News

3, June 2016

5 US marines killed, 4 swept away by flood-swollen creek in Texas ⁰

At least five American soldiers have been killed and four other army troops swept away by a flood-swollen creek in the state of Texas. The Thursday accident happened at Fort Hood when an army troop carrier was washed away from a crossing at Owl Creek, the Texas Army post said. Three soldiers were found dead shortly after their truck was overturned by a swift current of the creek during a morning training exercise.

Two more bodies were found late Thursday night. Three other soldiers were rescued and taken to hospital. Local military spokesman Chris Haug said a search was on for the four soldiers who remain missing. The army did not release the names of the dead as it was still notifying relatives. Parts of Texas have been flooded with rain over the last week, where at least six deaths have been blamed on flooding.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a statement saying the state “stands ready to provide any assistance to Fort Hood as they deal with this tragedy.” The heaviest downpour Thursday night was reported in LaPorte, on the western shore of Galveston Bay, where several inches of rainfall was recorded between, according to ABC News. This week’s storms are the latest in a string of torrential rains since May 2015 that have put swaths of the state underwater.

Other areas of Texas dealing with heavy rainfall include Bexar County, where San Antonio is located. Meanwhile the rising Colorado River was expected to cause minor flooding in the coming days around Bastrop and La Grange, cities located southeast of Austin, according to the National Weather Service.

Presstv

3, June 2016

UN voices concern over the recruitment and killing of children ⁰

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has expressed serious concern over a rise in recruitment and killing of children in conflict-hit countries in various parts of the world over the past year. In an annual report on children and armed conflict released Thursday, Ban expressed shock about the dire situation of children in war-torn countries especially in Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Somalia and South Sudan.

The report names dozens of armed groups, some government security forces and military alliances that committed grave violations against children in 2015. The report also included armed groups such a-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab militants in Somalia, Nigeria’s Daesh-affiliated Boko Haram, the Taliban in Afghanistan and South Sudan’s government forces in its list of the parties involved in abducting children.

Ban also said in the document that aerial attacks by international military alliances have killed many youngsters in past months. According to the report, Afghanistan recorded the highest number of child casualties in 2015, since the UN began documenting civilian deaths and injuries in 2009. The world body has verified 1,306 incidents resulting in 2,829 child casualties, comprising 733 deaths and 2,096 injured.

This comes as a large number of civilians, including children, have been killed in the US-led airstrikes across various parts of the Afghanistan over the past years. New additions to the list include Saudi Arabia, which has been engaged in a military aggression against its poor neighbor for more than a year.

The report takes a swipe at the Riyadh regime and holds it accountable for killing children and attacking schools and hospitals in the impoverished Arab country. Saudi Arabia and the countries supporting its campaign in Yemen were responsible for 60 percent of child deaths and injuries last year, killing 510 and wounding 667, according to Ban’s report.

Presstv

3, June 2016

France delivers Mistral warship to Egypt ⁰

Egypt has taken delivery of the first of two French Mistral warships as part of a military deal between Paris and Cairo in 2015. France agreed last year to sell two Mistral helicopter carriers to Egypt for $1 billion, which were originally intended for sale to Russia.

The first warship, named Gamal Abdel Nasser after Egypt’s late president, is reportedly headed toward Alexandria where it is expected to arrive within weeks. During a handover ceremony in the western French port of Saint-Nazaire on Thursday, Egyptian Defense Minister Sedky Sobhi said the second warship would arrive in September.

“It [the warship] increases our combat capabilities and our ability to carry out long-term missions at sea…and we are awaiting on the arrival of the second in September,” he said.

Presstv

3, June 2016

US says Boko Haram-Daesh collaboration on a rise ⁰

The rising collaboration between the Daesh and Boko Haram terrorist groups has raised alarms that the two are working together to wreak more havoc in northern and central Africa. US Brigadier General Donald Bolduc, the commander of the US military’s Special Operations in Africa, said Wednesday that a Daesh weapons convoy departing from Libya was intercepted on its way to the Lake Chad region, an area devastated by Boko Haram.

