United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

7 March 2011

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

U.S. Military Aircraft Fly Egyptians Home from Tunisia (American Forces Press
(North Africa) U.S. military aircraft flew 640 Egyptians home today and yesterday from
the Tunisia-Libya border where the refugees fled to escape the violence that continues
between government forces and rebels in Libya.

Ramstein Units Partner to Help Evacuees From Libyan Conflict (American Forces
Press Service)
(Libya) Several Ramstein Air Base units have been key to providing airlift support for
the humanitarian crisis on Libya’s borders since U.S. President Barack Obama
provisioned military support, March 3, 2011,

Pressure mounts for no-fly zone in Libya (Christian Science Monitor)

(Libya) As Libyan militiamen encounter rough going against the better-armed forces of
Muammar Qaddafi, the calls for attacking Qaddafi’s air force are growing in the United
States.

Violence Continues in Libya (VOA)

(Libya) Forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi have launched air strikes and
engaged in ground fighting with rebel forces advancing from the eastern part of the
country.

Gaddafi intensifies campaign (Washington Post)

(Libya) Moammar Gaddafi's loyalists escalated a lethal counterattack on Sunday,
heightening assaults on rebel-held cities near his western stronghold of Tripoli and
pushing back opposition forces attempting to advance toward the capital.

Libyan rebels committed to cause (USA Today)

(Libya) The hodgepodge of forces arrayed against Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi
appears made up of mostly young volunteers armed with weapons seized from
storehouses. Yet, these forces have battled government forces to a standstill in several
cities.

Ivory Coast Rebels Claim to Expand Their Advance (NYT)

(Ivory Coast) Rebels opposed to the strongman Laurent Gbagbo seized a town near the
Liberian border on Sunday, a rebel spokesman said, in a further sign of Ivory Coast’s
possible slide toward civil war.

Côte d'Ivoire: Increased Violence Sparks Growing World Concern (allAfrica)

(Ivory Coast) Reflecting fears that Cote d'Ivoire is spiraling towards all-out civil war,
African and world leaders have made strong statements about the escalating violence.

Renegade leader clashes with S. Sudan army, offers ceasefire (Reuters)

(Sudan) militia fighters clashed twice with south Sudanese soldiers, both sides said on
Sunday, in the latest sign of instability in the oil-producing territory months ahead of its
expected independence.

Somali Forces Take Border Town From Rebels (NYT)

(Somalia) After several days of fighting, Somali and African Union troops have
captured the border town of Bulo Hawo, military officials said.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
 UNICEF chief urges better protection from violence for DR Congo’s children
 Somalia: top UN aid official voices alarm at intensified fighting, worsening
drought
 UN, Sudanese parties discuss security situation in Abyei
 Côte d’Ivoire: UN warns insecurity preventing access to those in need of help
 UN refugee agency ‘very concerned’ civilians being prevented from fleeing Libya
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, March 8, 2011; Johns Hopkins School of Advanced

International Studies
WHAT: Civil Society-Military Relations and Human Security
WHO: Rosa Brooks, Deputy Secretary of Defense; Lisa Schirch, Director of 3D Security,
Eastern Mennonite University; Col. Mark Mykleby, Joint Chiefs of Staff; Fulco van
Deventer, Policy and Political Advisor, Cordaid.
Info: http://www.allianceforpeacebuilding.org/events/event_details.asp?id=147732
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FULL ARTICLE TEXT

U.S. Military Aircraft Fly Egyptians Home from Tunisia (American Forces Press
Service)
By Cheryl Pellerin
March 6, 2011
WASHINGTON – U.S. military aircraft flew 640 Egyptians home today and yesterday
from the Tunisia-Libya border where the refugees fled to escape the violence that
continues between government forces and rebels in Libya.

A U.S. airmen stands among displaced Egyptian citizens aboard a U.S. Air Force C-130J
that is transporting them to Cairo, Egypt. They boarded the aircraft in Djerba, Tunisia,
after fleeing the recent violence and political instability in Libya. This reponse to the
developing humnaitarian crisis is part of a broader U.S. government effort to relieve
suffering caused by the crisis in Libya. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Brendan Stephens
(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.

Three U.S. Air Force C-130Js and one U.S. Marine Corps KC-130 flew two daily
rotations from Djaerba, Tunisia, to Cairo, Egypt.

U.S. Africa Command is overseeing the effort as part of the ongoing U.S. and
international response to the evolving humanitarian emergency in that region.

“For passenger evacuation, four more flights today are moving 328 passengers to
Egypt,” Africom spokesman Kenneth Fidler said in an e-mail.

Most of the passengers were men who had been working in Libya before violence flared
on Feb. 17 when Libyan leader, Col. Moammar Gadhafi cracked down on protesters
demanding government reform.

Yesterday's four flights moved 312, Fidler said.

The last military flight today left Djaerba in the late afternoon carrying 82 Egyptian
nationals for a flight to Cairo that was expected to last 3.5 hours.

Also yesterday, Fidler added, two U.S. Air Force C-130s from Ramstein Air Base,
Germany, delivered humanitarian commodities less than 24 hours after President
Barack Obama announced U.S. military support to the international effort.

