CAR violence: French troops reach town of Bossangoa

French troops have reached the town of Bossangoa in the Central African Republic, which has been paralysed by communal fighting.

France is deploying 1,600 troops to help end the fighting in the country, alongside a larger African Union force.

French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told the BBC the mission was aimed at creating stability to enable humanitarian aid to arrive.

The CAR has been in turmoil since the president was ousted in March.

Francois Bozize was overthrown by a rebel alliance known as Seleka in March. Its leader, Michel Djotodia, took over as president.

Armed gangs, mainly former Seleka rebels, now control most of the landlocked country.

Recently the violence in the chronically unstable country has taken on a sectarian tone, with Muslim and Christian communities pitted against one another.

French President Francois Hollande said he believed security could be restored within six months.

But when asked about the future role of Mr Djotodia, he said: "You cannot leave in place a president who has been unable to do anything and who has even let things happen."

Thousands stranded

Around 80 French troops reached Bossangoa late on Saturday.

Some 30 people have been reported killed there in the past three days and African peacekeepers have been struggling to help nearly 1,000 displaced civilians who have fled to their base.

Some 600 French soldiers were on the streets of the capital, Bangui

One in 10 Central Africans have fled their homes

The Red Cross says almost 400 people have died in the past few days in Bangui alone

The largely Muslim Seleka rebels have been accused of atrocities against Christian communities

These civilians, mostly women and children, are crammed together on the dusty ground with no shelter, the BBC's Thomas Fessy reports.

Basic medication is now being distributed but the people can only wait for a lull in the fighting to fetch food and water outside, he says.

"We accelerated our operations on Thursday to respond to the violence," Mr Le Drian said, adding that French troops were working with Congolese troops in Bossangoa who are part of the AU force.

The size of the AU force is to rise to 6,000 troops.

Some 40,000 Christians have sought refuge around a church in Bossangoa, which lies 300km (190 miles) north of the capital. About 7,000 Muslims are stranded at a school located on the other side of the town.

No-one was moving on the main thoroughfare between the two locations earlier on Saturday, our correspondent says.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Saturday that as many as 9,000 peacekeepers would be required to move into the CAR, and he hoped they would eventually become a United Nations operation.

'Everything is destroyed'

An estimated 10% of CAR's 4.6 million people have fled their homes, while more than a million urgently need food aid, according to the UN.

The largely Muslim rebels controlling much of the country have been accused of atrocities against Christians, and fighting between Muslim and Christian militias has broken out in the capital, Bangui, and elsewhere.

Christian communities have now set up so-called "anti-balaka" self-defence forces, most of them loyal to the ousted president.

The latest bloodshed in the capital is said to have started as militias loyal to Mr Bozize attacked the city.

At least 394 people have died in three days of fighting in the capital alone, the Red Cross says.

Some 600 French soldiers were patrolling the streets of the capital on Saturday, although the centre of the city was still reported to be in the hands of the Seleka rebels.

French reinforcements arrived from western neighbour Cameroon on Saturday and armoured personnel carriers were visible on Bangui's roads.

The African Union already has an estimated 2,500 troops in the country and had been set to boost its size by 1,000. But a statement on the French presidency website said the AU had decided to extend its force to 6,000.

The CAR's Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye said the international troops were a good start but were not sufficient to stabilise the country in the long term.

He told the BBC the situation in his country was so chaotic he had been unable to speak to Mr Djotodia since the violence had escalated on Thursday.

"Everything has been destroyed. We need to restore order before the administration can begin working again," Mr Tiangaye said.

The French mobilisation comes hard on the heels of an operation against Islamists linked to al-Qaeda who had seized control of northern Mali and were threatening the south of the country too.

Mandela death: Scores of world leaders to head to S Africa

Some 60 heads of state or government have announced they will take part in the memorial service or state funeral of Nelson Mandela, South Africa says.

US President Barack Obama, Francois Hollande of France and UK PM David Cameron will be among those attending Tuesday's memorial at a Soweto stadium.

South Africa's first black president died on Thursday and the nation has held a day of prayer and reflection.

