Nigeria hunts 'Islamist' who opened fire at polling unit
KANO, (AFP) - Nigerian police hunted a suspected Islamist sect member on Wednesday who opened fire at a polling station in the country's northeast, killing one person and wounding four, authorities said.Police in the northeastern city of Maiduguri also arrested seven suspected members of the sect who were accused of trying to plant a bomb on a busy street during governorship polls on Tuesday, the state police commissioner said.
"We have seven suspected Boko Haram members in custody, arrested yesterday with a bomb device which they were trying to plant on a busy street in the city," said Michael Zuokumor, referring to the sect.
"They are between 18 and 25 years of age. Another suspected member of Boko Haram opened fire at a polling station in Jajere neighbourhood, killing one voter and injuring four others. He managed to escape in the confusion that followed the attack."
Police in Borno state, where Maiduguri is the capital, also arrested more than 20 other suspects over election fraud allegations, including those accused of attempting to snatch ballot papers.
Maiduguri has long been hit by violence and bomb blasts blamed on the Islamist sect, which launched an uprising in 2009. Three explosions went off Tuesday morning in the city, but no casualties were reported.
Bomb blasts there killed at least three people and wounded 15 on Sunday and Monday.
Most of Nigeria's 36 states voted in state governor polls Tuesday marred by bombs and ballot-box thefts as the country stumbled to the finish line of a landmark election season that set off deadly riots last week.
Defiant Syria vows to keep up protest crackdown
Growing anger at the regime's brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters saw Britain on Thursday withdraw the Syrian ambassador's invitation to the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.
In Washington, three key US senators urged President Barack Obama to declare that his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad has squandered his legitimacy and must step down.
"We urge President Obama to state unequivocally -- as he did in the case of (Libyan leader Moamer) Kadhafi and (Egyptian President Hosni) Mubarak -- that it is time for Assad to go," Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham and independent Senator Joe Lieberman said in a joint statement.
The European Union is mulling sanctions and the UN Human Rights Council has called a special session for Friday in Geneva on the crackdown in Syria.
In the southern town of Daraa, epicentre of the protests that have shaken Assad's once uncontested rule, water and power have been cut and the death toll has risen to 42 on the fourth day of a military siege, a rights activists said.
Syria has been rocked since March 15 by increasingly strident pro-democracy demonstrations, which the authorities have tried to crush through violence that rights groups say has killed at least 453 civilians.
Information Minister Adnan Mahmud told AFP that the crackdown would continue, despite a European Union threat of sanctions and growing world pressure to allow peaceful protests.
"The authorities are determined to restore security, stability and peace to the citizens," Mahmud said. "In Daraa, the army intervened at the request of the population to restore security."
According to the minister, more than 50 soldiers and dozens of police have been killed and hundreds injured since the revolt began.
Further showdowns are expected after the weekly main Muslim prayers on Friday, when protesters traditionally emerge from mosques to stage mass street demonstrations.
"Friday of Anger, April 29, in solidarity with Daraa," says a notice on the Syrian Revolution 2011 page of Facebook, a motor of the protests in which demonstrators inspired by uprisings elsewhere in the Arab world are seeking greater freedoms.
"To the youths of the revolution, tomorrow we will be in all the places, in all the streets ... We will gather at the besieged towns, including with our brothers in Daraa," said the statement posted online on Thursday.
It said demonstrations would also be staged in other flashpoint towns such as Homs in the centre of the country and Banias in the northwest.
A London-based spokesman for Syrian opposition activists called on the army to protect citizens confronted with "brutal repression and killings by security forces."
"We hope that Bashar al-Assad still has an ounce of humanity in him so he can stop this massacre, otherwise the response on Friday will be on the street, where hundreds of thousands will turn out to demonstrate against him and his regime, demanding his departure," Ausama Monajed told AFP.
His group on Wednesday called upon the regime to implement real reform lest it is "overrun by a popular revolution."
A rights activist reached by telephone said the situation was worsening in Daraa, stormed on Monday by between 3,000 and 5,000 troops backed by tanks and snipers.
"We have neither doctors nor medical supplies, not even baby milk. The electricity is always cut and we haven't any more water," Abdallah Abazid told AFP in Nicosia by telephone from Daraa, 100 kilometres (62 miles) south of Damascus.
