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synergy

Posted: Dec 12 2007, 08:55 PM

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A battered Congo Republic again in convulsions

QUOTE

By Lydia Polgreen
Internation Herald Tribune (Paris)
Published: December 12, 2007

SAKE, Congo Republic: A major confrontation between the Congolese Army and a renegade Tutsi general is plunging the country back toward war, threatening to undermine the fledgling democratic state and set off a new regional conflict on a scale not seen here in years.

The battle between government troops and the rebel general, Laurent Nkunda, turns on many of the same bedeviling issues that caused Congo's civil war, which supposedly ended in 2003. It was Africa's deadliest modern war, fueled by the ethnic tensions of the Rwandan genocide and the quest to control the unusually rich endowment of minerals, farm and pasture land in the small, rolling green patch of earth here known as North Kivu province.

None of those flash points has been resolved, and the recent violence they have spurred has pushed 425,000 people from their homes in the last year alone, including the residents of this strategic provincial town. On Tuesday, they flooded out of town in a vast river of suffering, bedrolls and clothing bundles atop their heads, toddling children at their sides.

Many were running for the second time in two weeks, as Nkunda's forces, who have vowed to protect Congolese Tutsis against Rwandan Hutu militias at all cost, routed army troops in towns they had taken just days before and threatened to take this one as well. That pivotal loss was just barely staved off by UN peacekeepers, who swept in late Tuesday to occupy the town as the Congolese Army fled.

The fight came only a year after Western nations helped organize and pay for an election last year that produced Congo's first democratically chosen government. The violence is also unfolding despite years of military and diplomatic intervention by the United Nations, the European Union and the United States to stem the tide of blood here and create, for the first time since its independence from Belgium in 1960, a stable and prosperous Congo.

~~~cont'd~~~

synergy

Posted: Dec 31 2007, 06:59 AM

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Violence in Kenya as leader re-elected

QUOTE

By KATHARINE HOURELD, Associated Press Writer
6:26 am EST Mon 31 Dec 2007

Kenya's opposition leader compared President Mwai Kibaki to a military dictator Monday amid protests and violent clashes over an election marred by allegations that Kibaki stole the vote. Several people were shot as heavily armed police tried to contain demonstrations in Nairobi's slums.

"There is no difference between him (Kibaki) and Idi Amin and other military dictators who have seized power through the barrel of the gun," Raila Odinga said Monday.

Kibaki was re-elected and sworn in Sunday after the closest vote in Kenya's history. Within minutes of the announcement of the results, the slums � home to tens of thousands of opposition supporters � exploded into fresh violence, much of it tribal driven. Deadly clashes had already seized the country for two days while Kenyans waited for the results of the election.

The bloodshed was a stunning turn of events in one of the most developed countries in Africa, with a booming tourism industry and one of the continent's highest growth rates. Many observers saw the campaign as the greatest test yet of this young, multiparty democracy and expressed great disappointment as the process descended into chaos.

"We have been rigged out, we are not going to accept defeat," 24-year-old James Onyango, who lives in the Kibera shantytown, said Monday. "We are ready to die, and we're ready for serious killings."

~~~snip~~~

Odinga, a firebrand opposition candidate, led early results and public opinion polls. He rejected the results, which elections chief Samuel Kivuitu has also acknowledged were problematic. In one constituency, voter turnout added up to 115 percent and a candidate ran away with ballot papers in another.

~~~snip~~~

Tribal clashes raged in the slums. Kibaki belongs to the Kikuyu tribe, while Odinga is Luo.

~~~cont'd~~~

More than 100 killed as poll violence sweeps Kenya

QUOTE

by Michel Cariou
6:43 am EST Mon 31 Dec 2007

An eruption of fresh violence triggered by Kenya's disputed presidential ballot left more than 100 dead Monday, after defeated opposition candidate Raila Odinga rejected Mwai Kibaki's re-election.

Further clashes were feared as Odinga planned to hold his own alternative inauguration at a mass rally later Monday, a day after Kibaki was officially sworn in for a second term despite widespread allegations of vote-rigging.

At least 64 people were killed overnight in western Kenya in fresh outbreaks of tribal violence and clashes between police, looters and opposition activists.

Separate clashes in the capital Nairobi claimed a further 40 lives, police said.

At least 124 people have now been killed since Thursday's elections, which have left one of Africa's more stable democracies teetering on the brink of turmoil.

~~~cont'd~~~

Kenya: Police claim shoot to kill orders

QUOTE

By KATHARINE HOURELD, Associated Press Writer
6:56 am EST Mon 31 Dec 2007

Police battled thousands of opposition supporters who charge President Mwai Kibaki stole his way to re-election, and several officers said Monday they had orders to shoot to kill to quell the violence.

The officers, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said the order had divided the police force, saying many officers sympathize with the protesters. Three officers told The Associated Press independently that they had been ordered to shoot to kill, although a government spokesman denied such an order was given.

Meanwhile, Raila Odinga, the firebrand opposition candidate who led early results and public opinion polls, postponed a planned rally Monday in Nairobi, but called on 1 million people to gather Thursday.

"We are calling for mass action. We will inform police of the march, and we will march wearing black bands," he said.

The death toll was rising Monday from three days of rioting in Nairobi's slums � home to tens of thousands of opposition supporters � and elsewhere in the country, including the coastal city of Mombasa, a tourism hotspot.

