United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

31 May 2011

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

Fresh Strikes in Libya as Zuma says Gadhafi is ready for cease-fire (CNN)
(Libya) Fresh explosions rang out early Tuesday near Tripoli, hours after South African
President Jacob Zuma held talks with Moammar Gadhafi and signalled he was ready to
accept an African Union plan for a cease-fire.

South Africa's Zuma Meets Gadhafi Amid Defections (WSJ)

(Libya) South African President Jacob Zuma arrived in Tripoli on Monday for
negotiations with Col. Moammar Gadhafi that appeared to yield no definitive headway
on brokering a peace deal, hours after the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's
secretary-general said the Libyan leader's "reign of terror" was coming to an end.

McCain: U.S.-Led Operation Would Have Gotten Rid of Qaddafi by Now (Fox)
(Libya) The United States should be running military operations in Libya, not leaving it
to NATO, Arizona Sen. John McCain said Sunday, arguing that U.S. forces would have
been much more expedient about getting rid of Libyan despot Muammar al-Qaddafi.

North, south Sudan discuss Abyei as tension simmers (Reuters)

(Sudan) North and south Sudan have agreed to negotiate an end to the crisis in the
disputed Abyei region, the southern vice president said Monday, in an effort to defuse
tensions ahead of the south's scheduled secession.

Thousands flee Sudanese bombing amid food and fuel shortages (Washington Post)
(Sudan) As the rainy season begins in this tiny rural village in South Sudan, thousands
of frightened women and children are seeking cover under makeshift shelters of
bedsheets and rugs, strung up between tree branches lodged in the mud.

5 blasts strike Nigeria following president's inauguration (CNN)

(Nigeria) Two more blasts struck Nigeria on Monday, bringing the total to five since
President Goodluck Jonathan was inaugurated Sunday.

10th Somali pirate pleads guilty to yacht hijacking (AFP)

(Somalia) A tenth Somali man arrested on charges related to the hijacking of a yacht off
the coast of Oman in February pleaded guilty Thursday to piracy charges for the attack
that left four Americans dead, US prosecutors said.

Jihad and the Jolly Roger: Piracy, Terrorism & Transnational Crime (Family Security
Matters)
(Pan-Africa) Recently I had the privilege of meeting with and talking to Capt. Richard
Phillips – the merchant marine captain of the Maersk Ship Alabama – the first hijacked
US ship in over 200 years. His ordeal unfolded on the world stage, and became a global
story as he demonstrated great courage under fire as a prisoner at the (often brutal)
hands of Somali based pirates. Thankfully the United States utilized the surgical arm of
‘diplomacy’ and sent the Navy SEALS to rescue him. Throughout this article I will
include thoughts and insights from my discussion with this amazing man of faith.

Ex-VP Bukenya faces corruption charges (The Monitor)

(Uganda) Former Vice President Prof. Gilbert Balibaseka Bukenya is set to be charged
before the anti-corruption court in relation to the procurement of the executive cars for
the 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kampala.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
 UN expert urges Ghana to tackle health funding, maternal mortality
 Delegates gather in Qatar for UN-backed consultations on Darfur peace process
 Sudan: UN deplores looting of humanitarian supplies in Abyei
 UN resumes repatriation of Liberian refugees from Côte d’Ivoire
 Displaced villagers in eastern Chad make their way home with UN help
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UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - 09:00 - Thursday, June 2, 2011 - 18:00 ;

Westin City Center Hotel, 1400 M St, NW, Washington, D.C. 20005
WHAT: Evidence Summit on Agricultural Technology Adoption and Food Security in
Africa
WHO: Technology and agricultural experts
Info: http://www.partnership-africa.org/content/usaid-atai-evidence-summit-
agricultural-technology-adoption-and-food-security-africa
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FULL ARTICLE TEXT

Fresh Strikes in Libya as Zuma says Gadhafi is ready for cease-fire (CNN)
By Unattributed Author
May 30, 2011
Tripoli, Libya - Fresh explosions rang out early Tuesday near Tripoli, hours after South
African President Jacob Zuma held talks with Moammar Gadhafi and signalled he was
ready to accept an African Union plan for a cease-fire.

Around 12:45 a.m. Tuesday, a pair of large blasts were heard about five minutes apart,
as jets flew over the capital of Tripoli.

A Libyan government official said the first strike hit Abu Sita, a former military turned
construction site about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the city center. There was no
immediate indication of where the second explosion occurred. Nor was there an
immediate response from NATO, which has conducted regular strikes as part of its
stated mission to halt Libyan leader Gadhafi's forces from killing innocent civilians.

Hours before the blasts, Zuma emerged from a meeting with the longtime Libyan
strongman convinced that Gadhafi was ready for an end to hostilities, including such
airstrikes and the ongoing fight with the Benghazi-based opposition movement. But he
gave no indication that Gadhafi was prepared to step aside, as rebel leaders have
insisted is their primary demand.

"Brother leader took the position today that he is ready to implement the decision of the
AU (that) there must be a cease-fire," Zuma told a scrum of reporters on the tarmac at
Tripoli's Mitiga International Airport before boarding a jet. "The view is that that must
include -- bombing by NATO must also come to an end," he said in the news
conference, which was broadcast on Libyan state television.

Zuma added that Gadhafi said any cease-fire must apply to all parties, "but also, he
makes the point that: Let the Libyan people be given a chance to talk among
themselves. And therefore, he's ready to implement the road map of the AU."

Unlike some other world leaders, Zuma has not called for the longtime Libyan leader to
step down. Neither has Zuma's African National Congress party nor the African Union,
which he was representing and which Gadhafi once led. In fact, the AU has criticized
the NATO airstrikes.

In April, Zuma led an AU delegation to Tripoli, where hopes were raised briefly when
it was announced that Gadhafi had agreed, in principle, to the African Union's "road
map" proposal for peace.

But Gadhafi continued his attacks and the Libyan opposition rejected the proposal
because it did not meet its demand that he give up the power he has held for 42 years.

A government official said Libyan Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmudi also
attended Monday's meeting. Baghdadi greeted Zuma upon his arrival at the airport,
where dozens of Gadhafi supporters carried posters, some of which said, "May the
leader be victorious" and "Thanks for great Africa."

The African Union has helped mediate peace talks before, including ones in Kenya and
Zimbabwe that left the ruling powers in control.

It was not clear whether Zuma used the opportunity to press Gadhafi for information
on the whereabouts of South African freelance photographer Anton Hammerl.
Hammerl has been missing in Libya since April and is believed dead.

South Africa has said it got assurances from Libya that the journalist was alive. But a
Libyan government spokesman has said his whereabouts were unknown.

"We never had him with us at any stage," spokesman Musa Ibrahim has said.

The meeting came as Gadhafi's grip on power appeared to continue to loosen. Eight
generals from his army have defected to Italy, the Italian Foreign Ministry told CNN
Monday.

The generals were accompanied by more than 100 Libyan soldiers, a senior Italian
official with firsthand knowledge of, and responsibility for, the operation said.

