The prospect of France returning to Nato’s military command after more than four decades of estrangement is tilting the balance of transatlantic relations. The United States is courting France as a new partner in leadership, overshadowing Britain and Germany, diplomats and analysts say, even though President Nicolas Sarkozy is likely to skirt the reintegration issue at this week’s Bucharest summit.
Comorian rebel leader Mohamed Bacar was put in military custody on the French island of Reunion on Saturday pending a decision on whether to deport him after charges against him were dropped, authorities said. Bacar fled the Indian Ocean island of Anjouan this week when Comorian and African Union troops toppled his renegade government.
British Airways cancelled more than a 100 flights over the weekend following a chaotic opening of its new ,6-billion terminal at London’s Heathrow airport. It said it had cut 66 short-haul and European flights on Saturday and would cancel 37 more on Sunday after Terminal Five’s (T5) grand opening on Thursday descended into chaos.
President Thabo Mbeki and African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma have established a ”solid working relationship”, the ANC said on Friday. ”Contrary to some expectations, a solid working relationship has been established, with the president of the Republic interacting regularly with the officials,” ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe said.
Those persisting with efforts to move a motion of no confidence in Cricket South Africa president Norman Arendse do not have the interests of transformation at heart, the African National Congress’s (ANC) Butana Komphela said on Friday. The ANC’s parliamentary sport and recreation study group rejected the idea of a motion of no confidence, Komphela said.
British Airways cancelled a fifth of flights from its new ,6-billion terminal five (T5) at Heathrow on Friday as the chaos from its shambolic opening spilled into a second day. The airline said it was dropping the short-haul flights to ”create more capacity” as it tried to get back on top of the mess left by Thursday’s opening.
As the African National Congress’s (ANC) new national leadership flexes its muscles, fierce power struggles are raging at provincial level. Many are a continuation of last year’s Polokwane divisions, although there are local twists. The Mail & Guardian looks at three provinces where these dynamics are playing themselves out.
Suspected militants attacked an ambulance in a Pakistani tribal region on the Afghan border on Thursday killing at least six people, including two paramilitary soldiers, a government official said. The ambulance was taking people to a health meeting when it was attacked with a rocket-propelled grenade.
Comoros demanded on Thursday that France hand over a rebel leader wanted by the Indian Ocean archipelago for crimes against humanity and troops fired teargas to stop protests against the former colonial power. Paris confirmed late on Wednesday that Mohamed Bacar, the self-declared leader of Anjouan island, had fled to nearby French-run Mayotte.
France is considering giving asylum to a renegade Comoran leader who fled an invasion by Comoran and African Union troops, a minister said on Thursday. French security forces guarded the main airport on the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte where Bacar was taken on Thursday.