With military pomp and traditional rituals, South Africa buried
Nelson Mandela on Sunday, the end of an exceptional journey for the prisoner
turned president who transformed the nation.
Mandela was laid to rest in his
childhood village of Qunu. Tribal leaders clad in animal
skins joined dignitaries in dark suits at the grave site overlooking the
rolling green hills. As pallbearers walked toward the
site after a funeral ceremony, helicopters whizzed past dangling the national
flag. Cannons fired a 21-gun salute, its echoes ringing over the quiet village.
Mandela's widow, Graca Machel,
dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief as she watched the proceedings. "Yours was truly a long walk
to freedom. Now you have achieved the ultimate freedom in the bosom of God,
your maker," an officiator at the grave site said. Military pallbearers gently
removed the South African flag that draped the coffin and handed it to
President Jacob Zuma, who gave it to Mandela's family. At the request of the family, the lowering of the casket was cloWith
military pomp and traditional rituals, South Africa buried Nelson Mandela on
Sunday, the end of an exceptional journey for the prisoner turned president who
transformed the nation. Mandela was laid to rest in his
childhood village of Qunu. Tribal leaders clad in animal
skins joined dignitaries in dark suits at the grave site overlooking the
rolling green hills. As pallbearers walked toward the
site after a funeral ceremony, helicopters whizzed past dangling the national
flag. Cannons fired a 21-gun salute, its echoes ringing over the quiet village. Mandela's widow, Graca Machel,
dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief as she watched the proceedings. "Yours was truly a long walk
to freedom. Now you have achieved the ultimate freedom in the bosom of God,
your maker," an officiator at the grave site said. Military pallbearers gently
removed the South African flag that draped the coffin and handed it to
President Jacob Zuma, who gave it to Mandela's family. At the request of the family, the lowering of the casket was cloWith
military pomp and traditional rituals, South Africa buried Nelson Mandela on
Sunday, the end of an exceptional journey for the prisoner turned president who
transformed the nation.
Mandela was laid to rest in his
childhood village of Qunu. Tribal leaders clad in animal
skins joined dignitaries in dark suits at the grave site overlooking the
rolling green hills. As pallbearers walked toward the
site after a funeral ceremony, helicopters whizzed past dangling the national flag.
Cannons fired a 21-gun salute, its echoes ringing over the quiet village. Mandela's widow, Graca Machel,
dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief as she watched the proceedings. "Yours was truly a long walk
to freedom. Now you have achieved the ultimate freedom in the bosom of God,
your maker," an officiator at the grave site said. Military pallbearers gently
removed the South African flag that draped the coffin and handed it to
President Jacob Zuma, who gave it to Mandela's family. At the request of the family, the
lowering of the casket was closed to the
media . Source ( CNN)
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VOA Amharic Service
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The coach of
the Eritrean national football team Omer Ahmed and eight of his players have
disappeared in Kenya in order to defect, IBTimes UK can exclusively
report. The defection follows last week's disappearance of two members of the national team.
The Red Sea Camels are in Kenya for the Cecafa Cup. The players went into
hiding in an undisclosed location in Kenya and are now seeking UNHR protection.
"We are hiding because police from the Eritrean embassy are hunting
us," one unnamed player told IBTimes UK. "The reason why we
are fleeing is obvious and doesn't need to be repeated." It is not the
first time players from the national squad have defected abroad. Last December,
17 players and the team doctor claimed asylum in Uganda. In 2009, a dozen members
of the national team disappeared in Kenya. "Our main concern is
safety, that's why we are seeking UN protection," the player told
IBTimes UK. "Once we are protected and safe, we can go to a democratic
and safe country."
The men also fear backlash back at home, where they have left family
and children. "We are really scared and anything scares us at the moment.
We want people to know and sympathise with us," he said. Eritrea is
considered one of the continent's most opaque countries. National elections
have not been held since it gained independence in 1993. The country is
governed by the one-party authoritarian rule of President Isaias Afewerki, who has been in power for 20 years.
Torture, arbitrary detention and severe restrictions on freedom of expression
are routine. Mandatory military service imposed on all men and women
between 18 and 55 is one of the main causes of flight
from the country. It has been calculated that 4,000 Eritreans leave the country
every month and, according to a 2008 estimate, 40,000 Eritreans live in
Britain. A recent study stated that between 2007 and 2012, some 25,000 to 30,000
Eritrean migrants were trafficked by Eritrean and Sudanese security officers,
who collude with Bedouin gangs in the Sinai.
Source ( IB Times) 
