United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

24 January 2011

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

New Africom chief will consider base in Africa despite initial opposition (The East
African)
(Pan Africa) The incoming head of the US Africa Command has promised to consider
African countries as part of a review of where Africom’s headquarters should be
situated.

Nigeria: US Africa Command chief to visit Nigeria (Afrique en Ligne)

(Nigeria) Deputy Commander of the U.S. Africa Command, Ambassador J. Anthony
Holmes, will visit Nigeria 24-28 January, the US Embassy in Nigeria said in a statement
obtained by PANA here Thursday.

US envoy visits Nigeria over security (Next.com)

(Nigeria) The Deputy to the Commander of the U.S. Africa Command will be visiting
Nigeria from January 24 to 28 to meet with the nation's security officials to evaluate the
nation's security challenges relative to the continent.

US focus on Africa to rise, but Agoa extension may hit resistance (Engineering News)
(Pan Africa) President Barack Obama’s Administration remained “profoundly
committed to putting Africa back at the centre of US foreign policy” and there would be
“a greater emphasis on Africa in 2011 and 2012”, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public
Diplomacy in the Bureau of African Affairs Bruce Wharton said in Washington DC this
week.

Future of Sudan's Darfur uncertain post-referendum (Associated Press)

(Sudan) International mediators and rights groups are calling for stronger efforts to
settle the eight-year Darfur conflict, fearing that the expected breakaway of the south
may push Khartoum's leaders to clamp down harder on dissent and place stricter limits
on an international role in Darfur and other areas that remain under its direct control.

Central African Republic goes to the polls (AFP)

(Central African Republic) Voters cast their ballots Sunday in the Central African
Republic's presidential and parliamentary polls, with incumbent President Francois
Bozize widely expected to retain power amid charges of fraud.
Somalia Is Likely to Cut Ties To Mercenaries, Official Says (New York Times)
(Somalia) The minister of information for the transitional federal government here said
Sunday that Somalia was likely to end its relationship with Saracen International, a
private security company in which South African mercenaries and the founder of
Blackwater Worldwide are said to be involved.

South Korean special forces seize ship from Somali pirates (Associated Press)
(Somalia) In a daring and rare raid Friday, South Korean special forces rescued all 21
crew members aboard a freighter hijacked in the Arabian Sea near Africa, killing eight
pirates and capturing five others, South Korea said.

West African Bank Replaces Head to Cut Off Ivory Coast Government (Voice of
America)
(Ivory Coast) West African leaders have replaced the head of the region's central bank
in a move to further isolate the incumbent president of Ivory Coast who is refusing to
give up power to the internationally-recognized winner of November's vote.

Tunisian Police Arrest Allies of Ben Ali (Associated Press)

(Tunisia) Police in Tunisia cracked down Sunday on key allies of the ousted president,
placing two high-ranking officials under house arrest and detaining the head of a well-
known private TV station for allegedly trying to slow down the country's nascent steps
toward democracy.

Oil-Field Contractor in Ghana Is Probed (Wall street Journal)

(Ghana) Kosmos Energy Ltd., a major player in exploiting a vast new oil field in Ghana,
revealed it is the latest energy company grappling with the fallout from a U.S.
crackdown on corporate bribery in foreign countries.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
 Latest round of UN-backed Western Sahara talks concludes in New York
 UN-AU force monitoring Darfur camp after Government search operation
 Somali drought worsening, driving herders with livestock into capital, UN says
 Ban hopes Central African Republic elections will advance stability
 Heavy rainfall triggers flood alert in southern Africa – UN
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, January 25, 2011, 12:00; Elliott School of International

Affairs, George Washington University
WHAT: Tunisia: Protests and Prospects for Change
WHO: Christopher Alexander, Associate Professor of Political Science, Dean Rusk
International Studies Program; Associate Dean for International Programs, Davidson
College; John P. Entelis, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Middle East
Studies Program, Fordham University
Info: http://www.elliottschool.org/events/calendar.cfm?
fuseaction=ViewMonthDetail&yr=2011&mon=1

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, January 25, 2011, 6:30 pm; Elliott School of International
Affairs, George Washington University
WHAT: The Referendum in Southern Sudan
WHO: Jendayi Frazer, Distinguished Public Service Professor; Director, Center for
International Policy and Innovation, Carnegie Mellon University; Former U.S. Assistant
Secretary of State for African Affairs (2005-2009)
Info: http://www.elliottschool.org/events/calendar.cfm?
fuseaction=ViewMonthDetail&yr=2011&mon=1#1402

WHEN/WHERE: Wednesday, January 26, 2011, 12:30 pm; School of Advanced

International Studies, Johns Hopkins University
WHAT: After the Referendum: The Future of Sudan and South Sudan
WHO: Andrew Natsios, distinguished professor of international development at the
Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and former U.S. special
envoy to Sudan, and Omar Ismail, adviser for the Enough Project
Info: http://www.sais-jhu.edu/calendar/index.htm

