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Africa at a glance

Wednesday December 11 2019
bashir

Former Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir addresing a military parade. He faces a possible death sentence over his role in the 1989 coup that removed the democratically elected government of Sadiq al-Mahdi from power. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

By AFRICAREVIEW.COM

  • Sudan's deposed Bashir questioned over 1989 coup

Sudan's former president Omar al-Bashir appeared on Tuesday before a prosecutors' committee over the 1989 coup that brought him to power.

His lawyer Mohamed al-Hassan said Bashir was interrogated over the alleged 1989 coup bur described the hearing as "not a judicial matter, it's a political matter".

In 1989, Bashir, a brigadier at the time, seized power in an Islamist-backed coup that toppled the elected government of prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi.

  • WTO chief details bid to save appeals panel

The head of the World Trade Organization said Tuesday that he intends to put new issues "on the table" in negotiations to save the body's appeals court, which shuts down at midnight on Wednesday.

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WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo said negotiations aimed at unlocking the impasse pitting the US, which has blocked appointment of new judges, against 163 other members had failed.

Mr Azevedo said his effort would aim to address all the elements needed to allay US concerns on the appellate body which it accuses of exceeding its mandate.

  • Multiple foreign armed groups involved in Libya conflict

Multiple armed groups from Sudan and Chad were involved in the conflict in Libya this year, according to a UN report published Tuesday, which did not mention the presence of Russian fighters recently noted by the media.
The report named five Sudanese and four Chadian armed groups that it said had contributed several thousand combatants to both sides of the conflict which have deployed materials made by the United States, Russia and China.

Its credibility was questioned by a diplomat for not mentioning the "open secret that large numbers of Russian mercenaries are fighting in Libya" alongside military strongman Khalifa Haftar.

The report said Jordan and the United Arab Emirates support Haftar while Turkey backs the internationally recognised Government of National Accord in violation of the 2011 UN arms embargo imposed on Libya.

  • Egypt court hands exiled dissident jail term for tax evasion

A self-exiled Egyptian businessman and dissident who has accused President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of corruption has been sentenced in absentia to five years in jail for tax evasion.

Mohamed Ali, a construction contractor and fledgling actor, posted viral videos accusing the country's military elite of wasting taxpayers' money on vanity projects which led to the September 20 protests.

A judicial source said the Cairo Criminal Court had also ordered Ali to repay 48 million Egyptian pounds ($3 million) to the country's tax authority.

  • Police kill five attackers in Somalia hotel shoot out

Five terrorists were killed when they attacked SYL hotel in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, police said Wednesday.

Nine civilians were injured and 80 others rescued during the attack which also left three civilians and two security forces dead.

The attack began when a gun battle broke out between the attackers and members of the security forces guarding checkpoints leading to the nearby presidential palace.

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