…Appeal Court hears case on Thursday 22nd Nov. 2012
Legal battle seems not to be over for Governor Idris Wada of Kogi state as the Court of Appeal will this morning commence definite hearing in the suit filed by the winner of the January 2011 primary election of the People’s Democratic Party , PDP in the state. Jibrin Isah Echocho is challenging the decision of a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja which declined jurisdiction to entertain the suit.
The appeal court had granted an order of accelerated hearing in the suit on Tuesday 16th October,2012 and ordered parties to file all processes for today’s hearing.
Echocho had earlier approached the high court to challenge the election that brought in Wada on ground that INEC did not follow due process arising from the judgement of the Supreme Court which terminated the tenure of former Kogi state governor, Ibrahim Idris and five others.
Justice Abdul Kafarati in his judgement in the suit dismissed Echocho’s suit on the ground that it was a post election matter and same should have been directed to the state governorship election petition tribunal and the he did not have locus standi to institute such suit.
Not satisfied with the court’s decision, Echocho had through his counsel Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN approached the appeal court praying it to set aside the high court judgement.
Olanipekun hinged his prayer on the ground that the court did not consider any of the fundamental, constitutional and jurisprudential issues submitted to him for adjudication.
He further asked the appellate court to decide whether the lower court did not totally misapprehend Echocho’s case by dismissing same on the reasons given for lack of jurisdiction and that whether the court did not fall into a serious error by holding that Echocho does not have the locus standing to institute the action.
He further sought that, considering the misapprehension of the plaintiff/appelllant’s claims by the lower court, whether same did not result in a very serious error, leading to the breach of the appellant’s right to fair hearing.
In his statement of facts, Echocho had submitted that his case at the lower court was purely for constitutional interpretation adding that it was only Wada,AGF and INEC that were initially joined .
He further stated that the appellant contested and won the primary election of the PDP for the governorship election in the state on January 9,2011 pursuant to which the appellant’s name was forwaded as the governorship candidate for the state.
He also added that “a subsequent litigation ensued by which the primary election which produced the appellant ( Echocho) was challenged by one of his co-contestants , Rasak Kutepa and the PDP stoutly defended his election and victory at the said primary election, stating both on oath and through its counsel that he won the primary election on merit and that his name had been forwaded to INEC as its candidate for the governorship election in Kogi state- that is ,the election to succeed that last holder of the office of governor of Kogi state, whose tenure, by constitutional imperative and judicial pronouncement of the Supreme Court ended on May 28, 2011.
“In the same vein,INEC also confirmed on oath and via a written address before the court that the appellant’s name had been forwaded to INEC as its candidate for the election whereas INEC itself confirmed on oath that the appellant’s name had been forwaded to it by PDP as its candidate for the election.
“To date, the appellant’s name has not been withdrawn by PDP as its candidate for the governorship election in Kogi state”.
The appellant therefore prayed the court to assume jurisdiction under Section 16 of the Court of Appeal Act, to exercise the powers of the trial Court, settle completely and finally the matters in controversy between the parties and give judgement for the appellant, in order to avoid multiplicity of proceedings
PHNOM PENH – US President Barack Obama on Tuesday defied Chinese protests and raised concerns at a summit about territorial disputes that have sent diplomatic and trade shockwaves across the region.
Obama weighed into the debate over China’s sweeping claims to the South China Sea, which have rattled less powerful Southeast Asian countries, as well as a separate rift between Beijing and Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea.
“I think President Obama’s message is there needs to be a reduction of the tensions… to ensure that these types of disputes don’t risk escalation,” Ben Rhodes, a senior aide to the president, told reporters.
In response to concerns raised by Obama and other leaders at the 18-nation East Asia Summit in Cambodia, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao issued a stern admonishment of China’s critics and a strong defence of his country’s claims.
“We do not want to bring the disputes to an occasion like this,” Wen told Obama and the other leaders in one of the final sessions of the two-day event, according to Chinese vice foreign minister Fu Ying.
“China’s act of defending its sovereignty is necessary and legitimate… and we have properly handled the incidents that were not of the making of China.”
Obama’s visit to Cambodia was the final leg of a three-nation trip to Southeast Asia — the first foreign tour since his re-election — aimed at deepening Washington’s influence in the region and countering the rise of China.
