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.
South Africa election: ANC wins huge victory
Map: France revamps military operations in Africa’s Sahel
US Forces in Nigeria to Aid Search for Kidnapped Girls
Former U.S. General In Africa: ‘I Think We Can’ Help Find Nigerian Girls
Nigerian president: kidnapping will mark beginning of the end of terror
Boko Haram- a suitable case for UN-approved intervention
Bentiu massacre highlights continued links between the Sudans after divorce
Analysis: The Chibok kidnapping – an intricate public relations exercise
Residents: 50 bodies found in Nigeria violence
Goodluck Jonathan: A powerless president
U.S. Consulate in Nigeria Asked Clinton State Dept. Why Boko Haram Wasn’t Called ‘Terrorist Organization’
House Lawmakers Vote To Reopen Benghazi Probe
Libya’s Unexpected Strength
Cairo: The Conspiracy Theory Capital of the World
What the United States Wants in Egypt
Egypt’s Tourism Crash Gives Way To Bustling Opium Trade
What John Kerry Accomplished (and What He Did Not) in Africa
Little change in new Bouteflika cabinet
Somali MPs demand president quit
Rwanda: Creating Medal Named After Captain Mbaye Diagne, Security Council Honours
An Hour With Africa’s Richest Man
Nigeria receives ex-US Coast Guard cutter Gallatin
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South Africa election: ANC wins huge victory
The BBC’s Nomsa Maseko reports from Pretoria where the results of the election are being collated. The African National Congress (ANC) has won a commanding victory in South Africa’s general election, partial results show. With about 80% of the results in, the ANC has 63% of the vote, followed by the Democratic Alliance (DA) on 22%. The BBC’s Andrew Harding says inequality, unemployment and corruption are big problems but the electorate has shown it has not lost faith in the ANC. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party is in third place with 5%. BBC
Map: France revamps military operations in Africa’s Sahel
rance’s military has unveiled its new blueprint for fighting extremist groups in the remote and often lawless Sahel region of Africa. FRANCE 24 pinpoints the key launch pads for future operations. Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Thursday that France’s military was moving into a new “counter-terrorism” phase of its military intervention in Mali, known as Operation Serval, and will reorganise its troops and materiel in the wider region that includes Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad. Around 3,000 soldiers will remain in the expansive area of Africa to check Islamist violence and arms trafficking, with no specified exit date, Le Drian said. France 24
US Forces in Nigeria to Aid Search for Kidnapped Girls
The U.S. military said almost a dozen staff officers were in Nigeria and would form the core part of the U.S. team to aid in finding nearly 300 schoolgirls who were abducted last month in northern Nigeria. Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren said the team is “sharply focused” on crisis and “moving as quickly as possible.” About 10 more members from AFRICOM will join the team within days. The team will be based at the U.S. Embassy in Abuja, and will help with communications, logistics and intelligence. Discussions about how to share information with the Nigerian government is ongoing. VOA
Former U.S. General In Africa: ‘I Think We Can’ Help Find Nigerian Girls
What can the U.S. — or anyone — do to return more than 200 abducted girls to their families in Nigeria? And what might happen if the U.S. engages with another violent group of extremists? Retired Gen. Carter Ham, who until last year led the U.S. African Command, says there’s still a chance to help. Ham’s former command will be part of the U.S. effort to search for the missing schoolgirls, who were kidnapped three weeks ago by the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram. The group’s leader said this week that he plans to sell them. Ham says he suspects some of the girls may have already been sent to other countries. “I suspect they’ve been probably dispersed by now. That’ll be a difficult challenge,” Ham tells NPR’s Steve Inskeep on . “But we have surveillance platforms, signals intelligence and other capabilities that would be helpful.” NPR
Nigerian president: kidnapping will mark beginning of the end of terror
Nigeria’s president has insisted that the internationally decried kidnapping of 286 girls by Boko Haram will mark the “beginning of the end of terror” in the country, as further details emerged of the latest rebel atrocity, which saw scores of people shot and burned alive in a north-eastern market town on Monday. The president, Goodluck Jonathan – whose efforts to contain Boko Haram’s bloody five-year uprising have frequently been criticised – told delegates in Abuja for a meeting of the World Economic Forum that he believed assistance from the US and UK governments would help “resolve this crisis”. Boko Haram is holding 276 girls from a raid on a school in Chibok on 15 April and a further eight, aged between eight and 15, who were snatched from a village on Monday, also in its stronghold in north-eastern Borno state. Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the group’s main faction, has threatened to sell the schoolgirls as slaves. The Guardian
Boko Haram- a suitable case for UN-approved intervention
Many months ago, officials in Britain’s Foreign Office responsible for looking “over the horizon” identified Nigeria as the country which concerned them most. It had plenty of oil, but also corruption, weak central government, poverty, and, most worrying, the threat from extremist Islamist groups in the north of the country. Counter terrorism officials in MI5 and the police advised that militant Islamists would not threaten British security since the Nigerian community in Britain were from the Christian south. The horizon scanned by officials in the FO has come much, much, closer, with the attacks by Boko Haram groups and the abduction of hundreds of schoolgirls in north-east Nigeria. The Guardian
