An official report by Ethiopia’s government says the pilots of a Boeing MAX airplane operated by the country’s flag carrier that crashed last month followed all safety guidelines provided by the US aircraft manufacturer.

Ethiopia’s Minister of Transport Dagmawit Moges made the remark on Thursday as she delivered the first official report on the disaster, which occurred on March 10 and claimed 157 lives.

“The crew performed all the procedures repeatedly provided by the manufacturer but was not able to control the aircraft,” Dagmawit told a news conference in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

Initial reports claimed that despite numerous efforts, the pilots had failed to override the automated anti-stall system that repeatedly tilted the plane’s nose downward before it crashed just minutes after take-off from the Addis Ababa airport.

The incident took place five months after another Boeing airplane plunged into the Java Sea off Indonesia, killing 189 people.

The Ethiopian minister also stressed on Thursday that aviation authorities needed to verify any review before the operational release of the American-made planes.

Authorities investigating the Ethiopian Airlines flight have said there were “clear similarities” between both crashes, which involved Boeing’s workhorse Max 8 jets.

The 737 MAX planes were grounded worldwide following the two fatal crashes.

Source: Presstv

A federal grand jury indicted five individuals on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The indictment was returned on October 26, 2017, and unsealed upon the arrest of the defendants. The five individuals indicted are:

Aldrin Fon Fomukong, a/k/a “Albanky,” a/k/a “A.L.,” age 24, of Greenbelt, Maryland;

Nnkeng Amin, a/k/a “Rapone,” a/k/a “Arnold,” age 30, of Beltsville, Maryland;

Yanick Eyong age 26, of Bowie, Maryland;

Ishmail Ganda, a/k/a “Banker TD,” age 31, of College Park, Maryland; and

Izou Ere Digifa, a/k/a “Lzuo Digifa,” a/k/a “Mimi VA,” age 22, of Lynchburg, Virginia.

The indictment was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Andrew Watson of Homeland Security Investigations; and Special Agent in Charge Brian Ebert of the United States Secret Service, Washington Field Office.

According to the indictment, between February 2016 and in or about July 2017, the defendants gained access to email accounts associated with the victims and sent false wiring instructions, causing the victims to wire millions of dollars into drop accounts set up by the defendants. The defendants then allegedly disbursed the money received from the victims into the drop accounts by, among other transactions, using wires to transfer money to other accounts, by initiating account transfers to other accounts at the same bank, by withdrawing sums of money, by obtaining cashier’s checks, and by writing checks to other individuals or entities.

Over the course of the conspiracy, the defendants stole or attempted to steal over $8.7 million from at least 11 victims.

Fomukong, Amin, Eyong, and Digifa remain detained.  Ganda is released under the supervision of pretrial services.

Fomukong and Amin face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the conspiracy to commit wire fraud.  Each of the defendants face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt.  An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.

Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning praised HSI and Secret Service for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly O’Connell Hayes, who is prosecuting the case.

Arab leaders slammed the US decision to recognise the Golan Heights as Israeli territory at a summit in Tunis on Sunday, but struggled for further unity as Qatar’s emir left the meeting early.

In a final declaration the Arab League summit said it “affirmed that the Golan is occupied Syrian territory according to international law, the decisions of the United Nations and the Security Council”.

A separate statement dedicated solely to the issue called Washington’s move “invalid and illegitimate”.

“It is true that America is the strongest military force in the world, but its decision is absolutely worthless,” League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit told a closing news conference.

President Donald Trump signed a proclamation Monday in which the United States recognised Israel’s annexation of the strategic plateau that it seized in 1967 and annexed in 1981.

Israel’s move has not been recognised internationally, and three UN Security Council resolutions have called for it to withdraw from the territory.

Trump’s shift on Golan had already drawn a string of angry reactions from Arab capitals, despite proving problematic for key regional US allies such as Saudi Arabia.

The decision has also drawn criticism from other Security Council members and been rejected by the European Union.

