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/ 4 September 2007

UN chief in Sudan to push peace deal

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon flew in to south Sudan’s capital, Juba, on Tuesday to try to speed implementation of the 2005 peace deal that ended Africa’s longest civil war. Aides said Ban would try to resolve sticking points in the roll-out of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

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/ 4 September 2007

Burundi rebel factions clash, 20 fighters dead

At least 20 Burundi fighters were killed on Tuesday in heavy clashes between two rival rebel factions that sent scores of residents fleeing the capital’s northern suburbs. Machine gunfire and explosions shattered the air as insurgents opposed to Agathon Rwasa, the leader of the rebel Forces for National Liberation, battled fighters loyal to him.

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/ 4 September 2007

Bomb blasts in Pakistani city kill, wound dozens

Two bombs exploded in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi during the morning rush hour on Tuesday, killing 24 people and wounding 66, and at least one of the blasts was caused by a suicide attacker, officials said. The blasts come at a time of deepening political uncertainty in Pakistan, with the army chief and President, General Pervez Musharraf, preparing to try to secure a new term.

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/ 3 September 2007

Eastern DRC rocked by new fighting

Fighting between the regular army and renegade troops resumed on Monday after a weekend lull in an escalating battle for control of territory in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), United Nations observers said. ”We’re extremely alarmed by renewed clashes reported from the Ngungu zone,” said a spokesperson for the UN.

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/ 3 September 2007

UN sees human rights advances in Uganda

There has been a ”marked reduction” in human rights violations, road ambushes and illegal firearms in Uganda’s north-east over the past six months, the United Nations said on Monday. In a report, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said the Ugandan national army had made important advances between April and August.

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/ 3 September 2007

DRC general turns guns on govt forces

Peace accords that were to put an end to the conflicts that killed millions in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DCR) are collapsing after a powerful renegade Tutsi general declared war on the government. The United Nations has started airlifting thousands of government troops into the eastern Kivu region, which has endured two foreign invasions and more than a decade of civil war.

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/ 3 September 2007

Bush’s great ambition: Wealthy boredom

Jimmy Carter has dedicated his life after the White House to conflict resolution around the world. Presidents George Bush the elder and Bill Clinton have campaigned together on behalf of communities devastated by Hurricane Katrina. So how does President George Bush junior imagine spending his retirement years?

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/ 31 August 2007

Azapo defends leader’s gun possession

It is credible that Azanian People’s Organisation’s (Azapo) president Mosibudi Mangena is too busy to hand over his gun, despite leading a campaign against guns, said Azapo on Friday. ”As a president of the party … with such [a] busy schedule, not having had time to hand over his gun as yet is not [an] inconceivable and unreasonable excuse,” it said.

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/ 31 August 2007

Return of rival ups stakes in Pakistan’s power struggle

Exiled opposition leader Nawaz Sharif upped the stakes in Pakistan’s turbulent power struggle on Thursday by vowing to return home in two weeks to challenge the President, Pervez Musharraf, despite threats of arrest. ”This man Musharraf is on his way out … We will be launching a movement against Mr Musharraf and his government,” Sharif told reporters in London.

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/ 30 August 2007

Heavy fighting rocks eastern DRC

Renegade troops killed several regular army troops and wounded 30 others in five hours of heavy fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) eastern Nord-Kivu province early on Thursday, military and United Nations officials said. Soldiers serving General Laurent Nkunda attacked an army post, killed an undisclosed number and wounded 30 at Katale.

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/ 30 August 2007

Rebels accuse govt of bombing Darfur

Darfur rebels accused the government of bombing South Darfur on Thursday, the latest attack in an aerial campaign that has driven thousands of people from their homes over the past month. ”There is aerial bombardment on a daily basis — bombing by MiG 29 and by Antonov,” Justice and Equality Movement commander Abel Aziz el-Nur Ashr Ashr said.

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/ 29 August 2007

Gul sworn in as Turkey’s leader

Turkey’s foreign minister, Abdullah Gul, a practising Muslim and former Islamist, was on Tuesday sworn in as the 11th President of the staunchly secular republic in a move that will be seen as a defining moment for the country. The appointment of the 56-year-old marked a victory for the governing Muslim democrats.