South Sudan’s rebel leader Riek Machar has arrived in Ethiopia for a face-to-face meeting with his arch-rival, President Salva Kiir, for the first time in two years in an effort to negotiate an end to a five-year-old civil war.

Machar, Kiir’s former vice president, arrived in the Ethiopian capital, Ababa, on Wednesday, said rebel spokesman Lam Paul Gabriel.

An Ethiopian government official also confirmed his arrival, saying Machar would meet Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed before his talks with Kiir later in the day.

The president has also arrived in the country for the talks, officials confirmed.

This would be the first meeting between the two since Machar had to flee to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in July 2016, after fierce fighting broke out between his forces and the government troops in the South Sudanese capital, Juba, and left hundreds of people dead. One month later, Machar turned up in South Sudan, where he was put under house arrest.

The face-to-face meeting is now being held ahead of an African Union summit scheduled for July 1 in Mauritania.

The former vice president turned rebel after he was accused of plotting a coup against the president in 2013.

South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, then plunged into civil war, only two years after its independence from Sudan.

Tens of thousands of people have so far been killed and nearly four million displaced. Both sides have been accused of abuses against civilians.

Machar returned to Juba in April 2016 and formed a transitional government with the president and other groups under a 2015 peace agreement. His return raised hopes for the implementation of the repeatedly-broken peace agreement to end the civil war.

Fighting, however, continued between his forces and the government troops and forced him to flee to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in July 2016. One month later, he turned out in South Africa, where he was put under house arrest.

Source: Presstv

French President Emmanuel Macron has criticized Europe’s handling of the influx of refugees to the continent, calling for a collective European response to the worsening crisis.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Italy’s new Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Friday, Macron said “the proper response is European, but the existing European response is not adapted” to the times.

Macron criticized Europe over its failure to fulfill its role with regard to Italy as the first European country on the migration route from North Africa.

The French president called for greater protection of European borders, noting that “the existing system does not work.”

Europe’s refugee crisis escalated earlier this week after Italy and Malta turned away Aquarius rescue ship carrying 629 refugees and kept it waiting in international waters between the two countries for over 30 hours with limited food and drink supplies and in bad weather conditions, facing potential death.

Spain eventually offered to take in the ship amid safety fears due to deteriorating weather conditions and offered its port in Valencia as a place for the asylum seekers to land in Europe.

Following the incident, UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi urged the EU to sort out its “shameful” refugee policy.

Macron later rebuked Italy for “irresponsibility” over the matter. Italy’s new populist administration censured what it referred to as “hypocritical lessons” from countries such as France on refugees, publicly displaying one of the most serious disagreements between two EU member states.

Italy also summoned France’s ambassador over the issue.

After their meeting on Friday, Macron and Conte seemed to have settled their diplomatic row, with the Italian premier saying, “We are in perfect agreement.”

Macron urged the Italian premier to work with France, Germany and Spain on resolving refugee issues instead of siding with an anti-immigration “axis” recently proposed by Austria’s right-wing Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

“I hope deeply that France and Italy will work hand-in-hand, together, to propose and contribute European solutions, in particular with partners like Spain and Germany,” Macron said.

The French president warned that such an axis was a reminder of Europe’s darkest times — when Germany and its allies were called the Axis powers during World War II– and noted that only a head of state can speak on behalf of a country.

“Italy has a head of government, France has a head of state, Germany has a head of government. If countries are to agree on something, it should be at that level, because only they answer to their people,” Macron said.

Germany’s interior minister had said earlier this week that his country should form the anti-immigration “axis” with Austria and Italy. However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned EU countries on Wednesday against pursuing a unilateral policy with regard to the refugee crisis and called on the bloc’s member states to overcome their differences and take a unified approach over the issue.

The Italian premier appeared to dismiss joining forces with the anti-immigration “axis” and said that he “agreed with the words of my friend Macron” with regard to the need for an EU-wide approach to reforming immigration rules.

“I would like an axis of the willing that includes all the European countries,” he said.

Conte underlined the need for the formation of European-run immigration offices outside the continent for assessing asylum requests in an attempt to prevent “voyages of death.”

