United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

27 October 2010

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

African Union exercise for rapid response force enters final stage (Sudan Tribune)
(Ethiopia) The African Union’s standby force completed an exercise designed to
prepare them for swift deployments to respond to emergencies, the Africa Union
Commission (AUC) has said.

Defense Minister on Cooperation with U.S. Gov't (Daily Observer)

(Liberia) The Minister of National Defense, Brownie J. Samukai, Jr. says he looks
forward to stronger ties with the United States government as the Ministry moves from
the broader scope of security sector reform to the narrow concept of defense sector
reform.

Versi-Dredge "helps fights piracy and terrorism" (SandandGravel.com)

(Cameroon) IMS Dredges, a division of LWT LLC, says it is helping to facilitate the
creation of a local security zone in the Bakassi peninsula in Cameroon. "Developing
protection, such as this, has been an ongoing struggle in the region which has initiated
the creation of various defence programmes," the company explained. "The African
Partnership Station, part of the US Africa Command's Security Cooperation
programme, was created by US Naval Forces Europe-Africa as a way of improving
maritime safety and security in Africa."

Activists, Victims Await US Action Against LRA (Voice of America)

(East Africa) Human-rights activists and victims are eagerly awaiting U.S. government
action against the East Africa-based Lord's Resistance Army. A U.S. law signed earlier
this year mandates President Barack Obama to devise a strategy before November 20 to
stop the rampaging rebel group.

U.S. to Send Visual Artists as Cultural Ambassadors (New York Times)

(Pan Africa) Under a new $1 million program being announced this week, the Obama
administration is planning to expand its cultural diplomacy programs to include visual
artists like painters and sculptors, who will be asked next year to create public art
projects in 15 foreign countries.

U.S. Diplomat On Press Advisory Training (Angola Press)

(Angola) The representative of the US embassy in Angola, Daniel Vilanueva, today
lauded the angolan government support, through the social communication ministry, in
the mobilization and training of press advisers and journalists in order to strengthen an
environment of freer and more active press.

US security firm provides armed escort to curb pirate attacks (Business Daily)
(East Africa) A private US security firm is working with a Mombasa-based shipping
line to provide armed escort to ships using the East Coast of Africa in a bid to order to
reduce piracy along Somalia’s coast.

Guinea election chief proposes Oct. 31 vote date (Associated Press)

(Guinea) The newly appointed head of Guinea's electoral commission on Tuesday
proposed Oct. 31 for the country's much-delayed presidential run-off, but the leading
candidate said he opposed the new date.

Cote d'Ivoire: UN special envoy in Cote d'Ivoire says election to open as planned
(Xinhua)
(Cote d'Ivoire) The special representative of the UN secretary-general for Cote d'Ivoire,
Y.J. Choi, has confirmed that the Oct. 31 presidential election will be held as planned
despite concerns about another postponement due to inadequate preparations.

3 die after S.African soldiers stray to Mozambique (Associated Press)

(Mozambique) South Africa's army says two of its soldiers strayed into neighboring
Mozambique and exchanged fire with civilians, leaving three people dead.

Trying to Follow the Trail of Missing AIDS Patients (New York Times)
(Pan Africa) Several years ago, during the rapid international expansion of H.I.V. drug
distribution, researchers reported very high rates of adherence to treatment in sub-
Saharan Africa — as high as or higher than in the United States. More recently,
however, studies have found that 15 to 40 percent of those who start treatment are lost
to follow-up within one to three years.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
 More than 1.8 million people in West and Central Africa affected by floods – UN
 Donor support helps avert food crisis in Niger but more required – UN official
 Fresh clashes drive 60,000 Somalis from their homes, reports UN agency
 UN-backed polio campaign to reach 72 million African children
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, October 28, 10:00 a.m.; Georgetown University, Edmund

A. Walsh School of Foreign Service
WHAT: Curse of Berlin: Africa After the Cold War
WHO: Dr. Adebajo, African Studies Program
Info: http://events.georgetown.edu/events/index.cfm?
Action=View&CalendarID=141&EventID=80765

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

African Union exercise for rapid response force enters final stage (Sudan Tribune)

The African Union’s standby force completed an exercise designed to prepare them for
swift deployments to respond to emergencies, the Africa Union Commission (AUC) has
said.

