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African press review 5 November 2013

The postponement of Mohamed Morsi's trial in Egypt, the peace deal to end the conflict in Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa's relationship with Israel are all subjects in today's papers ..

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According to the Egypt Independent newspaper, there has been relative calm in Cairo since the trial of deposed President Mohamed Morsi was postponed until 8 January, while other Egyptian cities witnessed clashes and arrests.

The postponement is to allow prosecution and defence lawyers to examine relevant documents.

Morsi and 14 other defendants, including former presidential staffers and leading Muslim Brotherhood figures, are accused of inciting the murder of protesters outside the Ettehadiya presidential palace in December 2012.

The ousted Egyptian leader struck a defiant tone on the first day of his trial on Monday, shouting "down with military rule," and describing himself as the country's only "legitimate" president.

In Botswana, The Daily News reports that the country has forged ahead with strategic projects to drive economic diversification. And that's according to president Ian Khama.

In his State-of-the-Nation Address delivered yesterday, the President said notwithstanding the uncertainties that had afflicted international markets since 2008, Botswana had been recovering having enjoyed positive growth rates since the 2010/11 financial year.

He cited transport, energy and communications as key economic sectors, along with mining, finance, tourism and innovation.

President Khama however said the energy, agriculture and mining sectors continued to experience constraints and subdued growth.

South African financial paper BusinessDay says African leaders were gathering in Pretoria on Monday night for a summit aimed at turning a verbal peace deal to end the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo into a binding agreement.

By 8.30pm proceedings had not yet started, but delegates thronged the halls of the Department of International Relations and Co-operation. Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta was among the leaders who did show up. But Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, a key player in the Great Lakes region and accused of backing the M23 rebel movement, was certain not to attend.

The Congolese government and international envoys are insisting that commanders of the M23 rebels formally declare an end to their 20-month rebellion.

The next step, agreed at peace talks in Kampala, Uganda, at the end of last week, will be for the government of President Joseph Kabila to cease military hostilities against the fast-retreating rebels.

Reports of fresh fighting between rebels and government troops in the eastern part of the Congo on Monday dimmed hopes of a breakthrough at the summit.

Kenyan authorities have charged four Somali nationals with offences related to September’s terrorist attack on the Westgate shopping centre in which 67 people lost their lives.

A court ordered the four men to be held in custody until a court hearing next week. All four pleaded not guilty.

Among the charges were harbouring a fugitive and illegally registering as a Kenyan. The charges had to be read to the defendants in Somali by a translator.

Authorities have detained dozens of people in the wake of the four-day siege, but have not said any suspects were directly related to the attack. It is unclear how many arrests have been made.

The Somali Islamic extremist group al-Shebab claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was in retaliation for Kenya’s deployment of troops in southern Somalia.

The four are due back in court on 11 November.

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies on Monday said the Jewish community was disappointed by International Relations and Co-operation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane’s comments on South Africa’s relationship with Israel.

Nkoana-Mashabane reportedly said at the weekend that the government’s policy was not to engage with Israel at the ministerial level until progress was made in advancing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and addressing Palestinian grievances.

According to media reports in Israel, Nkoana-Mashabane’s comments were met with harsh criticism. Israeli MP Avigdor Liberman, chairman of Israel’s parliamentary committee for foreign affairs and defence, said the government of South Africa is creating an atmosphere of anti-Israeli sentiment and anti-Semitism that will make a pogrom against Jews in the country just a matter of time.

Liberman called on all Jews who live in South Africa "to immigrate to Israel immediately, before it’s too late".

According to the Nairobi-based Daily Nation, victims of the 2008 post-election violence in Kenya have appealed to the UN Security Council to reject Kenya’s and the African Union’s bid to defer the trial of President Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto.

Through their legal representative, the 20,000 victims set out 11 reasons why the deferral request should be rejected.

According to the victims, the deferral bid should be rejected since any postponement would undermine the core purpose of the UN which is prevent threats to international peace.

Secondly, the victims argue that adopting a resolution to defer the cases would be counter-productive in the fight against impunity. The victims also fear that deferral would open a window for more witnesses to withdraw their testimonies.

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