AFRICOM Related Newslcips 20 Sep 11

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United States Africa CommandPublic Affairs Office20 September 2011

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 September 20, 2011.

Of interest in today's clips, IRIN reports that Horn migrants are being beaten, deported andimprisoned. Al Jazeera reports that OPEC recognizes NTC as Libya’s representative.

Reuters reports that France denies it has mercenaries in Libya; Libyans flee Sirte asfighters prepare big guns; NTC denies abuse on Black Africans; and Qadhafi's loyalists

said on Monday they had captured 17 mercenaries -- some British and French.

In other news, BBC reports that Sudan and South Sudan have signed an agreement onborder crossings and AFP reports that NTC has indefinitely postponed forminggovernment amid disputes over portfolios and amid clashes.

U.S. Africa Command Public AffairsPlease send questions or comments to:[email protected] 421-2687 (+49-711-729-2687)

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

East Africa: Horn Migrants Beaten, Deported, Imprisoned (IRIN)

http://allafrica.com/stories/201109191960.html By Unattributed Author19 September 2011 - According to immigration authorities in Mtwara, groups of migrants,stripped of their belongings and clothing, and many bearing the marks of severe beatings,began appearing near the Ruvuma River.

OPEC recognises NTC as Libya representative (Al Jazeera) http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/09/201191974440683863.html By Unattributed Author19 September 2011 - The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) hasrecognised the National Transitional Council as Libya's representative.

Burundi bar attack leaves many dead (Al Jazeera) http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/09/201191983033829352.html

mailto:[email protected]


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By Unattributed Author19 September 2011 - At least 20 people have been killed after unknown gunmen openedfire at a crowded bar near the Burundi capital, Bujumbura, officials say.

France says it has no mercenaries in Libya (Reuters)

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE78I00320110919 By Maria Golovnina and Alexander Dziadosz19 September 2011 - France denied on Monday that it had mercenaries in Libya, afterMuammar Gaddafi's loyalists said they had captured 17 foreigners -- some British andFrench -- in the fight for a town still held by the ousted leader's followers.

Zambia deploys police on eve of close election (Reuters)

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE78I0QQ20110919 By Chris Mfula19 September 2011 - Zambia's police chief deployed thousands of officers across thesouthern African country on Monday, the eve of a closely contested election between

incumbent Rupiah Banda and nationalist opposition leader Michael Sata.

Libyans flee Sirte as fighters ready big guns (Reuters)http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE78I0EF20110919?sp=true By Alexander Dziadosz19 Septembver 2011 - Hundreds of families fled Muammar Gaddafi's birthplace of Sirte onMonday as fighters sent by Libya's new rulers to capture the city rolled up with huge rocketlaunchers and artillery guns.

Libya's NTC denies abuse of black Africans (Reuters)

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE78I0G420110919?sp=true

By Unattributed Author19 September 2011 - Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) pledged on Monday totreat foreigners accused of fighting for ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi well, and deniedthat anti-Gaddafi fighters had committed systematic abuse of Africans.

African children face life without healthcare: report (Reuters)

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE78I0DZ20110919?sp=true By Unattributed Author19 September 2011 - Hundreds of millions of African children will never see a health careworker in their lifetime, increasing their chances of dying from preventable diseases, areport released on Monday by the international children's rights group Save the Children

said.

Madagascar says will arrest former leader if he returns (Reuters)

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE78I04M20110919?sp=true By Unattributed Author19 September 2011 - Madagascar will arrest exiled former president Marc Ravalomananaif he returns to the Indian Ocean island, a senior cabinet minister said a day after signing a






http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE78I00320110919


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road map aimed at holding elections within a year.

Gaddafi loyalists say capture 17 foreign mercenaries (Reuters)

http://news.yahoo.com/gaddafi-loyalists-capture-17-foreign-mercenaries-095030646.htmlBy Emma Farge and Maria Golovnina

19 September 2011 - Fugitive ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's loyalists said onMonday they had captured 17 mercenaries -- some British and French -- in what wouldamount to a sharp setback for the country's new rulers and their international backers.

Kenya tourist death: Man denies woman's abduction (BBC)http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14967360

By Unattributed Author19 September 2011 - A Kenyan man has appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to twocharges following the murder of a British tourist and the abduction of his wife.

Sudan and South Sudan sign first border deal (BBC)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14972323?print=true By Unattributed Author19 September 2011 - Sudan and South Sudan have signed an agreement on bordercrossings - the first accord between the two countries since the South's independence inJuly.

China’s stake in Zambia’s election (BBC) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14952240 By Louise Redvers19 September 2011 - China's main area of interest is mining, having bought up on thecheap a number of copper, cobalt and nickel mines, which had been mothballed byWestern investors when commodity prices fell.

NTC postpones forming government amid clashes (AFP)

http://www.france24.com/en/20110918-libya-ntc-postpones-forming-government-clashes-continue-sirte-bani-walid

By Unattributed Author19 September 2011 - The birth of a new government in Libya, due on Sunday, was put off indefinitely amid disputes over portfolios and as Moamer Kadhafi diehards put up stiff resistance in their remaining strongholds.

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UN News Service Africa Briefshttp://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICA

(Full Articles on UN Website)

Secretary-General unveils leaders of new UN support mission to Libya19 September – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced today that Ian Martin, whohas served as his key adviser on post-conflict planning for Libya, will become the head of

http://news.yahoo.com/gaddafi-loyalists-capture-17-foreign-mercenaries-095030646.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14967360


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14972323?print=true







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


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the new United Nations support mission (UNSMIL) to the North African country.

Condemning deadly attack near Burundian capital, Secretary-General calls for restraint19 September – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has strongly condemned the armed attack that took place yesterday near Burundi’s capital that killed and injured scores of people,

and called on all parties to exercise restraint.

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UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

20 SEPT 2011

WHEN: September 20, 2011, at noonWHAT: Pakistan, the U.S. and Public Diplomacy with Consul General Riffat

Masood CPD Conversations in Public DiplomacyWHO: Riffat Masood, the Consul General of PakistanWHERE: USC; SOS B40CONTACT: [email protected]

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FULLTEXT

East Africa: Horn Migrants Beaten, Deported, Imprisoned (IRIN)

http://allafrica.com/stories/201109191960.html By Unattributed Author19 September 2011

Mtwara — Near the coastal town of Mtwara, Tanzania's border with Mozambique ismarked only by the River Ruvuma which is wide and relatively shallow at this point justbefore it drains into the Indian Ocean. Young men loll in small, wooden boats checkingtheir cell phones and waiting for passengers to ferry across to the other side, but businesshas been slow in the last two months since groups of migrants desperate to complete a journey that began thousands of kilometres to the north stopped arriving at the river'sbanks.

"For the last two or three months we haven't had big movements like we had betweenFebruary and April," said Henry Chacha, an immigration officer from the nearby Kilamboborder post. "For the last two or three weeks, we haven't had any migrants."

At the height of the activity around Mtwara in early 2011, the migrants - most of them fromEthiopia and Somalia - typically arrived in groups of 100 or more on boats operated bysmugglers, usually from the Kenyan port city of Mombasa.

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According to one Somali migrant who made the trip, the groups were dropped off nearMtwara, and then found their way to the river delta where they paid the waiting fishermenin money or goods for passage to the other side. From there, they trekked through thick forest for several days before crossing into Mozambique and arriving at Palma, a small

coastal town where the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the government's NationalInstitute for Refugee Assistance (INAR) had set up an informal camp behind the localpolice station to cater for the migrants' basic needs before transporting them to Maratanerefugee camp in Nampula Province.

For most, Maratane was merely a place to rest, regroup and make contact with theirsmugglers' agents who would help them reach their final destination: South Africa - theonly country in the region where asylum-seekers and refugees have freedom of movementand the right to work and run businesses rather than being confined to camps.

But around May of this year, the movement of migrants from the Horn of Africa across the

River Ruvuma began reversing in direction. According to immigration authorities inMtwara, groups of migrants, stripped of their belongings and clothing, and many bearingthe marks of severe beatings, began appearing near the river.

"We saw them at the delta, naked," said Hamidu Mkambala, the regional immigrationofficer for Mtwara. "We gave them food and clothing and then we took them to a court of law and then prison. We don't have any other shelters for them."

About 500 Ethiopians and 50 Somalis are now being held at Mtwara prison, while about600 Ethiopian and 170 Somali migrants are in other prisons around Tanzania.

Harrowing journey

Most of those interviewed at Mtwara prison told similar stories of weeks at sea onoverloaded boats that either dropped them off in Mtwara or took them all the way to thenorth coast of Mozambique. From there they were picked up by police but instead of beingtransferred to Maratane, they were robbed of their possessions, beaten and then dumpednext to (or in) the River Ruvuma.

One young Somali woman recounted a harrowing month-long journey from Mombasa toMozambique on rough seas. At one point the crew of the boat she was travelling on forcedthree of her fellow passengers off the over-loaded vessel and into the sea where they wereleft to drown. When they finally reached Mozambique, the migrants were greeted by localswho "took all they had".

"A white man came and put us in a mini-bus and took us to another place near a policestation," she continued. "He told the police to take us to the refugee camp but after he left,they beat us and fired bullets over our heads," she said, crying and showing a badly swollenleg that had not healed two months after one of the policemen struck it with the barrel of hisgun.



One of the Ethiopian prisoners at Mtwara said four of the men in his group had died afterthey were beaten so severely by the Mozambican police that they drowned when they werethrown into the River Ruvuma.

Others survived by waiting for a low tide and then forming a human chain to wade to theother side of the river where they were discovered by local villagers.

"They came from nowhere with no clothes," a woman from one of the villages near theriver told IRIN. "They said they came from Mozambique. We fed them and then showedthem the way to the immigration office in Kilambo."

Small border posts like the one at Kilambo are ill-equipped to deal with large groups of naked and hungry migrants, most of whom cannot speak the local language. "We have nobudget to feed them," said Mkambala. "We feed them from our own pockets and give themclothing."

After a day or two staying in the open outside the immigration office in Kilambo, themigrants were transported to the police station in Mtwara for processing before being takento court and then to the now overcrowded prison.

Government denial

UNHCR has confirmed the migrants' accounts and called on the Mozambican governmentto stop the deportations which contravene the country's obligations under the UNConvention on Refugees.

However, at a meeting on 16 September convened by local NGO the Mozambican HumanRights League, which also has evidence of abuses against migrants found near theTanzanian border, representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Interior denied that irregular deportations were taking place, while at the same timedescribing the migrants as a threat to national security.

"It's a very clear sign that the position of the government is becoming stricter on the issue,"commented Matteo Gillerio, a field officer with the International Organization forMigration (IOM) in Mozambique who was present at the meeting.

According to Mtwara regional immigration officer Mkambala, a recent meeting betweenimmigration chiefs from Mozambique and Tanzania to discuss the irregular deportationsdid not end in any agreement, but the situation may have resolved itself, at leasttemporarily, as smugglers appear to have started circumventing the trouble spot betweenPalma and Mtwara.

Chacha, the immigration officer at Kilambo (on the Tanzanian side), said no migrants hadbeen seen near the river since July, and Gillerio said the camp in Palma was also currentlyempty. However, he worried the movement would resume in November with the start of



the rainy season which would bring improved conditions at sea and make it more difficultfor the Mozambican police to patrol border areas.

"The [refugee] camps in Kenya are filling up," he pointed out. "I think when they're in acondition to travel, they will, because they're not going to find jobs in Kenya."

Homeward bound?

For the Ethiopians imprisoned in Tanzania, their journey will soon end where it started. AnIOM initiative funded by the Japanese government, brought a delegation from Ethiopia'sMinistry of Foreign Affairs to Tanzania in August to document those being held in prisonsand arrange their voluntary return home starting from the end of September.

