United States Africa Command Public Affairs Office 5 Aug 2011 USAFRICOM - related news stories

TOP NEWS RELATED TO U.S. AFRICA COMMAND AND AFRICA Piracy on the rise off West Africa's coast (Christian Science Monitor) 4 Aug 2011 - Pirate attacks, previously a back-burner issue in the waters off of West Africa, have spiked in recent months, fueling fears that the illicit activity could threaten oil exports and ultimately hamper growth in the region. Nigerian oil pollution may need world's biggest clean-up: UN (New African) 4 Aug 2011 - Decades of oil pollution in Nigeria's Ogoniland region may require the world's biggest ever clean-up, the UN environmental agency said Thursday as it released a landmark report on the issue. ICRC wants food for Somalia but can't take U.N. aid (Reuters) 4 Aug 2011 - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) almost doubled its budget for Somali aid Thursday but said it would not be able to help U.N. food supplies get through to starving Somalis. Piracy Spurs Insurers to Extend Nigeria War-Risk Zone, Add Benin (Bloomberg) 4 Aug 2011 - Marine insurers extended a war-risk zone for Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer, and included waters off neighboring Benin for the first time as piracy attacks increase. US: 29,000 Somali children under 5 dead in famine (AP) 4 Aug 2011 - The drought and famine in Somalia have killed more than 29,000 children under the age of 5, according to U.S. estimates, the first time such a precise death toll has been released related to the Horn of Africa crisis. Ethiopian workers contribute US$200 million for dam construction (The Africa Report) 4 Aug 2011 - Ethiopia says it has mobilised about US$ 200 million from private and government employees towards the construction of Africas biggest dam over the Nile River.

South Sudan's SSLA Unity State rebels 'cease fire' (BBC) 3 Aug 2011 - The biggest rebel movement in the newly independent South Sudan has declared a ceasefire, its spokesman says. Britain, Italy checking apparent hostage video out of Nigeria (CNN) 4 Aug 2011 - British and Italian authorities are checking the authenticity of a video showing two Westerners abducted in Nigeria last spring, an act purportedly conducted by al Qaeda militants. UN News Service Africa Briefs Full Articles on UN Website Cleaning up Nigerian oil pollution could take 30 years, cost billions of dollars UN Millions of poor people will have mobile phone numbers under UN-backed scheme -----------------------------------------------------------------------UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST: None at this time. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------FULL ARTICLE TEXT Piracy on the rise off West Africa's coast (Christian Science Monitor) By Paige McClanahan 4 Aug 2011 - Pirate attacks, previously a back-burner issue in the waters off of West Africa, have spiked in recent months, fueling fears that the illicit activity could threaten oil exports and ultimately hamper growth in the region. Already this year, there have been 15 reported pirate attacks off the coast of the tiny nation of Benin, an area that saw just one attack between 2006 and 2010, according to data from the International Maritime Bureau. The most recent incident came last weekend, when armed men boarded two Panamanian-registered ships in Benins waters. Italian- and Greek-owned diesel tankers were also targeted there last month and one Filipino seaman was killed. The recent spate of attacks represents a change of both scale and ferocity of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, says Steven Jones, the director of Maritime Security Review, a London-based firm. Gangs have boarded vessels in order to transfer oil from the tanker into their own small tanker vessels, Mr. Jones says, adding that in the past, attacks were largely motivated by petty theft and pilferage.

