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Political issues and parties in the nations of Africa.

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By AFAIK
#14263927
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/featur ... 92628.html

US President Barack Obama on Friday heads to the southernmost shores of Africa on the second leg of his three-country visit to the continent.

While America's first black president has family roots in Kenya where he is adored by many, in South Africa his visit is not being received with overwhelming enthusiasm.

The country's largest trade union grouping, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), which is in alliance with the governing African National Congress, has called on its members to join workers and citizens across the globe to "actively participate" in protests against Obama's visit.

Cosatu cites Obama's "horrifying record of US foreign policy in the world", highlighting, the "militarisation of international relations for the multinational companies and their profit-seeking classes in the US".

It is also opposing the "US support for oppressive regimes that benefit US narrow interests", saying in a statement on its website that its call was part of world-wide struggle against imperialism.

Many in the country have already heeded the call with a huge protests, dubbed the "Nobama campaign", being planned across the country. The University of Johannesburg's decision to award him an honorary degree has already spurred protest and frustration.

Among the various organisations supporting Cosatu's call include the South African Communist Party (SACP), and the Muslim Lawyer's Association (MLA).

The MLA has in fact taken its concerns a step further, by lodging an urgent legal complaint with the country's prosecuting authority, asking it to investigate, charge, arrest and try Obama for alleged crimes he has presided over, in the hope that the court "will take seriously its domestic and international obligations... to act against international war criminals".

The group believes that Obama is guilty of "genocide", "war crimes and "crimes against humanity" and that, under international laws to which South Africa is a signatory, he should be arrested on arrival in South African territory.

The possibility of an immediate state investigation and arrest of Obama in South Africa has since fallen away, with a court looking ruling on Wednesday that the matter was not urgent.

Yousha Tayob, spokesperson for the MLA, says his organisation was not discouraged, and hoped that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) will still commit to an eventual investigation.


What is the general mood in S Africa?
Is Obama unpopular there?
By Kilwa
#14344334
The current China's president visited 3 African countries only in the first (1st) month of his presidency, USA fails as USA is failed. I have nothing to add.
By mikema63
#14344341
And you added nothing, congrats!

They can't actually have any hope that Obama will be arrested.

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