United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

30 April 2010

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

Africom not setting base in Africa-US commander (Mmegi Online)

Addressing a press conference yesterday, US commander of the African Command,
General William Ward said while there has been speculation that the US intends to set
up a military base in Africa through Africom, this is not true.

Clashes between army and rebels kill 'more than 100'

Clashes between Chadian troops and rebel forces in eastern Chad have left nine
government soldiers and more than 100 insurgents dead, according to a government
spokesman.

US gives $7.5M more for Taylor war crimes trial (Associated Press)
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone – The United States is giving an additional $7.5 million to
help pay for Charles Taylor's war crimes trial.

North Africa: US Counter Terrorism Plan Hits a Snag (MoroccoBoard.com)

The Algerian military flawed plans to secure the Sahel region has more to do with
portraying an image of Algeria as the regional power house in North West Africa than
setting up an effective military and political entity capable of countering an ever
menacing enemy that continues to strike at whim.

World Economic Forum on Africa to witness record participation (Xinhua)

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania - The World Economic Forum announced on Thursday
that nearly 1,000 participants from 85 countries will participate in the 20th World
Economic Forum on Africa to be held in Dar es Salaam, 5-7 May 2010.

Central African Republic says May 16 vote delayed (Associated Press)

BANGUI, Central African Republic – The president of Central African Republic says
elections that had been scheduled for May 16 have been delayed.

Islamist Rebels Claim Responsibility for Bombing in Somalia (Voice of America)

Somalia's al-Shabab Islamist rebels have claimed responsibility for Tuesday's suicide car
bomb attack at a base for African Union peacekeepers in Mogadishu. The al-Qaida-
linked militants say the bombing was in retaliation for the recent killings of two senior
al-Qaida commanders in Iraq.

Uganda Seeks to Reconcile Oil, Nature (Wall Street Journal)

BULIISA, Uganda—One of Africa's biggest nature parks has turned into a battleground
over oil, pitting foreign energy companies and the government of Uganda against
environmentalists eager to shed light on their venture.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
First batch of gorillas reach nature reserve in DR Congo after UN airlift
UN relief chief arrives in DR Congo to review humanitarian needs
Sudan: UN mission to remain for another year to support north-south peace pact
Cameroon: UNESCO head calls for investigation into death of detained
journalist
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UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Wednesday, May 5, 1:30 p.m.; Washington, D.C.

WHAT: U.S. Institute of Peace: Planning Military Responses to Mass Atrocities
WHO: Col. John Kardos, U.S. Army Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute; Lawrence
Woocher, United States Institute of Peace; Sarah Sewall, MARO Project Founder and Faculty
Director, Harvard Kennedy School; Andrew Loomis, Office of the Coordinator for
Reconstruction and Stabilization, U.S. Department of State; Col. William Flavin (Ret),
Directing Professor, U.S. Army Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute
Info: http://www.usip.org/events/planning-military-responses-mass-atrocities

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

Africom not setting base in Africa-US commander (Mmegi Online)

Addressing a press conference yesterday, US commander of the African Command,

General William Ward said while there has been speculation that the US intends to set
up a military base in Africa through Africom, this is not true. "Our planning activities
can be conducted from anywhere, so we do not have any intentions of moving our
headquarters to Africa, that is simply not the case and never has been," said General
Ward.

Africom headquarters is currently Stuttgart, Germany and Ward explained that they
will remain there for the foreseeable future, as they have no intentions of moving.
General Ward said Africans have grown to become more understanding of the
objectives of the command than they were at the time of its establishment in 2007. "Too
often when we visited a partner nation, there was speculation that we are looking for
bases or seeking to place US troops there, but it has changed these days, Africans are
more accommodative to Africom as its objectives are getting clearer to them," he said.

General Ward told the press that the purpose for his visit to Botswana was to discuss
ongoing security cooperation programs and to also look for ways that US Africom can
support Botswana in its future military goals and objectives. He added that since the
establishment of Africom, they have been able to provide assistance to African nations
in increasing their capability to deal with the military problems they face in their
respective regions. He said the relations they build in Africa are established from the US
foreign Policy objectives. This was General Ward's third visit to Botswana and he was
able to visit the Defence Command and Staff College (DCSC), which is in its third
academic year. He described the BDF as a truly capable, professional organization.
General Ward and his team left yesterday evening for Namibia.
--------------------
Clashes between army and rebels kill 'more than 100'

Chad's government says its army killed more than 100 rebels and lost nine soldiers in
two gun battles in eastern Chad this week, but the rebels say they inflicted heavy losses
on the government forces.

