Monthly Archives: March 2019

31, March 2019

Several people injured as Catalan separatists clash with far-right activists in Barcelona ⁰

Five people were injured and seven arrested on Saturday as members of Spain’s far-right Vox party demonstrating in Barcelona against Catalan independence clashed with separatist activists there, police said.

The violence came amid rising tension in the run-up to parliamentary elections next month and the continuing trial of 12 Catalan leaders for their part in the failed 2017 independence bid.

Police estimated that around 5,000 members of Vox demonstrated in the Catalan capital, in the words of their leader Santiago Abascal to “defend to the very end a united Spain”.

“Spain will not resign itself to being destroyed,” Abascal told the crowd.

Several groups of radical Catalan separatists, many of them masked, had organised counter-demonstrations around the Vox rally, which took place in the Plaza de Espana.

Carrying banners denouncing fascism about 300 of them set up barricades, burning rubbish bins, and throwing bottles and stones at officers, said police.

Vox made its electoral breakthrough when it won seats in the Andalusia regional assembly last December. It is expected to pick up more nationally in the April 28 parliamentary elections.

In the trial of the Catalan nationalists, it has taken the position of a “popular prosecutor”, a role particular to the Spanish justice system, which allows it to be an accuser alongside state prosecutors.

Spain’s socialist government has rejected suggestions that prosecution of the Catalan separatists has been unfair.

(AFP)

31, March 2019

Arab League expected to oppose US decision over Golan Heights ⁰

Arab heads of state, long divided by regional rivalries, are expected to unite at a summit on Sunday in the Tunisian capital to oppose a US decision recognising Israel’s annexation of Arab lands captured in 1967.

Arab leaders are already grappling with unrest in Algeria and Sudan, international pressure over the war in Yemen, regional splits over Iran’s influence in the Middle East and a bitter Gulf Arab dispute.

They face a new challenge after US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation last week recognising the Golan Heights as Israeli, less than four months after recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.

Arab officials said the summit would be dominated by the Golan Heights and Palestinian demands for an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, areas also occupied by Israel in the 1967 war.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said on Saturday Arab ministers had expressed support for a proposal to declare that the US move violated the UN charter against acquiring land by force.

They also agreed to back Syria’s right to regain Golan and Lebanon’s right to the Shebaa farms, a small strip of land next to the Golan claimed by Beirut, he tweeted.

Call for peace with Israel

Summit spokesman Mahmoud Al-Khmeiry said Arab leaders would repeat an Arab call for peace with Israel in exchange for occupied Arab lands and would reject any initiative not in line with UN resolutions.

Khmeiry appeared to be referring to a still-unannounced US peace plan by White House adviser Jared Kushner and Trump son-in-law that Palestinians have refused to discuss.

Trump’s aides have said his moves have drawn a less severe private reaction from Arab states than experts had predicted.

While opposition to Israel and its actions can unite the 22-member Arab League, Arab states remain divided over a range of other issues, including pro-democracy protests that have erupted in the region since 2011 and over Iran’s Middle East influence.

Ibrahim al-Assaf, foreign minister of Sunni Muslim powerhouse Saudi Arabia, said on Friday that Shi’ite Muslim rival Iran remained the biggest threat to the region.

The Tunis summit will be the first time the rulers of Saudi Arabia and Qatar have attended the same gathering since 2017, when Riyadh and its allies imposed a political and economic boycott on Doha. Saudi Arabia and its allies accuse Qatar of supporting terrorism and cosying up to Iran, a charge Doha denies.

The leaders of Sudan and Algeria are not expected to attend, with both nations roiled by anti-government protests.

Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Algeria’s ailing, 82-year-old president who has ruled for 20 years, and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, in power for three decades and wanted by international prosecutors for alleged war crimes in his country’s Darfur region, are both facing calls to step down.

Syria has been suspended from the Arab League since 2011 over its crackdown on protesters at the start of the civil war. The League has said there was still no consensus to allow Syria’s reinstatement.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)

31, March 2019

The Holy Father and Moroccan king declare Jerusalem ‘common patrimony’ of three religions ⁰

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)

30, March 2019

Kenya: Authorities burn ‘weak’ condoms worth $100,000 ⁰

Kenya’s pharmacy and poisons regulator on Friday destroyed packs of condoms deemed to be unsafe for public use. The product is said to have failed quality tests prompting a recall.