The pirates are believed to be Nigerian, perhaps from just one gang and their push outwards [toward Benin] is believed to be a direct response to the successes of the Nigerian Navy in their own territorial sea, Jones added. Unlike Somalia, where seafaring criminals demand ransoms for the people and goods they hold hostage, pirates in the Gulf of Guinea focus on stealing fuel, which they then sell for hefty sums on the black market. Fuel theft has long been a threat off the coast of Nigeria, which pumps out 2.2 million barrels of oil per day and is the worlds sixth-largest exporter of the commodity. With the problem spreading further west, insurers have started raising the premiums they charge for ships that pass through Benins waters, Jones says. But piracy is also hurting other parts the economy, not just the oil sector. Nigerias fisheries industry a significant source of employment, especially among the countrys poor has been devastated by piracy and other violence at sea, wrote J. Peter Pham, director of the Michael S. Ansari Africa Center, in a report earlier this year. Nigerian fishermen suffered nearly 300 attacks between 2003 and 2008, Pham said, citing statistics from the Nigerian government. Some degree of low-level piracy seems to be a fact of life in a region where few governments can afford to buy speedboats or hire well-trained police officers to patrol their waters. Nigeria, by far the wealthiest economy in the region, has had some success in clamping down on piracy off its shores, but that may be to the detriment of its poorer neighbors. Natasha Brown, a spokeswoman for the International Maritime Organization, said that the IMO is working with countries in the region to create an integrated coast guard network to tackle piracy in West African waters. We are very concerned about the increase in piracy and armed robbery against ships in the Gulf of Guinea, Ms. Brown said. The attacks represent a threat to the security of the energy supply as well as to seafarers. --------------Nigerian oil pollution may need world's biggest clean-up: UN (New African) By Unattributed Author 4 Aug 2011 - Decades of oil pollution in Nigeria's Ogoniland region may require the world's biggest ever clean-up, the UN environmental agency said Thursday as it released a landmark report on the issue.

The UN Environment Programme also called for the oil industry and the Nigerian government to contribute $1 billion to a clean-up fund for the region that activists say has been devastated by pollution. "The environmental restoration of Ogoniland could prove to be the world's most wide-ranging and long term oil clean-up exercise ever undertaken if contaminated drinking water, land, creeks and important ecosystems such as mangroves are to be brought back to full, productive health," the UNEP said in a statement. The study of the effects of pollution in Ogoniland, part of the Niger Delta, the country's main oil-producing region, follows a two-year assessment by the UN's environmental agency. Its report marks the first major attempt to scientifically document the effects of oil pollution in the region of mainly farmers and fishermen. UNEP called the wide-ranging assessment "unprecedented". The report documents major health risks in the region of Africa's largest oil producer. "In at least 10 Ogoni communities where drinking water is contaminated with high levels of hydrocarbons, public health is seriously threatened," the UNEP statement said. "In one community, at Nisisioken Ogale, in western Ogoniland, families are drinking water from wells that is contaminated with benzene -- a known carcinogen -- at levels over 900 times above World Health Organization guidelines. "The site is close to a Nigerian National Petroleum Company pipeline." After being presented with the report, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, the first head of state from the Niger Delta, said the government would consider how to move forward. "The Nigerian government is going to discuss with Shell and other oil companies that have operated in the area and other relevant agencies of government to see how we can handle this report," he said. Ogoniland was the native region of Ken Saro-Wiwa, the renowned environmental activist who was executed by a Nigerian military government in 1995 after what was widely considered a show trial, drawing global condemnation. His activism and execution drew the world's attention to Ogoniland.

Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell, Nigeria's oldest and historically its largest operator, was forced to leave Ogoniland in 1993 following community unrest sparked by poverty and allegations of environmental neglect. Amnesty International took aim at Shell in its reaction to the report, alleging it has failed to deal with years of oil spills. Shell has said that most spills in the delta have been caused by theft and sabotage. "Shell must put its hands up, and face the fact that it has to deal with the damage it has caused," said Audrey Gaughran of Amnesty. "Trying to hide behind the actions of others, when Shell is the most powerful actor on the scene, simply wont wash." Shell declined to comment in detail until it had a chance to study the full report. Amnesty has estimated that, if all types of oil pollution in the vast Niger Delta are added up over the past half-century, it would be "on par with the Exxon Valdez every year over the last 50 years." --------------ICRC wants food for Somalia but can't take U.N. aid (Reuters) By Tom Miles and Richard Lough 4 Aug 2011 - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) almost doubled its budget for Somali aid Thursday but said it would not be able to help U.N. food supplies get through to starving Somalis. ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger said his independent agency was boosting its emergency operation to help 1.1 million people in the famine-stricken country and was asking donors for an extra 67 million Swiss francs ($86 million) in 2011. He said the ICRC had good access to southern Somalia, much of which is controlled by Islamist militants, with two supply routes through Somali ports and one overland from Kenya, but the humanitarian organization needed more supplies. That contrasts with the U.N. World Food Program (WFP), which has the food but says it cannot reach more than two million Somalis in the worst-hit areas because the militant group al Shabaab has blocked access to most aid agencies. "It's crucial that you can ensure access and have capacity to operate big food pipelines," Kellenberger told a news conference in Geneva.