The renewed violence in the east of oil-producing Chad comes amid N'Djamena's
efforts to see United Nations peacekeepers leave the country ahead of elections, and
improving ties with Sudan, which it previously accused of backing the rebels.

"Our security forces ... completely control the entire zone," Chad's Information Minister
Kedallah Younous said.

The army also took 80 wounded rebels prisoner in the clash, which took place around
Tamassi, near Chad's eastern border with Sudan, he said in a statement on state radio
late on Wednesday.
The rebels involved in the fighting on April 24 and April 28 were from Adam Yacoub's
FPRN rebel group, which is part of a coalition of insurgents that have been fighting
against Chadian President Idriss Deby's government.

The UFR rebel coalition issued a statement after the April 24 clash, claiming the FPRN
had defeated the army, inflicted heavy losses on government soldiers and recuperated
weapons.

There was no independent version of events.

Yacoub's rebels are based in Chad, but other anti-Deby forces have launched assaults on
Chad from Sudan. Over the last six years, Sudanese rebels have also used Chad's
lawless east to launch attacks in Sudan's Darfur region.

In February, Chad and Sudan agreed to end their proxy wars and work together to
rebuild their border areas, a move seen aimed at bolstering security and credibility
before impending elections in both nations.

Deby on Wednesday congratulated Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on a

"brilliant" election win in polls held earlier this month and said the result would
improve ties between the two countries.

The warming of relations between Chad and Sudan had led to talks between Chad's
government and rebels.

But the UFR rebels called on all Chadian factions to provide military support to the
FPRN forces, and warned Deby against trying to use violence to resolve Chad's
problems.

This week's violence in Chad comes as the government and the United Nations agreed
on winding down the number of U.N. peacekeepers in Chad to 1,900 from a full
strength mission of over 5,000.

Chad, which will hold legislative elections this year and a presidential poll in 2011, has
been pushing for the U.N. force, still in the process of deploying, to shut down.
Bashir won a decisive election earlier this month but faces a delicately balanced year as
Sudan's northern and southern leaders -- who fought each other during decades of civil
war -- try to tie up a list of contentious issues ahead of the South's secession
referendum.

--------------------
US gives $7.5M more for Taylor war crimes trial (Associated Press)

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone – The United States is giving an additional $7.5 million to
help pay for Charles Taylor's war crimes trial.

The U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues Stephen Rapp made the
announcement Thursday in Sierra Leone's capital.

Taylor, the former president of neighboring Liberia, is accused of funding Sierra

Leonean rebels infamous for hacking off the lips, ears and limbs of their victims. Taylor
has denied the allegations.

Rapp, who previously served as Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, said
that significant contributions also have come from the UK, Canada, the Netherlands
and Norway.

The court relies on voluntary contributions from governments, and Rapp has said the
process has been complicated by the global economic crisis.
--------------------
North Africa: US Counter Terrorism Plan Hits a Snag (MoroccoBoard.com)

Is Algeria’s approach to counter terrorism hampering the American efforts to contain

and eradicate terrorism in the North and West Africa? Few recent developments give
the impression that the United States is not content with the Algerian government’s
recent plans‖ to control‖ the security situation in the Sahara and Sahel regions. The
Algerian military flawed plans to secure the Sahel region has more to do with
portraying an image of Algeria as the regional power house in North West Africa than
setting up an effective military and political entity capable of countering an ever
menacing enemy that continues to strike at whim.

In fact, the politically motivated decision to exclude Morocco, the other major power
house in the region, from last month meeting held in Algeria to discuss the
deteriorating security situation in the Sahel has made the Algerian plans mute and
infective. Case in point: the week following the Algiers meeting, Mauritanian security
forces arrested a member of the Polisario front for the kidnapping of Spanish aid
workers highlighting the short sighted Algerian approach to securing the region and
the unavoidable role Morocco plays in the war against terrorism in North West Africa.
European and American diplomats were left scratching their heads trying to
understand Algiers political and strategic logic behind the exclusion of Rabat.

