United States Africa Command Public Affairs Office 14 May 2012 USAFRICOM - related news stories

Good morning. Please see below news review for May 14, 2012. Of interest in today's clips: ---Rebel LRA 'Top Commander' Caught -- U.S. Trains African Soldiers for Somalia Mission -- Algeria Islamists Reel from Election Fiasco -- Kenya hunting German Islamist -- JTF Arrests Yoruba Boko Haram Chief in Kano -- Libya Finance Minister Says to Resign Soon, Cites "Wastage" U.S. Africa Command Public Affairs Please send questions or comments to: publicaffairs@usafricom.mil DSN (314) 421-2687 or commercial +49-(0)711-729-2687 Headline Date Outlet

Rebel LRA 'Top 05/14/2012 AFP Commander' Caught

ENTEBBE - Uganda's army has captured a top commander of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a spokesperson said on Sunday.

Nigeria: JTF Arrests Yoruba 05/14/2012 Leadership Boko Haram Chief in Kano
A man suspected to be the operations commander of the Boko Haram sect was yesterday arrested by the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Kano. Suleiman Mohammed, who hails from Ogbomosho in Oyo State, believed to have masterminded several deadly attacks in Kano, has ...

Algeria Islamists Reel from Election Fiasco

05/14/2012 AFP

Algeria's Islamists were reeling Saturday from a stinging setback in legislative polls which saw the ruling party come out on top, resisting the Arab Spring's tide of democratic change.

U.S. Trains The African 05/14/2012 Washington Soldiers for Post

Somalia Mission
KAKOLA, Uganda -- The heart of the Obama administration's strategy for fighting al-Qaeda militants in Somalia can be found next to a cow pasture here, a thousand miles from the front lines.

Briton's Who Are Joining 05/14/2012 BBC Somalia's Al-Shabaab

The black flag of Somali terror group Al-Shabaab flies on Twitter - and its tweets are in English - English that reads like it is written by a native speaker.

Libya Finance Minister Says to 05/14/2012 Reuters Resign Soon, Cites "Wastage"
TRIPOLI - Libya's interim finance minister said on Thursday he would resign soon because of "wastage of public funds", citing a now-halted scheme to compensate former fighters and pressure from them for payment.

Sudan Says Regained Control of 05/14/2012 Reuters Rebel-held Darfur Town

Sudanese army troops have pushed out rebels who had seized control of a town in the western Darfur region, a state-linked media website said on Wednesday, the latest violent incident in the troubled area.

UN Leader Calls on Sudan

05/14/2012 AFP

UN leader Ban Ki-moon has called on Sudan to move its troops out of the disputed territory of Abyei after rival South Sudan withdrew its security forces.

Private 'Navies' to Deter Somali Pirates

05/14/2012

Africa Review

Privately armed patrol boats aimed at deterring Somali pirates could be up and running by as early as next month, after a prominent insurance firm agreed to provide financial support.

Scepticism the Main Challenge in 05/14/2012 Reuters Algeria Election

ALGIERS - Algerians voted on Thursday for a new parliament that officials say will bring democracy to a country left behind by the "Arab Spring" revolts, but many people showed their scepticism by abstaining.

Kenya Hunting German Islamist

05/14/2012 SAPA

NAIROBI - Police in Kenya have launched a manhunt for a German citizen who allegedly illegally entered the East African country with the intent to aid the Somali Islamist militia al-Shabaab in carrying out terror attacks, local media reported on Sunday.

ICC prosecutor: Kony Will be 05/14/2012 AFP Captured or Killed in 2012

Lord's Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony will be captured or killed this year, the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor said Thursday.

United United Nations Nations News Center 05/14/2012 News - Africa Center Briefs
- Ban welcomes South Sudan's withdrawal of police from disputed Abyei - UN relief official calls for sustained aid and livelihood support in Somalia - UN-backed African initiative keeps Lord's Resistance Army on the run - South Sudan must sustain effor...

