Author: Pan-African News Wire

Saturday, March 27, 2010
21:50 Mecca time, 18:50 GMT

Zuma urges lifting Zimbabwe curbs

Zuma was in Uganda as part of a business delegation from South Africa

Travel restrictions applied by the West to Zimbabwean officials from the Zanu-PF, should be lifted, Jacob Zuma, South Africa’s president, has said.

The South African leader made his comments, which echo earlier calls, at the tail-end of a visit to Uganda.

Zuma is mediating in a dispute between Zanu-PF, the political party of Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s president, and its rival, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), headed by Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe’s prime minister.

“What’s happening is that one part of unity government, the MDC, can travel all they want, around the world and do what they want while the other part, the Zanu-PF, cannot,” Zuma said on Friday.

“That’s impeding the functioning of the unity government and so the international community that supported the power-sharing agreement must also lift the sanctions to allow the unity government to function to its full capacity.”

Slow progress

Both the European Union and the US maintain a travel ban and asset freeze on Mugabe, his wife and inner circle in protest at disputed 2008 elections and alleged human rights abuses by his government.

A power-sharing agreement between Zanu-PF and MDC has failed to make major headway since it was installed two years ago.

Zuma, who has urged Western powers to lift sanction in the past, said that should sanctions be lifted “we can make faster progress”.

Yoweri Museveni, the Ugandan president, endorsed Zuma’s position in a joint statement.

Zimbabwe has been mired in a political and economic crisis for years, with much of its economic woes blamed on Mugabe’s policies.

Zuma was in Uganda as part of a delegation of cabinet ministers and business men.

While there he and his host also discussed the situation in Democratic Republic of Congo.

In a statement they said they had agreed that while security there was improving, the United Nations’ peacekeeping mission there, known as Monuc, was still needed to provide stability.

Source: Agencies

Illegal capital outflows undermine Africa -study

2010-03-29 05:30:00

About $854 billion flowed out of Africa illegally in the 39 years to 2008, and such continued capital flight will undermine gains from faster economic growth, perpetuating poverty, a study published on Sunday showed.

The study by Global Financial Integrity (GFI) showed illicit capital outflows, including proceeds from bribery, theft, human trafficking, drugs and tax evasion, grew at an average 11.9 percent between 1970 and 2008.

“Africa lost an astonishing $854 billion in cumulative capital flight, enough to not only wipe out the region’s total external debt outstanding … but potentially to leave $600 billion for poverty alleviation,” the study presented at an African Union conference of economic and finance ministers in Malawi showed.

It said economic growth without credible reform could lead to more capital flight.

“Policy measures must be taken to address the factors underlying illicit outflows and also to impress upon the G20 the need for better transparency and tighter oversight of international banks and offshore financial centres that absorb these flows,” the report said.

The study showed fuel exporters such as Nigeria lost capital at the rate of nearly $10 billion a year, far outstripping the $2.5 billion lost by non-fuel primary commodity exporters.

GROWTH OUTPACES DEVELOPED COUNTRIES

Economic growth in many African countries has outpaced that in developed countries, partly due to firm commodity prices, but a majority of people on the continent live below the poverty line.

The GFI said the high rate of illicit capital outflow had undermined donor-driven efforts to end poverty and boost economic growth and was the main stumbling block to development.

“So long as illicit capital continues to haemorrhage out of poor African countries over the long term at a rapid pace, efforts to reduce poverty and boost economic growth will be thwarted,” the research found.

Prudent macroeconomic policies such as lower fiscal deficits, more conservative monetary policy, positive real interest rates and appropriately valued exchange rates would help improve the attractiveness of domestic investments, especially if complemented by strong institutions and the rule of law.

“If the problem of illicit flows is not addressed as a matter of high priority, the poor will likely experience a further decline in access to basic services in the face of grinding poverty,” the GFI said.

(Editing by Stella Mapenzauswa and Will Waterman)

Massive capital flight hits Nigeria as deposit rates crash

Mar 29, 2010

LAGOS—THE unattractive rates in the Nigerian fixed income market have begun to take its toll on the country’s economy, as investors are moving their funds en masse to alternative investment destinations, particularly to neighbouring West African countries.

Investigations by Vanguard showed that the movement of the funds was in response to falling deposit rates which crashed to three per cent in the last two months, despite the fact that the CBN monetary policy rate currently stands at six per cent.

The move is informed by the quest for higher return on investment on cash and near cash assets which Vanguard gathered, is now more attractive in Ghana and West African countries where interest rate on deposit is about 14 per cent compared to the three per cent or even less Nigerian banks are offering depositors.

Capital out flow from the country further rose to $1.740 billion for the week ending, February 12, and moved downward to $1.091 billion for the week ending February 26 and a little further down to $1.061 billion on March 5.

This has resulted in the crash of interest rates in the money market as customers are moving out their deposits.

Bank treasurers have attributed the crash of interest rates to the ongoing CBN reforms where over N600 billion of bank deposits are in the CBN vault at one per cent interest rate as banks have refused to lend just as investors are holding back their investment decisions.

The movement of funds out of the country comes by way of Nigerian residents buying up dollars with their naira and moving it off-shore.

A survey of banks’ deposit rates by Vanguard last week showed that the average deposit rate for 30 days term deposits of below N100 million is about four per cent.

In the last five weeks of January 22, 2010 to March 5, a total of $6.734 billion went out of the country, while about $1.383billion went out in the week ending January 22. The amount of foreign exchange flowing out of the country rose to $1.457billion for the week ending February 4.

Western democracy fails Africa

Courtesy of the Zimbabwe Herald

Zimbabwean writers, especially the young and upcoming have found it very difficult to get published, with some publishers demanding a particular type of story. Our columnist EDMORE ZVINONZWA (EZ) spoke to publisher SARUDZAYI CHIFAMBA-BARNES (SCB) about this, her works and Zimbabwean writing in general.

EZ: Hello, Sarudzayi. It is good to talk to you after such a long time. In fact, this is the first time I am hearing of the name Sarudzayi. I have always thought you were Elizabeth since the days I used to meet you in the Special Collections section of the UZ library where, I recall, you were a regular visitor.

SCB: Hello, Eddie. First and foremost I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity for an interview. You are right; many people do not know me or remember me with the name Sarudzayi. Elizabeth is more popular in Zimbabwe even with my own family. Sarudzayi is my beautiful African name, my officially registered first name. Chifamba is my father’s surname, whereas Barnes is my husband’s name. Sarudzayi gives me a sense of identity; otherwise I would become very foreign even to myself if I were to be called Elizabeth Barnes.

EZ: Would you like to tell readers briefly about yourself then?

SCB: I am an African woman, a Rastafarian, an author, a publisher, a wife and a mother. I was born in Zimbabwe, but currently live in the UK. I did my BA studies at the University of Zimbabwe (1992-1994) after which I worked at the National Archives of Zimbabwe as an archivist for four years before coming here. I am currently doing an MA in Social Work. It is my dream to one day set up community-based orphan-care centres in one rural area in Zimbabwe to give orphans a place where they can have meals everyday; where those who are on any medication can go and have their medication administered by trained people rather than relying on elderly grandmothers to do so.

EZ: When exactly would we say you started writing? Any inspiration or motivation? I am looking here at the fact that you were more of a potential history person at university and even worked for the National Archives of Zimbabwe at some point.

SCB: I can say I started writing in 1990 because that’s when I entered my first short story in a Curriculum Development Unit competition and won a prize. It wasn’t the main prize though. I was advised to develop my story further, but I never bothered. In 1995, I wrote a play I called Sarudzayi (not named after me), but it was about students’ expectations after graduating from UZ. The play was set on the UZ campus and I focused on some of the issues that affected students then, especially female students. The story was mainly influenced by the realisation that as UZ students, we lived in an ideal world far removed from reality. In the play, my main character dumped her childhood sweetheart simply because he did not pass A-Level with enough points/grades to get him a place at the university. Nonetheless, he went on to do an apprenticeship and ended up with a financially rewarding job compared to my protagonist (the girl who dumped him). She had left university with a degree, which was deemed theoretical and irrelevant to employers. However, my play was never published because no one was interested in it.

In 2002, I became very homesick and began to write folktales that I had heard from my elders when I was young. I was writing them for my daughter, but when I thought of publishing them, it was like looking for a needle in a pile of rubbish. The only publisher who gave me feedback felt the stories were violent and she did not hide her feeling that Africa was a violent and unstable continent because we told our children such violent stories, which always ended with the wrongdoer being punished. I said to myself; hold on, what about all those Western films which children in the Americas and Europe watch, the guns and the shooting? Aren’t they violent enough? I gave up writing. In 2007, touched by the plight of women who left their husbands and children for very long periods to come and work in the UK, I felt I needed to write something that highlighted the risk of HIV/Aids in absentee relationships, the risk of child abuse for those child-headed families where parents migrated to work elsewhere. I also wanted to highlight some Diaspora issues of how some educated people end up doing menial jobs they had never dreamt of in Zimbabwe, issues like Gatwick — maenzanise, you know. So I wrote The Endless Trail.

EZ: Again, you are about 40 years old now and should obviously have got some first-hand experiences with colonial Zimbabwe — the segregation, disenfranchisement, unequal opportunities in educational institutions, among a number of other injustices of the supremacist white minority regime.

