AFRICOM Related News clips 4 Jan 2012

8/3/2019 AFRICOM Related News clips 4 Jan 2012

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

United States Africa CommandPublic Affairs Office4 January 2012

USAFRICOM - related news stories

Good morning. Please find attached news clips related to U.S. Africa Command andAfrica, along with upcoming events of interest for January 4, 2012.

Of interest in todays clips:

-- The Christian Science Monitor reports on Nigerian troop movements in response toBoko Haram and BBC covers deadly protests over rising fuel costs in Nigeria.

-- Peter Pham, writing for the Atlantic Council, summarizes the Islamist threat to Africandevelopment and Frank Gardner from BBC speculates on potential terror flashpointsduring 2012.-- Al Jazeera covers events in Libya with stories on the clash of armed groups in Tripoliand the extradition of the former Libya prim minister from Tunisia.-- Nairobis Daily Nation writes on the announcement that Senegalese singer YoussouN'Dour will run for president of Senegal.

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U.S. Africa Command Public AffairsPlease send questions or comments to:[email protected] (+49-711-729-2687)

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

Nigeria dispatches troops to north to stop Boko Haram attacks (Christian Science

Monitor)

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2012/0103/Nigeria-dispatches-troops-to-north-to-stop-Boko-Haram-attacks3 January 2012By Scott BaldaufNigeria has sent government troops to the country's troubled northern areas, where aradical Islamist group has launched a string of attacks on Christians, most recently aChristmas Day church bombing in the capital of Abuja that killed 43 people.


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Nigerians protest at removal of fuel subsidy (BBC)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-163901833 January 2012One protester has been killed as thousands of Nigerians have demonstrated against theremoval of a fuel subsidy, which has led petrol prices and transport fares to double.

The Islamist Threat to Africas Rise in 2012 (Atlantic Council)

http://acus.org/new_atlanticist/islamist-threat-africas-rise-20123 January 2012By J. Peter PhamThe biggest story out of Africa last year did not occupy the headlines the way dramaticrevolutions in the Maghreb, civil strife in West Africa, the independence of South Sudan,famine in the Horn of Africa, piracy off the Somali coast, fraud-ridden elections in theironically-named Democratic Republic of the Congo, and various other developmentseach did in turn. Rather, as The Economist noted last month: Over the past decade six ofthe worlds ten fastest-growing [economies] were African. In eight of the past ten years,

Africa has grown faster than East Asia, including Japan. Even allowing for the knock-oneffect of the northern hemispheres slowdown, the IMF expects Africa to grow by 6percent this year and nearly 6 percent in 2012, about the same as Asia.

Global terror: Potential flashpoints in 2012 (BBC)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-163992754 January 2012By Frank GardnerWith much of the Middle East in flux, suspicions intensifying over Iran's nuclearambitions, a deepening political crisis in Pakistan, and the escalation of jihadist violencein Nigeria there are plenty of potential flashpoints in the year ahead.

Zuma meets Libyan envoy seeking help rebuilding (AFP)

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hljlODBHjTT0vUyMCCrucA01Xpsg?docId=CNG.7c9ce1de01016033f09da0a23010ea52.7a13 January 2012PRETORIA South African President Jacob Zuma met Tuesday with an envoy fromLibya's National Transitional Council seeking help from Pretoria in rebuilding after theuprising that ousted Moamer Kadhafi.

Armed groups clash in Libyan capital (Al Jazeera)

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/01/20121311171606584.html3 January 2012At least two people have been killed and six others injured in the Libyan capital after twogroups of armed men clashed over a dispute centred on the imprisonment of a member ofone of the groups.

Libyan assurances sought over extradition (Al Jazeera)

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/01/20121341013140384.html3 January 2012


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Tunisia has said it will extradite Libya's former prime minister, Al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi, to Tripoli to face charges of abuse of office if Libya guarantees him a fairtrial.

South Sudan violence: Armed youths return home, says UN (BBC)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-164030833 January 2012Thousands of youths from a South Sudanese ethnic group which attacked a rivalcommunity, reportedly killing at least 150 people, have been repelled by governmenttroops, the UN says.

Moroccan king names Islamist-led cabinet (Reuters)

http://www.france24.com/en/20120103-morocco-rabat-king-mohammed-6-new-government-abdelilah-benkirane3 January 2012Moroccan King Mohammed VI named a new power-sharing cabinet on Tuesday, which

will be headed by moderate Islamist Abdelilah Benkirane, whose party won 27 percent ofparliamentary seats in the November 25 legislative election.

Music Star Youssou N'dour to Take On President in Elections (Daily Nation,

Nairobi)

http://allafrica.com/stories/201201032448.html3 January 2012Dakar World-renowned singer Youssou N'Dour stirred up the battle for Senegal'spresidency today by announcing he plans to take on veteran incumbent Abdoulaye Wadein February elections.

Africa's Strategic Interest in the 21st Century. What is it? (Modern Ghana)

http://www.modernghana.com/news/369763/1/africas-strategic-interest-in-the-21st-century-wha.html3 January 2012By Lord Aikins AduseiThere are many strategic thinkers who believe that Africa's underdog position in theworld stems from the fact majority if not all the countries do not pursue policies that putthe interest of their countries and people first. That is each of the countries in Africa doesnot work for the interest of its people by putting the interest of the nation and its peopleahead of all other interests. There is a consensus among policymakers that if each Africancountry should work for its own interest while coordinating with other countries in thecontinent on issues such as free trade, energy and human security, and political stabilityamong others there will be more successful economies in Africa than we have seen overthe past 50 years. The lack of 'Africa first' as both an ideology and as a strategy has beenone major factor that has delayed the continent's development.

Rebels Drop Call for Secession (Daily Nation, Nairobi)

http://allafrica.com/stories/201201032443.html3 January 2012


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Addis Ababa Ethiopia's oldest armed rebel group, Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) hasannounced the end of its long held agenda of secession.

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UN News Service Africa Briefs

http://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICA

Residents of South Sudan flashpoint town in need of aid after attack UN official3 January While the showdown between the South Sudanese military and thousands ofarmed tribesmen over the flashpoint town of Pibor has subsided, the humanitariansituation in the area remains grim, a top United Nations official in the country warnedtoday.

