Africa Research Bulletin January 2013

Africa Research Bulletin
Political Social and Cultural Series

Volume 49 Number 12 December 1st31st 2012
was in response to the advance of government troops toward positions captured by the rebels during their lightning three-week advance to within 160km of the capital. President Bozizes appeals for help from former colonial power France and from the United States fell on deaf ears. Although France sent in 100 paratroopers, they were only there to protect French nationals and not the Bozize regime. The US evacuated its nationals. Nightfall in Banguis normally bustling streets brought an eerie quiet to the capital, where authorities enacted a curfew ahead of a possible rebel move on the city. Men carrying machetes and arrows patrolled the deserted roads to ward off would-be looters. Many in the impoverished city of almost a million residents were afraid. Rebels from the coalition known as Seleka, who took up arms on December 10th near the border with Chad and have met little resistance from government troops, on December 30th warned they could enter Bangui. After the December 29th curfew announcement, shops, restaurants and bars quickly shut and trafc on the citys dusty roads all but disappeared. In outlying neighbourhoods, authorities have asked groups of young men to put up roadside barriers to stave off any rebel advance. But some residents grumbled these self-defence groups were extorting locals. These areas are strongholds of Bozize, and at the edge of the ever-shrinking area held by loyalist troops. The CAR army has offered scant resistance to the rebels and is underpaid, poorly organised and ill-equipped. The CAR is predominantly Christian and many say the rebels are largely
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

Rebel Offensive The Seleka coalition of anti-government forces dees UN and AU calls to pull back, seizing key towns in a lightning advance.
Rebels in the Central African Republic said on December 31st that President Francois Bozize must go and vowed to take the key town of Damara, the last strategic settlement between them and the countrys capital, Bangui. They dismissed the presidents offer to form a national unity government. Foreign ministers in the Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC), which sent in troops to try and halt the rebel advance, announced late on December 28th that more troops of the Central African Multinational Force (FOMAC) would be sent. Bozize must go, its clear. We are demanding his exit, that he step down, said the spokesman for rebel coalition Seleka, Eric Massi. He said the demand
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This issue pp. 1951146

North Africa Libya Borders Closed Algeria Security Belt 19514 19515
Mali Prime Minister Resigns 19517 UN Approval At Last 19531 Egypt Referendum Yes Vote 19518 Ghana Presidential Election DR Congo Back From The Brink? December Key Events War Crimes Acquittal Nigeria Security Tightened
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Contents
Continental Alignments 19513 Internal Developments 19516 National Security Military Overseas Relations Social and Cultural Rates Index 19527 19539 19541 19543 19545 19546
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Mont Ngaoui
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Carnot Berbrati Nola
Mbomou
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REP. OF THE 15CONGO
Published monthly since 1964

Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2013.
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http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/arbp
ISSN 0001 9844
19512 Africa Research Bulletin
Social and Cultural
Muslim, leading to discrimination against the religious group. Interior Minister Jose Binoua said the groups were working to help police identify anyone who seems suspicious, but stressed any racketeering or aggression would be sanctioned. Still, witnesses speak of unlawful arrests and disappearances, especially targeting Muslims. Opposition leader and former prime minister Martin Ziguele on December 30th denounced these practices and the search for scapegoats We have no need for extra forces or special organisations to help the security situation, he said. Massi, who has not ruled out attacking the capital, said he is worried about the security situation there and about sus-
pected sympathisers being harassed. He accused the security forces of attacking members of ethnic groups seen as rebel sympathisers the government has previously denied such claims and said that African peacekeepers must be deployed to protect northerners living in Bangui. If they dont do that, we will protect them ourselves, he said. ( AFP, Libreville & Bangui 31/12;BBC news online 31/12)
We will not pull back from our positions on the ground until there is a sincere dialogue with the regime, Michel Djotodia, one of the leaders of the rebel coalition, told AFP on December 20th. Only in this way are we going to maintain the pressure on the Bangui regime, he added, after Seleka forces continued their advance by capturing the key diamond-mining and garrison town of Bria. We are not looking to take power. We just want our rights to be recognised. Chadian Communications and Information Minister Hassan Sylla Bakari said it would play the role of facilitator and negotiations were scheduled. The rebels took Ndele, a major northern town close to the Chadian border, on December 15th. 14 soldiers were killed and 40 missing after the Ndele clashes, according to the army. The rebels then seized the town of Batangafo in the northwest of the country, a military source said, while the army recaptured Kabo in the north. A Central African military ofcial said a Chadian intervention force arrived at Kaga Bandoro, southwest of Ndele, where they joined Central African troops to back them up in the counter-attack aimed at retaking towns that have fallen into the hands of the rebels. The rebels, however, seized Kaga Bandaro on December 25th. With each rebel advance, most government troops have reportedly ed while residents have taken refuge in the bush. Central African Defence Minister JeanFrancois Bozize, the son of the president, said that the army was undertaking withdrawals to organise themselves. Our troops are not falling back, they are using strategies to get organised and to advance, he said. The army is underpaid, under-motivated and badly managed, AFP pointed out. Opposition politicians, former colonial power France, the African Union (AU) and the UN Security Council all called on the rebels to halt their offensive. The AU called for urgent funding and logistical support for the regional peacekeeping mission set up to restore stability. The Mission for the Consolidation of Peace in the CAR (MICOPAX) was set up by the CEEAC after talks in Libreville, Gabon. Despite all these calls and meetings of regional leaders, the rebels continued to advance. Mr Bozize seized power in a coup in 2003 and has twice since been elected into ofce, in 2005 and 2011. Bozize has never fully controlled the north, and
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Threat to Regime In a statement on December 17th, the Seleka coalition said that unless the Bozize administration agreed to discuss its grievances over peace terms, the insurgents would do all they can to change, sooner or later, this predatory regime.
CAR Advance of the Seleka Coalition

Fighters of the Seleka rebel coalition have taken over large parts of the country since taking up arms on December 10th. The Seleka (alliance in the Sango language) coalition was formed in August by dissident factions from two rebel groups that had signed peace deals with the government as well as a third one which has not: the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR), Democratic Front for the Central African People (FDPC), and the Convention of Patriots for Justice and Peace (CPJP). They say the government has not honoured peace accords signed between 2007 and 2011 that offered nancial support and other help for insurgents who laid down their arms. 10th: Heavy ghting breaks out between rebels and forces of the Central African Republic in the key northern city of Ndele, causing many residents to ee. 18th: Seleka rebels seize the central garrison town of Bria, a key hub of the countrys main diamond-mining region. 19th: Chad, whose President Idriss Deby Itno is a close ally of Bozize, sends an intervention force at the Bozize regimes request. 20th: Rebels capture Batangafo, 300km to the north of the capital Bangui. 21st: Northern neighbour Chad hosts a summit of the Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC) to discuss the crisis. Rebels ignore their call to pull back from captured towns within a week, saying they want talks with the government rst. 22nd: Rebels seize two new towns in the middle of the country, a day after one of the alliances leaders claimed they had suspended operations to allow for dialogue. 23rd: Rebels seize the key south-central city of Bambari from government troops. 25th: Rebels seize the major north-central town of Kaga Bandoro, without meeting resistance. 26th: Rebels call on government troops to lay down their arms, saying that President A
Francois Bozize has lost control of the country. Hundreds of demonstrators close to Bozize turn on the French embassy in Bangui, protesting at their failure to intervene to help push back the rebels. The United Nations begins withdrawing nonessential staff from the country while the US advises its citizens to leave. 27th: President Bozize calls for help from the US and France in halting the rebel offensive. French President Francois Hollande says its troops will not interfere in the internal affairs of its former colony. 28th: CEEAC announces that more troops of the Central African Multinational Force (FOMAC) will be sent to the country. The government and Seleka agree to talks without pre-conditions in Libreville, according to CEEAC. 29th: 40 US diplomats including Ambassador Laurence Wahlers - are evacuated to Kenya. Rebels capture the town of Sibut and repel army soldiers who are trying to recapture Bambari. Authorities in Bangui impose a nighttime curfew. More Fomac troops are sent to reinforce a contingent already there. More than 100 French paratroopers have also been sent but only to secure French nationals. 30th: African Union (AU) chief Thomas Boni Yayi, president of Benin, travels to Bangui to try to initiate talks between the government and rebels. He says Bozize is open to a national unity government after talks with rebel ghters, and that he will not run for president in 2016. UN evacuates international staff to Cameroon. 31st: Rebels threaten again to enter the capital and renew their call for the president to stand down, voicing scepticism over his pledge to make concessions. They vow to take Damara, the last key town before the capital, saying this is a response to an advance by government troops toward rebel positions. Brazzaville reportedly sends in 120 troops. ( AFP, Bangui 27,31/12 2012; Independent, London 30/12) B
December 1st31st 2012
Africa Research Bulletin 19513
experts say the latest rebel offensive is a real threat to his regime. The International Committee of the Red Cross said mid-month that it had stepped in to help people eeing the ghting in the north of the country. The
ICRC said nearly 300 people had taken shelter near a camp set up by a CAR peace mission after eeing Ndele. Ndele, a town close to the Chadian border, which lies on busy trade routes linking Sudan and Cameroon, was at the
Day 18/12; AFP, Bangui 14,20/12) Armed attack p. 19503
heart of clashes between different rebel groups and the army between 2007 and 2010. (PANA Addis Ababa 26/12; Business
Continental Alignments
CONFERENCES AND COMMISSIONS
AFRICAN UNION
Kampala Convention Enforced A continental commitment to protect and assist IDPs needs to be followed through with action.
The African Union (AU) Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) 2009, aka the Kampala Convention, came into force on December 6th; it is the worlds rst legally binding instrument to cater specically to people displaced within their own countries. Adopted at an AU summit in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, the Convention required ratication by 15 member countries before it could enter into force; Swaziland became the 15th country to do so on November 12th, joining Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo, Uganda and Zambia. At least 37 AU members have also signed the Convention but not yet ratied it. Among other things, the Convention aims to establish a legal framework for preventing internal displacement, and protecting and assisting IDPs in Africa. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres hailed the development as historic. Stephen Oola, a transitional justice and governance analyst at Ugandas Makerere University Refugee Law Project, noted that the most important parts were the clauses relating to the prevention of internal displacement. It will be important for this continental commitment to be matched by action on the ground, he said. Africa has 9.7m IDPs, according to the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR. The Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and Sudan collectively have more than 5m. UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of IDPs, Chakola Beyani said the
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Convention could contribute to stabilizing displaced populations through the specic obligations it sets out to states and other actors, such as obligations relating to humanitarian assistance, compensation and assistance in nding lasting solutions to displacement as well as accessing the full range of their human rights. The unique added value of this Convention stems from how comprehensive it is and the manner in which it addresses many of the key challenges of our times and, indeed, of Africa, he said in a statement. According to Nuur Sheekh, board member of the Kenya-based Internal Displacement Policy and Advocacy Centre, some states expressed reservations because the issue of displacement is highly politicized, and some states saw it as a criticism of their human rights and governance records. He noted, however, that the Convention would have an inuence, even on those countries that have not signed or ratied it. (IRIN, Nairobi 6/12) Funding Constraints AU Commission chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said on December 4th that the AU faces major funding constraints and should turn to non-traditional backers and not rely on states membership fees alone. In addition to the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the private sector has an important role to play, she said. We need to mobilise business people on the continent and beyond. The AU, traditionally funded by annual fees from member states, lost one of its major bankrollers in 2011 with the death of Libyas Moammer Gaddafy. The annual budget for 2013 is $278m.
( AFP, Addis Ababa 4/12 2012)
German Governments New Africa Strategy, the AU said in a statement. Germany is seeking to bolster cooperation with the AU on areas of peace and security, infrastructure, agriculture, education and capacity building. (PANA,
Addis Ababa 29/11)
SADC
Extraordinary Summit Regional peace tops the agenda and a contribution to the neutral international force for DR Congo takes shape.
The Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), which ended in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, on December 8th, resolved to continue assisting the DR Congo, still ravaged by serious political crisis
(p. 19527).
Angolan Foreign minister, George Chicoty said the summit condemned attacks by the M23, considering it a negative force that has to be combated and welcomed decisions from the International Conference on the Great Lakes (CEPGL) approving SADC participation in an international force. The summit committed itself to deploy the organizations Standby Force in the east where the DR Congo borders both Rwanda and Uganda. The meeting also approved an offer by Tanzania to lead the force and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete said the new force could be ready to go to DR Congo by December 14th. South Africa will provide logistical support. The new forces mission would be to patrol DRCs eastern border with Rwanda and neutralise the various rebel groups active in the region. Tanzania is to immediately release a rst batallion of 800 troops. Zimbabwe will deploy troops for a year as part of the SADC deployment, Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Joey Bimha has said. The summit was preceded by a meeting of the SADC Troika on Peace, Defence and Security Tanzania, South Africa and Namibia. President Jacob Zuma said the meeting had reafrmed the commitment of our region to collectively pursue regional peace and stability, particularly with regard to the security situation in the eastern DRC. Earlier reports put the
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Germany has pledged an additional 30m to back Africas efforts to boost its peacekeeping capability and fund a pilot project to enhance trade within the larger Eastern, Central and Southern Africa region, the AU said. This pledge comes against the backdrop of the
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Continental Alignments
joint force at 4,000 with troops from Angola, Namibia, Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia, Uganda, Burundi and the DR Congo itself. The SADC summit also discussed and noted political progress in Zimbabwe and Madagascar. According to diplomatic circles in Dar es Salaam, the SADC leaders wanted both current Malagasy President Rajoelina and the man he ousted, Marc Ravalomanana, to refrain from standing in Madagascars presidential election set for March 2013. Ravalomanana, in exile in South Africa since his ouster, announced after a meeting with Kikwete in mid-December that he was ready to return home and would not stand for election. Rajoelina had not said anything yet on whether or not he would contest. (PANA, Angop,
Luanda 10,14/12; Daily News, Dar es Salaam 8/12;New Era, Windhoek 11/12)
Nairobi on December 21st in a secure convoy. The visit breathed fresh life into stalled diplomatic cooperation between the two countries, which have recently been bound by security interests Kenya in 2011 sent troops into Somalia as part of the coordinated ght to oust Al-Qaedalinked al Shabaab. They agreed to revitalise the Joint Commission for Cooperation (JCC), signed in September 2005 as the key framework for their bilateral engagements. The two leaders vowed to continue to co-operate in the ght against al Shabaab and other militia that threaten national security of both countries and to establish a joint permanent border commission. Presidents Mwai Kibaki and Mahmud mandated their respective Foreign Affairs Ministers to immediately commence the preparatory work which will culminate in the launch of the JCC which will enhance co-operation in security, cross border issues, economic cooperation, trade, immigration, education as well as cultural exchanges. (PANA,
Nairobi 23/12)
west to the extreme South-east of the country, are also to be placed under emergency rule. The closed borders are to be reopened in coordination with the affected countries. (PANA, Tripoli 17/12) Ali Zidane said that the residents of the southern region of Libya have complained about the insecurity, emphasizing that the Libyan desert had become a transit corridor for all types of trafcking, notably drugs, weapons, and humans. A female deputy who represents the city of Sabha (800km south of Tripoli) in the GNC, Suad Ganur, indicated to AFP that the decision to close the borders was temporary until security had been re-established in the south. She denounced a rise in the ow of illegal immigrants, in anticipation of a potential international military action in Mali. She also deplored the resurgence of violence and drug trafcking and the presence of small armed groups that act with total impunity. (Tout sur
lAlgerie 16/12)
IN BRIEF
Entente Council: The Presidents of the ve members states C^te dIvoire, Burkina o Faso, Benin, Niger, Togo - of Africas oldest cooperation organisation (founded 1959), the Entente Council, held a summit meeting in Niamey, Niger on December 17th. On the political front, the Council discussed the serious threats to security in West Africa and encouraged Burkinas President Blaise Comparore in his mediation efforts in Mali. (PANA, Niamey 14/12; lefaso.net 19/ 12) Gulf of Guinea Commission: A conference on peace and security, held in Luanda at endNovember, focussed on developing strategies to combat the increasingly pervasive scourge of piracy in the resource-rich region. Angola, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe, Gabon, Congo and DR Congo attended. (PANA, Luanda 29/11)
Al Shabaab ghters briey took control of the small town of Bulohawo on the border with Kenya in a battle that left at least 12 dead, military ofcials and witnesses said on November 25th. Al Shabaab attacked the town from three directions and penetrated the barracks of the Somali troops after heavy ghting. They were later forced back.
( AFP, Nairobi 25/11 2012)
Later, on December 19th, Mr Zidane said that a military commander had been appointed for the southern region and military units had begun to be stationed in the south, WAL reported. He added that aerial surveillance would track the movements of border inltrators and the authorities would announce which ofcial crossings were designated for use, warning civilians to adhere to this. (Wal 20/12) Southern members of the National Assembly had been boycotting its sessions since early December in protest at the lawlessness plaguing the region. Almost 200 prisoners escaped from a jail in Sabha on December 4th with the apparent collusion of warders in what deputies described as the nal straw in ending their patience with the authorities security policy. ( AFP, Tripoli 16/12
2012)
NORTH AFRICA
Libya Temporarily Closes Borders Regional countries act to tackle the anticipated and actual surge in insecurity from developments in Mali.
Libya has decided to temporarily shut its land borders with Sudan, Niger, Chad and Algeria to prevent armed groups and refugees involved in the Malian crisis from inltrating the country. The decision was taken during the evening of December 16th by the General National Congress (GNC), the countrys highest authority, following the visit of Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zidane with a large delegation including Chief of Defence Staff, General Yusuf al-Mankouch and Chief of General Intelligence Salam Al-Hassi, to the four countries. According to the decision, adopted by a majority of GNC members 136 votes the regions of Ghadamech, Gaatt, Obari Al-chati, Sebha, Marzok and Kufra, which extend from the extreme SouthB
POLITICAL RELATIONS
KENYA SOMALIA
Border Security Deal Diplomatic and neighbourly ties are boosted during a presidential visit.
Somali President Sheikh Hassan Mohamud ended a two-day state visit to Kenya on December 23rd, his rst since his election, clinching a border security deal with Nairobi. President Mohamud, one of the few Somali heads of state to inspect a Kenyan guard of honour and receive full presidential honours, arrived in
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Sudan and Libya have also agreed to deploy a joint force along their common borders, a measure aimed at dealing with anticipated eruption of insecurity in the region due to the political developments in Mali. The Arabic independent daily, Al-Sudani, quoted the Sudanese ambassador to Libya, Hajj Magid Swar, as saying that Sudan had prepared its forces for the joint deployment while the Libyans were still getting ready. The daily said Sudan would contribute three battalions made up of police, security and customs ofcials to the border patrol which would be deployed at Kufra and other border areas in the following few weeks. (PANA, Khartoum
18/12) C
Can the Decision Be Implemented? Libyas decision to shut its desert frontiers is a tall order for its edgling army, which is ill-equipped to seal largely uninhabited Saharan wastes stretching more than 4,000km. Prime Minister Ali Zidane told the national assembly on December 18th that the measure requires further study and warned that rash decisions should not be made when we are incapable of implementing them. Libya plans to establish one authorised border crossing with each of the four neighbours, army spokesman Ali al-Sheikhi told AFP. Any person who enters or exits at other points will be considered an inltrator, he added. Analysts see the measure as a response to the crisis in Mali, which has sparked calls for international intervention, but say that Libyan security forces simply do not have the means to implement it while they remain in disarray after the 2011 ouster of veteran dictator Colonel Gaddafy. The Mali crisis has crystallised the fact that you have an area where there can be a lot of cross-border criminality, crossborder ux, said Jon Mark, a North Africa analyst at the London-based Chatham House. Some of the ghters and a lot of the guns in Mali came from Libya. The Malian conict forced everyone to focus on the situation, Mark said. Mali does not share a border with Libya but it proved the worst affected by the spillover of ghters and weapons, both Touareg and Islamist, that accompanied the uprising that overthrew Gaddafy. Middle East analyst Shashank Joshi said he was sceptical whether the new measures would make any dent in the ow of arms, people and goods, given that the post-Gaddafy army struggles even to secure the cities of Libyas Mediterranean coast (See p 19530). We are dealing with national armed forces that are extremely weak and have trouble asserting themselves in populous coastal areas, said Joshi, a senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. The killing of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans by Islamist extremists in a September 11th assault in Libyas main eastern city Benghazi highlighted insecurity in the populous north but Joshi said the south could prove more dangerous in the long run. In the longer term the threat is greater in the south because the prospect of politically integrating the south is a lot harder than integrating the east, he warned.
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Ethnic conicts born out of the Gaddafy regimes policy of divideand-rule and aggravated by the 2011 conict have already led to several rounds of ghting in the south that have claimed hundreds of lives in 2012.
MADEIRA ISLANDS (PORT.)