At least 42 "martyrs" have been killed since Monday, Abazid said. Their families, he added, had been unable to bury them because "security forces were firing on anybody visiting the cemetery," which is controlled by the army.
Hundreds of Syrians on Thursday fled into northern Lebanon on foot after they said unrest broke out in the Syrian border town of Tall Kalakh, an AFP correspondent witnessed.
Those fleeing said Syrian troops encircled Tall Kalakh overnight after a demonstration was held there and were preventing people from entering the town of 25,000 residents.
They carried mattresses and other belongings as they entered Lebanon through Qubeya, an unofficial border crossing in the Wadi Khaled region located in Lebanon's northern district of Akkar.
Russia on Thursday called on its Middle East ally to conduct a thorough probe into those responsible for killing civilians.
The Security Council, however, failed to agree on a statement condemning the killing of Syrian protesters, diplomats in New York said. After talks ended in deadlock, Western nations called for an immediate open meeting.
France called for "strong measures" if Assad rejects appeals to end violence, while the United States said Assad must "change course now" and end the use of tanks and guns.
Elections send signal to rest of Africa: US
Johnnie Carson, the top US diplomat for Africa, told reporters that despite deadly post-election violence and some voting irregularities, the elections mark a new trend for Africa's most populous country.
"Nigeria has just completed its most successful election since its return to multiparty democracy in 1999," said Carson, the assistant secretary of state for African affairs.
"Despite some technical imperfections, those elections represent a substantial improvement over the flawed 2007 electoral process," he said.
"This reverses a downward democratic trajectory and provides the country a solid foundation for strengthening its electoral procedures and democratic institutions in the years to come," Carson said.
"These elections were a real opportunity to choose their leaders," he said.
Incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from the south, defeated his main rival, ex-military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, a northern Muslim, in the April 16 presidential vote.
Though observers described the conduct of the election as a major step forward for Nigeria, Jonathan's victory ignited rioting across the north amid accusations of rigging. A local rights group said 500 people have died.
State assembly and governorship elections followed the presidential vote.
"I do not believe that any of the irregularities or technical imperfections undermine the overall outcome of this election and that the elections do reflect the will of a majority of the Nigerian people," Carson said.
Carson said that while US officials "deplore" the post-election violence, the security forces have been "much more responsible" in this election and the country's political leaders have denounced the violence.
The elections will provide a boost for democracy in the broader region, he added.
"The success of the Nigerian elections are primarily of importance to the Nigerian people, but they also send a very strong signal across Africa," Carson said.
The Nigerian desire for a democratic government "reflects a desire of many people across Africa," he said.
"It also is an indication, too, that if Nigeria with its large size and population can in effect run and manage successful democratic elections, that it is possible for many of the other smaller states to do so as well," he added.
Deadliest tornado days in US history
(FACTS) - TUSCALOOSA, (AFP) - More than 280 people have been killed across seven southern states by some of the worst tornadoes ever to strike the United States.Here is a list of the deadliest tornado days in America's recorded history:
1. 747 deaths - March 18, 1925 - The Tri-State Tornado
The deadliest single tornado in American history claims 695 lives as the monster twister crosses Missouri, southern Illinois and into southwestern Indiana. The wider tornado outbreak leaves 747 people dead.
2. 332 deaths - March 21, 1932 - The Deep South tornado outbreak
Tornadoes are produced from Texas to South Carolina, 270 of the dead are in Alabama alone.
3. 317 deaths - May 17, 1840 - The Great Natchez Tornado
The second deadliest single tornado in US history strikes the Mississippi town of Natchez, killing 317 people. Most of the dead are killed on flatboats on the river.
4. 310 deaths - April 3, 1974 - The "Super Outbreak"
The largest tornado outbreak on record claims 310 lives as 148 confirmed tornadoes over a 24-hour period rage across 13 US states.
5. 305 deaths - May 27, 1896 - St. Louis-East St. Louis tornado
Rounding off a deadly two-week storm period, 305 people are killed by tornadoes in Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky.
6. 260 deaths - April 11, 1965 - The Palm Sunday outbreak
Some 50 twisters hit the Midwest, killing 260 people and leaving more than 1,000 injured in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.
7. 249 deaths - April 5, 1936 - Tupelo-Gainesville tornado outbreak
Most of the 249 people killed are in one Mississippi town, Tupelo.
