You are on page 1of 19

United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office


12 October 2010

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

Africa: $130 Million From United States to Train Doctors in a Dozen Countries (New
York Times)
(Pan Africa) The United States will donate $130 million to African medical schools to
improve medical education on the continent, the Obama administration announced last
week. The donations, to be made over five years, will go to about 30 medical schools
and teaching hospitals in a dozen countries, and to about 20 American medical schools
that have agreed to collaborate with them.

France arrests Rwandan war crimes suspect (AFP)


(Democratic Republic of Congo) Police in France on Monday arrested Rwandan rebel
leader Callixte Mbarushimana, wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity in
the Democratic Republic of Congo, the French government said.

UN expresses Darfur alarm at end of Sudan visit (AFP)


(Sudan) The UN Security Council ended a controversial tour of Sudan on Saturday by
signalling growing alarm over the Darfur war, but saying a self-determination
referendum in South Sudan could still be held on time.

Rift Endangers Power-Sharing Deal in Zimbabwe (New York Times)


(Zimbabwe) Mr. Tsvangirai had recently played down his differences with his 86-year-
old political rival, but on Thursday declared he could no longer let Mr. Mugabe and his
Zanu-PF party “act as if they own this country.”

Somali pirates hijack Panama-flagged ship with 20 Filipinos (Xinhua)


(Somalia) Somali pirates have hijacked a Panama-flagged ship with 20 crew members,
all Filipinos, the European Union anti-piracy force confirmed on Monday.

Bashir warns of new Sudan civil war (Al Jazeera)


(Sudan) Sudan's president has accused the country's southern autonomous leadership
of breaching terms of a peace deal, warning that a conflict could re-erupt if the two
sides did not settle disputes before a referendum on the south's secession, state media
reported.
British banks handled suspect Nigerian funds (AFP)
(Nigeria) Banks in Britain handled millions of pounds for two Nigerian ex-governors
accused of corruption, an anti-graft watchdog said Monday in a report urging stronger
measures to stop money laundering.

Africa calls for replenishment of WB's fund for poor nations (Xinhua)
(Pan Africa) African finance ministers have called for a robust replenishment of the
International Developmental Association (IDA), the World Bank's fund which provides
interest-free funding (known as credits) and grants to the world's 79 poorest countries,
39 of them in Africa. "I do hope larger players will realize the need not just to replenish
funding for IDA, but to increase it," said Kenya's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of
Finance Uhuru Kenyatta said.

Kadhafi warns against 'contagion' of Sudanese partition (AFP)


(Liberia) Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi warned on Sunday ahead of a vote on possible
independence for south Sudan that a partition of the country would be a "contagious
disease" that could spread to other African states.

Americans among insurgent leaders in Somalia (Army Times)


Americans occupy senior leadership positions in al-Shabaab, the Islamist insurgent
group waging a brutal war in Somalia, according to U.S. Africa Command’s top
intelligence officer.
Africa: Improving Maritime Security and Safety in Africa (All Africa)
(Ethiopia) Thirty-eight (38) African countries are either coastal or island states. “Africa
borders the major sea lanes of the world and is therefore strategically situated. This in
and of itself demands great attention on the part of Africa’s coastal states in terms of
protection of the maritime domain that had so far not been comprehensively secured for
the African people.

South Africa declines to send Soldiers to Somalia (Xinhua)


(South Africa) Despite mounting pressure from the international community, South
Africa will not send soldiers to Somalia, the country has announced.

UN News Service Africa Briefs


Full Articles on UN Website
 UN-backed report stresses economic diversification for Africa’s growth
 UN envoy to undertake regional visit ahead of upcoming Western Sahara talks
 UN-backed gathering aims to identify climate change adaptation actions
 UN ideals can benefit from synergy of Afro-Arab cooperation, says Ban
 Rwandan rebel leader wanted by ICC for alleged war crimes arrested in France
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:
WHEN/WHERE: Wednesday, October 13, 11:00 a.m.; The Brookings Institution
WHAT: The Sudan Referendum: Dangers and Possibilities
WHO: The Honorable Donald Payne, Chairman, Subcommittee on Africa and Global
Health, United States House of Representatives
Info: http://www.brookings.edu/events/2010/1013_sudan.aspx
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FULL ARTICLE TEXT

Africa: $130 Million From United States to Train Doctors in a Dozen Countries (New
York Times)

The United States will donate $130 million to African medical schools to improve
medical education on the continent, the Obama administration announced last week.
The donations, to be made over five years, will go to about 30 medical schools and
teaching hospitals in a dozen countries, and to about 20 American medical schools that
have agreed to collaborate with them.