"All of them told us they want to go back home," said Ethiopia's director of ForeignAffairs, Melaku Bedada, who formed part of the delegation. He added that his Ministrywould be engaging their Mozambican counterparts in a discussion about the abuses the

migrants experienced in that country. "A person has to be treated humanely, even if they'reillegal," he said.

The fate of the Somali prisoners is less clear. In the absence of a functioning government inSomalia to negotiate their release, members of Dar es Salaam's local Somali communityhave been advocating on their behalf. Ahmed Ally, a leader in that community, said thatafter repeated calls to various relevant agencies and government departments, immigrationofficers had informed him that the Somalis would be released soon and taken to the Kenyanborder. From there, he said, Somali elders have agreed to pay their transport to Nairobiwhere they will likely find refuge among that city's sizeable Somali community.

Most of the imprisoned migrants IRIN spoke to declared they would not attempt the journey again.

"If I go home, I will just pray for rain. I won't come to Mozambique again," said one youngman who left Ethiopia because the drought had made it impossible for him to farm.But the young Somali woman with the injured leg insisted she did not want to go home."There is still fighting there," she said. "I want to go somewhere peaceful... maybe SouthAfrica."

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OPEC recognises NTC as Libya representative (Al Jazeera) http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/09/201191974440683863.html By Unattributed Author19 September 2011

Interim council gets major boost in world forum amid continued clashes over Gaddafistrongholds of Sirte and Bani Walid.






The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has recognised the NationalTransitional Council as Libya's representative.

The OPEC's recognition came after the United Nations approved a Libyan request toaccredit envoys of the country's interim government as Tripoli's sole representatives at the

world body on Friday.

"OPEC will recognise the NTC ... and they will sit in the same chair," Abdullah al-Badri,OPEC's secretary-general, told the Gulf Intelligence energy forum in Dubai on Monday.

Libyan oil

Since failing to convince other OPEC members at their last meeting in Vienna in June toraise output to make up for the loss of Libyan crude since February, Saudi Arabia and itsGulf OPEC allies have raised their oil production over the last few months.

Badri said those countries are certain to gradually decrease their output as Libya'sproduction recovers towards pre-war levels.

Badri, who was Libyan energy minister 1990-2000 and headed its National OilCorporation (NOC) until 2006, said production in fields in central Libya could be back topre-war levels in 15 months, while other areas might take longer.

Some Libyan oil fields have recently restarted production but it remains unclear when theywill return to pre-war levels of around 1.6 million barrels per day.

Situation 'unbearable'

The recognition for the NTC came even as its fighters battled troops loyal to ousted leaderMuammar Gaddafi, a month after taking the capital Tripoli.

NTC forces tried several times to take Bani Walid, only to be repelled by Gaddafi loyalistsdefending the city, rebel commanders told Al Jazeera.

Since taking the capital Tripoli last month, NTC fighters have met stiff resistance in BaniWalid and Gaddafi's birthplace Sirte, which they must capture before they can declareLibya "liberated".

Anti-Gaddafi forces were pushing further towards Sirte, one of the final strongholds of Libya's old regime on Monday, as residents fled from the city.

Former rebel fighters searched the long line of vehicles waiting to escape from Sirte on theMediterranean coast, where fighting is raging.

"The situation is unbearable. There has been no electricity, no water for six months," saidone resident as he drove away with his family.



The new leadership is facing a tough fight uprooting the remnants of Gaddafi's regimenearly four weeks after the then-rebels rolled into Tripoli on August 21 and ousted the nowfugitive leader.

The battle at Sirte, launched on Friday, has been fierce, and the revolutionaries have madeslow progress.

The past three days, they have battled block by block into the western side of Sirte.

Other fighters in the low hills to the south have been drumming Gaddafi strongholds in theflat plain of the city below with rockets and mortars.

At least 18 fighters have been killed and 51 wounded in the area since September 15, theopposition's military council in Misrata said on Sunday.

The whereabouts of Gaddafi are still unknown.

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Burundi bar attack leaves many dead (Al Jazeera) http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/09/201191983033829352.html By Unattributed Author19 September 2011

At least 20 people have been killed after unknown gunmen opened fire at a crowded barnear the Burundi capital, Bujumbura, officials say.

The number of dead could rise as some people were critically injured in the raid, they say.

The attackers raided the bar in Gatumba area, some 13km west of Bujumbura, which lies ina stronghold of the former National Liberation Forces rebels whose leader Agathon Rwasahas been blamed for a recent spate of attacks.

"Those who attacked us are not just bandits. They are fighters, rebels. I swear because Isaw them," said one wounded victim who did not want to be identified.

"Dozens of people, some in military uniform and with Kalashnikov rifles and grenadesentered 'Chez les Amis' bar. They told everyone to lie down and began shooting," a

survivor, who lost two siblings and a friend told the AFP news agency.

Hospitals were swamped with the injured and doctors struggled to cope with the influx.

Doctors overwhelmed

A doctor who only gave his name as Leonard said he was totally overwhelmed. "We arelacking blood, equipment and medicine to treat all the injured," he said.






AFP said that dead bodies had been left in a parking lot at one hospital.

Similar deadly raids have become more common in the past year, since the oppositionboycotted elections, accusing President Pierre Nkurunziza's party of fraud.

Rwasa has accused state officials of massacring and torturing more than 100 of hissupporters.

The small central African country is still struggling to emerge from 13 years of civil warthat erupted in 1993 and left some 300,000 people dead.

The escalating violence has raised fears of a resumption of all-out conflict.

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France says it has no mercenaries in Libya (Reuters)http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE78I00320110919 By Maria Golovnina and Alexander Dziadosz19 September 2011

BANI WALID/SIRTE, Libya - France denied on Monday that it had mercenaries in Libya,after Muammar Gaddafi's loyalists said they had captured 17 foreigners -- some British andFrench -- in the fight for a town still held by the ousted leader's followers.

The claim by Gaddafi's spokesman Moussa Ibrahim that foreign security personnel hadbeen captured in the battle for the pro-Gaddafi bastion Bani Walid could not be verifiedand no immediate proof was presented.

It comes as the new authorities are facing stark reversals on the battlefield and in thepolitical arena.

