africom related news clips june 8, 2010

8/9/2019 AFRICOM Related News Clips June 8, 2010

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United States Africa CommandPublic Affairs Office8 June 2010

USAFRICOM - related news stories

TOP NEWS RELATED TO U.S. AFRICA COMMAND AND AFRICA

U.S. Vice President Embarks on State Visit To Kenya (Voice of America)(Kenya) A leading Kenyan legislator told VOA U.S Vice President Joseph Biden isscheduled to meet President Mwai Kibaki, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, as well as theleadership of parliaments reform caucus Tuesday. Mr. Biden arrived late Monday in

Nairobi as part of a three-day official visit to the country.

The origins of AFRICOM: the Obama administration, the Sahara-Sahel and USMilitarization of Africa(Modern Ghana)(Pan Africa) The US inaugurated a new regional combatant command officially over ayear ago in Oct 1 2008. But the process of creation actually goes back about ten ortwelve years and reflects the dramatic escalation of US military involvement in theAfrican continent.

Nigerian leader lauds Bill Gates on polio, healthcare(AFP)(Nigeria) Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday met Microsoft founder

Bill Gates and hailed the contributions he and his wife have made to healthcare deliveryin Nigeria and around the world.

American denied bail in Rwanda genocide case(Reuters)(Rwanda) A Rwandan court denied bail on Monday to a U.S. lawyer arrested ten daysago on charges of genocide denial and threatening state security, despite pleas from hislegal team that he be freed on health grounds.

Foreign fighters gain influence in Somalia's Islamist al-Shabab militia(WashingtonPost)

(Somalia) Foreign fighters trained in Afghanistan are gaining influence inside Somalia'sal-Shabab militia, fueling a radical Islamist insurgency with ties to Osama bin Laden,according to Somali intelligence officials, former al-Shabab fighters and analysts.

A modest proposal for Liberia(Washington Post)(Liberia) Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is the unsentimental, relentless president of Liberia. Shewas elected in 2005, as Liberia was emerging from years of vicious civil war, and she
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/africa/US-Vice-President-Embarks-on-State-Visit-To-Kenya--95822434.htmlhttp://www1.voanews.com/english/news/africa/US-Vice-President-Embarks-on-State-Visit-To-Kenya--95822434.htmlhttp://www.modernghana.com/news/279135/1/the-origins-of-africom-the-obama-administration-th.htmlhttp://www.modernghana.com/news/279135/1/the-origins-of-africom-the-obama-administration-th.htmlhttp://www.modernghana.com/news/279135/1/the-origins-of-africom-the-obama-administration-th.htmlhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100607/wl_africa_afp/nigeriahealthpoliohttp://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100607/wl_africa_afp/nigeriahealthpoliohttp://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100607/wl_nm/us_rwanda_genocide_denialhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100607/wl_nm/us_rwanda_genocide_denialhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/07/AR2010060704667.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/07/AR2010060704667.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/06/AR2010060602928.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/06/AR2010060602928.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/06/AR2010060602928.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/07/AR2010060704667.htmlhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100607/wl_nm/us_rwanda_genocide_denialhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100607/wl_africa_afp/nigeriahealthpoliohttp://www.modernghana.com/news/279135/1/the-origins-of-africom-the-obama-administration-th.htmlhttp://www.modernghana.com/news/279135/1/the-origins-of-africom-the-obama-administration-th.htmlhttp://www1.voanews.com/english/news/africa/US-Vice-President-Embarks-on-State-Visit-To-Kenya--95822434.html


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recently came to Washington to deliver a progress report and ask for continuedsupport.

May deadliest month for Darfur since 2008: peacekeepers(AFP)(Sudan) Clashes in west Sudan's Darfur region cost almost 600 lives in May, the highest

monthly death toll since peacekeepers were deployed in 2008, according to a UN-African Union document seen by AFP.

Zuma Has Yet to Fulfill Promises to South Africans(New York Times)(South Africa) Despite persistent corruption charges and the taint of extramaritalaffairs, Mr. Zuma is a political survivor who has risen to lead the continentspowerhouse nation and will soon step onto the international stage as South Africa holdsAfricas first World Cup.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN WebsiteUN envoy stresses need for rehabilitation of Ugandan children war survivors

UNICEF seeks to end use of child soldiers across Central Africa-------------------------------------------------------------------------UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Friday, June 11, noon; Washington, D.C.

WHAT: Cato Institute: Sudan After the Elections: Implications for the Future and American

Policy Options

WHO: Sean Brooks, Save Darfur Coalition; Marc Gustafson, Marshall Scholar, Oxford

University; Jon Temin, U.S. Institute for Peace; moderated by Justin Logan, Associate Director

of Foreign Policy Studies, Cato InstituteInfo:http://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=7192

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------FULL ARTICLE TEXT

U.S. Vice President Embarks on State Visit To Kenya (Voice of America)

A leading Kenyan legislator told VOA U.S Vice President Joseph Biden is scheduled tomeet President Mwai Kibaki, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, as well as the leadership ofparliaments reform caucus Tuesday. Mr. Biden arrived late Monday in Nairobi as part

of a three-day official visit to the country.

Olago Oluoch, co-chairman of Kenyas parliamentary reform caucus, said his group willpresent a progress report to Mr. Biden about the much-needed reforms the country hasembarked upon.

