United States Africa Command Public Affairs Office 14 November 2011

USAFRICOM - related news stories

Good morning. Please find attached news clips related to U.S. Africa Command and Africa, along with upcoming events of interest for November 14, 2011. Of interest in todays clips: Libya: Clashes continue outside of Tripoli as more people were killed in the violent rivalry between warring factions. In Liberia: President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf posts a public statement to Liberian citizens following the announcement of preliminary results of the presidential run-off election. In South Sudan: The UN calls for an investigation in a bombing killing dozens in a refugee camp. U.S. Africa Command Public Affairs Please send questions or comments to: africom-pao@africom.mil 421-2687 (+49-711-729-2687) -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Top News related to U.S. Africa Command and Africa Deadly factional clashes erupt in Libya (Al Jazeera) http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/11/2011111341559598501.html 13 November 2011 By Non-Attributed Author At least two men have been killed in a second day of clashes as fighters from Zawiya set up roadblocks to prevent rivals from the nearby town of Wershefana entering their territory. UN criticises South Sudan bombing (Al Jazeera) http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/11/20111111103511233180.html 13 November 2011 By Non-Attributed Author The United Nations has said that an air raid allegedly carried out by Sudan on a refugee camp on South Sudan's territory could be an "international crime".

Liberia: Statement By: H.E. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Following Preliminary Announcement of Presidential Run-Off Results (Liberia Government) http://allafrica.com/stories/201111111576.html 11 November 2011 By Liberia Government Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf thanked Liberians for voting and said "future generations of Liberians will look upon this day as a defining moment in our nation's history," following the announcement of preliminary results of the presidential run-off election. Tensions grow in Congo opposition heartlands (Reuters) http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7AC05420111113 13 November 2011 By Jonny Hogg Perched on the border with Angola, Congo's two southern Kasai provinces have been relative havens of peace in a country dogged by insecurity eight years after a war that claimed five million lives. One killed in Egypt clashes over fertiliser plant (Reuters) http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7AC05T20111113 13 November 2011 By Non-Attributed Author One person was killed and at least 11 were wounded on Sunday in clashes between the army and protesters sparked by concerns about pollution from a fertiliser plant in northern Egypt, the state news agency said. South Sudan Unity state bombing: UN calls for inquiry (BBC) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15700483 13 November 2011 By Non-Attributed Author The UN has accused Sudan of carrying out the attack in oil-rich Unity state, just south of the border. Khartoum, which is fighting pro-southern rebels on its side of the frontier, denies the allegation. Libyans say clashes resolved, but firing goes on (Reuters) http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7AC07U20111113 13 November 2011 By Oliver Holmes and Alastair Macdonald Despite continued gunfire and explosions near Tripoli on Sunday, Libyan officials and fighters said a bloody local dispute that has strained nerves in the city for three days was being resolved. Algeria says Nigeria's Boko Haram tied to al Qaeda (Reuters) http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/algeria-says-nigerias-boko-haram-tied-to-al-qaeda/

13 November 2011 By Lamine Chikhi Intelligence reports show there is coordination between the Nigerian Islamist sect Boko Haram and the Algerian-based north African branch of al Qaeda, the Algerian deputy foreign minister said on Sunday. iCow: Kenyans now manage their herds via mobile phone Christian Science Monitor) http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2011/1111/iCow-Kenyans-now-manage-theirherds-via-mobile-phone 13 November 2011 By Non-Attributed Author As an organic farmer outside of Nairobi, Su Kahumbu could see the challenge that her cattle-herding neighbors had in handling the expenses of their most precious assets, the female cow. Has Obama kicked off another oil war - this time in Africa? (Daily Monitor) http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/ThoughtIdeas/-/689844/1271854//view/printVersion/-/fo8m1yz/-/index.html 13 November 2011 By Non-Attributed Author On October 14, President Barack Obama announced he would be sending 100 Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) forces to Uganda to remove from the battlefield (meaning capture or kill) the leader of the Lords Resistance Army (LRA), Joseph Kony. Comment: NATO, AFRICOM and the New White Man's Burden (My Joyonline) http://opinion.myjoyonline.com/pages/comment/201111/76297.php 14 November 2011 By Harold Green As we watched with bewilderment, NATO's military assault on Libya using humanitarian intervention as it's pretext, we are reminded of an earlier period of Western European civilizing missions into Africa. ### UN News Service Africa Briefs http://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICA (Full Articles on UN Website) Lead poisoning continues to affect many in Nigeria UN 11 November At least 43 villages in Nigeria continue to present cases of lead poisoning, 18 months ago after cases were first discovered in the region, the United Nations reported today, calling for an increase in preventive measures in the African country.

DR Congo: ICC prosecutor warns election-related violence will not be tolerated 11 November The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) said today he is following the electoral process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with utmost vigilance, stating that violence related to the presidential and legislative polls later this month will not be tolerated. UN lauds South Sudans decision to back global treaty against anti-personnel mines 11 November The United Nations today welcomed the decision of South Sudan to become the newest member of the global convention banning the use, stockpiling, production and sale of anti-personnel mines, describing it as an historic step for a country plagued by countless mines left behind from years of war. UN calls for probe into Sudanese bombing of refugee camp 11 November Sudanese military forces have bombed a refugee camp in neighbouring South Sudan, the United Nations confirmed today, calling for an urgent investigation into what its top human rights official warned could amount to a serious international crime. Heavy rains and continuing conflict impede relief effort in Somalia UN 11 November Heavy rains in Somalia have made roads some impassable, rendering the delivery of relief difficult in areas with dire humanitarian needs, the United Nations refugee agency said today, adding that the bad weather and insecurity could be the reason fewer people are crossing the border into refugee camps in Kenya ### UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST 15 NOV 2011 WHEN: Tuesday, November 15, 2011 11:30-12:30 WHAT: Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) Discussion on " Trade and Investment Partnership Initiative in the Middle East and North Africa." Speakers: Daniel Mullaney, Assistant United States Trade Representative for Europe and the Middle East; and Hiddo Houben, First Counselor, Trade and Agriculture, Delegation of the European Union to the United States. WHERE: CSIS, 1800 K Street, NW CONTACT: 202-887-0200; web site: www.csis.org NOTE: Please RSVP to Lindsay Ross at lross@csis.org SOURCE: CSIS - event announcement at: http://csis.org/event/trade-and-investmentpartnership-initiative-middle-east-and-north-africa ### New on www.africom.mil Botswana Intel Course Helps Protect Wildlife, Shows AFRICOM Role of

