AFRICOM Related Newsclips 28 June11

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United States Africa CommandPublic Affairs Office28 June 2011

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

Court Issues Gadhafi Warrant (WSJ)(Libya) The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Col.Moammar Gadhafi, his son and Libya's intelligence director for crimes againsthumanity, triggering jubilation in rebel territory and formally marking theLibyan leader as an outlaw.

Arrest warrant for Kadafi may complicate Libya conflict(LA Times)(Libya) The international arrest warrant for crimes against humanity issuedagainst Moammar Kadafi and members of his family has further isolated theLibyan leader, but may also increase his determination to fight on rather thanrelinquish power or seek sanctuary outside the country.

Libya Dismisses International Court Warrants for Gadhafi, 2 Top Aides (VOA)(Libya) Libya has dismissed arrest warrants issued by the International CriminalCourt for leader Moammar Gadhafi and two top lieutenants on war crimescharges linked to their suppression of an opposition uprising.

Timing Is Questioned in Seeking House Vote on U.S. Role in Libya (NYT)(Libya) The overwhelming vote in the House on Friday against approvingAmerican participation in the NATO action in Libya raised a question inWashington: Why did President Obama not press harder for a vote authorizingthe operation months ago when the intervention was more popular?

African Union Takes Issue With US Role In Libya (NPR)(Libya) The International Criminal Court is issuing an arrest warrant for Libyanleader Moammar Gadhafi, who's still holding onto power despite anti-

government protests and NATO's bombing campaign that surpasses 100 days.African nations are among the strongest critics of the NATO campaign and its USsupport. Guest host Tony Cox finds out why from Mwangi Kimenyi, director ofthe Africa Growth Initiative at the Brookings Institution.

U.S. welcomes UN resolution authorizing peacekeepers to Abyei (Xinhua)


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(Sudan) The United States on Monday welcomed the swift passage of a UNSecurity Council resolution authorizing the deployment of 4,200 Ethiopianpeacekeepers to the volatile Abyei region of Sudan, but expressed deep concernabout the ongoing crisis in neighboring South Kordofan state.

25 Killed in Another Bomb Attack in Maiduguri (This Day)(Nigeria) Suspected Islamic fundamentalist sect, Boko Haram, again carried outanother bomb attack on some beer gardens in Maiduguri, Borno State Sundayleading to the death of 25 persons and wounding 12 others.

How Fazul Met His Death (Nairobi Star)(Somalia) Details have emerged about how the man who masterminded theAugust 7, 1998 Nairobi bomb blast Fazul Abdullah Mohammed was killed bySomali government forces.

UN News Service Africa BriefsFull Articles on UN Website

y United Nations envoy in Africa calls for mobilization of youth fordevelopment

y Returning Ivorians lack food, shelter and medical care, UN aid agenciessay

y Security Council sets up UN security force for disputedSudanese town ofAbyei

y Darfur: UN-backed conference on water resource management opens-------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: From 8:30am on July 29th to 4:00pm on July 31st; OmniShoreham Hotel, 2500 Clavert Street NW, Washington, DC 20008WHAT: 2011 World Congress of the Society for International Development(SID)WHO: Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank; Prime Minister RailaOdinga, Kenya; President Joaquim Chissano, the former President ofMozambiqueTOPICS: Economic Progress, Human Development, Global Health, Governanceand Citizenship, Science and Technology, and Gender EqualityInfo:http://www.interaction.org/event/2011-world-congress-society-international-development-sid

WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, June 30th from 3:00pm to 4:30pm; The BrookingsInstitutionWHAT: Corruption, Impunity and Inequality: Emerging Discontent andVolatility in Africa


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WHO: John Githongo, Britains Independent Commissioner for AidInfo: http://www.brookings.edu/events.aspx----------------------------------------------------------------------------------FULL ARTICLE TEXT

Court Issues Gadhafi Warrant (WSJ)By JOHN W. MILLERJune 27, 2011Brussels and Mistrata, Libya - The International Criminal Court issued arrestwarrants for Col. Moammar Gadhafi, his son and Libya's intelligence director forcrimes against humanity, triggering jubilation in rebel territory and formallymarking the Libyan leader as an outlaw.

The ICC judges charged the three men with "murder" and "persecution" afterprosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, ordered by the United Nations in February to

investigate, presented the court with evidence that Col. Gadhafi had, with hisson Saif al-Islam Gadhafi and Intelligence Director Abdellah al-Senussi,personally coordinated attacks on Libyan civilians.

The warrants guarantee that Col. Gadhafi won't take part in any power-sharingarrangement in the future, analysts and diplomats said.

The Hague-based ICC was set up after the 1990s Balkan wars to punish warcrimes, especially in developing countries with weak legal systems. Its 114signatories, which don't include some major powers, such as the U.S. and China,

depend on each other to carry out arrest warrants.

