United States Africa Command

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14 April 2011

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

Pentagon Says It Has Kept Up Some Strikes on Libya (NYT)

(Libya) Pentagon officials disclosed Wednesday that American warplanes had
continued to strike targets in Libya even after the Obama administration said the
United States was stepping back from offensive missions and letting NATO take the
lead.

Clinton cites atrocities by Gaddafi forces (AlJazeera)

(Libya) Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, says the US is receiving disturbing
reports of new atrocities by Muammar Gaddafi's forces in Libya. Gaddafi regime
militias and mercenaries have fired mortar and artillery rounds into residential areas in
Misurata, Clinton said in a statement on Wednesday.

More U.S. help may be crucial to Qaddafi's exit (CBS)

(Libya) Libyan rebels have been begging NATO to step up its attacks on Muammar
Qaddafi's military. On Wednesday, it did, with new air strikes in four cities, including
Tripoli, where an ammunition bunker was hit.

NATO foreign ministers meet amid looming stalemate in Libya (Xinhua)

(Libya) The Libyan crisis is set to dominate the agenda of NATO foreign ministers'
gathering in Berlin on Thursday and Friday, amid rising fears that the alliance-led
military campaign may face long stalemate.

Carrier officers say Gadhafi's troops hard to spot (AP)

(Libya) As French navy Rafale and Super Etendard fighter-bombers carrying laser-
guided bombs catapulted Wednesday off the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier into a
cloudless Mediterranean sky, officers onboard described the difficulties they face:
Despite all the modern technology, troops loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi are
harder than ever to identify from the air.

Strongman Out, Ivory Coast Is Reviving (NYT)

(Côte d’Ivoire) Fresh produce appeared on market stalls. Women carried sacks of grain
on their heads. Children skipped rope in the street. Men sipped coffee in outdoor cafes.
Life began inching back to normal on Wednesday in this city battered by a week of
combat, months of economic collapse and the grip of a defeated ruler who refused to
step down.

Ivory Coast Battles Looters as Ouattara Pledges Investigation (Bloomberg)

(Côte d’Ivoire) Ivory Coast’s new leaders struggled to stem a tide of looting in the
commercial capital, Abidjan, as President Alassane Ouattara pledged to investigate
human-rights abuses committed by both sides during the civil war.

WFP Airlifts Life-Saving Food to Thousands in Ivory Coast (VOA)

(Côte d’Ivoire) The World Food Program says it is airlifting life-saving food aid to tens
of thousands of internally displaced people in Ivory Coast and Ivorian refugees in
neighboring Liberia. The U.N. agency is also airlifting non-food items, such as
telecommunications equipment and medicines supplied by other aid agencies.

800 Civilians Killed This Year In Southern Sudan, U.N. Says (NYT)
(Sudan) More than 800 civilians have died since January in fragmenting violence in
southern Sudan, the United Nations said Wednesday, less than three months before the
vast, impoverished, battle-scarred region becomes its own nation.

Sudan arms buildup heightens oil war fears (UPI)

(Sudan) The Khartoum government and former rebels in the newly independent south
are beefing up their military forces along the still-to-be-defined border in Sudan,
heightening fears of a new war over oil that could destabilize northeast Africa.

Darfur refugees take 12 Sudan aid workers hostage (Reuters)

(Sudan) Darfuri refugees have taken 12 Sudanese aid workers hostage in the volatile
Kalma camp, a spokesman for the U.N.-African Union peacekeeping mission UNAMID
said on Wednesday, raising tension in strife-ridden west Sudan.

U.S. brings first case against alleged Somali pirate leader (CNN)
(Somalia) An alleged Somali pirate leader has been indicted for the takeover of the
yacht Quest and the kidnapping of four Americans who subsequently were killed
during the incident.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
 Sudan: UN welcomes agreement on implementation of pact on Abyei dispute
 UN-backed forum identifies areas of common ground on ending Somalia’s
transition
 Côte d’Ivoire: Security Council calls for formation of an all-inclusive
Government
 Darfur: UN helps to secure release of Sudanese aid workers taken hostage at
camp
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UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, April 14th at 2:30 p.m.; 419 Dirksen Senate Office Building
WHAT: U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Subcommittee on African Affairs
WHO: The Honorable Johnnie Carson, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs,
DOS; Ms. Rajakumari Jandhyala, Deputy Assistant Administrator, USAID; The
Honorable Eric P. Goosby, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, DOS; Mr. Patrick Fine, Vice
President for Compact Implementation, Millennium Challenge Corporation
Info: http://foreign.senate.gov/hearings/hearing/?id=203fcf99-5056-a032-523d-
801b8943d4d8

WHEN/WHERE: Friday, April 15, 2011; 9:30 a.m.; Brookings Institution, 1775
Massachusetts Avenue NW
WHAT: The Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA): Opening Doors for U.S.-
Africa Economic Relations
WHO: Mwangi Kimenyi, Director of the Africa Growth Initiative; Stephen Hayes,
President of the Corporate Council on Africa; Florizelle Liser, assistant U.S. trade
representative for Africa; Zambian Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister Felix
Mutati; John Page, senior fellow of Global Economy and Development at Brookings;
Katrin Kuhlman, senior fellow and director of TransFarm Africa Policy at the Aspen
Institute; Witney Schneidman, president of Schneidman and Associates International;
and Rosa Whitaker, president and CEO of the Whitaker Group
Info: www.brookings.edu

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, April 19th at 2:00 p.m.; U.S. Institute of Peace

