You are on page 1of 21

United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office


26 January 2011

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

US Sends Senior Envoy to Tunisia (Voice of America)


(Tunisia) The Obama administration has sent a senior envoy to Tunisia to underscore
U.S. support for efforts there to transition from authoritarian rule to democracy. The
United States is offering Tunisian authorities help in organizing promised elections.

Key diplomat says U.S. approves of Tunisia revolt (Los Angeles Times)
(Tunisia) The top U.S. diplomat for the Arab world gave Washington's firm
endorsement of the uprising that ousted Tunisia's longtime ruler, even as a crisis over
the North African country's transitional government continued to simmer.

Washington facing the ire of the Tunisian people (Voltairenet.org)


(Tunisia) The big powers abhor political upheavals that escape their control and thwart
their plans. The events that have electrified Tunisia for the past month are no exception.

Obama, Ki-Moon to Meet Ecowas Delegation (This Day)


(Cote d'Ivoire) President Barack Obama would on Wednesday evening meet with a
delegation from the Economic Council of West African States (ECOWAS) over the
lingering presidential election crisis in Cote d'Ivoire, THISDAY has learnt.

UN Chief in Ivory Coast to Talk with Rival Leaders (Voice of America)


(Cote d'Ivoire) The current head of the African Union is in Ivory Coast for another
attempt to mediate the country's political crisis.

U.S. envoy sees agriculture as focus area for ties with Kenya in 2011 (Xinhua)
(Kenya) Agriculture will be a key support area by the United States to Kenya in 2011 by
helping the country to improve its research capacity and provision of humanitarian
food at the time of drought, U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger said on
Tuesday.

Robert Mugabe alone cannot decide when elections are held - US (The Zimbabwe
Mail)
(Zimbabwe) United States ambassador to Zimbabwe, Charles Ray says Zimbabweans
must have a say on when and how the country should hold elections, a day after
President Robert Mugabe said he may call for early polls.

Ghailani Is Sentenced to Life in Prison (Wall Street Journal)


(Pan Africa) A former Guantanamo detainee was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday
after he was convicted last year of conspiracy in the 1998 bombing of U.S. embassies in
Africa.

Sudan: Post-Referendum Issues and Implications for Africa (The Namibian)


(Sudan) As we enter the second decade of the 21st century, a new state of Southern
Sudan is to be born on July 9 2011. As is the case now, the southerners voted in their
millions for the independence of the southern Sudan.

Somali Piracy Threat Requires New Courts, Jails, Laws, UN Says (Bloomberg)
(Somalia) The failure of international efforts to deter piracy off the coast of Somalia
requires urgent action, including creation of new laws, courts and jails, according to a
report today to the United Nations Security Council.

Somali refugees storm United Nations office in South Africa (All Headline News)
(Somalia) Hundreds of Somali refugees in South Africa on Tuesday stormed the office
of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Cape Town.

Central African Republic candidates reject poll (AFP)


(Central African Republic) Three of five candidates in the Central African Republic's
presidential elections said Tuesday they rejected the results "in advance" and demanded
the vote be annulled.

UN News Service Africa Briefs


Full Articles on UN Website
 Work on first camp for Ivorian refugees in Liberia continues, says UN agency
 Rwandan rebel leader wanted for alleged crimes in DR Congo sent to ICC
 Angola: UN and partners applaud renewed commitment to eradicate polio
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, February 1, 2011, 5:30 pm; New America Foundation


WHAT: Fighting for Darfur: Public Action and the Struggle to Stop Genocide
WHO: Rebecca Hamilton, Schwartz Fellow, New America Foundation, Author,
Fighting for Darfur: Public Action and the Struggle to Stop Genocide; Juan E. Méndez,
UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment, Visiting Professor, Washington College of Law; Andrés Martinez,
Director, Bernard L. Schwartz Fellows Program, New America Foundation
Info: http://www.newamerica.net/events/2011/fighting_for_darfur
WHEN/WHERE: Wednesday, February 2, 2011, 10:00 am; US Institute of Peace
WHAT: Perspectives on Sudan’s Referendum
WHO: Linda Bishai, Senior Program Officer, US Institute of Peace; Jok Madut Jok,
Jennings Randolph Senior Fellow, US Institute of Peace; Timothy Luccaro, Program
Specialist, US Institute of Peace; Jon Temin, Moderator, Director, Sudan Program
US Institute of Peace
Info: http://www.usip.org/events/perspectives-sudans-referendum

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday and Wednesday, February 8-9, 2011; National Defense


Industrial Association, Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington, DC
WHAT: Defense, Diplomacy, and Development: Translating Policy into Operational
Capability
WHO: Keynote Speakers include ADM Michael Mullen, USN, Chairman, Joint Chiefs
of Staff; BG Simon Hutchinson, GBR, Deputy Commander, NATO Special Operations
Forces Headquarters; ADM Eric T. Olson, USN, Commander, U.S. Special Operations
Command; Gen Norton A. Schwartz, USAF, Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force
Info: http://www.ndia.org/meetings/1880/Pages/default.aspx
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FULL ARTICLE TEXT

US Sends Senior Envoy to Tunisia (Voice of America)

The Obama administration has sent a senior envoy to Tunisia to underscore U.S.
support for efforts there to transition from authoritarian rule to democracy. The United
States is offering Tunisian authorities help in organizing promised elections.

