africom related newsclips january 10, 2011

8/8/2019 AFRICOM Related Newsclips January 10, 2011

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United States Africa CommandPublic Affairs Office10 January 2011

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

Africom's General Ward Arrives Today(The New Times)(Rwanda) Gen. William E. Ward, the commander of the US Africa Command(AFRICOM), is expected in Rwanda this Monday morning.

Mali City Rankled by Rules for Life in Spotlight (New York Times)(Mali) Many residents of Djenn say they long for more modern homes, but Unescopreservation guidelines limit alterations to original structures.

Tanzania: USAFRICOM chief visits Tanzania (Afrique en Ligne)(Tanzania) US Africa Command (USAFRICOM) commanding general, Gen. William'Kip' Ward, Thursday reinforced his country's commitment to assisting Tanzania infighting piracy in the Indian Ocean, combating the spread of HIV/AIDS and promotingregional stability.

US AFRICOM commander coming to say Bye (Rwanda News Agency)(Rwanda) The out-going commander of the controversial US Africa Command(AFRICOM) Gen William Ward is scheduled to be in Kigali on Monday next week ashe makes his last trip before he is replaced.

Kenya should reset its foreign policy(The Standard)(Kenya) It is at this poignant time that Kenya needs to reset its foreign policy anddetermine its eternal friends and allies.

U.S. imposes sanctions to press Ivory Coast leader to step aside (Washington Post)(Ivory Coast) The U.S. government is stepping up pressure on the leader of Ivory Coast

to leave office, imposing new sanctions after appeals by President Obama and Secretaryof State Hillary Rodham Clinton failed to resolve an election crisis that is turningincreasingly bloody.

Obama team in strong push for peaceful split(The East African)


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(Sudan) Having overcome months of inattention and internal disagreements, PresidentBarack Obamas foreign policy team is making a strong, unified and, its memberspredict, ultimately successful push for the peaceful breakup of Sudan.

Southern Sudanese in U.S. to vote on independence (USA Today)

(Sudan) Thousands of Southern Sudanese immigrants will cast votes in eight U.S. citiesstarting Sunday to decide whether their region of the country will part ways withnorthern Sudan and its government.

Southern Sudanese, in a Jubilant Mood, Vote on Secession (New York Times)(Sudan) Starting in the cool hours of the night, long before the polls even opened,people across this region began lining up at polling stations to cast their votes in ahistoric referendum on whether to declare independence. Jubilant crowds made clearwhich was the overwhelmingly popular choice.

Khartoum Appears Ready to Accept Referendum Result(Voice of America)(Sudan) The head of Sudans governing National Congress Partys delegation to thepermanent court of arbitration said his party is committed to living peacefully with anewly-independent south Sudan if southerners choose secession over unity.

Militarization Of Energy Policy: U.S. Africa Command And Gulf Of Guinea(OpEdNews.com)(Pan Africa) The Pentagon was charged with taking responsibility to implement U.S.energy strategy in the Gulf of Guinea: U.S. Africa Command, the first overseas militarycommand inaugurated since 1983.

Kenya should reset its foreign policy(The Standard)(Kenya) At the top of our strategic allies has to be US. It being the worlds pre-eminenteconomic and military power gives us few options.

Why Ghana's President said 'No' to U.S., France and Nigeria on military intervention

in Ivory Coast(Modern Ghana)(Ivory Coast) Ghana's president John Mills has expressed his opposition to any militaryintervention in Ivory Coast, led by the ECOWAS or the international community,seeking to force controversial incumbent Laurent Gbagbo out of office.

Algeria Seeks to End Riots With Food-Price Moves, But 14 Die in Tunisia (Wall StreetJournal)(Algeria) The Algerian government over the weekend said it will reduce tax andimport duties on some staples in a bid to end days of deadly clashes between police andrioters protesting food prices in the North African country.

UN News Service Africa Briefs


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Full Articles on UN Websitey UN envoy urges DR Congo authorities to probe recent allegations of mass rapesy Joint UN-African Union envoy confers with Sudanese official on Darfury Horn of Africa could become new launch pad for global terrorism, Ban warnsy Cte dIvoire: UN agency seeks $20 million to assist those affected by crisisy New Congolese law significant step for indigenous rights UN expert

-------------------------------------------------------------------------UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, January 13, 2011; Woodrow Wilson Center forInternational ScholarsWHAT: A Lens into Liberia: Experiences from International Reporting ProjectGatekeepersWHO: Sunni Khalid, Managing News Editor, WYPR, Baltimore; Ed Robbins, VideoJournalist, New York; Teresa Wiltz, Senior Editor, TheRoot.com, Washington DC

Info:http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=events.event_summary&event_id=646658

WHEN/WHERE: Friday, January 21, 2011; Council on Foreign RelationsWHAT: Separating SudanWHO: Francis Deng, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the Prevention ofGenocide, United Nations; Richard Williamson, Principal, Salisbury Strategies, LLP;Senior Fellow, Chicago Council on Global Affairs; Nonresident Senior Fellow,Brookings Institution; Peter M. Lewis, Director, African Studies Program, Paul H. Nitze

School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins UniversityInfo: http://www.cfr.org/

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday and Wednesday, February 8-9, 2011; National DefenseIndustrial Association, Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington, DCWHAT: Defense, Diplomacy, and Development: Translating Policy into OperationalCapabilityWHO: Keynote Speakers include ADM Michael Mullen, USN, Chairman, Joint Chiefsof Staff; BG Simon Hutchinson, GBR, Deputy Commander, NATO Special OperationsForces Headquarters; ADM Eric T. Olson, USN, Commander, U.S. Special Operations

Command; Gen Norton A. Schwartz, USAF, Chief of Staff, U.S. Air ForceInfo: http://www.ndia.org/meetings/1880/Pages/default.aspx----------------------------------------------------------------------------------FULL ARTICLE TEXT

Africom's General Ward Arrives Today (The New Times)


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Gen. William E. Ward, the commander of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM), isexpected in the country, this Monday morning.

According to Army and Defence Spokesperson, Lt. Col. Jill Rutaremara, Gen. Ward willarrive early Monday and visit the Ministry of Defense (MoD) headquarters before

jetting out later in the day.

At the MoD, Gen. Ward will meet with the Minister of Defence, James Kabarebe, andthe Chief of Defence Staff [CDS], Lieutenant General, Charles Kayonga.

"He will also visit the Genocide Memorial Centre at Gisozi before he leaves," said Lt.Col. Rutaremara.

During his last visit, in April 2009, he held discussions with the then Minister ofDefence, Gen. Marcel Gatsinzi, as well as former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. James

Kabarebe and other senior officers in the Rwanda Defence Force(RDF), with whom hediscussed bilateral military issues.

In 2009, Gen. Ward praised the RDF's professionalism, and announced that the US armylearns a lot from the Rwandan military.

"The Rwandans don't need to be told how to be a professional force. They have that.What they ask for are ways of how to enhance that professionalism, just as we (USarmy) ask for that," Gen. Ward told reporters during his last visit.

"We learn from Rwandans, and can pick those lessons and adjust our own trainingprogrammes."------------------Mali City Rankled by Rules for Life in Spotlight (New York Times)

Abba Maiga stood in his dirt courtyard, smoking and seething over the fact that his 150-year-old mud-brick house is so culturally precious he is not allowed to update it notile floors, no screen doors, no shower.

Who wants to live in a house with a mud floor? groused Mr. Maiga, a retiredriverboat captain.

With its cone-shaped crenellations and palm wood drainage spouts, the grand facadeseems outside time and helps illustrate why this ancient city in eastern Mali is anofficial World Heritage site.


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But the guidelines established by Unesco, the cultural arm of the United Nations, whichcompiles the heritage list, demand that any reconstruction not substantially alter theoriginal.

When a town is put on the heritage list, it means nothing should change, Mr. Maiga

said. But we want development, more space, new appliances things that are muchmore modern. We are angry about all that.

It is a cultural clash echoed at World Heritage sites across Africa and around the world.While it may be good for tourism, residents complain of being frozen in time like piecesin a museum their lives proscribed so visitors can gawk.

The issue in Djenn is about people getting comfort, using the right materials withoutcompromising the architectural values, said Lazare Eloundou Assomo, the chief of theAfrican unit of Unescos World Heritage Center.

Mr. Assomo ticked off a list of sites facing similar tension, including the island of St.-Louis in neighboring Senegal, the island of Lamu in Kenya, the entire island ofMozambique off the coast of the nation by the same name, or Asian and European citieslike Lyon, France.

Here in Djenn, the striking Great Mosque is what put the town on the map. It is thelargest mud-brick structure in the world, so unique that it looks as if it might havelanded from another planet, an imposing sand castle looming over the main square. Thearchitectural style, known as Sudanese, is native to the Sahel.

