africom related news clips october 5, 2010

8/8/2019 AFRICOM Related News Clips October 5, 2010

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The New Rules: Building Real States to Empower the Bottom Billion (World PoliticsReview)(Pan Africa) America's top African diplomat recently signaled Washington's desire toestablish more official contacts with the autonomous region of Somaliland. Meanwhile,both our Agency for International Development and the Pentagon's recently established

Africa Command worry about Sudan's upcoming vote on formally splitting the countryin two. For a country that has sworn off nation-building, it's interesting to see just howhard it is for America to remain on the sidelines while globalization remaps so much ofthe developing world.

UN Security Council Condemns Nigerian Bombings (Voice of America)(Nigeria) The United Nations Security Council has condemned the independence-daybombings in Abuja, Nigeria, on Friday that killed 12 people.

Frenzy of Rape in Congo Reveals U.N. Weakness (New York Times)

(Congo) The United Nations· blue-helmets are considered the last line of defense ineastern Congo. But many critics contend that nowhere else in the world has the UnitedNations invested so much and accomplished so little.

Ethiopian PM sworn in for another five-year term (AFP)(Ethiopia) Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was sworn in for another five-yearterm Monday, almost five months after controversial polls propelled his party tovictory.

Report: Africa governments strengthening economies (Bloomberg)

(Pan Africa) Africa's governments are doing a better job of strengthening theireconomies and helping the private sector grow, but security has deteriorated on thecontinent over the past five years, a former World Bank official said Monday.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Websitey Security Council heads to Sudan ahead of upcoming referenda

y Security Council condemns deadly terrorist car bomb attacks in Nigeria-------------------------------------------------------------------------UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Wednesday, October 6, Noon; Cato InstituteWHAT: Why Africa Is Poor and What Africans Can Do about ItWHO: Greg Mills, Director, Brenthurst Foundation, South Africa; Marian L. Tupy,Policy Analyst, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, Cato Institute; moderated byIan Vásquez, Director, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, Cato InstituteInfo: http://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=7401



WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, October 7, 9:00 a.m.; Center for Strategic and InternationalStudiesWHAT: Next Steps on Sudan: Has the Comprehensive Peace Agreement Paved theWay to Peace?WHO: Lieutenant General Lazaro K. Sumbeiywo, former Kenyan Special Envoy and

Lead Mediator of the Sudanese Peace ProcessInfo: http://csis.org/events WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, October 7, 12:30 p.m.; Johns Hopkins School of AdvancedInternational StudiesWHAT: Food Sovereignty and Land Grabs in AfricaWHO: Mamadou Goita, Director of a Food Security Program in Mali; Rachel Smolker,Biofuel Watch; Matt Kavanagh, Health Gap; Emira Woods, Moderator, Co-Director ofIPS· Foreign Policy in FocusInfo: http://www.sais-jhu.edu/calendar/

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, October 12, 6:00 p.m.; Council on Foreign RelationsWHAT: A Trip Report: SudanWHO: John Predergast, Co-founder, The Enough Project; George Clooney, Co-founder,Not On Our WatchInfo: http://www.cfr.org/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------FULL ARTICLE TEXT

Burkina Faso Minister of Defence visits US Africa Command (Defence Web)

Burkina Faso's Minister of Defence Yero Boly has met senior leaders of US AfricaCommand (AFRICOM) to identify areas of cooperation between Burkina Faso and theUnited States in what appears to be another sign of waning African scepticism of the USmilitary's role on the continent.

Boly was welcomed at the command's headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, byAFRICOM commander General William Ward. Bilateral cooperation between BurkinaFaso and AFRICOM dates back to August 2008 when a bilateral military agreementwent into effect allowing the exchange of logistic support, supplies, and servicesbetween the two nations.

Ward in July told the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) inWashington that his talks with African leaders were increasingly focussed on what hiscommand could do for them, leading him to conclude that skepticism on the continentabout AFRICOM was waning. The US defence journal DefenseNews on July 20reported that Ward had said command officials have put in much "hard work" to"deepen our relationships" with African leaders, other US agencies and internationalplayers in Africa. The result was that in the last 15 months before his address African



officials had began asking him what more AFRICOM could do to foster their goals andmeet their needs.

Those kinds of questions have led Ward to conclude "we have turned a corner" awayfrom AFRICOM's early days, when US officials spent more time addressing questions

about Washington's intentions for the new organisation, DefenseNews added. Wardand other US officials struggled early on to convince African leaders that the commandwas aimed at helping with tasks like training and building capacity.

He added that Africa wanted:

* "Self-sustaining, accountable" indigenous security forces including professional police,customs, border patrol and immigration officers. They also need help erecting courtsand a legal system;* "Legitimate security institutions," meaning institution building largely at the

ministerial level;* "The ability and will to combat transnational threats" including countering extremistgroups and dealing with drug trafficking; and* Building a non-commissioned and warrant officer corps in the armed services.--------------------New Bridges of Friendship Emerge from Participation in African Policy (Nazret.com)

A week ago the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia·s Executive Team Leaders sentout an appeal to SMNE members to raise funds to send SMNE Executive Director, Mr.Obang Metho, to the Leon H. Sullivan Summit; entitled, ´Africa Policy Forum: A Vision

for the 21st Century,µ intended to bridge the gap between Africa, the U.S. and citizensin both places. This conference, held in Atlanta, Georgia from September 24th to 28th,the invites included eight heads of African states³like President Jonathan Goodluckfrom Nigeria, former President John Kufour of Ghana and President Paul Kagame fromRwanda³as well as state dignitaries, celebrities, activists and delegates from Africa,America, Asia, the Caribbean and Europe.

