Pan-African News Wire

China-Africa Summit in Egypt Hailed as Success

2009-11-21T01:25:00.001-05:00

Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, addressing the "African-Americans Speak Out for Palestine" forum on January 31, 2009 in Detroit. (Photo: Alan Pollock)
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

China-Africa Summit in Egypt Hailed as Success

$US10 billion pledged by PRC to assist agricultural and other development projects

By Abayomi Azikiwe
Editor, Pan-African News Wire
News Analysis

A new chapter in relations between the People’s Republic China (PRC) and the African continent began during the recently held 4th Ministerial Conference of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum (FOCAC) which was held between November 6-9 in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. During the summit Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao announced eight new measures to enhance partnerships with 53 African states in the areas of agriculture, debt relief, market access expansion, climate change, medical affairs, education, environmental protection and promotion of investment.

The summit was addressed by Premier Wen and was also attended by the Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming. Wen said that Beijing is “committed to…going all-out to assist African countries in improving their agricultural production and infrastructure.” (South African Mail & Guardian, November 9)

According to a statement made by Premier Wen, “The Chinese people cherish sincere friendship toward the African people, and China’s support to Africa’s development is concrete and real. We will help Africa build financing capabilities. We will provide $10 billion for Africa in concessional loans.” (Money Morning, November 10)

This summit in Sharm el-Sheikh is a continuation of the 2006 meeting which was held in Beijing. Economic cooperation between the PRC and the African continent has accelerated in recent years.

During 2008, China exceeded the United States in becoming the largest trading partner with Africa. Total trade between Beijing and the African continent totaled $107 billion. This represents a tenfold increase since 2000.

The Chinese oil industry has announced plans to invest $16 billion in efforts to boost its imports from Africa. The Chinese state-owned company, CNOOC Ltd, is conducting negotiations with Nigeria to purchase 6 billion barrels of oil, which would total over 17 percent of the West African nation’s reserves.

This deal, if approved, could generate $30-50 billion in revenue for Nigeria. Other trade relations between China and Africa involves the importation of large supplies of gold, silver, copper, cobalt, bauxite, iron ore and nickel.

In his statement to the summit, Premier Wen stated in part that “The rapidly growing relations and cooperation between China and Africa have attracted the world’s attention in recent years. I would like to point out that it was not just few years ago that China suddenly started its presence in Africa or Africa started its support for China.” (Xinhuanet.com, November 9)

Premier Wen continued by discussing the shared history between the peoples of Africa and China in the struggle against foreign domination and exploitation. He stressed that “As early as in the 1950s and 60s, China and Africa fought shoulder to shoulder in the historic struggle against imperialism, colonialism and hegemony and worked side by side in the hard endeavor to revive our respective national economies.”

China Provides Viable Alternative to Relations With the West

During the same time period that the FOCAC summit was taking place in Egypt, there was a ministerial meeting held between the finance ministers of the Group of 20 in Scotland. The G20, which is dominated by the capitalist of the West and Japan, has failed to honor the promises made to the African continent over the last three years.

At the previous G20 meeting held in Pittsburgh during early October, it was noted by various African states that the economic grouping has not honored its pledges to work seriously towards the alleviation of underdevelopment on the continent. In fact, over the last two years as a result of the global economic crisis, over 50 million people in Africa have been thrust into poverty.

According to Money Morning managing editor Jason Simpkins, “While U.S. and European officials this weekend squabbled over the specifics of an economic recovery plan, China took another step to ensure long-term economic growth by inking another multibillion dollar deal with Africa.” (Morning Money, November 10)

Also Daragh Maher, deputy head of global foreign exchange strategy at Calyon Credit Agricole, said that “The G20 meeting failed to deliver any real specifics as to how it intended to rebalance the global economy, suggesting the drift in the dollar is not likely to be addressed on a coordinated basis.” (Associated Press, November 10)

In contrast to these developments in the capitalist states, China has been successful in implementing its economic stimulus program that has resulted in significant results. “Indeed, China has found exceptional economic growth at a time when most of the Western world is struggling back from the brink. A continent rich in commodities, which have been skyrocketing in value, Africa is integral to China’s plans for sustained growth.” (Money Morning, November 10)

Nonetheless, the imperialist states and its allies have attempted to distort the nature of China’s economic and political relationships with various African states. In a statement issued by the right-wing Heritage Foundation, it claims that the PRC “aids and abets oppressive and destitute African dictatorships by legitimizing their misguided policies and praising their development models as suited to individual national conditions.”

The Pentagon has criticized the $7 billion in arm exports to the oil-rich nation of Sudan between 2003-2007 as evidence of China’s support of African states that have been criticized and targeted for destabilization by the United States. Zimbabwe has also benefitted from political and economic support from China and the U.S. has often cited this as an indication that Beijing’s intentions in Africa are not genuine.

Both Presidents Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan were present at the FOCAC summit in Sharm el-Sheikh. In contrast to the statements made by the Heritage Foundation, Zimbabwe hailed the fourth ministerial meeting of FOCAC as a “very successful meeting.” (Zimbabwe Herald, November 11)

After the Zimbabwe delegation returned from Sharm el-Sheikh, Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, who accompanied President Robert Mugabe to Egypt, said that “It was a very successful meeting and we are pleased with the manner in which cooperation between Africa and China is developing.”

The Zimbabwe Foreign Affairs Minister continued by saying “At the last summit in Beijing in 2006, China pledged to assist in a number of ways and so far 95 percent of those promises have been fulfilled. We are confident that by the end of the year all the targets will have been met.” (Herald, November 11)

President Mugabe and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao held talks on November 7 in Egypt where they agreed on establishing a new development package for Zimbabwe which has been under western imperialist imposed sanctions since 2000. Zimbabwe came under attack after it enacted a reform program that returned significant land holdings to the African people. This land had been seized by the British colonialists during the 1890s.

In President Mugabe’s address to the FOCAC summit in Sharm el-Sheikh on November 8, he said that China’s cooperation with Africa provides the best model for relations between states in the economic, political and cultural spheres. Mugabe praised China-Africa partnerships stating that Beijing had built a strong economy without engaging in looting and plundering of the developing world as the West has done for centuries. (Xinhuanet, November 11)

The Casablanca Connection

2009-11-21T00:48:00.001-05:00

Joshua Nkomo of ZAPU and Robert Mugabe of ZANU, leaders of the Zimbabwe liberation struggle. This photo was taken during the revolutionary war to liberate ZImbabwe during the 1970s.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

The Casablanca connection

Courtesy of the Zimbabwe Herald

IN 1978 Abel Muzorewa and Ndabaningi Sithole signed an agreement with Ian Smith to extirpate on the people of this land a mongrel offspring called Zimbabwe-Rhodesia.

Muzorewa was without political guile and for that reason he thought he could convince independence-hungry Zimbabweans that his immoral alliance with Smith was real belly-filling sustenance.

Every sane person denounced this arrangement and Muzorewa discovered how lonely national politics can be for the naïve.

Ostracised like a leper by serious political parties at home, he sought international recognition and was badly burnt when he tried to address the UN Security Council soon after a ‘‘terrorist’’ called Robert Mugabe had been welcomed there and he was told where he could stuff his delusions of grandeur.

No one would touch the sick man of Southern Africa called Zimbabwe-Rhodesia even with a long stick . . . except, of course, for apartheid South Africa and the Kingdom of Morocco.

South Africa’s support for Smith and his idiocies was understandable.

What may not seem so obvious is the "Casablanca Connection".

But then again, Morocco was always a Smith supporter and stuck with the Rhodesians throughout their ungodly war on the owners of the land between the Zambezi and the Limpopo.

Morocco actively gave life to Rhodesia and was heavily involved in sanctions busting along with Jack Malloch’s Affretair (the same cargo line that reaped rich dividends from abetting Moise Tshombe in DRC, Jonas Savimbi in Angola and the Biafran civil war).

Moroccan royalty found it fitting to play host to a Rhodesian re-supply camp from which the victuals that kept white troops well fed enough to kill our people and with enough guns to believe the "not in a thousand years boast" were routed.

Morocco and South Africa were as thick as thieves and today Rabat remains probably the only capital in world that is yet to even consider the possibility of admitting to any sense of shame for having supported apartheid and tried at all costs to sustain it.

The people of Angola too know what kind of politics Morocco is interested in. They will tell you how the friendship with an American creation — an askari as Ayi Kwei Armah would say — called Savimbi almost totally destroyed their country.

What Morocco really is

Morocco has sycophantically sought to be in America’s good graces for over 300 years now and it is not surprising, therefore, that they have played the role of destabilisation agent in Africa with such gusto.

In December 1777, Morocco’s Sultan Muhammad III became the first leader in the whole world to recognise the newly-created Freemason’s State of America.

These ties were formalised in the Moroccan-American Treaty of Friendship negotiated by Thomas Barclay, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Sultan Muhammad III in 1786.

When Morocco became a Spanish colony America protested more loudly than it could ever do for the rest of the world.

In fact, America — in its typical shamelessness — never once considered the fact that it was busy colonising Latin America when it objected to imperial rule of Morocco.

During the incongruently named World War II Morocco lost hundreds of lives fighting for what was essentially a battle for supremacy between Western imperialist nations.

And from 1956 onwards Morocco remained America’s closest ally.

Today they are partners in the so-called war on terror and for its pains, Morocco has endured at least one major terrorist bombing in Casablanca in May 2003.

Unencumbered by the strictures placed on diplomats and our Foreign Affairs officers, I will say it — Morocco is the ugly wart on the face of Africa that everyone pretends does not exist.

Marechera, who was even more delightfully unburdened by common expectations of social tact, would have said Morocco’s foreign policy is the loud fart everyone silently agrees never happened.

A sordid present

That is Morocco’s sordid history.

But of what value is a history. Everyone has one of their own, some more unflattering than others, but there is always room for repentance otherwise evangelists would be out of business.

The problem is when you have a sordid present.

On Thursday Tsvangirai flew to Morocco for another date with the administration that has received more American money than any other African country bar one since 1950.

This is a meeting between America’s North African darling and its Southern African . . . I will let you, dear reader put in an appropriate adjective.

Morocco’s toadying has already been chronicled and Tsvangirai for his part has been buddy-buddy with Washington from the time he was sired as a political entity by the US foreign policy machine in the late 1990s.

Their love affair is well documented and needs no regurgitation here not only because of its tediousness but also because it leaves a sick feeling in the gut that hardly inspires hope for a truly independent Africa.

Zimbabwe’s foreign policy position on Morocco is as clear as Tsvangirai’s intentions in visiting that country are dim.

Morocco has refused to be a member of the African Union because it believes the bloc should allow Rabat to continue colonising and terrorising Western Sahara.

Zimbabwe, having fought a liberation struggle that left tens of thousands of this country’s finest sons and daughters in unmarked graves, can never countenance supporting Morocco’s actions in Western Sahara.

There is no need to ask what Tsvangirai has in common with Morocco.

What is imperative is to explore the possible outcomes of his inclination to be cosy with imperialists of any hue.

Beating Muzorewa’s vainglorious path

Is it a coincidence that Morocco supported that amorphous identity crisis-stricken thing called Zimbabwe-Rhodesia created to humour Muzorewa and frustrate true nationalism and self-determination and is now doing the same with the equally politically and ideologically schizophrenic IG?

What kind of advice is Tsvangirai likely to get from a Moroccan leadership whose moral compass has never quite known where magnetic north is for three whole centuries now?

But the apple never falls far from the tree and it is no great wonder that Tsvangirai will tend to gravitate towards those countries that have never hidden the fact that they love America more than they love themselves.

Maybe our Prime Minister is simply naïve and as such he deserves the benefit of the doubt while we keep our fingers crossed and hope that one day soon (the sooner the better).

Tsvangirai’s attempts to get legitimacy on Africa are eerily reminiscent of the path Muzorewa trod when he tried to sell himself to the continent as the Real McCoy.

There is an inherent internal conflict that has always plagued Tsvangirai’s bid to project himself as a statesman.

And it is the same conflict that afflicted apartheid South Africa which wanted to deny Pan Africanism but at the same time be politically accepted and recognised by independent African countries.

Tsvangirai wants Africa to accept him and yet he cavorts with people who are denying the people of Western Sahara their right to self-determination as the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic.

Morocco, for its part, has no such ideological ambiguity.

They are decidedly pro-America and anti-Africa and that is why they pulled out of the then OAU in 1984 and today remain the only country on the continent that is not a member of the AU.

So the question rises again: at what level then does Tsvangirai engage with Morocco? Like Muzorewa? For his own sake hopefully not because we all know how that clergyman’s political career ground to a screeching and ignominious halt.

A few weeks back Tsvangirai was skipping all over Southern Africa, trying to get regional leaders to view President Mugabe as the intransigent and unco-operative partner that he would like us all to be believe he is.

Soon after whining that Mugabe has not appointed his rich white chum Bennett as a deputy minister (because he is facing terror-related charges in this world that is all agog with the war on terror), Tsvangirai takes the first opportunity to jet to Morocco to meet a group of politicians who would more likely want to see the inclusive Government collapse than see it thrive.

By entertaining Tsvangirai is Morocco trying to fragment Zimbabwe the way it has done to Western Sahara?

What he should remember is that issues like Bennett, Gono, Tomana and provincial governors are not as great a threat to the success of the inclusive Government as is wining and dining with people who are actively seeking the demise of that same arrangement.

The inclusive Government will not collapse because of all those things that Tsvangirai incessantly cries about like a heroin baby.

It will fail because of the this kind of naïve political brinkmanship that tries to create a new foreign policy that has no foundation in the principles that inform Zimbabwe’s and Africa’s ethos, i.e. nationalism and Pan Africanism.

mabasa.sasa@zimpapapers.co.zw

Oprah Winfrey Announces Plan to End Television Program

2009-11-21T00:37:00.001-05:00

Oprah Winfrey and her students in South Africa. The talk show host and media mogul has invested $40 million in a school to educate South African girls.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

Oprah Announces Plan to End Television Run

In a voice thick with emotion, Oprah Winfrey discussed ending her talk show in 2011 on her show today. Here are here remarks, which came at the end of Friday's show.

"After much prayer, and months of careful thought, I've decided that next season -- Season 25 -- will be the last season of 'The Oprah Winfrey Show,'" Winfrey said Friday. "And over the next couple of days, you may hear a lot of speculation in the press about why I am making this decision now, and that will mostly be conjecture. So I wanted you to hear this directly from me.

"Twenty-four years ago, on Sept. 8, 1986, I went live from Chicago to launch the first national "Oprah Winfrey Show." I was beyond excited and as you all might expect, a little nervous. I knew then what a miraculous opportunity I had been given, but I certainly never could have imagined the yellow brick road of blessings that have led me to this moment with you. [Her voice grows thick with emotion] These years with you, our viewers, have enriched my life beyond all measure, and you all have graciously invited me into your living rooms, into your kitchens and into your lives.

"And for some of you longtime Oprah viewers, you have literally grown up with me. We've grown together. You've had your families and you've raised your children and you left a spot for me in your morning or your afternoon, depending on when the Oprah show airs in your town. So I just wanted to say that whether you've been here with me from the beginning or you came on board last week, I want you all to know that my relationship with you is one that I hold very dear, and your trust in me -- the sharing of your precious time with me every day -- has brought me the greatest joy I have ever known.

"So here we are, halfway through Season 24 and it still means as much to me to spend an hour with you as it did back in 1986. So why walk away and make next season the last? Here is the real reason. I love this show. This show has been my life. And I love it enough to know when it's time to say goodbye. Twenty-five years feels right in my bones and feels right in my spirit. It's the perfect number. The exact right time. ...

"So I hope that you will take this 18-month ride with me, right through to the final show."

