Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 2 October 2008 — Page 16

Page 16 • The Muncie Times • October 2,2008

AFRICAN BRIEFS

SOUTH AFRICANS STUNNED BY GOVERNMENT RESIGNATIONS (GIN) - Eleven members, of the South African cabinet are resigning along with President Thabo Mbeki who announced his departure Sunday in a televised address. Mbeki said he accepted a decision by the ruling ANC to recall him over allegations that he interfered in a corruption case against political rival and current ANC leader Jacob Zuma. “1 have been a loyal member of the African National Congress for fifty-two years,'’ Mbeki said. il I remain a member of the ANC and therefore respect its decisions. It is for this reason that I have taken the decision to resign... following the decision of the National Executive Committee of the ANC.” A close ally of Zuma - former political prisoner and trade unionist Kgalema Motlanthe - will replace Mbeki until the elections, the ANC has confirmed. Archbishop Desmond Tutu expressed frustration with what he characterized as party infighting. “President Mbeki scored many significant achievements in our economy and in promoting peace in Africa, most recently in Zimbabwe. “But he made many enemies, even within his party, for his intolerance of challenges and dissent.

Those enemies have got their revenge and are gloating as they rub his nose in the dust. ... It is old-fashioned, good oldfashioned tit-for-tat. Our country deserves better." This point was picked up by Dennis Brutus, a University of Pittsburgh and at South Africa’s lii Speaking on the radio show "Democracy Now,” Brutus said: “It's t factional conflict between two sections within the ANC itself, and unfortunately. it's not going to make much difference for the people of South Africa as a whole, because (the two men) share pretty much the same neoliberal ideologies.” “The assumption is that (Zuma) will be more leftleaning than Mbeki was,” Brutus observed. “But actually, there's not a whole lot of evidence for that. And the chances are that he will simply continue ... putting the corporations ahead of the people in terms of the resources of the country.” Some who welcomed the resignation included Zackie Achmat, head of the Treatment Action Campaign. Mbeki, he said, had abandoned hundreds of thousands of people in need of lifesaving treatment for HIV/AIDS, and should be called to account. TORTURE TRIAL GETS UNDERWAY FOR LIBERIA'S

“CHUCKIE T” (GIN) - A landmark human rights case against the U.S. born son of Liberian President Charles Taylor begins this Miami cc Ch Taylor Jr. born in Boston ’ notorious “Demon Forces,” after his father took power in 1997. His i notorious for abuses against civilians. If convicted of the horrific allegations — burning victims' flesh with molten candle wax. shocking their genitals with an electrical prod, ordering the beheading of one victim with a knife — the 31-year-old Taylor would spend the rest of his life in prison. Some of the victims are exp; Taylor. Miguel Caridad, Ta\ lor's lawyer, accused the victims of exaggerating oi fabricating their storic'i. merely to obtain asylum. the first times anyone has been prosecuted for human rights violations in Liberia Ta\ lot's regime. ARCHBISHOP SLAMS PROPOSED KENYAN ABORTION BILL (GIN) - Nairobi Catholic archbishop, Cardinal John Njue, has come out swinging against a proposed women's health bill which would legalize

abortion in cases of sexual assault, incest and rape. The practice, he said, will turn the womb from a sacred place of life into a "slaughterhouse." Njue appealed to Members of Parliament "never to make any law that will contradict the commandments of God. The Fifth Commandment states: You Shall not kill." The Federation of Women Lawyers and the Coalition on Violence tinst Women drafted the Reproductive Health and Rights Bill 2008 and vowed to push for its enactment by Parliament. The new Bill would also allow medical abortion when the pregnancy puts the mother's life in danger or when it is clear the mother is incapable of caring for the baby. Meanwhile, hundreds of young men have begun to turn up for circumcision at public and private hospitals, after reports that the practice can reduce the transmission of HIV/AIDS. This month, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, three government ministers and an MP ad secretly operation. The practice has fallen afoul of elders of the Luo community. Still, the government hopes that at least two million men will eventually be circumcised in Nyanza province where the HIV infection rate is said to be high. ENVIRONMENTALIST WANGARI MAATHAI TO PICK

UP THEOLOGY PRIZE (GIN) - Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai will receive the 10th Dignitas Humana Award from the Minnesota-based Saint John's School of Theology .Seminary on Sept. 30. The A ard annually re ogniz and encoura ;s the efforts of individuals who do exceptional work on behalf of the poor and disenfranchised. Recipients support, advocate for, nurture and protect people on the margins ol society in the US and around the world and inspire others to work for human dignity and justice. Since the late 1970s, Maathai has championed the concept of planting trees as a part of environmental conservation, which is critical to peace. This activity grew into the Green Belt Movement, whose main focus is helping women's groups plant trees to conserve the environment and improve quality of life. More than 30 million trees have been planted through this effort. As U.S. Africa Commandstarts, support is slipping (GIN) —The highly-tout-ed U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) becomes op rational this week, but appears to have lost significant support and funds. continued on page 17