Africa Confidential said that ThomasYaya Nimely, Liberia’s ex-Foreign Min-ister (2003–05) and Chairman of thedefunct Movement for Democracy inLiberia (Model) may be behind theguerrillas in Grand Gedeh County whocarried out the attacks over the border.Nimely owns a huge farm and employshundreds of ex-Model fighters. The UNMission in Liberia has kept the farmunder air surveillance for years. In2003, Gbagbo funded Model in thefinal round of fighting that pushed outPresident Charles Taylor. Among theten Model ex-leaders on Liberia’swanted list are former Chief of StaffAmos Cheyee, the notorious Isaac Sa-you Chegbo (aka ‘Bob Marley’). (AfricaConfidential 22 ⁄ 6) Yopougon torture camp

claims p. 19285

EGYPTMubarak Given Life

Street protests greet the verdict onthe ailing ex-president.

Hundreds of Egyptians occupiedCairo’s Tahrir Square on June 3rd aftera night of rage as the state prosecutorsaid he would appeal sentences handeddown to former president Hosni Muba-rak and his security chiefs.

A judge sentenced Mubarak, 84, andhis Interior minister Habib al-Adly tolife in prison on June 2nd for involve-ment in the killing of hundreds of pro-testers during the uprising that oustedthem from power in 2011.

Mubarak, the only autocrat toppled inthe Arab Spring to be put in the dock,could have been sent to the gallows asdemanded by the prosecution. He wasalso cleared of graft charges.

Six police chiefs were acquitted, andMubarak’s sons Alaa and Gamal hadcorruption charges against themdropped on a technicality, promptingprotesters to take to the streets inCairo, Alexandria and other Egyptiancities.

The state prosecutor’s office said hehad ordered ‘‘the start of the appealsprocedure’’ against sentences in thetrial, but did not clarify whether itwould appeal all the verdicts or just theacquittals.

The prosecution had asked for thedeath sentence against the ousted presi-dent and his security aides, but it hasreceived much criticism over its prepa-rations for the case. Mubarak’s defencehas also said it would appeal.

Both the toppled dictator’s defenceteam and lawyers representing his vic-tims said the life sentence verdict couldeasily be appealed, triggering fears

among protesters that he could be ruledinnocent. Around 20,000 people tookto Cairo’s iconic Tahrir Square afterthe verdicts were issued.

After the verdicts were passed, theMuslim Brotherhood’s presidential can-didate Mohammed Mursi said the revo-lution must continue and briefly joinedthe crowds in Tahrir Square.

A tearful Mubarak was flown by heli-copter to Tora prison on Cairo’s out-skirts after the verdict but then refusedto leave the aircraft. A security officialsaid Mubarak ‘‘suffered from a surprisehealth crisis’’ but was finally convincedto go to his cell.

Chants of ‘‘Void, void’’ and ‘‘The peo-ple want the judiciary purged’’ eruptedafter the sentencing.There were similarprotest rallies in Alexandria, on theMediterranean coast, and other partsof the country, where many were inshock at the police chiefs’ acquittal.

Rights groups also slammed theverdict. Mubarak’s sentence ‘‘is asignificant step towards combattinglong-standing impunity in Egypt’’ butthe security chiefs’ acquittal ‘‘leavesmany still waiting for full justice,’’Amnesty International said. ‘‘Many seethe acquittal of all the senior securityofficials as a sign that those responsiblefor human rights violations can stillescape justice.’’ Human Rights Watch(HRW) said the verdict sent a messageto Egypt’s future leaders that they arenot above the law, though it said theacquittals gave ‘‘a green light to futurepolice abuse.’’

Alaa and Gamal Mubarak will face anew trial on July 9th on corruptioncharges, the official MENA newsagency reported on June 12th. Thebrothers are accused of insider tradingin Egypt’s stock market along withseven others.

Conflicting reports about the health ofMubarak just as the election resultswere due (see p. 19306) injected newuncertainty into a tumultuous politicalmoment. Mubarak suffered a strokeand was declared ‘‘clinically dead’’,according to MENA, but that reportwas quickly denied by a medical officialat the hospital and by one of his attor-neys.

The former president was ‘‘consciousand breathing well,’’ the medical officialsaid early on June 20th. Mubarakarrived at the hospital in cardiac arrest,the official said, and doctors got hisheart beating again using a defibrilla-tor. (The Economic Times 3 ⁄ 6; PANA,Cairo 2,3 ⁄ 6;MENA 12,21 ⁄ 6)

Tribal Gunfight: A gunfight during thenight of June 9th between two feudingtribes in Egypt’s south killed 12 people,

a police official said. The battle in thesouthern Aswan province, in whichautomatic weapons were used, left threewounded. The gunfight erupted as adispute over land, he said.

