africom related-newsclips 14 nov 11

8/3/2019 AFRICOM Related-Newsclips 14 Nov 11

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United States Africa CommandPublic Affairs Office14 November 2011

USAFRICOM - related news stories

Good morning. Please find attached news clips related to U.S. Africa Command andAfrica, 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 violentrivalry between warring factions.

In Liberia: President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf posts a public statement to Liberian citizensfollowing 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 arefugee camp.

U.S. Africa Command Public AffairsPlease send questions or comments to:[email protected] (+49-711-729-2687)

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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.html13 November 2011By Non-Attributed AuthorAt least two men have been killed in a second day of clashes as fighters from Zawiya setup roadblocks to prevent rivals from the nearby town of Wershefana entering theirterritory.

UN criticises South Sudan bombing (Al Jazeera)http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/11/20111111103511233180.html13 November 2011By Non-Attributed AuthorThe United Nations has said that an air raid allegedly carried out by Sudan on a refugeecamp on South Sudan's territory could be an "international crime".
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/11/2011111341559598501.htmlhttp://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/11/2011111341559598501.htmlhttp://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/11/20111111103511233180.htmlhttp://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/11/20111111103511233180.htmlhttp://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/11/20111111103511233180.htmlhttp://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/11/2011111341559598501.htmlmailto:[email protected]


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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 2011By Liberia GovernmentLiberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf thanked Liberians for voting and said "futuregenerations of Liberians will look upon this day as a defining moment in our nation'shistory," following the announcement of preliminary results of the presidential run-offelection.

Tensions grow in Congo opposition heartlands (Reuters)http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7AC0542011111313 November 2011By Jonny Hogg

Perched on the border with Angola, Congo's two southern Kasai provinces have beenrelative havens of peace in a country dogged by insecurity eight years after a war thatclaimed five million lives.

One killed in Egypt clashes over fertiliser plant (Reuters)http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7AC05T2011111313 November 2011By Non-Attributed AuthorOne person was killed and at least 11 were wounded on Sunday in clashes between thearmy and protesters sparked by concerns about pollution from a fertiliser plant innorthern Egypt, the state news agency said.

South Sudan Unity state bombing: UN calls for inquiry (BBC)http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-1570048313 November 2011By Non-Attributed AuthorThe UN has accused Sudan of carrying out the attack in oil-rich Unity state, just south ofthe 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/idAFJOE7AC07U2011111313 November 2011By Oliver Holmes and Alastair MacdonaldDespite continued gunfire and explosions near Tripoli on Sunday, Libyan officials andfighters said a bloody local dispute that has strained nerves in the city for three days wasbeing 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/
http://allafrica.com/stories/201111111576.htmlhttp://allafrica.com/stories/201111111576.htmlhttp://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7AC05420111113http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7AC05420111113http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7AC05T20111113http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7AC05T20111113http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15700483http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15700483http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7AC07U20111113http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7AC07U20111113http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/algeria-says-nigerias-boko-haram-tied-to-al-qaeda/http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/algeria-says-nigerias-boko-haram-tied-to-al-qaeda/http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/algeria-says-nigerias-boko-haram-tied-to-al-qaeda/http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7AC07U20111113http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15700483http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7AC05T20111113http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7AC05420111113http://allafrica.com/stories/201111111576.html


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13 November 2011By Lamine ChikhiIntelligence reports show there is coordination between the Nigerian Islamist sect BokoHaram and the Algerian-based north African branch of al Qaeda, the Algerian deputyforeign 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-their-herds-via-mobile-phone13 November 2011By Non-Attributed AuthorAs an organic farmer outside of Nairobi, Su Kahumbu could see the challenge that hercattle-herding neighbors had in handling the expenses of their most precious assets, thefemale 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.html13 November 2011By Non-Attributed AuthorOn October 14, President Barack Obama announced he would be sending 100 JointSpecial 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.php14 November 2011By Harold GreenAs we watched with bewilderment, NATO's military assault on Libya usinghumanitarian intervention as it's pretext, we are reminded of an earlier period ofWestern European civilizing missions into Africa.

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UN News Service Africa Briefshttp://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICA

(Full Articles on UN Website)

