United States Africa Command Public Affairs Office 31 October 2011

USAFRICOM - related news stories

Good morning. Please find attached news clips related to U.S. Africa Command and Africa, along with upcoming events of interest for October 31, 2011. Of interest in todays clips: The New York Times reports on the urgency of international businesses to rush to the shores of Tripoli for what they hope to be profitable ventures in the newly freed state. At the same time The Financial Post is taking a different approach, making the case that civil war and other such challenges might be on the nearer horizon. The Associated Press covers the arrival of 22 injured Libyan fighters to Boston and Kenyas ongoing military operation into southern Somalia still runs strongly in the news with Al Jazeera reporting that there is no end date to this mission and the BBC discussing cross border air raids conducted by the Kenyan Air Force. Al Jazeera reports on skirmishes between Sudan and their recently ceded former countrymen in South Sudan. From Johannesburg: U.S. AFRICOM's civilian deputy, Ambassador J. Anthony Holmes, addressed the AFRICOM basing issue and shared how the suspicion that once existed with AFRICOM is dissipating. Wrapping up this mornings report is an NYT Op-ed co-authored by IVO H. Daalder and James G. Stavridis in which they discuss NATOs role in the Libya campaign as that operation comes to an end today. U.S. Africa Command Public Affairs Please send questions or comments to: [email protected] 421-2687 (+49-711-729-2687) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Top News related to U.S. Africa Command and Africa West Sees Libya as Opportunity for Businesses (New York Times)
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/29/world/africa/western-companies-see-libya-as-ripeat-last-for-business.html 28 October 2011 By Scott Shane The guns in Libya have barely quieted, and NATOs military assistance to the rebellion that toppled Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi will not end officially until Monday. But a new invasion force is already plotting its own landing on the shores of Tripoli. Divide Libya into its tribal parts (Financial Post) http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/Divide+Libya+into+tribal+parts/5626534/story.ht ml 29 October 2011 By Lawrence Solomon Who should get Libya's fabulous oil and gas wealth, an amount that could be equivalent to several million dollars per Libyan? With NATO leaving Libya Monday, the West should prepare for the aftermath. Navy chief warns of pirates (News24.com -- South Africa) http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Navy-chief-warns-of-pirates-20111027 27 October 2011 African nations need to pool efforts to fight maritime security threats and to prevent pirates from other parts of the continent from heading south, South Africa's navy chief said on Thursday. 22 wounded Libyan rebel fighters arrive in Mass (Associated Press) http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2011/10/29/22_wounded_libyan_rebel_fight ers_arrive_in_mass/ 29 October 2011 Nearly two dozen former Libyan rebel fighters were carried in stretchers or limped and hobbled out of a U.S. Air Force medical evacuation jet in Massachusetts on Saturday at the end of a 13-hour flight for treatment of wounds sustained in the war that ousted slain longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi. Tracking Down The Terror Of Central Africa (The Strategy Page) http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htun/articles/20111030.aspx October 30, 2011 The recent announcement that the United States would send about a hundred special operations troops to Uganda is the result of several years of lobbying by American and African politicians. On to Kampala... Americas new war in Africa Eric S. Margolis (Khaleej Times) http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?col=&section=opinion&xfile=data /opinion/2011/October/opinion_October144.xml 30 October 2011 Wasted $1 trillion in the futile Iraq war? Being defeated by medieval Afghan tribesmen? Cant pay your bills at home or abroad? Government paralysed? Worried about China?
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Whats the answer? Simple: A new little war in Africa. No exit date for Kenyan mission in Somalia (Al Jazeera) http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/10/20111029163441395507.html 29 October 2011 The Kenyan military has no firm date for a withdrawal from Somalia, where it is battling al-Shabab fighters, the country's military chief has said. General Julius Karanga was speaking to a news briefing in Nairobi on Saturday, as at least 10 people were killed in an attack on an African Union base in Mogadishu, the Somali capital. US court dismisses lawsuit against Kagame (Al Jazeera) http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2011/10/20111029145039353562.html 29 October 2011 A federal court in the state of Oklahoma has dismissed a lawsuit against Rwandan President Paul Kagame, brought by the widows of two assassinated African presidents, ruling that he had immunity in the US. Rights groups fear DR Congo poll violence (Al Jazeera) http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/10/201110295055865324.html 29 October 2011 Human rights groups have accused presidential candidates of creating a "climate of fear" in the Democratic Republic of Congo as campaigning got underway for presidential and legislative elections. Kenya air raid targets al-Shabab militants in Somalia (BBC) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15513430 30 October 2011 At least nine people have been killed and 50 wounded in a Kenyan air raid targeting alShabab militants in southern Somalia. A Kenyan military spokesman told the BBC the planes had targeted the outskirts of the town of Jilib. Libya: Gaddafi son Saif al-Islam says he is innocent (BBC) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15503638 29 October 2011 Saif al-Islam - the son of slain ex-Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi - says he is innocent of crimes against humanity, an international prosecutor has said. The International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said talks with Saif al-Islam had been held through intermediaries. The SSLA has warned United Nations staff and aid workers to leave Unity State (BBC) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15507138 29 October 2011 Rebels from the South Sudan Liberation Army have attacked a town in the oil-rich Unity State and at least 75 people have died, the national army has said.
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Among the dead, nine were soldiers, 15 were civilians and at least 50 were rebels, an army spokesman told the BBC. South Sudan rebels launch deadly attack near border (Al Jazeera) http://www.france24.com/en/20111029-south-sudan-rebels-deadly-attack-border-mayomunity-state-jang 29 October 2011 Rebels in South Sudan attacked a town in an oil-producing state on Saturday, killing 15 people, including nine soldiers, and wounding 18, officials said, in the latest violence in Africa's newest nation. Africa warming up to Africom after initial resistance (The Sunday independent) No link available. Transcribed from hard copy. 30 October 2011 By Peter Fabricius The US feels it has now largely overcome the suspicions of African governments about the creation of U.S.Africa Command (AFRICOM) for its military forces three years ago. Anthony Holmes, Africoms deputy commander, acknowledged in Pretoria on Friday that the US government had "stupidly" proposed originally to establish the AFRICOM headquarters in Africa. NATO's Success in Libya (New York Times) http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/31/opinion/31iht-eddaalder31.html 31 October 2011 By Ivo H. Daalder and James G. Stavridis Monday, Oct. 31st, seven months after it started, NATOs operation in Libya will come to an end. It is the first time NATO has ended an operation it started. And it comes on the heels of an historic victory for the people of Libya who, with NATOs help, transformed their country from an international pariah into a nation with the potential to become a productive partner with the West. ### -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------UN News Service Africa Briefs http://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICA South Sudan joins UNESCO, major challenges in education lie ahead 29 October The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today welcomed the recently independent country of South Sudan -- which has some of the worst indicators for education levels in the world -- as its newest Member State. Niger: UN agency boosts aid as a million people face urgent food crisis 28 October The United Nations food aid agency announced plans today to scale up its
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operations inside the poor West African country of Niger, where a poor harvest and insect attacks against cereals have left a million people in need of immediate support. Guinea-Bissau: UN official calls for multilateral cooperation to combat organized crime 28 October Regional and global partnerships are urgently needed to combat organized crime in Guinea-Bissau and other countries in West Africa affected by the illegal drug trade, a United Nations official has said, calling for a more integrated approach in the region. DR Congo: UN envoy concerned over fatal shooting as poll campaign begins 28 October The head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) today voiced deep concern over reports that one person was shot dead and three others wounded during a demonstration in the south-central province of Kasai Oriental to mark the beginning of campaigning for next months general elections. ICC Prosecutor in contact with Qadhafis son on possible surrender 28 October The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) said today his office is in indirect contact with Saif al-Islam Qadhafi, son of the former Libyan leader, on his possible surrender to face charges for crimes against humanity. (Full Articles on UN Website) ### -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Upcoming Events of Interest: Washington DC 31 OCT 2011

