United States Africa Command

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19 August 2010

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

US envoy in Sudan amid referendum discord (AFP)

(Sudan) US envoy to Sudan Scott Gration arrived on Wednesday for talks as
disagreements within a commission tasked with organising a southern independence
referendum threatened to delay the January vote.

Obama Lauds Nation for Successful Zanzibar (The Citizen - Tanzania)

(Tanzania) US President Barack Obama has commended Tanzania following the
successful holding of the referendum that will pave way for the formation of a
government of national unity in Zanzibar.

US ambassador highlights SAfrica media controversy (Associated Press)

(South Africa) The U.S. ambassador called for South Africa's government and
journalists to work together Wednesday amid growing tensions over a proposed law
that could jail reporters for publishing information that officials want kept secret.

Exxon Ends Ghana Plan (Wall Street Journal)

(Ghana) Exxon Mobil Corp. said Wednesday it has canceled plans to buy $4 billion in
oil assets here controlled by Kosmos Energy LLC, dealing a blow to the U.S. oil
company's drive to tap an important new oil region in West Africa and possibly
triggering a scramble for a stake in a new frontier market.

Ponzi Scheme May Unmoor Benin, an Anchor of Stability (New York Times)
(Benin) It started as a tip between friends, an unheard-of chance to pile up riches in a
poor land. The “investment” was a Ponzi scheme that has ended in disaster for tens of
thousands of families on this sliver of the West African coast, wiping out savings,
shaking the economy and threatening the president in a nation of nine million that has
long been a regional exemplar of stability.

Liberian, Sierra Leonean presidents visit Guinea to support democratic process

(Xinhua)
(Guinea) The presidents of neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone paid a working visit
to Guinea on Tuesday, voicing support for the West African country's ongoing
democratic process.
Mauritania Extradites Al-Qaida Kidnapper to Mali (Voice of America)
(Mali) Mauritania has extradited to Mali a Malian national convicted of kidnapping
three Spanish aid workers last year.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
 Aid access restored to troubled camp for displaced in Darfur, UN says
 Kenyan diplomat chosen to lead UN office to the African Union
 UN deplores deadly attack against blue helmets in DR Congo
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US envoy in Sudan amid referendum discord (AFP)

KHARTOUM – US envoy to Sudan Scott Gration arrived on Wednesday for talks as

disagreements within a commission tasked with organising a southern independence
referendum threatened to delay the January vote.

A diplomat in the Sudanese capital said Gration's visit was expected to last for several
days.

His trip comes as the commission responsible for organising the vote is deadlocked
over the appointment of a secretary general to start work on technical and
administrative regulations for referendum.

The US State Department said before Gration's visit there were "concerns" over the
schedule of the vote, a key part of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that
ended a two-decade-long civil war between north and south.

"There?s obviously concerns," said spokesman Mark Toner. "We?re working with key
stakeholders to address those concerns," he said, according a transcript on the State
Department's website.

"We believe that keeping the referenda on track is part of building a lasting peace and
our ultimate goal is, obviously, full implementation of the CPA. So we don?t want to
see any delays."

The commission, formed in June, has still not begun the laborious process of voter
registration which is expected to take several weeks at least.
Other outstanding issues ahead of the referendum include the demarcation of north-
south borders, with Khartoum and the southern capital Juba still at loggerheads over
five distinct sites along the tentative border.
--------------------
Obama Lauds Nation for Successful Zanzibar (The Citizen - Tanzania)

US President Barack Obama has commended Tanzania following the successful holding
of the referendum that will pave way for the formation of a government of national
unity in Zanzibar.

However, a State House statement yesterday quoted President Obama as cautioning

that much work remains to be done as the October 31 General Election approaches.

The US Ambassador to Tanzania, Mr Alfonso E. Lenhardt, delivered Mr Obama's

message to President Jakaya Kikwete, according to the statement.

"On behalf of the people of the United States, I extend my congratulations to you,
Zanzibar's leaders, the people of Zanzibar, and all Tanzanians on the successful July 31,
2010 power sharing referendum," Mr Obama said.

