AFRICOM Related News Clips 24 January 2012

8/3/2019 AFRICOM Related News Clips 24 January 2012

1/27

U.S. Africa Command Public Affairs Office +49(0)711-729-2687 [email protected]

United States Africa CommandPublic Affairs Office24 January 2012

Please find attached news clips for January 24, 2012, along with upcoming events ofinterest and UN News Service briefs.

Of interest in todays clips:- Rising Nigeria's Violence Imperils Stability- Enraged Benghazi residents feel ignored, forgotten- Kenya planning to relocate Daadab refugee camp to Somalia- Algeria sentences fugitive Qaeda leader to death

- Analysis: Africa's Sahel scrambles to avert slide "into hell"- Ex-LRA Spokesman Excels At Gulu University

This message is best viewed in HTML format.

U.S. Africa Command Public AffairsPlease send questions or comments to:[email protected] (+49-711-729-2687)

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

Top News related to U.S. Africa Command and Africa

Rising Nigeria's Violence Imperils Stability (Wall Street Journal)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204624204577176902128726344.html?mod=googlenews_wsjJanuary 23, 2012By Drew Hinshaw in Abuja, Nigeria, Solomon Moore in Nairobi, and Patrick McGroartyin Johannesburg

As religious leader offers prayer for peace, fear of Islamist sect attacks rises in

Nigeria (Washington Post)http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/emir-of-kano-holds-prayer-service-after-attacks-killed-more-than-150-in-north-nigeria/2012/01/23/gIQAGUdbKQ_story.htmlJanuary 23, 2012By Jon GambrellAssociated Press


2/27


KANO, Nigeria The aging Muslim spiritual leader of this northern Nigeria city, hiseyes heavy with fatigue, leaned into a microphone Monday and whispered to God hiswish for peace after the killing of at least 185 people in an attack by a radical Islamistsect.

USS Simpson and Fire Scout set sail for Africa (Defence Talk)

http://www.defencetalk.com/uss-simpson-and-fire-scout-set-sail-for-africa-39943/#ixzz1kMBlYGHiJanuary 23, 2012The MQ-8B Fire Scout, the Navys only unmanned aircraft to operate on land and at sea,departed Jan. 17 from Mayport, Fla., aboard USS Simpson (FFG 56) for a six-monthdeployment to western Africa.

USAFRICOM chief calls on Kagame (New Times)

http://www.newtimes.co.rw/news.php?issue=14880&article=49362&t=USAFRICOM%20chief%20calls%20on%20KagameJanuary 23, 2012The Commander of the United States-Africa Command (USAFRICOM), Gen. Carter F.Ham, yesterday paid a courtesy call on President Paul Kagame at Village Urugwiro.

Enraged Benghazi residents feel ignored, forgotten (Reuters)

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/01/23/libya-benghazi-anger-idINDEE80M01620120123?feedName=topNews&feedType=RSS&utm_campaign=Feed%3a+reuters%2fINtopNews+(News+%2f+IN+%2f+Top+News)&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=feedburnerBENGHAZI, Libya -- The university professor, dressed immaculately in a pinstripe suitand waistcoat, points in despair to the crumbling buildings and rubbish-strewn streets ofLibya's second city Benghazi.

Clashes break out in former Gadhafi stronghold; 5 killed (CNN)

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/23/world/africa/libya-clashes/index.htmlJanuary 24, 2012By CNN Wire Staff(CNN) -- Five people were killed and 20 wounded when clashes broke out between pro-and anti- Gadhafi forces in the Libyan city of Bani Walid, one of the last strongholds ofthose loyal to the late leader, a government official said Monday.

Kenya planning to relocate Daadab refugee camp to Somalia (Horseed Media)

http://horseedmedia.net/2012/01/23/somali-relocation-of-somali-refugees-from-dadaab-

to-start-soon/January 23, 2012Reprinted from The StandardKenya plans to start moving some of the refugees at the Dadaab camp to safe havens inSomalia. Internal Security PS Francis Kimemia said the relocation would be done inliaison with the UNHCR and the international community to areas that have been securedby Kenyan troops battling Al Shabaab militants.


3/27


Kenyan soldiers kill 11 Al-Shabaab militants in Somalia (Xinhua)

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/23/c_131374370.htmJanuary 23, 2012Xinhua News AgencyNAIROBI -- Kenyan and Somalia government troops raided an Al-Shabaab's camp on

Sunday night killing at least 11 militants and injured dozens of others in southernSomalia, officials confirmed on Monday.

Algeria sentences fugitive Qaeda leader to death (AFP)

http://news.yahoo.com/algeria-sentences-fugitive-qaeda-leader-death-103744213.htmlJanuary 23, 2012By AFPA court in Algeria has sentenced a fugitve leader of Al-Qaeda's north African wing andthree of his followers to death for attacks against the military. The sentence againstMokhtar Belmokhtar and the three others was handed down in absentia on Sunday nightafter a day-long trial in Algiers.

Angola expects solutions to African problems (Angola Press)

http://www.portalangop.co.ao/motix/en_us/noticias/politica/2012/0/4/Angola-expects-solutions-African-problems-Official,a4e12e44-ae54-415b-aef5-3e69cfc67e18.htmlJanuary 23, 2012Addis Ababa - Angola hopes that the 18th Summit of the African Union (AU) heads ofState and Government produce results that address some of the pressing matters in thecontinent.

Analysis: Africa's Sahel scrambles to avert slide "into hell" (Chicago Tribune)

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-africa-saheltre80m1nk-20120123,0,172432.story

January 23, 2012By William MacleanReutersMARRAKECH, Morocco - Regional rivalries and doubts about Western intervention arehampering efforts by Africa's fragile Sahara-Sahel zone to prevent remote desert areasdestabilized by Libya's war from becoming safe havens for al Qaeda and internationalcriminals.

Ex-LRA Spokesman Excels At Gulu University (Daily Monitor)

http://allafrica.com/stories/201201231322.htmlJanuary 23, 2012

By Moses Akena and Livingstone David OkumuAs he completed a remarkable journey from the life of a rebel to a graduate, former LRAbrigadier Samuel Otto has regretted the 26 years he spent in the bush, saying it thwartedhis dream of becoming a university lecturer.

US looks to Africa to help increase pressure on Iran (FOX News)

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/01/23/us-looks-to-africa-to-help-increase-pressure-on-iran/


4/27


January 24, 2012By the Wall Street JournalWASHINGTON US diplomats and lobbyists are stepping up pressure to reduce Africancommercial ties to Iran as part of a growing global push to squeeze Tehran, an effort thatalready led several African companies to consider leaving the country.