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday and Wednesday, February 8-9, 2011; National Defense

Industrial Association, Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington, DC
WHAT: Defense, Diplomacy, and Development: Translating Policy into Operational
Capability
WHO: Keynote Speakers include ADM Michael Mullen, USN, Chairman, Joint Chiefs
of Staff; BG Simon Hutchinson, GBR, Deputy Commander, NATO Special Operations
Forces Headquarters; ADM Eric T. Olson, USN, Commander, U.S. Special Operations
Command; Gen Norton A. Schwartz, USAF, Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force
Info: http://www.ndia.org/meetings/1880/Pages/default.aspx
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FULL ARTICLE TEXT

New Africom chief will consider base in Africa despite initial opposition (The East
African)

The incoming head of the US Africa Command has promised to consider African
countries as part of a review of where Africom’s headquarters should be situated.

“I think we ought to consider locations on the continent of Africa,” Gen Carter Ham
told a US Senate panel that was assessing his appointment in November.
Gen Ham was chosen by President Barack Obama to succeed Africom’s first
commander, Gen William Ward, who recently visited Tanzania and Rwanda on a
“farewell tour.”

Gen Ward is credited with having partly soothed the suspicions with which many
African leaders have viewed Africom since its inception four years ago.

Liberia is the only African nation that has publicly offered to host Africom.

Misgivings among Africans about the command’s purposes caused the Pentagon to
scrap initial plans to locate Africom’s headquarters on the continent. It has been based
in Stuttgart, Germany, for the past three years.

“Some Africans worry that the move represents a neo-colonial effort to dominate the
region militarily,” the US Congress’ research arm said in a recent report reviewing
Africom’s creation and current status.

“Reports of US air strikes in Somalia in recent years and US support for Ethiopia’s
military intervention there have added to those concerns,” the report noted. “Many
view US counter-terrorism efforts in Africa with skepticism, and there appears to be a
widespread belief that the new command’s primary goals will be to hunt terrorists and
to secure US access to African oil.”

Africom is also seen as an instrument in the US competition with China for influence in
Africa.

In addition to the political obstacles to basing the command in Africa, a 2009 study cited
issues such as poor infrastructure as disincentives to moving the headquarters out of
Europe.

The instability of many African countries was seen in the study by US Navy officer Otto
Sieber as another factor in favour of keeping Africom’s nerve centre in Germany or
relocating it to the US.

Concerns about the safety of the 1,000 US military and civilian personnel who staff
Africom’s headquarters makes it additionally unlikely that the command will be moved
to a continent viewed as more vulnerable than Europe or North America to an attack by
militants.

Transportation factors, however, work in favour of a headquarters in Africa.

Stuttgart is eight hours by air from Kenya, for example, and alternate potential sites in
Europe and the US are not much closer.
Regardless of Africom’s ultimate location, this $300 million-a-year operation will
remain only one aspect of the US’s extensive military involvement in Africa.

Soon after the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, the US established a
military base in Djibouti.

Housed in a former French army installation called Camp Lemonnier, this Combined
Joint Task Force/Horn of Africa has emerged as an important strategic centre a short
distance from hotspots such as Somalia and Yemen.

The 2,000 troops based there conduct naval and air patrols while also carrying out
“hearts-and-minds” civic initiatives such as digging wells in northern Kenya.

The Djibouti-based force also conducts training for Ugandan and Burundian troops
defending the US-backed government in Somalia.

The US military has separately trained more than 150,000 African soldiers from 20-plus
countries during the past dozen years.
------------------
Nigeria: US Africa Command chief to visit Nigeria (Afrique en Ligne)

Lagos, Nigeria - Deputy Commander of the U.S. Africa Command, Ambassador J.

Anthony Holmes, will visit Nigeria 24-28 January, the US Embassy in Nigeria said in a
statement obtained by PANA here Thursday. During the visit, Ambassador Holmes
will meet with Nigerian military and security officials and their civilian counterparts to
gain a deeper understanding of both countries' military relationship, common security
goals on the continent and future priorities.

“In Lagos, Ambassador Holmes will call on senior Nigerian Navy commanders and
visit joint naval training facilities. In Abuja, Ambassador Holmes will meet with the
Honorable Minister of Defence and address military officers at the National Defense
College, before traveling to (northern city of) Kano to join a commissioning ceremony
for a U.S.-sponsored renovation of a facility for visually and hearing impaired
children,” the statement said.

As U.S. Africa Command’s Deputy for Civil-Military Activities (DCMA), Ambassador

Holmes directs programmes in health and humanitarian assistance, de-mining, disaster
response, security sector reform, and peace support operations.

The Tudun Maliki Special Education School in Kano is the only school for students who
are visually impaired or hearing impaired in Kano State.
Recent renovations of seven buildings at the school cost US$84,600 and will help to
alleviate overcrowding, improve sanitation and create a better learning environment for
the school's nearly 1,000 students.