Hes got a series of meetings; first he is meeting the President of the Republic of Kenya,Mr. Mwai Kibaki, and he is meeting the Prime Minister. Then, later, he is going to be
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100607/wl_africa_afp/sudanconflictdarfurhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100607/wl_africa_afp/sudanconflictdarfurhttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/08/world/africa/08safrica.html?ref=africahttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/08/world/africa/08safrica.html?ref=africahttp://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICAhttp://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICAhttp://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=7192http://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=7192http://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=7192http://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=7192http://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICAhttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/08/world/africa/08safrica.html?ref=africahttp://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100607/wl_africa_afp/sudanconflictdarfur


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meeting the speaker of the national assembly, parliament and, lastly, he is going to meetme and four of my colleagues who are leaders of the parliamentary caucus for reforms,he said.

After addressing a joint news conference with President Kibaki, Mr. Biden is also

scheduled to visit Kenyas parliament, which is set to open Tuesday after a recentrecess.

President Barack Obamas administration has urged Kenyas coalition government toreform crucial state institutions. Americas envoy to Kenya, Ambassador MichaelRanneberger, said the United States will not do business as usual with those who donot support the reform agenda, or who support violence. Let me assure you that we willtake specific actions to back up those words.

But, legislator Oluoch said Kenya has taken steps to address the demand for reforms.

We believe that (in) the agenda for the meeting today, we will brief the Vice Presidentof the United States (Mr. Biden) how far we have reached, what challenges we are stillfacing and what our expectations are, Oluoch said.

Local media reported recently that President Obama wanted to see Kenyas ongoingconstitutional review process to be successfully concluded. But, he added that theUnited States is not pushing for either a yes or a no vote at the referendumscheduled to be held on 4th August.

Mr. Obama said, "I think it's up to the Kenyan people to make a decision about thedirection of their country. But, as a great friend of Kenya and as president of the UnitedStates, I am hoping that the Kenyan people, through a process of self-determination, areable to take advantage of this moment."

Legislator Oluoch praised Washingtons support for Kenyas constitutional reviewprocess.

Ambassador Ranneberger has been very positive on the need for Kenyans to beeducated of the draft (constitution). The U.S government, through its agency USAID,has been able to reach out to the youth and reach out to women who are themarginalized in our society in such a way that they have been mobilized to understandthe constitution, so that finally they can be able to make their own decision, Oluochsaid.

He said Mr. Bidens visit is a demonstration of the strong bond between Washingtonand Nairobi.


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Oluoch also added that it was a great honor for the country to host the Vice President ofthe United States at a time when Kenya needs support from her true friends.--------------------The origins of AFRICOM: the Obama administration, the Sahara-Sahel and USMilitarization of Africa (Modern Ghana)

As you probably know the US inaugurated a new regional combatant commandofficially over a year ago in Oct 1 2008. But the process of creation actually goes backabout ten or twelve years and reflects the dramatic escalation of US militaryinvolvement in the African continent. It is hard to get figures on military activity, butthe estimate has risen over the last ten years from about $100-200 million a year tocurrent level of $1 billion and a half a year. This does not involve separate funding,which is delivered through the US Department of State for private military contractorsoperating in Africa as part of AFRICOM and US military involvement in the continentas Steven was discussing.

What is responsible for the growing US military involvement began in the late 1990s?There are two major perceptions of US foreign policy makers. One was that the US wasbecoming increasingly dependent on resources, particularly oil, coming from theAfrican continent. For example, today the US imports more oil from Africa than it doesfrom the entire Middle East. The US still imports more from the Western hemisphere Mexico, Canada, Columbia, Venezuela and Ecuador which has a lot to do withexplaining US policy these days towards Latin America and disputes with the Chavezregime. But, after that Africa is the next most important source of imported oil. Nigeriaand Angola are now the US's 5th and 6th largest suppliers of US oil imports. American

policy makers began to see this happening in the late 1990s.

Another thing that they figured out was the growing involvement of al Qaeda andarmed Islamic groups in Africa, particularly with the bombing of the US embassies inKenya and Tanzania which took place in 1998.

I want to emphasis that these developments began before the Bush administration. Thiswhole process began in the second term of the administration of William Clinton andhas continued under the administration of the current president, Barak Obama. So it isnot a partisan political issue in the US. Instead it represents a bi-partisan consensusamongst the political elite, that Africa is of growing military importance to the US andtherefore requires a growing level of military involvement on the continent and that iswhat has led to the creation of the new African command.

Prior to the creation of AFRICOM, as Steven mentioned, US military activities in Africa,which until the 1990s were relatively minimal, were actually handled by separateCommands. Like most American military activities in Africa they were conductedthrough European Command because for the most part the US thought they could rely


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on their European allies to handle any crisis with their own forces. The US was busypursuing its global rivalry with the Soviet Union, engaged in the Korean or Vietnamwar or in other various military projects in Latin America, as well as forming newrelations with Asia. They felt Africa could safely be left in the hands of European allies.But that began to change in the late 1990s: Africa was now of direct importance to the

US national security policy.

What is the AFRICOM mission? US policy makers have gone to great lengths to obscureand, to put it bluntly, deceive people about what AFRICOM is for. They talk a lot abutAfrican peace keeping operations, humanitarian relief operations and the like, but thepeople directly appointed to run AFRICOM, General William Ward, commander ofAFRICOM, and his deputy director Vice Admiral Robert Moeller, are under no illusionsabout what their primary mission is. When they were first appointed and confirmed tooffice it never occurred to them not to tell the truth. And so in the statement they madein 2008, they talked about US interests in oil and concerns about terrorism in Africa.

