Thursday, February 26, 2009

Son of Former Guinea President Admits Part in Drug Smuggling Ring

This is the kind of story that's really fun to report on, because it sounds almost fictional. It has everything, the son of a President and high officials implicated in drug smuggling, confessions on public television, and, of course, the infamous head of the Guinean state, the aptly named Captain Camara.

It reminds me of a story I wrote on Sierra Leone last year. Some drug smugglers crashed a Sensa then escaped, but left behind a cache of weapons. The President arrived at the airport as the investigation was on-going, and ordered them taken to his house, where, presumably, they disappeared.

Anyway, no where is as interesting a place as my favorite West African country, Guinea-Bissau.



By Brent Latham
Dakar
26 February 2009

CLICK HERE



The son of Guinea's late president has spoken for the first time since being taken into custody, accused of trafficking drugs from South America through the West African country. Ousmane Conte admitted involvement in the ring, but said he was not the head of the operation.

Saying he is in poor health and need of medical attention, Ousmane Conte, the son of Guinea's late president Lansana Conte, has confessed to a role in an apparent organized drug smuggling ring that has plagued the West African nation in recent years.

The younger Conte, in his first interview since being taken into custody late Monday, recognized his error in forming part of the scheme, in which a number of other former senior officials have also admitted to taking part. Conte stressed that he was not, in his words, the godfather of the ring.

Conte was arrested after his half-uncle implicated him in an appearance on public television before a nationwide audience. Saturnay Bangoura, younger brother of the former first lady, was detained along with a handful of other former officials of the Conte regime, after appearing on television to incriminate a number of others, including the younger Conte.

Among those arrested were the former heads of the federal highways division, the national police, and the economic and financial crimes unit, as well as a pair of judges. They are alleged to have teamed with Colombian drug lords to transship millions of dollars worth of cocaine through West Africa en route to Europe.

Captain Moussa Camara, the current head of the Guinean government, has made the fight against drug smuggling a primary undertaking since seizing power late last year.

Captain Camara, who took power after the elder Conte's death in December, has said that those responsible for drug smuggling will appear before the nation to explain their actions.

The fact that the suspects have confessed without provocation, and on nationwide television, has led some Guineans and human rights observers to wonder if Guinea's new regime used torture to extract confessions. Some also worry that Captain Camara is using the drug war to settle political scores.

But Minister of Justice Siba Loalmalou said torture had not and would not be used against prisoners.

Loalmalou says the accused have the right to access lawyers, and in the case of Conte, to medical treatment. The minister said the detainees are also free to confess their wrong-doing to the people of Guinea, and ask for forgiveness.

Captain Camara has said the arrests are a first step in imposing rule of law in Guinea. Mr. Camara says he plans to preside over a transition phase leading to polls, which he has promised will take place sometime next year.

XEREZ: ALTIDORE STILL ADAPTING

I really enjoy talking to Paco and Santi Garcia, the press officers at Xerez. I think they're not used to the international press caring about anyone at the second division side. It also reminds me of those great years I spent in Spain.




XEREZ: ALTIDORE STILL ADAPTING
Brent Latham - Thursday, February 26, 2009


American forward Josmer Altidore is still in the process of adaptation at his new club, Xerez CD, press officer Santi Garcia has told YA.

"He's had a full week of training last week and now this one," Garcia said. "He's still in the process of adapting to the scheme of the squad after being away on international duty."

Altidore was loaned to Primera A leaders Xerez from his club Villarreal, for the rest of the season, but is yet to make an appearance - or even make the bench - for the second division team.

"The decision to not use him thus far is purely a technical decision by the coach," Garcia said, adding that it would be difficult to make changes when the club is playing so well.

Xerez has won its last five in a row, a streak that started before the Altidore loan was negotiated late last month. The southerners now have a five point advantage at the top of the standings and have not lost since December.

The former NY Red Bull standout was called away on national team duty for the Mexico match earlier this month, and played the last few minutes of the Americans' 2-0 victory. Garcia said the time away hurt Altidore's acclimation to his new surroundings.