Police and soldiers moved in witharmoured vehicles to end the fighting, hesaid. Family feuds in the impoverishedsouth may go on for months or evenyears, and often end in governmentsponsored reconciliations. (� AFP, Cairo10 ⁄ 6 2012) Pre-poll deaths p. 19273

GUINEA BISSAUAngolan Troops Leave

Concerted international action isneeded to find a solution.

Angolan troops, whose presence inGuinea-Bissau angered local soldiersand prompted a coup in April, endedtheir pullout on June 9th, a militaryofficial said. It ‘‘marks the end of themilitary cooperation agreementsbetween Angola and Guinea-Bissau,’’he added.

Men, tanks, heavy weaponry and otherequipment for the 600-strong forcebegan leaving Guinea-Bissau on June6th aboard aircraft and ships.

The troops had arrived in March 2011as part of a bilateral military agreementbut, in a country where decades of con-flict between army and state have led tocoups, assassinations and chronic insta-bility, they were seen as a personal pro-tection force for the government,prompting the April 12th coup. TheAngolans are being replaced by an Eco-nomic Community of West AfricanStates (ECOWAS) mission known asECOMIB.

In addition, Luanda would not replaceambassador Feliciano Antonio DosSantos who left in April, an Angolandiplomat said. (� AFP, Luanda 9 ⁄ 6)

The Peace and Security Council of theAfrican Union (AU) and the Politicaland Security Committee of the Euro-pean Union (EU) have called for ‘‘con-certed international action’’ and aninclusive solution to the political crisisin Guinea-Bissau, worsened by theApril coup d’etat.

The call came out of the fifth annualadvisory meeting between the twocouncils, held from May 29th to 30thin the Belgian capital, Brussels. Thetwo bodies said the AU, ECOWAS, theCommunity of Portuguese LanguageCountries (CPLP), the UN and the EUneed to collaborate to restore constitu-tional order, lead the reform of thedefence and security sector, fightagainst drug trafficking, organizedcrime and impunity in the country.

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They also pleaded for the resumptionof the electoral process, interrupted bythe military coup and set in motion bythe death of the democratically-electedpresident, Bacai Sanha. (PANA, Luanda& Brussels 3,5 ⁄ 6)

Interim prime minister Adiato DjaloNandigna returned to her home onMay 31st after seeking refuge at localEU premises following the coup, shetold AFP. She was appointed to thepost when prime minister Carlos GomesJunior resigned to allow him to run inthe presidential election aborted by thecoup.

Former elections chief Desejado Limada Costa – on May 30th reported tohave fled to Gambia along with ex-army chief Jose Zamora Induta andInterior Minister Fernando Gomes –was however still in Bissau and also leftthe EU premises on the 31st.

An ally of Costa said he was bewil-dered at reports he was being detainedin Banjul, and that he had been invitedto leave with Induta and Gomes buthad ‘‘declined the invitation.’’A state-ment from President Yahya Jammeh’soffice in Banjul confirmed only thepresence of Induta and Gomes. (�AFP, Banjul 30 ⁄ 5)

Former navy chief, Rear Admiral JoseAmerico Bubo Na Tchuto, arrested latein 2011 in connection to the December2011 against the Premier Carlos GomesJunior, has been released, Misnareported.

According to the local media, the for-mer navy chief was freed on June 21stalong with another five officers, alsodetained in connection with the failedcoup. Local Misna sources said the rea-sons for their release had not been dis-closed. Bubo Na Tchuto was thehighest ranking officer of the coup plot-ters, who on December 26th attemptedto overthrow the then government.Doubts however still remain on the epi-sode and some observers believe that itwasn’t a coup, but a retaliation withinthe armed forces. (Misna 23 ⁄ 6) Contin-

uing instability p. 19725

KENYASuspected Bomber Arrested

The arrest in Tanzania of a Germanal Shabaab fighter points up theglobalisation of terror activism.

A German national of Turkish originwanted by Kenya for suspected links toSomalia’s Islamist rebel group Al Sha-baab was arrested in Tanzania, policein both countries said on June 13th.

Emrah Erdogan is thought to have closelinks with Swiss national Magd Najjar

who was earlier in June charged by aKenyan court with being an Al Sha-baab member, Kenya’s deputy policespokesman, Charles Owino, said.

