Africa Research Bulletin January 2013

AfricaResearchBulletin Political

Social andCultural Series

Volume 49 Number 12 December 1st–31st 2012

CENTRAL AFRICANREPUBLICRebel Offensive

The Seleka coalition of anti-governmentforces defies UN and AU calls to pullback, seizing key towns in a lightningadvance.

Rebels in the Central African Republicsaid on December 31st that PresidentFrancois Bozize “must go” and vowed totake the key town of Damara, the laststrategic settlement between them andthe country’s capital, Bangui. They dis-missed the president’s offer to form anational unity government.

Foreign ministers in the EconomicCommunity of Central African States(CEEAC), which sent in troops to tryand halt the rebel advance, announcedlate on December 28th that more troopsof the Central African MultinationalForce (FOMAC) would be sent.

“Bozize must go, it’s clear. We aredemanding his exit, that he step down,”said the spokesman for rebel coalitionSeleka, Eric Massi. He said the demand

was in response to the advance ofgovernment troops toward positionscaptured by the rebels during theirlightning three-week advance to within160km of the capital.

President Bozize’s appeals for help fromformer colonial power France and fromthe United States fell on deaf ears.Although France sent in 100 paratroop-ers, they were only there to protectFrench nationals and not the Bozizeregime. The US evacuated its nationals.

Nightfall in Bangui’s normally bustlingstreets brought an eerie quiet to thecapital, where authorities enacted a cur-few ahead of a possible rebel move onthe city.

Men carrying machetes and arrowspatrolled the deserted roads to ward offwould-be looters. Many in the impover-ished city of almost a million residentswere afraid.

Rebels from the coalition known asSeleka, who took up arms on December10th near the border with Chad and havemet little resistance from governmenttroops, on December 30th warned theycould enter Bangui.

After the December 29th curfewannouncement, shops, restaurants andbars quickly shut and traffic on the city’sdusty roads all but disappeared. Inoutlying neighbourhoods, authoritieshave asked groups of young men toput up roadside barriers to stave off anyrebel advance. But some residents grum-bled these “self-defence” groups wereextorting locals.

These areas are strongholds of Bozize,and at the edge of the ever-shrinkingarea held by loyalist troops. The CARarmy has offered scant resistance to therebels and is underpaid, poorly organ-ised and ill-equipped.

The CAR is predominantly Christianand many say the rebels are largely

This issue pp. 19511–46

North Africa

Libya Borders Closed 19514

Algeria – Security Belt 19515

Mali

Prime Minister Resigns 19517

UN Approval At Last 19531

Egypt

Referendum ‘Yes’ Vote 19518

Ghana

Presidential Election 19521

DR Congo

Back From The Brink? 19527

December Key Events 19528

War Crimes Acquittal 19541

Nigeria

Security Tightened 19533

Contents

Continental Alignments 19513

Internal Developments 19516

National Security 19527

Military 19539

Overseas Relations 19541

Social and Cultural 19543

Rates 19545

Index 19546

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Published monthly since 1964 http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/arbp

© Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2013. ISSN 0001 9844

Muslim, leading to discriminationagainst the religious group. InteriorMinister Jose Binoua said the groupswere working to help police identify“anyone who seems suspicious”, butstressed any racketeering or aggressionwould be sanctioned. Still, witnessesspeak of unlawful arrests and disappear-ances, especially targeting Muslims.

Opposition leader and former primeminister Martin Ziguele on December30th denounced these practices and the“search for scapegoats… We have noneed for extra forces or special organi-sations to help the security situation,” hesaid.

Massi, who has not ruled out attackingthe capital, said he is worried about thesecurity situation there and about sus-

pected sympathisers being harassed. Heaccused the security forces of attackingmembers of ethnic groups seen as rebelsympathisers – the government has pre-viously denied such claims and said thatAfrican peacekeepers must be deployedto protect northerners living in Bangui.“If they don’t do that, we will protectthem ourselves,” he said. (© AFP, Libre-ville & Bangui 31/12;BBC news online 31/12)

Threat to Regime

In a statement on December 17th, theSeleka coalition said that unless theBozize administration agreed to discussits grievances over peace terms, theinsurgents would do all they can “tochange, sooner or later, this predatoryregime.”

“We will not pull back from our posi-tions on the ground until there is asincere dialogue with the regime,”Michel Djotodia, one of the leaders ofthe rebel coalition, told AFP on Decem-ber 20th.

“Only in this way are we going tomaintain the pressure on the Banguiregime,” he added, after Seleka forcescontinued their advance by capturing thekey diamond-mining and garrison townof Bria. “We are not looking to takepower. We just want our rights to berecognised.”

Chadian Communications and Informa-tion Minister Hassan Sylla Bakari said itwould play the role of facilitator andnegotiations were scheduled.

The rebels took Ndele, a major northerntown close to the Chadian border, onDecember 15th. 14 soldiers were killedand 40 missing after the Ndele clashes,according to the army.

The rebels then seized the town ofBatangafo in the northwest of the coun-try, a military source said, while thearmy recaptured Kabo in the north.

A Central African military official said aChadian intervention force arrived atKaga Bandoro, southwest of Ndele,where they joined Central Africantroops to back them up “in the coun-ter-attack aimed at retaking towns thathave fallen into the hands of the rebels”.The rebels, however, seized Kaga Band-aro on December 25th. With each rebeladvance, most government troops havereportedly fled while residents havetaken refuge in the bush.

Central African Defence Minister Jean-Francois Bozize, the son of the president,said that the army was undertakingwithdrawals “to organise themselves”.“Our troops are not falling back, theyare using strategies to get organised andto advance,” he said. The army isunderpaid, under-motivated and badlymanaged, AFP pointed out.

Opposition politicians, former colonialpower France, the African Union (AU)and the UN Security Council all calledon the rebels to halt their offensive.

The AU called for urgent funding andlogistical support for the regionalpeacekeeping mission set up to restorestability. The Mission for the Consoli-dation of Peace in the CAR (MICO-PAX) was set up by the CEEAC aftertalks in Libreville, Gabon. Despite allthese calls and meetings of regionalleaders, the rebels continued toadvance.

Mr Bozize seized power in a coup in2003 and has twice since been electedinto office, in 2005 and 2011. Bozize hasnever fully controlled the north, and

CAR – Advance of the Seleka Coalition

Fighters of the Seleka rebel coalition havetaken over large parts of the country sincetaking up arms on December 10th.

The Seleka (“alliance” in the Sango lan-guage) coalition was formed in August bydissident factions from two rebel groupsthat had signed peace deals with the gov-ernment as well as a third one which hasnot: the Union of Democratic Forces forUnity (UFDR), Democratic Front for theCentral African People (FDPC), and theConvention of Patriots for Justice andPeace (CPJP).

They say the government has not honouredpeace accords signed between 2007 and2011 that offered financial support andother help for insurgents who laid downtheir arms.

10th: Heavy fighting breaks out betweenrebels and forces of the Central AfricanRepublic in the key northern city of Ndele,causing many residents to flee.

18th: Seleka rebels seize the central garrisontown of Bria, a key hub of the country’smain diamond-mining region.

19th: Chad, whose President Idriss Deby Itnois a close ally of Bozize, sends an interven-tion force at the Bozize regime’s request.

20th: Rebels capture Batangafo, 300km tothe north of the capital Bangui.

21st: Northern neighbour Chad hosts a sum-mit of the Economic Community of CentralAfrican States (CEEAC) to discuss the crisis.Rebels ignore their call to pull back fromcaptured towns within a week, saying theywant talks with the government first.

22nd: Rebels seize two new towns in themiddle of the country, a day after one of thealliance’s leaders claimed they had sus-pended operations to allow for dialogue.

23rd: Rebels seize the key south-central cityof Bambari from government troops.

25th: Rebels seize the major north-centraltown of Kaga Bandoro, without meetingresistance.

26th: Rebels call on government troops tolay down their arms, saying that President

Francois Bozize has lost control of thecountry.

Hundreds of demonstrators close to Bozizeturn on the French embassy in Bangui,protesting at their failure to intervene to helppush back the rebels.

The United Nations begins withdrawing non-essential staff from the country while the USadvises its citizens to leave.

27th: President Bozize calls for help from theUS and France in halting the rebel offensive.French President Francois Hollande says itstroops will not interfere in the internalaffairs of its former colony.

28th: CEEAC announces that more troopsof the Central African Multinational Force(FOMAC) will be sent to the country. Thegovernment and Seleka agree to talks with-out pre-conditions in Libreville, accordingto CEEAC.

29th: 40 US diplomats – including Ambas-sador Laurence Wahlers - are evacuated toKenya. Rebels capture the town of Sibutand repel army soldiers who are trying torecapture Bambari. Authorities in Banguiimpose a nighttime curfew.

More Fomac troops are sent to reinforce acontingent already there. More than 100French paratroopers have also been sent butonly to secure French nationals.

30th: African Union (AU) chief ThomasBoni Yayi, president of Benin, travels toBangui to try to initiate talks between thegovernment and rebels. He says Bozize isopen to a national unity government aftertalks with rebel fighters, and that he will notrun for president in 2016. UN evacuatesinternational staff to Cameroon.

31st: Rebels threaten again to enter thecapital and renew their call for the presidentto stand down, voicing scepticism over hispledge to make concessions. They vow totake Damara, the last key town before thecapital, saying this is a response to anadvance by government troops toward rebelpositions. Brazzaville reportedly sends in120 troops. (© AFP, Bangui 27,31/12 2012;Independent, London 30/12)

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© Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2013.

19512 – Africa Research Bulletin Social and Cultural

experts say the latest rebel offensive is areal threat to his regime.

The International Committee of the RedCross said mid-month that it hadstepped in to help people fleeing thefighting in the north of the country. The

ICRC said nearly 300 people had takenshelter near a camp set up by a CARpeace mission after fleeing Ndele.

Ndele, a town close to the Chadianborder, which lies on busy trade routeslinking Sudan and Cameroon, was at the

heart of clashes between different rebelgroups and the army between 2007 and2010. (PANA Addis Ababa 26/12; BusinessDay 18/12; © AFP, Bangui 14,20/12) Armed

attack p. 19503

CONFERENCES ANDCOMMISSIONS

AFRICAN UNIONKampala Convention Enforced

A continental commitment to protectand assist IDPs needs to be followedthrough with action.

The African Union (AU) Conventionfor the Protection and Assistance ofInternally Displaced Persons (IDPs)2009, aka the Kampala Convention,came into force on December 6th; it isthe world’s first legally binding instru-ment to cater specifically to peopledisplaced within their own countries.

Adopted at an AU summit in the Ugan-dan capital, Kampala, the Conventionrequired ratification by 15 membercountries before it could enter into force;Swaziland became the 15th country todo so on November 12th, joining Benin,Burkina Faso, Central African Republic,Chad, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau,Lesotho, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone,Togo, Uganda and Zambia. At least 37AU members have also signed the Con-vention but not yet ratified it.

Among other things, the Conventionaims to “establish a legal frameworkfor preventing internal displacement,and protecting and assisting IDPs inAfrica”.

UN High Commissioner for RefugeesAntonio Guterres hailed the developmentas “historic”. Stephen Oola, a transi-tional justice and governance analyst atUganda’s Makerere University RefugeeLaw Project, noted that the most impor-tant parts were the clauses relating to theprevention of internal displacement. “Itwill be important for this continentalcommitment to be matched by action onthe ground,” he said.

Africa has 9.7m IDPs, according to theUNRefugeeAgency,UNHCR. TheDem-ocratic Republic of Congo, Somalia andSudan collectively have more than 5m.

UN Special Rapporteur on the HumanRights of IDPs, Chakola Beyani said the

Convention could “contribute to stabi-lizing displaced populations through thespecific obligations it sets out to statesand other actors, such as obligationsrelating to humanitarian assistance,compensation and assistance in findinglasting solutions to displacement as wellas accessing the full range of theirhuman rights”.

“The unique ‘added value’ of this Con-vention stems from how comprehensiveit is and the manner in which it addressesmany of the key challenges of our timesand, indeed, of Africa,” he said in astatement.

According to Nuur Sheekh, board mem-ber of theKenya-based Internal Displace-ment Policy and Advocacy Centre, somestates expressed reservations because “theissue of displacement is highly politicized,and some states saw it as a criticism oftheir human rights and governancerecords”. He noted, however, that theConvention would have an influence,even on those countries that have notsigned or ratified it. (IRIN, Nairobi 6/12)

Funding Constraints

AU Commission chief Nkosazana Dla-mini-Zuma said on December 4th thatthe AU faces major funding constraintsand should turn to “non-traditional”backers and not rely on states’ member-ship fees alone.

In addition to the African DevelopmentBank (AfDB) and the United NationsEconomic Commission for Africa(ECA), the private sector has an impor-tant role to play, she said. “We need tomobilise business people on the conti-nent and beyond.”

The AU, traditionally funded by annualfees from member states, lost one ofits major bankrollers in 2011 with thedeath of Libya’s Moammer Gaddafy.The annual budget for 2013 is $278m.(© AFP, Addis Ababa 4/12 2012)

Germany has pledged an additional€30m to back Africa’s efforts to boostits peacekeeping capability and fund apilot project to enhance trade within thelarger Eastern, Central and SouthernAfrica region, the AU said. “This pledgecomes against the backdrop of the

German Government’s New AfricaStrategy,” the AU said in a statement.Germany is seeking to bolster coopera-tion with the AU on areas of peace andsecurity, infrastructure, agriculture, edu-cation and capacity building. (PANA,Addis Ababa 29/11)

SADCExtraordinary Summit

Regional peace tops the agenda and acontribution to the neutral internationalforce for DR Congo takes shape.

The Extraordinary Summit of Heads ofState and Government of the SouthernAfrica Development Community(SADC), which ended in Dar Es Salaam,Tanzania, on December 8th, resolved tocontinue assisting the DR Congo, stillravaged by serious political crisis(p. 19527).

Angolan Foreign minister, George Chi-coty said the summit condemned attacksby the M23, considering it a negativeforce that has to be combated andwelcomed decisions from the Interna-tional Conference on the Great Lakes(CEPGL) approving SADC participa-tion in an international force.

The summit committed itself to deploythe organization’s ‘Standby Force’ in theeast where the DR Congo borders bothRwanda and Uganda. The meeting alsoapproved an offer by Tanzania to lead theforce and Tanzanian President JakayaKikwete said the new force could be readyto go to DR Congo by December 14th.South Africa will provide logistical sup-port. The new force’s mission would be topatrol DRC’s eastern border withRwanda and neutralise the various rebelgroups active in the region. Tanzania is toimmediately release a first batallionof 800troops. Zimbabwe will deploy troops fora year as part of the SADC deployment,Secretary forForeignAffairs,JoeyBimhahas said.

The summit was preceded by a meetingof the SADC Troika on Peace, Defenceand Security – Tanzania, South Africaand Namibia.

President Jacob Zuma said the meetinghad “reaffirmed the commitment of ourregion to collectively pursue regionalpeace and stability, particularly withregard to the security situation in theeastern DRC.” Earlier reports put the

Continental Alignments

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December 1st–31st 2012 Africa Research Bulletin – 19513

joint force at 4,000 with troops fromAngola, Namibia, Republic of Congo,South Sudan, Rwanda, Tanzania,Kenya, Zambia, Uganda, Burundi andthe DR Congo itself.

The SADC summit also discussed andnoted political progress in Zimbabweand Madagascar.

According to diplomatic circles in Dar esSalaam, the SADC leaders wanted bothcurrent Malagasy President Rajoelinaand the man he ousted, Marc Ravalo-manana, to refrain from standing inMadagascar’s presidential election setfor March 2013.

Ravalomanana, in exile in South Africasince his ouster, announced after ameeting with Kikwete in mid-Decemberthat he was ready to return home andwould not stand for election. Rajoelinahad not said anything yet on whether ornot he would contest. (PANA, Angop,Luanda 10,14/12; Daily News, Dar es Salaam8/12;New Era, Windhoek 11/12)

IN BRIEFEntente Council: The Presidents of the fivemembers states – Cote d’Ivoire, BurkinaFaso, Benin, Niger, Togo - of Africa’s oldestcooperation organisation (founded 1959),the Entente Council, held a summit meetingin Niamey, Niger on December 17th. Onthe political front, the Council discussedthe “serious threats” to security in WestAfrica and encouraged Burkina’s PresidentBlaise Comparore in his mediation efforts inMali. (PANA, Niamey 14/12; lefaso.net 19/12)

Gulf of Guinea Commission: A conference onpeace and security, held in Luanda at end-November, focussed on developing strategiesto combat the increasingly pervasive scourgeof piracy in the resource-rich region. Angola,Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, SaoTome and Principe, Gabon, Congo and DRCongo attended. (PANA, Luanda 29/11)

POLITICALRELATIONS

KENYA – SOMALIABorder Security Deal

Diplomatic and neighbourly ties areboosted during a presidential visit.

Somali President Sheikh HassanMohamud ended a two-day state visitto Kenya on December 23rd, his firstsince his election, clinching a bordersecurity deal with Nairobi.

President Mohamud, one of the fewSomali heads of state to inspect aKenyan guard of honour and receivefull presidential honours, arrived in

Nairobi on December 21st in a secureconvoy.

The visit breathed fresh life into stalleddiplomatic cooperation between the twocountries, which have recently beenbound by security interests – Kenya in2011 sent troops into Somalia as part ofthe coordinated fight to oust Al-Qaeda-linked al Shabaab. They agreed to revi-talise the Joint Commission for Co-operation (JCC), signed in September2005 as the key framework for theirbilateral engagements.

The two leaders vowed to continue toco-operate in the fight against al Sha-baab and other militia that threatennational security of both countries andto establish a joint permanent bordercommission.

Presidents Mwai Kibaki and Mahmudmandated their respective ForeignAffairs Ministers to immediately com-mence the preparatory work which willculminate in the launch of the JCCwhich will enhance co-operation in secu-rity, cross border issues, economic coop-eration, trade, immigration, education aswell as cultural exchanges. (PANA,Nairobi 23/12)

Al Shabaab fighters briefly took controlof the small town of Bulohawo on theborder with Kenya in a battle that left atleast 12 dead, military officials andwitnesses said on November 25th. AlShabaab attacked the town from threedirections and penetrated the barracksof the Somali troops after heavy fight-ing. They were later forced back.(© AFP, Nairobi 25/11 2012)

NORTH AFRICALibya ‘Temporarily’ ClosesBorders

Regional countries act to tackle theanticipated and actual surge in insecu-rity from developments in Mali.

Libya has decided to temporarily shut itsland borders with Sudan, Niger, Chadand Algeria to prevent armed groupsand refugees involved in the Maliancrisis from infiltrating the country.

The decision was taken during the even-ing of December 16th by the GeneralNational Congress (GNC), the country’shighest authority, following the visit ofLibyan Prime Minister Ali Zidane with alarge delegation including Chief ofDefence Staff, General Yusuf al-Mank-ouch and Chief of General IntelligenceSalam Al-Hassi, to the four countries.

According to the decision, adopted by amajority of GNC members – 136 votes –the regions of Ghadamech, Gaatt, ObariAl-chati, Sebha, Marzok and Kufra,which extend from the extreme South-

west to the extreme South-east of thecountry, are also to be placed underemergency rule. The closed borders areto be reopened in coordination with theaffected countries. (PANA, Tripoli 17/12)

Ali Zidane said that “the residents of thesouthern region of Libya have com-plained about the insecurity, emphasiz-ing that the Libyan desert had become atransit corridor for all types of traffick-ing, notably drugs, weapons, andhumans”.

A female deputy who represents the cityof Sabha (800km south of Tripoli) inthe GNC, Su’ad Ganur, indicated toAFP that the decision to close theborders was “temporary until securityhad been re-established in the south”.She denounced a “rise in the flow ofillegal immigrants, in anticipation of apotential international military action inMali”. She also deplored the “resur-gence of violence and drug traffickingand the presence of small armed groupsthat act with total impunity”. (Tout surl’Algerie 16/12)

Later, on December 19th, Mr Zidanesaid that a military commander hadbeen appointed for the southern regionand military units had begun to bestationed in the south, WAL reported.He added that aerial surveillance wouldtrack the movements of border infiltra-tors and the authorities would announcewhich official crossings were designatedfor use, warning civilians to adhere tothis. (Wal 20/12)

Southern members of the NationalAssembly had been boycotting its ses-sions since early December in protest atthe lawlessness plaguing the region.

Almost 200 prisoners escaped from a jailin Sabha on December 4th with theapparent collusion of warders in whatdeputies described as the “final straw” inending their patience with the authori-ties’ security policy. (© AFP, Tripoli 16/122012)

Sudan and Libya have also agreed todeploy a joint force along their commonborders, a measure aimed at dealing withanticipated eruption of insecurity in theregion due to the political developmentsin Mali.

The Arabic independent daily, Al-Suda-ni, quoted the Sudanese ambassador toLibya, Hajj Magid Swar, as saying thatSudan had prepared its forces for thejoint deployment while the Libyans werestill getting ready.

The daily said Sudan would contributethree battalions – made up of police,security and customs officials – to theborder patrol which would be deployedat Kufra and other border areas in thefollowing few weeks. (PANA, Khartoum18/12)

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19514 – Africa Research Bulletin Continental Alignments

Can the Decision Be Implemented?

Libya’s decision to shut its desert fron-tiers is a tall order for its fledgling army,which is ill-equipped to seal largelyuninhabited Saharan wastes stretchingmore than 4,000km.

Prime Minister Ali Zidane told thenational assembly on December 18ththat the measure requires further studyand warned that “rash decisions shouldnot be made when we are incapable ofimplementing them.”

Libya plans to establish one authorisedborder crossing with each of the fourneighbours, army spokesman Alial-Sheikhi told AFP. “Any person whoenters or exits at other points will beconsidered an infiltrator,” he added.

Analysts see the measure as a responseto the crisis in Mali, which has sparkedcalls for international intervention, butsay that Libyan security forces simply donot have the means to implement it whilethey remain in disarray after the 2011ouster of veteran dictator ColonelGaddafy.

“The Mali crisis has crystallised the factthat you have an area where there can bea lot of cross-border criminality, cross-border flux,” said Jon Mark, a NorthAfrica analyst at the London-basedChatham House.

“Some of the fighters and a lot of theguns in Mali came from Libya. TheMalian conflict forced everyone to focuson the situation,” Mark said.

Mali does not share a border with Libyabut it proved the worst affected by thespillover of fighters and weapons, bothTouareg and Islamist, that accompaniedthe uprising that overthrew Gaddafy.

Middle East analyst Shashank Joshi saidhe was “sceptical” whether the newmeasures would make any “dent in theflow of arms, people and goods,” giventhat the post-Gaddafy army struggleseven to secure the cities of Libya’sMediterranean coast (See p 19530).

“We are dealing with national armedforces that are extremely weak and havetrouble asserting themselves in populouscoastal areas,” said Joshi, a senior fellowat the Royal United Services Institute.

The killing of Ambassador Chris Stevensand three other Americans by Islamistextremists in a September 11th assault inLibya’s main eastern city Benghazi high-lighted insecurity in the populous northbut Joshi said the south could provemore dangerous in the long run.

“In the longer term… the threat isgreater in the south… because the pros-pect of politically integrating the south isa lot harder than integrating the east,”he warned.

Ethnic conflictsborn out of theGaddafy regime’spolicy of divide-and-rule and aggra-vated by the 2011conflict havealready led to sev-eral rounds of fight-ing in the south thathave claimed hun-dreds of lives in2012.

Libya analyst Salehal-Senussi said thedecision to declaremartial law in theregion also reflected continuing securityconcerns about remnants of the Gaddafyregime, some who found refuge in neigh-bouring Algeria and Niger. The newauthorities worried that they might yetexploit the south for “subversive activi-ties,” Senussi said. (© AFP, Tripoli 18/122012)

Algeria’s Security Belt

Joint security forces deployed along theAlgerian-Malian border area arrestedsix terrorists in an arid desert areaaround 30km from Bordj BedjiMokhtar on the night of December10th after military aircraft monitoredtheir movements after they enteredAlgerian territory from Mauritania ontheir way to northern Mali. Subse-quently, security forces set an ambushfor the terrorist group which wasthought to belong to the Movementfor Oneness and Jihad in West Africa(MUJAO).

Security sources told Algerian newspa-per El-Khabar (13/12) that an anti-terrorism military unit, supported byelements of the National Gendarmerie,also seized two 4WD vehicles, four RPGmissiles, six Kalashnikovs, a heavy gunand a large quantity of ammunition.

The newspaper had earlier reported (11/12) that the Algerian army had imposeda “security belt along the boundaries ofKhenchela, El Oued and Tebessa prov-inces to prevent terrorist elements fromfleeing to northern Mali” to join theIslamist terrorist movements. Otherreports told of the Algerian armythwarting attempts by Tunisians andLibyans to join Al-Qaeda in the IslamicMaghreb (AQLIM) in the Azawadregion

Algeria has also closed certain bordercrossings with Tunisia following clasheswith armed men suspected of seeking tojoin AQLIM in northern Mali. OneTunisian National Guard adjutant diedin the fighting near the joint border,Liberte website, Algiers reported (12/12).

In late November, several dozen Alge-rian jihadists arrived in Timbuktu toreinforce AQLIM there, a regional secu-rity source told AFP (27/11). A Maliansecurity source confirmed the informa-tion, saying “the arrival of more andmore Islamist reinforcements” is to beexpected.

Tunisia and Morocco Act: A Tunisianofficial told Al-Jazeera (15/12) thatsecurity forces uncovered a terror cellwhich has been recruiting extremists andsending them to AQLIM strongholds.

Moroccan police also disbanded a cellsending recruits for jihad in Mali,privately-owned newspaper Assabahreported (10/12). The Sale court ofappeal sent 25 suspects, including aMalian national, to Sale jail, after apreliminary hearing. Authorities onDecember 25th said they had brokenup an AQLIM recruitment cell in thecentral Fez region, AFP (25/12)reported. The aim of the cell was to“enrol and recruit young Moroccanswho have embraced jihadist ideas, inorder to send them to AQLIMcamps… in Algeria,” an InteriorMinistry statement said. (Sources asreferenced in text)

IN BRIEFChad – Senegal: Senegal’s parliament onDecember 19th adopted a law that will allowa special tribunal to try former Chadianpresident Hissene Habre who fled to Senegalafter his fall in 1990 and faces charges ofcrimes against humanity.

