United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

14 December 2010

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

U.S. says Sudan out of time on Abyei referendum (Reuters)

(Sudan) Sudan has run out of time to organize a referendum on the future of its
disputed Abyei region, meaning the North and South must agree to a political solution
for the oil-rich territory, a senior U.S. official said on Monday.

U.S. Holocaust Museum Official Says Genocide Can Be Averted (AllAfrica.com)

(Sudan) On 9 January, 2011, southern Sudanese are due to vote in a referendum on
whether to remain part of Sudan, Africa’'s largest country, or to become independent.
Fears have risen that the north and south could return to disastrous, full-scale war.

US Gives $3 Million for Emergency Food Aid Program in Madagascar (Voice of

America)
(Madagascar) The United States is giving $3 million in emergency food aid to the
World Food Program to try to prevent widespread famine in southern Madagascar.

WikiLeaks cables reveal US-Algeria partnership for battling Al Qaeda (Christian

Science Monitor)
(Algeria) Leaked cables relating to the Sahel suggest a strong US-Algerian partnership
and a weaker role for Mali.

South Sudan is subjected into Big Brother USA bullying (Sudan Tribune)
(Sudan) The recently released Wikileaks secret cables from the US embassies around
the world, show in nearly all cases, America deploys coercive diplomacy, full of threats,
unrealistic demands, and promises of incentive in case of compliance. In the case of
South Sudan, it has been the US ally or at least on the surface, it is perceived to be the
US ally.

Nigeria considers deal to drop Cheney charges: officials (AFP)

(Nigeria) Nigeria will consider a deal to drop charges against US ex-vice president Dick
Cheney and his former company Halliburton over a bribery scandal after "fruitful"
weekend talks, officials said Monday.

EU to sanction Cote d'Ivoire (Al Jazeera)

(Cote d'Ivoire) European Union foreign ministers have agreed to impose sanctions on
Cote d'Ivoire to put pressure on disputed president, Laurent Gbagbo, to relinquish
power.

Minerals found in consumer electronic devices help finance civil war in Congo
(Washington Post)
(Congo) As you arm yourself with electronic gifts over the next few weeks, you
probably won't think about the minerals your new cellphone, laptop or digital camera
runs on. But no matter which company made the gadget, it's likely to be powered using
tin, tantalum, tungsten or gold, all of which are mined in Eastern Congo, where profits
contribute to financing the country's bloody war.

The African Miracle (Foreign Policy)

(Pan Africa) Far from the misery-stricken place so often portrayed, Africa today is alive
with rising urban centers, a growing consumer class, and sizzling business deals. It's a
land of opportunity.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
 Unemployed African youth to benefit from UN-backed finance programme
 New UN partnership seeks to promote reproductive health in Africa
 Côte d’Ivoire: UN sets up committee on possible sanctions in elections dispute
 Deputy UN chief arrives in Zambia for Great Lakes summit
 Joint UN-AU team to assess scene of recent Darfur attacks
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

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

Industrial Association
WHAT: Stability, Security, Transition, and Reconstruction Operations
WHO: Amb Robert Loftis, Acting Coordinator, Reconstruction and Stability,
Department of State (S/CRS); Susan Reichle, Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau
for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance, USAID; Dr. James Schear,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) for Stability Operations; GEN Carter
Ham, Commander, US Army, Europe; and others (see agenda)
Info: http://www.ndia.org/meetings/1450/Pages/default.aspx

WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, December 16, 9:00 a.m.; Africa Center for Strategic Studies
and the Center for Complex Operations
WHAT: Sudan: Regional Implications of Post-Referendum Scenarios
WHO: Special Envoy to Sudan, Maj. General Scott Gration (ret.), Keynote; See agenda
for full speaker list
Info: http://ccoportal.org/event/sudan-regional-implications-post-referendum-
scenarios
WHEN/WHERE: Friday, December 17, 12:00 p.m.; Washington Institute for Near East
Policy
WHAT: The Coming Secession Crisis in Sudan: Will There Be War?
WHO: Andrew Natsios, Richard Williamson
Info: http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateI01.php
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FULL ARTICLE TEXT

U.S. says Sudan out of time on Abyei referendum (Reuters)

WASHINGTON – Sudan has run out of time to organize a referendum on the future of
its disputed Abyei region, meaning the North and South must agree to a political
solution for the oil-rich territory, a senior U.S. official said on Monday.

Scott Gration, the Obama administration's special envoy for Sudan, also said veteran
U.S. diplomat Dane Smith had been appointed to deal with Darfur, where violence
continues even as the international community focuses on Sudan's January plebiscites.

Gration said the United States believed Sudan was on course for a January 9
referendum on independence for the South but that a simultaneous vote on the future
of Abyei, which both North and South claim, was no longer possible.

"I think we've passed the opportunity for there to be a poll," Gration told reporters. "It
will take a political solution to resolve this issue."

The fate of Abyei has emerged as one of the most serious potential flashpoints between
North and South Sudan, which are bound by the 2005 peace deal that ended their long
civil war to hold two referendums on January 9 on whether the South becomes
independent and which region Abyei joins.

