Barcelona’s Messi sentenced to 21 months for tax fraud

Messi and his father made a voluntary payment of 5.0 million euros -- equal to the amount of the alleged unpaid taxes plus interest -- in August 2013 after being formally investigated. — Messi and his father made a voluntary payment of 5.0 million euros — equal to the amount of the alleged unpaid taxes plus interest — in August 2013 after being formally investigated.

Barcelona (AFP) – Barcelona striker Lionel Messi and his father were sentenced Wednesday to 21 months in jail for tax fraud by a court in Spain where the taxman has set its sights on footballers.

But these prison sentences are likely to be suspended as it is common in Spain for first offences for non-violent crimes carrying a sentence of less than two years.

The Barcelona court found the Argentina international and his father Jorge Horacio Messi guilty of using companies in Belize, Britain, Switzerland and Uruguay to avoid paying taxes on 4.16 million euros of Messi’s income earned from his image rights from 2007-09.

The income related to Messi’s image rights allegedly hidden includes endorsement deals with Danone, Adidas, Pepsi-Cola, Procter & Gamble or the Kuwait Food Company.

Messi, 29, a five time FIFA World Player winner, was fined 2.09 million euros while his father was fined 1.6 million euros.

They can appeal the decision to Spain’s Supreme Court.

Both Messi and his father, who has managed his son’s affairs since he was a child, were charged with three counts of tax fraud.

Messi told the court during the four-day trial that wrapped up on June 4 that he trusted his father with his finances and “knew nothing” about how his wealth was managed.

Prosecutors had asked for Messi to be absolved, arguing there was no evidence that the player was aware of how his income was managed.

But the state attorney representing tax authorities in the trial, Mario Maza, said he found it unlikely that Messi knew nothing about the situation.

“There is no deliberate ignorance here, it’s fraud and that’s all there is to it, because he didn’t want to pay his taxes,” he said.

“It’s like a crime boss. At the very top is the bigwig who doesn’t want to know about the details.”

The court agreed, arguing in its ruling that Messi “had decided to remain in ignorance”.

“Despite all the opportunities available to the player to show interest in how his rights were managed, he did not,” the court added.

Messi and his father made a voluntary payment of 5.0 million euros — equal to the amount of the alleged unpaid taxes plus interest — in August 2013 after being formally investigated.

After the court delivered its verdict, Barcelona issued a statement “giving all its support to Leo Messi and his father”.

“The club, in agreement with the government prosecution service, considers that the player, who has corrected his position with the Spanish tax office, is in no way criminally responsible with regards to the facts underlined in this case,” it added.

Messi is Barca’s all-time leading goalscorer. During his time with the club, he has won the European Champions League on four occasions and eight Spanish league titles.

United States of Africa? African Union launches all-Africa passport

(CNN)As the European Union threatens to unravel in the wake of Britain’s vote to leave, the African Union is pursuing a path of closer integration through the launch of a common passport that will grant visa-free access to all 54 member states.

The electronic passports will be unveiled at the AU summit in Kigali, Rwanda, later this month, where they will be issued to heads of state and senior officials. The Union aims to distribute them to all African citizens by 2018.

“This flagship project has the specific aim of facilitating free movement of persons, goods and services around the continent – in order to foster intra-Africa trade, integration and socio-economic development,” the Union announced in a statement.

The passports represent a key plank of the Agenda 2063 action plan, which emphasizes the need for greater continental integration, drawing on the popular vision of Pan-African unity. Freedom of movement has been a longstanding priority among member states, as enshrined in previous agreements such as the 1991 Abuja Treaty. Common passports have already been adopted for several regions, such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Open door policy

Currently, just 13 African states are open to all African citizens without advance visas, with many placing severe restrictions on travel. A recent report from the African Development Bank advised that easing entrance requirements would support economic growth, citing the case of Rwanda, which saw GDP and tourism revenues climb after abolishing visas.

AU Director for Political Affairs Dr. Khabele Matlosa believes opening borders will have a profound effect for workers at the lower end of the scale.

