Free Republic

The AU wants Africa to manufacture and export finished products to its trading partners rather than just selling them the raw materials as it does now. She cited China, India, the EU and US and other rising stars in trade with the continent, including Turkey and Latin America, and said the AU had held talks on the new breed of partnerships with some of them. The AU also wants Africa to have a veto-wielding seat on the UN Security Council, and a place at the G20 negotiating table, Ali said. The peace and security that have eluded Africa for decades...

A recent Chinese-African cotton agreement could usher in a new era for the African cotton industry -- but not in the short-term, say industry experts. Under the agreement, signed in December with four key cotton-producing African countries -- Benin, Mali, Chad and Burkina Faso (known as the C4) - China stated it would provide machinery, expertise and materials in a bid to increase and improve the quality of local production. At the signing ceremony in Geneva, Chinese commerce minister Chen Deming suggested this was a step towards outsourcing production to Africa. "In [the] longer term, we may relocate some of...

A Gallup survey done across 20 sub-Saharan African countries on the main sources of lighting for households saw Mauritius fair best, with 100% of respondents saying this was provided by power lines. South Africa came in second at 80% in terms of households with grid supplied power for lighting, followed by Ghana (67%), Nigeria (66%) and Cameroon (65%). At the bottom of the list in this survey for electrical grid power supplying household lighting was Liberia at 4%, followed by Chad and Burkina Faso at 8%. In Chad, Tanzania, Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Sierra Leone, Madagascar, Uganda and...

A growing trend of African countries promising to free up money for social spending by slashing fuel subsidies will test public faith in governments, amid widespread fear the cash will vanish in a haze of graft and mismanagement. Nigeria, Ghana, Guinea, Chad and others have all cut back on expensive fuel subsidy programmes in recent months. For economists, the cuts have been an encouraging sign, raising hopes that reforms are taking root in the continent even as it braces for the fallout of the European debt crisis. For millions of Africans, however, the changes have created nothing by pain. Nigerians...

You are my children of light , you are my children of light , you are my children of light , and in this season of lights , let MY Light shine through you , for MY SEASON NEVER ENDS ! Truly this is a season of lights , but we are to be lights for Christ Jesus in an open season and heaven for him ! Isaiah 60 The Gentiles Bless Zion 1 Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. 2 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,...

Broward County home sales and prices rose in August from a year ago, brightening hopes for a housing recovery. The county had 1,185 sales of existing homes, up 19 percent from August 2010, the Florida Realtors said Wednesday. The median price was $191,800, a 5 percent increase from a year ago. It was Broward’s third consecutive gain in sales and prices. Five other metro areas in Florida also had sales and price increases in August. Still, analysts are cautious, saying they don’t expect a housing bottom until at least 2012. “Over the past few months, it appears that home prices...

Lake Chad, one of the largest boddies of water in Sub-Saharan Africa, is on the verge of drying up, as only 1,500 square kilometres,  of the original 25,000 square kilometres size of the lake still remain. The figure represents 10 percent of the initial size of the lake, which traverses Nigeria and three other neighboring countries -- Chad , Niger , and the Republic of Cameroon. The lake, which banks in Nigeria , in the north-astern state of Borno, with Maiduguri as its administrative capital, is said to share similar hydrological basin with four other countries: Central African Republic, Algeria...

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has expressed his personal support for the president of Sudan, Omar Hassan Al-Bashir, who has been charged in the International Criminal Court with being responsible for the genocide in Darfur, Palestinian Media Watch reported. In a letter to the Sudanese president, Abbas wrote that he and PA Arabs "have complete faith in the wisdom of President Omar Al-Bashir." PMW's Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik note that in 2008, evidence was presented in the International Criminal Court of Justice that showed that "Al-Bashir committed the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in...

