2015-02-13 13:25
N'Djamena - Boko Haram Islamist fighters on Friday carried out
their first attack inside Chad, killing five people in an early morning
assault on a Chadian village and a military camp on the shores of Lake
Chad, residents and a security source said.
“They came on board three canoes,” a Ngouboua village resident said.
A
security source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the
militants had killed at least four villagers and one Chadian soldier
before the army was able to push them back.
Boko
Haram militants based in northern Nigeria have staged a number of
cross-border attacks in recent weeks in their campaign to carve out an
Islamist emirate around the Lake Chad area which borders Nigeria, Chad,
Cameroon and Niger.
Chad’s army, one of the best in the region,
has joined a regional offensive against them and says it has killed
hundreds of fighters in the past fortnight.
Friday, 13 February 2015
Thursday, 12 February 2015
Egypt court begins retrial of Jazeera journalists
2015-02-12 09:55
Cairo - An Egyptian court is to begin a retrial of Al-Jazeera
journalists on Thursday, including a Canadian awaiting deportation,
after an appeals court said their initial trial failed to show Muslim
Brotherhood links.
The appeals court on 1 January ordered the retrial of three Al-Jazeera journalists after overturning a lower court's verdict which found them guilty of aiding the outlawed Islamist movement.
One of the defendants, Australian Peter Greste, has since been released under a new law that allows the deportation of foreign nationals on trial in Egypt.
The lower court had sentenced Greste, Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed to up to 10 years in jail for spreading "false news" in their coverage of protests after the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi, who belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood.
The three journalists of Qatar-based Al-Jazeera English were arrested in December 2013.
Their arrest sparked a global outcry and calls for their release led by Washington and the United Nations.
Since the retrial was ordered, Fahmy has renounced his Egyptian citizenship to also benefit from the deportation law.
However the third journalist, producer Mohamed, faces an indefinite period in jail as he only has Egyptian nationality.
The Court of Cassation said it ordered the retrial since the lower court's verdict "lacked evidence to support its ruling".
"The criminal court was hasty in pronouncing its verdict," it said.
"The court did not wait for medical and legal reports which it had requested after several defendants spoke of being under physical and moral pressure" to make confessions, the appeals court said.
The journalists were among 20 defendants initially tried by the lower court.
Of the rest, 12 were Egyptians found guilty of belonging to a "terrorist organisation". Two defendants were acquitted, while the other three, also foreigners were convicted in absentia.
Producer to seek bail
The journalists' initial trial came against the backdrop of strained ties between Egypt and Qatar, which supported Morsi.
The Islamist leader was toppled by then army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on 3 July 2013, before the latter was himself elected president.
Defence lawyers say the new court could drop proceedings against Greste after the opening session Thursday.
Canada, for its part, said last week that Fahmy's release was "imminent".
Fahmy's family had expected him to be freed soon after Greste's deportation, but he is still in custody and they have called his retrial their "worst nightmare".
As for Mohamed, his wife Jihan Rashid said the family is "paying the price for being Egyptian" as he faces an indefinite period behind bars.
Mohamed's only options are an acquittal or a presidential pardon, which Sisi's office has said could only come after the retrial.
"We will ask for him to be released on bail," said Mohamed's lawyer, Mostafa Nagui.
In November, Sisi enacted a decree apparently tailored for Greste and Fahmy: foreigners on trial or convicted in Egypt could be deported back home to stand trial or serve out their sentences.
Both Australia and Canada have made clear they will not put Greste and Fahmy on trial.
AFP
The appeals court on 1 January ordered the retrial of three Al-Jazeera journalists after overturning a lower court's verdict which found them guilty of aiding the outlawed Islamist movement.
One of the defendants, Australian Peter Greste, has since been released under a new law that allows the deportation of foreign nationals on trial in Egypt.
The lower court had sentenced Greste, Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed to up to 10 years in jail for spreading "false news" in their coverage of protests after the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi, who belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood.
The three journalists of Qatar-based Al-Jazeera English were arrested in December 2013.
Their arrest sparked a global outcry and calls for their release led by Washington and the United Nations.
Since the retrial was ordered, Fahmy has renounced his Egyptian citizenship to also benefit from the deportation law.
However the third journalist, producer Mohamed, faces an indefinite period in jail as he only has Egyptian nationality.
The Court of Cassation said it ordered the retrial since the lower court's verdict "lacked evidence to support its ruling".
"The criminal court was hasty in pronouncing its verdict," it said.
