AFRICOM Related Newsclips 25 July11

8/6/2019 AFRICOM Related Newsclips 25 July11

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United States Africa CommandPublic Affairs Office25 July 2011

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

Rebel Chief Says Gadhafi, Family Can Stay in Libya (WSJ)(Libya) Libyan opposition leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil said Sunday that Col.Moammar Gadhafi and his family could remain in Libya as part of a politicalsolution to the five-month-old conflict, provided they give up power and rebelleaders can determine where in Libya and under what conditions they remain.

Germany lends Libyan rebels $144 million as fighting rages (CNN)(Libya) Germany announced Sunday it has agreed to lend 100 million euros($144 million) to the rebels in Libya for "civilian and humanitarian purposes"despite staying out of NATO's bombing campaign against Libyan governmentforces.

U.S. struggles to free money for Libyan rebels (Washington Post)(Libya) Despite its decision to grant diplomatic recognition to Libyas rebels, theObama administration is struggling to find ways to provide them with the $34billion in frozen Libyan assets held in U.S.-controlled bank accounts, officials sayAmid war, life goes on in Libyan capital (AP)(Libya) In Libya's east, rebels surround a key oil city, while in the westernmountains they mass for a final push on the capital. In Tripoli, meanwhile,Ahmed Ayyat has more wedding invitations than he knows what to do with.

Somalia Urges International Intervention in Fight Against Famine, Drought(VOA)(Somalia) Somalis displaced by drought wait to receive food in their makeshiftcamp in Mogadishu, July 23, 2011.An official of Somalias Transitional Federal

Government (TFG) is calling for international intervention to help hisadministration combat drought and famine, which has forced thousands ofSomalis to flee to neighboring countries.

Aid Groups Criticize US Response to East Africa Drought (VOA)(East Africa) A woman carrying her baby queues for food in a camp establishedby the Somali Transitional Federal Government for the internally displaced


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people in Mogadishu..While the U.S. government has increased its aid to helpthose affected by the devastating drought in the Horn of Africa, aid groups havecriticized the slow response, as well as anti-terrorist laws which they say areimpeding help to victims in the worst affected areas of Somalia.

Aid reaches drought-ravaged Somalia (AFP)(Somalia) The International Red Cross said it had handed out 400 tonnes of foodin drought-hit parts of rebel-held southern Somalia as the UN prepares to hostemergency talks on the crisis in the region.

Italian tanker Anema e Core seized by pirates off Benin (BBC)(West Africa) Pirates have hijacked an Italian diesel tanker off Benin in westernAfrica in an attack of the kind more usually associated with Somalia.

South Sudan Rebel Leader Killed (VOA)

(South Sudan) A South Sudan rebel leader was killed Saturday just days afteragreeing to a cease-fire in the region.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Websitey UN-backed Cameroon-Nigeria border commission presses for swift

resolution

y Sudan: UN relief chief sounds alarm over dwindling aid stocks inSouthern Kordofan

y UN humanitarian fund gives millions for food aid across Horn of Africay T

wo UN-AU peacekeepers injured after ambush in Darfury UN experts alarmed over atrocities in Sudans Southern Kordofan region

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

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, July 26, 2011, 9:30 a.m.; U.S. Holocaust MemorialMuseum, 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place SW, Helena Rubinstein Auditorium,Washington, DC.WHAT: The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum; the National Endowment forDemocracy; and the Eastern Congo Initiative Conference - "Voices from theCongo: The Road Ahead," a Congolese perspective on the current political andhuman rights situation and an effort to inform U.S. policy on Congo with ideasand recommendations.WHO: Actor Ben Affleck of the Eastern Congo Initiative delivers welcomingremarks (via video); Scott Campbell of the U.N. Office of the High Commissionerfor Human Rights; Abbe Benoit Kinalegu of the Catholic Justice and PeaceCommission; Catherine Kathungu of the Association des Femmes Juristes pourles Droits de la Femme; Anneke Van Woudenberg of Human Rights Watch; and


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Gwen Ifill of PBS NewsHour participate in a discussion on "Assessing theHuman Rights Situation"; Barrie Freeman of the National Democratic Institute;Dismas Kitenge of Groupe Lotus; Donat M'Baya of Journalistes en Danger; andColum Lynch of the Washington Post participate in a discussion on "Elections:Challenges and Opportunities"; Senate Assistant Majority Leader Richard

Durbin, D-Ill., delivers remarks; Cindy McCain of the Eastern Congo Initiativedelivers remarksInfo: Andy Hollinger, 202-488-6133, [email protected];http://tinyurl.com/congovoices

