AFRICOM Related News Clips 8 February 2012 Final

8/3/2019 AFRICOM Related News Clips 8 February 2012 Final

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U.S. Africa Command Public Affairs Office +49(0)711-729-2687 [email protected]

United States Africa CommandPublic Affairs Office8 February 2012

Please find attached news clips for February 8, 2012, along with upcoming events ofinterest and UN News Service briefs.

Of interest in todays clips: U.S. State Department updates its factsheet for regionalefforts to counter Lord's Resistance Army.

In Mali: World charity medical doctors have left Mali after outbreak of fighting byTuareg rebels.

In Liberia: Former Liberian rebel leader George Boley is to be deported from the UnitedStates over his role in the West African country's civil war in the 1990s.

In South Sudan: A group of Chinese workers kidnapped by rebels in southern Sudan 11days ago have been freed and flown to Kenya, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

U.S. Africa Command Public AffairsPlease send questions or comments to:[email protected] (+49-711-729-2687)

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Top News related to U.S. Africa Command and Africa

U.S. Support to Regional Efforts To Counter the Lord's Resistance Army

(State.gov)

http://www.state.gov/p/af/rls/fs/2012/183487.htmFact SheetWashington, DCUpdated February 7, 2012In May 2010, President Obama signed into law the Lords Resistance (LRA)Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act, which reaffirmed the U.S.commitment to support regional partners efforts to end the atrocities of the LRA incentral Africa.

Mali: Tuareg rebellion forces medical staff to withdraw (BBC)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16924177


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February 7, 2012By Non-Attributed AuthorMedical charity Doctors of the World has pulled out of northern Mali following a recentoutbreak of fighting by Tuareg rebels.

'Lone wolf' terror threat warning (BBC)http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16920643February 7, 2012By Non-Attributed AuthorThe UK could face a growing threat from "lone wolf" terrorists returning from fightingoverseas in the next few years, a think tank has warned.

Liberia ex-warlord George Boley to be deported from US (BBC)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16924744February 7, 2012By Non-Attributed Author

Former Liberian rebel leader George Boley is to be deported from the US over his role inthe West African country's civil war in the 1990s.

Explosion rocks military base in Nigeria (Al Jazeera)

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/02/201227131737968142.htmlFebruary 7, 2012By Non-Attributed authorA blast has rocked an area near a military barracks in the northern Nigerian city ofKaduna but the cause of the explosion and the number of casualties are still not clear,according to an official.

Kidnapped Chinese workers released in Sudan (France 24)

http://www.france24.com/en/20120207-kidnapped-chinese-workers-freed-sudan-south-kordofan-state-embassy-kenyaFebruary 7, 2012By News WiresA group of Chinese workers "kidnapped" by rebels in southern Sudan 11 days ago havebeen freed and flown to Kenya, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

Thousands rally in Dakar for new anti-Wade protests (France 24)

http://www.france24.com/en/20120207-dakar-anti-wade-protests-third-term-senegal-presidential-electionFebruary 7, 2012By AFPThousands of Senegalese opposition supporters marched through central Dakar Tuesdayto ratchet up the pressure for President Abdoulaye Wade to abandon his bid for acontroversial third term in office.

Somalia: Saving Somalia? - Reflections On the Last 20 Years, and the Upcoming

'London Conference' (All Africa)


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http://allafrica.com/stories/201202070843.htmlFebruary 7, 2012By Richard DowdenIf I were a Somali I would thank Allah for the pirates. For more than 20 years the worldhas stood by while successive civil wars destroyed the country, killing hundreds of

thousands of people by bullets, disease and starvation and reducing what was once aprosperous land to a war zone. But the seizure of more than 200 ships by kids with gunsin small craft has changed all that.

Cameroon: Economy Suffers As Boko Haram Infiltrates Country (All Africa)

http://allafrica.com/stories/201202071288.htmlFebruary 7, 2012By Ngala Killian ChimtomAhmadou Lamine has been forced to close his business selling fuel imported fromNigeria, known locally as "zoa-zoa", because of the Islamic extremist group BokoHaram.

Mozambique sees $50 bln gas investment over a decade (Reuters)

http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE81609Q20120207February 7, 2012CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Mozambique expects $50 billion to be spent developing itsliquid natural gas (LNG) industry over the next ten years, the southern African nation'smineral resource minister said on Tuesday.

DOD Needs Cost-conscious Acquisitions Employees, Official Says (Defense.gov)

http://www.defense.gov//News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=67093February 7, 2012By Lisa DanielAmerican Forces Press ServiceThe Defense Department acquisitions, technology and logistics office will need some ofthe brightest, most cost-conscious workers asking tough, introspective questions to meetthe strategic and budgetary demands of the future, the offices acting director said hereyesterday.

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UN News Service Africa Briefs

http://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICA

(Full Articles on UN Website)

In wake of elections in DR Congo, UN urges all sides to pursue dialogue

7 February The top United Nations envoy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo(DRC) today stressed the need for all parties to use legal means and dialogue to settle


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differences in the aftermath of recent elections so as to advance stability and peace in thecountry.