"Definitely, the time away hurt him. He was gone for a week."

Garcia said the club had not yet been contacted by the USSF about Altidore's availability for the next CONCACAF qualification date against El Salvador in late March, but he said that Altidore will have trouble breaking into the squad if he cannot stay to train consistently.

Altidore will hope to see his first action for Xerez when Madrid-based club Rayo Vallecano, former home to US veteran goalkeeper Kasey Keller, comes to town on Saturday.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Child-Friendly Anti-Malarial Drug Introduced Across Africa

click here to go to VOA site and listen to the radio version


Child-Friendly Anti-Malarial Drug Introduced Across Africa
By Brent Latham
Dakar
20 February 2009


A new, child-friendly version of an anti-malarial drug has been launched across fourteen countries in Africa. Health officials hope the launch will help cut the number of infant deaths from malaria, by making treatment easier and more effective.

The Swiss drug company Novartis, in conjunction with Geneva-based non-profit Medicines for Malaria Venture, launched a new version of the anti-malarial drug Coartem at a conference in Dakar.

As the promotional video for the drug explains, the new medicine, tested in conjunction with the Tanzanian Ministry of Health, has been proven as effective as the previous version, but has been given a new child-friendly flavor, and can be administered in child-size doses.

The drug comes in tablets, which are dissolved in a small amount of water, becoming a fruit flavored drink. Children often refused the previous version because of its bitter taste.

Malaria continues to be one of Africa's most deadly diseases for children, responsible for nearly twenty percent of deaths of children under the age of five, according to UNICEF.

Gianfranco Rotigliano, UNICEF's director for West and Central Africa, says malaria is still ubiquitous in Africa, and though adults develop antibodies to the infection, children under five are especially vulnerable. He says that while the child-friendly medicine is an advance, a coordinated effort in administering the drug properly will be just as important.

Experts say new campaigns, including the launch of the child-friendly Coartem, are being monitored closely by health officials. Children must complete a three-day course of the drug to be fully cured. Though the child is likely to feel better after the first day of treatment, the disease is likely to return and even worsen if the full course is not completed. Novartis says they going to great lengths, alongside health officials, to educate the public and health workers about the proper use of the drug.

Senegal's Minister of Health Safiatou Thiam Sy says the stakes are high in Senegal as well as the rest of Africa.

Thiam Sy says malaria weighs heavily upon not only the health of the region, but also its productivity and economic development. Treating malaria in children, she says, is key to the development of Senegal and Africa as a whole.

UNICEF estimates that malaria may negatively effect economic growth by 1.3 percent of annual gross domestic product in the hardest hit Sub-Saharan African countries. The organization says the key to fighting the disease is a combination of programs including wider usage of bed nettings and a more effective distribution system for medicines.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Web Company Joins Fight to Save African Language

Click here to go to VOA

VISIT BUSUU.COM

Hear the VOA Radio Report

By Brent Latham
Dakar
19 February 2009


The ancient whistled language of the small island of La Gomera, off the coast of Africa, has been driven to the brink of extinction by new technology and globalization. Now, a 21st-century Web company has taken on the task of saving the language by marrying history with technology.

Silbo Gomero, a language used only on La Gomera Island off the coast of Morocco, sounds to the untrained ear like few other known languages.

The sounds that make up this language, used solely by the residents of the island, part of Spain's Canary archipelago, are made by whistling, rather than by speaking. The language, which locals say was brought to the islands by African settlers many centuries ago, has been adopted by Spanish colonists over the years.

To communicate among the sparsely populated inland hills and valleys, shepherds perfected the whistle language, which residents say can be heard and understood over distances of up to eight kilometers, compared to about 200 meters for the spoken word.

With the development of new technologies like the cellular phone, the number of Silbo Gomero whistlers has declined to around 1,000. Many of the older generation of islanders fear the language, which they consider to be a cultural heirloom, may become extinct.