A humanitarian assistance team from the Africa Command carried out the renovations,
in partnership with U.S. Mission Nigeria and Kano education authorities.

The school will also receive 5,000 books and 500 mosquito nets from the United States
Agency for International Development (USAID) American Educators for Africa project.
------------------
US envoy visits Nigeria over security (Next.com)

The Deputy to the Commander of the U.S. Africa Command will be visiting Nigeria
from January 24 to 28 to meet with the nation's security officials to evaluate the nation's
security challenges relative to the continent. According to a statement from the US
Diplomatic Mission during his stay, Anthony Holmes will be meeting with Nigerian
military and security officials and their civilian counterparts to gain a deeper
understanding of the U.S.-Nigeria military relationship, common security goals on the
continent, and future priorities.

Mr Holmes will be expected to call on senior Nigerian Naval commanders and visit
joint naval training facilities in Lagos. While in Abuja, he will meet with the minister of
defence and address military officers at the National Defence College, before travelling
to Kano to join a commissioning ceremony for a U.S. sponsored renovation of a facility
for visually and hearing impaired children. The Tudun Maliki Special Education School
in Kano is the only school for students who are visually impaired or hearing impaired
in Kano State where a recent renovations totalling $84,600 by U.S. Mission Nigeria and
Kano education authorities was carried out.

The school will also receive a total of 5,000 books and 500 mosquito nets from the
USAID American Educators for Africa project.
------------------
US focus on Africa to rise, but Agoa extension may hit resistance (Engineering News)

President Barack Obama’s Administration remained “profoundly committed to putting

Africa back at the centre of US foreign policy” and there would be “a greater emphasis
on Africa in 2011 and 2012”, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Diplomacy in the
Bureau of African Affairs Bruce Wharton said in Washington DC this week.

But he also warned that it would require a concerted effort to convince Americans to
extend the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), which currently offers
preferential market access on 7 000 African product lines. Agoa was due to come to an
end in 2015, and many African countries are expected to call for the scheme to be rolled
over.
Addressing foreign correspondents at the State Department, Wharton, whose 25-year
foreign service career has been split between South America and Africa, having served
stints in both South Africa and Zimbabwe, also indicated that the proposed
reprioritisation of Africa would be coupled to the creation of “new models for
development and partnerships”.

“For too long, I think, Africa and the United States have had a sort of a client/donor
relationship that has not worked well. And so, this administration is looking for new
models to do business,” Wharton said.

Envisaged is the development of “country-led” initiatives, which will seek to eschew an

approach whereby development packages are designed in Washington, “wrapped in a
nice ribbon” and offered to the rest of the world.

Nevertheless, the US will also continue with its large global initiatives, such as the ‘Feed
the Future’ project, a $3,5-billion-a-year initiative focused on sustainable agriculture, as
well as the ‘Global Health Initiative’.

On Agoa, Wharton said that the Administration “would very much like to see Agoa
continue”, but said that “it’s going to take a concerted effort to persuade people in this
country [the US] that Agoa remains a good investment”.

He added that, while the scheme had delivered benefits, these had not been “as great as
we would have wished”.

“I think if you look critically at the data from Agoa, it’s pretty clear that oil and
petroleum dominates African exports to the United States. There are some examples,
though, where it works very well, and we believe that it remains an important
framework for economic growth and partnership between Africa and the United
States,” he added.

But in the face of America’s own economic challenges, “it’s important for people like me
to make the case that Agoa ultimately translates into American jobs, as well as African
jobs”.

Wharton also made a commitment that he would work with members of Congress, as
well as with civil society and African allies, to seek an extension of the trade package.
------------------
Future of Sudan's Darfur uncertain post-referendum (Associated Press)

KHARTOUM, Sudan — Years before Sudan's south began casting votes for succession,
the woes of Africa's largest country were defined by the ethnic bloodshed in the
western Darfur region.
Now, international mediators and rights groups are calling for stronger efforts to settle
the eight-year Darfur conflict, fearing that the expected breakaway of the south may
push Khartoum's leaders to clamp down harder on dissent and place stricter limits on
an international role in Darfur and other areas that remain under its direct control.

Human Rights Watch and other groups say violence was already increasing in the vast
arid region in the lead-up to the southern referendum held earlier this month. At the
same time, government restrictions are making it harder to obtain information on
conditions there, they say.

On Friday there were reports of new clashes between the military and rebels in Darfur,
leaving 21 dead.

As many as 300,000 people have died as a result of the fighting in Darfur — a vast
region outside the secession-seeking south — between forces from the Arab-led central
government and rebel factions whose demands include greater control over natural
resources. At least 2.7 million people have been displaced inside Darfur and in
neighboring Chad.

The roots of the breakaway movement in the south are similar, but it's also fed by a
religious split between the Muslim-dominated north and the heavily Christian south.