UN agency implements strategy to conclude three refugee crises is Africa

7 February The United Nations refugee agency reported today that it has embarked on

the implementation of a set of strategies to conclude three of Africas long-standingrefugee crises that involved helping people uprooted by old conflicts in Angola, Liberiaand Rwanda.

Kenyan running aces to help mark milestone for UN environment agency

7 February Two top Kenyan long-distance runners will be on hand to show support forthe conservation efforts of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), joiningthe public in a half-marathon race in Nairobi later this month, to mark the agencys 40thanniversary.

UN agency steps up help as renewed fighting in Mali uproots 20,000 people

7 February The United Nations refugee agency has deployed staff to assist some 20,000people who have been forced to flee fighting between Government troops and rebelTuareg groups in Mali.

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Upcoming Events of Interest:

FEBRUARY 08WHEN: 2:00 3:30 p.m.WHAT: Brookings Institution Discussion on Meet the Press at Brookings: The EgyptRevolution One Year On. Speakers: Moderator: David Gregory, Anchor, Meet thePress, NBC News; Panelists: Thomas Friedman, Columnist, The New York Times; ShadiHamid, Director of Research, Brookings Doha Center; Martin S. Indyk, Vice Presidentand Director, Foreign Policy; and Tamara Wittes, Former Deputy Assistant Secretary ofState for Near Eastern Affairs, U.S. Department of State.WHERE: Brookings, 1775 Massachusetts Avenue, NWCONTACT: 202-797-6105, [email protected]; web site: www.brookings.eduSOURCE: Brookings event announcement at:http://www.brookings.edu/events/2012/0208_mtp_egypt_revolution.aspx

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New on www.africom.mil

U.S. Navy Delegation Wraps Up Moroccan Staff Talks Visit


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http://www.africom.mil/getArticle.asp?art=7605&lang=0February 7, 2012By Petty Officer 2nd Class Jeff TroutmanU.S. Naval Forces Europe-AfricaCASABLANCA, Morocco,

Rear Admiral Kenneth "K.J." Norton, deputy chief of staff for strategy, resources, andplans at U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa, and a team of delegates completed a three-dayvisit to Casablanca, Morocco, to engage in staff talks with the Royal Moroccan Navy,January 3, 2012.

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U.S. Support to Regional Efforts To Counter the Lord's Resistance Army

(State.gov)

http://www.state.gov/p/af/rls/fs/2012/183487.htmFact SheetWashington, DCUpdated February 7, 2012

In May 2010, President Obama signed into law the Lords Resistance (LRA)Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act, which reaffirmed the U.S.commitment to support regional partners efforts to end the atrocities of the LRA incentral Africa. For more than two decades, the LRA has murdered, raped, and kidnappedtens of thousands of innocent men, women, and children. In 2011, the LRA reportedlycommitted over 250 attacks. As of August 2011, the United Nations estimates thatapproximately 440,000 people are displaced across Central African Republic (CAR), theDemocratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and South Sudan as a result of LRA activity.

The United States comprehensive, multi-year strategy seeks to help the Governments ofUganda, CAR, the DRC, and South Sudan as well as the African Union and UnitedNations to mitigate and end the threat posed to civilians and regional stability by theLRA. The strategy outlines four key objectives for U.S. support: (1) the increasedprotection of civilians, (2) the apprehension or removal of Joseph Kony and senior LRAcommanders from the battlefield, (3) the promotion of defections and support ofdisarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of remaining LRA fighters, and (4) theprovision of continued humanitarian relief to affected communities. To advance thisstrategy, the United States has sent a small number of military advisers to the LRA-affected region to enhance the capacity of the national militaries to pursue senior LRAcommanders and to protect civilians. The U.S. Embassies in the region are also workingclosely with bilateral and multilateral partners to advance the strategy, and theDepartment of State has deployed a field representative to augment this engagement.

The lines of effort in which the United States is engaged include:


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Increasing Civilian Protection: The protection of civilians is a priority for the U.S.strategy. National governments bear responsibility for civilian protection, and the UnitedStates is working to enhance their capacity to fulfill this responsibility. The United Statesalso strongly supports the United Nations peacekeeping missions in the DRC and SouthSudan and the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in the CAR. We continue

to work with the United Nations to help augment its efforts in the LRA-affected region.At the same time, we are working with other partners on projects to help reduce thevulnerability of LRA-affected communities and increase their capacity to make decisionsrelated to their own safety. To promote the protection of civilians, the Department ofState and USAID are funding communication networks, including high-frequency radiosand cell phone towers to enhance community-based protection in Bas- and Haut-Ueledistricts in the DRC.

Enhancing Regional Efforts to Apprehend LRA Top Commanders: On November 14,2011, the United Nations Security Council commended ongoing efforts by nationalmilitaries in the region to address the threat posed by the LRA, and welcomed

international efforts to enhance their capacity in this respect. The Council noted theefforts of the United States, which, since 2008, has provided over $40 million in criticallogistical support, equipment and training to enhance counter-LRA operations byregional militaries. On October 14, 2011, President Obama reported to Congress that hehad authorized a small number of U.S. advisors to deploy to the LRA-affected region, inconsultation with national governments, to act as advisors to the militaries that arepursuing the LRA. The U.S. military advisors are working to help strengthen cooperationand information-sharing among regional forces, and to enhance the capacity of themilitaries to fuse intelligence with effective operational planning.