Although most of the money will come from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS
Relief, it will go to train doctors in all sorts of medical skills, including surgery,
childbirth and infant care.

Africa’s hospitals and clinics face a constant “brain drain” of doctors and nurses
because Western aid agencies and countries elsewhere offer higher salaries. Various
grants will, for example, support exchanges of professors between American medical
schools and African ones, supplement the salaries of doctors who might otherwise quit
or moonlight to make ends meet, pay for technology that will let medical students
present cases from remote clinics, and underwrite scholarships so students from poor
families can be recruited. Some of the money will go to equip laboratories; some could
buy teaching tools, like models of a woman giving birth that obstetrics students can
practice with.

Dr. Michael P. Johnson, deputy director of a National Institutes of Health center


providing part of the $130 million, said he hoped the program would have the “side
effect” of making American medical schools better at teaching rural health along with
the high-tech medicine they excel at.
--------------------
France arrests Rwandan war crimes suspect (AFP)

Police in France on Monday arrested Rwandan rebel leader Callixte Mbarushimana,


wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Democratic Republic of
Congo, the French government said.
Mbarushimana "was arrested today on French territory" by French authorities acting on
a warrant issued in September by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, a
foreign ministry statement said.

The court said in a statement that Mbarushimana, 47, faces five charges of crimes
against humanity and six war crimes charges for murders, rapes, torture and
destruction of property in eastern DR Congo in 2009, said the ICC.

It said he was arrested in Paris, where he has lived as a leader-in-exile of the Rwandan
Hutu rebel group the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), having
received refugee status in France in 2003.

The crimes were allegedly committed during a series of "widespread and systematic
attacks" by FDLR fighters against civilians in the Nord Kivu and Sud Kivu provinces,
according to ICC prosecutors.

They said there were reasonable grounds to believe Mbarushimana "personally and
intentionally contributed" to plotting "widespread and systematic attacks against the
civilian population in order to create a humanitarian catastrophe" which could be
exploited for political gain.

The Kinshasa government welcomed Mbarushimana's arrest. "It's good news for the
Democratic Republic of Congo and the whole Great Lakes region," government
spokesman Lambert Mende told AFP.

"Mbarushimana led from Europe the FDLR's armed bands which spread death and
destruction in our country and threatened security in their own country," Rwanda, he
said.

In New York, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's special representative on sexual


violence in conflict said she considered the arrest as sending an "important signal" to
other suspects.

"This is a very important signal to all perpetrators in the DRC that crimes of sexual
violence are not tolerated and that the international community is fully committed to
bringing these individuals to justice," said Margot Wallstrom.

The FDLR traces its roots to Rwandan army and Hutu Interahamwe extremist militia
members who fled to DR Congo, called Zaire at the time, when Tutsis took power in
Kigali in July 1994 following the genocide in Rwanda.

The fighters formed the army that became the FDLR, launching attacks across the
border in Rwanda and trying unsuccessfully to topple the Kigali regime in 2001.
In 2009 UN-backed Congolese forces beat back the FDLR, which is accused of carrying
out numerous atrocities against civilians.

According to the New York-based Human Rights Watch, the FDLR committed at least
630 murders of civilians between January and September 2009.
--------------------
UN expresses Darfur alarm at end of Sudan visit (AFP)

The UN Security Council ended a controversial tour of Sudan on Saturday by signalling


growing alarm over the Darfur war, but saying a self-determination referendum in
South Sudan could still be held on time.

The four-day visit by the 15 ambassadors and top representatives on the council drew
angry street protests as well as warnings from Sudanese leaders over international
action in Africa's biggest country, which now faces a looming breakup.

The mission made its most alarming comments about Darfur, where the United Nations
estimates at least 300,000 people have died since the war started in 2003. Peace talks
between the government and rebel groups are floundering.

"The Security Council remains deeply concerned about human insecurity in Darfur, the
suffering of the people," said British ambassador Mark Lyall Grant, reading a statement
on behalf of the council.

"There is an urgent need for a successful peace process and we continue to urge the
rebel forces to join" negotiations that have been conducted in Qatar. The council called
for "an immediate cessation of hostilities".

Fears have been expressed that a new civil war could erupt in Sudan if a scheduled
January 9 referendum in southern Sudan and the nearby Abyei region is delayed or
overshadowed by violence.

The votes are part of a peace accord, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, reached in
2005 to end two decades of civil war in which two million people died.

"We heard strong commitment both in Juba and in Khartoum, from the government of
southern Sudan and from the government of Sudan, to implement fully the terms of the
CPA, and the need for the referendum to be on time, to be peaceful, to be credible and
to tackle the key outstanding issues," said Lyall Grant.

