United States Africa Command Public Affairs Office 25 Aug 2011 USAFRICOM - related news stories TOP NEWS

RELATED TO U.S. AFRICA COMMAND AND AFRICA U.S.: Gadhafi Chemical, Nuclear Materials Secure (ABC News) 25 August 2011 American officials said today that Moammar Gadhafi's stock of chemical and nuclear materials are secure, amid fears they could fall into the wrong hands as the longtime leader's regime falls. NATO Working to Track Thousands of Libyan Missiles (CNN) 25 August 2011 Washington -- NATO is trying to learn specifics about how many surface-toair missiles and launchers may still be operational inside Libya and who controls them, a NATO official told CNN Thursday. Libya: National Transitional Council in Tripoli 'as of this moment' (The Telegraph) Libya's National Transitional Council last night declared that the government had moved its operations to Tripoli as of this moment. 26 August 2011 Ali Tarhouni, the NTC vice-chairman, said there had been great improvement in the security situation in the capital, though he appealed for Libyans to respect people and property and for the citys police to resume work. He said Mahmoud Jibril, the head of the transitional government, would move to Tripoli depending on the security situation. Syrian Protesters Chant Bye Gaddafi, Bashar Next (Rueters) 25 August 2011 AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian protesters chanted "bye, bye Gaddafi, Bashar your turn is coming" overnight, but President Bashar al-Assad showed few signs of cracking after months of demonstrations and his forces raided an eastern tribal region again on Thursday. Italy Pledges Funds for Libya (The Wall Street Journal) 25 August 2011 ROMEItalian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi pledged 350 million ($504.5 million) in funding to Libya's interim government on Thursday in a bid to stabilize the rebel-backed leadership as they relocate to Tripoli. This USAFRICOM Public Affairs product was compiled by Petty Officer First Class Steve Owsley

Diplomats Meet in Turkey to Discuss Libya's Future (Voice of America) 25 August 2011 Istanbul, Turkey, is hosting a high-level diplomatic meeting of some 30 countries on what support can be given to Libya following the ousting of leader Moammar Gadhafi. The attending countries belong to the Libyan Contact Group and include the United States, European, western Arab and African nations, as well as Libya's rebel government, known as the National Transitional Council [NTC]. Money topped the agenda. What Happens to Libyan Oil After Qaddafi? (The Atlantic) The country's "sweet" oil reserves have a disproportionate effect on world supplies and European economies. 25 August 2011 As Libyan rebels continue to hunt for Muammar el-Qaddafi, the future of Libya hangs in the balance. But so does the future of Libyan oil. Opinion: NATO Nations Set to Reap Spoils of Libya War. (Al Jazeera) As rebels take Tripoli, foreign powers are eyeing the prize of Libya's high quality crude oil. 25 August 2011 France's President Nicolas Sarkozy, like his counterparts in the UK, Italy, the US and other countries, is keen to garner oil contracts once a new government emerges in Libya. Rebel Athor Admits Leading Deadly South Sudan Attacks (Voice of America) 25 August 2011 South Sudan is accusing Khartoum of backing a cross-border attack at Kaka town in Upper Nile state by rebel groups that left over 72 people dead. The dead include at least 15 Southern Army soldiers. Sudanese risk post-independence statelessness UNHCR (Reuters Africa) 25 August 2011 LONDON Aug 25 (Reuters) - Large Sudanese communities could become stateless, deprived of basic rights such as access to jobs and education, unless Khartoum and Juba ensure citizenship for all following South Sudan's independence, the U.N. refugee chief said on Thursday. Few African Leaders Show up for Famine Summit (LA Times) 25 August 2011 Only four of 54 member nations attend the African Union donors conference in Ethiopia, aimed at raising money to ease the crisis in the Horn of Africa.

Instructors Struggle to Mold Militias from War-Ravaged Somalia in a National Army (The Washington Post) 25 August 2011 MOGADISHU, Somalia The instructors whistle tweets, and around 50 Somalis drawing paychecks from the U.S. government punch the air in front of them with varying degrees of coordination and enthusiasm. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------UN News Service Africa Briefs Full Articles on UN Website Cape Verde: Ban commends peaceful and credible presidential poll 25 August Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the peaceful staging of presidential elections in Cape Verde, saying they illustrate the West African countrys continued adherence to democracy and good governance. World must fund famine-wracked Somalia to prevent generation dying, UN warns 25 August African leaders convened a fund-raising conference today for famine-wracked Somalia, where tens of thousands of people have already died and 3.2 million are on the brink of starvation, with a top United Nations official warning that the crisis stretches far beyond hunger to issues of health, protection and livelihood. On eve of Horn of Africa pledging conference, UN calls for generous donations 24 August Senior United Nations officials are calling on countries, businesses and individuals to give generously to support efforts to tackle the food security crisis gripping the Horn of Africa, warning that the world cannot afford to lose momentum in the fight against famine, disease and starvation. Funding shortage forces UN agency to trim food rations for Congolese refugees 24 August A shortage of funds has forced the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to halve its food rations for tens of thousands of Congolese refugees in Rwanda beginning on 1 September. Liberians vote on constitutional changes seen by UN as milestone in peace process