SCB: Yes, I am 40 years now, having been born during the days of Rhodesia. My birth certificate was issued at Charter District and my birthplace was entered as Mfushwa Kraal in Sabi North Tribal Trust Land. I remember clearly the war, the soldiers (Rhodesian Front Forces) bombing entire villages and beating parents in front of their children. The race relations were tough. There were very limited opportunities for black people. There was a bottleneck system of education. As black people, our rights and opportunities were limited. I was 11 years old when the war ended. I never thought that the thing called Rhodesia would come to an end one day. Chisingaperi chinoshura. I hear many people saying Rhodesia was better. Better, for whom?

I am working on a serial, Generations, in which, I write about colonialism as it affected one particular family from generation to generation. It’s a massive project, which requires a lot of research, but I am almost done with Book One. It’s a project I initially wanted to do as a supervised MA writing project with the University of Warwick two years ago, but I decided to withdraw from the course.

EZ: Any comment on contemporary Zimbabwean writing in general and Zimbabwean women’s writing in particular? You could also refer to earlier generations of Zimbabwean writers.

SCB: Zimbabwean writing is growing rapidly. Zimbabwean writers are claiming their rightful place in African literature which has been dominated by Nigerian and Kenyan writers. With Petina Gappah’s collection of short stories, An Elegy for Easterly winning the Guardian Fiction Prize, Ignatius Mabasa being appointed Writer-in-Residence and Storyteller at a university in Canada and Chris Mlalazi going to California for nine months as a Writer-in-Residence, I think Zimbabwean literature is doing very well.

Of course, there are earlier authors whose names deserve to be mentioned; who I also believe had a great influence on most of the contemporary authors. I was personally influenced by Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions (which won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize in 1989) and The Book of Not. I also read a lot of Dambudzo Marechera’s work and at one time I was so obsessed with his writings that I spent a lot of time reading his unpublished works at the National Archives of Zimbabwe.

There are now many more women writers from Zimbabwe, which is a very good thing, because writing was usually perceived as a man’s field. Women were not comfortable with writing as they feared they would be judged because of what they wrote. If you write about commercial sex workers for example, it will be assumed that muzivi wenzira yeparuware ndiye mufambi wayo, which is not the case. There are now young writers like Sarudzai Mubvakure, whose book Amelia’s Inheritance I published in January. I like Sarudzai’s writing in particular because she ventures into those subjects that many people are not comfortable with; or which we are conveniently forgetting. Sarudzai writes about the injustices of race relations in Rhodesia.

Yvonne Vera was also a great writer. Joyce Jenje Makwenda (Gupuro/Divorce Token) and Valerie Tagwira (The Uncertainty of Hope) write about gender issues. They are very impressive. Petina Gappah’s book is a must-read. She is leading the way. Her success is also a success for Africans, Zimbabweans and women.

EZ: As a female writer, what challenges have you faced?

SCB: I don’t think I have faced any setbacks that can be attributed solely to my gender. I have faced challenges that affect most upcoming authors. You write your manuscript, you are unknown and no publisher is interested in you, you hide your manuscript in your wardrobe or in a suitcase somewhere. FULL STOP.

EZ: How would you characterise your style of writing and major concerns and what were the influences.

SCB: I just write ordinary simple English. There is no major style. As I have already said, I was greatly impressed and influenced by Tsitsi Dangarembga. However, my main influence came from writers like Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Chinua Achebe, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Jamaican authors like Kei Miller and Andrea Levy (British-born but with Jamaican parents). I only go for a specific type of literature.

EZ: How have your works been received and are they available in Zimbabwe?

SCB: There is a poor reading culture among Africans in general and Zimbabweans in particular. The Village Story-Teller: Zimbabwean Folktales does well with people from other cultures. The same applies to The Endless Trail. I have not made my books available locally in Zimbabwe. I am still in the process of registering Lion Press in Zimbabwe and once that is concluded, I will explore the Zimbabwean and Southern African market.

EZ: And now, how did you get into publishing?

SCB: After publishing The Endless Trail with a Vanity Press, which you pay handsomely to self-publish, I realised that the quality of the book wasn’t good. What Vanity Press does is to just “publish” what you send them and there is no quality control, no editing! You spend a lot of money “publishing” the book only to realise that you are the main customer of your book. That’s when I realised I had to do something if I was to have my writings published properly. I registered the Lion Press in July 2008. The motive was to help other Zimbabwean authors to have their writings published. I have published 15 books since 2008. Three of the books, Many Rivers, The Fading Sun and The Man, Shaggy Leopard and Jackal were shortlisted for the 2010 Nama awards. Two of them, The Man, Shaggy Leopard and Jackal by Ignatius Mabasa and The Fading Sun by David Mungoshi won the Nama 2010 awards. Many Rivers and The Fading Sun were in the same contest.

EZ: You are in the Diaspora and you publish mostly Zimbabwean and other black writers. How is this and how are you managing?

SCB: I realised that there were many more upcoming writers among the Zimbabwean community in the Diaspora who were probably going through difficult times to have their writings published like myself. You realise you live in Britain, you are now a British citizen and yet your writing cannot penetrate the English market and publishers. Because you live in Britain, you cannot access the publishers in Africa. You realise you are in limbo. That is why I set up and registered the Lion Press mainly to work with Zimbabweans in the Diaspora. However, I work with authors from the Caribbean and other African countries. I am publishing Desise Hall (Jamaican British), I am publishing Paul Henry (a.k.a. Ras Ichy who is a Jamaican-born poet), and I am also publishing Cherry Williams who has written poems in tribute to Bob Marley. Cherry is also Jamaican. I have also published Moses Osekyere’s book and Bernard Antwi. They are both Ghanaians.

EZ: Any challenges associated with publishing that you would want to highlight?

SCB: Publishing is not a very easy thing. To begin with, the readership is very small. Books are costly to produce. You need at least £800 to come up with a good book and this fee does not include printing. Because I am a small publisher, I do all the administration and typesetting myself. I also do all the marketing on my own because I cannot afford to pay someone to do the marketing. I sub-contract editors and proofreaders to help with quality control. It’s not easy. I also use my own resources in most cases. I don’t get any funding. I tried to apply for the Arts Council grants here in England, but gave up because it’s too bureaucratic. Some of my authors fund their publishing projects, which is really good. But their books go through editing and proofreading and I also guide them on storyline development if there is any need for that. I get a lot of help from Wonder Guchu and David Mungoshi in that respect.

EZ: ZIBF is one of the biggest book fairs in the world, are you attending this year?

SCB: I am not planning to exhibit at the ZIBF this year because I will be exhibiting at the Goteborg Book Fair in Sweden. This year’s theme for the Goteborg Book Fair is Focus on Africa. I don’t want to miss that opportunity. Maybe next year, I will attend the ZIBF.

EZ: As a publisher, there have been complaints from readers who feel that most books by Zimbabwean writers, including those published in Zimbabwe, are priced way beyond the reach of many potential readers. Any comments on that?

SCB: I certainly agree with that. A paperback should cost in the region of £6 and a hardback usually costs £12. However, I think the problem is with the printing costs. There is not much competition for printers so they charge very high fees. My intention is to make Lion Press books affordable in Zimbabwe. I don’t pay much for printing in the UK. There are too many printers so there are always bargains.

EZ: What is your opinion of the future of Zimbabwean writing especially that we have a number of literary works from fairly younger writers like Memory Chirere, Ignatius Mabasa, Ruby Magosvongwe, Petina Gappah, among others.

SCB: I think it is quite promising. I have just published Memory Chirere’s book, Toriro and his Goats. It’s a great book.

EZ: What advice would you like to share with upcoming Zimbabwean writers?

SCB: Keep writing. Write what you like. Don’t allow a publisher to dictate what you should write. It’s not about the publisher’s interests. It’s about you. Write something you can defend 50 years from the day you write it, assuming we live long enough. If publishers refuse your work because they think it’s not marketable, try self-publishing although you will need a good editor, but that way you will stay in control of your books. I have one question to upcoming authors. Why are we abandoning our African languages?

EZ: Is there anything you find pertinent, like your pan Africanist stance, the current political and economic potential that our country has, given the inclusive dispensation?

SCB: Zimbabwe is a very beautiful country blessed with natural resources. We have a wonderful culture too. We need to be united and work together to improve our country and, above all, we need to give the inclusive Government a chance. There are some people who are good at criticising others. I think the European Union, the United States and other Western countries should support the inclusive Government. It’s the best thing to happen to Zimbabwe after a decade of political tension.

I beg to differ when it comes to Western democracy. Western democracy failed millions of Africans who were taken into slavery. It also failed our ancestors who died fighting to free our countries, our brothers and sisters too who died in the struggle for independence, at Nyadzonia and Soweto, among a host of other places. However, we need to forgive and move on, and not to kill each other because those who arm us want us to fight while they plunder our resources.

–Feedback: [email protected]

Sunday, March 28, 2010
06:00 Mecca time, 03:00 GMT

Israel condemned at Arab summit

Gaddafi, whose country is hosting the summit, wants the Arab League meeting to be one of unity

Regional leaders meeting in Libya have been united in their condemnation of Israel’s settlement activity in occupied Palestinian land.

The Arab League summit began on Saturday in the Libyan city of Sirte, with Amr Moussa, the Arab League chief, warning that continued Israeli settlement building would end efforts to revive the Middle East peace process.

