africom related news clips 8 september 2011

8/4/2019 AFRICOM Related News Clips 8 September 2011

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U.S. Africa Command Public Affairs Office +49(0)711-729-2687 [email protected]

United States Africa CommandPublic Affairs Office8 September 2011

USAFRICOM

related news stories

Good morning. Please find attached news clips related to U.S. Africa Command and upcomingevents of interest for September 8, 2011.

Of interest in today's news clips: BBC reports that after nearly eight months, Somali piratesfinally released a Danish family and several crew members they had captured in the IndianOcean.

Reuters reports that, according to Libyan military sources, Qadhafi and loyal supporters were

spotted heading south into Niger. However, there are conflicting reports, also from Reuters onthe same day regarding his whereabouts. According to BBC, Qadhafi's Security Chief MansourDaw has also arrived in Niger.

Also, the Christian Science Monitor explains the details of missing weapons, includingthousands of shoulder-held surface-to-air missiles, from Libya's weapon storage sites.

Several news services discuss continuing tension along Sudans border with South Sudan, while

Reuters explains Tunisian police anger about not being allowed to unionize.

U.S. Africa Command Public AffairsPlease send questions or comments to:[email protected] (+497117292687)

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Top News related to U.S. Africa Command and Africa

Somalia pirates free Danish family seized in February (BBC)http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14823454?print=true By: Unattributed Author7 September 2011 - A Danish family of five and two crew members captured by Somali piratesin February have been freed and brought to safety, Denmark's government says.

Gaddafi not in Niger: Niger Justice Minister (Reuters)http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7860QC20110907 By: Bate Felix
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14823454?print=truehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14823454?print=truehttp://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7860QC20110907http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7860QC20110907http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7860QC20110907http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14823454?print=truemailto:[email protected]


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In a New Libya, Ex-Loyalists Race to Shed Ties to Qaddafi (NY Times)http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/world/africa/08tripoli.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print By: David D. Kirkpatrick7 September 2011 - Khalid Saad worked for years as a loyal cog in Col. Muammar el-Qaddafispropaganda machine, arranging transportation to ferry foreign journalists to staged rallies,

ensuring that they never left their hotels without official escorts and raising his own voice tocheer the Libyan leader.

Gunfire erupts on Sudan's tense north-south border (Reuters)http://www.france24.com/en/20110907-tension-gunfire-sudan-border-kordofan-blue-nile-south-new-stateBy: Unattributed Author7 September 2011 - Heavy gunfire erupted Tuesday in Sudans Blue Nile frontier state in yetanother sign that tension remains high along Sudan's border with the new state of South Sudan,despite official reassurances that the situation is calm.

Sudan Conflict Hinders U.S.-Sudanese Relations, U.S. Envoy Lyman Says (Bloomberg)http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2011-09-07/sudan-conflict-hinders-u-s-sudanese-relations-u-s-envoy-lyman-says.html By: Salma El Wardany7 September 2011 - Fighting in Sudans Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states is hinderingrelations between the U.S. and President Umar al-Bashirs government in Khartoum, the U.S.special envoy to the country, Princeton Lyman, said.

Tunisian police angry over union ban (Reuters)http://www.france24.com/en/print/5241605?print=now By: Unattributed Author7 September 2011 - In the wake of several days of unrest, Tunisian interim Prime Minister BejiCaid Sebsi said on Tuesday that Tunisia's security forces would be banned from joining unions,prompting more protests by police.

Chad facing its worst cholera epidemic: OCHA(AlertNet)http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/chad-on-track-for-its-worst-ever-cholera-epidemic-ocha/ By: By George Fominyen7 September 2011 - Humanitarian groups are concerned about an ongoing cholera epidemic inChad that has infected 11,000 people and killed 340 others since the start of the year, the U.N.Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has said.

The American question (Namibia's New Era)

http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=40519&title=The%20American%20 By: Kamati kaTate7 September 2011 - Last weeks formulation on AFRICOM had three key objectives: to makeAFRICOM known to you; identify AFRICOM as a security threat; and to clarify how and whyAFRICOM is such.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/world/africa/08tripoli.html?_r=1&pagewanted=printhttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/world/africa/08tripoli.html?_r=1&pagewanted=printhttp://www.france24.com/en/20110907-tension-gunfire-sudan-border-kordofan-blue-nile-south-new-statehttp://www.france24.com/en/20110907-tension-gunfire-sudan-border-kordofan-blue-nile-south-new-statehttp://www.france24.com/en/20110907-tension-gunfire-sudan-border-kordofan-blue-nile-south-new-statehttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2011-09-07/sudan-conflict-hinders-u-s-sudanese-relations-u-s-envoy-lyman-says.htmlhttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2011-09-07/sudan-conflict-hinders-u-s-sudanese-relations-u-s-envoy-lyman-says.htmlhttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2011-09-07/sudan-conflict-hinders-u-s-sudanese-relations-u-s-envoy-lyman-says.htmlhttp://www.france24.com/en/print/5241605?print=nowhttp://www.france24.com/en/print/5241605?print=nowhttp://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/chad-on-track-for-its-worst-ever-cholera-epidemic-ocha/http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/chad-on-track-for-its-worst-ever-cholera-epidemic-ocha/http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=40519&title=The%20American%20http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=40519&title=The%20American%20http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=40519&title=The%20American%20http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/chad-on-track-for-its-worst-ever-cholera-epidemic-ocha/http://www.france24.com/en/print/5241605?print=nowhttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2011-09-07/sudan-conflict-hinders-u-s-sudanese-relations-u-s-envoy-lyman-says.htmlhttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2011-09-07/sudan-conflict-hinders-u-s-sudanese-relations-u-s-envoy-lyman-says.htmlhttp://www.france24.com/en/20110907-tension-gunfire-sudan-border-kordofan-blue-nile-south-new-statehttp://www.france24.com/en/20110907-tension-gunfire-sudan-border-kordofan-blue-nile-south-new-statehttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/world/africa/08tripoli.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print


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UN News Service Africa Briefshttp://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICA

(Full Articles on UN Website)

Sudan: UN calls for immediate end to reported army bombing of civilians7 SeptemberTwo senior United Nations human rights officials today called for the immediateend to Sudanese Government air attacks on civilian populations that are reportedly continuing inSouthern Kordofan state, resulting in further killing and displacement.

UN voices concern after mass prison outbreak in DR Congo7 SeptemberThe United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of theCongo is voicing concern about prison security in the impoverished nation after a mass outbreakearlier today from a jail in the DRCs southeast.

Somalia may have normal rains in coming months, but drought may persist UN

7 SeptemberNormal to above-normal rainfall could return to famine-ravaged southern Somaliaover the next three months but there may not yet be much easing of the drought there since theSeptember-to-December rains are a relatively small part of the annual total, the United Nationsreported today.

Djibouti: UNICEF launches scheme to provide safe drinking water7 SeptemberThe United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) has begun a 75-day operation toprovide thousands of Djiboutians with safe drinking water as the country continues to sufferfrom the drought gripping much of the Horn of Africa.

