Cameroon: Arrested Suicide Bomber May Be Kidnapped Chibok Girl

FILE - In this photo taken from video by Nigeria's Boko Haram terrorist network, Monday May 12, 2014 shows the alleged missing girls abducted from the northeastern town of Chibok. The new video purports to show dozens of abducted schoolgirls, covered in jihab and praying in Arabic.

March 26, 2016 8:20 AM

YAOUNDE—

A suspected suicide bomber detained before she could detonate explosives in a town on Cameroon's northern border with Nigeria says she is one of the girls kidnapped from a Nigerian school at Chibok in 2014.

Babila Akao, the highest-ranking official in Mayo Sava — an administrative area on Cameroon's northern border with Nigeria — says he asked the military and local self-defense groups to arrest or kill three suicide bombers his intelligence services and the population said had crossed over from Nigeria to Cameroon.

"Yesterday in the night we had information that three suicide bombers, young women had been brought from Banki into Limani and Amchide," said Akao. "Immediately I informed the D.O.'s [local administrative authorities] of Kolofata and Mora and my colleagues of the forces of law {military} and also all the members of the committee [self-defense groups] have been on the field and their work has given what you see today."

Limani, Cameroon

Kidnapped in Chibok

Idrissou Yacoubou, leader of a self-defense group in Limani, says they arrested one of the girls before she could blow herself up. Another surrendered and the other escaped back to Nigeria. He says the girl who surrendered confessed she was one of the more than 200 girls seized two years ago by Boko Haram from the Nigerian town of Chibok and taken to the Sambisa forest stronghold of the terrorist group.

Sambisa Forest, northeastern Nigeria

Yacoubou says the 15-year-old girl who told them she was kidnapped from a school in Chibok ran to a woman in a nearby house and started crying for help while another older girl with explosives on her body panicked and surrendered.

Idrissou said the 15-year-old girl looked tired and malnourished, and could not give them more details about her stay in the forest or how she and the other captives were treated.

The girls have been handed over to Cameroon soldiers and their peers from Nigeria, Chad and Niger; members of the multi-national joint forces fighting Boko Haram.

Investigations

Midjiyawa Bakari, governor of the far north region of Cameroon, has ordered investigations to find out the authenticity of the girl's declarations. He congratulated the self-defense group for helping to stop Boko Haram atrocities.

Bakari says Boko Haram, which he says is on the verge of being eliminated, has changed strategy and is using all of its remaining supporters and captives as instruments to kill. He says he is very proud of the actions carried out by self defense groups and is urging everyone to collaborate with them and the military to completely eliminate Boko Haram.

Some 270 girls were kidnapped from a Nigerian school at Chibok and loaded onto trucks to an unknown destination in April 2014, provoking an international outcry.

FILE - People attend a demonstration calling on the government to rescue the kidnapped girls of the government secondary school in Chibok, in Abuja, Nigeria, Oct. 14, 2014.

An international campaign dubbed "Bring Back Our Girls" was launched. About 50 of them later escaped. Nigeria says it does not know with certainty where the remaining Chibok girls are hidden.

Boko Haram has been using teenage girls in suicide bombings in Cameroon and in Nigeria.

Kerry in Brussels to Discuss Attacks; 2 Americans Reported Killed

U.S Secretary of State John Kerry meets Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel in Brussels, Belgium, March 25, 2016.

VOA News

Last updated on: March 25, 2016 5:00 AM

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting with European leaders in Brussels as a U.S. news report says two Americans were among the victims of Tuesday's terror attacks there.
U.S.-based NBC News reported Friday that two Americans have been confirmed killed in Tuesday's attacks that left more than 30 people dead. An unnamed U.S. official said no names are available yet as officials are still working to notify the families.
Kerry is in Brussels to offer condolences and offer U.S. help on the investigation to find those responsible for the suicide bombings at Brussels airport and at a metro station. Kerry planned to meet with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and Foreign Minister Didier Reynders.
He also planned to meet with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, and will lay a wreath at the airport in tribute to the victims.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry puts his hand out to feel for rain as he arrives at Brussels Airport in Brussels, Belgium, Friday, March 25, 2016.

Belgian authorities continue to search for clues to how the attacks happened even amid heightened security and an investigation of the Brussels-based militants that attacked Paris in November.
U.S. officials have told reporters that the brothers who carried out Tuesday's attacks, Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui, were on the terrorism watch list in the United States.
Belgian federal prosecutors say six people have been detained for possible links to the attacks. The prosecutors said the raids that led to the arrests took place in central Brussels, Jette and Schaerbeek, the neighborhood where police found a stash of explosives earlier this week in an apartment used by the bombers.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve also said a French national was arrested Thursday and found to be in an "advanced stage" of planning a terror attack. Cazeneuve said the man was arrested early Thursday, and said police went back to search his home later that day. French officials said later that he has connections to the suspected ringleader of the Paris attacks of November 13.
EU to step up efforts
Meeting Thursday in the shadow of the Brussels terrorist attacks, European Union justice and interior ministers vowed to deepen joint intelligence gathering and swiftly push through measures to share airline passenger information and step up the fight against terrorism. 
"We don’t need new plans, we need to fully implement the plans and measures that have been taken," said Interior Minister Ronald Plasterk of the Netherlands, which currently holds the European Union’s rotating presidency. 
Coming two days after the Brussels bombings that killed more than 30 people and wounded more than 260 others, the emergency meeting offered a stark counterpart to the EU’s usually staid gatherings  – especially since it took place near the Maalbeek metro station, one of the attacks' targets. 
"Everybody feels the attack on Belgium was an attack on Europe and the values we stand for together," Plasterk said. "Europe has been under attack before. But we’ve always defended liberty and democracy and we will do that together." 
The meeting comes as Belgian authorities face growing criticism over security lapses, with more evidence of significant links between the Paris attacks in November and Tuesday’s strikes in Brussels. 
Security measures criticized
But Belgium is not the only country to face criticism. 
"There is a lack of trust. Otherwise, things might have been predicted and then prevented,” said European Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos. 
Of the Brussels attackers, he added: "They were home-grown, but they were also quite well known to intelligence services. If we were sharing information, we might dissuade their actions. The same for the perpetrators of the attacks in Paris."
The Islamic State (IS) group, which has claimed responsibility for both attacks, released a video Thursday describing the Brussels strikes as a victory and urging its followers to wage jihad. 

