United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

1 September 2010

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

Mullen Meets With Eucom, Africom Leaders (American Forces Press Service)
(Pan Africa) The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff met today with leaders of U.S.
European Command and U.S. Africa Command, both of which have their headquarters
in Stuttgart.

Ransoms boost al Qaeda in Africa - U.S. official (Reuters)

(Pan Africa) Paying ransom for hostages held by al Qaeda in Africa just encourages
more kidnappings and hands the militant network a global propaganda boost, a U.S.
military official said on Tuesday.

FBI Trains EFCC Operatives on Anti-Terrorism (Daily Trust - Nigeria)

(Nigeria) Instructors from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States
yesterday commenced a training programme for operatives of the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on anti-money laundering and control of terrorist
financing.

Army Ready to Send 10,000 to Somalia (The Monitor - Uganda)

(Uganda/Somalia) Uganda is set to send thousands of its reserve troops for
deployment to Somalia if the US government provides promised funding for the
mission, the Chief of Defence Forces has said.

Rwanda Threatens to Pull Peacekeepers From Darfur (New York Times)

(Rwanda/Sudan) Rwanda stepped up its threats on Tuesday to withdraw thousands of
peacekeepers from Sudan if the United Nations published a report that accused
Rwandan forces of massacring civilians and possibly committing genocide in the
Democratic Republic of Congo years ago.

Legacy of Genocide Fuels Political Repression in Rwanda (Voice of America)

(Rwanda) In the 16 years since the genocide, Rwanda has received nearly universal
acclaim for rebuilding its shattered society and re-branding itself as a new "African
Tiger." But concerns are being raised that the legacy of that brutal event has been
manipulated for the benefit of the ruling party.

3 Russians abducted in Darfur freed by Sudanese forces (Canadian Press)

(Sudan) Three Russians abducted by gunmen in Sudan's restive Darfur region were
freed by security forces after a clash with their kidnappers, a Sudanese news website
reported Tuesday.

Commerce, Conflict Coexist On The Congo (NPR)

(Democratic Republic of Congo) With barely 300 miles of paved road in all of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Congo River has become the nation's Route 66 --
the artery pulsing life into the heart of Africa. But years of civil war and spillover
conflict from neighboring countries have periodically choked the lifeline, which
witnessed some of Congo's heaviest fighting in the late 1990s and early in this century.

Bottled water becomes new venture among Kenya investors (Xinhua)

(Kenya) In Kenya, it is estimated that the bottled water business alone nets over 1.3
billion shillings (16 million U.S. dollars) annually and with the quest for a safer
commodity, the sales are bound to rise with demand.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
 Security Council deplores deadly attack against African peacekeepers in
Somalia
 UN agency hails move to protect African folklore and traditional knowledge
 In wake of mass rapes in DR Congo, UN official calls for end to impunity
 UN urges proper treatment of migrants after reported deaths in Saudi Arabia
 UNICEF welcomes Sudanese measure to end use of child soldiers
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UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, September 2, 9:30 a.m., McLarty Associates with the

Business Council for International Understanding
WHAT: Breakfast Briefing with the New U.S. Ambassador to Zambia
WHO: The Honorable Mark C. Storella
Info: http://www.bciu.org/wip01/online_event_invitation.asp?
continent=0&country=0&currentorpast=current&eventsorprograms=events&IDNumbe
r=1429&ProgramIDNumber=0&Keycode=5445368

WHEN/WHERE: Wednesday, September 8, 2:30 p.m., U.S. Institute of Peace

WHAT: Sudan: Conflict and Peace Along the North-South Border
WHO: Benedetta de Alessi, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of
London; Amir Idris, Fordham University; Christopher Milner, Concordis International;
Martin Pratt, Durham University; Andrew Blum, Moderator, United States Institute of
Peace
Info: http://www.usip.org/events/sudan-conflict-and-peace-along-the-north-south-
border
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FULL ARTICLE TEXT

Mullen Meets With Eucom, Africom Leaders (American Forces Press Service)

STUTTGART, Germany – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff met today with
leaders of U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command, both of which have
their headquarters here.