Honduran Resistance and Latin America

2009-11-20T23:32:00.001-05:00

Berta Ceci-Joubert, Sandra Hines, Pam Africa on the lead banner during the Bail Out the People Movement demonstration on Wall Street, April 3, 2009. (Photo: Alan Pollock)
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

Honduran resistance and Latin America

Published Nov 19, 2009 9:14 PM

Excerpts from a talk by Berta Joubert-Ceci of Philadelphia to the WWP National Conference, Nov. 14.

I want to ask you to please stand up. Let us give homage to the courageous people of Honduras. That resistance that today, for 140 days, has been in the streets, demanding the restitution of their president, José Manuel Zelaya Rosales, and the celebration of a Constitutional Assembly that will end injustice and inequality.

Let us applaud their courage and their fierce determination to end the criminal military coup perpetrated by the oligarchy and the U.S. This resistance that is armed only with their dignity face day by day military and police armed to the teeth by the U.S.

Let us not observe a moment of silence, comrades, but a moment of applause for the martyrs whose blood has instilled more strength into the people. For the resistance let us applaud.

This is a struggle between two classes—those who exploit: the oligarchy, the transnational corporations—and those who are exploited: the workers and peasants, the poor in Honduras. Two classes whose interests are totally contradictory. It might have not begun as such, but it has developed into it.

The constant demonstrations, the meetings to organize and to discuss the crisis, the interaction among unions, youth, peasants, Afro-Hondurans and women, have tremendously increased political consciousness. There has been a remarkable jump from quantity into quality. They see all the wealth that they have produced. First in the fields—remember Honduras was the “Banana Republic” of Chiquita—and now in the maquilas, the Adidas, the Nikes and so many others. They see all the wealth they make go into the hands of the rich families in Honduras and to the U.S. corporations.

Their struggle now is not only to reinstate Zelaya but for control of the resources, the economy and the country, to take it away from the hands of the oligarchy and the corporations. That is what the struggle for a Constitutional Assembly represents. That is why it is so important, because the current constitution paved the way to privatizations and the transfer of wealth from the working class to the rich and the corporations.

President Zelaya’s increasing the minimum wage was the lightning rod. The oligarchy and U.S. corporations initiated the road to the June 28 coup. They would not allow a wage raise or a change of their valuable constitution. But this was also a lesson for the masses: how not even a slight increase on their share of the profits would be tolerated by the rich! And the repression by the state has only pushed the struggle forward.

The struggle in Honduras is part of the tremendous popular developments in Latin America, where the people are trying to take control of their destiny away from U.S. imperialist domination. It is a struggle for the control of society between the workers and the peasants on one side, and the oligarchy and the U.S. corporations on the other. It is happening in Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua. Progressive governments in those countries are allied with the masses and are trying to integrate their countries into a powerful bloc that stands up against imperialism. That is what ALBA represents.

But there are many other struggles in the region. For example, in Puerto Rico there is a workers’ movement against the layoffs by the pro-U.S. government of Luis Fortuño that has organized work stoppages and is planning a general strike. In Mexico, the movement is growing with militant actions after the layoffs of 46,000 workers from the electricity industry by President Felipe Calderón, a close U.S. ally. In Colombia, the criminal pro-U.S. Uribe paramilitary regime has continued to be fought by an armed insurgency and a popular movement, the former with weapons and the social movement with demonstrations.

Washington is preparing to mount a new military offensive in Latin America to break these progressive developments. The coup in Honduras has been a warning to these countries that imperialism will not stand quietly by and let the people choose their destiny.

That is why the U.S. will accept the result of the Honduran elections with or without President Zelaya restored to office. That is why the U.S. has just signed an agreement with Colombia for the use of seven military bases, which gives the U.S. military almost unlimited access to that country’s facilities and guarantees impunity for any criminal act by U.S. forces and that explicitly states the need to wage action against countries that the U.S. considers “enemies,” like Venezuela.

There is also the IV Fleet, which can even go into the rivers of the countries in Latin America, and the possibility of four new bases in Panama. And besides the direct military threats, there are the CIA operations to destabilize governments with the help of the opposition forces in those countries. The danger is real.

But the U.S. always discounts the peoples’ powerful will to struggle and international solidarity.

We, the working class of the world have a social connection. We have the same interests as the workers in Honduras, in Mexico and everywhere else. If their interests are threatened, so are ours. And so we must respond, with solidarity.

And for us, here in the U.S., it is crucial that we be the most internationalist, because this is the center of imperialism, we then MUST be internationalists to the core!

¡Viva la Resistencia hondureña!

Long live the workers’ struggle!

¡El pueblo unido, jamás será vencido!
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Michigan Appeal for Emergency Action: Call Gov. Granholm to Demand a Moratorium on Utility Shut-offs

2009-11-20T17:29:00.001-05:00

Sept. 17, 2008 march on Lansing, Michigan demanding the passage of SB 1306, which would impose a two-year moratorium on foreclosures in the state. (Photo: Alan Pollock).
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

Appeal for Emergency Action

Call Gov. Granholm at 517-373-3400

Action: Moratorium NOW! Coalition Wants Winter Halt to Utility Shut-offs--Group Writes Letter to Gov. Granholm to Impose Moratorium
Contact: Abayomi Azikiwe, 313.671.3715
Address: 5920 Second Avenue, Detroit MI, 48202
URL: http://moratorium-mi.org

Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures, Evictions & Utility
Shut-offs Calls for Winter Halt to Heating, Electrical and Water
Service Terminations

A recent meeting of the Moratorium NOW! Coalition decided to appeal to Gov. Jennifer Granholm to impose an immediate halt to utility shut-offs in Detroit and throughout the state.

The letter reads in part as follows:

"At our last meeting on Wednesday, November 18, we held extensive
discussions on the economic conditions prevailing in Detroit and
throughout the state. The unemployment rate in Michigan, over 15
percent, is still above what exist in other states around the country.
Despite efforts to stem the tide of rising unemployment, the overall
net job losses remain far too large.

"As a result of high unemployment and underemployment, Michigan's, and particularly Detroit's, foreclosure and eviction rates along with utility shut-offs, are astronomical. In a meeting last summer with executives at DTE Energy, we were informed that over 150,000 of the company's customers have had their services disconnected during the last year."

The Moratorium NOW! Coalition letter to Gov. Granholm continues by saying that:

"Therefore, we are requesting that you utilize your political and
legal authority to impose a moratorium on utility shut-offs beginning
before the Thanksgiving holiday and extening until at least May 1.

"With Winter approaching absent of a moratorium on utility shut-offs,
hundreds of thousands of people around the state risk imminent danger that could result in serious injury, sickness and even death. We only need to remind ourselves of the deaths that occured last year as a result of utility shut-offs. In July the Reed-Owens family of
northwest Detroit lost four members after their power was shut-off by
DTE Energy."

The Moratorium NOW! Coalition is a community-based organization that was formed during the early months of 2008. Since its formation the organization has worked tirelessly to win a moratorium on home
foreclosures, evictions and utility shut-offs in the state of
Michigan.

This group intends to pursue the demand for a declaration of economic emergency in Michigan through public meetings, demonstrations and other actions aimed at organizing people who are the most severely affected by the current economic crisis.

Please call Gov. Granholm to demand the imposition of a Moratorium on utility shut-offs immediately. Her number is (517) 373-3400.

To contact the Moratorium NOW! Coalition just reach out to us on the
numbers listed above.

Abayomi Azikiwe
Moratorium NOW! Coalition
Media Liaison
313.671.3715

Revive Class Struggle, Strengthen International Solidarity

2009-11-19T11:36:00.001-05:00

Panelists at the conclusion of the Workers World Party conference held in New York City on November 14-15, 2009. The conference spoke of the revitalization of the global class struggle in the current period. (G. Dunkel)
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

Revive class struggle, strengthen international solidarity

By Deirdre Griswold
New York
Published Nov 18, 2009 6:55 PM

Two main themes ran through the 2009 Workers World Party National Conference: the revival of serious class struggle in the United States as the capitalist crisis brutally strips the workers and oppressed of their jobs, homes and health, and the need to strengthen international workers’ solidarity in the face of corporate globalization and increasing militarism and war.

No one took these huge tasks lightly. But the many speakers resonated with confidence that WWP, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, had the experience and the program to rise to the challenges.

“Don’t be afraid of hard issues,” said Secretariat member Larry Holmes in a summation of the conference. “Surviving through years of political reaction has made us tougher. We have what the workers need. Build a workers’ world!”

The conference was held on Nov. 14-15 in New York. Even more than in previous years, this one rocked with the input of those most
oppressed: African American, Latino/a, youth, lesbian, gay, bi and
trans, and immigrant activists, who spoke from the stage and from open mikes in the audience. The majority of speakers were women.

The diversity reflected the party’s long history of applying affirmative
action internally while fighting racism, male chauvinism, immigrant
bashing and oppression of LGBT people.

The youth group Fight Imperialism, Stand Together detailed how the
worst economic crisis since the Depression of the 1930s was
devastating young people. FIST held a workshop so youth from different parts of the country could exchange ideas on how to coordinate struggles on campuses and in the communities.

Allies from different organizations and unions brought greetings to
the conference and contributed to the discussion. A high point was a
talk by Armando Robles, president of the United Electrical Workers
local that carried out a successful occupation of the Republic Doors
and Windows plant in Chicago, winning benefits the company had denied the workers when it summarily tried to close its doors and walk away.

Dante Strobino of FIST, himself a UE organizer, introduced Robles.
Jill White of Chicago WWP told of organizing a massive solidarity
demonstration with the Republic workers.

Using Marxism as a weapon

In prepared presentations, WWP leaders again and again used the tools of Marxism and Leninism to define the problems facing the working class and oppressed peoples today and to chart a path of resistance.

In the opening session FIST leader Larry Hales reviewed the horrific
statistics of youth unemployment and poverty, particularly in
communities of color. Capitalism makes people “bruised, brutal and
hurt,” said Hales, but there’s “a better world to fight for” and young
people can be made into revolutionary fighters for socialism.

Teresa Gutierrez, a member of the party’s Secretariat who recently
went to Honduras and then to a conference on migrants in Greece,
called the waves of migration caused by lack of opportunity a “crime
of capitalism” and saw the 200 million uprooted workers around the
world as “an army in the making.” Gutierrez and later speakers focused on the role of migrants in reviving May Day as an international day of workers’ struggle.

Dispelling any notion that the present “recovery” will help the
workers, Secretariat member and author Fred Goldstein went over the figures: more money in the pockets of the rich even as the job
hemorrhage continues.

Ford Motors got government subsidies but its sales are down and 53,000 Ford workers have been laid off.

“The system of capitalist exploitation is reaching its limits,” he said, and reviewed Marx’s findings on how the bosses will destroy their own markets to increase profits. Just as in the 1930s, it’s only militant workers’ struggles that can bring about any relief from the capitalist government.

Larry Holmes dealt with the relationship between the big union
federations and the Obama government. Why didn’t the unions bring
hundreds of thousands to Washington to demand single-payer health care, he asked. Without that kind of mass pressure, the Democrats came up with “a compromise on health care reform that betrays women.”

Holmes also urged the unions to help organize the jobless in their own interests—“Unemployment aids union busting and wage cuts,” he pointed out.

How militarism is deepening the economic crisis was addressed by
Secretariat member Sara Flounders. Capitalism can’t live without the
enormous Pentagon budget, but it’s dragging the system down.

Even with all its weaponry and high-paid mercenaries, the U.S. can’t defeat the resistance in Afghanistan, one of the poorest countries in the world.

Flounders also pointed out that the federal government seized four
mosques in New York at the same time it imposed new sanctions on Iran. She called for solidarity with Arab and Muslim peoples.

Input from activists

The conference alternated prepared talks with an open mike for
questions and comments.

Jen Waller, a young activist, saw no future for the world under
capitalism, which exploits the land and the people. Julius Dykes, an
autoworker with 25 years’ seniority, told of the anger and fear among
workers regarding another upcoming layoff and how a friend had
committed suicide. He praised the party’s work in the Pittsburgh Jobs March and Tent City, and urged a national jobs march.

An Iranian said the attack on Muslims is an attack on the working
class. A young man shared that he was moving from anarchism to
communism. An immigrant from Los Angeles said the prisons are full of the youth and homeless. A woman from Rhode Island asked for solidarity with soldiers’ families who live below the poverty level.

People representing various struggle groups took the mike to thank WWP for its support.

Pam Africa of International Friends and Family of Mumia Abu-Jamal
acknowledged the party, and particularly Secretariat members Monica Moorehead and Larry Holmes, for their work in Millions 4 Mumia and in building a massive Madison Square Garden solidarity meeting for the imprisoned revolutionary journalist.

Brenda Stokely of the Million Worker March Movement raised the need to bring the working class together for a strong May Day demonstration and the importance of education on the history of class struggle.

Ignacio Meneses of the U.S.-Cuba Labor Exchange called WWP “a point of reference for the struggle in the U.S.”

Shafeah M’Balia of Black Workers for Justice in North Carolina brought greetings from her group on behalf of “the oppressed working class of the Black nation.” She told of the many programs BWFJ has initiated to bring together women, workers and youth.

Representatives of Freedom Road Socialist Organization and the
Vancouver Mobilization Against War and Occupation were invited to the stage to deliver solidarity statements. Both groups have worked with WWP in a number of struggles. Bernadette Ellorin expressed greetings from BAYAN-USA.

Community organizer Rosie Bonds, aunt of baseball great Barry Bonds, told of homeless women sleeping under freeways while luxurious officers’ quarters go vacant at the nearby closed Alameda Naval Air Station. She is now distributing Workers World newspaper in Berkeley, Calif.

Fight imperialism, build the party

Other plenaries covered the global flashpoints of U.S. imperialist
aggression and WWP’s 50 years of struggle guided by its Marxist
analysis.

Monica Moorehead spoke on the task of a workers’ party to build
solidarity within the broader political movement, especially defending
the right to self-determination for oppressed nations. She explained
the need for a workers’ party to build unity among its ranks if it
hopes to win over the most class-conscious fighters.

Support for Palestine was covered by Bill Doares and Judy Greenspan. Doares recalled how back in the 1960s, when most progressives here refused to criticize Israel, WWP demonstrated in support of Palestine during the June War. Joyce Chediac talked about the struggle of Palestinians in Lebanon and the Lebanese people, who are represented by Hezbollah. All three speakers had been to the Middle East in the past summer.

Berta Joubert-Ceci, fresh from a solidarity delegation to Honduras,
told how the people are struggling to take back the wealth stolen by
the oligarchy and U.S. transnationals. “The coup started when
President Zelaya raised the minimum wage by 60 percent,” she reminded everyone. The Honduran struggle is part of a popular upsurge in all of Latin America. A message to the conference from Juan Barahona, leader of the Honduran Resistance, was read.

Abayomi Azikiwe of the Michigan Moratorium NOW! Coalition and a
contributing editor to Workers World newspaper traced the connection between the struggle for jobs and homes in Detroit and the mass dislocation and poverty in Africa caused by imperialism. Another dynamic speaker from the coalition was Sandra Hines, who called Detroit, with nearly 30 percent unemployment, “a Katrina without the water.”

Another Detroiter, Jerry Goldberg, spoke of building the party when
the Midwest was a stronghold of organized labor. Autoworker Martha
Grevatt of Cleveland reported how GM, Ford and Chrysler have abandoned Detroit, creating a disaster that is not “natural.” But Chrysler workers rejected recent concessions by a vote of 3-1, presaging renewed struggle in this vital industry.

LeiLani Dowell spoke of the party’s contributions to the struggle for
women’s and LGBT rights, and later on Bob McCubbin introduced
Stonewall rebellion participant Sebastian Pernice.

Sharon Black of Baltimore stressed how crucial Black-white unity was in building the Pittsburgh Jobs March.