The Libyans crossed their country's border into Tunisia, where they were met by Italian
intelligence agents, the official said.

Italy announced Monday that it will open a consulate Tuesday in the rebel-held eastern
city of Benghazi.

Also Monday, the first locally based television station to operate in Libya since the start
of the revolution was to begin broadcasting from the rebel stronghold of Benghazi. The
station was founded by Momammed Nabus, who later was one of five journalists killed
in the conflict.

"Gadhafi forces assassinated him for highlighting to the rest of the world the atrocities
committed by the Gadhafi regime," said Zuheir Al-Barasi, who was to open the station's
broadcast from the city's courthouse.

In recent weeks, Gadhafi has been seen in public only rarely as NATO has stepped up
attacks against his sprawling Bab el-Azizia compound.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Monday that Gadhafi's "reign of
terror is coming to an end."
"He is increasingly isolated at home and abroad," Rasmussen said during a speech in
Bulgaria. "Even those closest to him are departing, defecting or deserting."

Rasmussen also said NATO has made "significant progress" in its Libya operation.

NATO said Monday it has conducted 3,385 strike sorties in Libya since March.

"We have seriously degraded Gadhafi's ability to kill his own people," Rasmussen said
in his speech. "We have prevented more massacres in Misrata and elsewhere across the
country, and we are saving lives every day."

The NATO-led bombing campaign began in March after the U.N. Security Council
authorized the use of any means necessary -- short of occupation -- to protect civilians
from attacks by Gadhafi's forces.

On Sunday, Libyan opposition forces continued to fend off attacks near the rebel-held
port city of Misrata.

But rebel leader Mustafa Abdul Jalil said over the weekend that the opposition
movement is running out of money even as it has achieved key victories militarily and
diplomatically.

"We are going through a financial crisis," said Jalil, chairman of the Benghazi-based
National Transitional Council.

In a speech in Geneva, Switzerland, the United Nations' top human rights official noted
Monday "the brutality and magnitude of measures" taken by the Libyan government.

The government's actions have been "shocking," United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights Navi Pillay said, criticizing the "outright disregard for basic human
rights."
----------------------
South Africa's Zuma Meets Gadhafi Amid Defections (WSJ)
By Joe Parkinson
May 31, 2011
TRIPOLI - South African President Jacob Zuma arrived in Tripoli on Monday for
negotiations with Col. Moammar Gadhafi that appeared to yield no definitive headway
on brokering a peace deal, hours after the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's
secretary-general said the Libyan leader's "reign of terror" was coming to an end,
underlining that the window for a diplomatic solution to Libya's three-month conflict
appeared to be closing.

The news came as eight Libyan army officers including five generals appeared at a
news conference arranged by the Italian government in Rome, saying they were part of
a group of as many as 120 military officials and soldiers who defected from the Gadhafi
regime in recent days.

The generals appealed to remaining Gadhafi loyalists in the army and security services
to abandon the regime "in the name of the martyrs who have fallen in the defense of
freedom" and alleged that Libyan forces fighting in cities including Misrata had
perpetrated atrocities against civilians.

The defections came after the rebels' political leadership offered an amnesty over the
weekend to all those who would abandoned the regime.

The latest defections follow a trend of top Libyan officials who have abandoned the
regime as sanctions and relentless NATO bombing campaign, now into its third month,
have raised pressure on Col. Gadhafi's embattled government. Gadhafi's military is
now fighting rebel forces on three fronts—in the enclave around rebel-held Misrata, to
the west in the Nafusa mountains and against the main opposition forces in Brega and
Ajdabiya in Libya's east.

In Tripoli, Mr. Zuma told South African and Libyan media that Col. Gadhafi would
accept an African Union proposal to broker an immediate cease-fire including an end to
NATO strikes in support of rebel forces. Those terms, proposed last month during an
earlier mediation mission by Zuma were rejected by the rebel as they didn't include Col.
Gadhafi's exit from power.

"He is ready to implement the road map," Mr. Zuma said, adding that Col. Gadhafi
insisted; "all Libyans be given a chance to talk among themselves" to determine the
country's future. Mr. Zuma did not mention whether Col. Gadhafi is ready to step
down, the key demand of the rebels.

There was no immediate reaction from rebel leaders in their stronghold of Benghazi in
eastern Libya but the head of the rebels' National Transitional Council said over the
weekend that all cease-fire initiatives not predicated on the departure of Col. Gadhafi,
his family and senior regime figures would be rejected.

Libyan state television broadcast footage of Col. Gadhafi welcoming Mr. Zuma, the first
public appearance of the Libyan leader since May 11, when he was shown meeting
tribal chiefs. In Benghazi, crowds gathered Monday night in front of the central
courthouse, site of nightly rebel-organized concerts and speeches, started throwing
shoes against a wall on which a news bulletin showing Col. Gadhafi meeting with Mr.
Zuma was being projected.

Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at a Monday meeting of Nato's

parliamentary assembly in Bulgaria also sought to maintain pressure on the Gadhafi
regime, stressing that the military alliance's campaign was achieving its objectives and
that the Gadhafi regime's "reign of terror is coming to an end." "He is increasingly
isolated at home and abroad. Even those closest to him are departing, defecting or
deserting....It is time for Gaddafi to go as well," the NATO chief said.

Libyan officials have insisted Mr. Zuma's meeting with Col. Gadhafi—under the
auspices of the African Union—would offer a "breakthrough" that would aid the
regime's efforts to halt the NATO bombing campaign. But optimism over the prospect
of an African Union-backed cease-fire deal has been dimmed by Russia's shift to join
calls for Col. Gadhafi to leave power. Moscow had previously criticized NATO's
campaign even though it refused to veto the United Nations resolution authorizing the
use of force to protect civilians. But President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday backed a
Group of Eight statement calling for Col. Gadhafi's ouster, appearing to further limit the
diplomatic options available to Libya's strongman after 42 years in power.

Flanked by a contingent of heavily armed South African troops in armored jeeps,

President Zuma was met by Libyan Prime Minister Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi and a host
of dignatries on arrival at Mitega airport on the outskirts of Tripoli. Flag-waving
Gadhafi loyalists chanting pro-regime slogans mobbed the president, but Gadhafi
himself was absent, as he has been since March 11 when he appeared on Libyan state
television meeting tribal elders.

The South African president briefly sat down with the Libyan prime minister before
being whisked to meet Col. Gadhafi at an undisclosed location. President Zuma also
visited the site of the house where Col. Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Arab, and three grandsons
were killed by a Nato airstrike earlier this month, Libya's state news agency Jana
reported.

—Sam Dagher in Benghazi, Libya, and Nathania Zevi in Rome contributed to this
article.
----------------------
McCain: U.S.-Led Operation Would Have Gotten Rid of Qaddafi by Now (Fox)
By Unattributed Author
May 29, 2011
The United States should be running military operations in Libya, not leaving it to
NATO, Arizona Sen. John McCain said Sunday, arguing that U.S. forces would have
been much more expedient about getting rid of Libyan despot Muammar al-Qaddafi.