Most political analysts expect the South to vote for independence and the two sides are
now trying to thrash out a deal on Abyei, which straddles the border and contains at
least one significant oilfield -- Defra, part of a block run by the Greater Nile Petroleum
Operating Company, a consortium led by China's CNPC.

Gration said Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and Salva Kiir, the president of the
South, were personally involved in discussions. Analysts say a potential deal could
involve either partioning the region or allowing the South to take it over while
compensating the North.

Gration said the United States and others were working hard to defuse any potential
violence over Abyei.
"This is probably not a situation where either side will be happy," Gration said. "What
we're looking for is a solution that probably makes both sides angry but neither side
mad."

DARFUR

Gration said the United States remained worried about the western region of Darfur
and was naming Smith, a seasoned State Department Africa hand, to work with the
United Nations, the African Union and the Khartoum government on ways to stabilize
the situation.

"It gives us that additional focus, that additional specific effort that we need to be able
to turn the tide here in Darfur," Gration said.

Activist groups said Smith's appointment may help to re-energize efforts on Darfur,
where the United Nations says some 300,000 people died in a humanitarian crisis after
Khartoum launched a counterinsurgency campaign in 2003.

"From bringing key rebel movements back into a revitalized peace process to delivering
tangible improvements in security on the ground, the challenges in Darfur are
considerable," said Omer Ismail, a policy adviser at the Enough Project.

"But with the right levels of attention and expertise they can be achieved."

Gration, who recently traveled to Darfur, said the United States held the government of
Sudan primarily responsible for improving conditions in Darfur but said the rebel
groups must also refrain from violence and permit humanitarian access.
------------------
U.S. Holocaust Museum Official Says Genocide Can Be Averted (AllAfrica.com)

On 9 January, 2011, southern Sudanese are due to vote in a referendum on whether to

remain part of Sudan, Africa’'s largest country, or to become independent. At the time
of the accord, negotiators envisaged five years of work to build national unity and bring
development to the south. Instead, southerners say, little has changed to incorporate
southerners as full citizens, and a vote to separate is widely predicted. Along with that
expectation, fears have risen that the north and south could return to disastrous, full-
scale war.

Michael Abramovitz directs the Committee on Conscience, a genocide-prevention

program at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, which is an independent agency of
the federal government. It has a presidentially appointed board and sits on the mall in
Washington D.C. The Committee conducts public education through exhibitions, public
programming and its website, as well as programs directed towards policymakers – all
designed to alert the world to cases of genocide or potential genocide. In September
and October, Abramovitz visited Southern Sudan – a semi-autonomous region under
the terms of a 2005 peace accord between the Arab, largely Muslin north and the
African peoples of the oil-rich south, who mostly practice Christianity and traditional
religions. A journalist for 24 years, Abramovitz was accompanied by Andrew Natsios, a
former U.S. envoy for Sudan and administrator of USAID, the American development
agency. Natsios now teaches at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and is
writing a book on Sudan. Abramovitz talked to AllAfrica about the trip and his
conclusions. Excerpts:

What’'s your involvement with Sudan?

We'’ve been interested in Sudan for a long time, both because of Darfur and also
because of the larger north-south conflict, which took the lives of some two million
people between 1983 and 2005 [when the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was
signed]. A lot of our attention for a while was really on Darfur, especially when the
crisis was most severe in 2003 and 2005. In more recent years, we'’ve been trying to
have a larger focus. We'’ve been very concerned about widespread atrocities targeting
specific ethnic groups, both in Darfur and in the south.

You recently returned from Southern Sudan…

One of the reasons we wanted to make this trip is that there has been a lot of concern
about the next step in the political process in Sudan. There are worries that the
referendum might not come off peacefully and that there could be renewed war.

I also invited Lucian Perkins who is a former colleague of mine from the Washington
Post and is a really skilled photographer. One of the purposes of the trip, in addition to
meetings with senior government officials and civil society, was to document the stories
of ordinary Sudanese people – actually many of them are extraordinary – to bring back
and to use to inform and for outreach on the website and other communications.

Talk about your trip.

This was my first trip. It’s important to point out that we wanted to go to Khartoum and
other areas in the north, but we could not get visas. That was unfortunate, because we
wanted to get a clear picture on what was going on. We’'d been trying for close to a year
to get visas.

However, we got a travel permit for the south. We went to Juba, Malakal in Upper Nile
state, and Rumbek in Lakes State. We talked to about 80 to 100 people. We were there
for about 12 days and spoke to five or six government ministers, the President of
Southern Sudan, Salva Kiir, the Vice President, humanitarian groups, civil society,
politicians, and people in the opposition. It’s a huge country and it'’s impossible to
cover the waterfront in the amount of time that we had, but I think we covered a lot of
ground.

The people you met – were they a diverse group?

Absolutely. We talked to a range of people - a mix of young people, women, and older
people. In Rumbek, we stayed with Women for Women International, an NGO that is
working there. They introduced us to a lot of women who had war experiences and
hardships in the past 20 or 30 years. It'’s very striking that everyone you talk to has
some terrible story. The thing that was quite uplifting about the trip was just how much
resilience the people of the south have.