A trio of unique minarets square, tapering towers topped by pointed pillars andcrowned by an ostrich egg dominate the facade. Palm tree boards poked into themosque in rows like toothpicks create a permanent scaffolding that allows residents toswarm over the building to replaster the mud, an annual February ritual involving theentire town.

Djenn is the less famous but better preserved sister city to Timbuktu. Both reachedtheir zenith of wealth and power in the 16th century by sitting at the crossroads ofSahara trade routes for goods like gold, ivory and slaves.

The town was also a gateway that helped spread Islam regionally. When the kingconverted in the 13th century, he leveled his palace and built a mosque. Malis Frenchcolonizers eventually oversaw its reconstruction in 1907.

The Grand Mosque was again near collapse when the Agha Khan Foundation arrived tobegin a $900,000 restoration project, said Josephine Dilario, one of two supervisingarchitects. The annual replastering had more than doubled the width of the walls and


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added a yard of mud to the roof. It was too heavy, even with the forest of thick pillarsinside the mosque supporting the high ceiling one for each of the 99 names of God.

In 2006, the initial restoration survey ignited a riot. Protesters sacked the mosquesinterior, attacked city buildings and destroyed cars. The uprising was apparently rooted

in the simmering tension among the 12,000 townsfolk, particularly the young, who feltforced to live in squalor while the mosque imam and a few prominent families raked inthe benefits from tourism.

The frustration seems to have lingered. While the mosque graces the national seal,residents here appear markedly more sullen about tourism than in many other Maliancities. They often glower rather than smile, and they tend to either ask for money orstomp off when cameras are pointed in their direction.

With the mosque restoration nearing completion, the town is focusing attention on

other critical problems raw sewage and the restoration of the nearly 2,000 houses.

There is a kind of tension, a difficulty that has to be resolved by not locking people intothe traditional and authentic architecture, said Samuel Sidib, the director of MalisNational Museum in Bamako, the capital.

We have to find a way to evolve this architecture, to provide the basic necessities thecommunity needs to live, and to do it in such a way that doesnt compromise thequality of the mud-brick architecture, the characteristic at the heart of the citysidentity.

Elhajj Diakat, 54, and his brother inherited three houses from their father. Mr. Diakathates bending over to navigate the cramped entryways, he said, and no room is bigenough to accommodate a double bed. Worse, his wives and his brothers wives allwant armoires, he said.

But a Dutch-led restoration team working to save more than 100 houses ruled outexpanding any rooms for armoires, he said. So Mr. Diakat evicted them and tore downa fat interior wall graced by two narrow arches. The entire house collapsed. The Dutchrestorer wept when she saw it, he said.

Collapses are the main threat, because mud brick requires regular upkeep. Just fourrainstorms washed away much of the newly restored plaster at the Grand Mosque,exposing the underlying cylindrical bricks, each about the size of a mayonnaise jar.

But the natural materials needed like rice husks or tree paste to make the bricksimpermeable have become so expensive that the art of hand-shaping the bricksalmost died out.


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Djenn occupies a small island amid the inland delta of the Niger River and itstributaries. The water was a rich source of mud, until it receded during an extendeddrought in the 1970s. Masons used more sand, weakening the bricks. Hungry residentsalso ate rice husks rather than build with them.

Urban problems multiplied. A project to pipe water into the city failed to includedrainage, so raw sewage fouls the unpaved streets. Trash dumps mar the riverembankments. Garbage has even made its way into the bricks, with black plastic bagsjutting from house walls. A faint rotting odor hangs in the background.

Tourists complained, and in 2008 Unesco warned the city that something had to bedone, said Fane Yamoussa, director of the citys cultural mission. Trash and sewagealone is not cause to be kicked off the World Heritage list, until they start affecting thearchitecture.

The problem, said NDiaye Bah, Malis tourism minister, is modernizing the townwithout wrecking its ambiance. If you destroy the heritage which people come to see,if you destroy 2,000 years of history, then the town loses its soul, he said.

Djenn residents take pride in their heritage and recognize that the Unesco list helpedmake their city famous. Yet they wonder aloud about the point of staying on it, giventhe lack of tangible gains, if they are forced to live literally in mud.

Many homeowners want to keep the distinctive facades, but alter the interiors. Unesco

guidelines prohibit the sweeping alterations they would like, however.

Mahamame Bamoye Traor, the leader of the powerful masons guild, surveyed thecramped rooms of the retired river boat captains house, naming all the things he wouldchange if the World Heritage rules were more flexible.

If you want to help someone, you have to help him in a way that he wants; to forcehim to live in a certain way is not right, he said, before lying on the mud floor of awindowless room that measured about 6 feet by 3 feet.

This is not a room, he said. It might as well be a grave.------------------Tanzania: USAFRICOM chief visits Tanzania (Afrique en Ligne)

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania - US Africa Command (USAFRICOM) commanding general,Gen. William 'Kip' Ward, Thursday reinforced his country's commitment to assistingTanzania in fighting piracy in the Indian Ocean, combating the spread of HIV/AIDSand promoting regional stability.


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In his talks with Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, he also lauded the strongpartnership between the United States and Tanzania.

Gen. Ward, who was here on a two-day (5-6 January) visit as part of his trip to the East

African region, met with Lt.-Gen A. A. Shimbo, Chief of Staff of the Tanzania People'sDefence Forces (TPDF), and commended the professionalism of the Tanzanian military.

He praised the TPDF for its support to peacekeeping missions and openness topartnering with the United States in security cooperation.

The United States assists Tanzania in bringing its capabilities and influence to bear onresolving conflicts in Africa, in addition to strengthening its borders and addressingmaritime insecurity, illicit trafficking in arms, drugs, and persons, and othertransnational challenges.

US support for Tanzanian peacekeeping capacity includes military education andtraining.------------------US AFRICOM commander coming to say Bye (Rwanda News Agency)

Kigali: The out-going commander of the controversial US Africa Command (AFRICOM)Gen William Ward is scheduled to be in Kigali on Monday next week as he makes hislast trip before he is replaced.

Gen Ward will meet Defense Minister Gen James Kabarebe, with whom they haveworked closely since the American came to office in October 2008. The AFRICOM chiefwill also meet the Army boss Gen. Charles Kayonga.

AFRICOM has been helping train Rwandan soldiers as part of a wider USgovernment military support program for Rwanda. This week, the State Departmentannounced it had awarded a multi-million dollar contract for training of Rwandansoldiers in peacekeeping operations.

Gen Ward is to step aside with the appointment of Gen. Carter Ham in December. Ifconfirmed by the US Senate, Gen Ham would be only the second officer to head thenascent command, which has struggled to gain a foothold on the sprawling continentthat houses some of the worlds growing terror threats.

Launched in Oct. 2008, Africa Command is the newest of the militarys six regionalheadquarters and is based in Stuttgart, Germany. The US government abandonedefforts to base the command on the continent after it hit resistance among the Africannations, and instead posted about two dozen liaison officers at embassies.


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AFRICOM, as its called, has had to convince African leaders that the U.S. is there toassist the countries, and is not planning to build military bases there. The U.S. militarycurrently has a base at Camp Lemonier in Djibouti.

Over the past two years, the command has worked to set up training programs,promote development and stability, and establish stronger military ties with thecountries and island nations.------------------Kenya should reset its foreign policy(The Standard)No foreign policy - no matter how ingenious - has any chance of success if it is born inthe minds of few and carried in the hearts of none." - Henry A Kissinger, US Diplomat

Today, the people of Southern Sudan are exercising their inviolable and immutable

right of self-determination. Every group of people, united by common culture,language and interest has this right that no law can take it away. It is at this poignanttime that Kenya needs to reset its foreign policy and determine its eternal friends andallies. We need core allies whose friendship and alliance will not be wavered by time orcircumstances.

Foreign policy of nations is an across-cutting field and thus the failure to have acommon definition. It is, however, generally accepted that a nations foreign policy isdictated by its national self-interest that includes economic advancement, defence of itsborders and ideological goals. Our politicians have showed us during times of general

elections, referenda and parliamentary proceedings, that our foreign relations aretempestuous and fickle. We turn on-and-off our foreign relations depending on whichside the ambassadors based here seem to support.

For us to achieve Vision 2030 and other goals intended to make us a middle-incomecountry, we have to choose our friends and stick with them through all seasons. Of the192 UN-member states, we can have diplomatic and trading relations with all; relationsthat are nimble and zigzag. But we can only have permanent and eternal relations withfew. Choosing friends is our sovereign right and we have no obligation to please anynation-state that feels slighted.

For permanent strategic relations, I suggest that we enter into it with these countries:US, United Kingdom, Turkey, Singapore, Israel, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Southern Sudan andSouth Africa. Of these nine countries I have chosen, each has unique attributes that aregermane to our strategic interests. At times, these attributes overlap. And thesecountries cover the entire globe.