The referendum for southern independence was part of a 2005 peace deal that ended
more than two decades of civil war. Preliminary results show overwhelming support to
create the world's newest nation.

American officials visited Darfur during the referendum to send a message that the
region will not be forgotten.

U.S. Senator John Kerry reminded Sudanese officials that prospects for improved
relations with the U.S. hinge on progress in Darfur. He also urged greater international
efforts to reach a resolution in Darfur after more than two years of talks in Qatar have
failed to reach a comprehensive peace deal.

Mediators from the African Union echoed Kerry's appeal.

Roger Middleton, a Sudan expert with the London-based Chatham House, said the
impact of the referendum on Darfur is still far from clear.

"There are two possibilities. One of them is that the loss of southern Sudan and the loss
of that big obstacle frees up Khartoum to really focus on winning a war — a political
war, at least — in Darfur and that gives them the ability and time and the money to
focus on that," he said.
The other possibility is that the Darfur rebels could take inspiration from the south "and
perhaps even potentially (see) an ally in the new southern independent state," said
Middleton.

In advance of the referendum, violence flared between government forces and the array
of Darfur rebel groups, which pledged to unite. U.N. officials said as many as 40,000
people were displaced by the December fighting.

The government walked out of peace talks held in Qatar's capital, Doha, after failing to
reach a cease-fire agreement. And a rebel leader who had signed a peace deal with the
government in 2006 fled to southern Sudan, prompting the government to declare him
a public enemy.

The "defection" of Minni Minawi, who was appointed a presidential adviser after
signing the peace deal, has raised alarms about the potential of proxy wars between
north and south.

"We don't think that it is in the best interest of the new state of south Sudan to be a
sanctuary" for rebel groups, the head of the U.N.-African Union peacekeeping mission,
Ibrahim Gambari, told The Associated Press.

He has held recent talks with the U.N. mission in Sudan over tightening security
cooperation along the 286-mile (460-kilometer) border between Darfur and breakaway
south Sudan. U.S. officials said President Barack Obama also raised the issue with the
southern Sudan president, Salva Kiir, before the referendum.

But despite a public promise from Kiir to deny Darfur rebels a home in southern Sudan,
Minawi is still in the south. He was quoted by Sudanese papers as saying there has been
no progress in talks with Khartoum officials over his return.

Mediators say the Doha peace talks are not dead. Shuttle diplomacy between rebel
groups and the government have already began and a small delegation from the main
rebel faction, the Justice and Equality Movement, is currently in Qatar.

"Now with the referendum and maybe in July the separation, I think the attention of the
international community will be focused ... to have a success story like with the north-
south," Gambari said, adding that sanctions against rebel groups refusing to join the
talks are also being considered.

There are fears, however, that Khartoum could move to limit access to Darfur and the
rest of its territory to international groups, like those providing crucial humanitarian
aid to the displaced.
The Small Arms Survey, a research project that monitors armed violence, said in a
January report that the northern ruling party has made it clear "it would set the price of
southern secession very high, and part of that price would be limitations on the
international community's role in and access to the north."

The report said mediators have expressed concern that a Darfur deal — if reached —
may be impossible to "implement in the shrinking political space that is expected to
follow the referendum."

Government officials said they hope a peaceful settlement with the south would open
the door to settle Darfur. Khaled Musa, Foreign Ministry spokesman, insisted armed
revolt will get the rebels nowhere.

"When the government signed (the southern peace deal) it was not in its weakest
political or military position. We had the upper hand," Musa said. "The only possible
way to resolve Darfur is through political negotiations."

But the rebel Justice and Equality movement accused government forces of capturing
some of its senior military commanders this week. It also condemned government
efforts to open dialogue with Darfur residents as an attempt to sideline the rebel
groups.

A Sudanese army spokesman said clashes erupted between army forces and JEM
fighters a week after the referendum, killing 21 people, including 13 rebel fighters.

"Our priority is to work within a united Sudan. But if the suffering and crimes continue
without a resolution, all options are open," said Ahmed Hussein, a spokesman for the
rebel group. "For now the focus is on working within a united Sudan and we don't
demand a separation for the time being."
------------------
Central African Republic goes to the polls (AFP)

BANGUI – Voters cast their ballots Sunday in the Central African Republic's
presidential and parliamentary polls, with incumbent President Francois Bozize widely
expected to retain power amid charges of fraud.

Polls opened well behind the scheduled time of 6:00 am (0500 GMT) in many parts of
the country of 4.5 million people and were set to close at 1500 GMT.

But in the capital Bangui, voting was extended by several hours in many polling
stations visited by AFP correspondents.

Security forces were keeping a close watch as people lined up to cast their ballots.
Some 1,500 national and international observers were on hand to scrutinise the double
vote in a country rich in raw materials such as diamonds, gold, and wood.

Provisional results are expected over the next week, after which the constitutional court
has a fortnight to validate them or voice objections.