Lead poisoning continues to affect many in NigeriaUN11 NovemberAt least 43 villages in Nigeria continue to present cases of leadpoisoning, 18 months ago after cases were first discovered in the region, the UnitedNations reported today, calling for an increase in preventive measures in the Africancountry.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/algeria-says-nigerias-boko-haram-tied-to-al-qaeda/http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/algeria-says-nigerias-boko-haram-tied-to-al-qaeda/http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/algeria-says-nigerias-boko-haram-tied-to-al-qaeda/http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/algeria-says-nigerias-boko-haram-tied-to-al-qaeda/http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/algeria-says-nigerias-boko-haram-tied-to-al-qaeda/http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/algeria-says-nigerias-boko-haram-tied-to-al-qaeda/http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/algeria-says-nigerias-boko-haram-tied-to-al-qaeda/http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/algeria-says-nigerias-boko-haram-tied-to-al-qaeda/http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2011/1111/iCow-Kenyans-now-manage-their-herds-via-mobile-phonehttp://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2011/1111/iCow-Kenyans-now-manage-their-herds-via-mobile-phonehttp://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2011/1111/iCow-Kenyans-now-manage-their-herds-via-mobile-phonehttp://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/ThoughtIdeas/-/689844/1271854/-/view/printVersion/-/fo8m1yz/-/index.htmlhttp://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/ThoughtIdeas/-/689844/1271854/-/view/printVersion/-/fo8m1yz/-/index.htmlhttp://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/ThoughtIdeas/-/689844/1271854/-/view/printVersion/-/fo8m1yz/-/index.htmlhttp://opinion.myjoyonline.com/pages/comment/201111/76297.phphttp://opinion.myjoyonline.com/pages/comment/201111/76297.phphttp://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICAhttp://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICAhttp://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICAhttp://opinion.myjoyonline.com/pages/comment/201111/76297.phphttp://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/ThoughtIdeas/-/689844/1271854/-/view/printVersion/-/fo8m1yz/-/index.htmlhttp://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/ThoughtIdeas/-/689844/1271854/-/view/printVersion/-/fo8m1yz/-/index.htmlhttp://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2011/1111/iCow-Kenyans-now-manage-their-herds-via-mobile-phonehttp://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2011/1111/iCow-Kenyans-now-manage-their-herds-via-mobile-phone


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DR Congo: ICC prosecutor warns election-related violence will not be tolerated11 NovemberThe prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) said today he isfollowing the electoral process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) withutmost vigilance, stating that violence related to the presidential and legislative pollslater this month will not be tolerated.

UN lauds South Sudans decision to back global treaty against anti-personnel mines11 NovemberThe United Nations today welcomed the decision of South Sudan tobecome 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 acountry plagued by countless mines left behind from years of war.

UN calls for probe into Sudanese bombing of refugee camp11 NovemberSudanese military forces have bombed a refugee camp in neighbouringSouth Sudan, the United Nations confirmed today, calling for an urgent investigation intowhat its top human rights official warned could amount to a serious international crime.

Heavy rains and continuing conflict impede relief effort in SomaliaUN11 NovemberHeavy rains in Somalia have made roads some impassable, rendering thedelivery of relief difficult in areas with dire humanitarian needs, the United Nationsrefugee agency said today, adding that the bad weather and insecurity could be the reasonfewer people are crossing the border into refugee camps in Kenya

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UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST

15 NOV 2011

WHEN: Tuesday, November 15, 201111:30-12:30WHAT: Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) Discussion on " Trade andInvestment Partnership Initiative in the Middle East and North Africa." Speakers: DanielMullaney, Assistant United States Trade Representative for Europe and the Middle East;and Hiddo Houben, First Counselor, Trade and Agriculture, Delegation of the EuropeanUnion to the United States.WHERE: CSIS, 1800 K Street, NWCONTACT: 202-887-0200; web site:www.csis.orgNOTE: Please RSVP to Lindsay Ross [email protected]: CSIS - event announcement at:http://csis.org/event/trade-and-investment-partnership-initiative-middle-east-and-north-africa

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New onwww.africom.mil

Botswana Intel Course Helps Protect Wildlife, Shows AFRICOM Role of
http://www.csis.org/http://www.csis.org/http://www.csis.org/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://csis.org/event/trade-and-investment-partnership-initiative-middle-east-and-north-africahttp://csis.org/event/trade-and-investment-partnership-initiative-middle-east-and-north-africahttp://csis.org/event/trade-and-investment-partnership-initiative-middle-east-and-north-africahttp://csis.org/event/trade-and-investment-partnership-initiative-middle-east-and-north-africahttp://www.africom.mil/http://www.africom.mil/http://www.africom.mil/http://www.africom.mil/http://csis.org/event/trade-and-investment-partnership-initiative-middle-east-and-north-africahttp://csis.org/event/trade-and-investment-partnership-initiative-middle-east-and-north-africamailto:[email protected]://www.csis.org/


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Empowering African Militarieshttp://www.africom.mil/getArticle.asp?art=7420&lang=09 November 2011By Vince Crawley, U.S. AFRICOM Public AffairsGABORONE, Botswana, Nov 9, 2011When the Botswana military conducted its first

tactical intelligence course earlier this year, it was taught by U.S. soldiers. The secondcourse, taking place in October through mid-November 2011, was being taught by acombination of U.S. personnel and the best Batswana students from the first course. Thenext course, in 2012, is scheduled to be taught entirely by Batswana soldiers, with a fewU.S. personnel on hand to assist if needed. After that, that, the future of the program is upto the Botswana Defence Force.

The Combined Federal Campaign - Overseas is Underwayhttp://www.africom.mil/getArticle.asp?art=7421&lang=09 November 2011By Diane Cano, U.S. AFRICOM Public Affairs

STUTTGART, Germany, Nov 9, 2011This year marks the 50th anniversary of theCombined Federal Campaign-Overseas (CFC-O) which was founded by President JohnF. Kennedy in 1961. For the past several years, military and civilian personnel haveraised money to help change the lives and bring relief to those in need both locally andabroad.

Botswana Troops Get Up Close and Personal with Wildlife before Anti-Poaching

Missionshttp://www.africom.mil/getArticle.asp?art=7422&lang=09 November 2011By Vince CrawleyGABORONE, Botswana, Nov 9, 2011The Botswana Defence Force numbers about13,000 uniformed personnel, plus several lions, a couple of crocodiles, and a few hyenasand baboons. Not to mention the snakes.