The united front shown at the Tunis summit on the issue failed to mask other deep divisions inside the Arab League, as it struggles with major headaches such as a diplomatic crisis in the Gulf and conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

In an apparent sign of the tensions, Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani quit the gathering “after attending the opening ceremony”, the Gulf state’s official QNA news agency reported, without giving any further details.

A Tunisian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Qatari leader had walked out during the speech of League chief Aboul Gheit, and “has left Tunisia”.

Qatar is at the centre of a bitter Gulf standoff since June 2017, when Saudi Arabia along with the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain severed ties with Doha.

The Saudi-led bloc accuses Doha of supporting extremist groups and being too close to Iran, charges Qatar denies.

The meeting in Tunis had brought together Saudi King Salman and the emir for a rare encounter.

But an appeal by Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi for the region to “overcome its differences” appeared to have little impact as the Qatari ruler left prematurely.

In his opening speech Aboul Gheit had blasted Turkey and Iran for their “interference” in Arab countries, insisting that Tehran and Ankara had worsened regional crises.

(AFP)

On Thursday, March 28, Human Rights Watch reported that at least 170 civilians have been killed since October in the escalating violence in Cameroon. The violence has occurred primarily along linguistic lines between Cameroon’s Anglophone and Francophone populations. The ethno-linguistic tension stems from perceived discrimination against the minority Anglophone Cameroonians: The government operates primarily in French, courts have ostracized Anglophones, and Anglophones are unable to hold civil service jobs. As a result, many Anglophones feel like second-class citizens, and ties between the two communities continue to fray while trust in government, especially in Anglophone regions, has plummeted.

Both the government and separatists are accused of atrocities. According to the report, “government forces in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions have killed scores of civilians, used indiscriminate force, and torched hundreds of homes over the past six months.” The separatists, however, have also contributed to the violence through kidnappings—including of at least 300 children under age 18 years old—and two executions, says the report. Over 430,000 have fled in response to the violence. The violence is also compounding poverty in the country, as farmers have been forced to abandon their crops and exports are in decline.

As a result of the violence, earlier this week, the U.S. placed sanctions on over 20 military personnel, civilian actors, and government ministers in Cameroon. Aid programs and military training by the U.S. have been withdrawn.

Source: Brookings Institution

Pope Francis on Saturday joined Morocco’s King Mohammed VI in saying Jerusalem should be a “symbol of peaceful coexistence” for Christians, Jews and Muslims, on the first day of a visit to the North African country.

The spiritual leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics was invited by King Mohammed VI for the sake of “interreligious dialogue”, according to Moroccan authorities.

In a joint statement, the two leaders said Jerusalem was “common patrimony of humanity and especially the followers of the three monotheistic religions.”

“The specific multi-religious character, the spiritual dimension and the particular cultural identity of Jerusalem… must be protected and promoted,” they said in the declaration released by the Vatican as the pontiff visited Rabat.

The Moroccan king chairs a committee created by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to safeguard and restore Jerusalem’s religious, cultural and architectural heritage.

The joint statement came after US President Donald Trump’s landmark recognition of the disputed city as capital of Israel, which sparked anger across the Muslim world, especially from Palestinians who see Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

Improving relations with other religions has been a priority for the Argentine pontiff, whose papacy has been marred by clergy facing a wave of child sex abuse allegations.

Opposing extremism

Addressing thousands of Moroccans who had braved the rain to attend the welcome ceremony, Francis said it was “essential to oppose fanaticism”.

He stressed the need for “appropriate preparation of future religious guides”, ahead of meeting trainee imams later on Saturday.

Catholics are a tiny minority Morocco, where 99 percent of the population is Muslim. The king is revered across West Africa as “commander of the faithful”.

Speaking at the ceremony at the Tour (or tower) Hassan mosque and nearby mausoleum in Rabat, the monarch also voiced opposition to radicalism.

“That which terrorists have in common is not religion, it’s precisely the ignorance of religion. It’s time that religion is no longer an alibi… for this ignorance, for this intolerance,” he said.

