africom related-news clips 1 dec 2011

8/3/2019 AFRICOM Related-News clips 1 Dec 2011

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You might not know it from national press reports, but there are plenty of Members ofCongress of both political parties who think that cutting the military budget is a perfectlyreasonable thing to do, and have concrete ideas for doing so.

Boko Harem: emerging threat to U.S. homeland (Homeland Security Policy

Institute)http://securitydebrief.com/2011/11/30/boko-harem-threat-homeland/By Chris Battle30 November 2011According to Ambassador Anthony Holmes, Deputy to the Commander for CivilMilitaryActivities (DCMA) of United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), members of BokoHaram are being trained by Al Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

Nigerian terrorists pose threat to U.S. (Washington Times)

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/nov/30/nigerian-terrorists-pose-threat-to-us/30 November 2011

The Nigerian Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram poses an emerging threat to theUnited States and is set to join other al Qaeda affiliates in plotting attacks against the U.S.homeland, a congressional panel said Wednesday.

Horn of Africa Crisis: Somalia's Famine (Al Jazeera)

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/faultlines/2011/11/201111271473753430.html30 November 2011In the first of a two-part series examining the US response to drought and hunger in theHorn of Africa, Fault Lines travels to Mogadishu to meet refugees who have fled to themost war-ravaged city in the world to escape a worse fate, and the aid and medicalworkers struggling to help them. We examine the legacy of US engagement in Somaliaand its efforts to address the current crisis.

Shabaab Rebels Warn Ethiopia Against Military Intervention in Somalia

http://www.ezega.com/News/NewsDetails.aspx?Page=heads&NewsID=3139November 30, 2011Shabaab insurgents have released a statement warning Ethiopia against militaryintervention in Somalia. The Al-Qaeda-linked rebel group warns Addis Ababa troops ofpainful death and ruthless imprisonment and heavy losses if they embark on a newoffensive against the Shabaab.

Kenya moves to ease tensions with Sudan (Daily Nation)

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/Kenya+moves+to+ease+tensions+with+Sudan++/-/1066/1282298/-/quv6y9/-/By Peter Leftie30 November 2011Kenya launched a major diplomatic offensive to repair relations with Sudan onWednesday after President Omar al-Bashir expelled her ambassador to Khartoum.

China pledges $2.3m to Uganda in military assistance (AFP)

U.S. Africa Command Public Affairs Office +49(0)[email protected]
http://securitydebrief.com/2011/11/30/boko-harem-threat-homeland/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/nov/30/nigerian-terrorists-pose-threat-to-us/http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/faultlines/2011/11/201111271473753430.htmlhttp://www.ezega.com/News/NewsDetails.aspx?Page=heads&NewsID=3139http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/Kenya+moves+to+ease+tensions+with+Sudan++/-/1066/1282298/-/quv6y9/-/http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/Kenya+moves+to+ease+tensions+with+Sudan++/-/1066/1282298/-/quv6y9/-/http://securitydebrief.com/2011/11/30/boko-harem-threat-homeland/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/nov/30/nigerian-terrorists-pose-threat-to-us/http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/faultlines/2011/11/201111271473753430.htmlhttp://www.ezega.com/News/NewsDetails.aspx?Page=heads&NewsID=3139http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/Kenya+moves+to+ease+tensions+with+Sudan++/-/1066/1282298/-/quv6y9/-/http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/Kenya+moves+to+ease+tensions+with+Sudan++/-/1066/1282298/-/quv6y9/-/


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http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iSBltM7R9LZuBC6RRIFBSGarTjmQ?docId=CNG.85a35c9c6af40ba247ab9ea982e58b0d.9d130 November 2011China pledged more than $2.3 million in military assistance to Uganda during a high-profile visit to Kampala by Beijing's defence minister, a spokesman for the Ugandan

army said Wednesday.

Ex-Ivory Coast leader faces charges in Hague (Al Jazeera)

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/11/20111129211810394262.html30 November 2011Ivory Coast's former president Laurent Gbagbo will appear before the InternationalCriminal Court in The Hague within days to face charges of crimes against humanity.Gbagbo is the first former head of state taken into custody by the court since it wasestablished in 2002.

Early Results in Egypt Show a Mandate for Islamists (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/world/middleeast/voting-in-egypt-shows-mandate-for-islamists.html?hp30 November 2011By David D. KirkpatrickIslamists claimed a decisive victory on Wednesday as early election results put them ontrack to win a dominant majority in Egypts first Parliament since the ouster of HosniMubarak, the most significant step yet in the religious movements rise since the start ofthe Arab Spring.

It's Pentagon/NATO versus the BRICS (Al Jazeera)

http://www.tehrantimes.com/component/content/article/84-perspectives/93135-its-pentagonnato-versus-the-bricsBy Pepe Escobar30 November 2011Few may have noticed when, last week, U.S. State Department spokeswoman VictoriaNuland cryptically announced that Washington "would cease carrying out certainobligations under the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty with regard toRussia".