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FULL TEXT

Deadly factional clashes erupt in Libya (Al Jazeera)http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/11/2011111341559598501.html13 November 2011By Non-Attributed Author

At least two men have been killed in a second day of clashes as fighters from Zawiya setup roablocks to prevent rivals from the nearby town of Wershefana entering theirterritory.
http://www.africom.mil/getArticle.asp?art=7420&lang=0http://www.africom.mil/getArticle.asp?art=7420&lang=0http://www.africom.mil/getArticle.asp?art=7421&lang=0http://www.africom.mil/getArticle.asp?art=7421&lang=0http://www.africom.mil/getArticle.asp?art=7422&lang=0http://www.africom.mil/getArticle.asp?art=7422&lang=0http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/11/2011111341559598501.htmlhttp://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/11/2011111341559598501.htmlhttp://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/11/2011111341559598501.htmlhttp://www.africom.mil/getArticle.asp?art=7422&lang=0http://www.africom.mil/getArticle.asp?art=7421&lang=0http://www.africom.mil/getArticle.asp?art=7420&lang=0


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There are conflicting reports about what triggered the confrontation on Saturday near amilitary camp.

One local commander, amid the sound of gunfire, claimed to be fighting Gaddafiloyalists, but those claims were impossible to verify.

"We don't have any problems with our brothers in the neighbourhood," Ali al-Deeb toldAP 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'restill tracking them down and capturing them. We will clean the country of them."

Niger has said it will grant Gaddafi's son Saadi asylumMohamed Sayeh, a member of Libya's interim government, the National TransitionalCouncil (NTC), played down the fighting.

He told the Reuters news agency it was an attack of men from Zawiya who wantedcontrol of the Imaya military base, and who had been misled by a rumour that Gaddafiloyalists were in the area.

The incoming prime minister, Abdurrahim El-Keib, has promised to disarm the countryand set up a national army, but has yet to announce a concrete timetable or form agovernment.

The reports of the clashes came as production resumed at Italian energy company Eni'slargest oilfield in Libya, known a El Feel [Elephant] because of its size, according toHussein Abuseliana, the field manager at the site.

Prior to the revolution, Eni pumped about 130,000 barrels per day, but daily production iscurrently limited to 40,000 barrels.

Abuseliana said on Saturday his team was working on getting power back up and runningsmoothly 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 duringLibya's war, Abuseliana said.

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UN criticises South Sudan bombinghttp://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/11/20111111103511233180.html13 November 2011By Non-Attributed Author
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/11/20111111103511233180.htmlhttp://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/11/20111111103511233180.htmlhttp://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/11/20111111103511233180.html


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The United Nations has said that an air raid allegedly carried out by Sudan on a refugeecamp on South Sudan's territory could be an "international crime".There are conflicting reports about what triggered the confrontation on Saturday near amilitary camp.

One local commander, amid the sound of gunfire, claimed to be fighting Gaddafiloyalists, but those claims were impossible to verify.

"We don't have any problems with our brothers in the neighbourhood," Ali al-Deeb toldAP 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'restill 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 TransitionalCouncil (NTC), played down the fighting.

He told the Reuters news agency it was an attack of men from Zawiya who wantedcontrol of the Imaya military base, and who had been misled by a rumour that Gaddafiloyalists were in the area.

The incoming prime minister, Abdurrahim El-Keib, has promised to disarm the countryand set up a national army, but has yet to announce a concrete timetable or form agovernment.

The reports of the clashes came as production resumed at Italian energy company Eni'slargest oilfield in Libya, known a El Feel [Elephant] because of its size, according toHussein Abuseliana, the field manager at the site.

Prior to the revolution, Eni pumped about 130,000 barrels per day, but daily production iscurrently limited to 40,000 barrels.

Abuseliana said on Saturday his team was working on getting power back up and runningsmoothly 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 duringLibya's war, Abuseliana said.

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Liberia: Statement By: H.E. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Following Preliminary

Announcement of Presidential Run-Off Results (Liberia Government)


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http://allafrica.com/stories/201111111576.html11 November 2011By Liberia Government

Fellow Liberians:Future generations of Liberians will look upon this day as a definingmoment in our nation's history. We have taken a big step forward, towards a nation ofpeace and dialogue.

Yesterday, the National Elections Commission announced preliminary results ofTuesday's Presidential Run-off election. The results indicate a victory for our nationalvision. The Liberian people have renewed their confidence in us, and we proudly acceptthe challenges ahead. For those who did not win, we call on them to remain committed tothe principles of democracy and continue to work for our people.

I commend the National Elections Commission for carrying out a process described asfree, 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 whereour people were safe to go out and vote.

Our appreciation also goes to our international and regional partners for theirparticipation in our electoral process. We note the many judgments rendered over the pastfew days, most notably by ECOWAS, the AU and the Carter Center, that the elections ofOctober 11 and November 8 were free, fair and transparent.

