africom related newsclips 6dec10

8/8/2019 AFRICOM Related Newsclips 6Dec10

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United States Africa CommandPublic Affairs Office6 December 2010

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

Africas leaks: Much ado about too little? (Daily Monitor)(Pan Africa) The release on the not-for-profit WikiLeaks website of documentsrevealing the daily traffic between the State Department and its more than 270diplomatic outposts has bared America as the master of doublespeak.

Algeria: WikiLeaks documents reveal close collaboration with U.S. against Al Qaeda(Los Angeles Times)(Algeria) Algeria is now considered America's closest ally in the fight against Al Qaedain North Africa, an unlikely partnership that emerged following years of strainedrelations, leaked US diplomatic cables obtained by Babylon & Beyond show.

Shared Interests in Africa?: Africom's head speaks about al-Qaeda and the way inwhich the US military is entering the continent (City Press)No link available - see full text below.

"We view al Qaeda in Africa as a very serious threat and we take them at their word,says Major General Richard Sherlock, Chief of Staff of US forces who are assigned tosafeguard the US and its allies from international terrorism emanating from thiscontinent. Sherlock and the US Militarys Africa Command (Africom) are based at theirheadquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, and were once part of the USs Euro Command(Eucom), a force with its roots in the Cold War.

Little US trust in Moroccan army (afrol News)(Morocco) The US embassy in Rabat puts little trust in the Moroccan armed forces.Corruption "at the highest levels" limits the army's efficiency, while the King's distrustin the army halts direct US contacts.

The $100B question: What will happen to Hampton Roads?(PilotOnline)(Washington) As a new Congress comes to power in January with a mandate to makesteep cuts in federal spending, should Hampton Road s' military-dependent economybrace for major hits?

Wikileaks: what Bouteflika said about the army chiefs (Ennahar)


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(Algeria) "Anyone can be a candidate for election, in accordance with the constitution,even a general." This is what President Bouteflika said, according to a report publishedby Wikileaks, during discussions with the head of Africom, General William Ward,during a recent visit of the latter in early December 2009.

The Ambivalent US Foreign Policy Toward Somalia (Ogaden Online)(Somalia) It is high time for the US to change its course and help bring a lasting peaceto Somalia. And President Obama should appoint a high caliper special envoy toSomalia.

UN official glad about new Somali force but wary (Associated Press)(Somalia) A senior U.N. official cautiously welcomed news that an anti-piracy force isbeing created in Somalia but he and U.S. officials say they're concerned about secrecysurrounding the undertaking.

Report Urges Enhanced Maritime Security(IPS)(Pan Africa) The United States and its allies should give much more attention - andresources - to ensuring that weak West African governments along the oil- and gas-richGulf of Guinea can protect their territory and coastal regions from terrorists, drug andhuman traffickers, and other threats, according to new report by an influential thinktank released here this week.

Mbeki begins Ivorian mediation (Al Jazeera)(Ivory Coast) Thabo Mbeki, the former South African president, has arrived in Coted'Ivoire on a mediation mission aimed at resolving the political crisis engulfing the

West African country.

Guinea's new president is named (CNN)(Guinea) Guinea's Supreme Court has ruled Alpha Conde the winner of a November 7presidential runoff election, the court's president announced Friday in the country'scapital city.

Nigeria military says raids may have killed civilians (AFP)(Nigeria) Nigeria's military acknowledged on Sunday that raids in pursuit of analleged gang leader in the main oil-producing region may have killed civilians, butinsisted only militants were targeted.

UN News Service Africa BriefsFull Articles on UN Website

y Secretary-General deeply concerned over political standoff in Cte d'Ivoirey UNchief supports certification of Ivorian presidential poll, congratulates

Ouattara

y Central African Republic: Ban advises extension ofUNpeacebuilding office


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y Ban welcomes conclusion of presidential election in Guinea, urges reconciliation-------------------------------------------------------------------------UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, December 14, 10:00 a.m.; US Institute of Peace

WHAT: Previewing Sudans January ReferendumWHO: Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, Head of Mission, Government of Southern Sudan Missionto the United States; Fatahelrahman Ali Mohamed, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassyof the Republic of Sudan; Zach Vertin, Sudan Analyst, International Crisis Group; JonTemin, Senior Program Officer, Center for Mediation & Conflict Resolution, U.S.Institute of Peace; David Smock, Moderator, Vice President, Center for Mediation &Conflict Resolution, U.S. Institute of PeaceInfo: http://www.usip.org/events/previewing-sudan-s-january-referenda

WHEN/WHERE: Wednesday and Thursday, December 15-16; National Defense

Industrial AssociationWHAT: Stability, Security, Transition, and Reconstruction OperationsWHO: Amb Robert Loftis, Acting Coordinator, Reconstruction and Stability,Department of State (S/CRS); Susan Reichle, Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureaufor Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance, USAID; Dr. James Schear,Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) for Stability Operations; GEN CarterHam, Commander, US Army, Europe; and others (see agenda)Info: http://www.ndia.org/meetings/1450/Pages/default.aspxWHEN/WHERE: Thursday, December 16, 9:00 a.m.; Africa Center for Strategic Studies

and the Center for Complex OperationsWHAT: Sudan: Regional Implications of Post-Referendum ScenariosWHO: Special Envoy to Sudan, Maj. General Scott Gration (ret.), Keynote; See agendafor full speaker listInfo: http://ccoportal.org/event/sudan-regional-implications-post-referendum-scenarios----------------------------------------------------------------------------------FULL ARTICLE TEXT

Africas leaks: Much ado about too little? (Daily Monitor)

Whatever it is that government does, sensible Americans would prefer that thegovernment do it to somebody else. This is the idea behind foreign policy.

P J ORourke, US author and satirist. And that is exactly what the US government hasbeen doing greying the already obfuscated art of diplomacy. The release on the not-for-profit WikiLeaks website of documents revealing the daily traffic between the State


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Department and its more than 270 diplomatic outposts has bared America as the masterof doublespeak.

And WikiLeaks Julian Assange has been merciless, slowly twisting the knife andamplifying Americas diplomatic agony, not unlike an American interrogator torturing

some hapless detainee in Guantanamo Bay.The documents referred to in State Department parlance as cables have providedtitillating snippets of what the countrys diplomats really think of their hosts, Africaincluded.

So far WikiLeaks has released just over 300 of what it says are more than 250,000classified documents, promising to, in coming days, further rivet an already captivatedworld audience.

Hitting at Africans

While some of the cables have provided substantial insights, such as those on Turkeysneo-Ottoman foreign policy or those on Barack Obamas attempts to rein in Iransnuclear programme, world leaders described as feckless, vain or thin-skinned andineffective would beg to disagree.

The candid descriptions of African leaders are also likely to lead to fits of anger andgeneral consternation on the continent.German philosopher Immanuel Kant would have approved in his grave of the candidassessment that the US has made Africas megalomaniacs, regimes and temperedleaders.

Kantian ethics held that certain types of actions, such as lying, were absolutelyprohibited, even in cases where the action would bring more happiness than thealternative.

