AFRICOM Related Newsclips 27Dec10 (2)

8/8/2019 AFRICOM Related Newsclips 27Dec10 (2)

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United States Africa CommandPublic Affairs Office27 December 2010

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

Radical Muslim sect again stalks northern Nigeria (AP News wire)(Maiduguri), Nigeria (AP) -- In the dusty streets of northeastern Nigeria, far from the

battlegrounds of Afghanistan, a group known as the Nigerian Taliban is waging war against agovernment it refuses to recognize.

A ngola denies sending mercenaries to Ivory Coast (AFP)(Luanda) Angola denied on Sunday that mercenaries from the country were operating in IvoryCoast, following reports that defiant strongman Laurent Gbagbo's camp had recruited hired gunsfrom Angola and Liberia.

B iden reminds Sudan U.S. sees on-time vote as vital (Reuters)(Sudan) Vice President Joe Biden stepped up pressure on Sudan on Friday ahead of itsreferendum for southern independence that the United States says must be held inpeace and on time.

U.S. Army Africa commander meets Algerian military, government leaders (US ArmyAfrica)(Algeria) U.S. Army Africas commanding general met with Algerian military andgovernment leaders in Algiers Dec. 5-7. Maj. Gen. David R. Hogg discussed bilateralrelations and regional issues, toured the Algerian Central Military Museum and metwith reporters for a free-ranging press conference before returning to USARAFheadquarters in Vicenza, Italy.

Wikileaks - Continent Offers Easy Uranium (IPS)(Pan Africa) Wikileaks cables have revealed a disturbing development in the Africanuranium mining industry: abysmal safety and security standards in the mines, nuclearresearch centres, and border customs are enabling international companies to exploitthe mines and smuggle dangerous radioactive material across continents.

U.S. human rights official, others condemn post-election violence in Ivory Coast (Washington Post)


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(Ivory Coast) A top U.S. official said Thursday that as many as 200 people have died inpost-election violence in Ivory Coast as followers of the incumbent leader, LaurentGbagbo, stepped up a campaign of violence and intimidation to help him cling topower.

U.N.: 14,000 flee Ivory Coast amid civil war fears (Associated Press)(Ivory Coast) At least 14,000 people have fled the violence and political chaos in IvoryCoast, some walking for up to four days with little food to reach neighboring Liberia,the U.N. refugee agency said.

World B ank Freezes Loans to Ivory Coast (Associated Press)(Ivory Coast) U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday said that peacekeeperswill face a critical situation in the coming days unless Mr. Gbagbo removes a blockadearound his opponent's headquarters. Hundreds of U.N. troops are protecting the hotelwhere Mr. Ouattara is based, but they are encircled by forces loyal to Mr. Gbagbo.

Why foreign forces are unlikely to intervene in Ivory Coast (Christian ScienceMonitor)(Ivory Coast) As Ivory Coast's political crisis threatens to pull the West African nationback into civil war, both of the men claiming to be president after the Nov. 28 vote arebattening down the hatches. And foreigners are getting out of the way.

DR Congo Decries Loss of Favored US Trade Status (Voice of America)(Democratic Republic of Congo) The Democratic Republic of Congo is criticizing theloss of its status as a favored U.S. trading partner. An order from President Barack

Obama Tuesday stripped the DRC of its status as a beneficiary of the African Growthand Opportunity Act.

Religious Clashes Flare In Central Nigeria (Reuters)(Nigeria) Clashes broke out between armed Christian and Muslim groups near thecentral Nigerian city of Jos on Sunday, a Reuters witness said, after Christmas Evebombings in the region killed more than 30 people.

Al Shabaab Calls Al Qaeda for Aid (Shabelle Media Network)(Somalia) Somalia's Al Shabaab, which US alleges to be Al Qaeda's proxy in Somalia,on Thursday demanded support and aid from Al Qaeda organization.

China deepens trade ties with Kenya (Business Daily)(Kenya) Chinese exports to Kenya grew steadily in the first nine months of the year atthe expense of the US and India, reflecting the shift in trade ties behind Americas risingconcern over Chinas growing power in East Africas largest economy as recentlyrevealed in leaked diplomatic cables.


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African Farmers Displaced as Investors Move In (New York Times)(Pan Africa) Across Africa and the developing world, a new global land rush isgobbling up large expanses of arable land. Despite their ageless traditions, stunnedvillagers are discovering that African governments typically own their land and havebeen leasing it, often at bargain prices, to private investors and foreign governments fordecades to come.

UN News Service Africa B riefs Full Articles on UN Website

y UN chief appalled by deadly violence in Nigeriay Hum anitarian needs growing as m ore Ivorians flee into Liberia, warns UN

agencyy UN-African m ission voices concern over ongoing Darf u r clashesy UN hopes for peacef u l sol u tion to Ivorian crisis, stresses peacekeeping chief y C te dIvoire: UN Hum an Rights C ou ncil strongly conde m ns post-electoral

ab u ses-------------------------------------------------------------------------UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, January 6, 2011; Brookings InstitutionWHAT: Waging Peace in Sudan: The Inside Story of the Comprehensive PeaceAgreement and the Prospects for Sudans FutureWHO: Hilde F. Johnson, author and former Minister of International Development ofNorway; Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ); Gayle Smith, National Security Council seniordirector for development and democracy; Brookings Nonresident Senior Fellow Rich

WilliamsonInfo:https://www.cvent.com/EVENTS/Register/IdentityConfirmation.aspx?e=998af087-00b2-4e56-a2b7-9e9b46877662

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday and Wednesday, February 8-9, 2011; National DefenseIndustrial Association, Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington, DCWHAT: Defense, Diplomacy, and Development: Translating Policy into OperationalCapabilityWHO: Keynote Speakers include ADM Michael Mullen, USN, Chairman, Joint Chiefsof Staff; BG Simon Hutchinson, GBR, Deputy Commander, NATO Special OperationsForces Headquarters; ADM Eric T. Olson, USN, Commander, U.S. Special OperationsCommand; Gen Norton A. Schwartz, USAF, Chief of Staff, U.S. Air ForceInfo: http://www.ndia.org/meetings/1880/Pages/default.aspx ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------FULL ARTICLE TEXT


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Radical Muslim sect again stalks northern Nigeria (AP News wire)

(Maiduguri) Nigeria (AP) -- In the dusty streets of northeastern Nigeria, far from the battlegrounds of Afghanistan, a group known as the Nigerian Taliban is waging war against agovernment it refuses to recognize.

The radical Muslim sect called Boko Haram was thought to be vanquished in 2009, when Nigeria's military crushed its mosque into concrete shards, and its leader was arrested and died in police custody. But now, a year later, Maiduguri and surrounding villages again live in fear of the group, whose members have assassinated police and local leaders and engineered a massive

prison break, officials say.

Western diplomats are concerned that the sect is catching the attention of al-Qaida's north Africa branch. They also worry that Boko Haram represents chaos and disintregation in Nigeria,Africa's most populous nation and one of the top suppliers of crude oil to the United States.

"It is possible that Nigeria could be a future Pakistan," a leaked cable released by the WikiLeakswebsite quotes U.S. Assistant Secretary of African Affairs Johnnie Carson as saying earlier thisyear. "In 25 years, there could be impoverished masses, a wealthy elite and radicalism in thenorth. The question is whether the oil wells will be dry as well."

The cable later adds: "Nigeria is at a critical financial and political threshold and the entire nationcould possibly tip backwards permanently."

