United States Africa Command Public Affairs Office 29 March 2012 USAFRICOM - related news stories

Good morning. Please see today's news review for March 29, 2012. This new format is best viewed in HTML. Of interest in today's report: - French AMB in Mali speaks to ATT while Junta announces new constitution - East Libya threatens to cut oil while violence continues in the south - BH commander reportedly killed - OpEd on enduring security in SADC region U.S. Africa Command Public Affairs Please send questions or comments to: publicaffairs@usafricom.mil 421-2687 (+49-711-729-2687) Headline French ambassador to Mali reassured after talking to ousted President Tour Date 03/29/2012 Outlet RADIO FRANCE INTERNATIONALE

France says its ambassador to Mali has held a reassuring phone conversation with President Amadou Toumani Tour, whose fate had been unclear since he was ousted by renegade soldiers last week.

Mali neighbours threaten force to reverse coup (Updated)

03/28/2012 Reuters

ABIDJAN/BAMAKO, March 27 (Reuters) - Mali's neighbours threatened on Tuesday to use sanctions and a readiness to use military force to dislodge the army leaders behind last week's coup, urging them to quickly hand back power to civilian rulers.

Mali junta announces new constitution

03/28/2012 France 24

Mali's junta announced a new constitution that rules its members out of upcoming elections, seeking to show it will not cling to power as West African leaders planned a mediation visit.

Militia clashes in southern Libya kill 50

03/28/2012 Reuters

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Three days of clashes between rival militias in southern Libya spread to the centre of the country's fourth largest city on Tuesday despite the deployment of army troops trying to quell the violence which has so far killed nearly 50 peo...

East Libyans threaten to stop oil to press govt

03/28/2012 Reuters

TRIPOLI, March 27 (Reuters) - A Libyan politician campaigning for greater autonomy for the country's east said his movement could resort to blocking oil supplies if the central government failed to meet its demands for more seats in the national assembly.

Nigeria: Boko Haram Commander 03/28/2012 AllAfrica.com Killed in Maiduguri

The Joint Task Force (JTF) said on Tuesday that it has shot a suspected area commander of the Boko Haram sect

after a gun battle in Maiduguri.

Khartoum warplanes bomb border 03/28/2012 News24 zones

Juba - Sudanese warplanes bombed oil rich border regions of South Sudan overnight after days of clashes, but fighting on the ground between the rival armies has ceased, a Southern official said on Wednesday.

UN Alarmed at Sudan-South Sudan Border Clashes

03/28/2012 New York Times

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The U.N. Security Council expressed deep alarm Tuesday at military clashes along the border between Sudan and newly independent South Sudan which it said are threatening to reignite their civil war.

Sadc: Africa's best regional grouping

03/28/2012 The Herald

In recent years, Africa's regional groupings have been gripped with war except Sadc, which has, by far remained the most peaceful and stable, thanks to the leaderships' ability to ring-fence common interests.

Africa: A Global Citizen of Frightening Intellect, World Bank's 03/28/2012 AllAfrica.com Probable New Leader Is No Shrinking Violet
Dr Jim Yong Kim, Dartmouth College president, former World Health Organisation senior manager, YouTube star and an all-American boy born in Korea, has recently been nominated by Barack Obama to be the newest leader of the World Bank, taking over when Rober...

U.S. AFRICOM Commander General Carter Ham Visits AU Peace and Security Department

03/29/2012

United States Mission to the African Union (Addis Ababa)

On March 26, General Carter Ham, Commander, U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM), visited Addis Ababa and the United States Mission to the African Union (USAU) to discuss current USAFRICOM engagement with the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Department and...

U.S. Soldiers Observe Training at Moroccan Field Artillery Center

03/28/2012

US Army Africa Public Affairs

MOROCCO, Mar 26, 2012 -- In order to help improve the security of Morocco, 20 members of the 15th Royal Artillery Group purchased approximately 60 armored vehicles called M109A5 howitzers through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program.

United Nations News Service

03/29/2012 UN News Service

-Situation on South Sudan-Sudan border cools as parties say they want to meet -European football clubs to take to field to raise awareness of Sahel food crisis -UN official: 'race against time' to avert disaster in Africa's drought-stricken Sahel -Guin...

News Headline: French ambassador to Mali reassured after talking to ousted President Tour | News Date: 03/29/2012 Outlet Full Name: RADIO FRANCE INTERNATIONALE News Text: France says its ambassador to Mali has held a reassuring phone conversation with President Amadou Toumani Tour, whose fate had been unclear since he was ousted by renegade soldiers last week. Christian Rouyer "was able to speak on the phone to the president , who gave him assurances over his fate," French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero told the French new agency. Valero refused to give any details of President Tour's current location. Since the coup last week, Tour's whereabout have remained a mystery. No-one knows if he is preparing a counter-offensive with loyal troops or if he is being held prisoner by the soldiers who carried out the coup.

