United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

11 May 2010

USAFRICOM -related news stories

From and About Africa

<>Did you know?

No Nigerian Head of State or President of northern extraction has
ever completed his term of office without being forcibly removed,
killed in a coup or dying in office.

Nigeria the final trip home of a fallen President

TUNISIA RULING PARTY SWEEPS LOCAL ELECTIONS

Tunis - Tunisia's ruling party won a crushing victory in weekend municipal elections, just before the
government begins talks to deepen ties with the European Union in which its record on democracy will
be under the spotlight.

ETHIOPIA ELECTIONS OPPOSITION SAYS THIRD ACTIVIST KILLED BEFORE VOTE

Addis Ababa — Gunmen have shot dead an Ethiopian opposition party activist, an opposition official
said Monday, days after the government accused the party of killing a policeman in the same region.
Ethiopia holds elections on May 23 and both the government and its main rival, the Forum for
Democracy and Dialogue (Medrek), have stepped up allegations of harassment, including killings.
Negasso said the incident took place in the Werejarso locality of Oromya region, the same province
where similar attacks have taken place during the past two months. "Authorities have dismissed it as a
personal argument, but we have suspicions that the ruling party might have something to do with it," he
added. The ruling Ethiopian Peoples' Democratic Front (EPRDF) is expected to win the May 23 poll
comfortably. The opposition says this is because their candidates are harassed. The government says the
opposition is trying to incite violence.

SOMALIA SOMALI RADICAL GROUP VOWS TO FREE PIRATE CAPTIVES

Harardere - A Somali insurgent group that seized a pirate
stronghold has vowed to drive pirates from the area and free
hostages including a British couple held for more than six months,
the group’s spokesman said today. Hizbul Islam rebels seized the
town of Haradheere last week and pledged to take more towns
along Somalia’s coast, a move that may push the pirates north
into the semi-autonomous Puntland region. “We will do
everything in our capacity to eliminate them (the pirates) from
this province,” Sheikh Mohamed Osman Arus told Reuters from Harardere. “We do not have a coast
guard to fight pirates at sea, but we want to deny those gangs shelter on land.”

UAE NAVY CHIEFS URGED TO COOPERATE MORE ON SECURITY, PIRACY

ABU DHABI — Naval leaders from around the world called for increased cooperation in facing maritime
security challenges in the Indian Ocean, at a naval security conference in Abu Dhabi on Monday. "The
challenges we face are too big, too widespread for any of us to tackle alone," Commodore Bob Tarrant,
director of the Britain's Royal Navy staff, said at the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS). "The sheer
size of the ocean hampers maritime surveillance and law enforcement, and often allows terrorist
organisations or traffickers in drugs, arms and humans to operate without detection," Tarrant said.
"Navies working together, even if they are only loosely coordinated, can act as a force multiplier on each
others' behalf." United Arab Emirates naval chief, Brigadier Ibrahim Mohamed al-Musharrakh, said:
"Factors of instability and violence are increasing" in the Indian Ocean region.

ZIMBABWE CLINTON, TSVANGIRAI DISCUSS DEMOCRATIC REFORM IN ZIMBABWE

Washington, D.C. — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and visiting

Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai here Monday discussed
ways to aid Zimbabwe and foster democratic reform there, a US official said.
"The United States continues to be the single largest donor of humanitarian
aid and health assistance to the people of Zimbabwe. Last year, the United
States funded over 300 million dollars in assistance programs," Crowley said. Obama, citing concern
"about consolidating democracy, human rights and rule of law," cautioned that the aid will go to the
Zimbabwean people rather than to a government where Tsvangirai shares power uneasily with Mugabe.

KENYA SIX TO BE TRIED AT THE HAGUE ICC

Nairobi - Six key architects of Kenya’s post-election chaos will be prosecuted at The Hague, International
Crimes Court chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo told a government team on Monday. The
prosecutor is said to have hinted that he will register two cases involving the six individuals at The
Hague either in September or October.

KENYA ROBBERS KILL GERMAN MAN

Nairobi - Robbers shot dead an elderly German man in the Kenyan coastal resort of Malindi in what
appears to have been a bungled burglary, police said on Monday. Police said 74-year old Joseph Ehm,
who had lived in Kenya for 17 years, died on Saturday evening after the gangsters raided his house and
stole around €3 000.Violent crime is a major problem in east Africa's biggest economy, where armed
robberies and hijackings are common.

NORTH NIGERIA STATE OUTLAWS ISLAMIST BOKO HARAM GROUPSECT

Abuja - A Nigerian government spokesman says the radical Islamist sect whose violent attacks led to
fighting that killed 700 people in northern Nigeria last year has been outlawed in the state where the
group is based. Shehu Liberty says that Borno state governor Ali Sheriff has signed an order to declare
the Boko Haram group "a dangerous religious sect to the state." He says it is now illegal for anyone in the
state to parade themselves as a member of the sect.

NIGERIAN SENATOR JUSTIFIES MARRIAGE TO 13-YEAR-OLD EGYPTIAN GIRL???