CANARY ISLANDS (SP.)
GIBRALTAR (U.K.)
Rabat
Algiers
Athens
Tunis TUNISIA
MALTA Valletta
MOROCCO
Crete (GR.)
Tripoli Mediterranean
ALGERIA L I B YA
Tropic of Ca ncer
MAURITANIA
Nouakchott
Se n
al eg
Dakar Banjul
MALI
Niger
SENEGAL
Libya analyst Saleh al-Senussi said the decision to declare martial law in the region also reected continuing security concerns about remnants of the Gaddafy regime, some who found refuge in neighbouring Algeria and Niger. The new authorities worried that they might yet exploit the south for subversive activities, Senussi said. ( AFP, Tripoli 18/12
2012)
NIGER
Algerias Security Belt Joint security forces deployed along the Algerian-Malian border area arrested six terrorists in an arid desert area around 30km from Bordj Bedji Mokhtar on the night of December 10th after military aircraft monitored their movements after they entered Algerian territory from Mauritania on their way to northern Mali. Subsequently, security forces set an ambush for the terrorist group which was thought to belong to the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO). Security sources told Algerian newspaper El-Khabar (13/12) that an antiterrorism military unit, supported by elements of the National Gendarmerie, also seized two 4WD vehicles, four RPG missiles, six Kalashnikovs, a heavy gun and a large quantity of ammunition. The newspaper had earlier reported (11/ 12) that the Algerian army had imposed a security belt along the boundaries of Khenchela, El Oued and Tebessa provinces to prevent terrorist elements from eeing to northern Mali to join the Islamist terrorist movements. Other reports told of the Algerian army thwarting attempts by Tunisians and Libyans to join Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQLIM) in the Azawad region Algeria has also closed certain border crossings with Tunisia following clashes with armed men suspected of seeking to join AQLIM in northern Mali. One Tunisian National Guard adjutant died in the ghting near the joint border, Liberte website, Algiers reported (12/ 12).
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In late November, several dozen Algerian jihadists arrived in Timbuktu to reinforce AQLIM there, a regional security source told AFP (27/11). A Malian security source conrmed the information, saying the arrival of more and more Islamist reinforcements is to be expected. Tunisia and Morocco Act: A Tunisian ofcial told Al-Jazeera (15/12) that security forces uncovered a terror cell which has been recruiting extremists and sending them to AQLIM strongholds. Moroccan police also disbanded a cell sending recruits for jihad in Mali, privately-owned newspaper Assabah reported (10/12). The Sale court of appeal sent 25 suspects, including a Malian national, to Sale jail, after a preliminary hearing. Authorities on December 25th said they had broken up an AQLIM recruitment cell in the central Fez region, AFP (25/12) reported. The aim of the cell was to enrol and recruit young Moroccans who have embraced jihadist ideas, in order to send them to AQLIM camps in Algeria, an Interior Ministry statement said. (Sources as
referenced in text)
IN BRIEF
Chad Senegal: Senegals parliament on December 19th adopted a law that will allow a special tribunal to try former Chadian president Hissene Habre who ed to Senegal after his fall in 1990 and faces charges of crimes against humanity. Immediately welcomed by human rights activists, the new law allows the president (Macky Sall) to ratify the agreement between the government of Senegal and the African Union (AU) regarding the creation of special African chambers inside Senegalese jurisdiction to try Habre, APS news agency reported. ( AFP, Dakar 19/12 2012) Ethiopia Eritrea: Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said in a December 5th interview with Al Jazeera that he was willing to hold talks with arch-foe and neighbour Eritrea. No Ethiopian leader has held talks with Eritrean President Issaias Afeworki since the end of a bitter border war in 2000, in C
19516 Africa Research Bulletin which at least 70,000 people died. ( AFP, Addis Ababa 5/12 2012) Mozambique South Africa: South African investigators will inquire into the plane crash that killed Mozambiques Marxist president Samora Machel 26 years ago, police said on December 12th, after a tip-off that apartheidera ofcials engineered the crash. Mr Machels death plunged the region into crisis, as African governments accused South Africas then-white rulers of assassinating him. South Africas Times newspaper reports that President Jacob Zuma had sanctioned the inquiry launched by the elite police unit, the Hawks. ( AFP, Johannesburg 12/12; BBC News Online 12/12) South Sudan Sudan: The two countries failed to meet the African Union (AU) deadline to reach an agreement on the contested Abyei region by December 5th, but agreed to resume negotiations in Addis Ababa on January 13th, 2013. Sudanese Defence Minister, Abdul Rahim Mohamed Hussein, said Sudan had accepted a roadmap presented by the African joint Mission in Abyei chairman related to the demilitarised zone and the 14 mile area and that the implementation of security arrangements between Khartoum and Juba, will pave the way for implementation of all other agreements. (Sudanese Media Centre website, Khartoum 20/12; AFP, Addis Ababa 4/12 2012)
Internal Developments Armed groups from South Sudan clashed on December 25th with Arab tribesmen in Samaha, a ashpoint border region disputed between Khartoum and Juba. (Misna 27/12) Ethiopian Prime Minister Haile Mariam Desalegn, in Khartoum for a two-day visit, on December 26th reviewed progress in implementation of the joint cooperation agreement between Khartoum and Juba. (PANA, Khartoum 26/12) South Sudan Uganda: The two have signed a pact in Kampala to cement their political and security cooperation as a way of strengthening peace. They will carry out joint border consultations and demarcation. (The New Vision, Kampala 7/12)
Internal Developments
GOVERNMENT APPOINTMENTS
ETHIOPIA
New Ministers The premier seeks to achieve better regional representation in the cabinet.
Parliament on November 29th conrmed the appointment of two new deputy Prime Ministers and a new Foreign Minister to complete a new balancing of power within the ruling coalition since the death of long-serving Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi. Top ruling party ofcial, Mukhtar Kedir, was named deputy Prime Minister and tasked with leading the ght against corruption as the governments coordinator of good governance and reforms. Information and Communication Minister Debretsion Gebremichael was named deputy Prime Minister in charge of nance and the economic sector, part of reforms introduced after Meless death to soothe various power interests.within the ruling Ethiopian Peoples Democratic Revolutionary Front (EPRDF). Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegns list of new cabinet nominees was unanimously approved by parliament. He appointed former Health Minister Tewodros Adhanom as the new Foreign Minister, replacing Berhane Gebrekristos, who had been acting on the post since Hailemariams rise to the premiership. The other notable appointee in the new cabinet was Keseteberhan Admassu, the new Health Minister. (PANA, Addis
Ababa 29/11)
MALAWI
Cabinet Reshufe A controversial appointment as elections overseer is rescinded.
President Joyce Banda dropped former vice-president Cassim Chilumpha as Energy Minister in a mini cabinet reshufe on December 6th. Tourism Minister Daniel Liwimbi was also sacked. Chilumpha, who while being vice-president, was charged by the late president Bingu wa Mutharika for treason, was replaced with Ibrahim Matola. Vice President Khumbo Kachali was also removed as Minister of Health. However, he was given responsibilities over National Relief and Disaster Management, National Public Events Ofce, Central Government Stores, Department of Printing Services and the Electoral Commission (MEC). This last appointment provoked strong criticism from commentators who feared for the independence of the elections body. But Information Minister, Moses Kunkuyu, who is government spokesman, defended the move, saying President Banda had put the MEC under the vice-presidents ofce for the smooth running of the 2014 elections. Malawi will in that year hold presidential, parliamentary and ward elections together for the rst time. Banda also hired former International Monetary Fund (IMF) economist Goodall Gondwe, as the new Minister of Economic Planning and Development. Gondwe, who was Finance Minister under the late President Mutharika, replaced Atupele Muluzi, son of former president Bakili Muluzi, who resigned his cabinet job in November under protest after his cabinet colleagues derided his presidential ambitions. Solicitor General Anthony Kamanga was appointed Attorney General, taking
The government list is now as follows:

President: Woldegiorgis Girma Prime Minister: Desalegn Hailemariam Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Education: Mekonen Demeke Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Finance and Economy: Gebremikael Debretsion Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Good Governance and Reform: Kedir Muktar Ministers Agriculture: Derbew Tefera Cabinet Affairs: Kedir Muktar Civil Service: Kedir Muktar Communication and Information Technology: Gebremikael Debretsion Culture and Tourism: Amin Abdulkadir Defence: Fegisa Siraj Education: Mekonen Demeke Federal Affairs: Teklemariam Shiferaw Finance: Ahmad Sufyan Foreign Affairs: Adhanom Tewodros Health: Admasu Keseteberhan Industry: Manyazewal Mekonen Justice: Hailu Berhan Mines: Ejigu Sinknesh Science and Technology: Dalkie Desie Trade: Chane Kebede Transport: Kuma Diriba Urban Development and Construction: Haile Mekuria Water and Energy: Tegenu Alemayehu Women, Children and Youth Affairs: Tadese Zenebu Works and Social Affairs: Abdulfatah Abdallah Hasan Ofcials of Ministerial Rank Adviser Minister to the Prime Minister: Oukbay Mitiku Arkebe Chief Economic Adviser at the Prime Ministers Ofce: Gebreab Neway Director of the Revenue and Customs Authority: Fenta Melaku Government Chief Whip: Mamo Aster Head of Government Communications Affairs Ofce: Simon Wolde Bereket Nile Basin Affairs Adviser to the Prime Minister: Jarso Shiferaw
(Ethiopian TV, Addis www.ethiopia.gov.et/)
Ababa
29/11;
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Home Affairs and Internal Security: Uladi Mussa Information and Civic Education: Moses Kunkuyu Kalongashawa Justice and Constitutional Affairs: Ralph Kasambara Labour: Eunice Makangala Lands and Housing: Henry Phoya Local Government and Rural Development: Grace Maseko Mining: John Bande Minister Responsible for National Relief and Disaster Management, National Public Events Ofce, Central Government Stores, Department of Printing Services: Khumbo Hastings Kachala Minister Responsible for Statutory Corporations, Civil Service Administration, Nutrition, HIV and Aids, National Registration Programme and the Green Belt Initiative: Joyce Hilda Banda Tourism and Culture: Rachel Zulu Mazombwe Trade and Industry: Sosten Gwengwe Transport and Public Works: Sidik Mia Water Development and Irrigation: Ritchie Biswick Muheya Youth and Sports: Enock Chakufwa Chihana National Coordinator for Maternal, Infant and Child Health, HIV, Nutrition, Malaria and Tuberculosis: Dorothy Ngema
over from Justice Minister Ralph Kasambara who combined the two positions. Kasambara, who also served under Mutharika as Attorney General, remains Justice Minister. A statement from the Ofce of the President and Cabinet did not give reasons why President Banda sacked Chilumpha and Liwimbi. These were the rst changes to cabinet made by President Banda since she took ofce in April following the sudden death of President Mutharika. (PANA, Blantyre
6,7/12)
observers say it was clear he was strong-armed. The latest episode of the Malian crisis looks like a quasi-coup carried out by the former but still inuential military junta and its allies, said Londonbased analyst Samir Gadio. A member of Diarras family, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP the former premier was under house arrest. There are soldiers at his house and he is not free to move around. ( AFP 11/12
2012)
The Malawian daily newspaper, The Nation website (11/12) reported that while the president herself had justied her appointment of Kachali to oversee the MEC, stakeholders, including members of the commission itself, had intensied their protests arguing the appointment was illegal. Malawi Law Society (MLS) president John Gift Mwakhwawa criticised the assigning of the MEC to the VicePresident, saying the move posed a very serious threat to the independence of the electoral body. Meanwhile the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) threatened to take action if the President stuck to her stand. (The Nation website, Blantyre 11/12) The Nyasa Times reported on December 19th that President Banda had rescinded Kachalis appointment in response to the concerns raised by the various stakeholders. Even the British High Commissioner to Malawi, Michael Nevin was quoted in the press as saying that the independence of the MEC was vital as is the perception of a credible election. President Banda nonetheless believed that Kachali would have discharged the role delegated to him in a manner consistent with the law. The Malawi government list is now as follows:
President: Joyce Hilda Banda Vice-President: Khumbo Hastings Kachali Ministers Agriculture and Food Security: Peter Mwanza Defence: Ken Edward Kandodo Disability and Elderly Affairs: Rene Bessie Kachere Economic Planning and Development: Goodall Gondwe Education, Science and Technology: Eunice Kazembe Energy: Ibrahim Matola Environment and Climate Change Management: Jennifer Chilunga Finance: Dr Ken Lipenga Foreign Affairs, and International Cooperation: Ephraim Mganda Chiume Gender, Children and Social Welfare: Anita Kalinde Health: Catherine Gotani Hara
Cheick Modibo Diarra had become a danger to the country, said Captain Sanogo who also slammed him for his refusal to recognise the authority of the President, travelling constantly without being accountable to anyone and putting the country in a situation of institutional deadlock. He also said that the former prime minister did nothing for the army in its efforts to retake control of northern Mali, occupied for more than eight months by armed Islamist groups.
(PANA 12/12)
(nyasatimes.com/ 7,19/12) UDF president p. 19484A
MALI
Prime Minister Resigns Will the new, neutral premier be better able to unite the people?
The Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra quit on December 11th under pressure from inuential former putschists, a move slammed by the international community which urged the swift formation of a new government. The UN Security Council condemned the arrest of Diarra by soldiers on orders from former coup leader Captain Amadou Sanogo, which was followed several hours later by his resignation in what one analyst dubbed a quasi-coup. Diarras resignation came a day after the EU approved plans to deploy a military training mission of some 250 troops to Mali to help the government regain control of the vast semi-desert north
(See p. 19531).
Hours later, interim President Dioncounda Traore named Django Sissoko as Prime Minister to replace Cheick Modibo Diarra. His rst task would be to
Mali Django Cissoko

The new Prime Minister, Django Cissoko, is a veteran civil servant who has served several regimes over the past three decades and is now tasked with reuniting a nation split in two by Islamic extremists. He previously served as state ombudsman, appointed in May by the interim authorities who took over a few weeks after the coup. He is not a member of any political party and is considered neutral towards interim President Dioncounda Traore as well as inuential former coup leader Amadou Sanogo. Cissoko studied philosophy and language in Mali before entering the National Administration School and heading to France where he received a doctorate in law in 1985. He rst became a civil servant in 1971 and has since held several government posts, particularly in the prison system and in several ministries. He was secretary general in the presidency of Moussa Traore and in 1984 was appointed Justice Minister. Cissoko also served as secretary general for Amadou Toumani Toure who was ousted in March. He also served as Malis representative in various nancial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. ( AFP 12/12 2012)
The 60-year-old astrophysicist and former chairman of Microsoft Africa was seized at home by soldiers late on December 10th and hours later at dawn went on state television to announce he was stepping down. I, Cheick Modibo Diarra, resign with my government, he said solemnly. A spokesman for Sanogos former junta in Europe, Bakary Mariko, told France 24 television the sequence of events was not a new coup detat but
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form a new government representative of all parts of society. Condemnation . . . Then Relief In response to the forced resignation of Diarra, regional groupings were swift to condemn the move. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was troubled to learn of the events leading to the resignation of the prime minister, acccording to the president of the regional blocs executive commission, Kadre Desire Ouedraogo. ECOWAS condemns any action, in particular by soldiers, against any member of the transitional government, he added, saying Mali needed an inclusive, representative government. The African Union (AU) expressed its dissatisfaction with the forced removal of the former premier. AU Commission President Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma also warned the Malian military against its continued meddling in the affairs of the state and reiterated calls for the soldiers to always retain their position behind the civilian authorities. In light of events that occurred earlier, the chairperson condemned the conditions under which the outgoing Prime Minister Cheikh Diarra resigned, said a statement issued on December 12th. Despite the manner of Diarras departure, Dlamini-Zuma nevertheless welcomed the appointment of a new prime minister. She also expressed hope at the early establishment of an inclusive government. The AUs comments followed similar condemnation by the United Nations and United States. On December 11th, Washington called Diarras departure a setback in the West African nations efforts to restore democracy. The UN Security Council meanwhile said the action contravened repeated UN calls on Malis military to stop interfering in the west African nations transition. The 15-nation body stressed its commitment to authorising as soon as possible the deployment of an African-led international support mission in Mali. More positively, the EU foreign policy head Catherine Ashton on December 12th hailed Cissokos nomination, saying that he was a gifted negotiator with good knowledge of Malis political scene who had an ability to bring people together. Gilles Yabi of the International Crisis Group told AFP that optimistically Cissoko could unblock the situation. He is a more reliable, competent and impartial representative than Diarra
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was. (PANA, Bamako; AFP 11,12/12

2012)
Prime Minister Django Cissoko announced his government, according to a decree read on state television on December 15th, four days after he was named to the post. Cissoko had previously told AFP he was working on the formation of a unity government representative of all parts of the troubled nations society. Defence Minister Colonel Yamoussa Camara, Foreign Minister Tieman Coulibaly and Economy Minister Tienan Coulibaly, who held posts in the previous administration, also joined the ranks of the new government, interim President Dioncounda Traore said in his decree. The government list is now as follows:
Prime Minister: Diango Cissoko Ministers Finance: Tienan Coulibaly Defence: General Yamoussa Camara Foreign Affairs: Tiemam Hubert Coulibaly Lands: Colonel Moussa Sinko Coulibaly Mines: Amadou Baba Sy Education: Bocar Moussa Diarra Higher Education: Messa Ould Mohamed Lady Labour: Mamadou Namory Traore African Integration: Demba Traore Internal Security: General Tieng Konate Agriculture: Baba Berthe Justice: Malick Coulibaly Transport: Lt-Col. Abdoulaye Koumare Health: Soumana Makadji Trade and Industry: Abdel Karim Konate Tourism: Yaya Ag Mohamed Ali Housing, Urban Planning and Land Affairs: David Sagara Employment: Diallo Dedia Mahamane Kattra Post Ofce and New Technologies: Brehima Tolo Families: Alwata Ichata Sahi Energy and Water: Makan Tounkara Environment: Ousmane Ag Rhissa Youth and Sports: Hameye Foune Mahalmadane Humanitarian Action: Mamadou Sidibe Farming and Fishing: Diane Mariam Kone Religious Affairs: Yacouba Traore Culture: Bruno Maiga Communications, government spokesman: Manga Dembele Minister delegate to the Finance Minister: Marimpa Samoura Minister delegate to the Lands Minister: Abdourahmane Oumar Toure
reports Africa Condential. Two days later, Pohamba re-appointed Geingob as Prime Minister in a major cabinet reshufe. With surprising ease, Geingob saw off rivals Jerry Ekandjo, Minister of Regional and Local Government, and Justice Minister Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana. Pohamba headed off any faction-ghting by rapidly moving 18 ministers, including new faces at Defence, Foreign Affairs, Home Affairs, Justice and Safety and Security. AFP added that Pohamba told journalists he had shifted former Prime Minister, Nahas Angula, who had been in the post for nearly eight years, to the defence ministry. Geingob, who returns to the premiership after a 10-year absence, had spent years in the political wilderness after being axed by founding president Sam Nujoma. While prime minister in 2002, he rejected a demotion to local government minister, deciding instead to move abroad and later serve as a backbencher for the ruling SWAPO Party. The new cabinet left most control in the hands of party moderates. None of the more hardline candidates made it into SWAPOs top three contested jobs. At rst it had looked as though IivulaIthana and Ekandjo would combine to defeat Geingob but she had thrown in her lot with Geingob. She was appointed Home Affairs Minister. Ekandjo was totally outmanoeuvred. Utoni Nujoma, son of Sam Nujoma, had nominated Iivula-Ithana but switched to Ekandjos camp. The elder Nujomas inuence is waning; he did not endorse a specic candidate but made a plea for more female representation, which looked like support for Iivula-Ithana. She drew only about 11% of the vote, however, against Ekandjos 37% and Geingobs 52%. The speed with which Pohamba announced his new government suggested that he may be considering retirement before 2014. He is not well and the party constitution provides for his deputy to serve out the remainder of his term. In many circles, Geingobs elevation was greeted by a collective sigh of relief. It arrests the drift towards innerparty tribalism and the loud, Youth League-led clamour to nationalise land and business. (Africa Condential 14/12) The government is now as follows:
President: Hikepunye Lukas Pohamba Prime Minister: Hage G. Geingob Deputy Prime Minister: Marco Hausiku Ministers Agriculture, Water and Forestry: John Mutorwa Defence: Nahas Angula Education: Abraham Iyambo
( AFP 15,16/12 2012)
NAMIBIA
Prime Minister Dismissed The new cabinet is controlled by party moderates.
The governing SWAPO party surprised friend and foe alike by electing Hage Geingob, 72, as its presidential successor to President Hikepunye Pohamba,
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Environment and Tourism: Uahekua Herunga Finance: Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila Fisheries and Marine Resources: Bernard Esau Foreign Affairs: Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah Gender Equality and Child Welfare: Rosalia Nghidinwa Health and Social Services: Richard Kamwi Home Affairs and Immigration: Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana Information and Communication Technology: Joel Kaapanda Justice: Utoni Nujoma Labour and Social Welfare: Doreen Sioka Lands, Resettlement and Rehabilitation: Alpheus Naruseb Mines and Energy: Isak Katali Presidential Affairs: Albert Kawana Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development: Maj-Gen (retd) Charles Dickson Ndaxu Phillip Namoloh Safety and Security: Immanuel Ngatjizeko Trade and Industry: Calle Schlettwein War Veterans Affairs: Nickey Iyambo Works and Transport: Erikki Nghimtina Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture: Jerry Ekandjo Attorney-General: Albert Kawana Director-General, Namibia Central Intelligence Service (NCIS): Lukas Petrus Hangula Director-General, National Planning Commission: Peter Hitjitevi Katjavivi
Ferreira da Costa had been appointed to succeed Patrice Trovoada. Ferreira da Costa had already briey served as prime minister in 2002. He had backed Pinto da Costas candidacy in 2011. After the ADI refused to appoint a new premier, the assemblys second party MLSTP/PSD nominated Ferreira da Costa from a political group without parliamentary representation. The government is now as follows:
President: Manuel Pinto da Costa Prime Minister: Gabriel Arcanjo Ferreira da Costa Ministers Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development: Antonio Alvaro da Graca Dias Defence and Internal Order: Oscar Aguiar Sacramento e Sousa Education, Culture and Training: Jorge Bom Jesus Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Communities: Natalia Pedro da Costa Umbelino Neto Health and Social Affairs: Leonel Pinto e Assuncao Pontes Justice, Public Administration and Parliamentary Affairs: Edite Ramos da Costa Tenjua Planning and Finance: Helio Silva Vaz dAlmeida Public Works, Infrastructure, Natural Resources and the Environment: Osvaldo Cravid Viegas dAbreu Trade, Industry and Tourism: Demostenes Vasconcelos Pires dos Santos Youth and Sport: Albertino Francisco Boa Morte
(www.gov.na 5/12)
~ SAO TOME E PR INCIPE