Meanwhile, businesses reopened and children returned to school on Tuesday after a call by the junta to return to work, but the coup leaders faced further pressure as west African leaders held emergency talks in Cte d'Ivoire. The coup has already led to Mali being suspended from the African Union, and seen crucial aid frozen by the United States, Europe and Canada. Seven heads of state from the 15-member Ecowas were attending the summit called by the grouping's current chairman, Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara. The band of low-ranking officers justify their takeover of an "incompetent" government by arguing they are insufficiently equipped to face the Tuareg rebellion. The Tuareg have said in recent days they are close to capturing Kidal, a key town in the northern triangle of the bow-tie shaped nation
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News Headline: Mali neighbours threaten force to reverse coup (Updated) | News Date: 03/28/2012 Outlet Full Name: Reuters News Text: ABIDJAN/BAMAKO, March 27 (Reuters) - Mali's neighbours threatened on Tuesday to use sanctions and a readiness to use military force to dislodge the army leaders behind last week's coup, urging them to quickly hand back power to civilian rulers. A summit of the West African ECOWAS bloc agreed to send a team of heads of state to confront the putschists in the next 48 hours, a sign of the region's growing resolve to end the instability that has dogged it for decades. "Dialogue and concertation will be our primary instruments in the search for a solution but we shall not hesitate to use any other option dictated by circumstances," said Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara, who won a 2010 election but only came to power after a fourmonth civil war. "The summit authorises preparations for a force under stand-by for ECOWAS to deal with any eventuality," a closing summit statement said, which also threatened possible travel bans and financial and diplomatic sanctions on junta members. The statement did not any include indications of possible army action on the ground and ECOWAS - which does not have its own standing army - would have to go through potentially lengthy processes to raise sufficient troops from member states. The one-day meeting in the Ivorian economic hub Abidjan suspended Mali from all decisionmaking bodies of the ECOWAS bloc in a widely expected diplomatic gesture to isolate soldiers behind last Wednesday's coup. Current ECOWAS head Ouattara plus five other leaders - Nigeria's Goodluck Jonathan, Burkina Faso's Blaise Compaore, Liberia's Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Niger's Mahamadou Issoufou and Benin's Yayi Boni - will travel to Mali to seek "the re-establishment of constitutional order", a statement said. Aside from Ouattara, a former top IMF official, the delegation has in Johnson-Sirleaf a Nobel Peace laureate, in Issoufou one of Washington's new regional favourites, and in Compaore, a

former coup leader turned regional power broker. Nigeria is the regional military and economic power Earlier, the French Foreign Ministry said its ambassador in Mali had been in contact with Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure, who gave reassurances he was safe. Toure's whereabouts are unknown since he fled his palace on Wednesday last week. "COUP ERA OVER"? Mostly mid-ranking soldiers ousted Toure last Wednesday after a mutiny sparked by soaring frustration in the army over his handling of a Tuareg rebellion in the desert north, where the military has faced a series of setbacks. The army has complained it lacks the supplies and equipment needed to beat back the rebels, who have been reinforced by fighters and weapons from Libya's war. The ECOWAS move is the latest sign of mounting domestic and international pressure to reverse a coup in Africa's third largest gold miner, a country which was one of the most stable democracies of the region. One ECOWAS source said leaders could in future also apply travel bans, asset freezes and other measures specifically targeting the coup leaders as individuals. "We want them to see that the age of coups is over and this has to be put back in the box," one diplomat in the region said. "We want to target the people who are responsible for this, punish them and still not hurt the average Malian." Travel bans and asset freezes on specific individuals were used last year in Ivory Coast to put pressure on former leader Laurent Gbagbo to quit after he lost the 2010 election. Gbagbo was ousted with U.N. and French military help in April 2011. Mali's neighbours could also make it difficult for the junta to get funds to pay salaries and other financial obligations by restricting its access to the BCEAO central bank that controls the money supply in the West African franc zone, another tactic used against Gbagbo. "The question over how they will pay the salaries at the end of the month will be key as there is no minister of finance and the secretary general, who is now running the ministry, won't have the authorised signature with central bank," a Bamako-based diplomat said, requesting not to be named. (Additional reporting by Adama Diarra and David Lewis in Bamako and John Irish in Paris; Writing by Richard Valdmanis and Bate Felix; Editing by Mark John and Michael Roddy)
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News Headline: Mali junta announces new constitution | News Date: 03/28/2012 Outlet Full Name: France 24 News Text: Mali's junta announced a new constitution that rules its members out of upcoming elections, seeking to show it will not cling to power as West African leaders planned a mediation visit. Five days after the internationally condemned military coup that toppled President Amadou Toumani Toure, the junta lifted its night-time curfew and reopened the borders in a bid to show