Immediately welcomed by human rights acti-vists, the new law “allows the president(Macky Sall) to ratify the agreement betweenthe government of Senegal and the AfricanUnion (AU) regarding the creation of specialAfrican chambers inside Senegalese jurisdic-tion” to try Habre, APS news agencyreported. (© AFP, Dakar 19/12 2012)

Ethiopia – Eritrea: Ethiopian Prime MinisterHailemariam Desalegn said in a December 5thinterview with Al Jazeera that he was willingto hold talks with arch-foe and neighbourEritrea. No Ethiopian leader has held talkswith Eritrean President Issaias Afeworki sincethe end of a bitter border war in 2000, in

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which at least 70,000 people died. (© AFP,Addis Ababa 5/12 2012)

Mozambique – South Africa: South Africaninvestigators will inquire into the plane crashthat killed Mozambique’s Marxist presidentSamora Machel 26 years ago, police said onDecember 12th, after a tip-off that apartheid-era officials engineered the crash. Mr Ma-chel’s death plunged the region into crisis, asAfrican governments accused South Africa’sthen-white rulers of assassinating him.

South Africa’s Times newspaper reports thatPresident Jacob Zuma had sanctioned theinquiry launched by the elite police unit, theHawks. (© AFP, Johannesburg 12/12; BBCNews Online 12/12)

South Sudan – Sudan: The two countriesfailed to meet the African Union (AU) dead-line to reach an agreement on the contestedAbyei region by December 5th, but agreed toresume negotiations in Addis Ababa onJanuary 13th, 2013.

Sudanese Defence Minister, Abdul RahimMohamed Hussein, said Sudan had accepteda roadmap presented by the African jointMission in Abyei chairman related to thedemilitarised zone and the 14 mile area andthat the implementation of security arrange-ments between Khartoum and Juba, will pavethe way for implementation of all otheragreements. (Sudanese Media Centre website,Khartoum 20/12; © AFP, Addis Ababa 4/122012)

“Armed groups” from South Sudan clashedon December 25th with Arab tribesmen inSamaha, a flashpoint border region disputedbetween Khartoum and Juba. (Misna 27/12)

Ethiopian Prime Minister Haile Mariam De-salegn, in Khartoum for a two-day visit, onDecember 26th reviewed progress in imple-mentation of the joint cooperation agreementbetween Khartoum and Juba. (PANA, Khar-toum 26/12)

South Sudan – Uganda: The two have signed apact in Kampala to cement their political andsecurity cooperation as a way of strengthen-ing peace. They will carry out joint borderconsultations and demarcation. (The NewVision, Kampala 7/12)

GOVERNMENTAPPOINTMENTS

ETHIOPIANew Ministers

The premier seeks to achieve betterregional representation in the cabinet.

Parliament on November 29th con-firmed the appointment of two newdeputy Prime Ministers and a new For-eign Minister to complete a new balanc-ing of power within the ruling coalitionsince the death of long-serving PrimeMinister, Meles Zenawi.

Top ruling party official,Mukhtar Kedir,was named deputy Prime Minister andtasked with leading the fight againstcorruption as the government’s coordi-nator of good governance and reforms.

Information and Communication Minis-ter Debretsion Gebremichael was nameddeputy Prime Minister in charge offinance and the economic sector, part ofreforms introduced after Meles’s deathto soothe various power interests.withinthe ruling Ethiopian Peoples DemocraticRevolutionary Front (EPRDF).

Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn’slist of new cabinet nominees was unan-imously approved by parliament.He appointed former Health MinisterTewodros Adhanom as the new ForeignMinister, replacing Berhane Gebrekris-tos, who had been acting on the postsince Hailemariam’s rise to the premier-ship.

The other notable appointee in the newcabinet was Keseteberhan Admassu, thenew Health Minister. (PANA, AddisAbaba 29/11)

The government list is now as follows:

President: Woldegiorgis GirmaPrime Minister: Desalegn HailemariamDeputy Prime Minister in charge of Educa-tion: Mekonen DemekeDeputy Prime Minister in charge ofFinance and Economy: Gebremikael De-bretsionDeputy Prime Minister in charge ofGood Governance and Reform: KedirMuktarMinistersAgriculture: Derbew TeferaCabinet Affairs: Kedir MuktarCivil Service: Kedir MuktarCommunication and Information Technol-ogy: Gebremikael DebretsionCulture and Tourism: Amin AbdulkadirDefence: Fegisa SirajEducation: Mekonen DemekeFederal Affairs: Teklemariam ShiferawFinance: Ahmad SufyanForeign Affairs: Adhanom TewodrosHealth: Admasu KeseteberhanIndustry: Manyazewal MekonenJustice: Hailu BerhanMines: Ejigu SinkneshScience and Technology: Dalkie DesieTrade: Chane KebedeTransport: Kuma DiribaUrban Development and Construction:Haile MekuriaWater and Energy: Tegenu AlemayehuWomen, Children and Youth Affairs: TadeseZenebuWorks and Social Affairs: AbdulfatahAbdallah HasanOfficials of Ministerial RankAdviser Minister to the Prime Minister:Oukbay Mitiku ArkebeChief Economic Adviser at the Prime Min-ister’s Office: Gebreab NewayDirector of the Revenue and CustomsAuthority: Fenta MelakuGovernment Chief Whip: Mamo AsterHead of Government CommunicationsAffairs Office: Simon Wolde BereketNile Basin Affairs Adviser to the PrimeMinister: Jarso Shiferaw(Ethiopian TV, Addis Ababa 29/11;www.ethiopia.gov.et/)

MALAWICabinet Reshuffle

A controversial appointment as elec-tions overseer is rescinded.

President Joyce Banda dropped formervice-president Cassim Chilumpha asEnergy Minister in a mini cabinet reshuf-fle on December 6th. Tourism MinisterDaniel Liwimbi was also sacked.

Chilumpha, who while being vice-presi-dent, was charged by the late presidentBingu wa Mutharika for treason, wasreplaced with Ibrahim Matola.

Vice President Khumbo Kachali was alsoremoved as Minister of Health. How-ever, he was given responsibilities overNational Relief and Disaster Manage-ment, National Public Events Office,Central Government Stores, Depart-ment of Printing Services and the Elec-toral Commission (MEC).

This last appointment provoked strongcriticism from commentators who fearedfor the independence of the electionsbody. But Information Minister, MosesKunkuyu, who is government spokes-man, defended the move, saying Presi-dent Banda had put the MEC under thevice-president’s office for the smoothrunning of the 2014 elections. Malawiwill in that year hold presidential, par-liamentary and ward elections togetherfor the first time.

Banda also hired former InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) economistGoodall Gondwe, as the new Minister ofEconomic Planning and Development.Gondwe, who was Finance Ministerunder the late President Mutharika,replaced Atupele Muluzi, son of formerpresident Bakili Muluzi, who resignedhis cabinet job in November underprotest after his cabinet colleaguesderided his presidential ambitions.

Solicitor General Anthony Kamanga wasappointed Attorney General, taking

Internal Developments

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19516 – Africa Research Bulletin Internal Developments

over from Justice Minister RalphKasambara who combined the two posi-tions. Kasambara, who also servedunder Mutharika as Attorney General,remains Justice Minister.

A statement from the Office of thePresident and Cabinet did not givereasons why President Banda sackedChilumpha and Liwimbi. These werethe first changes to cabinet made byPresident Banda since she took office inApril following the sudden death ofPresident Mutharika. (PANA, Blantyre6,7/12)

The Malawian daily newspaper, TheNation website (11/12) reported thatwhile the president herself had justifiedher appointment of Kachali to overseethe MEC, stakeholders, including mem-bers of the commission itself, had inten-sified their protests arguing theappointment was illegal.

Malawi Law Society (MLS) presidentJohn Gift Mwakhwawa criticised theassigning of the MEC to the Vice-President, saying the move posed a veryserious threat to the independence of theelectoral body.

Meanwhile the opposition DemocraticProgressive Party (DPP) threatened totake action if the President stuck to herstand. (The Nation website, Blantyre 11/12)

The Nyasa Times reported on December19th that President Banda had rescindedKachali’s appointment in response tothe concerns raised by the various stake-holders. Even the British High Commis-sioner to Malawi, Michael Nevin wasquoted in the press as saying that the‘independence of the MEC was vital as isthe perception of a credible election.’

President Banda nonetheless believedthat Kachali would have ‘dischargedthe role delegated to him in a mannerconsistent with the law.’

The Malawi government list is now asfollows:

President: Joyce Hilda BandaVice-President: Khumbo Hastings KachaliMinistersAgriculture and Food Security: PeterMwanzaDefence: Ken Edward KandodoDisability and Elderly Affairs: Rene BessieKachereEconomic Planning and Development:Goodall GondweEducation, Science and Technology: EuniceKazembeEnergy: Ibrahim MatolaEnvironment and Climate Change Manage-ment: Jennifer ChilungaFinance: Dr Ken LipengaForeign Affairs, and International Coopera-tion: Ephraim Mganda ChiumeGender, Children and Social Welfare: AnitaKalindeHealth: Catherine Gotani Hara

Home Affairs and Internal Security: UladiMussaInformation and Civic Education: MosesKunkuyu KalongashawaJustice and Constitutional Affairs: RalphKasambaraLabour: Eunice MakangalaLands and Housing: Henry PhoyaLocal Government and Rural Development:Grace MasekoMining: John BandeMinister Responsible for National Relief andDisaster Management, National PublicEvents Office, Central Government Stores,Department of Printing Services: KhumboHastings KachalaMinister Responsible for Statutory Corpo-rations, Civil Service Administration, Nutri-tion, HIV and Aids, National RegistrationProgramme and the Green Belt Initiative:Joyce Hilda BandaTourism and Culture: Rachel Zulu Mazom-bweTrade and Industry: Sosten GwengweTransport and Public Works: Sidik MiaWater Development and Irrigation: RitchieBiswick MuheyaYouth and Sports: Enock Chakufwa Chih-anaNational Coordinator for Maternal, Infantand Child Health, HIV, Nutrition, Malariaand Tuberculosis: Dorothy Ngema(nyasatimes.com/ 7,19/12) UDF president

p. 19484A

MALIPrime Minister Resigns

Will the new, neutral premier be betterable to unite the people?

The Prime Minister Cheick ModiboDiarra quit on December 11th underpressure from influential former puts-chists, a move slammed by the interna-tional community which urged the swiftformation of a new government.

The UN Security Council condemnedthe arrest of Diarra by soldiers on ordersfrom former coup leader Captain Ama-dou Sanogo, which was followed severalhours later by his resignation in whatone analyst dubbed a “quasi-coup”.

Diarra’s resignation came a day after theEU approved plans to deploy a militarytraining mission of some 250 troops toMali to help the government regaincontrol of the vast semi-desert north(See p. 19531).

The 60-year-old astrophysicist and for-mer chairman of Microsoft Africa wasseized at home by soldiers late onDecember 10th and hours later at dawnwent on state television to announce hewas stepping down.

“I, Cheick Modibo Diarra, resign withmy government,” he said solemnly.

A spokesman for Sanogo’s formerjunta in Europe, Bakary Mariko, toldFrance 24 television the sequence ofevents was “not a new coup d’etat” but

observers say it was clear he wasstrong-armed.

“The latest episode of the Malian crisislooks like a quasi-coup carried out bythe former – but still influential – mili-tary junta and its allies,” said London-based analyst Samir Gadio.

A member of Diarra’s family, speakingon condition of anonymity, told AFP theformer premier was “under house arrest.There are soldiers at his house and he isnot free to move around.” (© AFP 11/122012)

“Cheick Modibo Diarra had become adanger to the country,” said CaptainSanogo who also slammed him for hisrefusal to recognise the authority of thePresident, travelling constantly withoutbeing accountable to anyone and puttingthe country “in a situation of institu-tional deadlock”.

He also said that the former primeminister did nothing for the army in itsefforts to retake control of northernMali, occupied for more than eightmonths by armed Islamist groups.(PANA 12/12)

Hours later, interim President Dionco-unda Traore named Django Sissoko asPrime Minister to replace Cheick Mo-dibo Diarra. His first task would be to

Mali

Django Cissoko

The new Prime Minister, Django Cissoko,is a veteran civil servant who has servedseveral regimes over the past three decadesand is now tasked with reuniting a nationsplit in two by Islamic extremists.

He previously served as state ombudsman,appointed in May by the interim author-ities who took over a few weeks after thecoup.

He is not a member of any political partyand is considered neutral towards interimPresident Dioncounda Traore as well asinfluential former coup leader AmadouSanogo.

Cissoko studied philosophy and languagein Mali before entering the NationalAdministration School and heading toFrance where he received a doctorate inlaw in 1985. He first became a civil servantin 1971 and has since held several govern-ment posts, particularly in the prisonsystem and in several ministries.

He was secretary general in the presidencyof Moussa Traore and in 1984 wasappointed Justice Minister. Cissoko alsoserved as secretary general for AmadouToumani Toure who was ousted in March.

He also served as Mali’s representative invarious financial institutions such as theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) andthe World Bank. (© AFP 12/12 2012)

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form a new government representativeof all parts of society.

Condemnation . . . Then Relief

In response to the forced resignation ofDiarra, regional groupings were swift tocondemn the move.

The Economic Community of WestAfrican States (ECOWAS) was troubledto learn of the events leading to theresignation of the prime minister, acc-cording to the president of the regionalbloc’s executive commission, KadreDesire Ouedraogo. “ECOWAS con-demns any action, in particular by sol-diers, against any member of thetransitional government,” he added, say-ing Mali needed an “inclusive, represen-tative government”.

The African Union (AU) expressed itsdissatisfaction with the forced removalof the former premier. AU CommissionPresident Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma alsowarned the Malian military against itscontinued meddling in the affairs of thestate and reiterated calls for the soldiersto always retain their position behind thecivilian authorities.

“In light of events that occurred earlier,the chairperson condemned the condi-tions under which the outgoing PrimeMinister Cheikh Diarra resigned,” said astatement issued on December 12th.

Despite the manner of Diarra’s depar-ture, Dlamini-Zuma nevertheless wel-comed the appointment of a new primeminister. She also expressed “hope at theearly establishment of an inclusive gov-ernment”.

The AU’s comments followed similarcondemnation by the United Nations andUnited States.

On December 11th, Washington calledDiarra’s departure a “setback” in theWest African nation’s efforts to restoredemocracy. The UN Security Councilmeanwhile said the action contravenedrepeated UN calls on Mali’s military tostop interfering in the west Africannation’s transition.

The 15-nation body stressed its “com-mitment to authorising as soon as pos-sible the deployment of an African-ledinternational support mission in Mali.”

More positively, the EU foreign policyhead Catherine Ashton on December12th hailed Cissoko’s nomination, say-ing that he was a gifted negotiator withgood knowledge of Mali’s political scenewho had an ability to bring peopletogether.

Gilles Yabi of the International CrisisGroup told AFP that “optimistically”Cissoko could “unblock the situation.He is a more reliable, competent andimpartial representative than Diarra

was.” (PANA, Bamako; © AFP 11,12/122012)

Prime Minister Django Cissokoannounced his government, accordingto a decree read on state television onDecember 15th, four days after he wasnamed to the post. Cissoko had previ-ously told AFP he was working on theformation of a unity government repre-sentative of all parts of the troublednation’s society.

Defence Minister Colonel YamoussaCamara, Foreign Minister Tieman Cou-libaly and Economy Minister TienanCoulibaly, who held posts in the previ-ous administration, also joined the ranksof the new government, interim Presi-dent Dioncounda Traore said in hisdecree.

The government list is now as follows:

Prime Minister: Diango CissokoMinistersFinance: Tienan CoulibalyDefence: General Yamoussa CamaraForeign Affairs: Tiemam Hubert CoulibalyLands: Colonel Moussa Sinko CoulibalyMines: Amadou Baba SyEducation: Bocar Moussa DiarraHigher Education: Messa Ould MohamedLadyLabour: Mamadou Namory TraoreAfrican Integration: Demba TraoreInternal Security: General Tiefing KonateAgriculture: Baba BertheJustice: Malick CoulibalyTransport: Lt-Col. Abdoulaye KoumareHealth: Soumana MakadjiTrade and Industry: Abdel Karim KonateTourism: Yaya Ag Mohamed AliHousing, Urban Planning and Land Affairs:David SagaraEmployment: Diallo Dedia Mahamane Kat-traPost Office and New Technologies: BrehimaToloFamilies: Alwata Ichata SahiEnergy and Water: Makan TounkaraEnvironment: Ousmane Ag RhissaYouth and Sports: Hameye Foune Mah-almadaneHumanitarian Action: Mamadou SidibeFarming and Fishing: Diane Mariam KoneReligious Affairs: Yacouba TraoreCulture: Bruno MaigaCommunications, government spokesman:Manga DembeleMinister delegate to the Finance Minister:Marimpa SamouraMinister delegate to the Lands Minister:Abdourahmane Oumar Toure(© AFP 15,16/12 2012)

NAMIBIAPrime Minister Dismissed

The new cabinet is controlled by partymoderates.

The governing SWAPO party surprisedfriend and foe alike by electing HageGeingob, 72, as its presidential successorto President Hifikepunye Pohamba,

reports Africa Confidential. Two dayslater, Pohamba re-appointed Geingob asPrime Minister in a major cabinetreshuffle.

With surprising ease, Geingob saw offrivals Jerry Ekandjo, Minister of Regio-nal and Local Government, and JusticeMinister Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana. Po-hamba headed off any faction-fightingby rapidly moving 18 ministers, includ-ing new faces at Defence, ForeignAffairs, Home Affairs, Justice andSafety and Security.

AFP added that Pohamba told journal-ists he had shifted former Prime Minis-ter, Nahas Angula, who had been in thepost for nearly eight years, to thedefence ministry. Geingob, who returnsto the premiership after a 10-yearabsence, had spent years in the politicalwilderness after being axed by foundingpresident Sam Nujoma. While primeminister in 2002, he rejected a demotionto local government minister, decidinginstead to move abroad and later serveas a backbencher for the ruling SWAPOParty.

The new cabinet left most control in thehands of party moderates. None of themore hardline candidates made it intoSWAPO’s top three contested jobs. Atfirst it had looked as though Iivula-Ithana and Ekandjo would combine todefeat Geingob but she had thrown inher lot with Geingob. She was appointedHome Affairs Minister. Ekandjo wastotally outmanoeuvred.

Utoni Nujoma, son of Sam Nujoma, hadnominated Iivula-Ithana but switched toEkandjo’s camp. The elder Nujoma’sinfluence is waning; he did not endorse aspecific candidate but made a plea formore female representation, whichlooked like support for Iivula-Ithana.She drew only about 11% of the vote,however, against Ekandjo’s 37% andGeingob’s 52%.

The speed with which Pohambaannounced his new government sug-gested that he may be considering retire-ment before 2014. He is not well and theparty constitution provides for his dep-uty to serve out the remainder of histerm. In many circles, Geingob’s eleva-tion was greeted by a collective sigh ofrelief. It arrests the drift towards inner-party tribalism and the loud, YouthLeague-led clamour to nationalise landand business. (Africa Confidential 14/12)

The government is now as follows:

President: Hifikepunye Lukas PohambaPrime Minister: Hage G. GeingobDeputy Prime Minister: Marco HausikuMinistersAgriculture, Water and Forestry: JohnMutorwaDefence: Nahas AngulaEducation: Abraham Iyambo

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Environment and Tourism: Uahekua Her-ungaFinance: Saara Kuugongelwa-AmadhilaFisheries and Marine Resources: BernardEsauForeign Affairs: Netumbo Nandi-NdaitwahGender Equality and Child Welfare: RosaliaNghidinwaHealth and Social Services: Richard KamwiHome Affairs and Immigration: PendukeniIivula-IthanaInformation and Communication Technol-ogy: Joel KaapandaJustice: Utoni NujomaLabour and Social Welfare: Doreen SiokaLands, Resettlement and Rehabilitation:Alpheus NarusebMines and Energy: Isak KataliPresidential Affairs: Albert KawanaRegional and Local Government, Housingand Rural Development: Maj-Gen (retd)Charles Dickson Ndaxu Phillip NamolohSafety and Security: Immanuel NgatjizekoTrade and Industry: Calle SchlettweinWar Veterans’ Affairs: Nickey IyamboWorks and Transport: Erikki NghimtinaYouth, National Service, Sport and Culture:Jerry EkandjoAttorney-General: Albert KawanaDirector-General, Namibia Central Intelli-gence Service (NCIS): Lukas Petrus HangulaDirector-General, National Planning Com-mission: Peter Hitjitevi Katjavivi

(www.gov.na 5/12)

S~AO TOM�E E PR�INCIPENo-Confidence Vote

The new Prime Minister will have tobuild consensus and stability.

President Manuel Pinto da Costa hasdismissed Prime Minister Patrice Trovo-ada and his government following a no-confidence vote in the unstable Africanarchipelago known for its long string ofpremiers, an official spokesman said.

Since 1990 and the installation ofdemocracy in what is one of the world’spoorest countries, 15 prime ministershave succeeded each other at the head ofdifferent governments, often based onfragile coalitions. The presidential decreefollowed a no-confidence motion againstTrovoada – premier since 2010 – at thenational assembly, a presidential spokes-man announced on state television onDecember 5th.

President Pinto da Costa then invitedTrovoada’s Independent DemocraticAction (ADI) party to form a newgovernment. The ADI responded bycalling for a large demonstration inprotest against the decree, which wasseen as a blow to the party.

Deputies from the other three parlia-mentary parties had all voted for the no-confidence motion that the ADI hadtried to avoid through political dialogue.

On December 10th, AFP reported that aconsensus builder, Gabriel Arcanjo

Ferreira da Costa had been appointedto succeed Patrice Trovoada.

Ferreira da Costa had already brieflyserved as prime minister in 2002. He hadbacked Pinto da Costa’s candidacy in2011.

After the ADI refused to appoint a newpremier, the assembly’s second partyMLSTP/PSD nominated Ferreira daCosta from a political group withoutparliamentary representation.

The government is now as follows:

President: Manuel Pinto da CostaPrime Minister: Gabriel Arcanjo Ferreira daCostaMinistersAgriculture, Fisheries and Rural Develop-ment: Antonio Alvaro da Graca DiasDefence and Internal Order: Oscar AguiarSacramento e SousaEducation, Culture and Training: Jorge BomJesusForeign Affairs, Cooperation and Commu-nities: Natalia Pedro da Costa UmbelinoNetoHealth and Social Affairs: Leonel Pinto eAssuncao PontesJustice, Public Administration and Parlia-mentary Affairs: Edite Ramos da CostaTenjuaPlanning and Finance: Helio Silva Vazd’AlmeidaPublic Works, Infrastructure, NaturalResources and the Environment: OsvaldoCravid Viegas d’AbreuTrade, Industry and Tourism: DemostenesVasconcelos Pires dos SantosYouth and Sport: Albertino Francisco BoaMorte

(© AFP, www.jornal.st 5,10/12 2012)

CONSTITUTIONALCHANGES

EGYPTReferendum ‘Yes’ Vote

President Mursi pushes through hischarter, paving the way for legislativeelections.

Voting began in Egypt on December15th in a staggered referendum on a newconstitution largely drafted by Islamistsallied to President Mohamed Mursi.

Half of the country’s 51m voters werecalled to decide the draft charter, withthe other half to vote on December22nd, said AFP (15/12).

Egypt’s secular-leaning oppositionstrongly protested against the proposedconstitution, which it saw as a possiblewedge to introduce sharia-style law.Weeks of protests preceded the referen-dum. Clashes in Cairo in early Decem-ber left eight people dead and more than600 injured.

Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood had organ-ised large rallies and a campaign infavour of the draft constitution, whilethe main opposition coalition, theNational Salvation Front (NSF), mulleda boycott before instead urging Egyp-tians to vote against the charter, whichrights groups say limits the freedoms ofminorities and women.

Egypt’s army was temporarily givenpolice powers to help ensure securityuntil the final results of the referendumwere known. A total of 120,000 soldierssupported the 130,000 police deployed.

Mursi’s camp argued that the draftconstitution, drawn up by an Islamist-dominated panel, was needed to com-plete the transition from the 30-yearregime of Hosni Mubarak, the leadertoppled in the revolution early in 2011.

The opposition denounced the way thereferendum was rammed through withno consensus on the constitution. Manyof Egypt’s judges said they would notoversee the vote, forcing the split voting.

BBC News Online (16/12) reported thatdespite violent incidents across Egypt,the first round of the ballot had gonesmoothly overall. Most observersbelieved that, whatever the strength offeeling on each side of the argument, theMuslim Brotherhood was better organ-ised, and so more likely to win.

The NSF meanwhile expressed “deepconcern… over the number of irregular-ities and violations in the holding of thereferendum”.

This, it alleged, pointed to a “clear desirefor vote-rigging by the Muslim Brother-hood”.

However, the Egyptian army’s chief ofstaff, Gen Sedky Sobhi, told the BBC hewas satisfied with the situation insideand outside polling stations. (BBC NewsOnline 16/12)

The Muslim Brotherhood, which pro-pelled Mr Mursi to office in June, said56.5% of voters backed the text. Officialresults would not be released until afterthe next round.

The second round of voting took placeon December 22nd. The results wereannounced on Nile News TV on Decem-ber 25th by the High Election Commis-sion: 63.8% of eligible voters voted infavour of the new constitution, while32.2% voted against it. The total num-ber of ‘yes’ votes was 10,693,911, with6,061,101 against.

The electoral roll had been updated byNovember 30th, so that 960,385 newvoters were added to the voter list. Thetotal number of eligible voters, includingEgyptian expatriates, was 51,332,375against 50,371,990 registered voters inthe last presidential election.