Empowering African Militaries http://www.africom.mil/getArticle.asp?art=7420&lang=0 9 November 2011 By Vince Crawley, U.S. AFRICOM Public Affairs GABORONE, Botswana, Nov 9, 2011 When the Botswana military conducted its first tactical intelligence course earlier this year, it was taught by U.S. soldiers. The second course, taking place in October through mid-November 2011, was being taught by a combination of U.S. personnel and the best Batswana students from the first course. The next course, in 2012, is scheduled to be taught entirely by Batswana soldiers, with a few U.S. personnel on hand to assist if needed. After that, that, the future of the program is up to the Botswana Defence Force. The Combined Federal Campaign - Overseas is Underway http://www.africom.mil/getArticle.asp?art=7421&lang=0 9 November 2011 By Diane Cano, U.S. AFRICOM Public Affairs STUTTGART, Germany, Nov 9, 2011 This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Combined Federal Campaign-Overseas (CFC-O) which was founded by President John F. Kennedy in 1961. For the past several years, military and civilian personnel have raised money to help change the lives and bring relief to those in need both locally and abroad. Botswana Troops Get Up Close and Personal with Wildlife before Anti-Poaching Missions http://www.africom.mil/getArticle.asp?art=7422&lang=0 9 November 2011 By Vince Crawley GABORONE, Botswana, Nov 9, 2011 The Botswana Defence Force numbers about 13,000 uniformed personnel, plus several lions, a couple of crocodiles, and a few hyenas and baboons. Not to mention the snakes. ### -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------FULL TEXT Deadly factional clashes erupt in Libya (Al Jazeera) http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/11/2011111341559598501.html 13 November 2011 By Non-Attributed Author At least two men have been killed in a second day of clashes as fighters from Zawiya set up roablocks to prevent rivals from the nearby town of Wershefana entering their territory.

There are conflicting reports about what triggered the confrontation on Saturday near a military camp. One local commander, amid the sound of gunfire, claimed to be fighting Gaddafi loyalists, but those claims were impossible to verify. "We don't have any problems with our brothers in the neighbourhood," Ali al-Deeb told AP news agency, at a checkpoint on the main road where his men were stopping vehicles. "We are fighting with the pro-Gaddafi followers. Gaddafi followers still exist and we're still tracking them down and capturing them. We will clean the country of them." Niger has said it will grant Gaddafi's son Saadi asylum Mohamed Sayeh, a member of Libya's interim government, the National Transitional Council (NTC), played down the fighting. He told the Reuters news agency it was an attack of men from Zawiya who wanted control of the Imaya military base, and who had been misled by a rumour that Gaddafi loyalists were in the area. The incoming prime minister, Abdurrahim El-Keib, has promised to disarm the country and set up a national army, but has yet to announce a concrete timetable or form a government. The reports of the clashes came as production resumed at Italian energy company Eni's largest oilfield in Libya, known a El Feel [Elephant] because of its size, according to Hussein Abuseliana, the field manager at the site. Prior to the revolution, Eni pumped about 130,000 barrels per day, but daily production is currently limited to 40,000 barrels. Abuseliana said on Saturday his team was working on getting power back up and running smoothly to increase production in Marzuq. "We have restarted five wells," he said. Some equipment from El Feel, mainly from the control room, had gone missing during Libya's war, Abuseliana said. ### UN criticises South Sudan bombing http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/11/20111111103511233180.html 13 November 2011 By Non-Attributed Author

The United Nations has said that an air raid allegedly carried out by Sudan on a refugee camp on South Sudan's territory could be an "international crime". There are conflicting reports about what triggered the confrontation on Saturday near a military camp. One local commander, amid the sound of gunfire, claimed to be fighting Gaddafi loyalists, but those claims were impossible to verify. "We don't have any problems with our brothers in the neighbourhood," Ali al-Deeb told AP news agency, at a checkpoint on the main road where his men were stopping vehicles. "We are fighting with the pro-Gaddafi followers. Gaddafi followers still exist and we're still tracking them down and capturing them. We will clean the country of them."

Niger has said it will grant Gaddafi's son Saadi asylum Mohamed Sayeh, a member of Libya's interim government, the National Transitional Council (NTC), played down the fighting. He told the Reuters news agency it was an attack of men from Zawiya who wanted control of the Imaya military base, and who had been misled by a rumour that Gaddafi loyalists were in the area. The incoming prime minister, Abdurrahim El-Keib, has promised to disarm the country and set up a national army, but has yet to announce a concrete timetable or form a government. The reports of the clashes came as production resumed at Italian energy company Eni's largest oilfield in Libya, known a El Feel [Elephant] because of its size, according to Hussein Abuseliana, the field manager at the site. Prior to the revolution, Eni pumped about 130,000 barrels per day, but daily production is currently limited to 40,000 barrels. Abuseliana said on Saturday his team was working on getting power back up and running smoothly to increase production in Marzuq. "We have restarted five wells," he said. Some equipment from El Feel, mainly from the control room, had gone missing during Libya's war, Abuseliana said. ### Liberia: Statement By: H.E. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Following Preliminary Announcement of Presidential Run-Off Results (Liberia Government)