“We have a problem now that young people are risking their lives to cross the Sahara Desert or travel on boats to Europe,” says Matlosa. “If we open opportunities in Africa we reduce that risk.”

The Director has been studying the example of Europe, but believes a closer African Union will not be so threatened by concerns about immigration or loss of sovereignty.

“Africa is a continent of migrants so we are not as suspicious of refugees,” he says. “This is a test of our Pan-Africanism, the doctrine which underpins the African Union’s existence. We are committed to this philosophy.”

However Matlosa acknowledges the target of providing all citizens with the passports by 2018 is ambitious, conceding that full coverage may not be achieved until several years later.

Risks and rewards

Analysts have highlighted logistical challenges of the initiative.

“Not all countries have the same level of technology needed for the biometric system and to register their citizens,” says David Zounmenou, senior research fellow at the Institute for Security Studies. “The timeframe is too short — 2020 would be a fine effort.”

Zounmenou adds that the closer union will face a complaint familiar to European counterparts — that of more powerful states overriding smaller members.

“Not every country will buy into it,” he says. “Visa revenue is an important source of income for some countries and removing it will affect the local economy unless there is compensation.”

But Zounmenou believes that common passports will support international trade within the continent, reducing the widespread dependence on Western goods, and offer new opportunities to many citizens.

“Many people ask ‘what are the practical benefits of being a member of the AU?'” he says. “This can be one of the most important social and economic responses, which allows business to flow, students to travel, and people to move from one corner of the continent to another.”

Critics have suggested open borders risk strengthening terror groups and organized crime, but Zounmenou disagrees.

“One key advantage is that we will have centralized records to show who is going where,” he says.

Jonathan says he is being investigated for corruption by Buhari – Vanguard

President Buhari (left), former President Jonathan (right) said “I wouldn’t want to make certain comments because, when a government is working, it’s not proper for immediate past presidents to make certain statements. I will allow the government to do the work it’s supposed to do.

“Obviously, I’m being investigated” Jonathan

Ex-president Goodluck Jonathan has disclosed today, June 6, that he is being investigated for corruption by the Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government. Jonathan said this in an exclusive interview with Bloomberg TV, in London. “I cannot say the country from the beginning of our independence, that there was no corruption, yes there has been corruption. I did very well also, to curtail corruption.”

“My approach to corruption, was ‘don’t make money available for anyone to touch. We made sure that area of fertilizer subsidies was cleaned up, and the whole corruption there was removed. I tried to do the same in the oil industry, but the very people that were accusing us of corruption, were the same people frustrating it, it’s unfortunate.”

Asked if he was concerned that he would be investigated for corruption while in office, Jonathan said he is being investigated. “Obviously, I’m being investigated”. Asked if he would be found guilty of corrupt practices, Jonathan said “I wouldn’t want to make certain comments because, when a government is working, it’s not proper for immediate past presidents to make certain statements. I will allow the government to do the work it’s supposed to do. “I wouldn’t want to make serious comments on that, it’s not proper. After all these investigations, the whole stories will be properly chronicled. “I’ve just left office, and I should allow the President and his team to do what they believe is good for the country.”

Jonathan’s aides have come under heavy scrutiny, since he left office, a situation he warned them of at the presidential dinner to mark the end of his tenure, on May 28, 2015. Officials of his party, the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, have also been arrested and arraigned for corruption, but the anti-corruption agencies are yet to make public their findings from investigation on Jonathan’s involvement. Recently, former Principal Secretary to Jonathan, Hassan Tukur was reported to have disclosed certain acts of corruption that occurred during the regime to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, with the hope of getting leniency.

‘Heinous killing’ of Kenyan lawyer Willie Kimani must be investigated say human rights groups

Human-rights lawyer Willie Kimani was last seen on 23 June. His boday, along those of his client and taxi driver, were found on 30 June in a river 73km northeast of NairobiInternational Justice Mission

Bodies of lawyer Willie Kimani, his client, and their driver found prior to police trial.

More than 30 Kenyan and international human-rights organisations are urging Kenyan authorities to investigate the “shocking abduction, enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killings” of a human rights lawyer, his client and a taxi driver.

