France builds 'renewed' ties with west Africa

On Friday, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon is due to fly on to neighbouring Nigeria, where he will stay until Saturday. He plans to visit the oil-producing Niger Delta region in the south, where there has recently been an upsurge of violence by a group that claims a bigger share of the oil wealth for local communities.

French PM builds 'renewed' ties with west Africa
From AFP, Friday, 22 May 2009 (YAOUNDE):

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon began a brief west African tour Thursday starting in Cameroon and aimed at launching what he called "modernised cooperation" with the continent.

In Cameroon, run by President Paul Biya since 1982, officials signed a "new generation" defence agreement, which no longer provides for French military intervention as earlier ones did.

During a dinner hosted by Biya, Fillon said it had become "urgent to modernise our cooperation" in this domain, and also to take the secrecy out of such pacts.

French junior defence minister Jean-Marie Bockel, who signed the accord, praised it for strictly respecting Cameroon's independence.

France's junior minister for cooperation, Alain Joyandet, said: "We're trying to get out of a paternalist relationship to begin a strategic partnership."

Fillon later addressed the situaton in the former French colony of Chad, which recently pursued rebels inside Sudan after repulsing a May 4 offensive.

Chad and Sudan regularly accuse each other of supporting rebel movements in their respective countries. Chad's recent military action inside Sudan further raised tensions between them.

"Everyone can see very well that the solution to the problems of Chad are not to be found in Chad," said Fillon during a discussions with students at the international relations institute in Yaounde.

"They are to be found in Sudan, they are to be found in the resolution of conflicts which affect Sudan and its neighbours," he said, apparently referring to unrest in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.

On the presence of French troops in Chad, Fillon said neither he nor President Nicolas Sarkozy wanted to see them play a role in its internal politics.

"That is the reason why these armed forces did not intervene during the crisis that has taken place in Chad," he said.

The revision of defence pacts between France and some of its former colonies was a key issue in the Africa policy laid out by French President Nicolas Sarkozy in a speech in February in South Africa.

Togo came before Cameroon, and the Central African Republic and the Comoros Islands are next on the list.

Fillon, who arrived on Wednesday night, briefly took part in a reception in Biya's giant palace for Yaounde authors on the day of the Cameroonian National Holiday.

On Thursday morning, he visited a construction site, and then went into talks with Biya for half an hour.

On Friday, Fillon is due to fly on to neighbouring Nigeria, where he will stay until Saturday. He plans to visit the oil-producing Niger Delta region in the south, where there has recently been an upsurge of violence by a group that claims a bigger share of the oil wealth for local communities.

Niger kidnapping: Mujahedeen fighters released in exchange for diplomats

From Canwest News Service by Steven Edwards 28 April, 2009 (via Calgary Herald):

Mujahedeen fighters released in exchange for diplomats: Sources



Photo: Canadian diplomats Robert Fowler (right), UN special envoy to Niger, and his assistant Louis Guay are pictured after they were released along with two European tourists by Al-Qaeda-linked captors after months as hostages on Thursday.
Photograph by: Habib Kouyate, AFP/Getty Images

UNITED NATIONS — An Algerian terror suspect, who has fought in Afghanistan, was among four jailed "mujahedeen" fighters released to al-Qaida's North Africa branch in exchange for two Canadian diplomats and two European women, Canwest News has been told.

Two of the other three terror suspects were Mauritanian, while the remaining one was either Jordanian or Syrian, sources in North Africa with some knowledge of the largely secret deal say.

The diplomats, former Canadian ambassador to the UN Robert Fowler, and Foreign Affairs Department official Louis Guay, arrived back in Canada Tuesday after spending several days undergoing medical check-ups and debriefing in Germany since al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) released them in Mali last week.

A faction of the group held the pair hostage in the land-locked Sahel state following their kidnapping Dec. 14 in neighbouring Niger, where they had been on a UN mission.

Fowler declined comment on his ordeal when reached at his Ottawa home Tuesday.

The released Algerian al-Qaida member, Oussama Alboumerdassi, fought with the then U.S.-backed mujahedeen resistance to the Soviet presence in Afghanistan, staying on until 1992, according to a North African al-Qaida observer with close links to people involved in the effort to free the Canadians.

The information is backed by a report published Tuesday in Ennahar, a daily newspaper based in the Algerian capital of Algiers. The paper promotes itself as being independent of government.

Regional security sources provided the nationalities of the other three, according to the al-Qaida expert, while Ennahar says all four had been jailed in Mali since February 2008.

At the heart of the negotiations seeking the release of the hostages were Saif al-Islam Muammar al-Gaddafi, son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and a relative of Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore, identified as Mauritanian businessman Abdallah Chaffei, the newspaper reported.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper specifically thanked both Mali and Burkina Faso during a press conference last Wednesday in which he announced the Canadians' release

Indeed, al-Qaida initially said it would release the pair and the European women — two of four tourists snatched in Mali by the terrorist group in January — in the Burkina Faso capital of Ouagadougou, a Western source close to the talks told Canwest News Service.

Insisting the Conservative government had stuck to its policy of neither paying a ransom nor freeing prisoners for hostages, Harper left open the possibility other countries had fronted a deal.

Saif al-Islam, who heads the Gaddafi Foundation charity, mediated last year in the case of two Austrians held by AQIM in Mali.

But insiders say Guay himself was also personally known to Libyan officials, having visited the country several times as he sought to get Canada invited to peace talks focused on the border between Chad and the Darfur region of neighbouring Sudan.

A ransom of $2 million was paid for the Austrians' freedom, a source close to those talks told Canwest.

In talks seeking freedom for the Canadians and Europeans, Ennahar says Chaffei joined Saif al-Islam after Burkina Faso had "taken the initiative" to manage delivery of a cash ransom that had emerged as a demand.