"The court did not wait for medical and legal reports which it had requested after several defendants spoke of being under physical and moral pressure" to make confessions, the appeals court said.
The journalists were among 20 defendants initially tried by the lower court.
Of the rest, 12 were Egyptians found guilty of belonging to a "terrorist organisation". Two defendants were acquitted, while the other three, also foreigners were convicted in absentia.
Producer to seek bail
The journalists' initial trial came against the backdrop of strained ties between Egypt and Qatar, which supported Morsi.
The Islamist leader was toppled by then army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on 3 July 2013, before the latter was himself elected president.
Defence lawyers say the new court could drop proceedings against Greste after the opening session Thursday.
Canada, for its part, said last week that Fahmy's release was "imminent".
Fahmy's family had expected him to be freed soon after Greste's deportation, but he is still in custody and they have called his retrial their "worst nightmare".
As for Mohamed, his wife Jihan Rashid said the family is "paying the price for being Egyptian" as he faces an indefinite period behind bars.
Mohamed's only options are an acquittal or a presidential pardon, which Sisi's office has said could only come after the retrial.
"We will ask for him to be released on bail," said Mohamed's lawyer, Mostafa Nagui.
In November, Sisi enacted a decree apparently tailored for Greste and Fahmy: foreigners on trial or convicted in Egypt could be deported back home to stand trial or serve out their sentences.
Both Australia and Canada have made clear they will not put Greste and Fahmy on trial.
AFP
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Exclusive: Surgeon walks out on patient, not once but twice
015-02-12 09:50
A senior surgeon who was fired from Pholosong Hospital not only
abandoned his patient – an elderly woman – after cutting her open during
the operation, but also after the procedure was completed.
The surgeon was dismissed for gross negligence and contravention of theatre protocol and did not refute any claims made against him, the Gauteng Health Department told Health24.
He is accused of leaving his patient on the operation table for 30 minutes, during which time he had a smoke, reported City Press.
The surgeon was begged on more than one occasion to return and complete the procedure.
Gauteng Health Department spokesperson Prince Hamnca told Health24 the operation was completed by the doctor, but his assistant had to take over afterwards.
"That indication was completed by the surgeon ... and the remainder of the surgical procedure to completion was done by his assistant surgeon ... technically 'unsupervised' as he had then left the operating theatre again at this point."
Patient is fine
The department said that the patient did not suffer any complications. "Initial post discharge assessments have not elicited any untoward complications," Hamnca said.
He also noted that back-up help was at hand.
"In this case, it is reported that the acting head of surgery was present in the tea-room who could easily have scrubbed up, gowned and taken over the operation if the surgeon was unable to complete the operation."
Hamnca said the department will not hesitate to act against staff who act against their own code of practice and ethics. "This action, should in itself, give the public confidence in the health system that it is acting in their interest."
The surgeon did not refute any claims made against him.
Matter escalated to HPCSA
The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) confirmed to Health24 that it is investigating the doctor after a complaint was lodged against him.
"The investigation will reveal if there is prima facie evidence of unprofessional conduct by the doctor, in which case further action in terms of our regulations relating to the conduct of inquiries into alleged unprofessional conduct will be invoked," said HPCSA ombudsman Dr Munyadziwa Kwinda.
"If the the investigation doesn’t show any evidence of unprofessional conduct, no further action will be taken against the doctor. The doctor can either be found guilty of unprofessional conduct or not guilty."
What the repercussions are
Kwinda explained that if the doctor is found guilty, the Health Professions Act provides for the following penalties:
- A caution or a reprimand or both;
- A fine;
- Suspension for a specified period from practising his profession;
- Removal of his name from the relevant register;
- A compulsory period of professional service; or
- Payment of the costs of the proceedings or a restoration or both.
"Health professionals who are found guilty of violating the Health Professions Act, its Regulations and Ethical Rules will be subjected to the penalties mentioned above without consideration of the human resource shortages for health in the country."
Medical staff taking strain
He said because of working conditions in both public and private health sectors, practitioners may experience burn-out and this doesn’t only affect the surgical specialties but all categories of practitioners.
"That’s why we encourage our practitioners to ensure that they should avoid circumstances where their mental and physical status pose risks to patients’ lives."
Kwinda also sought to re-assure the public that medical practitioners act in the best interest of their patients.
"Should patients find anything to the contrary, they should approach the HPCSA and we will ensure that we correct any behaviour or conduct that puts the lives of patients at risk."