Police and other emergency workers stand in front of the damaged Zaventem Airport terminal in Brussels on March 23, 2016.

Critics are particularly questioning how the Brussels suicide bombers could have planned and carried out the attacks under the noses of Belgian authorities, since many had dubious backgrounds and links to the Paris attacks. 
Criminal records
The El Bakraoui brothers, two of the three suicide bombers on Tuesday, had criminal records but no known jihadist ties. 
Turkish authorities said Ibrahim El Bakraoui was caught near the Syrian border in 2013 and extradited. Belgian’s federal prosecutor’s office said European and international arrest warrants had been issued for Khaled El Bakraoui in connection with the Paris attacks probe. 
Najim Laachraoui, named by local media as the third suicide bomber, was stopped by Hungarian authorities last year driving in a rented car with Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam. 
Abdeslam is being held in a maximum scrutiny prison in the Belgian town of Bruges and eventually is expected to be extradited to France. His lawyer said Abdeslam, after initially resisting the move, wants a speedy extradition to "explain himself." 
On Thursday, Belgian justice and interior ministers tendered their resignations, which were rejected by Prime Minister Charles Michel. 
Speaking to local broadcaster RTBF, Justice Minister Koen Geens acknowledged Belgian authorities could have been faster in following up on information Turkey had shared about Ibrahim El Bakraoui. 
"The information was passed on, but we have not been diligent, or probably not diligent enough," Geens said. 
Security cooperation increasing
But following the EU meeting, he said things were changing swiftly in terms of sharing information and joint investigations among European countries. 
A case in point took place last week, when both French and Belgian police carried out raids of residences linked to where assailants of both the Paris and Brussels attacks are believed to have stayed.

Special operations police secure an area during a police raid in the Molenbeek neighbourhood of Brussels, Belgium on March 18, 2016.

Attack 'almost inevitable'
Michael Hayden, former director of the U.S. National Security Agency, told VOA the Brussels attack was "almost inevitable."
"I realize that's a pretty dramatic word," Hayden said. "But if you look at what has happened...the soft targets, the transportation targets, the maximum civilian casualties, [it's] something we could see."
Hayden also said it is "certainly not the last" attack IS will carry out, saying the group has a "network that seems to be active and thriving in the heart of Europe."
The retired four-star general, who also headed up the CIA, said European intelligence and security agencies could do a better job at sharing information.
Counter-terrorism expert Thomas Reynard of the Brussels-based Egmont Institute, believes cooperation between French and Belgian police is often underestimated.
“It’s not like we just started cooperation,” he said. “Obviously cooperation between police, between intelligence services anywhere in the world — including often within one single country — is also difficult.”
“So is this a case of perfect cooperation - definitely not,” he added. “But what’s important is these remain hiccups rather than a major lack of cooperation.”

Bystanders look at the flowers and candles set out as a memorial outside the Moelenbeek metro station in Brussels, March 24, 2016. (L. Bryant/VOA)

Belgians still in mourning
In Brussels, there is little sign that the public is eager to place blame for the attacks.
Belgians observed another minute of silence earlier Thursday for the victims of the Brussels attacks.
Many also placed wreaths and candles in front of makeshift shrines at the Maalbeek metro station.  
Asked whether Belgian authorities could have done more to prevent the attacks, state worker Griet Smaers said she didn’t know. 
“That’s a question that will be answered in the next weeks and months,” she added. “Right now, I just want to be here — this place where very weird and tough things happened.”

Iran to UN: Missile Launch Not A Violation

In this photo obtained from the Iranian Fars News Agency, a Qadr H long-range ballistic surface-to-surface missile is fired by Iran's Revolutionary Guard, during a maneuver, in an undisclosed location in Iran, Wednesday, March 9, 2016.