No-Condence Vote The new Prime Minister will have to build consensus and stability.
President Manuel Pinto da Costa has dismissed Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada and his government following a nocondence vote in the unstable African archipelago known for its long string of premiers, an ofcial spokesman said. Since 1990 and the installation of democracy in what is one of the worlds poorest countries, 15 prime ministers have succeeded each other at the head of different governments, often based on fragile coalitions. The presidential decree followed a no-condence motion against Trovoada premier since 2010 at the national assembly, a presidential spokesman announced on state television on December 5th. President Pinto da Costa then invited Trovoadas Independent Democratic Action (ADI) party to form a new government. The ADI responded by calling for a large demonstration in protest against the decree, which was seen as a blow to the party. Deputies from the other three parliamentary parties had all voted for the nocondence motion that the ADI had tried to avoid through political dialogue. On December 10th, AFP reported that a consensus builder, Gabriel Arcanjo
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( AFP, www.jornal.st 5,10/12 2012)
CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES
EGYPT
Referendum Yes Vote President Mursi pushes through his charter, paving the way for legislative elections.
Voting began in Egypt on December 15th in a staggered referendum on a new constitution largely drafted by Islamists allied to President Mohamed Mursi. Half of the countrys 51m voters were called to decide the draft charter, with the other half to vote on December 22nd, said AFP (15/12). Egypts secular-leaning opposition strongly protested against the proposed constitution, which it saw as a possible wedge to introduce sharia-style law. Weeks of protests preceded the referendum. Clashes in Cairo in early December left eight people dead and more than 600 injured.
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Mursis Muslim Brotherhood had organised large rallies and a campaign in favour of the draft constitution, while the main opposition coalition, the National Salvation Front (NSF), mulled a boycott before instead urging Egyptians to vote against the charter, which rights groups say limits the freedoms of minorities and women. Egypts army was temporarily given police powers to help ensure security until the nal results of the referendum were known. A total of 120,000 soldiers supported the 130,000 police deployed. Mursis camp argued that the draft constitution, drawn up by an Islamistdominated panel, was needed to complete the transition from the 30-year regime of Hosni Mubarak, the leader toppled in the revolution early in 2011. The opposition denounced the way the referendum was rammed through with no consensus on the constitution. Many of Egypts judges said they would not oversee the vote, forcing the split voting. BBC News Online (16/12) reported that despite violent incidents across Egypt, the rst round of the ballot had gone smoothly overall. Most observers believed that, whatever the strength of feeling on each side of the argument, the Muslim Brotherhood was better organised, and so more likely to win. The NSF meanwhile expressed deep concern over the number of irregularities and violations in the holding of the referendum. This, it alleged, pointed to a clear desire for vote-rigging by the Muslim Brotherhood. However, the Egyptian armys chief of staff, Gen Sedky Sobhi, told the BBC he was satised with the situation inside and outside polling stations. (BBC News
Online 16/12)
The Muslim Brotherhood, which propelled Mr Mursi to ofce in June, said 56.5% of voters backed the text. Ofcial results would not be released until after the next round. The second round of voting took place on December 22nd. The results were announced on Nile News TV on December 25th by the High Election Commission: 63.8% of eligible voters voted in favour of the new constitution, while 32.2% voted against it. The total number of yes votes was 10,693,911, with 6,061,101 against. The electoral roll had been updated by November 30th, so that 960,385 new voters were added to the voter list. The total number of eligible voters, including Egyptian expatriates, was 51,332,375 against 50,371,990 registered voters in the last presidential election.
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Egypt Constitution Main Provisions

Islam remains the ofcial religion of the country. The previous formulation, saying the principles of sharia are the main source of legislation, is maintained. However, these principles are broadened to include Sunni Muslim doctrinal interpretations. Freedom of faith is guaranteed but only for followers of Islam, Christianity and Judaism, not for other religions. The president is limited to ruling for two consecutive four-year terms, instead of indenitely as under Mubarak. The defence minister is chosen from within the military. Also, the militarys budget will be decided by a committee dominated by military ofcers, effectively making it independent of civilian oversight. Civilians will not be tried in military courts except in cases where the crimes are susceptible to harm the armed forces. The opposition and human rights groups demand that this vaguely dened exception be removed. The charter upholds the equality of citizens under the law without discrimination, but omits an explicit mention of equality of the sexes. Freedom of expression is protected except when it comes to insults against physical persons or insults towards the prophets. Some fear those exceptions open the door to censorship. The state is the designated protector of public morals and order. It is forbidden for Egypt to sign international treaties and conventions that go against the constitution. Rights groups criticise the absence of an explicit reference to respect for international human rights conventions. ( AFP 15/12 2012)
But while he said mistakes on both sides occurred as the new charter was drafted and put to a referendum, he remained deant over the difcult decisions he made. The result, he contended, holding up the constitution, would cap nearly two years of turmoil since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in February 2011, and allow Egypt to enter an era with greater security and stability. It was a new dawn for Egypt, he said. The Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister announced his resignation on December 27th. Mohammed Mahsoub said he was stepping down because many policies and efforts contradict my personal convictions, according to his letter published on the Facebook page belonging to a leader of his moderate Islamist Wasat party. He also criticised the governments failure to recover funds allegedly embezzled by members of ousted leader Hosni Mubaraks regime. His resignation came two days after that of Communications Minister, Hany Mahmud, who blamed the current situation in the country. ( AFP 26,27/12
2012) Mursis new powers p. 19482A
Somalia
Jubbaland: Five committees have been established to set up a regional authority in the Jubbaland State, southern Somalia. The committees will prepare a convention of delegates from Lower Jubbe, Middle Jubba and Gedo Regions, who will discuss and ratify the Jubbaland State Charter that legally establishes Jubbaland. A new Jubbaland State parliament will then be formed, and will elect a state president, for which post Ahmad Muhammad Islam is the frontrunner. Somali President Hasan Shaykh Mahmud has opposed the creation of Jubbaland, preferring instead to appoint a local governor from Mogadishu. (Garoweonline.com 30/11) Somaliland: Local elections in the selfdeclared nation of Somaliland were largely peaceful and transparent, international observers said on December 3rd, but noted concern at weaknesses in safeguards against multiple voting. Council elections across the northern Somali region, a rare area of relative stability compared to war-torn southern Somalia, took place on November 28th, with over 2,300 candidates contesting for 379 positions. ( AFP 3/12 2012) However, Muhammad Ahmad Gabose of the opposition Ummada party rejected the results of the elections, accusing the ruling Kulmiye party of electoral fraud. He claimed the government had mismanaged the elections and that his party would never accept the results. The electoral commission had earlier announced it would recount votes cast in Hargeisa after clashes between police and supporters of opposition parties left at least two people dead. (Horn Cable TV, Hargeisa 11/12)
ELECTIONS
BURKINA FASO
Parliamentary Elections The ruling party wins a landslide.
With results from all but one province out in the December 2nd parliamentary polls, the ruling Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP) had won a comfortable majority with 58 seats of the 127-seat national assembly, it was announced on December 7th. The only results still expected were those from the Kadiogo province in Ouagadougou, the Burkinabe capital. On December 21st, the constitutional council conrmed a landslide victory by parties backing President Blaise Compaore. The council brushed away opposition charges of fraud and said Compaores allies won a total of 97 seats in the assembly, including 70 for his CDP. The elections were the rst since a deep crisis erupted in the west African country in early 2011, when a wave of mutinies and violent popular protests almost toppled the administration of Compaore, who has been in power since a 1987 military coup.
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The referendum turnout was 17,058,317 voters or 32.9%. Valid votes were 16,755,012, and invalid votes hit 303,395 votes. (Nile News TV, Cairo 25/12) President Mursi signed the new constitution into law on December 26th, despite the weeks of opposition protests. The Islamist-dominated senate convened to swear in 90 new members appointed by the president. It was expected to draft a law for legislative elections for the dissolved lower house that have to be held by the end of February. The NSF coalition said it would vie for seats in the parliament, which has powers under the new charter that could hamper Mursis ability to govern. The coalition would legally contest the referendum, which it claims was riddled by fraud. In a televised national address, Mursi said he would reshufe his government and renewed an offer of dialogue with the largely secular opposition.
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The vote was the last major test of Compaores regime before a presidential election in 2015 in the impoverished landlocked country. Some of Compaores supporters want him to change the constitution so he can stand again in three years time, when his mandate expires. The National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced that the newlyformed Union for Progress and Change (UPC) was in second place with 19 seats while the Alliance for Democracy and Federation and the African Democratic Rally (ADF-RDA) performed better than it did in the last parliamentary election (when it won only 5 seats), clinching 19 seats. The Union for the Republic (UPR) took four seats followed by the Party of Social Democracy (PDS/Meteba) with three seats. The National Union for Democracy and Development (UNDD), led by lawyer Hermann Yameogo won just one seat in Koudougou, its stronghold, while opposition Union for the Renaissance/Socialist
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Algeria
Local Elections: In local and municipal elections held on November 29th, the ruling National Liberation Front (FLN) came out on top in a widely-expected result. Voter turnout, considered the only real issue in the polls, was ofcially pegged at 44.27%, with the FLN winning an outright majority in 159 municipalities, out of 1,541, and scoring the highest vote in 832 communes. The Rally for National Democracy (RND) of former prime minister Ahmed Ouyahia, another party in the presidential alliance, came second, winning an outright majority in 132 municipalities and the highest score in 132 communes. These parties were followed by independents, which took control of 17 municipalities, and by secular opposition party the Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD), which won 13 communes outright in the eastern Kabylie region, its heartland. A surprise winner in the elections was the new Popular Algerian Movement, which won 12 communes. Founded by Environment Minister Amara Benyounes, the party was authorised under political reforms introduced by the president in April 2011, in the wake of Arab Spring unrest. Among the reforms was an agreement to allow for the formation of dozens of new political parties, some of which took part in the May parliamentary election. The elections were clouded by a number of violent incidents, with the leader of the banned FIS, Abassi Madani, calling from his base in Qatar for a massive boycott of the vote, to expose the Algerian regime and its oppressive practices. ( AFP 30/11 2012; El-Khabar website, Algiers 30/11) FFS Leader Steps Down: Veteran dissident Hocine Ait Ahmed is to step down as leader of the Socialist Forces Front which he has led since founding it in 1963. Ait Ahmed, 86, is the sole surviving member of the nationalist leadership that launched the war for independence from French colonial rule on November 1st, 1954. Born on August 20th, 1926 in Ain ElHamman in the Kabylie region, east of the capital, Ait Ahmed was elected to Algerias rst post-independence parliament but fell out with president Ahmed Ben Bella and founded the FFS to lead an uprising against his rule. He was arrested in 1964 and sentenced to death but later pardoned. He escaped in April 1966 to settle in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he lived in exile for 23 years before returning to Algiers in December 1989. In July 1992, shortly after the outbreak of Algerias devastating civil war, he went back into exile, from where he was a leading champion of dialogue with the Islamist opposition. In January 1995, he signed the SantEgidio agreement with the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) in Rome. He had planned to stand for president in 1999 but he and ve other candidates withdrew alleging fraud. He still lives in Switzerland. The FFS holds 27 seats in the 462-member national assembly. ( AFP 22/ 12 2012)
On December 11th, AFP reported that Akufo-Addo had refused to admit defeat in the election, and he vowed to challenge the results in court. Speaking at a rally of several hundred people in the capital, Akufo-Addo urged supporters to remain peaceful, but spoke out strongly against the results after his NPP alleged a pattern of fraud in the election. We are not accepting the results that were declared by the electoral commission, he said. That is the ofcial position of the New Patriotic Party. Other speakers at the rally however took a more militant tone, declaring no justice, no peace and spoke of a constitutional coup. The decision to go to court comes with the country under pressure to maintain its reputation as a stable democracy in turbulent West Africa. Local election observers, citing their own ndings, have said they support the results showing Mahama won. Stakes in the election were especially high in the country of 24m people with a booming economy fuelled in part by a new and expanding oil industry. Mahama received welcome support from Washington on December 11th as the White House urged all Ghanaians to accept the result of their election and congratulated him on his victory. Observers from the Commonwealth, West African bloc ECOWAS and local group, the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) all said the vote appeared peaceful and transparent. After the ofcial results were announced, CODEO called them generally an accurate reection of how Ghanaians voted in the December 7th polls, based on the groups own ndings from its observers deployed throughout the country. Addressing a celebratory crowd of supporters in central Accra on December 11th, Mahama sought to move the country past the hard fought campaign. I wish to welcome my fellow candidates to join me now as partners in creating a better Ghana, he said, after previously calling on his rivals to respect the voice of the people. (Africa Condential
14/12)
Party (UNIR/PS), led by lawyer Bnwend Sankara, won two seats. e e e Out of 4,365,153 registered voters, a total of 3,315,795 votes were validated, making turnout 75.96%. The head of the African Union (AU) observer mission in Burkina Faso, Bernard Makuza, hailed the parliamentary and municipal elections, describing them as free and fair, but he noted a lack of interest among the people, especially in the cities. On December 28th, Soungalo Apollinaire Ouattara, 56, was elected Speaker of Burkinas Parliament, replacing Roch Marc-Christian Kabore. He was previously Minister for the Civil Service and Labour. (PANA, Ouagadougou 4,7/,2812;
AFP 21/12 2102)
GHANA
Tight Vote Mahama wins the presidential election, but Akufo-Addo refuses to concede, claiming fraud.
Ghana went to the polls on December 7th to elect a new president and parliaA
ment. President John Dramani Mahama was seeking a full term in ofce at the head of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) party. He became interim leader after the death of President John Atta Mills in July. His main challenger was Nana Akufo-Addo of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), whose father led the country between 1970 and 1972. There was a total of eight candidates for the presidency, including Henry Herbert Lartey, Papa Kwesi Nduom, Akwasi Addai Odike, Ayariga Hassan, Michael Abu Sakara Foster and Jacob Osei Yeboah. Joy FM radio on December 9th reported the chairman for the Electoral Commission, Dr Kwadwo Afari declaring that the incumbent president, John Dramani Mahama, was the winner of the 2012 presidential election with 50.7% of the votes cast, while Akufo-Addo had 5,248,898 of the valid votes cast, representing 47.74%. The ag-bearer of the Progressive Peoples Party (PPP), Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, was placed third with 64,362 votes, representing 0.59%. (Joy FM text
website, Accra 10/12)
Alex Vines, who heads the Africa programme at the London-based think tank Chatham House, said the NPPs rejection of the ofcial vote results will make Ghanaian politics more fractious in the near term. It certainly isnt an ideal situation. An ideal situation would be for this to be
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GHANAS 2010 CENSUS AND 2012 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

NATIONAL TOTALS
Population: 24,658,823. Population density: 103.4 persons per sq. km. Presidential election result: John Mahama (National Democratic Congress) 5,574,761 votes 50.70%, Nana Akufo-Addo (New Patriotic Party) 5,248,898 votes 47.74%.
UPPER WEST Population: 702,110. Pop. density: 38.0. Mahama 66%, Afuko-Addo 31%. NORTHERN
Population: 2,479,461. Pop. density: 35.2.
UPPER EAST Population: 1,046,545. Pop. density: 118.4. Mahama 66%, Afuko-Addo 31%. EASTERN Population: 2,633,154. Pop. density: 136.3. Mahama 43%, Afuko-Addo 56%. VOLTA Population: 2,118,252. Pop. density: 103.0. Mahama 85%, Afuko-Addo 13%. GREATER ACCRA Population: 4,010,054. Pop. density: 1,235.8. Mahama 51%, Afuko-Addo 48%. CENTRAL Population: 2,201,863. Pop. density: 224.1. Mahama 52%, Afuko-Addo 46%.
Mahama 58%, Afuko-Addo 41%.
from the nal tally would make AkufoAddo the winner. The NPP leader said it had not been an easy decision to go ahead with the challenge, but the evidence submitted was mind-blowing and came as a shock even to sceptics in the party. This case is seeking to deepen our democracy by strengthening the institutions that are mandated by our constitution to superintend the electoral process, Mr Akufo-Addo said. One, by ensuring that the electoral commission is accountable to the people of Ghana; and two, the Supreme Court is seen by all as the ultimate arbiter of electoral grievances and disputes. Johnson Asiedu Nketia, the NDCs secretary general, said the governing party did not believe the Supreme Court
BRONG-AHAFO
ASHANTI
WESTERN

Sources: Ghana Statistical Service; Electoral Commission of Ghana
(Africa Confidential 14/12)
Ghana
over, said Victor Brobbey, a legal and political analyst at the Centre for Democratic Development, a think tank in Accra. But they arent asking their supporters to storm the electoral commission to change the resultA legal challenge is something that is envisioned in the laws of the country. While Ghana is seen as a beacon of democracy in a turbulent region, the security deployment and a series of public events calling for a peaceful campaign surrounding the vote revealed that many saw the potential for unrest, said Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi, a political scientist at the University of Ghana.
( AFP 11,13/12 2012)
Main Presidential Candidates Ghana Presidential Election Results

December 7th 2012 Registered voters: 14,031,793 Total votes cast: 11,246,982 Total valid votes: 10,995,262 Total rejected votes: 251,720 Turnout: 80.15% Candidates John 50.70% Dramani Mahama (NDC) 0.35% Henry Herbert Lartey (GCPP) Nana Addo 47.74% Dankwa Akufo-Addo (NPP) Papa Kwesi 0.59% Nduom (PPP) Kwasi Addai 0.08% Odike (UFP) Hassan 0.22% Ayariga (PNC) Abu Sakara 0.18% Foster (CPP) Jacob Osei 0.14% Yeboah (IND) (www.ec.gov.gh/) 5,574,761 votes John Dramani Mahama: He was named vice-president in 2009 and moved to the top job on July 24th 2012 after the death of his predecessor, John Atta Mills. He was born in November 1958 to a privileged family in the north of the country, according to media reports. In his book, My First Coup dEtat - And Other True Stories from the Lost Decades of Africa, he describes the elite boarding school which he attended in Ghana. He later studied history and communications in Ghana and Russia. He went on to work as a diplomat in Japan before returning home to be elected as MP in 1996. A year later, he was named a junior minister before becoming a full minister. He is married to Lordina and has eight children. Mahamas running mate is his deputy, Vice-President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, a former governor of the Bank of Ghana. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo: He narrowly lost the 2008 election to the late John Atta Mills. He was born in eastern Ghana in 1944 to a prominent family. His father, Edward Akufo-Addo, was a chief justice and later president of Ghana. Nana Akufo-Addo studied law in the UK and economics in Ghana. He is a founding member of the NPP. He was elected as an MP in 1996 and has worked as the countrys attorney-general, justice minister and foreign minister. He publishes The Statesman, a pro-NPP newspaper. He is married to Rebecca with whom he has ve children. His running mate is Mahamudu Bawumia, a former deputy governor of the Bank of Ghana. (The Chronicle, Accra)
In the parliamentary race, the NDC won 148 seats in the 275-seat House, while the NPP had 122 seats. The Peoples National Convention (PNC) won one seat while four independent candidates were also elected. (PANA, Accra 28/12) BBC News reported on December 28th that the NPP had led a petition at the Supreme Court to challenge Mahamas electoral victory, even though international election observers had described the poll as free and fair. The NPP said it had waited to le its challenge in court until it had analysed the data from 26,000 polling stations. It said it had now found irregularities such as cases of over voting and instances when people not registered by the new biometric nger-printing system were able to vote. The party had calculated that there were 1.34m extra votes cast, which if withdrawn
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38,223 votes
5,248,898 votes
64,362 votes 8,877 votes 24,617 votes 20,323 votes 15,201 votes
would rule against them as the elections had been the countrys most transparent ever. The case will not affect Mr Mahamas swearing-in ceremony on January 7th as the election challenge case will not be heard until mid-January. (BBC News
Online 28/12) p. 19483C Presidential candidates
The violence was Kenyas worst since independence in 1963, and the ICC accused several ofcials of playing a role. Ultimately, four people were charged, including Kenyatta and former minister William Ruto, who will be Kenyattas running mate. Their trial at the ICC is due to start on April 10th and will clash with the second round of the presidential elections. Prosecutors say Kenyatta mobilised a criminal gang known as the Mungiki to attack Odinga supporters. Kenyatta faces ve charges of crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, persecution, deportation and other inhumane acts. Ruto faces three charges of crimes against humanity. Both have claimed their innocence and have promised to cooperate with the ICC. About 14m voters are registered for the presidential election in the country of some 40m. Tensions are high and, whether tied to the poll or not, there has been an increase in bomb blasts and other attacks. A tribal attack on December 21st in a remote village in the countrys southeast claimed 45 lives (See p. 19527). Though the motive for the attack was not known, some suggested a link to a disarmament campaign in the area, or to the March presidential polls. ( AFP
22/12 2012) Voter registration p. 19483C
KENYA
Presidential Candidates A urry of activity to meet the deadline for party registration produces some unlikely electoral alliances.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga announced on December 22nd that he will run for president in 2013, when he will face off against his deputy, who has been charged with crimes against humanity in deadly violence that followed the 2007 polls. Odinga, 67, and Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, 51, were both key players in a presidential polling crisis ve years ago that tarnished Kenyas reputation of stability. Odinga and Kenyatta were named as the ofcial candidates of their political groups in the March 4th election the Coalition of Reform and Democracy (CORD) for Odinga and the Jubilee Coalition for Kenyatta. I commit myself to the people of Kenya and CORD by accepting the nomination to be its presidential agbearer, said Odinga, who lost to current incumbent Mwai Kibaki in the December 2007 vote. Kenyatta supported Kibaki. The International Criminal Court (ICC), based in The Hague, has charged Kenyatta, the son of Kenyan founding father Jomo Kenyatta, over his alleged role in the unrest, in which at least 1,100 people were killed and more than 600,000 were displaced. I will never let you down, Uhuru Kenyatta said at a rally in Mombasa, on Kenyas Indian Ocean coast. Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka initially planned to run for the countrys top job, but said on December 22nd that he had shelved his personal presidential ambitions in favour of Prime Minister Raila Odinga. The violence came after Odinga, who was then the opposition leader, accused Kibaki of rigging his re-election. Political riots quickly degenerated into ethnic killings. Under international pressure, Odinga was eventually named prime minister in a large coalition government.
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mount chiefs appointed from each of the countrys provincial districts. However, on November 28th, the SLPP ordered its members of parliament and councils to observe a boycott until the partys concerns on the conduct of the poll were met. Bio called for an independent international assessment of the results of the elections, which he claims were riddled with fraud. Two days after the polls closed, the European Union (EU) Chief Observer, Richard Howitt, a British Labour Party member of the European Parliament, described election day as wellconducted and peaceful. Similar sentiments were aired by the African Union (AU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Carter Center from the United States, whose delegation was led by Zambian former President Rupiah Banda. The observer missions did not go as far as calling the elections free and fair. There was slow vote-counting and some failures to deliver required materials but mainly, observers said, they were worried that the APC used its control of government to help to tip the scales in its favour. The APC was said to have politicised the elections for twelve parliamentary seats reserved for paramount chiefs, particularly in Kono, and the EU mission claimed that 61% of the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporations coverage was of the APC. On November 29th the Sierra Leone authorities urged the SLPP to reconsider its decision to boycott government. Communications Minister Ibrahim Ben Kargbo told a local radio station that the SLPP should have a rethink about its decision not to participate in parliament and local government meetings. The (ruling) APC constitutes a total majority of elected members of parliament and the absence of SLPP members would not affect the operation of government, he added. On the same radio station, Local Government Minister Dauda Kamara said if newly elected local ofcials boycotted their duties they would be denying their communities an important servicedelivery system that local government provides. The Political Parties Registration Commission said in a statement it was concerned about the SLPPs unfortunate decision. When the electorate voted for the SLPP, they did so on the understanding that they will participate in the proceedings of parliament and local councils and
SIERRA LEONE
Electoral Aftermath Claims of electoral fraud and opposition threats of militant protest overshadow the start of Koromas second term.
President Ernest Bai Koroma avoided a potentially contentious second-round in the presidential poll by defeating Julius Maada Bio outright on November 17th (p. 19475). It was announced on November 23rd that President Koroma had won 58.7% of the vote. Bio polled just 37.4% in a contest that many had expected to be closer. The All Peoples Congress (APC) cemented its poll victory by taking 67 seats in the legislature, while the opposition Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) came in second with 42 seats, according to the National Election Commission. The results of three seats were not announced as one of the contestants died, while the other two were subjected to a court injunction. Another 12 unelected seats in the 124seat parliament are reserved for paraB
not to stay away, it said. ( AFP 29/11 2012; Africa Condential 30/11) High poll turnout p. 19475A
PARTIES AND POLICIES

