Please note: The following news items are presented here for informational purposes. The views expressed within them are those of the authors and/or individuals quoted, not those of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, the National Defense University, or the Department of Defense.
Herders Kill 100+ in Nigerian Conflict Over Land
Sudan rebel leaders sentenced to death
‘Thousands’ of South Sudan deaths after cease-fire
Mali national arraigned in 2000 killing of American diplomat in Niger
Troop, equipment gaps threaten EU’s Central African Republic mission
Sierra Leone war-time leader Ahmad Tejan Kabbah dies
US repatriates once resistant Guantanamo detainee to Algeria
Algerian PM steps down to run Bouteflika campaign
Former Egyptian General Calls Promise of Free Elections a ‘Farce’
Changing trends in AU-UN collaboration on peace and security in Africa
Europe backs sanctions over anti-gay laws
Ugandans lose jobs as US cuts aid over gay law
Congo says Ugandan ADF rebels defeated
Dust-up between South Africa and Rwanda. Will it escalate?
Libya’s government: Sailing into troubled waters
Power vacuum threatens Libya
Zim spends $16m on Mugabe’s birthday, wedding, statues – begs for $20m for flood relief
UN Campaigns To End Recruitment of Child Soldiers
America’s Proxy Wars in Africa
AMISOM Expands Operations Against al-Shabab in Somalia
Kenya pushes for joint war on Indian Ocean pirates
Malawi: Will Cashgate Lose President Banda the Election?
Foreign hunters spend over R1 billion a year in SA
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Herders Kill 100+ in Nigerian Conflict Over Land
Dozens of gunmen on motorbikes have killed more than 100 villagers in an ongoing conflict over land in northern Nigeria, survivors said Thursday. The attacks, which began Tuesday night, left scores of people fleeing on foot from the four targeted villages about 110 miles (180 kilometers) south of Katsina city. People were still burying victims at Marabar Kindo village when the attackers returned Thursday afternoon and gunned down another seven villagers, resident Adamu Inuwa said. They also set fire to thatch-roofed huts, Inuwa said. AP
Sudan rebel leaders sentenced to death
Two leaders from the main rebel alliance fighting Sudan’s president and 15 members of their group were sentenced to death in absentia, their lawyer said, a move that will raise the stakes in fighting in southern regions. Malik Agar, who was governor of Sudan’s remote Blue Nile state before taking up arms, and Yassir Arman, who stood against Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in the 2010 elections, both received death sentences, lawyer Altujani Hassan told Reuters on Thursday. “The judge Abdelmonem Youness sentenced (them) over staging a war against the state… and terrorism,” Altujani Hassan said. Al Jazeera
‘Thousands’ of South Sudan deaths after cease-fire
The U.S. envoy to South Sudan says “thousands” of people in South Sudan have died since a cease-fire was signed in January. The comments Thursday in Ethiopia by Donald Booth highlight that the January truce has not been effective. Booth said the U.S. is deeply disappointed in the South Sudan government and rebels for failing to abide by the Jan. 23 deal. He urged immediate respect for the cease-fire and for foreign forces – a reference to Uganda – to withdraw. Leaders from around the region gathered in Ethiopia for a meeting of a regional bloc of nations known as IGAD. AP on Stars and Stripes
Mali national arraigned in 2000 killing of American diplomat in Niger
A Mali national accused in the killing of an American diplomat more than a decade ago was arraigned Thursday in federal court in Brooklyn after the FBI secretly brought him to the United States to face trial. A federal indictment alleges that Alhassane Ould Mohamed, 43, fatally shot William Bultemeier in Niamey, Niger, on Dec. 23, 2000. A Marine who was with Bultemeier was wounded in the incident. Mohamed, who faces attempted murder and murder charges, pleaded not guilty. He remains in federal custody. Investigators said that Mohamed and an accomplice, armed with a pistol and AK-47 assault rifle, ambushed Bultemeier and Christopher McNeely, then a Marine Corps staff sergeant, in the early hours of Dec. 23 after the pair left a restaurant. The Washington Post
Troop, equipment gaps threaten EU’s Central African Republic mission
A European Union plan to send a military force to keep the peace in Central African Republic is in jeopardy because of the failure of European governments to provide soldiers and equipment, EU sources said on Thursday. The EU has drawn up plans to send 800 to 1,000 soldiers to Central African Republic to join 6,000 African and 2,000 French troops, who have struggled to stop the fighting that started when the mostly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power a year ago in the majority Christian state. Failure to launch the mission would be an embarrassment for the European Union, which has been trying to burnish its credentials as a security organization, and a setback for France, which has called for more European support for its efforts in Central African Republic. Reuters
Sierra Leone war-time leader Ahmad Tejan Kabbah dies
