Ivory Coast dismisses ICC warrant for Simone Gbagbo

Ivory Coast's former first lady Simone Gbagbo faces charges of murder and rape

Ivory Coast has said it plans to try ex-first lady Simone Gbagbo in its own courts, instead of handing the case to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The wife of former President Laurent Gbagbo is being prosecuted for alleged crimes against humanity following disputed presidential polls in 2010.

On Friday, Ivory Coast ministers voted to dismiss the ICC's arrest warrant.

Some 3,000 people died in violence after Mrs Gbagbo's husband refused to accept defeat in a run-off vote.

He is already awaiting trial at the ICC in The Hague on four charges of crimes against humanity. Mr Gbagbo, 67, who insists he is innocent, is the first former head of state to have appeared at the ICC.

The West African ex-leader was ousted in 2011 with the help of French and UN forces backing President Alassane Ouattara.

He and his wife were arrested in a bunker, five months after the elections, following a military assault on their residence in the main city, Abidjan.

'Fair trial'

Ivory Coast lawmakers confirmed on Friday they had decided to file a "motion to dismiss" the ICC's warrant issued in February 2012.

"The decision of the cabinet aims to have Mrs Gbagbo brought to trial by Ivorian courts, whose good reputation has been restored and which can hold a fair trial that will guarantee the rights of the defence," the government said in a statement.

Officials added they had informed the ICC of their decision.

Mrs Gbagbo has been charged with crimes against humanity in Ivory Coast.

Correspondents say the court in The Hague will respond to the request once it has investigated whether Mrs Gbagbo will receive a fair trial in Ivory Coast.

She faces four charges of crimes against humanity, including murder, rape and torture allegedly committed in Ivory Coast between 16 December 2010 and 12 April 2011.

Friday's announcement came shortly after the African Union announced it would hold a special summit next month to discuss a mass withdrawal from the ICC in protest at the trial of Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto.

Earlier this month, Kenya's parliament voted to leave the ICC just days before the start of Mr Ruto's trial.

However, the ICC said the decision would not affect the trial of Mr Ruto, or Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta, whose case is due to begin in November.

The AU has previously accused the ICC of "hunting" African leaders and ignoring atrocities elsewhere.

The ICC was set up in 2002 to prosecute crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide.

All the eight cases it is currently investigating are in Africa.

Nigeria looted oil money 'laundered abroad'

Tomi Oladipo reports

The proceeds from stolen Nigerian crude oil sold each year on international markets are being laundered in world financial centres, a new report says.

The London-based think-tank Chatham House said Nigeria's oil was being looted on an "industrial scale".

Africa's biggest oil producer should be more proactive in sharing intelligence so foreign governments can help crack down on the organised crime, it said.

Losses account for 5% of Nigeria's total oil output, the report said.

A conservative estimate - with 100,000 barrels a day believed to be the minimum amount stolen - lost revenues to the Nigerian government this year will be $3.6bn (£2.2bn), Christina Katsouris, co-author of the reportNigeria's Criminal Crude: International Options to Combat the Export of Stolen Oil, said.

"Proceeds are laundered through world financial centres and used to buy assets in and outside Nigeria. In Nigeria, politicians, military officers, militants, oil industry personnel, oil traders and communities profit, as do organised criminal groups," the report says.

It said that oil theft networks used foreign banks among other channels to launder or store their illicit earnings.

"Thieves have many ways to disguise the funds they move around the world. These include bulk cash smuggling, delayed deposits, heavy use of middlemen, shell companies and tax havens, bribery of bank officials, cycling cash through legitimate businesses and cash purchases of luxury goods," the report said.

People interviewed by Chatham House said other African countries, Dubai, Indonesia, India, Singapore, the US, the UK and Switzerland were possible "money-laundering hotspots".

"We tried to find cases of prosecution for money-laundering linked to crude oil theft and couldn't find one," Ms Katsouris said.

