AFRICOM Related News Clips 1 September 2011

8/4/2019 AFRICOM Related News Clips 1 September 2011

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/africom-related-news-clips-1-september-2011 1/29

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

United States Africa CommandPublic Affairs Office81 September 2011

USAFRICOM - related news stories

Good morning. Please find attached news clips related to U.S. Africa Command for September 1,2011, along with upcoming events of interest.

Of interest in today's news clips: Time Magazine explores Boko Haram‘s Al Qaeda ties and

BBC covers the role of ethnic Berbers in North Africa‘s Arab Spring.

From the continent, an opinion piece in Johannesburg‘s Mail and Guardian characterizes South

Africa‘s new approach to foreign policy as lacking, ―a clear sense of leadership and purpose

about the country's place in Africa and the world,‖ and the Wall Street Journal reports that SouthAfrica has declined an invitation to attend today‘s Libya confer ence in Paris. Additionally, acommentary from Namibia‘s New Era calls AFRICOM a new security threat and another fromthe Sudan Tribune warns Southern Sudan to be wary of military cooperation with the West.

Finally, BBC reports that the NTC has ―rejected the idea of deploying any kind of internationalmilitary force‖ to Libya, AFP analyses the impact of former Libyan mercenaries returning totheir homes in the Sahel and the Atlantic provides insight into the Libyan war from theperspective of Tuareg mercenaries.

Provided in text format for remote reading. Links work more effectively when this message isviewed as in HTML format.

U.S. Africa Command Public AffairsPlease send questions or comments to:[email protected] 421-2687 (+49-711-729-2687)

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

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

Nigeria's Boko Haram: Al-Qaeda's New Friend in Africa? (Time)

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2091137,00.html By Karen Leigh31 August 2011 - When a suicide bomber drove into the U.N. building in Abuja's leafydiplomatic quarter on Friday, detonating his Honda Accord and killing at least 18 people, anIslamist terrorist group that was little known outside Nigeria violently thrust itself onto theinternational stage.

mailto:[email protected]


http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2091137,00.html







South Africa's foreign policy stuck in the doldrums (Mail & Guardian, Johannesburg)

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-08-29-south-africas-foreign-policy-stuck-in-the-doldrums By: Mzukisi Qobo31 August 2011 - When a government department announces a policy white paper it creates anexpectation that a fundamental policy shift is on the horizon…. But this is not so with the new

white paper on South Africa's foreign policy developed by the department of internationalrelations and co-operation.

South Africa Skips Libyan Conference (Wall Street Journal)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904583204576542121338768308.html By: Patrick McGroarty31 August 2011 - JOHANNESBURG — South Africa has declined a French invitation to attendThursday's conference in Paris on Libya's reconstruction, the latest sign of Pretoria's frustrationwith the international recognition that has been extended to rebels the country didn't support.

Kenya post-election violence: ICC rejects appeal (BBC)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14721715 By: Unattributed Author31 August 2011 - The International Criminal Court has rejected an appeal by Kenya'sgovernment to stop it putting on trial six people accused of links to 2008 post-election violence.

Flying the flag for North Africa's 'Berber spring' (BBC)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14650257 By: Sylvia Smith31 August 2011 – While there has been much talk of the Arab spring, ethnic Berbers haveplayed a key role in the changes sweeping through North Africa, which is leading to greaterrecognition for their culture and language.

Security threat called AFRICOM (New Era, Windhoek, Namibia) http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?title=Security_threat_called_AFRICOM&articleid=40385 By: Kamati kaTate31 August 2011 – AFRICOM, standing for Africa Command, was established by blood coveredformer US President George W. Bush and his Secretary of Defence Robert Gates.

South Sudan Must Be Wary of the West Military Cooperation (Sudan Tribune)

http://allafrica.com/stories/201108290370.html By: Isaiah Abraham26 August 2011 - Lessons elsewhere have shown over and again that somewhere the Westinterest override ordinary interest of the host country and this in a way makes any cooperation(especially military) with the West a very tall decision for everyone to jump into.

Libya's interim leaders reject UN military personnel (BBC)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14726292 By: Unattributed Author

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-08-29-south-africas-foreign-policy-stuck-in-the-doldrums


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904583204576542121338768308.html


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14721715




http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?title=Security_threat_called_AFRICOM&articleid=40385



http://allafrica.com/stories/201108290370.html















31 August 2011 – Libya's interim leadership has rejected the idea of deploying any kind of international military force, the UN envoy to the country has said.

Hundreds of returning Tuaregs alarm Mali, Niger (AFP)

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jOxPyZiQuQma3iET_HNy8ipehmiw?d

ocId=CNG.5ff3f4fb659e435824af983bc4f58339.b1 By: Unattributed Author30 August 2011 - GAO, Mali - Hundreds of armed Tuaregs from Mali and Niger who fought fortoppled Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi have started to return to their home nations, securitysources said, raising fears of conflict.

Former Qaddafi Mercenaries Describe Fighting in Libyan War (The Atlantic)

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/08/former-qaddafi-mercenaries-describe-fighting-in-libyan-war/244356/?single_page=true By: Unattributed Author31 August 2011 - Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of ethnic Tuaregs left Mali to fight for

Muammar Qaddafi. Now, some are returning home to tell their story.

France defends Libyan ex-jihadi rebel commander (AFP)

http://www.expatica.com/fr/news/french-news/france-defends-libyan-ex-jihadi-rebel-commander_172553.html By: Unattributed Author31 August 2011 - President Nicolas Sarkozy's office defended on Wednesday a Libyan rebelcommander who once reportedly led a jihadi group with ties to Al Qaeda, insisting Libya'srevolution is not led by Islamists.

###

UN News Service Africa Briefs

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

(Full Articles on UN Website)Security Council voices concern over maritime piracy in West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea

30 August – The Security Council today voiced concern over increasing maritime piracy, armedrobbery and reports of hostage-taking in the Gulf of Guinea, saying the crimes were having anadverse impact on security, trade and other economic activities in the sub-region.

Over 200,000 could face catastrophe in Sudanese state as Government bars aid – UN

30 August – More than 200,000 people affected by recent fighting in Sudan‘s Southern Kordofan

state face potentially catastrophic levels of malnutrition and mortality after the Government‘s

refusal to let aid agencies replenish stocks and deploy personnel, the United Nations warnedtoday.

UN re-assesses security threats in wake of deadly attack in Nigerian capital

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jOxPyZiQuQma3iET_HNy8ipehmiw?docId=CNG.5ff3f4fb659e435824af983bc4f58339.b1



http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/08/former-qaddafi-mercenaries-describe-fighting-in-libyan-war/244356/?single_page=true



http://www.expatica.com/fr/news/french-news/france-defends-libyan-ex-jihadi-rebel-commander_172553.html















30 August – The United Nations will soon conduct a global threat review in the wake of thedeadly attack against the UN compound in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, which has claimed thelives of at least 23 people, according to Government reports.

UN refugee agency to airlift aid into Somalia for Eid al-Fitr holiday

30 August – The United Nations refugee agency today said it will airlift 240 tons of aid fromSaudi Arabia to Somalia during the Eid al-Fitr holiday to ensure that those facing the severe foodcrisis in the Horn of Africa country have enough to eat during the special occasion, which marksthe end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.

