Month: February 2019

A Somali federal parliamentary lawmaker was fatally shot Saturday in Mogadishu, security officials said.

Al-Shabab militants armed with pistols shot the lawmaker, Osman Ilmi Boqorre, as he was visiting his new house that is under construction in the Karan neighborhood north of Mogadishu, according to witnesses.

A statement released by Radio Andalus, the terror group’s official mouthpiece, said “Members of  our Mujahidiin shot and killed the longest-serving member of the parliament of the apostate government.” Al-Shabab is allied with al-Qaida.

Boqorre died before the first responders arrived, police say.

Boqorre, was the oldest member of the current Somali Parliament. He was a lieutenant colonel in the army and became the deputy speaker of the Parliament of the then Somali Transitional Government (TFG) in 2007, but he resigned for health-related reasons in 2010.

One of his colleagues in the Parliament, Dahir Amin Jessow, was among those who first received news of the killing, and told VOA that Boqorre was known as a peacemaker and negotiator.

“He was a peace-loving person, the oldest, and one of the very active members of the Parliament,” Jessow said.

Boqorre is the first lawmaker to be killed in Mogadishu this year.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the killing, but al-Shabab militants typically take credit for the assassinations of lawmakers, civil servants, other government workers and selective civil society activists.

In 2005, the group claimed responsibility for killing the late lawmaker’s son, Khadar Osman, in Mogadishu.

It’s the second high-profile assassination this week. On Wednesday, al-Shabab militants killed Deputy Attorney General Mohamed Abdirahman Mursal in Mogadishu.
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Sudanese opposition groups, including the influential trade union association that is leading political protests against the government, are saying that they will continue their demonstrations against President Omar al-Bashir, despite a series of political shuffles he has made during the past 24 hours. Bashir declared a “state of emergency” in a Friday night speech, and replaced most of his government.

Protesters continued to chant slogans against the government and President Bashir overnight after initial hopes that he was stepping down were dashed by a televised speech he made to the nation.

He said that he was declaring a “state of emergency” across the country for a one-year period, and dissolving both the national and provincial governments, urging citizens to shun chaos in the streets, and promising leniency to young people involved in demonstrations.

Bashir made further changes Saturday, naming defense minister Gen. Awad Mohammed Ibn Auf as his new vice president. He also named former provincial government official Mohammed Taher Eyla to be the new prime minister.

Fresh impetus for opposition

Sudanese journalist Osman al-Mirghani told several Arab news channels that he did not think the changes Bashir announced were sufficient, insisting that the goal of the opposition remained the ouster of the president.

Mirghani said that the changes announced by the president were just a fresh impetus for further popular protests and the next step in the ultimate ouster of the Bashir.

Arab media reported that Mirghani was arrested after calling for Bashir’s ouster. Sudan’s intelligence ministry also continued to prevent opposition figures from speaking to Arab TV channels, interrupting many people as they spoke. U.S. broadcaster al-Hurra TV reported that several dozen opposition figures have been arrested during the past 48 hours.

The Sudanese Association of Trade Unions has called for more protests against the government and Bashir, insisting that he must step down. Despite the calls, the intensity of protests appeared to diminish a notch Saturday afternoon, as many people adopted a “wait-and-see” attitude.

No way out for Bashir

Egyptian political sociologist Said Sadek told VOA that he thinks the goal of Bashir’s political shuffle was to divide the opposition:

“The aim was that he wanted to break down the opposition between those who would accept the concessions and feel that this is enough… and the fanatics. He wants to isolate and then target them,” he said.

Sadek, however, does not believe that the strategy will work in the long term. “Bashir,” he argued, “is making the same kinds of concessions that [former Egyptian president] Hosni Mubarak and (former Tunisian president) Zein al Abidine Ben Ali made before they were forced to resign.” But the “problem with Bashir is that he has nowhere to go. This is the problem with all dictators in the Middle East. There is no safe exit for them.”

 
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An independent advisory body convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends pregnant women and breastfeeding women in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo be vaccinated against the deadly Ebola virus.  Latest WHO figures put the number of Ebola cases in the DRC at 853, including 521 deaths since the beginning of the outbreak in August.

More than 80,000 people so far have been vaccinated against Ebola in the African country’s conflict-ridden North Kivu and Ituri provinces during the current outbreak.  The vaccine is still in its experimental stage. But since 2015 it has been given to thousands of people in Africa, Europe and the United States.  

The studies of the efficacy of the vaccine are not conclusive.  However, they indicate the serum is safe and protects people against Ebola.  On the basis of accumulated evidence, the group of immunization experts recommends continued ring vaccination for Ebola in DRC.

Ring vaccination is a strategy that prevents the spread of the disease by vaccinating only those likely to be infected with the virus.  WHO  spokesman, Tarek Jasarevic says the experts advise pregnant women at high risk of infection and death from Ebola should be given the vaccination.

“So, this aim, this vaccinating of women would protect them, provide them with more protection.  But we also know that if we use this ring vaccination that women who are in the community that is vaccinated then have a low risk.  So, it is really between risk and benefits and we hope that the use of the vaccine in pregnant women will generate some data for the future,” Jasarevic said.

The group of experts advise the vaccine be given to pregnant women in their second or third trimester as well as to breastfeeding women and babies under one year old.  

The experts also recommend that one or more of three other new experimental Ebola vaccines be tested in areas neighboring the affected regions.  They say pregnant and breastfeeding women should be included in these trials.