Maiduguri sits in the upper northeast reaches of Nigeria, about 1,040 miles (1,675 kilometers)away from the country's commercial capital and seaport of Lagos. There, the sun rises as early as6 a.m., quickly scorching the dusty streets and lands slowly being taken over by the growing

Sahara Desert.

It was here a decade ago where Mohammed Yusuf, a one-time moderate imam, began preachingagainst the practices of Western education in life across Nigeria's Muslim north. Boko Haramwas a constant refrain in the Hausa-language sermons, meaning "Western education is sacrilege."

Yusuf's words came at a time when about a dozen northern states adopted Islamic Shariah law, inthe wake of the country becoming a democracy after decades of military dictatorships. Many

believed the law, a code of conduct based on the teachings of the Quran, would end thecorruption that gripped the country's government.

However, the Shariah courts remained under the control of secular state governments, which pushed them into roles of directing traffic and stopping beer trucks. Government continued asalways, with politicians driving black luxury Land Rovers, and one trader boasted a mansion

built for about $100 million, complete with a room plated in gold. In the meantime, more than 80 percent of the country's 150 million people lived on less than $2 a day.

"People are living in absolute poverty," said Ibrahim Ahmed Abdullahi, an imam in Maiduguri."Whenever people are living in this type of poverty, if you start saying to them, 'Look, come let


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us bring about change,' ... people must listen to you."

University graduates who joined Boko Haram tore up their diplomas. Others joined riots in 2007attacking police stations. Yusuf's preaching became even more incendiary.

In July 2009, sect members attacked local police stations and government buildings throughoutnortheast Nigeria. The riots brought a crackdown by Nigeria's military and left more than 700dead. Yusuf himself died after he was captured by the military and turned over to police in acountry where so-called "extrajudicial killings" by authorities remain the norm.

An overrun, grassy field is all that remains of Boko Haram's former headquarters, surrounded bythe hulked, rusted remains of motorcycles and cars set ablaze during the group's last stand. Theloudspeaker that once called members to prayers lies on the ground, silent, as paramilitary police

pat down passers-by on motorcycle taxis and take palmed bribes from drivers.

But rumors began this year about the group rearming. A short time later, two-man teams on the

back of the motorcycle taxis that fill Nigeria's streets began attacking police officers, religiousleaders and local officials who had testified against the group in open court.

In September, authorities say, Boko Haram members attacked a federal prison in Bauchi, freeingabout 750 inmates - with more than 100 belonging to the sect. It remains unclear how manymembers the group has in total.

Boko Haram members have amassed around Maiduguri, as well as across Nigeria's border withnearby Cameroon, Chad and Niger, said Borno state police spokesman Lawal Abdullahi. Thegroup's swelling arms supply comes across Lake Chad and the expansive, poorly-patrolled bushthat surrounds the city, Abdullahi said. The ancient trading routes that tied the region to Islam

centuries ago now funnel weapons and foreign fighters to Boko Haram.

The rise of Boko Haram stirred up fears not only in Maiduguri, but also in foreign embassies.

A secret diplomatic cable rounding up potential global threats was sent in June 2009 on behalf of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, according to a copy recently released byWikiLeaks. The cable named Yusuf and identified his group as the "Nigerian Taliban." It warnedthat the group planned to launch a "massive surprise attack ... aimed at sparking sectarian clashesacross Nigeria." The warning came a month before Boko Haram began its riot.

Diplomats also fear that Boko Haram may link with other foreign terror groups. After the 2009

violence, an arrested Boko Haram suspect told journalists he had been sent to Afghanistan tostudy bomb-making. His claim could not be independently verified.

In October, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, the north Africa branch of the terror group,apparently transmitted a Boko Haram message through an Internet forum on behalf of a Yusuf deputy now believed to be running the sect. In the June 2009 cable, the State Department alsosaid a "well-trained veteran Chadian extremist" with "limited ties to al Qaida" had recentlytraveled to Nigeria. The cable said the man possibly came to raise money for a terror attack, but


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had no other information.

It remains unclear what, if any, formal links al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb has made withBoko Haram. The two groups belong to different ethnic groups with different customs. However,the al-Qaida group has paid local tribes in the past to take control of foreign hostages, and

fighters linked to it have executed foreigners before.

History shows Maiduguri sits apart from the rest of the country. Though now a bookend of Nigeria's Muslim north, the region belonged to an ancient empire that stretched east rather thaninto the western Hausa lands. It remains insular even today.

Boko Haram took advantage of that, as well as the region's endemic poverty. The group'smembers likely come from the teeming poor in Nigeria and surrounding countries, said MurrayLast, a professor emeritus of anthropology at the University College of London who studies

Nigeria's north.

"What else would you actually do if you haven't got an education, if you haven't got a job, if youhaven't got any future of a wife or a family?" Last asked. "Wouldn't it be better to join a religiouscommunity that might ensure you of a wife and children and sort of an education? ... A lot of young men have got no real option at all."

Many such young men flooded into northern Nigerian cities during the country's oil boom in the1970s, hoping for jobs. Those coming from villages instead found hardship and alienation thatmade them receptive to any promise to change their lives, Last said.

That brought the north's first modern brush with Islamic extremism. Nigeria's north is dominated by Muslims, while its south is dominated by Christians.

In 1980, the radical Maitatsine movement took hold in the ancient northern city of Kano. Led bya Cameroonian immigrant who inserted his own name into the Quran in place of the prophetMohammed, the sect decried a corrupt federal government made up of "infidels." Riots left 4,000

people dead.

The military finally put down the sect after years of violence, but many still identified with thegroup.

"An awful lot of men and women sympathize with them," Last said. "One is dealing with anunspoken sense of: 'These people are thinking and doing things which may be wrong, but they

aren't that far wrong.'"

Much remains murky about Boko Haram's intentions, and whether all the killings in Maiduguriare due to the group's reemergence. Local officials killed recently often had no previous ties withthe group.

"They all can't be insurgent activity," said Abdullahi, the police spokesman.


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Kaka Abubakar, a local government official, said he fought off gunmen barehanded whomauthorities identified as Boko Haram members. However, when interviewed in front of his homeguarded by three soldiers, he said he had no idea who his assailants were or what they wanted.

He walked quickly away down a quiet alley near his home, all of his neighbors watching. As an

Associated Press reporter pulled out a notebook, a lance corporal guarding Abubakar's houseshouted at him not to take notes.

"Please do not write anything down. Please do not ask questions," the soldier said. "These areinnocent people."

A ngola denies sending mercenaries to Ivory Coast (AFP)

(Luanda) Angola denied on Sunday that mercenaries from the country were operating in IvoryCoast, following reports that defiant strongman Laurent Gbagbo's camp had recruited hired gunsfrom Angola and Liberia.

"The Angolan government vigorously denounces the smear campaign saying that Angolanmercenaries or soldiers have been seen in Ivory Coast," said state news agency Angop.

"The Angolan executive believes these false reports are part of a habitual strategy of foreigninterference in the continent's affairs, aiming to malign its leaders and institutions and further manipulate public opinion to justify the inevitability of a war."

The statement came after the United Nations' top peacekeeper, Alain Le Roy, said last week theUN had confirmed that Gbagbo forces were working with foreign mercenaries in their bid togain the upper hand in the political stand-off between Gbagbo and presidential rival AlassaneOuattara.

Diplomats said the mercenaries appeared to be from Liberia and Angola.

Gbagbo has deployed his security forces to crush protests and blockade the hotel where his presidential rival, Alassane Ouattara, is holed up with supporters.

Ouattara and Gbagbo have been locked in a political stand-off for nearly a month after bothclaimed to have won the November 28 presidential election.