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At the top of our strategic allies has to be US. It being the worlds pre-eminent economicand military power gives us few options. The US leads the world in every sector ofhuman development and underpinned in its economy that is massive $14 Trillion. UShas long been searching for a place in Africa to locate its Africa Command (AfriCom)headquarters which is currently housed in Stuttgart, Germany. In allowing US to build

the AfriCom HQ in Lamu or any other place of their choice in Kenya, we areguaranteed permanent friendship with immense advantages. US annual militarybudget is in excess of $700 billion. With AfriCom HQ, we are sure to get a slice of thisbudget.

United Kingdom and Turkey will give us a foothold in Eurasia. UK was our colonialruler and by it, we have much in common including language and mannerisms. Englishexpertise and leadership in mercantile trading and finance is unsurpassed and Londonis accepted as the Worlds finance capital. Turkey on the other hand is a fast-risingstudent of capitalism. In less than 10 years, Turkeys ruling party, AKP has transformed

the country from a backwater to being touted as a member of the worlds emergingeconomies besides Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Israel and Singapore are tiny enclaves with even tinier populations, and ensconced inhostile territories, yet both are economic powerhouses. Israel is just 22,072 sq km withseven million people and Singapore is mere 697 sq km with five million people, buttheir annual GDPs are $206 billion and $251 billion respectively. Compare this with ourcountry which is 580,367sq km, 40 million people and a GDP of $30 billion. Israel andSingapore will teach us how to make use of our vast land and big population. Bothcountries so far have no natural resources of value. Rather, they rely on their human

resources in building their economies.

In Africa, we have limited choice for friends and thus the selection of South Africa,Ethiopia, Rwanda and Southern Sudan only. South Africa is a natural choice as it isAfricas biggest economy. With its myriad tribes and races, South Africa has shown thatthere is unity in diversity and that creating a rainbow nation is possible. Ethiopia is ahuge country with immense potential. That it is landlocked and we share a commonborder makes it a strategic ally. And we both have a common interest in wanting apacified Somalia.

Rwanda is the Singapore of Africa and our gateway to the eldorado of Central Africa.One day, when we become truly industrialised and middle income country, we willneed unfettered access to the minerals that lie buried in the Congo Basin. The people ofSouthern Sudan are our kin and kindred and we have a moral obligation to help them.Beneath the soils of Southern Sudan are huge fields of oil and fertile land foragriculture. Our growing population and economy will need the oil and food ofSouthern Sudan.


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Of the above countries, we will realise that of the developed countries of US, UK, Israeland Singapore, there is massive investment in infrastructure and education. UK whichis mere 243,610 sq km has 394,428 km of tarmac road. A thread running throughdeveloped economies is that, there be a kilometer of tarmac road in every sq km. The

emerging economies of Turkey and South Africa are following same model. This meansthat for us to be on our way up, we need to start constructing a minimum of 100,000kilometres of tarmac road.

In forging close and permanent relationships with Washington, London, Ankara, TelAviv, Singapore, Addis Ababa, Juba, Kigali and Pretoria, we will be guaranteedmilitary umbrella and economic co-operation and assistance. When we are developingour economy with the assistance and expertise of the old economies of US and UK, weshall be learning from Turkey and South Africa. We will not re-invent the wheel again.Having these permanent friends mean that in international fora like UN, we will always

have a big brother watching over us, and in the local neighbourhood, territorialdisputes will never arise. For the first time, let us have a foreign policy fixed on stonethat will not sway to the emotional beats of politicians. It is the only way we will be anemerging economy.

It is at this poignant time that Kenya needs to reset its foreign policy and determine itseternal friends and allies.------------------U.S. imposes sanctions to press Ivory Coast leader to step aside (Washington Post)

The U.S. government is stepping up pressure on the leader of Ivory Coast to leaveoffice, imposing new sanctions after appeals by President Obama and Secretary of StateHillary Rodham Clinton failed to resolve an election crisis that is turning increasinglybloody.

The standoff in the African nation threatens to reignite a civil war that killed thousandsof people in 2002 and 2003. In addition, Obama administration officials worry that abotched election could set a dangerous precedent, with Africans in several othercountries set to go to the polls this year.

The Treasury Department announced the new sanctions Thursday, as President LaurentGbagbo continued to refuse to hand off power to his old rival, Alassane Ouattara, whohas been internationally recognized as the winner of the Nov. 28 election.

The measures freeze U.S. property belonging to Gbagbo, his wife and three of hisadvisers, and prohibit Americans from doing business with them. Such actions have anecho effect internationally, since major financial institutions often suspend dealingswith U.S.-designated targets.


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The sanctions follow a U.S. ban on travel by Gbagbo and his associates, and similartargeted measures by European and African countries.

"Essentially what we've wanted to present from the beginning of the crisis . . . is a

choice, so on the one hand, [Gbagbo] sees there's a way out for him, should he choose todo the right thing and step down," said Ben Rhodes, the deputy U.S. national securityadviser for strategic communications. "If he doesn't, there is going to be a steadyratcheting up of pressure."

At least 200 people have been killed in post-election violence, according to the UnitedNations.

Ouattara is holed up at a hotel in the country's business capital, Abidjan, protected byU.N. peacekeepers.

The international community has been unusually united on the Ivory Coast crisis. The16-nation West African group known as ECOWAS has threatened military interventionif Gbagbo doesn't step down, and the U.N. Security Council sent a powerful signal byrecognizing his rival's victory.

None of that, however, has moved the recalcitrant Ivorian. And on Friday, thepossibility of a military operation seemed to diminish as Ghana said it couldn'tcontribute troops.

"The problem is, the U.S. and everybody else can do everything right, but if Gbagbo iswilling to bring the country down around him and relaunch a conflict, he can probablydo that," said Jennifer G. Cooke, director of the Africa program at the Center forStrategic and International Studies.

Most nonhumanitarian U.S. aid to Ivory Coast was suspended after a 1999 coup.Washington has sought to work with European and African countries, the UnitedNations and international financial institutions to pressure Gbagbo to step down.

The financial noose could further tighten at an upcoming meeting of the Central Bankof West African States, which handles the currency used by Ivory Coast.

A decision could be taken on which of the two declared presidents "gets to control CoteD'Ivoire's currency," said a State Department official, using the country's French name.The official was not authorized to comment on the record.


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The November election was supposed to resolve years of political instability thatfollowed the north-south civil war. Gbagbo has been in office for a decade, staying onbeyond a mandate originally set to expire in 2005.

Obama tried unsuccessfully to call Gbagbo twice after the election. In early December,

Obama sent a letter inviting Gbagbo to Washington to discuss his future and warning ofconsequences if he clung to power, aides say.

A more detailed letter from Clinton followed, suggesting Gbagbo could move to theUnited States or receive a position in an international or regional institution if he leftpeacefully, according to U.S. officials. Similar inducements were offered by France andother African countries.

"They're not endless," the State Department official said of the offers. "The more thatthings on the ground turn ugly . . . you can't ignore that."

------------------Obama team in strong push for peaceful split (The East African)

Having overcome months of inattention and internal disagreements, President BarackObamas foreign policy team is making a strong, unified and, its members predict,ultimately successful push for the peaceful breakup of Sudan.

A sharp turnaround in Washingtons handling of the secession issue began to occurabout six months ago.

Until then, high-level US officials had failed to develop a coherent, effective policy onSudan, and activists were warning that the Obama administration risked undoing theBush administrations achievements in brokering an end to the 20-year civil warbetween the central government based in Khartoum and the oil-rich South.

Scott Gration, Obamas special emissary to Sudan, openly disagreed with the AmericanUN ambassador Susan Rice, on how to deal with the regime of President Omar alBashir.

Mr Gration favoured a pragmatic approach to a head of state indicted for war crimes inSudans Darfur region.

He urged that priority be placed on persuading Bashir to accede to the Souths secessionand that the US simultaneously downplay the Khartoum governments violence inDarfur.

Ms Rice, who was reported to be furious with this stance, argued that the US shouldslap additional sanctions on Khartoum.


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Long listed by the United States as a state sponsor of terrorism, Sudan has been hitwith a variety of financial punishments as part of a US effort to isolate and discredit thegovernment.

The drift and the rifts within the Obama team came to an end in August when Secretaryof State Hillary Clinton sided with Mr Gration.

Demanding that there be one team, one fight, Ms Clinton recommended to PresidentObama that the US intensify its diplomacy toward Sudan with the aim of helpingengineer a peaceful secession referendum.

Bashir was then promised a phase-out of US sanctions as well as assistance from theWorld Bank and International Monetary Fund in exchange for his acceptance of SouthSudans independence.

