UN-backed forces 'failing' in DR Congo rebel fight

UN-backed operations against rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have failed, a leaked report says.

The document, seen by the BBC, says Rwandan-Hutu rebels continue to receive arms supplies and recruit fighters.

It says the UN, fighting alongside Congolese government troops, has failed to halt the illegal mineral trade and has inflamed the humanitarian crisis.

The report was written by a group of experts mandated by the UN to look into violations of an arms embargo.

The Security Council is due to discuss the findings later.

Jason Stearns, a DR Congo analyst, called them "astounding".

He told the BBC's Network Africa programme the group had concluded there was a "complete lack of transparency" in the mineral trade in DR Congo.

"This allows many actors to continue to buy tin and gold from areas controlled by rebel groups - thereby financing these rebels groups," he said.

"They have implicated some of the most important gold dealers in DR Congo, in Burundi and in Rwanda - these are very high level officials involved in this."

'Terminator' at large

The report states that the UN-backed military operation against Rwandan-Hutu rebels has failed to dismantle the organisation's political and military structure.

Instead, these rebels - some of whose leaders were involved in the Rwandan genocide - have been able to use networks in Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania, and overseas in Europe and North America, to bolster their supply of arms and to recruit extra soldiers.

The report says Rwandan fighters continue to enjoy support from senior members of the Congolese military who are supposed to be opposing them.

This militia, known as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), controls parts of the illegal trade in gold and tin, worth millions of dollars a year.


map of DR Congo and Rwanda

FDLR: Congo's multinational rebels
Congo gold 'still funding' rebels
In pictures: Behind rebel lines

The report says that former Rwandan-backed Congolese Tutsi rebels are operating as a parallel armed group, despite integrating with the national army.

It adds that they have expanded their influence throughout the region under the command of Bosco Ntaganda, and unleashed a wave of killings, rapes and looting within the framework of the military operation.

Known as "the Terminator", Gen Ntaganda is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged forced enrolment of child soldiers in 2002-2003.

He formerly served in a Tutsi-dominated rebel militia, the Congress for the Defence of the People, but joined the national army at the beginning of this year.

The report found that Gen Ntaganda's men were deployed in some of the region's most lucrative mining areas, which they now control.

The UN experts have found that some companies, already named in a report last year, continue to work against UN sanctions.

The report says that significant amounts of gold are being trafficked throughout the region, particularly through Uganda and Burundi and then sold to individuals in the United Arab Emirates.

The Group of Experts recognises that there may well be a contradiction in the mandate of Monuc, the UN peacekeeping force in the DR Congo.

They say it has to both protect civilians as well as back a military operation that has aggravated the humanitarian situation in eastern Congo.

New charges in Minnesota-Somali terror recruitment case

File photo of members of al-Shabab at a training camp outside Mogadishu (4 November 2008)
The men are accused of joining the fight with al-Shabab

US prosecutors have announced charges against eight people as part of an investigation into young men leaving the United States to fight in Somalia.

Those charged are accused of giving financial support to recruits, and of training and fighting with Somali Islamist militants.

Up to 20 people are thought to have left Minnesota to fight with Somali militants in the last two years.

All but one of the men are of Somali descent, officials say.

US federal prosecutors accuse them of aiding the militant group al-Shabab, which is said to have links to al-Qaeda and has recently been leading an insurgency against Somali authorities.

Several have died - one when he took part in a series of suicide bombings in the semi-autonomous Puntland region, according to authorities.

'Sad reality'

One of those against whom charges were announced on Monday, Mohamud Said Omar, is being held in the Netherlands.

The others have not been arrested and are thought to be outside the US.

In total, 14 people have now been charged as part of the long-running investigation.

"The sad reality is that the vibrant Somali community here in Minneapolis has lost many of its sons to fighting in Somalia," Attorney Todd Jones said in a statement, as the new charges were announced.