Encouraging and Facilitating LRA Defections: Over the course of this conflict, more than12,000 former LRA fighters and abductees have been reintegrated and reunited with theirfamilies through Ugandas Amnesty Commission. The United States continues to supportefforts across the affected countries to demobilize and reintegrate former LRA fightersand all those victimized by this conflict back into normal life. In Fiscal Year 2011,USAID provided nearly $2 million to support the rehabilitation of former abducted youthin CAR and the DRC and their reunification with their families. The United States isworking with the United Nations, the African Union, and national governments in theregion to enhance processes across the region to facilitate the safe return, repatriation,and reintegration of those who defect or escape from the LRAs ranks.

Providing Humanitarian Assistance: The United States is the largest bilateral donor ofhumanitarian assistance to LRA-affected populations in CAR, the DRC, and SouthSudan. In Fiscal Year 2011, the United States provided more than $18 million to supportthe provision of food assistance and implementation of food security, humanitarianprotection, health, livelihoods initiatives, and other relief activities for internallydisplaced persons, host community members, and other populations affected by the LRA.The United States also continues to provide assistance to support the return of displacedpeople, reconstruction, and recovery in northern Uganda, where the LRA carried out itsbrutal campaign for nearly two decades until it fled Uganda in 2006. With the LRAs


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departure and Ugandan and international recovery and development efforts, northernUganda has undergone a significant post-conflict reconstruction and recovery in just afew years.

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Mali: Tuareg rebellion forces medical staff to withdraw (BBC)


Medical charity Doctors of the World has pulled out of northern Mali following a recentoutbreak of fighting by Tuareg rebels.

The organisation told the BBC it is temporarily suspending nutrition and health services,fearing for its workers' safety.

A BBC correspondent says dozens have been killed on both sides and the conflict appearsto be escalating.

The rebels want an autonomous region of Azawad in the Sahara desert.

The Azawad National Liberation Movement (MNLA) took up arms last month followingthe return of many Tuareg fighters from Libya, where they had fought with ColMuammar Gaddafi's forces.

Doctors of the World, a worldwide network of volunteer medical staff, works withremote communities in the north of Mali - thousands of whom are now fleeing thefighting.

"The conflict makes the situation very insecure for our teams and the population,"director general Pierre Verdeeren in Belgium told the BBC's Network Africa programme.

"The population is leaving so it is very difficult for us to reach them, so we decided tosuspended temporarily the activities to deliver primary health care, medicine andsometimes food," he said.

Medical charity Doctors of the World has pulled out of northern Mali following a recentoutbreak of fighting by Tuareg rebels.

The organisation told the BBC it is temporarily suspending nutrition and health services,fearing for its workers' safety.

A BBC correspondent says dozens have been killed on both sides and the conflict appearsto be escalating.


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The rebels want an autonomous region of Azawad in the Sahara desert.

The Azawad National Liberation Movement (MNLA) took up arms last month followingthe return of many Tuareg fighters from Libya, where they had fought with ColMuammar Gaddafi's forces.

Doctors of the World, a worldwide network of volunteer medical staff, works withremote communities in the north of Mali - thousands of whom are now fleeing thefighting.

"The conflict makes the situation very insecure for our teams and the population,"director general Pierre Verdeeren in Belgium told the BBC's Network Africa programme.

"The population is leaving so it is very difficult for us to reach them, so we decided tosuspended temporarily the activities to deliver primary health care, medicine andsometimes food," he said.

Fleeing the fighting

More than 20,000 people have fled from Mali to neighbouring countries to escape thefighting, the UN refugee agency said on Tuesday.

Most of the 10,000 refugees in Niger are sleeping in the open with little access to shelter,clean water, food or medicine, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for RefugeesAdrian Edwards says.

Another 9,000 have gone to Mauritania, and 3,000 to Burkina Faso - mostly northernersliving in the south fearing reprisal attacks, the BBC's Martin Vogl in Bamako says.

Our correspondent says the return to fighting on 17 January - after two years of relativepeace - has re-ignited old ethnic tensions between southerners and northerners.

The homes and businesses of some northerners in the south have been attacked.

He also says the major northern town of Kidal - in the Sahara Desert - is on high alert,with the MNLA threatening to launch an offensive.

The Tuareg are a nomadic community who mostly live in northern Mali, northern Nigerand southern Algeria.

Mali's Tuaregs have long complained that they have been marginalised by the southerngovernment and have staged several rebellions over the years.

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'Lone wolf' terror threat warning (BBC)


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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16920643February 7, 2012By Non-Attributed Author

The UK could face a growing threat from "lone wolf" terrorists returning from fighting

overseas in the next few years, a think tank has warned.

The Royal United Services Institute estimates about 50 Britons are fighting with Somaliextremists al-Shabab.

Returnees from "wars in Somalia, Yemen or Nigeria" could use their experience on UKstreets, Rusi said.

The Home Office said its security arrangements would reflect "the nature of the terroristthreat we face".