The rival governments are still wrangling over details of the

referendum and broader topics such as the border between the two rivals, citizenship
and revenue sharing.
"The timetable is now extremely tight but if that political commitment is translated into
implementation by both parties, and with the international community's support, that
timetable is do-able," the ambassador said.
--------------------
Rift Endangers Power-Sharing Deal in Zimbabwe (New York Times)

Mr. Tsvangirai had recently played down his differences with his 86-year-old political
rival, but on Thursday declared he could no longer let Mr. Mugabe and his Zanu-PF
party “act as if they own this country.”

His criticism was precipitated by Mr. Mugabe’s decision to name loyalists to serve as
governors of all 10 provinces, despite an earlier commitment to share the picks with Mr.
Tsvangirai. He informed Mr. Tsvangirai of his decision at their weekly meeting on
Monday.

Mr. Tsvangirai, who won more votes than Mr. Mugabe in 2008, but withdrew from a
runoff after thousands of his supporters were beaten and 200 were killed, called on
other nations and Zimbabweans not to recognize Mr. Mugabe’s unilateral appointments
of governors, judges, ambassadors and other officials.

But Mr. Tsvangirai has little power to enforce his bargain with Mr. Mugabe. And there
is no sign yet that African leaders will demand that Mr. Mugabe, who has ruled
Zimbabwe for 30 years, be more conciliatory.

In the power-sharing deal negotiated by Thabo Mbeki, the former South African
president — a deal regional powers pressured Mr. Tsvangirai into accepting a year and
a half ago — Mr. Mugabe retained control of the police, the army, the state media,
critical ministries and a sprawling network of spies, all of which he has used to repress
opposition.

South Africa’s current president, Jacob Zuma, responsible for seeing that Mr. Tsvangirai
and Mr. Mugabe fulfill their bargain, has not weighed in on Mr. Tsvangirai’s latest
indictment of Mr. Mugabe. “We’re just observing developments,” Mr. Zuma’s
spokesman, Zizi Kodwa, said Friday. “It would be premature to comment.”

Mr. Zuma and other regional leaders have recently stepped up their advocacy for the
lifting of Western sanctions on Zimbabwe, which Mr. Mugabe blames for the country’s
economic ruin. The United States and Europe have placed travel and financial sanctions
on Mr. Mugabe and other members of the governing elite. And United States law
restricts American support for assistance or debt relief from the International Monetary
Fund and other international institutions.
In an interview on Friday, Mr. Mugabe’s press secretary, George Charamba, took a hard
line against compromise with Mr. Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic
Change, insisting that Mr. Tsvangirai must first make an unequivocal demand for the
lifting of sanctions. Mr. Charamba accused Mr. Tsvangirai of playing to a Western
constituency. “The prime minister is not being forthright on the matter,” he said.

Mr. Tsvangirai himself has called for the sanctions to be lifted, though he insisted
Thursday that human rights abuses committed during Mr. Mugabe’s rule and his
disastrous economic policies caused Zimbabwe’s decline, not sanctions.

Even some of Mr. Mugabe’s harshest critics say it is time to get rid of sanctions,
contending they have done little to stop the ruling elite from looting state resources or
undermining the rule of law, while giving Mr. Mugabe a way to cast himself as a victim
of the white imperialist West.

In reply, the Obama administration reiterated two weeks ago, after meeting Zanu-PF
officials on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, that it had no plans to
lift the travel ban and financial sanctions that affect more than 200 people in Zimbabwe
as long as human rights violations and political intimidation continue.

Mr. Tsvangirai’s bitterness about his relationship with Mr. Mugabe has been building
for some time. He was brutally beaten by police in 2007, but said in a statement released
Thursday that he had been prepared to work with “my yesteryear’s enemies and
tormentors.”

While there has been some progress — most notably in allowing more independent
newspapers to operate — many issues have festered. Mr. Mugabe on Monday declared
he would never appoint one of Mr. Tsvangirai’s closest allies to government — Roy
Bennett, a former white commercial farmer — despite earlier promises to do so once he
was acquitted of terrorism charges, Mr. Tsvangirai said.

Mr. Tsvangirai described the refusal to accept Mr. Bennett as part of “a racist agenda,”
while Mr. Mugabe’s spokesman defended it, saying Mr. Bennett had been charged with
contempt of court in his case.

Civic groups say they documented widespread harassment and intimidation by Zanu-
PF of members of Mr. Tsvangirai’s party around recent hearings on a new Constitution
that is supposed to bring free elections. Mr. Tsvangirai called the bullying and beating
of his supporters “utterly abhorrent to me.”