MOROCCO
Anti-Monarchist Leader Dies Will the radical Islamist party now change its stance so as to become a mainstream force?
Abdessalam Yassine, spiritual leader of Moroccos radical Justice and Charity (Al-Ad wal-Ihsan) Islamist movement and outspoken opponent of the monarchy, died on December 13th aged 84, the banned but tolerated groups spokesman told AFP. As founder of Moroccos most popular Islamist movement, Sheikh Yassine had running problems with the authorities during the so-called Years of Lead under the late king Hassan II, when he was imprisoned twice and placed under house arrest. The movement he created in 1973, which advocated establishment of an Islamist state but rejected violence to achieve it, actively participated in Arab Spring protests that erupted in Morocco in February 2011. But it distanced itself from the February 20th protest movement in December 2011, considering its demands too limited. Originally from the south, Sheikh Yassine viewed the nature of the monarchy under Hassan II unacceptable from an Islamic perspective, and sent an open letter to the king in 1974 urging him to choose between Islam or the deluge. He was imprisoned shortly afterwards for three and a half years without charge, before being conned to a mental hospital. He was jailed again in 1983 for two years, and nally placed under house arrest until the accession to the throne in 2000 of King Mohammed VI. His movement refuses to recognise the kings ofcial title, commander of the faithful, a key difference with the moderate Islamist Party of Justice and Development, which won the 2011 elections and heads the ruling coalition. Tens of thousands of devotees gathered in Rabat for the funeral of Abdessalam Yassine, which took place at the 18thcentury Sunna mosque next to the royal palace. A large security detachment was deployed in the area. The
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future of Moroccos largest Islamist group is uncertain after the death of its charismatic leader, but analysts say it could still play a more important political role in the kingdom. The large number of people who attended Yassines funeral were proof of the devotion he inspired. Although banned, Al-Ad wal-Ihsan is active in many poor neighbourhoods and it is considered the most popular opposition movement. ( AFP 13-21/12 2012)
A further three parties were de-registered on December 22nd, making the total number 21. These parties had no veriable headquarters and had no seats in either the national or state assemblies. INEC named the latest affected parties as the African Renaissance Party (ARP), the National Democratic Party (NDP) and the National Transformation Party (NTP). (PANA, Lagos 7,22/12; The Guardian website, Lagos 5/12)
NIGERIA
Parties De-Registered INEC acts to undertake a major exercise to cull unrepresentative groupings.
Nigerias Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has de-registered 28 political parties out of around 60 parties in the country. INEC announced the decision in a statement issued in the capital city of Abuja on December 5th, saying it was in the exercise of the powers conferred on it by the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended). However, PANA learnt that the move may be because they won no seats in the 2011 general elections and they do not have a presence in all 36 states, as well as the federal capital territory. The parties are as follows:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. African Liberation Party (ALP) Action Party of Nigeria (APN) African Political System (APS) Better Nigeria Progressive Party (BNPP) Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) Community Party of Nigeria (CPN) Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA) Freedom Party of Nigeria (FPN) Fresh Democratic Party (FDP) Hope Democratic Party (HDP) Justice Party (JP) Liberal Democratic Party of Nigeria (LDPN) Movement for Democracy and Justice (MDJ) Movement for the Restoration and Defence of Democracy (MRDD) Nigeria Advanced Party (NAP) New Democrats (ND) National Majority Democratic Party (NMDP) National Movement of Progressive Party (NMPP) National Reformation Party (NRP) National Solidarity Democratic Party (NSDP) Progressive Action Congress (PAC) Peoples Mandate Party (PMP) Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) Peoples Salvation Party (PSP) Republican Party of Nigeria (RPN) United National Party for Development (UNPD) United Nigeria Peoples Party (UNPP)
Kaduna State Governor Killed: State governor Patrick Yakowa, was killed in a helicopter crash on December 15th along with other senior ofcials in the southern Bayelsa state. region. Former national security adviser Gen Owoye Azazi was also on the helicopter whichbelonged to the Nigerian navy and had been taking ofcials to Port Harcourt.
(BBC News Online 15/12)
The Deputy Governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Muktar Yero, was sworn in as the new state governor the following day. Yero, born in May 1968 in the northern city of Zaria, has degrees in Accountancy and Business Administration.
(PANA, Lagos 16/12)
Mauritania Party Coalition

Eight political parties calling themselves the Union of Presidential Majority Forces issued a press statement in Nouakchott on December 8th, in which they included an outline of their political, economic and social programme. Union president and leader of the Social Democratic Ribat [English: bond or tie] party Ahmed Ould Domane highlighted the reasons for the establishment of this union. He attributed it to the achievements accomplished in numerous spheres during the rule of President Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz. The leader of the Socialist Democratic Party, Isselkou Ould Rabbani, also praised Abdelazizs achievements, adding that the new national front would seek to preserve the countrys stability. (AMI news agency, Nouakchott 8/12) Former President Dies: The government on December 19th declared three days of national mourning for former president, Moustapha Ould Mohamed Saleck, who died in France on December 17th. Saleck, an army colonel who was born in 1937, was the chairman of the Mauritanian Committee for National Rebuilding (CMRN) that overthrew the regime of president Moctar Ould Daddah on July 10th 1978. He left power on July 3rd 1979 after a palace coup. Saleck contested presidential elections in 1997 and 2003 but lost. (PANA, Nouakchott 19/12)
SOUTH AFRICA
ANC Congress (Mangaung) Jacob Zuma triumphs, pushing presidential hopeful Kgalema Motlanthe out.
South Africas governing African National Congress (ANC) held its veyearly party congress from December 16th-20th in Mangaung (Bloemfontein), where the party was formed a century ago. Some 5,000 delegates were eligible to vote at the 53rd national conference for the person who will lead the party, and the country through to 2019. President Jacob Zuma was challenged for the top job by his deputy, Kgalema Motlanthe, who had conrmed his candidacy only the previous week. Motlanthe had been nominated by at least three of the countrys nine provinces and was hoping for a surprise victory, although in the end, his lacklustre campaign proved fruitless The Business Day, Johannesburg website (18/12) reported that Zuma had retained the ANC presidency for a second term, winning 2,983 votes, while his challenger, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, had only 991 votes after delegates voted overnight. The vote took place despite the conference being threatened by right-wing extremists. Police said four men plotted to kill Jacob Zuma, Kgalema Motlanthe, government ministers and senior party ofcials. The men appeared in court on December 18th and were charged with treason and terrorism. National executive committee member and businessman Cyril Ramaphosa was elected as deputy president, placing him in line for the presidency once Mr Zuma steps down from the top spot in 2017. ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe retained his position, triumphing over Sports and Recreation Minister Fikile Mbalula with 3,058 to the latters 901. Deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte was elected unopposed and chairwoman Baleka Mbete was re-elected to her position. KwaZulu-Natal Premier Zweli Mkhize was elected treasurer-general. Mr Zuma adopted a conciliatory tone when he took to the stage shortly after he was re-elected, to appeal for unity following the contested leadership battle.
(BBC News Online 16/12; Business Day, Johannesburg 18/12)
years in power marked by crisis, Zuma faces a tough slog ahead. He will have to work hard to win back South African voters, who increasingly see the ANC as out of touch, incompetent and corrupt. Zumas poll numbers have steadily eroded amid a series of scandals. Criticism of his administration reached a crescendo earlier in the year when police killed 34 striking miners in one day and it emerged that around $27m of taxpayers money had been used to refurbish his private home. But despite public anger at the state of the country,the ANCislikelyto romphomein 2014. The party has consistently received around two thirds of the vote in previous elections since the end of apartheid. But a poor showing could exacerbate divisions within Africas oldest liberation movement. With the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) gaining traction in their personalised attacks on Zuma, the ANC could face a tough scrap to retain control of provinces like Gauteng which includes Johannesburg and Pretoria. Zuma will also face an uphill struggle to correct the course of the ailing South African economy. Unemployment remains stuck at around 25% and the economy is growing at its slowest rate in three years. Meanwhile, crucial sectors like mining have been hobbled by strikes over low wages and are struggling to modernise and reduce reliance on masses of cheap labour. Credit ratings agencies have warned that further rating downgrades will come if the conference does not see the ANC change course. The election of Ramaphosa as deputy head of the party may help to assuage industry fears. We are somewhat sceptical of the impact Ramaphosa can make though the market may interpret him, plus Zuma backing the National Development Plan, as being a real positive, said Peter Attard Montalto, an analyst with Japanese bank Nomura. What we may have here then is a positive PR boost plus another investorfriendly voice in cabinet but little real change on the ground and in action. Ramaphosa is one of the countrys richest men, making his fortune as board member of Standard Bank, South African Breweries, president of telecoms company MTN and controlling the South African franchise for fast-food outlet McDonalds. For Motlanthe, however, the outlook seems bleak. He ran a largely silent
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campaign that sometimes appeared more like a protest than a real run at the top ofce in the country. Defeat leaves him in the political wilderness, with uncertainty that he will even remain as the countrys deputy president.
( AFP 18/12 2012)
Malema Trial Postponed: The corruption case against former ANC rebrand Julius Malema, due to be held on November 30th, was postponed until April 2013 as racketeering was added to the list of criminal charges against him.
( AFP 30/11 2012) Mixed feelings over Zuma p. 19484C
ZIMBABWE
Zanu-PF Conference It seems the party has run out of fresh ideas as it endorses Mugabe as its presidential candidate.
The London-based Zimbabwe independent SW Radio Africa on December 10th reported that President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party are predicting a massive electoral victory in presidential and parliamentary polls in 2013, following the partys 13th annual conference held in Gweru from December 4th9th. The conference, attended by 5,000 delegates under the theme Indigenise, Empower, Develop and Create Employment, was described by the state controlled media as a resounding success, and left the party faithful upbeat about reclaiming ground lost to the MDC led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in the 2008 election. Zanu-PF believes that its indigenisation policy, which compels foreign companies to transfer 51% of their ownership into the hands of locals, will resonate well with the electorate. (SW Radio Africa,
London 10/12)
Mugabe, who turns 89 in two months time, was endorsed as the party candidate vowing to ght like a wounded beast in order to reverse his 2008 election loss. Lets ght back and restore our honour, our pride, Mugabe said at the close of the party conference. But analysts say that Mugabe and his party face an uphill struggle to win over voters, many of whom are disgruntled with the poor state of the economy that has forced millions of Zimbabweans to emigrate to neighbouring countries and abroad. This time their message is centred around indigenisation, but it is meaningless to the majority of the population struggling to earn a living, said TakavC
The scale of Zumas victory, dubbed a Zumanami, prompted supporters to mock Motlanthes camp, gesturing that their quest for change had gone boom. It will also take some of the heat off the embattled president. But after three
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Internal Developments team were accused of turning a blind eye to cases of massive electoral fraud in the municipal elections. (PANA, Bujumbura 5/ 12) Republic of Congo: The ruling Congolese Labour Party (PCT) won parliamentary byelections held on December 2nd in the electoral districts of Dongo, Bouanela and Kelle in the north of the country. The PCT enjoys a large majority, with 90 of the 139 seats of the Congolese National Assembly. (PANA, Brazzaville 6/12) The Gambia: President Yahya Jammeh on November 9th dismissed the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Fatim Badjie, the seventh minister to be sacked in 2012. No reason was given for the sacking, which was made with immediate effect. (PANA, Banjul 29/11) Guinea: Parliamentary elections will be held on May 12th 2013, the electoral commission announced, after several delays since 2011 which have sparked protests in the country. The election should have been held six months after President Alpha Condes inauguration in December 2010, but has been repeatedly postponed. The last legislative elections were held in June 2002 during the regime of president Lansana Conte, who died in December 2008 after 24 years in power. ( AFP 12/12 2012) Liberia: President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has appointed opposition leader and football legend George Weah, her former election opponent, as the countrys new peace ambassador. Weah, the leader of the main opposition Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), is now the new head of the peace and reconciliation committee, the Information ministry said. The move came after Sirleaf met with the opposition in November in a bid to improve a tense relationship after a disputed election in 2011 that was marred by violence. ( AFP 5/ 12 2012) Libya: A law is expected to be introduced banning ofcials from the Mouammar Gaddafy regime from holding public ofce. The issue has raised passionate debate in the country as some support the plan while others caution it may be inimical to democracy. (PANA, Tripoli 26/12) Mozambique: According to an electoral amendment passed by the national assembly on December 17th, which will pave the way for municipal elections in 2013 and general elections in 2014, the National Elections Commission (CNE) will consist of 13 members: eight appointed by the political parties in accordance with their strength in parliament (ve from Frelimo, two from Renamo and one from the MDM), three appointed by civil society organisations, one judge and one attorney. (AIM website, Maputo 17/12) Rwanda: The Minister of Gender and Family Promotion, Aloisea Inyumba, 48, died of cancer on December 6th. As minister in the rst postgenocide cabinet, Inyumba focused much attention on the welfare of widows and orphans of the genocide. She is credited for actively encouraging women to vie for elective positions. (The New Times website, Kigali 7/12) Sudan: The veteran opposition leader, Sadeq al Mahadi, 77, who has led his National Umma Party (NUP) for almost half a century, says he is stepping down to allow the younger generation to take over. (PANA, Khartoum 27/12) Tunisia: The National Constituent Assembly has agreed on steps to create an independent nine-member electoral panel to oversee future elections in the country. The deal followed marathon talks that lasted more than a month amid wrangling over the composition of a commission that will choose the panel. In a rst step, a commission of 22 people will be set up, with its membership apportioned according to the representation of each party in the national assembly. That body, in turn, will choose the members of the electoral panel. The commission will create a short list of 36 candidates, equally divided between men and women, from which the nal nine will be chosen. ( AFP 12/12 2012) Zambia: The largest opposition party, the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD), has red its leader Nevers Mumba amid signs of party in-ghting. Party national secretary Richard Kachingwe announced the expulsion in a statement saying Mumba belonged to another party and could not serve two masters. Mumba was previously leader of the National Christian Coalition (NCC) before being appointed vicepresident in 2003. Since losing power in 2011 elections, the MMD has been engulfed by internal wrangling. Lusaka-based political analyst Dante Saunders said the expulsion of Mumba would further debilitate the MMD which is battling to regain popularity. ( AFP 1/12 2012) Former President Rupiah Banda has been honoured with the Honorary Prize for African Democracy at the 2012 Lifetime Africa Achievement Prize held in Kenya on December 16th. (PANA, Lusaka 16/12)
ara Zhou, a political analyst from Masvingo State University. The controversial indigenisation law was meant to reverse imbalances created during colonial rule. But in fact the programme is about self-enrichment for the elite in Zanu-PF, said Earnest Mudzengi, an independent analyst. The economy is battling to pick up pace yet Mugabes campaign for black empowerment is only driving away desperately needed foreign investment. Zanu-PF is a sunset political movement which is not forward-moving. They cannot even discuss critical issues like succession, which is affecting the party, said Mudzengi. If free and fair elections are held under the current state of the economy and public perception, the party will lose, he said. Analyst Takavara Zhou said that because the partys chances of victory are next to nothing, a repeat of the violence that rocked the 2008 elections was probable. ( AFP 6,8/12 2012) Another political analyst, Clever Bere said the conference had failed to address the major challenge confronting the party of leadership renewal. They may deliberate on policy and other things, but the only way they can rejuvenate their party is by bringing in youthful, fresh and vibrant leadership, he said. Inasmuch as Mugabe might be viewed as the unier in Zanu-PF, it is my belief that he is now more of a liability than resourceful. Bere said the country has a youthful population and would most likely lean towards a youthful leadership. As long as the leadership crisis was not resolved, political scheming and underhand lobbying and positioning would always affect party unity. (The Standard website,
Harare 16/12)
IN BRIEF
Burundi: The appointment of Peter Claver Ndayicariye as the head of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for a further ve-year term has been conrmed, despite threats from the opposition to boycott 2015 election. In 2010, Ndayicariye and his
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National Security
^ COTE DIVOIRE
Armed Attacks Raids targeting the security forces continue.
Armed men attacked a gendarmerie barracks in the main city of Abidjan during the night of December 21st, while a separate armed group attacked an army post to the north, military and UN sources said. Gunmen opened re on the paramilitary police barracks in the Yopougon district in the west of the city at around 3:00 am but the attackers were repelled, a source at the army chief of staff told AFP. A UN source said a prisoner in custody had also been killed in the ghting, while another military source said one gendarme had been wounded and several vehicles burned. A Western security source said the attackers used assault ries and rocket-launchers. Gunmen also attacked an army checkpoint at Agbaou, a village about 100km north of the economic capital, Sylvie Van Den Wildenberg, spokeswoman for the UN Operation in C^te dIvoire o (ONUCI) said. The provisional toll was two (army) soldiers wounded. President Alassane Ouattaras regime has since August been confronted with a series of often deadly raids targetting the security forces and strategic sites. The government blames them on supporters of former president Laurent Gbagbo. The previous most recent attack took place during the weekend of December 15th16th after a lull of several weeks, when two members of the C^te dIvoire o Republican Forces (army FRCI) were killed in Agboville, north of Abidjan. The raids came after a court freed on bail eight people close to Gbagbo. They included his former prime minister Gilbert Ake NGbo and former Economy minister Desire Dallo and seven others. The move was welcomed by Gbagbos Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) party. This is already an important step which needs to be encouraged so that the others follow, FPI president Sylvain Miaka Oureto told AFP. Several leading gures of the former regime, including ex-First Lady Simone Gbagbo, are still behind bars. Dozens of civilians and soldiers who served in less senior posts are also in jail, often in the north of the country.
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Senegalese President Macky Sall met FPI leaders in Dakar in mid-December in a bid to mediate stalled reconciliation efforts. ( AFP, Abidjan & Dakar 14,20,21/
12 2012)
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

Back from the Brink? Ugandan-mediated peace talks with the M23 are yet to make progress.
The DR Congo and the M23 rebel group suspended their peace talks on December 21st with no nal agreement on an agenda, but pledging to resume discussions in January, said their Ugandan hosts. Despite substantial progress, consensus still needs to be reached on one item of the draft agenda. This item relates to the need to consolidate the current lull in military hostilities, said Ugandan Defence Minister Crispus Kiyonga, who is mediating the talks despite allegations Kampala has supported the M23. The M23 had previously accused the DR Congolese government of refusing to sign a ceasere, something the rebels say is needed before negotiations can start in earnest. The talks in Uganda began on December 9th, after the rebels staged a lightning advance through the countrys chronically unstable east, raising fears of a widespread conict and humanitarian emergency. The talks are the latest in several bids to end a long-running conict that has forced more than 900,000 people in war-torn eastern North Kivu province from their homes. On November 20th the rebels captured the key eastern city of Goma. They pulled out 12 days later, following a diplomatic initiative to pull the volatile region back from the brink of all-out war. The rebels still control large parts of the chronically volatile but mineral-rich east, however. They are expected to present a raft of demands to the government, including a call for major political reform for the warweary region. A list of rebel demands compiled by Kiyonga incorporates an earlier 2009 peace deal the M23 say was not implemented. In Kinshasa, opposition parties and members of the presidential majority united in protesting at M23s entry into Goma and the idea that the rebels could
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negotiate with the authorities. Heads must roll, was the frontpage headline on Le Potentiel, one of the main papers in the country, soon after Goma fell. Summoned before parliament to explain the fall of the town, Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo declined to answer questions. President Joseph Kabila himself has remained largely silent. People in Kinshasa were also scandalised by the prospect of the talks with M23, to such an extent that the government banned street demonstrations for fear that the situation might degenerate. Both Rwanda and Uganda have been accused of backing the ghters, with a UN report quoting sources that more than 1,000 Rwandan troops fought alongside the rebels, while Kampala provided logistical support. Kigali and Kampala have denied involvement in the conict. Since starting the talks, the two sides have managed to agree only on the rules of procedure governing the talks and a framework for the agenda. Kiyonga said the agenda so far included four areas of discussion: security issues; social, economic and political matters; the March 23rd, 2009 peace agreement under which the rebels were until they mutinied incorporated into the DR Congolese army (FARDC); and mechanisms for implementing any agreement reached. The rebels mutinied in April and seized the key eastern city of Goma in November before withdrawing ( AFP, Kampala
& Kinshasa 6,14,21/12 2012) M23 takes Goma p. 19487
Katanga Attack: Three men were killed in a pre-dawn attack by gunmen near Lubumbashi airport in resource-rich Katanga in southeast DR Congo, the army and a local rights group said. The vice-governor of the province, Gilbert Yav Tshibal later denied there had been a raid. There was no attack but rather shooting between ill-disciplined elements of the Republican Guard, he said. ( AFP, Lubumbashi 21/12 2012)
KENYA
Massacre in South-East Outbreaks of violence in different parts of the country have spread the countrys poorly equipped security agencies thin.
Fifty people arrested in a police raid on December 22nd at Ngao village following a December 21st massacre at Kipao village (south-eastern Kenya) were arraigned in court in Garsen and charged with weapon possession on the
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DR Congo Key Events in December