Nearly a month after Gaddafi was driven from power, his loyalist holdouts have beatenback repeated assaults by National Transitional Council forces at Bani Walid and Gaddafi'shome city of Sirte. NTC fighters have been sent fleeing in disarray after failing to stormGaddafi bastions.

The NTC, still based in the eastern city of Benghazi, has faced questions about whether itcan unify a country divided on tribal and local lines. A long-promised attempt to set up amore inclusive interim government fell apart overnight.

"A group was captured in Bani Walid consisting of 17 mercenaries. They are technicalexperts and they include consultative officers," Gaddafi spokesman Ibrahim said onSyria-based Arrai television, which has backed Gaddafi.

"Most of them are French, one of them is from an Asian country that has not been






identified, two English people and one Qatari."French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, in New York to attend a U.N. meeting, told journalists: "We have no French mercenaries in Libya."

The British foreign office said it had no information about whether the report was true and

Qatar's foreign ministry was not available for comment. NATO, which is staging air strikeson Gaddafi loyalist positions, says it has no troops on the ground in Libya.

Western nations have sent special forces in the past, and media have reported that privatesecurity firms have aided anti-Gaddafi forces in training, target ting and with leadership.Gulf Arab states have also sent trainers and arms.

Among the confirmed sightings of foreign security personnel in Libya during the conflict,the head of a French security firm was shot dead at a checkpoint in Benghazi in May, andBritish special forces troops were held for three days by rebels in March while escorting aspy trying to make contacts.

DEBACLE

The interim government's attempts to seize Bani Walid, 150 km (95 miles) southeast of Tripoli have become a debacle, with forces repeatedly surging into the town only to bedriven out by its pro-Gaddafi defenders.

On Monday, NTC forces were unable to approach the northern gate to attack the townbecause of heavy gunfire from Gaddafi loyalists.

Fighters said on Sunday their plans had gone awry for tanks and pickup trucks with rocketlaunchers to lead an attack. Foot soldiers piled in first, only to be driven out.

"There is a lack of organisation so far. Infantrymen are running in all directions," saidZakaria Tuham, a senior fighter with a Tripoli-based unit.

Many fighters spoke of tension between units drawn from Bani Walid itself and those fromother parts of the country.

Some fighters openly disobeyed orders. In one incident, an officer from Bani Walid washeckled by troops from Tripoli after he tried to order them to stop shooting in the air.NTC forces and NATO warplanes also attacked Sirte, Gaddafi's birthplace, where assaultshave been repelled. Hundreds of families were fleeing the city on Monday as NTC forcesrolled up with huge rocket launchers and artillery.

Humanitarian groups have voiced alarm at reported conditions in the besieged coastal city.

"There's no electricity, no phone coverage. Nothing," resident Ibrahim Ramadan said,standing by a car packed with his family at a checkpoint. Interim government forces werehanding out juice to civilians and rifling through their belongings to search for weapons.



Residents said homes had been destroyed and cars smashed to pieces as disorder spreadthrough the city.

"People are fed up. There are explosions going off everywhere and you don't know wherethe bullets will come from next," said Abubakr, a resident making his way out of the city.

"Look at this," he said, pointing to a bullet hole in his windshield. "Bullets are comingdown from above. People are just firing randomly."

In Benghazi, interim Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril failed to name a new cabinet onSunday when his proposals did not receive full backing from all current members."We have agreed on a number of portfolios. We still have more portfolios to be discussed,"Jibril told reporters at a news conference on Sunday.

Sources familiar with the negotiations said Jibril's own role had been a sticking point.There was also disagreement about whether it was right to form a transitional governmentbefore declaring Libya "liberated", which NTC officials say can only happen when all

Gaddafi loyalists are defeated.

The political infighting reveals some of the fractures in an alliance that was united in civilwar by hatred of Gaddafi but remains split among pro-Western liberals, undergroundIslamist guerrillas and defectors from Gaddafi's government.

The NTC has its roots in Libya's east, but most of the militiamen who finally succeeded indriving Gaddafi out of Tripoli are from towns in the west. Fighters are organised by hometown into units with little overall coordination.

Nevertheless, many Libyans say they can tolerate confusion among the new rulers as theprice of being rid of Gaddafi, who crushed all opposition during four decades of rule."The delay in the new government isn't important... We need time to recover," engineerMustafa Saab bin Ragheb told Reuters in Tripoli's main Martyrs' Square, where trafficpolice in crisply pressed which uniforms took up patrols on Monday for the first time sinceGaddafi's fall.

"Look, we finally got rid of that bloody monkey. We are better than before. We will hanghim and his sons, and then we can breathe freely. It's too early for politics."

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Zambia deploys police on eve of close election (Reuters)

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE78I0QQ20110919 By Chris Mfula19 September 2011

LUSAKA - Zambia's police chief deployed thousands of officers across the southernAfrican country on Monday, the eve of a closely contested election between incumbentRupiah Banda and nationalist opposition leader Michael Sata.






Police Inspector-General Francis Kabonde told a news conference security forces would betaking no chances with the September 20 vote, despite Africa's biggest copper producerbeing a relative stranger to political violence or unrest.

"Thousands of police officers have been deployed. The police will be in all townships andstreets," he said.

An opinion poll published a week ago suggested Banda held a narrow lead over Sata --nicknamed King Cobra on account of his vicious tongue -- although a number of undecidedmeant an upset was still possible.

Patriotic Front (PF) leader Sata lost to Banda by just 35,000 votes, or two percent of theelectorate, in a 2008 run-off. Banda appeared on state television on Sunday to announcethat any troublemakers would be arrested.

However, a strong performance by the kwacha, Zambia's currency, in the last week suggests few investors either inside or outside the country are worried about violence orprolonged post-election disputes disrupting the economy or government.

The kwacha has gained more than 2 percent against a strengthening dollar in the last fivedays, and briefly touched a six-week high of 4,780 on Monday.

By contrast, Nigeria's naira and Uganda's shilling both fell ahead of elections this year ascompanies and individuals stocked up on dollars in case polling day unleashed unrest, ashappened in Kenya in late 2007.