WHEN: 12:00 p.m. WHAT: Cato Institute Book Discussion on " The Relationship between Intelligence and Policy." Speakers: Paul R. Pillar, Director of Graduate Studies, Center for Peace and Security Studies, Georgetown University, Author, Intelligence and U.S. Foreign Policy (Columbia, 2011); and Joshua Rovner, Associate Professor, Strategy and Policy, U.S. Naval War College, Author, Fixing the Facts: National Security and the Politics of Intelligence (Cornell, 2011); with comments by Mark Lowenthal, President and CEO, The Intelligence and Security Academy, Former Assistant Director of Central Intelligence for Analysis and Production; moderated by Christopher Preble, Vice President, Defense and Foreign Policy Studies, Cato Institute. WHERE: Mount Vernon Place, Undercroft Auditorium, 900 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.
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CONTACT: 202-842-0200; web site: www.cat.org SOURCE: Cato Institute - event announcement at: http://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=8423

1 NOV 2011

WHEN: 2:15 p.m. WHAT: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing on "China's Role in Africa. Implications." Witnesses: David Shinn, Adjunct Professor George Washington University; Dr. Deborah Brautigam, Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute; and Mr. Stephen Hayes, President and CEO, The Corporate Council on Africa WHERE: Room 419 Senate Dirksen Building CONTACT: 202-224-4651; web site: http://foreign.senate.gov SOURCE: http://foreign.senate.gov/hearings/hearing/?id=8651beb7-5056-a032-52dbffb33c635619 WHEN: 4:30 p.m. WHAT: Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) Discussion on How to End the Stalemate in Somalia. Speakers: J. Peter Pham, Director of the Michael S. Ansari Africa Center at the Atlantic Council, and Bronwyn Bruton, Deputy Director of the Ansari Africa Center. WHERE: SAIS, Room 500, Bernstein-Offit Building, 1717 Massachusetts Avenue, NW CONTACT: Felisa Neuringer Klubes at 202-663-5626 or [email protected]; web site: www.sais-jhu.edu SOURCE: SAIS event announcement at www.sais-jhu.edu New York NSTR

3 NOV 2011

WHEN: Thursday, November 3, 2011, 6:00 p.m. WHAT: Panel discussion on We the People: Islam and U.S. Politics WHO: Camille Alick, Muslims on Screen & TV; Joel Brinkley, Stanford U., Michael Wolfe, Unity Productions Foundation and Vincent Barletta, Stanford University WHERE: Cubberley Auditorium School of Education, 485 Lasuen Mall, Stanford University CONTACT: 650-736-8169 or e-mail: [email protected] Media contact: http://events.stanford.edu/events/293/29351/ ###

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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------New on www.africom.mil Joint Task Force-Odyssey Guard provides aeromedical evacuation of wounded Libyan freedom fighters http://www.africom.mil/getArticle.asp?art=7370&lang=0 28 October 2011 By Rich Bartell, U.S. Army Africa Public Affairs RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany, Oct 28, 2011 An eight-member team from the U.S. Air Forces 86th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron and a 10-member team from 10th Air Force is preparing to evacuate 26 seriously wounded fighters to Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston and an additional four critical cases to Germany for immediate care. U.S. military transports wounded Libyans to hospitals in U.S. and Germany http://www.africom.mil/getArticle.asp?art=7367&lang=0 28 October 2011 U.S. Army Africa Public Affairs CASERMA EDERLE, Vicenza, Italy, Oct 28, 2011 The U.S. military is assisting the Libyan Transitional National Council (TNC) by transporting approximately 30 Libyans injured during recent fighting from Tripoli to hospitals in Europe and the United States. ### -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------FULL TEXT West Sees Libya as Opportunity for Businesses (New York Times) http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/29/world/africa/western-companies-see-libya-as-ripeat-last-for-business.html 28 October 2011 By Scott Shane WASHINGTON The guns in Libya have barely quieted, and NATOs military assistance to the rebellion that toppled Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi will not end officially until Monday. But a new invasion force is already plotting its own landing on the shores of Tripoli. Western security, construction and infrastructure companies that see profit-making opportunities receding in Iraq and Afghanistan have turned their sights on Libya, now free of four decades of dictatorship. Entrepreneurs are abuzz about the business potential of a country with huge needs and the oil to pay for them, plus the competitive advantage of Libyan gratitude toward the United States and its NATO partners.

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A week before Colonel Qaddafis death on Oct. 20, a delegation from 80 French companies arrived in Tripoli to meet officials of the Transitional National Council, the interim government. Last week, the new British defense minister, Philip Hammond, urged British companies to pack their suitcases and head to Tripoli. When Colonel Qaddafis body was still on public display, a British venture, Trango Special Projects, pitched its support services to companies looking to cash in. Whilst speculation continues regarding Qaddafis killing, Trango said on its Web site, are you and your business ready to return to Libya? The company offered rooms at its Tripoli villa and transport by our discreet mixed British and Libyan security team. Its discretion does not come cheaply. The price for a 10-minute ride from the airport, for which the ordinary cab fare is about $5, is listed at 500 British pounds, or about $800. There is a gold rush of sorts taking place right now, said David Hamod, president and chief executive officer of the National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce. And the Europeans and Asians are way ahead of us. Im getting calls daily from members of the business community in Libya. They say, Come back, we dont want the Americans to lose out. Yet there is hesitancy on both sides, and so far the talk greatly exceeds the action. The Transitional National Council, hoping to avoid any echo of the rank corruption of the Qaddafi era, has said no long-term contracts will be signed until an elected government is in place. And with cities still bristling with arms and jobless young men, Libya does not offer anything like a safe business environment hence the pitches from security providers. Like France and Britain, the United States may benefit from the Libyan authorities appreciation of NATOs critical air support for the revolution. Whatever the rigor of new rules governing contracts, Western companies hope to have some advantage over, say, China, which was offering to sell arms to Colonel Qaddafi as recently as July. Revenge may be too strong a word, said Phil Dwyer, director of SCN Resources Group, a Virginia contracting company that opened an office in Tripoli two weeks ago to offer risk management advice and services to a company he would not name. But my feeling is those who are in favor with the transitional council are going to get the nod from a business point of view. The Security Contracting Network, a job service run by Mr. Dwyers company, posted on its blog two days after Colonel Qaddafis death that there would be plenty of work opening up in Libya. There will be an uptick of activity as foreign oil companies scramble to get back to Libya, the company said, along with a need for logistics and security personnel as the

