United States Africa Command Public Affairs Office 4 April 2012 USAFRICOM - related news stories

Good morning. Please see today's news review for April 4, 2012. This e-mail is best viewed in HTML. Of interest in today's report: - Susan Rice, U.S. Ambassador to UN, says situation in Mali has "taken a turn for the worse" - Mali junta ignore deadline to relinquish power - France 24 explores who the Tuareg rebels are conquering in northern Mali - U.S. Urges End to Sudan-South Sudan Violence - Libya Militias Turn to Politics

U.S. Africa Command Public Affairs Please send questions or comments to: publicaffairs@usafricom.mil 421-2687 (+49-711-729-2687) Headline Date Outlet New York Times

Mali Junta Defies Deadline for 04/04/2012 Handing Over Power

BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali's junta ignored a demand by neighbors for an immediate exit from power on Tuesday, instead simply repeating its offer to hold open-ended talks on a future transition to civilian rule.

Situation in Mali "has taken a turn for worse," UN official says

04/04/2012

Xinhua News Agency

UNITED NATIONS, April 3 (Xinhua) -- A senior UN official on Tuesday told the UN Security Council that the situation in Mali, where a military coup was staged on March 22, "has taken a turn for worse," according to Susan Rice, the United States ambassador t...

Mali envoys in Nigeria to seek 04/04/2012 support for junta

Vanguard

ABUJA (AFP) Talks between Mali's new military rulers and regional powerhouse Nigeria broke up on late Tuesday without any breakthroughs on ending the junta's rule.

Who are the Tuareg rebels conquering northern Mali?

04/03/2012

France 24

With the Malian army in disarray, the Tuareg rebellion has taken over most of the country's vast north with relative ease. Led by the nominally secular MNLA, the Tuareg forces also include Islamist militants.

Sudan: U.S. Sends Aid, Urges End to Sudan-South Sudan 04/03/2012 Violence

AllAfrica.com

Washington -- President Obama expressed concern about growing tensions between Sudan and South Sudan when speaking April 2 to South Sudanese President Salva Kiir about the clashes in the border region between the

two East African nations.

South Sudan: Juba Pleads for Global Help to 'Tame' 04/03/2012 Khartoum

Capital FM (Nairobi)

NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 2 South Sudan is now urging the international community to urgently intervene and resolve a crisis between the new nation and its northern neighbour, which has been bombarding villages and oil fields in border points since last week.

Libyan Militias Turn to Politics, 04/03/2012 a Volatile Mix

New York Times

TRIPOLI, Libya -- The militia leaders who have turned post-Qaddafi Libya into a patchwork of semiautonomous fiefs are now plunging into politics, raising fears that their armed brigades could undermine elections intended to lay the foundation of a new demo...

France wants UN Security Council push on Mali

04/03/2012

AGENCE REUTERS - MACROECO/INFO GENE/POLITIQUE

PARIS (Reuters) - France is pushing for the U.N. Security Council to issue a statement on Mali later on Tuesday to show its support of the 15-state West African bloc ECOWAS's efforts to find a solution to the escalating crisis.

West Africa fears of drug terrorism links

04/03/2012

UPI.com

BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau, April 2 (UPI) -- Seizures of Latin American cocaine in West Africa, now a major oilproducing zone, has heightened fears that an alliance is emerging between the cartels and al-Qaida militants in North Africa, the main smuggling rout...

Senegal's new president inherits economic woes

04/03/2012

Associated Press

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) -- Senegal's former leader took office in 2000 before thousands gathered at a sports stadium. New President Macky Sall, by comparison, held his short inauguration ceremony Monday in a tent on a hotel lawn.

Children clamor for Congress 04/03/2012 to act against Kony

Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- The voices demanding that Congress stop the brutality of African warlord Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army belong to America's children. Just ask their parents.

Direct US-Kenya flights 'in a couple of months'

04/03/2012

Capital FM (Nairobi)

NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 2 The United States government has indicated its commitment to grant Kenya the green light to launch direct flights to America possibly in a couple of months, provided the upgrades at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) are...

Kenyan, U.S. Senior Enlisted Leadership in Action

04/03/2012

CJTF-HOA Public Affairs

CAMP LEMONNIER, Djibouti, Apr 3, 2012 -- Kenyan Ministry of Defense senior enlisted personnel participated in a key leader engagement at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, March 26-29, 2012 hosted by Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa Command Senior Enliste...

Building Resilience in African Nations is Paramount to 04/03/2012 Development

U.S. AFRICOM Public Affairs

STUTTGART, Germany, Apr 3, 2012 -- In developing countries experiencing chronic crises, such as those in the Horn of Africa, disaster risk reduction is often just as important, if not more so, than humanitarian response and recovery, according to a senior ...

UN refugee agency concerned as thousands continue to flee 04/03/2012 fighting in Mali

United Nations News Service

3 April 2012 The United Nations refugee agency today voiced deep concern about the deteriorating political and security situation in Mali, where thousands of people continue to flee their homes due to fighting between Government forces and Tuareg rebels ...

News Headline: Mali Junta Defies Deadline for Handing Over Power | News Date: 04/04/2012 Outlet Full Name: New York Times News Text: By Reuters BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali's junta ignored a demand by neighbors for an immediate exit from power on Tuesday, instead simply repeating its offer to hold open-ended talks on a future transition to civilian rule. Malians rushed to stock up on petrol and cash after the 15-state ECOWAS West African bloc launched trade and diplomatic sanctions aimed at forcing the leaders of last month's coup to stand down. Long one of the most stable democracies in West Africa, Mali has plunged into turmoil since the widely condemned power grab on March 22 further emboldened Tuareg rebels to seize half the country in their quest for a northern homeland. They have been joined by Islamists bent on imposing sharia, Islamic law, across the whole of the moderate Muslim state, now the latest security headache for a region battling al Qaeda cells and home-grown militant groups such as Nigeria's Boko Haram. An emergency ECOWAS summit on Monday gave the coup leaders 48 hours to quit power - a Wednesday deadline the junta did not even acknowledge in a statement delivered from the ramshackle barracks outside the capital Bamako that are its headquarters. "We are inviting the political class and all civil society representatives to be present without exception at a national convention that will start on Thursday, April 5," junta leader Captain Amadou Sanogo told a news conference. The convention, first announced on Sunday, is due to decide on what form the transition to civilian rule will take. "The conclusions of this convention will be accepted by everyone," said Sanogo, without giving any further details of the organization or timetable of the convention. Sanogo and his team of mid-ranking officers have been condemned by the U.N. Security Council and on Tuesday faced new isolation as the African Union announced travel bans and asset freezes on them, echoing existing ECOWAS measures. Ivory Coast, from where the landlocked country sources much of its fuel, was among the first to close its borders on Tuesday as part of sanctions including the freeze of Malian funds at the central bank of the West African franc currency zone. "Our bosses told us to let nothing go in or come out without orders from the top ... We've started patrolling to stop all movement of goods," border guard Ben Casaban said by telephone from the border point by the town of Pogo. Guinea followed suit but others acted more slowly. Authorities in Burkina Faso said they were preparing steps needed to close the border with Mali, while border officials in Mauritania and Senegal said they were still awaiting orders. FUEL AND CASH At garages in central Bamako, residents armed with jerry cans queued to try to beat shortages