Regrettably, incidents on Monday, November 7, marred the atmosphere of Tuesday'svote and resulted in a tragic loss of life and injury. I extend my deepest condolence andoffer government's assistance to those so affected. To ensure that we know the facts thatwill facilitate appropriate action, we have established a Special Independent Commissionof 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, individualfreedoms and the unhindered expression of truths and beliefs. This is a duty I cherish andcarry out with pride. This Administration will continue to do everything in our power toensure 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 wemust continue to uphold. It is one of the cornerstones of democracy. That right cannotand will never be threatened or endangered by this Administration. However, in thisfragile post-conflict environment, we must exercise these rights with a great sense ofresponsibility. We paid a high price to get to where we are.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201111111576.htmlhttp://allafrica.com/stories/201111111576.htmlhttp://allafrica.com/stories/201111111576.html


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In order to protect our civil peace, freedom of movement and life and property, thedecision to close three media institutions was taken carefully and within the due processof 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 processto run its course.

My fellow Liberians, as the dust settles on the electoral season, it is time for us to moveour 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 anational dialogue that would bring us together.

I want to especially call on my fellow political leaders to join me in a conversation on thefuture of our country. Political leaders have a special and a greater responsibility to bringour 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, LeymahGbowee, has accepted to lead the effort. Together, we have a mission to fulfill. We mustwork 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 isso much work ahead. Together, we can lift Liberia to meet the needs and aspirations ofall its citizens.

We must get back to the task of building our basic infrastructure, creating jobs, andbringing electricity and clean water to more and more homes. We must get back to thetask of educating our children, providing health services and teaching our young peoplethe skills they need help build our country. We must get back to the great task ofdevelopment and progress.

At home and across the Diaspora, Liberian citizens must take pride in what we haveaccomplished together. We have taken a giant leap towards peace, security and nationalreconciliation. To every Liberian out there: This is your election, your country, yourfuture. 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.

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Tensions grow in Congo opposition heartlands (Reuters)http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7AC0542011111313 November 2011By Jonny Hogg
http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7AC05420111113http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7AC05420111113http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7AC05420111113


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MBUJI-MAYI, Congo,Perched on the border with Angola, Congo's two southern Kasaiprovinces have been relative havens of peace in a country dogged by insecurity eightyears after a war that claimed five million lives.

But with local hero Etienne Tshisekedi emerging as the main rival to President JosephKabila in a November 28 poll which already has triggered violent clashes, the local calmis 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 forattacks on prisons to release people he says are political detainees.

The comments were labelled as treasonous by the government in Kinshasa and drew asharp rebuke from the African Union, which is trying to keep a lid on confrontation aheadof voting.

The United Nations and the European Union joined those warning against bloodshed.The International Criminal Court also vowed last week to investigate perpetrators ofelection-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 inKabila's favour are fanning the flames of discontent.

"Mainly people here are calm, but when they rise up they don't give up," said ArthurPadingayi of local rights group ASADHO. Alongside neighbouring Katanga, Kasaisought in 1960 to secede, sparking fierce battles with government forces.

In a country where politicians often are seen as serving their own interests, Tshisekedican claim democratic credentials.

Brought up in western Kasai, he was arrested several times in the 1980s under formerdictator Mobutu Sese Seko, set up Congo's first opposition party in 1982 and opposedKabila's father Laurent after he seized power in 1997.

He boycotted the first post-war polls in 2006, saying the process was flawed. He spentseveral years abroad before returning last year to launch his challenge, drawing thousandsonto the streets of Kinshasa, where he also is popular.

His UDPS party says he sought treatment in Belgium for an unspecified medicalcondition but adds he is in good health now.

His Kasai bastions of more than five million voters -- a sixth of the electorate -- are hometo Congo's richest diamond fields. But their fortunes plummeted as mismanagement andgraft pushed the formal mining sector into collapse three years ago.


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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 toheap adoration on a man they call "Mandela of Congo".

The atmosphere here has deteriorated as local civic rights groups have accused pro-Kabila agents of buying up voter cards at $2 each in a bid to limit the damage in a regionthat voted heavily against him in 2006.

Alphonse Ngoyi Kasanji, the governor of eastern Kasai and a leading member of Kabila'sPPRD 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, alsorisks exposing ethnic faultlines.

That could play out most clearly in the torrid local politics of neighbouring Katanga, thecopper-rich province which is still home to thousands of Kasaians despite a series ofpogroms and mass expulsions in the 1990s.

Gabriel Kyungu wa Kumwanza, governor at the time and now head of the provincialassembly, 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 Katangashould be ruled by its local ethnic groups. Clashes last weekend between his UNAFECparty 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, Tshisekedisupporter Philomene Bilonda, her body shaking with emotion, vowed to sleep at the localpolling station to guard against irregularities.

"We're going to count the votes, we will die to protect our right to witness the vote," shesaid.

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One killed in Egypt clashes over fertiliser plant (Reuters)


12/25

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7AC05T2011111313 Nov 2011By 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 innorthern Egypt, the state news agency said.

Protesters closed off the port of the northern city of Damietta, on the Mediterranean, androads adjacent to it, MENA said, adding that they had prevented ambulances frompassing through to help those wounded in the clashes.

The protests began on Tuesday as residents demanded the relocation of a nitrogen plantjointly owned by state-owned Misr Oil Processing Company (Mopco) and Canadian firmAgrium.

