United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

25 October 2010

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

U.S. top Africa diplomat hopeful in new "dual-track" Somalia policy (Garowe Online)
(Somalia) According to U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African affairs, Johnnie
Carson, TFG officials need to stop their personal business and instead concentrate in
improving service delivery and security to the people of Somalia as its mandate comes
to an end as per the Djibouti Agreement which expires in August 2011.

US Military Personnel Operating on Algeria's Soil (Morocco Board News Service)

(Algeria) An article in the Washington Post shed new light on the nature of the
American military involvement in the Sahel region and on the threat paused by the
terrorist group al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb ( AQIM).

More U.S. diplomats heading to Sudan before critical vote on secession; new
violence feared (Washington Post)
(Sudan) Senior U.S. officials said Friday that more American diplomats were being
dispatched to Sudan and that President Obama was getting daily briefings on
preparations for a referendum that could divide the troubled country in two.

US Senate Chairman on Foreign Relations Meets South Sudan Leadership (Sudan

Tribune)
(Sudan) The chairman of US Senate's Foreign Relations Commitee, John Kerry, met
with the President of the Government of Southern Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayardit ahead of
the regions self determination vote in January.

US professor quits Kenyan truth commission, citing lack of confidence (Christian

Science Monitor)
(Kenya) Kenya’s search for national healing after its deadly post-election violence was
further stalled this week with the resignation of an American law professor from a top-
level reconciliation panel.

To prosper, Southern Sudan must wean itself from the aid bandwagon (Daily Nation)
(Pan Africa) Recent claims by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that pressure from
the United States forced the Kenyan Government to undertake reforms and revelations
about US funding for the ‘Yes’ campaign in the August referendum may give the
impression that America’s foreign policy towards African countries is interventionist —
if not paternalistic.

New African Standby Force Faces First Test (Voice of America)

(Pan Africa) This strategy session is part of a training exercise designed to test newly
created rapid-response forces in each of Africa's five regions. Two years of work is
culminating this month in a combined operation involving 120 of the continent's best-
trained crisis responders.

Security Council accused over African conflict response (AFP)

(Pan Africa) South Africa on Friday accused the UN Security Council of moving faster
to end conflicts in regions outside of Africa, as African nations demanded more help for
peacekeeping operations.

Guinea delays presidential poll (Al Jazeera)

(Guinea) Guinea has announced an indefinite delay to a presidential election run-off
just two days before it was to be held, casting doubt on the West African state's hopes
for civilian rule and provoking fresh protests.

Some Africans, poor no more, hit by new diseases (Associated Press)

(Pan Africa) A growing urban middle class is defying the image of Africa as poor,
underfed and under-medicated. And with the comforts of middle class life, afflictions
familiar in the West are making inroads here too — obesity, diabetes, lung cancer,
strokes, heart disease.

Curing the Ills of America’s Top Foreign Aid Agency (New York Times)
(Pan Africa) Catastrophic floods in Pakistan, the surge of aid workers into Afghanistan,
a top-to-bottom review of American foreign assistance — all have heavily involved Dr.
Rajiv Shah, head of the United States Agency for International Development, turning
him into one of the administration’s most visible foreign policy players.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
 Deadly violence continues in Darfur, Ban says in latest report
 Ban calls for predictable funding for African Union peace initiatives
 Guinea: excessive force used against demonstrators, UN rights office says
 Nigeria experiencing worst cholera outbreak in years, UN reports
 UN mobilizing aid to help flood-stricken Benin
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UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Wednesday, October 27, 12:00 p.m.; Council on Foreign Relations

WHAT: A Conversation with Senator Richard G. Lugar
WHO: Senator Richard G. Lugar, Ranking Member, Committee on Foreign Relations,
U.S. Senate
Info: http://www.cfr.org/

WHEN/WHERE: Friday, November 5, 9:30 a.m.; U.S. Institute of Peace

WHAT: Women in War Conference: The Trouble with the Congo
WHO: Severine Autesserre, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Barnard College,
Columbia University; Raymond Gilpin, Associate Vice President, Sustainable
Economies, Centers of Innovation, U.S. Institute of Peace; Christine Karumba, Women
for Women International; Howard Wolpe, Woodrow Wilson International Center for
Scholars; Diane Orentlicher, Deputy Director, Office of War Crimes, U.S. Department of
State
Info: http://www.usip.org/events/woman-and-war
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FULL ARTICLE TEXT

U.S. top Africa diplomat hopeful in new "dual-track" Somalia policy (Garowe Online)

Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) has been urged to be more of itself by
stopping internal cycle of political wrangles and repeated changes of its top leadership
since its affecting its credibility among many Somali citizens.

According to U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African affairs, Johnnie Carson, TFG
officials need to stop their personal business and instead concentrate in improving
service delivery and security to the people of Somalia as its mandate comes to an end as
per the Djibouti Agreement which expires in August 2011.

Mr. Carson addessed a workshop organized by Center for Strategic and International
Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 20 to furthr elaborate the State
Department's new "dual-track" Somalia policy, which will be a divergent of the
previous approach of Djibouti Agreement which saw the expansion of the TFG to
include 'moderate Islamists.'

He added that it was time the Somalis be part of the solution in their country both
residents and those in Diaspora.

"Insecurity in Somalia is a concern to its neighboring countries and its instability has
spread like cancer and the problem can not be ignored by the international community,"
Mr. Carson said.

