News

23, September 2016

Egypt refugee boat tragedy: 160 bodies pulled out from the Mediterranean sea ⁰

Egyptian rescue workers have pulled out from the Mediterranean Sea the bodies of more than a hundred refugees whose boat recently capsized near the coast of Egypt.

A senior Egyptian official said on Friday that a total of 162 bodies had been pulled out from Egyptian waters. The vessel capsized on Wednesday.

Rescue and recovery operations were still underway, while the military said it had rescued 163 survivors, who are said to be mostly Egyptians, but also include a Syrian, as well as Sudanese, Eritreans, and an Ethiopian asylum seeker.

The survivors said about 450 refugees had been on board the overcrowded fishing boat that was heading toward Italy when it sank about 12 kilometers off the coast. In this regard, authorities have arrested four suspected human traffickers.

Egyptian policemen and medics stand over a body of a refugee along the shore in the Egyptian port city of Rosetta on September 21, 2016, during a search operation after a boat carrying asylum seekers capsized in the Mediterranean. (Photo by AFP)

Since 2014, according to the United Nations, more than 10,000 asylum seekers have lost their lives attempting to cross the Mediterranean into Europe in substandard vessels overloaded with desperate refugees.

The current year has been described by the United Nations as “the deadliest year on record in the Mediterranean Sea.”The perilous sea route across the Mediterranean Sea from Egypt to Italy, which often takes more than 10 days, is just one of several routes used by asylum seekers.

A young Egyptian lies in bed in a hospital in the port city of Rosetta, northern Egypt, on September 21, 2016, after a boat transporting asylum seekers capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Egypt. (Photo by AFP)

After Balkan countries closed the popular overland route in March and the European Union reached a deal with Turkey to halt departures, asylum seekers from conflict zones in the Middle East and North Africa have turned to new paths to reach Europe.

Frontex, an EU agency for the management of operational cooperation at the external borders, said in June that crossing from Egypt to Italy was becoming increasingly popular.

Presstv

23, September 2016

Maroua host interreligious service in honour of soldiers killed in the war on terror ⁰

Some military families and a cross section of the population of the Far North region have paid homage to soldiers of the Rapid Intervention Battalion who died defending the nation in the war against Boko Haram. The families came together during an interreligious service that took place at the command post of “Operation Alpha Unit” in Maroua.

President Paul Biya reportedly extended his condolences to the bereaved families through the Governor of the Far North region, Midjiyawa Bakari. Biya also appealed to the civilian population, the members of the Vigilante committee, traditional and religious rulers to continue supporting the soldiers in the fight against Boko Haram terrorism.

Brigadier General Jacob Kodji Commander of the 4th Military Legion said the ceremony was organized to boost the morale of everyone especially the soldiers and those intending to join the military corps. Spiritual leaders from the Orthodox, Protestant, Catholic and Islam denominations in their prayers extended words of encouragement and comfort to the bereaved families.

CRTV

23, September 2016

Biya meets US Under-Secretary for African Affairs ⁰

The President of the Republic His Excellency Paul BIYA granted audience to Madam Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the United States Under-Secretary of State for African Affairs, at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York on Thursday 22 September 2016. At the end of their discussions, the American Under-Secretary of State told the press that the audience with the Cameroonian Head of State was focused on the fight against the terrorist group Boko Haram, the handling of refugees and economic cooperation between the United States and Cameroon.

Madam Linda Thomas-Greenfield lauded the total commitment of Cameroon in the fight against Boko Haram which has yielded serious blows to this terrorist group. She reiterated the support of the United States of America to all the countries fighting terrorism. The American Under-Secretary of State appreciated the harbouring of hundreds of thousands of refugees by Cameroon and all the measures the Government has taken to give them good living conditions. Cameroon currently hosts over 350 000 refugees of different nationalities, but mainly Nigerians and people from the Central African Republic.

Madam Linda Thomas-Greenfield affirmed that Cameroon and the USA have very solid bilateral economic relations. She also indicated that the second US-Africa Business Forum which held on the 21 September 2016 in New York, with the participation of Cameroon, was an excellent occasion to examine the ways and means to increase commercial links between Cameroon and the United States.