WHAT: The Future of Two Sudans: A Conversation with former Presidents Thabo
Mbeki, Pierre Buyoya and Adulsalami Alhaji Abubakar
WHO: President Thabo Mbeki, Former President of South Africa, Head of the African
Union High Level Implementation Panel (Sudan); President Pierre Buyoya, Former
President of Burundi, Member, African Union High Level Implementation Panel
(Sudan); President Abdulsalami Alhaji Abubakar, Former President of Nigeria,
Member, African Union High Level Implementation Panel (Sudan)
Info: http://www.usip.org/events/the-future-two-sudans-conversation-former-
presidents-thabo-mbeki-pierre-buyoya-and-adulsalami

WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, April 20th at 2:00 p.m.; U.S. Institute of Peace

WHAT: H.E. Dr. Jean Ping, Chairperson of the African Union Commission
WHO: H.E. Dr. Jean Ping, Speaker, AU Commission
Info: http://www.usip.org/events/he-dr-jean-ping-chairperson-the-african-union-
commission
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FULL ARTICLE TEXT

Pentagon Says It Has Kept Up Some Strikes on Libya (NYT)

By THOM SHANKER
April 13, 2011
WASHINGTON — Pentagon officials disclosed Wednesday that American warplanes
had continued to strike targets in Libya even after the Obama administration said the
United States was stepping back from offensive missions and letting NATO take the
lead.

Although American officials had said that no aircraft would fly offensive strike
missions, unless officially approved in Washington, 11 warplanes have flown 97 sorties
intended to electronically jam or otherwise suppress Libyan air defenses since April 4,
when command of the mission was handed over to NATO and the United States
publicly said it was stepping back to a supporting role.

The number of actual missile strikes during those missions was only three; all were
against Libyan air defense systems, whether radars, command-and-control sites or
surface-to-air missiles. Two of them were to destroy hard-to-find and hard-to-strike
mobile targets.

In explaining the gap between public statements and operational details, officials said
the trio of strikes on Libyan targets since April 4 were classified as defensive, not
offensive.

The distinction was that these attacks were intended to incapacitate Libyan radars,
antiaircraft batteries or command centers in order to protect NATO strike aircraft, and
were not offensive actions against Libyan government forces threatening civilians.

Pentagon officials had to scramble Wednesday to explain the latest nuance about the
American mission in Libya.

The administration has expended enormous effort calibrating its explanation of the
intervention there to a variety of audiences: the American public, Libyans still loyal to
the government or rebel sympathizers, and people in Europe and the Arab world.

At a minimum, the disclosure of strikes dating back several days — on April 4, 6 and 7
— revealed a tin ear for how the facts of daily combat operations would compare to
public statements that left the impression that the United States had ceased dropping
bombs and missiles on Libya.

The continued operation of American warships and warplanes in both supporting and
attacking roles is evidence that, while NATO is in command, the United States military
remains the partner with specific capabilities that are required for the alliance to operate
effectively.
American officials had said that only support aircraft — like refueling, reconnaissance
and command-and-control planes — would be part of the daily operation. Any NATO
desire for American strike aircraft, in particular the A-10 tank-buster and the AC-130
flying gunship — would have to be requested formally and approved in Washington.

But the 11 American warplanes assigned to a mission called Suppression of Enemy Air
Defense are flying as part of the NATO-led mission.

“It is a purely defensive mission,” the Pentagon said in an official statement. Later, the
Pentagon press secretary, Geoff Morrell, added, “It is completely consistent with how
we have described our support role ever since the transition to NATO lead.”

The American aircraft assigned to suppressing Libyan air defenses are six F-16CJ
aircraft and five E/A-18G warplanes, according to Pentagon officials. Working together,
they can detect and jam adversary air defense systems and attack them with missiles,
some specifically designed to home in on radar emissions.

The disclosure came one day after fissures opened among the allies over the scope and
the intensity of attacks against Libyan government forces. Britain and France, in
particular, called on NATO and its partners to intensify strikes.

The Pentagon on Wednesday released a full tally of all the American military ships and
aircraft participating in the Libyan mission: one guided-missile destroyer; one P-3C
Orion maritime patrol aircraft; one EP-3E signals reconnaissance aircraft; 22 KC-135
tankers; six F-16CJ aircraft; five EA-18G attack aircraft; two E-3 command and control
aircraft; two EC-130 signals and communications aircraft; two RC-135 reconnaissance
aircraft; one U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft; one E-8 Joint Surveillance Target
Attack Radar System; two MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicles; and one RQ-4
Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle.
----------------------
Clinton cites atrocities by Gaddafi forces (AlJazeera)
By Unattributed Author
April 14, 2011

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, says the US is receiving disturbing reports of
new atrocities by Muammar Gaddafi's forces in Libya.

Gaddafi regime militias and mercenaries have fired mortar and artillery rounds into
residential areas in Misurata, Clinton said in a statement on Wednesday.

She said that Gaddafi’s forces destroyed food warehouses and cut off water and power
to the contested city in an apparent attempt to starve the people into submission.
Snipers targeted people seeking medical attention, she said, and thousands were being
forced from their homes by tanks.

Calling for the attacks on civilians to stop, Clinton reaffirmed that the US was
documenting atrocities committed by Gaddafi's forces so that those responsible could
be held accountable.

Friction between allies

The US secretary of state arrived early on Thursday in Berlin for NATO talks within the
Western alliance over how they share the burden of the military campaign in Libya.

The meeting of NATO foreign ministers on Thursday and Friday is among a series of
international consultations on Libya. On Wednesday, world powers meeting in Qatar
pledged financial assistance to the cash-strapped rebels.

Britain and France, which had led global calls for action to stop the Libyan leader
Muammar Gaddafi's attacks on his own people, have pressed NATO allies to deploy
more combat jets.