Sierra Leone’s ex-president and war-time leader Ahmad Tejan Kabbah has died at the age of 82 after a long illness. He died on Thursday afternoon at his home in the capital, Freetown, with his wife and close family members at his side, reports say. In a statement, Sierra Leone’s government said Mr Kabbah’s death was an “irreparable loss”. Mr Kabbah was praised for his leadership during and after Sierra’s Leone’s decade-long civil war. BBC
US repatriates once resistant Guantanamo detainee to Algeria
The U.S. sent home to Algeria on Thursday a long-held Guantánamo captive who was cleared for return years ago but for a time sought resettlement elsewhere rather than repatriation to his civil-war stricken homeland. Ahmed Belbacha, 44, became the first prisoner released from the Pentagon detention center this year. The U.S. never charged him with a crime across 12 years in custody but an Algerian court convicted him of terror-related charges in 2009 and issued a 20-year sentence while he as at Guantánamo. Stars and Stripes
Algerian PM steps down to run Bouteflika campaign
Algerian premier Abdelmalek Sellal resigned Thursday to head the re-election campaign of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika who is expected to secure a fourth term next month despite serious health concerns. Sellal, 65, is a technocrat with no party affiliations but extensive political experience, having been closely involved in the presidential election campaigns in 2004 and 2009 that returned Bouteflika to power. He faces a challenge, with many critics charging that the 77-year-old president, hospitalised for three months in Paris last year after suffering a mini stroke and rarely seen in public, is in no fit state to run the country.Al Arabiya
Former Egyptian General Calls Promise of Free Elections a ‘Farce’
Critics of the military takeover here often say the generals’ promise of free elections is little more than a bad joke. Now a prominent former military man who cheered the takeover seems to agree: Ahmed Shafik, a former general and prime minister and the runner-up in the last presidential election, has called it a “farce.”Mr. Shafik had not planned on making his opinion quite so public. But these days in Egypt, conversations are often not as private as they seem. “I know very well they will fix all the ballot boxes,” Mr. Shafik said in a leaked recording of a private conversation that he authenticated Thursday. He said in the recording that he would not run because the new government was rigging the race in favor of Field Marshal Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi, who led the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi</a> of the Muslim Brotherhood last summer and is expected to enter and win the election to succeed him. The New York Times
Changing trends in AU-UN collaboration on peace and security in Africa
In 2013 the Peace and Security Council (PSC) launched two new missions to Mali and the Central African Republic, and increased the force strength of its existing mission in Somalia (AMISOM). With troops from African countries making up the full strength of the UN Intervention Brigade in DRC, Africa is increasingly resorting to peace support and peace enforcement missions. These developments have major consequences for African Union (AU) and United Nations (UN) partnerships on peace and security. With the UN unable or unwilling to provide enough resources to support the AU’s increased operations, donors are creating a wide range of support modalities both to the AU and with AU Troop Contributing Countries. ISS
Europe backs sanctions over anti-gay laws
The European Parliament has backed sanctions on Uganda and Nigeria to protest against their recent passing of anti-gay laws. Members of the European parliament (MEPs) approved a non-binding resolution on Thursday by a large majority which said the two countries violated the Cotonou accord on human rights, democratic principles and the rule of law. There should be targeted sanctions, such as travel and visa bans, against “the key individuals responsible for drafting and adopting” the laws, the resolution said. Al Jazeera
Ugandans lose jobs as US cuts aid over gay law
More than 80 Ugandans have reportedly lost their jobs after the US government, in an expression of its displeasure over an anti-gay law, suspended financing for a project employing them. According to Africa Review this is the first adverse consequence of Washington’s ongoing review of relations with Uganda over the anti-homosexual law approved by President Yoweri Museveni last month. US officials hinted on the possibility of additional unspecified actions, the report said. News 24
Congo says Ugandan ADF rebels defeated
Congo’s government spokesman says the military is declaring victory against a Ugandan rebel group. Lambert Mende said Thursday there had been heavy fighting in the town of Saasita between soldiers and rebels from the Allied Democratic Forces rebel group. Mende said Saasita had been the last base held by the ADF. Residents said the fighters were seen fleeing into the famed Virunga national park, home to hundreds of endangered mountain gorillas. AP on Stars and Stripes
Dust-up between South Africa and Rwanda. Will it escalate?
