tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50888252011-04-21T16:36:15.619-04:00AfricaPunditAfrican news blogNoahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comBlogger4991100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1109806533720892472005-03-02T18:27:00.000-05:002005-03-02T18:35:33.723-05:00Here's a commentary in the NYT on the African response to the recent coup in Togo and some of the African diplomatic efforts that led to Gnassingbe's quick resignation:Olusegun Obasanjo, the president of Nigeria and the region's most powerful leader, was perhaps the most vociferous critic of the change of power in Togo, and he scolded Mr. Gnassingbé when the latter went to Abuja, the Nigerian Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1109805386370550112005-03-02T18:03:00.000-05:002005-03-02T18:16:26.373-05:00Things are looking slightly up in Togo. The president-by-coup has resigned and the government is pledging to hold elections. How free and fair those elections will be is still uncertain, but the Togolese ruling party is feeling the pressure -- both internal and external:The presidents of Niger and Mali and top officials from the Economic Community of West African States said they backed the need Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1109804465910633252005-03-02T17:54:00.000-05:002005-03-02T18:01:05.913-05:00I promise this is my last post about Hotel Rwanda. Not surprisingly, there are a lot of people talking about this movie that don't usually discuss films...Here are Daniel Henninger's pre-Oscars comments for the WSJ.And according to Jay Nordlinger (third item), President Bush has seen the movie as well.As I've noted already, it's quite a good film... go see it.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1107834028475656242005-02-07T22:09:00.000-05:002005-02-07T22:40:28.476-05:00Some good news? In Liberia, the first elections since Charles Taylor's ouster have been announced for October 11. With the country still reeling from more than a decade of war, the new government will have its work cut out for it.
Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1107830892044885912005-02-07T21:39:00.000-05:002005-02-07T21:48:12.043-05:00Mandela has this exactly backwards:
Mandela, former South African president and former prisoner of that country's apartheid government, called for trade justice, an end to rising debts for the poorest countries, and more and higher-quality aid.
"Where poverty exists, there is not true freedom," said Mandela, who wore a white strip of cloth around his wrist. "The world is hungry for action, not Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1107829831066400172005-02-07T21:20:00.000-05:002005-02-07T21:30:31.066-05:00Plus ca change...
Gnassingbe Eyadema, dictator of Togo and Africa's longest-ruling head of state, has apparently died of a heart attack. After some constitutional fiddling, Eyadema's son has been installed in his place.
Despite the hand-wringing from the usual suspects (France, the UN and the US State Department), it is most unlikely that anyone will do anything to stop this. Togo was and Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1107483382366259752005-02-03T21:08:00.000-05:002005-02-03T21:17:29.560-05:00Zimbabwe is preparing for "elections" in March, and Roger Bate suggests that the opposition MDC should boycott this time rather than participating in an obviously rigged process:
As army officers, team captains, and political-party leaders know, nothing prevents infighting as well as a common enemy. So it would be of no surprise if Mugabe sincerely hopes that the MDC contests the election. Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1107482785305673622005-02-03T20:29:00.000-05:002005-02-03T21:06:25.306-05:00I went to see Hotel Rwanda at the movie theater last weekend. It's a very good movie and one that I'd recommend to anyone -- but particularly to anyone who has any interest in Africa. The film was shot on location in Rwanda and South Africa and I think it definitely showed. All of the exterior shots definitely had an authentic African look -- the heat, the lushness of the vegetation, the style ofNoahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1107480534500242332005-02-03T20:24:00.000-05:002005-02-03T20:28:54.500-05:00Well, despite my best intentions to post more regularly, that doesn't seem to have really happened. Things in Delaware have been busy... And who has time for blogging when there's a great big world out there just waiting to be explored?
If fact, most of my blogging time has been taken up by my spending a bit more time at school and more time reading -- therefore less time to sit in front of theNoahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1102459460880309942004-12-07T17:38:00.000-05:002004-12-07T17:44:20.880-05:00There's a presidential election in Ghana today:
Millions of Ghanaians headed to the polls on Tuesday, with analysts predicting that voters would give President John Kufuor another four years at the helm of the West African country which has built a reputation as a haven of democracy and stability.
Three other candidates are vying with the incumbent for the ballots of some 10 million registered Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1102459053184743632004-12-07T17:32:00.000-05:002004-12-07T17:37:33.183-05:00William F. Buckley writes about the UN, John Danforth and other things.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1102287963139266792004-12-05T17:59:00.000-05:002004-12-05T18:06:03.140-05:00Here's a useful metric of Robert Mugabe's misrule in Zimbabwe: 2-3 million Zimbabweans appear to have emigrated.
Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1102287329886457622004-12-05T17:21:00.000-05:002004-12-05T17:59:13.366-05:00Belmont Club has a long post about the status of the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo. Calling this mission ineffective is certainly an understatement. In fact, the UN's behavior in the Congo seems indicative of a larger problem:
The key problem facing the United Nations is lack of accountability not to its constituent institutions, though it lacks that, but to the individual inhabitants of the Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1101879960400646042004-12-01T00:45:00.000-05:002004-12-01T00:46:00.400-05:00Well, in case you hadn't noticed, it's been rather a long time since I've been blogging.... My absence was due to a variety of things: being very busy (and under stress) at school, having a few personal distractions, and being very slightly burned out with daily blogging.
When I started this blog (not all that long ago) there didn't seem to be too many US blogs focusing on African issues. Over Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1085534032001371712004-05-25T20:46:00.000-04:002004-05-25T21:13:52.000-04:00Ever wondered what it would be like to try to sell baby strollers in Africa? The Washington Post has a full report:
Irene Wambui can't imagine why anyone would buy a baby stroller. She says she sees it as a cold cage filled with useless rattles, cup holders and mirrored headlights. Imagine children being stuffed into such a contraption and pushed around town like some kind of pet.
Yet here Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1085532299465831132004-05-25T20:43:00.000-04:002004-05-25T20:44:59.466-04:00Finally -- The UN appears to be taking the situation in Sudan seriously.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1084233314148640912004-05-10T19:49:00.000-04:002004-05-10T19:55:14.146-04:00I've tried to post fairly regularly on the situation in the Sudan. People always ask if the Rwanda genocide could happen again. Of course it can. In fact, in the Sudan, genocide isn't an event, it's a pattern of behavior for the government.
Well, Ethiopia is one country that I haven't kept up with, but there are increasing indications of genocide in that country as well. Luckily, there's a blog Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1084232628143612932004-05-10T19:22:00.000-04:002004-05-10T19:43:48.143-04:00Sudan
Here's a great example of African solidarity in action:
African nations have ensured that Sudan will keep its seat on the U.N. Human Rights Commission, a decision that angered the United States and human rights advocates who cited reports of widespread rights abuses by the Khartoum government.
A coalition of 10 organizations concerned with human rights issues went further Monday, Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1084231219158622652004-05-10T19:12:00.000-04:002004-05-10T19:21:48.666-04:00Libyan Outrageousness
Is Qaddafi once again thumbing his nose at the West? Looks like it to me:
A Libyan court has sentenced five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor to death for infecting hundreds of children with the AIDS virus in an attempt to find a cure for the disease.
Bulgaria condemned the "unfair and absurd" verdicts delivered on Thursday and called for a strong reaction from Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1084230687593593812004-05-10T18:51:00.000-04:002004-05-10T19:11:57.840-04:00Nigerian Sharia
If there's anything to this story it's a confirmation of a lot of people's worst fears over the meaning of sharia in northern Nigeria:
Governor Ahmed Sani of Zamfara State, has ordered the demolition of all churches in the state, as he launched the second phase of his Sharia project yesterday.
Speaking at the launch in Gusau, the state capital, Governor Sani disclosed that timeNoahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1084229495501510632004-05-10T18:50:00.000-04:002004-05-10T18:51:35.500-04:00New Blogger...
is nice, I think. This will take some getting used to, though.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1083290798892084982004-04-29T22:06:00.000-04:002004-04-29T22:10:54.340-04:00Another link from a Reader--it's an email concerning recent "elections" in Equatorial Guinea.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1083290127397721482004-04-29T21:55:00.000-04:002004-04-29T21:59:37.793-04:00A Reader noted this item about new Sharia laws in Nigeria's Zamfara state:
The northern Nigerian state of Zamfara has introduced a new package of Islamic, or Sharia, laws. All businesses in the state will have to shut down during the five daily Muslim prayers.
The state government also says that all "unauthorised" places of worship will be shut down under "Sharia phase two".
I don't know that aNoahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1083287305400278552004-04-29T21:08:00.000-04:002004-04-29T21:12:36.403-04:00The WSJ covers Thomas Mapfumo:
Mr. Mapfumo's concerts drew thousands of Zimbabweans who opposed the government's mounting repression, and he has met with opposition leaders and even mused about a role in a post-Mugabe government. The title of his new album, "Toi Toi," refers to a protest dance. "I am like a messenger of the people whenever I sing a song against my government," he rumbles in a Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1083286405632390712004-04-29T20:53:00.000-04:002004-04-29T20:57:36.000-04:00Sorry for the non-blogging lately. My advisor is going to speak at this conference in Berlin next week, so I've had plenty of things to keep me busy.
Next week should be back to normal.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1081820893781104792004-04-12T21:48:00.000-04:002004-04-12T21:52:01.936-04:00A radical Muslim "cleric" has been arrested in connection with several bombings in Zanzibar:
The cleric, Sheikh Khalid Azan, was found late Saturday after a three-week manhunt, regional police commander George Kizuguto said.