Such warrants don't always lead to arrest. Serbia only recently turned over RatkoMladic for alleged crimes during the Balkan wars, on a warrant issued in 1996 bythe International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, a similar butseparate body to the ICC.

"The Mladic case shows that these things don't go away," said Anthony Dworkin,a senior fellow at the European Council for Foreign Relations. "It confirms thatGadhafi is an outlaw figure and won't be part of any settlement."

On Monday, three ICC judges concluded that Libyan security forces "carried outthroughout Libyaand in particular in Tripoli, Misrata and Benghazi as well asin cities near Benghazi such as al-Bayda, Derna, Tobruk and Ajdabiyaan attackagainst the civilian population taking part in demonstrations against Gadhafi'sregime or those perceived to be dissidents, killing and injuring as well asarresting and imprisoning hundreds of civilians."


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North Atlantic Treaty Organization officials applauded the warrants but saidtheir forces wouldn't arrest Col. Gadhafi because that isn't part of theorganization's mandate and NATO doesn't have troops on the ground.

The decision "reinforces the reason for NATO's mission to protect the Libyan

people from Gadhafi's forces," said alliance Secretary General Anders FoghRasmussen. "NATO is more determined than ever to keep up the pressure untilall attacks on civilians have ended."

The White House said the decision was another indication that the Libyan leaderhad lost his legitimacy.

Libyan officials in Tripoli rejected the move, calling the ICC an illegitimate body.

Some members of the international community criticized the U.N.'s referral of

Libya to the ICC, saying it would encourage Col. Gadhafi to fight for as long aspossible rather than turn over power and risk arrest.

News of the arrest warrants triggered displays of jubilation in rebel-controlledareas. In the rebel capital of Benghazi in eastern Libya, thousands of people tookto the streets to celebrate. Chants of "judgment day" reverberated through thecity.

The leader of the rebels' governing body, the National Transitional Council,Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, called on Gadhafi associates to abandon him or face the

consequences. Mr. Abdel-Jalil also said any diplomatic solution to the conflictnow hinged on Col. Gadhafi's arrest. "There are laws that guarantee theprosecution of anyone who aids a wanted man to escape," he said.

In the western coastal city of Misrata, rebel fighters roamed the streets in pickuptrucks for hours, firing celebratory gunfire into the air.

Children flashed victory signs from car windows and sunroofs, and waved therebels' red, black and green banner and flags of countries taking part in thecampaign against Col. Gadhafi, including France, Italy and Qatar.

People gathered for a rally at a square in the city center that served as a taxiterminal before the uprising in February and has since been renamed "FreedomSquare."

Battle-scarred buildings nearby bore testimony to weeks of close-quartersfighting earlier this year between rebels and the regime's forces.


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Aisha Omar, 42 years old, was tearful at the news. Ms. Omar lost her pregnantsister and three nieces on March 25 when they were blasted by an artillery shellfired at the entrance of their apartment building. "I am crying not only for mysister, but for all the crimes committed by this regime," she said.

Residents in Misrata accuse Col. Gadhafi's forces and pro-regime fighters ofcommitting atrocities that include rape, indiscriminate shelling of residentialneighborhoods and kidnapping of rebel sympathizers and their families.

Misrata has been under siege by Col. Gadhafi's forces since early March. Salha al-Keesh, who has a 16-year-old son fighting with the rebels in the farmland area ofDafniya west of Misrata, worried that the arrest warrants could trigger a violentbacklash from Col. Gadhafi. She said Western powers should send commandoteams to arrest the Libyan leader.

"He's like a wounded wolf," Ms. Keesh said.

Col. Gadhafi has amassed soldiers as well as loyalists and their families aroundMisrata to keep rebels hemmed in and complicate NATO's task. The strategy alsohas been employed around the other rebel-controlled enclaves in the mountainssouthwest of the capital, Tripoli, and the eastern front near the rebel strongholdof Benghazi.

Regime-controlled TV channels ignored news of the warrants and broadcastsongs and programs glorifying Col. Gadhafi and vilifying the rebels and their

Western allies.

The warrants arrived as international bodies and various countries made plansfor a post-Gadhafi Libya. On Tuesday, the U.K. will announce the findings by agroup from several Western countries that looked at how the internationalcommunity can help with security, infrastructure, oil exports and other mattersonce Col. Gadhafi has gone.

The report, by the International Stabilization Response Team, won't addressplanning for the deployment of an international peacekeeping force, according topeople familiar with the matter. Some U.S. officials have said they don't think theinternational community has prepared to deploy forces needed to secure criticalinfrastructure and maintain law and order.

The U.S. has said it won't provide troops, and British officials have ruled out theuse of U.K. forces. Some countries have called for deployment of African Unionpeacekeepers.-----------------------


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Arrest warrant for Kadafi may complicate Libya conflict (LA Times)By Henry ChuJune 28, 2011London - The international arrest warrant for crimes against humanity issuedagainst Moammar Kadafi and members of his family has further isolated the

Libyan leader, but may also increase his determination to fight on rather thanrelinquish power or seek sanctuary outside the country.

