africom related news clips october 25, 2010

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United States Africa CommandPublic Affairs Office25 October 2010

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

U.S. top Africa diplomat hopeful in new "dual-track" Somalia policy (Garowe Online)(Somalia) According to U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African affairs, JohnnieCarson, TFG officials need to stop their personal business and instead concentrate in

improving service delivery and security to the people of Somalia as its mandate comesto an end as per the Djibouti Agreement which expires in August 2011.

US Military Personnel Operating on Algeria's Soil (Morocco Board News Service)(Algeria) An article in the Washington Post shed new light on the nature of theAmerican military involvement in the Sahel region and on the threat paused by theterrorist group al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb ( AQIM).

More U.S. diplomats heading to Sudan before critical vote on secession; newviolence feared (Washington Post)(Sudan) Senior U.S. officials said Friday that more American diplomats were beingdispatched to Sudan and that President Obama was getting daily briefings onpreparations for a referendum that could divide the troubled country in two.

US Senate Chairman on Foreign Relations Meets South Sudan Leadership (SudanTribune)(Sudan) The chairman of US Senate's Foreign Relations Commitee, John Kerry, metwith the President of the Government of Southern Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayardit ahead ofthe regions self determination vote in January.

US professor quits Kenyan truth commission, citing lack of confidence (ChristianScience Monitor)(Kenya) Kenya·s search for national healing after its deadly post-election violence wasfurther stalled this week with the resignation of an American law professor from a top-level reconciliation panel.

To prosper, Southern Sudan must wean itself from the aid bandwagon (Daily Nation)



(Pan Africa) Recent claims by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that pressure fromthe United States forced the Kenyan Government to undertake reforms and revelationsabout US funding for the ¶Yes· campaign in the August referendum may give theimpression that America·s foreign policy towards African countries is interventionist ³if not paternalistic.

New African Standby Force Faces First Test (Voice of America)(Pan Africa) This strategy session is part of a training exercise designed to test newlycreated rapid-response forces in each of Africa's five regions. Two years of work isculminating this month in a combined operation involving 120 of the continent's best-trained crisis responders.

Security Council accused over African conflict response (AFP)(Pan Africa) South Africa on Friday accused the UN Security Council of moving fasterto end conflicts in regions outside of Africa, as African nations demanded more help for

peacekeeping operations.

Guinea delays presidential poll (Al Jazeera)(Guinea) Guinea has announced an indefinite delay to a presidential election run-off just two days before it was to be held, casting doubt on the West African state's hopesfor civilian rule and provoking fresh protests.

Some Africans, poor no more, hit by new diseases (Associated Press)(Pan Africa) A growing urban middle class is defying the image of Africa as poor,underfed and under-medicated. And with the comforts of middle class life, afflictions

familiar in the West are making inroads here too ³ obesity, diabetes, lung cancer,strokes, heart disease.

Curing the Ills of America·s Top Foreign Aid Agency (New York Times)(Pan Africa) Catastrophic floods in Pakistan, the surge of aid workers into Afghanistan,a top-to-bottom review of American foreign assistance ³ all have heavily involved Dr.Rajiv Shah, head of the United States Agency for International Development, turninghim into one of the administration·s most visible foreign policy players.

UN News Service Africa Briefs Full Articles on UN Website

y Deadly violence continues in Darfur, Ban says in latest report y Ban calls for predictable funding for African Union peace initiativesy G uinea: excessive force used against demonstrators, UN rights office saysy Nigeria experiencing worst cholera outbreak in years, UN reportsy UN mobilizing aid to help flood-stricken Benin

-------------------------------------------------------------------------UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:



WHEN/WHERE: Wednesday, October 27, 12:00 p.m.; Council on Foreign RelationsWHAT: A Conversation with Senator Richard G. LugarWHO: Senator Richard G. Lugar, Ranking Member, Committee on Foreign Relations,U.S. SenateInfo: http://www.cfr.org/

WHEN/WHERE: Friday, November 5, 9:30 a.m.; U.S. Institute of PeaceWHAT: Women in War Conference: The Trouble with the CongoWHO: Severine Autesserre, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Barnard College,Columbia University; Raymond Gilpin, Associate Vice President, SustainableEconomies, Centers of Innovation, U.S. Institute of Peace; Christine Karumba, Womenfor Women International; Howard Wolpe, Woodrow Wilson International Center forScholars; Diane Orentlicher, Deputy Director, Office of War Crimes, U.S. Department ofState

Info: http://www.usip.org/events/woman-and-war ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------FULL ARTICLE TEXT

U.S. top Africa diplomat hopeful in new "dual-track" Somalia policy (Garowe Online)

Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) has been urged to be more of itself bystopping internal cycle of political wrangles and repeated changes of its top leadershipsince its affecting its credibility among many Somali citizens.

According to U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African affairs, Johnnie Carson, TFGofficials need to stop their personal business and instead concentrate in improvingservice delivery and security to the people of Somalia as its mandate comes to an end asper the Djibouti Agreement which expires in August 2011.

Mr. Carson addessed a workshop organized by Center for Strategic and InternationalStudies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 20 to furthr elaborate the StateDepartment's new "dual-track" Somalia policy, which will be a divergent of theprevious approach of Djibouti Agreement which saw the expansion of the TFG toinclude 'moderate Islamists.'

He added that it was time the Somalis be part of the solution in their country bothresidents and those in Diaspora.

"Insecurity in Somalia is a concern to its neighboring countries and its instability hasspread like cancer and the problem can not be ignored by the international community,"Mr. Carson said.