Welcoming new Somali Roadmap to peace, Ban calls on world to provide more aid7 SeptemberSecretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on the international community toprovide additional resources to Somalias transitional leaders following their adoption of a plan

to bring unity, peace and stability to a country that has been torn by factional strife for the past20 years.###

UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

8 SEPT 2011

WHEN: 9:00 a.m.WHAT: Brookings Institution Briefing on Changing American Attitudes Since 9/11The poll will release on Thursday morning at 9 a.m., but here are a few embargoed key findings:*The poll shows a majority of Americans believe that, over the last decade, the United States hasoverinvested American resources in some of its responses to the 9/11 attacks and that thisoverinvestment has contributed to Americas current economic problems and the decline ofAmericas standing in the world today.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICAhttp://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICAhttp://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICA


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*Overall, two in three Americans believe that U.S. influence in the world has diminished overthe last decade, and this view is highly correlated with the belief that the U.S. overinvested in itsresponses to 9/11 (with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan).WHO: The poll was prepared by Shibley Telhami, Nonresident Senior Fellow in BrookingsSaban Center for Middle East Policy and Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development at

the University of Maryland, and Steve Kull, director of the Program on International PolicyAttitudes (PIPA).WHERE: Brookings Institution, 1775 Massachusetts Avenue, NWCONTACT: Gail Chalef, Director of Communications, Foreign Policy at 202 797-4396, office (202) 460-3212, cell; web site:www.brookings.edu

WHEN: 2 - 4 p.m.WHAT: Woodrow Wilson Center (WWC) Discussion on "Sudan: From the CPA to Separation."WHO: Speakers: Tim McKulka, UNMISS; Jok Madut Jok; and Nureldin Satti, UNESCORepresentative in Ethiopia, Djibouti, the African Union and IGAD.WHERE: WWC, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, 5th floor

CONTACT: 202-691-4000; website:www.wilsoncenter.org

WHEN: 6 - 8 p.m.WHAT: Center for a New American Security (CNAS) Book Discussion on Counterstrike: The

Untold Story of Americas Secret Campaign Against al Qaeda. WHO: Eric Schmitt and ThomShanker, NYTnational security reporters and Steve Inskeep, host of NPRs Morning EditionWHERE: Willard InterContinental Hotel, 1401 Pennsylvania AvenueCONTACT:www.cnas.org

9 SEPT 2011

WHEN: 11 a.m. to noonWHAT: Woodrow Wilson Center (WWC) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection HistoryDepartment Discussion on "Border Security Challenges After 9/11: A Conversation with ThreeCommissioners of U.S. Customs and Border Protection"WHO: Speakers: W. Ralph Basham, Principal, Command Consulting Group and formerCommissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Robert C. Bonner, Senior Principal ofSentinel HS Group and former Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection; and Alan D.Bersin, Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection; and Bruce Hoffman, SeniorScholar, Professor, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown UniversityWHERE: WWC, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, 6th floorCONTACT: 202-691-4000; website:www.wilsoncenter.org

20 SEPT 2011

WHEN: September 20, 2011, at noonWHAT: Pakistan, the U.S. and Public Diplomacy with Consul General Riffat Masood CPDConversations in Public Diplomacy
http://www.brookings.edu/http://www.brookings.edu/http://www.brookings.edu/http://www.wilsoncenter.org/http://www.wilsoncenter.org/http://www.wilsoncenter.org/http://www.cnas.org/http://www.cnas.org/http://www.cnas.org/http://www.wilsoncenter.org/http://www.wilsoncenter.org/http://www.wilsoncenter.org/http://www.wilsoncenter.org/http://www.cnas.org/http://www.wilsoncenter.org/http://www.brookings.edu/


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WHO: Riffat Masood, the Consul General of PakistanWHERE: USC; SOS B40CONTACT :[email protected]

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Full TextSomalia pirates free Danish family seized in February (BBC)http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14823454?print=true By: Unattributed Author7 September 2011

A Danish family of five and two crew members captured by Somali pirates in February havebeen freed and brought to safety, Denmark's government says.

Jan Quist Johansen, his wife, their three children, and two other adults were taken hostage on 24February.

The foreign ministry said they were in relatively good condition and expected back in Denmarkshortly.

In March, soldiers from the semi-autonomous Puntland region were killed during a failed attemptto rescue them.

"The foreign ministry confirms that the Danish sailors from the sailing ship ING - the twoparents, their three children and two crewmembers - held hostage by Somali pirates since the 24February 2011, have now been released," said the ministry in a statement.

A pirate, who identified himself as Hussein, told the Reuters news agency by phone fromPuntland: "We received a $3m (1.9m) ransom [on Tuesday] afternoon."

Denmark has not made any comment on whether a ransom was paid.

The Johansens had been sailing in the Indian Ocean and were apparently aware of the danger ofpiracy.

Their yacht was seized just two days after four Americans aboard another hijacked vessel wereshot dead during an effort by the US military to free them.

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Gaddafi not in Niger: Niger Justice Minister (Reuters)http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7860QC20110907 By: Bate Felix7 September 2011
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14823454?print=truehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14823454?print=truehttp://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7860QC20110907http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7860QC20110907http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7860QC20110907http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14823454?print=truemailto:[email protected]


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NIAMEY, Niger - Muammar Gaddafi is not in Niger and movements of Libyan convoys into thecountry in recent days have been much smaller than widely reported in the media, Niger JusticeMinister Marou Amadou said on Wednesday.

"We want to inform the world that Gaddafi is not in Niger," Amadou told a news conference.

"He is a former head of state, he will not come incognito into Niger. If he has to come, ourgovernment will be informed, and if that happens we will inform you of our decision."

Amadou rejected reports that between 200 and 250 vehicles carrying pro-Gaddafi forces hadcrossed into Niger's desert north from Libya earlier this week, saying that the actual number wasmuch smaller.

"Three vehicles came in with 14 people onboard. Later there was another vehicle with fourpeople including a Niger citizen," he said.

But he added: "It is not excluded that while I'm talking here, more people have crossed theborder, even people close to the Gaddafi government."

Amadou gave no further details on the Libyan movements.

Niger's government confirmed on Tuesday that Gaddafi's security chief Mansour Dhao had beenallowed to enter the country on what it called humanitarian grounds.

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Gaddafi denies reports he fled to Niger (al Jazeera)http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/09/20119813848107476.html By: Unattributed Author9 September 2011

Muammar Gaddafi has issued an audio message encouraging Libyans to take up arms against thefighters battling his loyalists and accusing the National Transitional Council (NTC), currentlyrunning the country, of being a front for Western powers.

The message from the deposed Libyan leader was broadcast early on Thursday on Syria-basedAl-Rai TV.

"To all my beloved Libyans, the Libyan land is yours and you need to defend it against all thosetraitors, the dogs, those that have been in Libya and are trying to take over the land," Gaddafisaid.

"They were spies for the Italians and now they are spies for France. All those germs and rats ...capture all those who are working with NATO and the UK to bomb our country and kill Libyansand our children."
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Gaddafi also dismissed reports that he had fled to neighbouring Niger as "psychological warfareand lies".

He said there was nothing unusual about a convoy of cars going to Niger.

"How many times do convoys transporting smugglers, traders and people cross the border everyday for Sudan, Chad, Mali and Algeria," Gaddafi said. "As if this was the first time a convoy washeaded towards Niger."

On the ground, Libyan fighters claimed on Wednesday to have got Gaddafi surrounded within a60km radius.

Anis Sharif, a spokesman for Tripoli's new military council, however, would not say whereexactly Gaddafi had been found.

High technology

Sharif said Gaddafi had been tracked using high technology and human intelligence. "He can'tget out," he said.

Gaddafi, who was removed from power in August after an uprising against his rule, is believedto be travelling in a convoy of about 10 cars and may be using a tent as shelter, HishamBuhagiar, who is co-ordinating the NTC efforts to find the former Libyan leader, said.

"It is the tent. We know that he does not want to stay in a house, so he stays in a tent. People saythe cars came, and then they made a tent," Buhagiar said, adding that his sources had not seenGaddafi themselves.

Meanwhile, the anti-Gaddafi forces are still working to gain full control of the country almostthree weeks after the fall of the capital, Tripoli.

Fighters have been engaged in prolonged negotiations to convince representatives from BaniWalid, about 150km southeast of Tripoli, that there would be no retributions if the townsurrendered peacefully.

But the representatives, upon returning to the town to deliver the message, were fired at andforced to retreat to NTC territory on Tuesday.

On Thursday, the NTC sent an additional battalion of rebel fighters to Bani Walid, where it ispreparing for a showdown with Gaddafi loyalists.