Several foreigners are wanted by Ken-yan police on suspicion of planningbomb attacks or ties to the Al Shabaab,including another German nationalAndreas Martin Mueller and a Britishwoman Samantha Lewthwaite, thewidow of Germaine Lindsay, one of thesuicide bombers in the London July2005 underground attacks. AnotherBriton, Jermaine Grant was arrested inDecember in Mombasa. He was foundwith various chemicals, batteries andswitches which prosecutors say theyplanned to use to make explosives. Pros-ecutors say Grant, a 29-year-old Muslimconvert, was working with Lewthwaite.Grant’s trial resumes August 15th.

A Belgian national, Hassan Kafi, and aTunisian, Mohammed Debarli, are alsoawaiting trial in Mombasa, accused ofbeing Al Shabaab members. The pairare already serving six months in jailfor being in Kenya illegally. (� AFP,Dar es Salaam 13 ⁄ 6 2012)

The Standard on June 14th reportedthat Erdogan alias Imraan Al Kurdyalias Salahaddin Al Kurdy was sus-pected of being behind the bombing ofthe shopping centre in Nairobi on May28th that claimed one life and injuredmore than 30 people and that he wouldstand trial in Germany. Kenyan policesaid Germany had issued an Interpolwarrant for him. (The Standard, Nairobi14 ⁄ 6)

German Spiegel Online website said Er-dogan was ‘‘a dangerous jihadist’’ andbelongs to a group of some 100 youngGermans who trained in terror campson the Afghan-Pakistani border, fol-lowed by active participation in thestruggles there. Erdogan’s brotherBunyamin died in a US drone attack inthe Afghan-Pakistani border zone inOctober 2010. (Spiegel Online website,Hamburg 12 ⁄ 6)

A fertilizer bomb made of ammoniumnitrate and fuel oil likely caused thedeadly May 29th blast. Details aboutthe possible nature of the IED emergedas three agents from the US FederalBureau of Investigations (FBI) joinedKenyan bomb experts to sift throughthe debris at the site for evidence. (TheStandard, Nairobi 30 ⁄ 5) Grenade attacks

p. 19275

Grenade Attack: Three people had diedby June 26th after a hand grenade wasthrown into a Mombasa bar on June24th where patrons were watching aEuro 2012 football match, the RedCross said. One of those injured at theJericho bar was being held as a sus-pect.

The blast came a day after the USembassy warned that there was an‘‘imminent threat of a terrorist attack’’in the area. Local police chief AggreyAdoli told AFP that 30 people werestill in hospital with injuries from theblast, while the Red Cross put thenumber at 25.

Police had earlier arrested two Iraniannationals over suspected links to a net-work planning attacks in the port cityof Mombasa. Police also said they hadrecovered suspected bomb-makingmaterial in Nairobi on June 23rd. (BBCnews online 26 ⁄ 6)

LIBYAClashes in South and West

The absence of a central authority,tribal rivalry and proliferation ofweapons are blamed.

Military Spokesman for the generalchief of staff Colonel Ali al-Shaykhi onJune 18th announced that a truce hadbeen agreed between the Al-Zawiyahand Tabu tribes in the town of Kufrahin the southeast of the country. Thetruce imposes a cease fire.

Fresh bouts of violence erupted in boththe remote southeast and the mountain-ous west in June. Spokesman for theIslamist Justice and Construction PartyNizar Kawan attributed recurrent boutsof violence in Libya to ‘‘absence of acentral authority and security bodiesand the lack of a deterrence-based secu-rity strategy.’’

Al-Jazeera reported that the Kufrahfighting was between Tabu tribesmenand government troops from the ShieldLibya Brigade. It left two dead and atleast 44 wounded on June 12th, AlJazeera said. The brigade commander,Wssam Ben Hamid, accused Tabu lea-der Issa Abdul Majid of instigatingunrest in order to encourage foreignintervention. Majid said the brigadehad launched recurrent attacks onTabu neighbourhoods and put theresponsibility on the interim govern-ment and the NTC. The Tabu say theyare being persecuted.

‘‘Twenty-eight dead since yesterday,’’Abdelmajid told AFP on June 10th.Majid said the fighting erupted afterthe Tabu quarter of town came undershelling by the Libya Shield Brigade.

‘‘There are historic roots for the con-flict in Kufrah, located on a [border]triangle region where smuggling andother activities are rife,’’ Kawan said.

In another incident of violence, fourpeople were killed and 24 wounded inclashes between the military council ofthe western region and the Mashashi-

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