23 August Liberians went to the polls today to vote in a referendum on constitutional changes, a move described by the United Nations envoy for the West African country as a milestone in the process to entrench peace and stability that has prevailed since the end of the civil war in 2003. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST: 1 SEPT 2011 WHEN: September 1, 2011, 5:45 p.m. 7:30 p.m. WHAT: The Long Shadow of 9/11: Americas Response to Terrorism WHO: Brian Michael Jenkins, Senior Adviser to the President of RAND WHERE: RAND Corporation, 1776 Main St., Santa Monica, CA CONTACT: events@rand.org. Media contact: http://www.rand.org/events/2011/09/01.html 8 SEPT 2011 WHEN: September 8, 2011, 12:00 p.m. 1:30 p.m. WHAT: Ten Years Later Public Diplomacy and the Arab World, Center on Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School, Conversations in Public Diplomacy WHO: Several Panelists (see website) WHERE: USC; Tutor Campus Center Forum CONTACT: cpdevent@usc.edu Media contact: http://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/index.php/events/events_detail/16973/ 20 SEPT 2011 WHEN: September 20, 2011, 12:00 p.m. WHAT: Pakistan, the U.S. and Public Diplomacy with Consul General Riffat Masood CPD Conversations in Public Diplomacy WHO: Riffat Masood, the Consul General of Pakistan WHERE: USC; SOS B40 CONTACT : cpdevent@usc.edu Media contact: http://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/index.php/events/events_detail/17070/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FULL ARTICLE TEXT U.S.: Gadhafi Chemical, Nuclear Materials Secure (ABC News) By: Kirit Radia 25 August 2011 American officials said today that Moammar Gadhafi's stock of chemical and nuclear materials are secure, amid fears they could fall into the wrong hands as the longtime leader's regime falls. "Our judgment is that they remain secure," U.S. State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters. "We have no reason to believe that there is anything else of that nature anywhere else." U.S. officials, including Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said they are concerned the sensitive material could end up in the hands of terrorists in the unstable nation now that Gadhafi is on the run. "Gadhafi did have some mustard agent," Nuland confirmed today. She said the deadly chemicals had been moved to an ammunition reservation where it is kept "inside massive steel containers, within heavy bunkers" that were sealed by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. U.S. officials used "national technical means" to determine that, though some gas remained, it was accounted for and further found that any "sensitive elements of Libya's nuclear program" had been removed successfully from the country years before. The last of Gadhafi's highly enriched uranium, which could have been used to produce a nuclear bomb, were taken out of the country in 2009. While Gadhafi did have some yellowcake nuclear material, that material is "safeguarded" in a Libyan nuclear research facility. In any event, Nuland said, "Libya doesn't have the means right now to turn yellowcake into anything dangerous." With chemical and nuclear dangers out of the way, Nuland said the greatest concern to the U.S. was the proliferation of the Libyan military's powerful, shoulder-fired anti-aircraft weapons known as MANPADS. Chris Stevens, the U.S. envoy to the Transitional National Council in Benghazi, has met with the rebel leadership several times in recent weeks to ensure they are prepared to take over control of depots containing those weapons.

"I cannot from here today size the MANPAD problem, because I don't think anybody knows," Nuland said. "This was not something that Gadhafi was in the business of publishing, and he's good at hiding stuff." The State Department has already spent $3 million on contracts to help destroy weapons and mines inside parts of Libya that have been taken over by rebel forces. Gadhafi had promised in 2003 to dismantle its nuclear program as part of an agreement that eventually led the U.S. to take Libya off the list of states that sponsor terrorism in 2006. After the agreement, the U.S. sent millions in aid to the Gadhafi regime "focused on bolstering Libya's commitments to renouncing weapons of mass destruction," according to State Department records. ----------------------------------------------------------NATO Working to Track Thousands of Libyan Missiles (CNN) By Barbara Starr and Pam Benson 25 August 2011 Washington -- NATO is trying to learn specifics about how many surface-toair missiles and launchers may still be operational inside Libya and who controls them, a NATO official told CNN Thursday. Several months ago, the U.S. military estimated Libya had an arsenal of 20,000 such missiles, known as SAMs, but it is not clear how many may have been destroyed during the conflict and who has control of those remaining. During an April 7 hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Gen. Carter Ham, chief of the U.S. Africa Command, said, "I'm very concerned about the proliferation of weapons, notably shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, which we assess there were perhaps as many as 20,000 in Libya as the operation began. Many of those we know are now not accounted for. And that's going to be a concern for some period of time." But the State Department tried to tamp down concerns on Thursday about Libya's weapons. "On the conventional side, there's been a lot of fear-mongering reporting about missiles and other things," said spokeswoman Victoria Nuland. She said the United States is working with the Libyan opposition as well as neighboring countries to control the movement of any shoulder-fired weapons out of Libya.

Questions also have been raised about 10 tons of mustard gas stored at the Waddan Ammunition Reservation in Libya. Nuland said the gas is secure. "It is inside massive steel containers within heavy bunkers. These bunkers were sealed by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons ... and we are able to monitor the security with national technical means," she said, referring to the intelligence community's use of satellites, drones and other surveillance measures. But Nuland also referred to discussions with the National Transitional Council about taking over external security of the facility, raising the question about exactly who is watching over it now. A U.S. official said the same Libyan government unit that had been guarding the mustard gas stockpile is still doing so, an indication that Gadhafi security forces are still present. But the official said the United States has been closely monitoring the facility and has determined "they have neither abandoned their posts, nor tried to gain access to the materials." The materials "are secure, guarded and not disturbed," said the official. -------------------------------------------------------------------------Libya: National Transitional Council in Tripoli as of this moment (The Telegraph) Libya's National Transitional Council last night declared that the government had moved its operations to Tripoli as of this moment. By: Gordon Rayner, Damien McElroy and Andrew Gilligan 26 August 2011 Ali Tarhouni, the NTC vice-chairman, said there had been great improvement in the security situation in the capital, though he appealed for Libyans to respect people and property and for the citys police to resume work. He said Mahmoud Jibril, the head of the transitional government, would move to Tripoli depending on the security situation. When asked how Col Muammar Gaddafi would be found, he replied: When we capture him, well tell you about it. How about that? He added that he would hopefullybe captured before the end of Ramadan, but proclaimed even if he was still at large, he would not be an obstacle to the rebuilding of Libya. We are free, he is the one moving from sewer to sewer.