At a press conference on Monday AUC chair person, Jean Ping, said that the force’s
operational capability in resolving conflicts has seen considerable progress.

The Amani Africa Command Post Exercise (CPX), is at its final stage, according to the
AU commission.

After the operations effectiveness has been evaluated the AU Commission to plans to
deploy the African Standby Force (ASF) in peacekeeping operations.

As a joint effort of the African Union and the European Union, the Amani Africa
exercise is designed to accelerate and validate how ready the ASF for operations.

African Union Commission chairperson Ping said the exercise will allow the forces
progress to be assessed and validated.

He also hopes the exercise will identify gaps and shortcomings to enable the African
Standby Force to develop.

Following the exercise, ASF procedures will be evaluated. The AU council will then
decide when the force will go into function.
Sudan Tribune has learnt that the exercise which officially kicked off on 20 October at
AU head quarters in Addis Ababa has brought together some 195 military components,
police forces and civilians drawn from all corners of Africa. European Union partners
have also taken part.

"We have carried out an exercise of all decision making bodies; at the African Union
level as well as at the Command Post level of a mission which would be deployed on
the ground", General Pierre-Michel Joana, European Union Special Advisor for African
peacekeeping capabilities said speaking at the occasion.

Since the inception of the African Union in 2002, African leaders have put peace and
security high on the continent’s agenda, conscious that they are essential for the pursuit
of an “integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa”.

The ASF is a core element of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) which
aims to “provide the Peace and Security Council with the ability to conduct
multidimensional interventions, as a measure of last resort, across a range of conflict
scenarios”.

The AU declared 2010 as the year of Peace and Security.

African Union peacekeepers are currently deployed in Sudan as part of joint UN

mission in the troubled western region of Darfur.
--------------------
Defense Minister on Cooperation with U.S. Gov't (Daily Observer)

The Minister of National Defense, Brownie J. Samukai, Jr. says he looks forward to
stronger ties with the United States government as the Ministry moves from the broader
scope of security sector reform to the narrow concept of defense sector reform.

A Defense Ministry release quoted Minister Samukai as expressing his appreciation for
the endless support of the U.S. government to the Government of Liberia (GOL) and the
Armed forces of Liberia (AFL).

He further emphasized that the fundamental training doctrine and the credibility of the
AFL recruitment criteria as laid down by our American partners remain “unchanged.”

Minister Samukai made the remarks yesterday when the Deputy to the Commander for
Civil-Military Activities (DCMA) of the United States Africa Command paid a courtesy
call on him (Samukai) at the Defense Headquarters at the Barclay Training Center (BTC)
in Monrovia.
The Deputy Command was accompanied to Minister Samukai's office by U.S.
Ambassador to Liberia, Madam Linda Thomas-Greenfield and the Acting Chief of
AFRICOM's Strategy, Plans and Policy.

For his part, according to the release, the Deputy to the Commander for Civil-Military
Activities, Ambassador J. Anthony Holmes, pledged his government's continuous
support to Liberia's Security sector Reform process, especially to the AFL.

Amb. Holmes further said because of Liberia's close ties with America, the U.S.
government is more determined and committed to working with their Liberian
counterpart.

“Liberia is an extremely important partner of the U.S. and the recipient of much of
AFRICOM's effort to develop defense sector on the continent and Liberia is at the
cutting edge,” Amb. Holmes declared.

Amb. Holmes directs the Command's plans and programs associated with health,
humanitarian assistance and de-mining action, Disaster Response, Security Sector
Reform and Peace support Operations.

He also directs Outreach, Strategic Communication and AFRICOM's partner-building

functions, as well as assuring policy development and implementation as consistent
with the U.S. Foreign Policy.
--------------------
Versi-Dredge "helps fights piracy and terrorism" (SandandGravel.com)

IMS Dredges, a division of LWT LLC, says it is helping to facilitate the creation of a
local security zone in the Bakassi peninsula in Cameroon. IMS Dredges' 7012 HP Versi-
dredge is being utilized to develop the bases for a Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) in
their fight against piracy. "Dredged material taken from the Douala channel is creating
these foundations as an integral part of the security effort," said the company.

