africom related news clips october 27, 2010

8/8/2019 AFRICOM Related News Clips October 27, 2010

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United States Africa CommandPublic Affairs Office27 October 2010

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

African Union exercise for rapid response force enters final stage (Sudan Tribune)(Ethiopia) The African Union·s standby force completed an exercise designed toprepare them for swift deployments to respond to emergencies, the Africa UnionCommission (AUC) has said.

Defense Minister on Cooperation with U.S. Gov't (Daily Observer)(Liberia) The Minister of National Defense, Brownie J. Samukai, Jr. says he looksforward to stronger ties with the United States government as the Ministry moves fromthe broader scope of security sector reform to the narrow concept of defense sectorreform.

Versi-Dredge "helps fights piracy and terrorism" (SandandGravel.com)(Cameroon) IMS Dredges, a division of LWT LLC, says it is helping to facilitate thecreation of a local security zone in the Bakassi peninsula in Cameroon. "Developingprotection, such as this, has been an ongoing struggle in the region which has initiatedthe creation of various defence programmes," the company explained. "The AfricanPartnership Station, part of the US Africa Command's Security Cooperationprogramme, was created by US Naval Forces Europe-Africa as a way of improvingmaritime safety and security in Africa."

Activists, Victims Await US Action Against LRA (Voice of America)(East Africa) Human-rights activists and victims are eagerly awaiting U.S. governmentaction against the East Africa-based Lord's Resistance Army. A U.S. law signed earlierthis year mandates President Barack Obama to devise a strategy before November 20 tostop the rampaging rebel group.

U.S. to Send Visual Artists as Cultural Ambassadors (New York Times)(Pan Africa) Under a new $1 million program being announced this week, the Obamaadministration is planning to expand its cultural diplomacy programs to include visualartists like painters and sculptors, who will be asked next year to create public artprojects in 15 foreign countries.



U.S. Diplomat On Press Advisory Training (Angola Press)(Angola) The representative of the US embassy in Angola, Daniel Vilanueva, todaylauded the angolan government support, through the social communication ministry, inthe mobilization and training of press advisers and journalists in order to strengthen anenvironment of freer and more active press.

US security firm provides armed escort to curb pirate attacks (Business Daily)(East Africa) A private US security firm is working with a Mombasa-based shippingline to provide armed escort to ships using the East Coast of Africa in a bid to order toreduce piracy along Somalia·s coast.

Guinea election chief proposes Oct. 31 vote date (Associated Press)(Guinea) The newly appointed head of Guinea's electoral commission on Tuesdayproposed Oct. 31 for the country's much-delayed presidential run-off, but the leadingcandidate said he opposed the new date.

Cote d'Ivoire: UN special envoy in Cote d'Ivoire says election to open as planned (Xinhua)(Cote d'Ivoire) The special representative of the UN secretary-general for Cote d'Ivoire,Y.J. Choi, has confirmed that the Oct. 31 presidential election will be held as planneddespite concerns about another postponement due to inadequate preparations.

3 die after S.African soldiers stray to Mozambique (Associated Press)(Mozambique) South Africa's army says two of its soldiers strayed into neighboringMozambique and exchanged fire with civilians, leaving three people dead.

Trying to Follow the Trail of Missing AIDS Patients (New York Times)(Pan Africa) Several years ago, during the rapid international expansion of H.I.V. drugdistribution, researchers reported very high rates of adherence to treatment in sub-Saharan Africa ³ as high as or higher than in the United States. More recently,however, studies have found that 15 to 40 percent of those who start treatment are lostto follow-up within one to three years.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Websitey More than 1.8 million people in West and Central Africa affected by floods ² UN

y Donor support helps avert food crisis in Niger but more required ² UN official

y F resh clashes drive 60,000 Somalis from their homes, reports UN agency

y UN-backed polio campaign to reach 72 million African children-------------------------------------------------------------------------UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:



WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, October 28, 10:00 a.m.; Georgetown University, EdmundA. Walsh School of Foreign ServiceWHAT: Curse of Berlin: Africa After the Cold WarWHO: Dr. Adebajo, African Studies ProgramInfo:

http://events.georgetown.edu/events/index.cfm?Action=View&CalendarID=141&EventID=80765

