Several policemen were among theinjured. Rioters also ransacked severalpublic buildings. (� AFP, Algiers 2 ⁄ 22012)

Bombing Jail Terms: Fifteen people,charged in connection with bombingsthat killed 11 in Algeria in 2008,including workers at Canadian engi-neering firm SNC-Lavalin, were jailedon February 6th for between three and12 years, a judicial source said. (� AFP,Algiers 6 ⁄ 2 2012) AQLIM leaders on trial p.

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EGYPTFootball Carnage SparksProtests

Some believe the violence wasdeliberately orchestrated to fomentunrest.

The president of the Egyptian FootballAssociation and his entire board ofdirectors resigned on February 4th,having already been fired by the PrimeMinister after the early February riotat a game between Port Said and Cairoleft 74 people dead.

Samir Zaher, the EFA president, wasalso said to have been banned fromleaving the country pending an investi-gation into Egypt’s worst incident offootball violence.

Scores of fans of the visiting Cairo clubAl Ahly were crushed to death as theytried to escape from marauding thugswho poured on to the pitch after thehome team Al Masry’s unexpected 3-1victory. Others were stabbed to death,according to health officials. Still morewere clubbed senseless.

The catastrophe sparked rioting acrossEgypt that claimed other lives. In thecapital, hundreds of protesters hurledstones at ranks of riot police campedjust 50 yards from the Interior MinistryNile News TV reported (4 ⁄ 2). Onecivilian was shot dead at close rangejust in front of the ministry, the hatedsymbol of Mubarak-era abuses. Apoliceman was reportedly among thosekilled in the February 3rd clashes.

Two civilians were killed in Suez whenthey were struck by live ammunition aspolice tried to prevent a crowd frombreaking into the local police station,health officials said.

Protesters and riot police foughtpitched battles in Cairo on the 5th andhundreds of riot police blocked roadsleading to the Interior ministry head-quarters, firing tear gas to keep dozensof rock-throwing protesters at bay.

Police erected a concrete block wall onMansur Street, which had become the

nerve centre of the deadly clashes,while entrenching themselves behindcoils of barbed wire on other roads,AFP reported (5 ⁄ 2).The Health ministry on February 4thsaid 12 people had been killed in Cairoand Suez since the violence erupted inresponse to the failure of authorities tocontain the clashes at the footballmatch. Marchers took to the streetsnationwide to demand Egypt’s rulinggenerals cede power immediately, amidcharges the military was deliberatelysowing chaos to justify its status at thetop of the political ladder.

Many of the dead in the Port Saidfootball riot were thought to have beenUltras – supporters of Cairo’s mainclub Al-Ahly - set upon by partisans ofthe local Al-Masry side. The Ultrasplayed a prominent role in the uprisingthat overthrew Mubarak, and commen-tators have fed speculation that pro-Mubarak forces were behind the massa-cre, or at least complicit in it.

The Interior Minister blamed chantingfans for triggering the violence sayingthe attacks began after a prolonged vol-ley of insults between the two groups ofsupporters. But MPs, activist groupsand thousands of protesters point to adarker explanation, said Alastair Beachwriting in The Independent (5 ⁄ 2).When violence erupted after the finalwhistle, television images showed linesof riot police standing watching as thepitch was invaded. Port Said fans wereseen pouring through steel gates thatare usually kept locked, but which mys-teriously appeared to have been openedduring the match.

It has also been noted that the gover-nor of Port Said and his chief of police,who would have been expected toattend such a high-profile clash, werenot present. This feeds into a narrativebeing spun by some people in Egyptthat those killed were not victims ofhappenstance. They were, it is argued,pawns in an elaborate plot to fomentexactly the kind of unrest which is nowspreading across the country.

Doctors said that many of those killeddied in a stampede, crushed as thou-sands of fans tried to escape through asingle corridor, the door to which hadbeen padlocked during the game. Otherssuffered knife wounds. Human rightsgroups and politicians say all this indi-cates collusion, with loyalists of theformer president Hosni Mubarakemploying thugs to wreak havoc onCairo fans, many of whom have led pro-tests against the ruling Military Council.

Evidence directly implicating Mubarak-era figures emerged. Reports in theEgyptian media claimed that two men

with close ties to Gamal Mubarak, theformer president’s son, who at one timewas expected to succeed him, had beenidentified as being linked to the kill-ings.

