OUAGADOUGOU (AFP) – At least 66 people died Saturday when a bus and a truck collided and caught fire in Burkina Faso in one of West Africa’s worst road accidents, the transport minister said.
“We bemoan 96 victims, of whom 66 have died,” Gilbert Noel Ouedraogo said. “Of the 66, 55 bodies were completely charred. There are 30 injured admitted in hospital.”
Earlier court prosecutor Maiza Compaore told AFP by telephone from the site of the accident near Boromo, 167 kilometres (105 miles) west of the capital Ouagadougou, that the two vehicles caught fire.
“The scene is gruesome … there are bodies on the road, some are in the wreckage, there are charred bodies which are still being removed. It’s really horrible.”
She said the bus driver, who was carrying a passenger list, had survived but was still too shocked to be questioned by police.
The bus and the truck carrying sugar had collided around 5:30 am (0530 GMT) six kilometres from Boromo, Compaore had said.
Burkina Faso’s minister for social action, Pascaline Tamini, expressing profound sadness, offered the condolences of President Blaise Compaore, Prime Minister Tertius Zongo and the government.
Roads in West African countries are notoriously dangerous, especially at night.
In May 46 Nigerian soldiers returning from an African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur, Sudan, were killed in a collision between a petrol tanker and an army convoy.
In March 2007 in Guinea 70 people travelling in the back of a truck were killed when the vehicle overturned while crossing a narrow wooden bridge.
As globalization brings countries closer together, the need to travel between countries for business, pleasure and family increases. However travel within many countries can be extremely dangerous for the novice traveler. Following are the top ten most dangerous places in the world.
10. Pakistan
Control Risks: High security and terrorism risk; extreme security and travel risk in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan
Domestic Islamic extremist groups, most of which are tied to al-Qaida, pose a serious risk to foreign companies and their workers. Car bombs, gun and grenade attacks and suicide bombings are aimed at Western targets, domestic politicians and local religious minorities and have frequently killed civilians. The capital, Islamabad, and tribal areas bordering Afghanistan are particularly dangerous.
9. Burundi
Control Risks: High security and travel risk; extreme security and travel risk in provinces of Cibitoke, Bubanza and Bujumbura Rural
Because of poor security, few foreign workers remain in Burundi. A civil war that began in 1993 is ongoing, with rebel factions engaging in intense fighting with government forces. The parties agreed to a September 2006 ceasefire, but many of its provisions have not been implemented, and the rebels remain able to attack the capital, Bujumbura.
8. Haiti
Control Risks: High security and travel risk
There is no effective police force in Haiti, where the State Department calls the danger of kidnappings “chronic and growing.� General elections in February 2006 brought about some political stability, aided by the presence of 8,000 U.N. peacekeeping troops. But violence persists, says Control Risks, thanks in part to the proliferation of firearms, an inefficient judiciary and police corruption.
7. Chad
Control Risks: High risk in at least one category and region
Another new addition to our list, Chad is experiencing both tensions between the government and rebel groups, and interethnic fighting in the east, where the country borders the Darfur region of Sudan. The U.S. State Department reports an increase in the amount of highway banditry across the country and some harassment of American citizens at government roadway checkpoints.
6. Iraq
Control Risks: Extreme security, terrorism and travel risk
No region of Iraq is safe for visitors, not even Baghdad’s well-fortified Green Zone. The U.S.-led occupation has not tamed the insurgency, which is most concentrated in the central region that stretches from Tikrit in the north to Hillah in the south. Various criminal gangs and international terrorists are also active in Iraq and civilians die daily in attacks.
5. Lebanon
Control Risks: High risk in at least one category and region
Hostilities with Israel ended last August, but political tensions within Lebanon have been on the rise. The armed Shiite group Hezbollah (also a political party in Lebanon) maintains a strong presence in many areas, and other extremist groups are active in Tripoli, Sidon and Palestinian refugee camps. In the south, the danger of encountering land mines and unexploded ordnance is significant.
4. Sudan
Control Risks: High risk in at least one category and region
The western region of Darfur remains the most dangerous part of the country for locals and foreigners alike, with ongoing violence between government-backed militias, government troops and local insurgent groups. Large areas of the south, however, also see fighting between local militias. Sporadic terrorist attacks in Sudan have been aimed at U.S. and Western targets, and kidnappings are common.
3. Somalia
Control Risks: Extreme security and travel risk
The U.S. doesn’t have an embassy in Somalia, putting American citizens who travel there out of reach of U.S. assistance. Somalia’s federal government recently retook control of much of the country from the Union of Islamic Courts, but this could mean less stability ahead, not more. Interclan fighting and attacks on foreigners are frequent, as are abductions.
2. Afghanistan
Control Risks: Extreme security, terrorism and travel risk
Travelers face the ongoing threat of kidnapping and assassination in Afghanistan, especially outside of Kabul. Former Taliban and al-Qaida operatives remain at large, and attacks with improvised explosive devices are on the rise. Large areas of the country are heavily land-mined or strewn with unexploded ordnance.