Nov 28th: Government spokesman Lambert Mende accuses M23 rebels occupying Goma of plundering the city, seizing mineral stocks and taking their loot over the border to Rwanda. Mende also said there had been an attempt to plunder the vault of the central bank in Goma. Dozens of trucks used in the construction and upkeep of roads and the refrigeration system of a hospital morgue is dismantled and taken. 30th: Regional defence chiefs from the 11member bloc, the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), convene in Goma to monitor progress of M23 promised withdrawal. Five people accused of armed robbery in the Goma suburb of Munigi are burned alive by angry residents, the eve of the rebel pullback from the city, police say. Dec 1st: Singing songs and waving guns, M23 ghters crammed on to a convoy of looted trucks leave Goma, taking heavy weaponry and ammunition seized when FARDC ed in disarray. Gunmen attack the giant Mugunga camp, 10km west of Goma and home to up to 35,000 displaced people. 2nd: Rwanda says Hutu extremist FDLR rebels based in DR Congo Rwandans who ed their home country following the 1994 genocide there have clashed on the border with Rwandan troops, but are pushed back. The UN-backed Radio Okapi a key source of independent news, broadcasting in French and four local languages is jammed, ofcials said, after it aired an interview with M23 political leader Jean-Marie Runiga. 3rd: A panel of UN experts say Rwanda and Uganda helped the rebels in the offensive, with Kampala providing logistical support. Rwanda and Uganda deny the allegations. Dozens of government army trucks crammed with heavily armed soldiers enter Goma, while government ofcials also begin to arrive back to reassert their authority after 12 days of rebel rule. 5th: Runiga says his guerrillas are ready for talks, Aid agencies struggle to cope with the regions newly displaced, with some 285,000 people having ed their homes since the uprising began in April. Gomas airport reopens. 6th: Talks begin in Kampala between delegations representing each of the parties to the conict, as well as a representative from each of the 11 member countries of the ICGLR. 86 Mayi-Mayi militiamen surrender to FARDC in Sud-Kivu in order to ght the M23 rebels. After skirmishes between FARDC and Cobra Matata rebel group in Ituri province, rebels loot the commercial centre of the city of Boga. Insecurity is rampant in Fizi territory, Sud-Kivu Province, especially in the mining locality of Misisi. Unidentied armed men visit people in their houses and extort their goods. 7th: Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders and ofcials hold a summit in the Tanzanian city Dar es Salaam (p 19513). 10th: Uganda reopens the key rebel-controlled border crossing of Bunagana which it closed in November following a complaint from DR Congolese ofcials that rebels were using it to levy taxes on vehicles and goods crossing the frontier. 11th: Twenty Rwandans are among a group of 38 suspected M23 members due to go on trial in Kinshasa, a military intelligence ofcial says. Government spokesman Lambert Mende says FARDC arrested about 10 Rwandan soldiers before they captured Goma on November 20th. A group of armed ghters invades and briey occupies Ingbokolo location, at about 280km north of Bunia: four people killed, shops looted and hundreds of residents eeing for security into Uganda and South Sudan. 12th: Most of the 1,170 inmates who broke out of a Goma prison in November are still at large. The authorities appeal for calm after posses lynch at least six suspected escapees. DRC Foreign Minister Raymond Tshibanda at the talks in Kampala accuses M23 rebels of committing heinous crimes, including murder, rape, torture and looting. He says the rebels are still being led by individuals indicted and wanted by the ICC for human rights violations, pointing particularly to Gen. Bosco Ntaganda and Col. Sultan Makenga. FARDC soldiers regain control of several towns of the mining sector of Pangoy and Elota, 120km from Mambasa, south of Bunia (Eastern Province). These places were occupied by militia of the rebel leader Paul Sadala, alias Morgan. 14th: President Joseph Kabila vows that defence will be a top priority for his government in his annual address to the nation. Defence, nothing but defence, with a dissuasive, apolitical and professional army. Kabila also accuses Rwanda and calls for a change in the mandate of UN peacekeepers, saying their performance in the crisis has been mixed. 18th: Mende accuses the rebels of not fully withdrawing the 20km they had agreed to. 19th: M23 political chief Jean-Marie Runiga demands Kinshasa sign a formal ceasere, accusing ofcials of dragging out peace talks to bolster the armys position. Paul Rusesabagina, who became famous for sheltering and saving several hundreds of victims of persecution during the Rwandan civil war, says he will launch a campaign to liberate and democratize Rwanda. 20th: MONUSCO and FARDC launch an operation called Comfort in the Haut and Bas Uele, in Province Orientale (eastern DRCongo) aimed at tracking down the Ugandan rebel movement of the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) active in the province and protecting the population. 24th: Gen. Bikueto Tuyenabo of FARDC is shot dead in the Kitambo municipality in Kinshasa. Gen. Bikueto was the commander of the Kotakoli training centre in the province of Equateur. 27th: M23 rebels open re on two UN helicopters on a routine ight north of Goma. UN authorities say it is the second time in a month that M23 members have targeted its helicopters, commonly used for medical evacuations. M23 spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Vianney Kazarama denies the claims. 31st: Rwanda, due to begin its two-year tenure as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council says nding a lasting solution to the crisis in Eastern DR Congo will be its top priority while on the council. (New Vision & Daily Monitor, Kampala; R. Okapi; AFP; PANA; IRIN)
24th.Those charged include several primary school children aged about 14, and a former General Service Unit ofcer Enock Masha, who police sources claim deserted the force two years ago, reported The Standard, Nairobi (25/12). There was tight security in and around the court as the charges were read to the suspects, who were later set free on cash bail or bonds. The suspects, who were unrepresented, denied the charges with Masha leading them in demanding prosecution statements. The case will be
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mentioned on January 7th, while the hearing was xed for January 15th. Over 45 people including women and children were brutally killed during the dawn attack in the village of Kipao in Tana Delta District, a new eruption of violence between the rival Orma and Pokomo communities in the area. Some of the Pokomo attackers were also killed and their bodies later burnt to ashes by the villagers. Others sustained serious injuries and 45 houses were burnt
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to the ground, reported KBC online (21/ 12). Police attributed the killings to a disarmament operation in the area but the violence could also be linked to the election being held in March 2013, the rst since Kenya was gripped by deadly inter-ethnic killings after a December 2007 vote. Police said the dead in Kipao included 16 children, ve women and 10 men, along with 14 assailants, AFP (25/ 12) reported.
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The United States said on December 22nd it condemned in the strongest terms the renewed violence between the communities in the Tana area, where conicts have ared intermittently over access to land and water points. This latest incident represents a disturbing escalation of the tragic violence witnessed by these communities in August and September, White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement. With historic elections approaching in March, peace and stability are essential to Kenyas continued progress, Carney said. The White House also called on the Kenyan government, police and Orma and Pokomo leaders to bring an end to this deadly cycle of conict, intensify efforts to establish a durable peace in the Tana delta and hold to account the perpetrators of these heinous acts. Meanwhile, police detained six parents and relatives of the 10 suspected raiders who were slain in the violence. The relatives were arrested when they went to report their sons missing. The arrests sparked outrage with locals accusing police of doing little as the suspected raiders were burnt. The attack came hours after the district commissioner convened a peace meeting in the area where elders from the two communities at the centre of the clashes promised to uphold peace. Deputy Provincial Police Ofcer Robert Kitur said the disarmament operation launched in the region after the September attacks was still ongoing. The Tana Delta was rocked by interethnic clashes between Orma and Pokomo communities in August and September 2012 over the grazing and farming resources along River Tana with politicians being accused of instigating the clashes. Following the skirmishes that displaced families, left over 100 people dead and many others injured, the President appointed a commission to unravel the animosity led by high court judge, Justice Grace Nzioka. More than 400 animals were killed then and houses torched in shocking attacks that saw the President impose a curfew in the area. The commission toured the region and listened to testimonies of internally displaced people from the two communities, administrators and security agencies. It is yet to compile its report because it is still taking statements from top government ofcials and politicians from the region. Judge Grace Nzioka expressed surprise at the turn of events. We
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thought progress was being made but now we may have to review the position, she said. The commission may have to tour the area and gather more information in the wake of the latest attack, she told the Daily Nation (21/12). Settled Pokomo farmers and seminomadic Orma pastoralists have clashed intermittently for years over access to grazing, farmland and water in the coastal region. An inux of weapons in past years has upped the stakes. (Sources
as referenced in text)
Concern Over Insecurity Violence in Kenya ranging from attacks blamed on Islamists to intercommunal clashes to a police crackdown on a coastal separatist movement have raised concerns over security ahead of the elections due in March 2013. Diplomats, donors and business leaders on December 17th raised the red ag over the issue. They said they were worried by the recent surge in episodes of violence in different parts of the country, which, if left unresolved, could get out of control ahead of the general election. They told President Mwai Kibaki, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka and National Assembly Speaker Kenneth Marende, ministers, security chiefs and other top government ofcials that they were worried about the loss of lives and destruction of property due to criminals. Human casualties are very serious, but the conicts also have a negative social and economic impact and could potentially undermine progress, said Mr Pete Anderson, the Danish ambassador to Kenya. Incidents of violence can be linked directly or indirectly to electoral politics. The use of inammatory language is worrying when what is called for is actually unity and common purpose Let us all learn from 20072008, said Mr Anderson speaking at the highlevel meeting dubbed the Speakers Roundtable Conference Diani, Kwale County. Mr Sam Matano of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance spoke of how terrorism in the country was becoming business as usual We do not want these attacks to be a part of our life. Mr Matano added that the recent revelation that Kenya had 700,000 illegal arms was scaring. (Daily Nation website, Nairobi 18/
12)
also been outbreaks of violence in the southeast (see above) and the southwest more than 1,000 people have ed their homes in Bartabwa Division of Baringo District (southwest Kenya) as tension intensied in the area after suspected Pokot raiders struck and stole 2,000 goats on December 18th, the Daily Nation (19/12) reported. Tribal clashes, cattle rustling and terrorism are all part of the mix. The violence and efforts to prevent further attacks have spread the countrys poorly equipped security agencies thin. We are doing the best we can with the available resources, but we at times feel overwhelmed, and we cant be everywhere, Kenya police spokesperson Charles Owino Hongo told IRIN (10/ 12). We are getting concerned because some of these attacks are being carried out with very sophisticated weapons. We must move quickly and ensure we mop up illegal rearms in the hands of criminals. Flashpoints North Eastern: Four people were shot dead in a raid to steal cattle, police said on December 25th, despite a major security operation after 42 policemen were killed in an ambush by alleged rustlers in the same area in November. Four people were killed and 12 others were injured in the raid, all of them sustained gunshot wounds, a senior police ofcer in Baragoi, a remote rural locality in the arid north, said after the December 24th attacks. The raid was done by Turkana herdsmen who stole cattle, we believe some of them must have escaped with injuries, the ofcer said, adding that they also made off with 200 goats but that some had been recovered. A police ofcer was shot dead and robbed of his rie in Mandera Town on December 27th. Police and the military mounted a security operation in the Baragoi area after 42 police ofcers were killed in an ambush as they were hunting cattle rustlers, the deadliest such attack against the countrys police force. Separately, insurgents in Kenyas giant Dadaab refugee camp in the remote northeast bordering Somalia, home to over 468,000 Somali refugees, set off a bomb mid-December at a centre registering voters for the 2013 elections. The blast injured one person, Kenya Red Cross ofcials said. Kenyan ofcials had earlier ordered all refugees to return to remote refugee camps, including over 33,000 Somali refugees living in Nairobi.
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The worst-affected areas in the country are North Eastern, Rift Valley, Coast and Nairobi provinces but there have
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However, more than 2.3m Kenyans are ethnic Somalis, some 6% of the population. Their traditional homelands make up around a fth of the country, and many live around the Dadaab region. Six suspected terrorists were arrested and three hand grenades and two pistols with 84 bullets recovered from them on December 12th in Amuma area at the KenyaSomalia border. Police ofcers said there were reports the weapons and grenades were to be used in Garissa town for an attack. Garissa has been a centre of attacks by suspected terrorists who ambush and kill security agents in the past months with up to 10 dying in similar incidents. A soldier and a civilian were killed in such an attack on the night of December 10th. A third victim was ghting for his life in hospital. The recovery was made a day after a man was arrested and six G3 ries with 16 bullets recovered from him in Elwak, Mandera at the Kenya-Somalia border.
(The Standard website, Nairobi 12,28/12; AFP, Dadaab & Nairobi 14, 25/12)
Police clashed with youth protesting the killing of three local businessmen in Dandora and Huruma residential estates by gunmen on December 31st. The gunmen, riding on motorcycles, appeared to be operating randomly, even though their attacks seem targeted at inuential local businessmen. Newlyappointed Police Inspector-General David Kimaiyo was planning to hold a meeting with police commanders over the violence. (PANA, Nairobi
31/12)
violent protests, were sentenced to death on December 19th. Judge Fred Ochieng said police had used excessive and unjustied force when they opened re 61 times on the drivers in the Nairobi district of Kawangware. Police had claimed the drivers were part of a criminal gang known as the Mungiki, a sect notorious for its beheadings and for racketeering, notably in the public transport sector. However, witnesses said the drivers had been unarmed and had made no attempt to attack the police. Kenya is believed to have carried out its last execution in 1987. ( AFP,
Nairobi 19/12)
Police Sentences: Six policemen convicted of killing seven taxi drivers during a 2010 raid, murders that had sparked
Libya Yunes Assassination Inquiry

Military prosecutors on December 12th accused ex-leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil of abusing his power, after grilling him in the eastern town of Marj over the 2011 assassination of General Abdel Fatah Yunes, a prosecution ofcial said. Abdel Jalil was chairman of the National Transitional Council (NTC), a political body representing the rebels during the 2011 conict, which ended in the ouster and death of dictator Muammar Gaddafy. Prosecutors have also summoned for questioning Mahmud Jibril, who was the head of the NTCs executive committee at the time and who played a critical role in winning international support for the Libyan revolution, the same source said. Jibril now leads a liberal coalition of political parties. General Yunes, the highest-ranking military gure to join the uprising, was killed in July 2011 in murky circumstances after being recalled from the front line for questioning. His burned and bullet-ridden body was found on the outskirts of Benghazi. Members of the powerful Al-Obeidi tribe to which the general belonged warned in November that they would take justice into their own hands if the countrys new authorities continued to neglect the case. They openly accuse Abdel Jalil of playing a role in the assassination. A hearing has been set for February 20th, 2013 and the attorney general could still extend the investigation to other persons suspected of being involved in the generals assassination. At least thirteen people have been formally accused of involvement in the affair, including Judge Jumaa al-Jazwi, who signed the order to arrest Yunes. Jazwi was himself assassinated in June 2012. ( AFP12/12 2012) Gaddafys Premier on trial: The trial of Gaddafys last prime minister Al-Baghdadi al-Mahmudi, accused of aiding the state to kill civilians and nancial crimes, opened in a Libyan court on December 10th. A judge read out the charges against Mahmudi which included abusing public funds and committing acts aiming to unjustly kill people during the 2011. The highest-ranking former regime ofcial to go before Libyan judges sat in a caged section of the courtroom and spoke only once during the one-hour hearing, saying yes when asked to conrm his presence. Dressed in a traditional white robe, he sat alongside co-defendants, Al-Mabruk Zahmul and Amer Saleh Tirfas who managed a trade and investment company run by Saif al-Islam. At the request of the defence team, the court decided to create a panel of expert accountants to review irregular nancial transactions and locate missing state funds.The defence team also put forward a list of witnesses, which included former regime gures some of whom are jailed and others who are wanted by the new authorities. A new hearing was set for January 14th, 2013. Benghazi Clashes: The army is deploying units to help bolster security in the eastern city of Benghazi, military spokesman Ali alSheikhi said on December 21st, a day after clashes there killed four people. There have been a series of attacks targeting police stations in Libyas second city, with many blaming the violence on Islamist extremists. Four policemen were wounded on December 12th when a bomb exploded in front of their station in Benghazi. Unknown attackers red at a convoy transporting United Nations personnel east of Tripoli on December 12th, a UN spokeswoman said, adding that no one was hurt. ( AFP, Benghazi & Triipoli 12,21/12) Coptic Church Explosion: Two Egyptians have been killed and two injured in an apparent attack on a Coptic church building near Misrata, ofcials say. It was not clear who was behind the blast in the small town of Daniyah. The Egyptian government has requested more security at the church. (BBC news online 30/12)
Coast: Kenyas coast has been hit by a string of attacks in recent months, with the separatist Mombasa Security Council (MRC) as well as a separate Islamist movement clashing with security forces. Police shot dead three and arrested four suspected militants linked to the MRC movement during the night of December 9th, regional police chief Aggrey Adoli. Police raided the suspects house after reports the men were plotting to attack a police station. ( AFP 10/12, Daily Nation,
Nairobi 10/12)
Nairobi: Twin explosions wounded at least two people in the mainly Somali neighbourhood of Eastleigh on December 19th, police said. It was the latest in a string of attacks in the area on December 9th, three grenades were lobbed into a bar, injuring at least two people, on December 7th an improvised explosive device detonated there. A member of parliament was among those injured and ve people died as a result of that explosion. On December 5th a roadside bomb explosion killed one person and wounded eight others. These attacks are often blamed on alQaedalinked al Shabaab militants since Kenya invaded Somalia in 2011. The Muslim Youth Centre (MYC), a Kenyan Islamist group that has pledged its support to the Shabaab, was swift to highlight the latest blast on its Twitter site noting a boom in Eastleigh, but not claiming responsibility. In November, riots broke out in Eastleigh district after the bombing of a bus, with running street battles between demonstrators and the police.
( AFP, Nairobi 7,19/12) A
Prisoners Pardoned: President Kibaki pardoned 6700 prison inmates on December 21st to ease jail congestion.
(Daily Nation website, Nairobi 21/12)
MALI
UN Approval At Last After months of lobbying, an Africanled force is agreed, but no intervention will take place until diplomatic avenues are exhausted.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has 3,300 troops on standby to help Malis crippled military wrest back control of the north from Islamist militants but has been waiting for a go-ahead from the UN Security Council. In a rare diplomatic spat in early December after an ECOWAS Ministerial Council meeting, the regional bloc openly expressed its disagreement with the UN Secretary General concerning the urgency to deploy an African-led intervention mission, PANA reported (2/12). It said action needed to be taken now. The Security Council on December 20th nally and unanimously approved sending this African-led international force. However, it said all possible diplomatic avenues must be exhausted before force can be used and insisted on dialogue with the armed groups in the north which reject terrorism and the partition of the country. The UN approval is for deployment in stages and without a precise timetable. It gave the force an initial one-year mandate to use all necessary measures to help the Malian government take back territory seized in the wake of a March military coup. After months of back and forth lobbying for the approval of the peacekeeping force the African Union (AU) has hailed the authorization as a milestone. An interim government has taken over in Bamako (p. 19517) and new Prime Minister Diango Cissoko said credible elections would be held when conditions allow. UN chief Ban Ki-moon recently pressed Malis government to hold free elections as soon as possible as part of preparations for the intervention force, AFP reported (27/12). West African nations have been pressing hard for the UN Security Council to approve the military intervention plan, which is being backed by France, while Germany and the United States have offered training and logistical support. Western powers fear the north of Mali could become a new sanctuary for terrorist groups. But misgivings are rife over the plan to send in 3,300 west
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African troops. Many of Malis neighbours still prefer a negotiated solution and both the UN and US have urged caution. The German Intelligence Service (BND) recently warned that northern Mali may become a base for al Qaeda. BND chief Gerhard Schindler informed Bundestag deputies and cabinet members in condential meetings that the desert state is increasingly turning into a destination for foreign jihadists. The BND believes that the development in the north of Mali represents an indirect threat to Europe. It has noted that European and also German jihadists are on their way to Mali, where they intend to be trained or ght. Such terror recruits, as the BND put it, could become active when returning to Europe and apply their knowhow of weapons or explosives, German Spiegel Online reported (29/11). France drew up the Mali resolution after weeks of talks with the US, which had
expressed doubts that the force proposed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) would be tough enough for the desert battle against the militants.The US nally cosponsored the resolution and is expected to become a major backer of the new force. Malis government hailed the Security Council decision as a sign that the world would not abandon the country. We are grateful to the international community, a consensus has been reached on the Malian situation, said an advisor to Malis interim president, Dioncounda Traore. We are going to wage war against the terrorists and continue to negotiate with our brothers who are ready for dialogue. Ansar Dine and the Touareg MNLA are holding direct talks with Mali government ofcials in Burkina Faso (see box). Al Qaeda in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb (AQLIM) and the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa
Mali Key Events in December