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Upcoming Events of Interest:

5 January 2012Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) Discussion with Former Libyan

National TransitionalCouncil Finance Minister Ali Tarhouni and Marina Ottaway.

WHERE: CEIP, 1779 Massachusetts Avenue, NWCONTACT: 202-483-7600; web site: www.carnegieendowment.orgSOURCE: CEIP - event announcement at:http://www.carnegieendowment.org/2012/01/05/former-libyan-finance-minister-ali-tarhouni/8rh4

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FULL TEXT

Nigeria dispatches troops to north to stop Boko Haram attacks (Christian Science

Monitor)

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2012/0103/Nigeria-dispatches-troops-to-north-to-stop-Boko-Haram-attacks3 January 2012By Scott Baldauf

The Christmas Day attack on a church is only the latest in string of attacks by the militantIslamist group Boko Haram, who has given Christians living in the north three days toleave the region.


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Nigeria has sent government troops to the country's troubled northern areas, where aradical Islamist group has launched a string of attacks on Christians, most recently aChristmas Day church bombing in the capital of Abuja that killed 43 people.

President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in the north, and sent two

brigades of soldiers to towns that have been targeted by Boko Haram, whose name meansWestern education is a sin.

Abdul Qaqa, who claims to speak for Boko Haram, gave Christians in the north threedays to leave, and urged Muslims living in the south to move up north. Nigeria's north ispredominantly Muslim, while the south is mostly Christian.

We find it pertinent to state that soldiers will only kill innocent Muslims in the localgovernment areas where the state of emergency was declared. We would confront themsquarely to protect our brothers. We also wish to call on our fellow Muslims to comeback to the North because we have evidence that they would be attacked. We are also

giving a three-day ultimatum to the Southerners living in the Northern part of Nigeria tomove away, [Abdul Qaqa was quoted as saying by the Nigerian newspaper This Day].

Like the Taliban in Afghanistan, Al Shabab in Somalia, and a scattering of groupsthroughout the Arabian Peninsula and the African Sahel region who call themselves AlQaeda, Boko Haram claims that it wants to create a society totally adherent to the wayIslamic society operated at the time of the prophet Mohammed.

Many Islamic scholars point out that the hardline interpretation Boko Haram is seeking toimpose has more to do with the radical ideas of Boko Haram than it does with actualIslamic history. Public opinion surveys indicate that such radical groups represent a tinypercentage of current thinking among modern Muslims. But as the 9/11 attacks, andsubsequent attacks in London, Madrid, Moscow, and across the Middle East show, smallmilitant groups can punch above their weight, using violence and intimidation to achievewhat they can't achieve on the political stage or the battlefield.

Nigerias deployment of troops to the north shows that it takes the Boko Haram threatseriously, although Nigerian military spokesmen dismissed Boko Harams rhetoric.Human rights activists warned that the state of emergency could be a cover for theNigerian military to commit abuses against Muslims, whether there is evidence toconnect them to Boko Haram or not.

Jibrin Ibrahim of the Center for Democracy and Development's Abuja office toldNigerian newspaper The Vanguard, Theyve already been committing abuses. It willjust legalize it, in a sense.

Because of groups like Boko Haram and the shadowy North Africa-based Al Qaeda inthe Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), a number of African governments in the semi-arid Sahelregion a vast region just south of the Sahara that stretches from Senegal to Somalia are turning to US military trainers for assistance. Security experts warn that tumult from


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the Arab uprisings in North Africa has only fed these Islamist insurgencies with weaponsand fighters, although Boko Harams transition from a tiny local group to an internationalterror threat occurred more than a year ago, when it detonated suicide bombs in Abuja onNigerias independence day.

David Francis, who reported for the Monitor last fall during a fellowship with theInternational Reporting Project, wrote that Boko Haram's tactics could provoke a widerwar. He also found that some Nigerians wondered if Boko Haram might not be simplyfighting in order to get paid off in a general amnesty.

But is Nigeria at the brink of a religious civil war? Thats not likely, writes JeanHerskovits, a history professor at the State University of New York in an op-ed for TheNew York Times.

Mr. Herskovits argues that news media and politicians often give groups like BokoHaram too much credit for organizational and technical ability.

There is no proof that a well-organized, ideologically coherent terrorist group calledBoko Haram even exists today. Evidence suggests instead that, while the original core ofthe group remains active, criminal gangs have adopted the name Boko Haram to claimresponsibility for attacks when it suits them.

Boko Harams bombast has encouraged other Nigerian militant groups, of which thereare many, to add a few non-peaceful comments. In the oil-rich Niger Delta, whereresidents staged a short but violent rebellion of residents protesting ecologicaldevastation, the former warlord Mujahid Dokubo-Asari has threatened to take hissouthern fighters up north to put Boko Haram in its place. Mr. Asari belongs to the sametribe as President Jonathan.

For Niger Delta people to take up arms is just a minute away. It's just Goodluck that isholding us back," Mr. Asari told Reuters news agency. "We have all reached the extreme.There is nothing anybody can do about it except we fight."

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Nigerians protest at removal of fuel subsidy (BBC)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-163901833 January 2012

One protester has been killed as thousands of Nigerians have demonstrated against theremoval of a fuel subsidy, which has led petrol prices and transport fares to double.

Officials say the man was killed by "mob action" in Kwara state, while witnesses say hewas shot by police as they tried to disperse protesters.

There were marches in Lagos and other cities around the country.


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Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil producer, but imports refined petrol.

Police fired tear gas at youths in the commercial capital, Lagos, after they blocked mainroads, set up burning barricades and tried to force petrol stations to close.

However, the BBC's Tomi Oladipo in the city says the main march passed off peacefully,with demonstrators chanting anti-government slogans.

Analysts say many Nigerians regard cheap fuel as the only benefit they get from thenation's oil wealth.

Nigeria's trade unions have said they will call a strike and are meeting on Wednesday todecide on the plans.

Police block protests

Tuesday is the first working day since the measures were announced on 1 January.

The demonstrator was killed in Kwara's state capital, Ilorin.

There have been protests in numerous parts of the country, including Lagos, Ibadan,Lokoja, Nasarawa and Kano, where about two dozen people were arrested as theygathered.

Our reporter in Lagos says the city is not as busy as it normally is, with many peoplestranded as they cannot afford the new transport fares after going away for the holidays.

Police in the capital, Abuja have blockaded Eagle Square, where protesters had plannedto gather.