Their presence would have enabled Canadian and UN investigators, who had been dispatched to the region, to maintain arm's length from the talks, analysts believe.

A former U.S. ambassador to the region told Canwest News Service that the Burkina Faso president has, in recent years, gained a reputation for being "very helpful" to the West. But he has in the past been linked to diamond smuggling that benefited regional terrorists — hence his "likely connections" to AQIM, according to one regional source.

But the real sticking block was the al-Qaida demand for a prisoner exchange, which Canwest News revealed several weeks after the Canadians had been kidnapped, basing the report on Western sources.

Helping solve that fell to Mali President Amadou Toure, according to Ennahar.

"AQIM declared in an unofficial manner that four of its members . . . have been delivered to the north of Mali as a result of a major transaction led by the Malian president," it said.

An unnamed European country paid a ransom of five million Euros, the Algerian daily El Khabar reported last week, and Ennahar, citing its own sources, asserted the same Tuesday.

The women freed alongside Fowler and Guay are a Swiss and a German.

The Swiss woman's husband and a British man remain hostage. al-Qaida said in a statement Sunday it would give Britain 20 days to free a prominent al-Qaida member currently held in a British jail, or it will kill the Briton.

Niger gov't reps and Tuareg rebel leaders declared peace in presence of Col Gaddafi

The Tuaregs, a historically nomadic people living in the Sahara and Sahel regions of North Africa, have had militant groups in Mali and Niger engaged in sporadic armed struggles for several decades.

In neighbouring Mali, hundreds of Tuareg rebels laid down their arms in February, breathing new life into a stalled peace process

The BBC's Idy Baraou in Niger says the country's main rebel group wants a greater share of revenues from the uranium mines in the north of the former French colony.

The movement also wants the expanding mines to be curtailed so they do not encroach on agricultural areas, already under threat from increased desertification.

Source: BBC News April 97, 2009
Niger and rebels 'agree to peace'

The government of Niger and Tuareg rebels of the Movement of Niger People for Justice (MNJ) have agreed to end hostilities, according to reports.

Libyan state news agency Jana said two days of talks in Tripoli ended with both sides committing themselves to "total and comprehensive peace".

There has been no confirmation from the Niger government but a rebel website said everyone supported reconciliation.

The rebels are seeking a greater share of the region's uranium resources.

In the past Niger said it would never negotiate with the rebels, whom it labelled as bandits, but last month the Libyan leader, Col Muammar Gaddafi visited Niger to help broker a deal.

Rebels also released some government troops.

Government representatives and rebel leaders declared peace in the presence of Col Gaddafi, the current chairman of the African Union, Jana reported.

"Two days of talks ... were crowned by an announcement in front of the brother leader of the revolution and African Union chairman that they commit themselves to keep up total and comprehensive peace in Niger," the report said.

One of the three Tuareg rebel groups, the Niger Patriotic Front (FPN), said in a statement on its website that "all the delegations spoke in favour of peace and national reconciliation".

"All those taking part in this mission now have the historic responsibility to overcome their differences and realise these commitments, which must now be transformed into a formal peace agreement," the statement said.

Both sides had opened the discussions by telling Col Gaddafi they were committed to peace in the West African state, Jana reported.

"Everyone present spoke of their serious commitment and will to reach a peace deal," Niger's Interior Minister Albedi Abouba was quoted as saying.

Aghali Alambo, leader of the MNJ, spoke of the "commitment of his group and other groups for a definitive peace in Niger," Jana reported.

Uranium revenues

The BBC's Idy Baraou in Niger says the country's main rebel group wants a greater share of revenues from the uranium mines in the north of the former French colony.

The movement also wants the expanding mines to be curtailed so they do not encroach on agricultural areas, already under threat from increased desertification.

The Tuaregs, a historically nomadic people living in the Sahara and Sahel regions of North Africa, have had militant groups in Mali and Niger engaged in sporadic armed struggles for several decades.

In neighbouring Mali, hundreds of Tuareg rebels laid down their arms in February, breathing new life into a stalled peace process.

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb seeks to unify armed radical groups with emerging groups in Niger, Chad, Sudan, and Eritrea

From Gulf Daily News, Monday, April 06, 2009
Bouteflika warned by Al Qaeda

ALGIERS: Al Qaeda has warned Algerians against re-electing "ferocious enemy" President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in Thursday's presidential vote.

The Algerian regime supports the West by seeking to destroy "true Islam," Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb said in a statement issued on Jihadist forums, the Site Intelligence Group reported.

It said Bouteflika is a "ferocious enemy" of Muslims.

The Al Qaeda group called on Muslims to overthrow rulers whose legislation fails to follow religious law.

Muslims, it added according to Site, must seek training and Jihad, abstain from the re-election of Bouteflika and his like, and support =the Mujahideen.

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb seeks to unify armed radical groups in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco with emerging groups in countries such as Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, and Eritrea.

France seeks to exploit Africa - DR Congo has major uranium reserves

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has continued his two-day African tour by visiting the neighbouring Republic of Congo, previously a French colony. He is expected in uranium-rich Niger on Friday.

Mr Sarkozy is joined by ministers and other executives from French firms - including France Telecom, cement maker Lafarge and construction group Vinci - chasing contracts in various sectors.

March 27, 2009 report from BBC News:
Sarkozy outlines Congo peace plan

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has suggested using the mineral wealth of the Democratic Republic of Congo to help bring peace to central Africa.

Addressing parliament in Kinshasa, he also praised Congolese President Joseph Kabila's joint operation with Rwanda against rebels earlier this year.

The region has been plagued by rival militias for more than a decade.

He said the region's people could become rich by working together or continue to fight and remain poor.

French nuclear giant Areva's chief executive has taken advantage of the visit to sign a deal to exploit uranium in DR Congo.