Since that time they have been pulled to one side and told not be so honest about Africain public. They are now going much more closely to the official line on AFRICOM,which is to demonstrate a benign US interest in Africa. This is the line which has beenmost prominently proclaimed by the deputy Secretary of Defence for Africa, TheresaWhelan who held office until the turn of this year and was the highest ranking personin the defence department. She was charged with responsibility of creating AFRICOM.In public she never said anything about the true mission of AFRICOM, butunfortunately other members of the military didn't know that they weren't supposed toblow the cover. So, they actually quoted in their own publication statements that shemade in a briefing to European command where all she talked about was oil, resources,

terrorism, lines of communications access to bases etc. So, people who actually runmilitary activities in Africa, although they will now be much more careful in public notto say these things, were never under any illusion as to what their primary missionswere.

What is AFRICOM actually doing in Africa to fulfil these missions? Well, first of all, it'scarrying out a whole series of activities which are designed to strengthen the ability ofkey African regimes to stay in power, through arm sales and providing militarytraining programmes by American military personnel travelling to America andtraining African military forces. There are also American military training programmesthat bring African military officers to the US for training, as well as various othersecurity assistance programmes to strengthen the military capability of, first of all,regimes usually oppressive undemocratic regimes which control countries whichare primary sources of oil and other resources. I am thinking countries like Nigeria,Algeria, Angola, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, (the list of major oil producing countries isfairly long), as well as countries which have been willing and able to serve as proxiesfor the US on the global war on terror, particularly Kenya and Ethiopia. With regards toSomalia it is a primary area of concern for America. In North Africa, countries like


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Algeria, Chad, Mali and Niger are known as the Trans Sahara Counter-Terrorismregion with regards to the perceived threat of terrorism.

But professional military officers who run US military activities in Africa know that thisis a strategy which is likely to fail over time. You can only keep these regimes in power

for so long, as they tend to collapse with the growing movement of democratisation inAfrica or simply fragment and self destruct, which is a primary concern for thePentagon. The day may come when the US may have to use its own forces to intervenedirectly in Africa. It is the same trajectory as we have seen in the Middle East under theUS Central Command, which was established in essentially the same way in 1979.Central Command was created to fulfil the pledge made by President Jimmy Carter thatthe United States would be willing to use military force if necessary to protect the freeflow of oil out of the Persian Gulf. And the pledge that has been known as the Carterdoctrine has been the basis of US military involvement in the Middle East ever since.Central command started out as a small headquarters based in Florida. It had no control

over or command of troops, but as I am sure you are all well aware it's now runningtwo major wars in the Middle East and major military bases in the region.

AFRICOM is essentially following the same trajectory. In addition to the assistancealready mentioned, there has been a dramatic build up of US naval forces off the coastof Africa, particularly off the oil rich coast of Guinea and also off the coast of Somalia.The US has established, essentially as part of Central Command, a base on the Africancontinent in Djibouti, which originally focused on US involvement in the Middle Eastbut is becoming increasingly focused over time on the Horn of Africa and East Africa.It's the base from which the US launches military strikes into Somalia, for example. In

addition the US has concluded what are known as 'access agreements'. It's understoodthat its not desirable for the US to build a lot of expensive highly visible military basesaround Africa. Rather, what they need is access to as many local military facilities aspossible. The US therefore concluded these base access agreements with governmentsright across the continent, because it has no way of knowing which part of Africa itmight have to intervene in directly. What the US needs is access to as many differentbases as possible. And, when asked if it has a base in Botswana or Ghana, it will say 'nowe don't have bases in those countries'. And technically these people are telling thetruth, but what they aren't obviously going on to explain is that we have alreadyreached agreements with governments in those countries, in that anytime we want towe can use their military bases. The US has the capability to set up very large militarybases literally in a matter of 24-48 hours and that's essentially what happens when anAmerican president visits an African country. They take along a US military base withthem and establish it for the duration of the trip and then remove it when they leave.They bring in thousands and thousands of marines for security, they bring in wholestock piles of military equipment and other supplies. They bring in their own powergenerating system because they know they can't rely on local power grids; they bringalong sophisticated communication equipment systems because they need to


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communicate back and forth with Washington. In addition to that they have begundoing contingency planning and other preparations for direct military intervention inAfrica. It's not because of the fact that they want to do this, but they understand that thetime is coming when they are going to get the order to do this.

One important example of this was at what is known as a war games scenario, whichwas conducted by the US Amy War College in May 2008. They had never done thesescenarios for Africa before, but it was part of the build up to the inauguration ofAFRICOM. In spring 2008 they did a total of four scenarios, with two of them for Africa.One of those was Somalia, although we don't know very much about that because thepeople involved in it didn't have much to say in public about it. But the people whowere involved in the Nigeria scenario were so disturbed by the prospects they werefacing that they went very public with a lot of detailed information about thosescenarios. First of all the scenario was set in the year 2013, five years from now, andwhat it anticipated was that all oil supplies coming in from Nigeria would be coming to

an end. That would mean that the US would loose access to roughly 10% of its oilimports. A lot of oil would still be coming to the US, but the loss of 10% of America'stotal oil imports would thoroughly disrupt the US economy. People would go to theirgas station and there would be no gasoline. People would go to their stores and therewould no food because it's all brought in on trucks. More and more of it is brought in tothe US on ships. The US depends on access to petroleum, so they understood theimplications if that happened. What they were thinking in terms of was not that thedisruption was caused by MEND (Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta)or insurgent movements in Nigeria, but by the fragmentation and destruction of theNigerian government, which they considered was bent on committing suicide. What

they anticipated was that the government would fragment, with the situationdegenerating into a struggle for control of the oil resources and various elements of theNigerian government. The Nigerian military would start fighting for control of theNiger delta and that is what would bring Nigeria's oil production to a halt, at whichpoint the president of the US would essentially have two options, in their point of view.They explored all alternatives, such as getting the South Africans to intervene, or maybethe CIA could find a way to reach a resolution, but they eventually concluded that therewere really only two options. One is that the President of the United States could get upin front of the American people and say there's no gasoline at the gas stations andthere's nothing I can do about it, which would of course be political suicide for anyPresident. The only other alternative they could see was for the US to send 20,000American troops into the Niger Delta in the hope that somehow they could get the oilflowing again. But these guys are not stupid people; they know that this is animpossible mission for the military. There's no way that the military could get the oilflowing againit would be impossible to protect with military force. But they could seethat under these circumstances there would be irresistible pressure on any Americanpresident to send American troops to Nigeria.