"Developing protection, such as this, has been an ongoing struggle in the region which
has initiated the creation of various defence programmes," the company explained. "The
African Partnership Station, part of the US Africa Command's Security Cooperation
programme, was created by US Naval Forces Europe-Africa as a way of improving
maritime safety and security in Africa."

Admiral Mark Fitzgerald, Commander US Naval Forces Europe and Africa, said:
"Building partner capacity is a core element of our efforts [here]. When we collaborate
with our partners, a wide array of mariners benefit from our actions. We have seen
tremendous growth in the capabilities of our partners and Allies in understanding
Maritime Safety and Security. If we help others build their skills, there is less likelihood
we will need to respond with ours."
Said the company: "In addition to the work being done by the IMS 7012 HP Versi-
dredge, IMS Dredges personnel are also making a positive impact in this battle. The
dredger salesmen offer unparalleled technical dive skills through their association with
Underwater Professionals LLC."

R Stefan Templeton, West Africa Director of Sales for IMS Dredges, is one of these
skilled divers. Along with IMS Dredges, he understands the importance of the current
situation.

"The transportability and power of IMS Dredges' equipment makes it ideal for
supporting deep field brown water peace and security operations, such as the one in
Cameroon," he said.

"We are proud to have been selected as the suppliers of dredging equipment for
operations of this kind and look forward to offering our continued support to the APS
and other peace and security operations in West Africa."

IMS Dredges have often played a significant role clearing patrol boat ports for foreign
defence departments and armed forces. IMS Dredges had a vital role in the completion
of similar projects for defense departments worldwide, including the de-
silting/sanding of patrol boat docks at Port Umm Qasr, Iraq.

IMS Dredges has continuously been praised for its efforts throughout these critical
tasks. Captain A D Radakin, the Commanding Officer of the Iraq Naval Transition
Team said IMS "provided a first class service and has directly assisted [them] in [their]
efforts to reach transition and hand over security of the Iraqi Maritime assets to the Iraqi
Navy."
--------------------
Activists, Victims Await US Action Against LRA (Voice of America)

Human-rights activists and victims are eagerly awaiting U.S. government action against
the East Africa-based Lord's Resistance Army. A U.S. law signed earlier this year
mandates President Barack Obama to devise a strategy before November 20 to stop the
rampaging rebel group.

John Prendergast of the U.S.-based Enough Project was one of many activists who
welcomed the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act that was signed
into law in May.

"You had a bipartisan consensus bill that had the highest number of cosponsors for an
Africa-related bill in congressional history and the highest number of cosponsors for
any bill in 2010," said Prendergast.
He says the onus now is on President Obama to stop this group which first started as a
rebellion against Uganda's government in the 1980s and evolved into a brutal
movement led by Joseph Kony.

"Twenty-five years have gone by where this guy has gone around, blitzing around
northern Uganda and now into three or four countries in Central Africa still kidnapping
kids, still cutting the lips off of women, still burning buses and villages and doing all
kinds of stuff," Prendergast said. "Raping systematically in certain villages with a militia
of no more than 600, 700 people, probably the highest ratio of damage to number of
militia in the history of warfare, and we cannot do anything about that? No, you are
going to do something about it."

Independent journalist Joe Bavier has been investigating recent activities of the LRA for
the U.S.-based Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. Bavier says the group scattered in
several directions after the failed December 2008 joint attack on a LRA camp in the
Garamba forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo by armies of several African
countries, with logistical support from the U.S. government.

"They are everywhere. They have scattered in the northern Democratic Republic of
Congo," said Bavier. "They loot, they carry out attacks in southern Sudan. Joseph Kony,
himself, and Okot Odhiambo, one of the other commanders that is wanted by the
International Criminal Court in The Hague, have been been operating in southeastern
Central African Republic. The impact has been felt in an area where there has basically
been no protection of civilians."

Since late 2008, the United Nations and aid groups estimate that the LRA has killed
more than 2,000 people, abducted a similar number, and displaced hundreds of
thousands of others.

Bavier who has been to areas where the LRA recently committed atrocities says people
there are aware of the U.S. law and have very high expectations.

"It is a wish list, basically. They really do hope and expect, even in a lot of cases, the
Americans deploy troops on the ground in LRA-affected areas, and take care of the
military side of this, personally. And they also expect a lot of humanitarian assistance
in these areas," he said.

