United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

19 January 2011

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

U.S. Army Africa commander builds relationships in West Africa (US Army Africa)
(West Africa) Maj. Gen. David R. Hogg, commander, U.S. Army Africa, traveled to
Ghana, Togo and Benin to visit with key military leaders and land force commanders
Jan. 10-14 during his latest Senior Leader Engagement (SLE) excursion.

Critics Contend US Should Offer Stronger Support to Tunisians (Voice of America)

(Tunisia) Youth, rising up against a dictator and toppling the government in the span
of a few short weeks in Tunisia as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in the
region to advance political, economic, and social reform across the region. Some critics
have been asking why the U.S. did not seize the moment and offer stronger support to
the Tunisians?

Unity Government in Tunisia Fractured by Resignations (New York Times)

(Tunisia) The new unity government was showing strains practically from the moment
it was sworn in on Monday, with new protests focused on its links to the former
president, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.

Opposition leader held in Sudan after uprising call (The Independent)

(Sudan) An influential opposition leader in Sudan has been arrested after calling for a
Tunisian-style "popular uprising" to topple the long-standing regime of President Omar
al-Bashir.

US suspends Peace Corps in Niger over security (Associated Press)

(Niger) The Peace Corps has suspended its operations in Niger and evacuated its
workers from the west African nation due to security concerns following the
kidnapping and murder of two French citizens claimed by an al-Qaida affiliate.

U.S. Fears Valencia Uranium Fuels Iran (The Namibian)

(Namibia) The United States asked the Canadian government to intervene in a
multimillion-dollar deal involving the Valencia uranium project in 2009, because the
super power feared Namibian uranium would find its way to Iran to help fuel the
country's nuclear programme, US diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks have
revealed.
Speed up the creation of African Union standby force (Business Daily)
(Pan Africa) The creation of peacekeeping standby forces is something African states
had committed to do by the end of 2010. Unfortunately, that commitment was not
followed up by concrete action.

As Ivory Coast stalemate worsens, so do the chances of military intervention

(Christian Science Monitor)
(Ivory Coast) Military intervention is the question now being discussed all over West
Africa, actually. In December, ECOWAS – the 15-country union of West African states
– signed off on "the use of legitimate force" to remove Gbagbo if the former history
professer can't pick a sunny spot in Nice or Nigeria to while away his retirement.

Pirates seized record 1,181 hostages in 2010 - report (BBC)

(Pan Africa) Pirates took a record 1,181 hostages in 2010, despite increased patrolling of
the seas, a maritime watchdog has said.

Luxembourg gives large aid package to Burkina Faso (Associated Press)

(Burkina Faso) An official from tiny Luxembourg says the country will invest a large
sum in Burkina Faso to help alleviate poverty in the landlocked West African nation.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
 UN envoy urges calm after violence in Sudan’s West Darfur
 Security Council welcomes ‘peaceful’ end of voting in South Sudan’s referendum
 Tunisia: Ban makes new appeal for end to violence, calls for credible elections
 Côte d’Ivoire: Gbagbo loyalists shoot at UN patrol in mounting aggression
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Friday, January 21, 2011; Council on Foreign Relations

WHAT: Separating Sudan
WHO: Francis Deng, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the Prevention of
Genocide, United Nations; Richard Williamson, Principal, Salisbury Strategies, LLP;
Senior Fellow, Chicago Council on Global Affairs; Nonresident Senior Fellow,
Brookings Institution; Peter M. Lewis, Director, African Studies Program, Paul H. Nitze
School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University
Info: http://www.cfr.org/

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, January 25, 2011, 12:00; Elliott School of International

Affairs, George Washington University
WHAT: Tunisia: Protests and Prospects for Change
WHO: Christopher Alexander, Associate Professor of Political Science, Dean Rusk
International Studies Program; Associate Dean for International Programs, Davidson
College; John P. Entelis, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Middle East
Studies Program, Fordham University
Info: http://www.elliottschool.org/events/calendar.cfm?
fuseaction=ViewMonthDetail&yr=2011&mon=1

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, January 25, 2011, 6:30 pm; Elliott School of International
Affairs, George Washington University
WHAT: The Referendum in Southern Sudan
WHO: Jendayi Frazer, Distinguished Public Service Professor; Director, Center for
International Policy and Innovation, Carnegie Mellon University; Former U.S. Assistant
Secretary of State for African Affairs (2005-2009)
Info: http://www.elliottschool.org/events/calendar.cfm?
fuseaction=ViewMonthDetail&yr=2011&mon=1#1402

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

U.S. Army Africa commander builds relationships in West Africa (US Army Africa)

VICENZA, Italy — Maj. Gen. David R. Hogg, commander, U.S. Army Africa, traveled
to Ghana, Togo and Benin to visit with key military leaders and land force commanders
Jan. 10-14 during his latest Senior Leader Engagement (SLE) excursion.