Donations from the U.S. Agency for International Development Office of Foreign
Disaster Assistance warehouse at Leghorn Army Depot in Pisa, Italy, included 2,000
blankets, 40 rolls of plastic sheeting and 9,600 10-liter plastic water containers.

The C-130J crews have used Naval Support Activity Souda Bay, Greece, on the island of
Crete, as a hub and crew-rest location. Crews of the Marine Corps KC-130s have used
Naval Station Sigonella, Italy, on the island of Sicily, as a hub for their role in the
operations, according to Africom officials.

Thousands of Egyptians have returned home from the Tunisia-Libya border on aircraft
and ferries belonging to or chartered by governments from around the world.
On March 4, Naval Forces Europe-Africa, which coordinates U.S. Navy support to
Africom, established the joint task for Odyssey Dawn to provide tactical command and
control for emergency evacuations, humanitarian relief, and future Africom missions in
support of the U.S. government response to unrest in Libya.

Africom announced its airlift progress and the establishment of Odyssey Dawn in
tweets from the social networking site, Twitter.

The airlift and humanitarian effort is part of a larger U.S. government emergency
response that Obama ordered last week.

“The United States, and the entire world, continues to be outraged by the appalling
violence against the Libyan people,” he said during a March 3 press conference.

“The United States is helping to lead an international effort to deter further violence,
put in place unprecedented sanctions to hold the Gadhafi government accountable, and
support the aspirations of the Libyan people,” the president said. “We are also
responding quickly to the urgent humanitarian needs that are developing.”

On the same day, Obama approved the use of U.S. military aircraft to help move
Egyptians who have fled to the Tunisian border to get back home to Egypt.
----------------------
Ramstein Units Partner to Help Evacuees From Libyan Conflict (American Forces
Press Service)
By U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Jim Fisher
March 6, 2011
NAVAL AIR STATION SOUDA BAY, Crete – Several Ramstein Air Base units have
been key to providing airlift support for the humanitarian crisis on Libya’s borders
since U.S. President Barack Obama provisioned military support, March 3, 2011,

The 37th Airlift and Air Mobility Squadrons, working in concert with 17th Air Force
(Air Forces Africa) for U.S. Africa Command, are providing this capability. While 37th
crews are flying humanitarian relief missions, members of Ramstein’s 435th
Contingency Response Group are facilitating the missions, providing everything from
communications and command and control to force protection.

As the air component for AFRICOM, 17th Air Force is orchestrating the missions
through its planning staff and 617th Air and Space Operations Center, collocated with
its Ramstein Headquarters.

After more than two years under AFRICOM, 17th is well-versed in cooperative efforts
between Departments of Defense and State. So when a humanitarian crisis followed
political upheaval in North Africa, 17th Air Force was ready to assist the State
Department-led relief effort, according to Air Force Major General Margaret
Woodward, 17th AF commander.

“We were able to quickly answer the call and play our part by orchestrating airlift to
ease suffering among the Libyan people and third country nationals who have crossed
the borders seeking relief from the conflict there,” Woodward said. “Operating in Africa
has given us many chances to work and become familiar with supporting our partners
in the State Department. We’re happy to be able to contribute, and we hope, along with
the efforts of many other countries, we’ll be able to improve the situation for people in
need as a result of this conflict.”

Air Force Lt. Col. Charles “Doc” Schlegel said the 17th effectively brought the units
together to execute the humanitarian missions.

“The 17th coordinated the effort and made it possible for aid to be quickly delivered to
people who are in need, and for us to move evacuees,” Schlegel said. “We have been
working together to adapt to an evolving situation and provide assistance in support of
the overall U.S. government response. So far, it’s a great example of Team Ramstein
working together.”

Schlegel’s team began flying humanitarian relief mission March 4, 2011, and has
delivered relief supplies to Tunisia for USAID and shuttled more than 300 displaced
Egyptian citizens to Cairo.

The team’s ability to adapt has been key to their contribution on what Air Force Captain
Jason Powell called deemed “an international scale.”

“We started March 3, we partnered our capabilities with the 17th to support the State
Department and things are going fairly smoothly,” said the Captain, the director of
operations for the 435th’s Contingency Response Element. “Things are always
changing, but it’s a testament to our flexibility that we continue to make progress on
this mission. We are really stoked, to go in and make a difference for people that are
suffering.”
-----------------
Pressure mounts for no-fly zone in Libya (Christian Science Monitor)
By Brad Knickerbocker
March 6, 2011
As Libyan militiamen encounter rough going against the better-armed forces of
Muammar Qaddafi, the calls for attacking Qaddafi’s air force are growing in the United
States.

On Sunday, three prominent US senators – John Kerry, John McCain, and Mitch
McConnell – expressed support for a no-fly zone to prevent Libyan jets and helicopters
from attacking civilians and the anti-Qaddafi rebel fighters.
Speaking on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Sen. Kerry, who chairs the Foreign Relations
Committee, ruled out the use of ground forces to topple the Libyan dictator.