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The referendum turnout was 17,058,317voters or 32.9%. Valid votes were16,755,012, and invalid votes hit303,395 votes. (Nile News TV, Cairo 25/12)

President Mursi signed the new consti-tution into law on December 26th,despite the weeks of opposition protests.

The Islamist-dominated senate convenedto swear in 90 new members appointedby the president. It was expected to drafta law for legislative elections for thedissolved lower house that have to beheld by the end of February.

The NSF coalition said it would vie forseats in the parliament, which has powersunder the new charter that could hamperMursi’s ability to govern. The coalitionwould legally contest the referendum,which it claims was riddled by fraud.

In a televised national address, Mursisaid he would reshuffle his governmentand renewed an offer of dialogue withthe largely secular opposition.

But while he said “mistakes on bothsides” occurred as the new charter wasdrafted and put to a referendum, heremained defiant over the “difficult”decisions he made.

The result, he contended, holding up theconstitution, would cap nearly two yearsof turmoil since the overthrow of HosniMubarak in February 2011, and allowEgypt to enter “an era with greatersecurity and stability.”

It was “a new dawn for Egypt,” he said.

The Legal and Parliamentary AffairsMinister announced his resignation onDecember 27th. Mohammed Mahsoubsaid he was stepping down because“many policies and efforts contradictmy personal convictions,” according tohis letter published on the Facebookpage belonging to a leader of his mod-erate Islamist Wasat party.

He also criticised the government’s fail-ure to recover funds allegedly embezzledby members of ousted leader HosniMubarak’s regime.

His resignation came two days after thatof Communications Minister, HanyMahmud, who blamed “the current sit-uation in the country”. (© AFP 26,27/122012) Mursi’s new powers p. 19482A

ELECTIONS

BURKINA FASOParliamentary Elections

The ruling party wins a landslide.

With results from all but one provinceout in the December 2nd parliamentarypolls, the ruling Congress for Democ-racy and Progress (CDP) had won acomfortable majority with 58 seats of the127-seat national assembly, it wasannounced on December 7th.

The only results still expected were thosefrom the Kadiogo province in Ouaga-dougou, the Burkinabe capital.

On December 21st, the constitutionalcouncil confirmed a landslide victoryby parties backing President BlaiseCompaore.

The council brushed away oppositioncharges of fraud and said Compaore’sallies won a total of 97 seats in theassembly, including 70 for his CDP.

The elections were the first since a deepcrisis erupted in the west African coun-try in early 2011, when a wave ofmutinies and violent popular protestsalmost toppled the administration ofCompaore, who has been in power sincea 1987 military coup.

The vote was the last major test ofCompaore’s regime before a presidentialelection in 2015 in the impoverishedlandlocked country. Some ofCompaore’ssupporters want him to change the con-stitution so he can stand again in threeyears’ time, when his mandate expires.

The National Electoral Commission(INEC) announced that the newly-formed Union for Progress and Change(UPC) was in second place with 19 seatswhile the Alliance for Democracy andFederation and the African DemocraticRally (ADF-RDA) performed betterthan it did in the last parliamentaryelection (when it won only 5 seats),clinching 19 seats.

The Union for the Republic (UPR) tookfour seats followed by the Party ofSocial Democracy (PDS/Meteba) withthree seats.

The National Union for Democracy andDevelopment (UNDD), led by lawyerHermann Yameogo won just one seat inKoudougou, its stronghold, while oppo-sition Union for the Renaissance/Socialist

Egypt

Constitution – Main Provisions

� Islam remains the official religion of thecountry. The previous formulation, sayingthe“principlesof sharia”are themain sourceof legislation, is maintained. However, theseprinciples are broadened to include SunniMuslim doctrinal interpretations.

� “Freedom of faith is guaranteed” – butonly for followers of Islam, Christianityand Judaism, not for other religions.

� The president is limited to ruling for twoconsecutive four-year terms, instead ofindefinitely as under Mubarak.

� The defence minister is chosen from withinthe military. Also, the military’s budgetwill be decided by a committee dominatedby military officers, effectively making itindependent of civilian oversight.

� Civilians will not be tried in military courtsexcept in cases where the “crimes aresusceptible to harm the armed forces.”The opposition and human rights groupsdemand that this vaguely defined excep-tion be removed.

� The charter upholds “the equality ofcitizens under the law without discrimina-tion,” but omits an explicit mention ofequality of the sexes.

� Freedom of expression is protected –except when it comes to “insults againstphysical persons” or “insults towards theprophets.” Some fear those exceptionsopen the door to censorship.

� The state is the designated protector of“public morals and order.”

� It is forbidden for Egypt to sign interna-tional treaties and conventions that goagainst the constitution. Rights groupscriticise the absence of an explicit refer-ence to respect for international humanrights conventions. (© AFP 15/12 2012)

Somalia

Jubbaland: Five committees have beenestablished to set up a regional authorityin the Jubbaland State, southern Somalia.The committees will prepare a conventionof delegates from Lower Jubbe, MiddleJubba and Gedo Regions, who will discussand ratify the Jubbaland State Charterthat legally establishes Jubbaland.

A new Jubbaland State parliament willthen be formed, and will elect a statepresident, for which post Ahmad Muham-mad Islam is the frontrunner.

Somali President Hasan Shaykh Mahmudhas opposed the creation of Jubbaland,preferring instead to appoint a local gov-ernor from Mogadishu. (Garoweon-line.com 30/11)

Somaliland: Local elections in the self-declared nation of Somaliland were “lar-gely peaceful and transparent”, interna-tional observers said on December 3rd,but noted concern at “weaknesses insafeguards against multiple voting.”

Council elections across the northernSomali region, a rare area of relativestability compared to war-torn southernSomalia, took place on November 28th,with over 2,300 candidates contesting for379 positions. (© AFP 3/12 2012)

However, Muhammad Ahmad Gabose ofthe opposition Ummada party rejected theresults of the elections, accusing the rulingKulmiye party of electoral fraud. Heclaimed the government had mismanagedthe elections and that his party wouldnever accept the results. The electoralcommission had earlier announced itwould recount votes cast in Hargeisa afterclashes between police and supporters ofopposition parties left at least two peopledead. (Horn Cable TV, Hargeisa 11/12)

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Party (UNIR/PS), led by lawyerB�en�ewend�e Sankara, won two seats.

Out of 4,365,153 registered voters, atotal of 3,315,795 votes were validated,making turnout 75.96%.

The head of the African Union (AU)observer mission in Burkina Faso, Ber-nard Makuza, hailed the parliamentaryand municipal elections, describing themas free and fair, but he noted a lack ofinterest among the people, especially inthe cities.

On December 28th, Soungalo ApollinaireOuattara, 56, was elected Speaker ofBurkina’s Parliament, replacing RochMarc-Christian Kabore. He was previ-ously Minister for the Civil Service andLabour. (PANA, Ouagadougou 4,7/,2812;© AFP 21/12 2102)

GHANATight Vote

Mahama wins the presidential election,but Akufo-Addo refuses to concede,claiming fraud.

Ghana went to the polls on December7th to elect a new president and parlia-

ment. President John Dramani Mahamawas seeking a full term in office at thehead of the National Democratic Con-gress (NDC) party. He became interimleader after the death of President JohnAtta Mills in July. His main challengerwas Nana Akufo-Addo of the oppositionNew Patriotic Party (NPP), whosefather led the country between 1970and 1972. There was a total of eightcandidates for the presidency, includingHenry Herbert Lartey, Papa KwesiNduom, Akwasi Addai Odike, AyarigaHassan, Michael Abu Sakara Foster andJacob Osei Yeboah.

Joy FM radio on December 9th reportedthe chairman for the Electoral Commis-sion, Dr Kwadwo Afari declaring thatthe incumbent president, John DramaniMahama, was the winner of the 2012presidential election with 50.7% of thevotes cast, while Akufo-Addo had5,248,898 of the valid votes cast, repre-senting 47.74%.

The flag-bearer of the Progressive Peo-ple’s Party (PPP), Dr Papa KwesiNduom, was placed third with 64,362votes, representing 0.59%. (Joy FM textwebsite, Accra 10/12)

On December 11th, AFP reported thatAkufo-Addo had refused to admit defeatin the election, and he vowed to chal-lenge the results in court.

Speaking at a rally of several hundredpeople in the capital, Akufo-Addo urgedsupporters to remain peaceful, but spokeout strongly against the results after hisNPP alleged a “pattern of fraud” in theelection.

“We are not accepting the results thatwere declared by the electoral commis-sion,” he said. “That is the officialposition of the New Patriotic Party.”

Other speakers at the rally however tooka more militant tone, declaring “nojustice, no peace” and spoke of a “con-stitutional coup.”

The decision to go to court comes withthe country under pressure to maintainits reputation as a stable democracy inturbulent West Africa. Local electionobservers, citing their own findings, havesaid they support the results showingMahama won.

Stakes in the election were especiallyhigh in the country of 24m people with abooming economy fuelled in part by anew and expanding oil industry.

Mahama received welcome support fromWashington on December 11th as theWhite House urged all Ghanaians toaccept the result of their election andcongratulated him on his victory.

Observers from the Commonwealth,West African bloc ECOWAS and localgroup, the Coalition of Domestic Elec-tion Observers (CODEO) all said thevote appeared peaceful and transparent.

After the official results wereannounced, CODEO called them “gen-erally an accurate reflection of howGhanaians voted in the December 7thpolls”, based on the group’s own find-ings from its observers deployedthroughout the country.

Addressing a celebratory crowd ofsupporters in central Accra on Decem-ber 11th, Mahama sought to move thecountry past the “hard fought cam-paign”.

“I wish to welcome my fellow candidatesto join me now as partners in … creatinga better Ghana,” he said, after previ-ously calling on his rivals to respect “thevoice of the people”. (Africa Confidential14/12)

Alex Vines, who heads the Africa pro-gramme at the London-based think tankChatham House, said the NPP’s rejec-tion of the official vote results “willmake Ghanaian politics more fractiousin the near term.”

“It certainly isn’t an ideal situation. Anideal situation would be for this to be

Algeria

Local Elections: In local and municipalelections held on November 29th, the rulingNational Liberation Front (FLN) came outon top in a widely-expected result.

Voter turnout, considered the only real issuein the polls, was officially pegged at 44.27%,with the FLN winning an outright majorityin 159 municipalities, out of 1,541, andscoring the highest vote in 832 communes.

The Rally for National Democracy (RND)of former prime minister Ahmed Ouyahia,another party in the presidential alliance,came second, winning an outright majorityin 132 municipalities and the highest score in132 communes.

These parties were followed by indepen-dents, which took control of 17 municipal-ities, and by secular opposition party theRally for Culture and Democracy (RCD),which won 13 communes outright in theeastern Kabylie region, its heartland.

A surprise winner in the elections was thenew Popular Algerian Movement, whichwon 12 communes. Founded by Environ-ment Minister Amara Benyounes, the partywas authorised under political reforms intro-duced by the president in April 2011, in thewake of Arab Spring unrest.

Among the reforms was an agreement toallow for the formation of dozens of newpolitical parties, some of which took part inthe May parliamentary election.

The elections were clouded by a number ofviolent incidents, with the leader of thebanned FIS, Abassi Madani, calling fromhis base in Qatar for a “massive boycott” of

the vote, “to expose the Algerian regime andits oppressive practices.” (© AFP 30/112012; El-Khabar website, Algiers 30/11)

FFS Leader Steps Down: Veteran dissidentHocine Ait Ahmed is to step down as leaderof the Socialist Forces Front which he hasled since founding it in 1963. Ait Ahmed, 86,is the sole surviving member of the nation-alist leadership that launched the war forindependence from French colonial rule onNovember 1st, 1954.

Born on August 20th, 1926 in Ain El-Hamman in the Kabylie region, east of thecapital, Ait Ahmed was elected to Algeria’sfirst post-independence parliament but fellout with president Ahmed Ben Bella andfounded the FFS to lead an uprising againsthis rule. He was arrested in 1964 andsentenced to death but later pardoned.

He escaped in April 1966 to settle inLausanne, Switzerland, where he lived inexile for 23 years before returning to Algiersin December 1989. In July 1992, shortlyafter the outbreak of Algeria’s devastatingcivil war, he went back into exile, fromwhere he was a leading champion of dia-logue with the Islamist opposition.

In January 1995, he signed the Sant’Egidioagreement with the Islamic Salvation Front(FIS) in Rome.

He had planned to stand for president in1999 but he and five other candidateswithdrew alleging fraud. He still lives inSwitzerland. The FFS holds 27 seats in the462-member national assembly. (© AFP 22/12 2012)

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over,” said Victor Brobbey, a legal andpolitical analyst at the Centre for Dem-ocratic Development, a think tank inAccra.

“But they aren’t asking their supportersto storm the electoral commission tochange the result…A legal challenge issomething that is envisioned in the lawsof the country.”

While Ghana is seen as a beacon ofdemocracy in a turbulent region, thesecurity deployment and a series ofpublic events calling for a peacefulcampaign surrounding the vote revealedthat many saw the potential for unrest,said Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi, a polit-ical scientist at the University of Ghana.(© AFP 11,13/12 2012)

In the parliamentary race, the NDC won148 seats in the 275-seat House, whilethe NPP had 122 seats. The People’sNational Convention (PNC) won oneseat while four independent candidateswere also elected. (PANA, Accra 28/12)

BBC News reported on December 28ththat the NPP had filed a petition at theSupreme Court to challenge Mahama’selectoral victory, even though interna-tional election observers had describedthe poll as free and fair.

The NPP said it had waited to file itschallenge in court until it had analysedthe data from 26,000 polling stations.It said it had now found irregularitiessuch as cases of over voting andinstances when people not registeredby the new biometric finger-printingsystem were able to vote. The partyhad calculated that there were 1.34mextra votes cast, which if withdrawn

from the final tally would make Akufo-Addo the winner.

The NPP leader said it had not been aneasy decision to go ahead with thechallenge, but the evidence submittedwas “mind-blowing and came as a shockeven to sceptics in the party”.

“This case is seeking to deepen ourdemocracy by strengthening the institu-tions that are mandated by our consti-tution to superintend the electoralprocess,” Mr Akufo-Addo said.

“One, by ensuring that the electoralcommission is accountable to the peopleof Ghana; and two, the Supreme Courtis seen by all as the ultimate arbiter ofelectoral grievances and disputes.”

Johnson Asiedu Nketia, the NDC’ssecretary general, said the governingparty did not believe the Supreme Court

(Africa Confidential 14/12)

GHANA’S 2010 CENSUS AND 2012 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONNATIONAL TOTALS

UPPER WEST

UPPER EAST

EASTERN

VOLTA

GREATER ACCRA

CENTRAL

NORTHERN

BRONG-AHAFO

ASHANTI

WESTERN

Population: 24,658,823. Population density: 103.4 persons per sq. km.Presidential election result: John Mahama (National Democratic Congress) 5,574,761 votes – 50.70%,Nana Akufo-Addo (New Patriotic Party) 5,248,898 votes – 47.74%.

Population: 702,110. Pop. density: 38.0.Mahama 66%, Afuko-Addo 31%.

Population: 2,479,461. Pop. density: 35.2.Mahama 58%, Afuko-Addo 41%.




Sources: Ghana Statistical Service;Electoral Commission of Ghana

Population: 2,633,154.Pop. density: 136.3.Mahama 43%, Afuko-Addo 56%.



Population: 4,010,054.Pop. density: 1,235.8.Mahama 51%, Afuko-Addo 48%.


Ghana

Presidential Election Results

December 7th 2012

Registered voters: 14,031,793

Total votes cast: 11,246,982

Total valid votes: 10,995,262

Total rejected votes: 251,720

Turnout: 80.15%

Candidates

JohnDramaniMahama(NDC)

50.70% 5,574,761 votes

HenryHerbertLartey(GCPP)

0.35% 38,223 votes

Nana AddoDankwaAkufo-Addo(NPP)

47.74% 5,248,898 votes

Papa KwesiNduom(PPP)

0.59% 64,362 votes

Kwasi AddaiOdike(UFP)

0.08% 8,877 votes

HassanAyariga(PNC)

0.22% 24,617 votes

Abu SakaraFoster(CPP)

0.18% 20,323 votes

Jacob OseiYeboah(IND)

0.14% 15,201 votes

(www.ec.gov.gh/)

Ghana

Main Presidential Candidates

John Dramani Mahama: He was namedvice-president in 2009 and moved to thetop job on July 24th 2012 after the deathof his predecessor, John Atta Mills.

He was born in November 1958 to a“privileged family” in the north of thecountry, according to media reports.

In his book, “My First Coup d’Etat - AndOther True Stories from the Lost Decadesof Africa”, he describes the elite boardingschool which he attended in Ghana. Helater studied history and communicationsin Ghana and Russia.

He went on to work as a diplomat inJapan before returning home to be electedas MP in 1996. A year later, he was nameda junior minister before becoming a fullminister.

He is married to Lordina and has eightchildren.

Mahama’s running mate is his deputy,Vice-President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, aformer governor of the Bank of Ghana.

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo: He nar-rowly lost the 2008 election to the lateJohn Atta Mills. He was born in easternGhana in 1944 to a prominent family. Hisfather, Edward Akufo-Addo, was a chiefjustice and later president of Ghana.

Nana Akufo-Addo studied law in the UKand economics in Ghana. He is a foundingmember of the NPP. He was elected as anMP in 1996 and has worked as thecountry’s attorney-general, justice minis-ter and foreign minister. He publishes TheStatesman, a pro-NPP newspaper.

He is married to Rebecca with whom hehas five children.

His running mate is Mahamudu Bawumia,a former deputy governor of the Bank ofGhana. (The Chronicle, Accra)

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would rule against them as the electionshad been the country’s most transparentever.

The case will not affect Mr Mahama’sswearing-in ceremony on January 7th asthe election challenge case will not beheard until mid-January. (BBC NewsOnline 28/12) Presidential candidates

p. 19483C

KENYAPresidential Candidates

A flurry of activity to meet the deadlinefor party registration produces someunlikely electoral alliances.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga announcedon December 22nd that he will run forpresident in 2013, when he will face offagainst his deputy, who has beencharged with crimes against humanityin deadly violence that followed the 2007polls.

Odinga, 67, and Deputy Prime MinisterUhuru Kenyatta, 51, were both keyplayers in a presidential polling crisisfive years ago that tarnished Kenya’sreputation of stability.

Odinga and Kenyatta were named as theofficial candidates of their politicalgroups in the March 4th election — theCoalition of Reform and Democracy(CORD) for Odinga and the JubileeCoalition for Kenyatta.

“I commit myself to the people ofKenya and CORD by accepting thenomination to be its presidential flag-bearer,” said Odinga, who lost tocurrent incumbent Mwai Kibaki in theDecember 2007 vote. Kenyatta sup-ported Kibaki.

The International Criminal Court (ICC),based in The Hague, has charged Keny-atta, the son of Kenyan founding fatherJomo Kenyatta, over his alleged role inthe unrest, in which at least 1,100 peoplewere killed and more than 600,000 weredisplaced.

“I will never let you down,” UhuruKenyatta said at a rally in Mombasa, onKenya’s Indian Ocean coast.

Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka ini-tially planned to run for the country’stop job, but said on December 22nd thathe had shelved his “personal presidentialambitions in favour of Prime MinisterRaila Odinga.”

The violence came after Odinga, whowas then the opposition leader, accusedKibaki of rigging his re-election. Politi-cal riots quickly degenerated into ethnickillings. Under international pressure,Odinga was eventually named primeminister in a large coalition government.

The violence was Kenya’s worst sinceindependence in 1963, and the ICCaccused several officials of playing arole. Ultimately, four people werecharged, including Kenyatta and formerminister William Ruto, who will beKenyatta’s running mate.

Their trial at the ICC is due to start onApril 10th and will clash with the secondround of the presidential elections. Pros-ecutors say Kenyatta mobilised a crim-inal gang known as the Mungiki toattack Odinga supporters.

Kenyatta faces five charges of crimesagainst humanity, including murder,rape, persecution, deportation and otherinhumane acts. Ruto faces three chargesof crimes against humanity.

Both have claimed their innocence andhave promised to cooperate with theICC.

About 14m voters are registered for thepresidential election in the country ofsome 40m. Tensions are high and,whether tied to the poll or not, therehas been an increase in bomb blasts andother attacks.

A tribal attack on December 21st in aremote village in the country’s southeastclaimed 45 lives (See p. 19527). Thoughthe motive for the attack was notknown, some suggested a link to adisarmament campaign in the area, orto the March presidential polls. (© AFP22/12 2012) Voter registration p. 19483C

SIERRA LEONEElectoral Aftermath

Claims of electoral fraud and opposi-tion threats of militant protest over-shadow the start of Koroma’s secondterm.

President Ernest Bai Koroma avoided apotentially contentious second-round inthe presidential poll by defeating JuliusMaada Bio outright on November 17th(p. 19475). It was announced onNovember 23rd that President Koromahad won 58.7% of the vote. Bio polledjust 37.4% in a contest that many hadexpected to be closer.

The All People’s Congress (APC)cemented its poll victory by taking 67seats in the legislature, while the oppo-sition Sierra Leone People’s Party(SLPP) came in second with 42 seats,according to the National Election Com-mission. The results of three seats werenot announced as one of the contestantsdied, while the other two were subjectedto a court injunction.

Another 12 unelected seats in the 124-seat parliament are reserved for para-

mount chiefs appointed from each of thecountry’s provincial districts.

However, on November 28th, the SLPPordered its members of parliament andcouncils to observe a boycott until theparty’s concerns on the conduct of thepoll were met. Bio called for “an inde-pendent international assessment” of theresults of the elections, which he claimswere riddled with fraud.

Two days after the polls closed, theEuropean Union (EU) Chief Observer,Richard Howitt, a British Labour Partymember of the European Parliament,described election day as ‘well-conducted’ and ‘peaceful’. Similar senti-ments were aired by the African Union(AU), the Economic Community ofWest African States (ECOWAS), theCommonwealth Secretariat and the Car-ter Center from the United States, whosedelegation was led by Zambian formerPresident Rupiah Banda.

The observer missions did not go as faras calling the elections free and fair.There was slow vote-counting and somefailures to deliver required materials butmainly, observers said, they were wor-ried that the APC used its control ofgovernment to help to tip the scales in itsfavour. The APC was said to havepoliticised the elections for twelve par-liamentary seats reserved for paramountchiefs, particularly in Kono, and the EUmission claimed that 61% of the SierraLeone Broadcasting Corporation’s cover-age was of the APC.

On November 29th the Sierra Leoneauthorities urged the SLPP to reconsiderits decision to boycott government.

Communications Minister Ibrahim BenKargbo told a local radio station that theSLPP “should have a rethink” about itsdecision not to participate in parliamentand local government meetings.

“The (ruling) APC constitutes a totalmajority of elected members of parlia-ment and the absence of SLPP memberswould not affect the operation of gov-ernment,” he added.

On the same radio station, Local Gov-ernment Minister Dauda Kamara said ifnewly elected local officials boycottedtheir duties “they would be denying theircommunities an important service-delivery system that local governmentprovides.”

The Political Parties Registration Com-mission said in a statement it wasconcerned about the SLPP’s “unfortu-nate” decision.

“When the electorate voted for theSLPP, they did so on the understandingthat they will participate in the proceed-ings of parliament and local councils and

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not to stay away,” it said. (© AFP 29/112012; Africa Confidential 30/11) High poll

turnout p. 19475A

PARTIES ANDPOLICIES

MOROCCOAnti-Monarchist Leader Dies

Will the radical Islamist party nowchange its stance so as to become amainstream force?

Abdessalam Yassine, spiritual leader ofMorocco’s radical Justice and Charity(Al-Ad wal-Ihsan) Islamist movementand outspoken opponent of the monar-chy, died on December 13th aged 84, thebanned but tolerated group’s spokesmantold AFP.

As founder of Morocco’s most popularIslamist movement, Sheikh Yassine hadrunning problems with the authoritiesduring the so-called Years of Lead underthe late king Hassan II, when he wasimprisoned twice and placed underhouse arrest.

The movement he created in 1973, whichadvocated establishment of an Islamiststate but rejected violence to achieve it,actively participated in Arab Springprotests that erupted in Morocco inFebruary 2011.

But it distanced itself from the February20th protest movement in December2011, considering its demands too lim-ited.

Originally from the south, Sheikh Yas-sine viewed the nature of the monarchyunder Hassan II unacceptable from anIslamic perspective, and sent an openletter to the king in 1974 urging him tochoose between “Islam or the deluge.”

He was imprisoned shortly afterwardsfor three and a half years withoutcharge, before being confined to a men-tal hospital.

He was jailed again in 1983 for twoyears, and finally placed under housearrest until the accession to the throne in2000 of King Mohammed VI.

His movement refuses to recognisethe king’s official title, commander ofthe faithful, a key difference with themoderate Islamist Party of Justiceand Development, which won the2011 elections and heads the rulingcoalition.

Tens of thousands of devotees gatheredin Rabat for the funeral of AbdessalamYassine, which took place at the 18th-century Sunna mosque next to theroyal palace. A large security detach-ment was deployed in the area. The

future of Morocco’s largest Islamistgroup is uncertain after the death of itscharismatic leader, but analysts say itcould still play a more importantpolitical role in the kingdom. The largenumber of people who attendedYassine’s funeral were proof of thedevotion he inspired. Although banned,Al-Ad wal-Ihsan is active in many poorneighbourhoods and it is consideredthe most popular opposition move-ment. (© AFP 13-21/12 2012)

NIGERIAParties De-Registered

INEC acts to undertake a major exer-cise to cull unrepresentative groupings.

Nigeria’s Independent National Elec-toral Commission (INEC) has de-regis-tered 28 political parties out of around60 parties in the country.

INEC announced the decision in astatement issued in the capital city ofAbuja on December 5th, saying it was“in the exercise of the powers conferredon it by the 1999 Constitution (asamended) and the Electoral Act 2010(as amended).”

