Ban warns Senegal over violence
DAKAR – The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon issued a warning to Senegal, saying in a statement from New York that he is concerned about the increase in violence and urges its political parties to refrain from violence.
The normally quiet nation of Senegal has been rattled by protests since Friday when the country’s constitutional court validated the candidacy of President Abdoulaye Wade, who is seeking a third term in next month’s election. The constitution was revised in 2001 in order to impose a two-term limit. Four people have been killed in the protests, including a policeman who was stoned to death by demonstrators.
Mugabe slams AU leaders HARARE – Zimbabwean state media says President Robert Mugabe has condemned the Africa Union at a recent summit for recognising Libya’s National Transitional Counci.Mugabe, arriving in Harare late on Tuesday from the gathering of African nations in Ethiopia, said it was ‘unprocedural’ for the grouping’s Peace and Security Commission to make the decision instead of the whole summit of leaders, state radio reported yesterday.He accused unnamed African countries of being ‘fronts’ for Western powers whose ‘criminal’ Nato bombardment of Libya helped lead to the killing of Colonel Muammar Gadhdfi, a former Mugabe ally.The continental body didn’t even protest the Nato action, Mugabe said. Zimbabwe itself has not officially recognised Libya’s NTC.Ivory Coast annulls 11 poll resultsABIDJAN – Ivory Coast’s top court on Tuesday annulled the election of 11 lawmakers from President Alassane Ouattara’s party in a December vote after complaints that they breached campaign laws.But the head of the Constitutional Council, Francis Wodie, said the court had upheld the election of 55 others. There had been 110 requests concerning 66 candidates. Wodie said the complaints concerned electoral campaigns with several candidates using soldiers as escorts while pitching for votes. He did not name the disqualified parliamentarians.By-elections will be held in these 11 constituencies along with another one where the vote was annulled due to the death of a candidate.
