AFRICOM Related News clips 21 April 2011

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United States Africa CommandPublic Affairs Office21 April 2011

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

America's Best Worst Partner in Africa (Foreign Policy)(Pan-Africa) Once the Arab League was firmly onboard, U.S. President Barack Obamaprobably thought he'd cleared the major diplomatic hurdles to Western militaryintervention in Libya. But it is the African Union (AU) that has been the most

uncomfortable with it. The AU called for an immediate halt to allied air operationshours after they began, and in a March 10 communiqu it resolutely expressed its"rejection of any foreign military intervention, whatever its form" while alsorecognizing "the legitimacy of the aspirations of the Libyan people."

Libya blast kills photojournalists Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros (LA Times)(Libya) Hetherington, 41, was killed Wednesday in an explosion believed to have beencaused by a mortar round in Misurata. The same mortar blast fatally wounded ChrisHondros of Getty Images, a veteran combat photographer whose work appeared on thefront page of Wednesday's edition of the Los Angeles Times, and appears in today'sedition as well.

Obama backs allies sending military aides to Libya (AFP)(Libya) President Barack Obama supports the decision by allies to send militaryadvisers to aid Libyan rebels but has no plans to put US "boots on the ground," hisspokesman said Wednesday.

US Committing $25 Million in Aid to Libyan Opposition (VOA)(Libya) The Obama administration is preparing to provide $25 million in non-lethal aidto Libyas opposition Transitional National Council, the TNC. The plan was confirmedWednesday by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who also expressed concernabout mounting casualties among pro-democracy protesters in Syria.

Inferior Arms Hobble Rebels in Libya War (NYT)(Libya) A PKT machine gun, a weapon designed to be mounted on a Soviet tank andfired electronically by a crew member inside, has no manual trigger, no sights and noshoulder stock. That does not prevent many Libyan rebels from carrying it as if it werean infantrymans gun, even though it cannot be fired.


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New Ivory Coast Army Turns Against Ex-Allies (Reuters)(Cte dIvoire) Ivory Coast forces on Wednesday attacked fighters from a militia thathad been allied with them in the fight against the former president, Laurent Gbagbo.

New Ivory Coast Government Calls for Truth and Reconciliation Commission (VOA)(Cte dIvoire) Ivory Coast's new government is calling for a truth and reconciliationcommission to help address human rights abuses, including those committed duringthe political crisis that followed November's presidential election. Many challenges facea commission meant to reunite a country divided by more than 10 years of civil war,instability, and political violence.

South Sudan army, militia clash kills 20 - army (Reuters)(Sudan) At least 20 soldiers were killed in a clash between south Sudan's army andrebel militia fighters, the army said on Wednesday, the latest violence to unsettle theregion ahead of its independence in July.

Life inside Somaliland's pirate prison (CNN)(Somaliland ) "We want money," say the group of inmates with a smile. Somaliland'shighest security prison hasn't dampened the hustling spirit of its pirate prisoners. Mygovernment handler rolls his eyes. They do this a lot, he explains.

Nigeria: Post-Election Violence - 121 Dead - Thousands Displaced (Leadership)(Nigeria) The post-election crisis that swept northern parts of the country has left nofewer than 121 people dead and hundreds more injured. According to reliable sources,about 15,000 people have been displaced, many of them seeking shelter in policestations and army barracks.

UN News Service Africa Briefs Full Articles on UN Website

y Darfur peace process entering crucial phase, UN official tells Security Councily Sudan: UN official warns of threats ahead of formal separation of south

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

WHEN/WHERE: Wednesday, April 27 th, 10:30 am 12:00 pm.; The BrookingsInstitution, 1775 Massachusetts Ave, NW, WDCWHAT: Africas Education Financing ChallengeWHO: Mwangi S. Kimenyi, Director of Africa Growth Initiative; Albert Motivans, Headof Education Indicators and Data Analysis at UNESCO Institute for Statistics;Shantayanan Devarajan, Chief Economist of Africa Region at World Bank; Jacques vander Gaag, Senior Fellow at the Global Economy and Development, Center for UniversalEducationInfo: http://www.brookings.edu/events/2011/0427_africa_education.aspx


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America's Best Worst Partner in Africa (Foreign Policy)BY JONATHAN STEVENSONAPRIL 20, 2011Once the Arab League was firmly onboard, U.S. President Barack Obama probablythought he'd cleared the major diplomatic hurdles to Western military intervention inLibya. But it is the African Union (AU) that has been the most uncomfortable with it.The AU called for an immediate halt to allied air operations hours after they began, andin a March 10 communiqu it resolutely expressed its "rejection of any foreign militaryintervention, whatever its form" while also recognizing "the legitimacy of theaspirations of the Libyan people." As the military advantage has seesawed betweenrebel and government forces and the U.S.-led coalition has hardened its insistence on

regime change, the AU has tried to engineer a cease-fire, sending a delegation to Libyato talk to both sides. The rebels duly rejected the AU's proposal, which would have leftLibyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi in power and did not require his forces towithdraw from besieged cities.