But he suggested that “one could crater the airports and the runways and leave them
incapable of using them for a period of time.”

Speaking on ABC News' "This Week," Sen. McCain said, “We can't risk allowing
Qaddafi to massacre people from the air, both by helicopter and fixed-wing [aircraft]."

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky told CBS’s “Face the Nation”
that a no-fly zone is “worth considering.”

Also Sunday, former UN Ambassador Bill Richardson called for a no-fly zone in Libya.

"Next week is going to be crucial and the most important step is the development of an
internationally recognized no-fly zone,” he said on CNN’s "State of the Union."

The idea has gotten top-level push-back from the Obama administration in recent days.

Testifying before the House Appropriations Committee this past week, Defense
Secretary Gates warned against “loose talk” on any US military intervention in the
Libyan conflict, including imposition of a no-fly zone.

“Let’s just call a spade a spade,” he said. “A no-fly zone begins with an attack on Libya
to destroy the air defenses. That’s the way you do a no-fly zone. And then you can fly
planes around the country and not worry about our guys being shot down. But that’s
the way it starts.”

At a Pentagon press conference, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, said that a no-fly zone would be “an extraordinarily complex operation to set up.”

“Lots of people throw around the phrase of ‘no-fly zone,’ and they talk about it as
though it’s just a game, a video game or something, and some people who throw that
line out have no idea what they’re talking about,” White House chief of staff William
Daley said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program Sunday. “The president has said all
options are on the table, but this has to be an international effort.”

But McCain, the senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, contends
that "these air assets that Qaddafi has are not overwhelming,” as he put it to "This
Week" anchor Christiane Amanpour.
“I would like to point out their air assets are not large,” said McCain, a former Vietnam
POW who knows first-hand what it’s like to be shot down in air combat. “Their air
defenses are somewhat antiquated.”
-----------------------
Violence Continues in Libya (VOA)
By Phil Ittner
March 06, 2011
Benghazi, Libya - Forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi have launched air
strikes and engaged in ground fighting with rebel forces advancing from the eastern
part of the country.

Fighting in Libya is now well into its third week with both sides claiming successes.

Around the central town of Bin Jawwad, fighting intensified Sunday as government
forces pushed back rebels who previously had gained ground.

Early in the day, Libya’s state television reported that pro-Gadhafi groups retook towns
in the disputed western and eastern parts of Libya.

Opposition spokesman Wanif Bou Hanada disputed the reports. "The revolutionaries
continue to control the territories that they liberated and the information broadcast on
the government radios is not correct," he said. "Their forces are not where they say they
are and journalists can see that for themselves."

Outside the port city of Ras Lanuf, rebel fighters are in control. The fighters said they
have repelled several attacks by fixed wing aircraft and helicopters.

Ras Lanuf is a major oil facility and rebels manning anti-aircraft weapons said they will
defend their positions against any attack by government forces.

In the city of Zawiyak, west of the capital, Tripoli, there are reports that rebel groups
have repelled government counter offensive.

In Tripoli, residents awoke Sunday to the sound of gunfire, but the city remains in
government control.

As the day wore on, Mr. Gadhafi's supporters took to the streets to show support for
their leader.

With both sides declaring that they have the momentum, the crisis here is volatile.
Neither the rebels nor the Libyan government seem willing to back down.
----------------------------
Gaddafi intensifies campaign (Washington Post)
By Steve Hendrix , Anthony Faiola and Samuel Sockol
March 6, 2011; 9:10 PM
RAS LANUF, LIBYA - Moammar Gaddafi's loyalists escalated a lethal counterattack on
Sunday, heightening assaults on rebel-held cities near his western stronghold of Tripoli
and pushing back opposition forces attempting to advance toward the capital.

Gaddafi's expanding campaign - including a ground assault on Misurata, the nation's

third largest city - appeared to dash rebel hopes to put a swift end to his 41-year rule.

Though the opposition has claimed most of the eastern half the country since Feb. 17,
the display of the government's superior firepower had loyalists celebrating in the
streets of Tripoli, with state television showing them unfurling the green flag of
Gaddafi's Libya and firing machine guns into the air.

The intensity of the government assault suggested the nation was plunging deeper into
a bloody civil war, with a regrouping Gaddafi lashing out at his enemies. On Sunday, a
ragtag band of rebels boldly advanced from this desert oil town 410 miles east of the
capital toward Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte, with their sights on Tripoli further down
the road. But they returned in the late morning, shaken by what they described as a
merciless surprise attack by government forces with rocket propelled grenades and
heavy artillery.

Retreating rebels said they took significant casualties in the assault, interrupting a string
of recent opposition victories in their westward push toward Tripoli.

"We got smashed. They are much armed," said Jamal el-Guradi, a U.S.-born baker of
Libyan decent who came to fight with rebel forces. Fighters seeking to unseat Gaddafi
managed to recover, however, and held regime forces to an apparent standstill by day's
end.