As you probably already know, the SMNE is a peoples· movement; empowered byEthiopians at the grassroots level. This became more evident this past week asEthiopians from eleven different countries³such as Norway, France, the UK, Germany,Ukraine and a number of cities in Canada and United States of America madedonations in varying amounts; ranging from $10 to $250 dollars. Within two days, wereached our target and by Saturday, Obang was on a plane heading to Atlanta. This wassomething very encouraging for all of us; showing that SMNE members are willing toback up their words of support with concrete financial help; making it possible topursue such excellent opportunities as this proved to be!



The Summit was organized by the Sullivan Foundation; a conference held every twoyears that usually takes place in Africa, but this time was being held in Atlanta. Thethemes of the discussions and plenary sessions were: ÚS Policy towards Africa,µ´Securing Africa·s Economic Future through Competitiveness, Trade and Investment,µĆhallenges and Solutions for Clean Water in Africa,µ ´Separation and Loss of the Next

Generation,µ Ínternational Women·s Issuesµ and ´Dual Citizenship; Bridging the Tiesbetween African Americans and Africans.µ

Mr. Obang wishes to greatly thank those who made this trip possible; saying hebelieves it was extremely worthwhile in making important connections to AfricanAmericans as well as to inform them about the truth of what is going on in Ethiopia.Mr. Obang attended most of the forums and met with some of the dignitaries andofficials. He was able to speak out on a number of different occasions on behalf ofEthiopians and other Africans. Here are some of the highlights he shared.ÚS Policy towards Africaµ

The session, ÚS Policy towards Africa,µ focused on the Obama administration·s policyregarding Africa over the last two years. A panel of eminent persons; including suchpeople as General William ´Kipµ Ward; Commander, U.S. Africa Command, JohnPrendergast; founder of the ENOUGH Project, Susan Paige; Deputy Assistant U.S.Secretary of State for African Affairs and others, spoke about their vision for Africa andwhat goals they would like to see accomplished during the next half of the Obamaadministration. There was general agreement among them that there should be greaterfocus on some of Africa·s worst areas of conflict. The ´hotspotsµ specifically namedincluded Somalia, Darfur, Southern Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and theHorn of Africa.

During a very interesting discussion period that followed, Mr. Obang challenged thepanel to address the current U.S. policy of investing in a dictator rather than in thepeople; saying that lasting peace would never come to Ethiopia, the Horn and all ofAfrica as long as the US held tightly to this position. He used the case of Ethiopia;particularly challenging General Ward and Deputy Assistant Susan Paige to considerhow the Obama administration·s partnership with Meles in the War on Terror, resultedin turning a blind eye to how Meles was actually terrorizing his own people. Instead ofreducing the risk of terrorism, such policies were actually backfiring in Ethiopia andSomalia where Meles· brutal human rights violations were contributing to a moreunstable, conflicted and radicalized Horn of Africa than ever.Another question Mr. Obang asked the panel was, ´Why was there no strongcondemnation by the US administration or from other donor countries to Meles· claimof a 99.6% win in the 2010 national election?µ He told them that the people of Ethiopiawere ready for change; something clearly demonstrated five years ago when over twomillion people came out to rally in Addis Ababa during the election; however, Melesand his party had stolen the election; imposing their will on the people by force. Whenpeople came out in protest; nearly 200 were killed.



Opposition leaders were arrested and the government clamped down on even moredemocratic rights; closing all political space before the sham 2010 election was everheld. Instead, Obang suggested that if the US really wanted to seek the best nationalinterests of America for the long-term; American policy should support the democratic

movement of the people rather than aligning with a dictator. Mr. Obang reported thatthe response to these comments was encouraging, but once again, we will have to waitto see what actions are taken.

´International Women·s IssuesµFollowing the presentation on International Women·s issues, a lively discussionensured where Obang had the opportunity to ask the panel whether they knew aboutthe political imprisonment of Ethiopian leader, Birtukan Mideksa. None indicatedknowledge of her or the details of her imprisonment. Mr. Obang explained thatBirtukan had been given a life sentence for simply refusing to recant her truthful

statement regarding the terms of her release after being imprisoned for 20 months withother opposition leaders in the aftermath of the 2005 election.

Mr. Obang shared with them how Birtukan was a young politician, a judge, a motherand the first woman ever to lead a major Ethiopian political party. He explained howshe was jailed nearly two years ago after becoming an increasing threat to the Melesregime in response to her increasing popularity among Ethiopians; and as a result, herelderly mother was now raising her seven year old daughter. As Obang told them howBirtukan had found inspiration from models of justice and courage like Rosa Parks, hecalled those present to join with the Ethiopian people to mobilize peace-loving

Americans; especially African American women, to take a stand with Birtukan.

He encouraged them to work with the Ethiopian community wherever they werelocated, in engaging policy makers, as well as the Obama administration, to be pro-active in advocating for this pro-democratic leader, woman and mother.

Here is Obang, speaking to the panels about political imprisonment of Ethiopian leaderMs. Birtukan Mideksa.

The response from the panel was very positive as they expressed appreciation forbringing this case to their attention; saying it was an important responsibility ofEthiopians to let them and others know about people like her so all of them could worktogether. Mr. Obang will follow up with this regarding some next steps to bring thesegroups together.

´Dual Citizenship: Bridging the Ties between African Americans and AfricansµFollowing the session on the relationship between African Americans, Africans andAfricans who have more recently arrived in the U.S., there was an emotional discussion



among the audience as African Americans expressed their desire to go to Africa to helpwork for change or even to immigrate there more permanently, but they expressed theirfrustration with the many obstacles blocking the way.

