Sahara-Sahel news

[Maki]

REUTERS AFRICA Austria says Qaeda hostages can still be saved Tue 8 Apr 2008, 12:29 GMT VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria said on Tuesday that there was still time to save two Austrian hostages despite a warning by al Qaeda's North African wing that Vienna would be responsible for their fate. Al Qaeda said in an Internet statement on Monday that Austria was "not serious about preserving the lives of its citizens", but the group did not set a new deadline after its previous ultimatum expired at midnight on Sunday. Austrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Peter Launsky- Tieffenthal said experts have analysed the Internet posting. "We have been and we are still being given information that indicates that time is indeed available in terms of solving the case," he said. Andrea Kloiber, 43, and Wolfgang Ebner, 51, disappeared in February while on holiday in Tunisia, and al Qaeda's North African wing said it had kidnapped them and demanded the release of Islamist prisoners. The captors have extended their deadline twice before. Austrian envoy Anton Prohaska told a local newspaper on Tuesday the hostages were either in northern Mali or southern Algeria but rejected reports that tried to give their exact location. "They have not moved into a villa or set up in a permanent place. They are on the move," Prohaska told Austrian daily Der Standard in an interview in Mali's capital Bamako. Al Qaeda had originally demanded the release of 10 militants held in Tunisia and Algeria and, according to security sources in Algeria, a cash ransom. But the group said on Monday that it was now only seeking the release of a Muslim couple held in Austria. It also demanded that Vienna end its "symbolic" participation in the Afghan conflict, saying Vienna had four officers as part of a U.S.-led force in Afghanistan. Asked if Austria was prepared to pay a ransom, Prohaska said: "We want to achieve a humanitarian goal and are resolutely aiming for that. (Reporting by Sylvia Westall; editing by Sami Aboudi) Un cordiale lampeggio di fari da Maki !!! LR DEF 110 SW "Jazzy white lady"

[Maki]

Reuters, Algeria Algeria forces kill 10 rebel bomb plotters-source Wed 16 Apr 2008, 13:46 GMT ALGIERS, April 16 (Reuters) - Algerian security forces have killed 10 al Qaeda rebels who had been planning suicide attacks this month in Algiers, a security source said on Wednesday. The killings, which took place in the past week, coincided with arrests by the authorities of 25 people suspected of aiding the guerrillas, the source added. The attacks had been planned to mark the anniversary of a triple suicide bombing in Algiers on April 11, 2007 that killed 33 people at the main government offices and at two police buildings near Algiers airport, the source said. The April 11 bombings, claimed by al Qaeda's north Africa wing, were the first large bomb attacks in the centre of the Mediterranean port city in more than a decade and were believed to be the country's first ever suicide bomb attacks. Al Qaeda also claimed responsibility for a double suicide bombing on Dec. 11 2007 that killed 41 people, including 17 United Nations staff, in the capital. The attacks deepened concern Algeria might return to the intense violence of the 1990s when tens of thousands of Islamist guerrillas fought to set up Islamic rule. The source said the 10 were killed in separate incidents. One of the 10 was Abu Dujana, a explosives specialist who was leading the rebel group planning the attacks. He was killed in an ambush by security forces in the region of Tizi Ouzou east of the capital, the source said. Another of the 10 was senior Islamist rebel Bouazoune Nadir, also known as Chuaib Abu Al Hemam. He was in charge of hiring and training new would-be suicide bombers, and was also killed in the region of Tizi Ouzou, the source said. The source said the Algerian security forces had acted on the basis of information gained from Islamic rebels who had recently surrendered. The source did not elaborate. OPEC member Algeria plunged into violence in 1992 after a military backed government had scrapped legislative elections a radical islamist party was set to win. Up to 200,000 people have been killed in subsequent violence. (Reporting by Lamine Chikhi; editing by William Maclean and Matthew Jones) Un cordiale lampeggio di fari da Maki !!! LR DEF 110 SW "Jazzy white lady"

[Maki]

