United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

17 September 2010

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

USAREUR commander Ham nominated to lead U.S. Africa Command (Stars and
Stripes)
(Pan Africa) Gen. Carter Ham, the commander of U.S. Army Europe and the general in
charge of leading a yearlong review into the policy of banning openly gay men and
lesbians from military service, has been nominated to head U.S. Africa Command.

Potential for conflict in Africa threatens U.S. National Security (Federal News Radio)
(Pan Africa) In the last decade conflicts in Africa have morphed. There are conflicts in
at least 10 countries, driven in large part by corruption and ethnic divisions.

Ugandan bishops tell US leaders military option won't work against rebels (Catholic
News Service)
(East Africa) Two Ugandan bishops -- one Catholic and one Anglican -- traveled across
Africa and the Atlantic to tell U.S. officials that regional dialogue with the Lord's
Resistance Army would work better than a military option against it.

U.S. Steps Up Mediation Efforts as Referendum Nears (Inter Press Service News
Agency)
(Sudan) Less than four months before a scheduled referendum on independence for
southern Sudan, the administration of President Barack Obama is intensifying pressure
on both Khartoum and the south's leadership to establish the necessary pre-conditions
for the vote and any transition that follows it.

ECOWAS Leaders to Meet Friday Over Bissau Crisis (Voice of America)

(Guinea Bissau) The communications director of the Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS) said several heads of state and government have arrived
Nigeria’s capital, Abuja to participate in a summit Friday on finding solutions to
Guinea-Bissau’s security crisis.

Guinea Delays Key Election (Associated Press)

(Guinea) A critical presidential runoff election in Guinea will be postponed by at least
two weeks, the country's electoral commission said Thursday.
Africa Dispatch: Dinner, Dates and Politics With Somalia's Premier (Wall Street
Journal)
(Somalia) Somalia's year-old transitional federal government is in trouble. Besieged by
militants, the government is also beset by infighting. The current rift: a new
constitution.

Kidnappers seize 5 French nationals and 2 Africans in Niger: reports (Xinhua)

(Niger) Five French nationals, one Togolese, and one Madagascan national had been
abducted in the western African county of Niger, media reports said on Thursday.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
 Guinea: Ban calls for resolution of obstacles to presidential election run-off
 UN envoy urges Somalia’s authorities to complete remaining tasks
 UNESCO chief calls for urgent action after another Ugandan journalist is killed
 UN agency sounds alarm on mounting hunger in Chad
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UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Monday, September 20, 2:00 p.m., U.S. Institute of Peace

WHAT: First Vice President Salva Kiir on the Road Ahead in Sudan
WHO: His Excellency General Salva Kiir Mayardit, first vice president of the Republic
of Sudan and president of the Government of Southern Sudan
Info: http://www.usip.org/events/first-vice-president-salva-kiir-the-road-ahead-in-
sudan

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, September 21, 2:00 p.m., U.S. Institute of Peace

WHAT: Civil Society in Darfur: The Missing Peace
WHO: Theodore Murphy, Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue; Jérôme Tubiana,
Independent researcher; Jon Temin, Moderator,U.S. Institute of Peace
Info: http://www.usip.org/events/civil-society-in-darfur-the-missing-peace

WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, September 23, 9:00 a.m.

WHAT: Breakfast Briefing with The Honorable Robert P. Jackson, New Ambassador of
the United States to Cameroon
WHO: Business Council for International Understanding with Chevron Corporation
Info: http://www.bciu.org/wip01/online_event_invitation.asp?
continent=0&country=0&currentorpast=current&eventsorprograms=events&IDNumbe
r=1431&ProgramIDNumber=0&Keycode=8031275
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FULL ARTICLE TEXT

USAREUR commander Ham nominated to lead U.S. Africa Command (Stars and
Stripes)
Gen. Carter Ham, the commander of U.S. Army Europe and the general in charge of
leading a yearlong review into the policy of banning openly gay men and lesbians from
military service, has been nominated to head U.S. Africa Command.

If confirmed, Ham would replace Gen. William “Kip” Ward, who was appointed
AFRICOM’s first commander when the military’s sixth and newest unified combatant
command stood up in October of 2008.

His nomination to lead AFRICOM — which requires Senate confirmation — is the latest
in a growing list of accomplishments for the general, including serving as director of
operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff and commanding troops in northern Iraq from
January 2004 to February 2005.