It is also feared that the return of Britons from overseas could coincide with the release ofpeople convicted of terrorist charges over the last decade.

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says the think tank is warning of "a perfectstorm of combined threats coming together in the near future".

The UK terror threat level was reduced from "severe" to "substantial" in July last year,but Rusi warned that the threat from jihadist terrorism had not diminished.

Despite recent arrests and failed plots, "lone wolves" and "self-radicalised" jihaditerrorists were hard to track down and posed a greater security risk, its report said.

Rusi analyst Valentina Soria said: "There is very little which could justify complacencyin the way we perceive the future threat from jihadist terrorism to the UK.

"Although actual capabilities may have deteriorated, the intention to conduct large-scaleattacks on British soil remains."

The report also warned that UK counter-terrorism spending and staffing levels could facesignificant cuts after the end of the London Olympics this summer.

The focus on averting a terrorist threat during the Games had postponed much-neededreform until afterwards.

"The Games are both a help and a hindrance to UK counter-terrorism," said Rusi seniorfellow Tobias Feakin. "A help because they have stimulated intense co-operationbetween the security agencies, but a hindrance because the shadow of the Olympicsdisguises the landscape for the years beyond.


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"As budgetary restrictions are increasingly applied across the public sector, it is almostcertain that the security agencies will also have to tighten their belts."

He added: "There is a sense in Whitehall that major decisions are being postponed untilthe event has ended in August, with an overriding priority to complete the Games without

major incident.

"After this, the changes for the various security organisations involved will beinevitable."

On Monday, a report by the Home Affairs Committee of MPs warned the government notto neglect the threat to the UK from extreme far-right terrorism.

The report said the government's strategy to combat radicalisation "only pays lip serviceto the threat from extreme far-right terrorism".

The committee cited the growth of far-right groups with links to similar organisations inEurope.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "National security is the first duty of anygovernment.

"The UK's counter-terrorism strategy (Contest) sets out our long-term plans to deal withthe threat from terrorism. It covers the build-up to the Olympics and the following threeyears.

"Over that same period we are allocating 2bn a year to the security and intelligenceagencies budget.

"The [Contest] strategy is designed to be flexible and we will continue to ensure that theUK's response reflects the nature of the terrorist threat we face."

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Liberia ex-warlord George Boley to be deported from US (BBC)


Former Liberian rebel leader George Boley is to be deported from the US over his role inthe West African country's civil war in the 1990s.

A US judge said evidence that the ex-Liberian Peace Council leader had been involved inkillings and recruited children was grounds for his removal.

Mr Boley, who has been in custody for two years, denies the accusations.


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Around a quarter of a million people died during Liberia's 1989-2003 conflict.

The BBC's Jonathan Paye-Layleh in Liberia's capital, Monrovia, says at the height of thecivil war there were seven armed groups fighting - and the LPC was one of the largest.

In 1995, Mr Boley joined other warlords, including Charles Taylor, to lead an interimcouncil for about a year. After presidential elections in 1997, the conflict resumed.

US immigration officials said it was the first time the use of child soldiers had been usedas a grounds for removal from the US.

The case was brought by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), which saidthere was evidence from Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) that MrBoley's rebel group had burned dozens of captives accused of witchcraft in 1994.

Witnesses told the TRC that in 1995 Liberian Peace Council fighters massacred 27villagers "ordering them to lie down before they slit their throats with cutlasses andraping the women before they killed them"

Various organisations have reported that the LPC engaged in serious human rights abusesagainst the civilian population. The 1995 United States Department of State report onHuman Rights Practices in Liberia documented credible reports that Boley authorised theextrajudicial executions of seven of his soldiers on 14 November 1995," it said.

Mr Boley's son, George Boley Jr, told the Associated Press news agency that the judgehad ignored important evidence presented on his father's behalf and said none of thespecific allegations brought against him were corroborated by credible evidence.

"I failed to see how initiatives of the LPC translate to human rights violations andviolations of international humanitarian laws. The LPC that I know was a focused andrespected body," a TRC statement at the time quoted him as saying.

In its final report the TRC recommended that Mr Boley, along with other formerwarlords, be prosecuted as it said they all bore responsibility for the worst atrocities ofthe conflict.

But to date no cases have been brought in Liberia, our reporter says.

Mr Taylor, who won presidential elections in 1997, is on trial for war crimes at at UN-backed court sitting at The Hague for his part in neighbouring Sierra Leone's civil war.He had gone into exile in 2003 to Nigeria, where he was arrested.

According to AP, Mr Boley has 30 days to appeal against the deportation ruling

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Explosion rocks military base in Nigeria (Al Jazeera)

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/02/201227131737968142.htmlFebruary 7, 2012By Non-Attributed author

A blast has rocked an area near a military barracks in the northern Nigerian city ofKaduna but the cause of the explosion and the number of casualties are still not clear,according to an official.

Residents said Tuesday's incident occurred in the area of a military barracks known as theFirst Mechanised Division and that windows in an office complex there were shattered.

"NEMA rescue team alerted to explosion at military formations in Kaduna," YushauShuaib, a spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency, said in a briefstatement.