But the incursion of modern technology and globalization that threatens this and other endangered languages worldwide may now help to save Silbo Gomero. Busuu.com, a Web site based in Madrid, has launched a campaign to teach Internet users worldwide to communicate using the languages' unique whistles.

"We really liked the whole story of the Silbo Gomero because it is really a fun language," said Bernard Niesner, the company's co-founder. "It is a real language, people really use it there. The same functionalities, the same methodology that we use for teaching Spanish or English, we use it to teach Silbo Gomero."

Niesner says he and his partner, Adrian Hilti, came up with the idea when searching for an idea for a viral marketing campaign for their company that serves people interested in learning languages interactively. Niesner says one of the founding principles of the Web site was to promote learning languages in danger of extinction.

"If Busuu really works out like we think, it would be an amazing tool for language learning all over the world," Niesner said. "The name of our Web site itself comes from Busuu, the language from Cameroon, which is spoken by only eight people."

Niesner says he hopes the worldwide community of Busuu.com users, numbering more than 80,000 in 200 countries, will take up the call to help preserve Silbo Gomero.

To combat the language's decline, the government of La Gomera mandates the teaching of Silbo Gomero in the island's schools and, with the Web site, has appealed to the United Nations to declare the language a Masterpiece of the Oral Tradition of Humanity.

Busuu.com was named a project of UNESCO's year of languages program in 2008. A language is defined by UNESCO as in danger when older speakers no longer pass it on to younger generations. The organization says that of the world's approximately 6,000 languages, about half are in danger.

Africa is one of the richest, yet least studied continents for language diversity. UNESCO estimates that of the nearly 1,400 local languages, 250 are in immediate danger of extinction.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

West African Health Officials Tackle Resurgent Polio

http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-02-12-voa28.cfm="http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-02-12-voa28.cfm">


West African Health Officials Tackle Resurgent Polio
By Brent Latham
Dakar
12 February 2009

Health officials across West Africa have launched a coordinated campaign to vaccinate the region's children against the polio virus. The campaign is an effort to eradicate the disease, which has re-merged in countries that had been declared polio-free.

Ghana has joined a number of other countries across the region in the renewed effort to control polio, by launching efforts to vaccinate children throughout the country. Polio, a highly contagious disease, has recently reappeared in countries across West Africa where it had previously been controlled.

The vaccination campaign in Ghana includes thousands of volunteers and health workers, who are spanning the country during a three-day effort to locate children and administer the oral vaccine.

Nurse trainee Eva Ewuah is among the volunteers working the neighborhoods of the capital.

"We are doing this exercise for three days. We are starting from today. We are going until Saturday, so three days. We are going from house to house across the whole country," she said.

Ewuah says the campaign is national. In order for the highly communicable disease to be quelled, it is important for every child to be vaccinated.

The campaign is coordinated by UNICEF and the World Health Organization, in conjunction with the Ghanaian ministry of health. A second round of vaccinations, to assure thorough administration of the vaccine, will commence within a few weeks.

The Ghanaian campaign is the most recent in a series across the region aimed to treat 20 million children. Officials in Togo, Benin, and Burkina Faso are also preparing campaigns this month.

The first round of vaccinations is coming to an end in Nigeria, which last year had more than 800 reported polio cases, the highest figure in the world.

Wild polio remains endemic in areas of northern Nigeria, where stigmas against vaccination, including rumors that the vaccine carries AIDS, and that it is meant to sterilize young Muslim girls, have made reaching full vaccination in the area impossible until now.

Much of the rest of the region had been declared polio free in 2005, but cases were found again last year in several countries, including five in Ghana, and three in Togo.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Chinese President to Promote Africa Ties in Visit



http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-02-11-voa30.cfm

By Brent Latham
Dakar
11 February 2009


Chinese President Hu Jintao will begin a week-long, four-country visit to Africa with a stop Thursday in Mali. Chinese officials say the visit is intended to demonstrate that China's interests in Africa are not purely economic.

Hu Jintao (file photo)
Hu Jintao (file photo)
Arriving in Bamako, Chinese President Hu Jintao begins a week-long visit to Africa with which he will attempt to highlight Sino-African cooperation and relations.

