United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

29 September 2010

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

Mystery airstrike as Somalia collapses (UPI)

(Somalia) A mysterious helicopter attack on a gathering of Islamist leaders suggests
that the United States, using either Special Forces or mercenaries, may be trying to
decapitate jihadist forces who are escalating a war to topple the Western-backed
government.

Who Attacked al-Shabab? The Rebel Leader Speaks (Time)

(Somalia) At about 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 26, a mysterious helicopter opened fire on a
meeting of top leaders of the increasingly ambitious al-Shabab rebel organization,
which the U.S. has designated as a terrorist group. T

13 African refugees drown in US Navy rescue attempt (Christian Science Monitor)

(Somalia/Ethiopia) Thirteen refugees from Somalia and Ethiopia drowned Monday
when their skiff capsized off the coast of Somalia. They were receiving humanitarian
assistance from the United States, the US Navy said today in a statement.

Free Aids Drugs for Extra 32,000 Citizens (The Monitor)

(Uganda) An extra 32,000 people living with HIV will receive free life-prolonging
treatment over the next two years after the United States government gave Uganda
more money.

International Experts Call Terrorism and Humanitarian Crises Greatest Threats to

Africa; Morocco Cited as Key African Partner (PRNewswire-USNewswire)
This week, U.S. and international leaders, policymakers and experts convened in Atlanta, GA to
examine the daunting economic, political, and humanitarian challenges facing Africa today, and
the role the U.S. and international community can play to address them.
U.S. sees progress in Sudan talks on oil-rich Abyei (Reuters)
(Sudan) Negotiators for northern and southern Sudan have agreed on a framework for
how to run a plebiscite in the disputed oil-rich region of Abyei and should reach a final
deal next month, the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday.

Foreign observers deploy for Sudan referendum (AFP)

(Sudan) International observers have begun work in Sudan to observe a landmark
referendum on the potential independence of the south, the US-based Carter Centre
said on Tuesday.

Sudan's Ruling Party Sets Conditions for Vote (Voice of America)

(Sudan) Sudan's northern-based government says it will not accept the results of an
upcoming independence referendum in the south unless the vote is free and southern
military forces withdraw from disputed areas.

EU Naval Force to transfer pirates to Kenya for prosecution (Xinhua)

(Kenya) The European Union Naval Force Somalia (EU NAVFOR) said it will transfer a
further four suspected Somali pirates to Kenyan authorities for prosecution.

U.N. envoy proposes Somalia peacekeeping force (Stars and Stripes)

(Somalia) The United Nations must establish a “light footprint” in Somalia, leading to
the eventual deployment of a peackeeping force in the country, a U.N. envoy told
representatives from 45 countries and international organizations at a meeting in
Madrid, Spain, this week.

Nigeria kidnappers abduct school children from bus (Associated Press)

(Nigeria) Gunmen kidnapped 15 school children on their way to class at a private
school near Nigeria's oil-rich and restive southern delta, a police spokesman said
Tuesday.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
 Chad calls on world to stand by its UN development summit pledges
 Senior UN official in DR Congo to investigate mass rape of civilians
 Sierra Leone at critical juncture in peacebuilding efforts, UN warned
 Eritrea alleges UN ‘ignoring’ Ethiopian occupation of its territory
 Security Council to send more UN troops to Côte d’Ivoire ahead of upcoming
polls
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UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Friday, October 1, 12:00 p.m to 1:15 p.m ; IPS Conference Room
WHAT: The Political Economy of African Responses to the U.S. Africa Command
WHO: Carl LeVan and Jillian Emerson, co-authors of a new paper on the politics of
African responses to Africom
Info: http://www.fpif.org/

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

WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, October 7, 9:00 a.m.; Center for Strategic and International
Studies
WHAT: Next Steps on Sudan: Has the Comprehensive Peace Agreement Paved the
Way to Peace?
WHO: Lieutenant General Lazaro K. Sumbeiywo, former Kenyan Special Envoy and
Lead Mediator of the Sudanese Peace Process
Info: http://csis.org/events
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FULL ARTICLE TEXT

Mystery airstrike as Somalia collapses (UPI)

MOGADISHU, Somalia - A mysterious helicopter attack on a gathering of Islamist

leaders suggests that the United States, using either Special Forces or mercenaries, may
be trying to decapitate jihadist forces who are escalating a war to topple the Western-
backed government.

