United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

2 September 2010

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

USA’S AFRICOM may directly train Somali troops (Somaliland Press)

(Somalia) In an interview with the US military newspaper, Stripes.com, the head of
AFRICOM, Gen. William “Kip” Ward said AFRICOM is prepared to provide training
directly to Somali troops instead of training African militaries to train Somalia troops.

Obama faces calls to get tougher on Sudan amid war fears (AFP)
(Sudan) US President Barack Obama is facing calls by activists to get tougher with the
Sudanese government to bring peace to Darfur and ensure a peaceful referendum on
southern independence in January.

U.S. sees rebel "tension" on foreign militant role (Reuters)

(Somalia) Foreign militants do not enjoy universal acceptance in Somalia's al-Shabaab
but outside powers will find it hard to use their presence to divide and weaken the
hardline Islamist insurgency, a U.S. military official said.

Congo leaders: We begged UN to protect civilians (Associated Press)

(Congo) Congolese community leaders say they begged local U.N. officials and army
commanders to protect villagers days before rebels gang-raped scores of people, from a
month-old baby boy to a 110-year-old great-great-grandmother.

AQIM claims responsibility for failed bomb attack in Mauritania (Xinhua)

(Mauritania) The North African wing of Al Qaeda (AQIM) has claimed responsibility
for the failed suicide bomb attack at Nema, some 1,200 km east of Nouakchott, the
capital of Mauritania.

Pirates Take Sides, Both Sides, in Somalia’s War (New York Times)
(Somalia) For years, Somalia’s heavily armed pirate gangs seemed content to rob and
hijack on the high seas and not get sucked into the messy civil war on land. Now, that
may be changing, and the pirates are taking sides — both sides.

At least 4 die in Mozambique food riots (CNN)

(Mozambique) At least four people died and 27 were wounded in riots that erupted
Wednesday after Mozambique's government announced increases in the price of bread,
water, energy and other critical goods, the southern African nation's official news
agency reported.

Africa to become world's breadbasket: think-tank (Xinhua)

(Pan Africa) With one-quarter of the world's arable land, the African continent has the
potential not only to feed its people but to become the breadbasket of the world, the
Post of Zambia reported on Wednesday.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
 DR Congo: UN peacekeeping official visits the east after rape of civilians
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

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

USA’S AFRICOM may directly train Somali troops (Somaliland Press)

Since the creation of Africa Command Center under Bush administration in 2007, much
focus of the Command has been creation of development projects and military
cooperation between participating African countries and the United States military.

In addition to providing logistics in fight against piracy activities off the Somali coast,
AFRICOM has been providing training Ugandan and Burundi peacekeeping forces
before heading to Somalia to support the US-backed government. However AFRICOM
may directly be involved in training Somali troops in Uganda and Burundi. In an
interview with the US military newspaper, Stripes.com, the head of AFRICOM, Gen.
William “Kip” Ward said AFRICOM is prepared to provide training directly to Somali
troops instead of training African militaries to train Somalia troops.

“To the degree that the Transitional Federal Government and its military structure
requires and asks for that same thing, we are prepared to do that,” Ward said during an
interview Monday at his headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. But the General said that
is political decision that can only come from the White House and not from AFRICOM.

Currently AFRICOM only provides training and logistic support to African

peacekeeping mission in Somalia. Also the U.S. government provides military and
financial support to weak Somali government. However, the US has opted not to get
involved directly in fighting that is taking place between Al Qaeda affiliated group, Al
Shabab and the U.S.-backed government. But training the Somali troops could present a
dramatic shift in is U.S. strategy towards Somalia.

Gen. William “Kip” Ward in the same interview pointed out that U.S. strategy towards
Somalia is “under review in Washington.” And he added that AFRICOM is prepaard to
provide what is necessary to act on any development in any new approach towards
Somalia. The General also confirmed that is unlikely that U.S. military will be on
ground in Somalia.

Somalia quietly has been the third front of the war against Islamic extremism after Iraq
and Afghanistan. Militant group, Al Shabab officially has pledged allegiance to Al
Qaeda. The group made international headlines when it killed more than 70 civilians in
Uganda during the final game of World Cup. In the last few days a number of Islamic
militant groups has joined forces to toppled the weak Somali government in
Mogadishu. More than 60 people were killed so far in continuous battles in streets of
Mogadishu in the last few days between Islamists and Somali federal government
supported by African Union troops.

