Politics

Southern Cameroons Interim Gov’t committed to a political solution

13, July 2021

Southern Cameroons Interim Gov’t committed to a political solution 0

The Vice President of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government, Dabney Yerima has stressed that the people of Southern Cameroons are committed to a political solution aimed at preserving Southern Cameroon’s unity and territorial integrity.

During an Ambazonian town hall in South Africa dedicated to discussing the recent killing of Southern Cameroons academics by the Cameroon government military, Vice President Dabney Yerima emphasized that there was an urgent need for the two Cameroons to meet in a neutral country and discuss the terms of separation. Yerima added that Southern Cameroons firm principles cannot be compromised.

Vice President Dabney Yerima further stressed that the insistence of certain world powers to not listen to the voice of Southern Cameroonians and their Interim Government and to not change their governments’ wrong Southern Cameroons policies is bringing nothing but terror, chaos, instability and looting of Southern Cameroons resources by the criminal gangs running the political affairs in French Cameroun.

Dabney Yerima also referred to the on-going ghost town operation known popularly as “Kontry Sunday” saying that such mass public participation confirms Ambazonians commitment to their country’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independent national choices.

The War in Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia has already claimed at least 40 000 lives, almost all of them civilian children, men and women, murdered by Cameroun troops in a series of targeted killings, organized massacres, and killings by fire in over 400 villages burnt down to ashes across Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia. Over half a million people have been forcibly displaced as refugees living in various countries and especially in refugee camps in Nigeria. Over another half a million people have become IDPs hiding in forests, caves and hills due to forced displacement. Additionally, over 1.5 million people are facing a humanitarian disaster.

Republique du Cameroun uses not only arson and the destruction of food, livestock, and crops in the fields as weapons of war. It also uses rape. Rape of Ambazonian women and girls by Cameroun troops is systematic and widespread. This agonizing situation is compounded by the fact that a high percentage of French Cameroun troops are HIV positive and also has other STDs. When they rape they infect the women and girls. This appears to be part of the genocide agenda of Cameroun. Reports are now emerging of scores of school girls raped, impregnated and infected by La Republique du Cameroun’s troops. This poses a nightmare not only of the HIV and STD infections but also of rampant teenage pregnancies. Cameroun troops have burnt down health facilities and killed health workers in rural and semi-urban areas. Accessing health facilities or health practitioners is a huge challenge for rural and semi-urban folks.

By Isong Asu

Ambassadors in limbo in Yaoundé as they await accreditation from Paul Biya

5, July 2021

Ambassadors in limbo in Yaoundé as they await accreditation from Paul Biya 0

Having an older leader has advantages and disadvantages. It has often been said that older leaders have had the time to build up knowledge and experience that can help them accomplish their policy goals. On the other hand, they may be more likely to struggle with health issues, face concerns about how fit they are for office, and may struggle to connect with younger citizens.

There are dozens of world leaders who are well into their 70s or their 80s. But the situation in Cameroon is now very disturbing as the number of foreign embassies waiting for accreditation from President Paul Biya keeps growing, much to the dismay of those concerned.

We reported recently that Mr. Paul Biya was rushed to a Yaoundé hospital and his sycophants responded by making the 88-year-old meet Nigerian business tycoon Aliko Dangote. Cameroon Intelligence Report can now reveal that President Biya is no longer   administering the executive duties of the Cameroon government.

The French Cameroun politician, who consolidated his stay in power via election tampering, has refused to let it go for decades. Biya has forced out political opponents, bribed allies, and changed the laws governing Cameroon so many times to allow him to stay in power indefinitely.

With age telling on him and his body now a colony of diseases, diplomats from other countries are in limbo in the nation’s capital Yaoundé as they await accreditation from Biya who is reportedly spending his last days at the extension of his palace in Mvomeka’a.

By Rita Akana in Yaoundé

Amba Boys will beat you to the punch- Dieudonné Essomba tells Biya and his gang

28, June 2021

Amba Boys will beat you to the punch- Dieudonné Essomba tells Biya and his gang 0

A senior Francophone political commentator Dieudonné Essomba says Cameroon is heading straight for secession if steps are not taken to set up a federated state.