The Diplomat and the Head of State also discussed the participation of Cameroon at the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly. It should be recalled that Madam Linda Thomas-Greenfield was granted audience by the President of the Republic at the Unity Palace in Yaounde on 6 September 2014. President Paul BIYA had an audience with the Secretary-General of the United Nations BAN KI-MOON yesterday evening. The face-to-face meeting held on the side-lines of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

The warm and friendly audience took place at Mr BAN KI-MOON’s office in New York. Both personalities have recorded a cordial relationship. Mr BAN KI-MOON is a great friend to Cameroon. He established this friendship during his official visit to Cameroon on 9 to 10 June 2010. The UN Secretary General was accompanied by his wife, Mrs BAN SOON-TAEK. It is during this visit that Mr BAN KI-MOON told the press that President Paul Biya is a long-time friend and “a respected leader in the world.” In return, the Cameroonian Head of State affirmed that the relationship between Cameroon and the United Nations is “a long history of trust and friendship.” President Paul Biya and Mr. BAN KI-MOON equally met on 25 September 2010 during the 65th Session of the UN General Assembly.

Both personalities probably made an overview of relations between Cameroon and the United Nations, and activities of the ongoing 71st session of the UN General Assembly in New York. Mr BAN KI-MOON’s second and final term as head of the UN Secretariat ends in January 2017. Elected on 13 October 2006, he took office on 1 January 2007 and was re-elected on 21 June 2011. His mandates were marked by numerous initiatives and reforms to strengthen the organisation. These include: the promotion of sustainable development, women’s empowerment, assistance to countries in crisis or instability, a new impetus to disarmament, arms control, and the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

CRTV

23, September 2016

British Foreign Secretary says London plans to begin Brexit process early next year ⁰

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has said London plans to begin the formal process for leaving the European Union (EU) early next year following the Brexit vote in June. Speaking from New York on Thursday, Johnson told Sky News that Britain will trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty under which London can leave the EU after a two-year negotiations period.

“By the early part of next year, you will see an Article 50 letter which we will invoke and, in that letter, I am sure we will be setting out some parameters for how we propose to take this forward. You invoke Article 50 in the early part of next year (and) you have two years to pull it off. I don’t actually think you need to spend the full two years, but let’s see how we go,” he said.

“We are going to benefit from fantastic opportunities for free trade with our friends in the EU,” he said. “It’s overwhelmingly in their interests…They’re not going to put that at risk.” But the British foreign secretary said he does not think the full two years would need to be completed.

Earlier, British Prime Minister Theresa May held talks with President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz in London. Schulz has urged Britain to start Brexit process as soon as possible. Last week, European Council President Donald Tusk said that Prime Minister May had told him the UK could be ready to begin talks by February.

President of the European Council Donald Tusk attends the 71st session of the General Assembly at the United Nations in New York September 20, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

“She declared it is almost impossible to trigger Article 50 this year. But she said it is quite likely they will be ready in maybe January or maybe February next year,” Tusk said on September 16 after an informal EU summit in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava.

Tusk said the rest of the EU was ready to start negotiations tomorrow. “We are well prepared for negotiations and could even start tomorrow” but “our British colleagues need more time to prepare themselves.” On June 23, some 52 percent (17.4 million) of British people voted to leave the EU after 43 years of membership.

Presstv

22, September 2016

UN General Assembly: President Biya calls for collective action ¹

President Paul Biya has addressed the 71st General Assembly of the UN in New York. Cameroon state radio and television reported that his speech was based on the 17 point Sustainable Development Goals, (SDGs) which is currently guarding deliberation at the present session. The Cameroonian chief executive revealed that countries have not fully respected their engagements.

In a strongly worded message he stated that “now is not time for promises, the time to act is now” Biya specifically mentioned the 16th objective of the SDGs that deals with security and terrorism stating that in the past three years Cameroon has been fighting the Nigerian Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

He proposed the creation of an international institution to fight terrorism and insecurity especially in developing countries. He ended on a very positive note by indicating the SDGs is a universal dynamism to transform the world and if world leaders decide here and now to make available resources, the present world of turbulence shall be transformed to a world of peace.

CRTV

22, September 2016

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says US airstrikes on Syrian troops were intentional and lasted nearly one hour ⁰

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said that US airstrikes on Syrian troops on Saturday were “intentional” and lasted for nearly one hour. In an interview with the Associated Press conducted Wednesday, Assad said the attack targeted a “huge” area constituting of many hills, “so it was definitely intentional, not unintentional as they claimed.”

The US Central Command has said it may have unintentionally struck the Syrian airbase in Dayr al-Zawr while carrying out a raid against Daesh and that the strikes were stopped in less than five minutes when Russia called the US to halt it.

