Forces loyal to Alassane Ouattara team up with UN and French helicopters to loosen Laurent Gbagbo’s grip on power Fighters loyal to Alassane Ouattara have surrounded the presidential palace in Ivory Coast with the help of UN and French helicopters, as incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo’s grip on power appeared increasingly tenuous. Ouattara’s forces have described the assault on the main city of Abidjan as the final offensive to oust Gbagbo, whose refusal to acknowledge his rival as the legitimate winner of last year’s presidential election, prompted a violent conflict. Sustained machinegun and heavy weapons fire rang out from the direction of the palace before dawn, in the heaviest fighting since Ouattara’s forces entered the city five days ago. Troops surrounding Gbagbo’s home are now waiting for him to step down, an advisor to Ouattara told Associated Press. The assault came after UN helicopters carried out a string of attacks on Gbagbo’s forces on Monday, destroying their weapons at four places where they had been shelling civilians, a UN spokesman said. The helicopters fired four missiles at a Gbagbo military camp in Abidjan, witnesses told Reuters. “We saw two UN MI-24 helicopters fire missiles on the Akouedo military camp. There was a massive explosion and we can still see the smoke,” one said. The assault on Akouedo – which is host to three battallions of the Ivorian army – was captured in a video posted on YouTube . Hamadoun Toure, spokesman for the UN mission in Ivory Coast, said in an email: “We launched an operation to neutralise heavy weapons that Gbagbo’s special forces have been using against the civilian population for the last three months. We destroyed them in four locations.” President Nicolas Sarkozy’s office said that French troops had been authorised to participate in the UN attack after a request for help from the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon. The UN security council is meeting to discuss the situation. Toussaint Alain, a Paris-based spokesman for Gbagbo, called the strikes “illegal, illegitimate and unacceptable” and said they will have resulted in many casualties among families living at the military barracks. “France has gone to war against Ivory Coast,” he added. Separately, the French foreign ministry said two French nationals and several other people had been abducted in Abidjan. France’s Europe 1 radio reported five people had been abducted in all from a hotel in the city’s business district. Jean Fouquiere, a spokesman for the French Embassy in Ivory Coast, said: “I confirm that five people have been kidnapped at Novotel Hotel, including two French nationals and a man from Benin.” Ivory Coast was a French colony until independence in 1960. France still has about 12,000 citizens, and 1,650 troops in the country. The UN evacuated 170 civilian staff from Abidjan at the weekend. “We are fast approaching a tipping point,” Choi Young-jin, the UN’s top diplomat in Ivory Coast, told the BBC. “We can no longer condone their [Mr Gbagbo's forces'] reckless and mindless attacks on civilians and the UN blue helmets [troops] with heavy weapons.” Choi, whose own office has been hit by sniper fire, added: “We are now in a way under siege, so we cannot go out freely, [they're] targeting us with snipers, it’s a deliberate shoot at the UN. For the last few days we’ve had 11 [peacekeepers] wounded by their gunshots … They are targeting the HQ, they cut off the water … and we are now in the bunker.” In all, 20 peacekeepers have been injured since the crisis triggered by last November’s disputed election. Choi said the UN’s 9,000 troops did not have a mandate to dislodge Gbagbo, but could respond to heavy weapons attacks against the UN or civilians. Pro-Oauttara troops entered Abidjan yesterday in a convoy of several dozen vehicles – the first elements of a large force massed on the northern outskirts for what they called a “final assault”. Heavy machine-gun fire and a few explosions could be heard minutes after they entered the city limits. The commanding officer told Reuters he had 4,000 men with him, plus 5,000 already in the city. Asked how long he would need to take Abidjan, Issiaka “Wattao” Ouattara said: “We know when it starts, but it could take 48 hours to properly clean [the city].” . Despite mass defections, Gbagbo has surprised many observers by fighting back, issuing a call to arms to his supporters, who went to his residence on Sunday to form a human shield. In Britain, foreign secretary Gbagbo’s spokesman, Abdon George Bayeto, told the BBC that there is an international plot against the incumbent. “When it comes to a fight, we are going to put up a fight,” he said. “The president is not going to step down.” Away from the fighting, UN investigators found a mass grave containing nearly 200 bodies, UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said on Monday. The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Saturday at least 800 people were killed in intercommunal violence in Duekoue last week . Ivory Coast France United Nations Selay Kouassi Ed Pilkington David Smith guardian.co.uk