Hogg spent the week visiting with key leaders in all three West African nations and
toured the peace keeping training facility in Togo for a first-hand look at the capabilities
of their land forces.

“These meetings are important for us to build rapport with the leadership of these
nations and to help facilitate interoperability which will, one hopes, build stronger
relationships leading to peace and stability,” Hogg said.

The SLE program provides an opportunity for USARAF to cultivate relationships and
get a common understanding of what these national armies do, and it helps them
understand what we do, Hogg added.
Forces in the three West African nations are involved in a variety of activities that range
from peace keeping operations to humanitarian assistance. To aid in these missions and
the professional development of their forces, all of the leaders expressed a need for
more equipment and more professional education.

“While I can’t help by providing equipment,” Hogg said, “I can determine what the
soldiers need and work with the State Department to provide the necessary funding.”

When it comes to professional schools, Hogg said the U.S. is more than willing to
provide spaces for capable officers to attend a variety of U.S. military schools.

The benefit is really twofold, Hogg said. It provides their army with a professionally
trained officer, and provides the U.S. military the opportunity to build on the
relationships with that nation.

Brig. Gen. Dominique Ahouandijinou, Beninese army chief of staff, was anxious to
accept Hogg’s offer of education for his officers.

“This would be a great opportunity to work together to build a more modern and
professional force,” he said.

Benin is one of the smallest nations in West Africa and has had limited partnerships to
date with the U.S. Hogg said he hopes to expand on the relationship with not only
Benin, but Togo and Ghana through exercises and a variety of training classes.

In addition to meeting with military leaders, Hogg toured the Peace Keeping
Operations (PKO) training center in Togo. The largest PKO missions in the world are in
Africa, and all three nations visited allocate almost one quarter of their soldiers to a
variety of missions on the continent. The goal of these centers is to certify soldiers in a
variety of United Nations peace keeping operations tasks.

“It is necessary that our troops are well trained,” said the commander of the Togolese
PKO training center. “We are involved in many peace keeping operations, and the
reason this center is here is so that our troops can act with professionalism.”

The goal of the PKO center in Togo is to become a regional center for enlisted soldiers
throughout West Africa, he said.

That regional focus is also a priority focus of the USARAF mission.

“Every army in Africa is different and they all have different capabilities,” Hogg said.
“By bringing them together during exercises and training opportunities it will increase
their capabilities and provide security and stability in the region.”
------------------
Critics Contend US Should Offer Stronger Support to Tunisians (Voice of America)

It is unprecedented in the Arab world and the seeming answer to a U.S. prayer - youth,
rising up against a dictator and toppling the government in the span of a few short
weeks. This happened in Tunisia as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in the
region to advance political, economic, and social reform across the region. Some critics
have been asking why the U.S. did not seize the moment and offer stronger support to
the Tunisians?

Stephen Zunes, a professor of Politics and chairman of Middle East Studies at the
University of San Francisco, says he believes the United States may have missed an
opportunity.

VOA's Cecily Hilleary speaks with Stephen Zunes:

Stephen Zunes, professor of Politics and chairman of Middle East Studies at the
University of San Francisco
Zunes: I think the main problem is that there has long been a double standard, under
both Republican and Democratic (U.S.) administrations, of looking the other way when
the dictatorship happens to be a U.S. ally; that while we gave certain moral support to
uprisings such as in Burma and Iran in recent years and even a limited amount of
financial support to opposition groups in countries like Serbia and Ukraine.

When it comes to authoritarian regimes that have historically been allied to the United
States, such as Tunisia, concern about human rights has tended to take second place to
various economic and strategic concerns.

Hilleary: What is the U.S. rationale here?

Zunes: I think in many ways, it’s classic realpolitik. But in the Middle East, of course,
there’s particular concern about radical Islamist groups that have challenged pro-
Western regimes. In the case of Tunisia, where the hardline Islamists are probably
weaker than in almost any other Arab country, this rationalization seems particular
thin.

Hilleary: So you’re saying that because Tunisia is a secular society, the United States
was happy with the status quo. Is it that simple?

