Nouakchott- Mauritania (PANA) -- A 20-minute delay in submitting papers has caused the disqualification of opposition candidate Diba Abdoulaye from standing in the forthcoming local government elections in Mauritania. Full text...

Bangui- Central African Republic (PANA) -- Central African Republic authorities and officials of the UN Mission in Congo (MONUC) have not yet agreed on how much the world body's peacekeeping mission should pay for the utilisation of the M'Poko air base. Full text...

Bujumbura- Burundi (PANA) -- An armed attack at the administrative centre of the Ruyigi province in eastern Burundi left five persons dead and another seriously wounded, official sources in Bujumbura said, blaming the Burundi rebellion for the attack. Full text...

Kigali- Rwanda (PANA) -- The African Youth Group on the International Steering Committee for the World Conference Against Racism has requested Rwandan President Paul Kagame to be its patron, it was disclosed here late Friday. Full text...

Kinshasa- DR Congo (PANA) -- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is expected in Kinshasa Saturday as part of efforts to strengthen the peace process in the Great Lakes region, especially in the DR Congo, official sources said at the Congolese capital Friday. Full text...

Khartoum- Sudan (PANA) -- A US aircraft carrying eight tonnes of foodstuff from the American Aid Commission has left Al-Obaid Airport to the rebel-held areas of Nuba Mountains in southern Sudan. Full text...

Abuja- Nigeria (PANA) -- Amid reports of political thuggery in some States, Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar Friday assured of the preparedness of the present administration to ensure a free, fair and peaceful elections in the country in 2003. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- The Commission investigating cases of human rights abuses in Nigeria from 15 January 1966 to 28 May 1999, resumes public hearing in the nation's capital Monday, after a month-long recess. Full text...

Khartoum- Sudan (PANA) -- Sudanese President Omer Hassan Al-Bashir left for Tripoli Friday to participate in Saturday's celebrations marking the 32nd anniversary of the Libyan Revolution. Full text...

Durban- South Africa (PANA) -- South African President Thabo Mbeki, Friday called on participants at the World Conference Against Racism to "discuss practical means" of eliminating forever "the anachronistic images of black and brown ghettos of poverty" existing in the world. Full text...

Durban- South Africa (PANA) -- South African President Thabo Mbeki Friday acknowledged international support in ending apartheid, saying the victory should inspire the Durban world conference against racism to work at making the 21st Century one that restored to all, their human dignity. Full text...

Durban- South Africa (PANA) -- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan Friday paid glowing tribute to the host of the World Conference Against Racism, saying South Africa had provided a beacon of hope for Africa and the rest of the world. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- For the first time in 36 years, northern Kenya appears close to a break with internecine clan conflicts, banditry and cattle rustling following an eight-point peace plan locals Thursday agreed upon. Full text...

Durban- South Africa (PANA) -- South African police have thrown a ring of steel around Durban's International Convention Centre and say they are prepared for any eventuality during the World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) that began Friday in the port city of Durban. Full text...

Durban- South Africa (PANA) -- The World Conference Against Racism kicked off in earnest Friday morning with the opening ceremony in Durban. Full text...

Gaborone- Botswana (PANA) -- President Festus Mogae has in a move unprecedented in the country's history, appointed a local lawyer as presidential adviser. Full text...

Abidjan- Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) -- The Ivorian Movement for Human Rights is urging authorities in Cote d'Ivoire to stop putting travel restrictions on politician leaders. Full text...

Abidjan- Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) -- Authorities in Abidjan have assured security guarantee for former leaders Henri Konan Bedie and General Robert Guei as well as ex-Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara, who have been invited to attend Cote d'Ivoire's reconciliation forum. Full text...

Tripoli- Libya (PANA) -- It was 32 years ago when "the desert messenger" declared a revolution that has changed the history and politics of Libya. Full text...

Lome- Togo (PANA) -- Togolese Prime Minister Messan Agbeyome Kodjo Thursday announced the postponement of early parliamentary elections that were due 14 and 28 October, according to an official statement released in Lome. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- Outgoing OAU Secretary General Salim Ahmed Salim begins a three-day visit in Mali Thursday, the foreign ministry announced in Bamako. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- The French Senate is to host a forum on the theme 'Truth and reconciliation for the reconstruction of Congo-Zaire' in Paris from 19-20 September. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- Stimulation of socio-economic development in the Great Lakes region should be the next agenda of the international community, French President Jacques Chirac has suggested. Full text...

Windhoek- Namibia (PANA) -- Several NGOs in Namibia have criticised the US over its threat to boycott the World Conference Against Racism opening Friday in Durban, South Africa. Full text...

Port Louis- Mauritius (PANA) -- Mauritius has signed five new Protocols recently completed by the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Full text...

