AFRICOM Related News Clips 19 April 2011

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United States Africa CommandPublic Affairs Office19 April 2011

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

With U.S. in support role, NATO's Libya mission 'going in circles' (LA Times)(Libya) month ago in Libya, troops loyal to Moammar Kadafi were advancing onopposition-held areas, tens of thousands of civilians feared for their lives, and rebelforces appeared in disarray with little prospect of driving Kadafi from power.

Misrata emerges as deadly test of NATO clout in Libya (Christian Science Monitor)(Libya) An experiment is playing out in the Libya conflict to see if a global power otherthan the United States can lead an armed humanitarian intervention. So far for thepeople of Misrata, the experiment is not going so well.

Libya Rebels Learned in a Hurry (Wall Street Journal)(Libya) Tripoli Street, once the bustling commercial avenue leading to this city's center,was littered Monday with the burnt shells of government tanks and armored vehicles, ariver of rubble and bombed-out storefronts.

Nigerian President Reelected, Violence in North Continues (VOA)(Nigeria) Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has won reelection in a vote that hassparked rioting in the country's northern states that backed his leading opponent.

Joint patrols needed to secure Ivory Coast (Reuters)(Côte d·Ivoire) Ivory Coast's newly-formed military is not ready to conduct securitypatrols without U.N. and French help as soldiers might be prone to looting on theirown, a top Ivorian commander said on Monday.

Burkina Faso and Mali brace for migrants escaping Ivorian conflict (Guardian)

(Côte d·Ivoire) The governments of Burkina Faso and Mali are gearing up for the returnof thousands of people fleeing the violence and the tense political situation in the IvoryCoast. Three million people from Burkina Faso and 2 million from Mali work in IvoryCoast. Both countries are already receiving returnees and refugees, as foreigners arebeing targeted for violent attacks by supporters of Laurent Gbagbo, the former Ivorianpresident who was arrested last week.



Biden says 'great concern' over Darfur security (AFP)(Sudan) US Vice President Joe Biden has expressed "great concern" that securityconditions in Darfur "continue to deteriorate" just months before Sudan is to split intoseparate states, the White House has said.

Somali enclave to set up piracy courts, prisons (Reuters)(Somalia) The Somali enclave of Puntland plans to set up special prisons and courts totry pirates in the Indian Ocean region in the next three to four months, a minister saidon Monday.

Zimbabwe: Ill-Health, Factionalism Weigh Down Mugabe (The Standard)(Mugabe) Sickness, pressure from neighbours and fissures in his Zanu PF party seem tohave conspired to slow down President Robert Mugabe's push for elections later thisyear.

UN News Service Africa Briefs Full Articles on UN Website

y UN-backed disarmament process for ex-fighters from Darfur kicks off

y Ban stresses need for comprehensive global response to piracy off Somalia

y Côte d·Ivoire: UN rushes in agriculture aid as gradual calm begins to return

-------------------------------------------------------------------------UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, April 19th at 2:00 p.m.; U.S. Institute of PeaceWHAT: The Future of Two Sudans: A Conversation with former Presidents ThaboMbeki, Pierre Buyoya and Adulsalami Alhaji AbubakarWHO: President Thabo Mbeki, Former President of South Africa, Head of the AfricanUnion High Level Implementation Panel (Sudan); President Pierre Buyoya, FormerPresident of Burundi, Member, African Union High Level Implementation Panel(Sudan); President Abdulsalami Alhaji Abubakar, Former President of Nigeria,Member, African Union High Level Implementation Panel (Sudan)Info: http://www.usip.org/events/the-future-two-sudans-conversation-former-presidents-thabo-mbeki-pierre-buyoya-and-adulsalami

WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, April 20th at 2:00 p.m.; U.S. Institute of PeaceWHAT: H.E. Dr. Jean Ping, Chairperson of the African Union Commission

WHO: H.E. Dr. Jean Ping, Speaker, AU CommissionInfo: http://www.usip.org/events/he-dr-jean-ping-chairperson-the-african-union-commission ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------FULL ARTICLE TEXT

With U.S. in support role, NATO's Libya mission 'going in circles' (LA Times)



By David S. Cloud and Ned ParkerApril 18, 2011, 7:24 p.m.Washington and Benghazi, Libya³ A month ago in Libya, troops loyal to MoammarKadafi were advancing on opposition-held areas, tens of thousands of civilians fearedfor their lives, and rebel forces appeared in disarray with little prospect of driving

Kadafi from power.