News Headline: Rebel LRA 'Top Commander' Caught | News Date: 05/14/2012 Outlet Full Name: AFP News Text: ENTEBBE - Uganda's army has captured a top commander of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a spokesperson said on Sunday. "We are going to see a captured top commander," army spokesperson Felix Kulayigye told AFP, shortly before reporters were flown on a military aircraft to see the rebel. The army have not given the name of the rebel, and there were conflicting reports as to whether he is among the top three chiefs wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on war crimes charges. The rebel is believed to have been captured in the Central African Republic, one of several nations where the Ugandan-led LRA operate. The most notorious wanted LRA member is its chief Joseph Kony, who is wanted by the ICC for war crimes. His global notoriety has increased over the past year through an internet video "Kony 2012," which has been watched tens of millions of times since it was posted online by the US advocacy group Invisible Children. Kony is wanted by the ICC for rape, mutilation and murder of civilians, as well as forcibly recruiting children to serve as soldiers and sex slaves.
Return to Top

News Headline: Nigeria: JTF Arrests Yoruba Boko Haram Chief in Kano | News Date: 05/14/2012 Outlet Full Name: Leadership News Text: By Chika Otuchikere and Salisu Ibrahim A man suspected to be the operations commander of the Boko Haram sect was yesterday arrested by the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Kano. Suleiman Mohammed, who hails from Ogbomosho in Oyo State, believed to have masterminded several deadly attacks in Kano, has been moved to Abuja for interrogation.

The Kano State police commissioner, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, who confirmed the arrest, described Mohammed as a high-profile operative of the sect. He was nabbed along with his wife and five children during a raid on his Farawa Babban Layi residence. According to the police commissioner, Mohammed's capture was made possible by good intelligence work as well as cooperation from the public. He also affirmed that no shots were fired during the raid. Idris said that the sect commander had been flown to Abuja where he was handed over to one of the security agencies. He said that weapons including 1,000 rounds of ammunition, 10 crates of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), a rifle and three pistols were seized from him. "The arrest came after a tip-off from a member of the public who noticed suspicious movement of people into the sect leader's house and alerted the security agencies. They successfully arrested the top sect leader, whom we believe to be the operational commander of the sect in the state," he said. Idris stated that Suleiman was likely to be the person behind the series of organised deadly attacks in Kano State, particularly the attack on Christian worshippers inside the BUK campus and the targeted killings of innocent persons in the state. A highly placed security source in Abuja, who pleaded anonymity, confirmed Mohammed's arrest. In another development, gunmen yesterday killed a top leader of the Shiite Islamic sect, Mohammed Alli, in his residence in Gadan Kaya area of Kano. A source close to the deceased said that a group of gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram operatives came to the home of the Shiite leader and asked to use one of his motorbikes. Alli was said to have turned down the request following which he was promptly shot at close range by the men. The late Alli, described as one of the richest Shiites residing in Kano, lived in the Gadan Kaya area of Kano. The remains of Alhaji Alli have been deposited at the Murtala Muhammed Hospital in Kano while preparations were being made for his burial according to Muslim rites. Kano State commissioner of police Mr Idris confirmed the killing but said investigations were still going on to unravel the perpetrators.
Return to Top

News Headline: Algeria Islamists Reel from Election Fiasco | News Date: 05/14/2012 Outlet Full Name: AFP News Text: Algeria's Islamists were reeling Saturday from a stinging setback in legislative polls which saw the ruling party come out on top, resisting the Arab Spring's tide of democratic change. The regime argued that the results showed Algerians' desire for stability, at a time when regime change was bringing chaos to other countries, and outright rejection of Islamism, whose rise 20 years ago led to civil war. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's National Liberation Front (FLN) won 220 out of 462 seats up for grabs in Thursday's legislative elections, improving on its share in the outgoing national assembly. The seven Islamist parties contesting the polls could only manage a combined 59 seats, a major setback after their predictions of victory during the campaign.

