United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

24 September 2010

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

U.S. Congress Members Urge Obama Administration to Define Policy

(AllAfrica.com)
(Sudan) Members of the U.S. Congress on Thursday sent a letter to President Barack
Obama urging his administration to "take additional steps" to define its policy on Sudan
and to "publicly articulate" the consequences should the Sudanese government renege
on commitments to a 2005 peace accord.

Kidnappings Escalate France's Desert War on al-Qaeda (Time.com)

(France) France may have departed its North African colonies decades ago, but this
week the French military dramatically escalated its operations across the region against
al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). French fighter jets have begun flying sorties
over the Sahara Desert in a hunt for five French hostages held by the regional Qaeda
affiliate. Prime Minister Francois Fillon has said that his country is now "at war" against
AQIM, which first emerged in Algeria but operates across the Sahara belt from Chad to
Mauritania. But if this is war, as Fillon says, France could be in for a long fight.

Environment key to U.S. security: Congress briefing (Reuters)

(Pan Africa) Environmental degradation and waning natural resources threaten U.S.
security in the 21st century, in a shift from "kinetic" security threats, defense experts
told a Capitol Hill briefing Wednesday.

US Ambassador Says Judicial Vetting in Kenya Critical to Reform (Voice of America)

(Kenya) Amidst a growing debate over the role Kenya's judges will play under the new
constitution, U.S. Ambassador Michael Ranneberger warns that independent and
thorough vetting of the judiciary will be crucial to the legitimacy of the new laws.

U.S. Embassy Trains Journalists On Basic Reporting Skills (Daily Observer - Banjul)
(The Gambia) In a bid to improve the skills of Gambian journalists so as to deliver to
expectation, the United States Embassy office in Banjul, on Thursday organised a one-
day training for 21 journalists from the print and electronic media.

Canadian held as US spy suspect leaves Libya: report (AFP)

(Libya) A Canadian held since mid-September in Libya where he was suspected of
industrial espionage on behalf of the United States has left the country, a local
newspaper reported on Thursday.

African Union: Sudan leader case undermines peace (Reuters)

(Sudan) The African Union urged the United Nations on Thursday to put war crime
charges against Sudan's leader on hold, warning they could destabilize Africa's biggest
nation and endanger an upcoming referendum on southern independence.

AU Tells Somalia's Leaders to Get Serious (Voice of America)

(Somalia) African Union diplomats are telling Somalia's feuding leaders to "get serious"
if they want international help in battling al-Qaida linked terror groups. Africa's top
security body heard a dire assessment of Somalia ahead of a crisis meeting at the United
Nations.

African Al-Qaida Group Targeting Foreign Companies to Build Popular Support

(Voice of America)
(Pan Africa) As African terrorists affiliated with al-Qaida target corporate interests in
the Sahel as part of a campaign to boost popular support, regional governments are
trying to better coordinate their response.

China Extends Africa Push With Loans, Deal in Ghana (Wall Street Journal)
(Ghana) Ghana and China signed project loans and another deal together totaling $15
billion, the latest in a string of Chinese investments on the continent.

More reports of Rwandan troops deploying to Congo (Christian Science Monitor)

(Rwanda/Congo) In recent weeks, there have been many unconfirmed reports of
Rwandan troops heading into the Democratic Republic of the Congo to assist the
Congolese army.

Guinea proposes new presidential runoff date, awaits confirmation (CNN)

(Guinea) Guinea has proposed a new presidential runoff election date of October 10, a
top electoral commission official told CNN Wednesday.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
 Sierra Leone outlines priorities for national advancement in address to UN
 UN hosts mini-summit on Somalia with calls for Government cohesion and
more aid
 Congolese leader calls for UN reform, including Security Council enlargement
 Africa is ready for a ‘new beginning,’ Malawi tells UN debate
 Kenya calls on Security Council to pay greater attention to conflict in Somalia
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:
WHEN/WHERE: Wednesday, October 6, Noon; Cato Institute
WHAT: Why Africa Is Poor and What Africans Can Do about It
WHO: Greg Mills, Director, Brenthurst Foundation, South Africa; Marian L. Tupy,
Policy Analyst, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, Cato Institute; moderated by
Ian Vásquez, Director, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, Cato Institute
Info: http://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=7401
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FULL ARTICLE TEXT

U.S. Congress Members Urge Obama Administration to Define Policy

(AllAfrica.com)

Members of the U.S. Congress on Thursday sent a letter to President Barack Obama
urging his administration to "take additional steps" to define its policy on Sudan and to
"publicly articulate" the consequences should the Sudanese government renege on
commitments to a 2005 peace accord.

The agreement, which ended two decades of war, provided for the holding of a
referendum in southern Sudan, which is to take place in January. There are concerns
that should the oil-rich south vote to secede from Sudan, which is expected, the
northern government of President Omar al-Bashir may not accept the results.

Issues remaining to be worked out between the north and south include a formula for
sharing oil revenues and an agreement to protect the rights of southerners in the north
and northerners in the south.