After four weeks and hundreds of airstrikes by the U.S. and its NATO allies, in manyways little has changed.

Kadafi's tanks and artillery no longer threaten the de facto rebel capital of Benghazi ineastern Libya, and Kadafi's combat aircraft and helicopter gunships are grounded. Butthe disorganized rebel forces are still outmatched and outnumbered by Libyan armyunits, which, along with their leader, show no sign of giving up.

Rather, Kadafi has intensified his counteroffensive in recent days. Human rights groupsaccused Kadafi's military of using cluster bombs and truck-mounted Grad rockets tobombard residential areas of Misurata, the only city in western Libya still in rebelhands.

"We rushed into this without a plan," said David Barno, a retired Army general whoonce commanded U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. "Now we're out in the middle,going in circles."

The failure of the international air campaign to force Kadafi's ouster, or even to stop his

military from shelling civilians and recapturing rebel-held towns, poses a growingquandary for President Obama and other NATO leaders: What now?

Privately, U.S. officials concede that some of their assumptions before they intervenedin the Libyan conflict may have been faulty. Among them was the notion that air poweralone would degrade Kadafi's military to the point where he would be forced to halt hisattacks, and that the U.S. could leave the airstrikes primarily to warplanes from Britain,France and other European countries.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron, who ledthe charge within NATO to launch the air campaign in Libya, argued last week that thealliance needed to step up its attacks to fulfill the United Nations mandate to protectcivilians. But winning agreement to escalate the intervention could further divide thealready badly split alliance.

The U.S. military moved into a support role early this month, and Obama has given noindication that he will send U.S. warplanes into combat missions again, let alonereconsider his promise not to use ground troops in Libya.



His decision to intervene in Libya was not popular at the Pentagon, where DefenseSecretary Robert M. Gates and top uniformed officers have shown little interest intaking a major role in the conflict while they are fighting the war in Afghanistan.Obama managed to overcome his advisors' objections by promising to keep the U.S.

role limited.

If the alliance's most powerful member isn't willing to escalate, few other members willbe eager to do so.

But the longer Kadafi holds up under the NATO attacks, the more pressure there willbe in Washington and European capitals to deal with him by escalating the militarycampaign, arming the rebels or ratcheting up sanctions and other indirect measures, inhopes of forcing him from power.

Adm. James Stavridis, the U.S. commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization,has appealed to NATO members for additional attack planes ³ a request that U.S.officials made clear that other alliance members would have to meet.

Obama's decision to limit the U.S. military role left NATO without A-10 Thunderbolt IIor AC-130 Spectre gunships, U.S. planes that are designed for close air support ofground troops and precise attacks against ground targets.

The U.S. is keeping A-10s and other strike aircraft on standby in case of an emergency.But bringing the planes back into the fight is not under consideration, a NATO officer

said.

Still, the air campaign clearly has weakened Kadafi's army. Allied airstrikes havedestroyed nearly 40% of Libya's military equipment and headquarters facilities,according to a senior U.S. military official.

With a maritime exclusion zone preventing Kadafi from obtaining supplies by sea, therealso are signs that his government is struggling to provide ammunition, transportationand food to troops in the field. They include the 32nd Brigade, an elite unit led byKadafi's youngest son, Khamis, and a prime target of airstrikes, the U.S. official said.

Kadafi's long-term prospects for staying in power are not good, U.S. officials insist.They cite the defection of several top aides, including his former intelligence chief, andthe loss of billions of dollars in oil revenue that he once used to help ensure loyalty in atribal-based society.

But those gains have not shifted the balance of military power.



The motley rebel forces that emerged in mid-February to challenge Kadafi's 41-year rulehave proved inept on the battlefield. Nor have Kadafi's military commanders or keyunits defected to the rebel side, as some European officials had hoped.

"We do believe he is having some trouble in being able to mount a sustained campaign,"

said the U.S. official, speaking anonymously because he was discussing intelligenceestimates. "That said, he is still much better organized than the rebels and still has theupper hand."

In some ways, Kadafi's forces have proved surprisingly adept. Instead of using armoredtroop carriers that attract attention from surveillance aircraft, they have camouflagedtroop movements by relying on the same kind of battered pickup trucks that the rebelsuse, even disguising the vehicles with the opposition flag.

The concealment tactic on the ever-shifting front lines allowed Libyan army units to

advance to the eastern city of Ajdabiya recently before they were beaten back for thethird time by rebel troops and NATO air attacks. Yet again on Sunday, rebels inAjdabiya came under attack from Kadafi's rocket-firing forces.

