United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

13 May 2010

USAFRICOM -related news stories

From and About Africa

NIGERIA'S NEW VICE PRESIDENT

ABUJA - Nigeria's new President Goodluck Jonathan has nominated Kaduna state
governor Namadi Sambo to be the country's vice president, media reported on Thursday.

SEYCHELLES UN AMENDS INTERNET ARTICLE ON SEYCHELLES’ ACTION OVER PIRACY

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has published a new article on its website that
clarifies Seychelles’ position on prosecuting suspected pirates. Seychelles has indicated an interest in
establishing a dedicated piracy chamber within the courts in the country to prosecute pirates under its
new piracy law and its clearly elaborated policy for accepting suspected pirates for trial. However, the
country is unable to accept large numbers of pirates in its correctional system due to capacity constraints.
Such an arrangement with Seychelles would therefore require options to transfer convicted pirates to
prisons elsewhere – perhaps to Somalia. Work to establish secure prisons in Somalia is now being looked
at by the UNODC and the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, a group established on
January 14, 2009 pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1851 to speed and coordinate actions among
states and organisations to suppress piracy. For now, Seychelles is doing its utmost to tackle the problem
which threatens its people, economy and sovereignty. With help from the EU and UNODC,
improvements are being made to the prisons including the building of a new high-security unit. The
UNODC and other agencies such as Interpol are helping the judicial and police sectors. The Seychelles
Coast Guard is also receiving help from several forces and countries including Navfor, India, the US, the
EU countries, the UAE and China in the form of training and hardware, including communications
equipment so as to enhance its capabilities to respond and its surveillance efforts.

AQN AL-QAIDA IN YEMEN CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR ATTACK TARGETING BRITISH

AMBASSADOR
SANAA - The Yemen-based al-Qaida group claimed responsibility for the suicide bomb attack that
targeted the convoy of British ambassador to Yemen Tim Torlot on April 26, according to a statement
obtained by Xinhua on Wednesday. The defiant statement apparently released about two weeks after the
botched suicide bomb attack. "Britain is the close ally with U.S. in its war (on Islam)," the al-Qaida in the
Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) said in their statement that justified their suicide attack. "Britain called for the
London international conference, in which they plotted against Muslims in the Arabian Peninsula," it
added. In their statement, AQAP identified the bomber as 22-year-old Osman Ali Noman Asaloi from the
southern Yemeni province of Taiz.

MADAGASCAR STRONGMAN RAJOELINA SAYS NOT TO RUN IN NOVEMBER POLL

ANTANANARIVO — Madagascar strongman Andry Rajoelina announced
Wednesday he will not stand in a presidential election to be held on
November 26, in a major step towards resolving the nation's political
deadlock. "I have made the decision not to be a candidate in the presidential election in order to finish the
transition in a neutral manner," he said in a nationally televised speech.

EGYPT DETAINS N.Y. FLIER WITH WEAPONS IN LUGGAGE

CAIRO -- Police detained an American-Egyptian man who arrived in Cairo on a flight from New York
with firearms in his luggage, airport officials said Wednesday. The officials said the man was taken into
custody as he tried to pass through customs with a metal box containing two 9 mm handguns, 250
bullets, several swords, daggers and knives.

SUDAN US SAYS NO MORE TIME TO WASTE IN ORGANIZING SUDAN REFERENDUM

WASHINGTON — Scott Gration, the US envoy to Sudan, warned Wednesday that there is no more time
to waste in preparations for a January referendum planned for southern Sudan under a fragile peace pact.
"I think it's possible to get done everything we have to get done, but we can't waste another minute. The
time is now," Gration told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "We are," Gration said when the
committee chairman, Senator John Kerry, asked him whether people were behind in preparations for a
referendum that could lead to the secession of southern Sudan.

NIGERIA TO BEGIN RETRAINING EX-MILITANTS IN JUNE: OFFICIAL

ABUJA — Nigeria has set early June for the start of vocational training for more than 20,000 ex-militants
who laid down their arms, under a government amnesty, a presidential aide said Wednesday. "The target
is 20,192 ex-militants and the call to camp for the first batch is scheduled for the first week of June 2010,"
the presidential adviser on the Niger Delta, Timi Alaibe, told reporters. Under the "rehabilitation"
program, the ex-fighters will be given vocational training in various fields as well as seminars on various
aspects of life with a view to changing their orientation and world view, to ease their eventual re-
integration into society, officials said. It is also expected that they will be handed cash support to assist
them in setting up businesses. Alaibe, a native of the oil-rich but volatile region, said the government is
setting aside an initial budget of 30 million dollars for the programme, adding that each batch will
comprise 2,000 ex-militants. This is the first such date set by the administration of new President
Goodluck Jonathan, also a native of the region.

NIGERIAN EX-MINISTER CHARGED WITH ABUSE OF OFFICE

ABUJA — a former Nigerian minister appeared in court Wednesday on charges of doling out
government lands to associates and family members during his four years in office. Nasir el-Rufai,
minister of the federal capital territory (FCT) Abuja from 2003 to 2007, faces charges of criminal
conspiracy and abuse of office following an investigation by the the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC). Two other senior officials of the FCT were also charged with Rufai.
FYI… unconfirmed reports say Ibori has been arrested in Dubai

SOMALIA SOMALI CONFERENCE WILL TACKLE SECURITY AND PIRACY

Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah said the high-level meeting from May 21-23 in Istanbul, Turkey will not seek
new funds for the conflict-wracked Horn of Africa nation but will provide a platform for Somalia's
private sector, international businesses, and governments to launch new initiatives for reconstruction and
job creation. He told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday that the support of the international
community, which pledged $213 million a year ago at a donors conference in Brussels to help Somalia's
transitional government and African Union peacekeepers strengthen security, "is equally needed" to
make the Istanbul conference a success.

DRC UN PEACEKEEPERS AT CROSSROADS IN DRC

Kinshasa - More than a decade and billions of dollars after United Nations peacekeepers deployed to the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during a civil war, President Joseph Kabila wants them out.

SA EVENTS HELD IN SOUTH AFRICA TO RECOGNIZE MANDELA

JOHANNESBURG (AP) - Nelson Mandela's foundation is gearing up for his 92nd birthday in July,
hoping even more people around the world will mark it this year with community service projects. The
foundation organized events in three South African cities on Wednesday _ which marks 67 days before
Mandela's birthday. The foundation says it chose that timing to mark Mandela's 67 years of service to
humanity.