President Ellen Sirleaf

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has commended the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for engaging the ruling CNDD military junta in Guinea, while rejecting the coup d'etat which brought them to power. She has also expressed the pleasure that the two-year limit put forward by the military junta as the period for returning the country to constitutional rule is working towards being reduced.

The Liberian leader spoke during the closed session of the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government's Extraordinary Summit held in Abuja, Nigeria. The Summit was convened to examine the latest developments in Guinea, following the death of General Lansana Conte, considering in particular the military takeover of government.

The President said Liberia is aware of the danger that will arise if the Guinean issue is not properly addressed, stressing that ECOWAS needs to act so as to not revert to sub-regional war. She said the placement of political sanctions on Guinea thereby barring the West African nation from attending all ECOWAS Heads of States and ministerial meetings is in the right direction. She called for care to be taken before economic sanctions on Guinea are put in place, saying it could further worsen the situation and called on ECOWAS to work with the international community to support Guinea to organize free and fair elections.

International Criminal Court Charges Former Leader with War Crimes

Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have formally charged a former Vice-President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with multiple counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in the Central African Republic (CAR) according to UN News Service.

Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, who was the President and Commander in Chief of the Mouvement de libération du Congo (MLC), is accused of directing his militia to commit murder, torture and rape against civilians as well as to commit outrages upon personal dignity and pillaging in an attempt to suppress support for anti-government rebels during the 2002-2003 bloody power-struggle in the CAR.

The ICC alleges that in 2002 the MLC was leased to the then embattled President of the CAR, Ange Felix Patassé, to engage in a systematic and wide-spread assault on the civilian population across the country, including its capital, Bangui.

Dispute Deepens over Next President as War Worsens

Garowe online has reported that Somalia's fractured interim government and a weak opposition faction it inked a peace deal with late last year are becoming increasingly at odds with each other, as violence rages in different parts of the country.

 The Alliance for Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS), a divided opposition faction led by Islamist politician Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, says its representatives are ready to implement the Djibouti Agreement and form a 'unity government' by joining the Somali parliament.
"On our side, we have completed the representatives required from us and we are ready to work together and to respect the Djibouti Agreement," Sheikh Sharif said in Djibouti, while warning against the collapse of the peace agreement.

Kenya, Uganda to Finance New Railway Line

The governments of Kenya and Uganda will soon commence the construction of a new standard gauge railway line to decongest the Mombassa Port and improve transportation on the Northern Corridor according to East African Business Week

The construction of the railway line is expected to cut delays of cargo at the port of Mombassa by 70 per cent. The port, currently handling in excess of 16 million tonnes of cargo per year, is projected to reach 30 million tonnes by 2030.

At a joint commission meeting on the new Kenya-Uganda Railway at a Nairobi hotel last week, Prime Minister Raila Odinga noted that despite the government's introduction of a 24-hour operation at the Mombassa Port to reduce delays, the containers do not get transported upcountry in good time due to problems with the railways.