The shipment was seized near the Chadian border with Libya on April 7 and included small-caliber weapons, machine guns and rifles, officials said. US military officials said the convoy hints at a direct link between the two terror groups. Last year, Boko Haram pledged allegiance to Daesh.

Bolduc added that the two groups were also sharing “tactics, techniques and procedures.” Nigerian General Lamidi Oyebayo Adeosun, the commander of the regional group of African countries fighting Boko Haram in the Lake Chad area, echoed Bolduc, adding military officials were still trying to learn more about relations between the two groups.

The disclosure came during a tense series of meetings between Samantha Power, the US ambassador to the United Nations, and top Chadian officials, including President Idriss Deby. US President Barack Obama has been increasingly asked by some of his top military and intelligence advisers to authorize a broader US military presence in Libya and Nigeria.

Earlier this month, Obama admitted that his “worst mistake” in his presidency has been the mishandling of the crisis in Libya after the US-backed ouster of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The Pentagon has proposed a $200 million budget for this year to train and equip security forces in north, central and west African countries. The US is also constructing a $50 million drone base in Agadez, Niger, that would allow aerial surveillance of the region.

An estimated 20,000 people have been killed and more than 2.6 million others made homeless since the beginning of the Boko Haram bloody militancy in Nigeria in 2009. Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is forbidden,” has spread its attacks from northeastern Nigeria, its traditional stronghold, to the neighboring countries of Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

Presstv

3, June 2016

Nigeria: Deadly explosion kills 5 ⁰

A deadly explosion has claimed the lives of five people in northeast Nigeria, where the Takfiri Boko Haram militant group has been operating for years.According to Nigerian military officials, the incident occurred on Sunday morning when a rickshaw driving close to a military checkpoint on the outskirts of the town of Biu in the country’s northeastern Borno State ran over an improvised explosive device (IED).

“The preliminary investigation shows that the IED was buried a long time ago without being detected. It exploded when the tricycle erroneously stepped on it,” said Sani Usman, the Nigerian military spokesman. “The IED exploded instantly killing four persons, comprising of a woman with her baby and two other male adults,” Usman said, adding that a soldier injured by the blast died later in hospital.

While he did not explain whether the IED had in fact been planted by Boko Haram, the spokesman did say that the military would continue to counter Boko Haram undeterred.

Culled from Presstv

3, June 2016

Nigeria: Shell and Agip pipelines blown up in Niger Delta ⁰

Militants have blown up strategic gas and crude pipelines belonging to Shell and Agip as part of a campaign that has cut Nigeria’s oil production in half. A hitherto unknown militant group, calling itself the Niger Delta Avengers, said it had dynamited the trunkline linking the Dutch-British Shell company’s Bonny terminal and the Brass export terminal of the Italian company Agip.

Earlier, the group had blown up gas and crude oil pipelines belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in Delta State near the city of Warri. Nigeria’s oil production had already fallen from a projected 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) to 1.4 million bpd before the latest string of attacks on the oil industry in southern Nigeria, including three within the past week on facilities of the US oil company Chevron.

The militants have given oil companies a May 31 deadline to leave Nigeria’s southern, oil-producing Niger Delta. “Watch out something big is about to happen and it will shock the whole world,” the the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) warned Saturday, addressing international and indigenous oil companies and Nigeria’s military. The NDA has intensified attacks in recent months, pushing oil output to its lowest in more than 20 years and compounding the problems faced by Africa’s largest economy.

The group claims it is fighting to win a greater share of oil profits for the nation and protect the environment from pollution caused by these oil companies. Local community leaders and non-violent environment activists have reportedly sided with the militants. They say residents of Niger Delta support their demands for a greater share of the country’s oil wealth.

Oil pollution has destroyed the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of farmers and fishermen in the region. Several companies have evacuated some of their workers while the government has deployed thousands of troops to guard oil installations.