The letter said that although incentives had been offered to Sudan's ruling National
Congress Party (NCP), the 23 signatory members of congress were not aware of any
such offer for southern Sudan and other marginalized groups.

"We have witnessed that over the past two decades that the Bashir government has
impeded and reneged on agreements on many occasions," the letter said. "A one-sided
incentive-based approach is not only ineffective, but it wrongly rewards
obstructionism."

The members of congress said it was "crucial" that the U.S. government supported not
only the Comprehensive Peace Agreement-mandated timeline for the referendum, but
also "full and unhindered" implementation of the Abyei Protocol and the referendum in
that region. "This is especially true given that Bashir's NCP has reversed recent
agreements regarding Abyei and continues to obstruct efforts to set up the Abyei
Referendum Commission," the letter said.
The Abyei Protocol, which is part of the 2005 accord, deals specifically with
administration of the oil-rich region of Abyei, which is considered a bridge between the
north and south. Abyei residents are to vote in their own referendum to remain in the
north or join the south.

The letter urged Obama to "respond favorably" to a meeting request from Salva Kiir, the
leader of southern Sudan, saying it was "crucial at this moment in Sudan's history." The
members of congress noted that former president George Bush had met with Kiir at the
White House "on several occasions."

Kiir visited Washington last week and appealed for heightened international
engagement in preparation for the January referendum. "The future of Sudan is hanging
in the balance," he told the annual Congressional Black Caucus Africa policy
roundtable.

President Obama is to take part in a summit on Friday hosted by United Nations

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to help move the Sudan process forward and avoid a
return to war. The conflict claimed more than two million lives. Participants in the
summit will include Kiir and his counterpart from the north, Vice President Ali Osman
Mohamed Taha.

The letter welcomed the appointment of Ambassador Princeton Lyman to lead the U.S.
Negotiation Support Unit in Sudan, saying he would play a pivotal role in negotiations
on border issues, citizenship and oil revenues.
--------------------
Kidnappings Escalate France's Desert War on al-Qaeda (Time.com)

PARIS - France may have departed its North African colonies decades ago, but this
week the French military dramatically escalated its operations across the region against
al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). French fighter jets have begun flying sorties
over the Sahara Desert in a hunt for five French hostages held by the regional Qaeda
affiliate. Prime Minister Francois Fillon has said that his country is now "at war" against
AQIM, which first emerged in Algeria but operates across the Sahara belt from Chad to
Mauritania. But if this is war, as Fillon says, France could be in for a long fight.

The French escalation was triggered by the kidnapping last Thursday of seven uranium
miners in the dirt-poor nation of Niger. The men, who were snatched from their homes
in the remote desert north of the country, work for France's state-owned nuclear giant
Areva and a subsidiary of the French construction company Vinci. Five of the hostages
are French, while the others come from Madagascar and Togo. (See the top 10 crime
stories of 2009.)

In a separate incident before dawn on Wednesday, kidnappers seized three French

citizens near a Chinese-operated oil field off the Nigerian coast, from a boat belonging
to the Bourbon Group, a French marine-services company. So far, no group has claimed
responsibility for the Nigeria action, and there is no apparent connection to France's
manhunt underway in the Sahara. But that manhunt in Niger threatens to grow into a
major military operation that could spread to other countries around the Sahara. AQIM
also announced Wednesday that it had killed 19 Mauritanian soldiers who had been
part of an operation against one of its positions in Mali. (Read about how a Niger coup
adds to West Africa's instability.)

France dispatched 80 military personnel to Niger on Sunday to search for the men, and
defense officials say they are using a reconnaissance jet and a Mirage fighter to scour
the vast desert for any trace of the kidnappers. U.S. officials were quoted as telling the
French press agency AFP on Tuesday that France has requested U.S. military help in the
search, perhaps by using satellite intelligence. (See the 25 crimes of the century.)

AQIM claimed responsibility for the Niger kidnapping in a statement broadcast on

Tuesday night on Al Jazeera Television, and warned France against the "stupidity" of
attempting a military rescue. For days before the kidnapping, French officials had
warned of a planned terror attack in France itself; police evacuated the Eiffel Tower one
day last week after a bomb scare, and this week authorities raised France's terror alert
level to red, the country's second-highest level. As French journalists speculated that the
terror scare was aimed to divert attention from President Nicolas Sarkozy's sinking
popularity, French national police director Frederic Pechenard said in a radio interview
on Wednesday that there was "a specific threat," including possible plans to detonate a
bomb in France.

But while France is able to deploy hundreds of armed soldiers to protect Paris tourist
sites such as the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre museum, battling al-Qaeda militants on
their home turf could prove to be a lot more difficult.

The French military is hunting for the hostages in one of the world's most inhospitable
regions — the searing Sahara Desert — where borders are porous and tracks or
landmarks are few. What is more, AQIM is a loose collection of armed groups whose
tactics include banditry and blackmail. Perhaps encouraged by ransom payouts in
previous kidnappings, al-Qaeda groups have over the past year launched ever-more
frequent abductions of foreigners. "It's as an ideal mechanism to generate much-needed
funds and deter foreign investment in countries they accuse of associating with the
West," says Alastair Cameron, head of the European Security Program for the Royal
United Services Institute, a military think tank in London. "There's obvious propaganda
value in kidnapping foreigners." Aside from money, AQIM has ideological motivations,
too, targeting European policies such as the recent French ban on Muslim women
wearing the burqa in public. (Comment on this story.)