In absence of stability and effective government in Somalia, America's top Africadiplomat Mr. Carson has allowed foreign fighters sympathetic to Al-Qaeda to link upwith Al-shabaab insurgents, who have carried out numerous suicide bombings

U.S. officials say the dual-track policy shift is broader and more complex and will seepartnership with local governments drawn from Puntland and Somaliland in northernSomalia, but also local clans in south-central Somalia to help bring to an end to the 20year old problem of instability and violence in the Horn of Africa country.

"Over the last 18 months, we have worked under the single-track approach of theDjibouti declaration which required us to support TFG and Sheik Sharrif government tobring stability in Somalia but the method has not been working," Carson added.

Under the new approach the international community will involve all stakeholdersdrawn from the larger Somali by bringing them together in an effort to help end

Somalia's 20-year armed conflict.

He further added that the dual-track approach supports and is designed to helpadvance the progress and relative stability in the stable sub-states of Somaliland andPuntland, located in northern Somalia straddling the strategic Gulf of Aden waterway.

Mogadishu, located in southern Somalia, is the epicenter of a three-year insurgencybetween Islamist rebels allied to Al Qaeda and African Union troops (AMISOM) fundedby Western powers.

Carson said June's presidential elections and smooth transition of power in Somalilandwas "a milestone" in political dialogue which can be borrowed and implemented in thelarger Somalia by all people of goodwill, even though the U.S. government made itexplicitly clear it will not recognize Somaliland as a sovereign country.

On Puntland, Mr. Carson underlined the peace and stability in Puntland whileremarking that Puntland's government needs to "do more" in press freedom.

He further promised long term commitment to support Somalia and warned those whobenefit from piracy that they will face sanctions and will be exposed.

Mr. Carson further called on the international community to do more by coming forthwith meaningful contribution to advance the process of stability in Somali.

He urged the governments of Kenya and South Africa and other Islamic countries toemulate their counter parts like Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda in providing assets andtroops to AMSIOM peacekeepers in Mogadishu.--------------------



US Military Personnel Operating on Algeria's Soil (Morocco Board News Service)

An article in the Washington Post shed new light on the nature of the American militaryinvolvement in the Sahel region and on the threat paused by the terrorist group al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb ( AQIM).According to the article, a new leader of a more dangerous and lethal commando ofAQIM is taking over the lead of the North African branch of Bin Laden·s al-Qaeda. Mr.Abu zeid, an Algerian national, is overshadowing the infamous Mokhtar Belmokhtar asthe face of the terror group. The recent kidnapping of foreigners in Niger and the latestmilitary activities on the Mauritania - Mali borders confirms an uptick in terroristoperations in the Sahel. The increased lawlessness in a vast mass of the Sahara desert israising the specter of an ´Afghanizationµ in the region and the instability that wouldensue from it.The Algerian Army, that has claimed the lead of the anti-terror efforts in the Sahel andNorth Africa, has thus far failed to stem the activities of AQIM in the region, and, most

importantly, within Algeria·s own borders (Five security personnel died in a terroristattacks in Algeria this week). As the Algerian government continues to publicly reject´outsideµ help in its ´warµ against terrorism, the Washington Post reveals the presenceof American troops on Algerian soil. Unlike Mali, Mauritania, Niger and other nationsin the region that duly coordinate their security efforts with Western and AmericanSpecial Forces, the Algerians insist in exerting the role of ´the regional leaderµ at theexpense of a more coordinated and effective strategy.The Washington Post article reported ´the United States has supplied electronicintelligence on Abu Zeid to France to help track French hostages, with U.S. personneleither stationed at, or passing through the area. In response, the article adds, Abu Zeid

recently ordered his combatants to halt satellite telephone communications, which arevulnerable to monitoring by U.S. satellites or drones.This article is the latest source indicating American military presence in Tamanrasset, alarge city in southern Algeria and its gateway to the Sahara. Several other influentialsources have previously alluded to American intelligence operatives that are active inthe Algerian Sahara. Since AQIM is a threat to all the countries in the region and to theinterests of the United States, American help and support are crucial and essential inthis fight. So why are the Algerians denying that U.S military personnel is operating onAlgeria·s soil?Would it conflict with its stated role in the Algeria/Nigeria/South-Africa Axis as the´Revolutionaryµ Champions of independent Africa, free from Foreign Inference?In its bid to become the ´regional leaderµ in North West Africa, Algeria has made itsstratagem to counter Morocco on the African scene, over the conflict in the WesternSahara, as the corner stone of its foreign policy. Even the American-Algerian relationsare colored with the ramification of Algeria·s policy vis-à-vis Morocco.The Washington Post article dispels recent claims made by Algeria·s foreign Ministerabout the reasons of Algeria attempts at excluding Morocco form meetings regardingthe security in the Sahel. Mr. Mourad MEDELCI said ´the last time he checked a map of



Morocco, It was not located in the Sahel regionµ. Well, so are the USA and theEuropeans that are ´secretlyµ helping the Algerian Government secure its own portionof the Sahara.Algeria·s policy on the Western Sahara and its over ambitious plan at becoming a´regional leaderµ pose a hurdle for the creation and implementation of an effective anti-AQIM strategy. This situation has become increasingly unstable as Mrs MokhtarBelmokhtar and Abu zeid are moving freely and without much of a challenge from theAlgerian Army. AQIM will only be contained if all the countries in the regionimplement a cohesive approach to counter the terrorism threat in the region.Short term, divisive decisions to score points in the Western Sahara Conflict are posinga threat to the US National interest, as well as that of North Africa and SouthernEuropean countries.--------------------More U.S. diplomats heading to Sudan before critical vote on secession; new violencefeared (Washington Post)

Senior U.S. officials said Friday that more American diplomats were being dispatchedto Sudan and that President Obama was getting daily briefings on preparations for areferendum that could divide the troubled country in two.