the country was returning to normal. West African leaders meeting in neighbouring Ivory Coast Tuesday again denounced the coup -- and warned that the region's troops were on standby if the junta failed to engage in dialogue. In a statement read out by a soldier on Mali state television, the junta said the new constitution would guarantee the rule of law and basic human rights in "a pluralist democracy". Under the terms of the constitution, no member of the junta, known as the National Committee for the Recovery of Democracy and the Restoration of the Rule, would be permitted to stand for office. The coup came just weeks ahead of the first round of presidential elections scheduled for April 29. The junta cancelled that vote and has not yet set a new date for elections. The rebel troops took power on March 22, blaming Toure and his government for not having adequately equipped them to tackle a rebellion by Tuareg desert warriors in the north of the country. The international community was quick to shun the new regime. The European Union, the United States and other Western powers cut off hundreds of millions of dollars of support -- except for emergency aid to drought-hit regions of the country suffering food shortages. And at an emergency meeting Tuesday in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, the west African bloc ECOWAS renewed its call for the immediate restoration of constitutional order in Mali. The group said it would send a delegation of six heads of state to Mali within 48 hours. It warned too that its regional troops were on standby and the bloc had not ruled out the use of force. The president of Burkina Faso, Blaise Compaore, was named as the mediator in the crisis, tasked with starting dialogue to restore peace in Mali. "If the movements do not respect this decision, the bloc will take all measures to put an end to the rebellion and preserve Mali's territorial integrity, including by the use of force," the statement said. US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said earlier Washington had spoken with the coup leader and delivered a clear message: "It's not too late to undo this, to allow the country to return to civilian rule." Toure's situation has been unclear since he was forced to flee when mutineering soldiers shot their way to his palace, but France said its ambassador Christian Rouyer had made contact with him by phone. On the streets of Mali's capital meanwhile, businesses reopened and Malians went to work, heeding a call from the military junta. Streets were choked with traffic as taxis and minibuses took up their usual routes. Pedestrians filled the streets and groups of children headed to school as police returned to directing traffic. Only a few soldiers were visible, but troops blocked lawmakers trying to enter the national assembly which was dissolved during the coup.

That prompted them to hold an "extraordinary session" at the city's labour exchange to condemn the coup leaders. "We launch an urgent appeal to regional and international institutions to assist with a rapid return to constitutional order," lawmaker Mohamed Coulibaly told AFP. An anti-junta coalition, which includes 38 political parties and several civil society groups, urged the military rulers to "engage in dialogue without delay" and organise "regular, credible and transparent elections." Amid the disarray in the capital, the Tuareg fighting for independence have made gains on the battlefield and have so far ignored the junta's call for a ceasefire and talks. The Tuareg rebellion, strengthened by well-equipped fighters returning from Libya where they fought for slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi, seem confident of further gains in the northern region they call Azawad -- their tribal homeland. Several northern towns have fallen since the Tuareg launched their rebellion in mid-January, and the fighting has forced some 200,000 to flee their homes. That has compounded the growing humanitarian crisis in the region, which is facing severe food shortages after a drought.
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News Headline: Militia clashes in southern Libya kill 50 | News Date: 03/28/2012 Outlet Full Name: Reuters News Text: TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Three days of clashes between rival militias in southern Libya spread to the centre of the country's fourth largest city on Tuesday despite the deployment of army troops trying to quell the violence which has so far killed nearly 50 people. The clashes highlight the challenges the government faces in imposing its authority after the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi. Fighting between gunmen from Sabha and fighters from the Tibu ethnic group had reached the centre of Sabha, Libya's fourth-largest city, Ibrahim Misbah, a doctor at the main hospital said. An Interior Ministry official said the army had sent 300 soldiers stationed in southern Libya to help calm the situation on Monday. Another 300 soldiers left Tripoli on Tuesday to assist, he added. Sabha fighter Oweidat al-Hifnawi said government forces had arrived in Sabha and were "in the middle of the clashes". "We know that they are here to try to solve the problem and not fight," he said. "There are unconfirmed reports that they have retreated out of the city." The ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) is struggling to assert its authority across Libya, where rival militias and tribal groups jostle for power and resources after last year's rebellion that ousted Gaddafi. Hampered by the lack of a coherent national army, the NTC has struggled to persuade the myriad of militias who fought Gaddafi to put down their guns and join the armed forces and

police. CLOSE TO 50 PEOPLE KILLED Fourteen people were killed on Tuesday and 30 people were wounded, Misbah said, giving numbers for the Sabha side. Around 20 people were killed in fighting by Monday, he said. "The hospital crew has been working around the clock since Monday night and the injured keep coming in," he told Reuters. Ali Galama, a Tibu representative on the NTC from Murzuq, south of Sabha, said 15 people were killed on the Tibu side and 18 were wounded. While he was speaking from Benghazi, he said he was in touch with Tibu in the area by phone. "We have no place to transfer them. We don't have the facilities to look after them". Fighting broke out on Sunday between former rebel fighters from Sabha and gunmen from the Tibu ethnic group after a Sabha man was killed in a dispute over a car. Fighter Hifnawi said the militiamen opened fire at each other and clashes, first centred around the airport, had moved downtown. "There are Tibu snipers all over the Sabha city centre and the number of the wounded keeps going up," Hifnawi said. Mousa al-Koni, a Tibu representative on the NTC, said by phone from Tunis the clashes were an unfortunate escalation of an internal dispute after Tibu former fighters tried to steal a car from a member of the Sabha militia. He said a reconciliation committee was being formed to help stop the violence. Last month, dozens of people were killed in clashes between tribes in the far southeastern province of Al Kufra. Armed forces eventually intervened to stop the fighting, in a rare example of the Tripoli government imposing its authority. Members of the Tibu ethnic group, who were also involved in the fighting in Kufra, are mainly found in Chad but also inhabit parts of southern Libya.
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News Headline: East Libyans threaten to stop oil to press govt | News Date: 03/28/2012 Outlet Full Name: Reuters News Text: TRIPOLI, March 27 (Reuters) - A Libyan politician campaigning for greater autonomy for the country's east said his movement could resort to blocking oil supplies if the central government failed to meet its demands for more seats in the national assembly. Civic leaders from the east of Libya, known as Cyrenaica, launched a push to create a several federal states in Libya earlier this month, posing a challenge to the country's fragile cohesion after last year's overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed rebellion. The proposal has provoked an outcry in the capital Tripoli, where many people fear it could lead to the break-up of Libya, especially as the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) has struggled to assert its authority over the whole country in the aftermath of the revolution. NTC chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil visited Benghazi, Libya's second largest city and the capital of