Later on 4 July, human rights activists will hold demonstrations in Nairobi and other parts of Kenya to protest what Human Rights Watch (HRW) called “heinous killings.”

The bodies of lawyer Willie Kimani, his client Josphat Mwenda, and their taxi driver Joseph Muiruri, were recovered from Ol-Donyo Sabuk River in Machakos County, 73km north-east of Nairobi, on 30 June, a week after the three went missing. Several organisations have suggested they were victims of enforced disappearance.

Before the bodies were discovered, 34 Kenyan and international human rights organisations claimed the three men were allegedly abducted by the Administration Police (AP) as they left a court in Machakos County, outside of the capital Nairobi, last week.

A lawyer working with the International Justice Mission (IJM) said Kimani had been representing Mwenda in a case stemming from 10 April 2015 – in an incident where an officer from Syokimau AP Camp shot him during a traffic stop.

Three police officers suspected to be behind killing of lawyer and 2 others were arraigned in court.

Initial reports suggest that Administration Police officers, one of whom Mwenda was defending himself against in court that day, may have abducted them.

On 2 July, Inspector-General of Police Joseph Boinett confirmed three AP officers attached to the Syokimau AP Camp – Frederick Leliman, Stephen Chebulet and Sylvia Wanjiku – were being held over offences relating to the killings. They appeared in court on Monday (4 July).

Killings are threat to rule of law in Kenya

Rights activists have urged Kenyan agencies, such as civilian body the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), and the police, to find those responsible for the killings and hold them to account in fair trials.

They warned the crimes “should be cause for alarm over the state of human rights and rule of law in Kenya”. Activists also reminded Kenya’s international partners, such as Sweden, United Kingdom and the US, that those providing financial support to Kenyan police units implicated in extrajudicial killings should insist on accountability for violations committed.

“A transparent process of investigating and prosecuting those responsible is what is now needed, to reassure shocked Kenyans of their safety and restore their faith in the national police,” said Kamau Ngugi, National Coordinator at Kenya’s National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders. “That a lawyer working for an international organisation and his client could be abducted and disappeared in broad daylight only to be found dead is a matter that cannot be taken lightly.”

The call for prompt, independent, impartial and effective investigation was echoed by Muthoni Wanyeki, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes, who said the extrajudicial killings “are a chilling reminder that the hard-won right to seek justice for human rights violations is under renewed attack.”

Henry Maina, regional director at rights organisation Article 19, Eastern Africa, meanwhile, insistedPresident Jomo Kenyatta must take decisive steps to assure Kenyans and the international community that the government is serious about addressing police killings.

Activists will hold demonstrations today (4 July) in Nairobi and other parts of Kenya to protest against the killings.

Bombing near one of Islam’s holiest sites in Saudi kills 4

Muslim worshippers gather after a suicide bomber detonated a device near the security headquarters of the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia, July 4, 2016. PHOTO: TWITTER/@nbbrk — Muslim worshippers gather after a suicide bomber detonated a device near the security headquarters of the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia, July 4, 2016. PHOTO: TWITTER/@nbbrk

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A suicide bombing outside one of Islam’s holiest sites killed four Saudi security forces on Monday, and similar attacks outside a Shiite mosque and a U.S. Consulate in two other Saudi cities raised fears of a coordinated assault aimed at destabilizing the Western-allied kingdom.

The Interior Ministry said five others were wounded in the attack outside the sprawling mosque grounds where the Prophet Muhammad is buried in Medina. Millions of Muslims from around the world visit the mosque every year as part of their pilgrimage to Mecca.

The ministry said the attacker set off the bomb in a parking lot after security officers raised suspicions about him. Several cars caught fire and thick plumes of black smoke were seen rising from the site of the explosion as thousands of worshippers crowded the streets around the mosque.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for any of the attacks.

Altayeb Osama, a 25-year old Sudanese visitor to Medina and resident of Abu Dhabi, said he heard two large booms about a minute apart as he was heading toward the mosque for sunset prayers. He said police and fire trucks were on the scene within seconds.