In absence of stability and effective government in Somalia, America's top Africa

diplomat Mr. Carson has allowed foreign fighters sympathetic to Al-Qaeda to link up
with Al-shabaab insurgents, who have carried out numerous suicide bombings
U.S. officials say the dual-track policy shift is broader and more complex and will see
partnership with local governments drawn from Puntland and Somaliland in northern
Somalia, but also local clans in south-central Somalia to help bring to an end to the 20
year old problem of instability and violence in the Horn of Africa country.

"Over the last 18 months, we have worked under the single-track approach of the
Djibouti declaration which required us to support TFG and Sheik Sharrif government to
bring stability in Somalia but the method has not been working," Carson added.

Under the new approach the international community will involve all stakeholders
drawn from the larger Somali by bringing them together in an effort to help end
Somalia's 20-year armed conflict.

He further added that the dual-track approach supports and is designed to help
advance the progress and relative stability in the stable sub-states of Somaliland and
Puntland, located in northern Somalia straddling the strategic Gulf of Aden waterway.

Mogadishu, located in southern Somalia, is the epicenter of a three-year insurgency

between Islamist rebels allied to Al Qaeda and African Union troops (AMISOM) funded
by Western powers.

Carson said June's presidential elections and smooth transition of power in Somaliland
was "a milestone" in political dialogue which can be borrowed and implemented in the
larger Somalia by all people of goodwill, even though the U.S. government made it
explicitly clear it will not recognize Somaliland as a sovereign country.

On Puntland, Mr. Carson underlined the peace and stability in Puntland while
remarking that Puntland's government needs to "do more" in press freedom.

He further promised long term commitment to support Somalia and warned those who
benefit from piracy that they will face sanctions and will be exposed.

Mr. Carson further called on the international community to do more by coming forth
with meaningful contribution to advance the process of stability in Somali.

He urged the governments of Kenya and South Africa and other Islamic countries to
emulate their counter parts like Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda in providing assets and
troops to AMSIOM peacekeepers in Mogadishu.
--------------------
US Military Personnel Operating on Algeria's Soil (Morocco Board News Service)

An article in the Washington Post shed new light on the nature of the American military
involvement in the Sahel region and on the threat paused by the terrorist group al-
Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb ( AQIM).
According to the article, a new leader of a more dangerous and lethal commando of
AQIM is taking over the lead of the North African branch of Bin Laden’s al-Qaeda. Mr.
Abu zeid, an Algerian national, is overshadowing the infamous Mokhtar Belmokhtar as
the face of the terror group. The recent kidnapping of foreigners in Niger and the latest
military activities on the Mauritania - Mali borders confirms an uptick in terrorist
operations in the Sahel. The increased lawlessness in a vast mass of the Sahara desert is
raising the specter of an “Afghanization” in the region and the instability that would
ensue from it.
The Algerian Army, that has claimed the lead of the anti-terror efforts in the Sahel and
North Africa, has thus far failed to stem the activities of AQIM in the region, and, most
importantly, within Algeria’s own borders (Five security personnel died in a terrorist
attacks in Algeria this week). As the Algerian government continues to publicly reject
“outside” help in its “war” against terrorism, the Washington Post reveals the presence
of American troops on Algerian soil. Unlike Mali, Mauritania, Niger and other nations
in the region that duly coordinate their security efforts with Western and American
Special Forces, the Algerians insist in exerting the role of “the regional leader” at the
expense of a more coordinated and effective strategy.
The Washington Post article reported “the United States has supplied electronic
intelligence on Abu Zeid to France to help track French hostages, with U.S. personnel
either stationed at, or passing through the area. In response, the article adds, Abu Zeid
recently ordered his combatants to halt satellite telephone communications, which are
vulnerable to monitoring by U.S. satellites or drones.
This article is the latest source indicating American military presence in Tamanrasset, a
large city in southern Algeria and its gateway to the Sahara. Several other influential
sources have previously alluded to American intelligence operatives that are active in
the Algerian Sahara. Since AQIM is a threat to all the countries in the region and to the
interests of the United States, American help and support are crucial and essential in
this fight. So why are the Algerians denying that U.S military personnel is operating on
Algeria’s soil?
Would it conflict with its stated role in the Algeria/Nigeria/South-Africa Axis as the
“Revolutionary” Champions of independent Africa, free from Foreign Inference?
In its bid to become the “regional leader” in North West Africa, Algeria has made its
stratagem to counter Morocco on the African scene, over the conflict in the Western
Sahara, as the corner stone of its foreign policy. Even the American-Algerian relations
are colored with the ramification of Algeria’s policy vis-à-vis Morocco.
The Washington Post article dispels recent claims made by Algeria’s foreign Minister
about the reasons of Algeria attempts at excluding Morocco form meetings regarding
the security in the Sahel. Mr. Mourad MEDELCI said “the last time he checked a map of
Morocco, It was not located in the Sahel region”. Well, so are the USA and the
Europeans that are “secretly” helping the Algerian Government secure its own portion
of the Sahara.
Algeria’s policy on the Western Sahara and its over ambitious plan at becoming a
“regional leader” pose a hurdle for the creation and implementation of an effective anti-
AQIM strategy. This situation has become increasingly unstable as Mrs Mokhtar
Belmokhtar and Abu zeid are moving freely and without much of a challenge from the
Algerian Army. AQIM will only be contained if all the countries in the region
implement a cohesive approach to counter the terrorism threat in the region.
Short term, divisive decisions to score points in the Western Sahara Conflict are posing
a threat to the US National interest, as well as that of North Africa and Southern
European countries.
--------------------
More U.S. diplomats heading to Sudan before critical vote on secession; new violence
feared (Washington Post)

Senior U.S. officials said Friday that more American diplomats were being dispatched
to Sudan and that President Obama was getting daily briefings on preparations for a
referendum that could divide the troubled country in two.