Yet the United States should have expected AU pushback. Not without justification, theorganization is often seen as a shambolic club for dictators whom Qaddafi himself hasenriched. But the AU, at least by default, is also the continent's most effectivemultilateral institution. For that reason, the United States should broadly embrace itseffort to resolve the Libyan conflict on African terms as a salutary attempt to take

ownership of an African problem.More is at stake here than just the future of Libya. The Libya intervention constitutedthe first major combat operation led and largely executed by U.S. Africa Command(Africom), the United States' newest combatant command, established in October 2008.Before it became operational, tone-deaf U.S. statements conjured images of Americanbases sprinkled throughout the continent and operational hyperactivity to match.African leaders and populations were so fearful of the neocolonial militarization of U.S.Africa policy that the Pentagon could not find a willing regional host for Africom andinstead has had to locate the command's headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany.

During its first two years, Africom was able to address America's two most importantAfrican security concerns -- ensuring access to oil and gas and checking a risingtransnational Islamist terrorism threat -- while keeping a self-consciously low profileand small footprint that calmed African nerves. The U.S. military's only "kinetic" actionson African soil were selective airstrikes and commando raids on terrorists in Somalia.Africom worked alongside the State Department to built African security capacitythrough multilateral regional initiatives and groups. The Africa Partnership Station -- a


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group of U.S. Navy ships dispatched to ports in West Africa and later piracy- andterrorist-plagued East Africa to train local maritime forces -- quietly became anexemplar of enlightened gunboat diplomacy.

The Libya operation has reinvigorated African fears about American power. In 1992,African countries largely welcomed the United States' humanitarian militaryintervention in Somalia and its promise of a post-Cold War "new world order." Backthen, however, the AU did not exist. The reigning continentwide body was the fecklessOrganization of African Unity (OAU), emasculated by the superpowers' geopoliticaldomination of the continent and the political decadence that it conditioned. In theevent, "mission creep" in Somalia led to an ignominious U.S. withdrawal in 1994,American inaction with respect to the Rwandan genocide, and an impression amongAfricans that the United States had no taste for African challenges.

With Africa strategically neglected, it was Qaddafi who laid the foundation for more

substantial African regional assertiveness in world affairs by spearheading the fin desicle creation of the AU to replace the OAU. In particular, he doggedly reinforced theAU's guiding proposition -- echoed loudly by Western governments -- that Africansshould start solving African problems. His generous investment of Libyan oil revenuesaround the continent, of course, was a more venal inducement to African fealty. Butprinciple as well as self-interest helps explain, if it does not excuse, South AfricanPresident Jacob Zuma's term of endearment for Qaddafi -- "Brother Leader" -- andAfrican officials' wish to ease his burden.

However mortal the sins of its godfather, given its severely constrained resources the

AU has done a reasonably creditable job of advancing liberal African multilateralismsince its inception in 2002. To be sure, the AU is partly composed of brutal, kleptocraticdictators. But institutionally, it is not overtly sympathetic with them or with militarycoups. It has, of course, opposed an international war crimes trial for SudanesePresident Omar Hassan al-Bashir. But the AU has also, for example, imposed sanctionson Togo to compel democratic (albeit flawed) elections, pushed for former Chadiandictator Hissene Habre to stand trial for war crimes, and marshaled large contingents ofcontinental troops to thwart ethnic-cleansing militias in Darfur and jihadi militants inSomalia. And it has worked closely with the United States and other outside powers toestablish regional African "standby forces" for peacekeeping operations. Although adeeply flawed and unquestionably hypocritical organization, the AU easily beats itssorry predecessor. And it's all we've got.

While it would be irresponsible for the Obama administration to completely disown theLibya operation, it also needs to allay the AU's worries about American militarism andencourage the AU's disposition to rise to its geopolitical responsibility. It should beopen to any AU plan consistent with regime change. Beyond that, Washington has tomaintain good relations with the AU to ensure the effectiveness of Africom as a key


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instrument of U.S. energy and counterterrorism policy. Much as Washington might notlike the AU, it cannot ignore the AU, nor afford to turn the AU into a diplomaticadversary.

Sub-Saharan Africa is only slowly democratizing. The typical African head of state -- arelatively evolved one like Botswana's Seretse Khama Ian Khama nearly as much asZimbabwe's retrograde Robert Mugabe -- remains attuned most sharply to threats to hiscontinuation in power. Revolutionary populism does not have the steep trajectory thatit does in the Middle East. Although opposition to illiberal leaders can be robust, it isusually channeled -- often effectively -- through existing political institutions. For theUnited States to overtly encourage the rapid acceleration of democratization withintimations of armed support could engender continental instability when the rest ofthe world is turbulent enough.

This is not an argument for cynically coddling African dictators, as the United States

did during the Cold War. But Washington does need to appreciate the nuances ofAfrican politics and security and to articulate compatible limits on the Libyanprecedent. Otherwise, it risks diminishing access to oil needed to reduce Americandependence on Persian Gulf suppliers, security cooperation needed to combat potentialal Qaeda franchises like Somalia's al-Shabab, and indeed the influence required topromote further political reform and shape development in Africa. Furthermore, theUnited States simply does not have the resources or the wherewithal to police acontinent as vast and troubled as Africa; nor do its European allies. It needs aninstitutional partner, warts and all.

Accordingly, the United States' "strategic communication" to Africa about Libya shouldemphasize that Africom will continue to be employed mainly to consolidate military-to-military relationships with existing governments and regional organizations whileencouraging reform, to enhance Africa's institutional capacity, and to improve itsgovernance. But the administration cannot be disingenuous or obtuse. Especially if thewar yields the intended results -- regime change and a viable democratic process inLibya -- the United States must also acknowledge its standing inclination to activelysupport popular African political movements demonstrating a credible commitment todemocratization.

