United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

5 April 2010

USAFRICOM - related news stories

TOP NEWS RELATED TO U.S. AFRICA COMMAND AND AFRICA

U.S. Navy Ship Grabs More Pirates, Lets Them Go (ABC World News)
NAIROBI, Kenya - A U.S. Navy ship has sunk a pirate "mother ship" in the Indian
Ocean and captured 11 pirates, and then promptly let them go.

Sudan vote free and as fair as possible: US envoy (AFP)

KHARTOUM, Sudan – US envoy to Sudan Scott Gration said on Saturday he was
confident the country's first general elections since 1986 would be as "free and fair as
possible" and would start on time on April 11.

US seeks delicate balance on Somalia (The East African)

The Obama administration may soon increase its already sizable military commitment
to Somalia‘s weak Transitional Federal Government even as political factors compel the
Pentagon to maintain a mainly invisible role in combating an Islamist insurgency.

Uranium-mining nations flout nuclear mandate (Associated Press)

NEW YORK - Years after a six-month deadline passed, dozens of nations, including
uranium producers, remain potential weak links in the global defense against nuclear
terrorism, ignoring a U.N. mandate on laws and controls to foil this ultimate threat.

Guinea-Bissau PM resumes post after brief detention (Xinhua)

BISSAU - Guinea-Bissau Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior has resumed his duty
after being briefly arrested by mutineers earlier in the week, local media reported on
Saturday.

Senegal's president reclaims French military bases (Associated Press)

DAKAR, Senegal — Senegal's president said Sunday the West African country was
reclaiming three French military bases to mark its 50th year of independence from
France. In Paris, however, officials said the bases' future was still under discussion.

Calls for African unity as Senegal unveils controversial statue (AFP)

DAKAR, Senegal — Senegal's controversial African Renaissance statue was unveiled
Saturday, with leaders from across the continent calling for unity and the realisation of
a "United States of Africa".

Zuma Seeks to Calm South Africa After Killing (New York Times)
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — South Africa‘s president, Jacob Zuma, called for
calm on Sunday, warning that ―agents provocateurs‖ might try to incite racial hatred
after the brutal killing of the white supremacist Eugene TerreBlanche.

Ritual sacrifice of children on rise in Uganda (Associated Press)

JINJA, Uganda – The practice of human sacrifice is on the rise in Uganda, as measured
by ritual killings where body parts, often facial features or genitals, are cut off for use in
ceremonies. Children in particular are common victims, according to a U.S. State
Department report released this month. The U.S. spent $500,000 to train 2,000 Ugandan
police last year to investigate offences related to human trafficking, including ritual
killings.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
Ban urges leaders in Guinea-Bissau to maintain rule of law
Côte d’Ivoire: UN pursues multi-pronged strategy for peaceful elections
DR Congo: UN helps women fight under-representation in government
UN efforts to improve refugee protection in Morocco bear fruit
ICC Prosecutor welcomes decision to move forward with Kenya probe
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Monday, April 5; 1:30 p.m.; Live Online Video Briefing

WHAT: American Enterprise Institute: Briefing on the Terror Threat from Somalia
WHO: Frederick W. Kagan, AEI Resident Scholar and Director of the Critical Threats Project
(CTP) ; and CTP analyst Christopher Harnisch
Info: To obtain viewing information for the briefing, please email
Katherine.zimmerman@aei.org or 202-828-6023; web site: www.aei.org

WHEN/WHERE: Wednesday, April 7; 12:30 p.m.; Washington, D.C.

WHAT: Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies: Does Democracy have a
Future in the Democratic Republic of Congo?
WHO: Mvemba Dizolele, visiting scholar at SAIS, will discuss this topic.
Info: http://www.sais-jhu.edu/calendar/index.htm

WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, April 15; 6:00 p.m.; Washington, D.C.

WHAT: US Institute of Peace: Rebuilding Hope
WHO: Screening of "Rebuilding Hope" a film following three of Sudan's "Lost Boys" on a
journey back home to find surviving family members, and rediscover and contribute to their
homeland, followed by a panel discussion featuring the film's director, Jen Marlowe, and one of
central characters in the film.
Info: http://www.usip.org/events/rebuilding-hope-washington-dc-premiere
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FULL ARTICLE TEXT

U.S. Navy Ship Grabs More Pirates, Lets Them Go (ABC World News)

NAIROBI, Kenya - A U.S. Navy ship has sunk a pirate "mother ship" in the Indian
Ocean and captured 11 pirates, and then promptly let them go.

While those five pirates remain in custody, the 11 captured Thursday were allowed to
leave in small skiffs after the mother ship was sunk. The action prompted a Pentagon
spokesman to deny that the Navy had a "catch and release" policy regarding pirates.

A Naval official told ABC News that the practice of releasing pirates is not unheard of.
While piracy is illegal according to international maritime law, it is considered a
criminal issue, not a national security one.

The latest confrontation occurred when pirates on three skiffs tried to hijack the Sierra
Leone-flagged commercial ship MV Evita using rocket propelled grenades and rifle fire.

The MV Evita avoided being boarded by increasing its speed and firing flares,
according to a press release by the Combined Maritime Piracy Task Force.

After the ship's captain radioed for help, a Swedish patrol aircraft spotted the pirates
and the USS Farragut dispatched its own plane to monitor the situation until the Navy
ship could arrive.

The planes watched as the suspected pirates threw ladders and other equipment into
the ocean, which was enough to convince the Farragut that the suspects posed no more
pirate threat, although they were still found in possession of grappling hooks,
according to the task force statement.

