Continental view – Africa
Darfur in Sudan is a world humanitarian crisis
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UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon has arrived in Sudan on a low-key visit to the crisis-struck country. |  |
Friday, 14, Sep 2007 02:50
A selection of the top news stories making the headlines in Africa in the last two months.
Shaky progress in Darfur
August 1st saw what UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon described as a "historic and unprecedented resolution" passed in New York. After months of wrangling, the use of force to protect civilians in Sudan's Darfur region was finally approved.
The plan involved the deployment of almost 20,000 military personnel and more than 6,000 police officers, but is not expected to be fully implemented until next year.
Further diplomatic efforts from Mr Ban led to agreement for renewed peace talks between rebels and representatives of the Khartoum government this autumn later in the month. But further instability, and an awareness among leaders of the need to make progress on security, the political process and humanitarian access, mean the international community is far from complacent about the region's prospects.
"The troop deployment is only one stage in the process of bringing peace, and we cannot wait a moment longer for intense international action to secure a ceasefire," UK prime minister Gordon Brown and French president Nicolas Sarkozy wrote in a joint article in August 31st's Financial Times newspaper.
Khartoum's decision to expel diplomats representing the European Commission and the Canadian government on August 23rd, followed by an Amnesty International report a day later alleging that Khartoum was breaking the international Darfur arms embargo, were a reminder of the continuing tense situation.
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Al-Qaida in North Africa
Two bomb attacks in Algeria killed around 50 people in the first week of September.
Responsibility for both the bombings was claimed by a group calling itself Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb on the 9th, to condemnation from the Algiers government.
The attack followed a warning that the group planned to target "all gatherings of infidels and apostates" on July 23rd.
Following the April bombings in the country's capital which took the lives of 22 people, fears of Islamic terrorism spreading from the Middle East to the north African region have been steadily growing.
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Post-civil war elections.
Sierra Leone held the first round of its presidential elections on August 11th as the west African state sought to recover from its 1991-2002 civil war.
Pre-poll favourite Solomon Berewa, vice president of the current government under Ahmed Tejan Kabbah in the Sierra Leone People's party, failed to win an outright majority in the first round.
Votes are currently still being counted from the second round, which took place on September 8th, but no clear winner has emerged. It seems the biggest challenger, Ernest Koroma of the All People's Congress, could pip Mr Berewa to the electoral post.
The fight against corruption has been a central theme of the election and it is perhaps no surprise that this year's poll was blighted by claims of vote rigging.
Sierra Leone remains in a mood of change, however, with its people looking to accelerate its recovery from the devastating civil war which ended in 2002.
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No peace in Mogadishu
The fate of five Mogadishu children killed by mortar fire on July 19th proved a painful reminder of the stakes as negotiations to bring peace to Somalia got underway.
Already postponed because of violence caused by the ongoing insurgency against the transitional government, the conference proved a disappointment when it eventually took place.
The Somali capital has proved the focus of the insurgency in much the same way as Baghdad has seen the worst violence in Iraq, after the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) was forced from power by Ethiopian military intervention over the new year.
But little agreement was reached and no effective change was achieved, analysts say, because key opposition groups were left outside the conference centre.
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Other major developments
July 30th: Optimism in a football stadium. Hopes for a lasting peace in the Ivory Coast were raised by the lighting of a ceremonial flame for peace by president Laurent Gbabgo in the formerly rebel-held north.
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August 23rd: Good news for conservationists. A baby gorilla was born to great apes in DR Congo's Virunga National Park, following the massacre of four gorillas last month.
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August 29th: Mandela statue in London. UK prime minister hailed anti-Apartheid campaigner Nelson Mandela's efforts against injustice as a statue of the former leader of South Africa was unveiled in Parliament Square.
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