The United States is concerned that instable Somalia could be safe haven and training
ground for foreign jihadists from around the world. The U.S. State Department has
declared Al Shabab a terrorist organization.

EU disburses €47million for peace effort in Somalia

In addition, the European Union (EU) announced on Wednesday it issued €47 million
to support peace making efforts in the troubled Somalia through the African Union
(AU) Commission.

This brings the EU allocation to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) to a
total of €142 million funded under the African Peace Facility (APF) since 2007.

Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy said
in a statement that “AMISOM remains crucial to prevent a severe further downfall in
the security of Somalia and has proven to be key to the creation of minimum security
pre-conditions for dialogue and reconciliation in Somalia.”
AMISON has had an uninterrupted peacekeeping presence in Mogadishu since March
2007 where currently around 5,500 Ugandan and Burundi troops under the AU are
helping the TFG of Somalia in stabilizing the country.

The EU support to AMISOM is funded under the African Peace Facility and channelled
through the African Union.

The support to AMISOM is part of a multi-level EU strategy towards Somalia which

encompasses regular assistance to the security sector through development
programmes and projects, humanitarian assistance, naval security operations and
security training.
--------------------
Obama faces calls to get tougher on Sudan amid war fears (AFP)

WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama is facing calls by activists to get

tougher with the Sudanese government to bring peace to Darfur and ensure a peaceful
referendum on southern independence in January.

In a letter sent to Obama dated August 26 -- a copy of which was obtained by AFP --
activist groups urged the Obama administration to return to its original carrot-and-stick
policy that was unveiled last October.

The letter signed by around 80 groups welcomed the announcement last week by the
State Department to expand its diplomatic presence in Sudan, including dispatching
retired US ambassador Princeton Lyman, a seasoned Africa hand.

But it added: "We believe a more robust set of tools must be employed to ensure not
only a peaceful referendum on southern independence, but also peace in all Sudanese
regions, including Darfur, through the referendum and beyond."

Under the 2005 US-backed Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which ended a 20-
year civil war between north and south, a referendum is due to be held on January 9 to
let southerners decide on union or independence.

But a commission formed in June to organize the referendum is torn by internal

disagreement and has still not begun the process of voter registration which is expected
to take several weeks at least.

"It appears that some in your administration are currently advocating for an incentives-
based approach focused on the short-term goal of a peaceful referendum," said the
letter to Obama.
"While we agree that this goal is a critical one, we strongly believe that this approach
will only ensure more backsliding in the future by an emboldened regime in
Khartoum," the letter said.

Amir Osman, a Save Darfur Coalition executive, told AFP he believed Scott Gration, the
special envoy for Sudan, favors the "incentives-only approach", and Susan Rice, the US
ambassador to the United Nations, backs "the balanced approach."

The letter added: "We must also not lose focus on resolving the worsening
humanitarian and security crisis in Darfur as the government of Sudan continues its
track record of abuses and violence in Darfur and throughout Sudan.

Darfur has been gripped by civil war since 2003 that has left 300,000 people dead and
2.7 million displaced, according to the United Nations.

The letter was signed by groups including The Enough Project, Genocide Intervention
Network, Save Darfur Coalition, Affiliation of Christian Engineers, American Islamic
Congress, and Jewish World Watch.

The Enough Project said incentives could include full normalization of Khartoum's ties
with Washington, while pressures could include urging countries to ban international
travel for officials and expanding the UN arms embargo.
--------------------
U.S. sees rebel "tension" on foreign militant role (Reuters)

LONDON – Foreign militants do not enjoy universal acceptance in Somalia's al-

Shabaab but outside powers will find it hard to use their presence to divide and weaken
the hardline Islamist insurgency, a U.S. military official said.

A collection of militants from countries as diverse as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Sudan and
the Comoros are the driving force behind the hardline radical group, which controls
swathes of south and central Somalia, several analysts have said.

Some analysts see potential for fomenting divisions, since more nationalist al Shabaab
footsoldiers share few of the global ambitions of the al Qaeda-aligned foreigners, who
include some diaspora Somalis who left homes in the West to join the group.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the foreigners' presence was
constantly discussed in al-Shabaab, perhaps due in part to a perennial wariness about
outsiders.