The US President said he recalled discussing President Kikwete's commitment to

promoting reconciliation and the rule of law in Zanzibar during their meeting at the
White House on May 21, 2009.

"It is heartening that just over a year later, your leadership and the collective resolve of
the Zanzibar National Electoral Commission, civil society members, religious
community and political parties resulted in significant progress towards a lasting peace,
culminating in the credible two thirds majority vote for the unity government.

"I am confident that with your continued leadership and ongoing commitment by the
people of Zanzibar to peaceful progress a bright future lies ahead," Mr Obama said.

Zanzibaris opened a new chapter on July 31 by overwhelmingly endorsing proposed

constitutional changes that will pave the way for the formation of a government of
national unity later this year.

Some 188,705 voters who cast their ballots in the referendum voted in favour of the
proposal, while 95,613 rejected it.

The proponents of a government of national unity carried the day with 66.4 per cent of
the vote, as opposed to 33.6 per cent of voters who voted 'No'.

Some 293,039 people, or 71.9 per cent of registered voters, voted in the referendum.
There were 8,721 (3 per cent) spoilt votes.
A power-sharing government will be formed after the October 31 elections, and will
include the President from the wining party, First-Vice President from the second-
placed party and Second Vice-President from the wining party.

The Second-Vice President will be the leader of government business in the House of
Representatives.

The cabinet will comprise ministers from all political parties depending on the number
of seats they will secure in the elections.

Meanwhile, CCM's candidate for the Zanzibar presidency, Dr Ali Mohammed Shein,
said yesterday there would be no room for self-centred people in the government if he
is elected on October 31.

"Should I be elected to become Zanzibar's President, I will not entertain selfish, spiteful
and power-hungry individuals because they will lead to chaos which we are trying to
avert," he senior CCM officials at Bwawani Hotel.

He pledged to unite Zanzibaris and ensure that they lived live in peace, love and
harmony, regardless of their political affiliations.

Dr Shein, who will today collect nomination forms from the Zanzibar Electoral
Commission, said good governance and the rule of law would define his
administration.

He urged CCM leaders to work closely with him and ensure it wins in the October
elections.

The party's deputy secretary general in Zanzibar, Mr Saleh Ramadhan Ferouz, echoed
Dr Shein's sentiments, noting that time was ripe for party zealots to end divisions that
cropped up during the nomination process, and cooperate with nominees in the run-up
to the elections.

"There is no reason for us to brood over the outcome of the nominations...it's time we
stood together and wholeheartedly support Dr Shein and other nominees because this
is the only way we can ensure that the party emerges victorious in the elections," he
said.
--------------------
US ambassador highlights SAfrica media controversy (Associated Press)

JOHANNESBURG — The U.S. ambassador called for South Africa's government and
journalists to work together Wednesday amid growing tensions over a proposed law
that could jail reporters for publishing information that officials want kept secret.
South Africa's governing African National Congress party also wants to create a
tribunal that could discipline journalists, with powers to punish that have not yet been
spelled out.

"America still believes that a free press serves as the front line in the defense of
democracy," U.S. Ambassador Donald Gipps said in a speech at a foreign affairs think
tank in Johannesburg that also touched on the economy and the fight against AIDS.

Gipps called on the South African government and media to work together to strike a
balance between national security and freedom of information.

"The overturning of apartheid offered South Africa opportunities to come together to

create a constitution that is a model both in terms of citizen responsibility and for its
protection of the freedoms so many fought to achieve and enshrine in law," he said.
"South Africa must not turn away from that history now."

Activists fear the recent moves in South Africa — known for one of the continent's freest
and most open constitutions — could influence other countries in the region.

Mandeep Tiwana of the international civil rights coalition Civicus said that while South
Africa can boast 16 stable years since the first all-race elections ended white rule, he
worries about what could come next if the media is targeted.

"This is a first sign of a downward slide," said Tiwana, a legal specialist in Civicus's
Johannesburg office.

Journalists have accused the ANC of using apartheid-era tactics to stifle dissent and
criticism, and the ANC has hit back.

"The media is a business enterprise," President Jacob Zuma said in a public letter to
party members. "The primary issue is to make a profit. Press freedom and the like are
noble principles, but we all know that what drives the media is money, like all
businesses."