McCain said President Obama this week did expand the purpose of the NATO mission
-- saying that civilian protection cannot be accomplished with Qaddafi in power -- but
his position is too slowly evolving.

"As he is gradually changing, people are dying on the ground in Libya and they
wouldn't have to if we were using all of U.S. airpower and the abilities and the unique
capabilities that the United States military has. And, unfortunately, we are not," McCain
told "Fox News Sunday."

"Qaddafi may crack. He may crack. But this could have been over a long time ago if we
had brought the full weight of the American airpower to bear on him," McCain added.

McCain said he's also in disagreement with Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who says
it's premature to entirely trust Libya's Transitional National Council since the group
does contain extremist elements. McCain said it makes more sense to help the council
because by giving it strong backing, extremists won't have the room to win over
moderates.

"The best way to get extremist elements in the lead amongst the rebels there, the
liberation forces, is a stalemate. That's the way extremists come into power," he said,
adding that there are parties in the fight who are not U.S. favorites but they all agree to
work together to get rid of Qaddafi.

McCain added that the "anti-spending sentiment" in Washington that opposes pledging
tens of millions of dollars to Egypt and Tunisia to help with democratic reform and
economic stability are missing a golden opportunity.

"I think we can do things like debt relief, like matching grants, stimulation, business
and job opportunity," he said. "We also have to do a better job of convincing American
people that a smooth transition to democracy in the region of the best guarantee of us
not having to spend a lot of money in the future if the wrong people get in power.

McCain also encouraged private U.S. businesses to make their own pledges to invest if
corruption-free governments emerge in Egypt, Tunisia and elsewhere.

"I think that could be one of greatest incentives rather than just throwing money at
them," McCain said.
------------------------
North, south Sudan discuss Abyei as tension simmers (Reuters)
By Alex Dziadosz and Jeremy Clarke
May 30, 2011 4:01pm EDT
KHARTOUM/JUBA - North and south Sudan have agreed to negotiate an end to the
crisis in the disputed Abyei region, the southern vice president said Monday, in an
effort to defuse tensions ahead of the south's scheduled secession.

Khartoum moved tanks and soldiers into the fertile, oil-producing Abyei region on May
21, causing tens of thousands of people to flee and stoking fears the two sides could
return to full-blown conflict.
South Sudan's Vice President Riek Machar flew to Khartoum this week to meet with his
northern counterpart following the northern advance. He said the two sides would
form a committee to "resolve the issue of Abyei," but did not give details.

His visit came after Khartoum threatened to clear southern-allied armed groups from
Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile, raising the specter of fresh conflict.

The two areas are inside the north's territory but are home to thousands of fighters that
fought against Khartoum during the last civil war. They lie near a 1956 internal border
drawn shortly before Sudan became independent.

"We are committed to imposing security and law north of the 1956 line, and we will not
permit the presence of any forces on northern land," Ismat Abdel Rahman Zein al-
Abdin, chairman of the northern joint chiefs of staff, said last week.

Officials with the southern ruling party, known as the Sudan Peoples' Liberation
Movement (SPLM), say troops in those areas are northerners, and so Juba cannot ask
them to withdraw.

"Even if we told them, 'Come back,' they would not accept to go to the south, because
they are foreign there," Machar said.

Popular consultations are planned to decide the two regions' relationship with
Khartoum, but they have yet to take place. Machar said joint north-south military units
should be allowed to operate in the regions until consultations are held.

Southerners voted overwhelmingly for independence in a January referendum

promised by a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war, but issues such as the
position of the shared border and oil-sharing have not been settled yet.

TENSIONS RISING

Analysts say the northern government could be trying to secure a strong bargaining
position in talks over oil-sharing and other issues ahead of the split.

"They (the north) are trying to corner the SPLM. They are putting the SPLM in a very
difficult situation in Abyei, Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile," Fouad Hikmat of the
International Crisis Group said.

Tensions were ignited in oil-producing Abyei, also coveted for its fertile grazing land,
after an attack on a convoy of northern troops and U.N. peacekeepers that was blamed
on southern forces on May 20.
Khartoum occupied the town the following day and has since defied calls by the United
Nations, United States and southern Sudanese officials to withdraw, saying the land
belongs to the north.

Abyei was a major battleground during the last civil war between north and south. It is
used all year round by the south-linked Dinka Ngok people and part of the year by
northern Arab Misseriya nomads.

The south has so far sought to downplay tensions over Abyei. Kiir said Thursday there
would be no war over the incursion and that it would not derail independence.
--------------------------
Thousands flee Sudanese bombing amid food and fuel shortages (Washington Post)
By Rebecca Hamilton
May 30, 2:11 PM
TURALEI, Sudan — As the rainy season begins in this tiny rural village in South Sudan,
thousands of frightened women and children are seeking cover under makeshift
shelters of bedsheets and rugs, strung up between tree branches lodged in the mud.

They fled their homes in the contested north-south border region of Abyei a little more
than a week ago, as the Sudanese government began bombing the area, and most are
dehydrated and hungry after days in the bush. Despite an enormous United Nations
humanitarian presence in South Sudan, basic necessities such as food and shelter are
not yet reaching most of the displaced.

The new humanitarian crisis comes just weeks before southern Sudan formally breaks
from the north. Some analysts say the invasion of the region, and the seizure of the
largest town in the area, also called Abyei, marks an effort by the Sudanese government
to strengthen its hand in talks over how to share oil revenues and divide debt once
Sudan splits July 9. Others argue it is the act of a regime struggling to maintain its own
domestic support and seeking to unify its opponents through the call to war.

Here in Turalei, Aker Chol Deng, 20, sits under a tree, holding her leg in pain. She fell
as she was running to escape the assault on Abyei, and, like many in this camp, still
nurses the injury she sustained along the way.

“I was preparing food,” she recalls. “I heard gunshots, so I grabbed my children. From
planes they were shooting at us.” Deng says it took her and her two children three days
to reach Turalei, 70 miles from Abyei. Like many families who fled in panic, she became
separated from her mother and younger sister during the journey.

Turalei is one of five towns across the northwestern states of South Sudan that has
become a hub for those displaced from Abyei over the past week. The U.N. estimates
that 40,000 people fled the town of Abyei, and South Sudanese officials put the total
population displaced from the town and surrounding areas at more than 80,000.
A near-total cessation in the flow of goods from the north into South Sudan is
hampering the effort to get relief to them.

South Sudan officials say Khartoum imposed an embargo on goods entering the south a
month ago. The Sudanese government denies there is any formal ban on cross-border
trade. But severe fuel and food shortages are apparent in the areas south of Abyei.

Cut off from aid

South Sudan holds more than 80 percent of Sudan’s oil. But once the oil is drilled, it is
sent to refineries in the north before being transported back to the south for use. The
current trade blockage has left oil-rich South Sudan with almost no fuel supply.

