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6 June 2011

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

NATO Attacks Intensify Pressure on Gadhafi Forces in Libya (VOA)

(Libya) NATO warplanes and attack helicopters have struck more targets in Libya,
ratcheting up pressure against forces loyal to embattled leader Moammar Gadhafi.
Rebel fighters have also made small gains in the Nafousa mountains, not far from the
capital Tripoli.

The Obama administration’s dangerous course on Libya (Washington Post Op-Ed)

(Libya) The House of Representatives sent the Obama administration a strong,
bipartisan rebuke on Friday for failing to make the case for war in Libya or seeking
congressional authorization for military action. It is critical that the administration
understand the significance of this vote, abandon its plans for a nonbinding resolution
in the Senate and proceed to seek the requisite debate and authorization for the use of
military force, as I have advocated for nearly three months.

Britain says rebels must plan for post-Gaddafi Libya (Reuters)

(Libya) Libya's rebel leaders must plan in detail how they would run the country if
Muammar Gaddafi stood down and should learn from Iraq after the 2003 invasion,
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Sunday.

LIBYA: Woman allegedly raped by Kadafi troops leaves Benghazi for the U.S. (LA
Times)
(Libya) The Libyan woman who caused international controversy when she claimed she
was raped by Kadafi troops has left Libya for the United States, her sister told the
Associated Press on Sunday.

Brinkmanship in Sudan as a Deadline Nears (NYT)

(Sudan) His troops and tanks violently annexed Abyei, a flashpoint town on the
contested border dividing northern and southern Sudan. Then he sent thousands of
soldiers into two other volatile areas, Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan, while
continuing a crippling blockade of the south, strangling it of food and fuel.

Obama to Host Jonathan (This Day)

(Nigeria) President Barack Obama of the United States of America is to host President
Goodluck Jonathan in the White House on Wednesday this week for high level talks.

US under scrutiny for failing to end LRA menace (The EastAfrican)

A group of US human rights organisations have accused the Obama administration of
doing little to end the humanitarian crisis created by the Lord’s Resistance Army in
Central African Republic.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
 DR Congo: UN official calls for more aid to remote eastern areas
 Ban welcomes progress towards possible peace agreement in Darfur
 Sudanese military forces must withdraw from Abyei, Security Council says
 UN envoy proposes setting benchmarks to move Somalia to next political phase
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, June 14, 2011 - 2:00 pm-3:30 pm; U.S. Institute of Peace
Headquarters
B241, 2301 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20037
WHAT: The Future of South Sudan: A Conversation with H.E. Vice President Riek
Machar
WHO: H.E. Lt General Dr. Riek Machar, Vice President, the Government of Southern
Sudan; Tara Sonenshine, Introduction, Executive Vice President U.S. Institute of Peace;
David Smock, Moderator, Senior Vice President, Center of Innovation
U.S. Institute of Peace
Info: http://www.usip.org/events/the-future-south-sudan-conversation-he-vice-
president-riek-machar
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FULL ARTICLE TEXT

NATO Attacks Intensify Pressure on Gadhafi Forces in Libya (VOA)

By Edward Yeranian
June 05, 2011
NATO warplanes and attack helicopters have struck more targets in Libya, ratcheting
up pressure against forces loyal to embattled leader Moammar Gadhafi. Rebel fighters
have also made small gains in the Nafousa mountains, not far from the capital Tripoli.

The NATO attacks against Gadhafi forces were another small, but incremental sign the
embattled Libyan leader’s position is slowly being eroded.

British warplanes struck a military barracks in the capital Tripoli, while Apache
helicopters were used against Gadhafi strongholds along the coast. Arab satellite
channels say the deployment of attack helicopters has galvanized rebel fighters, while
sapping the morale of Gadhafi loyalists.

British military commander John Kingwell stressed the use of the Apache helicopters is
providing new capacity to keep Gadhafi forces in check.

"The unique capability of the attack helicopter is its ability with its very advanced fire
control system and radar to actually identify and engage targets with huge precision
and that is something that fixed wing at the moment is not achieving," he said. "That
will enable me, if required, to provide protection to civil population in Libya where the
aircraft are flying, that at present we are not."

British Army Air Corps strategist Lieutenant Colonel James noted the new tactical
advantages of the helicopters will seriously impede Colonel Gadhafi’s ability to harm
Libyan civilians, which is NATO’s core mission.