Zunes: Not just secular, but of course pro-Western. They had generally cooperated with
the United States in the so-called war on terror. They had generally followed the
dictates of the International Monetary Fund in terms of structural adjustment and other
economic policies, along with a neo-liberal consensus.
And while there were some concerns about the level of corruption and some human
rights matters, they were not taken seriously enough to alter generally good relations.
In fact, Tunisia was one of only five countries - the others being Israel, Egypt, Jordan
and Columbia - that received direct U.S. security assistance through the regular Foreign
Appropriations Bill.

Hilleary: Last week, while she was in Qatar, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Al
Arabiya Television that the U.S. would not be taking sides in the escalating Tunisian
conflict. Critics accuse the U.S. of being “tone deaf,” of dropping the ball. President
Obama came out last week praising what he called the “courage” and “bravery” of the
activists in Tunisia. Was his statement, in your opinion, strong enough?

Zunes: It may be too little, too late in certain ways. But at the same time, what’s
significant about this transition in U.S. policy just in the past week, is there’s long been a
sense of fatalism in the Arab world - that they are simply victims of outside forces.

And the shift in U.S. policy from supporting the Tunisian dictatorship to supporting the
pro-Democracy forces, I think it sends an important message: That rather than
Washington’s policies controlling events impacting the Arab street, the Arab street has
impacted Washington’s policy.
------------------
Unity Government in Tunisia Fractured by Resignations (New York Times)

As the leaders of the established opposition parties renounced the unity government,
the revolutionary passions unleashed across the region continued to reverberate, as two
more men in Egypt set themselves ablaze on Tuesday and a third was stopped before
he could do so. Those self-immolations followed six others, all in apparent imitation of
the one that set off the Tunisian uprising a month ago.

The new unity government was showing strains practically from the moment it was
sworn in on Monday, with new protests focused on its links to the former president,
Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.

In a radio interview on Tuesday, Mr. Ghannouchi insisted that ministers in the new
government carried over from the former regime “have clean hands and great
competence.”

Protesters — previously focused on ousting Mr. Ben Ali — marched on the

headquarters of the Progressive Democratic Party, the biggest legal opposition party,
demanding that it pull out of the unity government. Inside, party leaders struggled to
mollify their members. “You sympathize with the current government,” one woman
shouted. “How are you supposed to represent the people?”
Elsewhere, protesters focused their anger on the police, in a series of confrontations that
left the city littered with tear gas canisters and debris. As hundreds of people marched
on Boulevard Bourguiba and in the surrounding streets, police officers surged toward
them on motorcycles wielding truncheons and beat several protesters.

In interviews, many of the protesters said they were independents who marched to
preserve the ideals of the uprising that caused Mr. Ben Ali to flee the country. Some had
come from outside of Tunis to demand deeper change in the government.

“I came because Mohammed Ghannouchi cannot reflect the reality of the revolution,”
said Zaafourny Adel, a 23-year-old student. Calling himself “anti-Islamist,” Mr. Adel
said it was important that Islamists, along with Communists and other excluded
groups, join any governing slate.

The political turmoil in Tunisia emerged against a backdrop of gruesome protests

around the region. On Monday, an Egyptian and a Mauritanian became the fifth and
sixth North Africans to burn themselves.

On Tuesday, security officials in Cairo said another man, seemingly inspired by events
in Tunisia, set himself on fire outside the prime minister’s office in Cairo, while another
Egyptian, 25 years old and unemployed, did the same on the roof of his building in
Alexandria. The Alexandria man, Ahmed Hashem El Sayyid, died of his burns after
being rushed to a hospital in critical condition, security officials said.

Reuters said the man in Cairo was a 40-year-old lawyer named Mohamed Farouk
Hassan who shouted slogans against rising prices before setting himself alight. He was
hospitalized and his medical condition remains unclear. A third man, a retired
government employee, was arrested in front of the Egyptian Parliament carrying two
canisters of gasoline with which he was thought to be planning to set himself on fire.

Outside the Parliament building in downtown Cairo on Monday, Abdo Abdel Moneim,
a 50-year-old restaurant owner, poured a gallon of gasoline over his head and set
himself ablaze.

In Mauritania around the same time, Yacoub Ould Dahoud was setting fire to himself in
his parked car near Parliament in Nouakchott.

And on Sunday, Senouci Touat of Mostaganem, Algeria, 34 and unemployed, set

himself on fire in his hometown, the fourth attempted self-immolation in his country
since the Tunisian street revolt exploded in furious demonstrations in recent days.