Niger warns of new Tuareg rebellion (News24)

http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Niger-warns-of-new-Tuareg-rebellion-20120122January 22, 2012By AFPArlit - Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou warned on Sunday of a new Tuaregrebellion in the north of the country after clashes between soldiers and rebels inneighbouring Mali.

###

UN News Service Africa Briefs

http://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICA

(Full Articles on UN Website)

General Assembly President and Somali Minister discuss security in Mogadishu

23 January The President of the General Assembly, Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, heldtalks today with the Deputy Prime Minister of Somalia, in which he discussed thedevelopments in the security situation in the country.

Darfur: Security Council condemns attack on UN-African Union peacekeepers

23 January The Security Council today strongly condemned this weekends attack on aUnited Nations-African Union patrol in Darfur, which resulted in one death, and calledon the Sudanese Government to bring the perpetrators to justice.

South Sudan: UN envoy urges sending more Government forces to troubled state

23 January The top United Nations envoy in South Sudan stressed today that the bestway to protect civilians in the strife-torn state of Jonglei is through military deterrenceand urged the Government to deploy more troops and police in the area to patrol bufferzones between rival communities and defuse tensions.

ICC sends prominent Kenyans to trial for crimes related to post-election violence

23 January The International Criminal Court (ICC) today ruled that four prominent

Kenyans, including the deputy prime minister, are to stand trial for crimes againsthumanity and other offences allegedly committed following general elections in late2007.

###

Upcoming Events of Interest:


5/27


24 JANUARY 2012

WHEN: 10:00 - 11:30 a.m.WHAT: Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) Discussion on "Regional

Implications of the Conflict in Somalia."Speakers: Sally Healy, Freelance Policy Analyst, Horn and East Africa; David W.Throup, Senior Associate, CSIS Africa Program; Moderated by Richard Downie, Fellowand Deputy Director, CSIS Africa ProgramWHERE: CSIS, 1800 K Street, NWCONTACT: 202-887-0200; web site: www.csis.orgSOURCE: CSIS - event announcement at: http://csis.org/events

25 JANUARY 2012

WHEN: 9:30 - 11:30 a.m.WHAT: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) Discussion on "AwakeningArab Innovation." Speakers: Marwan Muasher, Inger Andersen, and Rami Khouri.WHERE: CEIP, 1779 Massachusetts Avenue, NWCONTACT: 202-483-7600 ; web site: www.carnegieendowment.orgSOURCE: CEIP - event announcement at:http://www.carnegieendowment.org/2012/01/25/awakening-arab-innovation/92mp

WHEN: 12:00 - 1:30 p.m.WHAT: Center for American Progress (CAP) Discussion on "President Obama and a21st Century Military."Speakers: Featured panelists: Michael Breen, Vice President, Truman National SecurityProject; Jim Arkedis, Director, National Security Project, Progressive Policy Institute;and Dr. Lawrence J. Korb, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress; Moderator:Rudy deLeon, Senior Vice President of National Security and International Policy,Center for American Progress.WHERE: CAP, 1333 H Street, NWCONTACT: 202-682-161; web site: www.americanprogress.orgSOURCE: CAP - event announcement at:http://www.americanprogress.org/events/2012/01/defensestrategy.html

WHEN: 4:00 -7:30 p.m.WHAT: U.S. Institute of Peace, Next Generation Peacebuilding and Social Change inthe Arab World. Featured the U.S. premiere of "Salam Shabab" (Peace Youth), the firstpeacebuilding reality TV series for Iraqi youthWHERE: USIS, 2301 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DCCONTACT: Alexis Toriello at [email protected]: http://www.usip.org/salam-shabab-premiere

26 JANUARY 2012


6/27


WHEN: 2:00 - 3:30 p.m.WHAT: Brookings Institution Discussion on "Negotiating Humanitarian Access: HowFar to Compromise to Deliver Aid."Speakers: Introduction and Moderator Elizabeth Ferris, Co-Director, Brookings-LSE

Project on Internal Displacement; Panelists: William Garvelink, Senior Adviser, U.S.Leadership in Development, Center for Strategic International Studies; Markus Geisser,Deputy Head of Regional Delegation, International Committee for the Red Cross;Michael Neuman, Research Director, Centre de Rflexion sur lAction et les SaviorHumanitaries , Mdecins Sans Frontires; and Rabih Torbay, Vice President forInternational Operations, International Medical Corps.WHERE: Brookings Institution, 1775 Massachusetts Avenue, NWCONTACT: 202-797-6105; [email protected]; web site: www.brookings.eduSOURCE: Brookings Institution - event announcement at:http://www.brookings.edu/events/2012/0126_negotiating_access.aspx

###

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

FULLTEXT

Rising Nigeria's Violence Imperils Stability (Wall Street Journal)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204624204577176902128726344.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

January 23, 2012By Drew Hinshaw in Abuja, Nigeria, Solomon Moore in Nairobi, and Patrick McGroartyin Johannesburg

A wave of devastating weekend assaults in Nigeria killed more than 150 people,underlying how religious and economic grievances are coalescing into a dangerous mixthat threatens the country's stabilityand reflects other African security challenges.

Boko Haram, a Nigerian Islamic militia, claimed responsibility for the coordinatedattacks in Kano, the economic capital of Nigeria's impoverished and mostly-Muslimnorth. The bomb blasts, which aided the escape of several detained Boko Harammembers, ripped through government buildings in the crowded city of nine million,marking the latest in a series of brutal attacks that threaten to worsen relations betweenChristians and Muslims in Nigeria.

On Sunday, at least another 11 died in an explosion in the northern state of Bauchi, theAssociated Press reported.


7/27


A political body representing Nigeria's Kano-based Igbo people, mostly Christians fromthe country's south, asked governors in the group's heartland to provide transportation foras many as three million people seeking to flee the mainly Muslim north.

"There is no gainsaying the fact that our people are now scared," Chief Tobias Michael

Idika of Kano-based Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the Igbo political group, said in a statementSunday.

The attacks are the latest signs that Africa's top oil producer and most populous nation isbuckling under the weight of religious and political tensions. Boko Haram's threats ofreligious cleansing and claims of near-daily attacks have risen sharply in Nigeria'snortheast. The group has killed at least 219 people so far this month, according to anAssociated Press estimate.

