CAR – 31 Oct 2014
Bemba’s Lawyer, Aides Released From ICC Detention
Jean Pierre Bemba’s former lead defense lawyer and two associates were released from International Criminal Court (ICC) detention. The trio, along with another former lawyer to the Congolese opposition leader, had been held in The Hague for nearly a year on accusations of bribing witnesses and forging evidence.
According to a statement from the court, defense lawyer Aimé Kilolo Musamba was released in Belgium, Bemba’s former chief of staff Fidèle Babala Wandu in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and defense witness Narcisse Arido in France. Jean-Jacques Mangenda Kabongo, who was Mr. Bemba’s case manager at the time of his arrest, will be released as soon as the ICC Registry finalized all the necessary arrangements.
AllAfrica.com
Farming Sector Hit By Insecurity As Central African Republic Crisis Grinds On – UN Report
The continuing crisis in the embattled Central African Republic has taken a large toll on agricultural production and is eroding the capacity of the country’s population to secure sufficient food, a new report by the United Nations food and agriculture agencies has found.
The report – jointly produced by the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) – blamed widespread looting and insecurity for negatively impacting crops, livestock and fishing in the CAR. Such adverse events caused the country’s agricultural sector to contract by 46 per cent in 2013, in the wake of a crisis in the country that has caused massive displacements and driven hundreds of thousands of people to flee across its borders, the report found.
UN News
Dubai-Based Company to Supply Petroleum Products to CAR
The Dubai-based Tristar liquid Logistic Company in the United Arabs Emirates will supply petroleum products to the conflict-ridden Central African Republic within the framework of its humanitarian missions.
The intervention of the United Arabs Emirates company will be thanks to a partnership agreement it signed with the Central African Republic affiliate of the Cameroon petroleum products distribution company Tradex on September 26 in Douala. The information is contained in a press released published by Tradex on October 23, 2014. The current crisis rocking the Central African Republic caused by the ousting of former President François Bozize’s regime in March 2013 by the Seleka rebel movement, greatly perturbed the distribution of petroleum products in the country by Tradex, Afriquinfos reported. After months of inactivity, Tradex has reopened 80 per cent of the petroleum products filling stations in the Central African Republic.
AllAfrica.com