G BISSAU 'TO SHOOT DRUG PLANES' !
Suspected drug planes that enter Guinea-Bissau's airspace will be shot down in a bid to reduce rampant cocaine trafficking, the government says. Prime Minister Martinho N'Dafa Cabi said he had personally issued the uncompromising order.
This follows the army's seizure of a truckload of jet fuel in a forest outside the city of Buba on Thursday. International drugs experts fear the poor, unstable country with numerous islands could become a "narco-state". Mr N'Dafa Cabi said the order was "a means of threatening" drug traffickers "who profit from our fragility".
While the army chief of staff, General Tagme Na Waye said anti-aircraft guns were "already installed" on all the Bijagos Islands, and, "any plane detected in this zone without authorization will be shot down."
West Africa has fast become a transit hub for South American cocaine on its way to Europe - often via its many uninhabited islands, which are large enough for an airstrip. The fuel found near Buba was enough to fill a mid-sized Gulfstream jet tank twice. Interpol estimates that more than a third of the cocaine arriving in Europe is trafficked through West Africa.
The government of Guinea Bissau is telling the world that it intends to end the drug trafficking, but BBC West Africa correspondent Will Ross says it is clear that the very people who should be countering it have been involved.
Earlier this year a consignment of over 2.5 tonnes of cocaine was flown into a military airstrip. Two soldiers were later arrested in cars which had been packed with over 600kg of cocaine. Last year around $40m worth of cocaine was found in the capital, Bissau, after a gun battle. It was stored in the treasury vaults but was never seen again, and nobody has been able to prove the claim that it was burnt.
After years of instability, the country is in ruins and does not even have a proper prison.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
"SAYINGS"
"WORK OUT YOUR OWN SALVATION.
DO NOT DEPEND ON OTHERS" !
KENYA DISMISSES MOI GRAFT CLAIMS
Kenya's government has described as not credible a leaked report which allegedly says former President Daniel arap Moi stole millions of dollars. The report was commissioned by the current government soon after it was elected in 2002 but never published. Government spokesman Alfred Mutua said the 2004 report was based on hearsay and was incomplete and inaccurate.
According to the leak, it says Mr Moi, his family and associates plundered as much as $2bn from the taxpayer. The report was allegedly leaked to a website Wikileak which exposes corruption. It is claimed the money was invested in businesses, banks, property, and deposit accounts throughout the world. Former President Moi has been unavailable for comment.
Earlier this week, Mr Moi announced he was backing the re-election campaign of President Mwai Kibaki, who defeated Mr Moi's preferred candidate in the 2002 elections.
Mr Mutua said the leak was "meant to score political points against Kibaki". "This report touches on at least 50 individuals - why did they just isolate the Moi family? It's a political gimmick." Correspondents say the former leader, who ruled Kenya for 24 years, still wields great political influence. President Kibaki came to power promising to rid the country of corruption and one of the government's first acts was to commission the report by business consultants Kroll Associates.
However, the BBC's Adam Mynott in Nairobi says Kenya remains mired in corruption and the current government itself has been rocked by a multi-million dollar scandal.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
KENYAN GANG ATTACKS SLUM DWELLERS !
At least five people have been injured in a Kenyan slum in overnight attacks by an unidentified gang. Mathare residents say the attackers - thought to number about 50 - targeted people the gang claimed were members of the outlawed Mungiki sect.
The sprawling slum, east of the capital, Nairobi, is home to more than half a million people. Earlier this year, the Mungiki were linked to a string of gruesome beheadings and attacks.
The BBC's correspondent in Nairobi, David Ogot, says 16 people have been charged with various offences including destruction of property and assault. Residents say the gang also set fire to the houses of alleged sect members. Mathare is believed to be a stronghold of the Mungiki, a banned sect which claims to have more than 1m followers.
In June, a police crackdown on members of the sect in the slum led to the deaths of more than 30 people.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
VIEWPOINT: SCRAP SIERRA LEONE HEALTH FEES !
As Sierra Leone prepares to elect a new president on Saturday, Sarah Jacobs from aid agency Save the Children writes that scrapping fees for health care should be a priority for whoever becomes the country's new leader. Sitting in her house in Koindu, a town in eastern Sierra Leone, 10-year-old Margaret finds it difficult to look to the future. She can't even think beyond a few hours. "I can't go to school or go out with my friends because the urine will just come out. It happens about four times a day, and people take empty tins and start knocking them behind me."