The Americans, ever mindful of the casualties the U.S. Army suffered at the hands of
Somali militias in Operation Restore Hope in October 1993, are wary of deploying boots
on the ground in Somalia to aid the Transitional Federal Government besieged in the
seaside capital of Mogadishu.

But they have carried out several attacks using missiles, airstrikes and Special Forces
since the Islamist movement known as al-Shabaab, or Youth, emerged in December
2006 after U.S.-backed Ethiopian forces toppled an Islamist regime in Mogadishu and
established the TFG.

U.S. SEALs aboard helicopters from a U.S. warship in the Indian Ocean, ambushed a
convoy carrying Saleh Ali Nabhan, al-Shebaab's military commander and a close
associate of al-Qaida's top operative in East Africa, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, in
southern Somalia Sept. 14, 2009.
The Kenyan-born Saleh was killed and the commandos landed to take his body with
them for identification.

Fazul is the alleged mastermind of the twin al-Qaida bombings of the U.S. embassies in
Kenya and Tanzania Aug. 7, 1998, in which 242 people, 12 of them Americans, died.

Nabhan was one of his closest associates. Fazul, who has a $5 million U.S. bounty on his
head, was reported to have moved to Somalia earlier this year.

On Sunday, an unidentified foreign military helicopter, flying in from the sea, fired
rockets into a house in the Shabaab-held coastal town of Merca, witnesses said.

Merca, 50 miles southwest of Mogadishu, is near where Saleh was assassinated.

At least seven al-Shabaab leaders were gathered in the house but none was reported
harmed since the missiles narrowly missed them. The helicopter, painted gray or olive
green, flew off when al-Shabaab fighters opened fire on it, witnesses reported.

The U.S. military's Special Operations Command in Africa, and the U.S. Africa
Command in Stuttgart, Germany, denied any involvement in Sunday's incident. So did
officials of the EU naval force battling Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden.

Al-Shabaab unleashed its relentless offensive Aug. 23. The fighting has centered on the
ever-shrinking seaside zone controlled by the TFG and a 7,000-strong African Union
peacekeeping force that provides most of the firepower for President Sheik Sharif Sheik
Ahmed's shaky administration.

Officials with Western aid groups estimate that 350 people have been killed in
Mogadishu, with another 450 wounded and 23,000 displaced in the ongoing offensive.

All told, the catastrophe in Somalia, which has been wracked by clan warfare since the
overthrow of dictator Mohammed Siad Barre in 1991, has produced more than 614,000
refugees with an estimated 1.4 million displaced.

Al-Shabaab has been joined in the offensive by another Islamist faction, Hezb-ul Islam,
a onetime rival that has switched sides before.

The TFG suffered another major setback Sept. 21 when Prime Minister Omar Abirashid
Ali Sharmarke resigned after a rancorous dispute with Sheik Sharif over a new
constitution.

They had been feuding for months and Sheik Sharif has been plotting to oust him
through a vote of no-confidence since May.
Sharmarke, whose father was president until he was assassinated in 1969, said he was
quitting "for the sake of my nation's survival." But political insiders said he sought to
avoid "becoming a scapegoat for the country's deteriorating situation."

The TFG was weakened further by the defection of a moderate Islamist militia, Ahlu
Sunna Wal Jamaa, that had joined forces with it several months ago.

The president declared Saturday that al-Shabaab seeks to turn Somalia into a base for
al-Qaida from which to terrorize the Horn of Africa.

That appeared to be a ploy to secure greater international support. But given his
government's failure to co-opt opposition groups into a unity administration, Sheik
Sharif's Western backers are unlikely to come to his aid.