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UN News Service Africa Briefs

http://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICA

Ex-Ivorian leader Gbagbo arrives at ICC to face charges of crimes against humanity

30 November Laurent Gbagbo, the former president of Cte dIvoire, arrived at theInternational Criminal Court (ICC) today to face charges of crimes against humanity

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iSBltM7R9LZuBC6RRIFBSGarTjmQ?docId=CNG.85a35c9c6af40ba247ab9ea982e58b0d.9d1http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iSBltM7R9LZuBC6RRIFBSGarTjmQ?docId=CNG.85a35c9c6af40ba247ab9ea982e58b0d.9d1http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/11/20111129211810394262.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/world/middleeast/voting-in-egypt-shows-mandate-for-islamists.html?hphttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/world/middleeast/voting-in-egypt-shows-mandate-for-islamists.html?hphttp://www.tehrantimes.com/component/content/article/84-perspectives/93135-its-pentagonnato-versus-the-bricshttp://www.tehrantimes.com/component/content/article/84-perspectives/93135-its-pentagonnato-versus-the-bricshttp://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICAhttp://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iSBltM7R9LZuBC6RRIFBSGarTjmQ?docId=CNG.85a35c9c6af40ba247ab9ea982e58b0d.9d1http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iSBltM7R9LZuBC6RRIFBSGarTjmQ?docId=CNG.85a35c9c6af40ba247ab9ea982e58b0d.9d1http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/11/20111129211810394262.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/world/middleeast/voting-in-egypt-shows-mandate-for-islamists.html?hphttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/world/middleeast/voting-in-egypt-shows-mandate-for-islamists.html?hphttp://www.tehrantimes.com/component/content/article/84-perspectives/93135-its-pentagonnato-versus-the-bricshttp://www.tehrantimes.com/component/content/article/84-perspectives/93135-its-pentagonnato-versus-the-bricshttp://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICA


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committed during the country's recent post-election violence.

(Full Articles on UN Website)

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Upcoming Events of Interest:

2 December 2011Middle East Institute (MEI) Discussion on "Insights from Egypt's First Round of

Voting."

Speakers: Joshua Stacher, Kent State University and Mohamed Elmenshawy, Al ShoroukNews, Middle East Institute Scholar; moderated by Graeme Bannerman, Middle EastInstitute Scholar

WHERE: MEI, 1761 N Street, NWCONTACT: 202-785-1141; web site: www.mei.eduSOURCE: MEI - event announcement at:http://www.mei.edu/Events/Calendar/tabid/504/vw/3/ItemID/370/d/20111202/Default.aspx

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New onwww.africom.mil

USS De Wert Helps School in Dar Es Salaam

http://www.africom.mil/getArticle.asp?art=7466&lang=0By Lieutenant Peter DietzUSS De Wert Public Affairs

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, Nov 30, 2011 Sailors assigned to the guided-missilefrigate USS De Wert (FFG 45) participated in a community service project at theMakongo Primary School in Dar Es Salaam, November 26, 2011.

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FULL TEXT

Senators Have Ideas for Cutting the Military Budget (Huffington Post)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/military-spending_b_1121210.htmlBy Robert Naiman

http://www.mei.edu/Events/Calendar/tabid/504/vw/3/ItemID/370/d/20111202/Default.aspxhttp://www.mei.edu/Events/Calendar/tabid/504/vw/3/ItemID/370/d/20111202/Default.aspxhttp://www.africom.mil/http://www.africom.mil/http://www.africom.mil/getArticle.asp?art=7466&lang=0http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/military-spending_b_1121210.htmlhttp://www.mei.edu/Events/Calendar/tabid/504/vw/3/ItemID/370/d/20111202/Default.aspxhttp://www.mei.edu/Events/Calendar/tabid/504/vw/3/ItemID/370/d/20111202/Default.aspxhttp://www.africom.mil/http://www.africom.mil/getArticle.asp?art=7466&lang=0http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/military-spending_b_1121210.html


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You might not know it from national press reports, but there are plenty of Members ofCongress of both political parties who think that cutting the military budget is a perfectlyreasonable thing to do, and have concrete ideas for doing so.

(The New York Times did note last week that the leaderships of both parties are content

to let stand the automatic cuts to the previously projected military budget mandated bythe Budget Control Act.)

You can see that senators have ideas for cutting the military budget from the list ofamendments filed in the Senate to the National Defense Authorization Act, currentlyunder consideration. [To weigh in with your senators on these amendments, you can usethe toll-free number established by the Friends Committee on National Legislation: 1-877-429-0678.]

Even if many of these amendments don't pass in the next few days, these ideas will stillbe nominees for consideration as the Pentagon considers how it wishes to cough up an

additional half trillion dollars in savings from previously projected spending over the nextten years, as mandated by the Budget Control Act.

Here is a partial list of amendments of interest to those who wish to cut the militarybudget (culled from a longer list of amendments compiled by the Council for a LivableWorld). The first two -- accelerated military withdrawal from Afghanistan andestablishing a commission on the closing of foreign military bases -- are my personalfavorites. Regarding the latter, I especially hope that the establishment of such a foreign-bases-closing-commission will help strike the death blow for the hated Futenma base inOkinawa -- a base whose planned relocation in Okinawa a Japanese defense officialrecently compared to rape.

Afghanistan: Merkley (D-OR), Baucus (D-MT), Bingaman (D-NM), Brown (D-OH),Cardin (D-MD), Conrad (D-ND), Durbin (D-IL), Gillibrand (D-NY), Harkin (D-IA),Leahy (D-VT), Lee (R-UT), Manchin (D-WV), Paul (R-KY), Rockefeller (D-WV),Sanders (D-VT), Schumer (D-NY), Udall (D-NM) and Whitehouse (D-RI) amendmentNo. 1174 (and several variations) to urge an accelerated withdrawal of U.S. forces fromAfghanistan.

American bases overseas: Tester (D-MT) and Hutchison (R-TX) amendment No. 1145,corresponding to their bill S. 1733 to establish a commission to consider closing overseasmilitary bases.

Spending in Afghanistan: McCaskill (D-MO) amendment No. 1430 to limit spending oncapital projects in Afghanistan.

Reduce the funding: Paul (R-KY) amendment No. 1268 to reduce the topline (non-war)number in the bill by 1% to $559.5 billion. He also has amendment No. 1270 to reducethe bill by 2% to $553.9 billion.