“There is no calm in English speaking Cameroon. New abuses are recorded almost daily. In recent days, several soldiers have been killed in ambushes by pro-secessionist armed groups” Dieudonné Essomba said.

Dieudonné Essomba furthered that the Biya regime is in a weak position and does not have the political, economic, financial, diplomatic, media and strategic means to overcome the Southern Cameroons Interim Government and its majority Ambazonian following. “It is mission impossible,” Dieudonné Essomba told an audience in ”Club d’Elites” a program on Vision 4 TV.

“I have been saying for the past four years that if Cameroon persists in the unitary state, the Amba Boys will beat you to the punch. Four years ago, who could believe that the secessionists could kill 24 soldiers in a week? Who could believe it? I was the only one who believed it, because I am the only rational one… The Amba Boys have evolved, they have gained experience, they are at home and they are armed. They have come from nothing and they have managed to climb. They still have an enormous amount of room to manoeuvre while the state of Cameroon is in crisis and is no longer able to finance this war,” said the retired French Cameroun civil servant.

“For me, the only solution is to negotiate confederation. We must put an end to the unitary state, the Anglophones don’t want it anymore. We must propose a reorganised federal state. Without this, Cameroon will experience separation like Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan,” Mr Essomba warned.

By Rita Akana

EU leaders reject France, Germany’s proposal for Putin summit

25, June 2021

EU leaders reject France, Germany’s proposal for Putin summit 0

European Union leaders failed to agree on a proposal by France and Germany to hold a summit soon with Russian President Vladimir Putin after Poland and Baltic countries said it would send the wrong message as East-West ties deteriorate.

After U.S. President Joe Biden met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva on June 16, French President Emmanuel Macron said the first EU summit with Putin since January 2014 would be “a dialogue to defend our interests”. He insisted the EU could not only be reactive in its diplomacy with Russia.

But after late night talks at their meeting in Brussels, the 27 EU leaders failed to reach an agreement, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said early on Friday.

“It was a very comprehensive discussion, and not an easy one,” she told reporters. “There was no agreement today on an immediate leaders’ meeting,” she said.

EU summits with Russia ended after Moscow annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in March 2014 and the West imposed sanctions.

While Austria’s Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said he supported the Franco-German proposal, many other leaders were opposed.

“It was a common position of many leaders” not to change the stance on Russia, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said after the meeting broke up. He earlier said the idea was like “trying to engage the bear to keep a pot of honey safe”.

Latvia’s Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins said the EU risked rewarding Russia with a summit even though diplomacy has failed to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine with Russian-backed separatists.

Instead, EU leaders fell back to a familiar position of warning of more sanctions on Moscow if it continued what the EU says is a Russian policy of disinformation, cyber and covert attacks and interference to try to divide the bloc.

Russia denies any wrongdoing

In a summit statement, leaders called on the European Commission and the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell “to present options for additional restrictive measures, including economic sanctions” against Russia.

The EU has sanctions on the Russian energy, financial and arms sectors and individual sanctions on Russians accused of human rights abuses and for using banned chemical weapons.

Diplomats say further sanctions could target Russian money laundering or powerful oligarchs suspected of serious corruption abroad, as non-EU member Britain did for the first time in April.

Search for dialogue

Macron had tried in September 2019 to seek less frosty ties with Putin, without success, and Germany’s outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel met Putin in Moscow in January 2020. Putin held a phone call with European Council President Charles Michel, who chairs EU summits, on June 7 this year.

France and Germany want to be able to work with Russia on combating climate change and to find ways to stabilise relations. Merkel said even without a summit: “Formats will be explored … under which dialogues can be started.”

Many EU countries are concerned that the Kremlin does not take the bloc seriously, after Borrell was publicly humiliated in February by the Kremlin. Russia expelled EU diplomats during Borrell’s visit to Moscow without warning.

Lithuania’s Nauseda said: “We should be extremely cautious, this is not like the relationship of Russia with the United States”.

While France is a nuclear power, the EU relies on NATO for its territorial defence and takes decisions among 27 states, making it easier for the Kremlin to exploit divisions.

The Kremlin earlier welcomed the idea of a summit, saying both Brussels and Moscow needed dialogue, although Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he wanted more details.