Did you get a sense of which way the referendum will go – for unity or separation?

It was clear to us that the overwhelming sentiment in the south is for independence.
Focus groups have found that there is no widespread support for unity. There was no
one we talked to who indicated an interest in unity. One of the main messages was that
the south really did not feel that unity had been made attractive, to use jargon, and they
didn’'t want to be part of the north any more. Did we do a scientific poll? No. But it was
striking how much people desire their own state.

We visited Rebecca Garang, the widow of John Garang [leader of the Sudan Peoples’
Liberation Movement, SPLM, who died in a helicopter crash in bad weather in 2005].
While John Garang was still alive, he had a vision of a unified, democratic Sudan, but
that vision is gone in the south. They want their own country, and they want to be free
of the north.

Did anyone say to you that they might have felt differently – or at least would have
been open to a unified Sudan – had there been a different approach by the northern
government to development in the last five years?

We didn'’t ask that question directly to people, but I certainly would say there was a
strong feeling that the north had not paid attention to the south economically, that the
south had been ignored.

There'’s one traffic light in the whole of the south! Outside of Juba, there are no paved
roads. There'’s still a high level of illiteracy, and they have had problems with hunger
because of difficulties with the harvest, which was rectified last year.

What'’s the reason for the Holocaust Museum’s involvement with Sudan?

I want to be careful about the question, “Why is the Holocaust Museum interested in
this problem?” I want to be clear, because the Holocaust is sometimes a word that is
scary to people.
We'’re not saying that in Southern Sudan, there is genocide going on right now. We’'re
not even saying that it'’s the most likely outcome. But we know that there has been a
past history of political disputes resulting in conflict, with the government in Khartoum
directing violence against civilian groups.

We know at least 200,000 people were killed in Darfur, thousands of villages were
burned, and millions were displaced. We know that similar crimes were committed in
the south. We know there is a risk of this happening again.

The point we’re trying to make is that we need to head off the worst ahead of time. We
definitely do not believe that calamity is inevitable, and we'’re very hopeful. It'’s hard to
know what the future will bring. I don'’t want to pretend I have a crystal ball, but I
want to make the point that the worst is not inevitable. It'’s very important to make
clear to the international community that while there can be negotiations and
discussions, and while both the north and south have differences that need to be
reconciled, it’'s not tolerable to resolve the disputes with force and direct violence
against specific groups of civilians, as has happened in the past.

Part of what you’'re saying is that the job now is to make sure that doesn'’t happen?

I would say that we'’ve been heartened by the increase in focus on this problem from
the United Nations, the Obama administration, the international community, and
Sudan'’s neighbors in Africa. There is a considerable amount of effort being undertaken
right now to prevent the worst from happening. No one wants a return to war; it’'s not
in anybody’'s interest.

Was any dissatisfaction expressed to you about the Southern Sudan government?

We spoke to some people in the opposition in Upper Nile. We had a long meeting with
people associated with the party of Lam Akol [a former foreign minister, leader of the
SPLM-DC party, and Salva Kiir’s sole challenger in the April elections]. We heard an
earful about corruption, human rights abuses and heavy-handed tactics by the SPLM in
pursuing disarmament. I don’'t know what all that means.

There'’s definitely an element of violence within the south related to cattle rustling,
disputes between tribes, and in fact that violence has gotten quite severe in some of the
states in recent years. Nobody comes to this with totally clean hands.

But it does seem to us that the underlying political dynamic is one in which the north is
really causing a lot of problems. What seems clear now is that if the south votes for
secession, the north ought to let it go peacefully. That’'s the way the worst violence can
be avoided.
Did you get a sense of any growth in civil society groups that may be able to hold
whatever administration is in place accountable in the future?

There definitely was a presence of civil society and it’'s definitely lively. We spoke to
one person who was part of an election-monitoring program in the south and another
in Malakal who keeps tabs on what’'s happening in the oil fields in terms of human
rights abuses.

Since your program doesn'’t make specific policy prescriptions, what message are you
bringing from your visit?

It might be useful to know that we’'re doing a fair amount of outreach from this trip,
speaking on panels and at several institutions. What the museum really focuses on is
individual stories and individual testimony. Stories really engage the public, and we
wanted to come back with an ability to humanize the problem. This is not just dry,
statistical numbers. These are real human beings who have endured much in the last 30
years and now have an opportunity for living a normal life. Here are some of our
points:

There are a number of risk factors for mass atrocities and mass violence, but we do not
believe violence is inevitable or a foregone conclusion. We know that Sudan exhibits
some of the risk factors for mass atrocities. We know there’s been past violence directed
against civilian groups. We know there are major political changes forthcoming. We
know there’'s heightened chance of armed conflict – not only between the north and
south but between spoilers. And we know there'’s a presence in the north of hardliners
who are interested in pursuing violence.

That'’s something I think that’s often lost in the west – the divisions within the north of
Sudan. There'’s sometimes an automatic assumption that if President Bashir were to go
away, he would be replaced by someone more benign. I'’m not saying he wouldn’'t, but
I'’m not saying he would. There are elements in Khartoum that are even more extreme
than Bashir.