Combating AQIM will require intense intelligence gathering, say analysts, since groups
regularly move across huge distances, often with little contact with locals. "Groups
strike and then vanish into the desert," says Jean-Luc Marret, senior fellow with the
Foundation for Strategic Research in Paris. "It's the classic way of waging attacks in the
desert." Those were the tactics last July when al-Qaeda militants kidnapped Michel
Germaneau, a 78-year-old French aid worker in Niger, and then drove him across the
border into Mali, home of one of AQIM's most militant branches. The kidnappers killed
Germaneau after Mauritanian military forces, backed by French special forces, launched
a joint rescue operation.

French officials believe the Niger hostages have also been taken to the desert in
northern Mali, and are considering whether an all-out rescue operation might provoke
further attacks, or result in the murder of the hostages. Several previous European
hostages have been freed after negotiations and suspected ransom payments. "Until
now the strategy has been discreet, with special ops and a lot of human intelligence,"
Marret says. "Now it is much more visible, and we might have some victims among
hostages, French military and local forces."

Curiously, Areva had ample warning of an al-Qaeda attack. Two weeks before the
kidnapping, a local police commander in northern Niger faxed a letter to French
companies in the area, warning them that al-Qaeda seemed to be planning an assault on
foreign workers — Niger's police had apprehended eight Toyota trucks filled with
armed men in late August. Despite the warning, French television footage this week
showed that Areva's compound in Arlit had no security walls or armed security guards,
and there was no evacuation of foreigners.

Areva's uranium mining operations in Niger are of crucial importance to the local
economy, and to France. About half of France's nuclear energy derives from Niger's
huge uranium deposits, and French uranium trade accounts for about 75% of revenue
in Niger, whose per capita annual income is just $353. That gives both countries a
strong incentive for a quick, bloodless end to the kidnap. Unfortunately, the region's al-
Qaeda militants are just as aware of that need to settle quickly.
--------------------
Environment key to U.S. security: Congress briefing (Reuters)

WASHINGTON - Environmental degradation and waning natural resources threaten

U.S. security in the 21st century, in a shift from "kinetic" security threats, defense
experts told a Capitol Hill briefing Wednesday.

The loss of renewable natural resources, including forests, fresh water, fish and fertile
soils, can drive political instability and conflict in the developing world, according to
the briefing.

"We can't just send in the Army and the Marines and the Air Force and the Navy to
resolve these problems, and they can't all be security problems," said retired General
Anthony Zinni, former chief of U.S. Central Command.
"Whether it is climate change, whether it is disruption of the environment in other ways
... we're going to see more failed and incapable states."

Zinni cited a report from the non-profit Center for a New American Security that linked
depletion of fish stocks off Somalia, the drop in water and oil resources in Yemen,
frequent droughts in Afghanistan and scarce and polluted water in Pakistan to
instability and security.

Lieutenant Colonel Shannon Beebe, a senior Army Africa analyst, contrasted the
traditional threats to U.S. and global security with those posed by environmental woes
and natural resource problems. He noted that he offered his personal opinion, not that
of the U.S. Defense Department.

"An American security narrative is very much based on the kinetics ... planes, tanks,
guns, armed forces," Beebe said, saying these kinetic threats would be replaced by
"creeping vulnerabilities."

"You think we're going to continue to face state-based threats?" he asked rhetorically.
"Might I remind you of the two greatest attacks on the United States at the beginning of
the 21st century, and neither of those was from a state-based threat: 911 and Hurricane
Katrina."

Both men cited their own experience in the Europe, Asia and Africa with defense
leaders who recognized that integrating environmental problems into security policy
was essential. Beebe said the United States has yet to understand that a coordinated
narrative on this is key.

"When you talk to Africans ... ministers and chiefs of defense, they will talk to you in
terms of security as food, as environmental degradation, natural disasters,
environmental shocks," Beebe said.

"Until we get the narrative correctly, it's going to be a lot like putting an American
baseball umpire at a cricket match and expecting the outcome to be positive," Beebe
said.
--------------------
US Ambassador Says Judicial Vetting in Kenya Critical to Reform (Voice of America)

Amidst a growing debate over the role Kenya's judges will play under the new
constitution, U.S. Ambassador Michael Ranneberger warns that independent and
thorough vetting of the judiciary will be crucial to the legitimacy of the new laws.

A rift is emerging between Kenya's civil society and its judges over the makeup of the
country's judiciary under the new constitution. Many of Kenya's top judges are vying
for the position of Chief Justice, but lawyer advocacy groups say those currently
holding office should not be considered.

