AFRICOM Related News Clips February 9, 2011

8/7/2019 AFRICOM Related News Clips February 9, 2011

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United States Africa CommandPublic Affairs Office9 February 2011

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

AFRICOM Commander Visits Robert G. Bradley, APS (DVIDS)(West Africa) Commander of U.S. Africa Command Gen. William E. Kip Ward spoke

to African partners and U.S. Sailors aboard USS Robert G. Bradley, Feb. 7, during thefirst of many port visits of Africa Partnership Station West.

Special forces to help fight al-Qaida in Africa (Ottawa Citizen)(North Africa) Canadian special forces troops from Petawawa will be soon headingoverseas to train soldiers from countries in North Africa who are fighting al-Qaidainsurgents.

FBI Begins Probe of Tunisia Leader's Assets(Wall Street Journal)(Tunisia) The Federal Bureau of Investigation has opened a preliminary investigationinto ousted Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and his clan, according to aperson familiar with the matter, seeking information on whether he has any assets inthe U.S.

Southern Sudan welcomes US electricity project (Associated Press)(Sudan) The power lines, electricity poles and street lamps that now dot the red dirtroads of the Southern Sudanese town of Kapoeta seem out of place next to the rustingtanks and shot-up buildings. The electrification project, which was funded by U.S.government aid, is one sign that the U.S. is intent on helping bring development andstability to what will soon be Africa's newest country.

UN hails final results of south Sudan referendum, cautions about challenges ahead (Xinhua)(Sudan) Top UN officials have welcomed the Monday announcement of the finalreferendum results in south Sudan, which showed an overwhelming majority opted forsecession from the north, and called on both north and south Sudan to quickly agree ona host of issues stemming from the separation and to resolve the future of a disputedarea.


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ECOWAS criticizes S.Africa warship off West Africa (Associated Press)(Ivory Coast) The chairman of West Africa's regional bloc on Tuesday criticized SouthAfrica for sending a warship to the region amid Ivory Coast's political crisis, but theSouth African government maintained it had sent the vessel as a negotiating venue.

Opposition to I. Coast's Gbagbo eroding: ECOWAS (AFP)(Ivory Coast) The head of West African bloc ECOWAS on Tuesday slammed attemptsto compromise with Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo, saying internationalsolidarity against him had waned.

Tunisian Spark (Frontline)(Tunisia) The Tunisian government was one of the few supporters of the U.S. AfricaCommand (AFRICOM), which aims to set up military bases on the continent. When thepopular uprising commenced, the U.S. announced $12 million in security assistance to

the Tunisian government.

Tension, Uncertainty as Uganda Prepares for Election(Voice of America)(Uganda) In just over one week Ugandans will go to the polls to elect their presidentfor the fourth time since the reinstitution of democracy. Facing perhaps his toughestcompetition yet, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni will seek a fourth term and acontinuation of his 25-year rule.

Africa's resources central to China: expert (AFP)(Pan Africa) Africa's rich natural resources will remain key to China as the Asian giant

grows at a more moderate but sustainable pace, an expert on the country told anAfrican mining conference Tuesday.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Websitey Sudan: UN peacekeepers patrol site of deadly military clashy UN calls for tackling alleged irregularities in Central African Republic electiony Deaths in Mozambique highlight perils facing people fleeing Horn of Africa UNy UN agency stocking up aid to assist Cte dIvoires displaced

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

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, February 15, 2011, 2:00 pm; Brookings InstitutionWHATAccess During Humanitarian Crises: Barriers to Protection and AssistanceWHO: Claude Wild, Head of the Political Affairs Division IV, Swiss FederalDepartment of Foreign Affairs, The Swiss Confederation; Elizabeth FerrisSenior Fellow and Co-Director, Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, TheBrookings Institution; Buti Kale, Deputy Regional Representative for the United States


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and the Caribbean, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees;Martin de Boer, Deputy Head, Regional Delegation for the United States and Canada,International Committee of the Red Cross; Gerry Martone, Director, HumanitarianAffairs, International Rescue Committee; Ashraf Hadari, Political Counselor, Embassyof Afghanistan

Info:https://www.cvent.com/EVENTS/Register/IdentityConfirmation.aspx?e=1fbbf519-874e-4ac1-a753-9c1c457ca0aa

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, February 22, 2011, 10:00 am; US Institute of PeaceWHAT: Can Nigeria Hold Credible Elections?WHO: Peter M. Lewis, Director, African Studies Program, School of AdvancedInternational Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University; Dave Peterson, Director ofAfrica Programs, National Endowment for Democracy; Ambassador Robin Sanders,Co-Moderator, International Affairs Advisor, Africare; David Smock, Co-Moderator,

Senior Vice President, U. S. Institute of PeaceInfo: http://www.usip.org/events/will-nigerias-elections-be-credible

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

AFRICOM Commander Visits Robert G. Bradley, APS (DVIDS)

LOME, Togo Commander of U.S. Africa Command Gen. William E. Kip Wardspoke to African partners and U.S. Sailors aboard USS Robert G. Bradley, Feb. 7, during

the first of many port visits of Africa Partnership Station West.