"You know it just brings something else to the party," said Etherington. "As I said, we
are able to fly lower, slower, different munitions, it is an escalation and I think, you
know, we are committed to support and protect the civilians that Gadhafi is
persecuting."

British Foreign Secretary William Hague told the BBC Britain would like Libyan rebel
leaders to “give a clearer picture of how they plan to govern,” if Colonel Gadhafi is
driven from power.

Rebel forces in Libya’s western Nafousa mountain range have reportedly gained
ground in recent days, capturing three towns and lifting the siege on a fourth.

Attacks by NATO helicopters on the oil town of Brega on the central coast put added
pressure on Gadhafi forces defending the town. Rebel fighters are a stone’s throw away
from Brega’s crucial oil and gas installations, as well as the nearby oil port of Ras
Lanouf.

Arab satellite channels say some Gadhafi fighters are ready to surrender, but are afraid
of possible reprisals. Other Gadhafi loyalists have fled by boat to Tunisia in recent days
to avoid surrendering to rebel fighters.
----------------------
The Obama administration’s dangerous course on Libya (Washington Post Op-Ed)
By Richard G. Lugar
June 5, 8:46 PM
The House of Representatives sent the Obama administration a strong, bipartisan
rebuke on Friday for failing to make the case for war in Libya or seeking congressional
authorization for military action. It is critical that the administration understand the
significance of this vote, abandon its plans for a nonbinding resolution in the Senate and
proceed to seek the requisite debate and authorization for the use of military force, as I
have advocated for nearly three months.

The White House called the vote “unnecessary and unhelpful,” but it has only itself to
blame. The administration faces bipartisan opposition in Congress because it has, for
more than two months, sidestepped the clear constitutional and legislative intent that a
president obtain congressional authorization to go to war.

At the time that President Obama was seeking endorsement for military action at the
United Nations, he didn’t seek a congressional declaration of war, as specified in Article
I of the Constitution. After the fighting began and U.S. planes and missiles had attacked
Libyan targets, the president still declined to seek congressional approval.

The president promised that he would act consistent with the War Powers Resolution,
which requires congressional approval to continue military action beyond 60 days after
it commences, and to consult closely with Congress. These commitments have gone
unfulfilled. The administration even barred Defense Department officials from
testifying at a public hearing and canceled a private briefing for senators by a Marine
general. This disdain for Congress and constitutional principles led to Friday’s
nonbinding House resolution.

Belatedly, the president and his allies are trying to establish congressional endorsement
for the war through a nonbinding Senate resolution approving “the limited use of
military force by the United States in Libya.” But this illustration of the president’s go-
it-alone attitude would set a dangerous precedent.

These “sense of the Senate” resolutions are most often used to commemorate non-
controversial events such as last month’s resolution celebrating National Train Day —
not to authorize a war. The resolution would have no force of law and would not have
to be passed by the House. Nonetheless, it would be touted by the administration as
evidence of congressional approval for the war.

Passing this resolution would be a profound mistake that would lower the standard for
congressional authorization for the use of military force and would forfeit the Senate’s
own constitutional role. By setting this precedent in the interests of expediency,
Congress would make it far more likely that future presidents will deem a nonbinding
vote in one house as sufficient to initiate or continue a war, or marginalize Congress’s
involvement in far more consequential war-making decisions than we face now in
Libya.

Further, because the president has not made his case to Congress, the American people
have no clear understanding of the U.S. interests at stake in Libya, how much this will
cost and what other priorities will have to be sacrificed.
Even the goals of the conflict remain unclear. The United Nations sanctioned only
protection of civilians, and in March the president said, “Broadening our military
mission to include regime change would be a mistake.” But at the Group of Eight
summit in France last month he declared that the aim was to ensure that the Libyan
people will be “finally free of 40 years of tyranny.” Is the United States obligated to
participate in Libya’s reconstruction?

The Founding Fathers gave Congress the power to declare war for good reason: It
forces the president to present his case in detail to the American public, allows for a
robust debate to examine that case and helps build broad political support to commit
American blood and treasure overseas. Little of that has happened here.

The nonbinding House resolution called on the president to issue a report to Congress
answering 20 important questions about Libya. If the administration is wise enough to
provide these answers promptly, that would be an example of the consultation that has
so far been lacking.