John Parker of Los Angeles commended the party’s courage and
commitment in fighting against foreclosures and heading off attempts to divide the working class.

Julie Fry gave examples of WWP’s long history of support for the Cuban Revolution.

China’s tremendous importance in the world was stressed by Secretariat member Deirdre Griswold, who reviewed the political struggles there and their impact on revolutionary movements. She reminded everyone that Sam Marcy, who founded Workers World in 1959, had written as early as 1950 on the profound significance of the Chinese Revolution for the world class struggle.

Tribute was also given to legendary party founders Dorothy Ballan and Vince Copeland, as well as to those founding members still living whose 50 years of experience in the party continue to enrich it today.

At a session on party organization, labor militant Steve Kirschbaum of
Boston urged everyone to contribute to the WW national fund drive,
while Kris Hamel of Detroit stressed getting Workers World newspaper into the hands of workers with regularity and consistency. Richard Kossally of New York and Mike Martinez of Miami stressed the importance of political education.

It wasn’t all speeches. There was revolutionary music and poetry that
spoke to the heart, thanks to Miya Campbell and Nana Soul.

So many solidarity messages came from popular organizations and
communist parties all over the world that only excerpts could be read.

Workers World newspaper will publish the highlights of many of the
speeches in this and coming issues. Video podcasts of the plenary
presentations will be available at www.workers.tv.

The energy and optimism that flowed at this conference will surely be
felt as Workers World Party organizes new struggles in the year to
come. Hold onto your hat!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Articles copyright 1995-2009 Workers World. Verbatim copying and
distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without
royalty provided this notice is preserved.

Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Page printed from:
http://www.workers.org/2009/us/wwp_conference_1126/

The Need For a Revolutionary Response to the Current Crisis: From Africa to the Americas

2009-11-19T11:03:00.001-05:00

Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, with Judy Greenspan at the Workers World Party conference in New York City on November 14, 2009. Azikiwe spoke on the global economic crisis and its impact on the African world. (Photo: Andrea Egypt)
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

The Need For a Revolutionary Response to the Current Crisis: From Africa to the Americas

by Abayomi Azikiwe
Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Note: The following is the text of the address delivered by Abayomi Azikiwe at the "National Conference on Preparing and Organizing for the Future" sponsored by Workers World Party.

Over the last year the global economic meltdown has continued unabated with rising unemployment in the United States, in Western Europe and throughout the both the industrialized and developing countries. Rates of poverty have increased significantly in the highly developed capitalist states as well as the former colonial territories where many, but not all, have now gained independence.

With specific reference to the conditions prevailing in the U.S., workers and the oppressed have continued to lose their homes, utility services, healthcare benefits, pension funds and access to quality education. Even under the notions of a “jobless recovery”, the corporate news commentators, government officials and “think-tank theorists” all state that there will not be an upsurge in employment for working people in the current period.

The Economic Crisis and the African-American National Question

It has been the African-American people who have borne the brunt of the burgeoning economic downturn. In a recent report issued by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics it states that “Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed persons has risen by 8.2 million, and the unemployment rate has grown by 5.3 percentage points.” (BLS Employment Report, November 6, 2009)

This same report goes on to point out that “Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (10.7 percent) and whites (9.5 percent) rose in October. The jobless rates for adult women (8.1 percent), teenagers (27.6 percent), blacks (15.7 percent), and Hispanics (13.1 percent) were little changed over the month. The unemployment rate for Asians was 7.5 percent, not seasonally adjusted. “

Therefore we see that changes in the labor market as a direct result of the crisis has maintained the historically higher unemployment rate among African Americans but at the same time narrowed the traditional gap between unemployment rates between African-Americans and whites in the United States. This phenomena may hold significance for the coming period.

The higher unemployment rate for African-Americans is closely related to the disproportional impact of the so-called “sub-prime mortgage problem” which exposed the façade of capitalist expansion during the previous decade and accelerated the near-collapse of international system of finance capital during 2008. In the majority black city of Detroit, which since the post-World War II period saw perhaps the highest rate of home ownership in the country for the working class both African-American and white, people have been severely affected by the decline of the auto industry and the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs in the state of Michigan during present decade.

In an article published in the liberal journal The Nation, it points out that "Black homeowners have been hit particularly hard by the mortgage crisis, largely because predatory lenders have been steering them toward subprime loans for years, even when they could afford prime rates. According to Valerie Rawlston Wilson of the Urban League, home equity accounts for nearly 90 percent of black homeowners' total net worth. So as the housing market collapses, much of the trumpeted new wealth that has accumulated in black communities in recent decades will go with it." (The Nation, January 18, 2008)

Political Repression and the Prison-military Industrial Complex

With the rise of unemployment, foreclosure and eviction rates among African-Americans, we have also seen an increase in repressive actions carried out as state policy. There has been an epidemic of African-Americans who have been brutalized and killed by law-enforcement. We only need to acknowledge the situations involving Oscar Grant in Oakland, the Jena 6 in Louisiana, the murder of Robert Mitchell in Detroit and the brutal assassination of Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah which took place recently right outside Detroit.

There are over one million African-Americans imprisoned in the United States. Black and Latina/o men and women constitute well over half of the prison population in the United States. Racial profiling is conducted as normal law-enforcement procedure where even prominent African-Americans in government, business, entertainment and even law-enforcement are subjected to harassment and possible serious injury or death.

The ongoing attacks against the Muslim community in the United States is justified by the state and corporate media utilizing the false notion of “Islamic extremism”. Imam Luqman’s assassination and the trumped-up charges brought against members of his mosque are carried out in an effort to justify the occupations of Iraq, Afghanistan, the spreading of the wars into Pakistan as well as the Horn of Africa and its surrounding waterways in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.

At present U.S. imperialism is spending more money on war when the conditions of working people and the oppressed have reached near-depression levels in sections of the country. The anti-war and peace movements must link the rising pentagon budget to the intensification of the exploitation and impoverishment of the majority of working people and the oppressed inside the United States.

In order for this linkage to be made between the rising problems of poverty and repression and the imperialist war drive in the predominantly Muslim populated countries in Asia and Africa- but not necessarily limited to these particular states- there must be a mass struggle waged inside the most oppressed segments of the working class in the United States.

The proletariat must recognize and act upon the fact that the conditions of working people around the world cannot be separated in this period. The outmoded slogans utilized by unconscious elements within the labor unions which utilize national chauvinism and racism that is masked with slogans such as “buy American” and “protect American jobs” have done nothing to advance the interests of the working class inside the United States.

The African Condition and the World Economic Crisis

With reference to the continent of Africa, the current crisis in the capitalist-imperialist states has had a tremendous negative impact by thrusting over 50 million people back into poverty. With the continued dependence by the former colonial states on the foreign exchange earnings gained through natural resource and agricultural exports, the decline in demand in the West resulting from rising unemployment and impoverishment of the working class has created massive job losses and food deficits.

This economic downturn in Africa has been the most striking in countries that are closely allied with the United States such as Ethiopia, Somalia, Nigeria and Egypt. Oil exports from Nigeria have not prevented social unrest or political stability. Recently this West African state, that had been for years the major exporter of crude oil from the continent to the U.S., experienced a near-collapse of its financial sector quite similar to what is taking place on Wall Street.

In Somalia, U.S. imperialist interference has resulted in a civil war, mass dislocation of civilians, and the collapse of the agricultural and fishing industries which had sustained the population for years. The resistance movements inside Somalia who have risen up to fight against imperialist domination have prompted the U.S. to lead the largest military and naval build-up around the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean in the region’s history. Under the guise of fighting “piracy” and “terrorism”, the U.S. has established a military base in Djibouti and dispatched flotillas of warships off the coast of the Horn of Africa.

The U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) recently coordinated war games in various regions on the west of the continent in Gabon and the Gulf of Guinea. Multi-national oil firms are competing among themselves to prevent the People’s Republic of China from making significant investments in the exploration and export of the recently discovered oil deposits belonging to the nation of Ghana. Africa is increasing its exports of oil and other strategic minerals into the United States and consequently the imperialists will escalate their military interference in the affairs of the continent.

The only solution to the problems of underdevelopment and exploitation in Africa is for the workers and farmers to break with imperialism. Promises made by the United States, Britain, France, the European Union, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have proved worthless. Aid agencies based in the imperialist states cannot solve the problems of food deficits and the lack of healthcare services without a fundamental transformation of the post-colonial societies and their subordinate relationship with the capitalist states and the multi-national corporations.

We Must Intensify the Struggle Against Oppression and Exploitation

Our focus in the coming period must be centered around the demands related to shutting down the war machines in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Korea, Latin America and throughout the globe. In taking a clear position against all forms of U.S. militarism we inevitably enhance the alliances between workers and the oppressed in both the capitalist states and the post-colonial nations.

Domestically we must continue our support for labor actions such as the sit-in that took place last year at the Republic Windows and Doors plant in Chicago. In Detroit we linked the struggle against foreclosure in the case of Loren Parker, who was threatened with eviction by the Bank of America, with the plant occupation carried by the UE workers.

In the French-controlled Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, the workers built a united front of unions, youth and community groups that shut down businesses in the small nations for over six weeks. There is much to learn from these bold and creative actions led by militants within the international working class movement.

We must continue to engage the masses of workers and the oppressed inside the United States in order to form the necessary coalitions and relationships that will lead to the sharpening of our movement aimed at constructing socialism. If we have learned anything from our experiences with the Moratorium NOW! Coalition and the Bailout the People Movement in the present period, we will understand that there is no substitute for the difficult work of addressing the concrete needs of the people. When we do this there will be a qualitative leap in our efforts to end the current economic crisis and to build a socialist society and world.

When we have raised the demands for bringing the troops home now, the imposition of a moratorium on foreclosures, evictions and utility shutoffs, full-employment, and the end to racism and national oppression, our program has been greeted enthusiastically by the masses.

In this period we must consistently raise socialism as a viable alternative to the capitalist crisis of overproduction and the imperialist quest for permanent war and military occupation. Socialism provides the only hope for the increasingly impoverished masses of workers and the oppressed throughout the world.

Detroit Demonstration Against Repression Outside Renaissance Center Today, 5:00-6:00pm

2009-11-19T10:54:00.001-05:00

Participants in the demonstration at the federal building in downtown Detroit on November 5, 2009. The action was called by MECAWI to protest the assassination of Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah on October 28 by the FBI.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

For Immediate Release

Media Advisory

Event: Protest the ALPACT Dinner With U.S. Atty. Gen. Holder & the FBI
Date: Thursday, November 19, 5:00-6:30pm
Location: Marriot Hotel at Renaissance Center, East Jefferson and Brush
Sponsor: Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice (MECAWI)
Contact: 313.671.3715
E-mail: info@mecawi.org
URL: http://www.mecawi.org

Demonstration to Demand Justice for Slain Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah and Freedom for the Detroit 10

The Advocates and Leaders for Police and Community Trust (ALPACT) dinner at the Ren Cen comes at a time when the FBI has shot down a respected Detroit Muslim leader, Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah. They have arrested 10 other Muslims on wild charges and media hysteria reminiscent of the Counter Intelligence Program (Cointelpro) that attacked Malcolm X (El Hajj Malik Shabazz), Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Black Panther Party, Angela Davis, the American Indian Movement, Assata Shakur, and others.

At the same time the Detroit Police Department, and police agencies throughout Michigan and the nation, continue racial profiling, racist harassment and racist killings.

Nationally the FBI, the “Justice” Department and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), along with local police agencies, are hounding and deporting thousands of undocumented workers. Often families are torn apart with parents deported and children waiting for their parents who never come home.

United States jails are filled with victims of frame-ups, and death row inmates are legally lynched. Political prisoners languish in lock up such as Mumia Abu Jamal and Leonard Peltier – both victims of police frame-ups.

This is no time to break bread and sip wine with the FBI.

DEMAND:
Justice for Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah
Free the Detroit 10 (Muslim prisoners of FBI frame-up)
End the ICE raids and deportations
Free Mumia Abu Jamal, Leonard Peltier and all political prisoners
Stop racist profiling, harassment and killings

Members of MECAWI are available to the media for comment.

FDLR Inc.: Congo's Multinational Rebels

2009-11-19T10:30:00.001-05:00

FDLR rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are largely coordinated from officials in western Europe. FDLR rebels are accused of carrying out atrocities inside the DRC.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

FDLR Inc: Congo's multinational rebels

The German authorities have arrested leaders of a militia which operates in the Democratic Republic of Congo - but how strong is the case against them? The BBC's East Africa Correspondent Peter Greste investigates.

Over the past few months, I have been investigating connections between war crimes allegedly committed by the FDLR in the Congo, and their leaders living in Europe.

One of them is Callixte Mbarashimana, an unlikely-looking warlord, elegantly dressed in a suit, tie and overcoat. With his neatly trimmed goatee and easy smile, he looks more like a university professor than the second-most powerful man in one of Africa's most feared militias.

Mr Mbarashimana is the executive secretary of the FDLR - one of the most potent rebel forces fighting in the dense forests and bush-land along the eastern frontier of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

They are, he says, "a military-political organisation to protect Rwandan refugees and … to liberate the Rwandan people from the yoke of the fascist regime of the RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front)".

'Conglomeration'

These are claims that gall human rights workers, the United Nations and countless Congolese civilians, who accuse the FDLR of a catalogue of abuses, including mass rape, murder, forced recruitments, child soldiers, using slaves to illegally exploit minerals.

"It's just a conglomeration of criminals," according to the head of the UN's programme to demobilise the region's armed groups, Greg Alex. "What have they done in the Congo that's been righteous?"

According to UN investigators, FDLR executives operate relatively freely in North America, and Europe. Those connections have infuriated peacekeeping officials in the Congo who have repeatedly called on host governments to dismantle the support structure that keeps the rebels fighting.

"The linkages are clear," said a frustrated Hiroute Guebre Sellassie, head of the UN's peacekeeping force in the province of North Kivu.

"The FDLR has remained cohesive as it is now because of the political leadership in Europe. These are people that encourage those in the field to kill, to rape every day. These are crimes, so they should be prosecuted."

'Commander-in-chief'

The FDLR's president, Ignace Murwanashyaka, lives in Mannheim in Germany. He was arrested on Tuesday, charged with being a leader of a terrorist organisation, of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In interview after interview, serving and former FDLR officials told me that he is not only the ideological and political force behind the movement, he is its supreme military commander.

He is "like President Obama," according to the FDLR's spokesman in the Congo who goes by the nom de guerre of "La Forge".

"Just as President Obama is also the commander-in-chief of the US armed forces, so President Murwanashyaka is our military leader as well."

The BBC has obtained a log of calls from satellite phones owned by senior FDLR commanders that shows a regular and consistent communication with leaders in the diaspora, notably Ignace Murwanashyaka.

The evidence - supported by testimony from former officers - suggests that he personally directed strategy and approved operations.

Child soldiers

Captain Busokoye Donat is a former FDLR officer now in Rwanda under the demobilisation scheme. He used to be in charge of officer training before taking over what he described as "civil defence" - which is training civilian supporters in weapons and military tactics.

"You have to understand that in our organisation, Dr Murwanashyaka is like God," he said.

"He might not give tactical orders - that's the job of the officers who know the situation on the ground - but every operation is run past him for approval."

"He knows everything that happens in the field."

I asked Donat about reports that the FDLR is recruiting child soldiers.

"We have been losing a lot of troops through DDRRR (the UN's demobilisation programme) so we have to go to schools to get more soldiers. We have no choice," he said.

"Does Dr Murwanashyaka know this?" I asked.

"I told you. Dr Murwanashyaka knows everything that happens."

Donat also linked the leader to attacks on innocent villagers.

"I personally saw a telegram in which President Murwanashyaka told commanders that they should attack villages to force civilians to flee."

