Loyalist and rebel forces accuse each other of atrocity in Duékoué, while fears deepen of protracted warfare in Abidjan The full horror of the violence sweeping Ivory Coast has emerged as the battle for Abidjan raged and thousands of civilians faced critical shortages. Forces loyal to President Laurent Gbagbo defied expectations by mounting stubborn resistance in the economic capital for a third day, raising fears of protracted urban warfare and soaring casualties. The heavy weapons fire and fighting left thousands of people barricaded inside their homes and in increasingly urgent need of food, water and medical treatment. Looting is rife amid a sense of lawlessness and anarchy. Deepening the fear in the capital, it was reported that at least 800 people were massacred in intercommunal violence in the western town of Duékoué, which fell to rebels last week. This was despite the presence of hundreds of UN peacekeepers there. In five days, the rebel forces aiming to install Alassane Ouattara, the widely recognised winner of last November’s election, took nearly 80% of Ivory Coast before entering Abidjan and encircling the presidential residence and palace. But hopes for a swift climax appear to have been dashed as Gbagbo makes an improbable last stand. His most reliable fighters, the roughly 2,500-strong elite republican guard, and remaining regular army troops have not yielded to seemingly overwhelming odds. Gbagbo’s Europe-based adviser Toussaint Alain defiantly told reporters in Paris that the president was still in his residence “like Sarkozy at the Elysée and Obama at the White House”. Foreign secretary William Hague called for restraint last night amid the violent struggle for power. “I am determined that all alleged human rights abuses in the city and elsewhere in Côte d’Ivoire must be investigated and those responsible held to account,” he said. “Laurent Gbagbo must heed the calls from the international community and step down at once to prevent further bloodshed.” On Friday, shooting near the presidential palace and residence died down, suggesting that the rebel group had been pushed back. A fighter with Ouattara’s forces, Boubacar Drame, said they were waiting for reinforcements. An adviser to Ouattara said fighters had surrounded the palace, but stopped shooting to give Gbagbo time to surrender overnight. “He said there has been too much blood,” he said. “Ouattara does not want for Gbagbo to die. But he also said that patience has a limit.” The fighting soon restarted on Saturday morning around the palace, state broadcaster and military bases. Gun battles and the sound of heavy weapons fire rang out across the city. The UN said one of its patrols and the office of its mission chief had both come under fire. Residents said they heard loud explosions near Agban base, the city’s biggest compound, in the Adjame neighbourhood near Cocody where Gbagbo has his official residence. There were also rumours of government soldiers fighting among themselves. Jules Konin, who lives nearby, told Reuters: “Mortar fire has been heard since late last night around the gendarmerie. It is very loud and we’re taking shelter in our homes.” A sports coach, who did not wish to be named, told how he and 10 of his colleagues have been seeking shelter from the fighting behind the bar of a sports club for three consecutive days. “I went to look for food yesterday because we had nothing left to eat,” he said. “The streets were deserted – I saw two other people at most, and zero cars. I was able to buy a bag of rice and a bit of cooking oil in a nearby shantytown. But we have all run out of phone credit and we are no longer able to call our relatives.” Henry Gray, a field coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières, said in an email: “It’s quite a hairy situation here at the moment. We’re hearing constant gunfire along with the occasional heavy detonation. We had been visiting clinics until a few days ago, but the situation on the streets has deteriorated to such an extent that it’s just become too dangerous to go outside. There’s a lot of pillaging and looting going on, and if you’re out on the streets you’re basically a target. There is a real atmosphere of fear, particularly in poorer areas.” At least 1,200 people – mostly Lebanese and European citizens – have sought refuge at the French army base. The Lebanese, who own hundreds of shops and supermarkets across the city, have been particularly targeted by looters. Pro-Gbagbo forces retain control of state broadcaster RTI, which came back on air on Friday after heavy fighting took it down, showing pro-Gbagbo rallies and footage of his swearing-in ceremony after the contested November election. In a bizarre announcement, a news presenter appeared, looking nervous and wearing a dishevelled yellow T-shirt, and claimed the station had been attacked by the UN peacekeeping mission, “assisted by Guinean, Malian, Senegalese, Beninese and Burkinabe mercenaries”. He denied that Gbagbo’s residence had been attacked: “The president of the republic is at work; he continues to watch over Ivory Coast.” A military spokesman then read a statement calling on all military personnel to join forces at five