And what can be done to avoid catastrophe?

For policymakers, our key message is that they should set clear red lines about what is
not acceptable. Of foremost importance is a strong, unequivocal statement that a resort
to armed conflict to resolve remaining issues is not going to be tolerated. Also, it'’s very
important to protect the most vulnerable populations in Sudan. We were very
concerned about the safety of the displaced communities in the north, particularly in
Khartoum. While we were in Sudan, there was some incendiary language directed at
these southerners.
The other major takeaway is that the south has a really, really long way to go in terms
of economic development. Juba has become a much more dynamic city than it was five
or six years ago – dozens of new hotels, paved roads and new businesses. But when you
go outside the capital, it'’s a very mixed picture: lots of poverty, lots of
underdevelopment.

One of the things the south is going to have to grapple with, to manage the transition to
independence, is enormous expectations from the people as to what can be
accomplished. Meeting those expectations could be very difficult. There really is an
expectation that Nirvana is going to come when the south is free of the north. It'’s really
important to emphasize that the risks are going to continue for a long time. There'’s an
expectations gap that'’s going to have to be managed.

Finally, what’'s your message to the general public?

It would be helpful for people to understand why the Holocaust Museum is there and
what our interests are. We want to do what we can to raise awareness about cases
where we are concerned about the risks of mass violence directed against ethnic groups
and civilians. We do see risks of this in Sudan, but we’'re also hopeful that those risks
can be navigated and avoided. It'’s kind of a complicated message, because we don'’t
want to be alarmists, but we do want people to be concerned and to understand that
this is a very serious and dangerous situation.
------------------
US Gives $3 Million for Emergency Food Aid Program in Madagascar (Voice of
America)

The United States is giving $3 million in emergency food aid to the World Food
Program to try to prevent widespread famine in southern Madagascar. The United
Nations agency predicts 720,000 people in three regions could be severely affected in
the next few months by a drought and lack of basic resources.

U.S. Agency for International Development Director for Madagascar Rudolph Thomas
said the United States is responding to the World Food Program's emergency appeal.
"They are in their second year of a two year drought, and so it is very very dry, and
when you look out at the land it is very barren and there is very little grass. There is an
occasional tree off in the distance. In fact, where there were river beds it is just bone dry.
There is no water."

WFP Madagascar Representative Krystyna Bednarska said the number of food insecure
districts had increased from 31 to 53 in two years. In addition to drought, the area faced
cyclones and locust infestations.
Bednarska said reports during the past two months of people eating crop seeds, selling
their goods and migrating pointed to widespread famine by March. She said in some
areas 80 percent of the main crop corn had already failed

"People have since the beginning of the lean season in October adopted negative coping
strategies; consuming their own seeds, consuming food products that are inappropriate
for their health," said Bednarska. "Signals that the migration of the men to find jobs in
other areas has started, leaving women and children in even more difficult situations,
alone in this area."

The U.N. Childrens Fund Representative for Madagascar, Bruno Maes, said more than
half the country's children were already affected from a poor diet. "If UNICEF and its
partners are not able to provide a humanitarian response to avoid a major food security
and nutritional crisis, 300,000 children under five in these affected areas are at risk of
severe acute malnutrition. Just over 50 percent of Madagascar's children are stunted as a
result of chronic malnutrition. It is worse only in Afghanistan and Yemen."

Maes said UNICEF is concerned massive cuts to heath care, plus the predicted famine,
will have serious consequences for the health of local residents next year. More than
half the area's health centers will have to close in two weeks when UNICEF funding
runs out.
------------------
WikiLeaks cables reveal US-Algeria partnership for battling Al Qaeda (Christian
Science Monitor)

Views on what Wikileaks does run the gamut from admiration to condemnation, but I
share the view (articulated here) that the most important question concerning Wikileaks
is not whether its staff has acted morally, but rather what impact regular leaks will have
on journalism and government, now that it seems likely that regular leaks will become a
fixture of the future media landscape. Put differently, some readers might object to
Wikileaks’ release of US embassy cables related to, for example, US counterterrorism
policy in the Sahel. But now that those materials are circulating, I feel that I should
analyze them in order to give readers a sense of how the conversation about the US and
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) might evolve. Briefly, leaked cables relating
to the Sahel suggest a strong US-Algerian partnership and a weaker role for Mali.

CNN has its own analysis, which stresses themes like increasing US concern over AQIM
(including its potential involvement in regional drug trafficking), US approval of
regional coordination, but continued mistrust among Sahelian governments. Here are
some excerpts:

[The fight against AQIM] is a struggle that the United States is taking ever more
seriously, according to U.S. diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks…The United
States has stepped up its military cooperation with governments in the region.
In the cables, officials from Algeria and Mali talk of a growing threat from al Qaeda in
the region. One cable from the U.S. ambassador in Mali discusses the visit by the
commander of U.S. Africa Command, Gen. William E. Ward, last November. President
Amadou Toumani Toure told him that while al Qaeda “had difficulty getting their
message across to a generally reluctant population, they have had some success in
enlisting disaffected youth to their ranks.”

