africom related newsclips 7 july11

8/6/2019 AFRICOM Related Newsclips 7 July11

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United States Africa CommandPublic Affairs Office7 July 2011

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

Ambassador Rice leads U.S. group to South Sudan independence ceremony (CNN)(Sudan) U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice is leading a U.S.delegation to Juba for Saturday's ceremonies marking the independence of SouthSudan, the White House said Wednesday.

In Libya, rebels gaining in the west (Washington Post)(Libya) Rebel victories in Libyas western mountains are shifting the focus ofefforts to topple Moammar Gaddafis regime, as fighters close in on cities thatcontrol the governments main supply routes.

NATO Officials to Meet With Libyan Rebels (VOA)(Libya) In a new sign of growing international recognition of the Libyan rebelmovement, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has confirmedreports the alliance will meet their representatives next week. The talks comeamid stepped-up efforts to resolve the Libyan conflict.

US to Test al-Shababs Willingness to Allow Food Aid to Somalia (VOA)(Somalia) The United States said Wednesday that it is prepared to test thewillingness of the Somali rebel group al-Shabab to allow Western food aid toreach millions of Somalis threatened by drought. Secretary of State HillaryClinton has ordered a coordinated U.S. response to try to prevent another faminein the Horn of Africa like the one that struck some two decades ago.

U.S. Tests New Approach to Terrorism Cases on Somali Suspect (NYT)(Somalia) In interrogating a Somali man for months aboard a Navy ship before

taking him to New York this week for a civilian trial on terrorism charges, theObama administration is trying out a new approach for dealing with foreignterrorism suspects.

South Africas Mbeki to Visit Bashir on Sudanese Cease-Fire, SPLM Says(Bloomberg)


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(Sudan) Former South African President Thabo Mbeki will travel to Sudan todayto meet that countrys leader, Umar al-Bashir, over cease-fire talks in the northsSouthern Kordofan state, a regional governor said.

Triangle of hunger batters millions in E. Africa (AP)

(East Africa) Thousands of families are walking for days in search of food in atriangle of hunger where the borders of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia meet.Hundreds already have died, and images of children with skinny, malnourishedbodies are becoming commonplace in this corner of Africa.

Races for Mansion, Capitol Begin Today (The Analyst)(Liberia) Finally, the National Elections Commission (NEC) has called the

electoral race to order, announcing the opening of political campaigns today. Butas parties and independent candidates take the first step today a step that willfinally determine their win or loss of power in a few months time the nation

also jilters. It is not sure whether the process commenced on this day will cometo pass, leaving peace and democracy sustained, or will fan the flames of hate,division, conflict, and war.

Piracy:Stakeholders in Oil & Gas, shipping industries meet in London fortalks(Vanguard)(West Africa) Stakeholders in worlds Oil & Gas and Shipping community havescheduled a meeting in London next month to proffer solution to the menace ofpirate attacks on vessels and the assets of Oil companies particularly in the WestAfrican sub-region.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Websitey Lords Resistance Army killed dozens in DR Congo last month, UN

reports

y Africa ripe for carbon offset deals, UN tells forumy Security Council amends judicial eligibility rules for UN tribunal for

Rwandan genocide

y Joint UN-African Union mission in Darfur presses for release of detainedstaff

y Mass rapes in DR Congo could be crimes against humanity UN report-------------------------------------------------------------------------UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, July 12, 12:00 1:00 pm; Live Webcast from theWoodrow Wilson CenterWHAT: Libya: Death of an IdeaWHO: Karim Mexran, Director for Center for American Studies, Rome


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Info:

http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=events.event_summary&event_id=705279

WHEN/WHERE: Friday, July 18, 12:00 pm; B-339 Rayburn House Office

BuildingWHAT: The Defense Forum Foundations Capitol Hill forum on "The RisingThreat to Democracy from Terrorist-Criminal Networks in South and LatinAmerica and West Africa."WHO: Speaker: Douglas Farah, senior fellow at the International Assessmentand Strategy Center, adjunct fellow for the Center for Strategic and InternationalStudies' Latin America Program, and former bureau chief for the WashingtonPost and UPI.Info: 703-534-4313; web site: www.defenseforum.org----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FULL ARTICLE TEXT

Ambassador Rice leads U.S. group to South Sudan independence ceremony (CNN)By Elise Labott, CNN Senior State Department ProducerJuly 6, 2011Washington - U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice is leading aU.S. delegation to Juba for Saturday's ceremonies marking the independence ofSouth Sudan, the White House said Wednesday.

Members of the delegation will include Rep. Donald M. Payne, D-New Jerseyand ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa,Global Health, and Human Rights; former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell;Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of African Affairs Johnnie Carson; U.S.Special Envoy to Sudan Princeton N. Lyman; Deputy National Security AdviserBrooke Anderson; Donald K. Steinberg, deputy administrator of the U.S. Agencyfor International Development; Gen. Carter F. Ham, commander of United StatesAfrica Command; R. Barrie Walkley, U.S. consul general in Juba; and KenHackett, president of Catholic Relief Services.

Two senior administration officials said they expected the Obama administration

to announce its intention to name an ambassador to the new nation.

Lyman has already traveled to the region to foster a smooth transition betweenthe two countries. He is visiting Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and is expected to joinformer South African President Thabo Mbeki in support of ongoing talksbetween officials in Khartoum, Sudan, and Juba -- a fast-growing city soon tobecome South Sudan's new capital.