Police fired tear gas to disperse protesters in Abuja on MondayOn Monday, police fired tear gas to disperse some 200 people who had gathered in thecapital, chanting: "Remove corruption, not subsidy."

Prices have increased from 65 naira ($0.40; 0.26) per litre to at least 140 naira in fillingstations and from 100 naira to at least 200 on the black market, where many Nigeriansbuy their fuel.

There are reports that petrol prices have tripled in some remote areas, while commutershave complained that motorcycle and minibus taxi fares have already doubled or tripled.

Many Nigerians expect the prices of other goods to rise as well.

The government has said it will spend the money saved by removing the subsidy onimproving the country's erratic electricity supply, as well as health and education.


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However, analysts say that many Nigerians have little faith that the money will be wellspent and fear it will instead be stolen by corrupt officials.

In December, the government released a list of the people who benefit most from thesubsidy, which include some of Nigeria's richest people - the owners of fuel-importing

firms.

Years of mismanagement and corruption mean Nigeria does not have the capacity torefine oil into petrol and other fuels.

Several previous governments have tried to remove the subsidy but have backed down inthe face of widespread public protests and reduced it instead.

The IMF has long urged Nigeria's government to remove the subsidy, which costs areported $8bn (5.2bn) a year.

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The Islamist Threat to Africas Rise in 2012 (Atlantic Council)

http://acus.org/new_atlanticist/islamist-threat-africas-rise-20123 January 2012By J. Peter Pham

The biggest story out of Africa last year did not occupy the headlines the way dramaticrevolutions in the Maghreb, civil strife in West Africa, the independence of South Sudan,famine in the Horn of Africa, piracy off the Somali coast, fraud-ridden elections in theironically-named Democratic Republic of the Congo, and various other developmentseach did in turn. Rather, as The Economist noted last month: Over the past decade six ofthe worlds ten fastest-growing [economies] were African. In eight of the past ten years,Africa has grown faster than East Asia, including Japan. Even allowing for the knock-oneffect of the northern hemispheres slowdown, the IMF expects Africa to grow by 6percent this year and nearly 6 percent in 2012, about the same as Asia.

Higher prices for commodities were responsible for part of the growth spurt, but otherfactors were also involved, including wise choices made by African leaders and peoplesregarding economic reform, the rule of law, as well as the use of new technologiesallof which encouraged significant investment in their economies. The signs of hope,however, are now threatened by the spread of violent extremism by Islamist groups alongthe Sahel belt across the continent and the increasing links between the militants.

Al-Qaedas franchise in North Africa, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), hasbeen an unintended beneficiary of the fall of Libyas Muammar Gaddafi. Buoyed by theflow of arms and fighters out of Libya, the group has in recent months initiatedskirmishes with government forces in Mauritania, Mali, and Niger. Last week, its fightersboldly attacked a military installation in the Kidal region of northeastern Mali that hadjust been constructed with funds from the European Unions Special Program for Peace


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Security and Development and unveiled at the end of November during EuropeanCommissioner for Development Andris Pielbagss visit to the country. AQIM and a newsplinter group calling itself the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa have alsostruck at the tourism and commercial sectors with a spate of kidnappings of Westerners,including in the last month the abduction of tourists in Timbuktu and an engineer and a

technician at a cement factory near the northern Malian town of Gao.

More ominously, AQIM has also increased its linkages with the Polisario Front whichcontests Moroccos title to its southern provinces. In late October, three aid workersanItalian and two Spaniardswere seized by AQIM militants, aided by Polisariosympathizers, inside a camp administered by the separatists near the Algerian town ofTindouf. The connection comes as no surprise given that the large numbers of idle youngfighters with no prospects in camps presents the terrorist group with a ready pool ofpotential recruits, both for its military operations as well as the criminal activities it isincreasingly involved in.

Meanwhile, further south in Nigeria, the Boko Haram sect has proven to be more andmore of a threat to the security of Africas most populous nation. In testimony at the endof November before the House Homeland Security Committee, I noted that the group, farfrom being destroyed after the bloody repression of its 2009 uprising, had undergone adramatic transformation. The upgrade in its operational capabilities was witnessed by thevehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) attacks it launched against NigeriaPolice Force and United Nations headquarters in Abuja last June and August,respectively.

The extent to which Boko Haram will go to provoke sectarian strife in the country wasunderscored by the more recent assaults it carried out against churches across NigeriasMiddle Belt, beginning with the bombing of a Catholic church in the Abuja suburb ofMadalla as the congregation exited Christmas Mass, leaving more than three dozenpeople dead and scores injured. On Monday, a Boko Haram spokesman issued anultimatum to Christians living in Nigerias traditionally Muslim northern states to leavewithin three days or face further violence.

The group was also responsible for a New Years Eve bombing of a bar adjacent to amilitary cantonment in Abujas Asokoro district, home of the presidential compound andgenerally viewed as one of the capitals most secure areas. This latest attack, like theearlier ones carried out by Boko Haram, seemed to have been designed to show that themilitants can strike anywhere and that they can make the country ungovernable forPresident Goodluck Jonathan just months after he won what I observed at the time wereprobably the most legitimate polls the Nigerian people have had in decades. In response,the government has declared a state of emergency in parts of the country hit by theinsurgency and closed the northeastern borders with Niger, Chad, and Cameroon.

In East Africa, al-Shabaab insurgents in Somalia are probably at their weakest point inyears, thanks not only to their own strategic overreach and the consequences of thefamine (which their policies exacerbated), but also the combined military pressure


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applied by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) force in Mogadishu, theclumsier Kenyan Operation Linda Ncha (Protect the Country) in southern Somalia, andthe Ethiopian seizure over the weekend of Beledweyne, a key transit and trade hub nearthe border. However, as I noted after my trip to the bombed-out Somali capital lastmonth, it is too soon to count al-Shabaab out. In fact, just like it did after the massive

Ethiopian intervention five years ago, the group may well be shifting back to asymmetrictactics like roadside bombings and suicide attacks. Furthermore, the group potentially cantap into a large and restive potential ethnic Somali population, both indigenous andrefugees, within Kenya itself.