He began in Thailand, then made a lightning and historic visit to Myanmar, a former military-ruled country that was closely aligned to China but which is undergoing dramatic political reforms.
Obama departed Phnom Penh on Tuesday night for the United States.
China, which claims sovereignty over virtually all of the South China Sea, prefers to negotiate directly with its neighbours from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
ASEAN members Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei, as well as Taiwan, also have claims to parts of the sea, which is home to some of the world’s most important shipping lanes and believed to be rich in fossil fuels.
The rival claims have for decades made the sea a powder keg issue in the region. Chinese and Vietnamese forces engaged in clashes in 1974 and 1988 in which dozens of troops died.
After a long period of relative calm, tensions have risen over the past two years, with the Philippines and Vietnam expressing concerns that China is becoming increasingly aggressive in staking its claims.
Some bruising diplomatic confrontations this year have overshadowed regional meetings at which participants typically prefer to focus on improving economic ties.
At the East Asia Summit, the first day was dominated by infighting over the issue among the ASEAN bloc.
Cambodia, this year’s ASEAN chair and a close Chinese ally, said the 10 nations had agreed not to “internationalise” the disputes.
This would have given China an important diplomatic victory and potentially muzzled Obama on the issue in Cambodia.
But the Philippines quickly denied this had been agreed, with President Benigno Aquino rebuking Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen during one of the meetings on Monday.
“How can there be a consensus? A consensus means 100 percent. How can there be a consensus when two of us are saying we’re not with it,” Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario told reporters afterwards.
He said later the other country that did not agree was Vietnam.
The feud echoed unprecedented infighting at an ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting in Phnom Penh in July, which ended for the first time in the bloc’s 45-year history without a joint communique.
The Philippines and Vietnam had wanted the statement to make specific reference to their disputes with China, but Cambodia blocked the moves.
Despite the tensions, leaders made progress on important economic issues on Tuesday.
ASEAN nations officially launched negotiations to create an enormous free trade pact with China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
Trade ministers from China, Japan and South Korea also kick-started three-way free trade negotiations.
Information reaching 247ureports.com indicates that the former governor of Kano State Malam Ibrahim Shekarua has resigned his position at the Emirate council. The resignation came in a letter addressed to the Emirate Council dated Tuesday November 21, 2012.
According to the contents of the letter, the former governor resigned for personal reasons. This was made public by the Senior Councilor of the Kano Emirate Alhaji Abbas Sanusi [Wamba Kano].
The Emirate Council and the Government of Kano State – under Governor Kwankwaso had been at odds – publicly.
It is uncertain what the finer details to Shekarau’s maybe but sources point to the possibly presidential aspirations of the former governor as the chief reason for his resignation.
But in talking with the aides to the former governor it was gathered that the letter written to the Emir of Kano was misinterpreted by members of the Emirate council withoout the knowledge of the Emir. The letter had been written to the Emir seeking a leave of absence to allow him [former governor] to attend to some of the party related issues that may take him away from Kano on a regular basis.
Malam Shekarau, it was gathered, has been appointed to lead the delegation of the All Nigerian Peoples Party [ANPP] for the ongoing merger talks with the Congress for Progressive Change [CPC] and the Action Congress of Nigeria [ACN]. Our source indicates that the former governor has not decided on whether he will join the presidential race – “he is just working on the merger now” said the source.
It was further gathered that bad-politics within the Emirate council may have cause Alhaji Abba Sanusi to convene a hastly put together press confrence to address the press on the purported resignation of the former governor. “The Emir was not aware of the press conference“.
The convener of the press conference – having displayed the said letter to the Press Men – refused to distribute the letter oe have the press men view the letter. The letter was written in Hausa language.
The Rivers State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN says the skeletal services on Out-Patient basis in all the government owned hospitals in the state is as a result of non funding from the government.
The ACN in a statement issued and signed by its publicity secretary, Jerry Needam said it is shocked that facilities in these rural hospitals, as well as the Braitwait Memorial Hospital (BMH) have either collapsed or are not available.
The ACN spokesman, Jerry Needam regretted that the free medical care programme bills submitted by the hospitals to the government since January, 2012 are yet to be paid, leaving the hospitals with no fund to buy drugs, and other consumable medical items for operation and rendering other sundry services.
