africom related-newsclips 22 nov 11

8/3/2019 AFRICOM Related-Newsclips 22 Nov 11

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/africom-related-newsclips-22-nov-11 1/26

United States Africa CommandPublic Affairs Office22 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 22, 2011.

Of interest in today’s clips: According to UNAids the number of newly infectedHIV/AIDS cases has dropped by 21 percent globally.

In Somalia: The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) says Ethiopian troops are notauthorized in Somalia.

In Egypt: Pre-election clashes continue to erupt in Egyptian capital of Tahir Square asparliamentary elections are scheduled to begin next week.

In Zimbabwe: The World Food Program says that more than a million people will requirefood between now and March 2012. Zimbabwe is currently facing a $42 Million dollarshortfall for food.

U.S. Africa Command Public AffairsPlease send questions or comments to:[email protected] 421-2687 (+49-711-729-2687)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Top News related to U.S. Africa Command and Africa

Aids-related deaths 'down 21% from peak', says UNAids (BBC)http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15816813 21 November 2011By A Non attributed AuthorAids-related deaths are at the lowest level since their 2005 peak, down 21%, figures fromUNAids suggest.

HIV numbers hit new high as AIDS drugs save lives (Alert.net)http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/hiv-numbers-hit-new-high-as-aids-drugs-save-lives/ 21 November 2011By Kate KellandLONDON, Nov 21 (Reuters) - More people than ever are living with the AIDS virus butthis is largely due to better access to drugs that keep HIV patients alive and well for many

mailto:[email protected]


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15816813


http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/hiv-numbers-hit-new-high-as-aids-drugs-save-lives/







years, the United Nations AIDS programme (UNAIDS) said on Monday.

Somali government says Ethiopian troops are not authorized to cross into Somalia

(The Washington Post)http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/somali-government-says-ethiopian-troops-

are-not-authorized-to-cross-into-somalia/2011/11/21/gIQAecD1hN_story.html 21 November 2011By Associated PressNAIROBI, Kenya — A Somali government spokesman on Monday denied that Ethiopiantroops have entered Somalia to help fight insurgents despite several witnesses reportingthe movement of troops.

Years of detective work led to al-Qaida targethttp://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2011/11/army-years-of-work-led-to-al-qaida-target-112111w/ 21 November 2011

By Sean D. NaylorHis tour over, John Bennett was preparing to fly home. The CIA’s station chief in Nairobi, Kenya, Bennett had been running the United States’ secret war in East Africa,negotiating with Somali warlords while hunting al-Qaida members across the region. Onhis watch, the United States and its proxies had managed to capture or kill at least 10 orso al-Qaida militants.

New clashes in Cairo's Tahrir Square (BBC)http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15814035 21 November 2011By Lyse DoucetClashes have again erupted in the Egyptian capital as security forces continue theirefforts to clear Cairo's Tahrir Square of protesters.

OPINION U.S. African Command: the return of colonialism to Black Africa? (AJ30

Word Press Site)http://www.aj30.com/?p=1853 21 November 2011By A Non Attributed AuthorNovember 20, 2011 Eight months ago, just before the outbreak of hostilities in Libya,and with little fanfare or coverage by European or American press, the Obamaadministration quietly announced General Carter Hams appointment as supremecommander for the U.S. African Command, to deal with the increased presence of terrorists in the middle part of Black Africa.

Polio in Nigeria 'shows big increase' (BBC)http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15819797 21 November 2011By A Non Attributed AuthorA four-fold increase in polio has been reported in Nigeria, with the disease spreading toother countries, a World Health Organisation official says.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/somali-government-says-ethiopian-troops-are-not-authorized-to-cross-into-somalia/2011/11/21/gIQAecD1hN_story.html



http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2011/11/army-years-of-work-led-to-al-qaida-target-112111w/



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15814035


http://www.aj30.com/?p=1853


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15819797











Al Shabaab vows to defeat Ethiopian troops in Somalia (France 24)http://www.france24.com/en/20111120-al-shebaab-vows-defeat-ethiopian-troops-somalia-ethiopia-kenya-offensive-al-qaeda 21 November 2011

By A non attributed AuthorAl Shabaab militants vowed to defeat Ethiopian forces Sunday after unconfirmed reportsemerged that Ethiopian troops had entered the Somali town of Guriel in a possibleattempt to open a third front against the al Qaeda-linked insurgents.

WFP says more than 1 mln Zimbabweans need food aid (alert.net)http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/wfp-says-more-than-1-mln-zimbabweans-need-food-aid/ 21 November 2011By Nelson BanyaHARARE, Nov 21 (Reuters) - More than a million people in Zimbabwe will require food

aid between now and March 2012, a United Nations agency said on Monday, despiterecent improvements in the country's grain production.

###

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

(Full Articles on UN Website)

Arrest of Qadhafi’s son vital ‘for the future of justice in Libya’ – UN human rights chief 21 November – The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights todaywelcomed the capture of one of the sons of deposed Libyan leader Muammar al-Qadhafias well as the regime’s former chief of intelligence.

Sustainable development key to Africa’s socio-economic challenges – Migiro21 November – Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro today stressed thatsustainable development is key to addressing Africa’s economic, social andenvironmental challenges, noting that the continent has the capacity to transition to a

green economy without the adverse effects that have accompanied growth in otherregions .

Senegal: UN rights expert urges more spending on sanitation and clean water21 November – A United Nations human rights expert warned today that millions of Senegalese remain ―condemned to very unhealthy living conditions‖ until the WestAfrican country’s Government significantly increases spending on ensuring major improvements to water and sanitation facilities.

http://www.france24.com/en/20111120-al-shebaab-vows-defeat-ethiopian-troops-somalia-ethiopia-kenya-offensive-al-qaeda



http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/wfp-says-more-than-1-mln-zimbabweans-need-food-aid/



http://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICA









Egypt: UN human rights experts voice alarm at deadly crackdown21 November – Four United Nations human rights experts today voiced alarm at theviolent crackdown against protesters in Egypt that has led to the deaths of at least 20 people, urging the country’s interim authorities to engage in dialogue ahead of next

week’s parliamentary elections.

###

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST

Nothing for the week of 21 NOV has yet been posted as of 0800 (CET) 22 NOV 2011------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FULL TEXT

Aids-related deaths 'down 21% from peak', says UNAids (BBC)http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15816813 21 November 2011By A Non attributed Author

Aids-related deaths are at the lowest level since their 2005 peak, down 21%, figures fromUNAids suggest.

