Author: eradmin

TRIPOLI, Fighting broke out in Tripoli early on Friday between rival armed forces, witnesses said, the heaviest clashes in the Libyan capital since the conflict between eastern and western factions paused a year ago.

A resident of the Salah al-Din district in southern Tripoli said the shooting began at about 2:30 am and continued through the morning with medium and light weapons. There was no immediate report of casualties.

Despite a ceasefire and the progress earlier this year towards a political solution to Libya’s crisis, there has been no movement towards integrating its myriad armed groups into a unified national military.

The new fighting pitted the 444 Brigade against the Stabilisation Support Force, two of the main forces in Tripoli, a witness said.

It follows major clashes last month in the city of Zawiya, west of Tripoli, and smaller incidents of friction or clashes inside the capital including a gunfight this week at a state institution.

In eastern Libya, controlled by renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA), there have also been shootings and other incidents of violence in recent months.

Libya has had little peace since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that overthrew longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi, and in 2014 it divided between the warring eastern and western factions.

However, they agreed to a ceasefire last year and a new unity government that both sides backed was installed in March to prepare for national elections in December, moves seen as the best chance for peace in years.

The Tripoli-based unity government has, however, struggled to unify state institutions or prepare for elections, with the eastern-based parliament rejecting its budget and failing to agree on a constitutional basis for a vote.

Meanwhile, Morocco’s foreign minister has called on the Libyan parties to arrange for presidential and legislative elections in a timely manner, adding that the country’s stability depends on it.

Nasser Bourita’s remarks came during a joint news conference with Libya’s Parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh on Thursday, following a meeting in the Moroccan capital, Rabat.

For his part, Saleh called on neighboring countries and the international community to support Libya holding elections on time and said the situation in Libya would be worse if elections were to be postponed.

Source: NAM News Network

KINSHASA, Twelve people died and 4,400 fell sick in the southern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) following a tailings leak from the Catoca diamond mine in Angola in July, the DRC’s environment minister said.

After a visit to Kasai province, where the Tshikapa River turned red and many fish died, Eve Bazaiba said that the DRC would ask for reparations for the damage caused but could not yet say how much it would request.

The DRC will seek reparations in line with the “polluter pays” principle, Bazaiba said.

She did not specify how exactly the 12 people died.

Kasai provincial Governor Dieudonne Pieme banned people from drinking water and eating fish from the Tshikapa River after the spill, which he said significantly depleted the river’s fish population.

Sociedade Mineira de Catoca, which manages the mine that produces 75 percent of Angola’s diamonds, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the deaths.

The company previously said it immediately took measures to minimize the flow of sediment into rivers and that it donated food baskets to affected communities to mitigate the impact of the spill.

Source: NAM News Network

TRIPOLI, Libyan President of the Presidency Council Mohamed Menfi issued orders to start an investigation into the clashes that erupted in southern Tripoli between two security forces.

The orders also included an immediate cease-fire and the return of all fighting forces to their headquarters.

“The General Commander of the Military Staff must take all necessary measures immediately against the commanders of the fighting forces, and exercise all legal powers against them,” Menfi said in a statement.

“The Military Attorney General must immediately start investigation directly with Commanders of those forces, including those who initiated the clashes, take all necessary legal measures against them, and provide us with any measures taken,” Menfi said.

He stressed the need for all security and military agencies to comply with orders and refrain from any unpermitted movements, warning that any violations are considered crimes punishable by law.

Clashes between two government security forces erupted on Thursday night near a military camp in southern Tripoli, with unknown casualties, a security source told Xinhua.

Local media showed footage of burned military vehicles in the camp.

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya on Friday expressed concern over the clashes, calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities and calling on all parties to exercise maximum restraint.

Libya has been suffering insecurity and chaos ever since the fall of its leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

Source: NAM News Network

LUSAKA, Zambia’s parliament has elected its first female speaker, more than a week after longtime opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema was sworn in as the country’s new president.

Nelly Mutti, a lawyer based in the capital, Lusaka, was elected unopposed on Friday to replace Patrick Matibini, a retired high court judge who served as speaker for 10 years.

His tenure ended after the Aug 12 election that saw Hichilema defeat incumbent President Edgar Lungu.

Mutti was sworn in along with her two deputies – Attractor Chisangano, a member of Hichilema’s United Party for National Development (UPND), and Moses Moyo, who was elected to parliament as an independent candidate.

In his address at the ceremony, Hichilema said Mutti’s election championed the cause of women in leadership roles in Zambia.

A human rights lawyer and a former chairwoman of the country’s anti-corruption commission, Mutti will have the job to preside over a parliament where the ruling party still needs the cooperation of opposition members of parliament to make constitutional changes.

Hichilema, who has promised a “new dawn”, fired several military, police and prisons commanders just days into his rule.

The opposition and civil society groups have long accused the former government of using security apparatus to perpetrate violence and arrest critics.

Hichilema promised to let parliament operate independently and without any influence, urging legislators to give top priority to people’s welfare.

He will open the first session of Zambia’s unicameral parliament, known as the National Assembly, under Mutti’s leadership on Sept 10, where he is expected to outline his vision for his government’s five-year term.

Source: NAM News Network