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Southern Cameroons Crisis: Mayor Ekema Patrick receives 500 million for “monthly cash bribe scheme”

15, October 2017

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Mayor Ekema Patrick receives 500 million for “monthly cash bribe scheme” 0

Biya regime has paid the sum of 500 million FCFA to mayor Ekema Patrick of the Buea Council as part of a monthly cash “bribes” scheme to raise the Bakweri youth against other Southern Cameroons tribes residing in the Buea municipality.  The money was handed to the mayor secretly by the Francophone Minister for Defense, Joseph Beti Assomo.

French Cameroun officials in Yaounde are bankrolling a CPDM government initiative to pay Anglophone elites, traditional rulers and community leaders monthly wages to get them talking to the Biya regime. News of French Cameroun’s involvement to destabilize the revolution came as the Defense Minister, Beti Assomo met Mayor Ekema Patrick during a recent visit to Buea. He then held talks with some elites from Manyu, Ndian and Kupe Manenguba appointed by Prime Minister Philemon Yang likely to be involved.

The new strategy comes amid growing violence across Southern Cameroons caused by the French Cameroun dominated armed forces.  The few Southern Cameroonians still militating in the ruling CPDM crime syndicate have accused the Biya administration of “losing the support of Southern Cameroonians”. The bribe scheme is seen as the first step towards winning back influential  Southern Cameroons elites and tribal leaders, on a county level.

The elites were handpicked by Prime Minister Philemon Yang after a French Cameroun government auditioning that was carried out by the governors and prefects of the territory and they are expected to earn about two hundred thousand a month for attending up to two meetings. But critics fear the payments, which are about 30 per cent more than civil servants earn, are President Biya’s way of bribing  Anglophone elites to deliver support ahead of elections next year.

A senior Cameroon Concord News policy analyst in Yaounde said: “If this is perceived as more political patronage, or bribery, it runs the risk of generating friction and resentment.”  The Biya regime is financing a similar initiative in the Bamenda State where thousands of French Cameroun troops have been deployed.

It comes ahead of a major strategy review by the Southern Cameroons Ambazonia Governing Council which is expected to advocate a major intensification of the ghost town operations. A statement issued by the Chairman of the outlawed Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium, Barrister Agbor Felix Nkongho purportedly condemning the so-called visit of Southern Cameroons elites was treated as inconsequential by agents of the Governing Council.

A senior CPDM personality who spoke to us at the time of fling this report but sued for anonymity said existing French Cameroun government strategies had seen the Southern Cameroons Governing Council gain ground: “We don’t want to create militias, but we need to be empowering leaders like Ekema Patrick. Equip them, not just with weapons but with whatever it takes, so they can protect their territories against secessionist influence.”

Mayor Ekema had discussed the plans with the anti-Anglophone Justice Minister Laurent Esso when he visited Douala and got 60 millions FCFA from the Douala City Council and lied to the press that the amount was 13 million. Prime Minister Philemon Yang has promised to increase support for “community defence initiatives, where local volunteers are recruited to defend homes and families.” But the plans will meet with a stonewall because of a lack of Southern Cameroonian support.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai, CCN


Ivory Coast: 4 killed in French military cargo plane crash

14, October 2017

Ivory Coast: 4 killed in French military cargo plane crash 0

Four Moldovan citizens were killed and two others were injured when a cargo plane chartered by the French military crashed into the sea near the airport in Ivory Coast’s main city, Abidjan, on Saturday, Ivorian and French officials said.

Four French citizens survived the crash but were injured, Ivory Coast’s Security Minister Sidiki Diakite told reporters at the scene. Several Ivorian security sources said French soldiers were among the wounded.

“What we can say for the time being is that this morning around 8:30 (0830 GMT), an Antonov plane crashed…with 10 on board including the crew members,” he said.

The crash occurred during a storm with heavy rain and lightning and rescuers were hampered by rough seas. Though Abidjan’s airport is located in a heavily populated area, it did not appear that anyone was hurt on the ground.

The French military operates a logistics base next to the airport in support of its Barkhane operation, combating extremist militants in West Africa’s Sahel region.

