Africa Briefs

Nigeria suspends mining in troubled stateNigerian authorities on Sunday ordered the suspension of mining activities in the troubled northwestern state of Zamfara, which has been riven by kidnapping and banditry.Inspector general of police Mohammed Adamu told a news conference that intelligence reports "clearly established a strong and glaring nexus between the activities of armed bandits and illicit miners".Gold-rich Zamfara state has been a hotbed of criminal activities, resulting in deadly clashes between the security agencies and armed bandits.Bandits have long been a scourge of rural communities in Zamfara, raiding villages, stealing cattle, burning homes, looting food, and kidnapping for ransom.Civilian militia groups comprising local people were formed as protection, given a lack of security personnel in hard-to-reach areas. – Nampa/AFPDRC leader hails a new 'balance' in turbulent nationThe new president of the Democratic Republic of Congo asked for US assistance to help lift his vast country out of a decades-long crisis during a visit to Washington on Thursday.Felix Tshisekedi, who took office in January in the vast country's first peaceful transition of power, talked of the new "balance" his election had brought to a nation "on the verge of collapse" under his predecessor Joseph Kabila.Tshisekedi vowed to focus on "corruption, mismanagement, bad governance" and arbitrary arrests that had been the hallmark of the DRC's "dictatorial system."According to Tshisekedi, the US is the "perfect partner" to contribute to his agenda for change, including military reforms, which will aim to attract new investors.He urged Americans to see the DRC's huge potential, including its plentiful natural resources. – Nampa/AFPUN to hold Libya conference as plannedThe United Nations is determined to hold Libya's national conference on possible elections on time despite eastern forces' advance on the capital Tripoli in an escalation of the conflict, a senior UN envoy said on Saturday.G7 foreign ministers warned eastern Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar to halt his thrust on Tripoli, menacing the internationally recognised government based there, or face possible international action.Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) said on Friday its forces had advanced into the capital's southern outskirts and taken its former international airport. Its spokesman Ahmed Mismari said 14 LNA troops had been killed so far.The United Nations aims to stage a conference in the southwestern town of Ghadames on April 14-16 to weigh elections as a way out of the country's prolonged factional anarchy, which has seen Islamist militants establish a toehold in some areas.Ghassan Salame, the UN special envoy to Libya, said he was striving to prevent the new crisis from getting out of control. – Nampa/Reuters

Africa Briefs

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