In 2002, when Margaret was just five, she was raped by three men in a camp in neighbouring Guinea, where her family was seeking refuge from the vicious civil war that raged for 10 years in Sierra Leone. Five years on and she has never seen a doctor. She is incontinent, and sometimes has trouble walking because she is in pain and bleeding. "They messed me up," she says, her chin pressed down into her chest as she sits in front of her house. "I was unhappy then and I am unhappy now."
Her parents returned home from Guinea with 11 children - five their own and six whose parents could no longer look after them - whom they now try to support through begging. Around her, the dilapidated houses and bombed out mosque show clearly the ravages of war. Margaret's father, 75-year-old Samuel Fartoma Foryoh, is furious. "I feel very sorry for this child but I can't afford to take her to the health clinic. Every time I go they demand money, even though I tell them I don't have any. "We tried to cross the border into Liberia to go to hospital because we thought it might be free, but the hospital was closed. If any of my children fall ill, there's nothing I can do."
But for many in Sierra Leone, this is a time of possible hope. If the elections pass off peacefully, perhaps the country will at last start to move on from the legacy of violence left by a civil war that killed 50,000 and mutilated 100,000 others, and show the world that it is, finally, stable. Optimists say that professionals and businessmen who fled during the atrocities may be drawn back, or tourists could come to explore the country's beautiful landscape.
Yet for Margaret, her family, and the hundreds of thousands of people living below the poverty line in Sierra Leone, the feeling is one of desperate frustration. Many have sick relatives, and what they want most is the chance to get treatment. And with a system of health fees imposed across the country, getting help even for the most common of diseases - pneumonia, malaria, diarrhoea - is impossible.
Jonathan Hai, 45, is a health worker at a clinic an hour's drive along pot-holed mud roads from Margaret's home. He knows about the official government guidelines, which state that the very poorest and most vulnerable, such as children under five and pregnant women, should get free treatment. But, he says, he is always forced to charge them. "We have many constraints at the clinic. No money for the upkeep of the building, no money to repair the bike we use to get to patients in the community. "I'm supposed to give 60% of the drugs we receive from the government pharmacy away for free to people who can't pay for them. I can't afford to do that."
It is a story repeated across the country. Like many of Sierra Leone's clinics and hospitals, Mr Hai's clinic functions thanks to health workers volunteering their services. It is estimated that around 40 to 50% of the country's nurses and midwives are still waiting to be added to the government's payroll. "With the money we get from patients," says Mr Hai, "I pay volunteers who work here, I pay for equipment, and I pay for my children to go to school. "Sometimes, if I see a patient who I think has money, I will charge them extra. That means if a patient is really needy I can give them drugs for cheap, or in return for rice or chickens."
For a population where the average income is 12 US cents a day, the price list pinned on the wall of his clinic is intimidating. Consultation: 200 leones (8 cents); treatment for diarrhoea: 2,000 leones (66 cents); treatment for malaria: 2,500 (80 cents). The result is a country that still relies heavily on the herbal potions of traditional healers and sorcerers, often with catastrophic results.
The government demands free care for the poor and vulnerable, but clinics struggle to provide anything "Since the war ended life for many in Sierra Leone has significantly improved," says Jeanetta Johnson, health manager for Save the Children. "But having to pay for treatment is crippling the country. Thousands of children are dying every year from diseases that are easily preventable. "The next government must look hard at ways of removing health fees, and international governments need to give them the financial support to do so."
Despite having most of its debt scrapped, Sierra Leone is still the second poorest country in the world and has the highest rate of child mortality, with one in four children dying before the age of five. The country has a long way to go before children like Margaret can be sure of getting help. But there's no doubt of the possibilities that would bring. "If I get better I want to be a driver and have a small car," says Margaret. "In the future I want to be brilliant."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
FRESH TESTS FOR 'GIANT DIAMOND' !
The company that has discovered what could be the world's largest diamond says it will carry out conclusive tests on the stone early next week. The South African company says it has asked the president of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses to carry out the examination.