The National Rally for Democracy (RND) of Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, a nationalist party close to the military and loyal to Bouteflika, came second with 68 seats, compared to 62 in the outgoing house. While the results largely maintain the status quo, one notable change was the number of elected women, which rose to 145 from seven in the outgoing assembly following the introduction of quotas. Algeria's outgoing governing coalition included the FLN, the RND and the largest of the legal Islamist parties, the Movement of Society for Peace. Security and stability Friday's provisional results, which have yet to be confirmed by the constitutional council, mean the FLN and the RND could form a majority without the Islamists. "We'd already experienced Islamism, nobody has forgotten this in Algeria... Voters were looking for security, stability," political analyst Nourredine Hakiki said. Green Algeria, a three-party Islamist alliance, garnered a paltry 48 seats and charged widespread fraud. "There has been large-scale manipulation of the real results announced in the regions, an irrational exaggeration of these results to favour the administration parties," it said in a statement. It warned it would take measures in protest. In the wake of the popular revolts that became known as the Arab Spring, moderate Islamist parties recorded electoral victories in Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco. Ouyahia argued that the Arab Spring was hardly an attractive scenario, calling it a "plague" that had resulted in "the colonisation of Iraq, the destruction of Libya, the partition of Sudan and the weakening of Egypt." Turnout had been expected to be low after a campaign that produced no new faces and failed to draw crowds. But Interior Minister Daho Ould Kablia announced a "remarkable" rate of 42.36 per cent which he said confirmed Algeria's democratic credentials. Many Algerians and observers had predicted that ever deeper mistrust, especially among the country's majority of young people, could lead to an even worse turnout than the historical low of 35 percent recorded in 2007. The opposition Rally for Culture and Democracy, which chose to boycott this election, claimed the announced turnout was fraudulent and that the real figure "did not exceed 18 percent." The Socialist Forces Front, Algeria's oldest opposition party, garnered only 21 seats and also cried foul, charging the regime has used the election "only to consolidate its power". Some 500 foreign observers brought in by Bouteflika to monitor the vote reported only minor hiccups but they were denied access to the national electoral roll, which grew by four million voters since 2007. Dozens of complaints were filed to the electoral commission however, and observers were expected to release more detailed assessments on Saturday and Sunday.
Return to Top

News Headline: U.S. Trains African Soldiers for Somalia Mission | News Date: 05/14/2012 Outlet Full Name: Washington Post News Text: By Craig Whitlock KAKOLA, Uganda The heart of the Obama administration's strategy for fighting al-Qaeda militants in Somalia can be found next to a cow pasture here, a thousand miles from the front lines. Under the gaze of American instructors, gangly Ugandan recruits are taught to carry rifles, dodge roadside bombs and avoid shooting each other by accident. In one obstacle course dubbed Little Mogadishu, the Ugandans learn the basics of urban warfare as they patrol a mock city block of tumbledown buildings and rusty shipping containers designed to resemble the battered and dangerous Somali capital. Where the African Union trains its Somalia force. .Death is Here! No One Leaves, warns the fake graffiti, which, a little oddly, is spray-painted in English instead of Somali. GUNS $ BOOMS, reads another menacing tag. Despite the warnings, the number of recruits graduating from this boot camp built with U.S. taxpayer money and staffed by State Department contractors has increased in recent months. The current class of 3,500 Ugandan soldiers, the biggest since the camp opened five years ago, is preparing to deploy to Somalia to join a growing international force composed entirely of African troops but largely financed by Washington. After two decades of failed efforts, the U.S. government and its allies in East Africa say the interventionist strategy is slowly bolstering security in war-torn and famine-stricken Somalia, long considered the most ungovernable country in the world. Ever since it plunged into chaos in the 1990s, Somalia has destabilized the region, serving as a hub for Islamic extremists and bands of pirates who plunder some of the world's busiest shipping lanes. American officials have long worried that al-Qaeda leaders will seek to rebuild their global operations in Somalia and nearby Yemen, across the narrow Gulf of Aden. The U.S.-backed force, which is officially led by the African Union and endorsed by the United Nations, began operations in Somalia in 2007. For years, it struggled to fill its ranks, overcome a lack of equipment and win support among Somalis. Since the fall, however, these troops have chased al-Shabab, the Somali militia affiliated with al-Qaeda, out of Mogadishu and solidified control of the capital. In February, the African Union announced plans to expand the size of the force from 12,000 to 18,000, and is preparing to deploy troops to southern and central Somalia for the first time. About three-quarters of the force mostly Ugandans, but also soldiers from Burundi, Djibouti and Sierra Leone will have been trained by U.S. contractors hired by the State Department. U.S. military trainers are playing a supporting role, offering specialized instruction in combat medicine and bomb detection, among other subjects. At the end of the day, if you look at all of this and say, Is it worth it?' said Army Lt. Col. Luis Perozo, the defense attache at the U.S. Embassy in Kampala, Uganda, and I would say, all you need to do is look at what's going on in Mogadishu. The boot camp here, known as the Singo Training School, is operated by the Ugandan military, but the instruction is overseen by MPRI Inc., a subsidiary of L-3 Communications, based in Southeast