Europe has faced its worst refugee crisis since World War II. The continent has been hit since 2014 by an unprecedented influx of refugees fleeing conflict-ridden zones in North Africa and the Middle East, in particular Syria.

Over the past five years, more than 600,000 refugees have reached Italy by risking their lives on rickety human smuggler boats in the sea. Some 500,000 of them are still staying in the country.

According to the UN migration agency (IOM), over 3,000 refugees lost their lives died crossing the Mediterranean in 2017.

The majority of refugees from Africa take the sea route from Libya to Italy to reach Europe, while some others depart from Morocco to Spain.

Source: Presstv

Judges at the International Criminal Court ordered for the release of Congolese ex-vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba following his acquittal last week on war crimes charges.

According to the court order issued on Tuesday, Bemba will be freed in neighbouring Belgium, where his family lives.

Bemba, 55, has been in the International Criminal Court (ICC) detention centre since his arrest in 2008. The Democratic Republic of Congo opposition leader was convicted in 2016 of crimes against humanity and sentenced to 18 years in prison.

But that conviction was overturned on appeal last Friday in a major setback for prosecutors. Appeals judges said they could not pin responsibility on Bemba for the killing and raping of civilians by soldiers under his command.

He was the highest ranking official among only four people who had successfully been prosecuted at the permanent war crimes court since it was set up in 2002.

Normally suspects are immediately released after an acquittal, but Bemba also faces sentencing for a separate charge for witness tampering during the trial, which could result in a maximum five-year jail term.

The charge for tampering was brought in November 2013 and prosecutors said that Bemba should remain in custody until a final sentence was issued in that case.

Bemba’s political ambitions

Upon release, Bemba is expected to leave the Netherlands for neighbouring Belgium, where his wife and five children live.

“He’s never given up on his political ambitions,” said Peter Haynes, another member of the defence team. “I’d be surprised if he can stay away from it”.

If he were to return to Congo, that would give an instant boost to opponents of longtime President Joseph Kabila ahead of a December election. Kabila’s allies have indicated the president might disregard term limits and stand a third time.

Bemba, who finished runner up to Kabila in a 2006 election, has a large and loyal following in western Congo and his presence would ramp up pressure on Kabila.

Source: Africa News

Confrontation between the US and its traditional allies has continued at the 44th summit of the Group of Seven (G7), lowering expectations for a breakthrough at the talks.

Washington’s allies contradicted trade data provided by US President Donald Trump with different numbers, while Trump firmly maintained his position that Washington was at a disadvantage, Reuters cited an official who followed the talks as saying on Friday.

The Friday meeting in which the G7 allies were gearing up to confront the US president over trade tariffs had “some emotions,” but it maintained a diplomatic mood, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added.

“The other leaders presented their numbers and Trump presented his. As expected he did not budge. This is probably not because he does not understand, but because of domestic reasons,” the official said.

“We are going to deal with the unfair trade practices. If you look at what Canada, and Mexico, the European Union – all of them – have been doing to us for many, many decades. We have to change it. And they understand it is going to happen,” Trump said.

During the first day of the two-day summit in the Canadian town of La Malbaie in Quebec, the US partners were angered by the US president’s recent decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, the European Union and Mexico.

Trump has justified his move by arguing that US steel and aluminum producers are vital to national security and threatened by a global supply glut.

Canada, Mexico and the EU had initially been exempted from the tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on imported aluminum as they were announced in March.

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Friday that her country will not change its stance with regard to “illegal” US steel and aluminum tariffs.

Freeland said Canada will retaliate against Washington’s tariffs, adding that her country does not pose a national security threat to the US.

However, after a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the sidelines of the summit, Trump said progress has been made in trade talks with Canada.

According to a French official, German Chancellor Angela Merkel offered a proposal for resolving the dispute on Friday and other leaders strongly supported the idea.

The official described Merkel’s proposal as a “shared assessment and dialogue” mechanism, but did not provide any details.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker reportedly expressed preparedness to invest personally in Merkel’s proposal and offered to visit Washington for a common assessment of EU-US trade.

However, observers say expectations for a breakthrough at the summit are low, contrary to the 42-year history of the summit which always saw all sides having consensus on key issues.

