AFRICOM Related Newsclips 1Feb10

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United States Africa CommandPublic Affairs Office1 February 2010

AFRICOM - Related NewsFrom the Beltway

SEMINAR TACKLES DRUG-TRAFFICKING ISSUES(DOD)

GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN Countering narcotics trafficking took centerstage during an eight-day seminar at the George C. Marshall European Centerfor Security Studies here, as military and civilian security executives met todiscuss the challenge. The seminar attracted 91 participants from 61 countriesand focused on the complex security challenges posed by contemporary

international narcotics trafficking, and its links with terrorist networks andorganized-crime elements.

SOMALIA: ANARCHY AND DEATH RULE IN MOGADISHU, A CITY ON

THE FRONT LINE OF TERROR

Mogadishu - On Monday afternoon a seven-year-old boy called Mohamed washit when an 82mm mortar shell exploded outside a health clinic in Mogadishuwhere his mother works as a cleaner. Afterwards he lay on a hospital floor,shivering and terrified. His bandaged left arm, hand and leg were peppered withangular chunks of shrapnel. Crouched beside him his mother, Fatima, wipedtears from her eyes.

MARYLAND:MORGAN GRADUATE TO RECEIVE NATIONAL AWARD

(Baltimore Sun)BALTIMORE - Gen. William "Kip" Ward, a 1971 Morgan State graduate and thenation's only current African-American four-star Army general, will be honoredin Atlanta with the Trumpet Award.

NEW YORK:EMERGING WEST AFRICAN TERROR-DRUG NEXUS POSES

MAJOR SECURITY THREAT(World Defense Review)NEW YORK CITY - The would-be "underwear bomber" Abdulmutallabunderscored the dangers of ignoring threats from Africa to the security of theUnited States, though the administration has largely ignored the alliancebetween terrorists and drug traffickers from West Africa.
http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=57786http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=57786http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article7008953.ecehttp://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article7008953.ecehttp://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article7008953.ecehttp://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bal-md.ward30jan30,0,3140036.storyhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bal-md.ward30jan30,0,3140036.storyhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bal-md.ward30jan30,0,3140036.storyhttp://worlddefensereview.com/pham012810.shtmlhttp://worlddefensereview.com/pham012810.shtmlhttp://worlddefensereview.com/pham012810.shtmlhttp://worlddefensereview.com/pham012810.shtmlhttp://worlddefensereview.com/pham012810.shtmlhttp://worlddefensereview.com/pham012810.shtmlhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bal-md.ward30jan30,0,3140036.storyhttp://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article7008953.ecehttp://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article7008953.ecehttp://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=57786


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LIBERIA:HILLARY CLINTON ENDORSES SIRLEAFS 2ND TERM BID(TheAnalyst)MONROVIA - Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton expressed delight overPresident Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf's decision to seek reelection in 2011 during atown hall meeting with the U.S. State Department to commemorate Clintons

first year in office.

MASSACHUSETTS:WILL THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TRULY

SUPPORT AN INDEPENDENT SOUTH SUDAN?(Sudan Tribune)NORTHAMPTON - The Obama administration has missed key opportunities toincrease pressure on Khartoum to honor the 2005 peace agreement with theSudan Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM), making renewed military conflictin Sudan more likely.

NIGERIA:PIRATES THREATEN WEST AFRICAS OIL BOOM(UPI)

LAGOS - West Africa's oil boom has brought pirates that have not yet achievedthe global notoriety of the Somali pirates, but they have been causing a growingproblem for the region's burgeoning oil industry.

WASHINGTON, DC:STUCK IN THE MUD THE OBAMA

ADMINISTRATIONS CIVIL WAR OVER SUDAN(Foreign Policy)WASHINGTON, DC - A meeting of top U.S. officials on Sudan last week seemsto have left the Obama administration's Sudan policy in limbo, leading to angstamong both Sudan insiders and observers.

NEW YORK:SUDAN REJECTS US CHARGE ON ARMS TRANSFERS TO

SOUTH(Reuters)NEW YORK CITY - Sudan's U.N. ambassador on Friday dismissed as"irresponsible" U.S. allegations that weapons from northern Sudan were going toarmed groups in the semi-autonomous south ahead of a nationwide Aprilelection.

ETHIOPIA:MALAWIS MUTHARIKA NAMED NEXT AFRICAN UNION

CHAIRMAN(Bloomberg)ADDIS ABABA - Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika, who has pledged tochampion greater investment in agriculture to end chronic hunger in Africa, was

named chairman of the African Union today.

UN News Service Africa BriefsFull Articles on UN Website31 January 2010

Ban commits UN to harnessing support for African development needs
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N chief launches campaign in Africa to eradicate male violence againstwomen

Senior UN official urges broad-based approach to fight piracy off Somalicoast

Sudanese peace pact has accelerated pace of mine removal, says UN

officialSecurity Council extends mandate of UNforce in Cte dIvoire throughend of May

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Morgan graduate to receive national awardBaltimore Sun - By John-John Williams IV30 January 2010

Gen. William "Kip" Ward, a 1971 Morgan State graduate and the nation's onlycurrent African-American four-star Army general, will be honored today in

Atlanta with the Trumpet Award.

Ward, 60, who will be one of 10 recipients of the award this year, said he ishumbled by the recognition. He said the award also honors Americans serving inthe military today.

"As one who wears our nation's cloth, I can represent so many women and menwho also wear the nation's cloth," Ward said. "Our service is being recognized.Someone is taking note of it."

The award is given primarily to African-Americans who have achievedprofessional success and have inspired others. The award was originallypresented by Turner Broadcasting in 1993 and is now presented by the TrumpetAwards Foundation Inc.

Past honorees include Coretta Scott King, Thurgood Marshall, Maya Angelou,Nelson Mandela, Halle Berry, Toni Braxton, Beyonce and Dr. Benjamin Carson.

"It's hard to believe," Ward said of the honor. "I clearly did not see myself in thatcategory. Those people are icons. It is something that is a bit awesome."

Ward, who grew up just north of Baltimore on Falls Road and graduated fromTowson High School in 1967, joined the Army after a two-year ROTC program incollege. He said he was attracted to the military because it offered opportunitiesfor leadership, discipline, responsibility and character-building.

"I enjoyed the challenges," he said. "I gravitated toward it."