“Events of the past few months have left me sorely disappointed in Mr. Mugabe and in
his betrayal of the confidence that I and many Zimbabweans have personally invested
in him,” he said
The particulars aside, Mr. Tsvangirai may also have decided the political risks of
conciliation with Mr. Mugabe were greater than confrontation with him. Independent
analysts and civic allies have fretted that Mr. Tsvangirai — generally seen as affable —
had been outsmarted by Mr. Mugabe, regarded as a ruthless political survivor.

“He’s been telling all his hot heads to keep quiet, don’t insult the president in hopes the
president would take him seriously,” said Iden Wetherell, a senior editor for a group of
independent newspapers that includes the new daily NewsDay. “But he’s been
betrayed by Mugabe at every turn. Mugabe’s used this process to claw back his
standing and ensure the apparatus of the state remains in his hands.”

Mr. Tsvangirai’s biggest asset remains his popularity, but his chances of governing
Zimbabwe depend on a fair election. NewsDay last month commissioned a nationally
representative survey of 1,062 people, with a margin of sampling error of three
percentage points, and found that 32 percent of them would vote for Mr. Tsvangirai’s
party, and 18 percent for Mr. Mugabe’s.

But the most telling result was that 4 out of 10 were unwilling to reveal whom they
supported. Pollsters said political intimidation during the recent public hearings on a
new Constitution had left many determined to keep their voting preferences secret.

“A heavy and dark cloud of fear seems to have enveloped the electorate,” the survey
report said.
--------------------
Somali pirates hijack Panama-flagged ship with 20 Filipinos (Xinhua)

Somali pirates have hijacked a Panama-flagged ship with 20 crew members, all
Filipinos, the European Union anti-piracy force confirmed on Monday.

The EU Naval Force spokesman Lt. Col Per Klingvall said owners of the MV Izumi
reported on Sunday that they had received an automatically released distress signal
indicating that the vessel was likely to be under pirate attack.

Klingvall said the Danish warship HDMS Esbern Snare of the NATO counter piracy
force was dispatched to intercept and investigate. "In the early hours of Oct. 11 the
captain of the vessel made contact with the Danish warship, stating that pirates were in
charge of the MV Izumi," he said.

EU NAVFOR French warship FS Floreal is now monitoring the pirated vessel which is
presently 170 nautical miles South of Mogadishu.

"The MV Izumi, deadweight 20,170 tonnes, has a crew of 20, all Filipinos," he said.
Somalia is at the entrance to the Gulf of Aden, which leads to the Red Sea and the Suez
Canal, one of the world's most important shipping channels. The country has been
plagued by factional fighting between warlords and hasn't had a functioning central
administration since the 1991 ouster of former dictator Mohammed Siad Barre.

International military officials have vowed to fight Somali pirates who have moved into
the waters off the coast of East Africa, as attacks begin to decrease.

Crews have been successfully repelling more attacks, making it harder for pirates to
capture ships and earn multi-million-dollar ransoms. But the pirates have responded
more violently. Many ship owners are investing in physical defences like stringing
razor wire and adding fire hoses that can hit attackers with streams of high-pressure
water.
--------------------
Bashir warns of new Sudan civil war (Al Jazeera)

Sudan's president has accused the country's southern autonomous leadership of


breaching terms of a peace deal, warning that a conflict could re-erupt if the two sides
did not settle disputes before a referendum on the south's secession, state media
reported.

The remarks from Omar Hassan al-Bashir raised the stakes in a war of words between
Khartoum and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), the south's governing
party.

Bashir said he was still committed to holding the vote on the south's independence,
which is set to take place on January 9, but insisted both sides first had to settle
differences over the position of their shared border and how to share oil, debt and Nile
river water.

"He [Bashir] said a new conflict between the north and south will ensue if there was a
failure to address these issues before the referendum and that such a conflict could be
more dangerous than the one that took place before the peace agreement," Suna
reported, referring to a speech Bashir gave on Saturday.

The country's central government and former southern rebels, which now rule over the
region, were engaged in two decades of civil war, in which two million people died.
The conflict ended five years ago with a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

In talks with a visiting UN delegation on Saturday, Ali Karti, Sudan's foreign minister,
renewed Khartoum's criticism of southern leaders for openly campaigning for
independence, saying that this was a "clear breach" of the 2005 peace deal.
Bashir delivered Saturday's speech as envoys from the UN Security Council wrapped
up a visit to Sudan aimed at pressing both sides to hold the vote on time and avert a
new civil war.

