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page 32 S/AFRICA Zuma: ‘No Evidence’ of bribery in notorious arms deal South African President Jacob Zuma says an inquiry into an arms deal worth billions of dollars has found no evidence of corruption or fraud. A commission of inquiry was set up five years ago to look into the allegations surrounding the 1999 government […]

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S/AFRICA

Zuma: ‘No Evidence’ of bribery in notorious arms deal

South African President Jacob Zuma says an inquiry into an arms deal worth billions of dollars has found no evidence of corruption or fraud.

A commission of inquiry was set up five years ago to look into the allegations surrounding the 1999 government deal.

Mr Zuma was sacked as deputy president in 2005 after his financial adviser was convicted of corruption over the deal.

The president on Thursday announced the inquiry had found no evidence against any government officials of the time.

He said money had been paid for consultancy services “and nothing else”.

The allegations relate to the government’s purchase of 30bn rand (then $5bn) worth of fighter jets, helicopters, submarines and warships in 1999.

Mr Zuma was sacked as deputy president in 2005 after his then financial adviser Schabir Shaik was found guilty of trying to solicit bribes for his boss from an arms company.

Mr Zuma always denied the allegations, and in 2009 prosecutors dropped 700 charges of fraud, corruption and racketeering against him, just weeks before elections which saw him become president.

UK

Crowds celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s 90th birthday walkabout

Celebrations took place around the country on the day the Queen turns 90. Crowds lined the streets in Windsor as the monarch took part in a walkabout, and royal gun salutes were fired from each of the UK’s capital cities.

The Prince of Wales recorded a special radio broadcast for the day, in which he read an edited passage from William Shakespeare’s Henry VIII.

On Twitter, the Queen thanked senders of “#HappyBirthdayYourMajesty” tweets.

In another tweet, the Queen said: “I send my best wishes to those who are celebrating their 90th birthday… on this shared occasion, I send my warm congratulations to you.”

The Queen, who was accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh during her tour in Windsor, was presented with a birthday cake at the Guildhall by the Great British Bake Off champion Nadiya Hussain, who had created an orange drizzle cake with a butter cream and marmalade filling.

COMOROS

Comoros runoff election results remain in limbo

More than a week after the presidential runoff election on the Comoros Islands, the outcome remains in doubt.

Comorian Vice President Mohamed Ali Soilihi has challenged the vote results that gave victory to former coup leader Azali Assoumani. Third-placed presidential candidate and Grande Comore Governor Mouigni Baraka has also rejected the results.

Vice President Soilihi has called for fresh elections on Anjouan, one of the three Comoro Islands, because he said results from 23 of the 400 polling stations there were likely to favor him.

Mohamed Mchangama, president of the consumer society of Comoros, said the situation remains tense in Comoros as Vice President Soilihi has asked the constitutional court to rule on the legality of the results from the island of Anjouan.

S/ARABIA

Obama, Gulf partners remain united in efforts to stabilize Mideast

President Barack Obama said the U.S. and Gulf state leaders remain united in efforts to destroy the Islamic State group and stabilize the conflict-ridden Middle East region.

“We remain united in our fight to destroy ISIL … which is a threat to all of us,” Obama said in Riyadh, using an acronym for the Islamic State group. He said members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will also “continue to increase their contributions to the fight against ISIL and the coalition we formed.”

Speaking at the close of Thursday’s summit with the six-nation GCC, the president reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to “deter and confront aggressions” against its partners and allies in the region.

“Overall, there is a broad consensus in assisting each other in our collective security,” Obama said. “Our intelligence sharing is vital in fighting against terrorism.”

Obama spoke broadly of areas of agreement between the U.S. and GCC leaders, such as the Gulf leaders agreeing to increase humanitarian efforts in Iraq and Syria, as well as continuing to support Iraq as it “liberates and stabilizes towns and cities from ISIL control.”