http://allafrica.com/stories/201111111576.html 11 November 2011 By Liberia Government Fellow Liberians: Future generations of Liberians will look upon this day as a defining moment in our nation's history. We have taken a big step forward, towards a nation of peace and dialogue. Yesterday, the National Elections Commission announced preliminary results of Tuesday's Presidential Run-off election. The results indicate a victory for our national vision. The Liberian people have renewed their confidence in us, and we proudly accept the challenges ahead. For those who did not win, we call on them to remain committed to the principles of democracy and continue to work for our people. I commend the National Elections Commission for carrying out a process described as free, fair and transparent, notwithstanding the distractions. As we look forward to the final tally, we hail the professional conduct of the Commission. On behalf of the people of Liberia, I commend the United Nations Mission in Liberia, and our own security forces, for maintaining peace and creating an environment where our people were safe to go out and vote. Our appreciation also goes to our international and regional partners for their participation in our electoral process. We note the many judgments rendered over the past few days, most notably by ECOWAS, the AU and the Carter Center, that the elections of October 11 and November 8 were free, fair and transparent. Regrettably, incidents on Monday, November 7, marred the atmosphere of Tuesday's vote and resulted in a tragic loss of life and injury. I extend my deepest condolence and offer government's assistance to those so affected. To ensure that we know the facts that will facilitate appropriate action, we have established a Special Independent Commission of Inquiry headed by Sister Mary Laurene Browne. We cannot be clearer: All those found to have broken the law will be brought to justice. One of the most important aspects of my duty is to protect civil liberties, individual freedoms and the unhindered expression of truths and beliefs. This is a duty I cherish and carry out with pride. This Administration will continue to do everything in our power to ensure that every Liberian's fundamental civil and human rights are protected. The right to publicly disagree, without fear of reprisal or intimidation, is a value that we must continue to uphold. It is one of the cornerstones of democracy. That right cannot and will never be threatened or endangered by this Administration. However, in this fragile post-conflict environment, we must exercise these rights with a great sense of responsibility. We paid a high price to get to where we are.

In order to protect our civil peace, freedom of movement and life and property, the decision to close three media institutions was taken carefully and within the due process of the law, with the aim to prevent the incitement of further violence and protect lives. The court process is now under way. We call on all our citizens to allow the legal process to run its course. My fellow Liberians, as the dust settles on the electoral season, it is time for us to move our country forward in a spirit of unity and reconciliation. Today, I extend a hand of cooperation to all Liberians. I invite everyone to be part of a national dialogue that would bring us together. I want to especially call on my fellow political leaders to join me in a conversation on the future of our country. Political leaders have a special and a greater responsibility to bring our people together, to cement the false divides. I have decided to set up a national peace and reconciliation initiative to start the dialogue. I asked and am pleased to announce that our own Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Leymah Gbowee, has accepted to lead the effort. Together, we have a mission to fulfill. We must work in harmony as one people, one destiny, one Liberia, Today, I urge all of us to move on and look to the future with courage and hope. There is so much work ahead. Together, we can lift Liberia to meet the needs and aspirations of all its citizens. We must get back to the task of building our basic infrastructure, creating jobs, and bringing electricity and clean water to more and more homes. We must get back to the task of educating our children, providing health services and teaching our young people the skills they need help build our country. We must get back to the great task of development and progress. At home and across the Diaspora, Liberian citizens must take pride in what we have accomplished together. We have taken a giant leap towards peace, security and national reconciliation. To every Liberian out there: This is your election, your country, your future. Together, we have written the first page of a new chapter for Liberia. May God Almighty bless our country and safeguard our democracy. I thank you. ### Tensions grow in Congo opposition heartlands (Reuters) http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7AC05420111113 13 November 2011 By Jonny Hogg

MBUJI-MAYI, Congo, Perched on the border with Angola, Congo's two southern Kasai provinces have been relative havens of peace in a country dogged by insecurity eight years after a war that claimed five million lives. But with local hero Etienne Tshisekedi emerging as the main rival to President Joseph Kabila in a November 28 poll which already has triggered violent clashes, the local calm is at threat. The 78-year-old Tshisekedi, who returned from self-imposed exile abroad late last year, ratcheted up tensions last week by unilaterally declaring himself president and calling for attacks on prisons to release people he says are political detainees. The comments were labelled as treasonous by the government in Kinshasa and drew a sharp rebuke from the African Union, which is trying to keep a lid on confrontation ahead of voting. The United Nations and the European Union joined those warning against bloodshed. The International Criminal Court also vowed last week to investigate perpetrators of election-related crimes, as it is doing in Kenya and Ivory Coast. Yet Mbuji-Mayi, capital of eastern Kasai, has seen outbreaks of trouble in past weeks. Persistent street rumours -- hotly denied by authorities -- that the vote will be rigged in Kabila's favour are fanning the flames of discontent. "Mainly people here are calm, but when they rise up they don't give up," said Arthur Padingayi of local rights group ASADHO. Alongside neighbouring Katanga, Kasai sought in 1960 to secede, sparking fierce battles with government forces. In a country where politicians often are seen as serving their own interests, Tshisekedi can claim democratic credentials. Brought up in western Kasai, he was arrested several times in the 1980s under former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, set up Congo's first opposition party in 1982 and opposed Kabila's father Laurent after he seized power in 1997. He boycotted the first post-war polls in 2006, saying the process was flawed. He spent several years abroad before returning last year to launch his challenge, drawing thousands onto the streets of Kinshasa, where he also is popular. His UDPS party says he sought treatment in Belgium for an unspecified medical condition but adds he is in good health now. His Kasai bastions of more than five million voters -- a sixth of the electorate -- are home to Congo's richest diamond fields. But their fortunes plummeted as mismanagement and graft pushed the formal mining sector into collapse three years ago.