WHEN/WHERE: Friday, November 5, 9:30 a.m.; U.S. Institute of PeaceWHAT: Women in War Conference: The Trouble with the CongoWHO: Severine Autesserre, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Barnard College,Columbia University; Raymond Gilpin, Associate Vice President, SustainableEconomies, Centers of Innovation, U.S. Institute of Peace; Christine Karumba, Womenfor Women International; Howard Wolpe, Woodrow Wilson International Center forScholars; Diane Orentlicher, Deputy Director, Office of War Crimes, U.S. Department of

StateInfo: http://www.usip.org/events/woman-and-war ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------FULL ARTICLE TEXT

African Union exercise for rapid response force enters final stage (Sudan Tribune)

The African Union·s standby force completed an exercise designed to prepare them forswift deployments to respond to emergencies, the Africa Union Commission (AUC) hassaid.

At a press conference on Monday AUC chair person, Jean Ping, said that the force·soperational capability in resolving conflicts has seen considerable progress.

The Amani Africa Command Post Exercise (CPX), is at its final stage, according to theAU commission.

After the operations effectiveness has been evaluated the AU Commission to plans todeploy the African Standby Force (ASF) in peacekeeping operations.

As a joint effort of the African Union and the European Union, the Amani Africaexercise is designed to accelerate and validate how ready the ASF for operations.

African Union Commission chairperson Ping said the exercise will allow the forcesprogress to be assessed and validated.

He also hopes the exercise will identify gaps and shortcomings to enable the AfricanStandby Force to develop.



Following the exercise, ASF procedures will be evaluated. The AU council will thendecide when the force will go into function.

Sudan Tribune has learnt that the exercise which officially kicked off on 20 October at

AU head quarters in Addis Ababa has brought together some 195 military components,police forces and civilians drawn from all corners of Africa. European Union partnershave also taken part.

"We have carried out an exercise of all decision making bodies; at the African Unionlevel as well as at the Command Post level of a mission which would be deployed onthe ground", General Pierre-Michel Joana, European Union Special Advisor for Africanpeacekeeping capabilities said speaking at the occasion.

Since the inception of the African Union in 2002, African leaders have put peace and

security high on the continent·s agenda, conscious that they are essential for the pursuitof an ´integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africaµ.

The ASF is a core element of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) whichaims to ´provide the Peace and Security Council with the ability to conductmultidimensional interventions, as a measure of last resort, across a range of conflictscenariosµ.

The AU declared 2010 as the year of Peace and Security.

African Union peacekeepers are currently deployed in Sudan as part of joint UNmission in the troubled western region of Darfur.--------------------Defense Minister on Cooperation with U.S. Gov't (Daily Observer)

The Minister of National Defense, Brownie J. Samukai, Jr. says he looks forward tostronger ties with the United States government as the Ministry moves from the broaderscope of security sector reform to the narrow concept of defense sector reform.

A Defense Ministry release quoted Minister Samukai as expressing his appreciation forthe endless support of the U.S. government to the Government of Liberia (GOL) and theArmed forces of Liberia (AFL).

He further emphasized that the fundamental training doctrine and the credibility of theAFL recruitment criteria as laid down by our American partners remain ´unchanged.µ

Minister Samukai made the remarks yesterday when the Deputy to the Commander forCivil-Military Activities (DCMA) of the United States Africa Command paid a courtesy



call on him (Samukai) at the Defense Headquarters at the Barclay Training Center (BTC)in Monrovia.

The Deputy Command was accompanied to Minister Samukai's office by U.S.Ambassador to Liberia, Madam Linda Thomas-Greenfield and the Acting Chief of

AFRICOM's Strategy, Plans and Policy.

For his part, according to the release, the Deputy to the Commander for Civil-MilitaryActivities, Ambassador J. Anthony Holmes, pledged his government's continuoussupport to Liberia's Security sector Reform process, especially to the AFL.

Amb. Holmes further said because of Liberia's close ties with America, the U.S.government is more determined and committed to working with their Liberiancounterpart.

´Liberia is an extremely important partner of the U.S. and the recipient of much ofAFRICOM's effort to develop defense sector on the continent and Liberia is at thecutting edge,µ Amb. Holmes declared.

Amb. Holmes directs the Command's plans and programs associated with health,humanitarian assistance and de-mining action, Disaster Response, Security SectorReform and Peace support Operations.