ABUJA — Nigerian Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima, under fire over marrying a 13-year-old Egyptian girl,
justified his actions Monday by saying he was following in the footsteps of Islam's Prophet Mohammed."I
am only following Prophet Mohammed's footsteps who married a nine-year-old girl, Aishatu," Yerima
told journalists shortly after his opposition ANPP party paid a visit to President Goodluck Jonathan.

NIGERIA ELECTIONS WILL BE ACCEPTABLE INTERNATIONALLY, SAYS NIGERIAN LEADER

ABUJA — Nigeria's new President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday vowed that his administration would
put in place an electoral body that will organise elections acceptable to the international community. "We
will come up with a national electoral body that will conduct elections that will meet the expectations of
Nigerians and the international community who are demanding free and fair elections next year," he said.

NIGERIA OIL TALKS STALL BETWEEN NIGERIA, CHINA

Abuja - Talks between Nigeria and China over Beijing's bid to buy 6 billion barrels of the OPEC member's
oil reserves have been stalled for months due to a dispute over price, a senior Nigerian government
official said on Monday. China last year offered to invest as much as $50 billion to acquire a large stake in
Africa's biggest energy sector, a bid which included incursions into some oil blocks held by Royal Dutch
Shell, ExxonMobil and Chevron. "We have not had any discussions with China for several months,"
Emmanuel Egbogah, Nigeria's presidential adviser on energy, told Reuters in the capital Abuja. "We have
made our position clear. We told them we want a fair market value for our oil."

NIGERIA BAYELSA STATE ALLEGED TO BECOME STATE-SPONSORED TERRORISM??

Yenagoa - "If President Goodluck Jonathan fails to impose emergency rule on his home state, he will
wake up one day to discover that his state has become the centre of state-sponsored terrorism," he said.
"The next phase of violence conflict in Bayelsa state is likely to be worse than the uprising of militants
before the inception of the amnesty." The Niger Delta Patriotic Front (NDPF), a radical group of ex-
militants, is calling for an imposition of a state of emergency in the state, while the state chapter of Save
Nigeria Group (SNG) is pressing the state House of Assembly to impeach the governor for alleged gross
violation of public trust and corrupt practices. Dan Anderson, spokesperson for the NDPF stated that
their call for emergency rule in the state has the support of some frontline militant groups like the
Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). Civil society and militant groups operating
in Bayelsa State appear to have lost confidence in the ability of the state government to effect any
meaningful development in the state, a NEXT investigation have shown.

SUDAN WANTS INTERPOL HELP TO 'ARREST REBEL CHIEF IN EGYPT'

KHARTOUM — Sudan has sought Interpol's help for the arrest in Egypt of Justice
and Equality Movement rebel movement leader Khalil Ibrahim, a website close to
the country's intelligence services reported. In an interview with the Sudanese Media
Centre, a daily close to the secret services, Justice Minister Abdel Bassit Sabdarat
said he had asked Interpol to "arrest" Ibrahim "wherever he is located" so that he can
face justice.

SUDAN FORMALLY REJECTS THE NILE BASIN PACT

Khartoum - By now, there is little doubt on what the USA Special Envoy for Sudan Gen. Scott Gration
wants for South Sudan. He is vying for the separation of South Sudan and preparing for the emergence of
a new country as an outcome of South Sudan self determination scheduled to take place in January of
2011.

DRC REBEL LEADER SURRENDERS TO CONGO POLICE: REPORTS

BRAZZAVILLE — an insurgent leader behind an attack on a town in the Democratic Republic of Congo
has turned himself in to police in neighbouring Republic of Congo, police and media said Monday. The
claims that Ondjani Mangbama had surrendered in the Republic of Congo came despite the fact that
authorities in the next-door African nation had already announced his capture on May 5. Ondjani, a 25-
year-old witchdoctor, is the chief of the insurgents of the Enyele tribe which attacked the northwestern
city of Mbandaka on April 4, leaving at least 12 civilians dead, according to aid agencies. But in the DR
Congo, Communications Minister Lambert Mende had already announced on May 5 that villagers had
captured Ondjani and handed him over to police.

DRC UN TO BEGIN PARTIAL WITHDRAWAL

The United Nations will pull 2,000 peacekeepers out of the Democratic Republic of the Congo by the end
of June but propose that the remaining 20,000 leave only when security improves, France's ambassador to
the DRC has said.The Democratic Republic of the Congo wants the UN to begin winding down the force
known as MONUC by June 30, when the vast central African state will mark the 50th anniversary of
independence from Belgium.

VOLCANO CAUSES MORE FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS AS ASH DRIFTS SOUTH

The volcanic ash cloud drifting south from Iceland has caused fresh disruption for air passengers, with
dozens of flights to Mediterranean destinations cancelled. Latest meteorological charts showed the ash
cloud extending across the Atlantic into Spain and Portugal, and further east over France.
SUDAN FORMALLY REJECTS THE NILE BASIN PACT
Khartoum — Sudan has announced today that it will not sign the framework agreement aimed at
reallocating shares from the river Nile, a longstanding demand by several up-stream countries. Children
fish in the river Nile near the capital Khartoum May 04, 2010 (Reuters) Egypt joined by Sudan has refused
any alteration to the pre-existing accords of 1929 & 1959 which gave it veto power over upstream projects.