Mourners in their millions visited places of worship and community halls.

At Soweto's Regina Mundi Catholic Church, a centre of the anti-apartheid struggle, the priest Sebastian Roussouw said the late leader had been "a light in the darkness".

"Madiba did not doubt the light. He paved the way for a better future, but he cannot do it alone," he said, referring to Mr Mandela by his clan name.

Mr Mandela's ex-wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, was among the congregation at the Bryanston Methodist church in Johannesburg, where President Jacob Zuma urged South Africans not to forget the values he had stood for.

In Cape Town, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba said Mr Mandela was a powerful and continuing reminder that individuals have the power to make change happen in the world.

Over the next eight days, a series of events will commemorate the man who steered their country out of white-minority rule.

From Bono to Ban Ki-moon

International leaders, global figures and celebrities will join 95,000 ordinary South Africans at the memorial service at FNB stadium in Soweto, where Nelson Mandela made his final major public appearance during the 2010 football World Cup.

The event is likely to be one of the biggest such gatherings of international dignitaries in recent years. The government said 59 leaders had so far confirmed they would be attending: an indication of the special place Mr Mandela held in people's hearts across the world, officials say.

Among those on the list are UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, German President Joachim Gauck, EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Crown Prince Felipe of Spain.

Three former US presidents, George W Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, will join President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and India's Pranab Mukherjee will also be there. Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has not yet confirmed whether he will travel.

Leading celebrities in the anti-apartheid movement Peter Gabriel and Bono are also expected to attend as are former international leaders such as Marti Ahtisaari who, along with Mr Mandela, were part of a group known as The Elders, promoting peace and human rights.

Mr Mandela's body will lie in state in Pretoria on the following three days and he will be given a state funeral on Sunday, 15 December.

A smaller number of international dignitaries including the Prince of Wales will attend the burial in the Eastern Cape village of Qunu, where the late president grew up.

While Tuesday's memorial service will clearly be a big organisational challenge, the state funeral will be a greater logistical one because of its rural remoteness, BBC correspondent Mike Woodridge reports.

Worshippers crowded into churches, mosques, synagogues and temples to celebrate Nelson Mandela's life

Nelson Mandela's ex-wife Winnie Madikizela Mandela attended Mass in Johannesburg

Crowds continued to gather outside Nelson Mandela's home in Houghton

A stage is being built in the village of Qunu for next Sunday's funeral

'Guard of honour'

South Africans have been holding vigils since Mr Mandela died at home at the age of 95, after several months of ill health.

The focal points for public remembrance have so far been Mr Mandela's house in the Johannesburg suburb of Houghton and his old home in Soweto.

Mourners and well wishers there have lit candles and laid thousands of wreaths of flowers.

Mr Mandela's body will lie in state on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at the heart of the South African government in Pretoria.

His body will be taken each morning from the mortuary to the city hall through the streets of Pretoria. Members of the public have been encouraged to line the route and form a "guard of honour".

Karen Allen in Cape Town: "Many of the congregants... have come together, drawn by what the Dean described as comfort in solidarity"

The family will view the body on Wednesday morning before the public are allowed to file past from 12:00.

The government has also given further details of the state funeralarrangements.

• Tuesday, 10 December is the day for South Africa's official memorial service at the FNB Stadium in Soweto, and will be addressed by President Zuma with tributes from other heads of state
• The memorial service will be shown on big screens at three "overflow" stadiums - Orlando, Dobsonville and Rand
• Between 11-13 December, "selected international visitors and guests" will be able to view Mr Mandela's remains at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
• The public will be able to view the body from 12:00 to 17:30 on Wednesday and from 08:00 to 17:30 on Thursday and Friday
• His body will be transported on Saturday, 14 December, from Waterkloof Air Force Base in Pretoria to the Eastern Cape, with a procession from the airport at Mthatha to his home village of Qunu where a traditional ceremony will be held.
• A national day of reconciliation will take place on 16 December when a statue of Mr Mandela will be unveiled at the Union Buildings in Pretoria
• Some 90 screens will be set up across the country to show all planned national events

Flags at all official buildings are to remain at half mast throughout the period and books of condolence are being circulated across the country and online for people to post tributes, record memories and express their emotions.

