United States Africa Command Public Affairs Office 12 March 2012 USAFRICOM - related news stories

Good morning. Please see today's news review for March 12, 2012. This message is best viewed in HTML format. Of interest in today's report: -Toll reaches six in kenyan capital bus station blast -Kenyan military expected to take key positions in AMISOM -Top US official visits Algeria -Tuareg rebels in Mali claim to control major military base in Tessalit -Car bomb explodes near Nigerian church; 10 killed -Libya militias pose threat to precarious stability U.S. Africa Command Public Affairs Please send questions or comments to: publicaffairs@usafricom.mil 421-2687 (+49-711-729-2687) Headline Date Outlet Reuters

Toll reaches six in Kenyan 03/11/2012 capital bus station blast

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya blamed Somali al Shabaab rebels on Sunday for grenade attacks that killed at least six people and wounded scores at a bus station near the heart of the capital Nairobi a day earlier.

KDF expected to take key positions in Amisom

03/11/2012

East African Standard - Online

The command structure of the African Mission in Somalia (Amisom), which is under Major General Fredrick Mugisha of Uganda, is set to change.

Top US official visits Algeria

03/11/2012

News24

ALGIERS - A top US intelligence official had talks in Algiers on Saturday ahead of a regional security conference, the official APS news agency reported.

Tuareg rebels in Mali claim to control major military 03/11/2012 base in Tessalit

Washington Post Online

BAMAKO, Mali -- Tuareg rebels said Sunday they had taken control of an important military base in the north of Mali after having surrounded the location for weeks.

Libya interior minister calls 03/11/2012 time on rogue militias

Reuters

MISRATA, Libya - Libya's Interior Minister has warned militias outside the control of the central government to put down their arms or face confrontation with the new national security forces.

Car bomb explodes near Nigerian church; 10 killed

03/11/2012

Associated Press

JOS, Nigeria (AP) -- A suicide car bomber attacked a Catholic church Sunday in the middle of Mass, killing at least 10 people in the latest violence targeting a church in this central Nigerian city

plagued by unrest, a state official said.

Zuma's next visit provokes 03/11/2012 political storm in Harare

Times LIVE - Online

South African President Jacob Zuma could fly into a stormy political atmosphere when he visits Harare soon to put the Global Political Agreement (GPA) and preparations for free and fair elections back on track.

Somalia: Al Shabaab ambushes Ethiopian troops, killing dozens

03/11/2012

GlobalPost.com

An attack on Ethiopian troops in Somalia by the radical Islamist group Al Shabaab has left dozens dead, reports say.

U.S. Command Fights Terrorists On African Soil

03/11/2012

NPR - Online

The recent spectacular rescue of an American aid worker from Somali pirates put a spotlight on the U.S. military's newest regional command, Africom. The Africa Command was created in 2007. Morning Edition's Renee Montagne talks to General Carter Ham about ...

My 130 days in the hands of al-Qaeda's African monster

03/11/2012

The Sunday Telegraph

In December 2008, I was making my third trip to Niger as the United Nations Special Envoy, attempting to broker a peace between the government and Tuareg rebel factions in the north. One Sunday, two weeks before Christmas, my colleague, Louis Guay, and I w...

How Al-Shabaab plotted its 03/11/2012 own slow but sure downfall

Daily Nation (Kenya)

On the morning of December 3, 2009, an al Shabaab militant dressed as a woman walked into a graduation ceremony at the Hotel Shamo in downtown Mogadishu and detonated his payload.

Joseph Kony 2012: Uganda says it will catch Joseph 03/11/2012 Kony dead or alive

The Telegraph

Uganda said on Friday it would catch Joseph Kony dead or alive, after a video spotlighting the atrocities of his Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) swept the internet and drew a wave of international support.

LRA leader Joseph Kony and Western hegemony

03/11/2012

Daily Monitor (Uganda)

In the wake of the collapse of the Holy Spirit Movement rebel uprising in Acholi in 1986, an offshoot called the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) was formed to fight the brutality that the victorious NRA guerrilla army of Yoweri Museveni had unleashed on the A...

UN maintains efforts against Lord's Resistance Army senior officials

03/11/2012

UN News Centre

The UN's peacekeeping chief today spoke out about the role of UN peacekeepers in tackling the Lord's Resistance Army's (LRA), a notorious Ugandan rebel group, operating around the border area of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

UN food agency calls for $69.8 million for droughtstricken Sahel

03/11/2012

UN News Centre

The United Nations food agency has called for $69.8 million in additional funding to prevent a fullblown food and nutrition crisis from unfolding in Africa's Sahel region.

News Headline: Toll reaches six in Kenyan capital bus station blast | News Date: 03/11/2012

Outlet Full Name: Reuters News Text: NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya blamed Somali al Shabaab rebels on Sunday for grenade attacks that killed at least six people and wounded scores at a bus station near the heart of the capital Nairobi a day earlier. Internal Security Minister George Saitoti said four grenades were hurled into the Machakos bus station at about 7.30 p.m. (1630 GMT) on Saturday from a passing vehicle, killing one person while five more died later from their injuries. "Of course, the initial suspicion is that of al Shabaab," he told a news conference. "It will be recalled that there have been similar incidents previously and the government has been able to successfully apprehend those responsible." Al Shabaab, which formally merged with al Qaeda this year, said it was at war with Kenya, but did not take responsibility for the Nairobi blasts. "There is no peace between al Shabaab and Kenya. It is incumbent on Kenya officials to answer who was behind the bus station blast in Nairobi last night," Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, spokesman for al Shabaab's military operation, told Reuters. Kenya sent troops into Somalia in October in a bid to crush the Islamist rebels, following a series of cross-border raids and kidnappings on Kenyan soil, which threatened its tourism business. Kenya blamed al Shabaab for the seizures, though the group denied responsibility. The latest Nairobi explosions were similar to two strikes at a nearby bus station and a bar that killed one person and wounded more than 20 in October, a week after Kenya began operations in Somalia. A Kenyan man who admitted carrying out the October bus station attack said he was a member of al Shabaab and was jailed for life. After those attacks, a top al Shabaab official urged its supporters in Kenya to shun grenade attacks and hit Nairobi with a huge blast instead. The African Union called the blasts a "terrorist" attack and reiterated its appreciation to Kenya for its role in efforts to defeat al Shabaab and bring peace to Somalia. "WE SHALL SUCCEED" The October attacks spooked Kenyans and security was beefed up in the capital at hotels, government buildings, restaurants, bars and shopping malls. Saitoti said on Sunday the security forces had again intensified surveillance. "This is an attack by people who think they can puncture the resolve of Kenyan people to fight against terror," Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka told reporters. "I just want to urge the country to remain calm and for all of us to even be more committed to the fight against terror, and I'm sure we shall succeed," he said outside the Kenyatta National Hospital where almost 70 victims of Saturday's attack were treated for their injuries. Briton Jermaine Grant was arrested last year and charged with planning an

attack in Kenya after being found in possession of bomb-making material that included batteries, wire, ammonium nitrate, lead nitrate, acetone and hydrogen peroxide. Security sources say he had plans for hotels and restaurants in the capital Nairobi frequented by Somali government officials, Western expatriates and Ethiopians. Soldiers from Ethiopia, Uganda and Burundi are also fighting al Shabaab in Somalia. Al Shabaab's biggest strike outside Somalia was in the Ugandan capital in 2010, when twin suicide blasts killed 79 people watching the soccer World Cup Final. Al Qaeda has twice hit Kenya before. In 1998, more than 200 people were killed and thousands wounded when a massive truck bomb exploded outside the U.S. embassy in downtown Nairobi. On November 28, 2002, 15 people including three suicide bombers were killed and 80 wounded in an attack on a hotel frequented by Israelis near the Kenyan port of Mombasa. Six people were also killed by grenade blasts in the capital in June 2010 at a prayer meeting during campaigning for a new referendum in the east African country. No one ever claimed responsibility for that attack.
Return to Top