The UN, the United States, the European Union and the African Union have all declaredOuattara the winner, and the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS) has threatened to launch a military intervention if Gbagbo does not step down.

Angola has been one of the few countries to show support for Gbagbo.

When Gbagbo had himself sworn in over international objections on December 4, Angola's wasone of the only ambassadors not to boycott the ceremony. Two days later, Angolan President


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Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who has been in power since 1979, met with a Gbagbo envoy inLuanda.

Angolan Foreign Minister Jorge Chicote said last week the country has a policy of "no externalinterference" in Ivory Coast.

Angop said Sunday that the Dos Santos government wants to see a "peaceful and negotiatedsettlement" to the crisis.

"The Angolan government notes with much apprehension the fact that all the measures takenuntil now by the international community are leading Ivory Coast inevitably to war," it said

B iden reminds Sudan U.S. sees on-time vote as vital (Reuters)

HONOLULU Vice President Joe Biden stepped up pressure on Sudan on Fridayahead of its referendum for southern independence that the United States says must beheld in peace and on time.

In a telephone call to Sudanese Second Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha,Biden also expressed concern about violence leading to the January 9 vote and"underscored our ongoing concern about engagement with armed proxies," the WhiteHouse said in a statement.

Violence has flared before the referendum for the oil-rich south. On Friday oppositionparty officials said they were beaten and tear-gassed by Sudanese authorities on theirway to prayers.

President Barack Obama has repeatedly stressed U.S. commitment to a peaceful vote,

which Washington says is vital to preventing north and south Sudan from slipping backinto conflict.

Biden urged that the poll, which is likely to split Africa's largest state, be held on time,and "encouraged the Sudanese government to be reassuring and responsible in itsmessages and policies toward southerners in the north," the White House said.


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The referendum on independence for south Sudan was promised in a 2005 peace dealthat ended a civil war between the mainly Muslim north and the south, where mostfollow traditional beliefs and Christianity.

A successful referendum could bring a conclusion to one of Africa's most bitterconflicts, which has rumbled on since around the time of Sudan's independence in the1950s.

Obama is currently on a family holiday in Hawaii.------------------U.S. Army Africa commander meets Algerian military, government leaders (US ArmyAfrica)

VICENZA, Italy U.S. Army Africas commanding general met with Algerian militaryand government leaders in Algiers Dec. 5-7.

Maj. Gen. David R. Hogg discussed bilateral relations and regional issues, toured theAlgerian Central Military Museum and met with reporters for a free-ranging pressconference before returning to USARAF headquarters in Vicenza, Italy.

Accompanied by U.S. Ambassador to Algiers, the Hon. David Pearce, and members ofthe American country team, Hogg met with Maj. Gen. Ahcene Tafer, land forcescommander of the Peoples National Army (ANP); Mohamed Kamel Rezag Bara,presidential adviser on counterterrorism; Maj. Gen. Ahmed Senhadji, secretary generalof the Ministry of Defense; and Brig. Gen. Rachid Saoudi, commander of ANP special

forces; said Lt. Col. Philip Archer, U.S. Army Africas North African regional deskofficer.

Hogg took the opportunity to clarify USARAFs missions and dispel erroneousperceptions during a press conference Dec. 6 with Algerian and international media.

This is my first trip to Algeria, and Im here to meet with the leadership of the landforces and to develop a relationship, and to discuss some of the future trainingopportunities that both of our nations can do together, Hogg said.

He mentioned upcoming joint Algerian-American reconnaissance and counter-IEDtraining possibilities, and a future visit by Algerian soldiers to the United States toinvestigate how the Army integrates its lessons learned center into its training regime.

A lot of mutual discussions and a lot of mutual benefits this year, he said.

Hogg went into some detail to explain what U.S. Army Africa is, its place in the overallU.S. military, and the context of its operations in Africa.


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Let me explain a little bit about what U.S. Army Africa does. Its one of theseheadquarters that a lot of people dont know anything about, to include some of thepeople I talk to in the U.S. military, he said.

Hogg clarified that USARAF is an Army component command with its headquarters inVicenza, Italy, and is the land forces component of U.S. Africa Command, led by Gen.William E. Kip Ward, which is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany.

It is strictly a headquarters. That means I have a staff and personnel that doheadquarters-type business. I have no assigned forces, which means I do not havecombat forces assigned to my headquarters, Hogg said.

Our primary mission here on the continent of Africa is what we refer to as theatersecurity cooperation. In other words, we come at the request and the permission of the

sovereign countries here in Africa to train, to work with, to cooperate on a variety ofareas from just basic command-post exercises to doing humanitarian- and disasterrelief-type events the whole realm.

But we come only if a nation says, Hey, wed like to do some work with you, wed liketo partner with the U.S. Army forces.

And the other piece thats very important is that we are in support of the embassies. Sowe do not do anything on our own, unilaterally. We work with the countries and wework with the embassy, and thats really what our mission set is.

Hogg responded in the negative when asked whether USARAF had established or wasin the process of establishing bases in Algeria or the region.

I think the question youre trying to ask is: Do we have any bases here in Algeria? Andthe answer is: No, we dont have any bases here, he said

Hogg responded as well to a number of questions regarding security andcounterterrorism activity in the Sahel region.

As you know, this is a regional issue, where Algerian land forces have taken aleadership role, and its very impressive, the progress thats been made, he said.

He described the current status of counter-terrorism in the Sahel as a work in progress.And with the leadership of the Algerian land forces and the work that theyre doingdown there for coordination, theres progress being made, Hogg said.


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He was asked about whether counter-terrorism training is part of the Algerian-American land forces relationship.

Our support and assistance is based on request from sovereign countries, and itsreally in a training piece, so that kind of flows into your counter-terrorism training, hesaid.

The general was asked whether USARAF, or AFRICOM, is planning to establish aheadquarters on the African continent proper, and took the opportunity to dispel thatlingering notion.

There is no decision, no desire to move the AFRICOM headquarters. I mean, Gen.Wards been pretty clear on that: He wants to get beyond that and just get into themission. As far as my headquarters goes Vicenza, Italy: thats where were at, thatswhere were going to stay.

Which means we do a lot of travel to make the mission happen but thats OK.

So there are no plans now, in the future or in the past to move AFRICOM into thecontinent . . . and thats really where were at at this stage. Were more interested ingetting on with our mission of cooperation and helping with security and stability onthe continent.

The bottom line is: continued engagement and agreement as far as some of the futureactivities that are planned, and the potential for future exercises here in Algeria. And so

its very productive and very enjoyable. Ive enjoyed it and Im looking forward tocoming back.

Hogg returned to Vicenza Dec. 7. The visit strengthened the overall relationshipbetween the Algerian and American land forces, said Archer.

They value the growing partnership with the U.S. military. They are a very modernmilitary and we have much to learn from them, he said.------------------ Wikileaks - Continent Offers Easy Uranium (IPS)

Paris Wikileaks cables have revealed a disturbing development in the Africanuranium mining industry: abysmal safety and security standards in the mines, nuclearresearch centres, and border customs are enabling international companies to exploitthe mines and smuggle dangerous radioactive material across continents.

The Wikileaks cables reveal that U.S. diplomats posted in a number of African countries- the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Tanzania, Niger, and Burundi, among


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others - have had direct knowledge of the poor safety and security standards in thesecountries' uranium and nuclear facilities.

The cables also highlight the involvement of European, Chinese, Indian, and SouthKorean companies in the illegal extraction and smuggling of uranium from Africa. MostEuropean nuclear reactors use uranium imported from African countries.