In May this year, researchers from around the world gathered in Yaounde the capital of the west African country of Cameroon, for the International Conference on Rescue Archaeology. At the conference, archaeologists introduced new findings from the book: "Kome-Kribi: Rescue Archaeology Along the Chad-Cameroon Oil Pipeline; 1999-2004". Archaeologists say the results have marked a major breakthrough that will begin a rewrite of the history of Cameroon and the rest of Central Africa. The fieldwork was carried out as construction took place along the line of the underground petroleum pipeline from Chad to the port of Kribi, Cameroon... According to Professor...

Spokesperson Ambassador Dina Mufti told WIC today that the deployment was launched following an agreement reached between the North and South Sudan leaders to demilitarize the disputed region of Abyei and allow Ethiopian peacekeeping forces monitor the peace. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) late last month unanimously approved the deployment of 4,200 Ethiopian peacekeeping forces. The new UN peacekeeping force called the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) is mandated to monitor peace for the coming six months. Ambassador Dina said the country began the deployment of peacekeeping force last week. "I am confident that the...

Artifacts from hundreds of archeological sites from southern Chad to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean in Cameroon... research was conducted between 1999 and 2004 as construction was underway on the underground petroleum pipeline... which is more than 1000 kilometers long.... 472 archeological sites along the area in both Cameroon and Chad were found .some dating back to as long ago as 100,000 years. He says, "we found sites where people had lived, where people had stored food, where people had made tools of iron. Before people in this area used iron, they made a whole variety of different...

An Al-Qaeda leader of Algerian nationality was among 20 militants killed in southern Mauritania during a clash with military forces.Mauritanian forces on Tuesday reportedly responded to an attack on a military base in Bassiknou on the border with Mali by launching a counter-offensive against forces from The Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, AQIM the terror network's North African branch. The firefight lasted around 45 minutes and afterward Mauritanian forces chased the militants into Mali. Ten insurgents were captured during the standoff.

"Democracy is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequal alike" Plato (BC 427 - 374BC). Open rigging and clinging brazenly to power have become common features of emerging democracies in the world today especially in Africa. Many Countries in Africa have become accustomed to "sit-tight dictators" or military style of leadership, with democracy being propelled by the West for their replacement. This is at the centre of the on-going conflict in many emerging democratic nations. Democratization of the world today as being championed by United States of...

The armed conflict in Darfur, Sudan, intensified throughout the year, resulting in tens of thousands of newly displaced people, some of whom crossed into neighbouring Chad. Civilians were directly targeted in some attacks by armed groups and by government forces. Parts of Darfur remained inaccessible to humanitarian organizations and the joint UN-African Union (AU) mission in Darfur (UNAMID). Humanitarian workers and UNAMID staff were frequently abducted in Darfur, following a pattern similar to that seen in eastern Chad in recent years. Various mediation efforts during the year produced no tangible results. Repression by the Sudanese authorities continued in Darfur, with...

The Chadian government on Wednesday made it clear that it will not cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in arresting three Libyan officials named by the tribunal's chief prosecutor as suspects in the violent crackdown against protestors that took place last February... Omer Yahya, the press adviser for Chadian president Idriss Deby, told the London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper that his country is committed to the African Union (AU) decision instructing members not to cooperate with the ICC in arresting Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir who is also wanted by the court. The Chadian official suggested that the decision applies...

The tripartite summit meeting of the presidents of Sudan, Chad and the Republic of Central Africa (CAR) here has ended... with the adoption of the Khartoum Declaration which also seeks the achievement of sustainable development, exchanges and consultations on regional and international issues, and supporting one another in regional and international forums... the establishment of a joint force to protect the common borders of the three countries and trilateral co-ordination among the Interior Ministries to control smuggling, infiltration along borders, illegal hunting, combating organised crime and cross-border crimes... to work on boosting peaceful co-existence between tribes living near the common...

'Al-Qaeda snatched missiles' in Libya From correspondents in Paris From: AFP March 26, 2011 1:03PM AL-QAEDA'S offshoot in North Africa has snatched surface-to-air missiles from an arsenal in Libya during the civil strife there, Chad's President says. Idriss Deby Itno did not say how many surface-to-air missiles were stolen, but told the African weekly Jeune Afrique that he was "100 per cent sure" of his assertion. "The Islamists of al-Qaeda took advantage of the pillaging of arsenals in the rebel zone to acquire arms, including surface-to-air missiles, which were then smuggled into their sanctuaries in Tenere," a desert region of...

Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi is well known now for the abuses he has inflicted on his own people during more than four decades of brutal rule in Libya, but few remember the vast campaign of carnage and terrorism he orchestrated across West Africa and Europe when he was at the height of his powers. Nor are his more recent alliance with Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and his long-standing relationship with Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua -- both of whom are busy trampling their constitutions and moving toward dictatorship -- well understood. And the fact that all three governments support the Revolutionary Armed...

The Psychology of Genocide and Violent Oppression: A Study of Mass Cruelty from Nazi Germany to Rwanda - Page 120 - Richard Morrock - (McFarland) 2010 (254 pages)At the same time, Iran has generally had good relations with the current dictatorship in Sudan... Al-Bashir... Originally a pan–Islamist who conducted genocide against non–Muslims, he has become an Arab racist, influenced by Libya's Muammar Qaddafi. His wars of extermination are now waged against non–Arab Muslims in Darfur and elsewhere... http://books.google.com/books?id=CZtnAbKkOmIC&pg=PA120 Scramble for Africa: Darfur-intervention and the USA Kevin Funk, Steven Fake - (Black Rose Books) 2008 - Page 23 (301 pages) Ethnic...

Recent events in Tunisia, Lebanon and Egypt spell a dangerous new trend in the region. There have been major developments in Tunisia, Lebanon and Egypt, each of which is of tremendous importance. In Tunisia, a popular uprising fueled by unemployment, economic suffering and long-term discontent has overthrown the dictator, but not necessarily the dictatorship. In 55 years of independence, the country has been governed by two dictators, the current one being Zine al-Abedin Ben Ali, who has been president for 23 years and was a key power in the regime even before that. Is this going to spread? Does it...

The passions that swirled around Bush v. Gore, the Supreme Court case that ended 10 years ago Sunday, dissipated quickly. And remarkably little damage was done by the institutional collisions that resulted when control of the nation's supreme political office turned on 537 votes out of 5,963,110 cast in Florida. Many controversies concerned whether particular votes could be said to have been cast properly. Chads are those bits of paper that, when a ballot is properly cast by puncturing spots next to candidates' names, are separated from the ballot. In Florida, there were "dimpled" chads that were merely dented and...

Democratic and Republican officials in Washington say they have elaborate plans in place involving training sessions for recount volunteers, Washington lawyers who specialize in recount efforts and detailed plans about how to mobilize legal and public relations resources if a recount is necessary. Rob Jesmer, the executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, admitted, “there’s something else that keeps me up at night beyond tight poll numbers. Recounts.” In the e-mail, Mr. Jesmer urges supporters to donate money so the party can be ready to field lawyers on Nov. 3 in places where recounts might be necessary. “We cannot...

Sue Lowden has touted her career as a businesswoman on the campaign trail, mocking Sen. Harry Reid for having spent scant years in the private sector. The former state senator and Republican Party chairwoman, who hopes to be her party’s nominee against Reid, has been described by national political reporters as a wealthy casino owner worth $50 million or more. Her story — she came from nothing — is one of uplift and socioeconomic mobility. For Republican audiences fond of the free market, it’s an appealing message: A hardworking entrepreneur who has to meet payroll and so will keep intrusive...

It was 2007, and the Southwest was in the grips of speculative fever. The land frenzy was particularly acute in Las Vegas, where major casino companies were in the middle of ambitious expansions, feeding the demand for housing and driving prices skyward. Danny Tarkanian, now a leading Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, was looking to share in the good times. With the development industry booming, a friend and partner in Tarkanian’s real estate firm approached him about an investment opportunity: Dignitary Downs, an “equestrian destination resort” in Anza, Calif., complete with a 200-room hotel, restaurant and jockey school, all on...