With the military standoff between NATO-led and pro-Kadafi forces surpassing100 days, the International Criminal Court in The Hague on Monday namedKadafi, his son and brother-in-law as wanted men. The court alleged that theleaders ordered or encouraged their forces to gun down and imprison hundredsof Libyan civilians in the early days of the antigovernment uprising that brokeout in February.

The warrants will be difficult to enforce. The 69-year-old Kadafi's precisewhereabouts are unknown except to his inner circle. NATO countries haveshown no desire to add ground troops to the fight. And although rebel forceswelcomed the indictments, their ability to capture the heavily defended capital,Tripoli, remains a tall order.

"It has symbolic significance," said Shashank Joshi, an expert at the Royal UnitedServices Institute, a London-based think tank. Kadafi has little motivation now tosurrender, he said, and the options of whether to fight on or give in "are the sameas they were yesterday."

But as a specter hanging over Kadafi, the warrant could complicate any attemptsat a diplomatic resolution to the conflict. If the longtime leader were ever toentertain the notion of stepping aside and slipping into exile, a deal would haveto address his likely insistence on being shielded from arrest.

"It makes it a little more difficult but not impossible," Joshi said. "We shouldn'tgo overboard and say this excludes any political settlement, any kind of exile.But it does raise the costs Kadafi has to consider."

Kadafi may also take comfort from the fate of Sudanese President Omar HassanAhmed Bashir, the only other head of state to be wanted by the InternationalCriminal Court. Bashir's warrant was issued more than two years ago, but heremains free and has traveled without impediment to other African countries,some of which are among the scores of nations that are not signatories of theICC.


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Kadafi enjoys support from a few African countries that have benefited from hislargess and could seek haven in one of those.

Despite questions about whether the arrest warrants make it harder to dislodgeKadafi, the U.S. State Department's chief spokeswoman defended the move.

"The U.S. believes that the decision to refer the case to the ICC was the rightdecision, that the ICC has spoken now about the need for justice andaccountability," Victoria Nuland told reporters in Washington. "With regard towhether this hurts or helps, it doesn't change the fact that Kadafi has got to takethe message that it's time to go."

The U.S. is among the nations that have not signed on to the court, saying thatAmerican soldiers deployed overseas could be vulnerable to politicallymotivated prosecution.

The Libyan government poured scorn on the warrant before it was even issued.In anticipation of the order, spokesman Musa Ibrahim told reporters Sunday thatTripoli did not recognize the authority of the International Criminal Court.

"The ICC has no legitimacy whatsoever," Ibrahim said. "We will deal with it."

But in the rebel-held western mountains, opposition fighters and their supporterscheered and fired their AK-47s in celebration at the news.

"He deserves more than being taken to jail," said Mohammad Adel, a 21-year-oldengineering student in the city of Zintan. "He deserves to be treated like SaddamHussein. He deserves to be hanged."

The 43-page warrant cited numerous incidents from the first two weeks of therebel uprising in which loyalist forces allegedly mowed down protesters withgunfire, threw some dissidents in jail and tortured others by administeringelectric shocks to their genitals or hanging victims upside down and whippingthem.

Kadafi was responsible for the brutal suppression as Libya's supreme leader, hisson Seif Islam Kadafi as its "de facto prime minister" and his brother-in-lawAbdullah Sanoussi as its chief of military intelligence, the court said.

In an attack Feb. 21, the warrant said, government snipers opened fire outsidemosques in Tripoli, killing at least 100 people. In the eastern city of Benghazi,which eventually fell to the rebels, Kadafi's forces allegedly beat protesters withclubs and swords and sprayed them with acid.


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Kadafi wielded "absolute, ultimate and unquestioned control over the Libyanstate apparatus of power," the court said, identifying Seif Islam and Sanoussi astwo of his closest confidants.

The warrant also accused the three men of trying to cover up the security forces'actions by threatening journalists and even ordering dead bodies removed fromhospitals.

ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo submitted a request for the arrest warrantslast month, and their issuance Monday was no surprise. Still, they werewelcomed by NATO powers as further proof of Kadafi's increasing isolation.

They also more closely link Kadafi's fate to the outcome of a mission authorizedby the U.N. Security Council as a humanitarian intervention to protect civilians.

"The fact is we turned up the pressure on Kadafi," British Prime Minister DavidCameron told Parliament. "We should keep that pressure up, because thepressure is beginning to tell."

On Monday, North Atlantic Treaty Organization warplanes continued theirassault on Libyan security forces, with two loud explosions reported nearKadafi's compound in Tripoli. The Libyan government said NATO missiles hitthe leader's personal bus in the compound and injured two people slightly, theAssociated Press reported.