On opposing sides in standoffs in Ukraine and Belarus, and at odds over human rights, the EU and Russia accuse each other of threatening security and stability from the Baltics to the Black Sea.

The EU on Thursday imposed economic sanctions on Belarus, an ally of Russia that the Kremlin sees as a buffer state between Russia and NATO.

Reporting from Brussels shortly before the start of the summit, FRANCE 24’s Dave Keating said there was a “very mixed reaction” within the bloc to the proposal. “A lot of EU leaders are very angry about this proposal,” he explained. “Several feel that it’s pretentious for the leaders of France and Germany to think that they could meet with Putin and speak for all of the EU … a lot of countries think that this meeting shouldn’t be happening at all, particularly the Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania – and Poland.”

In their remarks to reporters ahead of the summit, a number of European leaders expressed misgivings over the initiative, said Keating. “Estonia’s prime minister [Kaja Kallas] coming into the summit building said she wants to hear from France and Germany what exactly has changed in terms of Russia’s behaviour to warrant this suggested opening of dialogue. We also had Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte saying that if Merkel and Macron want to meet with Putin, he won’t object, but he himself would never meet with Putin. Asked why, he said, ‘one word: MH17’ – that’s the airliner carrying Dutch passengers that was downed over eastern Ukraine by Russian separatists in 2014,” Keating explained.

Standing firm and engaging

The Merkel-Macron plan insists the EU has to stand firm and united on Moscow, but should look to engage with the Kremlin on issues of mutual interest such as climate change, health, the Iran nuclear deal and conflicts in Syria and Libya.

Source: France 24

Battle For Bangui: France, UK and US accuse Russia of human rights violations

24, June 2021

Battle For Bangui: France, UK and US accuse Russia of human rights violations 0

The United States, Britain and France accused Russia on Wednesday of operating alongside Central African Republic forces and committing human rights violations against civilians and obstructing U.N. peacekeeping – charges immediately denied by Russia which denounced the Western nations for engaging in an “anti-Russia political hit job.”

The exchanges took place at a U.N. Security Council meeting after the U.N. special representative for the conflict-wracked Central African Republic, Mankeur Ndiaye, expressed serious concern at the military counter-offensive by the country’s security forces and “bilateral forces and other security forces” against a coalition of rebel groups which supports CAR’s former president Francois Bozize.

Ndiaye called the situation in CAR “among the most dangerous in the world,” saying violations of human rights and international law allegedly committed by CAR forces “and bilateral and other personnel …have never equaled those recently committed and detailed by MINUSCA,” the 15,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force in the country.

As one example, he said, the number of sexual violence-related incidents in the first quarter of 2021 was five times higher than the number reported in the last quarter of 2020.

While Ndiaye didn’t identify “the bilateral forces and other security forces,” Russia has troops in CAR training its military at the invitation of the government.

A recent report to the council by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly criticized CAR’s security forces and bilateral forces for an “unprecedented increase in hostile threats and incidents” targeting U.N. peacekeepers and alleged human rights abuses. He said people in the country continue to face an “unacceptably high level of violence.”

The mineral-rich Central African Republic has faced deadly inter-religious and inter-communal fighting since 2013. A peace deal between the government and 14 rebel groups was signed in February 2019, but violence blamed on former president Bozize and his allies threatens to nullify the agreement.

It erupted after the constitutional court rejected Bozize’s candidacy to run for president in December. Faustin Archange Touadera won a second term with 53% of the vote, but he continues to face opposition from rebel forces linked to Bozize.

France, US cite targeting of CAR Muslims

U.S. deputy ambassador Richard Mills noted Secretary-General Guterres’ report of a 28% increase in incidents of human rights violations and abuses and violations of international humanitarian law over the past four months. He said the United States is deeply concerned at the increased targeting of Muslims, and the alarmingly sharp increase in abuses committed by national and bilateral personnel.

“I think we need to be clear about these bilateral personnel — the individuals committing what many are now referring to as ‘atrocities’ are not independent actors — they are operating as extension of Russia’s Ministry of Defense,” he said.

Mills said the Biden administration is “deeply disturbed” that Russia has failed “to prevent its mercenaries from impeding MINUSCA’s freedom of movement on a daily basis.” He condemned an “appalling incident in which these bilateral Russian actors threatened” MINUSCA’s deputy special representative and a U.N. delegation on a humanitarian mission to Bang, which is close to CAR’s border with Chad and Cameroon, on May 28.

