AFRICOM Related News Clips August 31, 2010

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

CIA training Sudan's spies as Obama officials fight over policy (Washington Post)(Sudan) American officials may be at odds over U.S. policy toward Sudan, but the CIAis soldiering on there.

Aid worker freed in Darfur (CNN)

(Sudan) An aid worker with Samaritan's Purse, a Christian aid organization, has beenfreed after 105 days in captivity in the Darfur region of western Sudan, a spokeswomanfor the organization said Monday.

Southern Sudan to purge child soldiers from army (Associated Press)(Sudan) The government of Southern Sudan said Monday it will purge child soldiersfrom the ranks of its former rebel army by year's end, a policy change that could seethousands of young troops pushed out of the military.

Mortar Hits Somali Presidential Palace (Associated Press)(Somalia) A mortar fired by al Qaeda-linked insurgents slammed into Somalia'spresidential palace on Monday, killing four Ugandan peacekeepers as clashes betweenmilitants and pro-government forces entered a second week.

Nigeria: Killings, violence come as election looms (Associated Press)(Nigeria) Violence targeting politicians and their aides appears to be increasing innorthern Nigeria as next year's elections draw closer in Africa's most populous nation.

Algeria killings cast light on Qaeda extortion racket (Reuters)(Algeria) A series of murders in the mountains east of Algiers this month is ademonstration of force by al Qaeda's north Africa arm to ensure danger money from

local farmers keeps flowing into its coffers, residents say.

Mauritania to resume dialogue with Islamists after previous success (Xinhua)(Mauritania) Mauritania will soon resume dialogue with Muslim jihadists after talkswith jailed Islamists early in the year in a bid to persuade them to abandon extremism,according to the government.



Guinea Coup Leader Stays Out of Presidential Run-Off (Voice of America)(Guinea) The leader of Guinea's military coup, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, has saidhe is staying away from the country so as not to disrupt an electoral process that is setto conclude with next month's second round of presidential voting.

Africa: Monkeypox Cases Surge in Rural Areas as Price of the Victory Over Smallpox (New York Times)(Pan Africa) The world·s victory over smallpox has had an unfortunate consequence:monkeypox cases are surging in tropical Africa.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Websitey DR Congo: UN reviewing procedures to better protects civilians after rape

y UN renews appeal for aid as drought-stricken Niger reels from recent floods

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UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, September 2, 9:30 a.m., McLarty Associates with theBusiness Council for International UnderstandingWHAT: Breakfast Briefing with the New U.S. Ambassador to ZambiaWHO: The Honorable Mark C. StorellaInfo:http://www.bciu.org/wip01/online_event_invitation.asp?continent=0&country=0&currentorpast=current&eventsorprograms=events&IDNumber=1429&ProgramIDNumber=0&Keycode=5445368

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CIA training Sudan's spies as Obama officials fight over policy (Washington Post)

American officials may be at odds over U.S. policy toward Sudan, but the CIA issoldiering on there.

The East African regime is not just an international pariah for its genocidal track recordin the western region of Darfur, it·s officially been branded by Washington as a terroriststate, in part for its past harboring of Islamist radicals, including Osama bin Laden in

the 1990s.

Despite that, the CIA is continuing to train and equip Sudan·s intelligence service in thename of fighting terrorism.

The irony is not lost on critics of the arrangement.



´The U.S. government is training the Sudanese intelligence services and conductingbilateral operations with them -- all in the name of the long war,µ said a formerintelligence officer who served in Sudan.

´We also refer to the Sudanese as a state sponsor of terror, have called their activities in

Darfur genocide, and supported the issuance of arrest warrants for the Sudanesepresident for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, as defined by theInternational Criminal Court.µ

Ćertainly," the former intelligence officer added, "the CIA is providing training to theNational Intelligence and Security Service,µ known as the NISS. Í suspect it was begun« in the very early days after September 11.µ

Others say it began in the 1990s.

In the beginning, the CIA-NISS relationship was very close-hold, he said, even shieldedfrom other CIA personnel in the embassy because of concerns over Sudan·s grievoushuman rights record. Training sessions were probably done outside the country, heguessed.