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Cluster munitions: Feinstein (D-CA) and Leahy (D-VT) amendment No. 1252 to bar theuse of most cluster munitions.

Troops in Europe: Sessions (R-AL) amendment No. 1182 to limit U.S. combat brigadespermanently station in Europe to two, compared to four now, effective January 1, 2016.

Auditing Pentagon books: Paul (R-KY) amendment No. 1063 to require the Pentagon tohave its books ready for an audit by September 30, 2014. Ayotte (R-NH) has a relatedamendment No. 1066. McCain (D-AZ), Levin (D-MI) and Ayotte (R-NH) have a relatedamendment No. 1132.

AFRICOM headquarters: Paul (R-KY) amendment No. 1136 to bar placing AFRICOMheadquarters outside of continental U.S. Hutchison (R-TX) has a related amendment No.1232 that is a sense of the Senate resolution.

Chemical weapons: Wyden (D-OR) amendment No. 1160 to close the Umatilla Army

Chemical Depot in Oregon.

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Boko Harem: emerging threat to U.S. homeland (Homeland Security Policy

Institute)

http://securitydebrief.com/2011/11/30/boko-harem-threat-homeland/By Chris Battle

The House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence hasissued a report calling attention to a new threat to the U.S.homeland. Boko Harem has upto this point focused largely in Nigeria has turned its violence toward internationaltargets. From the introduction of the congressional report:

According to Ambassador Anthony Holmes, Deputy to the Commander for CivilMilitaryActivities (DCMA) of United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), members of BokoHaram are being trained by Al Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

They are also believed to have ties to the Somalian militant group al Shabaab. Thiscooperation, combined with the increased sophistication of attacks executed by BokoHaram, have led to concerns from the U.S. Intelligence Community over the sects intentand capability to strike Western targets in Nigeria, throughout Africa, and mostimportantly, the U.S. Homeland.

Historically, Boko Haram has been focused on Nigerian government targets. Untilrecently, Western intelligence services did not widely view Boko Haram as a potentialthreat. Even after the U.N. attack, Nigerian experts remain skeptical about Boko Haramsintent and capability to strike U.S. interests and the homeland. However, in the recentpast, the U.S. Intelligence Community has underestimated the intent and capability ofother terrorist groups to launch attacks against the U.S. Homeland.

http://securitydebrief.com/2011/11/30/boko-harem-threat-homeland/http://securitydebrief.com/2011/11/30/boko-harem-threat-homeland/


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View the full report at: http://homeland.house.gov/sites/homeland.house.gov/files/Boko%20Haram-%20Emerging%20Threat%20to%20the%20US%20Homeland.pdf

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Nigerian terrorists pose threat to U.S. (Washington Times)

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/nov/30/nigerian-terrorists-pose-threat-to-us/30 November 2011

The Nigerian Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram poses an emerging threat to theUnited States and is set to join other al Qaeda affiliates in plotting attacks against the U.S.homeland, a congressional panel said Wednesday.

U.S. intelligence agencies must not underestimate Boko Harams ability and desire tostrike directly at the United States, a mistake they made with al Qaeda affiliates in both

Pakistan and Yemen in recent years, a House Homeland Security subcommittee said in abipartisan staff report published at a hearing Wednesday.

The U.S. intelligence community must not underestimate Boko Harams intent andcapability to strike U.S. interests and most importantly, the U.S. homeland, said Rep.Patrick Meehan, Pennsylvania Republican and chairman of the Homeland Securitysubcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence.

The report noted that Boko Haram has begun to employ hallmark al Qaeda tactics in oil-rich Nigeria. The terrorists have used truck bombs, coordinated multiple suicide attacksand released martyrdom videos.

There have also been increasingly close connections between some Boko Haram leadersand al Qaeda-linked groups in Africa, like al Shabab in Somalia and al Qaeda in theIslamic Maghreb, it said.

In August, Boko Haram attacked the U.N. headquarters in the capital Abuja with asuicide truck-bomb, killing 21 people in its first attack against an international target. Ithas also threatened Nigerias oil infrastructure.

The U.N. attack and reports of links between Boko Haram and other Islamist terrorgroups may signal a shift [from a purely national or regional strategy] towards a moreglobal militant ideology, said California Rep. Jackie Speier of California, the seniorDemocrat on the subcommittee.

The rapid evolution in tactics and targets by Boko Haram mirrors the trajectory takenby other al Qaeda affiliates, which have attempted to strike directly at the United States.

Mr. Meehan noted that the so-called underwear bomber who tried to blow up a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas Day 2009 was linked to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

http://homeland.house.gov/sites/homeland.house.gov/files/Boko%20Haram-%20Emerging%20Threat%20to%20the%20US%20Homeland.pdfhttp://homeland.house.gov/sites/homeland.house.gov/files/Boko%20Haram-%20Emerging%20Threat%20to%20the%20US%20Homeland.pdfhttp://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/nov/30/nigerian-terrorists-pose-threat-to-us/http://homeland.house.gov/sites/homeland.house.gov/files/Boko%20Haram-%20Emerging%20Threat%20to%20the%20US%20Homeland.pdfhttp://homeland.house.gov/sites/homeland.house.gov/files/Boko%20Haram-%20Emerging%20Threat%20to%20the%20US%20Homeland.pdfhttp://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/nov/30/nigerian-terrorists-pose-threat-to-us/


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He added that the failed truck-bombing of Times Square in New York in May 2010 wasplotted by a Pakistani-American trained by the al Qaeda-linked Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan.

There is little evidence at this moment to suggest that Boko Haram is planning attacksagainst the homeland, said Mr. Meehan.

However, he added, that a lack of evidence does not mean that it cannot happen.

Mr. Meehan noted that U.S. intelligence agencies have very recently been wrong aboutal Qaeda affiliates intent and capability to strike the homeland with nearly deadlyconsequences.