Bentiu massacre highlights continued links between the Sudans after divorce
The Bentiu massacre in mid April, in which hundreds of people died, has become one of the defining images of the new civil war in South Sudan. TV pictures of bodies lining the streets of the town, and piled up in a bulldozer to be taken for burial, went around the world. The United Nations says that, among other atrocities, at least 200 people were killed and 400 wounded at the Kali-Ballee mosque. There are differing accusations about who was responsible, but there is no dispute that many Sudanese were among the dead. Nearly three years after Africa’s biggest country split in two, the destinies of the two Sudans – and their peoples – continue to be tightly linked. African Argument
Analysis: The Chibok kidnapping – an intricate public relations exercise
Boko Haram has confirmed that it is responsible for the kidnapping of 300 Nigerian women. But if human trafficking were truly the motivation behind Boko Haram’s abduction of the Chibok students, why would leader Abubakar Shekau wait nearly three weeks to claim responsibility for the incident? Daily Maverick
Residents: 50 bodies found in Nigeria violence
Residents of a town attacked by Boko Haram said at least 50 bodies have been recovered, many horribly burned, and they criticized security forces for failing to prevent the attack even though they had been warned that the Islamic militants were nearby. The attack on Gamboru town, in remote northeastern Borno state near the border with Cameroon, happened Monday. The death toll was initially reported by a senator to be as many as 300, but a security official said it is more likely to be around 100. The attack happened in the same state, Borno, where Boko Haram kidnapped more than 300 girls from a school last month. Most of those girls remain in captivity, believed to be in the vast Sambisa forest. Stars and Stripes
Goodluck Jonathan: A powerless president
A wave of violence is spreading over Nigeria. Almost daily, the terrorist group Boko Haram is involved in massacres, kidnappings and bombings. Does President Goodluck Jonathan have control of the country? Never before has the division within Nigeria been as obvious as it is now. The prosperous south which helped make the country the leading economic nation within Africa, has been eclipsed by the north which is sinking further and further into terror and violence. Just days before President Goodluck Jonathan opens the World Economic Forum to high-ranking visitors from around the world in the capital Abuja on Thursday (08.05.2014), more than 200 people were killed in the village of Gamboru in north-east Nigeria – allegedly by members of the Boko Haram terrorist group. Deutsche Welle
U.S. Consulate in Nigeria Asked Clinton State Dept. Why Boko Haram Wasn’t Called ‘Terrorist Organization’
Boko Haram, the militant group responsible for the recent kidnapping of 276 girls in Nigeria, was not designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the State Department until November of 2013 despite a long record of violence. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has now come under fire, as reported by Josh Rogin at the Daily Beast, for resisting calls for the FTO designation for Boko Haram during her tenure at the State Department. Rogin says that “[t]he refusal came despite the urging of the Justice Department, the FBI, the CIA, and over a dozen senators and congressmen.” But in 2012, even U.S. State Department diplomats in Nigeria seemed mystified about why the government was “reluctant” to issue the designation. The weekly Standard
House Lawmakers Vote To Reopen Benghazi Probe
The House voted on Thursday to establish a new investigative committee to look into circumstances surrounding the attack two years ago on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, that killed the ambassador and three others. Republicans accuse the White House of misleading the public about the nature of the Sept. 11, 2012, attack and stonewalling efforts by Congress to investigate. Democrats see the creation of the new investigative committee as an election-year political ploy to raise money and motivate the party’s base. All Republicans voted for the measure, as did seven Democrats. The vote was 232-186. NPR
Libya’s Unexpected Strength
Libya remains in deep chaos. Various militias are competing for political and economic power, carrying out attacks and otherwise buffeting the fragile government. Work on a new Constitution has only recently started, well over a year later than envisioned in the political blueprint that was drawn up as the civil war ended in October 2011. The assembly tasked with rewriting the Constitution was created just this past February, and then only incompletely. Some minority groups boycotted its election, anticipating that it would overlook their rights. Sporadic attacks by Islamist militants in the eastern part of the country prevented some Libyans from voting. Many more chose not to participate because they consider political institutions — including the General National Congress, the transitional parliament — to be ineffectual. The New York Times
Cairo: The Conspiracy Theory Capital of the World
Conspiracy theories exist everywhere in the world, but they’re especially common in the Middle East and are rampant in Egypt even by regional standards. They’re generally harmless when only crackpots on the margins believe them, but when they go mainstream and infect the highest levels of government and the media—watch out. National Geographic has the story on the latest ludicrous theory making the rounds in Egypt, this one put forward by the governor of Minya province. Local mobs looted a museum and burned fourteen churches to the ground a while back, and he’s blaming the United States in general and the White House in particular. World Affairs Journal
What the United States Wants in Egypt