In the still largely government-controlled west, meanwhile, Gaddafi's forces appeared

to be sending a message to rebel-held towns that resistance would be met with ruthless
force. In Zawiyah, a city 27 miles west of Tripoli that is vital to Libya's oil industry,
witnesses said dozens had been killed and hundreds wounded in a bloody siege
Saturday. Eyewitness reports said government forces were again bombarding the city
on Sunday, and the Internet, electricity and phone lines appeared to be down.

About 130 miles east of Tripoli, the government targeted rebel-held Misurata with
mortar fire as tanks rolled into the city about 10 a.m. After a raging, five-hour battle,
residents and rebel officials there said the opposition had managed to expel the loyalist
force with weapons taken from army depots, seizing two tanks and five armed trucks -
a statement supported by al-Jazeera television footage showing rebels celebrating atop
the vehicles.
A rebel spokesman at a Misurata hospital, Abed el-Salam Bayo, said 21 opposition
fighters and civilians were killed, including a 3-year-old boy, along with 19 government
troops. There were at least 88 wounded.

One resident, Mohamad Sanusi, 44, said he observed government troops "randomly
open fire" on people from the back of a Red Crescent ambulance. "Gaddafi is a butcher,"
said Sanusi, whose neighbor was killed in the fighting.

Loyalists rally in Tripoli

In Tripoli, sustained rounds of gunfire erupted just before 6 a.m., along with the sound
of heavy artillery, according to a resident reached by phone and other news reports.
Journalists' access to the city has been strictly limited by the government, which has
invited reporters from a group of foreign news organizations that does not include The
Washington Post.

Government officials in the capital denied that fighting had broken out. Televised
images and reports showed hundreds of Gaddafi loyalists rallying in the streets,
apparently prompted by government announcements of strategic advances.

Mohamad Abed el-Wahhab, a Gaddafi supporter in Tripoli reached by phone, said,

"We were in Green Square today celebrating the victory. Praise the lord; our leader is
beloved by us. We shouted 'long live Moammar,' 'God is great' and 'Only Libya.' We
came in big numbers to celebrate the liberation of our lands."

On the road to Tripoli that passes through Sirte, a band of rebels found their bold march
west toward government forces met with superior numbers and firepower under heavy
assault. On Sunday, a group moving toward Sirte passed through the village of Bin
Jawad, an area rebels said they had liberated the night before. As residents stood
outside their houses cheering for the revolution, snipers opened fire from rooftops,
rebel fighters said.

"There were locals waving their hands and locals with weapons," said Abdulaali
Abduljalil, who suffered a scalp wound. "They trapped us."

Seven fighters were killed. At least 59 wounded were brought to a hospital at Ras
Lanuf, and a doctor here said four of the wounded were not likely to survive. "We are
not equipped to handle this," said Haitham Gheriani, a volunteer physician.

'We need better weapons'

The chaotic retreat illustrated the often pell-mell nature of rebel operations, in which
laborers and teachers with little training are left to find rides to the front in private
vehicles. Some of those who charged through Bin Jawad early Sunday, standing in
pickup trucks and flashing the ubiquitous two-fingered victory salute, were moving
faster than commanders wanted.

"We have a good plan in our fight against Gaddafi. Unfortunately, we don't control all
the volunteers," said a former Libyan general who is now a member of the
revolutionary military council and asked not to be identified by name. "Sometimes they
let emotions rule."

But the rebel army responded to the blow earlier in the day by pouring reinforcements
into the fight. By early afternoon, their cars raced toward Bin Jawad. From a truck with
a loudspeaker came a request for anyone with a four-wheel drive to haul a rocket
launcher to the front. A man pulled to the side of the road, handing out RPGs from his
open trunk to the quickly growing crowd.

The engagement continued until dark, with no decisive winner.

A half-hour before sunset, about three miles from the village and just beyond the range
of mortar shells that fell with a steady whomp, Salah Merwas took a break from fixing a
tire on his green pickup. A delivery worker in the Benghazi vegetable market before he
took up arms against the regime, Merwas said he had been at the front since dawn with
his machine gun.

"We need better weapons," he said. "They are shooting at us with anti-aircraft guns."
--------------------------
Libyan rebels committed to cause (USA Today)
By Jim Michaels
March 6, 2011
BENGHAZI, Libya — Mohammed Agori placed an AK-47 and a few crates of
ammunition in the trunk of his Honda Civic and slammed it shut.

"We're ready," Agori, a 35-year-old factory worker, said before breaking into a grin and
heading off to war.

Agori, who had volunteered at a recruiting center here a day earlier, was a conscript in
the Libyan army in 1995. That makes him one of the more experienced volunteers.

The hodgepodge of forces arrayed against Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi appears
made up of mostly young volunteers armed with weapons seized from storehouses.
Yet, these forces have battled government forces to a standstill in several cities.

On Sunday, forces loyal to Gadhafi used helicopter gunships and artillery and rockets
to halt the advance of rebels toward Sirte, a city about 250 miles east of the capital of
Tripoli.
In Misrata, 120 miles east of Tripoli, Abubakr al-Misrati, a doctor at Misrata hospital,
said that 20 people were killed and 100 wounded when pro-Gadhafi troops punched
into the city with mortars and tanks. They were pushed out five hours later by rebel
forces, witnesses told the Associated Press.