'Blood diamonds'

According to the report, interviewees said that the US, several West African countries, Brazil, China, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and the Balkans were possible destinations for the illicit oil.

"Because it's so mysterious we can't be sure that it's confined to a small narrow band of people - in fact we think that there's a very strong likelihood that it is actually going into the legal market," Ms Katsouris said.

The BBC's Tomi Oladipo in Nigeria says the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), charged with regulating the country's oil industry, is often seen as ineffective and corrupt.

Stolen oil is refined locally and also sold on internationally

Nigeria's former anti-corruption chief, Nuhu Ribadu, agreed that the Nigerian authorities needed to do more to tackle the problem and said it was essential for them to find ways of identifying its crude oil and then tracking it.

"It's something similar to the blood diamonds, we need to do it with oil. You must first of all identify it as your own crude, then you will be able to follow it, then whoever buys it you can make a case against that person or the country," he told the BBC's Newsday programme.

People living in the oil-rich swamps and creeks of Nigeria's southern Niger Delta region are among the country's poorest.

The report detailed how much of the oil was stolen, saying at a local level, gangs tap pipelines or other onshore oil infrastructure, which is then refined locally.

But more industrial bunkering involves tapping pipelines on land, under the ground and under water, using huge large hoses to load the oil.

"This activity takes place both in daylight hours and at night, and is easily observable from the air or ground," it says.

These barges then head for the coast and their crews transfer the oil onto small tankers which go to an "international class 'mother ship' waiting further offshore".

Swaziland votes in no-party election

King Mswati has been criticised for his lavish lifestyle

Voters in Swaziland are choosing a new parliament, even though political parties cannot take part and the king retains absolute power.

Candidates are hand-picked by traditional chiefs who are loyal to King Mswati III.

Banned opposition groups, mainly based in South Africa, have called for a boycott.

King Mswati recently described his country's electoral system as a "monarchical democracy".

He is Africa's last absolute monarch, with the powers to rule by decree and dissolve the 55-member parliament whenever he wants.

He recently announced that he would be taking his 15th wife, an 18-year old beauty queen whom he spotted at the annual reed dance.

Political parties were officially banned in Swaziland in the 1970s - a restriction yet to be overturned, although they are now allowed to register.

The European Union and Southern African groups have sent observers to the polls.

While King Mswati's family has ruled Swaziland since the 1800s there has been growing criticism of his large family's lavish lifestyle at a time when many in the country live below the poverty line.

Egypt: Blast Hits Central Security Forces' Bus in Rafah

An explosive device blew up in Rafah as a bus belonging to central security forces was passing by on Friday morning, security sources said.

Unknown assailants planted the device on the side of the road in Sadot area. The device detonated when the bus passed right by it, causing minor external damage to the bus.

Extremists intensified their attacks on police and army forces in Sinai since former President Mohamed Mursi was removed from power last July.

More than 100 security personnel were killed in Sinai alone since the former president's removal.

In a separate incident, security forces defused another explosive device before it detonated after residents of Abu Refai area reported it to the police, sources said.

Unidentified people planted the device on a route taken by army tanks that sweep the area in pursuit of armed elements, they added.

Liberia: Oil, Politics and the Family in Liberia

Eyebrows were raised in Liberia when President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf accepted her son's resignation as chairman of the National Oil Company of Liberia and as her senior advisor.

To some, Robert Sirleaf's initial appointment to these positions was seen as pure nepotism. "All along there has been this public outcry against Robert Sirleaf," Senator Joseph Nagbe, who heads the judiciary committee in the Liberian Senate, told DW. "It is true that the decision by Robert Sirleaf is belated," he added.

Referring to his advisory position to the president, Robert Sirleaf told a Liberian radio station his mother rarely took note of his advice. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf herself, Africa's only elected female president and Nobel Peace Prize winner, denied her son's resignation had anything to do with favoritism.