In response to the mounting attacks, President Goodluck Jonathan last month authorizedsearches without warrants, indefinite detention, and thousands of roadblocks across the

country of 167 million. He has also raised police and military spending to one fifth ofgovernment outlaysthe largest amount Nigeria has ever spent on security.

But the moves have done little to deter the violence, which has gone up amid rising foodprices and the recent withdrawaland partial restorationof a fuel subsidy that kept theprice of motor fuel low for the poor. Analysts worry that the subsidy cut played intoBoko Haram's antigovernment stance, helping it to channel the anger of Nigeria's youngdisaffected Muslims.

"Political and economic marginalization are gaining religious and ethnic undertones andthe other way around," said Jakkie Cilliers, executive director at Institute for SecurityStudies in Pretoria. While Mr. Cilliers maintains Nigeria isn't in danger of splitting up,there is "the potential for tilting the country into open civil strife."

Nigeria, Africa's third-largest economy after South Africa and Egypt, is expected to growby 6.6% this year, says the International Monetary Fund, outpacing 5.8% average growthrate across sub-Saharan Africa. To spur growth and create jobs, Mr. Jonathan has pledgedto enlist private partners to redevelop the country's abysmal road network and power grid.

He also recruited Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, an ex-managing director of the World Bank, toserve as his finance minister and oversee his pro-growth policies.

But Boko Haram's brazen attacks have repeatedly overshadowed Mr.Jonathan's plans tooverhaul Nigeria's economy.

In August, a car bomb detonated at a United Nations building in Abuja killed more than20 people. Coordinated attacks on churches and government installations on ChristmasDay killed 40, including the bombing of a Christmas church service outside Abuja thatleft 37 dead.


8/27


Just one week after the Christmas attacks, Mr. Jonathan ended a fuel subsidy programthat aided impoverished Nigerians but has weighed on the federal budget for years.

Strikes and protests against the cut paralyzed the nation's city centers. Mr. Jonathan,bowing to popular pressure, restored part of the subsidy. The concession wasn't enough

though to allay most ordinary Nigerians, who remain bitter about wasteful governmentspending and corruption, but foreign economists and bodies like the IMF have long urgedits end.

"In the long-term this will do the country good," said Yvonne Mhango, a sub-SaharanAfrica economist at Renaissance Capital. "But the electorate has had a hard timebelieving those funds will be effectively and transparently deployed into other areas."

Nigeria's recent religious conflicts are occurring even as many Africans are experiencingbroader economic pain.

Violence has buffeted the Muslim-led nation of Sudan and mostly Christian and animistSouth Sudan, the world's newest independent state. Humanitarian agencies say thatclashes since South Sudan asserted its independence have led more than 350,000Sudanese to flee into the new country from the Khartoum-administrated north. Mediareports say thousands have been killed there. There are also simmering disputes betweenthe countries over oil revenue.

Increased fighting in Somalia after an incursion by Kenya aimed at subduing Al-Shabaabmilitants has displaced tens of thousands of Somalis, disrupted the movement of goodsand delayed planting of staple crops.

Meanwhile inside Kenya, frequent security sweeps and strident rhetoric by Kenyanleaders about suspected Al-Shabaab militants in their midst has led to intense scrutiny ofSomali immigrant communities like Eastleigh, a predominately Muslim enclave ofNairobi. The Islamic militant group has long used Kenya as a base, and strong ties existbetween the armed group and Somali immigrants. A series of kidnappings and grenadeattacks against Kenyan civilians since the invasion has heightened tensions.

"The Kenyan intervention may itself sow seeds of radicalization if every Somaliimmigrant is accused of terrorism or if it attempts to create a Kenyan colony in Somalia,"said Comfort Ero, the Africa Program director for the International Crisis Group inNairobi.

The recent clashes in Nigeria, as well as in Sudan and Somalia, also have spotlighted therisk of some of the more sophisticated militant groups joining forces. As the U.S.withdraws troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, security officials say the Horn of Africa isemerging as the next battleground in the fight against al Qaeda and its affiliates.

In a Friday speech, U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said al Qaeda no longer hasthe capability to stage a 9/11-style attack and that its leadership has been "decimated."


9/27


"But we need to continue that pressure," he said. "We need to keep going after themwherever they go, whether it's Yemen or Somalia or North Africa."

Ms. Ero, of International Crisis Group, said sectarian tensions have risen in the aftermath

of the Arab Spring. Islamist groups in Egypt and Libya have come to the fore in thepolitical and economic upheaval of those revolutions. As in the Middle East and NorthAfrica, sub-Saharan African nations share the same volatile mix of booming youthpopulations, low employment, and decades of ineffectual governance.

"There are other everyday tensions like high food prices and fuel and basic commoditiesthat are more of a deeper strain right now for many Africans right now than the Christianversus Muslim thing," she said.

###

As religious leader offers prayer for peace, fear of Islamist sect attacks rises inNigeria (Washington Post)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/emir-of-kano-holds-prayer-service-after-attacks-killed-more-than-150-in-north-nigeria/2012/01/23/gIQAGUdbKQ_story.html

January 23, 2012By Jon GambrellAssociated Press

KANO, Nigeria The aging Muslim spiritual leader of this northern Nigeria city, hiseyes heavy with fatigue, leaned into a microphone Monday and whispered to God hiswish for peace after the killing of at least 185 people in an attack by a radical Islamistsect.

On the street, however, smudged black graffiti written in charcoal gave a differentmessage: Boko Haram good.

Though businesses reopened and traffic again filled the streets Monday of Nigeria'ssecond-largest city, people in Kano remained fearful the radical sect known as BokoHaram will attack again. That tension only increased as police announced they haddiscovered 10 unexploded car bombs around the city, as uniformed officers and soldiersmelted away from public view in this city of more than 9 million people.

We are not safe at all, warned resident Aminu Garba, 38. We are not safe.

Police issued a statement late Monday giving a fuller account of what happened duringFriday's attack that saw at least two Boko Haram suicide bombers detonate explosive-laden cars. The statement by state police commissioner Ibrahim Idris described attackersas speaking accented Hausa and other languages not normally heard in Kano as they


10/27


11/27


Nigeria's weak central government has been unable to stop the killings, and its heavy-handed military response has been criticized by civilians who live in fear of sect attacksand government reprisals.

