AFRICOM Related-News Clips 17 November

8/3/2019 AFRICOM Related-News Clips 17 November

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

United States Africa CommandPublic Affairs Office17 November 2011

USAFRICOM - related news stories

Good morning. Please find attached news clips related to U.S. Africa Command andAfrica, along with upcoming events of interest for November 17, 2011.

Of interest in todays clips:

In Kenya: The leaders of Kenya, Somalia and Uganda held a closed-door meeting inNairobi Wednesday, reaffirming their military operational commitment against Islamic

terrorist group Al-Shabaab.

In Uganda: Protests continue over electrical blackouts and police fear it could spread toother areas of the country.

In Ghana: In Accra the government claims it will raise taxes on mining companies toincrease revenues.

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

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

African leaders: Al-Shabaab operation 'historic opportunity' for security (CNN)http://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/16/world/africa/kenya-somalia-al-shabaab/index.html?hpt=iaf_c216 November 2011By David McKenzieThe leaders of Kenya, Somalia and Uganda held a closed-door meeting in NairobiWednesday, reaffirming their commitment to military operations against the Islamicmilitant group Al-Shabaab in Somalia.

Can Obama Capture Kony? (Str8talk)http://str8talkchronicle.com/?p=1845615 November 2011By George Okore Think African Press
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/16/world/africa/kenya-somalia-al-shabaab/index.html?hpt=iaf_c2http://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/16/world/africa/kenya-somalia-al-shabaab/index.html?hpt=iaf_c2http://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/16/world/africa/kenya-somalia-al-shabaab/index.html?hpt=iaf_c2http://str8talkchronicle.com/?p=18456http://str8talkchronicle.com/?p=18456http://str8talkchronicle.com/?p=18456http://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/16/world/africa/kenya-somalia-al-shabaab/index.html?hpt=iaf_c2http://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/16/world/africa/kenya-somalia-al-shabaab/index.html?hpt=iaf_c2mailto:[email protected]


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President Barack Obama has announced that he will send nearly 100 military advisers toCentral Africa to assist in neutralizing the Lords Resistance Army (LRA), one of

Africas most notorious rebel groups.

Africa: America's Role in Continent's Strife (All Africa.com)

http://allafrica.com/stories/201111130186.html13 November 2011Mwaura SamoraAs Kenyan troops push their way into Somalia's hinterland in pursuit of Al-Shabaabmilitants, several security analysts and observers allege an unseen hand behind OperationLinda Nchi.

Remilitarisation of Africa Set to Fail (IDN In-Depth News)http://www.indepthnews.info/index.php/global-issues/551-remilitarisation-of-africa-set-to-fail16 November 2011

By Horace CampbellAt the same moment when the Libyan adventure backfired with the U.S. AfricaCommand (AFRICOM) retreating from taking credit for the end of the Gaddafi regime,the U.S. government announced the deployment of 100 troops to Uganda to assist thegovernment ofYoweri Museveni to track down the Lords Resistance Army (LRA).

Swaziland Aids orphans 'owed $10m'IMF (BBC)http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-1576147116 November 2011By Non-Attributed AuthorSwaziland's government has failed to pay more than $10m (6.3m) in grants to Aidsorphans because of its financial crisis, an IMF official has said.

Mugabe thanks Hong Kong for 'protecting daughter' (BBC)http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-1575135916 November 2011By Non-Attributed AuthorPresident Robert Mugabe has praised Hong Kong for protecting his daughter fromharassment by British journalists, Zimbabwe's state media report.

Nigeria: Jonathan to Boko Haram - Justice Could Be Swift and Certain (AllAfrica.com)http://allafrica.com/view/group/main/main/id/00014605.html16 November 2011Mohammed S. ShehuA window of opportunity is still open for promoters of violence in the country todenounce their activities and embrace peace because the government is willing tofacilitate their integration and rehabilitation into society, President Goodluck Jonathansaid in Abuja yesterday.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201111130186.htmlhttp://allafrica.com/stories/201111130186.htmlhttp://www.indepthnews.info/index.php/global-issues/551-remilitarisation-of-africa-set-to-failhttp://www.indepthnews.info/index.php/global-issues/551-remilitarisation-of-africa-set-to-failhttp://www.indepthnews.info/index.php/global-issues/551-remilitarisation-of-africa-set-to-failhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15761471http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15761471http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-15751359http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-15751359http://allafrica.com/view/group/main/main/id/00014605.htmlhttp://allafrica.com/view/group/main/main/id/00014605.htmlhttp://allafrica.com/view/group/main/main/id/00014605.htmlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-15751359http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15761471http://www.indepthnews.info/index.php/global-issues/551-remilitarisation-of-africa-set-to-failhttp://www.indepthnews.info/index.php/global-issues/551-remilitarisation-of-africa-set-to-failhttp://allafrica.com/stories/201111130186.html


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Uganda: Protests Erupt Over Umeme Blackouts (All Africa.com)http://allafrica.com/stories/201111160424.html16 November 2011By Andrew Bagala The MonitorTraders operating on Nasser and Nkrumah roads in Kampala, yesterday blocked several

roads in the central business district protesting the 24-hour load-shedding schedule.

China urges Zimbabwe's Mugabe to expand economic ties (Reuters)http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7AF08W2011111616 November 2011By Non-Attributed AuthorZimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe won praise on Wednesday as a great Africanfigure and "old friend" of Beijing, underscoring China's commitment to boosting businessties to a leader shunned by Western governments.

Ghana to hike taxes on mining companies: budget (Reuters)

http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE7AF06Z2011111616 November 2011By Non-Attributed AuthorGhana will seek to boost revenues from its mining industry next year by hiking taxes,according to a text of the 2012 budget delivered to parliament on Wednesday.

Africa Rising: Sierra Leone's iron industry gets back in business (The ChristianScience Monitor)http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/Africa-Monitor/2011/1115/Africa-Rising-Sierra-Leone-s-iron-industry-gets-back-in-business15 November 2011By Paige McClanahanAfrican Minerals, a London-listed company, has shipped the first batch of iron ore fromits mine in central Sierra Leone, marking the war-battered countrys first export of thecommodity in nearly 30 years.

Antiterrorism meeting in Algeria signals regional worries about terror (TheChristian Science Monitor)http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/Africa-Monitor/2011/1115/Antiterrorism-meeting-in-Algeria-signals-regional-worries-about-terror15 November 2011By Alex ThurstonTomorrow and Thursday, security experts from Sahelian countries will meet in Algiers todiscuss anti-terrorism efforts in the region. This meeting is the latest in an ongoing seriesdedicated to deepening regional cooperation.