France’s U.N. Ambassador Nicolas De Riviere called the situation in CAR “dramatic,” pointing to extrajudicial executions, gang rapes, torture, occupation of schools and violence particularly targeting Muslim communities, “as shown by the murder of a traditional chief a few days ago.”

“Let us be clear: Central African armed groups are no longer the only threat to the Central African population,” De Riviere said.

He said reports by the secretary-general and U.N. experts monitoring sanctions against CAR “point to the responsibility of a new actor, who is operating alongside the Central African armed forces and whose status is a mystery.”

“Some will try to deny the presence of the Wagner company,” De Riviere said, calling on MINUSCA to provide details of who these men involved in the fighting in CAR are and who they are accountable to for their actions. The Wagner Group is a Kremlin-backed security company that was implicated in the conflict in Libya.

Britain’s deputy ambassador James Roscoe said the armed groups are “fomenting instability, frankly, in order to line their own pockets.”

“And now, a new factor of instability: Russian private military companies acting in concert with the national armed forces to obstruct MINUSCA and to violate the rights of the civilians and citizens of the Central African Republic,” he said.

Roscoe said human rights violations, including acts of sexual violence, are not only being committed by armed groups “but also by members of the national armed forces and the Russian private military personnel accompanying them.”

He said the Russians will deny this, “but the evidence is increasing and overwhelming, and I hope they will reflect on the role they want to play in the Central African Republic and their responsibilities as a permanent member of this council.”

Russia: Allegations are ‘unfounded’

Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador, Anna Evstigneeva countered that Russian instructors “are successfully enhancing the professional expertise of the Central African security forces without taking part in military actions against illegal armed groups.”

She said there are constant “dubious” attempts to discredit them without any evidence, especially in the U.S. and French media which use anonymous sources.

“This looks more like an anti-Russian political hit job,” Evstigneeva said.

“As for the unfounded allegations coming from the US, they’re not done by chance,” she said. “Our colleagues seem to see Russian instructors or mercenaries everywhere.”

(AP)

There are reasons why the Francophone dominated army is losing the battle against Amba fighters

23, June 2021

There are reasons why the Francophone dominated army is losing the battle against Amba fighters 0

The bloodshed unleashed by Cameroon government army soldiers in Southern Cameroons where thousands of people, if not more have been killed is yet to raise any worrying question about Biya regime’s continued deployments and the Francophone dominated army’s  inability to crush the Ambazonian fighters controlling nearly all rural settlements and border posts in Southern Cameroons.

Recent attacks in Otu, Bamali, Ekondo Titi and Nguti proceeded like many others carried out by Southern Cameroons Self Defense Forces in it’s over four-year-long resistance against the Cameroon government military.

The Amba fighters raided check points; military convoys burned down armored vehicles and killed several elements of the Rapid Intervention Battalion before striking the National Gendarmerie Force. On Saturday, a large number of Amba fighters overwhelmed a gendarmerie checkpoint at Ngoketunjia and three gendarmes who were at the checkpoint were killed.

Since 2017, Cameroon government army soldiers have used explosives, AK47 guns and rape to further their goal of maintaining the so-called one and indivisible Cameroon.

The United Nations and Amnesty International say as many as 5,000 people may have been killed. The Southern Cameroons Interim Government has reported death tolls in the thousands. Journalists and international human rights organizations haven’t been able to access the Southern Cameroons territory.

While the death toll remains uncertain, we of the Cameroon Concord Group can now reveal that the once formidable Rapid Intervention Battalion known as BIR has been demystified and many of its members are biting the dust in the jungles of Southern Cameroons. 

The so-called BIR that was thought to be among Africa’s best militaries have been unable to stop a hastily assembled ragtag group of fighters now being referred to as Ambazonia Restoration Force.

There are so many issues involved in this prominent and successful failure on the part of the Cameroon government military and they include the francophonising of the army recruitment process, lack of a unified command structure, poor equipment, low morale and corruption among army generals and colonels.

