The Ambrose Ehirim - Eeefy Ify Ike Interview Exclusive

 I had thought it was "I'll be right back" kind of trip, not knowing her insights would start effecting some changes upon arrival to her native Nigeria. Motivational speaker, author, style icon, host, model, actress, fashion designer and ambassador, Eeefy Ify Ike, in this exclusive interview tells me about what had compelled her to dedicate her life to community service and why it was important. Facing the challenges, she founded the Patriotic Movement to empower the youths. She also talked about women who had inspired her and what it meant to her. Her newest book "Queen Of Cyber Space" has just been published, which she also talked about. Follow Eeefy on Facebook, Twitter and her Facebook Style Page

Excerpt:

 What took you to Nigeria after almost 20 years living in the western World?

I just came to Nigeria for a usual visit to my family and then the occurrences in Nigeria encouraged me to stay longer.  I arrived with only 2 pieces of luggage with my clothes, shoes and gifts. Incredible! Eeefy living with less materials! Smile!

 What were these occurrences?

When I arrived Nigeria January 2012 there was a riot about SUBSIDY and that imposed curfew and movement restrictions that irked my spirit and provoked me to thinking about Nigeria and her desperate condition!  I witnessed many Nigerians  lamenting the need for division, believing that our national problems can only be resolved through it.  I disagree with their belief because from my grasp of our problems in this nation, they cannot be rectified through division.  We as citizens of Nigeria still do not understand the fundamental principles of building a healthy and progressive nation, thus division can only plunge us further into oblivion. We should rather work towards synergy that will definitely help to heal and build our nation.  We have been amalgamated but have not learned to co-exist and we should try.  We must learn to rise above our cultural and religious differences and respect and appreciate one another as human beings. I have also witnessed the possibility for unity.  I observe oneness with Nigerians during sports games competitions and so I believe we can employ the same principles to build Nigeria and live in harmony if we are willing!

Nigeria is a nation with great potential and with our human and natural resources we have the capacity to be one of the greatest nations in the world but we need attitudinal change and patriotism to build Nigeria to her full potential.  We need patriotic citizens! We need leaders with compassion, great visions and innovative ideas.  We need servants and not dictators like those we usually vote into office.

I told myself that change is necessary in this country but we must first become the change we want to see, for change starts from within and becomes projected into society. So I thought to myself, what can I do to contribute to the change I want to see? I realized that I could use my boldness and speaking skills to create awareness and inspire the youths.

 Then what did you do?

Well first I was introduced to a Presidential Special Advisor who employed my services to run an organization he started but had not developed.  I was proffered the job to develop an empowerment program under that club, which I spent almost 4 months developing with my staff which consisted of a group of university graduates that are very passionate Nigerians willing to work hard to contribute their creativity, time, funds and energy to build the Nation.  After 4 months of work and producing an impeccable program we could not reach an agreement for payment, so I took my unpaid staff and left!  After my exit I promised myself that I would not despair but take my experience as a challenge to complete my work here before I return to America. Thence Patriotic Movement was birthed!  

 You founded a youth organization called Patriotic Movement! What was the 

     inspiration behind working with the Nigerian youths?

We all want a change in our government because we believe government is responsible for the challenges in Nigeria. I agree that we should REVALUATE our method of governance and rewrite our constitution but I do not agree that government is entirely guilty of our dilemma!  I think Nigerians as a whole are guilty because the government are the people.  Today's citizen is tomorrow's leader.  An awful citizen makes an incompetent leader but a patriotic citizen makes a competent and just leader.  Good governance and effective leadership are constructed through patriotism and great nations are built by means of Justice, Human Rights, Creativity, Constructing, Building and Nurturing.  It takes a collective effort to resolve national challenges.

There is a general belief that the youths are the future and with their youthful exuberance, creative skills and innovative ideas they are obviously in the best position to continue to build our nation in the right direction, so they ought to be taught how to participate in building their own future and a successful nation.