“We have to study the possibility that the peace process will be a complete failure,” Moussa said in his opening speech to the two-day annual summit.

“It’s time to face Israel … We have accepted an open-ended peace process but that resulted in a loss of time and we did not achieve anything and allowed Israel to practise its policy for 20 years.”

Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want as a joint capital for a future state, has been a particular point of focus for delegates.

Jerusalem’s significance

Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, reiterated that Israel’s settlements were illegal under international law, and called for Jerusalem to be part of peace negotiations.

“Jerusalem’s significance to all must be respected, and it should emerge from negotiations as the capital of two states,” he said at the meeting’s opening session.

Ban also called for Arab leaders to support US-led efforts to facilitate indirect “proximity” talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

The Palestinians pulled out of the talks in reaction to Israel’s announcement it would build 1,600 settlements on occupied land.

The Israeli move has also caused a rift between Israel and Washington as it came during a visit to Israel by Joe Biden, the US vice-president.

“I urge you to support efforts to start proximity talks and direct negotiations. Our common goal should be to resolve all final status issues within 24 months,” Ban said.

But Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, ruled out taking part in the talks unless Israel stops building settlements.

“We cannot resume indirect negotiations as long as Israel maintains its settlement policy and the status quo,” he said in his speech.

The warnings over Jerusalem were echoed by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, who called Israel’s policy of considering Jerusalem as its united capital “madness”.

“Jerusalem is the apple of the eye of each and every Muslim … and we cannot at all accept any Israeli violation in Jerusalem or in Muslim sites,” he said.

‘Playing with fire’

Many Arab leaders have also been angered by the opening of a restored 17th century synagogue near the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, home to Islam’s third holiest site.

They see such acts as a clear intention by Israel to “Judaise” Jerusalem and undermine chances for a peace agreement with the Palestinians who consider East Jerusalem the capital of their future state.

Jordan’s King Abdullah warned that Israel was “playing with fire” and trying to alter the identity of Jerusalem.

Bashar al-Assad, the president of Syria, described tensions with Israel as a “state of no-war, no-peace”, and said his country was ready if “war is imposed” by Israel.

Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, opened the summit with an unusually short speech in which he said that Arabs were “waiting for actions, not words and speeches”.

The Libyan leader, whose country is hosting this year’s summit, has said he wants the meeting to be one of unity and the issue of Jerusalem has proved a unifying factor.

“The whole issue of Israeli actions has been under intense discussions, particularly in light of what has happened in that region in recent days,” Mike Hanna, Al Jazeera’s correspondent reporting from Sirte, said.

“Very clearly the issue of Jerusalem has been brought up and focused on because it is the one issue that would be very difficult for the international community as a whole to ignore.

“If, for example, resolutions would go to the UN General Assembly or the Security Council … on the question of East Jerusalem and Israeli occupation, it is very difficult for international bodies – or countries such as the US – to veto or abstain over something they’ve already condemned.”

Arab leaders are expected to ratify an agreement drafted by their foreign ministers to raise $500m in aid to improve the living conditions for Palestinians in Jerusalem as part of a “rescue” plan for the city.

A senior Palestinian official said the money would go towards improving infrastructure, building hospitals, schools, water wells and providing financial support to those whose houses have been demolished by Israeli authorities.

The leaders are also due to discuss a number of strategies, including keeping a record of what they consider to be Israeli “violations” in Jerusalem to refer them to higher bodies such as the International Criminal Court, based in the Hague in the Netherlands.

The last Arab League summit, held two years ago, was hosted by Qatar.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

ANC to challenge ‘shoot the boer’ ban

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA Mar 27 2010 06:33

A high-court ban on the words “shoot the boer” was met with mixed reaction on Friday.

While the African National Congress was shocked at the ruling and vowed to challenge it in the Constitutional Court, the Afrikanerbond and Freedom Front Plus welcomed it.

The South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Friday that the Johannesburg High Court had ruled the use of the words “dubul’ ibhunu [shoot the boer]” was unconstitutional and unlawful.

Delmas businessman Willem Harmse had applied for an urgent interdict to prevent his colleague Mahomed Vawda from using the words on banners and singing them during a planned march against crime.

Hate speech or symbolic killing of apartheid?

While Harmse argued that the words perpetuated hate speech and incited hatred, Vawda contended that they referred to the symbolic killing of apartheid.

The ANC, which reportedly intends appealing against the judgement, expressed astonishment at the court’s failure to approach it for input on the history and purpose of the struggle song Ayesaba Amagwala [The Cowards are Scared].

The song’s lyrics include the words: “aw dubul’ ibhunu [shoot the boer] ‘a magwala [the cowards are scared] dubula dubula [shoot shoot]”.

‘Erasing history’

The ANC believed that, had its input been sought, the court would have reached a different conclusion.

Earlier this month, ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe cautioned against “systematically erasing history”, and said the interpretation of the song had been “vulgarised”.

“It’s an old struggle song. Anybody who relegates it into hate speech today … I will regard that as a serious attempt to erase our history. If you try to erase the history through courts, that would be unfortunate to the country.”

Complaints have recently been laid against ANC Youth League president Julius Malema with the Equality Court and the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) over his repeated singing of the song in public.

‘Malema never part of the struggle’

The Freedom Front Plus viewed the ANC’s contention that the words be seen in the struggle context as “totally unacceptable”.

“Mr Malema was nine-years-old when [former president Nelson] Mandela was freed. He was never really part of the ‘struggle’. If he sang the song today, it has to be judged in the context of 2010 and the fact that farmers are being killed weekly,” the party said in a statement.

The Afrikanerbond now wants the SAHRC to decide whether the song constitutes incitement to violence and hate speech.

Its chief secretary Jan Bosman said it hoped the ruling was “a first step in forcing politicians to think about pronouncements that create the potential for conflict”. – Sapa

Source: Mail & Guardian Online
Web Address: http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-03-27-anc-to-challenge-shoot-the-boer-ban

321 civilians killed in 2009 massacre in Congo

By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI, Associated Press Writer
Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 4:28 p.m.

DAKAR, Senegal — At least 321 civilians were killed in a previously unreported massacre in Congo in late 2009, while villagers that escaped their rebel captors were sent back with their lips and ears cut off as a warning to others of what would happen if they tried to talk, according to an investigation by a human rights group.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said in its report released Saturday that at least 250 more people were abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels during the attack in the Makombo area of northeastern Congo, including no less than 80 children.

Human Rights Watch’s senior Africa researcher, Anneke Van Woudenberg, called the massacre “one of the worst ever committed by the LRA in its bloody 23-year history.”

Yet the killing spree, which occurred from Dec. 14 to 17 in at least 10 villages, had gone unreported for months.

The majority of those killed were men who were tied up, some bound to trees, before being hacked to death with machetes or having their skulls crushed with axes. A 3-year-old girl was burnt to death, according to the report.

The rebels then abducted many of the children and women, who were forced to march to a town over 60 miles (96 kilometers) away. Those that walked too slowly were executed and villagers told the rights group that they found bodies all along the trail from Makombo to the town of Tapili in northern Congo.

The Lord’s Resistance Army is considered one of Africa’s most brutal rebel armies, and its leaders are the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant. Originally based in Uganda, the rebels were pushed into the area straddling the northern Congolese border with Central African Republic. The 2009 massacre is only the most recent of a pattern of atrocities.

Exactly a year earlier, after the governments of the region attacked an LRA position, the rebels retaliated by killing at least 865 civilians during the Christmas 2008 holiday season, according to Human Rights Watch.

The attack three months ago was especially horrific. Children abducted by the rebels were forced to execute other children who had disobeyed the rebels. In several instances documented by the rights group, the children were ordered to form a circle around their victim and take turns hitting the child on the head with a heavy object until the child died.

Adults were mutilated and sent back to their villages to act as a visual warning to those that might have considered alerting authorities.

In one instance the rebels cut off the lips and an ear of six victims who were sent back “with a chilling warning to others that anyone who heard or spoke about the LRA would be similarly punished,” says the report.

The Associated Press
Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/mar/27/321-civilians-killed-in-2009-massacre-in-congo

Sudan looks to the Saharan sun for power

Web posted at: 3/28/2010 2:3:34
Source ::: AFP

KHARTOUM: Spread across central Africa as the continent’s largest country, Sudan plans to exploit the relentless Saharan sun to power its underdeveloped regions and green its deserts.

Harnessing the sun’s energy for vast regions such as war-torn Darfur, which itself is the size of France, is costly. But the country’s ministry of energy and mining believes that advances in solar technology will lower the costs.

“The costs are high compared to other conventional energy resources but we think that with the technology advances going on there will be a substantial decrease,” the ministry’s secretary general, Omar Mohammed Kheir, said. The plan, he said, was to develop solar energy in regions not linked to the national grid, such as North Darfur.

By harnessing clean solar power impoverished Sudan could be setting a global example in a world worried about climate change.

Sudan is the continent’s fifth largest oil producer — three fifths of its product is exported to Asia — and is multiplying its hydroelectric projects along the Nile.

But conventional energy sources alone will not meet the increasing demand of this country of 40 million people.

Earlier this month, the French company Solar Euromed signed an agreement with Sudan to build and run solar power plants over the next decade.

“Our country is developing very, very fast and we think there is a need for more electricity. That is why we have a master plan to generate about 20.000 megawatts within the coming 20 years,” Kheir said.

