President Ramaphosa in Ukrain||Tunisia Opposition Questioned||Humanitarian Disaster In Darfur
Channel: Alkebu-lan Africa
Date: 2023-06-16

South Africa's President, on Friday (June 16), called on Ukraine and Russia to de-escalate the war.

Shortly after his arrival with Senegal's, Zambia's and the Comoros' presidents, the leaders went to Bucha, a suburb of Ukraine's capital where the Russian army is accused of killing civilians in 2022.

An air raid in Kyiv during Cyril Ramaphosa's visit provided a reminder of the challenges they face.

"As we were here, we heard of missile strikes, and those types of activities are not good for fostering peace, and we argue that there must be de-escalation on both sides, so that peace can find a way to resolve a problem."
The leader of Tunisia's main opposition block has attended the office of the counter-terrorism prosecutor in the capital, Tunis, to answer charges of "plotting against state security".

Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, the leader of the National Salvation Front, had previously accused the government of "dividing Tunisians" and "destroying all the institutions".

"The current government is dividing Tunisians, pitting them against each other, and after destroying all the institutions, it is now attacking the rights and freedoms of Tunisian citizens", accused Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, leader of the National Salvation Front.

The opposition leader is now fearful for his own personal freedom.
Darfur, where the population is living through a "nightmare" after weeks of war in Sudan, is heading towards a new "humanitarian disaster" that the world must prevent, the UN's head of humanitarian affairs, Martin Griffiths, pleaded on Thursday.

"Darfur is rapidly heading towards a humanitarian disaster. The world cannot allow this to happen. Not again," he said in a statement, even though the region was the scene of a war in the early 2000s that left around 300,000 people dead.

"As the conflict in Sudan enters its third month, the humanitarian situation across the country continues to deteriorate," he noted, referring to the 1.7 million displaced people and half a million refugees, the looting of humanitarian supplies and the hundreds of deaths as a result of fighting between the army of General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhane and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo.

But "I am particularly worried about the situation in Darfur, where the population is trapped in a waking nightmare: babies dying in the hospitals where they are being treated, children and mothers suffering from severe malnutrition, displaced persons' camps set on fire, girls raped, schools closed, families eating leaves to survive", he described.