locations in the besieged city. One lieutenant colonel urged the population to “go about their usual business in all quietude”. A flashing scroll said Gbagbo’s youth leader, Charles Blé Goudé, would give an order soon. The army handed out weapons to hundreds in the notorious Young Patriots group last week and they have killed a number of civilians, particularly west African immigrants whom state TV blames for the rebellion. Ouattara’s government spokesman Patrick Achi insisted that Gbagbo’s fall was imminent. “I’m not worried at all,” he told Reuters. “Where is he going to go? He doesn’t control the army or the gendarmerie. They will be exhausted. They are running out of ammunition.” Human Rights Watch called on Ouattara to control his rampant troops, amid reports of atrocities from both sides. Daniel Bekele, the watchdog’s Africa director, said: “Ouattara should send an unequivocal public message to all his commanders and forces fighting on his behalf that reprisals of any kind will be punished.” The rebels have swept south this week, but not without disastrous loss of life. On Tuesday, a day after Ouattara’s forces took Duékoué, intercommunal fighting broke out, killing at least 800 people, the Red Cross said. Kelnor Panglung, spokesman for the Red Cross in Ivory Coast, said there were “lots of people dead in the streets. We could see a lot of people killed. It’s truly horrific. There is no point for us to say if a certain ethnic group has been targeted because this inter-communal tension is a general problem. We are calling on the armed groups to protect the civilian population – this should be a priority.” It was unclear if Ouattara’s forces were involved in the attack in Duékoué, which has been the scene of communal violence before. Ouattara’s government denied their fighters were involved in any atrocities, and blamed the killings on Gbagbo forces. The UN puts the death toll since the conflict began at nearly 500, but events of past week have probably pushed it into the thousands – with no end in sight. Ivory Coast Laurent Gbagbo Alassane Ouattara David Smith guardian.co.uk
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Terrorism returns to scene of worst atrocity during the Troubles as blast kills officer preparing to drive to work Deadly terrorism returned to the scene of the worst atrocity of the Northern Ireland Troubles when a booby-trap car bomb exploded in Omagh. One police officer was confirmed killed in the blast underneath a car in Highfield Close in the Co Tyrone town. The officer, a local Catholic named as Ronan Kerr, had been preparing to drive to work in the local Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) station. The bomb exploded shortly before 4pm, close to a Gaelic sports club in a new housing development off the Gortin Road, near the town centre. Suspicion for this latest bomb attack will now fall on one of three republican dissident terror groups that have resumed their violent campaigns in the north of Ireland over recent weeks. The attack in Omagh will conjure up memories of August 1998 when a Real IRA car bomb exploded in the centre of the market town. Twenty-nine men, women and children died in the bombing, as well two unborn children. It was the single biggest loss of life during 35 years of conflict. No one was ever convicted of direct involvement in the atrocity, although some of the families of Omagh’s victims later took a landmark civil action against a number of men they claimed were leading figures in the Real IRA – one of the three dissident groups considered most likely to have carried out the bombing. The alleged Real IRA leaders are currently appealing against a high court ruling that they must pay compensation to the victims of the Omagh bombing. The Omagh bomb also resulted in a damning police ombudsman report criticising the Royal Ulster Constabulary’s handling of intelligence material prior to the Real IRA attack. The atrocity came just five months after the Good Friday peace agreement was signed. Although a faction of the Real IRA declared a ceasefire, militants broke away and formed terror units, including Óglaigh na hÉireann (ONH). The group has attracted a number of former Provisional IRA bombers. Last year it detonated a bomb underneath the car of Catholic PSNI officer Peadar Heffron, who lost his legs in the blast. The death of the officer in Omagh brings to two the number of PSNI members who have been killed by terrorists since the police service underwent radical reforms in Northern Ireland. One of the dissidents’ main strategies is to target Catholic recruits to the police service in order to deter nationalists from joining the security
Continue reading …Moammar Gadhafi’s regime scoffed at a ceasefire offer from rebels yesterday and continued to attack rebel-held areas in the east and west of the country. The leader of the rebels’ national council offered a ceasefire if Gadhafi’s forces withdrew from besieged cities and allowed peaceful protests against the regime, reports…
Continue reading …A Southwest Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing at a military base in Arizona after a gaping hole developed in the top of the plane. Passengers say they heard a “real quick blast, like a gun,” which was followed by “pandemonium” as the Boeing 737 made a…