"Those tempted to fight on behalf of or provide support to any designated terrorist group should know they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

Somalia has been embroiled in almost continuous conflict since its central government collapsed in 1991. Insurgents control much of the centre and south of the country.

Nigeria tanker explosion kills 70

At least 70 people were burnt to death in Nigeria when a fuel tanker exploded, setting fire to five packed minibuses in the southern state of Anambra. Officials told local media the tanker overturned after it hit a pothole on Friday, sparking the massive blaze. They said the death toll could rise as the charred remains of the victims were recovered from the minibuses. A transport official warned that more accidents were likely if nothing was done to improve Nigeria's road network. "If something isn't done quickly, tragedies like this will happen again," Ben Ekenna of the Federal Road Safety Commission was quoted as saying by AFP news agency. He said several other people were badly wounded in the accident and were taken to local hospitals. Accidents on Nigeria's poorly-maintained roads are common.

One in four is Muslim, study says

Muslims offer prayers at London's Central Mosque A report from an American think-tank has estimated 1.57 billion Muslims populate the world - with 60% in Asia. The report, by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, took three years to compile, with census data from 232 countries and territories. It showed that 20% of Muslims lived in the Middle East and North Africa. The data also showed that there were more Muslims in Germany than in Lebanon, and more in Russia than in Jordan and Libya together. Surprise Researchers analysed approximately 1,500 sources including census reports, demographic studies and general population surveys. Senior researcher Brian Grim told CNN that the overall figure was a surprise and said: "Overall, the number is higher than I expected." The report, published on Wednesday, also found that Ethiopia has nearly as many Muslims as Afghanistan.Amaney Jamal, an assistant professor of politics at Princeton University, told the AP news agency: "This whole idea that Muslims are Arabs and Arabs are Muslims is really just obliterated by this report." Instead the report found that more than 300 million Muslims live in countries where Islam was not the majority religion. Of the total Muslim population, 10-13% are Shia Muslims and 87-90% are Sunni Muslims. Most Shias live in Iran, Pakistan, India and Iraq. Europe is home to 38 million Muslims - around 5% of its population with European Muslims making up slightly more than 2% of the world's Muslim population. More than half of the 4.6 million Muslims in the Americas live in the US - however they make up just 0.8% of the population there. The Pew Forum has said the findings will lay the foundation for a forthcoming study that will look at how Muslim populations worldwide have grown and what they may look like in the future. It also plans to compile figures for the other major world religions. According to internet-based group, Adherents, there are currently 2.1 billion Christians, 900 million Hindus and 14 million Jews worldwide.

Somali Islamists clash over port

If the two groups fall out nationally, Somalia's woes could worsen Two Islamist groups who were previously working together in Somalia have become embroiled in a fierce fight for control of the southern port of Kismayo. At least 12 people have been killed and hundreds have fled their homes. Al-Shabab is reported to have gained the upper hand over Hizbul-Islam, some of whose fighters have left the town. The two groups have been national allies against the weak, UN-backed government, but tension has been building in Kismayo in recent weeks. The Islamist pair together control most southern and central areas of the country. 'Brothers' The BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan in the capital, Mogadishu, says fighting started at dawn with sporadic gunfire. But residents told him it quickly escalated with fighters on the streets of the town using light and heavy machine-guns as well as rocket-propelled grenades.Some of those he spoke to had already fled their homes and he could hear loud explosions in the background. "We were attacked by our brothers with no reason," local Hizbul-Islam spokesman Sheikh Ismail Haji Adow said, according to the AFP news agency. "They [al-Shabab] launched their offensive on several fronts very early this morning." Our reporter says the Islamist groups have been in an uneasy alliance to run the town for almost a year. But last week al-Shabab named a new administration which excluded Hizbul-Islam. The tension escalated through the media, with both sides advising their fighters on Wednesday to ready themselves for possible conflict. A Hizbul-Islam official warned on Wednesday that if fighting started it would spread across the country, but correspondents say other Islamist leaders may not have the stomach for all-out war. Our reporter says the fallout could mean that battles erupt in villages and towns around the country where there are joint administrations. Analysts say it could be a turning point for the embattled government. At the moment it controls only small areas of the capital, with the help of African Union peacekeeping troops. President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a moderate Islamist, was chosen in January after UN-brokered peace talks. He has vowed to implement Sharia but al-Shabab, which is accused of links to al-Qaeda, regards him as a Western puppet. The country has been wracked by conflict since 1991, when it last had an effective national government. Some three million people - half the population - need food aid, while hundreds of thousands of people have fled the country.