He also directs Outreach, Strategic Communication and AFRICOM's partner-buildingfunctions, as well as assuring policy development and implementation as consistent

with the U.S. Foreign Policy.--------------------Versi-Dredge "helps fights piracy and terrorism" (SandandGravel.com)

IMS Dredges, a division of LWT LLC, says it is helping to facilitate the creation of alocal security zone in the Bakassi peninsula in Cameroon. IMS Dredges' 7012 HP Versi-dredge is being utilized to develop the bases for a Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) intheir fight against piracy. "Dredged material taken from the Douala channel is creatingthese foundations as an integral part of the security effort," said the company.

"Developing protection, such as this, has been an ongoing struggle in the region whichhas initiated the creation of various defence programmes," the company explained. "TheAfrican Partnership Station, part of the US Africa Command's Security Cooperationprogramme, was created by US Naval Forces Europe-Africa as a way of improvingmaritime safety and security in Africa."

Admiral Mark Fitzgerald, Commander US Naval Forces Europe and Africa, said:"Building partner capacity is a core element of our efforts [here]. When we collaborate



with our partners, a wide array of mariners benefit from our actions. We have seentremendous growth in the capabilities of our partners and Allies in understandingMaritime Safety and Security. If we help others build their skills, there is less likelihoodwe will need to respond with ours."

Said the company: "In addition to the work being done by the IMS 7012 HP Versi-dredge, IMS Dredges personnel are also making a positive impact in this battle. Thedredger salesmen offer unparalleled technical dive skills through their association withUnderwater Professionals LLC."

R Stefan Templeton, West Africa Director of Sales for IMS Dredges, is one of theseskilled divers. Along with IMS Dredges, he understands the importance of the currentsituation.

"The transportability and power of IMS Dredges' equipment makes it ideal for

supporting deep field brown water peace and security operations, such as the one inCameroon," he said.

"We are proud to have been selected as the suppliers of dredging equipment foroperations of this kind and look forward to offering our continued support to the APSand other peace and security operations in West Africa."

IMS Dredges have often played a significant role clearing patrol boat ports for foreigndefence departments and armed forces. IMS Dredges had a vital role in the completionof similar projects for defense departments worldwide, including the de-

silting/sanding of patrol boat docks at Port Umm Qasr, Iraq.

IMS Dredges has continuously been praised for its efforts throughout these criticaltasks. Captain A D Radakin, the Commanding Officer of the Iraq Naval TransitionTeam said IMS "provided a first class service and has directly assisted [them] in [their]efforts to reach transition and hand over security of the Iraqi Maritime assets to the IraqiNavy."--------------------Activists, Victims Await US Action Against LRA (Voice of America)

Human-rights activists and victims are eagerly awaiting U.S. government action againstthe East Africa-based Lord's Resistance Army. A U.S. law signed earlier this yearmandates President Barack Obama to devise a strategy before November 20 to stop therampaging rebel group.

John Prendergast of the U.S.-based Enough Project was one of many activists whowelcomed the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act that was signedinto law in May.



"You had a bipartisan consensus bill that had the highest number of cosponsors for anAfrica-related bill in congressional history and the highest number of cosponsors forany bill in 2010," said Prendergast.

He says the onus now is on President Obama to stop this group which first started as arebellion against Uganda's government in the 1980s and evolved into a brutalmovement led by Joseph Kony.

"Twenty-five years have gone by where this guy has gone around, blitzing aroundnorthern Uganda and now into three or four countries in Central Africa still kidnappingkids, still cutting the lips off of women, still burning buses and villages and doing allkinds of stuff," Prendergast said. "Raping systematically in certain villages with a militiaof no more than 600, 700 people, probably the highest ratio of damage to number ofmilitia in the history of warfare, and we cannot do anything about that? No, you are

going to do something about it."

Independent journalist Joe Bavier has been investigating recent activities of the LRA forthe U.S.-based Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. Bavier says the group scattered inseveral directions after the failed December 2008 joint attack on a LRA camp in theGaramba forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo by armies of several Africancountries, with logistical support from the U.S. government.