Security forces on Sunday shot dead four people they accused of being Boko Haram

members after finding explosive-making materials in their car in the sect's spiritual homeof Maiduguri, said Col. Victor Ebhaleme, a military field operation officer in thenortheastern city. Local police said at the same time on Sunday, a suspected sect memberkilled a Maiduguri High Court registrar at his home.

Boko Haram, which means Western education is sacrilege in the Hausa language ofNigeria's north, wants to implement strict Shariah law and avenge the deaths of Muslimsin communal violence across Nigeria, a multiethnic nation of more than 160 millionpeople split largely into a Christian south and Muslim north.

While the sect has begun targeting Christians in the north, the majority of those killed

Friday appeared to be Muslim, officials have said. That leaves Kano residents like Garba,who stood outside the mosque following Monday's prayer service, living in fear.

In the middle of the sect's attack Friday, Garba said his pregnant wife suffered amiscarriage. Now people run at the sound a tire bursting, he said.

Heavily armed soldiers who stood guard during the president's visit Sunday disappearedfrom Kano's streets shortly after he left the city. Police officers also have moved largelyfrom their bombed stations into the city's outskirts.

People have this anger because of the poverty and the illiteracy, Garba said. We haveto be very cautious.

###

USS Simpson and Fire Scout set sail for Africa (Defence Talk)

http://www.defencetalk.com/uss-simpson-and-fire-scout-set-sail-for-africa-39943/#ixzz1kMBlYGHiJanuary 23, 2012

The MQ-8B Fire Scout, the Navys only unmanned aircraft to operate on land and at sea,departed Jan. 17 from Mayport, Fla., aboard USS Simpson (FFG 56) for a six-monthdeployment to western Africa.

Personnel from Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light (HSL) 60 Detachment 4 andNorthrop Grumman took Fire Scout on its third at-sea deployment aboard a guidedmissile frigate. Typically deployed as a complement to the manned H-60 helicopter, thisis the Fire Scouts first solo mission.


12/27


"Fire Scout offers similar capabilities currently provided by the H-60," said Capt. PatrickSmith, Fire Scout program manager. "It gives the ship and the detachment greaterflexibility in meeting operational needs and frees manned aircraft to support other high-demand missions."

For the next six months, two Fire Scout air vehicles will support exercises off the westcoast of Africa as part of the Africa Partnership Station (APS). The international initiativewas developed by U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa to improve maritime safety andsecurity in the region as part of U.S. Africa Command's Security Cooperation program.

"I am happy our team will help build partnership capacity of our allies, and increase thelevel of cooperation between them to improve maritime safety and security," Smith said.

Fire Scout greatly extends and improves the fleet's ability to perform intelligence,surveillance and reconnaissance missions, Smith said. During its most recent sea-baseddeployment aboard USS Halyburton (FFG 40), Fire Scout gathered hundreds of hours of

real-time intelligence for ship commanders as they supported counter-piracy operationsand missions in Libya.

"We have pushed Fire Scout to its operational limits for altitude, range and endurance,"Smith added. "The Simpson deployment gives us an opportunity to explore differentoperational vignettes and continue to expand Fire Scout's limits."

The Simpson deployment coincides with Fire Scout's ongoing operations in Afghanistan.Fire Scout has exceeded 2,000 hours of real-time intelligence, surveillance andreconnaissance support to U.S. and allied troops in northern Afghanistan.

###

USAFRICOM chief calls on Kagame (New Times)

http://www.newtimes.co.rw/news.php?issue=14880&article=49362&t=USAFRICOM%20chief%20calls%20on%20KagameJanuary 23, 2012The Commander of the United States-Africa Command (USAFRICOM), Gen. Carter F.Ham, yesterday paid a courtesy call on President Paul Kagame at Village Urugwiro.

The two held discussions on a range of issues, including regional security.

Ham ,who is in the country to attend the International Conference on YouthRadicalisation in East Africa, also held talks with Rwandan defence and army officials.

I had the opportunity to meet the President and senior military and civilian advisors totalk about military partnerships that exist between our two countries.


13/27


The objective for the cooperation between our military is mainly aimed at benefitingfrom military-to-military relations and these happen in a number of different ways, Hamtold the press after the meeting.

Part of the cooperation, he said, has seen a number of commissioned and non-

commissioned officers benefit from training programmes, while American soldiers alsotravel to Rwanda to engage in military activities, mainly in research and training.

We partner very closely to prepare Rwandan forces that deploy for United Nationspeacekeeping missions, not only in Africa, but around the world, which is a valuablecontribution as well, he said.

Our security interests between the US and Rwanda are very closely aligned, and themore closely the militaries of our two countries can cooperate and understand each other,the better our both nations will become, Gen. Ham underlined.

According to Lt. Gen Charles Kayonga, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Hamwho is on his second visit to Rwanda since taking over the command of AFRICOM, thevisit is a routine one aimed at assessing the progress and discuss possible partnerships.

Part of his visit was to attend the international conference on youth radicalisation whichaims at encouraging youth to shun extremism. It brings together 11 countries from theregion and beyond, Kayonga explained.

The visit is also partly to discuss with us on the cooperation, mainly military, betweenour two countries. We have had lengthy discussions on many issues, mainly training ourofficers who go for peacekeeping missions, Kayonga said.

Gen. Ham last visited Rwanda last year after replacing Gen. William Ward.

###

Enraged Benghazi residents feel ignored, forgotten (Reuters)

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/01/23/libya-benghazi-anger-idINDEE80M01620120123?feedName=topNews&feedType=RSS&utm_campaign=Feed%3a+reuters%2fINtopNews+(News+%2f+IN+%2f+Top+News)&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=feedburner

BENGHAZI, Libya -- The university professor, dressed immaculately in a pinstripe suitand waistcoat, points in despair to the crumbling buildings and rubbish-strewn streets ofLibya's second city Benghazi.

"You can see around you that there is no change. There has been no money spent oninfrastructure and salaries are not being paid," said Ali al-Rabia.


14/27


His voice rises in anger as he talks of how residents in Benghazi, birthplace of last year'srevolution that toppled Muammar Gaddafi, had yet to see any benefit and had lost respectfor the interim government.

Anger in Benghazi has been simmering since October when the ruling National

Transitional Council (NTC) moved to the capital Tripoli after declaring Libya liberatedfrom Gaddafi's 42-year rule. Months later, residents say they feel forgotten.

"The government is working without a judiciary or police. We know they are gettingmoney from the over one million barrels of oil they sell a day, but where is it beingspent?" Rabia said in fluent English.

