COLOMBIA – Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels said that they are suspending participation in the coming cycle of peace talks with the government, planned for this month, but will attend an extraordinary meeting.
The announcement is the latest development in recent troubles at the talks, restarted by President Gustavo Petro at the end of 2022 as part of his efforts to end Colombia’s six-decade conflict, which killed at least 450,000 people.
The guerrilla group, founded by radical Catholic priests in 1964, said the suspension was due to “government insistence in carrying out a demobilization operation in Narino against the ELN,” referring to regional talks with one of its factions taking place southwestern province.
The parallel talks are contrary to the fair play and good faith which should characterize negotiations, the rebel group, which objected earlier this year to similar talks with communities in Narino, added.
“It is necessary not to lose time,” the government’s negotiating team said in its own statement, saying it was imperative work at the negotiating table move ahead.
The dire situation that people living in the provinces of Arauca, Choco and Narino are confronting must also be attended to, the government added. The government previously has defended the community talks and said the ELN is unnecessarily prolonging negotiations.
The ELN said its delegates are already in Caracas, Venezuela for an extraordinary meeting it requested with the government earlier this week.(Reuters)…[+]

MEXICO CITY – The Mexican government formally denounced Ecuador’s government to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for the police raid on the Mexican embassy in Quito on April 5, Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena announced.
“We want to test the international justice system,” Barcena said alongside President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, at a daily press conference.
“We are experiencing a moment of extreme weakness in the multilateral world and in international relations. We see violations all over the world that affect not only diplomats, but the civilian population,” she said.
Mexico’s lawsuit aims to hold Ecuador accountable for breaching “the inviolability” of the embassy and calls for suspending the South American country as a member of the United Nations unless it offers a public apology.
According to Barcena, the ICJ could even rule on the matter to expel the country from the United Nations.
Police stormed Mexico’s embassy in Quito on April 5 to arrest former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, just hours after Mexico granted him political asylum, prompting Mexico to sever ties with Ecuador.
“What we want is that a despicable event like the one that Mexico suffered, especially its diplomatic representation, is not repeated,” said Obrador.
“That it is not repeated in any country in the world and that international law is guaranteed, that the premises, the embassies of countries in any nation are not violated and that the countries where the embassies are located be committed to protecting the independence and guaranteeing the sovereignty of those spaces. That is what we want,” he said. (Xinhua)…[+]

SOUTH AFRICA – South Africa’s electoral commission said it has appealed to the country’s highest court to rule on whether former President Jacob Zuma can stand as a candidate in general elections in May.
The commission said in a statement yesterday that it had lodged an “urgent and direct” appeal to the Constitutional Court to provide “certainty” on the proper interpretation of the constitutional article relating to candidacies of people who have been convicted.
“Such clarity is important in the present matter because of a live issue but also for future elections,” it said.
The appeal is the latest twist in a legal wrangle over the eligibility of the 81-year-old politician, after an electoral court ruled this week that Zuma could run for office, overturning an earlier decision that had barred him from contesting.
Zuma is hoping to run for president on behalf of the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK), which he joined last year after denouncing the governing African National Congress (ANC) party that he once led.
On May 29, South Africans will head to the polls to elect 400 members of the General Assembly. A month later, lawmakers in the new parliament will choose the next president.
Banking on the popularity of Zuma, MK hopes to win enough votes that would ensure them parliament seats, while also cutting into the vote share of the ANC.
The ANC could see its vote share drop below 50 percent for the first time since 1994. Short of a parliamentary majority, it would be forced to seek coalition partners to remain in power, turning Zuma into a possible kingmaker, analysts say.
Some opinion polls suggested MK at above 10 percent nationwide, a share that would make it the third or fourth political force behind the ANC and the liberal Democratic Alliance.
The party is projected to make a particularly strong showing in the battleground region of KwaZulu-Natal – Zuma’s home province.
It largely relies on the considerable political clout still wielded by Zuma, who despite scandals and corruption allegations is popular, particularly among the country’s more than 10 million Zulus.
The electoral commission had disqualified Zuma, saying the constitution bars anyone sentenced to more than 12 months’ imprisonment.
Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in jail in June 2021 after refusing to testify to a panel investigating financial corruption and cronyism during his presidency.
His lawyers argued the sentence did not disqualify him as it followed civil rather than criminal proceedings and it had been shortened by a remission.
Zuma was freed on medical parole just two months into his jail term.
The commission stressed that the appeal “is not intended to involve itself in the political field of play” rather to ensure a “free and fair” electoral process. (Al Jazeera)…[+]