"They are everywhere. They have scattered in the northern Democratic Republic ofCongo," said Bavier. "They loot, they carry out attacks in southern Sudan. Joseph Kony,

himself, and Okot Odhiambo, one of the other commanders that is wanted by theInternational Criminal Court in The Hague, have been been operating in southeasternCentral African Republic. The impact has been felt in an area where there has basicallybeen no protection of civilians."

Since late 2008, the United Nations and aid groups estimate that the LRA has killedmore than 2,000 people, abducted a similar number, and displaced hundreds ofthousands of others.

Bavier who has been to areas where the LRA recently committed atrocities says peoplethere are aware of the U.S. law and have very high expectations.

"It is a wish list, basically. They really do hope and expect, even in a lot of cases, theAmericans deploy troops on the ground in LRA-affected areas, and take care of themilitary side of this, personally. And they also expect a lot of humanitarian assistancein these areas," he said.



But Bavier says a complicating factor to the issue is that reports indicate Kony may beseeking safety in the war-wracked western Sudan region of Darfur.

"He has long been an ally of Khartoum. And if he can find safe haven and support inDarfur and perhaps create alliances with pro-Khartoum militias, like the janjaweed in

Darfur, we may be looking at a whole new ball game," Bavier added.

The janjaweed are pro-Khartoum militias accused of committing atrocities againstcivilians in Darfur. Like Joseph Kony, Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir is wanted bythe International Criminal Court in The Hague on charges of genocide, war crimes andcrimes against humanity - charges he denies and calls a Western plot against him.

Kony faces several dozen charges, including murder, sexual enslavement and rape. Hehas also denied the charges, describing himself as a freedom fighter guided by theBible's Ten Commandments. Kony says accusations against him are propaganda by

Uganda's government.--------------------U.S. to Send Visual Artists as Cultural Ambassadors (New York Times)

In recent years the State Department has relied on performing artists to act as culturalambassadors, sending dancers and musicians around the world to show people thatAmerica is more than just Hollywood movies, McEverything and two drawn-out wars.

But under a new $1 million program being announced this week, the Obamaadministration is planning to expand its cultural diplomacy programs to include visual

artists like painters and sculptors, who will be asked next year to create public artprojects in 15 foreign countries.

´To me, visual artists are just as capable as other artists of capturing a dialogue withpeople,µ said Maura M. Pally, a deputy assistant secretary of state who is overseeingthis two-year pilot program.

The new program, known as smART Power, will be administered by the BronxMuseum of the Arts, which was selected from a dozen institutions to choose the artists.They will be sent to places that include Pakistan, Egypt, Venezuela, China, Nigeria anda Somali refugee camp in Kenya.

The museum will put out an open call for proposals early next year; the 15 artists willbe selected by a panel of experts put together by the museum. Holly Block, themuseum·s director, said she had no preconceived notion of what projects the artistsshould undertake. But as an example of the kind of proposals she was anticipating, shementioned a work by Pedro Reyes, a Mexican artist, in which he melted down guns



turned in as part of an anti-violence campaign and turned the metal into gardeningtools.

She called the program ´a fantastic opportunity for people who are interested inpushing the boundaries of art making.µ

Cultural diplomacy, once a staple of American foreign policy during the two decadesafter World War II, has experienced a resurgence since 2001. That year the StateDepartment·s cultural diplomacy programs had a budget of $1.6 million; in 2010 thebudget is $11.75 million. The budget increased 40 percent between 2009 and the currentfiscal year. (It is not expected to increase next year.)

This year the department initiated a program that sent three American dancecompanies to do four-week tours in Africa, East Asia and the Pacific, and SouthAmerica. Ms. Pally said that the program, which was administered by the Brooklyn

Academy of Music, was considered a success and would be repeated and expandednext year.

The Bronx Museum, with a total annual budget of less than $3 million, might not seeman obvious choice to run a national program. But the institution, which primarilycollects Modern and contemporary work by artists of African, Asian and LatinAmerican ancestry, has a strongly educational focus and substantial internationalconnections for its size. The museum has an international artist-in-residence programand under Ms. Block it has established relationships with individuals or institutions inCuba, Brazil, Senegal and Egypt, among other countries.

Asked in interviews what would constitute success for the smART Power program, Ms.Pally and Ms. Block offered slightly different answers. Ms. Pally at the StateDepartment focused on whether local people·s perceptions of the United Stateschanged, and Ms. Block of the museum more on whether the artists were able tocomplete their projects. The museum will hire an outside consultant to conduct a formalevaluation of the program.