“It was very shocking that such a thing happens in such a holy place for Muslims, the second holiest place in the world. That’s not an act that represents Islam,” Osama said. “People never imagined that this could happen here.”

The ruling Al Saud family derives enormous prestige and legitimacy from being the caretakers of the hajj pilgrimage and Islam’s holiest sites in Mecca and Medina. The attack may have been an attempt to undermine the Saudi monarchy’s claim of guardianship.

In 1979, extremists took over Mecca’s Grand Mosque, home to the cube-shaped Kaaba, for two weeks as they demanded the royal family abdicate the throne.

The Prophet Muhammad’s mosque was packed Monday evening with worshippers during the final days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends in the kingdom on Tuesday. Local media say the attacker was intending to strike the mosque when it was crowded with thousands of worshippers gathered for the sunset prayer.

Qari Ziyaad Patel, 36, from Johannesburg, South Africa, was at the mosque when he heard a blast just as people were breaking their fast with dates. Many at first thought it was the sound of traditional, celebratory cannon fire, but then he felt the ground shake.

“The vibrations were very strong,” he said. “It sounded like a building imploded.”

State-run news channel al-Ekhbariya aired live video of the mosque filled with worshippers praying hours after the explosion. It also showed footage of Saudi King Salman’s son and the Governor of Medina, Prince Faisal bin Salman, visiting security officers wounded in the blast and the site of the explosion.

Also Monday evening, at least one suicide bomber and a car bomb exploded near a Shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia, several hours after a suicide bomber carried out an attack near the U.S. Consulate in the western city of Jiddah.

Saudi Arabia has been a target of Islamic State attacks that have killed dozens of people. In June, the Interior Ministry reported 26 terror attacks in the last two years.

The possibility of coordinated attacks across different cities in Saudi Arabia on the same day underscores the threat the kingdom faces from extremists who view the Saudi monarchy as heretics and enemies of Islam. Saudi Arabia is part of the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

The attack in the eastern region of Qatif did not appear to cause any injuries, said resident Mohammed al-Nimr. His brother, prominent Saudi Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, was executed in January after a court found him guilty of sedition and inciting violence for his role in anti-government protests — charges his supporters reject.

Qatif is heavily populated by Shiites, who are a minority in the Sunni-ruled kingdom. Al-Nimr told The Associated Press the blasts there happened when most residents of the neighborhood were at home breaking the daily Ramadan fast.

The Interior Ministry said it was working to identify the remains of three bodies at the site of blast, suggesting there may have been three attackers.

IS and other Sunni extremists consider Shiites to be apostates deserving of death, and have previously attacked Shiite places of worship, including a suicide bombing on a Shiite mosque in Qatif in May 2015 that killed 21 people.

Earlier Monday, near the U.S. Consulate in Jiddah, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives after two security guards approached him, killing himself and lightly wounding the two guards, the Interior Ministry said.

Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki said the guards noticed the man was acting suspiciously at an intersection on the corner of the heavily fortified consulate, near a hospital and a mosque. The Interior Ministry did not say whether the bomber intended to target the U.S. diplomatic compound.

No consular staff were wounded in the attack.

The ministry said the bomber was not a Saudi citizen, but a resident of the kingdom. It gave no further details on his nationality. There are around 9 million foreigners living in Saudi Arabia, which has a total population of 30 million.

Al-Ekhbariya said security forces detonated six explosive devices found at the scene of the attack near the consulate.

A 2004 al-Qaida-linked militant attack on the U.S. Consulate in Jiddah killed five locally hired consular employees and four gunmen. The three-hour battle at the compound came amid a wave of al-Qaida attacks targeting Westerners and Saudi security posts.

Nigeria: Deputy oil minister, Kachikwu fired as President Buhari shakes up state oil group

Mr Kachikwu is to remain on the board as chairman. The new group managing director is Maikanti Kacalla Baru, a technocrat with years of experience at the NNPC.

Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s president, has removed the deputy oil minister from his joint role as the national oil company’s managing director and appointed a new board.

The decision to remove Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu from the top job at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation is viewed by industry insiders as positive and long overdue.

Kachikwu had, for more than six months, been running the oil ministry, though the president is officially the minister. This was regarded by many executives and analysts in Africa’s top energy producer as a conflict of interest.

The arrangement had meant that Mr Kachikwu oversaw regulation of the industry and other policy issues while also running a key commercial player in that industry: the state-run company that sells almost half of the country’s oil output.

“This is the right thing to do,” a former executive from an international oil company operating in Nigeria said. “Never in the history of Nigeria has the same person done these two jobs,” he added, suggesting the arrangement was “not tidy”.

Mr Kachikwu is to remain on the board as chairman. The new group managing director is Maikanti Kacalla Baru, a technocrat with years of experience at the NNPC. He was most recently in charge of the company’s exploration and production division but was removed from that role by Mr Kachikwu this year and transferred to the oil ministry.

“In terms of key decision makers [at the NNPC] it is a major shift but I don’t expect any short-term, immediate impact on the direction of the oil sector,” said Rolake Akinkugbe, head of energy and natural resources at FBN Capital in Lagos.

New boss...The new group managing director is Maikanti Kacalla Baru, a technocrat with years of experience at the NNPC. He was most recently in charge of the company’s exploration and production division but was removed from that role by Mr Kachikwu this year and transferred to the oil ministry. — New boss…The new group managing director is Maikanti Kacalla Baru, a technocrat with years of experience at the NNPC. He was most recently in charge of the company’s exploration and production division but was removed from that role by Mr Kachikwu this year and transferred to the oil ministry.

Abba Kyari, the president’s chief of staff, was named as a board member.

Mr Buhari won elections last year pledging to tackle corruption, particularly in the oil sector, which generates 70 per cent of the country’s income. When he took office, he said he had inherited near-empty federal coffers, despite the fact that oil prices had been above $100 a barrel for several years before they plunged in mid-2014.

Low prices have pushed Nigeria into financial crisis. Recent militant attacks in the main oil-producing region have slashed production, another blow to federal revenues.

Cleaning up the oil industry through reform of the NNPC is critical to attracting badly needed new investment. Nigeria’s oil output is expected to decline sharply over the next decade because uncertainty over government reforms are keeping investment on hold.

Frustration is growing among oil majors operating in the country, however, because discussions intended to resolve disputes between the NNPC and its joint venture partners, including Royal Dutch Shell and Eni, have stalled. Mr Kachikwu, a former ExxonMobil executive, had pledged to reach agreement with the majors on outstanding disputes by mid-May. That deadline has passed with no agreements announced.

Culled from the Financial Times

Five Reasons Why Netanyahu is Taking Israel Back to Africa

Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on right on the planes steps on this arrival at Entebe Airport, Uganda.

When he touched down in Uganda on Monday, Benjamin Netanyahu became the first Israeli Prime Minister to visit sub-Saharan Africa in almost 30 years. Netanyahu began a four-day tour that will encompass visits to Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia, in what he has described as Israel’s attempt to “return to Africa in a big way.”

Here are five reasons why Netanyahu is coming to Africa.

1. To pay his respects

Jonathan Netanyahu, the elder brother of the Israeli leader, died in Entebbe in Central Uganda in 1976 during a hostage rescue operation. An Air France flight from Tel Aviv to Paris was hijacked by Palestinian and German militants, who ordered the pilot to divert to Benghazi in Libya and then Entebbe, where they were offered shelter by Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. The Israeli-led operation freed 102 of 106 hostages, who had been held for more than a week at the airport, but Netanyahu’s brother was shot dead during the raid. Four hostages, at least seven of the militants and 20 Ugandan troops were also killed.

Visiting the scene of the raid on Monday, Netanyahu said he had learned from his brother that “clarity and courage” are required to overcome extremism. “When terrorism succeeds in one place it spreads to other places, and when terrorism is defeated anywhere it is weakened everywhere. This is why Entebbe…was a victory for all humanity,” said the Israeli PM, according to the BBC.