Thousands of NTC fighters have been camping outside Bani Walid, which is one of Gaddafi'slast strongholds.


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They have also built a field hospital and deployed 10 volunteer doctors to prepare for thepossibility of a fight.

Fighters massing

Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from Tripoli, said: "The fighters are massing around BaniWalid in order to enter the town."

Abdullah Kinshil, NTC's chief negotiator in Bani Walid, said one of Gaddafi's sons, Saif al-Islam, was seen there with supporters on Tuesday.

Our correspondent said: "There are reports of Saif al-Islam's presence in Bani Walid rallyingforces against the NTC."

"There are also reports of his brother Saadi's presence in the town. But the information have notbeen independently verified," he said.

Click here for more of Al Jazeera's special coverageFighters are also preparing to move towards Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte.

For now, talks have been stalled and they are awaiting orders to take the towns from Gaddafiloyalists.

Amid the Libyan fighters' push to gain full control of this North African country, news came onTuesday of convoys of Gaddafi loyalists, including his security chief, fleeing across the Saharainto Niger.

The US said it believed the convoy was carrying senior members of Gaddafi's entourage, andurged Niger to detain anyone liable for prosecution for alleged crimes committed during theuprising.

Leon Panetta, the US defence secretary, said Gaddafi was "on the run" but Washington said ithad no reason to believe the fugitive leader had left Libya, something his spokesman MoussaIbrahim confirmed.

"He is in Libya. He is safe, he is very healthy, in high morale," Ibrahim told Reuters bytelephone from an undisclosed location.

The convoy included officers from Libya's southern army battalions and pro-Gaddafi Tuaregfighters and is likely to have crossed from Libya into Algeria before entering Niger, sources said.

Abdou Labo, the Niger's minister of internal affairs, however, denied that a Libyan convoy hadentered his country. But he confirmed that Niger had given asylum to Gaddafi's internal securitychief Abdullah Mansoor on humanitarian grounds.


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Gaddafi last tracked heading south: top Libyan official (Reuters)http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE78600S20110907?sp=true By: Emma Farge and Abdoulaye Massalatchi

7 September 2011

Muammar Gaddafi was last tracked heading for Libya's southern border, the man leading thehunt for the deposed leader told Reuters, and French and Niger military sources said scores ofvehicles carrying pro-Gaddafi forces had crossed into Niger. Hisham Buhagiar, who iscoordinating efforts to find Gaddafi, said reports indicated he may have been in the region of thesouthern village of Ghwat, some 300 km north of the border with Niger, three days ago.

"He's out of Bani Walid I think. The last tracks, he was in the Ghwat area. People saw the carsgoing in that direction .... We have it from many sources that he's trying to go further south,towards Chad or Niger," Buhagiar said in an interview on Tuesday.

French and Niger military sources said a convoy of up to 250 vehicles was escorted to thenorthern city of Agadez by the army of Niger, a poor and landlocked former French colony. Itmight, said a French military source, be joined by Gaddafi en route to adjacent Burkina Faso,which has offered him asylum.

The United States said it believed the convoy was carrying senior members of Gaddafi'sentourage and urged Niger to detain anyone liable for prosecution for alleged crimes committedduring the uprising against the deposed Libyan leader.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Tuesday that Gaddafi was "on the run" but asked

later on the Charlie Rose show if he thought he was still in Libya he said:"You know, I don't know. I think he's been taking a lot of steps to make sure that in the end hecould try to get out if he had to, but as to where, when, and how that'll take place, we just don'tknow."

Gaddafi's spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said he had not left.

"He is in Libya. He is safe, he is very healthy, in high morale," he told Reuters by telephonefrom an undisclosed location.

Anti-Gaddafi forces that overthrew the long-serving ruler two weeks ago said they also thought

about a dozen other vehicles that crossed the border may have carried gold and cash apparentlylooted from a branch of Libya's central bank in Gaddafi's home town.

France, Niger and Burkina Faso, as well as Libya's new rulers and NATO, all denied knowingwhere Gaddafi was or of any deal to let him go abroad or find refuge from Libyans and theInternational Criminal Court (ICC), which wants to put him on trial for war crimes.
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"To my knowledge, there have not been hundreds of vehicles that crossed into Niger," Niger'sInterior Minister Abdou Labo told a news conference.

He did confirm reports that Gaddafi's security chief Mansour Dhao had been allowed to enter thecountry. He said this was on humanitarian grounds and that Dhao was the only Libyan officialreceived.

LAST STOP BURKINA FASO?

French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said it was for Libyans to decide the venuefor any trial, but that Gaddafi must not slip away quietly. "He will have to face justice for all thecrimes he has committed in the past 42 years," he said.

The U.S. State Department urged Niger to arrest any Gaddafi officials entering the country.

A French military source said the 69-year-old Gaddafi and his son Saif al-Islam might join theconvoy later to head for Burkina Faso.

Burkina Faso dismissed this, saying the former Libyan ruler had not requested exile and thatthere was no sign he was making his way to the West African state.

"We are not aware of his presence in Burkina...but if he arrives at our border we have ourprocedures," Burkina Faso Communication Minister Alain Edouard Traore told ReutersTelevision.

Burkina Faso, once a French colony and a recipient of large amounts of Libyan aid, offeredGaddafi sanctuary last month but has also recognised the NTC as Libya's government.

President Blaise Compaore, like Gaddafi, took power in a military coup and has run the countryfor 24 years.

SCOURING THE DESERT

NATO warplanes and spy satellites have been scouring Libya's deserts for months, raising thelikelihood that any large convoy would have been spotted. But a spokesman for the Westernalliance said it was not hunting Gaddafi and his cronies.

"Our mission is to protect the civilian population in Libya, not to track and target thousands offleeing former regime leaders, mercenaries, military commanders and internally displacedpeople," Colonel Roland Lavoie said in a statement.

Niger's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Adani Illo, told Reuters that surveillanceover thousands of miles of desert was tough.

"The desert zone is vast and the frontier is porous," he said. "If a convoy of 200 to 250 vehicleswent through, it is like a drop of water in an ocean."


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Gaddafi has broadcast defiant messages since he was forced into hiding two weeks ago, and hasvowed to die fighting on his own soil. But he also has long friendships with his poor Africanneighbours, with which he shared some of Libya's oil wealth.

The sources said the convoy, probably including officers from army units based in the south ofLibya, may have looped through Algeria rather than cross the Libya-Niger frontier. Algeria lastweek took in Gaddafi's wife, daughter and two other sons, angering the interim council nowruling Libya.

NTC officials said Saif al-Islam may have escaped south into the desert, toward the southern,pro-Gaddafi bastion of Sabha and perhaps on to Niger. Tracking him would be hard; 1,300 km(800 miles) of sand separate Sabha from Agadez, with a further 750 km of road to travel toNiamey.

Though conditions in Tripoli were improving with the return of water supplies two weeks afterrebels overran Gaddafi's headquarters compound, evidence of brutality during his battle to clingto power during the Arab Spring is also accumulating.

Reuters journalists in the provincial town of Khoms found evidence Muammar Gaddafi haddeployed squads which held suspected opponents in shipping containers, tortured them forinformation and disposed of their bodies in unmarked graves.

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Libya conflict: Niger border 'cannot be closed' (BBC)http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14825541?print=true By: Unattributed Author7 September 2011

Niger's foreign minister says his country is unable to close its border with Libya to preventfugitive Libyan leader M Foreign Minister Mohamed Bazoum told the BBC that Col Gaddafihad not crossed the border or asked to cross.

He said Gaddafi loyalists who have arrived in Niger's capital, Niamey, would be free to stay ormove on.

Libya's transitional authorities have said they are seeking Niger's help to stop Col Gaddafi fromfleeing.

Political Affairs head Fathi Baja said the National Transitional Council (NTC) had sent adelegation to Niger to discuss "securing our borders to stop any kind of infiltration of Gaddafitroops to Niger, to stop any attempt by Gaddafi or his family to escape to Niger".