Mbuji-Mayi is now dilapidated, lacking running water and electricity much of the time. Abandoned tanks, reminders of Congo's bloody past, lie by the side of potholed roads. "He doesn't have personal interests ... We have to have elections so that the old man can bring democracy," said Mako Nkongolo, part of a crowd gathered on a street corner to heap adoration on a man they call "Mandela of Congo". The atmosphere here has deteriorated as local civic rights groups have accused proKabila agents of buying up voter cards at $2 each in a bid to limit the damage in a region that voted heavily against him in 2006. Alphonse Ngoyi Kasanji, the governor of eastern Kasai and a leading member of Kabila's PPRD party, denied those charges and accused the rival camp of fomenting trouble. "They're preparing their supporters for an uprising, they're probably going to be defeated ... We must take preventative measures," he said without elaborating. The presidential bid of Tshisekedi, who like most Kasaians is from the Luba people, also risks exposing ethnic faultlines. That could play out most clearly in the torrid local politics of neighbouring Katanga, the copper-rich province which is still home to thousands of Kasaians despite a series of pogroms and mass expulsions in the 1990s. Gabriel Kyungu wa Kumwanza, governor at the time and now head of the provincial assembly, was quoted by New York-based Human Rights Watch as saying this year "there are too many mosquitoes in the room, now is the time to apply insecticide". While he denied to Reuters making that comment, he is firm in his view that Katanga should be ruled by its local ethnic groups. Clashes last weekend between his UNAFEC party and supporters of Tshisekedi's UDPS, already left 15 injured. In the local capital Lubumbashi, crowds gather outside the the local UDPS party offices, where supporters with tears in their eyes planted wet kisses on posters of their candidate. In a sign of the passions to be stirred when voting takes place in two weeks, Tshisekedi supporter Philomene Bilonda, her body shaking with emotion, vowed to sleep at the local polling station to guard against irregularities. "We're going to count the votes, we will die to protect our right to witness the vote," she said. ### One killed in Egypt clashes over fertiliser plant (Reuters)

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7AC05T20111113 13 Nov 2011 By Non-Attributed Author One person was killed and at least 11 were wounded on Sunday in clashes between the army and protesters sparked by concerns about pollution from a fertiliser plant in northern Egypt, the state news agency said. Protesters closed off the port of the northern city of Damietta, on the Mediterranean, and roads adjacent to it, MENA said, adding that they had prevented ambulances from passing through to help those wounded in the clashes. The protests began on Tuesday as residents demanded the relocation of a nitrogen plant jointly owned by state-owned Misr Oil Processing Company (Mopco) and Canadian firm Agrium. A security source said demonstrations in Damietta erupted over the plan to set up two new fertiliser plants in the area, but ended with the demonstrators demanding the original plant also be shut down. Agrium could not immediately be reached for comment. The security source said at least 11 people had been injured in the clashes as the army tried to disperse protesters. A security source said an army officer was among those wounded, blaming the injury on protesters carrying arms. A witness said protesters stopped an ambulance from moving to a hospital morgue the corpse of the 21-year-old man, named Islam Abu-Amin, who died in the clashes. The protesters drove the ambulance that was carrying the corpse to the governor's office and chanted anti-government slogans, the source said. A medical source said the man suffered a bullet wound. The governor of Damietta and other employees working in the building had fled before the arrival of the protesters, a source for the governor's office said. State news agency MENA said the army had successfully reopened the port early on Sunday but residents had regrouped a few hours later to shut it down again. ### South Sudan Unity state bombing: UN calls for inquiry (BBC) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15700483 13 Nov 2011 By Non-Attributed Author

The UN has accused Sudan of carrying out the attack in oil-rich Unity state, just south of the border. Khartoum, which is fighting pro-southern rebels on its side of the frontier, denies the allegation. South Sudanese officials say at least 12 people were killed in the air raid. UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous briefed the UN Security Council about the bombing, which he blamed on Sudan, the Reuters news agency reports; South Sudan's President Salva Kiir accused Sudan of planning an invasion; The US called on Mr Kiir's government to show restraint US campaign group Enough Project says satellite images show that Sudan is strengthening its bombing capabilities along the border, raising the prospect of more attacks. Ms Pillay said there needed to be an independent and credible investigation into Thursday's bombing of the Yida camp, which was witnessed by the BBC's James Copnall. Just as a UN helicopter settled on to a makeshift landing zone, there was a deep and terrifying thud of a nearby explosion. A large plane glinting silver against the sun was spotted heading to the north. It was identified by several residents of the refugee camp as an Antonov, a plane that is feared here because the Sudanese government has often used it as a makeshift bomber. The refugees said the plane had circled, then launched two bombing raids. They said five bombs were dropped, of which four exploded. The unexploded bomb, a flat grey sphere, had hit a tree, and came to rest in soft earth just outside a school. Another bomb sparked a small fire, and left a crater in the earth. "If indeed it is established that an international crime or serious human rights violation has been committed, then those responsible should be brought to justice," she is quoted by Reuters as saying. However, Sudan Armed Forces spokesman Sawarmi Khaled Saad vehemently denied any links to the raid. "This information is completely false. We didn't bomb any camps or any areas inside the borders of South Sudan," he told the AFP news agency. Thousands of people have fled fighting in Sudan's South Kordofan region and crossed the border to take refuge at the Yida camp. Sudan's army has often been accused of bombing South Kordofan, where it is facing a rebellion from pro-southern groups.