Lyall Grant, speaking on behalf of the Security Council delegation, told Sudan's foreign
minister that the international community was "deeply concerned" about stability in
Sudan, where the world's largest UN peacekeeping presence is located.

He said full implementation of the 2005 peace agreement was "essential to sustain peace
and stability throughout Sudan."

Susan Rice, Washington's UN ambassador, stressed the need for an accord on the status
of the oil-rich Abyei region straddling north and south.

"Abyei is obviously a critical issue among many that needs to be resolved going
forward, and that is why the United States at the request of both parties has been
hosting for the last several days intense discussions in Addis Ababa to try to resolve the
crucial issues related to conduct the referendum in Abyei on time," Rice said.

Meanwhile, Arab League leaders voiced their support for the referendum on Saturday
at the end of a summit in Libya.

In a final statement read by Amr Mussa, the bloc's secretary general, the group affirmed
"its solidarity with Sudan and emphasises the necessity of respecting its sovereignty,
territorial integrity and independence, and supports efforts to achieve peace" in the
country.

The committee of foreign ministers of Arab States also pledged to work closely with the
African Union and the UN to help Sudan organise the referendum and ensure that it is
held in a "peaceful, free, credible and transparent manner".
--------------------
British banks handled suspect Nigerian funds (AFP)

Banks in Britain handled millions of pounds for two Nigerian ex-governors accused of
corruption, an anti-graft watchdog said Monday in a report urging stronger measures
to stop money laundering.

The report from Global Witness says British banks Barclays, HSBC, Royal Bank of
Scotland and NatWest, along with Swiss bank UBS, held accounts for either Diepreye
Alamieyeseigha or Joshua Dariye, two Nigerian ex-state governors.

Citing court documents and other sources, it details suspect transactions involving the
two politicians between 1999 and 2005 and says banks should do more to determine
whether the sources of such funds are legitimate.
"Without access to the international financial system, it would be much harder for
corrupt politicians from the developing world to loot their national treasuries or accept
bribes," the report says.

"By taking money from such customers, British banks are fuelling corruption,
entrenching poverty and undermining international development assistance."

The report contrasts the lifestyles of the two ex-governors with deep poverty in Nigeria,
a country long held back by corruption and where vast oil resources have failed to
translate into social progress.

Alamieyeseigha, who was governor of Bayelsa state in the oil-producing Niger Delta,
pleaded guilty to money laundering in 2007. Dariye, former governor of Plateau state,
has been accused of corruption by Nigerian authorities.

UBS said in a statement that it would "study the report to identify areas where further
improvements in dealing with politically exposed persons may be possible." Politically
exposed persons is a technical term for those seen as posing a higher risk for corruption.

"UBS is fully committed to protecting the integrity of the financial marketplace by


maintaining high standards in anti-money laundering controls," it said, adding it had
introduced anti-money laundering "enhancements" in 2009.

The other banks did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Global Witness said even though the transactions in the report occurred more than five
years ago, it "is still relevant today because the problems that it highlights with the anti-
money laundering system still exist."

The report points out that British banks faced similar accusations over former Nigerian
dictator Sani Abacha's assets.
--------------------
Africa calls for replenishment of WB's fund for poor nations (Xinhua)

African finance ministers have called for a robust replenishment of the International
Developmental Association (IDA), the World Bank's fund which provides interest-free
funding (known as credits) and grants to the world's 79 poorest countries, 39 of them in
Africa. "I do hope larger players will realize the need not just to replenish funding for
IDA, but to increase it," said Kenya's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
Uhuru Kenyatta said.

Speaking at a press conference on behalf of African delegations to this year's Annual


Meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kenyatta and
finance ministers from the Central African Republic (CAR), Comoros and Sierra Leone,
echoed each other. "The challenge now is to get together and convince the advanced
countries to put more money into IDA as that is our window of opportunity," said
Samura Kamara, minister of finance for Sierra Leone, who is also chair of the African
Caucus of Governors of the World Bank and IMF.

The leading source of development assistance to Africa Out of a total 11.5 billion dollars
provided by the World Bank to Africa during the fiscal year which ended June 30, IDA
-- the leading source of development funding for the region -- accounted for 7.2 billion
dollars, including 1.5 billion dollars in grants.

Contributions by 45 donor countries accounted for 60 percent of the current IDA


(known as IDA-15) envelope, which holds 41.6 billion U.S. dollars.

According to a World Bank statement released here on Monday, donors gather every
three years under a process known as replenishment to contribute to IDA.
--------------------
Kadhafi warns against 'contagion' of Sudanese partition (AFP)

Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi warned on Sunday ahead of a vote on possible


independence for south Sudan that a partition of the country would be a "contagious
disease" that could spread to other African states.