And so American diplomats have obliged him with their straightforward talk, gossipand innuendo, which are now steadily dripping into the public domain. As would beexpected, Zimbabwe was not been spared. Then US ambassador to Harare, ChristopherDell, described opposition leader and now premier Morgan Tsvangirai as a flawedfigure who was also indecisive and close-minded.

Dell, now in Kosovo, also served up President Robert Mugabe as a ruthless butbrilliant tactician. The two had several run-ins, with the diplomat, in a cable, sayingthat Mugabe had a deep ignorance of economic issues (coupled with the belief that his18 doctorates give him the authority to suspend the laws of economics.)


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Dell also advised that the US should try to avoid a government of national unity as thiswould perpetuate the status quo at the expense of real change and reform inZimbabwe.

Mugabe would later tell him to go to hell, with the state-run Herald daily running a

Dell can go to Hell headline. Dell had it promptly framed and mounted on his officewall.

Libyas Muammar Gaddafi was also not been spared, with the US Tripoli office lettingin on that he almost never travels without his trusted Ukrainian nurse, a voluptuousblonde. Some embassy contacts have claimed that Gaddafi and the 38-year old[Galyna] Kolotnytska have a romantic relationship.

This is in addition to information that Gaddafi fears flying over water and prefersstaying on the ground floor (or pitching his Bedouin tent at foreign grounds).

A 2009 briefing for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Egypts foreign minister AboulGheit ahead of a planned meeting suggested that the North African country wasnursing hurt feelings because it believed it had not received fair treatment from theprevious (George W. Bush) administration.

The Egyptians have long held that, at best, we take them for granted and, at worst,deliberately ignore their advice. This is despite Egypt bragging that it has soft-power the ability to influence regional events without the benefit of deep pockets. Egyptsees itself as the indispensable Arab state, and is often a stubborn and recalcitrant ally,

further reads the cable.

Kenya is witheringly described as a flourishing swamp of graft, a summation thatwould have done whistleblower John Githongo proud.The US also requested its envoys to spy on their colleagues at the United Nations,including Ugandas Permanent Representative there, Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, andcollect e-mail passwords, credit card account numbers; frequent flyer account numbersand work schedules.

American diplomats in the Great Lakes region were instructed to painstakingly collectdetailed information on important figures, in a shadowy manner that suggests theenvoys were James Bond-style types.

Penning op-edsWith more disclosures to come, the US has been scrambling to save face, penning op-eds in major newspapers and calling up world leaders to apologise.


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But will the leaks have any effect on Africas diplomatic relationship with the US?Analysts think the US can ride out of the storm.I would say that the WikiLeaks references on a number of African leaders wont havemuch of an effect on US-Africa relations, Mark Schroeder, the director of sub-SaharanAfrica analysis for intelligence firm Stratfor, told Africa Review.

The leaks wont be appreciated and will be sore spots, but what was divulged in thosecables was more of personality-type information rather than about more fundamentalstrategies, sources or methods on promoting and defending American interests inAfrica.

President Mugabe, for example, may actually have quite a laugh over the cable writtenabout him, where he was described as a clever tactician and survivor. The cable waswritten in 2007 and he is still entrenched in State House in Harare. Furthermore, thereis indeed the possibility he will be re-elected in 2011.

Tsvangirai wont appreciate a frank assessment of his personality and politicalstrengths and weaknesses, but his core priorities are not about having personal relationswith the US Embassy, but rather merely to remain politically viable in the coalitiongovernment in Harare.

Kenyas government has been miffed about the scathing references to it, and this weekreacted rather indignantly, but Franklin Cudjoe, head of Ghanaian think tank ImaniCentre, says it is a fair assessment.

The US has to be seen to be remorseful diplomatically, but nothing prevented USdiplomats from going public about these obvious truths in the first place, says MrCudjoe. The cables are the result of a phased US effort to link its archives and shareinformation in the aftermath of the September 2001 terrorist attacks. This explains whythe bulk of the documents are from 2008-09, by when most embassies had beengraduated to the platform.

Special net lineAs a consequence, most US cables are now hosted on the huge Secret Internet ProtocolRouter Network, SIPRNet, which is the worldwide US military Internet system, keptseparate from civilian Internet.But the leaks may lead to a greater misunderstanding of Africa by the US, according tothe International Crisis Groups Horn of Africa Project director, Mr Ernst JanHoogendoorn.

(US) diplomats will be less forthright in their cables to Washington DC, in fear of whatwill happen if it were their cables that are leaked, he said.


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I think there is an overreaction, in that different embassies report the same kind ofinformation. It is just that it is the US which has leaked. But it (public relationsdisaster) should blow over for the US in 3-4 months, said Mr Hoogendoorn.

It remains to be seen if the leaks will make up for anything more other than red-faced

US diplomats in uncomfortable meetings with their African counterparts.

But its sensational nature is undisputed, much like getting to know what yourneighbour whom you suspect doesnt like you really thinks of you.------------------Algeria: WikiLeaks documents reveal close collaboration with U.S. against Al Qaeda

(Los Angeles Times)

Algeria is now considered America's closest ally in the fight against Al Qaeda in NorthAfrica, an unlikely partnership that emerged following years of strained relations,

leaked US diplomatic cables obtained by Babylon & Beyond show.

The documents show extensive intelligence, security and, increasingly, economiccooperation between the two states, despite Algeria's violent history, oppressivegovernment and ongoing tensions over its placement on the American TransportationSecurity Administration's enhanced screening watch list in January 2010.

A detailed timeline of "major anti-terrorism successes" of 2008 including the killing orcapture of at least 19 militant figures, several major illegal weapons cache discoveriesand a thwarted assassination attempt on then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice when

she visited Algeria in September of that year.

"It is worth remembering that no country is more important than Algeria in the fightagainst Al Qaeda in the Sahel and Maghreb," the American ambassador to Algiers,David D. Pearce, wrote in a Jan. 6, 2010, cable.

Pearces comments were recorded following a meeting with an official from theAlgerian foreign affairs ministry who relayed Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflikasprofound dismay at Algerias inclusion on the TSAs list, especially in light of itscontinued cooperation with the U.S. on security issues.

Pearce went on to recommend a high-level public overture in order to smooth overrelations and protect American interests, which, according to a separate cable, includedpolitically sensitive security contracts for a fingerprint identification system andmilitary radios.

"Our commercial interests are rapidly expanding beyond the hydrocarbons sector," reada Jan. 12, 2010, cable. The U.S. imported $19 billion of Algerian oil and natural gas in


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2008, according to the same cable. [The] contracts have significant implications for U.S.commercial interests.

The document also mentions contracts for gas-powered turbines and Boeing aircrafttotaling in the billions.

The U.S. and Algeria have been working together to target Al Qaeda in the lands of theIslamic Maghreb, the local branch of the international militant group formed fromreconstituted elements of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, one of severalIslamist groups that fought the government during the Algerian civil war that ravagedthe country for more than a decade.

Bouteflika managed to establish a tenuous peace in 2002 through a combination of bruteforce and amnesty for former fighters. He was the first Algerian president to visit theU.S. in 2001, but has been criticized as an authoritarian leader and recently had the

constitution amended to allow him to run and win a third term.