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In my opinion, this is why they went very public about this kind of information. Theywere really hoping, by alerting the American public about what was coming, thatsomehow pressure could be brought to bear on whoever is running the US wheneverthat happens to make sure that they never got that order, because they reallyunderstand how futile and crazy such a military adventure would be. They don't want

to think about it, they don't want to be engaged in direct military interventions at thattime. They can see that day coming.

That brings us to what has changed or not changed since President Obama came intooffice. He came into office, elected just after the official inaugurations of AfricanCommand. All the evidence I see is that he has essentially decided to continue on thesame trajectory established under the Clinton and Bush administration. In his budgetproposal for the fiscal year 2010, which began in Oct 2009, he asked for more money forarms to be sent to African regimes, more money for military training, more money forthe operations of AFRICOM headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, more money for bases

in Djibouti, more money for the naval operations off the oil rich coast of Guinea. Andthat was in addition to everything else that was contained in the budget. WhenSecretary of State Hilary Clinton went to Africa and made a tour of African countries, itwas significant that virtually every single country she toured was a primary recipient ofmilitary assistance; countries like Kenya, South Africa, Angola, Nigeria. In addition,after discussions with Nigeria and the Nigerian military, she stated that the Obamaadministration would do whatever it could to fulfil its pledges within the budgetrequest. She came out and said, in addition to everything we have promised to theNigerians, if they have any more requests for military equipment to be used specificallyin the Niger Delta, the US would be perfectly willing to provide that. It gives you a

sense of how the trajectory is going to be continued and the dangers it poses for Africa,but also for the US as well because of all its military activity. In my opinion, first of all,this kind of military activity puts oil resources in jeopardy and strengthens the threat ofterrorism. That's what the people at the Pentagon understand. So, beyond that, it willinevitably lead to the day when the US will be forced to go into combat in Africa andtake responsibility for the young men and women under their command, which theytake very seriously. They don't want to see them coming back in body bags from adisastrous military intervention they foresee happening in countries like Nigeria.--------------------Nigerian leader lauds Bill Gates on polio, healthcare (AFP)

ABUJA, Nigeria Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday met Microsoftfounder Bill Gates and hailed the contributions he and his wife have made to healthcaredelivery in Nigeria and around the world.

"I thank you for what you are doing for the world. Thank you for all the time andmoney you have been investing to make the world safer and healthier," an officialstatement quoted Jonathan as saying during the meeting.


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"Thank you also for what you are doing for Nigeria as a nation. We appreciate andcommend your efforts," he stated.

Jonathan welcomed the news from Gates that his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

was working on developing an effective malaria vaccine by 2015, the statement added.

He also acknowledged the reported drop in polio cases in Nigeria from 256 in 2009 tojust three so far this year, a situation he attributed to the joint efforts of the government,the Gates Foundation and other stakeholders, it said.

Gates said that since his last visit to Nigeria in February 2009, Nigeria had witnessed agreater reduction in polio cases than any country in the world.

The US billionaire said that he was in Nigeria for consultations on what was needed to

ensure that polio never re-emerged on a large scale in Africa's most populous nation.

Gates was in Kano on Sunday to assess the impact of polio immunisation in this oncepolio-endemic state and epicentre of the transmission of the crippling viral diseasethroughout the world.

"It is fantastic to be here to see so much progress... in reducing the polio burden," Gatestold a gathering of political and traditional leaders in Kano.

"The good result we have seen this year in Kano is a combination of good work and

some good luck that the virus has not come back from any of the neighbouringcountries," Gates said.

In the last 17 months Kano state, which has been a centre of the polio virus in Nigeria,has not recorded a single polio virus transmission, according to health officials.--------------------American denied bail in Rwanda genocide case (Reuters)

KIGALI, Rwanda A Rwandan court denied bail on Monday to a U.S. lawyer arrestedten days ago on charges of genocide denial and threatening state security, despite pleasfrom his legal team that he be freed on health grounds.

Peter Erlinder, the first foreigner accused under Rwanda's 2008 genocide ideology law,pleaded not guilty at a hearing last Friday and his four-lawyer team said they willappeal the bail ruling. He faces a minimum sentence of ten years prison.


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"We thought he would be released on health conditions (but) he was denied the requestfor release for bail and the order was that he'd be in custody for 30 days pending furtherinvestigations," Ken Ogeto, one of his lawyers, a Kenyan, told Reuters.

Erlinder came to Rwanda to defend outspoken opposition presidential candidate

Victoire Ingabire, head of the United Democratic Forces movement. She was arrestedunder accusations of genocide denial and belonging to a terrorist organization in Apriland released on bail.

Erlinder is a law professor in the United States and has acted as lead defense counsel fortop genocide suspects at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) inArusha, Tanzania.

In April he filed a lawsuit in the United States against President Paul Kagame on thebehalf of the wives of the former leaders of Rwanda and Burundi, who died in a plane

crash on April 1994 triggering a 100-day massacre in Rwanda.