International Criminal Court case against Kenyan officials to proceed

30 August – The International Criminal Court (ICC) today dismissed an appeal by the KenyanGovernment to throw out the cases against six high-ranking national officials, including a deputyprime minister, two ministers and a police chief, for possible crimes against humanity in post-electoral violence more than three years ago.###

UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

1 SEPT 2011

WHEN: September 1, 2011, 5:45 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.WHAT: The Long Shadow of 9/11: America ‘s Response to Terrorism WHO: Brian Michael Jenkins, Senior Adviser to the President of RANDWHERE: RAND Corporation, 1776 Main St. , Santa Monica , CACONTACT: [email protected]. <mailto:[email protected].> Media contact:http://www.rand.org/events/2011/09/01.html <http://www.rand.org/events/2011/09/01.html>

8 SEPT 2011

WHEN: September 8, 2011, 12:00 – 1:30 p.m.WHAT: Ten Years Later – Public Diplomacy and the Arab World, Center on Public Diplomacyat the Annenberg School , Conversations in Public DiplomacyWHO: Several Panelists (see website)WHERE: USC; Tutor Campus Center ForumCONTACT: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Media contact:http://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/index.php/events/events_detail/16973/ <http://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/index.php/events/events_detail/16973/ >

WHEN: September 8, 2011, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.WHAT: Woodrow Wilson Center Discussion on "Sudan: From the CPA to Separation." WHO:Tim McKulka, UNMISS; Jok Madut Jok; and Nureldin Satti, UNESCO Representative inEthiopia, Djibouti, the African Union and IGAD.WHERE: WWC, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, 5th floorCONTACT: 202-691-4000; web site: www.wilsoncenter.org




mailto:[email protected].

http://www.rand.org/events/2011/09/01.html







http://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/index.php/events/events_detail/16973/



http://www.wilsoncenter.org/










mailto:[email protected].





WHEN: September 8, 2011, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.WHAT: Center for a New American Security (CNAS) Book Discussion on ―Counterstrike: TheUntold Story of America‘s Secret Campaign Against al Qaeda.‖ WHO: Eric Schmitt and ThomShanker, New York Times national security reporters and Steve Inskeep, host of NPR‘s Morning

Edition.WHERE: Willard InterContinental Hotel, 1401 Pennsylvania AvenueCONTACT: www.cnas.org

20 SEPT 2011

WHEN: September 20, 2011, 12:00 p.m.WHAT: Pakistan , the U.S. and Public Diplomacy with Consul General Riffat Masood CPDConversations in Public DiplomacyWHO: Riffat Masood, the Consul General of Pakistan

WHERE: USC; SOS B40CONTACT : [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Media contact:http://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/index.php/events/events_detail/17070/ <http://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/index.php/events/events_detail/17070/ >

###-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Full Text

Nigeria's Boko Haram: Al-Qaeda's New Friend in Africa? (Time)

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2091137,00.html By Karen Leigh31 August 2011

When a suicide bomber drove into the U.N. building in Abuja's leafy diplomatic quarter onFriday, detonating his Honda Accord and killing at least 18 people, an Islamist terrorist groupthat was little known outside Nigeria violently thrust itself onto the international stage.

Until recently, the group Boko Haram has conducted attacks on Nigerian government targets inwhat most terrorism experts considered an indigenous campaign to further the organization's aimof installing Islamic law in West Africa's most volatile country. Friday's attack now has officialsand experts worrying that a branch of al-Qaeda has spread its influence to Nigeria, Africa's mostpopulous country and a key supplier of oil for the U.S. and the world market. Though noevidence of a partnership has been established, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), theterrorist giant's arm in northwest Africa, has previously issued statements in support of BokoHaram. (See a photo gallery of the bombing in Nigeria.)

Even before the bombing, U.S. military officials were growing anxious about possible linksbetween Boko and established Islamist terrorist groups. Carter Ham, the U.S. military'scommander of operations in Africa, told the Associated Press on April 17 that multiple unnamed





















http://www.cnas.org/





















sources indicated that Boko Haram had made contact with operatives from AQIM and with theSomali terrorist group al-Shabab.

"I think it would be the most dangerous thing to happen not only to the Africans, but to us aswell," Ham said. "What is most worrying at present is, at least in my view, a clearly stated intent

by Boko Haram and by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb to coordinate and synchronize theirefforts. I'm not so sure they're able to do that just yet, but it's clear to me they have the desire andintent to do that." Ham also touched on what he said could be a "loose" partnership with al-Shabab, which would mean Boko Haram's reach extends thousands of miles across the Africancontinent.

A partnership between Boko Haram and AQIM, which operates in close proximity to Nigeria inMauritania, Mali, Niger and Algeria, could explain the increased sophistication of recent BokoHaram attacks, including the use of Friday's car bomb. It could also mean an increase in cashflow for Boko Haram, which currently makes most of its money through taxes and by robbingbanks throughout the Muslim northern half of the country. Heightened fear about an al-Qaeda

link comes as religious tension explodes in already-tense central Nigeria. On Monday, Aug. 29,there were deadly clashes between bands of machete-wielding Christian and Muslim youths inthe town of Jos, long a center of violence between northern Muslims and southern Christians.

The benefits for Boko Haram in teaming up with AQIM might be an influx of money andexpertise — but also an international profile that would give it credibility as it attempts to recruitmore followers and further scare a nervous Nigerian government. "AQIM sits on a fairly largesupply of money, as well as explosives. There's a possibility that a relationship between themcould open up access for the Boko," says Andrew Lebovich, a policy analyst for the NationalSecurity Studies Program at the New America Foundation, who specializes in studying AQIM."People have been talking about [the U.N. attack] as a coming out, as a sign to al-Qaeda that theywere looking for a merger," he says. (See a photo gallery of Osama bin Laden's Legacy.)

Despite a steady stream of attacks on Nigerian government targets since 2009 — including aJune bombing of Abuja's police headquarters, which left five dead — "they staged an attack onthe U.N. and they got more coverage than ever," says Lebovich. "So there's a logic."

An alliance would have a corresponding benefit for al-Qaeda, which has made the southernexpansion of its African operation a priority since Algeria — its former major target — begancracking down on the group in 2008. A partnership with the efficient Boko Haram could perhapsgive AQIM a foothold in one of Africa's most important, volatile countries. "They don't get asmuch recognition from international jihad groups because they haven't really engaged in large-scale operations, and because they haven't attacked Europe — so many are still suspicious of how effective they are," Lebovich says. "This would be a way of solidifying their place withinal-Qaeda." (See pictures of a jihadist's journey.)

Although Boko Haram's exact size is hard to pinpoint, it likely has around several thousandsupporters and at least 300 militant members who are available for armed actions, says Dr. PeterLewis, director of the African-studies program at the School of Advanced International Studiesat Johns Hopkins University. In 2009, Nigerian security forcefully destroyed the group's




Maiduguri compound and killed its then leader Mohammed Yusuf. After months of dormancy,Boko Haram returned to the spotlight in September 2010, pledging to avenge Yusuf's death.

It's unlikely that even with an al-Qaeda tie, Boko Haram would take the fight against thegovernment beyond Nigeria's borders. "They indicate they'll remain within Nigeria," Lebovich

says. In a call to the BBC on Friday, a Boko Haram spokesman "justified the attack in partbecause he said the U.N. was one of the international organizations that supported the Nigeriangovernment, so it's still a Nigeria-focused argument."

But the global terrorism community will now be watching the group's every move, especially forevidence that it might be morphing into a new branch of a terrorist group that has so far had littleimpact in non-Arab West Africa. If Nigerian security forces start seeing proterrorism propagandaand Boko Haram operatives working in neighboring countries like Mali and Mauritania, thenwhat is currently fearful speculation would be replaced, Lebovich says, by "concrete evidence of a partnership." Nasser Weddady, outreach director at the American Islamic Congress, cautionsthat the speculation is not just idle chatter. Friday's bombing "is a wake-up call to Nigeria to get

its act together."

###

South Africa's foreign policy stuck in the doldrums (Mail & Guardian, Johannesburg)

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-08-29-south-africas-foreign-policy-stuck-in-the-doldrums By: Mzukisi Qobo31 August 2011

When a government department announces a policy white paper it creates an expectation that afundamental policy shift is on the horizon. As such, it should offer bold ideas about new policydirections.

But this is not so with the new white paper on South Africa's foreign policy developed by thedepartment of international relations and co-operation. One of its fundamental shortcomings isan absence of a clear sense of leadership and purpose about the country's place in Africa and theworld.

However, its publication should be welcomed, especially because it opens up an important spacefor the public to scrutinise the department's work. Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, minister of international relations and co-operation, has been promising to deliver this policy framework since March last year when she gave her first budget speech. Now that it has finally beendelivered, what should we make of it?