Under Kenya's new constitution, all judges and magistrates must be vetted by an
independent board before taking office. But sitting judges have not been vetted by the
board, to be formed in December, which advocacy groups argue disqualifies them for
the position.

Stepping delicately into the fray Thursday, United States Ambassador to Kenya Michael
Ranneberger said the vetting process was critically important to the legitimacy of the
chief justice and the judiciary as a whole.

"The new chief justice is going to be one of the most important positions in the country,"
Ranneberger says, "It is critically important that a person of the highest competence, of
independence and of good repute be put in that position. I do not want to rule anyone
out or in, but clearly their needs to be a selection process that's transparent. And where
the best possible person in chosen; a person who will truly strive to make the judiciary
corruption free and independent."

The dispute was set off on Friday, with the publication of the Judicial Service Bill. The
bill essentially re-engineers the branch to conform to the new constitution, and to
operate more efficiently and independently.

Chief among the reforms is the strengthened roll of Kenya's Chief Justice, who will head
the newly created Supreme Court. The new constitution requires current Chief Justice
Evan Gicheru to leave office by late February.

Shortly after the bill's publication, the Law Society of Kenya, the International
Commission of Jurists-Kenya and the Federation of Women Lawyers-Kenya announced
they would compile a list of judges and magistrates who they believe should not hold
the post. The groups argued that anyone appointed to replace Justice Gicheru was not
likely to be vetted in time. Because Kenyans had lost faith in the current Judiciary, the
group argued current judges could not credibly take up the post.

A statement from the Kenya Magistrates and Judges Association said excluding judges
would violate their basic rights and called for equal treatment regarding the position.

Reforms to Kenya's judicial branch are held as among the most critical components of
the country's new constitution. The judiciary is notoriously corrupt and inefficient and
some estimate the court backlog at more than 800,000 cases.
--------------------
U.S. Embassy Trains Journalists On Basic Reporting Skills (Daily Observer - Banjul)
In a bid to improve the skills of Gambian journalists so as to deliver to expectation, the
United States Embassy office in Banjul, on Thursday organised a one-day training for 21
journalists from the print and electronic media at the American Corner at the Comium
building along Kairaba Avenue.

Coordinated by Professor Judith Matloff, from the Columbian University in USA, who
is also a veteran journalist, training exposed journalists to many issues regarding
journalism and how to do the job within the code of ethics of the profession.

Even though The Gambia is not yet blessed with a journalism school, Professor Matloff
is convinced that the media practitioners can still excel if they are ready to do so.
Matloff, who had worked as a staff foreign correspondent for 20 years, specialising in
areas of turmoil, used the forum to advise the participants to present accurate news to
the readers and to double-check their stories before publication. She urged them to be
simple and precise in their stories by not using big words.

Matloff, also gave a detailed explanation of how to cover an incident like in the case of a
blast and how to go about investigating a story, among others. She therefore called for
unity and collaboration among the media practitioners in the country, noting that they
are all working towards meeting the same objectives.

Speaking earlier, Cindy Cregg, Charge d'Affaires at the US Embassy, expressed the
embassy's desire to ensure that journalists are well trained since they serve as the
watchdogs of the society. She then thanked all the participants for attending such an
important training. Tula Orum, public affairs officer at the US Embassy moderated the
session.
--------------------
Canadian held as US spy suspect leaves Libya: report (AFP)

TRIPOLI – A Canadian held since mid-September in Libya where he was suspected of

industrial espionage on behalf of the United States has left the country, a local
newspaper reported on Thursday.

"The Canadian citizen Douglas Oriali left Libya on Wednesday afternoon," Oea said on
its website.

Oriali, who also has Australian and Irish citizenship, was arrested at Tripoli airport in
mid-September, just before he was due to leave the country, for security reasons, the
newspaper earlier reported.

He was suspected of working with US intelligence "to gather information aiming to

ensure the failure of a drilling project off the Libyan coast by Britain's BP," Oea had said.
The Canadian foreign ministry told AFP on Monday that Ottawa was "aware" of Oriali's
situation and that "the Canadian mission in Tripoli was working with local officials in
order to get more information."

A security source cited by Oea on Thursday said Oriali had not been imprisoned but
that his passport had been confiscated, adding that the Canadian had been
"cooperative."

Oea said that under questioning, Oriali, whose laptop and mobile phone were also
confiscated, had supplied the authorities with his Internet banking and email details.

BP has said it would start drilling off the Libyan coast during the second half of the year
under a 2007 deal with Tripoli allowing it to drill five wells in the Gulf of Sirte at depths
of about 1,700 metres (5,500 feet).

That is slightly deeper than the Gulf of Mexico BP well that ruptured on April 20,
causing the worst US environmental disaster on record.
--------------------
African Union: Sudan leader case undermines peace (Reuters)

UNITED NATIONS – The African Union urged the United Nations on Thursday to put
war crime charges against Sudan's leader on hold, warning they could destabilize
Africa's biggest nation and endanger an upcoming referendum on southern
independence.

Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika urged the annual U.N. General Assembly to
back a one-year deferral of the case against President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, charged
with genocide and war crimes in Sudan's western Darfur region.

