Wednesday July 17, 2013
National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
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World News
Zimmerman verdict: Los Angeles protest turns violent
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PAUL ARHEWE,
WITH AGENCY REPORTS
P
resident, Assembly of States Parties to the International Criminal Court (ICC), Ms Tina Intelmann, has called on the Nigerian Government to respect and fully comply with its Rome Statute obligations. This is contained in a statement issued yesterday by the court, following the inability of Nigeria to execute an arrest warrant on Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, who visited Abuja from July 14 to July 16. Al-Bashir, who was indicted by the ICC for alleged war crimes in Darfur, reportedly left Abuja on Tuesday morning after attending the Abuja + 12 AU Summit on HIV and AIDS. He is accused of allegedly masterminding genocide and other atrocities during the Sudan’s Darfur conflict, charges which he has repeatedly denied. In her letter to the Foreign Minister of Nigeria, Olugbenga Ashiru, the ICC president reminded Nigeria of its commitment as a State Party to the Rome Statute, to cooperate with the court. ``The Assembly had repeatedly expressed concerns regarding the negative consequences that failure to comply with decisions of the court had on the court’s capability to carry out its mandate.’’ The ICC president deplored the visits of persons subject to arrest warrants of the court to
–IRAN’S PRESIDENT-ELECT, HASAN ROUHANI
Al-Bashir: ICC urges Nigeria to comply with its laws President returns to Sudan
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir walking out of a hotel in Abuja, on Sunday.
any State Party. Meanwhile, President alBashir has left Nigeria, where his presence at an African Union HIV/AIDS summit defied International Criminal Court (ICC) calls for his arrest on charges of genocide and war crimes, officials said yesterday. His press secretary and Nigerian hosts both denied reports in the local media that he had left early fearing arrest.
Monday was the main day of the two-day summit. Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, chairman of the African Union, was the only leader who was at a breakfast for them at the presidency on Tuesday morning, an official there said. But Nigeria’s presidency said two others, President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya and Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon, had also stayed on for the second day.
Egypt’s interim government sworn in Seven killed during protest in Cairo
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new interim Egyptian government was sworn in yesterday, with army chief Gen Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who led the ousting of Mohammed Morsi, becoming deputy PM as well as defence minister. Hazem al-Beblawi is the new PM, under the interim President Adly Mansour. The swearing in followed an-
“Syria will overcome its current crisis”
other night of violence between security forces and Morsi supporters that left seven dead. A spokesman for Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood called the interim government “illegitimate”. Morsi was ousted on 3 July in what many have said was a military coup. The army said it was fulfilling the demands of the people after
Supporters of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi shouting slogans as they protest on the Sixth of October Bridge in Cairo, recently. PHOTO: AP
mass anti-Morsi protests. The swearing-in ceremony was shown live on state television. Gen Sisi already held the defence portfolio, but now also becomes interim prime minister. Mohammed Ibrahim, who had been appointed interior minister by Morsi, keeps his post. Nabil Fahmy becomes foreign minister and Sherif Ismail is the interim oil minister. Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour, a Christian, is the interim trade and industry minister. There are three women ministers, including Maha el-Rabat, who takes the health portfolio. There were no posts for any figures from Islamist parties in the new government. The Brotherhood had said it would not take part. Its spokesman, Gehad el-Haddad, told Reuters news agency: “It’s an illegitimate government, an illegitimate prime minister, an illegitimate cabinet. We don’t rec-
PHOTO: REUTERS
“President Bashir returned normally to Khartoum after participating in the summit in Abuja to resume his work in Khartoum,” his press secretary Emad Said told Reuters. Bashir, who is accused of orchestrating genocide and other crimes during the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region in which some 200,000 people were killed, arrived in Nigeria on Sunday, to the chagrin of human rights campaigners. ognise anyone in it.” The interim government’s transition plan will see a panel formed by next week which will draw up amendments to the constitution and a timetable for new elections. The swearing-in ceremony comes amid continuing deadly violence. More than 400 people were arrested and seven killed in overnight clashes in the capital, Cairo. The battles erupted after protesters, mostly members of the Muslim Brotherhood, blocked the Sixth of October bridge, a major route over the Nile and through the capital, and the nearby Ramses Square, a transport hub. Police fired tear gas to try to break up the blockade. Protesters responded by throwing stones. Other clashes broke out in the Giza district, in the south-west. The head of Egypt’s emergency services, Mohamed Sultan, said two people had died on or around the bridge and five in Giza.
WORLD BULLETIN
Dead body found in Mali is French hostage
French President Francois Hollande has confirmed that a body found in northern Mali was that of hostage Philippe Verdon and vowed the killing would not go unpunished. The French geologist, who was kidnapped by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) from a hotel while on business in northeastern Mali in November 2011, was already believed to be dead. Confirming his death on Monday, Hollande said: “Those responsible for the death of our compatriot must be identified and brought to justice.” “The remains will be transferred to our country as soon as possible and autopsies will allow us to know the cause of death.” Verdon’s captors announced in March that the 53-year-old had been executed in response to France’s military intervention in Mali. Hollande had said earlier that a body believed to be that of Verdon had been found 10 days earlier in northern Mali and that officials were doing “everything possible” to confirm the identity.
Prominent gay rights activist killed in Cameroun
A prominent gay rights activist in Cameroun was tortured and killed just weeks after issuing a public warning about the threat posed by “anti-gay thugs,” Human Rights Watch said. Friends discovered the body of Eric Ohena Lembembe at his home in the capital, Yaounde, on Monday evening after he was unreachable for two days, the rights group said in a statement yesterday. One friend said Lembembe’s neck and feet looked broken and that he had been burned with an iron. Lembembe was among the most prominent activists in one of Africa’s most hostile countries for sexual minorities.
Eight killed in ethnic clashes in Guinea
At least eight people have been killed in ethnic violence in southeastern Guinea which entered a second day yesterday, witnesses said, underscoring tensions in the West African nation ahead of parliamentary elections. In Nzerekore, Guinea’s second largest town, ethnic gangs prowled the streets and witnesses reported shooting. The violence erupted on Monday after a man accused of being a thief was killed in the nearby town of Koule, residents said. “Everything is closed: the market, banks, shops. People have stayed at home,” said Ousmane Balde, a resident of Nzerekore, which lies some 980 km (612 miles) from the capital Conakry. A second source, who asked not to be identified, said he had seen at least eight dead at the city’s hospital.