Opposition boycott clouds Chad vote

Opponents denounce presidential contest as "election circus" with Idriss Deby Itno expected to secure fourth term. Last Modified: 25 Apr 2011 05:08

Idriss Deby Itno is seeking his fourth term in a vote which the main opposition leaders are boycotting [AFP] Voters in Chad go to the polls Monday with Idriss Deby Itno, the country's sitting president, virtually assured of re-election after his three main opposition rivals announced a boycott. Saleh Kebzabo, Wadal Abdelkader Kamougue and Ngarlejy Yorongar have withdrawn from what they have described as an "election circus" and have urged citizens to boycott the vote. Having demanded reforms that include the issuing of new voters' cards, they claim that unfair conditions caused Deby's Patriotic Movement of Salvation (known by its French acronym MPS) to crush them in a February parliamentary poll and are predicting the new poll will be an "historic fraud". "People on the streets are saying it is the MPS against the MPS," a taxi driver said on the eve of the poll, speaking on condition of anonymity and using the acronym for Deby's ruling Patriotic Movement of Salvation. At an election meeting on the last day of campaigning on Saturday, in a jam-packed N'Djamena stadium that can seat 20,000 people, Deby invited Chadians to "abandon ideas that divide us". His three main opponents, in turn, addressed a rally attended by more than 1,000 people earlier in the day, urging voters to boycott the vote. Kebzabo is the president of the National Union for Democracy and Renewal, the opposition party with the most national assembly seats, nine, followed by Kamougue's Union for Renewal and Democracy with seven seats, and Yorongar's Federation Action for the Republic, with four. Deby's MPS party won an absolute majority with 113 of the 188 seats in parliament against a fragmented and underfunded opposition of more than 100 parties in February's parliamentary elections, the first contested by the opposition since 2002. In Monday's vote, he will face two candidates from smaller opposition parties: Albert Pahimi Padacke and Nadji Madou. Deby has been in power since 1990 after unseating dictator Hissene Habre in a coup. Seeking a fourth five-year mandate, he has said he is certain of re-election and that the poll would be "credible". The real reason for his former challengers' boycott was that "they realise they will be beaten," the president told a press conference on Friday. With other parts of the Muslim world rocked by months of protests against long-serving rulers, Deby said he was only in power because his country wanted him. "If the people had not asked me to be a candidate and to continue to serve Chad, I would never have done it," he said, adding he would focus his next term on helping the rural poor. An observer told the AFP news agency that the only test of Deby's support will be in the voter participation rate - which the president himself has predicted will exceed that of February's poll. Yorongar, though, has forecast a high abstention rate. "The boycott will be heeded, but the system of fraud will ensure that Deby gets 90 or 95 per cent," he said on Saturday. Sandwiched between volatile neighbours Niger and Sudan, Chad is one of Africa's poorest countries, despite abundant resources of uranium and gold. It became an oil producer in 2003 following the completion of a $4bn pipeline linking its oil fields to depots on the Atlantic coast. About 4.8 million of Chad's 11.1 million citizens are eligible to vote on Monday.

Source: Agencies

Mubarak to be moved to military hospital

Egypt's top prosecutor orders the transfer after medical exams showed that the ex-leader is stable enough for the move. Last Modified: 24 Apr 2011 22:12