Sarkozy is forgetting that Congo has been sharing its wealth with the world for such a long time - what has it got in return?

Congo responds to Sarkozy

No further details were released but DR Congo has major uranium reserves and was the source of some of the raw material for the atomic bombs the US dropped on Japan in World War II.

Mr Sarkozy has continued his two-day African tour by visiting the neighbouring Republic of Congo, previously a French colony.
He is expected in uranium-rich Niger on Friday.

Mr Sarkozy is joined by ministers and other executives from French firms - including France Telecom, cement maker Lafarge and construction group Vinci - chasing contracts in various sectors.

Sarkozy's Africa policy shift

Addressing Kinshasa's national assembly in the first visit by a French president to the former Belgian colony in a quarter of a century, Mr Sarkozy suggested Kinshasa and its Great Lakes neighbours work together for their mutual benefit.

"The peoples of central Africa will not be changing their address.

"If they can develop good neighbourly relations, the peoples of central Africa will have a rich and peaceful life. If it's a case of might is right, the peoples of central Africa will stay poor and unhappy," he said.

He gained a round of applause from MPs for saying that Congolese sovereignty would not be violated.

Uproar

Preparations for the visit were overshadowed by comments Mr Sarkozy made in January when he suggested DR Congo share its mineral wealth with Rwanda as a way to end violence around the main eastern city of Goma.

The idea triggered uproar with the Congolese media accusing Paris of seeking a "Balkanisation" of the country and trying to use DR Congo's mineral wealth to help mend its ties with Rwanda.

Paris and Kigali have been at loggerheads for years over who is to blame for Rwanda's 1994 genocide, in which some 800,000 people were slaughtered.

Kinshasa resident Jean Pierre Mafuta told the BBC News website:

"What Mr Sarkozy is forgetting, is that DR Congo had been sharing its wealth, its people and its land with the world for such a long time - what has the Congo got in return?"

Ahead of the visit, aides in Mr Sarkozy's office said: "There is no French peace plan, no plan to share riches, it is not the right moment," reported AFP.

On Thursday Mr Sarkozy also praised as "brave" the Congolese leader's decision to invite Rwandan troops into his country in January for a five-week joint operation against rebel militias plaguing the neighbours' border.

The move was politically sensitive as Rwanda has twice invaded the country in recent years and many Congolese distrusted the Kigali forces' presence.

The aim of the military campaign was to flush out rebel forces each government has accused the other of backing and which have been at the heart of the region's conflicts since Rwanda's genocide.

The DR Congo parliament's speaker was forced to quit on Wednesday after criticising Mr Kabila's decision to let in the Rwandan troops.

Nigerian Population Census: Men outnumber women by millions

From en.afrik.com 25 March 2009:
Nigerian Population Census: Men outnumber women by millions

According to a new government gazette on the Nigerian 2006 population census, Nigerian women are outnumbered by men. Quoted by the local press Sunday, the official gazette indicated that the country’s total population of 140,431,790 comprises 71,345,488 males and 69,086,302 females. This means that there are 2,259,186 more males than females in the country. Males outnumber females only in four of the country’s 36 states - Ebonyi, Enugu, Ogun and Plateau States.

Al-Qaeda claims abduction of two Canadian diplomats and four European tourists in Niger

Al-Qaeda's North Africa network claims responsibility for abduction of two Canadian diplomats. From Middle East Online 18 February 2009:

Qaeda claims abduction of diplomats, envoys

DUBAI - Al-Qaeda's North Africa network has claimed responsibility for the abduction of two Canadian diplomats, one of them a UN envoy, and four European tourists in Niger, Al-Jazeera television reported.

"We are happy to bring our Islamic nation the good news of the mujahideen's success in carrying out two quality operations in Niger," the group's spokesman Salah Abu Mohammed said in an audio tape aired on the Doha-based pan-Arab channel late Tuesday.

His announcement was also posted on Al-Jazeera's website.

Two Canadians, UN envoy to Niger Robert Fowler and his colleague Louis Guay went missing outside Niamey in mid-December along with their driver when returning from a visit to a gold mine operated by Canadian company Semafo.

Earlier this month, Malian sources close to the investigation into the abduction said they had seen an undated video showing the diplomats were still alive.

The sources said the video showed the two diplomats speaking with armed men behind them. The missing driver was not shown.

On January 22, a Swiss couple, an elderly German woman and a British man were returning from a Tuareg cultural festival in Mali when they were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen along the border of Mali and Niger.

Al-Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb claimed several suicide bombings in Algeria last year.

It says it intends to unify armed groups in Algeria and Morocco as well as emerging groups in countries bordering the Sahara including Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, and Eritrea.

- - -

From AKI February 18, 2009 (Dubai):

Terrorism: Al-Qaeda video claims foreign abductions in Niger

A message allegedly from Al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of Canadian diplomats Robert Fowler and Louis Guay in Niger and the abduction of four European tourists in January on the border between Niger and Mali.

"We are happy to announce to the Islamic nation that our mujahadeen have managed to carry out two operations in Niger," said the audio message purportedly from Al-Qaeda's North African branch. It was broadcast on Wednesday by Dubai-based Arabic satellite news channel Al-Arabiya.

"The mujahadeen reserve the right to treat the hostages according to Islamic Sharia law," the audio message warned.

Fowler is a Canadian diplomat and United Nations special envoy to Niger and Guay is the deputy director of the Sudan task force in the Canadian capital,Ottawa. They were abducted with their driver outside Niamey on 14 December while returning from a visit to a gold mine operated by a Canadian company.

On 16 December a rebel group called the Front des Forces de Redressement claimed to have kidnapped Fowler, but a spokesperson later denied the claim.

An undated video showing the diplomats were still alive was sent to the Malian authorities earlier this month. Their missing driver was not shown in the video.

