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page 22 LIBYA World powers ready to arm unity government World powers have said they are ready to arm Libya’s UN-backed unity government to help it fight the self-styled Islamic State (IS) group. Speaking at a meeting in Vienna, which was attended by diplomats from more than 20 countries, US Secretary of State John Kerry […]

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LIBYA

World powers ready to arm unity government

World powers have said they are ready to arm Libya’s UN-backed unity government to help it fight the self-styled Islamic State (IS) group.

Speaking at a meeting in Vienna, which was attended by diplomats from more than 20 countries, US Secretary of State John Kerry said world powers would back Libya in seeking exemption from a UN arms embargo.

He said IS was a “new threat” to Libya and it was “imperative” it was stopped.

Last month, the Libyan government warned that IS could seize most of the country if it was not halted soon.

Mr Kerry said: “The GNA [Government of National Accord] is the only entity that can unify the country. It is the only way to ensure that vital institutions… fall under representative and acknowledged authority.

“It is the only way to generate the cohesion necessary to defeat Daesh [IS].”

Mr Kerry said support for arming the government was part of a package of measures agreed at the meeting, which included accelerating non-military aid to Libya.

TURKEY

Turkish strikes in Syria ‘kill 27 militants’

The Turkish army and US-led coalition forces are reported to have attacked Islamic State (IS) targets in northern Syria, killing 27 militants.

Military sources quoted in Turkish state-run media said the air and artillery strikes took place on Sunday within 10km (six miles) of the border.

They said the militants were killed as they prepared to fire rockets.

On Monday, Turkey reportedly detained seven suspected IS members including one described as an IS “executioner”.

The suspects were held in raids in the Elazig area of eastern Turkey, state-run Anatolia news agency reported.

The agency said the alleged executioner had carried out several killings in Syria for the militant group. The others detained included an unidentified man described as a senior leader.

TANZANIA

Tanzania purges 10,000 ghost workers

Tanzania has removed more than 10,000 “ghost workers” from its public sector payroll in a crackdown on corruption.

Payments to the non-existent employees had been costing the government more than $2m (£1.4m) a month, according to the prime minister’s office.

The authorities say they are continuing to audit the public payroll and expect to find more phantom workers.

President John Magufuli, who was elected in October, has promised to cut wasteful public expenditure in office.

He ordered the audit in March, calling for the money saved to be used towards development.

Tanzania spends more than $260 million a month paying the salaries of its estimated 550,000 public workers, Reuters news agency reports.

UNITED STATES

Trump says unlikely to have good relationship with Cameron

Donald Trump said he was unlikely to have a good relationship with David Cameron because the British prime minister cast the U.S. presidential candidate as “divisive, stupid and wrong” for proposing a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States.

Cameron criticised Trump in the British parliament over his call for the ban on Muslims and suggested that the New York billionaire, who is now the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, would unite Britain against him if he visited.

“It looks like we’re not going to have a very good relationship, who knows?” Trump told Britain’s ITV television station in an interview aired on Monday when asked how ties would fare if he won the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 8.

“Well number one, I’m not stupid, okay. I can tell you that right now. Just the opposite. Number Two, in terms of divisive: I don’t think I’m a divisive person. I’m a unifier, unlike our president right now,” Trump said, referring to Barack Obama.

Cameron’s spokesman said the prime minister stood by his original comments.

SWEDEN

Man sentenced to life imprisonment for genocide in Rwanda

A Swedish court sentenced on Monday a 61-year-old man to life in prison for genocide in Rwanda in 1994, the second such case brought by the Nordic country over crimes during the conflict.

The Stockholm District Court said Claver Berinkindi, a Swedish citizen originally from Rwanda, was convicted of genocide and gross crime under international law consisting of murder, attempted murder and kidnapping in Rwanda.

“This relates to participation in a large number of massacres during the 1994 genocide where the defendant had an informal role as a leader,” the court said in a statement.

Under Swedish law, courts can try Swedish citizens and other nationals for crimes committed abroad.

The court said fifteen crime victims had been awarded damages ranging from 3 million Rwandan francs ($3,781) to 10 million francs ($12,602). It was the first time a Swedish court had awarded damages to victims of genocide.

BURUNDI

Rwanda expels over 1,500 Burundians as relations fray

Rwanda has expelled more than 1,300 Burundians in the past week after they refused to move to refugee camps, senior Burundi officials said on Monday, amid signs a political crisis is testing relations between the neighbouring countries.

Rwandan officials were not immediately available for comment on the reported removals of Burundians who had been working there, many of them for years – an account confirmed by one of those affected.

Rwanda has been hosting tens of thousands of people who have fled more than a year of political violence in Burundi – and others who have crossed the border for years for work, often without formal permission.

“They were asked to go to refugee camps or return back to Burundi,” the governor of Burundi’s Kirundo province next to the Rwandan border, Melchior Nankwahomba, said.

Rwanda has denied Burundi’s accusations.

IRAN

Eight arrested for ‘un-Islamic’ Instagram modelling

Iran has arrested eight people working for online modelling agencies deemed to be “un-Islamic”, the prosecutor of Tehran’s cybercrimes court has said.

The arrests are part of an operation that has seen women targeted for posting photos showing them not wearing headscarves on Instagram and elsewhere.

Women in Iran have been required to cover their hair in public since 1979.

The eight unnamed people were among 170 identified by investigators as being involved in modelling online.

They included 59 photographers and make-up artists, 58 models and 51 fashion salon managers and designers, according to a statement from the court.

CHINA

China ignores revolution anniversary

The 50th anniversary of the start of the Cultural Revolution, which plunged China into a decade of chaos, has been met with silence in state media.

On 16 May 1966 Communist leader Mao Zedong began a campaign to eliminate his rivals. At the same time he called on Chinese youth to “purge” society.

Years of bloodshed and turmoil ensued, ending with Mao’s death in 1976.

On Monday, the main state media outlets made virtually no mention of the anniversary, focusing on coverage of the South China Sea and other domestic issues. No official events were planned by the authorities to mark the 50-year milestone.

COLOMBIA

FARC to remove child soldiers from ranks

The Colombian government says it has agreed a road map for the release of child soldiers from the ranks of the left-wing FARC rebels.

The document drawn up at the peace talks in Havana will give priority to FARC recruits under the age of 15.

They will be treated as victims of war and will be pardoned when Colombian law permits it.

The accord will extend to all fighters under 18 and the children will be returned to their families if possible.

The FARC agreed to help identify the children and organise their departure from their military hideouts.

S/AFRICA

South African university ‘fire-bombed’

A leading university in South Africa says arsonists have fire-bombed a 1,000 seat auditorium at one of its campuses in the main city, Johannesburg, as part of an “organised set of attacks” on educational institutions.

Damage worth $640,000 (£44,000) was caused in the overnight attack at the University of Johannesburg, with computer laboratories and equipment also destroyed.

“This is just the latest in a set of criminal acts directed at our country’s basic and higher education institutions,” Vice-Chancellor Ihron Rensburg said.

“We are calling on the police, the intelligence services and the judiciary to re-double their efforts in getting to the bottom of this organised set of attacks,” he added.

It is unclear who carried out the attack.