United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

22 December 2010

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

Ivory Coast Leader Insists He is Rightful President (Voice of America)

Ivory Coast incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo is insisting he is the true president of the
country, however he said he would be willing for an international committee to re-examine the
results.

US approves sanctions against Ivory Coast's Gbagbo (Associated Press)

(Ivory Coast) The United States approved travel sanctions on Laurent Gbagbo and 30
of his allies Tuesday as pressure mounted on the incumbent leader to step down
following last month's presidential election that the international community says he
lost.

West African Leaders to Hold Ivory Coast Summit (Voice of America)

(Ivory Coast) West African leaders plan to hold an emergency summit Friday to
discuss the political crisis in Ivory Coast.

South Welcomes Obama Push for Conduct of Referendum (Sudan Tribune)

(Sudan) Leading members of the regional government of south Sudan on Monday
welcomed call by United States of America president Barrack Hussein Obama on
regional leaders to support peaceful and timely conduct of a referendum on self
determination for the people of south Sudan.

U.S. targets Zimbabwe attorney general for sanctions (Reuters)

(Zimbabwe) The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Tuesday against
Zimbabwe's attorney general, Johannes Tomana, saying his actions undermined the
country's democratic institutions.

Canada silent as UN mobilizes against feared Christmas massacre in Congo (The

Globe and Mail)
(Congo) Fearing a Christmas attack for the third consecutive year, the United Nations
is mobilizing 900 peacekeepers to protect villages in Congo, and the United States has
promised its own action against the LRA.

Explosion at Kenya Bus Station Turns Deadly (Associated Press)

(Kenya) A bomb exploded at a downtown bus station in Kenya's capital late Monday
as passengers boarded a bus, killing at least one person and wounding up to 39 others,
police said. Suspicions centered on a Somali militant group.

Insurers Broaden Somali Pirate Threat Areas (Voice of America)

(Somalia) Marine insurance underwriters have expanded the areas considered at high
risk for Somali pirate attacks.

Is Congo's Army fighting for civilians or minerals? (Christian Science Monitor)

(Congo) Fighting between the Congolese army and the FDLR rebel group broke out a
week ago and has continued even now in the village of Busurungi and its neighboring
villages, located about 125 miles from the mining area of Walikale.

Interview: China can contribute to African economic growth: ADB official (Xinhua)
(Pan Africa) China, whose direct investment in Africa has increased a lot in recent
years, can contribute to the continent's economic growth, an official from the African
Development Bank (ADB) told Xinhua on Tuesday.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
 UN chief concerned over fighting in Darfur, deplores attacks on civilians
 Côte d’Ivoire: UN officials demand end to provocation and rights violations
 Thousands heading back to Southern Sudan ahead of independence vote – UN
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, January 6, 2011; Brookings Institution

WHAT: Waging Peace in Sudan: The Inside Story of the Comprehensive Peace
Agreement and the Prospects for Sudan’s Future
WHO: Hilde F. Johnson, author and former Minister of International Development of
Norway; Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ); Gayle Smith, National Security Council senior
director for development and democracy; Brookings Nonresident Senior Fellow Rich
Williamson
Info: https://www.cvent.com/EVENTS/Register/IdentityConfirmation.aspx?
e=998af087-00b2-4e56-a2b7-9e9b46877662

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday and Wednesday, February 8-9, 2011; National Defense

Industrial Association, Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington, DC
WHAT: Defense, Diplomacy, and Development: Translating Policy into Operational
Capability
WHO: Keynote Speakers include ADM Michael Mullen, USN, Chairman, Joint Chiefs
of Staff; BG Simon Hutchinson, GBR, Deputy Commander, NATO Special Operations
Forces Headquarters; ADM Eric T. Olson, USN, Commander, U.S. Special Operations
Command; Gen Norton A. Schwartz, USAF, Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force
Info: http://www.ndia.org/meetings/1880/Pages/default.aspx
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FULL ARTICLE TEXT

Ivory Coast Leader Insists He is Rightful President (Voice of America)

Ivory Coast incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo is insisting he is the true president of
the country, however he said he would be willing for an international committee to re-
examine the results.

