United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

30 July 2010

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

Improved Planning, Training, and Interagency Collaboration Could Strengthen U.S.

DOD’s Efforts in Africa (Defpro.com)
(Pan Africa) As AFRICOM has matured, it has begun planning and prioritizing
activities with its four military service components, special operations command, and
task force.

U.S., NATO Allies Prepare New Invasion Of Somalia (International News Magazine)
(Somalia) The 15th biennial African Union summit in Kampala, Uganda ended on July
27 with mixed results regarding support for U.S. and Western European plans to
escalate foreign military intervention in nearby Somalia.

Debate Goes to the U.S. (Daily Nation)

(Kenya) Yesterday, members of the Congressional Black Caucus hit out at Republican
Party members who have tried to exploit the referendum in their continuing efforts to
undermine President Obama.

U. S. oil company may pay a huge fine for oil spillage off Ghana coast: official
(Xinhua)
(Ghana) U. S. oil company Kosmos Energy would soon be made to cough up a huge
sum of money, yet to be determined, in fines for oil spillage off the Ghana coast, a
senior government official said here on Thursday.

Uganda bombings bring Africa together. Except Eritrea. (Christian Science Monitor)
(Eritrea) Analysts say that while Eritrea has previously supported insurgents in
Somalia as part of a proxy war with its bitter enemy and former master Ethiopia –
which had troops in Somalia between 2006 and 2009 and has a festering border dispute
with Eritrea – there is little proof that Eritrea is still supporting the Islamist extremists.

Congo Ferry Capsizes, Killing 80 (Associated Press)

(Congo) A boat ferrying about 200 passengers to Congo's capital capsized after hitting
a rock, and a government spokesman said Thursday at least 80 people were confirmed
dead.

East Africa Looks Towards Single Currency by 2012 (Voice of America)

(East Africa) With the East African Community Common Market Protocol now in
effect, the region is looking to launch a single currency by 2012.

Missing Russian chopper pilot found released in Sudan: official (Xinhua)

(Sudan) The pilot of a Russian helicopter who went missing in Sudan on Monday has
been freed, said Russian president's special representative for Sudan on Thursday.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
 Missing pilot in Darfur found safe, UN-African peacekeeping force reports
 General Assembly chief voices deep sadness after deadly capsizing in DR Congo
 Blue helmets come under fire in western Darfur, UN reports
 Nutrient-rich algae can boost Chadian women’s incomes and tackle
malnutrition – UN
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Wednesday, August 4, 12:00, Council on Foreign Relations

WHAT: A Conversation with Henry Odein Ajumogobia, Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Federal Republic of Nigeria
WHO: Moderated by Princeton Lyman, Adjunct Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies,
Council on Foreign Relations
Info: http://www.cfr.org/region/143/africa.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FULL ARTICLE TEXT

Improved Planning, Training, and Interagency Collaboration Could Strengthen U.S.

DOD’s Efforts in Africa (Defpro.com)

When the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) became fully operational in 2008, it
inherited well over 100 activities, missions, programs, and exercises from other
Department of Defense (DOD) organizations. AFRICOM initially conducted these
inherited activities with little change. However, as AFRICOM has matured, it has begun
planning and prioritizing activities with its four military service components, special
operations command, and task force. Some activities represent a shift from traditional
warfighting, requiring collaboration with the Department of State, U.S. Agency for
International Development, and other interagency partners.

GAO’s prior work has identified critical steps and practices that help agencies to
achieve success. For this report, GAO was asked to assess AFRICOM in five areas with
respect to activity planning and implementation. To do so, GAO analyzed DOD and
AFRICOM guidance; observed portions of AFRICOM activities; interviewed officials in
Europe and Africa; and obtained perspectives from interagency officials, including
those at 22 U.S. embassies in Africa.
GAO recommends that AFRICOM complete its strategic plans, conduct long-term
activity assessments, fully integrate interagency personnel into activity planning, and
develop training to build staff expertise. DOD agreed with the recommendations.

What GAO Found

AFRICOM has made progress in developing strategies and engaging interagency

partners, and could advance DOD’s effort to strengthen the capacity of partner nations
in Africa. However, AFRICOM still faces challenges in five areas related to activity
planning and implementation. Overcoming these challenges would help AFRICOM
with future planning, foster stability and security through improved relationships with
African nations, and maximize its effect on the continent.

• Strategic Planning. AFRICOM has created overarching strategies and led planning
meetings, but many specific plans to guide activities have not yet been finalized. For
example, AFRICOM has developed a theater strategy and campaign plan but has not
completed detailed plans to support its objectives. Also, some priorities of its military
service components, special operations command, and task force overlap or differ from
each other and from AFRICOM’s priorities. Completing plans will help AFRICOM
determine whether priorities are aligned across the command and ensure that efforts
are appropriate, complementary, and comprehensive.