"We expected Kadafi to quickly fold his tent and go somewhere else," said Barno, asenior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington-based thinktank. "But the Libyan forces quickly adapted to the airstrikes by becoming very quicklylike civilians."

No one seems certain how to break the stalemate. Ratcheting down the NATO-led air

campaign while large segments of Kadafi's military remain intact would leave therebels vulnerable to being slaughtered.

The Air Force is flying two Predator drones over Libya to help conduct surveillance, butthey are unarmed, officials said. The U.S. also is transferring precision-guided bombs toNATO allies flying combat missions, since supplies have begun running short, theNATO officer said.

The last time the United States undertook an air war largely for humanitarian purposeswas during the 1999 NATO campaign in Kosovo, the Serbian province where policeand soldiers loyal to Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic were carrying out a ruthlessassault on ethnic Albanians.

Clinton administration officials expected Milosevic to surrender quickly after NATOlaunched airstrikes, but the bombing campaign lasted 78 days. The Clinton WhiteHouse promised early on not to send U.S. ground troops into Kosovo, but critics saidthat appeared to embolden Milosevic to resist.



Unlike the conflict in Libya, however, U.S. warplanes conducted the vast majority of theairstrikes during the Kosovo campaign and gradually escalated the bombing. U.S.officials even threatened at one point to begin flying attack helicopters, and Milosevicultimately buckled.

There has been little sign that NATO is considering ³ or even capable of ³ that kind ofescalation in Libya as long as the U.S. stays in a supporting role.

"By the U.S. taking a back-seat role, it has a psychological effect on the mission," saidDan Fata, a former Defense Department official who was responsible for overseeingNATO issues during the George W. Bush administration. "If I'm Kadafi, I'm thinking Ican probably wait the Europeans out."---------------------Misrata emerges as deadly test of NATO clout in Libya (Christian Science Monitor)By Howard LaFranchi

April 18, 2011Washington - An experiment is playing out in the Libya conflict to see if a global powerother than the United States can lead an armed humanitarian intervention.

So far for the people of Misrata, the experiment is not going so well.

The only city in western Libya under rebel control is under siege from the forces ofMuammar Qaddafi. And the international coalition·s NATO-led campaign tasked withprotecting Libyan civilians has failed to stop Colonel Qaddafi·s rockets, mortars, andsniper fire.

One reason explaining NATO·s lack of impact on Qaddafi·s siege is that theinternational coalition does not have the kind of precision air power that could take outmobile weapons like tanks and rocket launchers, some military experts say. The USdoes have the kind of ground-attack fighters that could be more effective ² the AC-130and A-10 Warthog ² but those have been pulled from the coalition arsenal as the Obamaadministration has opted to pull back to a support role.

Reporting from Misrata, the group Human Rights Watch said Monday thatindiscriminate rocket and mortar attacks on residential neighborhoods were partlyresponsible for more than 265 deaths recorded by hospital morgues since April 15.Hospital officials claim that more than 1,000 people ² mostly civilians ² have been killedsince fighting began in early March, although the figures are almost impossible toconfirm.

One attack by a Soviet-era Grad rocket killed at least eight people waiting in line forbread, according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch.



NATO said in a statement Monday that it flew 60 missions on Sunday to attempt toidentify ground targets in Libya, and it also reported taking out four air-defense radarinstallations in Misrata. Despite that, rebel commanders in Misrata have told the fewforeign journalists there that they have repeatedly communicated the coordinates ofQaddafi·s forces to the NATO mission but have seen no response.

The United Nations has attempted, so far unsuccessfully, to get Qaddafi to stop thesiege of Misrata, Libya·s third-largest city. The UN·s under-secretary general forhumanitarian affairs, Valerie Amos, said in Benghazi Monday that the government inTripoli has agreed to allow humanitarian assistance to enter Misrata, although it did notcommit to halting attacks to allow aid to flow in safely.

Ms. Amos acknowledged that the siege of Misrata continues unabated, with littlereliable information trickling out about the scope of the humanitarian crisis there.

´I·m extremely worried about the situation there, I very much hope that the securitysituation will allow us to get into Misrata,µ she told journalists. ´Nobody has any senseof the depth and scale of what is happening there,µ she said.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has managed to get a few ships toMisrata to evacuate stranded foreign workers, but the Geneva-based intergovernmentalorganization said in a statement Monday that conditions for rescue work are quicklydeteriorating.