Francis rode to the ceremony in his Popemobile, passing rows of Moroccan and Vatican City flags and an estimated 12,000 well-wishers who packed the esplanade.

Buildings had been repainted, lawns manicured and security stepped up ahead of the first papal visit to Morocco since John Paul II in 1985.

A 17-year-old was arrested after trying to throw himself onto the king’s limousine to seek the monarch’s help, the police said.

Some 130,000 people across Rabat watched the first stage of the pope’s visit, which was beamed onto giant screens, officials said.

‘Right to a future’

After stopping by the royal palace, Francis and Mohammed visited an institute where around 1,300 students are studying to become imams and preachers.

There they heard from a French and a Nigerian student of the institute, which teaches “moderate Islam” and is backed by the king.

In Morocco, where Islam is the state religion, authorities are keen to stress the country’s “religious tolerance” which allows Christians and Jews to worship freely.

But Moroccans are automatically considered Muslim, apart from a minority who are born Jewish. Apostasy is socially frowned upon, and proselytising is a criminal offence.

Those who try to “rock the faith of a Muslim or to convert him to another religion” risk a prison term of up to three years.

After years in the shadows, since 2017 the small number of converts have called openly for the right to live “without persecution” and “without discrimination”.

Around 30,000 to 35,000 Catholics live in Morocco, many of them from sub-Saharan Africa.

The pope finished his Saturday schedule by meeting migrants — including children dressed in colourful hats — at a centre run by Catholic humanitarian organisation Caritas.

“Everyone has the right to a future,” said Francis, who has throughout his papacy highlighted the plight of migrants and refugees.

He criticised “collective expulsions” and said ways for migrants to regularise their status should be encouraged.

Caritas centres in Rabat, Casablanca and Tangiers welcomed 7,551 new arrivals in 2017, according to the charity, helping migrants access services.

The number of people taking the sea route from Morocco to Spain has recently surged as it has become harder for them to pass through Libya.

Rabat claims to have a “humanistic” approach to migration and rejects allegations by rights groups of “brutal arrest campaigns” and “forced displacement” to the country’s southern border.

On Sunday, the pope will celebrate mass at a Rabat stadium with an estimated 10,000 people attending.

(AFP)

The conflict ignited almost three years ago; when minority English speakers in the Ambazonia region of Africa’s Cameroon started to speak out against the onslaught of persecution and discrimination of the dominant French-speaking government.

Only the response from the leadership was fast and furious. The situation has since escalated into a bloody battle of linguistics. “The English-speaking, independent minority have been marginalized and treated as slaves and second class citizens. This is unbearable,” Pastor Abanda Nche, 45, told Fox News from his home in Ambazonia. “If anyone speaks out against the atrocities and loathing committed by the military, you are targeted and killed, beheaded, and sometimes instantly burned alive.”

Commonly referred to as the Anglophone region, the self-declared Republic of Ambazonia – which is home to most of the country’s 25 percent English speakers have long been deemed the nation’s most poverty-stricken and underprivileged.

“Cameroon is imploding from the inside and the level of uncertainty is extremely dire,” noted David Otto, director of Counter-Terrorism and Organized Crime for the Africa-focused Global Risk International security firm. “There are multiple cases of systematic rape, summary executions, extortion, public decapitation, mutilations, amputations, arson in villages, hospitals, unlawful detention, mass arrest and humiliation tactics from both state and non-state actors.”

He said that more than 2,000 Cameroonians have been “disappeared” or killed, and many more seriously maimed or wounded by the bloodletting actions perpetrated by both armed separatist groups, government forces and “criminal elements” taking advantage of the crisis.

“There is a scorched earth policy of the military burning down houses, hospitals, schools. Bodies are burned to hide the evidence,” Nche claimed.