"That's to put pressure on the international community and Rwanda to negotiate with us," Donat said.

Justice

Before his arrest, we asked Mr Murwanashyaka for an interview. He referred us to his executive secretary Callixte Mbarashimana in Paris.

Mr Mbarashimana denied complicity in war crimes. "I am in a country where justice works. I am ready to face justice if there are any allegations that come with evidence."

"I have always claimed my innocence and I am ready - I repeat ready - to face justice if they come with allegations."

Mr Mbarashimana fiercely defended the FDLR's human rights record. "There is no FDLR policy to attack any civilian population," he said. "We condemn all those abuses. We have consistently called for an international investigation so that they can identify the authors of those abuses and bring them to justice. That is our policy."

The French authorities told me Mr Mbarashimana has broken none of their laws. They said free speech legislation protects his right to act as the organisation's spokesman, and they have not received any formal request for an investigation.

Crossing Continents: Congo Connection is broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Thursday, 19 November 2009 at 1100 GMT and repeated on Monday, at 2030 GMT. It is also broadcast on the World Service's Assignment programme on Thursday, 19 November 2009
.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/8364327.stm
Published: 2009/11/18 13:30:33 GMT

Jennifer Hudson to Play Winnie Mandela

2009-11-19T00:42:00.001-05:00

Jennifer Hudson has won a Grammy award for best Rhythm and Blues artist. She won the Oscar for Dreamgirls in 2007.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

Jennifer Hudson to play Winnie Mandela: report

11-18-2009, 17h30
LOS ANGELES (AFP)

Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson is to play Winnie Mandela in a film charting the turbulent life and times of the ex-wife of South Africa's first black president, it was reported Wednesday.

Hudson, who scooped a best supporting actress Oscar in 2007 for her performance in the musical "Dreamgirls", told Daily Variety the film would bring a "powerful part of history" to cinema screens.

"I was compelled and moved when I read the script," Hudson said. "Winnie Mandela is a complex and extraordinary woman and I'm honored to be the actress to portray her. This is a powerful part of history that should be told."

The film will be directed by South African film-maker Darrell J. Roodt, whose films include "Cry, The Beloved Country" and "Sarafina."

News of the film comes as Hollywood prepares to release "Invictus" a Clint Eastwood-directed drama about Nelson Mandela, to be played by Morgan Freeman, and how the 1995 Rugby World Cup united the country after apartheid.

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela campaigned tirelessly for her husband's release during his 27-year imprisonment in the apartheid era.

However her image was tarnished by a series of scandals including her links to the kidnap and murder of a young activist and a 2003 conviction for fraud.

She separated from Nelson Mandela in 1992, three years after his release.

Aid Groups Pull Personnel From Northern Mali

2009-11-18T19:06:00.001-05:00

AQMI guerrillas who are fighting in Mali have become the focus of the purported battle against Al-Qaeda in North Africa.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

Aid groups pull personnel from northern Mali

Reuters
November 18, 2009

Several humanitarian organisations including French group Action contre la faim (ACF) have pulled their expat employees from northern Mali for security reasons, sources said Wednesday

BAMAKO - Several humanitarian organisations including French group Action contre la faim (ACF) have pulled their expat employees from northern Mali for security reasons, sources said Wednesday.

"We just learned that some expats have narrowly escaped an attempted kidnapping by armed Islamic militants in one of Mali's neighbours. Therefore we are taking security measures and are pulling back to the south of Mali," a source close to the ACF bureau in Gao, northern Mali, told AFP.

"Several European employees who are in Gao have been called back to Bamako as a security precaution," Amadou Senou, a regional official confirmed.

The Gao region some thousand kilometres to the north east of Bamako in the Sahel region which has been the scene of trafficking and smuggling of all kinds by organized crime groups.

Tuareg rebels and Islamic militants — who claim to belong to al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQMI) — roam freely between Mali and its neighbouring countries.

Several foreign nationals have also been kidnapped or detained in Mali and Niger in the last year in operations claimed by AQMI.

Angola Prepares Glitzy Show For Nations Cup Draw

2009-11-18T12:43:00.001-05:00

African Football federation president Issa Hayatou (pictured in 2008) will be among guests of honour at the African Nations Cup draw being staged by tournament host Angola on Friday.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

Angola prepare glitzy show for Nations Cup draw

by Louise Redvers Louise Redvers
Tue Nov 17, 8:43 pm ET

LUANDA (AFP) – Pop stars, politicians and a president are among those expected to attend the African Nations Cup draw being staged by tournament host Angola here on Friday.

The event, featuring Congolese artist Papa Wemba and other Angolan singers, is being held at a shiny new glass-and-steel convention centre in the purpose-built southern suburb of Talatona.

African Football Confedation (CAF) president Issa Hayatou and members of his executive committee can also expect a rare public appearance from President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, ruler of this oil-rich country for 30 years.

Representatives from the 16 qualifiers for the January 10-31 tournament will also be present to witness a split into four groups from which the winners and runners-up advance to the quarter-finals.

Portuguese Manuel Jose, coach of the host nation, said he did not mind who the Palancas Negras (Black Antelopes) come up against in the first round.

"I don?t have any preference," he told reporters after a training session ahead of a friendly against Ghana on Wednesday. "I would be lying if I said I didn?t want easier teams, but it?s dangerous to think that way."

The charismatic former coach of Egyptian club giants Al-Ahly took over Angola in June after they failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and suffered a string of friendly defeats.

"When we know the teams in our group, we will be analysing them as much as possible," said Jose.

"It?s not going to be easy because they will play little now, but we will be sending our scouts to any games they do play and we will be watching videos and DVDs to know their strategies better."

The draw is generating less discussion among Angolans than an on-going spat between Jose and star Manucho Goncalves.

Real Valladolid striker Manucho was dropped from the squad for friendlies against Congo and Ghana after arriving late for training in Portugal.

Jose publicly blasted the former Manchester United player, saying he needed to learn respect.

Manucho did apologise through the Angolan state media, claiming he was delayed by visa problems, but Jose said this was not good enough and the Angolan sports minister has joined the discussion.

Speaking at a football conference in the capital, Goncalves Muandumba said Angola needed Manucho in the team and that the player should have apologised directly to Jose, not through a media statement.

The 15 teams who have qualified to play in Angola are Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, defending champions Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Togo, Tunisia and Zambia.

The 32-fixture tournament will be played at four new Chinese-built stadiums in Luanda, Benguela, Cabinda and Lubango.

President Mugabe of Zimbabwe Blasts West's Agricultural Subsidies

2009-11-18T00:08:00.001-05:00

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe speaks at an international forum. The country has heightened security amid western threats aimed at destabilization.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

President blasts West’s subsidies

From Hebert Zharare in ROME, Italy
Zimbabwe Herald

RICH countries’ agricultural subsidies and denial of market access to produce from developing countries were partly to blame for low crop production in developing nations, President Mugabe has said.

Addressing fellow Heads of State and Government at the Food and Agriculture Organisation Summit here yesterday, President Mugabe said other factors militating against global food security were climate change, inaccessibility to arable land, rising costs of farming inputs and general lack of money to finance farming operations.

Western subsidies, he said, were suffocating farmers in poor and developing countries.

"Add to this denial of market access to agricultural products from developing countries and that completes the host of factors which undermine crop production in our countries," said President Mugabe.

He told the summit that Zimbabwe’s situation was worsened by punitive policies of certain powerful countries that were against the equitable redistribution of land to correct colonial imbalances.

"We face very hostile interventions by these states which have imposed unilateral sanctions on us.

"This has had a negative impact on our farmers who, according to our neo-colonial enemies, must fail so as to damn the rain-fed agriculture; which FAO reports say will see the production of food going down by about 50 percent by 2050 due to climate change.

"To protect the country from the vagaries of the weather, Zimbabwe has an ongoing programme of dam construction across the country to harness water and develop reliable water sources.

"With adequate support, Zimbabwe has the potential to increase the land under irrigation from the present 153 000 to 453 000 hectares," he said.

President Mugabe said apart from water shortages, Zimbabwe had been affected by insufficient supplies of affordable farming inputs such as fertilizers, seeds and agro-chemicals.

He said the Government would continue supporting the agriculture sector through a cocktail of schemes including concessionary loans for working capital and for the procurement of machinery.

"To buttress these schemes, the Government has also introduced a Farm Mechanisation Programme targeting both the smallholder and commercial farming sectors.

"But we remain keenly aware that the mechanisation programme cannot be complete if it does not yield the capacity to enable us to export value-added products," he said.

The energy sector played an integral role in the agriculture sector, said the President, adding that the combination of the power deficit experienced by the Sadc region last year and rising oil prices had a serious negative impact on farming operations.

He said Zimbabwe had consequently embarked on a biofuel project to produce diesel and petrol from jatropha and sugarcane.

"To avoid the negative effect of using maize as biofuel feedstock, our project uses jatropha seed and sugarcane," he explained.

Turning to the ravaging effects of HIV and Aids, President Mugabe said despite declining prevalence rates in the productive 15-49 age group dropping to 13,7 percent, Zimbabwe was concerned that the figure was still too high.

In response to the impact of the pandemic on the agriculture sector, President Mugabe said the Government adopted the Zimbabwe Agricultural Sector Strategy on HIV and Aids to offset its negative consequences.

The President also paid tribute to Sadc and FAO for assisting Zimbabwe in mobilising farming inputs for the generality of the population.

These interventions, he noted, had resulted in an increase in cereal crop yields by over 75 percent this year.

He said Sadc’s agricultural inputs support initiative and the country’s homegrown agricultural policies were paying dividends.

"We are grateful for the support we have received from the Sadc region, which provided seed and fertilizers through the Sadc agriculture inputs support initiative.

"With this support from Sadc, the country experienced a dramatic 75 percent increase in maize production this year.

"For the 2009/2010 season, we have received support from various international co-operating partners who provided input packs through the smallholder emergency support programme, which is co-ordinated by the Food and Agriculture Organisation and is expected to reach over 600 000 households. Zimbabwe is grateful for this support," he said.

The summit, which ends today, drew leaders from mostly developing countries.

Western countries snubbed the meeting, a decision that has been described as indicative of their lack of appreciation of the global food insecurity problem that led to food riots in 22 countries last year.

‘Continent must discard European script’

By Owen ‘Alik Shahadah

"MAN’S freedom is lacking if somebody else controls what he needs, for need may result in man’s enslavement of man." — Muammar al-Gaddafi

The premises behind much of the solutions for Africa are in the ideal that a hurting Africa needs a humanist hand from Europe. This is like appealing to the fox to save you from the wolf. An agreement in the United Nations’ Security Council or other diabolical agencies such as the World Bank is like an agreement among a choir, and such agreements are not agreements at all nor are they meant to provide any succour to the problems of Africa. NEPAD insist that a richer Africa is in the interest of the entire world, true or false will not appeal to the morality of a world system that never in its legacy has and does not act along a moral compass.

There is nothing but capitalism and illusions of democracy, which are alien to the aspirations of African people. "Feed Africa" to "Make Poverty History" are mere sloganeering programs with no genuine effect to the population of the continent. These campaigns are industries unto themselves that create billions of dollars and generate millions of jobs. They subsidise ailing industries in developed countries. We are naïve and childish to believe a richer Africa is in the interest of Europe.

Poor people do not have the luxury of liberalism and freedom of speech. Poor people have no point of view other than "feed me." Poor people are absent from the luxury of agency. A poor Africa will always be a slave to a richer Europe. Today, at every major anti-slavery or save Africa project, it is Europe deciding and inviting personalities from the African world to sit at "their" table, to discuss Africa’s problems. The frontline for Make Poverty History is a "museum of rock stars" beyond their performance years, probably seeking redemption and revival; Geldolf is the expert on famine, Bono the authority on AIDS. Bob Geldof, the Jesus and Tarzan character all rolled into one.

The first name to come to mind when abolition is whispered is William Wilberforce and Granville Sharpe.

Walking in the legacy of "Dr. Livingstone, I presume": A man who single-handedly ended the entire Arab Slave trade. Again, the agent in Africa’s liberation is Europe. Not even dealing with the aspect of how Africa found itself in the continuing hole. What kind of world do we live in when the views of the oppressed are expressed at the convenience of the rich?

Media: Black Story, White Voice

Name a "Black film" and look behind the lens; who wrote it, who produced it, who directed it? Amistad. The music by John Williams. The director? Mr. Spielberg. A Jamaican film called One Love, again the same pattern. Tsosti a story of violence in the African communities- violence is a natural reality of South African people in European perception; it sells and feeds their image of us of being gang bangers, and semi-noble savages.

It is almost impossible to consider a film that does not include a European central figure. The recent Last King of Scotland reflects this. It is in the legacy of Cry Freedom. The title shows the mindset behind it. It would not be sufficient to tell the story of Idi Amin; so infamous enough and surely notorious enough character in his own right. No, they say, this would reduce the value of the project. In comes the European into the storyline. It is actually amazing to see Mel Gibson attempt to make a film of a non-white people without a central European character.

Returning to the likes of Richard Attenborough, we cannot blame him for his bias in Cry Freedom, he is by nature a European and is simply acting out his European weighted worldview, avoiding Eurocentric as a term, as every healthy race is sensitive to his or her cultural perceptions. It makes no sense to ask Spielberg to give more "Africanness" in his Amistad or The Colour Purple (which was an amazing piece of cinema). Even stories of African struggle are without exception made by Europeans: Amandla (Lee Hirsch), Roots (Collection of Whites), War Dance (Sean Fine), Life and Debt (Stephanie Black), Rize (David LaChapelle).

This pattern speaks directly to the social disinheritance. Who is paid from our experience? Who is cashing in again and again on our tears? Why can’t Africans be the central authors of their stories? The issue is not for Europeans to become more sensitive in "pretending" to be African: the issue is amazingly simpler; it is for Africans to be agents in their stories and hence removing the problem all together.

The concept that Europe is qualified in bringing out indigenous people’s stories is just as arrogant as assuming Africans are and others are a worthless child-race. All nice intentions are welcomed by these are all rooted in the same racist presumption of racial incapability on the part of Africans and other non-European races.

A journey to the local media outlet see Michael Palin in Africa, or a PBS special on Africa produced by an all European cast called Tigress productions. This is the interface, which we need to challenge; many of us are caught-up in incidentals of our struggle.

Being seen on a screen is not self-determination, especially when the gatekeepers, decision makers who determining the validity of our work are all European. African stories are attempts to explain Africans to Europeans as opposed to Africans explaining themselves to each other. These mere fact renders the whole concept of "Black cinema" and "Black perspective" redundant.

Products, not producers

Once there was a web site called Africana which explored African history and generally empowering topics, where is that site today? It has been taken over by the commercial giants AOL and is now blackvoices, a collection of trite and pointless garbage that celebrates the emptiest aspects of African-American culture; the singers and the dancers, the entertainers and the clowns.

All the adverts centred on the "Black" people are relating to sex. The commodification of the African body is an industry to itself. Inter-racial dating, meet black singles, black gays, find black love- this is what African people have come to represent in the global world. These are problems created and nurtured by Europeans. They fail to understand it is also adversely affecting the very socio-cultural existence of Europe itself.

Europe has relegated the position of women to the doldrums; they see their women as objects of amusement, just mere flesh for quenching their thirst. Who needs any "meet single" if women are respected and given the right position? And certainly it is not a problem in Africa.

So why, is it that it is sent down our throats and now our people entering the bandwagon? Hip-hop to pop embraces nothing deep but the most base aspects of the human animal. Returning us to Conrad’s "Heart of Darkness," El-Hajj Malik Shabazz said: "we stand for nothing, fall for everything." Agency is the natural actions of a self-determined people; lack thereof is testimony to the shallow position Diasporian-Africans occupy.