Culled from Presstv

3, June 2016

Cameroon Mourns a Statesman ⁰

Chief Michael Tabong Kima: The Silent Diplomat Goes Home

The country lost a true patriot and statesman in the person of Chief Michael Tabong Kima, foremost traditional ruler, quintessential diplomat and humanist. The passing of Ambassador Kima, as he was fondly called, is a great national loss; but it is also an occasion for the country to celebrate a truly great life and a man of virtue. A fine technocrat and astute administrator, he was by any measure, a hallmark of integrity in service and post-service life. His immediate constituency – Bakebe village; his family and the nation at large can only take consolation in his sterling qualities and the fact that he lived a most fulfilled life, in both public and private circles. He was a meticulous public servant who stood to be counted when it mattered. His private life was devoted to philanthropy and mentoring the young. His family, friends and the entire nation should be proud of his acclaimed virtues. Such are the memories of outstanding men in history.

A light-hearted man of fulsome humor, who taunted himself even as he did everyone who came around him, Chief Kima was a man of many worlds; a universe of politics, diplomacy, hearty socialization and community service, all neatly woven by a life of quiet philanthropy. What is striking is that his diplomatic career was the by-product of circumstances and a historical accident. In a 2005 interview, he recalled how it all began and paid special tribute to his mentor and former boss, Nzo Ekangaki:

“Nzo Ekangaki was a boss and a friend. Thanks to him, I left Buea for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was a very important person in my life. I was Executive Officer in the Secretariat in Buea in 1962, when he (Nzo) was appointed Deputy Foreign Minister. He came to my little office and did something, which I think others have never done. He spoke in Bayangi; “I have to see you. I (Nzo) have been appointed Deputy Foreign Minister and I have a post – Chief of Cabinet, so I want you (Kima) to come and help me to run this cabinet. I gave him some reasons why I might not be able to fill that office…but as we were talking, he already had my file. Before I could even convince my wife, a decree was published on May 5, 1962, appointing me Chief of Cabinet. And from there, I set sail for further studies on diplomacy and international relations. Subsequently, I was integrated into the career of diplomats. That is why I owe him a lot of gratitude”.

Before his first international posting to the Cameroon embassy in Moscow, as 1^st Secretary, in 1968, he obtained Diplomas in Public Administration and International Relations from the Institute of Social Studies, the Academy of International Law at The Hague, Holland and the Cité Université de Grenoble in France. After three years in Moscow, he was recalled home and later appointed Deputy Director of Protocol and Treaties in 1973. In 1976 he was posted to the Cameroon Embassy in Washington DC, where he was 2^nd then 1^stCounselor and later Chargés d’Affaires. In 1982 he was named Minister Plenipotentiary and Ambassador Extraordinary to Liberia; with accreditation as Head of Mission in Sierra Leone and Guinea.

He returned to Cameroon on February 4, 1984, following his appointment to replace Philemon Yang Yunji as Minister of Mines and Energy; a position he held until May 16, 1988. Amongst his numerous accomplishments, he oversaw the rural electrification of Cameroon. This was his defining legacy to his native Manyu Division and the country at large. As a pioneer member of the central committee and politburo of the ruling CPDM party, Pa Kima was an indomitable political force. It is to this adroitness that as a one-man political powerhouse, he took on the Manyu political establishment and opened up the political space to a younger generation of politicians.

Despite the controversy surrounding his politics, Chief Kima was a kind and humane person; a man of power and means, whose heart was at one with the people. Following his father’s death in 1986, he became 2^ndclass Chief of Bakebe village. In his life-time, his generosity transcended socio-cultural barriers and he was everywhere a peace-maker. Once, at a Manyu parley, then Gov. Oben Ashu tongue-lashed former Gov. Enow Tanjong, for militating in the SDF. The situation degenerated into a shouting match when Pa Tanjong retorted that when he was governor, Oben Ashu was a clerk. It took the energetic efforts of Chief Kima, invoking an Ekpe injunction to prevent an escalation into a fist fight.

After leaving the cabinet, he got another ambassadorial posting to Italy in 1989, where he distinguished himself; becoming the longest serving envoy and Dean of the Diplomatic corps. After 19 years in Italy, by which time his qualification for retirement was no longer a secret, and his continuous stay in office was marked by diminishing returns, the old-horse was given a deserved retirement in 2008. He died May 9, 2016 aged 88.