Outsiders who watched the display of unity and national purpose that allowed South
Africa to pull off a World Cup in June and July — the first time the event was staged in
Africa — might wonder how things could deteriorate so quickly. But the tensions aren't
new.

ANC leaders taking office after the country's first all-race elections in 1994 found
themselves being treated as politicians, not civil rights activists, by reporters they had
embraced as allies. Some complained a press that had at times accepted muzzling by
the white government was suddenly holding a democratic government to high
standards.

It's not just journalists who are raising concerns about the government proposals. Even
Eskom, the state-owned electricity utility, expressed reservations, saying restrictions on
sharing commercial information envisioned in the bill could complicate negotiations
with foreign investors.

In a statement Wednesday, grocery chain chairman Gareth Ackerman, among South

Africa's best known entrepreneurs, said business should be concerned about the law
and the proposed media tribunal.

"Foreign investors require the assurance that we are serious about combating
corruption and waste, that government affairs are transparent and accountable, and
that information is readily available and reliable," Ackerman said. "Any erosion of our
open society, now that we have achieved it, will only impede economic growth and
national prosperity."

COSATU, the powerful trade union federation that is a key ANC supporter, has even
questioned the need for the bill, saying it could hamper campaigns to expose
corruption.

An initial version of the bill, drafted to replace apartheid-era legislation, was

withdrawn in 2008 following similar protests. No date for a vote on the 2010 version has
been set.

In a further sign of possible dissent within the party, Tokyo Sexwale, an influential
ANC member, has said the media tribunal proposal is merely being debated and is not
necessarily party policy.

It's not just a matter of concern for South Africans, said Lloyd Kuveya, media specialist
for the Johannesburg-based Southern Africa Litigation Centre. He said officials in
neighboring countries are already pointing to moves in South Africa to justify their own
policies restricting freedom of speech and the media.

In its annual international survey of conditions in which the media operate, the
Washington-based Freedom House said South Africa dropped from free to partly free
last year. It was the first year since 1990 that no southern African countries were
deemed free.

"South Africa is not leading by example," Kuveya said. "They are setting a bad
precedent."
--------------------
Exxon Ends Ghana Plan (Wall Street Journal)
ACCRA, Ghana—Exxon Mobil Corp. said Wednesday it has canceled plans to buy $4
billion in oil assets here controlled by Kosmos Energy LLC, dealing a blow to the U.S.
oil company's drive to tap an important new oil region in West Africa and possibly
triggering a scramble for a stake in a new frontier market.

"ExxonMobil has terminated the share purchase agreement with Kosmos Energy," an
Exxon spokesman said. The spokesman declined to provide further details of the talks.

Energy stocks give back gains as crude oil touches six-week lows, while a $4 billion deal
between Exxon and Kosmos Energy fizzles. MarketWatch's Steve Gelsi reports in New
York.

The move ends fraught negotiations over a large chunk of one of the oil industry's
biggest recent discoveries and opens the door for other players—namely Chinese state-
run oil company Cnooc Ltd.—to enter the Ghana oil market just months before
production begins.

In June, Ghana's state-run oil company GNPC signed an agreement with Cnooc valued
at more than $4 billion to purchase the Kosmos stake, according to a person in Ghana
familiar with the situation. This month, President of Ghana John Atta Mills had
scheduled a meeting with the State Department's top official for Africa, Johnnie Carson,
to inform him that the government of Ghana would not approve the Exxon-Kosmos
deal.

"There were a number of companies interested but [GNPC] felt that Cnooc gave them
the best chance to build their capabilities as a national oil company," said this person.
Cnooc was advised in the deal by Standard Bank of South Africa.

GNPC and Cnooc are still seeking a third partner to be the operator of the stake, and are
considering several companies with deepwater experience, including Statoil of Norway,
Royal Dutch Shell, and even Exxon Mobil, the person said.

The Ghana minister of energy declined to comment when reached by phone. A Ghana
National Petroleum Corp. official didn't respond to requests for comment. Kosmos did
not comment beyond a news release announcing the termination of the agreement with
Exxon Mobil.