The dispatch to Tunisia of Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey
Feltman underscores U.S. interest in seeing a peaceful and democratic outcome to the
political upheaval there that ousted President Zine Abidine Ben Ali.

Weeks of street protests and rioting drove Mr. Ben Ali, who had ruled the country for
22 years, into exile on January 14.

Unrest has continued with protestors demanding that holdovers from the previous
government be purged from the new transitional administration.

Announcing the Feltman mission several hours after his departure for Tunis, State
Department Spokesman P. J. Crowley said the assistant secretary will seek a "first hand
view" of the situation and sound out the new authorities on how the United States can
assist in building a stable democracy.

"We support the transition that is underway, and we hope that this transition will be
peaceful. We understand that Tunisian civil society has questions about the nature of
the government. Clearly after decades of mistrust, there are questions that the people
continue to raise. The government is trying to be responsive. W e know that this is hard.
And we know that the government will at times have missteps along the way," he said.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday telephoned Tunisian Prime Minister


Mohammed Ghannouchi to commend the interim government’s call for elections
within six months and initial steps to investigate corruption and past abuses.

Mr. Ghannouchi has held the post since 1999 and is himself the target of public protests
from trade union and other factions pressing him to step aside.

Crowley said U.S. officials are encouraged by steps the interim government has taken to
begin dialogue with civil society groups, release prisoners and ease media curbs. But he
said that a "lot of work" remains to be done.

He said part of Feltman’s mission will be to evaluate how the United States can support
the electoral process in Tunisia, perhaps through technical assistance by U.S. non-
governmental groups that have been active in democratization efforts elsewhere.

Feltman, a former U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, is to have a second day of meetings in


Tunis on Tuesday before returning to Washington.
------------------
Key diplomat says U.S. approves of Tunisia revolt (Los Angeles Times)

Tunis, Tunisia — The top U.S. diplomat for the Arab world gave Washington's firm
endorsement of the uprising that ousted Tunisia's longtime ruler, even as a crisis over
the North African country's transitional government continued to simmer.

Jeffrey D. Feltman, assistant secretary of State for Near Eastern affairs, also said
Washington had offered the fragile new government "whatever support is appropriate
and requested" in conducting a nationwide election.

The transitional government has promised to hold balloting in six months. But for now,
it faces a mounting protest movement opposed to the inclusion in the Cabinet of former
figures in the deposed regime of President Zine el Abidine ben Ali, who fled the
country for Saudi Arabia on Jan. 14.

Tunisia is starkly divided over the inclusion of key members of Ben Ali's former ruling
party in critical positions. Activists backed by powerful labor unions have set up a
rowdy encampment outside the prime minister's office and demanded the removal of
those officials from the government.

"Somebody is stealing our revolution," said Mastori Salman, among the increasingly
militant activists mounting a challenge against the government of Prime Minister
Mohamed Ghannouchi, who held the same post in the ousted regime. "Ben Ali said we
are terrorists. But we are revolutionaries."

Feltman, who served as a diplomat here in the 1990s, said the ongoing political rift
"symbolizes a new spirit" in the country.

"What's going to give any government real credibility … are elections," Feltman told
reporters at the U.S. Embassy. "To get to credible elections after having a system that so
restricted the role of civil society and political parties … is going to take some time and
effort."

The diplomat said he told Tunisian ministers that Washington supports efforts to free
political prisoners, end media restrictions and lift bans on political parties ahead of the
vote. "We have long called for greater political space in Tunisia," he said.

Feltman flatly rejected reports, circulating in local and European media, that the Obama
administration pushed Ben Ali out of office. "The U.S. was not involved in the ouster of
Ben Ali," he said.
------------------
Washington facing the ire of the Tunisian people (Voltairenet.org)

The big powers abhor political upheavals that escape their control and thrwart their
plans. The events that have electrified Tunisia for the past month are no exception, quite
the contrary.

It is therefore rather surprising that the international mainstream media, staunch


cohorts of the world domination system, should suddenly acclaim the "Jasmine
Revolution", churning out reports on the Ben Ali family fortune which they had up
until now turned a blind eye to, despite their ostentatious luxury. Western countries are
chasing after a situation that has slipped from their hands and which they are trying to
rein in by painting it as it suits them.

First and foremost, what must be borne in mind is that the Ben Ali regime was
supported by the United States, Israel, France and Italy.

Regarded by Washington as a country of minor importance, Tunisia fulfilled a security


role more than an economic one. In 1987, a soft coup d’état deposed President Habab
Bourguiba in favour of his Interior Minister Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, a CIA agent
trained at the U.S. Army Intelligence School, Fort Holabird, Maryland. According to
revelations that have recently come to light, it would seem that Italy and Algeria were
akin to that power takeover [1].

The minute he settled into the Republican Palace, Ben Ali set up a military commission
in conjunction with the Pentagon, which has met in May of each year. Wary of the
army, he relegated it to a marginal role, keeping it under-equipped with the exception
of the Tunisian Special Forces which train with the U.S. military and take part in the
regional "anti-terrorism" device. The ports of Bizerte, Sfax, Sousse and Tunis host
NATO vessels and, in 2004, Tunisia joined the "Mediterranean Alliance" under NATO
auspices.

Not expecting anything in economic terms, Washington allowed Ben Ali to


systematically bleed his country. Every expanding firm was requested to yield 50% of
its capital plus the accompanying dividends. However, things turned sour in 2009 when
the ruling family, which jumped from greed to cupidity, intended to impose their
extortion racket also to U.S. firms.