South Africa earlier this week expelled three Rwandan officials from its embassy in Pretoria. They are charged with complicity in an assassination attempt against a Rwandan dissident living in South Africa. In response, Kigali expelled six South African diplomats. Rwandan foreign minister Louise Mushikiwabo further accused South Africa of providing a safe haven for Rwandan terrorists. There is suspicion in South Africa that Rwanda has been complicit in other assassinations or attempts against Rwandan dissidents, but apparently there was not enough evidence previously to move against the Rwanda embassy. Now there is. CS Monitors
Libya’s government: Sailing into troubled waters
“OIL IS our strength”, declares a billboard campaign launched by Libya’s oil ministry. The advertising is meant to foster national pride in a country still riven with regional and tribal faultlines three years after the ousting of its dictator, Muammar Qaddafi. But in Libya’s restless eastern half, sometimes known as Cyrenaica, armed federalists are trying to make that slogan a political reality. Since July a group calling itself the Cyrenaica Political Bureau has blockaded Libya’s main oil ports, the country’s chief source of income. Its initial pretext was to protest against alleged fraud in oil-export accounts, but its ambitions have widened. On March 11th it pulled off a coup, successfully loading and dispatching 234,000 barrels of crude oil—worth about $30m—aboard a North Korean-flagged tanker, in defiance of the central government. The Economist
Power vacuum threatens Libya
Deposed Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan is now in Malta, the Maltese government confirmed, on a stopover toward a reported destination of Germany. Zeidan fled his country immediately following a vote of no confidence which ended his roughly one-and-a-half-year term as prime minister of the North African country. The hasty departure of the ex-diplomat rendered moot any attempts to arrest him. The charge? Corruption. [...] Zeidan. The subsequent no confidence vote was later criticized by Libyan media as a “trick” on the former prime minister. Rebel leader Ibrahim Jathran now appears to be the winner in the war of nerves over the strategically vital oil harbors. Until July 2013 he was commander of the unit sent to protect the oil installations, explains Libya expert Amanda Kadlec of the Chatham House think tank in London. Deutsche Welle
Zim spends $16m on Mugabe’s birthday, wedding, statues – begs for $20m for flood relief
According to Zimbabwe’s Nehanda Radio, the spending surfaced at the same time as reports of Robert Mugabe ministers salaries. Some ministers earn over $40,000 a month, in contrast with the average salary of Zimbabweans, at $285-$300 a month. Mugabe’s 90th birthday bash on 23 February cost more than $1 million. The cost of Bona Mugabe’s wedding on 1 March cost $5 million. Times Live
UN Campaigns To End Recruitment of Child Soldiers
The United Nations is launching a campaign to end the recruitment and use of child soldiers by 2016. It says eight governments on a Security Council list of child recruiters have agreed to sign an “action plan” to end these violations and to prevent them from occurring in the future. The United Nations has a list of 55 parties that recruit child soldiers. Among them are 46 non-state actors and eight governments, including those of Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Yemen. VOA
America’s Proxy Wars in Africa
Lion Forward Teams? Echo Casemate? Juniper Micron? You could be forgiven if this jumble of words looks like nonsense to you. It isn’t. It’s the language of the US military’s simmering African interventions; the patois that goes with a set of missions carried out in countries most Americans couldn’t locate on a map; the argot of conflicts now primarily fought by proxies and a former colonial power on a continent that the US military views as a hotbed of instability and that hawkish pundits increasingly see as a growth area for future armed interventions. Since 9/11, the US military has been making inroads in Africa, building alliances, facilities, and a sophisticated logistics network. Despite repeated assurances by US Africa Command (AFRICOM) that military activities on the continent were minuscule, a 2013 investigation by TomDispatch exposed surprisingly large and expanding US operations—including recent military involvement with no fewer than forty-nine of the fifty-four nations on the continent. The Nation
