Human climate change big factor in Somali famine

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Human-induced climate change contributed to low rain levels in East Africa in 2011, making global warming one of the causes of Somalia's famine and the tens of thousands of deaths that followed, a new study has found.

It is the first time climate change was proven to be partially to blame for such a large humanitarian disaster, an aid group said Friday.

Three climate scientists with Britain's national weather service studied weather patterns in Somalia in 2010 and 2011 and found that yearly precipitation known as the short rains failed in late 2010 because of the natural effects of the weather pattern La Nina.

But the lack of the long rains in early 2011 was an effect of "the systematic warming (of Earth) due to influence on greenhouse gas concentrations on the long rains," said Peter Scott of Britain's National Weather Service, known as the Met Office.

The British government estimates that between 50,000 and 100,000 people died from the famine. But the new research doesn't mean global warming directly caused those deaths.

Ethiopia and Kenya were also affected by the lack of rains in 2011, but aid agencies were able to work more easily in those countries than in war-ravaged Somalia, where the al-Qaida-linked Islamic extremist group al-Shabab refused to allow food aid into the wide areas under its control.

Still, the new research proves for the first time that climate change was one of the triggers for the drought, which was one of the causes of the famine, said Senait Gebregziabher, the Somalia country director for the aid group Oxfam.

"Climate change is not a threat that may hurt us in the future, because it is already causing a rise for humanitarian needs," Gebregziabher said. "In the coming decades, unless urgent action is taken to slash greenhouse gas emissions, temperatures in East Africa will continue to rise and rainfall patterns will change. This will create major problems for food production and availability."

Scott said that the evidence is "very strong" that the planet is warming due to an increase ingreenhouse gases. He noted that the study found that both natural causes — La Nina and the short rains — and man-made causes contributed to Somalia's drought.

The study found that between 24 percent and 99 percent of the cause of the failure of the 2011 rains can be attributed to the presence of man-made greenhouse gases, Scott said.

The study was not able to predict how climate change will affect Somalia's rainfall in coming years, but some Somali leaders are concerned. Ahmed Awale works for the non-profit group Candlelight, which is dedicated to improving conservation and the environment. He said Somali's climate has been changing for many decades, with rainfall patterns becoming more erratic.

A study by his group has found tree species dying on the coast because of the hotter weather. What he called "mist forests" exist in Somalia's highlands, he said, but they too are drying out because of decreasing rain and increasing temperatures. That led his group to carry out a study called "Climate Change Stole Our Mist."

"If you miss one of the two rainy seasons we have a very severe drought. The other indicator is that there is a rise in temperature," he said, adding later: "This all negatively impacts the livelihood of the people. Most of Somalis depend mostly on pastoral production."

Syrian rebel chief: 'We will not give up'

BRUSSELS (AP) — The chief of Syria's main, Western-backed rebel group marked the second anniversary of the start of the uprising against President Bashar Assad on Friday by pledging to fight until the "criminal" regime is gone.

Gen. Salim Idris, the head of the Supreme Military Council, called on Syrian soldiers to join the rebels in a "fight for freedom and democracy," and said: "Dear friends, the Free Syrian Army(fighters) will not give up."

In Damascus, authorities beefed up security measures as rebel groups called for stepped-up attacks on government troops and state institutions on the anniversary.

The revolt against Assad's authoritarian rule began in March 2011 with protests in the southern city of Daraa, after troops arrested teenagers who scrawled anti-regime graffiti on a wall. It has since morphed into a civil war that has killed an estimated 70,000 people, according to the U.N.

"We want (a) Syria where every Syrian can live in peace and liberty. This is our dream. This is what we are fighting for," Idris said in a video address obtained by The Associated Press form the military council's media office.

He spoke in an undisclosed location in northern Syria that is under rebel control.

"I know our battle is not so easy. We have to fight against planes, tanks and huge missiles," Idris said. "But our will is still very strong. We will not stop until this criminal regime has gone."

Idris, 55, studied in Germany and taught electronics at a Syrian military college before defecting to the rebel side in July.

In the past year, the rebels have made significant advances on the battlefield, capturing large swathes of land outside of major cities and along the border with Turkey and controlling some areas in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria's largest urban center and its commercial hub. They have also seized border crossings along the frontier with Turkey and Iraq and have overrun major military bases. They captured dams on the Euphrates River and came within a mile of the center of Damascus, the seat of Assad's power.

On Friday, rebels battled regime forces in several smaller army bases and weapons depots around Aleppo, seizing some ammunition in Khan Touman in the city's outskirts, according to opposition group.

An activist in Aleppo province, who is widely known as Yassin Abu Raed, said rebels led by the Jabhat al-Nusra and other Islamic radical groups also seized control of a checkpoint protecting a military academy.