Drone Helped Capture Pirates

"After ensuring that the suspected pirates had no means to conduct any more attacks,
all 11 were released on the two small skiffs, while the mother skiff was destroyed and
sunk," according to a statement by the Combined Maritime Forces.

Officials from both the Navy and the U.S. Africa Command, known as Africom,
consider any thwarted attack and capture a success and have stepped up efforts, along
with the Combined Maritime Piracy task force, to fight piracy.
In the predawn hours of Thursday morning, the USS Nicholas was attacked by pirates
who may have mistaken the heavily armed ship for a merchant vessel. After a short
chase, the Nicholas sank a skiff and confiscated a mother ship, and took five pirates into
custody.

ABC News has learned that an American drone launched from the Seychelles was
instrumental in tracking and capturing the attacking vessels.

"The UAVs from the Seychelles did play role," AFRICOM spokesman Eric Elliot said.
"We can't discuss specifics because of security reasons. We don't want to endanger the
effectiveness of these aircrafts in future measures."

Last November AFRICOM began "Operation Ocean Look" using unmanned drones
launched from the Seychelles to patrol the Indian Ocean for pirates.

It's not clear what the Navy intends to do with the pirates still in custody.

One option includes handing suspected pirates over to Puntland officials in Northern
Somalia. Convicted pirate 31 year-old Ibrahim Nour told ABC News he was turned
over by the French Navy, and is currently in a high-security prison in Bossaso,
Puntland's largest port city. In Somalia, a conviction of piracy is often met with a death
sentence, but Navy officials said there are questions over whether Somalia's weak
government structure meets international justice standards.

So far only one pirate has been returned to the U.S. for prosecution. That pirate was the
lone survivor of an attempt to kidnap Capt. Richard Philips after a bungled attempt to
hijack his ship, the Maersk Alabama.
--------------------
Sudan vote free and as fair as possible: US envoy (AFP)

KHARTOUM, Sudan – US envoy to Sudan Scott Gration said on Saturday he was

confident the country's first general elections since 1986 would be as "free and fair as
possible" and would start on time on April 11.

Gration was speaking to reporters in Khartoum after meeting members of the electoral
commission, which earlier Saturday dismissed calls by opposition candidates for a
delay in the April 11-13 general elections.

"They (electoral commission members) have given me confidence that the elections will
start on time and they would be as free and as fair as possible," said Gration.
"These people have gone to great lengths to ensure that the people of Sudan will have
access to polling places and that the procedures and processes will ensure
transparency," he said.

Sudan's electoral commission meanwhile insisted the vote would go ahead on schedule
despite threats of boycotts by opposition parties.

"The electoral commission ensures that the elections will take place as envisioned, on
April 11 to 13," commission official Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah told reporters.

A raft of parties, including the Umma party of former premier Sadiq al-Mahdi, on
Friday gave the government four days to implement key reforms before they would
agree to take part in the poll, which they insisted be delayed until May.

The Umma party demanded a freeze to what it said were "repressive security measures"
and fair access to the state media, as well as public funding and a commitment to
Darfuri representation in the presidency.

One party, the Democratic Unionist Party, said it was only pulling out of the
presidential elections, in which President Omar al-Beshir, in power since a 1989 coup,
seeks another term, but would contest the parliamentary and regional elections being
held at the same time.

Three opposition parties, including that of Islamist leader Hassan al-Turabi, have not
withdrawn from the elections.

Beshir on Saturday also ruled out a delay and accused the opposition of seeking to
overthrow the ruling party, in a campaign speech in the northern town of Kassala.

"There will be no delay and no cancellation," he said in the speech broadcast by

Sudanese television.

US State Department spokesman Phillip Crowley had said that the opposition had
"legitimate concerns" over the poll but "we are still aiming for the election to occur on
April 11."

On Wednesday, Yasser Arman, the presidential candidate for the former southern rebel
Sudan People's Liberation Movement, withdrew from race after Beshir ruled out
delaying the vote.

"I took the decision to withdraw for two reasons. Firstly, after having campaigned in
Darfur, I realised that it was impossible to hold elections there due to the current state
of emergency," he told AFP.
"Secondly, there are irregularities in the electoral process which is rigged."

Arman said, however, that the SPLM will field candidates in regional and legislative
elections "across Sudan, except for Darfur."

Access remains difficult in Darfur, where 300,000 people have died since 2003 in a war
between ethnic rebels and the Khartoum government.

Beshir is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes in the
region.

Human Rights Watch has said Sudanese government repression of its opponents and
the media was threatening the chances of the elections being "free, fair, and credible."

Britain -- Sudan's former colonial power -- and Norway, a main provider of aid, joined
the United States in expressing concern over the polls.

Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir is on course to retain power in national elections

after the country's main opposition parties announced a total boycott of this month's
polls, blaming concerns over alleged fraud.
Gration was speaking to reporters in Khartoum after meeting members of the electoral
commission, which earlier Saturday dismissed calls by opposition candidates for a
delay in the April 11-13 general elections.

"They (electoral commission members) have given me confidence that the elections will
start on time and they would be as free and as fair as possible," said Gration.

"These people have gone to great lengths to ensure that the people of Sudan will have
access to polling places and that the procedures and processes will ensure
transparency," he said.

Sudan's electoral commission meanwhile insisted the vote would go ahead on schedule
despite threats of boycotts by opposition parties.