"Yet to confirm the nature of explosion or casualty. Relevant security working to containthe situation."

The area has been cordoned off, but the office complex could be seen, residents said."Virtually all the glass has been shattered," one resident said.

"I saw soldiers with glass cuts on their bodies being taken out, but it's difficult to say ifthere were any [more serious] casualties."

Boko Haram, a radical Islamist group, has been blamed for scores of bomb attacks innorthern Nigeria.

The group is waging a low-level campaign against the government and says it wants toimpose Islamic law across the country of 160 million people split evenly betweenMuslims and Christians.

An army source said earlier on Tuesday that security forces had killed eight suspectedBoko Haram members in a raid on an alleged hideout of the group in Kano that prompteda five-hour shootout.

The raid, on the outskirts of Nigeria's second city, was carried out Monday evening as theattackers, believed to be Boko Haram members, bombed a police station in another cityneighbourhood, where they also shot an officer in the leg.

"The military succeeded in killing eight gunmen, arrested five others and discovered fivehigh-calibre bombs and 15 other low-calibre bombs. All these are homemade," themilitary source, who requested anonymity, said


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Residents who visited the alleged Boko Haram hideout in Kano's Mariri neighbourhoodtold the AFP news agency that parts of the floor were blood-stained.

The military source said some attackers escaped during the raid and that security forcesfound a large cache of guns and ammunition inside.

"The first indications are that this is an armoury for the sect," the source said.

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Kidnapped Chinese workers released in Sudan (France 24)

http://www.france24.com/en/20120207-kidnapped-chinese-workers-freed-sudan-south-kordofan-state-embassy-kenyaFebruary 7, 2012By News Wires

AFP - A group of Chinese workers "kidnapped" by rebels in southern Sudan 11 days agohave been freed and flown to Kenya, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

The Sudanese authorities allowed a Red Cross plane to take them from Kauda to Nairobi... this Tuesday morning where they were given to the Chinese embassy there," thestatement said.

The statement did not give the number of Chinese freed.

The Kauda area in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan state has been the scene offighting since June between government troops and rebels formerly aligned with therulers of now independent South Sudan.

Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) spokesman Arnu Ngutulu Loditold AFP he would comment later Tuesday, but the release comes a day after he said heexpected the 29 Chinese workers to be released "very soon."

Lodi said on Monday the rebels were in communication with the Chinese government,although not through a six-member mission sent by Beijing to Khartoum to help secure arelease.

The captives, who were involved in a road-building project in South Kordofan, had beenheld since January 28 when the SPLM-N destroyed a Sudanese military convoy betweenRashad town and Al-Abbasiya and took over the area, the rebels said.

A spokeswoman for the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)declined to comment except to say: "We are not involved in negotiations" over theChinese.

The SPLM-N maintained that all 29 Chinese were safe during their captivity.


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According to China's official Xinhua news agency, the workers were taken after a rebelattack on their camp.

It reported on Monday that Beijing had been informed by Sudanese authorities that the

body of one Chinese, who went missing in the attack, had been found. That person wasapparently not among the 29 captured.

Sudanese official media carried similar reports citing the South Kordofan stategovernment.

Chinese embassy officials in Khartoum could not be reached on Tuesday.

Last week, SPLM-N chairman Malik Agar met a Chinese diplomat and asked Beijing touse its influence with Khartoum to help badly needed aid to reach the war zone, Lodisaid.

Agar held the talks in Addis Ababa with the Chinese ambassador to Ethiopia.

China is Sudan's major trading partner, the largest buyer of Sudanese oil and a keymilitary supplier to the Khartoum regime.

Sudan has severely restricted the work of foreign relief agencies in South Kordofan andnearby Blue Nile state, where a similar war began in September.

About 30,000 people fled when the rebels took control of villages in the Al-Abbasiyaarea on January 28, the United Nations said.

The UN has backed statements by the United States that there could be a famine unlessurgent aid is allowed to enter South Kordofan and Blue Nile..###

Thousands rally in Dakar for new anti-Wade protests (France 24)

http://www.france24.com/en/20120207-dakar-anti-wade-protests-third-term-senegal-presidential-electionFebruary 7, 2012By AFP

AFP - Thousands of Senegalese opposition supporters marched through central DakarTuesday to ratchet up the pressure for President Abdoulaye Wade to abandon his bid fora controversial third term in office.

The 85-year-old president's camp planned to strike back later Tuesday with a gatheringoutside the presidential palace, one of his electoral campaign managers said, withoutgiving further details.


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Several thousand opposition supporters began a march outside Dakar university, and hadplanned to make their way to the interior ministry which is a few blocks away from thepresidential palace.

However the government has banned the protesters from entering the suburb where theinterior ministry is located, said Cheikh Tidiane Dieye, a leader of the anti-Wade June 23Movement (M23).

Senegalese music icon Youssou Ndour, whose bid to stand in the February 26presidential election was rejected by the west African state's top court, was at the marchalong with several opposition candidates.

Dozens of police were out keeping a close watch on the march, the latest in a wave ofprotests in the run-up to the election in a country generally regarded as one of Africa'smost stable democracies.