In its budget request for the State Department for the 2010 financial year, the Obama administration proposed significant increases in funding for US arms sales and military training programmes for African countries, as well as for regional programmes on the continent, and is expected to propose further increases in its budget request for the 2011 financial year. The 2010 budget proposed to increase foreign military funding spending for Africa by more than 300 per cent, from just over US$8.2 million to more than US$25.5 million, with additional increases in funding for North African countries. Major recipients included Chad, the Democratic...

Image by Cool Text: Logo and Button Generator

YOU ARE HERE: Home > Reports > Consular Affairs Bulletins > Report Warden Message: Chad Experiencing Ongoing Security Concerns CONSULAR AFFAIRS BULLETINS Sub-Saharan Africa - Chad 10 Mar 2010 SNIPPET: "U.S. Embassy N’Djamena issued the following Warden Message on March 10, 2010: This Warden Message updates information sent on March 2, 2010. Post has received information from various sources indicating that groups hostile to U.S. interests may be operating in Chad with the intent to commit violence. We continue to monitor and evaluate these reports. In response to these threats, the US Embassy has placed restrictions on the movement of...

(Washington, D.C. - 10/2/09) In a very short statement, an un-named community organizing organization insists it has located ballot boxes in Copenhagen that held a large amount of votes for the City of Chicago and will formally protest the "flawed" voting that has taken place. "We detest the flawed voting that has taken place in Copenhagen and have proof not all votes were counted, and millions of people in Chicago have been disenfranshised by this obvious injustice. We plan on presenting this proof to the IOC, in conjuction with our SEIU brothers and sisters, and volunteer to personally oversee the...

Note: The following text is a quote: United States Transfers Two Guantanamo Detainees to Foreign Nations The Department today announced that one national of Iraq and one national of Chad have been transferred from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to their home countries. As directed by the President’s Jan. 22, 2009, Executive Order, the interagency Guantanamo Review Task Force conducted a comprehensive review of each of these cases. As a result of that review, these detainees were approved for transfer from Guantanamo Bay. The transfers were carried out pursuant to arrangements between the United States and the governments of...

Hungry people in the central African nation of Chad have raised an old culinary fad from the dead - to get their fangs stuck into fried blood. "Vampire", as it is jokingly dubbed, is a traditional dish making a comeback amid a global surge in food prices that has left meat too expensive for many. Meat is often eaten only on special occasions such as religious holidays. Nutritionists say "vampire" is actually an excellent alternative to goat and sheep, especially for children. "I make it with peppers, salt, onions, spicy sauce and maggi [stock cubes]. I fry it all up...

NDJAMENA (AFP) - European peacekeepers were hunting for a "deranged" French Foreign Legion officer who fled after going on a shooting spree in Chad, killing two comrades, a Togolese UN soldier and a farmer. The shootings began Tuesday at Camp des Etoiles, the main base of the European peacekeepers near the airport in the eastern town of Abeche near the Sudan border, a French military official said. "Gunshots were heard in the (military) camp and then the two legionnaires were found and then a little further away the body of the Togolese soldier was discovered," said Captain Christophe Prazuck. The...

A ban on the use of charcoal in Chad is making life hard for people already struggling with high food prices. Families are being forced to burn furniture, cow dung, rubbish and roots of plants in order to cook. Since the clampdown was announced - officially in order to help the environment - charcoal has become almost impossible to find.

'Genocide in Darfur' (by Samuel Totten, Eric Markusen) Racist ideology plays an important part of the story, as it has in the history of other twentieth century genocides. And the psychology of "genocide" has become familiar through the sorry repetition of genocidal acts that the last century has witnessed. In 1987, Libya used the northwestern Darfur corner as a backdoor to attack Chad. It had equipped and sent out the so-called Arab legion, an Arab supremacist militia, to pursue Arab expansion in the mineral-rich sub-Saharan regions it bordered and to drive out the African tribes. Libya was not orchestrating a...