U.N. and aid officials say large numbers of jihadists from Pakistan and Afghanistan
have been moving to Somalia to expand the war, as evidenced by two deadly bombings
July 11 in Kampala, capital of Uganda which is a key contributor to the AU
peacekeeping force. Seventy people were killed.
--------------------
Who Attacked al-Shabab? The Rebel Leader Speaks (Time)

Who attacked Somalia's al-Shabab on Sunday? At about 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 26, a
mysterious helicopter opened fire on a meeting of top leaders of the increasingly
ambitious al-Shabab rebel organization, which the U.S. has designated as a terrorist
group. The group's leader, Sheik Muktar Abdirahman Godane, told TIME in an
interview on Monday that he was present at the meeting in the Somali town of Merca
and watched as the helicopter, which he said was either gray or olive green,
approached from the sea, circled and fired on the house where the meeting was taking
place. None of the foreign military powers with ships off the Somali coast have taken
credit for the strike. "The helicopter was there for about 20 minutes in the air of Merca,
and then it left," Godane told TIME. "We are now investigating the ammunition that it
fired."

Godane, who rarely speaks to Western media, said that seven al-Shabab leaders had
gathered at a house belonging to one of the group's local members to try to resolve a
power dispute that had arisen between Godane and Sheik Muktar Robow, another al-
Shabab leader, over strategy and control of the organization. Godane refused to say
whether anyone was killed or injured in the attack, which was first reported by the New
York Times. (The Times stated that no one was hurt.) Godane said al-Shabab closed off
the town after the attack and prevented anyone from leaving, to try to learn if someone
in the area had informed on the meeting. Mobile-phone communication was also cut
off.
Officials from the U.S. and the European Union, which have warships patrolling off the
Somali coast, denied deploying the helicopter. "I can tell you we don't have any troops
in that vicinity at all," Major Bryan Purtell, spokesman for the U.S. military's Special
Operations Command Africa, told the Associated Press. The African Union also said it
was not involved. That is likely, because the A.U. forces in Somalia are notoriously
undermanned and underfunded and have no air power at all. "You made me have the
laugh of the year," Major Barigye Bahoku told the AP. "There is no way the African
Union force can be involved in such a strike. We don't have helicopters — any air
capacity whatsoever."

The attack is not unprecedented. In September 2009, an American strike team killed al-
Qaeda suspect Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan in Somalia. Nabhan was allegedly involved in
the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya. He was also suspected in the
bombing of an Israeli hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, in 2002 and the failed attempt to shoot
down an airliner leaving Mombasa the same day. Still, it would be highly unusual for
any military force to send a single helicopter to attack the al-Shabab leadership.

Al-Shabab has been increasingly active over a wider geographical range in recent
months and is believed to have forged closer ties to al-Qaeda, receiving funding,
training and fighters from the group. At the same time, its chief rival, the U.S.-backed
Transitional Federal Government (TFG), has become weaker and weaker, riven by
internal squabbling, corruption and mismanagement. Last week, TFG Prime Minister
Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke resigned under pressure from President Sheik Sharif
Ahmed in what was largely seen as a turf battle. The TFG suffered another serious
setback over the weekend when a moderate Islamic group, Ahlu Sunna Wal Jamaa,
withdrew its support for the government. The group said it had lost faith in the TFG.

Sharif's government now controls only a few acres of territory in Mogadishu, while al-
Shabab's influence has spread; it now controls much of Somalia's south, including the
port of Kismayu, where it earns much of its revenue. The group took control of Merca,
down the coast from Mogadishu, in 2008.

In the interview with TIME, Godane said al-Shabab was doing well thanks to donations
and income. "We get funding from different sources," he said. "A rich Muslim may wish
to fund the jihad for the sake of Allah. We have supporters throughout the world." He
reserved his harshest words for the U.S., which he said was powerless to get rid of al-
Shabab despite Washington's funding of the TFG and its involvement in strikes like the
one that killed Nabhan last year. "Only Allah can remove us," he said. "America cannot
remove anything. They are enemy of Allah, and they will taste his punishment if they
don't ask for forgiveness."
--------------------
13 African refugees drown in US Navy rescue attempt (Christian Science Monitor)
Thirteen refugees from Somalia and Ethiopia drowned Monday when their skiff
capsized off the coast of Somalia. They were receiving humanitarian assistance from the
United States, the US Navy said today in a statement.

The announcement came as the International Contact Group for Somalia concluded a
two-day conference in Madrid, pledging to boost the African-led peacekeeping force in
Somalia. About 900 soldiers from Uganda and Burundi will join the 7,100 troops
currently supporting the beleaguered government.

