United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

28 April 2010

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

Unpaid Somali soldiers desert to insurgency (Associated Press)

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Hundreds of Somali soldiers trained with U.S. tax dollars
have deserted because they are not being paid their $100 monthly wage, and some have
even joined the al-Qaida-linked militants they are supposed to be fighting, The
Associated Press has learned.

Ethiopia - USG Marks World Malaria Day through Bed-Net Campaign (Nazret.com)
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - In remote and underserved kebeles of Oromia, a civil affairs
team representing U.S. Africa Command’s Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa
is working in Dolo Mena District, Bale Zone, with local officials and volunteers to help
families hang insecticide-treated nets properly and ensure that most households have at
least two nets to protect themselves from malaria.

U.S. Government Wants to Support New Projects - Ambassador Mozena (Angola

Press)
HUAMBO, Angola — The US government will support new social and economic
projects in the central highland Huambo province with priority to agriculture and to
renewable energy sources, American ambassador Dan Mozena revealed today.

Suruma Joins U.S Think Tank, Brookings (New Vision)

KAMPALA, Uganda — Former finance minister Ezra Suruma has joined the US-based
research think tank, Brookings, as a distinguished visiting fellow, Brookings President
Strobe Talbott announced on Friday.

Lawyers challenge warcrimes trial of Congo warlord (Reuters)

THE HAGUE – Defense lawyers challenged the legality of the war crimes case against
Congolese warlord Jean-Pierre Bemba on Tuesday, arguing he was denied due process
by being brought before the International Criminal Court (ICC).

AU forces foil Somali suicide attack (AFP)

MOGADISHU, Somalia – African Union peacekeepers foiled an attempted suicide
attack on their base in the Somali capital Tuesday when they opened fire on an
explosives-laden car speeding towards them.
WFP Doubling Food Assistance for Niger (Voice of America)
The United Nations World Food Program is more than doubling the number of people
it is planning to feed in Niger, as a food crisis caused by drought in the eastern Sahel
continues to spread.

Sierra Leone: free health care to mother and child (Associated Press)
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone – Sierra Leone's president says his government will provide
free health care to mothers and children in the West African nation which suffers from
high rates of maternal and child mortality.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
UN humanitarian chief sees deprivation among Niger’s hungry
UN-backed maternal and child health drive kicks off in Sierra Leone
Sudan: Ban stresses need for peaceful resolution of any electoral disputes
Security Council suggests possible tribunals to deal with Somali piracy problem
Ban voices relief at release of UN-AU peacekeepers freed in Darfur
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday through Thursday, April 27-29; Washington, D.C.

WHAT: Corporate Council on Africa: U.S.-Africa Infrastructure Conference
WHO: Top U.S. and African government officials, seasoned business executives, sector experts
and financiers convene at the U.S. Africa Infrastructure Conference.
Info: http://www.africacncl.org/(xtahp03q0g1wdb55d42z1w55)/Default.aspx

WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, April 29, 9:30 a.m.; Washington, D.C.

WHAT: U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services: Briefing on U.S. policy towards Yemen and
Somalia.
WHO: Honorable Michael G. Vickers, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special
Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict and Interdependent Capabilities; Brigadier General Raymond
A. Thomas III, USA, Deputy Director of Special Operations and Counterterrorism (J-3), Joint
Chiefs of Staff; Brigadier General Gregg C. Potter, USA, Vice Director for Intelligence (J-2),
Joint Chiefs of Staff
Info: http://armed-services.senate.gov/e_witnesslist.cfm?id=4550

WHEN/WHERE: Friday, April 30, 2:00 p.m.; Washington, D.C.

WHAT: U.S. Institute of Peace: Creating Long-Term Peace in Cote d’Ivoire
WHO: Patrick N'gouan, The Civil Society Collective; Andre Kamate, Ivorian League of Human
Rights; Paola Piscitelli, Community of Sant'Egidio, USA; Dorina Bekoe, Moderator,
Senior Research Associate (Africa), U.S. Institute of Peace
Info: http://www.usip.org/events/creating-long-term-peace-in-cote-divoire

WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, May 13, 9:30 a.m.; Washington, D.C.

WHAT: U.S. Institute of Peace: Threats to Maritime Security
WHO: Donna L. Hopkins, U.S. Department of State; Bruce Averill, Ph.D., Strategic Energy
Security Solutions; Michael Berkow (invited), Altegrity Security Consulting; Robert Perito,
Moderator, U.S. Institute of Peace
Info: http://www.usip.org/events/threats-maritime-security
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FULL ARTICLE TEXT

Unpaid Somali soldiers desert to insurgency (Associated Press)

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Hundreds of Somali soldiers trained with U.S. tax dollars
have deserted because they are not being paid their $100 monthly wage, and some have
even joined the al-Qaida-linked militants they are supposed to be fighting, The
Associated Press has learned.