The net appeared to be closing on Muammar Gaddafi last night as rebels laid siege to a possible hideout and British intelligence sources said that the deposed leader was still in Tripoli. Up to 1,000 opposition fighters surrounded an apartment block near Gaddafis former headquarters in the Libyan capital, where they exchanged fire with loyalists following unconfirmed reports that the despot was inside with some of his sons. ---------------------------------------------------------------------Syrian Protesters Chant Bye Gaddafi, Bashar Next (Rueters) By Khaled Oweis 25 August 2011 AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian protesters chanted "bye, bye Gaddafi, Bashar your turn is coming" overnight, but President Bashar al-Assad showed few signs of cracking after months of demonstrations and his forces raided an eastern tribal region again on Thursday. The new chant, inspired by the apparent collapse of Muammar Gaddafi's rule in Libya, was filmed by residents in the Damascus suburb of Duma after prayers on Wednesday. But in eastern Syria, tanks and armored vehicles entered Shuhail, a town southeast of the provincial capital of Deir al-Zor, where daily protests have taken place against Assad's rule since the start of the fasting month of Ramadan, they said. "Initial reports by residents describe tens of tanks firing randomly as they stormed the town at dawn. Shuhail has been very active in protests and the regime is using overwhelming force to frighten the people," a local activist said. Since Ramadan began on August 1, tanks have entered the cities of Hama, scene of a 1982 massacre by the military, Deir al-Zor and Latakia on the Mediterranean coast, trying to crush dissent after months of street protests. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group based in Britain, said 11 civilians had been killed across Syria on Wednesday, including seven in the province of Homs.

State news agency SANA said "armed terrorist groups" killed eight soldiers when they ambushed two military vehicles near the towns of Rastan and Telbiseh. Syria has expelled most independent journalists, making it difficult to verify accounts on the ground from authorities and activists. Prominent cartoonist and Assad critic Ali Ferzat was beaten up in Damascus by a group of armed men and then dumped in the street, an opposition activist group said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Ferzat was taken to hospital with bruises to his face and hands. Ferzat, whose cartoons often mock repression and injustice in the Arab world, has criticized Assad's repression of protests. He told Al Arabiya television three weeks ago: "For the first time there is a genuine and free revolution in Syria." EU OIL SANCTIONS POSSIBLE The defeat of Gaddafi may encourage Western nations to step up moves against Assad, who pursued parallel policies of strengthening ties with Iran and Shi'ite Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah while seeking peace talks with Israel and accepting European and U.S. overtures that were key in rehabilitating him on the international stage. European Union diplomats said on Wednesday that the bloc's governments were likely to impose an embargo on imports of Syrian oil by the end of next week, although new sanctions may be less stringent than those imposed by Washington. Syria exports over a third of its 385,000 barrels of daily crude oil output to Europe, mainly the Netherlands, Italy, France and Spain. A disruption would cut off a major source of foreign currency that helps to finance the security apparatus, and restrict funds at Assad's disposal to reward loyalists and continue a crackdown in which the United Nations says 2,200 people have been killed. In a sign that the prospect of sanctions was already having an effect, traders said French oil major Total had not lifted a cargo of naphtha from Syria's Banias refinery which it had bought in a tender.

Arab League ministers will meet in Cairo on Saturday to discuss Syria. An official said they would discuss imposing a timeframe for Assad to enact reforms. But they would also call on "all parties to end the conflict," the official said, in an apparent acceptance of Syria's argument that it faces armed opponents. In an interview with state television this week, Assad said the unrest "has shifted toward armed acts." Authorities blame the violence on "armed terrorist groups," who they say have killed an unspecified number of civilians and 500 soldiers and police. Human Rights Watch said in a new report that the vast majority of civilian deaths documented by Syrian human rights groups "have occurred in circumstances in which there was no threat to Syrian forces." "President al-Assad has said he is pursuing a battle against 'terrorist groups' and 'armed gangs,' and Syrian authorities have claimed that they have 'exercised maximum restraint while trying to control the situation'. Neither claim is true," the report said. It said Syrian forces had killed at least 49 people since Assad told U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on August 17 that military and police operations had stopped, adding that on August 22 in Homs, Syrian forces "fired on a crowd of peaceful protesters shortly after a U.N. humanitarian assessment team left the area, killing four." The official state news agency quoted Assad as telling clerics during a Ramadan iftar meal on Wednesday that the West was pressuring Syria "to sell out, which will not happen because the Syrian people have chosen to have an independent will." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Italy Pledges Funds for Libya (The Wall Street Journal) By Stacy Meichtry and Giada Zampano 25 August 2011 ROMEItalian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi pledged 350 million ($504.5 million) in funding to Libya's interim government on Thursday in a bid to stabilize the rebel-backed leadership as they relocate to Tripoli. In addition, Italy's Eni SpA, the largest foreign oil company in Libya, will sign an agreement with Libya's interim government on Monday to supply natural gas and fuel for the immediate needs of the local population, Mr. Berlusconi