• Measuring Effects. AFRICOM is generally not measuring long-term effects of

activities. While some capacity-building activities appear to support its mission, federal
officials expressed concern that others—such as sponsoring a news Web site in an
African region sensitive to the military’s presence—may have unintended effects.
Without assessing activities, AFRICOM lacks information to evaluate their
effectiveness, make informed future planning decisions, and allocate resources.

• Applying Funds. Some AFRICOM staff have difficulty applying funding sources to
activities. DOD has stated that security assistance efforts are constrained by a
patchwork of authorities. Limited understanding of various funding sources for
activities has resulted in some delayed activities, funds potentially not being used
effectively, and African participants being excluded from some activities.

• Interagency Collaboration. AFRICOM has been coordinating with partners from other
federal agencies. As of June 2010, AFRICOM had embedded 27 interagency officials in
its headquarters and had 17 offices at U.S. embassies in Africa. However, the command
has not fully integrated interagency perspectives early in activity planning or leveraged
some embedded interagency staff for their expertise.

• Building Expertise. AFRICOM staff have made some cultural missteps because they
do not fully understand local African customs and may unintentionally burden
embassies that must respond to AFRICOM’s requests for assistance with activities.
Without greater knowledge of these issues, AFRICOM may continue to face difficulties
maximizing resources with embassy personnel and building relations with African
nations.
--------------------
U.S., NATO Allies Prepare New Invasion Of Somalia (International News Magazine)

The 15th biennial African Union summit in Kampala, Uganda ended on July 27 with
mixed results regarding support for U.S. and Western European plans to escalate
foreign military intervention in nearby Somalia.

The 35 heads of state present at the three-day meeting were reported to have authorized
the deployment of 2,000 more African troops to back up the beleaguered Western-
backed Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Mogadishu and to bring the full
complement of forces doing so to 8,000, but the new contingent will probably consist
solely of troops from Uganda and Burundi, which supply the approximately 6,000
already serving with the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). Reports of
another 2,000 reinforcements from Djibouti and Guinea are problematic and their
deployment remains to be seen, not that pressure will not be exerted on those two
nations and others from outside the continent.

AMISOM is the successor to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)

Peace Support Mission in Somalia (IGASOM) set up in 2005 by the six-member group
which includes Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda and which also
was to have provided 8,000 troops for deployment to Somalia. The 53 members of the
African Union except for Uganda and Burundi have been loath to commit military units
to intervene in fighting in Somalia, whether against the Islamic Courts Union five years
ago or against al-Shabaab insurgents currently.

In late 2006 U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Ugandan Foreign
Minister Sam Kutesa to plan the earlier IGASOM operation and in January of 2007
Uganda pledged its first troops which, along with those included in a reported offer by
Nigeria, were to total 8,000.

Three and a half years later, there are only 6,000 foreign troops in Somalia (now under
AMISOM, the only difference being the acronym now employed) and all of those from
Uganda and Burundi, both nations U.S. military clients and surrogates.

The African Union (AU) initially approved AMISOM on January 19, 2007 and granted it
a six-month mandate. In July of 2010 the real prime movers behind the mission, the U.S.
and its NATO allies in the European Union, are pushing for an escalation of armed
intervention in Somalia with more Western-trained Ugandan troops conducting open
combat operations: Changing the mandate from, to use the terms employed to mask
military aggression, peacekeeping to peace enforcement.
The first attempt by the U.S. and its non-African allies to enforce a compliant
government in the Horn of Africa nation, Ethiopia’s invasion in December of 2006, was
assisted by the Pentagon’s Joint Special Operations Command (headed up by now
retired General Stanley McChrystal until early in 2006), which conducted military
operations inside Somalia no later than the beginning of the next year. At the time
Ethiopia was the second largest recipient of U.S. military aid in Africa (another of the
three countries bordering Somalia, Djibouti, being the first) and American military
personnel were stationed in the country. Logistical and other assistance was provided
by the Pentagon for the operation.

On the sidelines of the recently concluded African Union summit U.S. Assistant
Secretary of State for Africa Johnnie Carson “gathered the presidents of Somalia, Kenya,
Tanzania, Djibouti and Uganda, along with the prime minister of Ethiopia for a closed-
door session” to push for more aggressive military operations in Somalia. The State
Department official was quoted as saying, “We came away even more united and
committed to work together strengthen the TFG, to help strengthen AMISOM, to help
strengthen the forces for stability in Somalia and to help do as much as we can to help
beat al-Shabab. Al-Shabab represents a foreign and a negative influence that cannot
only be destructive inside Somalia, but across the entire region.” [1]

Note the opprobrium attached to the word foreign. With what Carson called “a wake-
up call not only for the region but for Africa as a whole” [2] sounded by deadly
bombings in the Ugandan capital on July 11, more foreign troops armed, trained, and
airlifted by great powers in North America and Europe are destined for deployment to
Somalia.