A security source said demonstrations in Damietta erupted over the plan to set up twonew fertiliser plants in the area, but ended with the demonstrators demanding the originalplant 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 armytried to disperse protesters. A security source said an army officer was among thosewounded, blaming the injury on protesters carrying arms.

A witness said protesters stopped an ambulance from moving to a hospital morgue thecorpse 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 officeand chanted anti-government slogans, the source said. A medical source said the mansuffered a bullet wound.

The governor of Damietta and other employees working in the building had fled beforethe 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 onSunday but residents had regrouped a few hours later to shut it down again.

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South Sudan Unity state bombing: UN calls for inquiry (BBC)http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-1570048313 Nov 2011By Non-Attributed Author
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The UN has accused Sudan of carrying out the attack in oil-rich Unity state, just south ofthe border.

Khartoum, which is fighting pro-southern rebels on its side of the frontier, denies theallegation. 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 thebombing, which he blamed on Sudan, the Reuters news agency reports; South Sudan'sPresident Salva Kiir accused Sudan of planning an invasion; The US called on Mr Kiir'sgovernment to show restraint US campaign group Enough Project says satellite imagesshow that Sudan is strengthening its bombing capabilities along the border, raising theprospect of more attacks.

Ms Pillay said there needed to be an independent and credible investigation intoThursday's bombing of the Yida camp, which was witnessed by the BBC's JamesCopnall.

Just as a UN helicopter settled on to a makeshift landing zone, there was a deep andterrifying thud of a nearby explosion. A large plane glinting silver against the sun wasspotted heading to the north.

It was identified by several residents of the refugee camp as an Antonov, a plane that isfeared 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 fivebombs were dropped, of which four exploded.

The unexploded bomb, a flat grey sphere, had hit a tree, and came to rest in soft earth justoutside 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 violationhas been committed, then those responsible should be brought to justice," she is quotedby Reuters as saying.

However, Sudan Armed Forces spokesman Sawarmi Khaled Saad vehemently denied anylinks to the raid.

"This information is completely false. We didn't bomb any camps or any areas inside theborders of South Sudan," he told the AFP news agency.

Thousands of people have fled fighting in Sudan's South Kordofan region and crossed theborder to take refuge at the Yida camp.

Sudan's army has often been accused of bombing South Kordofan, where it is facing arebellion from pro-southern groups.


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The South Sudan Liberation Army rebel group is also active in Unity State - it deniesclaims 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 peoplehad 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 GMTon Thursday as a second round of bombs hit.

He says that just as a UN helicopter, carrying food aid, settled on to a makeshift landingzone 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 theSudanese 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 theirterritory, are contributing to a rapidly deteriorating relationship between Sudan and SouthSudan, he says.

South Sudan's independence in July was the culmination of a peace deal that ended adecades-long north-south civil war.

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Libyans say clashes resolved, but firing goes on (Reuters)http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7AC07U2011111313 November 2011By Oliver Holmes and Alastair Macdonald

Despite continued gunfire and explosions near Tripoli on Sunday, Libyan officials andfighters said a bloody local dispute that has strained nerves in the city for three days wasbeing resolved.

Compared to exchanges of rockets and machinegun fire on Saturday, in which medicssaid at least seven fighters were killed, clashes were limited -- a result, officials said, of adeal among leaders from the capital and rival communities from the town of Zawiyah andclan leaders of the Wershifanna tribe.

"We think that we are getting to some kind of stability," Mustafa Abdul Jalil, chairman ofthe National Transitional Council (NTC) said, blaming "irresponsible" former rebels for
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violence which has fanned fears that thousands of fighters who helped topple MuammarGaddafi may turn on each other.

"We are working on this and we hope to achieve something soon," said Abdul Jalil, whoNTC 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 theaccusations are true," he told a news conference, referring notably to accusations fromZawiyah, strenuously denied by the Wershifanna, that Gaddafi loyalists had attackedNTC fighters around the Imaya military base.

At Imaya, Reuters journalists found the compound, a key component of Tripoli'sdefences under Gaddafi, occupied by an organised force from the NTC that is the closestLibya has to a national security service until it forms a government that can set aboutestablishing a new army and other defence forces.

NTC troops were also in charge of a bridge over the main road that runs from Tripoli toZawiyah 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 Reutersboth sides had agreed to pull back from the bridge and from the military base and toallow 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 andcarrying credentials from the NTC's 17th February Brigade, said: "There's been anagreement between the Wershifanna and Zawiyah."

He blamed continued firing on a "fifth column" of Gaddafi loyalists. But NTC troopskept reporters away from the area of the shooting and it was not possible to determine itssource.

In a mark of the embarrassment the NTC has felt over the violence, as it seeks to reassureits international backers that it can form a government this month and establish order, anofficer in the NTC force at Imaya told journalists he would "make trouble" if theypublished photographs of the clashes.

The fighting has caused a surge in comment on social media sites, with critics of theNATO-backed rebellion quick to see it as proof that Gaddafi's enemies were allowinganarchy and supporters of the uprising blaming it on pro-Gaddafi diehards.


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In central Tripoli overnight, residents appeared more reluctant than of late to drivearound.

Among other signs of tension as the country waits for prime minister-designateAbdurrahim 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 fromwork since Saturday. They complained of assaults on medical staff by armed men andwere demanding NTC protection.