´There has also been transfers of equipmentµ to the NISS, he said, ćomputers,etcetera.µ

Another knowledgeable former U.S. intelligence official said the CIA-NISS partnershipbegan even earlier, in the Clinton administration, and called it "incredibly valuable."

"We have a had a long term relationship with the Sudanese, even when they closed theembassy for a short period in the late 90s," the official said on condition of anonymitybecause the topic is so sensitive.

"We do not do much training with the Sudanese, except in the field of counterterrorism,and they have been an exceptional partner in helping us against the terrorist target."

The CIA's curriculum with the NISS "is pretty much the same as regular humint/CO[human intelligence/case officer] training, with a focus on targeting the terrorist, i.e.,setting up meetings in secure places with surveillance and countersurveillance,knowing what info to look for, keeping all pocket litter, not allowing them to erase cellphones or computers," the former official said. "It also involves 'take downs' of terroristsor their organizations ..."

In 2005, Bush administration CIA director Porter Goss nurtured the connection.



´The CIA flew Salah Gosh, head of the NISS, here to the U.S. in one of their jets during2005,µ the former intelligence officer who served in Sudan said. "He is up to his butt inthe genocide in Darfur."

Only last month, Amnesty International charged that "the Sudanese National

Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) is carrying out a brutal campaign of killings,torture, arbitrary detentions, and mental and physical intimidation against opponentsand critics of the government."

"The NISS uses a variety of torture methods," it added, "including: beating detaineeswhile held upside down against a wall, electric shocks, whipping, sleep deprivation,kicking and stamping on detainees and beating them with water pipes."

CIA spokesman George Little declined to comment on the agency's relationship withthe NISS, saying, ´This agency does not, as a rule, comment on reports of relationships

with foreign intelligence services.µ

Likewise at the White House, National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammersaid, "We are not going to speak about our ongoing counter-terrorism and intelligenceprograms with any specific country other than to say that we face significant terrorismrelated challenges in East Africa, and it is essential that we be able to work inpartnership with the countries of the region to identify and disrupt potential terroristnetworks."

Some U.S. officials with intimate knowledge of the CIA's program contend that the spy

agency's relationship with the NISS actually fosters human rights.

"The intelligence channel has been one tool our government has used to try to influencethe Sudanese in terms of human rights and the rule of law,µ said one such official. ´Thatwas a deliberate policy decision, made with inter-agency support, and³while everyonehas their eyes wide open to everything that still needs to happen³the dialogue has hadits benefits."

Another, a senior administration official, said, "We're not blind" to the reality of Sudan."Everybody understands what's going on there."

"If the Sudanese go outside the box," he maintained, "we can pull the plug."

Such explanations evoke the darkest days of the Cold War, when successive U.S.administrations used the same rationales for allowing the CIA to have close relationswith the security services of some of the world·s worst human rights violators, fromSouth Africa to Argentina, Guatemala and Chile, saying they were necessary for theshadowy fight against Soviet-backed communism.



And as during that time, Obama administration officials have barely concealed theirsharp differences over what to do about Sudan.--------------------Aid worker freed in Darfur (CNN)

An aid worker with Samaritan's Purse, a Christian aid organization, has been freed after105 days in captivity in the Darfur region of western Sudan, a spokeswoman for theorganization said Monday.

Flavia Wagner, 35, is "exhausted but in good health," the group said in a statement.

News of the release came as three Russian pilots working for a Sudanese aviationcompany were abducted in the same region.

The pilots were taken Sunday in Nyala, South Darfur's capital, said Chris Cycmanick,spokesman for the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur.

Twelve people have been abducted in Darfur this year, Cycmanick said, includingWagner.

She was kidnapped May 18, the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum said a day later. TwoSudanese colleagues were seized at the same time, Samaritan's Purse said then.

The abduction took place about 25 miles southwest of Nyala.

The two Sudanese men were released May 25, Samaritan's Purse said.

Samaritans's Purse, founded by evangelist Franklin Graham, said it has provided $83.7million in assistance to Sudan since 2001.