"Khalid Azan was arrested in connection to different acts of violence, sabotage and vandalism, including the spate of bombings. He will appear in court soon," Kizuguto said.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1081730123751263682004-04-11T20:35:00.000-04:002004-04-11T21:01:02.263-04:00Abiola is blogging about DDT--one of my favorite themes:
I have news for those who'd put the welfare of wild animals ahead of that of their fellow human beings - Africa isn't just a gigantic game reserve, to be pristinely maintained for the benefit of filming documentaries to keep you suitably entertained. If "nature" means so much to you, concentrate your efforts on your own backyards, rather Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1081557290909674062004-04-09T20:34:00.000-04:002004-04-09T20:38:35.186-04:00There is a lot about the Rwandan genocide at the Black Star Journal. You can start here and just keep scrolling down.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1081556300347906032004-04-09T20:18:00.000-04:002004-04-09T20:22:04.780-04:00AfricaBlog wonders how much worse the Zimbabwean economy can get. Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1081555823299151512004-04-09T20:10:00.000-04:002004-04-09T20:14:07.810-04:00Here's a new theory on the Equatorial Guinea "coup": The real target was Charles Taylor.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1081555235242167312004-04-09T20:00:00.000-04:002004-04-09T20:04:19.840-04:00On the last Winds of Change Africa Regional Briefing, I noted that there had been yet another attack against foreign aid workers in Somaliland. In the past, such attacks were thought to be the work of Somali militia, attempting to destabilize the government of their northern neighbor. But at least some suspects are claiming to be members of al Qaeda:
In an interview with Reuters, Somaliland.org Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1081380414805671762004-04-07T19:26:00.000-04:002004-04-07T19:30:36.373-04:00Claudia Rosett asks the question that I've been asking for quite some time:
Gadhafi is about to find out whether his new friends, the U.S. and Britain, care only about disarmament, or if we also stand behind the eloquent speeches of recent times about the deep need for liberty and justice in the Islamic world. Gadhafi is right now running a reality check on just how serious President Bush might Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1081379312210258902004-04-07T19:08:00.000-04:002004-04-07T19:19:10.500-04:00As if to refute my earlier criticism, Kofi Annan is now talking tough on Sudan...
"It is vital that international humanitarian workers and human rights experts be given full access to the region [Darfur], and to the victims, without further delay," Mr Annan said.
"If that is denied, the international community must be prepared to take swift and appropriate action. By action in such situations, Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1081296200707323282004-04-06T20:03:00.000-04:002004-04-07T19:37:07.750-04:00Ten years after -- a time to remember the Rwandan genocide.
Something else worth remembering in all of this is the resilience of the Rwandan people. Granted that the problems Rwanda faces (and continues to face) are much greater than most of us will ever have to deal with, nevertheless, Rwandans seem to be meeting these problems with a certain degree of determined optimism. Without minimizing Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1080872218696808052004-04-01T21:16:00.000-05:002004-04-01T21:26:46.966-05:00These "fairy circles" in Namibia are really cool. (Sorry--you'll have to follow the link to see the picture.)
Their origin is still unknown, but they remind me a lot of these "crunchy donuts" in Norway:
In remote regions of the Arctic, Antarctica, and the Australian outback, an explorer can trek across bleak, uninhabited landscapes only to suddenly stumble upon ground decorated with weird Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1080870244158454982004-04-01T20:44:00.000-05:002004-04-01T20:49:13.763-05:00I've noticed quite a few things lately about the Rwandan genocide....
First, there was this article about Kofi Annan being sorry for not doing more to prevent 800,000 Tutsis from being slaughtered. After a lapse like that, wouldn't the proper thing be to resign from office? What concerns me more, though, is not Annan's failures of 10 years ago, but his continued weakness in the face of today's Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1080868511864671632004-04-01T20:15:00.000-05:002004-04-01T20:18:48.310-05:00And while you're over at Winds of Change, you can check out this month's Africa Regional Briefing for a recap of some things that you've probably already seen and maybe a few that you haven't.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1080868319078847652004-04-01T20:11:00.000-05:002004-04-01T20:16:53.966-05:00Dan Darling has a link-filled post at Winds of Change about al Qaeda in North and West Africa. Conclusion:
My contention is that events like the thwarted Paris-Dakar Rally plot begin to paint a clearer picture that al-Qaeda is attempting to use the GSPC [Salafist Group] to create something similar to Jemaah Islamiyyah in West Africa: an autonomous affiliate with a pan-regional outlook that Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1080789024335156712004-03-31T22:10:00.000-05:002004-03-31T22:13:57.030-05:00No one seems to be sure exactly who was behind the recent failed coup in DR Congo, but this is interesting spin from the NY Times:
The surprise attacks on Sunday may have stemmed from what remains potentially the most explosive issue for the transitional government: disgruntled, disorganized soldiers. Or it could have been fueled by tensions within the power-sharing government, whose leaders — Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1080787887482381122004-03-31T21:51:00.000-05:002004-03-31T21:55:23.483-05:00The CS Monitor is covering the Nigeria polio vaccine story. This bit seems to sum things up:
Men in and around the city's main market say they support the Kano government's position [to boycott the polio vaccine], and some say that strong, Islamic-based political leadership is critical in guiding their own decisions.
