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Burkina Faso government says it is open to talks with jihadists

Burkina Faso government says it is open to talks with jihadists

BURKINA Faso's government said for the first time yesterday that it was open to talks with Islamist militants to try to end a growing insurgency, echoing a position taken by authorities in neighbouring Mali. Nearly a decade after militants linked to al Qaeda briefly seized control of northern Mali, governments across West Africa's Sahel region again find themselves struggling to contain the jihadists, leading some to reconsider prior opposition to talks. "If we want to end the security crisis, we will need to find paths and ways to talk with those responsible for terrorist attacks so that we are in…
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New Libya interim government agreed in U.N. talks

New Libya interim government agreed in U.N. talks

U.N. sponsored talks produced a new interim government for Libya yesterday, aimed at resolving a decade of chaos, division and violence by holding national elections later this year. Mohammed al-Menfi, a former diplomat from Benghazi, will head a three-man presidency council, while Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, from the western city of Misrata, will head the government as prime minister. Libya has been engulfed in chaos since a NATO-backed intervention ended Muammar Gaddafi's four-decade rule in 2011 and has been split since 2014 between warring administrations in the west and east, backed by foreign powers. However, with many factions in the country afraid…
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South Africa hands over chairship of African Union

South Africa hands over chairship of African Union

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER South Africa will today relinquish its role as chair of the African Union (AU). The AU is scheduled to hold a virtual two-day 34th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government. At the summit South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will, as outgoing chairperson, hand over the leadership to his successor President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The South African government yesterday outlined the country’s key achievements during its tenure as chair. In a statement, the SA government said: “This included the historic advent – on 1 January 2021 – of…
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Mandela funeral graft: MEC faces the chop

Mandela funeral graft: MEC faces the chop

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER EASTERN Cape MEC for Health, Sindiswa Gomba, the highest ranking politician to be arrested for embezzling millions meant for Nelson Mandela’s funeral faces serious political consequences. Following the appearance in court of Gomba and 10 others, her boss, the Eastern Cape Premier Lubabalo Oscar Mabuyane, expressed his concern and said he was applying his  mind. Mabuyane said: “I view criminal charges against our Health MEC very seriously. Now that she has been charged by the NPA & was released on bail, I will look into this matter & will soon communicate my decision to the people of…
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Widespread rape in conflict-hit Tigray

Widespread rape in conflict-hit Tigray

SCORES of women have been raped in Ethiopia's northerly Tigray region, authorities have confirmed, in the chaotic aftermath of an armed conflict last year that ousted the local ruling party. "We have received the report back from our Taskforce team on the ground in the Tigray region, they have unfortunately established rape has taken place conclusively and without a doubt," Ethiopian Women's Minister Filsan Abdullahi tweeted late on Thursday. Though witnesses, medics and aid workers had spoken of widespread sexual abuse since fighting began in November, Filsan's comments were the first confirmation by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government. Ethiopian Women's…
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Chad fortifies troops against Sahel militants

Chad fortifies troops against Sahel militants

MADJIASRA NAKO and JOHN IRISH CHAD will deploy some 1,000 troops to the tri-border region of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali to reinforce national armies that, backed by French and European allies, are battling Islamist insurgents, according to French and Chadian sources. The deployment will be announced during a summit on February 15-16 in the Chadian capital N'Djamena held to tackle the situation in the Sahel, a French presidency official and a senior Chadian security official said. It comes as France, which sent troops to the region in 2013 to help repel jihadists who had occupied northern Mali, considers adjusting…
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15 abducted Turkish sailors freed

15 abducted Turkish sailors freed

FIFTEEN Turkish sailors kidnapped by pirates last month in the Gulf of Guinea have been freed in Nigeria and will head home, a shipping company executive said yesterday, two weeks after the attackers made contact to discuss a ransom. One sailor, a citizen of Azerbaijan, was killed in the raid on January 23 which crew, family members and security sources described as a sophisticated and well-orchestrated attack. Those kidnapped were from Turkey. Speaking to state TV broadcaster TRT Haber, Levent Karsan from Istanbul-based Boden Shipping said the sailors were all in good health in Nigeria and would be brought to…
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Algeria’s president returns home

Algeria’s president returns home

ALGERIAN President Abdelmadjid Tebboune returned home after hospital treatment in Germany for complications in his foot resulting from a coronavirus infection, state TV has reported. Tebboune, 75, flew to Germany in early January to undergo surgery on his foot. The treatment "was not medically urgent" and should have taken place during Tebboune's previous stay in Germany, the presidency said in a statement in January. Tebboune had stayed in Germany more than two months for treatment for coronavirus before returning home late in December. Algerians have been awaiting the implementation of economic and political reforms he promised after succeeding President Abdelaziz…
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SA new cabinet ministers sworn in after reshuffle

SA new cabinet ministers sworn in after reshuffle

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER SOUTH African new Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has been sworn in, along with several deputies. President Cyril Ramaphosa has fired his defence minister, appointed Godongwana as part of the 10 major changes to his cabinet and introduced a restructure of government departments. Godongwana, an ANC and SA Communist Party veteran was appointed as the new Finance Minister, to replace Tito Mboweni, who requested to be released from his position. After his swearing in, Godongwana said South Africa should be ready for some positive changes that he will introduce. Ramaphosa axed Defence and Military Veterans Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula,…
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Democratic Republic of Congo confirms third Ebola case in North Kivu province

Democratic Republic of Congo confirms third Ebola case in North Kivu province

FISTON MAHAMBA THE Democratic Republic of Congo has confirmed a third Ebola case this week in North Kivu province, provincial health minister Eugene Nzanzu Salita said yesterday. The case was found in Butembo, a city of over 1 million people and the epicentre of a major outbreak of the disease that was declared over last June after nearly two years. "We are in a meeting to gather all the information on the investigations done around this case," said Salita. Congo's health ministry announced a resurgence of the disease on February 7, after a woman contracted Ebola and died. She was…
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