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Ward became the first commander of the U.S. Africa Command on Oct. 1, 2007,and is based in Stuttgart, Germany. He is the fifth African-American four-stargeneral.

Ward and his wife of almost 39 years, Joyce Lewis Ward, have two adult

children. Ward's mother and other extended family members still live inMaryland.

"My wife, our children, my mom are just very, very proud and happy," Wardsaid. "It is all just numbing. It is a bit surreal being a part of this group."

This year's other honorees include comedian Steve Harvey; John Rogers Jr.,founder of Ariel Investments; and Clarence Otis Jr., chief executive officer ofDarden Restaurants.-----------------------

Emerging West African Terror-Drug Nexus Poses Major Security ThreatWorld Defense Review - By J. Peter Pham, Ph.D.28 January 2010

Over the course of the last month, the foiled attempt by would-be "underwearbomber" Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to blow up a Detroit-bound passengerflight on Christmas Day has underscored the dangers of ignoring threats fromAfrica to the security of the United States, even as the Obama administration'shandling of the case has raised questions of its own preparedness to grapple withthe reality of the war against Islamist terrorismso much so that this past

weekend a Washington Post editorial excoriated the decision to read theNigerian his rights as "myopic, irresponsible and potentially dangerous,"characterizing it as resulting "not from a deliberative process but as a knee-jerkdefault to a crime-and-punishment model." Largely ignored in the debate,however, has been the nearly simultaneous emergence of clear evidence of apotentially even more dangerous threat emanating from the same West Africanregion: the alliance between terrorists and drug traffickers.

Exactly one week before the attack on Northwest Airlines Flight 253, the U.S.Attorney for the South District of New York charged three men from the WestAfrican country of MaliOumar Issa, Harouna Tour, and Idriss Abelrahmanwith conspiracy to commit acts of narco-terrorism and conspiracy to providematerial support to a foreign terrorist organization. According to the complaint,unsealed on December 18, 2009, the trio agreed to transport cocaine throughWest and North Africa with the intent of supporting no fewer than three groupsformally designated by the U.S. State Department as "Foreign TerroristOrganizations" (FTOs): al-Qaeda, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), andthe Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The case marks the first


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time that associates of al-Qaeda and its franchise in the Maghreb/Sahel regionshad been charged with narco-terrorism offenses in an American court.

Readers of this column may recall that in a piece last May analyzing trends withAQIM, specifically the activities of Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a.k.a. Khaled Abou al-

Abbas, a.k.a. Laouar ("one-eyed"), who had emerged not only as the leader ofthe AQIM's operations in the Sahel, but also its most effective field commander, Iwarned:

These developments suggest that the Saharan/Sahelian brigade of AQIM may besucceeding where the central leadership of the organization, notwithstanding its"rebranding" as al-Qaeda's authorized "franchise" in North Africa, has failed:shedding an almost exclusively Algerian orientation in order to take on abroader Maghrebi identity. Moreover, the manner in which Belmokhtar hasintegrated himself into the social fabric of his chosen theater of operation

represents a not insignificant advance from ad hoc cooperation betweenterrorists and criminals to a convergence, if not transformation, of the twospheres of activity. The question vexing many analysts is whether AQIM willseek to expand its reach, both criminal and terrorist, into the large North Africandiaspora communities in Europe. Taken together, all of these factors suggest thatfar from being crippled, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb may be evolving intoan even greater challenge to security not only in Africa, but well beyond.

The case as prosecutors have presented it, confirms the very danger anticipated.According to a joint statement released by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern

District of New York, Preet Bahara, and the Acting Administrator of the U.S.Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Michele Leonhart, the threedefendants, who were arrested by authorities in Ghana and handed over to U.S.authorities, were secretly recorded and videotaped by federal agents over thecourse of a four-month investigation from September to December 2009:

Issa, Tour, and Abelrahman, who stated that they were associated with al-Qaeda, conspired to assist purported representatives of the FARC in transportinghundreds of kilograms of cocaine from West Africa through North Africa andultimately into Spain. In a series of telephone calls and meetings with twoconfidential sources working with the DEA who claimed to represent the FARC... the defendants stated that they had a transportation route from West Africathrough North Africa, and that al-Qaeda could provide protection for the cocainealong that route.

In meetings with the DEA's confidential sources, Tourapparently boss of thealleged conspirators"described his strong relationship with al-Qaeda groupsthat controlled areas of North Africa, and discussed instances in which he had


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transported drugs with al-Qaeda's assistance." He explicitly assured hisinterlocutors that "al-Qaeda would protect the FARC's cocaine shipment fromMali through North Africa and into Morocco en route to Spain" not only becauseit wanted moneythe criminal complaint says that after initially quoting atransportation price of $2,000 per kilogram of cocaine, the defendants insisted on

$10,000 per kilogram for shipments of between 500 and 1,000 kilograms(according to data from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, a kilogram of purecocaine was worth about $112,000 wholesale last year in Great Britain, Europe'slargest market)but because the groups "were committed to the same anti-American cause." He also described two possible transport routes, one goingthrough Algeria and Libya and the other through Algeria and Morocco.

Beyond the immediate case of Issa, Tour, and Abelrahman is the reality that, asthe executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), AntonioMaria Costa, told a special session of the UN Security Council in December,

"Drug trafficking in the region is taking on a whole new dimension. In the past,trade across the Sahara was by caravans. Today it is larger in size, faster atdelivery, and more high-tech, as evidenced by the debris of a Boeing 727 foundon November 2 in the Gao region of Malian area affected by insurgency andterrorism. It is scary that this new example of the links between drugs, crime andterrorism was discovered by chance, following the plane crash." Considereddispassionately, however, there are several reasons why there has been such asharp rise the movement of drugs between Latin America and West Africa.

First, it stands to reason that West Africa would be chosen as a transit hub for the

smuggling of a contraband substance like cocaine. Traditionally, the drug hasbeen produced in the Andean region with the three largest cultivators of cocabeing Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia, respectively (the president of the lattercountry, Evo Morales, started out as a coca farmer and still heads the cocaleros'umbrella union). However, in recent years, intensified eradication andinterdiction efforts by the DEA and other law enforcement agencies havedisrupted the networks that historically moved the cocaine from South Americato the United States and Canada. Moreover, the increasingly dominance ofMexican gangs in the northward flow have weakened the position of the SouthAmerican syndicates which, in turn, opted to make a strategic shift to theEuropean market. To this end, not only is West Africa the shortest transatlanticdestination from South America, but the subregion's geographymyriad coastalinlets and lagoons as well as sparsely populated open interior spacesmakedetection very difficult.