The WHO says all vaccinated pregnant women will be closely monitored until the birth of their babies to see if there are any adverse effects.

 
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Sudan President Omar al-Bashir declared a national emergency for one year, and dissolved local and national governments amid widespread demonstrations in Sudan.

“I call on the parliament to delay looking into the constitutional amendments to open the door for enriching the political life through constructive dialogue and candid patriotic initiatives,” Bashir said in a speech late Friday.

The decision comes after two months of protests have rocked Sudan, triggered by a dire economy and rising commodities prices, that have evolved into demands the country’s 75-year-old president step down.

Omer Ismail, senior adviser at the Washington-based Enough Project, said Bashir is imposing a national emergency to enforce martial law, giving the president power to unilaterally make decisions.

“There is no parliament, there is no Cabinet. He has all the powers in his hands. He can order the army to be in the streets, the tanks, any unit of the army,” Ismail said. “The security forces have free hands to arrests people, to detain them, to get in their homes, to stop and search anybody at any given time of the day.”

Opposition arrests

On Thursday, the Sudanese Congress Party (SCP), an opposition party in Sudan, said security forces arrested Mokhtar al-Khatib, the Communist Party leader; Mariam Sadiq al-Mahdi, the deputy head of the Umma Party, and party Secretary-General Sara Nugdallah.

SCP said the move was to prevent planned protests.

Activists say at least 56 people have died during the protests, a figure the government challenges.

Speaking Friday to advisers outgoing ministers, according to media reports, Bashir said, “Our country is suffering from a difficult and complicated situation, the most difficult in its history. …”

“The economic issue needs to be tackled by qualified people and for this I will form a government made of people of quality,” he said, without saying when the new government would be announced, according to a French news agency report.

​Sudan diaspora

The Sudanese diaspora has paid close attention to developments in their home country, staging a handful of protests across the United States.

A week ago, more than 1,000 members of the diaspora protested in Washington, demanding change in Sudan’s leadership.

“I think this revolution is belonging to the youth,” Virginia-based Sudan activist Remaz Abdelgader said.

“We have waited for 30 years and unfortunately nothing has happened. So this is our future. So we are the ones who are carrying this revolution and we are the ones who are making it our responsibility because this is for our children’s generation, this is for our generation,” she said.

Speaking during a protest at the Sudanese embassy in Washington in January, Sudanese native Rowa Kodi said this round of protests, now the longest since Sudan gained independence in 1956, feels different.

During the protests in Sudan in late 2013, Kodi said, “People used to push us out of their houses, not to welcome us in their houses, but what I see this time in the streets, people are welcoming us.”

“This time in the streets people are giving us water, people are providing food, people even providing first aid. They prepare themselves the night before so that they will be ready for injured people,” Kodi said.

She said there is a strong sense of solidarity among Sudanese that has helped energize demonstrators seeking change.
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Sudan President Omar al-Bashir declared a national emergency for one year, and dissolved local and national governments amid widespread demonstrations in Sudan.

“I call on the parliament to delay looking into the constitutional amendments to open the door for enriching the political life through constructive dialogue and candid patriotic initiatives,” Bashir said in a speech late Friday.

The decision comes after two months of protests have rocked Sudan, triggered by a dire economy and rising commodities prices, that have evolved into demands the country’s 75-year-old president step down.

Omer Ismail, senior adviser at the Washington-based Enough Project, said Bashir is imposing a national emergency to enforce martial law, giving the president power to unilaterally make decisions.

“There is no parliament, there is no Cabinet. He has all the powers in his hands. He can order the army to be in the streets, the tanks, any unit of the army,” Ismail said. “The security forces have free hands to arrests people, to detain them, to get in their homes, to stop and search anybody at any given time of the day.”

Opposition arrests

On Thursday, the Sudanese Congress Party (SCP), an opposition party in Sudan, said security forces arrested Mokhtar al-Khatib, the Communist Party leader; Mariam Sadiq al-Mahdi, the deputy head of the Umma Party, and party Secretary-General Sara Nugdallah.

SCP said the move was to prevent planned protests.

Activists say at least 56 people have died during the protests, a figure the government challenges.

Speaking Friday to advisers outgoing ministers, according to media reports, Bashir said, “Our country is suffering from a difficult and complicated situation, the most difficult in its history. …”

“The economic issue needs to be tackled by qualified people and for this I will form a government made of people of quality,” he said, without saying when the new government would be announced, according to a French news agency report.

​Sudan diaspora

The Sudanese diaspora has paid close attention to developments in their home country, staging a handful of protests across the United States.

A week ago, more than 1,000 members of the diaspora protested in Washington, demanding change in Sudan’s leadership.

“I think this revolution is belonging to the youth,” Virginia-based Sudan activist Remaz Abdelgader said.

“We have waited for 30 years and unfortunately nothing has happened. So this is our future. So we are the ones who are carrying this revolution and we are the ones who are making it our responsibility because this is for our children’s generation, this is for our generation,” she said.

Speaking during a protest at the Sudanese embassy in Washington in January, Sudanese native Rowa Kodi said this round of protests, now the longest since Sudan gained independence in 1956, feels different.

During the protests in Sudan in late 2013, Kodi said, “People used to push us out of their houses, not to welcome us in their houses, but what I see this time in the streets, people are welcoming us.”

“This time in the streets people are giving us water, people are providing food, people even providing first aid. They prepare themselves the night before so that they will be ready for injured people,” Kodi said.

She said there is a strong sense of solidarity among Sudanese that has helped energize demonstrators seeking change.
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