The South Sudan Liberation Army rebel group is also active in Unity State - it denies claims that it is working for Khartoum in order to destabilise its neighbour. Miabek Lang, the commissioner of Pariang county in Unity state, said at least 12 people had been killed and 20 wounded in the bombing. The BBC's James Copnall in Unity state says he arrived at the camp at about 12:00 GMT on Thursday as a second round of bombs hit. He says that just as a UN helicopter, carrying food aid, settled on to a makeshift landing zone at the camp, there was a deep and terrifying thud of a nearby explosion. A large plane was spotted heading to the north, our reporter says. Several residents of the refugee camp told him it was an Antonov plane, often used by the Sudanese government as a makeshift bomber. The refugees said the plane had circled before launching two bombing raids. Five bombs were dropped, of which four exploded, they told our correspondent. Incidents like this, and both sides' belief that the other is sponsoring rebels on their territory, are contributing to a rapidly deteriorating relationship between Sudan and South Sudan, he says. South Sudan's independence in July was the culmination of a peace deal that ended a decades-long north-south civil war. ### Libyans say clashes resolved, but firing goes on (Reuters) http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7AC07U20111113 13 November 2011 By Oliver Holmes and Alastair Macdonald Despite continued gunfire and explosions near Tripoli on Sunday, Libyan officials and fighters said a bloody local dispute that has strained nerves in the city for three days was being resolved. Compared to exchanges of rockets and machinegun fire on Saturday, in which medics said at least seven fighters were killed, clashes were limited -- a result, officials said, of a deal among leaders from the capital and rival communities from the town of Zawiyah and clan leaders of the Wershifanna tribe. "We think that we are getting to some kind of stability," Mustafa Abdul Jalil, chairman of the National Transitional Council (NTC) said, blaming "irresponsible" former rebels for

violence which has fanned fears that thousands of fighters who helped topple Muammar Gaddafi may turn on each other. "We are working on this and we hope to achieve something soon," said Abdul Jalil, who NTC members said personally took part in lengthy negotiations since Friday to try to end the clashes between men from Zawiyah and the neighbouring tribe. "There are many accusations from both sides. We don't know how many of the accusations are true," he told a news conference, referring notably to accusations from Zawiyah, strenuously denied by the Wershifanna, that Gaddafi loyalists had attacked NTC fighters around the Imaya military base. At Imaya, Reuters journalists found the compound, a key component of Tripoli's defences under Gaddafi, occupied by an organised force from the NTC that is the closest Libya has to a national security service until it forms a government that can set about establishing a new army and other defence forces. NTC troops were also in charge of a bridge over the main road that runs from Tripoli to Zawiyah and west to Tunisia. The bridge has been a bone of contention since Thursday, when rival groups clashed over rights to man checkpoints on the highway. Mohammed al-Wershifanni, a tribal sheikh of the Wershifanna in the area, told Reuters both sides had agreed to pull back from the bridge and from the military base and to allow in a peacekeeping force sent by the NTC in Tripoli. Speaking to Reuters nearby, dressed in traditional robes and skullcap, Wershifanni said: "We are all brothers ... All the attention on this will only cause trouble." At the military base, NTC fighter Ibrahim al-Ftasi, dressed in military fatigues and carrying credentials from the NTC's 17th February Brigade, said: "There's been an agreement between the Wershifanna and Zawiyah." He blamed continued firing on a "fifth column" of Gaddafi loyalists. But NTC troops kept reporters away from the area of the shooting and it was not possible to determine its source. In a mark of the embarrassment the NTC has felt over the violence, as it seeks to reassure its international backers that it can form a government this month and establish order, an officer in the NTC force at Imaya told journalists he would "make trouble" if they published photographs of the clashes. The fighting has caused a surge in comment on social media sites, with critics of the NATO-backed rebellion quick to see it as proof that Gaddafi's enemies were allowing anarchy and supporters of the uprising blaming it on pro-Gaddafi diehards.

In central Tripoli overnight, residents appeared more reluctant than of late to drive around. Among other signs of tension as the country waits for prime minister-designate Abdurrahim El-Keib to form a government -- within the week, according to Abdul Jalil -doctors at Tripoli Central Hospital said hundreds of colleagues had stayed away from work since Saturday. They complained of assaults on medical staff by armed men and were demanding NTC protection. Fighters from Zawiyah, about 50 km (30 miles) west of Tripoli and an early centre of revolt against Gaddafi this year, had alleged that diehard Gaddafi supporters in the tribal lands of the Wershifanna had attacked them late on Thursday. Representatives of the Wershifanna, a major tribal grouping around the capital, said none of their people backed Gaddafi but were fighting back against encroachment on their lands by the Zawiyah brigades -- a renewal of an old territorial dispute. By several accounts, trouble flared on Thursday when men from the Wershifanna established a checkpoint on the main highway, challenging the presence there of fighters from Zawiyah. Further clashes ensued, residents said, when both sides tried to secure control of the Imaya military base. One man from the Wershifanna, speaking to Reuters at Imaya, said: "The Zawiyans want the base. The Wershifanna want the base ... They think there is still no government." ### Algeria says Nigeria's Boko Haram tied to al Qaeda (Reuters) http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/algeria-says-nigerias-boko-haram-tied-to-al-qaeda/ 13 November 2011 By Lamine Chikhi Intelligence reports show there is coordination between the Nigerian Islamist sect Boko Haram and the Algerian-based north African branch of al Qaeda, the Algerian deputy foreign minister said on Sunday. Boko Haram has killed dozens of people in Nigeria, and Western security experts say any link-up with al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) could make it a more potent threat, especially to Nigeria's energy sector. "We have no doubts that coordination exists between Boko Haram and al Qaeda," Abdelkader Messahel told reporters. "The way both groups operate and intelligence reports show that there is cooperation."

