Equatorial Guinea President Named African Union Head; Rights Groups Object

Equatorial Guinea’s President, Devout Roman Catholic Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has held power for more than three decades, was named the ceremonial head of the African Union, an appointment human rights groups said undermined the 53-nation bloc’s commitment to democracy.

Obiang’s election was announced by his predecessor Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika at a heads-of-state summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, today. Under AU rules, the bloc’s political leadership rotates annually between Africa’s five geographic regions.

“We accept our role with humility,” Obiang told the summit. “Africa must assume, more than ever, a leading role not just on the continent but in the international arena.”

Obiang has ruled sub-Saharan Africa’s fourth-biggest oil- producer since 1979, when he seized power from his uncle in a coup. He won a fourth term in elections in November 2009, securing more than 95 percent of the vote. Groups including Human Rights Watch said conditions weren’t in place for a free and fair contest, an allegation Obiang denies.

A 2004 U.S. Senate investigation into money laundering found Washington-based Riggs Bank was holding as much as $750 million in accounts controlled by Obiang, his family members or government officials. Obiang says he is unaware of any public funds being diverted from the country and that allegations made against his government and family are untrue.

‘Disastrous’ Leadership

“Obiang’s leadership of Equatorial Guinea has been disastrous,” New York-based Human Rights Watch said in an e- mailed statement yesterday. “For the more than 30 years that he has been in power, Equatorial Guinea has been plagued by appalling human rights violations and corruption,” with vast oil revenue being “diverted to fund lavish lifestyles for the small elite surrounding the president.”

Only 10 countries ranked below Equatorial Guinea on Transparency International’s 2010 list of global corruption perceptions. Last year, Equatorial Guinea was ejected from the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, an organization of companies, governments and civil groups that aims to clean up the oil and mining industries, for failing to meet its guidelines.

Oil Revenue

Oil revenue has given Equatorial Guinea, with a population of about 840,000, Africa’s highest gross domestic product per capita. Even so, latest World Bank data shows average life expectancy is 52 years and 81 out of every 1,000 children die before the age of five.

The African Union and Africans, don’t deserve a leader “whose regime is notorious for abuses, corruption and a disregard for the welfare of its people,” Alioune Tine, president of the Dakar, Senegal-based African Assembly for Human Rights, said in an e-mailed statement today.

At a conference in Cape Town in June last year, Obiang committed his government to greater transparency on oil revenue, judicial independence and press freedom. He also pledged to invest billions of dollars in health and education.

Established in 2002 as a successor to the Organization of African Unity, the AU’s stated aims include achieving greater unity among member states, promoting peace, stability and development and raising living standards.

Vatican body asks UN to 'end Israeli occupation'

Vatican body asks UN to 'end Israeli occupation'

In final statement of two-week conference, bishops' synod urges international community to take 'necessary legal steps to put an end to the occupation of the different Arab territories'

Reuters Published: 10.23.10, 14:00 / Israel News
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3973590,00.html


Israel cannot use the Biblical concept of a promised land or a chosen people to justify new "settlements" in Jerusalem or territorial claims, a Vatican synod on the Middle East said on Saturday.

In its concluding message after two weeks of meetings, the synod of bishops from the Middle East also said it hoped a two-state solution for peace between Israel and the Palestinians
could be lifted from dream to reality and called for peaceful conditions that would stop a Christian exodus from the region.

"We have meditated on the situation of the holy city of Jerusalem. We are anxious about the unilateral initiatives that threaten its composition and risk to change its demographic balance," the message said.

US-brokered peace talks have stalled since Israel rejected appeals to extend a temporary moratorium on settlement construction in the West Bank that expired last month.

Since the freeze expired, Israel has announced plans to build another 238 homes in two east Jerusalem neighborhoods, drawing the condemnation of Palestinians and world leaders.

In a separate part of the document -- a section on cooperation with Jews -- the synod fathers also took issue with Jews who use the Bible to justify settlements in the West Bank, which Israel captured in 1967.

"Recourse to theological and biblical positions which use the Word of God to wrongly justify injustices is not acceptable," the document said.

Many Jewish settlers and right-wing Israelis claim a biblical birthright to the West Bank, which they call Judea and Samaria and regard as a part of historical, ancient Israel given to the Jews by God.

Asked about the passage at a news conference, Greek-Melchite Archbishop Cyrille Salim Bustros, said:

"We Christians cannot speak about the promised land for the Jewish people. There is no longer a chosen people. All men and women of all countries have become the chosen people.

"The concept of the promised land cannot be used as a base for the justification of the return of Jews to Israel and the displacement of Palestinians," he added. "The justification of Israel's occupation of the land of Palestine cannot be based on sacred scriptures."

The synod's concluding message repeated a Vatican call for Jerusalem to have a special status "which respects its particular character" as a city sacred to the three great monotheistic religions -- Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Jerusalem remains a key issue of dispute. Palestinians want east Jerusalem for capital of a future state. Israel has annexed the area, a move never recognized internationally, and has declared Jerusalem to be its "united and eternal" capital.

Israel did not include east Jerusalem as part of its 10-month building freeze, though most plans there were put on hold in March, when the U.S. protested reports of a new housing project leaked during a visit by Vice President Joe Biden.

East Jerusalem was also captured by Israel in 1967.

While recognizing "the suffering and insecurity in which Israelis live" and the need for Israel to enjoy peace within internationally recognized borders, the document was much more expansive and detailed on the situation of Palestinians.

It said Palestinians "are suffering the consequences of the Israeli occupation: the lack of freedom of movement, the wall of separation and the military checkpoints, the political prisoners, the demolition of homes, the disturbance of socio-economic life and the thousands of refugees."

It urged Christians in the region not to sell their homes and properties. "It is a vital aspect of the lives of those who remain there and for those who one day will return there."

It condemned terrorism "from wherever it may proceed" as well as anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and discrimination against Christians.

SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests)
Bishop Accountability Org

MESSIAH IN BOTH TESTAMENTS- FRED JOHN MELDAU-1967 CLASSIC

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Facts about Equatorial Guinea | Africannewslive By Newslive A 2004 US Senate investigation into the Washington-based Riggs Bank found that President Obiang's family had received huge payments from US oil companies such as Exxon Mobil and Amerada Hess. Observers say the US finds it hard to ... Africannewslive - http://africannewslive.com/