He said the U.N. food agency normally used partner organizations to distribute its food aid, but it was very difficult for them to get access, and the ICRC would not distribute aid on behalf of other agencies. "The ICRC is an independent agency, for reasons you'll understand, for its protection," said Kellenberger, a former senior Swiss diplomat. "And I think that's important for its perception, for its personality, especially in delicate contexts like this. I have also to add that there would also be certain logistic problems." The ICRC has not given al Shabaab any payment, taxes or concessions to get access, Kellenberger added. EXPLORING ALL AVENUES David Orr, a WFP spokesman in Nairobi, declined to respond to Kellenberger's comments specifically. "WFP is exploring all avenues with all partners and exploring all channels to get access to those in need closest to the epicenter of the famine," Orr said. Earlier this week, Washington relaxed the rules imposed on charities operating in al Shabaab-controlled regions in a bid to boost the amount of relief reaching those areas. Bruce Wharton, deputy U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs, said Thursday it would be a mistake to second-guess whether some aid would inevitably end up in the hands of al Shabaab. "What we would like is for all of the food assistance to go to the innocent people who are desperately in need and for none of it to go to al Shabaab. But I think that we all recognize that the imperative right now is to save lives," Wharton told a news conference by telephone from Washington. An ICRC spokeswoman said the situation in southern Somalia was worsening, with more than 20 percent of children under five in an emergency condition because of severe acute malnutrition. Caught between conflict and famine, hundreds of refugees are flooding into Mogadishu every day -- more than 100,000 people have arrived in the capital in the last two months -- only to stumble into a raging insurgency. In the Badbaado camp, a city of makeshift shacks home to almost 30,000 displaced people outside Mogadishu, Kalthuma Hassan mourned her three

children, all of whom had succumbed to malnutrition. The last died in her arms early Thursday. "All those trucks of food have been parked here for days. They say they cannot distribute for security reasons. We cannot work it out -- maybe they want to sell the food after we die of hunger. I am afraid I will die before Ramadan ends," Hassan said, sobbing quietly. "Foreign and local people visit you everyday. They take your photos, officials promise you food, medicine, but in fact we are just dying," she said. Jon Brause, an official at the U.S. government's aid agency, said despite the easing of rules, it was still not safe for aid agencies to go into southern Somalia. Kellenberger said the ICRC might be willing to accept U.N. food aid if really necessary. "In the end the over-riding objective must be to help as many people as possible and whenever certain arrangements have to be made -- in a moment where if they were not made there would be losses in human terms -- I think certainly I would show a certain flexibility." --------------Piracy Spurs Insurers to Extend Nigeria War-Risk Zone, Add Benin (Bloomberg) By Unattributed Author 4 Aug 2011 - Marine insurers extended a war-risk zone for Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer, and included waters off neighboring Benin for the first time as piracy attacks increase. The Joint War Committee, which represents Lloyd's of London underwriters and other insurers, listed the areas as higher-risk for shipping on Aug. 1, Lloyd's Market Association senior executive John Gurtenne said by phone. The Nigerian risk zone now extends to 200 nautical miles (230 miles) offshore. The declaration lets underwriters charge an additional premium based on the value of ships entering the area, according to Gurtenne. Pirates attacked or tried to strike 10 vessels off Benin or in the Gulf of Guinea in June and July, based on reporting to the International Maritime Organization, the United Nations' shipping agency. Underwriters can already levy additional premiums on ships calling at Nigerian ports or offshore terminals, Gurtenne said. Piracy costs the global economy an estimated $7 billion to $12 billion a year, the IMO says. Large parts of the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman and southern Red Sea are risk zones for piracy, according to the committee.