He blamed Gov. Chibuike Amaechi for playing politics with the soul of the state economy which is the health of the people.
The situation, Jerry Needam pointed out has worsened with the closure of Teme Clinic and the departing of Doctors without Borders as all the referral cases from the primary health centres and rural hospitals across the state now weigh down on the few inadequate infrastructure and facilities at the hospitals.
“Due to the scarcity caused by non funding of the free medical care programme, the incidence of “Out Of Stock (OS) that was the usual feature of government hospitals in the past has resurfaced,” the ACN spokesman remarked.
Worse hit, he added, is the BMH where bed spaces for patients are no longer enough for patients due to influx of sick people that hitherto would have been admitted at Teme Clinic and attended to, by outgoing Doctors Without Borders.
The ACN charged Amaechi to choose between the free medical care scheme and run it with commitment or allow the hospitals charge fees to sustain self, stressing that the revolving fund system being adopted by State Hospital Management in running the hospitals is creating more problems for the people.
The party also wants Amaechi to pay the hospitals the outstanding unpaid bills for the year 2012 if the hospitals are to serve the purpose for which they were established.
The Acting Governor of Enugu State, Mr Sunday Onyebuchi has expressed his condolences to President Goodluck Jonathan over the death of his younger brother Chief Meni Jonathan on Tuesday.
Mr Onyebuchi described the development as painful and regrettable.
He urged the President and the rest of his family to bear the loss with fortitude while praying for the peaceful repose of the deceased’s soul.
.As contractors, disables storm venue with placards
Barely 48 hours after the Imo state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Chinedu Offor went on air to state that government has paid up all its indebtedness to accredited contractors working for the government, contractors numbering over 100 handling various road projects in Imo State yesterday marched through the streets of Owerri, the State capital in protest against government’s inability to pay up for contract works executed for the state.
The angry contractors who are allegedly being owed money running into several millions of naira after their march through the city, defied the presence of military patrol teams and stormed the Ahiajoku Convention Centre venue of the inauguration of the Imo Security Network and Emergency Services by Governor Rochas Okorocha, to press home their demands for payment.
Efforts made by the state Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Chike Okafor to appease and dissuade the protesters from the demonstration were rebuffed.
The aggrieved contractors had placards with such inscriptions as, “Owelle, we have families, please pay us for the jobs done”, “ Okorocha, we gave you massive support and now you are paying us back with evil”, and “Owelle pay us for the jobs done, some of us have already died waiting to be paid”.
The spokesman of the group, Mr Zac Awaraka stated that contractors from six local government areas have not been paid a kobo not even the 30 percent of the job done by the state as agreed.
According to him, the state government had made several promises in the past but failed to redeem its pledges to settle the affected contractors they therefore, pleaded with the state government to pay them off and select those that they wish to work with in the future.
The protesting contractors were drawn from Ohaji/Egebma, Oru West, Oguta, Ezinihitte Mbaise, Orsu and Owerri West council areas of the state.
A source in the office of the Commissioner for Information who craved anonymity stated that the protesting contractors were not accredited and may have commenced construction on their own without government approval.
The situation was however compounded when physically challenged persons from Ohaji/Egbema and Oguta council areas also stormed the venue in protest against the continued detention of their chairman, Mr Henry Nekpawu by soldiers of the 34 Artilery Brigade, Obinze.
The group under the aegis of Ohaji/Egbema, Oguta Niger Delta Federated Physically Challenged Persons Associatiion stated that their members went to Addax Oil Company and Chevron Izombe to solicit assistance from the oil companies but unfortunately soldiers were invited while they were discussing with management of the companies and were allegedly brutalized and subjected to the most inhuman treatment by the soldiers who also took away their Chairman.
I eased my car into Mmahu-Egbema last week Sunday as fierce looking police officers of the Operation Rescue team in the middle of the road signalled me to pull over. I rolled down my window, greeting one of the officers with a “morning.” “Do you live here? Where are you coming from? Who is the owner of the car” the officer asked.”I live here” I replied. For me, I have nothing to hide. The officer circled the vehicle. A long assault rifle dangled at his side. After a few more questions and checking of my particulars, he let me drive on. Such checkpoints are not part of daily activities in Mmahu, the Headquarter of Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area of Imo state.