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The two men are expected to lend support to a peace agreement that endedSudan's second civil war, and help moderate potential conflicts over resourcesharing, disputed border areas and citizenship matters, the State Departmentsaid.

Lyman is expected to travel to Khartoum for meetings with senior Sudaneseofficials, the statement said, and then to Juba to attend South Sudan'sindependence ceremony.

The flurry of U.S. diplomatic activity comes as satellite images releasedWednesday reveal a heavy north Sudanese military presence in an oil-richborder region.

Images from the U.S.-based Satellite Sentinel Project showed an apparent Sudan

Armed Forces (SAF) convoy of "significant size" traveling through the town ofKadugli.

The monitoring group, started by actor George Clooney, said the convoy was 2kilometers in length and included about 1,000 troops and heavy trucks carryingartillery.

"Less than a week after signing yet another agreement, the Sudanese regimeappears to be ignoring its commitment, holding to form, and positioning militaryassets for intensified offensive operations," said John Prendergast, co-founder of

the Enough Project, which aims to end genocide and war crimes.

"This cycle will continue to be played out with increasingly destructive resultsfor Sudanese civilians until the international community stiffens its spine andimposes swift and severe repercussions for the endless cycle of violence theKhartoum regime continues to fuel."

The Satellite Sentinel Project combines satellite imagery analysis and field reportswith mapping technology in hopes of deterring the resumption of the bloodyand bitter civil war north and south fought for decades.

The monitoring group said fighting between the Sudanese forces and the south'sSudan People's Liberation Army has been reported in the city of Kadugli in thepast week.

Southerners voted for independence in a January referendum, and with thescheduled July 9 date of separation looming, many fear an escalation ofbloodshed could bring both sides back to the brink of full-scale war.


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Violence erupted two months ago along the contested border area of Abyei andsubsequently in South Kordofan, a state that lies north of the border but wheremany people, especially in the Nuba Mountains, are allied with the south.

Thousands of people were displaced from their homes, and many fear that, afterstrict borders go into place with independence, they will not be able to returnhome.

"South Sudan will be born into crisis," predicted Susan Purdin, who overseesInternational Rescue Committee aid programs in South Sudan.

"Widening violence is triggering more displacement, threatening the lives ofvulnerable civilians and hampering access to communities in need while anexisting humanitarian emergency grows worse," she said.

Critical issues -- including oil and the final status of Abyei -- remain unresolved.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the United Statesapplauded talks between north and south but remained concerned about theunresolved matters.

"The United States also calls on the parties to end the fighting in SouthernKordofan, and to facilitate unfettered access for aid workers to deliverhumanitarian assistance to innocent civilians affected by the conflict," Nuland

said.

Discussions are under way on how to shape the post-independence U.N. missionin South Sudan, created in 2005 with a peacekeeping mandate. Secretary of StateHillary Clinton has intervened in pushing the parties to accept U.N.peacekeepers.

And the United Nations Security Council will meet next week to discuss whetherto recommend a new member state's entry into the global body.

Peter Wittig, the U.N. ambassador of Germany, which holds the rotating SecurityCouncil presidency this month, said council members will meet July 13 to talkabout U.N. admission. If granted, South Sudan would become the first state sinceMontenegro in 2006 to become a U.N. member.-------------------In Libya, rebels gaining in the west (Washington Post)By Ernesto LondonoJuly 6, 6:22 PM


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GHANIMAH, Libya Rebel victories in Libyas western mountains are shiftingthe focus of efforts to topple Moammar Gaddafis regime, as fighters close in oncities that control the governments main supply routes.

On Wednesday, the rebels claimed a new victory in a march toward the capital

that, in recent weeks, has won them tanks, rocket launchers and an largeammunition dump seized from Gaddafis military. The rapid gains in the westcome in sharp contrast to battlefields in the east, where the front lines haveremained largely stagnant for months.

The pace and outcome of the battles have given rebels hope that the tide could beshifting in a campaign that has clearly put Gaddafis forces on the defensive. Thehours-long battle that began before dawn on Wednesday included thunderingbarrages of artillery and rockets fired from both sides, and ended as truckloadsof rebels returned from the battlefields with a new hoard of captured weapons.

You can see we are going forward, said Abu Hakim, a rebel fighter. If we goon like this, we will get to Tripoli very soon.

At least seven rebels were killed in the battle and scores were wounded, rebelleaders said. It was unclear whether government troops were killed in the battle.

Until now, rebels in the flat terrain east of the capital have received more supportfrom NATO fighter planes and trainers than those in the west. Rebel leaders inthe west attribute their successes to a well-thought-out battle plan and to

familiarity with the hilly desert terrain, but they say they have also been helpedby NATOs recent strikes targeting Gaddafis fighting positions in and aroundthe mountains.

After Wednesdays battle, rebel leaders said they forced Gaddafi troops out ofthe town of al-Qualish, putting rebels within striking distance of Gharyan, a city60 miles south of Tripoli along the government-controlled supply route thatleads south. Rebels leaders contend that the regime is using the route to resupplyits arsenals.

Battle gains on the northern edge of the mountains, meanwhile, have extendedthe rebel-controlled area closer to Zawiyah, a city 40 miles west of the capitalalong the coastal road that connects Tripoli with Tunisia.