Fighting has also intensified in western Libya as anti-Kadafi forces try to close inon Tripoli from the west and the rebel-held east. A fierce aerial assault by NATOjets is backing the effort.

A senior United Nations official said Monday that the rebels seemed to beturning the tide against the government.

"It is clear that the initiative, although halting, is now with the opposition forces,supported at times by NATO airpower," B. Lynn Pascoe, the undersecretary-general for political affairs, told the U.N. Security Council.

He added that diplomatic efforts were continuing.-------------------------Libya Dismisses International Court Warrants for Gadhafi, 2 Top Aides (VOA)By Unattributed AuthorJune 27, 2011


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Libya has dismissed arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Courtfor leader Moammar Gadhafi and two top lieutenants on war crimes chargeslinked to their suppression of an opposition uprising.

Justice Minister Mohammad al-Gamudi said Monday that Libya does not accept

the legitimacy of the court.

The ICC issued the warrants earlier Monday against Gadhafi, his son Seif al-Islam and the head of Libyan intelligence, Abdullah al-Senussi.

The ICC indictment accuses Gadhafi and his aides of deterring protestersthrough the use of detention, torture and lethal force, such as ordering snipers tofire on civilians leaving mosques.

The judges' statement said there are reasonable grounds to believe the three were

"criminally responsible" for the murder and persecution of hundreds of civiliansduring peaceful protests in February.

The judge said Mr. Gadhafi - who has ruled for 42 years - had "absolute, ultimateand unquestioned control" over the state. They described Seif al-Islam as themost influential person in an inner circle that established a state policy aimed atquelling civilian protests "by any means."

The head of the rebel Transitional National Council welcomed the ICC move andwarned that anyone who tries to hide Gadhafi also will face justice.

In Washington, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the warrants areanother indication Gadhafi "has lost his legitimacy." He said the Libyan leadermust be held accountable.

Britain, France and Italy all praised the warrants.

The court said the three indicted Libyans must be arrested quickly to stop themfrom covering-up their alleged crimes and committing new ones.

Gadhafi is the second sitting head of state to have an ICC arrest warrant issuedagainst him. One was previously issued for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir,but has yet to be served.

A NATO campaign of air strikes on Libyan government targets entered its 100thday Monday. Witnesses reported hearing two loud explosions in the Libyancapital, Tripoli, with smoke rising from the area near Mr. Gadhafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound.


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The alliance says it has been acting under a U.N. Security Council resolutioncalling for action to protect Libyan civilians from government attack.

Also Monday, Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird made an unannounced trip

to the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi, saying he wants to see how wellprepared opposition leaders are to run the country if they defeat Mr. Gadhafi'sgovernment.

Tunisia's state news agency said Monday three Libyan government ministers,including Foreign Minister Abdelati Obeidi, were holding talks with "severalforeign parties" on the Tunisian island of Djerba. It did not give further details.---------------------------Timing Is Questioned in Seeking House Vote on U.S. Role in Libya (NYT)By CHARLIE SAVAGE and DAVID E. SANGER

June 27, 2011The overwhelming vote in the House on Friday against approving Americanparticipation in the NATO action in Libya raised a question in Washington: Whydid President Obama not press harder for a vote authorizing the operationmonths ago when the intervention was more popular?

Some in the White House say the answer is simple: Like many previouspresidents overseeing interventions in countries including Lebanon and Somalia,he did not believe he needed permission. The administration told Congress thatit would welcome a resolution of support, a carefully worded statement that

made no concession that Congressional approval might be legally necessary.

Others in the administration offer a more geopolitical answer: That while Mr.Obama and his national security team wanted to stop a slaughter in Benghazi,they wanted the United States to keep a low profile and were wary of how itwould look across the Middle East if Congress essentially declared the UnitedStates to be at war in yet another Muslim country.

And still other officials say the idea of pressing for an authorization was never apriority because few at first thought the NATO-led air war would last longenough to trigger a 60-day deadline for unauthorized deployments intohostilities under the War Powers Resolution. At the same time, they said, a hostof other issues were competing for attention, including the killing of Osama binLaden and the need to strike a budget deal to avert a government shutdown.

The mission, however, is now in its fourth month. And on Tuesday, the StateDepartments legal adviser, Harold H. Koh, is scheduled to come before theSenate Foreign Relations Committee to testify about why the administration


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believes that Mr. Obama has all the authority he needs to continue the missionwithout Congressional authorization, notwithstanding the War PowersResolution.

Mr. Koh is expected to assert that the American role does not constitute

hostilities for legal purposes. And he is likely to reprise and expand on thearguments the administration has been making for the past several weeks: thatthe United States role is largely one of supporting allies; while it is firing somemissiles, the amount of munitions involved is a small fraction of previousengagements like the one in Kosovo; there are no ground forces and little chanceof American casualties; despite some NATO allies open goal of driving Col.Muammar el-Qaddafi from power, the military mission is constrained fromescalating beyond protecting civilians under a United Nations Security Councilresolution.

