LIBERIAN LAWMAKER WANTED BY U.S. FBI FOR RAPE

Honorable Kettehkumu E. Murry of the House of Representatives and Chairman on Executive is wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for his alleged involvement in sexual activities with a minor in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA in 1996.
According to a notice published in a local daily in Monrovia, the U.S. Government charged Murry with "indecent liberties with a child, and attempted rape."
According to the published notice, the warrant was issued by the United States Government on April 15, 1997.
Murry is among his fellow lawmakers that opted the removal of the House Representatives Speaker, Edwin Snowe for what the House termed his inability to lead them.
Since the notice was published in the paper, the Liberian lawmaker has disappeared amongst his colleagues at the Unity Conference Center where they are meeting regular for sessions. Last week, 46 members of the house, led by its chairman of the Executive Committee, Kettehkumeh Murray, voted to remove the speaker on grounds that he is incompetent to lead the legislative body.
Last Thursday, It was announced on radio in the Liberian capital Monrovia that the Speaker was removed by 46 members of the legislature following days of controversies over the constitutionlaity of their venue.
The lawmakers cited Snowe's lack of leadership. They said the image of the House of Representatives has been severely damaged by the notoriety of his pariah status as manifested by the continuous UN travel ban and asset freeze placed on him.
Edwin Snowe was also accused of taking an interpreter on a trip without permission and meddling in Liberia's diplomatic policy on China - for which he apologised and received a parliamentary pardon.
Legal scholars in Liberia have argued against the action of the 46 lawmakers, terming it a violation of the constitution.
Human Rights advocates argued that Mr. Snowe has not been allowed due process by his pears, and was therefore being ejected unconstitutionally. They say they could not endorse the removal action based on mere allegations by a renegade group of lawmakers who were already tussling over a venue for the House to convene.
Mr. Snowe and his supporters have accused the office of President, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of masterminding the efforts to have him removed. But Presidential press secretary, Cyrus Wleh Badio denied the claims and said the president, under no circumstance would do such. He challenged Mr. Snowe to produce evidence of the president's involvement in his removal.
Prior to the vote to remove Speaker Snowe, two lawmakers admitted receiving a bribe of US$5,000. each to spearhead the removal of the Speaker. They fell short of saying the Executive Mansion was involved

NAGBE SLOH UNDERGOES 6 HOURS OPERATION AT U.S. HOSPITAL

A Liberian Journalist based in the U.S. , J. Nagbe Sloh who has been ill for the past two weeks is expected to undergo a six-hour mediacl operation iat Marcer Hospital in Belview, New Jersey, the USA.

According to a dispatch from the Liberia Media & Advertising Services (LM&AS), Mr. Sloh who has been admitted at the hospital on January 15, 2007 is suffering from dead and swollen arm.

The six hours operation to revive the left hand of Mr. Sloh is experted to be perform by or four well trained United States medical doctors who are expected to perform the surgery.

Anyone wishing to get in contact with Sloh at his hospital room must call: 001609-394-4570

KOFI ANNAN MOVES FOR GHANA PRESIDENCY

24/01/2007 09:39 - (SA)

Mawusi Afele

Accra - Ghana's illustrious son, former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan, arrived back home on Tuesday to a rousing welcome upon his retirement as UN chief, and already he was being mentioned as a presidential candidate for the West African country. His fans suggested he should do for Ghana what Nelson Mandela did for South Africa after 27 years in prison under apartheid: become president and lead the country out of a period of turmoil. But many Ghanaians also admitted that Annan deserved a good rest after serving at the helm of the world organisation for two terms, ten years that ended on December 31. A welcoming party of hundreds waved flags, led by President John Agyekum Kufuor, to meet Annan, 68, and his wife at Kotoka International Airport, where traditional drummers and dancers extolled his virtues.

Ghanaians waved flags

In the city, workers feverishly added finishing touches to several large billboards being erected in Accra welcoming Annan back home. Politicians, traditional and religious leaders and the general public waved miniature Ghana flags of red, gold and green with a black star in the middle. Annan was to deliver a lecture on Thursday as part of Ghana's golden jubilee celebration, and meet with Kufuor and other leaders through the week. Annan thanked the welcoming throng for "the support and encouragement" he received throughout "these 10 years". Without it, he said, his work would have been "much more difficult". He said: "This has been a wonderful homecoming. We are happy to be home. When my wife and I looked out of the window and saw that you are here in your numbers to welcome us home, we were really, really moved. "It's been a long journey and today I complete the circle and I am really looking forward to sitting down with my compatriots, men and women of Ghana, discussing some of the issues."