All the towns have started working together, said Col. Abdullah Mahdi, a 48-year-old officer who defected from the Libyan Air Force days after the uprisingbegan in February and is now a rebel commander. After each battle, wevegained weapons from Gaddafis forces.


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The western mountain revolt

The revolt in the western mountains began in mid-February after protests in theeastern city of Benghazi triggered a popular uprising across Libya. As the unrest

began to turn violent, Gaddafi sent a confidant to the western town of Ziltan toask tribal leaders to provide 1,000 fighters to shore up the regimes forces in theeast, residents said.

But the request angered many Ziltan residents, coming on the the heels ofuprisings that ousted autocrats in Tunisia and Egypt, which both share borderswith Libya. After an assembly was convened to discuss the governments requestfor fighters, a small government protest broke out outside, said Musa Edweb, 50,who attended the meeting.

In Libya, rebels gaining in the west

Within 24 hours, the Ziltans police station, courthouse and intelligence buildingwere set ablaze. Gaddafis forces soon cut power and the cellphone network inthe city, a tactic employed elsewhere as the rebellion spread.

Within two months, the rebels had taken control of the southern border town ofWazin, which leads to Tunisia. But the most notable rebel gains have come onlyin the last month, after rebels managed to drive Gaddafi forces away from therebels mountain garrison town of Ziltan.

In the beginning, he was attacking us, Edwab said. Now hes very weak andcannot attack any city in the mountains.

Rebel leaders say they dont make aggressive pushes without NATOs backing,fearing their fighters could be mistakenly hit in coalition strikes, as some of theircounterparts in the east have. To communicate, they rely on a slow Internetconnection to relay messages via other rebels to NATO advieors based in theeastern city of Benghazi.

The first maneuvering in Wednesdays battle began late Tuesday night as rebelleaders quietly moved fighters, tanks and rocket-launchers to positions ringingthe western edge of the town of Qalish.

Gaddafi troops fired GRAD rockets as the rebels moved in; rebels said theyfought back using tanks, artillery and anti-aircraft missiles fired horizontally.They then streamed into the city, where Gaddafi troops returned fire for a fewhours before retreating, according to the rebels.


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By 2 p.m., Gaddafis fighters retreated, leaving several vehicles, shell cans andanti-aircraft machine guns, rebels said.

Soon, ambulances carrying wounded rebels and pickup trucks packed with

seized cans of ammunition began streaming back west. Fighters in the backs ofpickup trucks shouted God is great! as they drove captured Gaddafi soldiers toZiltan.

Some of rebel fighters were wounded by what they described as mines plantedby Gaddafi troops in recent days.

Mohamed Ibrahim, 22, was wounded in the leg by shrapnel from a land minewhile he and a few rebels were on foot.

These kinds of bombs are not for people, Ibrahim said while doctors treatedhim Wednesday afternoon at the hospital in Ziltan. They are intended fortrucks.-------------------NATO Officials to Meet With Libyan Rebels (VOA)By Lisa BryantJuly 6, 2011In a new sign of growing international recognition of the Libyan rebelmovement, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has confirmedreports the alliance will meet their representatives next week. The talks come

amid stepped-up efforts to resolve the Libyan conflict.

At a Brussels news conference, NATO Secretary General Anders FoghRasmussen characterized the alliance's July 13 meeting with members of Libya'sNational Transitional Council as an opportunity to exchange views and hearabout the rebels' road map for a democratic transition. Twelve of NATO's 28members officially recognize the Libyan opposition group.

Rasmussen did not confirm growing reports that Libyan leader MoammarGadhafi is exploring options to step down.

"But it is quite clear that the end state must be that he leaves power," he said."That has been clearly stated by the international community and by theopposition in Libya. I see that as the only possible way forward."

There is growing speculation an end game may be in sight. Members of theLibyan government have reportedly been meeting with members of theopposition in various European cities. And Russian President Dmitry


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Medvedev, who has offered to mediate a solution to the Libyan crisis, held talkson the matter Monday with South African President Jacob Zuma.

In another sign the rebels are making advances, the French government, whichannounced last week it had been supplying light arms to the rebels, said this

week it had stopped doing so, because the rebels no longer needed the help.Rasmussen said the rebels are advancing militarily in Libya, although it wasunclear how much.

"Momentum is against Gadhafi," added Rasmussen. "His economic strength tosustain a war against his people is declining. His ministers and generals aredeserting and the international community has turned against him. For Gadhafi,it is game over."

Rasmussen dismissed the possibility of Ciolonel Gadhafi stepping down in favor

of his son, Seif al-Islam, pointing to a new International Criminal Court arrestwarrant against both men.

The secretary general said although he shared concerns recently expressed byformer U.S. defense secretary Robert Gates that NATO's European partnersneeded to shoulder a greater defense burden, NATO's Libya campaign is anexample of European leadership.-------------------------US to Test al-Shababs Willingness to Allow Food Aid to Somalia (VOA)By David Gollust

July 6, 2011The United States said Wednesday that it is prepared to test the willingness ofthe Somali rebel group al-Shabab to allow Western food aid to reach millions ofSomalis threatened by drought. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has ordered acoordinated U.S. response to try to prevent another famine in the Horn of Africalike the one that struck some two decades ago.