Of course, as decades of culture wars show, art and Washington politics don·t alwaysmix. Even in the heyday of cultural diplomacy, the 1950s, the government·s efforts topromote American art abroad occasionally ran into controversy at home. According toMichael L. Krenn, the author of ´Fall-Out Shelters for the Human Spirit: American Artand the Cold War,µ the State Department canceled international tours of twoexhibitions following charges that some of the artists were Communists or hadCommunist sympathies.



And sending artists, as opposed to just their work, abroad to represent the United Stateswas considered particularly risky, Mr. Krenn said in an e-mail, because artists ´werenot easily controlled.µ

´The very nature of their profession meant that they always felt absolutely free to

express themselves,µ he continued.

Perhaps with this in mind, the State Department is reserving final approval over boththe artists and their projects.

´We just want to make sure that there aren·t any issues,µ Ms. Pally said. Asked toelaborate, she declined to name any specific possibilities. Óh, who knows?µ she said.Ýou never know, but you always want to reserve the right to have a final overlook.µ

One artist who Ms. Block said might put in a proposal is Judi Werthein. Born in

Argentina and based in Brooklyn, Ms. Werthein received threats from anti-immigrationgroups after an art project she did in Mexico in 2005, in which she created specialsneakers and distributed them to people in Tijuana who were planning to cross theborder into the United States. Each pair was equipped with a compass, flashlight,painkillers and insoles printed with maps of the border area.

Ms. Werthein said she thought that smART Power sounded like a great idea.

Í think it·s very important for American artists to travel abroad, to get a different viewof the world ³ it·s really essential,µ she said.

But when asked if she thought that the program had the potential to change the imageof the United States, she said no.

Ámerican image in the world will change through policy and politics,µ she said.

´Believing that we·re going to leave this image,µ she continued, ánd it·s going to makethem happy, and we·ll look good, it·s underestimating their intellect.µ

Another artist who has worked abroad, Paul Pfeiffer, said he thought the program hadthe potential to change people·s views of the United States, but only if the artists weregiven sufficient freedom.

The best projects aren·t ńecessarily going to take the most obvious form that somebodyin the State Department might imagine,µ he said.

He noted that in his own experience working abroad, it was also important to be able toconvince people that he spoke and acted for himself, not for the United States



government. Particularly as a Fulbright fellow in the Philippines, he had to tell peopleover and over that he wasn·t ´officially a diplomat of the U.S.,µ he said, ´just for peopleto be able to trust that a really straightforward and mutual conversation could happen.µ--------------------U.S. Diplomat On Press Advisory Training (Angola Press)

Luanda ³ The representative of the US embassy in Angola, Daniel Vilanueva, todaylauded the angolan government support, through the social communication ministry, inthe mobilization and training of press advisers and journalists in order to strengthen anenvironment of freer and more active press.

Opening a training seminar on press advisory, mr Vilanuena said the meeting aims tocreate an effective mechanism of communication between the media and thegovernment stating that press advisers have the chance to influence the life of millionsof people within and outside the country.

According to him, the US government has made available over one million usdollars,since the year 2000 to assit and train journalists and spokesperson both in Angola and inthe United States.

During the seminar, ending Friday, the participants will discuss several press advisoryrealted subjects such as the tools of press advisory, interviews and audio-visual media,emergency conferences, ethics and events planning.

US lecturer, Sheldon Austin, is the main speaker of the conference jointly promoted by

the angolan social communication ministry and the US embassy.--------------------US security firm provides armed escort to curb pirate attacks (Business Daily)

A private US security firm is working with a Mombasa-based shipping line to providearmed escort to ships using the East Coast of Africa in a bid to order to reduce piracyalong Somalia·s coast.

Espada Logistics and Security Group, based in San Antonio, Texas, plans to invest up to$50 million to boost its vessels, which will be deployed in East Africa to escort vesselsfrom the ports of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam to Yemen.

Ships are currently avoiding the Somalia waters and are taking a longer route, said MrIbrahim Ahmed Abdinoor, chief executive officer of African Shipping Line, Espada·slocal agentEspada has 14 vessels with armed personnel who will offer security from the EastAfrican ports to Yemen.



