United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

15 October 2010

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

US still thinks Abyei referendum can be held on time (AFP)

(Sudan) The United States said Thursday that a referendum on the future of Sudan's
contested oil district Abyei can still be held on time despite remarks to the contrary
from a senior Sudanese official.

South Sudan president fears referendum 'war': envoy (AFP)

(Sudan) South Sudan's president fears that northern Sudan may start a war over a
looming independence referendum, a US ambassador said Thursday amid calls for UN
troops to be deployed on the border between the rivals.

Somali-American is new prime minister in Somalia (Associated Press)

(Somalia) Somalia's president named a new prime minister on Thursday, bringing into
the government a Somali-American who has taught at a community college in New
York state.

Using US troops to arrest LRA leader Joseph Kony is a bad idea (Christian Science
Monitor)
(Uganda) While the humanitarian use of force may be a good idea in theory, as we've
seen before, it doesn't often work out as well as planned. It's going to take far more than
a quick in-and-out sweep to take down Kony.

Central Africa says 'fight LRA like Al-Qaeda' (AFP)

(East Africa) The Central African Republic called Thursday for the rebel Lord's
Resistance Army (LRA) to be treated and fought like Al-Qaeda, in an appeal made at an
African Union meeting.

U.S.$180 Million Halliburton Scam - FG Arraigns Obasanjo's Aide (Daily Champion)

(Nigeria) The federal government yesterday kept to its promise to arraign the first set
of the suspects in the $180 million Halliburton scam, as a personal assistant to former
President Olusegun Obasanjo, Adeyanju Bodunde was put in the dock at the federal
high court, Abuja.

No. 2 junta leader under interrogation in Niamey (France 24)

(Niger) Niger's number two junta leader, Colonel Abdoulaye Badie, is under arrest at
military headquarters in Niamey, a military source said on Thursday.

UN envoy says gov't troops continue Congo rapes (Associated Press)

(Congo) Congolese government troops are raping, killing and looting civilians in the
same area of eastern Congo where militias carried out mass rapes over two months ago,
a top U.N. envoy said Thursday.

Parliament Member: U.S. Investors Should Consider Morocco (Global Atlanta)

(Atlanta) Morocco is a stable, moderate Muslim country with enormous trade potential
for the United States, a member of its parliament, Mbarka Bouaida, told GlobalAtlanta
on a recent visit to Atlanta.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
 On eve of electoral campaign in Côte d’Ivoire, UN envoy appeals for calm
 UN humanitarian chief arrives in Niger to address food crisis
 General Assembly President urges more support for African development goals
 Ban phones African regional leader to ensure Guinea’s poll takes place on time
 Security Council underscores need for timely, credible Sudanese referenda
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Wednesday, October 20, 3:30 p.m.; Center for Strategic and
International Studies
WHAT: State Department: A Dual-Track Approach to Somalia
WHO: Ambassador Johnnie Carson, Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of African
Affairs, U.S. Department of State
Info: http://csis.org/event/state-department-dual-track-approach-somalia
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FULL ARTICLE TEXT

US still thinks Abyei referendum can be held on time (AFP)

WASHINGTON — The United States said Thursday that a referendum on the future of
Sudan's contested oil district Abyei can still be held on time despite remarks to the
contrary from a senior Sudanese official.

Under a 2005 deal ending the north-south civil war, the vote on whether Abyei should
remain in the north or join the south had been due to take place at the same time as a
referendum on independence for the south on January 9.

"We believe that the (Abyei) referendum can still happen on time," State Department
spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters.
"But that does require, when these talks reconvene on October 27, that the parties reach
agreement on the Abyei referendum, even as they continue working on preparations for
the referendum on southern Sudan," he added.

Representatives of the north and south agreed to resume talks October 27 after the
collapse in Ethiopia Tuesday of nine days of negotiations over who should be eligible to
take part in the referendum.

The Sudanese government's chief negotiator Salah Gosh said the next round of talks on
Abyei may consider alternatives but will not close the door on the referendum.

