United States Africa Command Public Affairs Office 5 March 2012 USAFRICOM - related news stories

Good morning. Please see today's news review for March 5, 2012. This new format is best viewed in HTML. Of interest in today's report: - Al Qaeda offshoot launches strike on Algerian military base. -Suicide car explosion kills bomber himself in Somali capital. - Inhofe pledges support, resources to AFRICOM. -US government ultimately paid bail for Egypt NGOs. -NYC man sentenced to 27 yrs in failed attempt to join terrorist group.

U.S. Africa Command Public Affairs Please send questions or comments to: publicaffairs@usafricom.mil 421-2687 (+49-711-729-2687)

Headline

Date

Outlet

Al Qaeda offshoot launches strike on 03/03/2012 France 24 - Online Algerian military base
An al Qaeda offshoot has claimed responsibility for a bomb attack Saturday that left at least 24 people wounded in the Algerian city of Tamanrasset when a suicide bomber drove a vehicle packed with explosives into a paramilitary police base.

Suicide car explosion kills bomber himself in Somali capital: police

03/03/2012

Xinhua News Agency

MOGADISHU, March 3 (Xinhua) -- A suicide car bomber was killed Saturday after his vehicles prematurely exploded at a street in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, witnesses and police officer said.

U.S. says ties with Egypt still strong Thomson Reuters 03/03/2012 after NGO row - Africa - Online
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Saturday reaffirmed its backing for Egypt's efforts to get a $3.2 billion (2.0 billion pounds) loan from the International Monetary Fund, despite the recent diplomatic standoff between Washington and Cairo over A...

Kenyan troops may pull out of Somalia this October

03/03/2012

Daily Nation Online

Kenyan troops fighting the Al-Shabaab in Somalia may pull out in eight months, the Department of Defence announced on Saturday.

US Senator Inhofe pledges support, resources to 03/03/2012 OklahomaPress AFRICOM Room

WASHINGTON, D.C. Yesterday, during a Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) hearing, U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) questioned U.S. Gen. Carter F. Ham, Commander of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), on the available force structure, current capabilities...

US government ultimately paid bail

03/03/2012 Thomson Reuters

for Egypt NGOs

- Africa - Online

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The bail paid for U.S. pro-democracy activists facing charges in Egypt ultimately came from the U.S. government, the State Department said on Friday.

Nigerian 'Islamists' killed in explosion

03/03/2012 News24

Kano - Three suspected members of the Boko Haram sect were killed while assembling bombs in the Nigerian city of Maiduguri, considered the group's stronghold, an army spokesperson said on Saturday.

NYC man sentenced to 27 years in failed attempt to join al-Qaida to avenge Muslim abuse

03/03/2012

Washington Post Online

A New York City man was sentenced to 27 years in prison Friday for traveling to the Middle East in a failed bid to join al-Qaida and avenge abuse of Muslims by killing American troops.

Libya's Muslim Brotherhood Sets Up New York Times 03/03/2012 Political Party Online, The
TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's Muslim Brotherhood teamed up with other Islamists on Friday to establish a new political party that is set to be a leading player in the country's first elections since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising.

Libya army graduates first Tripolitrained troops

03/04/2012 France 24 - Online

The Libyan national army on Sunday graduated its first batch of soldiers drawn from the ranks of former rebels in the capital of Tripoli, a military officer said.

Congo Republic blasts kill 4, injure dozens - official

03/04/2012

Thomson Reuters - Africa - Online

KINSHASA (Reuters) - A series of explosions in Brazzaville, the capital of Congo Republic, killed at least four people and injured nearly 60 others, a senior Congolese official said, giving the first toll from Sunday's blasts.

Police disperse student protest in Sudan

03/04/2012

Thomson Reuters - Africa - Online

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudanese police used batons to disperse more than 100 students protesting in the centre of Khartoum against the closure of their campuses following the independence of South Sudan, witnesses said.

Long-term strategy needed to banish Daily Nation 03/04/2012 hunger Online

After six months and the deaths of tens of thousands of people, the famine in Somalia -- caused by the worst drought in 60 years -- is over. But a wider crisis in Africa continues.

Nigeria will bring 'terrorism under control'

03/04/2012 News24

Abuja - Nigeria will bring terrorism "under control" and confront the radical Muslim sect that claimed responsibility for a car bombing at the country's United Nations headquarters that killed at least 19 people, its president vowed on Saturday amid the wr...

Somali residents welcome Ethiopian 03/04/2012 News24 troops

Baidoa - After three years of killings and violence under the rule of al-Shabaab rebels, residents of the Somali city of Baidoa said they were happy to see the arrival of Ethiopian soldiers, whose presence they once resented.

Two British journalists accused of spying in Libya

03/04/2012

Thomson Reuters - Africa - Online

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Two British journalists working for Iran's Press TV who were detained late last month in Libya are suspected of being spies, the head of the militia which is holding them said on Sunday.