Margaret Besheer

March 24, 2016 6:03 PM

UNITED NATIONS— The Iranian government has written to the United Nations defending its recent ballistic missile launch, which was criticized by the United States and other nations.
In a letter dated March 23, Iran’s U.N. ambassador, Gholamali Khoshroo, told the Secretary-General and the Security Council that Iran has not taken any activity that violates the language of a U.N. resolution adopted in July.
That resolution “calls upon” Iran not to “undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.”
The Iranian ambassador said his government “fully honors its commitment” under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the July deal with the six major powers on its nuclear program.
Khoshroo said in the letter that there is no basis for raising this issue in the Security Council, adding that “it is contrary to the prevailing positive environment and detrimental to the good faith implementation” of the nuclear deal.
On March 14, council members met at the request of the United States to discuss the missile launch.
U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said then that the launches were “dangerous, destabilizing and provocative” and “undermine the prospect for peace” in the region.
She said the United States would “not give up” in the Security Council and would provide technical information that Iran had made public “showing that the technology they used is inherently capable of delivering nuclear weapons” in defiance of the U.N. resolution. Power added that Washington could consider its own unilateral response.
Speaking at a book launch event Thursday, Ambassador Khoshroo said Tehran is “happy” about the nuclear deal, “but at the same time we are not receiving the removal of sanctions on banking and the transfer of money; there still are problems,” he added.
Of U.S.-Iranian relations he said, “a small window of communication has been opened, we are expressing our dissatisfaction to each other through that small window, but the big door is closed.”

China Sends Unclear Signals on North Korean Sanctions

A cargo boat (R) is seen on the bank of the Yalu River in Sinuiju, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong, March 14, 2016.

Brian Padden

March 25, 2016 3:44 AM

SEOUL— China is sending out conflicting signals on its support for tough new international sanctions against North Korea.
The United Nations adopted the expanded sanctions on March 2 to punish the Kim Jong Un government for conducting its fourth nuclear test and launching another long range rocket earlier this year.
China and the United States collaborated on developing the new sanctions that require the immediate implementation of mandatory inspections of all North Korean imports and ban the exports of most minerals.  
Chinese enforcement
Beijing’s enforcement of these international sanctions is considered crucial because 90 percent of North Korean trade flows either to or through China.
China’s leaders have pledged to support the sanctions, but have not yet announced specific measures to implement them.
There have been mixed reports on enforcement efforts coming from the city of Dandong, a major bilateral trading hub located on the Chinese side of the Yalu river, which separates China and North Korea.
Some news organizations, often citing unnamed businessmen in the region, have reported a reduction in vehicle traffic at the border, the suspension of currency transfers to North Korean banks, and a prohibition on North Korean vessels from entering the Chinese port.
Yet China recently negotiated a slight easing of the sanctions to reinstate four ships to conduct international trade that were blacklisted for past ties to Pyongyang's arms trade.

FILE - Crew members are seen on the 6,700-tonne freighter Mu Du Bong in the port of Tuxpan, April 9, 2015.

Coal exception
There are also reports that China has been lenient in enforcing the U.N. restrictions on North Korean exports of coal.
The U.N. ban on North Korean mineral exports includes a difficult to verify humanitarian exemption for coal and iron exports, as long as the profits are not used to fund the development of nuclear weapons or other illicit arms.
Coal exports are often bartered for goods utilized by the North Korean general public, including oil, food and machinery.  
But the $1 billion of North Korea coal exported to China last year also provided Pyongyang with a key source of hard currency that potentially could be used for its weapons program.
A number of regional sources in the coal trade recently said they had received no instructions from the government on any new rules on coal imports from North Korea.
Choi Kyung-soo, the president of the North Korea Resources Institute in Seoul that tracks mineral exports from the North, said there is a lot of confusion as to whether China is actually stopping North Korean ships and to what extend the sanctions are being implemented.
“Nothing has been clearly identified on whether these are North Korean ships carrying coal and minerals or if they are carrying general shipments,” he said.
Trade data will be released in April and that will give officials their first objective indication of what impact sanctions may be having.
In January, despite rumors to the contrary and a rising concern over impending sanctions, Choi said, there were no restrictions placed on the exports of minerals.
Choi also said it will be difficult for Chinese authorities to differentiate between coal exports that benefit the general populous and those that might be used to fund the country’s nuclear program.
Many analysts expect Beijing to follow the same pattern it set after the U.N. imposed sanctions on North Korea in 2013 for its third nuclear test. Then, China initially restricted border trade, but over time loosened those constraints and has since invested heavily in expanding bilateral commerce and development.

A man passes by a TV screen showing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, March 24, 2016.

Stifling change from within
These tough new sanctions, however, will likely make international companies and even developmental assistance organizations wary of doing business with North Korea.
Andray Abrahamian, the executive director of Choson Exchange, a non-profit group that helps North Korean businesses operate more efficiently based on market principles, said his international donors are starting to withdrawal support.
“People are nervous about giving money to organizations that work in country lest they slip up and work with organizations or individuals who are on the designated list” of sanctioned individuals and companies, he said.
The North Korean economy has improved under Kim Jong Un in part because of the economic reforms he implemented that allow farmers to sell a portion of the crops they produce, and permits some industries more incentives and control to manage their production and workforce.
Proponents of engagement have long argued that these changes will dissipate the rigid communist government control over all aspects of life in the country, and over time would transform North Korea into a more rules based and open society, even if the Kim family remains in power.
While it is not clear if the sanctions will work in pressuring the North Korean leadership to give up its nuclear weapons program, it will likely make it more difficult to generate change from within.
“Kim Jong Un’s brand has very much been associated with economic growth and improvement of quality-of-life. If that really slows down, I worry that we’ll see a return to the more traditional military first [type of] austerity that we saw under his father’s leadership,” said Abrahamian.
Youmi Kim in Seoul contributed to this report.