According to the cable, Toure complained: “Military cooperation with Algeria is the
problem. … It is not just a matter of destroying a couple of (Al Qaeda in the Islamic
Maghreb) bases, we have to be able to hold the territory. The longer the situation drags
on, the stronger the Salafists [al Qaeda] will get.”

The Algerians tended to blame Mali. “The nexus of arms, drug and contraband
smuggling in northern Mali created an enabling environment,” according to senior
Algerian defense official Abdelmalik Guenaizia, who added that “terrorists will use any
means available to finance their activities, including corruption and hostage-taking.”

[...]U.S. efforts to improve coordination in the Sahel region against terrorism do appear
to be bearing fruit. Another diplomatic cable from 2009 welcomes the establishment of a
regional command for counterterrorism operations.

As contacts on Twitter pointed out, the leaked cables are just one more piece in a
jumbled puzzle. Tommy Miles wrote, “This would be the proper moment to stress these
cables are what US & Alg gov SAY not necessarily what’s happening.” Andrew
Lebovich added, “also, what Alg and Mal officials SAY about each others’ levels of
cooperation against AQIM.” Arguably the cables reveal more about attitudes than
actions.

The Guardian has posted the text of cables related to counterterrorism in the Sahel, and
readers may find them of interest. In chronological order:

One from December 2007 (following the Dec. 11 Algiers bombings) stresses the
adaptability of AQIM, the influence of Iraqi insurgencies on the group, the inability of
Algerian security forces to completely stop terrorism, and the author’s expectation that
the security situation would either “stay roughly as it is now or deteriorate.”
One from December 2009 discusses a US request to the Algerian government to conduct
surveillance flights over Algeria, Mauritania, and Mali.
One from January 2010 reports Algerian officials’ outrage over their country’s
placement on an enhanced screening list at the US Transportation Security
Administration, outrage specifically framed with reference to US-Algerian cooperation
on couterterrorism. Algeria’s “Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci January 11 summoned
the Ambassador and forcefully objected…He termed the decision intolerable,
inappropriate, and inopportune. It reflected neither the reality of Algeria’s security
situation, its counterterrorism efforts nor our close bilateral cooperation.”
The Guardian has analyzed what these documents say about the evolution of US-
Algerian relations from 2007 to the present, with Algeria’s role in American eyes going
from “security joke to US ally.” Algeria has come to be the most important US partner
in the regional counterterrorism effort.

The content of cables relating to Algeria and the Sahel will not necessarily surprise
readers, but the cables do bring out the relationships in the region, especially the
closeness of US-Algerian cooperation and the tensions between Algeria and Mali. Given
existing tensions between Mauritania and Mali, that could mean that Mali is somewhat
marginalized by its neighbors and even by the US. Now that a great deal of AQIM’s
high-profile kidnappings and clashes with authorities take place in Mali, disagreements
between Algeria and Mali could prove problematic for tightening regional cooperation
and advancing the counterterrorism effort.
------------------
South Sudan is subjected into Big Brother USA bullying (Sudan Tribune)

"Speak softly and carry a big stick," declared President Theodore Roosevelt, as he set the
tone for what he envisioned to be a diplomatic approach for a country that was about to
assert global dominance. The recently released Wikileaks secret cables from the US
embassies around the world, show in nearly all cases, America deploys coercive
diplomacy, full of threats, unrealistic demands, and promises of incentive in case of
compliance. It is realpolitik practiced at its core, with America always dictating the
terms in line with what it desires. In almost every incident, the distinction between ally
and foe is blur, and it is those who perceived themselves as allies are the ones who find
themselves in shock with the contradictory US actions.

In the case of South Sudan, it has been the US ally or at least on the surface, it is
perceived to be the US alley. America helped broker a peace deal there. It fully supports
the independence of South Sudan. The US pumps millions of dollars in South Sudan in
terms of aides, infrastructure building, capacity enhancement, security maintenance
and social services delivery. The US goes as far as rallying its allies, especially the South
Sudanese neighboring countries to help maintain a long sustaining peace and
prosperity in the new to emerge state. America even collaborates with these allies in
some of its projects that it undertakes in South Sudan.

In a twist of irony, it was none other than those allies, which found themselves at risk of
facing the wrath of US sweeping sanctions, for the simple act of support to South
Sudan. The case in point is an incident of Kenya consignment of weapons to South
Sudan. Apparently, both the US and Kenya agreed on modernization of South
Sudanese armed forces through training and equipping them with lethal firepower to
withheld any Khartoum’s offenses. Accordingly, Kenya has kept part of its deal by
consigning weapons to South Sudan with full disclosure to the US.
However, by September of 2008, a ship loaded with millions of dollars worth of military
hardware (mostly T-72 battle tanks), consigned by Kenya from Ukraine en route to
South Sudan was hijacked by Somalian pirates off the coast of Africa. The pirates PR
department, which is ever media savvy, announced the content of the cargo, its final
destination, and demanded ransom. The media quickly picked up on this sensational
story and the news exploded. Kenya found itself in an embarrassing situation that it
had to publicly confirm the hardware belonged to Kenyan military, but not bound for
South Sudan as reported by the press. In earlier 2009, ransom of over three millions was
paid and the ship, its cargo, and the crew were released.