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State Department and nonprofit organizations expand operations. Keep an eye on who wins related contracts, follow the money, and find your next job, the post advised. In Tripoli, there is a wait-and-see atmosphere. At breakfast on Friday in a downtown hotel, a British security contractor pointed out the tables of burly men hired guns like himself. Look at it, he said. Full of em. Many are still protecting foreign journalists, but others are hoping to get training contracts with a fledgling government trying to tame its unruly armed forces. Security industry officials say the work here may never match the colossal scale of spending in Iraq and Afghanistan, but with a squeeze coming on European and American government spending, it is a prize nonetheless. Business opportunities for Western companies began opening in Libya in 2004, when Colonel Qaddafis decision to give up his nuclear weapons program ended his countrys pariah status. Mr. Hamod led four American business delegations to Libya between 2004 and 2010 and watched a gradual thawing of commercial relations, he said. Total foreign direct investment in Libya had grown to $3.8 billion in 2010, from an estimated at $145 million in 2002, according to the World Bank. But many deals were skewed by brazen demands from Colonel Qaddafis children for a share of the proceeds, and the state of the country was grim after many years of economic sanctions and neglect. Libya needed everything, Mr. Hamod said: banking and financial services, hospitals and medical clinics, roads and bridges, and infrastructure for energy and for the oil industry. Now, after months of fighting, and with the security situation still fragile, there are huge new requirements, like rebuilding apartment complexes reduced to rubble by shelling, guarding oil installations as they restore or expand production, and training and equipping new armed forces. Mr. Hamod said American companies are often more hesitant than Chinese or some European companies about operating in a tumultuous environment like that of postQaddafi Libya. Theres reluctance to charge headlong back into Libya, he said. Historically, U.S. companies are interested in the rule of law on the ground and what it might mean for a multimillion-dollar investment. At a Group of 8 meeting in Marseille, France, in September, finance ministers pledged $38 billion in new financing, largely loans, to Arab countries between 2011 and 2013. Though Libya is now pumping less than one-third of its prewar oil production of 1.7 million barrels a day, it has Africas largest oil reserves, which eventually should mean a steady supply of cash.

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The simultaneous excitement and confusion for people exploring opportunities in Libya are evident in proliferating Libya-themed groups on LinkedIn, the online businessoriented social network. Can anyone in the group tell me if there are flights into Tripoli, wrote Peter Murphy, an Irish surveyor now working on an offshore wind project, on a LinkedIn discussion page called Anglo Libya Business Group. Also, what is the situation for business visas for business travelers? One answer came from Mabruk Swayah, who identified himself on LinkedIn as a Libyan working in business development. Hi friends you are all welcome to Libya, Mr. Swayah wrote. Just make sure you go through the proper channels for your work contracts and dont get involved in bribes, inducements or sweeteners to officials. He added, Remember we have free media now. ### Divide Libya into its tribal parts (Financial Post) http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/Divide+Libya+into+tribal+parts/5626534/story.ht ml 29 October 2011 By Lawrence Solomon Who should get Libya's fabulous oil and gas wealth, an amount that could be equivalent to several million dollars per Libyan? With NATO leaving Libya Monday, the West should prepare for the aftermath. The coming chaotic months will see infighting, and perhaps a renewal of civil war, among the many rival tribal and ideological groups. The West should now consider whether to influence - or impose - a just resolution. If the West takes a hands-off approach, Libya is likely to fall into the hands of another strongman, as all Arab countries have in the Middle East. Does the West want another Gaddafi to control these riches? Or should the riches be divvied up among Libya's many tribes? Should Libya - a new country conjured up by Western powers 60 years ago - even exist in its present form? Or should some other borders be created, to better reflect the traditional lands and cultural differences of its indigenous populations? This immense country - the fourth largest in Africa, in area equivalent to 25 Irelands had but one million people on its independence day in 1951, when the United Nations merged together one French and two British-administered territories to create Libya. Few among those one million had any notion of nationhood - they largely hailed from nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes, some 20 tribes among them of various racial stock, typically with fierce allegiances to their own clans and little else. The three territories that became Libya had few economic prospects at the time - they were believed to have no commercial supplies of oil or water - making them a cost to
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their British and French masters. To rid themselves of these costs, these Western powers, with UN approval, installed a local dignitary as king and walked away. Prior to the Second World War, the territories had been colonized by Italy's Fascists. Prior to the First World War, they had been colonies of the Ottoman Turks, who had taken them from the Arabs, who had taken them from the Romans, who had taken them from the Greeks. "Libyans" had never ruled themselves. Today, Libyans still have little notion of nationhood. Shortly after Libya's creation, Esso (now known as Exxon) discovered oil, making Libya a prize worth seizing. Gaddafi then overthrew the monarchy that the UN had created and dismantled parliament, political parties and all other institutions that might challenge him. Over his 42-year rule, he used Libya's wealth, as Arab dictators often do, to buy off some tribes and oppress the rest. Today no tradition of democracy exists in Libya, except as vestiges of tribal governance, which Gaddafi also attempted to destroy. Libyans, by any credible measure, are ill-prepared to govern themselves, and some minorities may prefer to live apart from the dominant Libyan tribes. The Tuareg in the country's remote southwest, for example, call themselves "the free people" and live up to their name: These dark-skinned people from the Saharan interior are famed for having fought the French Foreign Legion and other colonizers in the past; today they oppose the interim leaders that NATO and the West have empowered in Libya. Fortunately, the United Nations has a mechanism to deal with people such as the Tuareg, and immature states such as Libya - the United Nations Trusteeship System. After the Second World War, this system oversaw the transition of 11 territories to selfdetermination. Each transition was unique, because the local circumstances were unique, but they all had as their goals the promotion of domestic development, along with international peace and security. In some cases, self-determination took the form of outright independence, as with the Cameroons; in others, it involved a merger, as with Togoland, which joined the Gold Coast to become Ghana; in still others, it involved separation, as with Ruanda-Urundi, which voted to divide into the two sovereign states of Rwanda and Burundi. In the case of Libya, a UN trusteeship that gave its peoples a say over their own destiny could well see a split-up of the country. The country might divide into the three parts that existed prior to independence, or into a larger number of sovereign states, as the various tribal groups considered their cultural and economic self-interest. Decentralization is likely to be positive in financial terms because under the highly centralized Gaddafi dictatorship, as with most dictatorships, the economy stagnated. His decision to expropriate the foreign-owned oil industry in favour of an inefficient and corrupt state oil company all but halted development of one of the world's largest, cleanest, and lowest-cost reservoirs of energy - most of Libya's vast energy potential as a result remains unexplored and untapped.