Born July 5, 1928 in Bakebe, Upper Bayang, Manyu Division, Southwest region, he attended Sasse College and did post-secondary education at Gov’t Clerical Training School Oshogbo, Nigeria where he studied Public Administration. He returned to Cameroon and worked with the Victoria Council. In 1954, he married Frieda Moloke, the love of his life and soulmate for over 60 years, who passed on in 2011. A man of honor; even in death, Chief Kima is survived by four children, nine grandchildren, 12 brothers and sisters, a large extended family and the people of Bakebe and Nkockonock clan.

Chief Kima was an unapologetic traditionalist who lived life to the fullest; his philosophy anchored on his belief that a man is who he is; not what he has! A transdisciplinary intellectual, who gave his diplomatic portfolio a wide social context through his creative output and socio-political engagements, Chief Kima by natural inclination, had time for everybody who came his way, status notwithstanding. That was a mark of his modesty and simplicity. A silent gentleman of quiet decency, sardonic wit and great mentoring skills, he was of that rare breed of Cameroonians, for whom integrity was all. Hence his entire life was a case study in selfless patriotism.

His legacy of personal integrity and patriotism represents a high value system difficult to reestablish in a country embroiled in governance anomie and blatant moral bankruptcy. His life is a lesson for contemporary public servants and a classic example that a person of means, privilege and power can live a fulfilled and happy life serving other people to the best of his ability and satisfaction of his true conscience. Cameroon has lost a quintessential public servant and distinguished personality. Indeed, the nation has lost one of her best. To have known Chief Kima was to value him. Good Nite Your Excellency, you will be sorely missed.

Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai

Harvard Kennedy School of Government

United States of America

2, June 2016

Ivory Coast: Attempted rape of former first lady filmed ⁰

Ivory Coast’s former first lady Simone Gbagbo says she suffered attempted rape while in detention back in 2011, and claims French soldiers deployed in the country also filmed the attempted rape. During the first day of her trial on Tuesday, Simone denied a court’s charges of crimes against humanity during the 2010 wave of violence, saying, “Mr. Chairman, I have been brought before this court for crimes I did not commit. I have been accused of things that are not established as facts, alluding to my direct involvement in the violence.”

“Personally, I arrived at the Golf hotel (Ouattara’s headquarters) with my buttocks exposed, naked, and I suffered several attempts to rape me in broad daylight … and all this in the presence of French soldiers who were filming this,” she said. According to the prosecution, the wife of former president Laurent Gbagbo was part of a small group of party officials from Gbagbo’s Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) that organized violence and rights abuses against supporters of her husband’s presidential rival — Alassane Ouattara — in an attempt to keep him in power. She also faces allegations of crimes against prisoners of war, crimes against the civilian population and crimes against humanity.

“The FPI put in place a crisis cell in January 2011 that met at the presidential residence and constituted the organ charged with planning and organizing the repression,” an indictment read in the court stated. The trial is the West African country’s first for crimes against humanity and is being held in a domestic court after the government rejected her extradition to the International Criminal Court (ICC), claiming that the Ivorian justice system is now capable of judging her. However, her lawyers did not immediately enter a plea on Tuesday and challenged the court’s jurisdiction for several hours, noting that Simone could not be prosecuted for “crimes against humanity” and “war crimes” committed in 2011 because these charges had not been included in Ivory Coast’s penal code since March 2015.

But prosecutors hit back at the criticism on Wednesday with Abidjan’s chief prosecutor, Aly Yeo, saying, “The trial that began yesterday will be a fair trial that will respect the rights of the defense, a transparent trial.” During the court session, Ivory Coast’s “Iron Lady” also claimed that Ouattara, now president of Ivory Coast, instigated the bloodshed. “The post-election crisis was born from the refusal of Alassane Ouattara, with the help of French authorities, to respect the constitution of Ivory Coast,” she claimed.

More than 3,000 people were killed in the post-poll civil war that broke out when Gbagbo refused to concede defeat to Ouattara in the November 2010 run-off election. The violence petered out when troops stormed the bunker where the Gbagbo couple had taken refuge in the country’s main city, Abidjan, and arrested the two.