We underestimate emerging terror groups at our peril, he said.

A well-coordinated series of attacks by Boko Haram in Nigeria could completely [cut]off oil production in the West African nation and cause a spike in oil prices worldwide

and soaring domestic gas prices, the report warned

Nigeria is the worlds fourth largest oil producer and accounted for eight percent of U.S.oil imports last year.

Ms. Speier cautioned that little is known about Boko Haram in part because of its rapidrise. She urged U.S. agencies to redouble their efforts to find out about its membershipstrength and leadership cadre, as well as the true nature of its ties to other groups.

She called for increased counter-terrorism cooperation with the Nigerian government andoutreach to the Nigerian people, especially the Muslim community, to help U.S.officials better understand the appeal of a group like Boko Haram.

About half of Nigerias 155 million people are Muslims and 40 percent of the populationis under 40 years old.

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Horn of Africa Crisis: Somalia's Famine (Al Jazeera)

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/faultlines/2011/11/201111271473753430.html30 November 2011(Follow link to full video story)

The worst drought in 60 years has thrown some 13 million people across the Horn ofAfrica into crisis.

In Somalia, ravaged by two decades of conflict, the consequences have been disastrous.For over six months, aid agencies on the ground sounded the alarm that a major droughtand famine was on the horizon.

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Then in July and August, the world watched and international aid agencies scrambled astens of thousands of Somalis fled famine and fighting in the devastated Southern part ofthe country, controlled by the armed group al-Shabab. And they continued to flee - to theSomali capital of Mogadishu, and refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia - in thefollowing months, when the world seemed to lose interest.

Tens of thousands of Somalis have died and the UN has warned that three quarters of amillion more are at risk of dying before the end of the year.

Somalia's weak Transitional Federal Government, the Obama administration, and theUnited Nations have all blamed the anti-government group al-Shabab for restrictinginternational aid operations in the areas they control. But is al-Shabab the only reason adrought and food crisis has turned into a deadly famine?

In the first of a two-part series examining the US response to drought and hunger in theHorn of Africa, Fault Lines travels to Mogadishu to meet refugees who have fled to the

most war-ravaged city in the world to escape a worse fate, and the aid and medicalworkers struggling to help them. We examine the legacy of US engagement in Somaliaand its efforts to address the current crisis.

Has aid in this region of the world become politicised? And has Washington's pre-occupation with terrorism in the Horn of Africa contributed to the deadly consequencesof this disaster?

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Shabaab Rebels Warn Ethiopia Against Military Intervention in Somalia

http://www.ezega.com/News/NewsDetails.aspx?Page=heads&NewsID=3139November 30, 2011

Shabaab insurgents have released a statement warning Ethiopia against militaryintervention in Somalia. The Al-Qaeda-linked rebel group warns Addis Ababa troops ofpainful death and ruthless imprisonment and heavy losses if they embark on a newoffensive against the Shabaab. The statement, warning the Ethiopians, read, Let themcome and sniff the kind of gunpowder we have here.

Meanwhile, locals have reportedly seen convoys of Ethiopian troops with tanks enteringSomalia and moving toward the Shabaab -controlled central areas of Guriel andBaladwayne, merely a few days after Addis Ababa declared its plan to send troops toSomalia for a brief period to support the cause of Somali people and fight against theShabaab, who are facing offensive from Somali and Kenya forces. Earlier, East Africanleaders called on Addis Ababa to support the African Union, Kenyan, and Somali troopsfighting the Shabaab rebels. Kenya accuses the rebel group of planning frequent attacksagainst its security forces and tourists.

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An Ethiopian official has acknowledged sending a small military force on areconnaissance mission to Somalia. However, the Ethiopian Government had earlierdenied having sent military trucks and armored vehicles to the war-torn Horn of Africastate. Another senior official belonging to the Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca group confirmedthe Ethiopian deployment.

On Monday, al-Shabaab group banned 16 assistance groups from its stronghold region ofcentral and southern Somalia for carrying out illicit activities and misconduct. Thebanned aid agencies include half a dozen UN agencies, including UNHCR, World HealthOrganization, UNICEF, Norwegian Refugee Council, German Agency For Technical Co-operation, Solidarity, Danish Refugee Council, and Action Contre la Faim, amongothers . The rebel group has been standing against any assistance from the outside worldand accused the banned aid groups of misappropriating funds, disseminating informationon their activities, collecting data, aiding and abetting subversive activities andfinancing rebellious groups, and working in cahoots with "international bodies" with amission to destroy the basic tenants of Islam and promote immorality, secularism, and

"degrading values of democracy in an Islamic country." The militant group also blamesthe aid organizations for persistently galvanising the Somalis against the Shari'ah law.

In 2006, Ethiopia sent its troops to Somalia against the Islamist Islamic Courts Union(ICU). The Ethiopian troops returned by early 2009 after ousting the ICU from de factopower in the Somali capital. However, the Ethiopians faced accusations of interventionduring the period, which made them hugely unpopular with the local population. It isblamed that the Ethiopian intervention gave the al Shabaab militants a reason to rallytogether, following which the rebels became all powerful. The Islamic militant group isnotorious for its brutal punishment system. It carries out stoning, amputations,beheadings against anybody considered a rebel in its eyes.

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Kenya moves to ease tensions with Sudan (Daily Nation)

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/Kenya+moves+to+ease+tensions+with+Sudan++/-/1066/1282298/-/quv6y9/-/By Peter Leftie30 November 2011

Kenya launched a major diplomatic offensive to repair relations with Sudan onWednesday after President Omar al-Bashir expelled her ambassador to Khartoum.