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, July 26, 2011 at 2:00 p.m.; Room 2255 Rayburn HouseOffice BuildingWHAT: House Foreign Affairs Committee Hearing on AFRICOM (U.S. AfricaCommand): Promoting Partnership for Global Security in Africa.WHO: Witnesses: Donald Y. Yamamoto, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of

State, Bureau of African Affairs; Vicki Huddleston, Deputy Assistant Secretary ofDefense; Sharon Cromer, Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau forAfrica, U.S. Agency for International Development.Info: 202-225-5021; web site: http://foreignaffairs.house.gov

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Rebel Chief Says Gadhafi, Family Can Stay in Libya (WSJ)By CHARLES LEVINSON

July 25, 2011ZINTAN, LibyaLibyan opposition leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil said Sunday thatCol. Moammar Gadhafi and his family could remain in Libya as part of apolitical solution to the five-month-old conflict, provided they give up powerand rebel leaders can determine where in Libya and under what conditions theyremain.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal during an unannounced visit toLibya's rebel-controlled western mountains, Mr. Jalil confirmed reports fromother rebel officials in recent days that Qatar has stepped up the flow of militaryaid to rebels in recent days.

Mr. Jalil's offer to let Col. Gadhafi and his family remain in Libya appears to be asignificant reversal for the Libyan opposition leader, who is chairman of therebels' Transitional National Council, based in Benghazi.


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"Gadhafi can stay in Libya but it will have conditions," Mr. Jalil said. "We willdecide where he stays and who watches him. The same conditions will apply tohis family."

Mr. Jalil spoke over a lunch of lamb, garbonzo beans and Pepsi, served in cans

adorned with pink paper umbrellas, at a private home in the western mountaincity of Zintan, where rebel military leaders have established their regionalheadquarters.

In agreeing that Mr. Gadhafi and his family could remain in Libya, Mr. Jalilappeared to be softening his position, and backing up comments made by U.S.,Italian and French officials in recent days to the same effect.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Wednesday that Col. Gadhafi couldremain in Libya as long as he gives up power completely.

The U.S. and Italy have said recently that Col. Gadhafi must be removed frompower, but have said his fate after that is up to the Libyan people, leaving openthe possibility that he remain in Libya.

Mr. Jalil's willingness to accept anything short of exile and criminal prosecutionfor Mr. Gadhafi is likely to prove unpopular among the rebel rank and file. Mr.Jalil made similar comments to Reuters earlier this month, but had to issue aquick denial after protests erupted in the streets of Benghazi.

But Mr. Jalil appears to have carefully calibrated his comments on Sunday bysetting conditions for Col. Gadhafi's remaining in Libya that could be broadlyinterpreted. Mr. Jalil didn't elaborate on where or under what conditions rebelswould demand Col. Gadhafi live if he remained, but presumably it could meananything from comfortable house arrest among his tribesmen, to a dark cell insolitary confinement.

The diplomatic wording would seem to allow Mr. Jalil to appear willing tocompromise to appease Western leaders eager to see an end to the conflict, whilenot alienating his rebel base who want to see Col. Gadhafi held accountable forhis actions.

The softening of Mr. Jalil's position toward Col. Gadhafi and his family comes asrebels say they are stepping up military preparations for a resumed push on Col.Gadhafi's forces along multiple fronts.


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A critical piece of those preparations has been an uptick in military aide from thePersian Gulf state of Qatar in recent days, according to Mr. Jalil and other rebelofficials in Benghazi.

Mr. Jalil said Qatar had sent military trainers to the western mountains to train

rebel fighters and had built and equipped a rebel operational command centerwith the latest equipment.

Indeed, Qatari military personnel were accompanying Mr. Jalil during his visit tothe western mountains. One Qatari military trainer said his team of trainersarrived in the western mountains 20 days ago to train rebels to use certain lightweapons and teach them small-unit tactics.

Sunday's visit was Mr. Jalil's first visit to the region since he was tapped as therebel leader shortly after the uprising began on Feb. 17. Mr. Jalil and his

entourage flew into the western mountains after a short visit in Tunisia, wheremany Libyan civilians have sought refuge from the fighting and where manyrebel fighters have gone for treatment.

His plane landed at the rebels' makeshift airstrip on a straight stretch of deserthighway outside of Zintan.

Qatar has been one of the rebels' staunchest allies since the early days of theuprising and has long provided them with a steady flow of humanitarian andmilitary aid. Qatar has been sending rebels anti-tank weapons, small arms,

ammunitions, and bullet proof vests, among other such items for months,according to rebel officials who help manage and distribute the shipments inBenghazi.

But just in the past four days Qatar has stepped up both the quantity and type ofmilitary aid it is shipping to the rebels, these officials said. The recent shipmentshave for the first time included new four-wheel-drive vehicles and armored mineclearers to help the rebels clear massive mine fields laid by Col. Gadhafi's forcesoutside the oil town of Brega, according to the officials.