Since adopting the Al Qaeda brand name in 2007, the group has been able to attract newrecruits and funding while taking refuge along Algeria's vast and largely ungovernablesouthwestern border. While the U.S. noted Algeria's vital role in stemming the flow offighters to Iraq, the documents also revealed frustration with what the cable describedas Algerian reticence to share intelligence on militant groups operating within thecountry, blaming intelligence forces for failing to pass along information that couldhave prevented the deadly December 2007 bombing that targeted United Nationsoffices in Algiers.

According to the leaked documents, the U.S. not only provides substantial materialsupport and training, it also maintains an active CIA base and conducts its own airsurveillance on Al Qaeda cells inside Algerian territory via the U.S. Africa Command.

The CIA's presence in Algeria was first publicly acknowledged in 2009 followingallegations that an American agent drugged and raped two Algerian women.

In a Feb. 1, 2009, cable posted on the website of the Lebanese Al Akhbar newspaper,American diplomats acknowledge the role of the Algerian state in suppressing localpress coverage of the scandal.

Just two days after the story broke, it "had all but disappeared from the press," the cableread. "The almost complete absence of the story in the government press outletsindicates the government prefers to see the story die down."------------------Shared Interests in Africa?: Africom's head speaks about al-Qaeda and the way inwhich the US military is entering the continent (City Press)


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No link available - see full text below.

"We view al Qaeda in Africa as a very serious threat and we take them at their word,says Major General Richard Sherlock, Chief of Staff of US forces who are assigned tosafeguard the US and its allies from international terrorism emanating from thiscontinent. Sherlock and the US Militarys Africa Command (Africom) are based at their

headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, and were once part of the USs Euro Command(Eucom), a force with its roots in the Cold War.

Africoms stated objective is defeating the al Qaeda terrorist organisation and itsassociated networks. Africa saw the first attempted terror attack from its soil againsttargets in the US when a young Nigerian tried to blow up a US plane over Detroit onChristmas Day last year.

Internally on the day of the World Cup final Africa had to contend with the firstconcerted cross border al Qaeda attack, which resulted in the death of more than 70 fans

in Kampala, Uganda. It was an attack orchestrated by al Qaedas al Shabaab affiliate inSomalia and carried out by Kenyans.

A recent report on Africom presented to the US Congress expressed mounting concernover violent activities and other potential threats posed by uncontrolled spaces, such aspiracy and illicit trafficking in Africa. The report also lays out US strategic interests inAfrica, not least the fact that US oil imports from Africa now equal those from thevolatile Middle East.

Prior to its formation and since Africom has been very sensitive to nonaligned Africas

reluctance to be associated with or to be roped in by the US military agenda againstIslamic extremism in particular.

Sherlock has that diplomatic touch, as was evident from an exclusive interview on thethreat of terrorism to the rest of the world from Africa:

On what defeating al Qaeda in Africa means: We believe that making sure that alQaeda is not capable of conducting attacks against the US or the interests of the USanywhere in the world is our number one security concern.

On the threat level posed by al Qaeda from Africa: We have to believe what al Qaedasays, that their intent is to conduct attacks against the US and its allies. We view alQaeda as a very serious threat and we take them at their word. The way we approachand try to disrupt or defeat al Qaeda within Africa is to help our partners in Africa andto improve their own capacity to improve their own security for their own defence.

On comparing the alQaeda threat from Africa with the situation in Afghanistan andPakistan: Al Qaeda and its senior leadership are still focused in the


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Afghanistan/Pakistan area. But al Qaeda is a franchise network and they are veryhappy to enable other extremist organisations, especially as those organisations wouldlike to avow allegiance to al Qaeda and try to enable them to conduct operationswherever they are likely to be. And again, we have to take them at their word.

On what it would take for Africom to directly engage alQaeda with military force onAfrican soil: If we find there is a credible alQaeda threat, if we find there is an identifiedalQaeda threat or leader somewhere; we will be very serious about reviewing whatactions will be necessary to take. Our first response action would be to work with ourAfrican partners for them to address that themselves because we happen to believe thatthat is the best way to go in Africa.

On Africas capacity and political will to deal with al Qaeda itself: Each sovereignnation has their own view of al Qaeda or how they wish to approach violent extremistorganisations within their borders. We go where we are asked to go. We do not

undertake activities that they do not wish us to undertake.

On piracy off the Horn of Africa: Piracy is certainly a threat. It is a symptom and not aninstate problem. I think there are a variety of problems in the Horn of Africa region,causing al Shabaab to operate there. Its causing a broad swathe of instability. There arethings we would like to help nations in the area with, such as providing security andhelping them to not allow that instability to spread to Somalias neighbours.

On the link between piracy and terrorism: There are potential linkages and thatssomething that we look at to try to see if those areas are connected or connecting. We

look at anything that is a potential moneymaker; whether it is kidnap for ransom,piracy or illicit trafficking. Many of the violent extremist organisations will attempt touse this to stay in business and try to survive. Again, countering violent extremistideology is not just a military issue.

On securing US interests, such as oil, in Africa: Africom does not secure resources.Where our foreign policy goals are supported by military programmes, we are theimplementer of those military programmes. We are committed to building capacity andstability so that African nations can secure and protect their own natural resources.

On South Africas military role in Africa: South Africa is a leading country. It is a veryestablished, very competent and a very professional country with a very competent andprofessional military. SA has played a leading role within the Southern AfricanDevelopment Community region and within many places throughout the Africancontinent. Where the US and South Africas interests are aligned, we are very happy towork with SA. The relationship between SA and the US has actually been very positive.


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It has tended to be more along the lines, within the military, of the SA Navy with the USNavy, the SA ground forces with the US Army, and the SA Air Force with the US AirForce.------------------Little US trust in Moroccan army (afrol News)

The US embassy in Rabat puts little trust in the Moroccan armed forces. Corruption "atthe highest levels" limits the army's efficiency, while the King's distrust in the armyhalts direct US contacts.

The US assessment of Morocco's military forces was made by US Ambassador in Rabat,Thomas Riley, in August 2008. The cable to Washington was leaked this night bywhistleblower WikiLeaks - a media that itself was attacked this night and had to changeits web address from wikileaks.org to wikileaks.ch.

The US embassy report emphasises that the Moroccan Royal Armed Forces arecomposed of over 200,000 soldiers and "outclasses most militaries in Africa." It furtheremphasises the "robust" US-Moroccan military relationship "with prospects for evencloser ties." The health of this relationship was "evident by increased U.S.-Moroccanmilitary training exercises" and Morocco's purchase of US weapons.

But beyond these well-known aspects, Ambassador Riley is surprisingly scepticaltowards the Moroccan army and its capacities.

The desired deepening of military ties was impeded by "long-standing problems,"

Ambassador Riley reports. The entire administration of the Moroccan armed forces wascreating problems, as "there is no real Defence Ministry" in Rabat.