News Headline: KDF expected to take key positions in Amisom | News Date: 03/11/2012 Outlet Full Name: East African Standard - Online News Text: By Athman Amran The command structure of the African Mission in Somalia (Amisom), which is under Major General Fredrick Mugisha of Uganda, is set to change. Kenya Defence Forces spokesperson Col Cyrus Oguna said a meeting in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia on Friday was expected to decide which country will occupy which position following the full integration of Kenyan forces into Amisom. The meeting is also expected to decide when and how the Al Shabaab stronghold of Kismayu will be attacked. "The details of the meeting are not yet out but will be known soon. However, Kismayu will continue to be Amisom's key target. As to when this will happen is no longer KDF's decision. It will now be the decision of Amisom," Oguna said during a press briefing at the Teleposta Plaza in Nairobi, on Saturday. Kenya is expected to get a position in the top command, which include that of force commander, two positions of deputy force commander and commander in charge of operations. Uganda's Maj-Gen Mugisha has been the commander from June 15, last year, having taken over from three other Ugandans who have held the position since February 14, 2007.

The current deputy commander is Major-General Cyprien Hakiza from Rwanda who took over from another Rwandese from September 2009. The spokesperson has been Lt-Col Paddy Akunda of Uganda, who took over the position for the second time from May last year. Oguna also hinted that the next briefing on the war in Somalia would be different and will no longer be a KDF affair, as the Addis Ababa meeting would determine the command structure of Amisom, whose current mandate ends on October 31. Mandate This would now end fears that the KDF are an occupying force, Oguna said. "Even if we are there for three years it will not be occupation," he said, adding that the forces would be carrying out the mandate of the African Union and the UN Security Council resolution under Amisom, whose mandate has been expanded from that of peacekeeping to peace enforcement that would engage Al Shabaab more directly. At the same time the forces killed three Al Shabaab fighters on March 5 during an attack at Gerile in the Northern Sector where five AK 47 rifles and one communication equipment were recovered. On Friday the forces arrested four Al Shabaab militants during a cordon and search in Fafadun. Nine AK 47 rifles, three PKA rifles and magazines were recovered. On Thursday six Al Shabaab fighters surrendered during a raid in Gerile and six AK 47 rifles and three PKA rifles were recovered. And on March 6 several Al Shabaab militants were killed, four technicals and a weapons depot were destroyed during an air strike at Haye. Two Al Shabaab fighters were killed during a raid at Dif on March 7, six others were killed during an ambush at Agbat, south of Afmadow on March 8 and four were killed in the South on March 5 when their skip was sunk by maritime forces. Nine Al Shabaab militants were killed on March 6 in Marla during an infighting following disagreement between local Al Shabaab militants and foreign ones. This was as a result of the arrest of two key leaders, a German known as Salahuddin and Al Misri, one of the key trainers, Oguna said. Meanwhile, KDF have since liberated 95,000sqkm twice the size of Rwanda and Burundi from Al Shabaab control in Somalia. Oguna said the large swathes had been freed from the grip of Al Shabaab since October when Operation Linda Nchi began. KDF has liberated El Afe Fafadun, Busar, Inda El, Damasa in the Northern Sector while in the Central sector Dobley, Tabda, Bilisqokani, Hayo, Qatar, Delbio and Southern Sector Ras Kamboni Burqabo and Kulbio.
Return to Top

News Headline: Top US official visits Algeria |

News Date: 03/11/2012 Outlet Full Name: News24 News Text: ALGIERS - A top US intelligence official had talks in Algiers on Saturday ahead of a regional security conference, the official APS news agency reported. Under Secretary of Defence for Intelligence Michael Vickers discussed the security situation and US-Algerian co-operation in the fight against terrorism and organised crime with Interior Minister Daho Ould Kablia, it said, quoting a ministry statement. Meanwhile state radio said that Ould Kablia would attend a ministerial conference in Libya on Sunday and Monday on regional co-operation, focusing particularly on border security. Other countries invited include Chad, Egypt, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger and Sudan. Regional security also figured in talks in Washington on Thursday between US officials and Libyan Prime Minister Abdel Rahim al-Kib. While Libya struggles to restore order after the overthrown of dictator Muammar Gaddafi, other countries in the region are battling the activities of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, including hostage-taking, along with ethnic unrest and rampant smuggling.
Return to Top

News Headline: Tuareg rebels in Mali claim to control major military base in Tessalit | News Date: 03/11/2012 Outlet Full Name: Washington Post - Online News Text: BAMAKO, Mali Tuareg rebels said Sunday they had taken control of an important military base in the north of Mali after having surrounded the location for weeks. There are no Malian soldiers left in the base, they have all fled, said Bayes Ag Dicknane, an officer with the rebel forces on the ground near Tessalit. He spoke to the Associated Press by satellite phone. The news was confirmed by a parliamentary member from the north of Mali who asked for anonymity for fear of reprisals. Col. Idrissa Traore, a spokesman for the Malian army, said that he was verifying the status of the base. About 600 rebel fighters had taken part in the operation to take the base in Tessalit and none of the rebels had been killed, Ag Dicknane said. He did not say if any Malian troops had died. The rebels are now chasing vehicles that fled the base, Ag Dicknane said. One of their vehicles has had an accident and there are 3 people dead and others badly injured. I don't know if the dead are soldiers or civilians

The government has few bases in the Sahara Desert and Tessalit is of strategic importance because it is one of the largest in northern Mali and it has an airport. The fighters of the National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad have been surrounding the military base at Tessalit since late January, but said they have held off on an assault because some families of the troops were still inside. The International Committee of the Red Cross was due to travel to Tessalit on Friday to evaluate the possibility of evacuating civilians. Germain Mwehu, a spokesman for the group, said that the mission to Tessalit was delayed because the Red Cross had not received the security assurances needed from both sides. Moussa Ag Assarid, a spokesman for the rebels based in Paris, said the military was using the civilians in the camp as protection. The Malian army said it has sent a number of ground units to try to resupply the base at Tessalit over the last few weeks. The rebels said their forces always managed to prevent the government forces from reaching the base. In mid-February the United States carried out a food drop for Tessalit. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Bamako said a U.S. military aircraft dropped enough food for 2,000 people for several days. The NMLA began attacking towns across north Mali in mid-January. Dozens of fighters have been killed on both sides and the United Nations says that more than 100,000 civilians have been forced to flee the fighting. Some of these people have fled to areas in Mali and also in neighboring Niger, Burkina Faso and Mauritania which are already at risk of suffering food shortages this year. Malian government forces have struggled to defend isolated towns and have often fled instead of standing to fight the rebels. At the start of February protests broke out in the Malian capital, Bamako, over the way the government was handling the rebellion. Protesters included the wives of military personnel who claimed their husbands on the front line lacked food and equipment. The rebels say they are fighting for the independence of the north of Mali, a region they refer to as the Azawad. Among the rebels are Tuareg who once fought for Libya's Moammar Gadhafi but who fled Libya when Gadhafi was toppled and then killed in October last year.
Return to Top