So I set up an organization to promote peace, unity, patriotism and the raising of change vanguards amongst the Nigerian youths.  I believe that a nation plunged into chaos and disharmony in which the citizens are unpatriotic can never succeed so I need to promote these fundamental principles with my youth seminars. Furthermore, we hope to produce young men and women that will understand the true dynamics of leadership, so that the future generation can have better and competent leaders.  I am convinced that with such initiatives we can achieve our aim to heal and build Nigeria.  Now it is only realistic to say that I am aiming at a formidable height and many say it is a far-fetched goal but I believe with a collective effort it is possible. Perhaps it can come to fruition in future generations the older generation are already set in their ways, many government officials make it impossible for hardworking and creative youths to get a chance and rather exploit, abuse and manipulate them at will, the youths possess very low self esteem, are polluted in spirit and also steeped in the corruption that now governs our society.  As a woman and a believer in God I can only see a better future for Nigeria and so my hope drives my goals to inspire the youths.  We must lay the foundation now for those future generations.  We must create the right awareness and strive to instill great values in the youths to  impact their children and eventually these values will become a lifestyle and effect the change we wish to achieve for our nation.

Greatness cannot be achieved in one day and there are guiding principles that citizens of a nation must imbibe to build a progressive nation.

 You just published a new book, what is it about? What is it called? What inspired the

     writing and where can your readers find it?

Yes I have just published my second book last month called QUEEN OF CYBERSPACE. It is an inspirational book; a collective of my daily thoughts here in Nigeria that I share with fans on cyberspace, hence the title "Queen Of Cyberspace". At the moment it can be found in Silverbird Lifestyle store, Salamander Cafe and Cassava Republic book hut in Arts and Craft village all located in Abuja Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria... I'm making arrangements to send them to other Silverbird stores across the nation and Accra Ghana. It will also be loaded online.  

My first inspirational book was published in America " PEERING THROUGH THE DEPTHS OF LIFE" and can be found in Amazon and Barnes & Nobles in America.

My writings are inspired by my need to share my understanding of life hoping that my perceptions can lend those that are struggling a clearer perspective of life and their challenges and perhaps guide them towards gaining their own healing.

 When did you begin designing jewelry and handbags?

I started designing STYLE IS INNATE Jewelry early this year and only started designing bags a few months ago.

 What was the inspiration behind this creativity?

The jewelry was inspired by activities with my youth organization.  My organization is planning mass youth seminars across the country with regards to healing the nation.  We believe healing starts from discovery and to teach the youths how to participate in healing and building the nation we must acquire the required correct information to disseminate them. So I started to research and in the process I discovered some of our natural minerals and gemstones... Out of excitement and passion for jewelry and the need to enhance the beauty of women and heal their self esteem I started designing jewelry.  I soon realized that it is also a strong inspirational example for the unemployed youths who can explore that market and develop extra lucrative skills. In addition these natural stones also possess medicinal properties that a lot of people are not aware of. I am eager to learn and share them and perhaps someone in need of healing can use them accordingly.  The jewelry are being introduced to stores in Nigeria now.   I have also exported some of these beautiful handcrafted gems to the United States.  I want to promote the beauty of Nigeria to the world so that the westerners will learn to gain appreciation for our land.

 Who are your role models?

I have a few role models but I am going to mention only those that relate to my present projects.

I'm inspired by the talk show host Oprah for her strength. A woman that endured struggles in her early years but did not wallow in that failure. She rose above her challenges, took authority over her life and is now impacting the lives of others.

I'm inspired by Dora Akunyuli. Because of her determination in her fight against crime and illegal drugs in our society. And all the risks she took especially getting NAFDAC to burn down the factories and warehouses where illegal drugs were manufactured, stored and sold.  That is a stride to save lives that would have been destroyed by those illegal drugs. Her work was even recognized internationally.  That work specifically is a reflection of patriotism... Sacrificing for the growth of her country.  I am traveling that path with my organization - Patriotic Movement.  I crave to inspire the youths to heal and build this nation. I wish to inspire them to take authority of their lives and work to reach their full potential.

I'm inspired by Stella Okoli, a woman with indomitable spirit.  She felt the need to also save lives and thereby started a small pharmaceutical company that produces good drugs and that small business expanded over the years through her hard-work and consistency, now known as Emzor, her pharmaceutical company is now the flagship of credible indigenous drug manufacturers in Nigeria.

 What is your biggest passion in life?

My biggest passion in life is to be a voice for change!