Second, the political geography of the region is as favorable as its physicaltopography. The combination of weak governments, endemic poverty, andinstability ensure that law enforcement and judicial authoritieswhere they


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even existwill be either ill-equipped to combat the new challenge or simplycorruptible.

And that AQIM might be involved in the West African drug trade is hardly asurprise. The group's activities in its traditional stronghold in the Berber region

of Kabylie along Algeria's Mediterranean coast continue to decline because ofpressure from security services. In its struggle for survival, the terroristorganization has come to rely heavily on drugs, kidnapping for ransom, andother criminal enterprises in the south to get the money it needs to keep going.Working in its favor is the relative weakness of many of the states in the Saheland their general lack of capacity to monitor what is going on in their vastterritorial expanses. Even countries with robust capabilities like Morocco (see myreport last year on "Morocco's Comprehensive Counterterrorism Approach") findtheir best efforts stymied either by weaker neighbors or, worse, neighbors whoseagendas do not necessarily include regional cooperation, much less on sensitive

matters like security and law enforcement.

Nor is AQIM the only Islamist terrorist group to exploit the possibilities offeredby the drug traffic through West Africa and across the Sahara to Europe. In thecurrent issue of the Virginia Quarterly Review, journalist Marco Vernaschireports from Guinea-Bissau:

According to reports from Interpol and United Nations agencies, cocaine tradedthrough West Africa accounts for a considerable portion of the income ofHezbollah. These reports say Hezbollah uses the Lebanese Shiite expatriate

population in South America and West Africa to guarantee an efficientconnection between the two continents. To maintain and expand its influence onthe Shiite community, however, Hezbollah needs money. The estimated $120million given annually by Iran is just a slice of the pie. Most of Hezbollah'ssupport comes from drug trafficking, a major moneymaker endorsed by themullahs through a particular fatwa. In addition to the production and trade ofheroin in the Middle East, Hezbollah facilitates, for a fee, the trafficking for otherdrug-smuggling networks, such as the FARC and its cocaine trade.

Again, an open secret to longtime observers of the regionI had a column in thisspace on "Hezbollah's African Network" more than three years ago and mycolleague Stephen Ellis of Amsterdam's Free University documented in thejournal African Affairs last year that "Lebanese smugglers were using WestAfrica as a transit point to transport heroin to the U.S.A. as early as 1952"butone whose scope is certainly troubling. In testimony before the Senate ForeignRelations Committee last year, Douglas Farah of the International Assessmentand Strategy Center outlined the framework for relations between the LebaneseSha terrorists and drug traffickers:


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Given the prominence of the Lebanese Diaspora community and its members'control of most of the existing pipeline to import and export illegal commodities,it is inevitable that those organizations and the drug trafficking groups willencounter each other and mutually benefit from each other because they each has

something the other wants and needs. The Lebanese networks control thedecades-old contraband networks and routes to Europe, while the drugtraffickers offer a new and lucrative product for the existing pipeline. Violentclashes may take place, but the history of both groups indicates they willcooperate where useful.

Given Hezbollah's long-established presence on the ground in the region and thecloseness of its operatives to that community, it is also reasonable to assume thatHezbollah and the drug traffickers, operating in the same permissiveenvironment, will cross paths. It is precisely this type of environment that allows

for the otherwise unthinkable alliances to emerge. Most are short-lived, centeringon specific opportunities and operations that can benefit both groups, but othersare longer lasting and more dangerous.

More ominously, Farah, a veteran investigative journalist who uncovered al-Qaeda's procurement of West African "conflict diamonds" through the goodoffices of then Liberian strongman Charles Taylor in the period immediate before9/11, warned:

There is a long history of outside terrorist actors, particularly Hezbollah, being

active in Latin America ...

Given Iran's ties to Hezbollah and Venezuela, Venezuela's ties Iran and theFARC, the FARC's history of building alliances with other armed groups, and thepresence of Hezbollah and other armed Islamist groups in Latin America and onthe ground in West Africa, it would be dangerous and imprudent to dismiss thepossibility of an alliance of these actors. The history of these groups indicatesthat they will take advantage of the ungoverned spaces and corrupt and weakstates of West Africa to get to know each other, work together, learn from eachother and exploit areas of mutual interest. Unfortunately, the primary area ofmutual interest is a hatred of the United States.

Although the increasing amounts of South American cocaine being smuggledthrough West Africa in recent years that have received the most attention (seemy earlier report on this subject), they are not the causes for concern. UNODCchief Costa told the Security Council in December that his agency had "acquiredevidence that ... two streams of illicit drugsheroin from Eastern Africa andcocaine into West Africaare now meeting in the Sahara, creating new


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trafficking routes across Chad, Niger, and Mali." Obviously the revenues terroristgroups can derive from their newfound links to drug syndicates enable them notonly to purchase arms, but also to fund increased recruitment. Earlier this monthan exclusive investigative report by Reuters correspondents Tim Gaynor andTiemoko Diallo described a leaked Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

report that warned of the growing fleet of jet aircraft regularly crossing theAtlantic from the cocaine-producing areas of South America with the connivanceof Venezuelan officials who permit their country's air fields to be used. Theanonymous author of the DHS report told Reuters: "The obvious huge concern isthat you have a transportation system that is capable of transporting tons ofcocaine from west to east, but it's reckless to assume that nothing is coming back,and when there's terrorist organizations on either side of this pipeline, it shouldbe a high priority to find out what is coming back on those airplanes."

While the direct threat from the alliance of terrorists and drug traffickers,

however real, is perhaps farther on the horizon, the impact on states in WestAfrica is much more immediate. Not only does the narcotics trade bring newresources to extremists and criminals, but it undermines governments, turningcorrupt regimes into crime-driven enterprises. Commenting last week for aspecial report by the German international broadcasting service Deutsche Welle,Princeton Lyman of the Council on Foreign Relations, former U.S. ambassador toSouth Africa and Nigeria, noted: "A lot of these countries have very weakgovernments and the potential of turning them into narco-states is very scary.There is already a lot of drug money along the coast of West Africa ... lots of thefancy homes in [the Senegalese capital of] Dakar are now owned by drug lords."

