Category: Foreign

By Vincent Ikuomola, Abuja

AMBASSADOR of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (Western Sahara) to Nigeria, Brahim Salem Buseif, has called on the African Union (AU) to impose sanctions on the Kingdom of Morocco over the continued occupation of their land.

Buseif said the army of occupation has worsened the human right situation in Western Sahara.

The envoy in an interview with reporters said sanction should be imposed “in order to force Morocco to respect the rights of the people of the occupied territory to determine their sovereign rights for a referendum for independence,” which has been recognised by the United Nations (UN).

Buseif noted that according to the UN brokered ceasefire in 1991 and the resolutions reached, efforts were made to identify those who were going to vote in the referendum. He accused Morocco of trying to rig the result of the referendum by bringing thousands of settlers to supplant the people of Western Sahara.

He said the referendum process has been stalled while Morocco perpetrates rights violations against his people and plundering their resources without any sanctions despite the UN having a mission, MINURSO, in Western Sahara. He blamed it on the complicity within the UN, adding that Morocco is being backed by France, which is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

“It is unfortunate that the UN has a mission in Western Sahara but they cannot stop Morocco from perpetrating human rights violations and cannot even report issues of human rights.

“Morocco is being used by external forces as a Trojan horse to divide the AU. Our appeal to AU is to maintain our constitutional rights and if any member state is violating those rights, the law should be imposed on them as we did with the arrogant regime of Apartheid in South Africa,” he said.

He also appealed to the Nigerian government to lead the way in invoking the law regarding the safety and sovereignty of Western Sahara, stressing that Nigeria is very crucial and should have the last word to ensure respect of law and legality.

“We hope that Nigeria will help in respect of the African Union Charter on Western Sahara,” he said.

The envoy also applauded the recent ruling of the European Union (EU) Court, which on Wednesday, September 29, ruled against the agreement between Morocco and the 27-member  European Union bloc to export agricultural and fishing goods from Western Sahara without the people’s consent.

The case was brought to the court by the Polisario Front, the movement seeking Western Sahara’s independence and freedom from Morocco’s occupation.

The court ruled that the Polisario Front is the “internationally recognised representative of the people of Western Sahara”.

It stressed that the EU did not ensure it secured the consent of the people of Western Sahara before sealing the agreement with Morocco.

 

 

Monday’s six-hour blackout at Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp may have posed an inconvenience for many users.

But, millions more who use the social media platforms to operate their businesses or communicate with people suffered much more serious consequences, it was reported yesterday.

For small business owners, the outages at Facebook and Instagram led to hundreds or thousands of dollars in lost revenue.

“Today’s outage brought our reliance on Facebook—and its properties like WhatsApp and Instagram—into sharp relief,” said Brooke Erin Duffy, professor of communications at Cornell University. She added that a vast array of workers’ livelihoods depend on the social media sites.

One Seattle-based business owner, Sarah Murdoch, who owns the travel company Adventures with Sarah, said she needs Facebook Live videos to promote her tours. The outages cost her thousands of dollars in bookings.

“I’ve tried other platforms because I am wary of Facebook, but none of them are as powerful for the type of content I create,” Murdoch said. She said of her losses: “It may only be a few people, but we are small enough that it hurts.”

When all three services went dark Monday, it was a stark reminder of the power and reach of Facebook, which owns the photo-sharing and messaging apps.

Around the world, the loss of WhatsApp left many at a loss. In Brazil, the messaging service is by far the most widely used app in the country, installed on 99 per cent of all smartphones, according to tech pollster Mobile Time.

WhatsApp has become essential in Brazil to communicate between friends and families, but also at work—with many businesses using it to stay in touch with customers—at college, and for everyday transactions such as ordering food.

Offices, various services and even the courts had trouble making appointments, and phone lines became overwhelmed.

Hundreds of thousands of Haitians in their homeland and abroad fretted over the WhatsApp outage.

Many of the country’s more than 11 million people depend on it to alert one another about gang violence in a particular area or to talk to relatives in the U.S. about money transfers and other urgent issues, while Haitian migrants traveling to the U.S. rely on it to find each other or share key information such as safe places to sleep.

Nelzy Mireille, a 35-year-old unemployed woman who depends on money sent from relatives abroad, said she stopped at a phone repair shop in the capital of Port-au-Prince because she thought her phone was malfunctioning.

“I was waiting on confirmation on a money transfer from my cousin,” she said. “I was so frustrated.”

“I was not able to hear from my love,” complained 28-year-old Wilkens Bourgogne, referring to his partner, who was in the neighboring Dominican Republic, buying affordable goods to bring back to Haiti.

He said he was concerned about her safety since they were unable to communicate for seven hours as Haiti struggles with a spike in gang violence.