Alain Juppe, the French foreign minister, has said he would raise his concerns during
the Berlin talks.

US President Barack Obama's administration, which has stepped up the war in

Afghanistan and proclaimed an end to combat operations in Iraq, has been keen for
Western allies to bear the brunt of the Libya operations.

But the Pentagon said on Wednesday that US fighter jets were still carrying out
bombing raids on Libya's air defences, despite earlier statements that the country had
halted major operations.

Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, and David Cameron, the British prime minister,
agreed at a separate meeting on Wednesday to step up military pressure on Gaddafi's
regime, a French presidency source told the AFP news agency on Wednesday.

During a working dinner in Paris, Sarkozy and Cameron agreed to increase "military
pressure" on Gaddafi who "stays determined to maintain his war effort against his own
population," according to the source.

Paris and London led international calls for action to prevent Gaddafi's regime from
cracking down on a revolt against his rule, and now complain that they have been left
with too much of the burden of enforcing the no-fly zone over Libya and in bombing
Gaddafi's artillery and armoured vehicles on the ground.
"The reason for being here in Paris tonight is that Britain and France are at the heart of
this coalition," Cameron told broadcaster Sky News in Paris before the meeting.

"With President Sarkozy, I'm going to be sitting down and making sure we leave
absolutely no stone unturned in doing everything we can, militarily, diplomatically,
politically to enforce the UN resolution," he said in the interview.

The two leaders did not make public statements after the meeting, which was also
attended by their defence ministers, AFP reported.
-----------------------
More U.S. help may be crucial to Qaddafi's exit (CBS)
By Unattributed Author
April 13, 2011
Libyan rebels have been begging NATO to step up its attacks on Muammar Qaddafi's
military.

On Wednesday, it did, with new air strikes in four cities, including Tripoli, where an
ammunition bunker was hit.

Also on Wednesday, representatives from 16 western and Middle Eastern countries met
in Qatar. All agreed to support the rebels and said Qaddafi must go.

"CBS Evening News" anchor Katie Couric spoke with national security correspondent
David Martin and correspondent Elizabeth Palmer about America's military role in
Libya.

Couric: The U.S. says it's operating only in support of NATO. What does that mean?

Martin: Well, it turns out it means more than we thought. The Pentagon revealed today
that, despite previous assurances the U.S. was no longer striking targets on the ground,
American jets have in fact attacked Libyan air defense sites three times in the last 10
days. Add in aerial refueling, reconnaissance and electronic jamming missions and the
U.S. is flying 35 percent of all the NATO missions.

Couric: So why are the Europeans and the rebels complaining that the U.S. isn't doing
enough?

Martin: They want the U.S. to attack not just Qaddafi's air defenses but his ground
forces, and specifically they want to bring in AC-130 gunships. Here's the problem: In a
video, you can see a British jet dropping a bomb on a Libyan tank. It destroys the tank,
but then look what happens - all the Libyan soldiers that were operating with that tank
flee in pickup trucks. It's hard to bomb a pickup truck, but you can attack it with an AC-
130 gunship.
Couric: Is the U.S. likely to give into European demands and send in the AC-130s?

Martin: The AC-130s have been placed on a 12-hour alert, so the gunships are ready to
go if and when NATO military commanders, as opposed to diplomats, ask for them.

Couric also spoke with correspondent Elizabeth Palmer, currently in Libya, about the
political situation.

Couric: What signs do you see in Tripoli that the NATO airstrikes and economic
sanctions are weakening Qaddafi's government?

Palmer: The government is obviously weaker; for a start, it's lost two million foreign
workers. (Yet) things are remarkably stable. There are no food shortages yet.

There are gasoline shortages. Libya doesn't refine enough, so that every gasoline station
has lineups a mile long outside and the government may be forced to consider
rationing.

The bottom line is, how long before the Qaddafi government runs out of money? I
spoke to the finance minister just a few minutes ago and he said the government has a
war chest of $40 billion. So they're going to be solvent, he said, for some months yet.

Couric: Is there any progress on the diplomatic front?

Palmer: Very little, in spite of high level talks today in the Gulf Kingdom of Qatar. The
problem is that the rebels and their international backers have two conflicting
objectives. Call a ceasefire on the one hand, and on the other, force Colonel Qaddafi out
of power.

A ceasefire now would leave Qaddafi in power, but most analysts say that to force him
out would require just the opposite: a ramping up of the military effort.
-----------------
NATO foreign ministers meet amid looming stalemate in Libya (Xinhua)
By Xinhua Writer Zhang Wei
April 14, 2011

BERLIN - The Libyan crisis is set to dominate the agenda of NATO foreign ministers'
gathering in Berlin on Thursday and Friday, amid rising fears that the alliance-led
military campaign may face long stalemate.

Foreign ministers from 28 NATO countries, along with non-NATO contributors to the
operation of "Unified Protector", will try to find ways to end the Libyan conflicts
Thursday, some two weeks after the alliance assumed full control of the campaign from
the United States following days of hard bargaining.
However, new rifts have emerged within the alliance as French Foreign Minister Alain
Juppe and his British counterpart William Hague on Tuesday publicly pressed their
NATO allies to step up air raids in Libya and provide more ground attack aircraft.

In addition, the leaders of France and Britain will hold an unscheduled summit in Paris
to discuss the Libyan crisis Wednesday, just on the eve of NATO's meeting, which is
seen as a sign of discord.

French officials have also called for the U.S., Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Sweden
to enhance their efforts in the campaign.

The U.S. has withdrawn its aircraft from conducting airstrikes against Libyan leader
Muammar Gaddafi's ground forces, leaving NATO short of ground attack aircraft.
Several European countries also put restrictions on the use of their planes.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen Wednesday defended the alliance's
performance in Libya while attending the Contact Group Meeting on Libya in the
Qatari capital of Doha.