Navy Adm. Mike Mullen visited with Army Gen. William E. “Kip” Ward, commander
of Africom, and Army Lt. Gen. John D. Gardner, Eucom’s deputy commander, and
members of their respective staffs.

“One of my goals as chairman is to engage the [combatant commanders] not only when
they’re in Washington on my turf, but out on their turf,” Mullen told reporters traveling
with him en route to Germany.

Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis, Eucom’s commander, also serves as NATO’s supreme
allied commander for Europe and was unavailable for today’s meeting, though Mullen
said he’d spoken with him by phone before leaving Washington.

Eucom’s area of focus includes not only all of Europe, but also large portions of Asia,
parts of the Middle East and the Arctic and Atlantic oceans. The command is
responsible for U.S. military relations with NATO and 51 countries.

In recent years, Eucom has expanded its partnerships with U.S. agencies outside of the
Defense Department to bring subject-matter experts together and facilitate the exchange
of information for “whole of government” international efforts in which military and
nonmilitary agencies have what Eucom officials call “a coincidence of purpose.”

Mullen noted he was a strong proponent for the creation of Africom, which stood up as
a full-fledged unified command in October 2008. Previously, he said, Eucom had
responsibility for U.S. military relations in Africa, but with Eucom’s vast area and its
commander also serving in a NATO role, it wasn’t physically possible for Africa to
receive an appropriate level of attention and engagement.

“[Africom] gives us a 24/7 engagement in that continent that we had very little of prior
to that stand-up,” the chairman said, “so I’m very pleased with the leadership and the
progress in what we’ve been able to do in Africa over a relatively short period of time.”

Africom was created as an “engagement command” to help African nations build their
capabilities, Mullen said, but it has had to work to overcome suspicions that the United
States created the command with designs on militarizing the continent.
“A great deal of that has been dissipated,” Mullen said, noting that many countries that
at first were suspicious and concerned have come to recognize the command’s value.
--------------------
Ransoms boost al Qaeda in Africa - U.S. official (Reuters)

LONDON - Paying ransom for hostages held by al Qaeda in Africa just encourages
more kidnappings and hands the militant network a global propaganda boost, a U.S.
military official said on Tuesday.

The same goes for the practice of releasing jailed militants to win freedom for hostages
held by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), added the official in a briefing about
U.S. military support for governments in Africa's Sahel region.

The official said the tactics also stirred disputes between regional countries, potentially
damaging fledgling cooperation on counter-terrorism, because some governments
opposed paying ransoms while others appeared to tolerate the practice.

"The countries are at each other's throats over payments. It hurts us regionally," the
official said, adding that kidnapping also deterred tourism, an important revenue
source.

"It ends up that these countries will not cooperate on various issues because a country
has decided to pay...(Al Qaeda) makes hay with this. They get a lot of bang for their
buck."

AQIM, and groups linked to the Islamists, have carried out a wave of kidnappings over
the last year, pulling in millions of dollars in ransom payments, analysts say.

The group has also secured the release of some of its captured fighters in exchange for
Western hostages, angering nations such as Algeria and Mauritania, which have called
for a more hardline approach in dealing with it.

The official, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the topic, added
ransoms "undermine what we're trying to do, not only with AQIM but also worldwide."

"Al Qaeda propaganda is very good at capitalising on it."

'WELL ENTRENCHED'

The United States and European nations have been trying to improve the capacity of the
Saharan states to work together to combat the al Qaeda threat, which analysts said
could pose a risk for long-term resource investment.
The U.S. effort is run from its Africa command known as Africom, which seeks to lift
the capacity of countries to face everything from disasters to terrorism and make the
continent more stable.

