strategic allies in africa
after the botched christmas day plot the us placed nigeria on list of
countries from which travellers would face extra security checks angering abuja
authorities
the irked nigerian authorities warned the move could touch off an unprecedented
diplomatic spat and hurt the longstanding relations between the two countries
nigeria senate threatened to sever ties unless the us rescinded its decision
which ranked the country alongside countries including cuba iran syria and
sudan
nigerian umar farouk abdulmutallab was due to appear in court in detroit
later friday accused of trying to blow up northwest airlines flight with
people aboard
we are going to engage all our diplomatic gears to ensure that we either have
relations with america or we don senate spokesman ayogu eze warned
the government response has illustrated concerns among the country political
class that they are continuously ignored by the us said nigerian commentator
shehu sani
on the other hand he said the us action could be seen as an expression of
its frustration at government whose election in it chided as seriously
flawed and marred by malfeasance and vote rigging
it kind of trigger of some things that have been bottled up by america
said tajudeen akanji head of the centre for peace and conflict studies at
nigeria premier university of ibadan
the world is not happy with what is happening in this country he said in
reference to the power vacuum created by president umaru yar adua long absence
from the country due to illness
yar adua has been hospitalised in saudi arabia for heart condition for
month and half he has not delegated official functions to his deputy and
commentators have taken to labelling the african giant rudderless ship
uncertainty as to who is in charge of the country has also led to fears that the
decade long post military democracy could be at risk
us nigeria relations are suffering from the absence of political leadership
in nigeria if the us president wants to talk to someone in nigeria who would
he talk to said chidi odinkalu of the open society initiative in west africa
mistrust between the two countries began just after the elections when the
white house said it was deeply troubled by deadly clashes and alleged
irregularities in the polls
president barack obama choice of ghana as his first african destination after
he came to power last year riled authorities in nigeria the fifth largest
source of us oil imports and regional powerhouse
when president obama went to ghana and not nigeria he was sending message
said princeton lyman former us envoy to nigeria
during visit to abuja last year the us secretary of state hillary clinton
publicly chided nigeria for lack of accountability saying it has eroded the
legitimacy of the government and contributed to the rise of groups that embrace
violence and reject the authority of the state
the writing may already be on the wall nigeria can become much less relevant
to the us said lyman in recent paper
for the us to rely more on south africa to resolve conflict on the continent had
also hurt nigeria pride said sani nigeria africa most populous nation
has made the continent biggest contribution to african peacekeeping missions
nigeria is today not making major impact on its region or on the african
union or on the big problems of africa that it was making before said lyman
in nigeria refused to be used as base for the proposed us african
military command africom to coordinate all american military and security
interests across the continent it is currently based in germany
diplomats say nigeria has on various occasions turned down washington
unofficial offers to send us marines to help secure the vital but volatile oil
producing niger delta
another ex us ambassador to nigeria john campbell said nigeria cannot be
reliable ally if it is consumed by its own corruption and political
machinations adding it is rapidly becoming more like somalia failed
state with no real government to cooperate with
tennis venus williams overpowers zheng jie in hk
hong kong jan afp
american venus williams overpowered zheng jie at an exhibition match in hong
kong on friday with victory over her chinese opponent
zheng ranked in the world took an early lead in the first set but
williams powered back to overtake the year old chengdu native
williams seven time grand slam winner continued the pressure in the second
set blasting zheng with her powerful serve
every game was close williams said after the match
really had to work for it
the american struggled for much of losing her wimbledon crown to sister
serena and then crashing out of the beijing open in october
earlier friday japan ayumi morita beat year old argentine gisela dulko
and in tiebreak
the hong kong tournament features four teams with three players each
representing russia europe the americas and asia pacific in singles and