1st: MUJAOs Ahmed Ould Amer says that his group considers the international threat as a universal destiny that has got to be fought and driven out through ghting, jihad and incitement of Muslims. AQLIM releases a video warning African and European states against any military intervention. If you want war, the Sahara is a large graveyard for your soldiers and a disaster for your interests, AQLIM chief Abdelmalek Droukdel says. 2nd: ECOWAS Council of Ministers end a three-day meeting in Cote dIvoire calling for urgent action to intervene in Mali, pressing the UN for approval of this force. The Brigade of the Masked under the command of the Algerian Mokhtar Belmokhtar, also known as Laouar, decides to break away from AQLIM allegedly following differences between Belmokhtar and AQLIM leader in Algeria. 4th: At their rst direct talks in neighbouring Burkina Faso, the government, Ansar Dine and the Touareg Azawad National Liberation Movement (MNLA) agree on the respect for Malis national unity and territorial integrity, and on the rejection of any form of extremism and terrorism. MNLA deputy leader Mohamed Lamine Ould Ahmed announces he is completely withdrawing from the movement, due to what he says concessions in the rights of the Azawad people for the benet of the oppressive, racist regime in Bamako. A Belgian special forces ofcer visits Bamako to prepare for an European military intervention to support ECOWAS forces. 5th: Mali issues a fresh appeal to the UN for a green light on military intervention, but UN chief Ban Ki-moon says a more detailed plan is needed and that talks should be given a chance. B Heavy military weapons, meant for the Malian government but blocked in Conakry, Guinea, for several months, are nally delivered in Bamako. US military planners begin to help organize the multinational proxy force, the Pentagon says. 8th: Responding to a call by political parties, around 1,000 people march through Bamako to demand a swift international intervention. 10th: The EU approves plans to deploy a military training mission in Mali to help the government regain control of the north. 11th: Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra resigns, hours after ex-coup leader Capt. Amadou Sanogo orders soldiers to arrest him at his home. Hours later, President Traore appoints Diango Cissoko, formerly the nations ombudsman. A new-armed group in Northern Mali, called Ansar al Sharia emerges in Gao. 12th: Gunmen, believed to be members of the French military special forces, destroy an arms depot in the northern Azawad region of Mali in a covert operation, targeting concealed anti-aircraft missiles. 13th: Mauritania will not be involved in any military intervention in northern Mali, except if the terrorists attack its territory, Defence Minister Ahmedou Ould Deye Ould Mohamed says. 20th: UN Security Councils unanimously decides to back West African plans for a 3,300-troop intervention. 21st: Ansar Dine and the MNLA criticise the UN approval but say they are committed to suspending hostilities and holding peace talks. ( AFP, PANA, Al Jazeera, Al-Akhbar, Nouakchott, El-Khabar, Algiers)
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(MUJAO) continue to strengthen their brutal hold on the north. Another Mali politician, Mustapha Cisse, said the UN vote showed the willingness of the international community not to abandon Mali to its own devices. The resolution calls for political efforts to draw the Touareg rebels in the north into a coalition against the Islamists. In parallel, European nations and the international force will train Malis enfeebled army. A move toward a military offensive would come in a second phase. Rights and aid groups have meanwhile warned an intervention risks worsening the situation for Malians. An international armed intervention is likely to increase the scale of human rights violations we are already seeing in this conict, said Amnesty International West Africa researcher Salvatore Sagues. The conict has so far displaced more than 400,000 people, according to the UN. (Sources as referenced in text)
battleeld, overrun by Islamist militants who have been razing its world-heritage religious sites in a destructive rampage that the UN cultural agency, UNESCO, has deplored as tragic. Not a single mausoleum will remain in Timbuktu, Allah doesnt like it, Abou Dardar, a leader of the armed Ansar Dine group which is behind the latest wave of destruction, bluntly told AFP on December 23rd. Other Muslim chiefs who said they had also received death threats recently are Mohamed Macky Ba, the president of the Young Mali Muslims union, Mahamadou Diallo, an imam in Bamako, as well as Thierno Hady Thiam, another Muslim preacher. ( AFP, 23,27/12)
NIGERIA
Security Tightened As Christians continue to be targeted, the President asks if the continuing violence is a sign of end times.
Nigerian soldiers killed four suspected extremists and lost one policeman in the latest crackdown on the Islamist Boko Haram group in the northeast, the military said on December 30th. Lieutenant Lazarus Eli, spokesman for the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Damaturu, capital of Yobe State, said the operation was carried out on the 29th in an area of Potiskum, Yobe state, an extremist hotbed which has been hard hit by near daily attacks in recent months, prompting a heavy army deployment, reports AFP (30/12). Dozens of sect members have been killed or arrested. Gunmen killed ve people on the 28th, including a policeman, in Musari on the edge of the town of Maiduguri, Borno State capital and a long-time Boko Haram stronghold. The Nigerian military said it had arrested three people and seized weapons following the attack. A school teacher in the village told the Associated Press that gunmen had gathered people into a group before massacring them. He said 15 people had died in the attack; many had had their throats slit. Seven people were murdered by unidentied attackers on the 26th in Maiduguri, according to police. The army also said soldiers had killed ve suspected terrorists and destroyed a bomb-making factory on the 27th in Kaduna (north). Security was tightened throughout the north in December and although Christmas attacks were not on the scale of the past two years, six people died in an attack on a church in Potiskum on Christmas Day, while seven people were killed on December 26th in Maiduguri. No group claimed responsibility for the
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Shrine Destruction and Death Threats Radical Islamists controlling the north in Mali have sent death threats to several senior Muslim chiefs in the country, ofcials said on December 27th. One of the people to receive the threats is Cherif Ousmane Madani Haidara, who heads a Muslim association that groups tens of thousands of followers. Haidara heads a Muslim association called Ansar Dine (Defenders of the Faith) the same name as one of the radical Islamist groups that have seized control of the north of the country but totally unconnected. We have nothing to do with the Ansar Dine of the north. We condemn the hands that they are chopping, Haidara said, referring to the amputations of accused robbers. We condemn their Islam, he said. While most of Malian Muslims follow the Su brand of Islam, the Islamists controlling the north adhere to the radical Wahhabi tradition. Underscoring the stark differences between the two groups, the Islamists in late December destroyed more Muslim mausoleums that they consider blasphemous in the fabled city of Timbuktu. Nicknamed the City of 333 Saints or The Pearl of the Desert, Timbuktu sits just north of the Niger river and about 1,000km north of Bamako. Today it is a
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church attack, but Boko Haram has targeted a number of churches in the north since 2010. The violence came on the same day that the Pope prayed for harmony in Nigeria in his Christmas Day address, lamenting what he called savage acts of terrorism that frequently target Christians. Violence continued in Maiduguri on the 28th as gunmen attacked the military post attached to telecom masts and a primary school, killing a soldier, The Guardian, Lagos reported (28/12). There were reports on the 31st of attackers storming an evangelical church service in Kyachi village outside Chibok killing15 people in the latest such violence targeting Christians. Early in the month, attackers threw homemade bombs at a bus, a blast went off near a police station and two policemen were shot dead in a spate of attacks in Kano, ofcials said on December 5th. A policeman and at least three suspected Boko Haram gunmen died following a bombing and shooting raid on a regional police headquarters in Potiskum on the 10th. The group was suspected of being behind a series of attacks on December 2nd on churches and border posts in the north when around 50 gunmen in cars and on motorcycles carried out attacks on three churches and border posts. Ten Christians had their throats slit, AFP reported (2/12). More than 1,000 Nigerians ed to neighbouring Niger after six people were killed in an attack on their village blamed on Boko Haram, the United Nations (UN) said on December 6th. Politicians too have been repeatedly targeted by Boko Haram; gunmen shot dead Alhaji Danladi Isa Kademi, a lawmaker in Kano House of Assembly and a member of All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) in Kano (north) on the 14th in the latest in a series of such attacks. This Day website (12/12) reported that suspected Boko Haram members had killed a District Head in Borno State, Kazalla Ali, and his son. Meanwhile, the Joint Task Force, Department of State Security and the Nigeria Police Force Dog section, in a combined special operation on the 1st, in Maiduguri, killed a top Boko Haram commander, Abdulkareem Ibrahim and two of his sub commanders. Abdulkareem Ibrahim was top on the wanted list of the JTF, according to The Vanguard (2/12). On the 24th, agents of the state security service (SSS) arrested two journalists after a report of alleged abuses by troops battling Boko Haram. The editor of weekly Almizan, Musa Muhammad
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Burkina Faso Niger Niamey Sokoto Gusau
Niger River Kaduna Kaduna River
At the end of the month, President Goodluck Jonathan speaking at an evangelical Christian church service in the capital lamented that churches had been the worst hit and questioned whether the deadly attacks in his country and other violence worldwide could be signs of coming end times. He also suggested Boko Haram aimed to take over the capital Abuja, but vowed the group would be defeated. Boko Haram has splintered into many factions, writes the UN humanitarian and news analysis service, IRIN (28/11). The major faction is led by Abubakar Shekau and analysts believe that there are chances of ending the violence if the government is able to negotiate with him. It is also thought to have links with other Islamist movements such as al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQLIM) and Somalias al Shabaab which have further radicalised some members who are now loath to compromise. Criminal gangs have also been hiding behind Boko Haram, says Bawa Abdullahi Wase, a criminologist and rapporteur at the UN Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS). Killings and armed robbery are becoming a way of life and more and more unemployed young men are drawn to it. All a criminal needs are a gun and explosives to give his crime a Boko Haram touch, he told IRIN. If the government doesnt end these Boko Haram attacks by negotiating with the sect, the situation will become too complex for the government to know who to deal with because it will become too difcult to discern between the sect and impostors. Nigerias federal government has said it is ready for talks with the sect to end the groups violent campaign, but only if it presents a public face. Boko Haram has for its part accused the government of insincerity in its call for dialogue. But Boko Haram is not the only threat in northern Nigeria; Islamist group Ansaru, known to have ties with Boko Haram, has risen in prominence in recent weeks. It claimed an attack on a major police barracks in the capital
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Awwal, and reporter Aliyu Saleh were arrested in Kaduna. Editor-in-chief Ibrahim Musa said he believed their arrest was in connection with a story published on the arrests of 84 people in Potiskum by soldiers on suspicion of belonging to Boko Haram and their families being denied access to them. Residents and human rights bodies have accused troops of abuses, including arbitrary arrests and killings of civilians, in connection with the insurgency.
Chad 300 mi 300 km Kano Zaria

Lake Chad Maiduguri
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Boko Haram Looks to Mali