The desertions raise fears that a new U.S.-backed effort beginning next month to build
up Somalia's army may only increase the ranks of the insurgency.

Somalia's besieged U.N.-backed government holds only a few blocks of the Somali
capital, Mogadishu, while Islamic insurgents control the rest of the city and most of the
country. That turmoil — and the lawless East African nation's proximity to Yemen,
where al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula is based — has fed fears that Somalia could be
used to launch attacks on the West.

In an effort to rebuild the tattered Somali military, the United States helped fund a
training program for nearly 1,000 soldiers in neighboring Djibouti last year, Western
diplomats told the AP. The French-trained troops were supposed to earn $100 a month,
but about half of them deserted because they were not paid, Somali army Col. Ahmed
Aden Dhayow said.

"Some gave up the army and returned to their ordinary life and others joined the
rebels," he said.

Somalia's state minister for defense, Yusuf Mohamed Siyad, confirmed some trainees
had joined the al-Shabab militants, but he declined to specify the number of deserters.

Paid to fight

The development highlights a key problem facing efforts to rebuild the bankrupt
nation's army — guaranteeing funding for soldiers' salaries, not just their training.
Failure to resolve the pay issue could threaten the success of a U.S. and European Union
training program beginning in Uganda next month that has been touted as the biggest
effort to rebuild the army in 20 years.

Funding for the Somali army is a complex affair involving contributions from donor
nations, the U.N. and the Somali government. Individual countries sometimes pledge to
cover salaries for a limited number of soldiers for a few months, and when the money
runs out, salaries don't get paid.

The U.S. has provided $2 million to pay Somali soldiers and purchase supplies and
equipment in Mogadishu since 2007, according to the State Department. Another $12
million went toward transport, uniforms and equipment, but the U.S. has declined to
say how much of that paid for training.

During a recent AP visit, dejected-looking soldiers sat under dust-covered thorn trees at
the government's main military base, Camp Jazira, which lacks toilets, a clinic or even a
perimeter fence. They had not been paid, some for months, they said, adding that their
wages were intercepted by senior officials.

When pressed for details, mid-level officers glanced at colleagues clutching plastic bags
of spaghetti, the day's lunch ration, before saying they could not discuss the problem.

"There is not enough money to pay everyone," Col. Ali Hassan said as a group of
officers listened, then added hastily: "But we are happy there is some money."

Earlier this year, trainee soldiers had their guns confiscated and replaced with sticks
after a riot broke out between those who had been paid and those who had not. The
African Union, which has peacekeepers at Camp Jazira, temporarily suspended
payments over fears that men who had been paid would be killed by those who had
not, an official involved with the training said.

Soldiers also had problems with some battalion-level commanders stealing their rations,
a European official said. The U.S. has sent a shipment of food this month to try to help
the malnourished soldiers regain their strength, he added.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to
speak to the media.

Siyad, the defense minister, said the U.S. was currently funding the salaries of around
1,800 Somali soldiers, and another 3,300 soldiers were being paid by other donors.
However, that is only about half the 10,000 troops allowed under the peace agreement
that formed the coalition government.
Other countries have contributed to training programs for security forces, notably
France and Germany. A German-funded training course for 900 Somali police recently
ended in Ethiopia, a Western official in Nairobi said, but there are fears the trainees will
desert because no provision has been made for their salaries.

Some international payments are channeled through a fund administered by

PricewaterhouseCoopers, an arrangement designed to prevent the mass theft of salaries
and combat a desertion rate of up to 90 percent that scuttled a previous U.N. effort to
reform the police force.

However, diplomats complain the lists of soldiers the government has provided differ
from those they have been authorized to pay. Officers including Gen. Ahamad Buraale,
who is in charge of Camp Jazira, also say PricewaterhouseCoopers has been slow to
issue the identity cards that allow soldiers to be paid.

The firm declined to comment, citing a confidentiality agreement with its clients.

Siyad said it is vital that the 2,000 Somali soldiers slated to undergo six months of
training in Uganda be paid. The European Union will take the lead in training, while
the U.S. has pledged to pay the salaries of graduates until January, said Patrick Geyson,
a political adviser to the EU program.