For its part, the State Department began to prepare for the inevitable demise of the
president. The dictator meticulously eliminated his rivals and had no heir. A solution
had to be found and some sixty figures apt to play a political role in the future were
brought on board. They each followed a three-month training at Fort Bragg and
received a monthly salary [2].

Although President Ben Ali parroted the anti-Zionist rhetoric prevailing in the Muslim
world, Tunisia extended several facilities to the Jewish colony of Palestine. Israeli
citizens of Tunisian descent were authorised to travel to and trade in the country. Ariel
Sharon was even invited to Tunis.

The revolt

The desperate act on 17 December 2010 of Mohamed el-Bouzazi, a street vendor who set
himself on fire after the police confiscated his cart and produce, touched off the initial
protests. This personal drama, which resonated with the Sidi Bouzid residents, sparked
a general uprising. The clashes spread to several regions before engulfing the capital.
The General Union of Tunisian Workers, best known under its French acronym UGTT,
and lawyers’ groups joined in the demonstrations, thus sealing spontaneously an
alliance between the popular and middle classes around a structured organisation.

On 28 December, President Ben Ali attempted to regain control of the situation, making
a bed-side visit to young Mohamed el-Bouazizi and addressing the nation that same
evening. Yet his televised speech exposed his obliviousness. He treated the protestors as
extremists and paid agitators, promising a ferocious crackdown. Instead of appeasing
the people, his intervention transformed a popular revolt into an insurrection. The
Tunisian people are not only mobilised against social injustice, they are also questioning
the political power system.

Producer and Nessma TV magnate Tarak Ben Ammar is an associate of Silvio


Berlusconi and the uncle of Yasmina Torjman, wife of French Industry Minister Eric
Besson. It became clear to Washington that "our agent Ben Ali" had lost the reins. The
National Security Council, Jeffrey Feltman [3] and Colin Kahl [4] concurred that the
time had come to drop this spent dictator and to organise his succession before the
insurrection could morph into a genuine revolution, i.e. a challenge to the system.

The media were enlisted, in Tunisia and the rest of the world, to circumscribe the
insurrection. The attention of the Tunisian people would be focused on social issues, the
corruption of the Ben Ali family, and press censorship. Anything to stave off a debate
on the reasons that, 23 years earlier, had prompted Washington to invest the dictator
and to protect him while he pilfered the country’s economy.

On 30 December, private Nessma TV channel defied the regime by broadcasting protest


reports and organising a debate on the need for a democratic change. Nessma TV is
owned by the Italo-Tunisian group of Tarak Ben Ammar and Silvio Berlusconi. The
message rang out loud and clear for those who were still sitting on the fence: the regime
was split.

Concurrently, U.S. experts (as well as Serbian and German) were detailed to Tunisia to
channel the insurrection. Exploiting the collective emotional wave, they attempted to
plant their slogans during the demonstrations. Attuned to the techniques of the so-
called "coloured revolutions", fashioned by the Albert Einstein Institution of Gene Sharp
[5], they shone the spotlight on the dictator to forestall a debate on the country’s
political future: "Ben Ali, out" [6]

The insurrection

The Tunisians continued to spontaneously brave the regime, stage massive street
demonstrations, and set fire to police precints and shops owned by Ben Ali.
Courageously, some have even shed their own blood. Pathetic and overtaken by events,
the dictator stiffened without understanding.

On 13 January, he ordered the army to open fire on the crowd, but the Army Chief of
Staff refused. Having been contacted by Africom Commander General William Ward,
General Rachid Ammar informed the President that Washington was enjoining him to
flee.

In France, kept in the dark about Washington’s decision, the Sarkozy government failed
to analyse the various repositions. Foreign Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie set out to save
the dictator by dispatching law-enforcement specialists and equipment, enabling him to
hold on to power through more orthodox means [7]. A cargo plane was chartered on
Friday the 14th. By the time customs formalites were completed in Paris, it was too late:
Ben Ali no longer needed the aid; he had already taken flight.
His erstwhile friends, in Washington and Tel-Aviv, Paris and Rome, denied him
asylum. He ended up in Riyad. He is said to have taken with him 1,5 tons of gold stolen
from the Public Treasury, which the authorities still in place have denied.

Marketing : the logo of the "Jasmine Revolution" is unveiled at the exact moment of Ben
Ali’s flight. In the center, a raised fist, which is the ex-communist symbol used in all the
"colour revolutions" since Otpor in Serbia. From Washington’s perspective, what is
important is to affirm that the events are over and that they are part of a liberal
international order. Also, the title appears in English and the Tunisian flag has been
reduced to a simple ornament on the letter R. A bit of jasmine to calm the Tunisians

The U.S. communications strategists tried next to blow the whistle to call the end of the
game, while the outgoing Prime Minister was assembling an interim government. It is
at this juncture that the press agencies launched the "Jasmine Revolution" mantra (in
English, if you please!), assuring us that the Tunisian population had just lived through
its "colour revolution". A national unity government was on the rails ... and all is well
that ends well!

The epithet "Jasmine Revolution" evokes bitter memories to Tunisians of older


generations: it is the same one alread used by the CIA in its communications at the time
of the 1987 coup that placed Ben Ali in the seat of power.