The official said AQIM was believed to number at most about 300 fighters, and they
were "pretty well entrenched" in northern Mali, a region criss-crossed by centuries-old
smuggling networks that the central government found hard to control.

Asked if the group received help from corrupt Mali officials in the poor, remote north,
an allegation made by at least one former insurgent, the U.S. official said without
elaborating that there were signs of a degree of collusion.

But local officials "are driven not by greed as much as by just getting by in northern
Mali. It's a tough place to live", and they had little ideological affinity with al Qaeda.
--------------------
FBI Trains EFCC Operatives on Anti-Terrorism (Daily Trust - Nigeria)

Instructors from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States yesterday
commenced a training programme for operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) on anti-money laundering and control of terrorist financing.

The Nigeria Police, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the State
Security Service (SSS) are also involved in the two-week training taking place at the
EFCC Training and Research Institute, Karu near Abuja. While declaring the training
programme opened, EFCC chairman Farida Waziri said it is part of the continuing
partnership between Nigeria and the United States in the fight against the twin evils of
money laundering and terrorist financing.

"Since the tragic events of 9/11, it has become clear that no country is immune to the
evil consequences of money laundering," Farida said adding that "the terror networks
that use the dirty money to promote misery and death around the world must be
recognized and treated as enemies of humanity.

"To weed out the culture of corruption on which money laundering and terrorism
subsist, money launderers and the promoters of terror must be denied any iota of
legitimacy; they must not be allowed to exploit the poverty and ignorance of our
people," she said.

She assured the U.S. that Nigeria remains open and amenable to all the platforms of
partnership needed to win the war against economic and financial crimes.

FBI representative, Victor Mc Collum, said the cooperation between the Nigerian law
enforcement agencies and the FBI has been quite outstanding. "Everything we have
tried to accomplish here so far, we have been able to do. We have had great cooperation
from the institutions we have worked with and we have been able to provide the
institutions with some assistance and a lot of collaboration," Mc Collum said.

The 40 participants will be trained on interrogation; hostage crisis negotiation, basic

forensics and major case management.
--------------------
Army Ready to Send 10,000 to Somalia (The Monitor - Uganda)

Karamoja — Uganda is set to send thousands of its reserve troops for deployment to
Somalia if the US government provides promised funding for the mission, the Chief of
Defence Forces has said.

Gen. Aronda Nyakairima, in an interview in Kotido District on Thursday, said: "We can
even call up to 10,000 [reservists] but that will depend on whether the United States
supports us or not." A final decision on the matter is yet to be taken, he stressed, but it
will be anchored on "our conclusive talks" with President Obama's administration.

Top US diplomat for Africa, Ambassador Johnnie Carson, who was in Kampala to
attend the African Union summit held days after the July 11 terrorist attacks, promised
increased support to the AU Peacekeeping Mission in Somalia (Amisom).

Uganda presently has more than 4, 000 troops in Mogadishu, ostensibly to support
Sheikh Sharif's Transitional Federal Government that most African countries appear
reluctant to directly support in its quest to rein-in myriad fighting groups, including the
al Shabaab the US classifies as a "terrorist" group. Gen. Aronda, in the Thursday
interview conducted at the UPDF 405 brigade headquarters in Nakapirimoru, made
clear they require military hardware, armoured vehicles and helicopters and money for
salaries.

Financial issues

"We don't want to overstretch our budget by calling up our [reserve] forces and then we
have to even pay [their] salary," he said, adding: "To my knowledge, America has
undertaken to support that undertaking; that when we call up [the reserves], they will
do this. But we will be waiting and see what happens."

Defence and Military Spokesman, Lt. Col. Felix Kulayigye, yesterday said there are
more than 100, 000 members under the Uganda National Reserve Forces that is
commanded by Maj. Gen. Levi Karuhanga.