The crucial piece of the message would be what kind of support would be given underwhat conditions. The administration should cast Libya as a case, in lawyer's parlance,limited to its circumstances. That is, the United States would intervene militarily insupport of a popular insurgency only if the insurgency appeared to want, but didn'thave realistic resort to, a democratic process; faced a leadership in power determined touse excessive military force; and was decisively overmatched in military terms.Washington should further declare that as a general rule, U.S. support would be


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political rather than military, overt rather than covert, and preferably extended throughand coordinated with the AU.

Thus qualified, the new U.S. policy emerging from the Libya intervention would accorddue respect and authority to the AU -- no more, no less. At the same time, it wouldleave incorrigible strongmen like Mugabe at some direct risk -- as it should -- whilereassuring the majority of African leaders, who have embraced tentative democraticexperimentation if not full-fledged democracy, that the United States' business withthem would proceed as usual. In Africa and elsewhere, it might then be easier forObama to replace the ominous neoconservative foreign policy narrowly focused on jihadi terrorism that he inherited, Africans fear, and he has found hard to jettison, witha coherent liberal realist policy distinguished by American military restraint andstrategic wisdom.------------------------- Libya blast kills photojournalists Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros (LA Times)

By Ned Parker and Reed JohnsonApril 20, 2011, 6:53 p.m.Misurata, Libya, and Los Angeles Barely two months ago, combat photographer TimHetherington sent out a tweet from the Academy Awards ceremony, where hisAfghanistan war film "Restrepo" was up for the best documentary trophy.

"At the #Oscars w/ Josh Fox of @gaslandmovie and director of Wastelandhttp://ow.ly/i/8Dl6," he messaged, referring to two of his fellow nominees in thecategory. The tweet was accompanied by a photo of Hetherington, beaming, in atuxedo.

On Tuesday, Hetherington sent out a very different report from the shattered andbesieged Libyan city of Misurata: "Indiscriminate shelling by Qaddafi forces. No sign ofNATO."

Those starkly dissimilar dispatches reflected two disparate but complementary sides ofHetherington, 41, who was killed Wednesday in an explosion believed to have beencaused by a mortar round in Misurata. The rebel-held city in western Libya has beenunder siege for several weeks by forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi.

The same mortar blast fatally wounded Chris Hondros of Getty Images, a veterancombat photographer whose work appeared on the front page of Wednesday's editionof the Los Angeles Times, and appears in today's edition as well.

Hondros, 41, suffered a severe head injury in the blast and was taken to a hospital,where he died several hours later.


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Hondros had received multiple awards, including war photography's highest honor,the 2005 Robert Capa gold medal. He was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his work inLiberia.

Two other photojournalists were injured in the blast: Michael Brown of the CorbisAgency and Guy Martin of Panos Pictures.

Doctors at Misurata's Hikma Hospital said that seven rebel fighters and a Ukrainiandoctor also were killed Wednesday in shellings, and 120 people were wounded.

Hondros had been taking photographs in Misurata on Wednesday morning under theprotection of a rebel militia commanded by a fighter named Salahidin. His photoscaptured the militia in action as it tried to flush snipers loyal to Kadafi from their hidingspots.

After transmitting the images to his employers at Getty Images, he returned to the frontlines with Salahidin and his men in the afternoon.

Hetherington and Hondros were part of a group of six photographers who made theirway up a dangerous strip of Tripoli Street, a front line where Kadafi snipers hide inbuildings in the rebel-held city.

At some point, at least some of the photographers broke away from Salahidin to get to asafer position, said Guillermo Cervera, a freelance photographer who was among thegroup. They were hit by shrapnel from a mortar round.

"We were trying to get to a safe place. It was too quiet. It felt dangerous," said Cervera,who was a few yards away at the time of the blast. "I heard the whoosh of an explosion,and everybody was on the ground."

Rebels took the photographers to Hikma Hospital.

Hetherington was pallid and bleeding from a bad leg wound, and he had also been hitin the head, Cervera said.

Through his photos, which sometimes straddled the line between journalism and fineart photography, Hetherington sought to bridge the perceptual gap between chaoticevents in developing countries and the more privileged worlds of his Western readers.His projects had included multi-screen installations and hand-held device downloads.

Born in Liverpool, England, he studied literature at Oxford University and laterreturned to college to study photography, according to a biography on his website.


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A contributing photographer to Vanity Fair, he lived for eight years in West Africabefore making his first trips to Afghanistan a few years ago.

"Restrepo," which he co-directed with author Sebastian Junger, about a platoon of U.S.soldiers serving in the remote and highly dangerous Korengal Valley of Afghanistan,won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival last year.

"There is no way to express my devastation and sorrow at the death of my dear friendTim Hetherington," Junger said in a statement. "Tim was one of the most courageousand principled journalists I have ever known."

In Los Angeles, Hetherington's publicist, Cathy Saypol, said she spoke with himTuesday night. He told her he was staying in a "safe house" with other journalists andnot to worry.

Saypol said hundreds of phone calls and emails had been received from soldiers whoknew Hetherington from the Korengal Valley.

Mohammed Zawwam, a local journalist, said Hetherington had talked of wanting tohelp Misurata's people and of doing a video project on the conflict.

Most of Misurata is in rebel hands, though it is ringed by Kadafi's forces, which havesuperior firepower.

"He was just a good guy, an amazing guy to me," Zawwam said.

