At least 95 people died and around 100 more were wounded in ethnic violence last week in Guinea, a government spokesman said Wednesday, revising higher a previous toll of 58. …read more
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A government spokesman says recent clashes in Guinea’s southeast forest region killed 95 and injured hundreds, a significant increase over numbers provided last week. …read more
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Officials in Gabon say pirates hijacked an oil tanker with a 20-person crew near the main port where oil is loaded for transport to international markets.
Defense Minister Pacome Rufin Ondzounga and Interior Minister Jean Francois Ndoungou said in a statement distributed Wednesday night that the attack occurred early Monday.
Security firm AKE said the attack constituted “a significant expansion” of the area affected by piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, occurring 200 nautical miles further south than a previous attack in April. The firm said all contact had been lost with the Indian crew aboard the Malta-flagged tanker, which is operated by the Turkish firm Geden Lines.
The International Maritime Bureau warned earlier this week of a “worrying surge” of attacks by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea.
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The bodies of 54 people burned alive or hacked to death in ethnic clashes in the west African state of Guinea have been identified, a medic said on Wednesday, indicating that the death toll would continue to rise.
The violence broke out in the southern forest region early Monday when petrol station guards from the Guerze tribe in the town of Koule beat to death an ethnic Konianke youth they had accused of stealing.
Fighting quickly spread to the nearby provincial capital N’Zerekore, 570 kilometres (350 miles) southeast of Conakry, leaving 80 people wounded and several homes destroyed.
Authorities had put the death toll at 16 but the figure began to rise sharply as bodies were collected from the streets as an uneasy calm returned to the city on Wednesday.
The doctor, from a N’Zerekore hospital, said a number of bodies in the mortuary had not yet been identified because several “have no head, while others have no identity papers”.
“For the 54 identified, we went on their identity documents. That has helped us a lot,” he said, adding that the bodies would be returned to the Guerze and Konianke communities.
Security forces were deployed to break up the fighting on Monday but were initially unable to quell the violence despite a curfew imposed by N’Zerekore prefect Aboubacar Mbop Camara.
A number of witnesses told AFP Guerzes and Koniankes had been attacking one another with machetes, axes, sticks, stones and firearms, setting fire to houses and cars.
Guerze chief Molou Holamou Azaly Zogbelemou was among those wounded and taken to hospital, Camara told AFP.
A resident of N’Zerekore told AFP an “uneasy calm” had descended and there had been “a slight lifting of the tension”.
Most inhabitants had shut themselves into their homes during the bloodshed but people were beginning to venture outside again, said the resident, adding however that the violence could restart at any time.
Another resident and a medical source both described a fragile calm in N’Zerekore, the second-largest city in Guinea with an estimated population of up to 300,000.
Security forces, medical staff and aid workers took advantage of the lull to recover bodies from the streets.
Communal violence is common in the region, near the border with Liberia, where clashes between the two tribes regularly break out over religious and other grievances.
The indigenous Guerze are mostly Christian or animist, while the Konianke — seen as newcomers — are Muslims considered to be close to Liberia’s Mandingo ethnic community.
In Liberia’s civil war, which ended in 2003, rebels fighting the forces of then president Charles Taylor drew much of their support from the Mandingo community.
The Guerze, known as Kpelle in Liberia, were generally considered to be supporters of forces loyal to Taylor, who was jailed last year for “aiding and abetting” war crimes in neighbouring Sierra Leone.
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A government spokesman says recent clashes in Guinea’s southeastern forest region have killed 16, injured 80 and caused extensive property damage.
Government spokesman Albert Camara said Wednesday that the army had been deployed to N’Zerekore, Guinea’s second-largest city, to restore order. Hroe said tension in the area remained “palpable.”
A resident said violence began Monday in Koule, a village 40 kilometers (25 miles) outside of N’Zerekore, when members of the Guerze ethnic group beat a young Konianke man to death after accusing him of stealing from a gas station.
