Zimbabwe Online News

MEXICO CITY— Migrants from 12 countries were among 600 people found hidden in the back of two trucks in eastern Mexico on Friday, most of them from neighboring Guatemala, the government’s National Migration Institute (INM) said.

The INM said 401 of the people were from Guatemala, 53 from Honduras, 40 from the Dominican Republic, 37 from Bangladesh, 27 from Nicaragua, 18 from El Salvador and eight from Cuba.

There were also six men from Ghana, four people from Venezuela, four men from Ecuador, a man from India and a man from Cameroon in the two trailers discovered in Veracruz state.

The institute said 455 of the migrants were male, and 145 female. The people detained would either be sent home or given the chance to have their stay in Mexico regularized, it added.

Most migrants from Central America and the rest of the world who enter Mexico head for the United States and say they are seeking to escape poverty or violence in their homelands.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (centre) watches as Jeff Price, Cubic Transportation Systems Vice President and General Manager (left) and CETUD Director General Thierno Birahim signing an agreement during a commercial diplomatic event with US companies and the government of Senegal at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Dakar

DAKAR— US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said his country was investing in Africa without imposing unsustainable levels of debt, as he witnessed the signing of contracts worth more than US$1 billion in Senegal’s capital Dakar.

The deals between four US companies and Senegal are being billed as part of his country’s pitch to help Africa build infrastructure with transparent and sustainable deals.

Careful not to directly criticise Chinese infrastructure projects, which have proliferated across the continent in the past decade, Blinken said during a visit to Nigeria on Friday that international deals were too often opaque and coercive.

The US is investing “without saddling the country with a debt that it cannot handle,” he said during the signing ceremony with Senegal’s Economy Minister Amadou Hott.

He said he had a deep concern for the stability of neighbouring Mali, which has experienced two coups in the last 18 months, and that the upcoming election there must follow a timetable drawn up by the regional bloc ECOWAS.

Earlier this month ECOWAS, West Africa’s main political and economic bloc, imposed sanctions on Mali’s transitional leaders, after they informed the organisation they would not be able to hold presidential and legislative elections in February.

“We look forward to resuming the full array of assistance as soon as this democratically elected government takes office,” Blinken told reporters.

It was reported that Mali’s military junta was in discussions about deploying a Russian military contractor, Wagner Group, in Mali to help fight a growing Islamist insurgency.

“It would be especially unfortunate if outside actors engaged in making things even more difficult and more complicated and I’m thinking particularly of groups like the Wagner Group,” Blinken said.

Blinken said the US has real concerns, widely shared with partners in Europe, over Russia’s “unusual activity” at the Ukrainian border, after Ukraine said it feared Russia might be preparing an attack.

“We do know the playbook of trying to cite some illusory provocation from Ukraine or any other country and using that as an excuse to do what Russia was planning to do all along,” Blinken said.

During a visit to Dakar’s Institute Pasteur bio-medical research center, Blinken said the United States was working with partners to generate more financing for vaccine manufacturing in Senegal.

In October BioNTech signed an agreement with the Institut Pasteur de Dakar and the Rwandan government to construct the first mRNA vaccine facilities in Africa, starting in mid-2022.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

KHARTOUM— Sudan’s top general Abdel Fattah al-

Burhan and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok have reached a deal for his return

and the release of the civilian leadership detained since last month’s military

coup, mediators said Sunday.

“A political agreement has been reached between General Burhan, Abdalla

Hamdok, political forces and civil society organisations for Hamdok’s return

to his position, and the release of political detainees,” senior Sudanese

mediator Fadlallah Burma said.

A group of Sudanese mediators also released a statement confirming the

deal.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

Sudan’s military Sunday reinstated deposed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok to lead a civilian government of technocrats after weeks of deadly unrest triggered by his overthrow.

Civilian and military leaders said government officials and politicians arrested since the coup in late October will be released as part of the deal between the military and political parties, including the largest Umma Party.

Hamdok will lead an independent technocratic Cabinet, the officials said. They said the United Nations, the United States and others played “crucial roles” in crafting the agreement.

The coup had drawn international criticism, with the U.S., its allies and the U.N. condemning attacks on anti-coup protesters.

As the agreement became known in Khartoum, the capital, security forces fired tear gas to disperse protesters as they approached the presidential palace. Shortly after the pact was signed, some began shouting, "Hamdok has sold the revolution."

Hamdok said he had agreed to the deal to stop the bloodshed.