As the army steps up its crackdown, the Islamist militias leaders are strengthening their ties with northern Mali. Senior Nigerian security ofcials insist that scores of top Boko Haram commanders have ed to Mali and Somalia since midSeptember after crackdowns in northern Nigeria. Such claims of success have to be balanced against the governments continuing lack of political strategy in dealing with the militia and it winning back some credibility in the north-east. Government soldiers and police, in many cases, are feared as much as Boko Haram. In November, President Goodluck Jonathans National Security Advisor, retired Colonel Sambo Dasuki, warned that Boko Haram had growing ties with other African extremist groups. Of immediate concern to us today is the increasing cooperation between the Boko Haram group in Nigeria and established terror groups operating in the Sahel, Dasuki told a conference on regional security in Abuja. Some diplomats remain sceptical about the extent of Boko Harams international links, arguing that some Nigerian ofcial assessments are a self-serving way of raising money for the security services. Many Nigerian experts say Boko Haram has several different factions, only one of which has substantial links to al Qaeda. Yet these links have galvanised Nigerias determination to strike against jihadists in northern Mali.In mid-November, the Chief of Defence Staff, Vice-Admiral Ola Saad Ibrahim, said Nigeria had agreed to send about a battalion to Mali, as its contribution to 3,300 regional troops intended to ght the Islamists. Although Boko Haram has extended its operations across to the north-west, including Kaduna and Kano, and down to the Middle Belt states, such as Plateau and Taraba, its national base is still in the far north-east, bordering Cameroon and Chad. The continuing blight of its violence has prompted many powerful people to seek direct arrangements with the militants, rather than rely on the governments military force. Business people who have no ideological sympathy with Boko Haram have cut clandestine essentially protection deals. Others, including some politicians, use the militia to eliminate their rivals. (Africa Condential, London 30/11)
Togo Benin
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Shaki Minna Chad River Ogbomosho Oshogbo Makurdi Ibadan Niger River Lagos Enugu Cameroon Porto Warri Novo Calabar Port Yaounde Atlantic Harcourt Ocean Gulf of Guinea
Jos Kumo Abuja Benue
Abuja in November, where it said hundreds of prisoners were released. The group said on December 23rd it was behind the recent kidnapping of a French national, Francis Colump, 63, working for French company Vergnet. Around 30 gunmen stormed a residence in Rimi, Katsina State near the border with Niger. It cited Frances push for military intervention in Mali as a justication (p. 19531). In November, Britains Interior ministry identied Ansaru as a Nigeria-based terrorist organisation and declared membership or support for it illegal. The groups full name, Jamaatu Ansarul Muslimina Biladis Sudan, roughly translates as Vanguards for the aid of Muslims in black Africa. Britain has said the group probably has ties to AQLIM. (Sources as referenced in text)
Conditional ceasere offer p. 19497
Separatist Group Arrests Fifteen people suspected of being members of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), were arrested by the police in Enugu, during the weekend of December 89th following security reports that they were plotting to cause mayhem in the state, according to the Vanguard (9/12). This Day website (10/12) reported that two people had been killed over the weekend in the state capital by unknown gunmen. The gunmen were said to have been operating in the same area where most of the kidnap cases recorded in the area recently had taken place. Later in the month, police foiled an attempt by suspected terrorists to bomb the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, in Enugu, This Day reported (28/12).
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Senior Politicians Mother Freed The elderly mother of Nigerias Finance Minister was freed on December 14th after being abducted from her home in Delta state in the Niger Delta region, where ransom kidnappings occur regularly. There was no indication of whether a ransom was paid to free 82year-old Kamene Okonjo, whose daughter Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is a high-prole
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minister and ex-World Bank managing director. A police spokesman said she was in good health, but gave no further details. Ransom kidnappings are a lucrative business in Nigerias south, though such high-prole victims are rare, says AFP (14/12). The motive behind the crime which shocked the country remained unclear but earlier the Finance ministry had spoken vaguely of threats made to the minister. Okonjo-Iweala has pushed to clean up corruption, particularly related to a fuel subsidy programme. Local newspaper The Guardian reported that 63 people had been arrested including two police ofcers suspected of aiding the kidnappers. (Sources as
referenced in text) Rebirth of Biafra p. 19499
SOMALIA
Key Town Falls The government gives Islamist ghters 100 days to surrender.
African Union (AU) troops and Somali forces seized Jowhar on December 9th, wresting control of one of the largest remaining towns held by al Shabaab insurgents. Jowhar is 90km south of Mogadishu and it had been under the control of al Shabaab since 2009. Media reports said they ed without putting up a ght. Shabelle Media Network (9/12) said the fall of the town was a major blow to al Shabaab but a boost for the Somali government and its allies, which now control large parts of the south after pushing the insurgents out of major cities and towns including Mogadishu, Kismayo and Baidoa. The capture of Jowhar brings a step closer the prospect of AU troops pushing northwards and being able to link up with Ethiopian soldiers ahead in the Hiraan region. Commander of Amisom, the AUs mission in Somalia, Andrew Gutti said Jowhars capture would go a long way towards improving security in the Hiraan and Shabelle regions. Al Shabaab ghters are on the back foot, with AU troops also battling to open up the road northwest from Mogadishu to link the capital with Baidoa, which is held by Ethiopian soldiers. The group has been releasing videos on the internet urging foreign jihadists to come and join the ght in Somalia. Analysts say this focus on recruiting foreign ghters and its increasing use of the English language on social media shows the groups shrinking inuence in SomaA
lia, according to online newspaper Sabahi. Nevertheless al Shabaab remains a potent threat, still controlling rural areas as well as carrying out guerrilla attacks including suicide bombings in areas apparently under government control. The hardline insurgents still control the small port town of Barawe, some 180km south of Mogadishu. On December 5th, Shabab ghters attacked soldiers from the northern Puntland region, an area where the militants are feared to be carving out new bases after eeing southern and central Somalia, AFP reported (9/12). Galgala in the northern Golis mountains has provided refuge. The Golis mountains, straddling the porous border between the autonomous state of Puntland and self-declared independent Somaliland, is honeycombed with caves and difcult to access. The northern mountains have been under longtime control of warlord, arms dealer and Shabaab ally Mohamed Said Atom, on UN Security Council sanctions for kidnapping, piracy and terrorism. Puntland forces battled Atoms troops in 20102011, damaging his militia force but failing to crush the militants, and the Shabaab have since bolstered the ghters in the region. Privately-owned Somali Dhacdo.com website reported (25/12) Shaykh Abdirahman Hudeyfa, al Shebaab commander in Jubba as admitting that that the group was losing ground in ghting in central and southern Somalia to Amisom, the Somali government, and Ras Kamboni forces daily. In late November, Radio Gaalkacyo quoted Amisom deputy commander Col. Istivano as saying that senior al Shabaab ofcials had began an exodus to Yemen after the groups ouster from several key regions in the south. Somalias government has given young al Shabab ghters 100 days to surrender to authorities and lay down their weapons, the website of the privately-owned Shabeelle Media Network reported (26/ 12). Interior and National Security Minister Abdikarim Husayn Gulled told reporters in Mogadishu that those young al Shabaab ghters should be at school for the good of their country and should not be endangering the lives and those of their people. He said the those who heed the call would not be harmed in any way. Federal Government has declared new measures to curb insecurity in Mogadishu and its environs, privately-owned Radio Gaalkacyo reported (30/12) The government has deployed hundreds of police ofcers in Mogadishu, according to privately-owned Radio Simba (25/
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12). Insecurity in the city has continued as evidenced by targeted killings and bomb blasts. Al Shabaab militants have said they are still active in the capital. Their leader there, Shaykh Ali Muhammad Husayn said his group was behind the recent mortar attacks. Speaking to the media, Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdoon said that that 1,000 special forces had been established to restore security in Mogadishu and bring an end to illegal checkpoints in Banaadir Region. He added that Amisom would also be involved. Meanwhile Daily Nation, Nairobi (13/ 12) reported that life was slowly returning to normal in the Kismayo as residents who ed the ghting started to return. However, Somalias Interior and National Security Minister, Abdihakin Husayn Guled called on aid organizations to urgently provide humanitarian assistance to residents there due to difcult living conditions, UN-backed Radio Bar-Kulan website reported (30/ 12). Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) in charge of Sector II of Amisom would remain in Kismayo until a leadership vacuum is solved and security in the country stabilizes, Daily Nation, Nairobi quoted KDF Information Ofcer Col. Cyrus Oguna, as saying on December 13th. The humanitarian crisis remains critical but there is hope for improvement after major security and political changes in the war-torn country, United Nations ofcials said on December 4th. Speaking at the launch of a $1.3bn appeal to support 3.8m Somalis in the year ahead, ofcials noted it was the rst time such an project was launched in the longtime warzone capital. Stefano Porretti, acting UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, said a string of territorial losses by al Shabaab insurgents as well as a new government in Mogadishu offered hope for change.
(Sources as referenced in text) Road to Baidoa p. 19500
SOUTH SUDAN
Tit-For-Tat Tribal Killings Security forces open re on demonstrators protesting the transfer of the county headquarters.
Youths armed with sticks, machetes and spears battled police in the northern town of Wau on December 19th, forcing thousands of civilians to seek refuge in a UN compound, The Independent, London (20/12) quoted the United Nations and residents as saying. A hospital doctor in Wau, one of the new nations largest cities, said at least 12 people were killed.
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Details were unclear but government spokesman Barnaba Marial Benjamin said the clashes broke out in Wau after the bodies of six Dinka tribespeople were found. It was believed the six were among 28 farmers abducted in retaliation for another outbreak of deadly violence in the town earlier in the month. Violence rst erupted when residents of Wau protested a central government plan to move the local seat of authority to Bagare, a smaller town 12 miles away. According to UN ofcials and medics, 10 people were killed on December 8th. Hundreds of police ofcers patrolled the streets on the 20th after reinforcements arrived from the capital Juba by plane. Many residents were reported to be leaving the town. In a press release (13/12), the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) called on the security forces to exercise maximum restraint and protect civilians. It expressed deep concern over the violence and loss of life in Wau. The release said nine civilians had been conrmed killed and many more injured. Juba said UNMISS had launched an independent investigation into the protests. Meanwhile South Sudans soldiers killed 14 people in volatile Jongleis Pibor county (east), ofcials said on December 10th. The area is beset by ethnic killings, a rebellion and an army crackdown. Local ofcials insisted the victims were civilians, but the army claimed they were gunmen following rebel leader David Yau Yau. Yau Yau, a Murle, had been granted a presidential amnesty and given a job as an army general, but he gave up the post to resume ghting in April. Peter Gazulu, Pibors former human rights commissioner, insisted that those killed were not with the rebels. Both Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International (AI) have condemned a string of reported abuses as security forces crack down on those seen to support the rebels. Women and children are increasingly targeted in a surge of violence in Jonglei state, Doctors without Borders (MSF) said at the end of November. MSF is concerned the situation could worsen with the approach of the dry season, making movement around the area possible again. Meanwhile an FBI agent will investigate the killing of South Sudanese writer and government critic Diing Chan Awuol, a case that has raised concerns over press freedom in the edgling nation, US embassy ofcials said on December 18th. Relatives say Awuol, who wrote
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under the pen name of Isaiah Abraham, was shot dead earlier in the month for outspoken comments that included calling for an improvement in relations with Khartoum, AFP reported (18/12). Colleagues said he had received death threats, while one employer, the Sudan Tribune newspaper, said he was questioned by security ofcials weeks before his death after he called for President Salva Kiirs resignation. Press rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders said the killing was a tragic setback to the hopes cherished by South Sudans defenders of freedom of opinion since independence. The FBI investigation follows warnings made earlier in December by US special envoy Princeton Lyman, who said it would be a terrible tragedy and setback if the country was diverted and became prisoner of those who intimidate. The UN Human Rights ofce on December 11th expressed its concern over what it called the tragic silencing of Ding Chan Awol. It warned that a series of attacks on human rights defenders in the country amounted to an assault on freedom of expression. US envoy Lyman said that other heavy-handed actions by security forces including the shooting of several protestors earlier in the month and reported army abuses against civilians in volatile Jonglei state must also be investigated. On the 18th, reports emerged that the bodies of six people with their hands tied behind their backs had been found after being kidnapped and executed by an armed gang in Western Bahr el-Ghazal state. The killings were not believed to be linked to the shooting dead of the protestors in Wau. (Sources as referenced
in text)
The Security Council strongly condemned the downing of the helicopter and urged UNMISS and the government of South Sudan to conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the accident.
(Sources as referenced in text)
SUDAN
Student Protests Khartoum must end its violent repression of demonstrations, says human rights watchdog.
The deaths of students, following a crackdown on a tuition protest at Gezira University south of Khartoum, has sparked the largest outpouring of Arab Spring-style discontent since anti-regime protests in June and July. Nationwide protests were sparked by the death of four Darfuri students in Gezira state following a peaceful student sit-in at their university on December 3rd. The four had been arrested by National Security Service (NSS) ofcers and were later found dead in a canal near the university. Following this, protests quickly spread to Khartoum and other towns. Protests had begun on December 2nd against the administration of Gezira University, where protestors were attacked by pro-government students. The ghting led to the arrest of seven Darfuri students who were reportedly taking part in a peaceful demonstration. On the 3rd, a larger group of students took part in a sit-in that was said to be peaceful. Government security forces responded to the protest by arresting more than 50 people. According to Amnesty International (AI), police continued to use excessive force in Khartoum during protests denouncing the death of the students and calling for the government to be replaced. Protesters were beaten and dispersed with tear gas, while scores were arrested. The four bodies reportedly bore signs of beatings, suggesting torture or ill-treatment. Witnesses told AI the bodies bore signs of bleeding on their heads, and one on the shoulder. University ofcials said the four students drowned. New Yorkbased Human Rights Watch (HRW) interviewed witnesses who reported that government security forces pushed the protesters toward the canal, causing several students to fall in. The Sudanese Minister of Justice has pledged to establish a commission of inquiry to investigate the deaths. Students in Gezira State had been protesting against the university administrations refusal to let them register without
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Helicopter Down in Friendly Fire South Sudans army shot down a United Nations (UN) helicopter, killing all four crew on board, after it mistook the craft for an enemy plane, SPLA military spokesman Philip Aguer said on December 21st. Aguer said the army used anti-aircraft weapons to down the aircraft as it ew over Jonglei. Talking to journalists in Juba on December 22nd, Aguer said said a failure of communications and lack of coordination was responsible, UN sponsored Radio Miraya FM reported (23/ 12). The South Sudanese government has already tried to stop the UN, and rights groups investigating allegations of massacres and other abuses in that region.
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paying the full tuition. Under the Darfur Peace Agreement, students originating from Darfur are exempt from the payment of tuition fees. Two lawyers and two teachers afliated with an opposition party were also arrested on December 8th for their alleged involvement in the protests. They remain in detention, without charge, said Amnesty. The head of Sudans opposition political alliance Farouk Abu Issa told AFP on the 13th he had been detained by state security agents after he spoke in support of the dead students. Freed after two days in detention, he said that the government fears rising popular discontent in the crisis-hit nation. Issa blamed the deaths on Islamic militia. The response to the recent protests is deeply troubling, said Audrey Gaughran of AI. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) spokesman also expressed concern. There is a worrying trend of attacks on students in Sudan, Rupert Colville stated. We stress the need for swift investigations into the circumstances surrounding the murders of the students and the importance of bringing the perpetrators to justice. The Sudanese authorities used excessive force against Darfuri students protesting for their rights, the US governments senior adviser for Darfur, Dane Smith said on the 12th. Smith called the deaths shocking and said the protests were quite reasonable. The students deaths sparked the largest outpouring of Arab Spring-style discontent since anti-regime protests in June and July, according to AFP (12/12). Demonstrators have called for revolution and the fall of President Omar al-Bashirs 23-year regime. Protests in June and July were led by university students with protesters calling for the governments downfall. However, the movement withered following violent crackdowns by police, said France 24 (10/12). (Sources as referenced
in text)
Rebels claimed to have seized a district capital just days after saying they took control of a major town. The Sudan Liberation Armys (SLAs) Abdelwahid Nur faction said late on December 28th it had captured the government ofce and army base in Guldo district near Central Darfur states Nertiti town. Group spokesman Ibrahim al-Hillu said it was a great victory in the history of the war in Darfur as his faction had never before seized a district. On the 24th, Hillu reported that his faction had taken the town of Golo, east of Guldo. The two towns are in mountainous Jebel Marra area home to the non-Arab Fur people and who are represented by Nurs faction, reports AFP (29/12). According to the Small Arms Survey, a Swiss-based independent research project, the group has several hundred combatants and a sphere of inuence limited to the Jebel Marra, a regular target for military operations and air attack. On December 21st, peacekeepers in Darfur warned of a potential humanitarian catastrophe after reports of renewed displacement of civilians by alleged air strikes and other attacks. UNAMID calls on all parties involved to keep civilians out of harms way and to grant the mission unrestricted access and freedom of movement across Darfur, Aicha Elbasri, the UNAMID spokeswoman, said in a statement. UNAMID has a mandate to protect civilians, but it said one of its patrols trying to verify reported Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) air strikes in the Shangil Tobay area of North Darfur state was denied access by the SAF. Although violence is down from its peak, villages have been razed and rebel-government ghting, banditry, inter-Arab and tribal disputes continue to afict the far west region. Meanwhile the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on December 5th said it had facilitated the handover of two SAF members released by the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). The ICRC has been working in Darfur since 2004, where it provides assistance for victims of the armed conict and other violence, PANA reports (5/12).
(Sources as referenced in text) Upsurge of violence in Darfur p. 19502
1st, Sudans independence day, the ofcial SUNA news agency reported. The division, giving separate status to the western part dominated by nomadic Arab Misseriya tribesmen - responds to the hopes of the people of the area, said the Vice President. It recreates the state of West Kordofan which was eliminated in 2005 following a peace agreement between Khartoum and the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M) that ended a 23-year civil war. West Kordofan is home to most of Sudans oil-elds as well as to the territory of Abyei, whose nal status was the most sensitive issue left unresolved when South Sudan became independent. The rebellion by the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) which Khartoum alleges is backed by South Sudan - is concentrated in the eastern half of the state. Sudans army has been unable to eliminate the 18-month-old rebellion. The African Union (AU) has proposed that a referendum be held in October 2013 on whether Abyei joins Sudan or South Sudan. Under the plan, members of the Dinka, a dominant South Sudanese tribe who live in the Abyei area, would have the right to vote along with Sudanese with permanent abode. The Misseriya, who regularly graze their animals through Abyei, strongly object to the plan. An analyst who wished to remain anonymous told AFP that the rebirth of West Kordofan appeared linked to the war in South Kordofan rather than the Abyei issue. On December 14th, the AUs Peace and Security Council expressed profound regret that Khartoum and the SPLM-N had failed to hold direct talks and reiterated that efforts towards a political solution should be delayed no longer. It said the war had escalated recently. SPLM-N is also ghting in Blue Nile state. The ethnic and religious minority SPLM-N were allies of southern rebels during Sudans 22-year civil war, which ended with a 2005 peace deal that led to South Sudans independence in July 2011. Human Rights Watch (HRW) on December 12th accused Sudan of carrying out indiscriminate aerial bombing and other serious violations of international humanitarian law in South Kordofan and in Blue Nile. In Blue Nile, HRW said scores of civilians had been killed, maimed or injured by government bombing and shelling.
Humanitarian Catastrophe? UNAMID in November expressed grave concern about an upsurge of violence in parts of Darfur. Militias are seemingly out of control and have been implicated in attacks on peacekeepers, yet the Sudanese government shows little interest in prosecuting the culprits, Dane Smith said in early December.
Rebirth of State Vice President Ali Osman Taha announced the establishment of West Kordofan state effective from January
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More than 900,000 people are estimated to be displaced or severely affected by the South Kordofan-Blue Nile conict, according to the United Nations (UN). SPLM-N spokesman Arnu Ngutulu Lodi told AFP the Islamist government wants to please Misseriya by creating West Kordofan, but the issue was not a priority for the rebels who are part of a Revolutionary Front with other Sudanese insurgents. Our priority is ghting until we remove the government and ensure greater democracy, respect for ethnic diversity and human rights, he said. On December 14th, rebels in South Kordofan identied 21 government soldiers they claimed to have killed that week in Daldako and a second location. In a visit to the area, Defence Minister Abdelrahim Mohammed Hussein announced that more troops and equipment would be sent to the area, the ofcial SUNA news agency reported. Although the situation is stable in the big towns and the main roads, the state needs to expand the secure area, he said. Husseins announcement of new reinforcements came after rebels reported the defeat of government forces who tried on the 10th to take the strategic rebel-held town of Daldako. Hussein is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes allegedly committed in the countrys farwest Darfur region. The governor of South Kordofan, Ahmed Haroun, is also sought by the ICC over alleged Darfur crimes. (Sources as referenced in
text)
once powerful former head of National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) Salah Gosh, and other ofcers, currently in detention for involvement in an earlier coup attempt. The government, however, on December 18th denied that a second coup was in the ofng in the country less than six months after the rst attempt, saying no army ofcers were arrested anew as reported. In a press statement Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) spokesman, Col. Sawarmi Khalid Saad was reported by PANA as saying: We havent heard of a coup dtat in our Command (HQ) on e December 15th. In November, Sudanese authorities sent shockwaves throughout the country when it arrested Gosh and more than a dozen senior security and army ofcers who were considered Islamist loyalists. Sudanese ofcials including presidential assistant Nae Ali Nae are now suggesting that investigations are proving links between those arrested and some opposition parties including Darfur rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the National Umma Party (NUP), according to Sudan Tribune (20/12). The conspirators reportedly spread news about the Presidents deteriorating health condition to justify the coup.
(Sources as referenced in text) Sabotage plot failed p. 19502
town of Sbeitla and tried to set it on re after sacking the lobby and destroying bottles of alcohol in the hotel bar, police and witnesses said. Tunisias Constituent Assembly has made little progress in drafting a new constitution and electoral law, with the process repeatedly hampered by differences between Islamists and secularists within the interim parliament. In late November, around 300 people were wounded in ve straight days of clashes between police and protesters in the town of Siliana, southwest of Tunis, where a strike swiftly degenerated into violence. Fresh clashes erupted on December 1st, amid rising discontent over poor living conditions two years after the revolution. In nearby Bargou, protesters with similar grievances blocked a road and hurled rocks at police vehicles heading for Tunis, with the police again ring tear gas to disperse them. Amnesty International (AI) and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay both called on the authorities to end the use of excessive force against the protesters in Siliana. The latest violence follows mounting clashes, strikes and attacks by hard-line Islamists known as Salasts across Tunisia that have plunged the country into a political impasse. President Moncef Marzouki had warned on November 30th that the crisis could spread, saying the government of Islamist and rival Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali was not meeting the expectations of the people. We do not have a single Siliana I am afraid that it could spread to several regions and threaten the future of the revolution, Marzouki said in a televised speech. He said Tunisia was at a crossroads between the road to ruin and the road to recovery. As clashes rocked the area, the government and the main the General Workers Union (UGTT) trade union that organised the protests, reached a deal aimed at satisfying the demands of demonstrators principally, the resignation of Governor Ahmed Ezzine Mahjoubi. The deal envisages sidelining Mahjoubi, whom Jebali has refused to sack, but not removing him, with his deputy to take over. Presidento Marzouki has denounced arms trafcking in North Africa since the fall of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafy, a particular source of concern given the current strife in Mali. The Gaddafy regime accumulated weapons, and now some are in the hands not only of Islamists from Libya, but
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TUNISIA
Nothing Has Changed Clashes, strikes, and attacks by Islamists multiply across the country in the run-up to celebrations to mark the anniversary of the uprising.
Tunisians, already troubled by the rise of radical Islamists, are eyeing the political and economic paralysis gripping their country with a dismay shared across much of the region two years after the Arab Spring began, according to AFP (14/12). In Sidi Bouzid, the town where Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on re on December 17th, 2010, an act of desperation that sparked Tunisias uprising and touched off the Arab Spring, residents of the restive town are almost unanimous that nothing has changed since the ouster of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011. Since coming to power in October 2011, the government has struggled to revive the economy and is accused, in particular, of turning a blind eye towards crimes allegedly committed by the Salast movement. On December 13th, presumed Salasts attacked a hotel in the
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Coup Reports Denied The Sudanese authorities have quietly arrested more than half a dozen army ofcers, accusing them of plotting to stage a coup against the Bashir government. According to the Cairo-based Al-Masry Al-Youm and Saudi-owned Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspapers the head of the of plot is a colonel in Khartoum central region who was identied as Al-Tayeb Al-Sayed. Al-Masry Al-Youm said Al-Sayed was assisted by six unnamed ofcers along with a retired major general and two privates. The same newspaper quoted Al-Sayed as warning the head of military intelligence that unless changes in the leadership are made that xes the countrys problems then everyday they will nd a coup as there are tens behind us who will try that. According to Al Sharq Al-Awsat, the plotters were planning to collect signatures of more than a thousand army ofcers demanding the release of the
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National Security
also from Algeria and Tunisia, Marzouki said in an interview with The World Today, edited by London-based think tank Chatham House. The danger now is that all these guys will go to Mali and train and make a holy war like in Afghanistan, and then they will come back to Tunisia. Our main foreign policy challenge for the next three years is to restore order to Mali. Marzouki said he longed for stability in a country where he said the situation is getting worse by the day. Al Qaeda-Linked Arrests Security forces have broken up a network that recruited ghters for al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQLIM), a spokesman at the Interior ministry said on December 15th, quoted by the ofcial TAP news agency. Seven people were arrested. On the 21st, the government announced that 16 men suspected of belonging to a group with ties to AQLIM had been arrested in the western regions of Kasserine and Jendouba near the Algerian border. Interior Minister Ali Laarayedh told reporters that weapons, ammunition, explosives, binoculars, maps and military uniforms were seized during the operation, with most of the weapons thought to have come from Libya. The group in Kasserine was active in recruiting and training young Islamist extremists in AQLIM camps in Algeria and Libya, the Minister said. Eight other extremists, including three Libyans, were arrested in the Jendouba region in northwest Tunisia, AFP reported (21/12). On December 10th, gunmen shot and killed Anis Jlassi, the head of the police station in Kassarine. Laarayedh was unable to conrm the existence of formal links between the two dismantled cells and Tunisias hardline Salast group Ansar al-Sharia, but he said some of those arrested had taken part in their protests. Regions where terrorist groups were uncovered have become nests of militants and Sala jihadists who have returned to the country since the fall of the former regime and the Libyan uprising, political analysts told Al-Jazeera on December 21st. Security operations conducted for weeks on Tunisias borders revealed that one group, active in the north, organized the travel of ghters to Algeria while the other group operated on the countrys border with Algeria. The security approach alone can not address the problem, which had deep roots, Tunisian political analyst, Nassreddine Ben Hadid, told Al-Jazeera.
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The areas where such incidents occur have become nests of those organizations, they are poor, marginalized areas on the countrys borders. The process of monitoring and controlling Tunisias long borders with Libya and Algeria, says political analyst Abdelatif El Hanachi, is difcult and complex and further compounded by the breakdown in security in both Tunisia and Libya in the past two years. Hundreds of supporters of Tunisias Islamist ruling party attacked members of a secular opposition party and besieged the hotel where they were meeting on December 22nd. The demonstrators brandished banners hostile to the Nidaa Tounes (Call of Tunisia) party in the hall where the meeting was being held, bringing it to an abrupt close, an AFP correspondent said. Nidaa Tounes, founded in July and led by former premier Beji Caid Essebsi, is accused by Tunisias ruling coalition of regrouping former regime ofcials and seeking to undermine the government. Its supporters regularly clash with backers of the ruling Islamist Ennahda party, which heads the coalition. On December 17th, protesters shouting the people want the fall of the government hurled rocks at President Moncef Marzouki and parliamentary speaker Mustapha Ben Jaafar in Sidi Bouzid, birthplace of the revolution. When the President took to the podium, many in the crowd of around 5,000 started shouting Get out! Get out! one of the rallying cries of the revolution. The President, a secular, centre-left ally of Ennahda, stressed that the government did not have a magic wand to x the countrys problems, and urged patience. Radical Islamists also gathered outside the prefecture, with members of the Hizb Ettahrir party waving the black ag of the hardline Salast movement. The security forces swiftly evacuated the two men to the prefecture. Marzouki had been heckled earlier in the morning, when he laid a wreath of owers at the grave of Mohamed Bouazizi, the young fruit and vegetable seller whose act of desperation touched off the Arab Spring. The Islamist-led government has struggled to meet the expectations of many ordinary Tunisians, with clashes and strikes, as well as attacks by Islamists, multiplying across the country in the run-up to celebrations to mark the anniversary of the uprising. On December 4th, the rising tension between the main political party in the troika government and the General Workers Union (UGTT) led to an attack by the CPPR members against
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the headquarters of the trade union. In reaction, the UGTT called a general strike for December 13th to condemn Ennahdha militias violence. The decision brought the UGTT wide domestic and international support amid concerns that the transitional phase is not meeting its objectives. However, last-minute talks between the government and the union resulted in the cancellation of the strike. According to privately-owned Tunisian French-language website Kapitalis (9/ 12), Ennahdha leader Rached Ghannouchi warned that the enemies of democracy are escalating their anarchic behaviour in order to push the armed forces to take over. He went on: anarchy leads to violence and dictatorship, and this is the objective that some parties are aiming for. Meanwhile Al-Jazeera, Doha reported (28/12) that 30 political parties led by the tripartite governing coalition met at a forum held in the capital to discuss various proposals for a blueprint towards a non-violent political scene.
(Sources as referenced in text) State of emergency extended p. 19503
IN BRIEF
Algeria: An army colonel was killed and a member of the communal guard wounded in a gun battle between troops and Islamists in Ahnif, east of Bouira, 125km southeast of Algiers, local media reported on December 21st. A senior member of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, (AQLIM), was arrested in the same region earlier, according to security sources. Saleh Kassmi, aka Mohamed Abou Salah, is also the networks media spokesman, AlJazeera reported quoting an Algerian website on December 17th. ( AFP, Algiers 21/12; Al Jazeera 17/12) Two leading Islamist militants, Abou El Akouaa and Abou Eshak, who took part in the murder of 17 Algerian military personnel and three Malian soldiers, were sentenced to life imprisonment on December 10th. The prosecution had requested the death sentence. (ElKhabar website, Algiers 10/12) Benin: Patrice Talon, a businessman alleged to be the mastermind of a plot to poison President Thomas Boni Yayi (p. 19486), was arrested in Paris, France on December 6th following an extradition request. His French lawyer William Bourdon said the procedure was based on persecution and political manipulation, and that it was a completely fabricated case. ( AFP, Paris 6/ 12) Congo: The trial of 23 soldiers accused in relation to the blast at the Mpila munitions dump in Brazzaville (282 people dead) is expected to take place in January, the Justice Minister said on December 27th. ( AFP 27/ 12 2012)
December 1st31st 2012 Djibouti: Houssein Ahmed Farah, a journalist who works for opposition radio station La Voix de Djibouti, which broadcasts out of Europe, and who was jailed for three months has been released, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said. ( AFP, Nairobi 20/11 2012) Ethiopia: The appeal of blogger Eskinder Nega and opposition leader Andualem Arage, jailed earlier in 2012 for terror-related offences, was again delayed on December 19th. Judge Dagne Melaku said more time was needed to review the bulky case le. Eskinder (18 years imprisonment) and Andualem (life) were among 24 people convicted in June under anti-terrorism legislation. ( AFP 19/12 2012) Opposition website Ogaden Online said there had been an increase in battles between the Ogaden National Liberation Army (ONLA) (armed wing of Ogaden National Liberation Front, ONLF) and government forces with the latter taking heavy casualties.(Ogaden Online 15/12) Opposition website Ethiomedia said that combatants of the Ethiopian Unity and Freedom Force (EUFF) on December 22nd had killed 17 prison guards, wounded at least 13 security staff and freed ve of their imprisoned comrades. The report could not be veried but, if true, would be the third major offensive after operations on Adigrat Prison (north) in November and Metema town (northwest) in May in which several business units belonging to ruling party ofcials were razed to the ground. (Ethiomedia 26/12) The Gambia: The European Union (EU) expressed concern on December 11th about the arbitrary detention of a renowned lawyer and rights defender as well as an outspoken religious leader who criticised the government. Lawyer Amie Bensouda and Imam Baba Leigh were arrested on separate occasions in early December, but while Bensouda was released on bail after 48 hours, Leigh remains in detention and is being denied access to family and lawyers, read an EU statement. Bensouda is the sister-in-law of International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda. ( AFP, Banjul 11/12 2012) The opposition Gambia Moral Congress (GMC) has called for mass protests following the latest escalation of gross human rights atrocities, agrant violations of the constitution, and arbitrary arrest of innocent citizens in the country. (PANA, Dakar 13/12) Guinea: At least two people were shot dead and dozens wounded during clashes between rival ethnic groups the Kissien and the Malknkes in the southeast on December 11th, hospital ofcials in the town of Gueckedou, 700km from Conakry, said. ( AFP 13/12) Human Rights Watch (HRW) on December 5th called on Guinea to step up efforts to bring to justice those responsible for the 2009 stadium massacre that left almost 160 people dead. President Alpha Conde and other Guinean ofcials have said they support accountability, but they need to better translate the rhetoric into action, said HRW. Three Guinean magistrates were in 2010 tasked with investigating the massacre, and according to the Guinean Organisation for the Defence of Human Rights (OGDH) and other rights groups, six people were charged but have yet to be tried. ( AFP, Conakry 5/12) Rwanda: The UN war crimes court, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has sentenced a key organiser of the 1994 Rwandan genocide to 35 years in prison. Augustin Ngirabatware, a former government minister and academic is the last person to be
Africa Research Bulletin 19539 tried by the court, which will now only hear appeals. (BBC News Online 20/12) Senegal: Eight Senegalese captives, including six soldiers, held since 2011 by the separatist Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC), were freed on December 9th, according to a statement from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which facilitated the transfer to representatives from the SantEgidio Community, which had acted as intermediary along with the Gambia. (PANA 10/12) Sierra Leone: Police in the diamond-mining city of Koidu (east) said on December 21st they were probing the deaths of two people shot when striking miners demonstrated against the South African-owned Octea mining company for improved working conditions on the 18th. ( AFP 21/12) South Africa: Two senior members of the newly-founded Federal Freedom Party (FFP) were arrested in connection with a plot to assassinate members of the ruling ANC during the partys conference in Bloemfontein (See p. 19525). They appeared in court on treason and terrorism charges on December 18th and were remanded in custody until their next court appearance on January 8th, SAPA news agency reported. ( AFP 21/12). Protesting gold miners at Harmonys Kusasalethu mine shaft in Carletonville clashed with police and private security guards on December 20th. Ofcials said 10 workers were injured by rubber bullets or tear gas, AFP reported (20/12). The violence followed the suspension of 578 employees, including some contractors, following their participation in an unprotected strike action on the 15th. It was the latest outbreak of violence at the mine southwest of Johannesburg. In mid-November, South Africa saw the end of the most devastating and costly bout of labour unrest in nearly a century, which claimed over 50 lives. (Sources as referenced in text)
Military
MAURITANIA
Defence Sector Boosted A new militarised zone changing security realities.
reects
Analyst Abdou Ould Mohamed explained that the Mauritanian army now nds itself forced to reorganise and equip itself to face some huge security challenges, particularly the threat of terrorism The authorities have declared a corridor along the northern and north-eastern borders with Algeria and Mali to be a military zone, Ould Mohamed told Magharebia. The area is a refuge both for al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQLIM) and smugglers so movements of people and goods are now subject to military controls. That takes a lot of effort, he said. The militarised zone includes three mandatory checkpoints which appear on a list of 35 checkpoints recently set out in a ministerial decree covering all of Mauritanias borders with Senegal, Algeria, Mali and Morocco, he stated.
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The checkpoints are located at Chegga (800km north-east of Zouerate), the ancient colonial fort of Ain Bintili to the north-west of Bir-Mogrein (450km north of Zouerate) and at Lemgheity (600km east of Zouerate), the site of a 2005 terror attack that killed fteen Mauritanian soldiers. Mauritanian authorities have invested a great deal in defence since 2008, terrorism expert Sidati Ould Cheikh said. They have focused on maritime surveillance, air security, the armed forces contribution to civil protection, and training. On October 19th, Mauritania and the Brazilian Embraer Defence and Security Company signed an agreement for the delivery of A-29 Super Tucano military aircraft which are expected to be assigned to patrol the borders. (Magharebia.com 19/12)
The government intends to beef up its military and national security budget to better defend its borders and combat terrorism. In the 2013 budget draft (presented to Parliament in Nouakchott at the start of December), the defence sector receives Ouguiyas 44.547bn for the operating budget, the National Gendarmerie, salaries and equipment and military healthcare. Defence Minister Ahmed Ould Dy Ould Mohamed El Radhi told Parliament the army was making sure that it controls the whole national territory. It has set up special units to combat terrorism.
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Joint Campaign with Senegal: The Mauritanian and Senegalese armed forces on December 24th began a joint
Military
awareness campaign on terrorism along their common border, starting in the Senegalese village of Cascas, security forces said. Villagers will learn the need to expose and denounce individuals, suspected groups and movements involved in terrorism. The campaign will also educate them on the dangers of terrorism and trans-border criminality. (PANA, Nouakchott 24/12)
NIGERIA
Assymmetric Warfare Training The Africom Commander is concerned over links between terrorist groups.
The Nigerian Army has embarked on series of training exercises aimed at exposing its forces to the concept of asymmetric warfare and to ensuring that they stay ahead of the terrorists in the ongoing ght against internal insurrection. Maj-Gen Kennet Osuji said the training exercise, tagged Wazobia Kunama is a blend of conventional warfare and other military operations aimed at combating contemporary security challenges. (This
Day, Lagos 8/12)
Diplomats have said previously that there has been evidence of Boko Haram members seeking training in northern Mali, but not of operational links. The US has declared three Nigerian extremists global terrorists, but has declined to label Boko Haram as a whole a terrorist group due to its nebulous nature and domestic focus, among other factors. ( AFP, Abuja 11/12; PANA 11/12) Promotions and Retirements: The retirement of 49 top ranking ofcers, among them Generals and Colonels was approved on December 21st two days after 59 top ranking ofcers were promoted. Sunday Trust learnt that the purge affected 12 Major Generals, 23 Brigadier Generals and 12 Colonels.
(Daily Trust 23/12)
New UNAMID Head