But Bavier says a complicating factor to the issue is that reports indicate Kony may be
seeking safety in the war-wracked western Sudan region of Darfur.

"He has long been an ally of Khartoum. And if he can find safe haven and support in
Darfur and perhaps create alliances with pro-Khartoum militias, like the janjaweed in
Darfur, we may be looking at a whole new ball game," Bavier added.
The janjaweed are pro-Khartoum militias accused of committing atrocities against
civilians in Darfur. Like Joseph Kony, Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir is wanted by
the International Criminal Court in The Hague on charges of genocide, war crimes and
crimes against humanity - charges he denies and calls a Western plot against him.

Kony faces several dozen charges, including murder, sexual enslavement and rape. He
has also denied the charges, describing himself as a freedom fighter guided by the
Bible's Ten Commandments. Kony says accusations against him are propaganda by
Uganda's government.
--------------------
U.S. to Send Visual Artists as Cultural Ambassadors (New York Times)

In recent years the State Department has relied on performing artists to act as cultural
ambassadors, sending dancers and musicians around the world to show people that
America is more than just Hollywood movies, McEverything and two drawn-out wars.

But under a new $1 million program being announced this week, the Obama
administration is planning to expand its cultural diplomacy programs to include visual
artists like painters and sculptors, who will be asked next year to create public art
projects in 15 foreign countries.

“To me, visual artists are just as capable as other artists of capturing a dialogue with
people,” said Maura M. Pally, a deputy assistant secretary of state who is overseeing
this two-year pilot program.

The new program, known as smART Power, will be administered by the Bronx
Museum of the Arts, which was selected from a dozen institutions to choose the artists.
They will be sent to places that include Pakistan, Egypt, Venezuela, China, Nigeria and
a Somali refugee camp in Kenya.

The museum will put out an open call for proposals early next year; the 15 artists will
be selected by a panel of experts put together by the museum. Holly Block, the
museum’s director, said she had no preconceived notion of what projects the artists
should undertake. But as an example of the kind of proposals she was anticipating, she
mentioned a work by Pedro Reyes, a Mexican artist, in which he melted down guns
turned in as part of an anti-violence campaign and turned the metal into gardening
tools.

She called the program “a fantastic opportunity for people who are interested in
pushing the boundaries of art making.”

Cultural diplomacy, once a staple of American foreign policy during the two decades
after World War II, has experienced a resurgence since 2001. That year the State
Department’s cultural diplomacy programs had a budget of $1.6 million; in 2010 the
budget is $11.75 million. The budget increased 40 percent between 2009 and the current
fiscal year. (It is not expected to increase next year.)

This year the department initiated a program that sent three American dance
companies to do four-week tours in Africa, East Asia and the Pacific, and South
America. Ms. Pally said that the program, which was administered by the Brooklyn
Academy of Music, was considered a success and would be repeated and expanded
next year.

The Bronx Museum, with a total annual budget of less than $3 million, might not seem
an obvious choice to run a national program. But the institution, which primarily
collects Modern and contemporary work by artists of African, Asian and Latin
American ancestry, has a strongly educational focus and substantial international
connections for its size. The museum has an international artist-in-residence program
and under Ms. Block it has established relationships with individuals or institutions in
Cuba, Brazil, Senegal and Egypt, among other countries.

Asked in interviews what would constitute success for the smART Power program, Ms.
Pally and Ms. Block offered slightly different answers. Ms. Pally at the State
Department focused on whether local people’s perceptions of the United States
changed, and Ms. Block of the museum more on whether the artists were able to
complete their projects. The museum will hire an outside consultant to conduct a formal
evaluation of the program.

Of course, as decades of culture wars show, art and Washington politics don’t always
mix. Even in the heyday of cultural diplomacy, the 1950s, the government’s efforts to
promote American art abroad occasionally ran into controversy at home. According to
Michael L. Krenn, the author of “Fall-Out Shelters for the Human Spirit: American Art
and the Cold War,” the State Department canceled international tours of two
exhibitions following charges that some of the artists were Communists or had
Communist sympathies.

And sending artists, as opposed to just their work, abroad to represent the United States
was considered particularly risky, Mr. Krenn said in an e-mail, because artists “were
not easily controlled.”

“The very nature of their profession meant that they always felt absolutely free to
express themselves,” he continued.