Mr. Jalil said rebels would continue their offensive on all fronts during theMuslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins early next month. He said rebelsin the western mountains were the closest to Tripoli and rebels' best chance ofpiercing Col. Gadhafi's defenses and reaching the capital.

"The war will end in one of three ways," Mr. Jalil said. "Gadhafi will surrender,he will flee Libya, or he will be killed or captured by one of his bodyguards or byrebel forces."


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-------------------Germany lends Libyan rebels $144 million as fighting rages (CNN)By Unattributed AuthorJuly 24, 2011Germany announced Sunday it has agreed to lend 100 million euros ($144

million) to the rebels in Libya for "civilian and humanitarian purposes" despitestaying out of NATO's bombing campaign against Libyan government forces.

Germany had previously announced a loan of $10 million (7 million euros) forhumanitarian aid to the Transitional National Council, the rebel movement thatis battling to unseat longtime Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi.

"Because of Colonel Gadhafi's war against his own people, the situation in Libyais very difficult," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in astatement announcing the loan. "There is a major lack of funds to build

infrastructure, as well as a shortage of needed goods, ranging from medicalsupplies to food."

Germany has not participated in the NATO-led military effort in Libya andabstained from the U.N. Security Council vote that authorized military action toprotect civilians from Gadhafi's forces. But German Chancellor Angela Merkelsaid in June that her country shares the hope "that this NATO mission issuccessful."

Merkel also said Germany was supporting the NATO mission by providing

increased resources to the U.S.-led mission in Afghanistan, freeing other nationsto contribute to the Libyan campaign.

Germany has recognized the rebels as the legitimate representative of the Libyanpeople and established a liaison office with the opposition in Benghazi in May.

Berlin indicated Sunday that the loan will eventually be repaid by theTransitional National Council, using frozen assets from the Gadhafi regime. Thestatement indicated the reimbursement would happen "when the U.N. SecurityCouncil unfreezes the assets for a legitimate Libyan government."

By agreeing to the loan, Germany added itself to a growing number of nations,including Turkey and Qatar, that have announced plans to hand over millions ofdollars in frozen Gadhafi assets to the rebel council in Benghazi.

In an interview with CNN last week, the finance minister for the internationallyisolated Libyan government in Tripoli warned that the proposed reallocation offrozen funds would violate international law.


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"The international monetary system cannot withstand action in this manner,"said Abdulhafid Zlitni. "If you are freezing, through United Nations SecurityCouncil action, funds for any country, then you can't confiscate it. There are legalobligations of the banks."

Also on Sunday, rebel forces fought to hold on to Qawalish, a key Libyan villagealong a major north-south route. Rebel fighter Talha Jwaili told CNN thatGadhafi forces advanced from nearby Al-Asaba using heavy machinery. Therebels called in a large rebel force from Zintan, a city 25 miles (40 kilometers)away, and "managed to repel the Gadhafi forces after a fierce fight that lastedalmost four hours," Jwaili said.

One person died in the fighting, Jwaili said -- his 16-year-old cousin, YoussefJwaili, son of the Zintan military commander. Several others were injured, Jwaili

said.

State TV, meanwhile, offered a different version of events. It reported "armedgangs and the colonialist crusader alliance" attacked a march of Libyan tribes atthe entrance of Qawalish. It broadcast video of a convoy of civilian vehicles withpassengers waving green government flags. It also showed video of people beingtreated at a hospital.

In a speech last week, Gadhafi called on his supporters to march -- unarmed -- toreclaim rebel-controlled cities and towns.

"A million should march to Benghazi and liberate it from the traitors without anyweapons," the strongman said. "Even without weapons, we can cleanse thewestern mountains by the march of men and women."----------------------U.S. struggles to free money for Libyan rebels (Washington Post)By Joby Warrick and Mary Beth SheridanJuly 23, 2011Despite its decision to grant diplomatic recognition to Libyas rebels, the Obamaadministration is struggling to find ways to provide them with the $34 billion infrozen Libyan assets held in U.S.-controlled bank accounts, officials say.

Administration officials held at least two meetings this past week to exploreways to release the money, which the opposition Transitional National Councilsays it urgently needs to pay salaries and buy critical supplies. But the funds areensnared in a thicket of legal regulations.


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Among Libyan rebels, reluctant warriorsLibyan government to talk with U.S.officialsMore stories from around the worldLibyan rebels advance slows inwestWomen brace for battle in LibyaGaddafi threatens attacks on EuropeU.S.intelligence: Gaddafi forces strugglingLibyan rebels worry about mountingoddsPHOTOS: Conflict and chaos in LibyaGRAPHIC: Middle East and North

Africa in turmoilGet the latest World news.So far, State and Treasury department officials have identified only a smallfraction of the vast Libyan holdings estimated by some officials to be as littleas a few hundred million dollars that can be quickly freed, according tocurrent and former officials familiar with the talks.