~~~cont'd~~~

synergy

Posted: Jan 1 2008, 08:26 AM

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Pressure mounts on Kenya as poll violence toll nears 260

QUOTE

31 Dec 2007

NAIROBI (AFP) � Diplomatic pressure mounted Tuesday on Kenya's political leaders to stem the violence that has engulfed the country in the wake of disputed presidential elections, claiming nearly 260 lives.

A second consecutive night of tribal conflict and clashes between police and protestors left more than 70 dead, with no end in sight to the unrest that has plunged one of Africa's more stable democracies into an unprecedented and crippling crisis.

World leaders called on Kenya's rival leaders to open a dialogue, but Raila Odinga, the opposition candidate defeated in the December 27 poll by incumbent President Mwai Kibaki, refused Tuesday to negotiate until Kibaki owned up to vote-rigging allegations and stepped down.

~~~cont'd~~~

synergy

Posted: Jan 1 2008, 12:44 PM

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Kenyans burned to death in church

QUOTE

Last Updated: Tuesday, 1 January 2008, 16:40 GMT - BBC News

Thirty Kenyans including many children have been burned to death in a church, after seeking refuge from the mounting violence over last week's elections.

A mob attacked and set fire to the church in the western town of Eldoret where hundreds of people were hiding, say police and eyewitness reports.

Dozens more are reported to have been taken to hospital with severe burns.

It comes as EU election monitors said the presidential poll "fell short of international standards".

In an interim report, chief EU monitor Alexander Graf Lambsdorff said the tallying process "lacked credibility".

~~~cont'd~~~

synergy

Posted: Jan 1 2008, 01:09 PM

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Kenya church fire kills 50 who fled mob

QUOTE

By ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY, Associated Press Writer
11:43 am EST Tue 01 Jan 2008

A mob torched a church sheltering hundreds of Kenyans fleeing election violence Tuesday, killing up to 50 people as four days of rioting and ethnic clashes marked some of the darkest times in this country's history.

President Mwai Kibaki � sworn in Sunday in a vote that opponents say was rigged � said political parties should meet immediately and publicly call for calm. The violence has killed at least 270 people in what had been east Africa's most stable and prosperous democracy. The opposition candidate, Raila Odinga, refused the offer.

"If he announces that he was not elected, then I will talk to him," Odinga told The Associated Press. He accused the government of stoking the chaos, saying Kibaki's administration "is guilty, directly, of genocide."

The violence � which has erupted from the shantytowns of Nairobi to resort towns on the sweltering coast � has exposed tribal resentments that have long festered in Kenya. Kibaki's Kikuyu people, Kenya's largest ethnic group, are accused of turning their dominance of politics and business to the detriment of others.

Odinga is from the Luo tribe, a smaller but still major tribe. In the slums, which are often divided along tribal lines, rival groups have been going at each other with machetes and sticks as police fire tear gas and live rounds to keep them from pouring out into the city center.

~~~snip~~~

In Nairobi's slums � home to a third of the city's population � parents searched for food with many shops closed because of looting.

Winnie Nduku, 34, said she and her three young children hadn't eaten in three days and the family had no money because her husband, a minibus driver, had been unable to get to work.

"My eldest daughter keeps asking what am I going to do and the small one is crying from hunger," she said.

~~~cont'd~~~

synergy

Posted: Jan 1 2008, 05:45 PM

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Kenyans burnt alive in church as unrest toll tops 300

QUOTE

by Bogonko Bosire
AFP 4:50 Tue 01 Jan 2008

At least 35 children and adults sheltering in a church were burnt alive by an angry mob in Kenya Tuesday, as an eruption of election violence threatened to tip over into a full-scale tribal conflict.

The horrific deaths near the western town of Eldoret bring to more than 300 the number of people killed since December 27 presidential elections, which were narrowly won by the incumbent Mwai Kibaki amid allegations of vote-rigging by his defeated opposition challenger, Raila Odinga.

The violence is the worst Kenya has witnessed since a failed 1982 coup.

~~~cont'd~~~

synergy

Posted: Jan 2 2008, 05:37 AM

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Fighting rocks Nigerian oil city

QUOTE

Last Updated: Tuesday, 1 January 2008, 20:11 GMT - BBC News

At least 13 people have been killed in attacks by gunmen on two police stations and a hotel in the Nigerian oil city of Port Harcourt.

Four police officers and six attackers died along with three civilians who were hit by stray bullets in an attack on one of the police stations.

Several other people are reported to have been killed in an attack on a night club in the city.

Niger Delta militants have reportedly said they carried out the attacks.