President Kibaki is said to have dispatched a personal envoy to Khartoum to discuss thediplomatic rift triggered by Mondays High Court ruling ordering the police to arrest theSudanese leader and hand him over to the International Criminal Court (ICC) if he setsfoot in the country.

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/Kenya+moves+to+ease+tensions+with+Sudan++/-/1066/1282298/-/quv6y9/-/http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/Kenya+moves+to+ease+tensions+with+Sudan++/-/1066/1282298/-/quv6y9/-/http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/Kenya+moves+to+ease+tensions+with+Sudan++/-/1066/1282298/-/quv6y9/-/http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/Kenya+moves+to+ease+tensions+with+Sudan++/-/1066/1282298/-/quv6y9/-/


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The government, at the same time, requested Sudans envoy to Kenya Kamal IsmaelSaeed not to leave the country. He had been recalled to Khartoum following thediplomatic rift occasioned by Justice Nicholas Ombijas ruling.

Khartoum ordered Kenyas ambassador to Sudan, Mr Robert Mutua Ngesu, to leave the

country within 72 hours as relations between the two countries rapidly deteriorated.

Mr Saeed told the Nation on Wednesday he had been asked not to leave the country untilhe holds consultations with Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula upon his returnfrom Bujumbura, Burundi where he accompanied President Kibaki to a meeting of theEast African Community.

I talked to the Foreign Affairs Minister and we agreed that I should not leave until wediscuss the matter when he comes back from Bujumbura. I believe he will return onSaturday, the envoy said.

President Al-Bashir is wanted at the ICC for crimes against humanity and genocide.

The Foreign ministry in Khartoum was quoted by Sudanese media on Tuesday suggestingthat the orders were personally made by President Al-Bashir.

Mr Saeed confirmed that President Kibaki had requested to send a personal envoy toKhartoum to iron out the differences, saying the tension between the two countries waseasing.

I am aware the Kenyan president has asked to send a special envoy to Khartoum todiscuss the matter. The special envoy is going tomorrow. The turbulence in the relationsbetween Kenya and Sudan is subsiding, he said.

The Sudanese Foreign ministry spokesperson Al-Obaid Marawih was also quoted by theSudan Tribune saying the decision to expel Kenyas envoy to Khartoum was as a result ofNairobis delay in denouncing the court ruling.

He said the decision was intended to send a strong message of protest to the KenyaGovernment in the wake of the ruling and did not mean it was severing diplomaticrelations.

When Nation called Kenyas embassy in Sudan, Mr Ngesu was said to be holed up in ameeting with fellow ambassadors accredited to Khartoum.

Mr Wetangula could not be reached for comment as he is attending the EAC meeting inBurundi while his PS Thuita Mwangi and the Political and Diplomatic secretary PatrickWamoto were also in meetings the whole day.

The chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations, MrAdan Keynan, said Justice Ombijas ruling undermined the countrys foreign policy.



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Whereas I recognise the inherent independence of the Judiciary, I am of the opinion thatthe court ruling was irresponsible and unpatriotic especially at a time when thegovernment is consolidating support from African countries in the fight against militancy.The ruling goes against national interests and it is a slap in the face of our foreign policy,

he said.

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China pledges $2.3m to Uganda in military assistance (AFP)

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iSBltM7R9LZuBC6RRIFBSGarTjmQ?docId=CNG.85a35c9c6af40ba247ab9ea982e58b0d.9d130 November 2011

KAMPALA China pledged more than $2.3 million in military assistance to Ugandaduring a high-profile visit to Kampala by Beijing's defence minister, a spokesman for the

Ugandan army said Wednesday.

The Chinese delegation, led by Defence Minister Liang Guanglie, signed a deal withKampala including support for Uganda's troops in the African Union Mission in Somalia(AMISOM), protecting the Western-backed government there.

"The agreement we signed was for 15 million yuan in support for the UPDF (UgandaPeople's Defence Force) for its operations as part of AMISOM and for domestic capacitybuilding," said army spokesman Felix Kulayigye.

Uganda is one of only two countries currently contributing troops to the 9,700-strong AUforce, which is battling Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents.

There were no further details as to exactly what the military support entailed.

Chinese officials also said that Beijing was looking to build road and railwayinfrastructure in Uganda during a meeting with President Yoweri Museveni, the Ugandanpresident's office said in a statement.

"The visiting Chinese Defence Minister said that Chinese companies would be interestedin the construction of railways and roads in Uganda," the statement released late Tuesdayread.

During the meeting Museveni hailed growing ties between Uganda and China andforecast increased trade links.

"We look forward to having more trade with China. Uganda always welcomes supportfrom China," Museveni said, according to the official statement.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iSBltM7R9LZuBC6RRIFBSGarTjmQ?docId=CNG.85a35c9c6af40ba247ab9ea982e58b0d.9d1http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iSBltM7R9LZuBC6RRIFBSGarTjmQ?docId=CNG.85a35c9c6af40ba247ab9ea982e58b0d.9d1http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iSBltM7R9LZuBC6RRIFBSGarTjmQ?docId=CNG.85a35c9c6af40ba247ab9ea982e58b0d.9d1http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iSBltM7R9LZuBC6RRIFBSGarTjmQ?docId=CNG.85a35c9c6af40ba247ab9ea982e58b0d.9d1


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China has ratcheted up its involvement in Uganda in recent years and has pledged tobuild a new toll road linking the Ugandan capital Kampala to the nearby airport town ofEntebbe.

Chinese state-owned oil company CNOOC is currently awaiting final approval of a $2.9

billion joint deal with France's Total to buy two-thirds of Anglo-Irish firm Tullow Oil'sinterests in Uganda's embryonic oil industry.