U.S. Officials, Private Partners Combat African Conflict Minerals (USEmbassy.gov)http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/article/2011/11/20111116173824eiznekcam0.126034.html#axzz1dw7GXgfe16 November 2011
http://allafrica.com/stories/201111160424.htmlhttp://allafrica.com/stories/201111160424.htmlhttp://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7AF08W20111116http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7AF08W20111116http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE7AF06Z20111116http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE7AF06Z20111116http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/Africa-Monitor/2011/1115/Africa-Rising-Sierra-Leone-s-iron-industry-gets-back-in-businesshttp://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/Africa-Monitor/2011/1115/Africa-Rising-Sierra-Leone-s-iron-industry-gets-back-in-businesshttp://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/Africa-Monitor/2011/1115/Africa-Rising-Sierra-Leone-s-iron-industry-gets-back-in-businesshttp://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/Africa-Monitor/2011/1115/Antiterrorism-meeting-in-Algeria-signals-regional-worries-about-terrorhttp://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/Africa-Monitor/2011/1115/Antiterrorism-meeting-in-Algeria-signals-regional-worries-about-terrorhttp://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/Africa-Monitor/2011/1115/Antiterrorism-meeting-in-Algeria-signals-regional-worries-about-terrorhttp://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/article/2011/11/20111116173824eiznekcam0.126034.html%23axzz1dw7GXgfehttp://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/article/2011/11/20111116173824eiznekcam0.126034.html%23axzz1dw7GXgfehttp://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/article/2011/11/20111116173824eiznekcam0.126034.html%23axzz1dw7GXgfehttp://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/article/2011/11/20111116173824eiznekcam0.126034.html%23axzz1dw7GXgfehttp://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/article/2011/11/20111116173824eiznekcam0.126034.html%23axzz1dw7GXgfehttp://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/Africa-Monitor/2011/1115/Antiterrorism-meeting-in-Algeria-signals-regional-worries-about-terrorhttp://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/Africa-Monitor/2011/1115/Antiterrorism-meeting-in-Algeria-signals-regional-worries-about-terrorhttp://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/Africa-Monitor/2011/1115/Africa-Rising-Sierra-Leone-s-iron-industry-gets-back-in-businesshttp://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/Africa-Monitor/2011/1115/Africa-Rising-Sierra-Leone-s-iron-industry-gets-back-in-businesshttp://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE7AF06Z20111116http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7AF08W20111116http://allafrica.com/stories/201111160424.html


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By MacKenzie C. BabbU.S. government officials have joined with private sector and civil society partners tolaunch the Public-Private Alliance for Responsible Minerals Trade, an initiative tocombat illicit minerals trading and put an end to the associated violence and human rightsabuses.

State Department Update on Darfur, Sudan (USEbassy.gov)http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/texttrans/2011/11/20111116182437su0.9645589.html#axzz1dw7GXgfe16 November 2011By U.S. Department of State, Office of the SpokespersonThe U.S. Institute of Peace hosted an important workshop on Darfur this week, whichwas attended by key Darfuri armed movements, Darfuri civil society, and keystakeholders in the international community, including U.S. government officials. Theworkshop produced frank and constructive discussions on Darfur and served as a uniqueopportunity to foster dialogue among some of the key stakeholders.

###UN News Service Africa Briefshttp://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICA

(Full Articles on UN Website)

Ban commends Liberians for holding free and fair presidential election16 NovemberSecretary-General Ban Ki-moon today congratulated the people ofLiberia for exercising their right to vote in the presidential run-off election earlier thismonth and commended the countrys authorities for conducting free, fair and transparent

elections.

UN urges Rwanda to boost efforts to transition to green economy16 NovemberRwanda must build on its efforts to transition to a green economy,according a United Nations report released today on the countrys post-conflictenvironmental situation, which also urges the Government to implement measures thatwill boost the economy while protecting natural resources.

Urgent action needed to stem cassava virus threatening East AfricaUN agency16 NovemberThe United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is urgingswift action to tackle a cassava virus that is affecting large parts of East Africa andthreatening a staple food crop for much of the region.

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UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST

18 NOV 2011
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WHAT: Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Discussion on "The Middle East, NorthAfrica, and U.S. Policy." Speaker: Adam Smith (D-WA), Ranking Member, HouseArmed Services Committee.WHERE: CFR, 1777 F St, NW

CONTACT: Lucy Dunderdale at 202-509-8525 or [email protected] ; web site:www.cfr.orgNOTE: RSVP by: 12:00 p.m., Thursday, November 17, 2011 RSVP to:[email protected]: CFR Communications office - www.cfr.org

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New onwww.africom.mil

USAID Supports South Sudans First Agricultural Trade Fair

http://africom.wordpress.com/2011/11/15/usaid-supports-south-sudan%e2%80%99s-first-agricultural-trade-fair/15 November 2011By Angela StephensIn South Sudan, farmers, researchers, and the private sector are coming together with thehelp of USAID to showcase the new nations agricultural potential.

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Public Feedback on AFRICOM Websitehttp://www.africom.mil/recentPublicBlogEntries.asp

18 NOV 2011

From: KingJaja in Lagos, Nigeria

I wasn't really excited when I heard about the formation of AFRICOM, but sinceAFRICOM is here to stay, I need to make some comments.

1. Africa does not owe its freedom to the American military (unlike Europe and parts ofEast Asia) and we have five hundred years of very bloody history with the West - wewere fighting wars of liberation against Western powers as recently as 1980. In Muslimparts of Africa, you have another count against you - you support Israel.

So try and understand our discomfort with the AFRICOM concept.

When Africa needed the US military the most - Rwanda , it was nowhere to be found,expect us to be sceptical.

2. The AFRICOM inception and basing PR disaster is further proof of a lack of
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understanding of the complexities of dealing with the African people and theirgovernments. This makes me worried, because Africa is infinitely more complex thaneither Afghanistan or Iraq.

3. While you might have the best of intentions and genuinely think you are winning

hearts and minds, most Africans are smart enough to know that the usual business ofsoldiers is not to cuddle babies, build classrooms and organise pandemic workshops. Weare smelling fish from a mile - don't overdo it. Soldiers have a bad reputation here, wedon't like seeing too many soldiers, especially foreign soldiers (except during war - andmost of us are not at war).

Consider this: if General Carter Ham of the People's Liberation Army was seen to bepontificating on every topic under the sun in Africa and PLA teams were all over Africa,what would your reaction be? What would your reaction be to a Chinese AFRICOM?

Please manage your perception.

4. Sometimes I get confused, are you guys an extension of USAID and the Peace Corps?Where exactly does your role stop and the role of these other two organisations start?Please don't create the impression that the US Government hasn't yet decided on thedivision of labour.

5. It is great to train African soldiers, but do you really know who you are training andwhat the military-civilian relations are like in the host country? If you don't, you'll end uptraining ethnic militias and human rights abusers and you'll suffer damage to your softpower, your reputation and your credibility.

And no, you cannot reform an army by simply training them. Armies do not exist in avacuum, they are a reflection of the societies they come from. If the leadership in a nationhas no regard for human rights, training that nation's army will not magically make themrespect human rights, you'll simply have a better trained and equipped set of human rightsabusers.

6. Counter-terrorism seems to be one of your main goals, but please understand thatAfrica's major problem is not terrorism but the lack of employment opportunities thatlead to terrorism and militancy.For example, in North East Nigeria, literacy rates can beas low as 25 and unemployment rates could be significantly higher than the nationalaverage of 41.

No amount of drones or counter-terrorism training will remove these facts on the ground.The terrorists you are so eager to pursue are products of fifty years of poor governanceand killing some of them will not solve the problem.

Most importantly, it is not your fight.

A more helpful course of action would be to catalyse industrial development and


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employment. However, your government is more keen on sending generals to Africancapitals than on sending Commerce Secretaries to AGOA meetings.

