March 2007 in Africa

• War in Somalia: African Union peacekeepers are ambushed by insurgents in Mogadishu for a second successive day. (BBC)

• Ugandan judges end a week long strike after President Yoweri Museveni expressed regret over an incident where security men seized Opposition supporters from the High Court of Uganda. (Reuters Alertnet)

• Zambia starts a program of mass demolition of illegal housing starting in the capital Lusaka. The demolitions are to end corruption in the distribution of land plots highlighted by the recent sacking of Lands Minister Gladys Nyirongo. (Reuters via IOL South Africa)

• Leading opponents of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, including Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, and four other members of parliament and party activists, are arrested for defying a ban on protest rallies in Harare. Riot police shoot one activist dead. (AFP via News Limited) (BBC)

• The High Court of Zimbabwe rules that detained opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change must either be brought into court on Tuesday or released. (BBC)

• Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change in Zimbabwe, appears in court limping and with a head wound after having been arrested on Sunday. Tsvangarai is later taken from court to a hospital under police guard. (New York Times)
• Five British Embassy workers kidnapped in Ethiopia twelve days ago have been set free in neighbouring Eritrea. (The Times)
• The Mauritanian government announces that Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi and Ahmed Ould Daddah have won the most votes in the first round of the 2007 presidential election, and their runoff election will be held on March 25. (Reuters)(Xinhua via People's Daily) (BBC)

• Herschelle Gibbs of South Africa becomes the first cricketer to hit six sixes in one over in a One Day International at the 2007 Cricket World Cup. (BBC)

• 2007 Zimbabwean political crisis: Three activists in the Zimbabwe opposition are arrested as they attempt to leave the country for South Africa including Arthur Mutambara, leader of a faction in the Movement for Democratic Change. Two of the activists were seeking medical treatment after having been arrested a week ago. (AP via Washington Post)

• An arms depot explodes in Maputo, Mozambique, killing at least 93 people and injuring hundreds more. (AP via CNN)
• 2007 Zimbabwean political crisis: The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo Pius Ncube calls for mass protests to force President Robert Mugabe from power. (BBC)
• Fighting erupts in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, between Government troops and the personal militia of Jean-Pierre Bemba, defeated presidential candidate in 2006 and recently elected Senator. The Spanish embassy is caught in the crossfire, leading to its evacuation under United Nations guard. (Reuters via CNN)
  • Bemba seeks refuge with the South African embassy. (BBC)
• Insurgency in Somalia:
  • Clashes flare up in Mogadishu between the interim government forces and local militiamen. (Shabelle.net)
  • Heavy fighting between interim government forces from Puntland and local militia erupts in Adado, 500 km north of Mogadishu. (Shabelle.net)

• A missile hits an Ilyushin airplane assisting the African Union Mission to Somalia as it takes off from Mogadishu, killing up to 11 people. (Reuters via ABC Australia)
• Democratic Republic of Congo's chief prosecutor issues an arrest warrant for Senator Jean-Pierre Bemba who has sought refuge in the South African embassy as fighting continues in Kinshasa. (AP via IHT)
• Celebrations to mark the 50th birthday of the European Union begin. (Sky)

• At least 150 people die in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo in fighting between the military and forces loyal to Senator Jean-Pierre Bemba. (BBC)

• Egyptians go to the polls to vote on 34 amendments to the constitution of Egypt which the government claims will help combat terrorism. Opposition groups are boycotting the referendum claiming that they will erode civil liberties. The amendments achieved approval with 76% of the vote but with only a 27% turnout. (New York Times) (BBC)

• More than ninety people are burnt to death after a fire following a petrol spill in Kaduna State, Nigeria. (All Africa)

• As many as 60 people die off the coast of Guinea as a pirogue or open fishing boat carrying 120 people capsizes. (Reuters via CNN)
• The President of Guinea Lansana Conté names a new government led by the Prime Minister of Guinea Lansana Kouyaté. (BBC)
• Zimbabwean political crisis:
  • The Movement for Democratic Change says its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has been arrested by police. He was later released but other activists remained in police custody. (BBC) (Zim Daily)
  • The Southern African Development Community holds an emergency summit in Dar-es-Salaam to discuss the crisis. (Voice of America)

• Insurgency in Somalia: Helicopters bomb an insurgent stronghold in Mogadishu hours after six people die in a gun battle. (Boston Globe)

• Insurgency in Somalia: Violence continues in Mogadishu for a third day, in what the Red Cross calls "the worst fighting in more than 15 years." (al Jazeera)

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