John Holmes, the United Nations (UN) emergency humanitarian co-ordinator, has said that the UN will investigate accusations that human rights were violated during recent fighting in Mogadishu. Somalia has agreed to the inquiry. [AlJazeera, May 14] Aid workers are said… Read moreUN to investigate Somali rights abuses
Nigeria’s outgoing president Olusegun Obasanjo visited the restive southern Niger Delta region [May 14] to perform a ground-breaking ceremony for a new $8 billion gas plant. Militants in the region have waged an intensifying campaign against the many foreign oil… Read moreNigeria boasts new gas plant —militants abduct manager
Israel’s Foreign Ministry has prepared an aid plan for the refugees of Darfur which it will submit to the cabinet for approval in the coming days. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told Haaretz that the ministry’s aid plan is intended to… Read moreIsrael to aid Darfur refugees?
Sudan has asked a UN team to travel to Darfur to evaluate the status and needs of 45,000 men, women and children who have crossed over from Chad in the last three months. Gathered in camps near the Sudanese border… Read moreArab refugees flee Chad —into Darfur?
The Chinese foreign ministry has announced the appointment of a new special representative to Africa and confirmed plans to send 275 military engineers for UN peacekeeping operations. The move comes just as China is coming under international criticism for its… Read moreChina to send military engineers to Darfur?
Pirates off Somalia’s coast have hijacked a cargo ship headed for Mogadishu, the third attack since January. Andrew Mwangura, coordinator of the Mombasa-based Seafarers Assistance Program (SAP), said the UAE-registered freighter was seized and taken to Hobyo, a well-known pirate… Read moreSomali pirates strike again
Transitional government security forces in Somalia have begun seizing and burning women’s face veils in Mogadishu in an attempt to stop insurgents disguising themselves in order to carry out attacks. When the city was under the control of the Islamic… Read moreSomalia: transition government bans hijab
From Amnesty International, May 8: Arms transfers to Sudan fuel serious human rights violations Arms, ammunition and related equipment are still being transferred to Darfur in the west of Sudan for military operations. Extremely serious violations and abuses of human… Read moreAmnesty: China supplies arms for Darfur conflict
Celebrations were held May 5 at the Gereida displaced persons camp in Darfur, to mark the one-year anniversary of the signing of the “Darfur Peace Agreement” (DPA). Significantly, the camp is controlled by the Minni Menawi faction of the Sudan… Read moreDarfur one year after “peace accords”: worse than ever
Sudan and Chad are to co-operate with the African Union (AU) and UN in an effort to stabilize the troubled Darfur region. As part of the agreement signed in Saudi Arabia, a joint border force is to be created and… Read moreSudan-Chad co-operation over Darfur?
Receiving virtually no international coverage, this past weekend saw an outburst of ethnic violence in Madagascar, with homes and shops of the Indo-Pakistani immigrant community looted in the southwest coastal town of Toliara. A serious escalation is reported April 30… Read moreMadagascar: new terror war front?
It has received no international coverage, but a BBC Monitoring translation of an April 28 report from the Madagascar Tribune indicates as explosion of ethnic violence in the African island nation over the weekend. What began as a street protest… Read moreEthnic violence in Madagascar