 

 

 

•President pledges to assist South Sudan

By Bolaji Ogundele, Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari returned to Abuja yesterday from Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, after a two-day visit to the country, attending the second term inauguration of Prime Minister Ahmed Abiy.

The President, who touched down at the Presidential wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport at about 2pm, was received by his Chief of Staff Professor Ibrahim Gambari; the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Muhammad Musa Bello; and the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Aklali Baba.

While in Addis Ababa, President Buhari delivered a goodwill message at the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Abiy, during which he called for peace between the sides involved in the Ethiopian political crisis.

He also pledged that Nigeria would continue to support the unity and territorial integrity of Ethiopia, saying: “We are well aware of the many challenges facing the people of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, and we encourage all parties to come together in the interest of the unity, progress and wellbeing of Ethiopia.

“Your Excellency, you, therefore, have a great opportunity to continue to work for the peace and stability of Ethiopia,’’ he said.

Also yesterday, he met with the President of South Sudan, Salva Kiir, just before departing Addis Ababa, assuring him that Nigeria would be available to lend a hand of assistance to help the country in achieving economic and political stability.

According to a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, he assured the full support of Nigeria to all efforts to bring long-term stability and prosperity to the continent.

‘‘Nigeria will contribute its quota as much as possible to the development of South Sudan. Take us into confidence and ask us what we can do,’’ the President told the South Sudanese leader.

Stressing the need for cooperation among developing countries, the Nigerian leader said with investments in education, improved economy, and healthcare, things will surely improve.

On the situation in Guinea and Mali, President Buhari reiterated that African leaders must support efforts geared towards the return of democracy in the countries.

The President expressed concern that as long as Libya remained unstable, the proliferation of arms and the problems in the Sahel would continue.

In his remarks, President Kiir, who acknowledged Nigeria’s leadership role in Africa, appreciated the country’s effort in the liberation struggle of South Sudan.

He also commended the First Lady of Nigeria for assisting in the education of many South Sudanese girls in the country.

‘‘In West Africa, ECOWAS intervenes immediately whenever a country has a problem. That should be adopted in East and Central Africa,’’ he said.

President Buhari and President Kiir were among several African leaders that attended the inauguration ceremony of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia for a second five-year term in office.

 

 

 

• Incumbent PM Ahmed sworn in for new five-year term

President Muhammadu Buhari has advised the warring factions in the Ethiopian national crisis to set aside their differences and work for the unity, progress and wellbeing of the country.

He spoke in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, while giving his goodwill message during the inauguration ceremony of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed for a second-five year term in office.

In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity Mr. Femi Adesina, the President pledged that Nigeria would continue to support the unity and territorial integrity of Ethiopia.

‘’We are well aware of the many challenges facing the people of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, and we encourage all parties to come together in the interest of the unity, progress and wellbeing of Ethiopia.

“Your Excellency, you therefore have a great opportunity to continue to work for the peace and stability of Ethiopia,’’ he said.

The President delivered his message in the presence of African leaders and a jubilant crowd of Ethiopians at the Meskel Square.

He told the prime minister that Nigeria, like many other countries, was counting on his leadership to unleash the great economic potentials of Ethiopia by expanding investment opportunities, deepening relations and building trust at home and abroad.

On the elections that brought the 2019 Nobel Peace Laureate back to power, President Buhari said: ‘’I commend the courage and commitment of the people of Ethiopia to the values and principles of democracy.

“I strongly believe that the outcome of the elections held in June is a reflection of the desire of the Ethiopian people for transformation, through a free, fair and credible electoral process.’’

Read Also: Buhari mourns foremost lawyer, Ladi Williams

President Buhari noted that Abiy’s victory at the election, clearly affirmed the confidence of the Ethiopian people in his leadership, courage and credentials, adding that it also underscored the years of his contributions to the development of Ethiopia’s modern democracy.

Wishing the Prime Minister a successful tenure in office, the President said he looked forward to more fruitful and robust engagements between the two countries.

The Presidents of Uganda, South Sudan, Djibouti, Senegal, Kenya, Somalia and the Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo attended the event.

Ahmed was sworn in for a new five-year term in office.

The swearing-in ceremony was held as part of the first day of the Ethiopian House of Peoples’ Representatives (HoPR)’s new five-year term.

Abiy’s ruling party Prosperity Party’s won a landslide victory in national elections held in June.

He then was appointed by the HoPR and the lower house of the Ethiopian parliament as prime minister.

Following his appointment, Ahmed is expected to form a new cabinet, which will form the new federal government structure.

Ahmed was first appointed as the country’s prime minister in April 2018.

He had served the East African country at different high-level positions, including as minister of science and technology.

Ahmed’s Prosperity Party secured more than 400 out of 436 parliamentary electoral constituencies, according to the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia.

 

Britain’s Brexit minister David Frost yesterday threatened to trigger a contentious break clause in the UK’s divorce deal with the European Union – a move that would send the UK’s already chilly relations with its huge neighbour into a deep freeze.