A government statement recalled the former president's own thoughts when asked how he wished to be remembered.

"It would be very egotistical of me to say how I would like to be remembered," Mr Mandela said.

"I'd leave that entirely to South Africans. I would just like a simple stone on which is written, 'Mandela'."

The former South African leader spent 27 years in jail before becoming the country's first black president in 1994.

He served a single term before stepping down in 1999.

Mr Mandela was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 along with FW de Klerk, South Africa's last white president.

South Africa: Nelson Mandela - Leader, Icon, Friend

GUEST COLUMN

Photo: World Economic Forum

Nelson Mandela with Klaus Schwab at the 1999 World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos.

Geneva — Of all the many leaders I have met in the course of my life, none made a deeper impression on me than Nelson Mandela.

His courage, compassion, humility and wisdom were without parallel on the world stage, and he himself was an enduring source of inspiration. And while he is rightly revered as a hero in the struggle for race freedom, he also deserves recognition as a champion of economic freedom who set his country and continent on the path to growth.

Nelson Mandela understood that social transformation and economic transformation go hand in hand. As he explained to World Economic Forum participants at Davos in 1999: "We should lay the scourge of racism to rest. This requires strong democratic institutions and a culture of compassion. None of this is possible without a strong economy."

In 1990, when he emerged from 27 years of imprisonment, South Africa's economy was not in a position of strength. The toxic taint of a racist regime had led to international sanctions, curbing trade and investment. Rigid foreign exchange controls, uncompetitive industries and the total marginalization of the black workforce all hampered the country's ability to enter a new and more equitable era. The continent as a whole was struggling to find its footing, and at the time, the average African was getting poorer.

Faced with a bitter history of injustice, Nelson Mandela's first instincts were understandably protectionist. In fact, when he attended Davos in 1992, it was with the intention of explaining to those present why nationalization was the right approach for South Africa. But based on what he learned at the meeting, he changed his mind.

Nelson Mandela once explained this conversion with his characteristic self-deprecation and humour. Referring to Davos business delegates, he said: "They had a dinner where they listened to me very politely, before explaining to me exactly what would happen if we carried out the plans we made in prison. I went to bed thinking while I had been out of the real world for 27 years, things had changed. Nobody told me I was stupid.

But I could see that they thought I was not very clever. I woke up the next day and realized nationalization would be the wrong policy for my country."

It was a hallmark of Nelson Mandela's leadership that being open to change made him appear not weaker, but even stronger. Instead of building barricades of nationalism, Nelson Mandela left Davos having reached out to the world for help in realizing his party's economic vision for Africa. Two years later, he became South Africa's first black president, leading a multiracial democracy, a symbol of hope for the continent. The political and economic transition that would ultimately place South Africa in the BRICS group of emerging powerhouses had begun.

Sanctions were lifted, Foreign Direct Investment flowed in, agricultural markets were deregulated and South African companies were revitalized. The proportion of black Africans, young people and women in the workforce increased in the post-apartheid years. As the economy gained momentum, real GDP grew by 68% between 1993 and 2008, according to the OECD, while GDP per capita increased during the same period by 36%. These dry statistics cloak a vivid truth: many people could, for the first time, turn on a tap, switch on a light and go to school.

When Nelson Mandela returned to Davos in 1999, he noted that 3 million people had gained access to clean drinking water in the first five years of democracy, while the proportion of households without access to electricity had shrunk from two-thirds to one-third. Complacency was never a part of Nelson Mandela's character though; he was always keenly aware of the formidable challenges in creating a dynamic and sustainable economy on the fractured bedrock of South Africa's past.

These challenges persist today, manifesting in severe social problems ranging from income inequality to crime and industrial unrest. Yet it is worth remembering just how far South Africa has come, from the dark days of apartheid to its position as the biggest and most competitive economy in a continent entering a much more hopeful era. Spurred by economic liberalization, Sub-Saharan Africa is now, according to the IMF, second only to developing Asia as the fastest growing region in the world.