David Courier, a programmer for the Sundance Film Festival who chose "Restrepo" toopen last year's event, said the movie gave "the experience of what it's like to be at war."He described Hetherington as "a really humble guy. Grace is a really good word todescribe Tim Hetherington. There was humility and none of that false humility whichcan sometimes permeate the entertainment industry."

In a statement, the Hetherington family said, "Tim was in Libya to continue his ongoingmultimedia project to highlight humanitarian issues during time of war and conflict. Hewill be forever missed."

In an interview in November with the PBS's "NewsHour," Hetherington discussed thechallenges of reporting on war in "Restrepo."

"It's a very slippery thing to try to get out any truisms about war," he said.

"You know, war is hell, but it's more than that. And rather than lay down any kind ofdefinitiveness, I just wanted to, to show the texture of it.


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"And that meant not just photographing just the combat, but, as you say, the guys, theirtime off, when war is often very boring. And it's boredom punctuated by sheer terror.

"And I wanted to capture all of that."

Hondros, who has covered conflicts in Iraq and elsewhere, was perhaps best known fora series of images he made of shrieking, blood-splattered Iraqi children whose parentshad been shot to death by a U.S. Army patrol, reportedly by mistake.

Los Angeles Times photographer Michael Robinson Chavez, who worked overseaswith Hondros, said he "was more often than not the smartest photographer in the room. His intellect was only matched by his ability to make amazing photographs, smartphotographs, in horrendous situations."

Hondros was engaged to be married in August.

Rick Loomis, a Los Angeles Times photographer who had known Hondros for a decadeand worked alongside him on several occasions, most recently covering the uprisings inEgypt, described him as "one of the best war photographers of this generation."

"His images made you stop and made you think about what you were witnessing withhim," Loomis said.--------------------Obama backs allies sending military aides to Libya (AFP)

By Unattributed AuthorArpil 20, 2011WASHINGTON President Barack Obama supports the decision by allies to sendmilitary advisers to aid Libyan rebels but has no plans to put US "boots on the ground,"his spokesman said Wednesday.

A senior American diplomat, meanwhile, told lawmakers in a letter obtained by AFP onWednesday, that Obama plans to provide the rebels with up to $25 million in urgent,non-lethal aid.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama approved of France's decision to sendmilitary advisers into insurgent-held eastern Libya, with Britain and Italy set to followsuit.

"The president obviously was aware of this decision and supports it, and hopes andbelieves it will help the opposition," Carney told reporters aboard Air Force One enroute to California.


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"But it does not at all change the president's policy of no boots on the ground forAmerican troops."

Embattled Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's government has warned that foreign bootson the ground will prolong the conflict.

A message from Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs JosephMacmanus to the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent Friday, showsWashington stepping up its help to embattled opposition forces in Libya.

"I wish to inform you that the president intends to exercise his authority to draw downup to $25 million in commodities and services from the inventory and resources of anyagency of the United States government," he wrote.

"The president's proposed actions would provide urgently needed non-lethal assistance

to support efforts to protect civilians and civilian-populated areas under threat of attackin Libya," said Macmanus.

A memorandum attached to the letter said the aid could include vehicles, fuel trucks,ambulances, medical equipment, protective vests, binoculars, and radios.

The developments came as the besieged rebel-held city of Misrata desperately pleadedfor help against Kadhafi's forces, who have been pounding it for more than six weeks.

The bombardment continued on Wednesday, with loud explosions heard mid-

afternoon in Misrata, where there was heavy overnight fighting and from whichthousands of people are trying to flee.----------------------US Committing $25 Million in Aid to Libyan Opposition (VOA)By David GollustApril 20, 2011The Obama administration is preparing to provide $25 million in non-lethal aid toLibyas opposition Transitional National Council, the TNC. The plan was confirmedWednesday by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who also expressed concernabout mounting casualties among pro-democracy protesters in Syria.

Clinton is stressing that the aid package contains no weapons and does not amount to a"blank check" of unlimited U.S. aid to the TNC.

But it does represent a significant upgrade of U.S. backing for the umbrella Libyanopposition organization, which Clinton said is "holding its own" militarily in the face ofwhat she termed a "brutal assault" by Moammar Gadhafis forces.


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Speaking at a joint press event with Haitis President-elect Michel Martelly, Clinton saidthe items going to the Libyan rebels are being drawn from U.S. stockpiles and includesuch things as medical supplies, uniforms, boots, protective gear and radios.

She said the aid pledge is being made in close coordination with U.S. internationalpartners - among them Britain, France and Italy - which this week announced thedispatch of military advisers to help the TNC.

"This is not a blank check. But this action is consistent with the United Nations SecurityCouncil resolution 1973, which among other actions, authorized member states to takeall necessary measures to protect civilians and civilian populated areas," said Clinton.

The United States has a senior diplomat, Chris Stevens, in the Libyan rebel strongholdBenghazi to liaise with the TNC, but it has not recognized the rebel movement as thecountrys legitimate government, as have some NATO allies.

A State Department spokesman said the aid commitment does not necessarily mean theUnited States is closer to recognizing the TNC and shows there are ways the UnitedStates can boost the opposition short of such a step.

Clinton meanwhile underscored U.S. concern about mounting political violence inSyria, where news reports say more than 20 protesters have been killed by securityforces in the central city of Homs.

She said the United States strongly condemns any use of violence by either side in the

ongoing confrontation, and is particularly worried about the situation in Homs, whereit is difficult to ascertain facts because of curbs on journalists.