On Tuesday, the administrations position is likely to come under attack yetagain in the Senate hearing. A seven-page analysis prepared by RepublicanSenate lawyers calls the argument ill founded, just as House Speaker John A.Boehner has called it not credible. Top lawyers in the Justice Department andthe Pentagon disagreed with that theory before Mr. Obama decided to adopt it asthe official administration position.

A senior administration official involved in the discussions defended Mr.Obamas approach on Monday, pushing back at the charge that theadministration was twisting words to portray a mission that often involves

sending American pilots and remote-operated drones on bombing runs as fallingshort of hostilities. Mr. Obama, he said, has been acting consistently with therequirements of the War Powers Resolution and had consulted regularly withCongress.

It also looked for a period like Congress would act on its own. After visitingLibya in late April, Senator John McCain of Arizona, the 2008 Republicanpresidential nominee, floated the idea of jointly sponsoring a resolution, withSenator John Kerry of Massachusetts, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee,to approve the intervention. But their negotiations dragged on as the apparent60-day deadline came and went on May 20, and they offered the measure onlylast week.

Administration officials were reluctant to describe particular advice they gotfrom lawmakers during that period particularly that of Mr. Boehner. But Mr.Boehner has questioned the constitutionality of the War Powers Resolution in thepast, and on June 1, Mr. Boehner said publicly that the administration had met


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the requirements of the law. Soon after, he maneuvered to ensure that the Housewould not approve a resolution directing Mr. Obama to end the mission.

More recently, Mr. Boehner has become more vocal in questioning the legality ofthe mission under the War Powers law. In March, the White House was

concerned about Republican attacks that Mr. Obama was acting too reluctantly,at a moment when those in favor of action saw the best chance in years forColonel Qaddafi, an adversary of the United States for decades, to be overthrownby a domestic opposition he could no longer control.

Now it is increasingly members of Congress who want out at the verymoment Mr. Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton are arguingthat Colonel Qaddafi is finally on the ropes, losing money and support, and asMr. Koh heads to the Senate to defend the lawfulness of that policy.---------------------

African Union Takes Issue With US Role In Libya (NPR)By NPR StaffJune 27, 2011The International Criminal Court is issuing an arrest warrant for Libyan leaderMoammar Gadhafi, who's still holding onto power despite anti-governmentprotests and NATO's bombing campaign that surpasses 100 days. Africannations are among the strongest critics of the NATO campaign and its USsupport. Guest host Tony Cox finds out why from Mwangi Kimenyi, director ofthe Africa Growth Initiative at the Brookings Institution.

TONY COX, host: I'm Tony Cox, and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News.Michel Martin is away.

New census data show that for the first time in history, minorities make up amajority of babies in the United States. We'll explore how that change couldreshape American society. That's coming up in a bit.

But first, the International Criminal Court today issued arrest warrants forLibyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and others in his regime for crimes againsthumanity. The move comes as the NATO bombing campaign surpasses the 100-day mark. As Gadhafi clings to power, President Barack Obama is coming underpressure at home to limit American involvement in the conflict.

In votes on Friday, the House of Representatives rejected a one-yearauthorization for the president to use force in Libya, though the body declined toeliminate funding for U.S. support of the NATO mission.


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In the international community, African nations are among the strongest criticsof the NATO campaign and its American support. Here to talk more about that isMwangi Kimenyi. He is the director of the African Growth Initiative at theBrookings Institution. Welcome.

MWANGI KIMENYI: Thank you very much.

COX: Let's begin with this. Talk about the war crimes indictments from theInternational Criminal Courts. Today in The Hague, Gadhafi, along with one ofhis sons and his chief of intelligence stand accused of killing, injuring andimprisoning thousands of Libyans during a period in the early days of theunrest. What are your thoughts about how the indictments will be viewedamong other African nations as well as inside Libya?

KIMENYI: I think from the African perspective, the International Criminal

Courts has been viewed as a bias against the Africans and African leaders. Sowhat we've seen is yet another attempt to forecast on Africa. However, to berealistic, it is through that - as Africans, the African organizations themselvesseems to have failed to deal with these type of issues.

COX: Let's talk about this for a moment because it's been complex. The role thatthe African Union has played with regard to the developments in Libyaparticularly, how would you describe what the A.U.'s role has been and howeffective do you think it has been?

KIMENYI: The A.U. has been, to me, very disappointing. And even knowing thatthese crimes has been taking place and even knowing that Gadhafi has beenoppressing the people, the African Union has not been clear on the position interms of opposing Gadhafi. So in this sense...

COX: Why is that?