“The hydro power may contribute to 20 to 25 percent at maximum. The rest will come from other sources, all renewable energy including biofuel, solar energy, gas and maybe even nuclear energy.”

Sudan has already launched a plant to produce biofuels, with a target of two million litres (528,000 gallons) in two years.

No evidence of food aid diversion in Somalia: WFP

AFP, GENEVA
Saturday, Mar 27, 2010, Page 6

The World Food Program (WFP) said on Thursday that it had seen “zero evidence” to back up claims made by a UN monitoring group that food aid was being routinely diverted in Somalia.

“We have had no evidence and have not been presented with any evidence of any wide-scale diversion at any level,” Josette Sheeran, director of the WFP, told reporters.

A letter on Tuesday addressed to the Security Council by the UN Coordinator in Somalia, Mark Bowden, also noted that the monitoring group’s report lacked facts to back it up and that some sections were “completely misleading.”

“We are concerned that the report recently submitted to your committee was not prepared with the same level of consultation and that many of the statements made in the humanitarian section were not adequately documented,” he wrote.

Bowden added that the UN team on the ground was “concerned that these estimates of diversion are not apparently based on any documentation but rather on hearsay and commonly held perceptions.”

The report by the UN Monitoring Group on Somalia, originally tasked with tracking violations of the arms embargo, found that up to half of the food aid intended for needy Somalis is diverted.

It also noted that while access to WFP contracts should in theory be subject to tender, there has been “little or no scope for genuine competition.”

“Preliminary investigations by the Monitoring Group indicate the existence of a de facto cartel, characterized by irregular procedures in the awarding of contracts by the WFP country office, discriminatory practices and preferential treatment,” the report said.

WFP spokeswoman Emilia Casella stressed that these were “allegations” and that there were “no facts to support them.”

EU force frees Somali ‘pirates’

The EU’s naval force has freed six Somali pirate suspects, a day after they were captured trying to hijack a vessel off the East African coast.

Cmdr John Harbour said the men had to be released because the crew of the cargo vessel refused to give evidence.

The suspected pirates were allegedly part of a gang who attacked the Panamanian-flagged ship MV Almezaan.

Security guards on board the ship opened fire, killing one of the attackers before an EU warship arrived.

It is believed to be the first time that private security guards have killed a pirate in recent years.

It has sparked a debate about whether more ships should travel with guards.

Some say it might encourage pirates to use more violence, while others say it would help deter attacks.

Cmdr Harbour told the BBC that the case against the suspects captured on Tuesday was “clear-cut”.

“We intercepted the pirates, we destroyed their mother-ship and we went on board the cargo ship to get statements,” he said.

“But we had to release them because the master of the ship would not testify.”

The guards who shot the pirate suspect were also likely to avoid any censure, with Cmdr Harbour saying nothing could be done without statements from those involved.

Body discovered

The EU force, known as Navfor, received a distress signal early on Tuesday from the MV Almezaan.

Navfor said members of an “armed private vessel-protection detachment” on board the ship had been involved in a fire-fight with pirates.

The EU force sent the Spanish warship Navarra to the area and found the pirate suspects trying to flee the area in two skiffs.

When a team from the Navarra boarded the vessels, they found three men in one skiff and three in the second, along with the body of a fourth man.

The authorities have struggled to find a solution to the problem of piracy – both stopping the attacks, and how to punish captured suspects.

War-wracked Somalia has no functioning central government and the chaos there has allowed the pirates to function with relative impunity.

The suspects are often sent to Kenya, where dozens are languishing in jails awaiting trial in a chronically overburdened legal system.

But there is no consensus on how to prosecute the suspects, and moves to set up an international tribunal have foundered.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/8586729.stm
Published: 2010/03/25 11:36:40 GMT

Selebi files for acquittal

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 10:21

Former police chief Jackie Selebi has filed the first papers in his application for acquittal, The Star reported on Friday.

His lawyer Wynanda Coetzee said the heads of argument had been submitted to the trial judge and the State prosecutors.

When the trial resumes on 7 April the application will begin.

Such applications are intended to convince a judge that the State has failed in proving its case.

Generally, Selebi’s defence would argue that the evidence presented by the State failed to prove the allegations on the charge sheet.

He is facing a charge of corruption and defeating the ends of justice and has pleaded not guilty.

In concert: Alicia Keys

Alicia Keys showed a different side but stuck to what made her famous at Verizon Center Thursday

By Sarah Godfrey

Alicia Keys is a self-help-spouting, love song-singing force of positivity, delivering messages of hope and peace with the help of a grand piano. At her show at the Verizon Center on Thursday, however, the Bronx-born singer/songwriter wasn’t her usual dervish of pedals and hammers, big ballads and motivational speechifying.

Instead, she treated the packed crowd (which included First Lady Michelle Obama along with daughters Sasha and Malia) to interesting arrangements and some of the weirder tracks from her latest album, 2009’s “The Element of Freedom.” She sang more and preached less, and spent more time standing at a synthesizer set-up than she did glued to her piano bench.

The concert revealed a slightly edgier side of Keys: there’s not exactly a razor blade buried beneath all that candy coating, but definitely a hidden thumbtack or staple.

After Jermaine Paul, Melanie Fiona, and Robin Thicke kicked things off, Keys appeared on a video monitor and stated “I am a renegade,” along with a few other unexpected declarations of fierceness. Then, from behind projections of barbed wire, she surfaced – not sitting behind a piano, but locked in a cage.

Keys sung most of “Love is Blind,” on the new album, from that prison cell, before bending back the “bars” and ambling out onto the stage. It was a nifty, if not quite subtle, way of letting the crowd know that on her tour (as on “The Element of Freedom”) she’s shrugging off some of her stylistic trademarks and doing come creative wing-spreading.

After her figurative emancipation, Keys launched into a version of “You Don’t Know My Name,” which scrapped much of the girl group-style of the version on 2003’s “The Diary of Alicia Keys,” in favor of a more aggressive approach. During “Fallin’,” a giant heart throbbed and bled on a video screen while Keys stripped away the song’s pretty melody, and put in some dark key work.

Despite a crowd that seemed equally stocked with youngsters and adults who fell in love with her back when she was a straight-forward, earnest soul singer, the audience stayed with her the entire night. Fans even rocked out to “Another Way to Die,” her Jack White collaboration from the “Quantum of Solace” soundtrack – an unexpected choice for her live show, considering the large body of well-known hits she has to draw from.

Keys utilized different keyboard set-ups while making “The Element of Freedom,” and on Thursday she showed off her newfound skills by fiddling with knobs and creating echo effects for “Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart.”

That’s not to say Keys has completely broken out of her box. She still said such things as “I want you to know you can be free to be yourselves under this roof tonight,” and “We are truly unstoppable beings,” along with other platitudes one would normally hear during some sort of Saturday-morning seminar held in a Holiday Inn ballroom.

And, naturally, the piano eventually appeared and Keys used it for regular old versions of “Diary,”” and “If I Ain’t Got You,” and “Superwoman” that were safe, but definitely seemed to satisfy. Because while experimentation is nice and all, alienating long-time fans definitely isn’t.

Michelle Obama does Alicia Keys concert

March 25, 11:43 PM

First Lady Michelle Obama did it big this week. She wins my female baller award for the month. From city to city, the First Lady did her jet set thing. Tonight my sources tell me she was at the Alicia Keys concert at the Verizon center in Washington D.C.. Makes sense, her and Keyes have been hanging out this month. The concert is part of The Freedom tour.

Meanwhile Professor Obama kept it real. He showed up in Iowa where his health care reform announcement all started. Obama popped into a book store and purchased some children’s books. He left the bookstore with Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson and The Secret of Zoom by Lynne Jonell, for his daughters Malia and Sasha. Star Wars: A Pop-Up Guide to the Galaxy by Matthew Reinhart, for Press Secretary Robert Gibbs’ son Ethan. Now thats how you do it.

Obama even found time to show some love while at the bookstore. Letting pictures be snapped of him holding interesting books. President Barack Obama smiled as he held up copies of Karl Rove and Mitt Romney’s books during unannounced stop at Prairie Lights book shop in Iowa City, Iowa. he fought the urge to throw them.

March 25, 2010

Households Facing Foreclosure Rose in 4th Quarter

By DAVID STREITFELD
New York Times

The ranks of those facing foreclosure swelled by a quarter-million households in the fourth quarter, new government data shows.

Households that are at least 90 days delinquent on their mortgage payment now number at least 1.6 million, according to a report Thursday issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision.

Though more people are in worse trouble, the good news is that fewer households are entering delinquency. The number of people who were only one payment behind actually dropped in the quarter by 16,000.

One reason for the ballooning number of seriously delinquent borrowers is that foreclosure, for better or worse, is becoming an increasingly lengthy process. Many delinquent borrowers are in trial modifications, which keeps the final stages of foreclosure at bay.

The number of foreclosures completed in the fourth quarter rose 9 percent, to 128,859. Another 38,000 owners disposed of their house in a short sale, where the lender agrees to accept less than it is owed.

Starting this month, the Treasury Department is promoting new rules to facilitate short sales. Borrowers who are trying to sell their house in a short sale can also put off the endgame for many months.

Both lenders and the Treasury are under pressure to save many of the homeowners now in foreclosure limbo. Bank of America, the country’s biggest bank, announced this week that it would forgive principal balances over a period of years on an initial 45,000 troubled loans.