Fighters from Zawiyah, about 50 km (30 miles) west of Tripoli and an early centre ofrevolt against Gaddafi this year, had alleged that diehard Gaddafi supporters in the triballands of the Wershifanna had attacked them late on Thursday.

Representatives of the Wershifanna, a major tribal grouping around the capital, said noneof their people backed Gaddafi but were fighting back against encroachment on theirlands by the Zawiyah brigades -- a renewal of an old territorial dispute.

By several accounts, trouble flared on Thursday when men from the Wershifannaestablished a checkpoint on the main highway, challenging the presence there of fightersfrom Zawiyah. Further clashes ensued, residents said, when both sides tried to securecontrol of the Imaya military base.

One man from the Wershifanna, speaking to Reuters at Imaya, said: "The Zawiyans wantthe base. The Wershifanna want the base ... They think there is still no government."

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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 2011By Lamine Chikhi

Intelligence reports show there is coordination between the Nigerian Islamist sect BokoHaram and the Algerian-based north African branch of al Qaeda, the Algerian deputyforeign minister said on Sunday.

Boko Haram has killed dozens of people in Nigeria, and Western security experts say anylink-up with al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) could make it a more potentthreat, 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 intelligencereports show that there is cooperation."
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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 Mauritaniabut 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 anycountry in the region.

It tallies with the view of some in the Nigerian military, who say Boko Haram isincreasingly linking up with global jihadist movements.

The sect said it had carried out multiple gun and bomb attacks that killed 65 people inand 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 Nationsbuilding 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 byAQIM inside Algeria.

The Algerian deputy foreign minister said that in light of the ties between Boko Haramand AQIM, Nigerian officials were scheduled to attend a regional summit in Mauritaniain December to coordinate the fight against al Qaeda.

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iCow: Kenyans now manage their herds via mobile phone (Christian Science

Monitor)http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2011/1111/iCow-Kenyans-now-manage-their-herds-via-mobile-phone13 November 2011By Non-Attributed Author

As an organic farmer outside of Nairobi, Su Kahumbu could see the challenge that hercattle-herding neighbors had in handling the expenses of their most precious assets, thefemale cow.If the cattle owner didnt pay attention, he might miss the very brief windowof time when his cow went into heat, missing a chance at expanding his herd. Some cattlemen wasted their money on the wrong kind of feed, others were selling their cattle off atbelow the market rate, and yet all of them had the tool in their hands to get information: acell phone.

So, Ms. Kahumbu came up with iCow, a mobile-phone application that allows herders toregister each individual cow, and to receive individualized text messages on their mobilephones, 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
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help out even in the low-tech business of agriculture, in which 80 percent of Kenyansmake a living.

Eighty percent of Kenyans are farmers, and by that I mean people who make a living offof 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 ordevelopment, I thought, why not take the gestation calendar of a cow and send it toagriculturalists, and that can help them increase their productivity, and also increase theirsavings.

Kahumbus iCow may not be the latest sensation on Wall Street, but experts say it is justthe latest example of an innovative high-tech entrepreneurial culture that has started totake hold in Kenya. Following in the footsteps of major commercial successes such asMPESAa mobile-phone banking application that now rivals Western UnionotherKenyan software developers are setting up shop in Nairobi, creating high-tech solutionsfor 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 totransform Kenya into a high-tech hub for the continent.

We have a large number of Kenyans doing software development, and because ofsuccesses like MPESA, a lot ofthem are developing mobile applications, says BitangeNdemo, the permanent secretary for Kenyas Ministry of Information andCommunication Technology. So what we are doing on the government side, we aredeveloping incubators so that an idea can be developed, and we can provide anenvironment 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 thebuzz of a collaborative competition. Software developers in faded jeans sidle up towebsite designers to ask for advice on how to make their mobile-phone applications moreuser-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 adviceon 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 womenthat 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 foosballtable, letting off steam, while a scattering of software developers sit in front of laptops insingles or pairs, typing in computer code. With 10,000 membershalf of them accessingiHub services onlinethis is the Africa that gets forgotten amid the headlines of war andfamine, but its an Africa that is applying the tools of the West with a particularly Africansensibility.

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Has Obama kicked off another oil war - this time in Africa? (Daily Monitor)


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http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/ThoughtIdeas/-/689844/1271854/-/view/printVersion/-/fo8m1yz/-/index.html13 November 2011By Steve Horn

On October 14, President Barack Obama announced he would be sending 100 JointSpecial 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 interestsand foreign policy and will be a significant contribution toward counter-LRA efforts incentral Africa, wrote Obama in a letter to US House Majority Leader, John Boehner, R-OH.

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 troopsare 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 lastseveral 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, usingimperial tools, such as drones, mercenaries and military bases, in a desperate effort togain control of this valuable commodity.

In October 2008, AFRICOM, the United States Africa Command, became the USmilitarys sixth regional Unified Combatant Command centre, joining those alreadyhoused in South America (SOUTHCOM), North America (NORTHCOM), Europe(EUCOM), the Middle East (CENTCOM), and the Pacific (USPACOM). The UnifiedCombatant Command centres serve as regional strategic hubs for the US militaryplanners to plot and implement the ways in which the US will dominate these variousregions for whatever it might deem to be in line with the national interest or nationalsecurity purposes.

