject that claim of innocence.
Fearful of more attacks, thousands of civilians have fled the verdant fishing village of Kiir Adem. The southern army, which fought a two-decade civil war with the north until a 2005 peace agreement, has moved in three anti-aircraft guns but says it will exercise restraint against what it calls northern provocations.
Southern Sudan's Jan. 9 independence vote was agreed on in the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, or CPA. That vote will likely see Africa's largest country split in two and create a new nation — Southern Sudan.
"Definitely they are making aggressions, calculated moves," said Col. Philip Aguer, spokesman for the southern military, the Sudan People's Liberation Army, or SPLA. "We know the other side wants war, because it will make the CPA come to an end."
Standing near two of the newly arrived anti-aircraft guns, SPLA Lt. Col. Steven Bol Kuany held out a gnarled piece of metal that he identified as shrapnel from a bomb dropped by northern Sudanese MiG or Antonov aircraft in sorties that began last month.
The first happened late in the day of Nov. 11, when three Chinese-made MiG fighter jets and two Antonovs passed over Kiir Adem, dropping at least one bomb. At first, southern officials downplayed the event, saying the bomb landed on the north side of the Kiir River in what they consider to be northern territory. The north said at the time it was targeting fighters from Darfur's most powerful rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement
But the aircraft returned the next day. This time bombs fell on the southern side of the river, wounding seven southern troops and five civilians, said the south's top officer in the region, Maj. Gen. Santino Deng Wol.
During a visit to the bomb site, an AP reporter saw a crater 30 feet (10 meters) in diameter and about six feet (two meters) deep, several hundred yards (meters) from a major southern military instillation and 100 yards (meters) from the only major bridge in the area. A second, smaller crater was punched into the ground closer to the base.
Circular patches of charred earth marked the spots where Wol said a dozen soldier huts once stood before the munitions set them ablaze. He said some civilian huts also burned. Wol said he believes the north was targeting the bridge.
"When they said it was accidental, we gave them the benefit of the doubt, but when it repeated itself for the second and third time, no, you cannot believe it," Aguer told AP.
The Khartoum government has denied bombing southern areas. Sudan army spokesman Sawarmy Khaled said Sunday the repeated accusations by the south "are but attempts for a cover-up for its hosting of Darfur rebel movements."
"These are baseless accusations which we have repeatedly denied as baseless," Khaled said in remarks published by the daily newspaper Akhbar Ayoum. "We as armed forces, we operate in the areas north of the 1956 line, not south of it."
That may be technically true. Kiir Adem lies about 15 miles (25 kilometers) north of the north-south border line drawn on a map when Sudan gained independence from Britain in 1956.
But the 1,300-mile (2,100-kilometer) border has never been demarcated, and ethnic Dinkas — a southern tribe — have always occupied this area, making it a de facto southern region. Ethnic Arabs hold most of the power in the north.
Rabie Abdel Attie, the spokesman for the north's ruling party, denied Khartoum is bombing areas under southern control.
"If we wanted to make war, we wouldn't have stopped it in the first place," he said, referring to the peace agreement.
Wol said the north's planes returned again on Nov. 24 and dropped bombs near Kiir Adem, wounding four soldiers. The next day, another flyover took place, according to witnesses. This time the SPLA fired back, a witness told AP, speaking on condition of anonymity because of fears of reprisals from the south's military.
Wol, when asked about the eyewitness report, did not deny his forces may have fired on northern planes.
"If someone comes in our place we have to defend ourselves," he said. "Otherwise they'll finish us."
During the AP's visit, southern troops cleaned an anti-aircraft gun mounted on a cargo truck. Others dug a long trench running south, away from the military encampment where soldiers' families live. Asked if the SPLA would respond to provocations by the northern military, Kuany said no.
"We cannot respond to them because of our referendum," said Kuany.