Obama also ordered much more active and direct diplomatic involvement in bothKhartoum and in the Souths capital, Juba.

Princeton Lyman, a former ambassador to South Africa, was appointed to reinforceambassador Grations work, while Senator John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic Partypresidential candidate, became another de facto special envoy to Sudan.

Overall, the United States has increased its diplomatic presence in Sudan andneighbouring countries fourfold in the past six months.

Even as President Bashir was being constantly cajoled and courted, Southern Sudaneseleaders were being encouraged to adopt a non-belligerent attitude toward Khartoumand to make compromises on mechanical aspects of carrying out the referendum.

On its part, the Obama team promised to provide nation-building assistance in theaftermath of the referendum.

As a result of this diplomatic offensive, US officials are expressing confidence that theJanuary 9-15 voting will proceed peacefully.

The United States has invested a great deal of diplomacy to ensure the outcome of thisreferendum is successful and peaceful, Johnnie Carson, the State Departments topAfrica official, told reporters on January 5.

Team Obama is also cautiously optimistic that Khartoum will accept the outcome andplay a constructive role in the ensuing negotiations on critical issues such as


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demarcation of borders, division of oil revenues and the status of the disputed territoryof Abyei.

But activists are warning that the hardest part of the process will begin after thereferendum votes are tabulated.

------------------Southern Sudanese in U.S. to vote on independence (USA Today)

NASHVILLE Thousands of Southern Sudanese immigrants will cast votes in eightU.S. cities starting Sunday to decide whether their region of the country will part wayswith northern Sudan and its government.

At stake is whether Africa will see its first new country form in more than 20 yearswhile avoiding the kind of violence that has seen Sudan fight two bloody civil warssince it won independence from the United Kingdom in 1956.

Polling will take place through Jan. 15 in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Nashville, Omaha,Phoenix, Seattle and Washington.

African foreign policy experts say the vote and its aftermath will serve as an importanttest for U.S. policy in the region, specifically the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

The agreement, signed by both Sudan's north and south, established that after a six-yearinterim period the south would get a vote for self-determination, said Andrew Blum, asenior program officer with the United States Institute of Peace, a non-partisan

institution that helps prevent and resolve conflicts. Juba would be the south's capital.

The referendum was a cornerstone of that accord, which ended two decades of civil warthat had claimed more than 2 million lives.

"The Comprehensive Peace Agreement was a key U.S. peace building accomplishment,"Blum said. "This is the crux moment for it. The question is, does what it sought toaccomplish come to fruition."

Sudanese immigrants in the U.S. are eager for the referendum and for seeing the southwin its freedom. Ensuing violence that could affect family and friends back home is ontheir minds, too.

"I think it is a bad time that we have been going through," said John Majiok, a Sudaneseimmigrant in Nashville who supports the vote. "We are going to solve it withoutbloodshed, given the time. Hopefully, our people will get freedom."


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The international Southern Sudan Referendum Commission, which is running theballoting, reports almost 8,800 Sudanese immigrants in the U.S. have registered to vote.

Recent U.S. Census Bureau data show that slightly more than 35,000 people in the U.S.identify themselves as born in the Sudan.

Should Southern Sudan choose to secede, there is a danger of violence. The most likelyflash points are along the north-south border, particularly around the oil-rich region ofAbeyi, Blum said.

Many Sudanese in the U.S. are from the southern region, including refugees from thelast civil war. The area does not include Darfur, where the north has been accused bythe United Nations of crimes against humanity.

Gatluak Thach, 38, was a child when the second civil war erupted in Sudan. He

eventually fled the war and came to the USA.

In Nashville to register for the referendum, Thach noted this would be the first time hewould get to vote for anything concerning his country. "This is the first time that manyget to vote for Sudan," he said. "First time to have a voice for Sudan."------------------Southern Sudanese, in a Jubilant Mood, Vote on Secession (New York Times)

Salva Kiir, the president of southern Sudan, which has been semi-autonomous since apeace treaty was signed in 2005, cast his ballot Sunday morning as the polls opened.

Starting in the cool hours of the night, long before the polls even opened, people acrossthis region began lining up at polling stations to cast their votes in a historic referendumon whether to declare independence. Jubilant crowds made clear which was theoverwhelmingly popular choice.

I feel like Im going to a new land, beamed Susan Duku, a southern Sudanese womanwho works for the United Nations.

As the sun cleared the horizon and the voting began, the streets of Juba, the capital ofsouthern Sudan, broke into a street party. Women were literally skipping around thepolls. Young men thumped on drums. Others were wrapped in flags.

People were hollering, singing, hugging, kissing, smacking high-fives and dancing as ifthey never wanted the day to end, despite the sun beating down and voting lines thatsnaked for blocks.

Southern Sudan has suffered a lot, and after years of civil war, oppression anddisplacement, many people here saw the vote as an unprecedented chance at self-


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determination. The referendum ballot offered two choices, unity with northern Sudanor secession. Unity was represented on the ballot by a drawing of two clasped hands.Secession was a single open hand. Many people rely on these symbols: more than three-quarters of southern Sudanese adults cannot read.

The referendum is a result of a conflict that lasted for decades and an American-backedpeace treaty in 2005, which granted the south the right to self-determination.

For Mrs. Duku, the choice was simple. Separation, she said. One hundred percent,plus.

Many people here spoke in almost biblical terms about lifting themselves out ofbondage. Sudan is a deeply divided country, and for decades, the southern third, whichis mostly Christian and animist, has been dominated by Arab rulers from the north.

The Arab government prosecuted a vicious war against southerners, who have beenchafing for their own separate state even before Sudans independence in 1956. Thegovernment forces and their proxy militias burned down villages, slaughtered civiliansand even kidnapped southern children and sold them to slave traders for a life ofinvoluntary servitude in the north. More than two million people were killed and manyof the tactics used to suppress the insurrection in the south would be repeated inDarfur, in Sudans west.

Voters on Sunday spoke of this legacy, and the poverty that has accompanied it. Thatwas in evidence all around. Most polling places were shoddily built schools or

government offices with bald concrete floors, no lights, crumbly walls and rusted metalroofs. If southern Sudan becomes independent, it will be one of the poorest countries onearth.

But better to be free, said Simon Matiek, a student.

The voting will continue for the next week. Preliminary reports indicated that it wasgoing smoothly.

I would say its very orderly and very enthusiastic, said former President JimmyCarter, in Juba to monitor the election.

The votes are expected to take at least a week to count. And if 60 percent of theregistered voters cast ballots and the majority choose secession, then the hard workbegins. Before Sudan can amicably split into two the south plans to declareindependence in July several sticky issues need to be resolved. The top two aresharing Sudans oil and demarcating the border, including the Abyei area, which boththe north and south claim.


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A successful agreement could prevent conflict, whereas if Abyei and other issuesremain unresolved, war becomes much more likely, said John Prendergast, of theantigenocide Enough Project.

Northern and southern forces have skirmished before in Abyei, and United Nationsofficials said nomads aligned to the north ambushed several southern soldiers onSaturday, though no casualty figures were available.

In Juba, though, things stayed peaceful rowdy, but peaceful. One man, who clearlyhad been celebrating with fortified beverages the night before, staggered around apolling station blowing an instrument fashioned from a cows horn and rubber tubing.

Most polling places were packed, with lines thousands of people long. Election officialssaid the turnout was enormous. Many voters had been standing in place since 2 a.m.,

even though the polls did not open until 8.

Today will go down in history, said William Lukudu, who arrived before dawndecked out in a natty gray suit, bright green shirt and purple tie. I didnt want to beleft out.

Suits, dresses, high heels, plastic pearls voters were dressed in their Sunday best.

At the tomb of John Garang, who died in a helicopter crash in 2005 and is consideredthe father of southern Sudans modern liberation movement, the atmosphere was

carnival-like, with troupes of dancers jumping around in faux leopard-skin loinclothsand politicians, soldiers and celebrities celebrating together.

Who is that man talking? a Sudanese journalist asked, gesturing to a white man witha group of reporters around him. When told it was George Clooney, a movie star, theSudanese journalist looked confused and walked away.

Some voters, though, seemed contemplative. They spoke of family members who haddied. Some spoke of potential future problems within the south.

Laraka Machar, who had just finished college in Uganda and was looking for work inJuba, explained how he had deep reservations about the leadership in the south and therise of ethnic politics. The south has been semiautonomous and running most of its ownaffairs since 2005.

The people in the government give opportunities to their own friends, their ownpeople, he said.


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Mr. Machar is a Nuer, considered the second most powerful ethnic group in southernSudan, behind the Dinka. Corruption is the order of the day, he continued.

Still, he said, he was voting for secession. This is my own country, my own land, hesaid. And I cant sell out my own land because of this.

