page 41

page 41 B/FASO Burkina Faso ex-leader Compaore becomes Ivorian Burkina Faso’s ousted leader Blaise Compaore has been granted Ivorian citizenship, effectively ending the prospect of his extradition to face murder charges back home. The order was signed by Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara in November 2014, but has only just come to light. Mr Compaore is […]

page 41

B/FASO

Burkina Faso ex-leader Compaore becomes Ivorian

Burkina Faso’s ousted leader Blaise Compaore has been granted Ivorian citizenship, effectively ending the prospect of his extradition to face murder charges back home.

The order was signed by Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara in November 2014, but has only just come to light.

Mr Compaore is wanted over his alleged role in the murder of iconic ex-leader Thomas Sankara in 1987. An international arrest warrant was issued for him in December. His 27-year rule ended in October 2014 after a wave of popular protests.

Mr Compaore, whose wife is Ivorian, has been in exile in Ivory Coast since his overthrow in October 2014.

Mr Sankara, a left-wing radical seen as “Africa’s Che Guevara”, is considered a hero for many Africans and was succeeded by Mr Compaore, who had served as his deputy.

The exact circumstances of his death have remained a mystery, but Mr Compaore has always denied any involvement.

S/SUDAN

S/Sudan opposition forces head to Juba for transitional government

Opposing groups in the South Sudan peace process have agreed on an arrangement to allow 1,370 opposition forces into the capital, Juba, in preparation for rebel leader Riek Machar to join a transitional government.

South Sudan’s Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission said in a statement that police and military officers loyal to the opposition are expected to travel to Juba immediately.

More security forces are expected to join them after the power-sharing transitional government is formed.

After two years of civil war, rebel leader Machar and South Sudan President Salva Kiir signed a peace deal in August, agreeing to run a unity government for 30 months before holding elections. Kiir appointed Machar as his vice president last week, in the first step toward forming the unity government.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon is due in Juba on Thursday to meet with Kiir and visit a UN shelter for civilians affected by the conflict.

S/AFRICA

Zuma withdraws troops from Sudan’s Darfur region

South Africa will withdraw its troops from peacekeeping operations in Sudan’s Darfur region, President Jacob Zuma’s office said on Wednesday.

Zuma’s office also announced on Wednesday that elected officials will receive salary increases of 4.4 percent, compared with inflation of more than 6 percent in Africa’s most industrialized economy, the presidency said on Wednesday.

South African troops joined one of the world’s largest peacekeeping forces five years after the conflict in Darfur began, but the force has been dogged by allegations by Western powers that it has not done enough to protect civilians and withheld information on the scale of violence.

“Members of the South African National Defence Force were employed in Darfur in 2008 as part of the AU/UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID). The termination will take effect from 01 April 2016,” the president’s office said in a statement.

The measures come at a time when South Africa’s economy is struggling, and government finances are under strain.

GERMANY

Germany sends home rejected Afghans

A special flight from Germany carrying 125 deported Afghans has arrived in Kabul, in a sign that the Berlin government is taking steps to reduce the number of people seeking asylum.

Afghans have become Germany’s second largest group of asylum seekers, after Syrians, with 154,000 arriving in 2015.

Those arriving in Kabul all left voluntarily, German officials said.

Hope of securing asylum in Europe has become increasingly difficult for Afghans in recent days.

Macedonia has stopped allowing Afghans across its border with Greece, giving access to only Syrians and Iraqis, leaving thousands of people stranded since Monday.

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said the return of Afghans was part of its commitment to help rebuild their country. “This is also key to a successful fight against the root cause of people fleeing,” he said.

Almost 102,000 people have arrived on the Greek islands from Turkey since the start of 2016. According to the UN: 44% are from Syria, 29% from Afghanistan, 17% from Iraq.

UGANDA

Besigye challenges ‘illegal’ detention

Uganda’s main opposition presidential candidate, Dr. Kizza Besigye said he has asked his lawyers to challenge in a court of law what he called his continued “illegal” detention by the police.

Besigye of the Forum for Democratic Change party (FDC) said he has been in and out of police detention since last Saturday without being charged.

The opposition leader said he is picked up every morning by police and taken to a police station where he is held until night fall before being brought back to his residence.

“Last night I was dropped back from the police cell of Nagalama which is in the neighboring district, and I found my home still besieged. I was told to get into my home and not allowed to get out; no charge, no explanation, and no documentation,” he said.

SYRIA

Syria conflict: Assad confirms readiness for truce

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Wednesday he is ready to support a cease-fire in his war-torn country that is set to start Saturday.

Syria’s state-run news agency, SANA, reports Assad told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a telephone call that he endorses the truce Russia and the United States agreed to earlier this week that calls for a halt in the fighting, except for continuing attacks against Islamic State, Syria’s al-Qaida affiliate al-Nusra Front and any other militias designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations Security Council.

The effectiveness of the would-be cease-fire remains in doubt, however, with Syria’s main opposition group, the Saudi-backed High Negotiations Committee (HNC) yet to commit to the U.S.-Russian plan. Combatants are required to agree to the “cessation of hostilities” by noon Friday local time, 12 hours before the truce is set to take effect.

BAHRAIN

Bahrain jails secular opposition leader

A court in Bahrain has sentenced a secular Sunni opposition leader to one year in prison for inciting hatred.

Ibrahim Sharif, a former secretary-general of the National Democratic Action Society, was arrested after making a speech calling for reform.

He was also accused of incitement to overthrow the government by force, but the court dismissed the charge.

Mr Sharif gave the speech in July, a month after being released from prison for his role in the 2011 uprising.

Bahrain has been racked by unrest since February 2011, when demonstrators occupied Manama’s Pearl Roundabout, demanding greater political rights and an end to discrimination against the majority Shia community by the Sunni royal family.

The protesters were driven out by security forces the following month, after the king brought in troops from neighbouring Sunni-led Gulf states to restore order and crush dissent.

NEPAL

Nepal passenger plane crash kills all 23 on board

A small passenger plane has crashed in mountainous western Nepal, killing all 23 people on board.

The Twin Otter aircraft, operated by Tara Air, was travelling from Pokhara to Jomsom and lost contact with the control tower shortly after taking off.

Most of those on board were Nepalis. It is not clear what caused the crash.

The plane was carrying three crew and 20 passengers, one of them Chinese and one Kuwaiti. Nepal’s aviation industry has a poor safety record.

According to Sanjiv Gautam, director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, the plane’s wreckage was found near the village of Dana in Myagdi district.

EGYPT

Sissi: Russian plane was brought down by terrorists

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said on Wednesday that the Russian plane that crashed in Sinai last year was downed by terrorists seeking to damage Egypt’s tourism industry and relations with Moscow.

“Has terrorism ended, no it has not but it will if we unite. Whoever downed the Russian plane, what did he mean? He meant to hit tourism, and to hit relations with Russia,” Sissi said in a televised speech.

The comments were the first official Egyptian indication that the plane was deliberately downed. Russia had already said that a bomb was to blame but Egypt had said it had yet to find evidence of foul play.

S/AFRICA

South Africa’s spy agency robbed of $1m

Thieves stole 17m rand ($1m; £700,000) from the offices of South Africa’s spy agency during the festive season in December, State Security Minister David Mahlobo has told lawmakers.

“You can’t even say it was a break-in, it was a walk-in,” he is quoted as saying.

“It was an internal job – you cannot even access the facilities without an access card. There was no break-in. People walked-in using an access card. It is one of those incidents where we felt embarrassed,” he added.

Reports at the time said 50m rand was stolen from a safe in an office of the State Security Agency on 27 December.