It is here that the US intervened and threatened Kenya that it should not transfer these
military hardware into South Sudan or else Kenya will risk “sweeping sanctions.” Base
on the Wikileaks released, the discussions between US and Kenyan officials, left Kenya
without any option. The US made it clear that Kenya could never use a third country as
a means of transfer. That Kenya could not also obtain any waiver to pass these
hardware to South Sudan armed forces. Any move in transferring the hardware to
South Sudan would be in contravention to the US laws and would result into
“sweeping sanctions” against Kenya. Of course, Kenya would incur huge financial loses
in adding these hardware into its arsenal when it did not need them.

Kenya was left perplexed by US position. Kenyan officials felt that America abandoned
its commitment to South Sudan and questioned whether the “US is rethinking the CPA,
increasingly shifting its support to Khartoum, and/or now seeking a unitary state in
Sudan.” The softly spoken Big Brother with big stick (America) required nothing short
of Kenya than full compliance. The US even went as far as confronting the Ukraine for
completing the transactions of weapons destined for South Sudan. As Ukraine tried to
deny that the end-user of those weapons was not South Sudan, but Kenya, America
produced the actual contract of the purchase and satellite imagery as evidence, and then
threatened Ukraine to face consequence if it was going to lie to the US. The Ukrainians
were at least embarrassed and reluctantly promised to comply.

This whole incident played out like a bully in the neighborhood, going around making
demands from the other weak kids, but the truth of the matter is, this is serious real
world politics in motion, with the lives of millions of people at stake. South Sudan is on
verge of conducting a referendum for its independence. The fear is that war may break
out any time between the South and Khartoum, and in that instant, the South may need
to defend itself in one way or another. Regardless, whether there will be war or not, it is
inevitable that an independent South Sudan will still require strong allies such as Kenya
and the US. Nonetheless, the US contradictory position is not going to help the cause of
South Sudan, that of US or of its allies. At best, such contradictory position creates
mistrust and sense of betrayal. America cannot claim that it supports the modernization
of South Sudanese armed forces and at the same time denying equipping them or worst
yet, threatening the allies from lending their support.
------------------
Nigeria considers deal to drop Cheney charges: officials (AFP)

LAGOS – Nigeria will consider a deal to drop charges against US ex-vice president Dick
Cheney and his former company Halliburton over a bribery scandal after "fruitful"
weekend talks, officials said Monday.

Asked whether the charges were being dropped after the negotiations in London,
prosecutor Godwin Obla said, "The possibility is there."

However, he would not provide details on the talks he said included high-ranking
officials from energy firm Halliburton. Government officials must approve any
settlement, said Obla.

"We had fruitful negotiations in London," he added.

A spokesman for Nigeria's anti-graft agency also refused to comment in detail on the
talks, saying only that those involved in the case had offered to pay fines to avoid
prosecution.

"There is the need for the team from London to brief the government," said Femi
Babafemi.

Halliburton officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Nigerian authorities charged Cheney and several others last week with 16 counts over a
bribery scandal related to the construction of a liquefied natural gas plant. Cheney was
head of Halliburton before becoming US vice president serving president George W.
Bush following 2000 elections.

Others charged included Halliburton CEO David Lesar, as well as Halliburton Inc., its
former subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR), former KBR head Albert "Jack"
Stanley and that firm's current leader William Utt.

The case involves an alleged 182 million dollar cash-for-contract scandal over 10 years
until 2005 over construction of the liquefied natural gas plant in southern Nigeria.

Halliburton has denied involvement in the allegations, and a spokesman for Cheney
has dismissed the accusations against him as baseless.

The consortium involved in the gas plant, TSKJ, was also charged.
US authorities said last year that Halliburton and KBR had agreed to pay 177 million
dollars to settle charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United
States over the scandal.

KBR agreed to pay a further 402 million dollars to settle criminal charges brought by the
US Justice Department.
------------------
EU to sanction Cote d'Ivoire (Al Jazeera)

European Union foreign ministers have agreed to impose sanctions on Cote d'Ivoire to
put pressure on disputed president, Laurent Gbagbo, to relinquish power.

The EU move, announced on Monday, will target Gbagbo and his supporters with asset
freezes and a visa ban, after he claimed victory in the November 28 vote over
challenger, Alassane Ouattara.

Ouattara was declared the winner by the Cote d'Ivoire election commission.

The United States has also threatened to take measures against Gbagbo, with Barack
Obama, the US president, writing to say he would support efforts to isolate him if he
refused to quit.

"The Council ... has decided to begin, without delay, preparatory work (on) the
adoption of targeted measures against those who are obstructing the process of peace
and national reconciliation in particular who are jeopardising the proper outcome of the
electoral process," the EU ministers said in a statement.

Diplomats from the 27-member bloc will draw up a list of officials to be targeted by the
restrictions.

Cote d'Ivoire, the world's top cocoa producer, has been in turmoil since last month's
poll, which was meant to reunify the country after a 2002-03 civil war.