Globally, the number of new HIV infections in 2010 was 21% down on that peak, seen in1997, according to UNAids 2011 report.

The organisation says both falls have been fuelled by a major expansion in access totreatment.

Its executive director, Michel Sidibe, said: "We are on the verge of a significantbreakthrough."

He added: "Even in a very difficult financial crisis, countries are delivering results in theAids response.

"We have seen a massive scale up in access to HIV treatment which has had a dramaticeffect on the lives of people everywhere."

This latest analysis says the number of people living with HIV has reached a record 34million.

Sub-Saharan Africa has seen the most dramatic improvement, with a 20% rise in peopleundergoing treatment between 2009 and 2010.






###

HIV numbers hit new high as AIDS drugs save lives (Alert.net)http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/hiv-numbers-hit-new-high-as-aids-drugs-save-lives/ 21 November 2011

By Kate Kelland

LONDON, Nov 21 (Reuters) - More people than ever are living with the AIDS virus butthis is largely due to better access to drugs that keep HIV patients alive and well for manyyears, the United Nations AIDS programme (UNAIDS) said on Monday.

In its annual report on the pandemic, UNAIDS said the number of people dying of thedisease fell to 1.8 million in 2010, down from a peak of 2.2 million in the mid-2000s.

UNAIDS director Michel Sidibe said the past 12 months had been a "game-changingyear" in the global AIDS fight.

About 2.5 million deaths have been averted in poor and middle-income countries since1995 due to AIDS drugs being introduced and access to them improving, according toUNAIDS.

Much of that success has come in the past two years as the numbers of people gettingtreatment has increased rapidly.

"We've never had a year when there has been so much science, so much leadership andsuch results in one year," Sidibe said in a telephone interview from UNAIDS in Geneva.

"Even in this time of public finance crises and uncertainty about funding, we're seeingresults. We are seeing more countries than ever before (achieving) significant reductionsin new infections and stabilising their epidemics."

Since the beginning of the AIDS pandemic in the 1980s, more than 60 million peoplehave been infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS.HIV can be controlled for many years with cocktails of drugs, but there is as yet no cure.

The UNAIDS report said 34 million people around the world had HIV in 2010, up from33.3 million in 2009.

Among the most dramatic changes was the leap in the number of people getting treatmentwith AIDS drugs when they need it.

Of the 14.2 million people eligible for treatment in low- and middle-income countries,around 6.6 million, or 47 percent, are now receiving it, UNAIDS said, and 11 poor- andmid-income countries now have universal access to HIV treatment, with coverage of 80percent or more.






This compares with 36 percent of the 15 million people needing treatment in 2009 whogot AIDS drugs.

"In just one year we have added 1.4 million people to treatment," said Adrian Lovett of the anti-poverty campaign group ONE. He said the figures showed "huge progress" but

also underlined "the major push needed now in order to turn the corner in this epidemic".

Major producers of HIV drugs include Gilead, Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck, Pfizer andGlaxoSmithKline. Improved access to drugs from these and other manufacturers meansnot only that fewer people are dying of AIDS each year, UNAIDS said, but also that therisk of new HIV infections is reduced.

A series of scientific studies have shown that getting timely treatment to those with HIVcan substantially cut the number of people who become newly infected with the virus.

Sidibe said this was starting to show in new case numbers.

There were 2.7 million new HIV infections worldwide in 2010, 15 percent fewer than in2001, and 21 percent below the number of new infections at the peak of the epidemic in1997.

"The big point for us is the number of new infections --that's where you win against theepidemic," Sidibe said.

Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said the growing number of avertedAIDS deaths was important progress. However, it added that the number of people ontreatment needed to increase dramatically to reap the benefits of science.

"Never, in more than a decade of treating people living with HIV/AIDS, have we been atsuch a promising moment to really turn this epidemic around," said MSF's Tido vonSchoen-Angerer.

"Governments in some of the hardest hit countries want to act on the science, seize thismoment and reverse the AIDS epidemic. But this means nothing if there is no money tomake it happen."

Despite progress on HIV treatment and prevention, sub-Saharan Africa is still by far theworst hit area, accounting for 68 percent of all those living with HIV in 2010 despite itspopulation accounting for only 12 percent of the global total.

Around 70 percent of new HIV infections in 2010, and almost half of all AIDS-relateddeaths, were in sub-Saharan Africa.

Sidibe said that with many international donor countries struggling with slow economicgrowth and high debt, the global AIDS fight had to become even more focused on highimpact interventions to deliver progress in the places worst hit.



"We need to maintain our investment, but ... in a smarter way. "Then we'll see a seriousdecline in the epidemic," he said.

###

Somali government says Ethiopian troops are not authorized to cross into Somalia

(The Washington Post)http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/somali-government-says-ethiopian-troops-are-not-authorized-to-cross-into-somalia/2011/11/21/gIQAecD1hN_story.html 21 November 2011By Associated Press

NAIROBI, Kenya — A Somali government spokesman on Monday denied that Ethiopiantroops have entered Somalia to help fight insurgents despite several witnesses reportingthe movement of troops.

Abdirahman Omar Osman said Ethiopian troops would only be welcome if they had aninternational mandate or a bilateral agreement with the Somali government, but there iscurrently no such agreement.

―We believe that they are not in the country,‖ he said ―We deny it.‖

But residents of the Somali town of Guriel, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from theborder, said Ethiopians entered their town on Sunday in a convoy of vehicles.

The presence of Ethiopia is a delicate matter for the Somali government, which needs allthe help it can get to defeat the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militia.

The Ethiopians could open a third front, stretching the insurgency still further. But thegovernment fears that the incursion by Ethiopia — a Christian-led nation — may handthe insurgents a propaganda victory. Many Somalis were angered by Ethiopia’s previousoccupation of Somalia.

―We don’t want anyone that could give propaganda for al-Shabab,‖ said Osman. ―Wedon’t want any backlash.‖

The government currently only holds the capital with the help of more than 9,000 AfricanUnion peacekeepers. Kenyan troops in the south are slowly pushing the insurgents northwith the help of government-allied Somali militias but are considered less battle-hardened than the Ethiopian military, which occupied much of Somalia for two years.

Ethiopia, which shares a long and porous border with Somalia, entered Somalia in 2006to chase the Islamic Courts Union from power. The Ethiopians were concerned that theIslamists wanted to expand into Ethiopian territory that is ethnically Somali and the U.S.,a strong ally of Ethiopia, was concerned the Islamists were harboring terrorists.