Gadhafi's regime fought all weekend to take control of Zawiya west of Tripoli — where
his forces hit rebel positions with tanks and mortars just 30 miles from the capital.
Residents told the AP that rebels still held the city at nightfall.

The shock and speed of the rebellion, which began Feb 15, has been opposed by a well-
armed force of Gadhafi loyalists made up of mercenaries, militias and military. But the
level of training of the pro-Gadhafi forces is unclear. Thousands of Gadhafi's own
soldiers defected and large swaths of the eastern portion of the country have fallen
under rebel control.

Rebels now are attempting to strike at the heart of Gadhafi's power near the capital and
in key cities along the way while holding onto their gains in the east, a tough task for a
force put together so quickly.

"It's not an organized army," Mustafa Gheriani, a spokesman for the rebels' provisional
government in Benghazi said of the rebel forces. "And they'll be facing an organized
army."

In Benghazi, what the rebels lack in training and weaponry they make up for in
enthusiasm.

At the recruiting center in what has become the capital of rebel-held Libya, about 120
volunteers sat in neat rows in a former military barracks. An instructor went over the
basics of hand-to-hand combat. When he was done, he was besieged by a throng of
volunteers who were more interested in knowing when they would get weapons and
head to the front than in learning about martial arts.

"They want to go now," said instructor Khamis Singri, 38.

Some will head toward Sirte, halfway between Benghazi and Tripoli and the birthplace
of Gadhafi. Rebel leaders said the battle for Sirte could be decisive because it clears a
path to Tripoli, where Gadhafi is holed up.

"We believe Sirte will fall, but we don't know when," said Idris Laga, the military
coordinator for the provisional government organized in recent weeks.

Laga said the rebel forces number about 25,000, though he said it is hard to know the
real number. He believes Gadhafi has 60,000 troops. Though the rebel force includes
commanders and soldiers who defected from the Libyan army, rebel leaders
acknowledge the defectors don't bring a lot of experience or leadership.

That is because most in Libya's army were forced to serve and were poorly trained and
equipped. Gadhafi took power 41 years ago in a military coup, and he kept his army
disorganized to keep the same thing from happening to him.

"Gadhafi undermined it," Gheriani said of the army. "They're really civilians in military
garb."

Most officers were not given much responsibility or prestige. "Gadhafi never built
leadership," Gheriani said.

Laga said the rebels have some experienced commanders, several of whom served in
wars in Chad and Uganda or helped the Muslim militant group Hezbollah fight the
Israelis in Lebanon. Conventional military training of the type received in the Libyan
army or that Gadhafi's forces get may not be valuable in this type of war anyway, he
said.

"This is not a classic war," he said. "It's a street fight."

Rebel forces say they have an advantage because they are fighting for democracy.

"We have a cause to die for while his people don't," Gheriani said.
-----------------------
Ivory Coast Rebels Claim to Expand Their Advance (NYT)
By ADAM NOSSITER
March 6, 2011
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — Rebels opposed to the strongman Laurent Gbagbo seized a
town near the Liberian border on Sunday, a rebel spokesman said, in a further sign of
Ivory Coast’s possible slide toward civil war.

A top commander of Gbagbo-allied forces in the west, near the border, declined to
comment, but the head of a leading civil society organization in the region confirmed
that the town of Toulépleu had fallen to the rebels, extending an advance in which they
have taken several small towns on the Liberian frontier in the past 10 days.

Meanwhile, a weeklong campaign of looting and burning in Abidjan aimed at the

homes of ministers allied with Mr. Gbagbo’s rival, Alassane Ouattara, continued
Sunday, underscoring the growing lawlessness in this sprawling economic capital.

The standoff prevailing here since Mr. Ouattara won a presidential election in
November, according to most of the international community, and Mr. Gbagbo refused
to step aside has taken an increasingly violent turn.
Mr. Ouattara, who has been trapped in an Abidjan hotel surrounded by United Nations
peacekeepers, has appointed a parallel government, but it has little real power.

Mr. Gbagbo’s efforts to remain in power have turned sharp-edged, even as broad
economic sanctions imposed by the West have stifled his revenues. Human rights
groups and others have documented a steady campaign of abductions and killings
aimed at his opponents since early December.

Last week, his forces fired into a crowd of unarmed female demonstrators, killing at
least seven.

In the past few days, militant youth groups loyal to Mr. Gbagbo, and supported by his
security forces, have broken into about 10 homes of Ouattara ministers, many in the
upscale Cocody district, plundering clothing, valuables and appliances, officials in Mr.
Ouattara’s government said Sunday.

The houses were largely vacant because the ministers have been blockaded in the Hotel
du Golf with Mr. Ouattara.

Mobs of civil servants, meanwhile, camped outside downtown banks, clamoring to be

paid in a country where cash has grown increasingly scarce.