The administration is studying a variety of options to work around the obstacles.One, which could be put in place in weeks, would allow the frozen funds to beused as collateral for loans made to the rebels by other countries, such as PersianGulf oil states, officials say.

Our goal is to get more funds flowing to the TNC as quickly as possible, said asenior administration official, speaking Saturday on the condition of anonymityto discuss internal deliberations. We always understood there were going tohave to be additional steps beyond recognition. But recognition was a necessaryfirst step.

The difficulties over releasing the money are the latest in a series of frustrationsfor the rebel group, which had hoped diplomatic recognition would free upbillions of dollars in assets that had belonged to Moammar Gaddafis

government. TNC officials say they need the money to keep the transitionalgovernment afloat and press their five-month-long fight.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced July 15 that the UnitedStates would recognize the TNC as Libyas government, following months oflegal wrangling over whether Washington could grant recognition to a groupthat does not control large swaths of the country.

One obstacle to releasing the money is that much of it was seized under legallybinding sanctions imposed against the Gaddafi government by the U.N. SecurityCouncil. Unfreezing such accounts would require a consensus vote of the U.N.sanctions committee, according to one senior European diplomat, who spoke onthe condition of anonymity.

That presents two risks for the Obama administration: The committee includescountries that are skeptical of NATOs military campaign in Libya, such asRussia and China.


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In addition, said the senior official, You dont want to set a precedent thatcompromises other sanctions regimes, such as those against Iran.

Although the rebels hailed Clintons announcement, the opposition group is stillwaiting to see many of the benefits. On Friday, the TNCs representative in

Washington was waiting for word on when he could move into the emptyLibyan Embassy.

The representative, Ali Aujali, met with State Department officials this past weekto implore them to unfreeze some of the assets. The money is really needed inLibya, badly needed, he said. I think the Americans recognize this is veryimportant. He said the U.S. diplomatic recognition will help many othercountries to change their position on providing money to the TNC.

Officials with the transitional council have said they are not seeking the

immediate handover of all $34 billion in frozen assets. But Aujali said at least $4billion was needed.

The TNC signed a contract in May with the lobbying powerhouse Patton Boggsto help it win U.S. diplomatic recognition and gain access to the frozen funds.The contract allowed fees of up to $50,000 a month but also stipulated that PattonBoggs would not seek payment until the council was on sound financial footing.

U.S. and Libyan officials say there are a host of other complications in turningover the frozen assets to the rebels. Libyas financial holdings are widely

dispersed among financial institutions, some of which are subject to the laws offoreign governments.

And bankers will probably move cautiously because of the fear of lawsuits.

All these institutions want assurances that theyll be protected, said a secondU.S. government official, who also insisted on anonymity to describe internaldiscussions. This is something that is going to take some time.

The Obama administration is considering issuing a license that would allowAmerican banks in the United States and Britain to turn over billions of dollars infrozen assets. But that may require going through the U.N. sanctions committee,the U.S. official said.

The question of recognizing the Libyan rebels was vigorously debated byadministration lawyers, but in the end, all the principals agreed on the policy,with Clinton strongly supporting recognition of the rebels, officials said.


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But other experts note a long tradition by U.S. governments of using diplomaticrecognition as a policy instrument.

Lawyers will always come up with elaborate arguments, said Philip Zelikow, aformer counselor to the State Department. The important questions are: What

are the facts on the ground, and what is it that you want to achieve.

The administration should have granted recognition months ago, Zelikow said.Back then, it might have been a decisive factor, he said. It could have knockedthe wind out of Gaddafis sails.----------------------Amid war, life goes on in Libyan capital (AP)By PAUL SCHEMMJuly 23, 2011TRIPOLI, Libya In Libya's east, rebels surround a key oil city, while in the

western mountains they mass for a final push on the capital. In Tripoli,meanwhile, Ahmed Ayyat has more wedding invitations than he knows what todo with.

For this 35-year-old purveyor of the fine brocade cloth used in traditional Libyanwedding dresses, the five-month rebellion has meant more weddings than everand daily invitations to celebrations he can't possibly all attend.

"The number of people going to weddings is even more than before," said Ayyat,sitting in his air-conditioned shop in a covered market in Tripoli's old city.

"Before it was more routine, most didn't attend but now people want more of aconnection with each other, they want to be closer."

While rebels may be no more than 60 miles away and opposition to MoammarGadhafi seethes in shadows of the capital, Tripoli does not have a feeling of cityunder siege, as its 1 million residents adapt and carry on getting married, goingshopping and strolling by the sea.