Asked if Niger might close its border, Mr Bazoum said: "We have no means to close the border...It is too big and we have very, very small means for that."
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He said he hoped that Col Gaddafi would not try to cross the border, but that Niger had not yettaken any decision on whether it would accept him - or whether it would hand him over to theInternational Criminal Court (ICC) - if he did attempt to enter Niger.

Niger recognises the ICC, which is seeking the arrest of Col Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam, and

his former intelligence chief Abdullah Sanussi.'Humanitarian' gesture

Mr Bazoum said at least three convoys had crossed from Libya into Niger, and that none of ColGaddafi's sons was travelling in them.

The government of Niger - this large, poor, and mainly desert nation - is in a dilemma.

It has belatedly recognised the National Transitional Council in Benghazi but clearly feels it can'tjust abandon Col Gaddafi completely, a man it has had a long relationship with.

Libya under Col Gaddafi has been rich, and powerful, in the region.

It has financed many projects and businesses here in Niger. And hundreds of thousands of Nigercitizens have sought work in Libya.

The new Libyan administration is reported to be considering sending a delegation to Niger to tryto stop it possibly taking in the former Libyan strongman.

Officials in Niger have said Col Gaddafi's security chief, Mansour Daw, was among those whoentered the country in the convoys over the weekend or on Monday.

"We told them that we can accept them to stay for humanitarian reasons, but they have to respectwhat the international law allows them to do or [does] not allow them to do," said Mr Bazoum.

He added that those who had arrived from Libya - of whom there were fewer than 20 - were freeto stay in Niamey, or to continue to Burkina Faso.

Burkina Faso - which borders Niger to the south-west - has denied reports that it had offered towelcome Col Gaddafi.

Mr Baji said the NTC would ask Niger to send any Gaddafi aides back to Libya. He also saidpeople in the area had reported seeing gold and money in the convoys that drove to Niger.

"If that happened, we want that money back," AFP news agency quoted him as saying.

A US state department spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland, called on countries bordering Libya tothe south to "make every effort to control their borders".


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"We have strongly urged the Nigerien officials to detain those members of the regime who maybe subject to prosecution, to ensure that they confiscate any weapons that are found, and toensure that any state property of the government of Libya - money, jewels, etc - also beimpounded so that it can be returned to the Libyan people," she said.

On Wednesday, a teenaged girl detained in Tripoli after accusations that she executed 11 peopleclaimed that Mansour Daw had raped her.

She told the BBC she had been forced to shoot prisoners with a rifle.

Loyalist strongholds

Col Gaddafi's wife, two of his sons and his daughter fled to Algeria last week.

His own whereabouts remain the subject of speculation - though rebels say they believe he is stillin Libya.

Senior Western officials say they have no information about where Col Gaddafi may be, buthave no indication he has left the country.

A Nato spokesman, Col Roland Lavoie, told the BBC that Col Gaddafi was not a target, but Natowould continue to strike "command and control centres".

"If we have intelligence revealing that from a specific location attacks are being co-ordinated orcommunications are being received or sent to conduct attacks or the threat of attacks, we wouldtake action," he said.

The NTC has been trying to negotiate a peaceful resolution to stand-offs in a handful of Libyantowns or cities still controlled by Gaddafi loyalists.

These include Bani Walid, Jufra, Sabha and Col Gaddafi's birthplace of Sirte.

The NTC has positioned forces outside Bani Walid, and says talks will continue there until adeadline on Saturday.

###

Libya conflict: Gaddafi aide Mansour Daw 'in Niamey' (BBC)http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14814388 By: Celeste Hicks7 September 2011

Col Muammar Gaddafi's security chief is among several former Libyan officials who havearrived in the capital of Niger, Niamey, officials there say. They say the man, Mansour Daw,entered the country on Sunday and travelled via the desert city of Agadez.
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Meanwhile, a convoy said to be carrying dozens of heavily armed Gaddafi loyalists as well asgold and cash, is headed for Niger's capital.

Niger officials say Col Gaddafi is not believed to be travelling with it.

A senior rebel military commander said that he believed Col Gaddafi was still in Libya, butheading away from areas which have seen fighting.

"We have it from many sources that he's trying to go further south, towards Chad or Niger,"Hisham Buhagiar said in an interview with Reuters news agency.

The former Libyan leader has vowed to fight to the death, even though he has lost control ofmost of the country.

Tuareg ties

Niger officials said Mr Daw, who headed Col Gaddafi's personal security brigades, crossed intoNiger on Sunday.

Reuters news agency quoted an unnamed US security as saying he arrived with other prominentformer officials.

There is a long established corridor across the Sahara Desert to the Libya/Niger border to Airlitand south to Agadez.

Many migrants trying to get to Europe from West Africa use this route. So have thousands ofpeople escaping from Libya in the last couple of months.

It is also believed that some of those fighting for Col Gaddafi were from Niger. There is somesupport for Col Gaddafi in Niger: local groups have tried to organise pro-Gaddafidemonstrations, although turnout was fairly small.However, Niger's government has recognised the National Transitional Council in Libya and is anew democracy.

President Mahamadou Issoufou was elected in February this year to replace a military junta. Heis trying hard to convince the international community that he is a responsible leader, so he willbe keen to prevent Niger getting caught up in the Libya conflict.

One can only speculate but Niger is a gateway to West Africa if you are coming across theSahara. It is possible that the Gaddafi loyalists could be heading through Niger en route tosomewhere else.

Niger Interior Minister Abdou Labo told reporters on Tuesday that Mr Daw had been allowed toenter the country on humanitarian grounds.The latest convoy to reach Niger from Libya arrived in Agadez on Monday, and is said to beheaded for Niamey, 950km (600 miles) to the south-west.


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It is believed to consist of at least 50 heavily armed vehicles, and to include Tuareg fightersrecruited by Col Gaddafi.

"Vehicles carrying gold, euros and dollars crossed from Jufra into Niger with the help of Tuaregs

from the Niger tribe," Fathi Baja from Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) told Reuters.The US called on Niger to arrest senior pro-Gaddafi figures entering the country. "We havestrongly urged the Nigeran officials to detain those members of the regime who may be subjectto prosecution," said state department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.

Earlier reports that Burkina Faso - which borders Niger to the south-west - had offered towelcome Col Gaddafi have been denied by the country's communication minister.

Alain Edouard Traore told the BBC: "Burkina Faso has not offered asylum to Mr Gaddafi.Burkina Faso is not informed of Mr Gaddafi coming to this country."

Gaddafi: African asylum-seeker?

The NTC spokesman in London, Guma el-Gamaty, told the BBC that Niger would be penalisedif it was proven to have helped Col Gaddafi escape.

"Niger is a neighbour of Libya from the south and should be considering the future relationshipwith Libya," said Mr Gamaty. "This - if confirmed - will very much antagonise any futurerelationship between Libya and Niger."

Col Gaddafi's wife, two of his sons and his daughter have already fled to Algeria.

Negotiating surrender

An NTC delegation on Tuesday held fresh talks with tribal elders in the town of Bani Walid -150km (95 miles) south-east of Tripoli.

Bani Walid is one of four towns and cities still controlled by Gaddafi supporters. The others areJufra, Sabha and Col Gaddafi's birthplace of Sirte.

The BBC's James Robbins considers whether Niger would take Gaddafi

The NTC, which has positioned forces outside Bani Walid, has been trying to negotiate apeaceful surrender.

After the talks chief NTC negotiator Abdullah Kenshil told AFP the elders had been "reassuredthat we do not mean them harm and we will preserve their lives".


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The senior negotiator for the elders told the BBC that they had returned to Bani Walid toconvince residents and pro-Gaddafi troops to let them enter the town. He said he was confidentof a peaceful end to the stand-off.

NTC leader Mustafa Abdul Jalil has said the talks would continue until a deadline on Saturday.