The Western press - henceforth better controlled by the Empire than its Tunisian
counterpart - turned its floodlights on Ben Ali’s doubtful fortune. No mention was
made of the report by IMF Managing Dominique Strauss-Kahn commending Tunisia’s
decision-makers in glowing terms just a few months after the 2008 hunger riots [8]. Nor
was any mention made of the latest Transparency International report stating that
Tunisia was less corrupt than certain members of the European Union, such as Italy,
Romania and Greece [9].

The regime militia which had terrorised the civilian population during the riots, forcing
it to organise through self-defense committees, disappeared from the scene overnight.

The Tunisians, considered as depoliticised and malleable, proved to be extremely


muture. They realised that the Mohammed Ghannouchi cabinet is tantamount to the
earlier version without Ben Ali. Despite some cosmetic changes, the bosses of the sole
ruling party (RCD) held on to the key ministries. The UGTT trade unionists refused to
be associated with the U.S. manipulation and walked out of the coalition government.

An opponent "made in the USA". With a little help from Nessma TV magnate Tarak Ben
Ammar, film director Moufida Tlati was nominated Culture Minister. Less in the
limelight, but far more significant, Ahmed Néjib Chebbi, a National Endowment for
Democracy pawn, was given the Ministry of Regional Development. The obscure Slim
Amanou, a blogger familiar with the methods of the Albert Einstein Institute, filled the
slot of Youth and Sports Secretary under the label of the shadowy Pirate Party attached
to the self-proclaimed hacker group Anonymous.

The real of power is no longer the Republican Palace, but the Embassy of the United
States. This is where the Ghannouchi government was concocted. Located on the
outskirts of Tunis, in a vast gated campus, the Embassy is a gigantic bunker that houses
the main CIA and MEPI functions for North Africa and part of the eastern
Mediterranean. Needless to say, the U.S. Embassy did not invite the Communist Party
to be part of the so-called "government of national unity".

On the other hand, preparations got underway for the return of Rachid Ghannouchi
(unrelated to the Prime Minister), a legendary leader of the Rennaissance Party
(Ennahda) who was exiled in London. A Muslim (formerly of the Salafist tendency), he
extols the compatibility between Islam and democracy and has been preparing a
reconciliation with the Democratic Progressive Party headed by his friend Ahmed Néjib
Chebbi. In case of a coalition government breakdown, this pro-US duo could offer an
illusion of change.

Tunisian street power is still alive, with the people expanding the slogan that had been
handed down to them: "RCD, out!". In the villages and workplaces, they stalk the
collaborators of the fallen regime.

On the road to Revolution?

Contrary to what has been reported by the Western media, the insurrection is not yet
over and the Revolution has not yet commenced. It is clear that Washington has
channeled nothing at all, except for western journalists. Today, even more than last
December, the situation is out of control.
------------------
Obama, Ki-Moon to Meet Ecowas Delegation (This Day)

President Barack Obama would on Wednesday evening meet with a delegation from
the Economic Council of West African States (ECOWAS) over the lingering presidential
election crisis in Cote d'Ivoire, THISDAY has learnt.

United Nations sources also confirmed that a team from ECOWAS would be in New
York on Thursday to meet with UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, on the same issue.
THISDAY could however not confirm whether the meeting with Ki-moon would be
held on Thursday or Friday because the UN scribe's itinerary shows he would be in
Davos, Switzerland on Thursday.

The ECOWAS team to the meeting slated for the White House would be led by the
President of Sierra-Leone, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma. Among those that would be on the
delegation are President of ECOWAS Commission, Amb. James Victor Gbeho, Nigerian
Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. Odein Ajumogobia, Nigerian Ambassador to US, Prof.
Adebowale Adefuye, and the commission's Director of Political Affairs, Dr. Abdel Fatau
Musah.

Cote d'Ivoire had been in the throes of crises since the November 28 Presidential rerun
which the country's eletoral body declared was won by opposition leader Alassane
Ouattara. Another body, the Constitutional Council, after the ruling FPY contested the
result of the election, declared incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo winner, an action
that had been condemned and is being resisted by the international community.

Both personalities are presently laying claim to the West African country's presidency, a
development that is gradually pushing the country to the brink. While some targeted
sanctions had been imposed on Gbagbo, his family and close associates by US and
European Union, ECOWAS leaders at a meeting in Abuja last month resolved to use
"legitimate force" to oust the sit-tight Ivorian leader.

Though, ECOWAS is still engaged in diplomatic talks with Gbagbo, the upcoming
meetings in US are seen as part of efforts by the regional body to garner global support
for an impending military action against the Ivorian leader should the ongoing talks
fail.

White House and State Department sources yesterday told THISDAY that the ECOWAS
team would first meet with the US Secretary of State, Senator Hillary Clinton, at the
State Department on Wednesday morning, before proceeding to the White House in the
evening to meet with Obama.

Sources at the Nigerian Mission in New York also told THISDAY that the ECOWAS
delegation is also billed to meet African ambassadors to the UN.

Ajumogobia, who is also the chairman, Council of Foreign Ministers of ECOWAS, had
as Guest Columnist in Monday's edition of THISDAY, called for global support for
ECOWAS' bid to use legitimate force to oust Gbagbo.

Though UN had condemned Gbagbo's bid to sit-tight in office and also clearly
acknowledged Ouattara as the elected President of the West African country,
Ajumogobia, in his column in THISDAY, specifically requested for a UN Security
Council resolution authourising "military force as a last option."

He argued that "would complement ECOWAS' own commitment to dialogue and


diplomacy, and would also reinforce the need to take steps now to protect the civilian
population and stem the growing number of civilian casualties and deaths."