Two decades of civil war and an ongoing Al Qaeda-backed insurgency have displaced
more than 1.5 million people internally in Somalia and sent another 680,000 refugees
abroad, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

"I think the international community and the European Union have to respond,"
Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos told a news conference Tuesday. "If
African countries are willing to send their soldiers, from Spain's point of view it would
be logical for other international players including the European Union to contribute
toward achieving a deployment with that number of soldiers."

Somalia's deteriorating security conditions have sent a flood of refugees abroad, as The
Christian Science Monitor has reported in the past. In 2007, "tiny fishing vessels carried
26,000 men, women, and children – a record number – from Somalia to Yemen." In 2009,
that number rose to 74,000 people, according to the UN.

In the latest incident, the USS Winston S. Churchill on Sunday identified a skiff drifting
in the Gulf of Aden with 85 refugees from Somalia and Ethiopia.

"Using a rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB), Churchill crew members boarded the skiff
and immediately rendered assistance, providing food and water to the skiff's
passengers," according to the statement posted on the US Navy website.

The RHIB then began towing the skiff toward the coast of Somalia. Later, "while
transferring humanitarian supplies to the skiff, the passengers rushed to one side and
the skiff began taking on water, quickly capsizing and sinking rapidly, leaving all 85
passengers in the water," the statement said, adding that 13 people drowned.

The final destination of the refugees was unknown, and the incident is under Navy
investigation. A common destination is Yemen. According to the UN, at least 309
people drowned or did not survive the trip in 2009. In 2008, some 590 people died
during the crossing.

As the Monitor reported in 2007, not only innocent refugees risk their lives to flee
Somalia on the flimsy skiffs.
Among the latest wave of refugees are rank-and-file members of Somalia's defeated
Islamists, and now ousted moderate UIC leaders are also seeking refuge in Yemen,
sparking concern from Yemeni officials and Western diplomats that Al Qaeda-linked
radical Islamists are also using these well-worn human-trafficking routes to escape from
Somalia to the Arabian Peninsula.

"We are concerned that terrorist operatives will try to escape Somalia and establish safe
haven elsewhere," says one Western diplomat in Yemen's capital, Sanaa. "Governments
in the region, including Yemen, share that concern. They are doing what they can to
prevent suspected terrorists from setting up a base in their country."
--------------------
Free Aids Drugs for Extra 32,000 Citizens (The Monitor)

Kampala — An extra 32,000 people living with HIV will receive free life-prolonging
treatment over the next two years after the United States government gave Uganda
more money.

Dr Kihumuro Apuuli, the director general of the Uganda Aids Commission (UAC), the
government body that coordinates the national response to the epidemic, told
Parliament yesterday that the new funding will double the number of Ugandans
receiving free anti-retroviral treatment.

"This is good news because Americans have been helping only 36,000 people but they
have doubled this number beginning this financial year," Dr Apuuli told MPs on the
Public Accounts Committee yesterday. Ms Joann Lockard, the public affairs officer at
the US embassy in Kampala, yesterday confirmed the funding increase. "We are talking
about an increment of between $20 million- $30 million. Our funding for HIV/Aids
now stands at $300 million," she said.

The development represents a change of heart in the Obama Administration, which had
earlier indicated that it would not increase its current level of funding committed
through the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Pepfar), an initiative of the
American government.

Dr Apuuli told MPs that despite the increase, Uganda needs more than $500 million
(about Shs1 trillion) to combat the epidemic and will need to find new ways to address
the rising number of infections. "The Americans have increased funding but they are
telling us to either swim or drown if we don't reduce the new infections," Dr Apuuli
said. "For instance last year we registered 124,000 new infections compared to 110,000 in
2008. This means in the next two to three years more 14,000 will need ARVs."