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The UN trusteeship could also dispense reparations by using part of Libya's oil wealth to compensate Gaddafi's victims. These exist in good number domestically, in the tribes and political prisoners that he ruthlessly subdued, and externally too, in the neighbouring countries he attacked. The trusteeship could also compensate the Libyans forced to flee the country, both the political refugees and Libya's once sizeable Jewish community, which was forced to leave en masse, its property expropriated. Finally, reparations could also include the US$1-billion to US$2-billion that NATO spent to liberate the country from its tyrant. If compensated, NATO countries would more readily intervene in other tyrannies, and the tyrants, knowing this, would less readily send their tanks in against their own people. The alternative to giving Libya's people the right to determine their future is bleak. The interim leaders - chiefly a trio associated with the Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaeda have strongly held views, as do those NATO defeated on their behalf. But NATO leaves at 11: 59 p.m., Oct. 31. Lawrence Solomon is executive director of Energy Probe, ep.probeinternational.org. ### Navy chief warns of pirates (News24.com -- South Africa) http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Navy-chief-warns-of-pirates-20111027 27 October 2011 Cape Town - African nations need to pool efforts to fight maritime security threats and to prevent pirates from other parts of the continent from heading south, South Africa's navy chief said on Thursday. "The requirement for all stakeholders within our maritime zones to work together is fundamental," Vice Admiral Johannes Mudimu told a conference on African coastal security. "Without high-level political commitment and resource allocation as well as intervention within the economic, social and security domains, little will be achieved," he added. Southern African countries recently adopted a maritime safety strategy that "came about because of the real threat" of piracy emerging in southern waters, he told AFP. South Africa sent anti-piracy patrols off of neighbouring Mozambique after a ship was attacked in December 2010. "We constantly have the presence in the Mozambican channel," said Mudimu. Pressure

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"We have with our presence there managed to repel this piracy perhaps to other areas where they serve as a safe haven for them for survive." A threat of pirates, who have largely focused on the east coast and Gulf of Aden with a surge in west Africa, moving into South African waters and its busy shipping routes cannot be ruled out, he said. "That's why what's important with us is that we have the ships at sea and our ships must be able to patrol the territorial waters," he said. "Because if you are not there at sea, somebody will occupy that space." "If you weaken Mozambique, you weaken South Africa. If you weaken Angola, South Africa gets weaker and vice-versa," said Mudimu. "So that's why I think we have a very strong region that shares a lot of commonality and the common strategy in terms of what it is that needs to be done to fight the menace that we are beginning to see in our waters." The International Maritime Bureau said recently that piracy has reached record levels with 352 attacks reported worldwide so far this year. ### 22 wounded Libyan rebel fighters arrive in Mass (Associated Press) http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2011/10/29/22_wounded_libyan_rebel_fight ers_arrive_in_mass/ 29 October 2011 BOSTONNearly two dozen former Libyan rebel fighters were carried in stretchers or limped and hobbled out of a U.S. Air Force medical evacuation jet in Massachusetts on Saturday at the end of a 13-hour flight for treatment of wounds sustained in the war that ousted slain longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi. The envoy of Libya's National Transitional Council said the 22 fighters are the first of an estimated 200 combatants who will be flown to the United States for treatment. But Mark Ward, senior adviser on Arab transitions for the U.S. Department of State, later said several European nations have offered to treat some fighters, and the number of those who could come to this country has not been determined. The fighters were brought to the country following a request to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her trip to the Libyan capital of Tripoli last week, Ward said shortly before their flight landed at Boston's Logan International Airport in the midst of a wintry storm.

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"The United States was very proud to help the Libyan people in eight months of struggle against Gadhafi and his regime," Ward said. "We know the struggle will now continue as they rebuild their country and, in particular, we wanted to help with some of the war wounded, some of those brave, young men that fought the regime's forces and brought it to its knees." "Libya's new freedom has come at a price in human life and suffering. Just as the United States and the international community stood with the Libyan people during the revolution, we continue to work with them now to address urgent needs," Ward said. The wounded fighters will be treated at the Spaulding Hospital for Continuing Medical Care North Shore in Salem, Mass., a long-term care facility. An internationally established fund used by Libya's transitional government says it will pay the fighters' hospital bills. The fighters were met at the airport by Ward and Ali Aujali, Libya's ambassador to the U.S. The combatants did not speak to reporters. Firefighters stationed at the airport, Massachusetts state troopers and Emergency Medical Services technicians immediately helped them get into ambulances that were waiting on the tarmac in the freezing rain. Still, Ward said the former rebel fighters had mixed reaction on arrival in the United States. "We were just on the plane with them ... they look very excited, but also a little bit apprehensive," Ward said. "Many of them have never been on an airplane before, this is a new country, it's very cold for them. ... Tripoli was warm when they left 13 hours ago, so this is going to be quite an experience for them, but also for the wonderful staff at Spaulding Hospital." ### Tracking Down The Terror Of Central Africa (The Strategy Page) http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htun/articles/20111030.aspx October 30, 2011 The recent announcement that the United States would send about a hundred special operations troops to Uganda, is the result of several years of lobbying by American and African politicians. The American troops are being sent to help catch or kill a man who has terrified millions of people in Central Africa over the last two decades. The target is the elusive Joseph Kony, the leader of the LRA (Lords Resistance Army) of Uganda. Although pursued by thousands of soldiers, police and tribal militiamen all these years, Kony and Company (a few hundred gunmen) have killed or enslaved several hundred thousand people. Millions have fled their homes just because it was rumored Kony was headed their way.

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In the beginning, Kony and his henchmen tore apart northern Uganda, by turning teenagers into deadly gunmen, and enslaving children and adults as a support force. His tactics have killed over 100,000 people, and turned northern Uganda into a mess. The Ugandans eventually drove him out of Uganda. But now Kony and his followers are ravaging adjacent areas, especially eastern Congo. No one seems able to catch him, and his having been declared an international war criminal has made peace talks with him impossible. Kony won't accept any amnesty if it means being tried as a war criminal, and the international court that indicted him, is not authorized to negotiate any deal that would let Kony walk free. Justice must be served, even if it can't stop the mayhem. The first step in getting American help to catch Kony occurred when U.S. AFRICOM (Africa Command), which is similar in organization to other American regional commands (Central, for the Middle East, and South, for Latin America, etc), was established four years ago. AFRICOM coordinates all American military operations in Africa. Before that, those operations were coordinated between two commands (the one covering Europe and the one covering the Middle East, with some help from the one handling Latin America). The establishment of AFRICOM meant more money for counter-terror operations in Africa, and more long range projects. Many members of Congress are under pressure from constituents to do something about all the suffering in Africa and AFRICOM is seen as part of the solution, especially when it comes to stopping mass murderers like Kony. AFRICOM sees its mission as aiding African armed forces with training, advice and small grants of weapons and equipment. But Congress is aware that, in the past, small numbers of professional troops have gone in and quickly eliminated outfits like LRA. For example, in 2005, Britain sent in a few hundred commandos to shut down some holdout rebel groups in Sierra Leone. That worked. But the U.S. Army is reluctant to divert any of its counter-terrorism forces for an African pacification mission. Such an operation would require a lot of aircraft support, and other troops to establish bases. Instead, the hunt for Kony will be assisted, not carried out, by AFRICOM. The LRA was one of several religious movements to emerge from the Acholi tribe of northern Uganda three decades ago. One was founded by a cousin of Kony, but the LRA was much more violent than the other Acholi religious movements. The use of child soldiers (using kids kidnapped or taken by killing the parents), enslaving people (to be pack animals, cooks and sexual prey for the gunmen) and looting their way across Central Africa, provided the means to keep Kony going. The charismatic and clever Kony is at the heart of the LRA. It is believed that the advice, training and coordination provided by a hundred American Special Forces, plus American air transport and aerial reconnaissance, might be the key to bringing Kony down, and ending the LRA nightmare. ### On to Kampala... Americas new war in Africa Eric S. Margolis (Khaleej Times)