The Chinese are interested in spurring industrial development in Africa, it would be niceif you'd cooperate with them, but since you have labeled them "enemy no.1", you are not

likely to do so.

Well the only thing I can say is I wish you well, please don't kill too many of us or trainpeople who will kill many of us.

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African leaders: Al-Shabaab operation 'historic opportunity' for security (CNN)http://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/16/world/africa/kenya-somalia-al-shabaab/index.html?hpt=iaf_c2

16 November 2011By David McKenzie

Nairobi, Kenya (CNN) -- The leaders of Kenya, Somalia and Uganda held a closed-doormeeting in Nairobi Wednesday, reaffirming their commitment to military operationsagainst the Islamic militant group Al-Shabaab in Somalia.

Presidents Mwai Kibaki, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed and Yoweri Museveni met for severalhours in the Kenyan capital at State House, Kibaki's official residence.

In a joint communique after the meeting, the leaders "expressed confidence that the jointKenya-Somali operation presents the region with a historic opportunity to restore stabilityand security in Somalia," Kenya's foreign minister said.

Kenyan forces entered Somalia in October after a rash of kidnappings Kenyan authoritiesblamed on Al-Shabaab, which has ties to al Qaeda and is considered a terrorist group bythe United States.

Fierce battle for Mogadishu Kenyan officials say the kidnappings threatened security andconstituted an attack on Kenyan sovereignty. Kenyan forces are ultimately seeking totake the Somali port city of Kismayo, described by the United Nations as a keystronghold and source of cash for Al-Shabaab.

But after more than a month, Kenya's operation has seen little direct conflict with Al-Shabaab, and has been beset with logistical delays. However, military officials remainconfident they will be able to disable the group in southern Somalia.

Last month, Ahmed had questioned the wisdom of a Kenyan military incursion intoSomali territory, but he has since said that he supports the operation.
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The African Union-backed AMISOM force, meanwhile, is trying to consolidate powerfor Somalia's weak transitional federal government in Mogadishu, where Al-Shabaab isespecially active in its battle against that government.

Uganda is the largest contributor of forces to AMISOM, and the three presidents called

on other African countries that have pledged troops, but have yet to act, to "urgentlyfulfill their pledges." Most security analysts believe that more troops are needed forAMISOM to expand its reach of control.

While not much of substance was made public from the presidents' meeting, it wassymbolically significant, with the three leaders standing together next to their flags in ashow of unity.

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Can Obama Capture Kony? (Str8talk)

http://str8talkchronicle.com/?p=1845615 November 2011By George Okore Think African Press

President Barack Obama has announced that he will send nearly 100 military advisers toCentral Africa to assist in neutralizing the Lords Resistance Army (LRA), one of

Africas most notorious rebel groups.

The announcement last week explained that although the advisers are armed, they willnot participate in combat operations. Instead, they will mainly help the militaries ofUganda, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the CentralAfrican Republic (CAR) devise operations to kill or capture LRA leaders and protectvulnerable citizens in the region.

Richard Downie from the Center for Strategic and International Studies says the mostintriguing question is why the US is getting involved in another war in Africa. This alsoportends a slight shift under the Obama administration, which has previously placed agreat emphasis on protecting civilians and now seems ready to contemplate militaryaction in support of that objective.

Supporters say that Congress gave a green light to the action through the Lords

Resistance Army Disarmament and North Uganda Recovery Act enacted in May 2010,after a strong campaign fromhuman rights groups. The legislation urged the White Houseto devise a comprehensive strategy to eliminate the LRA, although it did not commit anyfunds to do so.

The October 14 troop announcement adds details to the White Houses anti-LRA strategyunveiled last year, such as the broad approach to apprehend Kony and his commanders,encourage defections, protect civilians and increase humanitarian assistance to regionsaffected by the LRA. Furthermore, the new mission complements the US Africa
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Command (AFRICOM), led by General Carter Ham and formed to enhance the capacity,effectiveness, and professionalism of African militaries to ultimately deal with their ownsecurity challenges.

The operation comes at a time when the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC)

has issued arrest warrants against Kony and four lieutenants for crimes against humanity.But American critics are quick to remember the infamous Black Hawk Down incident inSomalia in 1993 when 18 US soldiers were killed. They urge caution and wantWashington to learn from Operation Lightning Thunder in December 2008, whichattempted to eradicate the LRA. The joint offensive on an LRA camp in northeasternDRC, led by Uganda, DRC and South Sudan, involved 17 US military advisers whoprovided logistics, communications and intelligence support.

The mission leaked and failed when the LRA got advance warning of the bombing raidthat was supposed to begin the operation. Bad weather meant the air strikes wereconducted with slower moving helicopters rather than Ugandan fighter jets, further

reducing the element of surprise. Poor coordination meant the ground forces that weresupposed to swarm into the camp immediately after the bombing raid did not turn up fora week. Finally, mutual antipathy among the three main militaries involved enabledKonys forces to slip across the border into South Sudan unchallenged.

The costs of the failed operation were devastating for civilians, with a series of bloodyreprisals in northeastern Congo reported a week later.

Since December 2008, the LRA has killed approximately 3,000 people and displaced400,000 more according to estimates by the nongovernmental organization ResolveUganda, which monitors the groups attacks.

This time around, robust safeguards should be put in place to protect civilians. And moreemphasis will have to be placed on ensuring better cooperation among participatingmilitaries.

However, the task will not be easy. One of the consequences of Operation LightningThunder was that the LRA scattered into smaller groups (this is mapped at LRA CrisisTracker), making them much more difficult to track down. The LRA is also reported tohave thrown away any communication equipment that would allow them to be traced andinstead rely on runners to relay messages. In addition, the LRA is a hardened guerrillaforce used to operating in difficult terrain and has survived against the odds for a quarterof a century. Kony himself is believed to be operating from the Central AfricanRepublic.

US policymakers and military planners emphasize that there is no quick fix to ending thescourge of the LRA. Even the death or capture of Kony and his senior commanders maynot be sufficient to finish off the group unless broader efforts are made to address thegrievances that caused it to form in the first place. Unfortunately, these grievances andmuch else about the group are poorly understood.


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Africa: America's Role in Continent's Strife (All Africa.com)http://allafrica.com/stories/201111130186.html

16 November 2011Mwaura Samora

As Kenyan troops push their way into Somalia's hinterland in pursuit of Al-Shabaabmilitants, several security analysts and observers allege an unseen hand behind OperationLinda Nchi.

The allegations have been riding on the wave of unconfirmed reports in the early days ofthe incursion that claimed that unmanned American drones had attacked several targetsinside the lawless nation.

Both countries denied the reports, with Washington insisting that it had no plan of beingactively involved in the war on Al-Shabaab.

An Associated Press reporter even intimated that the United States was actually"shocked" by the incursion of Kenyan troops in Somalia since Washington had not beenconsulted over the ingress in advance.

Andrew Franklin, an ex-US Marine now working in Nairobi as a financial and securityconsultant, agrees with the reported position of the US.

"My experience from the past tells me that it is very unlikely that the United States wasaware of this spontaneous invasion and agreed to go with it," he observes, adding that hisposition is informed by a number of factors, key among them being that the prevailingclimatic conditions in southern Somalia will greatly hamper a quick and decisiveattainment of the operation's key objectives.