Due to King Mohammed VI's distrust in the armed forces, he maintains personalcontrol of the military. This distrust was "a result of the 1971 and 1972 coup attempts."The Palace then increased control over the military, "marginalised it from policymaking, and restricted its interaction with foreign military interlocutors and the press."

As a result, "the Palace continues to tightly control the Royal Armed Forces'interactions" with the US embassy and army. While the embassy had regular contactswith the Moroccan military, "quality information is lacking," Ambassador Rileycomplains.

King Mohammed VI maintains a highly centralised role over the military. "No troopmovements, exercises, or even travel of officers domestically or abroad happenswithout the King's approval," the Ambassador adds.


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A key concern was that the Moroccan armed forces were "plagued by institutionalcorruption, leadership that will not step aside, and low morale among mid-levelofficers."

The Moroccan military was plagued by corruption "at the highest levels," according to

the Ambassador. "This may partly reflect a grand bargain struck by King Hassan IIfollowing at least two nearly successful coups in the 1970's: remain loyal, and you canprofit," he reports.

General Abdelaziz Bennani, commander of the Moroccan troops in occupied WesternSahara, is especially highlighted in the US embassy cable. "Credible reports" indicatedthat Gen Benanni was using his position "to skim money from military contracts andinfluence business decisions." Ambassador Riley also found credible rumours "that heowns large parts of the fisheries in Western Sahara."

General Benanni,"like many senior military officers, has a lavish family home that was

likely built with money gleaned from bribes," according to the Ambassador.

Corruption was equally widespread in the gendarmerie, another armed unit directlyunder the King's control. Ambassador Riley reports that "low ranking gendarmerieassigned to highway patrols are expected to pay approximately 4,000 dirhams (US$ 540)to their immediate supervisors with extralegal earnings from motorists, above whichthey can keep for themselves, according to one credible anecdote."

Finally, there were even credible reports of "students at Morocco's military academy

paying money to increase their class standings in order to obtain positions in lucrativemilitary postings." Ambassador Riley in general sees the "low levels of education in theranks" as a problem for US-Moroccan cooperation.

A final major concern of the US embassy was the large resources spent on Morocco'soccupation of Western Sahara. Between 50 and 70 percent of the military's totalstrength, or over 100,000 troops, was deployed in Western Sahara at any one time,according to Ambassador Riley.

The force in Western Sahara was considered to be stretched thin "with a reportedestimated operational readiness rate of just 40 percent." Since the 1981 ceasefire with theSaharawi independence movement Polisario, Moroccan troops in the occupied territoryhave not been seriously challenged.

Interestingly, "Morocco does not consider the Polisario ... to be a conventional militarythreat. However, the Royal Armed Forces remains vigilant in guarding against arenewed Polisario insurgency effort," according to the US embassy assessment.Morocco had "effectively eliminated the Polisario's ability to launch hit and run raids."


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Morocco's blown-up armed forces, placing large strains on the national budget, did notface a real threat from Polisario or its Algerian allies, the US Ambassador found.

The troops however were useful in another way to win the Western Sahara conflict,

Ambassador Riley found. "Motivated to win over other countries to its claims toWestern Sahara, Morocco is active in UN, engages in peacekeeping activities, andoccasionally sends troops to assist friendly countries," he wrote. Examples weredrought and famine relief operations in Senegal and Niger.

Since the August 2008 cable, Morocco has invested even more in its armed forces. afrolNews earlier has reported that Morocco in 2009 was to double its defence budget in realterms, reaching 16 percent of total state expenditures. The Moroccan press hadcalculated Morocco's defence budget for 2009 to reach Dirham 34 billion (US$ 3.5billion); or three times the 2005 budget.

Also ties with the US have continued deepening, although Washington is alsoimproving its relations with Morocco's arch-rival Algeria. To the joy of the US embassy,Morocco has shifted even more of its weapons purchases from traditional ally France tothe US.------------------The $100B question: What will happen to Hampton Roads? (PilotOnline)(Washington) As a new Congress comes to power in January with a mandate to makesteep cuts in federal spending, should Hampton Road s' military-dependent economybrace for major hits?

Not necessarily, say members of Virginia's congressional delegation and some experts.

Much will depend on the economy, the upcoming debate over national security needsand the ability of Virginia's congressmen and lobbyists to make a case that defensedollars are better spent in the commonwealth than somewhere else.

"A little paranoia is a healthy thing," said Craig Quigley, a retired rear admiral whoheads the taxpayer-funded Hampton Roads Military and Federal Facilities Alliance thatlobbies to protect the region's military assets.

"Should you be on your toes and be mindful that there is an element of risk to losingsome of the facilities we have here? Darn right. Should you go looking for the tallestbuilding to jump off? No, because I think we have a powerful argument. "

The stakes are high.


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Close to half of the Hampton Roads economy is tied to national defense, when youconsider government employees, the contractors who assist or supply them and thetrickle-down to other enterprises.

The annual payroll in Hampton Roads for military and civilian Department of Defense

employees amounted to $4.97 billion in 2009, according to federal records. That's 42percent of Virginia's $12 billion defense payroll, which includes the Pentagon inArlington.

When you count housing allowances and other fringe benefits, the figure for theHampton Roads region doubles, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Knowing that a large federal deficit is pushing elected leaders to find places to cut,Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has tried to get out in front of the issue. He is on amission to find $100 billion in overhead that can be redirected to troops and

modernization.

"What we are trying to do in the Department of Defense is figure out how you killprograms that aren't working," Gates told The Wall Street Journal CEO Council lastmonth. "That means going in with a scalpel instead of a meat axe and figure out howwe do business."

Among the early efforts is his plan to shut down U.S. Joint Forces Command in Norfolkand Suffolk, which provides 3,760 jobs in the region. It's unclear how much moneyJFCOM's demise could save. Gates recently told Virginia officials that he would likely

keep intact in Suffolk some key parts of the command's operations.

Yet even Gates' plan may be optimistic.

A senior defense official said last week that given the mood in Congress, some of that$100 billion may be eliminated rather than redirected.

Marine Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a NewYork speech that he has "zero" confidence that the Pentagon will be able to keep all ofthe savings it identifies.

Todd Harrison, a senior fellow for defense budget studies at the Center for Strategicand Budgetary Assessments in Washington, said defense spending will probablydecline over the next five to 10 years. Even so, the cuts won't be across the board.

Parts of the country "that already have a high concentration are likely to get moreconcentrated simply because that's how DoD can be more efficient," Harrison said."That would seem to say that a place like Norfolk would have an advantage."


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If congressional decisions on defense spending were simply a popularity contest,southeast Virginia might have a hard time, the local military alliance's Quigley said.

"Nobody has much sympathy for Hampton Roads. There's a widespread perception

that we have more than our share," he said.

But when it comes to what is the most efficient use of existing military assets, the regionhas an edge, he said.

The most recent prize being sought is the permanent headquarters of Africa Command,known as AFRICOM. The command, based in Germany since its formation three yearsago, is looking for a permanent home. No African nation is willing to host thecommand.

U.S. Sen. Jim Webb has proposed that AFRICOM and its 1,500 people move to Norfolk,where it could be housed in a new naval base office likely to be vacated by JFCOM.