Final approval of the deal -- which would see massive investment in Uganda's oil sector-- is currently being delayed by wrangles in the country's parliament over allegations ofofficial corruption in the burgeoning industry.

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Ex-Ivory Coast leader faces charges in Hague (Al Jazeera)

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/11/20111129211810394262.html

30 November 2011

Ivory Coast's former president Laurent Gbagbo will appear before the InternationalCriminal Court in The Hague within days to face charges of crimes against humanity.Gbagbo is the first former head of state taken into custody by the court since it wasestablished in 2002.

He arrived by aeroplane at Rotterdam airport earlier on Wednesday to face the charges inthe Netherlands where the ICC has its headquarters.

"Gbagbo allegedly bears individual criminal responsibility, as indirect co-perpetrator, forfour counts of crimes against humanity ... allegedly committed in the territory of theIvory Coast between 16 December 2010 and 12 April 2011," the ICC said in a statementon Wednesday.

The ICC is the world's first and only permanent international court to prosecute warcrimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

It is investigating the crimes alleged to have been committed during a four-month conflictarising from Gbagbo's refusal to cede power to Alassane Ouattara after last year'selection.

Gbagbo had been under house arrest in the tiny village of Korhogo, over 500km north ofAbidjan, the commercial capital, since being removed by internationally backed forcesseven months ago.

In Abidjan, Gbagbo's spokesman, Kone Katinan, confirmed that he had left the remotevillage in a special flight headed to The Hague.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/11/20111129211810394262.htmlhttp://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/11/20111129211810394262.html


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The public prosecutor's office in Ivory Coast said Gbagbo changed planes in Bouake, theregional capital, before continuing to the Netherlands.

Deposed in April

Ouattara's forces, backed by French and UN troops, deposed Gbagbo in April and he hassince been placed under house arrest in the northern town of Korhogo.

"They [Ivorian justice authorities] showed him the arrest warrant this morning,"Bourthoumieux said by telephone from France, questioning the competence of the ICC totry Gbagbo.

"I condemn ... this victor's justice," he added in an emailed statement.

A decision to try Gbagbo at the ICC would likely prove controversial among manyIvorians after Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the ICC prosecutor, said this month that Libya

could try Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam at home.

The ICC this year issued an arrest warrant for Saif al-Islam for crimes against humanity.

Abdon Georges Bayeto, the European representative for Gbagbo, called the warrantunfair and said there would be some reaction from the former president's supporters.

"We're very surprised that somebody [Ouattara] who won the election and [is] talking ofreconciliation can go to that extent," he told Al Jazeera from London.

"It's very sad. Remember Laurent Gbagbo got 48 per cent of the vote. That's not a smallnumber. It's an important number and we're going to react. We think that that's unfair."

The climate in Ivory Coast is already tense, with Gbagbo's FPI party boycottinglegislative polls next month in protest at the detention of FPI officials in connection withalleged crimes committed during the conflict.

Earlier last month, the government set up an 11-man peace commission to investigate thecountry's post-election conflict that killed more than 3,000 people and drove a millionothers from their homes.

Ouattara said the commission "will have to tackle difficult questions such as the landissue in rural areas and identity questions".

It was not immediately clear whether the warrant would have any implications on thecommission headed by Charles Konan Banny, a former prime minister.



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Ouattara, whose forces have also been accused of being involved in the post-electionviolence, took office in May, vowing to restore "unity between all the daughters, and allthe sons of our dear Ivory Coast".

###

Early Results in Egypt Show a Mandate for Islamists (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/world/middleeast/voting-in-egypt-shows-mandate-for-islamists.html?hp30 November 2011By David D. Kirkpatrick

CAIRO Islamists claimed a decisive victory on Wednesday as early election resultsput them on track to win a dominant majority in Egypts first Parliament since the ousterof Hosni Mubarak, the most significant step yet in the religious movements rise since thestart of the Arab Spring.

The party formed by the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypts mainstream Islamist group,appeared to have taken about 40 percent of the vote, as expected. But a big surprise wasthe strong showing of ultraconservative Islamists, called Salafis, many of whom see mostpopular entertainment as sinful and reject womens participation in voting or public life.

Analysts in the state-run news media said early returns indicated that Salafi groups couldtake as much as a quarter of the vote, giving the two groups of Islamists combinedcontrol of nearly 65 percent of the parliamentary seats.

That victory came at the expense of the liberal parties and youth activists who set off therevolution, affirming their fears that they would be unable to compete with Islamists whoemerged from the Mubarak years organized and with an established following. Poorlyorganized and internally divided, the liberal parties could not compete with Islamistsdisciplined by decades as the sole opposition to Mr. Mubarak. We were washed out,said Shady el-Ghazaly Harb, one of the most politically active of the group.

Although this weeks voting took place in only a third of Egypts provinces, theyincluded some of the nations most liberal precincts like Cairo, Port Said and the RedSea coast suggesting that the Islamist wave is likely to grow stronger as the votingmoves into more conservative rural areas in the coming months. (Alexandria, aconservative stronghold, also has voted.)

The preliminary results extend the rising influence of Islamists across a region wherethey were once outlawed and oppressed by autocrats aligned with the West. Islamistshave formed governments in Tunisia and Morocco. They are positioned for a major rolein post-Qaddafi Libya as well. But it is the victory in Egypt the largest and once themost influential Arab state, an American ally considered a linchpin of regional stability that has the potential to upend the established order across the Middle East.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/world/middleeast/voting-in-egypt-shows-mandate-for-islamists.html?hphttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/world/middleeast/voting-in-egypt-shows-mandate-for-islamists.html?hphttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/world/middleeast/voting-in-egypt-shows-mandate-for-islamists.html?hphttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/world/middleeast/voting-in-egypt-shows-mandate-for-islamists.html?hp


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Islamist leaders, many jailed for years under Mr. Mubarak, were exultant. We abide bythe rules of democracy, and accept the will of the people, Essam el-Erian, a leader of theBrotherhoods new party, wrote in the British newspaper The Guardian. There will bewinners and losers. But the real and only victor is Egypt.