Jacob Garang, 27, was a former child soldier who joined the rebellion when he was 12.On Sunday, he voted for secession.

This is one of the unique days in my life, he said. I have to thank God that I am aliveand that I found this day and I found myself in it.------------------Khartoum Appears Ready to Accept Referendum Result (Voice of America)

The head of Sudans governing National Congress Partys delegation to the permanent

court of arbitration said his party is committed to living peacefully with a newly-independent south Sudan if southerners choose secession over unity.

Ambassador Dirdiery Mohamed Ahmed, who is also a member of the NCP negotiatingteam with the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM), said his party will live upto its commitment of respecting the outcome of the referendum.

The NCP is very much encouraged about the peaceful beginning of the referendum.The voting has been, in fact, very successful throughout the country. The turnout wasvery much encouraging and we think that, if this trend continues, we will see a very

peaceful and successful referendum process, he said.

Over three-million registered southern Sudanese began voting Sunday in a referendumthat will determine if the semi-autonomous south secedes and becomes an independentnation.

Voting appeared to be proceeding smoothly, although officials reported clashesbetween Misseriya and Ngok Dinka tribesmen in the disputed, oil-producing Abyeiregion. Early reports say several people may have been killed.

U.S. President Barack Obama said in a statement Sunday that he is

extremely pleased the voting has started. He said the international community isdetermined that all parties in Sudan live up to their obligations.

Observers have expressed concern that there is a need to quickly resolve theoutstanding issues between the NCP and the SPLM in order to ensure peace andstability after the referendum.


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We have the border issue...which has to be agreed upon; we are having also thecitizenship issue and whether the southern Sudanese will be voting for secession willstill be enjoying the nationality of the Sudan, or they will be having their ownnationality in the south, said Ahmed.

As the NCP meets, will we also continue sharing the oil revenues as per the oldformula, or are we going to agree on a new formula, having in mind that most of the oilis produced in the south, but is now exported through the pipelines and refineries thatare installed in the north.

Ambassador Ahmed also said the NCP is encouraged with the peaceful nature of thereferendum.------------------Militarization Of Energy Policy: U.S. Africa Command And Gulf Of Guinea

(OpEdNews.com)

At the beginning of the century, while the United States was still embroiled in militaryinterventions in the Balkans and had launched what would become the longest war inits history in Afghanistan with the invasion of Iraq to follow, it was also laying thegroundwork for subordinating the African continent to a new military command.

With 4.5 percent of the world's population, the U.S. accounts for approximately 30percent of crude oil consumption. Although the world's third largest producer of crude,it imports over 60 percent of what it consumes (12.4 of 20.7 million barrels it uses daily).

A decade ago 15 percent of those imports came from the Gulf of Guinea region onAfrica's Atlantic Ocean coast, mainly from Nigeria, and it is projected that theproportion will increase to 25 percent in the next four years.

The National Energy Policy Report issued by the Office of Vice President RichardCheney on May 16, 2001 stated: "West Africa is expected to be one of the fastest-growing sources of oil and gas for the American market. African oil tends to be of highquality and low in sulfur...giving it a growing market share for refining centers on theEast Coast of the U.S."

The following year, the Washington, D.C.-based African Oil Policy Initiative Groupconducted a symposium entitled "African Oil: A Priority for U. S. National Security andAfrican Development," with the participation of American legislators, policy advisers,the private sector and representatives of the State Department and Defense Department,at which Congressman William Jefferson said:


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"African oil should be treated as a priority for U.S. national security post 9-11. I thinkthat...post 9-11 it's occurred to all of us that our traditional sources of oil are not assecure as we thought they were."

As is customary in regards to American foreign policy objectives, the Pentagon was

charged with taking responsibility. It immediately went to work on undertaking threeinitiatives to implement U.S. energy strategy in the Gulf of Guinea: U.S. AfricaCommand, the first overseas military command inaugurated since 1983. The U.S.Navy's Africa Partnership Station as what has developed into the major component ofthe Global Fleet Station, linked with worldwide maritime operations like the 1,000-shipnavy and the Proliferation Security Initiative and piloted in the area of responsibility ofU.S. Southern Command and the U.S. Fourth Fleet reactivated in 2008: The CaribbeanSea and Central and South America. The NATO Response Force designed for rapidmulti-service (army, air force, navy and marine) deployments outside of the bloc'sNorth American-European area of responsibility.

In recent weeks Ghana joined the ranks of African oil producers, pumping crude oil forthe first time from an offshore field in the Gulf of Guinea.

"The Jubilee oil field, discovered three years ago, holds an estimated 1.8 billion barrelsof oil, and will begin producing around 55,000 barrels per day in the coming weeks. Oilproduction is expected, however, to rise to about 120,000 barrels over the next sixmonths, making the country Africa's seventh largest oil producer." [1]

The Ghanaian oil exploitation is run by a consortium led by Tullow Oil plc, which is

based in London and has 85 contracts in 22 countries.

The same source quoted above added:

"The Gulf of Guinea increasingly represents an important source of oil, with the USestimating that it will supply over a quarter of American oil by 2015. It has already sentUS military trainers to the region to help local navies to secure shipping.

"Nearby Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Congo Republic are already exporting oil fromthe Gulf, while Liberia and Sierra Leone remain hopeful of joining the club."

In March of 2010 95 U.S. Marines led by General Paul Brier, commander of U.S. MarineForces Africa, deployed to the Bundase Training Camp in the Ghanaian capital of Accrafor a three-week exercise with the armed forces of the host country, "part of the AfricaPartnership Station," which also included the participation of the USS Gunston Halldock landing ship and "embarked international staff" in the Gulf of Guinea.


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According to the government of Ghana, "The US and Ghana [are] at the highest level,work together and at the military level inter-operate, train together, share ideas andskills and...it is important for the two countries' militaries to come together so thatGhana can be at par with the US Army." [2]

Washington's energy strategy in regards to West Africa is a reflection of its internationalpolicy of not only gaining access to but control over hydrocarbon supplies and deliveryto other nations, in particular to those countries importing the largest amount of oil andnatural gas next to the U.S. itself: China, Japan, India, South Korea and the nations ofthe European Union.

While, for example, Chinese companies are expanding oil exploration in the Africannation of Chad and are embarked on a program to build the country's first refinery anda 300-kilometer pipeline, a U.S-led consortium has been extracting oil in the south ofChad and sending it by pipeline through Cameroon to the Gulf of Guinea, paralleling

U.S. strategy in the Caspian Sea Basin vis-a-vis Russia and Iran.

Late last year the Atlantic Council, the preeminent pro-NATO think tank on either sideof the Atlantic [3], co-released a report entitled "Advancing U.S., African, and GlobalInterests: Security and Stability in the West African Maritime Domain." It proceeds fromthe fact that "The Gulf of Guinea is at the brink of becoming a greater supplier of energyto the United States than the Persian Gulf and is therefore of far higher strategicimportance than has historically been the case."

The report recommends enhanced U.S. government concentration on "a vital region to

maintaining U.S. energy security, prosperity, and homeland security."

It also calls for a higher level of integration between U.S. and European nations - that is,NATO and European Union member states - in respect to Africa, and promotes thefollowing programmatic goals:

The establishment of "an interagency coordinating body to conduct strategic planning,oversee implementation and track progress in West African maritime securityassistance and performance."

Working with local security organizations like the Economic Community Of WestAfrican States (ECOWAS) and its affiliated African Standby Force brigade on "acomprehensive proof of concept pilot project...to develop the capabilities and conditionsnecessary for securing the maritime domain as a model for the region."

Setting up a Gulf of Guinea coastal naval operation, "including the sharing of assets,establishment of joint operations centers, and assignment of key functions and centersof excellence."


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And to expand and deepen the work of the U.S.-Nigeria Binational Commissionestablished by the U.S. State Department last April "as a vehicle for securitycooperation, including maritime security." [4]

Three months after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton inaugurated a strategic dialoguewith Nigeria, she met with Foreign Minister Ansuncao Afonso dos Anjos of Angola (onthe southern end of the Gulf of Guinea) in Washington to sign the U.S.-Angola StrategicPartnership Dialogue, "which formalizes increased bilateral partnerships in energy,security, trade and democracy promotion."

On the occasion, Clinton recounted that after her visit to Angola in August of thepreceding year "a bilateral group on energy cooperation met in November 2009 tooutline shared U.S. and Angolan objectives in developing Angola's oil and gas reserves,promoting greater transparency in its oil sector and developing renewable energy

sources." [5]

The security and defense agreements with Nigeria and Angola, and demands by theAtlantic Council and like-minded parties that they be qualitatively andcomprehensively expanded to the entire region, are the inevitable culmination of effortsby the Pentagon over the past nine years.