"While efforts to secure lasting peace in Sudan are ongoing, the International Criminal
Court seems to push for a 'pound of flesh'," said wa Mutharika, who chairs the AU.

"There is a general consensus in Africa that this will negatively polarize the different
positions of stakeholders, thereby driving them away from a peaceful settlement."

The U.N. Security Council has the power to suspend ICC prosecutions under Article 16
of its statute but is deadlocked on whether to do so. Wa Mutharika urged the 192-nation
General Assembly to amend the Rome Statute to give it the power to defer Bashir's case
to avoid disrupting peace talks.

Renewed African backing for Bashir, who rejects the ICC charges that made him the
world's only sitting leader wanted for war crimes, comes only a few months ahead of
the January 9 plebiscite that could bring independence for southern Sudan.
Foreign powers are stepping up pressure on Khartoum to hold the vote on time and
follow through with a key point in the 2005 peace deal that ended decades of north-
south civil war.

There are growing concerns about whether poor Sudan can pull together the complex
referendum on time and whether the high-stakes vote can be held without sparking
new conflict.

MANY CARROTS, NOT ENOUGH STICKS?

Bashir's government has pledged it will respect the results of the vote but there are
many unanswered questions, such as what the referendum will mean for oil-rich areas
that lie in disputed areas along the north-south border.

U.S. President Barack Obama will take part in a high-level meeting on the sidelines of
the General Assembly on Friday, a sign of renewed U.S. efforts to broker lasting peace
in Sudan.

Washington is offering Sudan, under international sanctions since the mid-1990s, the
possibility of improved U.S. ties if the referendum goes smoothly.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has named Tanzania's former President Benjamin
Mkapa to head a new U.N. panel set up to monitor the north-south referendum and
another vote to determine the fate of the oil-rich region of Abyei.

But some advocacy groups worry about future conflict in Sudan, not only if southerners
vote to secede as expected but as tensions persist in the troubled Darfur region.

U.N. officials say as many as 300,000 people have died and over 2.7 million have been
driven from their homes in seven years of ethnic and politically motivated violence in
Darfur. Khartoum says 10,000 people have died.

John Prendergrast, head of advocacy group Enough, applauded the Obama

administration for correcting what he called 'drift' in its Sudan policy, but said officials
were dangling carrots to Bashir's government without enough stick.

U.S. officials "need to be clear there are consequences," Prendergast said, such as
sanctions targeted against senior Sudanese officials and moves to tighten the arms
embargo.
--------------------
AU Tells Somalia's Leaders to Get Serious (Voice of America)

African Union diplomats are telling Somalia's feuding leaders to "get serious" if they
want international help in battling al-Qaida linked terror groups. Africa's top security
body heard a dire assessment of Somalia ahead of a crisis meeting at the United
Nations.

Amid mounting reports of deteriorating conditions in Somalia, the AU Peace and

Security Council issued an urgent plea for member states to make good on promises to
come to the aid of the country's Transitional Federal Government. Equatorial Guinea's
AU ambassador Ruben Maye Nsue Mangue is the Council chairman for September.

"We are very very deeply concerned about the situation in Somalia. We have decided to
ask direct member states to to do their contribution in all areas, otherwise it's a problem
that affects our collective security," said Ruben Maye Nsue Mangue.

Hours before a crisis meeting at UN headquarters called by Secretary General Ban Ki-
moon, Ambassador Mangue called on Somalia's feuding leaders to show seriousness in
the face of an imminent threat of a takeover by al-Qaida linked terror groups.

"The country is occupied by the terrorists, it's occupied. It's a real occupation. Now the
big bad news we have got today is the increasing misunderstanding inside the
Transitional Federal Government of Somalia," added Mangue. "They have to be united
and they have to understand that if Africa and the international community will not see
seriousness and engagement among themselves that will not be good. A nation like
Somalia cannot be in conflict for decades."

"AU Deputy Special Representative for Somalia Diarra Boubacar briefed the Council.
He said this week's resignation of Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali
Sharmarke underscores the TFG's weakness, further undermining efforts to win
international backing for efforts to defeat extremists militias controlling much of the
country.

"It is this lack of cohesion within the TFG institutions. The lack of cohesion is a big
problem for us," said Boubacar. "We need more comprehension [within] the TFG of its
role to install security on the ground. I think also a big concern is the terrorism we face
on the ground coming from al-Shabab."

News from Mogadishu Thursday told of clashes in two city suburbs between forces
loyal to the government and al-Shabab rebels, and heavy shelling in the city's main
market. Scores of people were said to have been killed and injured, though exact
numbers were impossible to verify.

The African Union maintains a 7,200 strong peacekeeping mission in Somalia to

reinforce the outmanned government security forces. The mission is made up largely of
Ugandan and Burundian troops.
Efforts to solicit troop contributions from other African nations have been mostly
unsuccessful, An ambassador representing a country with one of Africa's largest armies,
when asked about a possible troop deployment, said "it's just too big a challenge".