Ward spoke about the importance of the APS mission at an all-hands call on the flightdeck of Robert G. Bradley.

I cannot stress enough the importance of the job you are doing with all of the partnersinvolved in the APS mission, said Ward. The work you do here embodies the truemeaning of partnership and the relationships we are building with African nations. Ithank you for your commitment, your hard work and dedication to making this asuccessful start to the APS mission.

Ward closed his speech talking about the positive effect APS has on bilateral relationsbetween the U.S. and African countries. He used the relationship U.S. has with Togo asthe shining example.

Before departing Ward met with the senior leadership, toured the ship and present twoRobert G. Bradley sailors with award for their hard work.


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On behalf of the crew I would like to thank Gen. Ward for taking the time to visitRobert G. Bradley, said Cmdr. Darryl Brown, commanding officer of Robert G.Bradley. His enthusiasm for the APS mission was very motivating to all on board andshows that the hard work we are putting in APS West is being noticed.--------------------

Special forces to help fight al-Qaida in Africa (Ottawa Citizen)

Canadian special forces troops from Petawawa will be soon heading overseas to trainsoldiers from countries in North Africa who are fighting al-Qaida insurgents.

The U.S.-led training exercise, dubbed Flintlock, will see troops from the CanadianSpecial Operations Regiment heading to Senegal.

Other countries besides the U.S. and Canada involved in the exercise include Spain,France, The Netherlands and Germany, as well as soldiers from Burkina Faso, Chad,

Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria and Senegal, according to a statement released Thursday byU.S. Africa Command.

This is the first time that Canada has participated in Flintlock, an annual special forcestraining exercise held in Africa. Governments in North Africa have been fighting agroup that calls itself al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb or AQIM.

The organization traces its roots back to Islamist insurgents fighting the Algeriangovernment.

But insurgents have since become associated with al-Qaeda and have branched out toconduct attacks in other countries in the region, as well as kidnapping westerners.

Canadian diplomats Robert Fowler and Louis Guay were held by AQIM after beingkidnapped in December 2008. They were released 130 days later amid claims bygovernment officials in Mali that four AQIM detainees were set free in return. TheCanadian government has said it played no part in any such deal and did not pay anyransom for the release of the two diplomats.

On Wednesday, the Mauritanian army announced it had killed three AQIM insurgentswho had planned to assassinate Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. Inearly January, AQIM was in the news after two Frenchmen were executed during anattempted rescue mission by troops from France and Niger. The two had beenkidnapped by gunmen in Niamey, Niger.

The Flintlock exercise runs from Feb. 21 to March 11.


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The contingent of Canadian trainers will number around 15. The African troops will betaught small-unit tactics.

In addition, the exercise will focus on improving the sharing of information andincreasing co-ordination between the various countries.

Participants in Flintlock will also help the indigenous population by providing medicaland veterinary programs. In total, around 800 military personnel will take part in theexercise, according to Africa Command.

The Canadian Special Operations Regiment, or CSOR, was created in 2006. Its soldiershave conducted operations in Afghanistan, but the details are secret.

In 2008, the Citizen reported that CSOR helped train the Jamaican counterterrorismteam that stormed a hijacked CanJet airliner in Montego Bay and captured a mentally

troubled gunman without firing a shot. The hijacker had earlier allowed 159 Canadianpassengers and two crew members to leave the chartered aircraft. CSOR members didnot take part in the raid. In a previous interview with the Citizen, special forcescommander Brig-Gen. Mike Day said CSOR will continue to send small training teamsto Jamaica and that missions to additional countries could be organized.

Countries that could qualify for such training would be selected based on Canadiangovernment policy needs and economic and various other ties between Canada and thenation in question, said Day, head of the Canadian Special Operations ForcesCommand, also known as CANSOFCOM.

CANSOFCOM was created in 2006 to oversee Joint Task Force 2, the special forces andcounter-terrorism unit based at Dwyer Hill, CSOR and the 427 Special OperationsAviation Squadron, both at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa and the Canadian JointIncident Response Unit at CFB Trenton. The response unit deals with weapons of massdestruction.

CSOR has around 450 people. It is slowly growing with a goal of having 690 personnelin its ranks, but the military does not have a set timetable on when that number wouldbe reached.--------------------FBI Begins Probe of Tunisia Leader's Assets (Wall Street Journal)

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has opened a preliminary investigation into oustedTunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and his clan, according to a person familiarwith the matter, seeking information on whether he has any assets in the U.S.


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The FBI is conducting the probe in conjunction with a new Justice Department team thatis scouring the financial system for proceeds of theft by foreign officials. Governmentsin Europe have already moved to freeze funds the former Tunisian leader is suspectedof spiriting out of the country.