As well as being a Gaddafi stronghold, Bani Walid is also the home of the biggest and mostpowerful Libyan tribe, the Warfalla.

###

The deadly dilemma of Libya's missing weapons (Christian Science Monitor)http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/0907/The-deadly-dilemma-of-Libya-s-missing-weaponsBy: Scott Petersen8 September 2011

TRIPOLI, Libya - As Libyas National Transitional Council (NTC) hunt for and collect theweapons that fueled Muammar Qaddafi's war machine, they are quickly learning that somechoice pieces of his vast stockpile of mines, mortars, and explosives are missing.

At newly discovered weapons-storage sites, thousands of shoulder-held surface-to-air missiles(SAMs) are unaccounted for. At one unguarded facility, empty packing crates and documentsreveal that 482 sophisticated Russian SA-24 missiles were shipped to Libya in 2004, and now aregone. With a range of 11,000 feet, the SA-24 is Moscows modern version of the Americanstinger, which in the 1980s helped the US-backed Afghan mujahideen turn their war againstthe Soviet Union.

With Libya already facing great uncertainty in the post-Qaddafi era, seepage from unsecuredweapons stores could further threaten its nascent revolutionary government by arming a loyalistinsurgencyor providing regional rebel groups and Al Qaeda in the Maghreb with a lethalarsenal.

Related: Qaddafi: A look back

If these weapons fall in the wrong hands, all of North Africa will be a no-fly zone, says PeterBouckaert, the emergencies director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), who has brought a numberof weapons-storage sites to the NTC's attention.

Thats the Western concern, Mr. Bouckaert tells journalists at the site, noting the interest of Al

Qaeda affiliates and regional insurgents in being able to easily target aircraft. But what posesthe biggest danger to Libyan peopleas we know from Iraqis whats laying right behind you... all of these tank shells and mortars, because thats what people turn into car bombs.

Libya's vast weapons cache
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HRW played a similar role in Iraq, where it identified unprotected weapons sites to US forces onthe ground. Many of those arsenals were never protected, and provided the firepower for years ofinsurgency.

The sophistication and vast size of Libyas military hardware and the fact that it was widely

dispersed during the NATO airstrikescomplicates the effort to control it, as the TripoliMilitary Council, which is tasked with handling security in the capital, consolidates its grip just2-1/2 weeks after the fall of Colonel Qaddafi.

So Western intelligence agencies have been calling us forinformation about the SAMs; [but]theyre not too interested in the stuff thats going to hurt the Libyans, which is whats still here to

loot, said Bouckaert.

The SA-24 is on the top wish list of Iran; the US tried to block its transfer from Russia to[Venezuelan President Hugo] Chavez because they were afraid it was going to get into Iranianhands a few years ago, he adds. US reporting from that 2009 sale including WikiLeaks cables

also emphasized the dangers of the SA-24 being passed on by the anti-American Mr. Chavez,to boost FARC rebels in Colombia or drug lords in Mexico.

Empty cases

At an education ministry book-storage and printing facility in southern Tripoli that was turnedinto a makeshift weapons depot, the long green shipping crates for the shoulder-fired SA-24along with crates that once contained older versions, the SA-7 and SA-14were found empty. Itis adjacent to a Khamis Brigade base commanded by and named after one of Qaddafi's sons.

The SA-24s shipped to Libya apparently cant be shoulder-fired without a different trigger, andmust be mounted on a truck, an unnamed senior official of the Russian KBM Machine-buildingdesign bureau told Aviation Week last March.

Still, NATO aircraft often flew sorties higher than 20,000 feet in altitude, well beyond range ofthe SA-24.

Details of different shipments of SAMs showed that thousands of such missiles remainunaccounted for. The boxes were mixed with stack after stack of heavy ordnance 120mmmortar shells, 125mm projectiles, and wire-guided anti-tank rounds among them.

Anti-Qaddafi forces had already taken portions of this stockpile for their own use, shortly afterTripoli fell to rebels, according to a young man who lives nearby. Last week, 10 of the SA-7swere seen on an anti-Qaddafi vehiclethe clue that led HRW to this site.

Across the street on the edge of a sandy field, loyalist forces had also tucked away some 12,000minesmany of them stacked in crates along the wall and concealed with camouflage netting.On Wednesday, a day after being alerted by HRW, men working for the NTC lifted crates intotwo large trucks for removal.


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This stuff must not be here, but in a safe place, says Ashraf Talous, an explosives expert and

policeman who now works for the NTC and supervised the operation. The land mines triggeredby tripwires when deployed, then jumping to waist height to damage organsspilled into thescalding sand from some broken boxes.

I am surprised by how much of this is here, because I know what it can do, says Mr. Talous. On a far edge of the sand field was a government de-mining vehicle, with two unused, state-of-the-art wheeled robots in the back. Across a sandy and near-leafless peach orchard, more crateswere stacked. Piles of C-4 explosives spotted here days ago were missing on Wednesday,shocking the NTC ordnance removers.

Around one peach tree were boxes of tripwires. Between othersno longer hidden by stretchesof clothwere crates of large antitank mines, two nestled in each. One tank mine box wasnumbered 28,615, out of a shipment of 35,000 boxes or a total of 70,000 mines from a singleshipment.

The numbers we come across are just stunning, says Bouckaert, as he pulls one, factory fresh,

from the box. If there is an element in Libyan society that decides that they dont want to be

part of this new administration, and they want to keep fighting and destabilizing the country,they just have to walk down the street with a pickup truck or an 18-wheeler and they can load itup.

Lessons from IraqOne salutary lesson from Iraq in 2003, when so many weapons depots were not secured by UStroops, was that a large conventional arsenal could easily be recycled for insurgent use.

Bouckaert says storage facilities in Iraq were much smaller than the volume he is finding inLibya. He recalled a single room full of rockets at a military college in Baquba, Iraq, that was notsecured.

Just the rockets in that room turned Baquba into the capital of suicide bombings in Iraq. Thats

just one roomful. Here were talking about warehouse after warehouse after warehouse, full.

Were talking about immense quantities, says Bouckaert. As a result, the NTC are very eagerto try to control this stuff.

But the dispersed nature of the hidden caches and the array of other high priorities for Libyasnew authorities mean that progress is slow. Many of those dealing with the issue in eastern Libyawhich has been under rebel control for most of the six-month uprisinghave yet to come toTripoli.

Theyve been really good in the east, but they are still setting things up in the west, and the

clock is ticking, adds Bouckaert. A lot of their plans for the reconstruction of Libya can go upin smoke if these weapons fall into the wrong hands, as we know from Iraq. Why do we have tomake the same mistakes over and over again?###


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Libya's neighbours fear 'powder keg' scenario (AFP)http://www.france24.com/en/20110907-libya-sahel-neighbours-fear-powder-keg-scenario-algeria-mali-mauritania-al-qaeda By: Unattributed Author

7 September 2011The Sahel desert around Libya has become a "powder keg" following the fall of MuammarGaddafi, regional countries said during a security conference in Algiers Wednesday. There arefears al Qaeda may snap up weapons from Gaddafi's arsenal.The Libyan conflict has turned the neighbouring Sahel desert into a powder keg, regional powerssaid Wednesday in Algiers, as Moamer Kadhafi's arsenal risks being snapped up by Al Qaeda'slocal franchise.

"The region has been turned into a powder keg," Niger's Foreign Minister Mohamed Bazoumtold counterparts from Algeria, Mali and Mauritania - the Sahel nations most threatened by Al-

Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).The Sahel security conference, the first of its kind, was decided months ago but convened onlydays after the toppling of the 42-year-old Libyan regime of Moamer Kadhafi by Western-backedrebels.

Algeria and other Libyan neighbours have expressed fears that the ousted Libyan leader's arsenaland remaining loyalists would be scattered across the Sahel, an eight-million square kilometredesert area south of the Sahara.