Somali militants execute 'spies'

Islamist groups often punish people in public - these men are being flogged

Islamist militants in Somalia have executed two people they accused of spying for foreign organisations.

Hundreds watched as a firing squad arranged by the al-Shabab group shot the pair in the capital, Mogadishu.

Al-Shabab officials said the men had been found guilty of working for the US CIA and African Union peacekeepers.

Analysts say the killings may have been in retaliation for a US raid earlier this month, in which an al-Qaeda suspect is said to have been killed.

The US regards al-Shabab as a proxy for al-Qaeda in Somalia, and says the group threatens to destabilise the region.

One witness to the execution told AP news agency that 10 al-Shabab fighters shot the pair in Mogadishu's main livestock market in front of hundreds of people.

Al-Shabab's Sharia courts, usually held in the open, have in the past sentenced people to execution, amputations and public floggings.

Humanitarian crisis

Two weeks ago, US forces launched an attack from helicopters in southern Somalia, reportedly killing Kenyan-born Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan who was wanted by the US for attacks in Kenya.

It was the first such US incursion into Somalia for years.

Days after the raid, suicide bombers attacked an AU base in Mogadishu and killed at least 16 people.

Al-Shabab claimed responsibility, saying the attack was in revenge for the US raid.

Islamist rebels control much of central and southern Somalia, including parts of the capital city.

Al-Shabab is attempting to impose an extreme brand of Islamic law on the areas it controls.

Its fighters are battling troops loyal to the government - which controls little territory and is backed by the US, UN and peacekeepers from the AU.

Other radical Islamists, who are allied to al-Shabab in some areas and fight them in other places, also vie for control of large parts of the country.

The country has been wracked by conflict since 1991, when it last had an effective national government.

Some three million people - half the population - need food aid, while hundreds of thousands of people have fled the country.

Mugabe: West 'dividing Zimbabwe'

President Robert Mugabe criticises ''illegal'' sanctions against Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has accused the West of using "filthy clandestine divisive antics" to undermine Zimbabwe's power-sharing government. He again called for sanctions to be lifted, saying they were "ruining the lives of our children". The sanctions prevent him and his closest allies from travelling and accessing their assets abroad. Donors are wary of releasing aid money to the government, fearing they could be misused by Mr Mugabe or his allies. They also point to continued harassment of activists of the former opposition Movement for Democratic Change, even after the MDC joined the government.Long-time rivals Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC leader, and Mr Mugabe signed a power-sharing agreement a year ago, after a disputed election. During his address to the UN General Assembly, Mr Mugabe said southern African nations had made huge sacrifices to help his country during the global economic crisis, but the West's sanctions had not been lifted. "If they will not assist the inclusive government in rehabilitating our economy, could they please stop their filthy clandestine divisive antics?" he said. The European Union recently sent its first high-level delegation to Harare for several years but afterwards refused to lift its travel ban on Mr Mugabe. He is still allowed to attend UN meetings. Mr Mugabe blames sanctions imposed after a disputed presidential election in 2002 for ruining the country's economy. The International Monetary Fund and World Bank have recently restored some funding to Zimbabwe after several years. Zimbabwe's economy was in meltdown before the MDC joined the government in February, with Mr Tsvangirai becoming prime minister. The situation has since stabilised but Zimbabwe says it needs some $10bn to rebuild the shattered country. Donors and the MDC say Mr Mugabe's economic policies, including the seizure of productive farmland, were responsible for Zimbabwe's economic collapse.