Men arrested in connection with Cameroon’s anglophone crisis are seen at the military court in Yaounde, Cameroon, on December 14, 2018. – Nearly 300 people who were arrested in connection with Cameroon’s anglophone crisis will be released on Friday, a day after being pardoned by President Paul Biya, the defense minister said. (AFP/Getty)  

Data provided to Fox News from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) underscored that since the start of this year alone, there have been some 46 battles, riots, protests and other violent incidents. 30 separate battles between Anglophone separatists and the French-dominant government, and at least 15 more that have resulted in violence against civilians – resulting in 11 reported fatalities.

According to UN estimates, more than 400 have been killed in the mayhem, and a further 437,000 people have been displaced, the vast majority being women and children. Over 100 schools have been burned to the ground, and entire villages are said to have been erased.

Last month a Cameroonian nonprofit group the Rural Women Center for Education and Development documented that over 300 school-age girls had become pregnant as a result of rape, perpetrated by all sides of the conflict, with many resorting to savage and life-threatening abortion methods.

Abductions by militias have also become commonplace. Last week, a 20-person university football team was kidnapped during a training session, and after days of apparent torture, were finally released and taken to the hospital. Such crimes are often committed without a group claiming responsibility, and fingers are pointed at the government and at Anglophone separatists.

Much of the frustration of the Anglophone community has been spurred by the protracted, iron-fist governing of Cameroon’s Francophile government, led by 85-year-old President Paul Biya. He has ruled since 1982 but spends the majority of his time in Switzerland.

In response to queries over whether any pressure had been put on government leadership over the alleged atrocities, the Swiss embassy in Washington told Fox News that they encourage “dialogue between the government and humanitarian organizations” and that “as a neutral and multilingual country, Switzerland further tries to support the handling of bilingualism in Cameroon.”

The Cameroon Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.

And although the slaughter has attracted little international attention since its inception, U.S. officials are starting to raise red flags over the matter.

“We continue to be extremely concerned about the situation there,” Ambassador Michael Kozak said earlier this month following the release of the 2018 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, which underscored the “ongoing and excessive and arbitrary violence committed by the government and its security forces.”

“Not only do you have terrorist organizations, but then you’ve got the dispute between the Anglophone regions and the central government. We have had many discussions with the Cameroonian authorities about the need to investigate and hold accountable security forces when they commit abuses.”

While not explicitly a conflict that is religious in nature, given that both English and French speakers make up the 53 percent who deem themselves Christian, devoted churchgoers say they have been swept up into the turmoil despite their constant cries for peace on all sides.

The Council of Protestant Churches of Cameroon declared in November that over 50 primary and secondary schools, as well as Christian hospitals, have been impacted. Late last year, the military also took over four churches and turned them into military barracks. A few weeks earlier, some 79 children were abducted by gunmen from a Presbyterian Church school in the region’s capital, Bamenda, and returned – withered and psychologically scarred – days later, while their teacher and principal remained in captivity. The boarding school was forced to shudder after threats of further aggression.

Simon Munzu, a former UN official, who is campaigning for peace in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon, shows a threat message posted against him on social media by separatists during an interview with Reuters in Yaounde, Cameroon.(Reuters)  

At least 100 pastors from the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, according to the Church’s official account, are estimated to have fled their homes as the situation deteriorates.

“When churches attempt to mediate or assist members of one side of the crisis, they become targets for those on the other side of the conflict,” explained Jeff King, President of International Christian Concern. “And in the midst of violence, Christian institutions have been figuratively caught in the crossfire of conflict.”

Source: Fox News

There are reports out of Cameroon that say the U.S. has sanctioned President Paul Biya’s government and accused Yaounde of committing atrocities in the ongoing anglophone crisis.  The sanctions are also said to be in place for the arrest and detention of opposition leader, Maurice Kamto.

The sanctions are said to affect more than twenty military personnel, civilians and ministers who have been banned from entering the U.S.  The names of the affected officials have not been released, but we reported that top civil administrators and ministers are included.

The visit of U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Tibor Nagy, has not improved relations between Cameroon and the Donald Trump administration.