´We wanted to be able to take more people out but it was impossible,µ said the IOM

official leading the evacuation operation, Jeremy Haslam. Describing intermittentexchanges of fire, he added, ´We had a very limited time to get the migrants andLibyans on board the ship and then leave.µ

Libyan government officials said Sunday that the deal worked out with the UN onhumanitarian aid to Misrata includes ´safe passageµ for refugees to leave the city, butthey did not commit to halting the fight.

The IOM ship that left Monday morning was carrying nearly 1,000 migrant workers,mostly from Ghana, and some wounded Libyans. Since Friday, the IOM has evacuatedabout 2,200 migrant workers and Libyans from Misrata to Benghazi in eastern Libya.But the organization reports that at least 4,000 migrants, mostly Nigerians, remain stuckat the city·s port.--------------------Libya Rebels Learned in a Hurry (Wall Street Journal)By CHARLES LEVINSONApril 19, 2011



MISRATA, Libya³Tripoli Street, once the bustling commercial avenue leading to thiscity's center, was littered Monday with the burnt shells of government tanks andarmored vehicles, a river of rubble and bombed-out storefronts.

It is the lone point in Misrata where the forces of Col. Moammar Gadhafi have made

deep inroads, but it is also where they have encountered the most tenacious resistance.From the cramped side streets, rebel fighters have swarmed the regime's tanks andarmor. and defeated tank columns with rocket-propelled grenades, homemade Molotovcocktails and small bombs.

"At first we took a lot of losses, but then we started to learn," said Fawzi Mohammed, a40-year-old furniture salesman who owned three stores here before he joined theuprising in February.

As he spoke, rebels darted into the street to crouch behind sand berms and fire machine

guns at an eight-story office building occupied by Col. Gadhafi's forces.

Mr. Mohammed gestured to the Russian-made FN rifle slung over his shoulder. "Twomonths ago, I couldn't have told you what kind of gun this was," he said.

Like Mr. Mohammed, many rebels appear to have taken up arms for the first time overthe past two months, and are outmatched by the regime's artillery barrages, tanks,cluster bombs and other heavy armaments.

But they have fended off Col. Gadhafi's forces for more than 50 days in the western city,

Libya's third-largest and one of its most fiercely contested.

Col. Gadhafi's forces are laying siege to this city along three main axes, shifting theattack each day. They occupied most of Tripoli Street for nearly a month, but rebelfighters have since beaten them back.

When the regime forces pulled back, they left small pockets of troops behind who arenow functioning as sniper teams rebel forces are struggling to eliminate.

From the south, the government forces have homed in on Al-Thaqil Road, a long,straight thoroughfare that leads to the city's port, the entry point for food, supplies, andweapons rebels need to sustain their battle and the lives of around half a millionresidents.

"If he takes the port, it's over," said Khaled Misrati, 38, a schoolteacher in a group ofabout 50 fighters defending their Al Jazeera district on the city's western edge. Rebelsfended off sustained attacks on the port road over the weekend.



Monday, Col. Gadhafi unleashed his fiercest attacks on the western edges of Misrata, anarea known as Zawiyat al-Mahjoub. If he breaks the rebel defenses here, he will have aclear shot along the coast.

To compensate for inadequate arms and manpower, the rebels are relying on their

intimate knowledge of the city³fighting mostly in neighborhood militias on the streetsin which they grew up, and alongside trusted friends and relatives.

Unlike in eastern Libya, where there appears to be more guns than fighters able andwilling to use them in battle, here there are scores of young men looking to join the fightwho can't because they can't get rifles. "This is our land, our city, our streets," said Mr.Mohammed.

He and fellow fighters have learned small-unit tactics, such as how to operate in pairs,advancing toward the enemy one at a time, with each providing covering fire for the

other.

When a mortar whistled overhead Monday morning, Mr. Mohammed didn't flinch,another lesson he said he has learned in nearly two months of street battles. "If you canhear it, it's no danger," he said. "The only shells you need to be afraid of are the onesyou can't hear."

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday that the U.N. has reachedan agreement with Col. Gadhafi's government on providing humanitarian aid to thecountry.

Valerie Amos, the U.N. humanitarian chief who was in Benghazi on Monday, said shehad received assurances from Col. Gadhafi's government that the U.N. would beallowed into Misrata.

But the thuds and explosions of incoming artillery pounded the city Monday. As theshelling intensified, wounded streamed into the city's hospitals. In one frenetic burst,three young men arrived in rapid succession to the outdoor tents in the parking lot ofAl-Hikma Hospital that now function as makeshift emergency rooms.