World leaders and regional bodies have recognised Ouattara as president, and the
African Union has suspended Ivory Coast until Gbagbo quits. His refusal to step down
threatens to compromise a $3bn aid package.

The International Monetary Fund has said it will not co-operate in the aid programme if
the Cote d'Ivoire government is not recognised by the UN.

However, Gbagbo retains control of the armed forces and has rejected criticism as
foreign meddling.
He has been in power since winning a disputed election in 2000, when thousands of his
supporters took to the streets to help oust general Robert Guei, a military coup leader,
who was accused of trying to rig the vote.

Elections due in 2005 were repeatedly put off as Cote d'Ivoire, once a haven of stability
and the region's brightest economic prospect, was caught in a cycle of attempted peace
deals and renewed crisis.
------------------
Minerals found in consumer electronic devices help finance civil war in Congo
(Washington Post)

As you arm yourself with electronic gifts over the next few weeks, you probably won't
think about the minerals your new cellphone, laptop or digital camera runs on. But no
matter which company made the gadget, it's likely to be powered using tin, tantalum,
tungsten or gold, all of which are mined in Eastern Congo, where profits contribute to
financing the country's bloody war.

Rebel groups and the national army control many of Eastern Congo's mines. Over the
past decade, more than 5 million people have died, and hundreds of thousands of
women have been raped in the struggle for power, according to the Raise Hope for
Congo campaign. While the Congolese government has expressed interest in tackling
the multimillion-dollar trade in minerals, the involvement of its own troops has led
critics to question their efforts.

The West has long been aware of this problem, though hard facts are difficult to
establish: A 2008 U.S. Geological Survey report found that less than 10 percent of
tantalum (the mineral used to make capacitors in most cellphones and iPods) imported
to the United States is from Congo. But one human rights group, the Enough Project,
estimates that Congolese armed groups make $8 million per year trading in that
mineral alone.

Electronics companies argue that the supply chain is nearly impossible to track: There
are thousands of companies, they say, that leave little or no paperwork. Manufacturers
use Congolese minerals, which cost only one-half or one-third the price of those mined
in other countries - due to large quantitites of minerals close to the surface, lack of
regulation and cheap labor - leaving the American consumer with no way of knowing
whether their purchases are subsidizing warfare half a world away.

The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, passed in July, seeks to change
that, by requiring manufacturers to identify so-called conflict minerals and eliminate
them from their supply chains.

In addition, the Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that it will come
out with proposed rules on conflict minerals on Wednesday and final guidelines in
April 2011. Electronics companies are scrambling to make their supply chain clean
before then.

ITRI, a tin-industry group, isn't happy. Kay Nimmo, manager of sustainability and
regulatory affairs for the organization, calls the deadline "rash, too strict and completely
impossible."

"The requirements could force electronics companies into an embargo of the Congo's
minerals if they cannot comply in time," Nimmo says.

And no one wants an embargo - not Congo, electronics companies, human rights
groups or nongovernmental organizations. It would be bad for American business and
also leave many Congolese miners unemployed. So industry and NGOs have begun
developing initiatives to improve transparency.

One such initiative is a "bagging and tagging" scheme, in which minerals are placed in a
bag with a seal and security-tagged at the mine so that the mineral can be traced from
mine site to exporter.

ITRI, which is running the initiative, estimates that since the pilot program started in
June, 8,000 tags have gone on more than 300 tons of minerals. But NGOs say initiatives
of this kind are an ineffective seal of approval, possibly worse than having no approval
system at all.

"Bagging and tagging systems don't address extortion along transport routes: Illegal
taxes can be levied without interfering with tagging, and conflict minerals can reach
trading centers looking clean," says Annie Dunnebacke of Global Witness, an NGO that
works to prevent natural-resource-related conflict and corruption.

Enough Project consultant Sasha Leshnev estimates that there are more than 20 ways to
get a conflict mineral around the bagging and tagging scheme.

Electronics companies protest that there are always ways to go around a system.
Michael Loch, director of supplier corporate responsibility at Motorola, says, "No
matter what auditing scheme, there's going to be noncompliance. It can never be
completely bulletproof."

The same is true, critics say, for other initiatives, such as a "smelter validation scheme."
Lezhnev argues that because electronics companies are approving their own auditor for
the smelter scheme, it's not a system of independent monitoring.

"They are not giving us details of how and what they were doing, citing 'commercial
confidentiality.' How can you say you have commercial confidentiality in a war zone?"
says Lezhnev. "This can't just be an industry process."
The Enough Project is set to release a report Tuesday ranking companies on their
progress on conflict minerals, in the hope of shaming them into action before the SEC's
April guidelines. Criteria included tracing, auditing and support for legislation. HP,
Intel and Motorola rank at the top of the heap, while some other companies show no
progress.

Until bigger changes are made, the Enough Project estimates that armed groups will
take in some $185 million annually trading in these minerals, while, according to World
Bank figures, miners will make $5 a day mining them. And American holiday shoppers
will pay as much as $500 for a new cellphone, with little or no knowledge of what went
into making it.
------------------
The African Miracle (Foreign Policy)

Not so long ago, the world lamented its broken continent. "The state of Africa is a scar
on the conscience of the world," declared British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2001 --
and his was a common refrain. Civil war, economic stagnation, and a high disease
burden seemed irreversible, condemning the region to perpetual poverty.