"I don't agree with (the description of) NATO being slow, we have kept a very high
operational tempo...Our operations will end when there is no longer a threat to civilians
on the ground." Rasmussen said.

The NATO chief have denied suggestions by some allies, including arming rebel
fighters and deploying ground troops in Libya, saying the alliance had not considered
"more robust measures."

Analysts said that despite the NATO-led aerial campaign, which do help the rebel
fighters on the ground, Gaddafi has shown no signs of stepping down, leaving the
endgame of the operation elusive.

During the Berlin talks, NATO foreign ministers will also discuss the ISAF mission in
Afghanistan and NATO-Russia ties.

Under mounting domestic pressure, NATO countries are eager to pull their troops out
of Afghanistan and want to complete the transition process in Afghanistan by the end
of 2014.

Though the Afghan government has announced the first batch of provinces and cities,
which are set to be taken over by Afghan forces, the transition process will not be
proved easy as many hurdles exist, including lack of capacity of Afghan soldiers and
police, resilient Taliban militants.
On Friday, NATO foreign ministers and their Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov will
focus on the cooperation on Afghanitan and the European missile defense.
---------------------
Carrier officers say Gadhafi's troops hard to spot (AP)
By Unattributed Author
April 13, 2011
ABOARD THE CHARLES DE GAULLE — As French navy Rafale and Super Etendard
fighter-bombers carrying laser-guided bombs catapulted Wednesday off the Charles de
Gaulle aircraft carrier into a cloudless Mediterranean sky, officers onboard described
the difficulties they face: Despite all the modern technology, troops loyal to Libyan
leader Moammar Gadhafi are harder than ever to identify from the air.

Gadhafi's forces are now expertly camouflaging their units to conceal them from
detection and attack from the air, the officers said.

"There is obviously a degree of savoir-faire on the part (of Gadhafi's forces) that we
haven't seen before," said the commander of the carrier's air wing, who identified
himself only as Herve.

He compared it to the performance of Serbian troops during NATO's airstrikes in

Kosovo in 1999. The Serbs weathered NATO attacks and minimized their losses of
tanks, armored personnel carriers, surface-to-air missiles and other vehicles through
deft use of camouflage.

The Charles de Gaulle, a nuclear-powered carrier known in the French navy by its
nickname "El Grande Charles," is cruising along the northern edge of the Gulf of Sirte,
near Libyan territory. It leads a standard carrier task force of three frigates, a resupply
oiler and a nuclear hunter-killer submarine.

From its decks, at least 20 sorties over Libya are launched each day.

The twin-engine Dassault Rafales flown Wednesday carried a combination of Mica air-
to-air missiles, GBU-12 250-kilogram laser-guided bombs, GBU-58 125 kilogram bombs
and laser pods designed to pinpoint targets for the bombs.

The Super Etandards, a modernized version of a single-engine strike jet originally

introduced into the French navy's inventory in the 1960s, were armed with the laser-
guided bombs.

The warplanes, divided into two five-jet flights, are charged with patrolling the
battlefields and looking for targets of opportunity.
From the decks of the carrier, it can be hard to gauge the results of the action over
Libya. NATO reported from its headquarters in Brussels that 12 tanks were destroyed
near Zintan, and an ammunition storage site was destroyed near Sukhan, south of Sirte.

NATO also said that 159 sorties had been flown Wednesday over Libya, 60 of them
classified as strike sorties. But as officers on this ship know only too well, the pilots on
strike sorties cannot always clearly identify targets; often they return without having
dropped their bombs.

To observers on the ground the fighting appears to have changed little. But the naval
task force's commander, Rear Adm. Philippe Coindreau, gave an optimistic report
Wednesday. The back-and-forth stalemate of the first week of April had ended and
opposition forces had seized the initiative, he said.

"There's been a reversal of that tendency; the oppositions forces have regained
territory," he said in his headquarters on board the Charles de Gaulle. "Whether the air
operation is more effective or not, I don't know."

He said, though, that coordination between NATO and the opposition in Benghazi has
improved recently.

"Initially there was no coordination between the rebels and NATO, but nowadays
NATO has more information through contacts with the opposition leadership in
Benghazi," Coindreau said.

"I have a feeling that if the air campaign continues and if the political and diplomatic
dialogue continues, then we can arrive at a cease-fire acceptable to all sides."

To journalists on the ground, the situation appears more nuanced. Weekend airstrikes
around the city of Ajdabiya blunted an advance by forces loyal to Gadhafi. But it does
not appear that the rebels have taken a significant amount of territory: The main front
remains around the eastern city of Brega, and those rebel fighters who are in the west
remain bottled up.

Coindreau acknowledged that it was still difficult for NATO to ascertain the exact
balance of forces on the front lines between Brega and Ajdabiya, because Gadhafi's
forces have started breaking their units into smaller, more maneuverable contingents
and using civilian vehicles for transport and combat actions.

The Charles de Gaulle mounted the first reconnaissance flights over Libya on March 22.
Attack missions followed almost immediately, and the ship has acted as the tip of the
spear for the international aerial onslaught on Gadhafi's forces ever since.
Libya has two Soviet-built Foxtrot submarines that could threaten the Charles de Gaulle
and the approximately 25 other NATO vessels patrolling the Libyan coastline.

"So far they have made no preparations to put to sea, so we have left them alone,"
Cmdr. Marc Gander said. "But we make sure to monitor them regularly just in case."