that could choke off the economy of Africa's third-largest gold miner within days. The National Office for Petroleum Products (ONAP) said existing national stocks would last about 10 days. While one banking source said the financial sanctions did not yet cover commercial bank transactions with the BCEAO regional bank, many Malians began queuing to take out their savings for fear that funds would dry up soon. "I'm here to withdraw my bursary money," Cisse Yacouba, a 25-year-old student, said. "Everyone is rushing to get some money because it is certain that there will not be enough." While the stated aim of the coup leaders was to give the army more clout to tackle the twomonth-old revolt, their power grab triggered a rebel sweep through a northern zone the size of France - in many cases hard on the heels of fleeing army forces. The Tuareg-led rebel group MNLA says it controls the three main towns in the desert zone Kidal, Gao and the ancient trading post of Timbuktu - and has stressed it has no intention of pushing further north. But there is growing disquiet about the role of the local Ansar Dine Islamist group, which, rather seeking to carve out a northern homeland, wants to impose Islamic law across all of Mali. In Gao its members ransacked hotels serving alcohol and told locals that Western-style clothing was banned. Residents in Timbuktu said on Monday better-armed Ansar Dine fighters dislodged MNLA rebels who seized the town on Sunday. A military source said rebels on Tuesday pushed further to the town of Douentza - at the southern extremity of the Azawad territory they see as rightfully theirs. While the source said the regular army was posted outside the regional centre of Mopti to prevent them going any further, one junior officer said on condition of anonymity that some soldiers there were already taking off their uniform. Ousted President Amadou Toumani Toure, who had been due to step down in scheduled elections this month, is still in hiding. Neighbors are proposing that a neutral figure be named as interim president before a new attempt to stage polls. It is unclear what appetite there is in the region for military intervention to secure the south from any further advances and, ultimately, to win back ground from the rebels. Military chiefs of the 15-nation ECOWAS regional bloc are due to meet on Thursday to agree on paper a force of up to 3,000 troops, but the arduous process of extracting troop contingents from individual countries has yet to begin in earnest. The African Union also announced targeted sanctions on the leaders of the factions fighting in the north. Over 200,000 Malians have fled their homes because of the fighting, and the pillaging of food, fuel and medical supplies in Gao and other northern towns has worsened their plight. In Paris, world culture agency UNESCO appealed to warring factions to spare local heritage sites such as Timbuktu's earthen mosques, cemeteries and other legacies of its "golden era" in the 16th century.

(Additional reporting by Tiemoko Diallo in Bamako; John Irish in Paris; Aaron Maasho in Addis Ababa; Writing by Mark John; Editing by David Lewis)
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News Headline: Situation in Mali "has taken a turn for worse," UN official says | News Date: 04/04/2012 Outlet Full Name: Xinhua News Agency News Text: UNITED NATIONS, April 3 (Xinhua) -- A senior UN official on Tuesday told the UN Security Council that the situation in Mali, where a military coup was staged on March 22, "has taken a turn for worse," according to Susan Rice, the United States ambassador to the UN. Rice, who holds the rotating council presidency for April, made the briefing while informing the press here on the work program of the 15-nation UN body for this month. The UN Security Council met behind the closed doors and heard a briefing by Lynn Pascoe, the UN under-secretary-general for political affairs, on the current situation in Mali, which comes under severe sanctions by West African countries and the African Union in the wake of the military coup, according to Rice. "The humanitarian situation is also deteriorating," said Pascoe. The council members are united in asking the ruling military leaders in Mali to step down in order to restore the constitutional order in the West African country, Rice said. Also on Tuesday, the African Union announced targeted sanctions on leaders of armed factions fighting in northern Mali after slapping travel bans and asset freezes on the country's ruling military junta. West African leaders on Monday slapped crippling sanctions on Mali's new junta following the country's ruling military failed to fully restore constitutional order in line with an earlier directive. Alassane Ouattara, the president of Cote d'Ivoire who is the current chairman of the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), said a complete embargo, including closing borders to trade and freezing access to the country's bank accounts, would come into effect immediately. Mid-ranking officers, led by army Captain Amadou Snogo, toppled Malian President Amadou Toumani on March 22 in protest of the government's failure to rein in the rebels who are seeking to create a separate homeland in the north. UN officials said that they are deeply concerned about instability, armed groups and the prospect of widespread food shortages in Mali, where some 200,000 people have fled their homes seeking refuge elsewhere in the region. UN refugee agency spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said that more than 2,000 fled to Burkina Faso and Mauritania in the past five days alone because of armed groups proliferating around northern communities and other violence since the March 22 military coup. The World Food Program spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said the UN food agency is "particularly concerned" at the prospect of widespread food shortages.
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News Headline: Mali envoys in Nigeria to seek support for junta | News Date: 04/04/2012 Outlet Full Name: Vanguard News Text: ABUJA (AFP) Talks between Mali's new military rulers and regional powerhouse Nigeria broke up on late Tuesday without any breakthroughs on ending the junta's rule. A Nigerian source said discussions included the possibility of a negotiated end to the junta's rule, but the talks at the foreign ministry in the capital, Abuja broke up without a deal being announced and it was unclear if further discussions were planned. The meeting is over and they have left the premises, Nigerian foreign ministry spokesman Ogbole Amedu Ode said, providing no further details. Discussions were held as pressure mounted on the junta following sanctions imposed by West African nations as well as a rapid advance by Islamist and Tuareg insurgents since the March 22 coup. More than half of Mali has fallen to insurgents since the coup by a group of low-ranking military officers led by Amadou Sanogo over the government's alleged failure to take action on the rekindled Tuareg rebellion in the north. We came here for a mission to tell the Nigerian authorities how the situation is in Mali, Colonel Blonkoro Samake told journalists through an interpreter before his three-member team held talks with Foreign Minister Olugbenga Ashiru. With the authorisation of president Amadou Sanogo, he mandated us to come and see the Nigerian authorities to come and explain how the situation is in Mali, referring to the leader of the junta that seized power. A Nigerian foreign ministry source said discussions included the possibility of persuading the junta to relinquish power in exchange for some form of amnesty. The source said a draft communique was being sent to the head of the junta in Bamako, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara, current chairman of the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The proposal is to ask the president of the Malian parliament to drop his ambition to contest and assume the presidency of an interim government that will conduct an election, he said. However, foreign ministry spokesman Ode signaled later that a deal had not been reached, telling journalists a communique would not be issued on Tuesday and further consultations would have to be held. It was not clear when or where such consultations would take place. ECOWAS has placed an embargo on Mali which also cuts the putschists off from the regional central bank in Dakar, affecting their ability to pay public wages. The bloc, whose headquarters is in Nigeria, will also put in place a military standby force, after earlier putting some 2,000 regional troops on alert.
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News Headline: Who are the Tuareg rebels conquering northern Mali? |