The more recent initiatives to establish a unified military security information centre in
Tamanrasset, Algeria, and joint monitoring units to control the borders and crack
down on terrorists, smugglers and drug traffickers between the different country of
North and West Africa, with the exception of Morocco, runs against the American
strategic view on how to secure this extremely volatile region. The United State
government and military establishment consider Morocco a key player in the world
community’s counter-terrorism efforts in North Africa and the Sahel, and thus Rabat
should be included in any serious effort to counter terrorist threats in the region. The
Algerian one man show for the sake of internal political glorification and regional
hegemony does not sit well with the United State strategic approach of security
cooperation efforts to promote stability in support of U.S. foreign policy and national
security objectives.

The absence of potentially vital intelligence and military data that could be gathered on
Moroccan territory, including the Mauritanian borders and the Moroccan Sahara, will
make Tamanrasset centre intelligence analysis unreliable and untrustworthy.
Furthermore, the Algerian diplomacy avoided dealing with several underlining
political problems between the member countries( Algeria, Libya, Burkina Faso, Mali,
Niger, Chad and Mauritania) of the Tamanrasset centre , casting serious doubts about
the effectiveness of the Algerian efforts: As of now, Algeria is suspicious of
Mauritania’s close relations with Morocco, Mauritania recalled its ambassador from
Mali, Algeria is unhappy with the ongoing French- Malian military manoeuvres,
Algeria is not sure about the future of its relations with the new military government
in Niger and Libya does not want to be part of any military ―club‖. This uncertain
political and security climate in a dangerous region is a source of worries to the
American diplomats and Military planners.

As Algeria was forcing an unrealistic military strategy, the United State Marines and
the Moroccan Royal Forces were getting ready for their annual joint maneuvers.
Dubbed AFRICAN LION, this annually-scheduled military exercise is intended to
further solidify and improve ―interoperability and mutual understanding of each
nation's tactics, techniques, and procedures.‖ The military exercises started yesterday
and would last more than two months. According to the United States Marines ―The
maneuvers include using weapons, peacekeeping operations, low altitude flying, and
supplying flying planes with fuel.‖ Beside their Military activities, members of the 23rd
Marine Regiment of the US Marines will conduct humanitarian and medical missions in
different regions of Morocco.
While the members of the 23rd Marine Regiment are conducting their annual drills with
their Moroccan counterparts, a ―maritime Interdiction Operations team from Morocco,
along with U.S. Marines from Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team Company, and
Spanish Marines are conducting trainings in preparation for Exercise Phoenix Express
2010 at Naval Station Rota, Spain April 27,‖ according to a US Navy website.

While Morocco have always adopted an open bilateral military relationship with the
United States, the Moroccan forces have used their expertise to foster inter-regional
military cooperation based on mutual interests and respect and without political
undertones. Some Algerian officials are viewing the US-Moroccan military exercises as
a rebuke to their ―efforts‖ to keep the security of the Sahel in the locals’ hands. This
misplaced ―Algerian nationalist‖ notion is not conducive to explaining to the public the
role and leadership the United States scan play in stopping terrorism, illicit activities
and drug smuggling in the region. In fact, some Algerian officials have criticized
Morocco’s openness to hosting the U.S. Africa Command headquarters, even as the
Algerian diplomats like to boast their special relationship with Washington.

Yet, the most pressing issue currently hampering the efforts to secure the Sahel and
Sahara region is the Western Sahara conflict. As the U.S. Africa Command works
closely with the Unites States Department of State and U.S. embassies in North Africa to
ensure that United States strategic and national security objectives are met, the chaotic
borders between Morocco, Mauritania and Algeria remain a source of grave concerns to
the Americans. The existence of the heavily militarized Polisario Front on Algerian soil
and the lack of military and intelligence cooperation between Algeria and Morocco will
continue to hinder the success of the war against lawlessness and terrorism in North
and West Africa. Algeria’s efforts fall far short of their stated objectives and run against
the American strategy.
--------------------
World Economic Forum on Africa to witness record participation (Xinhua)

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania - The World Economic Forum announced on Thursday

that nearly 1,000 participants from 85 countries will participate in the 20th World
Economic Forum on Africa to be held in Dar es Salaam, 5-7 May 2010.

Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete will host the meeting, which this year explores the
theme "Rethinking Africa's Growth Strategy", said the Forum press release after the
press conference held here.

"Africa is a continent full of potential. Africa has been growing despite the economic
instability that is facing the world today. We will have the opportunity to examine the
strategy of Africa for today to ensure that there is a better tomorrow." Kikwete was
quoted as saying.
"2010 is a special year for both the World Economic Forum, which is celebrating the
20th anniversary of its Africa meeting, and Africa, which is marking 50 years since the
start of the independence movement that transformed the continent's geopolitical
landscape," said Katherine Tweedie, Director, Head of Africa, World Economic Forum.
"It is fitting to celebrate this milestone year by hosting the Africa meeting for the first
time in East Africa, with the strong support of His Excellency President Kikwete, and
the government and business community of Tanzania. At this pivotal point, as Africa
and the rest of the world seek answers to the economic crisis, the meeting will bring
together leaders under the theme' Rethinking Africa's Growth Strategyto find real
solutions," she added.

The economic crisis has acted as a wake-up call to speed up implementation of long-
discussed reforms. Emerging markets, including those in Africa, are among the first to
show signs of a recovery and are forecast to increasingly contribute to global growth in
the next decade. The meeting will provide leaders with a platform for how they are
facing up to the challenge and using the crisis as an opportunity to redesign a
sustainable roadmap for Africa's future.

Eleven African heads of state/government including Jacob Zuma, President of South

Africa and Raila Amolo Odinga, Prime Minister of Kenya, will take part in the Forum,
as well as Mizengo Kayanza Peter Pinda, Prime Minister of Tanzania; Ali Mohammed
Shein, Vice- President of Tanzania; Donald Kaberuka, President of the African
Development Bank (AfDB), Tunis; Pascal Lamy, Director-General, World Trade
Organisation (WTO), Geneva; Obiageli Katryn Ezekwesili, Vice-President, Africa
Region, World Bank, Washington DC; and Asha- Rose Migiro, UN Deputy Secretary-
General, New York.

In addition, the Forum's Young Global Leaders Summit will be held concurrently in Dar
es Salaam and will integrate over 200 of the world's top young leaders in the meeting.
Discussions will address how African nations are managing relations with key
economic partners, with an increasing trend towards greater South- South cooperation.
As Africa joins India and China in crossing the billion person mark, its young
population, natural resources and market potential are catalysts for significant future
growth and development.
--------------------
Central African Republic says May 16 vote delayed (Associated Press)

BANGUI, Central African Republic – The president of Central African Republic says
elections that had been scheduled for May 16 have been delayed.

President Francois Bozize made the announcement on state radio Thursday after
meeting political party chiefs, including opposition leaders.
They had insisted the country was not ready to hold the presidential vote because
rebels have not been disarmed and voter registration lists are not complete.

No new date for the vote has been announced. The poll was initially set for April 25,
then was pushed back to May 16.

The mineral-rich but impoverished country that borders Sudan's troubled Darfur region
has been plagued by military revolts and other uprisings since independence from
France in 1960.
--------------------
Islamist Rebels Claim Responsibility for Bombing in Somalia (Voice of America)

Somalia's al-Shabab Islamist rebels have claimed responsibility for Tuesday's suicide car
bomb attack at a base for African Union peacekeepers in Mogadishu. The al-Qaida-
linked militants say the bombing was in retaliation for the recent killings of two senior
al-Qaida commanders in Iraq.

The spokesman for al-Shabab, Ali Mohamud Rage, called Tuesday's suicide attack a
"success," claiming that the explosion destroyed a former Somali commercial bank
building housing African Union peacekeeping troops from Uganda.

Rage says the blast killed 20 peacekeepers, disputing statements made earlier by the
Ugandan spokesman for the peacekeeping mission known as AMISOM.

AMISOM spokesman, Major Barigye Ba-Hoku, told VOA Somali Service that African
Union soldiers foiled the attack by killing three would-be suicide bombers inside the
vehicle. He said two soldiers were wounded when the explosives-laden vehicle blew up
before it reached the entrance to the base. Ugandan newspapers subsequently reported
that five soldiers had been wounded, one seriously.