Perhaps with this in mind, the State Department is reserving final approval over both
the artists and their projects.

“We just want to make sure that there aren’t any issues,” Ms. Pally said. Asked to
elaborate, she declined to name any specific possibilities. “Oh, who knows?” she said.
“You never know, but you always want to reserve the right to have a final overlook.”

One artist who Ms. Block said might put in a proposal is Judi Werthein. Born in
Argentina and based in Brooklyn, Ms. Werthein received threats from anti-immigration
groups after an art project she did in Mexico in 2005, in which she created special
sneakers and distributed them to people in Tijuana who were planning to cross the
border into the United States. Each pair was equipped with a compass, flashlight,
painkillers and insoles printed with maps of the border area.

Ms. Werthein said she thought that smART Power sounded like a great idea.

“I think it’s very important for American artists to travel abroad, to get a different view
of the world — it’s really essential,” she said.

But when asked if she thought that the program had the potential to change the image
of the United States, she said no.

“American image in the world will change through policy and politics,” she said.

“Believing that we’re going to leave this image,” she continued, “and it’s going to make
them happy, and we’ll look good, it’s underestimating their intellect.”

Another artist who has worked abroad, Paul Pfeiffer, said he thought the program had
the potential to change people’s views of the United States, but only if the artists were
given sufficient freedom.

The best projects aren’t “necessarily going to take the most obvious form that somebody
in the State Department might imagine,” he said.

He noted that in his own experience working abroad, it was also important to be able to
convince people that he spoke and acted for himself, not for the United States
government. Particularly as a Fulbright fellow in the Philippines, he had to tell people
over and over that he wasn’t “officially a diplomat of the U.S.,” he said, “just for people
to be able to trust that a really straightforward and mutual conversation could happen.”
--------------------
U.S. Diplomat On Press Advisory Training (Angola Press)

Luanda — The representative of the US embassy in Angola, Daniel Vilanueva, today

lauded the angolan government support, through the social communication ministry, in
the mobilization and training of press advisers and journalists in order to strengthen an
environment of freer and more active press.

Opening a training seminar on press advisory, mr Vilanuena said the meeting aims to
create an effective mechanism of communication between the media and the
government stating that press advisers have the chance to influence the life of millions
of people within and outside the country.

According to him, the US government has made available over one million usdollars,
since the year 2000 to assit and train journalists and spokesperson both in Angola and in
the United States.

During the seminar, ending Friday, the participants will discuss several press advisory
realted subjects such as the tools of press advisory, interviews and audio-visual media,
emergency conferences, ethics and events planning.

US lecturer, Sheldon Austin, is the main speaker of the conference jointly promoted by
the angolan social communication ministry and the US embassy.
--------------------
US security firm provides armed escort to curb pirate attacks (Business Daily)

A private US security firm is working with a Mombasa-based shipping line to provide

armed escort to ships using the East Coast of Africa in a bid to order to reduce piracy
along Somalia’s coast.

Espada Logistics and Security Group, based in San Antonio, Texas, plans to invest up to
$50 million to boost its vessels, which will be deployed in East Africa to escort vessels
from the ports of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam to Yemen.

Ships are currently avoiding the Somalia waters and are taking a longer route, said Mr
Ibrahim Ahmed Abdinoor, chief executive officer of African Shipping Line, Espada’s
local agent
Espada has 14 vessels with armed personnel who will offer security from the East
African ports to Yemen.

Most of the firm’s security team have military training and experience in defending
ships, Mr Abdinoor said.

Espada has 50 personnel, and expects to increase this to 150 when physical escort along
the Somali waters takes ships in the coming months.

“Although the United Nations and international forces have acted to prevent ship
hijackings, they cannot protect every ship that travels through this vast and strategic
stretch of water. Some shipping companies are turning to private security firms for
help,” a joint statement issued by the African Shipping Line and Espada said.

The firm is already providing security by putting officers on a ship at its port of origin
to the point of destination.
The officers provide anti-piracy training en route to the Gulf of Aden and focus on
attack prevention, Abdinoor said.

“The problem with this approach is that it stretches what should be a three-day job into
nearly three weeks in some cases. It’s not a great financial model for us or for them
because it ties up a team,” says Mr Jim Jorrie, Espada’s president.