Al-Shabab, which controls most of Somalias territory and is listed by the UnitedStates as a terrorist organization, has until now barred outside humanitarian aidgroups from areas it dominates.

But amid a looming hunger crisis, the group says it will welcome all aid agencies,including non-Muslim ones, to assist in drought relief efforts. And the StateDepartment says the United States intends to test that willingness.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton convened a meeting Wednesday of seniorofficials of the State Department and the U.S. Agency for InternationalDevelopment on the Horn of Africa drought. A senior official here said she


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issued instructions to do whatever is possible to avoid another humanitariandisaster in the region.

Drought conditions in Somalia and parts of Ethiopia and Kenya are beingcompared to those of the early 1990s when famine claimed more than 300,000

lives. At the time, large amounts of international aid were commandeered bySomali warlords to help fuel the countrys civil war. There is concern amongWestern governments and aid groups that al-Shabab, which is battling SomaliasTransitional Federal Government, might do the same.

But an al-Shabab spokesman in Mogadishu said Tuesday that the group is liftinga ban on access to aid groups and that all agencies whose mission is onlyhumanitarian relief will be allowed in.

A senior State Department official said now that al-Shabab is making noises

about being a cooperative player, it is incumbent on the United States and otherdonor countries to test whether the group is ready to let starving people receivehumanitarian aid.

State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the drought might havedisplaced 1.5 million people in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, and that the UnitedStates has begun positioning relief supplies to respond to the crisis.

We have already delivered some 19,000 metric tons of food to the World FoodProgram, and a lot of that has already been staged in warehouses to insure rapid

delivery a to insure rapid delivery into the area. This morning, Secretary Clintonasked our folks to continue to look at this, and work hard on what we can dotogether and what we can do with neighboring governments to ensure that wedont have another massive humanitarian catastrophe," she said.

The U.N.s World Food Program pulled out of hard-hit northern Somalia lastyear because of threats and extortion demands by al-Shabab. But a U.N.spokesman in Nairobi said the organization is prepared to cooperate withanyone who can work to ease the crisis, and save lives.

Two seasons of little rain in the region are threatening an estimated 10 millionpeople.

The British-based relief group Oxfam says at least 500 people have died fromdrought-related causes since the beginning of the year, but that the toll couldsoar later this year if the drought persists.-----------------------U.S. Tests New Approach to Terrorism Cases on Somali Suspect (NYT)


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By CHARLIE SAVAGEJuly 6, 2011WASHINGTON In interrogating a Somali man for months aboard a Navyship before taking him to New York this week for a civilian trial on terrorismcharges, the Obama administration is trying out a new approach for dealing with

foreign terrorism suspects.

The administration, which was seeking to avoid sending a new prisoner toGuantnamo Bay, Cuba, drew praise and criticism on Wednesday for itsdecisions involving the Somali suspect, Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame, accused ofaiding Al Qaedas branch in Yemen and the Shabab, the Somali militant group.

Kenneth L. Wainstein, who led the Justice Departments national securitydivision during the Bush administration, praised the Obama administrations

handling of the Warsame case, saying it showed the value of allowing theexecutive branch flexibility between using the military and criminal justicesystems.

From the governments perspective, its better to maintain options for custodyand prosecution and in each case to select that option that best fits the needs of aparticular case, Mr. Wainstein said.

But Republican lawmakers in Congress denounced the move, contending that itmade more sense to bring such detainees to Guantnamo for prosecution before

a military commission.

The administrations actions are inexplicable, create unnecessary risks here athome, and do nothing to increase the security of the United States, said SenatorMitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate Republican leader.

Meanwhile, new details emerged about Mr. Warsames detention on a Navy shipafter his capture in April aboard a fishing skiff between Yemen and Somalia, andabout internal administration deliberations on legal policy questions that couldhave implications for the evolving conflict against Al Qaeda and its affiliates.

A senior counterterrorism official said Wednesday that Mr. Warsame hadrecently met with Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born radical cleric now hidingin Yemen. After his capture, he was taken to the Boxer, an amphibious assaultship that was steaming in the region and has a brig, a senior military official said.

While Mr. Warsame is accused of being a member of the Shabab, which isfocused on a parochial insurgency in Somalia, the administration decided he


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could be lawfully detained as a wartime prisoner under Congresss authorizationto use military force against the perpetrators of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks,according to several officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discusssecurity matters.

But the administration does not consider the United States to be at war withevery member of the Shabab, officials said. Rather, the government decided thatMr. Warsame and a handful of other individual Shabab leaders could be madetargets or detained because they were integrated with Al Qaeda or its Yemenbranch and were said to be looking beyond the internal Somali conflict.

Certain elements of Al Shabab, including its senior leaders, adhere to AlQaedas ideology and could conduct attacks outside of Somalia in East Africa, asit did in Uganda in 2010, or even outside the region to further Al Qaedasagenda, said a senior administration official. For its leadership and those other

Al Qaeda-aligned elements of Al Shabab, our approach is quite clear: They arenot beyond the reach of our counterterrorism tools.

The administration notified the International Committee of the Red Cross of hiscapture, and a Red Cross representative flew out to the ship and met with him.That visit came about two months after his capture, during a four-day breakbetween his interrogation for intelligence purposes and separate questioning forlaw-enforcement purposes.