COOL IT

Campaigning officially ended on Sunday to allow for a 24-hour cooling off period aftersix-weeks of mudslinging and rhetoric that occasionally touched on the growing clout of foreign mining firms, most notably from China.

Sata, whose long and varied career includes work in British car assembly plants, has been avocal critic of Asian mining investment, but toned it down in an interview with Reuters onFriday, saying he would keep Zambia's strong diplomatic and commercial ties withBeijing.

Chinese firms have become major players in the former British colony's $13 billioneconomy, with total investments by the end of 2010 topping $2 billion, according toChinese embassy data.

Banda's Movement for Multi-party Democracy, which has run the nation of 13 millionsince the end of one-party rule in 1991, claims most of its support in the countryside, wherefarmers have benefitted from a hugely successful agricultural subsidy scheme.



Sata's strength is in the capital, Lusaka, and the northern Copper Belt, where many peoplecomplain about receiving meager returns from more than five years of strong economicgrowth.

An alliance between Sata and another opposition party, the UPND, crumbled this year,

improving the chances of a new full five-year term for Banda, who moved into thepresidency after the 2008 death of his predecessor, Levy Mwanawasa.

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Libya's NTC denies abuse of black Africans (Reuters)

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE78I0G420110919?sp=true By Unattributed Author19 September 2011

GENEVA - Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) pledged on Monday to treat

foreigners accused of fighting for ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi well, and denied thatanti-Gaddafi fighters had committed systematic abuse of Africans.

Throughout the uprising against Gaddafi's 42-year rule, his opponents have accusedGaddafi of hiring fighters from neighbouring countries like Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Mali andSudan. That has led to fears of mistreatment of blacks now that the former rebels are incharge.

A U.N. commission of inquiry on Libya, which has not been able to enter the country sinceGaddafi was driven from power, said it had received many reports of ill-treatment of black Africans and dark-skinned Libyans by anti-Gaddafi fighters.

Media reports from Libya have shown cowed blacks herded into trucks and raisedaccusations of summary executions. Blacks captured by anti-Gaddafi forces have toldReuters that they were innocent migrant workers mistaken for Gaddafi fighters.

Mohammed al-Alagi, identified as the minister of justice and human rights of the NTC,told the U.N. Human Rights Council that Gaddafi had used mercenaries to kill Libyans, butthat any who were captured would be treated fairly.

"The Gaddafi regime declared war on the Libyan people, and used foreign mercenaries,"al-Alagi said. "But when captured they will still have the right to an appropriate trial beforean ordinary judge and according to international law."

He added: "We do not make any distinction among people on grounds of colour. And wedo not discriminate against our brothers from African countries."

Gaddafi's loyalists also accuse their opponents of using mercenaries. They said on Mondaythey had captured 17 foreigners -- some British and French -- in what would amount to asevere blow to Libya's new rulers and their international backers.






Al-Alagi said that the NTC would investigate fully any violations of human rightscommitted by its fighters.

"There have been no war crimes (by anti-Gaddafi forces)," he said. "If anything illegal has

happened, it was individual acts by revolutionaries who were not acting under instructionsfrom the NTC. We have called on the revolutionaries to treat prisoners according to IslamicShariah and international law."

Allegations of abuse by Libya's new authorities are uncomfortable for the NATO countriesthat helped install them. U.S. ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe said having a newgovernment in Libya would make it easier to hold it responsible for human rights.

"The important point today is that we have a new government and we have a crediblepartner to work with and to encourage in Libya," she told reporters.

"That is where our emphasis will be in the near term -- to make sure that this newgovernment gets off on the right foot and lives up to its responsibility with respect toaccountability and creation of a secure situation for all."

###

Libyans flee Sirte as fighters ready big guns (Reuters)


By Alexander Dziadosz19 Septembver 2011

SIRTE, Libya - Hundreds of families fled Muammar Gaddafi's birthplace of Sirte onMonday as fighters sent by Libya's new rulers to capture the city rolled up with huge rocketlaunchers and artillery guns.

National Transitional Council (NTC) forces have been struggling to wrest Sirte fromGaddafi loyalists for several days and humanitarian groups have voiced alarm at thereported conditions within the coastal city, cut off from the outside.

Residents escaping said hundreds were still trapped in Sirte. They spoke as pro-NTCfighters fired test shots to alert pro-Gaddafi forces holed up inside the city of theirpresence.

"There's no electricity, no phone coverage. Nothing," resident Ibrahim Ramadan said,standing by a car packed with his family as he fled on the fifth day of fighting.

"There's just some water really, but nothing else apart from that," he said as interimgovernment forces handed out juice to civilians at a checkpoint and rifled through theirbelongings to check for weapons.






Ramadan, who acts as a community leader, estimated that around one third of Sirte'sroughly 70,000 residents had left.

Sirte, 450 km east of Tripoli, is one of the last strongholds of pro-Gaddafi forces along withthe besieged desert town of Bani Walid and Sabha, deep in the remote south.

Gaddafi turned his birthplace from a sleepy fishing village into a bustling quasi-capital thathosted the country's toothless parliament and international meetings.

BULLETS FROM ABOVE

Interim government forces amassed on the western outskirts of Sirte on Monday andexchanged scores of rockets with pro-Gaddafi fighters as NATO jets roared overhead.

Residents said homes had been destroyed and cars smashed to pieces as disorder spreadacross the city.

"People are fed up. There are explosions going off everywhere and you don't know wherethe bullets will come from next," resident Abubakr said as he made his way out of the city.

"Look at this!" he said, pointing at a bullet hole in his car's windshield. "Bullets are comingdown from above. People are just firing randomly."

The pro-NTC fighters, who were forced into retreat on Saturday after storming the city,said they were holding off advancing deeper into Sirte or firing heavy artillery for nowbecause they wanted to give residents a chance to leave.

"The problem is that there are some (Gaddafi) brigades preventing them from leaving,"

pro-NTC soldier Sadiq Atman said as his fellow fighters pieced together an anti-aircraftmachine gun on the back of a pickup truck.