The NATO fleet has been joined by a smaller Italian carrier, the Garibaldi, but no U.S.
Navy carriers have joined in the assault. An amphibious assault ship, the USS
Kearsarge, which was in the region at the start of the U.S.-led operation on March 21,
steamed away after Washington ended its combat role and turned the command of the
operation over to NATO.

The Charles de Gaulle is the flagship of the French fleet and the only nuclear-powered
carrier outside the United States.

It is also the only one outside the U.S. Navy to use the so-called CATOBAR (Catapult
Assisted Take-Off But Arrested Recovery) system, whereby planes are launched by
catapults and recovered by arrestor wires.

This allows fighter-bombers to carry much heavier loads than the alternative short
takeoff systems used by most of the navies operating aircraft carriers.
----------------------
Strongman Out, Ivory Coast Is Reviving (NYT)
By ADAM NOSSITER
April 13, 2011
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — Fresh produce appeared on market stalls. Women carried
sacks of grain on their heads. Children skipped rope in the street. Men sipped coffee in
outdoor cafes.

Life began inching back to normal on Wednesday in this city battered by a week of
combat, months of economic collapse and the grip of a defeated ruler who refused to
step down.

Two days after opposition forces stormed the presidential residence and seized the
nation’s strongman, Laurent Gbagbo, residents ventured through a landscape of
burned-out vehicles from last week’s combat, shattered glass from waves of looting,
fields of uncollected garbage abandoned for months and occasional bursts of gunfire.
The central business district, Plateau, continued to be largely empty, gripped by armed
looting, a resident said, and with snipers in the tall buildings.

Signs of renewal elsewhere in this sprawling port city were unmistakable. In places, the
tension of previous months, when fear of Mr. Gbagbo’s security forces kept streets
emptied, was gone. The ubiquitous roadblocks operated by militant armed youths
supporting Mr. Gbagbo had disappeared, replaced by occasional gun-swinging
detachments from the irregular forces of Alassane Ouattara, the man who won the
election last year but is only now taking over as president. They let people through,
though.

In some neighborhoods, residents expressed hope and relief that the five-month crisis
was now over, and Mr. Ouattara told reporters at his makeshift hotel-headquarters here
that he would get immediately to work restoring the country. Still, Mr. Ouattara
acknowledged the delicate security situation, the looting by gunmen and the need to
hold all combatants accountable for human rights abuses, including his own men.

Mr. Gbagbo, captured on Monday after his defenses were severely weakened by a
French and United Nations bombing campaign, was packed into a helicopter shortly
after noon on Wednesday and sent to the north of the country, the United Nations office
here said. He will be kept in a villa under guard, Mr. Ouattara said, noting that his
justice minister was looking into possible prosecution. He said Mr. Gbagbo would be
treated “with consideration.”

A commission would be established, Mr. Ouattara said, to establish “the truth of what
has happened” during the turbulent and murky 12 years of coup d’états, civil war, Mr.
Gbagbo’s violent ascension to power and his brutal repression of dissent. “We need to
shed light on all this,” Mr. Ouattara said. “Ivorians need to know what has happened.”
He struck a conciliatory note, saying the strongman’s officials would be “totally
protected” from physical aggression.

Mr. Ouattara, a former prime minister and International Monetary Fund official, whose
degree in economics and ubiquitous dark suit is matched by the sobriety of his tone,
offers a contrast to the populist, rabble-rousing Mr. Gbagbo, himself a former professor.
Emphasizing the details of reconstruction, Mr. Ouattara said he would restore
electricity and water, and get the banks — which have been closed since West African
leaders cut off Mr. Gbagbo’s government from the regional central bank — working
again. “We are going to get to work,” Mr. Ouattara said, “and in a few months we will
see a rehabilitated Ivory Coast.”

Sitting outside at Le Petit Café du Grand Nord, in a largely pro-Ouattara district of the
sprawling Koumassi neighborhood, several customers said the process had already
begun. Merely to be sitting there at all was a good sign, they said. It had been too
dangerous in the previous months because Mr. Gbagbo’s security forces would descend
without warning and begin shooting.

“Life is picking up, slowly, slowly,” said Laye Konaté. “People are going back to work.
For the future, we have hope that there is going to be peace.” Mohamed Diakité,
watching a woman across the street shaving coconuts at a stall, said: “It’s over. It’s
finished. We have been terrorized and traumatized.”
Despite the optimism, “a grave humanitarian situation” continued in the country, the
United Nations humanitarian chief, Valerie Amos, told the Security Council on
Wednesday. She noted that hospitals and schools remained closed, families were living
without food, while some neighborhoods were without electricity. She said there were
800,000 internally displaced people. “Despite the arrest of Laurent Gbagbo, the
humanitarian situation in Côte D’Ivoire remains deeply troubling," she said.

The supporters of the captured strongman were not as much in evidence on

Wednesday, and their outlook was less rosy. Next to the looted, burned-out Treichville
headquarters of Mr. Gbagbo’s Ivorian Popular Front Party, residents were in an angry
mood.

“Get back in your car and get out of here,” a Gbagbo supporter shouted, in response to
inquiries.

Forces loyal to Mr. Ouattara have been accused of killing hundreds of civilians in the
nation’s west, and going door to door in parts of Abidjan, searching for Gbagbo
supporters. But in both Koumassi and Marcory, an adjoining neighborhood, the
Ouattara supporters argued that there had been no witch hunts aimed at Gbagbo
supporters.