Mr. Warsame was given a Miranda warning that he had a right to remain

silent and to have a lawyer at the beginning of the second interrogation so thatprosecutors would have a better chance of being allowed to use his statements asevidence.

The Obama legal team decided to time the Red Cross visit during the break inorder to further emphasize that the second set of interrogators compriseddifferent officials questioning him for a different purpose. That was intended tobe able to make the case later to a judge that any subsequent confession wasvoluntary. (Mr. Warsame waived his rights and continued talking.)

Finally, the administration settled on the civilian trial option because officials didnot want to add a new inmate to the Guantnamo prison which PresidentObama wants to close and because a military trial was problematic.

For example, the charges against Mr. Warsame, conspiracy and providingmaterial support to terrorists, are standard criminal charges, but their validity aswar crimes is under a cloud.


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Moreover, the tribunals jurisdiction is limited to people who are part of AlQaeda or who engaged in or supported hostilities against the West. To make thecase that Mr. Warsame qualified, officials said, they would have had to discloseclassified information to the tribunal.

Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said in an interview thathe would offer amendments to a pending bill that would expand tribunaljurisdiction and declare that the Shabab are covered by the authorization to usemilitary force against Al Qaeda.

Mr. Graham also said he had no quarrel with eventually prosecuting Mr.Warsame in a civilian court. But he contended that the administration hadrushed the mans initial interrogation because it had no good place to detain himfor a longer period, showing the need for a prison like Guantnamo for othercurrent and future detainees.

But Tommy Vietor, a spokesman for the White Houses National SecurityCouncil, said the two-month interrogation of Mr. Warsame for intelligencepurposes had been comprehensive and handled to the full satisfaction ofinterrogators and intelligence agencies only after which, he said, did topnational security officials unanimously decide to transition to a law-enforcementinterrogation, which did not end the flow of intelligence from Warsame.-----------------------South Africas Mbeki to Visit Bashir on Sudanese Cease-Fire, SPLM Says(Bloomberg)

By William Davison and Maram MazenJul 6, 2011 2:46 PM ET .Former South African President Thabo Mbeki will travel to Sudan today to meetthat countrys leader, Umar al-Bashir, over cease-fire talks in the northsSouthern Kordofan state, a regional governor said.

Delegations from the Sudanese government and the northern branch of thesouths ruling Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement, or SPLM, signed aframework agreement last week in Ethiopia to prepare for talks to end clashes inSouthern Kordofan, northern Sudans only oil-producing state. The agreementwas brokered by the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel on Sudan,led by Mbeki.

Al-Bashir has reservations about the accord, said Malik Agar, governor ofSudans Blue Nile state and the head of the SPLMs northern branch, in aninterview today in Addis Ababa, Ethiopias capital. He declined to say what al-Bashirs concerns are. If Bashir does not respond positively, there will be notalks, Agar said.


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Rabie Abdel Ati, a senior member of al-Bashirs National Congress Party andadviser to the information minister, did not answer calls to his mobile phoneseeking comment.

Clashes between Sudanese government forces and units of Southern Sudansarmy in Southern Kordofan have led to more than 73,000 people fleeing theirhomes since June 5, according to the United Nations. The fighting there and inthe disputed border region of Abyei raised concern of a resumption of a two-decade civil war that ended in 2005.

Third PartyThe SPLM will not talk without a third party, Agar said. Mbekis AfricanUnion panel was mandated as the third party for the talks in last weeks deal.

The Sudanese army will continue its military operations against what it describesas rebels in Southern Kordofan, as no cease-fire agreement has been signedyet, Sudanese army spokesman Al-Sawarmi Khaled said by phone fromKhartoum, Sudans capital, today. Both sides blame each other for starting theviolence in Southern Kordofan.

The U.S. is concerned that President Bashir has raised objections to the politicaland security framework agreement, the State Department said in an e-mailedstatement today. It urged the government to work with the African Union panelto overcome any objections so the vitally important discussions called for in that

agreement can proceed.

Southern Sudan is set to become independent from the north on July 9.---------------------Triangle of hunger batters millions in E. Africa (AP)By JOE MWIHIAJuly 7, 2011WAJIR, Kenya Thousands of families are walking for days in search of food ina triangle of hunger where the borders of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia meet.Hundreds already have died, and images of children with skinny, malnourishedbodies are becoming commonplace in this corner of Africa.

Even Somalia's top militant group is asking the aid agencies it once banned fromits territories to return. Thirsty livestock are dying by the thousands, and foodprices have risen beyond what many families can afford.

Hawo Ibrahim said she and her seven children trekked 15 days from a town insouthern Somalia before reaching a refugee camp in northeast Kenya.


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"We have seen misery and hunger on our way," said Ibrahim, 32, who said herhusband went mad after the family lost its livestock to drought. "The mostpainful thing was when you don't get anything for your thirsty and hungrychildren."

Aid agencies are appealing for tens of millions of dollars in emergency funding.Oxfam which hopes to raise $80 million, its largest ever appeal for Africa says 12 million people are affected by hunger. At least 500 Somalis are known tohave died from drought-related diseases, though Oxfam says the actual numberis likely higher.

"Two successive poor rains, entrenched poverty and lack of investment inaffected areas have pushed 12 million people into a fight for survival," said JaneCocking, Oxfam's humanitarian director.