The officials acknowledged that major steps have to be taken to ensure that the
referendum is held on time in January. For example, Sudan has to hire 10,000 workers
by mid-November to do voter registration, said the U.S. special envoy to Sudan, J. Scott
Gration.

Meanwhile, U.S.-mediated talks on a companion referendum, on the fate of the oil-rich

border town of Abiyei, have broken down. A new set of negotiations is scheduled for
the end of the month in Ethiopia, officials said.

Under a 2005 peace accord brokered by the Bush administration, the south, which is
largely Christian and animist, will be allowed to choose independence from the mostly
Islamic north. Abiyei gets to decide which side it will belong to.

Gration acknowledged that the north and south remain far apart.

"With time running out, the parties must make a strategic commitment to work together
to avoid war," he told reporters.

Analysts fear that if the referendums don't occur on time, Africa's longest civil war
could reignite. The central government in Sudan opposes the secession of the south,
which has most of the country's oil reserves. But the region is expected to vote to break
away.

Samantha Power, a member of the National Security Council, said Obama was getting
daily briefings on the situation.

"It is impossible to overstate the degree of high-level attention being given to Sudan at
the White House," she said. She added that the U.S. government remains "committed to
on-time referendums in both Abiyei and southern Sudan."
Johnnie Carson, the assistant secretary of state for Africa, said that additional U.S.
personnel were being sent to provincial capitals in southern Sudan, which "will nearly
triple our diplomatic presence" in the south compared with earlier this year. No specific
numbers were available.

Many advocacy groups have accused the Obama administration of not prioritizing
Sudan until recently.

Michael Abramowitz, director of the genocide-prevention program at the U.S.

Holocaust Memorial Museum, recently visited Sudan to assess the risks of mass
violence after the vote. He said the government in the north seemed to be dragging its
heels on preparations for the referendum.

"The south is really counting on this referendum," Abramowitz said. "If it doesn't
happen, there will be severe problems."
--------------------
US Senate Chairman on Foreign Relations Meets South Sudan Leadership (Sudan
Tribune)

Juba — The chairman of US Senate's Foreign Relations Commitee, John Kerry, met with
the President of the Government of Southern Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayardit ahead of the
regions self determination vote in January.

Senator Kerry also met with the Vice President of the Government of Southern Sudan
(GoSS), Riek Machar to discuss at length issues connected to the referenda in Southern
Sudan and Abyei.

The oil-rich region of Abyei is also due to vote simultaneously on whether it will join
the south or remain in the north.

Both referenda were agreed to in the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement between
Sudan's ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and the former southern rebels the
Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA).

The peace deal also agreed to set up popular consultations in Blue Nile state and the
Nuba Mountains in south Kordofan. Some parts of these areas were occupied and
fought with the SPLA during the 22 year civil war.

The Vice President all also discussed with Kerry the popular consultations underway in
Blue Nile state and the Nuba Mountains in south Kordofan. Both areas were contested
and at time occupied by the Sudan People's Liberation Army
The meeting stressed the importance of holding the January referendum in Southern
Sudan as scheduled for 9 January 2011, and to be conducted concurrently with the other
referendum for Abyei and popular consultations in Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains.

Briefing the press after the meeting, Senator Kerry said "I want to thank President Kiir
and the Vice President Dr. Riek Machar for welcoming me here in Juba today. We have
discussed many issues regarding the referendum."

He however said he would not have detailed comments about the meeting until he
meets in Khartoum with the leadership of the National Congress Party.

Kerry said that the US will "remain deeply committed to the referendum".
--------------------
US professor quits Kenyan truth commission, citing lack of confidence (Christian
Science Monitor)

Nairobi, Kenya - Kenya’s search for national healing after its deadly post-election
violence was further stalled this week with the resignation of an American law
professor from a top-level reconciliation panel.

Ronald Slye, a program director at the University of Seattle’s School of Law, said he had
“lost faith” in the ability of the Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC)
“to fulfill even a small part of its mandate."

The board was set up after Kofi Annan, the former United Nations Secretary General,
brokered peace between Kenya's rival politicians whose supporters killed at least 1,500
people following the 2007 presidential election.

This is the only domestic attempt to highlight those responsible for that violence, as
well as also uncover misdemeanors carried out by the country’s political elite since
independence from Britain in 1963.

'Forever tarnished'
However, the board has lost credibility here and abroad because of ongoing concerns
that its chairman, Bethuel Kiplagat, is biased in favor of the government, Mr. Slye said
in his resignation letter published Friday.

Those concerns have stalled funding from international donors, according to Slye,
meaning that the commission can barely continue to function. Currently it faces a $14
million shortfall in its 2010 budget request of $16 million.

“After six months of waiting for the credibility issues around the chairman to be
resolved, and in the face of minimal financial and other support ... my confidence that
the commission will be able to make any meaningful headway … is diminishing,” Slye
wrote. “It is clear to me … that without those issues being addressed in a timely fashion,
the commission will continue to be seriously hindered, and its report and
recommendations, no matter how well supported and reasoned, will forever be
tarnished by that failure.”

Kiplagat linked to killings

This is a serious blow to an organization modeled on South Africa’s post-apartheid
Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to which Slye was a consultant.