Ham, 58, also led the investigation into the Fort Hood shootings last November, in
which an Army psychiatrist is accused of killing 13 people and wounding 29 others.
The investigation resulted in disciplinary action against six people, most of whom
worked at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

And, Ham and Jeh Johnson, the Defense Department’s top lawyer and an appointee of
President Barack Obama, are conducing a yearlong review of the effects of revoking
“don’t ask, don’t tell,” which would allow gays to serve openly in the U.S. military. The
review is assessing the planned policy change’s impact on benefits, housing, retention
and morale.

Of his nomination to head AFRICOM, Ham said in a prepared statement that he was
“honored to be nominated for this opportunity.”

“And if confirmed,” he said, “I would be excited to serve with the great AFRICOM
team that my friend (Gen. Ward) has built.”

The nomination comes at a time when AFRICOM is refining its mission on the 53-
nation continent — home to a growing contingent of potential terrorist threats,
including militant groups such as al-Shabab, and pirates in the Horn of Africa.

Carl LeVan, an assistant professor at American University in Washington, D.C. who

specializes in African politics, said that Ham would likely face difficult questions
during his confirmation hearings about how the command will better incorporate
civilians, such as those from the State Department.

“The interagency component is going to be very significant,” he said. “They will want
to figure out if AFRICOM will be able to put together those three Ds: defense,
diplomacy and development. Or if diplomacy and development will be overwhelmed
by defense.”
AFRICOM’s stated purpose is to help its partner countries, through various training
missions, develop the capacity to provide for their own security and protect their own
borders.

From its start, AFRICOM inherited more than 100 missions, ranging from HIV
awareness campaigns in African militaries to assisting them in the fight against
terrorism. It has engaged in humanitarian efforts, including deploying a team of
specialists to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2009 to assist women who had
been raped in the country’s war-torn eastern region.

But the nascent command also has been controversial.

Originally, the Pentagon wanted to base AFRICOM on the continent, but resistance
from African nations forced it to abandon that plan and base it in Stuttgart, Germany.
The U.S. military has liaisons at several African embassies and a base at Camp
Lemonier in Djibouti, but Ward has continually had to reassure African leaders and
media that the U.S. does not intend to build bases in Africa.

AFRICOM also provided limited logistical and advisory support for a Ugandan
military operation attempting to capture Joseph Kony, the leader of the deadly and
vilified Lord’s Resistance Army. At the behest of the National Security Council, the
command provided the Ugandan military with maps, satellite phones, GPS receivers
and about $1 million in fuel for vehicles, as well as a team of advisers who provided
feedback on the plan.

Kony was not captured, however, and many of his fighters fled their camps. In their
flight from the Ugandans, the LRA fighters killed hundreds of civilians.

Critics of the operation argue that the mission failed to plan for securing the
surrounding civilian population.

More recently in August, the militant group al-Shabab launched an attack on a

Mogadishu hotel, leaving more than 30 people dead, and later clashed with Somali and
African Union forces. After the attack, Ward said that AFRICOM was prepared, if
called upon, to lend support to the embattled Somali army, most likely in the form of
logistical assistance, training and equipment, but not with ground forces.

“It doesn’t mean you have to have U.S. forces on the ground to make a difference,”
Ward told Stars and Stripes at the time.

Many Africans, however, are skeptical of AFRICOM and its relation to the “war on
terror,” which has been invoked by African governments to retain power, LeVan said,
“The war on terror,” he said, “is one of the stickiest divides between African
governments and African civil society.”
--------------------
Potential for conflict in Africa threatens U.S. National Security (Federal News Radio)

In the last decade conflicts in Africa have morphed.

In the late 1990s there were about 30 or so going on. Even though there are less of them
now, the situation has gone from bad to worse. There are conflicts in at least 10
countries, driven in large part by corruption and ethnic divisions.

Al Qaida is a growing problem in North Africa, but another parallel threat is the
invasion of drug traffickers from around the globe, setting up shop in West Africa.
These organizations see the weak governments, permissive environments, corruption
and poverty as a great business opportunity.

It is!

That's why U.S. national security is at risk. The confluence of Al Qaida, weapons,
dealers and drug traffickers is a three headed monster that the world has never really
had to face. Think about Osama Bin Laden, Victor Bout and today's equivalent of once
all powerful Columbian Drug lord Pablo Escobar joining forces in a place like Guinea-
Bissau. Tough group.