Somalis desperate for food are overrunning the world's largest refugee camp inneighboring Kenya, which is seeing some 10,000 new arrivals each week, sixtimes the average at this time last year. Caught between violence and hunger, aU.N. official said Somali refugees are suffering "a human tragedy ofunimaginable proportions."

The epicenter of the drought lies on the three-way border shared by Kenya,Ethiopia and Somalia, a nomadic region where families heavily depend on thehealth of their livestock. Uganda and Djibouti have also been hit. ActionAid says

some areas in the Horn are experiencing their driest conditions in 60 years.

"We only ran away from hunger nothing else," said Halimo Farah, a mother ofthree who fled Somalia and is now in Dadaab. "We had farms and got no rainsfor six seasons."

Food prices have also risen. The U.N. says in the last year the price of sorghum inSomalia's Baidoa jumped 240 percent, while yellow maize rose 117 percent rise inJiiga, Ethiopia. White maize jumped nearly 60 percent in the Kenyan town ofMandera.

The U.N.'s refugee agency says Dadaab's three camps now host more than382,000 people, while thousands more are waiting at reception centers outsidethe camp. More than 135,000 people have fled Somalia this year including54,000 in June, three times as many as in May, said Melissa Fleming, aspokeswoman for UNHCR.


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Many Somali children are arriving at refugee camps so weak that they are dyingwithin 24 hours despite emergency care and feeding, she said.

In the hospital in Wajir, an ethnically Somali area in northeast Kenya, Dr.Mohamed Hassan said that most children in the ward are suffering from severe

malnutrition.

"You will find severely wasted children," he said.

The European Commission said Wednesday it is sending $8 million inemergency funding to Dadaab to help deal with the crisis. The EC hascontributed nearly $100 million to the drought crisis this year.

A spokesman for Somalia's most dangerous militant group, al-Shabab, saidTuesday that the group is willing to allow aid agencies to negotiate their return.

Al-Shabab in 2009 began to ban aid agencies, fearing the groups could host spiesor promote an un-Islamic way of life. Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage said non-Muslims who want to help must contact al-Shabab's drought committee forpermission.

Nicholas Wasunna, an adviser to the aid group World Vision, said the drought ishitting children and elderly hard in northeast Kenya. Wasunna, echoing otheraid agencies, said governments needed to have acted quicker to prevent thecrisis.

"We need to make disaster risk reduction a political priority and investaccordingly because these scenes we should never see again. The reality isdrought will continue to be with us but we need to do much more, muchsooner," he said.

Save the Children said more than a quarter of children in the worst-hit parts ofKenya are now dangerously malnourished, while malnutrition rates in Somaliahave reached 30 percent in some areas.

Fleming of UNHCR said her agency estimates that a quarter of Somalia's 7.5million people are now either internally displaced or living outside the countryas refugees.

Somalis aren't only fleeing to Kenya and Ethiopia, but also to the capital city ofMogadishu, where refugees begging for food or money are commonplace. AbdiJimale arrived in Mogadishu two months ago but said he found no help.


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"We were thinking the aid agencies would be helping us in Mogadishu, but wefound nothing," he said. "I want to go to Kenya when I can get assistance. Thesituation we are living in is totally unbearable."

Maryan Qasam, a 41-year-old mother of seven, said her 35 cows died after the

pastures dried out. She makes about 50 cents a day from the generosity ofstrangers.

"That cannot quench our needs," she said. "Our children occasionally cry for foodand we can't get enough food for them. Our farms dried up and our cowsperished so we have no options."-------------------------Races for Mansion, Capitol Begin Today (The Analyst)By Unattributed AuthorJuly 5, 2011

Finally, the National Elections Commission (NEC) has called the electoral race toorder, announcing the opening of political campaigns today. But as parties andindependent candidates take the first step today a step that will finallydetermine their win or loss of power in a few months time the nation alsojilters. It is not sure whether the process commenced on this day will come topass, leaving peace and democracy sustained, or will fan the flames of hate,division, conflict, and war. The Analyst has been reviewing the politicallandscape with an Eagle's eye on both the players and ultimate end of thecountry's second democratic elections in six years after a brutal civil war.

The National Elections Commission (NEC) is announcing today, July 5, 2011, thecommencement of political campaigns, which is an effective gateway towardspolls in October or November, depending on the outcome of the ensuingNational Referendum.

Though other key electoral dates, including registration of candidates and partiesas well as constituency delineation consistent with the Constitution, remaininconclusive, the NEC is keeping the date of campaign unchanged. It is expectedto outline the rules of the game today, according to sources.

With the pronouncement of campaign today, sources say, most of the over 20registered political parties have begun strengthening their bearings as strongerparties strive to co-opt weaker parties while the weaker ones seek adaptationwith stronger ones.

The Lineup


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Despite the crowded electoral field, only few political parties are believed to beserious contenders, even though some observers urge caution that it may be toosoon to pass judgment over which ones will put up a brave fight.

The major contending blocs expected to spark sensations during the campaign

period, some pundits think, include the ruling Unity Party, Congress forDemocratic Change (CDC), Liberty Party, National Democratic Coalition (NDC),National Union for Democratic Progress, and the Movement for ProgressiveChange (MPC).