"If these families were able to get out, this would be a proper war," he said.

His colleagues on the city's western outskirts said they were on the lookout for anysuspected Gaddafi supporters among the fleeing residents.

One pro-NTC fighter pulled aside four young men for questioning after he said he hadfound an anti-aircraft bullet in their car.

"There is no weapon inside, but if they have this, there has to be a story," he said, holdingup the bullet.

Residents edged towards the checkpoint in their vehicles, some looking visibly distressed,while others chanted anti-Gaddafi slogans and waved Libya's new flag.

"Get out, messy-haired one!" a group of children sang as they leaned out of a car, using apopular insult leveled at the former strongman, while other civilians chanted "Free Libya!"



###

African children face life without healthcare: report (Reuters)

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE78I0DZ20110919?sp=true By Unattributed Author

19 September 2011

JOHANNESBURG - Hundreds of millions of African children will never see a health careworker in their lifetime, increasing their chances of dying from preventable diseases, areport released on Monday by the international children's rights group Save the Childrensaid.

About 350 million children globally will never be seen by a health professional and nearlytwo-thirds of them are in sub-Saharan Africa, which has an acute shortage of healthworkers, the report said.

"Children are five times more likely to die before their fifth birthday if they live incountries such as Nigeria, Ethiopia and Liberia ... than children living in countries withenough health workers," it said.

Diseases that that can kill children if not treated include pneumonia and diarrhoea.

Africa is training far too few health professionals and the poor pay and facilities meanmany of the continent's doctors are likely to end up in urban centres or working overseas, itsaid.

The report was released to coincide with the meeting of the U.N. General Assembly, where

there will be a push to train more health care workers around the world.

###

Madagascar says will arrest former leader if he returns (Reuters)

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE78I04M20110919?sp=true By Unattributed Author19 September 2011

ANTANANARIVO - Madagascar will arrest exiled former president Marc Ravalomananaif he returns to the Indian Ocean island, a senior cabinet minister said a day after signing a

road map aimed at holding elections within a year.

Madagascar's major political parties signed the agreement on Saturday that confirmedcoup-leader Andy Rajoelina as interim president and allowed for the unconditional returnof Ravalomanana.

"He will be arrested upon his return to the country," Justice Minister ChristineRazanamahasoa told Reuters late on Sunday.









Rajoelina, responding to international pressure, accepted a clause demandingRavalomanana's right to return that the opposition had insisted on. Rajoelina hadpreviously said Ravalomanana could not return until the country was stable.

Exiled in South Africa since rebel troops helped topple him in 2009, Ravalomanana hasbeen sentenced in absentia to life in prison for the killings of demonstrators by elite troopsin the run up to his removal.

"We are going to call for the convictions against (Ravalomanana) to be scrapped becausehe was judged by an authority that does not have the competence to try a head of state,"said Mamy Rakotoarivelo, head of Ravalomanana's delegation at the negotiations.

He was referring to the trial being held at a criminal court rather than a High Court of Justice as required by the constitution.

In a national address late on Sunday, Rajoelina said he had accepted the road map becauseit offered the only route to free and fair elections acceptable to both the Malagasy peopleand foreign donors.

###

Gaddafi loyalists say capture 17 foreign mercenaries (Reuters)

http://news.yahoo.com/gaddafi-loyalists-capture-17-foreign-mercenaries-095030646.htmlBy Emma Farge and Maria Golovnina19 September 2011

BENGHAZI/BANI WALID, Libya - Fugitive ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi'sloyalists said on Monday they had captured 17 mercenaries -- some British and French -- inwhat would amount to a sharp setback for the country's new rulers and their internationalbackers.

The claim by Gaddafi spokesman Moussa Ibrahim could not be verified but comes at atime when the new authorities are facing stark reversals on the battlefield and in thepolitical arena.

One month after Gaddafi was driven from power, his loyalists have beaten back repeatedassaults by National Transitional Council forces at the town of Bani Walid and defied

attempts to seize Gaddafi's home city of Sirte. The failed attempts to seize pro-Gaddafibastions have sent NTC fighters fleeing in disarray.

The NTC, still based in the eastern city of Benghazi, has faced questions about whether itcan unify a country deeply divided on tribal and local lines. A long-promised attempt to setup a more inclusive interim government fell apart overnight.

"A group was captured in Bani Walid consisting of 17 mercenaries. They are technical





experts and they include consultative officers," Gaddafi spokesman Ibrahim said onSyria-based Arrai television, which has backed the ousted leader.

"Most of them are French, one of them is from an Asian country that has not beenidentified, two English people and one Qatari."

The French foreign ministry said it had no information about the report. The British foreignministry said it was aware of media reports about the capture of mercenaries but was notable to substantiate them. Qatari officials were not immediately available for comment.

NATO, which is staging air strikes on Gaddafi loyalist positions, says it has no troops onthe ground in Libya. However, Western nations have sent special forces in the past, andmedia have reported that private security firms have aided anti-Gaddafi forces in training,targeting and with leadership.

DEBACLE

The interim government's attempts to seize Bani Walid, 150 km (95 miles) southeast of Tripoli have become a debacle, with forces repeatedly surging into the town only to bedriven out by its pro-Gaddafi defenders.

On Monday, NTC forces were unable to approach the northern gate to attack the townbecause of heavy gunfire from Gaddafi loyalists.

Fighters said on Sunday that they had planned for tanks and pickup trucks with anti-aircraftguns and rocket launchers to lead an attack, but foot soldiers had instead piled in first, onlyto be driven out.

"There is a lack of organization so far. Infantry men are running in all directions," saidZakaria Tuham, a senior fighter with a Tripoli-based unit.

Some fighters openly disobeyed orders. In one incident, an officer from Bani Walid washeckled by troops from Tripoli after he tried to order them to stop randomly shooting in theair as they celebrated seizing a mortar from Gaddafi forces.