Witnesses in N’Zerekore said some victims had been beheaded with machetes.
Guinea is preparing for legislative elections in September that have already sparked violence protests.
President Alpha Conde on Tuesday appealed for calm and vowed to bring perpetrators to justice.
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Officials say 12 people were killed and 50 injured in ethnic violence in the West African nation of Guinea, leading the army to impose a curfew in the country’s second-largest city.
Army Capt. Pepe Koivogui said Tuesday a curfew would restore calm.
The violence began Monday in the village of Koule, more than 800 kilometers (497 miles) southeast of the capital, Conakry. It was sparked when members of the local Guerze ethnic group beat a young Konianke man to death after accusing him of stealing from a gas station.
Hospital official Alpha Saliou Sow said 11 more people were killed by Tuesday afternoon in the nearby city of N’Zerekore.
Guinea is preparing for legislative elections in September that analysts warn could be marred by ethnic violence.
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The number of attacks by pirates worldwide has fallen in the last year but armed robbery and kidnappings at sea have surged off the coast of west Africa, a maritime body said on Monday.
Pottengal Mukundan, director of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), urged west and central African leaders to act on an agreement reached last month to tackle the problem.
“This (code of conduct) should be translated soon into action on the water. If these attacks are left unchecked, they will become more frequent, bolder and more violent,” he said.
“Cooperation and capacity building among the coastal states in this region is the way forward and urgently needed to make these waters safe for seafarers and vessels.”
In the first six months of this year, the London-based IMB’s Piracy Reporting Centre recorded 138 incidents worldwide, compared to 177 in the same period in 2012.
Hijackings fell from 20 to seven so far in 2013, while the number of sailors taken hostage fell from 334 to 127, the quarterly report said.
Attacks off the coast of Somalia have dropped “significantly” in the first half of 2013, largely due to increased military action, the IMB’s report said.
But it warned of increased pirate activity in the Gulf of Guinea, recording 31 incidents in the region — 22 of which took place off the coast of Nigeria.
There has been a surge of kidnappings at sea and pirates are targeting a wider range of ship types in a region already known for attacks on oil industry vessels, the report said.
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A group that monitors piracy says well-armed pirates are using new strategies to hijack ships and widening their area of operations amid a “worrying surge” in attacks, kidnappings and armed robberies in West Africa’s oil-rich Gulf of Guinea.
Cameroonian Prof. Joseph Vincent Ntuda Ebode says piracy cost the region $2 billion last year with some shipping companies avoiding ports in the danger zone.
The London-based International Maritime Bureau’s Cyrus Moody says in one attack pirates boarded a container ship and kidnapped the crew some 170 miles (274 kilometers) off the coast of Nigeria. He says it shows “a very different modus operandi” and “capacity to travel further distances.”
The bureau’s report published Monday says Nigeria suffered 22 actual and attempted attacks so far this year, up from six in 2011.
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Hosts Zambia embark on Sunday on a Cosafa Cup journey they hope will last seven days and finish with a record-equalling fourth title.
They face Mozambique in the second half of a quarter-finals double-header at Nkana Stadium in mining city Kitwe.
Surprise qualifiers Lesotho, who topped a qualifying group ahead of Botswana and Kenya, meet Angola in the other match.
Chipolopolo (Copper Bullets) won the first two editions of the 16-year southern Africa national team championship.
They were successful again in 2006, but the closest they came to glory since was collecting silver medals twice.
Although France-born coach Herve Renard has chosen an experimental squad, his side are favoured to lift the trophy.
And he accepts the pressure is on him and his team as they try and put a miserable year for the Copper Bullets behind them.
“Every Zambian believes we will win the Cosafa Cup this year, especially as we are hosting the tournament,” admitted Renard.
“This means there is only one path for us to follow — the one that leads to the winners’ podium in Ndola next Saturday.”