The officials acknowledged that major steps have to be taken to ensure that thereferendum is held on time in January. For example, Sudan has to hire 10,000 workersby mid-November to do voter registration, said the U.S. special envoy to Sudan, J. ScottGration.

Meanwhile, U.S.-mediated talks on a companion referendum, on the fate of the oil-richborder town of Abiyei, have broken down. A new set of negotiations is scheduled forthe end of the month in Ethiopia, officials said.

Under a 2005 peace accord brokered by the Bush administration, the south, which islargely Christian and animist, will be allowed to choose independence from the mostlyIslamic north. Abiyei gets to decide which side it will belong to.

Gration acknowledged that the north and south remain far apart.

"With time running out, the parties must make a strategic commitment to work togetherto avoid war," he told reporters.

Analysts fear that if the referendums don't occur on time, Africa's longest civil warcould reignite. The central government in Sudan opposes the secession of the south,which has most of the country's oil reserves. But the region is expected to vote to breakaway.



Samantha Power, a member of the National Security Council, said Obama was gettingdaily briefings on the situation.

"It is impossible to overstate the degree of high-level attention being given to Sudan atthe White House," she said. She added that the U.S. government remains "committed toon-time referendums in both Abiyei and southern Sudan."

Johnnie Carson, the assistant secretary of state for Africa, said that additional U.S.personnel were being sent to provincial capitals in southern Sudan, which "will nearlytriple our diplomatic presence" in the south compared with earlier this year. No specificnumbers were available.

Many advocacy groups have accused the Obama administration of not prioritizingSudan until recently.

Michael Abramowitz, director of the genocide-prevention program at the U.S.Holocaust Memorial Museum, recently visited Sudan to assess the risks of massviolence after the vote. He said the government in the north seemed to be dragging itsheels on preparations for the referendum.

"The south is really counting on this referendum," Abramowitz said. "If it doesn'thappen, there will be severe problems."--------------------US Senate Chairman on Foreign Relations Meets South Sudan Leadership (SudanTribune)

Juba ³ The chairman of US Senate's Foreign Relations Commitee, John Kerry, met withthe President of the Government of Southern Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayardit ahead of theregions self determination vote in January.

Senator Kerry also met with the Vice President of the Government of Southern Sudan(GoSS), Riek Machar to discuss at length issues connected to the referenda in SouthernSudan and Abyei.

The oil-rich region of Abyei is also due to vote simultaneously on whether it will jointhe south or remain in the north.

Both referenda were agreed to in the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement betweenSudan's ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and the former southern rebels theSudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA).



The peace deal also agreed to set up popular consultations in Blue Nile state and theNuba Mountains in south Kordofan. Some parts of these areas were occupied andfought with the SPLA during the 22 year civil war.

The Vice President all also discussed with Kerry the popular consultations underway inBlue Nile state and the Nuba Mountains in south Kordofan. Both areas were contestedand at time occupied by the Sudan People's Liberation Army

The meeting stressed the importance of holding the January referendum in SouthernSudan as scheduled for 9 January 2011, and to be conducted concurrently with the otherreferendum for Abyei and popular consultations in Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains.

Briefing the press after the meeting, Senator Kerry said "I want to thank President Kiirand the Vice President Dr. Riek Machar for welcoming me here in Juba today. We havediscussed many issues regarding the referendum."

He however said he would not have detailed comments about the meeting until hemeets in Khartoum with the leadership of the National Congress Party.

Kerry said that the US will "remain deeply committed to the referendum".--------------------US professor quits Kenyan truth commission, citing lack of confidence (ChristianScience Monitor)

Nairobi, Kenya - Kenya·s search for national healing after its deadly post-election

violence was further stalled this week with the resignation of an American lawprofessor from a top-level reconciliation panel.

Ronald Slye, a program director at the University of Seattle·s School of Law, said he had´lost faithµ in the ability of the Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC)´to fulfill even a small part of its mandate."

The board was set up after Kofi Annan, the former United Nations Secretary General,brokered peace between Kenya's rival politicians whose supporters killed at least 1,500people following the 2007 presidential election.

This is the only domestic attempt to highlight those responsible for that violence, aswell as also uncover misdemeanors carried out by the country·s political elite sinceindependence from Britain in 1963.

'Forever tarnished'



However, the board has lost credibility here and abroad because of ongoing concernsthat its chairman, Bethuel Kiplagat, is biased in favor of the government, Mr. Slye saidin his resignation letter published Friday.

Those concerns have stalled funding from international donors, according to Slye,meaning that the commission can barely continue to function. Currently it faces a $14million shortfall in its 2010 budget request of $16 million.

´After six months of waiting for the credibility issues around the chairman to beresolved, and in the face of minimal financial and other support ... my confidence thatthe commission will be able to make any meaningful headway « is diminishing,µ Slyewrote. ´It is clear to me « that without those issues being addressed in a timely fashion,the commission will continue to be seriously hindered, and its report andrecommendations, no matter how well supported and reasoned, will forever betarnished by that failure.µ

Kiplagat linked to killingsThis is a serious blow to an organization modeled on South Africa·s post-apartheidTruth and Reconciliation Commission, to which Slye was a consultant.