The reserve force comprises former soldiers who left active service within the past five
years; Chaka Mchaka graduates (para-militarily graduates) and retired Special Police
Constables.
"Ordinarily, reserve forces do their own things," Lt. Col. Kulayigye said, "But when
there is a disaster or emergency, they are called up to augment the regular army."

Yesterday, Ms Joann Lockard, the public affairs officer at the US Mission in Kampala,
said she is aware of promised American assistance to Amisom but has no specific
details. "I don't believe any specific commitments have been made yet," she said.

On Thursday, Gen. Nyakairima said inadequate financing by the international

community and failure by other countries to put troops on the ground could compel
Uganda to re-think its continued presence in the Horn of Africa.
--------------------
Rwanda Threatens to Pull Peacekeepers From Darfur (New York Times)

NAIROBI, Kenya — Rwanda stepped up its threats on Tuesday to withdraw thousands

of peacekeepers from Sudan if the United Nations published a report that accused
Rwandan forces of massacring civilians and possibly committing genocide in the
Democratic Republic of Congo years ago.

Rwanda appears to be trying to play hardball with the United Nations and is using the
fact that the country plays a linchpin role in the troubled Darfur region, in western
Sudan, for maximum leverage. Rwanda has 3,300 peacekeepers in Darfur, and a
Rwandan general is in charge of the entire 21,800-strong United Nations-African Union
peacekeeping mission there.

The United Nations report that Rwanda is trying to block, which was leaked last week
to several news organizations in draft form, charges that in the mid-1990s invading
troops from Rwanda and their rebel allies killed tens of thousands of members of the
Hutu ethnic group, including many civilians. The report presents repeated examples in
which squads of Rwandan soldiers, led by Tutsi commanders, and their Congolese
rebel allies lured Hutu refugees with promises they would be repatriated to Rwanda,
only to massacre them.

Until recently, Rwanda had been celebrated as one of the most promising success
stories in Africa, a nation that had heroically rebuilt itself after genocide in 1994,
boasting impressive economic growth rates, low crime and innovative ways of fighting
poverty.

But the perception of Rwanda is beginning to shift. Donor nations have steadily
increased their criticism of Rwanda’s brand of democracy, especially after the country’s
president, Paul Kagame, won re-election in August with 93 percent of the vote. Even the
United States government, one of Rwanda’s most steadfast supporters, said it was
concerned about “a series of disturbing events prior to the election.” Human rights
groups have accused Mr. Kagame’s administration of violently cracking down on
dissent and jailing or killing opposition leaders and journalists.
As the criticism builds, the Rwandan government seems increasingly prickly. Nothing,
though, has made the government react the way this report has. For the past several
weeks, Rwandan officials have been assiduously trying to persuade the United Nations,
behind closed doors, not to publish the Congo report — or at least to take out the most
damning accusations. But now it seems the pressure has spilled out into the open.

According to a statement e-mailed to journalists on Tuesday by Jill Rutaremara, a

Rwandan military spokesman: “The Rwanda Defense Force [R.D.F.] has finalized a
contingency withdrawal plan for its peacekeepers deployed in Sudan in response to a
government directive in case the U.N. publishes its outrageous and damaging report.
All logistical and personnel resources are in place.” Mr. Rutaremara said the pullout
would take the shortest time possible. The withdrawal will apply to the defense force’s
peacekeepers serving under the United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur and
the United Nations Mission in Sudan, he said.

Rwanda also has 298 peacekeepers stationed in other parts of Sudan as part of a 10,600-
person peacekeeping force that polices a north-south Sudan peace treaty signed five
years ago.

The United Nations has not said much publicly about Rwanda’s threats.

“The United Nations peacekeeping operations very much appreciate Rwanda’s troop
contribution as well as their performance under U.N. command,” was the brief
comment on Monday from Martin Nesirky, the spokesman for Ban Ki-moon, the United
Nations secretary general.

