Nov 22

Ghailani: Africa yawns

Africa, Kenya, Tanzania Comments Off

The reaction to the Ghailani verdict in Kenya and Tanzania is remarkable: there is none.

In Kenya, the Nation ran one BBC story on the conviction of the Tanzanian man for his role in the bombings that killed more than 200 people–and nothing since. None of the editorialists in the Daily Times or  The Citizen in Dar es Salaam have written on Ghailani’s conviction. None of the sub-Sahran bloggers at Global Voices have commented.

I have not done a more comprehensive search but it seems safe to say that justice for Ghailani matters more to Americans who were not attacked by him than to Africans who were.

A couple of tentative guesses about why:

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Nov 21

Africa on Ghailani: Give me a minute

Africa, East Africa, Kenya, Tanzania Comments Off

While the American blogosphere gears up for righteous combat over the conviction of Ahmed Ghailani on one count of terrorism, it might be worth noting that public commenters of  Kenya and Tanzania are not much interested. Check out the independent Nation, the business-minded East African, and the tabloid Standard in Kenya, or the Arusha Times in Tanzania. They have not taken up the news out of New York.

It is as if journalists in these countries, already subject to al-Qaeda attack in 1998, do not see themselves as a long-sufferings victims of Ghailani or an imminent target of al-Qaeda today. I could be wrong. Maybe they do not live in our 24/7/60/60 world.

But why pause for reflection when we can enjoy the recriminations (#Ghailani) of symbolic analysts on the eastern seaboard of North America?

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Nov 20

Around the world with Ghailani

Africa, Tanzania Comments Off

In Washington, the conviction of the accused terrorist feels like a defeat for the Obama administration, says Washington Post.

In Tanzania, where the August 7, 1998 blast killed 11 people and wounded 85,  the story plays as Ahmed Ghailani was “cleared.”

In fact, he spends the rest of his life incarcerated. But will the popularly understood story in Africa be: American justice clears al-Qaeda?

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