AQIM grew out of a conflict in Algeria between the government and Islamist militants. In the past few years it has expanded its activities to include Mali, Niger and Mauritania but was not thought to have reached as far south as Nigeria. Algeria's assessment of ties between AQIM and Boko Haram carries authority because Algeria has the biggest intelligence-gathering operation on al Qaeda of any country in the region. It tallies with the view of some in the Nigerian military, who say Boko Haram is increasingly linking up with global jihadist movements. The sect said it had carried out multiple gun and bomb attacks that killed 65 people in and around the Nigerian city of Damaturu earlier this month in its deadliest attack yet. Boko Haram also said it was behind a suicide bomb attack on the United Nations building in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, in August this year. At least 23 people were killed and 76 injured in the attack. It was the first known use in Nigeria of suicide bombing, a tactic commonly used by AQIM inside Algeria. The Algerian deputy foreign minister said that in light of the ties between Boko Haram and AQIM, Nigerian officials were scheduled to attend a regional summit in Mauritania in December to coordinate the fight against al Qaeda. ### iCow: Kenyans now manage their herds via mobile phone (Christian Science Monitor) http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2011/1111/iCow-Kenyans-now-manage-theirherds-via-mobile-phone 13 November 2011 By Non-Attributed Author As an organic farmer outside of Nairobi, Su Kahumbu could see the challenge that her cattle-herding neighbors had in handling the expenses of their most precious assets, the female cow. If the cattle owner didnt pay attention, he might miss the very brief window of time when his cow went into heat, missing a chance at expanding his herd. Some cattle men wasted their money on the wrong kind of feed, others were selling their cattle off at below the market rate, and yet all of them had the tool in their hands to get information: a cell phone. So, Ms. Kahumbu came up with iCow, a mobile-phone application that allows herders to register each individual cow, and to receive individualized text messages on their mobile phones, including advice for veterinary care and feeding schedules, a database of experts, and updated market rates on cattle prices. Its an example of how high technology can

help out even in the low-tech business of agriculture, in which 80 percent of Kenyans make a living. Eighty percent of Kenyans are farmers, and by that I mean people who make a living off of the land, and 80 percent of the food people eat comes from people who sell in the rural marketplace, says Kahumbu. So, even though Im not an expert in technology or development, I thought, why not take the gestation calendar of a cow and send it to agriculturalists, and that can help them increase their productivity, and also increase their savings. Kahumbus iCow may not be the latest sensation on Wall Street, but experts say it is just the latest example of an innovative high-tech entrepreneurial culture that has started to take hold in Kenya. Following in the footsteps of major commercial successes such as MPESA a mobile-phone banking application that now rivals Western Union other Kenyan software developers are setting up shop in Nairobi, creating high-tech solutions for an African market that has long been ignored; universities and private companies are setting up labs and business incubators; and government officials are plotting strategies to transform Kenya into a high-tech hub for the continent. We have a large number of Kenyans doing software development, and because of successes like MPESA, a lot of them are developing mobile applications, says Bitange Ndemo, the permanent secretary for Kenyas Ministry of Information and Communication Technology. So what we are doing on the government side, we are developing incubators so that an idea can be developed, and we can provide an environment where someone can taken their idea to market. For every 100 startups, maybe one will succeed, but that one company may change the lives of a lot of people. Walk through the iHub, Nairobis most famous high-tech incubator, and youll feel the buzz of a collaborative competition. Software developers in faded jeans sidle up to website designers to ask for advice on how to make their mobile-phone applications more user-friendly, or to another coder for tips on how to work the bugs out of their system. When a developer feels ready to take his product to market, he or she can receive advice on how to create a business plan, or how to attract investors. IHub is a techie paradise, filled with the kinds of young smart African men and women that tech-blogger Curt Hopkins likes to call Afro-Nerd Superstars. In one corner of iHub, a hissing machine makes cappuccinos. A gaggle of young men crowd around a foosball table, letting off steam, while a scattering of software developers sit in front of laptops in singles or pairs, typing in computer code. With 10,000 members half of them accessing iHub services online this is the Africa that gets forgotten amid the headlines of war and famine, but its an Africa that is applying the tools of the West with a particularly African sensibility. ### Has Obama kicked off another oil war - this time in Africa? (Daily Monitor)

http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/ThoughtIdeas/-/689844/1271854//view/printVersion/-/fo8m1yz/-/index.html 13 November 2011 By Steve Horn On October 14, President Barack Obama announced he would be sending 100 Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) forces to Uganda to remove from the battlefield (meaning capture or kill) the leader of the Lords Resistance Army (LRA), Joseph Kony. I believe that deploying these US Armed Forces furthers US national security interests and foreign policy and will be a significant contribution toward counter-LRA efforts in central Africa, wrote Obama in a letter to US House Majority Leader, John Boehner, ROH. The mainstream media, at least those who have covered this new US military adventure, have taken the Obama administration at face value on its stated claim that JSOC troops are necessary in Uganda and neighbouring countries, for the purpose of murdering the elusive and brutal war criminal-at-large, Joseph Kony. But is this the true motive for sending JSOC troops into the region? A probe into the last several years of geopolitical posturing in Africa by the United States reveals another tale. It is the tale of a 21st century scramble for Africa for the procurement of oil, using imperial tools, such as drones, mercenaries and military bases, in a desperate effort to gain control of this valuable commodity. In October 2008, AFRICOM, the United States Africa Command, became the US militarys sixth regional Unified Combatant Command centre, joining those already housed in South America (SOUTHCOM), North America (NORTHCOM), Europe (EUCOM), the Middle East (CENTCOM), and the Pacific (USPACOM). The Unified Combatant Command centres serve as regional strategic hubs for the US military planners to plot and implement the ways in which the US will dominate these various regions for whatever it might deem to be in line with the national interest or national security purposes. AFRICOM, though, did not come out of the blue and was years in the making before its realisation. Not long after 9/11, in early January 2002, a key symposium titled African Oil: A Priority for US National Security and African Development took place in Washington, DC; it was hosted by the neoconservative think-tank, the Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies (IASPS). IASPS is most famous for its authorship of a paper called A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm, a 1996 paper that, among other things, called for the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, foreshadowing the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the neoconservative-lead Bush administration foreign policy team. At the symposium, then Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Walter Kantsteiner III, stated, African oil is a national strategic interest...[and] its people like you who will...bring the oil home.