Kiplagat, a former ambassador to Britain, has been accused of links to the killings of
dozens of Somali Muslims in northern Kenya in 1984, in what is known as the Wagalla
Massacre. Those accusations, and Kiplagat’s lack of clarity on his involvement, “further
lessen my confidence," wrote Slye, the only non-African on the eight-member
commission.

Kiplagat is also accused of illegal land allocations when he was a minister in the
government of former President Daniel arap Moi.

He denies all the allegations, and had refused to step aside, even when pressed to do so
by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who headed South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation
Commission.

Truth Commission 'slowly dying'

Njonjo Mue, the head of the International Center for Transitional Justice in Kenya, has
said the TJRC was “paralyzed and slowly bleeding."

“So we find ourselves in a situation where one of the critical pillars of transitional
justice has become a joke,” he told Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper.

Many Kenyans have expressed little confidence in the TJRC to come up with a credible
report. Its mandate expires in November 2011.

Most eyes are instead on the International Criminal Court and its expected prosecutions
of key figures said to have orchestrated the post-election violence.

However, Kenya’s government Friday expressed its full support for the TJRC, and
blamed international bodies for failing to stump up cash.

“Donors should stop waiting,” said Mutula Kilonzo, minister for Justice, Cohesion, and
Constitutional affairs. “If you want to support the transitional justice process you
should fund this commission. Stop looking at the individuals in the commission but at
the institution and help us establish the necessary capacity and institutional framework
required for its success.”
The commission’s vice-chair, Betty Murungi, resigned in April, also over disagreements
with Kiplagat.
--------------------
To prosper, Southern Sudan must wean itself from the aid bandwagon (Daily Nation)

Recent claims by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that pressure from the United
States forced the Kenyan Government to undertake reforms and revelations about US
funding for the ‘Yes’ campaign in the August referendum may give the impression that
America’s foreign policy towards African countries is interventionist — if not
paternalistic.

Indeed, Kenyans are rightly miffed by the gloating within the US administration
because we know that it was ordinary wananchi — not the US Government — that
struggled hardest to bring about these reforms. To take credit for this Kenyan aspiration
is to insult all those who fought — and died — for it.

Rich donors to Africa have a tendency to take credit for many of the continent’s
achievements. But donor interventions in Africa are not always altruistic, and are quite
often detrimental. Sceptics have often noted that aid does not reduce poverty; it is often
the cause of poverty and violence in many parts of world.

A recent article in Newsweek, for instance, has suggested that the pumping of massive
amounts of aid money into Southern Sudan has had at least two visibly detrimental
effects: educated Southern Sudanese are choosing to set up their own NGOs to tap into
the aid money instead of taking up government jobs, and the high salaries paid to
expatriate aid workers is distorting the local economy.

Worse, massive aid flows could also be a catalyst for renewed violence, as a
government flush with aid money could be viewed as “a prize by competing Sudanese
factions”, writes Newsweek’s Kevin Peraino. But recent statements by President Barack
Obama suggest that US aid policies towards Africa may be changing dramatically.

At the United Nations gathering of world leaders in New York last month, Mr Obama
admitted that US aid to poor countries had saved lives in the short term, but had done
little to improve societies in the long term. He urged world leaders to view economic
growth — not aid — as a poverty reduction strategy and to promote good governance
to ensure sustainable growth.

“Consider the millions of people who have relied on food assistance for decades,”
stated Mr Obama. “That’s not development, that’s dependence, and it’s a cycle we need
to break… Let’s put to rest the old myth that development is mere charity that does not
serve our interests. And let us reject the cynicism that says certain countries are
condemned to perpetual poverty.”
Mr Obama reiterated that under his administration, economic growth will be the chief
goal of US development policy. This policy, he noted, was critical for creating
“conditions where assistance is no longer needed”.

It may be argued that US assistance to the Yes campaign was intended to bring about
reforms that would stimulate economic growth, and is therefore justified under the new
American policy. But I suspect that like his predecessor, George Bush, Obama views US
aid as a strategic political goal, and is therefore not likely to push for drastic reduction
in aid packages.

The emergence of new donors, such as China, has also added a new twist to the
development debate and forced traditional Western donors to re-evaluate their
approaches. China’s astounding economic growth in the past three decades has helped
the country to lift millions of people out of poverty.

Its increasing presence in Africa is also of concern to many Western donors, who view
China’s “no conditionalities” and “infrastructure-focused” approach to development
assistance as unconventional. China’s approach to development assistance is, however,
forcing a policy shift within international financial institutions.

Recently, World Bank president Robert Zoellick told students at Georgetown University
that his organisation needed to rethink prevailing development paradigms and to
accept that “others can find and create their own solutions”. He admitted that the bank
needed to “democratise and demystify development economics” and to recognise that it
did not have a monopoly on solutions.

For Southern Sudan, the greatest challenge lies in getting off the aid bandwagon, and
investing oil and other domestic revenues in building the infrastructure, institutions,
and human resources needed to bring about peace and prosperity in this war-torn
region.
--------------------
New African Standby Force Faces First Test (Voice of America)

The mythical island nation of Carana, off the east coast of Africa, is in a state of near-
collapse, and African Union rapid deployment forces are battling to save it. That is the
scenario being played out this week in a crisis-response exercise involving military,
civilian and police units from across Africa.