Mr. Obang stressed if they were to pursue this, it would be very important to work with

Africans who were involved in creating good government and stronger institutions thatgenuinely respected the rights of the people. He emphasized that once such goodgovernment and institutions were in place, it would be much easier to deal with theimmigration issues. Simply stated, African Americans needed to stand together withthe people of Africa and other freedom loving people. In the specific case of Ethiopia,Obang encouraged them to engage with the Ethiopians like they did in South Africawhen their united strength was much more effective in ending apartheid and bringingabout a better, more equitable government.

Ethiopian Embassy·s Public Relation Delegate, Wahde Belay, Refutes Obang·s

StatementsAfter Obang finished making some of these comments, Mr. Wahde Belay, a publicrelations representative from the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington D.C., stood up andpublicly disputed Obang·s comments. Apparently, Mr. Belay came to Washington D.C.two months ago to assume this public relations position; which must include attendingthese kinds of conferences to build up their image among the American public. Mr.Belay told the audience that he disagreed with Obang and that he wanted to correctsomething he had said about Ethiopia. He then went on to declare, Éthiopia is one ofthe most democratic countries in Africa.µ He then asserted, Ćorruption does not existin our country.µ The audible response from the audience clearly demonstrated that they

found these statements difficult to believe.He then went on to talk about the land grab issue going on in the country whereEthiopian land is being leased to foreign investors for up to 99 years. He stated, Í alsodisagree with Obang when he says that the land is being given away for 99 years;because, yes, we are leasing it for 99 years; but anytime³if we don·t like some of thethings they are doing³we can kick them out. So, it is not true that these leases are for a99 years. It is not guaranteed.µ

We all must wonder what these foreign investors will think of this statement once theyhear about it. This is certainly not the government spin they are delivering via peoplelike Ethiopian Ambassador Gennet Zewide in her recent interview on an Indian TVprogram.

On another note, on October 2, 2010, Ezega News reported that the Meles regime wasnow freezing³at least temporarily³further land deals; claiming it was a decision madea month ago. He admitted that it would confuse some. He said this as they leased 129more hectares to billionaire Al Amoudi.



Response from Isaiah Washington: Actor, Producer, Author and ActivistIsaiah Washington was one of the very well known African American celebritiesattending this conference. During the session, ´Dual Citizenship: Bridging the Tiesbetween African Americans and Africans,µ Isaiah Washington gave an eloquent andinspiring speech, saying he was the first African American to receive a dual passport; as

a citizen of both the United States and Sierra Leone.

He explained that he had spent $1.3 million in the past to get his DNA analyzed andfound out his ancestors had originated from Sierra Leone. Through this information andmuch personal effort, he was finally able to obtain a Sierra Leone passport. Since then,he has become involved in Sierra Leone, trying to make a difference. He shared thatever since he was young; his heart has been in Africa. He said he wanted to go back tothe mother continent and encouraged others to get their DNA analyzed to do same.

He then stated that one thing he learned during the conference was hearing brother

Obang. He remarked that he did not know much about Ethiopia, but that he knew anEthiopian who had wanted to work with him to change things there; but later, heard hewas part of a tribal-based government that is controlling the people of Ethiopia. He saidit was very uplifting to hear about the vision of putting ´humanity before ethnicity.µ Hesaid he was inspired by it; then emphasizing it in his own words, ´We are not AfricanAmericans, not Negroes, not the Diaspora, simply put, we are all human.µ

He then urged in an impassioned speech, ´I think we should rally and work with thiskind of model. All of us should join together around these principles and revolutionizethe continent with principles of putting humanity before ethnicity or anything else.

Whether you are from West Africa, East Africa, North Africa, Central Africa or SouthAfrica; whether you have light or dark skin; whether you are Muslim, Christian,Nigerian, Ghanian, Ethiopian, or something else, we all fit under the category ofhumanity first.

Enough with the talking about it! As far as I am concerned, I am already in the struggleand I will do whatever I can to stand behind their movement; a movement to get usback home. As Obang said, it is a movement to restore a broken bridge between themainland and African Americans. As Obang also said, there is no us and them.So let us help Africans establish a good government that respects the rights of all peopleand that protects the rule of law so people can go home. Let us support this kind ofmovement. I will work with brother Obang and people like him.µ When he ended, thepeople stood up and gave him a standing ovation.

Meeting with Ethiopians in Atlanta a HighlightMr. Obang said that a highlight of the trip to Atlanta was meeting Ethiopians from theAtlanta area at Meskerem, an Ethiopian restaurant. During the discussion, the peopleagreed that despite the disappointment with the struggle, ´we have to move on.µ Ato



Merid Bekele summed it up. He said if you asked any Ethiopian if people want unity;they will say yes. If you ask them if they want a better government, they will all say yes.He went on with other similar questions; pointing to the truth that most Ethiopianswant change, but are not sure how to fix the problems before us. However, he summedit up in saying that we cannot ignore the things going on in the country and the fact that

people are dying. People agreed that as a group, they must try to bring everybodytogether in Atlanta to speak with a louder voice.

Mr. Obang agreed that there were some negative obstacles, but also some positiveindications. The negatives were that many people were losing hope and distancingthemselves from the problems in the country; however, the overwhelming positive wasthat there were Ethiopians like those present who were sitting down around a table totalk about what to do; refusing to quit. He said he believed there may be a million moreEthiopians like them throughout the world who cared and who were willing to not quit;however, the difficult task that we have failed to accomplish is to connect these people,

who think alike, together to form a common vision that will lead to a powerfulmovement.