 When do you intend going back home to the US?

I hope to return to my life in America after my upcoming event here in Abuja. Though I will go back and forth as I now have demanding projects in Nigeria, which includes my new jewelry and bag business and my youth movement.

  May I ask what your upcoming event is about?

My forthcoming event is the official launch of Patriotic Movement.  Though we have done events but have not launched officially.  The official launch begins with a very significant National program.  My organization Patriotic Movement has partnered with National Orientation Agency in Abuja Federal Capital Territory, which is a government agency authorized to carry out orientation programmes in the country.  We need prayers from everyone because it has been quite challenging with such program especially dealing with many ignorant, greedy and selfish authorities and government officials who are willing vessels of doom against our nation.

  Do you have any advice for fellow Nigerians in Diaspora?

Diasporans, you ought to consider making more efforts to heal and build Nigeria!  I understand your disappointments and frustrations. Believe me after spending 2 unplanned years working and struggling in Nigeria I realized life in Nigeria is even more difficult than I perceived it to be peering through my perfect lens from America. I realized the lack of structure in our country!  I realized our government has not made efforts to provide citizens the foundation upon which they can structure their lives, hence the high rate of crime.  However, you should contribute to the change you crave to see in Nigeria at least for the families you left behind.  Spend less time criticizing and more time exploring solutions.  We are the government that we are so eager to abuse. Without the intention to be redundant, today's citizen is tomorrow's leader.  Some of our incumbent ministers are even Diasporans that returned home to make a difference, so you could be the next governor or minister.  The lifestyle you relish in your country of residence can be duplicated here with your willingness, perseverance and hard-work!  They were human beings that came together to build that country you now enjoy, they are not machines!  Are they more superior beings than you?

Do not relegate yourself to the background and become a nuisance! The endless times spent on forums in cyberspace and gatherings spewing evil against Nigeria and fellow Nigerians, passing strictures at government and apportioning blames should be channeled into contributing to the change you want! Denying Nigeria is denying who you are! Nigeria and her ills is reflected in your image as a Nigerian, whether you like it or not, Naturalized in a foreign country or not and in spite of the perfect life you've made for yourself abroad.  

Nigeria beckons your creativity!

Nigeria beckons your energy!

Nigeria beckons your soul!

Nigeria beckons your patriotism!

Let us rise in our religious and cultural diversity and overcome our differences,

Let us join forces symbolically to appreciate our unique geographical entity!

Let us heal and build Nigeria and become the pride of Africa!

Eeefy and members of the Patriotic Movement she founded to empower the youths. The movement in its mission statement from its website says "NIGERIAN YOUTHS MUST RISE TO HEAL THE NATION AND THEY MUST DO SO THROUGH PATRIOTISM, PEACE AND UNITY. THERE IS POWER IN SYNERGY. IT TAKES A COLLECTIVE EFFORT TO RESOLVE A NATIONAL CHALLENGE."

Military: South Sudan Rebels Set Eyes On Capital

Displaced people who fled the recent fighting between government and rebel forces in Bor, prepare to sleep in the open at night in the town of Awerial, South Sudan Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014. The international Red Cross said Wednesday that the road from Bor to the nearby Awerial area "is lined with thousands of people" waiting for boats so they could cross the Nile River and that the gathering of displaced is "is the largest single identified concentration of displaced people in the country so far".

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (ASSOCIATED PRESS) — Rebels in South Sudan are forcibly recruiting civilians to march on the capital, the military said, even as representatives of the warring factions gathered in neighboring Ethiopia on Thursday for the start of peace talks.

The fighting underscored the challenge facing African mediators as they try to nudge two rivals —President Salva Kiir and ousted Vice President Riek Machar —toward the negotiating table after more than two weeks of bloody violence in the world's newest country.


South Sudan has been plagued by ethnic tension and a power struggle within the ruling party that escalated after Kiir dismissed Machar as his vice president in July, with the violence boiling over in mid-December. The rebels back Machar, who is now a fugitive sought by the military.

Rebels currently hold Bor, the capital of the key oil-producing state of Jonglei that is seeing some of the fiercest fighting of the conflict. Military spokesman Col. Philip Aguer said the central government had sent in reinforcements from Juba, the capital.