(Ambassador Lyman's mention of Senegal is rather interesting. I have writtenelsewhere about the corruption of Karim, son of that country's PresidentAbdoulaye Wade. Certainly neither terrorist networks nor drug gangs functionespecially well without the benefit of some of modernity's infrastructure. Inmany respects, Senegal combines the best of both worlds: a relatively developedinfrastructure, conveniently under the authority of Wade fils in his role as "superminister" of regional planning, air, transport, and infrastructure, and agovernment whose reputation for shady dealings is centered on the selfsameindividual.)

In addition to corruption, which itself discourages the type of foreign directinvestment countries in the region needed to grow their economies, the drugtrade also undermines development by making its potentially fabulous short-term monetary gains that much more attractive than longer-term commitmentsto more productive enterprises. As a result, while a very small number of peoplewill actually get richer, the vast majority of the population is rendered evenpoorer, increasing already massive inequalities and, ultimately, heighteningsocial tensions. Furthermore, there is evidence that transit hubs quickly become


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destinations in and of themselves as drug consumption spreads to localcommunities and crime increases and addicts desperately try to feed their habits.The cumulative effect of all this is a vicious circle that is likely to permanentlycripple some West African countries, if it has not already done so.

A multifaceted approach will be required to deal with this burgeoning threat. Atone level, it will require strengthening law enforcement capacity in Africancountries. Some of this will require more resources for the training of lawenforcement and criminal justice managers, such as conducted at the StateDepartment-sponsored International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) inGabarone, Botswana (see my previous discussion of this center). In an address on"The Escalating Ties between Middle Eastern Terrorist Groups and CriminalActivity" last week at the U.S. Institute of Peace, Assistant Secretary of State forInternational Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs David Johnson announcedan effort by his bureau over the next three years to "strengthen criminal justice

institutions such as the police, prosecutors and the courts to successfullyinvestigate, prosecute and incarcerate transnational criminals, networks andorganizations." However, operational level liaison will also be needed. While theDEA has some eighty-seven foreign offices in some sixty-three country, itcurrently has only a presence in four African countriesEgypt, Ghana, Nigeria,and South Africawith plans afoot to open a fifth office in Kenya. At an entirelydifferent level, counterterrorism capabilities will also need to be built up such asis being done by the State Department-led, Defense Department-supportedTrans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership (TSCTP), which involves Algeria,Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tunisia. Programs are

also required to increase maritime domain awareness and maritime securitycapacity of states on the West African littoral, needs which the African MaritimeLaw Enforcement Program (AMLEP) and the Africa Partnership Station (APS),both initiatives under the aegis of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), try tomeet (see my report in this column on APS). Finally, development is needed ifthe allure of both the extremists and the drug barons is to be resisted. In short, noone solution will be sufficient.

Furthermore, efforts to counter the challenge must be sustainable, which meansthat while the many countriessome quite distant from the regionareimpacted by the alliance of terrorist and narcotics networks, it is those in thefront line which must assume ownership. Hence the strategy, as General WilliamE. "Kip" Ward, commander of AFRICOM, noted in an address to a counter-narcotics seminar for senior government officials at the George C. MarshallCenter in Garmisch, Germany, last week, needs to be "focused on buildingsecurity sector capacity of our African partners through sustained securityengagementsuch as bolstering support and special staff capabilities ...bolstering special staff capabilities; conducting training to help ensure effective


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African non-commissioned officer corps; or improving military and dual-useinfrastructure." In addition to strengthening national capacity, regional capacitiesmust be promoted: countries affected need to pool their information andintegrate their efforts with each other lest the transnational criminal forces whichthreaten all lawful states exploit the gaps between them. Likewise the

international partners assisting African states need to coordinate there efforts.For example, U.S. efforts to embed DEA and other counter-narcotics experts withAfrican governments will have even greater effect when they complementsimilar initiatives by European countries to provide technical and managerialexperience, like "Operation Westbridge," the successful British program to sendHer Majesty's Revenue and Customs officials to work side-by-side with theirGhanaian counterparts.

The task of breaking up the terror-drug nexus will undoubtedly require asignificant investment of resources by the United States and its allies in the

international community. However, failure to act now will only increase thecosts down the road, in both human and financial terms. Hence the effort mustbe undertaken because at stake is not only the stability of West Africa, includingthe Maghrebi and Sahelian regions, but the outcome of the larger struggleagainst jihadist and other terrorist networks opposed to the very order on whichcivilization is built.-----------------------Hilary Clinton Endorses Sirleaf's 2nd Term BidThe Analyst (Liberia) - By Non-attributed Author28 January 2010

If there is any historical reason Liberians today regard poll politics as tele-guidedand controlled by invisible hands, it is the consistency with which incumbentpresidents won "landslide" or "volcanic" victories over contenders in the past. Itis also the certainty with which defeated contenders must go into exile to protectdear life. Liberians had thought they would be spared the nightmare of choosingbetween another incumbent and a horde of contenders, but it is now clear thatthey will not. President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has thrown down the gauntlet andthe act resonates with one of the most powerful official in Washington Secretary of State Hilary Clinton. With this, observers say, the key question is, "IsClinton's endorsement an act of female solidarity or does it forebode the supportof the Obama Administration?" The Analyst, reports.

US Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton has expressed delight overPresident Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf's decision to seek reelection in 2011.

Secretary of State Clinton made the revelation, which many say has politicalimplication for Liberia, during a town hall meeting with reporters and


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employees of the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C., to commemorateher first year in office.

"I was delighted to hear that Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf said she will stand forreelection. She has been one of the champions on this issue in her political and

governmental career," she said regarding the efforts of the Sirleaf Administrationto eradicate gender-based violence and inequality in postwar Liberia.

Mrs. Clinton's comments on President Sirleaf's reelection bid came in response toa reporter's question regarding what the US State Department would do torespond to gender-based violence around the world vis--vis the UN SecurityCouncil resolution on gender-based violence.

But observers say US opinion at any level is so weighty in Liberia that a passingstatement from the #3 man in the Obama Administration has as much political

implication as an official statement.