"We depend on our religion," says Mohammed Kabir, a Kano student. "Anything ourNoahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1080659569320254942004-03-30T10:12:00.000-05:002004-03-30T10:16:20.000-05:00More about GM foods:
Almost two million Angolans may face food shortages after the government's decision to reject genetically-modified food aid, the UN has warned.
The World Food Programme said food aid from the US, which makes up around 70% of contributions, may be rejected.
Outrageous.
Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1080505638800536912004-03-28T15:27:00.000-05:002004-03-28T15:30:46.936-05:00Last week I noted these bombings in Zanzibar. At the time, they were blamed on Islamist terrorists, but the exact target wasn't clear. This article, for what it's worth, says that "Tanzanian media reports" do indeed tie the bombings to an attempt to disrupt German president Johannes Rau's visit.
Meanwhile, Rau cancelled his planned visit to Djibouti after concerns over a possible assasination Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1080494312117744932004-03-28T12:18:00.000-05:002004-03-28T12:26:06.170-05:00If you thought that things in the Sudan were bad enough, Head Heeb raises the possibility of another war in the East:
Observers warn of simmering conflict in the eastern region, particularly by the indigenous Beja people - who are Muslims but not Arabs - and whose grievances are essentially the same as those faced by the Darfur rebels. The Beja say there has never been any sign of the government Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1080493498925423652004-03-28T12:04:00.000-05:002004-03-28T12:08:27.186-05:00Qaddafi insults Tony Blair?
COLONEL Gaddafi insulted Tony Blair by pointing the sole of a shoe towards him, Arab experts said yesterday.
They spoke of their shock and claimed it was a "deliberate act", as images of the historic meeting in Tripoli flashed around the world. Close watchers of the talks in a tent on Thursday between Mr Blair and the reformed Libyan leader noticed Gaddafi's foot Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1080493270542697762004-03-28T12:01:00.000-05:002004-03-28T12:04:38.840-05:00An attempted coup in DR Congo:
Shooting has broken out in various parts of the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kinshasa, in what is feared to have been a coup attempt.
One soldier was killed and two injured as unknown gunmen attacked military installations and a TV station.
"There appears to have been a coup attempt," said UK Ambassador in Kinshasa Jim Atkinson.
The government Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1080087289665528352004-03-23T19:14:00.000-05:002004-03-23T19:18:11.590-05:00This hasn't gotten very much media coverage:
A spate of weekend bombings on Zanzibar, which hosted visiting German President Johannes Rau on Monday, hit the homes of local political and religious leaders and a restaurant being used by Western diplomats, police said.
There were no casualties from the homemade bomb blasts at the house of Zubeir Ali Maulid, a cabinet minister in the Tanzanian Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1080086855371775032004-03-23T19:07:00.000-05:002004-03-23T19:11:16.966-05:00The NY Times has a summary of the recent failed coup in Equatorial Guinea.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1080005917064472452004-03-22T20:38:00.000-05:002004-03-22T20:41:57.420-05:00Interesting piece in the Washington Post about sub-Saharan immigrants in Libya:
During the 1990s, in the name of African unity, Gaddafi opened the borders to tens of thousands of sub-Saharan Africans to live and work in Libya. For the past four years, resentment over the policy has led to occasional riots and frequent bitter confrontations between the immigrants and Libyans.
In effect, the Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1080003699138826072004-03-22T20:01:00.000-05:002004-03-22T20:04:59.966-05:00Abiola has plenty about al Qaeda connections in West Africa:
Nigerians are already involved in fighting for Islamist groups outside of their nation's borders. This shouldn't really be all that surprising: as long ago as 1995, Nigerian volunteers were already to be found fighting in Kashmir, of all places. Anyone who thinks the Bush administration is overplaying the Islamist threat in West Africa Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1080003271075537482004-03-22T19:54:00.000-05:002004-03-23T18:58:04.920-05:00Nigeria is recruiting commercial farmers from Zimbabwe:
Following a forceful ejection from their farms and redistribution of lands [...] many white farmers from the Southern Africa region indicated their intention to invest in Nigeria. This prompted the setting up in January of a presidential committee by the Obasanjo administration which saw the white farmers intention as a “positive move in theNoahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1078937961432730892004-03-10T11:59:00.000-05:002004-03-10T12:02:25.170-05:00I don't doubt the truth of this, but it's not often that someone says it publicly:
Mr Crane said there was a detailed plan by Mr Gaddafi to destabilise several West African countries which had caused widespread suffering in the region.