The massive Jubilee oil field, estimated to hold 1.5 billion or more barrels of oil
equivalent, is one of the biggest single fields in Africa and, with other recent discoveries
off the coast of Ghana, has the potential to dramatically boost an economy largely
dependent on cocoa and gold exports.
The oil reserves offshore of Ghana, combined with huge reserves in nearby Nigeria and
recent discoveries up the coast in Ivory Coast, Liberia and Sierra Leone, represent a
major new oil region that could deliver oil wealth to the impoverished countries.

Last year, Dallas-based Kosmos—which is majority owned by private equity groups

Blackstone Group LP and Warburg Pincus LLC—said it had reached a deal with Exxon
to sell its 23.5% stake in the huge Jubilee oil field for an estimated $4 billion.

But the Ghanaian government objected. It accused Kosmos of cutting Ghana's state-run
oil company out of discussions about the field's development and sharing information
about the field with potential buyers, without state permission. The minister of energy
warned Exxon in February that the deal with Kosmos would not be approved by the
government, according to a letter from the government seen by The Wall Street Journal.

Kosmos denied the allegations at the time. Exxon declined to comment.

The government has said it would support a bid by GNPC to buy the Kosmos assets. It
hasn't provided details on how it plans to finance the purchase. Ghana retained Morgan
Stanley earlier this year as its adviser on the deal.

Kosmos shares a stake in Jubilee, along with partners Anadarko Petroleum Corp.,
Tullow Oil PLC, EO Group, and GNPC.

Tullow, the operator of the field, said production would begin in November or
December, and that output would reach 120,000 barrels a day within six months.

This pales in comparison with total production in top African producers Nigeria and
Angola, which regularly pump two million barrels a day, but it is a significant amount
for a single field in a region expected to hold several other fields of similar potential.

"First oil from the Jubilee Field phase one development is fast approaching," Kosmos
Energy Chief Operating Officer Brian Maxted said in a statement Wednesday.
"Moreover, we are very encouraged by our recent exploration results, other discoveries
we are appraising, and additional developments being planned."

Blackstone Group said it remained committed to Ghana and Kosmos.

"We are exploring our strategic alternatives, and we look forward to playing a leading
role in getting Ghana to first oil," a spokesman said.
--------------------
Ponzi Scheme May Unmoor Benin, an Anchor of Stability (New York Times)

COTONOU, Benin — It started as a tip between friends, an unheard-of chance to pile

up riches in a poor land. How could you go wrong with a good-works company,
apparently tight with the government, promising interest of 50 and 100 percent, maybe
even higher?

The “investment” was a Ponzi scheme that has ended in disaster for tens of thousands
of families on this sliver of the West African coast, wiping out savings, shaking the
economy and threatening the president in a nation of nine million that has long been a
regional exemplar of stability.

Parliament is demanding his impeachment, high officials have been forced out, and
crowds of small savers up and down this Pennsylvania-size land of rich traditions but
limited means are demanding restitution.

Benin, birthplace of historic African kingdoms, is on edge. Last week, dozens of fraud
victims massed outside the prefecture here in the country’s bustling economic capital.
They pressed up against the fence, anxious, angry and insistent that because they had
seen pictures of President Thomas Yayi Boni, himself a former banker, alongside
officials of the company, called Investment Consultancy and Computering Services,
they assumed that it must be legitimate.

Officials estimate that there are between 50,000 and 70,000 victims, with losses of
perhaps $180 million — a big sum in a place where most subsist on less than $2 a day
and breadwinners have extended families counting on them.

“No family has been left untouched by this,” said Gustave Anani Cassa, a lawyer and
former justice minister. More than 4,000 complaints have been brought to his law office
alone, he said.

“I’ve lost everything,” said Christian Benhoungbedi, an auto painter waiting outside the
prefecture. He said he had invested hundreds of dollars. “I just wanted to help my
family.”

Some had waited days outside the yellowing government structure, spending the night
under a huge mango tree. Others in the crowd spoke of suicides and deaths from
hypertension because of the losses. They brandished official-looking “I.C.C.” contracts
with the Statue of Liberty and the stamps and seals that are a staple of West African
officialdom. They said they had been enticed by seeing members of the government on
television with I.C.C. officials.