the east, on Tuesday where he met with a representative of the Congress of the People of Cyrenaica, the driving force behind the campaign, to try to defuse the row. Bubaker Buera, a founder of the Congress, told Reuters on Tuesday that the meeting was "general" and represented the start of a dialogue but that nothing concrete had been decided. NTC officials were not immediately available to comment on the meeting. Asked what his group might do if its demands were not met, Buera said: "We may be forced to stop oil flow." Beura said that there were enough oil technicians who supported calls for greater autonomy in the east to successfully stop the flow of oil, the mainstay of government income. The east of Libya is home to more than 80 percent of the country's oil wealth, and has been given 60 out of 200 seats in the national assembly, whose representatives will be elected in June in the first nationwide polls since Gaddafi's ouster. The Congress has called for a third of the seats to be reserved for the east, assuming Libya would be devolved into three broad regions. "We are asking for a balanced representation," Buera said. "You divide the number of seats by the number of regions." FAIRER REPRESENTATION Libya was ruled for about 10 years after its 1951 independence as a federation of three devolved provinces, Cyrenaica in the east, Tripolitania in the west and Fezzan in the south. That system gave way to a more centralised government over the years, but, in the aftermath of Gaddafi's removal, myriad militias and local councils have been largely running their own cities, towns and sub-regions on a smaller scale. Some complain that the NTC has done little to stabilise the country. The NTC complains that myriad local militias, who are jostling for power and resources post-revolution, have been slow to lay down their arms and join the national armed forces. Buera said he wanted fairer representation for the eastern region which is home to about 2 million of Libya's 6 million people and was the birthplace of the revolution in February 2011 and the NTC's base until after the fall of Tripoli in August. Residents of eastern Libya say Gaddafi had marginalised the region and have also demanded a greater share of oil wealth. Plans to grant more autonomy to Libya's oil-rich east were already laid out this month in Italy's oil and gas summit held in Rome after months of unease among international oil companies over the uncertainty. [ID: nL6E8EM2UN] A new system in place will devolve power to subsidiary firms previously controlled by Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC). The east's Arabian Gulf Oil Company (Agoco) was first in Libya to restart production after the uprising and for a period marketed its own oil to international firms. Agoco said earlier this month a federal system would not affect its operations. (Writing by Hadeel Al-Shalchi; Editing by Lin Noueihed and Karolina Tagaris)
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News Headline: Nigeria: Boko Haram Commander Killed in Maiduguri | News Date: 03/28/2012 Outlet Full Name: AllAfrica.com News Text: The Joint Task Force (JTF) said on Tuesday that it has shot a suspected area commander of the Boko Haram sect after a gun battle in Maiduguri. Lt-Col. Sagir Musa, the JTF Spokesman made the announcement in a statement in Maiduguri. "Following a tip-off, a special operation was conducted on Tuesday in Maiduguri, which led to the arrest of a notorious commander of Boko Haram who was involved in recent attacks in Maiduguri. "He was arrested with his gang members in Jajeri area of the city," Musa said, explaining that the commander and his gang attempted to escape shortly after the arrest. "They attempted to escape when being moved to detention facilities for questioning. "Our men had no choice but to shoot them and they bleed to death before they were taken to the hospital," Musa said. He said that the bodies of the sect members had been deposited at the morgue of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH). Musa said that the JTF recovered one pump-action gun, two bows and arrow, three machetes and a handset, adding that the JTF also shot two suspected bandits after a shootout in Kachalari in Maiduguri. "Following a distress call, the JTF responded and engaged a group of suspected armed bandits who robbed some houses in Kachalari, Maiduguri, in a shootout that led to the death of two suspected bandits. "Three locally-made pistols, 15 rounds of assorted ammunition, four machetes and a handset were recovered," Musa said.
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News Headline: Khartoum warplanes bomb border zones | News Date: 03/28/2012 Outlet Full Name: News24 News Text: Juba - Sudanese warplanes bombed oil rich border regions of South Sudan overnight after days of clashes, but fighting on the ground between the rival armies has ceased, a Southern official said on Wednesday. "The ground assaults this morning have stopped but they [Sudan] have still been bombing us in the night," said Gideon Gatpan, information minister for the South's Unity state, the scene of the attack. "There was bombing in Panakwach, 35km from Bentiu," the state capital, Gatpan said, adding that he not received reports of any casualties from the raid. "There are still tensions and soldiers are preparing in case of fresh assault - we are expecting more bombing," Gatpan told AFP.