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http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?col=&section=opinion&xfile=data /opinion/2011/October/opinion_October144.xml 30 October 2011 Wasted $1 trillion in the futile Iraq war? Being defeated by medieval Afghan tribesmen? Cant pay your bills at home or abroad? Government paralysed? Worried about China? Whats the answer? Simple: A new little war in Africa. Having finished off former ally Muammar Gadaffi, the US Pentagon, CIA, and the new US Africa Command are now focusing on East Africa. In recent weeks, the long simmering conflict in the Horn of Africa burst into flames as the US and France intensified military operations against Somalias rag-tag nationalist/Islamist militia, Shahab. Western politicians and media warn Shahab is a dire international threat that must be stamped out, though most could not find Somalia on a world map. Though CIA chief Leon Panetta recently admitted only 25 to 50 Al Qaeda members were active in Afghanistan, it seems new Al Qaeda threats are popping up all over Africa and the Mideast. Just in time for Halloween, the ghost of Osama bin Laden is haunting us. The US will send 100 special hunter-killer troops to Uganda, an undemocratic US ally. This new US force will also operate in Congo (ex-Zaire), Central African Republic, Kenya, and South Sudan whose independence from Sudan was recently engineered by Washington. The ostensible reason Americas new involvement in darkest Africa is a deeply obscure bunch of Ugandan bush rebels, the Lords Resistance Army, that has been kidnapping villagers and stealing chickens for decades. At the same time, Washington is bankrolling a Kenyan invasion of southern Somalia, and France is providing naval support and arms. Kenya says it is reacting to attacks from Somalia by Shahab. But the real attackers were more likely traditional local Somali bandits known as shiftas. CIA teams, US-financed mercenaries, Predator drones and Ethiopian forces are currently attacking Shahab. All this should have been unnecessary. In 2005, a moderate Muslim movement, the Islamic Courts Union, had established control over most of chaotic southern and central Somalia. This was its first stable government since 1991. But the Bush administration, still reeling from 9/11, went ballistic over the name Islamic and ordered the Courts Union overthrown. In early 2006, Washington financed Ethiopia, a close US ally, to invade Somalia. The Courts Union government was duly ousted, but the Ethiopians,

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ancient blood foes of the Somalis, had to eventually withdraw, leaving more chaos in their wake. Enter Shahab, an Islamic youth organisation dedicated to liberating Somalia from foreign control. Its fiery leaders took 19th Century Somali resistance to British colonialism as their model, and imposed Shariah law. Doesnt Washington have enough on its hands without sending troops to Uganda and Somalia, or South Sudan? The US is moving into southern Africa for two main reasons. First, to secure South Sudans important oil deposits and possible energy finds in Uganda. Second, to block the spread of further Chinese economic influence in the region. Frances neoconservative government is greatly alarmed by Chinas involvement in its African sphere of influence. However, there are manifest dangers for the US. Washington may get sucked into a complex, turbulent region in which it has no real strategic interests other than the lust for energy and a knee-jerk reaction to anything Islamic. The White House is supposed to be cutting expenses at a time when budgets are out of control and 44 million Americans subsist on food stamps. Let Washingtons squabbling politicians deal with budget headaches says the mighty US national security establishment. Were in charge. Onward to Kampala and Juba! Eric Margolis is a veteran US journalist ### No exit date for Kenyan mission in Somalia (Al Jazeera) http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/10/20111029163441395507.html 29 October 2011 The Kenyan military has no firm date for a withdrawal from Somalia, where it is battling al-Shabab fighters, the country's military chief has said. General Julius Karanga was speaking to a news briefing in Nairobi on Saturday, as at least 10 people were killed in an attack on an African Union base in Mogadishu, the Somali capital. "When the Kenya government and the people of this country feel that they are safe enough from the al-Shabab menace, we shall pull back," Karangi said. "Key success factors or indicators will be in the form of a highly degraded al-Shabab capacity."

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Earlier this month, Kenya sent its own troops into Somalia following a string of crossborder attacks and kidnappings blamed on Somali gunmen and the al-Qaeda-linked alShabab group. Both the UN and Ethiopia have earlier sent in forces into Somalia at different times in order to stablise the country during its 20-year civil war, but both were forced to withdraw without ending the conflict. Karangi said that Kenya did not wish to permanently occupy Somalia, and that his forces were working alongside the UN-backed Somali government. "We acted as a country on the spur of the moment," he said. "At no point did we plan to enter Somalia and annex territory there." The Somali president has criticised the intervention, but Kenyan officials said they expected "clarification" from a high-level Somali delegation on Monday. So far, Kenya has suffered one fatality due to al-Shabab fire, Karangi said. Five personnel were also killed when a helicopter crashed. He said that hundreds of al-Shabab fighters had been killed in Kenyan operations, though he was not able to confirm that, or provide an exact figure. 'No allied involvement' Responding to a question regarding any other countries operating in Somalia through the Kenyan intervention, General Karangi said that while Kenya had bilateral military agreements with several countries, they were not involved in Nairobi's Somalia operations. "There has been a lot of talk about other friends of ours participating militarily in what we are engaged in, and the answer is no," he said. "I think the American ambassador yesterday made it very clear ... that they are not militarily involved in the campaign with us." Officials present at the briefing dismissed any speculation that the Kenyan government was ready to negotiate with al-Shabab. "We will not negotiate with criminal terrorist groups," Francis Kimemia, permanent secretary at the internal security ministry said. Yusuf Haji, the Kenyan defence minister, said that international forces in Somalia are soon to be strengthened by a boost in AMISOM, which consists at the moment of 9,000 Ugandan and Burundian troops.