Washington. It is one of four State Department contractors that are training African troops for Somalia. Between one dozen and two dozen MPRI instructors are posted to the Singo camp at any given time to run the 10-week training course. All are veterans of the U.S. Army or Marine Corps, and most served in Iraq or Afghanistan, U.S. officials said. The State Department and Ugandan military allowed a handful of journalists to visit the camp recently but declined to permit MPRI trainers to speak on the record. Where the African Union trains its Somalia force. .Since 2007, the U.S. government has contributed about $550 million to train, equip and subsidize the African Union troops in Somalia. The European Union and United Nations are the other major donors. Washington is relying on proxy forces because Somalia has been essentially off-limits to U.S. ground troops since 1993, when Somali fighters shot down two military helicopters and killed 18 Americans in the Black Hawk Down debacle. Thanks to an influx of U.S. aid and equipment, the Ugandan military has been willing to step into the breach. Ugandan officials have pledged to increase their forces in Somalia to 8,000 troops, the largest foreign contingent (Kenya and Burundi are the other major players, each contributing about 4,500 troops). U.S. officials praised the Ugandans' performance and military skills. They're a very professional army, said Maj. Albert Conley, deputy chief of the office of security cooperation for the U.S. military in Uganda. I've never had a discussion on Clausewitzian theory with an African military officer before, but I have here. Ugandan military officials said they have had no trouble finding recruits willing to go to Somalia, despite the dangers. It has stepped up our credibility in the region, and any soldier would be very proud to be part of the mission, said Col. J.B. Ruhesi, the Ugandan commander of the Singo training camp. Financial incentives also play a major role. The African Union pays troops about $1,000 a month to serve in Somalia quintuple the usual salaries for many enlisted Ugandan soldiers. Ugandan military officials said about 80 of their troops have been killed in Somalia since 2007, although analysts suspect the number of casualties has been far higher. A leading cause of death for the African Union troops in Somalia has been homemade bombs alShabab's weapon of choice. U.S. trainers said they recently upgraded their course of instruction to help recruits learn how to avoid the explosives. To that end, the Defense Department recently sent about 20 Marines to the Singo training camp to provide specialized instruction in combat medicine and bomb detection. Although the Marines have never fought in Somalia, they have years of experience dealing with homemade bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan When it comes to IEDs, there's really nothing new under the sun, said Marine Staff Sgt. Neal Fischer, referring to improvised explosive devices, the military's term for rudimentary bombs. Fischer acknowledged that many of the Ugandan recruits are raw but said they were fast learners. We're looking to enhance their mobility in the field, he said. They're here to learn this skill set so they can go back to Somalia.
Return to Top

News Headline: Briton's Who Are Joining Somalia's Al-Shabaab | News Date: 05/14/2012 Outlet Full Name: BBC News Text: The black flag of Somali terror group Al-Shabaab flies on Twitter - and its tweets are in English - English that reads like it is written by a native speaker. It's not known who the writer is - but over the last five years there have been mounting questions over the number of people from the UK who have been going to Somalia to help Al-Shabaab, an organisation affiliated to Al-Qaeda that controls part of the country. This spring, those concerns have been focused on the case of East Londoner Jermaine Grant. He is accused in Kenya of being part of a bomb plot orchestrated by the Islamist movement. Grant, already convicted of entering the country illegally, denies involvement in a plot and his lawyers say he has been beaten and subjected to solitary confinement. But it's now emerged that Samantha Lewthwaite, the widow of 7/7 bomber Jermaine Lindsay, is wanted in connection with the same alleged bomb plot for which Jermaine Grant is now on trial. Investigators suspect the two worked together and that Ms Lewthwaite was the "financier". She is missing from Kenya and has not been formally charged. The alleged link to 7/7 (which involved terror blasts in London) is the starkest example yet of why the British security and intelligence agencies are so worried about Britons in Somalia. The ringleader of the 7/7 bombers, Mohammad Sidique Khan, began his journey to a violent end by rattling buckets raising cash for Kashmir. He then went to Pakistan for mujahideen training and, much later, brought his war back to the UK. Blowback It's this fear of "blowback" that has become a primary concern for security officials looking at Somalia. Just as with Pakistan, there are now substantial ethnic and community links between the UK and the Horn of Africa nations. Officials fear that the young British people who go to Somalia to join Al-Shabaab's jihad will return with the skills and the mindset to launch attacks on British streets - just like Sidique Khan before them. What's more, as Al-Qaeda's core has increasingly struggled to operate in Pakistan and Afghanistan, AlShabaab has increasingly become an attractive alternative. But are the fears justified? Jonathan Evans, the director general of British domestic intelligence agency MI5, has said that there are a "significant number" of UK residents training with Al-Shabaab. None of this means that any young Briton who goes to East Africa is an incognito jihadist. But it's clear there are those who are. One of the first was a 21-year-old British man who blew himself up in an attack at an Ethiopian army checkpoint five years ago. The man, whose identity has never been publicly confirmed, recorded his martyrdom video in clear English. So how many more have followed him out to Somalia? Rusi, the security think tank, estimates there are