Soldiers wearing the uniforms of six different African countries huddle around a map at
strategic command post Carana. They are considering how to respond to deteriorating
conditions in Carana, a fictional diamond-rich African island where regional stability is
threatened by well-financed gangs challenging an unpopular government.
It looks and sounds real, but this strategy session is part of a training exercise designed
to test newly created rapid-response forces in each of Africa's five regions. Two years of
work is culminating this month in a combined operation involving 120 of the
continent's best-trained crisis responders.

The scenario may be fictitious, but Sivuyile Bam, head of the African Union's Peace
Support Operations Division says Exercise Carana draws on real-life conflicts.

"In Exercise Carana, it is about unstable government, a government that is unpopular, a

government having challenges, security forces refusing to take command, security
forces taking sides in the conflict, which is typical of most African countries when they
have a conflict of this nature," Bam said. "We as the African Union are coming in to
support this government and ensure it does its work."

The Exercise Carana scenario starts with a premise that A.U. peacekeepers have been
deployed. But since the mission arrived four months ago, conditions have worsened.
Criminal gangs have seized control of a strategic diamond mine. Hundreds of people
have been killed, tens of thousands of others displaced, and rogue elements are said to
be using rape as a weapon to intimidate locals.

South African navy Captain Kobus Maasdorp is part of a command-post team

considering what components to include in a rapid-response mission.

"Conditions are really dire in Carana.," Maasdorp said. " One of the main rebel groups
had gone into the political mainstream, but an offspring from the rebel group has now
become radical and they are causing a lot of problems where the capability of the
African Union mission is being stretched almost beyond their capability and we could
possibly in the next couple days have to strengthen the mission in Carana in terms of
feet on the ground and equipment."

Lea Barasa is a training officer in a civilian component of the East Africa Standby Force
based in Nairobi. She says a multi-dimensional response is needed to head off Carana's
escalating crisis.

"We are looking at peace support operations in establishing governance structures that
will enable Carana to stabilize," said Barasa. "Especially the justice systems, human
rights commissions being seen in Carana region, especially gender-based violence, the
child protection issues and the whole situation where people do not feel safe any more."

In a speech marking the start of Exercise Carana, AU Commission Chairman Jean Ping
said the regional standby forces give Africa greater ownership of peace and security on
the continent. He said the need for a homegrown force was underscored by the world's
inadequate response to crises in places like Rwanda and Somalia.
"The international community could not always be relied on to address all the threats to
peace and security on the African continent. Indeed, Somalia and Rwanda were painful
lessons for us all," Ping said.

Exercise Carana planner Kobus Maasdorp predicts Africa's rapid response units will be
the model for global peacekeepers of the future.

"I am no prophet, but I can tell you this," said Maasdorp. "Once we have
operationalized the African Standby Force and we have deployed, and people get used
to the fact that we have this tool, the African Standby Force will become a global peace
force. I can tell you that."

The exercise is set to conclude October 29th. Results will be presented at a joint African
Union-European Union summit next month in Libya.
--------------------
Security Council accused over African conflict response (AFP)

UNITED NATIONS – South Africa on Friday accused the UN Security Council of

moving faster to end conflicts in regions outside of Africa, as African nations demanded
more help for peacekeeping operations.

The Somalia war brought to a head Africa's complaints at a special UN Security Council
debate on peacekeeping that its troops get poorer treatment than those on mainstream
UN missions.

The 7,500-strong African Union force propping up the transitional government in

Somalia is made up mainly of poorly equipped troops from Uganda and Burundi, who
earn less than UN-backed troops.

South Africa's UN ambassador, Baso Sangqu, told the Security Council African nations
had sent peacekeeping troops into conflicts "in cases where the international
community, and the Security Council in particular, were unwilling or unable to act."

Highlighting African missions in Somalia and Darfur, the ambassador said: "In the eyes
of ordinary people on the African continent, it would seem that so many innocent
people have to die, so much innocent blood shed, before this august body assumes its
responsibility to protect and maintain stability on the continent.

"Some have even quipped that the UN Security Council moves with the speed of a
cheetah in responding to crises elsewhere and moves with the speed of an elephant to
respond to conflicts in Africa."
With demands growing for the African Union force in Somalia to be more than doubled
to 20,000 troops and be brought under the UN banner, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-
moon said AU peacekeepers should get the same as those on UN-backed missions.

Sudan is now the UN's biggest peacekeeping operation and Africa accounts for about 70
percent of the UN Security Council's peacekeeping and development agenda as well as
the lion's share of its 7.6 billion dollar annual peacekeeping budget.

Nigeria's Foreign minister Odein Ajumogobia told the Security Council that the
"demands placed upon the AU, far outweigh its resources and capacities to effectively
respond."

"The consequences of this mismatch include mission failure, increased instability,

retarded economic development and a reluctance among potential partners to
contribute to what is perceived to be a failing system."

The UN secretary general said the Darfur and Somalia conflicts clearly show the "need
to find a solution that will provide predictable, sustainable and flexible resources to the
African Union when it undertakes peacekeeping operations authorized by this council."

"AU peacekeeping operations should receive the same support as all UN peacekeepers,
including reimbursement," he said.

A Security Council presidential statement promised to work to find "a more predictable
and sustainable solution to these funding challenges."
--------------------
Guinea delays presidential poll (Al Jazeera)

Guinea has announced an indefinite delay to a presidential election run-off just two
days before it was to be held, casting doubt on the West African state's hopes for
civilian rule and provoking fresh protests.

"The October 24 date is not possible," General Siaka Sangare, the election commission
head, said on Friday.