He said rebels were arming reluctant civilians as they focus on their next target: Juba. "Juba, that is their intention," he said. "They are trying to march to Juba. The (South Sudanese military) will return them to where they came from."

It was not possible to independently verify Aguer's account. The fighting has overshadowed efforts in neighboring Ethiopia, which is playing a leading role in trying to extract a cease-fire deal from both sides.

In Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, African mediators under the banner of a regional bloc met representatives for both sides, briefing them separately ahead of the official start of direct talks. Face-to-face meetings between the two groups were not expected to start until later in the week. One delegate from Machar's side said he believed the first direct meetings would happen on Saturday.

The United Nations and the African Union have said they support the efforts by East African leaders to broker peace in South Sudan. Kiir on Wednesday declared a state of emergency in the states of Jonglei and Unity, where rebels also control the capital.

The fighting has exposed ethnic rivalry between the country's two largest ethnic groups, the Dinka of Kiir and the Nuer of Machar. The U.N. says there is mounting evidence that people were targeted for their ethnicity.

More than 1,000 people have been killed and nearly 200,000 displaced by violence. Kiir insists the fighting was sparked by a coup attempt mounted by soldiers loyal to Machar on Dec. 15 in Juba. But that account has been disputed by some officials of the ruling party, who say the violence began when presidential guards tried to disarm their Nuer colleagues. From there, violence spread across the country, with forces loyal to Machar defecting and seizing territory from loyalist forces.

South Sudan's government said in Twitter updates Thursday that the military had formed committees to "investigate those involved in killing people," as well as the fight among presidential guards. It also said "criminals" accused of looting from civilians had been arrested.

Machar has criticized Kiir as a dictator and says he will contest the 2015 presidential election. South Sudan peacefully broke away from Sudan in 2011 following a 2005 peace deal. Before that, the south fought decades of war with Sudan.

Muhumuza reported from Kampala, Uganda.

Fire Damages San Francisco Chinese Consulate

Two men look at the damage to the entrance of the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2014. The consulate said in a notice on its website that a person came out of a van parked outside the compound Wednesday night with two buckets of gasoline, poured the fuel on the front of the consulate building and set it on fire.

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA (ASSOCIATED PRESS) — The Chinese Consulate in San Francisco said Thursday that its compound was damaged in an arson attack and urged American authorities to protect the safety of its diplomats and its premises.

The consulate said in a notice on its website that a person came out of a van parked outside the compound Wednesday night with two buckets of gasoline, poured the fuel on the front of the consulate building and set it on fire.

The consulate's notice, which was in Chinese, did not identify the individual or say how the consulate knew what had caused the fire. San Francisco police and firefighters arrived at the scene around 9:30 p.m. as crews brought the flames under control within minutes, fire department spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge said. She said the building's exterior and the lobby area suffered some damage.

No injuries were reported. San Francisco police and fire are working with the FBI. Calls to the FBI were not immediately returned on Thursday. The consulate notice called the incident "a sabotage of a vile nature" and said China had urged U.S. authorities to launch an immediate investigation. It also said an investigation was underway.

The fire caused "serious damage to the facilities of the consulate and endangered the safety of the consulate officials and the citizens living nearby. We express strong condemnation," the statement said.

Fatal Fire Again Highlights Senegal Child Beggary

Quranic school students pause during their begging route to look at academic results posted outside a government school, in the Medina Gounass suburb of Dakar, Senegal. Instruction at many daaras is focused purely on memorizing verses of the Quran in classical arabic. Students are not taught other subjects, leaving most illiterate in Senegal's official language, French, and the nation's most widely spoken language, Wolof.

NDAME, SENEGAL (ASSOCIATED PRESS) — Seven nights a week, 13-year-old Cheikhou and his younger brother Bamba would make their way to a wooden shack they shared with dozens of other barefoot child beggars, blanketing the floor with their tired bodies.

Then one night a knocked-over candle turned their home into an inferno. Cheikhou awoke to the sounds of people screaming. He joined some 50 boys fleeing for the door as neighbors filled plastic buckets, struggling in vain to put out the fire.