said in joint press conference with Mahmoud Jibril, chairman of the executive council of Libya's transitional government. The Italian moves are part of a broader effort to unlock billions of dollars in Libyan assets that were frozen by the United Nations and the European Union earlier this year in an attempt to turn up pressure on the regime of Col. Moammar Gadhafi. On Wednesday, the U.S. introduced a resolution to the U.N. to authorize the transfer of about $1.5 billion in frozen funds to Libya for humanitarian needs. The U.S. resolution seeks to override South Africa's opposition to unfreezing most of the Libyan money until the U.N. recognizes the interim government. A vote on the resolution is expected Thursday. Mr. Jibril said the funds from Italy would help assuage the interim government's urgent need for funding, as well as fuel and gas supplies. The money, Mr. Jibril said, will be used to fund health services as well as the collection of weapons, a key step in bringing order to Libyan streets. The failure to unlock additional funding, Mr. Jibril said, would lead to "grave consequences" as the interim government struggles to find its footing in Tripoli and exercise control over the rest of the country. "The destabilization inside Tripoli and other parts of the country would really be beyond control" without steady funding, Mr. Jibril said. A spokesman for the Italian foreign ministry said Italy would deliver the funds as an advance on Libyan money that is in Italian banks but remains frozen under U.N. and EU orders. Getting Libya back online is also a major goal for Mr. Berlusconi's government. The conflict shredded the close ties that Mr. Berlusconi had cultivated with Col. Gadhafi over the years, allowing Tripoli to pour its oil wealth into Italy's stagnant economy. Libya's sovereign-wealth fund and central bank were major investors in some of Italy's biggest firms, including Milan-based bank UniCredit SpA, defense contractor Finmeccanica SpA and the Turin football club Juventus. Libya's stakes in those firms remain frozen. Eni's agreement to supply local Libyan populations is a first step in reviving the Italian oil giant's vast operations in the country. Before the conflict, Rome counted on the North African country for about a quarter of Italy's oil supplies and 10% of its natural gas. Eni was forced to shut down its pipelines when the conflict broke out, withdrawing its Italian staff from the country in February.

"We found a solution by delivering gas and fuel for the population in advance. We will get future payment in oil once the Libyan fields are functioning again," said Eni chief executive Paolo Scaroni, speaking on the sidelines of the Milan press conference. Mr. Scaroni said he expects Libyan oil output to resume in six to 18 months, adding that the company's priority was getting Libyan natural gas flowing again. Eni and interim government officials have said they expect Eni to resume operations under the terms of contracts signed under the Gadhafi regime. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Diplomats Meet in Turkey to Discuss Libyas Future (Voice of America) By: Dorian Jones 25 August 2011 Istanbul, Turkey, is hosting a high-level diplomatic meeting of some 30 countries on what support can be given to Libya following the ousting of leader Moammar Gadhafi. The attending countries belong to the Libyan Contact Group and include the United States, European, western Arab and African nations, as well as Libya's rebel government, known as the National Transitional Council [NTC]. Money topped the agenda. The nearly 30 countries and organizations of the Libya Contact Group called for an expedited process to unfreeze the billions of dollars in Libyan assets for use by the rebels' NTC. The gathering was described as a technical meeting ahead of next week's meeting of the group in Paris. But the head of political affairs for the NTC, Fatih Baja, said concrete steps were taken to unfreeze some of the funds. "There are not promises, but I think something on the ground is moving. I think [we'll] get $2.5 billion by the end of the month. I think we need more, but for us it's something that will help us," said Baja. The Libyan assets were frozen in February by a United Nations resolution imposing tough sanctions on Gadhafi in response to his use of violence against protesters. It is estimated that around $150 billion of Libyan assets are frozen worldwide under the U.N. sanctions. Addressing the Istanbul gathering, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu made an appeal to all those attending to work towards unfreezing all Libyan assets.

"We need to take action within the U.N. Security Council to institute the legal framework for the alleviation of the NTC urgent financial needs. Especially finding a solution to the usage to the frozen Libyan assets by the NTC is of critical importance," said Davutoglu. It remains unclear whether U.N. permanent members Russia and China would support ending the freezing of the funds. Releasing the frozen assets is proving to be a legally complex affair. South Africa's opposition has further complicated matters. But Libyan ambassador to the UAE and NTC member Aref Ali Nayed said they urgently need $5 billion. "We need urgent medical supply. We need food supply. We [need] medicine. We need spare parts to repair infrastructure. We need communication gear to keep in touch with all the local councils, and to make sure policing happens properly between all local communities. So there is a lot of need," said Nayed. The head of the NTC, Mahmoud Jibril, said Thursday the release of the funds is crucial to stabilizing Libya. He made the comment during a visit to Italy Thursday, where he received a pledge that $500 million held in Italian banks would be unfrozen. The United States introduced a draft resolution late Wednesday proposing the release of up to $500 million for international humanitarian organizations and to help fund a U.N. humanitarian appeal. Another $500 million would be used for the purchase of amenities. A vote is expected Thursday or Friday. But Turkish international relations expert Soli Ozel said consideration should be given to how the money is distributed. "How the money goes to the new regime is more important than the fact that money is going to the regime. You are talking about a country that has no government [and] no institutions, and the rebels, for all the good they have done, are not necessarily known for [their] principles on governance and diligence and stuff. Therefore, it's important to do this with institution building," said Ozel. The Istanbul meeting also covered the reconstruction of institutions. But observers warn that will take time. The message from the NTC is that time is not what the country has. -----------------------------------------------------------------------What Happens to Libyan Oil After Qaddafi? (The Atlantic) The country's "sweet" oil reserves have a disproportionate effect on world supplies and European economies.