Scores within the Cameroon government military have faced secret courts-martials in Buea, Douala and Yaoundé in recent months for disobeying orders and, in many instances, refusing deployment to Southern Cameroons.

A prominent army general stationed in Buea at the beginning of the conflict, openly complained that his men were underequipped and that high-ranking military officials were bilking the country of money meant to fight the Southern Cameroons war was replaced by President Biya. Complaints of a lack of equipment are a taboo within the Cameroon government army.

The 88-year-old Head of State and Commander-In-Chief has done everything including sending in additional troops and giving them expanded powers to fight the Southern Cameroons Self Defense Forces. President Biya’s troop surge is still not enough, nor is his tactics suitable for countering a group of determined young men and women whose hunting rifles have now been replaced with more sophisticated killing machines.

We understand that the Cameroon government army does not have sufficient armies deployed in the Far North to protect the civilian population against Boko Haram and the Biya Francophone regime in Yaoundé is also not able to put enough soldiers on the ground in Southern Cameroons.

Meanwhile, the Cameroon military is now a constituency within the Cameroon political structure and its strength has developed in the past four years as the balance of state power in Yaoundé has shifted from civilian members of government to military generals.

Ever since the emergence of Boko Haram, the conflict in the Central African Republic and the war in Southern Cameroons, Biya and his ruling CPDM crime syndicate have found it necessary to feed the military leadership as a way to protect their power.

Correspondingly, army generals and colonels have everything while the Cameroonian security is being underfunded and is currently under-manpowered.

By Isong Asu

Nine Catalan separatists freed after Spain pardon

23, June 2021

Nine Catalan separatists freed after Spain pardon 0

Nine Catalan separatists who were serving long prison sentences for their role in a failed 2017 independence bid were released from jail on Wednesday a day after being pardoned by Spain.

Rain was falling as the seven male prisoners walked out of Lledoners jail some 70 kilometres (45 miles) northwest of Barcelona, where they were met by umbrella-carrying supporters shouting “Independence, independence!”

As they walked through the gates, they were embraced by newly-appointed Catalan leader Pere Aragones, and posed for a photograph alongside a Catalan independence flag and a banner reading “Freedom for Catalonia”, an AFP correspondent said.

At the same time, the two remaining prisoners, both women, were released from two other facilities.

The clemency decision was approved by the Spanish government on Tuesday, with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez saying he hoped it would draw a line under past confrontations with Catalonia’s separatist-led regional leaders and open the way for talks.

The pardons were published earlier on Wednesday in the government’s official gazette.

The separatists were serving between nine and 13 years in jail for their role in holding a banned referendum in October 2017 that was marred by police violence then followed by a short-lived declaration of independence, sparking Spain’s worst political crisis in decades.

Although the jail sentences have been dropped, all nine are banned from holding public office and the pardons are conditional on them not committing “a serious crime” over the next three to six years.

They have all served more than three years behind bars.

“I am here because the sacrifice they have made for Catalonia and for all of us has been huge,” said Ignasi Sole, a 65-year-old retired mechanic who was waiting outside Lledoners prison for their release.

“It’s a way of thanking them.”

– ‘Independence through dialogue’ –

The pardons have been roundly denounced by Spain’s right-wing opposition as well as by many in the pro-independence camp who want a full amnesty that would allow those who fled abroad to return home.

Analysts have also warned it is a risky political gamble that may help calm tensions but won’t solve the years-long turmoil over the separatist crisis, which has left Catalonia sharply divided.

Madrid is hoping the move will give impetus to the upcoming talks with the Catalan government of Aragones who is more open to dialogue than his hardline predecessor.

Aragones and Oriol Junqueras, the prisoner serving the longest sentence of 13 years, who also heads the moderate ERC party, have recently taken steps towards Sanchez by distancing themselves from the path of unilateralism.

“We will devote all our efforts in this new stage to ensuring that negotiation be the basis for resolving the conflict,” Aragones said Tuesday.

“The best way to achieve (independence) is through dialogue, negotiation and agreement.”

When the separatists were sentenced in October 2019 by Spain’s Supreme Court, the ruling triggered an outcry across Catalonia, with thousands hitting the streets in protests that sometimes turned violent.

The move to pardon the separatists was approved by more than two-thirds of Catalans, an Ipsos poll found.