Even more worrisome than the threat the various Islamist militant groups in Africa poseindividually is the growing evidence of links between them and what the commander ofthe US Africa Command (AFRICOM) has characterized as a significant threat.Speaking to reporters in Washington in September, General Carter Ham noted thatAQIM, Boko Haram, and al-Shabaab have very explicitly and publicly voiced an intentto target Westerners and the US specifically, adding if left unaddressed, you could have

a network that ranges from East Africa through the center and into the Sahel. AQIMsemir, Abu Musab Abdel Wadoud, a.k.a. Abdelmalek Droukdel, has boasted of weaponsand training provided to Boko Haram, whose leader, Abubakar Shekau, has used theNorth African groups media outlet to proclaim his adhesion to jihadist efforts globally.The man whom Nigerian officials hold responsible for the bombing of the UN building inAbuja, Mamman Nur, had previously been sheltered by al-Shabaab in Somalia. Whilethere last month, I was briefed on two groups of Boko Haram operatives who hadreceived training at camps as recently as three months ago.

Although it is unlikely that any of the current batch of Islamist militants operating acrossthe middle of the continent is remotely capable of presenting an existential threat to anyAfrican states, much less regional powers like Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Kenya, they arefully able to cause a great deal of mischief, especially in the coming months.

Counterinsurgency campaigns are, at the very least, expensive affairs which divertresources from the investments in infrastructure, education, and health which Africasemerging economies need to make if they are position themselves to take advantage ofthe current growth opportunities. In many cases, the understandable reliance bygovernments on security measures to combat the threat posed by violent extremists bringswith it the risk not only of further alienating minorities and other marginalized segmentsof the population, but of undermining, however unintentionally, that the fragileinstitutions of democracy in Africa. Moreover, even if violence can be kept far fromcommercial centers, it will nonetheless have a dampening effect on the confidence ofinvestors for a region whose potential many are just beginning to discover.

J. Peter Pham is director of the Atlantic Councils Michael S. Ansari Africa Center. Photocredit: Reuters Pictures.

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Global terror: Potential flashpoints in 2012 (BBC)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-163992754 January 2012By Frank Gardner

With much of the Middle East in flux, suspicions intensifying over Iran's nuclearambitions, a deepening political crisis in Pakistan, and the escalation of jihadist violencein Nigeria there are plenty of potential flashpoints in the year ahead.

There is a distinction between localised conflicts that are largely contained within bordersand the kind of global, transnational terrorism that produced events such as 9/11, theMadrid bombings and, in the eyes of many, destructive military ventures like the US-ledinvasion of Iraq.

AfghanistanRoadside bombs, like this one in Laghman province, have claimed the lives of many

Afghan civilians2011 was another violent year for Afghanistan, with more than 2,000 civilians killed inthe first 10 months of the year. The drivers for that violence - insurgency, gun battles, airstrikes and criminality - are not about to disappear but the picture is changing. Nato (Isaf)is increasingly positioning itself for the withdrawal of its combat forces by the end of2014, accelerating the training of Afghan security forces in the hopes they will be robustenough to maintain a semblance of national security and keep al-Qaeda out.

The eventual departure of most foreign forces will not necessarily spell the end ofconflict. A worst-case scenario that Nato is working to prevent is that the country revertsto the sort of self-destructive mayhem and warlordism it endured in the early 1990sfollowing the Soviet pullout and that the Taliban re-emerge in the south, bringing al-Qaeda with them.

PakistanLogically, an eventual winding down of the Nato vs Taliban conflict in Afghanistanought to take some of the steam out of Pakistan's own simmering insurgency. ButPakistan's problems run deeper than that, with the country beginning the year with a crisisin relations between its weak civilian government and powerful military as well as aprofound mistrust between Washington and Islamabad.

Much has been written in the US media about concerns over the safety of Pakistan'snuclear ballistic arsenal. While these fears may be exaggerated, some militants will belooking to exploit the political chaos and 2012 looks set to be another violent year.Neither the CIA's drone strikes against militants in Pakistan's tribal territories nor al-Qaeda's activities there are likely to stop soon.

Iran and the GulfIranian naval exercises in the Gulf in December and early January have ratcheted upregional tensions


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International concern over Iran's accelerating nuclear programme is now so profound thatIsrael - which feels most threatened by Iran - is having to choose between two deeplyunappealing options: living with a nuclear-armed Iran within missile range or launching apre-emptive strike and starting a war which it may not be able to finish.

Iran has been "wargaming" (planning) for this latter scenario for years and is believed tohave in place a number of retaliatory measures should it ever come under full-scaleattack. These include Hezbollah in Lebanon unleashing a barrage of rockets on Israel,firing its own missiles at US bases in the Gulf, closing the Strait of Hormuz to shippingand activating sleeper cells in Gulf Arab countries to attack infrastructure and fomentunrest. US military officers have so far shown little or no appetite for opening a newtheatre of conflict in Iran.

IraqThe departure of US combat forces last month after nearly nine years has not beenmatched by an end to violence. Al-Qaeda's Iraqi franchise, which many had started to

dismiss as a spent and beaten force, has claimed responsibility for the co-ordinatedbombings across Baghdad in December that killed more than 60 people. If Iraq's Sunniminority continues to feel disenfranchised and discriminated against by the Shia-dominated government of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, then there is a risk that violentextremists may be able to attract more recruits to their ranks.

Yemen

Yemen is currently in slow-motion turmoil. There are clashes almost daily, sometimesbetween democracy protesters and snipers loyal to outgoing President Saleh, sometimesbetween supporters of rival tribal groupings, sometimes between the army and Islamistmilitants in the southern province of Abyan. Yemen's Gulf neighbours, as well as the UKand US, are concerned that with all its problems coupled with economic collapse, Yemendoes not become a failed state. 2012 will be critical in determining whether the countrycan get itself out of its current impasse.

SomaliaThere have been fears, so far unfounded, of an institutional linkup between Somalia'sjihadist group, al-Shabab, and its prolific maritime pirates. There is limited co-existence,mainly for financial gain, but no sign yet that Somali pirates would be willing to handover captured sailors to al-Shabab. Of more concern to the authorities in Britain is thesmall trickle of British volunteers heading to Somalia intent on volunteering for jihad.Their worry is that sooner or later some will be tempted - as others have in Pakistan - toreturn to attack Britain instead of fighting and dying in a distant country.

North AfricaMuch of the Libyan capital is still under the control of different militiasThe upheavals across Tunisia, Libya and Egypt prompted by the Arab Awakening havebeen followed by only limited outbreaks of violence but certainly in Libya and Egypt,there is a risk that more could follow.