Daesh militants briefly overran government positions in the area until they were beaten back. “How could they (Daesh) know that the Americans are going to attack that position in order to gather their militants to attack right away and to capture it one hour after the strike?” Assad asked.

“It wasn’t an accident by one airplane… It was four airplanes that kept attacking the position of the Syrian troops for nearly one hour, or a little bit more than one hour,” he said. “You don’t commit a mistake for more than one hour,” Assad said in the interview.

US behind collapse of ceasefire

Assad also blamed the US for the collapse of a ceasefire deal brokered with Russia. The strikes contributed to the collapse of the truce and cast serious doubt on chances for implementing an unprecedented US-Russian agreement to jointly target Daesh.

Assad said Washington “doesn’t have the will” to join the fight against Daesh, which the US, Turkey and their allies have cited as the reason for their military intervention in Syria.

Syrians who fled the country could return within a few months if the US, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar stopped backing militants, he added.

Assad said the war, now in its sixth year, is likely to “drag on” because of what he said was continued external support for Takfiri terrorists and numerous militant groups.

“When you talk about it as part of a global conflict and a regional conflict, when you have many external factors that you don’t control, it’s going to drag on.”

‘US lies’ about aid convoy attack

Assad also rejected accusations that Syrian or Russian planes struck an aid convoy in Aleppo and denied that his troops were preventing food from entering the militant-held part of the city.

“If there’s really a siege around the city of Aleppo, people would have been dead by now,” Assad said, asking how militants were able to smuggle in arms but apparently not food or medicine.

The attack on the aid convoy outside Aleppo took place Monday night, hitting a warehouse as aid workers unloaded cargo and triggering huge explosions.

US officials have oscillated between blaming the Syrian government and the Russian military for the attack. At one point, they have described a sustained barrage that included barrel bombs.

One Thursday, however, the AP quoted an unnamed “senior US administration official” who claimed a Russian-piloted aircraft carried out the strike. Assad dismissed the claims, saying whatever American officials say “has no credibility” and is “just lies.”

Russia has called for an independent investigation into the attack and has published a footage from a drone which apparently shows a militant vehicle towing a mortar alongside the aid convoy.

On Wednesday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said an armed US drone was in the vicinity of the humanitarian aid convoy that was hit by the airstrike.

War ‘savage’

Assad also brushed aside what is often described as eyewitness accounts to accuse the Syrian army, while acknowledging the war had been “savage”.

“Those witnesses only appear when there’s an accusation against the Syrian army or the Russian (army), but when the terrorists commit a crime or massacre or anything, you don’t see any witnesses.”

Presstv

22, September 2016

Yaounde: Police neutralize gang of taxi robbers ⁰

Three man aged between 20 and 34 years were presented to the press as a gang of taxi robbers who have dispossessed some 30 women of their handbags using a taxi in Yaoundé. The alleged gang leader, Tsala Andre Jules who also goes by the name Boulli Jean alias Pa Ye is an ex-convict. He is said to have created the gang after he left prison about a year ago for similar offences. He is the driver of the taxi used in the robbery. He told the police that they operate about three times a week generally around 8:00pm to 6:30am.

He was arrested in Essos after he attempted to escape. Enyengue Andre Loic, a member of the gang fakes the role of a passenger in the front seat of the taxi they use in their operations while Mekongo Augustin plays the same role on the back sit. Both men were arrested in Mimboman neighbourhood. They have denied any involvement.

According Senior Police Superintendent Babanguida Ahmadou, service head for Interventions and Investigations at the Judicial Police Department in Yaoundé, investigations that led to the arrest of the gang began after a victim deposited a complaint.

The victim noted the matriculation number of the taxi in which she was robbed of her hand bad containing her tablet, smart phone and a medical; kit Bio Disque. The victim told the police that she boarded the taxi at about 9:30pm at the Multi Sports Complex to Elig Edzoa. During the journey the drive change the direction and drove to a dark area. The passenger on the back seat pull out a dagger placed on her throat and threatened to kill her if she resisted. The accomplice on the front seat then ceased all her belongings.

A huge number of handsets including smart, phones, tablets and laptops including other devices and daggers where presented to the press as objects recovered from the suspects who are expected to face the law courts.