Kadhafi was speaking at a one-day Arab-African summit that wrapped up its work by
establishing a strategic partnership between Arab and African states in the areas of
energy, environment, water resources, agriculture and food security.

Kadhafi told the opening of the summit in the Libyan coastal city of Sirte that "what is
happening in Sudan could become a contagious disease that affects the whole of Africa.

"We must recognise that this event is dangerous," he said of the planned January 9
referendum on southern Sudan independence which could see Africa's largest country
split in two.

A simultaneous referendum is to be held in the disputed oil-rich Abyei region,


straddling north and south Sudan, on which part it wants to belong to.

"The partition of Sudan is likely to change the map of the country. But other (African
countries) will change too," the Libyan leader told the gathering, which was attended by
Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir.

Kadhafi had called in March for Nigeria to be partitioned between the Christian and
Muslim communities to solve its problem of sectarian violence.
He proposed that it should follow the model of Pakistan, which was born in 1947 after
the Muslim minority of predominantly Hindu India founded their own homeland.

Most of Africa's borders are arbitrary, resulting from colonies carved out by European
empire-builders that often divided tribal or linguistic groups between one or more
territories. Any effort to change that could lead to a radical redrawing of the continent's
maps.

In Sudan, vote preparations are way behind schedule and tensions remain high.

On Saturday, clashes erupted during a visit to the capital by UN Security Council


ambassadors between separatists and opponents of Sudan's potential breakup.

Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade proposed on Sunday that a delegation of five


African and Arab heads of state travel to Sudan in a bid to defuse tensions there, Bashir
advisor Mustapha Othman Ismail said.

For his part, the chairman of the African Union Commission, Jean Ping, told the summit
that the "referendum for both southern Sudan and the Abyei region in 2011 continues to
be a source of concern, given the complexity of pre- and post-referendum issues which
need to be resolved."

The referendum is a central plank of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that
ended two decades of civil war in Sudan, a north-south conflict in which two million
people died.

Arab League chief Amr Mussa voiced concerns about "the referendum's impact on
security and stability on a large region of Africa and the Middle East."

He said the League was working with Khartoum to resolve outstanding issues over the
referendum, and stressed the need for "good preparation."

Mussa called for "a credible and transparent ballot that reflects the will of the people of
south Sudan and the Abyei region."

The summit adopted a declaration in which the leaders stressed the need to "respect
Sudanese sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence."

The "Sirte Declaration" also affirms their "complete rejection of any attempt to
undermine (Sudan's) sovereignty, unity, security or stability."

"The importance of completing negotiations on questions pertaining to issues in post-


referendum south Sudan" was also underlined.
The leaders also "reject resolutions by the International Criminal Court against the
Sudanese president," the declaration said.

Bashir, the first sitting head of state to face arrest warrants issued by the ICC, denies
masterminding war crimes and genocide in Sudan's war-wracked western region of
Darfur.

