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Amid thaw, Ethiopia and Eritrea leaders plan to meet
By Chris Stein
Addis Ababa (AFP) June 28, 2018

UN peacekeeper killed in South Sudan ambush
Juba (AFP) June 26 - A Bangladeshi peacekeeper in South Sudan was killed Tuesday when an aid convoy was ambushed in the west of the country, the United Nations mission said.

"Lieutenant Commander Ashraf Siddiqui, was part of a convoy led by Nepalese peacekeepers providing protection to humanitarian workers travelling from Yei to Lasu when several shots were fired at the group by unknown gunmen," the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said in a statement.

The victim, "was hit and died from his injuries shortly afterwards," it added.

The UN said its peacekeepers "immediately returned fire and the assailants retreated into the forest."

"It is a tragedy that he lost his life in such an appalling act of violence while working to help those in need and to protect the lives of others," David Shearer, head of the 13,000-troop force, said.

The attack occurred in the same contested area where 10 South Sudanese aid workers were briefly abducted by rebels in April.

South Sudan has been mired in civil war since December 2013 during which aid workers and peacekeepers have frequently been targeted.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions more uprooted or pushed to the brink of starvation in a conflict characterised by mass rape and the killing of civilians.

UNMISS, for its part, has lost 56 personnel since its deployment began in 2011.

President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar are this week meeting in Khartoum, Sudan, in the latest regional effort to end the fighting.

UN says Malian army 'summarily' killed 12 civilians
Bamako (AFP) June 27 - The Malian army "summarily" executed 12 civilians in a market in central Mali in May in retaliation for the death of a soldier, a UN investigation into the killings said.

Malian Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga said he deplored the bloodshed, adding that the unit in question had now been withdrawn from the area and faces possible discipline.

On May 19 a Malian soldier and at least a dozen other people were killed in violence that occurred during an army patrol through a market.

The army said the 12 were "terrorists" who had been "neutralised", but local residents said they were civilians.

Speaking to reporters during a visit to Paris, Maiga said that the government had "taken the necessary measures" after the bloodshed, which he said he regretted and deplored.

He pleaded, though, for understanding about "the complexity and the difficulties on the ground."

"We are fighting people who are not in uniform, and all armies have seen this type of situation," he said.

Maiga said a military court would investigate the killings, after which "rapid, clear and dissuasive punishments" would be meted out in order to "preserve the credibility of operations (and) the morale of our troops".

The Malian army is often accused of making arbitrary arrests and carrying out extra-judicial executions in the fight against jihadists.

Following the incident, the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, MINUSMA, announced at a press conference it would send a special team from its human rights division to inquire into the incident, which occurred in Boulkessi, a town near the border with Burkina Faso.

"The MINUSMA investigation concluded that, on May 19, elements of the Malian battalion of the joint G5 Sahel force summarily and/or arbitrarily executed 12 civilians at Boulkessy's livestock market," the UN mission said late Tuesday, using an alternative spelling of the town's name.

The killings were "in reprisal for the death of one of (the soldiers), who was shot dead by an unidentified attacker," it said in a statement.

The statement said the investigation had been sent to the Malian government.

Ethiopia on Thursday announced its prime minister Abiy Ahmed would meet Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki "soon" amid an unprecedented diplomatic thaw between the two countries, long at each others' throats.

The news comes days after senior Eritrean officials paid their first visit to Ethiopia in two decades following Abiy's offer to cede land that Eritrea claims Ethiopia occupies illegally.

The move paved the way for rapprochement between the two Horn of Africa neighbours whose 1998-2000 border war tattered relations and killed 80,000 people.

"Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki will meet soon," the state-affiliated Fana Broadcast Corporate reported.

Fana added Abiy had sent a letter to Isaias, without giving further details.

The war was sparked by a disagreement over Ethiopia and Eritrea's shared border, and in 2002 a United Nations-backed commission ruled Ethiopia should hand over to Eritrea the town of Badme and a handful of other areas along its northern border.

Ethiopia refused, leading to a diplomatic stalemate with Eritrea, formerly a province that voted for independence in 1993 after decades of conflict.

Eritrea comprised Ethiopia's entire coastline and its separation rendered Africa's second most-populous country landlocked.

- 'Get ready' -

Abiy took office in April after his predecessor resigned following years of anti-government protests and political turmoil.

He has since announced a host of major reforms, including the partial liberalisation of the economy, the release of jailed dissidents and the implementation of the UN boundary ruling.

The move led Eritrea's top diplomat Osman Saleh and presidential adviser Yemane Gebreab to travel to the capital Addis Ababa on Tuesday, where they were greeted by Abiy and a host of Ethiopia's political and cultural elites including legendary long-distance runner Haile Gebrselassie.

At a dinner that same day, the three men spoke of peace and reconciliation between their countries, which have over the years engaged in shootouts along their militarised border and supported rebel groups intent on destabilising each other.

"Ethiopians who yearn to walk Massawa, you need to get ready. Ethiopian Airlines will start flights," Abiy said, referring to the seaside Eritrean city and a plan to re-establish air transport links.

But it remains unclear when Ethiopian forces will begin their pullout.

The rapprochement was hailed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, whose spokesman said in a statement Thursday that, "diplomatic overtures to ease tensions and resolve the longstanding dispute between the two countries will have a far-reaching positive impact on the whole region."

The UN is ready "to play a role in support of the two countries in the implementation of the boundary decision," the statement added.

Since their border war, Ethiopia and Eritrea have taken starkly different paths.

Considered by rights groups one of the world's most repressive states, Eritrea has made the fear of Ethiopian aggression central to its governance.

The country is deeply impoverished, has never implemented its constitution and has had its indefinite national service programme likened by the UN to slavery.

Ethiopia meanwhile has seen its economy grow by double digits for years, though it, too, remains among Africa's poorest states.

Since late 2015, the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) has been rocked by anti-government protests that it struggled to quell despite imposing a 10-month nationwide state of emergency in October 2016.

While Abiy is popular among Ethiopians who hope he will shift the EPRDF away from its authoritarian past, he, too, has faced resistance.

Last week, a grenade exploded during his first public appearance in Addis Ababa since taking office, sparking a panic in the crowd of hundreds of thousands that killed two people and injured more than 150.

Abiy announced on Thursday that he had appointed a committee "to investigate conspiracies being committed to deter ongoing reforms," including the grenade attack and cellphone and power outages that occurred on the same day.


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AFRICA NEWS
Gambia leader meets victims' families after deadly protest
Banjul, Gambia (AFP) June 22, 2018
Gambian president Adama Barrow paid tribute on Friday to three young protesters killed by police in an anti-pollution rally, urging witnesses to come forward to a commission of inquiry set up by his government. "You are the people that witnessed what happened here that day," Barrow told his audience in the village of Faraba Banta, 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the capital, Banjul. "You are the most competent people to give evidence to the commission of inquiry." President Barrow - who last ... read more

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