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International concern grows over fate of missing Chinese artist amid wider crackdown on dissidents and activists Britain, the US and the EU have joined the growing international outcry over the detention of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei and the wider crackdown on dissidents and activists. Officials detained the 53-year-old at Beijing airport on Sunday morning. No one has been able to contact him since. “I call on the Chinese government to urgently clarify Ai’s situation and wellbeing, and hope he will be released immediately,” William Hague said. The foreign secretary added: “The development of independent civil society and application of human rights under the rule of law are essential prerequisites for China’s long-term prosperity and stability.” US state department spokesman Mark Toner called for the immediate release of the artist, adding: “We obviously continue to be deeply concerned by the trend of forced disappearances, extralegal detentions, arrests and convictions of human rights activists for exercising their internationally recognised human right for freedom of expression.” The EU delegation to China said it was concerned by the increasing use of arbitrary detention against human rights defenders, lawyers and activists in China. Citing Ai’s case, it added: “We call on the Chinese authorities to refrain from using arbitrary detention under any circumstances.” France and Germany earlier appealed for the artist’s release. “Ai Weiwei being taken away is not surprising to us; we just didn’t think it would happen now. I don’t think he had expected that either … Let’s hope for the best,” said Pu Zhiqiang, a human rights lawyer. Pu said he had agreed to represent the artist if anything happened to him, but added that he had not been able to discuss the issue with Ai’s family yet. “The police had not given any kind of notice to the family – we can’t start the procedures. Even if they detain some kind of street thug, they have to give a notice within certain time, but for Ai Weiwei there is no information,” he added. Ai has repeatedly clashed with authorities over his outspoken criticism. Friends are particularly alarmed by the length of his detention and the scope and co-ordination of the police operation. Officers have removed dozens of items, including documents and computers, from the artist’s studio. His wife, Lu Qing, told Reuters: “This time it’s extremely serious. They searched his studio and took disks and hard drives and all kinds of stuff, but the police haven’t told us where he is or what they’re after. There’s no information about him.” Liu Xiaoyuan, a human rights lawyer, told Reuters: “I hope he doesn’t have to face trial or be jailed,” he said. “But sometimes the things you don’t wish to happen could happen.” Ai, who created the Sunflower Seeds installation at Tate Modern in London, was due to visit the capital next month for two major exhibitions. A spokesman for the gallery said: “We are dismayed by developments that again threaten Weiwei’s right to speak freely as an artist and hope that he will be released immediately.” The Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) network said four artists from Beijing were detained on 24 March after a performance art event in the Chinese capital where some pieces touched on the crackdown and the “jasmine revolution”. An anonymous appeal for protests akin to the Middle East uprisings, which was posted on an overseas website, appears to have sparked the campaign against critics. Artists Huang Xiang, Zhui Hun and Cheng Li were criminally detained for “causing a disturbance” by officers from Songzhuang police station and Guo Gai was also taken away, probably because he had taken pictures during the exhibition, CHRD said. No one could be reached for comment at the Taihu detention centre, where the four are reportedly held. An employee at Songzhuang police station said: “I don’t know about the situation,” then added: “Actually, it is not convenient to talk about it.” CHRD, which has been keeping a tally of the number of detentions, says in total about a dozen people have disappeared and 26 criminally detained in the latest sweep, with five released on bail. Another three have been formally arrested and one has been sent to re-education through labour. Asked about concerns for the whereabouts and safety of those reported missing, the foreign ministry spokeswoman, Jiang Yu, told a regular press briefing last week: “China’s judicial authorities work independently. China, as a country under the rule of law, protects its citizens’ basic rights and freedoms – including freedom of expression – but citizens while exercising their rights have an obligation to abide by the law and should not bring harm to the public interest.” Ai Weiwei China Tania Branigan guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Musician Michel “Sweet Micky” Martelly scored a come-from-behind victory today in Haiti’s presidential runoff, according to preliminary results from last month’s election. Martelly, who has never held political office, received nearly 68% of the vote in the two-way race with Mirlande Manigat, electoral council spokesman Pierre Thibault said in an…
Continue reading …The dense brush of an isolated Long Island beach yielded three more sets of human remains today, making a total of eight recovered in the vicinity, and giving credence to investigators’ suspicions that they’re dealing with a serial killer. Police have not identified the remains, nor those of another body…