--------------US: 29,000 Somali children under 5 dead in famine (AP) By Unattributed Author 4 Aug 2011 - The drought and famine in Somalia have killed more than 29,000 children under the age of 5, according to U.S. estimates, the first time such a precise death toll has been released related to the Horn of Africa crisis. The United Nations has said previously that tens of thousands of people have died in the drought, the worst in Somalia in 60 years. The U.N. says 640,000 Somali children are acutely malnourished, a statistic that suggests the death toll of small children will rise. Nancy Lindborg, an official with the U.S. government aid arm, told a congressional committee in Washington on Wednesday that the U.S. estimates that more than 29,000 children under the age of 5 have died in the last 90 days in southern Somalia. That number is based on nutrition and mortality surveys verified by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The U.N. on Wednesday declared three new regions in Somalia famine zones, bringing the total number to five. Out of a population of roughly 7.5 million, the U.N. says 3.2 million Somalis are in need of immediate lifesaving assistance. Getting aid to Somalia has been made more difficult because al-Qaida-linked militants control much of the countrys most desperate areas. Al-Shabab has denied that a famine is taking place, and wont give access to the World Food Program, the worlds biggest provider of food aid. Tens of thousands of refugees have fled south-central Somalia in hopes of finding food at camps in Ethiopia, Kenya and in Mogadishu, the Somali capital. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been donated to fight the hunger crisis, but the U.N. says it needs hundreds of millions more. --------------Ethiopian workers contribute US$200 million for dam construction (The Africa Report) By Unattributed Author 4 Aug 2011 - Ethiopia says it has mobilised about US$ 200 million from private and government employees towards the construction of Africas biggest dam over the Nile River. he project has created a diplomatic row between Ethiopia and neighbouring Egypt, which is against the construction of the dam.

Ethiopia has projected that the Great Renaissance Dam will produce around 5,250 megawatts (MW) of electricity when complete in 2015. Generation of electricity will start in two years. The construction of the dam, to be fully funded by the government will cost US$ 5 billion which is almost equivalent to Ethiopias annual budget. After launching the project in April, the government introduced the selling of bonds both locally and abroad to generate money for its implementation. Ordinary Ethiopians have been using their monthly salaries to buy the bonds. School children have also not been left out as they have given donations towards the project. A committee tasked with the mobilisation of funds for the project on Thursday said US$ 200 million had been collected so far from the government and private employees. The money was donated in the form of grants from their salaries. However, the committee decided to convert the funds to bonds. This was made just to encourage the saving culture among the public, the committee said. A number of private organisations and business people have also bought the bonds. Meanwhile, Egypt is insisting that its colonial-era agreements with Britain prohibit other countries from building dams over the Nile River. But the two countries have held negotiations over the dam with Ethiopia insisting that the construction will not affect the water flow of the river but will rather benefit Sudan and Egypt. The two countries have also established a joint committee to study the impact of the project even though Ethiopia insists that nothing will stop it from constructing the dam. The dam will flood 1,680 square kilometers of forest in northwest Ethiopia, near the Sudan border, and create a reservoir that is nearly twice as large as Lake Tana, the countrys largest natural lake. --------------South Sudan's SSLA Unity State rebels 'cease fire' (BBC) By Unattributed Author