Ohaji /Egbema LGA has a population of more than 200,000 persons. The brief anxiety that I encountered with the policemen was as a result of a kidnap incident. Gunmen the night before, kidnapped Dr John Udogu , a prominent Medical Doctor in Mmahu-Egbema . Udogu was reportedly forced into a vehicle near his house. With the help of the community Vigilante group in Mmahu and the Operation Rescue patrol team two of the kidnappers were caught and Dr Udogu was freed. Efforts are on to get the rest of the kidnap gang.
Criminals practice kidnapping to demand for a ransom to make money. Economic kidnapping is one of the fastest growing criminal industries. Kidnappers primarily target wealthy businesspersons. However, occasionally these gangs target Western and other foreign citizens. The kidnappers sometimes abduct their victims from urban areas and transport them to rural areas while they conduct negotiations. They use more violence to frighten those negotiating to pay up quickly. Some of the victims are murdered after ransom negotiations.
As the Christmas trees are being lit, fools who are driven by animalistic instincts will take to crimes such as kidnapping and armed robbery so as to keep up with the Joneses. Yes, the red and green garlands are beginning to appear at the entrance of buildings. Phones are now blaring Christmas carol when they ring. We are indeed winding up activities for that all important Christmas. One big question in the mind of Imo people abroad remains whether the Imo State government is winning the war against kidnapping. True, So many Ndi-Imo abroad have asked me this question.
As a man who have severally criticised Owelle Rochas Okorocha the executive governor of Imo State over kidnapping in the state, I can now say comfortably YES. Imo state government is stopping criminals in their tracks. Imo has chalked up major victories and from the look of things will continue to do so. I say this because of the initiated strategies aimed at reducing the level of crime. Among the initiated strategies are the strengthening of vigilante policing structures all over our communities and putting up stronger law against kidnapping and crimes. Imo has put a law which empower the state to acquire and destroy properties belonging to kidnappers.
I must confess that this new tactics, this new measures of Governor Okorocha are measures in the right direction. These measures are welcome development in the state. I must commend him in this robust and determined war on kidnapping that has great prospect of success. This new law on kidnapping and crimes in Imo state has seen significant achievements. The houses of a notorious criminal in Mgbidi, Oru West and another accomplice from Otulu, also in Oru West were demolished recently. The house of a prominent traditional ruler Eze Cosmas Onyeneke the Ekwueme IV of Lagwa Okwuato in Aboh Mbaise local government area of Imo State was destroyed. The house of a notorious kidnapper said to be a relation of a Traditional Ruler from Orlu Local Government was also demolished. Onyeneke’s factory premises was a safe haven for kidnappers.Another family in Orlu got their house demolished because their son was involved in kidnapping.
Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the violent hand of kidnapping to say, “Wait, this new law is too harsh.” But when you have seen kidnappers kill your loved ones because you can’t afford the ransom ; when you have seen hate filled criminals beat , kick and even rape your sister; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six year old daughter why she can’t see her mummy again because she was kidnapped and killed, and see tears welling up in her eyes then you will understand why harsh action on kidnappings and crime are necessary.
While I express my satisfaction with the government’s performance in this war against kidnapping , I must admit that there are still a lot of work ahead in making sure that the vigilante police system function effectively. We still need to provide more facilities to our Vigilante groups such as batons, handcuffs, uniforms, walkie-talkie radios, crowd dispersers, licensed riffles and vehicles to enable them to respond to calls in time. Their salary should be stepped up a little. They need to be equipped properly and remunerated very well. You will discover that it has become extremely difficult for robbers to invade communities at night in any part of Imo state. It is as a result of community effort at policing. We should make them to assist the police during the day. If adequate incentives are provided for Vigilante personnel, they would discharge their responsibilities effectively.
Community policing is very important. Community Policing remains the best security tool to stamp out all shades of criminal practices that has been existing at the grassroots of the state. The people perpetrating the various shades of crimes are resident of the various communities. This system of community policing would usher in a healthier, peaceful co-existence amongst the communities guaranteeing people to sleep with two eyes closed. Law enforcement agencies and communities are in this together. Time-tested relationships and informed understanding of communities and police will reinforce this. Experienced officers recognize that engagement and partnerships between police and the communities consistently bring about success in the fight against crimes. The people are watching.