With the exception of a few areas such as the Southern African Development PartnershipAgency, aimed at managing South Africa's development co-operation and humanitarianassistance, and the proposed instruments for engaging civil society stakeholders, much of thewhite paper is old wine in new bottles. It essentially regurgitates the old pillars of foreign policy,such as the centrality of the African continent, South-South relations, North-South relations, andthe promotion of multilateralism and global governance reforms.







Beyond this, the white paper suffers weaknesses in five other important areas. First, its preambleannounces a new "diplomacy of ubuntu", but this fizzles out and is not discussed again in thepaper except for a passing reference to it in the conclusion. There are no solid ideas orcompelling substance that define this new diplomacy.

Second, in its opening paragraphs, the paper makes an unsubstantiated claim that South Africa'sforeign policy is aligned with its domestic and developmental needs. One would be hard-pressedto find any serious attempt to demonstrate convincingly how this is so, except to offer a cursoryreference to South Africa's socioeconomic profile. There is not even a single line devoted to thenew growth path, which is South Africa's flagship development plan. At least, the departmentshould have set out unambiguously its distinct contribution to promoting economic development.

Fundamentally, the paper fails to project a clear purpose for South Africa's foreign policy or tounveil new instruments and tools that would lend strong meaning to the alignment betweenforeign policy and key domestic priorities. Even where mention is made of the need to promote

economic diplomacy, this is not coherently developed. For example, it does not frame anyoutline on how the government and business could work together best to leverage advantagesfrom existing political relations with key African countries. Nor does it reveal any strategies forextracting maximum benefits from the continent's changing commercial landscape for SouthAfrica's own economic advancement.

National interestThird, the paper offers a convoluted definition of national interest. It includes almost everythingunder the sun, such as "ensuring the prosperity of the country, its region and continent" as wellas "promoting the wellbeing, development and upliftment of its [South African] people".

This does not make any meaningful connection between society and the rarefied foreign-policyelite. Such thinking confirms how out of touch our foreign policy is with domestic realities.There should have been a recognition of the need for a meaningful dialogue at the national level,cutting across different sectors, including government agencies and business actors, to definehow South Africa should evolve a more precise definition of its interests and how these could bebest advanced.

Fourth, a prioritisation of the countries that South Africa needs to deepen relations with is absent.Not every country is important to South Africa. The ubiquitous nature of South Africa's foreignpolicy is further evidence of the lack of focus and clear and specific objectives the countryshould seek to achieve.

The paper restates the importance of bilateral commitments with Asia, the Middle East andEurope, and with the Americas and the Caribbean, which, in a sense, is a way of manufacturing arationale for committing resources to pursue vague foreign policy goals.

Proper foreign policy prioritisation would allow for the resizing of diplomatic missions andensure greater fiscal efficiency. Also it would facilitate an optimal reallocation of resources to




priority areas to realise greater benefits for the welfare of South African citizens and itseconomic actors.

It is no longer tenable to maintain a corpulent diplomatic structure in the face of massivedomestic challenges. The department's work should be forced to contribute to advancing

domestic socioeconomic priorities. It should justify its work on the basis of this. Harderquestions should be asked about the department's value-add, especially to demonstrate theconcrete benefits it generates. If this white paper had aimed to achieve just that, it would havebeen impressive.

Finally, the absence of purpose and ideas in the document is aggravated by the missing substanceof South African leadership on the continent. The paper passes the buck on dealing with globalor African challenges, deferring to consensual arrangements with other African countries ormultilateralism. There is no projection of South Africa's leadership edge or a distinctly SouthAfrican agenda in the country's pursuit of African relations aimed at benefiting other Africancountries.

Instead, South Africa's foreign policy is worryingly deferential to other African countries, someof which are run by autocrats and phoney democrats. South Africa's lack of ambition to play aleadership role on the continent deprives it of an opportunity to reinforce its values of democracyand human rights in its dealings with other African leaders. South Africa does not even tie thesevalues as preconditions for developmental assistance.

The apologetic nature of its foreign policy explains why President Jacob Zuma angrilyconfronted the ANC Youth League for pointing out obvious deficiencies of democracy in someof the smaller countries in the region. South Africa is more comfortable indulging dictators thanplaying the kind of leadership role that is required to steer its region and the continent in the rightdirection.

Continuity, rather than bold repositioning, is a theme that runs through the entire white paper. Itis a 36-page document with more than 36 assertions such as "South Africa will continue …"Each page reminds us that things will stay the same. The rhetoric has just changed its inflection.Anyone who expects to see new ideas under Nkoana-Mashabane is sure to be disappointed.

The government should have used the white paper to hone "smart power", the term coined byinternational relations scholar Joseph Nye Jnr in his book, The Future of Power. Nye says thatcountries using smart power have "the ability to combine hard and soft power resources intoeffective strategies", and this is achieved with well-designed strategies and skilful leadership.

South Africa's foreign policy should be calculated to produce desired outcomes and benefits forthe country, especially on the continent.

Dr Mzukisi Qobo is a senior lecturer in the department of political sciences, University of Pretoria, and a member of the Midrand Group

###




South Africa Skips Libyan Conference (Wall Street Journal)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904583204576542121338768308.html By: Patrick McGroarty31 August 2011

JOHANNESBURG — South Africa has declined a French invitation to attend Thursday'sconference in Paris on Libya's reconstruction, the latest sign of Pretoria's frustration with theinternational recognition that has been extended to rebels the country didn't support.

Clayson Monyela, a spokesman for the Department of International Affairs and Cooperation,said Wednesday that no South African officials would attend the meeting organized by FrenchPresident Nicolas Sarkozy. Mr. Monyela declined to explain why, or confirm that the countryhad been invited.

"South Africa is not attending," he said, in a brief email response to questions about the Paris

conference.

Last week, Mr. Sarkozy announced plans for a conference among nations that had supported therebels in their six-month war against the forces of Col. Moammar Gadhafi. A French governmentofficial said Wednesday that delegations from about 60 countries and international institutionswere expected to take part, including Russia and China, which didn't participate in the militaryintervention.

The French president also invited South Africa, a nation that has a temporary seat on the UnitedNations' Security Council and plays an influential role in the African Union, a pan-continentalorganization. But while South Africa endorsed the U.N. Security Council resolution backing ano-fly zone over Libya, it has criticized — often bitterly — the intensity of that air campaign led bythe North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Some critics accuse South Africa of sulking.

The government doesn't "want to be associated in any way with what NATO's doing," saidThomas Wheeler, former South African diplomat and research associate at the South AfricanInstitute of International Affairs. "They've received so much criticism for the attitude that they'veadopted that they're sort of out of line with reality, frankly."

South Africa was largely sidelined in its efforts to end hostilities in Libya. South AfricanPresident Jacob Zuma twice travelled to Tripoli this year on behalf of the African Union to seek peaceful negotiations between Col. Gadhafi and rebel leaders. Libyan rebels rebuffed thoseovertures and NATO largely ignored them.

Last Friday, President Zuma was one of only a few heads of state present in the Ethiopian capitalof Addis Ababa last week as the African Union's Peace and Security Council decided againstrecognizing the rebel-backed National Transitional Council. The AU called instead for an"inclusive" transition process that would also include veterans of Col. Gadhafi's regime.







The NATO bombing campaign also has inflamed anti-Western sentiment in the ruling AfricanNational Congress, which has benefited in the past from Col. Gadhafi's largesse. After Col.Gadhafi's ouster, South Africa resisted efforts to release frozen Libyan assets to the rebelgovernment.

Mr. Sarkozy has said organizing the distribution of those funds to rebel leaders will be central todiscussions in Paris.

###

Kenya post-election violence: ICC rejects appeal (BBC)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14721715 By: Unattributed Author31 August 2011

The International Criminal Court has rejected an appeal by Kenya's government to stop it puttingon trial six people accused of links to 2008 post-election violence.

The six include the deputy prime minister, two former ministers and an ex-police chief.

