Lome- Togo (PANA) -- Togolese President Gnassingbe Eyadema on Friday received a message from the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in connection with the World Conference Against Racism scheduled to be held in Durban, South Africa from 31 August to 7 September. Full text...

Accra- Ghana (PANA) -- Ghana's President John Agyekum Kufuor has called for a national debate on whether the state should devise a formula for funding qualified political parties to enhance multiparty democracy in the country. Full text...

Accra- Ghana (PANA) -- Ghana's President John Agyekum Kufuor Saturday called for a national debate on whether the State should devise a formula for the funding of qualified political parties to enhance multi-party democracy in the country. Full text...

Brazzaville- Congo (PANA) -- Congo's Interior minister Pierre Oba Saturday conceded that the country would need international help in the conduct of several of a referendum on a draft constitution later this year, as well as general elections due in 2002. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- Several members of the African Diaspora in France, meeting Friday in Paris, lashed out at President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal for his stance against calls for reparations on the abuses of slavery and colonisation. Full text...

Port Louis- Mauritius (PANA) -- Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheik Muhammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah arrived in Port Louis Saturday on a one-day visit to seek Mauritian support at the UN Security Council for the release of Kuwaiti prisoners in Iraq. Full text...

Rabat- Morocco (PANA) -- Guinean President Lansana Conte is in Morocco on a private visit, the State Television TVM has reported. Full text...

Khartoum- Sudan (PANA) -- A political committee of the joint Sudanese-Ethiopian Ministerial Committee will meet in Addis Ababa in early September, Sudanese ambassador Osman Al-Sayed said Friday. Full text...

Gaborone- Botswana (PANA) -- Ethiopia will host the Inter- Congolese Dialogue proper starting on 15 October, delegates decided Friday night at a preparatory meeting in Gaborone. Full text...

Banjul- Gambia (PANA) -- Gambia's opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) has taken to court some foreigners accused of acquiring voters' cards during a registration exercise. Full text...

Banjul- Gambia (PANA) -- A Nigerian Senator, Abubakar Danso Sodangi, has urged the country's citizens who cannot sustain themselves abroad to return home and save the nation further image problems. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa Friday asserted that his government was committed to upholding the rule of law and perpetuating the principles of human rights, including freedom of assembly and of worship. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- A split is looming in the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) party following Minister Without Portfolio Michael Sata's petition against the election of Levy Mwanawasa as the party's presidential candidate, alleging that the election process was fraudulent. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Constitution of Kenya Review Commission Secretary Arthur Okoth Owiro resigned Friday, citing "irreconcilable differences" with the Commission's Chairman Yash Pal Ghai. Full text...

Blantyre- Malawi (PANA) -- The Tembo faction of the divided opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) has said it would not support a campaign by ruling party officials to change the Constitution so as to allow President Bakili Muluzi stand for a third term of office when his term expires in 2004. Full text...

Accra- Ghana (PANA) -- Exiled Liberian opposition leader Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf Friday blamed Liberian President Charles Taylor for the country's difficulties, charging that four years into his current tenure the former warlord has done little to promote democracy and human rights. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- The Organisation of Islamic Conference has urged the international community to compel Israel to implement the various UN Security Council resolutions on the Middle East conflict. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Kenya's ruling KANU party and its close ally, the National Development Party, Friday announced they were merging to form a powerful political group ahead of next year's general elections. Full text...

Freetown- Sierra Leone (PANA) -- The governments of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone Thursday reaffirmed their political commitment to restore stability within the Mano River Union through peaceful means. Full text...

GABORONE- Botswana (PANA) -- The preparatory meeting on DR Congo Friday agreed for the Inter-Congolese dialogue to begin 15 October, but no consensus was reached on its venue. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The resignation of Prof. Full text...

Harare- Zimbabwe (PANA) -- President Robert Mugabe denied Friday that there was a rift between him and his colleagues in the Southern African Development Community over his government's handling of land reforms in Zimbabwe. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- Nigeria police Friday arraigned the leader of the militant faction of the Yoruba nationalist group, Ganiyu Adams, before an Ikeja Chief Magistrate Court in Lagos on 25 charges including murder, arson, armed robbery and conspiracy. Full text...

Freetown- Sierra Leone (PANA) -- Foreign, security, internal affairs, defence and justice ministers from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone on Thursday signed an agreement in Freetown reaffirming their political will to restore peace and stability within the Mano River Union through confidence-building measures. Full text...