Banjul- Gambia (PANA) -- President Yahya Jammeh Thursday named Babucarr Blaise Jagne as Gambia's new Secretary of State (Minister) for Foreign Affairs. Full text...

Durban- South Africa (PANA) -- About 15 foreign Heads of State have so far arrived in Durban ahead of the World Conference Against Racism which kicks off Friday. Full text...

Durban- South Africa (PANA) -- UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson has paid tribute to African countries for what she said was the extra effort they have made to contribute to the World Conference against Racism due to start in Durban on Friday. Full text...

Durban- South Africa (PANA) -- Leading American civil rights leader Jesse Jackson is still hoping that US Secretary of State Colin Powell would attend the World Conference against Racism opening Friday in Durban, South Africa. Full text...

Niamey- Niger (PANA) -- Niger's organisation for the defence of human and peoples' rights (ONDHP) has proposed a revision of the statutes for political parties, insisting the framework needed to be adapted to the present context. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- The US has agreed to support the ECOWAS Early Warning System, being set up under the sub-region's Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security, adopted in December 1999. Full text...

Tripoli- Libya (PANA) -- On the occasion of the 32nd anniversary of the Libyan Revolution coming up 1 September, the authorities in Tripoli have extended invitations to several folk ballets across the Arab world and Africa. Full text...

Tripoli- Libya (PANA) -- The secretary general of the People's General Congress (CGP), Libya's highest legislative authority, has denounced what he said were bureaucratic drags in vital sectors of the economy. Full text...

Lome- Togo (PANA) -- Togolese President Gnassingbe Eyadema left Lome Thursday morning for Durban, South Africa, for the UN World Conference Against Racism, which opens Friday. Full text...

Port Louis- Mauritius (PANA) -- Mauritian Foreign Minister Anil Gayan urged the US late Wednesday to use its influence in the Middle-East to bring about a cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- A non-governmental organisation called the Zambia Independent Monitoring Team (ZIMT) has petitioned the high court to investigate an alleged involvement of the then Agriculture Minister Edith Nawakwi in the case of a missing four million US dollars meant for relief maize for the country. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- Tanzania has deplored threats by the US to pull out of the forthcoming UN racism conference in the port city of Durban, South Africa. Full text...

Yaounde- Cameroon (PANA) -- Cameroon's main opposition party -- the Social Democratic Front -- would contest the next presidential and general elections "even under bad laws", according to its chairman, John Fru Ndi. Full text...

Tunis- Tunisia (PANA) -- Tunisian President Zine Abedine Ben Ali on Wednesday received a message from his Congolese counterpart, Denis Sassou Nguesso. Full text...

Bujumbura- Burundi (PANA) -- The OAU observer mission in Bujumbura on Wednesday urged Burundians to foster unity in order to rebuild their war-torn nation. Full text...

Nouakchott- Mauritania (PANA) -- The deadline for Mauritanian political parties to submit papers for their candidates in the forthcoming municipal and parliamentary elections expires on Wednesday at midnight. Full text...

Tunis- Tunisia (PANA) -- The Tunisian government has condemned the assassination of Abou Ali Moustapha, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (FPLP) on Monday. Full text...

Algiers- Algeria (PANA) -- A low-intensity bomb concealed in a vegetable rack exploded before noon on Wednesday in Algiers, wounding six people, one of whom had his leg amputated, officials said in an initial announcement. Full text...

Rabat- Morocco (PANA) -- A former Moroccan secret service agent, Ahmed Boukhari, has been sentenced to one year in jail and fined 150,000 dirhams (13,265 dollars) for writing bad cheques. Full text...

Rabat- Morocco (PANA) -- Morocco's association for the support of the Palestinian struggle, or AMSLP, has called on countries taking part in the World Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa, to condemn "Zionist racism". Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- Nigeria's Chief of Army Staff, Maj. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The Public Investments Committee (PIC), the parliamentary body charged with checking government businesses, is in a leadership crisis arising from the recent merger deal announced between the ruling Kanu party and the opposition National Development Party (NDP). Full text...

Durban- South Africa (PANA) -- South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), Wednesday expressed disappointment that President Thabo Mbeki did not celebrate the country's successful transition to non-racial democracy in his opening speech at Tuesday's NGO Forum in Durban. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Amara Essy, the secretary general of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), said Tuesday in Dakar that he supported demands for compensation for the slave trade and colonisation. Full text...

Nouakchott- Mauritania (PANA) -- Mauritanian President Maaouiya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya Tuesday received in audience Teyib El Fahri, a Minister of State at Morocco's Foreign Ministry, who brought a message from King Mohammed VI. Full text...