News Headline: Libya interior minister calls time on rogue militias | News Date: 03/11/2012 Outlet Full Name: Reuters News Text: By Ayman al-Sahli MISRATA, Libya - Libya's Interior Minister has warned militias outside the control

of the central government to put down their arms or face confrontation with the new national security forces. The militias spearheaded the rebellion which last year forced out Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Months later, some of them still occupy government buildings and man checkpoints while answering to their own commanders, not the government. International rights groups and the United Nations have identified the militias as one of the biggest challenges to stability as the country tries to build new institutions after 42 years of Gaddafi's rule. Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) has called on the militias to disband before, and been ignored, but it has been slowly building up a police force and army with the capacity to take on the militias. At a graduation ceremony for police recruits, Interior Minister Fawzi Abdel A'al said the police now had 25,000 men and was ready to step into the security vacuum that the militias had filled since Gaddafi's overthrow. "There is a message to those groups who do not join the interior ministry," Abdel A'al said late on Friday in Misrata, about 200 km (130 miles) east of the capital. "I tell them frankly: there is no excuse for you to carry out security functions inside Libya. You must make yourselves legitimate or these lions (the new police recruits), they will face you." "There should not be any more militias after this day. They should all stop," the minister said. "All of those people who still do not have confidence in the Interior Ministry or the government, we tell them our answer will not be through statements or press conferences, our answer will be practical and we start today." HOLDOUT MILITIAS Over the past few months, many of the militias have scaled back their activities, gone back to their home towns or merged themselves into national security services. In the capital, Tripoli, young militiamen in mismatched camouflage fatigues and with automatic weapons slung around their necks used to be on every street corner. Now they are now rarely seen. That has left a rump of heavily-armed militias in the capital who have refused to disband. These include a group from the western town of Zintan who control Tripoli International Airport, and the Swehli militia, from Misrata, which is holding two British journalists it accuses of spying. These groups have become increasingly isolated. They are under pressure from the NTC to leave the city, and also from local leaders in their home cities, who say privately that the militias should fall into line. In a sign of the pressure, the Zintan militia has promised to hand over the airport to NTC control. An official with the militia told Reuters the plan was to complete

the handover by Thursday next week. "We are under state orders," said the official, Fadel Abu-Sweir. "We have to leave."
Return to Top

News Headline: Car bomb explodes near Nigerian church; 10 killed | News Date: 03/11/2012 Outlet Full Name: Associated Press News Text: JOS, Nigeria A suicide car bomber attacked a Catholic church Sunday in the middle of Mass, killing at least 10 people in the latest violence targeting a church in this central Nigerian city plagued by unrest, a state official said. The bomb detonated as worshippers attended the final Mass of the day at St. Finbar's Catholic Church in Jos, a city in which thousands have died in the plast decade in religious and ethnic violence. Security at the gate of the church compound stopped the suspicious car and the bomber detonated his explosives during an altercation that followed, Plateau state spokesman Pam Ayuba said. The blast damaged the church's roof, blew out its windows and destroyed a portion of the fence surrounding the church compound, Mr. Ayuba said. At least 10 people died, he said, while many others were wounded in the blast, including soldiers who were stationed at the church. He destroyed so many things, the spokesman said. No group immediately claimed responsibility, though the city has been targeted in the past by a radical Islamist sect known as Boko Haram. The sect claimed a series of bombings in Jos on Christmas Eve in 2010 that killed as many as 80 people. The sect also claimed a similar church bombing on Feb. 26 on the main headquarters of the Church of Christ that killed three people and wounded 38 others. The sect, which speaks to journalists through telephone conference calls at times of its choosing, could not be immediately reached for comment Sunday. Jos and the surrounding Plateau state have been torn apart in recent years by violence pitting its different ethnic groups and major religions Christianity and Islam against each other. Human Rights Watch says at least 1,000 people were killed in communal clashes around Jos in 2010. The violence, though fractured across religious lines, often has more to do with local politics, economics and rights to grazing lands. Muslims in the city also say they are locked out of lucrative jobs in the region as the Christian-led state government doesn't recognize them as citizens. The attack on the Catholic church also comes after a failed raid Thursday by British and Nigerian commandos left a Briton and an Italian hostage dead in Nigerias far northwest. British officials have blamed a splinter cell of Boko Haram for the attack, something a spokesman for the group has denied. However, the attack has opened a new front on Nigerias ongoing struggle with

terrorism, showing any region across the nation's Muslim north can be attacked and anyone, including foreigners, could be targeted.
Return to Top

News Headline: Zuma's next visit provokes political storm in Harare | News Date: 03/11/2012 Outlet Full Name: Times LIVE - Online News Text: South African President Jacob Zuma could fly into a stormy political atmosphere when he visits Harare soon to put the Global Political Agreement (GPA) and preparations for free and fair elections back on track. Since he came into office in 2009, about the same period as Zimbabwe's coalition government was formed, Zuma's relations with President Robert Mugabe and Zanu-PF have never been so low. Mugabe and his loyalists are firing missiles at Zuma to provoke him into a fight over the GPA and elections. They have even threatened to give Zuma, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) facilitator in Zimbabwe, the red card if he continues pushing them to implement the GPA and the roadmap towards elections. Officials in Harare say preparations for Zuma's next visit are at an advanced stage and the SA leader could jet in any time for what could be a defining moment in his relationship with Mugabe. "Zuma should be coming to Harare any time, even next week," a senior government official said. "It's going to be a tense meeting with Mugabe." Zuma's international relations advisor Lindiwe Zulu, who with Mac Maharaj and Charles Nqakula, is part of the facilitation team, told the Sunday Times on Friday her boss was heading to Harare. "Yes he will be going to Harare but we don't have a date yet. What I can say is that the meeting with the principals is in the pipeline," Zulu said. Zuma's meeting with Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara could also seal the fate of the GPA and determine the timing of elections. The meeting could also be affected by MDC-N leader Welshman Ncube's growing complaints about his exclusion from the GPA principals' forum. Tensions between Harare and Pretoria rose dramatically this week after South African Minister of International Relations Maite Nkoana-Mashabane made remarks on elections in Zimbabwe in Cape Town which provoked angry reactions by Mugabe's loyalists. Nkoana-Mashabane told the parliament on Monday that "the GPA envisages that an election in Zimbabwe will only be held following the finalisation of the constitution-making process". "Our government therefore expects that there would be no deviation from the provisions of the GPA," she said. This provoked a swift and angry response in Harare. The issue was even discussed at the Zanu-PF extraordinary politburo meeting on Wednesday which

resolved to reject South Africa's demands. Zanu-PF politburo member Jonathan Moyo, who is intensely anti-South African, led the charge. "Quite frankly, and this is very disappointing to note, Nkoana-Mashabane's gross misunderstanding and shocking mischaracterisation of Zimbabwe's constitutionmaking exercise as provided in the GPA is somewhere between mischievous, ignorant and treacherous, and is reminiscent of the misguided anti-African Union stance that her government took in Libya and Ivory Coast," Moyo said. He angrily added: "The South African government is not a GPA facilitator, this woman, as an official of the South African government, has no business whatsoever commenting on this thing. "Zimbabwe has never been a province of South Africa; is not a province of South Africa and will never be a province of South Africa." Zanu-PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo said Pretoria cannot dictate when elections should be held in Zimbabwe. Mugabe recently said Zuma could be kicked out as facilitator "in broad day light". "We can reject him very easily. We have warned him that we are not forced to accept him," Mugabe said. On his part, Zuma has been typically manoeuvring quietly in the region to mobilise critical support to reinforce his leverage on the Zimbabwe issue. He recently visited Botswana, Namibia and Angola in preparation for the battle in Harare.
Return to Top