Mr. Hu will be in Mali for two days, before traveling to Senegal, followed by visits to Mauritius and Tanzania.

The Chinese president will join Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure at the opening ceremony for the construction of a bridge in Bamako. Mr. Hu will then travel to Dakar, where he will meet with Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade to inspect the construction site of the Chinese-funded National Grand Theatre.

At a 2006 Sino-African summit in Beijing, China agreed to increase aid and loans to African nations, and the Chinese are helping to finance infrastructure projects in all of the countries included on this week's agenda.

The investments are part of a plan to finish the promised distribution of $5 billion of loans and credit to Africa by the end of this year, Chinese officials say.

China has been criticized in the past for putting profit over people on the African continent, particularly over activities in Sudan's Darfur region. The Chinese ambassador to Senegal, Lu Shaye, says the president's trip proves that China's interests in Africa are not solely economic.

The ambassador criticized members of the Senegalese press for suggesting that Chinese interests in the country are purely material. Lu says Senegal is not a mineral-rich country, and yet China has enjoyed strong relations with the West African nation since the two countries resumed diplomatic relations in 2005.

Lu says China looks to Africa for many reasons, including what Chinese leaders have called a "traditional friendship."

Lu says there needs to be a better understanding of Sino-African relations on the continent. He also hopes for a more accepting attitude towards the Chinese diaspora in Africa, now numbering close to one million long-term residents.

Trade in 2008 between China and the African continent is estimated to have topped $100 billion, a more than 30 percent increase over the previous year.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

The Hex is Coming

http://www.yanks-abroad.com/get.php?mode=content&id=4377

The January transfer window has come and gone, and this year has been much quieter than recent ones in terms of Americans moving overseas. Many of America's stars in Europe are riding the pine, hoping for brighter days to come over the summer transfer window.

The dearth of overseas transfers leaves fans in a quandary, especially in the midst of the long MLS winter. Besides Landon Donovan's latest adventure in Germany, there is less to follow right now in Europe. So what's an American soccer fan to do while waiting and hoping things will get better in the fall?

Worry not. This year brings non-stop action for the Stars and Stripes on the international stage to keep even the most soccer hungry fan satisfied.

While the World Cup is obviously the most exciting individual soccer event, the year before a World Cup is arguably a more exciting year for international soccer. For the US national teams, the schedule for 2009 is tantalizing, as youth teams with a good deal of potential join the full national side in a full slate of action.

The US will have further chances this year to earn respect on an international stage, This summer, the full national team will take on top competition, including Brazil and Italy, in its quest for the Confederations Cup in South Africa. The Gold Cup follows that, with the Americans looking to defend their title.

Then in the fall, very promising American U-20 and U-17 teams, if they can qualify this spring, will be searching for the United States' first ever FIFA championship at tournaments in Egypt and Nigeria, respectively.

So American teams will be in action throughout the year, starting with the World Cup qualifying match February 11th at Columbus Crew Stadium. The preliminary stages are over, and the real deal for the Americans begins when they take on arch rivals Mexico in a match that will set the tone for the entire year.

The Mexico match comes at a pretty good time for the Americans. The Mexicans are still reeling from their near-death experience in the semifinal round, from which they advanced over Jamaica on goal differential alone.

Add that a few injuries to top players, and a typically Mexican row over Sven Goran Eriksson's calling of four nationalized players into the squad, and El Tri is in disarray.

Never has a US team been so resounding a favorite over the southern neighbors, and never has the resulting pressure for a result been so high.

So, with the first game that counts approaching, let's take a look at Hexagonal field. While prognosticating a year long tournament with numerous unknowns is clearly fool's errand, I won't let that stop me.

United States

The US can get a result against Mexico that sets the tone for the Hexagonal. For reasons outlined below, I expect the match in Columbus to be as tight as ever, and an American victory is far from guaranteed.