By Olga Belogolova Aug 25 2011, 9:22 AM ET 25 August 2011 As Libyan rebels continue to hunt for Muammar el-Qaddafi, the future of Libya hangs in the balance. But so does the future of Libyan oil. Although a victory by rebel forces would remove an oppressive regime, it would simultaneously remove a unifying principle from the highly tribal coalition of rebel forces, and would potentially endanger what in 2010 made up 92 percent of the nation's government revenues: oil and gas. "The early days of transition could go well--or not," said Kevin Book, managing director at ClearView Energy Partners, a Washington-based policyanalysis firm. "If they go poorly, oil infrastructure could be harmed." "If 'Libya-ration' ends like Iraq's withdrawal from Kuwait in 1991, it will be a Pyrrhic and pyrotechnic victory, bullish for oil and bearish for [President] Obama," Book told National Journal."If 'Libya-ration' ends like U.S. drawdowns in Iraq, the results could still create an overhang that gooses oil prices up, rather than down." When Iraqi forces withdrew from Kuwait in 1990, they left behind damage to more than 80 percent of Kuwait's 950 operating oil wells. The most severe damage had been dealt to the production facilities, according to an assessment by the Federation of American Scientists. In 2010, the U.S. drawdown from Iraq left that country's vast network of oil and gas pipelines vulnerable to damage. Some pipelines were sabotaged, leading to supply disruptions and requiring the burial of some above-ground pipelines to decrease their vulnerability to attack. It's not yet clear what damage the six-month uprising has done to Libya's oil and gas infrastructure, but a post-Qaddafi Libya might not ensure its safety, Book said. "The pipelines will be the most vulnerable point," should there be significant fighting among rebel factions. With Libya's economy reliant on its high-quality oil and gas reserves, the North African nation's next government undoubtedly will utilize its lucrative natural resources. "Whoever is in power is going to want to bring the [oil] companies back," Frank Verrastro, senior vice president and director of the Energy and National Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told National Journal.

While "just getting Libyans to get along with Libyans" will be one hurdle, another will be to reassure foreign companies that the nation is stable enough for them to resume working in Libya. Major oil companies from Italy, France, Germany, and Spain have drilling operations in Libya, with 85 percent of the country's oil and gas going to those countries, according to the International Energy Agency. Those operations were suspended earlier this year when Libya's civil war broke out. Italian oil company Eni SpA, the largest foreign producer in Libya, and other firms will be asking themselves: "Is this a place you can send people to work?" Book said. Thirteen percent of Eni SpA's revenue came from Libya before the conflict began in February. In July, the company cut its full-year production target because of the disruption in Libya. Energy consultant Wood MacKenzie said this week that even after hostilities end, it could take three years for Libyan oil production to return to preconflict levels. But others are more optimistic. Verrastro predicted that Libyan production could come back up by 400,000 to 500,000 barrels a day within six months. And Samuel Ciszuk, senior Middle East and North Africa energy analyst with IHS Energy, said that barring any serious damage to infrastructure--and assuming some degree of political stability--Libyan production could be up to 1.2 million barrels a day by this time next year. Depending on policies and infrastructure, the country could potentially produce 250,000 to 300,000 barrels a day within three months, he added. "It will surely ease a lot of the worries" over crude supply, Ciszuk said. Before February, Libya exported about 1.6 million barrels of oil a day. While that's only about 2 percent of the world's oil production and a virtual pin drop compared with production from its 11 partners in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, the value of Libya's oil lies in its quality, not its quantity. Libyan oil is referred to as "sweet" crude oil, which can be used with very little refinement. Most oil from Saudi Arabia and other countries is of a lesser quality. It costs more for U.S. refineries, among the most advanced in the world, to turn that oil into gasoline, while some European and Asian refineries are not even equipped to refine the "sour" lower quality crude. "Libya's oil is oil that refineries today can use today," Book explained.

That makes European and Asian markets much more reliant on the highquality crude coming from countries such as Libya, Nigeria, and Algeria. With Libya almost entirely out of the equation for the time being, refiners in Europe end up turning to Nigeria and Algeria, putting them in direct competition with the U.S., which gets most of its sweet crude from those two countries. That's why Libyan oil production--or lack thereof--can have such a disproportionate effect on international gas prices. As companies shut down production and evacuated staff in Libya and markets feared the spread of unrest in the region in February, world oil prices hit their highest levels since 2008. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Opinion: NATO Nations Set to Reap Spoils of Libya War. (Al Jazeera) As rebels take Tripoli, foreign powers are eyeing the prize of Libya's high quality crude oil. By: Rachel Shabi 25 August 2011 France's President Nicolas Sarkozy, like his counterparts in the UK, Italy, the US and other countries, is keen to garner oil contracts once a new government emerges in Libya. It looks like the more telling news on Libya has migrated to the business pages. With jubilant reporting of Gaddafi's imminent downfall seizing headlines, it's the financial pages that have the clinical analysis. So, for instance, it is in this section that the Independent reports a "dash for profit in the post-war Libya carve up". Similarly, Reuters, under the headline, "Investors eye promise, pitfalls in post-Gaddafi Libya" noted that a new government in that country could "herald a bonanza for Western companies and investors". Before Tripoli has completely fallen, before Gaddafi and his supporters have stepped down and before the blood dries on the bodies that have yet to be counted, Western powers are already eyeing up what they view us just rewards for the intervention. There are no more illusions over how far NATO forces exceeded the UN security resolution that mandated its campaign. For months, NATO officials insisted it was operating within brief - an air campaign, designed to protect civilians under threat of attack. But now it is described as an "open secret" that NATO countries were operating undercover, on the ground.