In a speech broadcast on state television Tuesday, Mr. Gbagbo defied a global barrage
of criticism, saying he won the November election.

However, he said he did not want more bloodshed in his country and offered to allow
envoys from world powers, including the African Union, the United Nations and the
European Union, to form a panel to study the post-election crisis.

The international community has recognized Mr. Gbagbo's rival, Alassane

Ouattara, as victor of November's disputed poll.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned Tuesday that Ivory Coast faces “a real
risk” of return to civil war.

He accused forces loyal to Mr. Gbagbo of trying to blockade the U.N. mission there and
said the situation could become critical within days. He appealed to U.N. member states
to help supplies reach the mission, which is guarding a hotel serving as headquarters to
Mr. Ouattara.

The U.N. chief said there has been an alarming increase in violence in the past week and
said the United Nations has confirmed that mercenaries are being recruited from
neighboring countries.

The United Nations say more than 50 people have been killed in recent days in Ivory
Coast and says it has received hundreds of reports of people being abducted from their
homes by armed assailants in military uniforms.

On Monday, the United Nations extended its peacekeeping mission in Ivory Coast for
another six months, defying a demand from Mr. Gbagbo that the troops leave
immediately.
In another development, the United States Tuesday imposed travel sanctions against
Mr. Gbagbo and his supporters, following a similar move by the European Union on
Monday.
U.S. officials say the travel sanctions are only the opening move in an international
campaign that will steadily ratchet up the pressure on Mr. Gbagbo to accept the election
results and leave the country.

West African leaders plan to hold an emergency summit Friday to discuss the political
crisis in Ivory Coast. The Economic Community of West African States has already
recognized Mr. Ouattara as the winner of last month's election and called for the
Mr. Gbagbo to step down.

The U.N. refugee agency says the tension and instability have prompted about 6,000
Ivorians to flee to neighboring Liberia, with another 200 going to Guinea.

The presidential election was meant to restore stability to Ivory Coast, which is trying to
recover from a 2002 civil war that left it divided into rebel and government-controlled
areas

US approves sanctions against Ivory Coast's Gbagbo (Associated Press)

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — The United States approved travel sanctions on Laurent
Gbagbo and 30 of his allies Tuesday as pressure mounted on the incumbent leader to
step down following last month's presidential election that the international community
says he lost.

Meanwhile, the U.N. refugee agency said that some 6,200 people already have fled the
West African country's postelection violence, and regional leaders called on Gbagbo to
"yield power with dignity without further delay."

The rebuke from neighboring nations carries added weight because Gbagbo's
representatives have dismissed similar calls from former colonizer France and other
Western nations as foreign interference.

The regional bloc, ECOWAS, also said Gbagbo's weekend demand that thousands of
U.N. peacekeepers leave the volatile country "would further heighten tensions and
worsen the plight of the vulnerable."

The U.N. has certified Alassane Ouattara as the winner of the Nov. 28 vote, and Gbagbo
on Saturday ordered the nearly 9,000 U.N. peacekeepers leave immediately. The U.N.
has refused to do so, and a Security Council resolution adopted unanimously Monday
extended the force's mandate until June 30, 2011.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned Tuesday that Ivory Coast faces "a real
risk" of return to civil war.
He said the U.N. peacekeeping force in Ivory Coast has "confirmed that mercenaries,
including freelance former combatants from Liberia, have been recruited to target
certain groups in the population."

He said forces loyal to Gbagbo are also obstructing the movement of U.N. personnel
and their operations and called on member states to do what they can to supply the
U.N. mission.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has authorized travel sanctions against
members of Gbagbo's government, a U.S. official said Tuesday.