Freetown- Sierra Leone (PANA) -- The Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) Contact group currently visiting Sierra Leone on Friday expressed the organisation's willingness to assist in the country's post war rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Kenya and Ethiopia on Thursday night agreed to tighten measures aimed at eradicating cross-border banditry, cattle rustling and other illegal activities. Full text...

Gaborone- Botswana (PANA) -- The facilitator of the Inter-Congolese Dialogue, Ketumile Masire, Thursday expressed confidence and happiness at the way a five-day preparatory meeting in Gaborone has progressed. Full text...

Algiers- Algeria (PANA) -- Nine people were killed and three others injured Wednesday at a road block mounted by an armed Islamic group on the road linking Hassine to Mohammadia in Mascara, 360 km west of Algiers), hospital sources reported Thursday. Full text...

Banjul- Gambia (PANA) -- Britain Thursday protested against Gambia's expulsion of its Deputy High Commissioner (Ambassador) in Banjul, Bharat Joshi, over alleged interference in the country's internal affairs. Full text...

Windhoek- Namibia (PANA) -- President Joseph Kabila of DR Congo Thursday wound up a two-day official visit to Namibia with both countries reaffirming their commitment to the principles, ideals and objectives of the Africa Union. Full text...

Blantyre- Malawi (PANA) -- Rival supporters of feuding leaders of the beleaguered main opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) clashed outside a high court in Blantyre Thursday. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) --Opposition parties in Zambia Thursday appeared at ease with the nomination of Levy Mwanawasa as presidential candidate of the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), intimating he had neither the mettle nor charisma to reverse ebbing MMD tides. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo is scheduled to begin a four-day visit to China on Saturday, according to the State House. Full text...

Banjul- Gambia (PANA) -- The government of Gambia Thursday declared Britain's deputy high commissioner in Banjul, Bharat Joshi, an unwelcome person on grounds of interference in the country's internal affairs. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo on Wednesday made a brief visit to Bamako at the end of which he said all past misunderstanding between his country and Mali had been cleared. Full text...

Rabat- Morocco (PANA) -- Spanish authorities have summoned the Moroccan ambassador in Madrid to explain the spectacular increase in illegal immigrants crossing from his country, the daily newspaper "L'Opinion" reported on Thursday. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- The possibility of an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Zimbabwe is hardly surprising considering the recent political instability orchestrated in that country, the official opposition party in South Africa said. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- Nigeria's State Security Services (SSS) has denied stopping former number two man Augustus Aikhomu from travelling out of the country Monday night as claimed by him. Full text...

Khartoum- Sudan (PANA) -- Kuwait will Thursday airlift relief items including medical equipment, blankets and tents for victims of current floods of the Nile River, charge d'affaires at the Kuwaiti Embassy in Khartoum, Fahad AhmedAl-Awad, said. Full text...

Windhoek- Namibia (PANA) -- Namibia and the DR Congo have pledged to extend their bilateral relations beyond military co-operation. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- The South African government is failing to adequately protect residents of commercial farming areas from violent crime, Human Rights Watch charged in a report released Wednesday. Full text...

Bujumbura- Burundi (PANA) -- At least seven people were killed and two others kidnapped Tuesday in an attack Burundi government officials blamed on rebels. Full text...

Grootfontein- Namibia (PANA) -- A high treason trial involving 125 people charged with an alleged plot in August 1999 to cut the Caprivi region off the rest of Namibia, has been scheduled to start early next year. Full text...

Accra- Ghana (PANA) -- Oluyemi Adeniji, UN Secretary-General's Special Representative to Sierra Leone, said in Accra Wednesday that the "significant achievements" in the Sierra Leone should not be taken as the end of the peace process. Full text...

Accra- Ghana (PANA) -- The UN secretary-general's Special Representative to Sierra Leone, Oluyemi Adeniji, said Wednesday that "significant achievements" chalked up in the Sierra Leonean peace process should not be taken as the end of the process. Full text...

New York- US (PANA) -- Senior US administration officials were aware of the magnitude of the genocide in Rwanda at its early stage in 1994 but sought ways to avoid intervention by the US, newly declassified documents have shown. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo arrived in Bamako Wednesday on a one-day working visit, his first to Mali since he took office in October 2000. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- Three months to the country's presidential and parliamentary elections, opposition parties in Zambia have called for the formation of a government of national unity. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Political parties in Benin have called on the government to make arrangements to enable abroad- based citizens to vote in future elections. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- Former Labour minister Edith Nawakwi and two journalists from the independent Post newspaper Wednesday appeared in a Lusaka magistrate court and pleaded not guilty to a charge of defaming Zambian President Frederick Chiluba. Full text...