Ugandan king postpones town rally

Kampala is littered with debris after the king's supporters clashed with police The king of Uganda's largest ethnic group, the Buganda, has put off a visit to a town in his kingdom, his spokesman has said. It follows two days of riots in the capital, Kampala, in which at least 11 people were killed. The spokesman said the king did not want to see violence spreading to the town, Kayunga. But he stressed the event was postponed, not cancelled. The move defuses the tension for now, says the BBC's Peter Greste. Our correspondent - reporting from neighbouring Kenya - says although Kampala is now calm, the police are maintaining a high profile, particularly in neighbourhoods that saw some of the worst violence. 'Lynched' The spokesman for King Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II said the postponement of Saturday's planned youth rally would allow time for talks with the central government. Armed police are out in force in parts of the capital He said they would find a way to hold the event in a "peaceful and secure" environment. On Thursday and Friday, the king's supporters set up barricades, looted shops and fought running battles with police. At least 11 people are now thought to have been killed, the director of the main hospital in the city, Iga Matovu, told Agence France Presse news agency on Saturday. He said some had been killed by bullets and others appeared to have been lynched. The protests happened when the government - citing security risks - banned the king from travelling to Kayunga, which says it has seceded from his kingdom. There have been reports that police opened fire on rioters. A Ugandan government spokesman, Fred Opolot, told the BBC there would be a full investigation, but that he believed the police had behaved "absolutely professionally". Farmland Buganda is one of Uganda's four ancient kingdoms and its tribal members are Uganda's largest ethnic group. The country's traditional kingdoms were banned in 1966 but reinstated by President Yoweri Museveni in 1993. The Buganda have long called for the restoration of a federal administration that would give their largely ceremonial king the formal political power he is currently denied. They are also seeking more control over the traditional lands, which include prime farmland they say has been taken by other ethnic groups.

Confusion over Gabon candidates

Andre Mba Obame could be boosted by the ethnic vote

Two days before elections in Gabon to replace the late President Omar Bongo, at least five out of 23 candidates have said they are pulling out of the race.

They say they will now back Andre Mba Obame, a former government minister.

But several other candidates denied media reports that they had also withdrawn in favour of Mr Obame.

The favourite to win Sunday's poll is Ali Ben Bongo, the son of the former president who ruled Gabon from 1967 until his death in June.

Some of the candidates have complained of voter registration irregularities, including Bruno Ben Moubamba, who has gone on hunger strike in protest.

He, however, denied reports that he was one of those who had withdrawn from the race and was supporting Mr Obame.

Following overnight talks, one of those pulling out of the race, Anna Claudine Assayi Ayo, said that "consultations resulted in a secret vote and the designation of Andre Mba Obame [as candidate]".

Mr Obame was the interior minister under President Bongo.

He was a senior member of the ruling Gabonese Democratic party (PDG) until deciding to run as an independent after it selected Ali Ben Bongo as its candidate.

He, and some of those who withdrew from the election, are from the Fang ethnic group - Gabon's largest - and correspondents say this could help him pose a serious challenge to Mr Bongo.

However, the anti-Bongo vote still looks set to be divided, while the PDG candidate enjoys the advantage of having the best-financed campaign.

Gabon is a major oil producer but most of its 1.4 million people live in poverty.

The late President Bongo was facing charges of corruption in a French court when he died.

Banana diseases hit African crops

Bananas are a staple food for millions across Africa

Food supplies in several African countries are under threat because two diseases are attacking bananas, food scientists have told the BBC.

Crops are being damaged from Angola through to Uganda - including many areas where bananas are a staple food.

Experts are urging farmers to use pesticides or change to a resistant variety of banana where possible.

Scientists have been meeting in Tanzania to decide how to tackle the diseases, which are spread by insects.

'Big danger'

The scientists, from the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), issued a statement saying "drastic and expensive control measures" were needed.