That lack of fuel is limiting the U.N.’s ability to transport vital goods and services.

“If we don’t have fuel, it is almost impossible to conduct operations on the scale we
need,” said Lise Grande, U.N. coordinator for humanitarian affairs in South Sudan.

In the days since the Sudanese government seized Abyei, pro-northern militias
ransacked stockpiles of food at a World Food Program warehouse, which the U.N. says
could have fed 50,000 people for three months. Witnesses say the rampage appears to
have had the support of the Sudanese government, with trucks of the Sudanese armed
forces waiting to collect the stolen goods.

The communities that have become temporary home to the displaced are also
struggling to provide assistance. They were already accommodating an influx of
southerners who returned from the north in advance of the formal independence of
South Sudan in July after an overwhelming vote for secession in a January referendum.

Warrap state, where Turalei is located, has received more than 30,000 returnees from
northern Sudan since late last year, according to the U.N. “Even before the crisis in
Abyei, our resources were stretched beyond capacity,” said the governor of Warrap
state, Nyan Deng Malek.

“Ninety-nine percent of the goods in our markets come from the north, so now we have
nothing left in terms of food,” said Malek. “How can you host when you yourself have
nothing?” she asked.

Seasonal challenge

The health conditions of the displaced, particularly the children, as the rainy season
begins are a growing concern for aid workers.
“We are very worried about respiratory infections and watery diarrhea,” said Raphael
Gorgeu, the head of Doctors Without Borders in Abyei, who is now treating the
displaced in the neighboring town of Agok. Like all the other aid organizations in the
region, MSF had to relocate because of the fighting.

The hunger gap at this time of year is another problem, Gorgeu said, referring to the
period between the exhaustion of the previous season’s food supply and the next
season’s harvest. “Even before the displacement, our hospital in Abyei was full of
malnutrition cases.”

The rainy season also creates a transportation challenge because of the poor condition of
the area’s limited road network. “Getting supplies in by road is going to be almost
impossible soon because of the rains,” said Deng Arop, the chief southern official for
the Abyei area.

Arop fears that unless the fuel crisis is resolved quickly, the rains will turn the roads to
mud and it will be impossible to deliver relief supplies to those who have fled the
bombing. “In a worst-case scenario, the bulk of the displaced will be cut off,” he said.
“At that point it will be very difficult to get them humanitarian assistance.”
-----------------------
5 blasts strike Nigeria following president's inauguration (CNN)
By Christian Purefoy
May 30, 2011
Lagos, Nigeria - Two more blasts struck Nigeria on Monday, bringing the total to five
since President Goodluck Jonathan was inaugurated Sunday.

One blast Monday was directed at a military patrol in Maiduguri, in northern Nigeria,
military spokesman Mohammed Yerima said. No casualties were reported.

The other was in Zaria, also in northern Nigeria. It was the second blast in Zaria in less
than a day. On Sunday, an explosion struck a beer parlor in Zaria, wounding two
people, National Emergency Management Agency spokesman Yushau Shauib said.
There were no casualties reported in the bombings Monday.

The other two blasts Sunday were at a market in Bauchi, east of Zaria, and a beer hall in
Zuba, on the outskirts of the Nigerian capital of Abuja.

In the Bauchi explosion, at least 13 people were killed and 20 were wounded, Shauib
said. In the Zuba blast, two people were killed and 11 others were hospitalized, Shauib
said.

In recent weeks, the African nation has been rocked by a series of bombings thought to
be engineered by Boko Haram, an Islamic group that has challenged Nigeria's
government.
Explosions in Nigeria's northeastern state of Borno killed a few and wounded dozens in
late April in the days leading up to the national governorship elections. Police described
the attacks as attempts to intimidate voters who had picked Jonathan.

Northern Muslims in some areas charged that the presidential election was rigged.
Armed protesters in the region took to the streets chanting the name of former military
ruler Muhammadu Buhari, the main opposition front-runner.

This is Jonathan's first full term. As vice president, he took over the presidency in May
2010 upon the death of then-President Umaru Yar'Adua, who had suffered from a heart
condition.
------------------------
10th Somali pirate pleads guilty to yacht hijacking (AFP)
By Unattributed Author
May 27, 2011
WASHINGTON — A tenth Somali man arrested on charges related to the hijacking of a
yacht off the coast of Oman in February pleaded guilty Thursday to piracy charges for
the attack that left four Americans dead, US prosecutors said.

Mahdi Jama Mohamed was latest of the 15 individuals -- 14 from Somalia and one from
Yemen -- arrested after the attack for their roles in the kidnapping and killings, to plead
guilty in a federal court in the eastern state of Virginia.

"The pirates' greed for tens of thousands in ransom money ultimately led to the cold-
blooded murder of the four US hostages off the coast of East Africa, said US attorney
Neil MacBride in a statement.

"Modern-day pirates are dangerous criminals, not the swash-buckling rogues portrayed
in Hollywood movies, and this latest guilty plea shows that attacks against American
vessels will be met with swift justice in an American courtroom."

Mohamed, according to the FBI, was a "willing conspirator in the planned attack to
hijack a vessel for ransom," and it was his own "avaricious behavior" that led to his
involvement in the plot.

The owners of the yacht Quest, Jean and Scott Adam, were Christian missionaries based
in California who were sailing around the world at the time of the hijacking.

They were shot to death, along with their companions Bob Riggle and Phyllis Macay
from Seattle, Washington, several days after being taken hostage and as negotiations
were taking place with US Navy officials.
The guilty announcement are part of plea agreements that will allow them to avoid the
death penalty, but face life in prison.

According to Mohamed's plea agreement, US prosecutors said he admits joining the

pirates that took the vessel, but said "he did not personally shoot any of the four
Americans, nor did they instruct any other person to shoot the hostages."

Plea deals allow defendants to seek reductions in their sentences.

Accused Somali pirate Mohammad Saaili Shibin, said to have been the chief negotiator
in the hijacking, was indicted on charges related to the killings earlier this year.

US service members, who had been trailing the yacht during the hostage drama,
boarded the vessel after hearing gunshots and discovered the Americans' bodies,
according to US officials.

The US military said it had undertaken negotiations, led by Shibin, to secure the release
of the hostages at the time the pirates fatally shot their captives.
---------------------------
Jihad and the Jolly Roger: Piracy, Terrorism & Transnational Crime (Family Security
Matters)
By Dr. Robin McFee
May 30, 2011
Recently I had the privilege of meeting with and talking to Capt. Richard Phillips – the
merchant marine captain of the Maersk Ship Alabama – the first hijacked US ship in
over 200 years. His ordeal unfolded on the world stage, and became a global story as he
demonstrated great courage under fire as a prisoner at the (often brutal) hands of
Somali based pirates. Thankfully the United States utilized the surgical arm of
‘diplomacy’ and sent the Navy SEALS to rescue him. Throughout this article I will
include thoughts and insights from my discussion with this amazing man of faith.