2. To restore shaky foundations

The fact that no Israeli head of state has visited sub-Saharan Africa since Yitzhak Shamir in 1987 is testament to the rocky history between Israel and the continent. Following the 1973 war between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria, scores of African countries—many under Arab influence—cut ties with Israel. Indeed, the four countries Netanyahu is visiting all severed relations with Israel following the war, only to restore them in the 1990s. The country’s ties with black African countries have also suffered due to its historic support for the apartheid regime in South Africa.

Netanyahu admits that his visit is an attempt to restore these relations. “Israel was blacklisted in Africa, basically kicked out by political pressure from many, many countries in which we were involved in the 60s and 70s and it took a while to change,” said Netanyahu in an interview with Ugandan independent newspaper the Daily Monitor.

3. To do business and get some favors

Netanyahu will lead at least two business forums during his trip, one in Kenya and one in Ethiopia, while also meeting with each head of state individually. Israel is also expected to launch a $13 million development package for African states, which will including assistance in the sectors of agriculture, health and domestic security.

Israel has also reached a settlement with two undisclosed African countries to resettle around 40,000 migrants and refugees from Sudan and Eritrea, who entered the country through Egypt. The countries are reported to be Uganda and Rwanda, according to the Financial Times.

4. To gain some partners against the West

The continuing stalemate in the Israel-Palestine conflict has proved detrimental to the former’s relations with Western countries and institutions such as the United Nations, which have condemned Israel’s construction of settlements in the West Bank and the blockade of the Gaza Strip . One possible motivation of Netanyahu’s trip is to drum up support within the region for Israel’s stance on the issue. “In the U.N. there are many [resolutions] which target Israel and we want to change this with the help of the Africans,” Arye Oded, a former Israeli ambassador to Kenya and Uganda, told German broadcaster DW.

5. To share past grievances

One particularly poignant stop on Netanyahu’s agenda is a visit to the Kigali Genocide Memorial, where the remains of more than 250,000 victims of the Rwandan genocide are interred. The 1994 genocide saw Hutu extremists kill more than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in a systematic attempt to exterminate an entire ethnic group. Since some 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazi Germany regime during World War II, Netanyahu will no doubt be able to empathize with those affected by the genocide. Rwanda’s ambassador to Israel, Joseph Rutabana, has previously said that the East African country holds up Israel as a template of how to recover from a tragedy on such a scale.

Israel’s Netanyahu in Uganda to Start 4-Nation Africa Tour

Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, second right foreground, walks next to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, center left, after his arrival at Entebbe airport Uganda, Monday, July 4, 2016. Netanyahu is on a four-nation Africa tour to Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Stephen Wandera)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country’s raid on Uganda’s Entebbe airport 40 years ago, in which his brother was killed, “changed the course” of his life and had a lasting influence on his country’s relations with Africa.

Speaking shortly after his arrival in Uganda, Netanyahu praised Israel’s commando raid on the airport which freed Israeli hostages from a hijacked plane. “International terrorism suffered a stinging defeat,” he said of the mission in July 1976.

The Entebbe rescue is a seminal event in Israeli history and is widely seen as one of the country’s greatest military successes. It also was a monumental event for Netanyahu, as the death of his brother, Yonatan, pushed him into the public eye and on a track that would take him to the country’s highest office.

An Israeli band played somber tunes at the airport on the shore of Lake Victoria to mark the anniversary of the Israeli rescue mission, during which three hostages were killed. A relative of one of the Israeli hostages lit a memorial flame as Netanyahu and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni stood in silence.

Netanyahu traveled to Uganda with soldiers and pilots who were members of the rescue team.

“This is a deeply moving day for me,” he said. “Forty years ago they landed in the dead of night in a country led by a brutal dictator who gave refuge to terrorists. Today we landed in broad daylight in a friendly country led by a president who fights terrorists.”

Netanyahu’s visit to Uganda starts his four-nation tour of Africa. He will also visit Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia.