The reports said that a man appre-hended by Port Said locals after theviolence claimed he had been hired byGamal Omar, a billionaire business-man, and Al-Husseini Mahmoud AbuAmar, a former member of Mubarak’sNational Democratic Party (NDP). Theclaims, repeated on the Muslim Broth-erhood’s website, have not been veri-fied, and Mr Omar issued a statementon his Facebook page denying anyinvolvement. (Sources as referenced intext)

Mubarak Trial

The verdict in the landmark murderand corruption trial of ousted Egyptiandictator Hosni Mubarak has been setfor June 2nd, Judge Ahmed Refaat saidon February 22nd.

Mubarak, his former security chief Ha-bib al-Adly and six security chiefs couldbe sent to the gallows if convicted ofcomplicity in the deaths of peacefulprotesters during the uprising that over-threw him. Mubarak’s sons Alaa andGamal, the old regime’s symbols ofwealth and power, are being tried inthe same case for corruption.

At the final hearing, Adly, Mubarak’sformer Interior minister, blamed for-eigners for the killing of protesters inthe 2011 revolt. More than 850 peoplewere killed in the mass nationwide pro-tests, and thousands more injured. Adlyaddressed the court for more than anhour and a half, speaking of a ‘‘con-spiracy’’ against Egypt.

He blamed Lebanese Shiite group Hez-bollah and Palestinian Islamist move-ment Hamas for sending infiltrators,and said the plot against Egypt wascontinuing to this day. Adly defendedhimself and the police against thecharge of murder, drawing applausefrom some police officers standing atthe back of the courtroom.

Mubarak and his two sons did notspeak at the trial, leaving their lawyerFarid el-Deeb to speak for them. Cam-eras are not allowed inside the court-room and state television did not showMubarak or the defendants arriving incourt. In previous sessions, his arrivalby helicopter and his wheeling intocourt on a stretcher were aired live.

At the hearing, prosecutors told thejudge the medical wing of Cairo’s Toraprison was ready to receive Mubarak,state television reported, followingmounting calls to move him from hos-pital to prison.

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Dozens of Mubarak supporters andopponents gathered outside the court-house, separated by police. (� AFP,Cairo 22 ⁄ 2 2012)

Gas Pipeline Attack: Another explosionin the gas pipeline to Jordan and Israelwas allegedly carried out on February5th by the newly-established Ansar al-Jihad to protest the death in custody ofits leader, Mohammed Eid al-Taihi.

Egyptian security services havedescribed Taihi as a leader of the Ji-hadiyyeen group that mastermindedattacks on a police station in el-Arishand carried out earlier bombings of gaspipelines. The authorities say he died ofnatural causes. Interior ministry offi-cials said he died from a ‘‘drop inblood circulation’’ and forensic doctorsdetected no signs of torture. This wasthe 12th such attack in a year.

Security forces seized a stash of bombson February 11th in the Sinai penin-sula, officials said. Among the weaponswere a number of anti-aircraft missiles,security sources said. Sappers headedto the site in northern Sinai and begandismantling the missiles and severaltonnes of TNT. The weapons were sus-pected of being prepared for shipmentto Gaza. (� AFP,Cairo 5 ⁄ 2 2012; NA4,11 ⁄ 2)

GUINEAFormer Junta Member Charged

It is hoped the ruling will finally givevictims a voice.

A top soldier in Guinea’s former juntahas been charged for his role in a 2009massacre of protesters against the then-military rulers, the Justice ministry saidon February 9th.

‘‘I confirm that Moussa TiegboroCamara has been charged for hisalleged role in the September 28th,2009 massacre,’’ Justice ministryspokesman Ibrahima Beavogui said.The accused has denied all chargesagainst him.

While described by rights groups as aminister in the presidency in charge offighting drug trafficking and organizedcrime, a member of his entourage andofficial source said he heads up theagency, but does not have ministerialstatus.

Human Rights Watch welcomed thecharges as ‘‘an important step towardensuring justice for the victims.’’ Cor-inne Dufka, senior West Africaresearcher for HRW, said the case is ahuge challenge for the government. ‘‘Fordecades, the institutions responsible forthe protection of citizens - the police,gendarmerie, military - have been the

very perpetrators of abuses... The gov-ernment must fulfil its responsibility toensure the protection of witnesses, vic-tims, judges and human rights defendersassociated with this case.’’

Guinea’s international partners shoulduse this as an opportunity to help setup a witness protection programme,she said.