United Nations News Center - Africa United Nations 03/04/2012 Briefs News Center
-UN mission will stay in Liberia, albeit in different form, says peacekeeping official

-Both pro- and anti-Qadhafi forces committed war crimes in Libya N panel continued inflow of Malian refugees into Mauritania and Burkina Faso - UN reports continued i...

News Headline: Al Qaeda offshoot launches strike on Algerian military base | News Date: 03/03/2012 Outlet Full Name: France 24 - Online News Text: An Al-Qaeda splinter group claimed Saturday to have carried out a suicide attack on a military base in southern Algeria which left 24 people wounded. "We inform you that we are behind the explosion that occurred this morning at Tamanrasset," a message sent to AFP and signed by the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa said. The website of the Algerian Arabic-language daily En Nahar said 10 gendarmes and 14 civilians were taken to hospital after the attack at the paramilitary gendarmerie headquarters in Tamanrasset, 1,970 kilometres (1,220 miles) south of Algiers. Some of the injured were said to be in critical condition, while the suicide bomber was blown apart in the blast, which also caused major damage to the building. The APS news agency confirmed the attack without giving the number of casualties and said a major security presence was now being deployed in the zone. It was the first time such an attack had been reported in the area. The Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (Jamat Tawhid Wal Jihad Fi Garbi Afriqqiya) surfaced in December, when it claimed to be holding three Westerners kidnapped from a Western Sahara refugee camp in Algeria in October. Security sources said it had broken off from the main group, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), in order to spread jihad to west Africa and not confine themselves just to the Maghreb or Sahel regions. The group released a video of the abducted aid workers and another showing six dark-skinned, turbaned men speaking of their ideological references, including Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar but putting more emphasis on historical figures of west African Islam. Also in December, Mali and Algeria agreed to step up coordination in efforts to root out AlQaeda-linked groups in the region. Al-Qaeda-linked groups have been active in Algeria, Mali, Niger and Mauritania for a decade but their activity has picked up since the fall of Moamer Kadhafi scattered the slain Libyan strongman's arsenal across the region. In April 2010, the four countries formed a Committee of Joint Chiefs (CEMOC), based in Tamanrasset, to coordinate their military efforts against AQIM
Return to Top

News Headline: Suicide car explosion kills bomber himself in Somali capital: police | News Date: 03/03/2012 Outlet Full Name: Xinhua News Agency

News Text: MOGADISHU, March 3 (Xinhua) -- A suicide car bomber was killed Saturday after his vehicles prematurely exploded at a street in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, witnesses and police officer said. "The car exploded in the centre of the street and fortunately no one was killed except the criminal who wanted to kill and maim innocent civilians," Abdulahi Mohamed, a police commander said. The Somali police officer said a man who was accompanying the driver survived adding that they were investigating the man who claimed he was given lift by the driver. The street where the car exploded was closed to traffic and people for several hours as the security officials said the vehicle could further explode as it was partially destroyed it the blast and could be carrying undetonated explosives. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the car bomb attack but Al-Shabaab militants have previously carried out such attacks against Somali government forces and African Union peacekeeping forces. The target of the latest car explosion remains unclear but a base for AU peacekeepers in Mogadishu locates in the nearby vicinity. The Radical Al-Shabaab movement which has recently announced it has merged with the international terror group vowed to carry out such attacks following their retreat from the Somali capital last year after concerted military offensive by AU troops and Somali government forces.
Return to Top

News Headline: U.S. says ties with Egypt still strong after NGO row | News Date: 03/03/2012 Outlet Full Name: Thomson Reuters - Africa - Online News Text: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Saturday reaffirmed its backing for Egypt's efforts to get a $3.2 billion (2.0 billion pounds) loan from the International Monetary Fund, despite the recent diplomatic standoff between Washington and Cairo over American pro-democracy activists. Egypt, coming off the uprising that overthrew Hosni Mubarak who had ruled for 30 years, is in talks with the IMF for a loan to help it stave off a financial crisis. "The United States continues to support the efforts of the IMF to conclude an economic reform and stabilization program with Egypt and remains in close touch with other donors on ways to assist the Egyptian economy," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement. "Despite the recent strains, and differences on certain issues, the fundamentals of this strategic relationship remain strong," Nuland said. "The United States is also committed to ensuring Egypt's economic and financial stability." In its loan negotiations, the IMF has asked Cairo to cut its budget deficit, line up aid pledges from other donors and secure support from its political forces. The U.S. reassurances come after Egypt barred American staff of U.S.-funded pro-democracy groups from leaving its borders because of a dispute over the activities of non-governmental organizations.