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In Libya, it has been proving hard to persuade armed militias to surrender their guns, andthere is a real worry that weapons looted from Gaddafi's arsenals have leaked across thesouthern borders into the hands of militants in Mali and elsewhere. Of greatest concern isthe risk of shoulder-launched missiles falling into terrorist hands and there has been a

major drive to try to locate them.

Al-Qaeda's franchise in the Sahara, known as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqim) iscurrently holding 12 Europeans for ransom and Western governments have warned theircitizens to avoid large parts of the Sahara region for fear of kidnap.

NigeriaLast year, attacks by the group Boko Haram - which means "Western education isforbidden" - killed more than 450 people, including at the UN headquarters in Abuja, aradical departure from its previous targets of police, judges and other local figures. Inmid-2011, the US general commanding the Pentagon's Africa Command (Africom)

warned there may be growing links between Boko Haram and Aqim. Britain's domesticintelligence agency, MI5, is believed to be on the lookout for any signs of Boko Haramconnections amongst Britain's sizable Nigerian community.

The OlympicsBritain's hosting of the Olympics this summer will, we are told, see "the biggest securityoperation in this country since the Second World War". Some 13,500 military personnelwill be on duty, a Royal Navy helicopter-carrying warship will be docked near the venue,ground-to-air missiles will be deployed and RAF Typhoon fighters will be on standby toprovide air defence. None of which should be needed, if all goes to plan. But theOlympics are classed as a "trophy target" for anyone looking to damage Britain andsecurity preparations are being made on the basis of the national terrorist threat being at"severe", the second highest level in a table of five.

CyberComputers belonging to government institutions, commercial organisations and privateindividuals are coming under constant cyber attack, according to GCHQ, thegovernment's secret communications HQ in Cheltenham. Attacks range from commercialespionage to stealing credit card details to trying to hack into military secrets. To head offthe possibility of a catastrophic cyber attack on Britain's infrastructure, the government isinvesting heavily in protective measures, fighting what it calls "a constant arms race incyber space".

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Zuma meets Libyan envoy seeking help rebuilding (AFP)

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hljlODBHjTT0vUyMCCrucA01Xpsg?docId=CNG.7c9ce1de01016033f09da0a23010ea52.7a13 January 2012


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PRETORIA South African President Jacob Zuma met Tuesday with an envoy fromLibya's National Transitional Council seeking help from Pretoria in rebuilding after theuprising that ousted Moamer Kadhafi.

The presidency said in a statement that the envoy, Yousif Ibrahim Sherif, conveyed a

message from NTC chairman Mustafa Abdul Jalil with a "request for South Africa'sassistance in the reconstruction and development of Libya in light of South Africa'sexperience in peace making and democracy".

"The meeting acknowledged the need for the strengthening of political and economicrelations between the two countries, and the need to work under the auspices of theAfrican Union in addressing challenges in Libya," it said.

Zuma also accepted an invitation to visit Libya, though no date was set, it added.

Zuma has vocally criticised the NATO campaign that helped rebels oust Kadhafi, saying

last month that the conflict caused a "scar that will take many years to heal for Africa".He had spearheaded efforts by the African Union to mediate in the conflict, andcomplained that the continent's moves were sidelined by the NATO bombings.

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Armed groups clash in Libyan capital (Al Jazeera)


At least two people have been killed and six others injured in the Libyan capital after twogroups of armed men clashed over a dispute centred on the imprisonment of a member ofone of the groups.

Witnesses on Tuesday told Al Jazeera a group of fighters from Misrata had clashed withmembers of another group in Tripoli who had taken one of their members prisoner.

The fighting occurred on Saeedi Street, near the site of the old interior ministry building,Al Jazeera's Imran Khan reported from Tripoli.

"Apparently what's happened is that one of the brigades from Misrata had a member oftheirs arrested. They went in to then get that member out from the old ministry of theinterior building, and that's when the clashes broke out," our reporter said.

According to the Associated Press, the man was being held on suspicion of robbery.

Witnesses said members of the Tripoli militia arrested six Misrata men, brought theminside the council building, beat them up and detained them. The Tripoli council isaffiliated with the National Transitional Council (NTC).


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A top Misrata commander managed to mediate the release of all the men except for theone arrested for robbery and a second attempt to free the man by opening fire on abuilding was made by another group of Misrata fighters.

Fighting for control

The Libyan defence and interior ministries said that reinforcements were being sent to thearea of the violence to try and control the situation.

"The big fear that most Libyans have here is about security. They're very worried aboutthese groups being out on the street with guns, and they're very worried that incidents canquickly escalate. And that's what we're seeing here today," our correspondent said.

"It's very difficult for the ruling NTC and the interim government to try and control thebrigades that are out on the streets, because they're simply entrenched in their positionsand they have no choice. You have to realise that if you want security in this country and

... you don't have a fully functioning police force ... then you rely on these armedbrigades."

Click here for more of Al Jazeera's special coverageDisparate groups of former revolutionary fighters have clashed repeatedly since the endof the eight-month civil war that toppled Muammar Gaddafi's government in October.

Disbandment of these armed groups, which are divided by the regions where the operate,has posed a challenge to Libyan authorities.

While playing a vital role in overseeing security of key state institutions in the capital, theuncontrolled ownership of weapons and the absence of a central security administrationhas given the militias a free hand in ruling areas under their control.

Also on Tuesday, Mustaf Abdul Jalil, the NTC chair, appointed Yousef al-Manqoush ashead of the armed forces in the first significant move to build a new Libyan military.

"A decision was issued today by the National Transitional Council to appoint Mr Yousefal-Manqoush chief of staff," the official told the Reuters news agency.

Manqoush is reportedly a retired army general who joined efforts to oust Gaddafi fromhis 42-year rule.

###

Libyan assurances sought over extradition (Al Jazeera)


Tunisia has said it will extradite Libya's former prime minister, Al-Baghdadi Ali al-


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Mahmoudi, to Tripoli to face charges of abuse of office if Libya guarantees him a fairtrial.

Al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi, wanted on charges of abuse of office, fled across theborder to Tunisia soon after Muammar Gaddafi's government collapsed in August.

