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DR Congo activists see sentences slashed

Agence France-PresseApril 20, 2013 11:30
Twelve activists in the Democratic Republic of Congo sentenced to 20 years behind bars for organising a demonstration have had their jail terms drastically reduced, a rights group said on Saturday. "They were sentenced to a maximum of one year. Some were sentenced to six months in jail, others to a year," Jean-Claude Katende, head of the Kinshasa-based human rights organisation ASADHO, told AFP. He added that "the fact the sentence was reduced from 20 years to a maximum of one year shows that the case against them was groundless".

French family arrive home after hostage ordeal

Agence France-PresseApril 20, 2013 02:00
French President Francois Hollande welcomed a family of seven back to France early Saturday as they flew into Paris after two months in the hands of Nigeria's Islamist militants. The Moulin-Fournier family, which includes four boys aged between five and 12, flew in from Cameroon on a French government Falcon jet with Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. Blankets draped over their shoulders against the early-morning chill and smiling broadly, they stepped off the plane and into the arms of relatives before retiring to the airport's VIP pavilion.

French family kidnapped in Cameroon freed

Agence France-PresseApril 19, 2013 15:15
A French family abducted by Islamist extremists two months ago while holidaying in Cameroon emerged unscathed from their ordeal on Friday, with Paris staying quiet on the details of how their release was secured. Tanguy and Albane Moulin-Fournier, their four children and Tanguy's brother, Cyril, were kidnapped in Cameroon on February 19 and taken to neighbouring Nigeria. Their captors were a group called Boko Haram, an al-Qaeda-linked Islamist sect blamed for killing thousands of people in an insurgency in northern Nigeria since 2009.

French family kidnapped in Cameroon freed

Agence France-PresseApril 19, 2013 08:46
A French family abducted while holidaying in Cameroon emerged unscathed from their ordeal on Friday after two months in the hands of Islamic extremists. Tanguy and Albane Moulin-Fournier, their four children and Tanguy's brother, Cyril, were kidnapped in Cameroon on February 19 and taken to neighbouring Nigeria. They were handed back to Cameroonian authorities on Thursday night in circumstances that remained unclear after an experience that left them exhausted but otherwise in good health.

French family kidnapped in Cameroon freed

Agence France-PresseApril 19, 2013 06:15
A French family of seven abducted by Islamic extremists while holidaying in Cameroon have been freed after two months in captivity, officials said Friday. The hostages -- a father, mother, four children aged 5 to 12, and an uncle -- were all in good health, the French presidency said, adding that Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius was on his way to the central African state to greet the family.

Cameroon says kidnapped French family released

April 19, 2013 03:45
YAOUNDE (Reuters) - A French family of seven including four children kidnapped in north Cameroon and taken to Nigeria by suspected Boko Haram militants have been released, a senior Cameroon official said on Friday. "They are all alive and well," Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, secretary general of Cameroon's presidency, said in a statement carried by state radio. He said the family had been handed to Cameroon authorities late on Thursday.

Mauritania to send 1,800 troops to Mali - France

April 18, 2013 15:16
PARIS (Reuters) - Mauritania will send 1,800 troops to Mali as part of a planned U.N. force to keep the peace in the West African nation after a French-led offensive that has ousted Islamist rebels from the desert north, France's foreign minister said on Thursday. Laurent Fabius said a U.N. Security Council resolution to approve the creation of a 12,600-strong U.N. peacekeeping force from July 1 should be approved as soon as next week.

Mauritania to send 1,800 troops to Mali: France's Fabius

Agence France-PresseApril 18, 2013 13:16
Regional military power Mauritania is ready to send 1,800 soldiers into neighbouring Mali as part of an incoming UN peacekeeping force as France and Chad phase in troop drawdown, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Thursday. "The Mauritanian president assured me on Monday night that he was (favourably) pre-disposed, depending on conditions to be worked out, to sending 1,800 men to join the future contingent," Fabius told the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee meeting in France.

Zimbabwe deputy PM tells Africa to be tough on China

Agence France-PresseApril 17, 2013 12:31
Africa must learn to dictate its own terms when dealing with China and stop blaming Beijing, apartheid or colonialism for its economic woes, Zimbabwe's deputy prime minister said Wednesday. Arthur Mutambara said it was time for Africa to stop taking a "romantic view" of China because it has grown from a "comrade in poverty" to a global economic giant and superpower. "Why are we not making sure the engagement with China is on our terms, as Africans? Labour, skills, technology, value addition," he said at a China-Africa conference.

Rebel boss Djotodia elected interim C.Africa leader

April 13, 2013 14:16
Michel Djotodia, whose rebel coalition Seleka seized power in the Central African Republic last month, was on Saturday elected interim president by the national transitional council. Djotodia, who had proclaimed himself president after his troops took Bangui on March 24, was the only candidate in the vote held during the opening minutes of the council's first session. The interim president is to rule for no longer than 18 months, during which time the 105-member transitional body will act as a constituent assembly.
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