KIMENYI: I think my view is that, well, first of all, as I have noted in someprevious write-ups is that Gadhafi was the chairman of African Union just twoyears back. He was the president of A.U. He is supposed to have helped a lot inthe transition from the Organization of African Unity to the African Union. Andthere are a lot of leaders in Africa who feels that same situation in terms of notupholding democratic principles.

The current chairman of the African Union is the president of Equatorial Guinea.His democratic record is awful. So I don't expect these leaders to actually supporta position that is - you know, that would be against Gadhafi.


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COX: So in that regard, how can an organization like the A.U. be taken,internationally speaking, as a legitimate, relevant body, when it stands, in asense, on the sidelines while someone like Gadhafi is attacking his own people?

KIMENYI: Unfortunately, I think the A.U. has lost credibility in the idea of peace

and dealing with the democratic issues. It has been very effective in some otherareas. For example, in the areas of regional integration. I think the African Unionhas done very well. But it is still a weak institution. And I think we need to seereforms that makes the African Union more effective. But the status now - it's afailure.

COX: If you're just joining us, you're listening to TELL ME MORE from NPRNews. I'm Tony Cox.

And we are talking about the African Union's response to the crisis in Libya. Our

guest is Mwangi Kimenyi, who is the director of the Africa Growth Initiative atthe Brookings Institution.

So, we've already established through your point of view that the A.U. has beenineffective with regard to its response to Gadhafi. And yet at the same time, theA.U. is in opposition, publicly, to the position that the United States has takenand NATO with regard to bombing. So if they're not going to do it, then why arethey are opposed to someone else doing it?

KIMENYI: OK. So the African Union's position is that we want Africa to solve its

problems. But yet, in this case, you don't see the African Union taking a positionthat would solve these problems. They have called for and negotiatedsettlements. But there are cases where you need to intervene. In fact, there arecases where you must use force. The African Union does not have the muscle, isnot willing or able to do that.

COX: Hasn't Moammar Gadhafi already indicated his rejection of a negotiatedsettlement by turning down the offer of Jacob Zuma to come in exile and live inSouth Africa. He said no.

KIMENYI: I think what is happening now is that he's being pushed into a corner,where going to the table will be not that he wants it, but he has no choice. Hedoesn't have a lot of choices. I think the pressure is building. There is a lot ofinternal problems that will force him to actually seek a negotiated settlement,where either he leaves the country or somehow he's given some form of internalamnesty. But it's not going to last.


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COX: The African Union and its predecessor organization have dealt withdictators in the past. But I wondered, in your view, do you think that thissituation with Moammar Gadhafi is so critical that what happened coulddetermine the very future of an organization such as the A.U.?

KIMENYI: I think it's going to impact the way the A.U. operates. We see thedirect - the Organization of African Unity, which used to be called a club ofdictators, you may recall that people like Idi Amin were at one time chairman.

COX: Did you say a club of dictators? That's what it used to be?

KIMENYI: Yes. The Organization of African Unity was referred to as a club ofdictators. You had people like Idi Amin being chairs of that body.

COX: Yeah. So, but you still - A.U. has the same problem.

KIMENYI: That's the problem. I think we have reverted back. On paper, A.U. isvery different from OAU. It's supposed to uphold democratic principles. But ithas gravitated to the same level of OAU in terms of governance.

COX: I want to switch the topic just a little bit, because last week there was agreat deal of news about the visit of First Lady Michelle Obama to South Africaand to other parts of that continent. We know that what we saw publicly wasprimarily apolitical, but there's always underlying political machinations goingon when you have someone that close to the White House visiting. What's your

observation about the significance - if there was any - to her visit?

KIMENYI: I think it's significant. First of all, she visited countries that I'veconsidered relatively democratic, country like South Africa, you know, countrieslike Botswana. You know, since the South Africa part, they are seen as thedemocratic countries. But although this was a significant visit, I would say thatthe visit by the secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, when she attended themeetings - (unintelligible) meetings recently, I was visiting several othercountries - was most significant.

But in terms of from the view of Africans, we would like to see President Obamacome up with a more focused policy on Africa, which has not happened just yet.

COX: I have time for one really short question, which may require a longeranswer than we have time for. Would you say, though, that President Obama hasbeen a better friend and partner to Africa than George Bush?


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KIMENYI: Unfortunately, President George Bush did quite a lot on some areas.And I would like to give him credit. I would say President Obama has a goodheart for Africa. He has not put it into action.

COX: Mwangi Kimenyi is director of the Africa Growth Initiative at the

Brookings Institution. He was kind enough to join us here in our Washingtonstudio. Thank you very much.

KIMENYI: Thank you.------------------------U.S. welcomes UN resolution authorizing peacekeepers to Abyei (Xinhua)By Unattributed AuthorJune 28, 2011WASHINGTON - The United States on Monday welcomed the swift passage of aUN Security Council resolution authorizing the deployment of 4,200 Ethiopian

peacekeepers to the volatile Abyei region of Sudan, but expressed deep concernabout the ongoing crisis in neighboring South Kordofan state.