They are accused of murder, deportations and persecutions by ICC chief prosecutor LuisMoreno-Ocampo.

Some 1,200 died and more than 500,000 fled their homes in the violence.

The case is now due to open on Thursday.

In the peace deal that followed in early 2008 it was agreed that those accused of crimes wouldface justice in Kenya or at the ICC in The Hague.

After Kenyan MPs blocked moves to set up a local tribunal, the ICC's chief prosecutor namedthe six high-profile Kenyans in December 2010.

Eight months on, Kenya's government failed to convince a majority of the ICC judges that it hadnow started its own investigations into the violence.

One judge did, however, side with Kenya in its last-ditch effort to get the case abandoned.

BBC East Africa correspondent Will Ross says the Kenyan judiciary is being reformed but mostKenyans still prefer the ICC option as people simply do not believe these senior politicianswould face a fair trial at home.

The accused were all senior allies of President Mwai Kibaki or his election rival Raila Odinga,now prime minister.







However, one of the accused - former Higher Education Minister William Ruto - has since fallenout with Mr Odinga and says he will contest presidential elections due next year.

He was sacked last week.

Henry Kosgey - another former minister - and radio executive Joshua Arap Sang are alsoaccused of organising attacks on supporters of Mr Kibaki, especially in the Rift Valley.

Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, head of the Civil Service Francis Muthaura and formerpolice chief Mohammed Hussein Ali are accused of mobilising pro-Kibaki militias to attack people seen as supporters of Mr Odinga.

Kenya's government has been lobbying for the cases to be dropped - a position endorsed inFebruary by the African Union.

###

Flying the flag for North Africa's 'Berber spring' (BBC)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14650257 By: Sylvia Smith31 August 2011

While there has been much talk of the Arab spring, ethnic Berbers have played a key role in thechanges sweeping through North Africa, which is leading to greater recognition for their cultureand language.

In Libya, the group which has been repressed for decades by the Arab majority, has led fierceresistance against Col Muammar Gaddafi's forces in their heartland - the western NafusaMountains.

Their flag - bearing the symbol of the Amazigh, as the Berbers call themselves - flew high asterritory was captured and or shrouded soldiers as they were buried.

Continue reading the main story ―Start Quote

Our King Mohammed VI is a Berber... we are everywhere. They cannot ignore us any longer‖

End Quote Abdullah Aourik Agadir O'flla editorIt was also raised aloft in celebration at the annual Amazigh festival in the southern Moroccantown of Agadir as Tamazight was adopted as an official language as part of the country'sconsitutional changes.

Fathi Khalifa - who serves on the Libyan rebels' governing body, the National TransitionalCouncil (NTC) - says the uprising has given Berbers hope.

"For 40 years, Amazigh Libyans have been oppressed," he says.







"When the era of openness and freedom started, the Libyan people gave some good signals.Today, the situation is very encouraging."

During the rebellion, the NTC has waged a strong media campaign for the support of theBerbers.

Rebel-controlled Libya TV, based in Qatar, broadcasts daily in the Berber language, Tamazight,for two hours, while a newspaper in Tamazight is also published in the Libyan town of Jadu.

An ethnic minority in most North African countries, Berbers see themselves as being oppressed.

Clean break?

But it is in Morocco where the real meaning of the word Amazigh or "freemen" is findingresonance.

Libyan children have started learning Tamazight at new cultural centresThe North African kingdom recently adopted a new constitution which recognised the Berbertongue, spoken by 60% of the population, as one of its official languages.

According to Abdullah Aourik, founder and publisher of Agadir O'flla, a magazine devoted topromoting the Berber cause, Morocco could well show the way for others to follow and isconfident that further change is afoot.

"Our King Mohammed VI is a Berber," he says, explaining that the Moroccan monarch's motheris a Berber. His father claims descent from the Prophet Muhammad, born in what is now SaudiArabia.

"He is not against us but is helping move our cause forward," Mr Aourik says.

As the Arab conquerors swept across North Africa in the 7th Century they brought with themtheir language and the new Muslim religion.

Both of these were adopted officially at the expense of the Amazigh language and culture.

But Mr Aourik is confident that greater equality is on its way.

"Fidel Castro's mother was Amazigh, from the Canary Islands, so we are everywhere. Theycannot ignore us any longer."

Hope was also in the air at a recent Berber conference in Morocco's port city of Tangier whenrepresentatives from five North African countries, as well as the Canary Islands, met to developa common strategy to achieve greater rights.




Tunisian delegate Khadija Ben Saidane said the demand for the recognition of the Berberlanguage, culture and identity was more likely to succeed in her country since the ousting of long-serving ruler Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in January.

However, different Berber dialects and social and political aspirations have stymied efforts to

achieve a unified series of demands across the region.

Berbers have formed a cultural organisation called Tinas.

"Its name is inspired by the historical name of Tunisia that was faked by the Arabs who tell usthat this word comes from the Arab verb meaning 'to be a companion', while tinas means 'key' inthe Amazigh language," she says.

In Egypt, around 30,000 Berbers live in the oasis of Siwa near the Libyan border and the BeniSuef regions. They feel an Arab identity has been imposed on them.

According to Egyptian representative Amani al-Weshahy, they want to replace the Arab culturethat has dominated since the time of independence leader Gamal Abdel Nasser.

Buses in Agadir, south-west Morocco, now have the city's name in the Arabic, Amazigh andLatin scripts"We are now asking for the rights of the various cultures to be recognised," she said.

So far none of these Berber activists support making a clean break with their home country.

Algerian Amazigh, mainly from the country's northern Kabylie region, are promoting regionalidentities which, they feel, will give Algeria stability within a federation.

In the end the meeting in Tangier called for the establishment of a North African union, toembrace all the region's identities, languages, cultures and beliefs.

This would transform the greater Arab Maghreb from an Arab-dominated region into aconfederation of states that would take the Berber voice into account.

But without a single unifying dialect and caught between very different situations in eachcountry, their bid for unity and greater rights could easily be once more lost, especially if radicalIslamist groups take the place of the deposed despots they helped to oust.

###

Security threat called AFRICOM (New Era, Windhoek, Namibia) http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?title=Security_threat_called_AFRICOM&articleid=40385 By: Kamati kaTate31 August 2011









You might not know or heard about AFRICOM. If you saw the name once, you might havedismissed it thinking AFRICOM is a new company to sell cement like Afrisam. Some mightconclude that since it has a ‗com‘ at the end, maybe it is something online.

These are wrong conclusions. At the end of this column, you will know what AFRICOM is, its

activities and why it is a security threat.

AFRICOM, standing for Africa Command, was established by blood covered former USPresident George W. Bush and his Secretary of Defence Robert Gates. You will notice thatRobert Gates, has continued with his duties under Obama who misled many of you except me.The idiots believed AFRICOM‘s raison d‘être terrorism in Africa. I would not expect you to

know AFRICOM‘s mission statement since many of you don‘t read.

Allow yourself an Education as I make it known that the AFRICOM mission statement is―United States Africa Command, in concert with other U.S. government agencies andinternational partners, conducts sustained security engagements through military-to-military

programs, military-sponsored activities, and other military operations as directed to promote astable and secure African environment in support of U.S. foreign policy.‖ Meaning AFRICOM is

a fundamental tool of US Foreign Policy.

We will return to it later. It‘s ok that you didn‘t know, even your leaders, many without

education, didn‘t know. AFRICOM is headquartered at Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart in Germanyand is led by General William Ward.

Why and how is AFRICOM a security threat to Africa? Firstly, its mission suggests so. In a 2009 journal article on Contemporary Security Policy, Laurie Nathan exposes four key fundamentalprincipalities as regards to AFRICOM. The author correctly argues that AFRICOM, inundermining state sovereignty, will ―alter the regional balance of power, and be divisive and

destabilizing…It would undermine the unity and collective decision-making.‖ AFRICOM was to

be located in Africa, General Ward probably plans to locate it in countries such as Botswana andNamibia with pro-western leadership.