They recommended "completely excavating entire banana fields and treating them with pesticides, or burning the plants".

Experts say the two diseases - bunchy top viral disease and bacterial wilt - are both spread by insects and very few varieties of banana have resistance to them.

While bunchy top stunts the growth of plants by causing leaves to sprout from the top, bacterial wilt kills off plants and makes their fruit inedible.

Christopher Chemirehreh, of the Kawanda Agricultural Research Institute in Uganda, said people were particularly vulnerable in the areas where the diseases were found.

"It's a big danger because the affected areas have the banana as their staple crop," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.

"So if they fail to control the bacterial wilt, their incomes are affected and their food is affected, so it's a very big problem."

Zuma confident on Zimbabwe future

President Robert Mugabe (r) hosted a state banquet for Jacob Zuma

South African President Jacob Zuma has said the problems in Zimbabwe's unity government are not "insurmountable".

He has held talks with both President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on his first official visit to Harare as president.

Mr Mugabe, looking in good health, admitted to "teething problems" in the power-sharing administration but said these were to be expected.

Mr Tsvangirai's MDC party accuses Mr Mugabe of acting in bad faith.

The long-time opposition Movement for Democratic Change says its activists continue to be harassed even after it joined the government in February.

It hopes Mr Zuma will put pressure on Mr Mugabe to rein in his hardline supporters, especially in the security forces, who it says are trying to derail the unity accord.

Mr Zuma is the current chair of the Southern African Development Community, the body which helped to broker the power-sharing deal.

"The remaining issues are not insurmountable and can be overcome. The most difficult path has already been travelled," Mr Zuma said at a state banquet hosted by President Mugabe.

Mr Mugabe said the "teething problems" have "not detracted us from our agreed common vision to establish peace, turn around the economy and work to deliver the services expected of us by the generality of our people".

Journalist Brian Hungwe says Mr Mugabe, 85, appeared healthy.

Zimbabwe officials have denied recent press reports that Mr Mugabe was ill, labelling them the product of "sick and evil minds".

Mr Zuma also held an hour-long meeting with Mr Tsvangirai and is expected to meet both Zimbabwean leaders again later on Friday.

He is also due to make a speech at the Harare Agricultural Show.

A spokesman for Mr Zuma's African National Congress party said he planned to be more outspoken about Zimbabwe's problems - a contrast to the "quiet diplomacy" of his predecessor Thabo Mbeki.

"President Zuma will be more vocal in terms of what we see as deviant behaviour," Gwede Mantashe told reporters.

Frenchman 'flees Somali captors'

Much of south Somalia is controlled by al-Shabab and its militia allies

A French security adviser seized by Islamist militants in Somalia has escaped his captors, officials say.

The Frenchman, who was kidnapped from a hotel in Mogadishu along with a colleague last month, reportedly killed three militants as he made his escape.

The fate of the the second hostage is not clear, with one unconfirmed report saying he was also free.

The pair were part of a team training government forces, who are battling the rebels for control of the country.

A spokesman for the interim government, Abdulkadir Hussein Wehliye, confirmed the escape of the first man, saying he was in the presidential palace and "in a good mood".

Foreign reinforcements

A government military official, Farhan Asanyo, said the man unexpectedly came up to government soldiers early on Wednesday, identified himself and said he had escaped.

"The man told them that he was one of the French officials held by militants," Mr Asanyo said.

Meeting al-Shabab Somali justice, Islamist-style

"He said he escaped after killing three of his captors, and we sent him to the presidential palace."

The French news agency AFP later reported that Somali Information Minister Dahir Mohamud Gele said the second hostage was also free.

The BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan, in Mogadishu, says the two French captives were being held by different factions.

While fighters from the Hizbul-Islam group were holding the man whose escaped has been confirmed, their allies from al-Shabab were thought to be holding the other man.

The two groups control much of southern Somalia, but analysts say al-Shabab is known for being the more radical of the two groups.