Most of the firm·s security team have military training and experience in defendingships, Mr Abdinoor said.

Espada has 50 personnel, and expects to increase this to 150 when physical escort alongthe Somali waters takes ships in the coming months.

´Although the United Nations and international forces have acted to prevent shiphijackings, they cannot protect every ship that travels through this vast and strategicstretch of water. Some shipping companies are turning to private security firms forhelp,µ a joint statement issued by the African Shipping Line and Espada said.

The firm is already providing security by putting officers on a ship at its port of originto the point of destination.

The officers provide anti-piracy training en route to the Gulf of Aden and focus on

attack prevention, Abdinoor said.

´The problem with this approach is that it stretches what should be a three-day job intonearly three weeks in some cases. It·s not a great financial model for us or for thembecause it ties up a team,µ says Mr Jim Jorrie, Espada·s president.

The team trains the crew to mobilise fire hoses and other non lethal means to repelpirates.

Crews are further taught how to react if their ships are boarded, making sure that they

know which alerts to sound and what parts of the ship to lock themselves into if piratesboard a vessel.

´If pirates are spotted, the Espada team will let them know that the ship is well armed,the goal being to deter attacks rather than to engage and capture the pirates,µ Jorriesaid.

The additional cost of fuel per ship due to the longer voyage is $3.5 million (Sh280million) according to Jorrie, which is not comparable with the cost of hiring security inorder to use the shorter route through Somali waters.

´Ships from Dubai to Mombasa used to take six to seven days, but the voyage is todaytaking 12 days since shipping lines are now taking a longer route, further from theSomali coast, to avoid that coastline,µ Mr Abdinoor said.

A ship from Mumbai in India, which previously took 12 days, is today spending 18days at sea since the voyage has to move further down South near Madagascar,Abdinoor added.



--------------------Guinea election chief proposes Oct. 31 vote date (Associated Press)

CONAKRY, Guinea ² The newly appointed head of Guinea's electoral commission onTuesday proposed Oct. 31 for the country's much-delayed presidential run-off, but the

leading candidate said he opposed the new date.

Electoral Commission President Gen. Siaka Toumani Sangare, who was appointedearlier this month, told the transitional government that he believed the vote could goahead this upcoming Sunday. The election has been scheduled and abruptly canceledseveral times, including most recently this past weekend.

The vote was expected to be Guinea's first free and fair election since winningindependence from France 52 years ago, but infighting between the candidates andrising ethnic tensions have cast a long shadow over the poll.

After the cancellation of last Sunday's vote, riots broke out in several provincial townswith violence largely aimed at the country's Peul community, the ethnicity of leadingpresidential candidate Cellou Dalein Diallo.

Diallo was quoted on two private radio stations Tuesday as saying that he did notapprove of the Oct. 31 date. He pointed to election-related violence in the rural capitalsof Siguiri and Kankan in Guinea's far north where Peul shops were burned.

In the capital of Conakry a well-known Peul human rights activist was badly beaten by

security forces on Saturday after he attempted to help a group of youth that were beingbrutalized in the spasm of violence that followed the delay of the Oct. 24 vote,according to a report by U.S.-based Human Rights Watch.

The ethnic color of Guinea's election only came to the fore after the first round of votingin June in which 24 candidates squared off. Problems began when the field wasnarrowed to Diallo and Alpha Conde, who is from the Malinke ethnic group.

The Peul and the Malinke represent the two largest communities in Guinea and theyhave a history of animosity. Supporters have largely lined up behind the twocandidates on ethnic lines, with the Peul almost unanimous in their support of Dialloand the Malinke overwhelmingly backing Conde.

Interim Prime Minister Jean-Marie Dore said he approved of the new date.

"We will go to the polls. I will ask Cellou Dalein Diallo and Alpha Conde to controltheir language, their supporters, their electorate. What counts is the unity of theGuinean nation," Dore said during the meeting of the transitional government. "We



have confidence in Gen. Siaka Toumani ... we have no reason to doubt that all thatcould be done has been done so that the second round can occur on Oct. 31."

Isolated for decades because of its rogue rulers, Guinea turned a corner last Decemberwhen the head of the military junta ruling the country was forced into exile and his No.

