KENYA: President Uhuru excused from regular presence at ICC trial
The International Criminal Court has excused President Uhuru Kenyatta from his "continuing presence" at his upcoming trial on charges of crimes against humanity. According to the Court, the excuse is strictly for purposes of accommodating the discharge of his duties as the President of Kenya. However, the Court stated that Kenyatta must be physically present in Court during opening and closing statements, when victims present their views and concerns in person, the delivery of judgment in the case, and, if applicable, sentencing hearings, the court ruled. The trial is scheduled to begin on 12 November 2013.
The charges stem from violence that plagued a disputed presidential election six years ago in which more than 1,000 people died and hundreds of thousands displaced when ethnic groups loyal to leading candidates in the December 2007 election torched homes and hacked rivals to death.
The ICC has also accused Deputy President William Ruto of orchestrating attacks. A third suspect, radio personality Joshua arap Sang, is being tried alongside Ruto on similar charges. Kenyatta and Ruto have denied accusations that they coordinated violence among their respective ethnic groups after the disputed election.
SOUTH SUDAN: Bashir meets South Sudan leader over Abyei
The leaders of Sudan and South Sudan have met amid pressure to strike a deal on the disputed Abyei region and other issues left unresolved since South Sudan won independence. Omar Bashir and Salva Kiir met on Tuesday 22 October 2012, in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, which seceded from the north in 2011 after a referendum and a peace agreement that followed a two-decade civil war between the two sides.
Bashir was welcomed at the airport in Juba by Kiir, with the former arch-enemies first shaking hands and then embracing warmly. Bashir said the meeting was "fruitful", adding that both leaders to implement all outstanding issues. According to Barnaba Marial Benjamin, the South Sudan foreign minister, the meeting was about building relationships between the two countries and strengthening ties.
The African Union has urged the leaders to seize the opportunity towards settling the dispute over war-ravaged Abyei, wedged between the two countries and claimed by both sides. Abyei was meant to vote on whether to be part of Sudan or South Sudan in January 2011 - the same day as Juba voted overwhelmingly to split from the north - as part of the 2005 peace deal which ended Sudan's civil war. But a referendum to decide the region's fate has been repeatedly stalled, with residents now saying they will organise their own vote to determine their fate.
MOZAMBIQUE: Mozambique peace deal unravels after attack
Mozambique's former rebel group Renamo says it has annulled a 1992 peace deal that ended a 16-year civil war after clashes with government forces. A Defence Ministry spokesman said government forces had attacked a Renamo base in Sathundjira, near Gorongosa in central Mozambique, on Monday 21 October 2013. The operation comes after Renamo mounted attacks on police positions in the same area.
The fighting has damaged the decades old peace-deal between the Mozambique Liberation Front, also known as Frelimo, which has led government since independence in 1975, and the Renamo movement, which is now an official opposition group. According to Fernando Mazanga, a Renamo spokesman, the aim of the attack on its base was to kill its leader.
Tensions between Renamo and the Frelimo-led government started escalating last year, after the group's leader Afonso Dhlakama set up camp in the Gorongosa Mountains to retrain former guerrilla fighters. The former rebels have been demanding the government renegotiate the terms of a 1992 peace accord. The movement wants more representation on election bodies and in the armed forces. Renamo became the official opposition after it signed a peace deal with the Frelimo-led government to end a 16-year civil war in 1992. But in April this year simmering tensions erupted in deadly clashes again.
ZIMBABWE: Zimbabwe takes the EU to Court
The Zimbabwean government is suing the European Union for losses to its economy arising from the bloc's sanctions on President Robert Mugabe and members of his government. The lawsuit has now come before the European Court of Justice in Belgium. Harare expects the Court to announce a date for the case to be heard, once it comes up on the court roster, according to a government official.
The lawsuit comes against a background of a recent thaw in relations between Mugabe's newly re-elected administration and the EU and is widely seen by observers as a final push by Mugabe to end his isolation by the West. The Harare government claims that sanctions imposed by the European Union since 2001 have cost the country more than 35 billion euros in lost revenue.