Later, in May 2004, Kantsteiner chaired a congressionally funded Africa Policy Advisory Panel report titled, Rising US States in Africa, in which he stated, African oil is of national strategic interest to us, and it will increase and become more important as we go forward. In the midst of these summits, the US set up crucial military bases - in spring 2003 in Djibouti, a base called Camp Lemmonier, and in 2004 at Entebbe International Airport in Uganda. The US was now firmly implanted in the region to begin an African safari, featuring, most prominently, tours of prospective and already existing oil rigs and pipelines spanning every contour of the continent. Not long after AFRICOM became a reality, multinational corporations also flocked into Uganda to search for oil. The search was a flaming success story, with 2.5 billion barrels of oil now having been discovered, but still to this date, not yet procured. The royalties accompanying the oils usage could reach up to $2 billion a year by 2015, reported the Economist in May 2010. This oil is located off of Lake Albert in northwest Uganda, a lake shared by both Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Multinational corporations are required to sign something known as a Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) with the Ugandan government in order to drill for Ugandas oil. In October 2006, according to a WikiLeaks cable, Tullow Oil, a British company, and Heritage Oil, a Canadian company, signed a PSA with the Ugandan government, led by President Yoweri Museveni. This particular PSA, though, was no ordinary one, and indeed, could serve, in part, as an explanation for the logic of Obamas October 14 announcement. For the first three years the PSA was signed, the details were kept secret from everyone but upper-level Tullow and Heritage executives and Musevenis inner circle. A February 2010 report written by PLATFORM, a British nonprofit organisation, titled, Contracts Curse: Ugandas oil agreements place profit before people, explains the PSA best and for the first time, made public its content. The PSA, PLATFORM explained, contain[s] no clauses covering security provision[s]...There is no public agreement setting out the relationship between the oil companies and the military or police forces. Thus it is unclear what promises and guarantees the Ugandan government has made to ensure security and what rights the oil companies have been awarded.

That same report also included revelations by PLATFORM that the Ugandan government had constructed a new military base on 10 square miles near Lake Albert, where the oil was located. The report also disclosed that Museveni had created something called an Oil Wells Protection Unit (OWPU), which amounted to his own security forces, or mercenaries, guarding oil rigs. It appears that since the Lords Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009, Senate Bill 1067, a bill that called for, among other things, to apprehend or remove Joseph Kony and his top commanders from the battlefield...and to disarm and demobilise the remaining Lords Resistance Army fighters, the United States has Lake Albert targeted in its crosshairs. An important provision squeezed into the bill was a section mandating that an official strategy be written up to disarm and demobilise the LRA. Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall develop and submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a strategy to guide future United States support across the region, the bill reads. The strategy shall include...a description of how this engagement will fit within the context of broader efforts and policy objectives in the Great Lakes Region. The Great Lakes Region includes Lake Albert and broader efforts and policy objectives translates into, based on State Department diplomatic cables and public statements made in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the control of precious oil resources in the Albertine Basin. If there is one thing that is nearly for certain, it is that the Lords Resistance Army and Joseph Kony, as awful as they are, likely have nothing to do with this most recent US military engagement in Uganda. In the end, it all comes back to oil, even if top-level US officials maintain that this has nothing to do with oil. For one, days before this incursion, it was announced that the the Obama administration quietly waived restrictions on military aid to Chad, Yemen, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)--four countries with records of actively recruiting child soldiers...Any country even remotely close to the horn of Africa (like these distinguished four) is just too strategically important...So, for the time being, its still guns for the kids, wrote Mother Jones. Joseph Kony and his LRA allies might be taken down, but the people of Uganda, on the whole, will not benefit from this humanitarian intervention. ### Comment: NATO, AFRICOM and the New White Man's Burden (My Joyonline) http://opinion.myjoyonline.com/pages/comment/201111/76297.php

14 November 2011 By Harold Green Western countries are once again using feigned concern as pretext for invasion and resource t As we watched with bewilderment, NATO's military assault on Libya using humanitarian intervention as it's pretext, we are reminded of an earlier period of Western European civilizing missions into Africa. Shortly after the Berlin West African Conference of 1884-1885; armed with bibles and bullets, a host of countries: Britain; France; Germany; Belgium; and Portugal, scrambled out of Western Europe in a quest to save Africans from themselves. With their claim of intellectual and moral superiority echoed by Rudyard Kipling's infamously imperialistic poem, these European powers took full control of the land and lives of their new African subjects. Africa, having not fully recovered from the ravages of both the Trans-Atlantic and the Trans-Saharan Slave Trades, was ill prepared for what was to follow. With the exception of Liberia and Ethiopia, every scare inch of Africa was to come under the control of European imperialist powers. The result: nearly a hundred years of a brutal occupation; further dehumanization; theft of natural resources while subjecting Africans to internal slavery. The resulting loss of life was so high that no serious effort has ever been made to quantify it. But if Belgian, which controlled only 7% of Africa, could murder 10-15 million Congolese during this period, one could get a close estimate through extrapolation, the number of African lives destroyed by Britain, France, Germany, Portugal and later Italy. Given this history, coupled with the horrific results of NATO's incursion into Libya, what then are we to make of NATO's new identity as ''human rights interventionist.'' Europe was in desperate need of an answer to rescue it. At the end of the 19th century, Western Europe was in the middle of an industrial revolution that it could not sustain with the limited resources and markets within it's own borders. Competition for new resources and markets amongst these European powers was high. With the economic challenges resulting from the Long Depression of 1873-1896''; overpopulation; a high rate of poverty and unemployment, Europe was in desperate need of an answer to rescue it from this malaise. Africa would prove to be the answer a thousand times over. Today we find Europe, along with the United States, facing serious economic challenges not unlike those faced by Europe in the late 1800s. Like then, Europe and the United States are desperately looking for economic solutions that cannot be found within their national boundaries. With virtually all of the resources required to sustain their economies existing in other parts of the world but particularly in