Algeria forces kill 10 rebel bomb plotters-source Wed 16 Apr 2008, 13:46 GMT ALGIERS, April 16 (Reuters) - Algerian security forces have killed 10 al Qaeda rebels who had been planning suicide attacks this month in Algiers, a security source said on Wednesday. The killings, which took place in the past week, coincided with arrests by the authorities of 25 people suspected of aiding the guerrillas, the source added. The attacks had been planned to mark the anniversary of a triple suicide bombing in Algiers on April 11, 2007 that killed 33 people at the main government offices and at two police buildings near Algiers airport, the source said. The April 11 bombings, claimed by al Qaeda's north Africa wing, were the first large bomb attacks in the centre of the Mediterranean port city in more than a decade and were believed to be the country's first ever suicide bomb attacks. Al Qaeda also claimed responsibility for a double suicide bombing on Dec. 11 2007 that killed 41 people, including 17 United Nations staff, in the capital. The attacks deepened concern Algeria might return to the intense violence of the 1990s when tens of thousands of Islamist guerrillas fought to set up Islamic rule. The source said the 10 were killed in separate incidents. One of the 10 was Abu Dujana, a explosives specialist who was leading the rebel group planning the attacks. He was killed in an ambush by security forces in the region of Tizi Ouzou east of the capital, the source said. Another of the 10 was senior Islamist rebel Bouazoune Nadir, also known as Chuaib Abu Al Hemam. He was in charge of hiring and training new would-be suicide bombers, and was also killed in the region of Tizi Ouzou, the source said. The source said the Algerian security forces had acted on the basis of information gained from Islamic rebels who had recently surrendered. The source did not elaborate. OPEC member Algeria plunged into violence in 1992 after a military backed government had scrapped legislative elections a radical islamist party was set to win. Up to 200,000 people have been killed in subsequent violence. (Reporting by Lamine Chikhi; editing by William Maclean and Matthew Jones) Fonte: REUTERS Africa Un cordiale lampeggio di fari da Maki !!! LR DEF 110 SW "Jazzy white lady"

[Maki]

Link da Sahara.it per notizie(non confermate da alcuna fonte ufficiale, per ora) sull' Egitto. http://www.sahara.it/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=84598&page=0&fpart=1 Un cordiale lampeggio di fari da Maki !!! LR DEF 110 SW "Jazzy white lady"

[Maki]

Austria says efforts to free Sahara hostages go on Thu 17 Apr 2008, 11:01 GMT VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria said on Thursday it was continuing to work to free two Austrians held hostage by al Qaeda in the Sahara region, despite reports that an intermediary negotiating their release had been shot dead. The Algerian daily El Khabar on Wednesday quoted an unnamed security source as saying that a Malian intermediary had been killed about a week ago near the Algerian-Malian border. A spokesman for the Austrian Foreign Ministry said he could not confirm the report, but that efforts to save Andrea Kloiber, 43, and Wolfgang Ebner, 51, were continuing. "There has not been any interruption to our efforts to save the hostages as the report suggests," Austrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal said, adding that no new deadline had been set by the abductors. On Thursday, El Khabar quoted a former Malian rebel leader, Hassan Fagaga, as saying three mediators had been killed. He said they were Touareg tribesmen. El Khabar and another Algerian newspaper, Ennahar, said negotiations for the release of the Austrians with a group whose leader they named as Abdelhamid abu Zeid had been postponed because of the killings. The couple disappeared in February while on holiday in Tunisia. Al Qaeda's North African wing said it had kidnapped them, and demanded the release of 10 Islamic militants held in Tunisia and Algeria. Security sources in Algeria said it also wanted a cash ransom. An al Qaeda statement posted on the Internet last Monday said the group was now only seeking the release of a Muslim couple held in Austria, and that Austria was responsible for the fate of its citizens after a deadline expired. But it was not clear if this statement came from the captors. © Reuters 2008. All Rights Reserved. ANSA di oggi: Algeri, 17 apr. (Adnkronos/Dpa) - I terroristi che il 22 febbraio scorso hanno sequestrato due cittadini austriaci in Tunisia hanno ucciso con ogni probabilita' tre mediatori giunti dal Mali. A scriverlo e' oggi il quotidiano algerino "Al jabar", secondo cui i mediatori dovevano incontrare uno dei sequestratori in un luogo determinato nella parte nordorientale del paese. Successivamente i loro corpi senza vita sono stati trovati nel deserto. | Un cordiale lampeggio di fari da Maki !!! LR DEF 110 SW "Jazzy white lady"

[Maki]

Questa sera si parlava a tavola della vicenda ancora insoluta dei turisti austriaci e del velo di silenzio che sembra essere calato a celare le trattative tra rapitori e Austria di cui si accennava nelle ultime notizie divulgate quasi un mese fa ... Repubblica esce con questo articolo che con la vicenda non ha collegamenti, ma che sembra riproporre il teorema di un Sahara "parco giochi per aspiranti terroristi" ... http://espresso.repubblica.it/dettaglio/La-nuova-tana-di-Al-Qaeda/2026021 Un cordiale lampeggio di fari da Maki !!! LR DEF 110 SW "Jazzy white lady"