“This was a plane chartered by the French army in the framework of the Barkhane force in order to carry out logistical missions,” French army spokesman Colonel Patrick Steiger said.

It was not immediately clear what caused the plane to crash, he said, adding that the four injured French citizens were being treated at the French military base adjacent to the airport.

France’s ambassador to Ivory Coast along with French gendarmes and soldiers quickly arrived at the crash site.

French soldiers and rescuers carry a dead body after a propeller-engine cargo plane crashed in the sea near the international airport in Ivory Coast’s main city, Abidjan, October 14, 2017. (Photo by Reuters)

 

Hundreds of residents of the heavily populated neighborhood of Port Bouet, which surrounds the airport, crowded around the crash site. Some of them assisted firefighters and rescue divers who freed the bodies of the dead from the wreckage, which had broken into several large pieces.

French soldiers and Ivorian security forces later sealed off the area and French and Ivorian military vessels patrolled waters surrounding the crash site. The name of the company operating the aircraft was not immediately known.

(Source: Reuters)


EU Foreign Policy Chief says Trump in no position to terminate Iran’s nuclear deal

14, October 2017

EU Foreign Policy Chief says Trump in no position to terminate Iran’s nuclear deal 0

European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini says the US president is not in a position to terminate Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers.

Shortly after US President Donald Trump officially announced on Friday that he would not certify the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Mogherini stressed that the 2015 accord reached between Iran and Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China as well as the US “does not belong to any single country”.

“To my knowledge there is not one single country in the world that can terminate a UN Security Council resolution that has been adopted, and adopted unanimously, and implemented, and verified,” she said.

“It is clearly not in the hands of any president of any country in the world to terminate an agreement of this sort. The president of the United States has many powers (but) not this one,” the EU foreign policy chief pointed out.

Mogherini underlined the EU’s determination to abide by the JCPOA, noting that the bloc expects the other parties to the deal to adopt the same stance.

“We cannot afford as an international community, as Europe for sure, to dismantle an agreement that is working and delivering,” she said.

Apart from his refusal to certify the JCPOA, Trump also warned in his strategic review of US policy on Iran that he might ultimately terminate the deal, in defiance of other world powers and undermining a landmark victory of multilateral diplomacy.

While Trump did not pull Washington out of the nuclear deal, he gave the US Congress 60 days to decide whether to reimpose economic sanctions against Tehran that were lifted under the pact. Reimposing sanctions would put the US at odds with other signatories to the accord and the European Union.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said earlier on Friday that Tehran had a “very broad” range of options for any breach of the JCPOA and would “end all its commitments in this regard if deemed necessary.”

US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, DC, on October 13, 2017. (Photo by AP)

 

Trump called on Congress and US allies to address “serious flaws” in the JCPOA, including the deal’s “sunset clauses” that will put an end to restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program after a few years as well as the agreement’s “total silence on Iran’s missile programs.”

The US president noted that key Congress leaders are drafting legislation to amend the 2015 Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, which has given Congress some oversight on the JCPOA, prevent Iran from developing intercontinental ballistic missiles and make all restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program permanent.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani slammed Trump’s speech against the Islamic Republic as nothing more than insults and delirious talk, urging the US president to brush up on his world history and geography to improve his comprehension of international obligations and global ethics, etiquette and conventions.

The Iranian president further rejected Trump’s demand that the 2015 nuclear deal be revised, saying the agreement would remain intact and no article or paragraph would be added or taken away from it.

Rouhani said Iran will only respect its nuclear deal commitments so long as its rights are safeguarded, emphasizing that Tehran has cooperated and would continue its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has certified Iran’s compliance eight times.

UK, Germany, France back JCPOA

Following Trump’s speech, the leaders of Britain, France and Germany issued a joint statement, expressing concern over “the possible implications” of Washington’s decision.

British Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said they “stand committed to its full implementation by all sides.”

“The nuclear deal was the culmination of 13 years of diplomacy and was a major step towards ensuring that Iran’s nuclear program is not diverted for military purposes,” said the statement released by May’s Downing Street office.

“We encourage the US administration and Congress to consider the implications to the security of the US and its allies before taking any steps that might undermine the JCPOA, such as re-imposing sanctions on Iran lifted under the agreement.