Add to that the reluctance to broker a negotiated exit, the practice of advising, arming and training the rebels, and the spearheading of an escalation in violence and it looks like NATO's job morphed from protecting civilians to regime change. Oil for regime change And there's a reason for this sudden rush of honesty over its involvement. As alluded to by the Economist, each country's contribution to the NATO effort in Libya is expected to have some impact on how much of the spoils it gets in the looming post-war period. The French Le Figaro newspaper is keen to talk up Libya as "Sarkozy's war", while the British Telegraph drops references to the involvement of British military and intelligence officers, including MI6 and the RAF. Aiding the Libyan rebel forces of the National Transitional Council has created a debt of gratitude. In the context of responsibility for what happens next in Libya, an anonymous British official told the Economist that NATO's involvement in the Libyan uprising means that: "Now we own it." As Reuters reports, "Western companies look well positioned as billions of dollars in oil exploration and construction contracts come up for grabs as part of the reconstruction effort." Leaving aside the massive profits from the rebuilding that Libya is now going to need, there are vast oil spoils to distribute. The Libyan oil industry produced 1.6 million barrels a day prior to the war. The country is thought to have 46 billion barrels of reserves - the largest in Africa. Winners and losers And this is what the information manager at the rebel-controlled Arabian Gulf Oil Company, Libya's largest oil producer, had to say about who it now intends to trade with: "We don't have a problem with Western countries like the Italians, French and UK companies. But we may have some political issues with Russia, China and Brazil." Those last three countries weren't involved in the NATO mission in Libya. None of that is to bemoan the downfall of a terrifying dictator who has kept Libyans crushed and brutalised for decades. Gaddafi's demise is welcome; the courage of Libyans who fought his regime is staggering and only a stone would fail to be moved by their celebration of freedom now. But it does not negate those factors to point out that NATO countries have not previously seemed bothered by the bloodiness of this dictator's 42-yearrule - or that the striking feature of the West's relationship to the Middle East

has been its cynical alliances with repressive rulers, propped up to shut down their populations while opening up resources to foreign access. It is exactly this track record - of being a corrosive influence and a selfinterested broker - that has made Middle Eastern countries wary of any Western intervention in the tide of revolutions now sweeping the region. Libyan rebels asked for help, but were wary of what was viewed as a necessary alliance with Western forces. It does the flow of Arab uprisings a disservice to now glorify NATO's mission. A liberal intervention for humanitarian ends may be the comfortable hook; but securing assets and resources, as usual, is the real goal. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Rebel Athor Admits Leading Deadly South Sudan Attacks (Voice of America) By: John Tanza 25 August 2011 South Sudan is accusing Khartoum of backing a cross-border attack at Kaka town in Upper Nile state by rebel groups that left over 72 people dead. The dead include at least 15 Southern Army soldiers. The Minister of Information in Upper Nile state, Peter Lam, says South Sudans army has since pushed the militia back out the area. The spokesman for the South Sudan army says the group responsible for the raid was a mixture of Sudanese and local militias under the command of renegade generals Gordon Kong and George Athor. Athor admits fighting in Kaka, but says his force does not depend on Khartoum for support. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sudanese Risk Post-Independence Statelessness - UNHCR (Reuters Africa) By: Katie Nguyen 25 August 2011 LONDON Aug 25 (Reuters) - Large Sudanese communities could become stateless, deprived of basic rights such as access to jobs and education, unless Khartoum and Juba ensure citizenship for all following South Sudan's independence, the U.N. refugee chief said on Thursday. Khartoum has excluded dual nationality for southerners, and last month Sudan's parliament gave initial approval to cancel the citizenship of anyone

taking up South Sudanese nationality after South Sudan became independent on July 9. The move highlights the legal uncertainty of hundreds of thousands of southerners who have been living in the north for decades. Analysts say the question of citizenship could raise new tensions between the two sides that ended a two-decade war in 2005 and have yet to finalise their border. The issue is of particular concern for the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR), which launched a campaign on Thursday to highlight the plight of an estimated 12 million stateless people around the world. They do not exist on paper and are not considered nationals by any country. "We are afraid that many people that had established long-lasting relationships in the north (of Sudan) and have very few contacts in the south might fall through the cracks if their nationality is not recognised (by either state)," the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, told AlertNet in an interview. Guterres said UNHCR was working with both sides to make sure that every Sudanese was granted a nationality "to avoid what has happened, for instance, with the break-up of the Soviet Union in the past". Statelessness exacerbates poverty, creates social tensions and can divide families. The problem is most widespread in Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East, UNHCR said. Yet only 66 countries are parties to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, and only 38 countries have signed the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness which marks its 50th anniversary on Aug. 30. Continued... "That shows not only how difficult it has been to raise awareness in relation to the problem, but also some resistance of states because this deals with the heart of the concept of sovereignty -- nationality laws which, to a certain extent, are sometimes responsible for the existence of statelessness," Guterres said. And yet there was a compelling humanitarian argument for states to sign up to the conventions, he added, citing the "dramatic circumstances" in which many stateless people lived. "Can you imagine that you are now living in the slums of a city in the developing world? That you have no nationality, no ID card?" Guterres said. "You cannot send your children to school, you have no access to official