The Pharmacy and Poisons Board said its drug inspectors supervised the destruction of the Fiesta condoms valued at 10 million Kenyan shillings (which comes up to over $100,000). The incarceration took place at the facility located in Athi River, a town located outside the capital Nairobi.

The authorized market dealers of the product were listed as Deep Kumar Tyagi Healthcare International Limited. Apparently, the board had ordered a recall of all the affected consignments.

“The recall of the affected batches of the fiesta condoms was concluded on 11th March, 2019 upon which Pharmacy and Poisons Board Kenya directed the market authorization holder to carry out destruction of the recalled consignment under PPB supervision,” they said in a tweet.

Workers in protective are seek unpacking the products and hurling them into a fire place. The Board has meanwhile urged vigilance on the part of the public to identify any sub-standard health products on the market.

Reports indicate that it is not the first time such an incident is taking place. In 2018, the Health Ministry did order a recall of some condom brands on the same grounds.

The Fiesta Stamina and Fiesta Big Black products were said to have failed thickness tests in November 2018 hence the recall.

Source: Africa News

30, March 2019

Southern Cameroons Football Teams Move After Kidnapping of Players, Coaches ⁰

Football (soccer) clubs in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon are relocating to safer areas after a coach and players from a university club were abducted by suspected separatists.

The military says it has arrested at least 10 suspected kidnappers. But players say the abductions show the government is unable to protect its citizens.

Bang Bullet Football club of Nkambe is a second-division team training in Nkwen, a neighborhood in Cameroon’s English-speaking northwestern town of Bamenda.

Team manager Ndi Eugene Ndi said the squad abandoned its base in Nkambe, 160 kilometers to the north, when some players were taken hostage by separatists and the team president was threatened for taking part in Cameroon’s soccer competitions.

“We started reading trauma in players and in coaches,” he said. “It is not easy. What we have in Nkambe as a fan base, what we have as community support and everything, we cannot have it in Bamenda but we will continue with the game. Football knows no politics so football should rather be used to get us all together.”

Even in Bamenda, a town they consider safe, the team has continued to receive threats, Ndi said.

The danger was made clear this week when Ndoumbe Bosso, head coach of the Young Sports Academy team, was abducted by separatists and released fewer than 24 hours after.

On Wednesday, 20 students of the University of Buea football team in the English-speaking South West region were kidnapped, severely tortured and released 24 hours after their kidnapping.

Football associations in the English-speaking regions say activity has fallen by 75 percent, with at least 60 teams not playing. Many fans fear to go to pitches.

In a statement circulated on social media, people claiming to be separatists warned teams from the North West and South West not to participate in championships organized by the central government in Yaounde.

They also asked teams from the eight French-speaking regions of Cameroon not to play any matches in the two English-speaking regions.

Deben Tchoffo, governor of the North West region, tried to assure the public that enough security is in place to protect all citizens and the players. He did, however, call on people to help the government by reporting suspected separatists.

Sports analyst and former player Jean Pierre Ekoto said the separatists know that Cameroon, sports, especially football, is a very popular game that unites so many people.

He said stopping it by kidnapping players may push many people, both English and French speakers, to revolt. And the international community will add pressure to the government to pay more attention to solving the crisis in the restive regions.

The separatists launched a campaign in 2016 to win independence for the English-speaking regions of Cameroon.

Source: VOA

30, March 2019

Ambazonia refugees in Nigeria dream of home ⁰

Fighting between Cameroon government forces and English-speaking separatists sends thousands of refugees over the border to camps in Nigeria and there’s no end in sight.

More people have been forced into refugee camps in Nigeria due to fighting between separatists and government troops in southern Cameroon.

More than 30,000 have been officially registered but aid workers have said the actual number is much higher.