“Our governments are committed to ensuring the JCPOA is maintained,” the statement pointed out.

The file photo shows French President Emmanuel Macron (L), German Chancellor Angela Merkel (C) and British Prime Minister Theresa May at a European Union leaders summit in Brussels. (Photo by AFP)

 

While both the US and the IAEA confirm that Iran is meeting the technical requirements of the nuclear deal, Trump claims that Tehran is in breach of the “spirit” of the agreement because of its expanding influence in the Middle East and the country’s achievements in its conventional missile program.

The three European leaders also expressed concern over Iran’s ballistic missile program, noting that they “stand ready to take further appropriate measures to address these issues.”

The nuclear agreement is solely about Iran’s nuclear activities and it does not incorporate non-nuclear issues.

Russia slams Trump’s policy

In reaction to Trump’s speech, Russia’s Foreign Ministry denounced his Iran strategy as one using “aggressive and threatening rhetoric” but said it expected the JCPOA to stay intact.

The ministry’s statement said it expected Trump’s decision “would not have a direct impact on the implementation of the deal” but was “an element of (US) domestic debate.”

Trump’s threat to terminate the nuclear deal comes as the US has a history of quitting international pacts and organizations.

This is not the first time that the international community witnesses efforts by the Trump administration to renege on a multilateral agreement.

Trump withdrew the US from the Paris Climate Agreement in June and has ordered the US to withdraw from UNESCO next year.

The US decisions to abandon multilateral agreements is not limited to the Trump administration. In 2002, the administration of former US President George W. Bush withdrew from the Antiballistic Missile Treaty (ABM), which it had signed with the Soviet Union in 1972.

 

Culled from Presstv


Detained migrants in Libya ‘in disastrous conditions

13, October 2017

Detained migrants in Libya ‘in disastrous conditions 0

Thousands of previously Europe-bound asylum seekers held in Libyan detention centers are said to be in dire conditions and in need of urgent medical help.

“The situation is very tragic… disastrous. There’s a lack of support,” Abdulhameed Muftah Frida, the head of the al-Hamra detention center in Gharyan, said on Thursday.

About 5,800 migrants have been transferred to the center since fighting broke out last month in the coastal city of Sabratha, a hub for human trafficking to Europe. About 2,000 people have already been sent from Gharyan to other centers in the capital, Tripoli.

A local armed group in a Libyan coastal city west of Tripoli has reportedly been halting refugee boats from setting out across the Mediterranean over the past months.

United Nations (UN) agencies have been trying to provide support for the thousands of mainly sub-Saharan African migrants now stranded.

Many have been taken to centers, some of which are notorious for widespread abuse and poor conditions.

Meanwhile, humanitarian workers have limited access to those centers.

Muftah said 70 percent of the migrants who are brought to his center are in need of medical attention and the center cannot to meet their needs.

Illegal immigrants are seen at a detention center in Zawiyah, 45 kilometers west of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, on June 17, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

 

“We appeal to all international organizations and the Libyan state to consider the humanitarian condition of these migrants,” Muftah added.

He further said there were many children and some pregnant women in the center, several of whom had gone into labor since arriving.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad al-Hussein, who visited Libya on Tuesday, raised the issue of the migrants with Libyan authorities.

Libya has turned into a scene of rampant militancy since the NATO military intervention of 2011, which came amid an uprising against longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Back in April, the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) raised the alarm over the climbing number of refugees passing through Libya, who were being traded in so-called slave markets before being held for ransom and subjected to malnutrition and sexual abuse.

 

Culled from Presstv


La Republique mistreating Southern Cameroons detainees- Amnesty International

13, October 2017

La Republique mistreating Southern Cameroons detainees- Amnesty International 0

Amnesty International on Friday accused Cameroon of detaining at least 500 people “like sardines” in overcrowded detention facilities following arbitrary arrests in two English-speaking regions.

The human rights watchdog said in a statement that the detainees were arrested when protesting in dozens of towns in Cameroon’s Anglophone North-West and South-West regions on October 1.

English speakers in the Central African nation have long complained that they are treated like second-class citizens and that the government makes less money available to them.