A Swiss couple, an elderly German woman and a British man were returning from a Tuareg cultural festival in Mali on 22 January when they were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen along the border of Mali and Niger.

Disappeared In Niger: UN envoy Robert Fowler, his assistant and driver may be held by rebels

Photo: Missing UN envoy Robert Fowler (Reuters) Source: report by Steven Edwards, Canwest News Service published Saturday, January 31, 2009. Copy:

Missing UN envoy likely alive: diplomat

Evidence has emerged suggesting Robert Fowler -- the Canadian United Nations envoy who disappeared last month in Niger with his Canadian assistant and locally hired driver-- is alive, a UN Security Council diplomat said yesterday.

Hope remains that Louis Guay, the Foreign Affairs official who accompanied Mr. Fowler to the west African country, and their driver Soumana Mounkaila of Niger are also alive, officials said.

The trio disappeared on Dec. 14 as they returned to the Niger capital of Niamey after visiting a Canadian-run gold mine in the western part of the country -- and no word has emerged publicly about their fate until now.

"There has been evidence some days ago that he was alive," the Security Council diplomat said of Mr. Fowler. "All these issues are very complicated." The diplomat did not want to be identified.

UN Secretary General Ban Kimoon spoke privately late last week with Mr. Fowler's wife, Mary, to update her on what was being done to locate the three men, said Farhan Haq, a UN spokesman.

Speculation has been increasingly focused on the possibility that operatives with -- or connected to -- the extremist group al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) had come to hold the trio.

The involvement of U.S. intelligence officials in the search also suggested that suspicion focused on an internationally active group such as AQIM. "I didn't know that people thought he wasn't alive," said one intelligence officer yesterday.

AQIM's involvement appeared increasingly likely following the abduction last week of four European tourists in the northeast part of Mali, close to the Niger border. Mali is where the extremist group last year held two Austrian tourists they had abducted in Tunisia in February before releasing them in October after demanding an $8-million ransom payment.

The kidnappers of the four Europeans did so in a manner that was similar to that suggested by evidence left at the scene where Mr. Fowler and his colleagues disappeared about 45 kilometres northeast of Niamey.

The kidnappers of the Europeans abandoned the tourists' two all-terrain vehicles and released one of their local tour-guide drivers after beating him. Similarly, the UNmarked vehicle carrying Messrs. Fowler, Guay and Mounkaila was abandoned with such personal effects as cellphones left inside.

Retired from the Canadian diplomatic corps, Mr. Fowler, a father of three, was the longest-serving Canadian ambassador to the UN, is a former deputy defence minister, and has advised several prime ministers. Mr. Guay, a father of five, had worked most recently on the Sudan desk at the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Jos, Nigeria: Hundreds of killings sparked by a rumour that Muslim ANPP lost election to Christian PDP? (Update 1)

UPDATE WED 17 DECEMBER 2008 - Here below is a copy of two interesting comments received in response to the Telegraph's article below, posted here at Niger Watch on 29 November 2008.

At least 200 people have been killed in fierce clashes between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria. Nov 29, 2008 Daily Telegraph report:

HUNDREDS KILLED IN NIGERIA CLASHES

Estimates of the dead in three days of sectarian fighting sparked by a disputed local election in the central city of Jos range from at least 200 to 400.

A senior Nigerian Red Cross official who asked not to be named said that 218 bodies were lying in the main mosque in Jos awaiting burial.

However, Khaled Abubakar, the imam of the central mosque, said: "So far about 400 bodies have been brought to the mosque following the outbreak of violence.

"Families are coming to identify and claim the bodies, while those that can not be identified or nobody claims them will be interred by the mosque."

Yakumu Pam, a Christian pastor, said: "Hundreds of people have been killed in the last two days since the riots started.

Remains of burned bodies litter some parts of the town. It is so terrible."

Thousands more people are reported to have fled their homes, while the governor of Plateau State, Jonah Jang, has placed four districts of Jos under a curfew and ordered police to fire on anyone who broke it following the worst of the clashes on Friday.

There was no official confirmation of the death toll.

Local residents said several churches and mosques were razed in the violence, which started with a rumour that the All
Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) had lost the local election to the federal ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP).

The ANPP is perceived in Jos to be a predominantly Muslim party, and the PDP to be mainly Christian.

Such outbreaks of violence are not uncommon in Nigeria. Jos was also the scene of a week of violence between Christians and Muslims in September 2001 that also left hundreds dead.

- - -

CONTINUED - UPDATE WED 17 DECEMBER 2008:

Copy of two comments received here at Niger Watch in response to the Telegraph's article above.

On Monday, December 01, 2008
Anonymous said...

I am in London here who read a page of your recent posting on the recent religious riot in Jos.

As I am writing these statemnets to you. Two of my immediate family members houses have been burnt down into ashes by the muslims at the location of Nassarrawa Gwom. All narrowly escaped death.

Many churches have been burnt down at diffrent locations of Jos. One well Young coming up Evangelist by name Timothy Adetona was burnt alive. My immediate source expresses traumatic facts that Churches burnt down are in proportion of 7:1 to the mosques that were claimed burnt down by the muslims.

Right now the Christian death tolls has risen above 760 including pregnat women and children who could not escape in time before these Christian homes were set on fire. The muslims unaccounted for as there unconfirmed fact and truth about their reports.

This is a pure pre-meditated and organise killings by the Muslims in the wake of what suppose to be just a fair Chairmanship election in the Jos Plateau state.

God have mercy upon the land of Nigeria and particularly upon the bereaved families in Jos at this traumatic moment for all concerned.

BJ, Hounslow.

- - -

On Monday, December 01, 2008
SOLOMONSYDELLE said...

If I may add a quick point of clarification - the PDP is not a 'Christian' party. Just as the ANPP is not a 'Muslim' party.