mixed doubles play
the tournament which wraps up saturday comes before the australian open later
this month the first grand slam of the season
aer lingus forecasts operating profit in second half
dublin jan afp
irish airline aer lingus forecast on friday that it would report small
operating profit in the second half of
in trading update the airline said the there had been better than expected
yields in the second half of
this had been driven by removal of long haul aircraft in september and route
cancellations in november added aer lingus which is currently negotiating
cost cutting package with staff
the carrier said on friday that it anticipated that demand will remain soft for
the first six months of and pledges to maintain its focus on tight
capacity management to improve yields
aer lingus plans to reduce capacity at london gatwick from five aircraft to
three from march as result of weak consumer demand
the airline has also deferred two airbus aircraft that were due to be
delivered in october and november to april and may
passenger numbers in december were an increase of percent on
the same period year earlier
the increase was mainly in short haul passengers which were up percent
compared to drop of percent in long haul passengers
the company is currently negotiating million euros million dollars
year cost cutting package with unions that will involve slashing jobs by nearly
and cutting pay
renault to shift clio production to turkey report
paris jan afp
french car maker renault may shift production of its popular clio model to
turkey report said on friday sparking call by france right wing ruling
party for the government to block the move
renault plans to end production of the model at the factory in flins northwest
of paris and move it to the western turkish city of bursa the french economic
daily la tribune said without citing its sources
renault spokesman did not confirm the report saying clios were currently made
in flins and bursa and production would continue that way when the new version
the clio is launched
the spokesman for president nicolas sarkozy ump party frederic lefebvre said
complete shift to turkey would be unacceptable and called for the state to
intervene to block any such move
demand that the state summon renault to prevent the terrible decision
about flins from being adopted he said on the radio station rfi on friday
lefebvre cited government measures taken last year to support the auto sector in
the economic downturn which included generous loans to car makers on condition
that they keep production and jobs in france
sarkozy has vaunted those measures as helping drag france out of recession last
year
lefebvre said if the auto industry has been saved in our country it is because
there has been extremely strong state involvement and support by taxpayers
nato forces capture huge cache of drugs weapons
kabul jan afp
international forces in afghanistan said friday they seized huge cache of
opium heroin and weapons in southern kandahar province centre of illegal
drugs production fuelling taliban insurgency
combined air and ground operation early friday had stopped suspicious
vehicle later found to be carrying the drugs and weapons nato international
security assistance force isaf said
subsequent search of the truck revealed more than pounds
kilograms of processed opium more than pounds of wet opium paste
approximately pounds of heroin and multiple firearms with ammunition it
said
most of the drugs were destroyed on the spot and two men were detained it
added
kandahar and neighbouring helmand produce most of the world opium the raw
material of heroin in an illicit industry worth billions of dollars
drugs as well as protection money extorted from aid projects is funding an
insurgency that has become increasingly virulent in recent years experts say
the un office on drugs and crime unodc said last month that lower
cultivation output and falling prices of opium have seen its export value in
afghanistan drop percent since
in the potential gross export value of opium from afghanistan was
billion dollars or about quarter of the country gross domestic product
unodc found in its afghanistan opium survey
in the export value was billion dollars or third of gdp
the report said market forces are moving against the afghan drugs trade as
lower revenues and excess production have put damper on supply
but experts in kabul say stockpiles are growing as smugglers cut supply to
create shortage and push up prices
they also say militants are increasingly on the payroll of smugglers protecting
supply routes into neighbouring countries as trucks cross porous borders with
drugs and return with weapons
president hamid karzai has vowed to clamp down on the drugs trade and opium
cultivation
afghan officials particularly police are said to be involved in the lucrative
