Africa

BAMAKO, Mali — Soldiers carried out a late-night arrest of Mali’s prime minister at his home here, forcing his resignation early Tuesday and casting new doubt on plans to chase out radical Islamists who control much of this troubled West African nation.

(Reuters) - When Congo's government army retreated in panic from the eastern city of Goma last month, many observers blamed the poor morale and leadership, ill discipline and corruption that have sapped its fighting capacity for years.

Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo — The UN refugee agency said Tuesday it was worried about the security of displaced people and aid workers in camps in eastern Congo after a weekend attack on the Mugunga III camp outside Goma.

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan plans a 2013 budget of between 20 and 30 billion Sudanese pounds, with higher oil output and gold exports helping make up for the loss of oil-producing South Sudan, state media reported on Monday.

December 4, 2012 (KHARTOUM/JUBA) - South Sudan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said on Monday that they will not again accept "endless negotiations" with Khartoum over the final status of the disputed Abyei region.

WASHINGTON — Al Qaeda’s affiliate in North Africa is operating terrorist training camps in northern Mali and providing arms, explosives and financing to a militant Islamist organization in northern Nigeria, the top American military commander in Africa said on Monday.

The humanitarian situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) remains "extremely worrying," a United Nations official said today, with at least 130,000 displaced persons in and around the city of Goma who fled the fighting in the area over the past two weeks and are in urgent need of basic services.

UNITED NATIONS — Rwanda and Uganda helped rebels in Democratic Republic of Congo stage a major offensive in the east of the country last month, UN experts said in a report obtained by AFP on Monday.  Hundreds of Rwandan troops bolstered M23 rebels as they took the key city of Goma, while Uganda provided "logistics" support, said a report by the UN sanctions experts sent to the UN Security Council.

DR Congo troops have entered the eastern mining city of Goma, two days after rebel M23 fighters withdrew in line with a regionally brokered deal.  But the rebels said they would retake the city if the government failed to meet their demands within 48 hours.

GOMA, Congo (AP) — Rebels in Congo believed to be backed by Rwanda postponed their departure Friday from the key eastern city of Goma by 48 hours for "logistical reasons," defying for a second time an ultimatum set by neighboring African countries and backed by Western diplomats.