Continue reading …A magnitude 6.2 earthquake shook the Greek island of Crete yesterday, shaking buildings as far away as Egypt and Israel and sparking panic in Turkish resort cities. Police on the island say they had no reports of damage or injuries, AP reports. “It was a strong earthquake in a…
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Violence mars demonstration in Afghan city the day after mob killed seven at UN compound Nine people have been killed and 81 injured in the Afghan city of Kandahar during a demonstration against the burning of a Qur’an by Christian extremists in the US. Violence erupted as hundreds of demonstrators marched through Kandahar a day after seven foreigners were killed when an angry mob stormed a United Nations compound in the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif. Hundreds of people took part in the protest. Gunfire was heard and cars were set on fire. In a statement, the Kandahar governor’s office claims demonstrators were incited by the Taliban. Authorities say 17 people, including seven armed men, have been arrested. But the Taliban have rejected the accusation. “The Taliban had nothing to do with this, it was a pure act of responsible Muslims,” spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told Reuters. The UN mission in Afghanistan has been plunged into jeopardy after the violent protest in Mazar-e Sharif. Four of the seven foreigners killed were former Gurkhas working as private security guards. Norway’s defence ministry named another victim as Lieutenant Colonel Siki Skare, a 53-year-old female pilot working for the UN, while the sixth victim was named as Joakin Dungel, 33, a Swede working in the UN office. The seventh foreigner killed was believed to be Romanian. Two of the UN workers were reported to have been beheaded Last night, Afghan officials arrested more than 20 people in connection with the assault, including the alleged ringleader. Under UN rules, officials will have to consider pulling out staff members or shutting down operations altogether. Last night, Staffan de Mistura, the UN’s leading envoy in Afghanistan, flew directly to Mazar-e-Sharif to take stock of the disaster. One senior staff member said there had been “absolutely no discussion” about repositioning staff, but many UN workers feared the incident would mark another milestone in the gradual retreat of UN diplomats and aid workers into a world where they only see the inside of fortified compounds and armoured vehicles. Last week Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, said Mazar-e-Sharif would be one of the first areas to be transferred to Afghan control this year. But the police were no match for the sudden outburst of violence yesterday, which was triggered by the actions of a fringe Christian group on the other side of the world. The Rev Terry Jones’s small church, the Dove World Outreach Centre in Florida, had threatened to destroy a copy of the Qur’an on the anniversary of the 11 September attacks last year, but the pastor backed down after an appeal by General David Petraeus, the commander of the US forces in Afghanistan. But the church went through with the burning last month with Jones in attendance. The Qur’an burning was the subject of anger at Friday prayers around Afghanistan yesterday. In Mazar-e-Sharif thousands of people poured out of the city’s famous Blue Mosque after a sermon by the presiding mullah, with one police official estimating that there were 4,000 people on the streets of the city. Afghanistan Protest Islam Religion David Batty guardian.co.uk
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The US ‘does not seek regime change’ but Gaddafi must go: that is typical of the Libyan intervention’s woefully muddled strategy In his speech on Monday night, President Obama articulated his rationale for the ongoing military campaign in Libya, claiming that a failure to act would have permitted humanitarian catastrophe that would have “would have reverberated across the region and stained the conscience of the world”. His argument was essentially one of moral emergency, implying that anyone chastened by the failure of the US and European governments to act in Rwanda and similar cases should recognise the necessity of acting in Libya. But as recent events have demonstrated, a compelling moral case does not equate to a coherent strategy. Indeed, it is charitable to call this strategy muddled. Initially committed to only to defensive operations to stop the advance of the Libyan military into cities like Benghazi, the Obama administration quickly began working with the rebels to coordinate air strikes to push back Gaddafi’s forces. This turned the US, Britain and France into combatants in a civil war; no matter how much they claim only to be engaged in “kinetic military action” or some other Orwellian euphemism, the facts are plain. There are now CIA officers present in Libya to coordinate air strikes with rebels , and the US has flown over 1,600 sorties . While the American public may be fooled by the dissembling language, Gaddafi and his regime will have no illusions about who is bombing them. Now, if only to underscore this point that this is a real war, the US and its allies are considering sending weapons to the Libyan rebels . Even contemplating this reflects an astonishing level of ignorance: the weapons will embolden the rebels and increase the chances of a bloody, long-running stalemate between the Gaddafi regime and the rebels. The coalition effort has gone from babysitting a civil war to sponsoring it, ignoring precedents such as Afghanistan that make clear that flooding a country with weapons leads only to higher death tolls and vicious blowback over the long run. All of this could be forgivable if the Obama administration or its European partners had shown an iota of forethought about the potential consequences of their actions. Instead, they appear to have rushed into this operation without a workable Plan B. Their hope was that air strikes and the pressure of rebel advances would cause the regime to crumble. But Gaddafi’s forces – still vastly more powerful than the rebels – have reversed their losses and a stalemate looks more likely . Further, even high-profile defections have not yet appeared to influence Gaddafi’s (admittedly less than rational) thinking. Unless he is killed or otherwise overthrown, Gaddafi can continue to hold out, supported by a small number of loyalists and family members , in the hope that he can prolong the war to the point where the costs begin to exceed the potential benefits for US and its coalition partners. Given that he faces exile, indictment or death if he is overthrown, he has every incentive to do just that. If that happens, the only option left would be to place US or allied ground troops to assist rebels in forcing Gaddafi out of power. But Secretary Gates has emphasised repeatedly that there will be no “boots on the ground” . Having taken escalation through ground forces off the table, what then is the next step? How will additional pressure on Gaddafi be generated? More to the point, what exactly is the strategy if the cumulative effect of the action so far is to produce the siege of Tripoli? Instead of confronting these questions in a hardheaded way, the Obama administration has been obsessed with demonstrating the international legitimacy of the operation, pointing to a UN mandate and the support of the Arab League. But diplomatic blessings do not change the facts of war. Even the transfer of command authority from the US to Nato is mere window-dressing; it is the same set of countries bombing Libyan forces, no matter what acronym they hide behind. It is a peculiar form of bureaucratic myopia to worry more about who sits in what chair in Brussels than about the consequences of poor strategy. Even more depressingly, the political debate in the US over the Libyan operation has become grotesque, as the same players who served as cheerleaders for the Iraq war have come out in force to celebrate this war as a step forward for human rights. The same liberal internationalists who chided President Bush for seeking regime change in Iraq have applauded President Obama for taking similar action in Libya, despite the fact that the operations in Libya are well beyond the measures to protect civilians authorised in the UN security council resolution . Similarly, the neoconservatives have seen this operation as a vindication of President Bush’s strategy, and a reaffirmation of the right of the US to remove the leader of a foreign country if it suits out interests to do so . Neither party is behaving responsibly here. The Republican presidential candidates are stumbling over themselves finding ways to denounce President Obama for doing precisely what they would have done if put in his position. Meanwhile, few on the Democratic side appear to be willing to push the president to explain his nonsensical position that Gaddafi must go, but that the objective of the US is not regime change. Perhaps the most dispiriting aspect of this operation is that it proves that President Obama has been seduced by the power of the Oval Office into betraying many of the promises he represented as a candidate. The same thoughtful man who once argued that the US should never go to war without a congressional authorisation did not seek one, and waited ten days before even addressing the American public about his rationale for the operation. The same president who pledged in his national security strategy to take into account the limitation of our economic resources in his foreign policy decisions has led us into a war costing hundreds of millions of dollars . The same president once critical of a rush into a “dumb war” has let a compelling moral cause turn the US into a party in another war in the Middle East . The unfortunate result is that President Obama has begun to resemble his predecessor far more than he or his supporters would care to admit. Libya Muammar Gaddafi Middle East Arab and Middle East unrest Obama administration Barack Obama George Bush Iraq US politics United Nations Nato US foreign policy US military Michael Boyle guardian.co.uk