Authorities say Mubarak will eventually be moved to a prison in Cairo where his sons are also held [AFP] Egypt's prosecutor general ordered that Hosni Mubarak, the former president, be moved from his hospital in a Red Sea resort town to a military medical facility, according to prosecutor's website. Sunday's announcement is the latest in a string of setbacks for the former strongman, who is held on suspicion of corruption and violence against protesters in the uprising that toppled him. Mubarak was originally supposed to be moved to Cairo's Tora prison hospital, but it was deemed not yet ready to receive him, said a spokesman for Prosecutor General Abdel-Maguid Mahmoud. Instead the former president will stay in a military hospital until the prison facility is ready, said the spokesman in a statement posted on the prosecutor's Facebook page. "The public prosecutor addressed the interior minister, informing him to take the necessary steps to move the former president ... to a military hospital, to implement a custody order," the statement said. A report by a top forensic medical official said Mubarak could be moved without endangering his health, as long as he was given appropriate medical treatment. Mubarak's two sons are also being investigated for corruption allegations, and for their role in the shooting of protesters during the 18 days of demonstrations against their father's rule. Mubarak is scheduled to stay in custody until April 28, but his detention will most likely be extended. Thousands of Egyptians had demanded that Mubarak be placed in a prison compound, where his sons and many of his former ministers and officials are housed, instead of staying in hospital. The detention of Mubarak, his sons and many of their top allies was a key demand for the pro-democracy protesters.

Source: Agencies

Protesters demand reform in Morocco

Demonstrators continue their bid for peaceful social and constitutional reform in the kingdom. Last Modified: 25 Apr 2011 01:49 http://english.aljazeera.net/video/africa/2011/04/201142512013759717.html Thousands of protesters have participated in rallies in cities across Morocco, demanding social and economic reforms. They called for an end to corruption, and want more jobs for the increasing number of university graduates who face joblessness. The peaceful protests are predominately working class in tone, demanding constitutional reforms and new parliamentary elections. The marches on Sunday were organised by the February 20 movement, which has led protests for the past two months, with support from Morocco's best-known Islamist movement, Adl wal Ihsan, which is barred from politics in the North African kingdom. Morocco's King Mohammed VI has already pledged changes to the constitution for the first time in 15 years, but protesters remain sceptical about the possibility of real change. Al Jazeera's Caroline Malone reports. Source: Al Jazeera

Death toll rises in Thai-Cambodia clashes

Two more soldiers killed overnight while mediation initiatives stall as talks with regional envoy are cancelled. Last Modified: 25 Apr 2011 06:37

Thousands of civilians have fled the border area, seeking refuge from the three days of fighting [Reuters] The death toll from three days of heavy fighting between Thai and Cambodian troops over a disputed border area has climbed to 12. Officials on Monday said one soldier had been killed on each side following an exchange of fire in the jungle frontier late on Sunday. Fighting appeared to have abated on Monday and soldiers from both sides remained locked in a tense standoff after three days of cross-border shelling. However, hopes for a diplomatic solution were dimmed after the cancellation of talks with a top regional envoy. Indonesian foreign minister Marty Natalegawa had been scheduled to hold talks in Thailand and Cambodia on Monday but his trip was cancelled, government officials from both countries said. Natalegawa had brokered a UN-backed peace deal in February that would have posted unarmed military observers from Indonesia along the border, but the Thai military has said they are not welcome and the deal has yet to be put in place. Panitan Wattanayagorn, a Thai government spokesman, said Natalegawa's visit was cancelled because Thailand and Cambodia had not yet settled on terms for the Indonesian observers. Cambodia has asked for outside mediation to help end the standoff, but Thailand opposes third-party intervention. Ceasefire shattered Both countries have accused each other of sparking the violence, which is the first serious outbreak of fighting since February, when 10 people were killed in clashes near the 900-year-old Hindu temple Preah Vihear. Seven Cambodian and five Thai troops have been killed and thousands of civilians have fled the area since the latest clashes began on Friday. About 20,000 civilians have sought refuge in 16 camps on the Thai side of the border while about 17,000 have been evacuated from Cambodian villages. Some, like 47-year-old Suwech Yodsri, stayed behind to guard their properties, despite the danger of violence. "I'm scared to be here but I have to be here to protect our village from looting," he told the AFP news agency from the Thai village of Nong Kanna in Surin Province, about five kilometres from the border. "I believe political conflicts are to blame. Innocent people are just being used as a political tool," he added. Calls for restraint Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, has called on the neighbours to "exercise maximum restraint" and has urged them to resolve the issue through "serious dialogue" rather than military means. He also urged the two neighbours to take immediate measures for an effective and verifiable ceasefire. Indonesia, which holds the rotating chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations regional bloc, has called for an immediate end to the violence. Vietnam urged "maximum restraint". Ties between the neighbours have been strained since Preah Vihear -- the most celebrated example of ancient Khmer architecture outside Cambodia's Angkor -- was granted UN World Heritage status in July 2008. The International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that the temple belonged to Cambodia, but both countries claim ownership of a 4.6 square km surrounding area.