Rwanda’s foreign minister, Louise Mushikiwabo, said Tuesday that Rwanda was
“committed to our role in peacekeeping, but Rwanda would not send its sons and
daughters to guard peace and expose them to danger through an organization that
chooses to label them ‘genocide perpetrators.’ ”
--------------------
Legacy of Genocide Fuels Political Repression in Rwanda (Voice of America)

In the 16 years since the genocide, Rwanda has received nearly universal acclaim for
rebuilding its shattered society and re-branding itself as a new "African Tiger." But
concerns are being raised that the legacy of that brutal event has been manipulated for
the benefit of the ruling party.

During the past decade, Rwanda has undergone a seemingly impossible

transformation. The tiny central African nation, plagued by the 1994 genocide in which
an estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsi's were killed by the country's Hutu majority, has been
tirelessly engaged in a campaign to reunite the country and change its international
image.
President Paul Kagame has used his considerable authority to quickly rebuild the
country, both economically and socially. Mr. Kagame has pushed for the elimination of
ethnic identities in favor of Rwandan unity and laid the groundwork for significant
investment throughout the country.

The president's government accountability programs have all but eliminated corruption
in Rwanda, a minor-miracle in East Africa, and free primary education is nearly
universal.

The country is now working to become the African hub of information technology by
the year 2020, a growth strategy modeled after the "Asian Tiger" economies of the 1980s
and 1990s. There is also a monthly day of national service, called Umuganda, during
which citizens contribute to public works such as planting trees and cleaning streets.

President Kagame has essentially run the country since the end of the 1994 genocide,
after he led the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front's campaign against the Hutu
government.

The president has been lauded as an African hero, receiving praise from world leaders
such as former U.S. President Bill Clinton and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The president also has near universal support among Rwandans. In the country's two
presidential polls, Mr. Kagame was elected by more than 90 percent of the vote.

But Mr. Kagame's government has drawn sharp criticism in recent months. The
country has come under fire for controversial laws in effect to prevent "sectarianism"
and the promotion of "genocide ideology."

In a new report, Amnesty International warns the laws are too vague and had been
abused by the government to silence opposition. The report, entitled "Safer to Stay
Silent," charged the laws promoted self-censorship among Rwandans. But Rwandan
Media High Council executive secretary Patrice Mulama said the laws were necessary
given Rwanda's history.

"Hate speech is never appropriate in any democracy, in any society, because it burns; it
kills people," said Mulama. "That is why, world over you have laws against
discrimination, laws against segregation, laws against hate speech and stuff like that.
You must remember that this is a society that is recovering from a genocide, in which
hate speech and racist speech had a very strong role in orchestrating."

In the lead up to the August 9 presidential election, the government was accused by
rights organizations, such as Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders, of
suppressing opposition and, in effect, guaranteeing the president's re-election.
Opposition newspapers, such as Umuseso and Umuvigizi, were handed suspensions by
Rwanda's Media High Council for publishing articles that allegedly incited public
instability or promoted genocide ideology.

Opposition figure Victoire Ingabire was also charged with promoting genocide
Ideology. Ingabire, who had planned to challenge President Kagame in the election,
argued that crimes had been committed by both Hutu and Tutsi populations during the
genocide.

Ingabire remains a controversial figure in Rwanda, but the author of the Amnesty
report, Erwin van der Borght told VOA that legitimate calls for accountability deserved
a hearing in Rwanda. The author urged Rwandan authorities to review the
controversial laws in order to prevent further abuse.

"It is obvious that the Rwandese authorities, like any government, have a responsibility
to ensure that hate speech is clamped down on, and that incitement to violence and
discrimination and the people responsible for that are investigated and prosecuted,"
said van der Borgh. "The problem is that with the Genocide Ideology law is the
Rwandese government went too far in restricting freedom of expression. We see that it
is being abused and misused against political opponents, human rights activists and the
media."

Controversy has erupted during the past week that could challenge the traditional
narrative of the Rwandan genocide. An upcoming U.N. report, leaked to the media has
found the Rwandan Patriotic Front was involved in killing thousands of Hutu refugees
in Congo before and after the genocide in Rwanda.

While the Rwandan Patriotic Front has maintained its efforts in Congo targeted Hutu
militias, the report found evidence of large-scale human-rights violations committed
against civilian populations.

The Rwandan government has blasted the report, calling it "immoral and unacceptable"
and accused the United Nations of hypocrisy, citing the organization's failure to
respond to the 1994 killings. The central African nation has threatened to withdraw
from its U.N. obligations if the report is published. And, it has been revealed the
government has completed a plan to withdraw its peacekeepers from the U.N. mission
in Darfur.
--------------------
3 Russians abducted in Darfur freed by Sudanese forces (Canadian Press)

KHARTOUM, Sudan — Three Russians abducted by gunmen in Sudan's restive Darfur

region were freed by security forces after a clash with their kidnappers, a Sudanese
news website reported Tuesday.
Security forces fought with the kidnappers Monday night before freeing the men, who
worked for a company transporting food for the U.N.-African Union peacekeeping
force in Darfur, the Sudan Media Center reported, quoting provincial Governor Abdel-
Hameed Moussa Kasha.

The three Russians — two pilots and an engineer — were kidnapped Sunday after
leaving an airfield in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur province, and soon afterward
the military said they had identified where they were being held.

U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said the crew worked for Badr Airlines, based in the
capital, Khartoum.

Another Russian pilot was kidnapped last month by Arab militiamen in the western
Sudanese province after making an emergency landing in a helicopter. That pilot was
also recovered.

Darfur has been in turmoil since 2003, when ethnic African rebels accusing the Arab-
dominated government of discrimination and neglect took up arms against it.

Khartoum is accused of retaliating by arming local nomadic Arab tribes and unleashing
Arab militias on civilian populations — a charge the government denies.

The U.N. estimates 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million have been displaced.

Recently, the vast arid western region has been more stable, but since elections in April
there have been a rash of kidnappings and violence. The elections kept President Omar
al-Bashir, accused of war crimes in Darfur, in office for another five years.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said last year that U.N.
peacekeeping missions in Sudan have continued to use aircraft operated by Badr
Airlines even after the U.N. Security Council recommended an aviation ban be imposed
on the carrier in response to arms embargo violations.
--------------------
Commerce, Conflict Coexist On The Congo (NPR)

With barely 300 miles of paved road in all of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the
Congo River has become the nation's Route 66 -- the artery pulsing life into the heart of
Africa.

The river dominates the lush, green port city of Mbandaka, which straddles the equator.
Perpetual activity on and around the water drowns out everything but the loud hum of
the engines of vessels berthed at the port.
With a population of about 750,000 people, Mbandaka is the capital of Equateur
province. It is in a sleepy corner of northwest Congo, 500 miles upstream from the
capital, Kinshasa. A familiar sight in the city is its pedal bike taxis, with colorful
crocheted seats, climbing up and down the hills, ferrying passengers.

Mbandaka, a major transportation hub, is an important trading post in the region. The
Congo River, Africa's second-longest river, makes it possible. But years of civil war and
spillover conflict from neighboring countries have periodically choked the lifeline,
which witnessed some of Congo's heaviest fighting in the late 1990s and early in this
century.

A 'Big Floating Market'

Congolese board barges in Mbandaka that carry them and their goods up and down the
river. It was here that American explorer Henry Morton Stanley stopped to mark the
equator in the late 19th century, on his maiden voyage down the Congo. The "Equator
Stone" he placed near the riverbank, south of the city, remains there today.

At bustling Mbandaka port, outdoor market vendors sell everything from freshly
ground coffee, heaped in neat mini-mountains, to used clothing and shoes.

Navy blue and white pick-up trucks sit on a barge waiting to be transported upstream.
There is an air of expectation as passengers mill around the port, waiting for
confirmation that there is a barge on the move.