The Ethiopian invasion turned into a two-year occupation during which civilians accusedthe Ethiopian forces of shelling residential neighborhoods and shooting uncontrollablywhen attacked. The current Somali president, President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, madehis name as an insurgent leader fighting the Ethiopians before they withdrew.

The Ethiopians left in 2009 as part of a peace deal that saw Ahmed inaugurated.

Somalia has not had a functioning government for more than 20 years.

###

Years of detective work led to al-Qaida targethttp://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2011/11/army-years-of-work-led-to-al-qaida-target-112111w/ 21 November 2011

By Sean D. Naylor

His tour over, John Bennett was preparing to fly home. The CIA’s station chief inNairobi, Kenya, Bennett had been running the United States’ secret war in East Africa,negotiating with Somali warlords while hunting al-Qaida members across the region. Onhis watch, the United States and its proxies had managed to capture or kill at least 10 orso al-Qaida militants.

However, the most wanted al-Qaida figure in East Africa, who went by a variety of aliases but whom U.S. officials called Harun Fazul, was still on the loose. A native of theComoros Islands wanted in connection with al-Qaida’s 1998 attacks on the U.S.embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam as well as the November 2002 attacks on Israelitargets in Kenya, Fazul had proved ―a very savvy‖ enemy, according to an intelligencesource with long experience in the Horn of Africa.

As Bennett made final preparations for his flight out of Kenya the evening of Aug. 1,2003, his officers and Kenyan authorities were keeping tabs on an Internet café 274 milesto the southeast, in the city of Mombasa, where someone using an email address the CIAassociated with al-Qaida in East Africa had been logging on. ―There was a pattern of communications, so they were kind of on standby,‖ the intelligence source said. ―The pattern was the date, time and location at which somebody was accessing the Internet.‖

―Clearly, it was a favorite spot of somebody’s,‖ the source said.

Bennett had a case officer in Mombasa coordinating with the local police, the source said.That case officer was present when the Kenyan authorities arrived at the café to arrest thesuspected al-Qaida emailer, only to find two suspects — both male, one larger than theother — instead of one. With the case officer on the phone with the Nairobi stationreporting events in real time, the police placed both under arrest and were about to putthem into a paddy wagon when the larger suspect, later identified as a young Kenyan








named Faisal Ali Nassor, suddenly gave his companion a sharp shove and then pulled agrenade from his clothes. ―One guy pushes the smaller guy away from him,‖ said aspecial operations source with firsthand knowledge of operations in the Horn. ―The[larger] guy blows himself up and takes the police out.‖

The explosion killed Nassor and a policeman. In the ensuing chaos, the other suspectmade a run for it. To the surprise of the CIA and the Kenyan authorities, that man turnedout to be Harun Fazul, East Africa’s most wanted man with a $5 million bounty on hishead. ―Clearly we didn’t expect to get Fazul himself,‖ the intelligence source said. ―Wefigured we’d get just his courier.‖

But rather than just being a courier, Nassor was ―a suicide bodyguard,‖ said the specialops source.

Security forces converged on the scene, but Fazul was too smart for them. He ran into amosque and emerged disguised as a woman, wearing a hijab or some other form of

Islamic facial covering. ―He walked right out as a woman and nobody touched him,‖ theintelligence source said.

Fazul had moved in with Nassor that July. Using an ID seized from one of them, thesecurity forces went straight to their apartment. There they found Fazul’s passport, amachine for making visas, ―bits and pieces of other passports,‖ as well as a light anti-tank rocket hidden in a couch, said the special ops source. But of Fazul himself, there was nosign. The wily operative had again given the authorities the slip. It would be another eightyears before Fazul’s tradecraft — and his luck — would fail him.

The search for Fazul typified much of the U.S. man-hunting campaign in the Horn: Itcombined CIA and special operations personnel (often working through local forces),high-tech gear alongside low-tech human intelligence skills and raw courage. And yet itwas often characterized by frustration and near-misses.

For sheer drama, Fazul’s escape with the help of his ―suicide bodyguard‖ was rivaled bya similar disappearing act he pulled off a year earlier. On July 12, 2002, Kenyan policepicked Fazul up in a Mombasa shop for purchasing jewelry with a credit card stolenduring an armed robbery. But, according to a June 2004 Associated Press story, the copshad no idea of his true identity.

The next day, seven armed police officers took Fazul to what they thought was hisapartment, hoping to find stolen goods. Instead, they discovered three women and amentally handicapped man yelling at them. Fazul, who was not handcuffed, took advantage of the chaos to sprint out. ―The man was well-trained, I tell you,‖ one of the police said. ―He dashed to the door like a monkey, then, like a flash, he slides down thestair rail like lightning.‖ Fazul ran out and lost his pursuers in Mombasa’s narrow streets.

Four months later, Fazul allegedly was a key participant in al-Qaida in East Africa’s Nov.28, 2002, twin attacks in Mombasa: the truck bombing of the Israeli-owned Paradise



Hotel, which killed about 15 civilians, and the firing of two SA-7 man-portable anti-aircraft missiles at an Arkia Airlines Boeing 757 as it took off carrying 261 passengersbound for Israel. (Published reports said both missiles missed the plane, but the specialops source said a missile went through the tail without exploding.) No one was hurt.

Another near-miss in the hunt for the cunning al-Qaida operative occurred in the first half of 2003 during an operation in northeastern Kenya by Joint Special Operations Task Force – Horn of Africa, which fell under Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa,based in Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti. JSOTF-HOA’s search for Fazul, OperationBowhunt, was a mission to develop intelligence and was ―completely separate‖ fromOperation Black Hawk, the CIA hunt for the members of al-Qaida in East Africa,according to the special ops source. ―The other fellows [the CIA] were only going upnorth [i.e., into Somalia]. They weren’t spending a great deal of effort down south [i.e., inKenya] at all.‖

Key to Bowhunt was the high-speed vessel Joint Venture, an Australian-built catamaran

designed for shallow-water access and leased by the U.S. military. JSOTF-HOA used itto probe the islands near the Kenya-Somalia border, looking for ―the number -one HVT[high-value target],‖ as the source described Fazul.