NTC forces and NATO warplanes also attacked Sirte, Gaddafi's birthplace. Fighterslaunched rockets from the city's southern entrance and traded fire with Gaddafi loyalistsholed up in a conference center.

"The situation is very dangerous. There are so many snipers and all the types of weaponsyou can imagine," said fighter Mohamed Abdullah as rockets whooshed through the airand black smoke rose above the city.

As in many episodes during Libya's conflict, the front lines at Sirte and Bani Walid havemoved back and forth, with shows of bravado crumbling in the reality of battle.



In Benghazi, interim Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril failed to name a new cabinet whenhis proposals did not receive full backing from all current members.

"We have agreed on a number of portfolios. We still have more portfolios to be discussed,"Jibril told reporters at a news conference on Sunday.

A list of the approved ministries was not available, though sources familiar with thenegotiations said that the position of Jibril himself was a sticking point during the talks.

There was also disagreement about whether it was necessary to form a transitionalgovernment before declaring Libya "liberated", which NTC officials say can only happenwhen remaining Gaddafi loyalists are defeated.

###

Kenya tourist death: Man denies woman's abduction (BBC)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14967360 By Unattributed Author19 September 2011

A Kenyan man has appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to two charges following themurder of a British tourist and the abduction of his wife.

Ali Babitu Kololo denied the abduction of 56-year-old Judith Tebbutt, and a charge of robbery with violence.

David Tebbutt, 58, from Herts, was shot dead at a remote Kenyan resort on 11 September.Somalian pirates are thought to be holding Mrs Tebbutt.

A second Kenyan man, Issa Sheck Saadi, is expected to appear in court later.

It is not clear if the people now holding Judith Tebbutt are the same as those whokidnapped her.

Mr Kololo, who used to work in Kiwayi, the remote resort where the Tebbutts werestaying, says he was forced at gunpoint to lead the gang to the hotel and was not a willingaccomplice.

The BBC's East Africa correspondent, Will Ross, says the court case may shed some lighton the attack itself but it is unlikely to help in the effort to secure Mrs Tebbutt's release.

He said the latest reports indicate she is being held near Haredhere, a pirate base almost 200miles (320 km) up the coast from the Somali capital, Mogadishu - the same area where theBritish couple Paul and Rachel Chandler were held hostage for more than a year.

"These pirates are unlikely to have any kind of compassion for Judith Tebbutt and the fact






that her husband was shot dead in front of her," our correspondent added.

"They are simply going to be after money, and the most likely scenario now is we are goingto hear a ransom demand soon."

British police have been in Kenya to help find Mrs Tebbutt.

The couple come from Bishop's Stortford and their son Oliver lives in Watford.

Somalia has been racked by fighting between various militias for two decades, so weaponsare widely available and there are many armed groups who could be responsible.

###

Sudan and South Sudan sign first border deal (BBC)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14972323?print=true By Unattributed Author

19 September 2011

Sudan and South Sudan have signed an agreement on border crossings - the first accordbetween the two countries since the South's independence in July.

The two sides have agreed to open 10 border crossings to ease travel.

Last week, South Sudan accused the north of damaging its economy through a cargoembargo, in place since May.

For its part, Sudan accuses the South of fuelling conflict in the border regions of South

Kordofan and Blue Nile, an allegation Juba denies.

The agreement, signed in Khartoum and brokered by African Union mediator and formerSouth African President Thabo Mbeki, said the crossings would be guarded by six soldiersfrom each side and another six Ethiopian peacekeepers, the Sudanese news agency reports.

In July, the UN Security Council sanctioned the deployment of 300 Ethiopian troops tomonitor a demilitarised buffer zone between the two countries.

"Today we agreed to open 10 border crossings, to facilitate the movement of people andcommunication between the people of the two countries," Sudan's Defence Minister

Abdelrahim Mohammed Hussein said, after signing the accord with his counterpart, JohnKong, the AP news agency reports.

Despite the deal, the two sides have not yet demarcated their border - especially in Abyei,which is claimed by both sides.

'Backing rebels'






Gen Hussein denied the conflict in Blue Nile and South Kordofan - which had displacedtens of thousands of people - had caused tension between the two countries.

"There are no allegations against the government of South Sudan and there are nodifferences between us on Blue Nile and South Kordofan," he said, AP reports.

Earlier this month, Sudan said it was complaining to the UN Security Council that SouthSudan had sent 25 armed land-cruisers to support rebels in Blue Nile.

Sudan had previously made a similar complaint about South Kordofan, where rebels havebeen fighting pro-Khartoum forces for the last three months.

South Sudan strongly denies the allegations.

During the long north-south civil war, many residents of the two areas fought for the SPLM, which is now the ruling party in the south.

Last week, Sudan ordered 17 political parties, including the SPLM-North, from operating,saying their leaders were now foreigners.

South Sudan has also accused the north of declaring an "economic war" by unilaterallyintroducing a new currency and imposing a cargo embargo in May.

Khartoum said it was acting to protect its own economy ahead of the split.

###

China’s stake in Zambia’s election (BBC) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14952240 By Louise Redvers19 September 2011

China's main area of interest is mining, having bought up on the cheap a number of copper,cobalt and nickel mines, which had been mothballed by Western investors whencommodity prices fell.

Beyond mining and manufacturing, there is also growing Chinese presence withinZambia's retail sector, from imported textiles and electronics, to chickens farmed locallyand sold in city markets.

The country is also home to two of China's six African Special Economic Zones (SEZs)one in Chambishi near Kitwe in the Copperbelt, and the other just outside Lusaka.

These are designated geographic areas with liberal policies and tax incentives to attractforeign companies.






Although there have been repeated allegations - and in some cases hard evidence - of poorlabour conditions and low salaries in Chinese-run mines and factories, the Zambiangovernment remains happy with its new friend because the investment has driveneconomic growth to almost unprecedented levels.

Tight race

The MMD's main opposition, Michael Sata's Patriotic Front (PF), has in the past been verycritical about Chinese labour conditions, and although the party has disputed media reportsit is anti-Chinese, if elected, it is likely to shake up the way contracts are awarded.