An official says the Nigerian government owes its state-run oil firm more than $8.1 billion in gasoline subsidy payments. This comes as China Petrochemical Corporation says it will buy a 20 percent stake in an offshore Nigerian field from French explorer Total SA for about $2.5 billion. The OML 138 block includes the Usan field, which started output in February, Paris-based Total said yesterday. The deal, which is expected to complete by the end of the year, will give Sinopec Group, as the Beijing-based company is known, 36,000 barrels a day of oil production when the field reaches maximum output, according to analysts at RBC Capital Markets.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation official, who insisted on anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said Tuesday that the debt is straining its ability to import gasoline.
Despite producing about 2.4 million barrels of crude oil a day, Nigeria imports most of its gasoline because its refineries are unable to meet the nation’s demand.
The official said the debt has added to the corporation’s financial burden after private companies stopped importing earlier this year.
He said the corporation, which used to account for 60 percent of Nigeria’s imports, now accounts for all of them.
Nigeria’s finance ministry could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.
The Total SA company sign is seen outside their headquarters in the La Defense business district in Paris
Meanwhile China’s state-backed energy companies are seeking new oil and gas reserves abroad to feed the world’s second-largest economy, especially from regions like Africa where government scrutiny is lighter than in North America or Europe. The deal with TOTAL is the largest for Sinopec Group since its traded unit bought 30 percent of Petrogal Brasil for $4.8 billion last year.
Sinopec is paying up to secure the oil at Ulsan, analysts said. The asset has a net present value of $2.1 billion, suggesting an “attractive price” for Total, RBC said in a note to clients yesterday. Beijing-based Sinopec is paying $21.93 a barrel for each barrel of oil equivalent in the block, twice the industry average over the last five years, analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. said.
The asset accounts for about 10 percent of Total’s Nigerian output, which averaged 287,000 barrels a day last year. The sale to Sinopec, as the state-backed Chinese refiner is known, is part of Total’s plans to complete $15 billion to $20 billion of asset disposals from 2012 to 2014. Total didn’t say which company will assume its role as operator.
Growth Opportunities
“The transaction is aligned with Total’s active portfolio management,” Yves-Louis Darricarrere, head of exploration and production, said in today’s statement. This “will allow us to focus our resources on the material growth opportunities in Total’s portfolio.”
China’s state-owned oil companies may end up with a 40 percent holding in the block because Nexen Inc. (NXY), which has 20 percent, is subject to a $17.4 takeover bid from Cnooc Ltd. (883) The other partners are Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and Chevron Corp. (CVX)
The Usan field production, where the ramp-up was slower than expected, may reach 140,000 barrels a day by the end of 2012, Chief Financial Officer Patrick de la Chevardiere said in July. Total expects a peak rate of 180,000 barrels a day.
Sinopec Group has also approached the French oil company Etablissements Maurel et Prom, which operates in Gabon, about an acquisition, people familiar with the matter said this month. The company said in January that it will seek to produce 50 million metric tons of crude a year overseas by 2015. Last year, foreign production was 23 million tons.
Nigerian Assets
Total’s sale of the Nigerian assets comes as the explorer is under pressure to raise output after this year’s production has been hurt by a natural-gas leak at the Elgin platform in the North Sea. The company has warned fourth quarter output could also be affected by flooding and offshore maintenance in Nigeria.
Total said in September it expects to increase output by an average of 3 percent a year from 2011 to 2015. It has also set a longer-term target of reaching about 3 million barrels of oil equivalent a day in 2017.
JERUSALEM — Efforts to agree on a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas intensified Tuesday, but the struggle to achieve even a brief pause in the fighting emphasized the obstacles to finding any lasting solution.
At a hospital in Rafah, a man watched reports of talks among visiting Arab leaders on Tuesday.
On the deadliest day of fighting in the week-old conflict, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived hurriedly in Jerusalem and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to push for a truce. She was due in Cairo on Wednesday to consult with Egyptian officials in contact with Hamas, placing her and the Obama administration at the center of a fraught process with multiple parties, interests and demands.
Officials on all sides had raised expectations that a cease-fire would begin around midnight, followed by negotiations for a longer-term agreement. But by the end of Tuesday, officials with Hamas, the militant Islamist group that governs Gaza, said any announcement would not come at least until Wednesday.