―They actually met [Fazul’s] wife down on one of the islands,‖ but her husband slippedthe net again, said the source. ―They missed him by 24 or 48 hours.‖

Throughout the rest of the decade and into the next, as his colleagues in al-Qaida in EastAfrica and their local allies died in U.S. air and missile strikes or in combat with SomaliTransitional National Government security forces or Ethiopian invaders, Fazul’s status — and his legend — only grew. He escaped another dragnet Aug. 2, 2008, when dozens of Kenyan police raided a house in which he was believed to be staying in the coastal townof Malindi. The cops found two non-Kenyan passports bearing Fazul’s photograph and acomputer that had not been turned off, but the al-Qaida man was nowhere to be seen,according to the Kenyan newspaper The Daily Nation.

The following year, Fazul took command of al-Qaida in East Africa. In a speech in theSomali city of Kismayo marking his appointment, he vowed to spread jihad to Somalia’sneighbors. ―Praise be to Allah, after Somalia we will proceed to Djibouti, Kenya andEthiopia,‖ he said, according to a translation posted on the Long War Journal website.

When it came for Fazul earlier this year, the end was sudden, violent and completelyunexpected. Late on the night of June 7, troops loyal to the Somali government (whichcontrols little territory outside Mogadishu) stopped a black Toyota SUV carrying Fazuland driven by another militant, Musa Hussein, at a checkpoint on the outskirts of theSomali capital. When Hussein produced a pistol and reportedly fired a round, thegovernment troops shot back, killing both militants. The Somali authorities did notinitially realize they had killed Fazul, who was reportedly carrying a forged SouthAfrican passport, $40,000, laptops and telephones, and buried the two militants quickly,before exhuming the bodies and comparing them to photos of Fazul.



Most published reports described the incident as simply the result of Fazul and Husseingetting lost, but a detailed account on somaliareport.com said Fazul was set up by AhmedAbdi Godane, the leader of al-Shabaab, a Somali Islamist militia allied with al-Qaida.

Godane had learned that senior al-Qaida figures had lost faith with al-Shabaab’s Somalileaders, who they blamed for recent defeats by Somali government and African Unionforces. Fazul’s mission was to effect this change, replacing Godane and other Somaliswith foreign leaders, according to somalia-report.com, which attributed the informationto al-Shabaab intelligence officials and other sources. Godane directed Fazul and Husseinto an al-Shabaab checkpoint. He then ordered the fighters manning the checkpoint tobreak it down and abandon the position, meaning that when Fazul and Hussein, neither of whom knew the area well, arrived, they continued down the road, running into thegovernment checkpoint as Godane had planned.

This account would explain why, when first stopped at the checkpoint, Hussein told the

soldiers the car was carrying ―the elders,‖ an honorific term for al-Shabaab leaders,according to an AP interview with the soldier who stopped the vehicle. That comment,indicating at least two passengers, along with the fact that, in the aftermath of theincident, one of the SUV’s rear doors was found open, also suggests that there mighthave been a third militant who escaped.

The United States has been monitoring cellphone conversations in Mogadishu since atleast the 2003-2004 time frame but had no role in Fazul’s death, according to a senior U.S. intelligence official. ―It would have been a much better ambush had it been planned,‖ the official said. ―Had it been set up, nobody would have gotten away, theymight even have captured him.‖

When the Kenyan police arrested Fazul in the Mombasa store in July 2002, they also took a man pretending to be his taxi driver into custody. That man was a 23-year-old Kenyannamed Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a senior al-Qaida in East Africa figure. Not realizing hisvalue, the police allowed him to post bail, after which he promptly disappeared. TheUnited States had been tracking Nabhan since early 2002, according to the intelligencesource with long experience in the Horn. But after Nabhan reunited with Fazul — fourmonths after skipping bail — and conducted the Mombasa attacks, finding him and theothers connected to the incidents became a U.S. priority.

To crack the Mombasa case, U.S. investigators proceeded from ―an assumption‖ that themilitants had used cellphones, based on the attacks being ―two near -simultaneous eventsrelatively close together, geographically — probably no more than 20 miles apart,‖ theintelligence source said. The next step was to get the records of all the cellphone callsmade during the period just before the attacks and determine ―all the numbers that nevermade a call again,‖ the source said. In addition, investigators ―went back and looked atwhere they bought the scratch cards and where they bought the phones,‖ he added.

It took ―a few months‖ for U.S. intelligence agents to figure out which cellphone



numbers were associated with the attackers, the source said. The key to the breakthroughwas the militants’ sloppy tradecraft: One of them was apparently given money to buy twosets of phones and SIM cards, but figured he could keep some cash for himself by justbuying one set of phones, mistakenly thinking that switching out the SIM cards providedenough operational security. ―They used the same phones but different SIM cards,‖ the

source said. ―They didn’t understand you could track the phone too.‖

Israeli intelligence agents also gave the Americans a lot of information and asked theU.S. agents to work with them, the source said. ―The Israelis were key initially,‖ thesource said. ―Clearly, they had their own sources in the region.‖

The Kenyans also conducted ―some very good investigative work,‖ the source said.―They were brought in and made to feel like they were valuable.‖ The Kenyan authoritiesused information provided by U.S. intelligence to get the lower-level al-Qaida operativesinvolved in the attacks. ―They made some arrests,‖ the intelligence source said. ―Thatwas all U.S.,‖ the source said of the intelligence that resulted in the arrests. Col. Mike

Garrison, then the U.S. Defense and Army attaché to Kenya, ended up with the expendedSA-7 launcher tube from the airport attack, the source added. (Garrison declined to beinterviewed for this story.)

But Nabhan got away. ―He was very clever; he understood how to communicate under the radar,‖ the source said.‖

One way Nabhan evaded his enemies for so long was by ―rarely‖ communicatinghimself. ―He’d send a message with somebody [and] they’d go to an email or hotmailaccount and send that message,‖ the source said. Al-Qaida in East Africa used a very basic ―10 code‖ when passing on numer ical information, the source said. The codeinvolves replacing each digit with the number that would be required to bring thereplaced number up to 10 — for instance, they’d write 539 instead of 571. ―It’s reallysimple, but it took people a while to figure out they were doing it,‖ he said.

Perhaps aware of the growing U.S. ability to monitor their cellphone conversations, al-Qaida cell members switched much of their conversation to the Internet, the source said.But they didn’t change their email addresses often enough, allowing U.S. intelligence totrack them, the source said. Eventually, ―we were able to find ways to break into‖ Nabhan’s communications, the source said.