News Date: 04/03/2012 Outlet Full Name: France 24 News Text: By Julien Peyron With the Malian army in disarray, the Tuareg rebellion has taken over most of the country's vast north with relative ease. Led by the nominally secular MNLA, the Tuareg forces also include Islamist militants. Tuareg rebels have conquered the three main cities of northern Mali, effectively taking full control of the impoverished country's vast Saharan region. The rebels are led by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), whose stated aim is to free the region that makes up the entire northern half of Mali. Known as the Blue People for the indigo pigment in the cloth of their traditional robes and turbans that stains their skin, the MNLA Tuaregs consider this region, which they call Azawad, to be the cradle of their nomadic civilisation. The insurrection began in January 2012. By April 1, the rebels had successfully taken the region's three main cities: Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu. The MNLA is well-organised and even keeps a regularly-updated website. Defectors and fighters from Libya The MNLA's ranks have swelled since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi's regime in Libya in summer 2011. It was a decisive moment for the rebels, Pierre Boilley of the Paris-based Africa research institute CEMAf. Many Tuaregs who had been fighting for the Libyan regime returned, most of them heavily armed. Since the insurrection began, the MNLA has also been heavily reinforced by Tuareg defectors from the regular Malian army. Among these is Colonel Elhadi Ag Gamou, commander of the city of Kidal, who announced his support for the rebellion on March 31. In addition to providing support to the rebels, the defections also underline the inherent weakness of the Malian military and help to explain the ease of the rebel advances. They also took advantage of March's military coup, which threw the south of the country into chaos. Ironically, the coup happened because the army believed ousted President Amadou Toumani Tour's response to the Tuareg offensive was too weak. An al Qaeda connection? The MNLA says they have no religious affiliation and want to create a secular republic, but they cannot claim everyone fighting for them is unified on this ground. Above all, international observers worry about the presence of salafist groups linked to alQaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The salafist ideology is expanding in the region, and a number of Islamist militias have gravitated toward the independence struggle. Residents of Gao and Kidal say they have seen flags of hardline Islamist group Ansar Dine flying among the colours of the victorious Tuareg rebels.

Ansar Dine leader Iyad Ag Ghaly was the figurehead of the Tuareg rebellion in the 1990s and has since turned to salafism, said Boilley. He could not resist joining the MNLA offensive. But Boilley does not believe Ansar Dine has any affiliation to AQIM. The two groups have similarities in terms of religion, but not politics. Other sources, however, do make a link between Ag Ghaly and senior members of AQIM. Trouble on the horizon The MNLA has officially recognised the role Ansar Dine played in the rebellion and praised the group as an ally able to rally Tuareg fighters attracted to the AQIM ideology. "But if they seem to be cooperating on the ground, the two groups differ fundamentally on a number of points, said Boilley. The MNLA insists that it is waging a fight with secular intentions, while Ansar Dine's stated intention is to impose sharia law. The MNLA and Ansar Dine tried to find common ground in March 2012, but talks broke down when the MNLA insisted Ansar Dine drop its wish to impose sharia law and sever all links with AQIM. In addition to these tensions, the MNLA also faces the difficult task of uniting the various militias who have taken advantage of the chaos to extend their influence. Among these are another Qaeda-related group, the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (Mujao), which claims that it, too, took part in the fight for Gao.
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News Headline: Sudan: U.S. Sends Aid, Urges End to Sudan-South Sudan Violence | News Date: 04/03/2012 Outlet Full Name: AllAfrica.com News Text: By Charlene Porter Washington President Obama expressed concern about growing tensions between Sudan and South Sudan when speaking April 2 to South Sudanese President Salva Kiir about the clashes in the border region between the two East African nations. The president also expressed hope that a presidential summit that had been set for this week between Kiir and Sudan's Omar Al-Bashir will be rescheduled. A statement from the White House press office said Obama welcomed Kiir's commitment to moving forward with that meeting and to finding peaceful solutions for Sudan and South Sudan. South Sudan claimed its independence from Khartoum in July 2011 after six years of autonomy and a referendum on nationhood. That victory came only after 20 years of violence, which claimed a high cost in loss of life and a lack of development at all levels. But Sudan is engaged in further battles against an insurgent group in its southern states. Sudan is using heavy weaponry and aerial bombing to subdue rebels in the states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton described that action as "disproportionate force" in comments to reporters March 27. This violence has created a growing humanitarian emergency as civilians flee the fighting in search of safety across the border in South Sudan where there is little infrastructure and few resources to support them, according to an April 2 telephone briefing by U.S. officials involved

in the aid relief. Catherine Wiesner, deputy assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration, just returned from a visit to the remote region of South Sudan where refugee encampments have sprung up in recent months. She said the international humanitarian effort is building what is needed as it is needed. "So UNHCR [the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees] and partners are fixing an airfield, they're building roads, they're drilling bore holes" for water. Wiesner said water is in very short supply for about 140,000 new refugees who have surged into South Sudan since the end of 2011. "Agencies are in a race against time to get supplies in place," Wiesner said, before the rainy season begins in about a month and makes the region's poorly developed roads even more difficult for aid transport. Wiesner said the World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that about 1 million people in South Sudan are severely "food insecure" at present, and that as many as 4.7 million will face some degree of food insecurity in the year ahead. The United Nations and the African Union are in discussions with Sudan's government in Khartoum, trying to get permission for direct delivery of humanitarian relief to the internally displaced populations affected by violence in South Kordofan, where it is estimated another 200,000-250,000 people do not have enough to eat. "We think [direct delivery of aid to Kordofan] is vital and it is very high priority," said Princeton Lyman, the U.S. special envoy for Sudan and South Sudan. The violence in Kordofan and Blue Nile states disrupted the planting season in 2011, said an official with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and that's one reason for the high level of food insecurity. Christa Capozzola, USAID's deputy assistant administrator for democracy, conflict and humanitarian assistance, said South Sudan's order in January for petroleum companies to stop oil production is another factor potentially worsening the crisis. The decision will reduce South Sudan's capacity to provide aid for its own people, many of whom are returning to the south after years of civil war ended with independence. South Sudan has oil reserves, but the oil must be transported via pipeline from landlocked South Sudan across Sudan to the Persian Gulf and the markets beyond. South Sudan's government in Juba turned off the flow in early 2012, charging that the Sudanese are siphoning off hundreds of millions of dollars worth of oil. "It's very important that both sides be extremely careful," Lyman said, "that neither crosses the line of attacking oil installations because I think that would deepen the conflict very much." He said it's important that the two governments discuss these issues "very candidly" in the interest of stability for both nations. Despite the postponement of the summit at the presidential level, Lyman said, other talks are going on between the two nations, giving reason for optimism that tensions may ease. "A meeting is under way of the Joint Political and Security Mechanism, a very important military-to-military discussion between the two countries under the auspices of the African Union," Lyman said. He praised the AU for its effort to mediate the dispute between Sudan and South Sudan. The United States, the world's largest food-aid donor, has given more than $80 million to WFP to support the operations in Sudan and South Sudan. Another $6 million has gone to the

UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration.