Saudi Arabia to End 'Major Combat Operations' in Yemen

FILE - Yemeni people inspect the damage after an airstrike by Saudi-led coalition in Sana'a, Yemen, Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016. 

VOA News

Last updated on: March 17, 2016 6:06 PM

Saudi Arabia says it is ending its "major combat operations" in Yemen, one year after launching Arab coalition airstrikes against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.
A Saudi military spokesman, Brigadier General Ahmed al-Asiri, told the Associated Press Thursday that the coalition will continue providing air support to Yemeni forces and help build an army.
"The aim of the coalition is to create a strong cohesive government with a strong national army and security forces that can combat terrorism and impose law and order across the country," al-Asiri said.
He said a small number of coalition troops will stay on the ground in Yemen to train Yemeni soldiers
The White House said it welcomes the Saudi statement and added there is a dire need for a political solution in Yemen.
Iranian-backed Houthi rebels seized the capital of Sana'a in 2014. They sent the internationally recognized government of President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi fleeing to exile in Saudi Arabia before returning to the southern port city of Aden.

FILE - A young boy who lost his leg in the Yemen war uses a prosthetic limb at a government-run rehabilitation center in Sana'a, Yemen, Saturday, March 5, 2016.

The fighting in Yemen, along with the Saudi-led airstrikes, have obliterated entire neighborhoods and killed more than 6,000 people - mostly civilians. They include 119 killed by an aitrstike on a market northwest of Sana'a Tuesday.
The U.N. says 80 percent of Yemeni civilians are in dire need of food and medical help.
The Saudi-led coalition entered the fight last year. Some Mideast experts say the coalition action did nothing to help push all sides toward a peace settlement.
The U.N and human rights groups accuse the coalition of deliberately firing at civilian targets - a charge the Saudis deny.

 

Sudan Threatens to Close Border with South Sudan

John Tanza

Last updated on: March 17, 2016 2:40 PM

Sudan is threatening to close its border with South Sudan and deport more than 300,000 South Sudanese students on grounds that the South is supporting rebels fighting the government of President Omar al-Bashir.  
Ibrahim Mohamud Hamid, a senior assistant to Bashir, aired the accusation and warnings on Thursday.
South Sudan’s Foreign Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin denied his government is supporting rebels of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, or SPLA North, who are fighting the Sudanese government in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states.
Marial, speaking to VOA's South Sudan in Focus program, said his country is working to bring peace to Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile.
"President Salva (Kiir) and the government are fully committed to see that there is peace in Sudan and peace in South Sudan," he said.  "And the president is very clear that we will not support any armed insurgency against the Republic of Sudan."
Sudan and South Sudan signed a cooperation agreement four years ago to stop supporting rebels in each other’s territory, to promote trade and to create two viable states.
But the border was closed until earlier this year, when Sudanese President Bashir ordered it open to help the South cope with its ongoing economic crisis, caused by the country's civil war.
Rabi Adelati, a senior member of Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party, backed Hamid's accusation and said Juba’s support to Sudanese rebels is creating tension between the two countries.
"This will really affect security, affect peace and affect the [South Sudan] government," Adelati said.  "As you know the situation in South Sudan is vulnerable.... And I think that if the stance of (South Sudan’s) government [is] to cooperate with SPLM-North, this will definitely result in negative impact on the two countries," he said.
Adelati said it is time for the Sudanese government to tighten security along its borders with South Sudan.
South Sudan's Marial said his government can end the conflict in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states if given a chance to do so.
‘’Some of these problems can actually be resolved by enhancing our trade, encouraging the movement of the people, educating our children together," he said.
"’We have that relationship, whether it is a social relationship, whether we were in one country before.  This can be used for the advantage of South Sudan putting pressure on our brothers and sisters in the Sudan so that they can reach a peaceful agreement that will make our region a viable region, politically, economically and even socially and culturally,’’ he added.
Sudan and South Sudan have struggled to maintain good relations since the South broke away and won independence in 2011.
South Sudan’s foreign minister expressed concern last year about reports that Sudanese President Bashir promised military support to rebel leader Riek Machar to forcefully take power in the world’s youngest nation.
VOA fellow Nadia Taha contributed to this report.

Russia Sends Arms to Iraqi Kurds for IS Fight

Kurdish Peshmerga fighters take part during a training session by coalition forces in a training camp in Irbil, north of Iraq, March 9, 2016.

Rikar Hussein, Fatima Tlisova

March 17, 2016 5:14 PM

Russia sent arms this week to Iraq’s Kurdish region to be used by Peshmerga forces fighting the Islamic State group, Russian and Kurdish sources said.
The arms were delivered Monday and included five anti-aircraft autocannons and 20,000 shells, Artem Grigoryan, the attache to the Russian consul general in Irbil, told RIA Novotsi.
The delivery came one day after Ilya Morgunov, Russia's ambassador to Iraq, met with Kurdish President Masoud Barzani to discuss closer relations between the two sides and provision of military assistance to the Peshmerga fighters.
“The Russian ambassador reiterated his county’s support to the Kurdistan region and showed Russia’s willingness to provide military assistance to Peshmerga in the fight against terrorism,” a statement from the Kurdistan region’s presidency read.
A pro-Western region and an effective U.S. ally in fighting IS, Iraqi Kurdistan has received military assistance from several countries, including the United States and Germany. The Kurdish attempts to receive heavy weapons have been fiercely opposed by Baghdad, which fears the Kurds may seek independence from Iraq.