~~~cont'd~~~

synergy

Posted: Jan 10 2008, 08:33 AM

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I heard in a newscast yesterday that there are more Nigerian doctors in United States than in Nigeria. Why can't United States train it own doctors. Didn't demographers and medical school planners know the doctor shortage was coming. Powerful groups such as MAG (Medical Association of Georgia) are responsible for this development IMO.

Africa 'being drained of doctors'

QUOTE

Last Updated: Thursday, 10 January 2008, 02:24 GMT - BBC News

Many African countries now have more doctors and nurses working in richer countries abroad than they have at home, research shows.

There has long been concern about the exodus of African medics, but the Human Resources for Health study suggests the problem may be greater than assumed.

Several countries, including Mozambique and Angola, have more doctors in one single foreign country than at home.

And for every doctor in Liberia, there are two working abroad.

The study, carried out by the Center for Global Development in Washington, looked at census records collected between 1999 and 2001.

It examined nine receiving countries: The UK, the US, France, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Spain, Belgium and South Africa.

The study is one of the first to count doctors who are born in Africa, not just those who are trained there.

Focusing on training location, the researchers argue, seriously underestimates the impact of losing people who want to become doctors has on a country's health service.

Getting out

The report suggested the loss of doctors often went hand-in-hand with civil strife, political instability and economic stagnation.

~~~cont'd~~~

NewOriginal2	Posted: Jan 10 2008, 07:15 PM
Advanced Member Group: Members Posts: 272 Member No.: 22 Joined: 6-January 08	This is just a warning to anyone who may read and attempt to post here. There is a member who is responsible for over 88% of the postings here that is a documented liar. Here are some examples. The president said that Iraq had WMD's. Since no huge stockpiles of WMD's have yet been found, (smaller stockpiles have, in fact been found) This person says that the president is a liar. He doesn't even entertain the possibility that he was simply wrong. Using the same logic, here are examples of 2 of his lies.... He was quoted as saying that President Clinton was NOT impeached. Since this is NOT true, then he must have lied. He said that Depleted uranium is NOT used in weapons production. Since this is not true then he must have lied. As a matter of fact, when I posted links to a site where you could read up on how DU IS used to make fissile plutonium, he deleted the post. This person has had my posts deleted on numerous occasions. Some of these were because he didn't like the fact that i was parodying him and making fun of him, but others were for reasons that he said he would not delete my posts.....yet another lie. He claims that his life's work is to seek the truth, but it seems that he only seeks the truth that fits his ideals. He repeatedly ignores ANY evidence that he doesn't like. Just be warned when you read 88% of these posts that they are posted by a habitual liar who will have you deleted if you call him on it....even when he says he won't. On a humorous note, he has also criticized my spelling while in the same post, misspelled 4 or more words himself...then gets mad when I point THAT out. He seems to be an over grown baby.

synergy

Posted: Jan 11 2008, 05:59 AM

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Democracy by Other Means AIDAN HARTLEY writes about the situation in Kenya in an op-ed column in the NY Times on Friday 11 Jan 2008

QUOTE

~~~snip~~~

... Nor is anybody banking on the swift intervention of the world community: not from Washington, with its string of disastrous foreign policies. ...

~~~snip~~~

In any case, we can be certain that the violence will simply worsen the poverty that is itself the root cause of all Kenyan crises. Already we are seeing layoffs and a potential collapse of the tourism and agricultural industries. On the political front, perhaps the best we can hope is that Big Men will reach a deal and the tribes will put away their machetes and rifles. Then the Western press will trickle home, content that democracy has been re-established, while the people of Laikipia return to their daily struggle to survive.

Opposition Calls for Mass Rallies Across Kenya

QUOTE

Friday, January 11, 2008; 5:28 a.m. ET

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- Kenya's main opposition party called Friday for mass rallies nationwide in the wake of the African Union's failure to resolve a deadly election dispute.

Spokesman Tony Gachoka said the party will "declare the resumption of mass protest against illegal presidential results."

~~~snip~~~

Previous opposition attempts to rally have been blocked by police firing tear gas, water cannons and live ammunition over people's heads.

synergy

Posted: Jan 12 2008, 04:21 PM

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Economic inequality, not just tribalism, spurs clashes in Kenya

QUOTE

By Shashank Bengali | McClatchy Newspapers

Posted on Saturday, January 12, 2008

KERICHO, Kenya � As wages go, 4 cents a pound for plucking tea leaves might not seem like much to fight about. But the thugs who raided a tea plantation recently had a message for the few dozen workers they drove off with bows and arrows.

