Darfur rebels sentenced to death in Khartoum attack

A Sudanese court sentenced 11 members of Darfur’s rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) to death by hanging in relation to last year’s attack on Khartoum.

Kenya charges suspected Somali pirates

Kenyan prosecutors brought piracy charges against 18 Somali nationals who were captured at sea by European naval forces over the past two months and handed over to Nairobi.

Rwanda rejects Laurent Nkunda’s appeal for release

A Rwandan court rejected a lawsuit brought by captured Congo rebel leader Laurent Nkunda seeking his release. Nkunda may be extradited to Congo, or to The Hague to face war crimes charges.

Somalia: villagers resist Islamists

At least seven were killed and 15 wounded as a clan militia in the southern Somalia town of Bulo Haji fought Shabaab insurgents who attacked the village. It is uncertain who is now in control.

Somalia’s parliament votes to adopt sharia law

The Somali parliament voted to adopt Islamic sharia law as part of a cease-fire agreement with the country’s Hizb al-Islamiya and al-Shabaab rebels.

Will US intervention against pirates deepen Somalia’s crisis?

As the US prepares a new initiative to crack down on Somali pirates, going after the pirate bases in Puntland may provide the pretext for putting an end to the region’s hard-won autonomy.

Somalia: US destroyer set to intervene against pirates

A Navy missile destroyer, the USS Bainbridge, has arrived to help end an ongoing standoff between Somali pirates and their American hostage off the coast of Somalia.

Hundreds flee Somaliland fighting

Hundreds of families in Somalia’s self-declared republic of Somaliland have fled inter-clan fighting, in a conflict dating to the enclave’s independence struggle in the late 1980s.

Black Mauritanians: compensation not enough

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

Did Israel bomb Sudan?

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.”

Bin Laden calls for overthrow of Somalia’s new president —despite sharia rule

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: Eritrea destabilizes Horn of Africa

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.