FILE - A member of the Peshmerga forces inspects a tunnel used by Islamic State militants in the town of Sinjar, Iraq, Dec. 1, 2015.

Shipments blocked
Having control over Kurdistan’s airspace, Baghdad has blocked several direct arms shipments to the region, arguing that any military assistance should go through the central government. Kurds, in response, complain that shipping through Baghdad is very slow and inefficient.
Kurdistan’s representative to Russia told VOA that Baghdad approved the Russian arms shipments to the Peshmerga.
“The shipment was carried by a Russian plane which landed in Irbil with the awareness from Baghdad,” Aso Jangi Burhan, the Kurdistan region’s representative to Russia, told VOA.
According to Kurdish officials, this was not the first time Kurds had received arms from Russia.
“Just like anti-IS coalition members, the Russian Federation provides us with military assistance. It has provided us with military assistance about three times in the past,” Jabar Yawar, the chief of staff for the Kurdistan region’s Peshmerga ministry, told VOA.
The conflict in Syria and Iraq and the emergence of IS in the region have allowed for a greater involvement of Russia in the region, analysts say.
“Russia has developed close ties with the Kurds since its intervention in Syria in September 2015,” Brian Glyn Williams, a professor of Islamic history at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, told VOA. “The Russian-supplied anti-aircraft guns will be deployed in an anti-armor/anti-personnel role by the outgunned Kurds.”

 

Congress Remains Divided Ahead of Obama's Cuba Visit

A poster features portraits of Cuba's President Raul Castro, left, and U.S. President Barack Obama and reads in Spanish "Welcome to Cuba" outside a restaurant in Havana, Cuba, March 17, 2016. Obama is scheduled to travel to the island on March 20, the first U.S. presidential trip to Havana in nearly 90 years. 

Michael Bowman, Smita Nordwall

March 18, 2016 7:53 AM

WASHINGTON— U.S. President Barack Obama’s trip to Cuba is being anticipated by many as a historic chance to thaw relations with Havana.
Despite the reluctance of some in Congress, Obama has moved aggressively to restore economic and diplomatic relations with the communist island.
National Security Adviser Susan Rice told the Atlantic Council Thursday, "As President Obama has repeatedly said, we know that change won’t come to Cuba overnight. But the old approach — trying to isolate Cuba, for more than 50 years — clearly didn’t work. We believe that engagement — including greater trade, travel and ties between Americans and Cubans — is the best way to help create opportunity and spur progress for the Cuban people."

FILE - National Security Adviser Susan Rice.

Several members of Congress from both sides of the aisle will join Obama on the trip starting Sunday, a gesture many hope shows that improving relations is becoming a bipartisan issue.
Positive for Cuban people
Republican Jeff Flake, who plans to accompany the president, says he is "excited" about the trip. He hopes it will be good for the Cuban people.
"It's always bothered me that as Republicans we talk about engagement, travel and commerce as something that will nudge countries toward democracy," he said. "But with Cuba, we tend to say 'No, no, it won't work there.' But it will work. It is working."

Refrigerator magnets are displayed for sale in a tourist shop, several showing images of U.S. President Barack Obama, at a market in Havana, Cuba, March 14, 2016. Obama will travel to Cuba on March 20.

Human rights concerns remain
Not all lawmakers share Flake's enthusiasm. Democratic Senator Robert Menendez, a Cuban American from Florida, is among them. He faults the president for embarking on a visit that does not meet the criteria set by the administration.
"The president said he would only go to Cuba if he could honestly say he saw changes, in terms of the people's basic, fundamental freedoms," Menendez said. He said those changes have not occurred.
"What we have seen in the first two-and-a-half months of this year is 1,400 new arrests and several of the people who were released under the original deal have been re-arrested and are now in jail. To me, that cannot be seen as progress as it relates to the basic, fundamental elements of democracy and human rights."

FILE - U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) speaks about President Barack Obama's planned trip to Cuba during a news conference, Feb. 18, 2016, in Union City, N.J.

Obama's three-day visit will make him the first sitting U.S. president to visit the island nation in nearly 90 years. The two nations have endured 50 years of hostilities, after revolutionary Fidel Castro overthrew the U.S.-supported dictator Fulgencio Batista.
 

Three Niger Police Die in Attack Near Border

Niger map

VOA News

March 18, 2016 3:17 AM

Three policemen have been killed in an attack on Niger security forces near the border with Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Mali.
Niger's Ministry of Defense made the statement on public television Thursday. Colonel Ledru Moustapha said in the statement the attack was launched by assailants who arrived on four motorcycles and in a Toyota pickup truck.
In an earlier attack, three members of Niger's defense forces were wounded and five suicide bombers were killed Wednesday in an ambush in the Diffa region authorities have blamed on Boko Haram.
The attacks come just before Niger voters go to the polls Sunday for a presidential runoff vote.
A spokesman for the opposition coalition, Amadou Bjibo, is asking supporters to boycott the vote. The opposition says the February 21 election was marred by vote-rigging.

 

Musharraf Leaves Pakistan After Travel Ban Lifted

FILE - In this Saturday, April 20, 2013 file photo, Pakistan's former President and military ruler Pervez Musharraf arrives at an anti-terrorism court in Islamabad.