Last month, President Obama had in a phone conversation with President Goodluck
Jonathan, who is also the chairman of ECOWAS, commended Nigeria 's resolute
leadership in standing behind the Ivorien people and for insisting that the result of the
November 28, 2010 presidential rerun must be respected.
------------------
UN Chief in Ivory Coast to Talk with Rival Leaders (Voice of America)

The current head of the African Union is in Ivory Coast for another attempt to mediate
the country's political crisis.

Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika plans to meet separately with Ivory Coast's
incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo and his rival Alassane Ouattara, who most countries
recognize as the winner of November's presidential election.

Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga and other envoys have tried to mediate the
standoff with no success. Mr. Gbagbo is refusing to give up power, despite strong
pressure from the AU and the United Nations.

At least two African leaders have broken with the AU stance that Mr. Gbagbo should
step down.

On Tuesday, Uganda's Daily Monitor newspaper reported that President Yoweri


Museveni is against recognition of Mr. Ouattara as president. The paper quotes Mr.
Museveni's spokesman as saying the outcome of the November election should be
investigated.

Last week, South African President Jacob Zuma said both the Gbagbo and Ouattara
camps had raised serious allegations about election irregularities.

Envoys from the Economic Community of West African States plan to discuss Ivory
Coast later this week with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington and U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York

ECOWAS has threatened to remove Mr. Gbagbo by force if he does not yield power.
On Monday, Nigeria's foreign minister said ECOWAS wants a U.N. Security Council
resolution authorizing the use of force in Ivory Coast.
------------------
U.S. envoy sees agriculture as focus area for ties with Kenya in 2011 (Xinhua)

NAIROBI - Agriculture will be a key support area by the United States to Kenya in 2011
by helping the country to improve its research capacity and provision of humanitarian
food at the time of drought, U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger said on
Tuesday.

"Through the Feed the Future Initiative, working with Kenya, we have affirmed a
commitment to achieve significant agricultural development objectives, including
alleviating the suffering of the over 2 million Kenyans who are chronically food
insecure," he told members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Kenya (ACCK).

ACCK is a grouping of American investors in Kenya, with membership open to


American companies, multinationals, and local companies having strong business ties
with the United States.

The U.S. government last year announced a donation of 29 million dollars to the Kenya
Agriculture Research Institute (KARI) to support agricultural research through the Feed
the Future initiative.

The U.S. envoy, however, said real success in the agricultural sector will require
Kenya's commitment to the political and economic reform agenda, including land
reform, a strengthened fight against corruption, restructuring of the 34 agriculture-
related parastatals and removing protectionist tariffs and import licenses that increase
the price of basic foodstuffs to the poor.

Kenya is an agriculture based economy with an estimated 84 per cent of the working
population involved in on agriculture activity or the other. Agriculture is estimated to
provide a quarter of the country's gross domestic product.

The ambassador said another key focus area for the Unites States in Kenya in 2011 will
be President Obama's Global Health Initiative, which aims to strengthen health services
for mothers and children, while building sustainability to allow countries to take
greater responsibility for their health care systems. "Kenya's 560 million dollars
program to fight HIV/AIDS is the largest that we have with any country in the world,"
he said.

The embassy will also focus on empowering the youth to be aware politically to avoid
them being used by rogue politicians to cause chaos.

The embassy supports the National Youth Forum, a conglomeration of youth groups
drawn from across Kenya with a common agenda to promote peaceful reform.

He said Washington will support the forum as it plans to establish the County Youth
Forums in every county.

"We are establishing 10 million dollars youth-led and youth- owned Youth Innovate for
Change Fund that will provide youth with opportunities to access capital for economic
development."

The ambassador said his country welcomes the progress that has been made in the
implementation of the new constitution.
He said Kenya has made positive progress through the free primary education,
infrastructure development particularly through extensive expansion of the road
network, procurement, civil service, electoral reforms, and increased efficiency in tax
collection.

He however said the challenge of making Kenya a middle income state as envisioned
by Vision 2030 requires more efforts towards economic growth -- sustained double-digit
growth rates over the next years.

He challenged the Chamber to help increase trade between the Unites States and Kenya
and increase the inflows to Kenya from the Unites States that currently average 3 billion
dollars annually.

The flows include U.S. official assistance, trade, U.S. private sector investment,
remittances, tourism, humanitarian assistance, and contributions to international
financial institutions and the United Nations.
------------------
Robert Mugabe alone cannot decide when elections are held - US (The Zimbabwe
Mail)

HARARE - United States ambassador to Zimbabwe, Charles Ray says Zimbabweans


must have a say on when and how the country should hold elections, a day after
President Robert Mugabe said he may call for early polls.

Ray made the statement after handing over grants worth more than US$100 000 to
eight community based groups under the Ambassador’s Self Help Fund in Harare.

“The decision on elections or anything else to do with the fate of Zimbabwe has to rest
in the hands of Zimbabweans. Ideally, that should be all Zimbabweans have a say on
the fate of the country,” Ray told journalists.

“It really has to be left on Zimbabweans to decide when and how you should hold
elections here.”

There has been heated debate in Zimbabwe on when the country should hold polls after
Mugabe said he might call for general elections early before the constitutional making
process ends.

Mugabe said this on his return from holiday on Sunday.

The constitution making process is part of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) road
map to free and fair elections after disputed polls in 2008.
Meanwhile, the US government donated US$100 000 to support projects that include
building classrooms, borehole drilling for communities to access clean water,
horticulture and a wildlife and conservation project.