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News Headline: South Sudan: Juba Pleads for Global Help to 'Tame' Khartoum | News Date: 04/03/2012 Outlet Full Name: Capital FM (Nairobi) News Text: By Bernard Momanyi NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 2 South Sudan is now urging the international community to urgently intervene and resolve a crisis between the new nation and its northern neighbour, which has been bombarding villages and oil fields in border points since last week. Juba's Minister for Information and Broadcasting Barbara Marial Benjamin said Sudanese President Omar el Bashir had failed to respect a peace agreement signed on oil exploration and has now resolved to launch a war. What Bashir is doing is totally against a peace deal Khartoum signed with Juba. All what he is doing is about oil, nothing else, Benjamin told a news conference in Nairobi on Monday. He said the north has lately imposed tough restrictions which are meant to frustrate the South's bid to export their own oil through the Khartoum. And when Khartoum realised that we have decided to close down all our oil fields, they imposed tough restrictions on oil exploration, he added. Among other things, Benjamin said, Khartoum is charging Juba oil transit fees of 36 dollars per barrel. That is why we closed the oil fields. This is way above the international commercial rates; if we pay the amount per barrel we are going to lose more than 60 percent of our oil, and we have said we will not pay. That is why they are now bombarding us, the South Sudan Minister said adding: We will close our oil fields until we build the Lamu port and our oil pipelines to be able to export oil to the international market. The price Khartoum wants to charge us is way above the 18 cents other oil producing nations pay, we have been negotiating and we were ready to pay one dollar and they refused, we will stay with our oil, he said, admitting that the country may have to walk a tightrope with debts until it starts exporting oil independently. We have put in place austerity budget after shutting down our oil fields. Bashir was due to visit Juba to hold talks with his counterparts Salva Kiir on March 22, but the talks were called off following the latest flare up. He did not come, and now they have started bombarding our oil fields, I think they want to use this excuse and say there is insecurity and war so he cannot come, he is simply trying to avoid talks with Kiir, he said. As a result of the latest attacks, dozens of people have been killed and there are fears many more will be displaced unless the bombardments are stopped. The South Sudan Minister said his country was not prepared to take their people back to war but vowed to defend its territory unless the north stops bombarding villages.

Our president has made it very clear that he will never take his people back to war, but South Sudan will defend its territory at all times, the minister said. He said the Sudanese People Liberation Army (SPLA) was not fighting but repulsing the Sudanese troops bombarding the border villages. During the press conference, Benjamin accused the African Union (AU) of doing too little to curb the escalating situation, which he fears may degenerate into a war between the two nations. If South Sudan and the North go into a war, it will not be a guerrilla war, it will be a war between two nations and neighbouring countries like Kenya, Uganda and others will be affected. We don't want this to happen, he said and urged IGAD which played a major role in striking a peace deal between the two countries to intervene. AU is sitting pretty, it is not doing anything.
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News Headline: Libyan Militias Turn to Politics, a Volatile Mix | News Date: 04/03/2012 Outlet Full Name: New York Times News Text: By David D. Kirkpatrick TRIPOLI, Libya The militia leaders who have turned post-Qaddafi Libya into a patchwork of semiautonomous fiefs are now plunging into politics, raising fears that their armed brigades could undermine elections intended to lay the foundation of a new democracy. The militia leader from Zintan who controls the airport here in the capital has exchanged his uniform for a suit and tie and now talks about running for office with his 1,200 armed men at his back. The head of Tripoli's military council is starting a political party, and the military council in Benghazi is preparing its own slate of candidates for local office. Regional militias and the ruling Transitional National Council have already blocked the city of Bani Walid, once a bastion of support for Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, from choosing its local government. Other militia leaders are volunteering their armed support as the military wings of newly formed parties. Five months after Colonel Qaddafi's death, Libyans are counting on the ritual of the ballot box to end four decades of rule by brute force. The brigades formed to fight Colonel Qaddafi, and many others that sprang up after the fact, have thwarted the consolidation of a new central authority and become a menace to security, trading deadly gunfire in the streets of the capital, detaining and torturing suspected Qaddafi loyalists, and last week even kidnapping two members of the Transitional National Council for two days. Libya's interim leaders say they hope an elected government will have the legitimacy to rein in those militias, and the country is rushing to hold votes. The two largest cities, Benghazi and Tripoli, plan to hold local elections by May, while the Transitional National Council has promised elections in June for an assembly that will govern as it writes a new constitution. Without a national army or police force, though, many civilians worry that the militias could bully voters, suppress votes or otherwise dominate the process, leaving Libya mired in internecine violence, torn by regional tensions or as a recent poll suggests many Libyans may now expect vulnerable to the rise of a new strongman.

Even civilian politicians alarmed by the interplay of guns and politics say they may be powerless to resist it. We are very clearly saying we don't want to be part of that, said Ali Tarhuni, a former interim oil minister and deputy prime minister now starting one of the new parties. But down the road, what can we do? Mr. Tarhuni and others say they fear that Libya could repeat the experience of Lebanon, where armed militias formed during its civil war became a permanent part of the political landscape. Already some brigades around the country, including the one at the airport, led by Mokhtar alAkhdar, have developed independent sources of revenue, primarily from providing security services. Protection, Mr. Tarhuni said. Others say Libya may yet confound the expectations of chaos on the various election days. The relatively homogeneous city of Misurata recently held peaceful elections. Here in the more divided capital and across the country, Libyan officials admit that they are banking on intangibles, like Libya's tribal traditions, the unifying spirit of the revolution and the patriotism of its young militiamen, to maintain a degree of order. Nevertheless, Mustafa Abu Shagour, deputy prime minister of the interim government, said he expected to see guns in the streets. I am very worried, he said. After 42 years of a through-the-looking-glass dictatorship that billed itself as a participatory rule of the masses, Libyans appear to distrust democracy. In a poll of Libyans conducted in December and January by a research arm of Oxford University, only 15 percent of the more than 2,000 respondents said they wanted some form of democracy within the next 12 months, while 42 percent said they hoped Libya would be governed by a new strongman. Perhaps most worrisome: a significant minority, about 16 percent, said they were ready to use violence for political ends. The leaders of the regional militias insist that they are the guardians of democracy, compensating for the leadership failures of the Transitional National Council. But they often continue to rely on armed might outside any legal or political process. When a peaceful demonstration in Benghazi urged federalism, the interior minister a militia leader from Misurata publicly threatened to lead an armed force from his hometown to fight what he called a threat to national unity. Fawzi Bukatief, commander of an alliance of 40 eastern brigades based in Benghazi, said he was close to announcing a national union of militias, independent of the Defense and Interior Ministries. He said the union could use its firepower to crack down on other armed groups still operating in Tripoli. We will stop them, or imprison them, he said. We know the fighters. We will decide who is a revolutionary and who is not. The militias are the problem, he added, but also the solution. In a tweed jacket instead of camouflage, he said he was considering running for office in Benghazi. Doing so while his fighters oversee the vote can be a conflict, he said with a shrug, acknowledging that he will have to step out of his militia role. The interim government has been powerless to stop attacks on tribes or neighborhoods suspected of supporting Colonel Qaddafi, much less to guarantee them a right to vote. In the Abu Salim neighborhood of Tripoli, a militia brigade still operates from a heavily fortified bunker, with roof-mounted machine guns pointing down into the streets. Residents especially those with dark skin, often suspected of belonging to tribes that fought for Colonel