“It is highly unlikely there will be a final communiqué,” a G7 official said.

While Trump said G7 leaders would manage to agree on a joint statement, Merkel expressed doubt that the group could issue a final directive, noting that failure to do so would indicate the lack of agreement among the G7 member states.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May warned both the US and EU of the ramifications of retaliatory trade policies over tariffs, calling on both sides to focus on China’s excess steel production instead.

The summit comes a day after thousands of demonstrators staged rallies in Quebec City and burned US and British flags to protest against the world leaders’ gathering amid heavy riot police presence.

Source: Presstv

Donald Trump’s attorney said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un begged “on his hands and knees” for a summit with the US president, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

“They… said they were going to go to nuclear war with us, they were going to defeat us in a nuclear war,” Rudy Giuliani told a Tel Aviv investment conference, according to the newspaper. “We said we’re not going to have a summit under those circumstances.”

“Well, Kim Jong Un got back on his hands and knees and begged for it, which is exactly the position you want to put him in,” Giuliani said.

The Trump attorney said that with the summit rescheduled, the United States has the upper hand.

Singapore’s foreign minister will make a two-day trip to Pyongyang starting Thursday, as preparations for the summit Trump-Kim summit in the city-state accelerate.

The announcement came a day after the White House revealed that the historic June 12 meeting between the US and North Korean leaders will take place in a luxury hotel on Singapore’s resort island of Sentosa.

The summit is due to be held following a rapid detente between Pyongyang and Washington — as well as South Korea — in a turn-around from a dramatic escalation of tensions last year, when the North ratcheted up its weapons programme.

(AFP)

A record number of black women are reportedly running for congressional seats across the US state of Alabama.

CNN said on Tuesday that more than 70 African-American women had launched Democratic campaigns to unseat Republicans in primary elections in the deep-red state.

All but two of the black women running for office are Democrats.

“The tide is shifting, and these southern states are showing the rest of the country, again as they always have, that we can lead, and we can change the world,” Rhonda Briggins, an Alabama native and co-founder of VoteRunLead, told the American news channel.

“If you look at history, especially Alabama history, civil rights history, women have always led those charges, and have been the ones working very diligently, behind the scenes, organizing,” she said.

VoteRunLead is a national nonpartisan organization that trains women who want to run for office.

Briggins told CNN that judicial positions provide African-American women with a unique opportunity to change their communities.

“If we’re going to do something about Black Lives Matter then it starts with our local judicial system, it starts with our local policing powers,” she said, referring to a protest movement since 2012 against the high-profile deaths of a number of African Americans at the hands of white police officers in the US.

“People are now connecting the dots to their lives and connecting that to the political power and influence and then pulling all of these pieces together to create real change,” Briggins added.

Voters have headed to polls in eight states to choose candidates in primary elections that will eventually determine whether Democrats or Republicans take control of the United States Congress during the era of President Donald Trump.

Democrats are planning to win close to two-dozen congressional seats nationwide in November elections to wrest control of the US House of Representatives from Republicans.

Alabama, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota, California and New Jersey are the eight US states where voters will choose candidates in primaries.

Voters have gone to polls in eight states to choose candidates in primary elections that will eventually determine whether Democrats or Republicans take control of the United States Congress during the era of President Donald Trump.

Democrats are planning to win close to two-dozen congressional seats nationwide in November elections to wrest control of the US House of Representatives from Republicans.

Gaining California district’s seats is seen by Democrats as a vital step in their plan to take back the House. For this reason, Democrats have made huge effort to win 10 of the 14 seats held by Republicans in the Golden State.

Trump in a series of tweets backed Republican candidates.

“In High Tax, High Crime California, be sure to get out and vote for Republican John Cox for Governor. He will make a BIG difference!” Trump tweeted on Tuesday.

After California, the state that is most crucial to the Democrats plan of taking back the House is New Jersey where all but one of its five Republican-held House seats are considered up for competition.

“I don’t think the Democrats can take the House without New Jersey,” said Brigid Harrison, a political science professor at Montclair State University.

Alabama, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico and South Dakota are the other six US states where voters on Tuesday will choose candidates in primaries.