50 British fighters in Somalia but, to be frank, nobody really knows. Some Somali community leaders have suggested hundreds have been through Al-Shabaab's camps. But last October, Cardiff man Abdirhman Haji Abdallah decided he wouldn't sit quietly when his son and a friend appeared to be heading off to Somalia to join those numbers. He got on a plane to bring them back home. "My son was misled into believing that he was fighting in a holy war," he told the BBC Somali Service. "He was brainwashed and taken away from us and he was told that he was going to fight a holy war in Somalia. "With God's help the authorities managed to arrest my son near the Somali-Kenyan border." On their return, the young men were interviewed by the Metropolitan Police. They were later released without charge. Mr Abdallah's fears are shared by many in Somali communities. Teaching assistant There have been at least two cases before the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, the semisecret court that deals with national security deportations, in which the home secretary has sought to bar people from the UK because of their links to Al-Shabaab. One case involved a man who attended the same Cumbrian training camp as the failed 21 July London suicide plotters. Elsewhere, a former teaching assistant from east London, Shabaaz Hussain, was recently jailed for five years for donating 9,000 for terrorism in Somalia. The 28-year-old provided cash to three of his friends who had left the UK to allegedly fight in the east African country. Two of the men currently subjected to monitoring and control in their own homes under Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (T-pims, the system that used to be called control orders) have alleged links to extremism in Somalia. It's worth stressing that these men have not been charged with offences - and a great deal of the case against them is heard behind closed doors. But. nevertheless, the public judgement in the case of one of the men, BX, revealed that MI5 had assessed that he had received terror training in Somalia and had helped to arrange funding for AlQaeda associates in East Africa. When he was first arrested in Nairobi, the High Court was told, he attempted to eat a list of phone numbers. He was returned to the UK and later placed under a control order and moved out of London to break up his alleged network. One of the men he was banned from meeting was called Bilal Berjawi. The ban ultimately didn't matter. Mr Berjawi returned to Somalia, adopted the nom-de-guerre Abu Hafsa and was later described as a senior commander. And he was the British man killed by the drone strike earlier this year, tweeted by Al-Shabaab. -BBCReturn to Top

News Headline: Libya Finance Minister Says to Resign Soon, Cites "Wastage" | News Date: 05/14/2012 Outlet Full Name: Reuters News Text: By Ali Shuaib TRIPOLI - Libya's interim finance minister said on Thursday he would resign soon because of "wastage of public funds", citing a now-halted scheme to compensate former fighters and pressure from them for payment. "I will resign. I can't keep working in these circumstances," Hassan Ziglam told Reuters in an interview. "There is a wastage of public money because nobody fears God." When asked when he would hand in his resignation, he said "soon", but did not elaborate. Libya last month halted a scheme to pay compensation to people who fought in last year's revolt against Muammar Gaddafi because it was riddled with corruption and paying out cash to people who did not qualify. A spokesman for the ruling National Transitional Council said at the time that a list of those eligible under the scheme - which paid out 1.8 billion Libyan dinars ($1.4 billion) in less than three months included people who were dead or who had never fought. Ziglam said the decision to pay compensation to former rebel fighters was made before the current interim government was appointed in November. "I stopped the payment of 1.3 billion dinars," he said, citing inconsistent lists for those who were due to receive payment. Disgruntled militiamen demanding cash or jobs in recognition of the role they played in last year's revolt to oust Gaddafi have now taken to the streets in sometimes violent protests. The prime minister's office is frequently the focus of such demonstrations. Many of the militiamen are armed and occasionally their protests turn violent. On Tuesday, one person was killed and several were injured when militiamen protesting outside the office started shooting, highlighting the country's volatility a month before its first election. "They came two days ago with weapons," Ziglam said. "How can you work in such an environment?" The payment for former fighters is not the only scheme to have been halted. Earlier this year, the government cancelled a program meant to provide free overseas medical care for the uprising's wounded after it turned out to be riddled with fraud too. In that case, the government discovered it was picking up the air fares, medical and hotel bills of people who had simply obtained faked documents saying they were wounded. Next month's election will choose an assembly to draft a constitution, but insecurity in the country could jeopardize the polls. (Editing by Michael Roddy)
Return to Top