Source: Agencies

NATO air strike pounds Gaddafi compound

Officials claim latest attack was an attempt on Libyan leader's life as alliance steps up pace of missions over Tripoli. Last Modified: 25 Apr 2011 02:56

Libyan officials claim 45 people were injured, 15 seriously, in the late-night NATO air strike [REUTERS] NATO forces flattened a building inside Muammar Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziyah compound early on Monday, in what a press official from Gaddafi's government said was an attempt on the Libyan leader's life. Firefighters were still working to extinguish flames in a part of the ruined building a few hours after the attack, when foreign journalists were brought to the scene in Tripoli. The press official, who asked not to be identified, said 45 people were hurt in the strike, 15 of them seriously, and some were still missing. That could not be independently confirmed. Gaddafi's compound has been struck before, but NATO forces appear to be stepping up the pace of strikes in Tripoli in recent days. A target nearby, which the government called a car park but which appeared to cover a bunker, was hit two days ago. The United States, Britain and France say they will not stop their air campaign over Libya until Gaddafi leaves power. Washington has taken a backseat in the air war since turning over command to NATO at the end of March but is under pressure to do more. This week it deployed Predator drone aircraft, which fired for the first time on Saturday. Misurata bombarded Government troops bombarded the western rebel bastion of Misurata again on Sunday, a day after announcing their withdrawal following a two-month siege. A government spokesman said the army was still carrying out its plan to withdraw from the city, but had fired back when retreating troops were attacked. "As our army was withdrawing from Misurata it came under attack by the rebels. The army fought back but continued its withdrawal from the city," Mussa Ibrahim told reporters. The government says its army is withdrawing from the city and sending in armed tribesmen instead. Rebels say the announcement may be part of a ruse to mask troop movements or stir violence between rebels and locals in nearby towns. Rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil told a news conference in Kuwait that the Gulf state had agreed to contribute $177m to his rebel council to help pay workers in the east of the country under its control. "This amount will help us a lot in paying the salaries of employees who did not [get paid] for two months," he said. "We are capable of only covering 40 per cent of this amount. We are in need of urgent aid." The rebels have been seeking international recognition as well as material support from the West and the Arab world. They have been unable to advance from eastern Libya as they fight back and forth with Gaddafi's troops on the coastal road between the towns of Ajdabiya and Brega, hampered by their lack of firepower, equipment and training.