Already the opposition has denounced irregularities, particularly the circulation of fake
polling cards and the late posting of electoral lists.

The polls come after a generally peaceful campaign without much mobilisation of the
1.8 million voters.

Bozize, who took power in a coup in 2003 and then won elections two years later,
presented himself as a "builder" who guaranteed peace and said his record spoke for
itself.

However former prime minister Martin Ziguele has charged that false voter registration
cards have been in circulation for months.

Bozize's four opponents include Ziguele as well as former president Ange-Felix Patasse
and former defence minister Jean-Jacques Demafouth.

Patasse, seen as Bozize's main challenger, is trying to make a comeback after being
ousted by the incumbent in 2003.

He has predicted that "Bozize will fiddle 10 or 20 percent of the vote, but it doesn't
matter, I'll beat him anyway." His spokesman Guy Simplice Kodegue said he plans to
lodge a complaint to the independent election commission.

Bozize has dismissed allegations of fraud, blaming the opposition for delaying the
elections from their original planned date of April last year.

The United Nations on Friday urged credible and transparent elections, the culmination
of a two-year-process in the impoverished nation with a history of coups and rebellions.

The polls come after a generally peaceful campaign without much mobilisation of the
1.8 million voters.

"I want work. And for that, we need peace and security," said Gervain Koufeu, a 26-
year-old street vendor who said he earns betwen nine and 18 euros a day.
------------------
Somalia Is Likely to Cut Ties To Mercenaries, Official Says (New York Times)
MOGADISHU, Somalia — The minister of information for the transitional federal
government here said Sunday that Somalia was likely to end its relationship with
Saracen International, a private security company in which South African mercenaries
and the founder of Blackwater Worldwide are said to be involved.

Saracen has offered to train the beleaguered government troops and battle pirates and
Islamist insurgents in Somalia, which has been steeped in civil war for two decades. But
after the recent disclosure of an African Union report that said Erik Prince, Blackwater’s
founder, provided seed money for the Saracen contract and was “at the top of the
management chain,” many of Somalia’s biggest financial supporters, including the
United States, have questioned the wisdom of the deal. Somali officials, in turn, have
cooled to the idea of working with Saracen.

“At this point, our collective thinking is that this is not a good thing,” said the minister
of information, Abdulkareem Jama.

“We don’t want to have anything to do with Blackwater,” he said, mentioning

accusations that Blackwater employees had killed civilians in Iraq. “We need help, but
we don’t want mercenaries.”

Mr. Jama’s word will not be the last concerning Saracen, whose clandestine operations
have incited controversy in Somalia’s Parliament. Several representatives have accused
the government of striking secret deals that could open Somalia to private security
companies and worsen the nation’s instability. Other Somali officials were said to be
debating, on Sunday night, how to handle Saracen.

Mr. Jama is considered one of the government’s most powerful ministers — he was the
president’s chief of staff until recently — and he sits on the four-member committee that
is entrusted with reviewing the Saracen contract. He said a final report would be given
to Parliament this week. “Our recommendation is not to go forward with this,” he said.
“This all has a bad taste.”

Somalia’s defense minister, Abdulhakim Mohamoud Haji Faqi, agreed: “We will not
accept any mercenaries.”

Mr. Faqi said, however, that Somalia desperately needed to improve its security forces,
which are struggling to control just a few square miles in a country that is about the size
of Texas. In Mogadishu, the capital, the sky flashes a violent orange almost every night
as government troops and insurgent forces shell each other by the old seaport.

Few, if any, Western nations want to send troops here, and for the time being, an 8,000-
member force from the African Union is keeping the fragile Somali government afloat.
Mr. Faqi said he was open to the idea of working with private security contractors to
“improve the capacity” of government troops — if another country would pay for it.
Somali officials have said that some Muslim nations, which were not identified, had
agreed to pay Saracen’s bill. Western officials said one of the countries was the United
Arab Emirates, where Mr. Prince lives.

According to a copy of a letter dated May 15, 2010, Somalia’s previous prime minister,
Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, planned to authorize Saracen to begin training and
equipping the Somali police. Mr. Sharmarke insists that he never wrote such a letter,
and it does not appear that the final contract has been signed.

The contract lists Lafras Luitingh, a former officer in South Africa’s Civil Cooperation
Bureau, an apartheid-era internal security force that was notorious for killing
government opponents, as Saracen’s chief operations officer.

The Saracen deal has been shrouded in mystery from the moment that African Union
officials began whispering about it in Nairobi, Kenya, in November. The company has
its headquarters in Saida, Lebanon, according to Somali government records, but it
appears to have been formed from the remnants of Executive Outcomes, a mercenary
firm comprised largely of former South African special forces.

Saracen’s Uganda subsidiary was implicated in a 2002 United Nations Security Council
report in the training of rebels in Congo who went on to massacre civilians and plunder
gold.