Qaddafi said they were afraid to walk past the bunker. Inside the bunker, prisoners were banging on the metal doors of small cells. Abdul Salem el-Massoudi, 42, the neighborhood military council's chief of interrogations, said the militia was still hunting down the suspected perpetrators of a massacre by Qaddafi forces. But as for the dark-skinned Libyans from the city of Tawarga, he suggested that they had themselves to blame. Their sons got them into this trouble by fighting for Qaddafi, he said. Now, they are refugees everywhere. Interim government officials still insist that they plan to control the militias by the election day in June, in part by hiring the militia fighters to create a national guard. It is unclear, however, how much loyalty the money is buying. Flush with oil money, the interim government has started handing out pay to thousands of militiamen for the work of securing the capital the equivalent of about $2,000 for each fighter who is single and about $3,300 for each one with a family. Last month, local brigades began lining up by turns to collect their pay at an old police academy, which happened to be in Hadhba, another neighborhood known for its loyalty to the former dictator. But then a group of fighters from the more rebellious neighborhood of Souk elJuma decided that they were not getting paid fast enough and, besides that, did not like collecting their cash in a loyalist stronghold. So a truckload of a few dozen fighters attacked the academy. In a hail of gunfire many were armed with Kalashnikovs, a few with knives, and they were backed by three machine guns they broke down the iron gates, tore off some of its pointed spikes as weapons and smashed the windows of the gatehouse. Run away! We will kill you! one fighter shouted to the fleeing neighbors. Another declared: This is ours right now. We are the owners here. Two days later, the Souk el-Juma brigade leaders were distributing the payments to their members at their own headquarters, undercutting any hope of transferring the fighters' loyalty to a central authority. Former Qaddafi officials, who are also talking about forming a political party, say they hear an echo of the past. They are speaking the same language we did, said one former Qaddafi adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity for his safety. We used force. They are using force. Nothing has changed but the flag and the national anthem. Suliman Ali Alzway contributed reporting.
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News Headline: France wants UN Security Council push on Mali | News Date: 04/03/2012 Outlet Full Name: AGENCE REUTERS - MACRO-ECO/INFO GENE/POLITIQUE News Text: By John Irish PARIS (Reuters) - France is pushing for the U.N. Security Council to issue a statement on Mali later on Tuesday to show its support of the 15-state West African bloc ECOWAS's efforts to find a solution to the escalating crisis.

Speaking to reporters, Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said Paris had put forward several topics of discussion that it wanted the Security Council to back. For long one of the most stable democracies in West Africa, Mali has plunged into turmoil since a widely condemned March 22 coup that emboldened Tuareg rebels to seize half the country in their quest for a northern homeland. They have been joined by Islamists bent on imposing sharia, Islamic law, across the whole of the moderate Muslim state, making it the latest security headache for a region battling al Qaeda agents and home-grown militant groups such as Nigeria's Boko Haram. Valero, who returned from an ECOWAS meeting with Foreign Minister Alain Juppe on Monday, said Paris had proposed that the U.N. Security Council declare its attachment to the unity and territorial integrity of Mali, call for an immediate end to the rebellion, restore constitutional order and condemn attacks committed by al Qaeda's north African wing, AQIM. Juppe said over the weekend that Paris ruled out intervening militarily as it did last year in Ivory Coast. He said France could, however, provide logistical support if ECOWAS did decide to send in troops. ECOWAS decided on Monday to impose diplomatic, trade and financial sanctions on Mali's junta with immediate effect. ECOWAS military chiefs will discuss later this week to "activate" a standby ECOWAS military force, but gave no detail on when and how it would be deployed. France, the former colonial ruler, is Mali's fourth-largest donor of aid - a vital source of income in one of the world's poorest countries - and it also trains and equips government forces. Since the rebellion, it has suspended its cooperation, but has maintained aid to the population and advised its 5,000 citizens living in the West African state to leave.
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News Headline: West Africa fears of drug terrorism links | News Date: 04/03/2012 Outlet Full Name: UPI.com News Text: BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau, April 2 (UPI) -- Seizures of Latin American cocaine in West Africa, now a major oil-producing zone, has heightened fears that an alliance is emerging between the cartels and al-Qaida militants in North Africa, the main smuggling route to Europe, and other groups. Guinea-Bissau, which the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London calls the region's "first narco-state," is one of the main conduits for cocaine shipped across the Atlantic in ships and aircraft. The cocaine cartels control the narcotics trade in West Africa, through links with corrupt regimes and criminal gangs. "Porous borders and a lack of communication between different countries' police and customs services makes the entire region attractive to drug traffickers but conditions in several individual countries have proved particularly inviting," the IISS said in a recent study. Guinea-Bissau, a former Portuguese colony and the world's fifth poorest states, is "particularly appealing to drugs smugglers because of the unpatrolled archipelago of islands off its coast that makes detection of shipping difficult."

The 82 islands, some with airstrips, are monitored by one rusty coast guard ship. Official figures suggest that 98 percent of Guinea-Bissau's gross domestic product comes from the export of cashew nuts. But, U.N. investigators say up to 2,200 pounds of cocaine is flown in every night, along with an unknown amount by sea. An estimated 50 Colombia drug traffickers in Bissau control the narcotics trade and the military and most politicians are believed to be in their pocket. The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime warned as far back as 2008 that 'the former Gold Coast is turning into the Coke Coast." "The 2009 assassination of President Joao Bernardo Vieira may or may not have been drugrelated but he was thought to be deeply involved in the cocaine trade and drug-enforcement agencies had complained about his failure to crack down on narco-trafficking," the IISS observed. The U.N. agency estimated in mid-2011 that at least 50 tons of cocaine passes through West Africa every year. The agency estimates that one-quarter of the cocaine consumed in Western Europe, with a street value of up to $18 billion, reaches there through West Africa. Once in West Africa, the cocaine from Colombia and Venezuela is split into smaller consignments for shipment to Europe. From Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Ghana, Benin and Nigeria, one of Africa's top oil producers, the narcotics are moved northward into the semi-arid Sahel region below the Sahara Desert that spans the continent from Atlantic to the Red Sea. There the smugglers work with al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and Tuareg tribesmen, which are seen to be operating together in moving the drugs to the Mediterranean coast in Morocco and Algeria for shipment into southern Europe. AQIM uses the funds it acquires in the operations to buy weapons and finance attacks across the region, where it is developing alliances with other groups amid the political turmoil of the so-called Arab Spring pro-democracy uprisings. U.S. authorities say Hezbollah, the militant Shiite Muslim movement in Lebanon backed by Iran and Syria, is heavily involved in the drug trade to fund its war against Israel and its political and social programs. The IISS says that "Lebanese involvement in the drugs trade and a strong Lebanese presence in the capital, Bissau, have led to the presumption that the trade is a source of funds for Hezbollah." Hezbollah denies such allegations but U.S. authorities have in recent months identified several Lebanese nationals as being linked to South American drug cartels and Hezbollah. On Dec. 13, Ayman Jouma, a Lebanese, was indicted in U.S. district court in Virginia on charges of running a drug-trafficking and money-laundering ring through which he allegedly funneled funds to Hezbollah. At about the same time, the U.S. Treasury charged that the Lebanese Canadian Bank of Beirut was involved in money laundering and financing a "terrorist organization," Hezbollah, by