The team trains the crew to mobilise fire hoses and other non lethal means to repel
pirates.

Crews are further taught how to react if their ships are boarded, making sure that they
know which alerts to sound and what parts of the ship to lock themselves into if pirates
board a vessel.

“If pirates are spotted, the Espada team will let them know that the ship is well armed,
the goal being to deter attacks rather than to engage and capture the pirates,” Jorrie
said.

The additional cost of fuel per ship due to the longer voyage is $3.5 million (Sh280
million) according to Jorrie, which is not comparable with the cost of hiring security in
order to use the shorter route through Somali waters.

“Ships from Dubai to Mombasa used to take six to seven days, but the voyage is today
taking 12 days since shipping lines are now taking a longer route, further from the
Somali coast, to avoid that coastline,” Mr Abdinoor said.

A ship from Mumbai in India, which previously took 12 days, is today spending 18
days at sea since the voyage has to move further down South near Madagascar,
Abdinoor added.
--------------------
Guinea election chief proposes Oct. 31 vote date (Associated Press)

CONAKRY, Guinea – The newly appointed head of Guinea's electoral commission on

Tuesday proposed Oct. 31 for the country's much-delayed presidential run-off, but the
leading candidate said he opposed the new date.

Electoral Commission President Gen. Siaka Toumani Sangare, who was appointed
earlier this month, told the transitional government that he believed the vote could go
ahead this upcoming Sunday. The election has been scheduled and abruptly canceled
several times, including most recently this past weekend.

The vote was expected to be Guinea's first free and fair election since winning
independence from France 52 years ago, but infighting between the candidates and
rising ethnic tensions have cast a long shadow over the poll.
After the cancellation of last Sunday's vote, riots broke out in several provincial towns
with violence largely aimed at the country's Peul community, the ethnicity of leading
presidential candidate Cellou Dalein Diallo.

Diallo was quoted on two private radio stations Tuesday as saying that he did not
approve of the Oct. 31 date. He pointed to election-related violence in the rural capitals
of Siguiri and Kankan in Guinea's far north where Peul shops were burned.

In the capital of Conakry a well-known Peul human rights activist was badly beaten by
security forces on Saturday after he attempted to help a group of youth that were being
brutalized in the spasm of violence that followed the delay of the Oct. 24 vote,
according to a report by U.S.-based Human Rights Watch.

The ethnic color of Guinea's election only came to the fore after the first round of voting
in June in which 24 candidates squared off. Problems began when the field was
narrowed to Diallo and Alpha Conde, who is from the Malinke ethnic group.

The Peul and the Malinke represent the two largest communities in Guinea and they
have a history of animosity. Supporters have largely lined up behind the two
candidates on ethnic lines, with the Peul almost unanimous in their support of Diallo
and the Malinke overwhelmingly backing Conde.

Interim Prime Minister Jean-Marie Dore said he approved of the new date.

"We will go to the polls. I will ask Cellou Dalein Diallo and Alpha Conde to control
their language, their supporters, their electorate. What counts is the unity of the
Guinean nation," Dore said during the meeting of the transitional government. "We
have confidence in Gen. Siaka Toumani ... we have no reason to doubt that all that
could be done has been done so that the second round can occur on Oct. 31."

Isolated for decades because of its rogue rulers, Guinea turned a corner last December
when the head of the military junta ruling the country was forced into exile and his No.
2 agreed to hand over power to civilians.

Experts and diplomats have warned that if the political candidates do not get their acts
together and hold the election as planned, it could create an opportunity for another
military coup.
--------------------
Cote d'Ivoire: UN special envoy in Cote d'Ivoire says election to open as planned
(Xinhua)
ABIDJAN - The special representative of the UN secretary-general for Cote d'Ivoire, Y.J.
Choi, has confirmed that the Oct. 31 presidential election will be held as planned
despite concerns about another postponement due to inadequate preparations.

The UN envoy made the confirmation on Monday at a video-linked press conference

with international correspondents based at the UN headquarters in New York.

An official communique quoted Choi as saying he was confident that the election
would take place as the main challenges facing the election process had been overcome.

According to the timetable drawn up by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC),

he said, the provisional results of the presidential election will be first announced by the
commission on Nov. 3.