The accusations and travel ban marked the deepest rift in U.S.-Egyptian relations in decades, and put $1.3 billion in annual U.S. military aid to Egypt at risk. Nuland said the issue "is a matter of serious continuing concern for the United States." Egyptian authorities had accused 43 workers, including 16 U.S. citizens, of working for groups receiving illegal foreign funding. Seven of the U.S. citizens, including the son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, were in Egypt at the time and barred from leaving the country. The U.S. government paid the bail for the U.S. citizens, which was set at about $330,000 each. The travel ban was lifted this week, and the Americans and other foreign workers involved left the country on a private plane on Thursday. Egyptian officials proposed in February an 18-month economic reform plan that would coincide with the IMF program. These government officials face the contentious process of drafting a new constitution and holding a presidential election by the end of June. (Additional reporting by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Vicki Allen)
Return to Top

News Headline: Kenyan troops may pull out of Somalia this October | News Date: 03/03/2012 Outlet Full Name: Daily Nation - Online News Text: Kenyan troops fighting the Al-Shabaab in Somalia may pull out in eight months, the Department of Defence announced on Saturday. This is after the Kenya Defence Forces joined African Union troops in the war against the terrorist group, a joint military effort scheduled to end on October 31. However, Kenyan forces may continue operating in Somalia beyond October if a peaceful situation in the lawless country will not have been realised. Since we were integrated into the Amisom (African Union Mission in Somalia), we are going to operate within the Amisom mandate which expires on October 31 this year. As long as it takes We expect to be there for as long as that mandate is running. The mandate is peace enforcement, said spokesman Colonel Cyrus Oguna. KDF entered Somalia in October last year to fight the militia linked to the global Al-Qaeda terror network. Uganda, Burundi and Djibouti have 13,000 troops fighting the Al-Shabaab in Mogadishu. The United Nations Security Council resolution that allowed KDF's integration into Amisom voted to increase the number of troops to 17,731. Senior military and political leaders are scheduled to meet in Addis Ababa this week to determine the number of personnel to be deployed by the contributing countries. The meeting will also discuss the command structure of an expanded military strength and

other logistics, said Foreign Affairs official Lindsey Kiptenes. They were speaking to journalists on Saturday during the weekly briefing on Operation Linda Nchi, KDF's involvement in Somalia. Said Col Oguna: From October 31 onwards, our presence (in Somalia) will depend on the assessment of what will be prevailing on the ground at the time by African Union Peace and Security Council. They may determine to extend the period or otherwise. And, in the event enforcement ends as scheduled, he added, it would be followed by peace keeping, according to UN regulations. Thus the possibility of our troops remaining is quite high, said Col Oguna.
Return to Top

News Headline: Inhofe pledges support, resources to AFRICOM | News Date: 03/03/2012 Outlet Full Name: US Senator OklahomaPress Room News Text: WASHINGTON, D.C. Yesterday, during a Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) hearing, U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) questioned U.S. Gen. Carter F. Ham, Commander of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), on the available force structure, current capabilities, and the ongoing operations in Africa to apprehend Joseph Kony and disarm the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). For over 20 years, Joseph Kony and his LRA have been responsible for the displacement and murder of innocent children, women, and men in Uganda and throughout Africa, said Inhofe. As the only U.S. Senator to make 120 country visits to the continent of Africa, I am all too aware of the devastation caused by this terrorist group. In order to combat terror and prevent further devastation caused by the hands of Joseph Kony, it is imperative that he is found and the LRA is finally disarmed. Only then, will we be able to bring stability to Africa. Inhofe continued, However, with President Obama's proposed defense cuts, I fear AFRICOM will not receive the resources necessary to adequately finish this mission. During yesterday's hearing, General Ham reaffirmed my concern that the lack of resources is impairing their ability to locate and capture Joseph Kony and other members of the LRA. In order to successfully complete this mission, it is essential that AFRICOM have the full availability to use manned and unmanned Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft. Given the size of Africa, the diversity of threats, limited number of forces, and inaccessibility to large parts of Africa, the use of ISR aircraft is critical to finally bringing Kony to justice and achieving other mission requirements in the continent of Africa.
Return to Top

News Headline: US government ultimately paid bail for Egypt NGOs | News Date: 03/03/2012 Outlet Full Name: Thomson Reuters - Africa - Online News Text: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The bail paid for U.S. pro-democracy activists facing charges in Egypt ultimately came from the U.S. government, the State Department said on Friday. Egyptian authorities had accused the workers, including the son of U.S. Transportation