trade
western media have alleged the president younger brother ahmad wali karzai
who heads kandahar provincial council is involved in the drugs business
karzai has repeatedly denied the allegations
airline bomb plots strains us nigeria ties
lagos jan afp
us security measures in the wake of failed bomb attack on an american airline
has revealed cracks in relations between the us and nigeria one of its
strategic allies in africa
after the botched christmas day plot the us placed nigeria on list of
countries from which travellers would face extra security checks angering abuja
authorities
the irked nigerian authorities warned the move could touch off an unprecedented
diplomatic spat and hurt the longstanding relations between the two countries
nigeria senate threatened to sever ties unless the us rescinded its decision
which ranked the country alongside countries including cuba iran syria and
sudan
nigerian umar farouk abdulmutallab was due to appear in court in detroit
later friday accused of trying to blow up northwest airlines flight with
people aboard
we are going to engage all our diplomatic gears to ensure that we either have
relations with america or we don senate spokesman ayogu eze warned
the government response has illustrated concerns among the country political
class that they are continuously ignored by the us said nigerian commentator
shehu sani
on the other hand he said the us action could be seen as an expression of
its frustration at government whose election in it chided as seriously
flawed and marred by malfeasance and vote rigging
it kind of trigger of some things that have been bottled up by america
said tajudeen akanji head of the centre for peace and conflict studies at
nigeria premier university of ibadan
the world is not happy with what is happening in this country he said in
reference to the power vacuum created by president umaru yar adua long absence
from the country due to illness
yar adua has been hospitalised in saudi arabia for heart condition for
month and half he has not delegated official functions to his deputy and
commentators have taken to labelling the african giant rudderless ship
uncertainty as to who is in charge of the country has also led to fears that the
decade long post military democracy could be at risk
us nigeria relations are suffering from the absence of political leadership
in nigeria if the us president wants to talk to someone in nigeria who would
he talk to said chidi odinkalu of the open society initiative in west africa
mistrust between the two countries began just after the elections when the
white house said it was deeply troubled by deadly clashes and alleged
irregularities in the polls
president barack obama choice of ghana as his first african destination after
he came to power last year riled authorities in nigeria the fifth largest
source of us oil imports and regional powerhouse
when president obama went to ghana and not nigeria he was sending message
said princeton lyman former us envoy to nigeria
during visit to abuja last year the us secretary of state hillary clinton
publicly chided nigeria for lack of accountability saying it has eroded the
legitimacy of the government and contributed to the rise of groups that embrace
violence and reject the authority of the state
the writing may already be on the wall nigeria can become much less relevant
to the us said lyman in recent paper
for the us to rely more on south africa to resolve conflict on the continent had
also hurt nigeria pride said sani nigeria africa most populous nation
has made the continent biggest contribution to african peacekeeping missions
nigeria is today not making major impact on its region or on the african
union or on the big problems of africa that it was making before said lyman
in nigeria refused to be used as base for the proposed us african
military command africom to coordinate all american military and security
interests across the continent it is currently based in germany
diplomats say nigeria has on various occasions turned down washington
unofficial offers to send us marines to help secure the vital but volatile oil
producing niger delta
another ex us ambassador to nigeria john campbell said nigeria cannot be
reliable ally if it is consumed by its own corruption and political
machinations adding it is rapidly becoming more like somalia failed
state with no real government to cooperate with
canada jobless rate steady at percent in december
ottawa jan afp
employment in canada was unchanged in december following large bump the
previous month and the unemployment rate remained steady at percent
government agency announced friday
analysts had expected new jobs to be created in december following the
creation of new jobs in november
statistics canada said employment has stabilized over the past nine months but
that the country economy has lost jobs percent from an october
