Current Events Summary

North Africa News:

In Sudan they have recently dismissed the head of UN humanitarian operations, Wael al-Haj Ibrahim, and are now standing by their decision, despite the fact that it puts millions of people in danger of not being able to get help, which the UN obviously does not favor. The Justice Minister Mohamed Ali al-Mardi has said that the government had no choice, since Ibrahim was discouraging displaced villagers from Darfur not to return to their villages, and telling people who returned to their villages that they should go back to the camps set up for them, despite the fact that the government was saying the exact opposite thing and he was warned not to tell the villagers that. "State authorities were left with no other alternative but to take that decision so as to preserve the independence of Sudan," said al-Mardi. This is another thing adding to the tension between humanitarian groups and Darfur authorities. Ibramhim as well as other humanitarian groups have objected to the way that refugees have been dealt with: for example, last month UN officials saw troops and police rounding up about 1,000 refugees at gunpoint. They were reportedly dumped on the outskirts of a city and went to live with relatives and friends. The forced relocation does not sit well with many groups, but the Sudanese government insists that they are not forcing anyone to relocate, and that camps have become too crowded and dangerous. (BBCnews.com)
Sudan blamed countries such as Chad that allow Darfur rebels to work in their territory for not persuading the groups to attend peace talks last month. "We really think that the countries that are hosting these insurgents are not playing their required role to the full to push them to attend the conference," Sudanese Defence Minister Abdel Rahim Hussein told a news conference in Dubai. (worldnews.com)
In Chad there was a recent violent Anti-French protest among several thousand students. Cars belonging to white diplomats were attacked, and the crowd was dispersed with tear gas. The demonstrators were demanding that 6 French aid workers who were charged with the kidnapping of children be tried in Chad. it was originally supposed to be a peaceful protest, but it got out of hand, and ended in the protesters overtaking the capital city, N'Djamena, rioting in the streets and converging at the French embassy. The workers said that they thought they were rescuing Darfur war orphans, but the parents of the 103 children flown to France have said that they did not give permission for the children to be flown out of the country and were promised that the children would be locally educated. However, a Chadian judge refused a request by defense lawyers asking for the release pending the trial of the six French and three Chadians still held, and if the workers are found guilty they could face several years of hard labor in a Chadian prison. (bbcnews.com)
Separatist rebels in Ethiopia have supposedly bombed villages in Ogaden, resulting in many casualties. Helicopter gunships have been used to attack remote villiages, and about 1,500 refugees from Ogaden have crossed the border into Kenya to escape from the attacks.In April, rebels attacked a Chinese oil exploration unit killing 74 people, and ever since then the region has been under attack. International aid groups have been expelled from the region, so outside affirmation of the attacks will be hard to get, but there is some information: More than 500 families "reached different parts of Kenya's massive Dadaab camps in October and many gave similar accounts of a sustained campaign of rape and brutality, with men hanged from trees". Ethipia has dismissed this as rebel propaganda. (bbcnews.com)
The president of Egypt has unveiled plans for the building of many nuclear power stations in order to generate electricity. Hosni Mubarak, the president has decided to go with the plan because he believes that it is crucial to Egypt's development. The U.S. has offered its cooperation with the program, saying that there were "no comparison between peaceful use of nuclear technology by Egypt and Iran's controversial nuclear program". (bbcnews.com)
Four people in Gaza have been killed by an Israeli attack on a police station in Hamas-run in the city Khan-Younis. The Israeli government issued a statement saying that it had targeted a rocket crew position in the southern regions of Gaza, andsaid that it attacked "in response to rocket and mortar attacks... on localities in southern Israel". This came after the Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned a "broad operation" was going to happen in Gaza: "Every passing day brings us closer to a broad operation in Gaza... We are not looking forward to it, we would be happy if circumstances prevented it". Earlier an Israeli missile had hit a house in northern Gaza, injuring two children, although the government said that it had misfired and and was intended to hit a Gaza rocked squad. Many of these strikes have been in retaliation to rocket attacks by Palestinian militants, and is now considering curbing power supplies it sends to Gaza, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called the plans "unacceptable and punitive". (bbcnews.com)
Nigeria has announced that it won't host the U.S.'s military command, which "takes Africa's most-populous nation and a top source of American oil imports out of contention". Nigeria has criticized the U.S.'s Africa-wide military command. Nigeria is also against the U.S. basing its headquarters in West Africa. Several countries have expressed concern over the idea of the U.S. exapnding its influence on the continent, although the U.S. claims that it "aims to better protect America's strategic interest in Africa and assist African countries with military training and conflict prevention". (msnbc.com)