Secretary Ray LaHood, of working for groups receiving illegal foreign funding and had barred them from leaving the country. The case put at risk $1.3 billion in annual U.S. military aid to Egypt, a cash transfer that began flowing after Egypt made peace with Israel in 1979, and it marked the deepest rift in U.S.Egyptian relations in decades. The travel ban was lifted this week and the U.S. State Department on Friday said 13 foreign workers -- six of them U.S. citizens -- had left Egypt on a private plane. The amount of bail paid for the U.S. citizens was set at about $330,000 each. LaHood and three other activists from the International Republican Institute (IRI) arrived in the United States on Friday evening, a representative of the organization said. Out of a total of 43 foreign and Egyptian workers who have been charged in the case, 16 were U.S. citizens and seven of those were in Egypt and had been subject to the travel ban. One of the seven chose to remain in Egypt, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters. The State Department declined to name the people, some of whom worked for the IRI and the National Democratic Institute, U.S.-funded nongovernmental organizations that seek to promote democracy abroad. Nuland said the money to pay the bail ultimately came from the U.S. government, saying that the Obama administration had agreed to treat the legal expenses stemming from the incident "as part of the activities that the U.S. government funds." "The NGOs paid the bail out of money that they received from the U.S. government," she said. "We agreed to this because the situation arose in the context of the democracy promotion work that they were doing that we had funded and supported." Nuland said that it was up to the U.S. citizens who had left to decide whether to return to Egypt to face the charges. She was unable to say whether the money would be forfeited to the Egyptian government if they did not, or whether the money would be returned to the NGOs or to the U.S. government if they return to stand trial. "Our hope and expectation is that we can get this case dismissed," she said, saying that if it was dismissed the questions about the bail would "presumably" be resolved.
Return to Top

News Headline: Nigerian 'Islamists' killed in explosion | News Date: 03/03/2012 Outlet Full Name: News24 News Text: Kano - Three suspected members of the Boko Haram sect were killed while assembling bombs in the Nigerian city of Maiduguri, considered the group's stronghold, an army spokesperson said on Saturday. The explosion in the Kaleri suburb of the northern city on Friday destroyed a house and dismembered the three Islamist sect members, Lieutenant Colonel Hassan Mohammed of the special military unit in Maiduguri said. "We found some assembled IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and a large amount of bomb-

making components. It is certain the victims of the explosion were Boko Haram members who got killed while coupling IEDs in an accidental explosion," Mohammed said. Other items recovered at the scene included remote control devices, wrist watch timers, metallic drums and copies of the Qur'an, he said. The sect converts homes into bomb-making factories for attacks, the spokesperson said. As well as in Maiduguri, there have been accidental and fatal explosions in suspected Boko Haram bomb-making factories in the northern cities of Damaturu and Kaduna in recent months. Gunmen shot dead a soldier on Friday in the northern city of Kano where members of Boko Haram recently killed 185 people in co-ordinated bomb and gun attacks, residents said. Violence blamed on the sect, whose goals remain largely unclear, has since mid-2009 claimed more than 1 000 lives, including more than 300 this year alone, according to AFP and rights groups.
Return to Top

News Headline: NYC man sentenced to 27 years in failed attempt to join al-Qaida to avenge Muslim abuse | News Date: 03/03/2012 Outlet Full Name: Washington Post - Online News Text: A New York City man was sentenced to 27 years in prison Friday for traveling to the Middle East in a failed bid to join al-Qaida and avenge abuse of Muslims by killing American troops. I wish I had not gone down that path, Betim Kaziu told U.S. District Judge John Gleason before hearing the sentence in federal court in Brooklyn. I completely regret what I did in that phase of my life. 0 Comments Weigh InCorrections? Personal Post (U.S. Attorney Office, Brooklyn, Handout/Associated Press) - This handout photo from the U.S. Attorney Office, Brooklyn. N.Y., Friday, March 2, 2012, shows Betim Kaziu who is found guilty of conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization. Prosecutors are seeking a life sentence for the Brooklyn-born man convicted last year of traveling to the Middle East to avenge abuse of Muslims. .But Gleason said it was first time he'd hear the defendant express remorse and that it wasn't convincing. You grew up in Brooklyn and you decided to murder your own country's soldiers, Gleason said. There's still an element of defiance in you. ... You're still way too proud of becoming a jihadist. The government had sought a life term, arguing that Kaziu could resume his quest to commit terrorism if given anything less.

A jury found the 24-year-old Kaziu guilty last year of conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization and other charges last year at a trial that featured the testimony of a would-be terrorist and childhood friend of the defendant who became a government cooperator. Unlike the cases of Najibullah Zazi, mastermind of a foiled suicide attack on New York City subways, or Faisal Shahzad, the failed Times Square bomber, Kaziu's case received little attention, in part because the plot didn't get far. But his story had many of the same themes of homegrown terrorism. Kaziu and star witness Sulejah Hadzovic were two U.S.-born sons of Islamic immigrants from the former Yugoslavia who met in sixth grade. By 2008, they pursued a growing interest in radical Islam and began searching the Internet for opportunities to take up arms against U.S. troops. We were upset at what was happening in places like Abu Ghraib prison and Guantanamo Bay, how they were humiliating and torturing Muslims there, Hadzovic testified. It's what ultimately made us want to go and fight in jihad. The pair traveled in 2009 to Egypt, where Hadzovic they attended school, sought to obtain AK47s and considered whether to take up arms in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Palestine or Somalia. Hadzovic said he began to waver after hearing President Barack Obama's speech in Cairo in 2009 that extended a hand of friendship to Islam. Kaziu, he said, told him: Don't let (the speech) fool you. It's like throwing sand in your eyes to blind you from the truth. Defying his friend, Hadzovic returned to New York. About three week later, federal authorities approached him and demanded answers about his travels. He eventually agreed to plead guilty and cooperate. Prosecutors say that once on his own, Kaziu tried, but failed, to join al-Qaida groups in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans. He eventually made his way to Kosovo. On the Albanian coast, he recorded a video that a prosecutor described as his goodbye, contemplating how he would soon depart for paradise a reward for those who die a martyr, and had bought a plane ticket to Pakistan. But he was captured local authorities before he could make the trip. The defense claimed the alleged martyrdom video and other home videos shot by Kaziu were made in jest. His lawyers also argued that most of evidence against their client was widely distributed anti-American propaganda. Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed
Return to Top

