The besieged Madacascar president, Marc Ravalomanana, appeared headed out of office on Tuesday after opposition leader Andry Rajoelina took over a presidential palace which soldiers loyal to him had seized overnight. Reuters news agency reported being told by an unnamed aide to Ravalomanana, who was occupying another palace, that he was about to resign. The BBC said it had received a text message, also from an aide, saying: "Apparently the president is handing over to the military and is going to make a declaration." Agence France-Presse quoted an unidentified diplomat as saying the same, and the Malagasy news website, Sobika.com, said a local radio station had reported that the United States had guaranteed Ravalomanana's safety. Ravalomanana has been isolated for some days in a presidential palace on the outskirts of the capital, Antananarivo. The president has been under pressure to resign for the past two weeks.

Genocide Convict Reveals Body Remains 15 years Later

On Tuesday March 10, the remains of five genocide victims were exhumed at Motel Mont Huye in Butare town following information given by Jean Bosco Sibomana, who was convicted of Genocide charges by Gacaca (ground for conflict resolution) court in 2006. The victims who included Silas Sebera, husband to Member of Parliament in Rwanda Henriette Mukamurangwa Sebera, were killed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Sibomana testified that he was among the people who buried the remains in a tarpaulin. However, when the bodies were exhumed the tarpaulin was missing. "I feel relieved now because the remains of the people I buried here have been found. I apologise to the families of the bereaved for the traumatic times they have endured," said Sibomana. The MP who was able to identify her late husband's remains by the clothes he wore also expressed relief after seeing the remains. "I'm now relieved after 15 years since my husband was killed. We shall accord him a decent burial on April 21 to coincide with the day he was killed," she said. Those killed along with Silas Sebera include his younger brother Martin Hakizimana, Bosco Ntirushwamaboka, a brother to Mukamurangwa and one Gasore, a businessman.

Tunisia: Country to Host International Youth Forum

Under the theme "Youth in today's world: stakes and challenges" Tunis will host an International Youth Forum which will gather 200 young people from 40 countries who will reflect on the role of youth in the development and integrity of their homelands. The forum which will take place on March 18 and 19, 2009 is organized by the Tunisian Union of Youth Organizations (UTOJ). Other issues on the agenda include the role of young people in the dialogue of cultures and civilizations and the importance of the knowledge society for today's young people. The event is in line with President Ben Ali's initiative to proclaim 2010 as "International Youth Year", as well as the organization of a forum which will lead to the elaboration of an international charter which will link young people throughout the world to common universal values. In 2008, Tunisia launched a dialogue with youth which resulted in a document in which some 400,000 young Tunisians took part; the first in a line of documents due to be issued following the national youth strategy set up from 2009 to 2014.