Pagan Amum, the secretary-general of the south's ruling party, said the south is ignoring provocations by the north and instead has proposed a joint north-south committee investigate the bombings and civilian casualties.
Southern leaders, Amum said, are doing "everything to ensure the process of implementation of the CPA is not derailed, especially now that we are getting nearer to the referendum."
The total wounded in the attacks is believed to range from 16 to 22, with 10 to 11 of those being soldiers, according to interviews with southern army officials and multiple U.N. security reports. The AP was not able to confirm any deaths from the attacks, though southern army officials in Northern Bahr el Ghazal state reported one child went missing after one attack and was later found dead.
After the Nov. 12 attack, 1,500 people fled Kiir Adem to the town of Gok Machar, an hour's drive away or about 24 hours on foot, said Gabriel Deng, the official tasked with aiding the displaced. After the Nov. 24 bombing, 1,100 more people fled, he said.
For those who survived two decades of north-south war — a conflict that killed more than 2 million people — the recent attacks are reminiscent of wartime raids by the northern military that indiscriminately bombed villages and rebel bases alike.
Still, some of the residents of Kiir Adem are refusing to leave. Rebecca Duany, a frail elderly woman in a soiled, flower-patterned dress, said that even if the bombings worsen she will remain here, where she owns land and where she can fish in the river.
"We will just die here," she said dejectedly. Another woman sitting with her, the wife of a soldier, added that they had all registered here for the Jan. 9 vote, and "we were told that we have to vote where we registered."
Nigeria may strike deal in Halliburton, Cheney case
ABUJA (Reuters) – Nigeria's anti-corruption police said on Tuesday it may drop bribery charges against former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and oil services company Halliburton after the company offered to pay a fine.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said it met with officials representing Cheney and Halliburton in London last week after filing 16-count charges at a federal high court in Abuja in a case dating back to the mid-1990s.
Halliburton, which has said the Nigerian charges have no legal basis, declined to comment. But EFCC spokesman Femi Babafemi said an offer had been made to pay fines totaling up to $250 million.
"They have made offers of fines to be paid in penalties. They offered to pay $120 million in addition to the repatriation of $130 million trapped in Switzerland," Babafemi said.
"It will need to be ratified by the government and we expect a decision by the end of the week," he said.
Houston-based engineering firm KBR, a former Halliburton unit, pleaded guilty last year to U.S. charges that it paid $180 million in bribes between 1994 and 2004 to Nigerian officials to secure $6 billion in contracts for the Bonny Island liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in the Niger Delta.
KBR and Halliburton reached a $579 million settlement in the United States. But Nigeria, France and Switzerland have conducted their own investigations into the case.
The EFCC last week charged Halliburton Chief Executive David Lesar, Cheney, and two other executives. It also filed charges against Halliburton as a company, which was headed by Cheney during the 1990s, and four associated businesses.
A lawyer for Cheney, who was U.S. vice president from 2001 to 2009, did not comment on whether a settlement was under discussion, but said the charges were baseless.
Halliburton split from KBR in 2007. It has said that its current operations in Nigeria -- raided by the EFCC last month -- were not involved in the Bonny project and that there is no legal basis for the charges.
Those charged in Nigeria include KBR Chief Executive Officer William Utt and former KBR CEO Albert "Jack" Stanley, who worked under Cheney when he headed Halliburton and pleaded guilty in 2008 to U.S. charges related to the case.
KBR said Utt had only joined the firm in February 2006 and that the rest of its executive team was appointed thereafter. It has accused Nigeria of "wildly and wrongly asserting blame."
The TSKJ consortium which built the Bonny plant was also charged by the EFCC.
As well as KBR, the consortium included France's Technip SA, Italy's Snamprogetti -- a unit of Italian oilfield services company Saipem, whose parent company is Eni -- and Japan's JGC Corp..
Shares of Halliburton were up 0.7 percent at $41.42 on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday afternoon.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said it met with officials representing Cheney and Halliburton in London last week after filing 16-count charges at a federal high court in Abuja in a case dating back to the mid-1990s.