Results will not be final until January, after two more rounds of voting. And the ultimatescope of the new Parliaments power remains unclear because Egypt has remained undermilitary rule since Mr. Mubarak resigned as president in February. But Parliament isexpected to play a role in drafting a new Constitution with the ruling military council,although the council has given contradictory indications about how much parliamentaryinput it will allow.

The emergence of a strong Islamist bloc in Parliament is already quickening a showdownwith the military. Brotherhood leaders announced Wednesday that they expected theIslamist parliamentary majority to name a prime minister to replace the civiliangovernment now serving the military. In response, a senior official of the military-led

government insisted that the ruling generals would retain that prerogative.

The unexpected rise of a strong ultraconservative Islamist faction to the right of theBrotherhood is likely to shift Egypts cultural and political center of gravity to the right aswell. Leaders of the Brotherhoods Freedom and Justice Party will likely feel obliged tocompete with the ultraconservatives for Islamist voters, and at the same time will not feelthe same need to compromise with liberals to form a government.

It means that, if the Brotherhood chooses, Parliament can be an Islamists affair adebate between liberal Islamists, moderate Islamists and conservatives Islamists, and thatis it, Michael Wahid Hanna, an Egyptian-born researcher at the Century Foundation inCairo, said this week.

The ultraconservative Salafi parties, meanwhile, will be able to use their electoral clout tomake their own demands for influence on appointments in the new government. Mr.Hanna added: I dont mind saying this is not a great thing. It is not a joyous day on myend.

If the majority proves durable, the longer-term implications are hard to predict. TheBrotherhood has pledged to respect basic individual freedoms while using the influenceof the state to nudge the culture in a more traditional direction. But the Salafis often talkopenly of laws mandating a shift to Islamic banking, restricting the sale of alcohol,providing special curriculums for boys and girls in public schools, and censoring thecontent of the arts and entertainment.

Their leaders have sometimes proposed that a special council of religious scholars adviseParliament or the top courts on legislations compliance with Islamic law. Egyptianelection laws required the Salafi parties to put at least one woman on their electoral rosterfor each district, but they put the women last on their lists to ensure they would not be



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elected, and some appear with pictures of flowers in place of their faces on campaignposters.

Sheik Hazem Shouman, an important Salafi leader, recently rushed into a public concerton the campus of Mansoura University to try to persuade the crowd to turn away from the

sinful performance and go home. He defended his actions on a television talk show,saying he had felt like a doctor making an emergency intervention to save a patient dyingof cancer.

The new majority is likely to increase the difficulty of sustaining the United States closemilitary and political partnership with post-Mubarak Egypt, though the military has saidit plans to maintain a monopoly over many aspects of foreign affairs. Islamist politicalleaders miss no opportunity to criticize Washingtons policies toward Iraq, Afghanistan,Israel and the Palestinians. And while Brotherhood leaders have said they intend topreserve but perhaps renegotiate the 1979 Camp David peace treaty with Israel, the Salafiparties have been much less reassuring. Some have suggested putting the treaty to a

referendum.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, an Israeli official acknowledged concerns:Obviously, it is hard to see in this result good news for Israel.

Some members of Egypts Coptic Christian minority about 10 percent of thepopulation joked Wednesday that they would prepare to leave the country. Previouslyprotected by Mr. Mubaraks patronage, many have dreaded the Islamists talk ofprotecting the Islamic character of Egypt. Some Brotherhood leaders often repeat thatthey believe citizenship is an equal right of all regardless of sect, even chanting at somecampaign rallies that Copts are also sons of Egypt. But Salafis more often declare thatChristians should not fear Islamic law because it requires the protection of religiousminorities, an explanation that many Christians feel assigns them second-class status.

Most Copts voted for the liberal Egyptian bloc, which was vying for second place withthe Salafis in some reports. It was an eclectic alliance against the Islamists, dominated bythe Social Democrats, a left-leaning party with ties to the revolutions leaders, and by theFree Egyptians, the business-friendly party founded and promoted by Naguib Sawiris, theCoptic Christian media-and-telecommunications tycoon.

The results indicated that some of the candidates and slates put forward by the formerruling party appeared to have won back their seats. It was unclear how large a bloc theymight form, but they could prove sympathetic to the familiar mantra of stability-above-allthat the ruling military is putting forward.

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It's Pentagon/NATO versus the BRICS (Al Jazeera)http://www.tehrantimes.com/component/content/article/84-perspectives/93135-its-pentagonnato-versus-the-brics

http://www.tehrantimes.com/component/content/article/84-perspectives/93135-its-pentagonnato-versus-the-bricshttp://www.tehrantimes.com/component/content/article/84-perspectives/93135-its-pentagonnato-versus-the-bricshttp://www.tehrantimes.com/component/content/article/84-perspectives/93135-its-pentagonnato-versus-the-bricshttp://www.tehrantimes.com/component/content/article/84-perspectives/93135-its-pentagonnato-versus-the-brics


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By Pepe Escobar30 November 2011

Few may have noticed when, last week, U.S. State Department spokeswoman VictoriaNuland cryptically announced that Washington "would cease carrying out certain

obligations under the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty with regard toRussia".

Translation: Washington will not inform Russia from now on about the redeployment ofits global armada. The Pentagon's worldwide "repositioning" strategy is now supposed tobe a secret.