peak
in december employment rose in health care and social assistance as well as
professional scientific and technical services
canada transportation warehousing manufacturing building and public
administration sectors saw declines
the construction industry which has suffered along with the declining economy
saw turnaround with the addition of new jobs since march
the number of self employed was up percent
some fewer women were working
and the average hourly wage increased by percent but employees also worked
longer hours
germany gives cautious welcome to spain eu ideas
berlin jan afp
europe powerhouse germany gave cautious welcome on friday to proposals from
the european union new spanish presidency for form of government for the
bloc on economic issues
there are definitely some core ideas there that are not wrong said michael
offer german finance ministry spokesman adding it was good that spain is
bringing new proposals into the discussion
it contains issues that are important to us how to drive growth so that we can
create jobs and tax income and the exit strategy of stimulus measures that we
want to put into place from offer told regular government briefing in
berlin
but this doesn mean that we are at some point going to implement every single
measure as it stands instead they constitute an opening shot that will now be
taken up in the relevant bodies
the proposals by spain which assumed the six month rotating eu presidency on
january include the promise of rewards for members who meet binding targets
and the threat of sanctions for those that don
but spain risks irking britain and other countries with more liberal economies
which fear loss of sovereignty on economic issues germany is also fierce
defender of the independence of the european central bank
spanish prime minister jose luis rodriguez zapatero intends to launch the
initiative at the next eu summit on february in brussels
german chancellor angela merkel meanwhile was due to hold working dinner on
wednesday with belgium herman van rompuy the eu first permanent president
her spokesman said in his first official visit to berlin
iraq bars politicians parties from election
baghdad jan afp
fourteen iraqi politicians and parties linked to saddam hussein baath party
have been barred from taking part in march elections in blow for efforts
towards national reconciliation
the decision to ban them from the polls the second since saddam ouster after
us led invasion in was made by iraq independent commission for justice
and accountability in bid to purge parties alleged to have been sponsored by
diehard elements of the banned baath party
among the most prominent politicians banned was saleh al mutlak secular sunni
lawmaker who heads the national dialogue front
it is clear that this decision is against the law and the constitution mutlak
told press conference at his party headquarters in central baghdad
we will go to the iraqi courts and we will try to deal with this issue through
the appeals court if the courts are not exposed to political pressure we are
sure that we will win
he added we are fighters and we will continue to fight if the appeal
fails
any appeal would be heard by federal court and it was not immediately clear
how long it would take for ruling to be made
mahmud othman an independent kurdish mp said the decision would harm efforts
towards national reconciliation seen as key to reducing instability in
country that was engulfed in sectarian bloodshed in and
this will not help reconciliation othman told afp
if someone even if he is baathist if he is not criminal if he has not
been leader in the past regime so what if he is baathist he can still come
and work this has been politicised
baath party membership was key condition for advancement in public sector
employment during saddam regime
earlier falah shanshal an mp loyal to radical shiite cleric moqtada al sadr
and head of the parliamentary committee charged with de baathification said
the decision has been taken by the commission after the emergence of evidence
showing that mutlak promoted and glorified the forbidden baath party
mutlak said in parliament will vote in the name of the baath these words
themselves are propaganda for the baath party of saddam hussein and the
constitution prevents voting for the baath
shanshal confirmed that other individuals or parties had been barred but did
not give details
haidar al mullah spokesman for the national dialogue front accused iran of
being behind the decision to bar mutlak from contesting the polls just day
after iranian foreign minister manouchehr mottaki completed one day visit to
baghdad
there are regional influences particularly from iran taking such decisions
which aim to destabilise the iraqi political process he said
meanwhile hamdia al husseini senior election official told afp iraq