Tripoli has certainly not been untouched by the revolt that erupted againstMoammar Gadhafi's rule in February, and the ensuing U.N. sanctions, NATOairstrikes and rebel rule over half the country.

Long lines of cars stretch from gasoline stations and food prices skyrocketed at least until a new round of subsidies was declared.

Trash is strewn around the streets as garbage collection, once the province offoreign workers who have all fled, appears to be on hiatus. Many stores and


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restaurants are shuttered. Massive construction projects for new malls andhousing projects sit abandoned at the city's edge.

Posters around the city promise high wages, a free car and an apartment forthose who sign up for six months in the 32nd Brigade, led by Gadhafi's son

Khamis.

But cars still snarl downtown at rush hour and crowds push through the narrowwinding streets of the old city beneath the flaking paint of gorgeous oldItalianate buildings from the days when Benito Mussolini called Libya part of hisempire.

Ali bin Atiq, 32, fanning himself in the blazing noon heat next to his crampedstore filled with ladies' purses and luggage, said business actually isn't bad at all.

"Now it's wedding season and everyone wants to buy bags," he said, frombehind his mirrored sunglasses. "Libyans, when they marry, the wife needs tobuy lots of bags to take her things to the new house."

His problem is that his stock comes from China and he's got no new bags comingin. He guessed his current supply could last six more months.

"I hope we don't get to that point, I'm relying on God," he added.

Many of the merchants in the old market worry about replenishing their wares,

whether it was dresses from Tunisia or ladies' garments from China.

The only thing they don't seem concerned about is reports of impending rebelassaults on the capital at least not openly to a foreign journalist.

"Gasoline is really a much bigger worry than the rebels," Mohammed Abdel-Karim, a 38-year-old oil company employee, said while waiting in a long line forthe cash machine at a bank near the city's central Green Square. "I don't thinkvery many could make it through to here."

There has been some effort to regulate the onerous lines at the gas stations byissuing cards to car owners that specify which day of the week they may get gas.

Abdel-Karim said it still takes most of the day to fill a tank, but it's better thanbefore, as are the checkpoints riddling the city.

"The checkpoints were very aggressive before, but now they are more polite," hesaid. "There's a lot less tension over the last two months."


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It is difficult to gauge how active anti-Gadhafi forces are inside the city, thoughrebels have posted reports online of symbolic acts of resistance like releasingballoons in the colors of the rebel flag and even attacks.

On Thursday in broad daylight, rebels reported they fired several rocket-propelled grenades near a downtown hotel in an attempt to kill top governmentofficials, injuring some. It represents one of the boldest rebel moves in Tripolisince the start of the uprising.

Government officials denied the attack took place, saying it was just anexploding canister of cooking gas turned into a propaganda by rebels.

What everyone would admit, though, is how Tripoli's nightlife has beencurtailed. Shops close earlier as fewer people make nighttime trips whether

because of lack of gasoline or because of the irritation of checkpoints.

Gunshots can often be heard echoing through the early hours, but it is impossibleto tell whether it is the celebratory shooting so prized by government supportersor actual combat.

Even weddings, which dominate the summer social scene, are closing down at 10p.m. rather than going on until 2 a.m. as they once did, said Ayyat.

The heavyset bald man, with a neatly trimmed goatee, talked about how once

weddings lasted for a whole week but are now being trimmed down to just a dayor two.

Another effect of the troubles, as Ayyat calls them, is that weddings are easier tohold because the lengthy prenuptial negotiations for dowries and bride giftshave been simplified.

That may be why the number of weddings seems to be up, high even for thesummer season, he suggested. "Before people used to lay down a lot ofconditions for the wedding on each family, but now it's much less," he said."People now care more about each other, rather than the money."

If weddings fill Tripoli's summer nights, escape from days' heat comes from thelong sandy beaches stretching along the highways leading out of town.

Not far from the eastern suburb of Tajoura, where NATO bombed a militarysupply facility last Sunday, families cram the beach and children dive into thecrashing waves.


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Families picnic in the small tent-like cabanas or at plastic tables. Some even bringsmall barbecues and grill up meat, as the sun sets into the wild sea.

"All Libyans have changed the way they live their lives, we will endure the

shortages in food and gas because the country is at war," said Nasser Ali, a 44-year-old trader in car parts.

Around his feet play his six children, who couldn't stand being cooped up in thehouse. It's not so much the lack of food and clothing for his children that bothershim but the nightly sounds of NATO's bombing, which frightens them.

"That's why I take them to the beach, so they can have some fun," he said.---------------------Somalia Urges International Intervention in Fight Against Famine, Drought

(VOA)By Peter ClotteyJuly 24, 2011Somalis displaced by drought wait to receive food in their makeshift camp inMogadishu, July 23, 2011.An official of Somalias Transitional FederalGovernment (TFG) is calling for international intervention to help hisadministration combat drought and famine, which has forced thousands ofSomalis to flee to neighboring countries.