Saracen officials declined to comment Sunday, as did a spokesman for Mr. Prince. Last
week, Mr. Prince’s spokesman, Mark Corallo, challenged the African Union report,
saying that Mr. Prince had “no financial role” in Saracen and that he was primarily
involved in humanitarian efforts and in fighting pirates in Somalia. Mr. Prince, who
faces a wave of lawsuits, recently rebranded Blackwater as Xe Services.

Saracen signed a separate security-related deal with officials in Puntland, a

semiautonomous, pirate-infested region of northern Somalia. According to United
Nations officials, Saracen agents recently imported weapons into Puntland, a possible
violation of the longstanding arms embargo on Somalia, and Saracen agents have begun
training a heavily armed, antipirate militia.

Mr. Jama said he hoped that Puntland would “follow the direction of the federal
government and not continue with Saracen,” but officials there recently said they were
so fed up with the federal government’s lack of progress that they were going to cut
their ties.

On Sunday evening, Puntland’s information minister, Abdihakim Ahmed Guled,

declined to discuss Saracen, saying, “I cannot give you any information regarding this
case.”
------------------
South Korean special forces seize ship from Somali pirates (Associated Press)

SEOUL, South Korea — In a daring and rare raid Friday, South Korean special forces
rescued all 21 crew members aboard a freighter hijacked in the Arabian Sea near Africa,
killing eight pirates and capturing five others, South Korea said.

The military operation came a week after Somali pirates seized the South Korean
freighter and held hostage eight South Koreans, two Indonesians and 11 citizens from
Myanmar.

"We will not tolerate any behavior that threatens the lives and safety of our people in
the future," South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said in a brief televised statement.

Lee said he appreciated unspecified countries for cooperating in the military operation.
He didn't elaborate.

South Korea's special navy forces stormed the hijacked vessel in a pre-dawn rescue
operation that left eight of the pirates dead and five captured, Lt. Gen. Lee Seong-ho
told reporters.

The 11,500-ton chemical carrier Samho Jewelry was sailing from the United Arab
Emirates to Sri Lanka when it was hijacked.

It was the second vessel from South Korea-based Samho Shipping to be hijacked in the
past several months.

In November, Somali pirates freed the supertanker Samho Dream and its 24 crew —
five South Koreans and 19 Filipinos — after seven months of captivity.

Samho Shipping did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991. Piracy has flourished off its
coast, sometimes yielding multimillion-dollar ransoms.

The ransoms the pirates get are among the few regular sources of income for small
businesses that supply the pirates with food and other goods.

In April 2009, a French navy commando team stormed the yacht Tanit. The shootout
killed two pirates and one French hostage and freed four French citizens.

In the same year, U.S. navy snipers also shot three pirates who were holding an
American captain hostage in a lifeboat after they had abandoned a larger ship, the
Maersk Alabama.
------------------
West African Bank Replaces Head to Cut Off Ivory Coast Government (Voice of
America)

West African leaders have replaced the head of the region's central bank in a move to
further isolate the incumbent president of Ivory Coast who is refusing to give up power
to the internationally-recognized winner of November's vote.

West Africa's central bank last month announced it would sever incumbent president
Laurent Gbagbo's access to Ivorian funds as part of an effort to drive him from power in
favor of the man who most regional leaders say won the presidential election -former
prime minister Alassane Ouattara.

Gbagbo's government continued to have access to state funds, chiefly because central
bank governor Philippe Henri Dacoury-Tabley is a Gbagbo ally. So West African
leaders forced Tabley to resign.

Soumaila Cisse, the president of the West African Economic and Monetary Union, says
heads of state at an emergency meeting in Mali were concerned about the impact that
Tabley not applying their decision would have on the stability of the regional economic
and monetary union.

Cisse says the current vice-governor will take over until there is a permanent
replacement for Tabley. A written statement from the meeting says Ouattara has been
asked to nominate a candidate for that permanent replacement.

Ouattara's prime minister Guillaume Soro was at the meeting in Mali. He says the move
is further evidence of Gbagbo's isolation.

Soro says the conclusion presented by heads of state in Mali is clear. The central bank
governor has resigned and Ouattara will propose a new governor.

The European Union has frozen the assets of Ivory Coast's main cocoa ports, its state oil
firm, its main energy utility, its national broadcaster, and three banks because European
leaders say those firms are helping to fund what they call an illegitimate government.

The U.S. treasury has frozen Gbagbo's accounts and banned Americans from doing
business with his government.

Gbagbo's government says those economic sanctions will hurt foreign businesses more
than Ivorians because they can buy manufactured goods from Asia and South America
but there is nowhere else in the world that has as much cocoa as Ivory Coast.
West African leaders are also considering a regional military force to remove Gbagbo.
Ouattara says that force may now be necessary.
------------------
Tunisian Police Arrest Allies of Ben Ali (Associated Press)

TUNIS, Tunisia — Police in Tunisia cracked down Sunday on key allies of the ousted
president, placing two high-ranking officials under house arrest and detaining the head
of a well-known private TV station for allegedly trying to slow down the country's
nascent steps toward democracy.