William Fitzgerald, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary for African affairs, said the move
initially concerns about 30 people, though he could not give their names, in accordance
with U.S. law. He said the travel sanctions take effect immediately.

The children and close family members of Gbagbo backers can also be deported from
the United States, for example if they are studying or interning there, he said. A senior
adviser to Gbagbo confirmed earlier this month that Gbagbo's stepdaughters — the
children of the first lady — are believed to be living in the Atlanta area.

There is also the further possibility of later trade sanctions against individuals,
Fitzgerald said.

"All options are open for the United States, African countries and European countries,"
he said, speaking in French in a conference call Tuesday. "Pressure will be increased in
the future. I can't say exactly what we are going to do."

Asked if a military option was possible, Fitzgerald repeated that "all options remain on
the table" but said that U.S. troops would "probably not" get involved.

A day earlier, the European Union said it would impose an assets freeze and a visa ban
on Gbagbo and his wife after a deadline for him to step down elapsed. Gbagbo spent
years as an expatriate in France.

Sanctions, though, have typically failed to reverse illegal power grabs in Africa in the
past.

Emile Guieroulou, Gbagbo's interior minister, said Monday that they were not
threatened by the prospect of sanctions.

"The president Laurent Gbagbo doesn't go to Europe on vacation, so it's not even a real
sanction," Guieroulou said. "Even if this costs us, we will not give in. It's the lives of the
people of Ivory Coast that count for us."
The U.N. says more than 50 people have been killed in recent days in Ivory Coast, and
that it has received hundreds of reports of people being abducted from their homes at
night by armed assailants in military uniforms. U.N. High Commissioner for Human
Rights Navi Pillay has cited growing evidence of "massive violations of human rights."

Amnesty International on Tuesday said that it has also received reports from
eyewitnesses of people being arrested or abducted, both at home and on the streets, by
security forces loyal to Gbagbo. In a report, the group said that bodies have been found
in morgues and on the streets, and that violence and intimidation has not been confined
to Abidjan.

"It is clear that more and more people are being illegally detained by security forces or
armed militiamen and we fear that many of them may have been killed or have
disappeared," said Salvatore Sagues, Amnesty International's West Africa researcher.

Fears also have risen that U.N. personnel and other foreigners could be targeted in
violence as tensions mount over the election. Over the weekend, masked gunmen
opened fire on the U.N. base in Ivory Coast, though no one from the global body was
harmed in the attack. Two military observers were wounded in another attack. The
U.N. also says armed men have been intimidating U.N. staff at their private homes.

Toussaint Alain, an adviser for Gbagbo, said he didn't believe soldiers or people close to
Gbagbo would carry out such acts.

"The U.N. is trying to manipulate public opinion and is looking for a pretext for a
military intervention," he told the AP in Paris. He blamed possible kidnappings on
supporters of Gbagbo's opponent, disguised in military uniforms.

The U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday that 6,000 people already have fled to Liberia
and another 200 to Guinea. UNHCR has been airlifting additional supplies to Liberia
and Guinea from its emergency stockpile in Copenhagen to be ready to help up to
30,000 refugees.

Ivory Coast was once an economic hub because of its role as the world's top cocoa
producer. A 2002-2003 civil war split the country into a rebel-controlled north and a
loyalist south. While the country officially reunited in a 2007 peace deal, Ouattara still
draws his support from the northern half of the country where he was born while
Gbagbo's power base is in the south.

Gbagbo claimed victory in the presidential election only after his allies threw out half a
million ballots from Ouattara strongholds in the north, a move that infuriated residents
there who have long felt they are treated as foreigners in their own country by
southerners.
------------------
West African Leaders to Hold Ivory Coast Summit (Voice of America)

West African leaders plan to hold an emergency summit Friday to discuss the political
crisis in Ivory Coast.

The Economic Community of West African States has already recognized Alassane
Ouattara as the winner of last month's election and called for the incumbent
Ivorian president, Laurent Gbagbo, to step down.

However, Mr. Gbagbo continues to cling to power in the face of increasing international
pressure.