[guido56]

grazie maki, per le news e le riflessioni che ci proponi, come sempre sei un grande............. ..che la giornata vi sia lieve...e come sempre: in alto il cuore guidoni ( ex amor56 )

[Maki]

Novità dalla Somalia ... pessime ... Somali gunmen kidnap two Italian aid workers Wed 21 May 2008, 5:32 GMT [-] Text [+] By Ibrahim Mohamed MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali gunmen stormed the office of an aid group and kidnapped two Italian aid workers and a Somali colleague on Wednesday, officials and residents said. In the latest abduction of foreigners, the gunmen blindfolded the guards, then abducted the aid workers at the offices in Awdigle town, 65 km (40 miles) south of the capital Mogadishu, residents said. The Italians worked for an aid group called CINS, which carries out agricultural projects. An aid group official said the Italians were a man and a woman. Kidnapping is a lucrative business in Somalia and abductors generally treat their captives well in anticipation of a hefty ransom. "The gunmen came in and abducted two Italian colleagues, a man and a lady," said an official from the aid group, speaking on condition of anonymity. One resident said a Somali aid worker was also seized. Somali gunmen are still holding two aid workers, a Briton and a Kenyan, abducted in April. Earlier this week, gunmen kidnapped a Kenyan university lecturer and have since demanded $100,000 for his return. The kidnapping of foreigners is relatively rare in southern Somalia because the region, wrecked by 17 years of civil conflict, is too dangerous for most aid workers. Most of the abductions for ransom occur in the more stable northern regions. (Writing by Jack Kimball; Editing by Robert Woodward) © Reuters 2008. All Rights Reserved Un cordiale lampeggio di fari da Maki !!! LR DEF 110 SW "Jazzy white lady"

[Maki]