handling money from Arab businessmen based in West Africa where there is a large Lebanese, mainly Shiite, community. It said these men, mainly Shiite and often known Hezbollah supporters, used LCB for businesses in the region that appeared to be fronts to move funds to Hezbollah. The bank has denied the charges.
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News Headline: Senegal's new president inherits economic woes | News Date: 04/03/2012 Outlet Full Name: Associated Press News Text: By Krista Larson DAKAR, Senegal (AP) Senegal's former leader took office in 2000 before thousands gathered at a sports stadium. New President Macky Sall, by comparison, held his short inauguration ceremony Monday in a tent on a hotel lawn. As Senegal faces rising unemployment and frustration with government spending, Sall said he wanted to hold his event "in the simplicity that is called for by the situation in the country." Sall has promised that his administration will mark a "new era" in Senegal, and Monday's festivities indicated a clear break with ex-President Abdoulaye Wade, who once spent an estimated $27 million on a heavily criticized 160-foot (50-meter)-high bronze statue. And while Wade was fond of speeches that lasted hours, Sall kept the ceremony short and then led a procession through the streets of the capital, drawing large crowds of supporters. Sall's supporters say his modest upbringing as the son of roadside peanut seller uniquely positions him to understand the plight of those struggling to make a living in this nation of more than 12 million. "Macky connects deeply with the Senegalese people and particularly on the issue of poverty," his cousin, Amadou Thimbo, 42, said at his home in Sall's hometown of Fatick on the eve of the inauguration. Sall becomes Senegal's fourth president, and he is the country's first leader to be born since independence from France in 1960. At 50, he is 35 years younger than the outgoing president and campaigned on those youthful credentials. While Wade is fond of tracing his lineage back hundreds of years to Senegal's Waalo kingdom, Sall's parents worked in modest jobs to raise their five children, the mother selling peanuts on the side of a road and the father a low-level government functionary. Despite their own lack of education, they showed an interest in his. Sall's father often came by to check on his son's progress in school, even though he himself could not read, recalled Sall's former primary school teacher Mamadou Ndiaye. "He's a self-made man, and he really invested himself in his studies to succeed because he came from a very modest family," Ndiaye said. Sall went on to university, became a geologist and entered public service as Senegal's minister of mines and energy. He later served as prime minister under Wade and even ran his reelection campaign in 2007. The two parted ways after Sall publicly questioned how Wade's son

was spending public money. This year, Sall emerged from a field of more than a dozen opposition candidates to face the increasingly unpopular incumbent and won the runoff vote in a landslide, receiving 65.80 percent of ballots cast, compared to just 34.20 percent for Wade. He campaigned on a "path to progress," promising to boost economic development and tackle corruption. Violent protests leading up to the election this year rattled normally peaceful Senegal, and many feared further unrest if Wade did not accept defeat. He surprised his nation and the world by gracefully conceding his loss, and calling Sall hours after polls closed to congratulate his opponent. In his hometown of Fatick, Sall's face is emblazoned everywhere: on campaign posters that remain tidy even a week after the vote, on T-shirts and even emblazoned on traditional African fabric made into women's dresses. Messages of support for him are also spray-painted on nearly every building in town, though even here he faces high expectations. Like Sall's mother, Khadidiatou Diallo has sold peanuts on the street for 15 years to make a living. Now in her 60s, she has a daughter at university, but one of her sons is searching for work and the other would like a better paying job than operating a motorcycle taxi. "I have hope that with Macky, there will be solutions found to these problems," she said, as she waited for customers to purchase her neat piles of ripe mangos on display at the town's Sunday market. Those who have worked with Sall say his strength in the face of adversity will serve him well in his new position. His standoff with the Wades over public spending ultimately cost him his leadership position as president of the National Assembly. "At the National Assembly, Macky was subjected to persecution and humiliation but he was very confident," said Diene Farba Faye, a special adviser to Sall. Sall has served as mayor the last several years in Fatick, and residents here credit him with improving the roads shared by SUVs, horse-drawn carriages and goats. On Sunday, there was widespread optimism among those waiting to bargain over livestock at the market. Gorgui Diouf, 68, tugged two sheep on a rope that he planned to sell ahead of his son's wedding in two weeks. Like many, he pointed to the unseasonal rains that fell not long after Sall's victory as an auspicious start of a new beginning, but acknowledges expectations for change may be too high. "Macky can't give money to everyone that's impossible," he says. "But he can create a political and economic system that provides possibilities for people." Associated Press writer Tomas Faye in Fatick contributed to this report.
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News Headline: Children clamor for Congress to act against Kony | News Date: 04/03/2012 Outlet Full Name: Associated Press News Text: WASHINGTON The voices demanding that Congress stop the brutality of

African warlord Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army belong to America's children. Just ask their parents. "All three of my kids, in different context and different times, said, 'So what are you doing about Joseph Kony and the LRA?'" Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said in a recent interview. Coons, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations African affairs subcommittee, is father to twins Michael and Jack, 12, and Maggie, 11. "Mom, you have to watch this video," Mary Shannon, the 14-year-old daughter of Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., insisted during a break from school. "It's about Joseph Kony." Coons and Landrieu know all too well about Kony. The two senators have traveled to Africa and have heard firsthand about the killings and child abductions of tens of thousands in Central Africa, the young boys forced to fight as soldiers, the girls turned into sex slaves. Today, the lawmakers' children, and millions of others in the United States and around the world, are almost as well-versed about Kony's 26-year reign of terror. A 30-minute video by the advocacy group Invisible Children to raise public awareness about the guerrilla group exploded on the Internet after its early March release. The Kony2012 video has been viewed by some 100 million on YouTube and shared on Facebook and Twitter. "There's 100 million people who know the name of a war criminal now that didn't necessarily before, and that's a good thing," actor and activist George Clooney, who is part of a video on the humanitarian crisis in South Sudan, said in a recent interview. The confluence of a compelling film focused on the fate of children, the power of social media to spread information instantaneously and an unprecedented global connection has turned Kony into a household name. High school and middle school students some as young as 10, the same age as some of the LRA's victims are outraged that children are suffering. One group of students experienced a unique civics lesson. Last week, Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., conducted a Skype interview with a 6th grade social studies class from Westside Middle School in Winder, Ga. The first question Isakson got from the 30 students was "Are you doing anything about Joseph Kony?" "It's a tragedy," Isakson, the top Republican on the African affairs subcommittee, said of the atrocities. He told the students that President Barack Obama dispatched 100 U.S. troops mostly Army Special Forces to central Africa in October to advise regional forces in their hunt for Kony, a military move that received strong bipartisan support. Dustin Davis, who teaches the Westside class, said his students heard about Kony from the Internet, raised questions in class and discussed it as part of the current events curriculum. Some students were near tears; some boys were ready to take up arms and fight. "My students were very adamant that they want to do more about it," Davis said in an interview. "And part of what I do is teach them what is the role of a citizen in our country. You make contact with your representatives, and you do it daily if need be. That's the only way things are going to happen, is if you put pressure on your representatives." In recent weeks, a bipartisan group of 40 senators led by Coons and Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., has backed a resolution condemning Kony. The measure also endorses the effort by Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and South Sudan to stop him and the LRA. It signals support for the U.S. effort to help regional forces pursue commanders of the militia group.