A carpenter with the same name as the president — Alassane Ouattara — said he had
just emerged from months of hiding, because of his name. “We’re hoping the pro-
Gbagbos have disappeared,” he said. “We have suffered too much.”
---------------------
Ivory Coast Battles Looters as Ouattara Pledges Investigation (Bloomberg)
By Pauline Bax and Olivier Monnier
Apr 13, 2011 7:01 PM ET
Ivory Coast’s new leaders struggled to stem a tide of looting in the commercial capital,
Abidjan, as President Alassane Ouattara pledged to investigate human-rights abuses
committed by both sides during the civil war.

The Republican Forces that support Ouattara are patrolling the streets of Abidjan
following reports of looting by their own soldiers, thieves and militias loyal to previous
leader Laurent Gbagbo.

“We are currently trying to get some of our rogue elements under control,” Meite
Sindou, spokesman for Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, said by phone yesterday. “The
looting has to stop.”

Many shops and homes were plundered during a 10-day battle for control of Abidjan
that ended with Gbagbo’s capture in a bunker below his home in the Cocody
neighborhood of the city on April 11. Sindou said the government was adding patrols
to that area amid reports that some fighters were robbing the homes of Gbagbo’s
supporters.

Stability in the world’s largest cocoa producer would mean a return to exports of the
chocolate ingredient. Moeller-Maersk A/S, the world’s largest container shipping line,
says one of its vessels is likely to arrive in Abidjan next week.

Cocoa for May delivery rose $13, or 0.4 percent, to $3,066 per metric ton in New York
yesterday.

‘Ghost Villages’
The United Nations must protect the “tens of thousands” of displaced people
throughout the country, said Amnesty International in an e-mailed statement on April
12.

Villages have been burned and looted in the western part of the country where people
are “hiding in the bush in life- threatening conditions and without any proper food or
sanitation,” said Gaetan Mootoo, U.K.-based Amnesty’s Ivory Coast researcher. “We
have seen ghost villages with nearly no civilians.”

Gbagbo will face charges on a national and international level, Ouattara said in a
televised speech yesterday. He also pledged to investigate killings committed during
the conflict.

Ivory Coast requires $300 million in emergency aid, the UN’s emergency relief
coordinator, said yesterday in New York. “We need to act now,” she said. “The
humanitarian situation remains deeply troubling.”

Residents ventured out of their homes yesterday to stock up on food for the first time in
days. Looters ransacked shops on the main commercial street of Rue des Jardins in the
Deux Plateaux neighborhood and were seen carrying the stolen goods, including sofas
and a fake Christmas tree, on their heads and in wheelbarrows.

“They’ve tried to enter into a building because a guy that supported Gbagbo is living
there,” said resident Moussa Traore. “For them, it’s like a revenge.”

In the Cocody area, three men were shot by a Republican Forces patrol at a bakery,
according to Salif Attai, who witnessed the incident and said the trio stole a bag he was
carrying. The body of one of the men that was left by the roadside was wearing a
military uniform.
-------------------
WFP Airlifts Life-Saving Food to Thousands in Ivory Coast (VOA)
By Lisa Schlein
April 12, 2011
The World Food Program says it is airlifting life-saving food aid to tens of thousands of
internally displaced people in Ivory Coast and Ivorian refugees in neighboring Liberia.
The U.N. agency is also airlifting non-food items, such as telecommunications
equipment and medicines supplied by other aid agencies.

WFP says airlifts are very costly. But, given the critical humanitarian situation in Ivory
Coast, it is urgent that the food and other relief supplies be brought in as quickly as
possible.

The U.N. agency says once the emergency has lessened and the security situation
improves, it will bring in larger quantities of food by ship and by road.

Spokeswoman Emilia Casella says food this week is being airlifted from Niger and Mali
into the town of Man, in western Ivory Coast. She says two rotations on Tuesday will
deliver 30 metric tons of food and another 15 metric tons of food probably will be
airlifted on Wednesday.

"We are particularly concerned and hopeful now that some people may be able to
return and begin the planting," Casella said. "The planting season is beginning now and
it really is vital that farmers can get to their land -- that they can start to plant. If they
are not able to plant their crops now, obviously the concern will be that once we come
to the harvest season, there will not be enough food for people."

Other United Nations aid agencies also are moving quickly to provide much needed
humanitarian assistance to the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the
conflict. This follows the surrender of Ivory Coast's former president, Laurent Gbagbo,
to forces backing the country's elected president, Alassane Outtara.

The U.N. Children’s Fund says its most urgent priorities include the restoration of safe
water supplies and the resumption of immunization campaigns to prevent disease
outbreaks of cholera and measles.

UNICEF spokeswoman Marixie Mercado says the agency also aims to provide stronger
security, especially in areas where mass killings have taken place. She notes it is
particularly important to return children to school.

"Returning children back to school as quickly as possible is critical in helping children

regain a sense of normalcy and in supporting their recovery process," Mercado said.
"UNICEF is preparing a distribution of school kits for over 600 schools across the
country as soon as conditions permit.

Mercado says children who have witnessed mass killings and violence are in urgent
need of psychosocial support. She says UNICEF is providing such activities wherever
there are camps for the displaced. But, she adds, much more needs to be done.
-----------------------
800 Civilians Killed This Year In Southern Sudan, U.N. Says (NYT)
By JOSH KRON
April 13, 2011
KAMPALA, Uganda — More than 800 civilians have died since January in fragmenting
violence in southern Sudan, the United Nations said Wednesday, less than three
months before the vast, impoverished, battle-scarred region becomes its own nation.

Lise Grande, the humanitarian coordinator for the United Nations in southern Sudan,
said that the number did not take into account the many soldiers who had died in
recent fighting. It also does not reflect the continuing standoff around the contested
region of Abyei, a conflict-ridden dividing line between north and south Sudan.