"The electoral commission ensures that the elections will take place as envisioned, on
April 11 to 13," commission official Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah told reporters.

A raft of parties, including the Umma party of former premier Sadiq al-Mahdi, on
Friday gave the government four days to implement key reforms before they would
agree to take part in the poll, which they insisted be delayed until May.
The Umma party demanded a freeze to what it said were "repressive security measures"
and fair access to the state media, as well as public funding and a commitment to
Darfuri representation in the presidency.

One party, the Democratic Unionist Party, said it was only pulling out of the
presidential elections, in which President Omar al-Beshir, in power since a 1989 coup,
seeks another term, but would contest the parliamentary and regional elections being
held at the same time.

Three opposition parties, including that of Islamist leader Hassan al-Turabi, have not
withdrawn from the elections.

Beshir on Saturday also ruled out a delay and accused the opposition of seeking to
overthrow the ruling party, in a campaign speech in the northern town of Kassala.

"There will be no delay and no cancellation," he said in the speech broadcast by

Sudanese television.

US State Department spokesman Phillip Crowley had said that the opposition had
"legitimate concerns" over the poll but "we are still aiming for the election to occur on
April 11."

On Wednesday, Yasser Arman, the presidential candidate for the former southern rebel
Sudan People's Liberation Movement, withdrew from race after Beshir ruled out
delaying the vote.

"I took the decision to withdraw for two reasons. Firstly, after having campaigned in
Darfur, I realised that it was impossible to hold elections there due to the current state
of emergency," he told AFP.

"Secondly, there are irregularities in the electoral process which is rigged."

Arman said, however, that the SPLM will field candidates in regional and legislative
elections "across Sudan, except for Darfur."

Access remains difficult in Darfur, where 300,000 people have died since 2003 in a war
between ethnic rebels and the Khartoum government.

Beshir is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes in the
region.

Human Rights Watch has said Sudanese government repression of its opponents and
the media was threatening the chances of the elections being "free, fair, and credible."
Britain -- Sudan's former colonial power -- and Norway, a main provider of aid, joined
the United States in expressing concern over the polls.

Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir is on course to retain power in national elections

after the country's main opposition parties announced a total boycott of this month's
polls, blaming concerns over alleged fraud.
--------------------
US seeks delicate balance on Somalia (The East African)

The Obama administration may soon increase its already sizable military commitment
to Somalia‘s weak Transitional Federal Government even as political factors compel the
Pentagon to maintain a mainly invisible role in combating an Islamist insurgency.

This delicate balance reflects competing calculations.

On one hand, the United States wants to cripple Al Shabaab militants who it says are
linked to US arch-enemy Osama bin Laden and who have threatened to attack Kenya.

That‘s the factor driving possible use of US drones in Somali airspace to target Al
Shabaab leaders.

On the other hand, Washington worries that high-profile military involvement would
serve to strengthen grassroots Somali support for Islamist fighters.

The militants drew on nationalist sentiment in their successful 2008 campaign to evict
US-backed Ethiopian occupiers.

Reluctance to intervene directly also stems from what some US officials refer to as ―the
Somalia syndrome.‖

The previous Democratic president, Bill Clinton, quickly withdrew US troops from
Somalia in 1993 in the face of a political firestorm at home that followed the killing of 18
American soldiers in Mogadishu.

Already at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Obama administration clearly has no
stomach to dispatch US forces to a third front of the ―global war on terror.‖

Johnnie Carson, Obama‘s top Africa official, was at pains last month to reject
suggestions of direct US military action inside Somalia.
―The United States does not plan, does not direct, and does not co-ordinate the military
operations of the TFG and we have not and will not be providing direct support for any
potential military offensives,‖ Mr Carson declared at a press briefing.

Americanise conflict

―Further, we are not providing or paying for military advisers for the TFG. There is no
desire to Americanise the conflict in Somalia.‖

At the same time, however, the US reserves the option to conduct commando raids
inside Somalia when prime targets come into the Pentagon‘s sights.

US Special Forces used helicopter gunships to kill a prime Al Qaida suspect in southern
Somalia last September.

The Obama administration is also considering expanding its behind-the-scenes

assistance to the TFG.

The US has already supplied the government in Mogadishu with 80 tonnes of weapons
as well as funds for other military purposes.

Citing unnamed US and Western diplomats, the Associated Press reported last week
that the Pentagon may move some drones from a base in the Seychelles to an
undisclosed location in the Horn from where they would conduct surveillance
operations over Somalia.

Kenya and Djibouti are regarded as two possible sites for a US drone detachment.

Pilotless MQ-9 Reaper aircraft stationed in the Seychelles have been tracking pirates in
the Indian Ocean for the past several months.

These drones, with a range of 3,500 kilometres, are potentially more powerful than the
type regularly used to hunt and kill Islamist militants in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

But the Reapers operating in East Africa have so far not carried weapons, according to
the US Africa Command.

Africom is using facilities in Djibouti and Uganda to train TFG forces as well as African
Union troops deployed in Mogadishu.

US military contractors also provide logistical assistance to the African Union force,
known as Amisom.
DynCorp, a major Pentagon contractor, recently airlifted 1,700 Ugandan troops into
Somalia and removed 850 others as part of a Nato operation to bolster Amisom in the
run-up to an expected TFG-led offensive against Shabaab.

Expanded military aid

In co-ordination with Washington, the European Union is also expanding its military
aid to the TFG.