--Owen ‘Alik Shahadah, is an African Cultural writer and a multi-award winning Filmmaker who documents African history and culture. Published with kind permission from African Holocaust.

West has obligation to help poor nations

EDITOR — Rich countries have shown their true colours by snubbing the Food and Agriculture Organisation summit underway in Italy.

This basically underlines the nature of the problem we have in the world today.

Rich countries dissociate themselves from problems that they perceive to affect only poor parts of the world.

Ironically, it is the same countries that help create problems for the poor nations.

Right now rich countries are not ready to commit themselves to a binding climate change deal while the climate change phenomenon has already started wreaking havoc on poor countries in Africa.

Hunger and food insecurity are a result of climate change.

Rich developed countries in the West are mainly to blame for climate change as their industrialisation polluted the air leading to the diverse and complex effects of global warming and climate change.

Successive droughts and flooding that we have seen in the past few years — which threaten food security and the livelihoods of billions of people — are also a direct result of the actions of rich nations.

Other problems that the rich nations have created for the poor developing world include access to land.

Many countries in the developing world simply do not have access to good, arable land, which impacts negatively on food security and poverty alleviation.

The indignation of Western countries over Zimbabwe’s land reform mirrors this attitude by the West to want to perpetuate poverty and food insecurity among poor nations.

It is also imperative to note that rich Western countries are not forthcoming in commitment to meet the Millennium Development Goals, which stand to mainly better the lives of those living in the poor impoverished parts of the world.

Rich nations have a moral obligation to help the poor nations of the world.

Baba Tanaka.
Harare.

Foreign aid not good for Africa

By James Shikwati

I COME from Africa, a resource-rich continent which is depicted as poor by conventional development statistics — so as to justify foreign aid. Aid has driven Africans to lose confidence in their abilities and opportunities. It has promoted a culture of dependence — a culture of relying on other people’s help.

African children are born into a cycle of dependency. Imagine yourself as a child, growing up in a country where your parents have been reduced to mere procreators. They cannot feed you, because their indigenous foods have been crowded out by exotic foods that came from donors. They cannot choose the type of education you ought to get, because donors have supplied all sorts of "free education systems" that orient you to the West. You become an automatic candidate for the "brain drain", for immigration to the developed world — but your education does not prepare you to solve Africa’s problems.

You grow up in a confused political environment. Donors’ direct funding of civil society cuts your government out of the picture and leaves it impotent. On the other hand if the donors give direct funding to your government, they breed political cronyism, corruption and the evils of ethnic division. A mixture of both leads to political upheavals — as we saw in Kenya last year. Donors made Kenya into a country whose government does not pay attention to the electorate. At the same time they paid its civil society to organise citizens into agitators.

Attempts by donors to impose their organisational structures on Africa create confusion - and force people on the continent to focus on short-term goals. Although donors might brag about promoting education in Africa, they do not admit that they’re simply helping their own industry, by creating a supply of labour. Donors decry the dearth of leadership in Africa, but stop short of pointing out that the majority of the so-called "bad leaders" were educated in Western schools using donor funds.

We must question foreign aid’s embedded, corrupting system that takes people who reside in resource-rich countries and makes them poor. Computer experts talk about malware — a short form for "malicious software" that infiltrates a computer without the owners’ informed consent. Foreign aid — like malware — harms a country’s operating system. The term "aid" in itself is corrupting. What is the justification for using such a term when Africans repay their debts, amounting to US$20 billion every year?

Let us take a moment to look at some examples of hostile and intrusive programs run by the aid industry, particularly in Africa. Since food aid was introduced in the ’60s, African eating-habits have changed — and agriculture has been re-oriented to produce exotic crops that demand far more input than indigenous ones. Over 120 million people on that continent are faced with starvation. The cause — though blamed on drought — has everything to do with this change of crops — as opposed to what could be done if we got science to work on the indigenous crops.

The "Food-aid-malware" has disorganised Africa’s food production and is currently giving wealthy nations the excuse to acquire land there, on the distorted assumption that people in Africa are incapable of producing food.

Here’s another hostile intrusion into Africa’s system. Imagine an office that installs security cameras – but then one-day finds it’s been robbed. The owners rush to the monitoring room and discover blank screens — because the cameras were faulty. Aid works very much like that. It’s a CCTV system, deliberately put in to mislead. Countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo have vast amounts of geological resources; but donor countries parade this country among the poorest. Behind the scenes however, their companies are plundering minerals worth billions of dollars. Africa has been relying on a faulty CCTV system to gather data about itself. And all it gets is a frozen image in the monitoring room — the picture that shows the continent as poor.

Is Africa with its immense resources really poor? Japan with its limited territory imports and exports tons of goods to the global market; Switzerland produces the finest chocolate yet she has no cocoa plantations. The United States of America, Europe and China produce millions of cell phones and laptops by sourcing minerals such as Coltan from the so-called poor continent. There is no free lunch for Africa. Donor countries have high levels of political organisation. The executive, the judiciary and the legislature all promote the rule of law and above all — property rights! This has unleashed industrial ingenuity in the donor countries. Citizens in these countries pay for the upkeep of their own governments; why should Africans surrender their governments to donors?

Children growing up in Africa want to look into the eyes of their parents and draw inspiration to live. They need incentives to utilise their talents to confront their daily challenges. Foreign aid sustains the already skewed global market system and denies individuals and nations of the third world the ability to grow their economies.

It is wrong to perpetuate the notion that Africa is in a state of permanent emergency. A change of attitude and a new confidence among Africans will unchain the continent from poverty.

--James Shikwati is Director, Inter Region Economic Network. He can be reached on james@irenkenya.org. This article is reproduced from the African Executive.

Zimbabwe News Update: President Mugabe Hails FAO; Mujuru, Nkomo Land VP Posts

2009-11-17T10:53:00.001-05:00

President Robert Mugabe of the Republic of Zimbabwe. The southern African nation has been at the forefront of the struggle against western imperialism.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

President hails FAO

From Hebert Zharare in ROME, Italy

President Mugabe has thanked the Food and Agriculture Organisation for assisting Zimbabwe boost household food security through a US$70 million input facility targeting smallholder farmers.

Briefing the media after a meeting between President Mugabe and FAO director-general Mr Jacques Diouf here on Sunday, Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Deve-lopment Minister Joseph Made said the exchanges had been fruitful.

"It was a very excellent meeting. His Excellency thanked FAO for assisting us in mobilising some farming inputs for the smallholder farmers under the US$70 million facility that is going to assist over 700 000 farmers.

"It (FAO) mobilised the farming inputs from some non-governmental organisations and was supported by some European Union countries," he said.

He said one of the issues raised in the meeting was the need for governments to come up with policies that could be implemented.

Minister Made said President Mugabe pointed out that Zimbabwe had dealt with the challenge of declining rainfall by setting up a Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development.

"During the meeting with Mr Diouf, we looked at Africa’s food security challenges in relation to development of irrigation schemes in order to enhance productivity on farms, support for the smallholder farmers by supplying them with seed, fertilizer and chemicals.

"It was agreed that US$65 billion is needed in order to develop water sources in Africa," Minister Made said.

Due to climate change, conventional rains are no longer reliable and farmers have to complement them by establishing irrigation schemes.

Zimbabwe is one of a few countries on the continent to come up with strategies to boost irrigation capacity through the central bank-driven Farm Mechanisation Programme.

The efforts to improve irrigation infrastructure were also designed to recoup losses suffered when some white farmers vandalised equipment when their farms were allocated to new black farmers under the land reform programme.

President Mugabe had also told Mr Diouf that Zimbabwe had introduced its own input subsidies, Cde Made said.

He said under the subsidy, smallholder farmers would purchase a 50kg bag of fertilizer for US$6,75.

"After looking at a number of factors, we have said the smallholder farmers and those in communal areas must buy a 50kg bag of fertilizer for US$6,75 and seed for 51 US cents per kg.

He said details on how farmers could access these subsidised inputs would be disclosed shortly.

President Mugabe, who is the Head of State and Government as well as Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, will today address other world leaders attending the summit.

Mujuru, Nkomo land VP posts

By Lloyd Gumbo

ZANU-PF national chairman Cde John Nkomo has all but wrapped the Vice-Presidency after winning support from six provinces that nominated him as the ideal candidate to fill the post that fell vacant following the death of fearless founding nationalist, Vice President Joseph Msika, in August.

Bulawayo, Mashonaland Central, Manicaland, Masvi-ngo, Matabeleland South and North have already confirmed Cde Nkomo despite the latter submitting two nominations for the post.

This means the two posts of Vice-President are all but secured after VP Mujuru received the endorsement of eight provinces apart from Masvingo, which nominated Cde Oppah Muchinguri, and Midlands, which was still to nominate candidates.

In an interview yesterday, Zanu-PF secretary for administration Cde Didymus Mutasa said the nominations had gone well and in line with party procedures.

He, however, said the Midlands Province — which did not sit for the nominations last week — had not officially communicated to him their position and thus he expected nominations from all provinces by the end of this week as outlined in the guidelines.

A senior party official in Matabeleland North who spoke on condition of anonymity said the province had nominated two candidates for each post — VP and chairman — because some cadres refused to go for a vote to nominate the two candidates only and decided to submit all the four names.

Attention has now been turned to the chairmanship race where a fierce tussle is now expected among senior party cadres — Cdes Mutasa, Simon Khaya Moyo, Obert Mpofu and Kembo Mohadi.

However, a political analyst yesterday argued that the real race was between Cde Mutasa and Cde Khaya Moyo with the former counting on yet to nominate provinces.

He lamented failure by other provinces to nominate candidates for the VP and national chairman posts, saying this was tantamount to "match-fixing" as their choices would be influenced by other provinces.

He argued that the rule was that all provinces should nominate at the same time to avoid cases of undue influence from other provinces as their choices were to be autonomous.

"The real battle is between Cde Mutasa and Cde Khaya Moyo without taking anything away from the other cadres.

"To me, these are the comrades who are contending for the post seriously. However, concern is around the failure by other provinces to nominate candidates to fill such posts as VP and chairman.

"Cde Mutasa will obviously be counting on yet to nominate provinces, especially Harare, Mash East and West and Midlands, because information on the ground is that these provinces are supporting him, while Cde Khaya Moyo will keep his fingers crossed for Masvingo and Mat North to change their minds."

In separate interviews, Cde Amos Midzi (Harare) and Cde Ignatius Chombo (Mashonaland West) said they were awaiting Matabeleland region to advise them on their nominations.

Cde Midzi — who is the Zanu-PF provincial chairman for Harare — said they deferred their nominations for the two posts to allow Matabeleland region to nominate as per party guidelines.

"We are still waiting for official communication from our colleagues on what position to take. Matabeleland hasn’t officially communicated their position, so we will wait.

"We don’t rely on unofficial information which comes through newspapers. The party has structures of communication," Cde Midzi said.

Cde Chombo, who is the party’s provincial secretary for lands in Mashonaland West, said they were also awaiting indications from Matabeleland region before carrying out their own verifications.

He was, however, confident that they would be able to meet Saturday’s deadline when the nominations would be submitted to the party’s secretary for administration.

"Nothing has been officially communicated from Matabeleland as of now on whom they have nominated for the two posts.

"However, we are confident that we will complete the process within the time stipulated by the secretary for administration," Cde Chombo said.

Nominations for the Presidium and Central Committee members began on Saturday and full lists are expected on Saturday when the secretary for administration receives them from the provinces.

Regional military training crucial: Mnangagwa

Herald Reporter

Cross-pollination of ideas between armies in the region is of great importance as it fosters unity in the face of common enemies, Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa has said.

Addressing 56 Junior Staff Course graduates at the Zimbabwe Staff College in Harare last week, Minister Mnangagwa said regional military training programmes were vital to development and security.

"It is important that forces belonging to a regional body train together as this provides them with an opportunity to share ideas and understand each other.

"The skills and knowledge they acquire will be of great help to them when they conduct joint peacekeeping missions," he said.

Minister Mnangagwa said continuous training would help to improve efficiency and professional standards.

"The main objective of the course was to equip you with the requisite knowledge and skills necessary for your success in the uniformed forces.

"It was also aimed at moulding you into versatile and proficient officers in the areas of tactics, logistics, leadership, training and general management," he said.

He urged the graduates to maintain high standards of discipline that the Zimbabwe Defence Forces was renowned for.

Minister Mnangagwa urged the foreign students to be good ambassadors for Zimbabwe when they returned to their countries.

"Before you came here, you heard several bad things about Zimbabwe, but now that you have been here for 20 weeks, you definitely got a real picture of Zimbabwe," he said.

Zimbabwe Staff College commandant Brigadier-General Thomas Moyo said the course was aimed at grooming the next generation of army leaders.

"The course was aimed at grooming the officers to be able to successfully tackle challenges and command men on the battlefield.

"The officers are the future leaders of the 21st century, thus it is important that they are well-versed with latest war trends and skills. "Their curriculum included tactical, administration, peace support operations and the law of armed conflict," he said.

‘Desist from seeking external support on political disputes’

Herald Reporter

ZIMBABWEANS have been urged to desist from seeking external support to solve internal political disputes, as this would compromise and undermine the country’s sovereignty.

Addressing Joint Command and Staff Course number 22 students at the Zimbabwe Staff College in Harare yesterday, Democratic Republic of Congo Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Mawampanga Mwanananga said Zimbabweans should solve their own problems without external interference.

"It is not wise to internationalise your country’s problems and politics just to gain worldwide sympathy and intervention.

"Foreign assistance always brings its problems, chief among them, it undermines national sovereignty and security. We should only seek advice and guidance and not to be told what to do by external forces," he said.

He also said African nations should join hands in fighting poverty rather than relying on international assistance from Western powers.

"Africa must unite and increase trade among its members rather than trading with Westerners. The region has vast resources, which if properly administered will greatly improve the whole region from its current status to be the richest.

"We are our own saviours, let us work together like brothers and sisters who share the same continent and resources," he said.

Mr Mwanananga paid tribute to the Sadc region for its assistance during the time of conflict saying Western powers were there to destabilise so that they plunder resources at will. He also hailed the agreement between Zimbabwe and DRC of free movement of the nations’ citizens, saying the move is a positive development that promoted unity.

Zimbabwe Staff College invites foreign high profile dignitaries to present lectures about their countries foreign and defence policies to military students, among other issues.

Bennett’s trial opens

Court Reporter

THE High Court has ordered the State not to lead hearsay evidence in MDC-T treasurer Roy Bennett’s trial on allegations of possessing dangerous weapons and inciting acts of terrorism and insurgency.

Justice Chinembiri Bhunu also turned down an application by the defence for his recusal from hearing the trial.

Bennett’s lawyer, Ms Beatrice Mtetwa, had sought Justice Bhunu’s recusal, arguing that he once presided over Bennett’s alleged accomplice Peter Michael Hitch-mann’s bail application.

The court found that there would be no prejudice to Bennett and that the trial should start immediately.

Bennett yesterday entered a plea of not guilty and Attorney-General Mr Johannes Tomana called the State’s first witness, Chief Inspector James Makone, to testify.

While he was giving evidence, Ms Mtetwa raised an objection when he was about to tell the court what Hitschmann said to him during a search for weapons at his house.

Justice Bhunu ruled that the witnesses should restrict themselves to what they did rather than telling the court what they heard from Hitschmann.

The State has lined up 13 witnesses — including Hitschmann — to testify.

It is understood that most of the witnesses’ evidence hinges on Hitschmann’s statement.

Justice Bhunu said if Hitschmann’s statement was not admitted in his own trial, it would be absurd to use it against Bennett.

He said the State should first satisfy the court that the evidence was admissible against Hitschmann himself before it could be used against Bennett.

After that ruling on inadmissibility of hearsay evidence, Mr Tomana asked for a postponement to prepare the State case, saying they had not anticipated the development.

