Africa News

CAIRO (Reuters) - Ahmed Shafiq, who will fight an Islamist candidate in a runoff for Egypt's presidency next month, vowed on Saturday to restore security after the revolution that unseated Hosni Mubarak. Shafiq, 70, an ex-air force commander like Mubarak, is widely viewed as a symbol of the old order, but sought to combat …

The apparent winners of the first round of Egypt's landmark presidential vote reached out to rival candidates Saturday ahead of a June run-off, as international monitors describe the initial voting process as "encouraging."

Al-Qaeda-linked Somali militants vowed Saturday to intensify the war against government and African Union troops, despite the fall of their key stronghold of Afgoye, the latest in a string of military losses.

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian Islamist candidate Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh, who failed to get enough votes in Egypt's presidential race to make the run-off, said on Friday he would now back the Muslim Brotherhood in its bid to defeat Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister. His statement did not mention by name the Brotherhood, …

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's revolutionaries did not take to the streets to replace Hosni Mubarak with another military strongman or to put an Islamist ideologue in charge, but that is the choice they woke up to after a first-round vote for the presidency. The youths who put national pride before religion when they protested …

African Union and Somali troops have captured the strategic town of Afgoye from Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents without major resistance, declaring a military breakthrough, officials said Friday.

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - African Union troops on Friday seized a rebel stronghold near Mogadishu from al Qaeda-linked insurgents, marking a major blow against the al Shabaab rebels who have used the town to stage sporadic attacks on the capital. The capture of Afgoye by the AU force AMISOM and Somali government troops, who …

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - African Union troops on Friday seized a rebel stronghold near Mogadishu from al Qaeda-linked insurgents, a spokesman said, marking a big blow against the al Shabaab rebels who have used the town to stage sporadic attacks on the capital. The capture of Afgoye by the AU force AMISOM and Somali government …

Egypt is heading for a divisive run-off vote in its landmark presidential election, with the two most controversial candidates leading the race.

CAIRO (Reuters) - When he joined the race for Egypt's presidency just five weeks ago, Mohamed Mursi was mocked as the Muslim Brotherhood's uncharismatic "spare tyre" after its first-choice candidate was disqualified. But the 60-year-old engineer came first in the opening round, according to a Brotherhood tally after most …

Vote counting was underway in Egypt Friday after two days of polling in a landmark presidential election which pitted stability against the ideals of the uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak's rule.

CAIRO (Reuters) - A Muslim Brotherhood official said on Friday the group's candidate in the first free presidential election in Egypt would enter a run-off vote next month with the last prime minister to serve Hosni Mubarak before he was ousted in a popular uprising. The vote marks the final step in a messy and often bloody …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States pledged on Thursday to "stand with the Egyptian people" and said it looked forward to working with their democratically elected government. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Egypt marked "another important milestone in their transition to democracy" by holding its first free …

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. General Assembly on Thursday renewed the mandate of the world body's human rights chief Navi Pillay, but she was given an abbreviated term as part of a compromise deal with the United States, which dislikes her criticism of Israel, envoys said. Syria also made clear it was not a fan of …

Vote counting was underway in Egypt after two days of polling ended Thursday in a landmark presidential election which pitted stability against the ideals of the uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak's rule.

(Reuters) - Nigeria's government task force will finalise a draft of the long-delayed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) this week before sending it to the oil minister and the national assembly for debate, industry sources told Reuters. The ambitious PIB has been years in the making and several other versions have been debated …

ABUJA/LAGOS (Reuters) - A new draft of Nigeria's long delayed oil bill, whose passage is needed to unblock billions of dollars of stalled investment into exploration and production, will be finalised this week, sources close to the matter said on Thursday. A copy of the 200-page Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) obtained by …

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's first open leadership contest looks better managed than an earlier parliamentary vote, making it harder to influence the outcome by hustling voters, stuffing ballots and other abuses, an election observer said on Thursday. The state election body has toughened oversight of polling stations and …

DAKAR (Reuters) - The leader of al Qaeda's North African wing has put his group's fighters in Mali's north at the disposal of Ansar Dine rebels seeking to impose Islamic law across the West African state, the first public comments officially linking to two groups. Fighters should impose sharia only gradually and look to …

GENEVA (Reuters) - The last three countries where polio is still paralysing children -- Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria -- said on Thursday that they have enlisted Muslim women and religious leaders to allay fears of vaccination and wipe out the disease. Polio cases are at an all-time low worldwide, following its eradication …

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The International Criminal Court on Thursday cleared the way for the trial of four Kenyans accused of being behind the violence which erupted after the country's elections in December 2007. The four men, who include Uhuru Kenyatta, a former presidential hopeful and the son of Kenya's founding president, …

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan has agreed to restart on May 29 talks with South Sudan to end hostilities and settle unresolved disputes, the foreign ministry said on Thursday. "The meeting will be on May 29th," El-Obeid Morawah, spokesman for the foreign ministry, told Reuters. Talks were broken off last month after border …

GENEVA (Reuters) - Growing up in Africa, he used to hunt buffalo, a passion that still serves Geneva-based lawyer Enrico Monfrini well. His dogged pursuit of ill-gotten assets has made him the scourge of many of the world's dictators and kleptocrats. An affable man with a sharp wit and a ready smile, the 67-year-old blends …

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's ruling ANC went to court on Thursday seeking to remove from public display a painting of President Jacob Zuma with his genitals exposed, saying the work is symbolic of the lingering racial oppression of apartheid. Proceedings were halted after a bizarre scene where Gcina Malindi, …

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Surging street violence against African migrants, including a rampage that an Israeli broadcaster dubbed a "pogrom", drew empathy for the rioters from the interior minister on Thursday. Waving Israeli flags and chanting "Deport the Sudanese", residents of a low-income Tel Aviv neighbourhood where many …

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Concerns are growing in South Africa that new laws on intelligence, security and graft-busting may end up protecting the political elite more than the nation. President Jacob Zuma's ANC government has proposed three measures - two revisions to apartheid-era intelligence bills and a third on oversight …

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt resumes its first free presidential election on Thursday after voting passed off mostly calmly on the first day apart from a stone-throwing attack on candidate Ahmed Shafiq, who was premier for a few days before Hosni Mubarak fell. The race broadly pits Islamist candidates against secular ones like …

TUNIS (Reuters) - A Tunisian military prosecutor demanded on Wednesday that the death penalty be imposed in absentia on ousted president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali over his alleged role in the deaths of protesters in the towns where the Arab Spring began. Ben Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia as protests swept Tunisa on January …