Opposition protests last week descended into riots, leaving four people dead as tensionflared over Wade's third term candidacy which the opposition says is unconstitutional.

The Constitutional Council on January 27 upheld Wade's assertion that changes to theconstitution in 2008 meant he could run again despite having served two terms already.

The opposition has vowed to force Wade to withdraw and the leader, who has styledhimself as a pan-African statesman, has received little sympathy from his erstwhilewestern allies.

Both the United States and France have expressed disappointment in his plans to runagain, and urged a generational change in the country's highest office.

Wade, who says he needs another term to fulfill his promise to turn Senegal into adeveloped nation, has heaped scorn both on opposition protests and those from abroad.

"I do not seek the interest of the toubabs (Westerners), but that of the Senegalese people,"he said Sunday at the launch of the election campaign.

Eight opposition candidates as well as Ndour have decided to wage a common campaignfor the vote.

uring an M23 meeting on Monday, one of the candidates, Cheikh Tidiane Gadio, Wade'sformer foreign minister, said if the president took part in the vote the opposition wouldrefuse to recognise him.

"If Abdoulaye Wade persists, we will not recognise him, nor recognise his governmentand we will organise a campaign for the recognition of a national transition council whichwe will create," he said.


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He also suggested the holding of a parallel election among opposition candidates.

"The only way to serve Senegal with honour and dignity is to oppose Abdoulaye Wade'sunconstitutional candidacy to the end."

Wade was first elected in 2000 after 25 years in opposition.

But initial euphoria over his election has given way to fatigue over corruption, electricitycuts, rising fuel and food prices while Wade focuses on big legacy construction projectsusing what a US diplomatic cable published on Wikileaks refers to as "pie in the sky"rhetoric.

He is also accused of trying to groom his son Karim Wade as his successor.

Elections Minister Cheikh Gueye's ministry meanwhile said that election material such as

ballot papers had arrived for the poll in which some five million voters will chooseamong 14 candidates.

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Somalia: Saving Somalia? - Reflections On the Last 20 Years, and the Upcoming

'London Conference' (All Africa)

http://allafrica.com/stories/201202070843.htmlFebruary 7, 2012By Richard Dowden

If I were a Somali I would thank Allah for the pirates. For more than 20 years the worldhas stood by while successive civil wars destroyed the country, killing hundreds ofthousands of people by bullets, disease and starvation and reducing what was once aprosperous land to a war zone. But the seizure of more than 200 ships by kids with gunsin small craft has changed all that.

Britain, for whom shipping and trade around the Red Sea and the Gulf are vital nationalinterests, has decided to take action. Pirates, the government has realised, cannot bestopped as long as their land bases are not ruled by a government. But on land thegovernment is under attack from Islamic fundamentalists who are recruiting and trainingterrorists. So a political solution must now be found for Somalia. So declared WilliamHague, the Foreign Secretary, clad in flack jacket and helmet, in Mogadishu lastThursday. The search will begin at a conference in London on February 23rd. At last.

And what a conference it will be. Some 40 heads of government have been invited toLancaster House. This was where traditionally former British territories negotiated theirindependence, but in a curious irony of history, this conference will instead discuss thetake-over of Somalia. At least that is what the Italians, the former rulers of southernSomalia, want.


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Somalia has been at war since the late 1980s when rebel movements fought thegovernment of Siad Barre. He fled, but then they fell out with each other and the countrybroke up. The North West, the old British-ruled Somaliland, re-established that state anddeclared independence. The rest of the north, Puntland, is also relatively peaceful and

rules itself but awaits the re-establishment of a Somali state. So does some of the centre.But in the south and the capital, Mogadishu, there have been only two periods of peace.One followed the American invasion in 1992 after the first famine. But after losing 18members of special forces - the Blackhawk Down incident - President Bill Clinton pulledout the US force and stopped supporting UN peacekeeping there. Somalia was left tostew.

The second peace period was a few months in 2006 when a united mass uprising threwout the warlords and their rapacious armies. Governance was taken over by local Islamiccourts which gradually formed themselves into the Islamic Courts Union. For a fewmonths people were able to walk the streets safely. Peace reigned and trade and

investment began to flow. But with US support, the Ethiopians, who have no interest in astrong united Somalia, invaded, broke up the courts and installed a warlord as president.The wars resumed.

The cost of neglect has been immense. According to a recent report from the Center forAmerican Progress, a Washington think tank, the death toll from the wars is between450,000 and 1.5 million and some 2 million displaced. The accumulative cost ofSomalia's collapse has been more than $55 billion, including $22 billion from piracy. $13billion has been spent on humanitarian aid which is almost matched by the estimatedamount Somalis outside the country send back in remittances.

After the Ethiopians were forced to withdraw, the world handed Somalia over to Africa.Never has the phrase "African solutions to African problems" been used so cynically.Ugandan and Burundian troops under an African Union flag, died protecting a few squarekilometres of Mogadishu in the pretence there was a government there to protect. Therewasn't. The so-called government lives in luxury hotels and apartments in Nairobi.According to a recent audit of the Somali government in 2009 - 10, 96% - yes Ninety Sixper cent! - of direct bilateral assistance disappeared, presumably stolen by corruptpoliticians and officials.