Sudanese warplanes on Monday launched air raids on newly independent South Sudan, while the rival armies clashed in reported heavy battles in contested border areas. Both sides claim each other started the fighting. The African Union and the UN Security Council called have called for an end to the violence, while US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Khartoum bore the responsibility for the renewed hostilities. The unrest jeopardises efforts to resolved contentious border and oil disputes that have ratcheted up tensions between Juba and Khartoum. Juba said northern bombers and ground troops had struck first on Monday, moving into Unity State before Juba's troops fought back and took the Heglig oil field, parts of which are claimed by both countries. Talks The Sudanese army said calm had returned on Tuesday and northern troops were "fully in control of the Heglig area". However Gatpan could not confirm if Southern troops had pulled out of Heglig, saying he was still waiting for military reports from the frontline. Both Heglig and the area hit by air strikes are run by the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company (GNPOC), a consortium led by China's state oil giant CNPC. The African Union said on Wednesday it was deeply concerned at an "escalating security situation" on the border between the former civil war foes, and called for a troop pullout from border zones. The AU has been mediating talks between the rivals to resolve contentious issues following South Sudan's independence last July - including demarcating the frontier and oil pipeline transit fees. Over two million people died in Sudan's 1983-2005 civil war between Khartoum and southern rebels before a peace agreement which led to South Sudan's independence.
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News Headline: UN Alarmed at Sudan-South Sudan Border Clashes | News Date: 03/28/2012 Outlet Full Name: New York Times News Text: UNITED NATIONS (AP) The U.N. Security Council expressed deep alarm Tuesday at military clashes along the border between Sudan and newly independent South Sudan which it said are threatening to reignite their civil war. A statement approved by the 15-member council called on both governments to exercise "maximum restraint" and resume talks to peacefully resolve the issues that are fueling mistrust, including sharing oil revenues, citizenship, demarcation of their border, and the future of the disputed oil-rich Abyei border region. The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on non-aggression on Feb. 10 following African Union-led talks, but days later South Sudan accused Sudan of bombing the

border town of Jau, and since then cross-border violence has escalated. The nonbinding press statement urged both countries to respect "the letter and spirit" of the nonaggression pact. The Security Council statement cited reports of repeated incidents of cross-border violence "including troop movements, support to proxy forces and aerial bombardments." The signing of a Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005 ended a 21-year civil war between Sudan's predominantly ethnic African south and Arab-dominated north. The south voted overwhelmingly for independence and seceded from Sudan last July, but hostilities between the two sides continue. South Sudan this year shut down its oil production oil that had to be sent through Sudan's pipelines over accusations of theft. South Sudan on Tuesday accused Sudan of bombing an oil field in its territory near the town of Bentiu. The attack came one day after Sudan and South Sudan clashed in Jau, prompting Sudan to cancel President Omar al-Bashir's trip to meet with South Sudan President Salva Kiir next week. Asked about the bombing allegation, Sudan's ambassador to the U.N., Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman, said Tuesday that "it is not true" and insisted his government has abided by its agreements with the South. On the council's call for restraint, he said, "We in the Republic of Sudan have shown immense self-restraint" and continue to be willing to try to resolve differences with the South through negotiations. But he said if Sudanese territory is violated, "our armed forces are ready to defend every inch of our territory."
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News Headline: Sadc: Africa's best regional grouping | News Date: 03/28/2012 Outlet Full Name: The Herald News Text: War, war, war! War has erupted in Morocco, war in Libya, war in Uganda and war in Somalia but why war in Africa? In recent years, Africa's regional groupings have been gripped with war except Sadc, which has, by far remained the most peaceful and stable, thanks to the leaderships' ability to ring-fence common interests. Sadc has remained the most progressive of the regions because it quickly identified that past wars in Angola, DRC and Mozambique, were all triggered by eccentric European leaders, seeking fortune in these countries, yet disguising themselves as the harbingers of democracy, peace, good governance and accountability. Sadc comprises Angola, South Africa, Botswana, DRC, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Sadc has remained largely successful because its rallying point has been independence, total emancipation and political cohesion, through homegrown solutions to problems. Once in a while the West has tried to infiltrate Sadc but the bloc has been able to quickly detect the cause of the problems and resolved the problem internally like the situation that prevailed in Zimbabwe, DRC and Madagascar. West and North Africa has had the biggest share of problems due to their laxity to close out the United States of America and its European partners who have deliberately crafted political problems to enable them to infiltrate and milk the natural resources.