medical services, you do not have the right to work, to own property. That you can be jailed and forgotten in jail." The other argument being used to persuade governments to sign up was financial, he said. Failure to recognise stateless people meant many are unable to contribute to the economy. ---------------------------------------------------------------Few African Leaders Show up for Famine Summit (LA Times) By: Robin Dixon 25 August 2011 Only four of 54 member nations attend the African Union donors conference in Ethiopia, aimed at raising money to ease the crisis in the Horn of Africa. Johannesburg, South Africa Most of Africa's heads of state failed to turn up Thursday for the first African Union donor conference in Ethiopia to raise money for the Horn of Africa famine, leaving activists disappointed with the pledges. Of the African Union's 54 member nations, only the heads of Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea and Djibouti participated in the conference in Addis Ababa, along with the head of the transitional government in Somalia, the country hit hardest by the famine. Critics accused African leaders of failing to make good on their rhetoric about finding African solutions for African problems. Activists said leaders had pledged about $50 million, but much of it was "in kind" assistance, with few details given on the services being offered. The African Development Bank, meanwhile, said it would donate $300 million for long-term development in the Horn of Africa. The African Union had come under fire for delaying the conference for several weeks because some leaders had conflicts in their schedules. Nicanor Sabula, spokesman for Africans Act 4 Africa, a coalition of civil organizations, said the failure of leaders to appear at the conference as the Horn of Africa faced its greatest crisis in two decades was "disappointing and embarrassing." With 12 million people in crisis, and famine declared in many parts of southern Somalia, the United Nations has appealed for $2.4 billion. Despite pledges of more than $500 million from the United States, $228 million from

the European Union and $630 million from individual European countries, the target has not been met. It is reportedly the region's worst drought in more than 50 years. Tens of thousands of people have died and 1.5 million have left their homes in Somalia in search of food. Five regions of Somalia have been declared famine-hit and two others are expected to be added to the list. At the conference, Andrew Andasi, an 11-year-old Ghanaian who saw images of the famine on television and launched a radio campaign for donations, said he had raised $4,000. Andrew called on African leaders to help those in need, especially women and children. Activists said some countries that could afford to do more have not. "We were expecting that the heads of states from Africa would come up and show solidarity with the people of the Horn of Africa," Sabula said. "It starts to reinforce the perception of the AU as a club of presidents.... It doesn't send a very good message to the people of Africa. I know people will be very disappointed." Africans Act 4 Africa set the $50-million target, believing it to be modest but realistic. Appealing to the countries' representatives Thursday, Asha Rose Migiro, the U.N. deputy secretary-general, said the number of people in crisis had not peaked, and cited challenges in reaching those in need, according to Agence France-Presse news service. "The future of an entire generation hangs in the balance," she said. Kanayo Nwanze, head of the U.N. International Fund for Agricultural Development, said the donor meeting was an important development. "Africa should not wait for the international community to solve its problems," Nwanze said. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Instructors Struggle to Mold Militias from War-Ravaged Somalia in a National Army (The Washington Post) By: Associated Press 25 August 2011

MOGADISHU, Somalia The instructors whistle tweets, and around 50 Somalis drawing paychecks from the U.S. government punch the air in front of them with varying degrees of coordination and enthusiasm. The men, destined to be part of the Somali governments VIP protection team, are practicing karate at a newly built parade ground in the capital. Instructors say the lessons are less about self-defense and more about trying to mold a collection of ragtag militias into a national army a problem advisers have also faced in Afghanistan. Whoever has picked a gun and a rag of a uniform out here is called a soldier. But they dont have the basis of what it takes to be a professional, said Capt. Frank Kaweru, the African Unions chief instructor at the al-Jazira Somali military base. Discipline is the most important thing for them to learn. I insist on it. In recent weeks Somali forces have shot civilians, each other, and looted food aid meant for famine-hit families. Yet these are the forces many aid agencies must rely on to protect vast amounts of food pouring into Somalia. They are also supposed to help the 9,000-strong African Union force secure the countrys capital after Islamist rebels withdrew from bases there this month. But many now fear that with the Islamists gone, Somalias armed forces still organized largely along clan lines may simply fight each other and try to extort money from the civilians they are meant to protect. A real danger exists that the warlords and their militia groups will move forward to fill the vacuum created by al-Shababs departure, said Augustine Mahiga, the U.N.s special envoy to Somalia, after al-Shabab pulled out. Still, Somalias armed forces 10,000 soldiers, 5,000 police and assorted allied militias have seen some improvements over the past year. Since December, the soldiers have been receiving a regular $100 paycheck every month from the Italian and American governments. The police receive the same amount through the U.N. International accounting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the AU force administer the army payments, handing each man his cash in person to prevent theft by commanders. The soldiers have also received new uniforms. Al-Jazira has been transformed from a wasteland dotted with a few ragged tents and no fence to a fortified camp with guard towers, razor wire, classrooms and a school. Vast white tents can house over a thousand trainees at a time. Before, they often slept