"The Syrian government must allow free movement and free access," said the secretaryof state. "It must stop the arbitrary arrests, detentions and torture of prisoners. And itmust cease the violence and begin a serious political process through concrete actions todemonstrate its responsiveness to the legitimate issues that have been raised by theSyrian people seeking substantial and lasting reform."

The State Department expressed skepticism Tuesday at the Damascus governmentsmove to end 48 years of emergency rule, noting that the pending repeal is coupled withnew legislation to curb demonstrations.------------------------Inferior Arms Hobble Rebels in Libya War (NYT)By C. J. CHIVERSApril 20, 2011BENGHAZI, Libya A PKT machine gun, a weapon designed to be mounted on aSoviet tank and fired electronically by a crew member inside, has no manual trigger, no


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sights and no shoulder stock. That does not prevent many Libyan rebels from carryingit as if it were an infantrymans gun, even though it cannot be fired.

A Carcano cavalry carbine probable refuse from Italian colonization in Libyabetween the world wars is chambered for a dated rifle cartridge that the rebels havenot been able to procure. That did not deter four rebels recently seen wandering thebattlefield with these relics, without a cartridge to fire.

The MAT-49, a submachine gun produced for the French military several decades ago,is a weapon for which it is difficult to obtain parts. That did not seem to trouble onerebel who showed up on the eastern Libyan front brandishing a MAT-49 with nomagazine. He would have been more dangerous with a sling and stone.

The armed uprising in Libya has produced a spontaneously formed force with a grandand passionately held ambition: to defeat Libyas state-sponsored military in battle and

chase Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi and his sons from power.

Few who have seen the front lines would dispute that Libyas rebels need armsmatched to their fight. But as the European powers send military advisers to easternLibya, the developing NATO plan to help the rebels organize themselves quickly intoan effective fighting force confronts their backers with difficult issues.

A survey of weapons carried by hundreds of rebels fighting on two fronts in easternLibya and the besieged city of Misurata presents a picture of an armed uprising thatis both underequipped and in custody of many weapons with no utility in the war at

hand. The rebels are also in possession of weapons that if sold, lost or misused, couldundermine their revolutions reputation and undercut their cause.

These include anti-aircraft missiles and land mines, both of which the rebels have usedon at least a limited basis so far, and which pose long-term regional security threats.They include as well heavier weapons Type 63 and Grad rockets that rebels havefired indiscriminately, endangering civilians and civilian infrastructure.

Taken together, the rebels mismatched arsenal and their inexperience and lack ofdiscipline have made achieving the revolutions military goal extraordinarily hard. Fortheir part, the rebels insist they have the will to prevail against the forces loyal toColonel Qaddafi if provided the means. That resolve was clear in the words of FikryIltajoury, 31, who turned up on a recent day with only a large steak knife. He had beenfighting from a machine gun truck, he said, until the truck and machine gun weredestroyed.

We were hit and my friends died, he said I lost my weapon but have this.


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He held up the knife, a serrated blade with a wooden handle. I want to stuff it intoQaddafis heart.

Mr. Iltajourys circumstances eager but materially unprepared matched what isoften visible elsewhere.

By one fundamental measure of readiness, the Forces of Free Libya, as the rebels callthemselves, are abjectly underequipped: They have many more volunteers than rifles.

Kalashnikov prices in eastern Libya point to wartime scarcity some fighters said theypaid more than $2,000 for their weapon, several times a typical price. In the siege ofMisurata, many rebels at the front have no firearms at all, and wait for a friend to fallbefore joining the fight.

Those who do have modern weapons have gathered into motley formations with arms

that either require different training, need different types of ammunition, or both.

It is not uncommon to see a rebel group with widely mixed weapons: a NATO-standardFN FAL rifle, two different classes of Kalashnikovs, a Degtyaryov machine gun of earlySoviet provenance and perhaps a bolt-action rifle from before World War II, like theCarcano carbines or specimens from the old Lee-Enfield line.

A few grenades (homemade or factory-produced) and an occasional rocket-propelledgrenade or anti-aircraft missile often round out their armaments, along with PKTmachine guns (fired not with a trigger but by a bolt-release mechanism) or homemade

rocket launchers, little more than an electrical circuit hooked up to welded bars andpipes.

The rebels have other shortages as well including ammunition and spare parts,especially in Misurata. (So far the rebels have acknowledged that only one foreigngovernment, presumably Qatars, has provided them with weapons a shipment saidto include 400 rifles.)

Among the Forces of Free Libya, an absence of discipline and experience, a fleetingappreciation for both the tactical and technical aspects of weapons employment and adisregard for, or perhaps ignorance of, international conventions are all on display.

Put simply, the rebels have a limited sense of how to use modern weapons in ways thatmaximize their effectiveness while minimizing their risks to everyone else.

They have exhibited what seems to be a tolerance for at least a small number of childsoldiers. Such was the case of Mohamed Abdulgader, a 13-year-old boy seen at aforward checkpoint earlier this month with an assault rifle in his grip.


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Mohamed claimed not be a front-line fighter. But he was in area that within an hourcame under fire, and made clear his readiness to fight. If the Qaddafi men try to doanything to me, I will hurt them, he said. None of the fighters present, or theircommander, appeared concerned.

Similarly, the rebels have little evident command-and-control and no clear or consistentrules of engagement factors that have perhaps contributed to instances of abusive oroutright brutal conduct.

There have been credible accounts of rebels beating and robbing African men on themere suspicion of their being mercenaries, and on April 9 two journalists observedrebels capture and immediately kill a suspected Qaddafi informant.