Kiplagat, a former ambassador to Britain, has been accused of links to the killings ofdozens of Somali Muslims in northern Kenya in 1984, in what is known as the WagallaMassacre. Those accusations, and Kiplagat·s lack of clarity on his involvement, ´furtherlessen my confidence," wrote Slye, the only non-African on the eight-membercommission.

Kiplagat is also accused of illegal land allocations when he was a minister in thegovernment of former President Daniel arap Moi.

He denies all the allegations, and had refused to step aside, even when pressed to do soby Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who headed South Africa's Truth and ReconciliationCommission.

Truth Commission 'slowly dying'Njonjo Mue, the head of the International Center for Transitional Justice in Kenya, hassaid the TJRC was ´paralyzed and slowly bleeding."

´So we find ourselves in a situation where one of the critical pillars of transitional justice has become a joke,µ he told Kenya·s Daily Nation newspaper.

Many Kenyans have expressed little confidence in the TJRC to come up with a crediblereport. Its mandate expires in November 2011.



Most eyes are instead on the International Criminal Court and its expected prosecutionsof key figures said to have orchestrated the post-election violence.

However, Kenya·s government Friday expressed its full support for the TJRC, andblamed international bodies for failing to stump up cash.

´Donors should stop waiting,µ said Mutula Kilonzo, minister for Justice, Cohesion, andConstitutional affairs. ´If you want to support the transitional justice process youshould fund this commission. Stop looking at the individuals in the commission but atthe institution and help us establish the necessary capacity and institutional frameworkrequired for its success.µ

The commission·s vice-chair, Betty Murungi, resigned in April, also over disagreementswith Kiplagat.--------------------

To prosper, Southern Sudan must wean itself from the aid bandwagon (Daily Nation)

Recent claims by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that pressure from the UnitedStates forced the Kenyan Government to undertake reforms and revelations about USfunding for the ¶Yes· campaign in the August referendum may give the impression thatAmerica·s foreign policy towards African countries is interventionist ³ if notpaternalistic.

Indeed, Kenyans are rightly miffed by the gloating within the US administrationbecause we know that it was ordinary wananchi ³ not the US Government ³ that

struggled hardest to bring about these reforms. To take credit for this Kenyan aspirationis to insult all those who fought ³ and died ³ for it.

Rich donors to Africa have a tendency to take credit for many of the continent·sachievements. But donor interventions in Africa are not always altruistic, and are quiteoften detrimental. Sceptics have often noted that aid does not reduce poverty; it is oftenthe cause of poverty and violence in many parts of world.

A recent article in Newsweek, for instance, has suggested that the pumping of massiveamounts of aid money into Southern Sudan has had at least two visibly detrimentaleffects: educated Southern Sudanese are choosing to set up their own NGOs to tap intothe aid money instead of taking up government jobs, and the high salaries paid toexpatriate aid workers is distorting the local economy.

Worse, massive aid flows could also be a catalyst for renewed violence, as agovernment flush with aid money could be viewed as ´a prize by competing Sudanesefactionsµ, writes Newsweek·s Kevin Peraino. But recent statements by President BarackObama suggest that US aid policies towards Africa may be changing dramatically.



At the United Nations gathering of world leaders in New York last month, Mr Obamaadmitted that US aid to poor countries had saved lives in the short term, but had donelittle to improve societies in the long term. He urged world leaders to view economicgrowth ³ not aid ³ as a poverty reduction strategy and to promote good governanceto ensure sustainable growth.

Ćonsider the millions of people who have relied on food assistance for decades,µstated Mr Obama. ´That·s not development, that·s dependence, and it·s a cycle we needto break« Let·s put to rest the old myth that development is mere charity that does notserve our interests. And let us reject the cynicism that says certain countries arecondemned to perpetual poverty.µ

Mr Obama reiterated that under his administration, economic growth will be the chiefgoal of US development policy. This policy, he noted, was critical for creating

ćonditions where assistance is no longer neededµ.

It may be argued that US assistance to the Yes campaign was intended to bring aboutreforms that would stimulate economic growth, and is therefore justified under the newAmerican policy. But I suspect that like his predecessor, George Bush, Obama views USaid as a strategic political goal, and is therefore not likely to push for drastic reductionin aid packages.

The emergence of new donors, such as China, has also added a new twist to thedevelopment debate and forced traditional Western donors to re-evaluate their

approaches. China·s astounding economic growth in the past three decades has helpedthe country to lift millions of people out of poverty.

Its increasing presence in Africa is also of concern to many Western donors, who viewChina·s ́ no conditionalitiesµ and ínfrastructure-focusedµ approach to developmentassistance as unconventional. China·s approach to development assistance is, however,forcing a policy shift within international financial institutions.

Recently, World Bank president Robert Zoellick told students at Georgetown Universitythat his organisation needed to rethink prevailing development paradigms and toaccept that óthers can find and create their own solutionsµ. He admitted that the bankneeded to ´democratise and demystify development economicsµ and to recognise that itdid not have a monopoly on solutions.

For Southern Sudan, the greatest challenge lies in getting off the aid bandwagon, andinvesting oil and other domestic revenues in building the infrastructure, institutions,and human resources needed to bring about peace and prosperity in this war-tornregion.



--------------------New African Standby Force Faces First Test (Voice of America)

The mythical island nation of Carana, off the east coast of Africa, is in a state of near-collapse, and African Union rapid deployment forces are battling to save it. That is thescenario being played out this week in a crisis-response exercise involving military,civilian and police units from across Africa.