However, PANA learnt that the movemay be because they won no seats in the2011 general elections and they do nothave a presence in all 36 states, as well asthe federal capital territory.

The parties are as follows:

1. African Liberation Party (ALP)2. Action Party of Nigeria (APN)3. African Political System (APS)4. Better Nigeria Progressive Party

(BNPP)5. Congress for Democratic Change (CDC)6. Community Party of Nigeria (CPN)7. Democratic People’s Alliance (DPA)8. Freedom Party of Nigeria (FPN)9. Fresh Democratic Party (FDP)

10. Hope Democratic Party (HDP)11. Justice Party (JP)12. Liberal Democratic Party of Nigeria

(LDPN)13. Movement for Democracy and Justice

(MDJ)14. Movement for the Restoration and

Defence of Democracy (MRDD)15. Nigeria Advanced Party (NAP)16. New Democrats (ND)17. National Majority Democratic Party

(NMDP)18. National Movement of Progressive Party

(NMPP)19. National Reformation Party (NRP)20. National Solidarity Democratic Party

(NSDP)21. Progressive Action Congress (PAC)22. Peoples Mandate Party (PMP)23. Peoples Progressive Party (PPP)24. Peoples Redemption Party (PRP)25. People’s Salvation Party (PSP)26. Republican Party of Nigeria (RPN)27. United National Party for Development

(UNPD)28. United Nigeria Peoples Party (UNPP)

A further three parties were de-regis-tered on December 22nd, making thetotal number 21. These parties had noverifiable headquarters and had no seatsin either the national or state assemblies.

INEC named the latest affected partiesas the African Renaissance Party (ARP),the National Democratic Party (NDP)and the National Transformation Party(NTP). (PANA, Lagos 7,22/12; The Guard-ian website, Lagos 5/12)

Kaduna State Governor Killed: Stategovernor Patrick Yakowa, was killed ina helicopter crash on December 15thalong with other senior officials in thesouthern Bayelsa state. region. Formernational security adviser Gen OwoyeAzazi was also on the helicopter which-belonged to the Nigerian navy and hadbeen taking officials to Port Harcourt.(BBC News Online 15/12)

The Deputy Governor of Kaduna State,Alhaji Muktar Yero, was sworn in as thenew state governor the following day.Yero, born in May 1968 in the northerncity of Zaria, has degrees in Accoun-tancy and Business Administration.(PANA, Lagos 16/12)

Mauritania

Party Coalition

Eight political parties calling themselvesthe Union of Presidential Majority Forcesissued a press statement in Nouakchott onDecember 8th, in which they included anoutline of their political, economic andsocial programme.

Union president and leader of the SocialDemocratic Ribat [English: bond or tie]party Ahmed Ould Domane highlighted thereasons for the establishment of thisunion. He attributed it to the achieve-ments accomplished in numerous spheresduring the rule of President MohamedOuld Abdelaziz.

The leader of the Socialist DemocraticParty, Isselkou Ould Rabbani, also praisedAbdelaziz’s achievements, adding that thenew national front would seek to preservethe country’s stability. (AMI news agency,Nouakchott 8/12)

Former President Dies: The governmenton December 19th declared three days ofnational mourning for former president,Moustapha Ould Mohamed Saleck, whodied in France on December 17th.

Saleck, an army colonel who was born in1937, was the chairman of the Maurita-nian Committee for National Rebuilding(CMRN) that overthrew the regime ofpresident Moctar Ould Daddah on July10th 1978. He left power on July 3rd 1979after a palace coup. Saleck contestedpresidential elections in 1997 and 2003but lost. (PANA, Nouakchott 19/12)

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SOUTH AFRICAANC Congress (Mangaung)

Jacob Zuma triumphs, pushing presi-dential hopeful Kgalema Motlantheout.

South Africa’s governing AfricanNational Congress (ANC) held its five-yearly party congress from December16th-20th in Mangaung (Bloemfontein),where the party was formed a centuryago. Some 5,000 delegates were eligibleto vote at the 53rd national conferencefor the person who will lead the party,and the country through to 2019.

President Jacob Zuma was challengedfor the top job by his deputy, KgalemaMotlanthe, who had confirmed his can-didacy only the previous week. Motlan-the had been nominated by at least threeof the country’s nine provinces and washoping for a surprise victory, althoughin the end, his lacklustre campaignproved fruitless

The Business Day, Johannesburg website(18/12) reported that Zuma hadretained the ANC presidency for asecond term, winning 2,983 votes, whilehis challenger, Deputy President Kgal-ema Motlanthe, had only 991 votes afterdelegates voted overnight.

The vote took place despite the confer-ence being threatened by right-wingextremists. Police said four men plottedto kill Jacob Zuma, Kgalema Motlan-the, government ministers and seniorparty officials. The men appeared incourt on December 18th and werecharged with treason and terrorism.

National executive committee memberand businessman Cyril Ramaphosa waselected as deputy president, placing himin line for the presidency once Mr Zumasteps down from the top spot in 2017.

ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantasheretained his position, triumphing overSports and Recreation Minister FikileMbalula with 3,058 to the latter’s 901.

Deputy secretary-general Jessie Duartewas elected unopposed and chairwomanBaleka Mbete was re-elected to herposition. KwaZulu-Natal Premier ZweliMkhize was elected treasurer-general.

Mr Zuma adopted a conciliatory tonewhen he took to the stage shortly afterhe was re-elected, to appeal for unityfollowing the contested leadership battle.(BBC News Online 16/12; Business Day,Johannesburg 18/12)

The scale of Zuma’s victory, dubbed a‘Zumanami’, prompted supporters tomock Motlanthe’s camp, gesturing thattheir quest for change had gone “boom.”

It will also take some of the heat off theembattled president. But after three

years in power marked by crisis, Zumafaces a tough slog ahead.

He will have to work hard to win backSouth African voters, who increasinglysee the ANC as out of touch, incompe-tent and corrupt.

Zuma’s poll numbers have steadilyeroded amid a series of scandals.

Criticism of his administration reached acrescendo earlier in the year when policekilled 34 striking miners in one day andit emerged that around $27m of taxpay-ers’ money had been used to refurbishhis private home.

But despite public anger at the state of thecountry,theANCislikelytoromphomein2014. The party has consistently receivedaround two thirds of the vote in previouselections since the end of apartheid.

But a poor showing could exacerbatedivisions within Africa’s oldest liberationmovement. With the opposition Demo-cratic Alliance (DA) gaining traction intheir personalised attacks on Zuma, theANC could face a tough scrap to retaincontrol of provinces likeGauteng –whichincludes Johannesburg and Pretoria.

Zuma will also face an uphill struggle tocorrect the course of the ailing SouthAfrican economy. Unemploymentremains stuck at around 25% and theeconomy is growing at its slowest rate inthree years.

Meanwhile, crucial sectors like mininghave been hobbled by strikes over lowwages and are struggling to moderniseand reduce reliance on masses of cheaplabour. Credit ratings agencies havewarned that further rating downgradeswill come if the conference does not seethe ANC change course.

The election of Ramaphosa as deputyhead of the party may help to assuageindustry fears.

“We are somewhat sceptical of theimpact Ramaphosa can make thoughthe market may interpret him, plusZuma backing the National Develop-ment Plan, as being a real positive,” saidPeter Attard Montalto, an analyst withJapanese bank Nomura.

“What we may have here then is apositive PR boost plus another investor-friendly voice in cabinet but little realchange on the ground and in action.”

Ramaphosa is one of the country’srichest men, making his fortune as boardmember of Standard Bank, South Afri-can Breweries, president of telecomscompany MTN and controlling theSouth African franchise for fast-foodoutlet McDonald’s.

For Motlanthe, however, the outlookseems bleak. He ran a largely silent

campaign that sometimes appearedmore like a protest than a real run atthe top office in the country. Defeatleaves him in the political wilderness,with uncertainty that he will even remainas the country’s deputy president.(© AFP 18/12 2012)

Malema Trial Postponed: The corruptioncase against former ANC firebrandJulius Malema, due to be held onNovember 30th, was postponed untilApril 2013 as racketeering was added tothe list of criminal charges against him.(© AFP 30/11 2012) Mixed feelings over

Zuma p. 19484C

ZIMBABWEZanu-PF Conference

It seems the party has run out of freshideas as it endorses Mugabe as itspresidential candidate.

The London-based Zimbabwe indepen-dent SW Radio Africa on December10th reported that President RobertMugabe and his Zanu-PF party arepredicting a massive electoral victory inpresidential and parliamentary polls in2013, following the party’s 13th annualconference held in Gweru from Decem-ber 4th–9th.

The conference, attended by 5,000 dele-gates under the theme ‘Indigenise,Empower, Develop and Create Employ-ment’, was described by the state con-trolled media as a resounding success,and left the party faithful upbeat aboutreclaiming ground lost to the MDC ledby Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai inthe 2008 election.

Zanu-PF believes that its indigenisationpolicy, which compels foreign companiesto transfer 51% of their ownership intothe hands of locals, will resonate wellwith the electorate. (SW Radio Africa,London 10/12)

Mugabe, who turns 89 in two months’time, was endorsed as the party candi-date vowing to fight like a “woundedbeast” in order to reverse his 2008election loss.

“Let’s fight back and restore our hon-our, our pride,” Mugabe said at the closeof the party conference.

But analysts say that Mugabe and hisparty face an uphill struggle to win overvoters, many of whom are disgruntledwith the poor state of the economy thathas forced millions of Zimbabweans toemigrate to neighbouring countries andabroad.

“This time their message is centredaround indigenisation, but it is mean-ingless to the majority of the populationstruggling to earn a living,” said Takav-

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afira Zhou, a political analyst fromMasvingo State University.

The controversial indigenisation law wasmeant to reverse imbalances createdduring colonial rule. But in fact theprogramme is about “self-enrichmentfor the elite in Zanu-PF,” said EarnestMudzengi, an independent analyst. Theeconomy is battling to pick up pace yetMugabe’s campaign for black empower-ment is only driving away desperatelyneeded foreign investment.

“Zanu-PF is a sunset political movementwhich is not forward-moving. Theycannot even discuss critical issues likesuccession, which is affecting the party,”said Mudzengi.

If free and fair elections are held “underthe current state of the economy andpublic perception, the party will lose,”he said.

Analyst Takavafira Zhou said thatbecause the party’s chances of victory“are next to nothing”, a repeat of theviolence that rocked the 2008 electionswas probable. (© AFP 6,8/12 2012)

Another political analyst, Clever Beresaid the conference had failed to addressthe major challenge confronting theparty of leadership renewal.

“They may deliberate on policy andother things, but the only way they canrejuvenate their party is by bringing inyouthful, fresh and vibrant leadership,”he said. “Inasmuch as Mugabe might beviewed as the unifier in Zanu-PF, it is mybelief that he is now more of a liabilitythan resourceful.”

Bere said the country has a youthfulpopulation and would most likely leantowards a youthful leadership. As longas the leadership crisis was not resolved,political scheming and underhand lob-bying and positioning would alwaysaffect party unity. (The Standard website,Harare 16/12)

IN BRIEFBurundi: The appointment of Peter ClaverNdayicariye as the head of the IndependentNational Electoral Commission (INEC) for afurther five-year term has been confirmed,despite threats from the opposition to boycott2015 election. In 2010, Ndayicariye and his

team were accused of “turning a blind eye” tocases of “massive electoral fraud” in themunicipal elections. (PANA, Bujumbura 5/12)

Republic of Congo: The ruling CongoleseLabour Party (PCT) won parliamentary by-elections held on December 2nd in the elec-toral districts of Dongo, Bouanela and Kellein the north of the country.

The PCT enjoys a large majority, with 90 ofthe 139 seats of the Congolese NationalAssembly. (PANA, Brazzaville 6/12)

The Gambia: President Yahya Jammeh onNovember 9th dismissed the Minister ofHealth and Social Welfare, Fatim Badjie, theseventh minister to be sacked in 2012. Noreason was given for the sacking, which wasmade with immediate effect. (PANA, Banjul29/11)

Guinea: Parliamentary elections will be heldon May 12th 2013, the electoral commissionannounced, after several delays since 2011which have sparked protests in the country.

The election should have been held sixmonths after President Alpha Conde’s inau-guration in December 2010, but has beenrepeatedly postponed.

The last legislative elections were held in June2002 during the regime of president LansanaConte, who died in December 2008 after 24years in power. (© AFP 12/12 2012)

Liberia: President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf hasappointed opposition leader and footballlegend George Weah, her former electionopponent, as the country’s new peace ambas-sador.

Weah, the leader of the main oppositionCongress for Democratic Change (CDC), “isnow the new head of the peace and reconcil-iation committee”, the Information ministrysaid.

The move came after Sirleaf met with theopposition in November in a bid to improve atense relationship after a disputed election in2011 that was marred by violence. (© AFP 5/12 2012)

Libya: A law is expected to be introducedbanning officials from the Mouammar Gad-dafy regime from holding public office. Theissue has raised passionate debate in thecountry as some support the plan while otherscaution it may be inimical to democracy.(PANA, Tripoli 26/12)

Mozambique: According to an electoralamendment passed by the national assemblyon December 17th, which will pave the wayfor municipal elections in 2013 and generalelections in 2014, the National ElectionsCommission (CNE) will consist of 13 mem-

bers: eight appointed by the political partiesin accordance with their strength in parlia-ment (five from Frelimo, two from Renamoand one from the MDM), three appointedby civil society organisations, one judgeand one attorney. (AIM website, Maputo17/12)

Rwanda: The Minister of Gender and FamilyPromotion,Aloisea Inyumba, 48, diedof canceron December 6th. As minister in the first post-genocide cabinet, Inyumba focused muchattention on the welfare of widows andorphans of the genocide. She is credited foractively encouraging women to vie for electivepositions.(TheNewTimeswebsite, Kigali 7/12)

Sudan: The veteran opposition leader, Sadeqal Mahadi, 77, who has led his NationalUmma Party (NUP) for almost half a cen-tury, says he is stepping down to allow theyounger generation to take over. (PANA,Khartoum 27/12)

Tunisia: The National Constituent Assemblyhas agreed on steps to create an independentnine-member electoral panel to oversee futureelections in the country.

The deal followed marathon talks that lastedmore than a month amid wrangling over thecomposition of a commission that will choosethe panel. In a first step, a commission of 22people will be set up, with its membershipapportioned according to the representationof each party in the national assembly. Thatbody, in turn, will choose the members of theelectoral panel.

The commission will create a short list of 36candidates, equally divided between men andwomen, from which the final nine will bechosen. (© AFP 12/12 2012)

Zambia: The largest opposition party, theMovement for Multi-Party Democracy(MMD), has fired its leader Nevers Mumbaamid signs of party in-fighting.

Party national secretary Richard Kachingweannounced the expulsion in a statement say-ing Mumba belonged to another party andcould not serve two masters. Mumba waspreviously leader of the National ChristianCoalition (NCC) before being appointed vice-president in 2003. Since losing power in 2011elections, the MMD has been engulfed byinternal wrangling.

Lusaka-based political analyst Dante Saun-ders said the expulsion of Mumba wouldfurther debilitate the MMD which is battlingto regain popularity. (© AFP 1/12 2012)

Former President Rupiah Banda has beenhonoured with the Honorary Prize for Afri-can Democracy at the 2012 Lifetime AfricaAchievement Prize held in Kenya on Decem-ber 16th. (PANA, Lusaka 16/12)

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COTE D’IVOIREArmed Attacks

Raids targeting the security forcescontinue.

Armed men attacked a gendarmeriebarracks in the main city of Abidjanduring the night of December 21st, whilea separate armed group attacked anarmy post to the north, military andUN sources said.

Gunmen opened fire on the paramilitarypolice barracks in the Yopougon districtin the west of the city at around 3:00 ambut the attackers were repelled, a sourceat the army chief of staff told AFP.

A UN source said a prisoner in custodyhad also been killed in the fighting, whileanother military source said one gen-darme had been wounded and severalvehicles burned. A Western securitysource said the attackers used assaultrifles and rocket-launchers.

Gunmen also attacked an army check-point at Agbaou, a village about 100kmnorth of the economic capital, SylvieVan Den Wildenberg, spokeswoman forthe UN Operation in Cote d’Ivoire(ONUCI) said. The provisional toll wastwo (army) soldiers wounded.

President Alassane Ouattara’s regimehas since August been confronted witha series of often deadly raids targettingthe security forces and strategic sites.The government blames them on sup-porters of former president LaurentGbagbo.

The previous most recent attack tookplace during the weekend of December15th–16th after a lull of several weeks,when two members of the Cote d’IvoireRepublican Forces (army – FRCI) werekilled in Agboville, north of Abidjan.

The raids came after a court freed onbail eight people close to Gbagbo. Theyincluded his former prime minister Gil-bert Ake N’Gbo and former Economyminister Desire Dallo and seven others.The move was welcomed by Gbagbo’sIvorian Popular Front (FPI) party.“This is already an important step whichneeds to be encouraged so that theothers follow,” FPI president SylvainMiaka Oureto told AFP.

Several leading figures of the formerregime, including ex-First Lady SimoneGbagbo, are still behind bars. Dozens ofcivilians and soldiers who served in lesssenior posts are also in jail, often in thenorth of the country.

Senegalese President Macky Sall metFPI leaders in Dakar in mid-Decemberin a bid to mediate stalled reconciliationefforts. (© AFP, Abidjan & Dakar 14,20,21/12 2012)

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICOF CONGOBack from the Brink?

Ugandan-mediated peace talks with theM23 are yet to make progress.

The DR Congo and the M23 rebel groupsuspended their peace talks on Decem-ber 21st with no final agreement on anagenda, but pledging to resume discus-sions in January, said their Ugandanhosts.

“Despite substantial progress, consen-sus still needs to be reached on oneitem of the draft agenda…. This itemrelates to the need to consolidate thecurrent lull in military hostilities,” saidUgandan Defence Minister CrispusKiyonga, who is mediating thetalks despite allegations Kampala hassupported the M23.

The M23 had previously accused the DRCongolese government of refusing tosign a ceasefire, something the rebelssay is needed before negotiations canstart in earnest.

The talks in Uganda began on December9th, after the rebels staged a lightningadvance through the country’s chroni-cally unstable east, raising fears of awidespread conflict and humanitarianemergency. The talks are the latest inseveral bids to end a long-running con-flict that has forced more than 900,000people in war-torn eastern North Kivuprovince from their homes.

On November 20th the rebels capturedthe key eastern city of Goma. They pulledout 12 days later, following a diplomaticinitiative to pull the volatile region backfrom the brink of all-out war. The rebelsstill control large parts of the chronicallyvolatile but mineral-rich east, however.They are expected to present a raft ofdemands to the government, including acall formajor political reform for thewar-weary region. A list of rebel demandscompiled by Kiyonga incorporates anearlier 2009 peace deal the M23 say wasnot implemented.

In Kinshasa, opposition parties andmembers of the presidential majorityunited in protesting at M23′s entry intoGoma and the idea that the rebels could

negotiate with the authorities. “Headsmust roll,” was the frontpage headlineon Le Potentiel, one of the main papersin the country, soon after Goma fell.

Summoned before parliament to explainthe fall of the town, Prime MinisterAugustin Matata Ponyo declined toanswer questions. President JosephKabila himself has remained largelysilent.

People in Kinshasa were also scanda-lised by the prospect of the talks withM23, to such an extent that the govern-ment banned street demonstrations forfear that the situation might degenerate.

Both Rwanda and Uganda have beenaccused of backing the fighters, with aUN report quoting sources that morethan 1,000 Rwandan troops foughtalongside the rebels, while Kampalaprovided logistical support. Kigali andKampala have denied involvement in theconflict.

Since starting the talks, the two sideshave managed to agree only on the rulesof procedure governing the talks and aframework for the agenda.

Kiyonga said the agenda so far includedfour areas of discussion: security issues;social, economic and political matters;the March 23rd, 2009 peace agreementunder which the rebels were – until theymutinied – incorporated into the DRCongolese army (FARDC); and mecha-nisms for implementing any agreementreached.

The rebels mutinied in April and seizedthe key eastern city of Goma in Novem-ber before withdrawing (© AFP, Kampala& Kinshasa 6,14,21/12 2012)M23 takes Goma

p. 19487

Katanga Attack: Three men were killedin a pre-dawn attack by gunmen nearLubumbashi airport in resource-richKatanga in southeast DR Congo, thearmy and a local rights group said.

The vice-governor of the province, Gil-bert Yav Tshibal later denied there hadbeen a raid. “There was no attack butrather shooting between ill-disciplinedelements of the Republican Guard,” hesaid. (© AFP, Lubumbashi 21/12 2012)

KENYAMassacre in South-East

Outbreaks of violence in different partsof the country have spread the country’spoorly equipped security agencies thin.

Fifty people arrested in a police raid onDecember 22nd at Ngao village follow-ing a December 21st massacre at Kipaovillage (south-eastern Kenya) werearraigned in court in Garsen andcharged with weapon possession on the

National Security

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24th.Those charged include several pri-mary school children aged about 14, anda former General Service Unit officerEnock Masha, who police sources claimdeserted the force two years ago,reported The Standard, Nairobi (25/12).

There was tight security in and aroundthe court as the charges were read to thesuspects, who were later set free on cashbail or bonds. The suspects, who wereunrepresented, denied the charges withMasha leading them in demanding pros-ecution statements. The case will be

mentioned on January 7th, while thehearing was fixed for January 15th.

Over 45 people – including women andchildren – were brutally killed during thedawn attack in the village of Kipao inTana Delta District, a new eruption ofviolence between the rival Orma andPokomo communities in the area.

Some of the Pokomo attackers were alsokilled and their bodies later burnt toashes by the villagers. Others sustainedserious injuries and 45 houses were burnt

to the ground, reported KBC online (21/12).

Police attributed the killings to a disar-mament operation in the area butthe violence could also be linked to theelection being held in March 2013, thefirst since Kenya was gripped by deadlyinter-ethnic killings after a December2007 vote. Police said the dead in Kipaoincluded 16 children, five women and 10men, along with 14 assailants, AFP (25/12) reported.

DR Congo – Key Events in December

Nov 28th: Government spokesman LambertMende accuses M23 rebels occupying Gomaof plundering the city, seizing mineral stocksand taking their loot over the border toRwanda. Mende also said there had been anattempt to plunder the vault of the centralbank in Goma.

Dozens of trucks used in the constructionand upkeep of roads and the refrigerationsystem of a hospital morgue is dismantledand taken.

30th: Regional defence chiefs from the 11-member bloc, the International Conferenceon the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), con-vene in Goma to monitor progress of M23promised withdrawal.

Five people accused of armed robbery in theGoma suburb of Munigi are burned alive byangry residents, the eve of the rebel pullbackfrom the city, police say.

Dec 1st: Singing songs and waving guns,M23 fighters crammed on to a convoy oflooted trucks leave Goma, taking heavyweaponry and ammunition seized whenFARDC fled in disarray.

Gunmen attack the giant Mugunga camp,10km west of Goma and home to up to35,000 displaced people.

2nd: Rwanda says Hutu extremist FDLRrebels based in DR Congo – Rwandans whofled their home country following the 1994genocide there – have clashed on the borderwith Rwandan troops, but are pushed back.

The UN-backed Radio Okapi – a key sourceof independent news, broadcasting in Frenchand four local languages – is jammed,officials said, after it aired an interview withM23 political leader Jean-Marie Runiga.

3rd: A panel of UN experts say Rwanda andUganda helped the rebels in the offensive,with Kampala providing logistical support.Rwanda and Uganda deny the allegations.

Dozens of government army truckscrammed with heavily armed soldiers enterGoma, while government officials also beginto arrive back to reassert their authorityafter 12 days of rebel rule.

5th: Runiga says his guerrillas are “ready”for talks, Aid agencies struggle to cope withthe region’s newly displaced, with some285,000 people having fled their homes sincethe uprising began in April. Goma’s airportreopens.

6th: Talks begin in Kampala between dele-gations representing each of the parties tothe conflict, as well as a representative fromeach of the 11 member countries of theICGLR. 86Mayi-Mayimilitiamen surrenderto FARDC in Sud-Kivu in order to fight theM23 rebels.

After skirmishes between FARDC andCobra Matata rebel group in Ituri province,rebels loot the commercial centre of the cityof Boga. Insecurity is rampant in Fiziterritory, Sud-Kivu Province, especially inthe mining locality of Misisi. Unidentifiedarmed men visit people in their houses andextort their goods.

7th: Southern African Development Com-munity (SADC) leaders and officials hold asummit in the Tanzanian city Dar es Salaam(p 19513).

10th: Uganda reopens the key rebel-con-trolled border crossing of Bunagana which itclosed in November following a complaintfrom DR Congolese officials that rebels wereusing it to levy taxes on vehicles and goodscrossing the frontier.

11th: Twenty Rwandans are among a groupof 38 suspected M23 members due to go ontrial in Kinshasa, a military intelligenceofficial says. Government spokesman Lam-bert Mende says FARDC arrested about 10Rwandan soldiers before they capturedGoma on November 20th.

A group of armed fighters invades andbriefly occupies Ingbokolo location, at about280km north of Bunia: four people killed,shops looted and hundreds of residentsfleeing for security into Uganda and SouthSudan.

12th: Most of the 1,170 inmates who brokeout of a Goma prison in November are stillat large. The authorities appeal for calmafter posses lynch at least six suspectedescapees.

DRC Foreign Minister Raymond Tshibandaat the talks in Kampala accuses M23 rebelsof committing “heinous” crimes, includingmurder, rape, torture and looting. He saysthe rebels are still being led by individualsindicted and wanted by the ICC for humanrights violations, pointing particularly toGen. Bosco Ntaganda and Col. SultanMakenga.

FARDC soldiers regain control of severaltowns of the mining sector of Pangoy and

Elota, 120km from Mambasa, south ofBunia (Eastern Province). These places wereoccupied by militia of the rebel leader PaulSadala, alias Morgan.