After 23 years in power, Mr. Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia on Jan. 14 following a monthof popular unrest. Tunisia has issued a warrant for Mr. Ben Ali's arrest, accusing him oftransferring money out of the country illegally. A week after he was toppled, the U.S.Treasury Department warned financial institutions to guard against the "flow of illicitassets" from Tunisia.

The FBI is looking at whether Mr. Ben Ali has assets in the U.S. or has used U.S.financial institutions to move illicit funds, the person said. Only then would the U.S.have jurisdiction to pursue a case.

The Tunisian embassy in Washington didn't return calls seeking comment.

The U.S. government has long been in the business of impounding and repatriatingassets linked to foreign corruption, but laws passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terroristattacks furnished new tools. The Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section,housed in the Justice Department's Criminal Division, has been authorized to hire fivelawyers to staff a unit whose mandate is to ferret out illicit assets belonging to "high-level" foreign officials and return them to victim countries, officials said.

The FBI has added more agents to effort, building on established anticorruption groups

in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the bureau's Washington fieldoffice.

"We are going to bring cases against the assets of those around the world who havestolen from their citizenry and have taken money that obviously belongs to theircountry," said Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, head of the JusticeDepartment's Criminal Division. "Those people are the embodiment, in some ways, ofwhat's wrong in these countries." Mr. Breuer wouldn't comment on specific cases.

U.S. officials expect that most cases will involve foreign politicians who have left officeand are no longer in a position to obstruct investigations. Forfeiture complaints in theunit's first major case could be ready in the next month and more are expected this year,officials said.

U.S. financial institutions are required to apply enhanced scrutiny to bank accountsheld by or on behalf of senior foreign political figures. In asset probes, U.S. investigatorsseek the help of the victim country in identifying companies, friends, associates and


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relatives of the official suspected of stealing public funds. The names are then used bylaw enforcement to query U.S. financial institutions for matches.

The World Bank estimates that developing countries lose $20 billion to $40 billion everyyear to corruption, but that only about $5 billion in stolen assets have been recovered to

date.

Since Mr. Ben Ali's ouster, the European Union and the Swiss have moved to freezeassets belonging to the former leader, his wife and dozens of associates and relatives.French authorities opened their own investigation of his property, spurred by legalcomplaints filed by anti-corruption organizations, according to French news reports.

Separately, Swiss authorities are pursuing assets belonging to former Haitian leaderJean-Claude Duvalier, whom Haitian authorities suspect of stealing between $300million and $900 million during his regime. Mr. Duvalier returned to Haiti last month,

after a 25-year absence, and was promptly arrested by the authorities there.--------------------Southern Sudan welcomes US electricity project (Associated Press)

KAPOETA, Sudan The power lines, electricity poles and street lamps that now dot thered dirt roads of the Southern Sudanese town of Kapoeta seem out of place next to therusting tanks and shot-up buildings.

The electrification project, which was funded by U.S. government aid, is one sign thatthe U.S. is intent on helping bring development and stability to what will soon be

Africa's newest country.

The final results from Southern Sudan's January independence referendum wereannounced Monday, with nearly 99 percent of ballots cast for independence. SouthernSudan is slated to become a new country in July, and it will need all the help it can get.

Southern Sudan President Salva Kiir, in his first comments since the results wereannounced, said Tuesday that the vote was the "crowning moment of all the sacrificesmade during our long struggle."

More than 2 million people died during the nearly two-decade war that ended in 2005.

"It is a glorious day for Africa and the world," Kiir said. "You exercised your inalienableright to self-determination freely, fairly and peacefully."

Decades of civil war between the mainly Christian-animist south and the mainlyMuslim north mean most of Southern Sudan has no electricity, roads or otherinfrastructure, despite the south's oil riches.


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In the barren scrubland of Eastern Equatoria state, where the U.S. has just funded theelectrification project in Kapoeta, semi-nomadic herders from the Toposa tribe carryspears and automatic rifles for protection and wear leopard skins and featherheaddresses for celebrations.

The U.S. Agency for International Development spent $1.1 billion in Sudan and easternChad in the 2009 fiscal year. More USAID workers are being sent to Southern Sudan,where most people live on less than $1 day and only 15 percent of the population canread. Quality health care is almost nonexistent.

"The development needs of Southern Sudan are absolutely enormous," Barrie Walkley,the top U.S. diplomat in Southern Sudan, said during last Friday's opening of theelectricity project.

U.S. and southern government officials hope electricity will boost the area's economy,improve security and quality of life and attract investors to the area's gold and copperreserves. Herders in this Wild West-like hinterland struggle to keep their cattle aliveduring the months of near-drought in one of the most arid and bleak expanses inSouthern Sudan.

The Kapoeta project is just one of many initiatives USAID has launched in the region.One of its top projects is the funding of a $200 million highway from Uganda to Juba,the southern capital.

Lorna Merekaje, an activist in Juba who led a referendum monitoring group of lastmonth's referendum, said she believes U.S. aid projects are generally positive.