The trial continues today with Chief Insp Makone concluding his testimony.

Chief Insp Makone narrated to the court how he arrested Hitschmann in 2006.

He said he was part of a team of police and State security agents who arrested Hitschmann at a fast food outlet in Mutare.

Chief Insp Makone said they recovered a pistol and over 2 000 rounds of ammunition and proceeded to Hitschmann’s house where they recovered more weapons.

He was stopped before telling more.

In his defence, Bennett denied committing the said offence, saying that Hitschmann had since disowned the statement on which the State is relying.

Ms Mtetwa said none of the State witnesses had evidence incriminating Be-nnett.

Bennett denied possessing the said weapons, alleging that the charges were trumped up by his political opponents who were determined to block him from taking up the post of Deputy Agriculture Mini-ster in the inclusive Government.

He denied having communicated with Hitschmann via e-mail, saying that evidence could have been created and doctored by State agents.

The court also heard that Hitschmann once publicly vowed not to testify in the case.

Hitschmann’s lawyer, Mr Mordecai Mahlangu, tried to stop the AG from summoning his client as a witness and was arrested on a charge of defeating the course of justice.

He is awaiting trial.

Honduran Accord Fails as Right-wing Maneuvers to Prevent Zelaya's Restoration

2009-11-17T09:31:00.001-05:00

Honduran ousted President Manuel Zelaya says that the U.S. brokered deal to restore his presidency has failed. He remains held-up in the Brazilian embassy.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

Honduran accord fails as Right-wing maneuvers to prevent Zelaya’s restoration

By Berta Joubert-Ceci
Published Nov 13, 2009 8:15 PM

Nov. 9—”With or without Mel [Zelaya] there are no elections and who goes forward is the Resistance. Let’s go into the neighborhoods. ... Our only way out is the Resistance because together, we will never be defeated. My struggle began in 1954 and now we can talk and say that we are revolutionaries. ... We can now send to hell this Constitution that does not serve us. Until victory comrades, do not dismay, let us go forward now or never! Until the final victory!”

Dionisia Sanchez, the Grandmother of the Resistance and example of Honduran people’s fierce will to struggle, said these words on Nov. 9, after the Resistance met and decided not to participate in the general elections of Nov. 29, even if President Manuel Zelaya was reinstated to office.

At the time this article is being written, no resolution to the dangerous crisis in Honduras has been attained. The illegal usurper government of Roberto Micheletti continues holding on to power at all costs—in spite of having signed, on Oct. 30, the Tegucigalpa-San Jose Accord, which would have restored the legitimate president, Zelaya, to office before the elections.

Micheletti unilaterally announced on Nov. 5 the formation of a “Government of Reconciliation” presided over by Micheletti, and without Zelaya. This government body was proposed by the accord as a unitary government that would have included representatives from both Zelaya and the golpistas (coup plotters). After this action, President Zelaya publicly announced the termination of the accord and the end of any possibility of dialogue with the de facto government.

Micheletti made his announcement even before the National Congress decided on the reinstitution of Zelaya. Loyal to the golpistas, the congress had delayed the voting, with many excuses, in an obvious maneuver to stall the return of Zelaya to power. These underhanded actions were even witnessed by the “Verification Commission” present in Tegucigalpa, a formation mandated by the accord that would have had the duty of ensuring that the accord was carried out.

U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis was part of that commission.

Reaction of the Resistance

The Resistance, which for the last few days has been demonstrating daily in front of the National Congress, met to decide its position on the elections. They issued a communiqué on Nov. 9 stating that they reject the electoral process and that “participation in it would give legitimacy to the golpista regime or its successor who would fraudulently take office on Jan. 27, 2010.”

They refuse to participate even if President Zelaya is reinstated to office because “20 days or less give little time to dislodge the electoral fraud that was concocted to assure that a representative of the golpista oligarchy is installed to continue their antidemocratic and repressive project.”

They also charge the United States with complicity with the golpistas. At the same time, the Resistance reaffirmed their continued struggle to reinstate Zelaya and for a new constitution.

The independent candidate for president on behalf of the Resistance, Carlos H. Reyes, withdrew from the race for the same reasons.

What is behind the elections?

It is telling that immediately after the signing of the accord and before any substantial progress, both U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her envoy, Thomas Shannon, hailed the treaty as a done deal. Hugo Llorens, U.S. ambassador in Tegucigalpa, also immediately called for the international recognition of the Nov. 29 elections. To this date, the U.S. is almost completely isolated on this position.

Why such a rush? What is Washington’s interest?

There are several U.S. lobby firms that work on behalf of the Micheletti government, the Honduran Association of Maquiladores and the Latin American Business Council, Honduras Chapter—representing, in the end, the financial and geopolitical interests of the United States. Among these firms are Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter & Associates; The Corman Group; Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP; and Visión Américas. Lanny Davis, former legal advisor to Bill Clinton, and Roger Noriega, former U.S. assistant secretary of state for western hemispheric affairs, work in some of these firms.

Besides these firms, there is a very powerful “non-governmental” agency, the Millennium Challenge Corporation. Its website describes it as “an innovative and independent U.S. foreign aid agency that is helping lead the fight against global poverty. Created by the U.S. Congress in January 2004 with strong bipartisan support, MCC is changing the conversation on how best to deliver smart U.S. foreign assistance by focusing on good policies, country ownership, and results.”

It is said in many circles in Honduras that the U.S. has a preferred candidate, Elvin Santos. Santos was Liberal Party vice-president under Zelaya but resigned last December in order to run for the presidency. He opposed Zelaya’s call for a Constitutional Assembly.

Santos is also from the oligarchy, a construction engineer whose family owns one of the largest construction companies in the country, Santos y Compañía. This company signed a $7.5 million contract with MCC (part of a $215-million MCC contract with Honduras) to improve transportation. Specifically, the contract was for the construction of Highway CA-5 that links Tegucigalpa with San Pedro Sula, the country’s main industrial area, and with Puerto Cortes on the northern Caribbean coast, the largest and only deepwater port in Central America. Highway CA-5 also connects in the south with the Port of Cutuco, on El Salvador’s Pacific coast.

This highway is part of the Atlantic Corridor of the International Network of Mesoamerican Highways, which is the transportation aspect of the Plan Puebla Panama. The plan is yet another attempt by the U.S. to steal the resources of the people in Central America, as well as Mexico and Colombia. It is presented as an integration project, but the purpose is to facilitate transportation through the area, from Mexico to Colombia, of U.S. products and merchandise assembled or made in the area, particularly in the infamous maquiladoras.

It’s a funnel to extract the wealth from Latin America toward the U.S.

Who is the chair of the MCC? None other than Hillary Clinton. Also on the MCC board are Timothy F. Geithner, U.S. secretary of the treasury and vice-chair of the MCC board, and Alonzo L. Fulgham, acting U.S. Agency for International Development administrator.

It is clear that the United States, by accepting the results of the elections beforehand, wants to guarantee the presence in the Honduras government of a representative of the pro-U.S. oligarchy that is invested in the capitalist exploitation of the masses. Even if Santos does not win, the other golpista candidates are loyal to the same oligarchy.

The tremendous power of the entrepreneurial sector in Honduras was explained by Carlos H. Reyes during a long and enlightening conversation while this writer was in Honduras in October with the U.S. Delegation of Labor, Community and Clergy in Solidarity with the Honduran Resistance. Reyes is the president of the STIBYS union of beverage industry and other workers. He was home recovering from an assault by the police during one of the Resistance demonstrations, in which his right wrist was severely fractured.

He explained the urgent need for a new constitution, and the passion with which the Resistance demands a Constitutional Assembly became very clear.

He explained that the current constitution was drafted during the 1980s, when the U.S. waged war against Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua under the criminal and vicious leadership of John Negroponte. Its purpose was to “sell the country” (privatize), reduce the state and put the military instead of the people in charge of upholding the constitution. In sum, it was a constitution to benefit the corporations and their stockholders.

Reyes exposed how power and wealth were transferred during these years. In 1981, the transnational corporations and landowners had 40 percent of the power, the state 40 percent and the people 20 percent. Now, 28 years later, the transnationals hold 75 percent, the state 20 percent and the people 5 percent. Because of the reduction of income, the state cannot afford services to the masses.

Reyes explained that Honduras is “a fiscal and labor paradise” because of low wages, the increase of temporary and subcontracted labor with absolutely no benefits or job security, and the enormous concessions to the corporations, which really control the government and run the country on their own behalf. This has resulted in the pauperization of the masses, but has been an enormously profitable experience for U.S. companies.

That is why President Zelaya’s plans to change the constitution and raise the minimum wage were so vehemently opposed by the Honduran oligarchy and the U.S.

U.S. plans more of the same in Latin America

The recent struggle in Honduras has been an attempt by the United Sates to put a hold on the progressive popular advances in Latin America, and particularly against the participating countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA). That is the view of most Latin American presidents who have opposed the Honduras military coup from day one and who hold the U.S. responsible for not ending the coup. The U.S. is Honduras’ largest trading and military partner.

This coup has reinvigorated the right-wing oligarchies around the region that are associated with the U.S.

On Oct. 30, a military treaty was signed between Colombia and the U.S. giving the U.S. complete access to that country, including seven bases, among them the enormous Palanquero base close to the capital. It was not until Nov. 2, after the agreement was signed, that it was publicly released, even though Latin American countries had requested it. In Panama, there are talks for opening four air and navy bases to which the U.S. will have access.

Many consider the bases a threat to peace in the region, and a very dangerous precedent that announces the intent of the United States to wage war against the countries that are “anti-U.S.,” as exposed in an official document of the Air Force Department regarding the Palanquero Air Base. In it, the document cites the “constant threat ... of the anti-U.S. governments.” (www.centrodealerta.org)

In Paraguay, President Fernando Lugo had to substitute the heads of the Army, Navy and Air Force with personnel in whom he was confident after rumors of a coup attempt by the right wing, which opposes Lugo’s progressive reforms.

But the United States does not realize that, as Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa said, this is not a time of changes, but a change of times—referring to the tremendous uprising of the masses defending their sovereignty and opposing U.S. imperialism.

Next: More on Colombia, Panama and Venezuela.
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Address by South African Vice-President Kgalema Motlanthe at the World Summit on Food Security

2009-11-17T01:37:00.001-05:00

South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, hosted a summit of regional leaders to discuss the stalled effort aimed at creating a government of national unity in neighboring Zimbabwe.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

South African Government (Pretoria)

South Africa: Address by His Excellency Mr. Kgalema Motlanthe, Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa to World Summit on Food Security

16 November 2009

The following is the text of an address delivered before an audience by the Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa at the World Summit on Food Security hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome, Italy.

Chairperson, Prime Minister Berlusconi;
Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon;
Your Excellencies Heads of States and Governments;
The Director-General of FAO, Dr. Diouf;
Heads of Delegations
Excellencies
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen

Firstly, allow me, chairperson to congratulate you on your election to facilitate the proceedings of this important summit. We are participating here with a sincere hope that this gathering will mark a departure form the past by producing a clear programme of action with measurable targets and monitoring mechanisms to track progress.

The past decade has witnessed an unprecedented increase in the number of food security and agriculture summits. At these gatherings, commitments were made even as recent as the May 2008 Summit which happened against the backdrop of food, finance and fuel crises. There too commitments were made and a declaration adopted.

In spite of these summits, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) State of Food Insecurity in the World Report estimates that the number of hungry people has increased to unprecedented levels of 1 billion in 2009. The figure is expected to increase further should there be no decisive actions to reverse the trend within the context of meeting the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) targets. it is even more obvious now that radical solutions is needed to alter the conditions of the majority in the world in light of the most devastating global economic meltdown ever experienced since the Great Depression.

This summit comes in the wake of the recent G20 Meeting were leaders made a commitment to, among others, promote employment through structural policies, work to address excessive commodity price volatility by improving the functioning and transparency of physical and financial markets and promoting a closer dialogue between producer and consumer countries.

They further welcomed the swift implementation of the $250bn trade finance initiative and reaffirmed a commitment to fight all forms of protectionism and to reach an ambitious balanced conclusion to the Doha Development Round.

More importantly, this summit precedes the next round of WTO negotiations and the December Copenhagen meeting on climate change. Honourable ladies and gentlemen, agriculture and food production will be adversely affected by climate change with devastating effects on food security. Adaptation or mitigation will be costly but necessary for food security, poverty reduction and maintenance of the ecosystems.

As we look ahead to Copenhagen, we should be resolute in our commitment to create jobs, raise incomes and improve security through a green economy (i.e. promote environmentally friendly production methods) without jeopardizing any country’s right to exploit their natural endowments.

There is indeed a proliferation of summits within and outside the UN System dealing with similar challenges of poverty, inequality and global economic imbalances. Is it not time to ask: who is connecting the dots, coordinating implementation and assessing the impact? In other who is pulling together all these initiatives into one coherent response the aforementioned challenges?

Excellencies,

Although there are some signs of recovery from the global economic crisis in certain sectors, it is important to emphasise that the majority of developing countries are far from recovery. In fact sustained negative growth rates together with historical imbalances continue to reproduce worse forms of human suffering.

As a result, we should caution against complacency and parochial solutions based on narrow vested interests. This crisis presents a unique opportunity to world leaders to honestly examine the existing global economic and financial systems and endeavour to reform these crises.

In this context, our leaders must give effect to their commitment to reform the international financial and economic institutions to properly reflect the interest of a sustainable and inclusive global economy. In fact many of the global leaders gathered here have already made this undertaking in many for a within the UN system and at G20 level.

The volatility of agriculture commodity prices demands of us to move faster to conclude a truly developmental Doha Round that would lead to a real and substantial reduction in trade and production distortions.

To this end, we add our voice to the call for the speedy conclusion of the Doha Development Round negotiations.

Conclusion of these negotiations must necessarily lead to a concrete and comprehensive response to the difficulties experienced by developing countries in accessing markets in the developed world and to protect the competitiveness of farmers from the developing world. For as long as we fail to conclude those negotiations, many of the plans of this summit and others will remain just that – plans.

Furthermore, we support the call for intensive investment in small rural based agriculture, strong support for women farmers and the restoration of livelihood of rural communities. Under-investment is rooted in the economic policy measures which unfortunately encouraged developing countries to reduce or eliminate agricultural services extended to farmers such as credit extension and infrastructure support. This resulted in substantial decline in agricultural production.

Chairperson,

This gathering dare not fail! It must create conditions for eliminating hunger and food insecurity. Consequently, only an agreement on a set of practical measures that must address in a concise and comprehensive manner, the challenge of food insecurity and poverty eradication, will meet the expectations of the one billion starving people across the globe.

This is the essence of the urgent task facing this summit! And to equal this task we need strong accountability, follow-up mechanisms, monitoring, evaluation and matching funding to implement our decisions. The world cannot afford another summit in the face of increasing number of hungry people; let this summit help end hunger.

We are encouraged by efforts to develop a coherent, integrated, inclusive and participatory global governance system on food security. However, this should be anchored on the centrality of the United Nations in the multilateral system. Therefore, we welcome all efforts to reform FAO to effectively respond to the global challenges of food insecurity amid plenty and wastage!

Chairperson,

in Africa there is a general consensus that agricultural reforms within the framework of Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) remains an effective means to achieve, among other things, targeted investments in agricultural production, irrigation infrastructure, access to fertilizer and seeds, agro-processing and market development including extension services, general human resource and meaningful involvement of women. To achieve CAADP objectives, a strong partnership with international community is required.

In conclusion, my delegation wishes to express its outmost appreciation to all public, private and multilateral institutions for relentless efforts to end global hunger. As I have mentioned, we are participating in this summit with a sincere hope that it is different from its predecessors; different in that it will produce concrete actions to help eliminate the scourge of hunger.

Let us remind ourselves that in any struggle victory always goes to those with the clearest understanding of what the next step is.