Crowley called the talks in Ethiopia "very important and constructive" but conceded it
will be an "enormous challenge" to hold the referendum on January 9.

Asked if Washington wants to see the Abyei referendum take place on time, Crowley
replied: "We continue to believe that the parties should come together and fulfill their
commitment to hold the Abyei referendum on January 9th."
--------------------
South Sudan president fears referendum 'war': envoy (AFP)

UNITED NATIONS – South Sudan's president fears that northern Sudan may start a
war over a looming independence referendum, a US ambassador said Thursday amid
calls for UN troops to be deployed on the border between the rivals.

The UN Security Council should consider putting international troops in "hotspots"

along the border, a senior US official said.

Conflict concerns were raised during a report by UN Security Council ambassadors on

their mission to Sudan last week to press for the January 9 independence referendum in
the south to be held on time and peacefully.

Preparations for the referendum, widely expected to lead to the breakup of Africa's
biggest nation, are seriously behind schedule though the UN envoys said it could still
be held on time.

Southern Sudan's President Salva Kiir told the UN mission of his war fears during talks
with the envoys last week, US ambassador Susan Rice told a Security Council meeting.

Kiir said the people of South Sudan were "gripped with fever" for the referendum, Rice
said. "President Kiir also warned that he fears the North may be preparing for war and
may be moving troops southward.
"He stated that the South proposes a UN administered buffer zone, spanning 10 miles to
the north and south of the border, in which no troops would be present."

Kiir also raised concerns about the failure to agree on a north-south border, delays in
organizing the referendum in the oil rich Abyei region and negotiations on oil and
wealth sharing.

Rice said that other civil leaders the group met in South Sudan had said the North is
"beating the drums of war" and had asked for international pressure on the Khartoum
government.

A senior US official said earlier that UN troops could police tense parts of the border
and that there could be stepped up sanctions against Sudan if the vote is seriously
delayed.

Some UN mission (UNMIS) troops already act as observers in the frontier region, where
each side has accused the other of building up their military ahead of the referendum.

"Nobody thinks it is realistic to put UNMIS, even if we had masses more troops, along
the north-south border in a country that large," the senior US official told reporters,
speaking on condition of anonymity.

"One thing I think we can and should consider if the (UN special representative) and
the (UN) secretariat come forward with such a proposal is looking at augmenting
UNMIS in certain hotspots along the border where a buffer presence could be
established," the official added.

Rice said that Security Council members are "skeptical" that a force along the entire
border could be organized.

"There is serious discussion of alternative models that might focus on those areas along
the border that are most vulnerable or at high risk of violence," she added.

She said the idea of a "hotspot" force would have to be "fleshed out" but said other
council members were open to the idea.

The January 9 referendum in South Sudan and Abyei is part of a 2005 peace accord that
ended a two-decade civil war between the North and South in which two million
people died.

UNMIS has a 10,000 strong peacekeeping force in Sudan.

The US official said the United States was looking for ways to strengthen the
application of current UN sanctions against Sudan and that if the referendums were
delayed new measures could be taken.

"There are additional measures we could contemplate. And I don't view it particularly
constructive at this point to be specific," the official said.

"I think it is fair to say that neither the international community, neither any individual
member state is without some leverage."
--------------------
Somali-American is new prime minister in Somalia (Associated Press)

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Somalia's president named a new prime minister on

Thursday, bringing into the government a Somali-American who has taught at a
community college in New York state.

Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed replaces Omar Abdirashid Ali

Sharmarke, who had a long-running feud with the president and resigned last month.

A statement from the Somali government said that Mohamed is a former Somali
diplomat. He worked in the Somali Embassy in Washington from 1985 to 1988,
according to the government's website.

Mohamed has taught conflict resolution and leadership skills at Erie Community
College, a member of the State University of New York (SUNY) system, according to his
resume. He has a master's degree in political science from SUNY-Buffalo, it said.