2 agreed to hand over power to civilians.

Experts and diplomats have warned that if the political candidates do not get their actstogether and hold the election as planned, it could create an opportunity for anothermilitary coup.--------------------Cote d'Ivoire: UN special envoy in Cote d'Ivoire says election to open as planned

(Xinhua)

ABIDJAN - The special representative of the UN secretary-general for Cote d'Ivoire, Y.J.

Choi, has confirmed that the Oct. 31 presidential election will be held as planneddespite concerns about another postponement due to inadequate preparations.

The UN envoy made the confirmation on Monday at a video-linked press conferencewith international correspondents based at the UN headquarters in New York.

An official communique quoted Choi as saying he was confident that the electionwould take place as the main challenges facing the election process had been overcome.

According to the timetable drawn up by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC),

he said, the provisional results of the presidential election will be first announced by thecommission on Nov. 3.

The Constitutional Council will proclaim the final results on Nov. 10 before they arecertified by the special representative, he added.

If there is no clear winner after the first round, then the second round will be organizedon Nov. 28, the envoy declared.

The authorities are busy distributing both national identity cards and voter cards acrossthe West African country, which is expected to move out of the political crisis with avote, but which has repeatedly postponed the elections since 2005 for a variety ofreasons.

Politicians from the presidential camp and the former rebel group have express doubtsabout the holding of the election on time, with some supporters of the incumbentLaurent Gbagbo deploring the slow distribution of the voter card and the oppositioncamp suggesting a delay to November.



The country remains divided with the ex-rebel New Forces holding the north and theloyalists controlling the south since a civil war broke out following an attempted coupagainst Gbagbo.--------------------

3 die after S.African soldiers stray to Mozambique (Associated Press)

JOHANNESBURG ² South Africa's army says two of its soldiers strayed intoneighboring Mozambique and exchanged fire with civilians, leaving three people dead.

Department of Defense spokesman Siphiwe Dlamini says Monday's violence is beinginvestigated by South African and Mozambican authorities. Mozambican state radioalso reported the shooting.

Dlamini said Tuesday that the dead included a South African soldier, a Mozambican

villager and a third Mozambican whose identity was unclear.

Dlamini says it is unclear why the South African soldiers, who were performing borderpatrol duties, crossed a few hundred meters (yards) into Mozambique. Dlamini says thesurviving South African soldier is being questioned.--------------------Trying to Follow the Trail of Missing AIDS Patients (New York Times)

KISUMU, Kenya ³ The young woman perched on the edge of the bed in her tiny hut.She was 29 years old, an AIDS widow who supported herself by frying and sellingpotato fries by the side of the nearby road.

Josephine Napkonde, 80, is raising several children on her own after her husband anddaughter died of AIDS.

Yes, she acknowledged to Peter Ouma Mchembere, a young counselor from a localH.I.V./AIDS project, she hadn·t returned to the clinic for her antiretroviral medicationsin more than a year; no, she didn·t plan to come back anytime soon.

She disliked the drugs, she explained: ´The first time I started taking them, I washaving the feeling that my heart was pounding and I had no strength.µ These days, she

said, she chose to rely on prayer instead of medicine to give her strength so she couldcare for her two young children.

´It·s not bad to pray, but getting care is also important, because this is biological,µadvised Peter, who works in Kisumu for Family AIDS Care and Education Services, orFaces. The organization is a joint clinical and research program of the Kenya MedicalResearch Institute and the University of California, San Francisco.



´It·s very painful,µ Peter said to me after we left her home. ´She has two kids andthey·re at a tender age, and if she dies, who·ll take care of them?µ

I was in Kisumu, the largest city in western Kenya, as both a journalist and a publichealth researcher from U.C. Berkeley. This scruffy but lively port of more than 300,000

people on the eastern shore of Lake Victoria is a regional hub for commerce, transientrelationships and H.I.V. infection. About 15 percent of the adults in the region arebelieved to be infected.

At Peter·s clinic, as elsewhere in Africa, patients who have not come for theirmedications in recent months are considered to have defaulted from treatment. As a´defaulter tracer,µ Peter tries to track them down, find out what·s gone wrong and getthem back into treatment, if possible.