Officials from the European Union and from Britain and France – the two main
historical colonial masters on the African continent – were present at the meeting with
Carson and America’s East African proxies. [3] A Voice of America report on the closed-
door meeting reminded readers that “The European Union, the United Nations and the
United States are the main financial contributors to the African Union’s AMISOM
peacekeeping force in Somalia.” [4]

The arm-twisting produced few results. Despite claims by the chairman of the African
Union Commission, Gabon’s Jean Ping, that troops from Djibouti and Guinea (Conakry)
would join AMISOM/IGAD forces from Uganda and Burundi, the additional troops
will almost surely come entirely from the last two nations. Also, the nearly three dozen
heads of state at the AU summit rejected the Ugandan (and Western) demand for a
“peace enforcement” rules of engagement mandate.

The current chairman of the AU, president of Malawi Bingu wa Mutharika, told
reporters, “There have been calls for a change in the mandate to a more robust
approach to the insurgent attacks in Somalia by Uganda and Burundi, to go beyond
Mogadishu, (which is) their current limit, but (we) did not decide on that.”

Ping, however, indicated that the U.S. and NATO allies have not abandoned plans for
intensified military operations in Somalia, stating, “We need equipment to match with
the change in combat approach. We need helicopters for that. The United States and the
U.K. are considering our request….” [5] He also mentioned that France could provide
additional helicopters.

Even the Attorney General of the U.S., Eric Holder, attended the AU summit as the
Obama administration’s representative and saw fit to impose his opinions on the 53-
nation organization. Before the summit began he met with several of the continent’s
heads of state and in prepared remarks to the summit affirmed that “The United
States…recognizes that ending the threat of al-Shabaab to the world will take more than
just law enforcement. That is why we are working closely with the AU to support the
African Union’s Mission in Somalia. The United States applauds the heroic
contributions that are being made on a daily basis by Ugandan and Burundian troops,
and we pledge to maintain our support for the AU and the AU Mission in Somalia.” [6]

Lightly-armed al-Shabaab militants have now been elevated by Washington to the

status of a threat to the world, though Holder’s colleague Carson limited his hyperbole
to branding them a “negative influence…across the entire region.” The dual bombings
in Kampala, incidentally, have been attributed to the group as a warning sign to
Uganda to remove (and certainly not to increase) its troops in Somalia, but in fact
appear like a provocation designed to accomplish the opposite result.

Four days before the AU summit commenced, the defense chiefs of the six
Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) nations – Uganda, Djibouti,
Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Sudan – met to discuss boosting troop deployments to
Somalia.

Weeks before IGAD had recommended that not the earlier cited figure of 8,000 but fully
20,000 foreign troops could be deployed to Somalia in yet another attempt to salvage
the Transitional Federal Government, which doesn’t even control much of the country’s
capital despite 6,000 Ugandan and Burundian troops serving as its army. 20,000 foreign
troops entering Somalia in the face of overwhelming popular opposition is not a
peacekeeping mission. It is an invasion.

In mid-July Ugandan officials announced that their nation’s neighbors in IGAD and in
the Eastern Africa Standby Brigade (EASBRIG) – Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia,
Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Seychelles, Somalia and Uganda – had given “soft support”
should Uganda “go on the offensive in Somalia.”
“Ugandan officials now confirm that Kampala is pursuing a two-track strategy that
could see it follow Al Shabaab into Somalia with or without UN Security Council
consent.” A news report disclosed that the Yoweri Museveni administration is prepared
to mobilize the entirety of the 20,000 troops needed for a full-scale invasion of Somalia
and “military sources say Uganda feels it has the capacity to go it alone in Somalia and
has been building up its military strength for such an eventuality.” [7]

The nation’s air force has acquired “additions to its arsenal in recent weeks” from its
Western patrons “in what observers see as a concerted push to increase Uganda’s
military capability.”

Last week a Defence Ministry spokesman stated, “We are one of the most efficient
armies in Africa. We can defend our country from anywhere, even within Somalia.” The
spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Felix Kulaigye, added, “Anybody who brings war to
us, we take back that war to them. We shall pursue Al Shabaab from Somalia in line
with the wishes of the Transitional Federal Government.” [8]

During the last invasion and occupation of Somalia, that of Ethiopia from December of
2006 to January of 2009, fighting between a similar invading force of 20,000 troops and
Somali militias resulted in the deaths of over 16,000 civilians and the displacement of
hundreds of thousands in the capital in 2007 alone according to the Mogadishu-based
Elman Peace and Human Rights Organisation.

