United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

1 February 2010

US AFRICA COMMAND NEWS UPDATE

“FROM AND ABOUT AFRICA"

PENTAGON IS SET TO RELEASE THE QUADRENNIAL DEFENSE REVIEW,

ALONG WITH THE 2011 BUDGET REQUEST (THE HILL)
The Pentagon is addressing climate change for the first time in its sweeping review of
military strategy.
The Pentagon is set to release the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) on Monday,
along with the 2011 budget request. In the review, Pentagon officials conclude that
climate change will act as an “accelerant of instability and conflict,” ultimately
placing a burden on civilian institutions and militaries around the world. I will tell
you that the defense review of the United States Pentagon next week is going to
come out and list climate change for the first time as an instability factor that affects
our troops and may in fact wind up costing us lives down the road,” Kerry said at a
forum hosted by labor, business, veteran and other groups backing climate
legislation.

BURUNDI: ARMY ARRESTS OFFICER, OTHERS FOR ALLEGED COUP PLOT

(NEWS24)
Bujumbura - Sixteen Burundian soldiers have been arrested on suspicion of plotting
to "destabilize" the country's institutions, military, government and diplomatic
sources said on Saturday. Three non-commissioned officers of a paratroop
commando unit based in Bujumbura were arrested on Saturday, a senior army
officer said, adding: "We have proof that they were linked to the plot." Thirteen
soldiers, including a captain and a lieutenant, were arrested on Friday on a popular
beach on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in a highly-publicised swoop by dozens of
troops filmed by state television.

KENYA: NEW CACHE OF WEAPONS FOUND IN NAROK (DAILY NATIONS)

NAROK - A major security operation is underway in Narok after police discover yet
another cache of weapons. The operation is led by the Rift Valley provincial police
boss and armed policemen have surrounded two garages at the town. The garages
have been linked to a local businessman who is currently facing charges in court for
another cache recovered last December at his residence in the town.

PIRATES: CHINESE SF TROOPS DEPLOYED TO GUARD SHIPS (NEWS24)

Hong Kong - Chinese army soldiers are being deployed on board Hong Kong-
registered ships sailing off Africa to counter the threat of pirates, a newspaper
reported on Monday. The People's Liberation Army is providing special forces soldiers
to patrol slower, vulnerable Hong Kong-registered ships as they sail through the Gulf
of Aden, the South China Morning Post said.
EGYPT ARRESTS 26 SUSPECTED OF PLOTTING TERRORISM (TIMESOFINDIA)
CAIRO - Egypt has arrested 26 suspects who the prosecutor said belonged to a cell
of militant group Islamic Jihad and were plotting terrorist acts against tourists and
state installations, the official news agency MENA reported on Sunday. The suspects,
arrested in the provinces of Mansoura and Dakahiliya on the Nile Delta, had firearms,
ammunition and explosives, the agency said. Islamic Jihad (EIJ) emerged in the
1970s and carried out the 1981 assassination of President Anwar Sadat.Security
analysts say it has been largely absorbed into al-Qaida, in which former EIJ leader
Ayman al-Zawahri is deputy to Osama bin Laden.

ALGERIAN COURT SENDS TWO MOROCCANS FOR JAIL FOR JOINING AL-
QAEDA (KUNA)
ALGIERS - An Algerian court on Sunday condemned two Moroccans for five years
each for contacting the recruitment networks of Al-Qaeda to join the armed group.
The Criminal court sentenced each of Abdul Ghani Al-Makna and Laqrine Salah Al-Din
for five years in prison for belonging to a terrorist organization and encouraging
terrorist acts. Al-Makna confessed during the investigation that he entered Algeria
with a group of Moroccans to join armed groups linked to Al-Qaeda in Tizi Ouzou and
Boumerdes regions, east of Algeria. Salah Al-Din confessed he had access to a
network of extremist recruit fighters for Al-Qaeda at Mohammed VI mosque in
Morocco.

ALGERIA: BRITISH DRONES FOR ALGERIA? (LESOIRDALGERIE)

Algiers - THALES the British manufacturer had initiated contact with Algerian officials
for possible surveillance drones supply deal to the Algerian military.

YEMENI GOV. ACCEPTS END OF FIGHTING IN SAADA (KUNA)

SANA’A - The Yemeni News Agency quoted the National Defense Council chaired by
the Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh as saying, "The government does not see
anything precluding the termination of the military operations according to given and
definite mechanisms. "It went on to say that, "This should ensure the non-repetition
of confrontations, the establishment of peace, the return of the displaced to their
villages, the reconstruction of what was destroyed by sedition of rebellion and
sabotage in Saada."

YEMEN: CONFUSION OVER YEMEN CEASEFIRE DEAL (EURONEWS)

SANA’A - There are conflicting reports coming out of Yemen about a possible
ceasefire between government troops and Shi’ite rebels. A rebel leader yesterday
said he was prepared to accept government conditions for a truce.
But today deadly clashes have broken out in the northern Saada region and Saudi
troops are reported to have exchanged fire with rebels who have crossed the border.
Yesterday it seemed the rebels had agreed to a ceasefire, but now the government is
reported to have rejected it, apparently because key conditions have not been
respected. The latest clashes in the north come only days after the rebels said they
had withdrawn from Saudi land.
AFRICAN UNION: WORLD IGNORING SOMALIA CRISIS (NEWS24)
Addis Ababa - The worsening crisis in Somalia is as big a threat to global security as
Afghanistan but is being ignored by the world, delegates told an African Union
summit on Sunday.