News Headline: Somalia: Al Shabaab ambushes Ethiopian troops, killing dozens | News Date: 03/11/2012 Outlet Full Name: GlobalPost.com News Text: An attack on Ethiopian troops in Somalia by the radical Islamist group Al Shabaab has left dozens dead, reports say. Militants ambushed Ethiopian soldiers, and some Somali troops, early Saturday in Yurkut village in Somalia's central Geddo region after blocking roads around the village, according to the BBC. Fighting continued for four hours. Al Shabaab claims to have killed 73 Ethiopians, while the Somali government says it in turn killed 48 of the militants during the ambush. More from GlobalPost: Baidoa free after Ethiopia pushes out Al Shabaab Yurkut lies the near strategic town of Luuq on the road linking the SomaliEthiopian border with Baidoa, a former militant enclave in the south of Somalia seized by Ethiopian forces last month, the Agence France Presse reports. Saturday's attack comes hours after the African Union (AU) announced that

Ethiopian troops, hundreds of whom crossed into Somalia in November, are to be withdrawn from Baidoa and another recently recaptured town, Beledweyne, by the end of April, to be replaced by forces from Djibouti, Uganda and Burundi, Reuters reports. It is not clear if all Ethiopian forces will be withdrawn from the country. In January Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said troops would be pulled out once AU forces were in place, GlobalPost reports.
Return to Top

News Headline: U.S. Command Fights Terrorists On African Soil | News Date: 03/11/2012 Outlet Full Name: NPR - Online News Text: The recent spectacular rescue of an American aid worker from Somali pirates put a spotlight on the U.S. military's newest regional command, Africom. The Africa Command was created in 2007. Morning Edition's Renee Montagne talks to General Carter Ham about U.S. military involvement in Africa and fighting terrorist groups on African soil. TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS: It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep. Back in January, Navy Seals rescued an American aid worker who was held for months by Somali pirates. That moment shone a spotlight on the U.S. military's newest regional command - Africom, the U.S. Africa Command, which was created in 2007. One of its biggest concerns is dealing with terrorist groups such as al-Qaida and its regional affiliates. Renee spoke with the head of Africom, General Carter Ham. RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: Good morning. GENERAL CARTER HAM: Good morning, Renee. Thank you. MONTAGNE: One of the biggest terrorist attacks in the '90s was in Africa, a very deadly coordinated assault on two American embassies. Are you still concerned with the threat to American interests on the continent or do you see Africa as a potential staging ground for terrorist attacks in the U.S.? HAM: It is both, Renee. We're charged with insuring the security of Americans and American interests from threats that might emanate from the continent of Africa. We have seen, certainly, the two embassy attacks, but also kidnappings of American citizens, other indications that they are expressing the intent to export their attacks. MONTAGNE: Well, the U.S. does have a small base in Djibouti, which is east Africa. Describe that base for us. HAM: The geographic location of Djibouti places it right at the horn of Africa, so at the intersection of the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, directly across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen. It's a major shipping line for commerce. And it also is a

great platform from which we can extend our reach into other parts of east Africa. MONTAGNE: Where else on the continent would you see American forces and what would they be doing? HAM: In most of the rest of the continent of Africa, our presence is very small and specifically tailored to the mission sets that are required. For example, many listeners, I think, will recall a few months ago when President Obama announced the deployment of about a hundred special forces advisors to help the militaries of Uganda, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of South Sudan to counter the threat posed by a violent organization known as the Lord's Resistance Army. MONTAGNE: Let's talk for a moment about the Lord's Resistance Army and that particular mission in Uganda alongside soldiers there. What American interest is served by getting American forces involved in a fight that does seem to be basically local? HAM: Well, first, our personnel are there in an advise and assist role, not in a role to conduct operations to counter the Lord's Resistance Army. That's the responsibility, and rightfully so, of the four African nations which are involved. It's a fair question to say why should the U.S. care about this. The Lord's Resistance Army, though very small, is a very vicious organization. It's pretty horrific what they do. But from a larger standpoint, they have caused the displacement of many tens of thousands of people. They've disrupted economies. They've disrupted good governance. They undermine regional stability. And that's why we're concerned. MONTAGNE: Which gets us to the Arab Spring. Libya, for instance, did not have a military to military relationship with the U.S. before the Arab spring, but it now does. And Africom was the first to send missiles into Libya in that time before NATO got involved. How much effect has the Arab Spring had on your mission? HAM: It's had a very significant effect. The conduct of military operations in Libya did afford now the opportunity to establish a military to military relationship with Libya, which did not previously exist. And we found the Libyans very understanding of the need to establish security across the country and also to contribute to regional stability. And we're seeking to establish what I would call a normal military to military relationship with Libya. We see much the same thing, though less violently, in Tunisia. In fact, Tunisia's probably a little ahead of Libya and are moving on a very positive trend, and we're in contact with the Tunisians and have a very good relationship with their minister of defense to find ways in which we can cooperate on mutual concerns in the security arena. MONTAGNE: General, thanks very much for speaking with us. HAM: OK, Renee. Thank you very much. MONTAGNE: General Carter Ham is the head of the U.S. Africa Command, speaking to us from the Pentagon.
Return to Top

News Headline: My 130 days in the hands of al-Qaeda's African monster | News Date: 03/11/2012 Outlet Full Name: The Sunday Telegraph News Text: By Robert R. Fowler (The killing of British hostage Chris McManus in Nigeria is a wake-up call to the threat posed by Islamic militants in Africa, warns former kidnap victim Robert R Fowler) In December 2008, I was making my third trip to Niger as the United Nations Special Envoy, attempting to broker a peace between the government and Tuareg rebel factions in the north. One Sunday, two weeks before Christmas, my colleague, Louis Guay, and I were returning to the capital, Niamey, in a UN vehicle when a truck passed us, slewed in front and forced us to a stop. Two AK47s were aimed at the face of our driver, and within the blink of an eye all three of us were torn from our seats and thrown into the back of their truck. The whole grab took perhaps 40 seconds. Thus began our 56-hour descent into hell, a 1,000km off-road nightmare into the middle of the Sahara desert. Twelve hours into that appalling journey, we stopped for a couple of hours' rest. As I paced back and forth, the sentry, a young Senegalese, looked up from where he was making tea and asked: "Have you figured out who we are yet?" Refusing to acknowledge the dawning reality, I shook my head and he spat: "We are al-Qaeda," enjoying the effect as the bottom fell out of my world. Three days later, we were ushered toward a large, dark tent, and when I saw the assembled video equipment, I despaired at the thought of my family watching a YouTube video of our beheading. Instead, we recorded a message in which I stated that we had been captured by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and urged the UN and the government of Canada to bend every effort to secure our release and - as instructed - warned them to avoid violence in any effort to win our freedom. We then settled uncomfortably into the rhythm of our desert captivity, but from the outset it was made excruciatingly clear by the 31 members of the group holding us, that as representatives of the hated United Nations, we were "prisoners of war" and not some random targets of opportunity. We had spent five days reaching their operations area deep in the desert, remained in the first "camp" for 56 days and then spent the final 68 days shuttling vast distances among 23 different camps. A camp, though, was simply a place in the sand where a thin tree might offer a little shade from the unrelenting sun. We were always held in the open: no buildings, tents, furniture, or lavatories. There were venomous snakes and scorpions and wild dogs, hyenas, and a variety of biting insects, and awful food; but the greatest threat to our lives was so evidently from the two-legged monsters who held us. Indeed, there was hardly a moment when I didn't anticipate it would end with my head being sawn off.