On Monday, the European Union said it would impose financial and travel sanctions
against Mr. Gbagbo and 18 supporters.

The United Nations, meanwhile, extended its peacekeeping mission in Ivory Coast for
another six months, defying a demand from Mr. Gbagbo that the troops leave
immediately.

Earlier this week, U.N. officials said men in military uniforms had killed more than 50
people and kidnapped hundreds of others.

The U.N. refugee agency says the tension and instability have prompted about 6,000
Ivorians to flee to neighboring Liberia, with another 200 going to Guinea.

The presidential election was meant to restore stability to Ivory Coast, which is trying to
recover from a 2002 civil war that left it divided into rebel and government-controlled
areas.
------------------
South Welcomes Obama Push for Conduct of Referendum (Sudan Tribune)

Juba — Leading members of the regional government of south Sudan on Monday

welcomed call by United States of America president Barrack Hussein Obama on
regional leaders to support peaceful and timely conduct of a referendum on self
determination for the people of south Sudan.

Speaking to the Sudan Tribune in Juba, Barnaba Marial Benjamin, minister of

information and broadcasting services in the government of South Sudan said
initiatives being made by US government is the only way possible to bring peace to
Sudan.
"We in the government of south Sudan welcome this position because we believe that
timely conduct of referendum is the best choice and alternative to avoid a return to war
between the two regions," said Marial.

"America was of one the key active players during the on and off negotiations and was
one of the international actors who kept pressure on the two parties, a pressure which
played an important role in the signing of this peace deal and so has the responsibility
to ensure the same peace they supported is implemented," stressed the minister.

Under the 2005 peace deal dubbed as Comprehensive Peace Agreement, South Sudan
would hold an internationally monitored referendum on self-determination to decide
whether to remain part of united Sudan or choose to become one of the newest nations
on the African continent.

With less than three weeks left for eligible southern voters to go to the poll, president
Obama tries to mobilize Sudan's neighboring countries to put more pressure on
Khartoum to ensure the vote takes place on time and to respect the outcome of the
referendum.

"President Obama has made it clear that Sudan is one of the administration's top
priorities; we have a vision of hope, peace and prosperity for the people of Sudan," said
White House National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer, on Sunday.

The official spokesperson also confirmed that president Obama had written letters to a
number of leaders and heads of state in the region about the referendum and the
situation in Darfur.

The letters sent out sent to leaders of Libya, Egypt, Chad, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia,
South Africa, Nigeria and Rwanda, as well as to the African Union were of part of an
ongoing diplomatic push to emphasize the importance that Washington places on a
peaceful Sudan.

Some senior government officials in the south accused President Omer Hassan Al-
Bashir and his ruling National Congress Party of plotting to disrupt the vote to keep
control of oil fields in the south.
------------------
U.S. targets Zimbabwe attorney general for sanctions (Reuters)

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Tuesday

against Zimbabwe's attorney general, Johannes Tomana, saying his actions undermined
the country's democratic institutions.

"(His) targeting of selected political opponents threatens the rule of law in Zimbabwe,
harms the integrity of the government ... and counters the will of Zimbabwean people
who have expressed their desire to build a democratic society," said Adam Szubin,
director of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control.

The sanctions mean that U.S. citizens cannot engage in any transactions with Tomana
and any assets he has within U.S. jurisdiction are frozen.

Relations between the United States and Zimbabwe have soured in recent years, with
Washington accusing President Robert Mugabe's government of human rights abuses
and of rigging elections since 2000.

Treasury said Tomana, appointed by Mugabe, "has selectively prosecuted political

opponents and their perceived supporters in an effort to undermine Zimbabwe's
democratic processes and institutions."
------------------
Canada silent as UN mobilizes against feared Christmas massacre in Congo (The
Globe and Mail)

It has become a grim Christmas ritual: hundreds of innocent civilians massacred in

remote corners of Africa by the Lord’s Resistance Army, one of the world’s cruellest
and bloodiest guerrilla forces.