AFRICOM, though, did not come out of the blue and was years in the making before itsrealisation. Not long after 9/11, in early January 2002, a key symposium titled AfricanOil: A Priority for US National Security and African Development took place inWashington, DC; it was hosted by the neoconservative think-tank, the Institute forAdvanced Strategic and Political Studies (IASPS).

IASPS is most famous for its authorship of a paper called A Clean Break: A NewStrategy for Securing the Realm, a 1996 paper that, among other things, called for theoverthrow of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, foreshadowing the 2003 invasion of Iraq by theneoconservative-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 whowill...bring the oil home.
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Later, in May 2004, Kantsteiner chaired a congressionally funded Africa Policy AdvisoryPanel report titled, Rising US States in Africa, in which he stated, African oil is ofnational strategic interest to us, and it will increase and become more important as we goforward.

In the midst of these summits, the US set up crucial military bases - in spring 2003 inDjibouti, a base called Camp Lemmonier, and in 2004 at Entebbe International Airport inUganda.

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 pipelinesspanning every contour of the continent.

Not long after AFRICOM became a reality, multinational corporations also flocked intoUganda to search for oil.

The search was a flaming success story, with 2.5 billion barrels of oil now having beendiscovered, but still to this date, not yet procured. The royalties accompanying the oilsusage 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 Ugandaand the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Multinational corporations are required to sign something known as a Production SharingAgreement (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, andHeritage Oil, a Canadian company, signed a PSA with the Ugandan government, led byPresident Yoweri Museveni. This particular PSA, though, was no ordinary one, andindeed, could serve, in part, as an explanation for the logic of Obamas October 14announcement.

For the first three years the PSA was signed, the details were kept secret from everyonebut upper-level Tullow and Heritage executives and Musevenis inner circle. A February2010 report written by PLATFORM, a British nonprofit organisation, titled, ContractsCurse: Ugandas oil agreements place profit before people, explains the PSA best andfor the first time, made public its content.

The PSA, PLATFORM explained, contain[s] no clauses covering securityprovision[s]...There is no public agreement setting out the relationship between the oilcompanies and the military or police forces. Thus it is unclear what promises andguarantees the Ugandan government has made to ensure security and what rights the oilcompanies have been awarded.


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That same report also included revelations by PLATFORM that the Ugandan governmenthad constructed a new military base on 10 square miles near Lake Albert, where the oilwas located. The report also disclosed that Museveni had created something called an OilWells Protection Unit (OWPU), which amounted to his own security forces, ormercenaries, guarding oil rigs.

It appears that since the Lords Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern UgandaRecovery Act of 2009, Senate Bill 1067, a bill that called for, among other things, toapprehend or remove Joseph Kony and his top commanders from the battlefield...and todisarm and demobilise the remaining Lords Resistance Army fighters, the United Stateshas Lake Albert targeted in its crosshairs.

An important provision squeezed into the bill was a section mandating that an officialstrategy 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 futureUnited States support across the region, the bill reads. The strategy shall include...adescription of how this engagement will fit within the context of broader efforts andpolicy objectives in the Great Lakes Region.

The Great Lakes Region includes Lake Albert and broader efforts and policy objectivestranslates into, based on State Department diplomatic cables and public statements madein the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the control of precious oil resources in theAlbertine Basin.

If there is one thing that is nearly for certain, it is that the Lords Resistance Army andJoseph Kony, as awful as they are, likely have nothing to do with this most recent USmilitary engagement in Uganda.

In the end, it all comes back to oil, even if top-level US officials maintain that this hasnothing to do with oil.For one, days before this incursion, it was announced that the the Obama administrationquietly waived restrictions on military aid to Chad, Yemen, Sudan, and the DemocraticRepublic of Congo (DRC)--four countries with records of actively recruiting childsoldiers...Any country even remotely close to the horn of Africa (like these distinguishedfour) is just too strategically important...So, for the time being, its still guns for thekids, wrote Mother Jones.

Joseph Kony and his LRA allies might be taken down, but the people of Uganda, on thewhole, will not benefit from this humanitarian intervention.

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Comment: NATO, AFRICOM and the New White Man's Burden (My Joyonline)http://opinion.myjoyonline.com/pages/comment/201111/76297.php
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14 November 2011By Harold Green

Western countries are once again using feigned concern as pretext for invasion andresource tAs we watched with bewilderment, NATO's military assault on Libya usinghumanitarian intervention as it's pretext, we are reminded of an earlier period ofWestern European civilizing missions into Africa.

Shortly after the Berlin West African Conference of 1884-1885; armed with bibles andbullets, 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'sinfamously imperialistic poem, these European powers took full control of the land andlives of their new African subjects. Africa, having not fully recovered from the ravages ofboth 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 underthe control of European imperialist powers. The result: nearly a hundred years of a brutaloccupation; further dehumanization; theft of natural resources while subjecting Africansto internal slavery.

The resulting loss of life was so high that no serious effort has ever been made toquantify it. But if Belgian, which controlled only 7% of Africa, could murder 10-15million Congolese during this period, one could get a close estimate throughextrapolation, the number of African lives destroyed by Britain, France, Germany,Portugal and later Italy. Given this history, coupled with the horrific results of NATO'sincursion into Libya, what then are we to make of NATO's new identity as ''human rightsinterventionist.''