Mr Franklin's observations came a few days after US President Barack Obamaannounced that his country would be sending 100 Special Forces personnel to Uganda tohelp quell the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) and capture its leader, Joseph Kony.Although the unit will not hesitate to engage the enemy in self-defence, their keymandate, it was reported, is to provide information, advice, and assistance to their hostsand the armies of other neighbouring countries prone to attacks by the LRA like SouthSudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Whichever way one looks at it, the deployment of this elite US force to Uganda and thealleged drone attacks against targets in southern Somalia is not a surprise since UncleSam has always, directly or indirectly, been a key player in many post-colonial Africanconflicts.
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Africa Command was established former U.S. president George Bush and his Secretaryof Defence Robert Gates.From covert operations during the cold war era and the tragedy of "Black Hawk Down"in Mogadishu in the early 1990s to supporting the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia fiveyears ago, Washington's military adventures in Africa have been thick and fast, especially

since 9/11.

In order to harness its military operations in Africa and, according to some observers,check the Chinese onslaught in the resource-rich continent, America established thecontroversial Africa Command (AfriCom) in 2007.

While pan-Africanists have claimed that AfriCom is one of the final steps inWashington's quest to "re-colonise Africa", the latter insists that the institution was set upto foster world peace.

According to the US Department of Defence, AfriCom was established to seek "more

effective ways for the department to help prevent and respond to humanitarian crises,improve cooperative efforts to stem trans-national terrorism, and sustain enduring effortsthat contribute to African unity and bolster security on the continent", and "to overseemilitary operations on the African continent".

As expected, the command was greeted with suspicion and mistrust by most Africanleaders. Perceived as an imperialist tactic against the continent by America, no countrywas willing to host the headquarters of this controversial military organisation exceptLiberia.

But the West African country, still rising from the ashes of a brutal civil war, apparentlydid not make the required mark, hence Pentagon decided to station AfriCom in thefaraway city of Stuttgart, Germany.

According to the command's website, it has approximately 2,000 assigned personnel,which includes military, civilian, and host nation employees, the bulk of whom work atthe Stuttgart headquarters.

Others are assigned to AfriCom units in the US and Europe, while a small number ofofficers are posted at American embassies and diplomatic missions across Africa.

Since its inception in 2008, the command has received more than $730 million in budgetallocations, excluding individual service expenditures and funding for military exercise.

The US is the only country in the world that divides the globe into military commands.Besides AfriCom, there are other commands in charge of Europe and the rest of theworld.

In a bid to appease Africa, former US president George W. Bush appointed Gen WilliamWard, an African-American, as the first commander of AfriCom. He was replaced by


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Gen Carter Ham in March this year. During his two-year tour of duty, Gen Ward strivedto sell the AfriCom gospel to African leaders by attending AU gatherings and state visitswhere he portrayed the European-based command as a partner of African national armies.

Responding to a question by a Voice of America journalist on AfriCom's role in the Horn

of Africa and Somalia in particular, the four-star general was categorical.

"We certainly support those who are supportive of the Transitional Federal Government(TFG), the African Union, and AMISOM missions," he explained.

"In so far as any direct involvement in Somalia, that's not the role of my command. Ouractivities on the continent, in Somalia, are widespread, and so there are probably thingsthat occur that may be publicly as done by the United States Africa Command, but that'sjust not the case".

But, apparently, in recent times AfriCom has been doing more than just helping its

partner countries through various training missions and developing the capacity toprovide for their own security and protect their own borders.

The Stuttgart-based command was at the heart of Operation Odyssey Dawn that played apivotal role in bringing down Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi.

Coordinating the combat operations of more than 11 American warships and dozens ofaircraft along the Mediterranean coast, AfriCom fired hundreds of cruise missiles intoLibya and participated in many aerial bombardments in conjunction with Nato.

Although Operation Odyssey Down attained its key objectives, the active fighting roleput AfriCom at loggerheads with African Union (AU) leaders, most of whom havequestioned the US military motives in the continent.

This was further aggravated by fact that Western allies snubbed a suggestion by AUleaders to save Gaddafi through a ceasefire.

The current commander has stated that AfriCom will be working closely with theNational Transitional Council government to assist in curbing the proliferation andsmuggling of weapons into Libya.

But one of AfriCom's darkest spots remains in Uganda, where a botched operation tocapture Joseph Kony three years ago ended up doing more harm than good.

In an apparent quest to "enhance the ability of each one of our African partners to providefor their own security", AfriCom, working with the Ugandan army, hatched OperationLightning Thunder in 2008, a mission meant to crush LRA and capture its murderousleader.


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According to the Star and Stripes, a US military independent news source, "the commandprovided the Ugandan military with maps, satellite phones, GPS receivers and about $1million in fuel for vehicles, as well as a team of advisers who provided feedback on theplan".

The LRA got wind of the operation and fled before the raiding party arrived. And sincethe operation made no effort to warn civilians -- despite the fact that reprisals and civilianmassacres are some of the barbaric standard operating procedures of the LRA -- thegroup went on a retaliatory killing spree.

Describing the method of execution as "axing, cutting, slitting throats, and crushingskulls with wooden bats and axes", the New York Times quoted a source from Dorumatown in the Democratic Republic of Congo saying that, after massacring 300 peopleattending a Christmas party, the rebels "ate the Christmas feast the villagers had preparedand then slept among the dead bodies before continuing with their trail of destruction anddeath."

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Remilitarisation of Africa Set to Fail (IDN In-Depth News)http://www.indepthnews.info/index.php/global-issues/551-remilitarisation-of-africa-set-to-fail16 November 2011By Horace Campbell

BEIJING (IDN) - At the same moment when the Libyan adventure backfired with theU.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) retreating from taking credit for the end of theGaddafi regime, the U.S. government announced the deployment of 100 troops toUganda to assist the government of Yoweri Museveni to track down the LordsResistance Army (LRA).

Later the same month in October 2011, there was news that the Kenyan army had beendeployed into Somalia in pursuit of armed Somalians known as Al-Shabaab (TheYouth) that Kenya blames for a series of kidnappings on its soil. It was also revealedthat France would be supporting the Kenyan invasion in Somalia.

Sensitive to the future relationship with Africans who want peace, the spokespersons forAFRICOM have been leading from behind in this Kenyan operation.

In the past 20 years, the U.S. support for militarism in the Horn of Africa has destabilisedthis region of Africa. Since independence in 1963, Kenya has been the cockpit ofimperial ventures in Africa. This was because the radical traditions of Kenya from theperiod of the Land and Freedom Army had to be contained.

After three periods of containment using force, non-governmental organisations andsowing divisions among the progressives, the awakening in Africa pointed to the
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vibrancy and potential for people-centred change in Kenya. Thus, the security planners inWestern states were not going to wait to be surprised by a Tahrir Square uprising inKenya.

This process of remilitarisation will fail in Africa, just as support for Mobutism and

support for apartheid failed decades earlier. The challenge for peace and social justiceforces in North America and Europe is to take the question of the militarisation of Africato the forefront of the struggles against the one per cent, and link the issues of militarismmore closely to the banking industry and its private military contractors.