"Abyei has been a source of regional tension for many years, as the worldwitnessed last month when Sudanese Armed Forces forcibly took control of theregion, resulting in widespread displacement and looting," U.S. Secretary of StateHillary Clinton said in a statement.

She called the Security Council's move "a critical step" in implementing the June20 agreement signed by the parties in Sudan, whereby the Sudanese Armed

Forces will withdraw from the Abyei region along with southern Sudan People'sLiberation Army forces there.

"We urge the Sudanese government and the Sudan People's LiberationMovement to make good on their commitments to withdraw forces from Abyeiand use the talks facilitated by the African Union High-Level ImplementationPanel to reach mutual agreement on the future status of Abyei," the top U.S.envoy said.

The oil-rich Abyei region is claimed by both north and south Sudan. Thenorthern Sudanese Armed Forces occupied Abyei on May 21, leading to morethan 100,000 people fleeing their homes, mainly to the south. The two sidesagreed on June 20 to demilitarize the area.

The latest violence in Abyei came just weeks before south Sudan formallydeclares independence on July 9 following a referendum in January, which ispart of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in 2005 to end the two-decades civil war between north and south Sudan.


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The Security Council on Monday unanimously agreed to send peacekeepers toAbyei for six months.

"While the United States welcomes this Security Council resolution regarding

Abyei, we remain deeply concerned about the ongoing crisis in South Kordofan,"Hillary Clinton said.

She noted that tens of thousands of people have been driven from their homessince military clashes broke out in the state between the Sudanese Armed Forcesand military groups belonging to the Sudan People's Liberation Army, and thatthere are reports of "very serious human rights abuses and violence" targetingindividuals based on their ethnicity and political affiliation.

She also expressed concern about the detention of local staff members of the UN

mission in Sudan by Sudanese authorities last week as they were beingevacuated from the airport in Kadugli, calling for their immediate release and animmediate ceasefire.---------------------------------25 Killed in Another Bomb Attack in Maiduguri (This Day)By Nduka NwosuJune 27, 2011Abuja Suspected Islamic fundamentalist sect, Boko Haram, again carried outanother bomb attack on some beer gardens in Maiduguri, Borno State Sundayleading to the death of 25 persons and wounding 12 others.

According to AFP reports, the fundamentalists carried out three bomb attacks onthe beer gardens in the town.

The state Police Command blamed the attack on the sect, which, 11 days ago,launched a bomb attack on Louis Edet House, the headquarters of the NigeriaPolice Force, Abuja.

The attack claimed some four lives and burnt over 73 vehicles parked at the carpark of the Force Headquarters.

The police authorities are still investigating the 16/6 attack before last night'sattack. The group had indeed threatened to increase the spate and frequency ofits attacks across the country.

According to sources close to the scene of the blasts, the bombs were thrown bytwo men riding on the back of motorcycles, at the beer gardens, which arepopular nightspots in the city.


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About a week before the attack on the Police Headquarters, some four personswere also killed by a similar attack in a drinking spot, in the same Maiduguricity.

Boko Haram, whose name in the local Hausa language means "Westerneducation is sacrilege," has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks in North-east Nigeria.

Most attacks have occurred in the Boko Haram stronghold of Maiduguri, theBorno State capital.----------------------How Fazul Met His Death (Nairobi Star)By Francis MureithiJune 27, 2011

Details have emerged about how the man who masterminded the August 7, 1998Nairobi bomb blast Fazul Abdullah Mohammed was killed by Somaligovernment forces.

Fazul, who was killed two weeks ago in Mogadishu, was found with amongother items 14 Islamic books, two of which were authored by killed Al-Qaedaleader Osama Bin Laden. He was armed with a Russian made Umarex SteelStorm submachine gun at the time of his death.

This is the latest in line of high capacity, rapid-fire BB guns selling in the market.

The Steel Storm gun is used to guard VIPs and has been a common feature of thesecurity guards of embattled Libyan leader Muamar Gadaffi.

Fazul was further armed with an Australian sniper riffle which Somali securityhave since sent to the United States for analysis and identification. The doublecabin Toyota Hilux Fazul was being driven in at the time of his death also hasmultiple bullet holes. The government has decided to keep all this items in amuseum.

Fazul was travelling on a forged South African passport giving his name asRobinson Daniel born on August 9, 1971. The passport indicated that it wasissued on April 13, 2009 and was to expire on April 12, 2019. It indicated he hadentered Somalia from Tanzania.

Ironically, Fazul was also carrying a photocopy of his original Comoros passportgiving his names as Fazul Abdallar Abdulahi Mohammed born in 1972. Alsofound were one of his passport size photo and two others belonging to hisdaughter 10 year-old daughter.