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 industrialrevolution that it could not sustain with the limited resources and markets within it's ownborders. Competition for new resources and markets amongst these European powers washigh. With the economic challenges resulting from the Long Depression of 1873-1896'';overpopulation; a high rate of poverty and unemployment, Europe was in desperate needof an answer to rescue it from this malaise. Africa would prove to be the answer athousand times over.

Today we find Europe, along with the United States, facing serious economic challengesnot unlike those faced by Europe in the late 1800s.

Like then, Europe and the United States are desperately looking for economic solutionsthat cannot be found within their national boundaries. With virtually all of the resourcesrequired to sustain their economies existing in other parts of the world but particularly in
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Africa, these Western countries are once again using feigned concern as pretext forinvasion and resource theft. With competition now coming from Russia, India and Chinafor these same resources, new and desperate strategies will have to be created in anattempt to justify these invasions. But how new are they?

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), a military/security alliance betweenWestern European powers and the United States, was formed shortly after the SecondWorld War in 1949. It came out of the same Atlantic Charter that gave birth to the UnitedNations. Its stated purpose was to counter what member countries perceived as anexpansionist threat coming from the Soviet Union. During it's existence there has neverbeen any direct military engagement with the Soviet Union. Instead, proxy wars, mostlyfought in Africa and Latin America, would become the order of the day. While the SovietUnion sought to (at times meekly) aid the various Liberation Movements in Africa andthe Americas, the NATO countries on the other hand, were interested in maintaining theirsphere of economic influence in these regions.

New and desperate strategies will have to be created in an attempt to justify theseinvasions.

With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, NATO virtually overnight had becomean irrelevant military bureaucracy. Many military and foreign policy experts began tospeculate that NATO would soon be relegated to the dustbin of history. To avoid whatseemed to be an imminent demise, NATO began looking for new roles to play in worldaffairs. What has happened as a result, as one foreign policy observer describes, has beenmission 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 humanitarianintervention (sic). With a new futuristic $1.38 billion building on a 100 acre site inBrussels, and having expanded from it's original 16 members to 28 (most of the newmember states ironically coming from the former Soviet Union), and with the combinedmilitary budgets of member states comprising 70 percent of what the world spends ondefense, this new NATO is riding high with a renewed sense of purpose, anxious toshow 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 formerprime minister of Denmark. With a very aggressive agenda for this made over NATOincluding offering NATO's services to the United Nations as a global peacekeepingforce, he has in recent years already overseen NATO's involvement in several conflictsoutside of Europe. Most notably, its involvement with the US in Afghanistan where itcontinues to kill innocent people, and is continuously asked to leave by many distraughtand outraged Afghans.
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With the combined military budgets of member states comprising 70 percent of what theworld spends on defense, this new NATO is riding high with a renewed s ense ofpurpose.

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 hasresulted in an avalanche of deaths of Somalis, passengers and crew members of seajackedships. Keeping in mind, when Somalis started boarding these ships which had illegallybegun fishing in their waters seventeen years ago, not one hostage taken by them hadever been killed. All that changed with the Obama administration coming to power in2009 (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 Somaliswho had boarded the American flagged ship, The Maersk Alabama demanding ransom.France would soon follow with the killing of eight Somalis in another seajackingincident. 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 numberof dead Somalis to increase even more. This U.S. war in Somalia is also being augmentedby troops from Kenya, Uganda and Burundi, with Uganda and Burundi involvementironically, coming under the auspices of an African Union peace keeping mission. A newU.S. Drone base for this war has just been established in Ethiopia as well. The imperialistpowers are obviously up to their old tricks of using treacherous Africans to help in doingtheir ''dirty work.''

Immediately following the murder of Muammar Gaddafi, Chris Coons, chairman of theSenate Foreign Relations Committees subcommittee on African affairs was reported assaying Muammar Gadhafis death and the promise of a new Libyan regime arearguments for the measured U.S. military response in central Africa...''. Encouraged bythe results in Libya, the U.S. has recently sent roughly 100 troops to Uganda to trackdown members of the Lords Resistance Army (LRA). U.S. troops are also being sent tothe Congo, the Central African Republic and South Sudan'.This U.S. war in Somalia is also being augmented by troops from Kenya, Uganda andBurundi.

It is obvious Senator Coons made this remark with AFRICOM in mind. This newlycreated U.S.military command for Africa, conceived by the Heritage Foundation duringthe Bush administration, could not have come at a more opportunistic time for theimperialistic thinking NATO countries. Working in conjunction with AFRICOM duringthe Libya campaign, and gloating over it's alleged success, NATO now sees itself asindispensable in this new war to ''save humanity.'' The cooperation between these 2military packs represent a perilous development for Africa. With the Obamaadministration acknowledging the Libya campaign as AFRICOM's ''first'' undertaking,Africans no longer have to guess what the rest of AFRICOM's endeavors on theContinent will look like.
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Like their 19th century predecessors in their mission to take on the ''burden'' of spreadingthe 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 anddisplacement which so characterized their earlier campaigns of human upliftment on theContinent.

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 resolveitself to remove this ''white man's burden, once and for all.heft.

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END REPORT
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