"We know that, specifically up until last year, that there was a 10-year plan to take down Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cote d'Ivoire, then move to Guinea and then Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1078703063183926132004-03-07T18:44:00.000-05:002004-03-07T18:47:23.590-05:00Abiola on the tse-tse fly:
This creature is one major reason why agricultural productivity is so low in Africa - the near complete absence of draught animals of any sort is a major impediment to farmers' output. It also goes some way to explaining the absence of wheeled transport in much of the continent before the arrival of Europeans - what advantage was there to it when the only beasts of Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1078689504608300072004-03-07T14:58:00.000-05:002004-03-07T15:01:25.420-05:00OTHER DELAWARE NEWS: The News-Journal (local daily) now has blogs.
Ok, one comment... Why is Al Mascitti only linking to articles in the online version of the News-Journal? People who are reading his blog have probably already read the News-Journal. Does he read anything else? Instapundit? Sullivan? Lileks?
Hopefully he'll get the hang of it before too long.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1078688107673403892004-03-07T14:35:00.000-05:002004-03-07T14:38:08.090-05:00U OF DELAWARE NEWS: This doesn't have anything to do with Africa and probably won't interest anyone...but it's so ridiculous, I can't help myself from posting:
A new Living and Learning Community focusing on gender and sexuality issues will be available in Ray Street residence halls next year.
Michael Diesner, the complex coordinator, said this community is an expansion of a current Haven Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1078448269933088742004-03-04T19:57:00.000-05:002004-03-04T20:02:18.920-05:00Of course, there are also some issues on which it's the Westerners who are backward. (Backwardness defined by Yours Truly, of course.) If you liked this post about eco-imperialism, you'll want to look here and here for more about the African-led push for DDT:
According to Richard Tren, director of the pressure group Africa Fighting Malaria, western donors, conscious of their domestic reputations,Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1078447228872709352004-03-04T19:40:00.000-05:002004-03-04T19:43:25.403-05:00I haven't posted anything yet about the Nigerian polio vaccine boycott:
A huge push to eradicate polio has begun in 10 West African countries.
The immunisation drive, billed as the final effort to wipe out polio, will cover some 60m children in three days.
However, the northern Nigerian states of Bauchi, Kano and Zamfara are refusing to cooperate until, they say, the vaccine has been confirmedNoahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1078445132139561672004-03-04T19:05:00.000-05:002004-03-04T19:08:29.123-05:00mostly AFRICA has the Nigerian WMD story covered.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1078359855645492952004-03-03T19:24:00.000-05:002004-03-03T19:32:15.263-05:00And speaking of "elected" leaders who have overstayed their welcome, there's some news about Comrade Mugabe:
The US government has imposed a new series of sanctions on Zimbabwe because of what Washington says is the deteriorating situation there.
The state department said President Robert Mugabe seemed determined to hold on to power at any cost.
Amongst other things, the new sanctions target Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1078359702867448772004-03-03T19:21:00.000-05:002004-03-03T19:24:38.310-05:00An emailer notes the irony of Aristide's temporary stop in the CAR. As you might recall, CAR's current head-of-state seized power in a coup, ousting then-President Patasse. Patasse was elected democratically (somewhat), but certainly didn't govern democratically -- not unlike the situation that led to Aristide's ouster less than a year later.
The Beeb also has some interesting reaction from the Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1078357651312596112004-03-03T18:47:00.000-05:002004-03-03T18:50:26.373-05:00Be sure to check out my Africa briefing over at Winds of Change.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1078276780389735932004-03-02T20:19:00.000-05:002004-03-02T20:22:34.576-05:00What's happening to France's influence in Africa? It doesn't look good. Even Senegal is looking toward the US.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1078276672393900272004-03-02T20:17:00.000-05:002004-03-02T20:20:46.606-05:00Yes, I've been rather dismissive of my blogging responsibilities lately. It's a shame...
I've been reading a book about the 78-79 Uganda-Tanzania war. It's all pretty interesting. There's kind of a nice summary of Idi Amin here.