Lenders began offering principal forgiveness last year on loans they held in their own portfolios. In the fourth quarter, however, this process abruptly reversed itself. The number of modifications that included principal reduction fell by half.

The Treasury is expected to announce soon adjustments to its mortgage modification plan that will do more to promote principal forgiveness. On Thursday, it detailed smaller changes to improve the program. Loan servicers are now required to pre-emptively reach out to borrowers who have missed two payments and solicit them for a modification.

The quarterly regulators’ report is one of the broadest surveys of loan performance, covering 34 million first-lien loans. It shows about 4.6 million borrowers qualify as distressed, ranging from only one payment behind to those within days of being evicted by the sheriff.

Since the report only covers about two-thirds of American mortgage loans — and the higher quality loans at that — the actual number of the distressed is about seven million households.

March 25, 2010

U.S. Plans Big Expansion in Effort to Aid Homeowners

By DAVID STREITFELD
New York Times

The Obama administration on Friday will announce broad new initiatives to help troubled homeowners, potentially refinancing several million of them into fresh government-backed mortgages with lower payments.

Another element of the new program is meant to temporarily reduce the payments of borrowers who are unemployed and seeking a job. Additionally, the government will encourage lenders to write down the value of loans held by borrowers in modification programs.

The escalation in aid comes as the administration is under rising pressure from Congress to resolve the foreclosure crisis, which is straining the economy and putting millions of Americans at risk of losing their homes. But the new initiatives could well spur protests among those who have kept up their payments and are not in trouble.

The administration’s earlier efforts to stem foreclosures have largely been directed at borrowers who were experiencing financial hardship. But the biggest new initiative, which is also likely to be the most controversial, will involve the government, through the Federal Housing Administration, refinancing loans for borrowers who simply owe more than their houses are worth.

About 11 million households, or a fifth of those with mortgages, are in this position, known as being underwater. Some of these borrowers refinanced their houses during the boom and took cash out, leaving them vulnerable when prices declined. Others simply had the misfortune to buy at the peak.

Many of these loans have been bundled together and sold to investors. Under the new program, the investors would have to swallow losses, but would probably be assured of getting more in the long run than if the borrowers went into foreclosure. The F.H.A. would insure the new loans against the risk of default. The borrower would once again have a reason to make payments instead of walking away from a property.

Many details of the administration’s plan remained unclear Thursday night, including the precise scope of the new program and the number of homeowners who might be likely to qualify.

One administration official cautioned that the investors might not be willing to volunteer any loans from borrowers that seemed solvent. That could set up a battle between borrowers and investors.

This much was clear, however: the plan, if successful, could put taxpayers at increased risk. If many additional borrowers move into F.H.A. loans, a renewed downturn in the housing market could send that government agency into the red.

The F.H.A. has already expanded its mortgage-guarantee program substantially in the last three years as the housing crisis deepened. It now insures more than six million borrowers, many of whom made minimal down payments and are now underwater.

Sources said the agency would use $14 billion in funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, some of which it could dangle in front of financial institutions as incentives to participate.

Another major element of the program, according to several people who described it, will be to encourage lenders to write down the value of loans for borrowers in modification programs. Until now, the government’s modification efforts have focused on lowering interest rates.

Lenders began offering principal forgiveness last year on loans they held in their own portfolios. In the fourth quarter, however, this process abruptly reversed itself, for reasons that are unclear. The number of modifications that included principal reduction fell by half.

Bank of America, the country’s biggest bank, announced this week that it would forgive principal balances over a period of years on an initial 45,000 troubled loans.

Another element of the White House’s housing program will require lenders to offer unemployed borrowers a reduction in their payments for a minimum of three months.

An administration official declined to speak on the record about the new programs but said they would “better assist responsible homeowners who have been affected by the economic crisis through no fault of their own.”

The new initiatives would expand the government’s current mortgage modification plan, announced a year ago with great fanfare. It has resulted in fewer than 200,000 people getting permanent new loans. As many as seven million borrowers are seriously delinquent on their loans and at risk of foreclosure.

While fewer people are beginning default, the number of borrowers who are seriously distressed is rising. In the fourth quarter, the number of households at least 90 days past due on their mortgages swelled by 270,000, according to a report issued Thursday by the comptroller of the currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision.

“The government is seeking to persuade people to stay in their homes by aligning the mortgage debt with the asset value, which is the only viable path to real housing stability,” said one person who was briefed on the government’s plans.

The number of foreclosures in the fourth quarter rose 9 percent, to 128,859. An additional 38,000 owners disposed of their homes in short sales, where the lender agreed to accept less than it was owed.

A person briefed on the new plan said the number of underwater borrowers who qualified for the plan could be in the millions. The government is not planning to solicit loans for the program, stressing that it is voluntary.

The administration recognizes that some people’s finances have deteriorated so far that they are beyond help, the person said. People in that situation simply cannot afford the houses they are living in, the person said, even if the mortgages were reduced.

“All these programs are geared toward people for whom it makes sense, for whom it’s workable when all is said and done,” the person said. “Some people are too far gone.”

Sewell Chan and Louise Story contributed reporting.

latimes.com/business/la-fi-obama-mortgages27-2010mar27,0,6966492.story

Obama administration ramps up efforts to aid struggling homeowners

Among the major changes made to the much-criticized Home Affordable Modification Program is a set of new incentives for lenders to reduce the principal on so-called underwater mortgages.

By Jim Puzzanghera
10:08 AM PDT, March 26, 2010
Reporting from Washington

Obama administration officials on Friday ramped up their attempts to help struggling homeowners, announcing major changes to the government’s much-criticized $75-billion program to modify mortgages to avoid foreclosures.

The most significant change is a set of complex new incentives for banks and investors to reduce the principal on so-called underwater mortgages — loans for homes now worth less than what is owed.

In addition, the administration announced that many unemployed homeowners could receive three to six months of reduced mortgage payments while they look for a job.

Together, the revisions are designed to spur the Home Affordable Modification Program to reach its target of helping 3 million to 4 million homeowners avoid foreclosure through 2012.

While the changes are significant to a year-old program that so far has helped just 170,000 homeowners receive permanently lowered mortgage payments, administration officials stressed they would only make a dent in the projected 10 million to 20 million foreclosures expected in the next three years.

“It’s really important to recognize we’re not going to stop every foreclosure. It wouldn’t be fair, it would be too expensive and we probably wouldn’t succeed in any case because many people got into homes that they simply cannot afford,” said Diana Farrell, deputy director of the White House’s National Economic Council.

Many analysts have said reducing principal on underwater mortgages is the key to helping borrowers stay in their homes. The administration’s program, and other government efforts before it, have tried to do that with little success. The permanently modified mortgages, and about 1 million ongoing three-month trial modifications that could become permanent, have reduced monthly payments by extending the terms of the loan.

To further help people eligible for modified mortgages, the administration said it would require mortgage servicers participating in the program, including such major companies as Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., to reduce monthly mortgage payments for three to six months for unemployed homeowners as they look for new jobs. The payments would be reduced to 31% of the homeowner’s current income.

After the temporary period, homeowners who still have a mortgage payment of more than 31% of their gross monthly income would have to be considered for a permanently modified loan. The program is open to people who live in the home they purchased, took out their mortgage before Jan. 1, 2009, and have a loan balance below $729,750.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said he was pleased the administration decided to provide additional help for unemployed homeowners.

“While clearly there are some people in trouble on their mortgages who bear some of the responsibility for their plight, this is not true of the unemployed who are fully deserving of this help,” Frank said.

To encourage mortgage servicers and investors holding the loans to reduce the principal, the administration announced several steps Friday.

–All banks and servicers participating in the HAMP program are now required to consider principal write-down as part of the modification process.

–The Treasury Department will increase cash incentives to banks and servicers who write down the principal on loans, particularly on second mortgages.

–Allow lenders to refinance underwater first and second mortgages through the Federal Housing Administration, which provides federal guarantees to mortgage loans. The FHA will receive $14 billion from the modification program to cover some of the losses for banks and investors of those write downs — at 10 cents to 20 cents on the dollar — as well as the additional risk faced by the agency for default of the refinanced mortgages.

“It’s actually in the interest of lenders to reduce the loan balance because those will be sustainable, higher quality loans,” Farrell said. “Similarly, it’s in the interest of borrowers to get into a loan that they actually can afford.”

Even when those loans are refinanced by the FHA, the homeowner would still be underwater — just not so deep, said FHA Commissioner David H. Stevens. The standard for the FHA refinancing would be new loans that are no more than 115% of the value of the home. But that level will get a homeowner close enough to break even — with the hope of getting there as home values rise again — that it would significantly reduce the risk of foreclosure.

“If you can get the borrower close to the 115% range and below there’s a much better chance that the borrower is going to be able to stay in their home,” said Assistant Treasury Secretary Michael S. Barr.

John Taylor, president of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, applauded the administration for continuing to try to improve its mortgage modification program. But while the changes will help avoid some foreclosures, Taylor said officials continue to only “tinker around the edges of foreclosure prevention.” He isn’t not optimistic that many mortgage servicers and investors would be lured by the incentives.

“I will be pleasantly shocked if investors step up for half a million borrowers,” he said. “The real acceleration in the number of foreclosures prevented will come with mandatory principal write-downs.”