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Attack in Mogadishu At least 10 people were killed in the attack on the AU base in Mogadishu, a Somali military official said. The attackers were attempting to infiltrate a based manned by AMISOM, the AU's mission in Somalia, on Saturday. "They were dressed in Somali military uniform and disguised as ordinary soldiers," said Colonel Nor Abdi. "Then they tried to enter the base and AMISOM soldiers fired at them. "Then heavy gunfire started and all of them were killed. "I don't know how many they were but they were more than 10 men." Mohammed Abdi, a local resident, said that he heard several large explosions take place near the base. The gunfight lasted for several hours and the final number of casualties was unclear. Al-Shabab fighters claimed in a statement to have "stormed the AMISOM compound killing 80 Ugandan soldiers" in a battle that lasted over two hours, the AFP news agency reported. AU troops have been deployed in Somalia since 2007, and now control almost all of the capital. They continue, however, to suffer frequent attacks. Somalia has not had a functioning government since warlords overthrew the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party in 1991. More than 600,000 Somali refugees have fled the fighting and famine in their homeland and now live in Kenya. ### US court dismisses lawsuit against Kagame (Al Jazeera) http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2011/10/20111029145039353562.html 29 October 2011 A federal court in the state of Oklahoma has dismissed a lawsuit against Rwandan President Paul Kagame, brought by the widows of two assassinated African presidents, ruling that he had immunity in the US. District Judge Lee West ruled on Friday that as a head of state recognised by the US government, Kagame was immune from the wrongful death civil suit. The Obama administration had urged the court to recognise Kagame's immunity.
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Juvenal Habyarimana, then president of Rwanda, and Cyprien Ntaryamira, president of neighbouring Burundi, were killed in a rocket attack on their plane at Kigali airport in 1994. The attack triggered the Rwandan genocide, in which Hutu armed groups and soldiers killed 800,000 minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The widows had sought $350m in damages, arguing that Kagame, leader of the Tutsi rebel group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front, had ordered the assassination of their Hutu husbands. The lawsuit was filed in Oklahoma in April 2010 during a visit by Kagame to speak at the graduation of 10 Rwandan students at Oklahoma Christian University. The plaintiffs had argued the lawsuit against Kagame should go ahead, citing the US Supreme Court's 1997 ruling in Clinton v Jones that the sexual harassment suit against President Bill Clinton could proceed while he was still in office. "We are pleased that we were able to win this matter on the long-standing doctrine of head of state immunity," said defence attorney Pierre-Richard Prosper, who served as a war crimes prosecutor for the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda from 1996 to 1998. "We are confident, however, that had we been forced to address this matter on the merits we would have prevailed," Prosper said in a statement by his law firm, Arent Fox. The Rwandan genocide ended after 100 days when Kagame's group seized control of the country. ### Rights groups fear DR Congo poll violence (Al Jazeera) http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/10/201110295055865324.html 29 October 2011 Human rights groups have accused presidential candidates of creating a "climate of fear" in the Democratic Republic of Congo as campaigning got underway for presidential and legislative elections. Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a statement on Friday calling on candidates to refrain from inciting violence a day after 73 local and international rights groups signed an open letter to presidential candidates calling for calm and an end to "hate speech" ahead of the November 28 vote.

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"Candidates who incite violence could provoke a bloody election campaign, and judicial authorities need to step in to stop it, Anneke van Woudenber, senior Africa researcher at HRW, said. "Anyone aspiring to government office should also recognise the grave dangers of using hate speech." HRW said that since March, local human rights organisations had documented "dozens of instances across the country of apparent ethnic hate speech, ethnic slurs and incitement to violence by political candidates". "In some cases, we have documented candidates or their supporters inciting gangs, youth, the unemployed or members of armed groups to use violence and intimidation against their opponents." Prone to violence Ida Sawyer, HRW's DRC Researcher and Advocate, told Al Jazeera that the capital Kinshasa had already seen some violence and that "there are fears that the violence may get worse as the campaign period continues, as well as after the results are announced". "The use of hate speech and incitement to violence by candidates and their supporters only intensifies the tensions that already exist, and makes the possibility of a bloody campaign period and aftermath more likely" "The use of hate speech and incitement to violence by candidates and their supporters only intensifies the tensions that already exist, and makes the possibility of a bloody campaign period and aftermath more likely," Sawyer said. "I would consider Kinshasa to be the most volatile in the lead-up to elections and after results are announced. Bas Congo, Kasai Orientale, Katanga, and South Kivu are other places to look out for". Joseph Kabila, the country's president, who has ruled the country since the assassination of his father Laurent in 2001, has been forceful about his chances of returning to power in comments to journalists. His aides say he will tour all 11 of the provinces making up the vast country four times the size of France, where 32 million people are eligible to vote. But Kabila also promised he would stand aside in the event of defeat. His main rival, veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, will early next week start his campaign in the troubled east of the country, still prone to violence after wars that devastated the DR Congo between 1996 and 2003.

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There are 11 candidates for the presidency and nearly 19,000 candidates are in the running for the 500 parliamentary seats. The electoral commission, helped by MONUSCO, the UN stabilisation mission in the country, will have the task of distributing 186,000 voting boxes and 64 million voting cards to 62,000 voting stations. In early September, MONUSCO released a statement calling for constructive dialogue to promote peaceful elections" and "deplored the wave of violent incidents" that occurred in August and early September. Logistical constraints In a huge country that has few good roads and relies on river and air transport, while also still seeing regular attacks from armed groups in the east, that will be a massive logistical challenge. Violent clashes between opposition activists and the police have also been frequent ahead of the official launch of campaigning. Police have regularly broken up rallies by the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) and their supporters who have called for a free and fair electoral process. One activist has been shot dead, others injured and many others arrested. The signatories to the letter addressed to the presidential candidates, including ActionAid and the Eastern Congo Initiative (ECI), have documented cases of candidates and supporters using ethnic slurs against opponents. "We are deeply concerned by such tactics," the letter said. Last week, Congolese police fired tear gas to disperse opposition supporters. The same day, the US think-tank The Carter Center said Kinshasa had to take action to ensure the credibility of the polls. The group, founded by former US President Jimmy Carter, urged the Congolese government to "take rapid and convincing steps to ensure the transparency and credibility of the voter register." The group "also noted that serious incidents of intimidation and violence have occurred during campaigning" and said political players must be aware of the potential consequences of a flawed election. ### Kenya air raid targets al-Shabab militants in Somalia (BBC) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15513430 30 October 2011