Benin’s pride in its domestication of political life — with an absence of military in the
streets, a Parliament not in the pocket of the president and a relatively free press — has
made the blow even harder. The country has not looked back since a popular uprising
effectively overthrew the corrupt military dictatorship 20 years ago, the first such
overthrow in post-colonial Africa.
The newspaper kiosks in this chaotic and ramshackle city explode with disputatious
publications, and in the mornings yellow-vested drivers of motorcycle-taxis crowd
them to read and argue politics. Government, if not always clean, has at least been more
or less freely elected. Under Mr. Boni, the country has taken a populist turn, with big
bonuses for civil servants blamed in part by the International Monetary Fund for a
doubling of the deficit.

Now, victims of the scheme associate Mr. Boni’s government with it. And there is
corresponding fear among analysts that citizens will give up on the country’s young
democracy and take to the streets as they did in 1989 to get rid of the military
dictatorship.

“I’m afraid the people will lose confidence,” said Mathias Hounkpe, a political scientist
who works for Parliament, known as the National Assembly.

He estimated that up to a quarter of the working population had been affected. Others
agreed that the scheme was worrisome, both economically and politically, with one
Western diplomat saying it had a huge impact on short-term discretionary spending.

“This business is a crisis of the regime, something that profoundly implicates the state,”
said Roger Gbégnonvi, a former minister in Mr. Boni’s government. “If, behind every
saver, there are only 10 people, my dear sir, then the whole country is shaken.”

A majority of lawmakers in Parliament have signed a letter demanding that Mr. Boni be
tried before Benin’s Supreme Court for “favoring the activities” of the fraudulent
company.

After all, “he’s fired his interior minister” for being involved, said one lawmaker who
signed the letter, Kolawolé A. Idji, a former National Assembly president. “That’s not
just anybody,” he said, adding “This is an affair of state.”

Officials did not object as I.C.C., while ensnaring its victims, multiplied its good works,
helping to finance health clinics, feeding orphanages, digging wells and making
donations to the evangelical Christian groups that are important here. Calendars and
fabric showing President Boni and one of the company principals circulated.

“We are God’s workers,” the company’s director, Guy Akplogan, said in a television
interview this year.

With its do-good reputation set, serious-looking men in dark suits promised secretaries,
mechanics, low-level civil servants and others an investment that would deliver nearly
half their principal back within three months.
In fact, I.C.C. was operating a classic pyramid scheme: money from one investor was
used to pay another. The money was not invested anywhere, but buried in the
basements of the company’s principals, said President Boni’s political counselor, Amos
Elegbe.

Inside the labyrinthlike presidential compound, Mr. Elegbe dismissed suggestions that
Mr. Boni was associated with the fraud, but acknowledged “there were fraudulent
interventions on the part of structures of the state.”

He blamed the interior minister, Armand Zinzindohoué, who is accused of furnishing

bodyguards to the company’s principals. And he excoriated the principal state
prosecutor, Constant Amoussou, whom officials accuse of having blocked an
investigation of I.C.C. once the alarm was sounded last fall. He has since been jailed.

“He was in it up to his neck,” Mr. Elegbe said. About 13 of the company’s officials are
also in jail, Mr. Elegbe said.

And while the president did grant an audience to I.C.C. officials in May, it hardly meant
much, Mr. Elegbe insisted, since he has also met with hundreds of other entities and
officials.

Mr. Elegbe, a veteran of several governments here, largely blamed the greed of his
compatriots. “I’m surprised to see how far we’ve gone into moral degeneration,” he
said. “How could people be so greedy?”

But the crowd outside the prefecture last week was not in a mood to blame itself for the
devastating losses.

“I saw the head of I.C.C. Services with members of the government on television,” said
Michael Dagah, an electrician who said he invested $2,500. “The government
sanctioned it. It seemed serious,” he lamented.