The Israelis, who have amassed tens of thousands of troops on the Gaza border and have threatened to invade for a second time in four years to end the rocket fire from Gaza, never publicly backed the idea of a short break in fighting. They said they were open to a diplomatic accord but were looking for something more enduring.
“If there is a possibility of achieving a long-term solution to this problem through diplomatic means, we prefer that,” Mr. Netanyahu said before meeting with Mrs. Clinton at his office. “But if not, I’m sure you understand that Israel will have to take whatever actions necessary to defend its people.”
Mrs. Clinton spoke of the need for “a durable outcome that promotes regional stability and advances the security and legitimate aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians alike.” It was unclear whether she was starting a complex task of shuttle diplomacy or whether she expected to achieve a pause in the hostilities and then head home.
The diplomatic moves came as the antagonists on both sides stepped up their attacks. Israeli aerial and naval forces assaulted several Gaza targets in multiple strikes, including a suspected rocket-launching site near Al Shifa Hospital. More than 30 people were killed on Tuesday, bringing the total number of fatalities in Gaza to more than 130 — roughly half of them civilians, the Gaza Health Ministry said.
A delegation visiting from the Arab League canceled a news conference at the hospital because of the Israeli aerial assaults as wailing ambulances brought victims in, some of them decapitated.
The Israeli assaults carried into early Wednesday, with multiple blasts punctuating the otherwise darkened Gaza skies.
Militants in Gaza fired a barrage of at least 200 rockets into Israel, killing an Israeli soldier — the first military casualty on the Israeli side since the hostilities broke out. The Israeli military said the soldier, identified as Yosef Fartuk, 18, had died from a rocket strike that hit an area near Gaza. Israeli officials said a civilian military contractor working near the Gaza border had also been killed, bringing the number of fatalities in Israel from the week of rocket mayhem to five.
Other Palestinian rockets hit the southern Israeli cities of Beersheba and Ashdod, and longer-range rockets were fired at Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Neither main city was struck, and no casualties were reported. One Gaza rocket hit a building in Rishon LeZion, just south of Tel Aviv, wounding one person and wrecking the top three floors.
Senior Egyptian officials in Cairo said Israel and Hamas were “very close” to a cease-fire agreement. “We have not received final approval, but I hope to receive it any moment,” said Essam el-Haddad, President Mohamed Morsi’s top foreign affairs adviser.
Foreign diplomats who were briefed on the outlines of a tentative agreement said it had been structured in stages — first, an announcement of a cease-fire, followed by its implementation for 48 hours. That would allow time for Mrs. Clinton to involve herself in the process here and create a window for negotiators to agree on conditions for a longer-term cessation of hostilities.
But it seemed that each side had steep demands of a longer-term deal that the other side would reject.
Khaled Meshal, the Hamas leader, said in Cairo that Israel needed to end its blockade of Gaza. Israel says the blockade keeps arms from entering the coastal strip.
Mark Regev, a spokesman for Mr. Netanyahu, said Israel saw no point in an arrangement that offered Hamas what he called “a timeout to regroup” without long-term guarantees involving the United States and Egypt. Some Israeli officials have spoken of a bigger buffer zone along the Gaza border.
American officials said Washington was betting on the pragmatism of Mr. Morsi, Egypt’s new president. He is a former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, the movement with which Hamas is affiliated.
While President Obama publicly emphasized Israel’s right to self-defense because of domestic political concerns, officials said the administration had also decided to take an understanding approach to Mr. Morsi’s need to denounce Israel in order to appeal to his domestic audience.
“We know that the Egyptians have their domestic politics as well,” one American official said, and each president understood the other’s political context. “But they both agree that this nonsense can’t go on.”
Officials of Mr. Morsi’s government acknowledged that the Gaza battle had put them in a bind. As Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mr. Morsi must respond to a public deeply angry at Israel and eager to rally behind the Palestinians. “But if he responds fully to public opinion, he risks what we have been trying to do for peace and stability in the region,” a senior official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Indeed, despite the Egyptian government’s caustic statements about Israel and noisy solidarity with Hamas, several American officials said Mr. Morsi and the new Islamist government needed no encouragement in their efforts to push for an end not only to the Israeli bombing but also to Hamas’s missile fire.