I will start with the six points that highlighted the catastrophic failure of AFRICOM inLibya, retrace the failure of the Operation Lightning Thunder of 2008 and then examinethe fear of revolutionary uprisings in Kenya. The conclusion will retrace the intellectualand political crisis within the U.S. ruling circles in this depression, and explore why thecurrent remilitarisation of Africa is being opposed fiercely in Africa and will influencethe present movement for peace and social justice in North America and Western Europe.

When Seumas Milne from UK newspaper the Guardian wrote, "If the Libyan war wasabout saving lives, it was a catastrophic failure," he was communicating a conclusion thathad been echoed in newspapers and by analysts all over the world. From Asia, writerswere linking the role of AFRICOM to the new power grab in Africa while there wasmassive opposition from Africa. In studying the catastrophic failures, I will briefly listthe top six.

a) The first point that has been made by numerous writers that far from protecting lives inLibya, far more lives were lost from the NATO intervention. Seumas Milne wrote: "Whatis now known, however, is that while the death toll in Libya when NATO intervened wasperhaps around 1,000-2,000 (judging by UN estimates), eight months later it is probablymore than ten times that figure. Estimates of the numbers of dead over the last eightmonthsas NATO leaders vetoed ceasefires and negotiationsrange from 10,000 up to50,000. The National Transitional Council puts the losses at 30,000 dead and 50,000wounded."

b) The second major point of the NATO led quagmire in Libya is the destruction of thesociety. The rubble of former cities and towns is a testament to the unlimited bombing.Sirte, in particular has been completely destroyed.

c) The third point refers to the crimes of war committed by NATO and NATO supportedtroops. NATO and their surrogates committed atrocities and the execution of prisonersconstitute a crime under the laws of war. There is no statute of limitation for crimes ofwar.

d) Fourthly, the banks and the financial institutions are involved in the financialisation ofenergy "markets." The extent to which the Gaddafi regime was linked to Goldman Sachsand the opaque world of commodity financial contracts is yet to fully emerge. TheLibyan Investment Authority lost billions of dollars and the peoples of Libya will have


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great difficulty unfreezing their assets that were frozen by western countries and thebanks that are now plunging the world into a depression.

e) The now exposed role of Qatar troops and other forces on the ground when the UNmandate explicitly precluded ground troops.

f) The support for conservative Islamists who want to roll back the rights of women andthe gains of the people of Libya.

Once the multiple layers of failures began to be documented around the world, theeuphoric rhetoric about NATO success in Libya receded as General Carter Ham (head ofAFRICOM) hid behind, while NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen flew to Libya in aself-congratulatory one day visit to hail the "success" of the NATO mission to assist theNational Transitional Council.

While some senators in the USA were posturing about the NATO victory, the Obama

White House was embarrassed by the exposure of the discussion about the assassinationof Gaddafi while he was in the hands of the National Security Council forces.

General Carter Ham who at the start of the Operation in March Libya was willing to takecredit for the bombing of Tripoli was shy to have a full discussion on Libya. Carter Hamspoke at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CISS) in October to present apublic relations effort in relation to the new deployment in Central Africa.

While in March, Carter Ham was willing to be on the international news celebrating therole of AFRICOM in Libya, even before the execution of Gaddafi, Carter Ham wastrying to shift attention from the on-going war crimes in Libya to speak of "threats tostability, security challenges and crises all over the continent." The more tuned-inpolicymakers who attended grasped that Ham was clutching at straws and that nomention was made or attempt offered at setting out what the structural or underlying rootcauses of the threats to stability and securitychallenges all over Africa actually are.

Carter Ham reproduced the same ideas about security and how to help client states inAfrica protect U.S. interests. The criteria that AFRICOM continues to use to determinewhere it will look to offer assistance to confront threats and address security challengesincludes:

(a) dictators and constitutional democrats who will seek AFRICOMs assistance to

remain in power, (b) emphasis on the East African region as a strategic area forprojection of force, (c) the importance of Uganda and East Africa for future U.S.planning, and (d) the usual justification for militarism, that of fighting Al Qaeda inSomalia.

What was not stated was that the goal of the United States in Africa was to pre-emptother revolutionary uprisings of the type and scale that removed the regimes in Tunisiaand Egypt.


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Less than two weeks after this public relations exercise at the CISS, newspapers in theUSA announced that AFRICOM will send two combat teams of about 100 to Africa(Uganda, South Sudan, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of theCongo,) to help fight against the Lords Resistance Army.

This deployment brings out the desperate efforts of Museveni to remain in power after 25years. This assistance of the U.S. military to Museveni is not new. In 2008, there was a

much-publicised operation by the U.S. military to assist the Uganda Peoples DefenceForce (UPDF) to wipe out the Lords Resistance Army (LRA).

This operation ended in a failure and reinforced the alienation of the people of NorthernUganda from the Museveni regime. Hundreds of thousands of people have beendisplaced by this war that has been waged so that the Ugandan society can be partiallymilitarised. Even a usual pro-interventionist humanitarian NGO such as the EnoughProject criticised the Uganda and U.S. governments over the past operation of 2008-

2009. The Enough Project described the operation as poorly executed andoperationally flawed.

Peace activists in East Africa have for decades exposed the use of the war in the North ofUganda for the Museveni regime to stay in power and promote self-enrichment. Thosesections of the Ugandan society who had any progressive leanings left the Museveniregime and those military personnel with any integrity died under dubious circumstances.

Major Reuben Ikondere and Noble Mayombo were two members of the UPDF who hadprogressive Pan-Africanist leanings. They lost their lives at young ages. Otherprogressives who had joined the National Resistance Movement (NRM) in opposition todictatorship slowly left Museveni. The most outstanding of this group were the formerunderground forces from Kitwe who had been the liberating force inside of Ugandaduring the era of dictatorship and other militarists.

The Museveni government spurned efforts by elders from all across East Africa whowanted a negotiated solution to the fighting in order to isolate the LRAs Joseph Konyand his murderous bands. While the brutal atrocities of this group were well-known, therewere elders in Acholi land with links to elders in the region who were capable of isolatingKony. Just as the U.S. military benefited from keeping Osama Bin Laden alive as athreat, so the Museveni regime holds this scare of the Kony bands over the people ofUganda.

More significantly, the Museveni government is seeking external support from theconservative factions in the United States as the region of the Great Lakes becomes amajor target for increased oil exploration and production. In what is now being called thelargest onshore oil discovery in sub-Saharan Africa in 20 years, UK-based oil explorationand production company Tullow Oil discovered reserves of nearly two billion barrels ofoil in rural western Uganda, with the largest finds in the Lake Albert Basin. Subsequentpress reports exposed the reality that drilling will yield several billion barrels of oil; at


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least 15 major strikes by various oil companies have been made throughout Great RiftValley since Tullows discovery.

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Swaziland Aids orphans 'owed $10m'IMF (BBC)http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-1576147116 November 2011By Non-Attributed Author

Swaziland's government has failed to pay more than $10m (6.3m) in grants to Aidsorphans because of its financial crisis, an IMF official has said.

Swaziland has the world's highest HIV/Aids rate, leaving some 69,000 orphans.

The IMF's Joannes Mongardini said the government should cut its wage bill to ease its

financial crisis.

Critics say lavish spending by King Mswati III and his 13 wives has worsened the crisis.

The government says its financial problems have been triggered by the global economiccrisis and a sharp decline in the landlocked kingdom's income from the Southern AfricanCustoms Union (Sacu), following a new tariff deal.