Soldiers wearing the uniforms of six different African countries huddle around a map atstrategic command post Carana. They are considering how to respond to deterioratingconditions in Carana, a fictional diamond-rich African island where regional stability isthreatened by well-financed gangs challenging an unpopular government.

It looks and sounds real, but this strategy session is part of a training exercise designedto test newly created rapid-response forces in each of Africa's five regions. Two years of

work is culminating this month in a combined operation involving 120 of thecontinent's best-trained crisis responders.

The scenario may be fictitious, but Sivuyile Bam, head of the African Union's PeaceSupport Operations Division says Exercise Carana draws on real-life conflicts.

"In Exercise Carana, it is about unstable government, a government that is unpopular, agovernment having challenges, security forces refusing to take command, securityforces taking sides in the conflict, which is typical of most African countries when theyhave a conflict of this nature," Bam said. "We as the African Union are coming in to

support this government and ensure it does its work."The Exercise Carana scenario starts with a premise that A.U. peacekeepers have beendeployed. But since the mission arrived four months ago, conditions have worsened.Criminal gangs have seized control of a strategic diamond mine. Hundreds of peoplehave been killed, tens of thousands of others displaced, and rogue elements are said tobe using rape as a weapon to intimidate locals.

South African navy Captain Kobus Maasdorp is part of a command-post teamconsidering what components to include in a rapid-response mission.

"Conditions are really dire in Carana.," Maasdorp said. " One of the main rebel groupshad gone into the political mainstream, but an offspring from the rebel group has nowbecome radical and they are causing a lot of problems where the capability of theAfrican Union mission is being stretched almost beyond their capability and we couldpossibly in the next couple days have to strengthen the mission in Carana in terms offeet on the ground and equipment."



Lea Barasa is a training officer in a civilian component of the East Africa Standby Forcebased in Nairobi. She says a multi-dimensional response is needed to head off Carana'sescalating crisis.

"We are looking at peace support operations in establishing governance structures thatwill enable Carana to stabilize," said Barasa. "Especially the justice systems, humanrights commissions being seen in Carana region, especially gender-based violence, thechild protection issues and the whole situation where people do not feel safe any more."

In a speech marking the start of Exercise Carana, AU Commission Chairman Jean Pingsaid the regional standby forces give Africa greater ownership of peace and security onthe continent. He said the need for a homegrown force was underscored by the world'sinadequate response to crises in places like Rwanda and Somalia.

"The international community could not always be relied on to address all the threats to

peace and security on the African continent. Indeed, Somalia and Rwanda were painfullessons for us all," Ping said.

Exercise Carana planner Kobus Maasdorp predicts Africa's rapid response units will bethe model for global peacekeepers of the future.

"I am no prophet, but I can tell you this," said Maasdorp. "Once we haveoperationalized the African Standby Force and we have deployed, and people get usedto the fact that we have this tool, the African Standby Force will become a global peaceforce. I can tell you that."

The exercise is set to conclude October 29th. Results will be presented at a joint AfricanUnion-European Union summit next month in Libya.--------------------Security Council accused over African conflict response (AFP)

UNITED NATIONS ² South Africa on Friday accused the UN Security Council ofmoving faster to end conflicts in regions outside of Africa, as African nations demandedmore help for peacekeeping operations.

The Somalia war brought to a head Africa's complaints at a special UN Security Councildebate on peacekeeping that its troops get poorer treatment than those on mainstreamUN missions.

The 7,500-strong African Union force propping up the transitional government inSomalia is made up mainly of poorly equipped troops from Uganda and Burundi, whoearn less than UN-backed troops.



South Africa's UN ambassador, Baso Sangqu, told the Security Council African nationshad sent peacekeeping troops into conflicts "in cases where the internationalcommunity, and the Security Council in particular, were unwilling or unable to act."

Highlighting African missions in Somalia and Darfur, the ambassador said: "In the eyesof ordinary people on the African continent, it would seem that so many innocentpeople have to die, so much innocent blood shed, before this august body assumes itsresponsibility to protect and maintain stability on the continent.

"Some have even quipped that the UN Security Council moves with the speed of acheetah in responding to crises elsewhere and moves with the speed of an elephant torespond to conflicts in Africa."

With demands growing for the African Union force in Somalia to be more than doubledto 20,000 troops and be brought under the UN banner, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-

moon said AU peacekeepers should get the same as those on UN-backed missions.

Sudan is now the UN's biggest peacekeeping operation and Africa accounts for about 70percent of the UN Security Council's peacekeeping and development agenda as well asthe lion's share of its 7.6 billion dollar annual peacekeeping budget.

Nigeria's Foreign minister Odein Ajumogobia told the Security Council that the"demands placed upon the AU, far outweigh its resources and capacities to effectivelyrespond."

"The consequences of this mismatch include mission failure, increased instability,retarded economic development and a reluctance among potential partners tocontribute to what is perceived to be a failing system."

The UN secretary general said the Darfur and Somalia conflicts clearly show the "needto find a solution that will provide predictable, sustainable and flexible resources to theAfrican Union when it undertakes peacekeeping operations authorized by this council."

"AU peacekeeping operations should receive the same support as all UN peacekeepers,including reimbursement," he said.

A Security Council presidential statement promised to work to find "a more predictableand sustainable solution to these funding challenges."--------------------Guinea delays presidential poll (Al Jazeera)



Guinea has announced an indefinite delay to a presidential election run-off just twodays before it was to be held, casting doubt on the West African state's hopes forcivilian rule and provoking fresh protests.