Source: Al Jazeera’s

30, March 2019

Indomitable Lion’s Clinton N’Jie: Time to shine? ⁰

The forward has endured a stop-start career to date, but could he finally be primed to realise his potential? When Clinton N’Jie put Cameroon 1-0 up in their 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2014, barely 44 minutes into his Indomitable Lions career, there was a ripple of excitement about the forward’s potential.That enthusiasm swelled two days later in Yaounde, when he scored twice and contributed an assist in a 4-1 victory against the Ivory Coast. His relationship with Vincent Aboubakar won over fans at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium, while simultaneously impressing with his technical quality. Cameroonians celebrated his brilliance, and were firmly expecting more at the Afcon finals in Equatorial Guinea. However, Cameroon would suffer a group exit, with N’Jie chronically underused in the tournament.

Despite the promise he showed in the build-up, he was only afforded 23 minutes—against the Elephants. Regardless of this missed opportunity, N’Jie’s pace and versatility attracted interest from Tottenham Hotspur, who signed the wideman from Olympique Lyonnais in August of that year for a fee of €12 million (£8.3 million). However, again, it represented another false dawn, as he would make only eight league appearances—without finding the net—before being loaned to Olympique de Marseille, where he would subsequently move on a permanent deal. Injury problems were central to N’Jie’s failure at Spurs, as he missed the best part of six months with an MCL injury received during a tackle by Jeremy Toulalan in a Europa League game against AS Monaco.

Clinton N'Jie Mauricio Pochettino Tottenham Premier League

Internationally, he was a Nations Cup winner with Cameroon in 2017, although he didn’t score during the tournament, and was subsequently omitted—for an Afcon qualifier against Morocco in June of that year, and for the Confederation Cup, due to disciplinary issues. “N’Jie is not here because of poor discipline,” Broos told journalists, as per BBC Sport. “He is a good player with many qualities as we saw during the preparation games before the Africa Cup of Nations against the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe. “10 days later during the first game against Burkina Faso, and also Guinea-Bissau, he was at only 50 percent,” the Belgian coach continued. “He must change his attitude and put in the work required if he is to turn the qualities he possesses into success at the top level.” There have been recent signs, however, that the Central African forward is primed to finally realise his early promise with the Lions.

Despite struggling at OM this term, where he’s scored twice in 12 outings, N’Jie was one of Cameroon’s most eye-catching performers in their 3-0 victory over the Comoros in Saturday’s final Afcon qualifier. He was only introduced in the 74th minute, but his lightning pace and intelligent footwork provided ample headaches for a tiring Comoros defence. Was he perhaps heeding Broos’s advice? In the 89th minute he found the net, darting off on a fine run down the right flank before rounding keeper Ali Ahamada before firing into an empty net, sending Cameroon to Egypt in style. It was also a goal that ended the forward’s one-and-a-half-year goal drought, with his last having come in a World Cup qualifier against Algeria in October 2017.

“Thanks for another victory and another goal,” N’Jie wrote on Instagram after the match. “Allez les Lions.” Perhaps this will be another false dawn for the forward, who’s endured his fair share since scoring three in his first two outings for the national side. Maybe, however, it could be a sign that the attacker is finally realising his undoubted potential with the national side.

Source: Goal.com

30, March 2019

Southern Cameroons Crisis: All Anglophone Conference Goes Underway in America ⁰

The All Anglophone Conference designed to enable all Southern Cameroons’ factions to find a unified position on the way forward in efforts at resolving the conflict in the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon.

The Washington conference will also help to soften certain positions and iron out some of the differences that have made it hard for Southern Cameroonians to take a common stance that will help them deal with the Yaounde government that has unleashed a reign of terror on civilians in the two English-speaking regions of the country.

Though some factions like the group led by Dr. Cho Ayaba have refused to attend the Washington conference, the first day clearly revealed that most of the Southern Cameroons factions are looking forward to dialogue that can help bring about the cessation of hostilities in the country.

Some 5,000 Cameroonians have been killed ever since the conflict started in 2016 and the government’s refusal to embrace calls for an inclusive dialogue implies that more hostilities are in the offing.

