Africa

Leaders of the five-member East African Community gathered at the bloc's headquarters Friday to sign a common market treaty to allow free trade, movement and right of residence in the region. The presidents of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda will pen the the East Africa Common Market Protocol in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha at a ceremony coinciding with the 10th anniversary of the EAC's revival. The protocol is expected to come into force in July 2010 when the member states shall have ratifed it. "It is anticipated that the ratification process will be smooth since most of the outstanding issues have ... Read Full Story

Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon has urged Zimbabwe to quickly implement a proposal to bring it back into compliance with international diamond production standards. The work plan was endorsed by the Kimberley Process assembly at a meeting last week in Namibia, giving Zimbabwe until June 2010 to rectify alleged human rights abuses by its army against civilians at its Marange diamond fields. "The success of the work plan rests squarely on the government of Zimbabwe, and I urge the government to implement it fully and without delay," Cannon said in a statement. The Kimberley Process, named for a South African mining town, was created ... Read Full Story

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon on Monday urged Zimbabwe to quickly implement a proposal to bring it back into compliance with international diamond production standards. The work plan was endorsed by the Kimberley Process assembly at a meeting last week in Namibia, giving Zimbabwe until June 2010 to rectify alleged human rights abuses by its army against civilians at its Marange diamond fields. "The success of the work plan rests squarely on the government of Zimbabwe, and I urge the government to implement it fully and without delay," Cannon said in a statement. The Kimberley Process, named for a South African mining town, ... Read Full Story

KIGALI (Reuters) - The United Nations genocide court in Tanzania is reneging on its promise to transfer Rwandan convicts to serve the remainder of their sentences in their homeland, Rwanda's justice minister said. Tharcisse Karugarama said he did not understand why the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) had not returned convicts when Rwanda's jails were deemed sufficient for those convicted by Sierra Leone's war crimes court. "We signed an agreement with ICTR to transfer the convicts to serve out their sentence here. So far they have not done it. We don't know why," he told Reuters on Monday. About 800,000 Tutsis and moderate ... Read Full Story

Investigators for the world's diamond control body say Zimbabwe should be suspended because its security forces are raping women, killing illegal miners and smuggling gems out of a diamond field in the troubled country's east. Human rights groups have made similar accusations, but the charges carry particular weight coming from Kimberley Process investigators who visited Zimbabwe in June and July. Their recommendations are in a confidential report obtained by The Associated Press Wednesday. Zimbabwean authorities have repeatedly denied such charges, including in statements to Kimberley Process investigators and officials. The investigators said they found evidence contradicting the official account, and that information provided by ... Read Full Story