U.S. officials and authorities are thinking about how to attack the problem. Africom,
NSA, the State Department appear to be the main weapons. But the bad guys have their
own version of those weapons and a new war is brewing.

A former top U.S. law enforcement official told me recently the winner in this war will
be the side that wins over the African heads of state.
--------------------
Ugandan bishops tell US leaders military option won't work against rebels (Catholic
News Service)

WASHINGTON - Two Ugandan bishops -- one Catholic and one Anglican -- traveled
across Africa and the Atlantic to tell U.S. officials that regional dialogue with the Lord's
Resistance Army would work better than a military option against it.

"The issue is no longer the LRA and Uganda," said Archbishop John Baptist Odama of
Gulu. "The issue now is regional."

Archbishop Odama has headed the Gulu Archdiocese in northern Uganda since 1999
and, during that time, has worked to end hostilities between the Ugandan military and
the rebel Lord's Resistance Army, known for its brutality and especially for kidnapping
children to use as soldiers and sex slaves. The LRA, once based in northern Uganda, has
spread its operations to Southern Sudan, Congo and the Central African Republic.

The archbishop is president of the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative, an

interfaith organization formed in the late 1990s to respond to the violence in northern
Uganda, where the Acholi ethnic group is based. He traveled to Washington with one
of the founding members of the organization, Anglican Bishop MacLeord Baker Ochola
II, retired bishop of Kitgum.

Both men told Catholic News Service in mid-September that they do not oppose the
Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act, which
President Barack Obama signed into law in May, but were urging U.S. officials to end
the use of force in dealing with the LRA. The cited numerous occasions on which force
did not work against the rebel group.

The bishops met with State Department officials, who have until November to develop
a strategy for disarming the LRA. They also met with congressional leaders.

"We are afraid," Archbishop Odama told CNS. He said the LRA currently is involved in
a conflict to destabilize Uganda's northern neighbor, Southern Sudan, which is
scheduled to vote in January on whether to secede from Sudan.

Congo and the Central African Republic, two countries that border Southern Sudan,
also have an interest in its stability, the archbishop said.

"Let us bring (their) leaders together -- the new stakeholders," he said. "We say: peaceful
approach."

Bishop Ochola, whose daughter committed suicide in 1987 after being brutally attacked
by the LRA, said those opposed to peace -- those who advocate continued fighting --
should also be invited to the dialogue.

He said the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative leaders have offered to mediate
multiple times. In 2008, rebel leaders had begun negotiations when a Ugandan military
offensive drove them into neighboring countries.

In early September, religious leaders from areas affected by the Lord's Resistance Army
met in Southern Sudan to outline a path to peace. In a statement, the leaders said LRA
atrocities gave "no sign whatsoever of being on the decrease."

The leaders said that in Southern Sudan, the LRA was attacking urban centers with
"massive abductions, displacements and killings." They said they feared "enemies of
peace" would use the LRA to prevent the secession referendum.
Since late 2008, the LRA has killed more than 2,500 civilians in Southern Sudan. About
90,000 Sudanese in Western Equatoria province have been displaced from their homes,
and 25,000 refugees from Congo and Central African Republic have sought refuge in
the province.

Archbishop Odama and Bishop Ochola said capturing or killing LRA leader Joseph
Kony would not necessarily end the conflict, because the situation is so complex and
includes splinter groups and tribal conflicts. They said adding to the complexity of the
situation was that most LRA soldiers were kidnapped and are serving involuntarily.
--------------------
U.S. Steps Up Mediation Efforts as Referendum Nears (Inter Press Service News
Agency)

WASHINGTON - Less than four months before a scheduled referendum on

independence for southern Sudan, the administration of President Barack Obama is
intensifying pressure on both Khartoum and the south's leadership to establish the
necessary pre-conditions for the vote and any transition that follows it.

Obama himself will attend a key meeting on Sudan to be hosted by Secretary-General

Ban Ki-moon at U.N. headquarters Sep. 24 to highlight the importance of resolving all
outstanding disputes before the vote, Obama's special envoy on Sudan, ret. Maj. Gen.
Scott Gration, told reporters at a special briefing here Wednesday.

Gration, who just returned from his 20th trip to Sudan since his appointment early last
year, also warned the next weeks represent a "make-or-break period" for the country.