During that period U.S. naval vessels, troops and major military officials have been inGulf of Guinea littoral states continuously, solidifying relations with Liberia (where thePentagon has built a military from scratch), Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon,

Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), Angola, and Sao Tomeand Principe. [6] All except for Ivory Coast, which is currently in turmoil and facing theprospect of armed intervention by ECOWAS African Standby Force troops and thearmed forces of assorted NATO states.

Until AFRICOM achieved full operational capability on October 1, 2008, Africa wasassigned to U.S. European Command (EUCOM) except for Egypt, the nations of theHorn of Africa and four Indian Ocean island states that were under Central Commandand Pacific Command.

The top commander of EUCOM is jointly NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe.AFRICOM, then, was created as the Pentagon's first post-Cold War foreign militarycommand under the tutelage of Marine General James Jones from 2003 to 2006 andArmy General Bantz John Craddock from 2006 to 2009.

AFRICOM and the Africa Partnership Station (APS) have been envisioned since theirinception as U.S. military operations that included the involvement of NATO, especiallyits member states that are the former colonial masters in the Gulf of Guinea area:


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Britain, France, Portugal and Spain. [7] In 2005 the U.S. submarine tender Emory S.Land led naval exercises in the Gulf of Guinea with naval officers from Benin, Gabon,Ghana, and Sao Tome and Principe along with counterparts from Britain, France,Portugal and Spain.

APS deployments include military officers from other NATO states and the AfricanStandby Force is modeled after the NATO Response Force.

In 2002 U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld demanded the creation of a newNATO rapid reaction force, a 21,000-troop strike group that could "deal swiftly withcrises outside its traditional area of operation." [8] He won support for the concept at ameeting of Alliance defense chiefs in September and two months later what became theNATO Response Force was endorsed at the NATO summit in Prague.

At the next summit of the U.S.-controlled military bloc in Istanbul, Turkey in 2004,

Rumsfeld stated, "The reality is that NATO is a military alliance that has no realrelevance unless it has the ability to fairly rapidly deploy military capabilities." [9]

In 2005 the Washington, D.C.- based Center for Strategic and International Studies' TaskForce on Gulf of Guinea Security released a report reiterating and updating U.S.strategy in West Africa which stated that "The Gulf of Guinea is a nexus of vital USforeign policy priorities."

The Task Force consisted of "oil executives, academics, diplomats and retired navalofficers under the chairmanship of Nebraska's Senator

Chuck Hagel and received briefings from serving US ambassadors, oil companies, theCIA and US military commanders." [10]

In the same year U.S. Naval Forces Europe announced that it had embarked on "a 10-year push to help 10 West African nations either develop orimprove maritime security." The nations are Angola, Benin, Cameroon,Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria, the Republic of Congo, Sao Tome andPrncipe, and Togo, all on the Gulf of Guinea.

When the above report appeared, in July, U.S. European Command had already"conducted 18 military-to-military exercises in Africa so far in 2005." [11]

The following month a U.S. Coast Guard cutter visited the waters off petroleum-richSao Tome and Principe, travelling "through the seas of West Africa's Gulf of Guinea,where an oil boom could outpace Persian Gulf exports to America in a decade." [12]


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In 2002 the president of Sao Tome and Principe, Fradique De Menezes, reportedlyagreed to host a U.S. naval base, disclosing that "Last week I received a call from thePentagon to tell me that the issue is being studied." [13]

In 2006 the Ghanaian press wrote that "Marine General James L. Jones, Head of the US

European Command, said the Pentagon was seeking to acquire access to two kinds ofbases in Senegal, Ghana, Mali and Kenya and other African countries." [14]

Later in the year Jones was cited confirming that "Officials at U.S. European Commandspend between 65 to 70 percent of their time on African issues...Establishing [a militarytask force in West Africa] could also send a message to U.S. companies "that investingin many parts of Africa is a good idea.'" [15]

In his other capacity, that of top NATO military commander, Jones asserted that"NATO was going to draw up [a] plan for ensuring security of oil and gas industry

facilities" [16] and "raised the prospect of NATO taking a role to counter piracy off thecoast of the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Guinea, especially when it threatens energysupply routes to Western nations." [17]

Also in 2006, while still Supreme Allied Commander Europe, he announced that"NATO is developing a special plan to safeguard oil and gas fields in the region,"adding that "a training session will be held in the Atlantic oceanic area and the CaboVerde island in June to outline activities to protect the routes transporting oil toWestern Europe" and "the alliance is ready to ensure the security of oil-producing andtransporting regions." [18]

As Jones had alluded to, in June the NATO Response Force (NRF) was first tested inExercise Steadfast Jaguar war games on and off the coast of the African Atlantic Oceanisland of Cape Verde with 7,100 Alliance military personnel, including French andGerman infantry, American fighter pilots and Spanish sailors, along with warplanesand warships. "The exercise [was] the first to bring together the land, sea and aircomponents of the NRF. Once operational, it will give the Alliance the ability to deployup to 25,000 troops within five days anywhere in the world." [19]

A Western news agency at the time described the exercise in these terms: "The land, airand sea exercises were NATO's first major deployment in Africa and designed to showthe former Cold War giant can launch far-flung military operations at short notice."

It also quoted then-NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer boasting that "Youare seeing the new NATO, the one that has the ability to project stability." [20]

In September of 2007, Captain John Nowell, commodore of the Africa PartnershipStation, travelled from Sao Tome and Principe to Ghana "to lay the groundwork for


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upcoming Africa Partnership Stations with local government and military officials fromboth countries." [21]

Late in the following month the U.S. activated the Africa Partnership Station bydeploying the USS Fort McHenry amphibious dock landing ship and the embarked

Commander Task Group 60.4 (later joined by High Speed Vessel Swift) to the Gulf ofGuinea. The APS deployment included stops in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon,Ghana, Liberia, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal and Togo. USS Fort McHenry had stafffrom other NATO nations on board.

In November of 2007 Associated Press reported that with ships assigned to the U.S.Sixth Fleet patrolling the Gulf of Guinea, "U.S. naval presence rose from just a handfulof days in 2004 to daily beginning this year." [22]

On October 1 U.S. Africa Command was launched as (in Pentagon lingo) a temporary

sub-unified command under U.S. European Command.

Voices of concern were raised throughout Africa, typified by these excerpts fromcommentaries in the Nigerian press:

"The issue of Africa Command is...because of the oil interest on the Gulf of Guinea,going out to the coast of Liberia and so on. Americans arefinding an easy place where they can extract oil, and you know is a much shorter routethan going around from the Middle East." [23]

"From the current data on production capacities and proven oil reserves, only tworegions appear to exist where, in addition to the Middle East, oil production will growand where a strategy of diversification may easily work: The Caspian Sea and the Gulfof Guinea.

"Some of the problems linked to Caspian oil give the Gulf of Guinea a competitive edge.Much of its oil is conveniently located off shore.

"[T]he region enjoys several advantages, including its strategic location just opposite therefineries of the US East Coast. It is ahead of all other regions in proven deep water oilreserves, which will lead to significant savings in security provisions. And it requires adrilling technology easily available from the Gulf of Mexico.

"Curiously, the newly formed NRF [NATO Response Force] carried out its first exercisecodenamed STEADFAST JAGUAR in Cape Verde, here in West Africa, from 14-28 June2006." [24]


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"I am normally a fan of the United States of America....But over this matter of plans bythe United States to establish what it calls the Africa Command or Africom in the Gulfof Guinea, it is time to call for deep caution and to agree with Nigerian officials that weshould take the American initiative with a pinch of salt.

"The Gulf of Guinea has emerged as the second largest pool of commercial petroleumresources in the world, next only to the Persian Gulf and its territorial environs.

"In fact, it has recently surpassed the Persian Gulf as America's highest supplier ofcrude oil.

"Not satisfied with only a small piece of the new oil destination of the world, Americastepped up its formation of Africom, making open moves to extend the kind ofcohabitation it enjoys with Sao Tome and Principe to Nigeria." [25]

"The whole thing about this Africa Command by the US is all borne out of theirinterests in the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea, which they have...been angling to take over. TheNigerian government should not fold its arms to allow the US government re-coloniseit.

"[T]he US had concluded plans to establish a military base in Africa with the intent ofprotecting the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea and also to forestall the economic incursion ofChina into Africa, especially Nigeria.

"The US has completed all the groundwork and has moved into the offshore of Sao

Tome and Principe, Angola and Guinea to secure positions for theirsubmarines and other security facilities." [26]

"The gulf's oil and gas deposits are put in the region of 10 billion barrels. Statistics showthat as of 2004 Africa as a whole produced nearly 9 million barrels of oil a day, withapproximately 4.7 million barrels a day coming from West Africa.