Beneficiaries of the US grants are Chinamora Secondary School, Kushinga nutritional


garden, Kuvaka Ishungu, Kwayedza Secondary School, Muturi horticulture producers
association, Nyangombe Wildlife project, Rupare High School and Tichakunda project
in Hatcliffe.

Ray commended the community groups for coming up with projects that are benefiting
their communities.

“You all work tirelessly to improve the lives of those around you. We honour and
commend you for your work,” Ray told the beneficiaries of the grants.

The US ambassador said his government has pumped in three million dollars since 1980
to support community groups to embark on projects like education, food aid, and
income generating projects and improve water and sanitation.
------------------
Ghailani Is Sentenced to Life in Prison (Wall Street Journal)

NEW YORK—A former Guantanamo detainee was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday
after he was convicted last year of conspiracy in the 1998 bombing of U.S. embassies in
Africa.

Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, 36 years old, was the first former detainee of the prison in
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to be tried in a U.S. civilian court.

In November, a jury convicted Mr. Ghailani of one count of conspiracy but acquitted
him of more than 280 other counts in connection with two truck bombings outside U.S.
embassies in Tanzania and Kenya that killed 224 people and injured thousands.

"It was a cold-blooded killing and maiming of innocent people on an enormous scale,"
U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan said in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday as he
sentenced Mr. Ghailani, who is Tanzanian, to life in prison.

"The very purpose of the crime was to create terror by causing death and destruction on
a scale hard to imagine in 1998 when it occurred." As part of the sentence, the judge also
ordered Mr. Ghailani to pay $33 million in restitution.

Lawyers for Mr. Ghailiani, who has been in U.S. custody since 2004, including at
Guantanamo from 2006 to 2009, argued for leniency. They cited his mistreatment while
in U.S. custody. Mr. Ghailani didn't address the court himself during the sentencing.
While being held by the Central Intelligence Agency, Mr. Ghailani was subjected to so-
called enhanced interrogation techniques, according to his lawyers. His lawyers have
said those techniques amount to torture. "Nothing developed through the history of our
system of justice ever envisioned the use of torture in a criminal matter," said Peter
Quijano, one of Mr. Ghailani's lawyers.

The judge said his sentencing decision shouldn't be taken as condoning any
mistreatment Mr. Ghailani may have suffered. He said Mr. Ghailani may have remedies
for any "any illegal and improper actions by our government." The judge said: "Today is
about justice not only for Mr. Ghailani, but for the victims of his crimes."

During the trial, which lasted more than a month, lawyers for Mr. Ghailani had argued
that he was duped by more sophisticated people into purchasing material used in a
bombing outside the U.S. embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

However, federal prosecutors in Manhattan said Mr. Ghailani, who later became a
bodyguard for Osama bin Laden, was a full-fledged member of the conspiracy.
Prosecutors claimed he knew what he was doing when he purchased a truck and other
materials used in the Tanzanian bombing, including gas tanks containing pure oxygen
and acetylene.

"To have a spouse murdered in the way I did has been excruciatingly painful," said Sue
Bartley. Ms. Bartley lost her husband, Julian, the U.S. consul general in Nairobi, Kenya,
in 1998 and her 20-year-old son, Jay, a college student in Kenya, in the Nairobi
bombing. "The pain is with me every day. Oftentimes, it is unthinkable," she told the
court on Tuesday before the judge handed down the sentence.

Four other men were convicted and received life sentences in a separate 2001 trial in
New York stemming from the embassy bombings.

Mr. Ghailani was transferred from Guantanamo to New York in 2009 to face trial before
opposition grew against holding major terrorism trials just blocks from the site of the
World Trade Center in lower Manhattan.

In 2009, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced plans to try Khalid Sheikh
Mohammed and other plotters of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in civilian court in
New York. However, those plans have been since put on hold following a backlash
from New Yorkers and members of Congress over security and other concerns.

President Barack Obama has vowed to close the detention facility at Guantanamo.
However, the administration will have to navigate new congressional restrictions
signed into law in December on moving prisoners to the U.S. from Guantanamo for
trials.
The Defense Department is expected to soon approve military-court proceedings
against Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who is accused in the 2000 attack on the U.S.S. Cole in
Yemen.

Some 173 prisoners remain at Guantanamo. The administration wants to put some on
trial and send others to third countries, and it also wants to detain dozens indefinitely
without trial.

Military tribunals haven't necessarily produced long sentences. In October, Omar Khadr
pleaded guilty to planting roadside bombs and throwing a grenade that killed a U.S.
soldier in Afghanistan.