The AMISOM mandate (approved by the AU but, as seen above, with no backing by
member states except for Uganda and Burundi) excludes the deployment of troops from
nations bordering Somalia – Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya. Ugandan military forces and
equipment have to cross Kenya to reach the country; that is, to be airlifted by United
States Africa Command (AFRICOM) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization into
parts of the Somali capital not under the control of rebels.

The Ugandan government, largely rebuffed at the AU summit, is pushing for the
maiden deployment of the 10-nation Eastern Africa Standby Brigade (Eastern African
Standby Brigade Coordination Mechanism) to Somalia, which would appreciably
broaden the scope of the conflict. In addition, it is planning to use forums like the
International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) – whose members are
Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia – “which
already has provisions that offer some room for intervention.”

“Somalia has already applied to be a member; once that request is approved, Uganda
will be able to work together with the Transitional Federal Government and fight Al
Shabaab under the legal framework that governs the organisation.” [9]
On July 20 the head of AFRICOM, General William Ward, addressed the Center for
Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. and pledged that the U.S. will
“provide more training, transportation, and logistical aid to the AU mission, known as
AMISOM.” Also, “In a briefing to reporters last week, a senior Obama administration
official said the U.S. wants to ‘build up the capabilities’ of AMISOM and the [Somali
transitional] government.” [10]

In late April Brigadier General Silver Kayemba, in charge of training and operations for
the Ugandan People’s Defense Force (UPDF), was in the U.S. and visited the
headquarters of U.S. Army Africa, the Pentagon, the National Defense University and a
Marine Corps base. Kayemba, who was also trained in the U.S., said, “This visit
strengthens our relationship with the U.S. Armed Forces, particularly with U.S. Army
Africa. We are looking forward to even closer cooperation in the future.” [11]

Last month officers of the U.S. 17th Air Force, the air component of AFRICOM (Air
Forces Africa) headquartered at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany, traveled to Uganda
for what was described as “a senior leader engagement event….to discuss current and
future engagement activities between Ugandan People’s Defence Force, Ugandan
People’s Defence Air Force and Air Forces Africa.”

The head of the U.S. delegation, Brigadier General Michael Callan, toured the airfield
and logistics hangars at the Entebbe Air Force Base and “met with a representative of
the U.S. State Department-contracted Dyncorp…which supports the UPDF [Ugandan
People's Defence Force] with aerial resupply and troop movements of Ugandan,
Burundian, and Somali forces in and out of Mogadishu….” DynCorp International is a
private military company that receives almost all of its $2 billion in annual contracts
from the U.S. federal government.

General Callan stated, “Uganda is one of only two countries supporting the UN’s
AMISOM mission currently. Though the airlift is contracted, it is good to have the
understanding of those ground-based missions and capabilities of the UPDF as we
pursue future air force and joint initiatives.”

The Defense and Army Attaché at the American embassy in Kampala added, “We’ve
been working with their army forces for some time, providing great training
opportunities through the Department of State-funded International Military Education
and Training, or IMET program and multi-national peacekeeping operations. Now they
would like for us to do that with their air forces.” [12]

Both U.S. military officials stressed the Pentagon’s role in upgrading Uganda’s air force
for future operations. “17th Air Force brings focus to those much needed air force
activities,” as military attaché Army Lieutenant General Gregory Joachim stated. [13]
In developing bilateral and regional collective military partnerships with most every
nation in Africa through AFRICOM, the U.S. works closely with its allies in the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization. This March “Senior figures from the US military’s Africa
Command were in Brussels…looking to build cooperation with the European Union to
boost training and reform for African security forces….” [14]

The Pentagon has between 2,500-3,000 troops from all four major branches of the
military assigned to the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa stationed in Camp
Lemonnier in Djibouti, Somalia’s neighbor to the north. France has its largest overseas
military base and 3,000 troops in the same small nation. Several hundred troops from
Britain, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain have also been deployed there under
NATO auspices since the beginning of the decade. The U.S. has used its airfield in
Djibouti for attacks in Somalia and Yemen.

Last year the Pentagon secured its second major installation in the area, in the Indian
Ocean nation of Seychelles, where it has deployed over 130 troops, Reaper unmanned
aerial vehicles (drones) and three P-3 Orion anti-submarine and maritime surveillance
aircraft.

In addition to the U.S.-led multinational Combined Task Force 150 and Combined Task
Force 151 naval deployments off the shores of Somalia (with logistical facilities in
Djibouti), NATO and the European Union are running complementary naval
operations, Operation Ocean Shield and European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR)
Somalia – Operation Atalanta, respectively. This March NATO announced it was
extending its deployment for another – unprecedented – three years, until the end of
2012. Last month the Netherlands “agreed to a NATO request to deploy a submarine off
the coast of Somalia….” [15]

In June the EU followed NATO’s lead when its foreign ministers agreed to prolong
Operation Atalanta until December of 2012. An EU press release at the time revealed
the broader Western strategy in the Horn of Africa region, one by no means limited to
“combating piracy”: “The root causes of piracy in East Africa lie on land. To address
them, the current naval operation is combined with the EU training mission for Somalia
(EUTM), which contributes to the strengthening of the Somali security forces.” [16]

In fact the EU is training Somali soldiers in Uganda for war in their homeland and
NATO is transporting Ugandan and Burundian troops for the same purpose.