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At the time of his death, Fazul was also having 10 rubber stamps ordinarilyfound with immigration officials at airports, equipment he may have been usingto forge visas and passports.

These items are now with the SNSA in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, but are setto be moved to a special museum once it is constructed. Also retrieved fromFazul was a hi-tech wrist watch in military colours equipped with a compass.

He was also carrying the map of Mogadishu, a knife, a letter written by a seniorImam and Islamic scholar sending a condolence message to Al-Shabaab and Al-Qaeda followers after the death of Osama. He was also traveling with adocument indicating Al-Shabaab collects US$ 17 million (Sh1.5 billion) everyyear.

The document, seen by the Star at SNSA offices in Mogadishu, identifies 10revenue collection points each with an annual target. "Fazul was a verydangerous man, he was a threat to us in Somalia, to our neighbours and to thewhole world," said TFG president Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed during an interviewwith the Star at State House Mogadishu. "His death is very welcome to us and tothe whole world. His death will bring a lot of good things especially security,"added the President.

Fazul was killed at a roadblock manned by TFG forces less than 10 kms fromMogadishu. This is after he missed his way and failed to take a crucial left turn

that would have led him to Al-Shabaab controlled Deynile district in Mogadishu.

Intelligence sources said his body was first flown to Kenya for DNA testingbefore it was returned to Mogadishu for burial. All the items recovered arepresently in the hands of the SNSA. "To us, Fazul was more dangerous thanOsama Bin laden because he knew East Africa region very well and this wasmaking his capture very difficult. His killing was a big win not only for us, butalso for Kenya and others," said a senior security officer in Mogadishu. "Theitems he was carrying clearly show that he was a fully fledged immigration officebut now a mobile one. He had immigration stamps for more than 10 countriesand he could stamp his documents from any point and show that he is from acertain country," said another senior security officer.

"That is why we want to put all these things together so that anyone who wantsto see them can do so including the future generation, this man was a trouble,"added the officer.


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At the point of his killing, Fazul is said to have been carrying $500,000 (Sh430million) in cash but which is yet to be traced. The government has been forced topay the TFG officers who killed Fazul to recover some of the the items he wascarrying.

The Star has also learned that failure by Fazul to turn up at the right time at aroad junction where Al-Shabaab forces were waiting for him to show himdirections led Fazul landing in the hands of TFG forces that killed him. A team ofheavily-armed Al-Shabaab forces had been assigned to wait for Fazul at ajunction a few kilometres from Mogadishu town and lead him to an Al-Shabaabbase in Deynile district.

Fazul had informed Al-Shabaab commanders he was to arrive at 7pm. A squadwas dispatched to provide back up and ensure he safely arrives at their base. Butafter several hours of waiting without seeing him or receiving word, the squad

left the junction.

With no one to show them directions as it had initially been agreed, andapparently not well versed with the directions and coupled with the darkness,Fazul and his team drove right ahead towards Mogadishu city and landing at aroadblock manned by TRG.

He was flagged down for a normal security check up. Fazul, after noticing thatwas not his squad, opened fire prompting the solders to fire back. He was killedon the spot.

Security sources say he was using a hi-tech gun fitted with a silencer. He waskilled alongside the Kenyan Somali driver. The other two occupants of thevehicle escaped. "When he was killed, because it was at night, no one touchedthe body or the car because they did not know who he was and they also fearedthere could be a bomb. So it was not until morning after checking his documentsthat it was realized it was Fazul," said a senior security officer.

It is not clear who exactly the other two, a woman and a man were, but militarysources have said they escaped on foot with the man having sustained seriousgunshot wounds.------------------------UN News Service Africa BriefsFull Articles on UN Website

United Nations envoy in Africa calls for mobilization of youth for development27 June A top-ranking United Nations official in Africa has called for amobilization of the continents youth for sustainable development, suggesting


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that the recent turmoil in North Africa may be linked to high rates ofunemployment among youth, their desire for freedom, and their demands forchange.

Returning Ivorians lack food, shelter and medical care, UN aid agencies say

27 June Many Ivorians returning to their home towns and villages in the wakeof their countrys post-electoral crisis are in dire need of food, shelter andmedical assistance, the United Nations humanitarian arm reported today.

Security Council sets up UN security force for disputedSudanese town of Abyei27 June The Security Council today established, for an initial six months, aUnited Nations peacekeeping force for the area around the Sudanese town ofAbyei, which is contested by both north and south and has been the scene ofrenewed fighting in recent weeks.

Darfur: UN-backed conference on water resource management opens27 June A United Nations-sponsored conference on the management of water

resources in Sudans troubled and arid region of Darfur opened today withdelegates expected to tackle the problem of water shortages in relation toconflicts exacerbated by competition over natural resources.

AFRICOM Related Newsclips 28 June11

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