The measures against former cronies and supporters of deposed President Zine El
Abidine Ben Ali came amid continued street protests in the North African country's
capital, Tunis, and efforts by the tenuous interim government to heed the incessant
groundswell of opposition to his old guard.

Hundreds of protesters, many from Tunisia's provinces south of the capital, rallied in
Tunis to press on with demands that holdovers of Mr. Ben Ali's repressive 23-year
regime be kept out of power.

Tunisia's "Jasmine Revolution" drove the iron-fisted Mr. Ben Ali to flee to Saudi Arabia
on Jan. 14, and sparked similar protests and civil disobedience across the Middle East
and North Africa. Many observers were looking to see if Tunisians can complete their
fervent push for democracy.

State news agency TAP reported that Larbi Nasri, the president of privately owned
Hannibal TV, was arrested along with his son on charges of "high treason" and plotting
against state security.

The station, which has become one of Tunisia's most popular channels mainly for its
sports coverage and lively talk shows, almost immediately stopped its broadcasts.

Mr. Nasri, who has family ties to Mr. Ben Ali's widely despised wife, Leila Trabelsi, is
accused of using his channel to "cause the revolution of the young to fail, sow chaos,
incite disobedience and broadcast information" aimed to hoodwink the public, TAP
said. The ultimate aim, its report said, was "to restore the dictatorship of the former
president."

TAP also reported that former Ben Ali advisers Abdallah Kallel and Abdelaziz Ben
Dhia were placed under house arrest, and police are looking for a third man,
Abdelwaheb Abdallah.

Mr. Kallel, the Senate president and a former government minister, was stopped from
leaving the country after Mr. Ben Ali fled. A Geneva-based legal advocacy group, Trial,
said torture was widespread in Tunisia while Mr. Kallel was interior minister in the
early 1990s.

Mr. Ben Dhia is considered one of Mr. Ben Ali's most influential advisers, and Mr.
Abdallah was a top political adviser to the former president who kept tabs on
communication, notably on Tunisia's powerful state-run media.

Some Tunisians who have been protesting praised the house arrests.

"I started applauding and singing in the house when I heard the news," teacher Leila
Labidi, 35, told The Associated Press. "These men were like the right hands of Ben
Ali....guiding him to more oppression of the people."

"It's also proof that the people's voice is being heard and our demands are being met
slowly," she added. "This is only the beginning.... The revolution won't quiet until all of
them are removed."

The demonstrators scattered throughout the capital, near the prime minister's office, the
finance and defense ministries, and a city office building, waving banners and photos of
a young man who set himself on fire and triggering the uprising that ended Mr. Ben
Ali's rule.

"Bouazizi gave his life for his country," read one banner honoring 26-year-old
Mohamed Bouazizi, who set himself on fire in central Sidi Bouzid last month to protest
harassment under Mr. Ben Ali.

The pilgrimage billed as the "Caravan of Freedom" left Saturday on a 200-mile trek to
Tunis by car, truck and motorcycle from around Sidi Bouzid, protester Tahri Nabil said.
Some hitchhiked or walked.

"We don't want Sidi Bouzid to continue to be marginalized like it was in the previous
decades," said Nabil, a French language teacher who lives in the town of Menzel
Bouzayane near Sidi Bouzid.

Weeks of public upheaval and the shooting deaths of some protesters by police on
orders from Mr. Ben Ali's government helped send him fleeing. But daily protests have
continued to force the old guard from power.

Some at the Tunis protest Sunday carried a makeshift coffin that was draped in a
Tunisian flag, in a symbol of those who died as "martyrs" of the uprising.

Many marchers in this predominantly Muslim country chanted the line "There is no
God but God, and the Martyr is God's Beloved" and some held aloft signs saying "Long
live a Free Tunisia" and urging Mr. Ben Ali's former RCD party to be banned from
power.

"We have gotten rid of the head of the snake but the tail is still alive, and we need to
completely kill it," said protester Nizar Bouazziz, a 24-year-old student who said he
walked to the rally from Sidi Bouzid.

"We are here to support our people and the revolution," he added. "We don't want to
see one party gone and then another same oppressive party in its place. We want the
Tunisians who have been forced to exile and who have good education and money to
come back and invest in this country."

Weeks of public upheaval and the shooting deaths of some protesters by police on
orders from Mr. Ben Ali's government helped send him fleeing. But daily peaceful
protests have continued to try to force the old guard from power.

Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi, who took that post in 1999 under Mr. Ben Ali
and has kept it through the upheaval, has vowed to quit politics after coming elections.
But he has insisted that he needs to stay on to shepherd Tunisia through a transition to
democracy. Many other cabinet members are also Ben Ali-era holdovers.
------------------
Oil-Field Contractor in Ghana Is Probed (Wall street Journal)

Kosmos Energy Ltd., a major player in exploiting a vast new oil field in Ghana, revealed
it is the latest energy company grappling with the fallout from a U.S. crackdown on
corporate bribery in foreign countries.