Halliburton, which has said the Nigerian charges have no legal basis, declined to comment. But EFCC spokesman Femi Babafemi said an offer had been made to pay fines totaling up to $250 million.
"They have made offers of fines to be paid in penalties. They offered to pay $120 million in addition to the repatriation of $130 million trapped in Switzerland," Babafemi said.
"It will need to be ratified by the government and we expect a decision by the end of the week," he said.
Houston-based engineering firm KBR, a former Halliburton unit, pleaded guilty last year to U.S. charges that it paid $180 million in bribes between 1994 and 2004 to Nigerian officials to secure $6 billion in contracts for the Bonny Island liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in the Niger Delta.
KBR and Halliburton reached a $579 million settlement in the United States. But Nigeria, France and Switzerland have conducted their own investigations into the case.
The EFCC last week charged Halliburton Chief Executive David Lesar, Cheney, and two other executives. It also filed charges against Halliburton as a company, which was headed by Cheney during the 1990s, and four associated businesses.
A lawyer for Cheney, who was U.S. vice president from 2001 to 2009, did not comment on whether a settlement was under discussion, but said the charges were baseless.
Halliburton split from KBR in 2007. It has said that its current operations in Nigeria -- raided by the EFCC last month -- were not involved in the Bonny project and that there is no legal basis for the charges.
Those charged in Nigeria include KBR Chief Executive Officer William Utt and former KBR CEO Albert "Jack" Stanley, who worked under Cheney when he headed Halliburton and pleaded guilty in 2008 to U.S. charges related to the case.
KBR said Utt had only joined the firm in February 2006 and that the rest of its executive team was appointed thereafter. It has accused Nigeria of "wildly and wrongly asserting blame."
The TSKJ consortium which built the Bonny plant was also charged by the EFCC.
As well as KBR, the consortium included France's Technip SA, Italy's Snamprogetti -- a unit of Italian oilfield services company Saipem, whose parent company is Eni -- and Japan's JGC Corp..
Shares of Halliburton were up 0.7 percent at $41.42 on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday afternoon.
Most of Togo's debt forgiven: IMF, World Bank
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Togo's foreign debt will be slashed more than 80 percent after the African nation took steps to recover from economic crisis, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank said Tuesday.
The Bretton Woods institutions said their executive boards had approved Togo's eligibility for the debt relief upon reaching the completion point under the Enhanced Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative.
The HIPC milestone will lead to up to 1.8 billion dollars of debt relief for Togo, representing an 82 percent reduction of its external debt, the IMF and the World Bank said in a joint statement.
"Of the resulting reduction of about 1.8 billion dollars in the stock of debt, 47 percent will come from multilateral creditors, 50 percent from Paris Club creditors, and the remainder is expected to come from other bilateral and commercial creditors," they said.
"Togo can now continue its impressive success in devoting more of its scarce resources to priorities such as social needs and rebuilding its infrastructure, rather than debt service," said Marshall Mills, IMF mission chief for Togo.
The World Bank country director for Togo, Madani Tall, called on the government "to maintain the momentum by using this debt relief for reducing poverty and making the economy more diversified and competitive."
Togo was the 31st country to reach the completion point under the HICP debt-relief program, two years after beginning the process.
During that time, the government followed IMF recommendations to adopt prudent budgets, improve tax collection, pay state arrears, privatize public companies, end gasoline subsidies and put in place a system to curb oil price increases.
The Bretton Woods institutions said their executive boards had approved Togo's eligibility for the debt relief upon reaching the completion point under the Enhanced Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative.
The HIPC milestone will lead to up to 1.8 billion dollars of debt relief for Togo, representing an 82 percent reduction of its external debt, the IMF and the World Bank said in a joint statement.