Mohamed will be asked to name a Cabinet within one month.

Mark Bowden, a top U.N. official with oversight of Somalia, said Mohamed's Cabinet is
expected to be smaller than the bloated group of politicians that Sharmarke had control
over. Among officials in Sharmarke's Cabinet was a minister of tourism in a violence-
plagued country that sees only a handful of tourists each year.

Somalia's Transitional Federal Government controls only a few blocks of Mogadishu

and is generally seen as corrupt, weak and ineffective. The government has
accomplished little since its inception in 2004. Somalia hasn't had a fully functioning
government since 1991, when warlords overthrew the president.

The U.S. last month announced a new, dual track approach to Somalia that will see
continued American support of the transitional government but also new, direct
support of other groups and regions in Somalia. The new approach includes increased
support to the semiautonomous Somali regions of Somaliland and Puntland.
--------------------
Using US troops to arrest LRA leader Joseph Kony is a bad idea (Christian Science
Monitor)

This is not a good idea:

.... There is no better case for the humanitarian use of force than the urgent need to
arrest Joseph Kony, the ruthless leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), and
protect the civilians who are his prey. And far from requiring a non-consensual
intervention, Kony's apprehension would be welcomed by the governments concerned.

The LRA began as a rebel movement in northern Uganda, but it now terrorizes the
civilian population of northern Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as southern
Sudan and the Central African Republic. Its cadre often descends on a remote village,
slaughters every adult in sight, and then kidnaps the children, some shockingly young
-- the boys to become soldiers slinging AK-47s, the girls to serve as "bush wives." Over
more than two decades, many thousands have fallen victim to these roving mass
murderers.

The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Kony and other LRA
commanders, charging them with war crimes and crimes against humanity, but the
court depends on governments to make arrests.

So far Uganda has done the most to pursue the LRA, but ineffectively. The LRA is not
large -- an estimated 200 to 250 seasoned Ugandan combatants, plus at least several
hundred abductees -- but as Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni recently told me,
Uganda lacks the special forces, expert intelligence, and rapid-deployment capacity
needed to stamp out this enemy.

In May, Obama signed a bill committing the United States to help arrest Kony and his
commanders and protect the affected population. Now it is high time to act. Arresting
Kony would reaffirm that mass murder cannot be committed with impunity. And it
would show that, despite the difficulties in Iraq and Afghanistan, the humanitarian use
of force remains a live option at the Obama White House.

Oh, Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch. Really? Sending some
kind of US force into the weakest corner of three extremely weak states and one that
could have dealt with this long ago had its leadership really wanted to do so, into
territory they don't know, where they don't speak the local languages, to track down an
enemy nobody's yet been able to nab, with limited resources? Is this what you're
advocating? Really?

I have a ton of respect for Human Rights Watch and the incredible work they do,
especially in Africa's Great Lakes region. While I don't agree that it's the worst idea on
the internet from Tuesday, this recommendation is off base. Aside from the significant
logistical and diplomatic quandaries such operations would pose (How, for example,
does Roth think Khartoum would react to an American military presence on south
Sudanese soil? Would the French agree to the presence of an American force in the
CAR?), fighting in the dense forests in which the LRA hides without knowing the
territory, the languages, or the local cultures means that troops undertaking such an
operation would be at a significant tactical disadvantage.

Of course all reasonable people agree that Kony needs to be arrested and prosecuted for
the unbelievable crime for which he is allegedly responsible. But if it were that easy, it
would've been done already. Say, by the French troops who are already in the Central
African Republic. Though mostly engaged in training operations these days, they at
least theoretically comprise a significant enough force strength to get the job done.

Part of the reason Kony has been able to evade capture for so long has to do with the
way he positions his fighters around his camps and the systems of notification of
impending attack he's able to employ. You can't always track the LRA's movements
with satellites and open-source intelligence; they're smart enough to stay under tree
cover most of the time and there aren't many mobile phone networks in these areas
through which informants can phone in sightings. Kony may be crazy, but he's not an
idiot – he's got a system. This is not an operation that can be undertaken quickly with a
few helicopters and some RPGs.