An official report by the UN Monitoring Group said: "The endemic corruption of theleadership of the Transitional Federal institutions... is the greatest impediment to theemergence of a cohesive transitional authority and effective state institutions." But it isthese people who will be coming to Lancaster House on February 23rd. At the same timewe know that in much of Somalia there are very strong civil society organisations led byhighly respected men and women. They however will not be invited.

So perhaps the first thing this great conference should do is apologise to the people ofSomalia for ignoring their plight for so long. The second is to usher Somalia's


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professional politicians into the garden or off to smart hotels and bring in some Somaliswho really represent the interests of the country and its long-suffering people.

Richard Dowden is Director of the Royal African Society.

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Cameroon: Economy Suffers As Boko Haram Infiltrates Country (All Africa)

http://allafrica.com/stories/201202071288.htmlFebruary 7, 2012By Ngala Killian Chimtom

Yaounde Ahmadou Lamine has been forced to close his business selling fuel importedfrom Nigeria, known locally as "zoa-zoa", because of the Islamic extremist group BokoHaram.

Lamine, from Maroua, the capital of Cameroon's Far North Region, ran out of stock afterNigeria temporarily closed its border with Cameroon's northern region. The move cameafter the Christmas Day bombings of Nigeria's churches by Boko Haram, which killeddozens of people.

"Motor bike riders who used to supply us with zoa-zoa from neighbouring Nigeriacouldn't do so anymore. I was forced to shut my business premises," Lamine told IPS. "Idon't know how I am going to cope with paying the rent on my house, let alone feed myfamily and pay my children's school fees," he added.

The closure of the border has had a negative economic impact on this region. Fuel priceshere have doubled, jumping from fifty cents a litre to about one dollar. And a similartrend is recorded with other imports from Nigeria like sugar, milk, flour, beverages,sweets and oranges.

"It's difficult," Alima Aissatou, a housewife in Maroua told IPS. She pointed to her near-empty basket that would have previously been filled with food purchased from Maroua'smain market. "How do you feed a family with this?" she asked.

The closure of the border is not only affecting businesses and households, it has also ledto a reduction in customs revenue. The interim Customs Bureau Chief for Maroua,Philemon Tamfu, told IPS that the impact of the border closure was most felt "in Limani,Fotokol, Kolofata and Kouseri, all border towns in the Far North Region where all(customs) entries and exits are recorded."

Speaking to IPS by phone, the Customs Bureau Chief for Limani, Alain SymphorienNzie, said that the area used to receive 239,000 dollars every 10 days in customs revenue,averaging 718,000 dollars a month. But a few weeks after the border was closed, it couldbarely manage to generate 50,000 dollars. Limani, a border town, is home to citizens ofCameroon and Nigeria.


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"I had to improvise all means possible to come up with the 50,000 dollars. This amount islikely to keep on dropping if the blockage continues," he said of the minimum quota thatcustoms departments need to meet.

A similar trend has been noticed in the border town of Fotokol. Instead of the 40,000dollars that is usually collects over the first 10 days of January, only 4,000 dollars wasreceived.

International news agency CNN quoted trade and customs officials in Maroua as sayingthat nearly 80 percent of its regional economy has shrunk since the closure of the borders.

Nigeria's borders with Cameroon remain sealed as Africa's most populous nation fearsthat the extremist group Boko Haram might be using the northern parts of Cameroon as abase.

This comes after the unearthing of a cache of arms, suspected to have been smuggled infrom Cameroon, in Borno State, Nigeria. The arms included AK47 rifles, pistols, rocketlaunchers, bombs, and detonating bomb cables.

Cameroon's government is concerned that the extremist group could be infiltrating andestablishing itself in the country. Wikileaks revealed that President Paul Biya raised theconcerns in a conversation with United States Ambassador to Cameroon, Janet Garvey.

"Biya was concerned about the threat of Islamic extremism ...He was beginning to worryabout Islamic extremists infiltrating Cameroon from Nigeria through Cameroon'smosques," Wikileaks stated.

The former minister for Territorial Administration and Decentralization, MarafaHamidou Yaya, also expressed similar fears to the ambassador. He reportedly said: "therewere a lot of desperate people among the Muslim communities in the North, and Doualain particular, and some of them had unexplained money." Douala is the country'seconomic capital.

Evidence on the ground suggests that Boko Haram has already infiltrated Cameroon. InLagdo, a locality in the Far North Region, villagers have reported that people with longbeads and red or black headscarves have been combing the area and spreading the group'sextremist doctrine.

"They came here and told me that all our problems are caused by western education andwestern ideas," a resident of Lagdo told IPS, as he cast a furtive glance around. "Theyalso said they will give me a lot of money if I joined their group. They looked dangerous,so I lied that I would consider their proposal. I am afraid that they may come again."

The threat of the group's infiltration of Cameroon has put security, political andtraditional authorities on the alert.


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On. Jan 19, the governor of the North Region, Gambo Haman, said: "the Boko Harambeing chased from Nigeria's northeast, as well as thousands of runaway Chadian soldiersin irregular situations here, must be closely monitored to avoid unwanted troublethroughout the national territory."