Experts have been sceptical about the discovery, saying the light-green stone may turn out to be a fluorite crystal. But the firm insists it could still turn out to be a diamond. But diamond industry analysts remain sceptical about whether a diamond of such a size is even possible. The stone was found earlier this week in a small mine in South Africa's north-west province.
A spokesman for De Beers, the world's biggest diamond mining company, said the north-west province was not known for producing gems and greenish stones were even rarer. The firm also said that if the find were genuine it would be the stone of the century.
BBC NEWS REPORT,.
Posted by: Mara at August 31, 2007 09:35 |
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africa
BROWN AND SARKOZY IN DARFUR ROW !
Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have called for intense action to secure a ceasefire in Darfur. The prime minister and Mr Sarkozy wrote a joint article which appears in the Times and French newspaper Le Monde. They commit "as leaders to redouble our efforts to make further progress" in the war-torn region of Sudan.
A month ago the UN Security Council voted to send peacekeepers to the area where at least 200,000 people are thought to have died since 2003. Mr Brown and Mr Sarkozy say the UN-African Union (AU) peacekeeping mission should be the starting point for efforts to bring peace to the region.
With more than two million people displaced and the fighting continuing, intense international action is needed to secure a ceasefire, they add. Mr Brown has made Darfur a foreign policy priority, and the UN agreement authorising the deployment of up to 26,000 peacekeeping troops was the result of a joint British-French resolution.
The two leaders urge the government of Sudan and rebel leaders to engage fully in talks. They warn they will work for further sanctions against those who continue to fight or obstruct efforts to find a political solution. "The pain of the people of Darfur demands quick and decisive action from the international community", they write.
BBC political correspondent Carole Walker said the two leaders set out from their first meeting to make Darfur a priority. The UN resolution will allow peacekeepers to use force to defend civilians and aid workers in Darfur from attack, with the first troops arriving in October.
AU chairman Alpha Oumar Konare has said enough African troops have been promised for the force that no resources from outside the continent will be needed. The UN had expected to call on Asian troops, and there have been pledges of forces from Indonesia, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh.
The mission, to be known as Unamid - the United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur - is expected to cost up to $2bn (£1.1bn) a year.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
ZIMBABWE AND E GUINEA HOLD TALKS
Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Nguema is in Harare for talks with President Robert Mugabe. Correspondents say the dialogue is likely to focus on Zimbabwe's need for fuel, which Equatorial Guinea - as an oil producer - could supply. The dialogue between the two African heads of state began on Wednesday.
Zimbabwe, which is currently suffering severe economic difficulties, needs to spend around $130m (£64m) a month on oil imports. Also on the agenda is likely to be the possible extradition of the man who led an attempted coup against President Obiang, the former British army officer Simon Mann, who is currently imprisoned in Zimbabwe.
President Obiang is in the country to officially open the Harare Agricultural Show on Friday. Human rights organisations have accused President Obiang of running a dictatorship responsible for gross human rights violations. Mr Mugabe faces similar accusations.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
NIGERIANS DIVIDED OVER BAKERS' STRIKE !
By Fidelis Mbah - BBC News, Lagos.
When Nigeria's bakers announced they would be shutting down their bakeries for a week it alarmed many Nigerians because bread is the staple food of Africa's most populous nation. The Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria stopped bread production across the country on Tuesday night, in protest against the rising cost of flour. Bakers say that once the strike ends they will increase the price of a loaf of bread by about 15%.
At the moment, the strike appears to be having the greatest impact in Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital. But other cities are expected to join in as the bakers say the strike is intended to be nationwide. The strike follows President Umaru Yar'Adua's refusal to call on flour makers to reduce the cost of flour - which recently went up from 3,000 Nigerian naira ($23) per 50kg bag, to about 4,000 naira ($31) per bag.
The decision to shut down the bakeries was painful but inevitable, said a spokesman for the bakers in Lagos, Lateef Oguntoyinbo. Flour mill operators increased their prices in May after the government announced an increase in value added tax (VAT).
The Nigerian public is divided over the bakers' strike with some people describing it as "selfish and uncalled for" while supporters of the strike say it will keep prices down in the longer term.