The group has 548 national and expatriate staff in Sudan, it says, adding that it"provides immediate response to the physical and spiritual needs of individuals in crisissituations."

Darfur has been beset by conflict since 2003 after rebels began an uprising against theSudanese government.

To counter the rebels, Arab militias with ties to the Sudanese government went fromvillage to village in Darfur, killing, torturing and raping residents there, according tothe United Nations, Western governments and human rights organizations. The militiastargeted civilian members of tribes from which the rebels drew strength.



The United Nations estimates that 300,000 people have been killed in the conflict inDarfur, and 2.5 million have fled their homes. Sudan denies the death toll is that high.

The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese PresidentOmar Hassan al-Bashir, accusing him of war crimes and crimes against humanity --

charges he denies.--------------------Southern Sudan to purge child soldiers from army (Associated Press)

JUBA, Sudan ³ The government of Southern Sudan said Monday it will purge childsoldiers from the ranks of its former rebel army by year's end, a policy change thatcould see thousands of young troops pushed out of the military.

The Sudan People's Liberation Army launched a new "Child Protection Department"intended to help the army fulfill an agreement it signed with the United Nations in

November. The agreement commits the army to release all children in its ranks by theend of the year and to end the use of child soldiers across Southern Sudan.

The U.N. Children's Fund estimates that about 900 children serve as soldiers in thesouth. The southern military did not say how many child soldiers it believes it has, butthe chief of staff indicated it was several thousand.

Oil-rich Southern Sudan is widely expected to vote for independence from northernSudan in a scheduled January referendum, an outcome likely to lead to the breakup ofAfrica's largest country.

The 2005 peace accord that ended decades of war between Sudan's north and southcommitted the armies to an extensive demobilization process. But because both armiesare preparing for worst-case scenarios as the southern vote nears, analysts say neitherside has an interest in reducing the size of their militaries.

Still, southern officials say they will completely purge the ranks of children. WilliamDeng Deng, chairman of the south's Disarmament, Demobilization and ReintegrationCommission, said the army has "never wavered in its commitment to children,"recalling how children recruited into the guerrilla army during the civil war receivedschooling along with their military training.

"I want to confirm that the generals are doing what they can to make sure that the SPLAby the end of this year is child-free," said Deng. "Any child that comes back is a childwho came back from the village because we couldn't offer them anything to do."



Deng said that responsibility lies with the government to provide schooling and otherservices for demobilized children, but he was firm that the army would never againrecruit children.

"This army doesn't lack manpower. If they wanted they could call millions now. But not

children," he said.

Southern Sudan is one of the poorest places in the world. More than half of thepopulation requires food assistance to survive. The southern government is likely along way off from providing its people with alternatives to life in the army.

"All of us here we were born in war," said southern army Chief of Staff Gen. James HothMai. "And we don't want to pass on this war again to our children. We are verycommitted to develop our children."

Mai said that providing schooling and other services to demobilized children is "a hugetask."

"We are talking about thousands and thousands of children," he said.

The U.N.'s top humanitarian official in Southern Sudan said the task of transforming arebel movement into a professional army is "a long road."

"The way in which a country's army operates is a reflection of the country itself," saidLise Grande. She added that the "the entire world community is looking at Southern

Sudan" in the run-up to the referendum.--------------------Mortar Hits Somali Presidential Palace (Associated Press)

NAIROBI, Kenya³A mortar fired by al Qaeda-linked insurgents slammed intoSomalia's presidential palace on Monday, killing four Ugandan peacekeepers as clashesbetween militants and pro-government forces entered a second week.

The mortar, which also wounded eight people, didn't land near the president's house,said a spokesman for the African Union, Maj. Barigye Bahoku, who confirmed thedeaths of the four Ugandans.

"The presidential palace is a huge compound and the mortar landed near our soldiers'base," he said. "It did not affect any other place."

The strike against the palace comes a week after al Shabaab militants stormed a hotelnear the presidential palace and killed 32 people, including four parliamentarians.



Mogadishu has seen eight straight days of battles, fighting that started after alShabaab's spokesman threatened a new "massive" war against Somalia and AfricanUnion troops. Al Shabaab, which controls much of central and southern Somalia, istrying to overthrow the weak, United Nations-backed Somali government and install aharsh brand of Islam across the country.