A NATO website feature disclosed in March that “the USA has conducted airlift
missions under the NATO banner in support of…Ugandan troop rotations. The airlift,
which commenced on 5 Mar 2010 and was completed on 16 Mar 2010, was undertaken
by USA contracted DynCorp International, transporting 1700 Ugandan troops from
Uganda into Mogadishu and re-deploying 850 Ugandan troops out of Mogadishu.
“Part of this policy is the NATO standing agreement to provide strategic sealift and
airlift support for African Union Troop Contributing Countries willing to deploy to
Somalia, recently extended by NATO until 31 January 2011.” [17]

With the deployment of the NATO Response Force Maritime Groups 1 and 2 off the
coast of Somalia, first with Operation Allied Provider and since last August with
Operation Ocean Shield, the Western military bloc has extended its nearly nine-year-old
Operation Active Endeavor naval surveillance and interdiction mission throughout the
entire Mediterranean Sea into the Gulf of Aden to the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf.

The current commander of Ocean Shield, Dutch Commodore Michiel Hijmans, held a
meeting on board the NATO mission’s flagship on July 12 with leaders of Somalia’s
semi-independent Puntland region, which has become a land-based component of
NATO operations in the Horn of Africa. According to the bloc, “The purpose of the
talks was to build on the existing and growing relationship that has developed between
NATO and the Puntland authorities.” [18]

Several days later the NATO flotilla docked in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates
where Commodore Hijmans broached the subject of “chasing Somali pirates” into the
Red Sea, an area not yet covered by the Ocean Shield mandate. NATO warships in the
Red Sea would place them off the coasts of Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, Yemen,
Djibouti, Jordan and Israel and connect NATO naval operations through the Suez Canal
to Active Endeavor in the Mediterranean.

Early this month the French military attaché to Somalia said that the “government of
the Republic of France has asked Uganda and other African nations to send more troops
to war torn Somalia,” and urged “more African states to send troops to Somalia….” [19]
France will be instrumental in pressuring Djibouti and Guinea to send troops to
Somalia, as both countries are former French colonies and Djibouti is a member of the
French Community.

France is among several EU states that have sent troops to Uganda to train 2,000 Somali
soldiers for fighting at home. The others are Spain (which is in charge), Britain,
Germany, Italy, Greece, Hungary, Belgium, Portugal, Luxembourg, Sweden, Finland,
Ireland, Malta and Cyprus. A NATO operation in all but name. German troops
deployed in May are to “remain in East Africa for a year.” [20]

According to the Christian Science Monitor, “Money for logistical support is coming
from the United States, which has reportedly already pumped millions of dollars into
similar smaller training programs run by local militaries in Uganda and Djibouti over
the past 18 months.

“The EU program to train an army to fight for Somalia’s beleaguered transitional

government involves 150 instructors from 14 EU countries at a cost of $6 million.”
The featured cited above also provided the following background information:

“Since 2004, the US has poured huge resources into initiatives such as Easbrig [Eastern
Africa Standby Brigade], using private contractors and military advisers to train almost
60,000 African soldiers such as…Rwandans….Africom has also trained Congolese
special forces to operate in the country’s mineral-rich forests and reformed virtually the
entire Liberian national army. Easbrig is an example of what Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton calls ‘smart power’ – a mixture of military might and nation-building that bears
a resemblance to Rumsfeld’s concept of the ‘long war’….Several critics have likened
Africom to a Trojan horse, using the cover of humanitarian aid to pursue America’s real
strategic interests.” [21]

EASBRIG is expected to grow to several thousand troops from as many as 14 nations.

One of the main missions of AFRICOM is create, train and deploy regional military
forces to further U.S. and general Western objectives in Africa, the world’s second most
populous continent. Somalia is the first test case.
--------------------
Debate Goes to the U.S. (Daily Nation)

Curious exchanges on the Kenya constitution referendum have broken out in the
American political arena. Yesterday, members of the Congressional Black Caucus hit
out at Republican Party members who have tried to exploit the referendum in their
continuing efforts to undermine President Obama.

The black congressmen also hit out at American right wing churches and pressure
groups that have also engaged in campaigns to derail Kenya's constitution-making
programme.

They accused the groups of resorting to outright lies in depicting the proposed
constitution as one that allows abortion on demand. It has been obvious for some time
now that rival political groupings in the US have taken divergent positions on the
constitution debate.