In Tunis, the fight was far from over.

Anger over the newly formed unity government has been building. On Monday, more
than 1,000 protesters swarmed once again onto the city’s main artery, Bourguiba
Boulevard, in what they described as an effort to sustain their revolution. They raged
against the domination of the new cabinet by members of the ousted president’s ruling
party. “Citizens and martyrs, the government is still the same,” they chanted. “We will
protest, we will protest, until the government collapses!”

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Ghannouchi, speaking to the French Europe 1 broadcaster

while struggling to convince protesters in the streets that the unity cabinet would
oversee a real transition after the bloodshed of the uprising, promised that “all those
who initiated this massacre, this carnage, will be brought to justice.”

He insisted that the army had not fired live rounds since a state of emergency was
declared shortly before Mr. Ben Ali fled into exile in Saudi Arabia on Friday. “My first
instruction to the security forces was to not fire on the population,” Mr. Ghannouchi
said. “You can use tear gas or rubber bullets. It is better to pay with our lives rather
than create carnage.”

“Today,” he said, “there is a new era of liberty, which you can see on the television, in
the street, a new spirit completely different from what prevailed in the past.”

But he declined to say whether the new government would seek to bring Mr. Ben Ali to
trial, deflecting the question by blaming the self-enrichment of his entourage — an
apparent reference to the former president’s wife and her relatives. “They will have a
fair trial,” Mr. Ghannouchi said. “And if they are guilty, they will be brought to justice.”

On the streets Monday, protesters called for the complete eradication of the old ruling
party, while complaining that outlawed parties like the once powerful Islamist groups
or the Tunisian Communists — battle-scarred stalwarts of the long dissident fight
against Mr. Ben Ali’s 23-year-rule — were still barred from participating.

“Nothing has changed,” said Mohamed Cherni, 47, a teacher who said he had been
tortured by Mr. Ben Ali’s police force. “It is still the same regime as before, and so we
are going to keep fighting.”

But it was not clear exactly who spoke for the street protesters, and the old guard of the
opposition struggled to convince protesters that the new government would implant
democracy while maintaining basic order and governance. It was not going to be an
easy task in a new government in which Mr. Ghannouchi and the newly named
ministers of interior, foreign affairs, defense and finance were all members of the ruling
party.

Around folding tables in a run-down office a few flights up from the throngs in the
streets, Ahmed Najib Chebbi, leader of the largest and most credible legal opposition
party, the Progressive Democratic Party, tried to his sell his members on the unity
government. Like other opposition leaders, Mr. Chebbi had received a relatively minor
post, secretary of regional economic development.

As he urged patience, an angry party veteran wearing a suit and tie shouted Mr. Chebbi
down. “The people, who bled and died for us and our children, need to decide!” the
man said, accusing Mr. Chebbi of settling too cheaply for a partnership with a prime
minister whom he accused of complicity in murder under Mr. Ben Ali.

“How can the murderer be our leader today?” Several around the room cried, while Mr.
Chebbi sat solemnly resting his chin in his hand.

Opposition leaders included in the new government said the revolution had collided
with reality. After 23 years of Mr. Ben Ali’s one-party dictatorship, it was impossible to
find qualified officials outside the party who could take the reins of government quickly
enough to stabilize the country and hold free elections.

The government, meanwhile, scrambled for credibility. Mr. Ghannouchi declared the
end of Tunisia’s suffocating propaganda and censorship machine. He pledged to release
all political prisoners and to recognize the banned Communist and Islamic parties, as
well as hold free, internationally monitored elections within six months.

Separately, in an extraordinary televised plea for calm — in the Ben Ali government,
officials never explained themselves — the interior minister offered a public accounting
of the death toll so far in the month of protests, including 78 demonstrators dead and
nearly 100 wounded, along with unspecified additional police casualties. He said the
unrest had cost the Tunisian economy more than $2 billion.

The Tunisian revolution began in the hard-pressed provinces with demands for more
jobs, especially for Tunisia’s soaring number of young college graduates, nearly a third
of whom are estimated to be unemployed or seriously underemployed. It spread to the
workers, small business owners and the coastal professional class as a revolt mainly
against the flagrant corruption associated with Mr. Ben Ali’s family.

But on Monday, the protesters in the streets appeared more working-class, including
some hardened, veteran dissenters abused by Mr. Ben Ali’s government.