In one classified document, dated Sep. 8, 2006, the U.S. embassy in the DRC capitalKinshasa reported that several U.S. diplomats and security service personnel toured theKinshasa Nuclear Research Centre (CREN-K) on Jul. 27 that year in order to assess thefacility's security needs.

CREN-K houses the DRC's two nuclear reactors. Neither reactor is currentlyfunctioning, but staff conduct nuclear-related research and teaching at the facility.

Although inactive, CREN-K stores significant amounts of uranium and nuclear waste.This radioactive material includes 138 nuclear fuel rods, at least 15 kg of enriched andnon-enriched uranium, and some 23 kg of nuclear waste.

At CREN-K, "external and internal security is poor, leaving the facility vulnerable totheft," Roger A. Meece, U.S. ambassador to DRC, reported in the 2006 document.

Meece's detailed description of the security measures at CREN-K suggests that securityis not just "poor," but non-existent. According to the report, the fence surroundingCREN-K "is not lit at night, has no razor-wire across the top, and is not monitored by

video surveillance."There are numerous holes in the fence, and large gaps where the fence was missingaltogether," Meece wrote.

"University of Kinshasa students frequently walk through the fence to cut across CREN-K, and subsistence farmers grow manioc on the facility next to the nuclear waste storagebuilding," he added.

In March 2006, an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) contractor using aGeiger counter detected elevated levels of radiation in this manioc plot.

According to the cable, none of CREN-K buildings have sophisticated locks, intrusionalarms, motion detectors, or video surveillance systems.

"Once inside the facility, no one controls the entrance to the nuclear reactor, although akey is required to enter the room," Meece wrote.


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"The fuel rod storage room, where the nine unused fuel rods are stored, was not locked,and the fuel rods are not kept in a separate locked container."

But security gaps in nuclear and radioactive facilities in the DRC go beyond CREN-K.In a separate cable, dated Jul. 11, 2007, Meece reported that several sources "recentlystated that the Malta Forest Company is (illegally) mining and exporting uranium fromthe DRC."

According to the report, the company is "mining the uranified rock while miningcopper and cobalt, then exporting the uranified ore and circumventing radiation testingby using an established system of corrupt government officials."

Meece explained that foreign companies purchase the uranified ore and refine it abroadto separate the uranium, copper, and cobalt.

"In this way, foreign companies purchase uranium from Malta Forest, while MaltaForest appears to be exporting copper and cobalt," he wrote.

In 2006, for example, two Finish companies, Opolo Chemicals and Konkola Chemicals,reportedly told the IAEA that they imported one ton of uranium from the DRC. TheDRC, however, claimed that it did not export any uranium in 2006.

In addition, the cable warns that high levels of radioactivity have been measured innumerous regions of the DRC.

"All of Katanga Province could be said to be somewhat radioactive," Meece reported.Katanga is the country's southernmost province. With an area of 518,000 squarekilometres, Katanga is 16 times larger than Belgium, and holds a population of morethan four million people.

In the cable, Meece refers to research carried out in May 2007 in the Luiswishi mine,located approximately 20 km northwest of Lubumbashi, the region's capital city. Afteranalysing 100 kg of rock samples from the mine, a scientific commission from Kinshasafound "dangerously high levels of radiation existed at Luiswishi mine, and that themine operator ...was suppressing this fact to continue mining operations."

The mine operator is the Mining Company of South Katanga (CMSK), predominantlyowned by the Malta Forest Company.

The cable also refers to several other findings of high radioactivity and corruption inother Congolese uranium mines, operated by Chinese and South Korean companies.These mines are staffed by "artisanal diggers" - a euphemism for local workers


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extracting uranium and other radioactive material without enjoying any healthprotection.

Other U.S. classified cables revealed by Wikileaks report cases of smuggling uraniumand other radioactive material in Tanzania, Burundi, Niger, Portugal, and Georgia.

Meece continues to serve in the DRC, as head of the U.N. mission.------------------U.S. human rights official, others condemn post-election violence in Ivory Coast (Washington Post)

UNITED NATIONS - A top U.S. official said Thursday that as many as 200 people havedied in post-election violence in Ivory Coast as followers of the incumbent leader,Laurent Gbagbo, stepped up a campaign of violence and intimidation to help him clingto power.

Dozens more have been "tortured or mistreated, and others have been snatched fromtheir homes in the middle of the night," said Betty E. King, the U.S. representative to theU.N. Human Rights Council.

"President Alassane Dramane Ouattara is the legitimately elected leader of Coted'Ivoire," she said, speaking at a special session of the rights commission.

The United States, France and key African states have launched an effort to recruitreinforcements for a U.N. peacekeeping force for Ivory Coast, which was divided by a

2002-2003 civil war. They have also sought to bolster the international standing ofOuattara, whose U.N. envoy was recognized by the world body Tuesday.

After a Nov. 28 presidential runoff that was meant to reunite the country, Gbagbo andOuattara both claimed victory. But the electoral commission declared Ouattara thewinner, and worsening violence since then has forced more than 6,000 people to flee toneighboring Liberia for safety.

U.N. officials in New York said they believe that pro-Gbagbo groups have been puttingdistinctive marks on the homes of members of ethnic groups aligned with Ouattara.People in these areas have apparently been erecting barricades to protect theirneighbors.

King called for investigations into reports of "enforced disappearances, targetedkillings, arbitrary detentions and intimidation of those that opposed former presidentGbagbo, as well as the discovery of possibly mass graves."


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She also expressed concern about reports that media controlled by Gbagbo are"broadcasting hate speech fabricating information and calling for violence againstmembers of the international community, members of particular ethnic groups and allIvoirians that oppose former president Gbagbo."

The United States, the United Nations, the European Union, the African Union and abloc of West African states, called ECOWAS, have recognized the electoral commissionresults showing Ouattara as the victor.

African governments, including Nigeria and South Africa, have taken the lead in tryingto persuade Gbagbo to step down, offering the prospects of an exile in South Africa. ButGbagbo has refused to go, telling African mediators that he would only be willing toconsider a power-sharing arrangement in which Ouattara served as his vice president,according to U.N.-based diplomats.

In an attempt to force Gbagbo's hand, the United States and the European Union haveimposed travel sanctions on Gbagbo, his wife, Simone, and more than a dozen of hisclose allies. On Wednesday, World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick, following ameeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said the bank had cut off funding toIvory Coast and shut its office in Abidjan, the largest city.

"The political stalemate has been characterized by the use of excessive force bysupporters of Mr. Laurent Gbagbo," said Kyung-wha Kang, the U.N.'s deputy highcommissioner for human rights. "These acts are ominously reminiscent of the violence

that blighted the country in 2004 and are blatant violations of obligations underinternational law."

"Unfortunately, it has been impossible to investigate all the allegations of serioushuman rights violations, including reports of mass graves, due to restrictions onmovement by U.N. personnel," she said. "Indeed, the special representative of thesecretary general was stopped at gunpoint as he sought to verify such allegations."------------------U.N.: 14,000 flee Ivory Coast amid civil war fears (Associated Press)

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast At least 14,000 people have fled the violence and politicalchaos in Ivory Coast, some walking for up to four days with little food to reachneighboring Liberia, the U.N. refugee agency said. At least one child drowned whiletrying to cross a river.

The U.N. has said at least 173 people have died in violence over the disputedpresidential runoff election held nearly one month ago. The toll is believed to be much


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higher, though, as the U.N. mission has been blocked from investigating other reportsincluding an allegation of a mass grave.

"Food supplies are running short despite efforts by the government and humanitarianagencies to bring in more assistance," the U.N. refugee agency said in a statement lateSaturday. "Our staff report that host community houses are full and congested. In thearea of Butuo, for example, there are homes where seven to 20 family members share asingle room, while others sleep in corridors or on verandas."