Pushing particularly hard for the authority to go after Nabhan was Joint SpecialOperations Command, the organization that conducts the military’s most sensitive specialoperations. (Units that fight under JSOC include the Army’s 1st Special ForcesOperational Detachment- Delta, also known as Delta Force; the Naval Special WarfareDevelopment Group, also known as DevGru and SEAL Team 6; and a special missionunit based at Fort Belvoir, Va., often known as Task Force Orange, which specializes ingathering human and close-in signals intelligence.)

Between 2001 and 2004, JSOC never had more than three people at a time in Somalia,



according to the intelligence source. During the latter part of that period, those operatorswere supporting CIA missions in Mogadishu to liaise with Somali warlords and installcellphone monitoring equipment, the source said.

JSOC was the junior partner on the first Mogadishu missions, but its strength in the Horn

was slowly expanding. During those early years, Orange provided the core of JSOC’spresence in the region, including personnel assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi aswell as a few in Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, who functioned as liaisons to CJTF-HOA. Inmid-2003, an ―interagency node‖ staffed with intelligence and law enforcementpersonnel was established in the Nairobi embassy under JSOC auspices, said a specialoperations officer. Manned at first by ―maybe six‖ people, it quickly grew and now hasabout 20 people, the intelligence source said.

This reflected the growth of JSOC’s wider presence in Kenya. The command started outwith three people in Nairobi, a number that grew to five or six and now is reputed to be inthe ―scores,‖ the source said. ―The writing was on the wall that eventually this was going

to become a DoD-centric effort,‖ he added.

JSOC’s effectiveness in the Horn ―really ramped up in the 2004-2005 time frame,‖ whenit ―doubled‖ its resources in Kenya and focused more tightly on intelligence collectionand target development, the senior intelligence official said. As a result of JSOC’s efforts,―we gained a lot of understanding of what was going on,‖ the official said.

The elite command continued to ―thicken‖ its network in the Horn, a process thatincluded placing a small team in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, according to theintelligence official. JSOC commander Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal also beganconducting Horn of Africa-specific video-teleconferences that connected U.S.ambassadors and CIA chiefs of station in the region with officials in Washington, theofficial said.

In 2006, JSOC began to run its own operations in Somalia, a senior military official said.At the time, the JSOC task force in the Horn was called Task Force 88, but that has sincechanged, sources said. The task force was headquartered in Nairobi, but also operated outof a small base at Manda Bay in northeastern Kenya, about 50 miles from the Somaliborder.

Some in the intelligence community wondered whether JSOC and, by extension, itsDefense Department bosses, were too focused on Nabhan. ―I think there was a fixationcertainly at DoD,‖ said the intelligence source, adding that while some intelligence personnel thought ―that a movement doesn’t really center on one person,‖ JSOC saw theNabhan hunt as a way to validate the mission it was trying to carve out in non-combattheaters. ―JSOC saw Nabhan as a way to shore up that third leg of the stool,‖ the sourcesaid.

The United States and its regional allies hunted Nabhan for the rest of the decade. ―Therewere several times we’ve gotten close to him,‖ said the special operations officer, adding



that he meant ―close‖ in terms of surveillance, not missions to kill or capture the al-Qaidafigure. Meanwhile the JSOC operators chafed under what they viewed as politicalrestrictions that prevented them from going after Nabhan.

But on Sept. 14, 2009, they were given the green light. ―We’d been tracking him for

years,‖ the senior military official said. Finally, according to the official, JSOC had bothhuman and signals intelligence leads on Nabhan’s location as he joined several othermilitants in two vehicles to make the 300-mile trek from Merka to Kismayo in southernSomalia. ―We knew his travel route, we knew the vehicles he was using,‖ the officialsaid.

When the convoy was near the coastal town of Barawe, JSOC struck. Multiple 160thSpecial Operations Aviation Regiment AH-6 Little Bird helicopters flew ashore from aNavy ship and attacked the militants as they were breakfasting, killing six, includingNabhan, according to news reports. One helicopter landed and operators jumped out andloaded the bodies of Nabhan and three others into the aircraft.

###

New clashes in Cairo's Tahrir Square (BBC) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15814035 21 November 2011By Lyse Doucet

Clashes have again erupted in the Egyptian capital as security forces continue theirefforts to clear Cairo's Tahrir Square of protesters.

Protesters fear the interim military government is trying to retain its grip on power aheadof parliamentary elections planned to begin next week.

One minister has resigned in protest at the handling of the latest unrest.

At least 20 people are reported to have died since the violence began on Saturday with

Earlier reports said 33 people had died, but mortuary officials later corrected the figure,saying some of the deaths had not been related to the protests.

Some 1,750 people have also been reported injured in clashes across the country.

Culture Minister Emad Abu Ghazi has resigned and 25 Egyptian political parties alsocalled for the ministers of information and the interior to be sacked over the violence.

A group of senior Egyptian diplomats have also issued a statement condemning the waythe protests have been handled, reports the BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo.

This is an enormous challenge for those who rule Egypt. Can they let the protesters stay






in Tahrir Square indefinitely, can they really keep control of the situation, or do they risk even more damage to their reputation with the violence in the square?

I think deaths of the protesters this weekend, above all, is what is going to antagonise thepeople.

A lot of people were frustrated by the slow pace of change and the way the military weretrying to entrench their powers, as the opposition certainly saw it.

But, as happened at the beginning of the protests against Hosni Mubarak's rule earlier thisyear, it was the deaths above all that really brought the people out on the streets.

The statement, signed by more than 109 ambassadors and other diplomats, calls forviolence and aggression by the security forces against protesters to be haltedimmediately, and for those responsible to be brought to justice.

The statement says a full hand-over of power to a civilian government should becompleted by the middle of next year.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, led by Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi, ischarged with overseeing the country's transition to democracy after three decades of autocratic rule under ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

Calls for Field Marshal Tantawi's resignation could be heard during the weekend'sprotests.

It is the longest continuous protest since President Mubarak stepped down in Februaryand casts a shadow over elections due to start next week.

Large crowds again streamed into Tahrir Square on Monday - defying the military'sattempts to keep them away from the place that was the symbolic heart of demonstrationsagainst Mr Mubarak.

TV footage showed tear gas being fired into the protesters, while fire bombs and chunksof concrete were reportedly being lobbed back at the police.

The BBC's Lyse Doucet in Cairo tweeted that medical students joined the protest onMonday with a banner calling for power to be handed over by April 2012.