As an aside, it is a fitting response sending the SEALS, considering one could argue
piracy gave birth to the US Navy. So great was the burden placed upon our fledgling
nation in the 18th century by Barbary Pirates (North Africa) that the great nations of the
Mediterranean met to discuss ransoms and other methods to contain the problem. The
Barbary nations made off like bandits if you will excuse the pun. Their pirates were
profitable. Ransom, tribute, or baksheesh, it is all the same to them – the cost of doing
business in the region. And a significant revenue source for North African nations. It
was Thomas Jefferson, who opposed paying tribute. He wrote to President Adams “I
very early thought it would be best to effect a peace thro’ the medium of war. Paying
tribute will merely invite more demands, and even if a coalition proves workable, the
only solution is a strong navy that can reach the pirates.” He then wrote to James
Monroe “the states (Barbary Nations) must see the rod; perhaps it must be felt by some
one of them…every national citizen must wish to see an effective instrument of coercion
and should fear to see it on any other element than the water. A naval force can never
endanger our liberties.” In a letter to the president of Yale College “it will be more easy
to raise ships and men to fight these pirates into reason than money to bribe them.”
Where is Thomas Jefferson when we need him? The current patchwork coalition is not
even holding the pirates at stalemate – 2011 is starting off even better for them than
2010 which was a banner year! Jefferson was correct that a strong approach with
consequences – making the act of piracy far more painful than it is worth – is the only
reasonable approach.

Thomas Jefferson was correct when he warned that you just can’t do business with
pirates. Unfortunately many companies and nations are doing just that. They pay
ransom – modern day tribute. They stop, catch and release without punishment. Few
pirates have been kept in jail and even fewer prosecuted or jailed. Such an anemic
response by the Western powers once again emboldens a region of terrorists and
criminals who have little respect for our resolve, let alone capabilities to keep law and
order. The West for a variety of reasons has treated this as a nuisance, ignored it as the
natural offspring of poverty or opted to pay its way out of the problem – especially in
the early days when hostages were not murdered. That is no longer the case. As of
February four American hostages were killed, murdered by Somali pirates. This should
have been the game changer and the US strategy should have been one that said “OK
the gloves are off” – that has not occurred.

Since December 2008 the US National Security Council has raised the issue. In the
Executive Summary of the 12/08 document “maritime piracy is a universal crime under
international law which places the lives of seafarers in jeopardy and affects the shared
economic interest of all nations. The United States will not tolerate a haven where
pirates can act with impunity; it is therefore in our national interests to work with all
States to repress piracy off the Horn of Africa.”
The NSC goals:

1.Prevent pirate attacks by reducing the vulnerability of the maritime domain to piracy,
2.Disrupt acts of piracy consistent with international law and the rights and
responsibilities of coastal and flag States, and
3.Ensure that those who commit acts of piracy are held accountable for their actions by
facilitating the prosecution of suspected pirates by flag, victim and coastal States, and in
appropriate cases the United States.”
Unfortunately not much has changed since that document was printed.

Piracy is on the rise, ransoms on the increase, murders on the high seas growing.
According to international maritime authorities and resources over 601 mariners and 25
ships are being held hostage off the coast of Somalia. What are the consequences to that
harboring nation? If you have to ask! There are at least 7 attack groups (think mini
navies or corporations) in the Arabia Sea. 2010 saw a 10% increase over 2009 in pirate
attacks according to the International Maritime Bureau Piracy Reporting Centre.
Nations have yet to fully agree on a strategy. Secretary of State Clinton weighed in on
this – “we have put together an international coalition, but frankly we’re not in my view
getting enough out of it…many foreign naval vessels now patrolling the area were not
effective. “ She continues to counsel that the issue requires a more comprehensive
approach by agencies including the Defense Department.

The maritime industry has yet to establish a set of best practices – in vessel
training/preparedness let alone the overarching issue of piracy.

Some shipping lines have hired armed security, others unarmed expertise. Some have
resigned themselves to paying ransom. As Secretary Clinton recently reported – “one of
our big problems is that a lot of major shipping companies in the world think it’s the
price of doing business…they pay ransom and they just go on their merry way. That
has been a huge problem.”

Others are equipping their ships with countermeasures – changing the speed and
freeboard of the vessels where possible to make them harder to catch and board, or
placing long range acoustic devices (LRADS) which emit incredibly noisy/painful
decibel level sound to ward off attackers before they can get close to the ship. It has
worked in one high profile case. But as security professionals, seafarers including Capt
Phillips have warned, the pirates can purchase hearing protection, and most ships with
LRADs can only aim it in one direction at a time – pirates increasingly are attacking
with multiple vessels from multiple directions.

Most of these are a patch work of band aid ® approaches to a far larger problem that
requires a complex, well defined and stronger response to the issue of piracy. We are
deluding ourselves if we think military action is not the approach. The baby nation
known as the United States created a navy to handle the problem…and it worked.
There’s a lesson for our current leadership.

Given Somalia has little to commend itself to the community of nations – barbaric
treatment of its people at the hands of lawless warlords, disease, poverty, political
corruption, no real industry, no commercial ventures, no academic, historic or cultural
legacy – the only revenue sources being pursued are criminal. Sanctioned – tacitly or by
affirmation – the pirates based in Somalia are effectively an industry, an economic
generator, in a sense privateers of that country. And Somalia has long been a hot bed of
criminal activity, weapons smuggling, human trafficking, drug, terrorist/militant/rebel
training ground and place of human misery. Al Qaeda is there; to suggest otherwise is
foolishness. Al Qaeda is everywhere! Either directly or as franchisees, affiliates,
suppliers to, or sympathizers – AQ has allies, cells, financial interests worldwide,
including inside the US. The point being – why are we handling Somalia with gentle
gloves?

Many of us in the security arena have long been concerned that the Somali pirates are or
will become more entrenched with terrorists – either as a funding source, ersatz nautical
FEDEX if not navy, and potential weapon for Jihad. Based out of the failed nation
known as Somalia – a monument to the ineffectiveness of the United Nations – the
pirates operate at will, face few consequences if caught, reap significant financial benefit
for minimal investment, provide employment for impoverished people, and have
turned the waterways between the East coast of Africa to the shores off of Oman into a
significant danger zone for the maritime industry. One could argue that piracy is
among the leading industries in Somalia – the revenue stream from ransoms is
estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Not bad considering the start up costs
are some high speed boats, a few assault rifles, maybe an RPG or two, and young men
with nothing to lose.

Piracy off the Horn of East Africa has made a 2.5 million square mile portion of
commercial waterways among the most dangerous places in the world. From the Gulf
of Aden where ~12% of the world’s oil passes, to the Seychelles, Somali and East
African pirates have become the scourge of the seas and made commercial shipping
even more dangerous than ‘merely’ dealing with rough seas and the many other
hazards associated with the maritime industry.