14th: President Joseph Kabila vows thatdefence will be a top priority for hisgovernment in his annual address to thenation. “Defence, nothing but defence, witha dissuasive, apolitical and professionalarmy”. Kabila also accuses Rwanda andcalls for a change in the mandate of UNpeacekeepers, saying their performance inthe crisis has been “mixed”.

18th: Mende accuses the rebels of not fullywithdrawing the 20km they had agreed to.

19th: M23 political chief Jean-Marie Runigademands Kinshasa sign a formal ceasefire,accusing officials of dragging out peace talksto bolster the army’s position. Paul Ruses-abagina, who became famous for shelteringand saving several hundreds of victims ofpersecution during the Rwandan civil war,says he will launch a campaign to “liberateand democratize” Rwanda.

20th: MONUSCO and FARDC launch anoperation called “Comfort” in the Haut andBas Uele, in Province Orientale (easternDRCongo) aimed at tracking down theUgandan rebel movement of the Lord’sResistance Army (LRA) active in the prov-ince and protecting the population.

24th: Gen. Bikueto Tuyenabo of FARDC isshot dead in the Kitambo municipality inKinshasa. Gen. Bikueto was the commanderof the Kotakoli training centre in the prov-ince of Equateur.

27th: M23 rebels open fire on two UNhelicopters on a routine flight north ofGoma.

UN authorities say it is the second time in amonth that M23 members have targeted itshelicopters, commonly used for medicalevacuations. M23 spokesman LieutenantColonel Vianney Kazarama denies theclaims.

31st: Rwanda, due to begin its two-yeartenure as a non-permanent member of theUN Security Council says finding a lastingsolution to the crisis in Eastern DR Congowill be its top priority while on the council.(New Vision & Daily Monitor, Kampala;R. Okapi; © AFP; PANA; IRIN)

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19528 – Africa Research Bulletin National Security

The United States said on December22nd it condemned “in the strongestterms” the renewed violence betweenthe communities in the Tana area,where conflicts have flared intermit-tently over access to land and waterpoints. “This latest incident representsa disturbing escalation of the tragicviolence witnessed by these communi-ties in August and September,” WhiteHouse spokesman Jay Carney said in astatement.

“With historic elections approaching inMarch, peace and stability are essentialto Kenya’s continued progress,” Carneysaid.

The White House also called on theKenyan government, police and Ormaand Pokomo leaders to “bring an end tothis deadly cycle of conflict, intensifyefforts to establish a durable peace in theTana delta and hold to account theperpetrators of these heinous acts”.

Meanwhile, police detained six parentsand relatives of the 10 suspected raiderswho were slain in the violence. Therelatives were arrested when they wentto report their sons missing. The arrestssparked outrage with locals accusingpolice of doing little as the suspectedraiders were burnt.

The attack came hours after the districtcommissioner convened a peace meetingin the area where elders from the twocommunities at the centre of the clashespromised to uphold peace.

Deputy Provincial Police Officer RobertKitur said the disarmament operationlaunched in the region after the Septem-ber attacks was still ongoing.

The Tana Delta was rocked by inter-ethnic clashes between Orma and Pokomocommunities in August and September2012 over the grazing and farmingresources along River Tana with politi-cians being accused of instigating theclashes.

Following the skirmishes that displacedfamilies, left over 100 people dead andmany others injured, the Presidentappointed a commission to unravel theanimosity led by high court judge, Jus-tice Grace Nzioka. More than 400 ani-mals were killed then and houses torchedin shocking attacks that saw the Presi-dent impose a curfew in the area.

The commission toured the region andlistened to testimonies of internally dis-placed people from the two communi-ties, administrators and securityagencies.

It is yet to compile its report because it isstill taking statements from top govern-ment officials and politicians from theregion. Judge Grace Nzioka expressedsurprise at the turn of events. “We

thought progress was being made butnow we may have to review the posi-tion,” she said.

The commission may have to tour thearea and gather more information inthe wake of the latest attack, she told theDaily Nation (21/12).

Settled Pokomo farmers and semi-nomadic Orma pastoralists have clashedintermittently for years over access tograzing, farmland and water in thecoastal region. An influx of weapons inpast years has upped the stakes. (Sourcesas referenced in text)

Concern Over Insecurity

Violence in Kenya – ranging fromattacks blamed on Islamists to inter-communal clashes to a police crackdownon a coastal separatist movement – haveraised concerns over security ahead ofthe elections due in March 2013.

Diplomats, donors and business leaderson December 17th raised the red flagover the issue. They said they wereworried by the recent surge in “episodesof violence in different parts of thecountry”, which, if left unresolved, couldget out of control ahead of the generalelection.

They told President Mwai Kibaki, PrimeMinister Raila Odinga, Vice-PresidentKalonzo Musyoka and National Assem-bly Speaker Kenneth Marende, ministers,security chiefs and other top governmentofficials that they were worried about theloss of lives and destruction of propertydue to criminals.

“Human casualties are very serious, butthe conflicts also have a negative socialand economic impact and could poten-tially undermine progress,” said Mr PeteAnderson, the Danish ambassador toKenya.

“Incidents of violence can be linkeddirectly or indirectly to electoral poli-tics. The use of inflammatory languageis worrying when what is called for isactually unity and common purpose …Let us all learn from 2007–2008,” saidMr Anderson speaking at the high-level meeting dubbed the Speaker’sRoundtable Conference Diani, KwaleCounty.

Mr Sam Matano of the Kenya PrivateSector Alliance spoke of how terrorismin the country was becoming “businessas usual… We do not want these attacksto be a part of our life.” Mr Matanoadded that the recent revelation thatKenya had 700,000 illegal arms wasscaring. (Daily Nation website, Nairobi 18/12)

The worst-affected areas in the countryare North Eastern, Rift Valley, Coastand Nairobi provinces but there have

also been outbreaks of violence in thesoutheast (see above) and the southwest– more than 1,000 people have fled theirhomes in Bartabwa Division of BaringoDistrict (southwest Kenya) as tensionintensified in the area after suspectedPokot raiders struck and stole 2,000goats on December 18th, the DailyNation (19/12) reported. Tribal clashes,cattle rustling and terrorism are all partof the mix. The violence and efforts toprevent further attacks have spread thecountry’s poorly equipped security agen-cies thin.

“We are doing the best we can with theavailable resources, but we at times feeloverwhelmed, and we can’t be every-where,” Kenya police spokespersonCharles Owino Hongo told IRIN (10/12). “We are getting concerned becausesome of these attacks are being carriedout with very sophisticated weapons. Wemust move quickly and ensure we mopup illegal firearms in the hands ofcriminals.”

Flashpoints

North Eastern: Four people were shotdead in a raid to steal cattle, police saidon December 25th, despite a majorsecurity operation after 42 policemenwere killed in an ambush by allegedrustlers in the same area in November.

“Four people were killed and 12 otherswere injured in the raid, all of themsustained gunshot wounds,” a seniorpolice officer in Baragoi, a remote rurallocality in the arid north, said after theDecember 24th attacks.

“The raid was done by Turkana herds-men who stole cattle, we believe some ofthem must have escaped with injuries,”the officer said, adding that they alsomade off with 200 goats but that somehad been recovered.

A police officer was shot dead androbbed of his rifle in Mandera Townon December 27th.

Police and the military mounted a secu-rity operation in the Baragoi area after42 police officers were killed in anambush as they were hunting cattlerustlers, the deadliest such attack againstthe country’s police force.

Separately, insurgents in Kenya’s giantDadaab refugee camp in the remotenortheast bordering Somalia, home toover 468,000 Somali refugees, set off abomb mid-December at a centre regis-tering voters for the 2013 elections. Theblast injured one person, Kenya RedCross officials said.

Kenyan officials had earlier ordered allrefugees to return to remote refugeecamps, including over 33,000 Somalirefugees living in Nairobi.

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However, more than 2.3m Kenyans areethnic Somalis, some 6% of the popula-tion. Their traditional homelands makeup around a fifth of the country, andmany live around the Dadaab region.

Six suspected terrorists were arrestedand three hand grenades and two pistolswith 84 bullets recovered from them onDecember 12th in Amuma area at theKenya–Somalia border.

Police officers said there were reports theweapons and grenades were to be used inGarissa town for an attack. Garissa hasbeen a centre of attacks by suspectedterrorists who ambush and kill securityagents in the past months with up to 10dying in similar incidents. A soldier anda civilian were killed in such an attack onthe night of December 10th. A thirdvictim was fighting for his life in hospi-tal. The recovery was made a day after aman was arrested and six G3 rifles with16 bullets recovered from him in Elwak,Mandera at the Kenya-Somalia border.(The Standard website, Nairobi 12,28/12;© AFP, Dadaab & Nairobi 14, 25/12)

Coast: Kenya’s coast has been hit by astring of attacks in recent months, withthe separatist Mombasa Security Coun-cil (MRC) as well as a separate Islamistmovement clashing with security forces.

Police shot dead three and arrested foursuspected militants linked to the MRCmovement during the night of December9th, regional police chief Aggrey Adoli.Police raided the suspects’ house afterreports the men were plotting to attack apolice station. (© AFP 10/12, Daily Nation,Nairobi 10/12)

Nairobi: Twin explosions wounded atleast two people in the mainly Somalineighbourhood of Eastleigh on Decem-ber 19th, police said. It was the latest ina string of attacks in the area – onDecember 9th, three grenades werelobbed into a bar, injuring at least twopeople, on December 7th an improvisedexplosive device detonated there. Amember of parliament was among thoseinjured and five people died as a result ofthat explosion. On December 5th aroadside bomb explosion killed oneperson and wounded eight others. Theseattacks are often blamed on alQaeda-linked al Shabaab militants since Kenyainvaded Somalia in 2011.

The Muslim Youth Centre (MYC), aKenyan Islamist group that haspledged its support to the Shabaab,was swift to highlight the latest blaston its Twitter site noting a “boom inEastleigh”, but not claiming responsi-bility. In November, riots broke out inEastleigh district after the bombing ofa bus, with running street battlesbetween demonstrators and the police.(© AFP, Nairobi 7,19/12)

Police clashed with youth protesting thekilling of three local businessmen inDandora and Huruma residential estatesby gunmen on December 31st.

The gunmen, riding on motorcycles,appeared to be operating randomly,even though their attacks seem targetedat influential local businessmen. Newly-appointed Police Inspector-GeneralDavid Kimaiyo was planning tohold a meeting with police command-ers over the violence. (PANA, Nairobi31/12)

Police Sentences: Six policemen con-victed of killing seven taxi drivers duringa 2010 raid, murders that had sparked

violent protests, were sentenced to deathon December 19th.

Judge Fred Ochieng said police had used“excessive and unjustified” force whenthey opened fire 61 times on the driversin the Nairobi district of Kawangware.

Police had claimed the drivers were partof a criminal gang known as the Mun-giki, a sect notorious for its beheadingsand for racketeering, notably in thepublic transport sector. However, wit-nesses said the drivers had been unarmedand had made no attempt to attack thepolice. Kenya is believed to have carriedout its last execution in 1987. (© AFP,Nairobi 19/12)

Libya

Yunes Assassination Inquiry

Military prosecutors on December 12thaccused ex-leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil ofabusing his power, after grilling him in theeastern town of Marj over the 2011 assas-sination of General Abdel Fatah Yunes, aprosecution official said.

Abdel Jalil was chairman of the NationalTransitional Council (NTC), a politicalbody representing the rebels during the2011 conflict, which ended in the ousterand death of dictator Muammar Gaddafy.

Prosecutors have also summoned for ques-tioning Mahmud Jibril, who was the head ofthe NTC’s executive committee at the timeand who played a critical role in winninginternational support for the Libyan revo-lution, the same source said. Jibril now leadsa liberal coalition of political parties.

General Yunes, the highest-ranking militaryfigure to join the uprising, was killed in July2011 in murky circumstances after beingrecalled from the front line for questioning.His burned and bullet-ridden body wasfound on the outskirts of Benghazi.

Members of the powerful Al-Obeidi tribe towhich the general belonged warned inNovember that they would take justice intotheir own hands if the country’s newauthorities continued to “neglect the case.”They openly accuse Abdel Jalil of playing arole in the assassination.

A hearing has been set for February 20th,2013 and the attorney general could stillextend the investigation to other personssuspected of being involved in the general’sassassination.

At least thirteen people have been formallyaccused of involvement in the affair, includ-ing Judge Jumaa al-Jazwi, who signed theorder to arrest Yunes. Jazwi was himselfassassinated in June 2012. (© AFP12/122012)

Gaddafy’s Premier on trial: The trial ofGaddafy’s last prime minister Al-Baghdadial-Mahmudi, accused of aiding the state tokill civilians and financial crimes, opened ina Libyan court on December 10th.

A judge read out the charges againstMahmudi which included “abusing publicfunds” and “committing acts aiming tounjustly kill people” during the 2011.

The highest-ranking former regime officialto go before Libyan judges sat in a cagedsection of the courtroom and spoke onlyonce during the one-hour hearing, saying“yes” when asked to confirm his presence.

Dressed in a traditional white robe, he satalongside co-defendants, Al-Mabruk Zah-mul and Amer Saleh Tirfas who managed atrade and investment company run by Saifal-Islam.

At the request of the defence team, the courtdecided to create a panel of expert accoun-tants to review irregular financial transac-tions and locate missing state funds.Thedefence team also put forward a list ofwitnesses, which included former regimefigures some of whom are jailed and otherswho are wanted by the new authorities. Anew hearing was set for January 14th, 2013.

Benghazi Clashes: The army is deployingunits to help bolster security in the easterncity of Benghazi, military spokesman Ali al-Sheikhi said on December 21st, a day afterclashes there killed four people. There havebeen a series of attacks targeting policestations in Libya’s second city, with manyblaming the violence on Islamist extremists.Four policemen were wounded on Decem-ber 12th when a bomb exploded in front oftheir station in Benghazi.

Unknown attackers fired at a convoy trans-porting United Nations personnel east ofTripoli on December 12th, a UN spokes-woman said, adding that no one was hurt.(© AFP, Benghazi & Triipoli 12,21/12)

Coptic Church Explosion: Two Egyptianshave been killed and two injured in anapparent attack on a Coptic church buildingnear Misrata, officials say. It was not clearwho was behind the blast in the small townof Dafiniyah. The Egyptian government hasrequested more security at the church.(BBC news online 30/12)

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Prisoners Pardoned: President Kibakipardoned 6700 prison inmates onDecember 21st to ease jail congestion.(Daily Nation website, Nairobi 21/12)

MALIUN Approval At Last

After months of lobbying, an African-led force is agreed, but no interventionwill take place until diplomatic avenuesare exhausted.

The Economic Community of WestAfrican States (ECOWAS) has 3,300troops on standby to help Mali’s crip-pled military wrest back control of thenorth from Islamist militants but hasbeen waiting for a go-ahead from theUN Security Council.

In a rare diplomatic spat in earlyDecember after an ECOWAS Ministe-rial Council meeting, the regional blocopenly expressed its disagreement withthe UN Secretary General concerningthe urgency to deploy an African-ledintervention mission, PANA reported(2/12). It said action needed to be takennow.

The Security Council on December 20thfinally and unanimously approved send-ing this African-led international force.However, it said all possible diplomaticavenues must be exhausted before forcecan be used and insisted on dialoguewith the armed groups in the northwhich reject terrorism and the partitionof the country. The UN approval is fordeployment in stages and without aprecise timetable. It gave the force aninitial one-year mandate to use “allnecessary measures” to help the Maliangovernment take back territory seized inthe wake of a March military coup.

After months of back and forth lobbyingfor the approval of the peacekeepingforce the African Union (AU) has hailedthe authorization as “a milestone”.

An interim government has taken overin Bamako (p. 19517) and new PrimeMinister Diango Cissoko said “credible”elections would be held when conditionsallow. UN chief Ban Ki-moon recentlypressed Mali’s government to hold freeelections as soon as possible as part ofpreparations for the intervention force,AFP reported (27/12).

West African nations have been pressinghard for the UN Security Council toapprove the military intervention plan,which is being backed by France, whileGermany and the United States haveoffered training and logistical support.

Western powers fear the north of Malicould become a new sanctuary forterrorist groups. But misgivings are rifeover the plan to send in 3,300 west

African troops. Many of Mali’s neigh-bours still prefer a negotiated solutionand both the UN and US have urgedcaution. The German Intelligence Ser-vice (BND) recently warned that north-ern Mali may become a base for alQaeda. BND chief Gerhard Schindlerinformed Bundestag deputies and cabi-net members in confidential meetingsthat the desert state is increasinglyturning into a destination for foreignjihadists.

The BND believes that the developmentin the north of Mali represents anindirect threat to Europe. It has notedthat European and also German jiha-dists are on their way to Mali, wherethey intend to be trained or fight. Suchterror recruits, as the BND put it, couldbecome active when returning to Europeand apply their knowhow of weapons orexplosives, German Spiegel Onlinereported (29/11).

France drew up the Mali resolution afterweeks of talks with the US, which had

expressed doubts that the force proposedby the Economic Community of WestAfrican States (ECOWAS) would betough enough for the desert battleagainst the militants.The US finally co-sponsored the resolution and is expectedto become a major backer of the newforce.

Mali’s government hailed the SecurityCouncil decision as a sign that the worldwould not abandon the country. “Weare grateful to the international commu-nity, a consensus has been reached onthe Malian situation,” said an advisor toMali’s interim president, DioncoundaTraore. “We are going to wage waragainst the terrorists and continue tonegotiate with our brothers who areready for dialogue.”

Ansar Dine and the Touareg MNLA areholding direct talks with Mali govern-ment officials in Burkina Faso (see box).Al Qaeda in the Land of the IslamicMaghreb (AQLIM) and the Movementfor Oneness and Jihad in West Africa

Mali – Key Events in December

1st: MUJAO’s Ahmed Ould Amer says thathis group considers “the international threatas a universal destiny” that “ has got to befought and driven out through fighting,jihad and incitement of Muslims.”

AQLIM releases a video warning Africanand European states against any militaryintervention. “If you want war, the Saharais a large graveyard for your soldiers and adisaster for your interests,” AQLIM chiefAbdelmalek Droukdel says.

2nd: ECOWAS Council of Ministers end athree-day meeting in Cote d’Ivoire callingfor “urgent action” to intervene in Mali,pressing the UN for approval of this force.

The Brigade of the Masked under thecommand of the Algerian Mokhtar Bel-mokhtar, also known as Laouar, decidesto break away from AQLIM allegedlyfollowing differences between Belmokhtarand AQLIM leader in Algeria.

4th: At their first direct talks in neighbour-ing Burkina Faso, the government, AnsarDine and the Touareg Azawad NationalLiberation Movement (MNLA) agree “onthe respect for Mali’s national unity andterritorial integrity,” and “on the rejectionof any form of extremism and terrorism.”

MNLA deputy leader Mohamed LamineOuld Ahmed announces he is “completelywithdrawing” from the movement, due towhat he says “concessions in the rights ofthe Azawad people for the benefit of theoppressive, racist regime in Bamako”.

A Belgian special forces officer visits Ba-mako to prepare for an European militaryintervention to support ECOWAS forces.

5th:Mali issues a fresh appeal to the UN fora green light on military intervention, butUN chief Ban Ki-moon says a more detailedplan is needed and that talks should begiven a chance.

Heavy military weapons, meant for theMalian government but blocked in Con-akry, Guinea, for several months, are finallydelivered in Bamako.

US military planners begin to help organizethe multinational proxy force, the Pentagonsays.

8th: Responding to a call by politicalparties, around 1,000 people march throughBamako to demand a swift internationalintervention.

10th: The EU approves plans to deploy amilitary training mission in Mali to help thegovernment regain control of the north.

11th: Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarraresigns, hours after ex-coup leader Capt.Amadou Sanogo orders soldiers to arresthim at his home. Hours later, PresidentTraore appoints Diango Cissoko, formerlythe nation’s ombudsman.

A new-armed group in Northern Mali,called Ansar al Sharia emerges in Gao.

12th: Gunmen, believed to be members ofthe Frenchmilitary special forces, destroy anarms depot in the northern Azawad regionof Mali in a covert operation, targetingconcealed anti-aircraft missiles.

13th: Mauritania will not be involved in anymilitary intervention in northern Mali,except if the terrorists attack its territory,Defence Minister Ahmedou Ould Deye OuldMohamed says.

20th: UN Security Council’s unanimouslydecides to back West African plans for a3,300-troop intervention.

21st: Ansar Dine and the MNLA criticisethe UN approval but say they are commit-ted to suspending hostilities and holdingpeace talks. (© AFP, PANA, Al Jazeera,Al-Akhbar, Nouakchott, El-Khabar, Algiers)

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(MUJAO) continue to strengthen theirbrutal hold on the north.

Another Mali politician, Mustapha Cisse,said the UN vote showed “thewillingness of the international commu-nity not to abandon Mali to its owndevices.”

The resolution calls for political effortsto draw the Touareg rebels in the northinto a coalition against the Islamists. Inparallel, European nations and the inter-national force will train Mali’s enfeebledarmy.

A move toward a military offensivewould come in a second phase. Rightsand aid groups have meanwhile warnedan intervention risks worsening the sit-uation for Malians.

“An international armed intervention islikely to increase the scale of humanrights violations we are already seeingin this conflict,” said Amnesty Interna-tional West Africa researcher SalvatoreSagues.

The conflict has so far displaced morethan 400,000 people, according to theUN. (Sources as referenced in text)

Shrine Destruction and DeathThreats

Radical Islamists controlling the northin Mali have sent death threats toseveral senior Muslim chiefs in thecountry, officials said on December27th.

One of the people to receive the threats isCherif Ousmane Madani Haidara, whoheads a Muslim association that groupstens of thousands of followers. Haidaraheads a Muslim association called AnsarDine (Defenders of the Faith) – the samename as one of the radical Islamistgroups that have seized control of thenorth of the country but totally uncon-nected.

“We have nothing to do with the AnsarDine of the north. We condemn thehands that they are chopping,” Haidarasaid, referring to the amputations ofaccused robbers. “We condemn theirIslam,” he said.

While most of Malian Muslims followthe Sufi brand of Islam, the Islamistscontrolling the north adhere to theradical Wahhabi tradition.

Underscoring the stark differencesbetween the two groups, the Islamistsin late December destroyed more Mus-lim mausoleums that they consider blas-phemous in the fabled city of Timbuktu.Nicknamed “the City of 333 Saints” or“The Pearl of the Desert”, Timbuktu sitsjust north of the Niger river and about1,000km north of Bamako. Today it is a

battlefield, overrun by Islamist militantswho have been razing its world-heritagereligious sites in a destructive rampagethat the UN cultural agency, UNESCO,has deplored as “tragic”.

“Not a single mausoleum will remain inTimbuktu, Allah doesn’t like it,” AbouDardar, a leader of the armed AnsarDine group which is behind the latestwave of destruction, bluntly told AFP onDecember 23rd.

Other Muslim chiefs who said they hadalso received death threats recently areMohamed Macky Ba, the president ofthe Young Mali Muslims union, Maha-madou Diallo, an imam in Bamako, aswell as Thierno Hady Thiam, anotherMuslim preacher. (© AFP, 23,27/12)

NIGERIASecurity Tightened

As Christians continue to be targeted,the President asks if the continuingviolence is a sign of ‘end times’.

Nigerian soldiers killed four suspectedextremists and lost one policeman in thelatest crackdown on the Islamist BokoHaram group in the northeast, the mil-itary said on December 30th. LieutenantLazarus Eli, spokesman for the JointTask Force (JTF) in Damaturu, capitalof Yobe State, said the operation wascarried out on the 29th in an area ofPotiskum, Yobe state, an extremist hot-bed which has been hard hit by neardaily attacks in recent months, prompt-ing a heavy army deployment, reports© AFP (30/12). Dozens of sect membershave been killed or arrested.

Gunmen killed five people on the 28th,including a policeman, in Musari on theedge of the town of Maiduguri, BornoState capital and a long-time BokoHaram stronghold. The Nigerian mili-tary said it had arrested three people andseized weapons following the attack. Aschool teacher in the village told theAssociated Press that gunmen had gath-ered people into a group before massa-cring them. He said 15 people had diedin the attack; many had had their throatsslit. Seven people were murdered byunidentified attackers on the 26th inMaiduguri, according to police. Thearmy also said soldiers had killed five“suspected terrorists” and destroyed abomb-making factory on the 27th inKaduna (north).

Security was tightened throughout thenorth in December and although Christ-mas attacks were not on the scale of thepast two years, six people died in anattack on a church in Potiskum onChristmas Day, while seven people werekilled on December 26th in Maiduguri.No group claimed responsibility for the

church attack, but Boko Haram hastargeted a number of churches in thenorth since 2010. The violence came onthe same day that the Pope prayed forharmony in Nigeria in his ChristmasDay address, lamenting what he called“savage acts of terrorism” that fre-quently target Christians. Violence con-tinued in Maiduguri on the 28th asgunmen attacked the military postattached to telecom masts and a primaryschool, killing a soldier, The Guardian,Lagos reported (28/12). There werereports on the 31st of attackers stormingan evangelical church service in Kyachivillage outside Chibok killing15 peoplein the latest such violence targetingChristians.

Early in the month, attackers threwhomemade bombs at a bus, a blast wentoff near a police station and two police-men were shot dead in a spate of attacksin Kano, officials said on December 5th.A policeman and at least three suspectedBoko Haram gunmen died following abombing and shooting raid on a regionalpolice headquarters in Potiskum on the10th.

The group was suspected of beingbehind a series of attacks on December2nd on churches and border posts in thenorth when around 50 gunmen in carsand on motorcycles carried out attackson three churches and border posts. TenChristians had their throats slit, AFPreported (2/12).

More than 1,000 Nigerians fled to neigh-bouring Niger after six people werekilled in an attack on their villageblamed on Boko Haram, the UnitedNations (UN) said on December 6th.

Politicians too have been repeatedlytargeted by Boko Haram; gunmen shotdead Alhaji Danladi Isa Kademi, a law-maker in Kano House of Assembly anda member of All Nigerian Peoples Party(ANPP) in Kano (north) on the 14th inthe latest in a series of such attacks. ThisDay website (12/12) reported that sus-pected Boko Haram members had killeda District Head in Borno State, KazallaAli, and his son.