The envoy, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the international community's
hesitation to engage is a reflection of the difficulty of conditions on the ground. He said
there would be little appetite for sending troops unless peackeepers were given a
stronger mandate, allowing them to pursue and drive out insurgents.
--------------------
African Al-Qaida Group Targeting Foreign Companies to Build Popular Support
(Voice of America)

As African terrorists affiliated with al-Qaida target corporate interests in the Sahel as
part of a campaign to boost popular support, regional governments are trying to better
coordinate their response.

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb focuses mainly on bombing military outposts and
kidnapping tourists and foreign aid workers.

Last week's abduction of construction consultants, however, from Togo and

Madagascar, along with five French engineers, shows the group is expanding its
campaign of violence to portray itself as defending the region against foreign
commercial exploitation.

The French nuclear energy firm Areva is mining one of the world's richest deposits of
uranium in Niger. Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb spokesman Salah Abu Mohammed
said uranium is a strategic resource that France has been stealing for decades.

Mohammed said foreign companies that are exploiting the natural resources of the
Sahel must know that they are legitimate targets of Muslim freedom fighters. He said
those companies should leave quickly because they are illegally exhausting the region's
resources.

Al-Qaida in Islamic Maghreb tries to position itself

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, which is also known by its initials AQIM, began in
Algeria in 1992 as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat.

Political analyst Joseph Kirschke says the violence of the Algerian conflict led the group
to market itself as the defender of oppressed civilians.

"These guys are kind of left overs from a really messy civil war that only ended about
ten years ago, and they are trying really hard to gain legitimacy," said Kirschke.
"There were all kinds of civilian casualties in that conflict. AQIM came out of that
conflict with a great sort of mandate to spare civilian lives and to come out as sort of the
Robin Hood type players in the al-Qaida franchise, if you will," said Kirschke.

AQIM says it kidnapped three Spanish aid workers, for example, because Spain is a
member of the NATO alliance, which it says is an instrument of foreign military
aggression. AQIM killed a French hostage in Mali after French and Mauritanian troops
tried unsuccessfully to free him.

In a statement read on the Al-Jazeera television network, the al-Qaida group vowed to
revenge the killing of six of its fighters during the Franco-Mauritanian raid, calling on
citizens of the Sahel to join in retaliating against France and its allies.

Coordinated military pressure increases

Military pressure on al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb is growing. Hundreds of French

commandos are in the Sahel to help search for the kidnapped uranium engineers. Also,
Mauritania's army struck an AQIM supply convoy near the Malian city of Timbuktu
last week.

Political analyst Isselmou Ould Mustapha said Mauritania is taking the fight to al-
Qaida. Mustapha said the battle now is in areas of the Sahel where al-Qaida previously
felt free to operate. He said they are on defense as they are being pushed farther back
into the desert.

Mustapha said AQIM is not as strong as it once was, in part, because Mauritania's
military has them on the run as part of a strategy of self-defense by attack.

When it comes to al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, the U.N. Special Representative for
West Africa Said Djinnit said there is no alternative to regional cooperation with
international support. "How can you expect poor countries with weak governance,
institutions, structures and capacities to effectively control such huge territories
inhabited by nomads and people with very long standing culture and traditions, which
resists any change because they want to stay in their territory, and yet with the feeling
of neglect?''

AQIM seeks Islamic rule

Political analyst Kirschke says al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb is using under-
development to push for greater Islamic rule.

"They are trying really hard to stand up for the everyman, so to speak, in the region. In
the bigger picture, I think they have the same interests that al-Qaida does everywhere in
terms of drawing Western military forces into the region and focusing on creating a
caliphate, a larger state dedicated to Islamic or Sharia law throughout the Islamic
world," said Kirschke.

Regional approach by governments deemed essential

The U.N.'s Djinnit said only a coordinated, regional approach can prevent al-Qaida
from expanding to countries such as Burkina Faso and linking up with what he calls
"extremist elements" in northern Nigeria. "I always feared that what is happening in
this small part of the Sahel would increasingly expand to affect other parts of West
Africa, either directly or through ramifications networks. That remains my fear."

Greater regional cooperation in the fight against al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb is
slowed by mistrust and weakness in internal security, especially in Mali. Algeria,
Burkina Faso, Chad, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger are working on a joint plan of
action to confront AQIM, which is thought to be regrouping along the borders of
Algeria, Mali and Niger after being driven from its original bases along the Algerian
coast.
--------------------
China Extends Africa Push With Loans, Deal in Ghana (Wall Street Journal)

LAGOS, Nigeria—Ghana and China signed project loans and another deal together
totaling $15 billion, the latest in a string of Chinese investments on the continent.

The loans, coinciding with a six-day Beijing visit by the West African nation's president,
John Atta Mills, highlight China's strong interest in resource-rich African countries such
as Ghana. Ghana is preparing to tap massive oil fields that are expected to turn it into
one of Africa's biggest energy producers.

On Wednesday, the China Export Import Bank and the government of Ghana signed a
$10.4 billion concessionary-loan agreement for various infrastructure projects, payable
over 20 years, the government of Ghana said on its website. The loan is subject to
approval by the Ghanaian parliament and cabinet.