Speaking of the strategic partnership, Ping said the wealth of the Arab world could help
lift Africa out of its "economic marginalisation" through greater investment and trade.
--------------------
Americans among insurgent leaders in Somalia (Army Times)
Americans occupy senior leadership positions in al-Shabaab, the Islamist insurgent
group waging a brutal war in Somalia, according to U.S. Africa Command’s top
intelligence officer.
Somalia, which has been without an effective central government for almost 20 years, is
“perhaps the ultimate safe haven for Islamic extremists” and “must be a strategic
concern for the United States,” said Terrance Ford, AFRICOM’s director of intelligence
and knowledge development.
His concern was echoed by Ambassador David Shinn, former State Department director
of East Africa and Horn of Africa affairs. Speaking of al-Shabaab, Shinn said: “Its
appearance and its organization and the way its leadership is functioning is looking
more and more like the Taliban looked back in the 1990s.”
Ford and Shinn spoke Sept. 27 at a Washington, D.C. conference hosted by the Foreign
Policy Research Institute and the Reserve Officers Association. A notice on the Federal
Business Opportunities website indicated that U.S. Special Operations Command
funded the conference.
Al-Shabaab is one of several splinter groups created in 2006 when Ethiopian forces —
reportedly supported by U.S. special operations forces — ousted the Islamic Courts
Union regime from power in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. Estimates of the
insurgent group’s strength run to the several thousands, with foreign fighters playing
an increasingly significant role.
“Somalia ... has, according to some reports, over 200 foreign fighters from Afghanistan,
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen,” Ford said, adding that “this number does not
include perhaps another thousand ethnic Somalis from Europe, the United States and
Africa.”
Shinn, a former State Department coordinator for Somalia who now teaches African
affairs at George Washington University, told the conference that while al-Shabaab’s
top three leaders are Somalis, 43 of the group’s 85-member executive council are
foreigners. He divided these “foreigners” into three groups: ethnic Somalis born in
neighboring Ethiopia or Kenya; ethnic Somalis who are part of the wider Somali
diaspora, and who carry foreign passports “if they have a passport at all;” and finally
“those who have no Somali ethnic connection.”
“According to a Somali analyst in Nairobi, the foreign jihadists were once in the
shadows but now there’s no doubt that they have taken control of the movement in
Somalia,” Ford said. This includes fighters from the U.S., “a lot of [whom] ... have risen
to fairly senior leadership positions,” he added.
Marc Sageman, a former Central Intelligence Agency case officer who is a senior fellow
at FPRI and author of “Understanding Terror Networks” and “Leaderless Jihad,”
estimated that “at least 40” jihadists had traveled to Somalia from the U.S., but said
none had returned.
“Significant anecdotal evidence” suggests that the Islamic extremist leadership in
Yemen also includes Americans, Ford said. “Apparently, like any successful
transnational business, al-Qaida and al-Shabaab promote individuals as a consequence
of their abilities, unique experiences and operational achievements,” he said.
The appeal of Somalia to foreign fighters is clear, according to Ford. “Somalia is a failed
state and perhaps the ultimate safe haven for Islamic extremists to train and to gain
experience in traditional and asymmetrical warfare,” he said. “Due to the number and
influence of these foreign fighters, Somalia must be a strategic concern for the United
States and other countries, given al-Qaida’s goal to re-establish the historic Islamic
caliphate that extends well beyond Somalia.”
In a question-and-answer session after his speech, Ford said that he assessed the al-
Shabaab threat to be greater than that posed by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, which
operates across several countries in northwest Africa.
“Foreign jihadi radicals within the inner circle of al-Shabaab’s leadership” have played
a “critical” role in reinvigorating and radicalizing the group, Ford said.
U.S. officials are particularly worried by the presence of American fighters in al-
Shabaab.
“All of us ... have a concern about which way the foreign fighters flow; i.e. will they
flow back into the United States?” Ford said. Al-Qaida recently published what he
termed “a fairly effective brochure” called “Inspire” (it’s actually an online magazine)
“that speaks to the Somali-American community in the U.S., using the philosophies and
pitches that appeal to that [community],” Ford said.
The AFRICOM official noted that the influx of foreign fighters into Somalia runs
counter to that country’s “traditionally clan-first culture and the more moderate form of
Islam historically practiced there.” In addition, he said, “Reporting also indicates that
most Somalis are rather xenophobic and a prime motivator in recent fighting has been
the desire to rid Somalia of any foreign influence — witness the recent Ethiopian
operations which [were] opposed by virtually all elements of Somali society.”
“Given that reality, why would several hundred foreign fighters be drawn to a conflict
in which their presence, assuming that they’re not ethnic Somalis, would be anathema
to the very people that they are there to assist?” Ford asked rhetorically. “One might
speculate that some — certainly not all — must be drawn to the pan-Islamic extremist
ideology of al-Qaida, and a desire to capitalize on a local insurgency and co-opt its
leadership to further global AQ goals.”
The U.S. and its allies in the region could be taking more advantage of the xenophobic
streak in Somali society, Ford suggested, saying that “the presence in Somalia of a
significant and influential foreign fighter community whose goals and values are
different from that of the average Somali [represents] an information seam that we have
yet failed to exploit.”
Shinn appeared to agree. The Somali people’s traditional dislike of foreigners, along
with al-Shabaab’s brutal tactics of beheadings, suicide bombings and forced marriages,
could end up being the group’s Achilles’ heel, he said.
Ford’s comment that Ethiopia’s 2006 incursion was “opposed by virtually all elements
of Somali society” prompted a question as to whether the Ethiopians and their U.S.
advisers had foreseen this outcome. Without directly addressing the issue of the U.S.
advisers, Ford said that while he had not been at AFRICOM at the time (AFRICOM was
not established until 2007), “even the most casual observers ... probably should have
recognized that they would not be welcomed as liberators.
“The experience of Somalia back to our ‘Black Hawk Down’ and all the rest suggested
just the opposite, so I think it had to be a planning factor, and I’m sure the Ethiopians
had that calculus in mind.”
Ford was speaking the day after an unidentified military helicopter was reported by
several news organizations to have attacked a meeting of al-Shabaab leaders in the
Somali port town of Merka. U.S. officials denied any involvement in the attack.
Ford said he had been on leave for the previous two weeks and had no knowledge of
the attack beyond what had been reported in the news. Asked which countries would
have the capability and the will to conduct such an attack, he replied: “I suspect that the
Ethiopians have some kind of capability, but I honestly don’t know whether they did
that, or whether the report is even accurate.”
--------------------
Africa: Improving Maritime Security and Safety in Africa (All Africa)
ADDIS ABBABA, Ethiopia - Thirty-eight African countries are either coastal or island
states. “Africa borders the major sea lanes of the world and is therefore strategically
situated. This in and of itself demands great attention on the part of Africa’s coastal
states in terms of protection of the maritime domain that had so far not been
comprehensively secured for the African people.