ANSA ITALIANI RAPITI IN SOMALIA, CINS: "STANNO BENE" Con i rapitori dei due cooperanti del Cins rapiti in Somalia "é stato stabilito un contatto. I rapiti stanno bene e non hanno subito violenze". Lo si apprende dal Cins. Iolanda Occhipinti (di Ragusa), e Giuliano Paganini (di Pistoia) sono stati rapiti nelle prime ore di stamane in Somalia, intorno alle 5:30 locali -in Italia 4:30-, ad Awdhegle, 65 km. a sud di Mogadiscio. I due lavorano per la Cins (Cooperazione internazionale nord-sud) su un progetto cofinanziato dalla comunita' europea e dalla Fao. Lo rendono noto all'Ansa fonti diplomatiche certe a Nairobi. Con loro e' stato anche rapito un operatore locale umanitario. La Cins (cooperazione italiana nord-sud) è un'ong che in Somalia si sta occupando di progetti di sviluppo agricoli nella zona dove è avvenuto il rapimento, quella del Basso Shabele. Il cooperatore somalo sequestrato con i due italiani si chiamerebbe Abderhman Yusuf, ed è uno dei responsabili locali del progetto. Stando alle testimonianze, uomini armati a bordo di tre fuoristrada hanno attaccato all'alba gli uffici della Cins di Awdigle sequestrando i due cooperanti italiani e quello somalo. "I rapitori, dopo aver neutralizzato le guardie, sono entrati all'interno degli uffici dell'ong, hanno messo una benda agli occhi ai tre e li hanno portati via", ha detto un rappresentante dell'ong. Un responsabile locale della sicurezza ha assicurato che le forze dell'ordine stanno cercando di localizzare gli ostaggi e "sapere chi sono i rapitori e dove hanno portato" i tre cooperanti. Quella dei rapimenti è una pratica tristemente diffusa in Somalia. Di solito si concludono con il pagamento di forti riscatti In Somalia sono ancora in corso due sequestri, non ancora risolti. Un cittadino britannico ed uno keniano rapiti in aprile (il primo sembra sia rimasto ferito nell'agguato), ed un keniano lettore presso un università somala rapito la scorsa settimana. E' noto, seppur ufficiosamente, che per la loro liberazione sono stati chiesti ingenti riscatti. PREMIER SOMALO E' A NAIROBI Il premier somalo Nur Hassan Hussein è a Nairobi. Vi era giunto ieri per una riunione di alto livello con partner diplomatici occidentali ed esponenti etiopici in calendario oggi. Ma il suo breakfast, nelle prime ore della mattinata, in un albergo a cinque stelle della capitale keniana, è stato bruscamente interrotto, poco prima delle sette (le sei in Italia), da una telefonata che annunciava il rapimento dei due cooperanti italiani, e del loro collega somalo, avvenuto poco dopo l'alba a sud di Mogadiscio. Da allora - informano fonti certe - tranne incontri a raffica veloci con fonti o personalità utili, e decine di telefonate, Nur Hassan sta lavorando senza sosta sul dossier dei sequestri. Un vulnus gravissimo per la Somalia che sta cercando di dimostrare la sua volontà di dialogo; relativamente meno preoccupante se si tratta ancora una volta di un rapimento a scopo di estorsione. Ma se la matrice fosse diversa - peraltro non sembra ci siano concreti segnali in tal senso -, ovvero politica, tesa cioé a colpire l'Italia che è tra i principali sponsor del nuovo corso dialogante somalo, il problema sarebbe ben più grave. Fonti di intelligence somale, che vogliono restare assolutamente anonime, segnalano all'ANSA che è possibile che ci sia stato un primo contatto coi rapitori, magari indiretto: probabilmente attraverso la mediazione degli 'elders', cioé i saggi tradizionali, non coinvolti nel sequestro, ma che possono fare da testa di ponte con i banditi. Ma indicano anche che per ora la situazione appare molto delicata, indicando che il silenzio è la strada maestra per portare a buon fine la trattativa. I viaggi in Somalia sono sconsigliati dall'Italia e da tutti i paese Europei a causa della difficile situazione nel paese. La situazione di sicurezza in Somalia permane fortemente critica in tutto il Paese compresa la capitale Mogadiscio, a causa del conflitto tra il Governo federale transitorio - sostenuto dalle truppe etiopi - ed un'opposizione incentrata sull'Unione delle Corti islamiche, degli atti terroristici, dell'elevato livello della criminalita' e del rischio di rapimenti a danno di operatori delle ONG o Agenzie Internazionali. Da ultimo si segnalano i sequestri avvenuti nel Puntland a danno di volontari di una ONG francese. A coloro che in ogni caso si recano sotto la propria responsabilita' in Somalia, si consiglia di registrare i dati relativi al viaggio sul sito www.dovesiamonelmondo.it/ e di informare di ogni spostamento nel Paese l'Ambasciata d'Italia a Nairobi. Ne' l'Italia ne' gli altri Paesi europei hanno una rappresentanza diplomatica in Somalia. E' pertanto estremamente difficile assicurare l'assistenza consolare ai connazionali in tutto il territorio somalo e, in caso di ulteriore deterioramento della situazione, potrebbe essere impossibile prevedere qualsiasi intervento di assistenza o di emergenza. Un cordiale lampeggio di fari da Maki !!! LR DEF 110 SW "Jazzy white lady"

[Maki]

Il link lo conoscete tutti ... da sahara.it news di realtà che superano la fantasia o di congetture alimentate dalla lunga attesa ... sul rapimento dei turisti austriaci ... Un cordiale lampeggio di fari da Maki !!! LR DEF 110 SW "Jazzy white lady"

[Maki]