"Both the police and soldiers need to feed their families," Geyson said. "They need to be
paid every month. Otherwise they have to find other solutions."

Guaranteeing longer-term wages for the soldiers may be difficult. Many donors are
reluctant to contribute money to an army once notorious for crimes such as rape,
kidnapping and murder.

The new army commander is seen by international officials as a vast improvement over
the previous one, a warlord who used the army as a clan militia to extort money from
civilians. But donors remain wary.

In the meantime, the Somali government is forced to rely on donor nations that are
often slow to pay, undercutting soldiers' confidence in regular paychecks, and feeding
desertions and corruption. There are few signs Somalia's government will ever be able
to deliver social services, shape military strategy and pay its army on its own.

Siyad said the success of the multimillion-dollar training programs funded by American
and European taxpayers is completely dependent on being able to pay the graduates.

"If this is not done, then we shouldn't even start. Otherwise the soldiers will just join the
opposition," he said.
--------------------
Ethiopia - USG Marks World Malaria Day through Bed-Net Campaign (Nazret.com)

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - In remote and underserved kebeles of Oromia, a civil affairs
team representing U.S. Africa Command’s Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa
is working in Dolo Mena District, Bale Zone, with local officials and volunteers to help
families hang insecticide-treated nets properly and ensure that most households have at
least two nets to protect themselves from malaria. The teams will hang 35,000 nets,
donated by the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative, over a three-week period until the
end of April.

The donated nets are expected to serve households for three years. Many of the districts
reached through this campaign, which coincides with World Malaria Day on April 25,
have been overlooked in previous national bed net campaigns. One community leader
helping to plan the campaign noted, ―This is the first time anyone has attempted to
conduct a campaign to reach the residents of our woreda!‖

In addition to the bed net campaign, a mobile van supported by the U.S. President’s
Malaria Initiative is conducting road shows as well as disseminating key malaria
messages across 41 towns in Tigray Region, the site of this year’s Ethiopian national
commemoration of World Malaria Day. The mobile van will reach over half a million
residents with information on how to prevent and treat malaria.

Health education activities in Tigray and Oromia are informing families about the
importance of early treatment when symptoms appear and prevention methods such as
the consistent use of insecticide-treated nets and household spraying with insecticide. In
Ethiopia approximately three quarters of the country is subject to malaria, a disease
which causes as many as 70,000 deaths per year. Malaria also has economic costs: it
burdens health systems and robs the economy of a healthy, productive labor force
needed for growth.

The U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative -- an interagency initiative led by the U.S. Agency
for International Development (USAID) and implemented jointly with the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) -- has been working since 2008 in partnership
with the Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and
Malaria, and other donors, to combat malaria.

In Ethiopia, U.S. Government assistance for malaria focuses on significantly

contributing to the country’s needs in key malaria commodities as well as building the
health sector’s capacity to manage, deliver, and support the delivery of malaria
diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. This year the U.S. Government will increase its
investment in Ethiopia’s fight to ―count out malaria‖ to $31 million for 2010, an increase
of $11 million from 2009.
The U.S. Government commitment to fight malaria is a key component of President
Obama’s Global Health Initiative -- a commitment to invest in healthy and productive
lives around the world.
--------------------
U.S. Government Wants to Support New Projects - Ambassador Mozena (Angola
Press)

HUAMBO, Angola — The US government will support new social and economic
projects in the central highland Huambo province with priority to agriculture and to
renewable energy sources, American ambassador Dan Mozena revealed today.

The diplomat said at the end of a meeting with Huambo provincial governor Faustino
Muteka that the United States want to support the expansion of the health network,
training of nurses and health technicians, contributing to the improvement of health
assistance and to the reduction of mortality in hospitals and health centers.

He said the United States want to set up a strategic partnership with Angola enabling
the diversification and increase of development projects nationwide.
--------------------
Suruma Joins U.S Think Tank, Brookings (New Vision)

KAMPALA, Uganda — Former finance minister Ezra Suruma has joined the US-based
research think tank, Brookings, as a distinguished visiting fellow, Brookings President
Strobe Talbott announced on Friday.

Suruma will join the Africa Growth Initiative, part of the Global Economy and
Development programme, where he will deal with governance in African political and
financial institutions and their impact on stability and economic growth.

The Africa Growth Initiative conducts high-quality policy research focused on attaining
sustainable economic development and prosperity in Africa.

"Dr. Suruma has been a champion for financial reform and economic development in
Uganda," the director of the Global Economy and Development programme, Kemal
Dervi, said.