It's really amazing that Amin was able to hold onto power for as long as he did--and he might have lasted a lot longer if he hadn't invaded Tanzania. In some ways, AminNoahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1076551035539417882004-02-11T20:57:00.000-05:002004-02-11T21:08:50.826-05:00Yvette over at Taste of Africa gives an update of Somaliland's continuing quest for international recognition:
After more than 10 years of peace, after more than a decade of trying to build this country, Somaliland finally got the attention of its former colonizer, the British. Reports say that Labour Party MP Tony Worthington, the only parliament member who have visited Somaliland more than onceNoahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1076550298098731052004-02-11T20:44:00.000-05:002004-02-11T20:47:25.483-05:00Speaking of Libya, you might have heard of the case where several foreign health care workers were accused of intentionally infecting several patients with HIV. According to this article, it was all Qaddafi's idea:
A wave of infections among children in the public hospital in Benghazi came to light in 1998. The notion that foreign staff had deliberately infected the children, at least 43 of whom Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1076550044230492462004-02-11T20:40:00.000-05:002004-02-11T20:44:04.123-05:00I said earlier that Libya's surrender on the WMD issue didn't solve all the problems with the current regime. To be sure, Qaddafi without nuclear weapons is preferable to Qaddafi with nuclear weapons. But in either case, Qaddafi still has the ability--and dare I say the desire--to continue to oppress his own people and threaten his neighbors. In fact, the normalization of economic and political Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1076467331353841582004-02-10T21:42:00.000-05:002004-02-10T23:27:53.436-05:00Environmental imperialism is a topic that's not discussed nearly enough with respect to Africa:
Measured in terms of the numbers of game, the status of forests and lakes and rivers and reefs, the conservation movement focused on animal welfare in East Africa was a gigantic failure, as the environmental situation deteriorated steadily. Not recognising their own contribution to the decline of Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1076465447970899682004-02-10T21:10:00.000-05:002004-02-10T21:14:34.233-05:00Despite continued violence against UN peacekeepers and the civilian population, my sense is that reporting from the Congo (like this story) is becoming increasingly optimistic:
The road linking Bunia, the main city in the wartorn Ituri district, to the port town of Kasenye along the shores of Lake Albert, opened in mid-January after six months of reconstruction.
Although peace in this region is Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1076375118118603672004-02-09T20:05:00.000-05:002004-02-09T20:13:09.763-05:00The news from Ivory Coast these days is, to say the least, a little difficult to follow. The big story today was the apparent assassination of one of the rebel leaders. It's hard to know what to make of this since no one seems to know exactly who killed him or why:
The reasons for the killing are unclear. Some local newspapers speculate it was linked to Mr. Coulibaly's close ties with Liberian Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1076374421057425892004-02-09T19:53:00.000-05:002004-02-09T19:56:06.390-05:00I missed this, too:
After five years, Sierra Leone has announced that its disarmamaent program is complete.
Not bad. If only this could be Liberia in five years, or sooner.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1076373955488435392004-02-09T19:45:00.000-05:002004-02-09T19:50:07.060-05:00Missed this earlier...
Head Heeb, who's been following the story as well as anyone, notes that Zimbabwe's Daily News is again barred from publishing following a Supreme Court ruling upholding new media laws.
Not much to say about this beyond what's already been said.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1076373569839601272004-02-09T19:39:00.000-05:002004-02-09T19:41:54.716-05:00This won't come as news to regular readers, but it's still interesting:
Until very recently, China, like the West and Japan, largely had been looking for oil imports where everyone else was - the Middle East, source of 60 percent of Chinese oil imports. But increasingly, the world's powers are questioning the wisdom of leaving national economies to rest on the explosive region.
The result is anNoahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1076029516216410982004-02-05T20:05:00.000-05:002004-02-05T20:11:17.513-05:00This is pretty cool. A Peace Corps volunteer writes about his first experiences in Togo...and he's even speaking Ewe:
[I]t was a sunny room and most of the patients were talking and smiling. Some looked sickly, some looked to be in pain, some seemed perfectly fine.
Somehow I managed to produce more words in Ewe: "Ndi na mi lo. E foin? Devio de?" (Good morning. How are you? How are the children?)Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1076027825757610132004-02-05T19:37:00.000-05:002004-02-05T20:09:04.623-05:00It hardly needs to be reiterated, but the situation in Zimbabwe is getting worse. Here's a bit of an ironic twist, though:
Despite President Robert G. Mugabe's withering attacks on what he calls the racist West, [the Zimbabwean health care system] also depends even more on the kindness of Western strangers — many of them relentless critics of his authoritarian government.
Foreign aid, largely Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1076026252719662052004-02-05T19:10:00.000-05:002004-02-05T19:13:12.513-05:00If you haven't done so, be sure to check out Southern Cross, a blog authored by two South African Rhodes scholars focusing, not surprisingly, on news in southern Africa. (I've also added a link at the top.)
Also if you haven't done so, stop by BlogAfrica for a plentiful buffet of Afrophilic bloggage. I haven't come close to visiting all the ones on the list, but I'm sure there's something there Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1076025525276140032004-02-05T18:58:00.000-05:002004-02-05T19:01:04.390-05:00Ok, I admit that that was an inexcusably long break, but I think I'm back now...