The skies overhead were silent all day, with no NATO aircraft in sight. But after sunset,NATO planes could be heard flying overhead followed by a series of several massiveexplosions. It was unclear what was targeted.

Misrata's rebels said they are depending on their fighting spirit to outlast that of theirenemies. "Their morale is dying," Mr. Mohammed said. "They are in bad shape. That'show we will win. They fear death. We don't fear death."------------------



Nigerian President Reelected, Violence in North Continues (VOA)By Scott StearnsApril 18, 2011Dakar, Senegal - Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has won reelection in a votethat has sparked rioting in the country's northern states that backed his leading

opponent.

With results from all of Nigeria's 36 states, electoral commission president Attahiru Jegaannounced that President Jonathan is the clear winner.

"Goodluck E. Jonathan of PDP, having certified the requirements of the law and scoredthe highest number of votes is hereby declared the winner and his return elected," said Jega.

President Jonathan's nearly 22.5 million votes is almost twice the number of the second-

place finisher, former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, who won a little more than 12million votes. President Jonathan avoids a round run-off election by winning at leastone-quarter of the vote in at least 24 states.

That provision is meant to ensure that a Nigerian president has some measure ofnational support and is not merely a regional candidate. But much of the vote appearsto have broken down along regional lines, with President Jonathan winning the southand Mr. Buhari winning the north.

Early results showing Mr. Jonathan in the lead led to rioting in parts of the mainly

Muslim north. In Kaduna state, Vice President Namadi Sambo's home was burned anda 24-hour curfew was imposed after a prison was raided and inmates set free.

In the capital of Kano state, security forces fired shots into the air as stone-throwingyouths took to the streets and chanted support for Mr. Buhari. Human Rights Watchsays at least 60 people have been killed in election-related violence since the first of themonth.

In his acceptance speech, President Jonathan said his government is taking all necessarymeasures to guarantee the lives and property of all Nigerians.

"I enjoin our political and religious leaders in their usual sense of patriotism to call ontheir followers to eschew all acts of bitterness and violence," said President Jonathan."As I have always stated, nobody's political ambition is worth the blood of anyNigerian."

Mr. Jonathan thanked God and Nigeria's voters for the opportunity to run the country.



"By this election, we have found our unity as one nation under God, have reiterated ourfaith in democracy and underscored our determination to fully join the free worldwhere only the will of the people is the foundation of governance. We will not let youdown." he said.

President Jonathan said there is no victor and no vanquished as Nigeria proved to theworld that it is capable of holding free, fair and credible elections.

"This is a victory for the sustenance of our democracy, a victory which all Nigerians -irrespective of creed, ethnicity or state of origin - should celebrate," said jonathan. "It isa triumph for our common destiny as a people with shared ideals, shared dreams andshared hopes."

Mr. Jonathan congratulated the other candidates and said the country expects theircontinued leadership and commitment to nation-building. The president said

Nigerians must move away from partisan battlegrounds and find a national commonground to build a prosperous nation.------------------------ Joint patrols needed to secure Ivory Coast (Reuters)By Ange AboaApril 18, 2011 3:56pm EDTABIDJAN - Ivory Coast's newly-formed military is not ready to conduct security patrolswithout U.N. and French help as soldiers might be prone to looting on their own, a topIvorian commander said on Monday.

Fighters loyal to President Alassane Ouattara, including many of the country's formerrebels, toppled former leader Laurent Gbagbo last week after fierce fighting, ending apost-election power struggle.

Those troops now form the backbone of the new Ivorian army charged with securingthe country, though the force has been accused of looting, rape and executions duringtheir sweep from the north into the main city of Abidjan in March.

"We will increase patrols, but we need to be careful. If these patrols are not with Licorne(the French military force in Ivory Coast) they will degrade," said Issiaka Wattao,Deputy Chief of the Armed Forces under Ouattara.

"That is why I prefer to mix these patrols with Licorne, who are respectful guys andthey could never steal in front of them," Wattao said in an interview.

"There will be more mixed patrols with Licorne and the United Nations to reassure thepopulation and convince them it is safe to go out," he said.



Ivory Coast's main city of Abidjan is slowly returning to normal after heavy combatbetween Ouattara's fighters and those loyal to Gbagbo, and authorities in the world'stop cocoa grower are hoping for a swift revival of the economy.

But looting remains rife, and Gbagbo loyalists continue to operate in some

neighborhoods, with residents in the northern Abidjan district of Yopougon reportingnightly gunfire.