Simone Gbagbo is currently serving a 20-year sentence which was handed to her last year for charges on “endangering state security” — a sentence that was upheld on appeal this month — and Laurent Gbagbo is facing trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague on charges linked to the conflict.

Culled from Presstv

2, June 2016

Germany: MPs passes Armenian genocide motion ⁰

The German parliament has approved a resolution recognizing as genocide the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks a century ago, in a move which risks damaging ties between Berlin and Ankara. On Thursday, the lower house of the German legislature, Bundestag, voted overwhelmingly for the motion, which is symbolically significant and has no legal effect.

“With one vote against and one abstention, this resolution has been passed by a remarkable majority of the German Bundestag,” said Norbert Lammert, the Bundestag president. Titled “Remembrance and commemoration of the genocide of Armenians and other Christian minorities in 1915 and 1916,” the motion was put forward by the ruling left-right coalition and the opposition Greens.

The resolution uses the word “genocide” in the headline and text. It says Germany – the Ottoman Turks’ main military ally at the time – bears some guilt for doing nothing to stop the killings. It also calls on the German government to “encourage” Turkey to “deal openly with the expulsions and massacres” so as to “lay the necessary foundation stone for reconciliation with the Armenian people.”

Armenia says up to 1.5 million of its nationals were killed between 1915 and 1917 as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart, but Turkey argues that it was a collective tragedy, during which 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians and as many Turks lost their lives. Yerevan has long sought international recognition of the genocide, but Ankara dismisses the term. Over 20 countries, including France and Russia, have recognized the Armenian genocide.

Reactions to ‘genocide’ resolution.Yerevan praised the recognition, with Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandyan saying, “Armenia welcomes the adoption of the resolution by the Bundestag.” However, Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister and government spokesman Numan Kurtulmus denounced the German parliament’s move as “null and void.”

He said on his official Twitter account on Thursday that the “recognition of ‘distorted and groundless’ allegations as ‘genocide’ is a historic mistake.” Kurtulmus further noted that the decision was not beneficial for friendly Ankara-Berlin relations, warning that his country “will give an appropriate response to this decision on every level.”

In addition, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Ankara has recalled its ambassador to Berlin for consultations over what he called a “historic error” by the German legislature. Speaking at a speech in the Turkish capital of Ankara, the premier further blamed a “racist Armenian lobby” for the move by German lawmakers.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also warned that the decision “will seriously impact Turkish-German relations.” Speaking during a visit to Kenya, Erdogan said recalling the ambassador for consultations was a “first step,” adding that the Turkish government would consider further steps in response to the vote. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the German embassy in Ankara said Germany’s charge d’affaires has also been summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

Culled Presstv

2, June 2016

Cameroon: Minister Hamadou Moustapha calls for divine protection against Boko Haram ⁰

The Minister in charge of Special Duties at the Presidency, Hamadou Moustapha, has declared the need to pray for the country which is a victim of insurgency by the terrorist group, Boko Haram. “In spite of the bravery of our Defence Forces, bravery alone does not suffice. We absolutely need Divine protection,” he told the press after representing the Head of State at a prayer session involving over 30 Imams and Muslim dignitaries of the Centre Region on May 28, 2016, in the Essos Mosque, Yaounde.

The Imams were holding the 5^th edition of prayer session which is a tradition every year, a week before Ramadan fasting period. They prayed not only for peace in Cameroon but also for good health, wisdom and long life for President Biya, his wife and members of his family. “To support the Head of State, we instructed all imams to continue praying for each of his acts,” revealed the Principal Imam of the Essos Mosque, El Hadj Modibo Halidou Ibrahima.

For his part, the Coordinator of the Council of Imams and Muslim Dignitaries of Cameroon, CIDIMUC, Dr. Moussa Oumarou assured that all Muslims have been instructed to continue praying especially as faithful at the eve of the Ramadan period. The Governor of the Centre Region, Joseph Otto Wilson was also present in the prayer session during which sacred Koranic verses were read imploring God’s mercy and blessings over Cameroon.

Culled from Cameroon Tribune