But Israel wants guarantees that Egypt will actively stop the flow of arms into Gaza from Sinai, and that seems a tall order. Egypt has been unable to control Sinai and would not want to be seen in the role of Israeli enforcer. Egypt is hoping Hamas will restrain itself on missile imports, but it is far from clear that Hamas wants to or can, given the range of forces in Gaza vying for power, including the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad.
Within Hamas itself, there are divisions and fractured views on the truce negotiations. In Gaza on Tuesday, Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, said that “we hold absolutely no hope of Hillary Clinton” helping to resolve the conflict.
“We hold no hope in Obama or Hillary Clinton to do anything, just to save the occupation in their crisis,” Mr. Barhoum said in an interview outside Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. “Just support the occupation so it can do more and more massacres.”
Mr. Obama, who was in Asia, had found himself repeatedly on the phone with Middle Eastern leaders in recent days and decided that Mrs. Clinton, who also spoke to a dozen of her counterparts here, could make the difference in establishing a cease-fire and asked her to make the trip.
Mr. Netanyahu’s calculations are numerous. He has an election looming in January, and agreeing to stop his operation in Gaza could be risky if rocket fire resumed. But sending troops into Gaza poses perhaps even more risks.
“The Israeli government will face its voters without any tangible achievement in hand to show,” Nahum Barnea, a columnist for the newspaper Yediot Aharonot, wrote Tuesday. He said that he did not believe Mr. Netanyahu had begun this operation with electoral considerations in mind, but that “the deliberations about ending it are deeply affected by political calculations.”
Mr. Netanyahu is also contending with a radically altered Middle East, and while he says that protecting his people is not dependent on who is in power in Egypt or Turkey, a reduced military operation and fewer civilian casualties in Gaza would make relations with both countries less difficult.
–
Ethan Bronner reported from Jerusalem, and David D. Kirkpatrick from Cairo. Reporting was contributed by Jodi Rudoren and Fares Akram from Gaza; Isabel Kershner from Jerusalem; Peter Baker from Phnom Penh, Cambodia; David E. Sanger and Mark Landler from Washington; and Rick Gladstone from New York.
Justice Abubakar Umar of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja , on Tuesday November 20, 2012, dismissed two applications filed by Dora Gilmaska, who is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on a one count charge bordering on the issuance of dud cheque to the tune of Nine Million Naira.
Gilmaska, a polish national, was arraigned on Monday, October 8, 2012 and granted bail in the sum of N5million with other stringent conditions which included the seizure of her international passport. But she approached the court subsequently to have her passport released to her to enable her renew it and also for her travel abroad for medical treatment.
But the prosecution counsel,Mr. Samuel Ugwuegbulam had opposed the application as he argued that the defence has not placed sufficient material before court to justify the request for the release of the passport.
Ugwuegbulamfurther averredthatthe deponent to the supporting affidavit to the application is not a medical doctor and therefore incompetent to make the averment.
“My Lord, this is an abuse of section 115, sub-section 3 of the evidence Act, 2011, considering the fact that no referral letter certified by a medical expert from a Government owned and recognized hospital indicating that the accused person has been referred to any hospital outside the shores of Nigeria is attached to the application”, he had said.
In his ruling on November 20, 2012, Justice Umar dismissed the application for lacking in merit. He said the claim from Exhibit “B” and “C” which are letters from Nisa Premier Hospital and Maitama Hospital respectively, that there are no facilities in Abuja to take care of the accused medical need is immaterial as the accused who is undergoing criminal trial bordering on the issuance of dud cheque to the tune of Nine Million Naira had no such luxury as to choose and pick which medical institution she will use more so that the accused has not proved that there are no alternatives outside Abuja.
The Judge, while agreeing with the position of the prosecution counsel, further said that given the length of time since the letter from the hospital was written, there was nothing to show urgency in the accused person’s health as she has not made any effort to be treated and/or placed any evidence before the court to show that she has made such effort.
He also said the defence counsel’s claim for the release of the passport for renewal was unsubstantiated since the accused was a Polish citizen and therefore could get a renewal at any point in time.
The judge who assured the parties of accelerated hearing adjourned to December 6 and 7th, 2012, for commencement of trial.