AFRICAN UNION COMMISSION CHIEF SAYS CONTINENT SITUATION IN

"STRONG CONTRAST" (XINHUA)
Addis Ababa - He hailed the political stability and economic progress in certain
regions of the continent, while deploring the setbacks on democratic governance, the
resurgence of military coup and the economic collapse in some countries.The African
Union (AU) Commission chief, Jean Ping, stressed the "strong contrast" in the
political and economic situation at the opening session of the 14th AU summit on
Sunday in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.

SOMALIA: FIVE DEAD AND SCORES INJURED IN MOGADISHU SHELLING

DUEL (XINHUA)
Mogadishu (xn) - Shelling in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Sunday left at least
five people dead and more than 50 others wounded as Islamist rebels and Somali
government forces backed by African Union peacekeepers pounded each others
positions, emergency sources and residents said. The latest fighting is part of an on-
going battle for control of the Somali capital Mogadishu which is divided between the
warring sides. Shelling which hit mainly residential areas in the insurgent- held
Heliwaa district in the northwest of Mogadishu killed at least five civilians, according
to residents and local media. "So far we have taken to hospitals 51 wounded people
and we think that the figure may raise because the ambulances are still picking
injured people from far neighbourhoods in the city," Ali Muse, head of a local
emergency service told Xinhua.

SOMALIA: CAMBODIAN VESSEL NOT HIJACKED BUT HELD BY SOMALI COURT

(XINHUA)
Mogadishu - A Cambodian-flagged cargo ship that was reported to have been seized
by Somali pirates is held by a local court in northwestern Somalia, an official
statement said Saturday. It was widely reported in local and international media that
the Cambodian ship was hijacked by Somali pirates after offloading commercial
goods in Berbera, a port town in the breakaway state of Somaliland. However, the
statement from the Berbera Port Authority said the local court in Berbera ordered the
detention of MV Layla-S after a local businesses man filled a law suit against the
company owning the ship, following the destruction of the businessman's goods in a
fire on another ship of the company, MV Mairiam Star.

SOMALIA: 2 TRADITIONAL SOMALI ELDERS KILLED IN HARARDERE TOWN

(SHABELLE)
Mogadishu— Unidentified gunmen have shot and killed two traditional elders in
Harardere town in Mudug region overnight, just as tense situation between the
Somali pirates rose in Hobyo, a strong hold of the Somali pirates in the north of the
country...tense situation between the Somali pirates has risen at Hobyo district, a
stronghold of the pirates in Mudug region in north Somalia.
SOMALIA: EXPLOSIONS RAISE FEARS OVER SOMALILAND STABILITY (IRIN)
Las-anod - Commenting on the bombings that have hit the region since October
2009, Somaliland President Dahir Rayale Kahin told reporters: "I have heard the
opposition accusing the government of being behind the bombs; this is unfortunate,
the government is investigating, but we need to know that the enemy wants [to
stage] more attacks against Somaliland..." The latest incident brings to five the
bombings since October 2009 in Las-anod, capital of a region in contention between
Somaliland and Puntland. Las-anod is part of Sool and Sanag region, to which the
governments of Somaliland and Puntland both lay claim.

NIGERIA'S MEND MILITANT GROUP ENDS CEASEFIRE (XINHUA)

Lagos - Nigeria's main militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the
Niger Delta (MEND), has declared an end to ceasefire and threatened to resume
attacks against Africa's biggest oil and gas industry. Jomo Gbomo, the group's
spokesman, made the threat in a statement reaching here on Saturday, saying the
ceasefire was ordered in the hope that the government of Nigeria would consider
true dialogue to bring justice to the people of the Niger Delta, and true peace to
Nigeria.

NIGERIA PIPELINE ATTACK FORCES SHELL TO CUT OUTPUT (REUTERS)

ABUJA - Royal Dutch Shell said on Sunday it had shut down three pumping stations
in Nigeria's Niger Delta after a key crude oil pipeline was sabotaged.

GUINEA MILITARY BOSS ARRESTED (NEWS24)

Conakry - Two sources close to Guinea's ruling junta say that Colonel Moussa Keita
was arrested overnight. Keita was formerly a hard-liner in the junta that seized
power in a 2008 coup and remained steadfastly loyal to their military chief who was
badly wounded during an assassination attempt in December.

NIGERIA: U.S, BRITAIN, FRANCE WARN NIGERIA (DAILY CHAMPION)

Lagos — the concern over the long absence of President Umaru Yar'Adua from office
and its implication on the polity, assumed a global dimension yesterday, as world
powers warned that Nigeria's instability could be a threat to global peace.

CAR PRESIDENT CONFIRMS REBEL LEADER'S DEATH (REUTERS)

BANGUI (Reuters) - Central African Republic's President Francois Bozize has
confirmed the death of a rebel leader but dismissed criticism from rights and
opposition groups who are demanding an international investigation. he reported
death in police custody of Charles Massi, a former defence minister, caused former
colonial power France to demand clarity on the issue.

Transcript of General Ward CNN’s interview for being honored by the trumpet awards
click here for the FULL transcript
http://archives.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1001/30/cnr.01.html