Waging war is the most serious business our nation does. Obtaining congressional
approval for war is not simple. But because getting out of wars is so difficult, the
Founders did not intend that getting into them should be easy. The president should
take the lesson from the House vote, retract his endorsement of the Senate resolution
and propose a joint resolution with the force of law. Such steps would signal his
willingness finally to engage Congress on the Libyan war and be the starting point for a
real debate in both houses.

The writer is a Republican senator from Indiana.

-------------------------
Britain says rebels must plan for post-Gaddafi Libya (Reuters)
By Peter Graff
June 6, 2011
TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's rebel leaders must plan in detail how they would run the
country if Muammar Gaddafi stood down and should learn from Iraq after the 2003
invasion, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Sunday.

Western governments and the Libyan rebels say a combination of NATO air strikes,
diplomatic isolation and grass-roots opposition will eventually end the Libyan leader's
41-year rule.

But they are worried that his departure could leave a vacuum that leads to violence and
instability, as happened in Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion of 2003 toppled Saddam
Hussein.
The rebel National Transitional Council, based in the eastern stronghold of Benghazi,
has a plan for how it would act if Gaddafi left but it is only embryonic, Hague told the
BBC.

"We're encouraging the National Transitional Council to put more flesh on their
proposed transition -- to lay out in more detail this coming week what would happen
on the day that Gaddafi went -- who would be running what, how would a new
government be formed in Tripoli?"

U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates said "it's only a matter of time" before Gaddafi
stood down. "Day by day Gaddafi is seeing the people that are closest to him walking
away," Gates told troops in Kandahar, Afghanistan, in answer to questions.

"Clearly the continuing pounding he's taking, the international isolation, is all having an
effect. The entire international community is basically saying he's got to go," Gates said.

Britain and France were the driving force behind NATO's military intervention in
Libya. Hague visited Benghazi on Saturday and was greeted by crowds shouting "Libya
free!" and "Gaddafi go away!"

GADDAFI TECHNOCRATS
He said the rebels planned to bring technocrats from Gaddafi's ruling circle into the
new leadership, a lesson learned from Iraq where the decision to bar members of
Saddam Hussein's Baath party from government posts fuelled instability.

"No de-Baathification, so certainly (the rebels are) learning from that," said Hague.
"They now need to publicise that more effectively, to be able to convince members of
the current regime that that is something that would work."

Gaddafi says he has no intention of stepping down. He says he is supported by all

Libyans -- apart from a minority whom he has described as "rats" and al Qaeda
militants -- and says NATO has intervened to steal Libya's oil.

The government condemned Hague's visit to the rebel headquarters as a violation of

Libya's sovereignty.

"The sole legitimate representative of the Libyan people is the Libyan state, not a group
of people representing themselves only," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Four months after thousands of Libyans rose up against his rule, and his security forces
responded with a fierce crackdown, Gaddafi remains in control of most of western
Libya.
The rebels control the east, the western city of Misrata and a mountain range near the
Tunisian border. But Gaddafi's better-equipped forces blocked their advance on the
capital.

The British defence ministry said its Apache helicopters were in action for a second day,
using missiles to destroy a multiple rocket launch system on the coast near the eastern
town of Brega.

The ministry also said its Tornado aircraft, with other NATO warplanes, had attacked a
surface-to-air missile depot in Tripoli on Saturday.
In Tripoli, a military facility was destroyed by NATO bombing. A Reuters reporters saw
rows of aluminium-covered hangars that had been blasted to pieces.

Government officials would not let reporters film and gave no details about the facility.
In a Coptic Christian church next door to the site, some windows had been shattered by
the force of the blasts.

DEAD LIVESTOCK

Libyan officials also took reporters to a farm on the outskirts of the city where there was
a large crater in the ground. The spot was about 1 km (mile) from an army base.

"I say to Obama: why do you bomb my father's farm?" said Mohammed Elyrusi, who
said he was bringing his children to visit their grandfather when the bombs struck.

No one was hurt, but a house and outbuilding were wrecked and livestock were killed.
"What is this? What is this?" Elyrusi asked, picking up the carcass of a dead chicken.

A rebel spokesman in the town of Nalut, part of the Western Mountains range near
Tunisia, asked why NATO was not doing more to protect civilians in the region.

"Gaddafi's forces have been shelling Nalut for about 24 hours. Twelve people were
wounded yesterday," said the spokesman, called Kalifa. "We do not know why NATO
has not hit the (pro-Gaddafi) brigades positioned in our area," he said.