Mr. Obang went on to say that if we can find a mechanism to connect us all together;mobilizing the people, it would be the end of Woyane. He urged that people shouldwork with the organizations they believed in and then join in collaboration with others.As for the SMNE, Mr. Obang assured them that the SMNE was willing to work witheverybody and that the goal now was to ´beµ a movement of the solidarity of people topeople; reaching out to others who believed in the core principles of the SMNE³´humanity before ethnicityµ and that ´no one will be free until all are free.µ The

meeting concluded with the understanding that the SMNE will be there to help them.This ended a great evening between brothers and sisters of Ethiopia in Atlanta.

Conclusion to African Policy Forum Week:Mr. Obang gives his gratitude to those Ethiopians who supported his attendance at thispremier international conference on Africa; for it was a most worthwhile experience,filled with many new connections and possibilities. One thing that was definitely clearwas that Ethiopians need to reach out to our African American brothers and sisters;helping them to find ways to become more engaged in African issues like the way itwas done in South Africa. They are ready and so are we, but our first shared task iscoming together and then working towards creating a healthier, freer, more just andmore reconciled society in Africa.

We Ethiopians must work harder to get our message out to outsiders so they can standside by side with us to fight against tyrants who are a threat to all humanity. LikeMartin Luther King, JR said, ´Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere!µ MayGod strengthen the bonds of these new relationships; empowering us to reach out to



one another in ways that will help our African continent to become a blessing to theworld!--------------------US helps Sudan town move past 'hungriest place' (Associated Press)

AKOBO, Sudan ² International officials once visited this straw-hut town to examineskeletal children and make plans to combat a brewing famine. Now six months later,fears of mass hunger are gone, and U.S. officials are instead hailing a program they saybuilds peace.

Youth in this muddy town near the Ethiopia border were until recently viewed as acatalyst for conflict in an area of Southern Sudan known for violence. But the youth arenow taking part in U.S.-funded construction projects that have seen a community centerbuilt and a fence erected around the unpaved airstrip ³ to prevent cows fromwandering into the path of aircraft.

U.N. and U.S. officials championed the approach to resolving local conflict and buildingpeace in this historically tense, heavily armed outpost during a weekend visit.

"It is not only a sign of stability, but a sign of hope for many youth who used theirenergy to mold blocks rather than engaging in cattle rustling," said CountyCommissioner Goi Jooyul Yol, the top official in this sprawling county.

The Akobo projects present just a small sliver of good news in a region beset bypoverty. More than 4 million people in Southern Sudan need food aid, and the U.N.

estimates that more than 90 percent of the region's 8 million to 13 million people live onless than a $1 day. The literacy rate is 15 percent. Life expectancy is 42 years.

Still, the U.N. and U.S. say the Akobo model is worth replicating across SouthernSudan, where intertribal violence is a widespread threat to this Texas-sized region likelyto become the world's newest country next year.

Southern Sudan holds an independence referendum Jan. 9, and keeping the peaceacross the new country will be a key challenge.

"You should have seen Akobo a year ago," said Marv Koop, the chief of AECOM inSudan, the company the U.S. government hired to carry out its aid programs here."Scorched huts in the outlying villages, people squatting under trees. There's a bigdifference between the situation then and now."

An Associated Press reporter visited Akobo in April and saw skeletal infants and sicklylooking elders. Lise Grande, head of the U.N.'s humanitarian efforts in Southern Sudan,called the village back then "the hungriest place on earth."



Since then the rains have come, and Akobo's dusty earth is now a sticky, muddy blackthat is almost impossible to drive through. Today Grande says "the people of Akobohave turned their community around."

Over the last several months, youth have been making the cement blocks to build a newcounty headquarters complete with wireless Internet and solar panels paid for byUSAID, the U.S. government aid arm. Workers also constructed a courtroom used forweekly sessions convened by traditional chiefs.

The approach pioneered by the U.N. and USAID in Akobo addresses what are viewedas the two key triggers for conflict in the area: disempowered youth who lackeducational opportunities but have ready access to weapons, and a fledglinggovernment ill-equipped to deliver services and security across its sprawling terrain.

USAID has spent more than $2 million in Akobo County in the past year, making it thefocal point of its efforts to improve community security in the run-up to the Januaryreferendum.

Goi, the commissioner, said many community members pitched in last month to helpbuild the fence around the unpaved airstrip. The project, also funded by USAID, wascompleted within a week.

The top U.S. diplomat in Southern Sudan, Barrie Walkley, said Akobo should be proudof the results.

All of these projects, the officials say, provide incentive for townspeople to improvetheir lives through paid labor and small business instead of cattle raiding and the armedresolution of disputes.

In 2009, more than 900 people were killed in Akobo County alone, mostly due to armedviolence related to cattle raids by idle youth using AK-47s leftover from Sudan's 21-yearnorth-south civil war.

This year, Akobo has seen only 15 deaths related to conflict, and some of the same rivalyouth who were stealing each other's cattle are now being supported to form a for-profit group for development projects.--------------------US, China Interests Compete In Sudan (Voice of America)

While U.S. officials are making a diplomatic push to keep the south Sudanindependence referendum on schedule for January, analysts say China, a major ally of



Sudan's government, also has an important role to play. The U.S., China rivalry is beingplayed out over Sudan's uncertain future.

The U.S. Congress is introducing new legislation to encourage Sudan to keep itsprevious peace engagements in exchange for normalizing ties, while Sunday, Sudan's

President Omar al-Bashir praised China for how it cooperates with African countries.