During the last several years numerous Egyptian friends have repeatedly expressed to me puzzlement, regret, and sometimes anger about U.S. policy toward their country. Their complaints are many, but one powerful theme stands out: they are convinced that the United States, both under George Bush and Barack Obama, has favored the Muslim Brotherhood. When I ask people why they think the United States has taken a pro-Brotherhood line, they say the United States wants to weaken Egypt, and that stirring up divisions in the country and having the Brotherhood come to power is a way to do that. They also believe Americans have an Orientalist view of Egypt, one that implies Islamist rule is the country’s natural destiny. Carnegie Endowment
Egypt’s Tourism Crash Gives Way To Bustling Opium Trade
Many Bedouins worked as hotel cooks, tour guides or musicians playing traditional Bedouin music for vacationers. But tourists have been avoiding Egypt since the 2011 revolution. Though some 9.5 million visitors traveled to Egypt last year, the figure was 14.7 million in 2010, the year before the revolution began. The number of tourists has continued to fall, and the prognosis for 2014 is grim. As the Egyptian Ministry of Finance recently announced, the number of tourists fell again in January and February of this year by some 30% compared to last year. For many families, this is a disaster, as tourism had been the motor of the Egyptian economy. Directly and indirectly, some four million jobs supporting about 16 million family members are dependent. And no region has been hit as hard without it as Sinai. Worldcrunch – Die Welt
What John Kerry Accomplished (and What He Did Not) in Africa
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry wrapped up his four-nation tour of the African continent. During his visit, a few months ahead of a U.S.-African heads of state summit hosted by President Obama in Washington, Kerry made stops in Ethiopia, South Sudan (albeit briefly), the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Angola. Throughout his trip, Kerry emphasized both a shared security and economic agenda. During remarks in Addis Abbaba, the Secretary of State laid out the American vision for the path forward with its African partners: “[...] for too long the ties between the United States and Africa were largely rooted in meeting the challenges and the crises of a particular moment. But we’re discovering that, at the beginning of the 21st century, we both want a lasting and more grounded relationship, one that is not reflective, but visionary and strategic.” UN Dispatch
Little change in new Bouteflika cabinet
Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Monday (May 5th) unveiled the first cabinet of his fourth term in office, leaving key positions unchanged. Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal, reappointed April 28th, has tried in vain to persuade opposition parties to join the new cabinet. The oldest opposition party, the Socialist Forces Front (FFS), was reportedly offered two ministerial portfolios but declined Bouteflika’s offer to be part of the new government. Magharebia
Somali MPs demand president quit
More than 100 Somali lawmakers have signed a letter demanding the president resign for failing to improve security and meet other promises, threatening to impeach him if he does not quit. The petition, the first of its kind against President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, has enough signatures to force an impeachment debate in parliament. But such a move could be blocked by the high court, which would have to approve it, and more backers would be needed to vote Mohamud out. News 24
Rwanda: Creating Medal Named After Captain Mbaye Diagne, Security Council Honours
Honouring those who “demonstrate exceptional courage in the face of extreme danger” today, the Security Council created a first-of-its-kind medal named after a Senegalese military officer who lost his life while serving with the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) in 1994. Unanimously adopting resolution 2154 (2014), the Council created the “Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal for Exceptional Courage”, to be awarded to military, police and civilian United Nations or associated personnel. It noted with deep appreciation how Captain Diagne, unarmed and in the face of extreme danger, had saved hundreds, perhaps even a thousand, Rwandans from death during the 1994 genocide. Also by the text, the Council recognized with the deepest regret how, after his death, Captain Diagne’s family had never received any expressions of appreciation from United Nations Headquarters for the sacrifices made by their distinguished family member. UN Security Council
An Hour With Africa’s Richest Man
I’m waiting for Aliko Dangote. Everyone is. Africa’s richest man, worth $24.7 billion (more than Carl Icahn, George Soros and any number of lesser Western billionaires) is probably the most in-demand person at the World Economic Forum here in Abuja, Nigeria. He enters the Hilton on a red carpet, a mere 30 minutes late, with minders, the head of his foundation, and the second of his three grown daughters in tow. The hotel employees literally bow before him, lesser oligarchs wave and backslap, and the merely rich try to bum rides on his private plane. “I don’t know what to do, my wife really needs to get home,” says an Indian businessman to one of the numerous Dangote staffers hovering nearby, who smiles sympathetically and promises to look into things. Time
Nigeria receives ex-US Coast Guard cutter Gallatin
The Nigerian Navy yesterday received the former US Coast Guard cutter Gallatin during a formal ceremony in Charleston, the United States, where it was renamed NNS Okpabana. The vessel was decommissioned on March 31 after 45 years of service. Personnel from the Nigerian Navy have been in Charleston for training on the vessel prior to its delivery voyage. The transfer ceremony on Wednesday was attended by Nigerian Navy officers, coast guardsmen and visitors, who witnessed the lowering of the US flag and its replacement by the Nigerian flag, reports the Charleston Post Courier. At the end of the ceremony, Nigerian Navy personnel went aboard the vessel o take command. DefenceWeb
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