Cheikhou made it to safety, but at least eight young boys were dead, including his 10-year-old brother and three even younger cousins. The tragedy once again focused attention of the plight of the tens of thousands of Senegalese talibes, Islamic religious pupils, who are forced to double as street beggars.
In this West African country, Human Rights Watch has estimated that more than 50,000 boys are forced to beg while spending years in boarding schools called daaras. The government has tried for years to ban the practice, but it remains deeply embedded in Senegal, where many poor parents view it as the only way to provide an education for their sons.

An untold number of talibes have been run down and killed while begging in traffic but the March tragedy appeared to be a game changer, if only because three of the school's marabouts — teachers — were detained for questioning and President Macky Sall declared that all substandard daaras would be closed.

"Strong measures will be taken to put an end to the exploitation of children under the pretext that they are talibes," Sall said. "This tragedy forces us to intervene and identify everywhere that sites like this exist. They will be closed and the children will be returned to their parents."

But nine months after those strong words were spoken, no one is in custody and not a single daara has been shut. "We really feel betrayed ... it's truly slavery," said Bamba Fall, an assistant mayor for Dakar's Medina neighborhood where the fatal blaze broke out. He believes the criminal case was dropped because of pressure from higher-ranking religious leaders.

In an interview with The Associated Press, he said: "The children were exploited by day and crammed in together at night until their deaths."

Cheikhou and Bamba Diallo grew up in Ndame, a district of sand-blanketed streets on the outskirts of the holy city of Touba. Here their parents grow millet and sorghum, and raise goats. And when the boys' uncle opened his daara in Dakar, the capital, in 2008, Cheikhou was among the first children to make the 180-kilometer (110-mile) journey to enroll. Bamba and the cousins followed.

According to a 2010 study by Human Rights Watch, the begging begins each day at dawn and lasts on average nearly eight hours, while the afternoon and evening are spent studying.

The system is said to teach the pupils humility and prepare them for the difficulties of adult life. All the begged proceeds go to the marabout, who with 40 talibes in his daara can make the equivalent of nearly $500 a month — more than many civil servants earn.

For the boys of the Medina daara, recreation meant occasionally watching soccer matches on a neighbor's TV. Although their marabout insists he was humane and generous, neighbors say the boys often went barefoot, wearing men's filthy hand-me-downs and scrounging leftovers at Oulimata Fall's restaurant.

"It's very hard as a mother to imagine having a tiny child living like that," Fall said, wiping her sweaty brow as she stirred a large pot of thieboudienne, Senegal's signature dish of rice and fish.
No one knows just how many children lived in the doomed boarding house shared by students of three different marabouts. The government says it recorded 41 survivors and nine dead. Marabout Mountakha Diallo, says eight children died, including four nephews of his.

All that remains of the daara are some charred begging bowls and prayer mats. A boy's sandal lies amid the debris.

Neighbor Penda Ba, 24, says the horror stays with her. "I can still hear the boys screaming for help when I close my eyes," she said.

The boys' mothers learned about the fire on the radio; it was at Rue 6 x 19, the address where their sons were living.

Then a relative called to confirm the worst: 10-year-old Bamba and his 7-year-old cousins Ali, Samba and Ousmane, all members of an extended family back in the village, were gone. Burned beyond recognition, they were buried together in a cemetery on the outskirts of Dakar.

"They were always together in life and now they're together in death," says their aunt, Oumou Diallo, 27.

Cheikhou Mbow is the government official tasked with inspecting daaras. He acknowledges that until the fire, authorities had never visited the site, but insists it wasn't a true daara, just "a house where talibes lived."

The government says the long-term solution is to establish better schools in rural areas, where parents can keep an eye on them. It also says the problem is exacerbated by marabouts who import child beggars from poorer neighboring countries such as Guinea-Bissau.

Authorities questioned three marabouts with pupils who lived in the shack, including Mountakha Diallo, the uncle of four of the victims. If the bereaved hold anyone responsible for their losses, they keep it to themselves and say the tragedy was the will of God.

Diallo, 40, says the fact that he wasn't charged with any offense shows the fire was entirely accidental. Asked in an interview with The Associated Press who was responsible for the children living in a firetrap, he said fires could start in even the sturdiest of structures.