West African leaders have threatened a military intervention if the man who the U.N.says lost the election in Ivory Coast does not step down. James Gbeho, president of theregional bloc ECOWAS, said the group was making an "ultimate gesture" to LaurentGbagbo to urge him to make a peaceful exit.

Gbagbo has shown few signs that he plans to go, and his security forces have been

accused of being behind hundreds of arrests, and dozens of cases of disappearance andtorture in recent weeks. A Gbagbo adviser has said he does not believe their supportersare behind the attacks.

Gbeho said the bloc would send in a high-level delegation to meet with Gbagbo, but didnot give details on when the delegation would go to Ivory Coast. ECOWAS also did notstate a deadline for Gbagbo to hand over power to Alassane Ouattara, whose victoryhas been acknowledged by the U.N., U.S., the African Union and the European Union.

The threat of military intervention may add enough pressure to bring about a swifter

resolution, said African security analyst Peter Pham. However, he questioned whether aforce could be brought together quickly enough to have an impact.

"Nigeria - the only real military power in the AU - is unlikely to have the stomach for adrawn-out military escapade on the eve of their own presidential election," said Pham,who is the senior vice president of the National Committee on American Foreign Policyin New York. Nigerian elections are expected in April.

Diplomatic pressure and sanctions have left Gbagbo increasingly isolated, though hehas been able to maintain his rule for nearly a month since the disputed vote because ofthe loyalty of security forces and the country's military.

Even that, though, may disappear if he runs out of money to pay them. Gbagbo's accessto the state funds used to pay soldiers and civil servants has been cut off and onlyOuattara's representatives now have access to the state coffers.


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Senior diplomatic sources, speaking on condition of anonymity because of thesensitivity of the issue, say that Gbagbo only has enough reserves to run the country forthree months.

Gbagbo's spokesman Ahoua Don Mello on Saturday denounced the decision by WestAfrica's economic and monetary union to give Ouattara's government signingprivileges on state accounts. He called the move "illegal and manifestly beyond theircompetence."

The meeting of regional finance ministers that issued the freeze "overstepped its statedprerogatives by interfering in the internal affairs of a member state of the union," Mellosaid.

Gbagbo's government has denied rumors that state salaries wouldn't be paid, and inspite of the financial freeze, civil servants received their paychecks the day before

Christmas Eve.

While Ouattara now has access to government funds, he is struggling to assert hislegitimacy despite widespread international support. Troops loyal to his political rivalcontinue to encircle the hotel where he has taken refuge under the protection of some800 U.N. peacekeepers since the election.

"After these long years of crisis, the Ivorian people deserved to rejoice in our democraticadvancement," Ouattara said in a Christmas Eve address. "But former president LaurentGbagbo has decided to turn a new page of violence and uncertainty, aggravating every

day a little more the suffering of Ivorians."In recent days, the United Nations has expressed alarm about the actions of men whoare believed to be Gbagbo loyalists. The world body reported Thursday that heavilyarmed forces allied with Gbagbo, who were joined by masked men with rocketlaunchers, were preventing people from getting to the village of N'Dotre, where theglobal body said "allegations point to the existence of a mass grave."

The U.N. did not elaborate on the possible victims, though it has expressed concernsabout reports of being abducted from their homes at night. Even the top U.N. envoy inthe country was stopped at gunpoint while trying to look into reports of human rightsabuses, the U.N. deputy human rights commissioner in Geneva said Thursday.

Ivory Coast was once an economic hub because of its role as the world's top cocoaproducer. A 2002-2003 civil war split the country into a rebel-controlled north and aloyalist south. While the country officially reunited in a 2007 peace deal, Ouattaradraws his support from the northern half of the country, where he was born, whileGbagbo's power base is in the south.


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------------------ World B ank Freezes Loans to Ivory Coast (Associated Press)

French government spokesman Francois Baroin told reporters Wednesday that Francerecommends that its citizens who can leave Ivory Coast do so temporarily, citing"undeniable sources of worry" in the country. At least 13,000 French people arecurrently believed to be in Ivory Coast, which maintains close ties to France and wasonce the crown jewel of its former West African colonial empire.

The United Nations' peacekeeping force is in a tense standoff with Laurent Gbagbo, theincumbent who refuses to concede defeat and leave the presidency. The United Nationsand other world leaders recognize Alassane Ouattara as the winner of the Nov. 28runoff vote.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday said that peacekeepers will face a

critical situation in the coming days unless Mr. Gbagbo removes a blockade around hisopponent's headquarters. Hundreds of U.N. troops are protecting the hotel where Mr.Ouattara is based, but they are encircled by forces loyal to Mr. Gbagbo.

Mr. Gbagbo said late Tuesday in a televised speech that he doesn't want "any blood tobe spilled," but maintained he was president of the country. "The internationalcommunity has declared war on Ivory Coast," he said.

Experts say there are few strong options for forcing Mr. Gbagbo out of office as there islittle support for a military intervention. The United States imposed sanctions Tuesday

against Mr. Gbagbo, his wife and about 30 allies, and the EU also has approvedsanctions. Such punitive measures, though, have typically failed to reverse illegalpower grabs in Africa in the past.

Over the weekend, Mr. Gbagbo ordered all U.N. peacekeepers out of the country, butthe U.N. rejected his demands. Masked gunmen opened fire on the U.N. base in thecapital over the weekend, though no one from the global body was harmed in theattack. Two military observers were wounded in another attack. The U.N. also saysarmed men have been intimidating U.N. staff at their private homes.

The U.S. State Department has already ordered most of its personnel to leave because ofwhat officials called a deteriorating security situation and growing anti-Westernsentiment.

The U.N. says more than 50 people have been killed in recent days in Ivory Coast, andthat it has received hundreds of reports of people being abducted from their homes atnight by armed assailants in military uniforms. U.N. High Commissioner for HumanRights Navi Pillay has cited growing evidence of "massive violations of human rights."


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Mr. Gbagbo said late Tuesday that people could leave the Golf Hotel, but Mr. Ouattara'speople say they're still not venturing out for fear of a trap.

The U.N. has said that its supply convoys are still being turned back and that food,water and needed medication aren't getting through. "Any attempt to starve the UnitedNations mission into submission will not be tolerated," Mr. Ban said Tuesday.

He also expressed concern about fighters from neighboring Liberia entering into thegrowing political crisis in Ivory Coast. The U.N. peacekeeping force in Ivory Coast has"confirmed that mercenaries, including freelance former combatants from Liberia, havebeen recruited to target certain groups in the population," he said.

Ivory Coast's 2002-2003 civil war saw the involvement of Liberians fighting on nearly allsides of the conflict. Liberia itself suffered brutal back-to-back civil wars that lasted until

2003, and the two countries share a porous, 370-milelong border. Liberia's president hasurged citizens not to get involved in Ivory Coast's latest political crisis.

Ivory Coast was once an economic hub because of its role as the world's top cocoaproducer. The 2002-2003 civil war split the country into a rebel-controlled north and aloyalist south. While the country officially reunited in a 2007 peace deal, Mr. Ouattarastill draws his support from the northern half of the country where he was born whileMr. Gbagbo's power base is in the south.

Mr. Gbagbo claimed victory in the presidential election only after his allies threw out

half a million ballots from Ouattara strongholds in the north, a move that infuriatedresidents there who have long felt they are treated as foreigners in their own country bysoutherners.------------------ Why foreign forces are unlikely to intervene in Ivory Coast (Christian ScienceMonitor)

Abidjan, Ivory Coast - As Ivory Coast's political crisis threatens to pull the West Africannation back into civil war, both of the men claiming to be president after the Nov. 28vote are battening down the hatches. And foreigners are getting out of the way.

Incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo who maintains effective control of the country,including the military, the borders, and the state media refuses to cede power, even inthe face of near-unanimous world reproach.

Across town in a hotel turned bunker, Alassane Ouattara, the man the United Nationsand dozens of African and Western countries support as the clear winner of last


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month's presidential election, is holed up and looking to shift the balance of power anyway he can.

Mr. Outtara's would-be prime minister, Guillaume Soro, called for civil disobedienceand foreign military intervention as the only ways out of the deadlock. But such callsaren't likely to result in foreign troops enforcing the election result, say analysts.

Although European and North American governments have already announced travelbans on Mr. Gbagbo, his family, and entourage, they are unlikely to take this up to thelevel of military engagement, says Peter Pham, Africa expert and senior vice presidentat the National Committee on American Foreign Policy think tank in New York.Banning Gbagbo from doing his Christmas shopping in Paris isn't a real sanction, hesays.

While the possibility of an African intervention has been floating in diplomatic circles,

this option would be spearheaded by Nigeria, which doesn't want to embark on aforeign military escapade on the eve of their own presidential election, says Mr. Pham.

Foreigners fleeIn the meantime, foreigners are fleeing, concerned that widespread violence couldbreak out any minute.

One after another, foreign governments have called on their citizens to leave. TheUnited States, Canada, France, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, and Portugal have all calledfor a general evacuation.

In 2004, almost 10,000 French citizens were brought back to France by emergencymilitary airlift after anti-French riots broke out.

President-elect lacks hard powerOuattara remains, for the time being, a president with international recognition but noreal power on the ground. This doesn't prevent him from trying, anyway he can, to cutthe legs out from under Gbagbo's administration.

Evoking reports of Liberian and Angolan mercenaries on the payroll of Gbagbo, and thedisappearances of pro-Ouattara activists from their home at night, would-be PrimeMinister Soro called Wednesday for the International Criminal Court to investigateGbagbo for crimes against humanity.

Ouattara's camp is also mobilizing international financial institutions in an effort to cutoff Gbagbo's cash flow.


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The World Bank, African Development Bank, and the Economic Community of WestAfrican States (ECOWAS) have all frozen Gbagbo's accounts, and efforts are still beingpursued to secure the state treasury, which is located in Senegal as part of a centralbank that covers eight west African countries.

Gbagbo warns neighborsBut Gbagbo retains one key element of dissuasion to convince his African neighbors tomind their own affairs, says Pham.

Because Ivory Coast exports electricity to its neighbors, if they decide to act againstGbagbo, he could literally shut their lights off, Pham says.

And should African nations move to enforce the internationally verified election resultsproclaiming Ouattara as the winner, Gbagbo has warned that they could experiencesimilar interference.

Whatever happens to Gbagbo, he said referring to himself, could potentially happento all the African heads of state.------------------DR Congo Decries Loss of Favored US Trade Status (Voice of America)

The Democratic Republic of Congo is criticizing the loss of its status as a favored U.S.trading partner.

An order from President Barack Obama Tuesday stripped the DRC of its status as a

beneficiary of the African Growth and Opportunity Act.The designation gave Congo specific trade advantages to encourage economicdevelopment and reforms.

U.S. officials say the move stemmed from large-scale human rights abuses by theCongolese armed forces, especially rapes.

DRC government spokesman Lambert Mende told reporters in Kinshasa Wednesdaythat the U.S. move was totally unjustified. Mende says his government does not believeCongolese forces are accomplices in atrocities against civilians.

The U.S. and United Nations have accused Congolese forces of mistreating civilians inCongo's volatile northeast.

Numerous rebel and militia groups are active in the region. Repeated efforts by U.N.and Congolese forces to shut down the groups or integrate them into the military havelargely failed.


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The African Growth and Opportunity Act is designed to promote democracy andprosperity in Africa's poorest countries. The act gives the countries greater access to theU.S. market as long as they make democratic advances.------------------Religious Clashes Flare In Central Nigeria (Reuters)

JOS, Nigeria - Clashes broke out between armed Christian and Muslim groups near thecentral Nigerian city of Jos on Sunday, a Reuters witness said, after Christmas Evebombings in the region killed more than 30 people.

Buildings were set ablaze and people were seen running for cover as the police andmilitary arrived on the scene in an effort to disperse crowds. Injured people covered inblood were being dragged by friends and family to hospital.

The unrest was triggered by explosions on Christmas Eve in villages near Jos, capital ofPlateau state, that killed at least 32 people and left 74 critically injured.

The Red Cross said on Saturday it was not in a position to state the total number ofdeaths caused by the explosions but confirmed that 95 were seriously injured inhospital.

Vice President Namadi Sambo will travel to Jos on Sunday.

"The vice president is on his way to Jos to make an effort to quell this crisis," Sambo's

spokesman said.The unrest has come at a difficult time for President Goodluck Jonathan, who is runninga controversial campaign ahead of the ruling party's primaries on January 13.

A ruling party pact says that power within the People's Democratic Party (PDP) shouldrotate between the mostly Muslim north and largely Christian south every two terms.

In Rome, Pope Benedict condemned Christmas Day attacks on two Christian churchesin northeast Nigeria and Italy's foreign ministry said it would summon the Nigerianambassador shortly to express its concern. Italy often backs the Vatican's concern overreligious violence against Catholics and other Christians.

"POLITICAL"

Jonathan is a southerner who inherited office when President Umaru Yar'Adua, anortherner, died during his first term this year and some northern factions in the rulingparty are opposed to his candidacy.


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Jonathan faces a challenge from former Vice President Atiku Abubakar for the rulingparty nomination, and some fear any unrest in Africa's most populous nation will beexploited by rivals during campaigning.

The governor of Plateau state has said the bombings were politically motivatedterrorism, aimed at pitting Christians against Muslims to start another round ofviolence.

Christians, Muslims and animists from a patchwork of ethnic groups live peacefullyside by side in most Nigerian cities.

But hundreds of people died in religious and ethnic clashes at the start of the year in thecentral Middle Belt and there are fears politicians could try to stoke such rivalries as theelections approach.

The tensions are rooted in decades of resentment between indigenous groups, mostlyChristian or animist, who are vying for control of fertile farmlands and for economicand political power with mostly Muslim migrants and settlers from the north.

The African Union (AU) on Saturday released a statement condemning the ChristmasEve bombings and offered its condolences to the families of those who have died.

"(The AU) reaffirms the determination of the African Union to combat terrorism and tocontinue to support the efforts being deployed by Member States in this respect," a

statement from AU chairman Jean Ping said.------------------Al Shabaab Calls Al Qaeda for Aid (Shabelle Media Network)

Mogadishu Somalia's Al Shabaab, which US alleges to be Al Qaeda's proxy inSomalia, on Thursday demanded support and aid from Al Qaeda organization.

Speaking at a ceremony marking the unity of Al Shabaab and the destroyed Islamistgroup of Hizbul Islam in Mogadishu, Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Rage, the spokesman of AlShabaab called on Jihadists in the world to come to Somalia in order to take part whathe called the ongoing jihad in the horn of Africa.

Rage said Hizbul Islam and Al Shabaab merger will make the fighters to redoubleattacks on what he described as Somalia's apostate government and the invadingAfrican Christians.