News Headline: Libya's Muslim Brotherhood Sets Up Political Party | News Date: 03/03/2012 Outlet Full Name: New York Times - Online, The News Text: TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's Muslim Brotherhood teamed up with other Islamists on Friday to establish a new political party that is set to be a leading player in the country's first elections since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising.

.Islamist and secular parties will vie in June elections for seats in a national assembly that will draft a new constitution for the North African country. Political analysts say Libya's Muslim Brotherhood is likely to emerge as the most organized political force and a leading player in the oil-exporting country where Islamists, like all dissidents, were harshly suppressed for 42 years. Post-uprising elections have already brought Islamists into government in Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco since October and they are likely to perform well in Libya, a socially conservative country where alcohol was already banned before the revolution. Lamine Belhadj, who heads the committee that is working to set up the new party, told Reuters at a conference on Friday it would bring together Islamists of different stripes. "This is the founding conference of a national, civil party with an Islamic frame of reference. It is being established by the Muslim Brotherhood and many independents who are not affiliated with any Islamic organizations," he said. Belhadj, a senior official in the National Transitional Council (NTC) and a member of the commission responsible for organizing the elections, said the new party had yet to be named and its leaders had not been chosen as consultations were under way between the Brotherhood and other groups. Abdullah Shamia, an economics professor and member of the Brotherhood since its days as an underground organization, said the new party would be independent. The Muslim Brotherhood, a broader religious, charitable and social movement, would continue its work separately from the political party. ISLAMIC LAW? The rise of Islamist parties at the ballot box has raised concerns among more secular Arabs that new governments will impose more religious restrictions on society or seek to make postuprising constitutions comply with Islamic law, or sharia. Libya's NTC has already indicated that the country will be run in accordance with sharia, though the exact place of sharia in the legal system will only be settled once a new constitution is written after elections. Belhadj said there was little disagreement on the issue of sharia in Libya, whose citizens are virtually all Sunni Muslims. "All the parties cannot but adopt an Islamic frame of reference because the Libyan people are Muslim," he said. Libya's Muslim Brotherhood was founded in 1949 as an offshoot of the eponymous Egyptian organization but was banned and unable to hold public meetings in Libya until November 2011. Its members were often forced to keep their membership secret for fear of arrest, torture or imprisonment. Majida al-Fallah, a doctor and Islamist activist, told Reuters she saw women, whatever their political loyalty, playing a more active role after the revolution. "I believe women began to have a big role from the start of the revolution. We are now pushing women to the front lines rather than keeping them in the back seat," she said.

Asked if she expected religious parties to push for women to be confined to the home or be forced to wear the veil, she said: "I don't think so. This is something that is up to the Muslim woman herself and her choice."
Return to Top

News Headline: Libya army graduates first Tripoli-trained troops | News Date: 03/04/2012 Outlet Full Name: France 24 - Online News Text: The Libyan national army on Sunday graduated its first batch of soldiers drawn from the ranks of former rebels in the capital of Tripoli, a military officer said. "This is the first military unit formed by the national army in Tripoli," Colonel Omar Abdullah said of the graduating class of 225 troops. "It is a symbol of revolutionaries being streamlined into a system with a mission of protecting the state," he added, gesturing to the men in khaki. The national army in Libya, which has been refashioning itself after the toppling of slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi's regime in October, is trying to recruit and train former rebel fighters. "Our doors are open to all revolutionaries," the colonel told AFP. The newly established 23 of October brigade takes its name from the date when the now ruling National Transitional Council of Libya declared "liberation" of the country from Kadhafi's 42year-old rule. The unit received four months of training in military drills and security measures, including the protection of important personalities, self-defence and disarming opponents, a graduate said. "This is a big chance for us to protect a country which is finally ours," said Ala Naser al-Din, 31, a resident of Souk al-Jumaa neighbourhood, scene of clashes when Tripoli was overrun by anti-Kadhafi fighters in August. Libyan authorities have repeatedly urged former rebels across Libya to return to civilian life or fall under the authority of the interior or defence ministries. However, in the eastern city of Benghazi, revolutionary brigades this week staged two days of protests in front of the Ouzu hotel demanding payment and calling for the interior minister's resignation, an AFP correspondent said
Return to Top