"People say that marabouts use these children for commercial gain, but for me that was never the case," he said. Of the nephews he lost, he said, "These were not strangers; these were family."
He also denied mistreating any of them.

"You would never find my talibes in the street after 8 p.m.," he said. "They took a shower every day and changed their clothes every day."

Cheikhou is back with his family in their village, Ndame. The families of the dead received 300,000 francs ($600) from the government.

And Mountakha Diallo is running a new school, this time in a woven reed hut in Ndame.
About a dozen students sit on the ground, hunched over wooden tablets, reading Quranic verses aloud or copying them in precise lines of Arabic script.

They no longer have to beg. Instead they spend their free time sitting in the shade, dressed in clean football jerseys and plastic sandals.

Cheikhou lives near his parents' house, but not in it. The marabout still requires the boys to sleep in the hut where they study.
Sitting on her bed at home, Cheikhou's mother Aida Diallo is steeling herself for the possibility she will again be separated from him. "If the marabout decides to leave for Dakar, he will go with him," she says, looking at the ground. Her eyes fill with tears.

"Dakar is no good," the boy mumbles, sitting beside his mother.

Months later the pain of four lost sons is keenly felt in Ndame. The marabout himself broke down in tears as he spoke of his lost nephews.

But the imperative of a proper Quranic education remains paramount.

Cheikhou's sole surviving brother, now 8, is still a talibe at another daara. His parents plan to keep him there too, despite all they have lost.

"I cannot explain the pain but we must accept it," says his father, Adama, the marabout's own brother. "It is the will of God."

Rama Diallo, the mother of Ali, remembers talking to the 7-year-old by phone only a week before the fire.

"I asked him, 'Are you studying?' And he said, 'Yes, Mama, I am learning well.' I had so many dreams for him."

She cherishes a faded picture of Ali in an orange soccer jersey and hasn't yet told her 4-year-old daughter Fatou that her older brother is gone.

"I remind her that Ali has gone to Dakar," she says as she gently strokes Fatou's hair. "And then she always asks 'When is he coming home?'"

Ali's father, Mohamed, holds his 2-year-old son, Babacar, and covers his face with kisses.
"It is the marabout who decides where the child goes," he says, smiling at the tot. "The rest of the children will be talibes too."

Associated Press writers Djibril Ndiaye and Rebecca Blackwell contributed to this report.

US Drone Strike In Pakistan Kills 3 Militants

Pakistani protesters burn a representation of the U.S. flag to condemn American drone strikes on militants' hideouts in Pakistani tribal areas, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2013 in Multan, Pakistan. A suspected American drone fired two missiles at a home in a northwestern tribal region bordering Afghanistan, killing several foreign militants, two Pakistani intelligence officials said Thursday.

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (ASSOCIATED PRESS) — A suspected American drone fired two missiles at a home in a northwestern tribal region of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, killing at least three foreign militants, Pakistani intelligence officials said Thursday.

The U.S. authorities often target Taliban, al-Qaida and their Pakistani supporters in the country's tribal regions. The latest strike took place just before midnight Wednesday in the village of Qutab Khel in North Waziristan and initial reports gathered from their agents in the field suggested the slain men were Arabs, the two intelligence officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

The American drone program is extremely unpopular in Pakistan because it is perceived as killing innocent civilians, which the U.S. denies. Many in Pakistan also consider it an affront to their sovereignty but the U.S. has shown no indication it is willing to halt the program.

Angered over the strikes, supporters from cricket star-turned politician Imran Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaf party in the northwest have been protesting along a main road used to truck NATO troop supplies in and out of Afghanistan for the past month, forcing the U.S. to stop shipments out of Afghanistan.

Khan has urged the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to force the U.S. to end drone attacks and block NATO supplies across the country. On Thursday, about 150 supporters from Khan's party on the outskirts of the southwestern city of Quetta briefly blocked trucks carrying supplies for NATO forces heading toward Afghanistan, said a senior police official Abdul Rauf. But he said police ordered them to allow the trucks to proceed.

Trucks carrying NATO supplies pass through Quetta, the capital of southwestern Baluchistan province, before going through the Chaman border crossing — one of two routes used for supplies. The other route is further north.
"We briefly stopped some of the NATO trucks this morning, but now we are just holding a peaceful rally against the drone attacks," said Abdul Wali Shakir, a spokesman for the Jamaat-e-Islami party, which also attended the rally, demanding an end to the drone strikes.