After creating war, US and its partners then come as messiahs, committed to rescuing the ordinary people, yet behind the scenes they plunder natural resources and ship them to their homes. The leadership in Sadc should be credited for seeking homegrown solutions and for perpetually wadding off attempts by America, Britain and France to interfere and cause war. The best thing Sadc has done is give identity and credence to domestic values, politically, socially and economically. It has been able to share co-values across the borders of its member states and identify with the political history underpinned by liberation history. One wonders why west and east Africa have been unable to unite around their history of slave trade, oppression and common interests such as regional trade. Always these regions have been found easy to penetrate by Western Europe and America and always their resources are being plundered, while war rages on. Only recently I bumped into Angolan minister of Foreign Affairs, Georges Chikoti, who said the region of Southern African Development Community enjoyed a climate of peace and stability, despite recording some ongoing political process in mainly Madagascar and DRC. He, however, rightfully bragged that the problems in Sadc are just a drop in the ocean when compared to the upheavals in West, North and East Africa. These other regions have become political jungles where any day a country can wake up at war with itself, at the instigation of Western powers. Minister Chikoti noted that there are political processes underway in Madagascar, Zimbabwe, DR Congo and Malawi, which also experienced slight instability, but he assured that the situation in the region is good and of peace. Recently, Ministerial Inter-State Committee of Defence and Security of Sadc met in Luanda, to analyse among other issues the stability in the region. Sadc is said to have gone a step further at this meeting to discuss its standby military brigade, which is now almost ready to fight any disturbances in the region and is ready for call by African Union when need arises. If all regional groupings, were moving at the same pace with Sadc, Africa would be a much safer place to live in for the ordinary African that it is today. The Angola meeting also discussed and adopted a strategy to combat piracy in the Indian Ocean, with emphasis on the Horn of Africa. DayAfrica.com.
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News Headline: Africa: A Global Citizen of Frightening Intellect, World Bank's Probable New Leader Is No Shrinking Violet | News Date: 03/28/2012 Outlet Full Name: AllAfrica.com News Text: Dr Jim Yong Kim, Dartmouth College president, former World Health Organisation senior manager, YouTube star and an all-American boy born in Korea, has recently been nominated by Barack Obama to be the newest leader of the World Bank, taking over when Robert Zoellick's term comes to an end in June. J. Brooks Spector looks behind the headlines to get a fuller picture of Kim the man. In an era when there has been growing criticism over the usual run of World Bank heads from America, Dr Jim Yong Kim is different in almost every way from previous bank heads - even as he has become a frequent presence on those annual "Most Influential World Figures" lists.

Instead of being one of those senior government officials getting a respectful reassignment to round out a long - and sometimes controversial - career (as with Robert McNamara or Paul Wolfowitz), Kim is the head of one of America's most prestigious small universities - Dartmouth College. Instead of experience as a banker or international lawyer, Kim is a medical doctor, an anthropologist and a veteran of World Health Organisation TB and HIV/Aids interventions worldwide. And instead of being one of those nice, normal White Anglo-Saxon Protestants like most former World Bank heads were, Kim is a naturalised American citizen whose parents emigrated from Korea when Kim was a small child, settling in small town Iowa. Besides his multiple degrees and shelf of international awards and honours over his international development work in health care issues, this guy also received one of those MacArthur Foundation "genius" grants, where the foundation gives recipients a huge chunk of money to do whatever they want to do, in recognition of their sheer brain power, achievements and ingenuity. But Kim is certainly no bland, shrinking violet of a highly educated international health care administrator. His star turn in the campus version of the Idols TV show was a spaceman rap while wearing a day-glow costume is a viral YouTube hit - watch it for yourself at: Kim had the preternatural good fortune to grow up in Muscatine, Iowa - the very same town held in such high regard by Chinese government-top-man-apparent, Xi Jinping. Is it a total coincidence that the Chinese national news agency, Xinhua, praised Kim's nomination? Xinhua's commentary said "It is encouraging for US President Barack Obama to pick Jim Yong Kim, president of Dartmouth College and former director of the HIV/Aids department at the World Health Organisation, as the US candidate who is very likely to take over the helm of the international development organisation It can also be taken as a kind of improvement for Washington to choose a development expert, instead of politicians or bankers, to lead the World Bank." Xinhua did offer one disappointment, saying "the very fact that yet another American citizen will lead the global poverty-reducing organisation again more than six decades after its founding is still disappointing to many around the world". Overall though, that doesn't sound like the Chinese will vote against him, does it? In fact, just about all of Kim's attributes seem to have been precisely tailored to address criticisms of previous American heads of the World Bank. And he has an unusual sense of humility about his achievements, too. For example, some six years ago when it became clear the World Health Organisation would not reach its goals in greatly expanding global access to vital antiretroviral drugs, as WHO's chief HIV and Aids strategist, Kim told journalists "All we can do is apologise. I think we have to just admit we've not done enough and we started way too late." Now when was the last time you heard a bureaucrat say something like that to the world? Rewind back to the beginnings. Kim was born in 1959 in South Korea and his dentist father and theology student mother moved to Muscatine - an unusual destination for Asian immigrants - when the future nominee was five years old. In high school he was top of his class and class president, he played quarterback (roughly the team's playmaker and captain) for the school's football team and he was a point guard for the school's basketball team. Admitted to another Ivy League university, Brown, he then went to Harvard for a medical degree and a PhD in anthropology. That latter qualification may have helped a bit to seal the deal for Kim with Obama.