Piracy is nothing new. It is one of the oldest professions – dating back to the days when
man first plied the seas commercially. It is a profitable enterprise filled with adventure
and fraught with varying degrees of risk. Few nations’ shipping have escaped the reach
of piracy.

Let’s be clear – piracy affects all of us. It is not a regional issue. If we enjoy relatively
low cost goods, thank the shipping industry for bringing those products from the
remote corners of the world to our local stores. There will be a tipping point when the
magnitude of piracy is so large that we feel the ripple effects in the US.

Add to this Mexico, the Caribbean, the California and Florida coasts - virtually all
waterways face some degree of piracy – in jet set regions, pirates usually target wealthy
pleasure boaters. In other areas the targets are commercial vessels with cargos ranging
from weapons to raw materials. And we would do well to recognize pirates are not
Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow – a bunch of lovable rogues out singing “yo ho yo
ho a pirates life for me” a la Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean. Pirates are part of an
organized crime cartel – be it drugs or weapons or terrorists or warlords. The guys
hoisting the Jolly Roger are not lone bandits. They are dangerous criminals, and
employees – they live on a small percent of the take – the big dollars going to the heads
of the organizations.

Discussion

The pirates of most concern to date are those in the East Africa/Middle East region. For
a variety of reasons:
First – the elephant in the room – the link with Jihad. Virtually nothing occurs in the
Middle East without some terror faction being aware of, instigating or benefiting from
it. Jihad and terrorism in that region are not easily separable.

Initially the UN and many nations for years denied there was any connection between
the pirates and Al Qaeda or other terror organizations. Perhaps the diplomats ought to
leave their ivory towers and talk with people in the trenches or on the high seas such as
Capt. Phillips who in a recent talk at Mystic Seaport was frank about the link between
Al Qaeda and piracy in the region. He’s not alone in that assessment. Not too long ago
at a security roundtable in the Middle East I met with an expert in maritime security.
His take on the pirates echoed mine and others in the preparedness arena. He suggested
that there are factions that financially support terror groups, while other pirates are the
equivalent of FEDEX – they transport terrorists and weapons virtually unimpeded. He
argues that the pirates are the underworlds own commercial shipping – either as
protectors or outright haulers.

A viable threat, and chilling reality to anyone capable of reading a map of the Gulf
region, and one that many maritime security experts, terrorism preparedness folks like
me, Capt Philips as well as other merchant marines I’ve spoken with have expressed –
taking an oil tanker or other large vessel and using it as a floating weapon to block a
narrow strait or damage military vessels, destroy a port or create an intentional
environmental disaster a la Exxon Valdez. It can be done. A few years ago a Saudi oil
tanker was hijacked. If a speedboat packed with nasty people and nasty stuff can
damage the likes of the USS Cole, imagine what an oil tanker or LPG carrier could do in
the hands of terrorists? Don’t think it can happen – too many variables, the need for
intelligence, timing, daring, equipment and trained personnel which is beyond the
scope of Somali Pirates? Really? Need I remind you of four airliners nearly
simultaneously hijacked from different US airports, and flown into WTC 1 and 2, the
Pentagon and en route to Washington DC at the hands of Jihadists.

While the East Africa region has become increasingly dangerous because pirates over
the last five years, amazingly it has only taken that long for the UN to finally get
engaged. In an April 12, 2011 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
brief the UN states “UNODC will continue to build on our counter piracy successes in
the region of East Africa. One of the authors of the brief opined “as I (Lynn Pascoe) saw
for myself on my recent mission to East Africa, piracy is no longer loose bands of young
men in fishing boats but a highly sophisticated form of transnational organized crime.”
No s _ _ t Sherlock! He continues “I fully realize the complexity of the task.” He goes on
to admit “pirates are professionalizing. They have access to maritime intelligence and
money laundering channels. Their attacks are becoming more violent. We (the UN) also
know that piracy has links to terrorism.”

Finally the elephant in the room has been named! The link between Jihad and the Jolly
Roger.
Sophisticated transnational criminals they are indeed. At first pirates stayed within a
few hundred miles from Somali and East African bases – attacking Kenyan vessels and
other nearby waterways usually with speedboats outfitted with high speed motors and
a variety of weapons. Then as their plundering grew more profitable, the consequences
near nonexistent the pirates kept the ships they attacked. They retrofit the stolen vessel,
which being larger, provides shelter, the ability to store multiple small attack boats and
gives the pirates greater range to venture from their home ports. Smart, adaptive,
effective bad guys! As a result of their adaptive strategy and the mostly anemic
response from industrial military nations – what started as a coastal threat has now
become 2300 mile coast and 2.5 million square miles of ocean under threat of piracy.

The UN is correct about the tools available to pirates. Technology and intelligence
networks for starters. The good guys aren’t the only ones with spies, surveillance and
an international law enforcement/info sharing organization such as INTERPOL. The
bad guys are well connected – thank you facebook, satellite phones, state sponsors of
terrorism that share their intelligence apparatus (Iran), a powerful underground of
cartels, warlords and the black-market.

Secondly - Trading safety for security.

Most ships use AIS (automatic information system) which allows real time mapping of
ships traffic. Since I’ve spent more time flying planes and sailing local waters than
navigating ocean waterways, I got a quick tutorial from Capt Phillips on some of the
risks merchant mariners face from the very technologies designed to protect them from
collisions at sea, or being lost to contact. Today between radar and AIS, a smart pirate
using a large ‘mother ship’ can venture thousands of miles from Somalia, picking and
choosing which vessel to attack. AIS allows tracking vessels. Oh if only the Titanic had
this! But while it allows the rescue folks to know where you are, it also allows the
pirates to know who, what and where you are – name, speed, heading, cargo, location.
Don’t believe me? Do an Internet search and with a few keystrokes you can find out
what ships are off the coast of California, what general cargo type, and where they are
at the moment. Other locations are available worldwide! Most block law enforcement or
military but if you know how to navigate the AIS and other maritime searches, you can
get by that, too. As a result, some captains in the East Africa region are turning their AIS
off.

The UN document talks about promoting more interaction with member states. That
will require more teeth and less talk. One of the creations to address the piracy issue is a
“Piracy Call Center” – to the uninitiated it would seem to be “a nautical 911” – call for
help and a warship shows up chasing away the bad guys. Not the case at all. And there
is nothing a nautical 911, yet. Hopefully that will change, but hope is not a strategy.

Captain Phillips told the audience that there is a “Piracy Center” basically a clearing
house – staffed by 3 Britts housed in the UAE. As his ship is being stalked by pirates, he
contacts this “Center” and, well, the rest is history. As he recalls, there is no cavalry. No
one is coming to rescue you. You call in, tell your story and are largely on your own.