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Sheikh Abdulfatah Mohammed Ali, former Hizbul Islam's head of information, spokeat the occasion. Ali Said Somali government and African Union peacekeepers havefailed attempts in which they sthey wanted to dislodge Islamists from Mogadishu.

In the past, the group has announced its allegiance to Al Qaeda.

Officials of Hizbul Islam and Al-shabab have officially announced their unity in aceremony held at Nasrudin mosque in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Thursday.

This announcement comes as Al-shabab forces had taken over all military bases andareas under the control of Hizbul Islam in the past few days.------------------China deepens trade ties with Kenya (Business Daily)

Chinese exports to Kenya grew steadily in the first nine months of the year at the

expense of the US and India, reflecting the shift in trade ties behind Americas risingconcern over Chinas growing power in East Africas largest economy as recentlyrevealed in leaked diplomatic cables.

The near tripling of Beijings imports to Kenya compared to those of the US is expectedto heighten discomfort in Washington, where Chinas rising influence in Africa isclosely being monitored.

Chinese companies shipped into Kenya goods worth Sh82 billion by September thisyear, an increase of 52 per cent from the Sh54 billion bought over the corresponding

period last year, according to data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).In contrast, imports from the US declined by almost a fifth - 18 per cent - from Sh33billion to Sh27 billion during the period under review.

Last year, US exports to Kenya stood at slightly less than half of Beijings, with theEconomic Survey 2010 showing that Kenya imported Sh33 billion worth of goods fromthe US in 2009, compared to Chinas Sh73.5 billion during the same period.

Chinese products are competitive on three fronts, cost quality and delivery comparedto those from the US, said Vimal Shah, the managing director at Bidco. As Chinamakes all efforts to dominate Kenyas trade, this should be a wake-up call that it istaking advantage of the high cost of production in Kenya which has made our goodsless competitive, said Mr Shah.

The US and local manufacturers fault Beijing for the continued flooding of the Kenyanmarket with substandard goods, an indication that Washington sees the goods asnegating its economic interest in the same market.


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Local manufacturers have complained of the same damage, which the US has tried tofix by pushing for the enactment by Kenyan parliament of anti-counterfeiting laws.

Growth in Chinas dominance of trade with Kenya is likely to deepen an intense butsilent battle for control of Third World countries with strategic importance such asKenya.

Washington and Beijing are drawn together by economic and diplomatic interests, butthe partnership has been beset by frequent friction over Internet policy, Tibet, US armssales to Taiwan, Chinas currency fixing and Chinese territorial claims in the disputedSouth China Sea.

Diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks earlier this month revealed how closely the UShas been monitoring Chinas activities in Kenya, especially in trade, military and

intelligence relations.

Any increase in Chinese dominance directly reduces this US influence, said MachariaMunene, an international relations scholar at the United States International University(USIU).

China has made the record clear that it wants to control the Worlds trade anddiplomacy and this war is being fought in both developed economies and third worldnations, said Prof Munene.

China is the second largest source of non-oil imports to Kenya after the United ArabEmirates, having elbowed India into the third position.

Chinese exports to Kenya are mainly made up of machinery, household electricappliance, textiles, fertiliser, building materials and drugs but has in the recent pastincreased its products to virtually almost any other manufactured products.

US companies export telecommunications equipment, aircraft and aircraft parts,military equipment, textile, fertiliser, computers and accessories, among others.

While the US blames the artificial valuation of the Chinese currency - the Yuan - for itsloss of market presence in many regions of the world, low costs of production has beena key factor in driving the consumption of merchandise from China.

It is estimated that it costs 25 per cent less to manufacture goods in China compared tothe US, helped in part by low labour costs and less stringent regulations.


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It has taken China just four years to turn the tables on the US, which in 2006 exportedSh39 billion worth of goods to Kenya, Sh7 billion more than China did.

During the four years, China has brazenly taken opportunities in Kenyas vastinfrastructure and natural resources sectors.

The waning importance of the US in Kenyas commercial sector is expected to make itincreasingly difficult for the US to push through its diplomatic and global securityagenda in East African largest economy at a time when a referendum on cessation ofSouthern Sudan threatens stability in the Great Lakes region.

For instance, the US has been reduced to curbing the travel rights of prominent Kenyanpublic officials in its push for good governance and political reforms withoutwithholding bilateral financial support, a key lever in the superpowers carrots andsticks policy in recent years.

In the nine months to September, the US banned 15 Kenyan officials includingministers, parliamentarians and top-ranking civil servants from travelling to the US orconducting business with the US. The ban was supported by foreign diplomats inKenya including Canada.

The US has many reasons to worry over the growing Chinese influence in Kenya,given its strategic leadership role in the East Africa and beyond. Bilateral trade isnevertheless as crucial, said Dr Herman Manyora, a lecturer at the University ofNairobi.

In the past, US perceptions have influenced actions on Kenya by financiers like the IMFand World Bank and other developed economies.

US President Obama has sent repeated messages to Kenyan leaders to move on with thereforms targeting the judiciary, the formation of an independent permanent electoralcommission and the formation of an international court to try post-election violenceplotters.

The US has also been on record warning that it would scrutinise any proposals forfinancial assistance to Kenya, under the international financial institutions, as part of itsactions against the lack of progress in Kenya.

However, Chinas decision to remain neutral on local politics has been seen as one of itsselling points for the close ties it has been able to build with Kenya and other Africancountries.


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Kenyas leadership may be tempted to move ever closer to China in an effort to shielditself from Western, and principally US pressure to reform, said US Ambassador toKenya Michael Ranneberger, in a memo dated January 12, 2010, and recently releasedthrough the Wikileaks whistle blowing website.

The American diplomat raised questions on Kenyas relationship with China, observingthat China exported more than 30 times its imports to Kenya.

On Thursday, Parliament started discussing a motion seeking to expel the envoy fromNairobi.

In the current financial year of 2010-2011 Kenya is expecting Sh16.79 billion financingfrom the Chinese government, making it the single largest bilateral donor to thecountry.

Kenya mainly exports leather, tea, coffee, sisal fibre, scrap metal and horticulturalproduce to China, however, the country is far from matching what the Chinese arebringing into the country.

Kenya has also stepped up other areas of collaboration with Chinese firms ranging fromoil exploration to mining and infrastructure development while opening up its marketsto Chinese goods.

Kenya and China are also mulling a huge project to develop a port on the Kenyan coastand a corridor creating a new export route for Chinas oil in South Sudan.

President Kibaki has visited Beijing more than twice since coming to power in 2003besides hosting top Chinese officials, including Prime Minister Wen Jia Bao.------------------African Farmers Displaced as Investors Move In (New York Times)

SOUMOUNI, Mali The half-dozen strangers who descended on this remote WestAfrican village brought its hand-to-mouth farmers alarming news: their humble fields,tilled from one generation to the next, were now controlled by Libyas leader, Col.Muammar el-Qaddafi, and the farmers would all have to leave.

They told us this would be the last rainy season for us to cultivate our fields; afterthat, they will level all the houses and take the land, said Mama Keita, 73, the leader ofthis village veiled behind dense, thorny scrubland. We were told that Qaddafi ownsthis land.

Across Africa and the developing world, a new global land rush is gobbling up largeexpanses of arable land. Despite their ageless traditions, stunned villagers are


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discovering that African governments typically own their land and have been leasing it,often at bargain prices, to private investors and foreign governments for decades tocome.

Organizations like the United Nations and the World Bank say the practice, if doneequitably, could help feed the growing global population by introducing large-scalecommercial farming to places without it.

But others condemn the deals as neocolonial land grabs that destroy villages, uproottens of thousands of farmers and create a volatile mass of landless poor. Making mattersworse, they contend, much of the food is bound for wealthier nations.