Nigeria's President, Umar Musa Yar'Adua, is a Muslim and he is a member of the PDP. Both parties have members of different faiths and tribes. The situation in Jos started as a political fight that soon escalated to unnecessary sectarian violence.

I hope this clarifies things. There is no need for further confusion or statements that could only fan the flames of religious an d ethnic tension between Nigeria's Muslims and Christians. Unfortunately, your post title could be problematic.

Thanks for sharing this post and that you for taking the time to write about Jonathan Elendu. We are all hoping he will be freed to return to his family in the US.

Take care.

- - -

P.S. Niger Watch reply to both comments: Thanks for your interesting comments. Sorry for the delay in responding. I have only just realised that Blogger's notification of comments via email is not working so I wasn't aware of your comments until today. I'd be interested to learn more and will keep my eye out for further news to share here. Best wishes, Ingrid.

News blogger Jonathan Elendu of US-based Nigerian news website Elendureports.com detained in Nigeria

A US-based Nigerian news blogger is being held without charge by Nigeria's secret service.

Jonathan Elendu was taken into custody on Saturday when he arrived in the capital, Abuja, on a family visit.

International media rights groups Reporters Without Borders has called for Mr Elendu's release.

Two foreign journalists have been detained and deported by the SSS for reporting in the politically sensitive oil-rich Niger Delta region over the last few months.

In September, six local reporters and media executives were detained and questioned after a television channel reported, after receiving a hoax e-mail, that the president planned to resign. 



Photo: Jonathan Elendu runs a controversial Nigerian news blog Elendureports.com from Lansing in Michigan, USA. (BBC)

Source: BBC report Thursday, 23 October 2008 - News blogger detained in Nigeria. Further excerpt:

Another US-based Nigerian news website, Saharareporters.com, quotes anonymous sources as saying Mr Elendu may have been arrested because of photographs it published a few months ago showing President Umaru Yar'Adua's son.

The Saharareporters.com pictures, which caused a stir in the local media at the time, showed 13-year-old Musa Yar'Adua waving wads of money around and holding a policeman's gun.

Elendureports.com operates from Lansing in Michigan and publishes often controversial stories about Nigerian politicians, accusing some of them of corruption and other crimes. Their stories are often based on anonymous sources.

S.O.S. Please email Niger Watch - 2 years of emails lost

Here in England on Wednesday, 15 October 2008, two engineers from British Telecom IT Support were here for a specially ordered appointment to ensure a smooth changeover from my current ISP, Virgin Media, to BT Broadband.

Sadly, it turned into a 3-hour job. The engineer, after deleting the Virgin email address from my PowerBook G4 (Mac OS X 10.3.9) said it had never occurred to him that the contents of my AppleMac drafts email folder would also be deleted, along with the contents of my folders for sent and incoming emails. In their experience, such a thing had never happened before.

Groan. Over the past 3-4 weeks, on top of the 3 hours Wednesday, I've spent what seems like a total of 20 hours on the phone to BT, from here to Scotland and India, ever since initial call to BT's broadband sales office.

BT couldn't set me up for broadband for a few weeks resulting in connection to BT dial-up service in the interim - for which I almost got charged £18 for Day One if I hadn't checked tarriff for the 'Pay As You Go' option that BT signed me up to, instead of the 'Anytime' package costing £1 for first month.

Not to mention the ordeal I went though trying to obtain an internet cable for a few weeks of the dial up service. And then the service itself. By the end of Day One, BT dial up Tech Support told me the loss of connection every few minutes was nothing to do with them and blamed my internal modem as being corrupted and broken. Not true, I discovered next day.

Yesterday morning, I awoke feeling gutted, bereft and exhausted over the whole experience. More than one thousand draft items and scores of photos for future blogposts which, despite Apple's best efforts (a further 1-hour ordeak over phone) are no longer recoverable. All gone. Vanished. Forever. Nightmare.

Years of hard work and precious energy wasted. I feel sad at losing so much, just when I was getting back into the swing of things after ten bereavements (including my mother and three longstanding friends) and the toll it took on my health.

Chin up. Worse things happen at sea. I'll endeavour to continue blogging while working on piecing together lost drafts, updating email address in my blogs. re-subscribing to news alerts, etc.

Right now, the thought of having to find all the pieces to put back together again, and recall people's latest email addresses that may or not be in my computer's address book, is too overwhelming.

If you have ever emailed me, no matter how long ago, please email me NOW with copy of last email or just a few words or, better still, photo of your pet, to enable me to save your address safely in a new folder for easy future reference.

My new BT email address is now in the sidebar here at Niger Watch.

I'm always here, with my cat Ophelia, happy to receive emails that are not spam. It still pains me to be so slow in replying. I fear that taking days, weeks, months, even years (!) to reply puts people off from staying in contact.

P.S.
Mostly I am sad at losing photos of pets belonging to some of my favourite bloggers. I adore cats and had collected some pretty special photos for a Cat Watch Blog that I'm creating as a place for me to visit when the going gets tough at my watch blogs and I feel disappointed in human beings.

If you know the personality of any cat (or dog, especially if it gets along with cats) and have a photo of the pet, please send it to me so I can create a little story for posting (with your permission and credit - with link to you if you have a blog or website) at the most suitable of my three new blogs (currently under construction) namely: Cat Watch Blog, Heavenly Cats, Pets in Heaven.

Here's looking forward to learning about cats living in different parts of the world. I'm curious to know if cats all over the world have same habits and act in same way, or behave differently from mine here in England. If anyone ever thinks of sending us a greetings, especially over Christmas and New Year, anything for my pet blogs would be cheerfully received and warmly appreciated. I promise to reply with some observations and questions about your pet's charm and character.

