Pambazuka News 477: Zimbabwe: Demystifying sanctions and strengthening solidarity

Four peacekeepers with the joint UN-African Union mission in the Sudanese region of Darfur have been kidnapped, a spokesman for the force says. The peacekeepers went missing on Sunday and have now been confirmed as abducted, a spokesman for Unamid.

A court in Libya has freed a dissident who faced 15 years in jail for complaining he was tortured in prison.
Jamal al-Haggi was acquitted of charges that he insulted judicial officials, Human Rights Watch said.

Uganda's main opposition leader Kizza Besigye had told the BBC of his anger that proposed electoral reforms have not even been debated in parliament. Dr Besigye was talking after being re-elected leader of his Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party

The UN has praised Tanzania for granting citizenship to some 162,000 refugees who fled Burundi 38 years ago. "It's the most generous naturalisation of refugees anywhere," said UN refugee agency spokeswoman Melissa Fleming.

Madagascar's leader has vowed to disband his internationally rejected government and form an interim body with an ousted opposition leader following an ultimatum from the army to solve a festering crisis. Analysts say there has been growing unease in some quarters of the government and military, and increased international pressure on Andry Rajoelina to solve the crisis, which has unnerved investors in the island's oil and mineral resources.

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