The President of the Republic of Chad and current Chairman of the African Union, Idriss Deby Itno will begin a two day state visit to Cameroon today Friday the 28^th of October 2016.The Chadian dictator is expected in Yaounde at about 3:00pm local time.

President Idriss Deby will be received at the Nsimalen International airport by his Cameroonian counterpart Paul Biya. The two men will have a brief discussion at the Hilton Hotel in Yaounde.

Idriss Deby Itno and Biya will have a tete a tete at the Unity Palace at 5:00pm.Chad and Cameroon are neighbouring countries that share strong bilateral ties. Both countries are currently combating the terrorist group Boko Haram. The Chad – Cameroon pipeline project remains concrete example of the brotherly ties that both countries share. The Idriss Deby visit ends on Saturday.

CRTV

According to information relayed this morning by Radio Equinoxe from Douala, William Eteki Mboumoua died in the early hours of Wednesday in Yaoundé from an illness.

83 year old, William Eteki Mboumoua was still in active service as the boss of the Cameroon Red Cross. He was elected Secretary General of the OAU to replace the late Nzo Ekanghaki who had fallen out of favour with the Ugandan thug, Idi Amin Dada. He also served as Minister of Education.

By Sonne Peter

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says the expansion of relations with African countries is among the Islamic Republic’s central policies. In a Monday meeting with visiting Ivory Coast Foreign Minister Abdallah Albert Toikeusse Mabri in Tehran, Rouhani expressed Iran’s readiness to enhance cooperation with Yamoussoukro in all fields, particularly in economic areas.

The Iranian chief executive said that the two countries should make use of their capacities to promote relations. Rouhani highlighted the Islamic Republic’s progress in the fields of technology and engineering, saying Tehran is prepared to help the West African nation advance its development projects.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian president called for collective efforts by all countries to counter terrorism. He describe the terrorism as a “major scourge for the world,” adding that the “terrorists have nothing to do with Islam, which is the religion of love, peace and peaceful coexistence.”

More than17, 000 Iranians have fallen victim to terrorist attacks since the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, said President Rouhani, adding that Iran “will spare no effort” to help those countries seeking assistance and cooperation in their anti-terror fight.

Mabri, in turn, stressed the need for concerted efforts to counter terrorism, saying the growth and prosperity of all countries hinges on the establishment of peace and security. He further voiced his country’s determination to enhance cooperation with the Islamic Republic in all areas, especially in the economic sector.

Presstv

Cameroon’s  Minister Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh has reportedly met with Jean-Claude Gakosso, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Republic of Congo. Cameroon Concord News was reliably informed that both men had the audience inside the Unity Palace on the 11^th of October 2016.

With political tension and violence increasing at catastrophic rapidity in neighbouring Congo-Kinshasa, the Congolese Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation was bearer of a sealed envelope from President Denis Sassou Nguesso to President Paul Biya.

The Congolese envoy in a chat with journalists of the state radio and television blatantly refused to disclose the content of the letter. He however observed that the letter was a message appealing to President Biya to focus on consolidating peace in the region.

Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh and the special envoy of President Denis Sassou Nguesso took the opportunity to revisit the bilateral cooperation between Cameroon and Congo Brazzaville.  Jean-Claude Gakosso was accompanied to state house by the ambassador of the Republic of Congo, Gisele Bouanga Kalou.

By Chi Prudence Asong

Prime Minister, Philemon Yang has received in audience the Prime Minister of Chad, Albert Pahimi Padake. Both heads of government met on October the 11^th, 2016 in the Star Building in Yaounde. The Chadian Head of Government reportedly handed over a sealed message from Chadian President, Idriss Deby to his Cameroonian counterpart, President Paul Biya.

Yang and his guest reviewed relations between Cameroon and Chad in various fields. The Chadian official indicated that the Cameroon – Chad railway line is advancing, hitch-free. Development in the energy sector between both countries was also discussed as well as security issues related to the Nigerian Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

We understand Chad is lobbying for Cameroon’s support, as one of its nationals is vying for the post of Chairperson of the African Union Commission.

CRTV

More than 20 soldiers in Niger have been killed in an attack by gunmen on a camp for Malian refugees in the West African country. Prime Minister Brigi Rafini said the attack occurred in the western Tahoua region on Thursday. “We received information of an attack on the camp in Tassalit,” Rafini said. “For the moment we are told there are 22 dead, but that is not a total death toll.”

A local official said the attackers targeted a military post near the refugee camp, adding three soldiers were also wounded. The camp sheltered a group of Malians who fled to neighboring Niger after militants, some of them linked to al-Qaeda, seized a desert in northern Mali four years ago.

France, a former colonizer of the region, deployed military forces to Mali in 2013 to push the militants back, but violence continues in the Sahel region. Last year, a total number of 54,000 Malian refugees registered in Niger, while 3000 others were still waiting for registration, according to the United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR.

There was no information on whether any of the civilians at the camp had also been harmed in the Thursday attack. Niger’s small army is busy fighting Takfiri Boko Haram militants, who launch attacks across the country’s southern border from Nigeria. The army is also trying to prevent an overflow of attacks from Mali.

Presstv

US forces have been accused of killing 22 Somali troops in what is said to be a misdirected airstrike in the country’s northern regions. On Wednesday, Galmudug states’ Security Minister Osman Issa announced that his soldiers were killed in the airstrike, adding that the attack was launched on a request of from the rival neighboring region of Puntland on the pretext that the targets were al-Shabab militants. “Puntland misinformed the United States and thus our forces were bombed,” he said.

Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis claimed that US forces had engaged in a “self-defense airstrike” after Somali troops were attacked by militants during operations to halt a bomb manufacturing network. He added that nine al-Shabaab militants were killed in the attack, while noting that the Pentagon was considering the false information claims.

“We will look at the reports to see if they are credible and if they are credible we’ll investigate them,” he said. A Puntland police source told reporters that over a dozen militants were killed in the attack. Meanwhile, al-Shabaab denied the casualties on its side, saying that it had no members in the region at the time of the attack.

Somalia has been the scene of fighting between al-Shabab and government forces since 2006. In 2011, al-Shabab, striving to topple the government, was driven out of the capital Mogadishu and other major cities by government troops and AMISOM forces, which are largely made up of troops from Ethiopia, Uganda, Burundi, Djibouti and Kenya.

Presstv

Despite the controversy surrounding his narrow victory in the presidential elections that held on the 27th of August 2016, Cameroon-info.net has reported that Ali Bongo Ondimba was not totally abandoned by his counterparts today in Libreville. Four African heads of state were in the Gabonese capital for the inaugural event. They were Mohamadou Issoufou of Niger, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita of Mali, Manuel Pinto da Costa of Sao Tome and Principe, Faure Gnassingbe of Togo.

Morocco, Senegal, Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Equatorial Guinea and the Central African Republic were each represented by their Prime Ministers. Several other countries also answered present through senior members of the Government and their diplomats. This was the case of Cameroon and its Minister of State Justice and Keeper of the Seal, Laurent Esso who made the trip.

European countries were not invited for the ceremony which finally held in a good atmosphere at the Palais du bord de mer.

By Rita Akana