Africa, these Western countries are once again using feigned concern as pretext for invasion and resource theft. With competition now coming from Russia, India and China for these same resources, new and desperate strategies will have to be created in an attempt to justify these invasions. But how new are they? NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), a military/security alliance between Western European powers and the United States, was formed shortly after the Second World War in 1949. It came out of the same Atlantic Charter that gave birth to the United Nations. Its stated purpose was to counter what member countries perceived as an expansionist threat coming from the Soviet Union. During it's existence there has never been any direct military engagement with the Soviet Union. Instead, proxy wars, mostly fought in Africa and Latin America, would become the order of the day. While the Soviet Union sought to (at times meekly) aid the various Liberation Movements in Africa and the Americas, the NATO countries on the other hand, were interested in maintaining their sphere of economic influence in these regions. New and desperate strategies will have to be created in an attempt to justify these invasions. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, NATO virtually overnight had become an irrelevant military bureaucracy. Many military and foreign policy experts began to speculate that NATO would soon be relegated to the dustbin of history. To avoid what seemed to be an imminent demise, NATO began looking for new roles to play in world affairs. What has happened as a result, as one foreign policy observer describes, has been mission creep on a grand scale. No longer concerned about guarding against the Red Army rushing across its borders, NATO countries have now armed themselves with a host of new missions (pretexts), from: fighting terrorism; saving the environment; crisis management; to humanitarian intervention (sic). With a new futuristic $1.38 billion building on a 100 acre site in Brussels, and having expanded from it's original 16 members to 28 (most of the new member states ironically coming from the former Soviet Union), and with the combined military budgets of member states comprising 70 percent of what the world spends on defense, this new NATO is riding high with a renewed sense of purpose, anxious to show the world it still has relevance. Africa (and the world) should be worried. While significantly controlled by the US, which provides 75 percent of it's budget, NATO is headed by the arrogant and opportunistic Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the former prime minister of Denmark. With a very aggressive agenda for this made over NATO including offering NATO's services to the United Nations as a global peacekeeping force, he has in recent years already overseen NATO's involvement in several conflicts outside of Europe. Most notably, its involvement with the US in Afghanistan where it continues to kill innocent people, and is continuously asked to leave by many distraught and outraged Afghans.

With the combined military budgets of member states comprising 70 percent of what the world spends on defense, this new NATO is riding high with a renewed sense of purpose. It has also become involved in patrolling the waters off the coast of Somalia to protect foreign vessels from being seajacked by so-called Somali pirates. This campaign has resulted in an avalanche of deaths of Somalis, passengers and crew members of seajacked ships. Keeping in mind, when Somalis started boarding these ships which had illegally begun fishing in their waters seventeen years ago, not one hostage taken by them had ever been killed. All that changed with the Obama administration coming to power in 2009 (the year NATO, with mostly US Naval ships, started patrolling the Somalia coast). In April of that year, President Obama gave the first orders for snipers to kill Somalis who had boarded the American flagged ship, The Maersk Alabama demanding ransom. France would soon follow with the killing of eight Somalis in another seajacking incident. Now with the U.S. and France with NATO support, seemingly engaged in a full scale war against the Somali nationalist group Al-Shabat, we can only expect the number of dead Somalis to increase even more. This U.S. war in Somalia is also being augmented by troops from Kenya, Uganda and Burundi, with Uganda and Burundi involvement ironically, coming under the auspices of an African Union peace keeping mission. A new U.S. Drone base for this war has just been established in Ethiopia as well. The imperialist powers are obviously up to their old tricks of using treacherous Africans to help in doing their ''dirty work.'' Immediately following the murder of Muammar Gaddafi, Chris Coons, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committees subcommittee on African affairs was reported as saying Muammar Gadhafis death and the promise of a new Libyan regime are arguments for the measured U.S. military response in central Africa...''. Encouraged by the results in Libya, the U.S. has recently sent roughly 100 troops to Uganda to track down members of the Lords Resistance Army (LRA). U.S. troops are also being sent to the Congo, the Central African Republic and South Sudan'. This U.S. war in Somalia is also being augmented by troops from Kenya, Uganda and Burundi. It is obvious Senator Coons made this remark with AFRICOM in mind. This newly created U.S.military command for Africa, conceived by the Heritage Foundation during the Bush administration, could not have come at a more opportunistic time for the imperialistic thinking NATO countries. Working in conjunction with AFRICOM during the Libya campaign, and gloating over it's alleged success, NATO now sees itself as indispensable in this new war to ''save humanity.'' The cooperation between these 2 military packs represent a perilous development for Africa. With the Obama administration acknowledging the Libya campaign as AFRICOM's ''first'' undertaking, Africans no longer have to guess what the rest of AFRICOM's endeavors on the Continent will look like.

Like their 19th century predecessors in their mission to take on the ''burden'' of spreading the benefits of European ''enlightenment',' this new generation of marauders from the ''North'' are poised to, once again, impose on Africa the coldness of death, destruction and displacement which so characterized their earlier campaigns of human upliftment on the Continent. Having failed to effectively respond to NATO's and AFRICOMs assault on Libya, Africa must at some point show that it has learned the lessons of the past, and resolve itself to remove this ''white man's burden, once and for all. heft. ### END REPORT