[email protected]

Friday, March 26, 2010
14:24 Mecca time, 11:24 GMT

Euro states give Greece safety net

European leaders have agreed a deal to help debt-stricken Greece, in a move aimed at restoring confidence in the euro and coaxing commercial markets into lending on favourable terms.

Eurozone leaders meeting in Brussels agreed to back a French-German sponsored plan as a means to provide an economic safety net for Greece, should its own cost-cutting measures prove inadequate.

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor said on Friday the move was important to “protect euro stability”.

“For all of us it is important that our common currency … remains stable and that’s why yesterday was important for the euro,” she said on the final day of an EU summit in the Belgian capital.

Under the accord Athens will receive co-ordinated bilateral loans from its eurozone partners as well as International Monetary Fund (IMF) assistance if it is unable to raise enough money from commercial markets.

George Papandreou, Greece’s prime minister, hailed the deal as “very satisfactory” and said that Europe had taken “a step forward”.

Alan Fisher, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Brussels, explained that no aid was being given to Greece yet as Athens wants to go to the markets to see if it can refinance its debts on its own.

‘Plan B’

Greece has struggled with the markets which have demanded very high interest rates because until the deal was announced Greece appeared to have no other lenders to turn to.

The deal gives Greece a “Plan B”, removing the risk of default, reassuring credit markets and thereby reducing the interest it needs to pay on any refinancing plan and averting the need for it to request aid.

The cost of insuring Greek debt fell on news of the agreement, and the premium investors charge for holding Greek bonds rather than benchmark German bunds narrowed.

But it remained more than double the spread charged on fellow eurozone weaklings Ireland and Portugal, and four times that of Spain.

Papandreou said his country would press ahead with painful austerity measures to slash its huge budget deficit, measures that have prompted widespread strikes and protests in Greece.

No numbers were given of the eurozone deal but a senior European Commission source said the support package would be worth 20-22 billion euros ($27-29bn) if it was required.

Greece needs to borrow around $21.4bn between April 20 and May 23 to refinance maturing debt.

‘Last resort’

Tough terms imposed by Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, mean the mechanism may be activated only under strict conditions and would require the unanimous approval of the eurozone, giving Berlin a veto.

The plan will not involve direct loans from the EU – something Merkel strongly objected to – but bilateral loans from individual eurozone countries instead, and at market rates.

Merkel has also repeatedly warned that the safety net is only to be used as a last resort.

“This mechanism, complementing International Monetary Fund financing, has to be considered ultima ratio [last resort], meaning in particular that market financing is insufficient,” the agreement said.

Without a fallback mechanism, EU leaders had feared that Greece’s debt-servicing problems could spread to other countries in the eurozone, including Portugal, Spain and Italy.

At Berlin’s insistence, eurozone leaders also called for proposals by the end of the year to tighten the bloc’s battered budget discipline rules, which failed to prevent Greece running up giant deficits and public debt.

Under the deal for Greece, eurozone countries would provide the majority of any funding on rigorous conditions recommended by the European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB).

The IMF would contribute one-third of the money and its expertise if needed.

Many details remained unclear, such as the division of responsibilities between the IMF and the eurozone in a rescue.

Wrangling over the Greek issue has threatened cohesion across the eurozone and driven down the value of the euro.

Some eurozone states, notably France, and ECB policymakers, had previously opposed IMF involvement, arguing that such a move could be seen as an indication that the eurozone could not solve the deepest crisis in its 11-year existence on its own.

“If the IMF or some other body exercises the responsibility in lieu of the Eurogroup or instead of governments, it is evidently very, very bad,” Jean-Claude Trichet, the ECB president, told France’s Public Senat television in an interview.

The euro fell to a 10-month low against the dollar as investors took that initial view.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Zuma: Address by the South African President, to the South
Africa/Uganda Business Forum, Kampala, Uganda

Date: 25/03/2010
Source: The South African Presidency

Your Excellency Mr President
Ministers and deputy ministers
Ambassadors and high commissioners
The business delegations of South Africa and Uganda

Distinguished guests

It is a great honour for me to represent the people of South Africa at this important occasion, where we celebrate the warm and fraternal relations between our two countries through a state visit. We once again express, Your Excellency, our heartfelt gratitude for the hospitality and warmth with which my delegation and I have been received, including the business delegation.

In this particular forum, we gather to appreciate and encourage the positive economic activity between our two countries, which shows a lot of potential. These relations do not come as a surprise, since the bond between our two countries and peoples is deeply rooted in our history against social injustice and our quest for freedom and equality.

We meet at this forum, not only to reaffirm this bond, but also to consolidate our ever growing trade and economic relations. Our solidarity during the struggle for liberation must translate into tangible economic ties and trade relations.

We already have vehicles that we can use to achieve these goals.

Our two countries have concluded several bilateral agreements in the economic sphere. These include the bilateral trade agreement, the Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investment agreement, the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to taxes and incomes.

Furthermore, we established a Joint Permanent Economic Commission in December 2005. These have been important mechanisms that demonstrate the level and extent of our commitments to each other to promote mutual development.

Already trade relations are sound, and show a lot of potential for further growth. We therefore thank you for welcoming South African investors to contribute to the growing economic activity that is evident in the Republic of Uganda.

We recognise that South Africans are among the top contributors to foreign direct investment flows to Uganda, and South Africa is firmly entrenched near the top of the list of countries from which Uganda sources imports. We further appreciate the extent of investment that the South African private sector is making in the strategic sectors of your economy.

The participation of South African companies in such sectors as finance, telecommunications, retail and agriculture, has undoubtedly given deeper substance to the historical bond we share. The mining, oil and refining of petroleum sector with the discovery of oil in the Lake Albert region also provides new areas of business. We wish you well with this discovery, as it will certainly boost the economy.

Ladies and gentlemen, expanding economic links will promote intra-Africa trade and investment and lay the basis for closer political and economic cooperation in line with our shared commitment to regional economic integration. Ours must be a development partnership for integration.

Our modest successes have largely been the product of hard work across all areas of our bilateral cooperation. We observe progress in trade, investment and cooperation in science and technology. We strongly believe that we have covered much ground under our framework bilateral agreements.

However, much more can still be achieved. Our belief is that the scope for further advances in our bilateral relations is still possible.

The engagement between our private sectors in this business forum, must lead to the discovery of new trade and investment opportunities for our businesses.

We should seriously consider new linkages and joint ventures in key sectors like energy, agriculture and agro-processing, infrastructure development, tourism, information and communication technology (ICT), technology transfer, and mining, alongside other priority sectors identified by Ugandans to promote economic development.

There is much more that can be done in such areas as revenue services as well as financing small medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) through collaboration between the Uganda Development Bank and South Africa’s Industrial Development Corporation.

There are also opportunities of collaboration on technical standards between the Uganda National Bureau of Standards and the South African Bureau of Standards; and technology collaboration between the Uganda Industrial Research Institute and our Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. All these establish a basis to build our economies and enhance our trade and investment relations, and we must pursue this collaboration.

Your Excellency, we must move towards the full implementation of our trade agreement by establishing without delay, the agreed joint trade committee. This will further increase investment flows by promoting and encouraging joint ventures and partnerships. Such trade committee will potentially strengthen linkages between our private sectors, and foster rural development.

At a private sector level, we must encourage business to look at a possibility of establishing a joint business council, as a platform to collaborate and promote further trade and investments. Our two countries are both strongly committed to contributing to the development of our continent. Indeed, our destinies are inextricably linked to our neighbours and the rest of the continent.

Your Excellency, the challenge that the global economic downturn and slow progress in the conclusion of Doha Development Round has brought about, calls on us as the developing world, to work together in innovative ways to advance an alternative world economic order that support our development.

We need to advance towards the realisation of the objectives we agreed to, as set out in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), East African Community and Southern African Development Community (SADC) Tripartite summit. This will require that we ensure that tripartite summit decisions and the roadmap are fully and timeously implemented. A more integrated and economically organised Africa is good for our collective economies and livelihood of our peoples.

Your Excellency, we are doing all this work for one goal; to ensure that we create a better quality of life for all our people. In that regard, I hereby reaffirm South Africa’s commitment to the deepening of our bilateral economic relations. We want to see progress in trade relations, and will encourage our business people in that direction.

Let me conclude by reminding all delegates to this seminar that they are most welcome to attend the greatest soccer spectacular the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup! Let us prove to the world that Africa is capable of hosting such a massive tournament.

I thank you.

Friday, March 26, 2010
20:30 Mecca time, 17:30 GMT

Israeli troops killed in Gaza clash

Hamas attributes Friday’s clash to rising tensions in occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem

Two Israeli soldiers and two Palestinians have been killed in a clash east of the Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis.

The Israeli military said on Friday that there was an exchange of fire on the border after soldiers challenged Palestinians planting bombs near the separation barrier.

The military said an officer and a soldier have been killed and two soldiers were injured.

Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said it was responsible for taking on the Israeli patrol.

Hamas response

“An Israeli army force raided 500 metres into Palestinian territory, and was confronted by our gunmen,” Abu Obeida, a Hamas spokesman, said.

“This was our work, but was carried out for defence.”

Al Jazeera’s Barnaby Phillips, reporting from Gaza, said: “The al-Qassam Brigades gave a press conference and said that at 2:30pm local time an Israeli incursion began into Gaza. Israeli soldiers on foot, tanks and helicopters crossed into Gaza and the al-Qassam Brigades responded with sniper fire.