A separate loan of $3 billion, from the China Development Bank, is slated for Ghana's
burgeoning oil-and-gas sector. Ghana is set to begin oil production later this year and
will soon pump 120,000 barrels a day, according to government and oil-company
estimates. The China Development Bank also guaranteed more than $400 million for
water and what it called e-governance projects in Ghana, according to the government
website.

Separately, Ghana signed an agreement valued at $1.2 billion with Chinese company
Bosai Minerals Group to build a bauxite and aluminum refinery in Ghana over four
years, according to several Ghanaian newspapers and the state-run Xinhua news
agency. Bosai Minerals would purchase 80% of the shares in Ghana Bauxite Co.,
according to the newspapers.

Ghana Minister for Energy Joe Oteng-Adjei said details of the various projects will be
disclosed after the president's delegation returns to Ghana.

Originally geared mainly toward supporting China's own development, the country's
China Development Bank and Exim Bank have in recent years become central elements
in Beijing's efforts to project its power overseas and to secure access to natural
resources, especially in developing markets.

Africa looms large in that strategy. One of Exim Bank's three overseas branches is in
Africa—in Johannesburg. The others are in Paris and St. Petersburg. China
Development Bank in 2007 set up the China-Africa Development Fund with an initial $1
billion to finance trade and investment in Africa. The bank opened its first branch in
Africa in November, in Cairo.

Latin America also has been a focus. Last month, China Development Bank agreed to
lend Ecuador's government $1 billion to help improve its infrastructure. In July, it
signed a deal to help fund improvements in Argentina's railway system.

In April, as part of a deal reached between China's government and the Venezuelan
administration of President Hugo Chávez, China Development Bank agreed to lend the
South American country $20 billion.

With various concessionary loans and investments, the Chinese government also has
positioned itself as one of Africa's major foreign partners. Last year, China signed a $6
billion loan agreement with mineral-rich Congo for infrastructure projects.

The financing and infrastructure projects have, in turn, helped pave the way for
Chinese companies in Africa.

Last year, state-run oil company China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., known as Sinopec,
bought oil-exploration company Addax Petroleum, which has major assets in West
Africa, for $7.2 billion. And this year, state-run China National Offshore Oil Corp., or
CNOOC, put itself in direct competition with U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. when it
signed an agreement with Ghana's state oil company, GNPC, to buy a stake in the
Jubilee oil field, one of the biggest recent oil discoveries off Ghana's coast and one in
which Exxon had been trying to purchase a stake.

Ghana's deputy minister of finance and economic planning, Seth Tekpeh, confirmed the
$10.4 billion infrastructure loan. "The repayment for these loans would not come from
the budget but through exports," Mr. Tekpeh said in a telephone interview. Mr. Tekpeh
didn't elaborate on which exports would pay for the loans.
Some see a signal for the West in such agreements. "China doesn't just give away
money. What they're really saying is we'll get a Chinese company to come in and do a
project for some amount," said Yofi Grant, an executive director of Data Bank, an
investment bank in Ghana. "But it's a good signal to the U.S. and the U.K. China gives
state support for these kinds of projects," he said.
--------------------
More reports of Rwandan troops deploying to Congo (Christian Science Monitor)

There have been more and more reports of Rwandan troops in the Kivus this past week.
Internally, MONUSCO military intelligence has reported unconfirmed allegations of
two RDF battalions in Walikale to help out with the Congolese army's operations there.
The head of the UN mission, Roger Meece, however, says these allegations are
unfounded.

At the same time, the Congolese security services along the Rwandan border in North
Kivu report an increased number of Congolese Tutsi refugees returning from Rwanda
and heading towards the highlands of Masisi.

Add to these rumors information coming from an unexpected source: CNDP officers.
Several ex-CNDP officers have confirmed these allegations of RDF deployment,
however they don't think they are here to help against the FDLR. According to them,
the Rwandan troops have primarily come to make sure that CNDP troops don't rebel
when they are re-deployed outside of the Kivus (some say as far away as Bas-Congo, on
the other side of the country). There has been no official announcement of any major
military re-deployment, but many believe this was discussed by Presidents Kagameand
Kabila during the recent meetings in Kigali.

Rwanda has been worried for quite some time about ex-CNDP members taking part in
an armed opposition to their government, privately linking Nkunda's supporters to the
grenade attacks in the capital, for example. It is possible that Kinshasa has seized upon
these concerns to press for the ex-CNDP troops to leave the Kivus, where they have had
a prominent role in anti-FDLR operations as well as in controlling mining areas.

There is a long history of resistance by Congolese Tutsi troops to leave the Kivus, where
they are close to their families and are well enough organized that they have to be taken
seriously. In early 1998, a group of Congolese Tutsi mutinied in South Kivu, protesting
redeployment and mistreatment. Rwandan General James Kabarebe had to go to the
Rusizi plain himself to negotiate. Then, several months later, another group led by
Comd Murekezi mutinied at a military camp in Goma (his followers included many
officers who later joined Nkunda's insurgency). Rwandan troops had to kill several of
the officers and imprison others on Iwawa island to put down the mutiny.
--------------------
Guinea proposes new presidential runoff date, awaits confirmation (CNN)
Conakry, Guinea - Guinea has proposed a new presidential runoff election date of
October 10, a top electoral commission official told CNN Wednesday.