Excerpt - CAIRO, Sept 29 (Reuters) - All 11 Western tourists and eight Egyptians taken hostage by gunmen in a remote border area of Egypt more than a week ago have been freed and are in good health, state-run Egyptian television said on Monday. ~ snip ~

SAN DIEGO -- San Diego Republican Congressman, Duncan Hunter's name was popping up in blogs and cable news shows Thursday. Hunter's staff was reported to have contacted the U.S. embassy in the African country of Chad to see if Hunter could distribute food at a refugee camp. Hunter also wanted to hunt Wildebeest in Chad and distribute the meat to refugees. The embassy staff reportedly said they were happy to hear about the Congressman's interest in helping refugees, but as far as hunting goes, there are no Wildebeest to hunt in Chad and the government there does not permit the...

UP-DATE: Steve Godbold - Chad Thursday, July 24, 2008 Steve Godbold Released For release: July 25, 2008 The Evangelical Alliance Mission (TEAM) is very pleased to announce the release of Cash Stephen Godbold, a missionary held captive in northern Chad for more than nine months. Godbold was released by his captors in Chad on Thursday evening, July 24th. He was released near the town of Bardai in northern Chad, and is presently a guest of local officials in Bardai. Arrangements are in process to send an aircraft to Bardai to evacuate Godbold to N'Djamena. From there he will travel to...

June 15, 2008 (WASHINGTON) – The leader of Darfur Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) lashed out at Sudan ruling party accusing it of not being serious about seeking peace in the war ravaged region. “We entered into repeated negotiations rounds; more than 10 in Abuja, Nigeria [2006]. But all these attempts on ceasefire and reaching peace failed due to the stubbornness of the Sudanese government” Khalil Ibrahim said in an interview aired yesterday on the Al-Jazeera Arabic language television. “Therefore the hope for reaching peace in Darfur and all over Sudan has faded. The government is totally unconcerned with what...

Iran, Iraq and other hot spots topped discussions between U.S. President George Bush and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi Thursday in Rome. "We did have a wideranging discussion," Bush said during a news conference. "I appreciate very much the fact that Italy is meeting international obligations." Bush noted that U.S. citizens probably didn't realize how many Italian troops were deployed around the world, including 8,700 troops in areas such as Kosovo and Chad. "We talked about Iraq, how Iraq is changing for the better, how people are beginning to realize the blessings of a free and peaceful society," Bush said,...

For Immediate Release April 30, 2008 The faith-based organization TEAM, located in the United States, announces that it has arranged for an aircraft operated by a medical non-governmental organization in Chad to fly to Bardai to receive Steve Godbold, who has been detained by rebel forces since October 10, 2007. TEAM also offers to allow a representative of the international media to accompany this flight to observe the process. On April 28, 2008 the President of the MDJT, Mr. Choua Dazi, stated in an interview published by Liberté sans frontières and posted at www.dabio.net that Mr. Godbold is “free” and...

Afghanistan to Ask NATO for Bigger Army Afghan officials will go to the NATO summit in Romania Thursday with a request: pay to increase our national Army by 40 percent. A bigger Army, Afghan officials argue, will allow the US and other coalition members to scale back in the coming years. This appeal comes amid pleas from the US and Canada for other NATO members to commit more to the Afghanistan mission, which many analysts say has floundered over the past year for lack of resources and a coherent strategy. France is expected to contribute another 1,000 forces and...

Former governor outlines '21st century conservative' agendaMIAMI (FBW)-Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush could barely contain his amusement at the Democrat Party's Florida and Michigan delegate dilemma in its tightly contested presidential race, saying it's "ironic beyond belief" that the party which accused him and other Republicans of suppressing the vote in the 2000 Florida presidential election re-count now "got themselves in a hole" of "their own doing." "My thoughts are filled with irony that every vote should count," Bush said with a broad smile. "I mean this brings back memories of hyperbole and anger, mock anger .... It was a...

video at link

On this morning’s conference call, Sen. Obama’s campaign manager repeated deep reservations about using the mail-in option in both Michigan and Florida. Yesterday, an Obama campaign strategist highlighted what he thought were potential problems: "Obviously there are concerns about a mail-in vote. I mean, there are concerns about eligibility, ballot security," [Axelrod] said during a conference call. [AP, 12/11/08] Even Sen. Obama is now expressing hesitation to endorse a vote by mail system. The Associated Press reported: Obama...said in an interview with CNN that he had reservations about a vote by mail. "I think there's some concerns in terms of...