Drone strikes have been a source of tension between Islamabad and Washington. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry condemned the latest strike in a statement Thursday, saying such attacks were a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity. "There is an across-the-board consensus in Pakistan that these drone strikes must end," it said.

"Such strikes also set dangerous precedents in the inter-state relations," it said, adding the strikes had a negative impact on the government's efforts to bring peace and stability in Pakistan and the region.
Islamabad and the country's political parties regularly denounce the attacks as a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty, although the country's government is known to have supported some of the strikes in the past. The tension has further complicated a relationship that Washington views as vital to fight al-Qaida and the Taliban, as well as negotiate peace in Afghanistan.

The land routes through Pakistan from the southern port city of Karachi have been key to getting supplies to NATO troops in Afghanistan. They now increasingly are being used to ship equipment out of Afghanistan as the U.S. seeks to withdraw most of its troops from the country by the end of 2014.

Associated Press Writer Abdul Sattar in Quetta contributed to this report.

Russia: Arafat's Death Not Caused By Radiation

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat pauses during an emergency cabinet session at his compound in the West Bank town of Ramallah. A Russian probe into the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has found no trace of radioactive poisoning, the chief of the government agency that conducted the study said Thursday, Dec. 26, 2013.

MOSCOW, RUSSIA (ASSOCIATED PRESS) — A Russian probe into the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has found no trace of radioactive poisoning — a finding that comes after a French probe found traces of the radioactive isotope polonium and a Swiss investigation said the timeframe of his illness and death was consistent with that of polonium poisoning.

Vladimir Uiba, the head of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency, said Thursday that Arafat died of natural causes and the agency had no plans to conduct further tests. Teams of scientists from France, Switzerland and Russia were asked to determine whether polonium, a rare and extremely lethal substance, played a role in Arafat's death in a French military hospital in 2004.

French experts found traces of polonium but said it was "of natural environmental origin," according to Arafat's widow, Suha Arafat. Swiss scientists, meanwhile, said they found elevated traces of polonium-210 and lead, and that the timeframe of Arafat's illness and death was consistent with poisoning from ingesting polonium.

Uiba spoke at a news conference on Thursday. In October, he was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying that Arafat "could not have been poisoned by polonium" and that "traces of such a substance were not found."

It was not immediately clear how the three investigations could have come up with different conclusions. Palestinians have long suspected Israel of poisoning Arafat, which Israel denies. Russia, meanwhile, has had strong ties with Palestinian authorities since Soviet times when Moscow supported their struggle.

Dr. Abdullah Bashir, the head of the Palestinian medical committee investigating Arafat's death, said they were studying the Russian and Swiss reports. "When we finish we are going to announce the results," Bashir said in a telephone interview from Amman, Jordan. He wouldn't say when that might be.
Arafat's widow filed a legal complaint in France seeking an investigation into whether he was murdered after a 2012 report which said traces of polonium were found on his clothes. As part of that probe, French investigators had Arafat's remains exhumed and ordered a series of tests on them.
Polonium occurs naturally in very low concentrations in the Earth's crust and also is produced artificially in nuclear reactors. There are also tiny, generally undetectable amounts of polonium in humans.

Palestinian Ambassador to Russia, Fayed Mustafa, was quoted by state RIA Novosti news agency Thursday as saying that the Palestinian authorities respect the Russian experts' conclusions but consider it necessary to continue research into Arafat's death.

Uiba said, however, that his agency hasn't received any Palestinian request for additional studies. Arafat died Nov. 11, 2004, a month after falling ill at his West Bank headquarters. At the time, French doctors said he died of a stroke and had a blood-clotting problem, but records were inconclusive about what caused that condition.

Polonium can be a byproduct of the chemical processing of uranium, but usually it's made artificially in a nuclear reactor or a particle accelerator. Dozens of countries including Russia, Israel and the U.S. have the nuclear capability to produce polonium.