The lawsuit accused Kagame of ordering the shooting down of the plane carrying thetwo leaders. A Rwandan probe last year pinned the killing on the former Rwandanpresident's own troops.

GENOCIDE IDEOLOGY LAW

Last week the United States called for Erlinder's release on compassionate groundsbecause he had complained of panic attacks and heart problems that required treatment

at home.

International and Rwandan rights groups say the country's anti-genocide legislation isvague and frequently used by the government to silence dissent.

In a statement released within minutes of the end of Monday's bail hearing, Rwandadenied its genocide laws were political or symbolic and said revisionists who denygenocide would be imprisoned.

"The prosecution of ... Erlinder is not a political tactic; it is an act of justice," saidgovernment spokeswoman Louise Mushikiwabo. "Flagrant and orchestrated breachesof our genocide ideology laws will be met with the full force of the law."--------------------Foreign fighters gain influence in Somalia's Islamist al-Shabab militia (WashingtonPost)


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Foreign fighters trained in Afghanistan are gaining influence inside Somalia's al-Shababmilitia, fueling a radical Islamist insurgency with ties to Osama bin Laden, according toSomali intelligence officials, former al-Shabab fighters and analysts.

The foreigners, who include Pakistanis and Arabs, are inspiring the Somali militants to

import al-Qaeda's ideology and brutal tactics from Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Asignificant number of Americans are also being drawn to the Somali conflict. Two NewJersey men were arrested in New York on Sunday and charged with planning to travelto Somalia to join al-Shabab.

In April, suicide bombers drove a white truck filled with explosives into an AfricanUnion peacekeepers base, mirroring recent bombings in Baghdad or Kabul. Withinhours, a grainy photo emerged on local Web sites of a young, gap-toothed manclutching a sign in Arabic over the words "Distributed by al-Shabab." It declared theoperation revenge for the U.S.-aided killings of Abu Ayyub al Masri and Abu Omar al-

Baghdadi, the top leaders of the insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq.

"The foreign jihadists were once in the shadows," said Rashid Abdi, a Somalia analyst inNairobi with the International Crisis Group, a conflict research organization. "Now,there is no doubt they have taken control of the movement."

Foreigners are increasingly foot soldiers in Somalia as well.

The two New Jersey suspects, Mohamed Mahmood Alessa, 20, and Carlos EduardoAlmonte, 24, appeared in U.S. District Court in Newark on Monday on charges of

conspiring to kill, maim and kidnap people outside the United States. They told a judgethey understood the charges against them, and they were ordered held pending a bondhearing Thursday, officials said. Their attorneys did not immediately return phone callsMonday. The two men face up to life in prison if convicted.

In September, a Somali American from Seattle drove a truck bomb into an AfricanUnion base in Mogadishu, killing 21 peacekeepers. In December, a Dane of Somalidescent blew himself up at a hotel in the capital, killing 24 people, including threegovernment ministers.

In February, al-Shabab formally declared ties to al-Qaeda. The militia has receivedpraise from bin Laden and radical Yemeni American cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi, who hasbeen linked to the suspect in last year's shootings at Fort Hood, Tex., and the suspect inan attempted attack aboard a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day. Aulaqi has beencited as inspiration by the Pakistani American held in last month's attempted bombingin Times Square.


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Al-Shabab's main rival, Hezb-i-Islam, also has proclaimed bin Laden welcome. "We areboth fighting the Christian invaders in Somalia," said Mohamed Osman Aruz, aspokesman for the group, referring to the West and to Somalia's mostly Christianneighbors who back the government.

The rise of the foreign fighters suggests a growing internationalization of the conflict,part of a trend emerging from Yemen to Mali, where al-Qaeda's regional affiliates areshowing increasing ambitions nearly a decade after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Today, U.S. officials consider the vast, ungoverned lands of the Arabian Peninsula andAfrica the second-biggest terrorism threat after Afghanistan and Pakistan. As theUnited States focuses its military muscle in those regions, there is concern that more al-Qaeda-linked fighters could migrate to this part of the world.

"The lesson of the last 10 to 15 years of counterterrorism is that as pressure goes on the

network in one place, it moves elsewhere," Michael Chertoff, former Department ofHomeland Security chief, said during a recent visit to Cameroon's capital, Yaounde.

'Brainwashing our people'

Suicide bombers struck this African Union base in Mogadishu last month. The al-Shabab militia linked the attack to events in Iraq. (Sudarsan Raghavan/the WashingtonPost) Network NewsX Profile

Somalia is where the United States and the West are quietly engaged in the most

ambitious effort outside the theaters of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq to halt thespread of radical Islam and al-Qaeda's influence.

The United States and its allies are providing weapons, training, intelligence andlogistical support to the fragile government. They are also funding the African Unionpeacekeeping force that protects -- many say props up -- the government. Yet al-Shabab,or "The Youth" in Arabic, now controls large patches of south and central Somalia. Thegovernment, divided by political infighting, controls less than five square miles inMogadishu.

In the capital, al-Qaeda-inspired tactics have altered the landscape. Hotels are tuckedbehind steel gates. Peacekeepers use high-tech gadgets to frisk visitors for explosivebelts. Ordinary Somalis avoid empty, parked cars.

The foreign fighters in Somalia number 300 to 1,200, according to Somali and U.S.intelligence estimates. Most are from neighboring countries such as Kenya, Tanzania,Yemen and Sudan. But they include Afghans, Pakistanis and Arabs, say former al-Shabab fighters. At least 20 Somali Americans have joined the militia, including a top


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field commander, Omar Hammami, an Alabama native whose nom de guerre is AbuMansoor al-Ameriki. He has starred in propaganda videos to attract more foreignfighters.