The public can contact the HPCSA on 012 338 9300 or lodge a complaint with LegalMed@hpcsa.co.za or send an inquiry to info@hpcsa.co.za.
The HPCSA suspended 51 practitioners and recorded a total of 2 997 complaints – an increase of 310 cases compared to the previous financial year, according to its 2012/2013 annual report.
The surgeon was dismissed for gross negligence and contravention of theatre protocol and did not refute any claims made against him, the Gauteng Health Department told Health24.
He is accused of leaving his patient on the operation table for 30 minutes, during which time he had a smoke, reported City Press.
The surgeon was begged on more than one occasion to return and complete the procedure.
Gauteng Health Department spokesperson Prince Hamnca told Health24 the operation was completed by the doctor, but his assistant had to take over afterwards.
"That indication was completed by the surgeon ... and the remainder of the surgical procedure to completion was done by his assistant surgeon ... technically 'unsupervised' as he had then left the operating theatre again at this point."
Patient is fine
The department said that the patient did not suffer any complications. "Initial post discharge assessments have not elicited any untoward complications," Hamnca said.
He also noted that back-up help was at hand.
"In this case, it is reported that the acting head of surgery was present in the tea-room who could easily have scrubbed up, gowned and taken over the operation if the surgeon was unable to complete the operation."
Hamnca said the department will not hesitate to act against staff who act against their own code of practice and ethics. "This action, should in itself, give the public confidence in the health system that it is acting in their interest."
The surgeon did not refute any claims made against him.
Matter escalated to HPCSA
The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) confirmed to Health24 that it is investigating the doctor after a complaint was lodged against him.
"The investigation will reveal if there is prima facie evidence of unprofessional conduct by the doctor, in which case further action in terms of our regulations relating to the conduct of inquiries into alleged unprofessional conduct will be invoked," said HPCSA ombudsman Dr Munyadziwa Kwinda.
"If the the investigation doesn’t show any evidence of unprofessional conduct, no further action will be taken against the doctor. The doctor can either be found guilty of unprofessional conduct or not guilty."
What the repercussions are
Kwinda explained that if the doctor is found guilty, the Health Professions Act provides for the following penalties:
- A caution or a reprimand or both;
- A fine;
- Suspension for a specified period from practising his profession;
- Removal of his name from the relevant register;
- A compulsory period of professional service; or
- Payment of the costs of the proceedings or a restoration or both.
"Health professionals who are found guilty of violating the Health Professions Act, its Regulations and Ethical Rules will be subjected to the penalties mentioned above without consideration of the human resource shortages for health in the country."
Medical staff taking strain
He said because of working conditions in both public and private health sectors, practitioners may experience burn-out and this doesn’t only affect the surgical specialties but all categories of practitioners.
"That’s why we encourage our practitioners to ensure that they should avoid circumstances where their mental and physical status pose risks to patients’ lives."
Kwinda also sought to re-assure the public that medical practitioners act in the best interest of their patients.
"Should patients find anything to the contrary, they should approach the HPCSA and we will ensure that we correct any behaviour or conduct that puts the lives of patients at risk."
The public can contact the HPCSA on 012 338 9300 or lodge a complaint with LegalMed@hpcsa.co.za or send an inquiry to info@hpcsa.co.za.
The HPCSA suspended 51 practitioners and recorded a total of 2 997 complaints – an increase of 310 cases compared to the previous financial year, according to its 2012/2013 annual report.
Sudanese forces rape 221 in mass attack
2015-02-12 07:00
New York - Sudanese army troops raped at least 221 women and girls in a Darfur village in a series of organised, house-to-house attacks last year, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Wednesday.
The organisation's Africa director, Daniel Bekele, called it "a new low in the catalogue of atrocities in Darfur."
The incident is at the heart of a recent plunge in relations between Sudan and the international community over a region gripped by violent chaos for more than a decade.
Reports of a mass rape in Tabit in late October quickly surfaced via radio broadcasts by Sudanese overseas. A joint UN-African Union peacekeeping mission at first said it found no evidence, but the UN special representative on sexual violence in conflict said a heavy Sudanese military presence during its visit likely affected its findings.
The Security Council demanded that Sudan allow a full investigation. Instead, President Omar al-Bashir ordered the UN mission's human rights office to close and has refused to allow the peacekeeping mission to visit the village again.
Sudan's government says its own investigation found "there had not been a single case of rape."