So the question many are asking regarding the Secretary of State's comments,which came barely 24 hours after the President announced her intention to standfor re-election in Liberia's 2011 presidential elections is, "Is Clinton'sendorsement an act of female solidarity or does it forebode the support of theObama Administration?"

A short survey conducted by The Analyst on the question yesterday revealedthat while many say the Secretary's comment would have no impact on US

relation to elections in Liberia, some say it would be foolhardy to ignore thehandwriting on the wall.

"Mrs. Clinton was simply saying that President Sirleaf has been at the forefrontof the fight against gender-based violence and discrimination against women.Since the question was about the United States' role in the future, she was simplysaying that she is happy that President Sirleaf is seeking reelection in order tocontinue her role," said Martina Soppy of Duala, on Bushrod Island.

Martina, who said, she is an advocate for women equality with their malecounterparts, said she too supported President Sirleaf's re-run because it wouldensure that "this very important aspect of our social life is addressed and thementality changed against women".

She said since Mrs. Clinton was not addressing elections and candidates inLiberia, any connection in that direction about her support or US support wouldbe illogical and unnecessary contention over nothing.


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"It is this kind of jumping into issues and taking conjectures to be facts that canlead to unnecessary suspicion and allegations of vote rigging. It is high time welearn to have confidence in our electoral system and stop looking outside forindividuals who are about to cheat. President Sirleaf is qualified; she has thecharisma and the expertise. She does not need external support to win elections

in Liberia. She did not seek support to announce her bid and she will not beseeking one now that she is in the race," said Martina who also said she is afemale activist for the UP.

Not all though, shared Martina's views, which critics believed were based"purely on feminine solidarity and blind support for the President".

"Where there is smoke, there is fire. The US has been meddling in our electionsfrom the days of Joseph Jenkins Roberts to Charles Taylor. Clinton is not aprivate citizen of the US; she is an official responsible for what the US makes of

the policies, politics, governments, and economies of nations outside its borders.So her talks are not offhanded; they are not idle talks. They mean somethingsignificant about the 2011 presidential elections and the Liberian oppositionbetter be wary," said Thomas Krah of Po River.

Krah said it was not unlikely that Mrs. Clinton's delight would be made manifestin Liberia's electoral politics given the US government's financial and technicalrole in the conduct of elections in Liberia.

"The State Department oversees all the support Liberia is getting from the US for

electoral purposes. So, if the head of that department is delighted in onecandidate, who can argue that the Obama Administration will turn the otherway?" Krah wondered.

He said while it was hard to dismiss the US President's recent declaration ofsupport for civil transition in Africa from one government to another as evidenceof good governance, a Clinton choice for president in the US' pilot nation in Sub-Saharan Africa would carry the day without argument.

"After all, the US is not demanding transition for its own sake. They want toimprove the living conditions of the people and to improve delivery. If, in thesight of Mrs. Clinton President Sirleaf has met these criteria, there would be noargument," he said.

The debate over the Secretary of State's statement being a foreboder or idle talkmay have its place, but there are suggestions that such debate may come tonaught in this early time.


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"Things could shift. There is a long time between now and November 2011;anything can happen. One good thing is the State Department chief's commentsrelate to commitment to a global policy in favor of women, not personalities.Who knows, another candidate could emerge stronger than President Sirleaf onthe gender issue. Choices could change and new alliances charted," said one

analyst.

Meanwhile an Executive Mansion press release regarding Mrs. Clinton'scomments say the US Foreign Service Chief made specific reference to thepioneering role played by President Sirleaf in combating gender-based violence.

"Indeed, at different institutions in Liberia, including the Ministry of Gender andDevelopment, the Liberia National Police, as well as the Special Court, theGovernment of Mrs. Sirleaf has created special programs for the protection ofwomen and children who bore the brunt of the violence of the 14-year civil war,"

said the release signed by Presidential Press Secretary Cyrus Badio.

It said another topic raised by Secretary of State Clinton during her January 26town-hall meeting centered on gender-based violence and recent events, amongthem the violence in Conakry.

It then recalled how the Liberian President played a quiet but effective role infinding a peaceful outcome to the political tension that was rising in Guinea,especially after the violence that led to the deaths of hundreds of people and aspate of gender-based violence following a peaceful demonstration in Conakry

last September.

Secretary of State Clinton added that President Sirleaf has "been one of thechampions on [the issue of gender-based violence] in her political andgovernment career."

"The Liberian leader traveled to Guinea and Burkina Faso and, along withleaders of the sub-region, brokered a peace that is so far on course and shouldlead to the first free and fair democratic elections in the history of Guinea," therelease said.

Moments after the President announced her intention to seek a second term asshe delivered her Annual Message to the National Legislature, according to therelease, thousands of jubilant supporters took to the streets to welcome thedecision.


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General and presidential elections are scheduled for 2011, and would mark thefirst time that Liberians have a chance to carry out a peaceful transition from oneelected government to another.

Announcing a candidacy that has long been the source of speculation, President

Sirleaf declared, "I will be a formidable candidate."-----------------------Will the Obama Administration truly Support an independent South Sudan?Sudan Tribune - By Eric Reeves30 January 2010

The evidence of recent months suggests that there is an increasingly grim logicgoverning the military and geographic future of southern Sudanand acorrespondingly urgent need for focused international diplomacy over the nextyear. In particular the National Islamic Front/National Congress Party

(NIF/NCP) regime in Khartoum must be made to feel real pressure to honor thekey terms of its 2005 peace agreement with the southern Sudan PeoplesLiberation Movement (SPLM). So far, the Obama administration has missedseveral key opportunities to increase that pressure, thereby making renewedmilitary conflict in Sudan more likely.

Less than a year from now the people of southern Sudan will vote on whetherthey wish to remain part of a unified country or to secede and create anindependent nation. Virtually all observers expect that this referendum willresult in an overwhelming vote for independence; indeed, only the conviction by

southerners that the results of this referendum will be honored by the northernregime and the international community has sustained the fragileComprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed five years ago. If the self-determination referendum is compromised, delayed, or preempted byKhartoum, the CPA will collapse and fighting will engulf much of Sudan. Such aconflict will threaten regional security.