"Of the resulting reduction of about 1.8 billion dollars in the stock of debt, 47 percent will come from multilateral creditors, 50 percent from Paris Club creditors, and the remainder is expected to come from other bilateral and commercial creditors," they said.
"Togo can now continue its impressive success in devoting more of its scarce resources to priorities such as social needs and rebuilding its infrastructure, rather than debt service," said Marshall Mills, IMF mission chief for Togo.
The World Bank country director for Togo, Madani Tall, called on the government "to maintain the momentum by using this debt relief for reducing poverty and making the economy more diversified and competitive."
Togo was the 31st country to reach the completion point under the HICP debt-relief program, two years after beginning the process.
During that time, the government followed IMF recommendations to adopt prudent budgets, improve tax collection, pay state arrears, privatize public companies, end gasoline subsidies and put in place a system to curb oil price increases.
Libya's Gaddafi proposes 1 million-strong African army
DAKAR (Reuters) – African nations should join forces to create a one-million-strong army to protect the continent and confront outsiders like NATO and China, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said on Tuesday.
Gaddafi, well known for his forthright rhetoric, has acquired growing influence in Africa but his ambition to build a united states of Africa is not shared by the continent's biggest powers.
"National militaries alone cannot save countries. Africa should have one army with one million soldiers," Gaddafi said in a speech in the Senegalese capital.
He said the joint force would "guard the borders and seas, protect Africa's independence and confront NATO, China, France, Britain and other countries."
Speaking at an event called the World Festival of Black Arts and Cultures, Gaddafi also attacked opponents of his long-standing proposal for a unified African government.
"They should leave home, abandon their countries and go and live in the capitals of the capitalist, imperialist countries which once occupied Africa," he said in his speech.
Gaddafi has been pushing for an African unity government for years, saying it is the only way Africa can develop without Western interference.
His ideas have had a sympathetic response in some states, helped by his reputation in parts of the continent as champion of the developing world and also by the millions of dollars in aid his oil-exporting country gives to Africa.
But many African leaders, especially in the bigger economies, are skeptical. They say they cannot be expected to cede sovereignty to an African bloc only a few decades after wresting it from their colonial rulers.
Gaddafi, well known for his forthright rhetoric, has acquired growing influence in Africa but his ambition to build a united states of Africa is not shared by the continent's biggest powers.
"National militaries alone cannot save countries. Africa should have one army with one million soldiers," Gaddafi said in a speech in the Senegalese capital.
He said the joint force would "guard the borders and seas, protect Africa's independence and confront NATO, China, France, Britain and other countries."
Speaking at an event called the World Festival of Black Arts and Cultures, Gaddafi also attacked opponents of his long-standing proposal for a unified African government.
"They should leave home, abandon their countries and go and live in the capitals of the capitalist, imperialist countries which once occupied Africa," he said in his speech.
Gaddafi has been pushing for an African unity government for years, saying it is the only way Africa can develop without Western interference.
His ideas have had a sympathetic response in some states, helped by his reputation in parts of the continent as champion of the developing world and also by the millions of dollars in aid his oil-exporting country gives to Africa.
But many African leaders, especially in the bigger economies, are skeptical. They say they cannot be expected to cede sovereignty to an African bloc only a few decades after wresting it from their colonial rulers.
Egypt's Bedouin smugglers ply arms trade to Gaza
SINAI, Egypt (Reuters) – Sitting cross-legged in the desert darkness, a 44-year-old Bedouin tribesman was describing how he smuggles weapons across Egypt's Sinai desert to the Gaza Strip when a heavily laden four-wheel drive vehicle pulled up.
"The latest deal just arrived from Sudan, come and see," said 'Aref' the smuggler, rising to greet the driver, who shut off the headlights that had briefly pierced the moonless night.
"These are 80 Kalashnikovs," said Aref, flinging open the trunk to reveal the stacked assault rifles, gleaming dimly in the flashlight held by his Bedouin assistant. "We will bury this shipment in the desert until we find a buyer."