Last week, the president of Somalia and the United Nations declared that famine

has struck two regions: Bakool and Lower Shabelle.

Government spokesman Omar Osman also accused the hard-line Islamicinsurgent group, al-Shabab, of thwarting humanitarian relief efforts.

The situation is very grave [and] for us, our action is very limited due to theextreme nature of the drought, said Omar. We have seen an influx of refugeesor internally displaced people fleeing from regions controlled by al-Shababmoving to government controlled areas.

Described by Washington as a terrorist group with links to al-Qaida, al-Shababmilitants control much of southern and central Somalia, while the governmentcontrols only parts of the capital, Mogadishu.

Omar said the TFG is working closely with international humanitarian groups tohelp mitigate the effect of the drought, despite its meager resources.


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Our government has done a lot by mobilizing the resources that it has bybringing in more international aid agencies to Mogadishu and also appealing tothe international community [for help, with] the prime minister personallytaking the initiative, said Omar.

Last week, the U.N. Refugee Agency said the death rate of starving Somalisreaching refugees camps in Ethiopia and Kenya is climbing, and the exodus ofSomalis is continuing at a high rate.

But al-Shabab accused the U.N. of using the famine as a propaganda tool forpolitical gains. The al Qaeda-linked insurgent group then vowed not to allow aidgroups it has banned from operating in famine-stricken areas it controls.

Omar said there are reasons to believe that al-Shabab is purposely starvingcitizens in the areas the militants control as part of its agenda, which he said is to

overthrow the internationally-backed government.

The extremists are literally and deliberately starving the people to death, andthats what we do not want. So, we need to [make] every effort to make sure thatpeople are safe, said Omar. The root cause of the famine is the insurgency andthe extremists. Its very difficult to deal with. They are not allowing aid agenciesto go to through.

He adds that the TFG will continue its efforts to combat the effects of thedrought.

Relief workers say the Horn of Africa is experiencing the worst drought in sixdecades. The U.N. has said more than 11 million people are in need of food aid.----------------------Aid Groups Criticize US Response to East Africa Drought (VOA)By Nico ColombantJuly 23, 2011A woman carrying her baby queues for food in a camp established by the SomaliTransitional Federal Government for the internally displaced people inMogadishu..While the U.S. government has increased its aid to help thoseaffected by the devastating drought in the Horn of Africa, aid groups havecriticized the slow response, as well as anti-terrorist laws which they say areimpeding help to victims in the worst affected areas of Somalia.

Aid agencies have criticized the United States and other Western governmentsfor failing to respond quickly enough to the more than 10 million people in needin drought-ravaged areas of the Horn of Africa. The worsening drought, which


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forecasters have warned about for months, is being described as the worst in theregion in six decades.

An official for the British-based aid agency Oxfam said there has been abreakdown of the world's collective responsibility to act. Other aid activists have

said that like for other hunger situations in Africa in recent years, substantialhelp is starting to arrive only after the disaster reaches a catastrophic scale.

Sarah Margon, with the U.S. group Center for American Progress, says majorresponses seem to have been triggered by a United Nations declaration that tworegions in Somalia are now in a state of famine. "As the numbers come out, theword famine really starts to move people and it starts to peak the interest of theinternational community and the average citizen in a way that a humanitariancrisis unfortunately does not always get people active and engaged," she said.

The U.S. government announced it would give an additional $28 million in aid toSomalis, to help them both inside Somalia and in refugee camps in Kenya,bringing its aid total this year in food and emergency assistance in the Horn ofAfrica to $431 million.

But Jeremy Konyndyk, with the U.S.-based group Mercy Corps, says he wouldstill like to see outside donor contributions go up. "While in absolute terms theyare quite large, they are still not enough relative to the need and even they areconsiderably less than they were even if you go back to three years ago, whenthere was a lesser crisis in the Horn," he said.

Aid activists also say-long term aid efforts, including agricultural ones such asthe current U.S. Feed the Future initiative, which are often touted as solutions toend hunger around the world, often get burdened in bureaucracy and lack thenecessary follow through and resources to be effective.

Speaking recently, the U.S. Agency for International Development administrator,Raj Shah, said the focus was now once again on the short term. "The effort tobring agricultural development to a standard where we can eliminate foodinsecurity is a longer-term effort and we know that in the short term and in timesof crises and calamity our ability to get food and nutrition to those who arevulnerable is going to be our first line of defense. We have seen this time andtime again," he said.