Meanwhile, the Joint Task Force,Department of State Security and theNigeria Police Force Dog section, in acombined special operation on the 1st, inMaiduguri, killed a top Boko Haramcommander, Abdulkareem Ibrahim andtwo of his sub commanders. Abdulkare-em Ibrahim was top on the wanted listof the JTF, according to The Vanguard(2/12).

On the 24th, agents of the state secu-rity service (SSS) arrested two journal-ists after a report of alleged abuses bytroops battling Boko Haram. The editorof weekly Almizan, Musa Muhammad

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Awwal, and reporter Aliyu Saleh werearrested in Kaduna. Editor-in-chiefIbrahim Musa said he believed theirarrest was in connection with a storypublished on the arrests of 84 people inPotiskum by soldiers on suspicion ofbelonging to Boko Haram and theirfamilies being denied access to them.

Residents and human rights bodies haveaccused troops of abuses, includingarbitrary arrests and killings of civilians,in connection with the insurgency.

At the end of the month, PresidentGoodluck Jonathan speaking at an evan-gelical Christian church service in thecapital lamented that churches had beenthe worst hit and questioned whether thedeadly attacks in his country and otherviolence worldwide could be signs ofcoming “end times”. He also suggestedBoko Haram aimed to take over thecapital Abuja, but vowed the groupwould be defeated.

Boko Haram has splintered into manyfactions, writes the UN humanitarianand news analysis service, IRIN (28/11).The major faction is led by AbubakarShekau and analysts believe that thereare chances of ending the violence if thegovernment is able to negotiate withhim. It is also thought to have links withother Islamist movements such as alQaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQLIM)and Somalia’s al Shabaab which havefurther radicalised some members whoare now loath to compromise. Criminalgangs have also been hiding behindBoko Haram, says Bawa AbdullahiWase, a criminologist and rapporteurat the UN Department of Safety andSecurity (UNDSS).

“Killings and armed robbery are becom-ing a way of life and more and moreunemployed young men are drawn to it.All a criminal needs are a gun andexplosives to give his crime a BokoHaram touch,” he told IRIN. “If thegovernment doesn’t end these BokoHaram attacks by negotiating with thesect, the situation will become too com-plex for the government to know who todeal with because it will become toodifficult to discern between the sect andimpostors.”

Nigeria’s federal government has said itis ready for talks with the sect to endthe group’s violent campaign, but onlyif it presents a public face. BokoHaram has for its part accused thegovernment of insincerity in its call fordialogue.

But Boko Haram is not the only threatin northern Nigeria; Islamist group An-saru, known to have ties with BokoHaram, has risen in prominence inrecent weeks. It claimed an attack on amajor police barracks in the capital

Abuja in November, where it said hun-dreds of prisoners were released. Thegroup said on December 23rd it wasbehind the recent kidnapping of a Frenchnational, Francis Colump, 63, workingfor French company Vergnet. Around 30gunmen stormed a residence in Rimi,Katsina State near the border withNiger. It cited France’s push for militaryintervention in Mali as a justification(p. 19531). In November, Britain’s Inte-rior ministry identified Ansaru as a“Nigeria-based terrorist organisation”and declared membership or supportfor it illegal.

The group’s full name, Jama’atu AnsarulMuslimina fi Biladis Sudan, roughlytranslates as “Vanguards for the aid ofMuslims in black Africa”. Britain hassaid the group probably has ties toAQLIM. (Sources as referenced in text)Conditional ceasefire offer p. 19497

Separatist Group Arrests

Fifteen people suspected of being mem-bers of the Movement for the Actual-ization of the Sovereign State of Biafra(MASSOB), were arrested by the policein Enugu, during the weekend of Decem-ber 8–9th following security reportsthat they were plotting to cause mayhemin the state, according to the Vanguard(9/12).

This Day website (10/12) reported thattwo people had been killed over theweekend in the state capital by unknowngunmen. The gunmen were said to havebeen operating in the same area wheremost of the kidnap cases recorded in thearea recently had taken place.

Later in the month, police foiled anattempt by suspected terrorists tobomb the Akanu Ibiam InternationalAirport, in Enugu, This Day reported(28/12).

Senior Politician’s Mother Freed

The elderly mother of Nigeria’s FinanceMinister was freed on December 14thafter being abducted from her home inDelta state in the Niger Delta region,where ransom kidnappings occur regu-larly. There was no indication ofwhether a ransom was paid to free 82-year-old Kamene Okonjo, whose daugh-ter Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is a high-profile

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Boko Haram Looks to Mali

As the army steps up its crackdown, theIslamist militia’s leaders are strengtheningtheir ties with northern Mali. SeniorNigerian security officials insist that scoresof top Boko Haram commanders havefled to Mali and Somalia since mid-September after crackdowns in northernNigeria. Such claims of success have to bebalanced against the government’s contin-uing lack of political strategy in dealingwith the militia and it winning back somecredibility in the north-east. Governmentsoldiers and police, in many cases, arefeared as much as Boko Haram.

In November, President Goodluck Jona-than’s National Security Advisor, retiredColonel Sambo Dasuki, warned that BokoHaram had growing ties with other Afri-can extremist groups. “Of immediate con-cern to us today is the increasingcooperation between the Boko Haramgroup in Nigeria and established terrorgroups operating in the Sahel,” Dasukitold a conference on regional security inAbuja.

Some diplomats remain sceptical aboutthe extent of Boko Haram’s internationallinks, arguing that some Nigerian officialassessments are a self-serving way ofraising money for the security services.Many Nigerian experts say Boko Haramhas several different factions, only one ofwhich has substantial links to al Qaeda.Yet these links have galvanised Nigeria’sdetermination to strike against jihadists innorthern Mali.In mid-November, theChief of Defence Staff, Vice-Admiral OlaSa’ad Ibrahim, said Nigeria had agreed tosend about a battalion to Mali, as itscontribution to 3,300 regional troopsintended to fight the Islamists.

Although Boko Haram has extended itsoperations across to the north-west,including Kaduna and Kano, and downto the Middle Belt states, such as Plateauand Taraba, its national base is still in thefar north-east, bordering Cameroon andChad.

The continuing blight of its violence hasprompted many powerful people to seekdirect arrangements with the militants,rather than rely on the government’smilitary force. Business people who haveno ideological sympathy with Boko Ha-ram have cut clandestine – essentiallyprotection – deals. Others, including somepoliticians, use the militia to eliminatetheir rivals. (Africa Confidential, London30/11)

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minister and ex-World Bank managingdirector. A police spokesman said shewas in good health, but gave no furtherdetails.

Ransom kidnappings are a lucrativebusiness in Nigeria’s south, thoughsuch high-profile victims are rare, says© AFP (14/12). The motive behind thecrime – which shocked the country –remained unclear but earlier theFinance ministry had spoken vaguelyof threats made to the minister. Ok-onjo-Iweala has pushed to clean upcorruption, particularly related to afuel subsidy programme.

Local newspaper The Guardian reportedthat 63 people had been arrested includ-ing two police officers suspected ofaiding the kidnappers. (Sources asreferenced in text) “Rebirth of Biafra”

p. 19499

SOMALIAKey Town Falls

The government gives Islamist fighters100 days to surrender.

African Union (AU) troops and Somaliforces seized Jowhar on December 9th,wresting control of one of the largestremaining towns held by al Shabaabinsurgents. Jowhar is 90km south ofMogadishu and it had been under thecontrol of al Shabaab since 2009. Mediareports said they fled without putting upa fight.

Shabelle Media Network (9/12) said thefall of the town was a major blow to alShabaab but a boost for the Somaligovernment and its allies, which nowcontrol large parts of the south afterpushing the insurgents out of majorcities and towns including Mogadishu,Kismayo and Baidoa.

The capture of Jowhar brings a stepcloser the prospect of AU troops push-ing northwards and being able to link upwith Ethiopian soldiers ahead in theHiraan region.

Commander of Amisom, the AU’s mis-sion in Somalia, Andrew Gutti saidJowhar’s capture would “go a long waytowards improving security” in the Hir-aan and Shabelle regions.

Al Shabaab fighters are on the backfoot, with AU troops also battling toopen up the road northwest from Mog-adishu to link the capital with Baidoa,which is held by Ethiopian soldiers. Thegroup has been releasing videos on theinternet urging foreign jihadists to comeand join the fight in Somalia. Analystssay this focus on recruiting foreignfighters and its increasing use of theEnglish language on social media showsthe group’s shrinking influence in Soma-

lia, according to online newspaper Sa-bahi. Nevertheless al Shabaab remains apotent threat, still controlling rural areasas well as carrying out guerrilla attacks -including suicide bombings – in areasapparently under government control.The hardline insurgents still control thesmall port town of Barawe, some 180kmsouth of Mogadishu. On December 5th,Shabab fighters attacked soldiers fromthe northern Puntland region, an areawhere the militants are feared to becarving out new bases after fleeingsouthern and central Somalia, AFPreported (9/12).

Galgala in the northern Golis mountainshas provided refuge. The Golis moun-tains, straddling the porous borderbetween the autonomous state of Punt-land and self-declared independent So-maliland, is honeycombed with cavesand difficult to access. The northernmountains have been under longtimecontrol of warlord, arms dealer andShabaab ally Mohamed Said Atom, onUN Security Council sanctions for “kid-napping, piracy and terrorism.” Punt-land forces battled Atom’s troops in2010–2011, damaging his militia forcebut failing to crush the militants, and theShabaab have since bolstered the fightersin the region.

Privately-owned Somali Dhacdo.comwebsite reported (25/12) Shaykh Abdi-rahman Hudeyfa, al Shebaab com-mander in Jubba as admitting that thatthe group was losing ground in fightingin central and southern Somalia toAmisom, the Somali government, andRas Kamboni forces daily. In lateNovember, Radio Gaalkacyo quotedAmisom deputy commander Col. Istiva-no as saying that senior al Shabaabofficials had began an “exodus” toYemen after the group’s ouster fromseveral key regions in the south.

Somalia’s government has given youngal Shabab fighters 100 days to surrenderto authorities and lay down their weap-ons, the website of the privately-ownedShabeelle Media Network reported (26/12).

Interior and National Security MinisterAbdikarim Husayn Gulled told reportersin Mogadishu that “those young alShabaab fighters should be at schoolfor the good of their country and shouldnot be endangering the lives and those oftheir people”. He said the those whoheed the call would not be harmed inany way.

Federal Government has declared newmeasures to curb insecurity in Mogadi-shu and its environs, privately-ownedRadio Gaalkacyo reported (30/12) Thegovernment has deployed hundreds ofpolice officers in Mogadishu, accordingto privately-owned Radio Simba (25/

12). Insecurity in the city has continuedas evidenced by targeted killings andbomb blasts. Al Shabaab militants havesaid they are “still active” in the capital.Their leader there, Shaykh Ali Muham-mad Husayn said his group was behindthe recent mortar attacks.

Speaking to the media, Prime MinisterAbdi Farah Shirdoon said that that 1,000special forces had been established torestore security in Mogadishu and bringan end to illegal checkpoints in BanaadirRegion. He added that Amisom wouldalso be involved.

Meanwhile Daily Nation, Nairobi (13/12) reported that life was slowly return-ing to normal in the Kismayo as resi-dents who fled the fighting started toreturn. However, Somalia’s Interior andNational Security Minister, AbdihakinHusayn Guled called on aid organiza-tions to urgently provide humanitarianassistance to residents there due todifficult living conditions, UN-backedRadio Bar-Kulan website reported (30/12).

Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) in chargeof Sector II of Amisom would remain inKismayo until a leadership vacuum issolved and security in the country stabi-lizes, Daily Nation, Nairobi quotedKDF Information Officer Col. CyrusOguna, as saying on December 13th.

The humanitarian crisis remains “criti-cal” but there is hope for improvementafter major security and politicalchanges in the war-torn country, UnitedNations officials said on December 4th.Speaking at the launch of a $1.3bnappeal to support 3.8m Somalis in theyear ahead, officials noted it was the firsttime such an project was launched in thelongtime warzone capital. Stefano Por-retti, acting UN Humanitarian Coordi-nator for Somalia, said a string ofterritorial losses by al Shabaab insur-gents as well as a new government inMogadishu offered hope for change.(Sources as referenced in text) Road to Baidoap. 19500

SOUTH SUDANTit-For-Tat Tribal Killings

Security forces open fire on demonstra-tors protesting the transfer of thecounty headquarters.

Youths armed with sticks, machetes andspears battled police in the northerntown of Wau on December 19th, forcingthousands of civilians to seek refuge in aUN compound, The Independent, Lon-don (20/12) quoted the United Nationsand residents as saying. A hospitaldoctor in Wau, one of the new nation’slargest cities, said at least 12 people werekilled.

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Details were unclear but governmentspokesman Barnaba Marial Benjaminsaid the clashes broke out in Wau afterthe bodies of six Dinka tribespeoplewere found. It was believed the six wereamong 28 farmers abducted in retalia-tion for another outbreak of deadlyviolence in the town earlier in the month.

Violence first erupted when residents ofWau protested a central governmentplan to move the local seat of authorityto Bagare, a smaller town 12 milesaway. According to UN officials andmedics, 10 people were killed onDecember 8th.

Hundreds of police officers patrolled thestreets on the 20th after reinforcementsarrived from the capital Juba by plane.Many residents were reported to beleaving the town.

In a press release (13/12), the UnitedNations Mission in South Sudan (UN-MISS) called on the security forces toexercise maximum restraint and protectcivilians. It expressed deep concern overthe violence and loss of life in Wau. Therelease said nine civilians had beenconfirmed killed and many more injured.Juba said UNMISS had launched anindependent investigation into the pro-tests.

Meanwhile South Sudan’s soldierskilled 14 people in volatile Jonglei’sPibor county (east), officials said onDecember 10th. The area is beset byethnic killings, a rebellion and an armycrackdown. Local officials insisted thevictims were civilians, but the armyclaimed they were gunmen followingrebel leader David Yau Yau. Yau Yau,a Murle, had been granted a presiden-tial amnesty and given a job as anarmy general, but he gave up the postto resume fighting in April.

Peter Gazulu, Pibor’s former humanrights commissioner, insisted that thosekilled were not with the rebels.

Both Human Rights Watch (HRW) andAmnesty International (AI) have con-demned a string of reported abuses assecurity forces crack down on those seento support the rebels. Women and chil-dren are increasingly targeted in a surgeof violence in Jonglei state, Doctorswithout Borders (MSF) said at the endof November. MSF is concerned thesituation could worsen with theapproach of the dry season, makingmovement around the area possibleagain.

Meanwhile an FBI agent will investigatethe killing of South Sudanese writer andgovernment critic Diing Chan Awuol, acase that has raised concerns over pressfreedom in the fledgling nation, USembassy officials said on December18th. Relatives say Awuol, who wrote

under the pen name of Isaiah Abraham,was shot dead earlier in the month foroutspoken comments that included call-ing for an improvement in relations withKhartoum, AFP reported (18/12).

Colleagues said he had received deaththreats, while one employer, the SudanTribune newspaper, said he was ques-tioned by security officials weeks beforehis death after he called for PresidentSalva Kiir’s resignation.

Press rights watchdog Reporters With-out Borders said the killing was a “tragicsetback to the hopes cherished by SouthSudan’s defenders of freedom of opinionsince independence.”

The FBI investigation follows warningsmade earlier in December by US specialenvoy Princeton Lyman, who said itwould be a “terrible tragedy and setbackif the country was diverted and becameprisoner of those who intimidate.”

The UN Human Rights office onDecember 11th expressed its concernover what it called the “tragic silencing”of Ding Chan Awol. It warned that aseries of attacks on human rights defend-ers in the country amounted to an“assault on freedom of expression.”

US envoy Lyman said that otherheavy-handed actions by security forces– including the shooting of severalprotestors earlier in the month andreported army abuses against civiliansin volatile Jonglei state – must also beinvestigated.

On the 18th, reports emerged that thebodies of six people with their hands tiedbehind their backs had been found afterbeing kidnapped and executed by anarmed gang in Western Bahr el-Ghazalstate. The killings were not believed tobe linked to the shooting dead of theprotestors in Wau. (Sources as referencedin text)

Helicopter Down in Friendly Fire

South Sudan’s army shot down a UnitedNations (UN) helicopter, killing all fourcrew on board, after it mistook the craftfor an enemy plane, SPLA militaryspokesman Philip Aguer said on Decem-ber 21st.

Aguer said the army used anti-aircraftweapons to down the aircraft as it flewover Jonglei. Talking to journalists inJuba on December 22nd, Aguer said saida failure of communications and lack ofcoordination was responsible, UN spon-sored Radio Miraya FM reported (23/12).

The South Sudanese government hasalready tried to stop the UN, andrights groups investigating allegationsof massacres and other abuses in thatregion.

The Security Council strongly con-demned the downing of the helicopterand urged UNMISS and the governmentof South Sudan to conduct a swift andthorough investigation into the accident.(Sources as referenced in text)

SUDANStudent Protests

Khartoum must end its violent repres-sion of demonstrations, says humanrights watchdog.

The deaths of students, following acrackdown on a tuition protest at GeziraUniversity south of Khartoum, hassparked the largest outpouring of ArabSpring-style discontent since anti-regimeprotests in June and July.

Nationwide protests were sparked by thedeath of four Darfuri students in Gezirastate following a peaceful student sit-inat their university on December 3rd. Thefour had been arrested by NationalSecurity Service (NSS) officers and werelater found dead in a canal near theuniversity. Following this, protestsquickly spread to Khartoum and othertowns.

Protests had begun on December 2ndagainst the administration of GeziraUniversity, where protestors wereattacked by pro-government students.The fighting led to the arrest of sevenDarfuri students who were reportedlytaking part in a peaceful demonstration.On the 3rd, a larger group of studentstook part in a sit-in that was said to bepeaceful. Government security forcesresponded to the protest by arrestingmore than 50 people.

According to Amnesty International(AI), police continued to use excessiveforce in Khartoum during protestsdenouncing the death of the studentsand calling for the government to bereplaced. Protesters were beaten anddispersed with tear gas, while scoreswere arrested.

The four bodies reportedly bore signs ofbeatings, suggesting torture or ill-treat-ment. Witnesses told AI the bodies boresigns of bleeding on their heads, and oneon the shoulder. University officials saidthe four students drowned. New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW)interviewed witnesses who reported that“government security forces pushed theprotesters toward the canal, causingseveral students to fall in”.

The Sudanese Minister of Justice haspledged to establish a commission ofinquiry to investigate the deaths.

Students in Gezira State had been pro-testing against the university administra-tion’s refusal to let them register without

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paying the full tuition. Under the DarfurPeace Agreement, students originatingfrom Darfur are exempt from the pay-ment of tuition fees.

Two lawyers and two teachers affiliatedwith an opposition party were alsoarrested on December 8th for theiralleged involvement in the protests. Theyremain in detention, without charge,said Amnesty.

The head of Sudan’s opposition polit-ical alliance Farouk Abu Issa told AFPon the 13th he had been detained bystate security agents after he spoke insupport of the dead students. Freedafter two days in detention, he saidthat the government fears rising popu-lar discontent in the crisis-hit nation.Issa blamed the deaths on Islamicmilitia.

“The response to the recent protests isdeeply troubling”, said Audrey Gaugh-ran of AI.

The United Nations High Commissionerfor Human Rights (UNHCHR) spokes-man also expressed concern. “There is aworrying trend of attacks on students inSudan,” Rupert Colville stated. “Westress the need for swift investigationsinto the circumstances surrounding themurders of the students and the impor-tance of bringing the perpetrators tojustice.”

The Sudanese authorities used “exces-sive force against Darfuri students pro-testing for their rights”, the USgovernment’s senior adviser for Darfur,Dane Smith said on the 12th. Smithcalled the deaths “shocking” and saidthe protests were “quite reasonable”.

The students’ deaths sparked the largestoutpouring of Arab Spring-style discon-tent since anti-regime protests in Juneand July, according to AFP (12/12).Demonstrators have called for “revolu-tion” and the fall of President Omaral-Bashir’s 23-year regime.

Protests in June and July were led byuniversity students with protesters call-ing for the government’s downfall. How-ever, the movement withered followingviolent crackdowns by police, saidFrance 24 (10/12). (Sources as referencedin text)

Humanitarian Catastrophe?

UNAMID in November expressed“grave concern” about an upsurge ofviolence in parts of Darfur. Militias are“seemingly out of control” and havebeen implicated in attacks on peace-keepers, yet the Sudanese governmentshows little interest in prosecuting theculprits, Dane Smith said in earlyDecember.

Rebels claimed to have seized a districtcapital just days after saying they tookcontrol of a major town. The SudanLiberation Army’s (SLA’s) AbdelwahidNur faction said late on December 28thit had captured the government officeand army base in Guldo district nearCentral Darfur state’s Nertiti town.Group spokesman Ibrahim al-Hillu saidit was “a great victory in the history ofthe war in Darfur” as his faction hadnever before seized a district.

On the 24th, Hillu reported that hisfaction had taken the town of Golo, eastof Guldo. The two towns are in moun-tainous Jebel Marra area – home to thenon-Arab Fur people and who arerepresented by Nur’s faction, reportsAFP (29/12).

According to the Small Arms Survey, aSwiss-based independent research pro-ject, the group has several hundredcombatants and a “sphere of influence”limited to the Jebel Marra, a regulartarget for military operations and airattack.

On December 21st, peacekeepers inDarfur warned of a potential humani-tarian catastrophe after reports ofrenewed displacement of civilians byalleged air strikes and other attacks.

“UNAMID calls on all partiesinvolved to keep civilians out of harm’sway and to grant the mission unre-stricted access and freedom of move-ment across Darfur,” Aicha Elbasri,the UNAMID spokeswoman, said in astatement.

UNAMID has a mandate to protectcivilians, but it said one of its patrolstrying to verify reported SudaneseArmed Forces (SAF) air strikes in theShangil Tobay area of North Darfurstate was denied access by the SAF.

Although violence is down from itspeak, villages have been razed andrebel-government fighting, banditry,inter-Arab and tribal disputes continueto afflict the far west region.

Meanwhile the International Committeeof the Red Cross (ICRC) on December5th said it had facilitated the handoverof two SAF members released by therebel Justice and Equality Movement(JEM).

The ICRC has been working in Darfursince 2004, where it provides assistancefor victims of the armed conflict andother violence, PANA reports (5/12).(Sources as referenced in text) Upsurge of

violence in Darfur p. 19502

Rebirth of State

Vice President Ali Osman Tahaannounced the establishment of WestKordofan state effective from January

1st, Sudan’s independence day, the offi-cial SUNA news agency reported.

The division, giving separate status tothe western part – dominated by noma-dic Arab Misseriya tribesmen - respondsto “the hopes of the people of the area,”said the Vice President. It recreates thestate of West Kordofan which waseliminated in 2005 following a peaceagreement between Khartoum and theSudan People’s Liberation Army/Move-ment (SPLA/M) that ended a 23-yearcivil war.

West Kordofan is home to most ofSudan’s oil-fields as well as to theterritory of Abyei, whose final statuswas the most sensitive issue left unre-solved when South Sudan became inde-pendent. The rebellion by the SudanPeople’s Liberation Movement-North –(SPLM-N) which Khartoum alleges isbacked by South Sudan - is concentratedin the eastern half of the state. Sudan’sarmy has been unable to eliminate the18-month-old rebellion.

The African Union (AU) has proposedthat a referendum be held in October2013 on whether Abyei joins Sudan orSouth Sudan. Under the plan, membersof the Dinka, a dominant South Suda-nese tribe who live in the Abyei area,would have the right to vote along withSudanese with “permanent abode”. TheMisseriya, who regularly graze theiranimals through Abyei, strongly objectto the plan.

An analyst who wished to remain anon-ymous told AFP that the rebirth of WestKordofan appeared linked to the war inSouth Kordofan rather than the Abyeiissue.

On December 14th, the AU’s Peace andSecurity Council expressed “profoundregret” that Khartoum and the SPLM-Nhad failed to hold direct talks andreiterated that “efforts towards a polit-ical solution should be delayed nolonger.” It said the war had escalatedrecently. SPLM-N is also fighting inBlue Nile state.

The ethnic and religious minoritySPLM-N were allies of southern rebelsduring Sudan’s 22-year civil war, whichended with a 2005 peace deal that led toSouth Sudan’s independence in July2011.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) onDecember 12th accused Sudan of carry-ing out indiscriminate aerial bombingand other serious violations of interna-tional humanitarian law in SouthKordofan and in Blue Nile. In BlueNile, HRW said “scores” of civilians hadbeen killed, maimed or injured by gov-ernment bombing and shelling.

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More than 900,000 people are estimatedto be displaced or severely affected bythe South Kordofan-Blue Nile conflict,according to the United Nations (UN).

SPLM-N spokesman Arnu Ngutulu Loditold AFP the Islamist government“wants to please Misseriya” by creatingWest Kordofan, but the issue was not apriority for the rebels who are part of aRevolutionary Front with other Suda-nese insurgents.

“Our priority is fighting until we removethe government” and ensure greaterdemocracy, respect for ethnic diversityand human rights, he said.

On December 14th, rebels in SouthKordofan identified 21 government sol-diers they claimed to have killed thatweek in Daldako and a second location.In a visit to the area, Defence MinisterAbdelrahim Mohammed Husseinannounced that more troops and equip-ment would be sent to the area, theofficial SUNA news agency reported.“Although the situation is stable in thebig towns and the main roads, the stateneeds to expand the secure area,” hesaid. Hussein’s announcement of newreinforcements came after rebelsreported the defeat of governmentforces who tried on the 10th totake the strategic rebel-held town ofDaldako.