"Also, African oil production accounted for approximately 11 percent of the world's oilsupply, while the continent supplied approximately 18 percent of US net oil imports.Both Nigeria and Angola were among the top 10 suppliers of oil to the US." [27]

The apprehensions were not without foundation. On October 3 U.S. ambassador-designate to Gabon and to Sao Tome and Principe, Eunice Reddick, issued thefollowing statements:

"Mismanaged, an oil boom could threaten Sao Tome and Principe's young democracy,security and stability."


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"The United States has trained Gabonese forces under the African ContingencyOperations Training Assistance (ACOTA) program....To promote the security of thestrategic Gulf of Guinea region, origin of a growing share of U.S. oil imports, U.S.military engagement with Gabon has developed in several areas....If confirmed, I willwork closely with the Gabonese civilian and military leadership, our European

Command and the new Africa Command...." [28]

As noted above, the month after AFRICOM's preliminary activation the U.S. Navydispatched its first Africa Partnership Station mission to the Gulf of Guinea, describedby the Pentagon as a multinational maritime security initiative.

The guided missile destroyer USS Forrest Sherman visited Cape Verde for three days inearly November "to consolidate a growing sense of partnership between the U.S. Navyand the Caboverdian armed forces" [29] at the same time USS Fort McHenry began theAfrica Partnership Station's maiden mission with a visit to Senegal en route to the Gulf

of Guinea.

In 2008 the NATO secretary general at the time, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, visited Ghana,meeting with the country's president and defense minister "on deepening thecooperation between NATO and Africa," and delivered a speech on the topic at the KofiAnnan International Peacekeeping Training Center in Accra. [30]

In July of that year U.S. European Command conducted the Operation Africa Endeavor2008 multinational interoperability and information exchange exercise in Nigeria withthe participation of the armed forces of Nigeria, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso,

Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho,Malawi, Mali, Namibia, Rwanda, Senegal,Sierra Leone and Uganda. General William Ward, commander of AFRICOM, attendedthe closing ceremonies at Nigerian Air Force Base, Abuja.

The following year's Africa Endeavor exercises were held in Gabon, with "more than 25nations participating...the second largest communications exercise in the world." For thefirst time run under the command of AFRICOM, it focused on "interoperability andinformation sharing among African nations via communication networks andcollaborative communications links with the United States, NATO and other nationswith common stability, security and sustainment goals/objectives for the Africancontinent." [31] Participants included the Economic Community of West African Statesand Gulf of Guinea nations Benin, Cameroon, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria, and Sao Tomeand Principe.

At the time Associated Press reported:


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"Just a few years ago, the U.S.military was all but absent from the oil-rich waters ofWest Africa's Gulf of Guinea.

"This year, it plans to be there every day.

"Africa -- including Algeria and Libya in the north -- supplies the U.S. with more than24 percent of its oil, surpassing the Persian Gulf at 20 percent, according to statisticsfrom the U.S. government's Energy Information Administration. Of that amount, 17percent comes from the Gulf of Guinea and Chad, which runs a pipeline to the AtlanticOcean through Cameroon." [32]

A spokesman for the U.S. Sixth Fleet said that in terms of "ship days" in the Gulf ofGuinea, U.S. naval presence had increased 50 percent from 2006 to 2007 and the U.S.Navy was expected to have a daily presence in 2008.

The Pentagon and its NATO allies are firmly ensconced in the Gulf of Guinea, in part torealize one of the decisions agreed upon at last November's NATO summit in Portugal:To "develop the capacity to contribute to energy security," as the summit declarationstated.

The Pentagon has forged both bilateral and regional military partnerships with everyAfrican nation except for Eritrea, Ivory Coast, Libya, Sudan and Zimbabwe.

What began in the Gulf of Guinea has now absorbed an entire continent.------------------

Kenya should reset its foreign policy (The Standard)

Today, the people of Southern Sudan are exercising their inviolable and immutableright of self-determination. Every group of people, united by common culture, languageand interest has this right that no law can take it away. It is at this poignant time thatKenya needs to reset its foreign policy and determine its eternal friends and allies. Weneed core allies whose friendship and alliance will not be wavered by time orcircumstances.

Foreign policy of nations is an across-cutting field and thus the failure to have acommon definition. It is, however, generally accepted that a nations foreign policy isdictated by its national self-interest that includes economic advancement, defence of itsborders and ideological goals. Our politicians have showed us during times of generalelections, referenda and parliamentary proceedings, that our foreign relations aretempestuous and fickle. We turn on-and-off our foreign relations depending on whichside the ambassadors based here seem to support.


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For us to achieve Vision 2030 and other goals intended to make us a middle-incomecountry, we have to choose our friends and stick with them through all seasons. Of the192 UN-member states, we can have diplomatic and trading relations with all; relationsthat are nimble and zigzag. But we can only have permanent and eternal relations withfew. Choosing friends is our sovereign right and we have no obligation to please any

nation-state that feels slighted.

For permanent strategic relations, I suggest that we enter into it with these countries:US, United Kingdom, Turkey, Singapore, Israel, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Southern Sudan andSouth Africa. Of these nine countries I have chosen, each has unique attributes that aregermane to our strategic interests. At times, these attributes overlap. And thesecountries cover the entire globe.

At the top of our strategic allies has to be US. It being the worlds pre-eminent economicand military power gives us few options. The US leads the world in every sector of

human development and underpinned in its economy that is massive $14 Trillion. UShas long been searching for a place in Africa to locate its Africa Command (AfriCom)headquarters which is currently housed in Stuttgart, Germany. In allowing US to buildthe AfriCom HQ in Lamu or any other place of their choice in Kenya, we areguaranteed permanent friendship with immense advantages. US annual militarybudget is in excess of $700 billion. With AfriCom HQ, we are sure to get a slice of thisbudget.

United Kingdom and Turkey will give us a foothold in Eurasia. UK was our colonialruler and by it, we have much in common including language and mannerisms. English

expertise and leadership in mercantile trading and finance is unsurpassed and Londonis accepted as the Worlds finance capital. Turkey on the other hand is a fast-risingstudent of capitalism. In less than 10 years, Turkeys ruling party, AKP has transformedthe country from a backwater to being touted as a member of the worlds emergingeconomies besides Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Israel and Singapore are tiny enclaves with even tinier populations, and ensconced inhostile territories, yet both are economic powerhouses. Israel is just 22,072 sq km withseven million people and Singapore is mere 697 sq km with five million people, buttheir annual GDPs are $206 billion and $251 billion respectively. Compare this with ourcountry which is 580,367sq km, 40 million people and a GDP of $30 billion. Israel andSingapore will teach us how to make use of our vast land and big population. Bothcountries so far have no natural resources of value. Rather, they rely on their humanresources in building their economies.

In Africa, we have limited choice for friends and thus the selection of South Africa,Ethiopia, Rwanda and Southern Sudan only. South Africa is a natural choice as it isAfricas biggest economy. With its myriad tribes and races, South Africa has shown that


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there is unity in diversity and that creating a rainbow nation is possible. Ethiopia is ahuge country with immense potential. That it is landlocked and we share a commonborder makes it a strategic ally. And we both have a common interest in wanting apacified Somalia.

Rwanda is the Singapore of Africa and our gateway to the eldorado of Central Africa.One day, when we become truly industrialised and middle income country, we willneed unfettered access to the minerals that lie buried in the Congo Basin. The people ofSouthern Sudan are our kin and kindred and we have a moral obligation to help them.Beneath the soils of Southern Sudan are huge fields of oil and fertile land foragriculture. Our growing population and economy will need the oil and food ofSouthern Sudan.

Of the above countries, we will realise that of the developed countries of US, UK, Israeland Singapore, there is massive investment in infrastructure and education. UK which

is mere 243,610 sq km has 394,428 km of tarmac road. A thread running throughdeveloped economies is that, there be a kilometer of tarmac road in every sq km. Theemerging economies of Turkey and South Africa are following same model. This meansthat for us to be on our way up, we need to start constructing a minimum of 100,000kilometres of tarmac road.

In forging close and permanent relationships with Washington, London, Ankara, TelAviv, Singapore, Addis Ababa, Juba, Kigali and Pretoria, we will be guaranteedmilitary umbrella and economic co-operation and assistance. When we are developingour economy with the assistance and expertise of the old economies of US and UK, we

shall be learning from Turkey and South Africa. We will not re-invent the wheel again.Having these permanent friends mean that in international fora like UN, we will alwayshave a big brother watching over us, and in the local neighbourhood, territorialdisputes will never arise. For the first time, let us have a foreign policy fixed on stonethat will not sway to the emotional beats of politicians. It is the only way we will be anemerging economy.------------------Why Ghana's President said 'No' to U.S., France and Nigeria on military intervention

in Ivory Coast (Modern Ghana)

Ghana's president John Mills has expressed his opposition to any military interventionin Ivory Coast, led by the ECOWAS or the international community, seeking to forcecontroversial incumbent Laurent Gbagbo out of office.