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Naoto Kan visiting tsunami zone as officials try to plug crack that may be leaking radiation into sea Japan’s prime minister, Naoto Kan, will tell workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to hold firm in the belief that disaster can be averted, as highly radioactive water continued to seep into the sea. Nuclear officials’ discovery of a crack in a concrete pit at the number two core could offer an explanation for the flow of contaminated water that has jeopardised the operation to calm the reactors and raised fears about radiation finding its way into the sea and soil near the facility. Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) said it would pour concrete into the pit, where radiation measuring 1,000 millisieverts per hour has been recorded, in an attempt to seal the eight-inch long crack. Two feet away from the pit radiation levels dropped to 400 millisieverts. Workers have taken samples of the water in the pit and seawater and are analysing them to determine the level of contamination. Experts said that while the leakage was a cause for concern, radiation would be quickly diluted in the ocean. “With radiation levels rising in seawater next to the plant we have been trying to confirm why that’s happening, and [the crack] could be one source,” Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for Japan’s nuclear and industrial safety agency (Nisa), told reporters. The plant, 150 miles north of Tokyo, will continue to leak radiation until four of its six reactors have been reconnected to cooling systems that were knocked out by the 11 March earthquake and tsunami. An artificial “floating island” is being towed to the plant to store the contaminated seawater, samples of which have shown radiation levels 4,000 times the legal limit. The vast tanker could store about 10,000 tonnes of water, Tepco said; an estimated 13,000 tonnes of contaminated water has built up beneath some of the reactors. “We are trying to employ as many measures as possible to regain control of the situation,” a Tepco official said, adding that he had “high hopes” for the storage vessel. Radiation levels in the plant and its vicinity have reached such high levels that Tepco is looking to hire special workers who are prepared to enter contaminated areas to perform essential tasks before rushing out to avoid prolonged exposure. In return for their bravery the “jumpers” are reportedly being offered up to $5,000 a shift, Japanese media has reported. Kan on Sunday is visiting an evacuation centre in the coastal town of Rikuzentakata, which was engulfed by the tsunami. Most of its 23,000 residents were killed or injured. He will then enter the 20km zone around the Fukushima plant from which 70,000 people have been evacuated. He will be telling Tepco workers, troops and firefighters: ”I want you to fight with the conviction that you absolutely cannot lose this battle.” Police said more than 11,800 people had been confirmed dead in the disaster, while more than 15,540 people remained missing. More than 165,000 people are living in shelters. Japan disaster Japan Nuclear power Energy Nuclear waste Justin McCurry guardian.co.uk
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Former director general of BBC says politicians should work harder to win support as celebrities launch Yes to AV campaign MPs would be denied “jobs for life” through holding safe seats if Britain switched to the alternative vote system in next month’s referendum on the electoral system, Greg Dyke, the former director general of the BBC, said. Dyke and a host of celebrities, including comedian Eddie Izzard and gold medal winner Kriss Akabusi, today helped launch the Yes to AV campaign in London, just five weeks before the referendum. Dyke argued that the voting changes will make MPs work harder by needing to win 50% of their constituency’s support. “In constituency after constituency, what matters is not getting the electorate to support you but getting the party to nominate you,” said Dyke, who resigned from the BBC in 2004 and is now chair of the British Film Institute. He said: “Once nominated you’ve got a job for life in seat after seat, which is why we’ve got rather average politicians. AV will begin to change that.” “Politicians are going to have to work harder to get our support and work harder to keep it. You don’t get jobs for life in anywhere else in Britain today, so why should you in politics?” He was speaking on an intentionally politician-free platform with Izzard, writer Rowan Davis, Akabusi, war correspondent and former MP Martin Bell and ethical fashion designer Amisha Ghadiali. The yes campaign is working hard to generate a trend towards younger people supporting the campaign against a political establishment led by right-wingers. Organisers said over 100 campaign events had been arranged across the country with banner drops in 60 cities. Dyke said those opposing the campaign were “old hack politicians” and had become “complacent” about their jobs. Citing opposition to the proposed changes from Conservative and Labour MPs, he said: “It’s time for the politicians to keep quiet. This is not about them – it’s about us. They are our servants, it’s not the other way round.” Izzard, a Labour supporter, said the Yes to AV campaign is “pushing