The changing economic climate may also make it tougher for the Navy to getcongressional approval to spend hundreds of millions of dollars moving a carrier fromNorfolk to Mayport, Fla., a project now delayed until at least 2019.

Webb and his fellow Virginia Democrat, U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, noted two weeks agothat a new Government Accountability Office report found the nation's four navalshipyards have a multi billion-dollar backlog of needed restoration and modernization

projects. Moving a carrier is"

a poor fiscal choice"

when compared to shipyard needs,Warner said.

Webb, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, predicts that emergingnational security concerns will require more investments in naval operations.

"If you look at what has happened in the Pacific, South China Sea, from Korea,northeast Asia all the way down to southeast Asia - If you look and see what happenedjust in the last year, you see why we need a strong Navy," he said.

U.S. Rep. Randy Forbes, a Chesapeake Republican who is in line to become chairman ofthe readiness subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee whenRepublicans become the House majority in January, said that even with a tight budget,the first step has to be establishing what is needed for national security.

Then Congress and the Obama administration can determine priorities with a morelimited budget.


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He and others have been critical of Gates for failing to provide Congress with timelyplans to support shipbuilding needs and with an analysis to justify plans to move acarrier to Florida and close JFCOM.

Forbes is expected to be joined on the House Armed Services Committee by two other

local legislators: U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Westmoreland County, co-chairman of theCongressional Shipbuilding Caucus; and Republican Scott Rigell, who was elected lastmonth to the 2nd Congressional District seat.

"We need to have a true discussion about what is in the best national interests of thecountry. I'm OK with that," Forbes said. "I think Hampton Roads comes out great whenwe're asking that question."------------------Wikileaks: what Bouteflika said about the army chiefs (Ennahar)

"Anyone can be a candidate for election, in accordance with the constitution, even a

general." This is what President Bouteflika said, according to a report published byWikileaks, during discussions with the head of Africom, General William Ward, duringa recent visit of the latter in early December 2009.

Bouteflika underscored that Algeria's military "absolutely" respected the authority ofcivilian leadership. "This is not at all like Turkey," he said. Bouteflika asserted that thearmy was forced to take drastic measures during the violence of the 1990s in order tosave the country. This was a difficult period, but constitutional rule had been restored."The house is now in order," he stressed, "and I can tell you that the army obeys the

civilians. There is one constitution and all obey it."

Bouteflika acknowledged, however, that the problems of the past still haunted thecountry. He cited foreign press reports referring to Algeria as a dictatorship and arguedthat the term was sometimes used carelessly. The Algerian constitution had establishedthe rule of law. In 2004 it was decided that there was no more historical "revolutionarylegitimacy". The only legitimacy was the constitution. "Anyone can be a candidate forelection, in accordance with the constitution, even a general." He paused, then grinnedand said, "But the generals realize the difficulties and none has been a candidate yet."------------------The Ambivalent US Foreign Policy Toward Somalia (Ogaden Online)

US foreign policy towards Somalia has been ambivalent since the latters independencein 1960.Eager to establish direct relations with the nation that inspired this newly bornone that many consider Africas first Western style democracy, President Aden AbdulleOsman dispatched a delegation led by his Prime Minister Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke tothe United States for a meeting with President John F. Kennedy and his administration.


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Unfortunately, the Somali delegation did not achieve its intended objective. The US hadalready established a warm relationship that it was not willing to sacrifice withEthiopia- Somalias neighbor and a rival nation. Anecdotally, the advice given by theKennedy Administration was that Somalia better deal with her former colonial masterssuch as Italy and Great Britain.

Disappointed but determined, the Somali delegation flew straight from Washington,DC to Moscow, establishing a Military and Diplomatic relationship with the SovietUnion. A relationship that would subsequently ensure the Soviets the strategic militarybase they needed in the port of Berberra.Then unexpectedly, in 1977 and in the midst of the war with Ethiopia over the Somaliethnic region of Ogadenia, the Soviets switched sides establishing a Military andDiplomatic relationship with Ethiopia. Somalia reciprocated by severing all diplomaticties with the Soviet Union and has once again in desperation turned to United States ofAmerica.

President Jimmy Carter's Administration developed relationship with Somalia in the80s and the signed treaty providing the US the military base in the port of Berberra inthe northwestern region of Somalia.

As a country located in a strategically important geographical area, Somalia became aneeded counterpart to counter the Soviet military buildup in Ethiopia. These twosuperpowers, contributed military buildup in both of these African countries,regardless of the human rights abuses of the military regimes in both countries. Thishowever, has helped United States win the cold war against the Soviet Union.

Currently, there is the perception that Somalia can once again play an essential andstrategic role in helping the US counter China, the economic giant of Asian that hasbecome the super power that is currently using soft power instead of military power towin the hearts and the minds of the people. Such soft power is being implementedthroughout African countries. Unfortunately, the US is preoccupied with the war onterror and the two current wars of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Somali Diaspora, and in particular the Somali-Americans, are in a position tosupport the US to establish a meaningful relationship with Somalia. A diplomaticrelationship that can help stabilize Somalia, ending its two decade of misery and a onethat can at the same time repair Americas image in the region and the Islamic world.The US lost Somalia to Russia in 1960s and there is a high probability that it will loseSomalia this time as well to extremists.

Today more than ever before, the Somali Americans are pushing for the US to cooperatewith Somalia, and for the US to build a good relationship between these two countriesthat they love. The Diaspora is willing to work with the Obama Administration to bring


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stability and lasting peace to Somalia. Thus, the US administration must abandon thehabit of consulting everybody and anybody including those that want to balkanizeSomalia into welfare mini clan-based states and instead engage the government thatrepresents the Somali nation state.

The Bush Administrations failed policy that encouraged the invasion of Ethiopia andthe crushing of the Islamic Courts Unionand entity that brought six months ofsemblance of peaceis not a policy that can be duplicated or sustained! That invasionhas killed approximately 23,000 civilians of mostly women and children, and displacedover a million civilians, thus paving the way to the worst anti-Americanism in theregion. The failed US policy in the 1990s and the tacit support of the Ethiopian invasionin 2006 created more extremists than ever seen in Somalia before. Therefore, it is theresponsibility of not only of the Somalis but that of the US government to help Somaliafind peace and end the engagement of all and everyone who has a gun and claims to bedominant in a specific region. The Obama Administration should do better for Africa,

and in particular for Somalia, than his predecessor who used war on terror policytowards Somalia eliminate the grass-roots found initiative that could have been used asa positive model to build on.

The Presidents Cairo Speech and the most recent Jakarta speech provided anopportunity to extend an olive branch to the Muslim World, including Somalia. Astarting point will be revisiting the recently unveiled US Dual-Track policy.

While this new approach rewards Somalias peaceful regions with economic incentive,over all, this Dual-Tract approach is the wrong medicine for Somalia as it would

increase negative clan competition; unless, of course, this incentive perpetually remainsavailable. However, Asst. Secretary of State Mr. Johnnie Carson said ...we decidedwhat to do... and we'll reserve the right to change this policy. The hope is that the USwill reverse its seemingly haphazard policy and engage Somalia with a policy that isgood for both nations. This policy resembles Ethiopias Dual-Track policy towardSomalia that armed and financed all that wanted to disrupt peace and carved thenation, and further divide and polarize the people and the country.