3 Aug 2011 - The biggest rebel movement in the newly independent South Sudan has declared a ceasefire, its spokesman says. The South Sudan Liberation Army (SSLA) has been involved in clashes with the new nation's army this year. Its fighters are concentrated in Unity State, near many of South Sudan's lucrative oil fields. When South Sudan split from Khartoum last month, its President Salva Kiir offered an amnesty to various militias fighting in the south. South Sudan's army spokesman told the BBC he had not heard about a ceasefire, but confirmed there had been "behind doors" contacts between the government and the SSLA. South Sudan's independence from Sudan was the outcome of a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of conflict between north and south in which some 1.5 million people died. The BBC's James Copnall in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, says insecurity is one of the greatest challenges facing the new state of South Sudan. Ethnic tensions The SSLA, led by a dissident general Peter Gadet, is the most significant militarily of the half dozen or so southern rebel groups, our reporter says. His fighters took up arms earlier this year in protest against corruption, mismanagement of oil revenues and what they believe is the domination of the Dinka ethnic group. Most of the SSLA are from the Nuer ethnic group, the second biggest in South Sudan. "We are declaring a ceasefire and we are also accepting the amnesty offered by the president as the basis of talks with the government of South Sudan," SSLA spokesman Bol Gatkouth Kol told the AFP news agency. The group's intention was to integrate its soldiers into the southern army, he said. He told the BBC he was in South Sudan's capital, Juba, as the head of an SSLA delegation for further talks. If the ceasefire is confirmed and then holds, it will be a major step forward for South Sudan's stability, our reporter says.

Last month, the leader of another South Sudanese rebel group - Col Gatluak Gai - was shot dead not long after agreeing to integrate his forces. One of his daughters is married to Gen Gadet. The army denied it was behind his assassination and said he was killed in a dispute with a fellow rebel leader about the peace agreement. --------------Britain, Italy checking apparent hostage video out of Nigeria (CNN) By Unattributed Author 4 Aug 2011 - British and Italian authorities are checking the authenticity of a video showing two Westerners abducted in Nigeria last spring, an act purportedly conducted by al Qaeda militants. The French Press Agency reported Thursday that it received a video at its office in the Ivory Coast city of Abidjan that said the two men, an Italian and a Briton, had been abducted by al Qaeda. The agency, also called Agence France Presse, said the hostages were "blindfolded and on their knees, with three men holding weapons standing behind them, their faces hidden by turbans." If al Qaeda were involved, It would be the terror network's first confirmed operation in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation. The British Foreign Office on Thursday confirmed that the two, including a Briton, were abducted in Nigeria on May 12 and officials are working with Nigerian and Italian authorities and the firm that employs the men. "A video has been released allegedly showing the hostages and officials are urgently checking its authenticity. We regret the public release of material such as this and urge the media not to speculate at this sensitive time," the office said in a statement. "We are working to secure the hostages' safe and swift release. We ask those holding the two men to show compassion and release them, enabling them to rejoin their families." The Italian Foreign Ministry said the government is closely monitoring the situation of Italian national Franco Lamolinara, abducted in Nigeria on May 12 with a Briton. "A video released of the two hostages is being evaluated for authenticity. As in previous cases involving fellow nationals abroad, the foreign ministry is

maintaining its usual reserve regarding the intense diplomatic efforts under way, and urges the collaboration of the press along the same lines." The French news agency said the men were engineers working for an Italian construction company based in Nigeria and were taken by gunmen who stormed their apartment in Birnin Kebbi, the capital of Kebbi state in northwestern Nigeria. The agency reported that video "was accompanied by photographs which showed the men without blindfolds." It reported that hostages identified themselves and deliver statements "urging their governments to meet the demands of the kidnappers, whom they say are from al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb." That wing of al Qaeda operates north of Nigeria. There have been kidnappings in Nigeria's southern oil region but such actions are rare in the northwestern part of the country. However, Kebbi is on the border with Niger, where al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has claimed abductions of foreign workers. -------------UN News Service Africa Briefs Full Articles on UN Website Cleaning up Nigerian oil pollution could take 30 years, cost billions of dollars UN 4 August The environmental restoration of Nigerias Ogoniland oil region could prove to be the worlds most wide-ranging and long-term oil clean-up exercise ever, if contaminated drinking water, land, creeks and other ecosystems are to be brought back to full health, according to a United Nations report released today. Millions of poor people will have mobile phone numbers under UNbacked scheme 4 August Three million poor people in Africa and South Asia, the majority of them women, will gain access to low-cost mobile phone numbers as part of technology firm Movirtus partnership with the United Nations-backed initiative that enlists the private sector in efforts to fight poverty.