Now, fearing a Christmas attack for the third consecutive year, the United Nations is
mobilizing 900 peacekeepers to protect villages in Congo, and the United States has
promised its own action against the LRA.

Map of Lord's Resistance Army attacks But activists are calling for a much stronger
response to prevent another wave of gruesome attacks by LRA fighters, who routinely
kidnap, rape, torture and mutilate their victims. More than 1,000 adults and children
were killed by the LRA in the days around Christmas in 2008 and 2009, while hundreds
more were kidnapped and conscripted into the rebel army.

The mysterious rebel cult, whose ideological and religious beliefs are still unclear, has
rampaged across four African countries in the past two years, targeting the most remote
regions where villagers have no protection from their assaults. It specializes in
kidnapping children, brainwashing them and turning them into killers.

In northern Uganda, where the LRA was born two decades ago, the rebels cut off the
lips or ears of more than 5,000 people, according to a government registry of the
victims. The LRA was finally chased out of Uganda in a military offensive in 2008, but
since then it has roamed across northern Congo, southern Sudan and the Central
African Republic, causing devastation everywhere. It has launched more than 240
attacks this year alone.
The rebels are believed to have killed at least 2,300 people and kidnapped 3,000 during
the past two years, forcing 400,000 civilians to flee their homes. Its leader, Joseph Kony,
is the subject of an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court.

“It is unbelievable that world leaders continue to tolerate brutal violence against some
of the most isolated villages in central Africa, and that this has been allowed to continue
for more than 20 years,” said Marcel Stoessel, head of the Congo office of Oxfam, one of
19 humanitarian and human-rights groups that issued a report this month calling for
tougher action against the LRA.

“This Christmas, families in northeastern Congo will live in fear of yet another
massacre, despite the presence of the world’s largest peacekeeping mission,” he said.

The LRA has emerged as a classic test of the “right to protect” doctrine, championed by
former Canadian foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy and others. The concept of “right to
protect” suggests that the international community has the right to intervene in
sovereign states to prevent atrocities and protect civilians. Canada took a leading role in
pushing the concept and getting it adopted at a world summit in 2005 after the furor
over the UN’s failure to act during massacres in Rwanda and Kosovo in the 1990s. But
the concept was dropped when Stephen Harper became prime minister in 2006.

Supporters of the “right to protect” concept argue that Canada should do more to
pursue the LRA, perhaps by contributing more troops to the UN mission in Congo,
where the past two Christmas attacks took place, or by putting pressure on countries
such as Sudan that are suspected of giving covert shelter to the LRA.

Last month, U.S. President Barack Obama unveiled a multimillion-dollar strategy for
destroying the LRA. The strategy says the United States will provide “logistical,
operational and intelligence assistance” to national armies – primarily those of Uganda
and Congo – in their battle against the LRA. But a similar attempt in December, 2008,
with the U.S. providing military advisers and supplies for a Ugandan military
campaign called “Lightning Thunder,” failed to defeat the LRA and simply pushed it
deeper into the jungle.

Kyle Matthews, lead researcher for the Will to Intervene Project at the Montreal
Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies at Concordia University, believes that
Canada could do more to support Mr. Obama’s strategy against the LRA. “Canada is
completely absent from this discussion,” he said. “Canadian citizens and voters must
ask, ‘Where is Ottawa’s will to intervene to protect women and children from predatory
violence?’”

Canadian Senator Roméo Dallaire, a former lieutenant-general who commanded the

UN force in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide, warned that there is an “imminent
threat” of further massacres by the LRA this month. He joined a group of former high-
ranking diplomats and UN officials in calling for a stronger strategy against the rebel
army.

“How many lives must be lost and destroyed before the international community
agrees to take the threat seriously and act?” Mr. Dallaire said.
------------------
Explosion at Kenya Bus Station Turns Deadly (Associated Press)

NAIROBI — A bomb exploded at a downtown bus station in Kenya's capital late

Monday as passengers boarded a bus, killing at least one person and wounding up to
39 others, police said. Suspicions centered on a Somali militant group.