On a recent visit to a Somali refugee camp in Kenya, the U.S. official blamed theal-Qaida linked Islamic insurgents al-Shabab for causing the worst effects of thedrought. "A big part of why we have a famine in very specific parts of Somaliatoday is because of al-Shabab and ineffective governance in Somalia and a lack of


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humanitarian access in precisely those parts. It is no accident that the specificgeographies that have been declared by the international community as anofficial famine are those areas where humanitarian actors from all parts of theworld simply have not been allowed to have access to the population," he said.

Leaders of al-Shabab have said the declaration of famine in areas under theircontrol is false propaganda meant to cause the displacement of populations.

An al-Shabab spokesman said the militants will only allow increased aid fromforeign agencies currently working in its strongholds, not from organizations ithas banned since 2009. But he did not specify which organizations. The Somaligovernment has condemned the al-Shabab policy.

Aid activists say U.S. laws preventing government money from being spent onprojects which could materially benefit a listed terrorist organization such as al-

Shabab have also undermined the longer-term humanitarian response to thecurrent two-year drought.

While the Treasury rules took effect in 2009, U.S. aid to Somalia, at $237 millionin 2008, dropped to $99 million in 2009 and to $28 million in 2010.

U.S. based Horn of Africa expert J. Peter Pham says al-Shabab is not a monolithicorganization and that there should be a loosening of the rules to be able to dealwith some of the less radical militias. "I think the sanctions have a kind of a self-censoring incentive on aid organizations. So as a result aid is not flowing to

where the people are. They are flowing to certain centers and people have towalk sometimes days to get there and not everyone unfortunately makes it," hesaid.

Aid activists have called for the issue to be taken up at the U.N. Security Councilso that the urgent need to save lives in al-Shabab controlled areas becomes amain priority. A number of aid organizations have expressed safety concernsabout working in areas the militants control.

U.S. officials have said they have had no contact with al-Shabab. AssistantSecretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson has also stressed the U.S.government will not allow food that is intended for victims to be siphoned off byan international terrorist group.-------------------Aid reaches drought-ravaged Somalia (AFP)By Unattributed AuthorJuly 24, 2011


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NAIROBI The International Red Cross said it had handed out 400 tonnes offood in drought-hit parts of rebel-held southern Somalia as the UN prepares tohost emergency talks on the crisis in the region.

"The distribution look place in the Bardera district and passed without incident,

with the knowledge of the authorities and the recipients," ICRC spokesman YvesVan Loo told AFP in Nairobi.

It is the first ICRC-led food drop direct to locals in Shebab-controlled zones since2009, he said, adding that further food drops will take place in the coming days.

Gedo province lies next to southern Bakool and Lower Shabelle, the two areasthe United Nations declared this week as the worst hit by famine.

UN officials say that over the past few months, tens of thousands of people have

already been killed by the worst drought in 60 years.

International aid agencies are scrambling to find ways to deliver food supplies tothose living in the epicentre, parts of Somalia controlled by the Al Qaeda-inspired Islamist group Shebab.

The ICRC said it had distributed 400 tonnes of food supplies, including oil, riceand beans, to about 4,000 families or about 24,000 people in Gedo province onSaturday.

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon has called on donor countries to come upwith $1.6 billion (1.1 billion euros) in aid for the two regions.

Bob Geldof and other celebrities joined activists in urging the internationalcommunity to come up with more aid relief for famine victims, in a letterpublished Monday ahead of the meeting.

He and other celebrities, such as actress Kristin Scott Thomas and directorRichard Curtis, attacked countries such as France, Italy, the Arab States andGermany.

They accused them of having "so far given miniscule amounts of money toprevent people dying from hunger."

On Monday, the UN food agency the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)will host emergency talks on the crisis in Rome.


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"This is an emergency ministerial meeting that is prompted by the escalation ofthe famine," said Cristina Amaral, head of emergency operations in Africa for theFAO.

"We're afraid that things will get worse in the coming months if nothing is done

now."

Among those expected to attend are ministers from Djibouti, South Sudan,Sudan and Uganda, the head of the World Food Programme Josette Sheeran andOxfam chief executive Barbara Stocking.

The World Food programme was forced to leave southern Somalia last yearfollowing a series of curbs and threats from the Shebab.

The militants this month said foreign aid groups could return to the area but on

Friday a Shebab spokesman said the ban was still in place.

The Shebab, designated a terrorist group by the United States, have waged abloody campaign to overthrow the country's Western-backed government.

But EU aid commissioner Kristalina Georgieva said Sunday she was hopefulthat, with the help of local communities, humanitarian assistance would still getthrough.

"In Somalia, there are places where local communities are welcoming

humanitarian aid," the commissioner said.

"Even in areas of the Shebab at the end of the day it is the local people who cansay enough is enough," she added.