He said a new date would be announced after the commission further assesses
preparations for the poll.

Earlier this week, General Sekouba Konate, the country's military leader, named
Sangare, a Malian citizen, to head the electoral commission after disagreements over the
commission's makeup threatened to delay the run-off, scheduled for Sunday.

Cellou Dallein Diallo, a presidential candidate and a former prime minister, had
accused the previous commission chief of preferring his rival, Alpha Conde.
'Deplorable' conditions

Sangare signaled a possible delay to the run-off on Thursday when he said voting
conditions were "deplorable".

Since then, officials learned that 17 computers that were to tabulate poll results were
missing.

"This election was bound to be delayed because of the many technical problems that
still need to be resolved," Mohamed Jalloh, an analyst at International Crisis Group,
said.

"But there are risks to a delay as well."

Analysts said the new delay was likely to be accepted by both candidates and give the
electoral commission time to fix problems found during June's first round of voting, but
it could also raise the chance of ethnic clashes or a new military-led coup.

The vote, meant to transfer power from the army to an elected government, has been
postponed repeatedly amid street violence and rows over the electoral commission
leadership.

Security forces used teargas to quell protests that erupted in a neighbourhood of the
capital, Conakry, after the announcement, according to a Reuters witness, extending
weeks of demonstrations that have occasionally turned violent.

The United Nations and United States have urged Guinea to set a new date for the run-
off as soon as possible.

P.J. Crowley, the US state department spokesman, said Washington was "hopeful that
the people of Guinea will avoid significant violence. And we also will hope that the
government will reschedule these as soon as possible".

Growing violence

The announcement came amid growing violence and a UN report alleging human
rights violations by Guinean security forces.

During protests earlier this week, security forces fired at unarmed protesters, shooting
some at point-blank range, the Geneva-based UN human rights office said in a
statement.
One man was killed and at least 62 were wounded during demonstrations in Conakry
during the week. The UN said authorities severely beat protesters and arbitrarily
detained an unknown number of people and kept them in undisclosed locations.

The statement said some of those responsible for the violence appear to be members of
a special police unit charged with safeguarding the election.

The first round of voting on June 27 passed in relative calm despite fears of violence in
the mineral-rich country. The process has stumbled since then, amid political infighting,
logistical challenges, and street clashes between supporters of the rival candidates.

Diallo, who hails from the country's largest ethnic group, the Malinke, took more than
43 per cent of the first round vote. Conde, from the second most populous ethnic group,
the Peul, took slightly more than 18 per cent.

The vote aims to return the country to civilian rule after 25 years of military rule.
--------------------
Some Africans, poor no more, hit by new diseases (Associated Press)

JOHANNESBURG – The medical experts gathered from around Africa were here to talk
about a continentwide epidemic, but it wasn't AIDS or malaria — it was diabetes, and
the bad habits that often bring it on.

A growing urban middle class is defying the image of Africa as poor, underfed and
under-medicated. And with the comforts of middle class life, afflictions familiar in the
West are making inroads here too — obesity, diabetes, lung cancer, strokes, heart
disease.

A continent that traditionally traveled on foot or by bicycle now increasingly rides cars
and buses. More time is spent at desks. Elevators are replacing stairs. White-collar
Africans are discovering the gym.

"In the past, we used to exercise without knowing it," South Africa's health minister,
Aaron Motsoaledi, reminded the recent conference.

"You would walk a long distance to school. You would walk a long distance to work.
You would walk a long distance to the shops," Motsoaledi, 52, recalled of his childhood.
"But now I'm an African whose child is dropped at the gate of the school in a car, then
picked up at the end of the day and put in front of the TV..."

In West Africa, Cameroonians who once ate rice only as a holiday treat are loading their
plates with it, crowding out the vegetables their parents ate. Down south, Malawians
say fast foods are a status symbol.
In Nairobi, Kenya, a sobering chat with his doctor got 27-year-old Robel Demissi to the
gym. "My blood pressure had gone up, a bit more than last year, and my weight was
eight kilograms (17 pounds) more. That's a lot," he says.

Demissi, a pilot for a Kenyan airline, blames his weight gain on junk food and a
workload that leaves little time for exercise. But lest he flunk his physical and lose his
flying license, he has taken up a Thai martial art and has lost six kilograms (15 pounds)
in two months.

"I never used to have the time to train," he said, "but now I have two motivating factors
to make the time: my job and my life."

All over the world, these lifestyle diseases tend to go hand in hand with urbanization
and industrialization, and the results are felt in rising obesity rates and related illnesses.
But they are all the more unwelcome in Africa, which already struggles with AIDS and
malaria.

"These countries are really faced with a double burden," said Dr. Timothy Armstrong,
an expert on chronic diseases with the U.N. World Health Organization. How, he
wonders, is a doctor treating AIDS or malaria to find time to lecture patients about
watching their weight?

Armstrong wants African governments to follow the West's lead with tobacco taxes and
pressure on the food industry to cut salt and sugar content. But awareness often is
lacking.

Fatima Macuacua, 31, owns a grocery store in Maputo, capital of Mozambique, and
refuses to believe her favorite fast foods could be bad for her.

"Cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure and other diseases are not a big problem for
Africans," she insists. "Maybe for Europeans."

Besides, the middle class on the world's poorest continent is still tiny, and for many,
issues of food are much more basic than gluten and trans fatty acids. A sharp rise in
bread prices triggered riots in Maputo this year.