Colonel Moussa Tiegboro Camara isthe highest-level official to be chargedin relation to the September 28th mas-sacre in which 157 people were killedand scores of women raped whentroops descended on an opposition pro-test. Thousands had gathered in a Con-akry stadium to voice oppositionagainst Moussa Dadis Camara’s mili-tary junta.

In a HRW report released severalmonths after the massacre, TiegboroCamara was implicated as ‘‘amongthose most responsible for the seriouscrimes committed.’’

As Guinea struggled to hold its first-ever democratic election in 2010, withmany implicated in the massacreappointed into top positions by Presi-dent Alpha Conde, concerns were raisedover lack of progress in investigating it.HRW said in addition to TiegboroCamara, at least two other men havebeen charged.

The Paris-based International Federa-tion of Human Rights said in a state-ment that the charges laid againstTiegboro Camara were ‘‘a positive sig-nal to the victims of these crimes’’.

Amsaou Diallo, president of a nationalvictims’ association, said the judges’move to charge Tiegboro was momen-tous precisely because victims havebeen voiceless against the powerful forso long. ‘‘These judges dared,’’ she toldIRIN. ‘‘We are talking about peoplewho are untouchable, and this time thejudges really dared.’’ (AFP Conakry 9 ⁄ 22012; IRIN 14 ⁄ 2) Troop Lay-off p. 19141

Kenya

Preacher Re-arrested: Police on January29th arrested a Muslim preacher who hadbeen previously arrested but acquitted ofthe 2002 bombing of an Israeli-ownedhotel near Mombasa which killed 15 peo-ple.

Aboud Rogo Mohammed, a cleric in Mom-basa since 1997, was arrested in a raid inthe early hours of January 29th followinga tip, police said. Police seized firearms,ammunition and detonators in the raid.

The preacher was first arrested in 2003,alongside three other Kenyans, accused ofinvolvement in the November 2002 suicidebombing of the Paradise Hotel, but wasacquitted two years later. Twelve Kenyans,three Israelis and three suicide bombersdied in the blast.

The preacher is alleged to have introducedFazul Abdullah Mohammed – the late headof Al-Qaeda’s east Africa cell shot dead in2011 in Somalia’s war-torn capital Mog-adishu – to at least one of the men whohelped him carry out the twin US embassybombings in east Africa in 1998. (AFP,Mombasa 29 ⁄ 1 2012)

MRC Deal?: After meeting with the pro-secession group, the Mombasa RepublicanCouncil (MRC), based in coastal Kenya,Prime Minister Raila Odinga has promisedto prevail upon Internal Security MinisterGeorge Saitoti to revoke the GazetteNotice outlawing the MRC. (The Star,Nairobi 15 ⁄ 2)The Standard said the deal throws the gov-ernment policy on organized militia intodisarray (The Standard 21 ⁄ 2).Ethnic Clashes Continue: Hundreds of peo-ple have been displaced and six killed in afresh wave of ethnic clashes in the centralKenyan region of Isiolo where a spate ofattacks and counter-attacks since late 2011have left dozens dead.

In the first attack on February 13th inGambella, near Isiolo town (but in neigh-bouring Meru County), three farmers werekilled on their farms; three more werekilled on February 14th at Kampi ya juu,Isaiah Nakoru, the provincial commis-sioner told IRIN.

One man was shot by the police after heattacked them as they were clearing a sec-tion of the Isiolo-Moyale highway blockedby people demonstrating against insecu-rity. Several houses were burnt down inthe attacks.

According to analysts, the violence in Isi-olo is politically motivated and could con-tinue until the next general electionsscheduled for either December 2012 orMarch 2013.

Local residents interviewed said the latestclashes were intended to cause a riftbetween Meru and Turkana voters whohave planned an alliance ahead of the elec-tions. Several communities have beencaught up in the fighting, but most of thepast violence has been between the Boranaand the Turkana.

In a press statement on February 15th,Christian church leaders appealed to Ken-yans ‘‘to reject any efforts by politicians toincite them against one another and shameand reject any leaders who stoke tribalemotion.’’

More than 40,000 people have fled theclashes over access to water and pasture,the International Federation of Red Crossand Red Crescent Societies said. (IRIN,Isiolo 15 ⁄ 2)Panic again gripped Garissa town (north-eastern Kenya) and its environs followingan early February attack in which threepeople were shot dead by suspected mem-bers of Somali Islamists Al Shabaab. (TheStar, Nairobi 6 ⁄ 2)

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