"It is a great support to Southern Sudan but it needs to be managed well because thereis a common theme that if people are not careful then we end up only implementing thedonor agenda and not the agenda of the people," Merekaje said.

Other USAID programs are designed to improve the skills of southern leaders in areaslike budgeting or managing social welfare programs. Many of the south's leaders areformer rebels whose decades of fighting means them are more accustomed to planningambushes than accounting.

The influx of aid money coupled with Southern Sudan's oil revenues means"there's a threat and an opportunity at the same time," said James Shikwati, aneconomist from neighboring Kenya. Funding infrastructure helps improve regionallinks and provides people with the economic independence to start participating inpolitical life, he said.


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"Southern Sudan is likely to have a problem similar to what many countries haveexperienced: the emergence of an elite class that serves the interests of the donorcountries and not the needs of the people. There may also be donors who want toensure access to the region's natural resources," he said.

Other donors funding projects in Southern Sudan include the E.U. and China whichalso has a hand in the region's oil fields although the U.S. has spent more money inSudan over the past decade than any other donor. The Kapoeta project took three yearsand $4 million to complete.

"We are literally and figuratively bringing light to Kapoeta," Walkley said as hundredsof residents danced and drummed last week.

USAID funded the project in Kapoeta because it's a strategic trade center near theborder with Kenya. The region's governor, Louis Lobong, praised the U.S. for the help.

"We love the American people for standing with us during our liberation war," saidLobong. He said the project "demonstrates the solidarity and commitment of theAmerican government and its people to support the Sudanese in the development ofthe new state to be born."--------------------UN hails final results of south Sudan referendum, cautions about challenges ahead (Xinhua)

Top UN officials have welcomed the Monday announcement of the final referendum

results in south Sudan, which showed an overwhelming majority opted for secessionfrom the north, and called on both north and south Sudan to quickly agree on a host ofissues stemming from the separation and to resolve the future of a disputed area.

UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon on Monday welcomed the announcement of thefinal results of the south Sudan referendum, saying that "the peaceful and credibleconduct of the referendum is a great achievement for all Sudanese."

PEACEFUL REFERENDUM

After a six-year transitional period following two decades of brutal civil war, close tofour million southern Sudanese went to the polls from Jan. 9 to Jan. 15 to cast their votefor unity or secession. With 98.83 percent of all voters choosing independence, SouthSudan will officially be able to declare independence on July 9.

The referendum marks the final phase of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement(CPA), which concluded 20 years of war between the northern-based government inKhartoum and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) in the south


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-- a war that reportedly claimed the lives of some two million people and left millionsmore displaced.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir formally accepted the secession results, reports said.

"The results ... are reflective of the will of the people of Southern Sudan," Ban said in astatement issued by his spokesman.

Also on Monday, Helen Clark, the UNDP administrator, thanked the Southern SudanReferendum Commission as well as all of the international partners who have workedwith the UNDP to help make the polls a success.

Clark said that creating a solid government is essential for the new country, which willbe the world's youngest nation.

"Many actors have a stake in this process, as enabling strong government in SouthernSudan will improve the long-term development and security prospects of the wholeregion," she said.

Ban went on to call on the international community to assist all Sudanese towardgreater stability and development, reiterating the UN commitment to do so. Meanwhile,Clark emphasized that the UNDP will work side-by-side with south Sudan to helpmake the transition to nationhood successful.

FUTURE CHALLENGES

However, the UN officials are also clear about the challenges that lie ahead in the post-referendum Sudan.

In his most recent report to the UN Security Council on Sudan, the secretary-generalsaid it is "crucial" for parties to the CPA to reach a "broad framework agreement" on keypost-referendum issues. These include wealth-sharing, the management of assets anddebts, citizenship and border security arrangements.

Such issues also cover border security, citizenship, frontier demarcation, and popularconsultations in the states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile -- and Abyei, an areastraddling northern and southern Sudan, that was due to have voted in a separate butsimultaneous referendum on which side it would join.

But a referendum commission has yet to be established there, and there is still noagreement on who would be eligible to vote.


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"Their work is not over," the secretary-general's Panel on the Referenda in Sudan said ina news release. "The Panel calls on the parties to build on the constructive relationshipthey have developed to quickly reach a lasting agreement on post-referendumarrangements so that the peoples of Northern and Southern Sudan can live togetherside by side in cooperation, security and dignity."

The secretary-general appointed the panel, headed by former Tanzanian presidentBenjamin Mkapa, to monitor January's week-long vote in south Sudan.

In its statement, the Panel noted recent deadly clashes in Abyei -- "which have onlyfurther complicated the situation" -- and stressed the continuing importance of theprotection of all Sudanese civilians, whether northerners or southerners.--------------------ECOWAS criticizes S.Africa warship off West Africa (Associated Press)

ABUJA, Nigeria The chairman of West Africa's regional bloc on Tuesday criticizedSouth Africa for sending a warship to the region amid Ivory Coast's political crisis, butthe South African government maintained it had sent the vessel as a negotiating venue.