Mr. Khadr, a Canadian captured at age 15, received an eight-year sentence under a plea
agreement. The U.S. agreed to support his repatriation to Canada after one more year at
Guantanamo.
------------------
Sudan: Post-Referendum Issues and Implications for Africa (The Namibian)

As we enter the second decade of the 21st century, a new state of Southern Sudan is to
be born on July 9 2011. As is the case now, the southerners voted in their millions for the
independence of the southern Sudan.
In fact, more than 2 million people voted for the “yes” vote in which a 60% threshold or
1,8 million votes were needed to pave way for the secession of Southern Sudan. This is
good for Africa, and here too all progressive Africans should take off their hats for the
Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and its sterling leaders such as the Late
John Garang De Mabior and his successor Salva Kiir Mayardit. Apartheid was worst,
Arab slavery of Africans in Sudan and genocide was evil.
The central question is, now that the referendum is over, what is next on the agenda.
What are the key issues that needs to be ironed out before July 9 2011. The main
protagonists in the referendum from both the National Congress Party (NCP) and
SPLM, have not agreed yet on post-referendum issues. Critical components of those
negotiations will cover nationality, foreign debt which stood around US$36 billion,
currency, assets including oil revenues, White Nile water sharing, borders and the
status of civil servants.
The complex part, according to legal experts, is that the Comprehensive Peace
Agreement did not clearly spell out the fate of Southerners living in the North in case of
separation. It stands to reason than that the cocky NPC will predictably argue that
Southerners in the North will forfeit their Sudanese citizenship; hence rights of
employment, ownership, residency and entry to Sudan could all be revoked. More so
the critical challenge is with regards to the many Southern citizens who are employed
by various state institutions, particularly in the military and police force. How claims of
and status of Southern citizens be settled and what are the mechanisms that will be
adopted by both the NPC and SPLM to overcome some of these and other associated
issues, remains a nightmare.
Another important contestation is the sharing of oil revenue. The south is rich with
almost 60% of the oil wells but the pipes run through the north. The South fully
depends on the North to sell oil. Savo Heleta, a DPhil candidate and Technical Advisor
on South Sudan Executive Leadership Programme at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan
University Business School argues that for the next five years Southern Sudan will have
to rent the northern oil pipeline, refineries and facilities at Port Sudan to sell its oil. If
not handled diplomatically this could trigger a wave of unrest, raids and attacks on the
south.
Other international actors interests’ could also play a leading role not to allow north
and south to return to war. China has invested heavily in the Khartoum, in so far as to
supply them with military arsenal in the form of long-range attack missiles and other
arms. Equally so, the United States is providing aid and other humanitarian assistance
to the South. According to Bankie F. Bankie, back from observing the Referendum, the
south is virtually impregnated by American consultants and Aid groups, normally a
front for military spies. South Africa is another new emerging country, using carefully
orchestrated moves to enter the playground already cut-off by China and United States.
Charles Nqakula, a former Minister of Safety and Security was appointed as a point-
man to Juba to explore oil and other economic interest under the guise of diplomacy.
Collins Chabane is touted as a ‘new expert’ on Sudan, and feeds the economic and
political interests.
Nevertheless, what are the lessons that Africa could derive from the successful
referendum. Many African leaders fear that the independence of Southern Sudan could
trigger other secessionist movements to stake their claim relentlessly. There are such
claims in Angola of Cabinda province, Casamance region in Senegal, which Abdoulaye
Wade promised to solve in 100 days upon his election in 2000, but ten years on the
rebels are still attacking, the Niger Delta, Barotseland, and aborted attacks in Caprivi
Region. These secessionist movements are structurally brittle and lack support in Africa
and the world. The only genuine case in Africa is that of the Western Sahara, which
have been struggling for independence for decades. Somaliland claims are not
recognised by the African Union.
However, Somaliland plans to step up efforts for international recognition on
expectations that a referendum on independence in Southern Sudan will aid its
campaign for statehood. Foreign Minister Mohamed A Omar of Somaliland was quoted
as saying during a telephone interview on 18 January 2011 by William Davison in
Addis Ababa that “the referendum will have a “positive knock-on effect. “We will be
using the South Sudan case to take a more aggressive policy to the African Union and
the Intergovernmental Authority on Development.”
To learn from our history as a continent, the lessons offered are that the country’s
wealth should be distributed equitably. It is incumbent upon countries such as Namibia
to support Southern Sudan in its efforts to rebuild itself after decades of war. As a
matter of fact an Embassy in Juba will serve as a good gesture to SPLM, but will also
serve an economic imperative, with major business opportunities opening up there.
This is urgent.
------------------
Somali Piracy Threat Requires New Courts, Jails, Laws, UN Says (Bloomberg)

The failure of international efforts to deter piracy off the coast of Somalia requires
urgent action, including creation of new laws, courts and jails, according to a report
today to the United Nations Security Council.

“The status quo is no longer satisfactory,” Jack Lang, the special adviser on piracy to
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon, told the Security Council. “There is this race
between the pirates and the international community, and progressively that race is
being won by the pirates.”

Piracy in the region costs as much as $7 billion a year in lost shipping revenue, higher
insurance premiums and the expense of deploying naval warships to the Gulf of Aden
and Indian Ocean, Lang said. He also warned of growing links between pirates and
terrorists in Somalia who have been tied to al- Qaeda.

Pirates hijacked a record 53 ships and 1,181 crew members in 2010, most of them off
Somalia, according to the London-based International Maritime Bureau. The Security
Council met following the reported Jan. 22 seizure off the coast of Somalia of a German
vessel with 12 men on board belonging to the fleet of Bremen-based Beluga Shipping
GmbH.

Lang, who said nine out of 10 captured pirates are released because there isn’t sufficient
capacity to prosecute or incarcerate them, recommended establishment of three new
specialized courts. Two would be established in semi-autonomous Somaliland and
Puntland, and a third with Somali jurisdiction in Tanzania.

Civil War

A court can’t be set up in Somalia itself because the nation has been in a state of civil
war for two decades and hasn’t had a functioning central administration since the 1991
ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. Its Transitional Federal Government and 8,000
African Union troops are battling Islamic militants for control of the capital Mogadishu
and southern Somalia.