News Headline: Sudan Says Regained Control of Rebel-held Darfur Town | News Date: 05/14/2012 Outlet Full Name: Reuters News Text: By Yara Bayoumy Sudanese army troops have pushed out rebels who had seized control of a town in the western Darfur region, a state-linked media website said on Wednesday, the latest violent incident in the troubled area. The two Darfur rebel factions -- the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) factions led by Minni Minnawi and Abdelwahid Nour -- had captured Girayda in southern Darfur on Tuesday as part of their campaign to topple President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's government. "The armed forces were able to defeat remnants of Minnawi's forces from the area of Girayda in South Darfur province after they stormed it yesterday with the purpose of stealing, looting and terrorizing people," the Sudanese Media Centre said. It quoted the spokesman for South Darfur province, Ahmed el-Tayeb, as saying nine Sudanese army soldiers has been killed and that combing operations were still going on to "cleanse the area". The Sudanese army spokesman was not immediately available for comment to confirm the deaths. The two rebel factions had formed an alliance, known as the Sudanese Revolutionary Front, with other fighters in Sudan's southern border states last year. Sudan accuses South Sudan, which gained independence from Khartoum last year, of secretly backing some rebels, an allegation Juba denies. The two former civil war foes have clashed repeatedly in the past month along their shared 1,800 km (1,200 mile) border and remain locked in a conflict over oil revenues, border demarcation and citizenship that had threatened to escalate into a full-blown war. A spokesman for the Minnawi faction rebels, Abdullah Mursal, denied the fighters had been pushed out. "We are still here, this is not true, the government has not entered in Girayda," he said. But the African Union/U.N. mission in Darfur (UNAMID) said peacekeepers on patrol early on Wednesday had seen that "the armed movements had left". "Our patrol observed that several people had died and several were injured. There was widespread looting, fuel was stolen and a lot of businesses were damaged," UNAMID spokesman Chris Cycmanick said. Violence has subsided since mostly African insurgents in Darfur took up arms against the Arabdominated government in 2003, but rebel and tribal fighting and banditry still plagues the territory. (Writing by Yara Bayoumy; Myra MacDonald)
Return to Top

News Headline: UN Leader Calls on Sudan | News Date: 05/14/2012 Outlet Full Name: AFP News Text: UN leader Ban Ki-moon has called on Sudan to move its troops out of the disputed territory of Abyei after rival South Sudan withdrew its security forces.

Ban called on both governments to fall in line with a UN Security Council deadline to start talks on all their disputes, said UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky in a statement released late on Saturday. "The secretary general welcomes the withdrawal of the South Sudan Police Service from the Abyei area. He strongly urges the government of Sudan to also remove its forces from the area," said Nesirky. Sudan and South Sudan agreed in June last year that they would move their forces out of Abyei and set up a joint administration in the disputed territory which Khartoum troops seized in May 2011. Since then South Sudan has formally seceded from the north and growing border tensions have created fears that the two could fight a new all out war. Two million people died in two decades of north-south civil war up to 2005. The UN Security Council passed a resolution on 2 May giving the two sides two days to halt hostilities, two weeks to start talks under African Union auspices and three months to reach an accord. Ban "urges the governments of Sudan and South Sudan to resume negotiations under the auspices of the African Union High-Level Panel to resolve the outstanding issues between them," said the spokesperson. He also said the two sides must activate agreed measures to draw up their border, one of many disputes left hanging over them since their split last year.
Return to Top