Reports by rights groups have placed the blame for the hostilities on the government’s doorstep and the government’s intransigence is provoking the wrath of countries such as USA, Canada and the United Kingdom which hold that an unstable Cameroon is bad news to the entire sub-region.

Stay tuned for as our correspondents talk with the various stakeholders.

By Kingsley Betek in Washington

29, March 2019

The Holy Father sends message of peace ahead of visit to Morocco ⁰

Pope Francis on Thursday sent a message of peace ahead of his 2 day visit to Morocco. The head of the Vatican is the first pope to visit the north African nation in 35 years.

“ As Christians and Muslims, we believe in God the Creator and Merciful One, who has created men and women and lives on the earth so that they may live together as brothers and sisters, respecting each other’s diversity and helping each other in their need. He has entrusted the earth, our common home to them, to care for it and to preserve it for future generations “, he said.

God the Creator and Merciful One, who has created men and women and lives on the earth so that they may live together as brothers and sisters, respecting each other’s diversity.

The pope added he will “encourage the Progress of the Christian community and to meet the migrants who represent a call to build a world of greater justice and solidarity’‘.

Pope Francis will be welcomed by some 30,000 Roman Catholics in Morocco, who are mostly sub-Saharan African students or migrants heading for Europe.

He will hold a mass in Rabat on Sunday and 10,000 faithfuls are expected to attend.

Ahead of the Pope’s visit, the Christian Moroccan Coordination said ‘’ we dream of a free Moroccan morality, hoping for a “historic occasion” for Morocco to “move forward in this direction”.

AFP

29, March 2019

Human Rights Watch Blasts Cameroon; Military Rejects ‘Biased’ Report ⁰

A new report from Human Rights Watch says Cameroon’s military has killed scores of people and burned down hundreds of homes in its campaign against separatists in the country’s Anglophone regions. Cameroon is rejecting the report as grossly biased.

Government spokesperson Rene Emmanuel Sadi read a communique on
Cameroon state radio CRTV, saying troops fighting separatists in the country’s northwest and southwest regions have remained professional in protecting its citizens.

The communique said although soldiers in the English-speaking regions have been victims of relentless attacks from separatist forces, they have not stopped protecting people and their property. It added that in no situation have the forces torched houses or indiscriminately shot at citizens.

The acts of bravery and patriotism exhibited by the soldiers is exemplary, the communique stated.

That message has been repeated over and over in reaction to the latest report from Humans Rights Watch, which accuses Cameroon’s military of killing scores of civilians, using indiscriminate force, and torching hundreds of homes over the past six months.

The report said that in one case, Cameroonian security forces attacked the village of Abuh in the northwest region and burned an entire neighborhood to the ground. It included satellite images and photographs as evidence.

Separatist violence

The report also said armed separatists have assaulted and kidnapped dozens of people, executing at least two men amid intensifying violence and growing calls for secession of the northwest and southwest regions.

All kidnap victims were released, most after a ransom was paid, according to the report.

Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior central African researcher for Human Rights Watch, said since October, at least 170 civilians have been killed in more than 220 incidents in the two regions.

“We have accounts from victims with material evidence, including photographic and video evidence, satellite imagery, showing the destruction of homes and also medical records,” she said. “Ahead of the publication of this report we have also shared our findings with the government. And we have sought its response which we have incorporated. Nevertheless we do maintain our independence and impartiality.”

Allegrozzi said Cameroon government should respect human rights instead of complaining about the report.

“We understand that the government might not share all our findings,” she added, “but we firmly stand by these findings and we stand by the victims of abuses we documented and whose rights we want to see protected.”

Yvonne Mumah Bih, a civil society activist in Cameroon, also said the military is committing abuses.

“To tell you how deep this problem is,” she said, “look at the number of youths that have lost their lives. Should we continue in that order? I say no. Why has it become a situation where civilians are killed? It is time we talked of humanizing the military.”

Human Rights Watch is calling on both the government and the separatists to restore the rule of law and bring peace that has been absent from the English-speaking regions of Cameroon for three years.

The unrest began in 2016 when English-speaking teachers and lawyers demonstrated against the growing dominance of French in the officially bilingual country.

Source: VOA