"The foreign fighters are brainwashing our people," Mohammed Sheik Hassan, the head

of Somalia's National Security Agency, said in a recent interview in Mogadishu. "Theywant one Islamic nation under the leadership of bin Laden. But the ambition of Somalisis only to gain power locally."

Al-Qaeda operatives who perpetrated the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya andTanzania that killed hundreds use Somalia as a haven, according to U.S. and Somaliofficials. "There's a parallel, converging interest between the al-Qaeda operatives in EastAfrica and al-Shabab," said a U.S. intelligence official. "There certainly is collusion,cooperation, probably training and some operational level of support."

'Orders from outside'

Foreigners in Somalia are the main link to al-Qaeda's central body, said Somali officialsand former al-Shabab fighters. They train new recruits, both in weapons and ideology.Somalis who waged jihad in Afghanistan with bin Laden now lead the al-Shababmilitia, which is loosely knit of at least 100 clan-based cells. Over cups of sweet Somalitea in Mogadishu recently, a group of clan leaders said the foreign fighters were turningal-Shabab against them, eroding the traditional authority of the clans, Somalia's mostimportant social unit.

"All of us have been targeted," said Mohamed Hassan Haad, a senior figure of thepowerful Hawije clan. "They are getting orders from outside."

Sheik Mohammed Asad Abdullahi, a former top al-Shabab commander who defected inNovember, said that bin Laden never gave direct orders but that al-Shababcommanders regularly consulted with al-Qaeda's central body. Literature and CDs onal-Qaeda tactics and ideology were regularly handed out to the rank and file, he said.

"I believed I was part of al-Qaeda," Abdullahi said.

He defected because he could no longer bear the suicide missions, which he describedas orchestrated by the foreigners.

"If they conquer Somalia, they will not be satisfied," he said. "They will cross theborders."

With the United States expanding its counterterrorism operations in Yemen, U.S. andSomali officials said they are worried that al-Qaeda's Yemen branch and al-Shabab


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could join forces. Still, many Somalis interviewed said they felt a growing anger towardthe foreign fighters.

At the scene of last month's truck bombing, police commander Abdi Fatah Hassanstared at the damage and lamented the violence brought by outside radicals bent on

martyrdom on Somali soil. "What kind of people believe they will enter paradise bykilling poor Somalis?" he said.

A few days later, Abdullahi Abdurahman Abu Yousef, a top commander of a moderateSufi Islamist militia fighting al-Shabab, echoed that sentiment in a rousing speech to hismilitiamen. "They are destroying our home for the sake of Iraqis?" he bellowed. "Theforeign devil is leading them."--------------------A modest proposal for Liberia (Washington Post)

A recent Post editorial told how U.S. taxpayers are subsidizing wealthy cotton farmersnot only in America's Deep South but in the even Deeper South, too -- meaning Brazil.That made me think about Liberian children who still have to do their homework whilesquatting under street lamps, because they have no electricity at home.

That may seem an odd connection, but after you've had a visit from the formidableEllen Johnson-Sirleaf, almost anything can make you think of Liberia.

Johnson-Sirleaf is the unsentimental, relentless president of that impoverished WestAfrican nation. She was elected in 2005, as Liberia was emerging from years of vicious

civil war, and she recently came to Washington to deliver a progress report and ask forcontinued support.

To get a sense of the challenge she faced when she took over, consider this: Eighty-fivepercent. That was Johnson-Sirleaf's reply when I asked about unemployment in hercapital of Monrovia. No, I said, assuming she had misheard; I said unemployment rate,not employment rate. "Eighty-five percent," she insisted grimly. But, she said, thanks toforeign investment, improvements in infrastructure and efforts to combat crime andcorruption, it has decreased to 50 percent today. Imagine celebrating an employmentrate of 50 percent.

What had really stuck with me from the president's last visit, in 2006, was the image ofchildren gathering on street corners to do their homework. "We have a city that's dark,"she had said, setting electrification as one of her first goals.

And today? The president reported, with little satisfaction, that 18 percent of the capitalnow is wired -- this despite a partnership of the World Bank, the International FinanceCorp., the United States and Norway aimed at bringing electricity to the city.


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What's taking so long? During the war, every single wire had been taken down andsold or destroyed, she said. The World Bank contracting process grinds slowly. But themain factor: The solution to the problem is a planned hydroelectric plant that will cost$300 million, and $300 million is a lot of money.

Unless you're in the American cotton business.

As that Post editorial said, the U.S. government has been paying cotton growers morethan $3 billion per year since 1991, with most of the largess going (as the EnvironmentalWorking Group has demonstrated) to big agribusiness in the South. The subsidies areso out of whack that the World Trade Organization ruled them an unfair tradingpractice -- and rather than reform, the United States is now forking over another $147million per year to Brazilian cotton farmers, who lodged the complaint.

Obvious solution: Turn off the spigot to Balmoral Farming Partnership of Louisiana($18 million in cotton subsidies from 1995 to 2009, according to EWG), Gila River Farmsof Arizona ($16 million) and the other welfare queens of cotton for just one month -- onemonth! -- and let Liberia have its hydroelectric plant. Monrovia schoolchildren could dotheir homework. As adults, they might earn more than the average $500 per year thattheir parents earn. West Africa would be stabler. America would be more secure. Andso on.