 

VOA News

March 18, 2016 2:05 AM

Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, who is facing treason and other charges, has left the country after having his travel ban lifted.
The Supreme Court ordered the government earlier this week to lift the former president's ban. 
Musharraf flew to Dubai early Friday and is expected to go abroad for medical treatment for what he described as a "decade-old illness."
The former ruler promised to return to Pakistan to face all pending charges against him.
He told Dawn, a Pakistani newspaper, "I am a commando and I love my homeland. I will come back in a few weeks or months."
Political analyst Hasan Askari told the French News Agency, however, the chances of Musharraf coming back to Pakistan are "minimal" because his return could cause problems for the government and embarrass the military. "In order to defuse the conflict, the government agreed to let him go," Askari said.
The former ruler has faced a slew of charges since returning home in 2013 to contest elections.  In March of the same year, the travel ban was imposed.

Multiple Protests Rock Egypt

Anti-Morsi protesters chant anti-government slogans at Tahrir Square in Cairo, December 11, 2012.

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• Concern Mounts Over Egypt's Draft Constitution
• Egyptian Opposition to Continue Protests Against Referendum

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Edward Yeranian

December 11, 2012

CAIRO — Multiple protests are taking place in Cairo and across Egypt Tuesday, both by Islamist supporters of President Mohamed Morsi and by the opposition National Salvation Front.

Crowds of opposition protesters began converging on the presidential palace by late afternoon Tuesday, as marchers poured in from several parts of the capital. Three walls of large cement blocks prevented the crowd from getting close to the building.

VOA correspondent Elizabeth Arrott said from the scene that several thousand demonstrators chanted demands to topple the regime. Some held signs urging to vote "no" on the referendum.

Arrott said thousands of Muslim Brotherhood members and other Islamists rallied at a nearby site, chanting support for Morsi. A Brotherhood leader said there are no plans to march on the palace.

Islamist supporters of the president mobilized in front of several Cairo mosques, chanting slogans in favor of the new constitution. Islamist demonstrations were also reported in Alexandria, Assiout and Suez.


​​ ​
The Egyptian military called for all political parties to meet on Wednesday at a military sports complex to resolve the crisis, the state news agency reported. There was no immediate response from various political groups.

Mohamed ElBaradei, who heads the opposition National Salvation Front, said his group was still debating whether to boycott Saturday's scheduled referendum on the controversial new constitution or ask supporters to vote no. Islamists are urging Egyptians to vote “yes.”

Referendum as civic duty

In a press conference at Cairo's Islamic al Azhar University, Sheikh Ahmed Olayil said it is the civic duty of all Egyptians to turn out for the referendum, no matter how they vote.

He said going to vote is a national obligation, and it doesn't matter if people vote "yes" or if they vote "no." He said that the 2011 uprising against the government was based on the principle of "destroying' corruption in the old regime," while the objective now is to build new government institutions.

But Prime Minister Hisham Qandil, in a separate press conference, said the crisis in Egypt is economic and that political differences need to be solved to attack that problem.

Egypt's Draft Constitution

-Limits president to two four-year terms
-Provides protections against arbitrary detention and torture
-Islamic law, or Sharia, serves as the basis for legislation
-Religious freedom is limited to Muslims, Christians and Jews
-Citizens are deemed equal before the law and equal in rights

​​Qandil said a national dialogue will be held next week to discuss controversial proposed tax hikes and to determine how to move ahead in solving the economic crisis. He said the ongoing political instability is preventing a solution to the economic crisis.

Meanwhile, President Mohamed Morsi met with a stream of supporters and opponents at the presidential palace, including the head of the opposition Wafd party, Sayyed Badawi.

A clash of generational forces

Analyst James Denselow of Kings' College London said the current conflict is the product of a clash between three separate and distinct forces in Egyptian society.

"You have three dynamic elements clashing which each other," he said. They involve "the Muslim Brotherhood's attempt to consolidate its rule through Morsi's constitutional referendum; the traditional Mubarak era structures of power - the military and the security services - attempting to define their role in the post-Mubarak era; and the post-Arab Spring, Tahrir Square generation, who are unwilling to sit quietly by while dramatic and drastic changes occur...."

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund has placed a $4.8 billion loan to Egypt on hold Tuesday as the political tensions grip the nation. The Egyptian government says it first wants to better explain austerity measures tied to the planned loan.

January 25, 2011

Protests erupt across Egypt. Demonstrators call for an end to PresidentHosni Mubarak’s control over the country.

Protesters Clash in Cairo, More Presidential Advisers Quit

Protesters opposed to Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi evacuate and injured fellow protester during clashes between supporters of president Mohammed Morsi and their rivals in front of the president palace, in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012.

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Edward Yeranian, VOA News

December 05, 2012

CAIRO — Supporters and opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi battled late Wednesday in Cairo with rocks and firebombs, as three key presidential advisors quit to protest the president's handling of the country's constitutional crisis.

Reporting from the scene, VOA correspondent Elizabeth Arrott said the new violence erupted when Morsi's Islamist supporters attacked demonstrators protesting what they describe as a presidential power grab.

"I've seen Molotov cocktails, people armed with iron bars and rocks, some people even pulling branches off of trees in terms of trying to find some kind of weapon to fight with, the crowds pushing back and forth and there are reports of live ammunition being used and again, unconfirmed reports of casualties, of fatalities among the people who are fighting," she said.