While the humanitarian use of force may be a good idea in theory, as we've seen before,
it doesn't often work out as well as planned. Especially in unfamiliar territory. Tread
lightly on this one, policy makers. It's going to take far more than a quick in-and-out
sweep to take down Kony.
--------------------
Central Africa says 'fight LRA like Al-Qaeda' (AFP)

BANGUI – The Central African Republic called Thursday for the rebel Lord's Resistance
Army (LRA) to be treated and fought like Al-Qaeda, in an appeal made at an African
Union meeting.

"The LRA is now a terrorist organisation like Al-Qaeda. Thus, it is urgent today to put
an end to the atrocities of this rebellion," Defence Minister Jean-Francis Bozize told AFP
at the conference in the capital Bangui.

The meeting, which began on Wednesday and was being attended by other countries
affected by LRA activity, "aims to evaluate the security, economic and humanitarian
aspects of the LRA presence" in the CAR, Bozize said.

The LRA emerged in 1998 in northern Uganda as a rebel movement dedicated to

overthrowing the east African country's government and establishing a regime to
uphold the Biblical Ten Commandments.
Today however it is infamous for atrocities against civilians, including massacres, and
has moved from Uganda to South Sudan, the CAR and the Democratic Republic of
Congo. Its leaders are wanted for war crimes.

CAR Foreign Minister Antoine Gambi told AFP that "for us, LRA elements are terrorists
exactly like Al-Qaeda. The international community must not be stingy with the means
to help Centrafrica to get rid of the insecurity created by this rebellion."

At the opening of the meeting, President Francois Bozize denounced the "incursions,
pillage, massacres, rapes, hostage takings and villages that are systematically burned
down" by the LRA in four regions of the poor landlocked country, national radio
reported.

"I formulate the hope that this session will end in proposals and solutions adequate (to
deal with) this recurring question," Bozize said.

The Bangui meeting was attended by representatives of Uganda, the Democratic

Republic of Congo and South Sudan -- all affected by the rebel group founded by
Joseph Kony.

There were also delegates from Kenya, which is the current president of the AU Peace
and Security Council, according to a document of the pan-African organisation.

Also present were members of regional organisations, humanitarian bodies and the
United States, the document said.

The AU wants to "show the solidarity of the continent with the CAR and places the
emphasis on shared responsibility faced with the LRA issue," AU Peace and Security
Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra said, quoted by national radio.

"This session should come up with audacious conclusions that orient us towards action
against the LRA," Lamamra said.

In December 2008, the Ugandan army launched a surprise offensive against the LRA in
the far northeast of the DR Congo. The operation failed to capture Kony, who is wanted
by the International Criminal Court, and neutralise the LRA, which reformed in several
groups.

Since 2009, Ugandan soldiers have been hunting down the LRA in the CAR with the
Bangui government's approval, but the rebels still manage brutal attacks against
civilians and take hostages as forced labour.
On Wednesday, the International Crisis Group research institute stated that it believed
that Kony is in Darfur in west Sudan. Sudan has not authorised Uganda to pursue Kony
in Darfur, according to the ICG.
--------------------
U.S.$180 Million Halliburton Scam - FG Arraigns Obasanjo's Aide (Daily Champion)

Abuja — The federal government yesterday kept to its promise to arraign the first set of
the suspects in the $180 million Halliburton scam, as a personal assistant to former
President Olusegun Obasanjo, Adeyanju Bodunde was put in the dock at the federal
high court, Abuja.

He was accused of laundering about $5million.

Bodunde who was accused of collecting bribe from one George Mark and Hans George
Christ pleaded not guilty to the six-count charge and was subsequently granted bail for
N1million.

Justice Adamu Bello ordered that the accused person must produce a responsible
citizen resident within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as surety.