To backtrack a bit – Capt Phillips has the instincts for security and preparedness in an
industry that has yet to fully realize an appropriate adaptation or strategy against 21st
century Somali pirates. From the moment he took command of the Alabama, he
implemented security drills, piracy evasion exercises, and safe room protocols. He
understood the concept “not if, but when” - a mindset we would do well in the US to
reclaim, given our current state of “911 Amnesia” the capture of OBL notwithstanding.
By the time the pirates were upon his vessel, his crew, now well practiced, were able to
run the ship from a secure location. That notwithstanding, he sacrificed himself, and
taking the ships lifeboat, got the pirates away from Alabama. In typically humble
fashion – the Captain resists the concept of self sacrifice and claims it was a practical
solution. I call it courage – even if it is his job to do so.

The UN rightly talks about increasing Somalian infrastructure, especially legal,

judiciary and law enforcement. And they spend a fair amount of time in the brief
talking about their “successes.” How they can say that with a straight face given 2010
piracy has net over $200 million, with some ships resulting in over $10 in ransom a
piece, is beyond me. Yes the UN has increased Somalias legal capacity. Wow, I’m sure
that will scare the pirates. Ask Capt Phillips and the hundreds of other ships’ captains
who have been capture by or had to evade pirates if they think the UN has been
successful? They will tell you what anyone doing a Google ® search will tell you – the
pirates are ahead in the 3rd period and it will take some fancy offense to change the
score. So if the UN thinks building a jail and sending law books to Somaliland, and
helping with legislative reform are the answers…the UN demonstrates it is still in
“fantasyland,” and their preference for diplomacy over reality.

No one can argue Somalia needs to be rebuilt from the bottom up and top down.
Somalia is not a country, should not be treated as a sovereign nation; it is a criminal
enterprise, human rights disaster and cesspool of human misery of epic proportions.
Terrorists who have committed deadly acts against the West emerged from Somalia.
Weapons, drugs, kidnapping and piracy are their exports and industry. Piracy is the tip
of the iceberg in that region, a symptom of a greater disease. If one of the most powerful
nations in the world sending its vaunted military – the US military - into Somalia,
resulted in a serious humiliation, can one expect diplomats and lawyers to have greater
success? It is not a zero sum game. Humanitarian, diplomatic, legal and yes military
measures must all be on the table and simultaneously. Unfortunately the strategy
against piracy and Somalia is “catch and release.”

According to Fox and ABC news reports – in 2010 over 1100 mariners were captured by
pirates from 52 ships. The average hostage spends about 7 months in brutal pirate
captivity. Capt Phillips in his book “A Captain’s Duty” refers to being assaulted by the
terrorists. His captivity did not include a parrot, music and a cameo from Keith
Richards. Most navies, including our own, will only deal with pirates and dole out
consequences when their respective nations’ ships or interests are involved. For
example, a Danish frigate captured a mother ship and freed the fishing vessel crew that
had been held hostage, even used for slave labor. The 2 attack boats were sunk. But the
pirates were set free. Capture, hold, return to native countries for prosecution is
tantamount to letting the students run the after school detention program. Once
returned to Kenya or Somalia, the pirates buy their freedom…justice NOT served!

Commerce

The products that we enjoy are often transited through this region. If hoisting the Jolly
Roger continues to be a profitable industry unabated – pirates will continue their
practice of attacking farther from their home bases. And the farther out into the
shipping lanes, the more diverse the cargo. We all will be paying a surcharge as
shipping companies pass along to the consumers their piracy costs – increased
insurance or ransom, security costs. Add to this the human toll; the maritime industry,
the number of US merchant marines working around the world is staggering; they are
our friends and neighbors. They signed on for weather and sea risks, not piracy. We
have an obligation as a nation to recreate a form of Pax Romana – and protect our
citizens abroad – certainly our flagged ships abroad.

Conclusion

As we celebrate Memorial Day Weekend, and reflect upon our many blessings as a
nation – blessings that were and are continuously the result of sacrifice, largely born by
the men and women in uniform, serving our country, let’s not forget a group of people
for whom the United States owes a great debt of gratitude, but remain unsung heroes –
the Merchant Marine. In times of war they were the ones who delivered the soldiers
and weapons to far off battlefields, and in times of peace they are the critical conduit of
products and materials vital to our commercial interests and essential to our daily lives.
The shelves in our stores would be woefully bare were it not for shipping, and the
merchant marine is the critical lynchpin in that trade. As General MacArthur stated
many years ago “they (Merchant Marine) brought us our lifeblood and paid for it with
their own.” Most people don’t realize the first ship to go down on December 7, 1941
(Pearl Harbor) was a commercial ship – the SS Cynthia, and that during World War II
the merchant marine suffered more casualties than any other service, with a fatality rate
of 1 in 26 merchant sailors. Sadly this group which brought the tanks and warriors to
Normandy and other places has yet to be fully recognized for their contribution – from
gratitude to GI Bill protections. Well today they are fighting yet another war – piracy on
the high seas.

2011 already is outpacing 2010 and 2009 in terms of plunder – the pirates are still
winning. They are adapting, getting more sophisticated, are bolder, better armed and
facing few serious threats.
Expect the unexpected. Whenever I hear an expert say something can’t be done, I
worry! Not because of the threat as much as the preparedness folks! If you only look at
your playbook, you will be surprised when the other team does an end run and scores!
Sun Tzu cautioned to know your opponent as well as yourself. Without such insight
you cannot expect to win many battles.

It is not a matter of if but when Al Qaeda or one of its affiliates commandeers an oil
tanker – turning it into a multimillion gallon weapon against a seaport, other ships, or
to clog up a narrow strait. Somali Piracy puts into specific relief the reality that we live
in a borderless world. Some might ask, did I mean lawless world. Jihad has a new
flag…The Jolly Roger! Piracy, smuggling, weapons and money – a lethal combination,
especially when it is may be guided by Al Qaeda and/or develop ties with other
dangerous players around the world. Consider for a moment the risk from capturing a
boat full of fuel oil and introducing it to a set of explosive triggers? Not possible to
create a floating bomb? Hmmm, sounds like the same folks who thought airliners as
weapons were an unrealistic scenario, too.

Somalia is a failed nation – a hotbed of corruption, violence, poverty, disease and

breeding ground for terrorists, pirates, warlords and weapons dealers. The United
Nations, ever so preoccupied with process but never quite there on outcomes, is busy
building a jail or two and sending law books to poor regions…too busy to actually wake
up the Security Council and put some muscle into the problem…not that it would have
the stomach to do it or the ability to send more than a group of “Barney Fifes” to clean
up the mess. So once again the responsibility will rest upon the Freedom Trio – the US,
British, French – to solve that which the UN ought to be doing.

Suggested Strategies

Some would argue just pay up and move along. It is the cost of doing business. And
some companies are doing just that. Others would argue to just blow the pirates out of
the water and call it a day.