Kim's nomination to head the world's most important financial - and development - institution might be seen as a kind of homage to his mother who was also an anthropologist. Sydney Dunham had studied micro-lending in Indonesian women's community development projects in an effort to really get under the skin of economic development at the local level. Close observers of Kim's career trajectory say his views on global development issues were shaped by his time in Peruvian townships, the countryside of Haiti, post-genocide Rwanda and freezing Siberia. As Kim himself said during his 2009 inaugural speech as Dartmouth College president, "In my small way, I've tried to make the world's troubles my troubles. I've tackled them directly by setting treatment programs, working to lower the prices of lifesaving drugs and changing global policy." When he was in Haiti, he worked with a group of physicians to pioneer efforts to provide lifesaving care to Aids patients and the group then went on to establish the highly-regarded NGO, Partners in Health in 1987. Kim served as the body's executive director and remains on the board of the Boston-based non-profit, which works in Haiti, Peru, Russia, Rwanda, Lesotho, Malawi and the United States. Remembering those Haitian experiences, Kim said critics "said it was impossible. Forget it. Completely impractical. And we started doing it in Haiti. And now we have close to four million people in the poorest countries receiving treatment for HIV." This was the can-do, don't-take-no-for-an-answer attitude Kim brought to WHO in 2003, first as special adviser to then director-general Lee Jong-wook and then as head of WHO's HIV and Aids department. He focused on ramping up prevention, treatment and care programs in developing countries. Along the way, Kim also chaired the global health and social medicine department at Harvard Medical School before becoming president of Dartmouth College. US News and World Report named him one of the "25 Best Leaders" in America in 2005 and that was followed by Time's identification of him the next year as one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World". Assuming World Bank shareholders select him, speculation is already starting over what changes Kim would bring the bank. For starters, of course, he would probably aim for more focus on global health in a more comprehensive way, especially given his belief in the importance of collaborative activity between donors and recipients, between local and national authorities, and between the public and private sectors. In his work, Kim has emphasised the interdisciplinary work that can transform health systems and economies. He wrote "The real rocket science in health care is how you organize human beings to actually deliver what we already have, and deliver that which would be new, which would come down the path inevitably." Kim would take over just as the bank's role in international cooperation is shifting. Under Zoellick's tenure, the World Bank gained a much-needed capital increase; developing countries have gained significant voting power in the bank's governance, and the bank's reservoir of international economic and development data has now been made accessible to the public. The next World Bank president will need to cope with high priority, high-risk questions such as the bank's role in advancing good governance and clean energy usage - just for starters. In fact, the bank's role as a lender has changed as more nations can now access international financial markets for needed funds - unless there is another international financial and capital crisis. As a result, Kim may well be the right man for the right time. In saying "It's time for a development professional to lead the world's largest development agency" that certainly seems Obama's view. There is that small matter of actually being selected for the job. This time around, the American

nomination has bona fide competition. Nigerian finance minister and World Bank veteran Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has been nominated and supported by Nigeria, South Africa and Angola. She is also a Harvard graduate and has gained very high marks for restoring control over the country's books and finances - as much as anybody has ever done. And Brazil has nominated Jos Antonio Ocampo, Colombia's former finance minister. Slightly confusingly, Ocampo teaches at Columbia University, the one located in New York City, not South America. Earlier speculation had it Obama might nominate economic development expert Professor Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University. Sachs had been openly campaigning for the job unprecedented behaviour for someone who wants to be the head of the World Bank. Others suspected Obama would nominate his former economic advisor and head of Harvard University (at least until he tripped over his views of the place of women in academia). Other possible names were Susan Rice, US ambassador to the United Nations, senator John Kerry, and Indra Nooyi, head of PepsiCo, and Laura D'Andrea Tyson, an economist veteran of the Clinton administration. And there were even those who thought Obama would nominate to his secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, given her intent to step down from that job even if Obama won a second term. Sources said Obama and his advisers considered more than a dozen candidates, but the president wanted someone with real development experience and he was attracted to Kim's innovative work fighting the spread of Aids and tuberculosis. And so, in the end, it was Jim Yong Kim who got the nod. As soon as Kim's name was announced, Bill Clinton said "Jim Kim is an inspired and outstanding choice to lead the World Bank based on his years of commitment and leadership to development and particularly health care and Aids treatment across the world." And Rwandan president Paul Kagame joined in, calling him "a true friend of Africa" and "a leader who knows what it takes to address poverty." Then, wannabe nominee Jeffrey Sachs added "I support this nomination 100%, with my complete enthusiasm." These endorsements will not hurt Kim's chances. Now that nominations are closed, the selection process is pretty straightforward. As there were only three nominations by the deadline, there will be interviews and then voting - without the need for a shortlist. Selecting the World Bank president is the job of the organisation's board, made up of 25 representatives of the 187 member countries. Some countries have their own seats, such as the US and the UK. Others are grouped into larger constituencies. The goal is to choose a president by consensus, but if that is impossible, a simple majority will do it. World Bank votes are weighted by financial contributions to the bank. The US has nearly 16% of the total vote and EU countries, together, a further 29%. As a result, smart money is obviously on Kim getting the job. He is assured of the US and UK vote and presumably Korean, Chinese, Japanese and probably support from most of Europe, following US backing of Christine Lagarde to head the International Monetary Fund after Dominique Strauss-Kahn unceremoniously surrendered his chair after that business in a New York hotel. Kim's elevation to this job should give the World Bank a renewed sense of purpose - and as well as some new tasks. This probably comes just in time as the bank receives increased criticism for its old ways of doing old things in a very changed world.