Increased need
MPs heard that the number of Ugandans living on ARVs - the drugs that reduce HIV in
the body and postpones the onset of Aids - had risen from 10,000 a decade ago to nearly
200,000, many of them getting donor-funded treatment. However, figures from UAC
indicate that an extra 300,000 Ugandans in need of ARVs do not have access to the
drugs because they cannot afford them, and that an extra 124,000 become infected every
year, increasing the number of those who need treatment.
--------------------

International Experts Call Terrorism and Humanitarian Crises Greatest Threats to Africa;
Morocco Cited as 'Key African Partner' (PRNewswire-USNewswire)

Mbarka Bouaida, Moroccan Parliamentarian, joins international forum on political and

economic development in Africa.
ATLANTA, Sept. 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- This week, U.S. and international
leaders, policymakers and experts convened in Atlanta, GA to examine the daunting
economic, political, and humanitarian challenges facing Africa today, and the role the
U.S. and international community can play to address them. The Leon H. Sullivan
Foundation's Africa Policy Forum, held for the first time in the U.S., brought together
international experts of diverse backgrounds and expertise to develop its "Vision for the
21st Century."

"Our collective thinking and debate on 'Africa' is vital to help all nations on the
continent reach their highest potential," said Ms. Mbarka Bouaida, the youngest
member of Morocco's Parliament and chair of its Foreign Affairs Committee, during the
panel discussions.  "This conversation is not complete if it doesn't include 'North Africa.'
Morocco and its neighbors have great potential as a region and can contribute
tremendously to its southern neighbors."

Joining Ms. Bouaida at the four-day event were former UN Ambassador Andrew
Young, Susan D. Page, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs,
General William "Kip" Ward, Commander of US AFRICOM, as well as several African
ministers, international NGO leaders, and representatives from U.S. corporations doing
business in Africa.

Two of the Forum's key topics were the growing threat of terrorism in Africa and the
grave humanitarian crises festering across the continent. The panelists uniformly
acknowledged that increased international attention is particularly important in
unstable areas with weak leadership that could easily become "failed states." "As
President Obama has said, 'The more one area is unstable, the more unstable we all
are,'" Deputy Assistant Secretary Page told the panel.

U.S. business opportunities and responsibilities in Africa were highlighted in a forum

on economic development moderated by National Public Radio's Charlayne Hunter-
Gault, noted author and expert on African affairs.  The experts reiterated that increased
U.S. engagement in Africa is necessary for real progress. Morocco's free trade
agreement with the U.S. and its nearly $700 million Millennium Challenge Corporation
partnership were singled out as models for the continent.

"For centuries, Morocco has been a key partner with its African neighbors economically
and politically—during times of peace and conflict," said Ms. Bouaida. "Morocco has
seen great success in the areas of social and economic development and
democratization. What will make this success greater is continued progress throughout
the continent."

(For media inquiries and interview requests for Ms. Bouaida during her U.S. visit,
please contact Calvin Dark, cdark@moroccanamericancenter.com, 202-309-0372.)
The Moroccan American Center for Policy (MACP) is a non-profit organization whose
principal mission is to inform opinion makers, government officials and interested
publics in the United States about political and social developments in Morocco and the
role being played by the Kingdom of Morocco in broader strategic developments in
North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East.  For more, please visit
www.moroccanamericanpolicy.org
--------------------

U.S. sees progress in Sudan talks on oil-rich Abyei (Reuters)

WASHINGTON – Negotiators for northern and southern Sudan have agreed on a

framework for how to run a plebiscite in the disputed oil-rich region of Abyei and
should reach a final deal next month, the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said negotiating teams from the two sides
met through the weekend in New York in U.S.-mediated talks and saw some progress
toward resolving a key issue ahead of the January vote, which is due to take place
alongside a larger referendum on independence for southern Sudan.

"We thought that they were useful meetings. They established a foundation for
resolving the Abyei challenge," Crowley told a news briefing.

He said the two sides were due to meet again next month in Ethiopia's capital Addis
Ababa "and we would expect that the parties should come to the meeting prepared to
reach an agreement on Abyei."

The New York talks, mediated by the U.S. special envoy for Sudan, Scott Gration, and
another senior State Department official, took place after last week's mini-summit on
Sudan at the United Nations attended by U.S. President Barack Obama and other world
leaders.
International concern is rising ahead of the planned January 9 votes in both Abyei and
southern Sudan which could see the south split off as Africa's newest country, with
some observers worried about renewed violence between two sides that fought a long
civil war before a peace deal in 2005.

Obama has offered the northern government in Khartoum the possibility of improved
ties with the United States if it works to bring peace to Sudan, including the violence-
ravaged western region of Darfur.