But the new report, based on more than 130 telephone interviews with survivors, witnesses and army defectors, says girls as young as 10 were raped by Sudanese forces, and that some women and girls were assaulted multiple times and in front of their families.
The report says Human Rights Watch "documented 27 separate incidents of rape and obtained credible information about an additional 194 cases."
One question is why it happened. Witnesses and survivors said army forces ordered dozens of men to the outskirts of the village while soldiers entered homes and accused residents of killing a soldier or helping rebel groups, then raped the women and girls.
The report found no evidence in the village of rebel forces, which have been fighting the government since 2003 across the vast region of western Sudan. More than 300 000 have been killed in the conflict, and more than 400 000 fled their homes last year alone.
Threatened
Witnesses said some of the armed, uniformed soldiers in the mass rape were stationed at the army base on the outskirts of town. Army defectors said other troops were from bases near the North Darfur capital of El Fasher and Sudan's capital, Khartoum.
"Multiple victims and witnesses reported that government officials threatened to imprison or kill anyone who spoke out about the attacks," Human Rights Watch said. Among those making such threats was local commissioner Al-Hadi Mohammed Abdallah Abdelrahman.
Movement in and out of Tabit is now restricted, with new military checkpoints, and some survivors have said they avoided medical treatment after the rapes because they feared more abuse.
The report says the military personnel who ordered, aided or participated in the rapes are responsible for war crimes.
Human Rights Watch is demanding that Sudan allow immediate access to the village, that the UN Security Council and the peacekeeping force take "concrete steps" to protect civilians in Darfur and that the International Criminal Court investigate.
The ICC prosecutor, however, told the council in frustration late last year that she was "hibernating" the existing case against Sudan because she was getting little help from the council and the international community.
The new report notes the recent UN discussions about shrinking the more than 20 000-strong peacekeeping mission and Sudan's recent insistence on an "exit strategy," but it warns that "the withdrawal of peacekeepers could undermine what little protection the mission has afforded the people of Darfur."
New York - Sudanese army troops raped at least 221 women and girls in a Darfur village in a series of organised, house-to-house attacks last year, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Wednesday.
The organisation's Africa director, Daniel Bekele, called it "a new low in the catalogue of atrocities in Darfur."
The incident is at the heart of a recent plunge in relations between Sudan and the international community over a region gripped by violent chaos for more than a decade.
Reports of a mass rape in Tabit in late October quickly surfaced via radio broadcasts by Sudanese overseas. A joint UN-African Union peacekeeping mission at first said it found no evidence, but the UN special representative on sexual violence in conflict said a heavy Sudanese military presence during its visit likely affected its findings.
The Security Council demanded that Sudan allow a full investigation. Instead, President Omar al-Bashir ordered the UN mission's human rights office to close and has refused to allow the peacekeeping mission to visit the village again.
Sudan's government says its own investigation found "there had not been a single case of rape."
But the new report, based on more than 130 telephone interviews with survivors, witnesses and army defectors, says girls as young as 10 were raped by Sudanese forces, and that some women and girls were assaulted multiple times and in front of their families.
The report says Human Rights Watch "documented 27 separate incidents of rape and obtained credible information about an additional 194 cases."
One question is why it happened. Witnesses and survivors said army forces ordered dozens of men to the outskirts of the village while soldiers entered homes and accused residents of killing a soldier or helping rebel groups, then raped the women and girls.
The report found no evidence in the village of rebel forces, which have been fighting the government since 2003 across the vast region of western Sudan. More than 300 000 have been killed in the conflict, and more than 400 000 fled their homes last year alone.
Threatened
Witnesses said some of the armed, uniformed soldiers in the mass rape were stationed at the army base on the outskirts of town. Army defectors said other troops were from bases near the North Darfur capital of El Fasher and Sudan's capital, Khartoum.
"Multiple victims and witnesses reported that government officials threatened to imprison or kill anyone who spoke out about the attacks," Human Rights Watch said. Among those making such threats was local commissioner Al-Hadi Mohammed Abdallah Abdelrahman.
Movement in and out of Tabit is now restricted, with new military checkpoints, and some survivors have said they avoided medical treatment after the rapes because they feared more abuse.
The report says the military personnel who ordered, aided or participated in the rapes are responsible for war crimes.
Human Rights Watch is demanding that Sudan allow immediate access to the village, that the UN Security Council and the peacekeeping force take "concrete steps" to protect civilians in Darfur and that the International Criminal Court investigate.