"We will demand all guarantees for a fair trial and that there will be no physical harm" toMahmoudi, Moncef Marzouki, the Tunisian president, said in the Libyan capital, Tripoli,on Monday when asked when Tunisia will hand over al-Mahmoudi.

Marzouki, who is on his first state visit abroad since being sworn in as head of state inmid-December, said: "We have our values that we stand for. So we ask for yourpatience."

Mahmoudi, 70, is currently incarcerated in Mornaguia, near the Tunisian capital, Tunis.Amnesty International, the UK-based human-rights organisation, has urged Tunisia not to

extradite him, saying he risks being subjected to "serious human rights violations".

Mahmoudi's defence team says that he fears for his life if he is returns to Libya as he isthe sole holder of Libyan state secrets since Gaddafi was killed on October 20.

First state visit

Marzouki told a meeting of civil-society groups in Tripoli that Libya had the right tojudge Mahmoudi.

"As is our right to demand the extradition of [deposed President Zine El Abidine] Ben Alito try him for crimes he committed, you also have the right to ask for the extradition ofMahmoudi," Marzouki said in a joint press conference with Mustafa Abdel Jalil, theLibyan leader.

Tunisian courts have twice approved the Libyan request to extradite Mahmoudi, but hisextradition can only takes place if Marzouki approves it.

Mahmoudi was arrested on September 21 on Tunisia's southwestern border with Algeriaand jailed for entering the country illegally.

According to his defence team, his extradition is not possible until the UN refugeeagency rules on his application for political refugee status in Tunisia.

He had given televised briefings during the Libyan revolution defending Gaddafi andaccusing NATO of deliberately killing civilians.

Ben Ali was toppled last January in a popular uprising. His overthrow triggered the ArabSpring movement which has led to the fall of the long-time Egyptian leader, HosniMubarak, and the killing of Gaddafi, while also paving the way for the removal of


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Abdullah Saleh, the Yemeni president.

Purpose of visit

Marzouki said the purpose of his visit was to ensure that Tunisian-Libyan co-operation

was on track.

He said the two countries had agreed to respect agreements signed under the governmentsof Gaddafi and Ben Ali.

For his part, Abdel Jalil, who heads Libya's ruling National Transitional Council,apologised for skirmishes along the border with Tunisia, saying they were the result ofactions by individuals.

Tunisian paramilitary police clashed overnight with a Libyan armed group, the TAP newsagency said on Monday.

And on Saturday, a dozen armed Libyans kidnapped four Tunisian gendarmes at theborder.

###

South Sudan violence: Armed youths return home, says UN (BBC)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-164030833 January 2012

Thousands of youths from a South Sudanese ethnic group which attacked a rivalcommunity, reportedly killing at least 150 people, have been repelled by governmenttroops, the UN says.

The UN's humanitarian co-ordinator in the region, Lise Grande, says 6,000 members ofthe Lou Nuer ethnic group have left the besieged town of Pibor.

The clashes took place between the Lou Nuer and their rivals, the Murle.

The fighting follows long-running disputes over cattle raids.

As well as those killed, tens of thousands have been displaced in the violence, accordingto the South Sudan government.

"Pibor is under the full control of the government, and the Lou Nuer have been ordered toreturn to their homes, and they are starting to do so," Information Minister BarnabaMarial Benjamin said.

Ms Grande said a decisive event took place on Monday: government troops backed byUN forces repelled an attack on Pibor in Jonglei state by the Lou Nuer ethnic group;


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shortly after that, she said, the Lou Nuer began to leave the area.

The Lou Nuer had launched an offensive on their rivals from the Murle ethnic group lastweek, accusing them of stealing cattle.

Ms Grande said damage to Pibor was limited.

However, she said the humanitarian situation for the tens of thousands of people who fledthe violence was grim, with the UN and other agencies now organising an emergencyprogramme to help them.

Ms Grande said the government was beginning to deploy 3,000 extra soldiers and 800police officers to the area.

She also said the Lou Nuer took a lot of cattle with them.

Last August, it was the Murle who attacked them and raided their herds.

Cattle vendettas are common in South Sudan, as are other ethnic and tribal clashes: theUN says some 350,000 people were displaced because of intercommunal violence lastyear, says the BBC's Barbara Plett at the United Nations.

This presents a major challenge to the government of the newly independent state, whichalso faces cross-border tensions with its northern neighbour Sudan.

The clashes began as cattle raids, but have spiralled out of control.

Town burntSouth Sudan is one of the world's poorest regions - it gained independence from Sudan inJuly 2011 and has hardly any roads, railways, schools or clinics following two decades ofconflict, which have left it awash with weapons.

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir had called on the Lou Nuer to stop their advance andreturn to their traditional areas.

The Lou Nuer fighters arrived in Pibor on Saturday after marching through Jonglei statein recent weeks, setting fire to homes and seizing livestock.

The entire town of Lukangol was burnt to the ground last week. About 20,000 civiliansmanaged to flee before the attack, but dozens were killed on both sides.

The governor of Jonglei state and the vice-president of South Sudan have been trying tomediate between the rival ethnic groups.

###


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Moroccan king names Islamist-led cabinet (Reuters)

http://www.france24.com/en/20120103-morocco-rabat-king-mohammed-6-new-government-abdelilah-benkirane3 January 2012

Moroccan King Mohammed VI named a new power-sharing cabinet on Tuesday, whichwill be headed by moderate Islamist Abdelilah Benkirane, whose party won 27 percent ofparliamentary seats in the November 25 legislative election.

King Mohammed on Tuesday awarded cabinet posts to moderate Islamists for the firsttime on Tuesday, giving the foreign, justice and social affairs ministries to the party thatcame first in a November election, the official MAP news agency said.

Abdelilah Benkirane, leader of the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD), wasearlier designated by the king as prime minister to head a power-sharing cabinet after hisparty won 27 percent of parliamentary seats in the election.

The king brought forward the election by nearly a year in an effort to pre-empt a popularrevolt similar to ones that have rocked the Arab world, toppling four longtime rulingautocrats.

King Mohammed hopes fresh faces at the top of government, and at least the appearanceof change, will deflate popular pressure for a more revolutionary transformation inspiredby the Arab uprisings.

Benkirane has forged an alliance with two conservative parties close to the monarchyIstiqlal (Independence), which came second, and the Popular Movementas well as thesmaller left-wing Progress and Socialism Party.