Arrott said most of the presidential supporters are men with beards typical of members of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, while opponents of the president appeared younger and had some women present.

As clashes continued late Wednesday, there were reports of Muslim Brotherhood supporters attacking journalists outside the presidential palace.  Separately, three more presidential advisors announced their resignations to protest the decrees granting Mr. Morsi expanded powers. Five of the president's 17 advisors have quit since November 22.

Opposition protesters want Morsi to abolish a decree he issued last month granting himself sweeping powers that place him above review by the judiciary. Many also oppose a new draft constitution drawn up by a mainly Islamist committee. The draft is set for a December 15 referendum.

Clinton urges talks

Earlier in Brussels, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged the rival sides to hold a dialogue with each other, rather than try to impose their views on each other.

“The upheaval that we are seeing now, once again, in the streets of Cairo and of other cities indicates that dialogue is urgently needed, and it needs to be a two-way dialogue, not one side talking at another side," she said.

Clinton also urged Egypt's new leadership to work to craft a new constitution via a “process that is open, transparent and fair” and doesn't “favor one group over any other.”

Egyptian Vice President Mahmoud Mekki told a news conference that it is possible to reach a compromise over a number of contentious points in the draft constitution, but that the referendum to approve the document would go ahead as planned later this month.

Mekki said that 10 or 12 clauses at most are under dispute and that it could be possible to work out a compromise over them in the days leading up to the vote.  He said the president granted himself extraordinary powers to address the “critical situation through which the country is passing,” saying that it was a response to “calls by the people for stability.”

Long protests

On Tuesday, Egyptian riot police fired tear gas outside the presidential palace, where tens of thousands of protesters had gathered while Morsi was inside conducting business.

Police tried to stop the crowd from storming the palace but soon retreated and let the marchers through a barrier and up to the palace walls. Egyptian officials say president left the palace during the march.

Many of the marchers chanted the same anti-government slogans used in the uprising that toppled former authoritarian president Hosni Mubarak.

Car Bombs Kill 22 Outside Iraqi Governor's House

VOA News

Photo: Reuters

Iraqi soldiers inspect the site of a bomb attack in Diwaniya, 150 km (95 miles) south of Baghdad, June 21, 2011

Iraqi officials say two car bombs have exploded in Diwaniyah, killing at least 22 people and wounding 30 others.

Authorities said the attack happened Tuesday outside a local governor's house in Diwaniyah, which is located about 150 kilometers south of the capital, Baghdad.

It was not immediately clear if the governor was among the casualties.

Officials said at least one suicide bomber was involved in the attack, which was one of several deadly bombings across Iraq on Tuesday. Elsewhere, including the capital, Baghdad, blasts killed at least four people and wounded 16 others.

Violence in Iraq is down sharply from its peak in 2006 and 2007. However, a new spate of attacks, including several against government officials, has raised concerns about a possible increase in violence as the U.S. prepares to withdraw its forces at the end of the year.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

Microcredit Pioneer Yunus Loses Appeal in Bangladesh Supreme Court

Anjana Pasricha | New Delhi April 05, 2011

Photo: AP

Mohammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of the Grameen Bank, speaks during a press conference in New Delhi, India, March 31, 2009 (file photo)

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In Bangladesh, the Supreme Court has upheld an order dismissing microcredit pioneer Mohammad Yunus from Grameen Bank, which he founded. Following international pressure, however, the government has been in talks with the Nobel laureate to reach a compromise.

When the appeal by Yunus against his dismissal as managing director of the bank came up on Tuesday, the one-word order by the Supreme Court said "rejected.”

The Central Bank had sacked the 70-year-old founder in March for violating Bangladesh's retirement laws by staying on past the age of 60.

Although Yunus has lost the last legal option for challenging his dismissal, there are hopes that this may not be the final word on his association with the Grameen Bank, which provides small loans to the poor. The government has been in talks with Yunus in recent weeks following international pressure to reach a compromise with him.

There has been huge criticism by the United States and other countries of the sacking of a man who is internationally renowned. Yunus showed the way for giving small loans to poor people to help lift them out of poverty and laid the foundation of a banking model followed in scores of countries. He won a Nobel Prize in 2006 for his efforts.

During a visit to Dhaka last month, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake pushed for a dialogue between the government and Yunus to find what he called a "mutually acceptable solution."

A top official of the Awami League Party, Abdul Jalil, is hopeful of a compromise. "They are discussing the matters. I think the solution will be there. It will be solved. There will be an understanding honoring both the sides," he said.

But as of now, the Supreme Court order means that Yunus can no longer return to work, which he continued to do after challenging his firing - first in the High Court and then in the Supreme Court.

Both Yunus and his supporters have called his dismissal politically motivated, saying it was part of the government’s plan to wrest control of the Grameen Bank. Analysts say Yunus fell out of favor with the ruling Awami League when he made a short-lived attempt to begin his own political party in 2007.

Clashes Between Yemen Troops, Loyalist Tribesmen Kill 3

VOA News April 05, 2011

Photo: Reuters

Anti-government protesters carry an injured fellow protester during clashes in the southern Yemeni city of Taiz, April 5, 2011

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At least three people have been killed in renewed clashes in Yemen.