The ICC prosecutor, however, told the council in frustration late last year that she was "hibernating" the existing case against Sudan because she was getting little help from the council and the international community.
The new report notes the recent UN discussions about shrinking the more than 20 000-strong peacekeeping mission and Sudan's recent insistence on an "exit strategy," but it warns that "the withdrawal of peacekeepers could undermine what little protection the mission has afforded the people of Darfur."
ISIS militants drawing steady stream of recruits
2015-02-12 07:00
Washington - The US bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria has failed to slow the pace of foreign fighters flocking to join the Islamic State and other extremist groups, including at least 3 400 from Western nations among 20 000 from around the world, US intelligence officials say in an updated estimate of a top terrorism concern.
Intelligence agencies now believe that as many as 150 Americans have tried and some have succeeded in reaching the Syrian war zone, officials told the House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday. Some of those Americans were arrested en route, some died in the area and a small number were still fighting with extremists.
Nick Rasmussen, chief of the National Counterterrorism Centre, said the rate of foreign fighter travel to Syria is without precedent, far exceeding the rate of foreigners who went to wage jihad in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen or Somalia at any other point in the past 20 years.
US officials fear that some of the foreign fighters will return undetected to their homes in Europe or the US to mount terrorist attacks. At least one of the men responsible for the attack on a satirical magazine in Paris had spent time with Islamic extremists in Yemen.
Officials acknowledge it has been hard to track the Americans and Europeans who have made it to Syria, where the Islamic State group is the dominant force trying to overthrow the government of President Bashar Assad. The US Embassy in Syria is closed, and the CIA has no permanent presence on the ground.
"Once in Syria, it is very difficult to discern what happens there," Michael Steinbach, the FBI's assistant director for counterterrorism, told the committee. "This lack of clarity remains troubling."
The estimate of 20 000 fighters, from 90 countries, is up from 19 000, Rasmussen said. The number of Americans or US residents who have gone or tried to go is up to 150 from 50 a year ago and 100 in the fall.
Representative Michael McCaul, the Republican who chairs the committee, said the Syrian war had created "the largest convergence of Islamist terrorists in world history." Sustained bombing by a US-led coalition has not stopped the inflow, he noted.
McCaul's committee staff compiled from public sources a list of 18 US citizens or residents who joined or attempted to join the Islamic State group, and 18 others who tried to or succeeded in joining other violent Islamic groups.
The list includes three Chicago teens and three Denver teens who were radicalised and recruited online and were arrested after attempting to travel to Syria to join Islamic State fighters. It also includes Douglas McAuthur McCain, 33, a Californian who died in August while fighting with the Islamic State group near Aleppo.
US intelligence officials do not make public their estimate of how many Americans currently are fighting in Syria and Iraq. In September, FBI director James Comey said it was "about a dozen".
Francis X Taylor, who heads the Homeland Security Department's intelligence office, said intelligence agencies are "unaware of any specific, credible, imminent threat to the homeland".
However, he said, officials are concerned that Americans who join violent extremist groups in Syria "could gain combat skills, violent extremist connections and possibly become persuaded to conduct organised or 'lone-wolf' style attacks that target US and Western interests.
"We also have become increasingly aware of the possibility that Syria could emerge as a base of operations for al-Qaeda's international agenda, which could include attacks against the homeland."
Washington - The US bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria has failed to slow the pace of foreign fighters flocking to join the Islamic State and other extremist groups, including at least 3 400 from Western nations among 20 000 from around the world, US intelligence officials say in an updated estimate of a top terrorism concern.
Intelligence agencies now believe that as many as 150 Americans have tried and some have succeeded in reaching the Syrian war zone, officials told the House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday. Some of those Americans were arrested en route, some died in the area and a small number were still fighting with extremists.
Nick Rasmussen, chief of the National Counterterrorism Centre, said the rate of foreign fighter travel to Syria is without precedent, far exceeding the rate of foreigners who went to wage jihad in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen or Somalia at any other point in the past 20 years.
US officials fear that some of the foreign fighters will return undetected to their homes in Europe or the US to mount terrorist attacks. At least one of the men responsible for the attack on a satirical magazine in Paris had spent time with Islamic extremists in Yemen.
Officials acknowledge it has been hard to track the Americans and Europeans who have made it to Syria, where the Islamic State group is the dominant force trying to overthrow the government of President Bashar Assad. The US Embassy in Syria is closed, and the CIA has no permanent presence on the ground.