I thank you

Selebi Case Resumes in South Africa

2009-11-17T01:10:00.001-05:00

Former National Police Commissioner in the Republic of South Africa Jackie Selebi stands outside the court where he is on trail involving corruption charges. The Judge has refused to recuse himself from the case.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

Selebi case resumes

The corruption case of former police chief Jackie Selebi resumes on Tuesday, amidst reports that key witness Billy Rautenbach is missing.

Last Thursday, Judge Meyer Joffe adjourned court proceedings in the Johannesburg High Court at the state's request because of "difficulty" in consulting witnesses.

On Sunday, the City Press reported that prosecutor Gerrie Nel and his team were trying "frantically" to find ex-Hyundai boss Rautenbach.

Previously Nel told the court that not all the witnesses were in the country.

"There is difficulty I have had with consulting the next three witnesses... to prepare them for court," said Nel. "I would require the court to stand down."

He also said he had to consult with certain legal teams.

On Sunday, National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga refused to comment on the matter.

Rautenbach, who lives in Zimbabwe, spent almost a decade on the run before entering into a plea-sentence agreement with the NPA on tax evasion charges on September 16, just 16 days before the start of Selebi's trial.

Under the deal, Rautenbach, as a director of SA Botswana Hauliers, agreed to pay a fine of R40-million on 326 counts of fraud.

Convicted drug trafficker Glenn Agliotti testified that Rautenbach paid him $100 000 as an alleged bribe for Selebi to assist him with his run-ins with the law.

Agliotti said Selebi, who was also president of international police body Interpol, was to check whether there were any international warrants out for the then-fugitive Rautenbach.

Selebi is being tried on a count of corruption and another of defeating the ends of justice in connection with at least R1.2-million he allegedly received from Agliotti, Rautenbach and others in return for favours. - Sapa

Published on the Web by IOL on 2009-11-17 02:32:51

4 Killed and 5 Others Including South Sudan Minister Wounded in Ambush

2009-11-17T01:05:00.001-05:00

Libyan leader and African Union Chairman, Muammar Gaddafi, hosts President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan. There are reports that US jets bombed areas in Sudan during January and February of 2009. Sudan has defied the ICC warrant issued against al-Bashir.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

4 killed and 5 others including South Sudan minister wounded in ambush

Tuesday 17 November 2009.
By James Gatdet Dak
Sudan Tribune

November 16, 2009 (JUBA) – A minister in the Government of Southern Sudan narrowly escaped with gunshot wound on Sunday as his convoy was ambushed by unknown gunmen.

Four were killed and five others wounded, two in critical condition, as the vehicle carrying minister Dr. Samson Kwaje of Agriculture and Forestry was riddled with more than twenty bullets by assailants.

The attack took place as the minister was returning on road from Wonduruba to Lanya County in Central Equatoria state.

Among the dead included the minister’s driver and bodyguard.

Dr. Kwaje who was shot on his right arm said the attackers opened fire on his vehicle from both sides of the road.

The minister and other survivors were scattered into the forest and hunted down by the attackers.

He was rescued after a force of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) was sent from Lanya to the scene.

An helicopter was sent in by the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) which flew the minister to Juba.

More than twenty suspects are reported to have been arrested in the area for investigations.

Minister of Internal Affairs, Gier Chuang Aluong condemned the attack.

He said such a violent act was not the right way to address any issues that might have arisen and led to the criminal act.

President Salva Kiir Mayardit of the Government of Southern Sudan had declared seven days public holiday from November 11th to 17th for constitutional post holders to enable them travel to their respective areas and enlighten the potential voters to register.

Dr. Kwaje was on the enlightenment tour of his home areas where he mobilized the citizens to turnout for the voter registration.

He is also member of the SPLM Political Bureau, the highest leadership structure of the party.

African Youth Summit Begins in Abuja Today

2009-11-17T00:57:00.001-05:00

A pipeline explosion in Nigeria on May 15, 2008. This is a repeated occurence in the oil-rich west African nation, which has the continent's largest population.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

Monday, November 16, 2009

African youth summit begins in Abuja today

From Terhemba Daka, Abuja
Nigerian Guardian

AHEAD of the world summit for children in Sweden, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is to host the first African Children and Youth Multimedia Conference from today to next Friday in Abuja, the organisers have said.

The conference with the theme, 'Multimedia: A Tool for Advancing the Development and Empowerment of Future Leaders,' is to commemorate the United Nations Universal Children's Day and prepare Africans for more participation at the 6th World Summit on Media for Children and Youths in Sweden, 2010.

Briefing reporters on preparations for the conference, the programme co-ordinator, Nkem Oselloka-Orakwue, explained that the meeting was to create the awareness and conditions that would promote sustainable multimedia education in Africa as it is obtainable globally, especially as plans are on to start the Africa Media Education Centre in Nigeria.

She further explained that the conference is intended to bring together stakeholders and experts in the fields of children's education, communication and multimedia to brainstorm on how to give children's broadcasting a priority in Africa's radio and television.

She said that it is also intended to advocate for the enactment of the Child Rights Act in other African countries and the domestication in some states in Nigeria, as well as encourage the use of Information Communication Technology in monitoring, reporting and dissemination of information on Child Rights' issues.

France Returns Nigeria's Stolen Artefacts

2009-11-17T00:50:00.001-05:00

Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua purged several top military leaders during August of 2008.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

Monday, November 16, 2009

France returns Nigeria's stolen artefacts

From Oghogho Obayuwana, Abuja
Nigerian Guardian

TWO stone monoliths stolen from Nigeria by Camerounian poacher and taken to France were handed over to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, in Abuja at the weekend.

Nigeria's envoy to France, Ambassador Gordon Bristol, who presented the items returned by the government of France, said experts traced the origins of the monoliths to the different sub-groups of the Bakar people of Cross River State - the Nnam, Nselle and Ekujak. The monoliths are actually known as Akwanshi, representing the ancestors of the Akwanshi ethnic group, duly recognised by the Nigerian government as national monuments under Decree 77 of 1979 (now an act of the National Assembly)

According to Bristol, the mission in France took possession of the monoliths from the Mid-Pyranees regional headquarters of the French Customs in Toulouse on June 22, this year, after the necessary documentation. Bristol also happens to be a former Nigerian envoy to Cameroun.

He said: "The monoliths were smuggled into France in 2004 by a Camerounian woman who claimed that they originated from that country and that they were not of any commercial value. But the French authorities and the National Commissioner for Museums and Monuments, Dr. A.S. Edet, have since concluded otherwise and confirmed source of origin...the Camerounian purveyor of these stolen but now retrieved artefacts had, six months after the seizure, furnished photographs purportedly showing her in company of some stone carvers at work in Foumban, a town in the west province of Cameroun where she claimed to have sourced the Monoliths..."

Expressing the gratitude of President Umar Yar'Adua to the French government for its prompt action on the artefacts, Maduekwe noted at the handing over ceremony that "through the protection of our arts, we can create peace, joy, harmony and create jobs''

The minister said: "I have just returned from the United States (U.S.) where our arts are appreciated. The Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is celebrating Nigerian art one year to our golden jubilee celebrations. They are already celebrating us while we were still preparing. Whether at Smithsonian or the Louvre in Paris, our art works are venerated and appreciated. And that is the reason why I have often spoken of cultural tourism as key to the revival of the Nigerian economy. Nigeria can actually earn more money from tourism than from crude oil. Check the statistics, tourism is always among the top 10 revenue earners"

Maduekwe continued: "It is clear that the humanising power of culture to save is no longer an option. It is the only condition for survival. Maybe it is time for a re-awakening of the global interest in the art and spirituality of Africa. The home of humanity, and its most undeveloped, may well have secrets yet to be yielded on how to save the world in spite of its challenges of pandemics, post-colonial conflicts and democratic challenges. The pilgrimage to Africa is overdue. We have to show greater capacity for the security of works of art like these, otherwise, they might be stolen again."

Fielding reporters questions, Bristol said since France is a signatory to the convention on the protection of artefacts and UNESCO is in fact domiciled in the country, Nigeria can expect action to be taken against the fraudulent Camerounian woman, as she also violated French laws."

Sentence of 13 Years for Ex-Louisiana Congressman

2009-11-17T00:42:00.001-05:00

Former Louisiana Democratic Congressman William Jefferson and his wife Andrea leaving the federal court in Alexandria, Virginia after being convicted of bribery. Jefferson represented sections of New Orleans during the Katrina disaster.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

November 14, 2009

Sentence of 13 Years for Ex-Louisiana Congressman

New York Times
By DAVID STOUT

WASHINGTON — Former Representative William J. Jefferson, a New Orleans Democrat whose political career once seemed to hold high promise, was sentenced Friday to 13 years in prison for using his office to try to enrich himself and his relatives.

The sentence was far less than recommended by prosecutors, who had sought at least 27 years. Mr. Jefferson, 62, who was convicted on Aug. 5 of bribery, racketeering and money laundering involving business ventures in Africa, might have had to spend the rest of his life behind bars with such a sentence, since there is no parole in the federal prison system, and the only leniency is 15 percent off for good behavior.

Judge T. S. Ellis III sentenced Mr. Jefferson in United States District Court in Alexandria, Va., where a jury had found him guilty of 11 of 16 counts.

Mr. Jefferson said nothing before sentencing. His chief lawyer, Robert P. Trout, has said he would appeal the conviction.

The jury concluded, after a six-week trial, that from 2000 to 2005 Mr. Jefferson sought hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from companies involved in oil, sugar, communications and other businesses, often for projects in Africa. In return, prosecutors said, he used his post on the House Ways and Means trade subcommittee to promote the companies’ ventures without disclosing his own financial interests in the deals.

Mr. Trout tried to convince jurors that, while the business-promotion activities might have been unwise, they were not criminal because they did not qualify as “official acts” under public corruption laws.

Mr. Jefferson graduated from Harvard Law School. In 1990, after 11 years in the Louisiana State Senate, he became the first black person from Louisiana elected to Congress since Reconstruction, according to The Almanac of American Politics. From time to time, he showed interest in running for senator or governor. But mired in scandal, he lost his House seat in the 2008 election.

Prosecutors said that while he might have sought millions of dollars in bribes, Mr. Jefferson might have actually received less than $400,000. In any event, his case gave rise to episodes of near-comedy, and to an intragovernmental battle with constitutional implications.

In a raid on Mr. Jefferson’s Washington-area home in August 2005, federal agents found $90,000 neatly wrapped in aluminum foil in a freezer. Prosecutors said the money was from Kentucky business interests and was supposed to be a bribe for a high Nigerian official, who later denied being part of any scheme.

In May 2006, agents raided Mr. Jefferson’s Congressional office, the first time the Federal Bureau of Investigation had ever searched a Congressional office, and the action was denounced by lawmakers in both parties as an unconstitutional intrusion on Congressional independence by the Justice Department.

A federal judge upheld the raid, but an appeals court ruled that it was constitutionally flawed. The Supreme Court agreed with the appeals court.

Activists, Family Demand Justice in Death of Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah

2009-11-13T01:41:00.001-05:00

Omar Regan, entertainer and son of the martyred Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah, who was assassinated by the FBI on October 28, 2009. Regan was speaking at a rally outside the federal building in Detroit on November 5. (Final Call Photo)
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

Activists, family demand justice in death of imam slain by FBI

By Ashahed M. Muhammad -Assistant Editor-
Nov 10, 2009 - 8:53:27 AM

Filled with emotion, Omar Regan, Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah's 34-year-old son, spoke at a demonstration in front of the McNamara Federal Building in Detroit on Nov. 5. Another of the imam's sons, Jamil Carswell looked on

DETROIT, Mich. (FinalCall.com) - Activists continue to demand answers in the death of Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah, the 53-year-old leader of Detroit's Masjid Al-Haqq gunned down by the FBI under suspicious circumstances.

Despite cold whipping winds, a spirited demonstration demanding an independent investigation into the shooting was held on Nov. 5 at the McNamara Federal Building. Supporters said the man described in the FBI's 43-page affidavit, and portrayed by the mainstream media as something of a Muslim mafia don, was not the man they knew and loved.

Filled with emotion, Omar Regan, Imam Abdullah's 34-year-old son, challenged the media to tell the truth about his father and challenged law enforcement to reflect on their own humanity.

“It's not right for them to set up traps and try to assassinate our character. It's not right for them to say my father, my brother and all of their friends were a danger to their community. They're not in the community! The community loves us!” shouted the young man who lived with Imam Jamil al-Amin for several years as a teenager. “There are people in the community now sad because of the loss of my father wondering if people are still going to be there to feed them, to give them clothes to take care of them. If they want to know about my father, go inside of the community and ask the community who he was!”

Some in the crowd began to shed tears listening to his heartfelt words.

“The man has 13 children and none of us have a criminal record!” said Mr. Regan. “I want to say to the people, even the ones who are holding the badges and holding the guns, why don't you do your research and stop looking at it is as just a job? Find out—if you truly have a heart—and stop trying to just earn a check and learn how to be decent human beings! That's what I learned from my father! How to care about people!”

Members of the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War and Injustice and the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality spearheaded the rally to show support for Detroit's Islamic community.

The groups said the community has come under siege from federal and local law enforcement officials.

Members of the Nation of Islam were in attendance as well as Muslims from a variety of mosques in the Detroit metropolitan area and surrounding suburbs.

A broad-based coalition of activists have protested Imam Abdullah's death, including members of the Detroit Green Party, and many Christian pastors and organizations.

As the speakers addressed the crowd during rush hour, people drove by, honked their horns in support, and waved at those gathered.

Sandra Hines, an activist with the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War and Injustice and the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, spoke at the demonstration.

“It appears as if this whole incident that took place was entrapment by the FBI and it almost makes you feel that they may possibly be some kind of front group against people of color,” said Ms. Hines.

“They have not cracked down on these right wing groups,” said Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan African News Wire. “They have even shown up at events were the president was—armed. If we would have shown up someplace when Bush was president—armed—we would have been shot on sight,” Mr. Azikiwe added.

“We think people outside of the Muslim community have to take a stand on this. The Muslim community has been under fire since 9-11,” Mr. Azikiwe said. He called on President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder to “stop the murderous policies against Muslims in this country.”

Neo-COINTELPRO underway

In an exclusive interview with The Final Call at the Michigan office of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), Imam Dawud Walid, the group's area director, and Ron Scott, head of the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality both expressed concern of what they believe to be a “neo-COINTELPRO” directed at organizations with Black Nationalist and Islamic leanings.

COINTELPRO was a covert operation employed by federal and local law enforcement to disrupt and destroy Black and progressive organizations during the civil rights and Black Power movements.

Mr. Scott said Black men labeled as “radicals” mixed with Islam are an “obvious target” and another primary issue is funding for law enforcement.

The multi-jurisdictional task forces of the FBI and ATF, along with a number of agencies, want funding from the Justice Dept., so there is motivation to keep the threat level high, he said.

“The more threat they have, the more money they get, the more they are able to continue this, in addition to the fact of the actual bias,” said Mr. Scott. “There has always been a Black scare coming out with the COINTELPRO program of which I was a victim of, along with many others,” added Mr. Scott, a former Black Panther active with the organization in the 1960s.

Increased scrutiny of Islamic charities such as the Holy Land Foundation in Richardson, Texas, has had a “chilling effect” on American Muslim organizations nationwide, said Imam Walid. This “was only the first step” in a growing focus on charitable, humanitarian and service oriented groups with members who practice Islam, he continued.

Calling the use of agent provocateurs “a national policy issue,” Imam Walid criticized the use paid informants inside mosques, intimidation by law enforcement and selective outrage by politicians.