"They said we had been too successful in our work," said Jacqueline Bonareri, 39, whose craggy fingers were testament to a decade picking tea. "They wanted our jobs."

The clashes that have left hundreds of Kenyans dead in the past two weeks have been blamed on tribal rivalries. But in a country where millions are jobless and even the backbreaking, dawn-to-dusk work of picking tea is something to covet, economic inequality is a major force behind the unrest.

Under President Mwai Kibaki, Kenya has developed one of Africa's most vibrant economies. But that progress hasn't been shared equally.

In Nairobi, the fast-growing capital, glitzy shopping centers abut the squalid slums where most of the city's inhabitants live. And in the rolling hills of Kericho, in western Kenya, dirt-poor laborers toil in the golden bushes of multimillion-dollar tea farms � and they are the fortunate ones, because they have jobs.

In the hills around Kericho, stone barricades block dirt roads, and local militias prevent access to the vast tea farms, where residents say mobs have killed dozens of laborers.

Many of the laborers on the lush green farms, including Bonareri, come from a neighboring tribe called the Kisii, a fact that hasn't sat well with locals in Kericho, especially the hordes of young, jobless men who are blamed for a spate of deadly attacks following Kibaki's contested re-election last month.

~~~cont'd~~~

synergy	Posted: Jan 15 2008, 07:09 AM
Advanced Member Group: Admin Posts: 98,154 Member No.: 3 Joined: 20-November 07	Exit polls show Kenyan opposition won election by 8% by Chris in Paris � 1/15/2008 03:17:00 AM ET [AMERICAblog]

synergy

Posted: Jan 17 2008, 06:49 AM

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Floods 'could be worse than 2001'

QUOTE

Last Updated: Thursday, 17 January 2008, 10:59 GMT - BBC News

Flooding in Mozambique and neighbouring countries could be more damaging than catastrophic floods seven years ago, Mozambique authorities say.

But officials say they don't expect the death toll to be as high as in 2001, when 700 people died.

The government is preparing to evacuate 200,000 people from their homes as rains continue to fall.

Some 70,000 people have been forced from their homes so far and several people have died, the government said.

The National Institute of Natural Disaster Management (INGC) predicted the heavy rains as far back as November and warned communities they were coming.

But flood waters are now spreading to Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland and Zambia, and more people will have to be evacuated.

The rain is forecast to fall throughout February and could continue into April, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said.

~~~snip~~~

synergy

Posted: Jan 17 2008, 10:45 AM

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'Seven dead' in Kenyan protests

QUOTE

Last Updated: Thursday, 17 January 2008, 14:13 GMT - BBC News

Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga says police in Nairobi have shot dead seven people on the second day of fresh protests against disputed polls.

BBC correspondents reported Kenyan riot police firing into the air to disperse protesters in several cities.

They said at least two people had been shot in Nairobi's Kibera slum and there were clashes in Kisumu in the west as police tried to clear barricades.

The European Parliament has asked the EU to cut cash to Kenya's government.

On the first day of the protests on Wednesday, at least four people were killed.

The police have banned all public demonstrations.

Kenyan authorities say more than 600 people have died in violence since President Mwai Kibaki was declared the victor in elections held in December.

But Mr Odinga told reporters on Thursday that more than 1,000 people had died.

~~~cont'd~~~

synergy

Posted: Jan 19 2008, 04:51 AM

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At 8:34 pm EST on Friday 18 Jan 2008 on PRI's The World CBC reporter David McGovern reported that Doctors without Borders is accusing Kenyan forces of massacring civilian in Iraq. McGovern repeatedly stated the situation in Kenya is dire.

Kenya reels from three days of violence

QUOTE

by Jean-Marc Mojon
3:04 am EST Sat 19 Jan 2008

Kenyan police remained on high alert Saturday after three days of deadly opposition protests against President Mwai Kibaki's re-election, as envoys sought to broker an end to the crisis.

At least 25 people have been killed since supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga on Wednesday launched a series of nationwide protests that were fiercely repressed by anti-riot and paramilitary police.

On Friday at least five people were killed during demonstrations, four in the Nairobi slum of Kibera and one in the port city of Mombasa, police said.

Several bodies were also found across the country as the death toll from the violence mounted to more than 700 since the disputed December 27 election.

Amnesty International condemned "excessive use of force" by the police.

"We recognise that the Kenyan police are trying to contain what in some cases have been violent protests in Kenya," said Erwin van der Borght, director of Amnesty's Africa Programme.

"However, by firing live ammunition into crowds the police have far exceeded what is acceptable use of force. The firing of live ammunition into crowds cannot be justified."

Nine Western governments, including Australia, Britain and Canada, also issued a statement Friday urging Kenya to stop killing unarmed civilians.

~~~cont'd~~~

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