"Once in Syria, it is very difficult to discern what happens there," Michael Steinbach, the FBI's assistant director for counterterrorism, told the committee. "This lack of clarity remains troubling."
The estimate of 20 000 fighters, from 90 countries, is up from 19 000, Rasmussen said. The number of Americans or US residents who have gone or tried to go is up to 150 from 50 a year ago and 100 in the fall.
Representative Michael McCaul, the Republican who chairs the committee, said the Syrian war had created "the largest convergence of Islamist terrorists in world history." Sustained bombing by a US-led coalition has not stopped the inflow, he noted.
McCaul's committee staff compiled from public sources a list of 18 US citizens or residents who joined or attempted to join the Islamic State group, and 18 others who tried to or succeeded in joining other violent Islamic groups.
The list includes three Chicago teens and three Denver teens who were radicalised and recruited online and were arrested after attempting to travel to Syria to join Islamic State fighters. It also includes Douglas McAuthur McCain, 33, a Californian who died in August while fighting with the Islamic State group near Aleppo.
US intelligence officials do not make public their estimate of how many Americans currently are fighting in Syria and Iraq. In September, FBI director James Comey said it was "about a dozen".
Francis X Taylor, who heads the Homeland Security Department's intelligence office, said intelligence agencies are "unaware of any specific, credible, imminent threat to the homeland".
However, he said, officials are concerned that Americans who join violent extremist groups in Syria "could gain combat skills, violent extremist connections and possibly become persuaded to conduct organised or 'lone-wolf' style attacks that target US and Western interests.
"We also have become increasingly aware of the possibility that Syria could emerge as a base of operations for al-Qaeda's international agenda, which could include attacks against the homeland."
10 000 US civilians needed to fight ebola
2015-02-12 10:04
New York - The UN Ebola chief says US troops being withdrawn from Liberia have done their job of building desperately needed treatment centres but that more than 10 000 American civilians working in West Africa are still essential to combating the deadly disease.
Dr David Nabarro warned in an interview on Wednesday with The Associated Press that the battle against Ebola is far from over, pointing to a disappointing rise in new cases last week in hardest-hit Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
He said civilians from the US, Britain, France and elsewhere are still needed to help with tracing Ebola victims' contacts, re-establishing health services and changing behaviour in communities.
The United States announced that only 100 US troops will remain in Liberia after 30 April, down from the 2 800 initially deployed.
New York - The UN Ebola chief says US troops being withdrawn from Liberia have done their job of building desperately needed treatment centres but that more than 10 000 American civilians working in West Africa are still essential to combating the deadly disease.
Dr David Nabarro warned in an interview on Wednesday with The Associated Press that the battle against Ebola is far from over, pointing to a disappointing rise in new cases last week in hardest-hit Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
He said civilians from the US, Britain, France and elsewhere are still needed to help with tracing Ebola victims' contacts, re-establishing health services and changing behaviour in communities.
The United States announced that only 100 US troops will remain in Liberia after 30 April, down from the 2 800 initially deployed.
Jonathan dismisses threats of war
Abuja - President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday in Abuja
dismissed threats of war from some quarters of the country over the
outcome of the 2015 general elections.
Jonathan, who fielded questions from newsmen at the presidential media chat, said that anarchy would not be condoned in Nigeria as the country was bigger than the interest of any individual.
According to him, journalists also have a duty in defusing tension in the polity through their reportage.
The president reacted to a question that the Niger-Delta ex-agitators had threatened that there would be war if he lost the 2015 polls.
“We cannot destroy this country and we cannot encourage anybody who wants to destroy this country.”
On the war against insurgency and securing the release of the kidnapped Chibok girls, he expressed optimism that the synergy with neighbouring countries would yield positive results.
He said that the Federal Government had acquired weapons from some countries which would help in the prosecution of the war against insurgents.
Jonathan, who fielded questions from newsmen at the presidential media chat, said that anarchy would not be condoned in Nigeria as the country was bigger than the interest of any individual.
According to him, journalists also have a duty in defusing tension in the polity through their reportage.
The president reacted to a question that the Niger-Delta ex-agitators had threatened that there would be war if he lost the 2015 polls.
“We cannot destroy this country and we cannot encourage anybody who wants to destroy this country.”
On the war against insurgency and securing the release of the kidnapped Chibok girls, he expressed optimism that the synergy with neighbouring countries would yield positive results.
He said that the Federal Government had acquired weapons from some countries which would help in the prosecution of the war against insurgents.
- NAN
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