She insisted that Robert Sirleaf had simply completed an assignment to restructure the oil company. "We made a promise that he was there for something specific, and when that assignment was done, we would leave," she said.

Oil bill delayed

The decision to accept his resignation comes just days after the Liberian House of Representatives delayed until January a debate on a new oil law aiming to increase transparency and competition in the sector.

Thomas Doe Nah is the head of CENTAL, a local branch of the anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International. He said the legislation was drafted by Robert Sirleaf and the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) and it reached the Senate without prior public consultation. The Senate passed the bill but the House of Representatives insisted on a hearing of experts before allowing to proceed any further. Nah was one of those experts.

"For me stopping the passing of the law at the lower house was a victory, because the oil company has become so powerful," Nah told DW. "People have the opinion that with a strong financial lobbying, they are in a position where the laws are always breezing through the legislature," he added.

The legislation's backers claim it will guarantee accountability and the involvement of the Liberian people in the new oil industry. It promises Liberians they will receive 40 percent of the revenues. Nagbe said the money will trickle down to Liberians through jobs, the building of roads, schools and hospitals.

Blessing rather than a curse

Nah, however, demands caution. "These companies are not charities, you know, so whatever upfront payment they make, they usually want to recover it somewhere along the road," he said.

He also wants to ensure that the oil money does not simply line the pockets of the country's elite and that there is greater clarity about Liberian involvement in the sector. At the moment Liberians may not have the technical expertise to work on off-shore oil rigs but he believes they could provide catering or other services required by the industry. Both Nagbe and Nah would like to see oil turn into a blessing for Liberia, rather than the curse that some say has been visited on other African countries..

Nagbe believes it is unlikely that Robert Sirleaf's departure will have much impact on Liberia's oil plans. The country is on the brink of oil production and Robert Sirleaf, during his tenure, had already managed to attract several international oil companies like Exxon and Chevron to the country.

Despite the promise of oil Liberia remains one of the world's poorest countries a decade after the end of the civil war

Nagbe added that the new chair should focus on making Liberia an oil-producing country as quickly as possible. Robert Sirleaf's successor is Fred Bass, vice chairman of NOCAL's board of directors. He takes over as acting chairman.

Three sons appointed to government posts

Even though Liberia's enormous resource wealth has attracted much interest from foreign inveestors, corruption is still seen as a big obstacle.

Almost all of the $8 billion (5.9 billion euros) worth of resource contracts signed by Liberia since 2009 have violated its laws, acording to a draft audit report commissioned by the government.

Despite declaring a zero tolerance policy for corruption President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has been criticized for appointing three sons to government posts. In addition to Robert, whom she said could now become "a private citizen," there are sons Fumba and Charles. Fumba is the head of the National Security Agency. Charles was suspended by his mother as deputy governor of the central bank in October.

Prince William awards Kenyan and Zimbabwean conservationists

Tom Lalampaa was recognised at a "key player" in protecting Kenyan wildlife

Tom Lalampaa has won a conservation award for his work in northern Kenya by the wildlife charity Tusk Trust.

He was one of five nominees and received his prize from Prince William at an awards ceremony in London.

Mr Lalampaa runs an organisation that helps remote and sometimes feuding communities co-exist with wildlife in a 200,000 sq km (4.9m-acre) area.

Zimbabwe's Clive Stockil was also honoured with a lifetime achievement award for his work with rhinos.

Mr Stockil "is one of Africa's great conservation pioneers, who long before many others recognised how critical it is to engage local communities in the conservation of their natural heritage," one of the Tusk Conservation Awards judges said.

"Despite many setbacks, Clive Stockil has never waivered from his overall commitment to conservation."

His career spans 40 years and in 1992 he helped create Zimbabwe's biggest private reserve in the Save Valley in the the south-east of the country, which is now home to one of the biggest rhino populations in Africa.

The lifetime Prince William Award for Conservation in Africa comes with a £30,000 ($47,000) grant.

