Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb frees Italians in Mali April 16, 2010

In December, AQIM published a picture purportedly of Mr Cicala and his wife An Italian couple who were being held hostage in the west African country of Mali by al-Qaeda militants have been released. Sergio Cicala and his wife, Philomene Kaboure, were picked up by an army patrol, local officials said. Italy's foreign minister said they were "in the hands of Malian authorities" and were being taken to a "safe place". Mr Cicala and Mrs Kaboure – who is also a citizen of Burkina Faso – were seized in December in neighbouring Mauritania. They had been driving past the eastern town of Kobenni on 18 December – en route to Burkina Faso to see Mrs Kaboure's 12-year-old son – when they were abducted by gunmen from their four-wheel-drive vehicle.

The hate and the quake February 3, 2010

cc Gloria Mundi‘Haiti did not fail,’ writes Hilary Beckles, ‘it was destroyed by two of the most powerful nations on earth, both of which continue to have a primary interest in its current condition.' Buried 'beneath the rubble of imperial propaganda', says Beckle, is 'the evidence which shows that Haiti's independence was defeated by an aggressive North-Atlantic alliance that could not imagine their world inhabited by a free regime of Africans as representatives of the newly emerging democracy.’

The University of the West Indies is in the process of conceiving how best to deliver a major conference on the theme ‘Rethinking and rebuilding Haiti’.

I am very keen to provide an input into this exercise because for too long there has been a popular perception that somehow the Haitian nation-building project, launched on 1 January 1804, has failed on account of mismanagement, ineptitude, corruption.

Buried beneath the rubble of imperial propaganda, out of both Western Europe and the United States, is the evidence which shows that Haiti's independence was defeated by an aggressive North-Atlantic alliance that could not imagine their world inhabited by a free regime of Africans as representatives of the newly emerging democracy.

The evidence is striking, especially in the context of France.

Cameroon in Solidarity with Haiti January 25, 2010

 

The Minister of Communication in a press briefing last Friday clarified public opinion on Cameroonians in Haiti. 

The Minister of Communication, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, during a press briefing in Yaounde last Friday made an exact appraisal of the situation of Cameroonians on official missions in Haiti after the 12 January earthquake that occurred some 16 kilometres from the capital city, Port Prince, killing over 100,000 people with huge material damage. The Minister told pressmen that after the Head of State’s message of solidarity, condolence and compassion to his Haitian counterpart, President Biya is preparing to give the Haitians the necessary assistance that will help revamp their economy and other needs.

Migrants leave Italian town amid violence January 11, 2010

Firemen on Monday pull down a factory where immigrant workers were living in Rosarno, Italy

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Hundreds of immigrant workers moved by bus from Italian town of Rosarno
• Speaker van drove round town warning black people to leave town or be killed
• Migrant protests over shooting of worker turned violent over weekend
• Police said man shot with pellet gun; Italian media speculates Mafia behind shooting

(CNN) – The message blaring out of the speakers on the van was stark: "Any black person who is hiding in Rosarno should get out. If we catch you, we will kill you."

Abdul Rashid Muhammad Mahmoud Iddris got out.

He's one of hundreds — perhaps thousands — of African migrants taken by bus out of the Italian town over the weekend after violent demonstrations shook southern Italy.

The unrest was among the worst of its kind in recent Italian history, said a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration.

"We have not witnessed such protests in a long time," said Flavio Di Giacomo. "There were several thousand, but I don't know exactly how many people were involved."

Chicken Madness: How Europe’s Exports Harm Africa January 6, 2010