The rebel advance in the west, the agriculturally rich region where much of the
country’s lucrative cocoa crop is grown, represents an escalation of a low-level
insurgency by fighters who never demobilized after the country’s 2002 civil war. Their
allies still control the northern half of the country, where they have de facto
administrative control.

While their ties to Mr. Ouattara are loose, they are fiercely opposed to Mr. Gbagbo.

Although Toulépleu has only 14,000 people, its loss would make it the third town in the
region to fall to the rebels in the past week.

“It’s a big defeat for Gbagbo and his forces,” the rebel spokesman, Lacine Mara, said in
a telephone interview from the regional capital, Man. “Our objective is to establish the
rule of law in Ivory Coast. Mr. Gbagbo lost the elections. His troops, all they do is take it
out on civilians.”

A commander of the Front for the Liberation of the Greater West, a 10,000-strong militia
allied with Mr. Gbagbo, declined to comment on the fighting or confirm the loss of
Toulépleu. “I am unable to help you out,” the commander, Denis Maho Glofiei, said by
telephone.
But the head of a leading war victims assistance group in the region, Issa Koma,
confirmed that the town was under rebel control.

The head of the United Nations human rights office in the western prefecture of
Duékoué, Jean-Marie Kalama, confirmed the clashes around Toulépleu. The United
Nations says more than 70,000 people have fled the fighting into Liberia, with an 80
percent increase in refugees since Feb. 24.

The urban fighting in Abidjan, meanwhile, had a different cast, as mobs of students
erected roadblocks around the city and ransacked houses.

“It’s idiotic,” said Amadou Coulibaly, a Ouattara spokesman. “It’s not by pillaging our
houses that they are going to stop us.”
------------------------------
Côte d'Ivoire: Increased Violence Sparks Growing World Concern (All Africa)
By Reed Kramer
6 March 2011
Washington, DC — Reflecting fears that Cote d'Ivoire is spiraling towards all-out civil
war, African and world leaders have made strong statements about the escalating
violence.

Alassane Ouattara, a former Ivorian prime minister and former senior International
Monetary Fund official, was certified as winner of November's presidential runoff by
the country's electoral commission and the United Nations. But Laurent Gbagbo, who
has been president since 2000, claimed victory in what his supporters say was a flawed
vote-counting process and has refused to step down.

Five African presidents designated by the African Union (AU) to mediate the crisis
decided during a meeting Friday in Nouakchott, Mauritania to invite the two rivals to a
summit in Nigeria later this month. The panel issued an "urgent appeal" to the rivals "to
show utmost restraint" and to end "media campaigns inciting hatred and violence."

The French foreign ministry issued a call for "a credible and impartial commission of
inquiry" under United Nations auspices into an attack Thursday on protesters in
Abidjan who had rallied to demand that Gbagbo step aside. U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton harshly criticized Gbagbo for violence against Cote d'Ivoire's people,
including the attack on "unarmed women demonstrators that left seven dead."

Clinton's statement, issued late Friday, accused Gbagbo of "a callous disregard for
human life and the rule of law, preying on the unarmed and the innocent". Clinton
called on Gbagbo to "step aside immediately in the name of peace."

During an interview at the State Department as Clinton's statement was being drafted,
the administration's senior Africa policymaker, Assistant Secretary Johnnie Carson,
compared the killings in Abidjan to recent violence directed at pro-democracy
protesters in Libya.

Choi Young-Jin, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire, visits
with people injured during a political protest in Abidjan.
"We were absolutely appalled when military forces loyal to Gbagbo fired on innocent
women, peacefully protesting in the streets of Abidjan," he said. "The longer the Gbagbo
regime clings to power, the longer the prospect of violence of the type we saw
yesterday in Abidjan."

Gbagbo's spokesperson denied that his security forces were responsible for the seven
deaths that came during a march supporting Ouattara in the Abidjan neighborhood of
Abobo. The spokesperson said the reports were an attempt to "trigger emotion" and
interfere with the work of the AU presidential panel.

Carson said "all of the international community" needs to stand behind the UN Security
Council declaration of Alassane Ouattara as the election victor. He also appealed to the
African Union to "maintain a strong consensus behind this position."

"Economic sanctions are starting to bite," Carson said. "The Gbagbo government is
running out of money and financial resources, [and] diesel and oil supplies are starting
to run low." Gbagbo is facing increased political and diplomatic isolation, and this is
also starting to have an impact, Carson said.

But the strong, unified stance against Gbagbo, adopted initially by the regional
Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) and backed by the African
Union, has become less firm. Gbagbo has been able to obtain financing and supplies,
despite sanctions imposed by United States and other governments.

"A small number of countries" support Gbagbo, Carson said. But he said he hopes they
will realize that their actions contribute to "prolongation of the crisis" as well as "an
upswing in violence and a downward economic spiral of this once-promising state".

Ecowas endorsed the certification of Ouattara's election in November, with strong

support from Nigeria, Senegal, Kenya and Burkina Faso, and in December threatened to
use force if Gbagbo failed to cede the presidency. But Ghana's President John Atta Mills
said in early January that his country would not take sides, while South Africa, Angola
and Zimbabwe have tilted in Gbagbo's direction, along with Cape Verde, Gambia and
Uganda.