But this same sensitivity to outsiders meant any attempt by governments who oppose
them to cause rifts would be difficult.
"There are some foreigners among the Islamic insurgency and that is an issue of tension
- to what extent do you want these foreigners helping out?" said the official, speaking in
a briefing on U.S. military support for governments in the region.

"Does it hurt the cause of Islamic ascendancy in Somalia or does it help it, on balance?
There is a debate."

An attempt by outside powers to highlight these differences would immediately be

suspect because it was not coming from Somalis, and it would therefore have to be done
with finesse.

"Somalia is a really difficult place for the international community to act just because
Somalis do tend to have - I'm generalizing which is always risky -- this reaction against
foreigners," he said.

Al Shabaab, fighting to topple the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), claimed

responsibility for an attack in Uganda's capital on July 11 that killed 79 people.

The group said the attack was revenge for Uganda's deployment in an African Union
peacekeeping force in Somalia, which has had no effective government for two decades
and has suffered militia chaos, war and periodic famine in that time.

The official said the bombing, al Shabaab's first successful foreign strike, was "a
controversial act" that probably created splits in the insurgency's leadership over tactics
"in terms of how to go about getting to that goal (of an Islamic state). Was this the right
time? And the right thing to do?"

"I think the Islamic insurgency moves into uncharted territory (following the
bombing)...because what's the international reaction? Does the international community
get more involved in Somalia because of that?...In general it opens up a lot of unknowns
for the leadership."

The military official said that despite the debate over tactics, the leadership appeared
united on the broad strategy of contributing to al Qaeda's global anti-Western
campaign.
--------------------
Congo leaders: We begged UN to protect civilians (Associated Press)

JOHANNESBURG – Congolese community leaders say they begged local U.N. officials
and army commanders to protect villagers days before rebels gang-raped scores of
people, from a month-old baby boy to a 110-year-old great-great-grandmother.
The rapes occurred in and around Luvungi, a village of about 2,200 people that is a half-
hour drive from a U.N. peacekeepers' camp and a 90-minute ride from Walikale, a
major mining center and base for hundreds of Congolese troops.

The number of people treated for rape in the July 30 to Aug. 4 attacks now stands at 242
— a high number even for eastern Congo, where rape has become a daily hazard. The
rebels occupied the area for more than four days until they withdrew voluntarily.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has declared his outrage — survivors say they
were attacked by between two and six fighters and raped in front of their husbands and
children. Ban has sent his assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping, Atul Khare, to
investigate the alleged lack of action from the U.N. mission in Congo.

Many question why the peacekeepers are not fulfilling their primary mandate, the
strongest yet given to any U.N. force, which allows them to use force to protect
civilians, and especially women and children. The U.N. says it passed through Luvungi
but villagers did not say anything about the rebels.

Charles Masudi Kisa said his Walikale Civil Association first sounded the alarm on July
25, meeting with Congolese army and local authorities to say that the withdrawal of
soldiers from several outposts was putting people in danger of attacks from rebels. The
military had abandoned every post from Luvungi to just outside Walikale, for unclear
reasons, he said.

Masudi said that on July 29, acting on information from motorcycle taxis, he warned the
U.N. Civil Affairs bureau in Walikale, the army and the local administration that rebels
were moving in on Luvungi. "Again we begged them to secure the population of
Luvungi and told them that these people were in danger," he said. Freddy Zanga,
secretary of the association Masudi leads, confirmed his account.

When Luvungi was occupied on July 30, Masudi heard from truck drivers forced to
turn back and passed information on to officials in the same offices. That same day, the
United Nations sent text and e-mail messages to aid workers warning them to be aware
that armed perpetrators were in the area, much of it dense forest that provides
convenient cover for fighters.

On Aug. 1, Masudi said, his group heard from some raped women who had escaped
and reported that scores of rebels had overrun the area.

Roger Meece, the U.N. mission chief in Congo, says a Congolese army patrol moved
through the area on Aug. 2, apparently removed a rebel roadblock, exchanged fire with
some fighters, and got information suggesting "a dramatic decrease" in rebel and militia
activity. In fact, some 200 to 400 rebels were occupying villages alongside the road and
into the interior, according to reports from survivors. The U.N. says there are 80
peacekeepers at its Kibua camp near Luvungi.

Also on Aug. 2, Indian peacekeepers accompanied some commercial vehicles to protect

them from the rebel roadblock and stopped in Luvungi.

"How could they protect commercial goods but they could not protect the people?"
Masudi asked.

The peacekeepers stayed long enough to arrest a Mai-Mai militiaman accused of trying
to steal a motorcycle. But the village people did not make any reports of what had
happened in the preceding days, Meece said.

The patrol also stopped in another village, Bunya Mumpire, from which aid workers
reported many rapes. Meece said people there wanted to fight the militiaman with the
peacekeepers but again did not report that they were under attack. It's unclear what
means of communication were available to the peacekeepers, who often travel without
interpreters and generally do not speak the Kiswahili, French or Kinyarwanda spoken
in the region.

On Aug. 4, the local chief came to Walikale and reported that the rebels had left and
that large numbers of people had been raped. He spoke to Masudi's organization, the
International Medical Corps, the U.N. office in Walikale and to civilian authorities,
Masudi said.

On Aug. 5, a convoy including medical corps workers and Masudi's organization drove
to Luvungi and the extent of the horrors began to unfold, as raped women began
coming out of the forest.

Miel Hendrickson, regional director of the Los Angeles-based International Medical

Corps, says her group briefed officials at the Walikale office of the U.N. Organization
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs when they returned from their first trip to
Luvungi the night of Aug. 6. "We told them the area had been attacked, that there had
been no fighting and no deaths, but raping and looting," she says.

Roger Meece, the top U.N. envoy in Congo, said U.N. peacekeepers in the area did not
learn about the rape and looting spree until Aug. 12 from the International Medical
Corps. Two U.N. officials in Kinshasa told The Associated Press that they got first word
from media reports, even though the U.N.'s small Civil Affairs office in Walikale is
charged with protecting civilians.

The United Nations did not send a team until Aug. 13, according to Reece.
The number of people treated went up from a couple of dozen on Aug. 5, to 154 by
Aug. 16, 172 the following week and 242 by Wednesday, Hendrickson said.

Congo's government has grabbed at past failures by U.N. peacekeepers to call for the
withdrawal of the force, the biggest in the world at about 18,000. U.N. officials say
soldiers are hampered by mountainous and rugged terrain and are sparsely deployed
across a country the size of Western Europe. But aid workers say there is a well-graded
dirt road from the U.N. camp at Kibua to Luvungi, and from Walikale to Luvungi.

Congo's army and U.N. peacekeepers have been unable to defeat the few thousand
rebels responsible for the long drawn-out conflict in eastern Congo, which is fueled by
the area's massive mineral reserves. Maj. Sylvain Ikenge, a spokesman for army
operations in eastern Congo, would not say why soldiers had withdrawn from the area,
allowing rebels to move in, only that they "are now concentrated around Walikale to
concentrate our efforts to track down the rebels."

"The FARDC (Congolese armed forces) cannot occupy each and every area to secure
everyone and also track the rebels," he said, adding that Walikale territory is greater
than the combined size of neighboring Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda.
--------------------
AQIM claims responsibility for failed bomb attack in Mauritania (Xinhua)

NOUAKCHOTT - The North African wing of Al Qaeda (AQIM) has claimed

responsibility for the failed suicide bomb attack at Nema, some 1,200 km east of
Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania.

The failed attack came on Aug. 25, when the Mauritanian army shot to death a suicide
bomber attempting to force through the gates of an army barracks with a 4x4 vehicle
full of explosives.

In a statement on an Arabic website, the terrorist organization said this failed attack was
meant to be a revenge against the July 22 Franco-Mauritanian raid on an AQIM camp.
Seven AQIM members lost their lives during the assault, which was reportedly
launched to release a 78-year-old French hostage.

The statement gave the details of the operation, saying the vehicle of the suicide bomber
was transporting 1.2 tons of explosives and that he managed to force himself through
the gates of the barracks, causing serious damage to the property.

According to Mauritania's security sources, the attempted attack left the suicide bomber
dead and more than three Mauritanian military officers injured.
--------------------
Pirates Take Sides, Both Sides, in Somalia’s War (New York Times)
Ismail Haji Noor, a local government official, recently arrived in this notorious pirate
den with a simple message: we need your help.

With the Shabab militant group sweeping across Somalia and the American-backed
central government teetering on life support, Mr. Noor stood on a beach flanked by
dozens of pirate gunmen, two hijacked ships over his shoulder, and announced, “From
now on we’ll be working together.”

He hugged several well-known pirate bosses and called them “brother” and later
explained that while he saw the pirates as criminals and eventually wanted to
rehabilitate them, right now the Shabab was a much graver threat.

“Squished between the two, we have to become friends with the pirates,” Mr. Noor
said. “Actually, this is a great opportunity.”

For years, Somalia’s heavily armed pirate gangs seemed content to rob and hijack on
the high seas and not get sucked into the messy civil war on land. Now, that may be
changing, and the pirates are taking sides — both sides.

While local government officials in Hobyo have deputized pirate gangs to ring off
coastal villages and block out the Shabab, down the beach in Xarardheere, another
pirate lair, elders said that other pirates recently agreed to split their ransoms with the
Shabab and Hizbul Islam, another Islamist insurgent group.

The militant Islamists had originally vowed to shut down piracy in Xarardheere,
claiming it was unholy, but apparently the money was too good. This seems to be
beginning of the West’s worst Somali nightmare, with two of the country’s biggest
growth industries — piracy and Islamist radicalism — joining hands.

Somalia’s pirates are famous opportunists — “we just want the money” is their mantra
— so it is not clear how long these new alliances of convenience will last. But clan
leaders along Somalia’s coast say that something different is in the salty air and that the
pirates are getting more ambitious, shrewdly reinvesting their booty in heavy weapons
and land-based militias, and now it may be impossible for such a large armed force —
the pirates number thousands of men — to stay on the sidelines.

“You can’t ignore the pirates anymore,” said Mohamed Aden, a clan leader in central
Somalia. “They’re getting more and more muscle. They used to invest their money in
just boats and going out to sea but now they’re building up their military side.”

Take the elusive and powerful pirate boss Mohamed Garfanji, who surfaced briefly two
weeks ago wearing a belt of bullets strapped across his chest in an X and a purple rain
jacket to guide a group of foreign journalists to Hobyo, his base of operations. The
journalists had been invited by the Galmudug State administration, a clan-based local
government trying to gain a foothold in the region. But Hobyo is a fully engulfed piracy
community, where 10-year-old boys with Kalashnikovs hang out in the sandy streets
and glare at outsiders, and the visit could happen only with Mr. Garfanji’s blessing.
During a meeting with Hobyo elders, Mr. Garfanji stuck his head through the door and
grunted: “It’s O.K. for you guys to speak to the journalists. And for them to take
pictures.” After that, he vanished.

Mr. Garfanji is believed to have hijacked a half-dozen ships and used millions of dollars
in ransom money to build a small infantry division of several hundred men, 80 heavy
machine guns and a fleet (a half dozen) of large trucks with antiaircraft guns — not
exactly typical pirate gear of skiffs and grappling hooks.

While some of his troops wear jeans with “Play Boy” stitched on the seat, others sport
crisp new camouflage uniforms, seemingly more organized than just about any other
militia in Somalia.

Mr. Garfanji’s original motivation was probably profit, pure and simple — by
mustering a formidable force on land, nobody could squeeze him to pay protection fees.
But now his associates claim that their pirate army was created to stop Hizbul Islam
and the Shabab.

“Sometimes,” explained Fathi Osman Kahir, a pirate middle manager, “you commit
crimes to defend your freedom.”

Somalia’s violence has been grinding on since 1991, when the central government
collapsed, but it keeps morphing in subtle but potentially significant ways. Just last
year, elders in several coastal areas were turning against pirates because of their un-
Islamic ways. Now, with the security situation deteriorating so rapidly, elders today
seem to ask fewer questions, especially about where their young men get their guns. In
Hobyo, a poor, isolated village on a crescent of white sand, the big fear is the Shabab.

In Mogadishu, a Reprieve in Fighting (September 2, 2010) The Shabab are the most
fearsome insurgents in Somalia — they have pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda — and last
month they showed how effective — and brutal — they can be by infiltrating a hotel in
the government zone of Mogadishu, the capital, and methodically gunning down more
than 30 people, including four lawmakers. Once the Shabab take over an area, they
impose a harsh form of Islamic law, banning music, soccer, even bras. Offenders can get
their hands chopped off or their heads bashed in with rocks.

Many areas of Somalia have given up on the central government’s saving them from the
Shabab, which is why local administrations are beginning to gain traction. The local
governments are often run by Somalis who have lived abroad, like Mr. Noor, a former
Somali Army officer who resided in London for years and still seems to enjoy playing
war. (Night vision scope: Check. Body armor: Check. 9 mm pistol tucked into the small
of his back: Check.) One of Mr. Noor’s favorite expressions, which he continually
barked out to the journalists with him, was “be my skin,” meaning something like “stay
close to me” because even though he was working with the pirates, there were still
some serious questions about trust.

Still, Mr. Noor said, he needed the pirate muscle to protect his area because “we just
don’t have the forces.”

Many pirates seem happy to help. Though 2010 is shaping up as another banner year —
more than 30 ships have been hijacked, which means tens of millions of dollars in
ransom — the increased naval presence off Somalia’s coast has taken its toll, with
hundreds of pirates now in jail and even more lost at sea and presumably drowned.

Ahmed Elmi Osoble, 27, said his family was so upset at him for being a pirate that they
basically staged an intervention to get him to quit.

“As soon as I got back from the Seychelles,” he said, where he had been jailed for six
months on piracy charges, “my mom locked me in the house.”

“She wouldn’t let me out until I got another job.”

He is now driving a truck for the government/pirate militia — it is hard to separate the
two — working side by side with policemen in grubby Galmudug administration
uniforms and his pirate friends wearing the Play Boy jeans.
--------------------
At least 4 die in Mozambique food riots (CNN)

At least four people died and 27 were wounded in riots that erupted Wednesday after
Mozambique's government announced increases in the price of bread, water, energy
and other critical goods, the southern African nation's official news agency reported.

The exact death toll was unclear -- the news agency said other "credible sources" were
reporting at least 10 people had died.

And a U.S. Embassy official in the capital city, Maputo, told CNN that credible sources
were citing six deaths, including a child. He said that two secondary-school students
were among the injured.

Police made 142 arrests, according to police spokesman Pedro Cossa, who said casualty
figures were likely to rise.

Cossa said police used tear gas and rubber bullets against the rioters, but local media --
citing witnesses -- said real bullets were also used.
Three buses were burned, 32 shops were vandalized and more than five cars were
burned or vandalized, Cossa added.

The price hikes are to go into effect September 6.

The violence took place in the cities of Maputo and Matola, with the deaths occurring
on the outskirts of Maputo, the Mozambique News Agency reported.

Bank and electricity company offices were vandalized, and food warehouses belonging
to the Sasseka and Delta Trading distribution companies were looted, the report said.

The U.S. Embassy official, who asked not to be identified, said President Armando
Guebuza -- in a nationally televised address -- appealed for calm, saying the reputation
of the country was at risk, but offering no economic solutions.

He said the government is already subsidizing the prices of food goods and gas.

Minister of Interior Jose Pacheco -- during a news conference -- had called for calm and
exhorted parents to control their teenagers.

The U.S. State Department urged American citizens to avoid all unnecessary travel and
remain at their homes or hotels until further notice. The embassy will continue to
operate, but will provide only emergency American citizen services, it said.
--------------------
Africa to become world's breadbasket: think-tank (Xinhua)

LUSAKA - With one-quarter of the world's arable land, the African continent has the
potential not only to feed its people but to become the breadbasket of the world, the
Post of Zambia reported on Wednesday.

Quoting the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis (FANRPAN), an
agricultural-related think-tank, the paper said it is unfortunate that food security in
Africa is still an aspiration.

"With one-quarter of the world's arable land, Africa produces only 10 percent of its total
global output. More than 265 million people are still chronically hungry, yet Africa is
estimated to hold 60 percent of the world's remaining uncultivated farmland," the
organization's chief executive officer Lindiwe Sibanda was quoted as saying by the
paper.

She said the stagnant agricultural productivity is a constant battle in Africa, exacerbated
by limited access to agricultural inputs, water, markets and knowledge.
Sibanda said that the impacts of climate change have added yet another obstacle in
front of African farmers.

"Developing countries stand to bear the brunt of climate change, while being the least
resilient to extreme or erratic weather patterns, such as floods, droughts, salinity
exposure and unpredictable rainfall," she added.
-------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

DR Congo: UN peacekeeping official visits the east after rape of civilians

1 September – A senior United Nations peacekeeping official, who is visiting the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) following the recent mass rape of civilians by
members of illegal armed groups, has travelled to the eastern region of the country
where the crimes were committed, a UN spokesperson said today.