“After many decades, I can say unequivocally Israel is coming back to Africa and Africa is coming back to Israel,” he said. “All of our peoples will benefit greatly from our growing partnership.”

Museveni said his government opposes the “indiscriminate use of violence” as well as bigotry. He said Uganda’s government supports a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

“The two of you belong to that area,” Museveni said, urging both sides to live “side by side in two states … in peace and with recognized borders.”

Netanyahu later attended a summit meeting of regional leaders focusing on security and the fight against Islamic extremists. In addition to Netanyahu and Museveni, the meeting was attended by the leaders of Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia. A communique at the end of the meeting said the leaders “emphasized the need for increased regional and international co-operation in all fields, including cyber security and information gathering to confront this scourge.”

Entebbe International Airport is where Netanyahu’s brother, Yonatan, was struck by a bullet as he led Israeli commandos in a daring rescue mission to rescue hijacked Israeli passengers. Israel’s success in the raid humiliated then-Ugandan President Idi Amin.

Four decades later, Uganda has good relations with Israel, which is courting allies to counter Palestine’s rising influence at the United Nations. While in Uganda Netanyahu will also attend a security-themed summit of regional leaders, including those from Kenya and Tanzania, said Don Wanyama, a spokesman for Uganda’s president.

Although the rescue mission breached Uganda’s territorial integrity, Amin, who had taken power by force and ruled as a dictator, had become an increasingly isolated figure and would soon be forced out of power with the help of Tanzanian forces. Museveni himself led one of several exile groups that waged a guerrilla war against Amin.

A lingering loathing of Amin, who was accused of many human rights atrocities and who died in Saudi Arabia in 2003, is one reason why many Ugandans today do not see the success of the Israeli raid – in which many Ugandan soldiers were killed and military equipment destroyed – as a disaster for Uganda. Yonatan Netanyahu was shot dead as he helped the Israeli hostages who had been held inside the airport terminal back onto the plane. His death made Yonatan an Israeli hero, and thrust Netanyahu toward public life.

Still, some Ugandans say Netanyahu’s historic visit should be a moment to mourn the Ugandan victims of the operation. Moses Ali, Uganda’s deputy prime minister who served as a government minister under Amin, told Uganda’s Daily Monitor newspaper that the rescue mission should not be celebrated by Ugandans.

“If you are siding with Israelis, then you can celebrate because it was their victory,” he said. “If you are not, then you should be mourning our dead ones.”

Israel wants African states to side with it at the U.N., where the General Assembly overwhelmingly recognized Palestine as a nonmember observer state in 2012. The Palestinians have used their upgraded status to launch a diplomatic offensive against Israel and its occupation of lands where the Palestinians hope to establish a future state.

“Israel has been on a mission to repair its image globally and more specifically within the U.N. where the Africa group has for decades now supported the Palestinian cause, and vote in general toward that end,” said Angelo Izama, a Ugandan analyst who runs a think tank called Fana Kwawote.

As a key U.S. ally on regional security, especially in violence-prone Somalia, Uganda is an attractive ally for Israel as well, according to Izama.

“Washington views the Museveni administration as a regional hegemon, a key to the security of the wider region. Uganda’s involvement in counter-terrorism in Somalia … and its significant expenditure on security goods, including arms and technology, are another reason” for Netanyahu’s visit, he said.

Netanyahu’s African trip has generated some controversy at home, due to the large size of his delegation, as well as the personal nature of the visit.

In an editorial published Monday, the Haaretz daily praised Netanyahu for strengthening Israel’s ties with Africa, but suggested that he was largely driven by his own emotional involvement. “Despite the expected success of the diplomatic and economic contacts, it’s hard to shake off the impression that the entire trip would not be taking place were it not for Netanyahu’s desire to take advantage of his official position in order to conduct a ceremony in the old Entebbe airport,” it wrote.

Netanyahu will travel to Kenya later on Monday.

Open door policy

Risks and rewards

“Obviously, I’m being investigated” Jonathan

Bodies of lawyer Willie Kimani, his client, and their driver found prior to police trial.

Killings are threat to rule of law in Kenya

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