"The October 24 date is not possible," General Siaka Sangare, the election commissionhead, said on Friday.

He said a new date would be announced after the commission further assessespreparations for the poll.

Earlier this week, General Sekouba Konate, the country's military leader, namedSangare, a Malian citizen, to head the electoral commission after disagreements over thecommission's makeup threatened to delay the run-off, scheduled for Sunday.

Cellou Dallein Diallo, a presidential candidate and a former prime minister, had

accused the previous commission chief of preferring his rival, Alpha Conde.

'Deplorable' conditions

Sangare signaled a possible delay to the run-off on Thursday when he said votingconditions were "deplorable".

Since then, officials learned that 17 computers that were to tabulate poll results weremissing.

"This election was bound to be delayed because of the many technical problems thatstill need to be resolved," Mohamed Jalloh, an analyst at International Crisis Group,said.

"But there are risks to a delay as well."

Analysts said the new delay was likely to be accepted by both candidates and give theelectoral commission time to fix problems found during June's first round of voting, butit could also raise the chance of ethnic clashes or a new military-led coup.

The vote, meant to transfer power from the army to an elected government, has beenpostponed repeatedly amid street violence and rows over the electoral commissionleadership.

Security forces used teargas to quell protests that erupted in a neighbourhood of thecapital, Conakry, after the announcement, according to a Reuters witness, extendingweeks of demonstrations that have occasionally turned violent.



The United Nations and United States have urged Guinea to set a new date for the run-off as soon as possible.

P.J. Crowley, the US state department spokesman, said Washington was "hopeful thatthe people of Guinea will avoid significant violence. And we also will hope that thegovernment will reschedule these as soon as possible".

Growing violence

The announcement came amid growing violence and a UN report alleging humanrights violations by Guinean security forces.

During protests earlier this week, security forces fired at unarmed protesters, shootingsome at point-blank range, the Geneva-based UN human rights office said in astatement.

One man was killed and at least 62 were wounded during demonstrations in Conakryduring the week. The UN said authorities severely beat protesters and arbitrarilydetained an unknown number of people and kept them in undisclosed locations.

The statement said some of those responsible for the violence appear to be members of aspecial police unit charged with safeguarding the election.

The first round of voting on June 27 passed in relative calm despite fears of violence inthe mineral-rich country. The process has stumbled since then, amid political infighting,

logistical challenges, and street clashes between supporters of the rival candidates.Diallo, who hails from the country's largest ethnic group, the Malinke, took more than43 per cent of the first round vote. Conde, from the second most populous ethnic group,the Peul, took slightly more than 18 per cent.

The vote aims to return the country to civilian rule after 25 years of military rule.--------------------Some Africans, poor no more, hit by new diseases (Associated Press)

JOHANNESBURG ² The medical experts gathered from around Africa were here to talkabout a continentwide epidemic, but it wasn't AIDS or malaria ³ it was diabetes, andthe bad habits that often bring it on.

A growing urban middle class is defying the image of Africa as poor, underfed andunder-medicated. And with the comforts of middle class life, afflictions familiar in theWest are making inroads here too ³ obesity, diabetes, lung cancer, strokes, heartdisease.



A continent that traditionally traveled on foot or by bicycle now increasingly rides carsand buses. More time is spent at desks. Elevators are replacing stairs. White-collarAfricans are discovering the gym.

"In the past, we used to exercise without knowing it," South Africa's health minister,Aaron Motsoaledi, reminded the recent conference.

"You would walk a long distance to school. You would walk a long distance to work.You would walk a long distance to the shops," Motsoaledi, 52, recalled of his childhood."But now I'm an African whose child is dropped at the gate of the school in a car, thenpicked up at the end of the day and put in front of the TV..."

In West Africa, Cameroonians who once ate rice only as a holiday treat are loading theirplates with it, crowding out the vegetables their parents ate. Down south, Malawians

say fast foods are a status symbol.

In Nairobi, Kenya, a sobering chat with his doctor got 27-year-old Robel Demissi to thegym. "My blood pressure had gone up, a bit more than last year, and my weight waseight kilograms (17 pounds) more. That's a lot," he says.

Demissi, a pilot for a Kenyan airline, blames his weight gain on junk food and aworkload that leaves little time for exercise. But lest he flunk his physical and lose hisflying license, he has taken up a Thai martial art and has lost six kilograms (15 pounds)in two months.

"I never used to have the time to train," he said, "but now I have two motivating factorsto make the time: my job and my life."

All over the world, these lifestyle diseases tend to go hand in hand with urbanizationand industrialization, and the results are felt in rising obesity rates and related illnesses.But they are all the more unwelcome in Africa, which already struggles with AIDS andmalaria.

"These countries are really faced with a double burden," said Dr. Timothy Armstrong,an expert on chronic diseases with the U.N. World Health Organization. How, hewonders, is a doctor treating AIDS or malaria to find time to lecture patients aboutwatching their weight?

Armstrong wants African governments to follow the West's lead with tobacco taxes andpressure on the food industry to cut salt and sugar content. But awareness often islacking.



Fatima Macuacua, 31, owns a grocery store in Maputo, capital of Mozambique, andrefuses to believe her favorite fast foods could be bad for her.

"Cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure and other diseases are not a big problem forAfricans," she insists. "Maybe for Europeans."

Besides, the middle class on the world's poorest continent is still tiny, and for many,issues of food are much more basic than gluten and trans fatty acids. A sharp rise inbread prices triggered riots in Maputo this year.

But free-market reforms have given Mozambique growth rates as high as 10 percent ayear, meaning a boom for some, and gyms have sprouted in the capital.