for civilisation”. The proposed system, to be voted on in a referendum on 5 May, would see voters rank candidates in order of preference. Candidates who get fewer votes have their votes distributed to others, until one candidate has 50%. The electoral commission will this weekend send out a massive mailshot to the electorate in an attempt to explain the alternative vote. Izzard said the model is “as simple as one-two-three” and would end tactical voting. “People do want more choice. Politics is not black and white and grey. It’s multicoloured. This is the first time we’ve been given the chance to choose. If we don’t take this chance on 5 May we won’t get another chance for 100 years,” he said. Bell, who ousted Conservative MP Neil Hamilton as an independent candidate in 1997 on a “sleaze-busting” platform, said the campaign was a “movement against the political classes”, adding: “We cannot have our MPs being elected by a minority of their constituents and then still try preaching about democracy to the rest of the world. Let’s first put our own house in order.” David Cameron continued yesterday to make his claim that AV is un-British, undemocratic and likely to favour extremists. He said: “It is a system so undemocratic that your vote for a mainstream party counts once, while someone can support a fringe party like the BNP and get their vote counted several times. “It’s a system so obscure that it is only used by three countries in the whole world: Australia, Fiji and Papua New Guinea. I’m not making it up, three countries in the whole world. Our system is used by half of the world.” Akabusi, a Conservative voter and former Olympic sprinter, said “never in a month of Sundays would the BNP get in”. But he added: “If in a fair and democratic election, 50% of the people voted for the BNP, I’d be proud to be in that country. Because democracy also has to have unpalatables. You can’t just have it the way you want it.” AV – the alternative vote Greg Dyke Electoral reform Eddie Izzard David Batty guardian.co.uk
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Tepco officials say 20cm crack in containment pit under reactor two may be source Radioactive water from Japan’s quake-striken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is leaking into the sea, its operator said. The 20cm (8in) crack in a containment pit under reactor two may be the source of recent radiation in coastal waters, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) officials said. Hidehiko Nishiyama, deputy director-general of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, said Tepco was planning to pour concrete into the pit to seal the crack, which may have been leaking since the magnitude 9.0 earthquake three weeks ago. “This could be one of the sources of seawater contamination,” Nishiyama said. “There could be other similar cracks in the area, and we must find them as quickly as possible.” Readings released on Saturday showed radiation in seawater had spread to 25 miles (40km) south of the plant. The concentration of iodine there was twice the legal limit, but officials stressed it was still well below levels that are dangerous to human health. The announcement of the radioactive leak came as Japan’s prime minister Naoto Kan surveyed the damage in the town of Rikuzentakata, which was gutted by the devastating tsunami that hit the country following the quake. The prime minister bowed his head for a minute of silence in front of the town hall, one of the few buildings still standing, which has all its windows blown out and debris piled up in front of it. “The government fully supports you until the end,” Kan later told 250 people at an elementary school that is serving as an evacuation centre. He met with the town’s mayor, Megumi Shimanuki, whose 38-year-old wife was swept away in the wave and is still missing. Shimanuki, whose family is living in a similar shelter 100 miles (160km) away in Natori, said Kan did not spend enough time with people on the ground. “The government has been too focused on the Fukushima power plant rather than the tsunami victims,” said Shimanuki, 35. “Both deserve attention.” One member of the power plant crew described difficult conditions inside the complex in an interview in the Mainichi newspaper. He said the plant has run out of the nylon protective booties that workers put over their shoes. “We only put something like plastic garbage bags you can buy at a convenience store and sealed them with masking tape,” said the anonymous worker. He added that the grounds of the power plant were littered with dead fish churned up by the tsunami. Japanese media reported that nuclear workers had been offered up to 400,000 yen (£3,000) a day to work inside the crippled reactors. Before the crisis some contract workers were reportedly being paid as little as 10,000 to 20,000 yen (£75 to £150) a day. Three weeks after the tsunami more than 165,000 people are living in shelters, while 260,000 households still do not have running water and 170,000 do not have electricity. Japan disaster Japan Nuclear power Natural disasters and extreme weather Energy David Batty guardian.co.uk
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