Amnesty alleged that Cameroon’s security forces, who killed more than 20 demonstrators that day, had used unnecessary or excessive force when making arrests, and most arrests were carried out without warrants.

According to Amnesty, many people who were injured during the protests were too scared of the security forces to seek medical treatment.

“This mass arrest of protesters, most of whom were acting peacefully, is not only a violation of human rights, but is also likely to be counter-productive,” said Amnesty researcher, Ilaria Allegrozzi.

 

Source: The Nation


Deadliest fires in California’s history kill 31, 100s still missing

13, October 2017

Deadliest fires in California’s history kill 31, 100s still missing 0

Local US officials have confirmed that the death toll from this week’s wildfires in the state of California has climbed to 31, making it the deadliest series of blazes in the state’s history. 

Fire officials said on Thursday the tally could rise further in the eight counties which have been affected by the fires.

In Sonoma County alone, where entire neighborhoods have been destroyed, hundreds of people are still unaccounted for.

The fires have swept through California’s wine country, leaving thousands of people homeless and burning over 190,000 acres (76,000 hectares) of land.

A California fire chief runs past burning grass during a firing operation while battling the Tubbs Fire on October 12, 2017 near Calistoga, California.  (Photo by AFP)

 

Firefighters said gusty winds and dry conditions have hampered their efforts to contain the fires, which began on Sunday. Some 8,000 firefighters were battling 20 blazes as of Thursday.

“What this means is that our fires will continue to burn erratically,” California fire chief Ken Pimlott told a press conference. “They have the potential to shift in any direction at any time.

“We are a long way from being done with this catastrophe,” he said.

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump declared a major disaster in California, releasing funding and resources to fight the catastrophe. Forest fires are common in the western United States during hot months, but few have claimed as many lives as this week’s blaze.

 

Source: Presstv


Buea: Francophone Minister of Defense describes Southern Cameroonians as “terrorists”

13, October 2017

Buea: Francophone Minister of Defense describes Southern Cameroonians as “terrorists” 0

Joseph Beti Assomo, the Francophone Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of defense has praised the army for the numerous killings currently going on in Southern Cameroons.  The Biya acolyte remained firm at the end of the meeting that held yesterday in Buéa promising more raids and a continuation of the militarization of West Cameroon.

It took Mr Beti Assomo more than 5 hours of closed session to assess the security situation in Southern Cameroons.  He told his French dominated security personnel that from the observation Cameroon is dealing with an insurrectional and terrorist movement pointing out that the defense and security forces of La Republique du Cameroun had to carry out the killings for the integrity of the territory. “Security, order and respect must be observed” said the Defense Minister.

The French Cameroun conclave also allowed the so-called governors of the Southern Cameroons regions, senior officials of the defense and security forces, to take stock of the demonstrations on 1 October.  The Beti-Ewondo Minister was informed that during the October 1 Southern Cameroons celebrations, public buildings were destroyed and some soldiers and police officers on duty were injured.

Mr Beti Assomo told state radio and television that “The state through its defense and security forces oversee the territorial integrity of the country as a whole. For this, no square meter of territory was abandoned by the forces. It will be so to the end. We have a Republican army, defense and security forces have done their job responsibly without losing their head.”

By Rita Akana, CCN


Kofi Annan to brief UN Security Council on Myanmar

12, October 2017

Kofi Annan to brief UN Security Council on Myanmar 0

On Friday 13 October Mr Kofi Annan, Chair of the Kofi Annan Foundation and the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, will brief UN Member States on the Advisory Commission’s main findings and recommendations for Myanmar’s troubled western state of Rakhine.

In his capacity as Chair of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, Mr Annan presented the Commission’s report “Towards a Peaceful, Fair and Prosperous Future for the People of Rakhine” in Yangon in August 2017. The report puts forward recommendations to surmount the political, socioeconomic and humanitarian challenges that have long existed in Rakhine State and have contributed to the current crisis.

The Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, which was disbanded following the completion of its mandate in September 2017, focused on long-term solutions for improving the welfare of all people in Rakhine State. Its final report addresses many of the root causes that underlie the humanitarian crisis.

“Towards a Peaceful, Fair and Prosperous Future for the People of Rakhine” and the recommendations it contains have been endorsed by the Government of Myanmar and widely welcomed by the international community.