Arms smuggling by Bedouin tribal networks, mainly by land along Egypt's southern border with Sudan, across the Sinai peninsula and into the Hamas-run Gaza Strip is on the uptick, according to an Egyptian official, who asked not to be named.
Sudan denies that it allows any kind of weapons shipments across its territory to any destination.
Egyptian officials have said the smuggling is still not widespread and Bedouin own weapons as part of their culture, in which they bestow status, but such arms were not broadly traded.
Leaked U.S. diplomatic cables, however, point to concerns that Iran was sending arms to Hamas via Sudan and Egypt. An April 2009 cable from the U.S. embassy in Cairo said Egyptian Interior Minister Habib el-Adli was behind "steps to disrupt the flow of Iranian-supplied arms from Sudan through Egypt to Gaza."
The growing scale of the lucrative trade could threaten stability in Sinai, whose Bedouin tribesmen complain they are marginalized and benefit little from the tourists who flock to Sharm el-Sheikh and other resorts on the peninsula's coasts.
SECURITY IMBALANCE
"Sinai suffers a security imbalance," military analyst Safwat Zayaat said. "Under-development is fuelling the arms trade fed by unstable neighboring areas in northeast Sudan."
He said there was a ready market for weapons smuggled via a network of border tunnels into the Gaza Strip, controlled by the Islamist Palestinian group Hamas since 2007.
This is a concern for Israel, which has frequently complained about Egypt's failure to stop the arms transfers.
Yet the terms of Camp David accords signed by Egypt and Israel in 1978 help explain why it is so hard for the Egyptians to police their borders and maintain control in Sinai, where well-armed Bedouin occasionally clash with security forces.
The accords, signed by former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, demilitarised central Sinai and allowed Egypt to deploy only a small number of lightly armed border guards there and on the 266-km (166-mile) frontier.
After Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005, Egypt proposed raising the number to 3,500 to help it secure its border with the Gaza Strip. Israel refused, citing security concerns.
"Camp David demands that Sinai is largely demilitarised," Zayaat said. "Security lapses related to human trafficking across the Egypt-Israel border or the inability to stem arms and drug smuggling within Sinai and into Gaza occur as a result."
Sinai's border with Israel is a main trafficking route for thousands of African migrants seeking asylum in Israel. Israel has criticized Egypt for not doing enough to stem the flow.
Under Israeli pressure to secure the frontier, Egyptian police have used tough tactics including shooting migrants on sight. They have also had shootouts with Bedouin smugglers who ferry migrants across the border for about $1,000 per person.
Israel began work in November on a 266-km (166-mile) border fence with Egypt to block the flow of African migrants.
There is little hard evidence of Bedouin involvement in Islamist violence, although in 2004 and 2005 the Egyptian government rounded up about 5,000 Bedouin in security sweeps after a string of bomb attacks in Red Sea resorts.
GUN CULTURE
Aref, the Bedouin smuggler, who would not give his real name, said arbitrary arrests and unfulfilled promises of economic opportunity only encouraged tribesmen to acquire guns.
"Every Bedouin owns a weapon and in the past few months some have used theirs against heavy-handed security forces," he said, adding that the smugglers were not motivated by ideology, but that owning weapons was part of a Bedouin's honor code.
His assistant, who asked not to be named, said the smuggling route began in the Kassala region of eastern Sudan. Sudanese tribesmen transport the arms 700 km (440 miles) to the Egyptian border. Sinai Bedouin collect them there and take them north as far as the Suez Canal, a bottleneck for any smuggling route.
"The journey takes at least 15 days," said Aref's aide. He named Sudan's Rashaida tribe as main suppliers to the Sawarka Bedouin, one of two tribes that control the Sinai arms market.
Bedouin tribes that lie along the chosen route secure the shipment's passage from point to point, each tribe receiving its share of arms or cash, he added. Shipments range from assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades to anti-aircraft guns.