They were the most singleminded group of young men I have ever encountered. Our captors had no desire for cool sunglasses, no interest in aping the antics of film stars or footballers, no passion for sports or music; their only concern was pleasing their jealous and stern God. They would often explain how the Prophet had said that 99 out of 100 would not make it to paradise, but their place beside those rivers of milk and honey was assured for they were fighting Allah's fight and would soon, they hoped (as did I) be occupying the house of the mujahideen in paradise. At one point one of them thrust his rifle at me, saying: "Kill me now, I'm ready for paradise." Kidnappings of Westerners have fuelled debate among securocrats as to whether our AQIM captors might simply be bandits flying an Islamic flag of convenience. I know that to be the wrong answer. Our kidnappers were utterly focused religious zealots who believed absolutely in their cause. They sought to expel Western infidels from Muslim lands and to destroy what they saw as apostate Westernstooge governments who were usurping God's purposes across the Muslim world. The concepts and ideals we hold most dear were anathema to them: liberty, freedom, justice, democracy, human rights, equality between the sexes - all matters that they considered to be the exclusive province of Allah. Our kidnappers were certain they would prevail, but whether it took 20, 200 or 2,000 years was of no consequence. God's will would be done. Their objective was to establish a 7,000km-wide caliphate, stretching from Nouakchott in Mauritania to Mogadishu in Somalia, to be ruled by stern Allahfearing Islamic sages who could be relied upon to understand and execute God's will. AQIM believes that by replicating across the Sahel the chaos and anarchy caused by their Al Shabaab colleagues in present day Somalia, they will be creating the perfect growth medium in which their vision will flourish. In the face of the murderous rampage of Boko Haram in Nigeria over the past year, which included the bombing of Nigerian police headquarters in Abuja and the destruction of UN headquarters, many hundreds have been killed (thousands over the past decade). There seems, though, to be a reluctance to believe that it is all part of the same jihadi movement. Many want to believe that Boko Haram is different, somehow less dangerous than al-Qaeda's other African affiliates. While I understand the reluctance to acknowledge that al-Qaeda might have won a solid foothold in Africa's most populous and important country, again, I know that to be the case. One of my captors was a young Nigerian from Kano; clearly what we would call an "exchange officer". The threat to the stability of the northern half of Africa posed by militant jihadi Islam is present and real. It has been exacerbated by the fallout from our Libyan adventure, which has caused weapons in untold quantities to spew across one of the most fragile parts of the world. Not only do al-Qaeda's predations endanger the development gains of the past half-century in the upper part of Africa, but chaos there will very directly impact western Europe as human emergencies of immense proportion bloom, and illegal refugee flows multiply by orders of magnitude. Our African friends need help to defeat such a scourge, and we, throughout the West, need to get a lot more serious - and very quickly - about discouraging the Saudis and Gulf states from their generous funding of radical Salafist madrassas across the world, and most immediately in Africa where they

are providing the recruits to al-Qaeda's African franchises. After intensive diplomacy on the part of all manner of regional players, Louis and I were freed after 130 days of captivity, along with the two female members of a group of European tourists who had been kidnapped by a separate AQIM faction. Six weeks after we returned to Canada, another of that group, the Briton Edwin Dyer, was killed by his captors. Louis and I are very lucky to be alive and we owe our lives to a great many fine, imaginative and hard working people who made it possible. I welcome this opportunity to extend my deepest sympathies to the families of Chris McManus and Franco Lamolinara, who were not so fortunate. They were murdered this past week following their kidnapping in north-western Nigeria last May. So often during my captivity did I worry about the risks of a rescue attempt, only to fear that it might not be made, so I also extend my empathy to the brave professionals who made the attempt, for I know the extent of their distress at the failure of their enormously risky mission.
Return to Top

News Headline: How Al-Shabaab plotted its own slow but sure downfall | News Date: 03/11/2012 Outlet Full Name: Daily Nation (Kenya) News Text: By Murithi Mutiga On the morning of December 3, 2009, an al Shabaab militant dressed as a woman walked into a graduation ceremony at the Hotel Shamo in downtown Mogadishu and detonated his payload. In the wake of the blast, 24 people lay dead, including three cabinet ministers of the Transitional Federal Government. It looked like a big propaganda coup for al Shabaab considering the number of senior government officials either killed or injured. Instead, it proved to be one of the critical turning points that led to the decline of the militant group and its eventual retreat from Mogadishu under pressure from African Union troops. There is agreement among military historians that few insurgencies that retain the support of the population in the areas in which they operate can be defeated by a foreign army. In Afghanistan, the Taliban have proved a resilient foe to NATO troops because they have the solid support of the Pashtun community in the mountains of Kandahar, and the failure of Americans and others to win over the locals explains the faltering state of the war effort there. In Iraq, the tide turned in 2006 after the Anbar Awakening when local Sunnis, fed up with the daily cycle of violence, turned against al- Qaeda and decided to take up the fight to root out the militants. The Mau Mau in Kenya fought the British to a grinding draw because right until the end of the Emergency, their supporters among the population, including

women and children, continued supplying the fighters along forest routes that the British never could comprehensively tackle. Somalia's al Shabaab enjoyed broad support when their precursors, the Islamic Courts Union, swept to power and routed the warlords in 2005/6. They established relative order despite imposing a harsh brand of Islam to which most Somalis are not accustomed. But the character of the movement changed gradually when dozens of foreign fighters began to show up in Somalia, some fleeing from a stepped-up campaign of drone attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan under the Obama administration and some reacting to a call to arms by some Shabaab militants to Somalis in the diaspora. Before that, the principal aims of al Shabaab had been nationalist. The movement's original leaders like Mukhtar Robow, whose clan supplied many of the fighters in the group, stated their goal as the establishment of a government guided by Sharia law for all Somalia. Things began to change when the foreigners, with their superior financial resources, became the pre-eminent group in the Shabaab. This camp promoted a Somali national and veteran of the Afghanistan training camps, Ahmed Abdi Godane, to be the leader of the group. A far more radical figure, he declared that the Shabaab was not just fighting to lead Somalia but was a part of the global Jihad. More nationalist leaders like Robow were gradually sidelined by the foreigners. The Shabaab's methods, too, began to change. Suicide bombings had been alien to Somalia and had never been a weapon deployed by the various forces vying for control there for decades. That weapon was imported from the Gulf by foreign fighters, and al Shabaab used it for the first time in September 2006. At first, the Shabaab militants mainly targeted government officials and installations. When they began to launch mass attacks in which dozens were killed, the public mood hardened against them. This is how Mohamoud Farah Egal, an aviation official who has observed the battles in Somalia over the last five years at close range, summed it up. The Islamic Courts Union did some good things. Everyone was happy to see the defeat of the warlords. But then some elements took over and began killing without any regard for the sanctity of life. People began to see that this is not religion but something else. The attack on the Shamo Hotel shocked Somalis at a number of levels. One of the issues was the profile of the victims. It is a considerable feat to educate a child up to university in any part of Africa, but in Somalia it is an almost miraculous achievement. A university professor who declined to be named for this article pointed out that two of the students who died on their big day were the sons of a woman who had