“Witnesses in the area are saying that what took place is now over; it is quiet and Israeli tanks have withdrawn.

“Palestinian medical sources have told us three injured civilians have been taken to a hospital nearby,” he said.

Witnesses said Friday’s exchange of fire began when an explosion, possibly caused by an anti-armour rocket fired from the nearby Palestinian town of Khan Younis, hit an Israeli army patrol on the central Gazan border.

Backed by tanks, the troops fired back at their assailants and entered Gazan territory, the witnesses said. Such pursuits are common practise for the Israelis, who try to maintain a buffer zone within the border fence off-limits to Palestinians.

Our correspondent said Hamas officials in Gaza acknowledge the increase in tension that is “in some ways related, of course, to the situation in Jerusalem”.

“Hamas say that they are at pains overall not to incite the Israeli army at this point in time and that they don’t want trouble,” he said.

The witnesses also said that, during the fighting, Israeli soldiers took away a wounded comrade and helicopters came to the scene, apparently for medical evacuations.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Gaza militants kill Israel troops

Two Israeli soldiers have been killed during clashes with Hamas fighters on the Gaza Strip’s southern border, the Israeli army has said.

Two other soldiers were wounded during the fighting which broke out east of the town of Khan Younis.

Two Palestinian militants were also killed in the clashes, Palestinian and Israeli sources say.

The unrest may have been sparked by a bid by militants to seize an Israeli soldier, a BBC correspondent says.

Palestinian militants carried out a raid across the fence line and the Israeli military then appears to have pursued them back into Gaza, says the BBC’s Paul Wood, in Jerusalem.

‘Further response expected’

According to Palestinian sources, Israeli forces responded using tank shells and heavy machine guns, our correspondent adds.

In a statement sent to the BBC, Hamas’ armed wing – the Al-Qassam Brigades – said it killed the two Israeli soldiers.

Speaking to Reuters news agency, Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida is quoted as saying: “This was our work, but was carried out for defence”.

Local sources in Gaza say another smaller group, the PFLP General Command, was also involved. This was broadly the same coalition responsible for seizing Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit more than three years ago, our correspondent says.

Eyewitnesses in the area described a brief period of heavy clashes and also said that a powerful explosion took place.

Our correspondent says that, if the past is any guide, a further Israeli military response can also now be expected.

A ceasefire between Israel and Islamist militant group Hamas, which governs Gaza, has largely held since the 2008-2009 conflict with Israel. Gaza remains under an Israeli-led blockade.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/8589529.stm
Published: 2010/03/26 17:21:16 GMT

ViewPoint | by Dr Blade Nzimande

In memory of the heroes of the Seven Day War

Thursday 25th March 2010 marked the 20th anniversary of the beginning of the bloody Seven Day War in Pietermaritzburg, which ended on 31 March 1990. The ‘Seven Day War’, which, as far as I can recall, was actually given this name by the late Cde Harry Gwala, the then leader of the ANC in the Natal Midlands.

The impact of this attack left an indelible imprint on the physical and social geography and history of Edendale, and of Pietermaritzburg as a whole. The Seven Day War was an attack on greater Edendale by a combined force of marauding gangs led by the IFP warlords and the apartheid regime’s police force on the people of Edendale as part of destroying the UDF, COSATU and fledgling ANC structures in the area.

At the time both the IFP and the police openly declared their intention to destroy the structures of our movement in Edendale and claim the area as an IFP territory. Under the pretext that buses to IFP dominated areas were being stoned along Edendale Road, amabutho targeted our activists’ houses, burning some, hacking and shooting at their targets. What was striking about the Seven Day War was that most of the attacks, often on whole communities perceived to be ANC, happened in broad daylight in full view of the police, yet it was our comrades who were being arrested.

We still hope that one day those policemen, who were perched at the then notorious police HQ Davies Alexander House, will have the courage to tell us about their role in the seven day war. Much as we do not want to open old wounds given the peace we now have, not least through, amongst others, the efforts by our now President, Cde Jacob Zuma, at the same time our history needs to be properly told, as part of honouring those who fell during this period. The heroes and heroines who fell during this war spilt their blood so that we could realise the 1994 democratic breakthrough and all the advances made by our democracy since then.

It is a sad and cruel irony of history that at the time that we should be erecting a monument to the heroes of the Seven Day War, our Umsunduzi City is bleeding from unnecessary internal factionalist battles from inside our own movement. It should otherwise be a time when our focus should be on fixing the ‘black hole’ of Pietermaritzburg – Edendale – a settlement that should be rid of the smelly pit latrines, gravel roads and mud houses.

In memory of those who fell during the Seven Day war, we should be committing ourselves to rid our movement of tenderpreneurship and all the ills associated with it, a scourge at the heart of the problems at Umsunduzi and many other municipalities.

When honouring those who fell during this period, understandably difficult as it may be for some of our own comrades and affected families, we must also mention and remember those who died on the side of the IFP, as many of them were used as ordinary foot-soldiers and pawns in the apartheid regime’s grand scheme to try and frustrate South Africa’s transition to democracy.

When the unbanning of the ANC and the SACP was announced by FW de Klerk on 2nd February 1990, Mzala Nxumalo, a member of the ANC and the SACP and a cadre of the class of 1976, warned that our movement must be careful that De Klerk must not do ‘a Dingane’ on us. By this he was recalling what Dingane, the Zulu King, did on the boers led by Piet Retief and Gert Maritz in the 19th century.

The story goes that when the first boers arrived in the then territory of the Zulu King Dingane, he invited them to his headquarters in Umgungundlovu and called upon his amabutho to kill them ‘Babulaleni abathakathi’ (‘Kill the witches’). What Mzala was warning about was that in the wake of the unbanning of our organizations and the release of Nelson Mandela we must remain vigilant that the apartheid regime must not invite us to emerge from the underground only to smash us.

Indeed Mzala was right, as our movement had anticipated, because as soon as the ANC and the SACP were unbanned, apartheid-sponsored violence in KZN was intensified. This soon spread to Gauteng and other areas. The primary aim was to prevent the ANC from rebuilding its structures inside the country. The Seven Day War was part of this offensive. However, the Seven Day War must also be understood within the specificities of apartheid’s counter-revolutionary warfare in KwaZulu Natal in general and Pietermaritzburg in particular. Pietermaritzburg, and especially Edendale, acted as a bulwark against the extension of the apartheid regime’s tentacles, through the then KwaZulu Bantustan, as it became a centre of resistance against apartheid in the 1980s.

The Seven Day war was therefore targeted at initially removing ANC (and UDF/Cosatu) influence from areas controlled by the IFP in the north of Edendale (known as ‘Ngaphezulu’), and seeking to turn these areas into a springboard to destroy our movement structures in Edendale. It was therefore of no surprise that the Seven Day War started in some of these areas north of Edendale where there was some UDF and later ANC presence, especially in Gezubuso, Taylor’s Halt, KwaShange, KwaMnyandu and Enadi. Thousands of people fled this area and most of them settled at KwaDambuza, which had long become a UDF and ANC dominated territory.

It was through the heroic sacrifices of many UDF, ANC, SACP, Cosatu and uMkhonto WeSizwe cadres from the above areas that the Seven Day war was stopped in its tracks at the border of Caluza and the rest of Edendale that we can today be proud of the birth of a democratic South Africa.

In honour of the heroes of the Seven Day War we should indeed erect a permanent monument in Edendale. This monument must indeed be accompanied by an intensified struggle against corruption in order to rid our movement of ‘tenderpreneurs’ and focus the attention of our people to the five priorities of our government: decent work, education, health, fight against crime and rural development.

–Dr Blade Nzimande is an ANC NEC member and Minister of Higher Education and Training

ViewPoint | by Julius Malema

Let the correct history be told

The political implosion that today we have come to know as the “Sharpeville Massacre” and commemorate as integral to Human Rights Day, was a tragedy of unparalleled proportions in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. Never before had so many innocent and defenceless people been senselessly killed since the Africans were united under the banner of the African National Congress from 1912.

Of course, there were other battles with far many more people being killed, with the famous Bambatha Rebellion of 1905 being amongst the last of such rebellion against colonial oppression, but not at such a large scale as the Sharpeville Massacre. This was nonetheless a beginning of increased repression, leading amongst others to the events of June 1976, when within a space of less than a year more than 1000 young people were killed.

The magnitude of the massacre warranted direct condemnation of those barbaric acts committed against defenceless peaceful protesters. As a result, the question of what led to the massacre became obscured in the international condemnation of those criminal murders committed with impunity.

Precisely because many people died on that fateful day, those who claimed victory for the historical significance of the ultimate sacrifice by ordinary people went on to do so unchallenged to this day. In accordance with African customs, antagonistic debates are often suspended in respect of the departed.

For years, the PAC perpetually made the claim that they are being ignored by the majority party in Parliament, and that their historical role in dismantling apartheid should accordingly be recognised. Amongst such roles is the claim that they were behind the popular mobilisation leading to the unfortunate Sharpeville massacre.

We do not intend to be history’s revisionists. Neither do we as the ANC intend to claim easy victories, for surely the death of 69 people on what became Sharpeville Day was no easy victory! Indeed as some have said, it was victory written in the blood of our people. That victory saw amongst others, India’s President Nehru acting against apartheid South Africa.