Unity Party

Already, the ruling Unity Party has pulled into its ranks topnotch formeropposing figures, particularly from the CDC, believed to be the largestopposition political parties.

Some of these politicians include former House Speaker Edwin Snowe, formerCDC Secretary General Eugene Nagbe and another CDC executives, SamuelWlue and former CDC political advisor J. Milton Teahjay.

Most of them not only declared their support to President Sirleaf's second termbid, if not necessarily for the ruling Party, but also are strategically deployed inthe party's campaign architecture.

The defected former opposition figures, according to pundits, are not individuals

to be dismissed easily, but are to be seriously watched.

As key strategists from the hearts of their former parties, the defectors, someobservers say, are ideally suited to increase the ruling Party's propaganda basesince they may be relied upon by the party to pass on vital intelligence from theformer political parties.

The Unity Party campaign is also bolstered by an incumbency advantage theposition of "unequal power dynamics" that places most of its key members ineasy access to resources and/or exerts influence on a huge number of publicservants and their beneficiaries.

Though President Sirleaf still enjoys huge international approbation("international contact" being orchestrated as her strength, particularly from theUnited States) some pundits believe that there are indications that theinternational community is not as unanimous in its relationship with MadamSirleaf currently as it was in 2005.


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Another possible drawback on the chances of the ruling Party is growingconcerns about the Government's fiscal deportment amid reports of massivecorruption, aided and abated by impunity.

Countless media reports, empirically verified and documented by the General

Auditing Commission (GAC), not only paint an unsightly picture aboutaccountability and transparency in the UP-led government, but also underscoreenormous waste of public resources to theft and plunder of officials.

Congress for Democratic Change

The CDC is fondly regarded "grassroots" party and is highly regarded in otherquarters as first amongst the serious contenders against the ruling Party.

Though a number of staunched stalwarts, including founding executives of the

CDC, have defected to the ruling Party, some pundits assert that the party'sfollowers are strict adherents and loyalists that might hardly be dissuaded by thewaves of high-level defections.

Recently, the Party absolved itself of longstanding criticism, particularly againstits former flag-bearer, George Weah, regarding international contact, with theelection of the new standard-bearer, Winston Tubman, believed to have hadrelatively better academic and diplomatic profile than Madam Sirleaf does.

It is not clear how many known and unknown supporters of the CDC are driven

away because of the change of name and face on the top position of the party;however, sources say the rise of Tubman on the first level of the party's ticketholds greater advantage or possible disgruntlement amongst supporters.

The strategy, one CDC executive once said, must have driven away a fewsupporters but assures greater advantage as long as it counters or diminishes theruling Party's biggest strength, international contact.

Some pundits have pointed to the lack of resources as a major drawback in theparty's quest to conduct an effective campaign and eventually win elections.

With campaign now announced in earnest by the NEC, the party, regarded thelargest force against the ruling party is yet to demonstrate the wherewithal toimplement an effective campaign project.

Some observers however think that some loyalist partisans, as it were in 2005,may bankroll the campaign to compensate for the party's lack of adequateresources.


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Liberty Party

Cllr. Charles Brumskine's Liberty Party is also amongst the top five of 2011. TheParty comes to this year's campaign with the record of third place in the 2005

first round, which the CDC then won. But the party refused to endorse CDC andUP as the frontrunners at the time.

Skeptics are still toying with the party's possible option, should there be a replayof 2005, though the Party has been talking tough, apparently firmly hopeful oftaking the first place.

The LP, like other opposition political parties, has suffered major defections inthe hands of the ruling party.

A group of citizens, claiming to be former partisans of the Liberty Party, onseveral occasions announced their defection to the ruling Party, though therewere instances the LP announced it received former members of the UP joiningits ranks.

The Party, during the 2005 elections, made great gains in Brumskine's homeprovince of Grand Bassa, even though it also put up some fights in Nimba andother places before falling on the third row.

But the Party has broadened its support base with the cultivation of Liberia's

third votes-rich county, Bong.

It is said by some pundits that LP's vice standard-bearer Siakor hails from BongCounty, which he currently serves as junior senator.

The blend of Siakor from the third populous county and Grand Bassa, which is inthe fourth position, political commentators believe the LP stands a chance to putup a serious fight this year.

But critics of the Party say the party's structure is parochial and less democratic,internally keeping some potentially strong members at bay.

Whether this criticism is right or not, the next weeks in campaign will bring outthe true color of the party.

National Democratic Coalition


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The NDC, nearly a year ago, launched itself on the political landscape in highspirits and it nearly became a sensation until some of its founders began to defectto other parties, including the ruling Unity Party.

Some pundits call the NDC a coalition party as it draws much of its strength

from a horde of splinter political parties and politicians representing diverseethnic and political regions of the country.

Because the executives of the Party were not prominent contenders in 2005, somepoliticians gravitated towards it, calling it a "rainbow coalition".

The NDC's chief ideologue and potential standard-bearer D. Tuan-Wleh Mayson,many believe, comes to the 2011 political fray with the wherewithal and clout ofa serious opposition contender.

Mayson is an acknowledged progressive, though not as popular as the likes of G.Baccus Matthews, Tipoteh, and Fahnbulleh; but he maintains a coloration ofLiberia's political struggle characterized by advocacy for the rights of the masses.

His supporters say he comes with a character of progressivism and change, beingone of the few progressives that have remained neutral in the upheavals of thelast fifteen years.