Kosmos said in documents filed last week with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission that it and its partners in the Jubilee field are looking into "potential
violations" of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by one of the project's contractors.
Their inquiry involves Modec Inc., a Japanese company that owns the specialized vessel
Kosmos and its partners have hired to extract and collect crude oil from the offshore
field, which is among the past decade's largest oil discoveries.

Modec didn't respond to a request for comment. In a July 2010 statement posted on its
website, Modec said it was "undertaking a due diligence" of its service agreement with
another contractor, at the request of one of Jubilee's owners. "Modec has retained
outside independent counsel for this purpose," the statement said.

Production from the Jubilee field began last month, thrusting Ghana into the ranks of
Africa's emerging oil producers and giving Dallas-based Kosmos, a private-equity-
backed venture that owns a 23% stake in the field, the opportunity to reap a big return
on its estimated investment of about $1 billion.
The International Finance Corp., a World Bank entity that helped finance the Modec
vessel, is also investigating the situation, according to the filing, which Kosmos made in
connection with a planned initial public stock offering. Lance Crist, the IFC's global
head of oil and gas investments, said the agency is in the process of finalizing its due
diligence on the matter.

The disclosure underscores the potential hazards that oil companies face when
operating on frontiers such as West Africa. Many West African nations are ranked
among the world's most corrupt by antibribery groups.

In recent years, the Justice Department has aggressively pursued violations of the
FCPA, which bars U.S. companies from paying, or offering to pay, foreign-government
officials or employees of state-owned companies to gain a business advantage. The
department has warned that companies bear responsibility for the behavior of vendors
and contractors. The number of FCPA enforcement actions increased by 85% from 2009
to 2010, according to law firm Morrison & Foerster.

The Justice Department declined to comment on the Modec matter or say whether it
was investigating Modec or Kosmos. Companies often look into suspected FCPA
violations on their own because department officials have said they may show leniency
to companies that report their own violations.

In November, Royal Dutch Shell PLC and six other companies agreed to pay a
combined $236 million to settle allegations they or their contractors bribed foreign
officials to smooth the way for importing equipment and materials into several
countries, including Nigeria and Angola. A Shell spokeswoman has said Shell
cooperated with the probe and fired or disciplined employees in its aftermath.

Schlumberger Ltd., the largest oilfield-services company in the world, is being

investigated by the Justice Department for possible bribery in Yemen. Other large
services firms, such as Halliburton Co. and Baker Hughes Inc. have in recent years
settled cases with federal authorities over bribery allegations in Africa and Central Asia.

Kosmos failed last year in its attempt to sell its stake in Jubilee—its major asset—to the
world's biggest publicly traded oil company,Exxon Mobil Corp.

Now, Kosmos is counting on the field's income to attract investors to its planned IPO of
$500 million worth of shares. Kosmos is majority-owned by the private-equity firms
Blackstone Group LP and Warburg Pincus LLC.

Kosmos's filing said that the Jubilee partners' inquiry has triggered a suspension of
Modec's loans with a syndicate of unidentified international banks. If Modec can't get
funding, Jubilee's owners could be forced to buy its oil-producing and storing vessel
before Sept. 15, 2011, in order to keep oil flowing. If they can't, and lose access to the
ship, production would have to stop, according to the filing.

Analysts and Jubilee's owners played down the risk of that scenario, however. A
spokesman for Anadarko Petroleum Corp., which also owns a 23% stake in the field,
said "regardless of the outcome, we do not anticipate this will impact our costs or
operations."
------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

Latest round of UN-backed Western Sahara talks concludes in New York

23 January – The fifth round of United Nations-backed informal talks on the dispute
over Western Sahara ended on Sunday with Morocco and the Frente Polisario agreeing
to continue their discussions in March.

UN-AU force monitoring Darfur camp after Government search operation

23 January – The joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission has stepped
up its presence in a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in North Darfur, after
Government forces carried out an extensive search operation early Sunday without
notifying or consulting the mission first.

Somali drought worsening, driving herders with livestock into capital, UN says
21 January – The drought is worsening in many parts of strife-torn Somalia, with
herders reported to be moving into Mogadishu, the capital, with their livestock for the
first time ever due to lack of pasture and water, the United Nations reported today.

Ban hopes Central African Republic elections will advance stability

21 January – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced the hope today that Central African
Republic’s (CAR) delayed presidential and legislative elections, slated for Sunday, will
help lay the foundation for stability and development in a country riven by fighting.

Heavy rainfall triggers flood alert in southern Africa – UN

21 January – Five countries in southern Africa have issued flood warnings following
unusually heavy rainfall throughout the region, the United Nations humanitarian office
reported today.