Lawmakers also are crafting legislation that would offer a monetary reward for information leading to Kony's arrest, with a bill to be introduced this month. Kony is wanted by the International Criminal Court for heinous attacks in multiple countries. Pushing to raise awareness, several lawmakers also will appear in a video. Coons realized the extent of the response when he took his daughter, Maggie, to a Saturday rehearsal of the play "Flat Stanley" and saw the Kony2012 posters at the Wilmington (Del.) Friends school. On the sidelines of his son's lacrosse game, parents questioned him and tried to make sense of their children's interest in a brutal warlord. The senator posted a video along with facts and figures about Kony and a map of Africa on his website. "The most positive thing is to have a moment when literally millions of Americans are asking for more engagement in Africa," he said. "That happens once a generation." Rebecca Zug, the head of the upper school at Wilmington Friends, said the Kony2012 campaign resonated with students by focusing on the "clear injustice of kidnapping children" and then empowered young people with simple tasks putting up posters and using social media. "They really want the world to be a better place, and I think as adults we hesitate and go, 'Gosh, I didn't come up with that lesson plan,'" Zug said in an interview. "Where are the adults in charge, because this is really a youth movement." Ben Keesey, CEO of Invisible Children, said Kony's brutality has a different impact on children. "Young kids put themselves in the shoes of having to live in fear of being abducted, and that's just a paralyzing thought," he said. At New Milford High School in New Jersey, principal Eric Sheninger said students who saw the video talked about Kony before school, during lunch periods and in the hallways. Teachers in classes on the Holocaust and genocide held lengthy discussions about the LRA. "There was an incredible buzz in the school," Sheninger said, though the issue has quieted down since the video's release. Landrieu's daughter and her friends are writing letters appealing to the relevant congressional committees to act. The senator introduced a resolution last week commending the African Union for committing up to 5,000 troops in the hunt for Kony. "The children are getting us to respond," Landrieu said in an interview. In the Invisible Children video, a global issue is presented through the eyes of a child, with a discussion between Jason Russell, the director and co-founder of the group, and his young son Gavin about stopping the bad guys. The Kony2012 campaign is pressing on despite several setbacks for Invisible Children, including Russell's recent hospitalization and diagnosis of brief psychosis. A follow-up video may be released. Although the group has spoken at school assemblies, the response to Kony2012 exceeded expectations. "It's a testament to the fact that when young people are given an opportunity to do good, they will respond," Keesey said.
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News Headline: Direct US-Kenya flights 'in a couple of months' | News Date: 04/03/2012 Outlet Full Name: Capital FM (Nairobi) News Text: By Evelyn Njoroge NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 2 The United States government has indicated its commitment to grant Kenya the green light to launch direct flights to America possibly in a couple of months, provided the upgrades at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) are done according to international standards. US Ambassador to Kenya Scott Gration said on Monday that once JKIA is certified as a Category 1 air field by the International Civil Aviation Organisation and Federal Aviation Administration which is a requirement for all airports handling flights operating in and out of America, then direct services between Kenya and the US can commence. In terms of terminal completion and other things, it will be at least another 180 days before that happens. Things may slip as they often do but we are pushing to make sure that things happen as soon as possible, the envoy said. Plans to launch the direct flights have been on the cards since 2007 but have not materialised largely due to security concerns by the US government. In 2009, US homeland security officials declined to give Delta Airlines the approval to operate flights between JKIA and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, via Dakar, Senegal citing security vulnerabilities' in Nairobi. The indefinite suspension of the inaugural flight, which had been scheduled for June 3, 2009 nearly caused a diplomatic tiff between the two governments, as Nairobi protested that it had not been informed of the decision to cancel the flights. Negotiations have since resumed although they have been hinged on the capacity and ability of Kenya's main airport to handle direct flights to and from the US. The government hopes to have this status attained by August this year. If achieved, the service will afford the two countries the opportunity to enhance their commercial ties particularly in the trade and tourism sectors. We believe that there is a tremendous market in the United States for everything including green beans, flowers and we believe direct flights would help to bring investments to Kenya. We also believe that Kenya is on the cusp of tremendous growth and there are many companies that want to invest here. he stressed. Some of those companies include American multinational aerospace and General Electric (GE) which has already opened its Africa headquarters in Nairobi. The conglomerate is also extending its operations from energy to aviation with the announcement that it had been picked by national carrier Kenya Airways to supply the engines for nine Boeing 787 Dreamliners that it hopes to take delivery of beginning 2014 at a cost of USD380 million. The 19 GE-nx-1B engines deliver 15 percent fuel efficiency and come with lower maintenance costs.

Speaking while signing the deal with GE, KQ Chief Executive Officer Titus Naikuni enthused that they would see a significant reduction in their fuel bill in the next few years that would be reflected into their bottom line and enable them to offer competitive rates. Fuel accounts for about 40 percent of the airline's direct costs. The engines are bigger, quieter and more efficient than the Boeing 767 engines; have reduced fuel burn and longer periods on the wing between overhauls. This means the Dreamliner will come with lower maintenance costs and therefore ability to be flying longer, Naikuni added. The delivery will bring the share of engines supplied by GE to 56 percent in the next five years up from the current 42 percent. The two companies hope to further reinforce their partnership by incorporating skills development on how to operate and maintain the engines. We will help KQ train its engineers and technicians to be able to work on the maintenance aspects of the engine and also we will cooperate at the higher level with the Pride Center for training of managers and leaders of Kenya Airways, disclosed General Electric Aviation's Vice President Sales, Middle East and Africa Isam Moursy.
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News Headline: Kenyan, U.S. Senior Enlisted Leadership in Action | News Date: 04/03/2012 Outlet Full Name: CJTF-HOA Public Affairs News Text: By U.S. Air Force Technical Sergeant Ryan Labadens CAMP LEMONNIER, Djibouti, Apr 3, 2012 Kenyan Ministry of Defense senior enlisted personnel participated in a key leader engagement at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, March 26-29, 2012 hosted by Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa Command Senior Enlisted Leader Chief Master Sergeant James E. Davis. The four guests were Kenya Army Qualified Senior Master Instructor Josphat Muthama King'ori and Weapons Training Sergeant Major David Karisa Barisa, Kenya Navy Base Sergeant Major Boniface Munyili Ndana and Kenya Air Force Base Sergeant Major Maurice Atsango Matwang'a. Davis said the purpose of the visit was to build partner nation capacity with Kenya's senior enlisted leadership by demonstrating how U.S. enlisted members use their roles and responsibilities and the chain of command to execute the mission and take care of their people. "In everything we do and in every process that takes place, we want to show how our senior enlisted lead from the front," said Davis. "That's the message that we want to relay--that we empower our senior enlisted leaders to take care of the mission." During visits to commands from various military branches, including Djiboutian and Japanese coalition partners, the Kenyan guests interacted and observed first-hand senior enlisted leadership in action. "We were very welcome here," said Matwang'a. "This is true sharing. It allows us to enhance partnership between our forces so we can work toward aiming at one goal--security. This kind of partnership should be enhanced because it can improve our common security. Anything good comes through partnership."