Istiqlal member Nizar Baraka was named Finance and Economy Minister, replacingSalaheddine Mezouar whose party, the National Rally of Independents, opted to go intoopposition.

PJD member Mohamed Najib Boulif, who has initially been strongly touted for Barakasrole, was named minister in charge of general affairs and governance, putting him incharge of thorny issues such as reforming the burdensome subsidies system.

Mustafa Ramid, a prominent lawyer and human right activist from PJD who has oftenbeen critical of the security services record, was named Minister of Justice and PublicFreedoms.

Bassima Hakkaoui of the PJD took over the social and womens affairs ministry as theonly woman in the 31-member cabinet.

Saad-Eddine El-Othmani, another PJD member, was appointed foreign minister whilePopular Movement leader Mohand Laenser was appointed interior minister.


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A reform programme presented by the palace aims to reduce the kings sweeping powersin favour of elected officials in response to protests pressing mainly for a British orSpanish-style constitutional monarchy, an independent judiciary and improved curbs oncorruption.

The reforms won overwhelming support in a July 1 referendum but protests havecontinued. The new charter subjects any government appointment to the kings approval.

The new charter was widely expected to limit interference by the royal court inappointments of personnel in justice, religious affairs, interior, defence, foreign affairsand the general secretariat, a legal adviser to the government.

Non-party figures close to the king were named in charge of defence, the generalsecretariat, religious affairs and the agriculture and fisheries ministry.

###

Music Star Youssou N'dour to Take On President in Elections (Daily Nation,

Nairobi)

http://allafrica.com/stories/201201032448.html3 January 2012

Dakar World-renowned singer Youssou N'Dour stirred up the battle for Senegal'spresidency today by announcing he plans to take on veteran incumbent Abdoulaye Wadein February elections.

Revered in his home country as a music icon, it remains to be seen whether Mr N'Dourcan turn listeners into voters in a politically savvy country with well established partiesand leaders, including a vibrant opposition.

"Youssou N'Dour has the capacity to reach sections of the population, particularly amongurban youth that some other politicians might not be able to reach," said Paul Melly ofthe London-based Chatham House Africa programme.

"But his ability to translate that into an effective political campaign is of courseuntested."

On the streets of the bustling capital Dakar, some say they were surprised by Mr N'Dour'sannouncement Monday night, many applaud him for throwing his hat into the ring, butmost feel his bid is too late to make a difference this year.

"He is not a head of state, he is an artist," said a security guard in downtown Dakar,asking not to be named.

However he conceded some might vote for him to avoid the re-election of Wade and


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"violation of the constitution" he is accused of in seeking a third term in office.

Youssou N'Dour, left, with Sudanese mobile phone pioneer Mo Ibrahim."It is a novelty," says insurance salesman Djibril Diop. "But let's keep our feet on theground. In the past Senegal has known its leaders as intellectuals. It is good to try but he

belongs to the future. Time will tell for him."

In a country whose first post-independence president Leopold Sedar Senghor was aleading poet and academic, N'Dour recognised that his lack of higher education was ashortfall.

But in declaring his "supreme patriotic duty" on his privately-owned television stationMonday night, Senegal's most famous export said he had heaps of experience to bringhome.

"I have studied at the school of the world. Travel teaches as much as books."

N'Dour has emerged as an outspoken critic of Wade, whose bid for a controversial thirdterm in office has opposition and civil society groups fuming, and tensions have led toviolent clashes in recent months.

"I have listened, I have heard, and I am responding favourably," N'Dour said, referring tonumerous requests that he throw his hat into the political ring.

Clashes between the ruling party and opposition at the end of December left one persondead and three injured, pointing to heightened tensions in the run-up to the poll.

Mr N'Dour, 52, announced at a concert in November that he had put performing on holdand formed his own political movement, Fekke ma ci bolle ("I am involved" in the Woloflanguage).

Hailed as one of the world's greatest living singers, N'Dour has achieved hugeinternational success with his mixture of Senegal's popular Mbalax music style withsamba, hip-hop, jazz and soul.

He was born in October 1959 in Dakar's populous Medina suburb to a modest family andis an icon in his home country.

In his declaration, N'Dour said his campaign would include initiatives for peace in thetroubled southern Casamance region, good governance, as well as agricultural and socialdevelopment projects.

Wade was first elected president in 2000 for a seven-year term, and re-elected in 2007 forfive years after a constitutional reform shortened presidential terms.

In 2008, the seven-year term was re-introduced, raising confusion over whether Wade


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had exhausted his two-term limit. The opposition says yes, he says no, and theconstitutional court will rule on the issue later this month.

Some 20 candidates will be taking part in the election.

Meanwhile, France has expressed 'grave concern' over politically motivated violence inSenegal ahead of next month's presidential polls and urged President Wade toimmediately stem the tide.

"President Wade should do all within his powers to immediately forestall a recrudescenceof violence in Senegal as we contemplate on urging our citizens to avoid travellingthere," a French government spokesman said.

Reacting further on the political situation in Senegal, the local media quoted Mr BernardValero as saying that his government was even considering to issue a new securitywarning to its citizens residing in Senegal.

In Mr Valero's comments on the Foreign Ministry website (www.ambafrance-sn.org), hesaid "we will continue to closely monitor the situation and have already noted theincidents of shootings culminating in the death of young lad".

It can be recalled that several violent confrontations have occurred between the civilsociety-backed opposition and riot police which threw tear gas at demonstrators whoblocked streets and burned tires in Dakar last week.

###

Africa's Strategic Interest in the 21st Century. What is it? (Modern Ghana)

http://www.modernghana.com/news/369763/1/africas-strategic-interest-in-the-21st-century-wha.html3 January 2012

By Lord Aikins Adusei

There are many strategic thinkers who believe that Africa's underdog position in theworld stems from the fact majority if not all the countries do not pursue policies that putthe interest of their countries and people first. That is each of the countries in Africa doesnot work for the interest of its people by putting the interest of the nation and its peopleahead of all other interests. There is a consensus among policymakers that if each Africancountry should work for its own interest while coordinating with other countries in thecontinent on issues such as free trade, energy and human security, and political stabilityamong others there will be more successful economies in Africa than we have seen overthe past 50 years. The lack of 'Africa first' as both an ideology and as a strategy has beenone major factor that has delayed the continent's development.