The dispute comes amid a growing rift between African nations on how to resolve thepolitical stalemate in Ivory Coast. Incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo has refused tocede power more than two months after the U.N. said he lost the election.

James Victor Gbeho, president of the West African bloc of states known as ECOWAS,said Tuesday the presence of a South African warship "can only complicate the matter

further."

"The solidarity that started among us in the international community is fast beingeroded because certain countries are picking sides and therefore are disagreeing withthe decision already taken," he said in Abuja, Nigeria, where the 15-nation regional blocis based.

But South African defense department spokesman Siphiwe Dlamini said the ship is notsupplying military support to Gbagbo or to the internationally recognized electionwinner, Alassane Ouattara.

The vessel has been in international waters off West Africa for about two weeks forroutine training and is there in case it is needed, Dlamini said.

The African Union last week asked the presidents of Chad, Mauritania, South Africa,Tanzania and Burkina Faso to find a peaceful way to install Ouattara, as president. Theleaders sent a team of 15 experts to Abidjan on Sunday, who will eventually befollowed by the presidents.


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AU representative Ambroise Nyonsaba said Monday the leaders would try to organizea face-to-face meeting between Gbagbo and Ouattara, both who claim to be the electedpresident.

South Africa, though, has never endorsed Ouattara as president unlike the AfricanUnion, and instead has suggested a recount of the votes echoing calls made byGbagbo for such a move.

However, South African President Jacob Zuma this week denied supporting Gbagboand said South Africa remains a neutral mediator in the political deadlock, according tostate-funded South African Broadcasting Corp.

ECOWAS has threatened military invasion to oust Gbagbo if negotiations fail, thoughseveral countries have since expressed reservations about using force and no deadline

has been set.

The crisis has fractured African nations into three camps: pro-Gbagbo, anti-Gbagbo andneutral, according to Rinaldo Depagne, the International Crisis Group's senior analystfor West Africa.

Depagne put South Africa and Angola in the lead of the pro-Gbagbo camp that includesUganda, Gambia and Zimbabwe. Meanwhile, Nigeria, Senegal, Kenya and Ivory Coastneighbor Burkina Faso take a hard line and want military intervention.

The majority of African nations favor a negotiated solution, Depagne said, includingLibya, Congo, Gabon, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Cameroon and Tanzania.

"We find that others are encouraging Gbagbo not to yield, probably because they cangive him certain things that ECOWAS does not have," Gbeho said Tuesday.

Nigeria's Foreign Minister Odein Ajumogobia last week proposed a naval blockade toenforce sanctions imposed against Gbagbo.

In an op-ed article in This Day newspaper of Lagos, he noted that the proposal to usemilitary intervention has provoked some dissent, but added: "The use of 'legitimateforce' is however not exclusively about military warfare in the conventional sense andtherefore does not necessary connote an 'invasion' by troops."

He said that "legitimate force can include, for example, a naval blockade to enforcesanctions which might be imposed against Gbagbo."


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Ivory Coast was divided into a rebel-controlled north and a loyalist south by a 2002-2003 civil war. The country was officially reunited in a 2007 peace deal, but the long-delayed presidential election was intended to help reunify the nation. Instead, the U.N.says at least 260 people have been killed in violence since the vote.--------------------

Opposition to I. Coast's Gbagbo eroding: ECOWAS (AFP)

ABUJA The head of West African bloc ECOWAS on Tuesday slammed attempts tocompromise with Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo, saying internationalsolidarity against him had waned.

James Victor Gbeho also singled out South Africa for criticism over what he said wasPretoria's decision to send a warship to Ivory Coast. South Africa's ambassador heresaid it was a support vessel and had no military purpose.

The 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) hasthreatened to use force if Gbagbo does not step down.

"We find that others are encouraging Gbagbo not to yield ...," ECOWAS commissionpresident Gbeho told journalists at a presentation by European Union observers onNovember's Ivory Coast election.

"The solidarity that started among us in the international community is fast beingeroded."

Gbeho also said he was disappointed with moves on the crisis by the African Union.

Following a recent African Union summit, experts sent by an AU panel tasked withmediating peace in Ivory Coast met representatives of both sides in the crisis this week.

Asked if he was disappointed with the AU, Gbeho said, "yes, in a way, because therewas the attempt to unravel what this region was doing.

"Any attempt to change the result that the Ivorian electorate have out of their own freewill mandated, it's something that we should all regret, and I do hope that it will notcome to that in the final analysis," he added.

Gbeho did not discuss details in his criticism of the South African vessel he said hadbeen sent to Ivory Coast.

"As we talk now, there is a South African warship docked in Cote d'Ivoire," he said."Action such as that can only complicate the matter further.


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"I'm surprised that a distinguished country like South Africa would decide to send afrigate to Ivory Coast at this time."