Rebel fighters have pushed Gaddafi's forces out of Misrata after weeks of fighting that
killed hundreds of people.

Youssef, a rebel spokesman, said three rebels were killed in continued fighting in the
suburb of Dafniyah on Saturday, but that Misrata was quiet on Sunday.
----------------------------
LIBYA: Woman allegedly raped by Kadafi troops leaves Benghazi for the U.S. (LA
Times)
By Unattributed Author
June 5, 2011
The Libyan woman who caused international controversy when she claimed she was
raped by Kadafi troops has left Libya for the United States, her sister told the
Associated Press on Sunday.

Marwa Obeidi said her sister Iman left Benghazi early Sunday morning, but it was not
immediately clear where in the U.S. she was flying.

"We just want a chance for her to be treated psychologically and to rest. My sister has
just been through so much," Marwa Obeidi told the Associated Press.

"Iman locked herself in her room in Doha and refused to leave the house. She would get
nightmares and fall off the bed," said her mother, Aisha bin Ismail.

In March, Obeidi burst into Tripoli's Rixos Hotel, where foreign correspondents had
been forced to stay while covering Kadafi's regime.

She claimed she had been stopped at a checkpoint, kidnapped and gang-raped by
Kadafi's soldiers. As reporters watched, the Libyan government officials responsible for
escorting them approached and dragged Obeidi away.

She disappeared for days afterward, surfacing in Tunisia and later Qatar, where she
was suddenly expelled Thursday and sent to Benghazi.

Marwa Obeidi told the Associated Press that a human rights group aided by U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arranged for Iman and their father to travel
in a private plane to Washington by way of Malta and Austria.
The U.S. State Department had expressed concern for Obeidi's safety after she was
deported from Qatar.

Meanwhile, Libyan authorities in Tripoli have dismissed Obeidi as a drunk, a prostitute

and a thief.

"Iman constantly felt scared and threatened even in Benghazi," said her mother. "She
was worried that at any moment Kadafi's men would be near to kill her."

Marwa Obeidi told the Associated Pres that her sister's top priority in the U.S. would be
to receive psychological treatment and to continue her studies.

"I am sure they will greet her with such warmth and kindness," she said. "We are happy
for her."
----------------------
Brinkmanship in Sudan as a Deadline Nears (NYT)
By Jeffrey Gettleman
June 5, 2011
His troops and tanks violently annexed Abyei, a flashpoint town on the contested
border dividing northern and southern Sudan. Then he sent thousands of soldiers into
two other volatile areas, Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan, while continuing a crippling
blockade of the south, strangling it of food and fuel.

At the same time, renegade southern militias, widely believed to be armed by Mr.
Bashir’s intelligence services, have stepped up their attacks, hitting army bases,
snatching weapons and stretching southern troops thin as they scramble to meet all
these threats, often hijacking United Nations vehicles to get to the battlefield.

But diplomats and analysts believe that, rather than trying to start a major conflict, Mr.
Bashir may instead be playing out a carefully devised strategy meant to ensure just one
thing: that when southern Sudan declares independence next month, his northern
government controls as much oil as possible, or at least is richly compensated.

“Khartoum’s capture of Abyei and aggressive posturing on the eve of independence

are, among other things, attempts to strengthen their negotiating hand and squeeze the
South for as much as possible on oil, economic and border arrangements,” said Zach
Vertin, an analyst for the International Crisis Group, which researches conflicts
worldwide. In this high-stakes game, the tens of thousands of people who fled their
homes during the takeover of Abyei and are now camped out under trees or plastic
tarps along the border have become bargaining chips. Both north and south claim
Abyei, and analysts say that Mr. Bashir would be willing to give Abyei to the south —
and let the people go home — if he gets a good deal on other separation issues, namely
the oil.

But life for the bargaining chips, meanwhile, has been miserable. For Mary Achol, it has
meant eating leaves.

On a recent morning in the border town of Agok, Ms. Achol slumped in the meager
shade of a thorn tree, her belly rumbling from the nearly toxic mix of wild plants she
ingested, a baby sweating profusely in her arms. During the chaotic exodus out of
Abyei, Ms. Achol lost two other children.

“Maybe they died of thirst, maybe they were eaten by lions,” she said. “I don’t have a
lot of hope.”