“People told me it was something good, and you would get lots of interest,” said
Germaine Dagbo, who said she put in $1,200. “There was a photo of President Yayi in
their offices,” she said. Now, “we’re turning everything over to God.”
--------------------
Liberian, Sierra Leonean presidents visit Guinea to support democratic process
(Xinhua)

CONAKRY - The presidents of neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone paid a working
visit to Guinea on Tuesday, voicing support for the West African country's ongoing
democratic process.
"We are come to reassure the Guinean authorities and encourage them of our support
for the process of democracy going on in Guinea, about which we cannot sit idle," Sierra
Leonean President Ernest Bai Koroma told reporters upon his arrival.

Koroma expected the process to go on "in the best conditions."

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said her visit was within the framework of
"regular consultations" between the member states of the Mano River Union (MRU),
grouping Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

"We are come to bring our solidarity to our brother, the president of the transition and
the people of Guinea and thank them for the way in which the process of the transition
is going on in Guinea," she declared.

Sirleaf expressed hope that the new government, which will be put in place after the
elections, will work with the MRU member states for the development of the grouping
and for the promotion of the regional integration.

The Liberian and Sierra Leonean presidents were met by Guinea's interim president
Sekouba Konate before being escorted to Case de Belle Vue, where they held talks on a
later occasion with politicians and social activists of the country.

The two leaders then successively met with diplomats accredited to Guinea, officials of
the National Council of Transition, the Independent National Electoral Commission and
Prime Minister Jean- Marie Dore. They also held face-to-face talks with Konate.

The talks centered on the date for the second round of presidential elections, which had
been set on Sept. 19 after delays amid tensions over irregularities in the first round on
June 27.

The tally showed that Cellou Dalein Diallo, the former prime minister and the leader of
the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG), won 43.69 percent of the votes cast,
followed by Alpha Conde of the Rally of Guinean People (RPG), who scored 18.25
percent of the total. Both men were accorded the legal status to enter the second round.

Conde, however, is not happy with the published outcome, complaining that the CENI
failed to provide enough voting material to his stronghold in Haute Guinea, vowing not
to allow a repetition in the second round.

Conde is now enjoying the backing of former prime minister Lansana Kouyate and a
dozen other candidates loosing the first round.
But Diallo claims an even bigger gain in the run-up to the final round, with Sidya
Toure, another former prime minister, deciding to side with him. Toure and Kouyate
ended the third and fourth respectively in the first round.

In the backdrop of uncertainty and mounting pressure around the election date,
Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore made a brief visit to Guinea to make sure all
parties concerned would reach consensus on the issue.

Compaore was named the mediator for the Guinea crisis by the West African bloc
ECOWAS last year. In January, Compaore and Guinean politicians signed an agreement
in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, to end the crisis which erupted following
a military coup in the country in December 2008.

Compaore was followed by Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, another regional

power broker, on a mission to bring together Guinean politicians on an election date.
--------------------
Mauritania Extradites Al-Qaida Kidnapper to Mali (Voice of America)

Mauritania has extradited to Mali a Malian national convicted of kidnapping three

Spanish aid workers last year.

Mauritanian authorities say Omar Sid-Ahmed Ould Hamma was extradited late
Monday. No further details were released.

Ould Hamma was sentenced in July to 12 years in prison for organizing the kidnapping
of the aid workers and for handing them over to an al-Qaida-linked group in the region,
al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.

The three Spanish aid workers were seized last November on a road that links the
Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, with the city of Nouadhibou to the north.

One of the captives was released in March, but the other two are still being held in an
unknown location in the vast Sahara desert.

The region stretches through Mauritania, Mali, Algeria and Niger, all countries
struggling to contain Islamist militant groups.
-------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

Aid access restored to troubled camp for displaced in Darfur, UN says

18 August – Aid workers were today allowed back into a restive camp for internally
displaced persons (IDPs) in Darfur, the joint United Nations-African Union
peacekeeping mission to the Sudanese region reported.
Kenyan diplomat chosen to lead UN office to the African Union
18 August – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today appointed an experienced Kenyan
diplomat as the first Head of the United Nations Office to the African Union (AU),
established earlier this year to strengthen links between the two organizations.

UN deplores deadly attack against blue helmets in DR Congo

18 August – The United Nations has condemned the overnight ambush of a United
Nations peacekeeping base in the troubled far east of the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC) which has claimed the lives of three Indian blue helmets.