"But the worst of it is that people who worked with Gaddafi are being appointed into theinterim government," he added, echoing a complaint from many in Benghazi who saythey fear the corruption and nepotism of Gaddafi's rule did not die along with thedictator.

ANGER BOILS OVER

Frustration boiled over on Saturday when a crowd demanding the government'sresignation smashed windows and forced their way into the NTC's Benghaziheadquarters. The council's chief, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, was trapped inside for severalhours.

The protesters, many of them armed with machineguns and bayonets, had broken throughthe main metal gates and into the courtyard of the compound, witnesses said.

Abdel Jalil attempted to placate the crowd, but retreated into the building after waterbottles were thrown at him.

Home-made bomb explosions were reported 500 metres from the compound. Althoughnot intended to harm, protesters say they were a warning to the NTC.

On Sunday, Abdel Jalil said such action could drag Libya into a "bottomless pit. There issomething behind these protests that is not for the good of the country."

The NTC made a peace offering to the protesters, the resignation of the NTC-appointedcity mayor, Saleh El-Ghazal, and the promise of a new, elected leader. That was quicklyfollowed by the resignation of NTC vice-president Abdel Hafiz Ghoga.

Many in Benghazi said Ghoga should be barred from working for the NTC as he wassecretary of the solicitors' syndicate under Gaddafi. On Thursday, Ghoga was jostled byan angry crowd of students when he visited a university in Benghazi.

BETTER UNDER GADDAFI?


15/27


Since Gaddafi's overthrow, it has been Libya's disparate armed militias who havecaptured the attention of the NTC with their sporadic infighting and refusal to disarm andjoin a national security force. Now the protests in Benghazi, and the need to appease thecity of about 700,000 people, are preoccupying Libya's leadership.

For an interim government that is only two months old, the demands of Benghazi arehigh.

"We need compensation for the families of martyrs who died in the revolution and for theinjured," said Nabil Baraka, 42, an unemployed man who was at the wrecked NTCheadquarters on Sunday to protest along with dozens of other disgruntled men.

"There is no security, the streets are full of guns. There is no transparency when the NTCmakes a decision without asking anyone and the government is full of pro-Gaddafipeople," he said.

In Shajarah Square in central Benghazi a group of protesters have been staging a sit-in formore than a month.

"We are worried about the establishment of a democracy," said Suleiman Abdul, anunemployed engineer, who stood in front of an Arabic language banner reading: "Makeactions, not just promises."

"Our families have died for this revolution, but the way it is going it was actually betterbefore, under Gaddafi. The banks worked, there was no rubbish and people did not haveto fear all the guns around the country."

###

Clashes break out in former Gadhafi stronghold; 5 killed (CNN)

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/23/world/africa/libya-clashes/index.htmlJanuary 24, 2012By CNN Wire Staff

(CNN) -- Five people were killed and 20 wounded when clashes broke out between pro-and anti- Gadhafi forces in the Libyan city of Bani Walid, one of the last strongholds ofthose loyal to the late leader, a government official said Monday.

Libyan Interior Minister Fawzi Abdul Aal warned that National Transitional Councilforces would not tolerate fighters loyal to Moammar Gadhafi.

"I want to send a message to all people who belong to the former regime: You're playingwith death," the minister said on state television, vowing to reassert control.

"We will not be merciful with them. The security of Libya is the highest priority," headded.


16/27


Earlier in the day, ministry spokesman Abdelmonem al-Tunsi said Gadhafi fighters werestill in control of some entrances to the city.Bani Walid was a holdout of pro-Gadhafi loyalists until the very end of the fighting latelast year, and tension between residents and NTC fighters continued after the city's fall.

Elsewhere in the country, residents in Tripoli said checkpoints have been set up in andaround the capital as fighters are on high alert.

###

Kenya planning to relocate Daadab refugee camp to Somalia (Horseed Media)

http://horseedmedia.net/2012/01/23/somali-relocation-of-somali-refugees-from-dadaab-to-start-soon/

January 23, 2012

Reprinted from The Standard

Kenya plans to start moving some of the refugees at the Dadaab camp to safe havens inSomalia.

Internal Security PS Francis Kimemia said the relocation would be done in liaison withthe UNHCR and the international community to areas that have been secured by Kenyantroops battling Al Shabaab militants.

In fact, there are safe places inside Somalia following the operation by Kenyan troops;these refugees will be moved anytime, he said.

However, he did not reveal how soon the exercise would begin.

The PS spoke in Nairobi on Sunday following increasing cases in which some of themore than 400,000 refugees at the camp are colluding with Shabaab militants to attacksecurity agents. They are also involved in gun running syndicates.

Kimemia said security agencies had been profiling the refugees and those found not to beabiding by the rules would be prosecuted, have their refugee status revoked and facerepatriation.

Refugee leaders should urgently assist security officers in weeding out criminals in theirmidst who have even attacked officers and relief workers. We intend to commencemodalities for relocation of the refugees soon, he added.

Enforce the rules

He said the Directorate of Refugee Affairs (DRA) had been directed to conduct a headcount of all refugees and enforce certain protocols and standard operating procedures.


17/27


Kimemia said a special DC would be deployed next month to manage the three refugeecamps in the area.

The administrator said the issue of refugees had been a problem to Kenya and revealed

the DRA would be strengthened by deploying special administrative officers who wouldbe redesigned as refugee officers to help manage the camps.

Security officers have been targeted in explosions at the main camps in Dadaab sinceKDF troops ventured into Somalia. At least ten officers have died and several otherswounded in the attacks that have also destroyed several vehicles.

Kenya says the refugees are to blame for the proliferation of illegal arms in the country,which are smuggled in from war-torn Somalia and later sold to criminals.

An operation at the camps last year netted five rifles and hundreds of bullets. There are

about 220 police officers manning the Dadaab camps.

Meanwhile, Kimemia has revealed Kenya has instituted measures to ensure two Kenyanofficials who were abducted in a raid in Wajir are returned home safely.

Precious lives

The lives of these Kenyans are precious and the Government has demanded theirunconditional release. Let their families remain calm as we try to have them broughtback, he said.

Gerille DO Mule Yesse and a Registration officer, Mr Patrick Wainaina are still incaptivity after Al Shabaab militants overrun a police post in Gerille in a recent attack.

A driver who had been kidnapped with the two was released and trekked severalkilometres back home. The militia have released photos on the Twitter website of Muleand Irungu.

In the attack, six Kenyans including three police officers were killed.