A report issued last week by the International Crisis Group warned that Cote d'Ivoire
"is on the verge of a new civil war." Tragedy can be avoided only if Africa and the
international community "stand firm" behind Ouattara "and he launches an initiative
for reconciliation and a transitional government of national unity."
Carson said he hopes the panel of African presidents can help bring about the peace
that Ivorians "want and deserve". Following t he Nouakchott meeting, which was
hosted by Mauritania's Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, the presidents had been expected
to travel to Abidjan, as they did last month in an unsuccessful effort to find a solution.
Instead, they issued invitations to the Ivorian rivals to attend a meeting, which is likely
to convene in Abuja, Nigeria "at a date and venue to be announced shortly."

The AU presidential panel includes Jacob Zuma of South Africa, Blaise Compaore of
Burkina Faso, Chad's Idriss Deby and Tanzania's Jakaya Kikwete. The leaders noted the
rising death toll "as well as the escalation of the spirit of confrontation." They asked the
parties "to cease all forms of hostilities" and appealed for an end to Gbagbo's blockade
of the Golf Hotel, where Ouattara is protected by UN forces.

Along with Gbagbo and Ouattara, the presidents also extended a summit invitation to
Paul Yao N'Dre, chairman of Cote d'Ivoire's Constitutional Council. It was the Council's
December decision - overturning poll results announced by the nation's electoral
commission and declaring Gbagbo the winner - that helped spark the current impasse.

Rep. Donald Payne, ranking Democrat and previous chair of the House Subcommittee
on Africa, Global Health and Human Rights, last week compared the situation in Cote
d'Ivoire to the pro-democracy campaigns taking place in Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya.
"The world must not turn a blind eye to their struggles or wait until the country
plunges into civil war to respond to this crisis," he wrote in an AllAfrica guest column.

The UN refugee agency UNHCR warned on Friday that "getting access to the needy
was becoming increasingly difficult." UN personnel have been targeted by pro-Gbagbo
forces, complicating the work of aid personnel. "In this environment, it is extremely
problematic for humanitarian agencies to be operational and reach the displaced," said
UNHCR representative Jacques Franquin.

Insecurity has spread throughout Abidjan and to the west of the country, the agency
reported. The unrest has boosted the refugee flow to neighboring Liberia, where 32,800
new arrivals have been recorded since February 24, almost doubling the 40,000
previously registered since the post-election trouble began in November.

In an AllAfrica interview last month, Liberian Foreign Minister Togo McIntosh said the
influx was overwhelming available resources and threatening the country's fragile
security. Liberia itself, under the presidency of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, is struggling to
rebuild its economy and its destroyed infrastructure after nearly two decades of
conflict.

That era, which included the brutality in neighboring Sierra Leone, where insurgents
routinely hacked off the limbs of civilians, saw weapons crossing borders to engulf the
region, including into Cote d'Ivoire, in armed crime and political violence. The dangers
of a new intensification of instability is worrying experienced observers, raising
questions about the African presidents' decision not to return to Abidjan for talks with
Gbagbo and Ouattara.

That decision may be rooted in the rising tensions and escalating conflict, according to a
senior African diplomat. Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, a former Mauritanian foreign
minister and long-time ambassador, helped mediate a cease-fire in the Ivorian civil war
in 2004, while serving as the chief United Nations official in West Africa. He said high-
level visits under certain conditions can encourage violence, especially by those who
fear they will lose ground if negotiations succeed.

Ould-Abdallah recently retired from his United Nations post as the Secretary-General's
Special Representative for Somalia. In an interview Saturday with AllAfrica, he said
that African leadership is essential for resolving the crisis, with Nigeria playing a
central role. Like the United States in world affairs, he says, Nigeria is the
"indispensable player" in Africa.

Calling the situation in Cote d'Ivoire "totally unacceptable" and a set-back for the
region, he said west Africa has made great strides. He cited successful recent elections
in Ghana, Mali, Guinea, and Niger, where people "refused" an effort by a leader to
make himself 'president-for-life.'

Mamadou Tandja, who led Niger for a decade, was ousted in a popularly supported
February 2010 military intervention after he announced his intention to extend his
tenure. A civilian government is slated to take office following a presidential run-off on
March 12.

Ambassador Ould-Abdallah said that a danger in Cote d'Ivoire, which is in its second
decade of turmoil, is that crisis can become seen as the norm, as has happened in
Somalia. "A crisis should never be normal," the diplomat said.
-------------------------
Renegade leader clashes with S. Sudan army, offers ceasefire (Reuters)
By Unattributed Author
March 6, 2011 11:08am GMT
KHARTOUM - Renegade militia fighters clashed twice with south Sudanese soldiers,
both sides said on Sunday, in the latest sign of instability in the oil-producing territory
months ahead of its expected independence.
Militia leader George Athor, a former army officer who rebelled last year saying he had
been cheated out of the governorship of the southern state of Jonglei, told Reuters he
was ready to call a ceasefire to end weeks of violence.
Just short of 99 percent of southern voters chose to split away from the north in a
referendum in January, a vote promised in a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil
war with the north. The south is due to secede on July 9.