independent high electoral commission had not received any request to block any
names from participating in the election
on october the national dialogue front confirmed that it was joining forces
with iraq sunni vice president tareq al hashemi and the bloc headed by ex
prime minister iyad allawi secular shiite to contest the march election
football african nations cup group squads
luanda jan afp
official african nations cup group squads with shirt numbers ahead of january
tournament in angola
burkina faso stallions
goalkeepers daouda diakite arab contractors egy moussa sanou asse
adama sawadogo asfa yennenga
defenders mady panandetiguiri and mamadou tall uniao leiria por
ibrahim gnanou alania vladikavkaz rus bakary kone guingamp fra paul
koulibaly al ittihad lba moussa ouattara kaiserslautern ger
midfielders charles kabore marseille fra mahamoudou kere
charleroi bel capt mohamed koffi petrojet egy abdoulaziz nikiema
qingdao jonoon chn jonathan pitroipa hamburg ger florent rouamba
sheriff tiraspol mda
strikers wilfried sanou cologne ger wilfried balima sheriff
tiraspol mda habib bamogo nice fra moumouni dagano al khor qat
issouf kone cluj rom issouf ouattara uniao leiria por narcisse
yameogo mugan aze patrick zoundi fortuna dusseldorf ger
ivory coast elephants
goalkeepers boubacar barry lokeren bel aristide zogbo maccabi
netanya isr vincent de paul angban asec mimosas
defenders kolo toure manchester city eng emmanuel eboue
arsenal eng guy demel hamburg ger souleman bamba hibernian sco
brou angoua kispest honved hun arthur boka stuttgart ger
abdoulaye meite west bromwich albion eng siaka tiene valenciennes fra
midfielders yaya toure barcelona esp didier zokora sevilla esp
kouamatien kone arges rom cheik tiote twente ned emerse fae
nice fra jean jacques gosso gosso monaco fra
strikers didier drogba capt and salomon kalou chelsea eng
bakari kone marseille fra abdulkader keita galatasaray tur aruna
dindane portsmouth eng kouassi gervinho yao lille fra
ghana black stars
goalkeepers richard kingson wigan eng daniel adyei liberty
professionals phelimon maccarthy hearts of oak
defenders hans adu sarpei bayer leverkusen ger samuel inkoom
basel sui eric addo roda ned isaac vorsah hoffenheim ger
lee addy bechem chelsea harrison afful esperance tun jonathan
mensah granada esp
midfielders ibrahim ayew zamalek egy michael essien chelsea eng
capt anthony annan rosenborg nor emmanuel badu udinese ita
opoku agyemang al saad qat kwadwo asamoah udinese ita moussa narry
auxerre fra andre ayew arles avignon fra
strikers mathew amoah breda ned asamoah gyan rennes fra
dominic adiyiah ac milan ita haminu draman kuban rus ransford osei
twente ned
togo sparrowhawks
goalkeepers baba tchagouni dijon fra kossi agassa istres fra
dodji obilale pontivy fra
defenders serge akakpo vaslui rom assimiou toure bayer
leverkusen ger abdoul gafar mamah sheriff mda eric akoto maccabi
nazareth isr vincent bossou maranatha boussari akinsola enugu
rangers ngr kacla eninful monastir tun richmond forson thouars fra
midfielders jacques romao grenoble fra floyd ayite nancy fra
komlan amewou stromgodset nor guillaume brenner alki cyp moustapha
salifou aston villa eng serge gakpe monaco fra sapol mani al
ittihad lba thomas dossevi nantes fra yao seneya dibba uae
strikers jonathan ayite nimes fra emmanuel adebayor manchester
city eng capt liyabe kpatoumbi asko kara
kouchner says situation in east dr congo must improve
kinshasa jan afp
french foreign minister bernard kouchner who arrived in the democratic republic
of congo capital kinshasa friday said the situation in the strife torn east
must improve
kouchner who met rwanda president paul kagame wednesday and meets the dr
congo leader joseph kabila on friday afternoon said the rapprochement
understanding dialogue between the two leaders had born fruits politically
on the ground however for men and women who live in the east things have
improved but not enough this will certainly be subject in the discussion with
kabila
know his stance on monuc kouchner said referring to the large united
nations mission in the dr congo would like to know what we can do for the
population in the sud and nord kivu provinces so they see their situation
improve
the mandate for monuc force of nearly blue helmets and police whose
mission has been criticised was renewed for five months on december
kinshasa asked for monuc progressive retreat from the country so long as the
east where several armed groups are active remains unstable
rwanda and the dr congo broke off diplomatic ties in after rwandan forces
invaded eastern congo in pursuit of rebels of the democratic forces for the
liberation of rwanda fdlr rebels who had taken refuge there after the
genocide
early in the two former foes conducted joint military operation to
strike against rebel forces in eastern dr congo
after his visit in kinshasa where he is only spending few hours bernard