Spanish, British, French and German instructors will train 2,000 Somali government
soldiers inside Uganda starting this week, the EU announced on March 31.

None of this will make a positive difference, some analysts maintain.

J. Peter Pham, an Africa expert at a US think tank, recently suggested that it is ―beyond
delusional‖ to believe that bolstering Amisom forces can succeed where ―infinitely
more robust‖ US/UN military contingents failed in the 1990s to defeat a foe less capable
than Al Shabaab.

The TFG itself remains inept and unpopular, the United Nations said in a recent report
by its Somalia Monitoring Group.

―Despite infusions of foreign training and assistance,‖ the group observed,

―government security forces remain ineffective, disorganised and corrupt — a
composite of independent militias loyal to senior government officials and military
officers who profit from the business of war and resist their integration under a single
command.‖

The drone-augmented effort to deter piracy off Somalia‘s coast is also falling short of
expectations.

Pirate attacks did decline in January and February, but the International Maritime
Bureau reported that 5 of 19 attempted ship hijackings succeeded in March.

Similar numbers were recorded in March 2009 when the piracy plague was running
rampant.
--------------------
Uranium-mining nations flout nuclear mandate (Associated Press)

NEW YORK - Years after a six-month deadline passed, dozens of nations, including
uranium producers, remain potential weak links in the global defense against nuclear
terrorism, ignoring a U.N. mandate on laws and controls to foil this ultimate threat.
Niger, a major uranium exporter, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the source
of the uranium for the first atomic bomb, are among the states falling short in
complying with Security Council Resolution 1540, a key tool in efforts to block nuclear
proliferation.

Uncontrolled freelance mining in the Congo has long worried international authorities
that the raw material for a bomb might fall into the wrong hands.

President Barack Obama, who calls nuclear terrorism "the most immediate and extreme
threat to global security," hosts a summit on nuclear security April 12-13 in Washington,
where implementation of Resolution 1540 will be high on the agenda.

Twenty-nine nations have failed to report they have taken action on nuclear security as
required by the 2004 resolution. Among the more than 160 governments that have
reported, the information supplied is often sketchy.

Resolution 1540, which set a reporting deadline of October 2004, "imposes strict
reporting requirements on states, but few have fully met them," the International
Commission on Nonproliferation and Nuclear Disarmament, a prestigious study group,
concluded in its final report last December.

Mexican U.N. Ambassador Claude Heller, chairman of the U.N. committee monitoring
1540's implementation, said he plans a series of meetings with noncompliant states to
urge cooperation, and he sees Obama's summit as a chance to "send a strong message"
about the U.N. mandate's importance.

"It is a legally binding regime that was adopted by the Security Council," Heller said. "It
is not up to governments to say yes we will report or not."

Resolution 1540, promoted by the U.S. in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks and
the 2004 uncovering of the Pakistan-based A.Q. Khan nuclear smuggling network, is the
only global legal instrument designed to disrupt links between terrorists and nuclear
technology. Unlike treaties, applicable only to states that ratify them, this U.N. mandate
obligated all nations.

It required governments to "adopt and enforce appropriate effective laws which

prohibit any non-State actor," such as terrorists, from making or possessing nuclear,
chemical or biological weapons, their delivery systems or related material.
Governments must establish "effective" border and export controls and physical
protection for sensitive materials and sites.

An AP review of filings found vast differences in national reporting.

The U.S. and other industrialized nations filed reports of up to 30,000 words detailing
relevant laws and how they are enforced, while other, smaller countries submitted
reports of just a few hundred words noting — irrelevantly — the nonproliferation
treaties to which they subscribe or, in Uganda's case, requesting financial aid to carry
out 1540's obligations.

In its own review issued in January, Heller's committee cited major gaps in reporting on
whether activities related to weapons of mass destruction were criminalized, on
whether laws are enforced, on establishing lists of controlled items, and on restricting
access to sensitive materials.

Almost all the non-reporting states are in Africa, including uranium producers Zambia,
Malawi and the Central African Republic.

Niger and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which as the Belgian Congo colony
produced the uranium that fueled the U.S. weapon dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in
1945, didn't file reports for four years after the resolution's adoption. In 2008, the 1540
committee's expert staff drafted reports on behalf of those two countries, drawing on
publicly available information. But Niger and Congo themselves have not reported
taking steps to tighten nuclear security under 1540.

The "Hiroshima mine" at Shinkolobwe in southern Congo was closed in 1960, but in
recent years thousands of individual miners, officially unsanctioned, have worked at
the site, extracting cobalt and, some reports say, uranium.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. nuclear watchdog, has
expressed concern about poor security at the mine, as well as at a nuclear research
reactor in Kinshasa, the Congolese capital, whose spent uranium fuel could be used for
a terrorist's radioactive "dirty bomb."

Niger, in central Africa, has huge reserves of the continent's highest-grade uranium. In
some years it ranks as the world's No. 3 producer.

With renewed global interest in nuclear power, mining companies are stepping up
uranium exploration and development in Niger and elsewhere in Africa, including in
Gabon, Guinea, Mali and Mauritania, all non-filers under Resolution 1540.

Although they might manage to fashion relatively simple "dirty bombs," al-Qaida and
other terror groups wouldn't have the expertise or large infrastructure needed to build
nuclear weapons from raw African uranium. Experts fear, however, that "non-state
actors," including financially motivated smugglers, might deliver ore, technology or
other material to a state with an illicit weapons program.
Iran, which denies Western allegations its nuclear power program is meant for
weapons-building, is known to need more foreign uranium supplies.