He said the surety must swear to an affidavit of means and ordered that the accused
person should be remanded in custody until he satisfied the bail conditions.

Counsel to federal government Godwin Obla (SAN) told newsmen after the court
session that another set of suspects in the Halliburton scandal would soon be arraigned
at the FCT high court.

He said government was mindful of the fact that the accused persons should not be
exposed to double jeopardy hence the decision to separate their arraignment.

He said a settlement has been reached with Julius Berger and persons associated with
Julius Berger regarding the case.

The matter was adjourned to October 20, for hearing.

Obla said: "The charge of September 3 has been withdrawn. We are ready because all
the witnesses are available. These are charges under money laundering. We are looking
at the evidence at our disposal. The second leg will come up very soon under the extant
laws at the FCT court involving about 12 or 13 persons.

"We could have charged them under the state high court laws and under the federal
high court laws but we did not do that because the law does not allow that."
Earlier, counsel to the accused person Akinyele Aremu had told the court to admit his
client to bail on self recognition and that he never jumped police bail which he was
enjoying before yesterday's arraignment.

Prosecution counsel did not oppose the bail application but said it was at the discretion
of the court to admit an accused person to bail or deny him bail.

The charges include: "That you, Bodunde sometime between 2002 and 2003, did accept
cash payment in the sum of $1million from one George Mark and thereby committed an
offence contrary to sections 1 and 15 (d) of the Money Laundering Act, 2004 and
punishable under section 15 (2) (b) of the Act;

"That you, Bodunde sometime between 2002 and 2003, did accept cash payment in the
sum of $1million from one George Mark and thereby committed an offence contrary to
sections 1 and 15 (d) of the Money Laundering Act, 2004 and punishable under section
15 (2) (b) of the Act;

"That you, Bodunde sometime between 2002 and 2003, did accept cash payment in the
sum of $1 million from one George Mark and thereby committed an offence contrary to
sections 1 and 15 (d) of the Money Laundering Act, 2004 and punishable under section
15 (2) (b) of the Act;

"That you, Bodunde sometime between 2002 and 2003, did accept cash payment in the
sum of $1million from one George Mark and thereby committed an offence contrary to
sections 1 and 15 (d) of the Money Laundering Act, 2004 and punishable under section
15 (2) (b) of Money Laundering Act, 2004;

"That you, Bodunde sometime between 2002 and 2003, did accept cash payment in the
sum of $500, 000 from Hans George Christ and thereby committed an offence contrary
to sections 1 and 15 (d) of the Money Laundering Act, 2004 and punishable under
section 15 (2) (b) of the same Act;

"That you, Bodunde sometime between 2002 and 2003, did accept cash payment in the
sum of USD $500, 000 from Hans George Christ and thereby committed an offence
contrary to sections 1 and 15 (d) of the Money Laundering Act, 2004 and punishable
under section 15 (2) (b) of the same Act."
--------------------
No. 2 junta leader under interrogation in Niamey (France 24)

Niger's number two junta leader, Colonel Abdoulaye Badie, is under arrest at military
headquarters in Niamey, a military source said on Thursday.

"Colonel Badie was arrested yesterday afternoon and is under detention in military
headquarters in Niamey," the military source said.
"He is being interrogated," the source added, without explaining the reasons for the
arrest.

Badie was permanent secretary to the junta under General Salou Djibo, leader of the
coup which overthrew Niger's president Mamadou Tandja in February. He also served
as chief military quartermaster.

Djibo issue a decree abolishing the post of secretary on Sunday but left Badie as a
member of the ruling junta.

In its edition of Monday, the independent weekly Le Canard Dechaine suggested that
the suppression of the secretary's post could be linked to "crazy reports about an
attempted coup d'etat" in preparation.

For several days, the military presence in the capital and its suburbs has been stepped
up, with larger patrols, particularly at night, AFP journalists noted.

Last Friday, in another decree, Djibo sacked the top commander of the national guard
(the former republican guard), Lieutenant-Colonel Abdou Sidikou. The official
statement announcing his dismissal gave no explanation.