It is high time for the US to change its course and help bring a lasting peace to Somalia.And lastly, President Obama should appoint a high caliper special envoy to Somalia.And Somali Americans will on their part work diligently to end the carnage in Somalia.However, they need to see commitment and good faith from the ObamaAdministration.------------------UN official glad about new Somali force but wary (Associated Press)


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NAKURU, Kenya A senior U.N. official cautiously welcomed news that an anti-piracyforce is being created in Somalia but he and U.S. officials say they're concerned aboutsecrecy surrounding the undertaking.

An unidentified Muslim country is backing the project and is paying an ex-CIA man

and a former senior U.S. diplomat, The Associated Press reported last week. Themilitary force for the presidential palace in Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, and forPuntland, a northern semiautonomous region, is expected to number up to 1,050 men.

"It's a good thing that Puntland is training an anti-piracy force," said Alan Cole, thehead of the anti-piracy program at the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. But he said hewants to know the identity of the donor, the laws governing the force, how recruits arescreened and the chain of command.

"Those who are providing equipment have a responsibility to make sure those who are

going to use it understand the limits of their authority and are properly trained,"

Colesaid.

The U.S State Department said the identity and aims of the donor are unclear and raisedconcerns that the training may break a U.N. arms embargo on Somalia, which has beenfractured by civil war for nearly 20 years.

The U.S. says it is not funding the project, although the donor country is employing twoAmericans a former U.S. ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues and a formerCIA deputy station chief to help advise the Somali government on the training and

other issues.

Lt. Col. Tamara Parker, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said the U.S. is aware Puntlandauthorities are contracting with a private security company to assist them in counter-piracy.

"However, we have not been consulted," Parker emphasized. "We are concerned aboutthe lack of transparency regarding the program's funding, objectives and scope. We'realso concerned this program could potentially violate the 1992 U.N. Security Councilarms embargo on Somalia."

Puntland officials did not return calls or e-mails seeking comment.

Ten years ago, a different Puntland government hired a British security company, HartSecurity, to train a coast guard in a program that was ultimately unsuccessful. Someanalysts believe graduates of the course deserted and became pirates, pointing toincidents like the 2008 hijacking of a Japanese vessel in which some pirates wore coast


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guard uniforms. Others say there is not enough evidence to show that Hart graduatesbecame pirates and the current program should not be discouraged.

"It's too easy to criticize security contractors," said Graeme Gibbon-Brooks, the head ofDryad Maritime Intelligence, which provides information about piracy to shipping

companies. "But the answer to piracy has to be regional engagement."

Pierre Prosper, a former U.S. ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues, earlier told APhe is being paid by a Muslim nation he declined to identify to be a legal adviser to theSomali government on the project. He said Saracen International is the contractor that isbeing paid by the unnamed Muslim nation to do the training.

Uganda-based Saracen International was also identified in a letter and a statement fromPuntland's government and the Somali president's former chief of staff. But Bill Pelser,the chief executive of Saracen International, denied his company is involved.

Pelser told AP he made introductions for another company called Saracen Lebanon.Lebanese authorities have no record of a company called Saracen and Pelser did notprovide details.

A multinational naval force patrolling the waters off East Africa has limited capabilitiesto end Somali piracy. Experts, along with the force's own commanders, have said theonly long-term solution is to go after pirate havens on land.

An effective Puntland coast guard could dramatically cut down on attacks, Gibbon-

Brooks said. There many pirate groups based in southern Somalia but the northerngangs remain the most experienced and dangerous, Gibbons-Brooks said.

Somali pirates currently hold 22 ships and 521 crew, according to the European UnionNaval Force.

The Puntland administration, which nominally falls under the Mogadishu-basedgovernment, is generally seen as stable and efficient. Puntland also has rich marineresources a possible source of lucrative fishing licenses. A consortium of companiesare also exploring for oil and gas but instability has largely prevented these resourcesfrom being exploited.------------------Report Urges Enhanced Maritime Security (IPS)

WASHINGTON - The United States and its allies should give much more attention -and resources - to ensuring that weak West African governments along the oil- and gas-rich Gulf of Guinea can protect their territory and coastal regions from terrorists, drug


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and human traffickers, and other threats, according to new report by an influentialthink tank released here this week.

The 80-page report, published by the Washington-based Atlantic Council, warns thatcurrent economic and political conditions, as well as regional demographic trends are

"creating a fertile environment where illicit groups including acolytes of radical Islamcan readily win new adherents."

"(V)ital security, economic and humanitarian interests, including long-term access toenergy are at grave risk from regional instability and the increasing potential for statefailures in an economically and politically distressed area of over 250 million people,"according to the report, entitled 'Advancing U.S., African, and Global Interests: Securityand Stability in the West African Maritime Domain.'

"The threats that are coming up the West African coast really have an enormous

potential for huge instability, and the question is what are we going to do about that,"

said Gen. James Jones (ret.), who stepped down as President Barack Obama's nationalsecurity adviser just five weeks ago.

Warning that "transnational crime and terror" are "working more closely together" inthe region, Jones, whose presence Wednesday at the report's release and the officiallaunch of the Council's new Africa Center helped underline the seriousness with whichthe report's recommendations are likely to be received here, said the NATO allianceshould also devote more attention to stabilising the region.

Despite Washington's high-profile focus on the Greater Middle East and South Asiaduring President George W. Bush's eight-year tenure and Obama's more recent effortsto move East Asia up the ladder of foreign policy priorities, U.S. interests in West Africahave grown steadily over the past decade.

In part, that is due to fears that al Qaeda and its local affiliates could extend theirinfluence and operations throughout the predominantly Muslim populations in theregion. These fears have translated primarily into counterterrorism initiatives, such asthe Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Programme, which is overseen by the three- year-old U.S. Africa Command, or AFRICOM.

But the U.S. has also become increasingly reliant on oil and gas exports from WestAfrica and the Gulf of Guinea itself. According to the report, 18 percent of U.S. oilimports and 14 percent of its natural gas (LNG) imports currently originate in theregion. That percentage is expected to rise to 25 percent by 2015.

Because most of those resources are produced along the region's coastline or,increasingly, off-shore, secure and sustained access to those resources has become a


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growing concern in Washington, particularly in light of recent disruptions caused bylocal insurgencies or criminal gangs, especially in Nigeria, the region's most importantoil- producer, described in the report as "the closest to what the area can call a regionalhegemon".

While securing the flow of these energy resources constitutes a "vital" U.S. interest,enhancing maritime security in the region is also very much in the interests of localpopulations on a range of fronts, the report insisted.

It noted that drug-trafficking, including by the Revolutionary Armed Forces ofColombia (FARC) and other South American cartels, has been adding to corruptionproblems as West Africa has become a key transit route to Europe.

