ISLAMIC STATE BEHEADS SECOND US REPORTER

Washington (AFP) - The so-called "Islamic State" released a video on Tuesday showing a masked militant with a London accent apparently beheading an American journalist and threatening to kill a British captive.

The footage, seen by AFP after it was found online by private terrorism monitor SITE, shows 31-year-old freelance reporter Steven Sotloff dressed in orange and on his knees in a desert landscape.

The masked militant addresses US President Barack Obama, condemns air strikes against the Islamic State -- a Sunni jihadist group that operates in Iraq and Syria -- and cuts Sotloff's throat.

He then introduces a second captive, identified in a caption by name as a British citizen.

"I'm back, Obama, and I'm back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State," the militant says, speaking in British English with a London accent.

This was an apparent reference to a previous video in which US journalist James Foley was murdered, again by a suspected British foreign fighter and in an almost identical fashion.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said the latest video depicted an "absolutely disgusting, despicable act."

 

An image grab from a video released by the Islamic State and identified by private terrorism monitor …

The previous video was released last month after Obama ordered air strikes against the Islamic State.

It showed 40-year-old Foley's death at the hands of a masked militant who then threatened Sotloff, a Miami-born freelance reporter who has written for Time magazine, Foreign Policy and other outlets.

US officials said they were working to confirm the authenticity of the latest video, and State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Washington would be "sickened" if it proved genuine.

American air strikes against IS forces continued in the wake of Foley's death, and more than 120 have been carried out, most of them hitting targets around Iraq's largest dam north of Mosul.

The video, shot with the same high production values as its predecessor, is entitled: "A second message to America."

It opens with a clip of Obama vowing to be "relentless" in his determination to protect US citizens from IS attacks.

Sotloff identifies himself in English and calmly explains that he is paying the price for Obama's policy. His killer also speaks in English.

Sotloff was kidnapped in northern Syria more than a year ago, on August 4, 2013. His family only publicly revealed his captivity last month, having previously requested a media blackout.

The reporter's former employers paid tribute to a man widely respected for his intrepid reporting in Syria and the wider region, including a previous stint in Libya.

"We are shocked and deeply saddened by reports of Steven Sotloff's death," said Nancy Gibbs, editor of Time.

"Steven was a valued contributor to Time and other news organizations, and he gave his life so readers would have access to information from some of the most dangerous places in the world."

Sharing on Twitter a piece Sotloff had once written from a besieged rebel enclave in the Syrian city of Aleppo, Foreign Policy's Middle East editor David Kenner dubbed him "a brave and talented reporter."

Sotloff's family lives in Miami. When the threat to his life became public, his mother Shirley Sotloff made a direct video appeal to IS commander Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to spare his life

BEWARE OF CHEAP MEAT SOLD IN DAR BUTCHERS

LOW-PRICED and uninspected meat business is thriving in Dar es Salaam, as the supply is available in small portions ranging between 500/- and above.

The ‘attractive’ price has proved to be the best enticement attracting both consumers and retailers. Interviewed consumers seem not to be worried about safety of the meat or the hygienic condition under which slaughtering had been carried out.

The constant supply of cheap meat in different corners of Ilala, Temeke and Kinondoni municipalities is sustained by livestock traders who are not willing to incur losses of animals that fall sick, detoririate and even die while in transit.

“Would you expect me to throw away the animal for which I paid 400,000/- just like that? We use lorries to transport animals from Mwanza or Shinyanga, the trip which may take more than 18 hours to reach the slaughter houses in Dar,” Mr Phinehas Nsemwa, one of the animal traders confirmed the supply while pocketing large sums of cash after sale.

He confessed that since the lorries had limited space, the animals remain standing throughout the journey. “Some fall on the floor and others trample on them to death. Upon arrival the carcasses are taken to designated locations for skinning outside the authorised slaughter houses,” he explained.

Yusuf Matimbwi, another trader added; “In fact some of our customers pray that animals die on the way so that they buy meat cheap and this explains the unceasing supply of meat…Nyama choma (mishkaki) is affordable to all and soup from food vendors is equally popular nowadays,” Matimbwi confirmed.

A week long survey conducted by the ‘Sunday News’ at the main abattoirs in Dar es Salaam namely, Vingunguti, Mazizini and Kimara areas confirmed beyond reasonable doubt that meat inspection was hurriedly carried out as stamping was synonymous to inspection. Zuhura Said (37) was found a few metres from Vingunguti slaughter house gates selling pieces of meat.

In fact there were eight others doing the same business each busy attending to customers. She had no time for discussion. She quickly said; “This (cheap meat) allows many people to have a test of meat.

Food vendors as well as house wives come to buy meat from us. We prefer those running registered restaurants as they tell us that the meat we serve them was tasty and appreciated by those fond of spiced beef in foils.

Tanzania: Sitta names members of consultation team

The chairman of the Constituent Assembly (CA), Mr Samuel Sitta, has formed a 30-member consultations committee, which, among other things, aims at ending the standoff facing the constitution writing process.

But the move could face a huddle even before it holds its first meeting with one of the main antagonists immediately declaring that they did not recognise the move.

According to an advertisement posted yesterday in the media by CA clerk Yahya Khamis, the role of the committee will be to evaluate CA work so far as well as chat the way forward in executing the major objective of the Assembly.