Resolution 1540 reporting "is important especially for countries that have uranium
mines or an old research reactor," said Swedish nonproliferation scholar Johan
Bergenas.

By reviewing their laws and practices for the U.N., countries can detect weaknesses and
remedy them with help being offered by the U.S. and other developed nations, said
Bergenas, a researcher at the Washington office of the Monterey Institute of
International Studies.

Heller, Bergenas and others familiar with the process say poor African states are
choosing to devote their limited resources to higher priorities than U.S. and European
concerns about nuclear proliferation. A Niger U.N. diplomat seemed to agree.

"We lack capacity to follow all such requirements," said Boubecar Boureima. In tracking
Security Council developments, he said, "we deal with economic matters, peacebuilding
in our region and other matters of interest to us.

"We have uranium," he added, "but we have no intention to go the wrong way."

The 1540 regime's weaknesses lie not only at the reporting end, but here at the U.N. as
well, diplomats say.

Ambassador Jorge Urbina of Costa Rica, Heller's predecessor as committee chairman,

said more expert staffing is needed to better monitor how nations comply with 1540. He
and Heller also believe the U.N. should consider establishing a permanent agency to
oversee 1540, to replace the committee, made up of an ever-changing lineup of 15
Security Council member countries.

"You don't need 15 countries deciding on every move," Urbina said. "The committee
process has slowed implementation."

An IAEA database counts scores of thefts, losses and other incidents involving nuclear
materials each year. "It shows there's a risk that the international community has to deal
with," Heller said. His committee pledges to "redouble its efforts."

"It is still a very young regime," the Mexican diplomat said of Resolution 1540. "It is one
thing to adopt something. The second challenge is to implement it."
--------------------
Guinea-Bissau PM resumes post after brief detention (Xinhua)
BISSAU - Guinea-Bissau Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior has resumed his duty
after being briefly arrested by mutineers earlier in the week, local media reported on
Saturday.

The soldiers who entered the office of the prime minister and detained him on
Thursday left the building the next day.

Gomes Junior then went to meet with President Malam Bacai Sanha, who expressed
trust in him and asked him to remain on the post, according to local press and radio.

The resumption of Gomes Junior's work as the prime minister was reportedly the most
important topic in the talks.

Reports also said the former chief of defense staff, General Jose Zamora Induta, was still
confined to the air base near the capital Bissau.

Induta and 40 other officers were also arrested in Thursday's mutiny, in which deputy
army chief Antonio Indjai replaced him.

Despite the rebellious move which was denounced by many as a coup, Indjai on the
same day declared the army was still submissive to political powers.

The detention went parallel with the release of the former head of marines, the rear
admiral Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchute, who had been accused of plotting a coup in
August 2008.

The ex-chief of Guinea-Bissau's marines took refuge at the UN office in Guinea-Bissau

known as UNOGBIS after returning to Guinea-Bissau in a canoe from Gambia on Dec.
28, 2009. UNOGBIS had previously indicated willingness to settle the issue in a
"peaceful and legal" way.

Na Tchute and Indjai are seen as the men behind the action by soldiers on Thursday.

Although President Sanha had declared that "calm" had returned in his country, the
incident has already sparked an outcry from across the globe.

In a statement condemning the latest upheaval in Guinea-Bissau, the Economic

Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said the coup attempt came at a time
when the successful presidential election in July 2009 had created the required
environment for ECOWAS and the international community to strengthen the
democratic and national reconciliation process.
ECOWAS had been keeping watch on the country until the holding of elections on June
28, 2009, when Sanha was elected the new president. It has since warned that the
military reform is critical to ensure the post-assassination stability in Guinea-Bissau.

"ECOWAS ... will leave no stone unturned in its efforts to defend the democratic gains
and maintain stability in the country," it said in the statement.

The regional bloc also urged the African Union and the United Nations to scale up joint
efforts to stabilize the political, security and economic situation in the country.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on the military and political leadership
in Guinea-Bissau to resolve their differences by peaceful means and "to avoid any risks
to the gains" made by the country in its current peace consolidation efforts.

The UN Security Council also urged all parties concerned to avoid acts of violence and
respect the rule of law in the West African country.

The unrest in Guinea-Bissau is the latest in a series to hit West Africa, where
Mauritania, Guinea and Niger have witnessed the military coup since 2008.

Instability including the 1998-1999 civil war has haunted the country of 1.5 million
people since its independence from Portugal in 1974.

Before the latest coup bid, the West African country had foiled a mutiny after holding a
legislative election in November 2008, when the African Party for the Independence of
Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde won the victory.

Coup fears were on the rise after President Joao Bernardo Vieira was assassinated in
March, 2009. The country's Interior Ministry reported another "coup attempt" in early
June 2009, just days ahead of the June 28 presidential election.

Being ranked the 175th out of 177 nations in the U.N. Development Program's Human
Development Index, the country is one of the world's poorest country.

With a jagged Atlantic coastline, Guinea-Bissau is chosen by traffickers as a major hub

for the flow of cocaine from Latin America to Europe.
--------------------
Senegal's president reclaims French military bases (Associated Press)

DAKAR, Senegal — Senegal's president said Sunday the West African country was
reclaiming three French military bases to mark its 50th year of independence from
France. In Paris, however, officials said the bases' future was still under discussion.
President Abdoulaye Wade announced that the government would retake the bases
which house some 1,200 troops, effective immediately. He said the handover would
mark the final step in Senegal's separation from its former colonial master. Senegal
gained independence from France in 1960.