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News Headline: U.S. AFRICOM Commander General Carter Ham Visits AU Peace and Security Department | News Date: 03/29/2012 Outlet Full Name: United States Mission to the African Union (Addis Ababa) News Text: On March 26, General Carter Ham, Commander, U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM), visited Addis Ababa and the United States Mission to the African Union (USAU) to discuss current USAFRICOM engagement with the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Department and the significant role the African Union (AU) plays in mitigating and resolving conflicts on the African continent. General Ham and U.S. Ambassador to the African Union Michael A. Battle met with AU Peace and Security Director Mr. El Ghassim Wane to discuss a wide range of issues including, recent events in Mali, United States support for the AU's recently-launched Regional Coordination Initiative against the Lord's Resistance Army (RCI-LRA), and the ongoing AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). General Ham praised the AU's response to the coup in Mali and the direction the AU is moving in regards to countering the LRA. General Ham and Mr. Wane agreed that the situation in Somalia has never looked brighter for the Somali people as AMISOM and its partners continue to have success against the terrorist organization Al-Shabaab.
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News Headline: U.S. Soldiers Observe Training at Moroccan Field Artillery Center | News Date: 03/28/2012 Outlet Full Name: US Army Africa Public Affairs News Text: MOROCCO, Mar 26, 2012 In order to help improve the security of Morocco, 20 members of the 15th Royal Artillery Group purchased approximately 60 armored vehicles called M109A5 howitzers through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program. At the request of the Royal Moroccan Field Artillery Training Center, an artillery tactics militaryto-military exercise was executed in the cities of Fes and Guercie, March 4-10, 2012 to help provide the Moroccan soldiers with training on the maintenance, safety and firing of the M109A5 system. Two soldiers from 1st Battalion, 17th Field Artillery Regiment, out of Fort Sill, Oklahoma, volunteered to observe and provide subject matter expert guidance on the artillery training. First Sergeant Kurt Douglas, Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, and noncommissioned officer in charge of the exercise, said the mission was split between lectures on various topics regarding the M109A5 and live fire exercises at the Royal Moroccan Field Artillery Training Center. The fire exercises included forward observer procedures, fire direction center procedures and gun line crew drills. Douglas said the soldiers of the 15th RAG performed like consummate professionals, making it seem like they have been firing the M109A1, A2 and A3 systems for decades. "They fully understand all gunnery concepts and developed effective techniques that ensures they achieve accuracy, thus demonstrating the mastery of gunnery concepts and techniques ,but they are not able to execute some key tasks due to lack of associated equipment,"

Douglas said. Major Tyrone Martin, executive officer, 1st Bn., 17th FAR, and the officer in charge of the mission, said despite the 15th RAG's very limited budget, they have created innovative solutions for things U.S. Soldiers take for granted. "They have a passion for artillery that we all should want to have. As they do not have the same technology as we are use to, they have a mastery of field artillery gunnery that sometimes I believe we take for granted due to our technology," Martin said. "They approach field artillery much like we do, with the same doctrine and concepts in equipment, however their experiences and strategic objectives allow them to see the same event differently." Douglas also agrees this training with the 15th RAG provides allows him to see the same event through a different set of eyes. "Training with another country always challenges our existing paradigms and viewpoints in regards to our profession as professional field artillerymen. They approach field artillery much like we do, with the same doctrine and concepts in equipment," Douglas said. "However their experiences and strategic objectives allow them to see the same event differently. This will only make us better." The Moroccan soldiers expressed a strong interest in building and continuing current partnerships as well as creating new ones. "This event built upon an already established close relationship between the two countries' field artillery professionals. The Moroccans closely resemble our own field artillery doctrine as many of their officers have attended our Captains Career Course," Martin said. The M109A5 howitzer is an armored vehicle that is easily customized for specific mission requirements. It is the most common support weapon of maneuver brigades of armored and mechanized infantry divisions.
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News Headline: United Nations News Service | News Date: 03/29/2012 Outlet Full Name: UN News Service News Text: Situation on South Sudan-Sudan border cools as parties say they want to meet 28 March - Tensions stemming from military clashes in the border area between Sudan and South Sudan appear to be de-escalating as both parties have stated their willingness to meet in the coming days in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to prevent a new eruption of violence, a United Nations spokesperson said today. European football clubs to take to field to raise awareness of Sahel food crisis 28 March As part of a United Nations initiative to fight hunger, football stars from 300 European professional clubs will this weekend take to the field to help raise awareness of the need for urgent action to avert a humanitarian disaster in the Sahel region of Africa. UN official: race against time' to avert disaster in Africa's drought-stricken Sahel 28 March The food and nutrition crisis facing countries in West Africa's drought-prone Sahel region has continued to deteriorate at an alarming rate despite commendable early response efforts by governments and international aid agencies, a senior United Nations official said today.

Guinea-Bissau's priority now is completing political transition, says UN envoy 28 March The United Nations envoy for Guinea-Bissau today stressed the need for strong international engagement to help the country complete the current political transition and move ahead on priorities such as reforming the security sector and tackling drug trafficking and organized crime. New UN partnership seeks to advance HIV/AIDS response across Africa 28 March The United Nations has teamed up with the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) Agency to advance sustainable responses to HIV/AIDS, health and development across the continent.
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