Even if the Americans can't find a way to win, though, there's just not enough quality and depth in this year's hexagonal to challenge Bob Bradley's deep and disciplined unit. The Americans will sail through to South Africa, atop the Hexagonal group for the second straight time.

Bob Bradley's squad, with by far the deepest and most experienced team in the "Hex," can handle the pressure. Experience and poise are important attributes over the grueling, year-long, ten match day schedule.

Those are also attributes that the disciplined Bradley has in spades. Though Bradley has received substantial criticism in the past, much of it from here, he is an ideal coach for this qualifying format. In the Hexagonal, Bradley's ugly 1-0 wins will give the US the same three points as the multi-goal thrashings of El Salvador other teams will post.

Though there may be a few setbacks and moments of individual brilliance from certain teams, especially on the road, Bradley's win by any means approach will be more than enough to see the Americans through comfortably.

Mexico

Even with all the disarray outlined above, I have more faith than most in Sven-Goran Ericksson's project south of the border. By the end of the year Mexico should also be celebrating yet another World Cup qualification.

Frankly, if it weren't Mexico, with their alarmist soccer media, it would be hard to understand what all the fuss is about. True, the Mexicans lost to the same Swedish team that the US "B" team dominated, but Mexico was also playing with the majority of its starting lineup, just called in from Europe. Take Sasha Klejstan out of the American's lineup and the result might have different as well.

Mexico has unquestionable quality all over the field. When their stars are healthy and playing at their clubs, which, right now, they are not, Mexico's lineup is every bit as formidable as the Americans'.

Whether Mexico gets through the hexagonal comfortably or suffers this year depends largely on the team's executives. Ericksson could be out of a job at any moment, even as soon as following the game against the US.

If there is another change, Mexico is likely to continue without direction and will have to battle for qualification. If Ericksson is left to put his plan in motion, Mexico will qualify easily and perhaps surprise in South Africa. I don't, however, think that's going to happen, especially with an American victory in Columbus.

Honduras

Those who follow international soccer closely have great respect for the Honduran game. In recent years, Honduras has, arguably, had as many as or more players receiving quality minutes in leagues abroad than any other CONCACAF team.

But Honduras is traditionally inconsistent, and it has cost them in the past. The 2001 team that came to RFK and handed the USA its first home qualifying defeat in decades turned around and lost two of its last three games and failed to qualify.

This year's team is a mix of veterans, many of who were on that 2001 team, and young stars, some of whom ply their trade in Europe. It's impossible to underestimate how important World Cup qualification is to this soccer crazed nation, and this will finally be their year.

If the "Catrachos" get off to a good start and believe in themselves, they will be the team challenging the United States for first place.

Costa Rica

The ascendancy of a strong Honduran side in the "hex" is balanced by a Costa Rican team less strong then in previous years.

Costa Rica's golden generation, which won the Hexagonal going away eight years ago, and made waves at the World Cup, has slowly tapered into retirement.

Those players have been replaced by a number of promising young stars, but it is not the team of the past. Expect Costa Rica, with its youth, to improve throughout the year. Finishing fourth, they will make the play-in against South America's fifth place team very interesting.

Trinidad and Tobago

Always a scrappy team, T & T surprised some by supplanting Guatemala and taking second place in the United States' semifinal group.

Led by Sunderland star Kenwyne Jones, the Soca Warriors have some fire power, but will find winning on the road nearly impossible.

The islanders have the potential to challenge for the fourth spot and the play-in, but they are a very long shot to repeat their 2005 feat of qualification.

El Salvador

El Salvador has gotten this far only because of the completely unbalanced semi-final format, in which they shared a group with the likes of Haiti and Suriname. This is one of the weakest teams ever to make the final six.

El Salvador hosts Trinidad and Tobago in the first round. The USA comes calling next. If they can't win that first match, it will be a long year for the Salvadorans, one which could see them setting the record for futility by taking less than four points from ten matches.

So mark your calendar now for an exciting string of international soccer action, and take full advantage of this year. That is, up until December, when the crushing reality of the World Cup draw, and the inevitability of another Group of Death, takes hold.