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Prime minister seeks to ‘deepen the unbreakable partnership’ and plans to announce extra aid for Pakistan David Cameron is to try to mend relations with the Pakistani government with a lightning visit to Islamabad where he will claim the two countries have “an unbreakable partnership”. He headed to Islamabad for a day of talks after visiting UK fighter pilots enforcing the Libyan no-fly zone from a Nato base in Sicily. He will hold talks with president Asif Ali Zardari and the prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, during his first visit to the country – a trip designed to restore relations after he upset the Pakistani government last July by accusing elements in the country of “facing both ways on terrorism”. Cameron’s criticism of Pakistan for promoting the export of terror created such a diplomatic outcry because it was made on a trip to India and because he refused to withdraw his remarks. He attempted to patch up relations during Zardari’s visit to Britain in August, held against the background of Pakistan’s floods. The two countries have agreed to hold a strategic dialogue comprising annual discussions between leaders and bi-annual foreign ministers talks. Zardari has repeatedly warned the west that the battle for hearts and minds over the Taliban’s use of Pakistan as the base for its attacks on Nato forces in Afghanistan is being lost. He says Cameron has not done enough to recognise how much Pakistan is doing to combat terrorism. Acknowledging the misunderstandings of the past, Cameron will argue in a speech to students that he wants “a new chapter in the relationship between our two countries. We want to deepen and enhance the unbreakable partnership between Pakistan and Britain. The unbreakable partnership must not just be between our two governments. It must be between our peoples, too”. He will acknowledge “there are challenges that our friendship must overcome”, including the subjects of relations with India, national security and questions of governance. Cameron will call for a fresh start: “It is time for a new step in relations between Britain and Pakistan, and between Britons and Pakistanis.” He wants a “Pakistan that is safe for its citizens, free from the threat of terror on your doorsteps, in your neighbourhoods”. He will promise a “Britain that respects your choices; a relationship of mutual trust”. He will draw parallels between the Arab democratic spring and the lawyers’ movement in Pakistan, the popular uprising against General Pervez Musharraf when he unconstitutionally sacked the chief justice , Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. The f Foreign Office’s annual human rights report was still highly critical of Pakistan’s record, pointing to state efforts to muzzle independent media. It warned the judicial system was “under-trained, often politicised, corrupt and under-resourced”, adding: “The courts currently face a backlog of more than 1m cases. Successful convictions are rare. “Police investigations are often seriously flawed, based on allegation rather than evidence, and trials cannot be described as either fair or free in many cases, being marked by delay and intimidation.” The Pakistani foreign office dismissed the report as a worthless and skewed document that omitted the “positives” of Pakistani society. Cameron is expected to announce further aid for education and health. Britain has already announced the doubling of its development aid over the next four years, which will make Pakistan the highest recipient of British aid by 2015, receiving £446m annually. Cameron, who will also be meeting opposition leaders in Pakistan, is being accompanied by Sir Peter Ricketts, the national security adviser, Sir John Sawers, head of the secret intelligence service, Lady Warsi, the leading Muslim politician in the cabinet, and Sir David Richards, chief of the defence staff. The composition of the team underlines the degree to which the trip has a strong security element in light of the fact that as many as 50 terrorist plots in the UK are thought to have originated in Pakistan. At least four cabinet ministers have visited Pakistan in the last year – a sign of how important the government believes improved relations can be in preventing the threat of terrorist groups operating inside the country or in Afghanistan. Cameron will be relieved he is arriving at a time of improved Indian-Pakistani relations. Pakistan last week agreed to allow a visit by Indian investigators as part of their inquiry into the 2008 Mumbai militant attacks in a significant confidence building measure between the nuclear-armed neighbours. Pakistan Global terrorism David Cameron Terrorism policy Foreign policy Aid Patrick Wintour guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Ban, the Japanese wonder dog who survived the tsunami and three weeks adrift in the wreckage of his home, is back with his owner, reports Gawker. And yes, this pales in comparison to the ongoing humanitarian crisis over there, writes Maureen O’Connor, and we should “give a damn about 18,…
Continue reading …The federal government is careening rapidly toward a shutdown, so Democrats and Republicans alike are scrambling to … lob political grenades at each other. Still. A roundup of the latest: President Obama today invited John Boehner, Harry Reid, and other top lawmakers to the White House tomorrow morning to “urge leaders…
Continue reading …It’s the modern-day version of the horse head in the bed: Rep. Peter King, he of the infamous Muslim radicalization hearings, was sent a bloody pig’s foot, reports Luke Russert for MSNBC . It was accompanied by a note full of anti-Semitic language and a reference to King’s controversial hearings. The…
Continue reading …Almost a month after a sexist email surfaced advising “cocksmen” on the rites of pursuing “targets,” dozens of USC students stalked out of class and staged a boisterous protest. The email is believed to have been penned by a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity, and has gone viral, spawning…
Continue reading …McDonald’s is going on a 24-hour hiring binge: The company plans to add 50,000 new workers to its ranks on April 19. The new McJobs will boost the US workforce to 700,000, reports CNN . Full- and part-time positions are open, with the average pay clocking in at $8….
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