News Headline: Congo Republic blasts kill 4, injure dozens - official | News Date: 03/04/2012 Outlet Full Name: Thomson Reuters - Africa - Online News Text: KINSHASA (Reuters) - A series of explosions in Brazzaville, the capital of Congo Republic, killed at least four people and injured nearly 60 others, a senior Congolese official said, giving the first toll from Sunday's blasts. "Lots of buildings have been destroyed ... There are four dead and nearly 60 injured, some seriously," Betu Bangana, head of protocol in the presidency, told Reuters by telephone. Witnesses and state media said the blast occurred during a fire in the arms depot in the

Regiment Blinde base in the riverside Mpila neighbourhood. No explanation has been given for the fire. (Reporting by Jonny Hogg; Writing by David Lewis; Editing by Sophie Hares)
Return to Top

News Headline: Police disperse student protest in Sudan | News Date: 03/04/2012 Outlet Full Name: Thomson Reuters - Africa - Online News Text: KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudanese police used batons to disperse more than 100 students protesting in the centre of Khartoum against the closure of their campuses following the independence of South Sudan, witnesses said. South Sudan became independent in July under a 2005 peace agreement with Sudan to end decades of civil war. Both sides have failed to sort out a long list of issues such as sharing oil or marking the poorly defined joint border. Students who used to attend southern universities with campuses in Sudan gathered in front of the presidential palace. They called on Sudan and South Sudan to start talks to allow them to get diplomas from their old universities. "The fate of students must come before oil," one banner said. The government has opened a new campus in Khartoum for northern students who went to southern universities but protesters said that was not good enough. "We cannot accept a diploma from a university that was founded only in 2011," said one engineering student, asking not to be named. "We want to graduate from our old universities." Police used batons to disperse the protest and arrested several students, witnesses said. Protests are rare in tightly controlled Sudan, but a severe economic crisis with high food inflation has triggered small rallies in Khartoum and other university cities.
Return to Top

News Headline: Long-term strategy needed to banish hunger | News Date: 03/04/2012 Outlet Full Name: Daily Nation - Online News Text: After six months and the deaths of tens of thousands of people, the famine in Somalia caused by the worst drought in 60 years is over. But a wider crisis in Africa continues. In the Horn of Africa, some 14.6 million people remain without enough food, while to the west in the Sahel countries, another 14 million are threatened. Even worse, there is a high risk in Somalia that famine will recur unless coordinated, long-term action is taken. We cannot avoid droughts, but we can try to prevent them from becoming famines. In just over a decade, the Horn of Africa has suffered three droughts, followed by severe crises. Each time, the international community agreed that long-term measures were needed to prevent another tragedy. But when the rains finally came, the world's good intentions melted

away. We must ensure that this does not happen again by joining forces now to banish hunger from the region, once and for all. As the end of the Somali famine shows, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and its partners have started to make a difference. The World Food Programme, Unicef, FAO, and international NGOs now have emergency response programmes that are based not solely on food and input hand-outs, as in the past, but also on cash-for-work and food-voucher schemes. These allow families to buy food locally, enabling them to remain near their homes, while also stimulating economic recovery and rehabilitating the local infrastructure needed for agriculture and livestock production. These agencies' methods help people who need food urgently, but they also help them to improve their livelihoods and build resilience to surmount future crises. The world community must continue to implement such approaches if it wishes to contain and prevent further crises. Even at the height of the famine, some Somali farmers were successfully growing and selling their crops. Share This Story Share This was possible because, before the crisis, FAO had used cash-for-work programmes to help them to rebuild the local irrigation system and make high-quality, high-yield seeds available. But producing food is not enough. Poor farmers can grow bumper crops but, unless there are roads on which to transport their produce and a market where they can sell it, they will remain poor and vulnerable. And, obviously, if no one has the money to buy what they produce, their efforts will be wasted. That is why it is critical to stimulate both local supply and demand. The FAO is renewing its commitment to a hunger-free Africa. But this goal is obviously beyond the capacity of any international organisation or government working alone. Achieving this objective will require partnership among governments, regional bodies, civil society organisations, and the private sector. Linking emergency assistance with long-term measures can offer a way out of protracted crisis and onto a path of sustainable development. By stepping up current efforts, agriculture can also become a key factor in establishing peace and stability in the Horn of Africa. Droughts are not preventable. But hunger and famine are. It is unthinkable for the international community to allow them to persist.
Return to Top

News Headline: Nigeria will bring 'terrorism under control' | News Date: 03/04/2012 Outlet Full Name: News24 News Text: Abuja - Nigeria will bring terrorism "under control" and confront the radical Muslim sect that claimed responsibility for a car bombing at the country's United Nations headquarters that killed at least 19 people, its president vowed on Saturday amid the wreckage. President Goodluck Jonathan stepped through shattered glass and passed dried pools of blood at the damaged building as UN employees salvaged printers, computers and all they could carry to keep the mission running.