"The strike is absolutely shameful and shows no concern at all for the common man," says Idris Umar, a roadside bread seller in the capital, Abuja. "Bread is the common man's food and now even that is being taken away. It's just sad." But Kola Ajayi, who manages a bakery in Abuja, disagrees and says the bakers are just responding to market pressures. He says his bakery is not joining the strike because, "our association has not written to ask us to join the strike". Mr Ajayi, however, disagrees with the calls on President Yar'Adua to intervene in the crisis, saying the problem comes from the flour millers rather than the government.
Another Abuja-based bread retailer, Auwaly Nguru, says the strike is unpopular and is bound to fail. "I understand the arguments for the strike and I sympathise with the bakers, but they are missing the point by trying to transfer the problem to the consumer," he says.
Inuwa Umar, another roadside bread seller says business is normal in Abuja. He says he is happy with the strike decision. "If the bakers win, it would be a win for the Nigerian bread consumer because it'll mean lower bread prices," he says.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
SUDAN TO HELP IRAQ'S PALESTINIANS !
The Palestinian envoy to Iraq has said Sudan is willing to take in Palestinian refugees who are stranded on Iraq's borders with Syria and Jordan. The offer came after Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir received a letter from the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas.
The UN refugee agency has expressed concern over the deteriorating conditions for the hundreds of Palestinians in camps on the borders. They have tried to leave Iraq, but have been refused entry by Jordan and Syria.
Palestinians have felt especially vulnerable to the violence in Iraq as they enjoyed generous financial support from former government of Saddam Hussein, who championed the Palestinian cause. Their healthcare, school and housing were subsidised and many received government jobs, leading to resentment among many Iraqis.
The UNHCR estimates about 34,000 Palestinians currently live in Iraq. Between 200 and 300 have been killed since the US-led invasion in 2003.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
NIGERIA SCRAPS STATE OIL COMPANY !
Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua is to scrap the state-owned oil corporation and restructure the industry. A national energy council will instead be established to oversee the notoriously corrupt oil sector.
The council, headed by the president, has six months to create five new organisations out of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Nigeria is the world's eighth-largest exporter of crude oil but relies on imports for its fuel needs. There are often fuel scarcities and the subsidised price of fuel is regularly flouted. The country loses millions of dollars of oil through illegal sell-offs, and reform of the oil sector is one of the newly-elected government's key aims.
The BBC's correspondent in Lagos, Alex Last, describes the NNPC as a behemoth of an organisation. It produces crude oil in partnership with foreign oil companies, but also imports fuel and acts as a regulator and administrator of the oil sector. With so many conflicting roles, the NNPC became synonymous with massive mismanagement and corruption, our correspondent says.
Unions and opposition parties have criticised the NNPC for a lack of transparency over imports and exports worth billions of dollars each year. The new reforms were recommended by a government report seven years ago but never implemented.
However, there is some scepticism and it will take time before it is clear whether the reforms will bring real change or whether they turn out to be simply cosmetic, our correspondent says.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
US ANGLICANS CONSECRATED IN KENYA !
The two priests are the latest in a string of defections. Kenya's Anglican Church has consecrated two US bishops in a move likely to deepen a bitter row over homosexuality. Bill Murdoch, of Massachusetts, and Bill Atwood, of Texas, will be answerable to the Kenyan Church, although they will serve in the US. They left the US branch of the Anglican Church - the Episcopal Church - after it consecrated an openly gay bishop.
There are growing tensions within the Anglican denomination around the world, mainly over the issue of homosexuality. The two Americans were consecrated at a service at All Saints Cathedral in Nairobi by Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi.
The ceremony was expected to be watched by a huge congregation of Kenyans, by archbishops and bishops from across Africa, and by the men's friends and supporters from the US. Archbishop Nzimbi said the consecration was not intended to widen the gulf in the church, but was a Christian response to a plea for help and pastoral care from Anglicans in the United States. Gay people, he said, did not have a place as leaders in the Anglican communion. "We need to love them, we need to preach to them, but not to make them lay readers, pastors, bishops," he said.
Last year two US churches, unhappy with the Episcopal Church's stance on homosexuality, voted to place themselves under the authority of the Anglican Archbishop of Nigeria. The Anglican Church in Africa is conservative and deeply opposed to the ordination of gay priests. In February, Anglican bishops meeting in Tanzania issued an ultimatum to the American church, demanding an end to the appointment of gay clergy and the blessing of same-sex couples.