"The presence of these French bases after all these years is seen as more and more out of
place" and gives many people the impression of "incomplete independence," he said.

French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero, however, countered that Senegal
has always had "total sovereignty" over the French bases on their soil.

Wade's comments came two years after French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced a
major overhaul of his nation's policies toward Africa, saying that its military
agreements were outdated and that France had no interest in keeping its forces
permanently on the continent.

France and Senegal have been discussing the future of the bases since then, Valero said,
and the talks are ongoing.

"On the future of the holdings, the calendar, etc., all that is being discussed in the run-
up to agreement that — I'm sure — will satisfy both parties," Valero told RFI radio.

Details of the way France envisions its military presence in Senegal came during a visit
there by French Defense Minister Herve Morin in February.

Morin announced that France was going pull many of its military personnel from
Senegal, leaving behind only about 200 soldiers who would assist French boats and
airplanes and also take part in bilateral efforts, his ministry said. Details are still being
worked out, the ministry said.

Senegal also marked its independence on Saturday by unveiling a 160-foot (50-meter)-

high bronze statue depicting a family rising triumphantly from a volcano that is
supposed to symbolize Africa's renaissance.

But the monument has drawn criticism from many in the poverty-stricken country
because of its $27 million price tag.
--------------------
Calls for African unity as Senegal unveils controversial statue (AFP)

DAKAR, Senegal — Senegal's controversial African Renaissance statue was unveiled

Saturday, with leaders from across the continent calling for unity and the realisation of
a "United States of Africa".
President Abdoulaye Wade called for the continent to unite in an address to a large
crowd and 19 African leaders at the foot of the bronze statue, built by North Korea and
higher than the Statue of Liberty.

"The time to take off has arrived," he said of the continent, split into 53 states, which is
increasingly courted for the rich minerals beneath its soil and its market of over one
billion inhabitants.

While African leaders vaunted the statue as a symbol for all black people around the
world and its inauguration as a historical moment, thousands of local opponents
protested at a wasteful extravagance in hard economic times.

Riot police patrolled nearby streets earlier Saturday as demonstrators held up banners
demanding the resignation of Wade, 84, who has been in power since 2000.

Deputy opposition leader Ndeye Fatou Toure said the statue was an "economic monster
and a financial scandal in the context of the current crisis," in a country where half the
population lives below the poverty line.

Championed by Wade, the 52-metre (164-foot) monument whose cost is estimated at

more than 15 million euros (20 million dollars) has caused a mixture of anger over its
price tag, and bewilderment over its style.

The inauguration of the statue is the highlight of Senegal's 50 years of independence

from France on April 4, 1960.

It depicts a muscular man emerging from a volcano with a scantily clad woman in tow
and holding a baby aloft in his left arm, pointing West towards the Atlantic Ocean.

The depiction of a woman with a whisp of fabric covering her breasts and skirting her
thighs has baffled many in this overwhelmingly Muslim country, where women dress
demurely, and drawn criticism from Islamic leaders.

Calling for unity, Wade said that "only a political integration of the United States of
Africa will shelter us from potentially fatal marginalisation" on the world's poorest
continent, which holds rich economic potential, he added.

After "five centuries of ordeals, slavery, Africa is still there, folding sometimes, but
never breaking. She is upright and resolute to take her future in hand," Wade said.

"The slave traders have left, the last colonialist has left. We have no more excuses. We
must seize this opportunity so that history does not repeat itself."
Former Nigerian president and African strongman Olusegun Obasanjo who cut a
ribbon in the colours of the Senegalese flag, said the statue was "a monument for black
people all over the world".

"We have a symbol to remind us, to inspire us" of and against years of slavery and
abuse. "A united union of Africa can make it not happen again."

African Union chief Bingu wa Mutharika, the president of Malawi, called for a new
African unity: "We have more things that unite us, than those that divide us... Let us
return to our countries with a new hope of a new Africa."

A 100-strong African-American delegation included civil rights activist Jesse Jackson

and Senegalese-American singer Akon.

The presidents of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cap Verde, the Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast,
Gambia, Liberia, Mali, Malawi, Mauritania and Zimbabwe were also present as well as
the head of the African Union Commission Jean Ping.

"Africa has seized this monument. It is rare to have one country hosting more than a
dozen heads of state for this kind of event. That testifies to their support," presidential
spokesman Mamadou Bamba Ndiaye told AFP.

Long on the table, a United States of Africa has been planned by the African Union by
2025, but doubts have been raised about the ability of the continent to unite amid
widespread poverty and conflicts.
-------------------
Zuma Seeks to Calm South Africa After Killing (New York Times)

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — South Africa‘s president, Jacob Zuma, called for
calm on Sunday, warning that ―agents provocateurs‖ might try to incite racial hatred
after the brutal killing of the white supremacist Eugene TerreBlanche.

Julius Malema, the leader of the governing party‘s youth league, has recently included a
singalong at his public appearances. The song, ―Ayesab‘ Amagwala,‖ dates back to the
struggle against apartheid. Its lyrics include the lines ―Shoot the Boer‖ — the Dutch
word for farmer — ―shoot, shoot, shoot them with a gun.‖

These renditions have led to hot crosscurrents of opinion here, with some saying that
the song has historical importance and that the ―shooting‖ part is metaphorical, while
others claim the words are a renewed solicitation to kill.
Last week two judges, in separate hearings, declared the song unlawful and banned its
performance, a decision that had many legal experts debating the boundaries between
free speech and hate speech.

