Briefly: Africa

CAMEROON

Boat attack kills five oil-field guards

LAGOS, Nigeria | An oil firm spokesman says five people were killed in an attack in Cameroon on a boat carrying guards for an offshore oil field operated by the French firm Perenco SA.

Mark Antelme said Wednesday that the attack happened late Tuesday night at the Moudi offshore oil field, which abuts Nigerian territorial waters. The dead included three Cameroonian soldiers and two civilian security contractors, he said.

Militants in oil-rich Nigeria have raided two offshore oil rigs in recent days. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

That field and others operated by Perenco in partnership with Exxon Mobil Corp., Kosmos Energy and Cameroon’s state-run oil company provide about 8,000 barrels of oil a day.

GUINEA

Emergency declared in postelection riots

CONAKRY | Guinea’s military has put the country under an emergency decree in response to violence after a tense presidential election between members of the Malinke and Peul tribes.

Armed forces chief Nouhou Thiam read the decree Wednesday on state television. He said the decree prohibits civilians from circulating on the streets, but did not give details. He said that only military and security forces will have unrestricted movement.

Mr. Thiam said the decree will hold until the Supreme Court declares final results from the Nov. 7 vote. They have eight days to do so after results were announced late Monday, allowing a decision by next week.

Presidential candidate Alpha Conde, a Malinke, was declared the winner in the runoff, prompting Peul supporters of his opponent, Cellou Dalein Diallo, to riot. They burned tires, barricaded roads and destroyed the homes and businesses of Malinke neighbors.

KENYA

British to pour in money for investment

NAIROBI | The head of Britain’s overseas investment arm says the corporation will invest about $300 million a year in coming years in African companies because the continent is registering high economic growth and it has become easier to conduct business in Africa.

Richard Laing, chief executive offer of the CDC Group, said his group will direct some of that investment toward infrastructure and consumer goods companies. CDC Group is owned by Britain’s Department for International Development.

Mr. Laing told the Associated Press late Tuesday that the rate of return in private investment in Africa compares favorably with that in Asia.

The CDC Group has been investing in the private sector of emerging economies for more than 60 years.

SOUTH AFRICA

Man held in slaying of British honeymooner

CAPE TOWN | Cape Town police say a 26-year-old man faces murder charges in the weekend death of a British tourist, a case that has focused international attention on crime in South Africa.

Western Cape police spokesman Capt. Frederick van Wyk said Wednesday that the suspect, who has been held since Tuesday for questioning, will be taken to court Thursday and also faces hijacking charges. Capt. van Wyk said another person is being sought.

Gunmen forced Anni Dewani’s husband and a driver from their vehicle Saturday night as they drove through an impoverished area of Cape Town. Mrs. Dewani’s body was found the next morning.

The Dewanis, married for two weeks, were honeymooning in South Africa. Top police and other government officials publicly pledged to find the killers quickly.

MADAGASCAR

Dissident colonel vows to seize power

ANTANANARIVO | A dissident military officer in Madagascar said Wednesday that his group of rebels planned to seize the presidential palace and shut the country’s international airport.

Col. Charles Andrianasoavina told France 24 television that the dissident group had not suspended the government’s institutions, but that was still its intention.

“We intend to take control of the presidential palace,” he said.

“We are close to the international airport. Depending on the situation tomorrow, the airspace will be closed.

Tomorrow we intend to take the airport and stop anybody leaving Madagascar,” the colonel said.

CONGO

Rwandan Hutus kill 21 in ambush

KINSHASA | A U.N.-run radio station says Rwandan Hutu rebels killed 21 people in an ambush on a truck in volatile eastern Congo.

Radio Okapi said the rebels Tuesday attacked the truck and killed all of its passengers as they passed through Walikale territory. The radio station said Wednesday that the rebels also looted the truck’s goods.

Eastern Congo has been racked by violence since Rwanda’s 1994 genocide spilled war across the border.

Hutu militias that participated in the massacres of more than 500,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus sought refuge in Congo.

Walikale also has been the scene of violence and hundreds of mass rapes in recent months. The U.N. reported rapes of 303 civilians between July 30 and Aug. 2 alone.