Al-Shabab, considered a terrorist group by the West, says the attack was carried out in
retaliation for the killing of two top al-Qaida leaders in Iraq. Abu Omar al-Baghdadi
and Abu Ayyub al-Masri were killed last week during an Iraqi-U.S. military raid on
their safe house in Tikrit, north of Baghdad.

Al-Shabab, which is fighting to create an ultra-conservative Islamic caliphate in the

Horn of Africa, recently proclaimed allegiance to al-Qaida and has expressed solidarity
with al-Qaida-affliated groups. Al-Baghdadi was the self-described leader of the Islamic
State of Iraq, an off-shoot of al-Qaida, and al-Masri was a weapons expert trained in
Afghanistan.

The suicide car attack in Mogadishu Tuesday triggered another round of violence in the
Somali capital. Witnesses say al-Shabab traded mortars and gunfire for more than four
hours with AMISOM, Somali government troops and pro-government militiamen. At
least 14 civilians are reported to have been killed in the cross-fire.

Uganda and Burundi are the only contributors to the 5,300-member peacekeeping
mission in Somalia, which has a mandate to keep Somalia's weak U.N.-backed
transitional government from being toppled by al-Shabab and other radical Islamist
groups.

The United States and European Union countries are heavily involved in the training of
AMISOM and Somali troops, making them a frequent target of insurgent attacks.
Suicide and roadside bombings blamed on al-Shabab have killed nearly three dozen
AMISOM soldiers since the first contingent of Ugandan troops arrived in Mogadishu in
2007.

In recent months, AMISOM, as well as insurgent groups, have been sharply criticized
by Somali and international human rights groups for indiscriminately shelling
populated areas of the capital and causing high civilian casualties. An estimated 21,000
Somalis are believed to have been killed, mostly in Mogadishu, since the insurgency
against the government began three years ago.
--------------------
Uganda Seeks to Reconcile Oil, Nature (Wall Street Journal)

BULIISA, Uganda—One of Africa's biggest nature parks has turned into a battleground
over oil, pitting foreign energy companies and the government of Uganda against
environmentalists eager to shed light on their venture.

Oil companies led by London-listed Tullow Oil PLC have found oil reserves estimated
to hold up to two billion barrels in the Albertine Rift Valley, which contains Murchison
Falls National Park. The park is one of Uganda's biggest tourism draws and home to
elephants, giraffes, lions and rare birds.

Tullow's project, which contains one of Africa's biggest onshore oil finds in decades, is
seen as crucial to the Central African nation's economy as the government attempts to
diversify away from tourism and rely less on foreign aid. The government has given a
Tullow consortium the green light to explore and drill in the park.

"As much as we need to protect the environment, oil is an important resource for the
country if properly managed," said Aryamanya Mugisha, the executive director of
Uganda's state-run National Environmental Management Authority, or NEMA.

That stance has irked environmentalists and villagers who benefit from park tourism.
Protected areas support over 80% of Uganda's tourism industry and bring in about $600
million a year in revenue, according to official estimates.
Big oil and environmentalists have never had an easy relationship, but tensions in
Uganda run especially high. Civil society groups say that many of the government's
decisions surrounding oil have been shrouded in secrecy and that details of Tullow
project, including any clear plan to minimize its environmental impact, haven't been
disclosed.

Environmentalists have put pressure on the government to disclose its production-

sharing agreement by filing several lawsuits in Uganda's capital, Kampala. Production-
sharing contracts aren't normally made public.

"The [Ugandan] government is totally uninterested in preserving the wildlife," says

Jacqueline Weaver, a University of Houston law professor specializing in oil industry
law and contracts, who has visited Uganda and consulted with the government, oil
companies and civil-society groups on oil contracts there. "Money will win over animals
every time."

Tullow is one of the world's largest independent oil companies, with a $16.5 billion
market capitalization and a string of recent Africa successes, including a big Ghana
offshore discovery. In Uganda, it has begun drilling appraisal wells and expects
commercial production to start next year.