As exiled leaders of the once thriving Islamic political party here raced home, Tunisians
debated what to do with the Islamist parties. But the prime minister, Mr. Ghannouchi,
suggested in a radio interview that an amnesty law would be needed to void life prison
sentences against prominent Islamists before the exiles could return.
------------------
Opposition leader held in Sudan after uprising call (The Independent)
An influential opposition leader in Sudan has been arrested after calling for a Tunisian-
style "popular uprising" to topple the long-standing regime of President Omar al-
Bashir.

The call by veteran Islamist Hassan al-Turabi highlighted the precariousness of the
Bashir government which is beset by a downward spiralling economy and the
overwhelming vote by the south of the country to form a new independent nation.

Mr Turabi was the ideological force behind the Islamist coup that brought General
Bashir to power in 1989. He has long envisaged the creation of a hardline Islamic state,
but the two men fell out in a power struggle a decade later.

They have also been divided by the conflict in Darfur which saw the President indicted
by the International Criminal Court for war crimes. Mr Turabi has a strong support
base in Darfur and links to one of the main rebel groups there, the Justice and Equality
Movement.

There is mounting speculation in Sudan that Mr Bashir's days in power in Khartoum

could be numbered. The support base of the ruling National Congress Party has been
eroded by the economic woes of a country reeling from international sanctions and
sharp increases in the cost of living.

While some opposition figures in the north of Sudan have blamed Mr Bashir for the loss
of the south – which appears to have voted to separate in a referendum held last week –
it's the sharp rises in the cost of essentials such as bread and fuel that have led to street
protests in Khartoum. Austerity measures in the face of foreign currency controls and
sudden spikes in the cost of commodities have drawn student protests and demands for
the resignation of officials.

The Tunisian president, Ben Ali, was forced into exile on Friday after three weeks of
escalating street protests over government corruption, political cronyism, food prices
and other social problems. Mr Turabi, who was arrested at night, had sought to tap into
a similar vein of discontent in Sudan.

Rather than violent revolution on the streets of Khartoum it has been economic
bungling that has tended to lead to regime change in Sudan.

"Historically most governments of south Sudan have fallen over the price of bread,"
said John Ryle, Sudan expert and director of the Rift Valley Institute.

With a host of recent setbacks for Mr Bashir, some observers believe the former
general's grip on power may be fatally weakened.
"He already has the asterisk next to his name that he ruined the economy; now he has a
second asterisk as the man who lost the south," said one Khartoum diplomat.
------------------
US suspends Peace Corps in Niger over security (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON – The Peace Corps has suspended its operations in Niger and
evacuated its workers from the west African nation due to security concerns following
the kidnapping and murder of two French citizens claimed by an al-Qaida affiliate.

The Peace Corps said Tuesday that all 98 of its Niger-based volunteers are safe and are
now in another country. The move marks the first time the agency has halted its
programs in Niger since it started working there in 1962. It said it would review safety
and security in the country before restarting its work there.

The suspension came after a purported spokesman for al-Qaida's North Africa branch,
al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (mah-GREBB), claimed responsibility last week for
kidnapping the two Frenchmen who later died during a failed rescue attempt.
------------------
U.S. Fears Valencia Uranium Fuels Iran (The Namibian)

The United States asked the Canadian government to intervene in a multimillion-dollar

deal involving the Valencia uranium project in 2009, because the super power feared
Namibian uranium would find its way to Iran to help fuel the country's nuclear
programme, US diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks have revealed.

US concerns were sparked when Belgium conglomerate George Forrest International

(GFI) offered US$526 million to buy the Canadian company, Forsys Metals Corporation,
owner of the Valencia uranium project near Rössing. Valencia is expected to start
producing uranium oxide in 2012 and has a lifespan of 17 years.

In August 2009, the US sent a cable, called 'Preventing Forsys Metals pending sale to
George Forrest International due to GFI's Iranian ties', to Canada. The US State
Department's senior international-security and nuclear-proliferation official, Deputy
Assistant Secretary of State Vann H Van Diepen, classified the cable as "secret".

In the cable, published on Sunday by Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, the US said it

was concerned about the pending sale "given GFI's ongoing discussions with senior
Iranian officials possibly related to Iran's efforts to acquire uranium ore".

It wanted "to encourage the GOC [Government of Canada] to vigorously investigate

this matter as soon as possible and (if needed and possible under Canadian law) halt
the sale until its investigation is complete".
Van Diepen mentioned Valencia by name, saying that Forsys Metals "plans to sell this
project to Belgium's George Forrest International by mid-August [2009]".