The West African republic's National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI) picked
the new date. The decision came less than a week after a presidential runoff between
Cellou Dalein Diallo and Alpha Conde, initially scheduled for September 19, was
postponed.

The announcement came after a meeting of all parties involved on Tuesday in Conakry,
the capital, said CENI vice president Hadja Aminata Mame Camara.

Before the new date proposed by the CENI becomes official, it must be verified by junta
leader and transitional president Gen. Sekouba Konate. He is currently in Mali
attending festivities marking the country's 50th year of independence from former
colonial power France, and is due back in Conakry Wednesday night or Thursday.

In a speech at Tuesday's meeting, Konate reaffirmed his commitment to a credible,

transparent and democratic second round of elections.

"I must address the CENI by asking it ... to show it is equal to the difficult task entrusted
to it," Konate said. "If it succeeds in its mission, Guinea will express its appreciation. If it
fails, it runs the risk of provoking a crisis that will halt our democratic momentum and
impede our country for years to come."

Guinea's battered electoral commission is faced with the immense challenge of making
up for the irregularities of the first round immediately after its president, Ben Sekou
Sylla, and planning director were sentenced to a year in prison for fraud. Sylla died last
week in Paris while receiving medical treatment for a terminal illness.

The commission convened Tuesday night after picking a runoff date to elect a new
president, Lounseny Camara, replacing the interim, Hadja Camara.

By Wednesday morning, Diallo's campaign had gathered reporters to announce that it

rejected Lounseny Camara's election, calling it "totally illegal and politically
unacceptable," in the words of its representative, Sidya Toure. Diallo's campaign
accused members of Conde's RPG party of being behind the vote.

Diallo's reaction was juxtaposed by Conde's nonchalant acceptance of the new election
chief: "I don't have any comment, the CENI is independent, Lounseny Camara is a civil
society member ... even if they elected a monkey, they're the ones who elected him and
it's not our problem," Conde said to CNN and BBC Wednesday.
Lounseny Camara brushed off Diallo's charges of bias at a press conference Wednesday:
"It his right as major political actor...to express his opinion of me. But I do not accept
Mister Cellou Dalein Diallo's declaration that I belong to a political party."

The October 10 date is likely to test the CENI's capacity to overcome logistical problems,
such as the distribution of new alphanumeric voting cards and the creation of more
than 1,000 new polling stations. Guinea has a very limited highway system that is
compounded by heavy rains that often flood roads and render them impassable.

"I think that that's a doable date, from what we've seen, and I very much hope that it
gets confirmed. There's not a great deal of experience in running clean and fair elections
in the country, but they stand a very good chance of running a credible election if they
run it on the 10th," Harry Neuseld, director of the Atlanta-based Carter Center election-
observing mission in Guinea, told CNN on Wednesday.

Nonetheless, "there is a lot of hard work still ahead," Neuseld said.

Diallo won 43.7 percent of the first-round vote; Conde took 18.2 percent, according to
official figures.

Guinea has been ruled by a military junta since the death of Lansana Conte in
December 2008 ended his 24-year grip on power. Last September, security forces killed
more than 150 peaceful protesters and raped dozens more during a rally against
military rule, according to rights groups and the U.S. government.

Despite its reserves of gold, diamonds and bauxite -- the main ore of aluminum --
Guinea's 10 million people have a per capita GDP of just $1,000, according to CIA data.
--------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

Sierra Leone outlines priorities for national advancement in address to UN

23 September – Sierra Leone has made impressive advances to consolidate peace and
rebuild the economy in the wake of the end of its civil war, but the country still needs to
make further progress on human rights, corruption, drug trafficking and governance,
its President told the United Nations today.

UN hosts mini-summit on Somalia with calls for Government cohesion and more aid
23 September – Regional leaders met in a mini-summit on Somalia at United Nations
Headquarters in New York today with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urging the
Transitional Federal Government (TFG) to end its differences and deliver basic services,
and the international community to do more to support the fragile country.

Congolese leader calls for UN reform, including Security Council enlargement

23 September – President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
today called for United Nations reform to enlarge the 15-member Security Council and
strengthen the authority of the 192-member General Assembly.

Africa is ready for a ‘new beginning,’ Malawi tells UN debate

23 September – Africa is striving to transform itself politically and economically for the
benefit of its people, the chairman of the African Union (AU) told the General Assembly
today, saying leaders in the continent were working to eradicate hunger, disease and
poverty.

Kenya calls on Security Council to pay greater attention to conflict in Somalia

23 September – Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki today called on the Security Council to
abandon what he called its hands-off approach to Somalia and strengthen the African
peacekeeping force in the faction-torn country to counter the threat from Islamist
militants.