Despite the importance of the referendum, far too little has been done to ensurethat it will occur as stipulated in the CPA. The NIF/NCP regimewhich willsurely retain political and military power in Khartoum following compromisedApril electionshas consistently reneged on agreements and benchmarks set outin the peace agreement, including demarcation of the north/south boundary inthe oil regions. Various machinations and pronouncements by prominent regimeofficials, especially over the last year, make clear that there is no realcommitment to honoring key obligations under the CPA, including thereferendum.


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This was the situation in October when the Obama administration rolled out itsnew Sudan policy; and it was the situation again this month during a high-level policy review by senior administration officials (the senior deputies fromthe State Department, Treasury, Defense, National Security Council, and the USdelegation to the UN). And yet neither in October nor subsequently has this

policy come to terms with the key question facing the US: will we workvigorously with the international community to guarantee the integrity of theself-determination referendum? Will we support South Sudan in the event itvotes to secede? Will we declare this support publicly and unambiguously?Secretary of State Hillary Clintons words, and particularly those of specialenvoy Scott Gration, are hardly encouraging in their tepid character. The officialadministration policy announced on October 19, 2009 speaks only vaguely ofwishing to see, in the event of a vote for secession, an orderly path toward twoseparate and viable states at peace with each other. But this is not policy, merelya stating of the obvious.

The real question is what the US is prepared to saynowby way ofguaranteeing the integrity of the referendum vote. What can we do to coordinateand focus international efforts to ensure that the referendum actually takesplace? What consequences will Khartoum face if it undermines the referendumor refuses to accept the outcome? What economic, political, diplomatic, andmilitary support are we prepared to guarantee a nascent South Sudan, a country-in-the-making that is presently wracked by ethnic violence, confronts a vasthumanitarian crisis, and is plagued by various weaknesses of governance,especially in the arena of civilian security?

It matters enormously that the US and the international community be explicitabout their commitmentsfor now is the time in which Khartoum is calculatingthe costs of subverting the referendum or resorting to military force as a way ofcontrolling the oil fields and valuable agricultural land in the south. If the US andits partners are perceived as merely mouthing support for an independent SouthSudan, if Khartoum is convinced that it will confront only blustering rhetoricalcondemnation, then the chances for war increase dramatically, especially giventhe feckless and deferential posture of the African Union. On the other hand, ifKhartoum is convinced that failure to abide by the CPA or the terms governingthe referendum will be truly costly, it will be much less likely to resort to militarymeans as a way of controlling key parts of the south.

The tasks facing the US and those seeking to avoid a resumption of north/southwar are, then, twofold: first, to convince Khartoum that there will be severepenalties for any abrogation of the CPA and in particular the self-determinationreferendum. Second, since a southern vote for independence is virtually certain,intense diplomatic efforts should begin now to engineer a soft landing after


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secession. Final establishment of a north/south border and an equitable divisionof oil wealth will surely prove the most contentious issues; but citizenship(especially for millions of southern Sudanese in northern Sudan), overland andair transport, water, a division of external debt, and full military disengagementwill all be necessary.

Coherent, well-led, and energetic diplomacy to address these difficult issues isalready long overdue; the US for its part should make clear, now and in robustterms, that we will fully support South Sudan if it votes for independence. Wemust also convince both Khartoum and the southern leadership that we areprepared to assist in an international effort to address post-secession issues wellbefore they become the occasion for a catastrophic renewal of violencethroughout Sudan.-----------------------Pirates threaten West Africa's oil boom

UPI - By Non-attributed Author28 January 2010

West Africa's oil boom has brought immense wealth and political upheaval tothe region, and a new peril -- pirates and criminal gangs who prey on the blackgold that could transform a long-ignored part of the world.

The maritime marauders have not yet achieved the global notoriety of theirbrethren operating off Somalia, on the other side of the continent, but they havebeen building a fearsome reputation for some time and causing a growing

problem for the region's burgeoning oil industry.

On Jan. 5 Nigerian pirates stormed a Panamanian-flagged Ukrainian tanker, theWestaf, anchored off Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital, according to theSovfracht Maritime Bulletin published in Kiev.

They robbed the crew, shooting and wounding the captain and six of his men.The Westhaf, built in 1986, is used as a floating storage and processing terminal.

On Nov. 23 pirates, probably Nigerian, hijacked the Liberian-flagged oil tankerCancale Star 18 miles off the coast of Benin, a tiny country that is Nigeria'swestern neighbor, and 24 miles southwest of Lagos.

It was the first known hijacking in Benin waters and it underlined how the piracyproblem is spreading in the Gulf of Guinea and along the Atlantic seaboard asthe oil boom expands.


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Most of the piracy still occurs off Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta. On Jan. 15 theInternational Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia, classified the waters off Nigeria as "very dangerous."

IMB Director Pottengal Mukundan noted: "The attacks in Nigerian waters are

frequently much more violent in nature than those off Somalia. The incidence ofviolent attacks against ships' crews has also spilled over into neighboring states."

The bureau reported that 28 attacks were logged in 2009 compared with 40 a yearearlier. But shipping sources suggested that there were another 30 attacks lastyear that went unreported. Most were related to the oil industry.

In the Niger Delta, the marauders in armed speedboats attack tankers and workwith militants in the delta's swamplands who steal around 150,000 barrels a dayfrom oil installations or pipelines -- around 5 percent of Nigeria's daily

production -- in an illegal trade known as "bunkering."

This highly organized trade has become so big in the delta that the gangs have touse rogue tankers to spirit the crude away for refining abroad.

One tanker, the Russian-registered African Pride, was intercepted by theNigerian navy in the Gulf of Guinea in October 2003 with 11,300 tons of stolencrude aboard.

In May 2004 a Nigerian navy patrol boat killed 17 pirates in a gun battle in the

creeks and swamps west of the port of Warri, the heart of Nigeria's oil industry.

One of the main problems facing shipping off West Africa is the lack of navalprotection. The Nigerian navy's successes against the pirates are the exceptionrather than the rule.

The pirates, able to buy heavy weapons with the proceeds from their plundering,often have more firepower than the patrol ships they encounter.

The U.S., British and French navies have recently been conducting joint exerciseswith regional forces. But there is nothing to compare with the international navaltask force deployed in the Gulf of Aden to counter the Somali pirates.

There is little real coordination by the governments of West Africa, a regionnotorious for political upheaval, coups, corruption and inefficient, poorly armedmilitary services, to combat the problem.