He said surveillance has been reinforced and many Quran learning centres were shutdown, and their teachers are being closely monitored by security intelligence.

The Nigerian newspaper, Sunday Tribune, reported on Jan. 29 that Cameroon securityforces had recently blocked an attempt by 25 itinerant Arabic teachers to cross intoCameroon. "We stone-walled them," the source reportedly said.

Meanwhile, government authorities are liaising with religious groups to guard against thegroup. The senior Divisional Officer for Wouri in Douala, Bernard Okalia Bilai,convened a meeting of Imams and Muslim community leaders to jointly come up with

strategies to stop the group's infiltration of Cameroon.

"Their doctrine is anti-social," Bilai said. "It is a doctrine that persuades young graduatesto rip up their degrees...It is a doctrine that condemns what today constitutes the values ofour society. Top authorities of the country don't accept that such hateful dogma isestablished in our communities...we must be vigilant."

But these efforts may be too little, too late. In an exclusive interview with the UK-newspaper The Guardian on Jan. 27, a senior member of Boko Haram disclosed thatrecruits from Cameroon, Chad and Niger have already joined the group.

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Mozambique sees $50 bln gas investment over a decade (Reuters)

http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE81609Q20120207February 7, 2012

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Mozambique expects $50 billion to be spent developing itsliquid natural gas (LNG) industry over the next ten years, the southern African nation'smineral resource minister said on Tuesday.

"The holders of the concessions have plans to implement projects for the export of 20million tonnes a year of liquid natural gas which will require investments of about $50billion during this decade," Esperanca Bias told an African mining conference.

In November, U.S. oil company Anadarko Petroleum Corp bumped up its resourceestimate for its major gas finds offshore of fast-growing Mozambique.

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DOD Needs Cost-conscious Acquisitions Employees, Official Says (Defense.gov)

http://www.defense.gov//News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=67093February 7, 2012By Lisa DanielAmerican Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7, 2012 The Defense Department acquisitions, technology andlogistics office will need some of the brightest, most cost-conscious workers askingtough, introspective questions to meet the strategic and budgetary demands of the future,the offices acting director said here yesterday.

In remarks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Frank Kendall outlinedthe offices way forward under the administrations 10-year military strategy guidanceand amid shrinking budget forecasts.

Kendall is President Barack Obamas nominee to succeed Ashton B. Carter -- now the

deputy defense secretary -- as undersecretary of defense for acquisitions, technology andlogistics.

Acquisitions is not a science, he said. There is a lot of art to this. We do very hardthings that have never been done before. Theres always going to be a learning process,but until we start examining carefully the impact of our policies, were not going to learnenough from our experiences to put good things in place.

Kendall said many of the departments acquisitions problems stem from a culture thathasnt emphasized cost consciousness enough. He said a fighter pilot recently told himthat every September, his unit would fly around burning up fuel, because any fuel leftwhen the new budget year started Oct. 1 would be seen as excess, and the fuel allocationwould then be cut for the next year.

Thats not the kind of culture we want, he added.

Kendall said he has spoken with all the service chiefs to elevate the abilities,characteristics and prestige of the acquisitions workforce.

It is, in many cases, rocket science, he said. It takes true professionalism to make thiswork. Leadership qualities have everything to do with success or failure.

Also, Kendall said, he is working with the Joint Staff to make acquisitions requirementsspecific, translatable, and feasible. Sometimes requirements are so vague, there is noway to translate it onto a contract, he said, so then industry defines what it means.

When the administrations proposed cuts in projected defense spending rose to $487billion over 10 years, Pentagon officials had to take a new look at the way forward,Kendall said. We had to step back at that point, because the cuts were so deep, and lookat our fundamental strategy, he added.


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Kendall said Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey,chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, believe strongly that the right approach is to buildtoward a goal, as opposed to just making cuts. So we asked the question, What do wewant the Defense Department to look like in 2020? he said.

That question was answered with the new military strategy guidance unveiled last monththat outlines a smaller, more agile and flexible military focused on the Asia-Pacific andMiddle East regions. For the acquisitions and technology picture, Kendall said, it is amilitary that no longer spends billions of dollars on major weapons systems that areseriously over budget and off schedule.

Because the presidents fiscal 2013 budget proposal is to be presented to Congress nextweek, Kendall said, he would not go into specifics about it in yesterdays forum.

There probably will be some fine tuning, he said, but I think we got it about right, and

we have good evidence for the choices we made. They were painful. Some of them wereextremely painful. But we tended to emphasize the positive.

The administrations budget proposal maintains all recapitalization and modernizationrequirements, Kendall said, and all the programs we still have, we very much need.

The acquisitions office was prepared for the cuts because of the work it started in 2010when then-Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced streamlining measures. Panettahas carried those measures through since succeeding Gates, Kendall said.

Kendalls highest priority, he said, is to strengthen the federal acquisitions workforce.Other priorities include strengthening the military industrial base, preserving technicalsuperiority and buying into only affordable and dependable programs.

We have to move forward, he said. The times are such that to do anything else wouldbe irresponsible.

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END REPORT

Documents

AFRICOM Related News Clips 8 February 2012 Final