Renard became a national hero in Zambia last year when his team emerged as shock winners of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.
After 120 goalless minutes against Didier Drogba-skippered Ivory Coast, the underdogs won a penalty shootout in Gabon.
But little has gone right for Zambia since with a disappointing Africa Cup title defence followed by poor World Cup qualifying results.
They failed to win at the 2013 Nations Cup in South Africa, drawing with Ethiopia, Nigeria and Burkina Faso and making a first-round exit.
And draws with minnows Lesotho and Sudan have left dreams of a first World Cup appearance on the verge of extinction.
Renard hopes goalkeeper Danny Munyau, defender Kondwani Mtonga and midfielder Mukuka Mulenga can lead by example in Kitwe.
The local stars were promoted to the first team for recent World Cup ties and offer experience amid exciting but untested talent.
Mozambique coach Joao Chissano has been in charge less than a month since German Gert Engels paid the price for a 6-1 World Cup drubbing in Guinea.
His Cosafa Cup build-up has been nightmarish with a spate of withdrawals owing to injuries and club commitments leading to 11 squad changes.
Almiro Lobo and Dario Khan are long-serving defenders and Alberto Diogo is a midfielder with a fondness for goals.
Striker Josimar Machaisse gave Chissano a timely boost by scoring in a 1-0 friendly victory away to Malawi last weekend.
Lesotho held Kenya 2-2 and Botswana 3-3 before defeating Swaziland 2-0 to top Group B on goal difference and book an unexpected last-eight place.
The Botswana clash stamped Likuena (Crocodiles) as a team to watch when they came from behind twice to level deep in stoppage time.
Angola dare not concede any penalties as midfielder Ralekoti Mokhahlane has proven his worth by converting two spot kicks.
Striker Thapelo Tale has also netted twice and defender Nkau Lerotholi and strikers Mojela Letsie and Tsepo Seturumane once each.
A team averaging 2.3 goals a game and full of never-say-die spirit could trouble Angola, even though they are 65 …read more
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A federal case in New York City has cast a harsh light on a high-stakes battle over iron ore mining rights in West Africa.
Prosecutors in Manhattan have charged Frederic Cilins with obstructing justice by trying to get the wife of the former president of Guinea to destroy evidence of bribery.
Court papers cite secretly recorded conversations of the Frenchman telling the wife he’s under orders to make sure the documents burn. They say he was overheard offering her millions of dollars.
The wife now lives in Jacksonville, Fla., and has agreed to cooperate with the FBI and make the recordings. She claimed to have proof that a mining company that employed Cilins used bribes to secure mining licenses in Guinea.
Both Cilins and the company have denied any wrongdoing.
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A tribunal in Guinea sentences two to life imprisonment for trying to assassinate President Alpha Conde in July 2011.
Alpha Oumar Diallo and Jean Guilavogui, were sentenced to life imprisonment for allegedly masterminding the attack.
Among six others sentenced were Badjar Fatou Diallo, a woman convicted of being an active accomplice, Almamy Aguibou Diallo and Mamadou Alpha Diallo who were sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment.
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Experts say that the growing piracy off the coast of West Africa takes root in the oil-slicked creeks of Nigeria‘s southern delta.
Speaking Saturday at a conference on piracy, the experts say the majority of the attacks happening across the Gulf of Guinea mostly happen along Nigeria‘s coast. The experts say those committing the acts likely come from the militant groups of the Niger Delta.
Freedom Onuoha, a research fellow at Nigeria‘s Center for Strategic Research and Studies, said those militants have the knowledge of the oil industry that makes it possible for them to hijack oil tankers and steal their cargo. He also said it appeared “state actors” had a role in the thefts as well.
From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/world/~3/cTVmAyclcVk/
Security forces in Guinea have fired tear gas to disperse opposition protesters who had planned a demonstration against the date set for upcoming legislative elections.
The long-awaited vote has been a flashpoint for violent demonstrations over the last several months in this West African nation that long suffered under strongman rule.