Commissioner of Police Mathew Iteere said about 100 heavily armed bandits attackedGerille Administration Police post in Wajir South and stole firearms, ammunition and avehicle.

The bandits also committed arson by burning several properties within the post, saidIteere.

Al Shabaab later claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was in retaliation toKenya's decision to send troops into Somalia last October.


18/27


Kenya deployed a large force in southern Somalia in mid-October to pursue Shabaabinsurgents whom it accused of endangering the country's security and economy.

###

Kenyan soldiers kill 11 Al-Shabaab militants in Somalia (Xinhua)http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/23/c_131374370.htm

January 23, 2012Xinhua News Agency

NAIROBI -- Kenyan and Somalia government troops raided an Al-Shabaab's camp onSunday night killing at least 11 militants and injured dozens of others in southernSomalia, officials confirmed on Monday.

Military Spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir said two Kenyan soldiers and one soldier

from the Somalia Transitional Federal Government were killed during the raid on Al-Shabaab camps in Delbio and Hosingo at 23:00 hours on Sunday. "The raid wasconducted on an Al-Shabaab camp in the areas of Delbioand Hosingo. The camp is undercontrol of Kenya Defense Force and Transitional Federal Government troops," Chirchirsaid in his official twitter account.

He said four AKs, communication equipment, collapsible water tank and several round ofammunition was captured during the dual military operation.

On Saturday, the military said that Kenya's battle to crush the al-Qaida-linked insurgencyhad reached the halfway mark and said its forces struck several command centers andlogistic facilities operated by the Al-Shabaab group.

"The war is almost half lost, Al-Shabaab is now facing serious challenges as far ascommand and control is concerned and logistical support," Director of MilitaryOperations Information Colonel Cyrus Oguna said.

"It will not take a very long time before Al-Shabaab is completely buried." Oguna said inthe past week.

Kenyan forces had destroyed four of Al-Shabaab's organizational camps, some in theareas of Jilib and Bibi. "One of the engagements occurred around Tabda where theyengaged our troops but they were repulsed. This frustrated them and they fired indiscriminately to a civilian settlement and four people were killed," he said.

Kenya launch cross incursion in Somalia in Oct. 16, 2011 to subdue Al-Shabaab whichthe east African nation blames for raids and kidnappings particularly on its northernregion. The latest development comes as security forces at the border points are grapplingwith threats posed by the insurgents who have been laying landmines mainly targetingpolice and soldiers patrolling the Somalia border.


19/27


The East African nation has been beset by a spate of grenade and landmine attacks sinceit launched cross border incursion into neighboring Somalia last month to pursue the al-Qaida allied Al- Shabaab militant group. Since the Kenya military incursion intoSomalia, several attacks believed to have been carried out by Al- Shabaab have occurred

in Mandera, Wajir, and Garissa and Dadaab districts of northern Kenya even as themilitary reports gains against the group by capturing their military bases and killingscores of them.

###

Algeria sentences fugitive Qaeda leader to death (AFP)

http://news.yahoo.com/algeria-sentences-fugitive-qaeda-leader-death-103744213.html

January 23, 2012AFP

A court in Algeria has sentenced a fugitve leader of Al-Qaeda's north African wing andthree of his followers to death for attacks against the military.

The sentence against Mokhtar Belmokhtar and the three others was handed down inabsentia on Sunday night after a day-long trial in Algiers.

Six other suspected members of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), who are alsocurrently on the run, received sentences of between two to 20 years.

All 10 had been accused of involvement in acts of terrorism and "participation involuntary acts of homicide" against members of the armed forces.

Among the attacks on the charge sheet was a deadly attack in May 2010 when an armycommander was killed in Djelfa, which lies around 270 kilometres (170 miles) south ofAlgiers, by members of the group.

Algerian courts have twice sentenced Belmokhtar to life in prison, including in 2008 forthe assassination of 13 customs officers, but the authorities have never been able tocapture him and enforce the sentence.

Algeria has had a moratorium on the death penalty since 1993.

AQIM also operates in Niger, Mali and Mauritania but its leadership is dominated byAlgerians and was previously known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat,founded in the late 1990s with the aim of toppling the Algerian government and creatingan Islamic state.

###


20/27


Angola expects solutions to African problems (Angola Press)

http://www.portalangop.co.ao/motix/en_us/noticias/politica/2012/0/4/Angola-expects-solutions-African-problems-Official,a4e12e44-ae54-415b-aef5-3e69cfc67e18.html

January 23, 2012

Addis Ababa - Angola hopes that the 18th Summit of the African Union (AU) heads ofState and Government produce results that address some of the pressing matters in thecontinent.

This was said Sunday in Addis Ababa by Angolan ambassador to Ethiopia, ArcanjoMaria do Nascimento.

Speaking to Angolan journalists, Arcanjo Nascimento who is also the Government'srepresentative to the African Union, said the country as an AU member hopes themeeting of African heads of State to come up with results that address some of the

problems facing the continent in the political, economic, peace and security domains.

The diplomat added that peace continues on top of the African agenda, as there are stillsome regions of the continent hit by armed, ethnic and inter-religious conflicts.

He underlined that the AU will focus on the promotion of the intra-Africa trade,particularly the creation of a free trade zone, without damage to the matter of peace andsecurity in the continent.

The ambassador said as well the African leaders will also discuss matters concerning theAU constitution, with a view to a legal and political architecture for the continentalorganisation, so it can accomplish its main purpose of integration.

"We hope this to be one more step towards the consolidation of integration, a process thatstarted ten years ago, precisely, with the constitution of the African Union, inreplacement of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), established on May 25, 1963,he stressed.

To Arcanjo Nascimento, who is also Angola's representatives to the UN EconomicCommission for Africa, there are new elements in the continent's current affairs,associated with the latest political and economic developments taking place in variousregions of the continent.

He mentioned the constitutional changes in some countries like Egypt, Libya, Tunisia andCote d'Ivoire, some of which involving violence, with stress to the killing of the Libyanleader, Moammar Gadhafi, on October 20 last year.

According to him, the new leaders that emerged in the above mentioned countries will forsure attend the 18th ordinary session of AU heads of State and Government set forJanuary 29-30 this year.


21/27


He said it is the African statesmen's expectation that the emerging leaders join the effortof construction of a prosperous and united Africa, within the framework of the AfricanUnion.