In the final days of the Bush administration, former attorney general Michael Mukasey introduced controversial new FBI guidelines related to an initial threat assessment, he observed. Under the new guidelines, race and religion can be used as primary factors to begin an initial assessment without any real proof that anything is planned or whether any terrorism connections are present.

A June 2009 study by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) titled “Blocking Faith, Freezing Charity,” found the U.S. government's efforts—which many activists call harassment—unfair and ineffective while “seriously undermining American Muslims' protected constitutional liberties and violating their fundamental human rights to freedom of religion, freedom of association, and freedom from discrimination.”

The religious leaders of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan released a statement Nov. 6 decrying the use of informants and agent provocateurs sent into mosques on “fishing expeditions.”

Questions about government investigation of imam's shooting

As a standard procedure, the FBI dispatched a Shooting Incident Review Team following the fatal encounter with Imam Abdullah. The results of the review will be forwarded to the Justice Dept. Many activists say the FBI's nefarious dealing with Black people and organizations brings no confidence the agency can fairly investigate itself and the actions of field agents.

Dearborn police are involved in the investigation, which also troubles Mr. Scott. “The Dearborn Police Department has a horrendous and vicious history of racism and Islamophobia,” he said.

In the FBI's 43-page affidavit attached to the criminal complaint, Imam Abdullah is described as “a highly placed leader of a nationwide radical fundamentalist Sunni group consisting primarily of African-Americans, some of whom converted to Islam while they were serving sentences in various prisons across the United States. Their primary mission is to establish a separate, sovereign Islamic state ‘The Ummah' within the borders of the United States governed by Shariah law.”

Stemming from a federal investigation of the group which began in 2007, the FBI said Imam Abdullah and the other defendants are charged with running an interstate crime ring that received and sold stolen goods, engaged in mail and insurance fraud, illegally possessed firearms and body armor and tampered with motor vehicle identification numbers.

Andrew G. Arena, special agent in charge of Detroit's FBI office, has consistently said his agents acted appropriately on Oct. 28 when, according to the FBI, during a raid on a warehouse just outside of Detroit, Imam Abdullah refused to surrender. An FBI dog was dispatched to go after him and, according to FBI, after Imam Abdullah shot the dog, they fired, killing him.

The narrative delivered by the FBI is widely disputed.

Members of Masjid Al-Haqq said Imam Abdullah surrendered along with the others, and only fired on the FBI dog after the dog was specifically sent to attack him. Family members were told Imam Abdullah was handcuffed after being shot and left bleeding and dying, while the wounded FBI dog was taken via medical helicopter to a treatment center. Family members ask why officials chose not to take Imam Abdullah to the hospital after being shot, when they argue, the only reason to handcuff him would be if he were alive after being wounded.

Official autopsy results have not yet been released, which adds to the uncertainty, and necessitates an independent investigation, said activists.

Hodari Abdul-Ali, a radio host and chair of the Social Justice Task Force for the Muslim Alliance in North America, served with Imam Abdullah on the Majlis ash-Shura, the governing body which sets policy for the organization. He told The Final Call everyone should speak out against injustice, otherwise they might be the next victims.

“The FBI and all of these right wing racist hate-mongers with microphones are just stirring up this anti-Islamic fervor around the country and this is something that all right-minded people need to speak out against,” said Mr. Abdul-Ali. “I think of that statement Angela Davis made back in the day, ‘If they come for me in the morning, they'll come for you at night.'”

Imam Walid said after the initial report of the Oct. 28 shooting appeared in the media, he contacted many publications directly, protesting some headlines, challenging news reports and telling journalists not to simply “regurgitate the government line.”

When asked by The Final Call why it appeared as if the preliminary information about the shooting was so sensationalistic and inaccurate, he attributed the problem to “lazy reporting.”

“With so much left unknown in the developing case, MPAC is warning government agencies and media outlets of the alarming exploitation of this isolated incident that is stigmatizing Muslim American communities around the country,” said the Muslim Public Affairs Committee, in a statement.

“This imam was for the Yemeni community, for the Black community, for the Latino community. We know him as a person who feeds the hungry, opens his home, opens his mosque, he would give you the coat off his body for you to be warm,” said Ibrahim Aljahim, president of the Detroit-based Arab American Outreach.

“This was a set up by the government. We have to wake up and realize it. He was getting stronger and stronger and they didn't want that,” said Mr. Aljahim. Many strong leaders, such as Minister Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam, are also feared and targeted, added Mr. Aljahim.

Mr. Scott agreed. “It is a very dangerous situation and it is being pushed via propaganda. And it is either allowed to be done, or planned, so that any potential unification of Islam whether it is between Arabs and African Americans, or unification of younger and older African Americans, and unification of any group of people who are in favor of progressive movement, that is what they are concerned about,” said Mr. Scott. “That is why I believe they are beginning to start a new movement and Muslims are an obvious target and African-American Muslims are a specific target.”

Demonstration Against Government Repression Outside Renaissance Center, November 19

2009-11-13T01:34:00.001-05:00

For Immediate Release

Media Advisory

Event: Protest the ALPACT Dinner With Atty. Gen. Holder & the FBI
Date: Thursday, November 19, 5:00-6:30pm
Location: Marriot Hotel at Renaissance Center, East Jefferson and Brush
Sponsor: Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice (MECAWI)
Contact: 313.671.3715
E-mail: info@mecawi.org
URL: http://www.mecawi.org

Demonstration to Demand Justice for Slain Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah and Freedom for the Detroit 10

The Advocates and Leaders for Police and Community Trust (ALPACT) dinner at the Ren Cen comes at a time when the FBI has shot down a respected Detroit Muslim leader, Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah. They have arrested 10 other Muslims on wild charges and media hysteria reminiscent of the Counter Intelligence Program (Cointelpro) that attacked Malcolm X (El Hajj Malik Shabazz), Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Black Panther Party, Angela Davis, the American Indian Movement, Assata Shakur, and others.

At the same time the Detroit Police Department, and police agencies throughout Michigan and the nation, continue racial profiling, racist harassment and racist killings.

Nationally the FBI, the “Justice” Department and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), along with local police agencies, are hounding and deporting thousands of undocumented workers. Often families are torn apart with parents deported and children waiting for their parents who never come home.

United States jails are filled with victims of frame-ups, and death row inmates are legally lynched. Political prisoners languish in lock up such as Mumia Abu Jamal and Leonard Peltier – both victims of police frame-ups.

This is no time to break bread and sip wine with the FBI.

DEMAND:
Justice for Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah
Free the Detroit 10 (Muslim prisoners of FBI frame-up)
End the ICE raids and deportations
Free Mumia Abu Jamal, Leonard Peltier and all political prisoners
Stop racist profiling, harassment and killings

Members of MECAWI are available to the media for comment.

Federal Government Moves to Seize Four Mosques in the US

2009-11-13T01:17:00.001-05:00

The Razi school is photographed Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009 in the Queens borough of New York.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

Feds move to seize 4 mosques, tower linked to Iran

By ADAM GOLDMAN, Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK – Federal prosecutors took steps Thursday to seize four U.S. mosques and a Fifth Avenue skyscraper owned by a nonprofit Muslim organization long suspected of being secretly controlled by the Iranian government.

In what could prove to be one of the biggest counterterrorism seizures in U.S. history, prosecutors filed a civil complaint in federal court against the Alavi Foundation, seeking the forfeiture of more than $500 million in assets.

The assets include bank accounts; Islamic centers consisting of schools and mosques in New York City, Maryland, California and Houston; more than 100 acres in Virginia; and a 36-story glass office tower in New York.

Confiscating the properties would be a sharp blow against Iran, which has been accused by the U.S. government of bankrolling terrorism and trying to build a nuclear bomb.

A telephone call and e-mail to Iran's U.N. Mission seeking comment were not immediately answered.

John D. Winter, the Alavi Foundation's lawyer, said it intends to litigate the case and prevail. He said the foundation has been cooperating with the government's investigation for the better part of a year.

"Obviously the foundation is disappointed that the government has decided to bring this action," Winter told The Associated Press.

It is extremely rare for U.S. law enforcement authorities to seize a house of worship, a step fraught with questions about the First Amendment right to freedom of religion.

The action against the Shiite Muslim mosques is sure to inflame relations between the U.S. government and American Muslims, many of whom are fearful of a backlash after last week's Fort Hood shooting rampage, blamed on a Muslim American major.

"Whatever the details of the government's case against the owners of the mosques, as a civil rights organization we are concerned that the seizure of American houses of worship could have a chilling effect on the religious freedom of citizens of all faiths and may send a negative message to Muslims worldwide," said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

The mosques and the skyscraper will remain open while the forfeiture case works its way through court in what could be a long process. What will happen to them if the government ultimately prevails is unclear. But the government typically sells properties it has seized through forfeiture, and the proceeds are sometimes distributed to crime victims.

"No action has been taken against any tenants or occupants of those properties," U.S. attorney's office spokeswoman Yusill Scribner said. "The tenants and occupants remain free to use the properties as they have before today's filing. There are no allegations of any wrongdoing on the part of any of these tenants or occupants."

Prosecutors said the Alavi Foundation managed the office tower on behalf of the Iranian government and, working with a front company known as Assa Corp., illegally funneled millions in rental income to Iran's state-owned Bank Melli. Bank Melli has been accused by a U.S. Treasury official of providing support for Iran's nuclear program, and it is illegal in the United States to do business with the bank.

The U.S. has long suspected the foundation was an arm of the Iranian government; a 97-page complaint details involvement in foundation business by several top Iranian officials, including the deputy prime minister and ambassadors to the United Nations.

"For two decades, the Alavi Foundation's affairs have been directed by various Iranian officials, including Iranian ambassadors to the United Nations, in violation of a series of American laws," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.

There were no raids Thursday as part of the forfeiture action. The government is simply required to post notices of the civil complaint on the property.

As prosecutors outlined their allegations against Alavi, the Islamic centers and the schools they run carried on with normal activity. The mosques' leaders had no immediate comment.

Parents lined up in their cars to pick up their children at the schools within the Islamic Education Center of Greater Houston and the Islamic Education Center in Rockville, Md. No notices of the forfeiture action were posted at either place as of late Thursday.

At the Islamic Institute of New York, a mosque and school in Queens, two U.S. marshals came to the door and rang the bell repeatedly. The marshals taped a forfeiture notice to the window and left a large document sitting on the ground. After they left a group of men came out of the building and took the document.

The fourth Islamic center marked for seizure is in Carmichael, Calif.

The skyscraper, known as the Piaget building, was erected in the 1970s under the shah of Iran, who was overthrown in 1979. The tenants include law and investment firms and other businesses.

The sleek, modern building, last valued at $570 million to $650 million in 2007, has served as an important source of income for the foundation over the past 36 years. The most recent tax records show the foundation earned $4.5 million from rents in 2007.

Rents collected from the building help fund the centers and other ventures, such as sending educational literature to imprisoned Muslims in the U.S. The foundation has also invested in dozens of mosques around the country and supported Iranian academics at prominent universities.

If federal prosecutors seize the skyscraper, the Alavi Foundation would have almost no way to continue supporting the Islamic centers, which house schools and mosques. That could leave a major void in Shiite communities, and hard feelings toward the FBI, which played a big role in the investigation.

The forfeiture action comes at a tense moment in U.S.-Iranian relations, with the two sides at odds over Iran's nuclear program and its arrest of three American hikers.

But Michael Rubin, an expert on Iran at the American Enterprise Institute, said the timing of the forfeiture action was probably a coincidence, not an effort to influence Iran on those issues.

"Suspicion about the Alavi Foundation transcends three administrations," Rubin said. "It's taken ages dealing with the nuts and bolts of the investigation. It's not the type of investigation which is part of any larger strategy."

Legal scholars said they know of only a few cases in U.S. history in which law enforcement authorities have seized a house of worship. Marc Stern, a religious-liberty expert with the American Jewish Congress, called such cases extremely rare.

The Alavi Foundation is the successor organization to the Pahlavi Foundation, a nonprofit group used by the shah to advance Iran's charitable interests in America. But authorities said its agenda changed after the fall of the shah.

In 2007, the United States accused Bank Melli of providing services to Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs and put the bank on its list of companies whose assets must be frozen. Washington has imposed sanctions against various other Iranian businesses.
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Associated Press writers Samantha Gross in New York City, Juan A. Lozano in Houston, investigative researcher Randy Herschaft in New York City and AP photographer Jacquelyn Martin in Maryland contributed to this report.
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On the Net:

http://www.alavifoundation.org

Bomb Hits Pakistan's Spy Agency in Nothwest

2009-11-13T01:10:00.001-05:00

A destroyed car is seen after a suicide bombing in Peshawar, Pakistan on Friday, Nov. 13, 2009.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

Bomb hits Pakistan's spy agency in northwest

By RIAZ KHAN, Associated Press Writer

PESHAWAR, Pakistan – A suicide car bomb devastated Pakistan's main spy agency building in the northwest Friday, killing at least 7 people and striking at the heart of the institution overseeing much of the country's anti-terror campaign.

The blast in Peshawar was the latest in a string of bloody attacks on security forces, civilian and Western targets since the government launched an offensive in mid-October against militants in the border region of South Waziristan, where al-Qaida and Taliban leaders are believed to be hiding out.

Security forces guarding the Inter-Services Intelligence agency building opened fire on the attacking vehicle to stop it, but the bomber was able to detonate his explosives, said an intelligence official.

The early morning blast, heard across the city, destroyed much of the three-story structure and many cars on the street outside. Most of the dead were guards trying to protect the complex, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

An Associated Press reporter on the scene within minutes saw several dead or badly wounded bodies being taken away. Seven bodies and 35 wounded people were admitted to the nearby Lady Reading Hospital, police officer Ullah Khan said.

Just over an hour later, another suicide car bomb wounded 10 people at police station in Bakakhel, a town in the semiautonomous tribal regions, intelligence officials said on condition of anonymity because of the nature of their work.

The government has vowed that the surging militant attacks will not dent the country's resolve to pursue the offensive in South Waziristan, where officials say the most deadly insurgent network in Pakistan is based. The army claims to be making good progress in that campaign.

The ISI agency has been involved in scores of covert operations in the northwest against al-Qaida targets since 2001, when many militant leaders crossed into the area following the U.S. led invasion of Afghanistan. The region is seen as a likely hiding place for Osama bin Laden.

Its offices in Peshawar are on the main road leading from the city to Afghanistan. The agency was instrumental in using CIA money to train jihadi groups to fight the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Despite assisting in the fight against al-Qaida since then, some Western officials consider the agency an unreliable ally and allege it still maintains links with militants.

Taliban and al-Qaida fighters are waging a war against the Pakistani government because they deem it un-Islamic and are angry about its alliance with the United States.

The insurgency began in earnest in 2007, and attacks have spiked since the run-up to the offensive in South Waziristan.

Areas in and around Peshawar have experienced the brunt of the recent militant attacks. A car bomb exploded in a market in Peshawar at the end of October, killing at least 112 people in the deadliest attack in Pakistan in over two years.

On Oct. 10, a team of militants staged a raid on the army headquarters close to the capital, Islamabad, taking soldiers hostages in a 22-hour standoff that left nine militants and 14 others dead.

The U.S. has urged Pakistan to persevere with its South Waziristan offensive because militants have used the area as a base to attack Western troops across the border in Afghanistan.

Militants have also targeted convoys in Pakistan delivering supplies to soldiers in Afghanistan. Attackers fired rockets at a group of tankers near the southwestern city of Quetta on Friday that were delivering fuel to U.S. and NATO troops. One driver was killed and five tankers were torched, said local police chief Bedar Ali Magsi.

Around 80 percent of all nonessential supplies to Western forces in Afghanistan are trucked through Pakistan after landing at the Arabian Sea port of Karachi. NATO and U.S. officials say the attacks do not affect their operations.

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Associated Press writer Abdul Sattar contributed to this report from Quetta.