US bishops have until 30 September to respond. Meanwhile, the Episcopal diocese of Chicago on Tuesday included a lesbian priest among five nominees for bishop.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
CONFUSION OVER SA RADIO RIGHTS !
By Mohammed Allie - BBC Sport, Cape Town.
SA football fans are unable to follow the fortunes of their teams on radio. The South African Premier Soccer League and the country's national broadcaster are locked in a bitter dispute over radio commentary rights for PSL matches. Millions of fans who rely on radio commentaries to follow their teams' fortunes have been stunned by the PSL's decision to revoke the temporary rights granted to the SABC on 10 August.
The SABC was able to cover the opening round of league games of the new season as well as the start of the popular Supa 8 knock-out competition. But there has been confusion over whether individual clubs or the PSL, as the governing body, hold the radio broadcast rights.
The radio rights issue follows an acrimonious and protracted wrangle over television broadcast rights which were eventually awarded to Pay-TV channel Supersport. A threat of court action coupled with government intervention resulted in the SABC being granted the right to broadcast 143 games although they had to sub-lease the rights from Supersport.
"Subsequent to that, the PSL instructed that all radio rights would be handled by the league and collectively," SABC spokesman Kaizer Kganyago said. "Further to this the SABC learned that the radio rights had reverted back to individual clubs at which point the SABC had not been afforded the opportunity to engage the clubs. "We will try our level best to make sure we negotiate with the PSL and we are hoping to meet with them soon to try to iron out this matter in the interests of the public."
The PSL radio and television rights do not affect South Africa's national teams or the 2010 World Cup which the SABC have already secured.
BBC SPORTS REPORT.
"Sayings" !
"A MAN WHO WILL STEAL FOR ME
WILL STEAL FROM ME" !
NELSON MANDELA STATUE IS UNVEILED !
A statue of former South African President Nelson Mandela has been unveiled in London. Mr Mandela, 89, his wife Graca Machel, and Prime Minister Gordon Brown were among those at the unveiling in Parliament Square. Mr Brown hailed Mr Mandela as the "greatest and most courageous leader of our generation". The late South African anti-apartheid activist Donald Woods had the idea for the 9ft-high (2.7m) bronze statue.
Talking to crowds who gathered for the unveiling, Mr Mandela said: "Though this statue is of one man, it should in actual fact symbolise all of those who have resisted oppression, especially in my country."
Lord Attenborough, trustee of the Mandela Statue Fund, introduced Mr Mandela at the unveiling and spoke of Mr Woods's "bravery". "He fled his country with his wife and five children and came here as a refugee, thrown out by the apartheid system," said Lord Attenborough. "He would have given anything to have been here today because it was his concept."
Wendy Woods, wife of the late Donald Woods, said: "This statue will remind the world of the human qualities that Mr Mandela has. "These are qualities which have helped South Africa put paid to its past and helped us on our first step towards a future where all people can flourish and lead happier lives."
The statue had been dogged by arguments over where it should go as well as its artistic merit. Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, who was also at the ceremony, had wanted it to stand on the north side of Trafalgar Square. However, in 2005 Westminster Council refused permission saying it would clutter the space needed for large events.
It was finally agreed the statue should face the Houses of Parliament, and stand alongside images of other great leaders such as Winston Churchill, Benjamin Disraeli and Abraham Lincoln. "Long after we are forgotten, you will be remembered for having taught the world one amazing truth," said Mr Livingstone.
"That you can achieve justice without vengeance. I honour you and London honours you."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
UN WARNS OF 'ARMED' DARFUR CAMPS !
By Martin Plaut - BBC Africa analyst.
John Holmes says men in the camps are impatient and politicised. The UN's emergency relief co-ordinator, John Holmes, has described the refugee camps in Darfur as militarised. Mr Holmes told the BBC that some of the 1.2 million refugees are impatient, politicised, and armed. He said having thousands of disaffected men cooped up in camps in which weapons were available, was dangerous. He believes the situation in the camps is bound to lead to clashes, and reflects the fact that there is no peace settlement in place for Darfur.