"We must ensure that the parties find agreements" on the issues that remain to be
settled before the referendum, which is scheduled to take place in January, he said.

They include, among other things, the final demarcation of the border between the
north and the south and the terms for sharing oil reserves, most of which lie in the
south, and future oil revenues. In addition, the voter registration process – a daunting
challenge in a vast region that lacks basic infrastructure - has not yet begun.

The stakes are considered very high, indeed. If the referendum, which most analysts
believe will result in a strong vote for secession, fails to take place or if the results are
rejected by Khartoum, the civil war that was halted by the 2005 Comprehensive Peace
Agreement (CPA) between Khartoum and the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Movement
(SPLM) is considered highly likely to resume.

Some two million people, the vast majority of them southerners, are believed to have
died as a result of that conflict, which began in 1983 and ended with the signing of the
CPA. The CPA, considered one of the few major foreign policy achievements of
President George W. Bush, was mediated by the U.S., Britain, and Norway with the
help of Sudan's neighbours and the African Union (AU).

In addition to sending Obama to the U.N. – a move that U.S. officials hope will draw
other heads of state who will be attending the annual launch of the U.N. General
Assembly to the meeting – Washington has taken a number of other steps to ensure that
the referendum takes place.

Last month, it appointed Bush's former assistant secretary of state for Africa, veteran
diplomat Princeton Lyman, to lead a U.S. Negotiation Support Unit in Sudan dedicated
to resolving all pending disputes over the coming weeks.

Lyman's appointment was reportedly backed by forces within the administration that
have expressed growing unhappiness with Gration, who has been accused, particularly
by human rights and activist groups, of acting in too conciliatory a manner toward the
government of President Omar al-Bashir.

Bashir is currently under indictment for war crimes and genocide by the International
Criminal Court in connection with the government's counterinsurgency campaign in
the western region of Darfur.

While Lyman is expected to spend much of his time shuttling between Khartoum and
Juba, the administration has also ramped up its representation in the southern capital
where it has appointed another veteran diplomat, Amb. Barrie Walkley, to lead its
efforts there.

It has also deployed top officials to convey the seriousness of Washington's concern.

Just before Gration and Lyman arrived in Sudan late last week, for example, Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton used a major foreign policy address Sep. 8 to warn that the
situation there was a "ticking time bomb of enormous consequence" and suggest that a
secession vote was "inevitable".

"The real problem is what happens when the inevitable happens and the referendum is
passed and the south declares independence," she said. "…This is going to be a very
hard decision for the north to accept."

Indeed, Khartoum, whose national budget has become increasingly reliant on oil
revenues, could lose an estimated 80 percent of its oil reserves and 50 percent of its oil
revenues, not to mention 30-some percent of its national territory, if the south secedes.

"And so we've got to figure out some ways to make it worth their while to peacefully
accept an independent south, and for the south to recognise that unless they want more
years of warfare and no chance to build their own new state, they've got to make some
accommodations with the north as well," she said.

She followed her words with phone calls that evening to Sudan's two vice-presidents,
Ali Othman Mohammed Taha, a long-time leader of the ruling National Congress
Party; and Salva Kir Mayardit, the leader of the SPLA. According to Gration, Obama's
national security advisor, ret. Gen. James Jones talked with the two Tuesday this week.

Late Tuesday, the State Department also released a "fact sheet" detailing its recent
diplomatic efforts and, for the first time, publicly laying out a road map for the steps
Khartoum is expected to take to fully normalise long- strained relations with
Washington.

In addition to offering an immediate easing of licensing restrictions that will make it

possible to aid local food production in Sudan, Washington will "take steps to allow
additional trade and investment" in Sudan's non-oil sectors if a "credible, peaceful"
referendum takes place on time, it said.

If, in addition, there is agreement on key principles for "post-referenda arrangements,

the United States will support an exchange of ambassadors," according to the fact sheet,
which was based on Gration's exchanges in Khartoum.

If the CPA is fulfilled and Khartoum resolves its conflicts with rebel groups in Darfur –
a negotiation process currently being led by Qatar – the administration work with the
legislative branch to lift all remaining bilateral and multilateral economic and aid
sanctions imposed by Congress against Sudan.