The person who was killed was carrying a piece of luggage that contained the bomb,
police commissioner Mathew K. Iteere said. It was not immediately clear if it was a
suicide attack, Mr. Iteere said.

Most of the wounded were Ugandans traveling home for Christmas, Red Cross official
Nelly Muluka said.

Al-Shabab, Somalia's most dangerous militant group, has threatened to carry out more
attacks on Uganda and Burundi, the two nations that contribute troops to the 8,000-
strong African Union force in Mogadishu, Somalia's capital. Twin bombings in July in
Uganda claimed by al-Shabab killed 76.

A security official in Nairobi said Uganda and Burundi have been on high alert since
early November that they would be targeted by al-Shabab. The official spoke on
condition of anonymity because he was not permitted by his organization to be
identified.

Ms. Muluka put the toll of people wounded at 39. Mr. Iteere said one person was killed
and 26 wounded.

The explosion took place just as people were boarding a bus line called the Kampala
Coach, a line that serves major cities in East Africa, including the capital of Uganda,
Kampala. Windows in the front of the bus were shattered but the bus did not sustain
major structural damage.

Mr. Iteere said the explosion happened just as the person carrying the luggage was
about to be screened. It is common in Kenya to screen passengers for weapons that
could be used to carry out potential hijackings in rural areas.

"I felt like I was hit by an electric shock," said Jack Wachira, 49, who escorted a friend to
the bus station. "When the particles hit my leg, I thought I stepped on electrical wires.
Then I heard the explosion."
Vincent Sekatte, a police spokesman in Uganda, said that threats against his country
"have been on for some time."

"The terrorists have always threatened to hit during Christmas season. Tomorrow we
are issuing a serious warning to the public about the threats," Mr. Sekatte said.
------------------
Insurers Broaden Somali Pirate Threat Areas (Voice of America)

Marine insurance underwriters have expanded the areas considered at high risk for
Somali pirate attacks.

The London-based Lloyds Market Association has added sections of the Indian Ocean,
Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, and Red Sea to its list of high-risk waterways
for ships.

Analysts say the move, announced late last week, is likely to raise insurance costs for
commercial vessels passing anywhere near Somalia.

In the past couple of months, pirates have struck as far south as the Tanzania-
Mozambique border and as far east as waters near India.

Foreign navies are patrolling Somali coastal areas but pirates are sidestepping the
patrols by using well-equipped “mother ships” that can travel thousands of kilometers
out to sea.

Estimates vary, but Somali pirates are believed to be holding more than 20 ships and
more than 500 hostages. The pirates often get multi-million dollar ransoms for the
release of a ship and its crew.
------------------
Is Congo's Army fighting for civilians or minerals? (Christian Science Monitor)

Fighting between the Congolese army and the FDLR rebel group broke out a week ago
and has continued even now in the village of Busurungi and its neighboring villages,
located about 125 miles from the mining area of Walikale. The violence prompted
thousands of civilians to flee south towards the towns of Hombo and Otobora, a two
days’ walk away. Civil society in Walikale indicated that people even as far away as the
town of Zirhalo in South Kivu were displaced because of heavy weapon detonations.

Congolese army spokesperson Maj. Sylvester Ekenge recently told a local radio station
that North and South Kivu based army units have increased pressure on the FDLR as
part of the second phase of Amani Leo military operations that have been underway,
under various names, since early 2009.
Congo military operations have been very controversial as Congolese army officers
either struck alliances with the FDLR and Mai-Mai groups, or simply pushed them out,
and took over the mines. A total of 45 brigades have been sent out to track down and
suppress Rwandan FDLR and Ugandan ADF/NALU combatants since early 2009.
However, commanding officers of the operations, most of which are ex-CNDP, went
straight for the highly lucrative minerals all over eastern Congo, as noted in the recent
Enough field dispatch “Behind the Ban: An Update from Eastern Congo.”

