Twenty years after a military regime killed hundreds of mostly black Mauritanians, another military government is promising to compensate their families. While some victims’ associations welcome reparations, other affected families and many NGOs say compensation equals impunity
An airstrike on a convoy of arm smugglers in Sudan in January was launched by Israel and not US, according to growing reports. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert boasted: “We operate everywhere.”
Osama bin Laden called on Somali militants to overthrow the country’s new President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed—despite his plan to implement sharia law as a measure to appease the insurgents.
Israel’s ambassador to Ethiopia charged that Eritrea is trying to destabilize the peace process in the Horn of Africa, and serving as a save haven for terrorist groups.
The African Union, after initially calling it an “attempted coup,” issued a new statement accepting the military’s installation of opposition leader Andry Rajoelina as president of Madagascar. ExxonMobil, the French Total and Rio Tinto Group have oil and mineral interests in Madagascar, which has rich deposits of iron ore and bauxite. Investors have hailed Ravalomanana’s free-market reforms, while Rajoelina accused him of running Madagascar like a dictator, while letting his people starve. Most of the island’s population lives on less than $2 a day.
Photo: IRIN
Libya-brokered talks between the military junta and opposition broke down in Mauritania—while former Black slaves protest that laws abolishing slavery in the country have had little effect.
While the Arab League is solidly rejecting the war crimes indictment against Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, divisions are emerging within the African Union, UN and even Sudan’s Islamist movement.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said it may open an investigation into whether Sudan’s expulsion of foreign aid agencies is a breach of human rights law or war crime.
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, charging him with war crimes and crimes against humanity, but not genocide.
Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said he would support the imposition of a “moderate” form of sharia law as part of a cease-fire agreement with the country’s insurgents.
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda sentenced former priest Emmanuel Rukundo to 25 years imprisonment Feb. 27 after convicting him of genocide and crimes against humanity.
Security forces in Madagascar’s capital fired teargas to disperse looters after an anti-government protest. Civil unrest has left 125 dead since the protest campaign began in January.