"Sudanese blood is precious; let us stop the bloodshed and direct the youth's energy into building and development," he said.

The U.N. Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan welcomed the recent developments.

“We stress the need to protect the constitutional order to safeguard the basic freedoms of political action, freedom of speech, and peaceful assembly. The transition partners will need to urgently address unresolved issues to complete the political transition in an inclusive manner, with respect for human rights and the rule of law,” a UNITAMS statement said.

“We call on all parties to the political process in Sudan to include the voices of the youth to address the demands of the Sudanese people. Women’s meaningful participation and the advancement of their hard-earned rights and role in the democratic transition must be maintained.”

The civilian coalition that had shared power with the military said it was opposed to talks with the “putschists" and called for protests to continue. Resistance committees that had been organizing protests also rejected the new deal with the military.

The Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) civilian coalition, which had been sharing power with the military, said it did not recognize any agreement with the armed forces.

"We affirm our clear and previously announced position: no negotiation and no partnership and no legitimacy for the putschists," the FFC said in a statement.

Hamdok had been under house arrest since the military seized power on Oct. 25. His ouster derailed a transition toward democracy after the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir and his Islamist government in 2019 that ended his three decades of autocratic rule.

The coup triggered mass demonstrations against the military, with medics aligned with the protest movement saying that security forces had killed 40 civilians in the violence.

Source: Voice of America

Up to 200 protesters in Burkina Faso gathered on the outskirts of the capital, Ouagadougou, Sunday, aiming to block a French military convoy that has been trying to reach neighboring Niger from the nearby city of Kaya. French forces are in the region as part of a fight against Islamist militants. Many Burkinabe, however, are upset with France’s role and have directed their anger at French forces.

From Thursday through Saturday of last week, protesters in Kaya, 97 kilometers north of the capital, staged a blockade of the convoy.

An official from the French Defense Ministry told VOA on Sunday that the convoy was routine and the 32nd of its kind heading to Niamey, Niger, with supplies for troops.

Demonstrators said they believed the convoy was carrying weapons to arm terrorist groups which have spread throughout Burkina Faso, killing thousands of civilians and security forces over the last six years. Security has deteriorated rapidly in recent months, but there is no evidence to support the protesters' claim.

Saturday night, it was reported the convoy had left Kaya after protesters there forced it out, but it was not clear if it was headed to Ouagadougou.

Cell phone internet access has also been shut down since 10 p.m. local time Saturday, according to NetBlocks.org, a watchdog group that monitors internet shutdowns. This may indicate a government attempt to suppress further street protests.

Nonetheless, protesters had arranged wooden pallets and tires on the road leading from Kaya to the capital and were flying a Burkinabe flag. The atmosphere was tense with protesters demanding to know if journalists were working for French media outlets.

One protester, who refused to give his name, spoke to VOA.

He said, “We are ready to burn any French material passing by. We do not need France in this country anymore. That's our will.”

Another wanted to know where the jihadists’ weapons come from.

“From where do the jihadists get their weapons? It's from the French. That's why we have blocked the convoy in Kaya. They shot at us yesterday and three people were injured. We were there yesterday, and today we are back again to block the convoy.”

Meanwhile, the Reuters news agency reports France has asked Burkinabe President Roch Kabore to intervene to resolve the situation involving the convoy. According to Reuters, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told French television “manipulators" were behind the anti-French sentiment, but that he hoped for a solution.

On Saturday, Burkinabe security forces in Kaya used tear gas to disperse crowds gathered near a fenced compound where the convoy had been parked. French defense officials say French troops fired warning shots into the air when protesters tried to cut the fence. The French defense official says there is no way that French troops shot and injured three people and that the incident will not be investigated.Joe Penney, a co-founder of Sahelian.com, a news website focused on the Sahel region, says that it is not exactly uncommon for soldiers to shoot in the air to disperse a crowd, but added that very rarely does that end up with so many people injured.

"The fact that people were shot in the leg also raises questions for me and for me there should be a formal investigation,” Penney said.

There were no security forces at the protest earlier Sunday morning, but a Burkinabe government official told VOA that efforts were underway to reopen the roads. The spokesperson, however, did not address the issues surrounding internet access.

“Regarding the internet, I do not know if it is a question of technical problems or not,” the spokesperson said.

By Sunday evening, police had dispersed protesters with tear gas and traffic was beginning to move freely on the road again.

Source: Voice of America