With Sudanese forces circling the camps the situation is potentially explosive. "If you have large numbers of people in camps, you have the government of Sudan's military presence in the area, there are bound to be clashes from time to time, and the politicisation and militarisation on the ground in the camps is a fact of life you can't ignore," Mr Holmes said.
His remarks come at a particularly sensitive moment. The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, is due to travel to Sudan next week, the first time the current head of the UN has visited the troubled region. The Sudanese government has in the past accused the Darfur rebels of using the sprawling UN camps.
While Mr Holmes denied the camps had become rebel bases, his remarks are likely to be favourably received in Khartoum.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
COASTGUARD HELPS LIBYA SEA RESCUE !
Coastguards in Falmouth, Cornwall, have launched a rescue operation to try to save 59 people abandoned on an inflatable boat off the coast of Libya. An Ethiopian based in the UK appealed to them for help after receiving a call by satellite phone from the boat. A Coastguard spokesman said the group, which includes four pregnant women, were cast adrift after being falsely told they were in Italian waters.
They were, in fact, only 64 miles from the north African coast. The spokesman said there were 15 women, seven children and 37 men on board. "The craft is taking water and it has no engine," he said. "The weather has worsened, they have no food or water. "They had all their money taken from them."
Coastguards located the craft early on Wednesday and were working with both the Italian and Maltese authorities and with the British Embassy in Tripoli to get assistance. A widespread alert and mayday signal to all shipping in the area was being broadcast from Falmouth Coastguard in an effort to get a merchant ship to render assistance if they can.
Simon Rabett, rescue centre co-ordination manager, said: "This is a truly awful episode in human trafficking."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
S. AFRICA RECALLS FAULTY CONDOMS !
Free condoms are a big part of the government's anti-Aids strategy. South Africa's health department has recalled millions of condoms given out under a programme it funded. The company that produced the condoms, Zalatex, allegedly bribed a government official to certify almost four million faulty condoms as up to standard. The government is now recalling all 20 million Choice brand condoms produced by the company.
Zalatex's attorney, James Ndebele, from Fluxmans Attorneys, said the company strongly denied the allegations. He told the BBC News website that the allegations were "untrue... offensive and defamatory". He said Zalatex was fully prepared to co-operate with the investigation.
About five million people in South Africa are believed to be infected with the HIV virus. Every year, the South African government distributes hundreds of millions of condoms in a bid to control both birth rates and sexually transmitted diseases.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
GUN BATTLES ROCK SOMALI CAPITAL !
Five people have been killed in overnight clashes between security forces and pro-Islamist insurgents in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. The BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu says two civilians were killed and six wounded during a gun battle in the northeast of the capital.
The police said three insurgents were killed and two held after an attack on a police station in southern Mogadishu. Ongoing peace talks have failed to quell continuing violence in the city. A series of explosions and gun battles have rocked Mogadishu in the last three days, after Islamist militias vowed to step up their insurgency against Ethiopian troops and the transitional government.
The leader of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) Supreme Council Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys said his men were ready to fight "a battle for independence to the death", during an interview with Mogadishu-based Radio Horn Afrik. Our correspondent says insurgents launched attacks on government bases in the northeast neighbourhood of Huriwaa, which resulted in an hour-long gun battle as government forces fought back using heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.
Following the fierce fighting, hundreds of civilians have begun fleeing from Huriwaa, which our correspondent says is an Islamist stronghold. "We have been here for a long time and thought things would calm down once, but now we have decided to leave. You know the Islamists vowed last week to redouble their attacks and we are the victims," resident Mrs Asho Abdinor told the BBC. On Sunday, a roadside bomb killed two children and an elderly man and wounded five people.
The latest fighting has sparked fears of renewed fighting in the country, despite ongoing national reconciliation talks which began on 15 July. Delegates attending the talks have also been the target of insurgent attacks, and so far one delegate has been killed and three others injured in separate incidents.
The chairman of the talks organising committee, Ali Mahdi Mohammed, says the escalating violence will not derail the talks, which have been boycotted by Islamists and the dominant Hawiye clan. The Islamists and other insurgents strongly oppose the presence of Ethiopian troops in Somalia who are backing the country's interim government.
Last December, the allies ousted the UIC, an Islamist group that had taken control of much of southern Somalia.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