South Africa's ambassador to Nigeria, Kingsley Mamabolo, said the vessel could beused as a neutral negotiating venue.

It had been docked in Ghana, which neighbours Ivory Coast, but he said he was unsureof its current location.

"There is nothing amiss about the vessel we sent," Mamabolo told AFP.

"It's just a harmless support vessel. It could be used for evacuation. It's not meant to goand intervene militarily."

He added that "South Africa in principle has never believed in intervention by force.

We have always believed in negotiation to avoid unnecessary bloodshed."

South African President Jacob Zuma said last month that efforts to end the dispute bydemanding "one of the two leaders must go" were not working and another way mustbe found.

Pretoria initially joined calls for Gbagbo to cede power, but Zuma appeared tobacktrack in January, saying both candidates had raised "quite serious" allegationsabout voting irregularities.

ECOWAS, like much of the world, has recognised Gbagbo's rival Alassane Ouattara aspresident and demanded Gbagbo quit power.

However, the bloc faces difficulties in mustering troops for a military intervention.

Nigeria, likely to provide the bulk of any force, will hold elections in April and isseeking to stem unrest back home. Ghana, another ECOWAS member, opposes the useof force.

"The concern that some of us have is that apparently, because of certain geopoliticalinterests, some countries are keen on awarding a failure mark to ECOWAS heads ofstate," said Gbeho, who is from Ghana.

"They are saying that the whole matter should be looked at, that it seems Gbagbo wasthe winner, and if that is the situation then they must negotiate."

Gbeho said ECOWAS was not opposed to dialogue, but talks must end with Ouattaraas head of state.


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The EU observers presented their report in Abuja as they said they could not obtainfresh visas for Ivory Coast.

Their report, which recognised Ouattara as the victor and ruled out the need for a

recount, had been presented in Brussels last month.--------------------Tunisian Spark (Frontline)

The self-immolation by Mohammad Bouazizi, an unemployed man who was harassedby the police in the Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid on December 17, was the spark thatignited the Arab street. It first started the Jasmine Revolution (jasmine is Tunisia'snational flower). The residents of the sleepy town, who were already angry aboutroutine police brutality and the lack of economic opportunities, took to the streetsspontaneously with a rock in one hand and a cellphone in the other. Grainy images of

the protests were soon telecast on Al Jazeera television and were subsequently pickedup by other Arab television networks. There had been similar incidents of suicide andprotests in Tunisia before, but the authorities had managed to stop the news fromreaching the domestic audience. This time, however, things took a dramatic andunscripted turn, taking the authoritarian rulers in the region by surprise and triggeringanti-government protests all over the Arab world.

On December 17, a close relative of Bouazizi posted a video of a peaceful protest led bythe victim's mother in front of the local municipal office. The next day it was on AlJazeera. Although the news was not reported in the Tunisian media, the country's 3.6

million Internet users, who form one-third of the population, quickly caught on to thehappenings in Sidi Bouzid.

Tunisia has the highest number of Internet users in Africa in terms of percentage ofpopulation. The Tunisian authorities tried to thwart the flow of information byresorting to censorship and cutting off of power in Sidi Bouzid and neighbouring townsthat had joined the protests.

It was only on December 29 that a local television channel showed footage of theprotests. The government, in a desperate effort to stop the protests from spreading,even resorted to phishing operations and hijacking Facebook accounts of onlineprotesters. The overconfident government of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, which had one ofthe strongest censorship laws in the Arab world, had allowed social networks such asFacebook and Twitter to remain uncensored until the events of December.

The working class played an important role in the uprising. Members of the TunisianGeneral Labour Union (UGTT) were involved in it from day one. The union activists inSidi Bouzid and in the south of the country became the driving force behind the daily


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demonstrations, which soon spread to nearby towns. Thousands of people, many ofthem unemployed, joined in. The unemployment rate in Tunisia is around 30 per cent.Many university graduates are among those without work.

The unrest spread through the nation and engulfed the capital, Tunis, after the police

resorted to killings in the towns of Menzel Bouziane and Regoub. Students, teachersand the unemployed spontaneously joined the struggle.

A resident of Sidi Bouzid told Al Jazeera that Ben Ali's big mistake was to order thepolice to use real bullets instead of rubber bullets against his people. On January 6, asuccessful general strike was organised to protest against the brutality of the securityforces. More than a hundred people had been killed by then. The government orderedthe closure of all the universities but the unrest had become unstoppable.

On January 13, Ben Ali finally went on national television and promised to initiate

democratic reforms. He also said he would not seek re-election when his term wouldend in 2016. Ben Ali has been in power since the mid-1980s. In fact Tunisia has seenonly two rulers Habib Borguiba and Ben Ali, both pro-Western and authoritarian tothe core since it attained independence in 1956.

The President's appeal had no takers. The following day, the trade unions called for ageneral strike. The government responded by invoking a state of emergency andthreatened that arms will be used if orders of the security forces are not heeded. Thepeople defied the threats. Thousands marched to the Interior Ministry building even asa nation-wide strike was on.