Bazoum said half a tonne of Semtex explosives was seized in Niger in June, warning that theremay have been more, as well as surface-to-air missiles.

"We don't want the Sahel to become a war zone," Malian Foreign Minister Soumeylou Boubeyesaid.

He said that reinforcing security was the region's responsibility but added that outside assistancein the fields of surveillance, intelligence and training was needed.

French, American and British delegates speaking at the conference agreed that the military effortshould be led by the region.

"We recognise that this effort must be led by the governments of the region," said ShariVillarosa, from the office of the coordinator for counterterrorism at the US state department.

Deadly attacks as well as kidnappings of foreigners claimed by AQIM have already slashed whatlittle revenue some of the world's poorest nations were getting from tourism.
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Daniel Benjamin, coordinator for counterterrorism at the US state department, told the Algeriannews agency Tuesday that Washington was "taking seriously all reports about weapons fallinginto the hands of terrorists and we are doing our best to follow up these reports."

Hundreds of former Tuareg rebels from Niger and Mali who had found refuge in Libya in recent

years and fought alongside Kadhafi loyalists this year are crossing back into their countries,raising security fears.

While there is no evidence of strong links between pro-Kadhafi fighters and AQIM, observersfear an influx of weapons from Libya could benefit the Al-Qaeda franchise in its desert hideouts.

"The danger is that the combatants returned with weapons. If they have nothing to put in theirmouths they will sell these weapons or use them," said Malian political scientist Moussa Diallo.

Other observers argue that has already happened.

The European Union's counter-terrorism coordinator Gilles de Kerchove warned Monday thatthe chaos in Libya had given AQIM potential access to new weaponry, including "surface-to-airmissiles which are extremely dangerous because they pose a risk to flights over the territory."

Since Osama bin Laden's death this year, experts have argued that while "Al-Qaeda Central" wasweaker than it has been, its offshoots in Yemen and in North Africa remained potent threats toglobal security.

###

In a New Libya, Ex-Loyalists Race to Shed Ties to Qaddafi (NY Times)http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/world/africa/08tripoli.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print By: David D. Kirkpatrick7 September 2011

Khalid Saad worked for years as a loyal cog in Col. Muammar el-Qaddafis propagandamachine, arranging transportation to ferry foreign journalists to staged rallies, ensuring that theynever left their hotels without official escorts and raising his own voice to cheer the Libyanleader.

The day that rebels took Tripoli, Mr. Saad immediately switched sides.

Now he works for the rebels provisional government, coordinating transportation for its officials

and insisting that his previous support for Colonel Qaddafi was just business. My uncle and my

son were soldiers for the revolution, he said in an interview. Everyone will be happy now.Everything is changed now. Everyone is free.

As the curtain falls on Colonel Qaddafis Tripoli, many of its supporting actors are rushing topick up new roles with the rebels, the very same people they were obliged not long ago to referto as the rats. Many Libyans say the ease with which former Qaddafi supporters have switched
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sides is a testament to the pervasive cynicism of the Qaddafi era, when dissent meant jail ordeath, job opportunities depended on political connections, and almost everyone learned to weartwo faces to survive within the system.

That cynicism may now prove to be Tripolis saving grace. After months of a brutal crackdown

and a bitter civil war, in a country with little history of unity where autonomous brigades offighters still roam the capital, citizens have been unexpectedly willing to set aside theirgrievances against functionaries of the Qaddafi government. Everyone knows that almosteveryone who stayed out of jail during four decades of Colonel Qaddafis rule was to someextent complicit.

Indeed, the thin veneer of support helps explain why the loyalist forces who had terrorized thecity crumbled so swiftly when it became clear that the end was near, averting the expected bloodbath. Though loyalists still hold out in pockets around the country, and there have been episodesof retaliatory violence and looting, Tripoli, the capital, changed hands and returned to peace in amatter of days.

The way the system worked, everyone had to be part of itall of us, said Adel Sennosi, aformer official of Colonel Qaddafis Foreign Ministry who is now working for the provisional

governments Foreign Ministry. If we say, Get rid of whoever was part of the system, wewould have to get rid of the whole population, he said.

Now, he said, many of those former loyalists are more revolutionary than anyone else!

Rebel officials have said for months that they would try to avoid the mistakes made in Iraq afterSaddam Hussein was overthrown, when United States officials disbanded the military and barredall former members of the ruling Baath Partymany of Iraqs most experienced professionalsfrom working in any public-sector job.

Instead, the Libyan rebels said, they will seek retribution, in a courtroom, against only the mostnotorious Qaddafi government officials, those who oversaw torture or killings, egregiouslyenriched themselves or, in the case of the captured television host Hala Misrati, led thepropaganda war on state television.

The rebel leaders pledged to welcome back most of the bureaucrats and other midlevelfunctionaries, and so far, former senior officials of Colonel Qaddafis government say the

provisional government appears to be keeping its word. To underscore that point, the rebelleadership held a ceremony on Tuesday to hand control of a major natural gas plant to the samemanager who was responsible for its security under Colonel Qaddafi.

There are very few instances of revenge, said Abdulmajeed el-Dursi, the former chief of theQaddafi-era foreign media operation, sipping coffee at a cafe full of rebels and talking aboutopening a media services company.

It is legitimate, all these things they are doing freedom of the press, the rule of law, Mr.Dursi added. We always thought it was the right thing to do.


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Officials at the rebels detention centers around the city say they have sent scores of Colonel

Qaddafis former soldiers and supporters back to their homes after they have turned in theirweapons, and even some of the former soldiers now insist that they are revolutionaries at heart.

Ahmed el-Naeli was a soldier from Tripoli captured and jailed weeks ago by rebels in theNafusah Mountains, where a reporter for The New York Times gave him a business card. OnTuesday, he called to say that he, too, had changed sides. After his capture, Mr. Naeli said, I

turned around and joined the revolution.

Officials at local police stations say hundreds of officers are returning to work, usually in theirhome neighborhoods without incident.

They are well accepted because local residents understand they were only part of the system,said Abdou Shafi Hassan, 34, a former officer who began working with the rebels months ago,smuggling weapons and plastic explosives for them until he was caught and sent to jail.

Now he is an acting police chief in his neighborhood, Tajura, where he is recruiting dozens offormer officers back to work. They are the ones who are bringing the security to the city, he

said.

A top associate of the Qaddafi governments spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, cast aside any

pretense of loyalty when he offered to sell a Western journalist a series of secret tape recordingshe had made of his former boss trying to bribe journalists for favorable coverage.

The most famous turncoat was Gen. Albarrani Shkal, a senior officer who was in charge of alarge army unit that fought the rebels. About a month before Tripoli fell, officials of the newprovisional government said, General Shkal began secretly collaborating with the rebels. Therebels instructed him to stay in his job so that when their troops entered Tripoli he could orderhis own soldiers to disperse. He saved a lot of lives, Mr. Sennosi of the Foreign Ministry said.

More than 50 Libyan ambassadors serving abroad abandoned Colonel Qaddafi as soon as theuprising began, and Mr. Sennosi said that many others sought to defect in the following months.The rebel leaders told them they could do more for the cause if they stayed in their jobs, he said.

So many people had turned, that it really ended up a true popular revolution, Mr. Sennosi said.

Youssef M. Sherif, one of Libyas most prominent writers, said he tracked the waning days ofColonel Qaddafis government by the wages it paid young people to cheer in front of the statetelevision cameras. At first, he said, they were paid about $360, then $140, then $35 and then themoney ran out.

When the money ran out, so did the crowds.

Mr. Sherif said he asked people why they accepted such money from a tyrant. Better I spend itthan him! they would say.


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Salem el-Ajelli, 39, an unemployed resident of the Abu Salim neighborhood where rebels foughta fierce firefight to eradicate the last bastion of support for Colonel Qaddafi in the city, said thathe and his neighbors would sometimes be paid $30 a day to cheer for the colonel.