Countries that provide arms to such lawless forces could later be accused of

encouraging or enabling these kinds of crimes. Similarly, many rebels have assembledpowerful but inaccurate weapons systems that they have been firing near Ajdabiya andBrega. These include 107-millimeter rockets on pickup trucks, as well as makeshiftmounts for 122-millimeter Grad rockets and 57-millimeter air-to-ground rocketlaunchers removed from former Qaddafi attack helicopters.

Journalists have seen these high-explosive munitions fired repeatedly, and oftenhaphazardly. The rebels firing them typically have no evident communication withforward observers who might watch where their ordnance lands, and have shown noability to adjust their aim.

In tactical terms, this is indiscriminate fire the very behavior rebels and civilians havedecried in the Qaddafi forces, albeit on a smaller scale.

Moreover, the rebels possess weapons, including land mines, that if used or notaccounted for, could undermine their quest for international stature and support.

Although the rebel leadership in Benghazi had said its forces would not use the minesthey inherited from Qaddafi government stocks, on April 17 a BBC news crewvideotaped rebels laying anti-vehicular mines near Ajdabiya, the rebel city at the edgeof currently contested territory.

Similarly, after capturing former military arsenals, the rebels openly distributedportable anti-aircraft missiles, known as Manpads. If they drift from the rebelspossession to black markets, they could be used by terrorists to attack civilian aviation.


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The weapons have little current utility for the rebels. Aircraft now overhead in Libyaare almost always from NATO, or otherwise considered friendly. (One rebel helicopterwas visible flying near the front lines about 10 days ago.)

Nonetheless, rebels still carry them, and officials in Algeria and Chad have publicly saidthat since the uprising began, loose Manpads from Libya have been acquired byoperatives with Al Qaeda in Africa.

Taken together, this mixed picture presents foreign backers with a pair of relatedproblems. To watch Libyan rebels head to battle is to watch young men calling forfreedom step toward a bloody mismatch, and often their deaths. To arm them, though,is to assume other risks, some of which could last for years.-----------------------New Ivory Coast Army Turns Against Ex-Allies (Reuters)By Unattributed Author

April 20, 2011ABIDJAN Ivory Coast forces on Wednesday attacked fighters from a militia that hadbeen allied with them in the fight against the former president, Laurent Gbagbo.

The violence set back hopes of quickly restoring security and reviving the economy inthe West African nation after a bloody postelection power struggle. The election waswon by Alassane Ouattara, who took power last week; Mr. Gbagbo has been arrested.

The attacks were reported by Ibrahim Coulibaly, the leader of the militia, which isknown as the Invisible Commando. He said the Ivorian military had accused his forces

of helping fighters loyal to the former president. A source close to the governmentconfirmed the report, saying that some of Mr. Coulibalys forces had not met a deadlineto join the national army.

Invisible Commando, which has an estimated 5,000 fighters, had fought alongside whatis now the Ivorian Army, a ragtag group made up mostly of rebels from the 2002 civilwar. The two groups have had little in common over the years beside their hatred ofMr. Gbagbo, and disagreements have been violent.

Government security forces have also launched an offensive against Gbagbo loyalistswho are holed up in Yopougon, a neighborhood in Abidjan, officials said.

Yopougon residents reported intense fighting.

Residents in other neighborhoods have cautiously returned to their daily lives afterclashes throughout the city, which is Ivory Coasts commercial capital.------------------New Ivory Coast Government Calls for Truth and Reconciliation Commission (VOA)


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By Scott StearnsApril 20, 2011Dakar - Ivory Coast's new government is calling for a truth and reconciliationcommission to help address human rights abuses, including those committed duringthe political crisis that followed November's presidential election. Many challenges facea commission meant to reunite a country divided by more than 10 years of civil war,instability, and political violence.

President Alassane Ouattara says a truth and reconciliation commission will helpIvorians move beyond the suspicion that has dominated much of the last decade.

President Ouattara says reconciliation cannot be achieved without justice, andreconciliation cannot be effective without forgiveness. So following last week's arrest offormer president Laurent Gbagbo, Mr. Ouattara says he telephoned South AfricanPresident Jacob Zuma to say that he will need South Africa's experience and support to

have an effective truth and reconciliation commission.

What to do about Laurent Gbagbo?

Deciding what to do about Mr. Gbagbo is the highest-profile challenge. He refused torecognize that he lost last year's election to Mr. Ouattara and held on to power formonths with the help of the army.

Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga was the African Union mediator between the rivalpresidents. He says Mr. Gbagbo should be pardoned.

"The civil war will not end that is why we are talking about reconciliation," he said. "Ifwe want to reconcile, give Gbagbo a safe exit. Then get some of his people because herepresents a number of people and also a big region in the country. Get those people inthe government so you play a game of inclusivity."

Human Rights Watch says Mr. Gbagbo should not be allowed exile in a country thatwould shield him from prosecution as that would only heighten tension inside IvoryCoast.

"President Ouattara is inheriting a country that is deeply divided along ethnic, religiousand regional lines," said Corinne Dufka, who heads the West Africa office for HumanRights Watch. She says the neutrality of the commission will depend on it having abroad political balance.

"The type of mandate and the composition of the commission and all of those issueswill then set the state for how legitimate, how meaningful this commission will be to


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address these very deep divisions and make recommendations against theiroccurrence," she said.