This shift would be difficult to envisage without the inspiring leadership of a man who believed in openness over isolation, humour over hubris, and reconciliation over bitterness. I was honoured to count Nelson Mandela as a true friend of the World Economic Forum.

Africa and EU Team Up On Food and Farming Research

Brussels — African and European officials have agreed to work together on food, nutrition and agricultural research, with the first round of calls for research grants in this area expected next week.

Senior representatives from the European Commission, the African Union Commission and science ministries from both continents agreed at the second meeting of the European Union-Africa High Level Policy Dialogue (HLPD) on Science, Technology and Innovation, held in Belgium last week (28-29 November), to set up a research partnership to tackle key issues in this area.

"We recognise that there is a need for the EU-Africa HLPD to focus on a reduced number of common challenges for the cooperation to be effective," the senior officials wrote in the meeting's conclusions.

"Enhancing food and nutrition security as well as sustainable agriculture is a challenge common to the EU and Africa, albeit with different dimensions," Robert-Jan Smits, the European Commission's director-general for research and innovation, said in a statement.

Increasing cooperation in this area could not only improve access to food products, but also boost evidence-based solutions and policymaking, he added.

There is no dedicated budget to support the agreement. Instead, both sides will draw on existing funding tools, says an annex document to the meeting conclusions, titled 'The Way Forward'. This will include the European Commission's European Development Fund and new Horizon 2020 research programme; funds from the African Union Commission; national research budgets; and loans from international banks.

Following the Brussels meeting, the European Commission announced that the first call for research proposals for Horizon 2020, which is due to be made on 11 December, will encourage collaboration between the European Union and Africa on food and agriculture research.

Focus areas for these grants are set to include: sustainably enhancing the agricultural and food chain in Africa; the role of small and family farms in food and nutrition security; and water management for sustainable agriculture and food security, the Commission said.

Europe and Africa also intend to set up a "framework of enhanced coordination" by the end of 2017 to align their efforts in food and agriculture research, according to the plan laid out in 'The Way Forward' document. This could be based on the ERAfrica model, where 16 countries from both continents fund joint research activities.

In the longer term, both sides aim to develop a broader "research and innovation partnership". This could be inspired by the European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership, which was created to speed up the development of drugs against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, with a focus on clinical trials in Sub-Saharan Africa. It brings together governments from Europe and Africa, industry, international organisations and non-profits.

To translate all these intentions into practice, an expert working group is due to be set by March 2014. The group will include ten people from both continents, drawing from universities, civil society, government and industry. It will be asked to deliver a detailed action plan by September.

The agreements made at the HLPD meeting will be presented at the Africa-European Union summit, to be held in Brussels in April 2014, where heads of state and government are expected to endorse this new priority area for research collaboration.

Nelson Mandela in fight from 'deathbed'

Nelson Mandela was in hospital for nearly three months

South Africa's ailing first black President, Nelson Mandela, is putting up a courageous fight from his "deathbed", his daughter Makaziwe Mandela says.

She told national broadcaster SABC that the anti-apartheid icon was "still with us, strong, courageous".

"Even for a lack of a better word... on his deathbed he is teaching us lessons - lessons in patience, in love, lessons of tolerance," she added.

Mr Mandela, 95, is receiving home-based medical care.

He was discharged from hospital in September after being treated for nearly three months for a recurring lung infection.

Mr Mandela is widely respected for his role in fighting racism in South Africa, and for forgiving his former white captors after his release from prison in 1990.

He spent 27 years in jail and was elected South Africa's first black president in 1994. He stepped down after five years in office.

"Every moment I get with him I'm amazed," Ms Mandela told SABC.

"There are times where I have to pinch myself that I come from this man who is a fighter even though you can see he is struggling, but the fighting spirit is still there with him.''

Mr Mandela's grandson, Ndaba Mandela, told SABC that the ex-president was "not doing well in bed".

Last month, Mr Mandela's ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela said he was no longer talking "because of all the tubes that are in his mouth to clear [fluid from] the lungs".

The South African presidency has repeatedly described Mr Mandela's condition as critical but stable.