But free-market reforms have given Mozambique growth rates as high as 10 percent a
year, meaning a boom for some, and gyms have sprouted in the capital.

The rise of lifestyle diseases is too recent for solid statistics to exist. Kenyan health
authorities say only this year did they start counting cases of obesity and fatal heart
attacks and strokes.

But at least the problem is getting attention.

Kenyan cardiologist Elijah Ogola says his own observations convince him there's a
problem and is especially worried about the patterns being set for children, who are less
active than their parents were at their age.

"Generally our lives are so crowded that if you can afford to exercise you do not have
the time to," Ogola said in an interview. "You get into a matatu (bus), into the lift
(elevator), and sit at your desk."

Dr. Jean Claude Mbanya, president of the International Diabetes Foundation, said
urban planners could help, for example, by designing car-free zones where Africans can
rediscover walking.

Mbanya said that 15 years ago in his homeland, Cameroon, 5 percent of adults had
conditions pointing to developing diabetes later in life and 1.2 percent already had the
disease. Ten years later, he said, the figures were 9 percent and 7 percent. Mbanya's
foundation estimates 12 million sub-Saharan Africans have diabetes — and estimates
the number will double by 2030 to become the world's hardest-hit region.

Researchers writing recently in the New England Journal of Medicine said chronic
diseases such as diabetes account for 60 percent of all deaths worldwide, and 80 percent
of those are in poorer countries, where younger people in their prime working years are
most vulnerable.

Mbanya, 52, recalled that a child, he only ate rice on Christmas, and a trip into town
meant walking, sometimes for days.

Now, he said, rice is eaten every day. City dwellers no longer grow their vegetables,
and they rarely exercise.

Jimmy Sagawa, a chef for a hotel chain in Malawi, said people are starting to see eating
out as trendy, dismissing traditional foods like nsima, or corn porridge.

"Our women have forgotten the art of cooking that their mothers taught them," Sagawa
said. "They think taking the family to eat out is a symbol of the high life."

Or, as Johannesburg veterinarian Ida Mulenga puts it, "if you're eating McDonald's in
your house, it means you've got money in your house."

South Africa, with the continent's most developed economy, has stood out in
addressing the threat of lifestyle diseases. An increase in cigarette taxes has been linked
to a decline in smoking and smoking-related diseases since the 1990s. Smoking is
banned in public places, a novelty in Africa, and legislation is being drafted to limit
artery-clogging trans fats in food.
Still, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of South Africa estimates a third of the men and
more than half the women here are overweight or obese.

From Cape Town's Groote Schuur Hospital, where the world's first heart transplant was
performed, comes research showing that South African deaths from diabetes were up
38 percent between 1999 and 2006, and heart disease up 20 percent.

Mulenga, the Johannesburg vet, is 35 and works out regularly at a gym. In 2008 she ran
her first 10-kilometer (6 mile) road race. She says she got inspiration from a friend, Orah
Bessit, a retired saleswoman who grows her own vegetables, walks and runs and is now
a youthfullooking 66.

Bessit recognizes that staying healthy requires sacrifices, so she has given up
hamburgers and switched from white bread to whole-grain.

"When I started eating whole-grain bread, it was like sawdust," she said. "But I had to
get used to it, for my health. Because if you eat healthy, you live long, without all of
these diseases."
--------------------
Curing the Ills of America’s Top Foreign Aid Agency (New York Times)

A few days after Rajiv Shah was sworn in as the head of the United States Agency for
International Development, he stopped by to see its rapid response center, a high-tech
command post for disaster relief, which on that day stood empty and still.

Twelve hours later, an earthquake devastated Haiti, and for the next two months the
center became Dr. Shah’s round-the-clock home. A brainy, 37-year-old physician with
little government experience, Dr. Shah suddenly found himself coordinating a
desperate emergency relief effort under the gaze of President Obama.

The pace has barely let up since: catastrophic floods in Pakistan, the surge of aid
workers into Afghanistan, a top-to-bottom review of American foreign assistance — all
have heavily involved Dr. Shah, turning him into one of the administration’s most
visible foreign policy players.

But for this politically astute son of Indian immigrants from Ann Arbor, Mich., who is
now the highest-ranking Indian-American in the administration, it is his ambitious
campaign to rebuild Usaid that will ultimately determine his success or failure in
Washington.

“He’s inherited leadership of an agency that was nearly broken over the last two
decades,” said Richard C. Holbrooke, the special representative for Afghanistan and
Pakistan who has testified alongside him on Capitol Hill. While Mr. Holbrooke said Dr.
Shah had a “limitless future,” he added, “He’s going to be tested like few others are in
government.”

Interviews with several Usaid employees suggest that Dr. Shah has begun to re-
energize the agency in the last 10 months. His efforts recently got a major lift from the
White House, which issued a new development policy that pledges to restore Usaid as
the premier American aid agency.

“The initial reaction was ‘Oh my God, he’s so young,’ ” said Pamela White, a 29-year
veteran of Usaid who just completed a tour as mission director in Liberia. “But that
never bothered me. We desperately need to look up to someone who can put us in a
position to be a worldwide leader in development.”

The heyday of Usaid dates back to before Dr. Shah was born. In 1968, it had 18,000
workers running programs in Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa — a vibrant
legacy of John F. Kennedy’s call for the United States to reach beyond its borders. But
after years of debilitating budget cuts that drove away many talented people, the
agency now has fewer than 9,000 employees.