CRTV

22, September 2016

Cameroon Secret Service kills Boko Haram suicide bomber in Djakana ⁰

A suicide bomber was killed on Wednesday night in Djakana as he was about to unleash mayhem. Cameroon Concord News was reliably informed that he was shot by elements of the secret service and the bomb he was carrying exploded wounding five other persons. The death toll from the incident that occurred in Djakana, near the district of Mora in the Mayo-Sava Division in the Far North is expected to rise as four other persons were badly affected.

The explosion happened shortly after evening prayer. The suicide attack on Wednesday comes one month to the day after the last attack that hit Mora on the 21^st of August 2016 which claimed the lives of 4 and wounded 24. These suicide attacks on Cameroonian territory are not claimed by Boko Haram. They are systematically attributed to the Nigerian Islamic sect by Cameroon security forces. Boko Haram pledged allegiance to the Organization of the Islamic state and is now called Province of the Islamic State in West Africa.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from Amadou Adama

21, September 2016

US: Mentally ill black man shot 14 times by police ⁰

Police in the US state of California have released video footage of a deadly encounter between officers and a mentally ill African American man, who was killed after being shot 14 times. The violent confrontation happened on July 11, when two police officers fired 18 rounds at 50-year-old Joseph Mann, after he failed to heed to their warnings. Disturbing footage from three police dash cams and a nearby surveillance camera, released Tuesday, showed the officers slowly chasing Mann for a few minutes and asking him to drop his knife before gunning him down from about 15ft (6 meters) away.

Sacramento Police Chief Sam Somers confirmed the news on Tuesday, saying the footage were released after conversations with City Manager John Shirey and Mayor Kevin Johnson. According to the videos, Mann’s arms were raised and he did not seem to threaten the officers with any weapon when he was shot. He collapsed and could be heard shouting in pain as the cops opened fire.

Prior to the incident, police had received distress calls about a man dwelling Del Paso Heights while holding a knife and gun in his hands. The knife was later found at the scene but Mann’s alleged firearm was never recovered by police. According to the media, the 911 callers had clearly pointed to Mann’s mental illness but the dispatch had failed to inform the officers of the matter.

“There’s a man outside of my apartment with a gun and a knife,” a 911 caller said in the recording. “There’s children all around, and he’s mentally ill.” Mann’s family has filed a civil lawsuit against the police and the city, alleging that the officers should not have resorted to lethal force because he was experiencing a mental crisis. “Any reasonable police officer should have noticed that he was mentally impaired” John Burris the Mann family’s lawyer said.

Mann’s family members described him as a smart college graduate who succeeded in several careers before deteriorating into mental illness about five years ago. The case is expected to stir more controversy and anti-police sentiments in the US, amid a public outrage against law enforcement agencies due to their unjustified killings of unarmed African Americans over the past months.

Presstv

21, September 2016

Sudan hosting 400,000 refugees who fled the war in South Sudan ⁰

Sudan says it is hosting about 400,000 refugees, who fled the civil war in South Sudan that erupted in late 2013. Sudan’s Interior Minister Babiker Digna told reporters in the capital Khartoum on Wednesday that more refugees continued to pour into the country.

“The number of South Sudanese refugees registered by Sudanese authorities is 400,000,” Digna said, adding, “The influx of South Sudanese continues until now… and the process of registering them is also ongoing.” The United Nations earlier said that as of August 31, the total number of South Sudanese refugees in Sudan had exceeded 247,000.

Responding to a discrepancy between the two figures, Digna said “many times” there was disagreement with the UN on the numbers. On September 16, the United Nations refugee agency said in a statement that fighting in South Sudan had forced more than one million people to flee the war-stricken country. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said another 1.61 million people had been displaced inside the country.

On the same day, Noriko Yoshida, the UN refugee agency’s representative for Sudan, appealed for more global aid to help address South Sudan’s refugee crisis, adding, “If we don’t have sufficient resources, it is also difficult to protect and assist these refugees.”

An internally displaced person is seen among civilians and UN peacekeepers on September 3, 2016, at a UN camp in Juba, South Sudan. (Photo by AFP)

The Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda are also hosting thousands of refugees from South Sudan.

The country gained independence in July 2011, but descended into war in December 2013, after President Salva Kiir accused the former vice president, Riek Machar, of plotting a coup to usurp power.

Numerous international attempts to reach a truce between the warring sides have failed. South Sudan has experienced a new wave of conflict since July 8, when gunfire erupted near the state house in Juba as President Kiir and Machar were holding a meeting.

Presstv