Rebel News - Independent News and Analysis

Two days of clashes between government forces and rebel fighters have left more than 40 civilians dead in Somali's strife-torn capital of Mogadishu.

At least 20 civilians were killed in Thursday's fighting, as Somali government forces backed by the African Union peacekeepers fought with the fighters over control of several Mogadishu districts.

A Kenyan court in the coastal city of Mombasa has sentenced eight Somalis to 20 years in prison over piracy charges.

The detained Somalis were arrested in November 2008 and were accused of attempting to hijack a Danish-registered vessel, the MV Powerful in the Gulf of Aden, and risking the lives of crews of the vessel.

The International Committee of the Red Cross says about 8,000 Nigerians have fled their homes following sectarian clashes that killed over 100 people.

"The Nigerian Red Cross Society is distributing food and water to about 5,000 displaced people (IDPs) who have taken refuge in various police stations in the area and to some 300 detainees," the organization reported in statement released on Wednesday.

Oil Minister Masoud Mir-Kazemi has said that Iran is prepared to supply Zimbabwe with crude oil and refurbish its refineries.

Mir-Kazemi made the remarks in a Tuesday meeting with Zimbabwean Minister of State for Presidential Affairs Didymus Mutasa in Tehran.

A maritime watchdog says suspected Somali pirates hijacked a Kenyan-flagged fishing boat with European and African crew last week.

"The vessel was taken hostage in waters off the Kenyan and Seychellois coasts last week" Andrew Mwangura, the head of the East African Seafarers Assistance Programme, said Tuesday.

Sudan says it has recaptured a strategic district from rebels in the war-torn western region of Darfur, while the rebels deny the claim.

"The Sudanese armed forces are currently in control of all of the Jebel Marra plateau," military spokesman Sawarmi Khaled Saad told a news conference on Monday.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Iran will help Zimbabwe as much as possible in view of the sanctions imposed on Harare by the West.

Ahmadinejad made the remarks during a meeting with Zimbabwean Minister of State for Presidential Affairs Didymus Mutasa in Tehran on Monday.

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki has banned cabinet ministers from taking foreign trips, urging them to stay home and attend parliamentary debate on a proposed new constitution.

The measure was taken to prevent a postponement of parliament proceedings due to the absence of ministers who are out of the country on government business, government spokesman Alfred Mutua told reporters in Nairobi on Monday, the Press TV correspondent in the Kenyan capital reported.

Togo's government has moved to block a planned rally by opposition parties to protest against the result of the country's presidential election, won by Faure Gnassingbe, the incumbent president.

Tensions have run high in the West African state in the wake of the elections, with the opposition announcing it would hold demonstrations on Tuesday.

Nigeria has sent troops to the violence-hit central city of Jos, where officials say clashes have left more that 500 people, mostly women and children, killed.

Authorities say at least 95 people have been arrested, while the military was on standby to avert any further unrest in the troubled tow, which has been a hotbed of violence in recent months.