In addition, large-scale poaching by European and Asian fishing fleets is depriving thelocal people of an important source of food and revenue, while unregulated ocean

dumping of toxic materials and oil are jeopardising the health and sustainability of themarine environment on which they also depend for subsistence, according to the report.

Piracy has also become a growing problem. "The Gulf of Guinea," it said, "has becomesecond only to Somali waters in the number of attacks at sea," and may even exceed it.

As stressed in the report, however, the region's governments lack the resources,including maritime defence forces and intelligence, and, in some cases, the political will often due to corruption to deal with these challenges.

"

We need support from our (international) partners to address the issue of Africanmaritime security," agreed Amina Salum Ali, the African Union's (AU) representative tothe United States, who commented on the new report.

"There is not enough attention (paid) to the West Africa threat," she added, noting thatone government, presumably Guinea-Bissau, has been destabilised by "narco-traffickingand terrorism".

Despite strong U.S. interest in enhancing maritime security in the region, the reportstressed that West Africans must themselves take the lead in shaping a response.

"We must always remember this is an African problem that will require Africansolutions and the will of governments to solve," said Adm. Henry Ulrich (ret.), whocommanded U.S. naval forces in Europe and Africa from 2005 to 2007. "It's not one sizefits all; it has to be tailored to (each) country."

Like the report itself, he also stressed that Washington and its allies needed to supplymore than equipment and other resources for maritime security. Efforts to curb


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corruption, provide better governance, and promote economic development were alsorequired as part of a "smart power" strategy designed to prevent state failure.

He also endorsed one of the report's main recommendations that the U.S. and its alliesbegin with a "pilot programme" focused on one or two West African countries for a

"comprehensive maritime security development programme to serve as a regional proofof concept."

"There's enough resources out there that are being provided by the U.S. governmentand other governments around the world and commercial interests that if we can bringthem together, we can see success sooner rather than later," he said.

The report found that current U.S. efforts including naval presence, aid to coast guardsand related security forces, training, and equipment, are "uncoordinated, unfocused,under resourced, and not yet hitting the mark".

The report also called for Washington to work with China and other emerging countrieswith growing interests in West Africa, as well as its NATO allies, to promote anti-corruption and security initiatives.

"The intent (of the report) is to shine the spotlight, sound the alarm," said John Raidt,director of the Council's "On the Horizon" programme.

Founded in 1954 to build public support for Washington's Cold War collective securityalliances, the Atlantic Council has long served as a bastion of the U.S. foreign-policy

establishment.

The current chairman, former Sen. Chuck Hagel, serves as co- chair of the President'sForeign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB). The chairman of the Council'sInternational Advisory Board is Brent Scowcroft, national security advisor to formerpresidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush.------------------Mbeki begins Ivorian mediation (Al Jazeera)

Thabo Mbeki, the former South African president, has arrived in Cote d'Ivoire on amediation mission aimed at resolving the political crisis engulfing the West Africancountry.

Working on behalf of the African Union, Mbeki arrived on Sunday to try to solve adispute over last week's presidential election which has seen both candidates takecompeting oaths of office, raising the prospect of violent clashes between rivalsupporters.


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Laurent Gbagbo, the incumbent, was sworn in as president on Saturday despite thecountry's election commission declaring his rival, Alassane Ouattara the winner of therunoff.

Mbeki spent the day holding meetings with the different parties, including Gbagbo,

Ouattara, the constitutional council and Y J Choi, the special representative of the UNsecretary-general.

"We want to hear all points of view about this matter before we can make anyrecommendationsabout what to do," he said.

South African officials said the Mbeki visit was due to last one day.

Al Jazeera's Yvonne Ndege, reporting from Abidjan, said that it was unclear how much

influence Mbeki would have on the two parties.

"From everything we can see here, it seems very unlikely that President Gbagbo willlisten to Thabo Mbeki," she said. "He's in a very strong position, having been sworn inlegally as the president."

Gbagbo sworn in

The country's constitutional court, led by an ally of Gbagbo, overturned the result afterthrowing out thousands of votes from areas that supported Ouattara over fraud claims.

The decision came despite the result of the election being certified by the UnitedNations, which did not have major concerns over the way it was conducted.

The US, France and the UN called on Gbagbo to accept defeat, but the president, whoseterm ended in 2005 but has put off holding elections, went ahead with the inaugurationin a ceremony boycotted by most foreign ambassadors.

Gbagbo was sworn-in on Saturday, despite provisional results suggesting he lost theelection [Reuters]

Hours later, Ouattara announced that he had held his own inauguration ceremony andswore in by email, announcing his intention to form a parallel government.

Guillaume Soro, the country's prime minister, resigned on Saturday in protest overGbagbo's swearing-in, saying that the move "threatens the ideal of reunifying thecountry" after a civil war from 2002-2003. He handed his resignation to Ouattara, whohe addressed as the nation's president.


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Few observers hope for an immediate breakthrough. Mbeki mediated in the post-warcrisis and several peace deals were signed but the process eventually stalled.

Gbagbo had then opened talks with Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore, whose

mediation led to a 2007 deal on a power-sharing government.

Gbagbo has controlled the country for a decade but now faces isolation and possiblysanctions.

Despite Ouattara's international support, Gbagbo holds many of the key elements ofpower, including the army and the state media.

Yao Gnamein, an advisor to Laurent Gbagbo told Al Jazeera that the controversy inCote dIvoire was no different from that over the 2000 elections in the US and denied

the country is heading to civil war, claiming the strife on the streets of the country is anormal part of the democratic process.

"I think that in all the countries around the world, an election is never totally perfect,"he said.

"The electoral commission is an administrative chamber. So after the election, it has torecord the result and to transfer the result to the constitutional court."

As the electoral commission did not communicate the results to the court within the

timeframe of two days, he argued that the results were invalid. By declaring Gbagbothe winner, he said, the court was acting according to the constitution.

He made no mention of the barriers the electoral commission faced in announcing theresults, which included the commission's president having the papers ripped out of hishands when he was about to formally declare the results in favour of Ouattara.

Fears of violence

It had been hoped that the poll, the first in a decade, would restore stability to Coted'Ivoire and reunite a country split into north and south after the civil war.

In the northern town of Bouake, the stronghold of rebels opposed to Gbagbo, tens ofthousands of Ouattara supporters demonstrated outside the local headquarters of theUN peacekeeping mission demanding that Gbagbo step down.

"Gbagbo thief!" his supporters chanted, carrying signs with slogans including "Tenyears in power - nothing good".


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Alassane Ouattara won 54 per cent of the vote, but a top court overturned his victory[AFP]

Instead, analysts fear the country is teetering on the brink of a new round of fighting,

with former rebels lining up in support of Ouattara and the Ivorian military supportingGbagbo.

New Forces rebel commander Cherif Ousmane warned that his followers would "notrest for long without doing something" about Gbagbo if he continues to hold power. Hedid not specify what that would entail.

Meanwhile, the Ivorian military has said it will carry out "any mission" given to it byGbagbo, a top general announced on state television.

Small-scale protests and tyre-burning broke out on Saturday in several towns,andgunfire was heard in the largest city, Abidjan. At least 15 people have been killed inelection related violence.