On Saturday she visited Dadaab, the world's largest refugee complex, across theborder in Kenya.

"I was here to announce major new funding for the Horn of Africa crisis," shewrote in her blog at the European Commission website.

"Within a few weeks from now I fervently hope that the European Commission?scontribution this year will have leapt to 160 million euros."

"I was humbled by the indomitable spirit of these fugitives from famine," sheadded.


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"I met a visibly exhausted young couple who had walked for days with theireight children -- the youngest just three months old...," who were now getting thehelp they needed, she wrote.

"They were just one family among 20,000 gathered on the outskirts of the camp,"

she added.

Refugees from Somalia continue to stream daily into the camp in eastern Kenya,a vast and overcrowded complex sheltering some 380,000 people.

Experts say the effects of two failed rainy seasons in the region have beenexacerbated by the rapid rise in the costs of fuel and food.

These factors, together with the conflict in Somalia, have forced hundreds ofthousands of people to flee their homes.

Long-term solutions for the crisis -- such as assistance to livestock farmers andthe introduction of more drought-resistant crops -- are also set to be discussed atMonday's meeting in Rome.------------------Italian tanker Anema e Core seized by pirates off Benin (BBC)By Unattributed AuthorJuly 24, 2011Pirates have hijacked an Italian diesel tanker off Benin in western Africa in anattack of the kind more usually associated with Somalia.

Assailants boarded the RBD Anema e Core early on Sunday in the Gulf ofGuinea, officials in Benin and Italy confirmed.

Two of the 23 crew are Italians, the others Filipinos and a Romanian.

Benin's navy said it was following the hijacked ship while Italy's foreign ministryliaised with its owner in Naples.

Three pirates managed to board the ship 23 nautical miles (43km) south ofCotonou, the economic capital of Benin, Italian media said.

"Everything is being done to trace the pirates as quickly as possible," MaximeAhoyo, commander of Benin's navy, told reporters in Cotonou.

The Gulf of Guinea has become increasingly important for its potential energyreserves which have attracted international interests, BBC West Africacorrespondent Thomas Fessy reports from Dakar.


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The US, for example, hopes to import about a quarter of its oil supplies from theregion by 2015.

West African coast guards have been receiving US training to combat growing

maritime insecurity.

Most recent attacks on shipping around Africa have been off its east coast, whereSomali pirates have ranged deep into the Indian Ocean, but the danger in thewest was already identified several years ago.------------------South Sudan Rebel Leader Killed (VOA)By Unattributed AuthorJuly 23, 2011A South Sudan rebel leader was killed Saturday just days after agreeing to a

cease-fire in the region.

The South Sudan army and a rebel source in Unity state say Gatluak Gai wasshot dead.

Gai signed a cease-fire agreement with the new South Sudan government lastweek.

There are conflicting reports on who is responsible for his death, ranging fromGai being shot by his own men, to being killed by South Sudan's army (SPLA).

Gai headed one of several militias in what recently became the world's newestcountry, South Sudan.

In a call for peace, South Sudan President Salva Kiir announced an amnesty formilitias that have fought the South Sudanese government in recent months.

Southern Sudan voted overwhelmingly to split from the north in a Januaryreferendum. The vote stemmed from the 2005 peace deal that ended theSudanese civil war.---------------------UN News Service Africa BriefsFull Articles on UN Website

UN-backed Cameroon-Nigeria border commission presses for swift resolution

24 July The United Nations-backed commission set up to help Cameroon andNigeria resolve their border dispute has called for swift agreement to resolve theremaining border areas that have not yet been fully demarcated.


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Sudan: UN relief chief sounds alarm over dwindling aid stocks in SouthernKordofan

24 July The United Nations humanitarian chief today voiced concern at thedwindling stocks of aid for people caught up in the recent fighting engulfing

Sudan's region of Southern Kordofan, warning the consequences will be graveunless aid workers are allowed in to replenish supplies.

UN humanitarian fund gives millions for food aid across Horn of Africa

23 July The United Nations-managed humanitarian fund has allocated morethan $51 million to deliver food aid to thousands of needy people across theHorn of Africa, which has been ravaged by a drought so severe that parts ofsouthern Somalia are now experiencing famine.

Two UN-AU peacekeepers injured after ambush in Darfur

23 July Two peacekeepers serving with the joint United Nations-African Unionforce in Darfur (UNAMID) have been injured after they were ambushedyesterday by unidentified gunmen in the west of the troubled Sudanese region.

UN experts alarmed over atrocities in Sudans Southern Kordofan region22 July United Nations human rights experts today expressed alarm overreports of mass killings in the Southern Kordofan region of Sudan, appealed foran immediate cessation of the violence and called for an urgent investigation.

AFRICOM Related Newsclips 25 July11

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