Southern Sudan held an independence referendum in early January that was more
peaceful and orderly than many experts had predicted. But in the violence that has
followed, 93,000 people have fled their homes, including more than 40,000 in the last
month, Ms. Grande said.

“We have hot spots in Unity, hot spots in Jonglei, a number of problems in Lakes State;
just a week ago there was an L.R.A. attack in Western Equatoria,” Ms. Grande said,
referring to the Lord’s Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group that has occupied parts
of southern Sudan in the past.

The fighting has come at the hands of a patchwork of militias, renegade southern
soldiers and other armed groups. Some of the most volatile regions include Jonglei State
and Upper Nile, where clashes among the southern army, a renegade general and
militias have killed hundreds, including many soldiers. At one point in early March, a
rebel group occupied one of southern Sudan’s largest towns.

The Sudan People’s Liberation Army, the southern army, acknowledges that many
hundreds have died, but says that the United Nations figure of 800 civilians is too high.
It also argues that the fighting has recently slowed.

“The months of March and April have been better,” said a southern military
spokesperson, Col. Philip Aguer. “To me, the insurgencies are down.”

“But the borders with the north,” Colonel Aguer added, “we cannot predict what the
north may be planning.”

Even so, Ms. Grande said, “in the past month we have had a doubling in the numbers of
displaced.” She added, “When you see that kind of acceleration, we said, this is
serious.”
On Tuesday, the United States said that economic sanctions would be lifted from
southern Sudan upon its independence, which is expected to be declared on July 9. Still,
it is unclear if revenues from oil that has been piped from the south through the north
will be included.

The United States was “such a player by kind of moving independence along,” said
Jordan Sekulow, an adviser for the southern Sudanese government in the United States.
“It’s very important to get behind southern Sudan.”

“We want to say, ‘We’re open for business,’ ” Mr. Sekulow said.

Southern Sudan has some of the world’s worst roads and lowest literacy rates, and its
government has struggled to keep all corners of the region and the multitude of ethnic
groups within it pacified. It is also wrestling with the continuing tensions with the north
over Abyei.

Last week, the Satellite Sentinel Project, led by Google and the Enough Project,
published satellite images depicting a significant northern army buildup around Abyei.
The project says it also has images depicting the massing of southern-aligned forces.

Two parts of north Sudan that are traditionally more aligned toward the south have
been awaiting special talks on their own destiny, which could further test the stability
of the area.
-----------------------
Sudan arms buildup heightens oil war fears (UPI)
By Unattributed Author
April 13, 2011 at 2:28 PM
JUBA, Sudan - The Khartoum government and former rebels in the newly independent
south are beefing up their military forces along the still-to-be-defined border in Sudan,
heightening fears of a new war over oil that could destabilize northeast Africa.

Imagery from civilian satellites show the buildups are most concentrated around the
flashpoint Abyei region, the most disputed of the oil-producing zones and the scene of
constant skirmishing in recent weeks.

Fighting has escalated between ethnic southern and northern tribes in the area, which
international observers say appears to have been fanned by the Khartoum regime in a
bid to seize the territory.

If serious fighting erupts, the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended more
than two decades of north-south civil war could be shattered, threatening the formal
independence of the south scheduled for July 9.
In a January referendum, the people of the Christian and animist south voted
overwhelmingly in favor of secession from the Arab dominated north.

But the vital issue of how Sudan's oil resources, essential to both sides, is to be divided
remains unresolved, with no indication that an agreement is likely any time soon. The
south stormed out of negotiations March 12.

Most of the oil producing zones lie in the south or in the border states of Unity, Upper
Nile and Jonglei.

The way things stand now, when July comes around, the south, governed by the Sudan
Peoples Liberation Movement, will take control of some three-quarters of Sudan's
current oil output of 500,000 barrels per day.

That will be a severe blow to the Khartoum regime of President Omar al-Bashir and his
ruling National Congress Party, which depends on the oil revenue it has been making.

The oil is pumped mainly by the China National Petroleum Corp., Malaysia's Petroliam
Nasional and India's Oil & Natural Gas Corp. Sudan has proven reserves of 5 billion
barrels of oil.

Tension has been mounting steadily and relentlessly in recent weeks, amid deep
disagreement between Khartoum and the southern capital, Juba, and the failure of both
sides to resolve a plethora of key issues, such as revenue-sharing, border demarcation
and the national debt.

The SPLM claims the north is waging a systematic campaign of destabilization,

allegations supported in large part by outside observers.

"Now that South Sudan's self-determination has been realized, long-suppressed and
simmering political disputes have resurfaced, threatening instability on the eve of
independence," the Brussels-based International Crisis Group observed April 4.

Both sides are also plagued by internal divisions, exacerbating the problems that
increasingly appear to make a peaceful separation impossible.

Bashir is grappling with political rivals in the north who opposed partition, as well as
the prospect of an economic downturn following the south's independence.

The southern leader, Salva Kiir, is struggling with deep-rooted, long-running tribal
rivalries that are becoming more pronounced now that secession has been achieved.
Northern support for renegade southern militias that are continually clashing with
Kiir's forces, particularly in the oil-producing zones, has complicated efforts to achieve
stability. This is a tactic Khartoum used during the civil war.

Paramount among these difficulties is the fate of Abyei. It had been scheduled to hold
its own mini-referendum on its future status during the wider referendum on secession
in January.

But that was scrapped because north and south could not agree on who was eligible to
vote.

Observers say the Abyei crisis worsens daily. Tribes aligned with north and south are at
each other's throats over water rights or cattle rustling.

Thousands of people fled Abyei in March because of fighting that killed dozens of
civilians.