The 29-day-long struggle of the Tunisian people ended Ben Ali's 23-year rule. Hecaught a plane in the stealth of the night on January 14 and disembarked in SaudiArabia, the favourite resting place for dictators shorn off power. His long-time patron,France, refused him asylum at the eleventh hour.

It was the first popular revolution in the Arab world in many years. The Sudanese gotrid of their dictator Jaffar Nimeiry in 1985 by taking to the streets, but their triumph wasshort-lived as the country experienced another military coup a few years later. Tunisiacould also face a similar threat if the democratic opposition does not get its act togethersoon.

Ben Ali is out, but the vestiges of his rule remain. Mohamed Ghannouchi, the man whohas assumed the presidency, is a close associate of Ben Ali. He has pledged to remain acaretaker President until multiparty elections are held later in the year. Popular outrageforced him to drop the holdovers from Ben Ali's Cabinet and replace them with lesserknown associates of the fallen dictator. The new banners the protesters are carryingread RCD Out instead of Ben Ali Out. Ben Ali had used the Constitutional


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Democratic Rally (RCD) party to consolidate his rapacious rule. The opposition hasdemanded that Ben Ali return the $5 billion he is alleged to have embezzled during histenure. The only way Tunisians could find jobs in the government was by becomingmembers of the RCD. One out of 30 Tunisian works for the country's security agencies.

Efforts are under way to form a Centre-Left democratic alternative comprising theCommunist Workers' Party, the Congress Party of the Republic and the Ennahda Party.The return of Rachid Ghannouchi, the leader of the Islamist Ennahda movement, toTunisia from his exile in France will make the political situation more interesting.Ennahda was banned in 1989 when it was the leading opposition force. A year beforethat, in the only comparatively free elections held during Ben Ali's rule, it had gotnearly 20 per cent of the votes. The Islamists, like their counterparts in Egypt, did notplay an important role in the events leading to the ouster of the dictatorship. Today, theparty is split into two factions. Some of its leading members even talk of separatingreligion from politics. Seyyed Ferjani, a senior member of the party, has said that the

Tunisian uprising belongs to the people. It is a genuine revolution and it does notbelong to any party. It belongs to all, he said.

The West was supportive of Ben Ali's crackdown on the Islamists. Washington andBrussels will not be too happy at the prospect of Islamists being able to operate legallyagain and contest for power in Tunisia and Egypt. The United States especially hasreason to be upset by the turn of events. Ben Ali was their favourite strong man in theregion. He unquestioningly implemented the policies of the International MonetaryFund (IMF) and the World Bank, which led to the impoverishment of his people andencouraged crony capitalism.

The diplomatic cables exposed by WikiLeaks show that the U.S. was aware of therampant corruption the President's close associates were indulging in. But the U.S. waswilling to gloss over everything because Tunisia was one of its strongest allies in thewar on terror.

Tunisia was also the headquarters of the U.S. administration's Middle East PartnershipInitiative, ostensibly meant to spread democracy in the region. The Bush administrationhad taken upon itself the task of spreading its version of democracy after the invasionof Iraq in 2003. The success of Hamas in Palestine in the 2006 election and the goodshow by the Muslim Brothers in the seats they were allowed to contest in Egypt in the2005 election convinced Washington that democracy was not all that good for itsstrategic interests in the region.

The Ben Ali government, like many other governments in the region, had lent a helpinghand to the Bush administration's extraordinary rendition programme. Terrorsuspects from other countries were handed over to Tunisian security services to extractinformation through torture. The Tunisian government was one of the few supporters


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of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), which aims to set up military bases on thecontinent. When the popular uprising commenced, the U.S. announced $12 million insecurity assistance to the Tunisian government. The other beneficiaries of the Obamaadministration's security assistance are its close allies, Israel, Egypt, Jordan andColombia.

There was not a word of condemnation from the U.S. when the police opened fire ondemonstrators. Washington's reaction came only after it became clear in the secondweek of January that Ben Ali's days at the helm of affairs were numbered. France hadalso viewed Ben Ali as their man in the region. French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said in Parliament in December, when the protests were raging, that France waswilling to share the know-how of its security forces to help control this kind of asituation. President Nicolas Sarkozy, during a 2008 visit to Tunisia, hailed Ben Ali as agreat democrat, saying that the space for freedom was getting wider. DominiqueStrauss-Kahn, the IMF chief and a man widely tipped to challenge Sarkozy in the next

presidential election, once hailed Tunisia as a model for many developing countries.--------------------Tension, Uncertainty as Uganda Prepares for Election (Voice of America)

In just over one week Ugandans will go to the polls to elect their president for thefourth time since the reinstitution of democracy. Facing perhaps his toughestcompetition yet, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni will seek a fourth term and acontinuation of his 25-year rule.