"We have information that links GFI to ongoing discussions with senior Iranian
officials. These discussions may be related to Iran's efforts to acquire additional
uranium ore," Van Diepen said, offering to give "the original intelligence information
that led to this demarche" to the Canadian Intelligence Service.

"The United States has serious concerns that GFI may intend to contravene prohibitions
required by the UN Security Council Resolutions," Van Diepen said.

"We ask that you promise to investigate this time-sensitive matter as it relates to Forsys
Metals ... We will be interested in whatever investigative results you are able to share
with us," he said.

A classified response sent by the US embassy in Ottawa said Canada shared the US
concerns about the Valencia sale.

It quoted the Canadian Director of Foreign Intelligence, John Di Gangi, as saying that
various Canadian deputy ministers, as well as the Canadian Police, Border Services
Agency and Security and Intelligence Service met twice "to discuss the implications for
Canadian national security and the options Canada has for upholding its international
obligations to combat Iranian proliferation".

The cable referred to a new law allowing the Canadian government to veto proposed
acquisitions of Canadian companies on national security grounds. However, Canada
was "in unchartered waters" since the law was so new, the correspondence stated.

"Di Gangi cautioned that Canada was now trying to determine whether the new
legislation would indeed permit the government to veto the sale, since the acquiring
company was not Iranian but was only contemplating doing business with Iran in
furthering its nuclear weapons capability," the cable continued.

Di Gangi and Canada's Director for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament in the
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Andre Francois Giroux,
thanked the US for the offer to share the demarche, saying "it would serve as an action
forcing event for senior officials and provide ministers with a plausible reason - aside
from the actual intelligence we have shared - that could potentially allow them to quash
the sale".

Di Gangi pointed out that, according to Canadian law, Forsys would have to inform
Industry Canada of its intention to sell the company. Once that happened, the Canadian
government could "essentially call for a time out to seek further information on the
details of the transaction". The Canadian government "would like to explore whether
GFI had informed Forsys executives about its discussions with Iran", Di Gangi said.

According to Reuters archives, Industry Canada sent a letter to Forsys on August 19

2009, stating that "GFI is prohibited from implementing the investment pending further
notice from Industry Canada".

On August 25, Forsys said it terminated its acquisition agreement with GFI, as the latter
failed to transfer funds necessary to complete the takeover. The company demanded
nearly US$19 million from GFI as reverse break fee, and said it was no longer in the best
interests of the company to grant GFI any further extensions. GFI hit back, suing Forsys
for US$150 million, claiming that Forsys should have allowed more time for the deal to
close.
------------------
Speed up the creation of African Union standby force (Business Daily)

As the African Union meets for the head of states summit, leaders must discuss a matter
that has been on the cards for a long time but on which little attention has been paid
despite its vital importance to Africa’s political and economic stability.

The creation of peacekeeping standby forces is something African states had committed
to do by the end of 2010.

Indeed, the promise the African Union made was that there would be five brigades of
standby peacekeeping forces before the end of last year.

Unfortunately, that commitment was not followed up by concrete action.

That means that as things stand, in the event of a crisis, African countries are left to look
to outside sources for help as vividly illustrated by the reaction to the unfolding crisis in
Ivory Coast.

Yet it is impossible to overstate the vital importance of having and effective African
force to deal with security challenges and also keep at bay the foreign interests that
would be represented by foreign solutions such as the US African Command commonly
known as Africom.

Leaders at the African Union summit should borrow a leaf from their colleagues in the
South African Development Community (SADC).

Tackle crises

So far, SADC is the only regional bloc that has made some effort to implement the
vision of establishment of standby forces.
It also has another unique distinction because the bloc is the only one that has
categorically stated that it will not agree to host the Africom headquarters on the
continent.

In October 2010 the SADC secretariat decided to speed up the creation of a standby
brigade with between 5,500 to 10,000 troops.

This is a step in the right direction. Why is it so important for Africa to fast track the
creation of its own standby forces to tackle crises on the continent?

There are a variety of reasons, one of the most important being the need to protect its
interests through the prism of African needs.

The plan by the US to have Africom stationed in Africa threatens the safety and security
of African states because the US will of course focus ob its own strategic and economic
interests to the exclusion of local concerns.

Relying on outside players such as Africom is a recipe for trouble.

South African political scientist Emily Johannes summarised the urgent need for a
standby brigade in eloquent terms in an article in December.