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At least nine people have been killed and 50 wounded in a Kenyan air raid targeting alShabab militants in southern Somalia. A Kenyan military spokesman told the BBC the planes had targeted the outskirts of the town of Jilib. He said 10 fighters of the al-Qaeda-linked Islamist group had been killed and dismissed reports of civilian deaths as "al-Shabab propaganda". Kenyan forces have moved across the Somalia border to target the group. The country blames al-Shabab for frequent assaults on its security forces in the border province of North Eastern as well as a spate of kidnappings. "We received intelligence that a top al-Shabab leader was to visit a camp in Jilib so we conducted an air raid," Kenya army spokesman Maj Emmanuel Chirchir told the BBC. "Confirmation from the human intelligence is that 10 al-Shabab fighters were killed and 47 others wounded," he added. He said that no civilian camp had been attacked. Earlier reports said that displaced civilians had been killed in the raid. "This is all al-Shabab propaganda," he said. The hardline al-Shabab group, which controls much of southern Somalia, denies carrying out kidnappings and has warned Kenya to withdraw its troops from Somalia or face bloody battles. The Islamist group is locked in a battle with the transitional government for control of parts of the country currently outside of is power, particularly in the capital Mogadishu. The government controls very little territory, but does have several militant groups around the country it regards as allies, and it is backed by the international community. ### Libya: Gaddafi son Saif al-Islam says he is innocent (BBC) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15503638 29 October 2011 Saif al-Islam - the son of slain ex-Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi - says he is innocent of crimes against humanity, an international prosecutor has said. The International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said talks with Saif al-Islam had been held through intermediaries.
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The ICC says Gaddafi's son, accused of crimes during the recent conflict in Libya, would get a fair trial. Saif al-Islam, aged 39, has been in hiding for months. Recent reports claimed the man, who had once been the presumed successor to his father, was in a convoy heading toward Libya's desert border with Niger, where other Gaddafi allies have fled. But those reports have not been confirmed, and the ICC says it does not know where he is. Prosecutor's fears Mr Moreno-Ocampo told Reuters that the contacts with Saif al-Islam were through intermediaries, without revealing their identity. "There are some people connected with him that in touch with people connected with us, so we have no direct relation," the prosecutor said. He added: "But we trust very much the person who is in touch for our side. He says he (Saif al-Islam) is innocent, he will prove he is innocent, and then he is interested in the consequence after that." Mr Moreno-Ocampo earlier expressed fears that Saif al-Islam might decide against surrendering to the ICC and try to escape to a friendly country with the help of mercenaries. The ICC denies that any kind of deal is being arranged with Saif al-Islam, stressing that the goal of the talks is to ensure an arrest warrant is carried out. An ICC arrest warrant issued for Saif al-Islam in June accuses him of murder and persecution. The document claims that he played an essential part in systematic attacks on civilians in various Libyan cities carried out by Gaddafi's security forces in February. Mr Moreno-Ocampo said the ICC had learnt "through informal channels" that mercenaries were offering to move Saif al-Islam to a country that has not signed up to the ICC's Rome statute. Reports say Zimbabwe is a likely final destination for Saif al-Islam if he chooses to flee from the ICC. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe was a long-time ally of Muammar Gaddafi.
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ICC difficulties The ICC has no police force of its own, but member countries are legally bound to enforce its warrants. Advertisement Sir Geoffrey Nice QC: "What happens to Saif al-Islam shouldn't really be subject to behind-the-scenes deals" However, the credibility of the court has been called into question in recent years in Africa. Many of the continent's governments have argued that the ICC disproportionately focuses on crimes in their countries. Those claims have led the African Union to advise its members that they should no longer feel bound by the ICC's rules. Member countries including Malawi, Chad and Kenya have all defied the court by failing to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who has a long-standing arrest warrant against him. The warrant issued against Saif al-Islam came alongside warrants for intelligence chief Abdullah al-Sanussi, who is still believed to be on the run, and Muammar Gaddafi. The former Libyan leader, who was deposed in August after six months of civil conflict, died from gunshot wounds last week after fierce fighting in the city of Sirte. The National Transitional Council (NTC) is now overseeing political reform intended to lead to national elections within eight months. ###

The SSLA has warned United Nations staff and aid workers to leave Unity State (BBC) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15507138 29 October 2011 Rebels from the South Sudan Liberation Army have attacked a town in the oil-rich Unity State and at least 75 people have died, the national army has said. Among the dead, nine were soldiers, 15 were civilians and at least 50 were rebels, an army spokesman told the BBC.

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South Sudan became independent in July after a peace deal with Khartoum that ended decades of civil war. Afterwards, some of the region's rebel movements struck deals with the government but several remain defiant. 'Corruption' Both sides produced widely differing accounts of the number of casualties after the attack in Unity State, which happened in the early hours of the morning. The SSLA say that they killed more than 700 soldiers in the attack. Rebels' claims that they are now in control of town of Mayom have been dismissed by locals and officials. On Friday, rebels from the South Sudan Liberation Army (SSLA) warned United Nations staff and aid workers to leave the state. This warning has now been extended to the nearby Warrup state. South Sudan's enemy within The rebels say they are fighting against corruption, underdevelopment and the domination of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, the former rebels who now run South Sudan. They are also angered by what they believe is the domination of the Dinka ethnic group. Most of the SSLA are from the Nuer ethnic group, the second biggest in South Sudan. The BBC's James Copnall, in Khartoum, says that the SSLA's rebellion is particularly sensitive because of its location as most of South Sudan's oilfields - which account for 98% of the new country's revenue - are in Unity State. South Sudan's independence from Sudan was the outcome of a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of conflict between north and south in which some 1.5 million people died. ### South Sudan rebels launch deadly attack near border (Al Jazeera) http://www.france24.com/en/20111029-south-sudan-rebels-deadly-attack-border-mayomunity-state-jang 29 October 2011 REUTERS - Rebels in South Sudan attacked a town in an oil-producing state on Saturday, killing 15 people, including nine soldiers, and wounding 18, officials said, in the latest violence in Africa's newest nation.

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South Sudan became independent in July after a 2005 peace deal with Khartoum that ended decades of civil war, but the new nation has been struggling to end tribal and rebel violence that has killed around 3,000 people this year. Rebels loyal to Matthew Pul Jang and other militia leaders attacked Mayom in the west of the oil-producing Unity State, Unity Information Minister Gideon Gatpan Thoar told Reuters. "We got attacked in Mayom town today by the militias from 6 to 7 a.m. The militia attacked the town, killed 15 and wounded 18," Thoar said. "More than 60 militiamen were killed." Army spokesman Philip Aguer said: "It was indiscriminate, they didn't differentiate between civilians and the army. The killing included a doctor." The rebels could not immediately be reached for comment. Violence threatens to turn South Sudan into a failed state, undermining the stability of its east African neighbours. Several rebel militias are fighting government forces in remote parts of the country, which is roughly the size of France. South Sudan has accused Khartoum of supporting militias but the north denies this, and many rebels say they are fighting against what they see as corruption and ethnic discrimination in the south's government, charges Juba denies. ### Africa warming up to Africom after initial resistance (The Sunday independent) No link available. Transcribed from hard copy. 30 October 2011 By Peter Fabricius The US feels it has now largely overcome the suspicions of African governments about the creation of an Africa Command (Africom) for its military forces three years ago. Anthony Holmes, Africoms deputy commander, acknowledged in Pretoria on Friday that the US government had "stupidly" proposed originally to establish the Africom headquarters in Africa. But after hitting a "firestorm" of resistance from African governments, the US had quickly withdrawn this idea and decided instead to headquarter Africom with its European Command in Stuttgart, Germany. Holmes said in an interview that the US had no plans whatsoever to move Africom from Stuttgart.
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The idea of creating an Africom came partly from criticism by African governments that the US military had dedicated commands for other regions but that Africa was split among three separate other commands, he said. An even greater factor was the realization, after the al-Qaeda bombings of the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam in August 1998, that it needed to pay greater attention to Africa because of the growing threats to its own national security emanating from the continent. Though he acknowledged the mistake Americas "big strategists" had made in believing it was logical to locate this new Africa Command in Africa, Holmes said there were also huge misunderstandings on the African side about what the US intended with Africom. This included wide perception that it was trying to use it to get combat troops on the ground in Africa where it has no troops on the ground, only strategists and planners and civilians. He himself is a civilian diplomat. However, perceptions had now largely changed. African countries, including South Africa which had been one of the most vocal critics, had looked hard at what Africom had been doing and had found no hidden agenda, he believed. "I think what they see is very reassuring, that we are what we say we are and that we operate as we say we operate ... that everything we do in these exercises and engagement reflects common interests. The bottom line is that the US has concluded that its own national security interests in Africa are best served by the development of the human and institutional capacity of Africa to provide for its own security." Holmes noted too that all the through South Africas criticism of Africom three years ago, the US and South Africa had continued with military-to-military cooperation. Africom has been mostly active north of the equator since then, though its latest operation is the deployment of special forces to help the Ugandan and neighboring militaries hunt down the Lord's Resistance Army which is terrorizing civilians. Holmes said another big concern was the growing ties between al-Qaeda in the Maghreb (AQIM) and the Nigerian jihadist group Boko Haram. He noted that since October 2010 there had been several bombings by Boko Haram "that reflect what we know to be growing ties, training, and affiliation between Boko Haram and the AQIM as AQIM seeks to spread jihad and Boko Haram seeks to acquire additional means to fight the Nigerian government." Holmes had described in a recent speech how the US has a political programme in West Africa called the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Programme, with a military part called Operation Enduring Freedom Trans-Sahara run by Africom.