'Model community conversation'

Mr Lalampaa is chief operations manager for the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT), and the judges said he is a "key player in efforts to protect Kenyan wildlife and improve the lives of his people".

Some 212,000 people - many of them nomadic pastoralists - live in territory overseen by the NRT, which it describes as a "breath-taking patchwork of broken valleys, forested mountains, vast plains and arid acacia shrub land".

But droughts, poor soil and few roads, schools and hospitals can make life difficult for its inhabitants.

There has been conflict amongst the 10 ethnic groups in the region over grazing and water for livestock - and cattle raiding, armed banditry and poaching are also issues Mr Lalampaa deals with.

The NRT is an umbrella organisation which was established in 2004 and serves 19 community conservancies, helping them raise funds and giving them training and advice.

"With Tom's help, NRT is now widely recognised as the leading model for community conservation in Kenya - and increasingly across Africa - and has a proven impact on peace, livelihoods and conservation," the Tusk Conservation Awards said.

Conservationist Alasdair Harris was also honoured at the gala evening at the Royal Society in London, receiving a Highly Commended prize for his work with communities along Madagascar's coast.

The research director of Blue Ventures Conservation, his initiatives protect marine biodiversity and safeguard traditional coastal livelihoods, the Tusk Trust said.

Mr Lalampaa received a £15,000 grant and Mr Harris £7,500 to help with their projects.

This is the first year of the Tusk Conservation Awards and the event was the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's first joint engagement since the birth of their son in July.

Prince William is a patron of the Tusk Trust, which supports 57 field projects in 18 African countries.

Gabon's President Ali Ben Bongo was among the key invited guests, the trust said.

Somali crisis: Amnesty criticises evictions in Mogadishu

Amnesty says it has seen evidence of camps being destroyed

Amnesty International has denounced the forcible eviction of tens of thousands of homeless people from makeshift camps in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

The human rights group says the process has led to "large-scale human rights abuses" including the killing of two people during protests.

Some 370,000 people have been living in the camps, having fled drought, famine and fighting.

But their presence is hampering the government's drive to rebuild the city.

In the past year the authorities have gained greater control of Mogadishu from the Islamist group al-Shabab.

The government announced in January a plan to relocate hundreds of thousands of displaced people to camps on the outskirts of the city.

The Amnesty report says the "relocation plan could have been a positive development" if it had respected "the security, fundamental rights and basic needs" of displaced people.

However, Amnesty added, the government plan proved to be "inherently flawed" and "seems to have resulted in large-scale human rights abuses and forced evictions".

Officials defended the evictions saying such reports had a tendency to be "far from the truth" and the removals were "good for security as well as the image of the city".

"The government has the right to reclaim land and buildings belonging to its former institutions, so that it can offer the public service that is needed," Mogadishu local government spokesman Mohammed Yusuf told the BBC's Newsday programme.

"For that purpose, we move out people living on such lands or in those buildings... We tell them to put the national interest before the individual interest."

Shelters flattened

The report says an eight-year old child and a mother of nine children were killed and several other residents were injured on 14 August when security forces opened fire on residents protesting against the eviction of a large settlement.

Some residents told Amnesty bulldozers had flattened their shelters, destroying their possessions and leaving them with nowhere to go.

When Amnesty delegates visited the area on 21 August they said they had seen evidence of a large number of shelters having been recently destroyed.

In March, Human Right Watch said displaced women in Mogadishu were reporting being gang-raped in the camps.

The group said managers of the camps - often allied to militias - were siphoning off food and other aid.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud took office a year ago in a UN-backed bid to end two decades of violence, with clan-based warlords, Islamist militants and its neighbours all battling for control of the country.

Al-Shabab, or "The Youth", is fighting to create an Islamic state in Somalia - and despite being pushed out of key cities in the past two years, it still remains in control of smaller towns and large swathes of the countryside and launches attacks in Mogadishu.