"His addition to the Africa Growth Initiative strengthens our already prominent group
of experts."

Suruma is the senior presidential adviser on finance and planning in Uganda.

He served as secretary for economic affairs at the National Resistance Movement
Secretariat, was the director of Uganda Commercial Bank and the deputy governor of
the Bank of Uganda.

The Banker (Financial Times, UK) recognised Suruma as the best finance minister of the
year 2008 for his role in overseeing high economic growth in Uganda while minimising
inflation.

Suruma holds a PhD in economics from the University of Connecticut, a masters degree
in economics and bachelors degree in finance from Fordham University.

Prior to his government and private sector work, Suruma was a professor of economics
and management science at Makerere University and at Florida A&M University.
--------------------
Lawyers challenge warcrimes trial of Congo warlord (Reuters)

THE HAGUE – Defense lawyers challenged the legality of the war crimes case against
Congolese warlord Jean-Pierre Bemba on Tuesday, arguing he was denied due process
by being brought before the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Bemba, a wealthy scion of a business empire and an opposition leader in the

Democratic Republic of Congo, was brought to The Hague in 2008 to face charges of
leading Congolese rebels into a campaign of rape and torture in the neighboring Central
African Republic in 2002-03.

Bemba is the highest-profile suspect brought before the ICC, the world's first permanent
court established to try war crimes.

Bemba's lawyer argued that he was being tried at the ICC and not in Africa in order to
keep him away from the region, and was denied due process. Arrested in Belgium in
2008, Bemba is being held at a detention center in The Hague.

"We have irrefutable proof of the interference of politics in this case, particularly in
sending Bemba to the ICC," Defense counsel Nkwebe Liriss told the court.

Initially due to start on Tuesday, the trial was delayed to hear the defense's challenge of
admissibility. Pending a ruling by judges on the challenge, the trial is due to start on
July 5.

The ICC's prosecutor has charged Bemba with two counts of crimes against humanity
and three counts of war crimes for leading troops into the Central African Republic at
the invitation of that country's president at the time, Ange-Felix Patasse, to put down
coup attempts.
--------------------
AU forces foil Somali suicide attack (AFP)

MOGADISHU, Somalia – African Union peacekeepers foiled an attempted suicide

attack on their base in the Somali capital Tuesday when they opened fire on an
explosives-laden car speeding towards them.

Troops stationed in south Mogadishu fired on the vehicle and killed its three occupants,
whose mission was claimed by the Al Qaeda-inspired Shebab rebels.

"There was a suicide bomb attempt against our forces at a former bank building in
Mogadishu. We destroyed the vehicle before it reached its target," the peacekeeping
force spokesman Ba-Hoku Barigye said.

"We killed all the three would-be suicide bombers who were onboard the explosive-
laden vehicle," he said, adding that three soldiers had sustained minor injuries.

Shebab spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Rage said the attack was in retaliation for the
recent killing of top Al Qaeda commanders in Iraq.

"We have carried out a holy suicide attack against the enemy of Allah in Mogadishu
today and we destroyed the bank building where they were stationed," Rage told
reporters.

"This attack was a retaliation for the killing of our mujahedin brothers Abu Omar al-
Baghdadi and Abu al-Masri... in Iraq," he added, claiming they killed 20 AU troops.

The AU special representative for Somalia, Boubacar Gaoussou Diarra, praised the
forces for thwarting the attack, which targeted the Ugandan soldiers of the mission.

"The actions by the African Union peacekeepers today have demonstrated once again
their professionalism and strong commitment to help the people of Somalia achieve
peace and stability, despite increased desperation by insurgents to deny innocent
Somali civilians from achieving sustainable peace and stability," he said in a statement.

Witnesses said the vehicle blew up close to the peacekeepers' position.

"I saw four soldiers lying on the ground near the exploded vehicle but I don't know if
they were dead or not," said Abdullahi Aden, a witness.

An exchange of mortar fire erupted after the peacekeepers foiled the attempt to bomb
their base, while an explosive went off in front of a mosque in area of Mogadishu
controlled by the insurgents.
At least seven civilians were killed and 43 others wounded in the ensuing battles, a
medical source said.

"The number of civilians who were killed in today's incidents are seven while 43 others
sustained injuries," said Ali Muse, the head of Mogadishu ambulance services.

It was not clear, however, who was behind the explosion at the mosque.

The 5,000 strong AU force, comprising troops from Uganda and Burundi, is regularly
targeted by hardline Islamist militias who have vowed to overthrow the internationally-
supported transitional government.