"What is happening in Yopougon right now, we are negotiating with the militias tomake sure they understand that the solution is not war," Wattao said. "Gbagbo is gone,and it is important they understand they need to put down their arms."

"Among them, there could be future police, gendarmes, even military, if they agree," hesaid.

Gbagbo, who came to power in 2000, refused to step down following an election inNovember 2010 that U.N.-certified results showed he lost to Ouattara, sparking abloody standoff that killed thousands and displaced more than a million.

Gbagbo was captured last week and is being held in the country's north.------------------Burkina Faso and Mali brace for migrants escaping Ivorian conflict (Guardian)By Liz Ford18 April 2011 18.05The governments of Burkina Faso and Mali are gearing up for the return of thousands

of people fleeing the violence and the tense political situation in the Ivory Coast.

Three million people from Burkina Faso and 2 million from Mali work in Ivory Coast.Both countries are already receiving returnees and refugees, as foreigners are beingtargeted for violent attacks by supporters of Laurent Gbagbo, the former Ivorianpresident who was arrested last week.

During Ivory Coast's 2002-03 civil war, more than 200,000 returned to Burkina Faso andMali, and some of them never went back to Ivory Coast ² unable to reposess theirproperty or concerned about potential unrest.

Christian Aid says that between 40,000 and 50,000 could cross those borders over thenext few weeks, putting pressure on already tight resources. Of the 169 countries listedin the 2010 Human Development Index, Burkina Faso and Mali were ranked at 161 and160 respectively.

"A majority of the people fleeing Ivory Coast are foreigners who are migrant workers,some of them for generations, as they have been specifically targeted for violence and



abuse," said Cristina Ruiz, Christian Aid's west Africa regional emergency manager."These people are now living with relatives and acquaintances in their country oforigin."

Government ministers in the two countries are understood to be drawing up plans with

the UN and NGOs to cope with the expected influx.

The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported last week that404 people had registered as refugees in Mali and 70 in Burkina Faso. However, exactfigures are hard to gauge: many people cross the border and head straight to relatives'homes.

Ruiz said that the immediate assistance of refugees and returnees, was the main focusof humanitarian operation, but longer-term plans, particularly in Mali, are beingconsidered, including income-generation activities and microfinance projects.

Niger is also receiving huge numbers of returnees from Ivory Coast. According toOCHA, by last week 5,523 people had entered. A further 50,000 Nigerois are still inIvory Coast, but 21,500 are fleeing from Libya, and another 30,000 are waiting to get outof the north African state.

Since violence broke out in Ivory Coast, following last November's presidential election,more than 150,000 refugees have left ² the majority to Liberia, and 8,500 to Ghana ² anda further million have left their homes. Now that the battle for the biggest city, Abidjan,has diminished, many more people may feel safe enough to leave their homes and cross

the borders.

Aid agencies warn that the humanitarian crisis in the region is likely to continue formonths and have called for more funding, according to AllAfrica.com.

Oxfam's regional humanitarian coordinator in Ivory Coast, Philippe Conraud, said theorganisation was preparing for a "long-term humanitarian emergency and potentialpublic health disaster « The fallout of the past four months will be felt for a long timeto come. Refugees need lifesaving aid immediately and support to help rebuild theirlives over the coming months."

The UN says $160m is needed for Ivory Coast but, so far, only $22m has beencommitted by the international community. For Liberia, the UN needs $146.5m, justover a quarter has been pledged.

The European Commission is expected to announce this week a substantial increase inaid to Ivory Coast and neighbouring states. The EU is the largest donor of humanitarian



aid to the country: from its initial pledge of ½55m, ½30m is being used to support theUN, Red Cross and other NGOs.

Last week, the European commissioner for development, Andris Piebalgs, announcedthat Ivory Coast's debts from projects funded by the European Investment Bank,

including a new airport, would be written off.---------------------Biden says 'great concern' over Darfur security (AFP)By Unattributed AuthorApril 18, 2011WASHINGTON ³ US Vice President Joe Biden has expressed "great concern" thatsecurity conditions in Darfur "continue to deteriorate" just months before Sudan is tosplit into separate states, the White House has said.

Biden's comments were made during a White House meeting with former South

African president Thabo Mbeki, who is chairman of the African Union's special panelfor Sudan.

"The vice president underscored the importance of ensuring the establishment of twoviable states in Sudan after the south's independence in July and stressed that aresolution to the situation in Darfur must be part of that process," according to anofficial readout of the meeting.