In March 2009, CBS News reported that an Israeli aircraft had attacked an arms smuggling convoy in Sudan two months earlier, killing more than 30 people, to stop it reaching Hamas in Gaza.
Cables published by the WikiLeaks website also point up the security vacuum in parts of Sinai.
A Sinai-based official, cited in a December 2009 memo, said: "Bedouin control central Sinai because they are better armed than the Egyptian military."
Asked about the Sinai weapons trade, another senior security official in Cairo who previously served with the army in Sinai and requested anonymity said it would be impractical for smugglers to use Sudan as a conduit and said Egypt had tight control of border areas.
"Our Egypt-Gaza border is safe and under control," he said.
"The latest deal just arrived from Sudan, come and see," said 'Aref' the smuggler, rising to greet the driver, who shut off the headlights that had briefly pierced the moonless night.
"These are 80 Kalashnikovs," said Aref, flinging open the trunk to reveal the stacked assault rifles, gleaming dimly in the flashlight held by his Bedouin assistant. "We will bury this shipment in the desert until we find a buyer."
Arms smuggling by Bedouin tribal networks, mainly by land along Egypt's southern border with Sudan, across the Sinai peninsula and into the Hamas-run Gaza Strip is on the uptick, according to an Egyptian official, who asked not to be named.
Sudan denies that it allows any kind of weapons shipments across its territory to any destination.
Egyptian officials have said the smuggling is still not widespread and Bedouin own weapons as part of their culture, in which they bestow status, but such arms were not broadly traded.
Leaked U.S. diplomatic cables, however, point to concerns that Iran was sending arms to Hamas via Sudan and Egypt. An April 2009 cable from the U.S. embassy in Cairo said Egyptian Interior Minister Habib el-Adli was behind "steps to disrupt the flow of Iranian-supplied arms from Sudan through Egypt to Gaza."
The growing scale of the lucrative trade could threaten stability in Sinai, whose Bedouin tribesmen complain they are marginalized and benefit little from the tourists who flock to Sharm el-Sheikh and other resorts on the peninsula's coasts.
SECURITY IMBALANCE
"Sinai suffers a security imbalance," military analyst Safwat Zayaat said. "Under-development is fuelling the arms trade fed by unstable neighboring areas in northeast Sudan."
He said there was a ready market for weapons smuggled via a network of border tunnels into the Gaza Strip, controlled by the Islamist Palestinian group Hamas since 2007.
This is a concern for Israel, which has frequently complained about Egypt's failure to stop the arms transfers.
Yet the terms of Camp David accords signed by Egypt and Israel in 1978 help explain why it is so hard for the Egyptians to police their borders and maintain control in Sinai, where well-armed Bedouin occasionally clash with security forces.
The accords, signed by former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, demilitarised central Sinai and allowed Egypt to deploy only a small number of lightly armed border guards there and on the 266-km (166-mile) frontier.
After Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005, Egypt proposed raising the number to 3,500 to help it secure its border with the Gaza Strip. Israel refused, citing security concerns.
"Camp David demands that Sinai is largely demilitarised," Zayaat said. "Security lapses related to human trafficking across the Egypt-Israel border or the inability to stem arms and drug smuggling within Sinai and into Gaza occur as a result."
Sinai's border with Israel is a main trafficking route for thousands of African migrants seeking asylum in Israel. Israel has criticized Egypt for not doing enough to stem the flow.
Under Israeli pressure to secure the frontier, Egyptian police have used tough tactics including shooting migrants on sight. They have also had shootouts with Bedouin smugglers who ferry migrants across the border for about $1,000 per person.
Israel began work in November on a 266-km (166-mile) border fence with Egypt to block the flow of African migrants.
There is little hard evidence of Bedouin involvement in Islamist violence, although in 2004 and 2005 the Egyptian government rounded up about 5,000 Bedouin in security sweeps after a string of bomb attacks in Red Sea resorts.