Locating AFRICOM in Africa is a military opportunity for America to overthrow Africangovernments and to attack countries seen as anti-American. Since African and American interestnever gels, it would mean that AFRICOM would pursue American interest, on an African soil, atthe expense of African interest. Those with sharp medulla oblongata know that AFRICOM isundermining the African Union (AU) and its Peace and Security Council which deals with Peaceand Security on the continent. We might as well sell the AU to Americans.

I had mentioned American foreign policy. In this domain, Nathan (2009) sees American foreign policy in light of its ―unsympathetic attitude to the liberation movements, its unwavering support

for Israel despite the illegal occupation of Palestine, its exceptionalism in relation to theInternational Criminal Court, and its long history of unilateralism, aggression, and disdain forinternational law …pursues its own interests at the expense of others, and is willing to deploy

force offensively to advance those interests.‖ So if AFRICOM is to achieve its mission statementwe discussed earlier, Africa must support and embrace the above as discussed by Nathan.




As your teacher, I need to share recent information made available to us by Wikileaks.

The communication cable dated on Monday, 11 January 2010, at 17h30 UTC, indicates ameeting of AFRICOM Commander‘s discussion with French officials on Aqim and other

African Security Threats. The meeting, held in Paris, was attended by President Sarkozy‘sDiplomatic Advisor Jean-David Levitte, Sarkozy‘s Military Advisor, Admiral Edouard Guillaud,and others briefed U.S. AFRICOM Commander General William E. Ward. Wikileaks has alsorevealed to us how AFRICOM planned the assassination of legendary RG Mugabe and the fall of his government through the so-called Operation Shumba (damn bastard, may God blessZimbabwe).

AFRICOM Commander General Ward visited Namibia in April 2010.

Reading his report was so disgusting in many ways. He referred to my country as ―Southwest

Africa.‖ Cleary Americans still use lenses of Cold War geopolitics.

General Ward met with Health Minister Dr. Kamwi, they apparently discussed how AFRICOM―could help the Namibian military and U.S. country team efforts to assist in health relatedissues.‖ At a meeting with the Ministry of Safety and Security, they discussed supporting thethen ―upcoming Namibian police visit to Ramstein Air Base in Southwestern Germany.‖

The American was dignified with a fifteen minute appearance on Good Morning Namibia, withKazembire Zemburuka, in order to brainwash, hypnotize and shower us with Americanpropaganda. General Ward met Education Minister Abraham Iyambo to discuss the schoolAFRICOM will build in northern Namibia. Lastly and shockingly, he met with the then DefenceDeputy Minister Lempy Lucas. He said ―it was very gratifying to hear Ms. Lucas praise our

bilateral relationship and her wish to see Africa Command play a greater role in military-to-military relations in the future.‖(what?). A close friend said General Ward met significant others

not mentioned.

These cosmetic initiatives are not genuine, they devil‘s initiative are never genuine. These are

attempts to win the hearts and the minds of the Namibian people.

What is in for them anyway? Also monitor and analyze the work of MCA very closely.There is no good devil, the good devil is the dead one.

This is enough for today, add me on Facebook for a more robust engagement of these issues.

‗Shaamonathana omuti nomuti‘ – We shall meet again

• Kamati kaTate is a Community Mobilizer whose area of interest is observing Politics as both

an art of the possible and as a medium of distribution of resources as to who gets what, when,where and how. [email protected]

###








South Sudan Must Be Wary of the West Military Cooperation (Sudan Tribune)

http://allafrica.com/stories/201108290370.html By: Isaiah Abraham26 August 2011

The newly born country in the world, South Sudan has a real and serious friend in the person of the United States of America (USA). Westerners generally have played an important part inmany ways.

The USA particularly has played significance role both on humanitarian and political fronts sincethe second war broke out in 1983. To many Southerners the USA is the Good Samaritan in thetrue sense of the word, when others 'passed us by', including people who could have helped most.The Americans support in kind goes to billions of dollars since that time, and that country (USA)still much ahead today after independence of South Sudan in an effort to lift this country (SouthSudan) from its inherent socio-economic and stability challenges.

But lessons elsewhere have shown over and again that somewhere the West interest overrideordinary interest of the host country and this in a way makes any cooperation (especiallymilitary) with the West a very tall decision for everyone to jump into. Not because Westernersare bad guys, the thing is that they bully throughout and that make other countries uncomfortablewith military or whatever cooperation with the Westerners. Take for instance, the USA, itsforeign policy becomes that there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies. We have seenthat in Iran in earlier seventies and then again in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Africa, Westernersplayed a dangerous game everywhere and Somali is a testimony of that ugly practice. They leftSomali in the lurch when they should have shown others that it is important to separate a Somalihungry woman from terrorists. When one looks at Somali, you can't help but pity them and startquestioning big world institutions.

I deeply fight the sense of an unprecedented indignation, say about injustice unleash by UncleSam against humans like them. I have again and again cried when I see our brothers/sistersSomalis mistreated and left to vultures and wild animals for reason beyond their control. To meit is not about Al Shabab or terrorism war anymore but about wiping out Somali on the face of the earth. I salute the latest Kampala Submit by the true Africans leaders of Uganda and Eritreaon Somali, especially their recollection about the present for the future of that country. I believedthey have asked themselves thus: 'hey, where does the West taking Somali, and for how long willthat country remains ungovernable and shaky'. The Turkey Prime Minister on the other handmade a tremendous gesture by moving his entire Office and families to a gunned ridden citycalled Mogadishu. Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogant is my role model and will remain respected andblessed! Bear with me as we go round.

In Zimbabwe the invisible hands of the world big brother was too heavy on the economy and thepeople there. The people of Zimbabwe remember well how it feels to have a super power spoilsfor import and export sabotage. The market dried up, and big notes were chasing fewcommodities. The sin of President Gabriel Mugabe was the redistribution of land to the blacksfrom the whites. True, the land was for them all (black and whites Zimbabweans), but how could







a small percentage of whites owned 60% of national economy through farming, while over 90%of Zimbabweans were wallowing in abject poverty, neglect and misery. President Mugabe madea right move to stop exploitation by a few. After all, it was the same whites that delayed andharmed many Zimbabweans during the struggle for freedom in the 60s and 70s.

To Westerners, Mr. Mugabe has been (still anyway) a dictator and undemocratic, a clever ruseused by so-called democrats to keep up imperialistic tendencies among poor and developingnations. Look, is there any country so repressive and undemocratic than North Korea, Syria,China, Burma and Gambia? Why didn't the Americans or NATO go there and 'protect civilians'?Who lies that the Africans have no values, unless a pretender source them from elsewhere.Whenever the West becomes nosy into African affairs, the situation of Africa worsen . Thereason being that the West uses a wrong prescription to solve right diagnose. This is where theAfrican values come in.

We can talk and talk about examples from the West of Africa to the East, North of it to theSouth, about places/countries that have been put to ruin by the West involvement or presence.

Ivory Coast and Liberia were beautiful destinations for food, recreation and whole living, buttoday, these countries are reeling from one problem after another. In the East, we had then astable country called Somali with a blue beaches and good people living peacefully amongthemselves and with their neighbors, but after someone from outside disguised as a food providerduring famine disaster there entered, the retrospective of that plan botched everything against theSomali people. Eritrea is slowly going the Zimbabwe way economically (say in few years tocome), unless President Isaias changes tact.

In the North of Africa, we have seen leaders coming down like nothing in a more dramaticfashion, but in the end, after the euphoric waters died down, the North of Africa will not findpeace! In Libya for instance, the West twisted United Nations Resolution 1730 to advance itsdirty agenda against the Libyan people. Gaddafi could be on his way out from power, butdifferences and bitterness caused by the NATO airstrikes will not make that country stable again.Any patched arrangement can be ephemeral ; tough times for Libyans are ahead!

In the South of Africa, the Swaziland King in few years time, if not months, will not parade barechest ladies for selection of a wife, and subsequently , the trouble will spill down to the peopleon the remote peaceful areas of Mhlambanyatsi or Thaba Tseka.