So what prompted the recent outbreak of fighting? Busurungi and villages around it, as
well as Kimua forest, where the FDLR keeps its Walikale HQ, are known for their gold
and cassiterite mines, which have been under FDLR control since the early 2000s. So it
should come as no surprise that the area where the fighting broke out this week is
precisely where the FDLR continues to control mines. As the UN experts describe this
in their recent report, the Congolese army is “is more focused on profiting from natural
resources than on dealing with armed groups.”

Since Rwanda and Congo launched secretly brokered joint military operations “Umoja
Wetu” against the FDLR in early 2009, they have been rebaptized Kimia I, Kimia II,
Amani Leo Phase I, and Amani Leo Phase II without rethinking the whole strategy. For
instance, while Congolese President Joseph Kabila instituted a ban on minerals exports
with the stated aim of curbing the mafia-like exploitation of the minerals trade, a BBC
investigative report that aired in early November alleged personal links between Congo
army force commander Gen. Gabriel Amisi Kumba Yala’s (aka “Tango Four”) and
Walikale gold mines. Over one month later, the president still hasn’t addressed the
scandal, despite his “zero tolerance policy.”

The Congolese army’s operations against the FDLR are little more than a poorly veiled
rationalization for forcing the FDLR out of eastern Congo’s mining areas. To be sure, a
militia like the FDLR should be cut off from mineral-rich areas, but it’s little consolation
to know that the Congolese army – with its abominable record of committing atrocities
as well – is coming in to fill the void. As usual, civilians in the area pay the steepest
price for this struggle over who will control the resources and wealth.
------------------
Interview: China can contribute to African economic growth: ADB official (Xinhua)

China, whose direct investment in Africa has increased a lot in recent years, can
contribute to the continent's economic growth, an official from the African
Development Bank (ADB) told Xinhua on Tuesday.

"For China, Africa is a lever which can help expand its buoyant economic activity,
however, the continent is also taking advantage of its strong partnership with China
which in turn is likely to contribute to the continent's strong and sustained economic
growth, " Director of Research and Development at the ADB Leonce Ndikumana said.
The ADB official said from 2000 to 2008, Africa was one of the world's fastest growing
economies with an average growth rate of 5. 7 percent.

However, the growth was interrupted in 2009, Ndikumana said, citing that Botswana's
GDP in 2009 experienced a 7.3 percent drop compared to 2008, and Angola's growth
rate dropped from the 14 percent in 2008 to minus 0.6 percent in 2009.

The official noted countries that have relations with BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia,
China and India), especially with China and India, recorded sustained growth during
the crisis or could recover quickly.

More than 35 African countries have signed infrastructure financing agreements with
China, the official added.

Talking about the African economy in 2010 and the next few years, Ndikumana said
some African countries' plans have shown their efficiency.

However, given the fragility of the global economic recovery, African countries should
further stimulate growth and attract more foreign direct investments, said Ndikumana.
------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

UN chief concerned over fighting in Darfur, deplores attacks on civilians

21 December – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today voiced concern over clashes
between Sudan’s Government troops and forces of one of the armed groups active in
the country’s troubled western region of Darfur, noting that fighting has included
attacks on civilians.

Côte d’Ivoire: UN officials demand end to provocation and rights violations

21 December – The United Nations peacekeeping chief today urged Côte d’Ivoire’s
outgoing president Laurent Gbagbo, who has refused to concede defeat after the recent
elections, and his supporters to refrain from acts of provocation against peacekeepers
and to stop human rights violations.

Thousands heading back to Southern Sudan ahead of independence vote – UN

21 December – With the referendum on independence for Southern Sudan just weeks
away, the United Nations refugee agency reported today that thousands of southerners
living in the north are heading back by road, rail, barge and plane in both organized
and spontaneous returns.