8. 224 deaths - April 20, 1920 - Alabama-Mississippi
The deadly tornado-packed spring of 1920 ends with 224 people killed in an unusual early morning outbreak in Alabama and Mississippi.
9. 220 deaths - April 24, 1908 - Dixie tornado outbreak
Dozens of twisters stretching from South Dakota to Texas leave 220 dead.
10. 205 deaths - April 6, 1936 - Gainesville tornado
The day after 249 people are killed in Tupelo, Mississippi (see 7. above), another 205 people are killed by a single tornado, nearly all of them in the city of Gainesville, Georgia.
SOURCE: The Severe Storms Laboratory of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Police on alert as results emerge from final polls
KANO, (AFP) - Nigerian police mobilised Wednesday as results flowed in from state governor polls in Africa's most populous nation, entering the final phase of an election season hit by deadly riots.Police warned they would be ready in case of another outbreak of violence over results, after hundreds are believed to have been killed in the wake of an April 16 presidential poll.
"For now, the police are on the alert and on the ground in case we have a backlash like we had in the presidential election," said spokesman Olusola Amore.
Initial results have shown the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) taking at least one state from the ruling party in the southwest, giving it a firm grip on the region that includes the economic capital Lagos, which it also controls.
But the ruling Peoples Democratic Party was also holding on to states in the southeast and the oil-producing Niger Delta region, and its chances looked good in what had been earlier considered close races in a number of northern states.
It won the northern state of Kano, which is not among the 27 states it controlled going into the election.
The opposition Congress for Progressive Change, whose presidential candidate, ex-military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, was the main challenger to incumbent Goodluck Jonathan, was looking to pick up territory in the north.
A coalition of observers, the Nigerian Situation Room, called the elections well organised and "another significant step towards the consolidation of democracy in Nigeria," but noted several serious problems as well.
Tuesday's polls were marred by a number of incidents.
Police were hunting a suspected Islamist sect member who opened fire at a polling station in the northeastern city of Maiduguri during voting, killing one person and wounding four, authorities said.
Ballot-box thefts were reported in a number of states despite tight security and safeguards meant to stop such fraud.
Turnout appeared low in many areas either out of apathy or fears of further violence.
In Maiduguri, which has long been hit by violence blamed on the sect, seven suspected Islamists were arrested on allegations of seeking to plant a bomb on a busy street during the polls, the state police commissioner said.
Three explosions went off Tuesday morning in Maiduguri, but no casualties were reported. Bomb blasts there killed at least three people and wounded 15 on Sunday and Monday.
There were reports of electoral workers in various parts of the country refusing to show up on Tuesday for fear of further attacks following last week's riots, which a local rights group says killed more than 500 people.
The rioting across the country's mainly Muslim north after the presidential election won by Jonathan, a southern Christian, displaced an estimated 74,000.
Unrest broke out despite what observers said appeared to be Nigeria's cleanest vote for head of state since its return to civilian rule in 1999, with the country seeking to break from a history of deeply flawed polls.
Two states -- Kaduna and Bauchi -- had their polls postponed to Thursday due to the unrest.
An electoral commission spokesman said the governors' vote appeared to have gone relatively well despite a series of incidents, while one commissioner spoke of a mixed turnout.
An opposition ACN governorship candidate in southern Akwa Ibom state alleged violence and rigging.
"What we have here, I don't know how to describe it. The institution that is supposed to guarantee the system of democracy has been used to rape democracy openly," John Akpanudoedehe said.
Akpanudoedehe was charged with treason ahead of the vote, charges that his lawyer described as "trumped up".
Most of Nigeria's 36 states held governorship and state assembly polls. State governors wield significant power and preside over large budgets thanks to revenue generated by the oil industry
Security lockdown as riot-hit states vote
BAUCHI, (AFP) - Two Nigerian states hit hard by deadly riots after presidential elections went back to the polls for governor races Thursday amid a security lockdown and with scores still displaced.Soldiers accompanied electoral officials to polls in Kaduna and Bauchi states and the electoral commission scrambled to find some 2,000 workers to replace those who refused to show up because of fears of violence.
Police and military personnel in armoured vehicles patrolled the streets of Kaduna city, the capital of the same state, and set up roadblocks to search cars. Police kept a close eye on Bauchi city, the capital of that state.