Monday's fighting also killed six civilians, including three women who died when amortar crashed into the women's section of the busy Bakara market, said Ali Muse, thehead of the city's ambulance service. More than 70 civilians have been killed and at least230 others wounded since the latest fighting began Aug. 23, said Mr. Muse.

Amid the increased warfare, Somalia's government appealed for more help in its fightagainst the militants. President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed said it was unrealistic toexpect the forces of an ill-equipped government "to contain the evil al Qaeda, alShabaab alliance." He said the militants aimed to destabilize the region and beyond.

The president compared last week's hotel attack to violence in Iraq, Yemen andAfghanistan and renewed his pledge for international support.

"The Somali government has neither similar support nor nearly as much resources asthose countries have. Yet it's facing similar, if not more potent enemy," he said.

Al Shabaab, which has links to al Qaeda and boasts veterans of the Iraq andAfghanistan wars among its ranks, has grown deadlier in recent months. Last month, itclaimed twin bombings in Uganda during the World Cup final, killing 76 people.

Somalia's fragile, U.N.-backed government has struggled for years to gain relevancy,but corruption and its minuscule footprint in the country³just a few city blocks nearthe seaside airport and the airport itself³have limited its effectiveness.

Somalia hasn't had an effective government for 19 years, allowing piracy to flourish offits coast.--------------------Nigeria: Killings, violence come as election looms (Associated Press)

BAUCHI, Nigeria ² Violence targeting politicians and their aides appears to beincreasing in northern Nigeria as next year's elections draw closer in Africa's mostpopulous nation.

Unknown gunmen on Saturday shot and killed a personal assistant to Bauchi state Gov.Malam Isa Yuguda, the son-in-law to the late Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua.Meanwhile, a police guard for Yuguda was shot and seriously injured.



The Bauchi state government on Sunday issued a statement describing the attacks as an"ugly development" as the nation nears local and federal elections that may come assoon as January. However, the attacks mark the beginning of what could be a violentelectoral cycle as the nation's highest office remains in play.

In August alone, there have been five attacks on politicians in Bauchi state, a rural statein Nigeria's Muslim-majority north. Most recently, gunmen ambushed Jamilu BauchinBauchi, the governor's personal political assistant.

Bauchin Bauchi "was attacked by the gunmen on his way to Maiduguri to purchasehorses that they will ride ... after the Ramadan fast," said Sanusi Mohammad, thegovernor's spokesman.

The police guard was shot about more than half a mile (a kilometer) away fromgovernment headquarters in Bauchi on the same night, Mohammad said.

On Monday, the 10-year-old son of Garba Dahiru, a political hopeful in the state,returned home after a week in captivity. The family allowed the boy outside their homeso photographers could capture images of him, but declined to say whether they paid aransom to win his release from kidnappers. Police officials declined to immediatelycomment.

In oil-rich Nigeria, home to 150 million people, violence and vote-rigging hasaccompanied national and local elections. In 2007, Yar'Adua was elected in a pollwidely marred by ballot box-stuffing and intimidation. President Goodluck Jonathan,

the nation's elected vice president who assumed office after Yar'Adua's death in May,has promised a free and fair election next year.

However, Jonathan himself has yet to say whether he'll run for the nation's highestoffice, leading to uncertainty. Analysts worry that if he doesn't run, militants in the oil-rich Niger Delta will launch violent protests. If the nation's ruling party nominates Jonathan, a Christian, others worry the elite in the Muslim north will foment dissent asYar'Adua, a Muslim, should have been allowed to seek a second four-year term underan unwritten power-sharing agreement in the ruling party.

Other politically motivated violence has hit central and southern Nigeria. In Abuja,police say they've arrested two men who allegedly kidnapped the organizer of a groupsupporting Jonathan running in the coming election. Meanwhile, a member of the Deltastate House of Assembly was kidnapped on Sunday after he left church in Edo state.--------------------Algeria killings cast light on Qaeda extortion racket (Reuters)



BAGHLIA, Algeria ² A series of murders in the mountains east of Algiers this month isa demonstration of force by al Qaeda's north Africa arm to ensure danger money fromlocal farmers keeps flowing into its coffers, residents say.