under trees and those who werent paid sometimes sold their weapons and bullets to feed their families. Last year the European Union began training 2,000 Somali soldiers for six months at a time in Uganda. The U.S. helped by funding transportation for trainees to and from Somalia, paying for equipment and salaries for the soldiers, and supporting the Ugandan army. EU adviser Patrick Geysen said the first phase of training had been completed for nearly 2,000 men. The program has been extended, he said, and another batch of 500 Somalis will begin training in October, focusing on midlevel and junior officers. AU officers also say they are working more closely with the Somali army than they used to. AU front-line units were seen sharing equipment and sleeping quarters with Somali soldiers, something unthinkable only a year ago when there was deep distrust between the forces. We are fighting shoulder to shoulder with our brothers, Somali Lt. Mahad Abdullahi Mohamud said proudly. But most Somali soldiers are loyal to individuals, not to the weak U.N.backed Somali government, and most brigades are still organized along clan lines. Analysts say unless the government widely perceived as divided and corrupt must improve its performance and command loyalty. The soldiers at Camp al-Jazira say all they can do is try to break some of the habits picked up over 20 years of civil war. As he watched a platoon of soldiers go by, struggling to march in step, instructor Kaweru said he knows there is still a long, long way to go. At least we have started something, he said. We need to hand over Somalia to a professionalized army. We will not stay here forever. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Somalia: World Must Fund Famine-Wracked Somalia to Prevent Generation Dying, UN Warns. (All Africa) By: Non-Attributed Author 25 August 2011 African leaders convened a fundraising conference today for famine-wracked Somalia, where tens of thousands of people have already died and 3.2 million are on the brink of starvation, with a top United Nations official warning that the crisis stretches far beyond hunger to issues of health, protection and livelihood.

"The future of an entire generation hangs in the balance," Deputy SecretaryGeneral Asha-Rose Migiro told the pledging conference hosted by the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. "If we do not respond, the consequences will reverberate for years. We will be asked how we stood by and watched a generation die, how we allowed a crisis to become a catastrophe, when we could have stopped it." She noted that communities had already been shattered and a generation of orphans would bear the scars of hunger for the rest of their lives. Mr. Migiro stressed the multiple facets of the crisis, including public health, with disease, including cholera and measles, threatening to spread throughout Mogadishu, the capital, and beyond. "We must do everything to ensure that affected communities have enough clean water, medicine and hygiene supplies to stop it spreading further," she said. "This is also a protection crisis, where women face the threat of rape in overcrowded camps, where orphaned children are lost and scared, with no sense of future, where refugees are being preyed upon by armed gangs and bandits during their long walk to safety." It is also a crisis of livelihoods, with thousands of households having sold their assets to keep themselves alive. "Pastoralists have lost their livestock: they will only be able to survive future environmental or economic shocks if they can rebuild their resilience," she added. Ms. Migiro emphasized the urgent need for the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in the war-torn and faction-riven country to take up these challenges to assist and deliver food relief and basic services in areas that it controls, and for the international community to fully support the TFG so that it can exercise its responsibilities to protect civilians. She also highlighted the need to build long-term sustainability and resilience so that future shortages can be averted by taking appropriate agricultural steps to end the cycle of recurring crises. She called on the TFG to step up its own outreach and reconciliation efforts to build sustainable peace in a country that has not had a functioning central government for past two decades, during which internecine fighting spawned by warlords and Islamic militants has killed countless thousands of people and driven 1.4 million others from their homes.

The TFG, supported by the 6,200-strong UN-backed African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), recently expanded its control over Mogadishu after AlShabaab Islamic insurgents withdrew from nearly all the city. Earlier this month Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Special Representative Augustine Mahiga called for greater international aid to enable the Government to move into the country's south, which is still controlled by AlShabaab. Ms. Migiro noted that while the situation outside Somalia is not expected to reach famine proportions, millions of people are also struggling to survive in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Djibouti, after the worst drought in decades. "The suffering is real and widespread and we cannot afford to lose the momentum for action," she said, noting that Kenyans and Ethiopians, even while confronting their own difficulties, are also hosting hundreds of thousands of Somali refugees, who have fled conflict and famine and now live in vast camps. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today warned that efforts to keep farmers and pastoralists on their feet, prevent the crisis from worsening and speed progress toward recovery are not being adequately funded. Support for activities outlined in FAO's "Road map for Recovery" a $161 million package designed to restore livelihoods and build the resilience of populations in the face of climate and other shocks has so far been insufficient, with only $57.3 million paid up or in the pipeline to date, the agency said in a news release. It noted that high cereal prices continue in the Horn of Africa, as cereal supply is declining and will not be replenished until the year's end, provided there is adequate rainfall. Livestock conditions continue to deteriorate, and the increasing burden of accumulated debts continues to erode both urban and rural households' ability to purchase food. "We have the know-how, including frameworks, institutions, technology and human capacities to eradicate famine from the Horn of Africa, but we lack predictable resource flows to achieve that outcome," states a document prepared for the Addis Abba meeting by the AU in collaboration with the three Rome-based UN food agencies FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------African Union to Hold Delayed Fundraiser for Famine Relief. (CNN) By: CNN Wire Staff

August 25, 2011 The African Union plans to host a delayed summit Thursday to raise funds for famine victims amid mounting criticism over the continent's weak response to the disaster. The meeting originally planned for August 9 was postponed this month even as the organization called on urgent aid to the drought-struck Horn of Africa region. "Urgent humanitarian assistance is crucial to alleviate the impact of the drought, which has deprived people from water, sanitation, health, basic food and nutritional needs," the 54-nation body said in a statement announcing the delay. It did not give a reason for postponing the meeting, which will be held at its headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A drought in the Horn of Africa region straddling Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia has left nearly 12 million people in need of assistance. Somalia is especially badly hit, with a famine declared in some parts of the nation. Relief efforts in Somalia have been hindered by the ongoing battle between Islamist rebels and the transitional government, which holds little sway beyond Mogadishu. Aid agencies have urged the international community to ramp up help as thousands flee Somalia each week in search of food and water -- many walking for days in the sweltering sun to refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia. The meeting comes as aid groups urge the continent's leaders to step up their efforts. "The African Union has so far pledged only $500,000 for the aid effort, and most key governments have pledged even less or nothing at all," Oxfam said in a statement this month. Only a handful of African nations have donated to the effort, according to Oxfam.