NAIROBI: Tanzania’s police force said it was investigating reports that a former ambassador turned government critic had been kidnapped after his family said he was forcefully taken from his house.
Several critics of the government of President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who will stand for re-election on October 29, have disappeared since last year, with opposition parties alleging a campaign of abductions.
Humphrey Polepole, who resigned as ambassador to Cuba in July and has repeatedly and harshly criticized Tanzania’s ruling party in the months since, went missing from his home in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam early on Monday, his brother, Godfrey Polepole, told Reuters.
“The main door entering the house was broken and the door to the bedroom was broken as well,” he said. “There was a lot of blood from the sitting room all the way to the bedroom and the bloodstains continued even outside toward the gate area.”
Hassan, who won plaudits after coming to power in 2021 for easing repression of political opponents that was rampant under her predecessor, ordered an investigation last year into reports of abductions, but no official findings have been made public.
Government spokesperson Gerson Msigwa did not immediately respond to a phone call or text message seeking comment.
In a statement on September 29, the government rejected allegations by Human Rights Watch that it was cracking down on its critics ahead of the election and called accounts of abductions “a major source of concern for the government.”
David Misime, a police spokesperson, said the force was investigating reports of Polepole’s abduction.
“The Police Force has seen the reports being circulated on social media by his relatives that he has been kidnapped. We have already begun working ... to ascertain the truth,” he said in a statement late on Monday.
After resigning as ambassador, Polepole launched a series of broadsides during online press briefings against the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), accusing it of flouting party rules by choosing Hassan as its presidential candidate, engaging in corruption and abducting government critics.
Hassan’s government has also faced human rights scrutiny over the arrest in April of Tanzania’s main opposition leader, Tundu Lissu. Lissu went on trial on Monday for treason over what prosecutors said was a speech calling on the public to rebel. He has pleaded not guilty and said the charges are politically motivated.
Tanzania police investigating reported abduction of government critic
https://arab.news/9j8p4
Tanzania police investigating reported abduction of government critic
- Humphrey Polepole went missing from his home in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam early on Monday
- David Misime, a police spokesperson, said the force was investigating reports of Polepole’s abduction
US begins large military drill with South Korea while waging war in the Middle East
- The allies’ combined exercise comes amid South Korean media speculation that Washington is relocating some assets from South Korea to support fighting against Iran
SEOUL, South Korea: The United States began a large military exercise with South Korea involving thousands of troops Monday while also waging an escalating war in the Middle East.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff has said about 18,000 Korean troops will take part in Freedom Shield, which runs through March 19. US Forces Korea hasn’t confirmed the number of American troops participating in the training in South Korea.
The allies’ combined exercise comes amid South Korean media speculation that Washington is relocating some assets from South Korea to support fighting against Iran.
US Forces Korea said last week it would not comment on specific movements of military assets for security reasons. South Korean officials also declined to comment on the reports that some US Patriot anti-missile systems and other equipment were being moved to the Middle East, but they said there would be no meaningful impact on the allies’ combined defense posture.
Freedom Shield may trigger an irritated response from North Korea, which has long described the allies ‘ joint exercises as invasion rehearsals and used them as a pretext to ramp up its own military demonstrations and weapons tests. The allies say the drills are defensive in nature.
North Korea has suspended all meaningful dialogue with Washington and Seoul following the 2019 collapse of a summit between leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump during his first term. Tensions rose in recent years as Kim used Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a window to accelerate the development of his nuclear arsenal and increase his leverage by aligning militarily with Moscow, which has received thousands of North Korean troops and large weapons shipments to help fuel its warfighting.
The allies’ drills follow a major political conference in Pyongyang last month, where Kim confirmed his hard-line view of “enemy” Seoul but left the door open to talks with Washington, calling on the United States to drop its demand for North Korea’s denuclearization as a precondition for dialogue.
Freedom Shield is one of two annual “command post” exercises conducted by the allies; the other is Ulchi Freedom Shield, held in August. The drills are largely computer-simulated and designed to test the allies’ joint operational capabilities while incorporating evolving war scenarios and security challenges. As usual, the March drill will be accompanied by a field training program, called Warrior Shield, but the number of field exercises during the Freedom Shield period has declined to 22 compared to last year’s 51.
While US and South Korean militaries say field exercises are often spread out throughout the year, there’s speculation that the allies are seeking to tone down the spring drills to create conditions for dialogue with North Korea. Liberal South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has expressed a desire for diplomacy, and some of his top officials have voiced hope that Trump’s expected visit to China in late March or April could possibly create an opening with Pyongyang.