But the same poll found that 53 percent of Spaniards were against the move, which has also been opposed by Spain’s Supreme Court and the right-wing opposition.

In the coming weeks, Sanchez will meet for the first time with Aragones, who has pledged to push for an amnesty and a new referendum on self-determination — this time with Madrid’s approval.

Both are out of the question for the Spanish government.

Source: AFP

Putin and Biden in Geneva: High interest but low expectations

16, June 2021

Putin and Biden in Geneva: High interest but low expectations 0

US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin square up on Wednesday for their first meeting since Biden took office with deep disagreements likely and expectations low for any breakthroughs.

Both have said they hope their talks in a lakeside Geneva villa can lead to more stable and predictable relations, even though they remain at odds over everything from arms control and cyber-hacking to election interference and Ukraine.

“We’re not expecting a big set of deliverables out of this meeting,” a senior US official told reporters aboard Air Force One as Biden flew to Geneva, saying the two are expected to talk for four or five hours starting at around 1.30pm CET (1130 GMT).

“I’m not sure that any agreements will be reached,” said Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov.

Relations have deteriorated for years, notably with Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, its 2015 intervention in Syria and US charges – denied by Moscow – of its meddling in the 2016 election that brought Donald Trump to the White House.

They sank further in March when Biden said he thought Putin was a “killer”, prompting Russia to recall its ambassador to Washington for consultations. The United States recalled its ambassador in April.

The senior US official said the United States aimed for a set of “taskings” – Washington jargon for assigning aides to work on specific issues – “about areas where working together can advance our national interests and make the world safer”.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said whether or not to send back ambassadors would be decided by the two presidents. “Today the presidents will need to determine how to proceed with the heads of the diplomatic missions,” Peskov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.

While the issues may be vexing, the surroundings will be serene when the presidents meet in Villa La Grange, an elegant mansion set in a 30-hectare (nearly 75-acre) park overlooking Lake Geneva.

‘Very little hope of progress’

FRANCE 24’s Gulliver Cragg confirmed the mood in Geneva, saying there is “very little hope on progress on any of the really big dossiers that could be on the table. But I think what they’re hoping for is to put the ‘table back together’”.

Cragg said the tit-for-tat expulsions have really soured the relations between Washington and Moscow, resulting in very little diplomatic contact between the two, but that “both sides seem to be willing to put those back together”.

He added that although such an rapprochement is usually referred to as a “reset” in the diplomacy world, “Biden absolutely doesn’t want it to be called a ‘reset’, he doesn’t want to use that term – that was the strategy that he, as vice president and Barack Obama as president, employed towards Vladimir Putin a little more than a decade ago and it is seen as not having been a success”.

Cragg said that although interest in the Geneva summit is extremely high, it “surpasses by a very long way the likelihood of anything really being achieved”.

Lockdown

On Wednesday, the summit perimeter was under a tight lockdown with heavy police presence. Following a their bilateral meeting, Biden and Putin will continue on to their discussions with broader US and Russian delegations including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, along with interpreters.

Arms control is one domain where progress has historically been possible despite wider disagreements.

In February, Russia and the United States extended for five years the New START treaty, which caps their deployed strategic nuclear warheads and limits the land- and submarine-based missiles and bombers to deliver them.

The senior US official said Biden would also define areas of vital national interest where Russian misconduct would bring a response. Biden signed an executive order in April giving Washington wide latitude to impose sanctions on Moscow.

In a sign of the strained ties, the talks will not include any meals and Putin and Biden are expected to hold separate news conferences rather than a joint one.

“No breaking of bread,” said the senior US official.

Vladimir Frolov, a former Russian diplomat, told Reuters that Putin wanted respectful ties and to be treated like members of the Soviet Politburo were in the 1960s-1980s, with “a symbolic recognition of Russia’s geopolitical parity with the US”.

“In exchange, they (Moscow) would be willing to cut back on some of the loony stuff,” Frolov said, saying he meant “no poisonings, no physical violence, no arrests/kidnappings of US and Russian nationals. No interference in domestic politics”.

Dmitri Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center think tank, set the bar for Wednesday’s talks low.

“The principal takeaway, in the positive sense, from the Geneva meeting would be making sure that the United States and Russia did not come to blows physically, so that a military collision is averted,” he said.