He stated today January 7, 2011 that: I do not think the military operation will bringpeace to the nation. This was a jolt to many of the leaders of the west African regionalbloc, ECOWAS and to the expectations of the U.S administration of President BarackObama. Two days earlier, on January 5, 2011, the U.S Assistant Secretary of State for


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African affairs Johnnie Carson had called for increased pressure on Gbagbo with astronger demand for him to leave and making the point it is broad fight by the regionfor democracy and should not be left as a domestic issue. President Mills is stronglyarguing the opposite position to the surprise of the U.S and the internationalcommunity (supporting opposition candidate Outtarra against Gbagbo).

Mills who hosted the Obamas on July 11, 2009 in Accra, said today that It is not forGhana to choose a leader for Cote D'ivoire. I have spoken to both Ouattarra and Gbagboand I cannot make it public.

Diplomats, international security experts and interested parties are wondering: whatinformed Ghana's blunt and clear position against a forced, military attack againstGbagbo's outgoing, stalemated presidency?

I understand President Mills' position as: first, reflecting that west African country's

practical and immediate interests. Ghana is a neighbor of Ivory Coast's and has businessinterests in the country.

Second, Ghana is likely to bear the brunt of a chaotic Ivory Coast, from refugees movinginto Ghana.

Ivory Coast has 19million citizens with 60 ethnic groups, a mix of Christians andMuslims; the Baoule is the largest sub-group, the Senoufou, the Mande/Dioula, theKrou, the Yacouba, the Akan (some of who draw their links from Ghana).

Third, Ghana seems mindful of the potential retaliation against its citizens and othermigrant workers across Ivory Coast. It will not be helpful to it, in the long run. Again,on local interest, Mills said We have about one million Ghanaians living in Ivory Coastwho could be victims of any military intervention. We do not want the influx ofIvorians into Ghana, which obviously comes with its problems.

A key adviser to Ghana's President Mills on international affairs informed me/USAfricathat Ghana has also, understandably, been under some pressure to take a moreaggressive position on this issue. But we're the ones who live next door to IvoryCoast.

Unlike Ghana, Nigeria has backed the use of military force as an option againstGbagbo.

Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan is the current chairman of the ECOWAS. Thereare as many Nigerians in Ivory Coast as there Ghanaians.


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Ivory Coast has friendly relations with the U.S (one of the biggest importers of it cocoaproducts) but Gbagbo loyalists argue that the Obama administration are working withFrance and the UN against the former radical university professor and grassrootsmobilizer.

President Mills said his country has about 500 officially-designated troops in IvoryCoast and that his military officers advised him Ghana could not contribute troops tothe much spoken military force against Gbagbo. Mills remains optimistic saying:Ghana is monitoring it very closely and will ensure that peace prevails, he added.

But a senior member of the African desk of the U.S National Security Council inWashington DC told me/USAfrica that: it's obvious Mr. Gbagbo is overplaying hishand. Unfortunately, we think he's trying to tie his personal agenda with those of hiscountry at such a critical and sensitive time. The presidential elections are not onlydisputed but many in the international community say his opponent Mr. Ouattarra

won. When I asked further as to what will be the next move by the U.S., the officialsimply said: The U.S supports free and fair results. We support democracy in IvoryCoast. Outtarra has called for a bloodless military intervention, especially a local coup.

Pierre Kablan, an activist in the capital city of Yamoussoukro informed USAfrica viaphone that Ouattarra is the man for France and U.S and the IMF-World Bank fordecades. They can control him but not President Gbagbo. That's the point.

Any major slip and dangerous move in Ivory Coast by the typically patient Obama, theusually brash Sarkozy of France and others in the international community in this once

peaceful, idyllic former colony of France with 18million people could be expensive forthe U.S and other west Africans.

Very telling is the latest warning from Notre Voie (the pro-Gbagbo newspaper) that anymilitary attack from the regional ECOWAS or the international community wouldendanger its citizens living here.

Is there greater wisdom in Ghana's position?Or is it unreasonable?Or sheer self-interest?------------------Algeria Seeks to End Riots With Food-Price Moves, But 14 Die in Tunisia (Wall StreetJournal)

The Algerian government over the weekend said it will reduce tax and import duties onsome staples in a bid to end days of deadly clashes between police and riotersprotesting food prices in the North African country.


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The eruption came amid widespread antigovernment protests over high unemploymentrates in nearby Tunisia in which at least 14 protesters died in clashes with police overthe weekend, according to state media there.

Top Algerian officials held an emergency meeting Saturday after several days of

widespread violence, triggered in part by a sharp rise in the price of cooking oil andsugar.

Both countries suffer from high unemployment among an exploding youthdemographic. But the authoritarian regimes in Algiers and Tunis have mostly kept a lidon political opposition and public protests, making the flare-up unusual.

Recently, rising global food prices have raised alarm among economists anddevelopment experts who worry they could ignite unrest, much like they did in somedeveloping economies in 2008. But it is unclear to what extent global prices have

directly affected Algeria, a big importer of grains and other foodstuffs. The immediatetrigger to this month's protests appeared to be new regulations imposed by thegovernment this year intended to rein in Algeria's big unregulated informal sector.

Wholesalers and distributors tried to pass on the higher cost resulting from the newregulations to consumers. That helped send prices for cooking oil and sugar, inparticular, up 20% this month, according to economists and local businessmen.

But the protests also have appeared to resonate more widely among Algeria's large andunemployed youth. Young people under 25 make up almost 70% of the country's

population and face an estimated 30% unemployment rate, according to theInternational Monetary Fund.

Starting in the middle of last week, protests and riots spread in waves across thecountry, including in the capital, Algiers. Demonstrators burned tires, vandalized storesand government buildings and clashed with armed antiriot police.

At least three protesters have been killed, while at least 300 police officers and some 100demonstrators have been injured, Interior Minister Dahou Ould Kablia told state mediaover the weekend.

Algeria is one of the world's biggest energy producers. But President AbdelazizBouteflikawho has run the country with an iron fist since 1999has had mixedsuccess in reining in high unemployment among the country's youth, a problem acrossmuch of the Middle East. For years, young Algerians have protested against a lack ofaffordable housing, while civil-society groups have decried a lack of political freedom.


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Despite the recent unrest, analysts say the government's healthy foreign-exchangereserves, estimated at about $150 billion, would allow it the flexibility that poorercountries lack, including the ability to boost already-hefty food-price subsidies. Indeed,Algeria's cabinet met Saturday and agreed to "temporary and exceptional exemptions"on import duties, value-added tax and corporate tax for sugar and food oils. A

statement issued by Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia said the new measures are aimedat cutting prices more than 40%.

On Sunday, there were no reports of fresh protests, but residents said roadblocks and aheavy police presence around ministry buildings remained in place. Also on Sunday,Trade Minister Mustapha Benbada met with food importers and related businesses todiscuss the new government measures.

The Algerian riots came amid weeks of instability in Tunisia, where on Sunday 14people were killed during clashes in three Tunisian towns over the weekend, according

to a statement published by the country's official news agency.

Unrest in Tunisia Dec. 17 when an unemployed university graduate set himself on fireafter police confiscated his fruit and vegetable stand. Rare nationwide strikes and streetmarches followed his funeral.------------------UN News Service Africa BriefsFull Articles on UN Website

UN envoy urges DR Congo authorities to probe recent allegations of mass rapes

8 January The United Nations envoy dealing with sexual violence in conflict todaycalled on the authorities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to immediatelyinvestigate reports of a large number of rapes that occurred recently in the easternprovince of South Kivu.

Joint UN-African Union envoy confers with Sudanese official on Darfur

7 January The head of the joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping missionin Darfur (UNAMID) held discussions with a senior Sudanese official on the securityand humanitarian situation following the recent fighting and heightened tensionsbetween the Government and armed groups in the region.

Horn of Africa could become new launch pad for global terrorism, Ban warns7 January Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling on the international community toprovide urgent military and other support to Somalias Transitional FederalGovernment (TFG) to stop foreign fighters and other spoilers turning the region intothe next stronghold of international terrorism.

Cte dIvoire: UN agency seeks $20 million to assist those affected by crisis


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7 January The United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) is seeking over $20 millionto enable the agency to respond to the humanitarian needs of people in Cte dIvoireand five neighbouring countries over the next three months.

New Congolese law significant step for indigenous rights UN expert

7 January An independent United Nations human rights expert today welcomed anew law recently adopted in the Republic of Congo, calling it a significant step inensuring the rights of indigenous peoples.

africom related newsclips january 10, 2011

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