President Ouattara says the commission will help Ivorians come to terms with asometimes painful past.

The president says Ivorians must know what happened, who did what, and for whatreasons as far back as 1999. He says people must admit their crimes and beg the nationfor forgiveness. President Ouattara says impunity will come to an end in Ivory Coastbecause everyone is equal before the law, whatever their political affiliation, origin,religion, or ethnicity.

That promised autonomy is especially important as Dufka says some of Mr. Ouattara'sown fighters are guilty of human rights abuses.

"For the first several months following the elections, the most serious violations werecommitted by Gbagbo's troops against real and perceived supporters of Ouattara," saidDufka. "Once the armed conflict had reignited, then forces loyal to Ouattara committedextremely serious violations. And not just in the west of the country but also inAbidjan."

Commission cannot replace justice

While the truth and reconciliation commission will play an important role in the newIvory Coast, Dufka says it can not replace justice.

"It should not be seen as a substitute for some sort of accountability process," she said."Because this now tragically-established cycle of violence and impunity that has existedin Cote d'Ivoire for over 10 years will not be stopped until those responsible for the veryserious violations over the last decade have been held accountable."

The end of the political crisis between Mr. Ouattara and Mr. Gbagbo is an opportunitybut by no means a guarantee for a more peaceful future.

Father Daniel Meledje is a priest in Abidjan's Saint Etienne parish. During thesedifficult times, Meledje says, people are seeking a peace that comes from God becausethat peace touches everyone's heart. Ivorians are seeking peace so they can live inhappiness. Without peace, he says, people cannot reconcile their differences.----------------------South Sudan army, militia clash kills 20 - army (Reuters)By Jeremy ClarkeApril 20, 2011 8:35pm GMT


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JUBA, Sudan - At least 20 soldiers were killed in a clash between south Sudan's armyand rebel militia fighters, the army said on Wednesday, the latest violence to unsettlethe region ahead of its independence in July.

Sudan's south voted to separate from the north in a January referendum promisedunder a 2005 peace accord that ended decades of civil war. The underdeveloped region,the source of most of Sudan's 500,000 barrels per day of oil, has been beset by violencewhich has killed hundreds since the vote.

Twenty southern army soldiers were killed on Tuesday in a clash in the oil-producingUnity state with fighters loyal to Peter Gadet, a former senior southern army (SPLA)officer who rebelled this month, the military said.

"They (the rebels) overran a village in Mayom county. They burnt it to the groundbefore the SPLA chased them off," said southern army spokesman Philip Aguer.

Two drivers were also killed when two civilian trucks hit landmines in the same county,Aguer said.

The rebels fought alongside Misseriya tribesmen from the north, Aguer said, adding thedeath toll would rise as an unconfirmed number of civilians and rebels were also killed.That could not be immediately verified independently.

Southern leaders have accused their former civil war foes in the north of arming therenegades to try and destabilise the region and keep control of its oil, charges Khartoum

denies.Unity authorities responded to the latest violence by expelling northern Sudanese staffworking in oil-producing areas of the state, underscoring the risk from rising tensions.

"Unity State have ample evidence that these militia are being encouraged, sponsored,organised and planned by elements in the national government," the state's InformationMinister Gideon Gatpan Thoar said.Oil is the lifeblood of both economies and how to share the revenues after separationremains unresolved. Southern oil is currently spilt roughly 50-50 with the north, and thesouth will still have to rely on pipelines in the north after July.

The United Nations has said more than 800 people have died in the violence in southSudan this year stemming from tribal fighting and clashes between soldiers and at leastseven bands of renegade fighters in the territory.

Analysts have warned any further deterioration could destabilise the whole region.South Sudan's neighbours include Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia.


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Renegade fighters have accused the south's government of corruption and crackdownson opposition supporters, charges denied in the southern capital Juba.

Rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused both SPLA and rebel fighters ofhuman rights violations during a battle in Upper Nile State in March.

Aguer dismissed the allegations against the SPLA.

The south has fought the north for all but a few years since 1955 over differences inreligion, ideology, ethnicity and oil. The conflict has claimed an estimated two millionlives.--------------------Life inside Somaliland's pirate prison (CNN)By Jane Ferguson

April 20, 2011Hargeisa, Somaliland - "We want money," say the group of inmates with a smile.Somaliland's highest security prison hasn't dampened the hustling spirit of its pirateprisoners. My government handler rolls his eyes. They do this a lot, he explains.

I was told there are over 40 convicted pirates in this facility in Hargeisa, capital of thetiny breakaway east African state. The authorities say the coast guard has caught closeto 100 in the past two years.

Prison officials tell me that most of the convicts ventured into Somaliland waters from

Puntland, a haven for pirates just down the north Somalia coastline. They rarely hijackships in Somaliland waters, because the coast guard has a reputation for catching them,officials told me. But the pirates often run out of fuel and are forced to come into theSomaliland port town of Berbera.

The first group of pirates brought out to speak with me refuse to talk without money,having decided on a union of sorts. Mohammed Ali Orsamen then comes down thecorridor, chancing his luck for some cash but still keen to speak even after I refusepayment. He is serving fifteen years for piracy.

"I am not a pirate, I am a fisherman," he begins. They all say that, smiles mygovernment minder. Ali Orsamen does however have strong opinions on piracy. "TheWesterners are doing illegal fishing and arresting fishermen and accusing them of beingpirates," he repeats several times.