Kenya is under great scrutiny not just in the US, but also in Europe, Asia and the rest of
Africa.The attention will grow even more pervasive in the next few days, hence the
need for Kenyans to continue being civil in the campaigns to demonstrate that there is
absolutely nothing to fear about peace, security and stability whatever the outcome.
--------------------
U. S. oil company may pay a huge fine for oil spillage off Ghana coast: official
(Xinhua)
ACCRA, Ghana - U. S. oil company Kosmos Energy would soon be made to cough up a
huge sum of money, yet to be determined, in fines for oil spillage off the Ghana coast, a
senior government official said here on Thursday.

Edward Omane-Boamah, deputy minister for environment, science and technology,

told the media that the oil occurred three times around two of Kosmos' oil rigs in
Ghana's Jubilee Oil Fields, discovered by the Cosmos Energy in 2007.

"We discovered that there were incidents of spillage of 598 barrels of low toxicity oil-
based mud spilt around Atwood Hunter and Aban Abram (two of Kosmos' rigs) in the
West Cape Three Points area," said Omane-Boamah.

The official is also the chairman of a government team to investigate the causes of the
incidents that took place between Dec. 26, 2009 and March 2010.

The government said it was putting in place the structures to prevent or at least reduce
to the barest minimum incidents of oil spillage in the country's virgin oil and gas
industry.

In his 20-point recommendations to the government, Omane-Boamah said the fine, in

addition to being punitive, was also to send a strong signal to the outside world that
Ghana would not tolerate a toying with her eco-system.

"We were able to establish negligence in the first incident on December 26 last year
around Aban Abram and also in the second incident in March 2010 around Atwood
Hunter," he claimed.

In the second incident, for instance, there was negligence because Kosmos had deferred
their own planned preventive maintenance schedule put in place to prevent such
occurrences.

He disclosed that the recommendations also set perimeters for the development of the
system to protect Ghana's coastal belt since they bore the brunt of any environmental
consequences from activities such as oil spillage.

The deputy minister confirmed that investigations into the second incident necessitated
planned but unannounced visit to the rig so as to secure first-hand information to
facilitate their investigations.

Receiving the report, Minister for Environment Science and Technology Sherry Aryittey
said the Ghanaian government would act at all times in good faith to protect the coastal
lines of the country.
She explained that since there were over four million Ghanaians living along the coast
whose livelihoods dependent on fishing, it was necessary to protect the fish stocks in
the sea so their livelihoods would not be endangered.

"As an emerging oil and gas country, it is important to prevent spillage and to ensure
that companies which operate in the industry are mindful of the environmental
protection, because it is difficult to restore marine ecology, once it is distorted," the
minister declared.

She promised that the government would act on the recommendations of the
investigation committee as soon as practicable.
--------------------
Uganda bombings bring Africa together. Except Eritrea. (Christian Science Monitor)

Kampala, Uganda – Shortly after marking two weeks since suspected twin suicide
bombings killed 76 people watching the World Cup Final in Uganda's capital of
Kampala, leaders from across the continent pledged to tackle the terrorist threat from
Somalia at an African Union summit in the city.

After years of wrangling, underfunding, and broken promises, leaders agreed that the
African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia – AMISOM – would finally be boosted
to its intended full strength of 8,000 soldiers and said that further pledges of soldiers
from Guinea and Djibouti could see the mandated level rise still higher.

But while presidents from Senegal to South Africa condemned the Kampala attacks as
unjustifiable and called for more robust action against the Al Qaeda-linked Somali
Islamist group Al Shabab, which claimed to be behind the bombings, one country had
other ideas.

Sometimes called Africa’s North Korea, Eritrea has hermetically sealed itself off from
the outside world. Late last year, the Ohio-sized nation on the Red Sea was sanctioned
by the UN for supporting Islamist insurgents in nearby Somalia.

At the Kampala summit, an unusually high-ranking delegation from Eritrea – including

the foreign minister and a key presidential adviser – opposed calls for more troops and
a tougher mandate, reportedly asking why, if Afghanistan’s leaders can talk to the
Taliban, Somalia’s leaders could not talk to Al Shabab.

Does Eritrea have links to Al Shabab? In the aftermath of the Uganda bombings, US
Congressman Edward Royce (R) of California wrote a letter to Secretary of State Hilary
Clinton calling for the designation of Eritrea as a state sponsor of terrorism given what
he called its “well documented” support for Al Shabab.
But Eritrean officials have repeatedly denied the accusations in the past and
consistently argued that opposition to more AU peacekeepers in the country is based on
the belief that further foreign interference is not the way to solve the Somali crisis.

Analysts say that while Eritrea has previously supported insurgents in Somalia as part
of a proxy war with its bitter enemy and former master Ethiopia – which had troops in
Somalia between 2006 and 2009 and has a festering border dispute with Eritrea – there
is little proof that Eritrea is still supporting the Islamist extremists.