Algeria's government has said repeatedly the militants, the remnant of a far bigger

Islamist insurgency in the 1990s, are on the back foot as security forces step up raids ontheir strongholds as close as 50 kilometers (31 miles) to the capital.

Residents of the small town of Baghlia say rebels of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghrebassassinated its mayor on August 6.

A few days later, they killed three soldiers and injured two in a bomb blast. Then onAugust 22 a former rebel was gunned down in a cafe.

Local farmers say the killings are designed to show the state still cannot protect those

who refuse to pay a portion of their income to al Qaeda.

"If we pay, we become accomplices to terrorists. If we don't pay, we may end up killed,"a farmer who said he stopped paying the danger money told Reuters. He refused to beidentified, fearing reprisals from the security services.

Baghlia used to be an insurgent stronghold. At the height of the violence in the 1990s,the militants killed tens of people there every week, often beheading them.

The rebels' grip on Baghlia, a town of 19,000 people, shows they continue to defy the

government in the populous north despite a shift in their operations southward to thelawless Sahara.

The violence has complicated attempts by OPEC member Algeria, a strong U.S. ally thatsupplies Europe with one fifth of its natural gas, to turn a page after the decade-longcivil conflict that left as many as 200,000 people dead.

TEN PERCENT 'CUT'

Massacres of civilians in the 1990s by Islamic armed groups sapped support for themamong ordinary Algerians.

Security analysts estimate the militants' ranks have dwindled to between 1,000 and1,500 today from as many as 35,000 at the height of the insurgency. The remainingrebels adopted the al Qaeda name in 2005.

Durable peace will require stifling the rebels of funds, but their ability to instill a climateof fear in Baghlia shows that is no easy task.



Al Qaeda demands 10 percent of the value of the harvest from the 12,000 farmersaround Baghlia, where grapes are the preferred crop.

"We usually receive a phone call each summer, the voice demanding 10 percent of our

grape harvest," said one.

Two farmers in the area said the protection money varied from 100,000 to 1.4 milliondinars ($1,330-$18,620).

"It depends on the surface of land you have, and the output," said the farmer, who isplanning to leave Baghlia because he was fed up.

Security sources say Baghlia is not an isolated case, adding that other farmers from thewider region of Boumerdes are paying the levy. They say the money allows al Qaeda to

hire recruits and pay agents.

"You have no choice but to pay. Otherwise you, or a member of your family, iskidnapped," said Ahmed Alouane, a security analyst working for newspaper El Khabar.

Alouane, who is based in Boumerdes, added that "20 people have been kidnappedrecently. They were freed after paying a ransom."

"They (the insurgents) are very present in Baghlia. We know them. We see them," thefirst farmer told Reuters.

A security source estimated there are over 100 active al Qaeda members in theBoumerdes region.

Following the recent killings, the government has stepped up security on roads leadinginto the region's urban areas.

"Mayors of the region no longer sleep at home. They have rented apartments in the safecity of Boumerdes," Alouane said.--------------------Mauritania to resume dialogue with Islamists after previous success (Xinhua)

NOUAKCHOTT - Mauritanian will soon resume dialogue with Muslim jihadists aftertalks with jailed Islamists early in the year in a bid to persuade them to abandonextremism, according to the government.



"The dialogue that was being held in January between ulemas (Muslim scholars) andMauritania's detained Muslim fundamentalists will resume in the near future," IslamicAffairs Minister Ahmed Ould Neini announced over the weekend.

"Discussion sessions will be held in a number of the country's wilayas (provinces)," he

added.

On Jan. 15, Mauritanian authorities were engaged in dialogue with Islamists beingdetained at the Nouakchott maximum security prison.

This dialogue was conducted by the eminent ulemas in the country and led torepentance declarations by more than 70 percent of the 60 detainees, of whom some hadbeen sentenced for involvement in terrorist acts carried out on the Mauritanian soil.