kouchner continues his african trip to the republic of congo capital
brazzaville
football ziaya opts for saudi arabia
sochaux france jan afp
entente setif algerian star striker abdelmalek ziaya has opted to sign two
year deal with saudi club itthiad djeddah over move to french club sochaux
his agent confirmed on friday
hamed labdi said ziaya who has been called up for the first time by algeria for
the african nations cup which gets underway in angola this weekend has agreed
deal worth two million euros
sochaux had been looking to attract the year old from the algerian club on
six month loan deal with an option to sign for three years from next june but
ziaya preferred the solid contract offer by the saudi club
it the biggest transfer to date in the algerian league noone can say
negotiated badly said setif president abdelhakim serrar
sochaux are now looking at nigerian strikers john utaka portsmouth and ideye
brown neuchatel xamax and scotland kris boyd glasgow rangers
two men arrested in ny bomb plot probe law enforcement
new york jan afp
two men were arrested friday in connection with an alleged plot to bomb new york
around last year anniversary of the september attacks law enforcement
officials said
the two men were arrested by federal bureau of investigation agents early
friday fbi spokesman richard kolko told afp
the pair are associates of najibullah zazi colorado man accused of buying
chemicals and planning bombing spree around last year anniversary of the
september attacks said law enforcement source who asked not to be
identified
greek official industrial output slumps percent
athens jan afp
greek industrial output slumped by percent in november on month
comparison after drop of percent in october official data showed on
friday
this latest figure was published as missions from the european commission and
the european central bank ended three day visit here to assess crisis
programme by the socialist government to fight chronic budget deficit and debt
problems
the programme is also intended to raise the competitive position of greek
industry
manufactured output component of industrial output fell by percent after
fall of percent in october
the statistics office esye said that this was mainly because of fall of
production in the sectors of computers and electronic equipment furniture and
equipment for the transportation industry
mining output fell by percent after fall of percent in october
because of reduction of coal and lignite mined and of other extraction
activities
the average index for industrial output in the first months of showed
fall of percent on month comparison compared with an equivalent fall
of percent in
norway expresses support for iceland in icesave affair
oslo jan afp
norway expressed friday its support for iceland saying it would honour its
loans to the country and urging the international monetary fund to do the same
despite the row over the icesave bank collapse
as long as iceland honours its commitments and continues its economic
stability programme agreed with the imf in exchange for rescue loan
package the norwegian position is that we should do the same norwegian
foreign minister jonas gahr stoere told reporters
and the nordic countries should tell the imf that the programme ought to
continue as planned he said following meeting with icelandic finance
minister steingrimur sigfusson
iceland nordic neighbours denmark sweden finland and norway in july signed
loan agreements of billion euros with payouts dependent on the country
economic progress in addition to the imf billion dollar rescue package
first instalment of million euros was paid out in mid december from the
nordic loan of which norway overall share is million euros
iceland international loans were thrown into doubt after president olafur
ragnar grimsson decided tuesday not to sign bill that would have paid london
and the hague billion euros billion dollars for compensation they paid
out to some british and dutch savers who lost their savings when icesave
collapsed in iceland october economic crisis
the president instead referred the issue to referendum sparking anger in
london and the hague
the imf said in response it would consult with the other countries providing
financing for the programme
sigfusson on friday reiterated that iceland would honour its international
obligations
the date for the referendum has yet to be set with february being discussed
as one possibility
sigfusson said friday it could take place in early march
if the no side were to win the crisis would not be resolved and we would
have to find other alternatives or solutions we can just give up he said
providing no details on other possibilities
sigfusson was to travel to denmark to meet with his danish counterpart later
friday after speaking thursday by phone with swedish finance minister anders