As daylight faded, even more people were filling Tahrir Square, she added.

The clashes followed fierce fighting on Sunday. Violence also took place in other citiesover the weekend, including Alexandria, Suez and Aswan.

Amr Moussa, former secretary-general of the Arab League and now a presidentialcandidate in Egypt, told the BBC World Service that the use of force against the



protesters could not be justified.

"The way the police deals with the protesters... we're all against this kind of violence andthis treatment of the people," he said.

He said the military council needed to end the uncertainty surrounding parliamentary andpresidential elections.

Earlier, Culture Minister Emad Abu Ghazi resigned in protest at the government'shandling of events in Tahrir Square, Egypt's official Mena news agency said.

The BBC's Yolande Knell in Cairo says the demands of the protesters have changed overthe course of the weekend. Crowds initially urged the military to set a date for thehandover of power, but now they want the military leaders to resign immediately.

"The military promised that they would hand over power within six months," one

protester said. "Now 10 months have gone by and they still haven't done it. We feeldeceived."

In recent weeks, protesters - mostly Islamists and young activists - have beendemonstrating against a draft constitution they say would allow the military to retain toomuch power after a civilian government is elected.

Earlier this month the military council produced a draft document setting out principlesfor a new constitution, under which the military and its budget could be exempted fromcivilian oversight.

A proposal by the military to delay the presidential election until late 2012 or early 2013has further angered the opposition.

Protesters want the presidential vote to take place after parliamentary elections, whichbegin on 28 November and will be staggered over the next three months.

A statement from the cabinet on Sunday said the elections would go ahead as planned,and praised the "restraint" of interior ministry forces against protesters.

The military council, in a statement read out on state television, said it "regretted" whatwas happening, AFP news agency reports.

###

OPINION U.S. African Command: the return of colonialism to Black Africa? (AJ30

Word Press Site)http://www.aj30.com/?p=1853 21 November 2011By A Non Attributed Author






November 20, 2011 Eight months ago, just before the outbreak of hostilities in Libya,and with little fanfare or coverage by European or American press, the Obamaadministration quietly announced General Carter Hams appointment as supremecommander for the U.S. African Command, to deal with the increased presence of

terrorists in the middle part of Black Africa.

The command isHeart of the Ocean now making its presence and authority known inBlack Africa from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean Items by Job, through the heartof Black Africa, as American military recon teams stake out territories of involvement.This includes pursuing and destroying the chief rebel band in Central Africa, the LordsResistance Army.

Its leader, Joseph Kony, is wanted by the International Criminal Court for acts of terrorand murder in Uganda, in northern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and in the CentralAfrican Republic. He has been killing and raping fellow Black Africans for 10 years.

News reports indicate American Special Forces are providing a broad neck of militarypresence across Black Africa, including in Chad, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, andSenegal, while keeping an eye on the soon-to-be-oil-rich Liberia. Does this meanlucrative opportunities for White companies or Black companies?

When you think about the riches of middle Africa, do you think in terms of helpingAfrican economies and African companies to set up their own pan-African OPEC-likeunion of producers? Or do you think of helping European and American economies getback on their feet through American and European companies with African branches,colonial style? Or will African companies with African branches prevail?

I applaud Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade, buy gold world of warcraft who, at a 2010mining conference in Senegal, said to 500 delegates from foreign mining firms, I neversaid, enrichissez-vous [enrich yourselves]. I said enrichissons-nous [lets enrich oneanother]. We see listed as needs in Africa what is also needed in North Minneapolis: Hiremore locals, adhere to stricter environmental rules, [and] build more roads and schoolsfor local communities.

Will the projected oil revenues in the offshore oil fields of Liberia be for Big WesternWhite Oil or for the Black people of Liberia? Is oil production revenue to help developLiberia or to help stabilize economically paralyzed Europe at Africas expense? Is thisadministration saying Europe is more important than Africa?

African riches spans the five major mineral categories: precious metals and minerals;energy minerals; non-ferrous metals and minerals; ferrous minerals; and industrialminerals. Besides oil and coal, the riches of Africa include some of the earths largestdeposits of phosphates, iron ore, bauxite, copper,Avnar the Ra. platinum, gold WantedBoard, silver, diamonds, uranium, chrome, manganese, zirconium, vanadium andtitanium.



The U.S. Africa Command has already stated it expects to utilize military resources andassets from Britain, France, Belgium runescape gold for sale , Spain Comments RSS,Portugal, Italy,November 2011. and, for the first time since 1916, Germany, all in Black Africa again. Is this to stabilize Africa or Europe?

Now, one has to assume that there are some military leaders and heads of intelligentagencies in Black African countries raising this question amongst themselves: If theUnited States doesnt have respect for the color of the skin of its own leader, how can itcare about people of color 8,000 miles away? Happily, the more progressive intelligenceagencies,Barbarian Mi. such as in Nigeria, Kenya and Tanzania, are already asking suchquestions among themselves.

With its recollection of conflict between Blacks and Whites during and after Apartheid,how will South Africas experience help answer these tense questions?

The question I ask in this column is: Will this be Americas commitment and program forthe next 10 years for Africa or Europe?

But before White House, State Department, Pentagon, and corporate and think tank experts act to answer that question, it first needs a serious and open discussion amongBlack Americans, now and through the lead-up to the 2012 election. We want to know.

We still remember the significant number of Black Panamanians and Black Granadianslaying dead, buying runescape money lining their countries highways when we enteredthem in the 1980s. We well remember how easy it was for American politicians andAmerican media to dismiss the staggering number of Black nationals slain, executed, andkilled, often under very questionable circumstances, including the execution of GranadasPrime Minister Bishop.

Whether in America or Africa, it is too easy to look at persons of color as if they areterrorists. Keep an eye on the U.S. African Command.

Ron Edwards hosts Black Focus on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm; hosts Black Focus on Blog Talk radio Sundays at 3 pm; and co-hosts Blog Talk Radios ON POINT!Saturdays at 4 pm Do i NEED the Aggregator to have wings?, providing coverage aboutBlack Minnesota. Order his books at Hear his readings and read his solution papers forcommunity planning and development and web log at

The Twin Cities Daily Planet is an edited news source produced by professional journalists working in collaboration with citizen journalists from the local community.We publish original reported news articles, articles republished from media partners, andsome content (Free Speech Zone articles, reader-submitted blog entries, comments) thatis moderated but not edited. Clickhere for a complete description of our editorial policies.Support people-powered non-profit journalism!Volunteer,contribute news, orbecome amember to keep the Daily Planet in orbit.