1. Liberia
Control Risks: High risk in at least one category and region
In the summer of 2003, Liberia’s 14-year civil war was brought to a close with a peacekeeping agreement and the exile of Charles Taylor, the former president. But there are still some 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers stationed throughout the country. Crime is a major problem, with theft, sexual assault and murder common.
(Honorable Mention)
Ivory Coast
Control Risks: High security and travel risk; extreme security and travel risk in rebel-held north and near western border
Though a 2002 uprising supposedly ended in 2003, the north of the country remains under the control of armed rebels, and sporadic fighting has taken place in Abidjan, the commercial capital. The overall security situation remains potentially volatile, according to the State Department. Control Risks says that the rebellion exacerbated a rise in violent crime, including carjackings and armed robbery.
Democratic Republic of Congo
Control Risks: High security and travel risk; extreme security and travel risk in northeast
The civil war has ended and the country held presidential elections last year, but dangers persist. Crime levels are high in the main cities, and strife continues in certain regions, especially the northeastern Ituri district and the provinces of North and South Kivu. U.N. observer forces, located around the country, are unable to prevent pillaging, carjackings, murders, rapes and kidnappings.
Sri Lanka
Control Risks: Extreme security and travel risk and a high terrorism risk in Tamil-majority north and east; medium security, terrorism and travel risk in remainder of country
Lush tropical beauty once made Sri Lanka a popular holiday destination, but a ceasefire between the government and the separatist Tamil Tigers broke down last year, making the country a new addition to our danger list. While foreigners are not directly targeted, the risk of becoming collateral damage is rising in the north and northeast.
A Japanese freighter, whose crewmen include five South Koreans, was hijacked by an armed group in waters off Somalia on late Saturday (Seoul time), South Korea’s foreign ministry said Sunday.
The 20,000-ton cargo ship named Chemstar Venus was abducted 96 miles east of the Gulf of Aden in Somalia at 6:10 p.m., the ministry said.
Of the ship’s 23 crewmen, five were South Korean and 18 were Filipino, it added.
“It was not yet learned who the hijackers are and whether the crewmen are safe,” a ministry official said.
Ships operating in Somali waters often fall prey to pirates. There were 63 reported kidnappings this year as of end of September.
In September, eight South Koreans were abducted after their freighter was seized by pirates off the coast of Somalia. The sailors were released unharmed after more than a month of captivity.
Also in 2007, two South Korean fishing vessels were seized by Somali pirates. The crew was released after six months in captivity. In 2006, a South Korean tuna ship with 25 crew members was hijacked by Somali pirates. The vessel and its crew were released for a ransom after four months.
The latest hijacking came as the Korean government plans to send a warship to Somali waters to combat piracy there. The mission to send a 4,500-ton destroyer loaded with SM-2 Block IIIA missiles and other cutting-edge weaponry as well as the Navy’s special forces is expected to cost about 6 billion won (US$4.3 million).
The U.N. Security Council approved a new resolution in October designed to step up the fight against piracy off Somalia.
It calls for all states to actively contribute to anti-piracy efforts in Somali waters, including the dispatch of warships and warplanes in order to stop pirates.
Once again, President Omer Al-Bashir continues to do what he does best, to confuse the Sudanese people, virtually on all the utmost challenges facing the country, including, of course, his indictment by the International Criminal Court (ICC), for war crimes and genocide in Darfur.
The embattled Sudanese President, who seems not to resist attacking various world leaders, was among the first leaders who frantically and enthusiastically sent congratulatory and well-wishing messages to the United States’ President-elect, Barrack Obama, on his historical victory, only to turn around a couple of days later, to drop yet another bomb shell of the same old rhetoric of trying to intimidate the Western World, particularly the United States of American, the Republic of France and the Great Britain, not to mention the International Criminal Court Prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo.
Consider: Why President al-Basher, increasingly is becoming angrier and angrier? Evidently, his guts feelings are telling him something all of us have no clue of. As it appears, he has no other place to dump his anger except on the Western countries, or the Sudan People Liberation Movement(SPLM). A few days ago, while he was addressing a pre-paid audience in al-Gadarif, in Eastern Sudan, al-Basher shouted: “ I am not concern about the powers of evil ( the United States, France and Great Britain), they are all under my shoes, he told the hand-picked crowd.” This is as bizarre as it gets. How could he possibly congratulate President-elect Obama, only to insult him, before he even had a chance to go over the congratulatory message? Clearly, the President of Sudan, not only is he becoming an embarrassment and a liability to the country, but also an impediment in the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, that brought an end to a two decades long civil war, between South and North Sudan.