The Constitutional Council will proclaim the final results on Nov. 10 before they are
certified by the special representative, he added.

If there is no clear winner after the first round, then the second round will be organized
on Nov. 28, the envoy declared.

The authorities are busy distributing both national identity cards and voter cards across
the West African country, which is expected to move out of the political crisis with a
vote, but which has repeatedly postponed the elections since 2005 for a variety of
reasons.

Politicians from the presidential camp and the former rebel group have express doubts
about the holding of the election on time, with some supporters of the incumbent
Laurent Gbagbo deploring the slow distribution of the voter card and the opposition
camp suggesting a delay to November.

The country remains divided with the ex-rebel New Forces holding the north and the
loyalists controlling the south since a civil war broke out following an attempted coup
against Gbagbo.
--------------------
3 die after S.African soldiers stray to Mozambique (Associated Press)

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa's army says two of its soldiers strayed into
neighboring Mozambique and exchanged fire with civilians, leaving three people dead.

Department of Defense spokesman Siphiwe Dlamini says Monday's violence is being

investigated by South African and Mozambican authorities. Mozambican state radio
also reported the shooting.
Dlamini said Tuesday that the dead included a South African soldier, a Mozambican
villager and a third Mozambican whose identity was unclear.

Dlamini says it is unclear why the South African soldiers, who were performing border
patrol duties, crossed a few hundred meters (yards) into Mozambique. Dlamini says the
surviving South African soldier is being questioned.
--------------------
Trying to Follow the Trail of Missing AIDS Patients (New York Times)

KISUMU, Kenya — The young woman perched on the edge of the bed in her tiny hut.
She was 29 years old, an AIDS widow who supported herself by frying and selling
potato fries by the side of the nearby road.

Josephine Napkonde, 80, is raising several children on her own after her husband and
daughter died of AIDS.

Yes, she acknowledged to Peter Ouma Mchembere, a young counselor from a local
H.I.V./AIDS project, she hadn’t returned to the clinic for her antiretroviral medications
in more than a year; no, she didn’t plan to come back anytime soon.

She disliked the drugs, she explained: “The first time I started taking them, I was
having the feeling that my heart was pounding and I had no strength.” These days, she
said, she chose to rely on prayer instead of medicine to give her strength so she could
care for her two young children.

“It’s not bad to pray, but getting care is also important, because this is biological,”
advised Peter, who works in Kisumu for Family AIDS Care and Education Services, or
Faces. The organization is a joint clinical and research program of the Kenya Medical
Research Institute and the University of California, San Francisco.

“It’s very painful,” Peter said to me after we left her home. “She has two kids and
they’re at a tender age, and if she dies, who’ll take care of them?”

I was in Kisumu, the largest city in western Kenya, as both a journalist and a public
health researcher from U.C. Berkeley. This scruffy but lively port of more than 300,000
people on the eastern shore of Lake Victoria is a regional hub for commerce, transient
relationships and H.I.V. infection. About 15 percent of the adults in the region are
believed to be infected.

At Peter’s clinic, as elsewhere in Africa, patients who have not come for their
medications in recent months are considered to have defaulted from treatment. As a
“defaulter tracer,” Peter tries to track them down, find out what’s gone wrong and get
them back into treatment, if possible.
Epidemiologists refer to such patients as “lost to follow-up,” and their increasing
numbers in sub-Saharan Africa are causing concern among providers of H.I.V. and
AIDS care. Interruptions in treatment lead to viral strains that are resistant to the
cheapest medications, and to higher rates of illness and death.

Several years ago, during the rapid international expansion of H.I.V. drug distribution,
researchers reported very high rates of adherence to treatment in sub-Saharan Africa —
as high as or higher than in the United States. More recently, however, studies have
found that 15 to 40 percent of those who start treatment are lost to follow-up within one
to three years. This unsettling trend has emerged at a difficult time; financing for
treatment from the United States and other donors is not keeping pace with the rate of
new infections, which has generated waiting lists for the lifesaving medications in some
parts of Africa.

At Faces, the loss-to-follow-up rate is around 30 percent, according to Dr. Dennis

Osiemo, the organization’s technical adviser for care and treatment. In many instances,
he said, problems over which patients have little or no control — like lack of child care,
distance from a clinic or the high cost of transportation — force them to miss
appointments or drop out of treatment. Others, of course, have died.