The new U.S. bill, which has bipartisan support, is projected to be passed into lawbefore the end of the year. It comes as the U.S. diplomatic presence is steadily growingin south Sudan.

China, meanwhile, is making sure it maintains its extremely favorable ties with thegovernment in Khartoum, while deepening its own links in the south.

China has been buying huge amounts of oil from Sudan's landlocked south which run

through northern pipelines, linking China to both parts of the country.

In recent years, China has also supplied the government in Khartoum with largeamounts of military equipment and diplomatic support. Chinese officials have saidthey are in favor of a united Sudan, but will respect the outcome of the referendum ifsoutherners choose independence.

American scholar Eric Reeves, a Sudan researcher at Smith College, initiated acampaign branding the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing the "genocide Olympics"because of the ongoing war in Sudan's western Darfur province and China's links to the

conflict.

Reeves says even though the United States and China may want peace for southernSudan, officials in Khartoum may have other plans. "I think it is an ideal opportunityfor the United States and China to work together. Khartoum has enjoyed diplomaticprotection from Beijing for far too long at the Security Council. Some of that changedwith the "genocide Olympics" campaign I started because it was in their self-interest notto have their Olympics, their international coming out party tagged as the "genocideOlympics", but there was never really a threat to China's economic interests by virtue oftheir enabling Khartoum. Now, there is. If I had to bet, Khartoum will either abort,abrogate or militarily subvert the results of the self-determination referendum if it isallowed to take place at all," he said.

A former U.S. ambassador in Africa, David Shinn, says China pressured Khartoum toaccept international peacekeepers in Darfur, in part because of issues related to theOlympics. He says China's role is also crucial in terms of the referendum.



Shinn, who is currently researching China's growing role in Africa, says Chineseofficials are paying more and more attention to officials from the former southern rebelSudan People's Liberation Movement, known as the SPLM.

This includes inviting them to Beijing, as well as opening a consulate in the former rebel

headquarters of Juba, the capital in southern Sudan. "They are going to great lengths totry to ensure that they are well situated in the south on the assumption the south votesfor independence," Shinn said.

Shinn says Chinese officials follow a consistent approach of establishing economic tiesin areas of interest, such as those containing vast amounts of oil like in southern Sudan,with whoever the authorities are.

"They will simply try to do business, whatever it takes to get it done. And if the SPLM ison the same page, they may very well succeed. So I think that will be the focus of the

Chinese effort to shore up their relations with the southern government assuming itbecomes independent, and operate on a business-like basis," he said.

But Kevin Funk, an independent writer, and co-author of a book called "The Scramblefor Africa: Darfur Intervention and the USA" sees the situation in Sudan as an exampleof China-US rivalry over resources and military ties on the continent.

Funk points to reports that U.S. allies in east Africa are sending weapons to southernSudan. "There have been reports that both Ethiopia and Kenya have been providing theSPLM with weapons. The fact they are strong U.S. allies and given the broader contours

of U.S. policy suggests the U.S. role in south Sudan is not as disinterested as it mightcommonly be portrayed," he said.

Other analysts, like John Prendergast from the U-S-based Enough Project to endgenocide, see the situation with more optimism. He says southern Sudan's scheduledreferendum is an opportunity for the world's two biggest economies to cooperate in theinterests of peace in Africa.

"Both countries, China and the United States, have an interest in peace. They may havedifferent motivations, the Chinese have a bigger interest, national security interest, inSudan because they want unimpeded access to that oil. They have sunk $10 billion intothe oil sector, they would be fools to want to have war erupt again and not react to that.So it seems to me this is a great opportunity for the United States to work with China toprevent war in the south to secure China's economic interests and secure America'shumanitarian interests in conflict prevention in Sudan," he said.

The referendum would be the culmination of the Comprehensive Peace Agreementwhich was signed in 2005 between the Sudan People's Liberation Movement and the



government of Sudan to end two decades of conflict which killed an estimated twomillion people. Other obstacles include logistics, establishing proper voting lists, borderdemarcation and how oil profits will be shared if the south votes for independence.--------------------The New Rules: Building Real States to Empower the Bottom Billion (World Politics

Review)

America's top African diplomat recently signaled Washington's desire to establish moreofficial contacts with the autonomous region of Somaliland, which sits within theinternationally recognized borders of the failed state known as Somalia. Meanwhile,both our Agency for International Development and the Pentagon's recently establishedAfrica Command worry about Sudan's upcoming vote on formally splitting the countryin two. For a country that has sworn off nation-building, it's interesting to see just howhard it is for America to remain on the sidelines while globalization remaps so much ofthe developing world.

Not that globalization causes changes that otherwise would not occur. It's just thatglobalization, and the connecting opportunities it offers, tends to empower groupswithin weak or artificial states to plot their escape routes. That's why the number ofstates around the world will continue to grow in response to globalization's advance,whether the U.S. gets involved or not.

Weak states are pretty easy to spot, since they cannot control their territory. But what'san "artificial state"? It depends on the degree to which that nation's borders weredrawn, rather than discovered.

Development expert William Easterly's research on artificial states finds thatpostcolonial states with more straight-line borders experience less political stability andeconomic success than postcolonial states with more irregularly shaped, or squiggly,frontiers. If a country's borders are squiggly, it's probably because they conform to somenatural geographic delineator, or perhaps because past wars bent them according totribal boundaries. Conversely, where borders are straight, it's probably because someforeign colonial power drew them for nefarious reasons, such as dividing ethnic groupsto create permanently unhappy minority populations in fake states ruled by competingtribes. The resulting regimes were thereby kept weak by their inability to effectivelycontrol their own national territory, leaving them dependent on their colonial patrons.