Source: Agencies

Hundreds of Taliban in tunnel jail escape

Military commanders among more than 500 Taliban fighters broken out of prison via a 320-metre long tunnel. Last Modified: 25 Apr 2011 03:06 http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2011/04/201142525410649746.html Some 540 members of the Taliban including military commanders have escaped from Kandahar prison via a 320 metre-long tunnel, Afghan government officials have confirmed to Al Jazeera. A Taliban official on Monday also confirmed the overnight escape, boasting that the prison break had been "very well-planned" and that it was five months in the making, Al Jazeera's Qais Azimy, reporting from Kabul, said. According to a Taliban statement the tunnel was not dug by the inmates but by fighters outside the prison. "Mujahideen started digging a 320 metre-long to the prison from the south side, which was completed after a five-month period, bypassing check posts and the Kandahar-Herat main highway leading directly to the political prison," the statement read. "The tunnel reached its target last night, from where the prisoner Mujahideen were led away through the escape route by three previously informed inmates in a period of four-and-a-half hours, starting from 11pm last night and ending at 3:30am this morning. Mujahideen later on sent vehicles to the inmates who were led away to secure destinations." "They all have made it safe to our centres and there was no fighting," Yousuf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, said. Ahmadi said that 106 were Taliban commanders while the rest were foot soldiers. Kandahar police said they had re-captured eight commanders so far. The Taliban claim that the prison guards did not notice the escape until four hours after the operation was completed. The prison in southern Afghanistan typically holds drug dealers as well as Taliban fighters captured by NATO forces, our correspondent said. If number of escapees is correct then the break would constitute a "big success" for the Taliban and would "have a dramatic effect on the fight against the Taliban in the region," said Azimy. Previous escapes There have been previous escapes from this prison. In June 2008, Taliban fighters attacked the facility, blasting through its entrance and engaging in a gun battle with police. Nearly all of the estimated 1,150 prisoners, including some 400 Taliban, escaped, according to Afghan officials. A Taliban spokesperson said that two suicide bombers blew themselves up near the entrance of the gate to the prison before 30 Taliban fighters attacked and killed 16 policemen. Kandahar prison was also the scene of a mass hunger strike by hundreds of inmates in May 2008 during which 47 inmates sewed their lips shut after complaining they had been tortured and denied fair trials. Kandahar is seen as the birthplace of the Taliban movement and the city and surrounding area has been the scene of some of the worst fighting in Afghanistan. Source: Al Jazeera

Gunfire as Syrian troops move into Deraa

Hundreds of soldiers move into flashpoint town, as Syrian intellectuals denounce continuing violence against protesters. Last Modified: 25 Apr 2011 06:12

Footage posted on YouTube appears to show Syrian troops in Deraa province but Al Jazeera cannot verify its veracity Hundreds of Syrian troops backed by armour early Monday have moved into the flashpoint southern Syrian town of Deraa where heavy shooting was heard, according to witnesses on the scene. "Hundreds of security service men entered the town, accompanied by tanks and armoured vehicles," Abdullah Al-Harriri, an activist, told the AFP news agency in Nicosia by telephone. "The men are firing in all directions and advancing behind the armour which is protecting them," he added. "Electricity is cut off and telephone communications are virtually impossible," he said. Footage aired on the opposition news organisation on Monday, transmitted via satellite, appeared to show Syrian military firing at unseen targets with sniper rifles. The latest confrontation comes as Syrian intellectuals expressed their outrage over the violence, with a declaration on Monday signed by 102 writers and exiles from all the country’s main sects. The current protests against the regime started in Deraa where dozens of Syrians have been killed in the violent repression of demonstrations by the security forces. Thousands of residents of Deraa province buried several victims of the repression after prayers on Sunday. A demonstration followed, but the security forces did not intervene, an activist said. Asking to remain anonymous, he said the protesters brandished Syrian flags and placards calling for "suppression of Article 8 of the constitution" on the supremacy of the Baath Party. Most shops stayed closed in a sign of mourning. Despite a relative lull, four people were shot dead and several others wounded on Sunday in the Mediterranean town of Jableh, near the port city of Latakia in the northwest, after a wave of arrests in the past few days of protests against Bashar al-Assad's regime. At least 352 people have been killed in Syria since protests began on March 15, according to figures compiled by AFP. And Wissam Tarif, executive director of INSAN, a Syrian human rights group, said that according to the organisation's most recent count on Friday, there were 221 "forcefully disappeared people" in Syria. 'Barrier of fear' Monday's declaration called on Syrian intellectuals "who have not broken the barrier of fear to make a clear stand. "We condemn the violent, oppressive practices of the Syrian regime against the protesters and mourn the martyrs of the uprising." Signatories included Alawite figures such as former political prisoner Loay Hussein; female writers Samar Yazbek and Hala Mohammad; Souad Jarrous, correspondent for the pan-Arab daily al-Sharq al-Awsat; writer and former political prisoner Yassin al-Haj Saleh and filmmaker Mohammad Ali al-Attassi. Mansour al-Ali, a prominent Alawite figure from the city of Homs, was arrested in his home city after he spoke out against the shooting of protesters, an activist in Homs said.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies