United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

27 September 2010

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

Unidentified helicopter bombs Al Shabaab meeting in Somalia (Garowe Online)

(Somalia) A warships helicopter stationed off Somalia's coast on Sunday attacked a
house where affiliates of the insurgent group, Al-Shabaab were meeting in Marka,
in Lower Shabelle region, Radio Garowe reports. Residents told Garowe Online that the
insurgents meeting there left the house moments before the helicopter attack.

Helicopter Attacks Militant Meeting in Somalia (New York Times)

(Somalia) An unidentified military helicopter blasted rockets at a house where Somali
militants were meeting on Sunday, according to residents and insurgent leaders, in an
apparent strike against the Shabab insurgent group.

Saharan Army Chiefs Discuss al-Qaida Threat (Voice of America)

(Algeria) The army chiefs of four Saharan countries met Sunday to establish a joint
strategy for fighting al-Qaida-linked militants. Chiefs of staff from Algeria, Mali,
Mauritania, and Niger met in Tamanrasset, in southern Algeria, where the countries
recently set up a joint headquarters to coordinate anti-terrorism efforts.

Africa's neocolonial era ending as US and France seek new partnerships (Deutsche
Welle)
(Pan Africa) For generations, Africa’s fate lay in the hands of self-interested foreign
powers. Today, the US and France promise a fresh approach to the continent that puts
Africans in charge of their own security and development.

Somalia chief says Al-Qaeda seeks growing African base (AFP)

(United Nations) The head of Somalia's weakened transitional government on Saturday
accused Islamist insurgents of seeking to turn the war-stricken country into a base for
Al-Qaeda to bring terror to the whole of the Horn of Africa. Sharif Sheikh Ahmed,
whose western-backed administration only retains a shaky control of Mogadishu with
African Union peacekeepers, appealed for greater international support including more
troops to fight Islamists.

Uganda: A pawn in the US’s proxy African war on terror (The Peninsula)
(Uganda) Efforts to forcibly pacify Somalia have created fertile ground for it to develop
and spread, while also risking fragile freedoms elsewhere. This fiasco has been led
politically by Washington which, since the catastrophic American occupation of
Somalia in 1993, has preferred to see its security objectives advanced through African
proxies and private security contractors.

Obama Presses for Peace in Likely Sudan Partition (New York Times)
(Sudan) After months of leaving Sudan policy on a back burner, President Obama put
the weight of his administration and his own personal esteem in Africa on the line
Friday, demanding that north and south Sudan ensure that their likely split into two
nations early next year proceed peacefully.

Critics Claim Obama’s Sudan Push is PR (Fox News)

(Sudan) As President Obama wraps up his three-day trip to New York City and the
United Nations General Assembly, he will chair a meeting on Sudan, the largest
country in Africa, that has been waging a bloody civil war for years. But, even as the
meeting is getting underway, critics say this latest push by the administration is nothing
more than public relations.

Clinton's New Report Praises and Attacks Electoral Commission (The Monitor)
(Uganda) The Obama administration has criticised alleged manhandling of political
opponents in Uganda ahead of the 2011 elections and voiced fresh disapproval about
the independence of the Dr Badru Kiggundu-led Electoral Commission.

Sanctions stay until Zimbabwean rights improve: U.S. (Reuters)

(Zimbabwe) Zimbabwe must show greater respect for human rights and political
freedoms before the U.S. sanctions on the impoverished African nation can be removed,
the State Department said on Sunday.

US asks Japan, other countries to aid Somalia (AFP)

(Somalia) The United States on Friday urged Japan and other countries in Asia, Europe
and the Middle East to contribute funds to Somalia's beleaguered government and the
Africa Union peacekeeping force there.

Somalia’s Puntland, Somaliland Support U.S. Cooperation (All Headline News)

(Somaliland/Puntland) The semi-autonomous region of Somalia’s Puntland and the
break-away republic of Somaliland support U.S. cooperation, authorities said Sunday.

Kenya says West wasting money on anti-piracy ships (Associated Press)

(Kenya) Kenya's foreign minister said Saturday the millions being spent to fight pirate
attacks off the coast of Somalia should be spent instead on helping the country become
a functioning state.

Kidnapped French, African Aid Workers Reported Alive In Mali (All Headline News)
(Mali) Sources in Mali told French officials on Sunday that five French nationals, a
Togolese and a Malagasy kidnapped by Al Qaeda militants in Niger on Sept. 16 are
alive and are now in the neighboring African country.

USAFE general: Keep U.S. military forces in Europe (Stars and Stripes)
(Germany) On the eve of his departure as U.S. Air Forces in Europe commander, Gen.
Roger Brady remains a vocal advocate of a robust U.S. military presence in Europe,
despite calls by some U.S. lawmakers to reduce that footprint in an effort to curtail a
ballooning defense budget.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
 General Assembly: Ban and Rwandan President discuss various issues
 African nations push for permanent Security Council representation
 UN and African Union launch joint task force on peace and security
 Guinea-Bissau requires sustained international support, General Assembly
hears
 Sudan: Ban meets senior official for talks ahead of critical referenda
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Wednesday, October 6, Noon; Cato Institute

WHAT: Why Africa Is Poor and What Africans Can Do about It
WHO: Greg Mills, Director, Brenthurst Foundation, South Africa; Marian L. Tupy,
Policy Analyst, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, Cato Institute; moderated by
Ian Vásquez, Director, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, Cato Institute
Info: http://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=7401
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FULL ARTICLE TEXT

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

Unidentified helicopter bombs Al Shabaab meeting in Somalia (Garowe Online)

(Somalia) A warships helicopter stationed off Somalia's coast on Sunday attacked a

house where affiliates of the insurgent group, Al-Shabaab were meeting in Marka,
in Lower Shabelle region, Radio Garowe reports. Residents told Garowe Online that the
insurgents meeting there left the house moments before the helicopter attack.

A report says that the helicopter flew from a warship that patrols Indian Ocean.

"The attacks happen instantaneously, the helicopter flew away after Islamist forces fired
back at it," eyewitnesses said.
One of Al-Shabaab militant stated that the attacks targeted the senior officials who
participated the meeting but failed to succeed after Al Shabaab fighters back at it.

"The helicopter flying at the east, then start firing mortars at the house which
completely destroyed it," said an Al-Shabaab source.

Somali journalists were refused to cover the story in Marka.

The attack was the second one that erupted in that region. In Sept 2009, an American air
strike killed a senior Al-Shabaab linked to Al-Qaeda, Salah Ali Nabhan. In May 2008, Al
Shabaab founder Adan Hashi Ayro was killed in a U.S. airstrike.

Al-Shabaab strongly opposes the policies of the government in Somalia. It is accused of

having links with terrorist groups, chiefly Al-Qaeda.

The Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Mogadishu backed by AU,

which has long promised to launch a major offensive against insurgents, controls only a
few streets of Mogadishu.

Helicopter Attacks Militant Meeting in Somalia (New York Times)

(Somalia) An unidentified military helicopter blasted rockets at a house where Somali

militants were meeting on Sunday, according to residents and insurgent leaders, in an
apparent strike against the Shabab insurgent group.

Residents in Merca, a seaside town firmly in Shabab hands, said that a foreign military
helicopter was flying in low circles overhead on Sunday morning before the attack. The
residents said they saw the helicopter coming from the ocean, but they did not see any
ships or know what country it belonged to.

According to one Shabab official, the helicopter’s rockets narrowly missed killing
several leaders of the group. Immediately after the attack, the group started blocking
the roads in and outside the town and started investigations. They also seized
cellphones from local reporters in an effort to ensure that the information did not go
beyond Merca, according to residents.

The rockets hit “between two houses, and for God’s sake no one has been killed or
injured in the attack,” said the Shabab official, who spoke from Merca on the condition
of anonymity. “It was in fact a house where Shabab officials were meeting.”
A senior Pentagon official and a senior military official, both in Washington, said late
Sunday that there were no American aircraft in the area and no American involvement
in the attack. In fact, it would be highly unlikely for a single American helicopter
gunship to carry out such an attack without one or more other aircraft nearby.

Last year, American commandos killed Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a wanted agent of Al
Qaeda, in a helicopter raid not far from Merca. That swath of southern Somalia is
widely believed to be a sanctuary for several wanted terrorists and insurgent leaders,
including Omar Hammami, an American militant originally from Alabama who has
steadily risen up the Shabab ranks and become one of the organization’s top field
commanders.

The Shabab, who have gained a reputation of ruthlessness for stoning adulterers and
chopping off hands, control much of Somalia and have drawn increasingly close to Al
Qaeda in recent months. At the same time, Somalia’s internationally recognized
transitional federal government, which has received tens of millions of dollars of
American aid, is struggling to control a few blocks of the capital, Mogadishu.

Over the weekend, the government was hit by another potentially damaging blow.
Ahlu Sunna Wal Jamaa, a powerful group of moderate Islamists, abruptly quit the
government after having signed a power-sharing pact earlier this year.
On Saturday, Sheik Abdullahi Abdirahman Abu Yusuf, a spokesman for Ahlu Sunna
Wal Jamaa, announced, “We will not be part of the upcoming government, and we will
not have any representatives as well.”

He said that “the government of Somalia is not committed to the defense of the people”
and that Ahlu Sunna forces had been the only ones to repel the Shabab. Ahlu Sunna
forces have driven the Shabab out of some areas of central Somalia while the
transitional government forces have steadily lost territory to the Shabab, and, on many
occasions, fled from the front lines instead of fighting.

The United States is now indicating that it may be shifting its strategy on Somalia.
On Friday, Johnnie Carson, the assistant secretary of state for African affairs, said that
the United States, in addition to supporting the transitional federal government, will
now be “pursuing a second track, which we think is also increasingly important, and
that is we will work to engage more actively with the governments of Puntland and
Somaliland.” (Puntland and Somaliland are two northern regions that are relatively
peaceful.)
Mr. Carson added that the United States was also going to “reach out to groups in south
central Somalia, groups in local governments, clans and subclans that are opposed to Al
Shabab.”
Mohamed Ibrahim reported from Mogadishu, and Jeffrey Gettleman from Nairobi, Kenya. Eric
Schmitt contributed reporting from Washington.

Saharan Army Chiefs Discuss al-Qaida Threat (Voice of America)

(Algeria) The army chiefs of four Saharan countries met Sunday to establish a joint
strategy for fighting al-Qaida-linked militants. Chiefs of staff from Algeria, Mali,
Mauritania, and Niger met in Tamanrasset, in southern Algeria, where the countries
recently set up a joint headquarters to coordinate anti-terrorism efforts.

Algeria says the military chiefs will also talk about ways to combat organized crime.
The group known as al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb is holding five French and two
African hostages it seized 10 days ago in Niger. The French president’s office said
Sunday it believes the hostages are being held in the Timetrine region of northern
Mali.

France says it wants to talk with the al-Qaida group, which has carried out a string of
killings and abductions across Africa’s Sahel and Sahara regions over the past few
years. Most recently, the group killed a 78-year-old French hostage after French and
Mauritanian forces launched a raid into Mali to rescue him.

Western nations have warned that unless Saharan nations cooperate in fighting
terrorism, the al-Qaida group could turn the desert into a safe haven and use it as a
base for launching attacks.

Some information in this story was provided by AFP and Reuters.

--------------------
Africa's neocolonial era ending as US and France seek new partnerships (Deutsche
Welle)

US and France want to strengthen the African Union

For generations, Africa’s fate lay in the hands of self-interested foreign powers. Today,
the US and France promise a fresh approach to the continent that puts Africans in
charge of their own security and development.

During the post-World War II period, the world's major powers championed African
independence in word, but undermined it in deed. As the Cold War broadened, the two
superpowers manipulated the continent's liberation movements for their own political
ends.

Meanwhile, former imperial powers such as France pushed a hidden agenda that
turned newly independent colonies into de-facto protectorates. Although African
independence existed on paper, in reality the continent's fate was still decided in
foreign capitals.

The consequences of this neocolonialism are far reaching. In a continent politically

engineered by foreigners, national borders often are not worth the map they are drawn
on. Many African states, designed in the mind of a European, cannot maintain
legitimacy before competing indigenous interests. Some have become failed states in
which government authority often does not reach beyond the capital city.

This instability has bred transnational crime and terrorism that jeopardize global
security. The US and France have responded by initiating a strategy that seeks to
stabilize the continent by strengthening African institutions instead of undermining
them. In the 21st century, African unity - not division - serves the interests of world
powers.

Drift into chaos

As the Soviet Union careened toward collapse, the governing principle of US policy in
Africa became obsolete. Washington no longer needed to cultivate African allies to
contain Moscow's influence on the continent. As a result, the US began to refocus its
involvement on humanitarian assistance.

But a policy driven by humanitarianism proved unsustainable after the botched

Somalia intervention in 1993, in which 18 US soldiers died. Washington pulled back and
remained aloof from African affairs even as genocide gripped Rwanda.

US reduced its presence in Africa after the intervention in Somalia failed

"After the Cold War you could say Africa was basically very low and this was strongly
reflected by the management by the Clinton Administration," Roland Marchal, an
expert on Sub-Saharan Africa with the Center for International Studies and Research at
SciencesPo Paris, told Deutsche Welle. "For the European Union the situation was never
like that because of the colonial past."

While US policy drifted, France maintained a neo-colonial relationship - called

"Francafrique" - with Francophone Africa. Paris had cultivated a quid-pro-quo
agreement with its former colonies, supporting questionable regimes with its military in
exchange for access to economic resources.
As the US and France tended to their own interests, many African states slid into
disarray. The world hardly lifted a finger as countries like Sierra Leone, Liberia, Somalia
and the Congo imploded in violence.

Partnership with Africa

The US received a shot across its bow in 1998 when al Qaeda bombed its embassies in
Kenya and Tanzania. The link between state collapse in Africa and international
security became clear. And September 11 underscored the global reach of transnational
terrorist organizations that take refuge in failed states.

"If you look at US policy globally at all levels, I would say that Africa still has the
bottom priority of all the major regions around the world," Ambassador David Shinn,
former US ambassador to Ethiopia and Burkina Faso, told Deutsche Welle. "Africa has
increased somewhat in importance, first because increasing amounts of US oil are
imported from Africa, and second the counterterrorism angle. That has clearly elevated
Africa in US interests."

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: France has begun to
broaden its policy in Africa beyond colonial tiesAs result, the US quietly reengaged the
continent. It began training militaries in West and East Africa to combat local terrorist
organizations that claim ties to al Qaeda. In 2007, Washington established a separate
military command for the continent called Africom. The command is designed to
emphasize development aid and public diplomacy in addition to military cooperation.

"There was a lot of suspicion about Africom when it first rolled out," Richard Downie,
an expert on Sub-Saharan Africa with the Center for Strategic and International Studies,
told Deutsche Welle. "There were worries because of the colonial experience, that we'll
have troops on the ground and sort of a neo-colonial experience again. I think it took a
lot of persuasion to convince the African players that Africom is not threatening, [that]
it's something that could be beneficial."

While US strategy was finding direction, many French policymakers had already
recognized that a policy based on old colonial ties made little sense in a world full of
emerging economies. Paris broadened its engagement beyond the Francophone
countries and adopted a multilateral approach that included Anglophone Africa as well
as its European partners.

"There is currently a diversification of interests," Tobias Koepf, a doctoral fellow with

the Middle East and Africa Research Division at the German Institute for International
and Security Affairs, told Deutsche Welle. "France is less focused on historical ties and
more on economic interests."
As France modernizes its economic engagement in Africa, it is also taking a greater
interest in the continent's long-term stability. According to Koepf, Paris has begun to
close ranks with Washington in its approach to terrorism, particularly against
organizations such as al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and al-Shabab in
Southern Somalia. French nationals have been targeted frequently by AQIM in recent
months, provoking Paris to declare war on the group.

France and the US are now working through multilateral institutions such as the
African Union (AU) instead of unilaterally pursuing their interests through lopsided
bilateral ties that have unintended consequences. They are helping the AU establish a
10,000-strong Standby Force, which will give Africa the ability to resolve crises on its
own initiative.

New pitfalls

Although the US and France are modernizing their Africa policies, the growing
emphasis on cooperation with African militaries could lead to new pitfalls.

"The problem is when you want to implement this policy you understand that on the
civilian component you don't have the money, while on the military component you
have the money," Marchal said. "The balance between civil and military activities won't
be taken very seriously."

Democracy in Africa remains fragile

A lopsided focus on security could jeopardize the civil institutions that the US and
France claim to support. African leaders could use security - combating terrorism for
example - as an excuse to clamp down on civil liberties and broaden executive power at
the expense of fragile democracy. That would signal a return to the irresponsible,
exploitative policies of the past.

"With all the talk of building up institutions and building democracy, the democratic
picture in Africa is not as positive as it was at beginning of the millennium," Downie
said. "Security priorities tend to override democratic priorities. You're seeing some
negative trends at the moment in countries like Ethiopia, where the elections were
pretty disastrous. [We'll see] whether the US and France will put their money where
their mouth is in terms of democracy instead of paying lip service."
--------------------

Somalia chief says Al-Qaeda seeks growing African base (AFP)

(United Nations) The head of Somalia's weakened transitional government on Saturday

accused Islamist insurgents of seeking to turn the war-stricken country into a base for
Al-Qaeda to bring terror to the whole of the Horn of Africa. Sharif Sheikh Ahmed,
whose western-backed administration only retains a shaky control of Mogadishu with
African Union peacekeepers, appealed for greater international support including more
troops to fight Islamists.

"Somalia is a weak link" in the fight against international terrorism, the president of the
transitional federal government told the UN General Assembly. Sharif told world
leaders that Al-Qaeda was working with the Shebab militants who now control much of
central and southern Somalia, which has been at conflict for more than two decades.

The president said the activities of Shebab "turns the stomach of anyone with a
conscience."

"They are killing Somali citizens, cutting their throats, cutting off their limbs and they
have carried out horrible crimes against humanity such as cutting off the heads of their
victims and throwing them away," he told the assembly.

"This movement does not believe in Somalia as a country and does not believe in the
creation of a government in Somalia but wants to turn the whole of the Horn of Africa
into a terrorist hub for their Al-Qaeda handlers to wreak havoc in the region and
beyond."

UN officials say growing numbers of foreign fighters are entering Somalia to join
Shebab, and in many cases are leading insurgent attacks against African Union troops.
But the international community has been increasingly critical of Sharif's efforts to
establish a stable government.

The transitional government has a mandate until August 2011, but international
officials say authorities are failing to effectively bring opposition groups into
government and even to organize basic services.

Sharif said his government needed more global resources, more support for the African
Union military mission (AMISOM) and more international security forces.

The United Nations held a special meeting on Somalia on Thursday and a statement
called on the transitional government to overcome divisions and speedily make
arrangements for an administration to take its place.

Uganda: A pawn in the US’s proxy African war on terror (The Peninsula)

The dangers of turning Africa into a front in the “war on terror” – much as it was a
front in two world wars and a cold war that were not of its making – have been starkly
revealed in Uganda following the 11 July bombings that killed 76 people watching the
World Cup final in popular nightspots. That atrocity was attributed to Somali al-
Shabaab extremists seeking to carry out retribution for the presence in Somalia of
Ugandan “peacekeeping” troops.
But there is no peace to keep in Somalia, where a transitional federal government (TFG),
established under UN auspices in 2002, controls only a few blocks of the capital city and
would have collapsed altogether but for a US-backed invasion by Ethiopia in 2006. Why
did Uganda’s veteran leader, Yoweri Museveni, rush in with military support for
Somalia’s decrepit regime where other African countries, barring Ethiopia and Burundi,
had feared to tread?

One factor is that Museveni needs to project Uganda as a “responsible member of the
international community” to deflect criticism of its own army’s alleged pillaging in the
neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo. The Ugandan People’s Defence Forces,
built out of the guerrilla army that brought Museveni to power 24 years ago, are
accused of human rights abuses while crushing rebellion in Uganda’s northern region.

More generally, western aid still supplies around a third of Uganda’s government
budget, but donor countries were becoming uncomfortable with the corruption that has
increasingly marred Museveni’s long rule. Alignment with US-backed efforts to see
Somalia pacified – so as to prevent the incubation and export of terror – serves both to
smooth relations and to attract US logistical and training support for the Ugandan
army.

Yet Ugandans, who have paid in blood for their country’s part in the botched counter-
insurgency efforts in Somalia, are now paying again in a clampdown on their civic
freedoms. In a new round of security measures, the citizens of Kampala will need police
clearance for all gatherings, including private parties and wedding receptions. “No
gathering of more than five people, even if it is in your compound, should be held
without clearance from the inspector general of police,” the Kampala metropolitan
police commander, Andrew Sorowen, told the press last week.

This measure comes as no less than 35 suspects await trial, which will be held behind
the closed doors of the Luzira maximum security prison, charged with involvement in
the 11 July attack. Sceptical Ugandans attribute the speed and number of arrests to a
“beauty contest” between Uganda’s various security forces – police, army and special
operations units – vying for anti-terror funds.

A Kenyan lawyer who travelled to Kampala last week to represent one of the
defendants was arrested and questioned by police before being put on a plane back to
Nairobi. A Muslim human rights activist accompanying him remains in custody.

Curtailment of civil liberties is widely interpreted as a move to muzzle the opposition in

the run-up to February 2011 general elections. Campaigning has already been marred
by violence and fraud in the primaries to select candidates for the ruling party, headed
by Museveni, who is seeking another 5-year term.
Thus, far from containing “Islamist” terror, efforts forcibly to pacify Somalia have
created fertile ground – attractive to fanatics from outside that country – for it to
develop and spread, while also risking fragile freedoms elsewhere

This fiasco has been led politically by Washington which, since the catastrophic
American occupation of Somalia in 1993 (and given the sobering experiences of Iraq
and Afghanistan), has preferred to see its security objectives advanced through African
proxies and private security contractors.

Museveni, a lifelong warrior who does not know the meaning of the word “retreat”, has
proved a willing proxy. In a predictably bellicose response to the Kampala bombings,
he increased Uganda’s troop commitment to Somalia and led calls for other African
Union states to send their own troops. The rules of engagement have been adjusted to
allow peacekeepers to fire first if they feel threatened: a highly ambiguous directive that
will leave nearly all actions in a grey zone.

Bolstering the Somali peacekeeping forces may be good news for US contractors such as
DynCorp International, who equip and train the peacekeepers in Somalia with US state
department funding. But it is hard to see how it is good for anyone else.
--------------------
Obama Presses for Peace in Likely Sudan Partition (New York Times)

UNITED NATIONS — After months of leaving Sudan policy on a back burner,

President Obama put the weight of his administration and his own personal esteem in
Africa on the line Friday, demanding that north and south Sudan ensure that their
likely split into two nations early next year proceed peacefully.

At a high-level Sudan meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General

Assembly, Mr. Obama said Washington would normalize relations should the Jan. 9
referendum for the independence of southern Sudan be carried off calmly and the
Darfur conflict be settled. Failing in either would bring further isolation, he warned.

If Khartoum fulfills its obligations in settling the conflicts, then the United States will
support agricultural development, expand trade and investment, exchange
ambassadors and eventually lift sanctions, Mr. Obama said.

“What happens in Sudan in the days ahead may decide whether a people who have
endured too much war move forward towards peace or slip backwards into
bloodshed,” Mr. Obama said, establishing the warning tone taken by all speakers at the
session.

With the southern Sudan independence vote a little more than 100 days away,
preparations are greatly lagging. Voter registration that was to have been done by the
end of August remains incomplete, and many technical issues are unsettled. Almost
nothing has been done to prepare for a secondary referendum to decide the fate of
Abyei, a contested area of important oil deposits.

The two sides are dragging their feet on details of the eventual divorce, given that the
roughly 4.8 million eligible voters in the south, the only side voting, are likely to choose
independence. With independence scheduled six months after the vote, major issues
like citizenship, borders and the division of oil revenue have not been negotiated. At
least 1.5 million southerners are believed to be living in Khartoum, the capital, and an
unknown number of northerners in the south.

United Nations officials had intended the meeting to be a small gathering of foreign
ministers to stress in the presence of senior representatives of both sides that the
referendum not be delayed.

But it ballooned into something much larger after President Obama decided to attend.
About 40 foreign leaders or senior officials signed up to speak. Ultimately the meeting
became a highly visible means to serve notice that the onus is on the Sudanese to carry
out the last, hardest stages of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement they signed in 2005.

All the governments participating, including major Security Council members like
Russia and China, as well as major pan-African organizations, endorsed a final
communiqué vowing that the referendum would be held on time and peace respected
no matter what the outcome. It also stressed the need to support peacekeeping efforts in
Darfur, the embattled western Sudanese region where violence flared anew in recent
months.

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement ended decades of war pitting the north,
dominated by Arab Muslims, against the Christian and animist south. The civil war left
two million people dead and millions more homeless.

Sudan borders on nine other African states, and many speakers worried aloud that any
instability “will not stop at its borders,” said Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the
leader of Qatar, which is trying to negotiate a peace among the Darfur militias.

The Sudanese had sought a closed meeting, but ultimately it was open, leaving Sudan’s
vice president, Ali Osman Taha, and Salva Kiir, the president of the south and a vice
president in the north, to sketch their differences in diplomatic terms.

Mr. Taha assured the gathering that the referendum would be held on time, but he
criticized the international community for supporting peace on one hand while
continuing the “demonization” of the north on the other. The International Criminal
Court’s indictment of Sudan’s president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, on war crimes
charges, economic sanctions, the lack of debt relief and Sudan’s presence on the United
States list of state sponsors of terrorism were all intended to weaken the country, he
said.

Mr. Kiir said that the Jan. 9 referendum date was sacred and that any technical delays
had to be overcome. “Any delays risk the return to instability and violence,” he said.

Numerous aid organizations, concerned that a lack of attention might encourage

opponents of the referendum to delay it, hailed the meeting. But some were outraged
that the final communiqué welcomed a commitment by Sudan to pursue war criminals,
given that Mr. Bashir has mocked his own indictment.

The final communiqué could not really attack Mr. Bashir while encouraging him to
respect the referendum deadline, said two senior officials involved with the
negotiations, who said the reference to Sudan’s commitment to pursue war criminals
was to ensure that the issue of impunity would not be ignored.
--------------------
Critics Claim Obama’s Sudan Push is PR (Fox News)

As President Obama wraps up his three-day trip to New York City and the United
Nations General Assembly, he will chair a meeting on Sudan, the largest country in
Africa, that has been waging a bloody civil war for years. But, even as the meeting is
getting underway, critics say this latest push by the administration is nothing more than
public relations.

The White House is pushing hard on the Sudan agenda, using the upcoming
referendum in that country as a milestone to encourage other nations in addition to the
United States to put pressure on the Sudanese. The referendum is part of a peace
agreement, originally settled on in 2005, which ended the armed conflict between the
north and the south of the nation. Sudan has been engaged in a civil war for almost all
of the country's history. The latest cycle of violence began in early 2003 when the Sudan
Liberation Army and the Equality Movement started attacking a variety of government
targets and accused the government based in the capital of Khartoum of oppressing
black Africans in favor of Arabs inside Sudan.

White House Senior Director of Multilateral Affairs, Samantha Power, said the meeting
is a chance for world powers to show Sudan they are united in ensuring peace in the
country. "It's no secret that the parties, in any conflict, but in this one, as well, have often
thought to play countries within the international community off one another, and this
is an event that will show that the world is united and that the parties need to move
very, very briskly and responsibly to ensure that these votes take place on time," Power
told reporters in a conference call on Monday.

But a former United States Envoy to Africa under President George W. Bush says the
meeting in New York is all show, and not much substance."It's public relations. It's a lot
of PR. The president needs to insert himself into the policy and be seen to actually care
about it and not just use this moment in New York to make a nice pretty speech," says
Jendayi Frazer.

Frazer says it's clear the Obama White House feels pressure to perform on African
affairs, especially in the face of criticism that Obama's predecessors did more for that
continent. "It's very clear the criticism he is getting is ‘President Bush had done a better
job on Sudan and other African issues' has motivated them to show more of a profile of
the president on Africa."

While most U.S. administrations have been reluctant to engage militarily in Sudan,
Frazer says this would be a good time to show some sort of force from the United
States. "I'm not saying we need to use U.S. troops. But we need to provide the
southerners with the wherewithal to protect themselves. We need to work with
neighboring countries to support a southern independent state that is strong and
viable."

United States Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice says the aim Friday is to
incite the Sudanese people to advocate on their own behalf. "Our aim is to spur them
forward in their own interest, consistent with their own commitments, and to be
supportive of the parties as they do so in the critical time where the stakes are high for
the people of Sudan, for the region and, indeed, for international peace and security,"
Rice told reporters on a conference call Monday.

Power says the conditions in Sudan, particularly in the region of Darfur, where
thousands of refugees live in tent cities, after being forced from their homes cannot
continue and the president will address that Friday. "We continue to see unacceptable
conditions for the people living in camps and the fact that they -- none of them feel safe
enough to return to their homes. So he will, of course, speak to the need for enhanced
security and dignity for the people of Darfur and the need for accountability, as well."

For her part, Frazer says there's more productive steps for Obama to take than just
Friday's meeting and says Obama's communication to the world should change. "He's
in campaign mode, showing up at the meeting on Sudan. The president needs to get
substantially engaged and be willing to make hard choices and put some credibility
behind the policy."
--------------------
Clinton's New Report Praises and Attacks Electoral Commission (The Monitor)

The Obama administration has criticised alleged manhandling of political opponents in

Uganda ahead of the 2011 elections and voiced fresh disapproval about the
independence of the Dr Badru Kiggundu-led Electoral Commission.
"The Ugandan government continued to intimidate and restrict the activities of
opposition parties," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says in a new report to Congress
on Uganda's preparations for the upcoming election.

In this, the second such filing to lawmakers, Ms Clinton says the government "took no
action" to further the independence of the EC despite agitation by Opposition leaders
and some donors, including the US, to reconstitute the team.

The government yesterday reiterated its position that the EC is "independent enough"
to organise flawless elections and is going no-where.

"They [Americans] don't seem to understand that the mere representation of the
opposition on the EC does not necessarily make it independent," Information Minister
Kabakumba Masiko said.

She added: "Let them say what they really want because this commission was
appointed according to the laws of Uganda. And I like the way the US is policing us."

The Kiggundu team was first appointed in 2002, when Uganda was still under the 'no-
party' Movement system, and the Supreme Court later ruled that it mismanaged the
first general elections it organised in 2006.

Re-composition calls

Thus the demand for re-composition of the EC team, in part to accommodate opposition
political parties, gained currency after the last ballot, which like the forthcoming one,
will be held under multi-party system re-adopted in 2005.

The US Congress in March directed the secretary of state to closely watch Uganda's
groundwork for the elections, and appraise lawmakers every quarter until 30 days after
the voting.

Key issues Congress wants scrutinised include the independence of the EC; security of
presidential candidates, media freedom and other civil liberties, need for an
accurate/verifiable voters' register; announcing and posting of results at polling
stations and freedom of movement/assembly as well as an electoral process free of
intimidation.

In the first report issued in April, Ms Clinton warned of an early "damage" to the
process, citing among other anomalies, a compromised EC and suffocation of civil
liberties.

The new report praises government for uploading the national voter's register online to
ease verification, and "generally" allowing other political parties to hold selective rallies.
Acting police spokesman Vincent Ssekatte yesterday said he needed to read the report
before commenting on allegations the Force brutalises opposition supporters and
journalists.

Minister Masiko, however, said police are justified to forcibly disrupt illegal gatherings,
whose participants allegedly assault officers on duty.

"If people are violent, you don't go to them with folded arms," she said, "Uganda isn't
going to compromise on its national interests, which include security and economic
development."

Ms Clinton flags Resident District Commissioners as state actors in Uganda leading in

arm-twisting and stifling free media through intimidation of proprietors and reporters.
These restrictions have made criticism of President Museveni and his ruling NRM party
a taboo, she noted.

Mr Ibrahim Ssemujju, spokesman of the Inter-party Cooperation that brings together

four opposition political parties, last night welcomed the report "demonstrating the
ground isn't levelled as we head to the 2011 elections".

"All we expect of Ms Clinton is to make recommendation, for instance, to freeze aid or

slap travel ban on [Ugandan political executives] in case of non-compliance with
benchmarks set," said Mr Ssemujju.
--------------------
Sanctions stay until Zimbabwean rights improve: U.S. (Reuters)

WASHINGTON – Zimbabwe must show greater respect for human rights and political
freedoms before the U.S. sanctions on the impoverished African nation can be removed,
the State Department said on Sunday.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his inner circle have been subject to
Western sanctions since his ZANU-PF party won an election in 2000 after a violent
campaign.

The sanctions were imposed at the start of his government's policy of seizing
commercial, often white-owned, farms to resettle landless blacks.

Mugabe was forced into a power-sharing deal last year with opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai that has stabilized the economy after a decade of decline but the United
States argues that human rights violations continue.
The State Department said its top diplomat for Africa and other U.S. officials met three
Zimbabwean ministers on Thursday and had praised the economic advances but raised
concerns "that political progress has not been as successful."

"Zimbabwe must make further progress for the removal of targeted sanctions," the State
Department said in a statement.

"As long as human rights violations, land seizures, and intimidation of those
participating in the political process continue, the sanctioned individuals and entities on
the list who continue to perpetrate and benefit from these acts are unlikely to be
removed," the statement said.

"Significant improvements in the political environment, greater respect for human

rights and political freedoms will result in change in U.S. posture."

The statement described last week's meeting as cordial and saying the United States
was committed to keeping the door open for further dialogue.
--------------------
US asks Japan, other countries to aid Somalia (AFP)

NEW YORK — The United States on Friday urged Japan and other countries in Asia,
Europe and the Middle East to contribute funds to Somalia's beleaguered government
and the Africa Union peacekeeping force there.

Johnnie Carson, the State Department's pointman for Africa, also asked these countries
to help neighbors like Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritius and the Seychelles to cover the cost
of prosecuting and jailing Somali pirates.

Carson, speaking to reporters in a New York hotel, said he personally asked Japanese
diplomats he met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to make such
contributions.

"I certainly encouraged the Japanese government to think about financial contributions
to help (defray) the cost of the countries in the region to handling pirates," Carson said.

He said "I also encouraged them to think about making monetary contributions that can
be used and directed toward AMISOM and directed toward supporting the TFG," the
Transitional Federal Government.

AMISOM is the African Union mission in Somalia, a 7,000-strong force made up mostly
of Ugandan troops.
The United Nations sponsored a mini-summit late Thursday in which participants
sought to mobilize both greater and more coherent support for Somalia's government
and for AMISOM.

The meeting took place as Somalia's Al Qaeda-inspired Shebab militants launched a

fresh offensive in Mogadishu, sparking clashes that medics said killed at least 19
civilians.

Carson, who is the assistant secretary of state for African affairs, asked the Japanese to
consider providing military equipment for the African peacekeeping force.

"This is something that we are encouraging a number of states in Europe, the Middle
East and Asia to look at," he said.

He said Saudi Arabia had a stake in helping the countries in the region tackle the
problem of Somali pirates who have targeted Saudi supertankers.

"It is a close neighbor to Somalia and is impacted by what happens in Somalia. They too
could make substantial financial and material contributions to this," he said.
--------------------
Somalia’s Puntland, Somaliland Support U.S. Cooperation (All Headline News)

Garowe, Hargeisa, Somalia - The semi-autonomous region of Somalia’s Puntland and

the break-away republic of Somaliland support U.S. cooperation, authorities said
Sunday.

Abdullahi Ahmed Jama’, the interior minister of the Puntland administration, said they
were happy to support cooperation with the United States for aid and development
aspects with their administration. Jama’ said Puntland had already called for the United
States and the international community to support and help peaceful areas in the war-
ravaged Horn of Africa nation.

A press release issued by Puntland’s Ministry of Planning and International

Cooperation said, “The government of Puntland appreciates this new and pragmatic
approach which we think better reflects the current political reality in the country as
well as how best the long lasting present quagmire can be ended. The TFG [Transitional
Federal Government] has a glaring lack of capacity to fulfill its mandate by upholding
the charter, fostering national reconciliation, embracing and encouraging the
constitutional development process, and fighting and defeating violent extremist
groups can no longer be ignored.”

Separately, the break-away republic of Somaliland welcomed the U.S. engagement

policy in Somalia. Mohammed Abdullahi Omar, foreign affairs minister of Somaliland,
signaled that Somaliland was interested in U.S. cooperation, particularly education,
health, aid and development aspects.

“After [the] last free and fair democratic election which occurred in Somaliland, we
were expecting from United States and [the] international community to take such
step,” said Omar.

Friday, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson said U.S. officials were
developing ties with both Puntland and Somaliland, both of which declared themselves
independent in the early 1990s. "Both of these parts of Somalia have been zones of
relative political and civil stability and we think they in fact will be a bulwark against
extremism and radicalism that might emerge from the south," Carson told reporters.

Somaliland and Puntland have been the most stable areas in Somalia after the collapse
of the country’s military government in 1991.

Kenya says West wasting money on anti-piracy ships (Associated Press)

UNITED NATIONS — Kenya's foreign minister said Saturday the millions being spent
to fight pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia should be spent instead on helping the
country become a functioning state.

Moses Wetangula said in an interview with The Associated Press that Uganda has
offered troops to expand the African Union force in Somalia from 7,100 to 20,000 to
support the restoration of law and order.

But he said that nobody is stepping up to help with much needed money and
equipment.

"Piracy is not born at sea. It's born on land. And if you are able to patrol and protect
your coastline, it's unlikely that pirates will find a way to the high seas to cause the
menace," Wetangula said. "Instead, what are we seeing? 52 warships patroling ... the
waters of the Indian Ocean, but piracy is still going on."

Wetangula said the flotilla should be disbanded and the money should be used instead
to help Somalia "become a state."

He warned that neglecting Somalia amid increasing attacks from militants and Jihadists
trying to overthrow the weak U.N.-backed transitional government "may end up being
a tragedy that would vibrate far and wide."

Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991 when warlords overthrew
longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on each other, plunging the
country into chaos. African Union peacekeepers have struggled to protect the small
enclave in the capital, Mogadishu, where the Somali government operates.

Al-Shabab Islamic extremists, accused of links with al-Qaida, have launched a series of
attacks over the last month after declaring a "new" war against the transitional
government, established in 2004. They also claimed responsibility for the deadly
bombings that killed scores of civilians watching the World Cup finals in Uganda in
July.

Wetangula called the Jihadist threat "very strong" and "very worrying," saying Somali
militants are being bolstered by mercenaries from abroad.

"If the government was given the capacity to strengthen its ability to fight back, I would
have no doubt that al-Shabab can be defeated in a very short time," Wetangula said.

"Those with the money don't seem to open their envelopes to Somalia, or to the cause of
Somalia," he said.

Wetangula pointed to a high-level meeting to promote peace in Sudan at the U.N. on

Friday which President Barack Obama and numerous other world leaders and ministers
attended, saying "I wish the same could be done for Somalia."

The Kenyan minister said he has met with U.S. officials on numerous occasions,
including talks on Friday with Johnnie Carson, the top U.S. diplomat for Africa. Many
other African leaders and ministers have also pressed for U.S. equipment and funds for
an expanded force in Somalia.

"I think it's not the reaction that is lacking" because that's "always very positive,"
Wetangula said. "It's the action that is lacking."

Carson said Friday the Obama administration plans to strengthen ties with two
breakaway republics in northern Somalia to blunt the threat from al-Shabab, and will
provide more aid to the transitional government, but he didn't elaborate.

Wetangula noted that when Ethiopia, a key U.S. ally, sent thousands of troops into
Somalia in early 2007 it took them two days to get to Mogadishu and they faced no
resistance from militants who had been in power for six months. The unpopular
Ethiopians withdrew two years later, with the militants in near-total control of a failed
state with a worsening humanitarian crisis.

He said African leaders "will not allow" al-Shabab to take over Mogadishsu. If the
capital is seriously threatened, he said, "I do not rule out anything," including the
possible return of the Ethopian troops.
He said the African Union isn't asking for a lot to help the transitional government — a
few tanks, "even second hand ones from Iraq can do," a few military helicopters so they
can "roar around and show who's boss," and weapons that are superior to the
Kalashnikov rifles used by most of the militants, as well as patrol boats.

Wetangula also criticized humanitarian organizations based in Nairobi that say they're
dealing with issues like maternal health care and malaria in Somalia.

"It doesn't add up," he said, "and all these things can be done by Somalis themselves if
they have a viable government."
--------------------
Kidnapped French, African Aid Workers Reported Alive In Mali (All Headline News)

Paris, France - Sources in Mali told French officials on Sunday that five French
nationals, a Togolese and a Malagasy kidnapped by Al Qaeda militants in Niger on
Sept. 16 are alive and are now in the neighboring African country.

The unnamed sources said the hostages were taken to the hilly desert zone of Timetrine
near Mali’s border with Algeria.

Meanwhile, another source revealed that talks are ongoing between Malian and French
officials on how to deal with the kidnapping without involving French, American and
Western troops. France is also talking with other countries for support in rescuing the
hostages.

Military leaders of Algeria, Mali, Mauritania and Niger are meeting on Sunday to
outline a strategy to deal with Al Qaeda in their countries.
--------------------

USAFE general: Keep U.S. military forces in Europe (Stars and Stripes)

(Germany) On the eve of his departure as U.S. Air Forces in Europe commander, Gen.
Roger Brady remains a vocal advocate of a robust U.S. military presence in Europe,
despite calls by some U.S. lawmakers to reduce that footprint in an effort to curtail a
ballooning defense budget.

Working with European allies builds partnerships that reap dividends in war and
peace, Brady said, citing support from more than three dozen European nations in the
Afghanistan war. Those alliances can’t be forged from a distance, he said in a recent
interview at USAFE headquarters.

“You do that by being here,” he said, sitting in his office on Ramstein Air Base.Brady,
64, has commanded USAFE since January 2008, in what is supposed to be his last
assignment in a decorated Air Force career reaching back more than 40 years. He was
expected to hang up his uniform by now.

The Air Force announced nearly a year ago that Brady would retire in early January,
naming Lt. Gen. Mark Welsh III as his successor. The Senate confirmed Welsh, the Air
Force’s top officer at the CIA, for promotion to general last year.

But as of Friday, there was still no word on Brady’s retirement date. General officer
retirements must be approved by the Air Force, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Office of
the Secretary of Defense, and finally, by the president, said Beth Gosselin, an Air Force
spokeswoman at the Pentagon. She could not say where Brady’s retirement was in that
approval chain.

“It’s a process and that process takes time,” Gosselin said Friday. In the meantime,
Brady soldiers on, continuing to underscore the importance of keeping U.S. military
bases in Europe, as some U.S. politicians clamor to bring more overseas U.S. troops
home.

“I do not think we should be spending money to have troops in Germany 65 years after
World War II,” Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass, said recently. “We have a terrible deficit
and we have to cut back.”

Frank and Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, are leading a congressional effort to save an
estimated $1 trillion in military spending by vastly curtailing the U.S. military’s
overseas commitments, including in Europe.

“The nations of Western Europe now collectively have greater resources at their
command than we do, yet they continue to depend overwhelmingly on American
taxpayers to provide for their defense,” Frank and Paul wrote in an article first
published this summer in The Huffington Post.

But Brady is focused on building relationships on the Continent, efforts that he says
have translated into support from European countries when the United States has
needed it most — in Afghanistan.

Of the 46 nations involved in the war in Afghanistan, 39 are from Europe, Brady said,
contributing about 39,000 of the more than 119,000 troops serving in Afghanistan.

“I think that is huge,” he said. And, while the Cold War may be over, the nature of
future conflicts is unpredictable, Brady said. “If you’re going to go to war … or if you’re
going to conduct humanitarian operations with people, you practice with them,” Brady
said.

“When we go to war, we go to war with our European allies. They are our most reliable
partners.” Brady said the U.S. footprint in Europe is vastly smaller than it has been in
the past. Currently, there are more than 25,000 active-duty members assigned to
USAFE, spanning nine wings, seven fighter squadrons and eight bases. There were
more than 32,000 airmen in Europe 10 years ago.

USAFE funds its military partnering activities through the U.S. European Command.
Most partnership building is accomplished “as a natural outcome” through combined
training and exercises, USAFE officials said, primarily conducted by those forward-
stationed forces in Europe.

“The mission is not going away,” Brady said. “The mission of maintaining access to
three continents, the issue of enabling our allies … none of that changes. We really can’t
do that effectively with less.”

----------------------

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website

General Assembly: Ban and Rwandan President discuss various issues

26 September – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today had a meeting with Rwanda
President Paul Kagame, on the sidelines of the General Assembly''s high-level debate,
during which they discussed a range of issues, including maternal and child health.

African nations push for permanent Security Council representation

25 September – Top officials from three African nations have called for the continent to
have a permanent representative on the Security Council, saying it was a travesty that
the region that comprises so much of the body’s work does not have a permanent place.

UN and African Union launch joint task force on peace and security
25 September – The United Nations and the African Union today launched a joint task
force on peace and security as the two organizations continue to step up their
cooperation in conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peacebuilding across the
continent.

Guinea-Bissau requires sustained international support, General Assembly hears

25 September – Guinea-Bissau needs sustained international support to help the fragile
and impoverished nation tackle its major challenges, such as organized crime, high
unemployment, environmental degradation and a poorly performing justice system, its
President told the General Assembly today.

Sudan: Ban meets senior official for talks ahead of critical referenda
25 September – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon held talks today with a top Sudanese
official as part of his ongoing efforts to try to ensure that two key referenda on self-
determination in the African country are staged peacefully and on schedule next
January.