On Darfur, which has been largely overshadowed by the growing concern over a
breakdown in the CPA, any accord must include a "sustained improvement in security,
humanitarian access (to those who have been displaced by the seven-year- old conflict),
and services that improve living conditions on the ground, (and) full cooperation with
UNAMID," the U.N. peacekeeping force deployed in Darfur, according to the sheet.

The sheet also said Gration had made clear in his talks that "there are a range of
consequences that will be deployed, if the situation in Sudan deteriorates or fails to
make progress, including additional sanctions."

Darfur-related activist groups that have been critical of Gration praised the
administration Wednesday.

"We are encouraged that the plan not only spells out incentives for steps toward peace,
security and accountability, but also makes clear a range of consequences will be
deployed for failure to make progress," said Mark Lotwis, the acting president of the
Save Darfur Coalition, which represents more than 100 humanitarian, faith-based and
human rights groups.

"The intensified Sudan strategy, along with President Obama's commitment to attend
next week's U.N. summit on Sudan, indicates the kind of leadership that millions of
concerned Americans have been asking President Obama to assert," he said, adding for
all the attention focused on the North-South situation, "Darfur should remain no less of
a priority."
--------------------
ECOWAS Leaders to Meet Friday Over Bissau Crisis (Voice of America)

The communications director of the Economic Community of West African States

(ECOWAS) said several heads of state and government have arrived Nigeria’s capital,
Abuja to participate in a summit Friday on finding solutions to Guinea-Bissau’s security
crisis.

Sonny Ugoh said the extra-ordinary summit will not only focus on the political and
security situation in Guinea-Bissau, but also review the progress in the regional bloc’s
efforts to reform the country’s defense and security.

“The meeting will look at how to ensure security sector reform because we think that is
key to resolving the problem in Guinea-Bissau and ensuring political stability. It is
important to emphasize that in the spirit of political and democracy and good
governance, we have a responsibility, which we have been promoting regional-wise to
ensure that we work with member states to promote sustainable democracy in member
states.”

ECOWAS Communications director Ugoh said security stability will pave the way for
the administration in Guinea-Bissau to “intensively” pursue economic development.

West African leaders have expressed concern over the escalating security crisis in
Guinea-Bissau following last April’s attempted coup d’état.

In early April, the army briefly detained Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Jr. after
removing the former military chief.

Early this month, Guinea-Bissau asked for Angola’s help to reform its military in order
to end rampant coup d’états as well as stop the ongoing drug trafficking menace the
country faces.

This came after the European Union refused to extend a mission to help reform the
West African country’s security forces, saying Bissau has failed to respect the rule of
law since the army’s April mutiny.
ECOWAS communications director Ugoh said regional leaders want to help stabilize
the West African country and restore the rule of law that will make Guinea-Bissau
attractive enough for foreign direct investment.

“Nobody is going to invest in an environment that is unstable. That is why the main
issue they will be dealing with as far as I know, is the security situation. We are looking
for about 70 million Euros to deal with the security sector reforms that will enable us to
repair the barracks and retire so many people who are aged and pay them off so that we
can reform the security sector.”
--------------------
Guinea Delays Key Election (Associated Press)

CONAKRY, Guinea — A critical presidential runoff election in Guinea will be

postponed by at least two weeks, the country's electoral commission said Thursday.

"There will be no election this Sunday," said Thierno Ceydou Bayo, the head of
communication for the National Independent Electoral Commission. "We have not yet
decided on a new date. One option is to delay it by two weeks. But there are others that
are proposing three weeks."

A person stood in front of a campaign poster featuring Guinea's former prime minister
and presidential candidate Cellou Dalein Diallo in Conakry.
.Any delay is likely to heighten tension in the capital, where campaigning was
suspended temporarily after violent clashes last week between supporters of rival
political parties.

The leading presidential candidate, Cellou Dalein Diallo, has accused the government
of purposefully delaying the election to give the underdog a chance to catch up in the
polls. Mr. Diallo received 44% of the vote during the first round, while competitor
Alpha Conde won 18%.

The head of planning for the West African country's electoral commission on
Wednesday said it was "not tenable" to hold the election on Sunday. El Hadj Boubacar
Diallo said that the delay was due to the late arrival of voting materials, and not due to
politics.