In the South Sudan to bring you closer to our topic, we are hearing the Americans touching downproudly with a message of military cooperation between Washington and Juba. President Kiirwent public to demand from General Carter Ham, the African Command Chief the training of hismen (he called for capacity building). But General Ham has made his appearance moreoverbearing even his hand shake and eye contact to a shy Kiir, something Mr. Kiir couldn'tstand. In the end though we are reading a theory that perhaps the General has come for more than just a training of ill trained SPLA forces (South Sudan Armed Forces) but to seek assurance foropening up US Military Bases around the country. Boma is one that target in Jonglei State

No one could confirm this proposition, but the idea was mooted somewhere in 2009, and we inthe media made it clear that it is too bad an idea. The American bases are conspiracy ones; they




are there for an imposed agenda and sometime hard to remove them. They meddle in the affairsof host countries and are a burden. But more importantly, the Western bases are usually used tointimidate a sovereign state on what to do and how to do it. Enough is enough with anycolonizer, Khartoum/Arabs were our big headache to our people, and people should rise up andsay no to military presence of the West/Americans on our soil. Training of men yes, but not

military bases, please!

Isaiah Abraham lives in Juba. He is reachable at [email protected]

###

Libya's interim leaders reject UN military personnel (BBC)http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14726292 By: Unattributed Author31 August 2011

Libya's interim leadership has rejected the idea of deploying any kind of international militaryforce, the UN envoy to the country has said.

Ian Martin said the UN had considered the deployment of military observers.

Earlier, the chairman of the National Transitional Council (NTC) said the country did not needoutside help to maintain security.

The news came as fighters loyal to the council approached the pro-Gaddafi stronghold of Sirtefrom east and west.

The city's defenders have been given until Saturday to surrender.

However, fugitive ex-leader Col Muammar Gaddafi's spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, rejected theultimatum, the Associated Press reports.

"No dignified honourable nation would accept an ultimatum from armed gangs," he said in atelephone call to the AP on Monday night.

Mr Ibrahim reiterated Col Gaddafi's offer to send his son Saadi to negotiate with rebels and forma transitional government, the agency said.

'Special case'

Libya's deputy representative to the UN, Ibrahim Dabbashi, told the BBC that the situation inLibya was unique.

"They [the UN] put the possibility of deploying peacekeepers on the ground but in fact theLibyan crisis is a special case.







"It is not a civil war, it is not a conflict between two parties, it is the people who are defendingthemselves against the dictatorship."

However, Mr Martin said the UN did expect to be asked to help establish a police force.

"We don't now expect military observers to be requested," he said after a meeting of the UNSecurity Council.

"It's very clear that the Libyans want to avoid any kind of military deployment of the UN orothers," he said.

Mr Martin added that one of the greatest challenges for the UN would be helping the countryprepare for democratic elections.

"Let's remember... there's essentially no living memory of elections, there's no electoralmachinery, there's no electoral commission, no history of political parties, no independent civil

society, independent media are only beginning to emerge in the east in recent times.

"That's going to be quite a challenge, sort of organisationally, and it's clear that the NTC wish theUN to play a major role in that process."

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said that growing humanitarian shortages in Libyademand urgent action and appealed to the security council to be "responsive" to requests fromthe transitional authority for funding.

Though stockpiles of medical supplies and food stashed away by the government were foundover the weekend, water supplies are short.

"An estimated 60% of Tripoli's population is without water and sanitation," he said. The EU'shumanitarian office says that pro-Gaddafi forces are responsible for cutting supplies.

On Tuesday, the UN Security Council let the UK release 1.86bn dinars ($1.55bn; £950m) infrozen assets to buy aid for Libya but an attempt by France and Germany to release an additional$8.6bn remains blocked.

Diplomats said that Russia was holding up Germany's request to release about 1bn euros($1.4bn) in seized assets and France's move to unfreeze about five billion euros ($7.2bn) to buyhumanitarian aid, AFP news agency reports.

As anti-Gaddafi fighters converge on his birthplace of Sirte, interim leaders gave the city'sdefenders an ultimatum, telling them that they had until Saturday to surrender or face militaryforce.

It has also emerged that Col Gaddafi's wife and three of his adult children fled to neighbouringAlgeria in the early hours of Monday morning.




Col Gaddafi's whereabouts remain unknown, with suggestions he may be in Sabha, Sirte or BaniWalid. However, the deputy head of the NTC, Ali Tarhouni, said they had a good idea of wherehe was and were confident that they would catch him.

###

Hundreds of returning Tuaregs alarm Mali, Niger (AFP)

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jOxPyZiQuQma3iET_HNy8ipehmiw?docId=CNG.5ff3f4fb659e435824af983bc4f58339.b1 By: Unattributed Author30 August 2011 — GAO, Mali — Hundreds of armed Tuaregs from Mali and Niger who foughtfor toppled Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi have started to return to their home nations, securitysources said, raising fears of conflict.

"Hundreds of Malian and Nigerian Tuaregs are coming home from the Libyan front. Amongthem are former Malian and Nigerien rebels, but also Tuaregs of Malian origin who were in the

Libyan army," said a security source at Gao in the north of Mali.

The Tuaregs from the army obtained Libyan nationality in the 1990s and mostly foughtalongside Kadhafi's other troops. Some of them were integrated into an elite military unit, thesame source said.

"Mali has the same problem" as Niger, which borders Libya, the source added.

Officials from Niger on Sunday told AFP that Nigerien mercenaries, mainly Tuaregs, had begunreturning to the northern town of Agadez on the edge of the Sahara desert, after Kadhafi's forceswere routed by Libyan rebels.

"We need to fear a destabilisation of the whole Sahel with this new development. States likeMali and Niger are not prepared for this situation," said Mamadou Diallo, a teacher at BamakoUniversity in Mali.

"What's going to become of these fighters? They have vehicles, weapons and expertise," headded. "This is dangerous."

Both the neighbouring, largely desert nations have in the past two decades faced serious Tuareguprisings, which were ended by peace talks between their governments and the rebels, mediatedby tribal elders.

The Tuaregs, who have historically roamed over vast tracts of the southern Sahara, seek acknowledgement of their cultural identity and have pressed the governments of the cash-strapped countries to help develop their regions.

Locals have expressed fear of these fighters since they left Libya, warning that their return withLibyan heavy weaponry might benefit Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), whichoriginated in Algeria and operates in several countries.









A community of some 1.5 million people, the Tuaregs have traditionally lived in Niger, Mali,Algeria, Libya and Burkina Faso. The Tuareg rebellions shook Mali and Niger in the 1990s andearly 2000s, with a resurgence between 2006 and 2009, which caused tens of thousands of Tuaregs to take refuge in Libya.

###

Libya's interim leaders reject UN military personnel (BBC)http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14726292 By: Unattributed Author31 August 2011

Libya's interim leadership has rejected the idea of deploying any kind of international militaryforce, the UN envoy to the country has said.

Ian Martin said the UN had considered the deployment of military observers.

Earlier, the chairman of the National Transitional Council (NTC) said the country did not needoutside help to maintain security.

The news came as fighters loyal to the council approached the pro-Gaddafi stronghold of Sirtefrom east and west.

The city's defenders have been given until Saturday to surrender.

However, fugitive ex-leader Col Muammar Gaddafi's spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, rejected theultimatum, the Associated Press reports.

"No dignified honourable nation would accept an ultimatum from armed gangs," he said in atelephone call to the AP on Monday night.

Mr Ibrahim reiterated Col Gaddafi's offer to send his son Saadi to negotiate with rebels and forma transitional government, the agency said.

'Special case'

Libya's deputy representative to the UN, Ibrahim Dabbashi, told the BBC that the situation inLibya was unique.

"They [the UN] put the possibility of deploying peacekeepers on the ground but in fact theLibyan crisis is a special case.

"It is not a civil war, it is not a conflict between two parties, it is the people who are defendingthemselves against the dictatorship."







However, Mr Martin said the UN did expect to be asked to help establish a police force.