Having said all that, I'm bracing myself for the possibility that no-one will take notice of this post although, even during blogging breaks, my network of blogs continues to receive thousands of visitors and page views. I have no idea of how many people read my blogs via a news reader and never visit in person. I don't even know if the feed for my Sudan Watch blog still works. It no longer works in my newsreader, NetNewsWire.

Hey is anybody out there? Please say something!

With love from Ingrid and cat Ophelia, posted by the sea on south west coast of England, UK xx

An edited version of this post will appear in some of my network of blogs, ie: Sudan Watch, Congo Watch, Ethiopia Watch, Egypt Watch, Uganda Watch, Kenya Watch, China Tibet Watch, Tehran Watch, Syria Watch, ME/CFS Watch, ME AND OPHELIA.

Give free rice to hungry people by playing a simple game - Spread the word about hunger

This is my contribution to World Food Day today, October 16.

Top tips: Don't waste an inch of food or water. Cook fresh home made meals from scratch. Don't drink unnatural juice. Make and mend. Recycle food, water, paper, metal, glass. Adopt a rescue cat to ensure no mice. Adopt a rescue dog for self protection and healthy exercise. Respect the land, sea and air. Be kind and generous. Try to love all people, animals, insects, flowers, trees and plants. Care about what happens to the thirsty, hungry, homeless, sick, disabled, and elderly. Visit friends in person or write note instead of phoning. Cut down on petrol pollution and plastic waste. Don't drive a distance that you could easily walk, bus or cycle. Take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves. Tithe 10% of your income and see how much more you receive in return.
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Notable Quote

"The best things in life aren't things" - Art Buchwald (Credit: Bloomberg TV)
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On World Food Day - October 16, Spread the word about hunger

Give free rice to hungry people by playing a simple game that increases your knowledge.



Visit FreeRice, www.freerice.com, to translate your right answers into rice for the hungry.

147,750,140 grains of rice donated yesterday. Over 47 billion grains donated to date. Sponsors pay for the donated rice.

Click into www.freerice.com and give the right answer in the middle of the page.

I reached level 41 with a donation total of 3040 grains. Will do more later.

"Help us mark World Food Day this year as high food prices, dramatic increases in fuel costs, and profound changes in climate conditions have conspired to bring new dimensions of suffering and hardship to the poor, depriving almost one billion people of the food they need to live a healthy life."  - UN

Deployed peacekeeping veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) have significant impairments in health-related quality of life

Nine years ago today, I was struck down with a flu like viral illness from which I never recovered. After the initial six months, my profoundly disabling condition was diagnosed by a Consultant Psychiatrist as a severe form of Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome (PVFS), also known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME)/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS).

Still, to this day, there is no effective treatment or cure. In my experience, the condition is similar to Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Gulf War Syndrome (GWS).

Over the past nine years my energy level has increased from one half hour to two hours per day. I am still virtually housebound. Last March, I was able to attend my mother's funeral. Next month, I am scheduled to attend a long awaited appointment with a CFS Consultant. Several years ago, I was bedbound for two years.

The following definition of ME is from a paper I wrote with a very dear friend (recently departed, God rest his soul) in March 2003:

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis - ME

Evidenced by muscle pain, with inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, ME has been known for half a century as 'a-typical polio'. The symptoms of extreme lassitude, and the swift onset of exhaustion that characterise the disease, also caused it to be known for many years as 'chronic fatigue syndrome' or CFS. It was only classified by the World Health Organisation of the United Nations as a neurological disorder in 1969.

The disorder is triggered by a virus infection that occurs worldwide in epidemic and pandemic form: seasonally and in selected geographical areas. It affects about 1% of the British population and there is no known cure. While three-quarters of those who become infected do not present advanced symptoms, 25% of ME sufferers are chronically affected with severe illness and pain, causing them to become profoundly disabled and very largely housebound. The condition can last throughout life without remission of any kind.

Doctors and sufferers generally agree that the worst effects of the disease can be 'managed by strict adherence to conservation of energy, reduction of stress and simplification of work: augmented by education, with practical and economic support'.

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We're not lazy nor crazy, tiredness is the least of our problems

This post today, 10 October 2008, here at Niger Watch, is to help raise awareness of the plight of military personnel suffering from ghastly life-wrecking Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Below are some excerpts taken from Science Daily online. More on this topic at a later date.
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Peacekeepers are exposed to traumatic events which they are helpless to prevent under the United National rules of engagement

While the relationship among Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and physical and mental health impairment is well developed in combat veterans, it is less studied among the deployed peacekeeping veteran population.

Peacekeepers are exposed to traumatic events which they are helpless to prevent under the United National rules of engagement, which state soldiers must show restraint and neutrality. The feeling of being unable to control a situation at the time of trauma is an important risk factor for developing PTSD.

More from ScienceDaily.com (Dec. 15, 2007):

Canada’s peacekeepers suffer similar rates of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD) as combat, war-zone soldiers, according to a London, Ont. research team.

Psychiatrist J. Donald Richardson and his co-investigators also found that PTSD rates and severity were associated with younger age, single marital status and deployment frequency.

Vietnam Combat Linked To Many Diseases 20 Years Later

According to Boscarino, of the 1,399 Vietnam veterans studied, 24 percent (332) were diagnosed with PTSD sometime after military service, and nearly all cases of PTSD in the study resulted from exposure to heavy or very heavy combat in Vietnam.

He said his research and others' suggest that those with PTSD often have altered neuroendocrine and sympathetic nervous systems. Disturbances in these key body systems are the main reason for increases in a broad spectrum of diseases among combat veterans, he said. His research also uncovered abnormal immune functioning and clear medical evidence of coronary artery disease among the veterans studied. Read more at ScienceDaily (Nov. 26, 1997)

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder May Result In Heart Disease

Combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) appear to be at higher risk for coronary heart disease (CHD), according to a recent study of 4,462 male U.S. Army veterans.