THREE MONTHS TO GO

Both sides pledged at the U.N. meeting to hold the referendums on time. But U.S. and
other officials say it remains unclear if Khartoum is either able or willing to pull off the
complex and sensitive votes with just over three months to go.

Crowley said the U.S.-led peace effort was focused for now in Abyei, a disputed central
region which is being given its own vote on whether to join the north or the south.

The two sides have been deadlocked over the membership in the region's referendum
commission, while borders also have not been demarcated following threats by the
nomadic Arab Missiriya in the north.

The south's ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement says the Khartoum
government is settling thousands of Missiriya in northern Abyei to influence the vote.
The Khartoum government denies this.

Crowley gave no details on which specific issues had made progress in the New York
talks, which followed meetings between U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice
President Ali Osman Taha of Sudan's national government of Khartoum and Salva Kiir,
president of the semi-autonomous south, last week.

But he said the United States remained committed to helping Sudan resolve a range of
issues -- including questions of eventual borders, citizenship, and oil revenue sharing --
ahead of the January referendums.

The United States has in recent weeks significantly stepped up its diplomatic efforts in
Sudan, which Clinton herself called a "ticking time bomb" in the heart of Africa.

Gration has made repeated trips to the region, and was recently joined on the U.S. team
by retired U.S. Ambassador Princeton Lyman, a former envoy to South Africa and
Nigeria with long experience in Africa.
--------------------
Foreign observers deploy for Sudan referendum (AFP)
JUBA, Sudan – International observers have begun work in Sudan to observe a
landmark referendum on the potential independence of the south, the US-based Carter
Centre said on Tuesday.

The referendum due in January was a key provision of the 2005 peace agreement
between north and south Sudan that ended two decades of civil war, during which
about two million people were killed.

"The Carter Centre deployed 16 long-term observers from 12 nations this week to assess
the referendum process in southern Sudan and in the areas in the north where voting
will occur," read a statement from the organisation, headed by former US president
Jimmy Carter.

Southerners across the country will choose whether to split Africa's largest country or
remain in a united Sudan.

Four teams are based in the south, three in the north and one team in the contested
border region of Abyei, which will hold a simultaneous vote to decide whether to be
part of north or south Sudan.

Preparations are seriously behind schedule, with just over 100 days to go and voter
registration not yet even started.

The Carter Centre noted "encouraging progress," including the start of printing of
registration materials, as well as the appointment of members of state referendum
committees running the voting process.

But it also warned that several "important steps" remain for the process to move
forward.

These include the approval of the budget and the release of cash for the Southern Sudan
Referendum Commission to enable it to operate and recruit key staff, as well as the
publishing of a detailed referendum calendar.

In addition, "transparent decisions on the legal framework, institutional structures, and

operational plans" for voter registration are also required.

The observers will monitor all steps, including voter registration, the campaign period,
polling, tabulation, and the resolution of disputes.

The south is determined to keep the January 9 deadline set out in the peace deal, but
critics warn that time is running short to ensure a credible vote.
Many diplomats fear the south could declare independence unilaterally if the vote is
delayed, potentially leading to renewed civil war.
--------------------
Sudan's Ruling Party Sets Conditions for Vote (Voice of America)

Sudan's northern-based government says it will not accept the results of an upcoming
independence referendum in the south unless the vote is free and southern military
forces withdraw from disputed areas.

Senior ruling party official Rabie Abdelati Obeid said on Tuesday that no one in the
south should interfere with people campaigning for the unity of the country.

The National Congress Party official says a failure of southern Sudan's autonomous
government to follow this guideline will invalidate the January 9 referendum.

On Monday, Sudanese Youth and Sports Minister Haj Majid Suwar said southern
Sudanese military forces also must withdraw from areas north of Sudan's disputed
north-south border before the referendum.

Both sides accuse each other of massing troops along the border, much of which is
undefined.

Southern Sudan's main party accuses the NCP of trying to undermine the referendum
to delay a secession of the oil-rich southern half of the country.

The former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement says the northern-based
government is monopolizing state broadcasting to prevent supporters of secession from
airing their views. NCP official Obeid denies the accusation.