The Democratic Party’s needs to flip in total 23 GOP-held seats to regain control of the House of Representatives in fall.

Culled from Presstv

Crossing the Moungo Bridge from Douala gives you the feeling of arriving at a big family reunion. As you approach Tiko, one of the chief towns in the Fako County, you are greeted by children who have not been to school for the last two years but rehearsing the new Ambazonia national anthem. The situation is true for Manyu, Lebialem, Mezam, Menchum, Ndian, Meme, Kupe Muanenguba, Boyo and Fako.

Southern Cameroonians are talking of their baby nation with immense pride and hoping that the Interim Government is winning on the diplomatic front. The war has lasted barely two years and there are indications that it may drag for another decade which will eventually give Southern Cameroonians a good cause for celebration.

It is abundantly clear that there is going to be a referendum for independence in Southern Cameroons whether Biya and the French likes it or not and Ambazonians will vote decisively to split from French Cameroun.  The resistance that is being displayed by Southern Cameroonians on Ground Zero with the support of the Ambazonia Self-Defense Council Restoration Forces represents a major achievement for the leadership of the Interim Government.

After the plebiscite in 1961 and the fraudulent reunification on October 1, most of Southern Cameroons remains profoundly underdeveloped, especially in more remote areas in Lebialem, Akwaya, Menchum, Bui and Oku. The Acting President of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, His Excellency Sisiku Ayuk Tabe noted during his last interview with the Cameroon Concord News Group that Ambaland is frequently misreported as being poor but its oil wealth and rich agricultural lands means that in GDP terms it is rich.

French Cameroun is heading towards collapse. The current proportion of Cameroon government’s revenue that is being consumed by the ruling CPDM crime syndicate and the Francophone dominated army is not sustainable. It will take considerable political courage for the Fulani-Beti-Ewondo military to tell Mr. Biya that he has overstayed his time.

The Interim Government (IG) of Southern Cameroons should establish an effective military force to deal with the rampant insecurity created by Mr. Biya and his appointees in Southern Cameroons and they should avoid following the route of other former African liberation movements which have succumbed to autocracy when in power. Like the great Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, Mola Sako Ikome should contribute his own quota and be ready to hand over the baton of command.

Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia was an independent state long before it joined La Republique du Cameroun. So, the Interim Government does not need to bother itself about continued negotiation with French Cameroun on sharing oil wealth and border demarcation. The greatest blunder the international community could make would be to juxtapose the establishment of the new Federal Republic of Ambazonia and the failures of the Biya regime in Yaoundé. The creation of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia should be seen by the US and the European Union as a bold step to create the necessary conditions for sustainable peace and security in Sub Saharan Africa.

Southern Cameroonians in the Diaspora who are busy creating funny organizations in order to undermine the authority of the Interim Government should understand that since the very beginning of the Southern Cameroons revolution, many of the problems faced by Southern Cameroonians on Ground Zero have been blamed on the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime. This will no longer be possible as the international community prepares to start mediating. Expectations are very high and Southern Cameroonians on Ground Zero will no more tolerate any nonsense from the Diaspora. The hard work of turning our fledgling Southern Cameroons nation into a functioning state with its own army will have to begin and end with the IG.

By Sessekou Asu Isong, London

Clashes between insurgents fighting for a breakaway republic in Cameroon’s English-speaking region and security forces have killed scores of people and displaced tens of thousands more since the conflict intensified late last year.

In the bloodiest incident to date, Cameroonian forces surrounded and killed more than two dozen suspected separatists in the town of Menka, in Cameroon’s Northwest Region, last weekend.

Insurgents have abducted and killed soldiers and policemen in hit-and-run guerrilla raids. Cameroonian forces have responded with scorched earth tactics such as burning down villages then opening fire on fleeing residents, witnesses told Reuters in February. The army denies such accusations.

The unrest threatens the stability of one of Africa’s larger economies ahead of October elections widely expected to extend 85-year-old President Paul Biya’s three and a half decades in power. It has hurt cocoa output and risks spilling into Nigeria.

WHY IS CAMEROON DIVIDED?

At the end of World War One, the League of Nations carved up Germany’s imperial possessions in Africa between allied victors, mostly Britain and France.