###

Polio in Nigeria 'shows big increase' (BBC)http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15819797

21 November 2011By A Non Attributed Author

A four-fold increase in polio has been reported in Nigeria, with the disease spreading toother countries, a World Health Organisation official says.

Forty-three cases were reported in Nigeria this year, compared to 11 last year, theofficial, Thomas Moran, said.

Curbing the polio virus in Nigeria is key to eradicating the crippling disease in Africa, hesaid.

In 2003, northern Nigeria's Muslim leaders leaders opposed vaccinations, claiming theycould cause infertility.

Nigeria is one of four countries in the world - along with Pakistan, India and Afghanistan- where polio is still a major health risk.

Mr Moran told the BBC the disease had also spread to neighbouring Niger, Mali andIvory Coast.

"The success of polio eradication in Africa rests on Nigeria interrupting the virus," hesaid.

Polio was affecting eight northern Nigerian states - two more than a few months ago, thehead of Nigeria's National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHDA), Dr AdoMuhammad, told the BBC.

Mr Moran said the Nigerian government had shown "strong leadership" in the campaignto eradicate polio and the WHO had been carrying out large scale vaccinationprogrammes to prevent the disease from spreading.

"The immunity profile of Nigerian children is far better [now], which limits the risk of international spread of the virus," Mr Moran said.

He also stressed that the number of children affected remained low.

"You can call it a four-fold increase but it is still very low transmission in a country aslarge as Nigeria with almost 50m children under five," he said.






At the Commonwealth summit last month, the leaders of Nigeria, Canada, the UK andAustralia pledged millions of dollars towards the global effort to eradicate polio.

In 2003, the northern Nigerian state of Kano backed Muslim religious leaders in opposingan immunisation programme, claiming it was a Western plot to make people infertile.

Health experts say this led to many people becoming infected by polio.

The clerics and the state government later dropped their opposition to the immunisationprogramme.

In 2007, there was a rare outbreak of a vaccine-derived form of polio in northern Nigeria.

It affected 69 children who had been vaccinated.

###

Al Shabaab vows to defeat Ethiopian troops in Somalia (France 24)http://www.france24.com/en/20111120-al-shebaab-vows-defeat-ethiopian-troops-somalia-ethiopia-kenya-offensive-al-qaeda 21 November 2011By A non attributed Author

REUTERS - Al Shabaab militants on Sunday welcomed a reported incursion by hundredsof troops from neighbouring Ethiopia as a sign that Kenya’s offensive against the Islamistrebels was failing.

The Kenyan military said warplanes backed by salvoes from warships off Somalia’s coastdestroyed an al Shabaab training camp in the Hola Wajerer/Lacta area of the Babadedistrict.

An al Shabaab spokesman told Reuters the air strikes had landed in empty bush wherethey now had no bases.

The Kenyan assault on al Shabaab appeared to have slowed this week before the move byEthiopia with Kenya blaming heavy rains and mud. Al Shabaab says guerrilla-styleattacks have halted the advance.

Scores of Ethiopian military vehicles, ferrying troops and weapons, pushed at least 80 km(50 miles) into Somalia on Saturday, according to local residents and elders, crossing intothe centre of the near-lawless country from Ethiopia and travelling through Kenya toreach its south.

Ethiopia on Sunday continued to publicly deny that any of its forces had entered its Hornof Africa neighbour.








Residents and elders witnessed the convoys and identified them to Reuters as Ethiopian.Al Shabaab also reported the presence of Ethiopian forces in several towns.

An Ethiopian Foreign Ministry spokesman said no decision had yet been made onwhether to support the Kenyan army, which entered Somalia five weeks ago vowing to

wipe out al Shabaab, who it blames for kidnapping and attacking tourists on its soil.

―We are glad to say Ethiopian troops are in the Guriel area. They have come becauseAMISOM and Kenya have failed in the fight against al Shabaab,‖ Sheikh Abdiasis AbuMusab, an al Shabaab spokesman, told Reuters.

AMISOM is an African Union force of Ugandan and Burundian troops that has beenlargely responsible for keeping al Shabaab from ousting Somalia’s internationally-backedbut weak government.

It was unclear what the intentions of the Ethiopians were. Some local elders said they

would fight al Shabaab and others that they will arm and train militias loyal to thegovernment.

The last time Ethiopia entered Somalia was in December 2006, with tacit U.S. backingand at the invitation of a government that had lost control of the capital Mogadishu andlarge swathes of the country to another Islamist group.The Ethiopians left Somalia in early 2009 after ousting that group but dogged byaccusations that their presence, hugely unpopular with Somalis, was inspiring support formilitias such as al Shabaab who were not as powerful at that time.

―Al Shabaab and the Ethiopians know each other. We made them pull out with their deadbodies two years ago. They plan to ease the burden on Kenya and AMISOM but we arereally determined to fight them,‖ Abu Musab said.

―Somalia is not a cool place to come and enjoy.‖

Sunday’s air strike was the first of any note since the early days of Kenya’s intervention

In a day of skirmishes and counter-claims, Kenya denied a statement from al Shabaabthat it had set a Kenyan navy vessel ablaze by firing rocket-propelled grenades fromspeed boats.

Somali government officials confirmed the sea engagement to Reuters and said theKenyan military had hit one al Shabaab boat, which tallied with the rebel statement.

On land, Somali military officials said al Shabaab had ambushed a joint Kenyan-Somalipatrol near Dhobley in the Lower Juba region.

―During the clashes we killed four al Shabaab militants and captured one of them alive,‖Abdikarim Ali Yusuf, a senior Somali military officer, told Reuters.



Al Shabaab said it killed eight Kenyans in the fight.

Police in the Dadaab refugee camp, a target of previous attacks by al Shabaab, said theyhad found an unexploded improvised explosive device on Sunday that had been hidden at

the side of a road regularly used by United Nations aid workers.

Kenyan government ministers have shuttled around east Africa this week and gone to theGulf to drum up political and financial support for a more coordinated campaign to routthe rebels in a country notoriously tough for foreign armies.

Some analysts say Ethiopia may want to take advantage of al Shabaab’s withdrawal fromMogadishu in August to wipe out a group it sees as a threat to its stability.

The Ethiopian Foreign Ministry spokesman said a final decision on whether to join theassault against al Shabaab in some form would be taken next Friday.