Except, of course, that any interruption in cotton subsidies would be unacceptable tothe fiscal hypocrites of Louisiana, Arizona and other agribusiness states who would

howl at a reduction in subsidies and, no doubt, at any increase in foreign aid. I'mthinking here of statesmen like Sen. David Vitter, Louisiana Republican, running forreelection with "Fighting Wasteful Government Spending" listed as his top issue -- butwho merrily joined eight other Republican fiscal hypocrites in a letter to PresidentObama in March opposing any cuts to the "farm safety net." ("While we agree that fiscalrestraint is necessary and spending in the Federal budget should be reduced, doing soin this manner places a disproportionate burden on the backs of farmers, ranchers andrural communities and fails to recognize the recent sacrifices these constituencies made .. . . ")

Johnson-Sirleaf, now 71, recently announced that she will run for reelection next year.Liberia has more foreign investment for the size of its economy than any other country.Its six years of peace are a major achievement. Young men who knew nothing but gunsare being gradually reintegrated into society. But, she says, with a sigh, "It's all taking alittle bit longer than we had anticipated."--------------------May deadliest month for Darfur since 2008: peacekeepers (AFP)


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KHARTOUM, Sudan Clashes in west Sudan's Darfur region cost almost 600 lives inMay, the highest monthly death toll since peacekeepers were deployed in 2008,according to a UN-African Union document seen by AFP.

The surge in violence follows the breakdown of peace talks between Darfur's main rebel

group and the Khartoum government and contradicts an August pronouncement by theformer chief of the UN-AU force's military operations, Martin Agwai, that the civil waris over.

"The parties to a much-applauded Framework (peace) Agreement (in February) couldnow be defined as 'belligerents' and it is not anticipated they will convene peacefully inthe short term," said the confidential document.

It said 440 people died in fighting last month between Darfur rebels and governmentforces, 126 in tribal violence, and 31 in other violence, including murder.

In May, fighting broke out anew between the Justice and Equality Movement, Darfur'smain rebel group, and the government after the JEM walked out of peace talks in theQatari capital Doha.

The document of the hybrid UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) did notgive a breakdown of the two sides' losses.

The failure of the February agreement between Khartoum and JEM "culminated inmilitary confrontations leaving in its wake the biggest number of fatalities ever

recorded in a single month: 597," including the tribal deaths, it said.

Two rival Arab tribes, the Rezeigat and Misseriya, have also clashed in Darfur sinceMarch.

Darfur, an arid desert region the size of France, has been gripped by a civil war since2003 that has killed 300,000 people and displaced another 2.7 million, according to UNfigures. Khartoum says 10,000 people have died.

UNAMID was deployed in January 2008.

Last month, Sudanese army forces dislodged JEM rebels from their Jebel Moonstronghold in West Darfur on the border with Chad, through which the JEM hadpreviously been supplied before support from Ndjamena was cut off.

"JEM's ability to move from Jebel Moon to locations including el-Daein, Adila, UmmSauna, Abu Darmilla -- and Babanosa in Southern Kordofan, possibly a current


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headquarters -- confirms the extent of their knowledge of the terrain," the documentsaid.

"More importantly this suggests some local support along the way," it said, whereas thegovernment's authority was being restricted to the towns of Darfur.

The document voiced concern over human rights abuses against civilians, a "total lackof humanitarian access to conflict-affected areas," and "indications that the already tensesituation is likely to escalate further."

On Monday in Doha, the Sudanese government resumed peace talks with a minor rebelgroup in Qatar's capital, in the absence of JEM.

Sudan's chief negotiator Amin Hasan Omar said Khartoum was "optimistic" aboutsigning a final agreement with the Liberation and Justice Movement, a rebel group that

is an alliance of splinter factions.

Meanwhile, Qatari mediator and minister of state for foreign affairs, Ahmad Abdullahal-Mahmud, called on other rebel groups to join in the negotiations.

JEM had signed the framework accord in February that was hailed by the internationalcommunity as a major step toward bringing peace to the region devastated by sevenyears of war.

But there was no final, comprehensive peace agreement by a March 15 deadline and

JEM broke off from the talks that same month, claiming ceasefire violations andresumed attacking government.--------------------Zuma Has Yet to Fulfill Promises to South Africans (New York Times)

Finally, like a glowering patriarch, he lectured and scolded them, threatening to leave.This means you will live forever in poverty! he exclaimed. If we do not listen to eachother, how can we fix anything?

Suddenly, the rage of the throng dissipated. There was a chorus of apologies. A voiceshouted, Sorry, Baba! Then a cry arose for the president to sing his trademark songfrom the anti-apartheid struggle, Bring Me My Machine Gun.

You want it? he asked.

Yes! they shouted. And like an aging entertainer obliging with a golden oldie, Mr.Zuma, 68, crooned and boogied onstage.


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It was a moment that encapsulated both the promise and the unfulfilled potential of Mr.Zuma, who has raised the hopes of the dispossessed but not yet delivered the better lifethey are demanding. Despite persistent corruption charges and the taint of extramaritalaffairs, he is a political survivor who has risen to lead the continents powerhousenation and will soon step onto the international stage as South Africa holds Africas first

World Cup.

With his rumbling laugh and habit of dancing onstage, Mr. Zuma has a gift forconnecting with the countrys impoverished black majority, who are impatient for thebetter life promised by the dawning of democratic rule 16 years ago.

Ive never seen a president in Africa in direct dialogue with his citizens like JacobZuma, said Zakhele Maya, 26, an activist in Siyathemba who, like most in thetownship, is jobless.

But that connection has not quelled the discontent. After an earlier visit, last year, Mr.Zuma ordered the government to improve the townships health and housing services,yet frustrations continued to rise. In February, residents burned down the library. Thebooks are now charred scraps, the library a pile of blackened rubble.