The U.S. has also announced the withdrawal of many other aid and security programs promised by Washington.  An earlier offer to train the Cameroonian military has also been jettisoned.

Source: Annafrica

More than 100 soldiers assigned to 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division returned to Fort Campbell from their deployment to Cameroon on Sunday afternoon.

These “First Strike” soldiers made up the majority of Task Force Talon, which deployed to northern Cameroon from October 2018 through March 2019, according to a Fort Campbell news release.

During their deployment, the task force conducted security and infrastructure missions at Contingency Location Garoua, Cameroon, in order to provide force protection and enhance United States government strategic relationships, access and influence in the area, the release said.

The task force also worked with the U.S. State Department, the Cameroonian Armed Forces, non-government organizations and host nation partners to expand positive relationships and enable security in the region. In addition, they worked closely with U.S. Army Civil Affairs teams to provide outreach to local communities, the release said.

Source: Leaf Chronicle

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is today asking donors for stepped up support for half a million displaced Cameroonians who have survived over a year of ongoing violence in different parts of the country.

Violent clashes in Cameroon between the military and armed separatists over the past thirteen months have forcibly displaced thousands, including across the border into Nigeria.

The humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate. And there are fears now that more people will become displaced over the coming months.

According to UN estimates more than 437,000 people are currently displaced in Cameroon, 246,000 of them in the Southwest Region, 105,000 in the Northwest Region, and 86,000 in the Littoral and West Regions.

Most of these are women and children. And people who become displaced face grave situations whether in Cameroon or Nigeria. Having fled with very little, they are arriving in impoverished host communities where food supplies are strained and with few facilities for health, education, water and sanitation.

As well as causing internal displacement in the Northwest and Southwest Regions of Cameroon, the deadly conflict has also forced over 35,000 Cameroonians to seek asylum in Nigeria. With the fighting continuing, this number is expected to rise. 

UNHCR now requires US$184 million for its operations in Cameroon and Nigeria – including US$35.4 million needed urgently for critical life-saving assistance.

In February, the Humanitarian Coordinator in Cameroon launched the 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) that includes the situation in the South and North West regions. UNHCR activities and related funding requirements for this program in Cameroon are part of the HRP. UNHCR advocates for international support to the plan.

Inside Cameroon, many of the displaced in the Southwest and Northwest Regions are living in overcrowded conditions, without proper shelter or health and sanitation support.

Underfunding and insecurity have restricted protection and assistance activities to affected populations. The safety of women, children, unaccompanied and separated minors, people with disabilities, and lactating and pregnant women are of deep concern to us in light of increased protection incidents and the severe underfunding. The most frequently reported security incidents include destruction of homes and other domestic properties, extortion, torture and inhumane treatment including rape, sexual assault and sexual exploitation.

In Nigeria, refugees are currently being hosted in settlements, and more than 47 villages along the border. There is significant pressure on existing social services, and facilities for health and education. Refugees in settlements are depending on humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs.

UNHCR

Following the recent visit of Tibor Nagy, the white house policy chief for African Affairs to Cameroon, the US government is now beefing up drastic measures against the Biya regime in Yaounde.

In a report drafted in Le monde newspaper, the Trump administration plans to take drastic financial sanctions against some 27 personalities of this regime who will be banned from staying on American soil or returning to it. This report opines that their assets will also be iced. The 27 Cameroonians to be penalized with these sanctions have their names already drafted by the US State Department.

Some European countries are flexing muscles to follow suit with similar measures under the diadem of the European Union. This will be a huge blow to the French government which has provided a safe haven for Biya and his cronnies in the last 57 years.

In pursuit of a lasting solution according to the report, western countries are drumming up for an inclusive dialogue to stop the ongoing Anglophone crisis that has left hundreds of thousands homeless’ more than 210 villages razed by French Cameroun soldiers and thousands massacred in the two English speaking regions of the country. Its concluding lines reads that a meeting could be organized to begin negotiations between the Yaoundé regime and the ‘secessionists’ on a neutral ground.