ABUJA: A Nigerian court on Thursday convicted separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu of seven terrorism-related charges.
Kanu founded the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), which has been accused of terrorism and extra-judicial killings in the country’s eastern region.
Kanu had called for the creation of an independent state out of southeastern Nigeria. He has sought to revive the short-lived Biafra, a seceded region of Nigeria between 1967 and 1970, which sparked the Nigerian Civil War during that period. At least 3 million people were killed before the Biafran troops surrendered.
Kanu was re-arrested in 2021 and brought back from Kenya after initially failing to appear in court in 2015.
“The right to self-determination is a political right. Any self-determination not done according to the constitution of Nigeria is illegal,” Judge James Omotosho said.
Nigerian court convicts separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu of terrorism-related charges
https://arab.news/cz9aj
Nigerian court convicts separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu of terrorism-related charges
- Kanu had called for the creation of an independent state out of southeastern Nigeria
- He was re-arrested in 2021 and brought back from Kenya
Blair dropped from Gaza ‘peace board’ after Arab objections
- Former UK PM was viewed with hostility over role in Iraq War
- He reportedly met Netanyahu late last month to discuss plans
LONDON: Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has been withdrawn from the US-led Gaza “peace council” following objections by Arab and Muslim countries, The Guardian reported.
US President Donald Trump has said he would chair the council. Blair was long floated for a prominent role in the administration, but has now been quietly dropped, according to the Financial Times.
Blair had been lobbying for a position in the postwar council and oversaw a plan for Gaza from his Tony Blair Institute for Global Change that involved Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.
Supporters of the former British leader cited his role in the Good Friday Agreement, which ended decades of conflict and violence in Northern Ireland.
His detractors, however, highlighted his former position as representative of the Middle East Quartet, made up of the UN, EU, Russia and US, which aimed to bring about peace in the Middle East.
Furthermore, Blair’s involvement in the Iraq War is viewed with hostility across the Arab world.
After Trump revealed his 20-point plan to end the Israel-Hamas war in September, Blair was the only figure publicly named as taking a potential role in the postwar peace council.
The US president supported his appointment and labeled him a “very good man.”
A source told the Financial Times that Blair’s involvement was backed by the US and Israel.
“The Americans like him and the Israelis like him,” the person said.
The US plan for Gaza was criticized in some quarters for proposing a separate Gaza framework that did not include the West Bank, stoking fears that the occupied Palestinian territories would become separate polities indefinitely.
Trump said in October: “I’ve always liked Tony, but I want to find out that he’s an acceptable choice to everybody.”
Blair is reported to have held an unpublicized meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late last month to discuss plans.
His office declined to comment to The Guardian, but an ally said the former prime minister would not be sitting on Gaza’s “board of peace.”