GUN CULTURE
Aref, the Bedouin smuggler, who would not give his real name, said arbitrary arrests and unfulfilled promises of economic opportunity only encouraged tribesmen to acquire guns.
"Every Bedouin owns a weapon and in the past few months some have used theirs against heavy-handed security forces," he said, adding that the smugglers were not motivated by ideology, but that owning weapons was part of a Bedouin's honor code.
His assistant, who asked not to be named, said the smuggling route began in the Kassala region of eastern Sudan. Sudanese tribesmen transport the arms 700 km (440 miles) to the Egyptian border. Sinai Bedouin collect them there and take them north as far as the Suez Canal, a bottleneck for any smuggling route.
"The journey takes at least 15 days," said Aref's aide. He named Sudan's Rashaida tribe as main suppliers to the Sawarka Bedouin, one of two tribes that control the Sinai arms market.
Bedouin tribes that lie along the chosen route secure the shipment's passage from point to point, each tribe receiving its share of arms or cash, he added. Shipments range from assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades to anti-aircraft guns.
In March 2009, CBS News reported that an Israeli aircraft had attacked an arms smuggling convoy in Sudan two months earlier, killing more than 30 people, to stop it reaching Hamas in Gaza.
Cables published by the WikiLeaks website also point up the security vacuum in parts of Sinai.
A Sinai-based official, cited in a December 2009 memo, said: "Bedouin control central Sinai because they are better armed than the Egyptian military."
Asked about the Sinai weapons trade, another senior security official in Cairo who previously served with the army in Sinai and requested anonymity said it would be impractical for smugglers to use Sudan as a conduit and said Egypt had tight control of border areas.
"Our Egypt-Gaza border is safe and under control," he said.
Iraq: Plot to bomb US, European countries revealed
BAGHDAD – Iraqi authorities have obtained confessions from captured insurgents who claim al-Qaida is planning suicide attacks in the United States and Europe during the Christmas season, two senior officials said Wednesday.
Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani told The Associated Press that the botched bombing in central Stockholm last weekend was among the alleged plots the insurgents revealed. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, in a telephone interview from New York, called the claims "a critical threat."
Both al-Bolani and Zebari said Iraq has informed Interpol of the alleged plots, and alerted authorities in the U.S. and European countries of the possible danger. Neither official specified which country or countries in Europe are alleged targets.
There was no way to verify the insurgents' claims. But Western counterterrorism officials generally are on high alert during the holiday season, especially since last year's failed attack by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the so-called underwear bomber, who tried to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day.
Al-Bolani said several insurgents claimed to be part of a cell that took its orders directly from al-Qaida's central leadership. He said at least one of the captured suspects was a foreign fighter from Tunisia.
The confessions were the result of recent operations by Iraqi security forces that have netted at least 73 suspected operatives in the last two weeks, al-Bolani said.
Links between al-Qaida's central leadership, which is believed to be hiding in Pakistan, and the terror organization's front group in Iraq are tenuous as the local branch in recent years has been run by local insurgents.
But al-Bolani said the claims — if true — show al-Qaida remains a presence in Iraq.
"Several members of this terrorist group have direct links with the central leaders of the al-Qaida organization," al-Bolani said. "Those captured represent the main structure of the al-Qaida organization in Iraq."
Zebari, who is in New York for a meeting of the U.S. Security Council, said he informed "the countries concerned." He mentioned the U.S, but would not specify which countries in Europe.
Al-Bolani said the suspects claimed that last Saturday's suicide bombing in Stockholm — carried out by an Iraqi-born Swede on Saturday — was among the plots. He said the suspects made the claim after the bombing happened.
Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani told The Associated Press that the botched bombing in central Stockholm last weekend was among the alleged plots the insurgents revealed. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, in a telephone interview from New York, called the claims "a critical threat."