To shoulder the project's financial burden, Tullow has enlisted France's Total SA and
China's CNOOC Ltd., each of which will take a third in a joint venture, say Ugandan
officials.

Tullow Vice President Tim O'Hanlon told executives at an industry conference last
week that the company expects the Ugandan government to approve the new
partnership, valued at an estimated $5 billion investment over five years, "within
weeks."

Production in three Uganda oil blocks 100%-owned by Tullow—including one that

covers some park land—is expected to reach around 150,000 barrels a day by 2015,
Tullow has said. African oil giants Nigeria and Angola produce about two million
barrels a day.

Mr. Mugisha, the environmental regulator, said Tullow doesn't submit plans for
proposed activities on time but has pressed NEMA to approve projects quickly
following the discovery of oil reserves. He says the government's rush led to regulatory
lapses, such as not ensuring proper disposal of wastewater or drill cuttings, which can
lead to pollution of nearby bodies of water which are frequented by locals, livestock
and wild animals. The regulatory agency said Tullow hasn't yet put in place an oil-spill
contingency plan ahead of extended well testing.
NEMA is a semi-autonomous body under the Ministry of Water and Environment, and
can withhold approval of drilling projects if impact assessment reports are deemed
insufficient.

Tullow says it has established an environmental-management department and

submitted a comprehensive environmental-impact assessment report to address
shortfalls cited by the regulator. It aims to manage and dispose of wastewater and drill
cuttings as well as restore grasslands at drilling sites.

"Tullow is aware of the sensitivity involved in working in wildlife reserve areas," said
Paul Coward, a company environmental manager. "We want to build the oil and gas
sector in Uganda and that means building the people as well."

The Ugandan government says it hasn't disclosed details about oil contracts because it's
bound by confidentiality clauses. Tullow says it would be willing to reveal more details
of its drilling program and contracts, but the Ugandan government has refused to do so.

Tullow's presence is hard to miss around Buliisa, a dusty town bordering Lake Albert,
where road signs bear distances between towns alongside Tullow's logo.

The oil venture rankles some. "I think some [local government officials] are very excited
about oil and don't have the foresight to consider what future effects oil might have on
the community," said Blasio Mugase, 70, a local chief of the Bunyoro ethnic group, who
was wearing a Tullow hat. "The income we're getting from [Murchison] is great. The
government can't expect oil money to come and replace game parks."

Akelo Oliver, a fisherwoman on the shores of Lake Albert on the outskirts of Buliisa,
stacked the day's haul of tilapia in piles to dry under the sun. Behind her an oil rig rose
into the sky. Ms. Oliver said the sound of the rig is a combination of a dog's howl and a
generator's whirr.

"We don't sleep," she said. "No one has talked to me or told me about what they're
doing."

Oversight of oil projects in nature reserves will most likely end up in the hands of the
Uganda Wildlife Authority, local officials say. The UWA, a semi-autonomous body set
up by an act of parliament in 1996, says it has already run into difficulties.

"We've been castigated for licensing in protected areas," says UWA spokeswoman
Lillian Nsubuga. "Meanwhile oil companies are saying we're trying to sabotage their
efforts. We're in the middle and everyone feels we're doing the wrong thing."
--------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

First batch of gorillas reach nature reserve in DR Congo after UN airlift

29 April – United Nations peacekeepers in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
(DRC) have airlifted four endangered gorillas to a safer habitat to keep them from being
illegally trafficked or eaten before they are released back into the wild.

UN relief chief arrives in DR Congo to review humanitarian needs

29 April – The top United Nations humanitarian official today arrived in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for a five-day visit intended to highlight relief
priorities and urge improved protection of civilians in the central African country
where persistent conflicts have created one of the world’s most complex humanitarian
emergencies.

Sudan: UN mission to remain for another year to support north-south peace pact
29 April – The Security Council today extended for another year the mandate of the
United Nations mission supporting the 2005 agreement that ended the decades-long
north-south civil war in Sudan, stressing the need to complete all remaining tasks under
the peace pact.

Cameroon: UNESCO head calls for investigation into death of detained journalist
29 April – The head of the United Nations agency tasked with upholding press freedom
today called for a full investigation into the ―tragic‖ death in jail of a newspaper editor
in Cameroon.