"If any of you is caught attempting to snatch or steal ballot papers or boxes, we will kill you," Bauchi state police commissioner Amana John Abakasanga told a group of youths at a polling station in Bauchi after they could not produce voters' cards.
Vice President Namadi Sambo, who is from Kaduna and had his house torched in last week's rioting, went to his polling place which was ringed by dozens of security agents, including bomb squad officers and police with dogs.
Police armed with rifles cordoned off the roads leading to the area.
Voting wrapped up by late afternoon and counting began in a number of areas in both states.
An outbreak of unrest, which a local rights group says killed more than 500 people after April 16 presidential polls, forced authorities to delay governorship and state assembly elections in Kaduna and Bauchi by two days.
Kaduna and neighbouring Bauchi became the epicentre of the unrest, ignited by the victory of incumbent Goodluck Jonathan in the presidential elections.
The violence spiralled and spilled across a dozen other states, displacing an estimated 74,000 people. Many have taken up residence in increasingly squalid displaced camps.
Turnout appeared low in many places on Thursday.
"People are still scared because of last week's mayhem," said Solomon Patrick, a 41-year-old civil servant at a polling place in Bauchi.
"I cannot vote today because ... my voter card has been burnt with my house," said blindman Shuaibu Abdu, 53, at a camp for displaced in Kaduna.
Most other states held governorship elections on Tuesday. Turnout was low in a number of areas then as well, with some afraid to venture out to cast ballots in the aftermath of the violence.
Jonathan, a Christian from the south, defeated his main rival, ex-military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, a northern Muslim, in the April 16 vote -- one of three elections Nigeria organised this month.
Though observers described the conduct of the elections as a major step forward for Nigeria, Jonathan's victory ignited rioting across the north amid accusations of rigging.
Despite the violence and some irregularities, a US top diplomat for Africa Johnnie Carson said it was Nigeria's "most successful election since its return to multiparty democracy in 1999" and send "a very strong signal" that other African countries can hold successful polls.
But the presidential election exposed sharp regional divisions between the country's mainly Christian south and the predominantly Muslim north.
The violence led to clashes between Christians and Muslims while churches and mosques were torched.
Results from Tuesday's polls in 23 states showed the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) winning 16.
It was swept out of the southwest, which includes the economic hub Lagos, with the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria now controlling all but one of the six states in the region.
But the PDP also won states in the north, where many analysts expected it to lose significant ground, and hung on to seats in the southeast and oil-producing Niger Delta region.
Both Kaduna and Bauchi states are currently controlled by the PDP, but it faced challenges from the opposition.
The PDP controlled 27 states entering the elections and was on track to see that number reduced by a few.
I. Coast Ouattara on first visit to presidential palace
ABIDJAN, (AFP) - Ivory Coast's new leader Alassane Ouattara made his first visit Thursday to the presidential palace, exactly five months since his runoff election against the incumbent tipped the country into crisis.Ouattara has been holed up in a hotel since the November 28 election which Laurent Gbagbo refused to accept he had lost. He was only eventually forced from power when he was captured at the end of a siege on April 11.
As he finally stepped foot in the palace in the country's main city of Abidjan, the new president said he would take oath of office next month in the official capital of Yamoussoukrou.
Ouattara is still trying to assert his authority in what remains a deeply divided country and his tour of the palace came a day after his forces killed a militia leader in Abidjan.
"It is clear that the palace still needs a lot of repair. We will ensure that, because we want to resume work as soon as possible," he told reporters.
"There is a lot of destruction which is regrettable. I saw looted offices and looted safes, a lot of regrettable things."
The presidential palace is in Abidjan's Plateau business district, the scene of the worst fighting between Ouattara's forces and pro-Gbagbo fighters earlier this month during the offensive to remove the defiant leader.
After taking refuge in an underground bunker in his residence, Gbagbo was finally captured by Ouattara's forces after the United Nations and French troops bombarded the building.
Gbagbo and his wife have since been placed under house arrest in different towns in the north of the country and the government this week said it had launched a probe against the toppled president and his associates.
Ouattara, 69, said he will officially take office next month.
"Our aim is to hold the swearing-in on May 21 in Yamoussoukrou. I have already called some African and foreign dignitaries requesting them to attend the occasion," said Ouattara.
"We will do everything necessary to ensure that the ceremony can go ahead on. That is what I wish and hope for it."