Swaziland has not yet accepted a $355m bailout from neighbouring South Africa afterPretoria set a series of conditions - including political and economic reforms.

In a statement after visiting Swaziland, an IMF team - led by Mr Mongardini - saidSwaziland's government was facing "severe liquidity constraints".

Political parties are banned in Swaziland, where King Mswati has been in power since1986 "Government revenue collections are insufficient to cover essential governmentexpenditures, including the wage bill," it said.

"More importantly, key social programs... are being negatively affected."

Mr Mongardini told the BBC that the government had "owed" $10m in grants to orphansand $4m to elderly people since September.

He said 26% of Swaziland's adult population is infected with HIV/Aids, and tens ofthousands of children are orphans.

He said the IMF had asked the government to reduce its wage bill by 5% by slashing,among others, "generous allowances" given to politicians and top civil servants.

The wage bill had also risen because of an increase in security force numbers, he said.
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All Swazis - including the monarchy - would have to make sacrifices if Swaziland'sfinances were to improve, Mr Mongardini said.

King Mswati is sub-Saharan Africa's only absolute monarch, and has refused to introduce

multi-party democracy.

Political parties are banned in Swaziland.

At the weekend, Swaziland's top Anglican cleric, Bishop Meshack Mabuza, called onKing Mswati to give up political power in favour of a democratic government.

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Mugabe thanks Hong Kong for 'protecting daughter' (BBC)http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-15751359

16 November 2011By Non-Attributed Author

President Robert Mugabe has praised Hong Kong for protecting his daughter fromharassment by British journalists, Zimbabwe's state media report.

Mr Mugabe made the comments as he attended his daughter Bona's graduation from CityUniversity in Hong Kong.

Bodyguards of Miss Mugabe, 22, were accused of assaulting reporters in 2009, but werenot charged.

In the same year, Mr Mugabe's wife Grace was not charged after allegedly assaulting aphotographer in Hong Kong.

Officials cited diplomatic immunity in Mrs Mugabe's case.

City University spokeswoman Karen Cheng told reporters that Mr and Mrs Mugabe, whoown a house in Hong Kong, had attended the graduation ceremony on Tuesday.

She told the South China Morning Post that Mr Mugabe and his family took photosamong the many graduates "like any other parent".

She said they "drew some attention" but most of the other parents did not realise whothey were.

Mr Mugabe is expected to head to Beijing for a visit aimed at attracting more investmentfrom China.

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Nigeria: Jonathan to Boko Haram - Justice Could Be Swift and Certain (AllAfrica.com)http://allafrica.com/view/group/main/main/id/00014605.html16 November 2011

Mohammed S. Shehu

A window of opportunity is still open for promoters of violence in the country todenounce their activities and embrace peace because the government is willing tofacilitate their integration and rehabilitation into society, President Goodluck Jonathansaid in Abuja yesterday.

He however warned that the government will deliver "swift and certain justice forcriminal elements." He said those bent on perpetrating violence should be prepared toface the wrath of the law because the security forces in the country have been told to goafter "all promoters of terror and other anti-social activities in the country and bring them

to book."

Jonathan handed down the warning after inaugurating a 13-man Presidential AdvisoryCommittee on the Prerogative of Mercy which has the Attorney General and Minister ofJustice Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN) as the Chairman. Special Duties Office in theoffice of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) will serve as thesecretary. Adoke was represented at the ceremony by a committee member, TunjiAbayomi.

Members of the committee include retired Police Deputy Inspector General Uba Ringim,representing the police, Alhaji Manir Ja'afaru, M.J. Okpolo (SAN), Mr CN Orji, Dr TunjiAbayomi and Mr Bolaji Ayorinde. Other members include representatives of the NigeriaPrisons Service, Jama'ataul Nasril Islam (JNI), Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN)and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), among others.

President Goodluck Jonathan says that government was prepared to reintegrate andrehabilitate those who took arms against the state provided they lay down their arms.The president, who was apparently referring to the wave of deadly armed attacks andbombings in the country blamed on the Boko Haram sect, said, "While we intend toalways provide a window of opportunity for those who have seen the folly of their anti-social behaviour to retrace their steps, I wish to renew my call to those that choose to liveon the fringes of the law: Retrace your steps and we will work with you to facilitate yourreintegration and rehabilitation. If you undermine the state, be prepared to face the fullwrath of the law.

"Today, our character and reputation as a caring and forgiving people are under severetest by frequent acts of mindless brigandage which have resulted in the maiming andkilling of hundreds of our citizens, including those engaged in the noble of act of servingtheir fatherland.
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"We now confront evil of a nature that is totally unacceptable to all religions, our cultureand our sense of humanity. I salute those who have refused to buy into the siren song ofdestruction, which some agents of violence are promoting.

"I also want to reassure those of our people who have lost their relatives to these crimes

that we shall bring the perpetrators to book. We share in your pain. We stand united, aswe confront the inhumane actions of the misguided few who seem determined to violatethe core values of tolerance and peaceful co-existence. We shall fight and defeat that evil.

"We are resolute in our charge to the security agencies to go after all promoters of terrorand other anti-social activities in the country and bring them to book."

The president also advocated a review of justice administration process to provide forparole or suspended sentences as in some other jurisdictions, saying the cycle of justiceshould also include forgiveness and relief for those that are manifestly repentant.

He said, "The pervasive assumption is that the Nigerian penal system is punitive, and thatevery encounter with the law may be a permanent exit from decent society. My view isthat we need to place emphasis on our penal system being more correctional.

"We need to create opportunities for convicted persons, either after completing theirterms or before they do so, considering the circumstances, to be reintegrated back intosociety, and rehabilitated.

"Perhaps we can achieve a lot more by making the justice system a bit more redemptive.In doing this, we will also need to pay particular attention to human rights, especiallywhere there is ample evidence of abuse."

Jonathan also called on the committee to go beyond the routine decongestion of prisonsand redressing the miscarriage of justice by recommending action for culturaltransformation and value reorientation.

He told the committee to strictly assess every case on its own merit, saying thegovernment would not exercise the prerogative of mercy on a quota basis or in deferenceto the considerations of religion, geography, ethnicity or politics.

The committee was reconstituted following the expiration of the four-year tenure of theformer committee in 2009.

The Prerogative of Mercy, which is enshrined in the Constitution, allows the Presidentand state governors to grant to a convicted person a state pardon. This pardon can beeither conditional or otherwise, or it could be in the form of respite from the execution ofpunishment imposed, or the substitution of a less severe sanction. The committee,however, assists the president in the exercise of the prerogative of mercy.

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Uganda: Protests Erupt Over Umeme Blackouts (All Africa.com)http://allafrica.com/stories/201111160424.html16 November 2011By Andrew Bagala The Monitor

KampalaTraders operating on Nasser and Nkrumah roads in Kampala, yesterdayblocked several roads in the central business district protesting the 24-hour load-sheddingschedule.Police now fear the protests could spread to other areas of the country. Similar protestsbroke out in Lira last Friday, when residents organised peaceful demonstrations to showanger over the continued power outages.

In September, Kisenyi traders also staged demonstrations when Umeme announced therewould be a 12-hour load-shedding. Subsequently, load shedding continued to fluctuatebetween the 12 and 24-hour blackout schedules.