"We believe that this research suggests a clear, definitive linkage between exposure to severe stress and the onset of coronary heart disease in humans," said Boscarino. Read more at ScienceDaily (Nov. 10, 1999)

PTSD Causes Early Death From Heart Disease, Study Suggests

A new study sheds light on the link between PTSD and heart disease. Vietnam veterans with PTSD suffered higher rates of heart disease death than veterans without PTSD.

The more severe the PTSD diagnosis, the greater the likelihood of death from heart disease, the study showed. Read more at ScienceDaily (July 8, 2008)

Whether combat or peacekeeping, PTSD impacts veterans' well-being

Deployed peacekeeping veterans with PTSD have significant impairments in health-related quality of life according to research by Dr. J. Donald Richardson of The University of Western Ontario and his co-investigators.

The research, published recently in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, found anxiety disorders such as PTSD are associated with impaired emotional well-being, and this applies just as much to peacekeeping veterans as to combat veterans. "This finding is important to clinicians working with the newer generation of veterans, as it stresses the importance of including measures of quality of life when evaluating veterans to better address their rehabilitation needs," says Dr. Richardson. "It is not enough to measure symptom changes with treatment; we need to objectively assess if treatment is improving their quality of life and how they are functioning in their community."

Richardson is a consultant psychiatrist with the Operational Stress Injury Clinic at Parkwood Hospital, part of St. Joseph's Health Care, London and a psychiatry professor with the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western. His team studied 125 male, deployed Canadian Forces peacekeeping veterans who were referred for a psychiatric assessment. The average age of these men was 41, and they averaged 16 years of military service. The most common military theatre in which they served were the Balkan states (Bosnia, Croatia, former Yugoslavia, and Kosovo), with 83 per cent having exposure to combat or a war zone. Read more at ScienceDaily (Oct. 3, 2008)

Post Traumatic Stress Has Tripled Among Combat-exposed Military Personnel

Concerns have been raised about the health impact of military deployment. Studies have estimated as many as 30% of Vietnam War veterans developed post-traumatic stress disorder at some point following the war and, among 1991 Gulf War veterans, as many as 10% were reported to have post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms years after returning from deployment. Read more at ScienceDaily (Jan. 17, 2008)

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Postscript

I would be interested to hear from anyone affected by above issues. Feel free to email me anytime and forgive me if I am slow to respond. Note, my current email address will cease on November 28, 2008 because I am switching my ISP to British Telecommunications (BT) Broadband.

With love from me and my cat Ophelia xx

[Afterthought: As my network of blogs receives thousands of regular visits from military, health orgs, unis, govts, etc., I have decided to cross post this whole entry at some of Sudan Watch's sister sites: Congo Watch, Uganda Watch, Ethiopia Watch, Niger Watch, Kenya Watch, Russia Watch.]

Major oil pipeline in Nigeria ruptured

A major oil pipeline ferrying crude oil to two of the country’s four refineries has been ruptured, amid fears that militants may have been responsible for the action.

The private Punch newspaper reported Thursday that the Chanomi Creek pipeline, which transports crude oil from Nigeria’s main oil city of port Harcourt to two refineries in Warri and the northern city of Kaduna, was ruptured in "unclear circumstances" (overnight Wednesday) in Delta state in the country’s oil producing Niger Delta region.

The development may lead to the shutdown of the refineries, which only resumed production in February 2008, two years after they were forced to shut down because militants blew up the same pipeline.

The Warri refinery has a capacity of 125,000 barrels per day while the Kaduna refinery has an installed capacity of 110,000bpd.

Though no group has claimed responsibility for the rupture of the pipeline, militants threatened in July to blow up, within 30 days, the Chanomi Creek pipeline and other pipelines close to it to demonstrate the seriousness of agitations for greater control of oil resources in the Niger Delta.

Source: en.afrik.com report Friday 03 October 2008 - Major oil pipeline in Nigeria ruptured in ’unclear circumstances’

French warship BAP Jules Verne is in Nigeria

The French warship BAP Jules Verne is in Nigeria to consolidate technical links rather than to protect French oil firms’ facilities in the African nation, according to the ship captain, Commodore Thierry Ruffier.

"We are in Nigeria in furtherance of the technical links France has with countries of the Gulf of Guinea, including Senegal, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana’’.

There have been speculations that the ship may have been sent to help protect the facilities of French oil companies operating in Nigeria, amid the recent escalation of violence in Nigeria’s Niger Delta oil region.

The warship, carrying 270 sailors, arrived in Nigeria 27 September and is scheduled to depart for Senegal Friday on its return journey.

Ruffier said members of the Nigerian Navy Engineering Corps would board the ship to share experiences on maintenance of ships for cross-pollination of ideas, adding "We have also come to learn from the Nigerian Navy being the largest in Africa. Our visit coinciding with the country’s independence anniversary celebration is fulfilling."

The maintenance vessel had also visited Nigeria three years ago.

Source: en.afrik.com - French military ship in Nigeria to ’consolidate technical links’ not to protect - Thursday 02 October 2008.

Nigerian militants halt 'oil war'

Nigeria's main militant group has declared a ceasefire, following a week of attacks on oil installations in the country's oil-rich Niger Delta.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) said it had taken the decision after appeals from tribal leaders in the region.

But it warned it would end the truce if attacked by the army again.



Mend declared "war" on Nigeria's oil industry last Sunday after a fierce military raid on one of its bases.

Groups such as Mend claim to be fighting for greater control over oil wealth in the impoverished Niger Delta, but they are accused of making money from criminal rackets and trade in stolen oil.

The militants say they are fighting to bring more money to the Niger Delta.

Source: BBC News report Nigerian militants halt 'oil war' September 22, 2008. Photo credit AFP/BBC

Third attack in 48 hours on a Shell installation in Nigeria

Armed group claims third attack in 48 hours on oil installations.