Smoked and salted fish from the northern and equatorial provinces make their way
downstream, along with other food shipments. Kinshasa, in turn, sends up items that
river communities -- with little access to the outside world and often no running water
and electricity -- find impossible to get in Congo's remote interior: electrical goods,
flashlights, school books and stationery, used shoes and tires and pick-up trucks.

"The Congo River is like a big floating market," says Charles Lonkama, former librarian
and archivist at the Aequatoria Research Institute near Mbandaka. "People come from
far away to buy things they need."

"The development of Congo and Africa depends [on] the river, because that helps us to
live. When Congo is in difficulties, people can't travel. But if we're in peace, boats and
canoes can give to the population of the river foods and medicines, and all things that
helps people to live," he says.

Attacks Disrupt River Traffic

And Mbandaka has seen its share of difficulties recently. Violence flared earlier this
year, when on Easter Sunday dozens of fighters crossed the Congo River and attacked
the city, killing several people, including two United Nations peacekeepers. The assault
was believed to be part of a local ethnic dispute over fishing rights and not part of the
long-running, wider conflict in eastern Congo that overflowed from Rwanda's 1994
genocide.

Bilonda Mibiya, a trader and mother of seven, says she was in the vicinity of the April 4
attack and describes a frightening experience. She says people were at church, as
normal, on Easter Sunday when the commotion broke out.

"We were so scared," she says. "We didn't know what was happening, because
Mbandaka is usually quiet and calm."

Later, they found out that about 100 rebel insurgents had struck, overwhelming a
handful of Ghanaian U.N. peacekeepers guarding the airport. It took 24 hours for
Congolese troops -- backed by U.N. soldiers -- to win back control of the airport and
other strategic installations.

In May, a military tribunal convicted about 30 rebels for their involvement in the attack,
including a dozen who were sentenced to death.

The army magistrate in the case appealed to the public for calm, and a senior regional
official discouraged would-be travelers from heading up the Congo River because of
the risk of attack. All vessels going downstream now require a military escort, he said.

Clashes between rival militias and other armed groups, as well as the Congolese army
in the east, account in part for the continuing presence of the largest U.N. peacekeeping
deployment in the world.

Initially, the U.N. troops were deployed as observers to monitor a peace accord agreed
to by factions involved in a conflict that has been dubbed Africa's World War. The
fighting began in 1996 when Rwanda invaded Congo; Rwanda's stated aim was to
pursue those who committed the country's 1994 genocide. A year later, backed by forces
from Rwanda and Uganda, rebel leader Laurent-Desire Kabila ousted longtime
Congolese strongman President Mobutu Sese Seko -- who had opened the eastern
border to let in the fleeing Rwandans. The following year, renewed conflict exploded
into a regional war drawing in more than half a dozen nations.

After a peace accord was implemented, the U.N. mission evolved into one of
peacekeeping in Congo's volatile east -- where violence from neighboring Rwanda's
genocide had spilled over and expanded to include the Congolese army, and local and
Rwandan rebel groups.
Now, an array of marauding armed men, as well as the army, still stalk eastern Congo --
attacking and pillaging -- in a mineral-rich area known as the rape capital of the world,
where sexual violence is used as a weapon of war.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been caught in the crossfire and remain
displaced in camps in a conflict that relief agencies describe as a forgotten humanitarian
crisis.

As well, U.N. peacekeepers have been accused of failing to protect civilians. Some U.N.
soldiers have faced charges of sexual abuse of Congolese -- including underage
children, and illegal gold trading and corruption.

Vital Link For Remote Villages

The civil wars, ethnic violence and lack of investment and maintenance of vessels has
meant the number of boats plying the Congo River has dramatically dwindled in the
past decade, even though river traffic remains vital to the nation's interior, says
Lonkama, the historian.