The Satellite Sentinel Project set up by movie star George Clooney, a Sudan activist, has
provided imagery that shows Khartoum has moved Soviet-built T-55 tanks, other
armored vehicles and support vehicles for armored deployments at Muglad, close to
Abyei's northern boundary.

Two Mi-24 Hind helicopter gunships have also been deployed. There have been reports
of overflights by Sudanese air force combat jets in recent weeks as well.

Southern forces have also been beefed up, but they lack Khartoum's firepower.

"The introduction of heavy air and ground attack capacity by the Sudanese Armed
Forces represents a significant buildup of firepower in a tense region," observed John C.
Bradshaw of the satellite project.
-----------------------
Darfur refugees take 12 Sudan aid workers hostage (Reuters)
By Unattributed Author
Apr 13, 2011 7:00pm GMT
KHARTOUM - Darfuri refugees have taken 12 Sudanese aid workers hostage in the
volatile Kalma camp, a spokesman for the U.N.-African Union peacekeeping mission
UNAMID said on Wednesday, raising tension in strife-ridden west Sudan.
Millions have been driven from their homes into camps and an estimated 300,000
people have been killed in west Sudan's Darfur region as a result of a long-running
revolt and government efforts to suppress it.

"The aid workers were taken on April 11 in retaliation for the arrest of an IDP
(internally displaced person) ... on April 9 by national security," said UNAMID
spokesman Chris Cycmanick.
The United Nations and leaders from Kalma Camp, in South Darfur, have mediated
and expect the aid workers to be released later on Wednesday, he said. During the
incident other humanitarian groups suspended operations in the camp, he added.

Kalma Camp is one of the most politicised camps in the region, housing tens of
thousands of people who fled the fighting and refuse to go home until it is safe to do so.

The Darfur revolt broke out in 2003 when mostly non-Arab insurgents took up arms
demanding a bigger share of Sudan's wealth and power.

Khartoum unleashed a brutal counter-insurgency campaign, and tribal tensions and

declining resources for farmers and cattle herders have complicated the conflict.

Law and order have collapsed in west Sudan where gangs of armed men rape, loot and
kill with impunity. The United Nations estimates more than 2 million people have fled
their homes and 300,000 have died.

The Darfur aid operation, the world's largest, has been hindered by government
obstruction, expulsions, kidnappings and insecurity.

The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for President Omar
Hassan al-Bashir for genocide and war crimes, but he denies the charges and Khartoum
does not recognise the sovereignty of the ICC.
In 2009 the government expelled 13 of the largest international aid agencies from Darfur
and information on the aid operation has since been sparse, remaining aid workers
being scared to speak out about conditions in the region.

Khartoum accuses the Western media of exaggeration in its reporting of the conflict.

Rebel disunity and continued military offensives have led to the failure of peace talks,
and the government has been gradually reasserting control over much of the region.
---------------------
U.S. brings first case against alleged Somali pirate leader (CNN)
By Carol Cratty
April 13, 2011 8:50 p.m. EDT
Washington - An alleged Somali pirate leader has been indicted for the takeover of the
yacht Quest and the kidnapping of four Americans who subsequently were killed
during the incident.

Mohammad Saaili Shibin, 50, appeared at a detention hearing in federal court in

Norfolk, Virginia, on Wednesday afternoon after the indictment against him was
unsealed. He will remain in federal custody.
Pirates increasing violence to raise stakes

"Today marks the first time that the U.S. government has captured and charged an
alleged pirate in a leadership role -- a hostage negotiator who operated in Somalia," said
U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride in a written statement. MacBride went on to say the arrest
and charges against Shibin should "send a strong message to all pirates that they are not
beyond the reach of the FBI, whether they board the ships or remain on-shore in
Somalia."

According to the indictment, one of the alleged pirates aboard the Quest identified
Shibin as the person who would negotiate the terms for the release of the four
Americans. The document says Shibin did Internet research about the hostages on the
Quest "to determine the amount of ransom to demand and the identity of family
members of the hostages whom he could contact about the ransom."

An FBI official said Shibin was arrested in Somalia on April 4 by "host nation security."

Shibin and 14 co-conspirators are charged with piracy, conspiracy to commit

kidnapping and possession and use of a firearm during a crime of violence. The men
are scheduled to go on trial November 29 and they face a maximum penalty of life in
prison if convicted.

The U.S. military and an FBI negotiator had been trying to win the safe release of the
hostages aboard the Quest. The February hijacking off the coast of Oman ended when
some of the pirates on the yacht allegedly shot and killed Americans Scott and Jean
Adam, Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle.
------------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

Sudan: UN welcomes agreement on implementation of pact on Abyei dispute

13 April – The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) today welcomed the decision
by both sides in the disputed area of Abyei to form a joint committee to oversee the
implementation of an earlier agreement on the withdrawal of unauthorized armed
forces from the area.

UN-backed forum identifies areas of common ground on ending Somalia’s transition

13 April – A United Nations-backed meeting on Somalia concluded today with
participants agreeing on the need to strengthen security and redouble efforts to combat
extremism in the Horn of Africa nation, as well as complete a number of tasks before
the transitional period ends in August.

Côte d’Ivoire: Security Council calls for formation of an all-inclusive Government

13 April – The Security Council today encouraged the President of Côte d’Ivoire,
Alassane Ouattara, to form an all-inclusive, broad-based Government now that he is
assuming his responsibilities as head of State following the surrender of his
predecessor, who had until this week refused to cede power after his defeat in last
year’s presidential poll.

Darfur: UN helps to secure release of Sudanese aid workers taken hostage at camp
13 April – United Nations officials have helped to secure the release of 12 Sudanese aid
workers who were taken hostage by a youth group at a camp for internally displaced
persons (IDPs) in the war-torn Darfur region.