The Middle East, anchored by the fake state of Iraq -- where Kurds, Shiites and Sunniswere slapped together by the British -- is just the tip of this iceberg. Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin did a similar number on Central Asia, creating five states that all ended upwith substantial minorities linking them inextricably to their neighbors. A case in pointis Kyrgyzstan, whose recent instability featured the usual majority ethnicity violenceagainst the minority Uzbeks.



If we take Easterly's notion of artificial states, and combine them with former WorldBank economist Paul Collier's notion of the "bottom billion," or that share of the globaleconomy which did not take off like the rest of the world with the rising connectivityover the past two decades, we find ourselves deep inside those parts of the world most

likely to birth new fragile states in coming years.

Collier says that 58 countries make up the bottom billion, whose populations now earna mere one-fifth in income compared with recent globalizers like China. Unsurprisingly,many are located in the interior of Africa and Central Asia. As such, virtually all can beconsidered the victims of colonial mapmakers. Indeed, Collier argues that there issimply no logical reason why there should be any landlocked African nations. Only 1percent of the advanced West's population suffers the odd combination of beinglandlocked and resource-poor, whereas almost one-third of Africa endures this fate. It'snot surprising that they simply lack the resources to become coherent states. As Collier

notes, "Many of these countries are not just falling behind, they are falling apart."

As Easterly pointed out in his magnificent book, "The White Man's Burden," formercolonies that score high on partitioned ethnic populations consistently score low onthings like democracy, government services, rule of law, lack of corruption, infantlongevity, literacy, and clean water. The only thing they do consistently score high on iscivil strife. According to Easterly's research, 80 percent of Africa's borders correspond tolatitudinal and longitudinal lines, where some colonial master took a ruler to a map.Sadly, Africa's record on ethnic violence in the post-Cold War era is all too familiar.

So long as the U.S. remains a global military superpower, it is going to be drawn intoplenty of these fake-state scenarios over the next couple of decades as globalizationcontinues its astonishingly rapid advance. For whenever the global economy effectivelypenetrates these straight-line borders, some group on the inside wants the equivalent ofa national divorce, or worse, wants back-payments from neighbors for historicalgrievances and perceived exploitation.

Those who make the first move are typically the most ambitious and capable. Examplesare the Slovenes and Croatians of the former Yugoslavia, the autonomous Kurds in Iraq,or Bolivia's Santa Cruz province, which recently threatened secession. At other timesthe dispossessed simply rise up in spontaneous mass violence in response to the rightkind of political trigger, as in Kenya's disputed 2007 election or Rwanda's 1994genocidal fit of rage. In fact, the latter's origins can arguably be traced all the way backto the Versailles Treaty of 1919, which gave the former German colony to the Belgians,who thereafter placed the minority Tutsi in privileged control over the majority Hutu.

The world's great powers must collectively remain willing to intervene militarily toprevent or tamp down such ethnic conflict as it arises, and this needs to be part of



America's strategic dialogue with China. Otherwise, the U.S. will continue to find itselfat loggerheads with the Chinese over these failed and failing states, upon whom Beijingis becoming increasingly resource-dependent. The answer is simple: Working together,the United States and China need to target the bottom billion for pre-emptive nation-building and "external" improvements that better link those populations to

globalization's networks. China is arguably the most aggressive economy-builder in theworld today, and America is the biggest provider of foreign aid. Together, those twocapabilities can forge workable solutions.

Such a grand strategy approach would logically include somehow binding theselandlocked states into economic "corridor" packages that link them to coastal states. InCentral Asia, this means a corridor that connects the region both westward, through theBlack Sea -- thus countering Russia in the Caucasus -- and southward, throughAfghanistan and Pakistan to the Indian Ocean (and India's booming middle class). InAfrica, it would mean radial-style corridors that connect landlocked countries to the

major ports. In combination, then, such a grand strategy vision would kill two birdswith one stone: connecting the bottom billion while improving the security situation inthe two great regions where the influence of radical Islam threatens to spread from itscenter of gravity in the Middle East.

To effectively address these challenges, the U.S. -- and Americans -- must accept thatthey will continue to face three inescapable realities. First, globalization will naturallyfracture fake states and thus birth new, weak ones. Second, the most likely agents ofglobalization's connectivity will come from the East. And third, our aid and securitystrategies need to consist of getting in front of these powerful forces, not to stop them,

but to shape the ultimate outcomes.--------------------UN Security Council Condemns Nigerian Bombings (Voice of America)

The United Nations Security Council has condemned the independence-day bombingsin Abuja, Nigeria, on Friday that killed 12 people.

The 15-member Security Council condemned in what it calls "the strongest terms"Friday's bombings in Nigeria, calling them a heinous crime. The president of theSecurity Council, Uganda's ambassador Ruhakana Rugunda, read the council'sstatement: "The members of the Security Council reaffirmed that terrorism in all itsforms and manifestations is criminal and unjustifiable regardless of its motivation,wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed, and further reaffirmed the needto combat by all means in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations threats tointernational peace and security caused by terrorist acts," he said.

The Security Council statement reminds countries that their anti-terrorism measuresshould comply with all their obligations under international law. "The members of the



Security Council underlined the need to bring perpetrators, organizers, financers andsponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism to justice," Rugunda said.

The Security Council president said the council had not discussed the identity of theterrorists who exploded the bombs in Abuja, but said that Nigeria, with the support of

the international community, is actively investigating the bombing attack.