Aggiungo anche questo articolo, ormai vecchio di una settimana che mi pare degno d' interesse ... INTERVIEW-Climate, arms, drugs make lethal mix in Sahel Thu 5 Jun 2008, 16:20 GMT * Aid urgently needed for one of earth's poorest regions * U.N. prefers dialogue to solve Tuareg conflicts * Security measures required to tackle trade in drugs, arms By Pascal Fletcher DAKAR, June 5 (Reuters) - Climate change, fighting over water and land, trafficking in drugs, arms and migrants, and the grievances of nomadic Tuaregs have created a "lethal cocktail" threatening Africa's Sahel belt, a top U.N. official said. Since last year, insurgencies have flared among the Tuareg communities of northern Mali and Niger, stirring up an already volatile region where millions face grinding poverty as drought and the Sahara desert degrade their environment. Its name derived from the Arabic "sahil" meaning shore, the Sahel is a belt of largely barren sand and rock that runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea and separates Africa's vast Sahara desert from the more fertile lands to the south. "There is no place where there is such a well-deserved need for international assistance, in my view, as these poorest countries on earth," said Jan Egeland, a special adviser on conflict resolution to the United Nations Secretary-General. Egeland, a former U.N. humanitarian affairs chief, is visiting the Sahel states of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to focus attention on the pressures facing the region he calls "the front line of humanity's battles against climate change". "This is precisely where climate change, environmental degradation ... resource conflict ... trafficking of drugs, arms and humans ... all come together in one lethal cocktail," he told Reuters in a phone interview from Mali late on Wednesday. In Mali, Egeland visited dried-up lakes and watercourses and met Tuareg community leaders who complained of being neglected by their own nation and the world community and of feeling that their nomadic, pastoralist way of life was under threat. With arms and drugs smugglers channelling large quantities of weapons into the Sahel, these grievances have fuelled the latest Tuareg revolt in Mali, in which nomadic fighters have attacked army camps and columns in the northeast Kidal region. "These grievances connected to the worsened environment, on top of a sense of being marginalised ... feeling threatened as pastoralists, all of that may play up to young people feeling that 'no, I don't want more dialogue, I want to fight because dialogue brings nothing'" Egeland said. FRESH FIGHTING REPORTED Shortly after the U.N. official left Mali on Thursday to fly to neighbouring Niger, the Malian army reported fierce clashes in the northeast between its troops and Tuareg fighters. Casualties were heavy, it said, without giving details. Last month, 17 Tuareg rebels and 15 government soldiers were killed in a rebel raid on an army camp in northeastern Mali. A Tuareg-led rebellion centred on the uranium-producing north of neighbouring Niger has killed more than 70 government troops. In a sign the Malian conflict may be escalating, close to 1,000 Tuareg civilians have fled south to Burkina Faso to seek refuge, and the Burkinabe government appealed on Thursday for international assistance to help care for them. Egeland said he met Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure in Bamako and expressed the U.N.'s preference for dialogue, rather than a purely military response, to settle conflicts. "The President of Mali ... wants dialogue, he recognises that the pastoralists have to be heard," Egeland said. But he added that at the same time security measures were needed to try to stem the increase in criminal activity and banditry across the Sahel, especially drug-trafficking. "There are Colombian drug lords now basically buying their way across the Sahara and they are causing conflict as well ... There has to be a regional law enforcement response," he said. Colombian cocaine cartels have homed in on West Africa as a transit hub to ship drugs to Europe, both along the Atlantic coast and in desert convoys up through the Sahel and Sahara. Regional governments and analysts are divided over the extent to which the Tuareg revolts in Niger and Mali are driven by genuine political grievances or whether they are fighting to control drugs, arms and migrant smuggling routes. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/) (Additional reporting by Mathieu Bonkoungou in Ouagadougou and Tiemoko Diallo in Bamako; Editing by Giles Elgood) © Reuters 2008. All Rights Reserved. Un cordiale lampeggio di fari da Maki !!! LR DEF 110 SW "Jazzy white lady"

[Maki]

... la Croce Rossa ha abbandonato il Chad ... Red Cross aid workers leave Chad after threat Thu 3 Jul 2008, 12:41 GMT GENEVA, July 3 (Reuters) - The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has pulled its aid workers from Chad after a security threat, a spokesman said on Thursday. The Federation, the world's largest disaster relief network, had three or four aid workers in the capital N'Djamena to support the Chadian Red Cross, according to Federation spokesman Jean-Luc Martinage. "We have withdrawn our delegates (officials) for security reasons temporarily," Martinage told Reuters on Thursday. "When there is a precise security threat we always withdraw our people," he said, declining to be more specific. Chad has suffered waves of violence over the last few years, including raids over the eastern border from Sudan by Janjaweed militia and attacks by anti-government rebels, as well as bloody clashes between Arab and non-Arab communities. Chad said on Wednesday its security forces in a southeastern village had killed 66 followers of an Islamic spiritual leader who was threatening to launch a holy war against Christians and atheists from Africa to Europe. The Chadian Red Cross, which the Federation workers were helping, runs two camps in eastern Chad for Sudanese refugees from Darfur. Oil-producing neighbours Chad and Sudan have long accused each other of supporting insurgent groups hostile to each other, and rebel attacks across the border in both directions over the last two months once again brought them close to all-out war. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), a separate Geneva-based aid organisation, said its operations were not affected by the Federation's decision. The ICRC deploys 280 people in Chad, including 100 expatriates, who mainly assist Chadians who have fled fighting. "We are continuing our operations," ICRC spokeswoman Anna Schaaf said. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay, editing by Mary Gabriel) © Reuters 2008. All Rights Reserved. Un cordiale lampeggio di fari da Maki !!! LR DEF 110 SW "Jazzy white lady"