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Islamists urge Egyptians to rally behind them

Sat, 26 May 2012 07:45:31 +0100

The final votes were being counted on Saturday in Egypt's presidential election, as the Muslim Brotherhood urged support for their candidate in an almost certain run-off with fallen dictator Hosni Mubarak's last premier, saying the country would be in danger if he wins.

Somali Islamists vow revenge after fall of rebel bastion

Sat, 26 May 2012 07:30:17 +0100

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.

Islamist backs Brotherhood in Egypt vote

Fri, 25 May 2012 18:18:46 +0100

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, which expelled him for choosing to run, but Abol Fotouh said he and his supporters would "rise above our political and party differences" and would "stand in a united front against the symbols of corruption and oppression. ...

Analysis - Revolutionaries see reversal in Egypt vote

Fri, 25 May 2012 18:16:03 +0100

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 against Mubarak's autocratic rule last year have increasingly despaired, saying the revolution they initiated has been hijacked by generals and the Muslim Brotherhood. ...

Islamists flee as AU, Somali troops seize rebel stronghold

Fri, 25 May 2012 17:21:51 +0100

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.

African Union troops say seize key Somali town

Fri, 25 May 2012 15:40:51 +0100

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 already control most of Mogadishu, also paves the way to securing a corridor to the capital giving access to agencies providing humanitarian aid to displaced people. ...

African Union troops say seize key Somali town

Fri, 25 May 2012 13:30:06 +0100

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 troops, who already control most of Mogadishu, also paves the way to securing a corridor to the capital that would allow easy access to humanitarian aid to residents. ...

Egypt Elections: Controversial Candidates Ahead

Fri, 25 May 2012 13:23:33 +0100

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

Brotherhood man promises Islamic law in Egypt

Fri, 25 May 2012 09:21:04 +0100

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 votes were counted, thanks to a campaign that showed off the unequalled political muscle of Egypt's oldest Islamist movement. ...

Egyptians wait for key presidential vote results

Fri, 25 May 2012 08:21:37 +0100

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.

Brotherhood, Mubarak's last PM set for Egypt run-off -source

Fri, 25 May 2012 07:17:08 +0100

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 transition to democracy, overseen by a military council that has pledged to hand over power to a new president by July 1. "It is clear that the run-off will be between (the Brotherhood's) Mohamed Mursi and Ahmed Shafiq," the official told Reuters. ...

U.S. looks forward to working with new Egyptian leader

Fri, 25 May 2012 03:34:04 +0100

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 election for president in two days of balloting. "We look forward to working with Egypt's democratically elected government," she said in a statement. ...

U.N. rights chief to stay two more years; US, Syria aren't fans

Thu, 24 May 2012 23:18:56 +0100

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 Pillay, a South African jurist whom the Syrian delegation described as "hostile" towards Damascus. Despite Washington's attempt to block a renewal of Pillay's mandate, a deal was reached after South Africa and others persuaded U.S. ...

Vote counting gets underway in Egypt

Thu, 24 May 2012 23:01:41 +0100

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.

Factbox - Nigeria's draft Petroleum Industry Bill

Thu, 24 May 2012 20:59:17 +0100

(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 by parliament. In January, President Goodluck Jonathan ordered that a task force put together a definitive draft to speed up the process. ...

Exclusive - Draft of Nigeria oil bill being finalised

Thu, 24 May 2012 20:59:17 +0100

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 Reuters includes plans to partly privatise and list the state oil firm, tax oil company profits at 20 percent for deep offshore and 50 percent for shallow or onshore, and give the oil minister supervisory powers over all institutions in the industry. ...

Egypt election looks fairer than last - expert

Thu, 24 May 2012 20:12:53 +0100

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 improved voting and counting procedures since the legislative vote that ended in January, said election specialist Ossama Kamel, a consultant to several international groups. ...

Qaeda leader tells fighters to support Mali rebels

Thu, 24 May 2012 19:05:52 +0100

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 collaborate, not clash, with separatist rebels also operating in Mali's north, the head of AQIM said in speech posted on the internet and translated by the SITE jihadist monitoring service. ...