The UN's top official in Nigeria promised humanitarian aid would continue to flow through the world body to Africa's most populous nation, even though the Boko Haram sect - which claimed responsibility for the attack - views it as a target. "I think it gives us more strength to continue helping the population," said Agathe Lawson, the UN's acting resident co-ordinator in Nigeria. Stand up to terrorism Jonathan walked by the battered exit gate the suicide bomber rammed through to reach the massive UN building's glass reception hall on Friday morning. There, the bomber detonated explosives powerful enough to bring down parts of the concrete structure and blow out glass windows from other buildings in the quiet neighbourhood filled with diplomatic posts. A bevy of bodyguards, police, soldiers and members of the country's secret police surrounded Jonathan on his tour. The soft-spoken president promised journalists gathered there that the nation would stand up to terrorism, though Boko Haram continues to carry out bombings and assassinations seemingly at will. "Terrorist attacks on any individual or part of the world is a terrorist attack on the rest of the world," Jonathan said. "Terrorists don't care about who is anywhere." Jonathan did not say who was responsible for the attack, only addressing Boko Haram in response to a reporter's question. "Boko Haram is a local group linked up with terrorist activities," the president said. "As a government, we are working on this and we will bring it under control." The president did not elaborate on that comment, as his aides hustled him off into a convoy of armoured Mercedes Benz sedans, police trucks and motorcycles. Death toll rises The death toll for the attack rose to 19 on Saturday, said Yushau Shuaib, a spokesperson for Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency. At least 15 of the dead were UN personnel, UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Friday night from New York. However, a UN statement sent on Saturday from the Nigeria office said nine UN staffers were confirmed dead and dozens were hospitalised. The National Hospital in Abuja alone treated 75 injured people from the bomb blast on Friday, said Obasi Ekumankama, the hospital's director of clinical services. The UN had yet to complete a head count of its staff at the building, which houses about 400 workers, Lawson said. A UN team that includes deputy secretary general Asha-Rose Migiro and security chief Gregory Starr was expected to arrive in Nigeria either Saturday or Sunday. But other help is already being given by the international community: A US embassy car carrying what local authorities described as FBI agents arrived at the bomb site a short time after Jonathan left. Deb MacLean, a spokesperson for the US embassy in Abuja, said FBI agents "were on the ground" to assist after the bombing. She declined to elaborate.

Return to Top

News Headline: Somali residents welcome Ethiopian troops | News Date: 03/04/2012 Outlet Full Name: News24 News Text: Baidoa - After three years of killings and violence under the rule of al-Shabaab rebels, residents of the Somali city of Baidoa said they were happy to see the arrival of Ethiopian soldiers, whose presence they once resented. Under al-Shabaab's control, Baidoa's leaders say the city's people became poorer, conditions worsened and many were forced to flee. The return of Ethiopian troops, once seen as Christian invaders in a Muslim country, was a welcome relief. Ethiopian and Somali troops seized the city from al-Shabaab insurgents last month, in a major blow to the militants battling Somalia's weak interim government. Somalia has been in turmoil since warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. Fighting has killed more than 21 000 people since al-Shabaab launched its insurgency in 2007. "Al-Shabaab colonised us for three years and 12 days. Many of us were killed, many of us were displaced and many have migrated. So we are the survivors," Mohammed Ma'alim Barhi, a clan leader, told reporters in the city 250km northwest of Mogadishu. "They [Ethiopian troops] have entered here three times before. Now we like them, we support them and we are with them." Al-Shabaab, which announced in February that it was merging with al-Qaeda, imposed a harsh interpretation of Islamic shari'ah law. In areas under its control, music, movies and soccer were banned and people were beheaded or had limbs amputated as punishments. "Before, there was a strong propaganda against the Ethiopians but these three years there are many things the people saw. There was over-taxation, they are killing people," Abdifatah Mohamed Gesey, governor for Bay region, said of the insurgents. "After we arrived here we held discussions with the elders, business people and the women's associations. They have asked us to liberate nearby towns just as we liberated Baidoa." Gesey, who fled after al-Shabaab took over the region, said people were now returning to the city to reopen businesses. Shabaab incapable Ethiopian and Somali troops said they were welcomed by residents who volunteered to show them where al-Shabaab fighters were hiding, and found abandoned ordnance everywhere, from government offices to mosques, police stations to main roads. "The enemy forces were disoriented and disintegrated. They were incapable," said General Yohannes Gebre-Giorgis, Commander of the Ethiopian Forces in Somalia. "The people have now deserted them. So there is no way they can survive here. It is almost game over for al-Shabaab." Baidoa residents said their most immediate priority was meeting basic needs like food. "We

need international help. Our people are very angry. Our people are hungry and we don't have medicine," Barhi said. Baidoa Palace, a bullet-riddled building once the main seat of Somalia's interim government until 2009, is now a command centre for Ethiopian troops. Its windows have been shattered by gunfire and graffiti scrawled on its walls. The rest of the town is dotted with abandoned houses and destroyed shops. Ethiopia's military presence in Somalia between late 2006 and early 2009, when it routed another Islamist administration from power, provoked massive resentment among Somalis and galvanized support for the militant Islamists. Ethiopia sent troops across the border again in November to open up a third front against the militants, who are also fighting 9 000 Ugandan and Burundian troops under the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) and Kenyan forces. Last week, the UN Security Council voted to expand Amisom, which supports the shaky Western-backed government, to nearly 18 000 soldiers, and will include Kenyan troops. African political and military leaders will meet in Ethiopia next week to iron out the details of how the expanded force will operate, Kenyan army colonel Cyrus Oguna told reporters in Nairobi.
Return to Top