The claim came days after the group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend), declared an "oil war" on foreign companies working in the country.

"A very major trunk crude oil pipeline we believe may belong to both Agip and Shell has been blown up today," the group said in an emailed statement on Wednesday.

It is the third attack in 48 hours on a Shell installation.



Photo: A number of armed groups have attacked major oil pipelines in the Niger Delta (AFP/Al Jazeera)

Sarah Simpson, a journalist reporting from Lagos, told Al Jazeera: "Shell are still investigating into Mend's report, but they are not yet able to comment on the situation.

"If indeed there has been an attack, it could be a significant pipeline. Most likely a pipeline carrying crude oil, which could affect Nigeria's oil exports.

"Mend's reports have been quite accurate in the past," she said.



Photo: Mend uses gunboats in attacking pipelines in the region (AFP/Al Jazeera)

Mend said it had destroyed the Orubiri flow station on Tuesday with the help of another armed group, the Niger Delta Volunteer Force (NDVF).

A Nigerian military spokesman confirmed to Reuters news agency on Wednesday that there had been an attack on Royal Dutch Shell's oil flow station on Tuesday.

"It is feared the facility may have caught fire due to intense, sporadic gunshots and massive dynamite and bomb explosions," Lieutenant-Colonel Sagir Musa said.

Source: AL JAZEERA ENGLISH 17/9/08 - Shell facility attacked in Nigeria

Solar in Africa or falling back in love with oil? - Sharia courts operating in Britain

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have supported plans to build a 45 billion Euro ($64 billion) "super grid" that would connect renewable energy resources across Europe and Africa.

Read more in a report by Ben Block at World Changing, September 12, 2008 - African Renewable Energy Gains Attention. Excerpt:

The potential for renewable energy development in Africa is experiencing an increase in attention lately as investors and world leaders seek a new clean energy frontier.

The continent could become a gold mine for renewable energy due to abundant solar and wind resources. But roadblocks to clean energy worldwide are amplified throughout the troubled regions of Africa - financial resources are thin and infrastructure is often unreliable.



A researcher from the European Commission's Institute for Energy reported earlier this year that 0.3 percent of the sunlight that shines on the Sahara and Middle East deserts could supply all of Europe's energy needs. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have supported plans to build a 45 billion Euro ($64 billion) "super grid" that would connect renewable energy resources across Europe and Africa.

Along the Great Rift Valley - a 6,000 kilometer terrain stretching from Syria to Mozambique - a huge amount of untapped geothermal energy may soon be developed. In June, Kenya announced that it would install some 1,700 megawatts of geothermal capacity within the next 10 years - 150 percent of the country's total electricity generating capacity. Djibouti plans to supply nearly all of its electricity needs through geothermal energy, with the help of Reykjavik Energy Invest and the World Bank.

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FALLING BACK IN LOVE WITH OIL?

Here is an excerpt from today's Snowmail, just in - courtesy of UK Channel 4 News' Jon Snow - Wednesday 17 September 2008:

FALLING BACK IN LOVE WITH OIL?
One last thought: OIL. Have you noticed how it's crashed from $140 a barrel to around $90 in just three months? All those weeks ago, at the beginning of the hike in prices, I asked one of the foremost oilmen, Sir Mark Moody Stewart, formerly head of Shell, now on the board of the Saudi state oil company Aramco, what it was all about.

"Not the oil supply" he said. "There's plenty of it... not India or China either
they amount to 2 per cent of the market
this is about sentiment and speculation."

So there you have it. Having grown tired of the money markets and the rest, the hedge funds and private equity characters and the rest had bundled out of Wall Street into commodities, particularly oil. Now they are back with their first love, barracuda attacks on rivals in the markets, and - hey presto! - having left the oil speculation game, the price of oil falls.

Gotta run see you at seven, Best, Jon

BUSINESS
At the time of sending the FTSE-100 index was: 4956.70
The US Dollar to Sterling was: 1.79535
The Euro to Sterling was: 1.26780

Source: CHANNEL 4 NEWS SERVICES
RSS feeds and mobile phone bulletins
Online video reports

PS If you want to reply to Snowmail please email news@channel4.com and put Snowmail in the subject header.

PPS Sharia courts have been operating in Britain for over a year it has emerged.
Source: Telegraph News - Sharia courts operating in Britain September 14, 2008

[Cross posted to parent site Sudan Watch]

Map of attacks and LRA base - DR Congo's army has sent 200 troops to Dungu, DRC

Earlier this month, the Democratic Republic of Congo's army and the UN began a military operation to try to contain the activities of Ugandan LRA terrorist group leader Joseph Kony.



Source: BBC News 'Rebel leader targeted in DR Congo' report dated Monday, 8 September 2008. Excerpts:

The campaign follows failed attempts to negotiate an end to the rebellion by his Lord's Resistance Army.

Congo's army has sent 200 troops to the northern town of Dungu, where hundreds have sought refuge from the LRA.

The LRA fought a 20-year war against the government in northern Uganda. Some two million people were displaced.

Note, the report says Mr Kony is thought to have been rebuilding his forces.

Also note, as stated at my sites Uganda Watch, Congo Watch and Sudan Watch many times before, the USA treats the LRA as a terrorist organisation and, in my view, rightly so.

One wonders about the financing and arming of the LRA over the past 20 years. How come, in this day age, the sources of funding, armaments and munitions for African rebel groups manage to remain such a secret over past twenty years? I wish professional journalists would tell us because it would help make sense of what is going on in and around Africa and why.

[Cross posted to parent site Sudan Watch and sister sites Uganda Watch, Congo Watch, Niger Watch]

Maps of Niger

Courtesy Google September 2008
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hat tip www.sas.upenn.edu/
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Courtesy Google September 2008