Lang also proposed new criminal laws for acts of piracy, construction of prisons,
sharing of forensic information such as fingerprints, financial monitoring, and UN
sanctions against what he called the “dozen brains behind” the pirates.

“It is very important that the kingpins be tackled,” Lang said. “We know their names.”

Piracy, Lang said, is “slightly separate from terrorism, but we do see in Somalia some
links.”
Taken together, the recommended steps would cost about $25 million, Lang said.

U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice and other members of the Security Council expressed
support for Lang’s proposals and a plan to adopt a draft resolution to implement them.

‘Creative Solutions’

“Piracy off the coast of Somalia threatens us all,” Rice said. “Much more work remains
to be done. My government remains open to exploring creative solutions to increase
and facilitate domestic prosecutions.”

Somalia’s Ambassador Elmi Duale also endorsed the UN proposals, saying the situation
requires “immediate action.”

Lang said pirates are better organized and use increasingly sophisticated weaponry and
technology such as global satellite positioning systems. He also cited the “emergence of
a real industry” of negotiators and interpreters.

“Pirates are becoming the masters of the Indian Ocean,” he said.


------------------
Somali refugees storm United Nations office in South Africa (All Headline News)

Hundreds of Somali refugees in South Africa on Tuesday stormed the office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Cape Town.

Moqtar Mohammed, a Somali refugee who witnessed the incident, said he saw
hundreds of Somalis forcing their way into the office, adding that guards escaped
without injury.

Mohammed said a large number of South African policemen used tear gas and clubs to
disperse the crowd. “The Somalis entered inside the office with force in an attempt to
get ID cards to stay in South Africa. Then, police forces came to the scene and began
beating and torturing Somalis and also they used tear gas to us,” Mohammed was
quoted by Mogadishu-based Shabelle radio station as saying.

The witness didn’t mention if there are people detained during the operation. South
African police have not yet commented the event.

Since the fall of Somalia’s military regime led by Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, more
than 1 million people have taken refuge in many nations around the world, including
South Africa.

In the last few years, South African gangs have launched brutal attacks against the
Somali community, burning refugees alive or beating them to death. South African
police say that xenophobia and not criminality is the main motivating factor in the
attacks.
------------------
Central African Republic candidates reject poll (AFP)

BANGUI – Three of five candidates in the Central African Republic's presidential


elections said Tuesday they rejected the results "in advance" and demanded the vote be
annulled.

Former premier minister Martin Ziguele, ex-defence minister Jean-Jacques Demafouth


and a third challenger, Emile Gros-Raymond Nakombo, called Sunday's vote a
"masquerade", in a statement from an opposition coalition.

Incumbent Francois Bozize has been tipped to win another term, with the president he
ousted in 2003, Ange-Felix Patasse, his strongest challenger, but there have been
complaints of irregularities and fraud.

The Collective of Forces for Change (CFC) coalition "rejects in advance and with force
and will not recognise the so-called results of this masquerade," according to the
statement read by spokesman Nicolas Tiangaye.

The CFC, a coalition of the opposition and former rebels, also groups 213 candidates in
the parliamentary elections that were also held on Sunday.

They "demand the cancellation of these elections, the results of which are fraudulently
manipulated and in no way reflect the vote of the people because of their untransparent
and unfree character," the statement said.

Voter turnout on Sunday was high, at about 70 percent according to the Independent
Electoral Commission (IEC), but the election was dogged by complaints of incorrect
electoral lists and fake voter cards.

The coalition said it would "use all legal means to have the will of the Centrafrican
people respected," including referring their complaints to the election authority and
Constitutional Court.

Provisional results are expected to be published beginning Friday, IEC spokesman


Rigobert Vondo has said, after which the Constitutional Court has a fortnight to
validate them or voice objections.

Bozize took power in a coup in 2003 and was elected in 2005 in a vote disputed by the
opposition. He has been confident of reelection after a campaign in which he trumpeted
himself as "The Builder" of the country.
The vote, the culmination of a peace process launched in 2008 to integrate the
opposition and rebels, was also poorly organised, according to observers, with voting
materials not arriving in some areas in time for voting day.

Ziguele said Monday: "There were thousands of false cards about, and electoral lists
exceeded by far the number of voters registered."

The Central African Republic ranks among the poorest countries in the world, despite a
wealth of raw materials such as uranium, diamonds and wood, with its progress held
back by years of instability.

Since the fall in 1979 of military dictator Jean-Bedel Bokassa, the former French colony
has been rocked by regular rebellions and coups, hobbling development in a country of
4.5 million people.
------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

Work on first camp for Ivorian refugees in Liberia continues, says UN agency
25 January – The United Nations refugee agency has completed the initial stage of
setting up a camp in eastern Liberia to shelter people fleeing violence and political
uncertainty in neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire, saying the construction of the settlement’s
main reception centre is under way.

Rwandan rebel leader wanted for alleged crimes in DR Congo sent to ICC
25 January – Callixte Mbarushimana, a Rwandan rebel leader accused of committing
war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(DRC), was surrendered and transferred today to the International Criminal Court
(ICC), a move welcomed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Angola: UN and partners applaud renewed commitment to eradicate polio


25 January – United Nations agencies and the Gates Foundation today welcomed
commitments by the Angolan Government to eradicate polio, a crippling disease which
had been eliminated from the country for several years but then reappeared in 2005 and
spread to neighbouring nations.

You might also like