Most of us are just regular people who did not really care about Qaddafi or not Qaddafi, Mr.Ajelli said. We just worrying about getting by day by day.

###

Gunfire erupts on Sudan's tense north-south border (Reuters)http://www.france24.com/en/20110907-tension-gunfire-sudan-border-kordofan-blue-nile-south-new-stateBy: Unattributed Author7 September 2011

Heavy gunfire erupted Tuesday in Sudans Blue Nile frontier state in yet another sign thattension remains high along Sudan's border with the new state of South Sudan, despite officialreassurances that the situation is calm.Heavy gunfire broke out on Tuesday in the capital of Sudan's Blue Nile border state wheregovernment soldiers have been fighting armed opposition groups, a Reuters correspondent said.

Tensions have mounted in states along Sudan's poorly-defined border with South Sudan since thesouth declared independence in July.

Thousands fled after fighting erupted last week in Blue Nile - the third Sudanese border area hitby violence this year between the army and forces linked to South Sudan's ruling Sudan People'sLiberation Movement (SPLM).

A Reuters journalist in the state capital Damazin said he heard intense gunfire lasting severalminutes late on Tuesday. The power supply was interrupted after the incident in parts of the city,he added.

The Sudanese army said a government soldier had accidentally fired his gun outside Damazinand other soldiers inside the city responded by shooting their weapons, state news agency SUNAreported.

"The situation is now quiet. There is no attack by the enemy against the city," an armyspokesman told SUNA. No one was immediately available for comment from the armed groupsallied to the opposition SPLM-N, the former northern wing of the South Sudan's ruling SPLM.

Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan - both states on Sudan's side of the border - and the disputedAbyei area, saw heavy fighting during decades of civil war between the Khartoum governmentand South Sudan. Fresh clashes have broken out in all three this year.
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They are all still home to tens of thousands of people from ethnic groups that sided with thesouth during the civil war.

Khartoum has accused people from those groups of trying to spread chaos along the border,backed by South Sudan's government - a charge denied by South Sudan.

Rights groups have accused Khartoum of trying to stamp out remaining opposition on its side ofthe border and provoking the violence by trying to disarm south-linked groups.

Tuesday's shooting came a day after the new Blue Nile Military Governor Yahia MohammedKheir said life in Damazin had returned to normal and residents had started to return.

He told reporters in the state capital on Monday fighting was continuing south of Damazin wherethe army was fighting groups allied to the SPLM.

"Fighting is going on 30 km (19 miles) to the south but in the west and north and east (of BlueNile state) the situation is very calm," he said.

On Friday, Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir appointed Kheir as temporary military rulerafter firing the elected governor Malik Agar, from the opposition SPLM-N, the northern wing ofthe south's dominant SPLM.

When asked when the army would end military operations, Kheir said: "We would like to endmilitary operations today. We are now clearing areas where SPLA fighters are still present."Officials told reporters 12 soldiers, six policemen and three citizens had been killed in fighting inDamazin since last week.

On Tuesday, Mandour al-Mahdi, a senior official in Sudan's ruling National Congress Party(NCP), said the SPLM would have to stop its political activities in the north as it was notproperly registered.

SPLM-N Secretary-General Yasir Arman said in a statement authorities were closing its officesthroughout Sudan.

South Sudanese voters overwhelmingly chose to declare independence from the north in a 2005referendum, a vote promised in a 2005 peace deal that ended the north-south civil war foughtover oil, religion, ideology and ethnicity.

The U.S. is urging parties to get back to negotiations, he told reporters in the capital today.

The two sides are still not talking to each other and that makes the situation more dangerous.

Sudanese government forces and members of the northern branch of the ruling party inneighboring South Sudan clashed this month in the capital of Blue Nile state, Al-Damazin. Thefighting in the state forced at least 20,000 people to flee into Ethiopia, the United NationsRefugee Agency said on Sept. 6.


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Sudans government has been trying to disarm fighters in Blue Nile and Southern Kordofanstates who fought during a two- decade civil war with the forces of South Sudan, which gainedindependence on July 9. Clashes first erupted on June 5 in Southern Kordofan, Sudans main oil-producing state, forcing more than 150,000 people to flee their homes, according to Amnesty

International and Human Rights Watch.Al-Bashirs administration has fired the governor of Blue Nile state and declared a state ofemergency.

The U.S. cant go forward on normalizing relations with Sudan if theres a serious conflict and

humanitarian situation in the two border states, Lyman said.

Clearly, that makes it much more difficult than before, he added.

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Sudan Conflict Hinders U.S.-Sudanese Relations, U.S. Envoy Lyman Says (Bloomberg)http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2011-09-07/sudan-conflict-hinders-u-s-sudanese-relations-u-s-envoy-lyman-says.html By: Salma El Wardany7 September 2011

Fighting in Sudans Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states is hindering relations between the

U.S. and President Umar al-Bashirs government in Khartoum, the U.S. special envoy to thecountry, Princeton Lyman, said.

The U.S. is urging parties to get back to negotiations, he told reporters in the capital today.

The two sides are still not talking to each other and that makes thesituation more dangerous.

Sudanese government forces and members of the northern branch of the ruling party inneighboring South Sudan clashed this month in the capital of Blue Nile state, Al-Damazin. Thefighting in the state forced at least 20,000 people to flee into Ethiopia, the United NationsRefugee Agency said on Sept. 6.

Sudans government has been trying to disarm fighters in Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan

states who fought during a two- decade civil war with the forces of South Sudan, which gainedindependence on July 9. Clashes first erupted on June 5 in Southern Kordofan, Sudans main oil-producing state, forcing more than 150,000 people to flee their homes, according to AmnestyInternational and Human Rights Watch.

Al-Bashirs administration has fired the governor of Blue Nile state and declared a state ofemergency.

The U.S. cant go forward on normalizing relations with Sudan if theres a serious conflict and

humanitarian situation in the two border states, Lyman said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2011-09-07/sudan-conflict-hinders-u-s-sudanese-relations-u-s-envoy-lyman-says.htmlhttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2011-09-07/sudan-conflict-hinders-u-s-sudanese-relations-u-s-envoy-lyman-says.htmlhttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2011-09-07/sudan-conflict-hinders-u-s-sudanese-relations-u-s-envoy-lyman-says.htmlhttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2011-09-07/sudan-conflict-hinders-u-s-sudanese-relations-u-s-envoy-lyman-says.htmlhttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2011-09-07/sudan-conflict-hinders-u-s-sudanese-relations-u-s-envoy-lyman-says.html


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Clearly, that makes it much more difficult than before, he added.

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Tunisian police angry over union ban (Reuters)http://www.france24.com/en/print/5241605?print=now By: Unattributed Author7 September 2011

In the wake of several days of unrest, Tunisian interim Prime Minister Beji Caid Sebsi (pictured)said on Tuesday that Tunisia's security forces would be banned from joining unions, promptingmore protests by police.

Tunisia banned the security forces from joining unions on Tuesday, prompting hundreds ofpolice to protest against a transitional government that some Tunisians say has betrayed their

"Arab Spring" uprising.Interim Prime Minister Beji Caid Sebsi said the ban was effective immediately to "stop anyunion activity of the security forces given the dangers it represents for the country's security".

Hundreds of police quickly gathered outside his office in the centre of the capital Tunis, somewearing civilian clothes with armbands saying 'police' and others in uniform. They shoutedslogans calling for an end to government corruption.

The protest was the latest against the transitional government, which has been struggling torestore stability since mass protests ousted president Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali on Jan. 14 after 23years in power.

Sebsi reiterated that Tunisia's elections to a constitutional assembly to write a new constitutionwould take place on Oct. 23 after a delay of several months.

"The elections will take place at the fixed deadline, whether some like it or not," he said.

