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page 30 BELGIUM Two brothers identified as Brussels attackers Belgium’s chief prosecutor named two brothers on Wednesday as Islamic State suicide bombers who killed at least 31 people in the most deadly attacks in Brussels’ history but said another key suspect was on the run. The federal prosecutor told a news conference that Ibrahim El […]

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BELGIUM

Two brothers identified as Brussels attackers

Belgium’s chief prosecutor named two brothers on Wednesday as Islamic State suicide bombers who killed at least 31 people in the most deadly attacks in Brussels’ history but said another key suspect was on the run.

The federal prosecutor told a news conference that Ibrahim El Bakraoui, 29, one of two men who blew themselves up at Brussels airport on Tuesday, had left a will on a computer dumped in a rubbish bin near the militants’ hideout.

In it, he described himself as “always on the run, not knowing what to do anymore, being hunted everywhere, not being safe any longer and that if he hangs around, he risks ending up next to the person in a cell” – a reference to suspected Paris bomber Salah Abdeslam, who was arrested last week.

His brother Khalid El Bakraoui, 27, detonated a bomb an hour later on a crowded rush-hour metro train near the European Commission headquarters, prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said.

Both men, born in Belgium, had criminal records for armed robbery but were not previously linked by investigators to Islamist militants.

S/Africa

S/African police launch graft probe into Zuma son, Guptas

South Africa’s elite ‘Hawks’ police unit has launched a corruption probe into President Jacob Zuma’s son, Duduzane, and the Guptas, a family of businessmen accused of wielding improper political influence, Talk Radio 702 said on Wednesday.

The station quoted a Hawks spokesman as saying the unit would investigate the graft allegations after a complaint was made by the Democratic Alliance, South Africa’s main opposition party.

Although the Gupta’s relationship with Zuma has been a source of controversy for years, it burst into the open last week when senior figures went public to say the family had exerted undue sway, including offering cabinet positions.

The Guptas, whose businesses stretch from media to mining, have denied the allegations and say they are pawns in a plot to oust Zuma.

SOMALIA

Somalia PM backs anti-FGM campaign

Somalia’s prime minister has publicly backed a campaign to ban female genital mutilation (FGM) in his country.

It is currently against the constitution but parliament has not yet passed a bill outlawing the practice.

Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke has joined more than a million others by signing an online petition calling for a comprehensive ban.

Somali anti-FGM campaigner Ifrah Ahmed said she had persuaded Mr Sharmarke to sign the petition organised by online campaign group Avaaz.

She said that it was a significant move as many people in Somalia do not openly speak about the issue.

Ms Ahmed, who has experienced FGM herself, thought it would help put pressure on the lawmakers to pass the bill.

She has worked with Somalia’s Women’s Affairs Minister Sahra Samatar in drawing up the draft legislation.

MALI

Mali arrests 21 after attack on EU military training mission

Authorities in Mali have arrested 21 people in connection with an attack on the headquarters of an EU military training operation there, a senior police official said on Wednesday.

In the foiled gun attack on Bamako’s Nord-Sud Hotel on Monday, one assailant was killed and two others arrested. There were no reports of casualties at the hotel, where the EU Training Mission-Mali is based.

The EU mission is comprised of nearly 600 personnel deployed to train security forces as part of efforts to stabilize Mali after the defeat of Islamist militants who had seized the country’s desert north in 2012.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but Mali and neighboring West African countries have increasingly been the target of Islamists, some affiliated with al Qaeda.

YEMEN

US strike kills 40 militants in Yemen

At least 40 militants have been killed in a US air strike on an al-Qaeda training camp in south-eastern Yemen, local officials and medics say.

Another 25 militants were wounded when the camp in Hajr, west of the port city of Mukalla, was bombed on Tuesday.

The US defence department earlier said it estimated dozens of people had died.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has exploited the current conflict in Yemen to expand the territory under its control.

Over the past year, the Houthi rebel movement and military units loyal to the former president have been battling a US-backed, Saudi-led coalition supporting the internationally-recognised government.

Almost 6,300 people, half of them civilians, have been killed in the fighting.

POLAND

Poland won’t take refugees after Brussels attacks

Poland’s government says it is not prepared to accept any refugees following the deadly attacks in Brussels.

The ruling party, Law and Justice, is staunchly anti-migrant, but had previously indicated it would respect a commitment by the previous government to resettle around 7,000 refugees.

But government spokesman Rafal Bochenek indicated Wednesday that Prime Minister Beata Szydlo’s government is reversing that position.

He said that “at the moment Poland is not able to accept immigrants.”

He said the government fears that Europe is not able to eliminate security risks connected to the mass influx of migrants, adding: “for us the most important thing is the safety of Poles.”

KENYA

Second Uber taxi set on fire in Kenya amid competition row

An Uber taxi has been set on fire in Nairobi as tensions rise between the ride-hailing service and conventional cabs, according to a Kenyan police official.

In the second attack of its kind in a matter of weeks, a man hired the vehicle to take him to the outskirts of the capital but led the driver to a dark alley, Nairobi’s police chief, Japheth Koome, said on Wednesday.

Late last month, another Uber car was burned by unknown assailants. Taxi operators asked the government in February to prevent the operations of Uber, which has become popular because of its cheaper fares.

Taxi drivers say they are suffering as a result of unfair competition from Uber, which has faced legal challenges around the world, but Uber argues that Kenya’s taxi sector needs to accept the competition.

BURUNDI

Burundi introduces two sim card ban

Burundi has banned people from owning two sim cards from the same mobile provider, local Bonesha FM reports, quoting a press release from the finance ministry.

Mobile phone companies will have two months to comply with the new regulations, it adds.

Phone companies will also have to register all sim card users, or face fines of up to $3,000 (£2,100) for each case where they fail to block an unregistered user.

The move comes amid continuing civil unrest in the country, which was sparked last April when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced he was running for a third term.

AUSTRALIA

Sydney schoolgirl ‘wired cash to IS’

A Sydney girl, 16, has appeared in court on terror financing charges which carry a maximum term of 25 years’ jail.

She is accused of sending thousands of dollars to the so-called Islamic State group in Syria through a Western Union money transfer, reports say.

The girl and a male accomplice, 20, who allegedly gave her the money were arrested in raids on Tuesday.

The pair allegedly met in a park on Tuesday to discuss a plan to send money to Syria that day, reports said.

They had reportedly developed a “sophisticated facilitation path” of wiring funds and had completed successful transfers before.

VIETNAM

Vietnam jails ‘anti-state’ bloggers

A court in Hanoi has sentenced a well-known Vietnamese blogger to five years in jail after finding him guilty of publishing anti-state articles.

Nguyen Huu Vinh, a former policeman, had connections to the ruling Communist Party elite. His assistant received three years. Both denied the charges.

They were detained in 2014. The “Ba Sam” blogs they were accused of posting attracted several million page views.

Earlier, police outside the court broke up protests seeking their release.

The one-party state is often criticised by rights groups for its intolerance of dissent. Vietnam’s mainstream media are state-run and heavily regulated.