“After consulting CA vice chairperson Ms Samia Hassan Suluhu and by using CA standing order number 54(4) and (5) the CA chairman has formed a 30-member reconciliation committee,” the notice reads in part.

According to the notice, the committee will hold its meeting on July 24 and 25 at the National Assembly’s offices in Dar es Salaam.

But Chadema secretary general Dr Wilbrod Slaa, whose party members are among those who have boycotted the CA, yesterday hinted that the members would not attend the meeting planned by Mr Sitta.

According to Dr Slaa, Mr Sitta formed the committee from his powers as CA chairman, and Ukawa has boycotted to participate in anything that is officially CA controlled.

“At the time our members walked out we said every means within the CA reach had failed to guarantee our concerns, and now he forms a committee which is composed of members of the CA who are on record to be very bitter at us, there is nothing to talk to them about,” he said.

He said that they will only go back to the CA when they are guaranteed that the meetings will be based on the Second Draft Constitution and data presented by the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) and not any other agenda, something which is yet to be achieved.

The mixed development came in just a few days after President Jakaya Kikwete said that he was optimistic talks between the registrar of Political Parties and major political parties will unlock the stalemate on the Constitution writing process.

According to the advertisement, the Sitta committee contains eight members from the Coalition of Defenders of Wananchi Constitution (Ukawa) who, in April, boycotted the CA meetings.

They include Chadema chairman Freeman Mbowe and his CUF and NCCR counterparts Prof Ibrahimu Lipumba and Mr James Mbatia respectively.

Messi makes the difference when it matters

At 18, most of us are asked to plot our lives.

Do we go to college? If so, which one? What do we study? Where will we be in 10 years' time? Twenty? Will we live to old age?

It's that time when the slate is generally clear and we're allowed to dream.

ACHENI UBABE, DHARAU, UNAFIKI NA KEJELI: MATOKEO YAKE YANASHANGAZA-SEHEMU YA PILI

Denis Mpagaze-Mwandishi wa makala hii

Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga baada ya kuwa rais wa kwanza Afrika kupata misaada mingi kutoka USA aliota kiburi na majivuno. Aliitangazia Dunia kwamba yeye ni kuku anayeatamia nchi ya Congo wakati huo ikiitwa Zaire. Huwezi amini kwa dharau zake alijifananisha na Mungu. Kabla ya taarifa ya habari, luninga ya Taifa ilionesha picha yake akishuka kutoka mawinguni na watu wote walikaa kimya kumlaki mtukufu Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga. Ni kufuru. Alijenga majumba ya kifahari kila kona ya Dunia wakati mamilioni ya wakongo wakiishi maisha ya Kanyaga Twende. Ni ushenzi. Mwisho wake ulishangaza sana. Alifariki akiwa uhamishoni Rabat, Morocco kwa ugonjwa wa kansa akiwa na umri wa miaka 66, na kuzikwa na watu wanne tu. Hili ni funzo kwa viongozi wenye tabia za Mobutu Seseko. Acheni!

Yuko wapi Saddam Hussein, mbabe aliyoitikisha Dunia mpaka kututia hekaheka ya kuchimba mahandaki kila kona ya nchi yetu. Wengi mnakumbuka. Alitishia kulipua visima vya mafuta ambavyo madhara yake yangekuwa kuiangamiza Dunia. Huu ulikuwa ubabe. Je mnaukumbuka mwisho wake? Pamoja na ubabe wake, alikuja kukamatiwa kwenye shimo mithili ya panya aliyemkimbia paka. Inashangaza na pengine inaweza kuwa funzo kwa viongozi wababe ndani ya nchi yetu kama Saddam. Mbabe siku zote hana rafiki.

Yuko wapi Adolf Hitler aliyemfananisha mtu mweusi na nyani pale alipowashinda wazungu katika mbio za Olympic. Hitler alikataa kumpa mkono jamaa yetu kwa husema haiwezekani binadamu kushindanishwa na nyani. Hii ilikuwa ni kufuru na chukizo kwa Mungu. Nampenda sana hayati Luck Dube, kwa maneno yake matamu, “When I see a black man...I see the image of God, when I see a white man...I see the image of God, I see an Indian...I see the image of God, colours and everybody, we are the images God”, Ni hekima za Lucky Dube .Mwisho wa Hitler nadhani kila mtu anaufahamu. Unashangaza! Hata kaburi lake halijulikani liko wapi. Hili nalo ni funzo kwa viongozi wa namna hii.

Yuko wapi Jonas Savimbi, dikteta wa Angola aliyewakata vidole watoto wetu ili wasije kumpindua madarakani ? Leo vijana wengi huko angola hawana vidole. Ni ubabe huu. Ukiambiwa kifo chake utashangaa. Alifia barabarani na maiti yake kuburuzwa mji mzima kama mzoga wa mbwa kabla ya kuzikwa chini ya mti. Inashangaza. Chukua funzo hili kama ni miongoni mwa viongozi wababe na wenye roho mbaya. Kitendo cha kuuza madawa ya kulevya ni kuwakata vidole watanzania. Acheni!

ITAENDELEA KESHO..

Na Denis Mpagaze