In his briefing to Council Members and other Member States, Mr Annan will present the main recommendations of the report and discuss their implementation in the context of the violence and displacement that has taken place since the Commission’s report was published.

Mr Annan will urge stakeholders to use the report as a roadmap to peace and development in Rakhine State.

Mr Annan will stress the need to quickly end security operations, facilitate humanitarian access to affected populations and ensure protection of civilians.

The briefing will begin at 15:00 EST. It will be held under the Arria-formula to allow for participation from all United Nations Member States and accredited non-governmental organisations.

Mr. Annan’s statement will be made public at the time of the briefing.

About the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State

At the behest of the Ministry of the Office of the State Counsellor of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and in collaboration with the Kofi Annan Foundation, the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State was established in September 2016 as a neutral and impartial body to propose concrete measures for improving the welfare of all people in Rakhine state. It was disbanded following the completion of its mandate in September 2017.

The Commission was composed of six local and three international experts and chaired by Kofi Annan. It released an interim report in March 2017 and its final report in August 2017. The reports considered and provided recommendations on humanitarian and developmental issues, access to basic services, legal questions including citizenship and the assurance of basic rights, security to all people in all communities and other issues central to building lasting peace.

 

Source:  Kofi Annan Foundation


Southern Cameroons Crisis: Francophone Defense Minister expected in Buea County today

12, October 2017

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Francophone Defense Minister expected in Buea County today 0

The Francophone Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Defense, Joseph Beti Assomo is expected this Thursday, October 12, 2017 in the Buea County in Southern Cameroons. Information has filtered that Etoudi wants the defense boss to personally conduct an assessment of the security situation in West Cameroon as instructed by the UN Secretary General.

This is the content of a press release issued on Wednesday, October 11, 2017 by the presidency of the republic. “The meeting will scrutinize the security situation and assess the functioning of the various devices on the ground to adapt them where necessary in the light of compliance with law and order,” the press release said.

French Cameroun security forces have carried out arbitrary arrests, illegal searches of homes, murders and other abuses in Southern Cameroons under the watchful eyes of the African Union and the United Nations. This trip by Minister Assomo has been interpreted by the Southern Cameroons Ambazonia Governing Council has a mission to cover up facts.

Joseph Beti Assomo will meet with senior officials of the central and territorial defense and security forces and the French Cameroun governors of the Northwest and Southwest regions.

By Rita Akana, CCN


Trump threatens to revoke TV network licenses over ‘fake news’

12, October 2017

Trump threatens to revoke TV network licenses over ‘fake news’ 0

US President Donald Trump has threatened to shut down NBC and other American TV networks by revoking their media licenses, claiming they broadcast “fake news” and are “bad” for the country.

“With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!” Trump said in a tweet on Wednesday.

Trump has repeatedly used the term “fake news” to cast doubt on critical media reports about his administration, often without providing any evidence to support his case that the reports are false.

NBC News has reported on tensions between Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

NBC said last week that Trump sought a dramatic increase in the US nuclear arsenal during a meeting in July with national security advisers in July.

NBC reported Tillerson made his “moron” comment after that meeting and was on the verge of resigning amid mounting policy disputes with the White House.

“Fake @NBCNews made up a story that I wanted a ‘tenfold’ increase in our US nuclear arsenal. Pure fiction, made up to demean. NBC = CNN!,” Trump once again tweeted against the media on Wednesday.

This is not the first time Trump has attacked NBC. Trump wrote on Twitter on October 4 that “NBC news is #FakeNews and more dishonest than even CNN. They are a disgrace to good reporting. No wonder their news ratings are way down!”

Trump’s willingness to potentially challenge the broadcast licenses of a media he disapproves, marks an escalation in Trump’s anti-media rhetoric.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) does not license broadcast networks, but issues them to individual broadcast stations. The agency does not issue similar licenses for cable networks like CNN and MSNBC, or regulate internet news or other websites.

The FCC has said the First Amendment “expressly prohibits the commission from censoring broadcast matter” and that its role “in overseeing program content is very limited.”

As a candidate, Trump had pursued the same anti-media rhetoric threatening to “open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money.”



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