Annan encouraged to contest

Annan brought home honours including the Nobel Peace Prize as the second African in 60 years to head the UN after Egyptian Boutros Boutros Ghali, and many of his compatriots were encouraging him to put his experience to work at home. The draftannan2008 campaign team for example wanted Annan "to come and lead us as a nation" and contest the 2008 presidential elections as an independent candidate. One group said: "We need to consolidate and amplify our democratic and economic gains, focusing on sustainable poverty reduction, given his academic qualifications, global experiences and understanding of the causes of poverty and strategies to address them." However, others believed that he needed and deserved a rest. James Victor Gbeho, Ghana's former ambassador to the UN and foreign minister, said Annan should not be given a special role, but should be made to rest.

Annan 'should be allowed to rest'

He said: "I don't think that Mr Annan himself when he comes is coming to look for another job. He has earned the rest, which he must be allowed to take. "He does not have to be given an official appointment in Ghana to be useful ... I think they should allow him to rest. "He probably would be settling down now to write his memoirs and be writing on some issues that are of importance to him. I am quite certain that the academic institutions in America and Europe would be pursuing him to deliver lectures." Annan, whose second term as head of the UN ended December 31, was reported to have turned down suggestions that he should run for president. The draft-Annan movement conceded that Annan deserved an "extended period of rest with his family" after a "gruelling" 10 years at the UN. The group said: "But, there are few opportunities for a nation like Ghana to have a child of his calibre as head of state, just as Nelson Mandela emerged from 27 years of abominable torment to lead his people for one term during the transition from the evil apartheid era."

For Crisis In Guinea, President Conte Began Talks with Union Leaders

Conakry - Guinea's President Lansana Conte began emergency talks on Tuesday with labour leaders, a day after 30 people were killed in a crackdown on demonstrators demanding he quit power, said a union official."The main union leaders are currently meeting President Conte and the first lady, Henriette," said Ousmane Wora Diallo of the Syndicated Union of Workers of Guinea (USGT), one of the two labour confederations behind the protests.The talks came after thousands of people peacefully rallied against Conte's rule in several towns across the west African country, which has been paralysed since January 10 by a general strike called by the USGT and the other main labour confederation.Security forces in Conakry were on high alert all day to prevent protesters from volatile suburbs reaching the heart of the capital, after Monday's bloody crackdown by riot police and soldiers on protestors armed with no more than stones, which took the death toll in two weeks to 40.Authorities threw a tight security cordon around the presidential palace and a military base where the ailing Conte, who first came to power in a bloodless 1984 coup, was in residence.

Missing relatives

Presidential guard soldiers manned the key November 8 Bridge, the main access route into Conakry's city centre, where a few vehicles entering were subjected to security searches.
Rabiatou Serah Diallo, secretary-general of the National Confederation of Workers of Guinea, and her USGT counterpart, Ibrahima Fofana, went into talks with the president after the union leaders met to decide on the next step, said the USGT's Diallo.At a city hospital morgue, scores of people file past blood-soaked bodies laid out on reed mats, seeking to identify missing relatives."We heard rumours that my younger brother was in a group which was killed by soldiers yesterday in Hamdallaye," a district on the outskirts of the capital, said Mohamed Amine, 39. "The soldiers, who are our brothers, shot at unarmed youths, we really did not expect this."African Union (AU) commission chief Alpha Oumar Konare expressed particular worry at "the aggravation of the situation in recent days and condemns the repression of demonstrations that led to the deaths of several people?.Konare urged all parties to the troubles in the former French colony to hold talks and thoroughly to investigate the violence that has marked two weeks of political confrontation. For the United Nations, the secretary-general's special envoy to west Africa, Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, on Tuesday left Dakar on a flight to Conakry to "assess the situation on the ground," said a UN source.

Conte too sick to rule

In the central town of Dabola and at Kundara in the northwest, residents said that thousands, most of them women demanding that Conte steps down, poured out into the streets.Punctuated by anti-Conte chants, the demonstrations continued peacefully in the towns without any police intervention.A doctor at Donka Hospital, one of the country's largest, said seven more people had died overnight from gunshot wounds received during demonstrations on Monday.
Most of the deaths were recorded in Conakry where police fought running battles with demonstrators in a mass action called by labour unions, whose leaders were arrested on Monday but set free hours later.The strike protest, backed by 14 opposition parties, began due to widespread corruption and interference in the judiciary by Conte after he freed two associates facing trial for fraud.After meeting Conte near the outset of the protest, strike leaders demanded that the 72-year-old head of state be constitutionally removed by the Supreme Court on the grounds that he is too sick to continue in office.

Conte suffers from chronic diabetes.

Conte, who is rarely seen in public and was twice admitted to hospital in Switerland last year, has so far dismissed demands made of him and called on the military to back his government.