Hussein is wanted by the InternationalCriminal Court (ICC) for crimes alleg-edly committed in the country’s far-west Darfur region. The governor ofSouth Kordofan, Ahmed Haroun, isalso sought by the ICC over allegedDarfur crimes. (Sources as referenced intext)

Coup Reports Denied

The Sudanese authorities have quietlyarrested more than half a dozen armyofficers, accusing them of plotting tostage a coup against the Bashir govern-ment. According to the Cairo-basedAl-Masry Al-Youm and Saudi-ownedAl-Sharq Al-Awsat newspapers the headof the of plot is a colonel in Khartoumcentral region who was identified asAl-Tayeb Al-Sayed. Al-Masry Al-Youmsaid Al-Sayed was assisted by sixunnamed officers along with a retiredmajor general and two privates.

The same newspaper quoted Al-Sayed aswarning the head of military intelligencethat unless changes in the “leadership”are made that fixes the country’s prob-lems then “everyday they will find acoup as there are tens behind us who willtry that”.

According to Al Sharq Al-Awsat, theplotters were planning to collect signa-tures of more than a thousand armyofficers demanding the release of the

once powerful former head of NationalIntelligence and Security Services (NISS)Salah Gosh, and other officers, currentlyin detention for involvement in an earliercoup attempt.

The government, however, on December18th denied that a second coup was inthe offing in the country less than sixmonths after the first attempt, saying noarmy officers were arrested anew asreported. In a press statement SudaneseArmed Forces (SAF) spokesman, Col.Sawarmi Khalid Saad was reported byPANA as saying: “We haven’t heard of acoup d’�etat in our Command (HQ)” onDecember 15th.

In November, Sudanese authoritiessent shockwaves throughout the coun-try when it arrested Gosh and morethan a dozen senior security and armyofficers who were considered Islamistloyalists.

Sudanese officials including presidentialassistant Nafie Ali Nafie are now suggest-ing that investigations are proving linksbetween those arrested and some opposi-tion parties includingDarfur rebel Justiceand Equality Movement (JEM) and theNational Umma Party (NUP), accordingto Sudan Tribune (20/12).

The conspirators reportedly spread newsabout the President’s “deteriorating”health condition to justify the coup.(Sources as referenced in text) Sabotage plot

failed p. 19502

TUNISIA‘Nothing Has Changed’

Clashes, strikes, and attacks by Isla-mists multiply across the country in therun-up to celebrations to mark theanniversary of the uprising.

Tunisians, already troubled by the rise ofradical Islamists, are eyeing the politicaland economic paralysis gripping theircountry with a dismay shared acrossmuch of the region two years after theArab Spring began, according to AFP(14/12).

In Sidi Bouzid, the town where Moham-ed Bouazizi set himself on fire onDecember 17th, 2010, an act of desper-ation that sparked Tunisia’s uprisingand touched off the Arab Spring, resi-dents of the restive town are almostunanimous that nothing has changedsince the ouster of dictator Zine ElAbidine Ben Ali in January 2011.

Since coming to power in October 2011,the government has struggled to revivethe economy and is accused, in particu-lar, of turning a blind eye towards crimesallegedly committed by the Salafistmovement. On December 13th, pre-sumed Salafists attacked a hotel in the

town of Sbeitla and tried to set it on fireafter sacking the lobby and destroyingbottles of alcohol in the hotel bar, policeand witnesses said.

Tunisia’s Constituent Assembly hasmade little progress in drafting a newconstitution and electoral law, with theprocess repeatedly hampered by differ-ences between Islamists and secularistswithin the interim parliament.

In late November, around 300 peoplewere wounded in five straight days ofclashes between police and protesters inthe town of Siliana, southwest of Tunis,where a strike swiftly degenerated intoviolence. Fresh clashes erupted onDecember 1st, amid rising discontentover poor living conditions two yearsafter the revolution. In nearby Bargou,protesters with similar grievancesblocked a road and hurled rocks atpolice vehicles heading for Tunis, withthe police again firing tear gas to dis-perse them.

Amnesty International (AI) and the UNHigh Commissioner for Human RightsNavi Pillay both called on the authori-ties to end the use of “excessive force”against the protesters in Siliana.

The latest violence follows mountingclashes, strikes and attacks by hard-lineIslamists known as Salafists across Tuni-sia that have plunged the country into apolitical impasse.

President Moncef Marzouki had warnedon November 30th that the crisis couldspread, saying the government of Islam-ist and rival Prime Minister HamadiJebali was not meeting the expectationsof the people.

“We do not have a single Siliana… I amafraid that it could spread to severalregions and threaten the future of therevolution,” Marzouki said in a televisedspeech. He said Tunisia was at a cross-roads between “the road to ruin and theroad to recovery.”

As clashes rocked the area, the govern-ment and the main the General Workers’Union (UGTT) trade union that organ-ised the protests, reached a deal aimed atsatisfying the demands of demonstrators– principally, the resignation of Gover-nor Ahmed Ezzine Mahjoubi. The dealenvisages sidelining Mahjoubi, whomJebali has refused to sack, but notremoving him, with his deputy to takeover.

Presidento Marzouki has denouncedarms trafficking in North Africa sincethe fall of Libyan dictator MuammarGaddafy, a particular source of concerngiven the current strife in Mali.

The Gaddafy “regime accumulatedweapons, and now some are in the handsnot only of Islamists from Libya, but

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also from Algeria and Tunisia,” Mar-zouki said in an interview with TheWorld Today, edited by London-basedthink tank Chatham House.

“The danger now is that all these guyswill go to Mali and train and make aholy war like in Afghanistan, and thenthey will come back to Tunisia. Ourmain foreign policy challenge for thenext three years is to restore order toMali.”

Marzouki said he longed for stability ina country where he said the “situation isgetting worse by the day.”

Al Qaeda-Linked Arrests

Security forces have broken up a net-work that recruited fighters for al Qa-eda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQLIM),a spokesman at the Interior ministrysaid on December 15th, quoted by theofficial TAP news agency. Seven peoplewere arrested. On the 21st, the govern-ment announced that 16 men suspectedof belonging to a group with ties toAQLIM had been arrested in thewestern regions of Kasserine and Jen-douba near the Algerian border. Inte-rior Minister Ali Laarayedh toldreporters that weapons, ammunition,explosives, binoculars, maps and mili-tary uniforms were seized during theoperation, with most of the weaponsthought to have come from Libya. Thegroup in Kasserine was active inrecruiting and training young Islamistextremists in AQLIM camps in Algeriaand Libya, the Minister said. Eightother extremists, including three Liby-ans, were arrested in the Jendoubaregion in northwest Tunisia, AFPreported (21/12). On December 10th,gunmen shot and killed Anis Jlassi, thehead of the police station in Kassarine.

Laarayedh was unable to confirm theexistence of formal links between thetwo dismantled cells and Tunisia’s hard-line Salafist group Ansar al-Sharia, buthe said some of those arrested had takenpart in their protests.

Regions where terrorist groups wereuncovered have become “nests” of mil-itants and Salafi jihadists who havereturned to the country since the fall ofthe former regime and the Libyan upris-ing, political analysts told Al-Jazeera onDecember 21st.

Security operations conducted for weekson Tunisia’s borders revealed that onegroup, active in the north, organized thetravel of fighters to Algeria while theother group operated on the country’sborder with Algeria.

The security approach alone can notaddress the problem, which had deeproots,” Tunisian political analyst, Nass-reddine Ben Hadid, told Al-Jazeera.

“The areas where such incidents occurhave become nests of those organiza-tions, they are poor, marginalized areason the country’s borders.

The process of monitoring and control-ling Tunisia’s long borders with Libyaand Algeria, says political analyst Ab-delatif El Hanachi, is “difficult andcomplex and further compounded bythe breakdown in security in both Tuni-sia and Libya in the past two years.”

Hundreds of supporters of Tunisia’sIslamist ruling party attacked membersof a secular opposition party andbesieged the hotel where they weremeeting on December 22nd. The dem-onstrators brandished banners hostile tothe Nidaa Tounes (Call of Tunisia) partyin the hall where the meeting was beingheld, bringing it to an abrupt close, anAFP correspondent said.

Nidaa Tounes, founded in July and ledby former premier Beji Caid Essebsi, isaccused by Tunisia’s ruling coalition ofregrouping former regime officials andseeking to undermine the government.Its supporters regularly clash with back-ers of the ruling Islamist Ennahda party,which heads the coalition.

On December 17th, protesters shouting“the people want the fall of the govern-ment” hurled rocks at President MoncefMarzouki and parliamentary speakerMustapha Ben Jaafar in Sidi Bouzid,birthplace of the revolution. When thePresident took to the podium, many inthe crowd of around 5,000 startedshouting “Get out! Get out!” – one ofthe rallying cries of the revolution. ThePresident, a secular, centre-left ally ofEnnahda, stressed that the governmentdid not have a “magic wand” to fix thecountry’s problems, and urged patience.Radical Islamists also gathered outsidethe prefecture, with members of the HizbEttahrir party waving the black flag ofthe hardline Salafist movement. Thesecurity forces swiftly evacuated thetwo men to the prefecture. Marzoukihad been heckled earlier in the morning,when he laid a wreath of flowers at thegrave of Mohamed Bouazizi, the youngfruit and vegetable seller whose act ofdesperation touched off the ArabSpring.

The Islamist-led government has strug-gled to meet the expectations of manyordinary Tunisians, with clashes andstrikes, as well as attacks by Islamists,multiplying across the country in therun-up to celebrations to mark theanniversary of the uprising.

On December 4th, the rising tensionbetween the main political party in thetroika government and the GeneralWorkers’ Union (UGTT) led to anattack by the CPPR members against

the headquarters of the trade union. Inreaction, the UGTT called a generalstrike for December 13th to condemnEnnahdha “militias” violence. The deci-sion brought the UGTT wide domesticand international support amid concernsthat the transitional phase is not meetingits objectives. However, last-minutetalks between the government and theunion resulted in the cancellation of thestrike.

According to privately-owned TunisianFrench-language website Kapitalis (9/12), Ennahdha leader Rached Ghannou-chi warned that “the enemies of democ-racy are escalating their anarchicbehaviour in order to push the armedforces to take over”. He went on:“anarchy leads to violence and dictator-ship, and this is the objective that someparties are aiming for”.

Meanwhile Al-Jazeera, Doha reported(28/12) that 30 political parties led bythe tripartite governing coalition met ata forum held in the capital to discussvarious proposals for a blueprinttowards a non-violent political scene.(Sources as referenced in text) State of

emergency extended p. 19503

IN BRIEFAlgeria: An army colonel was killed and amember of the communal guard wounded in agun battle between troops and Islamists inAhnif, east of Bouira, 125km southeast ofAlgiers, local media reported on December21st.

A senior member of al Qaeda in the IslamicMaghreb, (AQLIM), was arrested in the sameregion earlier, according to security sources.Saleh Kassmi, aka Mohamed Abou Salah, isalso the network’s media spokesman, Al-Jazeera reported quoting an Algerian websiteon December 17th. (© AFP, Algiers 21/12; AlJazeera 17/12)

Two leading Islamist militants, Abou El Ak-ouaa and Abou Eshak, who “took part in themurder of 17 Algerian military personnel andthree Malian soldiers”, were sentenced to lifeimprisonment on December 10th. The pros-ecution had requested the death sentence. (El-Khabar website, Algiers 10/12)

Benin: Patrice Talon, a businessman alleged tobe the mastermind of a plot to poisonPresident Thomas Boni Yayi (p. 19486), wasarrested in Paris, France on December 6thfollowing an extradition request.

His French lawyer William Bourdon said theprocedure was “based on persecution andpolitical manipulation,” and that it was acompletely fabricated case. (© AFP, Paris 6/12)

Congo: The trial of 23 soldiers accused inrelation to the blast at the Mpila munitionsdump in Brazzaville (282 people dead) isexpected to take place in January, the JusticeMinister said on December 27th. (© AFP 27/12 2012)

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Djibouti: Houssein Ahmed Farah, a journalistwho works for opposition radio station LaVoix de Djibouti, which broadcasts out ofEurope, and who was jailed for three monthshas been released, Reporters Without Borders(RSF) said. (© AFP, Nairobi 20/11 2012)

Ethiopia: The appeal of blogger EskinderNega and opposition leader Andualem Arage,jailed earlier in 2012 for terror-relatedoffences, was again delayed on December19th. Judge Dagne Melaku said more timewas needed to review the bulky case file.

Eskinder (18 years imprisonment) and And-ualem (life) were among 24 people convictedin June under anti-terrorism legislation.(© AFP 19/12 2012)

Opposition website Ogaden Online said therehad been an increase in battles between theOgaden National Liberation Army (ONLA)(armed wing of Ogaden National LiberationFront, ONLF) and government forces withthe latter taking “heavy casualties.”(OgadenOnline 15/12)

Opposition website Ethiomedia said that com-batants of the Ethiopian Unity and FreedomForce (EUFF) on December 22nd had killed17 prison guards, wounded at least 13 securitystaff and freed five of their imprisoned com-rades.

The report could not be verified but, if true,would be the third major offensive afteroperations on Adigrat Prison (north) inNovember and Metema town (northwest) inMay in which several business units belongingto ruling party officials were razed to theground. (Ethiomedia 26/12)

The Gambia: The European Union (EU)expressed concern on December 11th aboutthe “arbitrary detention” of a renownedlawyer and rights defender as well as anoutspoken religious leader who criticised thegovernment.

Lawyer Amie Bensouda and Imam Baba Leighwere arrested on separate occasions in earlyDecember, but while Bensouda was releasedon bail after 48 hours, Leigh remains indetention and is being denied access to familyand lawyers, read an EU statement. Bensoudais the sister-in-law of International CriminalCourt (ICC) chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.(© AFP, Banjul 11/12 2012)

The opposition Gambia Moral Congress(GMC) has called for mass protests following‘‘the latest escalation of gross human rightsatrocities, flagrant violations of the constitu-tion, and arbitrary arrest of innocent citizens’’in the country. (PANA, Dakar 13/12)

Guinea: At least two people were shot deadand dozens wounded during clashes betweenrival ethnic groups – the Kissien and theMalknkes – in the southeast on December11th, hospital officials in the town of Gue-ckedou, 700km from Conakry, said. (© AFP13/12)

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on December5th called on Guinea to step up efforts tobring to justice those responsible for the 2009stadium massacre that left almost 160 peopledead.

“President Alpha Conde and other Guineanofficials have said they support accountabil-ity, but they need to better translate therhetoric into action,” said HRW. ThreeGuinean magistrates were in 2010 tasked withinvestigating the massacre, and according tothe Guinean Organisation for the Defence ofHuman Rights (OGDH) and other rightsgroups, six people were charged but have yetto be tried. (© AFP, Conakry 5/12)

Rwanda: The UN war crimes court, theInternational Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda(ICTR) has sentenced a key organiser of the1994 Rwandan genocide to 35 years in prison.Augustin Ngirabatware, a former governmentminister and academic is the last person to be

tried by the court, which will now only hearappeals. (BBC News Online 20/12)

Senegal: Eight Senegalese captives, includingsix soldiers, held since 2011 by the separatistMovement of Democratic Forces of Casa-mance (MFDC), were freed on December 9th,according to a statement from the Interna-tional Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC),which facilitated the transfer to representa-tives from the Sant’Egidio Community, whichhad acted as intermediary along with theGambia. (PANA 10/12)

Sierra Leone: Police in the diamond-miningcity of Koidu (east) said on December 21stthey were probing the deaths of two peopleshot when striking miners demonstratedagainst the South African-owned Octea min-ing company for improved working condi-tions on the 18th. (© AFP 21/12)

South Africa: Two senior members of thenewly-founded Federal Freedom Party (FFP)were arrested in connection with a plot toassassinate members of the ruling ANC dur-ing the party’s conference in Bloemfontein(See p. 19525). They appeared in court ontreason and terrorism charges on December18th and were remanded in custody until theirnext court appearance on January 8th, SAPAnews agency reported. (© AFP 21/12).

Protesting gold miners at Harmony’s Kusa-salethu mine shaft in Carletonville clashedwith police and private security guards onDecember 20th. Officials said 10 workers wereinjured by rubber bullets or tear gas, AFPreported (20/12). The violence followed thesuspension of 578 employees, including somecontractors, following their participation inan unprotected strike action on the 15th. Itwas the latest outbreak of violence at the minesouthwest of Johannesburg. In mid-Novem-ber, South Africa saw the end of the mostdevastating and costly bout of labour unrestin nearly a century, which claimed over 50lives. (Sources as referenced in text)

MAURITANIADefence Sector Boosted

A new militarised zone reflectschanging security realities.

The government intends to beef up itsmilitary and national security budget tobetter defend its borders and combatterrorism.

In the 2013 budget draft (presented toParliament in Nouakchott at the start ofDecember), the defence sector receivesOuguiyas 44.547bn for the operating bud-get, the National Gendarmerie, salariesand equipment andmilitary healthcare.

Defence Minister Ahmed Ould Dy OuldMohamed El Radhi told Parliament thearmy was “making sure that it controlsthe whole national territory. It has set upspecial units to combat terrorism.”

Analyst Abdou Ould Mohamedexplained that the Mauritanian armynow “finds itself forced to reorganiseand equip itself to face some hugesecurity challenges, particularly thethreat of terrorism… The authoritieshave declared a corridor along thenorthern and north-eastern borders withAlgeria and Mali to be a military zone,”Ould Mohamed told Magharebia. Thearea is a refuge both for al Qaeda in theIslamic Maghreb (AQLIM) and smug-glers “so movements of people andgoods are now subject to military con-trols. That takes a lot of effort,” he said.

The militarised zone includes “threemandatory checkpoints which appearon a list of 35 checkpoints recentlyset out in a ministerial decree coveringall of Mauritania’s borders with Sene-gal, Algeria, Mali and Morocco”, hestated.

The checkpoints are located at Chegga(800km north-east of Zouerate), theancient colonial fort of Ain Bintili tothe north-west of Bir-Mogrein (450kmnorth of Zouerate) and at Lemgheity(600km east of Zouerate), the site of a2005 terror attack that killed fifteenMauritanian soldiers.

“Mauritanian authorities have investeda great deal in defence since 2008,”terrorism expert Sidati Ould Cheikhsaid. “They have focused on maritimesurveillance, air security, the armedforces’ contribution to civil protection,and training.”

On October 19th, Mauritania and theBrazilian Embraer Defence and SecurityCompany signed an agreement for thedelivery of A-29 Super Tucano militaryaircraft which are expected to beassigned to patrol the borders. (Maghare-bia.com 19/12)

Joint Campaign with Senegal: TheMauritanian and Senegalese armedforces on December 24th began a joint

Military

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awareness campaign on terrorism alongtheir common border, starting in theSenegalese village of Cascas, securityforces said.

Villagers will learn the need to exposeand denounce individuals, suspectedgroups and movements involved in ter-rorism. The campaign will also educatethem on the dangers of terrorism andtrans-border criminality. (PANA, Nouak-chott 24/12)

NIGERIAAssymmetric Warfare Training

The Africom Commander is concernedover links between terrorist groups.

The Nigerian Army has embarked onseries of training exercises aimed atexposing its forces to the concept ofasymmetric warfare and to ensuring thatthey stay ahead of the terrorists in theongoing fight against internal insurrec-tion.

Maj-Gen Kennet Osuji said the trainingexercise, tagged “Wazobia Kunama” is ablend of conventional warfare and othermilitary operations aimed at combatingcontemporary security challenges. (ThisDay, Lagos 8/12)

General Carter Ham, head of US AfricaCommand, (Africom), met PresidentGoodluck Jonathan in Nigeria onDecember 11th. The two discussedregional and global security, includingcounter-terrorism, maritime security andpeacekeeping as well as Boko Haram.Jonathan called on the US to supportNigeria in finding lasting solutions to thesecurity challenges it faces.

“President Jonathan also briefed Gen-eral Ham on his visit to Mali and theefforts by ECOWAS to resolve theconflict in that country, adding thatthe situation could still be contained ifthe right steps are taken quickly,” astatement said.

Ham recently told an audience inWashington that he was concernedabout indications of growing linksbetween African extremist groups thatcould pose a threat across the continentas well as to Europe and the UnitedStates. “We have seen clear indicationsof collaboration amongst the organisa-tions,” he said.

“In one instance … we believe and haveseen reports that Boko Haram is receiv-ing financial support, probably training,probably some explosives, from al Qaedain the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb[AQLIM], and in a relationship thatgoes both ways.” There has long beenintense scrutiny over whether Boko Ha-ram is forming operational ties withother extremist groups.

Diplomats have said previously thatthere has been evidence of Boko Harammembers seeking training in northernMali, but not of operational links.

The US has declared three Nigerianextremists “global terrorists,” but hasdeclined to label Boko Haram as a wholea terrorist group due to its nebulousnature and domestic focus, among otherfactors. (© AFP, Abuja 11/12; PANA 11/12)

Promotions and Retirements: The retire-ment of 49 top ranking officers, amongthem Generals and Colonels wasapproved on December 21st two daysafter 59 top ranking officers were pro-moted. Sunday Trust learnt that thepurge affected 12 Major Generals, 23Brigadier Generals and 12 Colonels.(Daily Trust 23/12)

IN BRIEFAngola: At least 79 officers with the LandForces Command were promoted on Decem-ber 17th in Luanda during 20th anniversarycelebrations of the Angola Armed Forces(FAA).

The ceremony took place in the 101st Brigadeof Tanks in the locality of Funda, nearLuanda, attended by the chief of FAA Staff,gen. Geraldo Sachipengo Nunda, and thecommanders of the Navy and Air Force anddefence attaches accredited to Angola. (An-gop 18/12)

Cote d’Ivoire: The Chinese army will provideexpertise to the Republican Forces of Coted’Ivoire (FRCI) in the area of security andtraining, following a meeting between themilitary authorities of both countries at Gal-lieni military camp on December 17th. (LePatriote, Abidjan 20/12)

The chief of defence staff of the FRCI, Lt-Gen Soumaila Bakayoko met his counterpartfrom Liberia, Major General Surai Abdurrah-man, in Monrovia on December 6th–7th toplan joint military manoeuvres along theborder. (L’Inter 10/12)

Landmines: The 12th Meeting of State Partiesto the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) on December3rd in Geneva, Switzerland, heard that pro-gress was being made. In its 2012 report, theLandmine and Cluster Munitions Monitor(LCMM) said that mines and explosive rem-nants of war had caused 4,286 casualtiesworldwide in 2011 and that three states –Israel, Libya and Myanmar, none of themparty to the MBT – used antipersonnel mines.Fewer factory-produced mines are in circula-tion but there are more improvised or craftmines in use by non-state armed groups.

Angola, one of the most mined countries inAfrica, has requested an extension of fiveyears to comply with article 5 of the OttawaConvention – destruction of all anti-personnellandmines in mined areas within 10 years.(IRIN, Johannesburg 29/11; PANA, Geneva4/12)

Kenya – Liberia: The UN has appointedMajor-General Leonard Ngondi, a Kenyanmilitary commander who led his country’scontingent during a UN peacekeeping oper-

ation in Sierra Leone, as the force commanderof its operation in Liberia, UNMIL, theKenyan Defence Forces (KDF) announced.

Major-General Ngondi has led the Kenyanoperation in Somalia against al Shabaab sincethe deployment of the mission in October2011. (PANA, Nairobi 28/11)

Libya – UK: Libyan-British military coopera-tion constituted the main issue at a December3rd meeting in Tripoli which aimed to draw upa cooperation mechanism through training,rehabilitation, development, capability build-ing, and the transfer of British technologicalexpertise to the Libyan land, naval and airdefence forces. (WAL, Tripoli 3/12)

Somalia: Ministers on December 13thendorsed a recent military agreement (worthabout $2m) signed with Turkey to helprebuild, train and equip Somalia’s armedforces. Information minister, Abdullahhi Ciil-moge Hirsi said.

After Turkey, India has promised directmilitary assistance. The Indian High Com-missioner in Nairobi, Sibabrata Tripathi,made an official visit to the Somali

Ministry of Defence in Mogadishu on Decem-ber 17th where he held talks with the SomaliDefence Minister, Abdihakim Haji MohamudFiqi.

More than 100 disgruntled soldiers in thesouthwestern region of Bay mutinied toprotest nonpayment of their salaries bythe government for seven months., pri-vately-owned website reports. (Jowharwebsite, Mogadishu 14/12; Hiiraan Online19/12; Ethiopia Government, Addis Ababa18/12)

Rwanda: South Africa’s Justice Minister JeffRadebe on December 5th confirmed in answerto a parliamentary question that South Africasold conventional arms in 2012 to Rwanda,despite awareness of the UN report onRwanda backing the M23 rebels in DRCongo. The “the export of category A equip-ment (RG-31 APC vehicles and spares) to

New UNAMID Head

Ibn Chambas, a distinguished Ghanaianinternational diplomat, who headed theefforts to resolve conflicts in West Africa,has been named the new head of theAfrican Union (AU) -UN Mission inDarfur, Sudan (UNAMID).

The AU Commission President, Nkosaz-ana Dlamini Zuma, and the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, announced theappointment of Chambas on December20th weeks after the exit of IbrahimGambari of Nigeria.

Chambas, a former President of the Eco-nomic Community of West African States(ECOWAS) Commission, will be the jointchief mediator of the stalled Darfur peaceprocess (p. 19516). With the UN financingthe operation in Sudan, one of its largestoperations with some 26,000 blue helmetpeacekeepers deployed, Chambas willhead a bigger force and spearhead a fluidand fragile peace effort. (PANA, AddisAbaba 20/12)

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Rwanda during June 2012” was approved.The RG-31 is the Mamba armoured person-nel carrier. (Business Day, Johannesburg 5/12)

South Africa: A military Dakota planecrashed in the mountainous east on Decem-

ber 5th, killing 11 people. “On board theaircraft was a crew of six and five passen-gers, and it was confirmed that there are nosurvivors,” Defence department spokesmanSiphiwe Dlamini told SAPA. (© AFP, Johan-nesburg 6/12)

Togo: ChineseDefence Minister Liang Guang-lie met with the Togolese Armed Forces Chiefof Staff Atcha Titikpina on December 4th,with both sides pledging closer military ties.Titikpina was on a week-long visit to China.(Xinhua, Beijing 4/12)

ALGERIA – FRANCEBrutal Rule Acknowledged

President Hollande does not repent theinjustices of the colonial past, but seeksto open a new era of partnershipbetween equals.