Of course, there are many sticky issues on the table as Sudan prepares to split into two.
But like many other divorces, Sudan’s seems to be about money, and both the northern
and southern economies are desperately dependent on oil. While this means that oil is
an obvious source of tension, it could also be the glue that holds the two Sudans
together. The north has the pipelines and refineries, the south about 75 percent of the
reserves, implying some degree of symbiosis.
Since last summer, the sides have been haggling over how to split the southern oil — or
the money from it. Those close to the talks say they have hit an impasse, though they
expect some deal to be struck before July 9 because no one wants to contemplate the
possibility of a shutdown. Much of Sudan’s oil is so thick that the pipelines could get
clogged, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage, if the flow of oil is
suddenly stopped, as the south has threatened to do if no agreement is reached.

This means now is the decisive moment for the oil talks, and diplomats say it is no
coincidence that the north has suddenly increased the military pressure. “This is simply
about getting the best economic deal possible,” said a Western diplomat in Sudan. “The
north needs that oil.”

Publicly, northern officials deny any connection, citing a specific reason for each of their
recent military maneuvers — for example, in Abyei, southern forces attacked a northern
convoy right before the occupation. But privately, one leading member of Mr. Bashir’s
National Congress Party acknowledged that this may be about leverage, at least the
Abyei piece.

“If you say that both sides are trying to get a better negotiating position until the
resolution of Abyei, then that is acceptable,” said the official, who asked not to be
identified.

From Mr. Bashir’s standpoint, he needs to drive a hard bargain. There have been recent
food riots in the north; many northerners are already grumbling about the south being
allowed to split off; and Darfur is still a headache for him, with the rebels fighting on
and the International Criminal Court accusing Mr. Bashir of genocide for the massacres
there.

If he hopes to keep his job — which may be the only way of staying out of jail — Mr.
Bashir needs to keep the northern economy afloat, which he cannot do without
southern oil.

Sudan made its first major oil discoveries in the late 1970s. But soon the north-south
civil war resumed, and vicious fighting between northern Arabs and southerners (who
are mostly Christian and animist) rendered it impossible to develop a petroleum
industry. The northern government eventually co-opted ethnic militias in the south to
secure the oil fields and began exporting oil in 1999. Many of these same ethnic militias
have recently re-emerged, just as the oil talks hit their final stretch.

“If you need proof these militias are connected to the north, just look how they
maneuver,” said Garang Diing Akuong, the southern energy minister. Whenever the
militias infiltrate from the north, he said, they bypass the oil installations, where there
are obvious southern bases to hit, and go farther south. “These militias have been given
instructions not to mess with the oil,” the minister said.

The north has denied any connection to the ethnic militias, whose forces are heavily
armed and thought to number in the tens of thousands.

The south has flirted with the idea of building its own pipeline to Kenya’s coast, near
the historic island of Lamu. But that would take at least three years, and with 93 percent
of the southern government’s revenue derived from oil sales, the south probably cannot
hang on that long. Analysts have said that the southern government, already racked by
ethnic tensions and militia problems, would implode if soldiers stopped getting their
paychecks.

Southern officials chafe at the idea of “sharing” their oil with Mr. Bashir’s government,
preferring instead to pay a transit fee, which, according to oil analysts, is typically
anywhere from a dollar per barrel to 25 percent. It seems the two sides are stuck on
reaching a figure. Sudan currently produces around 500,000 barrels per day.

The south has also made it clear that it doesn’t want to risk its long-awaited
independence by going to war, which means that the only way to lift the blockades and
get people home may be to give Mr. Bashir what he wants.

“It all adds up to one marvelous strategy,” said the Western diplomat, who spoke on
the condition of anonymity, citing diplomatic protocol. He added, “I don’t think a war’s
going to break out. These are calculated risks, though sometimes calculations don’t
work.”
--------------------
Obama to Host Jonathan (This Day)
Ahamefula Ogbu
5 June 2011
President Barack Obama of the United States of America is to host President Goodluck
Jonathan in the White House on Wednesday this week for high level talks.

Jonathan will, according to a schedule from the office of his media adviser, break from a
summit on the impact of HIV/AIDS on global peace and security in New York to go for
the parley with Obama and return to the summit the same day.

The Nigerian president is expected to be among world leaders to launch a campaign on

stopping mother-to-child HIV transmission. Former US president, Bill Clinton, is
expected to launch the programme with Jonathan.