In contrast to Trump, whose 2018 summit with Putin in Helsinki included a meeting accompanied only by interpreters, Biden and Putin are not expected to have any solo dealings.

Standing beside Putin in Helsinki, Trump refused to blame the Russian leader for meddling in the 2016 US election, casting doubt on the findings of his own intelligence agencies and sparking a storm of domestic criticism.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)

Biden seeks to ease trade tensions, rally support at EU talks ahead of Putin meeting

15, June 2021

Biden seeks to ease trade tensions, rally support at EU talks ahead of Putin meeting 0

The United States and the EU reached a deal Tuesday to end a dispute over subsidies and tariffs for rival plane makers Boeing and Airbus as President Joe Biden seeks to smooth trade tensions with European allies ahead of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

After a pair of summits with Group of Seven world leaders in the U.K. and then NATO allies in Brussels, Biden meets Tuesday with European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The president has sought to marshal widespread European support for his efforts to counter Russia prior to his Wednesday meeting in Geneva with Putin. But the U.S.-EU relationship is not without some tensions.

Biden will meet with the top EU officials at a moment when the continent’s leaders are becoming impatient that the American president has not yet addressed his predecessor Donald Trump’s 2018 decision to impose import taxes on foreign steel and aluminum. There’s also a longstanding dispute over how much of a government subsidy each side unfairly provides for its aircraft manufacturing giant — Boeing in the United States and Airbus in the EU.

‘Real tensions over trade’

Biden isn’t expected to take action on the tariffs before heading to Geneva later Tuesday. He bristled that he needed more time to address the matter when asked by a reporter about the tariffs at his news conference at the end of the G-7 on Sunday. “A hundred and twenty days,” Biden said, underestimating his time in office by weeks. “Give me a break. Need time.”

Still, White House officials think they can build more good will with Europe ahead of the Putin face-to-face meeting.

To that end, Biden, Michel and von der Leyen are expected to announce the creation of a joint trade and technology council, according to a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the announcement.

The official said that trans-Atlantic council would work on coordinating standards for artificial intelligence, quantum computing, bio-technologies, as well as coordinating efforts on bolstering supply chain resilience. Biden is appointing Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to co-chair the U.S. side of the effort.

The U.S.-EU summit is also expected to include a communique at its conclusion that will address concerns about China’s provocative behavior, according to the official.

Tuesday’s statement would follow a NATO summit communique on Monday that declared China a constant security challenge and said the Chinese are working to undermine global order. On Sunday, the G-7 called out what it said were forced labor practices and other human rights violations impacting Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic minorities in the western Xinjiang province

Since taking office in January, Biden has repeatedly pressed Putin to take action to stop Russian-originated cyberattacks on companies and governments in the U.S. and around the globe, decried the imprisonment of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and publicly aired intelligence that suggests — albeit with low to moderate confidence — that Moscow offered bounties to the Taliban to target U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan.

Both Biden and Putin have described the U.S.-Russia relationship as being at an all-time low.

The Europeans are keen to set up a “high-level dialogue” on Russia with the United States to counter what they say is Moscow’s drift into authoritarianism and anti-Western sentiment.

At the same time, the 27-nation bloc is deeply divided in its approach to Moscow. Russia is the EU’s biggest natural gas supplier, and plays a key role in a series of international conflicts and key issues, including the Iran nuclear deal, and conflicts in Syria and Libya.

The hope is that Biden’s meeting with Putin on Wednesday might pay dividends, and no one in Brussels wants to undermine the show of international unity that has been on display at the G-7 and NATO summits, according to EU officials.

In addition to scolding China, NATO leaders in their communique on Monday took a big swipe at Russia, deploring its aggressive military activities and snap wargames near the borders of NATO countries as well as the repeated violation of the 30-nations’ airspace by Russian planes.

They said that Russia has ramped up “hybrid” actions against member countries by attempting to interfere in elections, political and economic intimidation, disinformation campaigns and “malicious cyber activities.”

“Until Russia demonstrates compliance with international law and its international obligations and responsibilities, there can be no return to ‘business as usual,’” the NATO leaders wrote. “We will continue to respond to the deteriorating security environment by enhancing our deterrence and defense posture.”