South Africa's ambassador to Cote d'Ivoire, Zodwa Lallie, said that Mbeki will mediatebetween the two parties in an effort to avoid violence similar to that which engulfedKenya following a disputed election result in 2007, when 1300 people were killed inethnic bloodshed that displaced hundreds of thousands.

"A situation like Rwanda or Kenya would be a nightmare," Lallie said.

Hamadoun Toure, the UN's special envoy, told Al Jazeera that the 9,000 UNpeacekeepers who are stationed in the country would be keeping to their existingmandate of "providing peace and security in the country" if violence over the standoffbreaks out.

Hundreds of Ivorians have fled across the border to Liberia to escape political violence,Saah Nyumah, head of Liberia's Refugees Repatriation and Resettlement Commission,said on Sunday.

"There are more than 300 Ivorians who have already crossed the borders into Liberia.They are mostly women, children and elderly people who have apparently decided toseek refuge in Liberia out of fear of post electoral violence," he said.------------------Guinea's new president is named (CNN)


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Conakry, Guinea - Guinea's Supreme Court has ruled Alpha Conde the winner of aNovember 7 presidential runoff election, the court's president announced Friday in thecountry's capital city.

The ruling wraps up a two-year transition to civilian rule after a military junta took

power in December 2008. Provisional results that had been released by the west Africancountry's electoral commission on November 15 put Conde ahead of his rival, CellouDalein Diallo, with 52.5 percent of the vote.

The Supreme Court took two weeks deliberating fraud charges from both sides beforeupholding the provisional results of what has been viewed as Guinea's most democraticand transparent election in its 52-year history.

"Mister Alpha Conde, having obtained 52.52 percent of ballots cast, is elected Presidentof the Republic of Guinea," Mamadou Sylla, president of the Supreme Court announced

to reporters at the Supreme Court office in Conakry shortly after midnight.

Upon announcement, representatives from Conde's party rejoiced and cheered theirvictory but expressed their desire to repair the damages of a polarizing campaignmarred by violence and intimidation.

"We ask all Guineans to lend a hand so that together...we can participate in the moral,physical, institutional and political reconstruction of our country," Kiridi Bangoura,Conde's campaign director told reporters.

Diallo, who had previously rejected the results--alleging the election was riddled withfraud that prevented his victory--took on a more conciliatory tone after the verdict.

"Since the Supreme Court decision allows for no appeals, we can only accept the verdictgiven by the highest judiciary institution of the republic," Diallo told reporters at hishome on Friday.

The provisional results were met by riots and violence around the country.

The prime minister subsequently declared a national state of emergency to deal withthe violence.

Analysts are worried about the potential of violence in Guinea spreading toneighboring Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ivory Coast, all of which are recovering fromcivil wars. Fighting broke out in the eastern Sierra Leone town of Kenema between Peuland Malinke after the Guinea election results were announced.


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"Sierra Leone and Guinea are only divided by what you call colonial boundariesbetween us. Most of the major ethnic tribes here you find in Sierra Leone also, " AdikalieFoday Sumah, ambassador of Sierra Leone to Guinea told CNN recently, adding thatethnic tensions can easily spread across porous borders.

The court decision on the election -- which was deemed "credible and transparent" byEuropean Union representatives -- surprised few in Guinea's sprawling seaside capital.

The new president--a 72-year old former lecturer at Sorbonne University in Paris--willface immense challenges ranging from creating employment to reforming thenotoriously corrupt and abusive army in a country sharply divided along ethnic lines.------------------Nigeria military says raids may have killed civilians (AFP)

LAGOS Nigeria's military acknowledged on Sunday that raids in pursuit of an alleged

gang leader in the main oil-producing region may have killed civilians, but insistedonly militants were targeted.

"It is possible that one or two or three of those who may have been killed could havebeen civilians," Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Antigha, a spokesman for the task forcethat carried out Wednesday's raids on a village, told AFP.

"There wasn't 100 percent evacuation (of the village beforehand). It is possible thatamong those who were not evacuated could have been civilians caught up."

Death tolls have varied widely following the raids in an area of the Niger Delta.Amnesty International rights group said it had received reports of scores killed.

An activist who visited the village of Ayakoromo on Friday has said at least nine peoplewere reported killed and dozens of houses were damaged, including some that wereburnt.

Miabiye Kuromiema, president of the Ijaw Youth Council, a rights group in the NigerDelta, said he was seeking to confirm reports of more deaths and that the victimsincluded innocent civilians.

Antigha has said troops in boats returned fire when gang members who had takenrefuge in the community shot at them.

He said only small arms fire was used in the raids, with aircraft employed forsurveillance, denying claims that heavier weapons were employed.


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Antigha blamed the burnt houses on gunfire that he said would have ignited canistersof fuel stored there for generators or boat engines.

The fire would have spread because the fire service was not around to extinguish it,according to Antigha. Local media quoted people who claimed to have fled the village

saying homes were deliberately set ablaze.

The raids this week targeted John Togo, who authorities say is a leader of a criminalgang responsible for piracy, robberies and rape.

An earlier military statement said the task force facilitated Kuromiema's visit as a showof good faith, which the rights leader confirmed.

Kuromiema said a camp appearing to belong to Togo -- he saw the initials JT written onthe outside -- was located "a couple of thousands of metres" away from the community

and had been taken over by the military.

There was a major military presence throughout the area, he said.

Amnesty International said in a statement it had received reports of scores killed andhundreds displaced.

The Niger Delta is a vast region of creeks and swamps, making it difficult toimmediately verify any of the claims. Access to the village was also sealed off by themilitary.

Authorities say those they are pursuing in the Niger Delta are criminals claiming to bemilitants as cover for criminal activities.

There have long been murky links between criminals and many of the Niger Delta'sself-described militants, who say they are fighting for a fairer distribution of oilrevenue.

Criminal gangs have carried out scores of kidnappings for ransom in the region.------------------UN News Service Africa BriefsFull Articles on UN Website

Secretary-General deeply concerned over political standoff in Cte d'Ivoire

4 December Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today expressed deep concern over thecontinuing standoff in Cte d'Ivoire, despite the transparent and credible outcome ofthe presidential run-off polls announced by the country's electoral commission onWednesday and certified by the United Nations envoy.


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UNchief supports certification of Ivorian presidential poll, congratulates Ouattara3 December Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced his support for todayscertification by his envoy in Cte dIvoire of the result of last Sundays presidential run-off, and congratulated the winning candidate, Alassane Ouattara, while urging him to

work towards lasting peace.

Central African Republic: Ban advises extension ofUNpeacebuilding office3 December Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has recommended to the Security-Council that the mandate of the United Nations peacebuilding office in the CentralAfrican Republic (CAR) be extended for another year to enable it to continue tofacilitate the process of restoring stability in the country.

Ban welcomes conclusion of presidential election in Guinea, urges reconciliation3 December Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the certification of the

results of the presidential poll in Guinea and urged the people of the West Africancountry to accept the outcome and to move towards peace and national reconciliation.

africom related newsclips 6dec10

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