Sudan's government also has fallen behind in its preparations for the referendum.
Sudanese election commission chairman Mohammed Ibrahim Khalil told Reuters on
Tuesday the registration of voters is likely to start three weeks later than planned in
November.

He says the delay is needed to allow election workers to deliver forms to 3,600 voter
registration centers.

U.S. election monitoring group The Carter Center said Tuesday Sudan must also
approve the election commission's budget, recruit and train referendum workers, and
publish a detailed referendum calendar.

The group has sent 16 people to Sudan to observe referendum preparations.

Many analysts predict southerners, who hold predominantly Christian and traditional
beliefs, will choose independence from the Muslim-dominated northern government.

The Sudanese government agreed to hold the referendum as part of 2005 peace deal
that ended two decades of civil war with the south.
--------------------
EU Naval Force to transfer pirates to Kenya for prosecution (Xinhua)

NAIROBI - The European Union Naval Force Somalia (EU NAVFOR) said it will
transfer a further four suspected Somali pirates to Kenyan authorities for prosecution.

The suspected pirates were interdicted by the EU NAVFOR Spanish warship SPS
Galiacia on Friday when the boarding team approached a suspicious Kenyan dhow off
the eastern coast of Somalia.

After investigation, it transpired that there were nine Kenyan crew members and one
Somali translator being held by four suspected pirates. The crew was liberated and all
14 people were transferred to the EU NAVFOR Spanish warship. "Kenya is one of our
strongest partners in the region," says Major General Buster Howes, EU NAVFOR
Operation Commander. "Since the transfer agreement, 75 suspected pirates have been
transferred to Kenya for prosecution and EU NAVFOR is pleased to know that 14
suspected pirates have already been convicted and sentenced to 5 years imprisonment
each. I hope we will continue to tackle this regional problem together," he said.

Howes said upon its arrival in the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa, the EU NAVFOR
ship SPS Galicia will transfer the four suspected pirates to the Kenyan authorities. "The
former hostages will be transferred to the Kenyan Police and Prosecutor to give their
statements, and thereby assist in building the prosecution case," Howes said.

With the addition of this pirate group to date, EU NAVFOR will have transferred 10
groups of suspected pirates comprising 79 individuals to the Kenyan authorities for
prosecution in the Kenyan national court.
--------------------
U.N. envoy proposes Somalia peacekeeping force (Stars and Stripes)

The United Nations must establish a “light footprint” in Somalia, leading to the
eventual deployment of a peackeeping force in the country, a U.N. envoy told
representatives from 45 countries and international organizations at a meeting in
Madrid, Spain, this week.

The U.N. will work to strengthen its partnership with the African Union and other
regional groups, which have so far taken the lead in Somalia peacekeeping efforts,
according to a statement issued Monday by Augustine P. Mahiga, the U.N. Secretary
General’s special representative on Somalia.
In his comments — made during a meeting of the International Contact Group on
Somalia — Mahiga called on the international community to work with the Transitional
Federal Government to bring peace and stability to Somalia.

“We have all seen how the international community has rallied behind the governments
in Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said. “Somalia is no exception; it requires similar massive
interventions.”

Currently, there are about 7,200 African Union troops in Somalia propping up the
fledgling government, even as Islamist militants continue to wreak havoc throughout
much of the country.

Mahiga said Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon would like to see the implementation of
humanitarian and recovery activities followed by the establishment of a light U.N.
footprint. Then, at the appropriate time, the deployment of a U.N. peacekeeping
operation.

Any U.N. mission would have to be approved by the U.N. Security Council.

While rebranding the African Union efforts there as a U.N. mission could help secure
funding and boots on the ground, any U.N. takeover of the Somalia mission is fraught
with questions, says E.J. Hogendoorn, director of the International Crisis Group’s Horn
of Africa project.

The African Union Mission in Somalia, known as AMISOM, recently agreed to increase
its force to 8,000 troops, and discussions are under way by African nations to increase
the AMISOM presence to 20,000. Established in 2004, the current force has struggled to
defend government buildings, the airport and the port in the capital of Mogadishu.

Al-Shabab, an Islamic military group, now controls much of central and southern
Somalia, and its ability to export terrorism and threaten regional stability has driven
these talks of an increased international presence, analysts say.