And Given Lubinda, a PF parliamentary candidate, said the size of the ruling party'scampaign had been surprising.

"All of sudden they seem to have so much money - whether or not it's coming from theChinese, we don't know, but for all that and the advantages they have had through thestate-owned television and newspapers, we at the PF have the people," he said.

"Everywhere we go, the response has been incredible and the overwhelming mood frompeople on the street is that Zambians want change and that will come with the PF, not fromthe MMD."

The election will be Zambia's fifth since the advent of multi-party democracy in 1991 whenKenneth Kuanda's United National Independence Party was ousted by the MMD.

It is likely to be a very close call between the MMD and the PF - Mr Banda only beat MrSata by 35,000 votes in the 2008 by-election, called following the mid-term death of LevyMwanawasa.

With its promises of jobs and better education, the PF is hoping to win over young votersand the urban poor.

The MMD meanwhile is campaigning on the back of its infrastructure investment - newschools, roads and hospitals - agriculture input programmes, which have led to bumperharvest, and the mine-driven economic growth which has averaged 5.6% since 2001,according to the World Bank.

With the two main presidential candidates in their mid 70s, it is expected it will be their lastelection, which makes the stakes even higher.

Although the country has little history of political violence - apart from street riots in thefinal months of independence leader Kenneth Kaunda's rule, when the economy hadcollapsed - there are some concerns that the closeness of the race this year could raisetensions.

While China and its role in the country has been less of an issue during this campaigncompared with previous years, the Chinese investors are likely to watch very closely who



emerges victorious when the results are announced on Friday.

###

NTC postpones forming government amid clashes (AFP)


By Unattributed Author19 September 2011

The birth of a new government in Libya, due on Sunday, was put off indefinitely amiddisputes over portfolios and as Moamer Kadhafi diehards put up stiff resistance in theirremaining strongholds.

National Transitional Council (NTC) number two Mahmud Jibril said last-minute hagglingdelayed the announcement of the new cabinet line-up before reluctantly announcing to the

media that the unveiling would be postponed indefinitely.

Progress by NTC fighters hoping to crush the last pockets of resistance in Kadhafi bastionsalso appeared stalemated, as the fugitive's loyalists in his hometown of Sirte and the oasisof Bani Walid refused to yield.

"The announcement of a new transitional government has been postponed indefinitely inorder to finalise consultations," Jibril told reporters in Benghazi.

But in an apparent effort to put on a brave face, Jibril said much has been achieved to meteout several portfolios, adding that he expected consultations on the rest to be "overquickly."

"But I believe that an essential part of these consultations was completed today."

The administration will also look into getting women and young people to play a major rolein a new government as deputy ministers and directors general of ministries, he added.

Jibril, a former Kadhafi regime official, has stood accused by some colleagues of failing toconsult enough with long-standing grass roots opposition groups such as the MuslimBrotherhood.

Jibril himself was expected to retain his post as interim premier, while Ali Tarhuni wastouted to be named vice president in charge of economic affairs.

The defence portfolio was expected to go to Osama al-Juwili and oil to Abdel Rahman binYezza.

On the battle front, Kadhafi diehards in his hometown Sirte and in Bani Walid stood theirground as NTC combatants tried to break their morale by preparing for a new








multi-pronged advance.

NTC military spokesman Ahmed Omar Bani said he expected Kadhafi forces in Sirte andBani Walid to be defeated in a "matter of days," and military commanders said they hadgained some ground.

"We are now 38 kilometres (23.5 miles) from Sirte," Mustafa bin Dardaf, a commanderwith the Zintan Brigade, told AFP on the eastern front.

"Since the morning we have taken 20-25 kilometres. Our fighters at this moment haveentered the town of Sultana and are searching for Kadhafi forces."

Earlier in the day, an AFP correspondent reported that new regime forces advancing fromthe east had come under steady rocket and machine-gun fire from Kadhafi loyalists.

He reported at least 12 tanks loaded with fighters massing east of Sirte, along with dozensof pick-ups filled with with anti-aircraft guns and hundreds of combatants.

On either side of the road to Sirte, crouching fighters advanced slowly through the desertscrub.

With doctors at a field hospital reporting at least 10 killed and 40 wounded in the fighting,front line fighters and commanders gave contrasting reports of progress in Sirte.

Men on the ground acknowledged tough opposition while those in charge downplayed theresistance.

"We don't even have five percent of Sirte because we just go in and out," said one fighter,

Abdul Rauf al-Mansuri.

But Bani predicted that "in a few days the situation will completely change in Sirte andBani Walid which will be under our control."

Speaking at a news conference in Tripoli, Bani said the "geographical nature and the strongpresence of snipers" in Bani Walid prevented a quick victory in the oasis, 180 kilometres(110 miles) southeast of Tripoli.

"We managed to enter the town on the north side that we control. We have advancedtowards the centre but we were attacked by snipers and mercenaries who have launched

rockets from the mountains," he said.

Kadhafi loyalists were also putting up stiff resistance in Bani Walid, an AFP correspondentsaid.

The new leadership's forces are trying to take new ground there, with some pushing furtherinto the town as others gathered some six kilometres (3.7 miles) from its centre.



A commander of the NTC fighters told AFP the battle for Bani Walid resumed at middayafter unrelenting clashes from midday on Saturday until early dawn.

Correspondents heard loud explosions and intermittent gunfire from inside the town, androckets exploded near NTC positions on the outskirts.

"There is an unconfirmed number of wounded from today's fighting," Dr Mabruk Kornfansaid.

Some fighters left the town with loyalist prisoners, as residents of Bani Walid fled.

"There is no electricity and no food in the town," Mohammed al-Khazmi told AFP. "Thereare many rebels inside fighting forces loyal to Kadhafi, but they are meeting stiff resistance."

At least seven NTC fighters have been reported killed over the past two days in BaniWalid.

NATO has kept pounding Kadhafi's remaining armour, saying its warplanes hit 11 targetsaround Sirte on Saturday, 11 targets in Al-Jufra oasis and three in Sabha in the deep south.

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END OF REPORT

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