Guinea leader in good health in Morocco

Guinea’s military leader is in a “favorable” condition after surgery following an attempted assassination, doctors treating him in Morocco say.

President Moussa Dadis Camara was flown from Guinea for surgery on his head, after the military leader was shot by an aide in a firefight between rival factions of Guinea’s army.

Vice-President Sekouba Konate is temporarily in charge of the country.

Tunisia reports increase in tourism revenue

Tunisia’s tourism revenue rose 2 percent to 3.21 billion dinars in the 11 months to November 30 despite the global slowdown, the state news agency quoted the country’s tourism minister as saying on Sunday.

Revenue from visitors is now the North African country’s top foreign currency earner and the biggest employer after labor-intensive farming.

Revenue from tourism reached a record 3.3 billion dinars in the January-November period in 2008 with 7 million tourists. Tunisia has a population of around 10 million.

“Sector revenues amounted to 3.21 billion dinars, an increase of 2 percent compared to (the same period in) 2008,” the TAP news agency quoted Tourism Minister Khelil Lajimi as saying.

“The indices we have registered remain much better than the expectations of the World Tourism Organization,” he said.

The number of tourists visiting Tunisia was 6.4 million in the year to November 30, down 2.6 percent from the first 11 months of 2008, said Lajimi.

US firm makes new oil discovery in Libya

US petroleum company Hess has discovered new gas deposits in the Gulf of Sirte off the Libyan coast, Libya’s National Oil Corp (NOC) said on Thursday.

Tests carried out by the company indicate an output of “27 million cubic feet (756,000 cubic meters) of good quality gas,” a statement said.

Hess confirmed the report on its website saying it had “carried out a successful test of its discovery well A1-54/01 offshore Libya in the Mediterranean Sea.”

The discovery was made by Hess Libya Exploration Limited which holds a 100 percent working interest in the well as part of an exploration and production sharing agreement with NOC, it said.

Libya is Africa’s third-largest oil producer after Nigeria and Angola at 1.7 million barrels of oil a day and has estimated reserves of 42 billion barrels.

Sudan detains opposition figures

Sudanese police detained three senior figures from the south’s ruling party and dozens of protesters on Monday including a state minister in a crackdown against a pro-reform protest, witnesses said.

Pagan Amum, Yassir Arman and Abbas Gumma from the ex-rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) were led away as they arrived by car at the parliament building in Khartoum, said the witnesses, including an AFP reporter.

Amum is the SPLM’s secretary general, Arman its deputy secretary general in northern Sudan, and Gumma is a state minister at the country’s interior ministry.

Police had announced that the demonstration to push for reforms ahead of national elections and over an independence referendum for south Sudan would be considered illegal.

Israel wants direct talks with Syria

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday told the members of Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Israel is interested in direct talks with Syria, but in a situation in which a mediator is required, would rather Paris over Ankara.

“I spoke with Sarkozy, who told me that the Syrian stance is a retreat to the 1967 lines,” Netanyahu said, “Sarkozy also mentioned the Turkish mediation that the Syrians propose, I responded to him saying we are interested in direct negotiations, and if we are talking about a mediator – I prefer you.”

Netanyahu also addressed the tense times in Israel-Turkey relations, and mentioned Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer’s recent visit to Ankara. “His visit led to moderation and closer ties with them.”

Ben-Eliezer last weekend expressed hopes of an upcoming meeting between the Turkish prime minister and his Israeli counterpart Netanyahu.

BM

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