Thousands of Eritreans 'abducted to Sinai for ransom'

Tens of thousands have been held captive in the mostly lawless Sinai desert

Up to 30,000 Eritreans have been abducted since 2007 and taken to Egypt's Sinai to suffer torture and ransom demands, new research says.

The study, presented to the European parliament, says Eritrean and Sudanese security officers are colluding with the kidnap gangs.

At least $600m (£366m) has been extorted from families in ransom payments, it says.

Victims are kidnapped in Ethiopia, Sudan and Eritrea and taken to Sinai.

Eritrea has denied its officials are involved in the kidnappings.

'Chained together'

Most of those targeted are Eritrean refugees fleeing the country, says the report - The Human Trafficking Cycle: Sinai and Beyond.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

Almost every Eritrean knows somebody who has been held hostage”

Meron EstefanosRights activist

"Their captors are opportunistic criminals looking to profit from their vulnerability," the report says.

"[The victims] are then taken to the Sinai and sold, sometimes more than once, to Bedouin groups living in the Sinai."

The report was authored by Meron Estefanos, an Eritrean human rights activist in Sweden, and Prof Mirjam van Reisen and Dr Conny Rijken of Tilburg University in the Netherlands.

The report says Eritrea's Border Surveillance Unit (BSU) and Sudanese security officials are among the "actors" colluding with the gangs that hold people hostage in the the largely lawless Sinai.

"[The hostages] are chained together without toilets or washing facilities and dehydrated, starved and deprived of sleep," the report says.

"They are subject to threats of death and organ harvesting... Those who attempt to escape are severely tortured."

Ms Meron told the BBC's Focus on Africa radio programme that one of her cousins was freed after a ransom of $37,000 was paid.

The cousin was abducted in Sudan, before being taken to Sinai where her captors tortured and raped her, Ms Meron said.

"Almost every Eritrean knows somebody who has been held hostage. It's a very common thing," she told the BBC.

The report said the trafficking would have been impossible without the direct involvement of Eritrean security officials, given the "restrictions on movement within the country, the requirement of exit visas at the border and the shoot-to-kill policy for illegal border crossings".

However, Eritrea's UK ambassador, Tesfamichael Gerahtu, said Eritrea was a "victim of human trafficking".

The government was "working hard" to arrest and bring to justice criminal gangs operating along its border, he told Focus on Africa.

The UN estimates that 3,000 Eritreans fled their repressive and impoverished country each month last year.

Many headed for the swollen refugee camps of neighbouring eastern Sudan, now home to more than 90,000 people.

Japan diplomat held over fire at Kinshasa embassy

Shinya Yamada was reportedly in charge of accounting at the Japanese embassy in Kinshasa

A diplomat at the Japanese embassy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been arrested on suspicion of starting a fire at the mission.

Shinya Yamada, 30, was held in Tokyo over claims he embezzled funds and set the blaze in June to destroy evidence.

Some $260,000 (£160,000) had gone missing, Japan's foreign ministry said. No-one was hurt in the fire, which damaged the building's fourth floor

Mr Yamada has denied the allegations, according to Japanese media reports.

It is rare for Japanese investigators to probe a case that occurred at a diplomatic mission abroad.

"It is extremely regrettable an official of the foreign ministry was arrested and that serious damage, including the loss of public funds, was inflicted," AFP news agency quoted Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida as saying.

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida apologised to the people of Japan

Mr Yamada, the third secretary at the Japanese embassy in Kinshasa, was reportedly in charge of accounting at the mission.

Police believe he embezzled embassy money to fuel his gambling habit before dumping petrol in his office and setting it ablaze, reports said.

Records of those entering and exiting the embassy building showed Mr Yamada was the last person to leave on the day of the fire.

Police also found a petrol tank at Mr Yamada's home in Kinshasa.

After the fire, the mission's 20 staff were transferred to temporary offices at the ambassador's official residence and a nearby apartment complex, the Japanese foreign ministry said.

Mr Kishida said his office was "closely cooperating with the police investigation", adding an apology "to the people of Japan".