In September, 17 peacekeepers were killed in twin bombings at the forces' headquarters

in the deadliest attack on the AU since it began deploying in the Somali capital in early
2007.

Islamist Shebab insurgents and their Hezb al-Islam allies have restricted President
Sharif Sheikh Ahmed's government control to just a few streets in Mogadishu since
launching an onlsaught last May.

Earlier this year, the government announced plans for a broad offensive against their
insurgents with AU backing, but this has so far failed to materialise.
--------------------
WFP Doubling Food Assistance for Niger (Voice of America)

The United Nations World Food Program is more than doubling the number of people
it is planning to feed in Niger, as a food crisis caused by drought in the eastern Sahel
continues to spread.

The World Food Program is now expecting to feed more than 1.5 million people in next
month's general food distribution, along with specialized therapeutic feeding for
500,000 children under the age of six.

That is because poor rains last year have brought forward the time when people no
longer have enough to eat.

"The lean season normally starts in Niger towards June and July and lasts until
September or October, which is the harvest time. But this year because of the bad
harvest last year, the lean season started much earlier," says Gianluca Ferrera, WFP's
deputy director for Niger.
Last year's cereal harvest in Niger was 26 percent below the previous year. Primary
schools in the southern Zinder region are now closing, as families abandon the area and
head toward the capital in search of food.

Ferrera says internally displaced civilians are far harder to feed then those who stay at
home. So relief officials are hoping farmers return to their fields once the rains begin.

"What we have observed since the beginning of the year is an earlier movement, a
migration of people leaving the rural areas toward urban areas," said Ferrera. "Starting
from end of May early June we should be having rains. And normally people return
back to their villages to do the agricultural work in preparation for the planting season.
So we do expect to see some reverse movement in the weeks to come. And we are
getting prepared to assist those people in their place of residence and not in an urban
setting where it would be much more complex."

WFP is trying to raise $182 million to scale up its operations in Niger. Although Ferrera
says donor response has been good, it is not yet adequate.

"We still have a huge shortfall estimated at around 50 million dollars, roughly 45,000
tons of food that we still need to meet the urgent needs of the population until
September," Ferrera adds.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization is also stepping in to aid cattle herders in
Niger and Chad. Livestock pastures are dry, so herders are selling their animals at
lower prices to buy food for their families.

Eight FAO projects in Niger worth more than $12 million are aimed at helping two
million people. In Chad, the organization will supply more than four-million-dollars
worth of seeds, fertilizer and animal feed. The distribution of animal feed and
veterinary products is also underway in Mali and Burkina Faso, with at-risk farmers
and herders across the Sahel expected to need assistance at least through August.
--------------------
Sierra Leone: free health care to mother and child (Associated Press)

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone – Sierra Leone's president says his government will provide
free health care to mothers and children in the West African nation which suffers from
high rates of maternal and child mortality.

President Ernest Bai Koroma says as part of the program, formally launched Tuesday,
free medical treatment will be given to pregnant and breast-feeding women and
children under five. He says the government will distribute $10 million in medicines.
UNICEF says the campaign will cover more than 1 million children and 250,000
pregnant women and new mothers. UNICEF says it will distribute $6 million in
medicines.

Sierra Leone's rates of maternal and child mortality are among the highest in the world.
The impoverished country is still struggling to recover from a bloody civil war between
1991 and 2002.
--------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

UN humanitarian chief sees deprivation among Niger’s hungry

27 April – The top United Nations humanitarian official today traveled to south-eastern
Niger to assess the human impact of a grave food crisis that has affected more than half
of the West African country’s 14 million people.

UN-backed maternal and child health drive kicks off in Sierra Leone
27 April – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Sierra Leonean
Government have embarked today on a new initiative to provide free health care for
pregnant women, lactating mothers and children under five across the West African
nation.

Sudan: Ban stresses need for peaceful resolution of any electoral disputes
27 April – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on Sudanese authorities and
political parties to peacefully resolve any disputes arising from this month’s
presidential and parliamentary elections as he commended the country’s people for
taking part in the recent ballot.

Security Council suggests possible tribunals to deal with Somali piracy problem
27 April – The Security Council put forward today the possibility of establishing
international tribunals to try pirates, as its members called for tougher legislation aimed
at prosecuting and jailing suspects caught off the coast of Somalia.

Ban voices relief at release of UN-AU peacekeepers freed in Darfur

27 April – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today expressed his relief at the release of
four peacekeepers serving with the joint African Union-United Nations mission in the
war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur who were set free after having spent more than two
weeks in captivity.