Some essential background is in order. CFE part one was signed way back in 1990 --when the Warsaw Pact was still in effect, and NATO was supposed to defend the "free"West against what was depicted as a threatening Red Army.

CFE part one established a significant reduction of the number of tanks, hardcoreartillery, fighter jets and helicopters and that both sides would be constantly talking aboutit.

CFE part two was signed in 1999, in the post-USSR world. Russia did move the bulk ofits arsenal behind the Ural Mountains while NATO kept expanding right up to Russia'sborders -- blatantly betraying the promise made in person by George Bush Sr. to MikhailGorbachev.

Enter Vladimir Putin in 2007, when he decided to suspend Russia's role in the CFE untilthe U.S. and NATO ratified part two. Washington did absolutely nothing, and spent fouryears mulling what to do. Now, even "talking" is on hold.

Don't mess with Syria

Moscow, nevertheless, has already known for years where the Pentagon wants to tread:Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania.

Yet NATO's dream is something completely different: Already outlined at a Lisbonsummit a year ago, it wants to turn the Mediterranean into a NATO lake.

EU diplomats in Brussels confirm, off the record, that NATO will discuss in a keymeeting in early December how to establish a beachhead very close to Russia's southernborder to turbo-charge the destabilization of Syria.

"Russia's one and only naval base in the Eastern Mediterranean is in the (Syrian) port ofTartus."For Russia, a Western intervention in Syria is an absolute no-no. Russia's one and onlynaval base in the Eastern Mediterranean is in the (Syrian) port of Tartus.



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Not by accident, Russia has installed its S-300 air defense system -- one of the best all-altitude surface-to-air missile systems in the world, comparable to the American Patriot --in Tartus. The update to the even more sophisticated S-400 system is imminent.

Moreover, at least 20 percent of the Russian industrial-military complex would be in deepcrisis if those assiduous Syrian clients were lost.

Essentially, NATO -- not to mention Israel -- would be suicidal to try to attack Syria bythe sea. Russian intelligence is working with the hypothesis of an attack via Saudi Arabia.

Other countries, too, are very much aware of NATO's "Libya remix" strategy.

Take last week's meeting, in Moscow, of the deputy foreign ministers of the emergingBRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).

The BRICS couldn't be more explicit: Forget about foreign intervention in Syria, as in"any external interference in Syria's affairs, not in accordance with the UN Charter,should be excluded".

The BRICS also condemn the extra sanctions on Iran ("counterproductive") and anypossibility of a strike. The only solution -- for both Syria and Iran -- is dialogue andnegotiations. Forget about an Arab League vote leading to a new R2P ("responsibility toprotect") resolution approved at the UN Security Council.

This is a geopolitical earthquake. Russian diplomacy has coordinated with the otherBRICS members a major pounding on the table; we will fight new U.S. interventions --"humanitarian" or otherwise -- in the Middle East. Now it's Pentagon/NATO versus theBRICS.

Brazil, India and China are following as closely as Russia on how France -- under theneo-Napoleonic Liberator of Libya Nicolas Sarkozy -- and Turkey, both NATO members,are invested, no holds barred, into smuggling weapons and betting on a civil war in Syria,while at the same time thwarting any possibility of a dialogue between the Assad regimeand the fragmented opposition.

Chokepoint alert

It's also no secret of the BRICS that the Pentagon "repositioning" strategy implies anundisguised attempt to force, in the long run, "denial of access" to Chinese shipping andan expanding Chinese blue-water navy.

The repositioning now on across Africa and Asia especially concerns chokepoints. Nowonder three of the world's crucial chokepoints are matters of national security for China,in terms of its supply of oil.



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The Strait of Hormuz is the key global oil chokepoint (roughly 16 million barrels a day,17 percent of all oil traded worldwide, more than 75 percent exported to Asia).

The Strait of Malacca is the crucial link between the Indian Ocean and the South ChinaSea and the Pacific, the shortest sea route between the Persian Gulf and Asia, with a flow

of around 14 million barrels a day.

And the Bab el-Mandab, between the Horn of Africa and the Middle East, is the strategiclink between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, with a flow of 4 million barrels aday.

The Obama administration's national security adviser Thomas Donilon has beeninsistently arguing the U.S. needs to "rebalance" its strategic emphasis -- from the MiddleEast to Asia.

That goes a long way to explain Obama sending marines to Darwin, in Northern

Australia, a move analyzed in a previous Al Jazeera article. Darwin is very close toanother chokepoint - Jolo/Sulu in the southwest Philippines.

The first NATO secretary-general, Lord "Pug" Ismay, coined that famous mantraaccording to which the Atlanticist bloc should "keep the Russians out, the Americans inand the Germans down."

Now NATO's mantra seems to be "keep the Chinese out, the Americans in and theRussians down".

But what the Pentagon/NATO's moves -- all part of the Full Spectrum Dominancedoctrine -- are actually doing is to bring Russia and China closer and closer -- not onlyinside the BRICS, but especially in the expanded Shanghai Cooperation Organization(SCO), which is fast becoming not only an economic, but a military bloc as well.

Full Spectrum Dominance implies Washington encircling Asia with hundreds of militarybases and now -- untested -- missile defense systems. Crucially, this also implies thethreat of all threats: first-strike capability.

Beijing, at least for now, has not branded the expansion of Africom (U.S. AfricaCommand) against its commercial interests, or the Marines positioned in Australia, as anact of war.

But Russia -- as in the case of missile defense expanding on Eastern Europe and Turkey,the "no talking" regarding CFE, and NATO's designs on Syria -- is becoming much moreforceful.

Forget about U.S. "strategic competitors" Russia and China yielding their sovereignty, orcompromising their national security. Someone's got to break the news to those generalsat the Pentagon; Russia and China are not exactly Iraq and Libya.



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END REPORT


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