Some political parties have called for a referendum on Oct. 23 on a future political system. Sebsisaid such a referendum would need to be discussed with President Fouad Mebazza and politicalparties first.

Tunisia electrified the Middle East in January when its revolution became the template foruprisings across the region - especially in Egypt and Libya.

But, whereas Egypt's Hosni Mubarak is facing trial in Cairo and Libya's Muammar Gaddafi is onthe run, Ben Ali is in exile in Saudi Arabia and many Tunisians say he and his supporters shouldhave been prosecuted more vigorously.

They suspect some in the interim government of sympathising with him.
http://www.france24.com/en/print/5241605?print=nowhttp://www.france24.com/en/print/5241605?print=nowhttp://www.france24.com/en/print/5241605?print=now


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There was an outpouring of anger after the justice minister under Ben Ali was released from jailand a high-profile friend of the ex-president's wife was able to flee to Paris.

Last month, Tunisian security forces used teargas against protesters in the capital demanding the

government step down for failing to prosecute supporters of the ousted president. Thousands ofpeople also protested in other towns and cities.

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Chad facing its worst cholera epidemic: OCHA (AlertNet)http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/chad-on-track-for-its-worst-ever-cholera-epidemic-ocha/ By: By George Fominyen7 September 2011

DAKAR, Senegal - Humanitarian groups are concerned about an ongoing cholera epidemic in

Chad that has infected 11,000 people and killed 340 others since the start of the year, the U.N.Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has said. NEWSThere will be about 10,000 new cases by the end of October if nothing is done to stop the trendof more than 1,000 cases of cholera per week, OCHA warned in a statement.

This would bring the total number of cases to about 20,000 and the epidemic would then be the

worst epidemic that Chad has ever experienced, the statement said.

Chad has been battling with outbreaks of cholera for over a year now, and the situation hasworsened since the start of the rainy season in June.

Chads neighbours, particularly Cameroon and Niger have also been facing cholera epidemicsand experts say a cross-border effort at tackling the disease is needed given that thousands ofpeople move across the porous borders between these countries.

OCHA has planned a cross-border meeting between humanitarian actors and governmentsrepresentatives from Cameroon, Niger and Chad in mid-September to stop the cross-borderinfections.

Cholera is an acute intestinal infection caused by bacteria contaminating food or water,prompting diarrhoea and vomiting. If left untreated, infected people can die of dehydration,

sometimes within a matter of hours.

Despite having oil reserves estimated at 1.5 billion barrels, Chad remains one of the poorestcountries in the world. The majority of its population drinks water from open wells or rivers,water which is often unsafe for drinking due to the risk of various waterborne diseases.

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http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/chad-on-track-for-its-worst-ever-cholera-epidemic-ocha/http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/chad-on-track-for-its-worst-ever-cholera-epidemic-ocha/http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/chad-on-track-for-its-worst-ever-cholera-epidemic-ocha/


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The American question (Namibia's New Era)http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=40519&title=The%20American%20 By: Kamati kaTate7 September 2011

Whipping US Embassys opportunistic Charg dAffairesLast weeks formulation on AFRICOM had three key objectives: to make AFRICOMknown to you; identify AFRICOM as a security threat; and to clarify how and why AFRICOM issuch.

On September 5, 2011, this paper carried a superficial response by Ava Rogers, US EmbassysCharg dAffaires. I apologize to my followers fordelaying your usual political education anddirection. At the end, you will understand why I had to respond (smiling).

Daddy Come home

Ordinarily, the fathers presence reinforces order and restraint on the part of children. If thefather were to go away, the household would be victimized by anarchy and sometimeshooliganism by children with undomesticated tendencies.

When the father returns, anarchy will evaporate. Children (and sometimes the mother) wouldcompetitively account for events during fathers absence. Sometimes even the unnecessary itemsmake their way into his ears.

Following that logic, replace the father with myself and the children the readership. This hasbeen the scenario since last weeks article was published. I had to read almost 100 emails and Iam yet to accept all those friends on Facebook. Like the father, even the misplaced unfolded -like the US Embassy.

The Ostensible Response

The Embassy charges my formulation with unsubstantiated allegations factual inaccuracy ...errors and misunderstandings. His accusation of a wrong mission statement was NOTaccompanied by a provision of the correct one - for there is none other.

Again, AFRICOMs mission statement is as follows; United States Africa Command, in concertwith other U.S. government agencies and international partners, conducts sustained securityengagements through military-to-military programs, military-sponsored activities, and othermilitary operations as directed to promote a stable and secure African environment in support ofU.S. foreign policy.

The Charg dAffaires seems not aware of matters in the salary providing domain (he could befired). The fact that General Ward passed on the security threat to General Ham doesnt eradicatehis propagandist Namibia visit or his Paris meeting.
http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=40519&title=The%20American%20http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=40519&title=The%20American%20http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=40519&title=The%20American%20


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This was the context in which General Wards leadership was discussed. Theresponses biggestfailure is to confuse my columns sharp writings on AFRICOM with the work of the USEmbassy. Thinkers, unlike the Charg dAffaires, would discern the two albeit related.

More American Propaganda

Those with sharp intellect are surely grappling with the gist of the response.

Faced with difficulty to respond, the Charg dAffaires resorted to we cannot address all ofthem the current statement, strategic objectives, and even personnel strength are all publiclyavailable on its website. Onlycharlatans would believe such rhetoric. Why cant you addressthem all ifthey are unsubstantiated allegations factual inaccuracy ... errors andmisunderstandings? It might be necessary to unravel that diplomats are politicians deployed inanother country.

The deceptive nature of politicians does not escape them when they land. As such, this was

nothing but an opportunistic act to unleash the resum of the US Embassy in order to win heartsand minds of the forgetful, unconscious and dim-witted.

Quoting Obamas calculated words are oblivious of our intelligence. Obamas statement inGhana does not establish AFRICOM for this security threat was already established by warcriminal George Bush.

Stop patronizing and urinating on our intelligence. By the way, in Ghana, Obama said US policyin Africa will include isolation.

Seeing how it has become fashionable to manipulate UN processes towards a killingextravaganza in Libya, speeches of Obama will never be taken seriously by the Africanintelligentsia.

No strings attached?

The conclusion of no strings attached is very wrong and patronizing. The intelligentsia wouldrecall the Etosha MCA deal involving Americans and shady politicians. If it wasnt for theSwapo Youth League, Etosha wouldve fallen to those now preaching, to the uninformed, the no-strings-attached rhetoric. Namibia is no longer a colony lacking sharp intellect.

Eye on yesterday

Next time you engage African and Namibian intelligentsia, know the following: yourgovernment supported the brutal apartheid regime that killed our parents and denied us ourhumanity.

Even during the negotiations (the so-called constructive engagement) you were for our enemy.Your government supported UNITA that did us a lot of harm.


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The forget-not history pens recorded your government and western partners around the killing oroverthrow of African revolutionariesThomas Isidore Nol Sankara, Patrice mery Lumumba,Amlcar Lopes da Costa Cabral and Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.

Embedded in our society

Of course you are embedded in our society. I am not a politician or a diplomat, so I will put itbluntly: having you embedded in my society is a security threat too. I hope that we will getresources to do all you do.

I can never celebrate when you are even dealing with sensitive aspects such as land throughMCA. Clumsy politicians and your coffee friends can celebrate, I will not. They will get oldsoon and we shall take over.

You are not embedded in our society for sheer philanthropy - It is so to achieve foreign policygoals - to hold us at ransom. If we shut doors of your strategic interest, like Zimbabwe, then you

pull that string of all numbers you stated in your response. So stop patronizing us we arentdull.

The litmus test

I suggest something of importance to this debate (if it is). If the US Embassys activities weresheer altruism, then it would not be a difficult thing to publish the country report of theAmbassador for the past years. As you said, you have have nothing to hide.

Shaamonathana omuti nomuti We shall meet again

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END OF REPORT

africom related news clips 8 september 2011

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