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But that may be changing. In recent years the U.S. Navy has handed over half adozen upgraded patrol boats to the Nigerian navy to boost its capabilities.

The inauguration of the U.S. Africa Command, known as Africom, on Oct. 1,2008, to coordinate U.S. military missions across the continent, train African

forces and combat terrorism, may bolster efforts to crack down on the pirates.

That will undoubtedly take time. Africom, still headquartered in Stuttgart,Germany, is already finding itself stretched. But West Africa is becoming animportant source of oil for the United States.

By 2015 the region, including Angola, Africa's top producer, and the Congo, isexpected to be supplying 25 percent of U.S. oil imports, greatly reducingAmerican dependence on the Middle East.

All that oil will be carried directly across the Atlantic in tankers that will beincreasingly at risk in West African waters.-----------------------"Stuck in the mud" -- the Obama administration's civil war over SudanForeign Policy - By Josh Rogin29 January 2010

A meeting of top U.S. officials on Sudan last week was supposed to yield bigrecommendations on how to craft the right balance of incentives and pressurestoward the Khartoum regime, which stands accused of fomenting genocide in

Darfur and stirring instability in its autonomous southern region. Instead, themeeting seems to have left the Obama administration's Sudan policy in limbo,leading to angst among both Sudan insiders and observers, sources tell TheCable.

The meeting, hosted by the National Security Council and carried out at thedeputies level, had been greatly anticipated by Sudan watchers as a watershedmoment in their long struggle to turn Darfur into a top-tier policy issue.Expectations were so high that Sudan advocacy groups published an unorthodoxad in the Washington Post before the meeting calling out the deputies -- U.N.ambassador Susan Rice's No. 2 Erica Barks-Ruggles, NSC deputy Tom Donilon,Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg, Treasury Undersecretary Stuart Levey,and Michle Flournoy, the under secretary of defense for policy -- by name.

Several members of the Sudan advocacy community said they were told that thequarterly deputies meetings would be tracking progress and makingrecommendations on specific "carrots and sticks" to use as leverage in Khartoum.


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And they pointed to the October remarks of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,who said during the press conference announcing the administration's newSudan policy: "Assessment of progress and decisions regarding incentives anddisincentives will be based on verifiable changes in conditions on the ground.Backsliding by any party will be met with credible pressure in the form of

disincentives leveraged by our government and our international partners."

But the deputies, who don't decide policy but make recommendations to theirbosses, never got to outlining those incentives and pressures, instead onlyreviewing the various agencies' "assessments" of the situation in Sudan, onehigh-level participant confirmed to The Cable.

"This was an opportunity to hear the views of the representative, a number ofchallenges were outlined, and each of the assessments were in line," theparticipant said, referring to Sudan envoy J. Scott Gration. "I thought it was a

very productive meeting," the participant said, arguing that the assessmentswere always meant to be the basis of the discussion.

One big problem, though, was that the briefing paper that was to have all theagencies' positions clearly spelled out was not prepared in advance, hurting thedeputies' ability to iron out any differences.

According to one person familiar with the meeting, Deputy National SecurityAdvisor Tom Donilon scolded NSC Africa Director Michelle Gavin for a lack ofpreparation in front of all the other participants. A government source

characterized Donilon's comments to Gavin as no different than comments hemight make to any staffer at any meeting. Besides, this second source said, itwasn't Gavin's responsibility to prepare the document. The source declined tospecify exactly who dropped the ball.

The first source also said that Steinberg, upon learning that the prep materialswere absent, moved to leave the meeting in protest but was directed to stay byDonilon, which he did.

Steinberg denied that account. "I didn't move to walk out of the meeting,"Steinberg told The Cable. "The meeting ran overtime and I had to leave to attendanother meeting on a time-urgent subject that was happening at the same timeand which I had previewed to Tom [Donilon]."

A participant source inside the meeting confirmed that Donilon asked Steinbergto stay to the end, but said that Steinberg wasn't trying to make a show ofexiting.


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Regardless, the inability of participants to demonstrate any real progress onoutlining a package incentives or disincentives struck many observers as a badsign going forward.

"What's concerning here is that this signals that the same kind of dysfunction that

occurred leading up to the policy review appears to continue to this day," oneadvocacy leader said. "It's a clich to say the clock is ticking, but it is."

National elections are slated for April, and Sudan watchers worry that theObama administration doesn't have a clear strategy for dealing with theautonomous South, which in January 2011 will hold a referendum on whether toremain part of a unified Sudan.

"If they're not moving the ball forward, that means the process is stalled at thatlevel and the new policy is already stuck in the mud," said John Prendergast,

cofounder of the Enough Project and an outspoken critic of the administration'sSudan policy.

Rice vs. Gration?

Obama's approach to Sudan has been hobbled from the beginning by deepdivisions between senior officials -- especially Gration, the special envoy, andRice, the U.N. ambassador -- on how best to handle Khartoum, sources said.Gration is said to be big on carrots, while Rice prefers sticks. Steinberg is alsosaid to lean towards a harder line, which the advocacy community also favors.

In 2006, Rice coauthored an article saying, "History demonstrates that there isone language Khartoum understands: the credible threat or use of force."

ABC News reported that Rice was "furious" in June when Gration said thatDarfur was experiencing only the "remnants of genocide." The State Departmentquickly confirmed that its official position is that genocide is ongoing.

In remarks this week, Rice stated clearly that violence in South Sudan was on therise and she was concerned new weapons were flowing in from the North. Shealso said she was not confident April elections would be safe and fair.

Regardless, Prendergast said, Gration is the driver of policy now. He hasconsolidated control and meets with Obama directly, often without SecretaryClinton in the room.


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"This is a White House driven policy and the State Department at multiple levelshas been deeply frustrated at their lack of input at various levels of the process,"he said.

But if it's a White House driven policy, it's not one getting much public attention

from the president: Obama didn't mention Sudan or Darfur once in this week'sState of the Union address.-----------------------Sudan rejects US charge on arms transfers to southReuters - By Louis Charbonneau29 January 2010

Sudan's U.N. ambassador on Friday dismissed as "irresponsible" U.S. allegationsthat weapons from northern Sudan were going to armed groups in the semi-autonomous south ahead of a nationwide April election.