US – The United States has restricted travel for its embassy personnel in Israel amid fears of an attack by Iran.
The US embassy said staff had been told not to travel outside the greater Jerusalem, Tel Aviv or Beersheba areas “out of an abundance of caution”.
Iran has vowed to retaliate, blaming Israel for a strike on its consulate in Syria 11 days ago, killing 13 people.
Two US officials have told the BBC’s US partner CBS News that an attack could come soon.
One unnamed official said the attack could include more than 100 drones, dozens of cruise missiles and perhaps ballistic missiles as well and will be aimed at military targets in Israel.
Israel has not claimed responsibility for the consulate attack on 1 April but is widely considered to have been behind it.
Iran backs Hamas, the armed Palestinian group fighting Israel in Gaza, as well as various proxy groups throughout the region, including some – such as Hezbollah in Lebanon – that frequently carry out strikes against the Israelis.
Those killed in the consulate attack included a senior commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force in Syria and Lebanon, as well as other military figures.
The attack came at a time of continuing diplomatic efforts to prevent the war in Gaza spreading across the region.
Speaking last Wednesday, US President Joe Biden warned Iran was threatening to launch a “significant attack” and vowed to offer “ironclad” support to Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government was ready to meet any security challenge, warning that Israel would harm any country that caused it harm.
“We are prepared to meet all of the security needs of the State of Israel, both defensively and offensively,” he said.
The commander responsible for US operations in the Middle East, Erik Kurilla, has travelled to Israel for talks with officials on security threats.
The Pentagon said the visit had been scheduled previously but had been brought forward “due to recent developments”.
Following a call with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, UK Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron urged against further escalation.
Lord Cameron said he had “made clear… that Iran must not draw the Middle East into a wider conflict”.
“I am deeply concerned about the potential for miscalculation leading to further violence,” he said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has spoken to the foreign ministers of China, Saudi Arabia and Turkey to argue that further escalation is not in anyone’s interest.
Following the call, China urged the US to play “a constructive role” in the Middle East, while also condemning the strike widely believed to have been carried out by Israel on Iran’s consulate building in Damascus. It is not clear what form any reprisal attack would take nor whether it would come directly from Iran or via one of its proxies.
On Sunday an Iranian official warned Israel’s embassies were “no longer safe”, suggesting a consulate building could be a possible target.
Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant has told his US counterpart that “any direct Iranian attack” on Israeli territory would “require an appropriate Israeli response against Iran”.
Asked about the travel restrictions, state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said he would not disclose the “specific assessments” behind them, but added: “Clearly we are monitoring the threat environment in the Middle East and specifically in Israel.”
The UK Foreign Office has also updated its travel advice for Israel to state that the country’s government has raised the “possibility of an attack on Israeli territory from Iran, and that such an attack could trigger wider escalation”.
Since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October, the Foreign Office has warned against travel to large parts of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
France similarly warned its citizens to “imperatively refrain from travel in the coming days to Iran, Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian territories”.
Family members of French diplomats in Iran are being evacuated.
German airline Lufthansa has extended a suspension of flights to the Iranian capital Tehran until Saturday.
The October attack saw gunmen kill 1,200 people and take more than 250 hostage after crossing into Israel from Gaza.
Israel says that of 130 hostages still in Gaza, at least 34 are dead. More than 33,000 Gazans, the majority of them civilians, have been killed during Israel’s subsequent offensive in Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry says. (BBC)…[+]

NIGER – Russia has delivered military equipment to Niger that will provide the African country with the “latest generation of anti-aircraft defense systems,” Nigerien state broadcaster RTN said.
The equipment arrived in Niamey last Wednesday along with 100 Russian military instructors who will install the system and train Nigerien soldiers to use it, RTN added.
Russian state media RIA Novosti said early yesterday that Russian military instructors arrived in Niger “to train local forces in the fight against terrorism.”
“This means that Russia is returning to Africa,” an RIA Novosti correspondent reported from the scene, adding that NATO troops have also been arriving in Niamey to further catch a transfer flight to Agadez where “right now about 1,100 American soldiers are located.”
The arrival of Russian instructors followed a recent phone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Nigerien General Abdourahamane Tiani on March 26 when the two leaders discussed “ensuring security and combating terrorism.”
Since seizing power in a coup last year, Niger’s junta has been strengthening military ties with Russia while turning away from the US and France.
Last month, the junta said it was ending an accord with the US that allowed military personnel and civilian staff from the US Department of Defense to operate in Niger.
France, Niger’s former colonial ruler, withdrew its troops from the African nation at the end of 2023. (CNN)…[+]