French President Francois Hollande onDecember 20th acknowledged France’s“brutal” colonial rule over the Algerianpeople, without having to apologise, ashe sought to launch a new era in ties on atwo-day visit.

“Over 132 years, Algeria was subjectedto a profoundly unjust and brutal sys-tem,” Hollande told the Algerian parlia-ment on the final day of a landmark visitto the North African country, toapplause from MPs.

“This system has a name: it is colonial-ism and I recognise the suffering thatcolonialism inflicted on the Algerianpeople,” he said.

In the audience were numerous muja-hedeen veterans who fought in thevicious 1954–1962 war of independencefrom France that killed an estimated1.5m Algerians.

The French President said after arrivingin Algiers on December 19th that he hadnot come to say sorry for the crimescommitted during the colonial period, assome, including a dozen political parties,had demanded.

But he stressed the importance of rec-ognising what happened as a way ofbeginning a new era in bilateral rela-tions, saying nothing would come from“forgetfulness or denial.”

Hollande referred to specific atrocities,notably the massacre at Setif, wherenationalist unrest that broke out at theend of World War II was brutallysuppressed by French forces, leavingthousands dead.

The truth should also be spoken abouthow Algeria gained its independence, “inthis war whose name was not mentionedin France for a long time.”

Algeria’s Foreign Minister MouradMedelci, in a first official reaction,welcomed Hollande’s words for em-

phasising “the culture of peace and ofrespect for others” that he said were“two basic principles” of Algeriandiplomacy.

Algerian MPs also broadly saluted thespeech as a step forward, despite someregretting the lack of an apology, andothers cautious about the promise ofchange.

On arrival, Hollande was received withfull honours by his Algerian counterpartAbdelaziz Bouteflika, and said he wantedrelations between their countries to be a“strategic partnership between equals.”

The leaders signed six accords onfriendship and cooperation, and alsoincluding one for the construction of acar factory by French vehicle manufac-turer Renault near the western city ofOran.

In his address to parliament, Hollandestressed France was ready “to go fur-ther” in its cooperation with Algeria inthe energy, healthy, environment, con-struction and transport sectors.

The French-language Algerian presssaid on December 20th that PresidentHollande’s visit had turned a page inrelations, although Arabic newspaperswere more muted in their reactions.

“The French president made it clear:repentance, which has never been thesubject of an official request, is no longerofficially demanded by the state,” saidLiberte.

“Relations between France and Algeriahave emerged from the ordinary,” saidL’Expression, another daily, which high-lighted the difficulty of upgrading thoseties, and called for partnerships in devel-opment and training.

But the tone of the Arabic press was lessenthusiastic, focusing on Hollande’srefusal to say sorry for colonial atrocitiesand the unresolved problem of obtainingvisas for many Algerians.

“Some Algerians demand apologies,while others want visas,” the popularEchorouk daily remarked on its frontpage, focusing on the difficulties facingAlgerians trying to get visas to visitFrance. (© AFP 20/12 2012)

DR CONGO – ICCWar Crimes Acquittal

Former militia leader Mathieu Ngudj-olo is set free, bringing disappointmentand fear to massacre survivors.

In its second-ever verdict, the Interna-tional Criminal Court (ICC), onDecember 18th acquitted former militialeader Mathieu Ngudjolo of war crimesand crimes against humanity relating toa 2003 massacre in Democratic Repub-lic of Congo’s north-eastern Ituri Dis-trict.

Ordering the immediate release ofNgudjolo, ICC judges said the prose-cution, which has 30 days to appealthe ruling, had failed to establishbeyond reasonable doubt that he hadbeen in command of fighters from theLendu community who attacked thevillage of Bogoro on February 24th2003.

The court in the Hague heard reports ofvictims being burned alive, babiessmashed against walls and womenraped. Ngudjolo denied ordering theattack, saying he learned of it days later.

Before delivering the verdict, presidingjudge Bruno Cotte said that “declaringan accused person not guilty does notmean the Chamber declares him inno-cent”. The French judge stressed thatthis decision “does not in any way denythe suffering of the population on thatday.”

The conflict in Ituri was part of a warthat raged in DR Congo following the1994 genocide in neighbouring Rwandaand involved troops and fighters fromseveral neighbouring countries.

Human rights activists said they fearedfor the lives of survivors of the massacreafter the Ngudjolo’s acquittal.

“We are disappointed that the (Congo-lese) republic did not provide sufficientevidence to convince the court to con-demn this type of action,” lawyerMatabisi Bibi Ramazani, part of a teamrepresenting some 30 victims, told AFP.

“The ICC proves that it is independenton a political level, but its decision isdisappointing because a warlord getsacquitted,” said Dolly Ibefo, executivedirector of rights group Voix des sansVoix (Voice of the Voiceless). “This is a

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problem for the victims of this type ofwar.”

Ngudjolo was once one of the mostimportant militia leaders in Ituri. Hewas accused of using child soldiers tofight for him, including to carry out theBogoro massacre. His Nationalist Inte-grationist Front (FNI) militia group “isno longer active”, said Jean-ClaudeKifwa, commander of the ninth militaryregion in Orientale, the provincearound Ituri. Some of its members wereintegrated into the government forces,while others were discharged. But boththe lawyer and the rights group agreedthat the FNI continues to be a latentthreat.

“Mathieu Ngudjolo is not alone. Thebutchers have not been arrested, they areout there, live with the victims,” saidIbefo of Voice of the Voiceless.

“Earlier, Mathieu Ngudjolo’s henchmencould not carry out reprisals becausethey feared that they would suffer thesame fate as their chief, who was inprison,” she said. “Now that he’s beenacquitted, they face a kind of impunity.”

Lawyer Ramazani said he and hiscolleagues, some of them in Orientaleprovince, would turn to the governmentto find a way to compensate thevictims.

Human Rights Watch meanwhile saidthat the ICC “should re-energise effortsto prosecute others for atrocities in DRCongo.”

“The acquittal of Ngudjolo leaves thevictims of Bogoro and other massacresby his forces without justice for theirsuffering,” said G�eraldine Mattioli-Zelt-ner, HRW international justice advocacydirector. (IRIN 19/12; BBC News Online,© AFP 18/12)

RWANDABetter Ties With France?: The newFrench ambassador to Rwanda,Michel Flesch, has called for betterties between Paris and Kigali, whichhave had strained relations since the1994 genocide in the country.

“The first thing that we need to committo is to talk more, to dialogue more,”Flesch told journalists after presentinghis credentials. “In furthering dialogue,we will find that on the immense major-ity of big international subjects, thepositions of France and Rwanda arenot very far apart.”

France has had no ambassador inRwanda since the start of 2012, whenKigali refused to accept Paris’s previouschoice, named by the government of thetime.

The weekly Jeune Afrique reported thatKigali turned down the envoy envisagedby Paris, Helene Le Gal, on the groundsthat she was too close to then ForeignMinister Alain Juppe, who was consid-ered hostile to the regime of RwandanPresident Paul Kagame.

During the genocide of 1994, which wasended after three months by Kagame’sTutsi rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front,now the movement in power, Juppe wasalready France’s Foreign Minister.

When he took up the portfolio anew in2011, Juppe said he had no intentioneither of “shaking the hand” of Kagameor of visiting Rwanda, as long as areport was still at large which accusedFrance of complicity with the Hutumilitias that carried out the genocide.(© AFP 11/12 2012)

Germany Arrests FDLR Members: Ger-man authorities have arrested three menaccused of being core members of theDR Congo-based Democratic Forces forthe Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) mili-tia. The men possess German national-ity, and their full names were notreleased.

Rwanda’s ambassador to Germany,Christine Nkulikiyinka, confirmed thedevelopment but added that Rwandahad not asked for the extradition of thesuspects. They were arrested on chargesrelating to membership of a foreignterrorist organisation. The FDLR is aterrorist group composed of elementsresponsible for the 1994 genocide againstthe Tutsi in Rwanda.

The executive secretary of the nationalcommission for the fight against geno-cide, Jean De Dieu Mucyo, welcomedthe development and called on severalother European countries to emulateGermany.

“We are aware most of the FDLRcommanders – some of whom partici-pated in the 1994 genocide against theTutsi – are based in European countriesand commanding the militias’ operationsfrom there, they should be arrested andbrought to justice,” he said.

The group has for the last 18 yearsoperated in the eastern DR Congo wherethey are accused of rapes, pillage andkillings.

In May 2011, Ignace Murwanashyaka,the head of the militia group, and hisdeputy, Straton Musoni, went on trial inthe south-western city of Stuttgartaccused of masterminding, from theirhomes in Germany, atrocities in easternDR Congo in 2008 and 2009. (The NewTimes website, Kigali 8/12)

IN BRIEFChad – Italy: An expulsion order on Italianbishop Monsignor Michele Russo has beenlifted. The order had come after he criticisedthe mismanagement of oil revenue in thecountry on a private radio station. Russomay now return to his post. (© AFP 24/122012)

Chagos Islands – UK: Former residents ofthe Chagos Islands, a British territory in theIndian Ocean, have failed in the latest stageof their legal bid to return. They were evictedby the UK government from the 1960s toallow the US to build a military base onDiego Garcia, the archipelago’s largestisland.

The European Court of Human Rightsruled that as they had already been com-pensated, the case was inadmissible. TheChagossians said they were “saddened andshocked” by the ruling. (BBC News Online20/12)

Ghana – Argentina: An Argentine navy shipdetained in Ghana since October has beenreleased and has now left the country. TheLibertad set sail from Ghana’s main port ofTema after a UN tribunal for the Law of theSea ordered its release saying it had immunitybecause it was a military vessel.

It had been impounded after a financial fundsaid it was owed $370m by Argentina’s

Nigeria

French Engineer Kidnapped

A group of 30 gunmen used dynamite toforce their way into a well-guarded com-pound in northern Nigeria and seize aFrench engineer, the police reported.

Two Nigerians were killed in the attack,said Katsina state police commissionerAbdullahi Magaji. As the unknown groupfled, they attacked a police station, hesaid.

Katsina has been relatively unscathed bymonths of violence in northern Nigeriacarried out by Boko Haram Islamist mil-itants. The kidnapped man worked for aFrench company, Vergnet, on a windpower project in Katsina, reported AFP.

A visitor and a guard were killed in theattack, while a police officer waswounded, the police commissioner said.(BBC News Online 20/12)

French President Francois Hollande con-firmed that a French national had beenseized, and that Paris was doing every-thing it could to secure his release. He toldthe Europe 1 radio station that the kid-nappers were “probably linked to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQLIM)or the groups which are today in Mali,”referring to Al-Qaeda-linked Islamistgroups that have seized control of Mali’svast desert north.

AQLIM has so far not been known tooperate directly in Nigeria, despite beingrumoured to have ties with Boko Haram.(© AFP 21/12 2012)

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government as a result of a debt default adecade ago. (BBC News Online 19/12)

South Africa – UK: Xolile Mngeni was onDecember 4th sentenced to life for the murderof newly-wed Anni Dewani, the third personto be jailed for his part in her death. Mean-while the ANC’s women’s league announcedit would be marching on the British Embassyto protest that Shrien Dewani had yet to beextradited to face trial for his alleged part inhis wife’s death.

Earlier, a London Magistrates’ Court hadheard that his extradition hearing had now

been set for July 2013 as his mental conditionwas considered too fragile.

The British businessman and his 28-year-oldwife were on honeymoon in Cape Town inNovember 2010 when they were held atgunpoint after taking a night time taxi ridethrough the township of Gugulethu. (TheIndependent, London 5/12)

Sudan – Iran: Two Iranian warships dockedin Port Sudan on December 8th, the secondport call by the Iranian navy there in fiveweeks.

Khartoum said it was a “normal” port callbut Israeli officials have expressed concernabout arms smuggling through Sudan. Theyhave long accused the African country ofserving as a base of support for militants fromthe Palestinian Islamist movement Hamaswhich rules the Gaza Strip.

Sudan’s links with Iran have come underscrutiny after Khartoum accused Israel ofan October 23rd strike against the Yarmoukmilitary factory in Khartoum, which led tospeculation that Iranian weapons werestored or manufactured there. (© AFP 8/12 2012)

HEALTHNigeria – Fighting Polio

A huge injection of funds will supportimmunisation programmes.

The richest man in Africa and the wealth-iest man from the United States havejoined forces in the battle against polio,which has seen a resurgence in Nigeriadespite efforts to eradicate it.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates’ founda-tion and that of Aliko Dangote, theNigerian businessman labelled Africa’srichest by Forbes, announced an allianceduring a ceremony in Kano, Nigeria’ssecond city.

Nigeria is one of only three countriesstill considered to have endemic polio,alongside Pakistan and Afghanistan.Under the four-year alliance, the Billand Melinda Gates and Dangote foun-dations would provide funding, equip-ment and technical support to the Kanostate government to strengthen polioimmunisation.

Since 2003, Kano has been especiallyhard hit by the transmission of the poliovirus in Nigeria following the stategovernment’s suspension of immunisa-tions for 13 months. The suspensionfollowed allegations by some Muslimclerics that the vaccine was laced withsubstances that could render girls infer-tile as part of US-led Western plot todepopulate Africa.

Despite the resumption of polio immu-nisations, Kano has continued to recordpolio cases as many parents still rejectthe vaccine.

According to the most recent WorldHealth Organisation (WHO) weeklyreport on polio, Nigeria accounts for104 of the 193 cases so far recordedworldwide in 2012, with Kano having 22cases. (© AFP 26/11 2012)

Sudan – Yellow Fever

A vaccination programme is needed tocombat the disease.

An outbreak of mosquito-borne yellowfever which has killed at least 165 peoplein Sudan’s Darfur region is Africa’sworst in decades, the WHO said onDecember 6th.

Since September 2nd, there have been732 suspected yellow fever cases inDarfur, including 165 deaths, said aseparate report from WHO and Sudan’shealth ministry.

Outbreaks in other countries have beensmaller because their routine vaccinationprogrammes have started to includeyellow fever, whereas Darfur had neverhad vaccinations for the virus untilNovember 2012, leaving the whole pop-ulation with no immunity.

“The outbreak is very significant and thespread of the disease shows no signs ofstopping,” UN humanitarian coordina-tor Ali al-Za’tari said. He said there wasanurgent need for funds formore vaccine.

The death toll has now surpassed that ofa 2005 yellow fever outbreak in Sudan’sSouth Kordofan state which caused 163deaths from 604 cases over about fivemonths.

The yellow fever virus normally circu-lates among monkeys but could belinked to more mosquitoes breeding in2012 after heavy rains and flooding inthe region.

A vaccination campaign began onNovember 20th in the 12 most affectedareas of Darfur. The first phase targeting2.2m people is almost finished, and morethan one million more doses wereexpected to arrive soon.

There is no specific treatment for theillness found in tropical regions of Africaand the Americas but it can be containedthrough the use of bed nets, insect

repellents and long clothing. Vaccinationis the most important preventative mea-sure. (© AFP 6/12 2012)

MEDIAAfrica

China launches a weekly newspapercovering the continent.

A leading Chinese newspaper, the ChinaDaily, on December 14th launched aweekly English language newspaper thatwill be published in Nairobi.

China Daily’s editor-in-chief Zhu Lingsaid the paper would seek to demystifythe Sino-African relations that weregrowing in complexity.

“The link between China and the Afri-can continent is one of the most signif-icant relationships in the world today. Itis growing and complex and not alwaysunderstood – not just by those in otherparts of the world but by Africans andChinese, too,” he said, adding that thelaunch of the English paper would helpimprove understanding of the two cul-tures.

It will look at the nature of Chineseinvolvement in Africa and the prominentrole many Africans are playing in China.

According to a statement released by thepublishers, the weekly will be circulatedthroughout the continent. It will also beavailable in digital format. It follows theopening earlier in 2012 of a productioncentre of China Central Television(CCTV) in Kenya, the first outside ofChina. The state-run CCTV News centrebroadcasts English-language Africannews.

Nairobi is also home to the Africanoffice for China’s state news agencyXinhua. (Daily Nation website, Nairobi 14/12)

Guinea, Radio Programme Suspended:Reporters Without Borders (RSF)expressed disappointment on December17th that the National CommunicationCouncil (CNC) had temporarily sus-pended a programme on privately-

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owned Planete FM in which journalistsdiscuss news developments and hasimposed a broadcasting ban on its host,Mandian Sidibe.

The CNC, which is responsible forregulating Guinea’s broadcast media,also issued a warning to another station,Espace FM, about its popular phone-inprogramme, Les Grandes Gueules (BigMouths).

“These new sanctions reflect the CNC’scontinuing mistrust of discussion andphone-in broadcasts,” RSF said. “TheGuinean authorities clearly have a prob-lem with the outspoken nature of theseprogrammes, which is part of the reasonfor their success.

“Nonetheless, gagging privately-ownedradio stations is inappropriate and reac-tionary. We urge the CNC to lift thesesanctions.”

The legitimacy of the CNC’s decisionshas been challenged by the GuineanUnion of Free Radio and TV Broad-casters (Urtelgui), which said in astatement that “the alleged defamationcited in these two decisions is a matterfor the courts. Only a judge can decidewhether defamation took place, not theCNC.”

Urging the CNC to rescind its decisions,the statement added that “governmentofficials and private individuals are hid-ing behind the CNC in order to protectthemselves from media criticism, evenwhen it is well-founded.” (RSF pressrelease, Paris 17/12)

Somalia, Journalist Deaths Up: With 67journalists killed world-wide in directrelation to their work by mid-Decem-ber, 2012 is on track to become one of

the deadliest years since the Committeeto Protect Journalists (CPJ) begankeeping detailed records in 1992.Worldwide, the vast majority of vic-tims, 94%, were local journalists cov-ering events in their own countries, aproportion roughly in line with histor-ical figures.

Murder accounted for all 12 deaths inSomalia in 2012, the deadliest year onrecord for a country that has a long

history of media killings. Not a singlejournalist murder has been prosecutedin Somalia over the past decade, CPJresearch shows. Local journalists saythis perfect record of impunity can beattributed to corrupt and weak institu-tions, a situation that encourages morekilling. (CPJ press release, New York 18/12)

South Africa, Tighter Controls: Theintroduction of greater editorial controls

Botswana

Google Maps

Botswana is the second African country tobe featured on Google Maps’ Street View,allowing users to explore landmarks suchas the Okavango Delta.

“Whether you are planning a safari, doinga homework assignment on Botswana, orpromoting your local business, StreetView will allow you to experience a sliceof the country,” said Ory Okolloh, policymanager for Google Sub-Saharan Africa.

Users will now be able to virtually explorethe Okavango Delta as well as the Kala-hari desert and Chobe National Park,home to the largest concentration ofAfrican elephants in the world.

Street View is already available in morethan 30 countries around the world. It wasfirst launched on the African continent inSouth Africa, just ahead of the 2010 FIFAWorld Cup. (© AFP 3/12 2012)

Conservation

Endangered Lions

The savannah habitat that sustains Africanlionshasshrunkby75%overthepast50years,according to a study published in the journalBiodiversity andConservation, a dramatic lossthat could threaten the species’ survival.

The analysis by American, African andBritish researchers – which suggests thecontinent’s lion population has declinedfrom 100,000 to roughly 32,000 – providesa clear picture of where the animals live andhow land-use changes and populationgrowth have put them in jeopardy.

The findings come shortly after the USFish and Wildlife Service announced it willstudy if African lions should be listed underthe Endangered Species Act, a move thatwould end the importation of trophies intothe United States. Several groups petitionedthe agency in 2011 to list the species, thoughsome conservationists argue that trophyhunting provides a source of revenue tolocal communities, which helps keep savan-nah habitat intact.

Thomas Lovejoy, a science professor atGeorge Mason University, Virginia, saidthe paper’s authors “have made a histor-ical contribution” by showing how dra-matically Africa’s viable terrain for lionshas declined in recent decades. Lions usedto roam much of Africa and Eurasia butare now limited to sub-Saharan Africa.Professor Lovejoy said the fact that savan-nah habitat loss is outpacing the decline ofthe world’s tropical rainforests “is terrify-ing when combined with the prospects ofpopulation growth and land-use change inAfrica.”

Part of the challenge lions face is that whenthey venture outside national parks, theymay kill livestock and come into conflictwith humans. Professor Lovejoy said he wasoptimistic that public pressure will build forofficials to take action. The officials willdecide within a year whether to list Africanlions as endangered. (The Independent, Lon-don 9/12)

Zimbabwe

Elephants Exported to China

Zimbabwe’s government is facing seriouscriticism for allowing the export of liveelephants to China, with accusations thatentire families of elephant are being‘destroyed’.

According to the Zimbabwe ConservationTask Force (ZCTF), four juvenile elephantswere exported in November, in a journeythat included a 12 hour drive in the back of atruck from Hwange to Harare, before beingshipped by air for 10 hours to Dubai. FromDubai the animals were then flown toBeijing.

ZCTF chairman Johnny Rodrigues told SWRadio Africa that, “the fact that theseelephants are juveniles indicates that theyare being taken away from their mothers,and family units are therefore beingdestroyed.” He explained that the familylinks within elephant herds are very strongand removing the very young is devastatingto a herd.

Another 14 juvenile elephants are reportedlybeing held at Hwange, also awaiting expor-tation in January 2013. The ZCTF said in a

report that the final destinations of theelephants are two zoos in China.

“Some elephants do not survive the stresscaused by such long trips, not to mention thefact that the ones that do survive will besubjected to a life of captivity in a habitatthey are not born to live in,” Rodrigues said.

Rodrigues had strong words for the govern-ment’s wildlife authorities, who he said “aremeant to be the guardians of our wildlife.”

“We already have a poaching problem andwe believe the authorities are now in busi-ness with the same poaching syndicates toexport live animals. So the people who aremeant to be protecting wildlife are the sameperpetrators,” Rodrigues said.

He also dismissed the government’s repeatedarguments that Zimbabwe is ‘overpopu-lated’ with elephants, explaining how noaudits have been done in recent years tosupport this claim. Rodrigues argued thatrampant poaching has decimated the ele-phant population and more should be doneto protect the animals. (SW Radio Africa,London 19/12)

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19544 – Africa Research Bulletin Social and Cultural

by the South African Broadcasting Cor-poration (SABC) over its radio talkshows dealing with ‘politics and gover-nance’ was a “disgrace to independentjournalism”, Highway Africa chair ofMedia and Information Society atRhodes University Prof Jane Duncansaid on December 12th.

Acting SABC chief operations officer,Hlaudi Motsoeneng said the movewould achieve centralisation in the wayit dealt with issues “in line with thebroadcaster’s editorial policy”.

The broadcaster has been under thespotlight after allegations that manage-ment interfered in decisions over edi-torial content, particularly thoseinvolving the African NationalCongress’ (ANC’s) elective conferencein early December.

Prof Duncan said the SABC’s latest stepblurred the line between managementand editorial control of content, provid-ing a direct line from content to thegovernment.

The move should therefore be seen as a“mortal blow” to the independence of

South Africa’s largest news outlines andwould only further worsen the country’sdecline in international measures offreedom - such as the downgrade of itsmedia by New York based monitorFreedom House from ‘free’ in 2011 to‘partly free’ in 2012. (Business Day website,Johannesburg 13/12)

IN BRIEFArchaeology, Egypt: Italian archaeologistshave discovered two Greco-Roman statuescarved from sandstone at an ancient temple.The two seated lions adorned water spoutsused as part of the drainage system from theroof of the Ptolemaic-era temple in Egypt’sFayyum region, south of Cairo.

The statues are a metre high and almost ametre wide, and are complete, in a well-preserved condition, with intricately carvedfaces. (© AFP 3/12 2012)

Conservation, South Africa: The governmenthas signed an agreement with Vietnam to tryto halt the trade in horns taken from poachedrhinos.

The deal to increase law enforcement effortscomes amid a wholesale slaughter of rhinosin South Africa, which has the continent’s

biggest rhino population. Government sta-tistics show at least 618 rhinos have beenpoached in 2012 alone. (The Independent,London 10/12)

Gay Rights, Kenya: The Kenya HumanRights Commission (KHRC) and theNational Gay and Lesbian Human RightsCommission (NGLHRC) on December 15thlaunched the first gay and lesbian awards,honouring lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transsex-uals and intersex (LGBTI) individuals fortheir contributions to Kenyan society. Theevent also saw politicians, employers andjournalists who are committed to advancingequality and social acceptance awarded. (TheStandard website, Nairobi 14/12)

Music, Mali: Keletigui Diabate, a master ofthe xylophone-like balafon instrument whoplayed in several celebrated local bands, diedon November 30th in Bamako aged 81.

Diabate was born in 1931 and became the firstto popularise the balafon, a wooden-keyedpercussion instrument from West Africa, inthe west.

He founded Formation A, one of Mali’s firstbands, in the 60s and also played withguitarist Salif Keita in the band Ambassadors.He has also performed with Mali’s SymmetricOrchestra. (© AFP 30/11 2012)

Sport, Eritrea: Natnael Berhane was electedAfrican Cyclist of the Year for 2012 onDecember 11th by a panel chaired by five-times Tour de France champion BernardHinault.

The 21-year-old Berhane, who is set to makehis professional debut with French outfit Eu-ropcar in 2013, finished ahead of SouthAfrica’sReinhardt Janse Van Rensburg, withMoroccancyclist Adil Jelloul third in the voting.

“The trophy created in 2012 by the Gabonese(Tropicale Amassa Bongo race) organisersrewards the African cyclist who made thegreatest impact during the season especially inevents on the African continent,” read astatement.

“Natnael Berhane left his mark on peoplefor his consistency,” it said, referring to histhree titles at the African championships inNovember, his triumph at the Tour ofAlgeria and his victory at the Tour deChablais, a French amateur classic. (© AFP11/12 2012)

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Africa Research Bulletin January 2013