According to the police, Saturday‘s killing of Mr. TerreBlanche, the 69-year-old leader
of a right-wing party that has largely slipped from significance, was carried out by two
farm workers angry with him in a dispute over their pay.

The crime, while certainly notable, might have followed its victim into obscurity were it
not for the current prominence of the song. Mr. TerreBlanche considered himself a Boer
and was proud to say so.

Some of his party followers in the Afrikaner Resistance Movement now blame Mr.
Malema for inciting the death. Its general secretary, Andre Visagie, was quoted by the
South African Press Association as vowing an unspecified revenge.

―Our leader‘s death is directly linked to Julius Malema‘s ‗shoot the Boer‘ song,‖ he
reportedly said, adding that Mr. Malema‘s party, the African National Congress,
condoned the death because it approved of ―Ayesab‘ Amagwala.‖

The killing of white farmers is a volatile issue in South Africa. The police say nearly 900
of them have been slain since 2001. But many farmers insist the number is far higher
and charge that a government conspiracy is at the root.

To them, ―kill the Boer‖ is a lyric with a fearsome immediacy. The knifing and
bludgeoning of Mr. TerreBlanche was just another in a common pattern.

For his part, Mr. Malema denied any responsibility for the crime. Reuters quoted him as
saying, ―On a personal capacity, I am not going to respond to what people are saying.‖

Mr. Malema is on a trip to Zimbabwe, where he is again proving to be South Africa‘s

most inflammatory politician. In a speech in Harare on Saturday, he allied himself with
the 86-year-old autocrat Robert Mugabe, a stance likely to complicate negotiations in
Zimbabwe‘s political crisis and intensify the apprehensions of white farmers and
mining interests in his own country.

Mr. Malema, 29, commended Mr. Mugabe for ―standing firm against imperialists‖ in
the same manner as Fidel Castro. He further praised him for appropriating the land of
Zimbabwe‘s white farmers.

―In South Africa, we are just starting,‖ he said, according to news reports. ―Here in
Zimbabwe, you are already very far. The land question has been addressed.‖
He continued: ―We hear you are now going straight for the mines. That‘s what we are
going to be doing in South Africa. Now it‘s our turn to enjoy from these minerals.‖

Actually, the A.N.C.‘s official position opposes the nationalization of mines. And the
government‘s land redistribution program, while very troubled in its execution,
nevertheless buys white-owned farms rather than confiscating them, paying a
reasonable price to landowners willing to sell.

Mr. Malema‘s blustery remarks, then, might seem inconsequential. After all, the
presidency of the party‘s youth league is a position relatively low on the party‘s flow
chart.

But after Mr. Zuma, Mr. Malema, a relentless newsmaker, is the second-most-quoted
person in the country. If people prone to saying the outrageous are called loose
cannons, Mr. Malema could be considered heavy ordnance.

There is recurring speculation about why the A.N.C. does not curb his vitriol and
racially polarizing statements. It is a hierarchical organization that insists on party
discipline. Many here believe that Mr. Malema‘s comments must come with the
sanction of some within the party leadership.

Mr. Malema‘s trip to Zimbabwe is itself curious. Last month, Mr. Zuma himself
traveled to Harare, trying to revive a power-sharing agreement between Mr. Mugabe
and his chief rival, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. As the official mediator for a
group of southern African nations, Mr. Zuma needed to seem even-handed in the
delicate negotiations.

Mr. Malema scorned Mr. Tsvangirai, a man beaten up several times for his opposition
to Mr. Mugabe. He called him a lackey for ―imperialists,‖ a term usually directed at the
United States and Britain.

A man who dresses in expensive clothes and drives luxury cars, Mr. Malema
additionally condemned some of his white countrymen. ―The economy is still
controlled by white males who are refusing to change, and the media is also controlled
by white males who are refusing to change,‖ he said.

Mr. Malema is scheduled to meet with Mr. Mugabe on Monday. His visit has been
hosted by the youth league of Zimbabwe‘s governing party, Zanu-PF. During
Saturday‘s speech, Mr. Malema‘s remarks were largely received with boisterous
approval.

In honor of their guest, the crowd, with Mr. Malema joining in, sang, ―Shoot the Boer,
shoot, shoot, shoot them with a gun.‖
--------------------
Ritual sacrifice of children on rise in Uganda (Associated Press)

JINJA, Uganda – Caroline Aya was playing in front of her house in January when a
neighbor put a cloth over her mouth and fled with her.

A couple of days later, the 8-year-old's body was found a short walk away — with her
tongue cut out. Police believe she was offered up as a human sacrifice in a ritual killing,
thought to bring wealth or health.

"If it is a sickness you try to treat it, and if they die that is one thing," said Caroline's
father, Balluonzima Christ. "But when you slaughter a person like a goat, that is not
easy."

The practice of human sacrifice is on the rise in Uganda, as measured by ritual killings
where body parts, often facial features or genitals, are cut off for use in ceremonies. The
number of people killed in ritual murders last year rose to a new high of at least 15
children and 14 adults, up from just three cases in 2007, according to police. The
informal count is much higher — 154 suspects were arrested last year and 50 taken to
court over ritual killings.

Children in particular are common victims, according to a U.S. State Department report
released this month. The U.S. spent $500,000 to train 2,000 Ugandan police last year to
investigate offences related to human trafficking, including ritual killings.

