Cameroon is holding two journalists working for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on what the West African country calls suspicions of spying in the disputed, oil-rich Bakassi peninsula.
The BBC said the two were covering the upcoming Nigerian withdrawal from the peninsula, and had been traveling with the knowledge of the Cameroon authorities. Farouk Cothia, a producer with the BBC's African service, and Ange Ngu Thomas, a local reporter working for the BBC, were detained by the military on Sunday, the BBC spokeswoman said from London, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The two remained under house arrest on Wednesday in Cameroon's Atlantic coast town of Limbe, she said.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists protested the detentions.
"Our colleagues Farouk Cho-thia and Ange Ngu Thomas should be released immediately," executive director Ann Cooper said in a statement. "Journalists should be allowed to report freely in Bakassi in the run-up to the handover."
Bakassi, a heavily militarized, petroleum-rich peninsula, has been the subject of deadly territorial battles between Cameroon and neighboring Nigeria. Nigeria is to withdraw from the peninsula in coming months under a 2002 international court ruling.
"What did they go to do in Bakassi? They were there as spies," Jean Paul Mbiya, a Cameroon Communications Ministry official, insisted on Wednesday.
Mbiya acknowledged that the two had government permission to report in Cameroon, but said that did not extend to Bakassi, which is still under military control.
Mbiya claimed the two "were caught taking pictures of military installations, which, like in every other country, is strategic."
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia