Bush won’t compromise on Georgia sovereignty
August 14, 2008
AFP
- US President George W. Bush assured leaders of Ukraine and Lithuania on Thursday that he remains fully committed to “a sovereign, free Georgia and its territorial integrity,” the White House said.
In his conversations with Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus and Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, Bush stressed US “solidarity” with Georgia in its conflict with Russia, according to spokeswoman Dana Perino.
“All the leaders stressed the importance of standing by a sovereign, free Georgia and its territorial integrity, and agreed on the need for Russia to stop the violence, abide by the ceasefire and withdraw its forces,” she said.
Perino had a brutally dismissive response to reports that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the world can “forget about” Georgian sovereignty, describing it as meaningless “bluster” with no effect on US policy.
“Our position on Georgia’s territorial integrity is not going to change, no matter what anybody says, and so I would consider that bluster coming from the foreign minister of Russia, and we will ignore it,” she said.
Perino also said it was too soon to be sure that Russia was abiding by its ceasefire agreement, but told reporters: “We do hope it’s trending in the right direction.”
She also warned Russia, whose forces have blockaded the town of Gori, that “we expect that our humanitarian aid would be allowed to get in by air, land or sea,” but added that she did not know of any instances where it had been barred.
Mugabe reportedly makes deal with faction
August 12, 2008
ANGUS SHAW (AP)
- Party officials close to Zimbabwe’s power-sharing talks say President Robert Mugabe has agreed to a power-sharing plan with a breakaway opposition faction.
They say Arthur Mutambara, who heads a splinter group of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, has agreed to a power-sharing accord with Zimbabwe’s president. No further details are available.
The officials from the ruling party and the main opposition movement led by Morgan Tsvangirai spoke on condition of anonymity because mediator Thabo Mbeki has insisted on confidentiality.
Mutambara himself would not comment before South African President Mbeki makes a statement.
Zimbabwe rivals arrive to resume power-sharing talks
August 12, 2008
AFP
- Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai arrived on Tuesday for a third day of power-sharing talks aimed at ending the country’s protracted political crisis.
Mugabe made no comment as he entered the central Harare hotel where the talks mediated by South African President Thabo Mbeki were being held.
Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, the head of a smaller opposition faction, had arrived about 30 minutes earlier and also refused comment.
Asked whether he was optimistic talks could conclude on Tuesday, Welshman Ncube, secretary general for Mutambara’s faction, said: “I don’t know, but we just pray.”
The meetings follow hours of talks held over the previous two days that failed to reach an agreement to share power after Mugabe’s widely condemned re-election in June.
Asked about sticking points as he left the hotel Monday evening, the 84-year-old president said “they will be overcome”.
Tsvangirai boycotted the June 27 presidential run-off despite finishing ahead of Mugabe in the March first round, citing rising violence against his supporters.
Pressure has built for Zimbabwe’s rivals to reach a power-sharing deal, with Mbeki planning to fly back to South Africa later Tuesday ahead of a summit of regional leaders this weekend.
South Africa’s deputy foreign minister said Tuesday that Zimbabwe’s rival parties should push on with talks even if Mugabe and the opposition fail to clinch a power-sharing deal in the negotiations.
We helped in Iraq - now help us, beg Georgians
August 10, 2008
Tony Halpin, Times Online (UK)
As a Russian jet bombed fields around his village, Djimali Avago, a Georgian farmer, asked me: “Why won’t America and Nato help us? If they won’t help us now, why did we help them in Iraq?”
A similar sense of betrayal coursed through the conversations of many Georgians here yesterday as their troops retreated under shellfire and the Russian Army pressed forward to take full control of South Ossetia.
Smoke rose as Russian artillery fire exploded less than half a mile from the bridge marking South Ossetia’s border with Georgia. A group of Georgian soldiers hastily abandoned their lorry after its wheels were shot out and ran across the border.
Vodacom to Announce Details of Stake Sale to Blacks Tomorrow
July 28, 2008
Nicky Smith, Bloomberg
- Vodacom Group Ltd., South Africa’s largest mobile-phone company, will announce details of a deal to sell a stake to black investors tomorrow morning.
“We are announcing our BEE transaction tomorrow morning,” Dot Field, Vodacom’s spokeswoman, said today in an interview in Johannesburg. She declined to provide details of the sale. BEE stands for black economic empowerment, a South African law designed to broaden economic participation by blacks.
Vodacom may sell shares worth 360 million rand ($47.7 million) to black investors, which will include employees, at a 10 percent discount, Johannesburg-based newspaper The Citizen said, citing a document. The sale at a discounted price will be part of a larger sale of a 6.25 percent stake valued at 7.5 billion rand, the newspaper said.
The newspaper said a public company called Yebo Yethu would be the vehicle through which new black investors would be able to participate in the deal. It said that Yebo Yethu would own 3.44 percent of Vodacom, the black public would own 55 percent of Yebo Yethu and Vodacom employees would hold the balance.
The minimum subscription would be for 100 shares while the maximum would be 1.44 million shares. Investors in the plan would be subject to a five-year lock-up period during which they would be prohibited from trading their shares, the newspaper said.
Recent Comments