“There is essentially no concrete evidence that Eritrea continues to supply or assist Al

Shabab over the past year and a half,” said EJ Hogendoorn, Horn of Africa director at
the International Crisis Group.

Calls for dialogue with some elements of Al Shabab are not so unreasonable, Mr.
Hogendorn said, as “sharp ideological divisions” inside the movement mean that it is
far less cohesive than many policymakers believe.

One of the main problems is that Somalia's feeble UN-backed transitional government
is too weak or unwilling to offer sufficient sacrifices or security assurances to opposition
groups or possible Al Shabab defectors, Hogendoorn said.

'No calls' for talksBeyond Eritrea, it seems that few in the international community are
talking of dialogue with Al Shabab, however.

At the summit, US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Johnnie Carson, said that no
one at a high-level meeting of regional and international players on Somalia – a meeting
that did not include Eritrea – had suggested talking to Al Shabab.

“I heard absolutely no calls for any kind of reaching out to Al Shabab,” Secretary
Carson said. “In fact, quite the contrary, some statements were made very clearly
warning of the danger that Al Shabab and the extremist leadership of Al Shabab pose
not only to Somalia ... but to the entire region.”

The chairman of the African Union commission, Jean Ping, said that while Somalia’s
weak Transitional Federal Government needs to broaden its support through targeted
negotiations, there was no chance of talking to Al Shabab.

“There is the necessity to reinforce the basis of the transitional government by

negotiating with all the Somalis who are able to negotiate,” Ping said. “The radicals do
not want to negotiate, they just want to kill, so there is no question of negotiating with
them.”
Talking at the end of the Kampala summit, Ping said, however, that improving relations
between Eritrea and some of its neighbors – all of which it has fallen out with – could
impact the crisis in Somalia.

“Eritrea is moving – they have solved their problem with Djibouti already, they have
solved their problem with Sudan and we hope that this will have a positive implications
not only for Somalia but also for their conflict with Ethiopia,” Ping said.

Eritrea warming to regional efforts?Uganda’s state minister for regional cooperation,

Isaac Musumba, said that Eritrean opposition to the regional stance on Somalia makes
battling extremists in the country a tougher prospect. Uganda is the largest contributor
of troops to the AMISOM peacekeeping mission in Somalia.

“If you have a country like Eritrea not agreeing to what all its neighbors are doing it is a
dangerous opening,” Musumba said. “It can provide safe-haven and safe passage for
the bad people.”

Although there was no sign of Eritrea softening its stance on Somalia, Musumba said its
decision to send a high-ranking delegation to the AU summit and indications that it
wanted to start participating again in the East African regional bloc, the
Intergovernmental Agency for Development, after a self-imposed suspension, marked a
small step forward.

“It is at least better to have someone that you don’t agree with but can now talk to
rather than someone you don’t agree with and cannot talk to,” Musumba said.
--------------------
Congo Ferry Capsizes, Killing 80 (Associated Press)

KINSHASA, Congo—A boat ferrying about 200 passengers to Congo's capital capsized
after hitting a rock, and a government spokesman said Thursday at least 80 people were
confirmed dead.

Rescuers were searching for dozens of missing people after the boating disaster on the
Congo River near Maluku district about 80 miles from its destination, Information
Minister Lambert Mende said. The boat was heading to Kinshasa from western
Bandundu province's district of Kwilu.

Congo is a vast country of jungles and huge rivers in Central Africa with little more
than 300 miles of paved road. Many people prefer to take boats even if they don't know
how to swim. The boats are often in poor repair and filled beyond capacity.

In May, dozens of people died when an overloaded canoe capsized on a river in eastern
Congo. And last November, at least 90 people were killed after a logging boat sank on a
lake in Congo. The timber-carrying vessel wasn't supposed to be carrying passengers.
--------------------
East Africa Looks Towards Single Currency by 2012 (Voice of America)

With the East African Community Common Market Protocol now in effect, the region is
looking to launch a single currency by 2012. Many hope the integration will break
down economic barriers across the region, but there is much work to be done before the
regional dream is realized.

The members of the East African Community, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Burundi and
Uganda, officially launched the Common Market Protocol on July 1. Under the
protocol, the region hopes to unlock the economic potential of its vast natural resources
and more than 130 million inhabitants.

With the start of the common market, member states have agreed to open their borders
to each other and allow goods and services to move between countries without fees or
restrictions. The protocol has also removed barriers for people, allowing citizens in the
region to live and work anywhere in East Africa without work permits.

The common market is essentially the first phase in the vision for regional integration.
By 2012, the East African Community hopes to implement a single currency and
monetary union for member states.

Analyst on the Kenyan economy Robert Shaw says integration makes perfect sense for
East Africa.