As the backbone of international commerce, oceans and seas are vital to African
expectations in peace, in security, in economic development, transportation, trade,
environmental and scientific research, historical and cultural heritage” said African
Union (AU) Commissioner for Peace and Security when briefing the AU Peace and
Security Council on maritime security and safety during the its 242nd meeting held on 4
October 2010.

Indeed, over the past decade, maritime security and safety has become a major
challenge for several African coastal countries. Piracy has become a major threat,
generating or exacerbating political and social instability in the surroundings. Drug and
human trafficking, financing the purchase of weapons, oil spills and other
environmental crimes, to name a few, are threats that weaken the continent.

In this regard, Mr Erastus Mwencha, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union


Commission has been invited at the headquarters of US Africa Command (Africom) in
Stuttgart, Germany, in order to address these issues. Conscious of the impact of
maritime security and safety on Africa’s growth AU has put together the African
Integrated Maritime Strategy (AIM-Strategy) aiming to achieve a comprehensive
understanding of existing and potential challenges and allocation of resources to
identified priorities.

It also aims at designing a comprehensive, concerted, coherent and coordinated


approach that improves maritime conditions in respect of environmental and socio-
economic development.
--------------------
South Africa declines to send Soldiers to Somalia (Xinhua)
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Despite mounting pressure from the international
community, South Africa will not send soldiers to Somalia, the country has announced.

South African International relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-


Mashabane made the announcement in Pretoria on Wednesday after a meeting with the
European Union's representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Baroness
Catherine Ashton.
The recent African Union heads of state summit in July in Kampala agreed to send
more troops to Somalia to bolster the transitional government currently facing stiff
resistance from Al Shabaab militia.

In July, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson said that
South Africa could play a positive role in uprooting what he called “Al-Qaeda-inspired
terrorist cells in Somalia.”

Carson said these cells that threatened international peace and security.

However, on Wednesday, Nkoana-Mashabane said she did not have a specific request
for South Africa to send soldiers to Somalia. She added that South African President
Jacob Zuma was not considering any such request.

Sending soldiers to Somalia was not the "first priority for South Africa," Nkoana-
Mashabane said.

In addition, that the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a regional


African Union-sanctioned body based in Djibouti, had met the quota of 8,000 soldiers
for Somalia.

The IGAD contingent consists of soldiers from Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya,
Somalia, Sudan and Uganda.

However, South Africa did send a delegation to a two-day regional ministerial


conference on piracy that started on Thursday in Mauritius.

South Africa's ambassador to Mauritius Madumane Matabane was leading the


delegation.

Somalia is embroiled in a 19-year-old civil war which human rights agencies estimate
has killed up to a million people.
--------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

UN-backed report stresses economic diversification for Africa’s growth


Diversifying African economies is key to reducing the continent’s dependence on the
sale of raw commodities and to sustained economic growth, as well as the development
of such crucial sectors as telecommunications, agriculture and tourism, according to a
United Nations-backed report unveiled today.

UN envoy to undertake regional visit ahead of upcoming Western Sahara talks


The envoy spearheading United Nations efforts to help resolve the dispute over the
status of Western Sahara is scheduled to travel to the region ahead of the next round of
informal meetings scheduled for November, it was announced today.

UN-backed gathering aims to identify climate change adaptation actions


Hundreds of people have gathered at a United Nations-backed meeting in Addis Ababa
to identify actions that will promote sustainable development in Africa in the face of
climate change.

UN ideals can benefit from synergy of Afro-Arab cooperation, says Ban


Cooperation between African and Arab States can boost United Nations efforts to
prevent and resolve conflicts in the two regions, promote tolerance, combat drug
trafficking, terrorism and corruption, and strengthen the campaign against
unemployment and climate change, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said.

Rwandan rebel leader wanted by ICC for alleged war crimes arrested in France
A Rwandan rebel leader was arrested in France today on an International Criminal
Court (ICC) warrant on suspicion of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly
committed in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) last year.

You might also like