"We don't now expect military observers to be requested," he said after a meeting of the UNSecurity Council.

"It's very clear that the Libyans want to avoid any kind of military deployment of the UN orothers," he said.

Mr Martin added that one of the greatest challenges for the UN would be helping the countryprepare for democratic elections.

"Let's remember... there's essentially no living memory of elections, there's no electoralmachinery, there's no electoral commission, no history of political parties, no independent civilsociety, independent media are only beginning to emerge in the east in recent times.

"That's going to be quite a challenge, sort of organisationally, and it's clear that the NTC wish the

UN to play a major role in that process."

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said that growing humanitarian shortages in Libyademand urgent action and appealed to the security council to be "responsive" to requests fromthe transitional authority for funding.

Though stockpiles of medical supplies and food stashed away by the government were foundover the weekend, water supplies are short.

"An estimated 60% of Tripoli's population is without water and sanitation," he said. The EU'shumanitarian office says that pro-Gaddafi forces are responsible for cutting supplies.

On Tuesday, the UN Security Council let the UK release 1.86bn dinars ($1.55bn; £950m) infrozen assets to buy aid for Libya but an attempt by France and Germany to release an additional$8.6bn remains blocked.

Diplomats said that Russia was holding up Germany's request to release about 1bn euros($1.4bn) in seized assets and France's move to unfreeze about five billion euros ($7.2bn) to buyhumanitarian aid, AFP news agency reports.

As anti-Gaddafi fighters converge on his birthplace of Sirte, interim leaders gave the city'sdefenders an ultimatum, telling them that they had until Saturday to surrender or face militaryforce.

It has also emerged that Col Gaddafi's wife and three of his adult children fled to neighbouringAlgeria in the early hours of Monday morning.

Col Gaddafi's whereabouts remain unknown, with suggestions he may be in Sabha, Sirte or BaniWalid. However, the deputy head of the NTC, Ali Tarhouni, said they had a good idea of wherehe was and were confident that they would catch him.




###

Former Qaddafi Mercenaries Describe Fighting in Libyan War (The Atlantic)

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/08/former-qaddafi-mercenaries-describe-

fighting-in-libyan-war/244356/?single_page=true By: Unattributed Author31 August 2011

TIMBUKTU, Mali -- Last month at a guesthouse within sight of the rolling dunes of the openSahara, I sat down to await one of Muammar Qaddafi's mercenaries. Through an intermediary heagreed to meet and explain why the Tuareg -- an ancient Saharan people who inhabit large desertswathes of Libya, Mali, Niger, and Algeria -- would help the Libyan leader crush the democracyprotests -- including unarmed civilians, women, and children -- and eventually join in all-out waragainst the ensuing rebellion

I learned about him when a Tuareg elder told me that in recent weeks more than 200 Tuaregfighters had returned from Libya to Timbuktu and the surrounding villages. He said thathundreds more had returned to other towns in eastern Mali. Local leaders were worried, he said,that these men could be the leading edge of a large wave of mercenaries returning from thefighting in Libya and that they could set a match to northern Mali's own brittle mixture of ethnicrivalries.

For decades Qaddafi has recruited the Tuareg -- long renowned for their desert-fighting prowess-- to serve in his military. In the early 1980s, the Libyan leader called them to join his IslamicLegion, which he styled as the military cornerstone for his dream of building a united Muslimstate in North Africa. But after ill-fated military adventures in Lebanon, Chad, and Sudan, hedisbanded the legion and invited the Tuareg to join special brigades within the Libyan army. Inrecent decades, various Tuareg rebel groups, many of them trained in these Libyan units, havefought in neighboring Mali and Niger. After each of these conflicts was settled, Qaddafiprovided aid and shelter to the rebel leaders and many of their former combatants.

Given this history, it wasn't surprising in March when reports surfaced that Qaddafi was offeringupwards of one thousand U.S. dollars a day for Tuareg to help his regime put down the festeringrebellion. Officials from Mali and Niger reported convoys of vehicles bearing hundreds of Tuareg men streaming northeast toward Libya.

"We would kill three or four in the front of the crowd and they all ran away"

Now, five months later, as these men returned from the frontlines of the Libyan civil war, mostwere reluctant to discuss their experiences, especially with a Westerner. Some of them lecturedme on the fallacy of American foreign policy in North Africa. "Hasn't Obama seen whathappened to Iraq when Saddam was gone?" one asked. "Does America want anotherAfghanistan?" inveighed another. "Why is the United States interfering in the internal affairs of Libya?" railed a third, who, as a Malian who fought in Libya, failed to see any irony in hisquestion.









Finally, the mercenary arrived for our meeting. His long, lean build resembled that of ahardscrabble farmer more than a warrior. He wore a frayed, brown bagzan (the long, loose shirtfavored by locals), battered camel-leather sandals, and a black turban covering his nose andmouth, in the traditional Tuareg style. He suggested we go up to the roof of the guesthouse to

drink hot sweet tea and take advantage of the breeze blowing in from the desert.

The man -- I will call him Abdullah -- agreed to tell his story in detail if I promised not toidentify him or his family. "I am not afraid to tell the truth," he said, but he worried Mali officialsor his fellow fighters might not approve.

He is a knot of inscrutable contradictions -- a Tuareg who has been on both sides of rebellion. Asa boy, he said he had fled Timbuktu in the early 1990s with his family when the army attackedthe city, which some in the Mali government at the time claimed was teeming with rebels andtheir sympathizers. He saw homes demolished by tank shells, knew political leaders who wereshot, and women and children who were killed. Yet, as an adult, he chose to fight for Muammar

Qaddafi against the Libyan rebels, albeit mostly for money.

To prove he had been in Libya he produced a document -- with a passport photo attached and astamp from the Malian consulate in Tamanrasset -- identifying him as a refugee from Libya. Hesaid that that he went to Libya in 2007 with his wife and children. They were given short-termresidence papers in exchange for his enlistment in the Libyan army. He was assigned to a Tuaregbrigade in the southern town of Awbari.

Two years ago, he was granted full residency status. In addition to the 1,500 dinars (about$1,300) he was paid per month -- much of which he sent back to family living in smallencampments near Timbuktu -- his wife and children received free medical care, and his childrenwent to a Libyan school. "A very good school," he said. He was promised a house and a car if hestayed in the army. "They always promised a house and a car, but very few Tuareg ever gotthem," he said. "I think Qaddafi tried very hard to keep the Tuareg in Libya. I think he smelledsomething was coming."

When the protests began in Tripoli, his unit was attached to the infamous 32nd brigade, led byQaddafi's son Khamis, and was sent to disperse the unarmed marchers. "That was easy," he saidwith startling nonchalance. "We would kill three or four in the front of the crowd and they all ranaway. It was very easy."

After Tripoli, he and his fellow Tuareg mercenaries fought in several battles east of the capitalcity along the coast, including at Misrata. As the fighting intensified, Libyan officials beganrounding up Tuareg living in Libya, threatening to imprison them and their families if they didn't join the fight, though many had no military training. Some deserted and joined the rebels, butmost stayed with the forces loyal to Qaddafi. At Misrata, he said he saw Ibrahim Bahanga, one of the Tuareg who led the rebellion against the Mali government from 2007 through 2009. "He waswith many former rebels from Mali. They were fighting hard for Qaddafi."




Abdullah's unit moved on to Brega and then to the outskirts of Benghazi. "We were sixkilometers [about four miles] from Benghazi when the first NATO bombs hit us." First, a missilehit a vehicle carrying an artillery piece near his position and killed eight men. "We never heard itor saw it. The men just blew up." He and his fellow soldiers were spooked. They were welltrained to fight on the ground, he said. "None of us was good at shooting down airplanes." Men

tried to hide under cars and under tree branches. When night fell, they drove without lights.When they stopped to sleep, they dug foxholes far from their vehicles.

At first, the word came down that Qaddafi had ordered his forces not to shoot at the planes. "Hesaid he would show the world that he wanted a peaceful solution. It was a strategy to makepeople ask their leaders 'why are you fighting Qaddafi? He isn't fighting you.' But it didn't work and then it was too late for us to fight back."