―East African heads of state will meet on Friday to discuss ways of stabilising Somaliaand one plan is to boost the number of AMISOM troops from both neighbouringcountries and other African nations,‖ Dina Mufti told Reuters.

When asked if Addis Ababa would agree to a request for troops he said: "Ethiopiasupports Kenya's efforts and is very much part of the total initiative."

###

Kenya: Boats to Abolish Sex-for-Fish Trade (allAfrica.com)http://allafrica.com/stories/201111210118.html 19 November 2011By Justus Ochieng

Women groups in Kano, Kisumu County have benefitted from boats under the 'No Sexfor Fish' initiative. The boats will provide them with an opportunity to generate incomewithout engaging in risky relationships. The six boats delivered by an NGO, US PeaceCorps Kenya in Collaboration with VIRED International will help the women to expeditefishing activities in the Lake Victoria.

Delivering the boats at Nyamware beach on Wednesday, the Director of VIREDInternational Prof Okeyo Owuor who was accompanied by Peace Corp volunteer inKenya Michael Guelfe and Kisumu East DC Mabeya Mogaka said the boats will helpstop the sex-for-fish trade.

Owuor noted that this has led to an increase in HIV infections especially among thewomen living in the Lake region. "In a bid to help empower the women in the Lakeregion, my organization in collaboration with the US Peace Corps Kenya resolved to

http://allafrica.com/stories/201111210118.html





provide the vessels to the women to help reduce chances of female along the Lake regionattracting HIV infections," he added.

Often, women may have relationships with random fishermen to acquire fishcommodities for sale and profit in a risky affair, he added. He lamented that the women

have no choice because very few of them own boats, which he noted is a key resource of the fishing trade, he said. He said VIRED will provide logistical arrangements to ensuresustainability of the process.

###

Eritrea wants UN action on Kenya over Somalia claim (Alert.net)http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/eritrea-wants-un-action-on-kenya-over-somalia-claim/ 21 November 2011By Aaron Maasho

ADDIS ABABA, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Eritrea has complained to the U.N. Security Councilabout Kenyan allegations that it sent weapons to Islamist rebels in Somalia, calling for anindependent investigation to judge the dispute.

Foreign Minister Osman Saleh said in a letter to the Council that Eritrea was confident aninvestigation would find Nairobi's "defamatory" accusations to be baseless, and urged theUnited Nations to take action against Kenya in the dispute.

Nairobi has accused Eritrea of flying in weapons for al Shabaab, an insurgent group likedto al Qaeda which has been fighting the Western-backed Somali government since 2007,and which is now also battling Kenyan forces.

"If, as Eritrea confidently believes, the investigation determines that there is no basiswhatsoever to the very serious and harmful accusations by the government of Kenya,Eritrea calls on the Security Council to take action that would redress the injusticesuffered by the people and government of Eritrea," Saleh wrote in the letter, seen byReuters.

"Defamation of a member state of the United Nations should not be indulged in withimpunity and must not be tolerated, given its negative implications for regional peace andsecurity," he said in the letter, dated Nov. 16.

Kenya sent troops into Somalia, its anarchic neighbour, last month to rout the insurgentswhich it blames for kidnappings of Western aid workers and tourists on Kenyan soil, andfrequent cross-border incursions.

Nairobi says it has credible information that consignments of arms were flown to theSomali town of Baidoa from Eritrea. Kenyan officials have said that Eritrean denials arenot enough, and that it should go further and denounce al Shabaab.

http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/eritrea-wants-un-action-on-kenya-over-somalia-claim/





Saleh's letter to Jose Filipe Cabral, the Security Council's rotating president forNovember, gave no details on who might conduct the investigation, nor did it say whataction Eritrea wanted.

However, Eritrea's envoy to the African Union said the Kenyan allegations should be

publicly dismissed as a first step.

"It is up to the U.N. Security Council to take whatever action it feels appropriate andnecessary to rectify such baseless allegations and defamation of a member state," envoyGirma Asmerom told Reuters.

"However, as a starter, I strongly feel that the U.N. Security Council should urge thegovernment of Kenya to publicly rescind its baseless accusation against Eritrea," he said.

Kenyan officials have said the weapons consisted of shoulder-fired rockets, grenades andsmall arms munitions, and that they have been moved to areas in southern and central

Somalia.

Slapped with an arms embargo, assets freeze and a travel ban for some of its officials in2009, Eritrea faces another round of measures over charges it was aiding militantsfighting to overthrow the internationally-backed Mogadishu government.

Asmara accuses Ethiopia of being behind the claims through a "frenzied campaign" toisolate and weaken its government. The neighbours fought a two-year war over disputedterritory a decade ago but the frontier spat has yet to be resolved.

Scores of Ethiopian military vehicles carrying soldiers have been spotted by residents inSomalia's frontier towns in what could be a joint attempt to flush out al Shabaab.

Ethiopian officials, however, say they have yet to decide on deploying troops, thoughthey are committed to a regional initiative to stabilise the lawless Horn of Africa country.

###

WFP says more than 1 mln Zimbabweans need food aid (alert.net)http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/wfp-says-more-than-1-mln-zimbabweans-need-food-aid/ 21 November 2011By Nelson Banya

HARARE, Nov 21 (Reuters) - More than a million people in Zimbabwe will require foodaid between now and March 2012, a United Nations agency said on Monday, despiterecent improvements in the country's grain production.








The southern African country has struggled to feed itself since 2000, when PresidentRobert Mugabe began a drive to seize white-owned farms to resettle landless blacks,leading to a sharp fall in agricultural output.

Production of the staple maize started to recover after Mugabe formed a unity

government with his rival, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, and rose from less than500,000 tonnes in 2007-8 to 1.45 million tonnes in the 2010/11 season.

Production is still below the 2 million tonnes a year the country needs to be self-sufficient.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said it was facing a $42 million funding shortfallfor food aid it planned to provide to vulnerable households in Zimbabwe's hardest-hitareas until the start of the harvest season in March.

A recent study by the Zimbabwean government, UN agencies and other donor

organisations had shown that 12 percent of the rural population would not be able to feeditself adequately through the lean season, the WFP said in a statement.

"Most at risk are low-income families hit by failed harvests, and households with orphansand vulnerable children," WFP said. "Although food is generally available in many ruralareas, it is too expensive for those with limited resources."

###

END REPORT

africom related-newsclips 22 nov 11

Documents