raised them alone from income she earned hawking miraa (khat). Another aspect of that attack that changed perceptions about the Shabaab was that the most prominent casualty of the bombing was one of Somalia's most respected Islamic clerics. Prof Sheikh Ibrahim Hassan Addow, who presided over the graduation ceremony as the minister for Higher Education, was one of the dozens of Somalis who abandoned a comfortable life in the US to return to his country to contribute to the peace process. He was a leader of the Islamic Courts Union before joining the government after the 2008 Djibouti Accord. His pedigree was unquestioned, and his nationalist and religious credentials almost unparalleled. His death intensified questions about the motives of the Shabaab in Somalia and beyond. In Nairobi's Eastleigh estate, the Somali poet Abdirashid Omar, 28, recorded a poem that featured these words on YouTube about the Shamo blast. The calamity that befell Mogadishu in which educated youths at the tender age of their life, who were expecting to be congratulated for graduating but instead the heartless misfits/crazy gangs marred the occasion with a suicide bombing that left many in tears and missing limbs. Ooh wrecked Somalis, what other incident is uglier than the calamity that befell Mogadishu. Omar was forced to go into hiding after receiving death threats from the Shabaab. But the stubborn questions among Somalis about the Shamo blast did not go away and came to serve as a major counterpoint to the claims by Shabaab leaders to be on the side of the Somali people. In the months that followed, al-Shabaab gradually began to attract criticism from even some of the clerics who had initially supported them and who now questioned their efforts to impose the puritanical Salafi Islam ideology. The law comes from the people, says Mr Egal. The people must accept it. You cannot bring a law from outside and impose it on the people. It is probably not a coincidence that the biggest battlefield gains of the African Union troops came from the beginning of 2010 to last August when the Shabaab backbone was broken, and they were forced to abandon fixed positions in the Somali capital and engage in a chaotic retreat to the outskirts of the city. While al-Shabaab were alienating the local population, the Ugandan and Burundian troops looked for ways to show that they were on the side of the civilians. They did not do that only by the standard methods of providing field hospitals and water to residents. They also began to hold to account soldiers accused of attacking civilians. Three of them were sentenced to two years in jail for incidents that occurred in November 2010 and January 2011, addressing in the process a major complaint by residents.

At first the local population was sceptical, Major-General Fred Mugisha, African Union Mission (Amisom's) force commander said. But we gradually won them over and showed them that we were pursuing the same goal: peace and a city free of al-Shabaab. The trust between the two sides has only grown over time. Now, we are able to prevent between 60 to 70 per cent of attacks from planted improvised explosive devices purely out of tips from the public. As the epic battle between the Shabaab and the AU forces progressed, the militants committed two more blunders that further eroded their support. When the rains failed in mid-2011, and the farmers in the Shabelle River bread basket region found they could not produce enough to feed hundreds of thousands in the country, the Shabaab reacted by banning foreign aid agencies from supplying relief food. This drew condemnation from many quarters, including important clan elders and community leaders. Sheikh Bashir Ahmed Salat, the chairman of the Somali Islamic Clerics Consortium, warned the Shabaab that they risked having the deaths of famine victims on their hands. We are strongly denouncing the evil acts of al-Shabaab. They banned the humanitarian agencies from the areas which are under their tyrannical rule, when of course there is stern prolonged drought in the country. They have also imposed intolerable rules on the inhabitants in their areas. We put heavy responsibility upon their shoulders for whatever casualties the inhabitants in their regions will sustain, he said. The second blunder came in October when another suicide bombing, this time far larger than the Shamo Hotel bombing and again targeting aspiring young Somalis seeking a better life, took place in Mogadishu. The attack targeted youths lining up at the ministry of Education seeking scholarships to study in Turkey. The Turks have taken a prominent role in the reconstruction of Somalia. That massive bombing killed 65 people and drove another wedge between the Shabaab and the Somali people. It was ironic that al-Shabaab were basically committing political suicide every time they sent a suicide bomber to attack ordinary civilians. The result was that the AU troops were welcomed in every district they captured, and according to a Somali journalist who has covered the conflict from Mogadishu, residents for the first time began criticising Shabaab openly in the streets, a sign that they saw the militants' gradual defeat as irreversible. Reports of divisions within the ranks of the Shabaab began to circulate with rival camps said to be tipping off the TFG troops leading to the killing of several top commanders. Within the space of only a few months, top al-Qaeda representatives in Somalia Fazul Abdullah Mohammed and his Lebanese-British successor Bilaal AlBerjawi were killed outside Mogadishu. On the battlefield, district after district fell to the AU troops, including some of the

most important Shabaab command and control centres like the former Ministry of Defence headquarters in Geshandigga, the Shabaab fortress, which had been the national stadium, and the Barakaat Cemetery. Loss of territory was accompanied by loss of income. The exit from the pivotal Bakaara market, for example, robbed the Shabaab of an installation where they derived, according to United Nation estimates, up to a third of their income. Air attacks When the Shabaab started to pull out of Mogadishu in August, they hoped to find a safe haven in Jubbaland near the Kenyan border. Kenya's unexpected entry into the conflict with air attacks and a naval blockade of Shabaab's second major source of income the port of Kismayu further compounded matters. And to complete the perfect storm of factors working against Shabaab, the string of uprisings convulsing the Middle East and North Africa meant that the group's financial benefactors found themselves with their hands full dealing with the instability at home. As all these events were unfolding in the battlefield, the lives of untold thousands of Somalis were being scarred and will probably continue to be scarred in tragic ways by the conflict. Al-Shabaab is certainly a weakened force, but it is not a vanquished foe. It retains the capacity to carry out major suicide bombings in Somalia, East Africa and beyond despite its diminished fighting force on the battleground. And in Somalia, the damage done to the population by this conflict and many more before it will take decades to repair. Normal country Mahamud Abdikadir Abdi, to take but one example, is 14 years old, but he looks like a seven-or eight-year-old boy might in a normal country. He is small, incredibly thin and expressionless; his tiny frame resting on a stretcher while flies hover around in lazy fashion at a field hospital near the Mogadishu airport. Abdikadir was one of those who fell victim to the puritanical rules imposed by the Shabaab. While playing a video game in the Medina district about eight months ago, a suspected al Shabaab militant surfaced at the window and emptied his rifle into the hall. Abdikadir was one of the teens who suffered gunshot wounds. The first bullet hit him in the pelvic area and another registered just above the knee. The youth cut a pitiful figure knowing his life will never be the same.
Return to Top

News Headline: Joseph Kony 2012: Uganda says it will catch Joseph Kony dead or alive |