But what is it that the PAC did leading to that fateful day? About three years earlier in 1958, Robert Sobukwe led a breakaway from the ANC, forming the PAC in 1959. The PAC was always a small splinter organisation of disgruntled people who broke away from the ANC, just like others such as COPE, albeit with the difference that they (PAC), was more principled in the breakaway than the extremely hypocritical COPE, as theirs (PAC) was based on policy differences with the ANC.

The build up of massive resistance in South Africa was undoubtedly led by the ANC, and this was attested to by its popular support since the political unbanning to the present. The ANC led in the Defiance Campaign Against Unjust Laws in 1952 and mobilised the various sectors of our population in the 1955 Congress of the People, hence our insistence that the real Congress of the People is the ANC. In future, COPE will distort this historical fact, and in fact the name was intended to imply that deception.

There is no doubt that there have always been various ideological strands in South Africa, even amongst the various forces fighting for liberation from apartheid. However, these various forces were incapable of unleashing massive resistance, hence they piggy backed on the activities organised by the ANC and the Sharpeville massacre was no exception. All those political organisations opposed to apartheid were united in their rejection of the pass laws.

At the opportunity of mobilisation by the African National Congress of people around the country, including Sharpeville, the PAC saw an opportunity to kindle life into its own political activities by upstaging the events as organised by the ANC. The ANC was mobilising the masses of our people for a rally on the 31st March 1960.

The PAC quickly organised a march scheduled for the 21st, going door to door, distributed very misleading pamphlets purporting that the march was organised by the “Congress”. As a result, many people were misled into thinking that the march was organised by the ANC.

The question that could be asked, is why did the “Pan Africanist Congress of Azania”, that is so evidently proud of its distinguishing name chose to use the name “Congress” for what was to be arguably its biggest political event since their formation in 1959? More so when it was the ANC that often went under the name “Congress” or “the Congress” or in isiZulu “uKhongolose”?

As it is, the Sharpeville Massacre remains an isolated incident in the history of the PAC. There were no build ups to that fateful event, neither were there events following that, except that the PAC was also banned when the apartheid regime decided to ban the African National Congress in 1960. The Sharpeville massacre finds proper locus in the events organised by the ANC before and after the massacre itself.

Other historical figures confirm the view that the ANC was responsible for the popular mobilisation that led to the opportunistic door to door activities of the PAC in the morning of 21st March 1960.

Amongst these is Nelson Mandela in his “Long Walk to Freedom”. If scholarly quotes and references add value to truth, we know that Nelson Mandela would not tell lies or claim easy victories!

Also, Alistair Boddy-Evans, in “The origins of the Human Rights Day”, make the following assertion:

“The PAC and ANC did not agree on policy, and it seemed unlikely in 1959 that they would co-operate in any manner. The ANC planned a campaign of demonstration against the pass laws to start at the beginning of April 1960. The PAC rushed ahead and announced a similar demonstration, to start ten days earlier, effectively hijacking the ANC campaign.”

While Robert Sobukwe emphasised that the demonstration was to be peaceful, Alistair Boddy-Evans further made the assertion that the PAC leadership was in fact hoping for a violent response, if that be the case, the only reason was again for the PAC to deliberately ensure the shedding of blood so as to elevate their supposed importance in the struggle for liberation.

Then the ANC could not correct the situation because everybody was grieving for the dead and in shock, but in retrospect, Sharpeville must be properly located in the struggle as led by the African National Congress, of course admitting to the bloody opportunism that the PAC is.

In doing so, as the ANC we are neither revisionists nor opportunists that tell lies and claim easy victories! Consequently, the ANC owes the PAC no political elevation and no amount of grandstanding would turn the tide against its dwindling support because its ideology was as irrelevant in 1958 and 1959 as it is today.

That is why the PAC has got no support even in the areas where it claims to be its stronghold. But like every other party, they too are mistaken in the hope that a political collision with the ANC would give them a breath of life.

The correct history should be told to the youth of South Africa by their own organisation which played pivotal role in the defiance campaign.

Julius Malema is the President of the African National Congress Youth League

Friday, March 26, 2010
19:41 Mecca time, 16:41 GMT

Twin Baghdad blasts kill dozens

Friday’s explosions occurred less than an hour before the poll panel was set to disclose full results

At least 20 people have been killed and 60 others wounded in twin blasts in the town of Khales, in Iraq’s Diyala province north of Baghdad, a security official said.

Among the wounded were women and children, said the official from Baquba Operations Command, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Friday’s blasts struck at around 6:15pm (15:15 GMT) in front of a cafe and a restaurant in central Khales, around 65km northeast of Baghdad and near Diyala’s provincial capital of Baquba.

The explosions came less than an hour before Iraq’s national election commission was due to announce full results from the country’s hotly-contested March 7 parliamentary election.

Violence has dropped dramatically across Iraq since its peak in 2006 and 2007, but attacks remain common, especially in Baghdad and the restive northern city of Mosul.

Source: Agencies

Blasts as Iraq awaits poll result

At least 40 people have been killed in two bomb blasts in the Iraqi town of Khalis, as the country awaits final parliamentary election results.

More than 60 people were also reported hurt in the attack in Diyala province, 70km (43 miles) north-east of Baghdad.

Election officials in Iraq had said earlier that they planned to release the full results of the 7 March poll despite fears it could spark violence.

Prime Minister Nouri Maliki is in a tight race with challenger Iyad Allawi.

The Iraqiya political bloc of Mr Allawi, a former prime minister, was ahead by about 11,000 votes nationwide with 95% of the votes counted.

Speaking ahead of the announcement of the final results, the UN’s envoy to Iraq, Ad Melkert, described the election as “credible” and a “success”.

He called on Iraqi parties to “accept the results”, the Associated Press reports.

Restaurant targeted

Mr Maliki’s supporters have staged protests calling for a recount.

But the head of Iraq’s election commission on Thursday ruled out holding a manual recount of all the votes cast.

No single group is expected to win a majority, renewing fears of a protracted political crisis and fresh violence.

A security official told the AFP news agency that women and children were among those caught in Friday’s twin blasts in Khalis.

The attack appeared to target a popular restaurant in the town, near the provincial capital, Baquba.

A police official, Salah Mohammed, told AP that one of the blasts was caused by a car bomb and the other a suicide bomber.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/8589854.stm
Published: 2010/03/26 17:32:21 GMT

Friday, March 26, 2010
19:39 Mecca time, 16:39 GMT

US and Russia agree on nuclear deal

Russia is believed to have about 3,000 nuclear warheads

Barack Obama, the US president, and Dmitry Medvedev, his Russian counterpart, have finalised the terms of a new nuclear arms reduction agreement.

The two leaders approved the deal for a successor to the landmark Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start), which will cut the amount of missiles deployed by both countries by one third, following a telephone conversation on Friday.

Speaking from the White House, Obama said: “With this agreement, the United States and Russia, the two largest nuclear powers in the world, also send a clear signal that we intend to lead.

“By upholding our own commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, we strengthen our global efforts to stop the spread of these weapons, and to ensure that other nations meet their own responsibilities.”

Ratification required

The two nations will sign the new treaty on April 8 in Prague, where Obama gave a major speech last April calling for a world free of nuclear weapons.

The deal replaces the 1991 Start agreement which expired in December.

Obama said he was looking forward to working closely with his fellow Democrats and Republicans in Congress to ratify the new treaty.

Some analysts have said Republicans who staunchly back missile defence may try to deny the Obama administration the two-thirds majority it needs in the Senate to pass the treaty.

Robert Gates, the US defence secreatry, said the new treaty did not set constraints on US plans to develop and improve missile defence systems.

Patty Culhane, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Washington, said: “This is probably the first concrete success that President Obama can point to to when it comes to foreign policy.

“This has been a very tough negotiation, it’s been going on for more than a year and the announcement is more than three months late.”

Neave Barker, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Moscow, said that Medvedev had announced that “the agreement showed a balance of interests between the two countries”.

Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said the treaty had made a “significant contribution … to strengthening the regime of nuclear non-proliferation”.

He said the treaty would “also increase the level of trust not only between Russia and the United States but more generally between nuclear and non-nuclear … members of the Non-Proliferation Treaty”.

Difficult negotiations

Under the terms of the treaty the two countries will reduce their number of warheads to 1,550 each.

The US has said it currently has about 2,200 nuclear warheads, while Russia is believed to have about 3,000.

Moscow and Washington have held months of difficult negotiations in Geneva aimed at replacing the treaty, a cornerstone of Cold War-era strategic arms control.

Lavrov said: “I’d also like to note the unprecedented personal involvement of presidents Obama and Medvedev in agreeing on the new treaty.

“They regularly discussed the situation in talks and developed a common understanding, which allowed delegations in Geneva to find solutions on the most complex issues.”

The 1991 Start agreement led to huge reductions in the Russian and US nuclear arsenals and imposed verification measures to build trust between the two former Cold War foes.

Delays in the Start talks and missed deadlines have cast a shadow over the Russian and US leaders’ efforts to make good on their pledge to improve bilateral ties.

The US is set to host a nuclear security summit on April 12 to 13, and observers had said it had been a matter of pride for Washington to have the new treaty in place before the summit.

A review conference for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is scheduled for May.

Source: Agencies