A more moderated approach may be required. The following are some suggestions by
maritime attorneys, security and seafarers:

Change the legal approaches to piracy

o Try pirates in nations other than their country of origin (something that the UN is
opposed to – they think returning Somali pirates to Somalia is a good idea)
o Allow prosecution in domestic courts for violators of laws regarding piracy

Coalition of Nations that will uphold the following

o Allow Navy captains to seek out, capture and/or destroy mother ships
o Blockade pirate bases off the Coast of Africa
o Allow military action to prevent pirates from returning home, and/or raiding pirate
bases
o Closer integration of Navies w/commercial vessels
o Piracy 911 Response Team

Develop best practices in protective/defensive strategies

o Make Piracy Preparedness Drills mandatory – universal standards/benchmarks

o Use of armed security and/or escort vessels

While there remains controversy on many of the following suggestions, they are all
worth considering.

Moreover, as a nation, we must decide if it is acceptable for our merchant marine to

have a target painted on their vessels, their uniforms? Going out to sea is a dangerous
enough enterprise…”iron men in wooden ships” is an apt description of those who
made and make their living on the water. We have one of the most vaunted navies in
the world – and as a nation that increasingly must rely upon trade and imports for our
daily commerce and the transportation means to get these onto our shores, including
the petroleum we so vitally require….it is high tide and high time we get aggressive
with the pirates. Somalia is not a country – it is a criminal enterprise. So let’s stop
treating it as a sovereign entity and stop permitting the use of her shores as safe havens
for marauders and murderers who use the seas as an industry of death and disruption.

Piracy, like other human travails can never be completely stopped. Most of us – either
because of our professions or the luck of the draw – will face challenges; some we think
are beyond our capability to handle. Although this article is about piracy and terrorism
– arenas those of us in the preparedness business focus on a daily basis, some more
global truths are put into specific relief, based upon my conversation with Capt. Phillips
other FSM writers and my own perspective, and well spoken in the book “A Captain’s
Duty” - In his book he writes “The thing I saw the clearest was the lesson I learned on
the lifeboat: we are stronger than we think we are. … what happens when things are
taken away from you? Your freedom, your dignity, even things we take for
granted…..even your life? You find that you are a larger and a stronger personality than
you ever imagined you were. That your strength and your faith don’t depend on how
secure you are. They’re independent of those things.

Memorial Day is a time to recognize people who served their nation (uniformed and
merchant marine), went to a dangerous place because they were told to do so in order
to protect the United States, and paid for our blessings with their lives. Yes, they likely
were “stronger than they thought they were” and that their “strength and faith don’t
depend on how secure they were” or were not. And today there are men and women
across the globe who are a split second away from dying for the US, and being
remembered in next years’ ceremonies. Faith and courage go hand in hand – weather in
uniform, in the merchant marines or in our daily lives.
Jihad and the Jolly Roger

Today, piracy involves the region between East Africa and Oman. It is a growing
problem. How far remains to be seen. So far Al Qaeda has not been the major player.
But it is a player. Terrorism benefits from the pirate industry – funding, transportation,
and as a weapon. Our ports are not secure or armed enough to counter a major threat.
Our ships remain vulnerable. The shipping lanes pass through narrow waterways that
could easily be occluded by a well planned attack. Our merchant mariners are the
commercial lifeline between the United States and our global partners. They are our
neighbors when not out to sea. Mostly unarmed and unprotected – 1000’s of miles from
immediate aid or rescue. It is time that we change the game plan and adapt our current
maritime strategy to meet the challenges of 21st century maritime risks – for the sake of
commerce, homeland security and because it is the right thing to do.
--------------------------
Ex-VP Bukenya faces corruption charges (The Monitor)
Ephraim Kasozi and Richard Wanambwa
30 May 2011
Former Vice President Prof. Gilbert Balibaseka Bukenya is set to be charged before the
anti-corruption court in relation to the procurement of the executive cars for the 2007
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kampala.

Prof. Bukenya is facing two charges of abuse of office and acting fraudulently,
according to a charge sheet presented to the court this morning by the Inspector
General of Government.

Consequently, the anti-corruption court Grade One magistrate Ms Sarah Langa has on
Monday morning issued criminal summons for Prof. Bukenya to appear in Court on
June 16, at 9 a.m.
The former Vice President is jointly charged with Motorcare (U) Ltd, the company that
supplied of the 204 executive vehicles.

The IGG says the Shs9.4 billion Chogm car deal was awarded to Motorcare (U) Ltd
under the 'personal' influence of Prof. Bukenya without proper tendering. There were
vibes early this morning that Prof. Bukenya, who chaired the cabinet sub-Committee on
Chogm was set to be arrested this afternoon, but with the court summons, the former
vice president will now have his day on Thursday, June 16 - on charges that are not
bailable in the lower courts.

But Prof. Bukenya had earlier this this afternoon told our reporter that the latest IGG's
action has taken him by surprise because no summons have been sent to him.
"I am surprised," he said.

The New Vision

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni gestures as Vice President Bukenya and Prime
Minister Nsibambi ,right, look on.
"I got to know about it from your newspaper's website. I am at my village home in
Kakiri. It's a battle," Prof. Bukenya this afternoon.

The charges come 3 days after the president's release of new cabinet dropping Prof
Bukenya as V.P, a position he had held for 8 years.

The tender:

The tender for the supply of the 204 executive cars to transport heads of state attracted
controversy after it was first awarded to Spear Motors Ltd for outright purchase but
later reversed and awarded to Europcar/ Motorcare (U), a company linked to Kampala
businessman Bob Kabonero for rental.

The Chogm transport evaluation committee had on May 8, 2007 selected Spear Motors
Ltd, but later the decision was reversed after Prof. Bukenya insisted that the award
should be cancelled and the deal should be for renting.

Prof. Bukenya reasoned that the country could not afford the outright purchase but
according to documents presented to the committee yesterday, the Chogm transport
evaluation committee rejected the joint bid of Europcar/Motorcare (U) Ltd because the
rental option was "found to be much expensive and a waste of public funds".
-------------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

UN expert urges Ghana to tackle health funding, maternal mortality

30 May – An independent United Nations human rights expert today commended the
Government of Ghana on its commitment to realizing the right to health while
underscoring key challenges regarding maternal mortality, mental health and adequate
funding.

Delegates gather in Qatar for UN-backed consultations on Darfur peace process

27 May – United Nations-backed consultations aimed at resolving the conflict in the
Sudanese region of Darfur began today in the Qatari capital, Doha, with more than 500
people representing the parties to the dispute, as well as civil society and political
leaders.

Sudan: UN deplores looting of humanitarian supplies in Abyei

27 May – United Nations agencies in Sudan have deplored the ransacking of
humanitarian premises and looting of emergency relief supplies in the disputed area of
Abyei, which was last week taken over by Sudanese Government troops, and urged all
parties to respect the property and assets of aid groups.

UN resumes repatriation of Liberian refugees from Côte d’Ivoire

27 May – The United Nations refugee agency said today it has resumed the repatriation
of Liberian refugees who had been stranded in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, during the recent
post-election violence there.

Displaced villagers in eastern Chad make their way home with UN help
27 May – Villagers uprooted by violence in eastern Chad several years ago have begun
returning to their homes with the help of the United Nations refugee agency now that
security has improved in the region.