The ulemas have therefore proposed to the Mauritanian authorities to revive the

dialogue which they consider the "most effective way of fighting against fanaticism andviolence in which Mauritanian youths have been recruited by the North African wing ofthe Al Qaeda (AQMI)."

The minister said, "These youths do not understand at all the notion of jihad and theyare therefore being led by their own instincts."--------------------Guinea Coup Leader Stays Out of Presidential Run-Off (Voice of America)

The leader of Guinea's military coup, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, has said he is

staying away from the country so as not to disrupt an electoral process that is set toconclude with next month's second round of presidential voting.

Captain Camara, who has refused to endorse any candidate, said he did not return toGuinea this month for the funeral of his son, Moriba, because he does not want toimpact the upcoming vote.

After taking power in a December 2008 coup, Captain Camara ruled Guinea for nearlyall of 2009, until he was shot in the head by the former chief of the presidential guard.

While he still remains the country's official military leader, Captain Camara has beenreplaced in the country by his former defense minister, General Sekouba Konate, whohas helped organize elections to return Guinea to civilian rule.

He said chose to stay in neighboring Burkina Faso out of respect for the democraticprocess during an interview with VOA's French to Africa service. Camara said he hasfaith in the political maturity of Guinea's leaders. And he expressed his hope that the



election is conducted in the best possible conditions, saying Guineans will not getanywhere if they fight among themselves.

For the moment, Captain Camara said he must be neutral in the run-off between firstplace finisher Cellou Diallo and second-place finisher Alpha Conde, explaining that if

he favors one candidate over another, he would violate the principles of democracy.

Before he was shot, Captain Camara appeared to be preparing to run for president,despite earlier promises not to do so. When civilians demonstrated against his expectedcandidacy last September, they were attacked by soldiers who killed at least 150 peopleand raped dozens of women.

The soldier who shot Captain Camara last December says the captain was trying toblame him for that September violence. Many of Mr. Camara's political opponentsfeared he would return to Guinea after receiving treatment in a Moroccan hospital for

the gunshot wounds, but he went to the Burkinabe capital, Ouagadougou, instead.

Captain Camara said he went to Ouagadougou freely at the recommendation ofGeneral Konate because he did he believes in the electoral process and loves hiscountry.--------------------Africa: Monkeypox Cases Surge in Rural Areas as Price of the Victory Over Smallpox (New York Times)

The world·s victory over smallpox has had an unfortunate consequence: monkeypox

cases are surging in tropical Africa.

The disease is related to smallpox, though usually less serious, although in rare cases, ittoo can kill, blind or scar victims. Also, it is much less likely to jump between people,though new evidence from Africa suggests human-to-human transmission is morecommon than was previously thought.

In a study published Monday in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, the Kinshasa School ofPublic Health and elsewhere, who surveyed nine rural Congo health districts,concluded that monkeypox was 20 times as common there as it was 30 years ago, whensmallpox vaccination was discontinued.

The typical victim was a boy aged 10 to 14; boys in villages hunt monkeys and rodents,many of which can carry the pox.



Smallpox vaccine is 80 percent effective at preventing monkeypox, so in the 1970s,health authorities debated continuing to use it in some jungle areas. But the vaccine hasits own risks, so they did not.

In 2003, more than 90 Americans caught monkeypox from pet prairie dogs, who got it

from Gambian pouched rats imported by a pet store. No one died, but the governmentbanned imports of African rodents.

´Our study is a great warning bell that we will see more pox viruses emerging inhumans,µ said Anne W. Rimoin, the study·s lead author.-------------------UN News Service Africa Briefs Full Articles on UN Website

DR Congo: UN reviewing procedures to better protects civilians after rape

30 August ² The United Nations special envoy to the Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC) today condemned the recent incident of gang rape by members of armed groupsin the east of the country, saying that the UN mission there was reviewing itsprocedures so that it can offer better protection to civilians.

UN renews appeal for aid as drought-stricken Niger reels from recent floods30 August ² The United Nations humanitarian arm is seeking urgent assistance forNiger, where recent flooding has displaced nearly 200,000 people and aggravated afood crisis in which almost half of the country·s 15 million people are experiencinghunger.

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