Cote d'Ivoire: Several Hurt in Clash At Rally

At least 45 people were injured, two seriously, as supporters of former Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo clashed with rivals Saturday and police fired tear gas to keep the two sides apart.

The Gbagbo loyalists were forced to call off their meeting, intended to mark a "political comeback" for the former ruling Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), after they came under a hail of stones from opponents.

They had gathered in a square in Gbagbo's stronghold district of Yopougon in the economic capital when they came under attack by a group of youths.

Medics at the scene tended to 45 injured people, said Leonard Nieoule, the secretary general of the Red Cross in Ivory Coast.

They took 10 people to medical centres of whom two were seriously wounded, he said.

As the Gbagbo supporters tried to retaliate, the police, who were backed by troops of the Ivory Coast UN mission, fired several volleys of tear gas.

Relevant Links

• West Africa
• Cote d'Ivoire
• Legal Affairs
• Conflict

And when FPI leader Miaka Oureto began speaking, the stoning redoubled and the opponents stormed the square, sweeping up chairs and obliging a party official to abandon the meeting, advising people to go home in small groups.

FPI youth leader Justin Koua blamed young activists loyal to President Alassane Ouattara for the violence.

"In terms of security, the state didn't do its job," he said.

Gbagbo's refusal to quit after his defeat in a November 2010 election triggered a conflict that left around 3,000 people dead before Ouattara took power with the support of UN and French peacekeeping forces.

Gbagbo was arrested in April 2011 and is now in The Hague awaiting trial by the International Criminal Court, accused of crimes against humanity for having his alleged role in the unrest. - ANP/AFP

Sudan: Ambush Leaves One Unamid Peacekeeper Dead, Three Wounded

El Daein — An African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) patrol was ambushed today by unidentified armed persons in East Darfur. As a result, one peacekeeper was killed and three others wounded.

An African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) patrol was ambushed today by unidentified armed persons in East Darfur. As a result, one peacekeeper was killed and three others wounded.

The patrol was attacked at approximately 12:15 while en route from El Daein to Saleah, located about 60 kilometres northwest of El Daein.

Joint Special Representative Ibrahim Gambari strongly condemned this attack which, he stressed, constituted a war crime. He committed the Mission to work closely with the Government of Sudan authorities in order that the perpetrators are apprehended as fast as possible and brought to justice.

Since the initial deployment of UNAMID on 31 December 2007, 35 peacekeepers have been killed as a result of hostile action.

South Africa ‘Operation Miniskirt’ targets taxi rank

REUTERS

A woman wearing a miniskirt takes part in a protest against the idea that provocatively dressed women are to blame for sexual assaultsrape.

The message is clear: Gauteng will not tolerate sexual harassment.

On Thursday morning it felt as if a big section of the province’s police force was concentrated at the Noord Street taxi rank in Johannesburg CBD, as what some officers called “Operation Miniskirt” began.

The presence of the Joburg metro police, Gauteng provincial traffic police, and the Tactical Response Team at the province’s biggest taxi rank followed the harassment by men near the rank of two teenage girls on December 30, reportedly because of their revealing clothing. One girl aged 18 wore a miniskirt while the other, 19, had on tight-fitting clothes.

The incident is being investigated by the police.

The Tactical Response Team conducted random body searches on men. Metro police officers checked that taxis were roadworthy. Gauteng traffic police checked driving licences and taxi registrations. And the SAPS studied the CCTV footage from the incident to try to find the culprits.

“Since the incident, the premier has asked us to intensify our operations to clean up the taxi rank,” said Gauteng traffic police spokeswoman Busaphi Nxumalo.

“The taxi association must give us all the details. We are sure they know the culprits. We will continue with this operation until the perpetrators are arrested.”

Taxi driver Alais Mkwanyana, 47, had his keys in his hand and a mob of taxi drivers around him as he confronted the police.

“The people you are looking for are the ones that sell fruit and sweets here; they harassed the women. We see them but we can’t take the law into our own hands,” said Mkwanyana.

“Now the police have taken our registration disks for no reason.”

Meanwhile, the two girls who were harassed have opened a case with the police.

Warrant Officer Xoli Mbele said the girls had opened a case of sexual assault, indecent assault and crimen injuria at the Johannesburg central police station on Wednesday night.

Nigeria seeks to barn Monday national strike as anger builds

 Abuja court issued an order seeking to bar a national strike planned for next week as police blocked protesters on Friday in the capital over soaring fuel prices which have sparked nationwide outrage.

The labour movement has threatened to stage open-ended general strikes, mass rallies and street protests across the country starting Monday if the government does not backtrack on its new policy to remove subsidies on petrol.

Judge Babatunde Adejuwon of the country’s industrial court ruled in favour of the government in an interim order restraining the unions from “embarking and/or inciting the general public …to embark on a general strike.”

He said the government argues that economic activities in Africa’s leading oil producer would be “adversely affected as will the health and safety of the citizenry if the impending strike is allowed to hold.”

The unions, which have threatened to shut down Africa’s most populous country, were not at the court and have vowed to go ahead with the strike.

They laughed over the order saying the government “has purchased a black market injunction.”

“There is no going back on next week’s protests and shutdown,” said Owei Lakemfa, secretary general of the Nigerian Labour Congress.

About 40 protesters tried to march to Eagle Square in Abuja when police blocked the road and prevented them, an AFP correspondent reported.

The police move was one of the latest attempt to stop increasingly volatile protests over the removal of fuel subsidies on January 1, which caused petrol prices to more than double.

On Thursday, protesters in Kano said police fired tear gas and beat demonstrators. They also claim one protester was crushed to death by a police van that ran into the group, an allegation authorities deny.

The protesters are now suing the government for brutally putting down their sleep-in rallies at a downtown square.

“We are demanding 500 million naira (about $3 million) in compensation from the Kano state and the federal government for the injuries sustained by protestors and the killing of one,” spokesman Jubril Suleiman told AFP.

They also want the court to restrain the police and the government from interfering with future protests.

The price hike also fuelled protests in other parts of the country.

Nigeria’s police chief Hafiz Ringim said he met with other security services chiefs on Friday to review the threats posed by the protests and to “re-tune the modalities so far put in place”. He did not give details.

Rights group Amnesty International has called on Nigerian authorities to end what it called excessive use of force against protesters.

Police on Monday fired tear gas to disperse a protest in Abuja and were accused of shooting dead a demonstrator on Tuesday in Kwara state, which authorities denied, saying a mob killed him.

The lower house of parliament has summoned an emergency session for Sunday to discuss the crisis facing one of sub-Saharan Africa’s powerhouses.

Economists and government officials in Africa’s largest oil producer view removing the subsidy as essential to allow for more spending on the country’s woefully inadequate infrastructure and to ease pressure on its foreign reserves.

The government says more than $8 billion was spent in 2011 on fuel subsidies.

Nigerians however see the subsidy as their only benefit from the nation’s oil wealth, and years of deeply rooted corruption have resulted in profound distrust of government officials.

Comments are moderated. Please keep them clean and brief.