A decade later, however, Africa has outgrown the gloom and doom. Far from the
misery-stricken place so often portrayed, Africa today is alive with rising urban centers,
a growing consumer class, and sizzling business deals. It's a land of opportunity.

Africa, in fact, is now one of the world's fastest-growing economic regions. Between
2000 and 2008, the continent's collective GDP grew at 4.9 percent per year -- twice as
fast as in the preceding two decades. By 2008, that put Africa's economic output at $1.6
trillion, roughly on par with Russia and Brazil. Africa was one of only two regions --
Asia being the other -- where GDP rose during 2009's global recession. And revenues
from natural resources, the old foundation of Africa's economy, directly accounted for
just 24 percent of growth during the last decade; the rest came from other booming
sectors, such as finance, retail, agriculture, and telecommunications. Not every country
in Africa is resource rich, yet GDP growth accelerated almost everywhere.

Government reforms, greater political stability, improved macroeconomics, and a

healthier business environment are now taking hold in a region long dismissed as
hopeless. Inflation fell to an average of 8 percent in the 2000s after a decade during
which it hovered at 22 percent. African countries have lowered trade barriers, cut taxes,
privatized companies, and liberalized many sectors, including banking. Africa now
boasts more than 100 domestic companies with revenue greater than $1 billion. And
capital flows to the continent increased from just $15 billion in 2000 to $87 billion in
2007. With good reason: Africa offers the highest rate of return on investment of any
region in the world.
Pockets of great risk and instability certainly remain, but the long-term trends look
good. Global demand for commodities is rising, and Africa is well positioned to profit.
The fastest-growing demand for these raw inputs comes from the world's emerging
economies, with which sub-Saharan Africa now conducts half its trade. Africa's
production of oil, gas, minerals, and other resources is projected to grow at 2 to 4
percent per year for the next 10 years. At current prices, this will raise the value of
resource production to $540 billion by 2020 -- and possibly much higher depending on
how commodity prices rise.

An even bigger source of growth will be the rise of the urban African consumer. In
1980, just 28 percent of Africans lived in cities. Today, 40 percent of the continent's 1
billion do, a portion close to China's, larger than India's, and likely to keep growing in
the coming years. The number of households with discretionary income is projected to
grow 50 percent over the next 10 years to 128 million. Already, Africa's household
spending tops $860 billion a year, more than that of India or Russia. And consumer
spending in Africa is growing two to three times faster than in the wealthy developed
countries and could be worth $1.4 trillion in annual revenue within a decade.

Nothing spawns growth like growth, and Africa's urbanization is also increasing
demand for new roads, rail systems, clean water, power generation, and other
infrastructure. Even agriculture, in which Africa has long lagged, is poised for takeoff.
The continent is home to 60 percent of the world's uncultivated arable land. So if
farmers brought more of it into use, raised the yields on key crops to 80 percent of the
world average, and shifted cultivation to higher-value crops, the continent's famers
could increase the value of their annual agricultural output from $280 billion today to
around $500 billion by 2020.

Multinational companies have already shifted their mindsets, even if the political world
is still used to thinking of Africa as a charity case. Telecom firms have signed up 316
million new African subscribers since 2000, more than the population of the United
States. Walmart recently bid $4.6 billion for one of the region's largest retailers,
confirmation that global businesses think Africa holds commercial potential on a scale
not seen since China opened up more than 20 years ago. Those prospects will only grow
as Africa urbanizes; already, the continent is home to 52 cities with populations of at
least 1 million, as many as in Western Europe today.

While challenges remain, Africa has a bright future -- you can bet on it, as countless
businesses are doing every day.
------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

Unemployed African youth to benefit from UN-backed finance programme

13 December – Some 200,000 low-income youth in sub-Saharan Africa will benefit from
a United Nations-backed initiative announced today to increase access for them to
financial services in a region where youth unemployment rates are two to three times
that of adults.

New UN partnership seeks to promote reproductive health in Africa

13 December – The United Nations has teamed up with the Millennium Villages Project
(MVP) to promote universal access to reproductive health in sub-Saharan Africa,
focusing mainly on young mothers.

Côte d’Ivoire: UN sets up committee on possible sanctions in elections dispute

13 December – The United Nations moved today towards imposing sanctions on
anybody obstructing the peace process in Côte d’Ivoire, where outgoing president
Laurent Gbagbo refuses to step down despite international recognition of opposition
leader Alassane Ouattara as the divided country’s new head.

Deputy UN chief arrives in Zambia for Great Lakes summit

13 December – Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro arrives in Lusaka, Zambia,
today to attend a special summit to be held later this week on combating the illegal
exploitation of natural resources in the Great Lakes region.

Joint UN-AU team to assess scene of recent Darfur attacks

13 December – A joint United Nations-African Union team travelled today to the South
Darfur village that was attacked twice in recent days by Sudanese forces resulting in the
death of two civilians and the wounding of 24 others.