Epidemiologists refer to such patients as ´lost to follow-up,µ and their increasing

numbers in sub-Saharan Africa are causing concern among providers of H.I.V. andAIDS care. Interruptions in treatment lead to viral strains that are resistant to thecheapest medications, and to higher rates of illness and death.

Several years ago, during the rapid international expansion of H.I.V. drug distribution,researchers reported very high rates of adherence to treatment in sub-Saharan Africa ³as high as or higher than in the United States. More recently, however, studies havefound that 15 to 40 percent of those who start treatment are lost to follow-up within oneto three years. This unsettling trend has emerged at a difficult time; financing fortreatment from the United States and other donors is not keeping pace with the rate ofnew infections, which has generated waiting lists for the lifesaving medications in someparts of Africa.

At Faces, the loss-to-follow-up rate is around 30 percent, according to Dr. DennisOsiemo, the organization·s technical adviser for care and treatment. In many instances,he said, problems over which patients have little or no control ³ like lack of child care,distance from a clinic or the high cost of transportation ³ force them to missappointments or drop out of treatment. Others, of course, have died.

But recent research from Uganda found that a significant number of patients designatedas lost to follow-up were actually receiving care elsewhere. A similar tracking effort is

being started at Faces, but efforts to determine the status of lapsed patients are notalways successful. ´If a patient is outside the catchment area, it·s very hard to tracethem,µ Dr. Osiemo said.

H.I.V. programs in Africa are experimenting with various strategies to reduce loss tofollow-up ³ offering a two- or three-month supply of medication per clinic visit,delivering drugs directly to patients· homes and reimbursing them for transportation



costs. Faces is exploring modest projects to raise patients· income and stabilize theirlives, like creating a microfinance system to provide water pumps and otheragricultural support to help them grow more crops.

While accompanying Peter on his rounds of the district, I discovered that many cases

elude easy solutions ³ the technological, financial or pharmacological fixes thatWestern-financed programs seek to carry out.

In search of the defaulted clients on Peter·s list, we rode in matatus ³ the wheezing,overcrowded minivans that provide cheap local transportation ³ to outlyingneighborhoods, past hundreds of ramshackle storefronts bearing names like BlessedMum Butchery, Canaan General Retail Shop and the Yes We Can Hair Salon. (PresidentObama·s ancestral village, Kogelo, is an easy drive from here.)

Peter, a tall, lanky man in his early 20s, lost both his parents to AIDS in 2006. He is

supporting two younger brothers and a younger sister, all in their teens, and hestruggles to pay their school fees so they can continue their education.

´I know what people are going through, so I have the heart to help them,µ he said. Hespoke slowly, as if contemplating the import of each word, and wore a black and whiterubber bracelet inscribed with the word ´friendship.µ

Peter says he loves being able to reconnect patients with treatment, but his days canalso prove fruitless and frustrating.

On this afternoon, one client was a woman who had stopped taking her young H.I.V.-

positive grandson to the clinic every month. When we arrived in their neighborhood,Peter asked passers-by if they knew the family. Most said no.

Finally, a young boy stepped forward, led us across muddy paths and rows of shacks,and pointed out their home. No one was there, and it was clear no one had been forsome time. A neighbor said they·d left for somewhere else a month before.

Next was a young disabled patient whose mother used to take her to the clinic. Whenwe located the dwelling, we found the young woman, who was 20, sprawled in the dirt.She appeared to be suffering from serious neurological and cognitive problems.

The woman living next door told Peter that one recent morning she woke up to findthat the mother ³ her sister ³ had disappeared, with no forwarding information. Sheknew nothing about her niece·s medical condition, she said, as Peter tried to discussarrangements to get the girl back into treatment.



But that day it was the decision of the young widow to continue praying instead ofreturning to the clinic that haunted Peter. Her determination to ignore the medicalrealities underscored the limitations of his efforts.

When the woman insisted that faith would heal her, Peter challenged her gently. ´Even

at the clinic, people are praying and still getting medication, because H.I.V. is in thebody and blood,µ he said.

She acknowledged that she·d recently tested positive a second time, but that did notdissuade her. ´I·m still hoping to be tested again and be negative,µ she said softly.

Peter and I stood up. He knew there was nothing more to say. He wished her well,encouraged her one last time to return. She smiled and shook her head.--------------------UN News Service Africa Briefs

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