Ouattara is expected to continue to operate out of his hotel base for some time yet and he did not say when he planned to move to the presidential palace.
Since taking power, Ivory Coast's new authorities have been struggling to restore security, business and basic services disrupted during the months-long crisis.
Banks had been due to open their doors Thursday after being closed for several weeks. However by early afternoon, customers were still queueing in vain outside branches, worsening the woes of civil servants who have not been paid for two months. However some cash machines had been replenished.
Security has been restored in much of Abidjan, but diehard pro-Gbagbo fighters in the city's northwestern Yopougon neighbourhood have refused to disarm.
In their drive to secure the vast metropolis, government forces on Wednesday killed militia leader Ibrahim Coulibaly in the north of the city where he had been holed up with a pack of fighters.
Coulibaly, who at one stage fled Ivory Coast for plotting a coup against Gbagbgo, had sought an audience with Ouattara but had been told to disarm first.
He wanted acknowledgement from the government for the role played by his forces in driving out pro-Gbagbo militia from the northern Abobo district earlier this year.
United wary of wounded Arsenal
(EPL PREVIEW) - LONDON, (AFP) - Patrice Evra has warned his Manchester United team-mates to be ready for an Arsenal backlash as the Premier League leaders aim to take a giant step towards a record 19th title.
United can hammer the final nail into the coffin of another trophy-less season for Arsenal when they visit the Emirates on Sunday, where three points will leave them 12 points clear of Arsene Wenger's team with three games left.
Arsenal's hopes of catching United have all but evaporated in a catastrophic sequence of results during the run-in, where they squandered leads against Liverpool and Tottenham before losing at Bolton.
But Evra believes Arsene Wenger's side will be determined to derail United's progress towards the title with a victory that would help salvage some pride at the tail end of a bitterly disappointing campaign.
"You have to fear the wounded animal," the French international said. "It is all or nothing for Arsenal so that is a danger.
"They will want to show they can still win the title."
Arsenal have not beaten United in any competition since November 2008, and have lost their last two games against Sir Alex Ferguson's side in matches at the Emirates.
However Evra has warned that United's good recent record against Arsenal will count for little on Sunday.
"We have a good record at Arsenal but statistics can change so quickly," Evra said.
"Everyone used to say how Arsenal kept losing to Chelsea and then they beat them. We kept losing at Stamford Bridge but won there in the Champions League.
"Our record at the Emirates will hurt them and they will want to do something about it."
Wenger, who admits his team's title challenge is all but extinguished, acknowledged Evra's comments that Arsenal were desperate to make a point.
"We are certainly wounded and now we need to bring out the animal on Sunday. It is important for our pride and our position in the table and for what we did this season," Wenger said.
"It is vital for us. We got a blow on Sunday with the last minute goal at Bolton, so it is vital to show we have some strong mental qualities and finish with a very strong fighting spirit.
"Man United is now in a very strong position, but we have to fight until the last second of the championship.
"It is very unlikely for us now, let's not hide the truth but the pride of our group is to finish in the Champions League. We have to fight even if it is just a minimal chance.
"You never know, if we beat Man United we come back to six points. But it is important to show some fighting spirit, so there is more at stake on Sunday than just mathematics."
The importance of United's game against Arsenal may be magnified depending on the result of Tottenham's London derby with resurgent Chelsea 24 hours earlier.
A win for Chelsea, who travel to Old Trafford to face United next week, will close the gap on the leaders to only three points.
"Sunday is a massive game for us," Evra said. "There is still a lot of pressure on us. If we lose and Chelsea have beaten Tottenham on Saturday, they will only be three points behind and they have to come to Manchester.
"That is what we have to think about now."
Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has refused to give up hope of pipping United for the title but knows that nothing less than a victory will do against Spurs, who themselves are desperate for three points as they try to overhaul Manchester City in the race for fourth.
"If we are able to win against Tottenham, I think we can put more pressure on Manchester United in the game against Arsenal," he said.
Fixtures (1500 GMT unless stated)
Saturday
Blackburn v Bolton, Blackpool v Stoke, Chelsea v Tottenham (1730), Sunderland v Fulham, West Brom v Aston Villa, Wigan v Everton.
Sunday
Arsenal v Man Utd (1405), Birmingham v Wolves (1200), Liverpool v Newcastle (1200), Man City v West Ham (1610).