AMISOM Expands Operations Against al-Shabab in Somalia
African Union forces said they have reclaimed more territory from the al-Qaida-linked militant group al-Shabab in renewed military operations across Somalia. Restoring the government’s political authority remains a pressing challenge. The AU peacekeeping force in Somalia, known as AMISOM, said Thursday that Djiboutian soldiers have taken control of territory in Hiraan region, north of the capital, extending recent military gains. “There are small towns toward which Djiboutians are now moving, but the objective is far beyond that,” said AMISOM spokesman, Colonel Ali Hamud. VOA
Kenya pushes for joint war on Indian Ocean pirates
Kenya is pushing for a joint anti-piracy surveillance by Indian Ocean countries to lower the cost burden on individual states and safeguard key economic sectors like fishing and shipping. Transport secretary Michael Kamau said Wednesday that users of the route through the coast of Somalia remained vulnerable to piracy despite a sharp drop in the number of incidents reported since last year. “We must come together as a region to bear the burden of anti-piracy surveillance and deterrence costs in addition to the costs of combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing,” he said in a speech read by his Mining counterpart, Najib Balala, at a regional conference in Nairobi. The East African
Malawi: Will Cashgate Lose President Banda the Election?
As the countdown to Malawi’s 20 May elections picks up speed, the government corruption scandal known as Cashgate continues to dominate headlines and the public debate. Malawians have been outraged at the story of high-level looting of state coffers, and in recent weeks several figures have outspokenly criticised the government’s handling of the situation, which many see as being too slow. The latest controversy surrounds an external audit of government departments conducted by British company Baker Tilly, which reported extensive fraud and theft but declined to release the names of the individuals implicated, claiming that doing so could jeopardise ongoing investigations. Think Africa Press
Foreign hunters spend over R1 billion a year in SA
Foreign trophy hunters spent R1.24 billion in South Africa in 2012, according to a new study by North West University. This is R400 million more than estimated by the Department of Environmental Affairs, according to a report commissioned by the Professional Hunter’s Association of South Africa. Around 9 000 regular hunters visit South Africa a year, according to association CE Adri Kitshoff, with the majority (88%) coming from the United States. Other hunters came from Denmark, Germany, France, Mexico and Russia, Business Day reports. DefenseWeb
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FOR THE RECORD – AFRICA – U.S. Government Events, Statements, and Articles.
A weekly compilation by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS)
USS Simpson Arrives in Casablanca, Morocco
The guided-missile frigate USS Simpson (FFG 56) arrived in Casablanca for a scheduled port visit, March 6. Simpson’s visit serves to strengthen the existing partnership between Morocco and the U.S., and provide each other with opportunities for cultural exchanges. “I am excited Simpson has been given another opportunity to visit Casablanca and operate with the Royal Moroccan Navy,” said Cmdr Christopher Follin, Simpson’s commanding officer. “It’s not very often that one of our ships has the opportunity to re-visit friends we made on a previous deployment. We are looking forward to building upon the cooperative efforts and interoperability in training that both of our Navies strengthened during our last visit. When we share ideas and learn to operate together, we become twice as strong a force to improve maritime safety and security for all nations in the region.”
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