She wrote: “The recent situation in Madagascar had a potential to explode into a large-
scale war and it would put Sadc in quandary given the political dynamics of that island,
hence the urgent need to build up the brigade. As we move into 2011, all African
countries should take cue from Sadc and say no to outside interference. The American
and the British, for instance, will not allow African countries, let alone other nations to
dictate to them what should happen in their own countries.
------------------
As Ivory Coast stalemate worsens, so do the chances of military intervention
(Christian Science Monitor)

At least 247 people have died since Ivory Coast's Nov. 28 election, which was supposed
to end a 12 year conflict in the world's top cocoa producer. At least 49 people have
disappeared, and those whisked away to secret prisons may number in the hundreds.

Those are the latest numbers from a United Nations mission that has been firebombed,
shot at, and increasingly understood as an occupying army by defenders of Laurent
Gbagbo, the renegade president who has escalated his refusal to concede electoral
defeat into a once-in-a-generation-battle for the sovereignty of this former French
colony.
And last week, the UN announced from Geneva that its agents have caught word of –
but been blocked from visiting – a third mass grave, this one stuffed with 80 bodies
buried less than 50 miles from the Liberian border; a line that 25,000 everyday Ivoirians
have crossed since November, searching for a country where sporadically violent house
searches, attacks on UN convoys, and tire-fire road blocks manned by gun-waving
extortionists aren't the new norm.

"The question now being discussed within the UN is the urgency of military
intervention, not only to protect UN peacekeepers," said UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights Navi Pillay, who tried Rwandan war criminals in the 1990s.

Will foreign forces intervene?

Military intervention is the question now being discussed all over West Africa, actually.

In December, ECOWAS – the 15-country union of West African states – signed off on
"the use of legitimate force" to remove Gbagbo if the former history professer can't pick
a sunny spot in Nice or Nigeria to while away his retirement.

The bloc has 6,500 troops ready to snatch Gbagbo from his presidential bed, but you
need not mingle in a pro-Gbagbo Abidjan rally or interview a pro-government militia
leader in the country's west to imagine how even a well-executed kidnapping operation
could ignite a second gruesome civil war in this, the region's third most populous
country.

An ECOWAS attack would lead to a "Third World War," threatened Charles Blé Goudé,
histrionic agitator-general of the government-backed Young Patriots militia, notorious
for its Kristallnacht-esque attacks on foreigners and foreign-run institutions.

Which is perhaps why Ghanaian President John Atta Mills announced on Jan. 7 that his
nation would not participate in any military invasion of its western neighbor. To his
credit, he is probably securing the safety of more than one million Ghanaians who live
and make their daily bread in neighborhoods like Abidjan's Ghana Town.

But such prudence pits Mr. Mills (whose party denies that he received campaign
contributions from Gbagbo in 2008) against Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, the
84-year-old grandfather figure in the region lobbying hard to keep the military option
open.

Mr. Wade is a close ally of Alassane Outtara, the former International Monetary Fund
economist that nearly every world leader recognizes as the clear winner of the Nov. 28
election. The Senegalese president even financed and twice hosted Outtara during the
candidate's run.
Now, his communications adviser says Wade "is looking for an ensemble of countries
that can do something about this."

"This isn't Saddam Hussein we're talking about," Wade adviser Papa Dieng said.
"Gbagbo is weak."

A crack in Outtara's strategy

Or at least Gbagbo is supposed to be weak: Outtara's masterplan was to fiscally starve
Gbagbo out of power by blocking his access to the Dakar-based Central Bank where
Ivory Coast's currency reserves are kept.

But that strategy seems to have sprung a leak.

"We have statistics showing daily withdrawals from Ivory Coast's account," Outtara's
Development Minister Toikeusse Mabri told reporters in Dakar, Senegal on Friday.

Personal threats and attacks on Central Bank employees in Abidjan have led to
unexplained activity on the country's account, Mr. Mabri said. His government –
currently barricaded inside an Abidjan hotel that has to helicopter in everything from
food to dry cleaning – is requesting a full bank statement, to be delivered today.

"What we have found is that not only has the account seen movement, but some
commercial banks are implicated in measures that we could characterize as fraud," he
added. "The system has been sidestepped. Checks from Ivoirian accounts have been
deposited directly in a commercial bank. There's activity on a treasury bond that the
system itself doesn't even recognize. There's been attempts to demand companies to pay
their taxes in cash."

How long can it go on?

Under the circumstances, Gbagbo could last three months, Mabri said.

But beyond the ranks of Outtara's hotel government, observers are estimating that,
between cocoa taxes, oil revenue, and plain-old extortion, Gbagbo's government might
just be breaking even.