The rise of lifestyle diseases is too recent for solid statistics to exist. Kenyan healthauthorities say only this year did they start counting cases of obesity and fatal heart

attacks and strokes.

But at least the problem is getting attention.

Kenyan cardiologist Elijah Ogola says his own observations convince him there's aproblem and is especially worried about the patterns being set for children, who are lessactive than their parents were at their age.

"Generally our lives are so crowded that if you can afford to exercise you do not havethe time to," Ogola said in an interview. "You get into a matatu (bus), into the lift

(elevator), and sit at your desk."Dr. Jean Claude Mbanya, president of the International Diabetes Foundation, saidurban planners could help, for example, by designing car-free zones where Africans canrediscover walking.

Mbanya said that 15 years ago in his homeland, Cameroon, 5 percent of adults hadconditions pointing to developing diabetes later in life and 1.2 percent already had thedisease. Ten years later, he said, the figures were 9 percent and 7 percent. Mbanya'sfoundation estimates 12 million sub-Saharan Africans have diabetes ³ and estimatesthe number will double by 2030 to become the world's hardest-hit region.

Researchers writing recently in the New England Journal of Medicine said chronicdiseases such as diabetes account for 60 percent of all deaths worldwide, and 80 percentof those are in poorer countries, where younger people in their prime working years aremost vulnerable.



Mbanya, 52, recalled that a child, he only ate rice on Christmas, and a trip into townmeant walking, sometimes for days.

Now, he said, rice is eaten every day. City dwellers no longer grow their vegetables,and they rarely exercise.

Jimmy Sagawa, a chef for a hotel chain in Malawi, said people are starting to see eatingout as trendy, dismissing traditional foods like nsima, or corn porridge.

"Our women have forgotten the art of cooking that their mothers taught them," Sagawasaid. "They think taking the family to eat out is a symbol of the high life."

Or, as Johannesburg veterinarian Ida Mulenga puts it, "if you're eating McDonald's inyour house, it means you've got money in your house."

South Africa, with the continent's most developed economy, has stood out inaddressing the threat of lifestyle diseases. An increase in cigarette taxes has been linkedto a decline in smoking and smoking-related diseases since the 1990s. Smoking isbanned in public places, a novelty in Africa, and legislation is being drafted to limitartery-clogging trans fats in food.

Still, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of South Africa estimates a third of the men andmore than half the women here are overweight or obese.

From Cape Town's Groote Schuur Hospital, where the world's first heart transplant was

performed, comes research showing that South African deaths from diabetes were up38 percent between 1999 and 2006, and heart disease up 20 percent.

Mulenga, the Johannesburg vet, is 35 and works out regularly at a gym. In 2008 she ranher first 10-kilometer (6 mile) road race. She says she got inspiration from a friend, OrahBessit, a retired saleswoman who grows her own vegetables, walks and runs and is nowa youthfullooking 66.

Bessit recognizes that staying healthy requires sacrifices, so she has given uphamburgers and switched from white bread to whole-grain.

"When I started eating whole-grain bread, it was like sawdust," she said. "But I had toget used to it, for my health. Because if you eat healthy, you live long, without all ofthese diseases."--------------------Curing the Ills of America·s Top Foreign Aid Agency (New York Times)



A few days after Rajiv Shah was sworn in as the head of the United States Agency forInternational Development, he stopped by to see its rapid response center, a high-techcommand post for disaster relief, which on that day stood empty and still.

Twelve hours later, an earthquake devastated Haiti, and for the next two months thecenter became Dr. Shah·s round-the-clock home. A brainy, 37-year-old physician withlittle government experience, Dr. Shah suddenly found himself coordinating adesperate emergency relief effort under the gaze of President Obama.

The pace has barely let up since: catastrophic floods in Pakistan, the surge of aidworkers into Afghanistan, a top-to-bottom review of American foreign assistance ³ allhave heavily involved Dr. Shah, turning him into one of the administration·s mostvisible foreign policy players.

But for this politically astute son of Indian immigrants from Ann Arbor, Mich., who is

now the highest-ranking Indian-American in the administration, it is his ambitiouscampaign to rebuild Usaid that will ultimately determine his success or failure inWashington.

´He·s inherited leadership of an agency that was nearly broken over the last twodecades,µ said Richard C. Holbrooke, the special representative for Afghanistan andPakistan who has testified alongside him on Capitol Hill. While Mr. Holbrooke said Dr.Shah had a ´limitless future,µ he added, ´He·s going to be tested like few others are ingovernment.µ

Interviews with several Usaid employees suggest that Dr. Shah has begun to re-energize the agency in the last 10 months. His efforts recently got a major lift from theWhite House, which issued a new development policy that pledges to restore Usaid asthe premier American aid agency.

´The initial reaction was ¶Oh my God, he·s so young,· µ said Pamela White, a 29-yearveteran of Usaid who just completed a tour as mission director in Liberia. ´But thatnever bothered me. We desperately need to look up to someone who can put us in aposition to be a worldwide leader in development.µ

The heyday of Usaid dates back to before Dr. Shah was born. In 1968, it had 18,000workers running programs in Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa ³ a vibrantlegacy of John F. Kennedy·s call for the United States to reach beyond its borders. Butafter years of debilitating budget cuts that drove away many talented people, theagency now has fewer than 9,000 employees.



During the Bush administration, it lost its policy-making role to the State Department.Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who has pushed for a bigger civilian role in warzones, lamented recently that Usaid had become a glorified contracting agency.