###

Analysis: Africa's Sahel scrambles to avert slide "into hell" (Chicago Tribune)

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-africa-saheltre80m1nk-20120123,0,172432.story

January 23, 2012By William MacleanReuters

MARRAKECH, Morocco - Regional rivalries and doubts about Western intervention are

hampering efforts by Africa's fragile Sahara-Sahel zone to prevent remote desert areasdestabilized by Libya's war from becoming safe havens for al Qaeda and internationalcriminals.

Some of the world's poorest countries such as Mali, Niger and Mauritania are scramblingto secure international expertise to shore up crumbling state authority in the face of aninflux of weapons and fighters from Libya's conflict.

Counter-terrorism experts are concerned that al Qaeda gangs, enriched by ransoms paidfor Western hostages, are exploiting growing lawlessness to push their influencesouthwards, possibly into OPEC power Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation.

Chadian General Adoum Ngare Hassan told a security conference in Morocco at theweekend that if Maghreb states span out of control their neighbors could face "a descentinto hell".

The general, responsible for protecting Chad's borders with Niger, Libya and Sudan,suggested the West bore much of the responsibility for regional disarray through itssupport for the revolt in Libya, a country now risking "general collapse".

While there is agreement in the international community on the urgent need to helpSahelian states with security, in practice it is proving very hard, analysts and diplomatssay.

The principal reason is a long-standing rift between Arab Maghreb neighbors Algeria andMorocco, a fact that frustrates many in the region because by common consent these twocountries are best qualified to help their weaker southern neighbors.


22/27


Both countries are heavyweight intelligence and military powers, but they are also rivals,and an impasse in relations means they do not operate the sort of joint securitycooperation in their Saharan backyard that could really make a difference.

Speaking on the sidelines of the conference, Jean-Francois Daguzan of France's

Foundation for Strategic Research told Reuters: "If there is no Algerian-Moroccanagreement on the security of the Sahel, there cannot be true security, simply because theterrorists will use this fundamental fault. It's a major problem."

"THREAT OF CHAOS"

As a result Sahelian states may have to rely increasingly on Europe and the United Statesfor counter-terrorism support, an uneasy prospect for countries combating al Qaedamilitants who seek to portray regional governments as stooges of the West.

But there is disquiet too, about the West's muscular role in Libya, and some delegates

said the issue of how much Western help the Sahel should accept was a delicate one.

Some countries blame the West for the chaotic end to Muammar Gaddafi's long rule,arguing the disarray handed al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb the chance to obtain armslooted on its behalf from Libya, a feat the group has openly, and proudly, disclosed.

There is resentment that British and French action removed a generous, if fickle, donor tomany African states and ended Libya's welcome for hundreds of thousands of Sahelianworkers whose remittances were an economic lifeline.

Chadian General Hassan, whose country is a former Gaddafi ally now struggling with thereturn of hundreds of thousands of migrants fleeing Libya's turmoil, suggested that if theuprisings in north Africa span out of control it would have a devastating impact on otherparts of Africa.

Such a loss of control would "promote a descent into hell with incalculable consequencesas much for itself (the Maghreb) as for neighbors near and far."

The West now had a duty to provide training and logistical support to Africangovernment forces who knew the terrain.

"It's high time the rich nations of Europe and America decided to help Africa squarely inthis critical, phase where (African) armed forces, even if united, cannot tackle smallgroups of extremely mobile and elusive armed bandits.

It was also in the West's own interest to step up support.

"If terrorists of all sorts don't manage to pass through the defensive meshes of the West,the porous frontiers of African states will provide them a choice of opportunities."


23/27


His remarks reflected private sentiment among some delegates but others cautioned a callfor Western technical support should not be misinterpreted as tolerance for Westernmeddling.

The ideal solution was for Algeria and Morocco to solve their main row - over the future

of the disputed territory of Western Sahara -- and help the region fight al Qaeda, somesaid.

Modibo Goita, a professor at the Peacekeeping School in Bamako, Mali, said Algeria andMorocco had to find a way to cooperate to better confront "the threat of chaos emergingfrom their southern flank. Otherwise, they both must prepare to encounter unavoidableforeign intervention".

Algeria and Morocco both deploy intelligence services in the Sahara's semi-arid southernfringe where al Qaeda seeks a safe haven along the lines of Yemen and Somalia.

But they are competitors more than collaborators, diplomats say. Lack of trust narrowsthe flows of information that are vital to disrupting an upsurge in smuggling and hostage-taking believed to be funding militants and racketeers with links to criminal syndicates inWest Africa, Europe and Latin America.

Daouda Diallo Boubacar, a security researcher from Niger, suggested increasing Westernsecurity ties would be imprudent.

"THREAT OF CHAOS"

"The best way of making the region unmanageable is to accept intervention in the region.A solution must pass through the Maghreb and the Sahel," he said.

Until regional intelligence was improved, delegates said, it would be hard to obtaintimely and credible information about AQIM and its alliances to political or criminalnetworks, such as its reputed link to Nigeria's shadowy Boko Haram militants.

"AQIM is the ideal scarecrow for mafia networks and interests of regional policy toconfuse the issue and advance their pawns at will," said Jacques Hogard, a former Frenchmilitary officer who runs an intelligence consultancy, EPEE.

Delegates said another big vulnerability exploited by AQIM, and anyone with an interestin the region's disorder, was the region's poverty. One senior Sahelian security officersaid AQIM had bought the complicity or silence of border guards, who normally mightearn $500 a year, for $2,000 to $3,000 a year.

Another problem was what one delegate called a perennial problem of police brutality, afactor behind European and U.S. calls for improvements in rule of law and judicialperformance.


24/27


But even progress on those issues was dependent on better coordination, for exampleboosting economic cooperation and a sharing of best police practice, delegates said.

A U.S. officer, who declined to be identified as he was not meant to talk to media, saidthe region suffered "insufficient cooperation and resources, a suspicion of motivations,

and sometimes a purposeful misinterpretation of intentions."

Another Western official bemoaned "an utter lack of security architecture."

"WE COULD SEE U.S. DRONES"

James Hentz, professor of international studies at the Virginia Military Institute, said thatif the region continued to struggle against AQIM, it was possible that in time "we couldsee U.S. drones in operation in the region, with the request or permission of the sovereignstates involved, as we've seen them used in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia".

In May, Mali announced that it, Mauritania, Niger and Algeria would set up within 18months, a joint force of up to 75,000 soldiers to secure their region, based at jointcommand centre established in 2010 in Tamanrasset, in southern Algeria.

But Morocco is not part of this venture, and information about progress in assembling theforce has been sparse.