For 10 years, rebels and government soldiers alike profited from the cease-fire line,
fringed with armed checkpoints that separated its Christian, wealthier south from the
rural, poorer, Islamic north.

With ECOWAS's military option crumbling into non-committal statecraft – and

Outtara's starve-'em-out strategy oozing money – it's plausible that Ivory Coast's cease-
fire partition could continue to serve as another north-south groove in the geopolitical
map; a limit, à la South Korea or South Sudan, where the international community's
ability to impose democracy met its high watermark, and a stubborn, isolated autocracy
found a way to hold on through the worst of times.
------------------
Pirates seized record 1,181 hostages in 2010 - report (BBC)

Pirates took a record 1,181 hostages in 2010, despite increased patrolling of the seas, a
maritime watchdog has said.

The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said 53 ships were hijacked worldwide - 49 of
them off Somalia's coast - and eight sailors were killed.

The IMB described as "alarming" the continued increase in hostage-taking incidents -

the highest number since the centre began monitoring in 1991.

Overall, there were 445 pirate attacks last year - a 10% rise from 2009.

Last week, a separate study found maritime piracy costs the global economy between
$7bn (£4.4bn) and $12bn (£7.6bn) a year.

Measures 'undermined'

"These figures for the number of hostages and vessels taken are the highest we have
ever seen," said Pottengal Mukundan, the head of the IMB's Piracy Reporting Centre.

In the seas off Somalia, the IMB said, heavily-armed pirates were often overpowering
fishing or merchant vessels and then using them as bases for further attacks.

The Somali attacks accounted for 1,016 hostages seized last year. Somali pirates are
currently holding 31 ships with more than 700 crew on board.

Although naval patrols - launched in 2009 in the Gulf of Aden - have foiled a number of
attacks, Somali pirates are now operating farther offshore.

"All measures taken at sea to limit the activities of the pirates are undermined because
of a lack of responsible authority back in Somalia," the IMB said.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991.

Without schools, hospitals and employment opportunities in south-central Somalia

"whatever actions are taken at sea to protect from piracy will have no effect", he told the
BBC World Service.

However, the IMB noted that in the Gulf of Aden itself incidents more than halved to 53
due to the presence of foreign navies.
Mr Mukundan said it was "vital" that naval patrols continue.

Elsewhere, violent attacks increased in the South China Sea and waters off Indonesia,
Bangladesh and Nigeria.

Last week, a report by US think-tank One Earth Future said that piracy cost the
international community up to $12bn each year.

The study calculated the amount from the costs of ransom, security equipment and the
impact on trade.

It said the majority of costs came from piracy off Somalia.

------------------
Luxembourg gives large aid package to Burkina Faso (Associated Press)

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso – An official from tiny Luxembourg says the country
will invest a large sum in Burkina Faso to help alleviate poverty in the landlocked West
African nation.

Marie Josee Jacobs, Luxembourg's minister of cooperation and humanitarian action,

says the landlocked European nation has committed 62.9 million euros ($84 million) to
support development, with emphasis on the environmental sector. Some of the money
will also go toward projects supervised by the United Nations.

The impoverished African nation relies on international aid. Nearly half of the nation's
some 14 million residents live on less than a dollar a day.
------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

UN envoy urges calm after violence in Sudan’s West Darfur

18 January – The head of the joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission
in Darfur (UNAMID), Ibrahim Gambari, today called for calm following recent clashes
in the town of Nertiti, in Sudan’s West Darfur state.

Security Council welcomes ‘peaceful’ end of voting in South Sudan’s referendum

18 January – The Security Council today welcomed the conclusion of voting in the
referendum for the self-determination of Southern Sudan, describing the voting exercise
as “largely peaceful and orderly” while urging both parties to Sudan’s peace agreement
to respect the outcome of the poll.

Tunisia: Ban makes new appeal for end to violence, calls for credible elections
18 January – Voicing renewed concern at the growing violence in Tunisia, Secretary-
General Ban Ki-moon today urged that all efforts be taken to restore peace and stability
in the north African country, according to his spokesperson.

Côte d’Ivoire: Gbagbo loyalists shoot at UN patrol in mounting aggression

18 January – Forces loyal to the former president of Côte d’Ivoire, Laurent Gbagbo –
who refuses to step down despite his electoral defeat – have opened fire towards United
Nations peacekeepers in a new “act of aggression,” according to the UN envoy on the
ground there.