On February 18, Museveni will face yet another election and another challenge to his

long tenure as the countrys leader. Museveni has soundly defeated his challengersevery five years since 1996, but his support has steadily declined. In the 1996 poll, theUgandan leader received around 75 percent of the vote, but registered just under 60percent in 2006.

Despite the numbers, many observers have pegged Museveni as the inevitable winner.The long-serving president ended the corruption-marred rule of President Milton Obotein 1985 and has since overseen a period of relatively strong economic growth.

Corruption within Musevenis government, however, also has grown in recent years.Senior Fellow at Makerere Institute of Social Research Frederick Golooba-Mutebibelieves such corruption is likely to help keep the president in power.

"Every election President Museveni has won has been contested on the grounds that ithas been marred by malpractice, that there has been significant rigging," said Golooba-Mutebi. "I do not think that that is going to go away this time."


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The upcoming election is likely to be Musevenis most difficult yet. Though facingseven other candidates, his most serious challenge is retired Ugandan Colonel Dr. KizzaBesigye.The retired soldier is a familiar face of the opposition. Besigye also ran in 2001 and 2006,taking over 35 percent of the vote in the most recent poll. In the upcoming vote, Besigye

represents the Inter-Party Coalition, a group of four opposition parties that have unitedto challenge the president and his National Resistance Movement.

While the campaigns have been mostly peaceful, supporters of Besigyes IPC and theruling party have clashed in recent months. Ugandas electoral commission also hasfound that various parties have formed militias before the vote and warned of possibleviolence during the election.

Tensions have been on the rise since the New Year with Besigyes coalition threateninga boycott of the vote. The opposition leader has accused the National Resistance

Movement of planning to rig the vote and warned of unrest similar to that in Egypt andTunisia if the poll is unfair.

Recent reports reveal the Ugandan government is preparing for some measure of civilunrest with an increase in police recruitment and the import of riot-gear, such as teargas.Golooba-Mutebi said such actions will only stoke public suspicion. "The question forme and for other people is: a government that is preparing to contest a free and fairelection - why are they preparing for trouble? They expect to win in a way that is goingto leave a lot of dissatisfaction among the public and that that might cause trouble."

A recent Synovate poll published by Ugandan newspaper New Vision found PresidentMuseveni to be favored by 67 percent of Ugandans. But the results have recently beendisputed, with officials from Synovate denying involvement in the polling.

Museveni is still favored to win the upcoming vote, but the rising tension anduncertainty have left many in Uganda fearing a disputed election and perhaps evenviolence on the streets.--------------------Africa's resources central to China: expert (AFP)

CAPE TOWN Africa's rich natural resources will remain key to China as the Asiangiant grows at a more moderate but sustainable pace, an expert on the country told anAfrican mining conference Tuesday.

"We feel that demand from China is something to rely upon," said Kobus van der Wath,managing director of consultancy Beijing Axis, adding that China's economicperformance was not a "flash in the pan".


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"If anything we will see a more moderate growth rate and therefore more moderate butcertainly more sustainable demand."

China should be viewed as a broad player on the continent, where a lack of

infrastructure and capital play to the its strengths, he said.

The world's second-biggest economy "comfortably" had outbound investments of morethan $50 billion a year but there was greater appetite and ability to invest more,particularly in Africa, he said.

The "Chinese, although they are not new, are becoming a far more intensive player...and far more assertive in their global aspirations," van der Wath told delegates at theInvesting in African Mining Indaba conference.

"Raw materials is a big focus for this global expansion and really Africa is also a verybig focus."

"Africa will continue, and developing countries and resource hubs will continue, to bevery very important in terms of focus," said van der Wath.

Africa drew 14 percent of China's investment last year, he said.--------------------UN News Service Africa BriefsFull Articles on UN Website

Sudan: UN peacekeepers patrol site of deadly military clash8 February United Nations peacekeepers have positioned armoured personnel carriersand are patrolling an area in Sudan where units made up of Northern and SouthernSudanese troops clashed last week, killing 54 soldiers and wounding 85 others.

UN calls for tackling alleged irregularities in Central African Republic election

8 February The United Nations is encouraging electoral authorities in the CentralAfrica Republic (CAR) to address alleged irregularities in last months presidential poll,which reportedly gave President Francois Bozize a second term but has left oppositioncandidates in an uproar over fraud.

Deaths in Mozambique highlight perils facing people fleeing Horn of Africa UN

8 February The United Nations refugee agency today highlighted the dangers facingthose fleeing the Horn of Africa, noting the recent deaths of eight Ethiopian asylum-seekers who suffocated aboard a closed container truck in Mozambique en route toSouth Africa.


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UN agency stocking up aid to assist Cte dIvoires displaced8 February The United Nations refugee agency said today has begun delivering moresupplies of relief aid to Cte dIvoire for distribution to tens of thousands of internallydisplaced persons (IDPs) who fled their homes due to tensions and violence related tolast years presidential election.

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AFRICOM Related News Clips February 9, 2011