However, the return to a full 24-hour load-shedding was again announced by Umeme lastweek prompting the angry response from traders whose businesses have been paralysed.

Umeme, however, said the problem set in after owners of thermal generators stoppedsupplying power to the national grid. Consequently, several business people, especiallythose that depend on power, countrywide say their businesses are on the verge ofcollapse.

Separately, Umeme yesterday said the current load-shedding will go on until alternativepower sources are fixed. The Umeme outage manager, Ms Florence Nsubuga, made thedisclosure at a press conference in Kampala, hours after the protests erupted.

Ms Nsubuga said load-shedding is as a result of fire outbreak that gutted the machines atMutundwe power substation four days ago which left most of their power machinesdamaged which supply power to other parts of the city.

Ms Nsubuga said Umeme has lost at least 80 megawatts from the weekend damage whichhas been causing the inconsistencies in power stability. She said the company has devisedsome ways of handling the power blackout, such as using other power substations atLugogo, Kitante, and Kisugu Service Centre to reduce on the load-shedding problem, atleast by next week.

MPs in mid-August asked the government to terminate the Umeme contract but if themove is effected this year, it would require payment of Sh421b to Umeme. But thedirector of Privatisation Unit, Mr David Ssebabi, yesterday defended the concession toUmeme.

"It is a good deal. Our understanding and our effort was to get the best deal for Uganda,"Mr Ssebabi told the parliamentary Ad hoc Committee that is currently probing the
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inefficiencies in the power sector.

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China urges Zimbabwe's Mugabe to expand economic ties (Reuters)

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7AF08W2011111616 November 2011By Non-Attributed Author

BEIJING (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe won praise on Wednesday asa great African figure and "old friend" of Beijing, underscoring China's commitment toboosting business ties to a leader shunned by Western governments.

China's Vice President Xi Jinping told Mugabe, 87, that China wants to expand farming,mining and infrastructure projects in Zimbabwe, where a campaign to transfer ownershipof land and mines to locals has caused widespread economic hardship and deterred

Western foreign investment.

Xi, likely to succeed Hu Jintao as China's president from early 2013, voiced no suchcriticisms, according to an account of his meeting by the Chinese Foreign Ministry(www.mfa.gov.cn).

"His excellency the president is a famed leader of the national liberation movement inAfrica, and also an old friend whom the Chinese people know well," said Xi, whosename is pronounced "Shee".

"China is willing to join hands with Zimbabwe, enhance friendly exchanges, and expandpractical cooperation," he added.

The report did not say whether the two leaders reached any commercial agreements.

Shunned by the West, Mugabe has increasingly sought help elsewhere, especially inChina, whose companies covet the mineral resources of the southern African country.

Zimbabwe has demanded that most foreign mining companies in Zimbabwe surrender 51percent of their local equity to blacks in the country.

But Zimbabwe has excluded Chinese mining firms from the demand, sending a signal toforeign miners that if they do not agree to the demands, they could lose their prospectingrights to Chinese competitors.

In March, China signed nearly $700 million in loan deals with Zimbabwe, and urged thegovernment to protect Chinese firms from nationalisation plans.

China's investments have been growing steadily in Zimbabwe and include diamond andchrome mining, platinum concessions, road construction, cotton and tobacco companies
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as well as a cement manufacturing plant.

In the first nine months of this year, trade between China and Zimbabwe grew to $717.3million in value, a rise of 62.2 percent on the same period last year, according to Chinesecustoms statistics.

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Ghana to hike taxes on mining companies: budget (Reuters)http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE7AF06Z2011111616 November 2011By Non-Attributed Author

ACCRA (Reuters) - Ghana will seek to boost revenues from its mining industry next yearby hiking taxes, according to a text of the 2012 budget delivered to parliament onWednesday.

The corporate tax rate on miners will increase to 35 percent from 25 percent and aseparate 10 percent tax on windfall profits will be introduced, according to the text.

The move follows talks between Ghana's government and gold miners last month, inwhich the government proposed new ways for the country to benefit from the soaringprice of the precious metal.

Ghana is Africa's second-biggest gold producer nation and the International MonetaryFund said in October it had recommended the country consider increasing taxes orintroducing new ones to boost revenue.

Ghana, also the continent's newest oil producer and the world's No. 2 cocoa grower,expects GDP growth of 9.4 percent in 2012 from 13.6 percent in 2011.

"With oil not expected to contribute hugely significantly to overall revenue for sometime, the effort to raise revenue elsewhere in the economy, especially the 10 percentagepoint increase in the tax rate for mines - is a sound move," said Razia Khan, an analyst atStandard Chartered.

Firms operating in Ghana include subsidiaries of Newmont Gold, AngloGold Ashanti andSouth Africa-based Goldfields.

The Ghana Mine Workers Union have been calling for the imposition of a windfall tax inaddition to raising the country's stake in the mines to enable the economy to benefit fromthe attractive gold prices.

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Africa Rising: Sierra Leone's iron industry gets back in b
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usiness (The Christian Science Monitor)http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/Africa-Monitor/2011/1115/Africa-Rising-Sierra-Leone-s-iron-industry-gets-back-in-business15 November 2011By Paige McClanahan

African Minerals, a London-listed company, has shipped the first batch of iron ore fromits mine in central Sierra Leone, marking the war-battered countrys first export of thecommodity in nearly 30 years.

Sierra Leones president, Ernest Bai Koroma, called the shipment a significant

milestone for the West African nation as it looks to establish itself as a major player inthe mining industry.

Its achievement is further evidence that the redevelopment of Sierra Leone and its

economy continues to progress, Mr. Koroma said.

The 40,000 metric ton shipment, which left the deep-water port at Pepel last week, is nowon its way to China. The ore will soon be in the hands of Shandong Iron and Steel Group,the worlds ninth-biggest steelmaker, which is based 250 miles south of Beijing.

Under a deal negotiated over the summer, Shandong has agreed to pay $1.5 billion for a25 percent stake in the African Minerals project. The deal, which should be approved byChinese authorities before the end of the year, also guarantees Shandong a 25 percenttake of the mines output.

Global consumption of iron ore, a key ingredient in steelmaking, has spiked in recentyears, thanks largely to growing demand from China, which produced 44 percent of theworlds steel in 2010.

African Minerals' Tonkolili mining complex, with its 12.8 billion metric tons of iron ore,is one of the worlds largest defined reserves of the commodity.

African Minerals began extraction in December of last year and stockpiled the ore as itfinished building a 120-mile railway and refurbishing the port at Pepel to handle theexports. The company estimates that annual production will reach 20 million metric tonsby 2013.

We will shortly become the largest fully integrated exporter of iron ore in West Africa,

said African Minerals CEO Frank Timis.

Three companiesVale, BHP Billiton, and Rio Tintohave long dominated the globalmarket for iron ore, a key ingredient in steelmaking. But African Minerals and a handfulof other junior companies are starting to get in on the game in West Africa. In addition toSierra Leone, new projects by minor companies are also underway in Guinea, Liberia,and Cameroon.
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But analysts say that Tonkolili will never rival the major mines found in places like thePilbara region of western Australia, which accounts for roughly 40 percent of globalseaborne trade in iron ore.