Jonathan will thereafter, as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security

Council, participate in electing the UN secretary general as the first tenure of Mr. Ban Ki
Moon has expired.
The statement from the president's office stated, "United States President Barack Obama
will receive Nigerian President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan at the White House,
Washington DC on Wednesday June 8 at 4.40 pm local time.

"President Jonathan, who is billed to arrive New York to participate at the high-level
meeting/summit on HIV/AIDS and the impact of the pandemic on international peace
and security, will take a break and head for Washington for the meeting with President
Obama before returning to New York the same day."

A statement from the White House also welcomed Jonathan's meeting with Obama on
June 8.

Obama "looks forward to consulting with President Jonathan on the latest regional and
global developments, and deepening our strong bilateral partnership," his spokesman
said in a statement.
-------------------------
US under scrutiny for failing to end LRA menace (The EastAfrican)
By Fred Oluoch and Julius Barigaba
5 June 2011
A group of US human rights organisations have accused the Obama administration of
doing little to end the humanitarian crisis created by the Lord’s Resistance Army in
Central African Republic.

The group says the LRA continues to pose a major challenge to peace and security to
countries in the region, including Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan,
where the army has operated previously.  

These accusations come at the first anniversary of president Obama signing into law,
The Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act, which
was hailed as a comprehensive strategy to stop atrocities perpetrated by the LRA and
help affected communities rebuild their lives .

The three human rights groups: The Enough Project, Resolve and Invisible Children
gave the Obama administration low marks for its efforts to end the violence and help
affected communities rebuild their lives. 

However, Ugandan military officials believe that the US has done what it could, that the
LRA is a spent force and that it is just a matter of time before Joseph Kony and his army
are finished.

Commander of Land Forces Lt. Gen. Katumba Wamala told The EastAfrican last week
that while the LRA can only operate in small numbers in the Central African Republic,
they are no longer a force that worries the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces.
“LRA is a spent force; they may still have the capacity to move in small groups of 10 or
20 where they are, but they can never regroup to become a significant threat to
Ugandan territory,” he said.

In their latest Report Card the organisations argued that President Obama’s LRA
strategy is not sufficient to address the rising LRA violence on the ground.
The LRA has committed over 100 attacks on civilians so far this year, killing dozens of
people and abducting nearly 200 more.

According to Enough’s executive director John Bradshaw, President Obama pledged

that his administration would lead in eliminating the threat of the LRA, and it is time
the administration took robust steps to end one of the most brutal and deadly conflicts
in Africa, in particular by leading efforts with governments in and outside the region to
develop a more effective strategy to apprehend the group’s senior leadership.

The group further urges the Washington Administration to appoint a special envoy for
Africa’s Great Lakes region with a mandate to address the LRA issue.

But when the new commander of the US Africa Command (Africom) General Carter F.
Ham visited Uganda early May this year, he expressed frustrations at not being able to
catch Joseph Kony and ending the LRA menace in the region.

Speaking to The EastAfrican, Gen. Ham said: “Catching Joseph Kony is still important to
us. A law was passed in my country to help formulate a strategy to catch him but trying
to find one man or a group in such a large area is hard.”

Gen. Ham did not mention any new funds in support of this mission, but Uganda’s
Defence Minister Crispus Kiyonga said in July last year there was no money for the
offensive.
-------------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

DR Congo: UN official calls for more aid to remote eastern areas

4 June – United Nations humanitarian agencies and their partners need to scale up aid
to remote eastern and north-eastern areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(DRC), a senior United Nations official said today, warning that as many as 1.7 million
people remain displaced from their homes and in fear of daily attacks from armed
groups.

Ban welcomes progress towards possible peace agreement in Darfur

4 June – Welcoming the progress made during peace talks aimed at resolving the eight-
year conflict in Sudan's Darfur region, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on
the parties to the fighting to now make the necessary compromises to secure a lasting
peace.

Sudanese military forces must withdraw from Abyei, Security Council says
3 June – The Security Council today demanded that the Government of Sudan
withdraw immediately from Abyei, the disputed area which is contested by both north
and south Sudan.

UN envoy proposes setting benchmarks to move Somalia to next political phase

3 June – The United Nations envoy for Somalia has proposed the setting up of
benchmarks and a monitoring mechanism to encourage the Transitional Federal
Institutions (TFI) to abide by obligations requiring them to prepare the country for a
new political phase beyond August, when the current interim arrangement expires.