One of the most famous and recent cases of polonium-210 poisoning was that of ex-KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko who died in London in 2006 after drinking tea laced with the radioactive isotope. Britain has accused two Russians of the 2006 killing, but Moscow has refused to extradite them.

Mohammed Daraghmeh contributed to this report from Ramallah, West Bank.

Six Chadian Peacekeepers Killed In Central African Repubublic

French soldiers drive past the burnt-out shell of a pick-up truck in the Gobongo neighborhood of Bangui, Central African Republic, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2013. Residents and anti-balaka militiamen claimed the neighborhood had been attacked by Chadian soldiers firing rockets, and that anti-balaka militiamen had retaliated by destroying a pick-up truck carrying soldiers with a grenade. Their account could not be independently verified. Several nearby homes and shops were destroyed. The spokesman for an African Union peacekeeping force says six Chadian peacekeepers were killed and 15 were wounded, after being attacked Wednesday. The Chadian contingent, which is made up of Arabic-speaking Muslim soldiers, has been accused of taking sides against the Christian population in the country's sectarian conflict.

BANGUI, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC (ASSOCIATED PRESS) — Elodiane Baalbe hid underneath her bed as gunfire echoed around her on Christmas Day in the capital of Central African Republic. When it finally died down on Thursday, she made a dash for safety, hiding behind houses as she fled her neighborhood.

On her way out she passed the calcified car of a unit of Chadian peacekeepers, the charred body of one soldier still upright in the vehicle inside. "I had my 3-year-old on my back. I looked for a second, and then I kept running," she said.

A total of six Chadian soldiers from the African Union peacekeeping force were killed on Christmas Day in the Gobongo neighborhood of the capital, the AU said. Their destroyed car, with some of their remains, had still not been removed a day later, underscoring how dangerous this chaotic country has become, even for the international forces tasked with pacifying it.

"A total of six Chadian soldiers were killed and 15 were wounded in an ambush at noon yesterday. The assailants have not yet been identified," said African Union mission spokesman Eloi Yao. The Central African Republic has tilted into anarchy, as the country's Christian majority seeks revenge against the Muslim rebels who seized power in a coup nine months ago. Both Christian and Muslim civilians are now armed, and the international troops brought in to try to rein in the violence are accused of having taken sides.

The Chadians, part of an African Union force made up of soldiers from several neighboring nations, are Muslim and are seen by the population as backing the Seleka rebels who toppled the nation's Christian president in March. Earlier this week when Christians marched on the capital, an Associated Press journalist saw a unit of Chadian peacekeepers drive into the crowd. Moments later, gunfire rang out, suggesting they had opened fire on the crowd.

On the flip side, the 1,600 French troops who were deployed here in the first week of December are accused of backing the nation's Christian majority. Their patrols have come under fire in Muslim neighborhoods, like the tense streets of Kilometer 5.

Caught in the middle are civilians, both Christians and Muslims, who are now bearing the brunt of collective punishment. Militiamen have been seen desecrating the corpses of their victims. An AP journalist saw Christian fighters known as anti-Balaka brandishing the severed penis of one dead victim, and the hacked off foot of another. Unclaimed bodies left to rot were found missing their genitals. Another was missing his nose.

The barbarity unleashed on the streets of this capital has surprised many. Although chronically poor, the Central African Republic was relatively stable for the 10 years following its second-to-last coup in 2003. That military takeover brought Christian leader Francois Bozize to power.

Though he was accused of favoring members of his ethnic group, and further marginalizing the Muslim minority, based in the country's north, the country never saw violence on the scale it is witnessing now.

On Thursday, the United Nations emergency response office said in a statement that some 639,000 people out of a population of 4.5 million are displaced. Altogether 2 million people need humanitarian aid — almost half the country.

Baalbe, a 36-year-old midwife, is now at the airport, sharing the asphalt with tens of thousands of other mostly Christian refugees. At her side are her six children — the youngest a 3-year-old toddler.
"I carried him on my back and like that I ran all the way here, to the airport. In Gobongo, I saw the burnt-out car. They burnt those people (the Chadians) just like that. I saw their cadavers inside, and then I fled," she said.

__ Callimachi contributed to this report from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press staffers Rebecca Blackwell in Bangui, and Baba Ahmed in Dakar, Senegal, also contributed to this report.