It will never be the same scale, and its nowhere near the same quality, says DamienHackett, a metals and mining analyst at the investment firm Canaccord Genuity. WestAfrican iron ore is of a much lower grade than what comes out of western Australia, hesays, which means its much more expensive to process.

But African Minerals has done well in overcoming the enormous infrastructurechallenges that can derail big projects in West Africa, Mr. Hackett says. The companysfirst shipment comes just 14 months after it signed the paperwork that authorized theproject.

Thats a pretty remarkable performance, says Hackett. I cant think of anybody whos

done it quicker than that.

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Antiterrorism meeting in Algeria signals regional worries about terror (TheChristian Science Monitor)http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/Africa-Monitor/2011/1115/Antiterrorism-meeting-in-Algeria-signals-regional-worries-about-terror15 November 2011By Alex Thurston

Tomorrow and Thursday, security experts from Sahelian countries will meet in Algiers todiscuss anti-terrorism efforts in the region. This meeting is the latest in an ongoing seriesdedicated to deepening regional cooperation.

This is a technical meeting which will be attended by experts in the framework of theactivities of the Global Forum on Anti-terrorism. The first meeting had officially beenheld on 22nd and 23rd September, 2011 in New York.

Since 2010, four Sahelian countries, including Algeria, Mali, Mauritania and Niger,cooperate militarily as part of a Committee of the Joint Chiefs of Staff based inTamanrasset, in the extreme south of Algeria.

Moreover, Algeria held on 7th and 8th September a conference on the partnership,security and development in the Sahel, which had established the foundations forpartnership development and security between countries of the Sahel and the West.

Other recent meetings in the region with relevance for security issues include talksbetween North African and European commanders in Nouakchott in late September; aparley on Sunday between northern Malian politicians and Tuareg fighters; and a visit
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Monday by Nigerien Prime Minister Rafini Briji to Burkina Faso. Last but not least,Magharebia reports on a meeting of Sahelian ministers and Obama administrationofficials in Washington, DC, last week. More here (French).

The pace of these meetings reflects the deep concern, both regional and international,

over issues such as loose weapons, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, drug smuggling,kidnapping, and rebellions caused by fighters returning from Libya. As talks continue,new military aid to Sahelian governments is arriving.

New resources and shared interests may push Sahelian countries toward tightercooperation. But talks and money are not the only necessary ingredients in this endeavor,and there are obstacles to cooperation as well. The challenges each country in the regionfaces differ, and lingering political tensions and mistrust may continue to limit or slowthe development of cooperative frameworks.

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U.S. Officials, Private Partners Combat African Conflict Minerals (USEmbassy.gov)http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/article/2011/11/20111116173824eiznekcam0.126034.html#axzz1dw7GXgfe16 November 2011By MacKenzie C. Babb

WashingtonU.S. government officials have joined with private sector and civilsociety partners to launch the Public-Private Alliance for Responsible Minerals Trade, aninitiative to combat illicit minerals trading and put an end to the associated violence andhuman rights abuses.

The partnership will allow the partners to harmonize technical and financial resources

to develop a pilot supply chain to source minerals from mines that have been audited andcertified to be conflict-free in the Great Lakes region of eastern Africa, according toUnder Secretary of State for Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs Robert Hormats.He spoke November 15 in Washington at the U.S. Institute of Peace at an event markingthe creation of the alliance.

Hormats said the alliance will help ensure responsible trade in minerals that does not

benefit rebel groups or abusive army units.

Maria Otero, under secretary of state for democracy and global affairs, said at the launchthat the alliance is an important step toward combating an intimidating set of challengesposed by the complex linkages between conflict minerals, human rights abuses and localeconomies. She said she saw each of these problems firsthand during an October visit toBurundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

I spoke with many artisanal miners shoveling dirt under the hot sun to earn perhaps adollar a day, Otero said, adding that she also visited a commercial gold mine and met
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with victims of sexual and gender-based violence connected to conflict minerals duringher trip.

Hormats (center) stands with Otero (left of Hormats) and other government, civil societyand nongovernmental organization leaders at the U.S. Institute of Peace.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo alone, the trade in conflict minerals hascontributed to a cycle of clashes leaving more than 5 million people dead since 1998,displacing many more and spawning an epidemic of violence, according to Secretary ofState Hillary Rodham Clinton. Following a 2009 visit to the DRC, Clinton focusedinternational attention on the issue by announcing that the State Department would workto develop and execute a holistic response strategy to engage with and support localgovernment efforts.

Hormats and Otero said the alliance, with an initial $3.2 million commitment from theU.S. government and nearly $1 million pledged by the private sector, represents asignificant step toward meeting that goal.

In a joint statement November 15, the two undersecretaries wrote that production andtrade of natural resources could drive economic development, but instead often fuelviolence and instability in the DRC and other countries in the region. They said thealliance will seek to break that cycle and will serve as a hub for people seekinginformation and ways to take action on responsible minerals trade.

Hormats and Otero were joined by U.S. Agency for International Development SeniorDeputy Assistant Administrator for Africa Sharon Cromer, Principal Deputy AssistantSecretary of State for African Affairs Donald Yamamoto and several private sector andnongovernmental organization representatives in signing a memorandum ofunderstanding that outlines the steps the parties will take to coordinate efforts andcooperate with each other to combat trade in conflict minerals.

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State Department Update on Darfur, Sudan (USEbassy.gov)http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/texttrans/2011/11/20111116182437su0.9645589.html#axzz1dw7GXgfe16 November 2011By U.S. Department of State, Office of the Spokesperson

The U.S. Institute of Peace hosted an important workshop on Darfur this week, whichwas attended by key Darfuri armed movements, Darfuri civil society, and keystakeholders in the international community, including U.S. government officials. Theworkshop produced frank and constructive discussions on Darfur and served as a uniqueopportunity to foster dialogue among some of the key stakeholders.

The United States remains deeply concerned about the situation in Darfur. Althoughsome progress has been achieved on the road to a definitive settlement, fundamental
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issues remain unresolved and a serious humanitarian and human rights crisis is ongoingin the region. Civilians continue to live in insecurity, as a result of the ongoing fightingbetween government forces and the armed movements, continued aerial bombardments inviolation of UN Security Council resolutions, as well as lawlessness and general banditry.

Durable peace requires dialogue among key stakeholders about the future of Darfur, andprogress on key issues including compensation of victims, accountability for genocideand atrocities, settlement of land disputes, protection of human rights, and disarmamentof militias. The Doha Document for Peace in Darfur, signed between the Government ofSudan and the Liberation and Justice Movement, is a step forward in the peace process.

We strongly urge the parties to implement the agreement fully and transparently. Wealso call upon the Government of Sudan and all armed movements to pursue theirpolitical goals through peaceful means, including through negotiations and compromise.Finally, we urge the Government of Sudan to remain open and flexible to negotiationswith the armed movements. Discussions between the Government of Sudan and the non-

signatory movements should proceed without unrealistic demands or incendiary rhetoricthat risk permanently immobilizing the peace process.

The United Nations-African Union Hybrid Mission in Darfur continues to serve a criticalrole in protecting civilians and in the implementation of the Doha Document for Peace inDarfur. We are committed to ensuring that the mission has the resources and politicalsupport necessary to carry out its renewed mandate.

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END REPORT

AFRICOM Related-News Clips 17 November

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