"About 20 years ago, there were a lot of boats from Kinshasa to Kisangani, and from
Kisangani to Kinshasa," he says, adding that the government is doing its best to revive
the shipping traffic.

Without boats and the supplies they carry, he says, remote villages have no shops, no
schools, no books or pens. He says the vessels and their goods provide people with
livelihoods and the ability to "live as a human being can."

At sundown in Mbandaka, a choir rehearsing at a church overlooking the river lustily

sings a hymn called "Ebale Mbonge," or "The Waves of the River."

Life is like navigating the river, the song says. If you take it too fast, you may not arrive
at your destination; so be patient.

Patience is a virtue, and often a necessity, for the people of Mbandaka and elsewhere in
Congo. Life along the river has been buffeted by economic uncertainty and periodic
violence.
--------------------
Bottled water becomes new venture among Kenya investors (Xinhua)

NAIROBI - For a world that is nearly three quarters covered with water, any mention of
scarcity would be the last "word" would expect to hear.

However, this is not the case. According to the United Nations statistics, over 1 billion
lack access to safe water and over 2.5 billion lack adequate sanitation.
Bottled water is potable, clean and safe, readily available especially for those who can
afford it and is mostly used by the corporate. Many use the commodity from hazardous
resources. Most of those who use the unsafe water spend hours or even days in search
of the commodity. Diseases such as cholera and diarrhea are predominant in such areas.
Children suffer from deformities while most miss school nursing their sickness and
while out there searching for it.

As a result, many investors have ventured in the sale of clean and safe water and
consequently, the industry has become one of the fastest growing sectors in Kenya and
the world over.

In Kenya, it is estimated that the bottled water business alone nets over 1.3 billion
shillings (16 million U.S. dollars) annually and with the quest for a safer commodity, the
sales are bound to rise with demand.

In fact hotels and supermarkets have began branding their own bottled water products
just to compete with the already existing companies and individuals in the business.

"As a supermarket chain, we realized that besides selling the bottled water brands for
other companies and yet the industry has a great potential for growth and profits, then
we would also market our own and make more profit since we are selling the product
within our premises which is another advantage. All the profits come back to us," Mr.
Kimani Mbugua, a sales executive with a local leading supermarket chains in Kenya's
Nairobi city, told Xinhua.

For a long time, bottled water was seen as a product for the elite (well-to-do
individuals), but as years went by, the industry began 'going small' by packaging small
quantities that even the not-so rich person would afford.

"We differ from our competitors in that we target the low-end market so that they can
also enjoy the benefits of drinking safe water," adds Mr. Mbugua.

Most people prefer taking bottled water, saying it is potable, fresh and safe.

"When I am travelling, I have to carry one or two bottles of water depending on the
journey's distance. Also, when I travel upcountry, definitely I carry more than 10 liters
of water because when I drink water from the river even if it has been boiled and
treated, I usually suffer from typhoid upon returning to the city and to save on
medication, I better take the bottled water than spend thousands of shillings on
treatment," naraated Ms Mary Nguya.

Hotels have not been left out of this lucrative business too. A visit to most hotels in
Nairobi's central business district reveals that they too have branded their own product
one as a marketing strategy and secondly as one of the ways of offering quality service
to their clients, with water being the top priority.

For most urban residents, water shortage sends shivers in their nerves because the
vendors do even sell dirty water to make money regardless of whether it is safe for their
clients or not.

And as the Water Ministry strives to ensure that Kenyans access adequate safe and
clean drinking water, more and more investors are taking up the challenge in this multi-
billion shillings industry to fill the gap occasioned by the shortage.
-------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

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31 August – The United Nations agency charged with protecting intellectual property
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31 August – The recent savage mass rapes of civilians by armed groups in the volatile
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31 August – The reported deaths of five Ethiopian migrants in a deportation facility in
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UNICEF welcomes Sudanese measure to end use of child soldiers

31 August – The United Nations agency charged with protecting the rights of children
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