News Headline: Private 'Navies' to Deter Somali Pirates | News Date: 05/14/2012 Outlet Full Name: Africa Review News Text: By Paul Redfern Privately armed patrol boats aimed at deterring Somali pirates could be up and running by as early as next month, after a prominent insurance firm agreed to provide financial support. Following the successful introduction of armed guards aboard several merchant ships plying the waters of the Gulf of Eden and the East African coast, Martin Reith, the founder and former chief executive of the Lloyd's of London insurer Ascot Underwriting, has taken the protection business one stage further with his plans for a Convoy Escort Programme, which will complement the overstretched naval forces in the region. According to the London Times newspaper, Financial backing estimated at around $30 million, could be up and running as early as this summer. As such, the measure could be a good gamble as piracy off the Somalia coast is estimated to have cost the international shipping industry as much as $12 billion. The investors are hoping that once the funding is in place, they will buy around seven second-hand naval patrol vessels; the money will also help to finance the armed security guards that will be on board. As well as four crew and eight armed security personnel, each vessel will have inflatable speedboats or ribs' that could be launched into combat if pirates threatened ships, TheTimes report said. The escort programme has already identified the boats that it wants and has a manufacturer for its ribs. Gulf of Aden

The reason for the idea is simple. The astronomical nature of insurance costs mean that ship owners can pay an additional $40,000 to $50,000 for each vessel they send through the Somali coastal region. The naval protection fleet plans to charge a flat fee in three bands based on the speed capabilities of the boats they are accompanying. The fee, which is about $30,000, will be slightly less than prevailing costs and should reduce significantly any other insurance premiums that an operator might pay. Once the private fleet is operating, the programme hopes to buy a further 11 vessels, enabling it to run 16 day to day and have a further two in reserve. At full strength, the patrol boats could accompany about 470 ships a month through the Gulf of Aden, equivalent to about 25 per cent of the traffic that plies the vital shipping lane. Sean Woollerson, a partner in the marine, oil and gas division of Jardine Lloyd Thompson, an insurance broker that negotiates war risk and kidnap and ransom cover, who backs the project, denies the plans are for a private navy. This is not a navy, he said. What we're trying to be is a deterrent force. Prevention is within our reach. The backers of the idea have stressed that it complies with maritime law. They say it will observe the International Maritime Organisation conventions, such as the Safety of Life at Sea treaty. The Convoy Escort Programme is also reported to have been discussed with the British Royal Navy and Nato.
Return to Top

News Headline: Scepticism the Main Challenge in Algeria Election | News Date: 05/14/2012 Outlet Full Name: Reuters News Text: By Christian Lowe ALGIERS - Algerians voted on Thursday for a new parliament that officials say will bring democracy to a country left behind by the "Arab Spring" revolts, but many people showed their scepticism by abstaining. Last year's uprisings in the region left Algeria under pressure to reform and renew the ageing establishment that has ruled without interruption since independence from France half a century ago. The authorities in Algeria, which supplies about a fifth of Europe's imported natural gas, have responded by promising a steady transition towards more democracy, starting with Thursday's vote. The election is likely to be the fairest and most transparent in 20 years, even though diplomats say it could be flawed. It is expected to give the biggest share of seats in parliament to moderate Islamists, mirroring the trend since the "Arab Spring" in countries such as Egypt and Tunisia. However, many Algerians distrust the promises of reform. The election is shaping up to be less a contest between political parties and more a tug-of-war between the authorities and a large contingent who think voting is pointless. Holding a plastic cup of coffee at a pavement cafe in the town of Zeralda, west of the capital, a man in his thirties said he had no plans to get up and go to a polling station.

"What's the use? Parliament has no power and the lawmakers are not competent enough to change the role of their institution," Karim Chiba said. Others believed the election was an opportunity for reform that should be seized. University student Hakima Bahi was one of a handful of people at a polling station in Bou Ismail, a fishing village on the Mediterranean. "I voted because our country needs change, and we should give the political parties a chance to help improve things," she said. LITTLE APPETITE FOR REVOLT Many Algerians see elections as futile because real power, they say, lies with an informal network which is commonly known by the French term "le pouvoir," or "the power," and has its roots in the security forces. Officials deny this and say the country is run by democratically elected officials. Diplomats predict as few as 35 percent of those who are eligible will vote. That would be embarrassing for the authorities. They had hoped a big turnout would give them fresh legitimacy in a year when lavish celebrations are planned for the 50th anniversary of independence. Nevertheless, there is little appetite in Algeria for a revolt. Energy revenues have lifted living standards, and people look with alarm at the bloodshed in neighboring Libya after its insurrection. In Algeria, a conflict in the 1990s between security forces and Islamist insurgents, which killed an estimated 200,000 people, still casts a shadow. The fighting started after the military-backed government annulled an election which Islamists were poised to win. The Islamists set to dominate the 462-seat parliament after Thursday's election are a different proposition. The strongest Islamist bloc, the Green Alliance, are moderates with close ties to the establishment. Several of their leaders are already government ministers. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika could appoint one of them as the next prime minister. The Islamists are on course to displace two secularist parties, also loyal to the establishment, that dominate the outgoing parliament. There are no exit polls, and first results are not expected until they are unveiled by the Interior Ministry on Friday. "There is a very strong chance that the Green Algeria alliance will win a plurality of seats," said Geoff Porter of North Africa Risk Consulting. "Islamist leadership in the parliament, however, is likely to avoid the more difficult issues of political reform, foreign affairs and broader economic policy," he said.
Return to Top