In another decree also signed on October 8, the head of state named a lieutnant-colonel
of the paramilitary gendarmerie, Mahamadou Ibrahim Bagadoma, to the post of
government commissioner (prosecutor) to the military tribunal. This tribunal has not
sat for several years.

The arrest of the number two in the junta comes as Niger, one of the world's poorest
countries rich only in uranium, is preparing for a transitional process intended to
restore democracy.

A constitutional referendum is planned for October 31 to start this process, which will
culminate with a presidential election on January 31, 2011.

The junta plans to hand over to an elected civilian government on April 6, 2011, when
the new president is due to be sworn in.

The last civilian president, Tandja, was ousted by the military after he took a series of
steps to prolong his term in office beyond the end of his elected mandate, which was in
December last year.

The junta won widespread public support last February when it pledged to turn the
west African country, which ranks last on the Human Development Index, into a
beacon of "good democracy and governance".
--------------------
UN envoy says gov't troops continue Congo rapes (Associated Press)

UNITED NATIONS – Congolese government troops are raping, killing and looting
civilians in the same area of eastern Congo where militias carried out mass rapes over
two months ago, a top U.N. envoy said Thursday.

Margot Wallstrom, who is responsible for U.N. efforts to combat sexual violence in
conflict, told the Security Council U.N. peacekeepers have received reports of rapes,
killings and looting by government soldiers.

"The possibility that the same communities who were brutalized in July and August by
FDLR and Mai Mai elements are now also suffering" at the hands of the army "is
unimaginable and unacceptable," she said, referring to the Rwandan-led rebels from the
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Rwanda by their French initials.

Following the mass rapes that ended in early August, Congo President Joseph Kabila
ordered a moratorium on mining in the mineral-rich area and sent in thousands of army
troops to reassert government control.

"I am gravely concerned about the ongoing military operations ... in the Walikale
territory and the implications for the protection of civilians," Wallstrom said.

She urged the government to investigate the allegations and deploy national police to
the area to protect civilians and investigators. She said she had also asked U.N.
peacekeepers to monitor and report daily on rapes and other sexual violence.

Wallstrom also called for U.N. sanctions against a Rwandan Hutu rebel commander
over the alleged mass rapes of more than 300 people in eastern Congo. Sanctions could
include an asset freeze and travel ban.

She offered to provide evidence to the council committee dealing with sanctions against
Congo from witnesses who allege that "Lt. Col." Serafim of the FDLR was one of the
commanders of mass rapes in the mineral-rich Walikale area from July 30 to Aug. 2.

Wallstrom praised last week's arrest of "Lt. Col." Sadoke Kokunda Mayele, accused of
leading some 200 fighters from the Mai-Mai militia in the mass rapes in Walikale. He
was turned in by members of his own militia because his own leader's family members
were among those assaulted.

"When commanders can no longer rest easy in the certainty of impunity; when it begins
to cross their mind that they may be turned in by their own for commissioning or
condoning rape; this is the moment when we open a new front in the battle to end
impunity," she said.
While the Congolese government should be commended for some policies adopted to
combat sexual violence, she said, "so far `zero tolerance' has been underpinned largely
by `zero consequences' for such crimes."

The United Nations said 303 civilians — 235 women, 13 men, 52 girls and 3 boys —
were raped in 13 villages in the Walikale area. Even in eastern Congo, where rape has
become a daily hazard and some women have been sexually assaulted repeatedly over
the years, such numbers are shocking.

Wallstrom also urged that perpetrators of rape and sexual violence be barred from any
amnesty provisions, from any benefits of disarming and returning to civilian life, and
from any role in politics or government.

She said the mass rapes in Walikale demonstrate the link between the illegal
exploitation of natural resources by armed groups and sexual violence. Therefore, she
said, these rapes should also be investigated "from the angle of the competition over
mining interests as one of the root causes of conflict and sexual violence."