As the agency has withered, wealthy private philanthropies like the Bill & MelindaGates Foundation have taken its place as leaders in development. So it is perhaps noaccident that Dr. Shah is an alumnus of the Gates Foundation, where he ran itsagriculture program and developed a $1.5 billion fund to finance vaccinations.

´There were things we were able to do at the Gates Foundation that were super-exciting,µ Dr. Shah said in an interview. Ýou could actually say, ¶O.K., my goal is tosolve AIDS, and how would you solve AIDS analytically?· You didn·t have to worryabout the politics.µ

At the same time, Dr. Shah acknowledges he was always drawn to the political arena.

The son of an engineer for Ford Motor Company and a school administrator, hegraduated from the University of Michigan and the University of Pennsylvania medicalschool, but soon became a health-policy adviser to Al Gore·s presidential campaign.

A staunch supporter of Mr. Obama·s candidacy, he said he viewed his election as aKennedy moment ³ worth trading weekend hikes in Washington State for the Beltwayslog of Washington. His wife, Shivam Mallick Shah, has a senior post in the Departmentof Education.

Í·m a chronic complainer when we·re not in power,µ Dr. Shah said of his decision to

join the government. Í believe that these moments in history, when you have this kindof president, are rare.µ

A SOFT-SPOKEN man with a toothy but almost bashful smile, Dr. Shah can bedeferential in public appearances with higher-level officials. But he is not shy about hisplans, saying he seeks to bring better monitoring and analytical rigor to the agency.Some programs, he noted, get financed year after year, even if they are failing.

He wants to implant Gates-style entrepreneurialism, championing ideas that come frombeyond its usual circle of contractors. At town-hall meetings, Dr. Shah is equal partsevangelist and wonk, talking about Usaid·s future while larding his vocabulary withcorporate-speak words like ́ metrics.µ

´He·s very dynamic and very smart,µ said Martin J. Fisher, the chief executive ofKickStart, a nonprofit organization that makes a low-cost pump to irrigate farmers·fields. ´But he·s got a huge bureaucracy he·s fighting against, and a lot of vestedinterests.µ



Dr. Shah also has to contend with a boss, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton,who has a deep interest in development and has largely won an internal administrationdebate over whether Usaid should be more independent or stay under the influence ofthe State Department.

Mr. Holbrooke, for example, still signs off on aid for Afghanistan and Pakistan ³ anauthority he picked up because Usaid was leaderless for months and because, he said,the programs there were a mess.

The State Department has almost finished an exhaustive, year-long review of diplomacyand development. The review will reinforce Usaid·s expanded role but lash it evenmore firmly to the State Department.

´To the extent that State maintains firm control over Usaid, it can make it difficult forany agency to revitalize itself,µ said Connie Veillette, director of the program for

rethinking foreign assistance at the Center for Global Development, an independentresearch group. ´Usaid needs to have a stronger voice.µ

BUT there are advantages to being so closely aligned with Mrs. Clinton. Usaid isseeking funds to hire an additional 1,200 Foreign Service officers, and few people haveas much clout on Capitol Hill.

Dr. Shah said critics in development circles were too focused on organizational charts;what matters is that he is in sync with Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Holbrooke. Mrs. Clintonhas become his strongest champion, according to one of her senior advisers, Philippe

Reines.The agency has also managed to wrest back some control, setting up its own policy-planning shop and a small budget office.

With Usaid engaged in so many places, many of Dr. Shah·s headaches stem from beingtoo much in demand. The agency has nearly 400 Americans in Afghanistan, which hasmade it difficult to fill jobs in Africa.

Dr. Shah himself spends a quarter of his time on Afghanistan, but like other seniorofficials he plays down expectations. ´We have to be honest with ourselves about whatis the goal of different programs,µ he said.

As he learns the ropes, Dr. Shah has other influential backers, not least Mr. Obama, whogot to know him during meetings about the Haiti crisis in the White House SituationRoom and announced the new development policy himself at the United Nations.



´As a government, we have a coherent strategy for the first time since J.F.K.,µ saidDavid Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, which advocates for aid to alleviatehunger and poverty. ´The only good thing that came out of the Haiti earthquake,µ headded, ´is that it raised Raj Shah to be a partner of the president.µ--------------------UN News Service Africa Briefs Full Articles on UN Website

Deadly violence continues in Darfur, Ban says in latest report 22 October ² Although there have been substantially fewer clashes between parties tothe conflict in Darfur, deadly fighting between communities in the war-ravagedSudanese region continues, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a new report.

Ban calls for predictable funding for African Union peace initiatives22 October ² The African Union (AU) continues to face difficulties in securing the

necessary funding for its peace efforts on the continent, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moonsaid today, appealing to the international community to find sustainable ways ofsupporting the pan-African body·s initiatives.

G uinea: excessive force used against demonstrators, UN rights office says22 October ² The United Nations Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights(OHCHR) today expressed its deep concern over excessive use of force by Guinea·ssecurity forces against demonstrators ahead of this weekend·s long-delayedpresidential run-off poll.

Nigeria experiencing worst cholera outbreak in years, UN reports22 October ² Nigeria is in the midst of its worst cholera outbreak in recent years, withnearly 40,000 cases and more than 1,500 deaths reported since the start of the year, theUnited Nations reported today.

UN mobilizing aid to help flood-stricken Benin22 October ² The United Nations is mobilizing aid to Benin, where nearly 700,000people have been affected by severe flooding, with the world body and its partnersshortly set to launch a humanitarian appeal to help the flood-stricken in the WestAfrican nation.

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