A year into his five-year term, Mr. Zuma recently signed performance contracts with hisministers, setting out specific results for them to achieve. But analysts are urging action,not aspirations, on South Africas core challenges: a failing education system, staggeringlevels of joblessness and the widening chasm between rich and poor. There is alreadyopen speculation about whether his party, the African National Congress, in power

since the end of apartheid, will pick him for a second term.

By 2013, the questions arise: Who will govern beyond 2014? asked Trevor Manuel,who heads the National Planning Commission in Mr. Zumas office and was financeminister for the previous 13 years. And the intense period has to be 2011, 2012, into2013. Those are the middle years of the term of government, and I think the foundationis now well laid. Now youve got to drive the change.

Mr. Zumas highly personal, consensus-building style has helped him lead a sweepingnew attack on AIDS after almost a decade of failed leadership under his predecessor,Thabo Mbeki. But even some in his party say that tackling the nations deep economicproblems will probably require angering allies who put him in office, especially Cosatu the powerful trade union federation that is part of the governing alliance and theA.N.C.s youth wing. It is led by the incendiary Julius Malema, 29, regarded by manyhere as a demagogue who plays on racial antagonisms and who was recently sent toanger management classes by the party.


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The dry kindling of resentment is here to be ignited. The ranks of the jobless havegrown by more than a million in the past year and a half, and South Africa, population49 million, already had among the highest rates of chronic unemployment in the world.More than a third of the work force, including those too discouraged to seek work, isjobless. Studies have found that most of the unemployed have never held a job.

Mr. Zuma announced in February that proposals would be put forward to subsidize thewages of inexperienced workers, to help them get a foot in the door. But Cosatu, theCongress of South African Trade Unions, which represents those who already havejobs, opposes the idea and debate within the government continues.

Another point of tension is education. Last year, Mr. Zuma said teachers and principals whose union is also part of Cosatu must be held accountable for whether theyshow up and do their jobs. In an interview, Mr. Zuma reiterated the need for such a stepand said it would be taken by the end of his second year in office.

Theres no teacher whos going to hide behind the school, he said.

But critics question whether Mr. Zuma has the support to follow through on thesedifficult decisions, the vision to address the countrys daunting challenges or thestanding to root out corruption. Worries deepened when it surfaced that Mr. Zuma,who already had three wives and a fiance, had fathered a child, his 20th, out ofwedlock with the daughter of a family friend.

The biggest danger we face as a country is the use of office for personal gain, and it is

becoming so, so normal, and nobodys arresting that, said Mondli Makhanya, anewspaper editor whose reporter broke the story about Mr. Zumas child in TheSunday Times. He lacks the leadership strength at this point to turn against peoplewho supported him, and he lacks the moral authority to say, No, you cant do that.

More fundamentally, making choices that would divide the governing alliance goesagainst Mr. Zumas instincts as an African traditionalist who seeks to settle conflicts bygathering his coalition under a metaphoric marula tree to talk for days or weeks untilthey reach a consensus, said Allister Sparks, a veteran commentator here. Action diesin the process of eternal, everlasting debate, Mr. Sparks said.

Manuel, the former finance minister, says the presidents style is to keep everyone inthe tent, recalling Mr. Zumas efforts to mediate Burundis complex civil war. Hed sitin Dar es Salaam for tens of days, and he has the most remarkable patience to do thatkind of thing, Mr. Manuel said.


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So perhaps he needs the support of ministers who are going to push and shove and tryto get things done. On issues including teacher accountability, Mr. Manuel said,Instinctively, I would take a much harder line on some of these things.

Mr. Zumas political resilience should not be underestimated. After a decade as a

political prisoner, he rose to lead the A.N.C.s underground intelligence operationduring the anti-apartheid struggle. As president, he has filled important police andprosecutorial posts with loyalists, making it unlikely he will face further corruptioncharges.

In an interview, he told a story that suggested the roots of the cool calculation beneathhis warm, amiable style. If you are angry, you cant think properly, and the other boyswill really beat you up, he said of his days learning stick fighting with other Zulu boys.Youve got to be sober so that you can be able to defend yourself and also hit the otherboy.

As the debate over Mr. Zuma swirls, the man himself has fun on the hustings. Herecently basked in the adulation of a vast crowd at a township stadium in the Free Statefor a World Cup prayer service sponsored by the A.N.C. The event was an ecstatic,incantatory fusion of sports, religion and politics that would not have seemed out ofplace in Texas.

Thousands of churchwomen ululated for him and the South African soccer team,Bafana Bafana. Long live Jacob Zuma! one cried. Long live! the crowd responded.A small smile flickered across Mr. Zumas face as the premier of the Free State said:

We are not talking succession. We are just saying the president should be presidentagain and again and again!

White dignitaries mounted the stage. A blanket imprinted with the South African flagwas laid on the floor; Mr. Zuma knelt on it as preachers placed their hands on his head.People gathered around and raised their hands to God, a tableau of racial harmony.

Let us receive our visitors warmly with love, Mr. Zuma said of the coming games.Let us embrace them. And with a mischievous glint, he added, Those who at timesare not good, let them for just four weeks be good.--------------------UN News Service Africa BriefsFull Articles on UN Website

UN envoy stresses need for rehabilitation of Ugandan children war survivors7 June Survivors of the brutal conflict that has wracked northern Uganda for twodecades, most of them young people, must be helped back on their feet by supporting


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their efforts to acquire skills that will help them reintegrate into society, a UnitedNations envoy has said after spending a week in the country.

UNICEF seeks to end use of child soldiers across Central Africa7 June The United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) is helping to find ways to

ensure that children do not serve as soldiers in Central Africa, a region plagued byconflicts in which minors have been fighting on behalf of both militias and nationalarmies.

africom related news clips june 8, 2010

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