Wallstrom encouraged European countries and other nations to enact legislation

requiring companies to disclose whether their products contain minerals from Congo.
--------------------

Parliament Member: U.S. Investors Should Consider Morocco (Global Atlanta)

ATLANTA – Morocco is a stable, moderate Muslim country with enormous trade

potential for the United States, a member of its parliament, Mbarka Bouaida, told
GlobalAtlanta on a recent visit to Atlanta.

"I think America believes in Morocco as a model for the region," she said. "I think
Morocco is important because of its political stability, because of its economic growth."

She pointed out that the United States and Morocco have a long friendship. In 1777,
Morocco was one of the first countries in the world to recognize the U.S. It currently has
a free-trade agreement with the U.S.

Tourism, renewable energy and highway construction are a few promising areas for
U.S. investment, said Ms. Bouaida, 35, who was elected in 2007 to Parliament, becoming
its youngest member. In 2009, she became chair of the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs,
National Defense and Religious Affairs committee.

Morocco is a constitutional monarchy, with a population of 31 million. Its population is

young, with 28.7 percent of the citizens aged 14 and under.

The country is pushing for the production of more renewable energy, particularly wind
and solar, in the Sahara Desert, said Ms. Bouaida.
"The Sahara is one of the best platforms to develop solar energy," she said. "We have a
lot of wind, even in the Sahara. I think for American investors, we can collaborate
together." 

Her own election to parliament  is proof that women in Morocco enjoy more freedoms
than in some other Muslim countries, said Ms. Bouaida.

"We can't really develop our country or modernize our country without women," she
said. "We are a very moderate country."

Ms. Bouaida was in Atlanta to attend the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation's Africa Policy
Forum. Andrew Young, former Atlanta mayor and U.S. ambassador to the United
Nations, is the Sullivan Foundation's board chair. 

Encouraging closer ties between the Southeast U.S. and Morocco, Ms. Bouaida
endorsed a direct flight between Atlanta and Casablanca, Morocco's largest city.

"We can work on it," she said. "I think it's a great idea. We have seen here [in Atlanta] a
lot of interest in developing relationships with Morocco."

Joining Ms. Bouaida at the four-day event were Mr. Young; Susan D. Page, U.S. deputy
assistant secretary, Bureau of African Affairs; Gen. William "Kip" Ward, commander of
U.S. AFRICOM, as well as several African ministers, international NGO leaders, and
representatives from U.S. corporations doing business in Africa.

For more information about Ms. Bouaida, call Calvin Dark of the Washington-based
Moroccan American Center at (202) 309-0372.

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

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website

On eve of electoral campaign in Côte d’Ivoire, UN envoy appeals for calm

14 October – On the eve of the start of the electoral campaign in Côte d’Ivoire, the top
United Nations official there today called on all sides to avoid any violent disruption of
the long-delayed process to end the division of the West African country caused by civil
war in 2002.

UN humanitarian chief arrives in Niger to address food crisis

14 October – The top United Nations humanitarian official arrived in Niger today on a
visit to help focus world attention on the Sahel, a West African sub-Saharan region that
is home to the poorest countries on Earth, with over 10 million people suffering from a
food crisis this year alone.
General Assembly President urges more support for African development goals
14 October – The President of the United Nations General Assembly today underlined
the need to devote increased financial and technical resources to priority areas of
African development, particularly agriculture, to increase the potential of States on the
continent to achieve their goals.

Ban phones African regional leader to ensure Guinea’s poll takes place on time
14 October – Seeking to ensure that the much-delayed second round of Guinea’s
presidential poll is held on 24 October as scheduled, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
today phoned Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan in his role as head of a regional
body that has been assisting the process.

Security Council underscores need for timely, credible Sudanese referenda

14 October – The two referenda on self-determination slated for January in Sudan must
be held on time, in a credible manner and in line with the 2005 peace pact that ended
the long-running north-south civil war, members of the Security Council, who are just
back from a visit to the country, said today.