Source: AP

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Why tensions between Prime Minister Dion Ngute and Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh are escalating

15, June 2021

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Why tensions between Prime Minister Dion Ngute and Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh are escalating 0

Cameroon’s scandal linked to the mismanagement of Covid-19 funds has considerably damaged relations between Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, the presidency’s secretary-general, and Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute. But it’s not the first time that the two have butted heads.

In early June, Balungeli Confiance Ebune, director of Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute’s cabinet, was interviewed by investigators of the Special Criminal Court, who were charged with shedding light on suspicions of embezzlement, overcharging and misappropriation of funds regarding the purchase of anti-Covid protection and screening equipment. The damage suffered by the state amounts to several tens of billions of CFA francs.

The head of government may well have experienced the humiliation of being interviewed himself. He was cited in a report by the Chamber of Accounts, which states that businessman Mohamadou Dabo, owner of Mediline Medical Cameroon and Moda Holding, was in possession of public contracts that accounted for 94.93% of the funds used.

When questioned on this subject during his hearing on 19 May, health minister Malachie Manaouda told investigators that he had acted on the prime minister’s orders. This was all it took for Ngute’s detractors to demand an explanation from him.

Opposed on everything

According to those close to him, Ngute only encouraged the health minister to choose the most qualified partner, especially to deliver screening tests, which were out of stock at the time. His chief of staff explained to the investigators that he was only responsible for formalising this encouragement in writing.

Of course, there is no question of tracing this back to the prime minister while he is still in office. But Ngute did not back down from the affront. His entourage believes that it is just yet another manoeuvre by Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, who has been the presidency’s secretary-general (SGPR) for 10 years.

This diplomat from the Central region, who speaks fluent French and English, enjoys the confidence of Chantal Biya, the first lady. The president has also delegated power of signature to him, which gives Ngoh a wide range of powers.

Ngoh got along fine with the placid former prime minister Philemon Yang, who had no problem with surrendering his prerogatives to the Palace. But Ngute is quite different. This rising Anglophone star, who was appointed prime minister on 4 January 2019, has quickly made his mark. Made of a different calibre than his predecessor, the 67-year-old lawyer does not hesitate to cross swords with the all-powerful SGPR.

The first disagreement between the two men took place on 13 August 2019, after Ngute asked ministers to propose names of directors general of companies and public institutions to replace those who had reached the end of their term.

Ngoh replied to this demand by writing a scathing memo to the secretary-general of the prime minister’s office. “I have the honour of informing you that the head of state has asked the prime minister, the head of government, to remind the heads of ministerial departments responsible for the technical supervision of public enterprises and establishments, that the power to appoint the social organs of said structures falls within the exclusive competence of the President of the Republic,” he wrote.

He continued: “In this regard, he would like to inform them that, pending several important decisions that the head of state must make, the officials in office should continue to exercise their functions as normal.”

The second dispute was over the organisation of the Major National Dialogue, aimed at resolving the Anglophone crisis. The two men disagreed with each other on almost everything. While Ngoh wanted to calibrate and control everything, Ngute wanted these discussions to be open and inclusive.

On the ground, while the SGPR was coordinating a Swiss mediation initiative, Ngute supervised direct discussions with the secessionist leaders, which were undertaken by Léopold Maxime Eko Eko, head of the special services. In the end, it was the prime minister who defused the anger of the religious leaders within the Anglophone zone, who were disillusioned by Etoudi’s disdainful treatment of Cardinal Christian Wiyghan Tumi’s peace initiatives.

Close to Paul Biya

The prime minister’s attempts at mediation annoy the SGPR to the core, as it feels that Ngute is trying to create a diarchy within Cameroon. However, Ngoh cannot openly criticise Ngute, as he regularly meets face to face with President Paul Biya. Meanwhile, the presidency’s secretary-general only ever receives a small audience.

Finally, the rivalry between the two men has intensified as Ngute – who visited the Groupement Inter-Patronal du Cameroun (Gicam) in mid-May – has made sure to maintain ties with his contacts from within the private sector, where Ngoh has few friends.

This friction will no doubt produce sparks, unless a government reshuffle puts an end to this rivalry within the upper echelons of power.

Source: Africa Report

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