In case you've missed anything in the past month or so, you can go here to catch up on some things that I thought were interesting.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1074134076229746022004-01-14T21:34:00.000-05:002004-01-14T21:37:24.030-05:00Yes, I've been taking a rather extended Christmas break here. I'm not being lazy, though! I've actually been busy reading my personal copy of Africa in World History by Jonathan Reynolds (yet another UT alum!) and Erik Gilbert. It's great so far, but I'll post a more thorough review in a few days.
I'll soon be back to regular posting, but in the meantime, you can read this interesting story Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1071960597298443952003-12-20T17:49:00.000-05:002003-12-20T17:51:14.530-05:00In case you don't follow Division I-AA football--although I'm sure everyone does--Delaware has won the 2003 National Championship:
The University of Delaware's first national football championship in 24 years was realized quickly and emphatically Friday night in Chattanooga, Tenn.
The Blue Hens built an early 20-point lead and pounded Colgate 40-0 to the delight of more than 5,000 Blue Hen fansNoahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1071929304581607152003-12-20T09:08:00.000-05:002003-12-20T09:09:41.903-05:00Mbeki backs Zimbabwe appeasement:
Mr Mbeki has pursued a policy of "quiet diplomacy" towards Zimbabwe, which has been ostracised by much of the international community for what it says is Mr Mugabe's political repression and corruption.
The BBC's Barnaby Philips in Johannesburg says the South African Government is on the defensive over its refusal to condemn human rights abuses in Zimbabwe, butNoahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1071928987028275902003-12-20T09:03:00.000-05:002003-12-20T09:04:24.420-05:00Why does Mbeki continue to defend these guys???
Riot police have occupied the offices of Zimbabwe's only privately-owned daily newspaper, hours after a court ruled it could resume publication. A lawyer for the Daily News told the BBC that police had ordered home staff who were trying to produce the paper's first edition since October.
Jonathan Moyo, Zimbabwe's Information Minister, denounced the Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1071926576778687212003-12-20T08:22:00.000-05:002003-12-20T08:59:23.810-05:00Maybe this is why the US has been cozying up to Libya in recent months:
Libya’s leader Colonel Gaddafi has tonight promised to dismantle his country’s secret weapons of mass destruction programme, British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced.
My only question is how this will ultimately help the Libyan people. Yes, it does reduce the chance that Libya will get involved in a war against the US.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1071550933750031772003-12-16T00:02:00.000-05:002003-12-16T00:03:25.356-05:00It's difficult to know how accurate this is, but, as I've said before, these kind of reports seem to establish a pattern of behavior for the Sudanese government:
Members of Sudan's National Assembly from Darfur have appealed for international intervention to stop killings and displacement in the region.
Fighting in Darfur between Arab militias and rebel groups, which escalated in March this yearNoahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1071550445442153102003-12-15T23:54:00.000-05:002003-12-15T23:55:16.326-05:00In case you missed it, Robert Mugabe has withdrawn Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth to protest his continued suspension. As you might expect, Mbeki is now outraged that the callousness of the Brits and the Aussies has driven Mugabe, a man well known for his evenness of temper, to take such a drastic step.
But you know, the Commonwealth is better off without him. Mugabe can rot in hell.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1071549942107584962003-12-15T23:45:00.000-05:002003-12-15T23:46:53.090-05:00Well, as you may (or may not) have noticed, I've been taking rather an extended blogging hiatus. It is time for final exams, after all.
Here's a great example of bad timing--it's an editorial that was published in the News Journal on Sunday, the day of Saddam's capture:
Americans had been led to believe that conquering Iraq would be easy, and indeed Saddam Hussein's regular military forces Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1069810942457876622003-11-25T20:42:00.000-05:002003-11-25T20:43:07.200-05:00Happy Thanksgiving, ya'll! I'm out of here, 'til next week.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1069810875302361552003-11-25T20:41:00.000-05:002003-11-25T20:42:27.233-05:00Obasanjo flinches:
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe will not attend the upcoming Commonwealth summit in Nigeria next month, ending weeks of speculation that the government's last-minute attempts might secure him an invitation.
"We will not have an invitation [for Zimbabwe]. If there is no invitation they will not come," Nigeria's Olusegun Obasanjo reportedly told journalists in the Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1069810397462884792003-11-25T20:33:00.000-05:002003-11-25T20:34:02.263-05:00Progress in the war on terrorists from the Horn of Africa:
U.S. forces have disrupted several planned terrorist attacks against Western and other targets in the Horn of Africa and local authorities have killed or captured more than two dozen militants, the U.S. general in command of an anti-terrorism task force told The Associated Press.
Of the hundreds of foreign fighters detained by U.S. Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1069810162690277672003-11-25T20:29:00.000-05:002003-11-25T20:30:07.530-05:00First Nigeria, now Uganda:
30 Uganda Anglican bishops agreed at a meeting Thursday to sever ties with the entire U.S. Episcopal Church because "any same sex relationship is a disorder of God's creation," said Jackson Turyagyenda, a spokesman for the church in East Africa.