The problem is bad enough that last year the police established an Anti-Human
Sacrifice Taskforce. Posters on police station walls show a sinister stranger luring two
young girls into a car below bold letters that call on parents to "Prevent Child Sacrifice."

Human sacrifices have been recorded throughout history and occur still in many
countries, including India, Indonesia, South Africa, Gabon and Tanzania. One
traditional healer in Uganda, when asked about the phenomenon, pointed to the story
told in the Bible's book of Genesis, when God asked Abraham to sacrifice a son.

However, the rise in human sacrifices in Uganda appears to come from a desire for
wealth and a belief that drugs made from human organs can bring riches, according to
task force head Moses Binoga. They may be fueled by a spate of violent Nigerian films
that are growing in popularity, and showcase a common story line: A family reaping
riches after sacrificing a human.

"I call it a problem of psychological disorientation," said Binoga. "People get

disoriented. People stop having respect in humanity and believe more in the worth of
money and so-called good fortune, and they lose that natural social respect for people."
The sacrifices are also linked to a deep belief in traditional healers, or witch doctors,
who can be found practically every half mile in Uganda.

At the end of a winding dirt road on the edge of Kampala, Uganda's capital, barefoot
children scurry past a sign advertising the abilities of Musa Nsimbe, who goes by the
trade name Professor Gabogola. The sign in front of his small wood hut reads like a
panacea for the world's woes.

"A traditional healer with powers over spirits. Solves all cases, demons, thieves, tooth
decay, madness fevers, appelipse, genital affairs."

Sunlight streams in like tiny laser beams through holes in the metal roof of Nsimbe's
shrine. Smoke fills the air. Furry hides cover the floor. Animal horns are arrayed before
Nsimbe, who chants, hums, murmurs, shakes and bangs his head against the wall in a
furious calling of the spirits.

The 38-year-old Nsimbe — a father of 14 children with two women — says it's possible
that some witch doctors carry out ritual sacrifices, but that he does not.

Another traditional healer, 60-year-old Livingstone Kiggo, said sacrifice is part of the
healer's tool kit — sacrificing a goat, sheep or chicken is considered a call to the spirits,
to people's ancestors. But killing humans is not part of the practice, said Kiggo.

He blamed sacrificial deaths on people who "want to destroy the work of traditional
healers."

"Those are killers. They are not healers. They are killers," said Kiggo.

In 2008, Kiggo said a man approached him offering to sell a child. He went to the police,
who set up a sting operation and snared a man trying to sell his nephew for $2,000.
Police and advocates point to several cases where impoverished parents or relatives
have tried to sell children to witch doctors for money.

The people of Jinja have seen three suspected cases of child sacrifice in recent months,
including Caroline's. When Binoga held a town-hall-style meeting in early February,
some 500 people squatted under the shade of five large trees, straining to hear his
words.

Many complained of police corruption, slow investigations and a lack of convictions by

the country's lethargic courts, words that drew loud cheers from the emotional crowd.
Of about 30 people charged with ritual killing last year, nobody has yet been convicted.
The last conviction was in 2007.
"There is a lack of political will to protect the children. We have beautiful laws but a
lack of political will," said Haruna Mawa, the spokesman for the child protection
agency ANPPCAN. "As long as we keep our laws in limbo we are creating a fertile
breeding ground for human and child sacrifice to escalate. No convictions. What
message are you giving to the police?"

Mawa's agency has helped with several recent cases of child sacrifice. A 2-year-old boy
had his penis cut off by a witch doctor in eastern Uganda and now urinates through a
tube, Mawa said.

A 12-year-old named Shafik had a knife put to his throat when a female witch doctor
realized the boy was circumcised. Witch doctors don't kill children who are circumcised
or who have pierced ears because they are considered impure, Mawa said. As a result,
some parents have taken their children to get piercings or circumcisions.

The Christ family is protecting their three remaining children in other ways. The
siblings no longer walk to school alone and are instead accompanied by their parents. It
is a security precaution that the parents can't take forever, said Fred Kyankya, the
district criminal intelligence officer.

"You can't keep holding onto a child very tightly. Children move freely," Kyankya said.
"So people get scared that there are such vices in the country."
--------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

Ban urges leaders in Guinea-Bissau to maintain rule of law

1 April – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged the military and political
leadership of Guinea-Bissau to resolve their differences peacefully and to maintain
constitutional order and the rule of law, after military incidents in which the Prime
Minister was briefly detained.

Côte d’Ivoire: UN pursues multi-pronged strategy for peaceful elections

1 April – From high-level political meetings to workshops and sporting events, the
United Nations mission in Côte d‘Ivoire (UNOCI) is deploying a multifaceted strategy
to create a peaceful environment for the repeatedly delayed elections that are intended
to reunify the divided country.

DR Congo: UN helps women fight under-representation in government

1 April – The United Nations is boosting the efforts of women in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC) to overcome decades of low female participation in
politics and achieve their rightful role in governing the vast African country and
rebuilding it after years of civil war.

UN efforts to improve refugee protection in Morocco bear fruit

1 April – Efforts by the United Nations refugee agency to address refugee protection
and mixed migration in Morocco have helped to improve protection, but significant
challenges remain, the agency said in a new report.

ICC Prosecutor welcomes decision to move forward with Kenya probe

1 April – The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) today welcomed the
body‘s decision to grant his request to investigate alleged crimes against humanity
committed in the wake of disputed Kenyan elections two years ago.