Earlier this week the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, saidWashington was concerned about the flow of arms, including heavy weapons,into southern Sudan, and believed they were coming from northern Sudan andneighboring countries.

Sudanese Ambassador Abdalmahmoud Abdalhaleem told Reuters thatKhartoum "categorically denied" Rice's allegations.

"The statement by the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. attributing arms flows to

south Sudan to the north is most irresponsible," he said in an interview.

"It demonstrates that Susan Rice is still imprisoning herself in the past and failedto move from an activist position to that of a worthy representative of asuperpower."

He added that it was U.S. arms sales that were making the world less safe, notweapons from his oil-rich African nation.

U.N. officials have said privately that they, too, suspect the north was supplyingsouthern militants with weapons.

The oil-producing nation's north and south fought each other for more than twodecades until a 2005 peace deal that promised national elections, due in April,and a referendum on southern independence in January 2011.

The International Crisis Group (ICG), an independent multinational group, hassaid relations between the two sides have broken down and Sudan needed more


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time to prepare for a widely expected 'yes' vote for southern independence if itwanted to avoid a violent break-up.

Armies from both sides, and an array of rebel groups and militias, are alsostockpiling arms ahead of any conflict, despite U.N. and European Union arms

embargoes, according to a December 2009 report by the Small Arms Survey.

The Enough Project, a U.S.-based anti-genocide group, has been saying formonths that increasingly sophisticated attacks by the same ethnic-based militiasthat were used by Khartoum in the south during the civil war was cause for greatalarm.

EUROPE'S GUANTANAMO

The Sudanese envoy also reacted angrily to comments from the chief prosecutor

of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague, Luis Moreno-Ocampo,who said this week that he expected a genocide charge soon against SudanesePresident Omar Hassan al-Bashir. [ID:nLDE60R1PZ]

Abdalhaleem said that "the enemies of Sudan" were trying to use Moreno-Ocampo to destroy the peace process for Sudan's western Darfur region andinsisted that Khartoum would never cooperate with The Hague-based court.

He said Moreno-Ocampo was "just a screwdriver in the workshop of doublestandards and injustice and the ICC is the European Guantanamo." He was

referring to the controversial U.S. military prison camp at Guantanamo Bay,Cuba.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Bashir in March 2009 for alleged war crimesin Sudan's western Darfur region in connection with mass killings anddeportations, but it said there were insufficient grounds to charge him withgenocide.

Moreno-Ocampo appealed that decision to press for a genocide indictment.

The ICC has said it will issue a decision on the appeal on Feb. 3.

Bashir described the warrant against him as "all lies" last year and ordered majoraid agencies out of Sudan in response.

Estimates vary widely on how many people have died in the Darfur conflict,which began when mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms against the government


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in 2003. The United Nations says as many as 300,000 have died, but Sudan'sestimate is 10,000.-----------------------Malawis Mutharika Named Next African Union ChairmanBloomberg - By Jason McLure

31 January 2010

Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika, who has pledged to champion greaterinvestment in agriculture to end chronic hunger in Africa, was named chairmanof the African Union today.

My brother, the president of the Republic of Malawi, will replace me and takeover, Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, the incumbent chairman of the AU,said at the annual heads-of-state summit in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

Under Mutharika, 75, Malawi has been transformed from a country in whichintermittent famines left 40 percent of the population dependent on internationalaid into a food exporter. A government program of subsidizing fertilizers helpedcorn production rise 36 percent to 3.7 million metric tons last year, leaving thenation with a 1.3 million-ton surplus.

Five years from now, no African child should die of hunger, Mutharika said inhis speech, accepting the one-year term. Africa must feed Africa.

In sub-Saharan Africa, an estimated 265 million people are undernourished,

according to the World Food Program.

In August, Kenya set aside 9 billion shillings ($120 million) to pay for foodimports as up to 10 million faced the risk of hunger following a drought. InSomalia, where civil war has raged for the past 19 years, 1.8 million people relyon the United Nations food agency for aid.

Mutharika was the candidate of the Southern African Development Community.Under AU rules, top positions rotate between the continents five geographicregions.

United States of Africa

Qaddafi had sought to extend his tenure by another year to advance his plan tocreate a so-called United States of Africa. The proposal, which would incorporatethe continents nations into a political federation, was rejected last year by otherleaders who feared losing their sovereignty.


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Established in 2002 as a successor to the Organization of African Unity, the AUsstated aims include achieving greater unity among member states, promotingpeace, stability and development and raising living standards.

Mutharika will have to address several other ongoing crises, including restoring

democracy in Madagascar, persuading Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe touphold a power sharing accord and ending a protracted conflict in Sudanswestern region of Darfur.

The realm of security remains a key challenge for the African Union, saidGeorge Katito, a researcher at the Johannesburg-based South African Institute forInternational Affairs. We have seen the African Union challengeunconstitutional changes in government when it suspended Mauritania andMadagascar from its ranks. Those actions are a vast difference from its hearnothing, see nothing policy that we had before.

-----------------------UN News Service Africa BriefsFull Articles on UN Website31 January 2010

Ban commits UN to harnessing support for African development needs31 January Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today pledged to mobilize supportto tackle the critical challenges threatening peace and posperity across Africa,including extreme poverty, economic and social well-being, and the ravages ofclimate change.

UN chief launches campaign in Africa to eradicate male violence against women30 January Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on the support ofAfrican leaders to give new impetus to his campaign to end the violence sufferedby women on the continent, which he called the unsung heroines ofdevelopment in the region.

Senior UN official urges broad-based approach to fight piracy off Somali coast28 January A top United Nations official today urged a comprehensive,cohesive and broad-based strategy to fight piracy off the coast of Somalia, notingthat the continued spread of the scourge points to the limits of a solely sea-based

approach.

Sudanese peace pact has accelerated pace of mine removal, says UN official28 January The 2005 peace accord that ended Sudans north-south civil war hasenhanced efforts to rid the vast African nation of landmines that continue toindiscriminately kill and maim decades after they are laid, a senior UnitedNations official said today.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICAhttp://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICAhttp://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICA


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Security Council extends mandate of UN force in Cte dIvoire through end ofMay28 January The Security Council today extended the mandate of the UnitedNations mission in Cte dIvoire (UNOCI), and the French forces supporting it,

for another four months to help support the staging of free, fair and transparentelections in the West African nation.

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