Muslim leaders enlisted to help stamp out polio

Thu, 24 May 2012 17:56:31 +0100

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 in India last year, raising hopes but also fears about a threat of resurgence especially in sub-Saharan Africa unless remaining reservoirs of polio virus are stamped out. ...

Hague war crimes court clears way for Kenya trials

Thu, 24 May 2012 16:08:37 +0100

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, have denied the charges and claimed the court did not have the right to try them. More than 1,220 people died in the post-election violence. ...

Sudan agrees to resume talks with South Sudan next week

Thu, 24 May 2012 16:05:00 +0100

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 clashes between the two sides. Morawah said African Union mediator Thabo Mbeki had proposed the date after meeting presidents of both countries this week. (Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by Ulf Laessing)

Bounty hunter on the trail of Arab Spring loot

Thu, 24 May 2012 13:49:31 +0100

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 easily into a city of sprucely-dressed asset managers, bankers and lawyers, though his chosen calling would likely surprise many of them. Working from an austere legal practice in central Geneva which belies its global reach, Monfrini has made his mark as a bounty hunter. ...

South Africa painting debate exposes racial rifts

Thu, 24 May 2012 13:01:45 +0100

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, lawyer for the ANC, broke down in tears when a judge asked him how the court can halt viewing of an image widely distributed on the Internet. ...

Anti-African street violence surges in Israel

Thu, 24 May 2012 08:40:51 +0100

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 of the border-jumpers from Eritrea, Sudan and South Sudan live held a march late Wednesday that turned violent. Police said 20 people were arrested for assault and vandalism. ...

Analysis - South Africa's new security laws: who will they protect?

Thu, 24 May 2012 08:04:32 +0100

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 of the police's anti-graft unit, the Hawks - that have prompted concern data may be suppressed. ...

Egyptians back at the polls to pick president

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:38:00 +0100

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 Shafiq and Amr Moussa, the former Arab League chief who previously served as Mubarak's foreign minister. Long queues formed at polling stations early on Wednesday, and some were packed late into the evening. ...

Tunisian prosecutor demands death penalty for Ben Ali

Wed, 23 May 2012 21:53:48 +0100

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 14, 2011, has already been sentenced to decades in jail on charges ranging from corruption to torture. He has not so far been convicted of any charges that carry the death penalty, which is rarely carried out in the North African country. ...

Egyptians vote for Mubarak successor in historic poll

Wed, 23 May 2012 19:32:51 +0100

Egyptians voted Wednesday in the country's first free presidential elections, with Islamists and secularists vying for power with competing visions of an Egypt liberated from ousted president Hosni Mubarak's iron grip.

Nigeria arrests 45 illegal Chinese textile traders

Wed, 23 May 2012 17:57:34 +0100

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria has arrested 45 Chinese illegal textiles traders in its main northern city of Kano and plans to deport them, the city's top immigration official said on Wednesday. Nigerian law forbids foreigners from certain trades meant to be reserved for locals, including selling clothes. "Our men arrested 45 Chinese, 11 of them are women. We carried out this exercise to salvage our economy," Kano controller of immigration Emmanuel Ifeadi told Reuters. "We were directed to clear them from the market and this is going to be a continuous exercise ... ...

Factbox - Egyptians speak about their first free leadership vote

Wed, 23 May 2012 14:47:35 +0100

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptians savoured the first opportunity to choose their leader freely on Wednesday in a presidential election made possible by last year's overthrow of Hosni Mubarak. Here are some comments from citizens as voting began: Saad Abd Raboh, an education ministry employee in his mid-fifties voting in Alexandria: "Our vote will make Egypt's voice in the Arab world ring loud and clear... For 30 years, Egypt's voice was muted." Amal Khedr, an accountant in Cairo wearing a veil who said she would vote for Amr Moussa, a former foreign minister: "He has political experience. ...

