A security official says that Mauritanian police have arrested a man presumed to have kidnapped two Italians last week. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said Tuesday that Abderrahmane Ould Imidou was arrested Monday near Kobeni, where the couple's car was found with bullet holes. He will be taken to the capital, Nouakchott, for questioning. Sergio Cicala and his wife were taken by gunmen Friday night from their vehicle... Read Full Story
Guinea's military junta has suspended negotiations with the opposition on the country's political crisis until the return of its wounded leader, a junta spokesman said Wednesday. Minister of Communications Idrissa Cherif said that the talks meant to find a solution to the country's political stalemate have not been canceled, but will be put on hold for the foreseeable future. Discussions were underway in neighboring Burkina Faso and mediated by that country's president following the massacre... Read Full Story
The UN Security Council on Tuesday urged Ivorian parties to resolve technical and financial hurdles that caused the sixth postponement of the presidential elections in the west African country. It noted with concern that the polls, which had been scheduled for November 29, were again put off until early next year. The 15-member body adopted a non-binding statement that "urges the Ivorian actors to address the remaining tasks and to hold open, free, fair and transparent presidential elections... Read Full Story
Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo and his main rivals agreed Thursday in Ouagadougou to a new date for presidential elections early next years, days after the vote was postponed for a sixth time. Gbagbo, Prime Minister Guillaume Soro and the two opposition leaders, former president Henri Konan Bedie and former prime minister Alassane Ouattara, set a new date of late February, early January for the first round of voting, following talks with Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaore... Read Full Story
Regional body ECOWAS should force the Guinean junta back to the negotiating table and not allow them to use their wounded leader's incapacity to cling to power, a key opposition leader said Wednesday. "The junta cannot use the poor health of its leader (Captain Moussa Dadis Camara) to stay in power indefinitely," said Mamadou Bah Baadiko. Guinea's military rulers on Tuesday said they were suspending talks with ECOWAS mediator Blaise Compaore, the Burkina Faso president, until Camara returns... Read Full Story
Guinea's opposition on Friday rejected proposals to end political deadlock made by the mediator, President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso, on the grounds that they ignored the will of Guinea's people. "The fundamental preoccupations of the Guinean people have not been taken into account," the opposition said in a statement, because Compaore suggested that junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara stay in power. The opposition has repeatedly insisted that Camara should relinquish power... Read Full Story
Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore, who is mediating in Guinea's crisis, has recommended that junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara stay in power during a transition government, in a document seen by AFP Friday. While the opposition, which has repeatedly insisted that Camara should relinquish power, would not officially react on Friday, sources said they rejected the mediator's plans. In the document, Compaore proposes forming a national transition council led by Camara, who would be... Read Full Story
Guinean junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara's candidacy in any fresh presidential elections is "not negotiable" in the current mediation talks, Communications Minister Idrissa Cherif said Sunday. "There are some issues which are not negotiable. One is the president's (Camara's) candidacy (in new elections)," Cherif said. "We will also not discuss the break-up of the CNDD (the junta)," he added. Cherif said, however, that the junta were willing to form a unity government with the... Read Full Story
The west African regional grouping ECOWAS on Monday expressed confidence in Burkina Faso's mediation of the crisis in Guinea triggered by a massacre at an opposition rally there in September. Nigeria's President Umaru Yar'Adua, who holds the rotating chairmanship of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) spoke to journalists after talks with Burkina Faso leader Blaise Compaore in the administrative capital Abuja. "He (Compaore) outlined his plans and I am confident that what... Read Full Story
Guinea's ruling junta Tuesday said it wanted the creation of a transitional government to lead the country out of the crisis that has gripped it since a September massacre by the military. Regime representatives are in Ouagadougou for talks with the official mediator, Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore. An aide to junta chief Captain Moussa Dadis Camara ruled out the possibility of the leader going into exile while the west African nation regains stability, but called for an "open... Read Full Story