After an initial visit and discussion with U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Eugene Haase, CJTFHOA deputy commander, March 27, the Kenyan leaders met with Camp Lemonnier's U.S. Navy Command Master Chief Petty Officer Loretta Glenn, who briefed the camp mission and took them on a tour of the base. Next the guests visited with U.S. Air Force senior enlisted leaders, as well as members of Task Force Raptor, U.S. Army 3rd Squadron, 124th Cavalry Regiment, Texas Army National Guard, who invited them to participate in an enlisted personnel inspection. On March 28 the Kenyan senior enlisted leaders visited U.S. Army Civil Affairs Team 4903 in Ali Sabieh, Djibouti, to learn how the enlisted team there helps to build community relations and maintain stability in that region. During the visit, Matwang'a realized U.S. and Kenyan militaries share much in common and face similar issues. For example, he said, "Like the American military, we deal with issues such as fraternization and how to counsel subordinates with their problems. Morale must be maintained at all levels." King'ori agreed with Matwang'a's assessment, noting good morale is the key to developing and maintaining an effective enlisted force. "We must go a mile further to know what it is the soldier wants and what it is he does," said King'ori. Matwang'a also mentioned the importance of continuing to build friendship between his country Kenya, the U.S. and the partner nations. "This allows us not only to take care of our country, but of the world," he said. "We need to live in peace as human beings. What we are doing here is not to make other people suffer, but to help them live better."
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News Headline: Building Resilience in African Nations is Paramount to Development | News Date: 04/03/2012 Outlet Full Name: U.S. AFRICOM Public Affairs News Text: STUTTGART, Germany, Apr 3, 2012 In developing countries experiencing chronic crises, such as those in the Horn of Africa, disaster risk reduction is often just as important, if not more so, than humanitarian response and recovery, according to a senior official from U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Nancy Lindborg, assistant administrator for USAID's Bureau of Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance (DCHA), addressed staff of U.S. Africa Command, March 30, 2012, to promote awareness of USAID's efforts in Africa and discuss how U.S. AFRICOM can better work with the interagency organization to achieve common objectives. Lindborg said that one of the DCHA's goals is to build resilience among African nations so that they are better able to handle conflicts, crises, and natural disasters when they occur. This means doing things differently from how they have been done in the past with an increased focus on the prevention side. Democracy is fundamental to development, she added, because a strong legitimate government helps a country to withstand the shocks brought on by natural disasters and other crises.

"We know that droughts will happen, that earthquakes will happen, that crises will happen, and the goal is to create the kind of resilience that enables communities, nations, and regions to move through these shocks without falling back on their development gains," she said. As a recent example, famine was declared in July 2011 in the Horn of Africa, a situation which was further complicated by conflict and turbulence in Somalia, leading to a refugee crisis in the region. USAID's early warning system predicted the upcoming famine in the Horn of Africa, and was able to begin prepositioning food in October 2010. At the time of the declaration of the famine, approximately 750,000 people were considered to be at risk of imminent death by starvation if humanitarian assistance did not reach them. According to Lindborg, USAID's approach was comprehensive, focusing not only on food distribution, but also vaccine programs, water sanitation, working with health clinics, and giving people access to vouchers to use at local markets. USAID also launched the Forward Campaign, incorporating public service announcements, social media, and information packets, to engage the American public and encourage them to donate. The famine designation was lifted in January, but the situation in the Horn of Africa remains fragile. "We need to bridge together our relief and development, we need to coordinate with our donor partners, and we need to do so in support of African-led frameworks," Lindborg stated, adding that military involvement is also a key part of enabling development, particularly in the area of food security. Food security is one of USAID's seven core areas and also part of the U.S. Presidential Initiative, "Feed the Future," a $3.5 billion pledge to work with partner countries, development partners, and other stakeholders to tackle global food security challenges. AFRICOM's Commander, General Carter Ham, discussed the link between food security and overall stability at a recent conference at the National Defense University, stressing the importance of a whole-of-government approach. "Supporting humanitarian assistance and food security are good examples of areas in which our interagency staff bring invaluable expertise to help ensure that our efforts complement those of other U.S. government agencies," Ham said. "Because food emergencies are complex humanitarian crises, often rooted in poverty or tied to climate change or even to political issues with both short- and long-term impacts, the U.S. military offers just one facet of U.S. support to humanitarian efforts in the Horn of Africa." USAID is one of 13 interagency organizations that U.S. AFRICOM works with to ensure its plans and activities complement those of other government programs and fit within the context of U.S. foreign policy. Through its whole-of-government approach, AFRICOM aims to draw together diplomacy, development, and defense--known as the 3Ds. Lindborg identified disaster risk reduction as an area where USAID and the U.S. military can and should be working together. "You cannot have fruitful development without security," she said. "The focus that you're making here on partnering for security sector developments as a means for enabling development, that is so key." Acknowledging the differences in techniques and capabilities between the military and interagency, Lindborg said, "It is is critical to have jointness of goals and objectives but there will be times and places where you want to have differentiation on the ground to enable and leverage the uniqueness of our particular tools and capabilities."

"I think we can find ways to work more closely together for a development objective, which I know for this command has been a significant priority," she concluded. The presentation was part of the Command Speaker Series, an initiative that brings experts on African-related topics to the AFRICOM headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany to share diverse perspectives.
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News Headline: UN refugee agency concerned as thousands continue to flee fighting in Mali |

News Date: 04/03/2012 Outlet Full Name: United Nations News Service News Text: 3 April 2012 The United Nations refugee agency today voiced deep concern about the deteriorating political and security situation in Mali, where thousands of people continue to flee their homes due to fighting between Government forces and Tuareg rebels in the country's north. The north of the country is becoming more and more dangerous due to the proliferation of armed groups in the region, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Melissa Fleming, told reporters in Geneva. Renewed fighting in northern Mali has uprooted more than 200,000 people since January, with the majority seeking safety in neighbouring countries and some 93,000 believed to be internally displaced. The country is also dealing with a coup by rebel Malian soldiers who took control of the country some 10 days ago and announced the dissolution of the Government led by President Amadou Toumani Toure. Ms. Fleming reported that more than 2,000 people have fled to Burkina Faso and Mauritania over the past five days because of the insecurity and the political instability stemming from the military coup. The majority of the refugees are Tuaregs, but there are also ethnic Peuls, Arabs and Bambara. Refugees pouring into neighbouring countries are reporting the presence of armed militiamen and home guards units set up by local communities to defend themselves, she said. Most tell UNHCR staff that they fled because they were worried about armed robbers and feared there would be more heavy fighting in the north, while some said they left their homes due to lack of food, said Ms. Fleming. Others told our teams that they decided to leave Mali when hopes for a negotiated peace between the Government and Tuareg rebels in the north faded after the coup. The number of Malians crossing into Niger appears to have dropped recently, with UNHCR hearing of only one group of 300 people crossing last week and seeking shelter in the village of Ayrou. The agency is stepping up its assistance to Malian refugees across the Sahel region who face acute water and food shortages. The influx of large numbers of mostly nomadic refugees and their cattle is straining the limited resources in many arrival areas, and the situation has worsened since Tuareg fighters captured several big towns in the north last week, preventing UNHCR and other aid agencies from reaching those in need of assistance. UNHCR is calling on all parties to refrain from any action that could put fleeing populations in danger or hamper their movement to safer areas, said Ms. Fleming.

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