Al-Shabab fighters care little for their public image and they have carried out killings on camera.

Both groups are said to have links to al-Qaeda and have been reinforced by foreign fighters.

Somalia has not had a functioning central government since 1991.

Moderate Islamist Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was sworn in as president in January after UN-brokered peace talks.

He promised to introduce Sharia law but the hardliners accuse him of being a western stooge.

Nigeria oil rights grab 'illegal'

Nigeria is the world's eighth-largest oil exporter Nigeria's high court has ruled that its country's government illegally revoked exploration licences granted to a South Korean oil consortium. The Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) had filed an action demanding the restoration of two offshore licences, granted in 2005. Nigeria called off the deal in January, alleging that the consortium failed to make agreed payments. But the court said that President Umaru Yar'Adua did not have such power. The government has said it will appeal against the court's ruling. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had awarded KNOC rights to the two oil blocks, which which some estimates suggest could hold as much as one billion barrels. The case has been watched closely by the oil industry, with foreign investors concerned about the security of contracts when administrations change. Infrastructure pledge The revocation of the licences - which were later awarded to an Indian firm - were a blow to Seoul's efforts to raise its reserves, as South Korea imports all its oil. The consortium is led by KNOC. Other members include Daewoo Shipbuilding and Korea Electric Power. It paid $9m in cash and offered a letter of credit to pay another $231m, in order to cover its 60% interest in oil blocks OPL321 and OPL323, which are based in deep water in the Gulf of Guinea. In return for the exploration rights, South Korea had planned to build a 1,200-km (745-mile) gas pipeline from the southern delta to the capital, Abuja, and provide 2,250 megawatts of power generation.

Security boosted in north Nigeria

Offices and buildings were razed in two days of violence The Nigerian authorities have stepped up security across the north of the country, following two days of violence in which at least 100 people have died. Soldiers have set up road blocks and imposed dusk-to-dawn curfews in affected areas in Yobe, Kano, Borno and Plateau states. Islamist militants staged attacks on police and government offices. There have been reports of youths armed with machetes and guns killing police officers and civilians at random. Nigeria's military and police have been ordered to use all means necessary to contain the violence, the BBC's Caroline Duffield in Lagos reports. Gun battles Eyewitnesses told the BBC that police stations had been attacked and civilians pulled from their cars and shot dead.In the town worst affected by the violence, Maiduguri in Borno State, bodies of residents and militants have been piled outside the police station and in the streets. A BBC reporter there counted 100 corpses. Some of the militants are believed to be supporters of a preacher based in Maiduguri, Mohammed Yusuf, who says Western education is against Islamic teaching. Nigeria's police are understood to be searching for him. Late on Monday night there were still reports of shooting in Maiduguri. Earlier, witnesses told the BBC that a battle had raged for hours in Potiskum, Yobe State, where a police station and neighbouring buildings were reportedly razed. There was also attacks on police in Wudil, some 20km (12 miles) from Kano, the largest city in northern Nigeria. Security is said to have been particularly beefed up in Plateau State, to the south of Bauchi, where hundreds were killed in clashes between Muslims and Christians last year. Mr Yusuf's followers are known as Boko Haram, which means "Education is prohibited". Eyewitness: Nigeria attacks Nigeria's anti-education preacher Fear and tension after attack Youths began attacking police stations on Sunday after some of the group's leaders were arrested. Correspondents say Boko Haram has aroused suspicion for its recruitment of young men, and its belief that Western education, culture and science are sinful. Reuters news agency reports that one of the group's leaders, arrested in Kano state, said his followers were standing up for their faith. "Even if I'm arrested, there are more to do the job," Abdulmuni Ibrahim Mohammed is quoted as saying. Sharia law is in place across northern Nigeria, but there is no history of al-Qaeda-linked violence in the country. The country's 150 million people are split almost equally between Muslims and Christians and the two groups generally live peacefully side by side, despite occasional outbreaks of communal violence.