Frost told a gathering of the UK’s governing Conservative Party that the Brexit agreement – which he negotiated and was signed by Britain and the EU – was undermining peace in Northern Ireland and causing “instability and disruption.”

He said unless there are major changes to the deal, Britain will invoke Article 16, a provision that lets either side suspend the agreement in exceptional circumstances.

However, Britain has made that threat before, and Frost did not pull the trigger.

“But we cannot wait forever,” he said.

The crisis straining UK-EU relations stems from trade arrangements for Northern Ireland, the only part of the UK that has a land border with the 27-nation bloc. The divorce deal the two sides struck before Britain’s departure means customs and border checks must be conducted on some goods moving between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

The regulations are intended to prevent goods from Britain entering the EU’s tariff-free single market while keeping an open border between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland – a key pillar of Northern Ireland’s peace process. But the checks have angered Northern Ireland’s unionists, who say they impose burdensome red tape on businesses and weaken Northern Ireland’s ties with the rest of the UK.

Britain accuses the EU of being needlessly “purist” in implementing the agreement, known as the Northern Ireland Protocol, and says it requires major changes to work.

Blaming the bloc’s “heavy-handed actions,” Frost said “the Protocol itself” was undermining Northern Ireland’s 1998 peace agreement.

“Businesses, political parties, the institutions, and indeed all in Northern Ireland face instability and disruption,” he said.

“So, I urge the EU to be ambitious. It’s no use tinkering around the edges. We need significant change.”

Officials in the EU are likely to greet Frost’s ultimatum with disdain. The EU blames Britain for the disruption, accusing it of trying to renege on a legally binding deal it signed up to.

Britain has also angered the EU by delaying the introduction of checks on some goods from the bloc agreed in the divorce deal, citing the burden on businesses.

Britain’s Conservatives are holding their first in-person conference since Britain left the bloc last year. Despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s vow to “get Brexit done,” the rupture is roiling the economy as Britain tries to bounce back from pandemic disruption and damage.

 

 

Russia’s Defence Ministry yesterday said it successfully test-fired its hypersonic Tsirkon missile from an underwater position for the first time.

The launch from the nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine Severodvinsk was the Tsirkon-class hypersonic missile’s second test-fire from the White Sea at a target in the Barents Sea, but the first from an underwater position.

“The second test-firing of the hypersonic cruise missile Zircon [also known as Tsirkon] was carried out by the crew of the nuclear submarine missile cruiser Severodvinsk for the first time from an underwater position, from a depth of 40 meters, in the waters of the White Sea at a conditional target in the Barents Sea,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement yesterday.

The test launch met its objectives, “from leaving the water to hitting the conditional target,” according to the statement.

The surface test was the first test of the hypersonic missile from a submarine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has touted the Tsirkon missile, which Moscow says can reach speeds of Mach 9 — nine times the speed of sound — to evade enemy air defenses and has a range of over 600 miles, as Russia’s new “invincible” generation of weapons, CBS News reported.

The Russian Navy also previously successfully test-fired the Tsirkon missile from the Admiral Gorshkov-class frigate last year and most recently in July.

Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu told CBS News tests on the Tsirkon missile system will be done by the end of the year, and he expects that the Russian Navy will commission the weapon next year for cruisers, frigates and submarines.

The U.S. Defence Department said on June 9 its hypersonic missile programme was accelerating but staying within its $6.6 billion budget. Days later, the DoD announced a missile defense review to be completed by February 2022 “to correlate its needs against rising nuclear powers,” noting that “nations such as North Korea, Iran, Russia and China [are] all maturing their missile technology.”

The U.S. Air Force successfully detonated a hypersonic missile warhead for the first time in a ground test in July.

 

 

THE United States (U.S.) State Department has warned China against putting diplomatically and economically pressure against Taiwan in its own interests.

In the statement, U.S. spokesperson and former CIA intelligence officer Ned Price warned China that the U.S. was “very concerned” by its “provocative military activity near Taiwan, which is destabilising, risks miscalculations, and undermines regional peace and stability”.

“We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic, and economic pressure and coercion against Taiwan,” Price wrote.

Claiming the U.S. had “an abiding interest in peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” Price said it would “continue to assist Taiwan in maintaining a sufficient self-defence capability” and affirmed that its commitment to Taiwan was “rock solid”.

“We will continue to stand with friends and allies to advance our shared prosperity, security, and values, and deepen our ties with democratic Taiwan,” the statement concluded.

On Friday, Taiwan accused China of sending 18 J-16 jets, four Su-30 fighters, two nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, and an anti-submarine aircraft into its air defence zone on China’s National Day – the 72nd anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

China does not recognise Taiwan’s autonomous rule and considers the island to be a part of the People’s Republic.