I asked about Qaddafi's February speech, in which he pledged to hunt down protesters house byhouse and what his men were ordered to do if they encountered civilians. He paused beforeanswering, "To be honest, it is true. We believed what Qaddafi told us. We believed we would

go there and kill everyone."

I asked if he had seen any civilians killed. In Misrata, he says, "We tried to find everyone there.One half of the city was cleaned."

"What do you mean 'cleaned?'" I asked.

"The people were killed. Women, children, everyone there."

Who did the killing?

"Mostly it was Arabs but also some Tuareg."

Did you kill any civilians?

"No." He refused to elaborate.

I asked about accusations that Qaddafi's forces had raped women. "I never saw that," he said. Buthis unit found a group of women who claimed to have been raped by men from Sudan and Egyptwho had been fighting with rebels.

A few weeks after the NATO bombing campaign began, Abdullah and four of his fellow Tuaregagreed to desert. "We decided that Qaddafi was a little bit crazy and didn't know what he wasdoing." They told the Tuareg officer in charge of their platoon they needed a rest, and heconvinced the Arab commanding officer to approve a pass for the men to visit their families. "Heknew we weren't coming back," Abdullah said of the Tuareg officer.

They took a bus to the south. Some of the men disassembled their Kalashnikovs and took themwith them. Once in the southern Libyan town of Awbari, Abdullah burned his uniform and all hisidentity papers and, with his wife and four children, slipped out of the city to join other Tuareg




refugees heading for the Algerian border. Able to bring only their clothes and a few householditems, they left everything else.

I asked if he regretted his decision to go to Libya. He hesitated before answering. "The Tuaregsay, 'It is easy to climb into a well and very hard to get out.'"

I checked his story with other Tuareg in Timbuktu, who corroborated parts of it based on whatthey had heard from other fighters, but many details are unverifiable. An official -- not a Tuareg-- in the mayor's office confirmed that some men have arrived from fighting in Libya, though hedoesn't know how many. "I don't count them," he said. "No one wants to talk about that."

A few days later, in Mali's capital Bamako, I met a Tuareg officer in the Mali army. He wasrawboned with thick, leathery hands and heavy lines creasing his forehead and around his eyes.Years of desert fighting have made him look much older than his 42 years. As a young man, hesaid, he was lured to Libya in the 1980s by radio broadcasts of Qaddafi calling young Tuareg to join his revolution. "I admired the way he wasn't afraid to stand up to the West, to anybody," he

said.

But after being sent to the Libya-Chad war and seeing how Libya's Arabs used the Tuareg to doall the "difficult fighting," he lost his ardor for Qaddafi. He left Libya and joined the Tuaregrebels who were fighting the Mali government in the early 1990s.

I asked about the implications of mercenaries such as Abdullah coming back home to find feweconomic opportunities. "It is not good," he said, listing the security threats Mali faces, includinga resilient, well-financed branch of al-Qaeda, which in recent years has kidnapped dozens of foreigners, effectively wrecking the country's tourism industry, and a fragile peace in the restiveTuareg region. "It is like dragging a dead tree on top of two small fires," he said. "Soon we mayhave one big fire."

"If Qaddafi goes, it's going to be very bad for Mali." He estimated that roughly 10,000 Tuaregremained in the Libyan army, most of them from Mali. "If Qaddafi is killed or loses power, theywill all have to leave. The Arabs won't let them stay," he said. "I know many guys there. Whenthey come here, they will fight. I have no doubt. I know them. The revolution is not over."

• • • • •

Before I left Timbuktu, I encountered a group of boys huddled over their cell phones. Clad inknockoff European soccer jerseys, they periodically whooped with laughter as they passedaround a song using Bluetooth.

I asked what it was, and the skinniest boy, draped in an oversize Barcelona jersey, played it forme: A man shouted defiantly in Arabic followed by automatic gunfire, a house beat, and raplyrics. "It is Qaddafi," said the boy. "He is calling the people to fight." "Zenga-zenga," added thetallest boy in a striped Inter Milan shirt. They played it again and laughed. "What does zenga-zenga mean?" I asked. "Corner by corner," said Barcelona, "he is telling people he will fightvillage by village, house by house, room by room, corner by corner -- zenga-zenga."




Do you like Qaddafi? I asked them. They all nod. "He is a warrior, like the Tuareg," saidBarcelona. The others click their tongues in agreement. They disappeared into the darkeningalleyways, heading in separate directions. I could hear them each playing the tune, spreading itthrough the city.

• • • • •

Reuters reported on Saturday that Ibrahim ag Bahanga, the Mali rebel leader turned mercenary,was killed near the Mali-Niger border. Though the circumstances remain unclear, one Malimilitary official indicated that fellow Tuareg shot him after they had smuggled weapons into thecountry from Libya. Meanwhile, on Sunday Agence France Press reported large numbers of Tuareg fighters returning to northern Niger with luxury cars and furniture.

###

France defends Libyan ex-jihadi rebel commander (AFP)http://www.expatica.com/fr/news/french-news/france-defends-libyan-ex-jihadi-rebel-commander_172553.html By: Unattributed Author31 August 2011

President Nicolas Sarkozy's office defended on Wednesday a Libyan rebel commander who oncereportedly led a jihadi group with ties to Al Qaeda, insisting Libya's revolution is not led byIslamists.

A senior official in the Elysee told AFP that Sarkozy's senior own military aide had metAdbelhakim Belhadj, the rebel commander who led the assault on Moamer Kadhafi's bunkercomplex, and had no concerns about his affiliations.

Previously, Belhadj was reportedly "emir" of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group -- an Islamistguerrilla movement once allied to the Al Qaeda network -- and he was arrested in Malaysia in2004 on suspicion of extremist activity.

After his arrest he was said to have been interrogated by the US Central Intelligence Agencybefore being sent back to be jailed in Libya.

Belhadj renounced violence while a prisoner of Moamer Kadhafi's government and was releasedin March 2010. This year he joined the revolution against the regime and is now commander of the rebel fighters in control of Tripoli.

His return to the frontline has raised concerns in some quarters that the revolution againstKadhafi, which was warmly supported by France and several other Western countries, mightinclude un-democratic forces.








U S Africa Command Public Affairs Office +49(0)711-729-2687 AFRICOM-PAO@africom mil

But the Elysee official, speaking on condition on anonymity, insisted France has no concernsabout Belhadj nor about the National Transitional Council, the rebel political body nowrecognised as Libya's interim government.

"As it happens, the head of the president's military staff met him very recently, and was able to

form the personal opinion of him that does not correspond at all to the accusations against him,"he said.

The official did not say where the meeting took place, but last week Belhadj attended aconference of the Libya contact group in Doha, Qatar, and Sarkozy's military head of staff General Benoit Puga could have met him there.

"There is a very important distinction between practising Muslims and Islamists who want tolead a jihad," the Elysee source said, insisting that the CNT was neither infiltrated nor controlledby extremist elements.

"There may be cells but we are certain of one thing: They neither represent a threat nor a largeslice of Libyan public. We are not worried," he said.

"There are a lot of fantasies. There are religious people in the NTC, but that doesn't make themIslamists."

When the Libya revolt erupted in March, Kadhafi and his son Saif Al-Islam branded the rebelsAl-Qaeda operatives, an allegation firmly denied by the NTC and its supporters, who havepromised to form a broad-based government.

A rebel spokesman in Tripoli has denied that Belhadj has a jihadi agenda, insisting that sharesthe NTC's "moderate" vision of a democratic Libya.

Like Al-Qaeda, the LIFG was formed by former Muslim volunteers who fought the Soviet forcesin Afghanistan in the 1990s. Its leadership split from that of Al-Qaeda, but its members havefought in Iraq and Afghanistan.

###

END OF REPORT

AFRICOM Related News Clips 1 September 2011

Documents

Transcript of AFRICOM Related News Clips 1 September 2011