Abu Raed, who did not give his real name for fear of persecution by the regime, also said rebels seized a missile base in al-Rashideen area in Aleppo province. Another activist group, The Observatory for Human Rights, said fighting for the missile base was ongoing.

The rebels have long complained that their side is hampered by the failure of world powers to provide heavier arms to help them battle Assad's better-equipped military and his airpower. The international community is reluctant to send weapons partly because of fears they may fall into the hands of extremists who have been gaining influence among the rebels.

Last month, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the Obama administration was giving an additional $60 million in assistance to Syria's political opposition and would, for the first time, provide non-lethal aid directly to the rebels. None of the aid, which is to include an undetermined amount of food rations and medical supplies, has been sent yet.

On Friday, leaders at a European Union summit failed to agree if they should send arms to the rebels.

An EU embargo prohibits any arms from being sent to Syria, whether to the rebels or to the Assad regime. That embargo is scheduled to remain in effect until May, when it will either be renewed or allowed to expire.

France and Britain have argued that they should be able supply arms to the rebels, saying the Assad regime is receiving arms from Russia and Iran. France and Britain claim that with more weaponry, the rebels could defend themselves and the civilian population and members of the Assad regime would see more clearly a need to negotiate a political settlement.

On Friday, some anti-government groups called for stepped-up attacks to mark the anniversary of the uprising. The banned Islamist Muslim Brotherhood group urged supporters for a "week of action" on the occasion but didn't specify what it would do.

A Damascus-based activist who identified himself as Abu Qais said regime troops increased patrols and security searches in the country's capital. He spoke on condition his real name not be used for security concerns.

In neighboring Lebanon, gunmen set fire to three fuel tankers with Syrian license plates to prevent them from crossing into Syria, the state-run National News Agency said.

The Lebanese news agency said the incident occurred in the northern city of Tripoli, and that the tankers were carrying fuel when they were stopped by the protesters and later set on fire. No casualties were reported.

In the past, protesters have closed roads to keep tankers from crossing into Syria, where there are severe gasoline and diesel shortages. They claim diesel exported to Syria is being used by regime tanks.

Many among Lebanon's Sunni Muslims have backed Syria's mainly Sunni rebel forces, in which radical Islamists have become increasingly active. Lebanese Shiite Muslims, including the militant Hezbollah group, have leaned toward Assad, whose tiny Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

Separately, the Syrian Foreign Ministry complained in a letter sent to the Lebanese government on Thursday that armed groups have tried to infiltrate Syria from Lebanon repeatedly in the past 36 hours, triggering clashes with border guards.

Damascus said Syrian troops have exercised "utmost self-restraint" until now but warned that "this would not continue endlessly."

Also on Friday, at least eight Syrians were killed and 29 were injured when the bus they were traveling in from Syria overturned in the mountains in central Lebanon, officials said. The bus was headed to the Lebanese capital, Beirut, when the accident occurred in the Kahhaleh region.

George Kettaneh, operations director for the Lebanese Red Cross, said the casualties included women and children. He said it's unclear why the bus overturned.

It was not immediately known whether the Syrians were refugees fleeing the violence at home. The bus had Syrian license plates from the northeastern Hassakeh province, which recently witnessed heavy clashes.

More than 1 million Syrians have fled the country's civil war to seek shelter in neighboring countries. In Lebanon alone, the U.N. has registered more than 360,000 Syrian refugees.

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Pope urges leaders of crisis-hit Church not to be discouraged

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Friday urged leaders of a Roman Catholic Church riven by scandal and crisis never to give in to discouragement and bitterness but to keep their eyes on their true mission.

"Let us never give in to the pessimism, to that bitterness, that the devil places before us every day. Let us not give into pessimism and discouragement," he told cardinals gathered in the Sistine Chapel to greet him.

Since his election on Wednesday night as the first non-European pope in nearly 1,300 years, Francis has been laying out a clear moral path for the 1.2-billion-member Church, which is beset by scandals, intrigue and strife.

His initial actions suggest he will bring a new style to the papacy, favoring humility and simplicity over pomp and grandeur.

In the Sistine Chapel, the same place where he was elected, he spoke to the cardinals in Italian from a prepared text but often added off-the-cuff comments in what has already become the hallmark of a style in sharp contrast to his predecessor, Benedict.

He told the cardinals that the role of older people in the Church was to pass on optimism and hope to younger generations looking for spiritual guidance in a modern world full of temptations.

"We are in old age. Old age is the seat of wisdom," he said, speaking slowly. "Like good wine that becomes better with age, let us pass on to young people the wisdom of life."

During the meeting he briefly stumbled as he descended the steps in front of his throne to greet Angelo Sodano, dean of the cardinals, but he quickly recovered his balance.

After his address, Francis jovially greeted each of the some 150 cardinals in the room. He remained standing while spending about a minute with each of them and often broke into laughter.

(Reporting By Philip Pullella and Catherine Hornby; editing by Barry Moody)