AU forces intensify attack on Somali rebels

Wed, 23 May 2012 13:58:13 +0100

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - African Union and Somali government troops stepped up their assault on al Shabaab militants in the capital's northern outskirts on Wednesday, forcing hundreds of families to flee their makeshift homes and head for the city centre. The AU force, which already controls most of the capital, is trying to advance through the Afgoye corridor, once a rural area northwest of Mogadishu but now home to hundreds of thousands of Somalis uprooted from their homes. ...

AU forces intensify attack on Somali rebels

Wed, 23 May 2012 10:27:03 +0100

Bissau junta says hands power back to civilians

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:37:42 +0100

BISSAU (Reuters) - Six weeks after it toppled the government and derailed elections, Guinea-Bissau's military junta said on Tuesday it was handing power back to the West African state's civilian leaders. The announcement follows a deal between the self-styled Military Command and the regional bloc ECOWAS that put in place transitional president Manuel Sherifo Nhamadjo, installed a 600-strong ECOWAS force and promised new elections in 12 months. ...

Mali coup leader condemns beating of president

Tue, 22 May 2012 22:53:24 +0100

BAMAKO (Reuters) - The leader of Mali's March 22 coup condemned the beating of the interim president by demonstrators and called on Tuesday for a peaceful transition of power in the West African country. Caretaker President Dioncounda Traore suffered minor head injuries when protesters stormed his palace, in the latest setback for efforts to stabilise Mali after the coup and deal with a subsequent revolt by northern separatists and Islamists. ...

S.Sudan says Sudan bombs, shells its territory

Tue, 22 May 2012 20:49:27 +0100

JUBA/KHARTOUM (Reuters) - South Sudan said Sudan attacked it with aerial bombing raids and ground artillery on Monday and Tuesday, accusing Khartoum of trying to sabotage international efforts for peace talks which the African Union hopes to restart next week. Juba said its armed forces could retaliate if Sudan made further assaults, raising the prospect of a return to the fighting which the United Nations and the AU are seeking to prevent. ...

Libya elections commission says vote date not set

Tue, 22 May 2012 20:29:01 +0100

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's electoral commission said on Tuesday 4,000 candidates had registered for upcoming national assembly elections, but the commission head said he could not confirm the vote would be held on June 19 as set by the ruling National Transitional Council. "To announce the election date is linked to a number of issues including delivering election materials all over Libya and also training electoral observers," Nuri al-Abbar told reporters. "Only after the completion of these issues can we announce the actual date of the elections. ...

Men Caught Defacing Zuma's Penis Portrait

Tue, 22 May 2012 19:16:32 +0100

Two men have vandalised a portrait of South African president Jacob Zuma with his genitals exposed, intensifying a heated debate about the artwork that has enraged the ruling African National Congress.

All trapped miners at Zimbabwe's Mimosa safely rescued

Tue, 22 May 2012 19:12:10 +0100

HARARE (Reuters) - Around 60 miners trapped underground on Tuesday after an accident and fire at Zimbabwe's Mimosa platinum mine have been brought back to the surface without injury, the company said. "All employees have now been safely evacuated from the mine. No injuries have been reported," said a statement from Mimosa, which is a joint venture between South Africa's Impala Platinum (Implats) and London-listed Aquarius Platinum Ltd. It said it was too early to assess the impact on output at the mine, which produced 104,000 ounces of platinum group metals in its last financial year. ...

Tunisia seeks extradition of Ben Ali, traces hidden assets

Tue, 22 May 2012 18:46:50 +0100

TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia's justice minister said on Tuesday he suspected Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was still benefiting from funds stashed abroad 16 months after his overthrow and urged Saudi Arabia to extradite the former president for trial. Ben Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia as protests engulfed Tunisia on January 14 2011, has been sentenced in absentia to decades in jail on charges ranging from corruption to torture. ...

Egypt army, MPs defer defining president's role

Tue, 22 May 2012 18:35:23 +0100

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's army and mainly Islamist politicians have deferred talks on what powers the new president will have until after this week's presidential vote, which is unlikely to produce an outright winner, political sources said on Tuesday. Egyptians go to the polls on Wednesday and Thursday and if no candidate gains more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two contenders will fight a run-off in June. ...