Also attending the meeting were former Nigerian president Abdulsalami Abubakar,and former Burundi president Pierre Buyoya, both of whom are members of the Sudan

panel.

On Darfur, Biden "expressed great concern that security conditions on the groundcontinue to deteriorate and are further aggravated by important restrictions onpeacekeepers' and humanitarian workers' access to vulnerable populations," thestatement said.

Last week, heavy clashes between the Sudanese army and a coalition of armed groupsin northern Darfur caused several casualties on both sides.

Renewed fighting between rebels and the army over the past four months has resultedin more than 70,000 new arrivals at camps in Darfur set up for the displaced, accordingto United Nations reports.

At least 300,000 people have been killed in Darfur and 1.8 million people forced to fleetheir homes since non-Arab rebels first rose up against the Arab-dominated Khartoumregime in 2003, according to the United Nations.



The government puts the death toll at 10,000.

On Monday, Biden expressed appreciation "for the panel's role in brokering the recentcommitment by Sudanese leaders to withdraw northern and southern forces fromAbyei."

The flashpoint border region's future is the most sensitive of a raft of issues whichKhartoum and Juba are negotiating ahead of southern independence in July.------------------Somali enclave to set up piracy courts, prisons (Reuters)Mon Apr 18, 2011 12:42pm GMTBy Martina FuchsDUBAI - The Somali enclave of Puntland plans to set up special prisons and courts totry pirates in the Indian Ocean region in the next three to four months, a minister saidon Monday.

The breakaway enclave of Somaliland and semi-autonomous Puntland, itself a centre ofpiracy, are seen as relatively stable compared with the rest of the Horn of Africacountry, where a weak interim government is battling Islamist insurgents.

"In the next to weeks, the construction of the prison in Bosaso and Garowe will start,and also in Somaliland," Saeed Mohamed Rage, Puntland's minister of marinetransport, ports and counter-piracy, told Reuters.

Pirates based in Somalia have turned busy shipping lanes off the coast of the conflict-

wrecked state into some of the most perilous waters on Earth and cost the worldbillions of dollars.

The U.N. Security Council in April backed the idea of special courts to try capturedSomali pirates but put off a decision on thorny details such as where to locate them.

The Puntland prisons would enable the establishment of two courts in Bosaso andGarowe to try pirates and will be set up in the next 3-4 months, Rage said in aninterview in Dubai.

There were now more than 260 pirate inmates in Puntland's prisons, he said. Askedabout who will fund the prisons, he said: "The European Union will fund, incollaboration with Norway, and also mostly the UK."

PUNTLAND-SEYCHELLES ACCORD



Puntland borders on Somaliland to its west, the Gulf of Aden to the north and theIndian Ocean in the southeast. The capital is Garowe, but commerce and business isconcentrated in the port city of Bosaso.On Monday, Puntland signed an agreement with the Seychelles on the repatriation andtransfer of sentenced pirates.

With Somalia lacking legal infrastructure, Kenya and the Seychelles have prosecuteddozens of suspects handed over by foreign navies. But both say they would havedifficulties coping if all the seized pirates were sent to them.

A Russian-drafted U.N. resolution also urged all countries to criminalise piracy, sayingthe crime could be prosecuted anywhere no matter where it was committed, and calledon states and organisations to fund prisons in Somaliland and Puntland.

Rage said attacks by pirates were increasing. "It is really every day. It was supposed to

decrease, but every day there is another active operation because of the payment riseand the payment of ransom. We have to get them all," Rage said.

"We have to stop the payment of ransom, it will accelerate the pirates, their authority,and they will become another government," he said. "The solution is not on theinternational community, but on the Somalis."

At the beginning of the month, pirates were holding at least 29 vessels, ranging fromfishing boats to tankers, holding their crews hostage and demanding multi-million-dollar ransoms.

The hijacking of ships near the coast of Somalia, where an Islamist insurgency andlawlessness has created a pirate safe haven, has cost the shipping industry millions ofdollars.-------------------Zimbabwe: Ill-Health, Factionalism Weigh Down Mugabe (The Standard)By Kholwani NyathiApril 17, 2011Harare ³ SICKNESS, pressure from neighbours and fissures in his Zanu PF party seemto have conspired to slow down President Robert Mugabe's push for elections later thisyear.

Only a few weeks ago, Mugabe appeared unstoppable as he sought to defy everyonewho believed that Zimbabwe is not ready for fresh elections.

The Zanu PF campaign manifesto was anchored on an ambitious lobby to get twomillion signatures on a petition that calls for the lifting of punitive measures againstMugabe's inner circle imposed by the West.