France, which has 1,500 nationals in Niger and a further 8,500 in Mali and Mauritania,warned this month that nowhere in its three ex-colonies could now be considered safefollowing a series of kidnappings of its nationals by gunmen working for al Qaeda, andadvised French travelers to avoid the Sahel.

Two separate attempts by French forces to rescue nationals from AQIM's grip have endedin failure. And Western delegates said that ideally they wanted any action on the groundin the region to be by African states.

Outsiders must not be "intrusive", French Defense Ministry deputy head of strategicaffairs General Jean Marc Duquesne told Reuters, adding "What is really important iscooperation."

"It's really a question of south-south relationships, and we have to be careful, countries,like ours, not to be intrusive about this. We must be ready to help them, we must be readyto hear them, but we must be very careful how to act with them."

###

Ex-LRA Spokesman Excels At Gulu University (Daily Monitor)

http://allafrica.com/stories/201201231322.html

January 23, 2012


25/27


By Moses Akena and Livingstone David Okumu

As he completed a remarkable journey from the life of a rebel to a graduate, former LRAbrigadier Samuel Otto has regretted the 26 years he spent in the bush, saying it thwartedhis dream of becoming a university lecturer.

Mr Otto, who got a second class upper degree in Business Administration, was one of the1,121 students who were honoured at Gulu University's 7th graduation at the maincampus on Saturday.

He said the journey was challenging but expressed gratitude for finally making it, addingthat his time in the bush was the will of God, which he does not regret.

Mr Otto, hitherto a spokesperson and political commissar of the rebel outfit, wascommonly known as Brigadier Sam Kolo and during the war, was one of the mostcommon faces of the rebels after championing efforts for peace talks before finally

abandoning rebellion in 2005.

The 49-year-old, who studied under the government scholarship scheme, also regrettedwhy many of his colleagues are still in the bush.

"We would be jubilating with them," he said, adding that his decision to major inbusiness was to help him fit in well in this volatile world economy.

"The world is built on business and needs people with business minds to help it prosper,"he said.

Mr Otto claims his studies were interrupted in 1979 while he was in Senior Four at St.Joseph's College Layibi in Gulu.

Asked if his dream of being a scholar still stands, Mr Otto said it depends on anyavailable funding opportunity that will come his way.

He, however, says his dream now is to settle with his family after five years ofprogressive studying.

###

US looks to Africa to help increase pressure on Iran (FOX News)

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/01/23/us-looks-to-africa-to-help-increase-pressure-on-iran/

January 24, 2012By the Wall Street Journal


26/27


WASHINGTON US diplomats and lobbyists are stepping up pressure to reduce Africancommercial ties to Iran as part of a growing global push to squeeze Tehran, an effort thatalready led several African companies to consider leaving the country.

Among the results so far, Angola's state-owned energy company, Sonangol, is

considering pulling out of an Iranian gas deal, and Sasol of South Africa says it isdiscussing whether to divest itself of its 50 percent share in a $900 million Iranianpetrochemical project.

The moves come as the US and European Union continue to expand sanctions and try topersuade consumers of Iranian oil to find alternative supplies to choke off Tehran'srevenue and force it to abandon what the West says is a program to develop nuclearweapons, a charge Iran denies.

US officials visited China, Japan and South Korea this month to ask them to reduce crudepurchases from Iran. Many US and European companies that did business in Iran through

subsidiaries already backed out amid an expanding sanctions regimeAfrican companies were among those entering Iran as Western giants pull out.

Meanwhile, Iranian exports, largely oil, to sub-Saharan Africa rose to $3.60 billion in2010 from $1.36 billion in 2003, according to the International Monetary Fund. Inaddition to its ties with Angola and South Africa, Iran has pledged investments inUganda, Ghana and Senegal, though not all have materialized.

Now, African countries that once were viewed as distant from the conflict with Iran aregetting drawn into the sanctions effort.

US deputy secretary of energy Daniel Poneman in the past week discussed with SouthAfrica's minister of energy ways that Pretoria might replace Iranian oil imports with othersources of supply. South Africa relies on Iranian oil for about one-quarter of its imports.US government representatives also have met with private companies in South Africa todiscuss Iran sanctions, a US spokeswoman said.

###

Niger warns of new Tuareg rebellion (News24)

http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Niger-warns-of-new-Tuareg-rebellion-20120122

January 22, 2012By AFP

Arlit - Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou warned on Sunday of a new Tuaregrebellion in the north of the country after clashes between soldiers and rebels inneighbouring Mali.


27/27


"Recurrent rebellions and residual insecurity [as well as] terrorism eating at the Sahelregion [and] arms and drug trafficking... have ended the golden age and slowed economicand social development of the region," he said as he inaugurated a peace anddevelopment forum in the town of Arlit, near the main northern desert town of Agadez.

"Insecurity... not only kills the economy of a country but the country itself," the presidentsaid ahead of the forum on Monday and Tuesday at a ceremony attended by manyTuaregs and Malian Prime Minister Cisse Mariam Kaidama Sidibe.

Last week Tuaregs attacked three cities in northeastern Mali before the army restoredlocal control, with fighting leaving dozens of rebels and three soldiers dead.

Mali's government said the attackers were members of the Azawad National LiberationMovement (MNLA), formed in late 2011 and boosted by the return of heavily armedTuareg rebels from Libya's conflict.

Mali and Niger experienced uprisings as the Tuareg fought for recognition of theiridentity and an independent state in the 1960s, 1990s and early 2000, with a resurgencebetween 2006 and 2009.

A more recent source of insecurity is Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), blamedfor a string of hostage-takings in the region, particularly of Westerners. It has beenholding four French hostages in Arlit, a major uranium mining centre, since September2010.

Issoufou announced a new development plan for the region that would help reintegrateformer Tuareg rebels into Niger society.

At the ceremony, Sidibe Cisse called for co-operation between Mali and Niger includingthe sharing of resources "in the face of a trans-national threat increasingly characterisedby the inter-connection of many terrorist networks".

Mohamed Anako, a figurehead of the Tuareg rebels active in the 1990s, made what hecalled an "urgent appeal" to Malian Tuaregs seeking autonomy in their desert region "tofavour dialogue over violence".

"The current situation in neighbouring Mali rightly worries us," said Anako who is nowhead of the Agadez regional council.

###

END REPORT

AFRICOM Related News Clips 24 January 2012

Documents

Transcript of AFRICOM Related News Clips 24 January 2012