In addition, one couldn’t agree more with Ustaz Abdulrahman al- Rashid in his description of President al- Basher as frighten and a fugitive! The well- respected columnist and former editor-in-chief of the London- based Arabic daily newspaper- ASharq al-Awsat, authored an article that sparked a wide range of anger among the extremists in the party of President al- Basher- the National Congress Party (NCP). He blamed President al- Basher for not giving President-elect, Obama a fair chance of framing his foreign policy, let alone assuming the office of the presidency. He went on to say: “lucky, being under someone’s shoes, might not be seen as an insult, in the Western World.” In fact, if I might add, it might even be a comfort zone, in the first place, if you consider that Westerners, in general love their shoes, and they have their women to prove it.
Further more, President al- Basher has proven, more and more, that he is, indeed, his own worst enemy. By unleashing his media to disparage the alliances that were formed to protect him from the (ICC), he will soon undoubtedly find out the difficult truth, that his back is literally against the wall, because the loyalist extremists he now surrounds himself with, will most likely face the same fade. And the(SPLM) leadership, which has taken enough punches, at the hands of the President’s uncle, the owner/ editor-in- chief of Al-Intibaha, Al-Tayeb Mustafa, may not be enthused enough to come to his rescue.
The latest victims of the regime’s vicious personal attacks, are Professor, Dr. Peter Adowk, the Federal Minister for Higher Education, for daring to criticize the failed educational system in the country. The other is Ustaz Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, the GOSS’ representative and it’s chief diplomat to the United States of America. In Lol’s case, his problem was that he helped engineered the (SPLM) initiative to bring the Darfur’s rebel factions, into a negotiating table, which resulted in the most recent monumental meetings between the SPLM’s delegation with Chad’s President, Idris Deby and with Dr. Ibrahim Khalil, respectively. Unfortunately, Ezekiel’s diplomatic success in strengthening South Sudan’s relations with Washington, makes him a legitimate target and a security threat to the NCP best interest.
Consequently, President al- Basher’s freakish and preposterous conduct, makes his believability around the world, all the more questionable, as al-Rashid puts it. By now, all of the Sudanese people should know who President al- Basher really is. Those who still believe that he holds the keys to a resolution to Darfur’s conflict, haven’t done their home work. They have now had to confront the reality that it’s not going to happen. As the head of the state, the military and the ruling party, President al- Basher could have solved the country’s outstanding problems in an instance. The new Arab’s initiative- headed by Qatar, is really about buying time. All along, The Arab countries have shown that they had better things to do, than to save the lives of the marginalized people of Sudan, Darfur in particular.
The Author is a former anchorman with Juba Radio. He can be reached at: [email protected]
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush, reflecting on his time in office, said Wednesday that “one of the most uplifting” experiences of his nearly eight-year tenure has been witnessing the gains Africa has made in education and fighting hunger and disease.
Speaking at a charity dinner, Bush called the work done for Africa by his administration and family “a labor of love.” Before his remarks, he accepted the Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award, which pays tribute to leaders in humanitarian fields for Africa.
The dinner benefits Africare, a U.S.-based charity that aims to improve the quality of life in Africa by addressing needs in food security, agriculture, health and HIV/AIDS.
His voice rising, Bush said the heart of the U.S. policy in Africa is knowing that its people have the “talent and ambition and resolve to overcome” great challenges.
“We do not believe in paternalism. We believe in partnership, because we believe in the potential of the people on the continent of Africa,” he told an audience of about 1,500 in a hotel ballroom. “One of the most uplifting (experiences) has been to witness a new and more hopeful era dawning on the continent.”
Bush was honored for U.S. initiatives that have supported education, helped to suppress HIV/AIDS and helped to end hunger in African countries.
The White House has said the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief has supported care for more than 6.6 million people worldwide and allowed nearly 200,000 children in Africa to be born HIV-free through mother-to-child prevention work. The U.S. has trained more than 700,000 teachers, distributed more than 10 million textbooks and provided hundreds of thousands of scholarships to help girls go to school in Africa.
Bush defended his large contributions to Africa against those who say “What good does it do me, Mr. President, for our government to support Africa?”
“One, it is in our national security interest that we defeat hopelessness. It is in our economic interest that we help economies grow,” he said. “And it is in our moral interest that when we find hunger and suffering, the United States of America responds in a robust and effective way.”
The dinner is in memory of Bishop John T. Walker, the first African-American Episcopal Bishop of Washington and the longtime chairman of Africare’s board.
The Togolese government, in partnership with the network of the Central Supply of Essential and Generic Medicines (CAMEG), recently announced that it will start distributing antiretroviral drugs to HIV/AIDS patients at no cost, according to the International Herald Tribune.
IHT reports around 25,000 Togolese will benefit from the program, up from the near 8,000 who currently have access to drugs from CAMEG.
In the United States, preferred treatment using HAART (Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy) can cost anywhere from $1000-$2000 per month.
The program is a huge step forward; the UN pledged global access to treatment by 2010. As of December 2007, only about 33% of those needing treatment in developing countries were receiving antiretrovirals.
The treatment, according to UN, can severely decrease the amount of HIV virus in the bloodstream, helping to prolong life.
Currently, about 3.2 per cent of the Togolese are HIV positive.
Sachin Seth is the Blast Magazine world news reporter. He writes the Terra blog.