The party, which ensured its resurrection a decade ago through a ruinous agrarianreform programme, had also set its sights on grabbing what remains of foreign-ownedcompanies to use them as bait for reluctant voters.

But Mugabe appears to be having too much in his hands right now to worry aboutelections. There are indications that his wife Grace is seriously ill after she allegedly felldown at their Borrowdale home and dislocated a hip.

She is said to be receiving treatment in Singapore and this has seen Mugabe makingfour trips to the Asian country since January. The last trip was on April 8.

His spokesman George Charamba also confirmed that his boss had used one of the tripsto see doctors for his own health problems.

These problems have forced the 87-year-old former guerilla leader to make fewer publicappearances than usual. As if that was not enough Southern African DevelopmentCommunity (Sadc) leaders who in the past have been accused of being soft in dealingwith an intransigent Mugabe have suddenly changed their game plan.

The leaders, led by South African President Jacob Zuma are now demanding that the87-year-old leader plays ball and the weeks leading to a special Sadc summit onZimbabwe in Namibia next month will provide the sternest test to Mugabe's diplomaticskills.

Disloyal Zanu PF MPs who voted for MDC-T chairman Lovemore Moyo to be Speakerof Parliament ahead of their own chairman Simon Khaya- Moyo have also given thegeriatric leader headaches.

The frustrations were evident at the burial of the deputy director general of the CentralIntelligence Organisation Mernard Muzariri on Thursday when Mugabe lashed out attraitors from within.He said he was aware that there were "sell-outs" within the ranks ofZanu PF.

Mugabe's fallout with Zuma has also left one of his self-appointed propagandists, Jonathan Moyo badly bruised. Moyo has been on a lonely but damaging crusadeagainst Zuma since the Livingstone rude awakening.

There are reports that just like in his first flirtation with Zanu PF, the acerbic professorof political science has rubbed his seniors in the party the wrong way.

Khaya-Moyo refused to discuss the allegations when The Standard sought his commentlast week.



However, the Tsholotsho North MP defended himself through an online publicationsaying the storm that he precipitated was a "fake hullabaloo." However, another analystBril-liant Mhlanga believes Zanu PF was not bruised as much as its opponents wantedto believe and its anti-sanctions campaign would resonate with the electorate.

"Zanu PF's elections strategy of using sanctions is selling," he said. "People have to becareful not to dismiss it so early."

Mhlanga said the decisions of the Sadc troika were not representative of the sentimentin the region and cannot give Mugabe sleepless nights.

Sadc communique shocked Zanu PF

BEKITHEMBA Mpofu, a political analyst said it was clear that Zanu PF was in sixes and

sevens, especially after the Sadc troika on peace and security meeting in Zambia lastmonth.

"It is evident that the Sadc communiqué was a shock to the Zanu PF system, it was notexpected and the fallout from it was not planned," Mpofu said.

"Like any ordering or prioritisation of work and activities, their electioneeringprogrammes have to take a back seat while they firefight for their very existence."

He said Zanu PF had survived this long largely because of the solidarity from

neighbouring countries.

Mpofu said Zanu PF's only option was to abandon its inflammatory programmes suchas the anti-sanctions campaign where its foot soldiers coerce people to append theirsignatures and the grabbing of companies.

"The First Lady's sickness and Mugabe's own health challenge have not helped thesituation," he said.

"Instead it has allowed the dark sinister forces within the party which were identifiedby (Prime Minister) Morgan Tsvangirai to have free rein in the presidential office."----------------------- UN News Service Africa Briefs Full Articles on UN Website

UN-backed disarmament process for ex-fighters from Darfur kicks off



18 April ² More than 1,000 former fighters from Sudan·s armed forces and Darfur·srebel groups are laying down their arms over the next 10 days and beginning a UnitedNations-backed process aimed at reintegrating them into civilian life.

Ban stresses need for comprehensive global response to piracy off Somalia

18 April ² Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called for a comprehensive response tomaritime piracy off the coast of Somalia, saying the menace is a consequence of theoverall insecurity, lack of a stable national government and underdevelopment in theHorn of Africa country.

Côte d·Ivoire: UN rushes in agriculture aid as gradual calm begins to return

18 April ² As calm gradually returns to Côte d·Ivoire after months of post-electionviolence, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today thatit is rushing to assist farmers as they prepare to sow their rice and maize crops at theonset of the rainy season in the north and west of the country.

AFRICOM Related News Clips 19 April 2011

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