Every country in the world works for the interest of its people. US, China, Russia,


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Britain, Germany, Korea all work to develop their economies for their citizens to benefitand these countries do not care what means they use to achieve those interests. But herein Africa governments sell resources and don't account to the people. Politicians onlycampaign for votes but not for development. There is complete lack of policies thatarticulate the concerns and interests of the countries and their citizens. In the 1980s and

1990s many national assets were sold under Structural Adjustment Program to foreignentities without considering the interest of the countries and their citizens. Today thereare countries in Africa where multinational corporations have major shares in mining, oil,and timber, firms while the nations and their peoples who own the natural resources getvery little.

Africans are quick to sell raw materials to countries in Europe, North America and Asiawithout asking what they could do with those natural resources themselves. It looks as ifAfrican governments do not have any specific interest in the world. They have notprojected themselves as nations that matter in any sectors of the world affairs. It is notthat these countries do not know what they must do; the problem is that the leaders have

often tended to serve the interest of other nations rather than their own.

The governments always give their support to countries trying to get a platform in theworld and seeking their interest in Africa and some have done so even to the detriment oftheir own countries. One clear example is the announcement by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf,Nobel Peace Prize Winner and President of Liberia that her country is willing to hostAFRICOM even though she has not consulted her people or the countries in the WestAfrican sub-region. In her article published by allAfrica.com titled AFRICOM Can HelpGovernments Willing To Help Themselves, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf horned AFRICOM asa Marshall plan for Africa's development and encouraged African nations to 'work withAfricom to achieve their own development and security goals'. This attitude is part of thereason why nations like Liberia and Nigeria have not developed. There is no collectivenational interest, neither is there any effort to do so rather they tend to support otherswhose interest is to exploit the continent to benefit their citizens.

The Guardian newspaper in Nigeria quoted Sanusi Lamido, the Governor of CentralBank of Nigeria as saying: As an economist, I have done and looked at the input andoutput content of the Nigerian economy, and I have never seen an economy with a kindof black hole like that of Nigeria. We produced cotton, yet our textile plants are notworking; we produce crude oil, we import petroleum products; we produce gas andexport, yet we don't have power plant. We have iron ore, we don't have steel plant; andwe have hide and skin, we don't have leader products.

There is a black hole in Nigeria and other African countries' economy because fordecades the leadership in these countries have deferred their countries' interest to entitiessuch as multinational corporations and foreign governments as is in the case of EllenJohnson Sirleaf.

In 2009, US, China, Russia, France, Britain, Iran, and Israel all sent presidents, primeministers, foreign ministers and other powerful government officials to Africa to pursue


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their interests. United States has been urged by the Institute for Advanced Strategic &Political Studies and Africa Oil Policy Initiative Group to declare the Gulf of Guinea astrategic interest and US under AFRICOM is seriously lobbying African governments toallow her to establish military bases so as to achieve her strategic goals.

A declassified document of the US Defence Department regarding the strategicimportance of West Africa states that: 'West Africa is a swing production region thatallows oil companies to leverage production capabilities to meet the fluctuating worlddemands.. . .West African oil is of high quality, is easily accessed offshore, and is wellpositioned to supply the North American market. Production in two major oil producingstates (Nigeria and Angola) is expected to double or triple in the next 5-10 years. AlreadyNigeria and Angola provide as much oil to the U.S. as Venezuela or Mexico, making it ofstrategic importance.

Walter Kansteiner, the US assistant secretary of State for Africa speaking about whatAfrica oil means to his country said: African oil is of national strategic interest to us,

and it will increase and become more important as we go forward.

The United States is not hiding her strategic ambition in Africa, however, I am yet to seeNigeria or Ghana or Senegal, Angola, and Namibia saying wait a minute what is ourstrategic interest in the Gulf of Guinea, how do we want to see the oil wealth in the Gulfof Guinea exploited and utilised to benefit our peoples and how do we contain the powersthat are seeking to exploit the region's vast mineral wealth.

How do we coordinate to ensure that our peoples get the lion share from the oil deals; orhow do we work together to strengthen security and prevent terrorists from gettingfoothold in West Africa? Such issues as the economy, energy security, political stabilityand infrastructure do not appear on the radars of the countries in Africa. There are fewrole model countries in Africa where the rest can learn from. The kind of competition thatwe saw in Asia that led to the industrialisation of countries like Korea, Malaysia,Singapore, which has given them a sense of national pride has not occurred in Africa. Iam yet to see the foreign policy of Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, DRC,Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Kenya that put the interest of their people first. To me itlooks as if each of these countries does not have interest that has to be articulated throughtheir foreign policies.

Nations around the world are launching satellites to strengthen their economies, boosttheir communication capabilities and to police their countries, others are building a newgeneration of technologies to help propel and give their nations good footing in theincreasingly competitive global economy. You don't see such aggressive efforts in Africa.Nigeria is sleeping, Angola is still reeling from decades of war, DRC lacks a strongcentral government to formulate and implement any policy at all. The end result is that avacuum has been created which is being filled strategically by the United States as in thecase of her military base Djibouti.

The lack of strategic interest on the part of African nations means that they will have to


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rely on countries like US, Britain, France, and China for their security and economicneeds, but for how long? How will they win the fight against poverty, hunger, diseasesand illiteracy if they do not champion their own interest and how are they expected to betaken serious if they continue to champion the strategic interest of others rather than theirown?

###

Rebels Drop Call for Secession (Daily Nation, Nairobi)

http://allafrica.com/stories/201201032443.html3 January 2012Addis Ababa Ethiopia's oldest armed rebel group, Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) hasannounced the end of its long held agenda of secession.

The group has said it will now fight for unity and freedom.

Political commentators say this is a remarkable move in Ethiopian politics and canpotentially reduce opposition against Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's government.

OLF was established in late 1960's and was recently designated as a terrorist organisationby Ethiopian government along with Al-Shabaab and Al-Qaeda.

"The new OLF political programme will accept the new federal democratic republic ofEthiopia that will work for the betterment of all of its citizens, neighbouring countriesand international communities," a statement released by the OLF National council reads.

"The OLF National Council also focused on the timely demand of working with otherdemocratic forces in forming the new Ethiopia that will guarantee and protect thefundamental rights of all peoples in Ethiopia" statement added.###

END REPORT

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