News Date: 03/11/2012 Outlet Full Name: The Telegraph News Text: Uganda said on Friday it would catch Joseph Kony dead or alive, after a video spotlighting the atrocities of his Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) swept the internet and drew a wave of international support. The LRA is notorious for violence including hacking body parts off victims and abducting young boys to fight and young girls to be used as sex slaves. Kony and his fighters were driven out of northern Uganda in 2005 after terrorising communities for nearly two decades. "All this hoopla about Kony and his murderous activities is good in a sense that it helps inform those who didn't know the monster that Kony is. But of course, this is too late," Uganda's defence ministry spokesman Felix Kulayigye told Reuters. "It might take long but we'll catch Kony, dead or alive. How many years did it take to end the conflict in Northern Ireland? So our hunt for Kony can take long but it will end one day," he said. The 30-minute video, by a little-known team of filmmakers based in San Diego, made an emotional appeal for the US-backed Ugandan armed forces to capture the LRA leader by the end of this year. It has been viewed at least 55 million times on YouTube, while Tweets about Kony had become the No. 1 trending topic worldwide on Twitter. Kony fled northern Uganda to roam the dense forests of Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and South Sudan. Attempts to corner him and his rump LRA force, believed to be 200-300 strong, have failed. In a renewed push to bring Kony to justice, President Barack Obama sent 100 US military advisers to the region last year to help Ugandan forces track down the self-declared mystic. US troops have set up small base in the Central African Republic, where Ugandan soldiers are also operating, though the latest reports suggest Kony is now in neighbouring Congo. In January 2006, eight Guatemalan "Kaibil" Special Forces soldiers from the U.N. mission in Congo were killed in a botched operation against the LRA in Congo's Garamba National Park. In late 2008, the United States backed Ugandan-led air strikes and a ground attack on LRA camps in Congo. These too failed as the LRA leadership slipped into the bush, seemingly after being tipped off, and unleashed a retaliatory killing spree that left thousands dead. According to Matthew Green, author of a book about the hunt for Kony, The Wizard of the Nile, his units were highly organised and armed with recoilless rifles, mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, VHF radios and satellite phones. Green says escaped LRA child soldiers he interviewed expressed contempt for

the Ugandan army as a fighting force. "Much as they might like to grab Kony, the Ugandan military and other armies in the region have repeatedly proved that they lack the necessary helicopter, logistical and intelligence-gathering capabilities," Mr Green said. "US forces could get the job done, but there would have to be a remarkable shift in the political calculus in Washington for them to consider a kill-or-capture mission." Fred Opolot, Director of the Ugandan government's Media Centre said the LRA leader was operating in "some of the most difficult terrain anyone can imagine". "People who are thinking it's taking long to eradicate the LRA menace need to appreciate the overwhelming geopolitical complexities involved in the hunt for these guys," Opolot said. Ned Dalby, Central Africa analyst for the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, said geographical, logistical and political realities severely complicated the hunt for Kony. He said the armies of South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic were poorly-equipped, lacked professionalism and had discipline problems. The US-backed Ugandan army spearheading the hunt for the fugitive LRA leader was more professional, but were not being allowed to enter Congolese territory for now, Dalby said. The Americans were "no silver bullet", he said.
Return to Top

News Headline: LRA leader Joseph Kony and Western hegemony | News Date: 03/11/2012 Outlet Full Name: Daily Monitor (Uganda) News Text: By Timothy Kalyegira In the wake of the collapse of the Holy Spirit Movement rebel uprising in Acholi in 1986, an offshoot called the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) was formed to fight the brutality that the victorious NRA guerrilla army of Yoweri Museveni had unleashed on the Acholi after 1986. The LRA was led by a former Catholic altar boy named Joseph Kony. Kony became infamous in Uganda and later in many parts of the world for his reported barbarism against the very civilian population on whose behalf he was supposed to be fighting. Several reports, however, had a parallel story of how many of the best-publicised Kony massacres and atrocities were actually by the NRA (later UPDF) dressed up in the rag-tag appearance of the LRA, in order to further destroy Kony's reputation. Many peace initiatives were advanced. Betty Bigombe was named Minister of

State in the Office of the Prime Minister in charge of pacification of the North. There was a Northern Uganda Reconstruction Programme, various pressure groups like the Acholi Parliamentary Group, the Gulu Peace Walk, efforts by Bishop John Baptist Ondama, and Kacoke Madit, a gathering in London called by the Acholi. They all came and went with little to show for it. Then came Jason Russell and the new documentary titled Kony 2012. The West's publicity genius Whatever criticism that we level at it and the objections we raise about its naivety, we cannot take away the most important fact about Kony 2012 - it has worked. It is one of the most brilliant and successful marketing and distribution achievements of 2012. It is this, rather than the contentious angle of the film, that has shaken me the most. By 1pm Ugandan time on Friday March 9, 49,639,775 views of this video had been registered on the YouTube video-sharing website. It is this ability to totally dominate the media, the advertising and distribution channels that has led to the worldwide popularity of the English Premier League and the global instant facial and name recognition of otherwise unremarkable American socialites such as Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian and even, to a large extent, Oprah Winfrey. One of the things that make the video so compelling is its opening four minutes. It sounds like one of those scary, end-of-the-world scare stories. It starts off with a suspense-filled narration that gives an overview of how the Internet is changing the world and into the fourth minute, one starts sensing the direction it is about to take. The film, directed by Russell, is full of the stereotyping of Tropical Africa and the Black world so familiar to Africans. It is narrated through children's eyes and seeks to or manages to tug at the heart. In many ways, it is a continuation of the 2007 film The Last King of Scotland, in which the former Ugandan president Idi Amin is portrayed through the eyes of a White westerner who spent some time in Uganda: Africans having their own history told to them through the lenses of Europeans or Americans. Kony 2012 is part a Lost Boys of Sudan type documentary centred on the suffering of Black Africans living in almost Aboriginal backwardness. It is part a Band Aid (Do They Know Its Christmas) and USA For Africa (We Are the World) famine relief effort, part amateur home video, part Oprah Winfrey on-camera confessional. It is part a commentary the impact of Facebook and other social media on global society, part a ringing clarion call to America not to retreat into isolation but continue to be a moral force for good in the world. Growing trends Finally, it is part the familiar post-1990s, patronising White Western obsession with fashionable, feel good social causes and human rights crusading. A 21st Century Internet Woodstock, featuring the efforts of lonely, liberal, young Western (White) citizens whose creed - now that they live in essentially secular societies - is the news religion of doing anything to make the world a better place.

As it is with most Western, English-speaking portrayal of the world's distressing situations, Kony 2012 starts off from the point of defining everything as good guys and bad guys. As simple as that. Hardly any background and in depth research. Just an appeal to the side of human beings that gets outraged by appalling evil. Russell the narrator gets into recommendations on what should be done: the United States must send troops to Uganda (Uganda, by the way, is located in East Africa, not Central Africa, as Russell states) to apprehend Kony. This particular part in the documentary urging America to put its boots on the ground in Uganda struck many Ugandans as suspicious. This is the way the Arab Spring started and how the hysterical reporting on the Syrian activists started off. For more than 20 years, Uganda's best-educated political, academic and media elite had tried their best to report on, analyse and publicise the story of Joseph Kony. Annual meetings, the Kacoke Madit of the Acholi community in the Diaspora made this their top concern. And yet here we are, a 29-minute, 59-second film shot by three young Americans led by cinematographer Jason Russell debuts on Monday March 5, 2012 and by Thursday night March 8, 2012, the video has spread into every nook of the Internet, trending on Twitter, flooding Facebook and discussed on most of the top entertainment and news television channels in the United States. This is a lesson that Africa must learn from this video, that is if most Africans are not already painfully aware of these cold facts. Much more investment should be made in the media, in marketing and in understanding how these shape Western public opinion. For years, Africans have had to get used to world news bulletins from Western TV and radio stations that highlight the disappearance of a White tourist on a hitch-hiking trip in Namibia or surfing on the beach in Indonesia. Whatever the Western world sets its mind upon becomes the interest - or is made the interest of the rest of the world. However, as said before, the main focus of this article is looking on, intrigued, at how central a media narrative and reporting angle is in shaping Western public opinion and this opinion later turns into concrete state policy. It was this social activism, this organisational ability especially of White Americans, that in 2008 created the phenomenon that became Barack Obama. The Spice Girls in the 1990s, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Madonna and Michael Jackson in the 1980s, the Beatles in the 1960s - all these were global sensations created by this concept of an idea going viral. That is partly the way huge global brands like Apple, Coca-Cola, Nike and Fruitof-the-Loom were created. The video Kony 2012 is not striking in any particular way, be it in the cinematography or script. Its main strength might be in the moral appeal to an

indifferent world. But as has now happened, its absolute success has come about mainly because there exists a marketing, distribution, publicity and fundraising machinery in the West that drives much of everything.
Return to Top