Both al-Bolani and Zebari said Iraq has informed Interpol of the alleged plots, and alerted authorities in the U.S. and European countries of the possible danger. Neither official specified which country or countries in Europe are alleged targets.
There was no way to verify the insurgents' claims. But Western counterterrorism officials generally are on high alert during the holiday season, especially since last year's failed attack by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the so-called underwear bomber, who tried to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day.
Al-Bolani said several insurgents claimed to be part of a cell that took its orders directly from al-Qaida's central leadership. He said at least one of the captured suspects was a foreign fighter from Tunisia.
The confessions were the result of recent operations by Iraqi security forces that have netted at least 73 suspected operatives in the last two weeks, al-Bolani said.
Links between al-Qaida's central leadership, which is believed to be hiding in Pakistan, and the terror organization's front group in Iraq are tenuous as the local branch in recent years has been run by local insurgents.
But al-Bolani said the claims — if true — show al-Qaida remains a presence in Iraq.
"Several members of this terrorist group have direct links with the central leaders of the al-Qaida organization," al-Bolani said. "Those captured represent the main structure of the al-Qaida organization in Iraq."
Zebari, who is in New York for a meeting of the U.S. Security Council, said he informed "the countries concerned." He mentioned the U.S, but would not specify which countries in Europe.
Al-Bolani said the suspects claimed that last Saturday's suicide bombing in Stockholm — carried out by an Iraqi-born Swede on Saturday — was among the plots. He said the suspects made the claim after the bombing happened.
UN lifts Iraq nuclear weapons sanctions
UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. Security Council has voted to lift sanctions that barred Iraq from acquiring nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and long-range missiles.
A resolution adopted Wednesday by the council also lifted sanctions that prohibited the country from pursuing a civilian nuclear program.
With U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden presiding, the council also voted to return control of Iraq's oil and natural gas revenue to the government on June 30 and to terminate all remaining activities of the oil-for-food program, which helped ordinary Iraqis cope with sanctions.
A resolution adopted Wednesday by the council also lifted sanctions that prohibited the country from pursuing a civilian nuclear program.
With U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden presiding, the council also voted to return control of Iraq's oil and natural gas revenue to the government on June 30 and to terminate all remaining activities of the oil-for-food program, which helped ordinary Iraqis cope with sanctions.
Nigeria oil delta raids kill 14
ABUJA (AFP) – Nigeria's military has said 14 people, including eight soldiers and six civilians, were killed during a recent operation in a village in the main oil-producing region targeting a notorious gang leader.
Death tolls have varied widely since the operation at the start of the month. Several activist groups, including at least one that visited the village of Ayakoromo, have issued a joint statement saying at least nine civilians were killed and more than 150 buildings burnt.
"On casualties, we lost a total of eight soldiers in the crossfire and we also received reports from those on the ground that six civilians were killed also during that operation," Army Chief of Staff Onyeabo Ihejirika told reporters Tuesday.
He said President Goodluck Jonathan had ordered that the buildings destroyed in the village be reconstructed, though he did not give a number.
The military has blamed the burnt houses on gunfire that would have ignited canisters of fuel stored there for generators or boat engines.
The fire would have spread because the fire service was not around to extinguish it, according to the military.
Death tolls have varied widely since the operation at the start of the month. Several activist groups, including at least one that visited the village of Ayakoromo, have issued a joint statement saying at least nine civilians were killed and more than 150 buildings burnt.
"On casualties, we lost a total of eight soldiers in the crossfire and we also received reports from those on the ground that six civilians were killed also during that operation," Army Chief of Staff Onyeabo Ihejirika told reporters Tuesday.
He said President Goodluck Jonathan had ordered that the buildings destroyed in the village be reconstructed, though he did not give a number.
The military has blamed the burnt houses on gunfire that would have ignited canisters of fuel stored there for generators or boat engines.
The fire would have spread because the fire service was not around to extinguish it, according to the military.
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