Athor, speaking by satellite phone, said his forces exchanged fire with southern army
patrols on Friday and Saturday in Jonglei -- where French oil giant Total was due to
start exploring this year.

"There were skirmishes between reconnaissance patrols on Friday, in a village called

Pachot, the SPLA (southern army) had seven injured, four killed."

He said there were no fatalities in fighting a day later in the village of Alow.

Athor said he had ordered his men not to launch more attacks.

"We are ready to declare a ceasefire. We will only respond if we are attacked ... Our
people are really suffering. When there is fighting they leave their homes and go to the
bush. There is need for a ceasefire for our people to go back to their villages."

SPLA spokesman Philip Aguer said Athor's forces attacked the army on Friday and
Saturday, but had no details of casualties.

Aguer said the south's semi-autonomous government would have to agree to any
ceasefire. No one was immediately available to comment from the government.

The SPLA has accused Athor of breaking an earlier truce by massacring more than 200
people in the Fangak area of Jonglei in mid February. Athor accused the SPLA of
starting that fighting.

The south has regularly accused north Sudan of arming Athor to destabilise the region
and keep control of its oil. Athor and Khartoum have dismissed the allegations.
-----------------
Somali Forces Take Border Town From Rebels (NYT)
By MOHAMMED IBRAHIM
March 6, 2011
MOGADISHU, Somalia — After several days of fighting, Somali and African Union
troops have captured the border town of Bulo Hawo, military officials said.

Somali officials also said they had taken more territory in the capital, Mogadishu, and
the government issued an offer to pay any militants willing to switch sides.

The southwestern town of Bulo Hawo, which borders Kenya and Ethiopia deep in
rebel-held territory, has changed hands several times. Government forces had last taken
the town in October from Shabab rebels.
As a government offensive intensified in the last few days, thousands of civilians have
fled into Kenya, where there are large Somali refugee camps.

The government recaptured the town on Saturday, Defense Minister Abdihakim

Mohamoud Fiqi announced at a news conference on Saturday.

There were reports that Ethiopian troops had joined Somali forces in the attack, but
President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed said that Ethiopia had only provided logistical
support.

“No Ethiopian army were involved the in the ongoing government offensive, but they
have given our army logistical support,” he said Friday.

Mr. Fiqi also announced a new program to pay rebels to switch sides and buy their
guns are market prices.

“We promise that every person who joins from the government from the Shabab side
will be given money for his gun and a monthly salary and any other necessary
assistance,” he said.

He did not specify how much the former rebels would be paid.

In fighting in the capital on Friday and Saturday, government forces allied with African
Union troops moved the front line forward, pushing the Shabab out of one
neighborhood and killing 13 militants, Mr. Fiqi said.

African Union forces also thwarted coordinated attacks on the former Defense Ministry
building on Saturday, the African Union force said. In a statement, the force said it had
destroyed a “jeep flying a black flag” that was heading to the gate of the compound,
“killing all suicide bombers inside.” The Shabab rebels often fly a black flag.

The African force also repelled a simultaneous attack with small and medium weapons,
inflicting “serious casualties” on the rebels. One African Union soldier received a minor
injury.

The Defense Ministry building had only been recaptured by government and African
Union forces two weeks earlier. Since then, it has served as a based for Burundian
members of the African Union force.

Brig. Gen. Maurice Gatereste, commander of the Burundi contingent, called the attack
“an act born out of frustration and desperate desire” to recapture the compound.
--------------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

UNICEF chief urges better protection from violence for DR Congo’s children
4 March – The head of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today
condemned violence against children in the east of the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC), where youngsters face multiple challenges, including sexual abuse,
conscription into armed groups and lack of education and health services.

Somalia: top UN aid official voices alarm at intensified fighting, worsening drought
4 March – With intensified fighting in Somalia driving thousands more people from
their homes in recent days and a devastating drought continuing to worsen, the top
United Nations humanitarian official today voiced growing alarm for a nation that has
already endured 20 years of war.

UN, Sudanese parties discuss security situation in Abyei

4 March – The parties to the 2005 agreement that ended Sudan’s north-south civil war
met today, along with United Nations officials, to discuss the security situation in the
disputed area of Abyei, where forces linked to both sides have recently clashed.

Côte d’Ivoire: UN warns insecurity preventing access to those in need of help

4 March – The United Nations refugee agency today warned that access for
humanitarian organizations striving to continue to assist people affected the political
unrest in Côte d’Ivoire’s commercial capital, Abidjan, and other parts of the country is
shrinking rapidly amid worsening insecurity.

UN refugee agency ‘very concerned’ civilians being prevented from fleeing Libya
4 March – The United Nations refugee agency today voiced deep concern that the
security situation in Libya may be preventing thousands of people, mainly migrant
workers, from fleeing to Tunisia, noting that the border on the Libyan side is now
manned by heavily armed pro-Qadhafi forces.