To Ali Orsamen, arresting so-called pirates was an excuse for Western fishingcompanies to take over Somalia's fishing territory.


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"Because of the collapse of the Somali government there is no patrolling of ourterritories and that is why there is illegal fishing and those Westerners are entering ourterritories, and those pirates are only hijacking ships in Somali waters," he says. "Pleasetell the international community to stay away from Somali waters. If we hijack oneWestern ship and we kill one Westerner, then they kill ten of us."

Ali Orsamen and his fellow inmates are at the mercy of a new and extremely strict judicial system in Somaliland. Pirates in the past used to get five to eight years here,now with the world struggling to combat a major pirate plague in the region, they arebeing sentenced from 15 to 20 years each.

Osman Rahim, Berbera's regional court judge, presides over an historic court house inBerbera, just down the dusty street from the old prison. When suspected pirates arecaught by the coast guard, this is where they end up before being sentenced andtransferred to Hargeisa's high security facility.

Shortly before my visit, a group of suspected pirates had been caught and taken toBerbera prison, causing much excitement amongst officials. Their boat had been markedby a coalition warship as a pirate vessel, said officials, and their leader was a well-known pirate boss.

The man in question, Omar Abdullah Abdi, disagrees. "We were arrested doing ourwork - fishing. I don't know why we were arrested," he says. The group of six hadelected him their spokesman, and none of the others are keen to disagree with hisversion of events. Pointing out that his boat was marked, Abdi says: "We have not been

charged in court yet. We have nothing to do with these charges."Rahim explains that Somaliland is taking a very tough stance against piracy, in part todiscourage others from following the practice. "Now when they hear that they can get20 years and 15 years, everybody is stunned," he adds, "and not going to the sea. That'swhy we are sentencing them for a long time - to restrict them."

With millions of dollars to be made by pirates in hijacking ships for ransom, such risksmay seem small in comparison. The hope in Berbera, however, is that these waters gaina reputation for a fierce rule of law: keeping pirates at bay.--------------------Nigeria: Post-Election Violence - 121 Dead - Thousands Displaced (Leadership)By Samuel Aruwan, Abdulrahman Tonga, Yau Waziri, Sani Muh'd Sani and AbdulazizAbdulaziz20 April 2011Kaduna/Gombe/Bauchi/Kano The post-election crisis that swept northern parts ofthe country has left no fewer than 121 people dead and hundreds more injured.


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According to reliable sources, about 15,000 people have been displaced, many of themseeking shelter in police stations and army barracks.

The largest number of casualties are from Kaduna where some 50 people are feareddead and Kano where the figure has been put at 30. The casualty list so far puts thenumber of the dead in Gombe at 17, with neighbouring Bauchi State recording 16 andKatsina State 8.

The commissioner of police in Bauchi State, John Abakasanga, disclosed that fourmembers of the National Youth Service Corps had been killed, as well as one divisionalcrime officer (DCO) and one female corporal.

The state chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Father LawiPotki, also confirmed that he saw 10 dead people. The secretary of the Red Cross inBauchi, Adamu Abubakar, placed the number of the wounded in the state at 17 and

those displaced at 3,500. The Red Cross also confirmed the death of eight people inKatsina in the aftermath of the violence. According to Abubakar, 500 displaced peoplewere at the DIC Camp, Gudun village, while many more were sighted at Sha Da WankaBarracks and the Bauchi State Police headquarters.

Unconfirmed reports from different neighbourhoods in Kano indicate that 13 peoplewere killed by the police in a friendly fire in the course of trying to quell the violence.

The state police commissioner, Dan'Azumi Doma, told LEADERSHIP that, officially, hehad received no information of any deaths. He however said 120 people had been

arrested and 94 of them remanded in custody.The state police commissioner in Gombe State, Suleiman Lawan, was also unable toconfirm the number of casualties but LEADERSHIP gathered from the chief medicaldirector at the Gombe Specialist Hospital, Dr. James Madi, that five people wereconfirmed dead at the hospital and 30 others treated for injuries. Twelve people werealso confirmed dead from the Gombe Federal Medical Centre with 71 receivingtreatment from injuries, even as some people had been discharged.

The deputy inspector-general (DIG) of Police in charge of operations in Abuja, AuduAbubakar, who was also in Gombe yesterday to inspect the extent of damage, said thatthe police would be able to confirm the casualties today. From Kaduna, hospitals arereported to be overflowing with the injured.

Travellers caught unawares on the Abuja-Kaduna highway spoke of at least eightdeaths. Along the Kaduna- Zaria highway seven persons were reported dead while inZaria city, the number of those killed was put at 10. The remaining deaths came fromKaduna City as well as the spillover in Kafanchan and Hunkuyi.


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DIG Abubakar who was also in Kaduna said that more security personnel were beingdrafted to the state.----------------------- UN News Service Africa Briefs Full Articles on UN Website

Darfur peace process entering crucial phase, UN official tells Security Council20 April The peace process to resolve the conflict in the Darfur region of westernSudan region has entered a crucial phase with parties to the dispute considering texts ofkey elements that would form the basis of a draft comprehensive agreement, a seniorUnited Nations official told the Security Council today.

Sudan: UN official warns of threats ahead of formal separation of south20 April Key elements of the peace deal that ended the long-running civil war in

Sudan may not be resolved before the south formally separates from the rest of thecountry in early July, a senior United Nations official said today, warning that disputesover these sticking points threaten to pull the parties back into open conflict.

AFRICOM Related News clips 21 April 2011

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