News Headline: Two British journalists accused of spying in Libya | News Date: 03/04/2012 Outlet Full Name: Thomson Reuters - Africa - Online News Text: TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Two British journalists working for Iran's Press TV who were detained late last month in Libya are suspected of being spies, the head of the militia which is holding them said on Sunday. Faraj al-Swehli, commander of the Swehli brigade, said his men had found among the journalists' possessions official Libyan documents, equipment used by the Israeli military and footage of them firing weapons. "We believe they are spies," Swehli said in Tripoli. He said it was too early to say what country they were spying for, but that this would be established by their investigation. "After we have finished the investigation we are going to transfer them to the state authorities to pursue the legal process against them." The two have been named as Nicholas Davies and Gareth Montgomery-Johnson. They were arrested on February 22 in Misrata, about 200 km (130 miles) east of the capital. They are now being held in a Swehli brigade base in central Tripoli. The commander, speaking at a news conference where he was flanked by subordinates in camouflage uniforms and sports shoes, said the two did not have Libyan entry visas in their passports. He showed a grey plastic packet containing a field dressing with the words "Made in Israel," on it, which he said had been found on the two journalists. "These are used by the Israeli military," said Swehli.

He said the two had in their possession Libyan documents listing members of a Tripoli militia killed in a clash with a rival group late last year, and lists of sub-Saharan African mercenaries who fought alongside the forces of ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi. POSING WITH GUNS Swehli showed the news conference images he said had been recovered from the two Britons where they could be seen test-firing a gun. "Is this a picture of a journalist?" asked Suleiman al-Fortia, an official from Misrata who sat alongside Swehli, as he pointed to the images. Fortia said investigators had also found pornography on the Britons' laptops, but that it could not be shown for reasons of decency. Other footage appeared to show the journalists late at night in Tripoli's Algiers Square, dancing to Western pop music coming from a car's sound system. Much of the evidence unveiled on Sunday could apply to many of the foreign journalists who covered Libya's chaotic conflict. Reporters routinely entered the country without going through normal border procedures, collected documents found on the battlefield, and took pictures of themselves posing with weapons to keep as mementos. The militia holding the two Britons is one of dozens in Libya which helped topple Gaddafi but are now operating beyond the control of the new national authorities. They are resisting government requests for them to disarm. Swehli, the militia commander, said the two men were being well treated, and that they had been visited in detention by British consular officials and representatives from New York-based Human Rights Watch. "I did not hit the prisoners and I am ready to stand before a court if there is any evidence against me," said Swehli. A spokeswoman for the British Foreign Office, asked to comment on the spying accusations, said: "We are aware that two British nationals have been arrested in Libya. We are providing consular assistance." Press TV is based in Tehran and broadcasts around the world in English. It often employs journalists from English-speaking countries. The company could not immediately be reached for comment on Sunday. (Additional reporting by Clare Kane in London; Editing by Giles Elgood)
Return to Top

News Headline: United Nations News Center - Africa Briefs | News Date: 03/04/2012 Outlet Full Name: United Nations News Center News Text: UN mission will stay in Liberia, albeit in different form, says peacekeeping official 2 March A top United Nations official today assured the Liberian people that the world body is not preparing to leave the country but seeking to reconfigure its presence after assessing the ability of national institutions to maintain peace and security.

Both pro- and anti-Qadhafi forces committed war crimes in Libya UN panel 2 March The United Nations-mandated commission of inquiry that probed human rights abuses in Libya reported today that crimes against humanity and war crimes were committed by both the troops loyal to the former ruler, Muammar al-Qadhafi, and the forces that fought to oust him. UN reports continued inflow of Malian refugees into Mauritania and Burkina Faso 2 March Mauritania and Burkina Faso continue to receive large numbers of Malian refugees fleeing conflict between the army and ethnic Tuareg rebels in the northern region of their country, the United Nations refugee agency said today. UN chief calls on Senegalese to ensure peaceful presidential run-off 2 March Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has commended the people of Senegal for a peaceful and orderly first round of presidential balloting and appealed for the same commitment as the country prepares for a second round of voting. UN-backed court to deliver judgment in Charles Taylor trial next month 1 March The United Nations-backed court set up to try suspects indicted for war crimes in Sierra Leone announced today that the judgment in the trial of the former Liberian President, Charles Taylor, will be delivered on 26 April.
Return to Top