During the Bush administration, it lost its policy-making role to the State Department.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who has pushed for a bigger civilian role in war
zones, lamented recently that Usaid had become a glorified contracting agency.

As the agency has withered, wealthy private philanthropies like the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation have taken its place as leaders in development. So it is perhaps no
accident that Dr. Shah is an alumnus of the Gates Foundation, where he ran its
agriculture program and developed a $1.5 billion fund to finance vaccinations.

“There were things we were able to do at the Gates Foundation that were super-
exciting,” Dr. Shah said in an interview. “You could actually say, ‘O.K., my goal is to
solve AIDS, and how would you solve AIDS analytically?’ You didn’t have to worry
about the politics.”

At the same time, Dr. Shah acknowledges he was always drawn to the political arena.
The son of an engineer for Ford Motor Company and a school administrator, he
graduated from the University of Michigan and the University of Pennsylvania medical
school, but soon became a health-policy adviser to Al Gore’s presidential campaign.

A staunch supporter of Mr. Obama’s candidacy, he said he viewed his election as a

Kennedy moment — worth trading weekend hikes in Washington State for the Beltway
slog of Washington. His wife, Shivam Mallick Shah, has a senior post in the Department
of Education.
“I’m a chronic complainer when we’re not in power,” Dr. Shah said of his decision to
join the government. “I believe that these moments in history, when you have this kind
of president, are rare.”

A SOFT-SPOKEN man with a toothy but almost bashful smile, Dr. Shah can be
deferential in public appearances with higher-level officials. But he is not shy about his
plans, saying he seeks to bring better monitoring and analytical rigor to the agency.
Some programs, he noted, get financed year after year, even if they are failing.

He wants to implant Gates-style entrepreneurialism, championing ideas that come from

beyond its usual circle of contractors. At town-hall meetings, Dr. Shah is equal parts
evangelist and wonk, talking about Usaid’s future while larding his vocabulary with
corporate-speak words like “metrics.”

“He’s very dynamic and very smart,” said Martin J. Fisher, the chief executive of
KickStart, a nonprofit organization that makes a low-cost pump to irrigate farmers’
fields. “But he’s got a huge bureaucracy he’s fighting against, and a lot of vested
interests.”

Dr. Shah also has to contend with a boss, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton,
who has a deep interest in development and has largely won an internal administration
debate over whether Usaid should be more independent or stay under the influence of
the State Department.

Mr. Holbrooke, for example, still signs off on aid for Afghanistan and Pakistan — an
authority he picked up because Usaid was leaderless for months and because, he said,
the programs there were a mess.

The State Department has almost finished an exhaustive, year-long review of diplomacy
and development. The review will reinforce Usaid’s expanded role but lash it even
more firmly to the State Department.

“To the extent that State maintains firm control over Usaid, it can make it difficult for
any agency to revitalize itself,” said Connie Veillette, director of the program for
rethinking foreign assistance at the Center for Global Development, an independent
research group. “Usaid needs to have a stronger voice.”

BUT there are advantages to being so closely aligned with Mrs. Clinton. Usaid is
seeking funds to hire an additional 1,200 Foreign Service officers, and few people have
as much clout on Capitol Hill.

Dr. Shah said critics in development circles were too focused on organizational charts;
what matters is that he is in sync with Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Holbrooke. Mrs. Clinton
has become his strongest champion, according to one of her senior advisers, Philippe
Reines.

The agency has also managed to wrest back some control, setting up its own policy-
planning shop and a small budget office.

With Usaid engaged in so many places, many of Dr. Shah’s headaches stem from being
too much in demand. The agency has nearly 400 Americans in Afghanistan, which has
made it difficult to fill jobs in Africa.

Dr. Shah himself spends a quarter of his time on Afghanistan, but like other senior
officials he plays down expectations. “We have to be honest with ourselves about what
is the goal of different programs,” he said.

As he learns the ropes, Dr. Shah has other influential backers, not least Mr. Obama, who
got to know him during meetings about the Haiti crisis in the White House Situation
Room and announced the new development policy himself at the United Nations.

“As a government, we have a coherent strategy for the first time since J.F.K.,” said
David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, which advocates for aid to alleviate
hunger and poverty. “The only good thing that came out of the Haiti earthquake,” he
added, “is that it raised Raj Shah to be a partner of the president.”
--------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

Deadly violence continues in Darfur, Ban says in latest report

22 October – Although there have been substantially fewer clashes between parties to
the conflict in Darfur, deadly fighting between communities in the war-ravaged
Sudanese region continues, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a new report.

Ban calls for predictable funding for African Union peace initiatives
22 October – The African Union (AU) continues to face difficulties in securing the
necessary funding for its peace efforts on the continent, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
said today, appealing to the international community to find sustainable ways of
supporting the pan-African body’s initiatives.

Guinea: excessive force used against demonstrators, UN rights office says

22 October – The United Nations Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR) today expressed its deep concern over excessive use of force by Guinea’s
security forces against demonstrators ahead of this weekend’s long-delayed
presidential run-off poll.

Nigeria experiencing worst cholera outbreak in years, UN reports

22 October – Nigeria is in the midst of its worst cholera outbreak in recent years, with
nearly 40,000 cases and more than 1,500 deaths reported since the start of the year, the
United Nations reported today.

UN mobilizing aid to help flood-stricken Benin

22 October – The United Nations is mobilizing aid to Benin, where nearly 700,000
people have been affected by severe flooding, with the world body and its partners
shortly set to launch a humanitarian appeal to help the flood-stricken in the West
African nation.