Voting cards for 460,000 of the roughly 4.3 million registered voters are still being
printed in South Africa and won't arrive in Conakry until Saturday, the day before the
scheduled vote. Mr. Boubacar Diallo said it would take at least four days for the cards
to be transported to distribution centers in remote provinces and another seven days for
them to be handed out to voters, pushing back the election to at least the end of the
month.
For the election to be suspended, the military general in charge of overseeing Guinea's
transition to civilian rule must issue a decree. Gen. Sekouba Konate hasn't yet issued the
decree, but implied in televised comments that the election couldn't be held on Sunday.

Many hope the upcoming vote will mark a turning point for the troubled, mineral-rich
nation that has known only authoritarian rule since winning independence from France
in 1958. The first round of voting in June was met with excitement, but the multiple
delays since then have cast a pall over the runoff.
--------------------
Africa Dispatch: Dinner, Dates and Politics With Somalia's Premier (Wall Street
Journal)

NAIROBI—At a banquet room in a downtown Nairobi hotel last week, just as the sun
began to set, some 50 Somali members of parliament and other dignitaries gathered to
break that day's Ramadan fast. They started with the customary sweet date before
moving on to the less savory topic of political infighting.

The meal was rich with chicken, beef, fish and lamb kebabs. The mood was cheerful.
And the music—a medley of instrumental John Mayer and Marvin Gaye songs piped in
over the PA system—was…interesting.

The attendees were guests of Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke,
who was visiting Nairobi for a few days before returning to Mogadishu. His remarks at
the end of the meal stressed the need for a unified government, and therefore,
underscored the lack thereof. Such is the sobering reality in today's Somalia.

Somalia's year-old transitional federal government is in trouble. Besieged by militants,

the government is also beset by infighting.

The current rift: a new constitution. The president wants to put the document to
Somalis for a popular vote—something that seems impossible at a time when al
Shabaab controls much of the country. The prime minister wants the parliament to
decide instead.

The two leaders are an ideological odd couple. Never seen without his prayer cap,
President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was a member of the former Islamic
government. He wants to maintain the transitional government through its mandate
next year. The more liberal Mr. Sharmarke has lived for a time in Canada, and prefers a
suit and spectacles. He would prefer to see the transitional government become a
federal one, with more power to act.

In rapid Somali, Mr. Sharmarke insisted that an ongoing feud between the president
and himself was a mere disagreement. His call for unity was seen as a way of calling for
parliamentarians to rally around him in support—in essence, a public bid to keep his
job.

But it may not have succeeded. At a parliament meeting on Wednesday, Mr. Sharif said
he wasn't fighting with Mr. Sharmarke—just that the prime minister hadn't delivered.
"We can't accept incompetence," he said, as some lawmakers banged the table in loud
shows of support. He added: "I was named to choose the prime minister. If he fails to
perform his duties I have to get back to you about it. I can't be utterly quiet as Somalia's
future is being destroyed."

Mr. Sharmarke, anticipating a vote of no confidence, refused to appear before

parliament on Wednesday, so the parliament planned to reconvene on Thursday. The
meeting is likely to decide his political future.
--------------------
Kidnappers seize 5 French nationals and 2 Africans in Niger: reports (Xinhua)

NIAMEY - Five French nationals, one Togolese, and one Madagascan national had been
abducted in the western African county of Niger, media reports said on Thursday.

The hostages were reported to be working for French companies in the African nation.

It remained unclear who carried out the kidnappings, while groups linked to Al-Qaeda
were being suspected for the terrorist deeds.
--------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

Guinea: Ban calls for resolution of obstacles to presidential election run-off

16 September – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on authorities in Guinea to
swiftly resolve all technical and logistical obstacles to holding the run-off round of
presidential polls – which has just been postponed by electoral officials – so it can be
staged as soon as possible.

UN envoy urges Somalia’s authorities to complete remaining tasks

16 September – With less than two years to go before the end of the transition period in
Somalia, a top United Nations official today stressed the need to consolidate the fragile
peace in the Horn of Africa nation, which has witnessed numerous recent attacks and
an ongoing humanitarian crisis.

UNESCO chief calls for urgent action after another Ugandan journalist is killed
16 September – The head of the United Nations agency entrusted with defending press
freedom today urged Ugandan authorities to launch a full investigation into this week’s
murder of a radio news presenter, the second journalist to be killed in the African
nation in three days.
UN agency sounds alarm on mounting hunger in Chad
16 September – Although there are signs of improvement in Niger, which is in the midst
of a severe food crisis, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned that
child malnutrition rates are alarmingly high in neighbouring Chad.