BELGIUM

Brussels bombing: Anger over Jambon’s ‘Muslim dancing’ comment

Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon has come under fire for saying that a “significant part of the Muslim community danced” in response to the Brussels bomb attacks.

He was repeatedly asked by MPs for evidence of his claim and a Muslim group has made an official complaint.

The 22 March bomb attacks at Brussels airport and Maelbeek metro station left 32 dead and hundreds more wounded.

Separately a new report says one bomber worked at the airport for five years.

Mr Jambon, whose centre-right nationalist New Flemish Alliance is the largest party in parliament, has been broadly criticised for telling a newspaper that a significant section of the Muslim community danced after the attacks.

One political opponent, Katja Gabriels, warned him that a member of the government could not make such generalisations and insult a whole section of the community.

TURKEY

Turkey ‘coup’ convictions overturned

Turkey’s highest appeals court has overturned the convictions of 275 people, including senior military officers, accused of plotting a coup.

The appeals court ruled that the convictions were unsafe because the existence of a clandestine network called Ergenekon was unproven.

The officers, journalists, lawyers and academics were found guilty in 2013 of plotting the overthrow of then-prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The new ruling may lead to a retrial.

The Ergenekon case was one of the biggest in recent Turkish history, pitting Mr Erdogan’s supporters in the Islamist-rooted AK Party against the secularist military establishment.

The trials took place amid high security at Silivri, outside Istanbul, and police repeatedly used tear gas and water cannon to keep protesters at a distance.

The highest-ranking defendant was ex-military chief Ilker Basbug, who was given a life sentence. Sixteen other life sentences were also handed down, with long jail terms for others.

S/SUDAN

S/Sudan government, rebels face ultimatum

World powers say South Sudan’s government and rebels must cooperate and bring rebel leader Riek Machar to the capital by Saturday, or be referred to the U.N. Security Council.

In an ultimatum given to both sides Thursday, the United States, China, eight other countries and the European and African Unions said the government must allow Machar to come to Juba with just under 200 troops, armed only with AK-47 rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and PKM machine guns.

Rebel negotiator Taban Deng Gai told reporters the rebels accept the terms of the ultimatum, but government spokesman Michael Makuei rejected it, saying the rebels had come up with new demands.

Machar was scheduled to arrive in Juba this week to be sworn in as vice president by President Salva Kiir, per terms of a peace deal signed in August to end two and a half years of civil war.

SYRIA

Largest aid convoy reaches besieged Syrian town

The largest aid convoy so far in Syria has reached a besieged rebel-held town in the centre of the country.

Sixty-five lorries are delivering food and medicine to about 120,000 civilians in and around Rastan, in Homs province.

The International Committee of the Red Cross and Syrian Red Crescent convoy is the first to reach Rastan since 2012.

A key aim of the fragile cessation of hostilities that has been in place for nearly two months was to allow aid to be delivered more widely across Syria.

On Wednesday, hundreds of sick and wounded people were evacuated from four besieged rebel- and government-held towns as part of a deal overseen by the Syrian Red Crescent.

ETHIOPIA

Ethiopia army ‘locates children abducted from Gambella’

Ethiopia’s army has surrounded the area in neighbouring South Sudan where it believes more than 100 abducted Ethiopian children are being held, local media report.

The children were taken in a cross-border raid in the Gambella region last Friday, in which 208 people died.

The government has said members of the Murle community were responsible.

Flags have been flying at half mast in Ethiopia as the country mourns those who were killed.

A government official in Gambella said that the abducted children would soon be rescued.

MEXICO

Mexico oil plant explosion: Death toll rises to 13

The death toll in an explosion that struck a Mexican oil plant on Wednesday has reached 13 and could rise further.

The head of Mexico’s emergency services, Luis Felipe Puente, said 10 bodies were found when his staff entered the site. Three workers had already been reported dead.

The blast hit a state facility in the southern city of Coatzacoalcos. The cause of the explosion is unclear.

More than 100 people were injured and thousands had to leave their homes. Footage showed a large fire and huge plumes of smoke.