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"Through that we try to assist the militaries of the member states to increase their ability over time to deal with these threats themselves." Likewise off the African shore, Holmes said the US was helping African countries to help themselves. One programme was called African Partnership Station through which the US has sent frigates on training missions to both the east and west coasts of Africa. These engaged in joint exercises and training with 26 African nations, 10 European nations and Brazil, helping the African countries to work together to tackle problems such as illegal fishing and drug trafficking. The main object of these missions was "maritime domain awareness", Holmes said, "because until just a few years ago the vast majority of African countries did not have a clue what was happening in their own territorial waters, much less their economic exclusion zones. "Nor do most of them yet have in place the requisite legal and law enforcement infrastructure to deal, in a formal, legal sense, with illegal fishing for narcotic trafficking." These programmes were "snowballing", because co-operating with the US military offshore was less threatening and because the African governments recognized the weakness in their own maritime capacities. "And virtually every African country with a coastline is either producing or exploring for hydrocarbons and so they understand the stakes," Holmes said. ### NATO's Success in Libya (New York Times) http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/31/opinion/31iht-eddaalder31.html 31 October 2011 By IVO H. DAALDER AND JAMES G. STAVRIDIS Monday, Oct. 31st, seven months after it started, NATOs operation in Libya will come to an end. It is the first time NATO has ended an operation it started. And it comes on the heels of an historic victory for the people of Libya who, with NATOs help, transformed their country from an international pariah into a nation with the potential to become a productive partner with the West. Seven months ago, the Libyan people were under threat and attack by the armed gangs commanded by Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, the strongman who had brutally ruled Libya for 42 years. Within 10 days of the U.N. Security Council voting a resolution mandating the protection of Libyas civilians, policing of a no-flight zone, and prevention of illicit arms transfers by air and sea, NATO took command of a significant force of dozens of ships and hundreds of airplanes and
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commenced military operations. NATOs success was swift saving tens of thousands of Libyan lives, grounding Qaddhafis air force, and watching Libyas coast. This was a true alliance effort. The United States played a leading role, first by taking out Libyas integrated air defense system, then by providing the critical enablers that allowed other NATO countries and partners to shoulder their significant share of the burden. Meanwhile the U.S. provided the vast majority of the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets to monitor Qaddafis forces and equipment threatening civilians, the targeters that turned this information into targets for NATO forces to strike, and the aerial refueling that enabled our partners to stay up long enough to locate and destroy those targets. The crucial and irreplaceable U.S. contribution to the overall effort was to enable other allies and partners to fully participate in the operation. In all, 14 NATO members and 4 partner countries provided naval and air forces for NATOs three missions. Together, these 18 countries bore the heaviest brunt of the alliance effort. While U.S. planes flew a quarter of all sorties over Libya, France and Britain flew one third of all missions most of them strikes and the remaining participants flew roughly 40 percent. The non-U.S. NATO and coalition partners flew 75 percent of the sorties overall. Ten years earlier, in NATOs war in Kosovo, the United States was responsible for dropping 90 percent of all precision-guided munitions, with other allies responsible for the remaining 10 percent. In this operation, the percentages were reversed: Allies struck 90 percent of the more than 6,000 targets destroyed in Libya. And they did so with a precision that is historically unprecedented. Importantly, this was a collective effort. France and Britain played an extraordinary part in the operation, leading the pack in providing air and naval assets and striking over 40 percent of all targets. Italy, too, made an outstanding contribution. Not only was it the fourth largest contributor to the strike mission, it was an indispensable host to hundreds of aircraft at seven airbases. Smaller allies also punched above their weight. Denmark and Norway together destroyed as many targets as Britain; Denmark, Norway, and Belgium dropped as many bombs as France. Canada, too, was part of the strikers coalition. And Spain, the Netherlands, Turkey, Greece and Romania played useful parts, enforcing the no-flight zone and arms embargo at sea. Those NATO members that didnt contribute forces still supported the operation by staffing the command structure; not one of the 28 members balked at the challenge. Even Sweden, not a NATO member, was a crucial partner, contributing its own naval and air forces. This wasnt just a NATO success, let alone a Western intervention. NATO acted only after it was clear that it had broad-based regional support, including from the Transitional National Council and the Arab League, which requested the intervention. Four key Arab partners the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan and Morocco participated in the
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effort. And it acted on the basis of a clear U.N. mandate, which authorized taking the necessary measures to protect Libyan civilians. As Operation Unified Protector comes to a close, the alliance and its partners can look back at an extraordinary job, well done. Most of all, they can see in the gratitude of the Libyan people that the use of limited force precisely applied can affect real, positive political change. And as the alliance ends its operations, NATO remains committed to Libyas future, ready to help as needed and requested. Every operation offers lessons to be learned. The Libya operation exposed some shortfalls in allied capabilities, and highlighted the importance of allied commitments to addressing these shortfalls. It also made clear the need for like-minded partners around the world. Moreover, the operations success rested on a set of unique circumstances. A brutal dictator who had decided to inflict murder and mayhem rather than step aside provided a demonstrable need for outside intervention. Strong regional support, from the opposition and the Arab League, ensured that any intervention would be welcomed. And the U.N. mandate provided a sound legal basis for action. Demonstrable need. Regional support. A sound legal basis. These are what made intervention necessary. NATO is what made successful intervention possible. ### END REPORT

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