Nigerian authorities have announced the arrest of nine people in connection with thebombings. A spokeswoman for Nigeria's intelligence services says the people arrestedare linked to a former Nigerian militant leader, Henry Okah, who was arrested in SouthAfrica Saturday and has been charged under anti-terrorist laws. His lawyers say he isinnocent.--------------------Frenzy of Rape in Congo Reveals U.N. Weakness (New York Times)

LUVUNGI, Democratic Republic of Congo ³ Four armed men barged into AnnaMburano·s hut, slapped the children and threw them down. They flipped Mrs.Mburano on her back, she said, and raped her, repeatedly.

It did not matter that dozens of United Nations peacekeepers were based just up theroad. Or that Mrs. Mburano is around 80 years old.

´Grandsons!µ she yelled. ´Get off me!µ

As soon as they finished, they moved house to house, along with hundreds of other

marauding rebels, gang-raping at least 200 women.

What happened in this remote, thatched-roof village on July 30 and continued for atleast three more days has become a searing embarrassment for the United Nationsmission in Congo. Despite more than 10 years of experience and billions of dollars, thepeacekeeping force still seems to be failing at its most elemental task: protectingcivilians.

The United Nations· blue-helmets are considered the last line of defense in easternCongo, given that the nation·s own army has a long history of abuses, that the police areoften invisible or drunk and that the hills are teeming with rebels.

But many critics contend that nowhere else in the world has the United Nationsinvested so much and accomplished so little. What happened in Luvungi, with nearbypeacekeepers failing to respond to a village under siege, is similar to a massacre inKiwanja in 2008, when rebels killed 150 people within earshot of a United Nations base.



Ćongo is the U.N.·s crowning failure,µ said Eve Ensler, author of ´The VaginaMonologues,µ whose advocacy group, V-Day, has been working with Congolesewomen for years.

She blamed poor management, bad communication and racism. Íf the women being

raped were the daughters or wives or mothers of the power elites,µ she said, Í canpromise you this war would have ended about 12 years ago.µ

United Nations officials admitted that the peacekeepers failed to respond fast enough toLuvungi, though they said the primary responsibility fell on the Congolese Army,which continues to be in grievous disarray.

Í felt personally guilty and guilty toward the people I met there,µ said Atul Khare, theassistant secretary general for peacekeeping, who recently visited Luvungi. ´They toldme, ¶We·ve been raped, we·ve been brutalized, give us peace and security.·

Unfortunately, I said, that is something I cannot promise.µ

Within peacekeeping circles, Congo is becoming known as ´the African equivalent ofAfghanistan,µ said Annika Hilding-Norberg, a director at the Peace OperationsTraining Institute in Virginia, because of the conflict·s enduring violence andcomplexity.

Luvungi, a village of about 2,000 people, is a crucible where so many of Congo·sintractable problems converged: the scramble for minerals; the fragmentation of rebelgroups; the perverse incentives among armed groups to commit atrocities to bolster

their negotiating strength; the poverty that keeps villages cut off and incommunicado;and the disturbing fact that in Congo·s wars, the battleground is often women·s bodies.United Nations officials call the sexual violence in Congo the worst in the world.

A sense of menace hangs over this entire area, even the government-controlledoutposts.

And people in the Luvungi area are now taking no chances. After the rapes, the UnitedNations set up a small base here, and just the presence of 20 or so peacekeepers in anabandoned mud-walled cinema draws countless refugees from surrounding areas tocamp out at night around them.

During escorted trips to markets, thousands of villagers trudge up the hills behind ahandful of Indian peacekeepers in trucks, begging the peacekeepers to drive ´pole,poleµ ³ or ´slowly, slowlyµ ³ so as not to leave the slightest gap or opportunity forarmed men to drop down from the jungle wall.



This area is spectacularly rich in gold, tin ore and fertile land, which is partly why it hasbeen so bitterly contested by rebel groups and renegade army divisions. Surging brownrivers slice through the jungle, which is decorated with pink hibiscus flowers and birdsof paradise. Rumbling up a road here is like driving through a greenhouse.

In mid-July, the Congolese Army contingent stationed in Luvungi suddenly pulled out,leaving the people here unguarded. The United Nations later learned that the soldiershad marched off to Bisie, where there is a huge tin ore mine ³ and illegal taxes to beextorted.

´This place was a total void,µ said Maj. Radha Krishnan, an Indian peacekeeper.

Shortly after the rapes that month, the government ordered mines in eastern Congotemporarily closed, to starve armed groups of income. But the government does notcontrol many of the mines or, for that matter, much of the area.

´The government·s able to dominate only the road,µ explained Lt. Col. R. D. Sharma.´The rest,µ he said, sweeping his hand over the treetops, ´is the negative forces.µ

The negative forces stormed into Luvungi on Friday, July 30, around 8 p.m. Accordingto United Nations reports there were around 300 men, a mix of Rwandan rebels whohave been terrorizing eastern Congo for years and fighters from a new Congolese rebelgroup, Mai Mai Cheka, which has been vying for attention as the government tries toabsorb more rebels into the army.

Paradoxically enough, the effort to integrate certain rebel groups into the CongoleseArmy ³ intended to help stabilize the region ³ may have supplied a motivation forthe rapes, analysts say. The more fearsome and powerful an armed group can appear,the more concessions it can extract in negotiations.

´These guys are trying to boost their ranks, to colonel or general,µ said Lt. HamisiDelfonte, a police officer in Walikale, about a two-hour drive from Luvungi.

The other day, several government soldiers suddenly unshouldered their rifles, clickedoff their safeties and started chasing a man in camouflage pants through the middle oftown. All heads swiveled in the same direction. Children broke away. ´They·re going tokill that guy,µ someone said.