News Headline: UN maintains efforts against Lord's Resistance Army senior officials | News Date: 03/11/2012 Outlet Full Name: UN News Centre News Text: The UN's peacekeeping chief spoke out March 9 about the role of UN peacekeepers in tackling the Lord's Resistance Army's (LRA), a notorious Ugandan rebel group, operating around the border area of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Our Blue Helmets have been offering military escorts to merchants transporting their goods to markets as well as to churchgoers, said the UN Under-Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations, Herv Ladsous, in an interview with the UN News Centre. By patrolling in and around villages and towns where LRA presence was signalled, they have maintained a level of security and saved lives. The LRA was formed in the 1980s in Uganda and for over 15 years its attacks were mainly directed against Ugandan civilians and security forces, which in 2002 dislodged the rebels. They then exported their activities to Uganda's neighbours, such as the DRC, the Central African Republic (CAR) and South Sudan, with practices that include the recruitment of children, rapes, killing and maiming, and sexual slavery. Although current estimates suggest that the LRA comprises less than 500 combatants operating under the leadership of Joseph Kony, its capacity to attack and terrorise and harm local communities remains, Mr. Ladsous said, noting the group's recent activities in the eastern DRC. After a lull in LRA raids in the second half of last year that resulted in improved security in the north-eastern province, new attacks on civilians have been reported during the past few weeks in the DRC's territories of Dungu, Faradje, Watsa, Niangara, Bondo and Ango. Mr. Ladsous said protection of civilians is the major focus of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), especially across the vast mountain areas of the east, and its peacekeepers use a range of strategies. The peacekeeping mission has taken a robust military approach against the LRA and other armed groups in recent years. Its blue helmets work with the Congolese armed forces in leading military operations against the LRA and other armed groups, and the mission also facilitates the provision of humanitarian assistance to vulnerable populations in areas affected by the LRA. Coordinated pressure by the national armies of CAR, DRC, South Sudan and Uganda is further weakening the LRA, Mr. Ladsous said, adding that a group of

US military advisors was deployed recently and they are providing support to the regional armies. But the peacekeepers have also taken a softer approach to encourage combatants to give up their weapons and return to civilian life, the peacekeeping chief said. Radio programmes and leaflets target rebels to convince them give up arms and return to civilian life. Speaking to the press at UN Headquarters in New York today, the UnderSecretary-General for Political Affairs, B. Lynn Pascoe, said the United Nations had made attempts for several years to bring the group into a peace deal, had used its peacekeeping forces to protect civilians from the LRA and continues to work through its political office in Central Africa the UN Regional Office for Central Africa to forge an effective regional response to this menace. Mr. Pascoe said success in this effort was still limited, however, in combating the group accused of widespread atrocities. I think we need to redouble our efforts to see what we can do because these are really ferocious crimes, he said, adding that he hoped that Mr. Kony would be captured and tried for his alleged crimes. The UN's top political official also expressed appreciation for the awarenessraising potential of a video about the LRA which has gained wide notoriety on the internet. One of our biggest problems with the LRA and dealing with the LRA has been getting the attention to it. So I think it is very good that this gets around, that people see what's there, he told reporters. Beyond MONUSCO's role in protecting civilians in the DRC, the United Nations is strongly supporting the efforts led by the African Union and the affected countries to counter the LRA threat and bring its leaders, including Joseph Kony and others indicted by the International Criminal Court, to justice. In a recent report, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon assessed the threat posed by the LRA and described stepped-up military, political and humanitarian efforts involving the United Nations, the African Union and governments in the region to address it. The UN Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA), a political office mandated to assist member States and sub-regional organizations in consolidating peace and preventing future conflicts, is active in efforts to forge effective regional strategies to end the threat of the LRA. Ten days ago, attendees at a joint African Union-United Nations meeting in Addis-Ababa, took stock of the progress to date and sought to strengthen coordination among all actors engaged in this effort. According to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict, the LRA abducts children from their villages and recruits them. Girls and boys are often beaten into submission and serve as combatants as well as cooks, porters, spies. Many children are killed and wounded during fighting, others are killed because of their unwillingness to obey orders or because they try to escape. There are likely several hundreds children associated with the armed group.

Return to Top

News Headline: UN food agency calls for $69.8 million for drought-stricken Sahel | News Date: 03/11/2012 Outlet Full Name: UN News Centre News Text: The United Nations food agency has called for $69.8 million in additional funding to prevent a full-blown food and nutrition crisis from unfolding in Africa's Sahel region. In a news release, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said that at least 15 million people are estimated to be at risk of food insecurity in countries in the Sahel, including 5.4 million people in Niger, three million in Mali, 1.7 million in Burkina Faso and 3.6 million in Chad, as well as hundreds of thousands in Senegal, the Gambia, and Mauritania. We need to act to prevent further deterioration of the food security situation and to avoid a full-scale food and nutrition crisis, FAO's Director-General, Jos Graziano da Silva, said. Part of the solution is to improve the access of farmers and herders to local markets, encourage the use of local products, and apply risk-reduction good practices to reinforce their resilience. According to FAO, some 790,000 farming and herding households in Sahel have been affected by droughts, sharp declines in cereal production and high grain prices, environmental degradation, and displacement, among other factors. The total cereal production in the Sahel last year was, on average, 25 per cent lower than in 2010, but as much as 50 per cent lower in Chad and Mauritania, FAO reported. There were also increases in the number of displaced persons in the region, including a total of 63,000 internally displaced persons in Mali who fled from conflict in the country's north, and more than 60,000 Malian refugees in neighbouring countries. FAO's strategy to address the issue will include providing food, agricultural items such as fertilizers and pesticides, and training to those who need it the most. It will also implement measures that protect the livelihoods of farmers and herders, such as helping them with the delivery of food crops and vegetable seeds for the planting season and supporting early-warning systems that allow them to better prepare for droughts. If we are to avoid yet another disaster, the humanitarian and livelihoods responses must be funded and applied on a scale that ensures protection of all vulnerable communities before they are forced to shed their assets, Mr. Graziano da Silva said, stressing that regional and local leadership will be crucial for success. Since 2010, $25.4 million has been allocated through FAO to the Sahel. An additional $75.4 million are required to support vulnerable households, but only $5.6 million have been mobilized leaving a funding gap of $69.8 million.
Return to Top