Most of the German colony of Kamerun – a swathe of central Africa housing peoples speaking 250 languages – went to France. A small part went to Britain.

At independence in 1960, English speakers were given the choice of remaining part of Cameroon or joining bigger neighbour Nigeria, a former British territory.

They voted to stay with Cameroon, but have since felt increasingly marginalized by the French-speaking government in Yaounde hundreds of miles away.

They say the best government jobs go to French speakers, and that education, roads and health in their western region are neglected, despite Cameroon having produced tens of thousands of barrels of oil a day since the 1970s, mostly in the south-west, an English-speaking region.

WHAT DO THE SEPARATISTS WANT?

Initially most Anglophones in Cameroon wanted their grievances addressed. A minority wanted an independent state, which they call “Ambazonia”.

However, since late 2016 a heavy-handed response to protests – including the jailing of some English-speaking activists and sympathisers – has convinced many that only severance from Cameroon will satisfy their yearning for a better life.

The Ambazonians have printed passports, designed a currency and a flag, composed a national anthem and set up a satellite TV station.

Many of their most influential figures are in exile in Europe and the United States, however.

They also have a vocal presence on social media, reflecting the Anglophone region’s reputation as an unlikely but successful tech hub, dubbed “Silicon Mountain”.

HOW DID IT TURN VIOLENT?

In October 2016 lawyers and teachers in English-speaking cities went on strike in protest at having to use French in schools and courtrooms.

In the ensuing clashes, six protesters were killed and hundreds arrested, some of whom were put on trial for charges carrying long sentences or the death penalty.

Authorities cut Internet access for three months. Support for secession grew, and on Oct. 1, 2017 – the anniversary of the region’s independence from Britain – thousands took to the streets to demand a breakaway state. The military stepped in.

Witnesses said troops opened fire from attack helicopters; the military denied this. Thousands of Anglophones fled the ensuing crackdown, which Cameroon authorities said was necessary to restore peace and curb banditry. They described it as an anti-terrorist operation.

A month later, separatists launched the first guerrilla attacks on security forces, killing four over a few days.

WHAT IS THE WIDER IMPACT?

Cameroon’s 180,000 barrels per day of oil output is mostly offshore and its main economic hubs – the port of Douala and the capital Yaounde – have been unaffected.

But cocoa fields in the world’s fourth biggest producer have been left fallow and Cameroon’s nascent tech sector has withered.

Most of the displaced are in Cameroon but more than 20,000 refugees have fled to Nigeria, which Cameroonian authorities have long feared could become a rear base for a guerrilla campaign.

WHAT ARE OTHER COUNTRIES DOING?

In theory, a destabilised west Cameroon might suit Nigeria. Abuja accepted a 2002 International Court of Justice ruling that the disputed and oil-rich Bakassi peninsula, part of the Anglophone south-west, belonged to Cameroon, despite having come close to war over it several times. But Nigeria periodically grumbles about it.

So far, Nigeria has cooperated, deporting separatists including Julius Ayuk Tabe, a key leader. Diplomats say it needs Cameroon’s help in fighting Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which plagues the neighbours’ common border up north.

Britain and France have kept their distance, conscious of post-colonial rivalry pitting them against each other in African civil conflicts – as in Rwanda in the early 1990s when English-speaking Tutsi rebels battled Francophone Hutus. France has condemned separatist violence and urged dialogue. Britain has “encouraged the parties to reject violence.”

WHAT NEXT?

Biya, who has ruled virtually by decree since replacing a retired predecessor in 1982, is almost certain to win an October election. In 2011, he won by 78 percent. His leadership style coupled with long absences overseas – usually to Switzerland with his wife – makes a goodwill gesture to smooth things over unlikely.

The poll will be difficult to organise in the hostile Anglophone region. Anywhere where voting fails to happen could ignite in fresh bouts of unrest. There is also an outside chance that the low-level insurgency could escalate into a broader civil conflict, if enough people join the rebellion and if they get enough arms.

Nigeria’s next door delta region is awash with cheap weapons and criminal gangs who would be willing to sell, although cooperation by its authorities has denied the rebels a convenient base.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com