News Headline: Kenya Hunting German Islamist | News Date: 05/14/2012 Outlet Full Name: SAPA

News Text: NAIROBI - Police in Kenya have launched a manhunt for a German citizen who allegedly illegally entered the East African country with the intent to aid the Somali Islamist militia al-Shabaab in carrying out terror attacks, local media reported on Sunday. Police have called on the suspect, identified as Ahmed Khaled Mueller, to report himself immediately to the authorities. They have warned he could be armed. Capital FM reported that police on Saturday night released a photo of the suspect, who may be using several aliases. Kenya sent troops into southern Somalia in October to fight al-Shabaab, after blaming the group for a string of kidnappings on its territory. Supporters of the group have launched several attacks on Kenyan soil since the invasion.
Return to Top

News Headline: ICC prosecutor: Kony Will be Captured or Killed in 2012 | News Date: 05/14/2012 Outlet Full Name: AFP News Text: Lord's Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony will be captured or killed this year, the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor said Thursday. Luis Moreno-Ocampo added that the Kony 2012 video, produced by the Invisible Children advocacy group and viewed nearly 100 million times online, forever changed a conflict that has raged since the late 1980s in relative obscurity. "We reached a complete new generation," following the 28-minute video's release, said Mr MorenoOcampo, who in 2005 secured an arrest warrant for Kony and four of his top deputies, two of whom have since died. "Kony will be arrested or killed before the end of this year," the Argentinian told journalists, without specifying why he felt the elusive rebel leader would finally be found. Kony launched his rebellion in northern Uganda more than two decades ago, but has since been chased to the jungles of neighbouring central African states. In December 2008, Uganda led a US-backed offensive on LRA camps in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, but Kony escaped and his small band of fighters scattered around the vast jungle region. US President Barack Obama has sent 100 special forces to the region to assist the Ugandan, Congolese, Central Africa and South Sudanese troops hunting for Kony and the remnants of the LRA. Mr Ocampo was speaking at one of his last public engagements before leaving his post at The Haguebased court, with Ms Fatou Bensouda, a Gambian, set to take over as chief prosecutor next month. The Kony 2012 video was criticised by some, in part for oversimplifying the root causes of the LRA's devastating insurgency, but Ocampo applauded it for raising awareness about the conflict to unprecedented levels.
Return to Top

News Headline: United Nations News Center - Africa Briefs |

News Date: 05/14/2012 Outlet Full Name: United Nations News Center News Text: Ban welcomes South Sudan's withdrawal of police from disputed Abyei 12 May Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed South Sudan's decision to withdraw its police force from the disputed area of Abyei , and strongly urged neighbouring Sudan to pull out its police from the area as well, in accordance with the agreement both parties signed in June last year. UN relief official calls for sustained aid and livelihood support in Somalia 12 May A senior United Nations relief official today urged the international community to build on the effective delivery of aid that helped roll back last year's famine in Somalia, noting that about 2.5 million people in the Horn of Africa country remain in need of humanitarian support. UN-backed African initiative keeps Lord's Resistance Army on the run official 11 May The United Nations-backed military initiative launched recently by the African Union against the terror group known as the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has kept its members constantly on the move and unable to settle down in any one place for long, according to a UN envoy. South Sudan must sustain efforts to protect human rights, says UN official 11 May Welcoming South Sudan's commitment to human rights, a top United Nations official today encouraged the country to on its very long and difficult path to peace, prosperity and a full realization of human rights, and stressed the importance of addressing issues such as arbitrary detentions, torture and violence against women. DR Congo: UN official voices concern over human rights situation in east 11 May A senior United Nations official today voiced concern over the human rights situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which has experienced a recent upsurge in violence.
Return to Top