But recent research from Uganda found that a significant number of patients designated
as lost to follow-up were actually receiving care elsewhere. A similar tracking effort is
being started at Faces, but efforts to determine the status of lapsed patients are not
always successful. “If a patient is outside the catchment area, it’s very hard to trace
them,” Dr. Osiemo said.

H.I.V. programs in Africa are experimenting with various strategies to reduce loss to
follow-up — offering a two- or three-month supply of medication per clinic visit,
delivering drugs directly to patients’ homes and reimbursing them for transportation
costs. Faces is exploring modest projects to raise patients’ income and stabilize their
lives, like creating a microfinance system to provide water pumps and other
agricultural support to help them grow more crops.

While accompanying Peter on his rounds of the district, I discovered that many cases
elude easy solutions — the technological, financial or pharmacological fixes that
Western-financed programs seek to carry out.

In search of the defaulted clients on Peter’s list, we rode in matatus — the wheezing,
overcrowded minivans that provide cheap local transportation — to outlying
neighborhoods, past hundreds of ramshackle storefronts bearing names like Blessed
Mum Butchery, Canaan General Retail Shop and the Yes We Can Hair Salon. (President
Obama’s ancestral village, Kogelo, is an easy drive from here.)
Peter, a tall, lanky man in his early 20s, lost both his parents to AIDS in 2006. He is
supporting two younger brothers and a younger sister, all in their teens, and he
struggles to pay their school fees so they can continue their education.

“I know what people are going through, so I have the heart to help them,” he said. He
spoke slowly, as if contemplating the import of each word, and wore a black and white
rubber bracelet inscribed with the word “friendship.”

Peter says he loves being able to reconnect patients with treatment, but his days can
also prove fruitless and frustrating.

On this afternoon, one client was a woman who had stopped taking her young H.I.V.-
positive grandson to the clinic every month. When we arrived in their neighborhood,
Peter asked passers-by if they knew the family. Most said no.

Finally, a young boy stepped forward, led us across muddy paths and rows of shacks,
and pointed out their home. No one was there, and it was clear no one had been for
some time. A neighbor said they’d left for somewhere else a month before.

Next was a young disabled patient whose mother used to take her to the clinic. When
we located the dwelling, we found the young woman, who was 20, sprawled in the dirt.
She appeared to be suffering from serious neurological and cognitive problems.

The woman living next door told Peter that one recent morning she woke up to find
that the mother — her sister — had disappeared, with no forwarding information. She
knew nothing about her niece’s medical condition, she said, as Peter tried to discuss
arrangements to get the girl back into treatment.

But that day it was the decision of the young widow to continue praying instead of
returning to the clinic that haunted Peter. Her determination to ignore the medical
realities underscored the limitations of his efforts.

When the woman insisted that faith would heal her, Peter challenged her gently. “Even
at the clinic, people are praying and still getting medication, because H.I.V. is in the
body and blood,” he said.

She acknowledged that she’d recently tested positive a second time, but that did not
dissuade her. “I’m still hoping to be tested again and be negative,” she said softly.

Peter and I stood up. He knew there was nothing more to say. He wished her well,
encouraged her one last time to return. She smiled and shook her head.
--------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website
More than 1.8 million people in West and Central Africa affected by floods – UN
26 October – Over 1.8 million people have been affected by floods in Central and West
Africa, which have also killed nearly 400 people, the United Nations humanitarian arm
reported today, adding that Benin remains the country hardest hit by the disaster.

Donor support helps avert food crisis in Niger but more required – UN official
26 October – A food crisis in Niger has been averted as a result of generous donor
response, intervention by the United Nations, the Government’s facilitation of the
humanitarian effort and good rainfall, but the situation remains fragile, the top UN
humanitarian official said today.

Fresh clashes drive 60,000 Somalis from their homes, reports UN agency
26 October – The United Nations refugee agency today reported that fierce clashes in
the Somali town of Beled Hawo on the Kenyan border have driven some 60,000 people
from their homes over the past week.

UN-backed polio campaign to reach 72 million African children

26 October – Nearly 300,000 health workers are fanning out across Africa this week to
reach 72 million children as part of a United Nations-backed bid to drive polio out of
the continent.