That message was crystallized in July, when al-Shabab carried out a pair of suicide
bombings in the Ugandan capital of Kampala that killed at least 74 people. Uganda is a
lead contributor to the current African Union force in Somalia.

“Prior to the Kampala bombings, no one was talking about increasing the AMISOM
mission to 20,000,” Hogendoorn said. “Since then everyone has basically increased their
threat perceptions about al-Shabab and thus are more willing to act.”

Western governments, which hold the purse strings for the African mission, have been
initially reluctant to increase the AMISOM force, he said. Countries are not lining up
troops to contribute to the effort, he said, and the proposed increase wouldn’t
sufficiently address the al-Shabab threat in Somalia.

“It would not be a peacekeeping operation, it would be a peace enforcement operation,”

Hogendoorn said. “What is clear is that the United States and most European Union
countries are not willing to consider sending in significant forces.”

U.S. Africa Command’s top officer said last month that American troops would be able
to provide more support to the embattled Somali military if called upon. AFRICOM has
so far provided training to African Union troops, but could lend support to Somali
forces via small unit training to foster better relations, improve leadership and teach the
proper role of militaries in society, Army Gen. William “Kip” Ward said.

Ward said he doesn’t see U.S. forces engaged on the ground in Somalia. Rather, the
support would come in the form of logistical assistance, training and equipment.
--------------------
Nigeria kidnappers abduct school children from bus (Associated Press)

KANO, Nigeria – Gunmen kidnapped 15 school children on their way to class at a

private school near Nigeria's oil-rich and restive southern delta, a police spokesman
said Tuesday.

Abia state police spokesman Geoffrey Ogbonna said the gunmen stopped the school
bus Monday morning as it headed toward the Abayi International School. The gunmen
seized all the mobile telephones from the students, the bus driver and a teacher onboard
before taking the children away, the spokesman said.

Ogbonna said the kidnappers apparently demanded more than $130,000 to release the
children. The spokesman said he did not know the identities of the kidnappers or the
hostages.

A spokesman for Nigeria's federal police force in Abuja said the agency had sent
additional investigators and officers to the region to assist in the search for the children.

Abia state, in Nigeria's southeast, sits near the Niger Delta, a maze of mangroves and
creeks where foreign oil firms draw crude in Africa's most populous nation. The region
has long been plagued by violence from militants upset about the region's unceasing
poverty and from opportunistic criminal gangs targeting foreigners for kidnappings.

Now, with oil firms keeping their workers hidden behind razor wire and under
paramilitary protection, gangs have increasingly turned to middle-class Nigerian
families. Middle-class children, as well as priests, politicians and doctors have been
targeted by criminal gangs. Typically, most are released a week or two after their
families pay whatever ransom they can scrape together.
Last week, pirates operating off the delta's coast kidnapped three French oil workers
and a Thai national. The workers have yet to be released.
--------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

Chad calls on world to stand by its UN development summit pledges

28 September – Chad voiced concern today that despite the pledges at last week’s
United Nations summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) the proposals
for stepping up the fight against poverty, hunger disease and a host of other will remain
mere words.

Senior UN official in DR Congo to investigate mass rape of civilians

28 September – A leading United Nations official in the fight against sexual violence
during conflict began a week-long visit to Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) today
to coordinate a response to the mass rape by rebels of more than 300 civilians two
months ago in the country’s east.

Sierra Leone at critical juncture in peacebuilding efforts, UN warned

28 September – Sierra Leone, often cited as a success story in United Nations efforts to
consolidate peace in countries that have been ravaged by conflict, faces good
opportunities but also major risks from upcoming elections and newly found mineral
wealth, a senior UN official said today.

Eritrea alleges UN ‘ignoring’ Ethiopian occupation of its territory

28 September – Eritrea’s Foreign Minister today told the General Assembly that the
United Nations “continues to ignore” Ethiopia’s failure to comply with the ruling of an
international commission that delineated the border between the two countries after
their 1998-2000 war.

Security Council to send more UN troops to Côte d’Ivoire ahead of upcoming polls
28 September – The Security Council today urged parties in Côte d’Ivoire to ensure the
holding of the country’s long-delayed presidential polls next month, and agreed to
deploy up to 500 additional United Nations troops to assist with security during the
election period.