"In the global world, a single country, and particularly a single African country which
has a very small economy, it makes sense for there to be a greater bloc, for two reasons:
One, the potential for trading within that block is great, and we've seen it. We've seen it
even with the tentative moves that have gone so far," said Shaw. "The increasing
trading between Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, to a lesser extent Rwanda, etc. has increased
year after year. It makes sense. The second point there is, that the bigger your market,
that is much more attractive for investors, locally and internationally."

Investors are already taking notice of the region's potential. According to the United
Nation's 2010 World Investment Report, the region received more than $2 billion worth
of foreign investment in 2009 alone. Shortly after the common market became
operational, Turkey announced it would establish an export processing zone within the
East AFrican Community to expand trade with the region.

The promise of the new market is also attracting new countries. South Sudan is widely
expected to become an independent state after a referendum this January. Analysts
such as Robert Shaw believe the new state will opt to join the EAC.
But there are many obstacles to overcome before a single east African currency can
become reality.

The common market took effect on July 1, but Shaw notes there are still many barriers
preventing its full implementation. All of the EAC members agree in principle to the
benefits of the expanded market, but there are differing visions for achieving it.

While Kenya and Rwanda have already moved to eliminate work permit requirements
for east African citizens, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi have retained their
requirements. The Ugandan government has also advocated for regional work permits
rather than their complete elimination.

And despite the elimination of visas for citizens in the region, many are still subject to
restrictions at the border.

But many in the East African Community remain confident that a monetary union can
be achieved by 2012.

EAC Deputy Secretary General Alloys Mutabingwa says that concerted regional reform
will lay the groundwork for a common currency.

"It is sounding ambitious, but we are optimistic we will achieve that target. For the
common currency to effectively be in place, we are looking at three main things to be
accomplished. One is the common market itself having to be effective,"Mutabingwa
said. "Two is the convergence of most of our macroeconomic policies. Three is the legal
side; the laws governing the common market having to be integrated."

According to Mutabingwa, EAC members will start negotiations soon to unify regional
policy regarding the market. The deputy secretary general also told VOA that
mechanisms such as an East African Community Monetary Institute were being
established to guide the integration process and oversee the creation of the common
currency.

If the monetary union is established, it could be a step towards an even more ambitious
venture.

The stated goal of the East African Community is to set up a political federation by
2015. While expectations for the proposed state range from a European-style union to a
fully integrated east African nation, observers believe the federation could be an
economic and political leader in Africa.

But the success of the federation is dependent on the success of the current economic
integration. If the common market and the monetary union are properly implemented,
they could create a new country on the continent.
--------------------
Missing Russian chopper pilot found released in Sudan: official (Xinhua)

MOSCOW - The pilot of a Russian helicopter who went missing in Sudan on Monday
has been freed, said Russian president's special representative for Sudan on Thursday.

"The helicopter captain (Yevgeny Mostovshchikov) who went missing in Sudan on July
26 and was captured has been released and is now at the UN mission's office," said
Mikhail Margelov as quoted by the Interfax news agency.

Earlier in the day the Russian Foreign Ministry said the Mi-8 chopper, belonging to
Russian airliner UTair, was en route from Al Fashir in North Darfur to Abeche in Chad
on Monday afternoon with a group of Darfur insurgents, and stopped in Aborjo of
South Darfur to pick up a second group of militants.

The militants were being taken to Doha in Qatar for talks with Sudanese government
officials, said the ministry.

The aircraft on Tuesday has safely returned to its base in Nyala, the capital of South
Darfur, carrying three out of four crew members, according to UTair.

The chopper is working in Sudan under contract with the United Nations to serve the
joint UN-African Union mission in Darfur ( UNAMID), which took over the
peacekeeping task in Darfur from the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) on Dec.
31, 2008.
-------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

Missing pilot in Darfur found safe, UN-African peacekeeping force reports

29 July – A Russian helicopter pilot missing since the start of the week was found safe
late today in southern Darfur, the joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping
mission in the war-ravaged Sudanese region confirmed.

General Assembly chief voices deep sadness after deadly capsizing in DR Congo
29 July – General Assembly President Ali Treki today expressed deep sadness after
learning that a boat overturned on a major river in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC), reportedly killing around 140 people.

Blue helmets come under fire in western Darfur, UN reports

29 July – Peacekeepers on patrol in the west of the war-ravaged Sudanese region of
Darfur were ambushed today by unidentified gunmen, with seven blue helmets
sustaining injuries, the United Nations reported today.
Nutrient-rich algae can boost Chadian women’s incomes and tackle malnutrition – UN
29 July – A local variety of the nutrient-rich, blue-green algae known as spirulina could
boost incomes for women in Chad who harvest the product as well as help fight
nutrition, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported
today.