Yemen's military says violence on Tuesday erupted between troops supporting protesters and tribesmen loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the capital, Sana'a. The president is facing mounting pressure to leave office.

Several military leaders have recently withdrawn support for Saleh and are siding with demonstrators.

In the southern city Taiz, plainclothes security men opened fire on protesters again on Tuesday. It was the third consecutive day of violence in the city. At least 15 people were killed on Monday during anti-Saleh protests in Taiz.

The escalating violence comes as international calls intensify for Saleh's resignation.

The European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton issued a statement Tuesday saying "the political transition must begin without delay."

The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed alarm at what it terms "reports of disproportionate and excessive use of force, including machine guns, against peaceful protesters in Taiz" on Monday.

The U.S. State Department on Monday called the violence in Yemen "appalling."

The New York Times reported that the United States is dropping its longtime support for Mr. Saleh and negotiating the terms of his departure. The State Department would not confirm the reports.

A Yemeni opposition spokesman said U.S. and European diplomats were in contact with Mr. Saleh and also asked anti-government leaders for their "vision" for a transition.

The Gulf Arab states have invited Yemeni government and opposition representatives to talks in Saudi Arabia.

The Yemeni president, in power for 32 years, has offered to step down but only after new elections are held. His term ends in 2013.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

CIA Secretly as Work Inside Libya

Gary Thomas April 05, 2011

Photo: AP

A Libyan rebel scans the field as they wait for the signal to advance at an intersection just outside Brega, April 3, 2011

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Published reports say CIA officers are at work inside Libya. But just what they are doing is not clear and, in keeping with practice, the CIA would not comment on the reports. The Obama administration has said it has not yet decided whether to arm the Libyan rebels. But, there is much the CIA may be doing in Libya short of that.

Analysts say it should come of no surprise that the CIA is already at work in Libya. Reva Bhalla, Middle East analyst for the private intelligence firm, Stratfor, says gathering intelligence is the most basic function of the CIA.

"Obviously when you have a military campaign like this under way you’re going to need people on the ground, painting [identifying] targets for air strikes, [and] not only on the military aspect but just in trying to figure out just who is the opposition - who are they actually dealing with, are there any viable leaders who show the potential for unifying this very fractious country," said Bhalla.

Beyond gathering intelligence

According to published accounts, an unknown number of CIA officers, along with British intelligence and special forces counterparts, are working with the Libyan rebels. The CIA has its own paramilitary component, known as the Special Activities Division. But what the CIA might be doing in Libya beyond just gathering intelligence is unclear.

By all accounts, the Libyan rebels are poorly trained and equipped. They made some advances, but have been pushed back by Libyan army counterattacks. The Obama administration has said it has not yet decided to arm the Libyan rebels, but has said firmly it will not send in U.S. ground troops, preferring to stick with the enforcement of the no-fly zone.

Offering what he says are personal views, former senior CIA officer Emile Nakhleh says it is likely the CIA is providing some form of non-lethal assistance to the rebels, especially in terms of communications and organization.

"They probably would provide them with communications gear, from the most basic walkie-talkies to a bit more advanced cellular telephones," said Nakhleh. "Two, they might perhaps help train them in how to attack or how to anticipate Gadhafi’s attacks. I mean, the fact is, they’re just a bunch of ragtag enthusiastic opposition people to the regime but have no idea even of how to organize."

Nakhleh believes, however, that there is nothing stopping CIA officers from training the rebels on captured weapons.

"We would need to train them how to use the weapons they have already captured from the Gadhafi forces. Some of them have captured some of these rockets and they don’t know how to fire them. So we can, I think, do all kinds of things before, even way below, the level of arming them with U.S. arms," said the former CIA officer.

But many analysts believe that for the rebels to turn the tide back in their favor, they will need sophisticated weapons, such as those the U.S. provided to Afghan rebels fighting Soviet occupation in the 1980s - and specialized training on how to use them.

Secret authorization

According to published accounts quoting Obama administration sources, President Barack Obama signed a secret authorization, known as a presidential “finding,” authorizing possible future training and arming of the rebels.

But such a program carries great risks. In 1961, a CIA-trained force made an unsuccessful attempt to land at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba and topple Fidel Castro. It was a humiliation for the then-new president, John F. Kennedy.

In the 1980s, the CIA, in concert with Pakistan, armed and trained anti-Soviet Afghan rebels. The rebels, known as mujahedin, drove the Soviet army out, but many of their members went on to form the nucleus of the Taliban and al-Qaida. And many of the sophisticated weapons the mujahedin received, such as shoulder-held surface-to-air missiles, were unaccounted for at war’s end.

Reva Bhalla says the governments involved in the anti-Gadhafi coalition are worried about both a kind of Bay of Pigs in the desert, where the rebels are defeated, and possible infiltration of the rebels by radical Islamists.

"I think that’s the biggest question that’s on the minds of many of these governments because it just isn’t clear," said Bhalla. "This is not a very sophisticated or militarily capable opposition force. And then there’s the concern of whether some of the more Islamist militant types are mixed in within this opposition. And if they’re going to be moved to arm and supply these rebels, is that something that is going to have serious blowback down the line.

What the CIA actually ends up doing in Libya may never be publicly known. But, as former CIA officers have pointed out, the larger an operation, the more difficult it is to keep it secret.