The opposition is upset about the June 30 date, saying the decision was made unilaterally by those in power, and other preparations.
Dr. Sadou Camara says at least three people were injured. Local officials had asked the opposition to change their route for the demonstration so that an important highway could stay open.
Guinea held its first democratic president election in 2010, though the country has failed to organize legislative polls and has no sitting legislature.
From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/world/~3/PE_fi6mrpE8/
In February, ran a contest for Glass offering “winners” the opportunity to be “Glass Explorers,” i.e. the Guinea pigs who will test out Glass in the wild. Downside: Explorers have to pay $1,500 for the product and for the privilege of being called “Glassholes.” Upside: They get to test out a brand new product before anyone else. One Explorer came up with an even better upside; he planned to auction off his pair of Glass and pay down his student loans.
An international maritime watchdog says world sea piracy fell 35 percent in the first quarter of this year as international navies helped keep pirates away from Somalia.
The International Maritime Bureau says 66 attacks were recorded worldwide in the first three months, down from 102 in the same period last year. It said Monday that five vessels were hijacked with 75 crew members taken hostage and one killed.
While once rampant attacks off the coast of Somalia continue to decline, piracy is becoming a greater concern in the Gulf of Guinea in western Africa. The bureau reports 15 attacks in the gulf, including three hijackings.
Sea piracy plunged to its lowest level in five years in 2012. A total of 297 attacks were recorded worldwide, down from 439 in 2011.
From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/world/~3/Gfwpkr84f2E/
A Guinean opposition official says there will be a march to protest the president’s announcement that elections will be held on June 30.
Aboubacar Sylla, Guinean opposition spokesman, said Sunday that a peaceful demonstration will be held in the capital, Conakry, on April 18 to show objections to President Alpha Conde‘s decision to set the date of the elections, ignoring ongoing consultations over the polls’ date.
The presidential decree was read Saturday evening on state television.
Guinea has not had a functioning parliament for four years, and it only held its first democratic presidential election in 2010. Disagreements over the electoral process already have caused violent protests.
Originally the vote was scheduled for May 12, but the opposition said it was pulling out because of concerns over election procedures.
From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/world/~3/DnfBOjpp8v4/
A Guinean official says that exiled former coup leader Moussa Dadis Camara has arrived on a flight to the southern town of Nzerekore to attend the funeral of his mother.
The governor of the Nzerekore region, Lancei Conde, confirmed that Camara arrived Saturday afternoon on a flight from Burkina Faso, where he been living following an attempt to assassinate him in late 2009. Local resident Souleymane Bah said that Dadis Camara was accompanied by a military aide of Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore.
The burial of Dadis Camara‘s mother is scheduled for Sunday in Nzerekore.
From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/world/~3/0NXc4EHm52E/
U.S. diplomats asked for help Friday in the search for an American pilot in a small turboprop aircraft that went missing Sunday in a storm off the coast of West Africa.
A statement published Thursday night said: “If you catch sight of any debris from a plane that has crashed to earth or in the ocean” please contact an embassy official.
U.S. Embassy spokesman Kevin Krapf told The Associated Press on Friday that the pilot was an American but that he could not provide any other details because of privacy laws.
The statement said the missing plane was a twin-engine Beechcraft 1900 with the registration ZS-PHL on its tail. Only the pilot was on board. The statement said it had disappeared in the area of the Gulf of Guinea on Sunday.
From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/world/~3/DurIPp5Y0X0/
The actor wants to pony up $200K for a seat, but doesn’t want to be a Guinea pig for the program …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Space.com
By Mark Russell New Mexico is thinking about processing horse meat . Montanans have roadkill . And now the latest in offbeat meat appears to be … Guinea pigs. NPR reports on an American trend fueled by South American expats and the US restaurants that serve such cuisine, and bolstered by foodies’ penchant for trying—and… …read more
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