But the soldiers did not shoot, and it was soon clear why. The fleeing man was an armymajor who had just pulled the pin on his grenade. It all stemmed from a dispute over 50cents. The man was eventually talked down and arrested.



The Indian peacekeepers at the base nearest Luvungi, in Kibua, about 11 miles away,said that they started hearing reports of an attack on the following Sunday, but thatthey had been tricked many times before. Often, truck drivers claim a certain area isunder attack, the peacekeepers said, when in fact they simply want a United Nationsescort to the next town to ensure that no one steals their minerals.

Because there is no cellphone service in the area or electricity, it is not always simple toknow when there is an attack. The United Nations, which has around 18,000peacekeepers in Congo, is now trying to install solar-powered high-frequency radios insome villages.

On Aug. 2, that Monday, the peacekeepers agreed to escort truck drivers throughLuvungi. Indian officers said that they saw ripped-up mattresses and clothes strewnalong the road ³ evidence of looting ³ but that the villagers did not say anythingabout mass rapes.

´Sometimes,µ Colonel Sharma said, ´the women here are ashamed to tell a soldier,especially a male soldier, that they·ve been raped. And we don·t have any femalesoldiers.µ

Several women in Luvungi said that after they were raped, the rebels hollered into thenight, as if they were celebrating. Mrs. Mburano lay bleeding on her floor, listening.

´I know, I still look sick,µ she said, though her cloudy eyes tried to smile as she spoke.´Just a few vegetables, that·s all I·ve eaten, since I was demolished.µ

--------------------Ethiopian PM sworn in for another five-year term (AFP)

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia ² Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was sworn in foranother five-year term Monday, almost five months after controversial polls propelledhis party to victory.

Meles, who came to power in 1991 after toppling Mengistu Haile Mariam's communist junta following a 17-year war, was re-elected as head of his Ethiopian People'sRevolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition last month.

"I hereby pledge to commit to the constitution and serve my country and its people," hesaid in a ceremony held in parliament.

Foreign diplomats also attended the session, which saw key ally Abadula Gemedaelected as speaker in another appointment that follows the election of the EPRDF's 36-member executive committee and 180-member council in September.



Ethiopia's ruling party and its allies won more than 99 percent of parliament seats in theMay 23 polls, but both the United States and the European Union have said the vote didnot meet international standards.

The country's main opposition parties have all rejected the results saying they were

riddled with fraud, but their appeals were subsequently turned down by the electoralboard and the supreme court.

The Medrek coalition had filed an appeal demanding a re-run, arguing that itssupporters had been subjected to intimidation and its observers barred from pollingstations during election day.

The 55-year-old former guerrilla leader has said his primary focus during his new -- andlast -- term will be employing his five-year "Growth and Transformation" developmentplan that targets 15 percent economic growth over the period.

The plan -- launched in September -- seeks to substantially increase Ethiopia's foodproduction.

The Horn of Africa nation is one of the world's poorest countries and nearly five millionpeople needed relief in the first six months of this year, according to the United Nations.--------------------Report: Africa governments strengthening economies (Bloomberg)

Africa's governments are doing a better job of strengthening their economies and

helping the private sector grow, but security has deteriorated on the continent over thepast five years, a former World Bank official said Monday.

An annual report by the London-based Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance,which tracks development across the continent, found Angola, Egypt and Liberia wereamong the countries that made the greatest economic strides.

But 35 African countries saw a decline in safety and rule of law according to theIbrahim Index, which was mainly based on data from last year.

Mauritius, Botswana and South Africa were among countries that topped overallgovernance rankings, while the overall worst performers included Somalia, Zimbabweand Chad, according to the Index.

South Africa, the biggest economy on the continent, scored fifth overall in governmentperformance but ranked 44th of 53 African countries in personal safety.



"We are lounging down there with the Somalis and Zimbabweans, and it's not a prettyplace," said former World Bank official Mamphela Ramphele, a South African who is onthe board of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.

Ramphele said Monday that African governments have improved economically not

only because of their countries' commodities and resources, but also because of theircommitments to working more with private enterprises.

"This is an important change for African leaders," Ramphele said.

Nigeria privatized more than 116 enterprises between 1999 and 2006, according to anannual report by McKinsey & Company, an international financial consulting company.

Additionally, Africa's flow of foreign direct investment increased to $62 billion in 2008from $9 billion in 2000, which is almost as large as the flow into China, the McKinsey

report said.

Earlier this year, the World Bank concluded Africa was rebounding from the globalcrisis, and poverty was slowly decreasing after "a decade of improvements ingovernance, favorable commodity prices, better macroeconomic policies, higherinvestments in human development, health care and education."

To cushion the global financial crisis, the Liberian government proposed tax cuts and a$2 million fund for Liberian entrepreneurs, according to the 2010 African DevelopmentBank report, which showed that Africa's economies were hit less hard by the

international economic crisis than Europe or North America, but should recover just asquickly.--------------------UN News Service Africa Briefs Full Articles on UN Website

Security Council heads to Sudan ahead of upcoming referenda

4 October ² The Security Council will travel to Sudan this week ahead of two keyreferenda on self-determination that are scheduled to be held in the vast African nationnext January, it was announced today.

Security Council condemns deadly terrorist car bomb attacks in Nigeria4 October ² The Security Council today condemned ´in the strongest termsµ Friday·sdeadly terrorist car bombings in Abuja, Nigeria·s capital, during celebrations markingthe 50th independence anniversary of Africa·s most populous country.

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