The decision will result in a loss of scholarships and financial aid from the Episcopal Church, the U.S. branch of Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1069626416338961022003-11-23T17:26:00.000-05:002003-11-23T17:27:37.263-05:00Mugabe favors gun control as one more means to repress his own people. Dave Kopel comments:
Mugabe is unquestionably a tyrant. Every theory of government which permits forcible resistance to tyranny would identify overthrowing Mugabe as plainly just. Every theory of just war which recognizes the suffering of people in a foreign country would authorize the use of force by any nation to remove Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1069620524611084962003-11-23T15:48:00.000-05:002003-11-23T15:49:25.153-05:00Ugandan MP's are protesting against the government's inability to end the bloodshed in the northern part of the country by decisively defeating the LRA rebels:
Ms. Ateng says she, her colleagues, clan leaders and local people have met many times with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to discuss their concerns about the Lord's Resistance Army rebel group, which has been killing, kidnapping and Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1069619468711821262003-11-23T15:31:00.000-05:002003-11-23T15:31:49.483-05:00Here's slightly more information about the fighting in Western Sudan that I mentioned last week:
The government said it knew nothing of the attacks in the arid Darfur area, where the rebels of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) emerged as a fighting force in February, saying Khartoum had marginalized the impoverished region.
"It's been very bad. Attacks by government militias and the Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1069619029090873112003-11-23T15:23:00.000-05:002003-11-23T15:24:29.950-05:00Will the threat of farm invasions in Namibia lead to Zimbabwe-style chaos. Jonathan Edelstein says no -- not yet, at least. Keep scrolling down for interesting comments.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1069290555173650352003-11-19T20:09:00.000-05:002003-11-19T20:09:51.233-05:00Here's more on the situation in northern Uganda:
Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels have killed dozens of civilians, including children, in attacks in several villages of northern Uganda’s Lira district, sources reached in the region said on Tuesday. Lieutenant Chris Magezi told AFP by telephone from Lira that about 30 LRA rebels killed 10 civilians, including children, in Lira and that "Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1069289783427631062003-11-19T19:56:00.000-05:002003-11-19T19:56:58.826-05:00The Nigerian Anglican Church severs ties with its US counterpart:
THE decision of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) to severe [sic] relationship with its American counterpart to protest the recent consecration of Canon Gene Robinson, a confessed homosexual, as bishop of New Hampshire, is irrevocable as it has received the official stamp of the House of Bishops.
The primate of the Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1069289535093191032003-11-19T19:52:00.000-05:002003-11-19T20:11:35.856-05:00African Solidarity alert: You may have noticed that Robert Mugabe, whose government has been suspended ever since last year's rigged elections, is trying to get himself invited to next month's Commonwealth summit. Obasanjo is apparently wavering on whether there should be an invitation, but Mugabe is already receiving strong support from other Commonwealth members, notably Zambia and Uganda.
Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1069204099126631222003-11-18T20:08:00.000-05:002003-11-18T20:08:53.920-05:00The presidents of Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda are set to sign a new customs agreement that will, essentially, create a "freer" trade zone among the three countries.
This seems like a positive development. Particularly after the fiasco of this fall's WTO talks, it's good to see that some people have their act together.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1069203152273711602003-11-18T19:52:00.000-05:002003-11-18T19:53:07.200-05:00Abiola is blogging about free trade and Africa. Go read it.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1069202726499067272003-11-18T19:45:00.000-05:002003-11-18T19:46:00.903-05:00The situation in Ivory Coast deteriorates further with the MCPI declaring a state of emergency in the north of the country. Head Heeb has the skinny.
In the case of a return to civil war, there's no clear indication of what the French will do, but I'd say they won't go out of their way to support Gbagbo's government. Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1068902136710955082003-11-15T08:15:00.000-05:002003-11-15T08:16:06.826-05:00Mauritanian camel cheese: Yum!Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1068777247234307062003-11-13T21:34:00.000-05:002003-11-13T21:36:52.873-05:00I'm pretty skeptical of the sort of peace agreements that result in "unity governments" and "power-sharing." Usually this means that that the same brutal thugs who raped and pillaged the civilian populace during years of "freedom fighting" will now be given charge of a government ministry so that they can rape and pillage the country legally. Of course, brutal thugs are willing to share the Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088825.post-1068776012841615702003-11-13T21:13:00.000-05:002003-11-13T21:14:01.076-05:00Yet another nail in the coffin of the Marcoussis peace accord:
An appeal for investment in Ivory Coast's rebel-controlled north is prompting fears of a secession. At the end of a conference, the rebel New Forces called on financial bodies and non-governmental agencies to help fund health and development programmes.
But newspapers in Abidjan says this is a sign the rebels are advancing plans to Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00057802958709291293noreply@blogger.com