DAKAR (Reuters) - Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and Chadian President Idriss Deby signed a peace agreement on Thursday designed to end cross-border rebel attacks in a region which includes Sudan's conflict-ravaged Darfur area. The signing, witnessed by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) head Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, also aims to revive a string of past pacts that have failed to end fighting on both sides of the Chad-Sudan border. "We solemnly pledge to ban the activities of all armed groups and to prevent the use of our respective territories to destabilize one or other of...

Sudanese forces have clashed with troops from the European Union Force in Chad after they crossed the border into the Darfur region, Sudan says. A Sudanese soldier and a civilian were killed during the exchange of fire, the Sudanese army says. The EU Force (Eufor) says it was trying to recover one of its vehicles which had accidentally strayed into Sudan. A French soldier who was in the vehicle is still missing, and France has asked for Sudan's help to find him. The French soldier's disappearance is the first serious incident experienced by the force. Another soldier was injured -...

N'DJAMENA, Oct 18 (Reuters) - A U.S. evangelical church missionary working on a U.S. government-backed development project in northern Chad has been kidnapped by rebels, Chadian and U.S. officials said on Thursday. "The governor of the northern BET region has told me that an American priest has been kidnapped in the Tibesti (mountains) by remaining members of the MDJT rebel movement," Secretary of State for the Interior Abderamane Djasnabaille told Reuters. "The rebels took his vehicle and they are holding him at Zoumri," he added. A leader of Chad's Evangelical Church, Pastor Ngardei Bako, identified the kidnapped American as Steve...

Muslim in-laws seize his wife, kill his young son. ZALANGA, Nigeria, February 7 (Compass Direct News) – A little over a year after becoming a Christian in Ngudungudu, Chad in December 1995, Jeje Nehamiah Baki left the town to meet up with his nomadic family in the wilderness. His wife had already returned to her parents and their nomadic lifestyle, and Baki, a former Muslim and nomadic Fulani of the Bororo dialect in Chad, was looking forward to reuniting with her and their two children. But he said his father-in-law, having learned of his conversion, seized his wife and would...

NAIROBI, Kenya As combat raged in Chad's capital last weekend, U.S. Embassy staffers were busily shredding sensitive documents in the ambassador's office when a rocket blasted through a wall, roared across the room and burst out the opposite wall before exploding. No one was injured in the blast, or when two stray artillery shells hit two residences inside the embassy compound, the evacuated public affairs officer, Solomon Atayi, says in an email letter written Thursday to colleagues and friends. The Associated Press obtained a copy Friday, and Atayi also posted it on the State Department's blog site. U.S. officials had...

The United Nations has evacuated most of its staff from Chad because of worries for their safety, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday. "I am alarmed by the deteriorating security situation in the capital, N'Djamena, and elsewhere," he said. "We can no longer guarantee the safety and security of U.N. staff in Chad and we have evacuated, with the help of the French Government, most of the personnel into neighboring countries, in Cameroon and Gabon." Ban said he was leaving in place a small number of U.N. peacekeepers and other personnel in Chad's capital, and that the U.N. would do...

Chad's future Taliban enters capital while the West is asleep The Transatlantic Conservative 3 February 2008 With the so called "rebel" attack on N'Djamena it becomes increasingly clear that the jihadist government and militia of Sudan expand their operations to neighboring Chad. Saudi-Arabia, Syria and Iran back the hardliners in Khartoum. The racist genocidal ethnic cleansing policies of the Arab muslim tribes in power in the Sudanese capital will can't be stopped by UN or EUFOR intervention troops anymore. Their only possible base of operations against the jihadis from Sudan WAS Chad. Chad is another piece of the map of...