The food security of the country concerned must be first and foremost in everybodysmind, said Kofi Annan, the former United Nations secretary general, now working onthe issue of African agriculture. Otherwise it is straightforward exploitation and it

wont work. We have seen a scramble for Africa before. I dont think we want to see asecond scramble of that kind.

A World Bank study released in September tallied farmland deals covering at least 110million acres the size of California and West Virginia combined announced duringthe first 11 months of 2009 alone. More than 70 percent of those deals were for land inAfrica, with Sudan, Mozambique and Ethiopia among those nations transferringmillions of acres to investors.

Before 2008, the global average for such deals was less than 10 million acres per year,

the report said. But the food crisis that spring, which set off riots in at least a dozencountries, prompted the spree. The prospect of future scarcity attracted both wealthygovernments lacking the arable land needed to feed their own people and hedge fundsdrawn to a dwindling commodity.

You see interest in land acquisition continuing at a very high level, said KlausDeininger, the World Bank economist who wrote the report, taking many figures from aWeb site run by Grain, an advocacy organization, because governments would notreveal the agreements. Clearly, this is not over.

The report, while generally supportive of the investments, detailed mixed results.Foreign aid for agriculture has dwindled from about 20 percent of all aid in 1980 toabout 5 percent now, creating a need for other investment to bolster production.

But many investments appear to be pure speculation that leaves land fallow, the reportfound. Farmers have been displaced without compensation, land has been leased wellbelow value, those evicted end up encroaching on parkland and the new ventures havecreated far fewer jobs than promised, it said.


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The breathtaking scope of some deals galvanizes opponents. In Madagascar, a deal thatwould have handed over almost half the countrys arable land to a South Koreanconglomerate helped crystallize opposition to an already unpopular president andcontributed to his overthrow in 2009.

People have been pushed off land in countries like Ethiopia, Uganda, the DemocraticRepublic of Congo, Liberia and Zambia. It is not even uncommon for investors to arriveon land that was supposedly empty. In Mozambique, one investment companydiscovered an entire village with its own post office on what had been described asvacant land, said Olivier De Schutter, the United Nations food rapporteur.

In Mali, about three million acres along the Niger River and its inland delta arecontrolled by a state-run trust called the Office du Niger. In nearly 80 years, only200,000 acres of the land have been irrigated, so the government considers new

investors a boon.

Even if you gave the population there the land, they do not have the means to developit, nor does the state, said Abou Sow, the executive director of Office du Niger.

He listed countries whose governments or private sectors have already madeinvestments or expressed interest: China and South Africa in sugar cane; Libya andSaudi Arabia in rice; and Canada, Belgium, France, South Korea, India, the Netherlandsand multinational organizations like the West African Development Bank.

In all, Mr. Sow said about 60 deals covered at least 600,000 acres in Mali, although someorganizations said more than 1.5 million acres had been committed. He argued that thebulk of the investors were Malians growing food for the domestic market. But heacknowledged that outside investors like the Libyans, who are leasing 250,000 acreshere, are expected to ship their rice, beef and other agricultural products home.

What advantage would they gain by investing in Mali if they could not even take theirown production? Mr. Sow said.

As with many of the deals, the money Mali might earn from the leases remains murky.The agreement signed with the Libyans grants them the land for at least 50 years simplyin exchange for developing it.

The Libyans want to produce rice for Libyans, not for Malians, said Mamadou Goita,the director of a nonprofit research organization in Mali. He and other opponentscontend that the government is privatizing a scarce national resource withoutimproving the domestic food supply, and that politics, not economics, are drivingevents because Mali wants to improve ties with Libya and others.


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The huge tracts granted to private investors are many years from production. Butofficials noted that Libya already spent more than $50 million building a 24-mile canaland road, constructed by a Chinese company, benefiting local villages.

Every farmer affected, Mr. Sow added, including as many as 20,000 affected by theLibyan project, will receive compensation. If they lose a single tree, we will pay themthe value of that tree, he said.

But anger and distrust run high. In a rally last month, hundreds of farmers demandedthat the government halt such deals until they get a voice. Several said that they hadbeen beaten and jailed by soldiers, but that they were ready to die to keep their land.

The famine will start very soon, shouted Ibrahima Coulibaly, the head of thecoordinating committee for farmer organizations in Mali. If people do not stand up for

their rights, they will lose everything!

Ante! members of the crowd shouted in Bamanankan, the local language. Werefuse!

Kassoum Denon, the regional head for the Office du Niger, accused the Malianopponents of being paid by Western groups that are ideologically opposed to large-scale farming.

We are responsible for developing Mali, he said. If the civil society does not agree

with the way we are doing it, they can go jump in a lake.The looming problem, experts noted, is that Mali remains an agrarian society. Kickingfarmers off the land with no alternative livelihood risks flooding the capital, Bamako,with unemployed, rootless people who could become a political problem.

The land is a natural resource that 70 percent of the population uses to survive, saidKalfa Sanogo, an economist at the United Nations Development Program in Mali. Youcannot just push 70 percent of the population off the land, nor can you say they can justbecome agriculture workers. In a different approach, a $224 million American projectwill help about 800 Malian farmers each acquire title to 12 acres of newly cleared land,protecting them against being kicked off.

Jon C. Anderson, the project director, argued that no country has developedeconomically with a large percentage of its population on farms. Small farmers withtitles will either succeed or have to sell the land to finance another life, he said, thoughcritics have said villagers will still be displaced.


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We want a revolutionized relationship between the farmer and the state, one wherethe farmer is more in charge, Mr. Anderson said.

Soumouni sits about 20 miles from the nearest road, with wandering cattle herders intheir distinctive pointed straw hats offering directions like, Bear right at the termitemound with the hole in it.

Sekou Traor, 69, a village elder, was dumbfounded when government officials said lastyear that Libya now controlled his land and began measuring the fields. He had alwaysconsidered it his own, passed down from grandfather to father to son.

All we want before they break our houses and take our fields is for them to show usthe new houses where we will live, and the new fields where we will work, he said atthe rally last month.

We are all so afraid, he said of the villages 2,229 residents. We will be the victims ofthis situation, we are sure of that.------------------UN News Service Africa B riefs Full Articles on UN Website

UN chief appalled by deadly violence in Nigeria26 December Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday condemned the deadlyviolence that broke out in parts of Nigeria in recent days and reportedly killed at least30 people and injured more than 70 others.

Hum anitarian needs growing as m ore Ivorians flee into Liberia, warns UN agency26 December The United Nations refugee agency said it has registered 14,000 Ivorianswho fled their country for Liberia amid the post-electoral crisis, and warned thathumanitarian needs are growing both for the mostly women and children refugees andfor the villagers hosting them.

UN-African m ission voices concern over ongoing Darf u r clashes24 December The United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur(UNAMID) voiced grave concern today over the ongoing clashes between the SudaneseArmed Forces and rebel movements in the strife-torn region.

UN hopes for peacef u l sol u tion to Ivorian crisis, stresses peacekeeping chief 24 December United Nations peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy has called on LaurentGbagbo to keep his pledge not to resort to violence as the stand-off with his rival,Alassane Ouattara, who has been recognized by the international community as thewinner of Cte d'Ivoire's presidential election, continues.


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C te dIvoire: UN Hum an Rights C ou ncil strongly conde m ns post-electoral ab u ses23 December The United Nations Human Rights Council today strongly condemnedthe human rights violations in Cte dIvoire, and demanded the protection of civiliansand the prosecution of those responsible for abuses in the wake of the recentpresidential poll.

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