As a businessman well known in the West African subregion, Mayson accordingto pundits, draws support from Africa's entrepreneurs. Others say he is perhaps

the only candidate whose financial wherewithal can, to some extent, stand in theface of the incumbent's grip on state resources.

Jittering Nation

With campaign ordered open by the NEC, Liberians are edgy as they are notvery sure that the electoral period will end in peace or pieces.

Security continues to be a chief concern in the wake of demonstrateddesperations being exhibited by parties and candidates, some of whom haveresorted to profanities and threats of violence.

The spokes-organ of the ruling Party, the Ministry of Information, is serving anews blackout along with one opposition party, the Movement for ProgressiveChange, for their uncivil exchanges recently.


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The ruling Party also came close to exhibiting desperation with the Presidentannouncing the appointment of her entire cabinet as a campaign team for theParty.

Public opinion forced the President to commute the appointment from campaign

team to advisory team, even though some observers say there is no difference inthe two nomenclatures.

The largest opposition bloc, the CDC, continues to remind the public of 2005elections, which it believes it lost to fraud and cheat from the ruling party backedby the international community.

Recently, the party repeated the reflection and announced that it would not beleaving the counting of result with the NEC, the country's electoral managementbody, but was going to carry out its own count and poised to resist any result not

pronounced in its favor.

The elections in Ivory Coast, Kenya, and Zimbabwe being reference points, mostLiberians are fearing post electoral violence in Liberia, which saw more than adecade fratricidal war.-------------------------Piracy:Stakeholders in Oil & Gas, shipping industries meet in London for

talks (Vanguard)By Unattributed AuthorJuly 7, 2011

Stakeholders in worlds Oil & Gas and Shipping community have scheduled ameeting in London next month to proffer solution to the menace of pirate attackson vessels and the assets of Oil companies particularly in the West African sub-region.

The conference which is bringing together senior security representatives fromgovernment, military, global shipping companies and oil and gas operators andall other security experts is meant to protect operators from maritime crime andwill also reveal the strategies being deployed to combat sea robbery at the localand regional levels.

In a statement, the senior project manager overseeing the conference Mr DaveIheanyi Njoku of Hanson Wade said that the meeting will address the challengesvessels and operators face in the Gulf of Guinea.

We shall be looking at how to minimize the impact of maritime crime on tradeand commerce in West Africa, strengthen maritime security on both local andregional levels, understanding the impact of wider maritime crimes such as


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drugs, arms, people smuggling and how we can protect ourselves against thesemenace.Njoku stated that with large proportion of the worlds Oil and Gas resourcesbased in the West African sub-region, the need to secure these facilities and makethem safe cannot be over emphasized.

The conference which is billed to have Nigerias high Commissioner to BritainAmbassador Dozie Nwana as keynote speaker, Jimi Osimowo from the NigerianNavy, Chris Holtby from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Phillip J. Heylfrom the U.S. Africa Command, Col Jamil Tahir from the Nigerian PortsAuthority, Pierre St Hilaire from Maritime Piracy Task Force (MPTF), INTERPOLand Dennis Amachree from Addax Petroleum Development (Nigeria) Ltdshall also highlight the latest methods being employed by pirates to attackvessels on the West coast.

His words The issue of piracy is a very negative phenomenon that is costingworld trade so much loses both human and material and some thing urgentlymust be done before the current situation gets worse. Pirate attacks has becomean international criminal syndicate that needs to be broken.

The Nigerian Pirate are emulating the Somali model and the governmentresponse is needed. The meeting will provide participants with latest knowledgeof all the pertinent legal issues arising from maritime crime.

We shall also be revealing innovative strategies being rolled out at the local and

regional level to combat maritime crime. With the quality of leadership beingprovided by the International Maritime Organisation, (IMO) a well coordinatedfight against these criminals will lead to a more secured and safer waters forglobal trade to strive.

We look forward to seeing all the relevant stakeholders at the meeting and learna few lessons from their experiences to make our operation secured and safefrom the menace of pirates-------------------------UN News Service Africa BriefsFull Articles on UN Website

Lords Resistance Army killed dozens in DR Congo last month, UN reports

6 July The rebel Lords Resistance Army (LRA) killed 26 persons in 53 separateattacks on villages in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) last month,the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)reported today.


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Africa ripe for carbon offset deals, UN tells forum6 July Africa presents a good opportunity for carbon offset projects, UnitedNations experts told a continent-wide meeting in Marrakech, Morocco, the UNEnvironment Programme (UNEP) said today.

Security Council amends judicial eligibility rules for UN tribunal for Rwandangenocide6 July The Security Council today amended the statute of the United Nationstribunal for the 1994 Rwandan genocide to make non-permanent judges eligibleto both vote for the presidency of the court and to become president themselves.

Joint UN-African Union mission in Darfur presses for release of detained staff6 July The head of the joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping forcein Darfur has once again called for the immediate release of two national staffmembers who have been detained by the Sudanese authorities for more than two

months.

Mass rapes in DR Congo could be crimes against humanity UN report6 July The rapes of hundreds of people in eastern Democratic Republic of theCongo (DRC) last year could be considered crimes against humanity and warcrimes, according to a new United Nations report, which urges the Governmentto bring the perpetrators to justice.

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