Ibn Chambas, a distinguished Ghanaian international diplomat, who headed the efforts to resolve conicts in West Africa, has been named the new head of the African Union (AU) -UN Mission in Darfur, Sudan (UNAMID). The AU Commission President, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, and the UN SecretaryGeneral, Ban Ki-Moon, announced the appointment of Chambas on December 20th weeks after the exit of Ibrahim Gambari of Nigeria. Chambas, a former President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, will be the joint chief mediator of the stalled Darfur peace process (p. 19516). With the UN nancing the operation in Sudan, one of its largest operations with some 26,000 blue helmet peacekeepers deployed, Chambas will head a bigger force and spearhead a uid and fragile peace effort. (PANA, Addis Ababa 20/12)
IN BRIEF
Angola: At least 79 ofcers with the Land Forces Command were promoted on December 17th in Luanda during 20th anniversary celebrations of the Angola Armed Forces (FAA). The ceremony took place in the 101st Brigade of Tanks in the locality of Funda, near Luanda, attended by the chief of FAA Staff, gen. Geraldo Sachipengo Nunda, and the commanders of the Navy and Air Force and defence attaches accredited to Angola. (Angop 18/12) C^te dIvoire: The Chinese army will provide o expertise to the Republican Forces of Cote dIvoire (FRCI) in the area of security and training, following a meeting between the military authorities of both countries at Gallieni military camp on December 17th. (Le Patriote, Abidjan 20/12) The chief of defence staff of the FRCI, LtGen Soumaila Bakayoko met his counterpart from Liberia, Major General Surai Abdurrahman, in Monrovia on December 6th7th to plan joint military manoeuvres along the border. (LInter 10/12) Landmines: The 12th Meeting of State Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) on December 3rd in Geneva, Switzerland, heard that progress was being made. In its 2012 report, the Landmine and Cluster Munitions Monitor (LCMM) said that mines and explosive remnants of war had caused 4,286 casualties worldwide in 2011 and that three states Israel, Libya and Myanmar, none of them party to the MBT used antipersonnel mines. Fewer factory-produced mines are in circulation but there are more improvised or craft mines in use by non-state armed groups. Angola, one of the most mined countries in Africa, has requested an extension of ve years to comply with article 5 of the Ottawa Convention destruction of all anti-personnel landmines in mined areas within 10 years. (IRIN, Johannesburg 29/11; PANA, Geneva 4/12) Kenya Liberia: The UN has appointed Major-General Leonard Ngondi, a Kenyan military commander who led his countrys contingent during a UN peacekeeping operB
ation in Sierra Leone, as the force commander of its operation in Liberia, UNMIL, the Kenyan Defence Forces (KDF) announced. Major-General Ngondi has led the Kenyan operation in Somalia against al Shabaab since the deployment of the mission in October 2011. (PANA, Nairobi 28/11) Libya UK: Libyan-British military cooperation constituted the main issue at a December 3rd meeting in Tripoli which aimed to draw up a cooperation mechanism through training, rehabilitation, development, capability building, and the transfer of British technological expertise to the Libyan land, naval and air defence forces. (WAL, Tripoli 3/12) Somalia: Ministers on December 13th endorsed a recent military agreement (worth about $2m) signed with Turkey to help rebuild, train and equip Somalias armed forces. Information minister, Abdullahhi Ciilmoge Hirsi said. After Turkey, India has promised direct military assistance. The Indian High Commissioner in Nairobi, Sibabrata Tripathi, made an ofcial visit to the Somali Ministry of Defence in Mogadishu on December 17th where he held talks with the Somali Defence Minister, Abdihakim Haji Mohamud Fiqi. More than 100 disgruntled soldiers in the southwestern region of Bay mutinied to protest nonpayment of their salaries by the government for seven months., privately-owned website reports. (Jowhar website, Mogadishu 14/12; Hiiraan Online 19/12; Ethiopia Government, Addis Ababa 18/12) Rwanda: South Africas Justice Minister Jeff Radebe on December 5th conrmed in answer to a parliamentary question that South Africa sold conventional arms in 2012 to Rwanda, despite awareness of the UN report on Rwanda backing the M23 rebels in DR Congo. The the export of category A equipment (RG-31 APC vehicles and spares) to C
General Carter Ham, head of US Africa Command, (Africom), met President Goodluck Jonathan in Nigeria on December 11th. The two discussed regional and global security, including counter-terrorism, maritime security and peacekeeping as well as Boko Haram. Jonathan called on the US to support Nigeria in nding lasting solutions to the security challenges it faces. President Jonathan also briefed General Ham on his visit to Mali and the efforts by ECOWAS to resolve the conict in that country, adding that the situation could still be contained if the right steps are taken quickly, a statement said. Ham recently told an audience in Washington that he was concerned about indications of growing links between African extremist groups that could pose a threat across the continent as well as to Europe and the United States. We have seen clear indications of collaboration amongst the organisations, he said. In one instance we believe and have seen reports that Boko Haram is receiving nancial support, probably training, probably some explosives, from al Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb [AQLIM], and in a relationship that goes both ways. There has long been intense scrutiny over whether Boko Haram is forming operational ties with other extremist groups.
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December 1st31st 2012 Rwanda during June 2012 was approved. The RG-31 is the Mamba armoured personnel carrier. (Business Day, Johannesburg 5/ 12) South Africa: A military Dakota plane crashed in the mountainous east on December 5th, killing 11 people. On board the aircraft was a crew of six and ve passengers, and it was conrmed that there are no survivors, Defence department spokesman Siphiwe Dlamini told SAPA. ( AFP, Johannesburg 6/12)
Africa Research Bulletin 19541 Togo: Chinese Defence Minister Liang Guanglie met with the Togolese Armed Forces Chief of Staff Atcha Titikpina on December 4th, with both sides pledging closer military ties. Titikpina was on a week-long visit to China. (Xinhua, Beijing 4/12)
Overseas Relations
ALGERIA FRANCE
Brutal Rule Acknowledged President Hollande does not repent the injustices of the colonial past, but seeks to open a new era of partnership between equals.
French President Francois Hollande on December 20th acknowledged Frances brutal colonial rule over the Algerian people, without having to apologise, as he sought to launch a new era in ties on a two-day visit. Over 132 years, Algeria was subjected to a profoundly unjust and brutal system, Hollande told the Algerian parliament on the nal day of a landmark visit to the North African country, to applause from MPs. This system has a name: it is colonialism and I recognise the suffering that colonialism inicted on the Algerian people, he said. In the audience were numerous mujahedeen veterans who fought in the vicious 19541962 war of independence from France that killed an estimated 1.5m Algerians. The French President said after arriving in Algiers on December 19th that he had not come to say sorry for the crimes committed during the colonial period, as some, including a dozen political parties, had demanded. But he stressed the importance of recognising what happened as a way of beginning a new era in bilateral relations, saying nothing would come from forgetfulness or denial. Hollande referred to specic atrocities, notably the massacre at Setif, where nationalist unrest that broke out at the end of World War II was brutally suppressed by French forces, leaving thousands dead. The truth should also be spoken about how Algeria gained its independence, in this war whose name was not mentioned in France for a long time. Algerias Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci, in a rst ofcial reaction, welcomed Hollandes words for emA
DR CONGO ICC
War Crimes Acquittal Former militia leader Mathieu Ngudjolo is set free, bringing disappointment and fear to massacre survivors.
In its second-ever verdict, the International Criminal Court (ICC), on December 18th acquitted former militia leader Mathieu Ngudjolo of war crimes and crimes against humanity relating to a 2003 massacre in Democratic Republic of Congos north-eastern Ituri District. Ordering the immediate release of Ngudjolo, ICC judges said the prosecution, which has 30 days to appeal the ruling, had failed to establish beyond reasonable doubt that he had been in command of ghters from the Lendu community who attacked the village of Bogoro on February 24th 2003. The court in the Hague heard reports of victims being burned alive, babies smashed against walls and women raped. Ngudjolo denied ordering the attack, saying he learned of it days later. Before delivering the verdict, presiding judge Bruno Cotte said that declaring an accused person not guilty does not mean the Chamber declares him innocent. The French judge stressed that this decision does not in any way deny the suffering of the population on that day. The conict in Ituri was part of a war that raged in DR Congo following the 1994 genocide in neighbouring Rwanda and involved troops and ghters from several neighbouring countries. Human rights activists said they feared for the lives of survivors of the massacre after the Ngudjolos acquittal. We are disappointed that the (Congolese) republic did not provide sufcient evidence to convince the court to condemn this type of action, lawyer Matabisi Bibi Ramazani, part of a team representing some 30 victims, told AFP. The ICC proves that it is independent on a political level, but its decision is disappointing because a warlord gets acquitted, said Dolly Ibefo, executive director of rights group Voix des sans Voix (Voice of the Voiceless). This is a
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phasising the culture of peace and of respect for others that he said were two basic principles of Algerian diplomacy. Algerian MPs also broadly saluted the speech as a step forward, despite some regretting the lack of an apology, and others cautious about the promise of change. On arrival, Hollande was received with full honours by his Algerian counterpart Abdelaziz Bouteika, and said he wanted relations between their countries to be a strategic partnership between equals. The leaders signed six accords on friendship and cooperation, and also including one for the construction of a car factory by French vehicle manufacturer Renault near the western city of Oran. In his address to parliament, Hollande stressed France was ready to go further in its cooperation with Algeria in the energy, healthy, environment, construction and transport sectors. The French-language Algerian press said on December 20th that President Hollandes visit had turned a page in relations, although Arabic newspapers were more muted in their reactions. The French president made it clear: repentance, which has never been the subject of an ofcial request, is no longer ofcially demanded by the state, said Liberte. Relations between France and Algeria have emerged from the ordinary, said LExpression, another daily, which highlighted the difculty of upgrading those ties, and called for partnerships in development and training. But the tone of the Arabic press was less enthusiastic, focusing on Hollandes refusal to say sorry for colonial atrocities and the unresolved problem of obtaining visas for many Algerians. Some Algerians demand apologies, while others want visas, the popular Echorouk daily remarked on its front page, focusing on the difculties facing Algerians trying to get visas to visit France. ( AFP 20/12 2012)
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Overseas Relations
problem for the victims of this type of war. Ngudjolo was once one of the most important militia leaders in Ituri. He was accused of using child soldiers to ght for him, including to carry out the Bogoro massacre. His Nationalist Integrationist Front (FNI) militia group is no longer active, said Jean-Claude Kifwa, commander of the ninth military region in Orientale, the province around Ituri. Some of its members were integrated into the government forces, while others were discharged. But both the lawyer and the rights group agreed that the FNI continues to be a latent threat. Mathieu Ngudjolo is not alone. The butchers have not been arrested, they are out there, live with the victims, said Ibefo of Voice of the Voiceless. Earlier, Mathieu Ngudjolos henchmen could not carry out reprisals because they feared that they would suffer the same fate as their chief, who was in prison, she said. Now that hes been acquitted, they face a kind of impunity. Lawyer Ramazani said he and his colleagues, some of them in Orientale province, would turn to the government to nd a way to compensate the victims. Human Rights Watch meanwhile said that the ICC should re-energise efforts to prosecute others for atrocities in DR Congo. The acquittal of Ngudjolo leaves the victims of Bogoro and other massacres by his forces without justice for their suffering, said Graldine Mattioli-Zelte ner, HRW international justice advocacy director. (IRIN 19/12; BBC News Online,
Nigeria French Engineer Kidnapped

A group of 30 gunmen used dynamite to force their way into a well-guarded compound in northern Nigeria and seize a French engineer, the police reported. Two Nigerians were killed in the attack, said Katsina state police commissioner Abdullahi Magaji. As the unknown group ed, they attacked a police station, he said. Katsina has been relatively unscathed by months of violence in northern Nigeria carried out by Boko Haram Islamist militants. The kidnapped man worked for a French company, Vergnet, on a wind power project in Katsina, reported AFP. A visitor and a guard were killed in the attack, while a police ofcer was wounded, the police commissioner said. (BBC News Online 20/12) French President Francois Hollande conrmed that a French national had been seized, and that Paris was doing everything it could to secure his release. He told the Europe 1 radio station that the kidnappers were probably linked to AlQaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQLIM) or the groups which are today in Mali, referring to Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist groups that have seized control of Malis vast desert north. AQLIM has so far not been known to operate directly in Nigeria, despite being rumoured to have ties with Boko Haram. ( AFP 21/12 2012)
Rwandas ambassador to Germany, Christine Nkulikiyinka, conrmed the development but added that Rwanda had not asked for the extradition of the suspects. They were arrested on charges relating to membership of a foreign terrorist organisation. The FDLR is a terrorist group composed of elements responsible for the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The executive secretary of the national commission for the ght against genocide, Jean De Dieu Mucyo, welcomed the development and called on several other European countries to emulate Germany. We are aware most of the FDLR commanders some of whom participated in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi are based in European countries and commanding the militias operations from there, they should be arrested and brought to justice, he said. The group has for the last 18 years operated in the eastern DR Congo where they are accused of rapes, pillage and killings. In May 2011, Ignace Murwanashyaka, the head of the militia group, and his deputy, Straton Musoni, went on trial in the south-western city of Stuttgart accused of masterminding, from their homes in Germany, atrocities in eastern DR Congo in 2008 and 2009. (The New
Times website, Kigali 8/12)
IN BRIEF
The weekly Jeune Afrique reported that Kigali turned down the envoy envisaged by Paris, Helene Le Gal, on the grounds that she was too close to then Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, who was considered hostile to the regime of Rwandan President Paul Kagame. During the genocide of 1994, which was ended after three months by Kagames Tutsi rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front, now the movement in power, Juppe was already Frances Foreign Minister. When he took up the portfolio anew in 2011, Juppe said he had no intention either of shaking the hand of Kagame or of visiting Rwanda, as long as a report was still at large which accused France of complicity with the Hutu militias that carried out the genocide.
( AFP 11/12 2012) Chad Italy: An expulsion order on Italian bishop Monsignor Michele Russo has been lifted. The order had come after he criticised the mismanagement of oil revenue in the country on a private radio station. Russo may now return to his post. ( AFP 24/12 2012) Chagos Islands UK: Former residents of the Chagos Islands, a British territory in the Indian Ocean, have failed in the latest stage of their legal bid to return. They were evicted by the UK government from the 1960s to allow the US to build a military base on Diego Garcia, the archipelagos largest island. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that as they had already been compensated, the case was inadmissible. The Chagossians said they were saddened and shocked by the ruling. (BBC News Online 20/12) Ghana Argentina: An Argentine navy ship detained in Ghana since October has been released and has now left the country. The Libertad set sail from Ghanas main port of Tema after a UN tribunal for the Law of the Sea ordered its release saying it had immunity because it was a military vessel. It had been impounded after a nancial fund said it was owed $370m by Argentinas
AFP 18/12)
RWANDA
Better Ties With France?: The new French ambassador to Rwanda, Michel Flesch, has called for better ties between Paris and Kigali, which have had strained relations since the 1994 genocide in the country.
The rst thing that we need to commit to is to talk more, to dialogue more, Flesch told journalists after presenting his credentials. In furthering dialogue, we will nd that on the immense majority of big international subjects, the positions of France and Rwanda are not very far apart. France has had no ambassador in Rwanda since the start of 2012, when Kigali refused to accept Pariss previous choice, named by the government of the time.
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Germany Arrests FDLR Members: German authorities have arrested three men accused of being core members of the DR Congo-based Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) militia. The men possess German nationality, and their full names were not released.
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December 1st31st 2012 government as a result of a debt default a decade ago. (BBC News Online 19/12) South Africa UK: Xolile Mngeni was on December 4th sentenced to life for the murder of newly-wed Anni Dewani, the third person to be jailed for his part in her death. Meanwhile the ANCs womens league announced it would be marching on the British Embassy to protest that Shrien Dewani had yet to be extradited to face trial for his alleged part in his wifes death. Earlier, a London Magistrates Court had heard that his extradition hearing had now been set for July 2013 as his mental condition was considered too fragile. The British businessman and his 28-year-old wife were on honeymoon in Cape Town in November 2010 when they were held at gunpoint after taking a night time taxi ride through the township of Gugulethu. (The Independent, London 5/12) Sudan Iran: Two Iranian warships docked in Port Sudan on December 8th, the second port call by the Iranian navy there in ve weeks.
Africa Research Bulletin 19543 Khartoum said it was a normal port call but Israeli ofcials have expressed concern about arms smuggling through Sudan. They have long accused the African country of serving as a base of support for militants from the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas which rules the Gaza Strip. Sudans links with Iran have come under scrutiny after Khartoum accused Israel of an October 23rd strike against the Yarmouk military factory in Khartoum, which led to speculation that Iranian weapons were stored or manufactured there. ( AFP 8/ 12 2012)
Social and Cultural

HEALTH
Nigeria Fighting Polio A huge injection of funds will support immunisation programmes.
The richest man in Africa and the wealthiest man from the United States have joined forces in the battle against polio, which has seen a resurgence in Nigeria despite efforts to eradicate it. Microsoft founder Bill Gates foundation and that of Aliko Dangote, the Nigerian businessman labelled Africas richest by Forbes, announced an alliance during a ceremony in Kano, Nigerias second city. Nigeria is one of only three countries still considered to have endemic polio, alongside Pakistan and Afghanistan. Under the four-year alliance, the Bill and Melinda Gates and Dangote foundations would provide funding, equipment and technical support to the Kano state government to strengthen polio immunisation. Since 2003, Kano has been especially hard hit by the transmission of the polio virus in Nigeria following the state governments suspension of immunisations for 13 months. The suspension followed allegations by some Muslim clerics that the vaccine was laced with substances that could render girls infertile as part of US-led Western plot to depopulate Africa. Despite the resumption of polio immunisations, Kano has continued to record polio cases as many parents still reject the vaccine. According to the most recent World Health Organisation (WHO) weekly report on polio, Nigeria accounts for 104 of the 193 cases so far recorded worldwide in 2012, with Kano having 22 cases. ( AFP 26/11 2012)
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repellents and long clothing. Vaccination is the most important preventative measure. ( AFP 6/12 2012)
Sudan Yellow Fever A vaccination programme is needed to combat the disease. An outbreak of mosquito-borne yellow fever which has killed at least 165 people in Sudans Darfur region is Africas worst in decades, the WHO said on December 6th. Since September 2nd, there have been 732 suspected yellow fever cases in Darfur, including 165 deaths, said a separate report from WHO and Sudans health ministry. Outbreaks in other countries have been smaller because their routine vaccination programmes have started to include yellow fever, whereas Darfur had never had vaccinations for the virus until November 2012, leaving the whole population with no immunity. The outbreak is very signicant and the spread of the disease shows no signs of stopping, UN humanitarian coordinator Ali al-Zatari said. He said there was an urgent need for funds for more vaccine. The death toll has now surpassed that of a 2005 yellow fever outbreak in Sudans South Kordofan state which caused 163 deaths from 604 cases over about ve months. The yellow fever virus normally circulates among monkeys but could be linked to more mosquitoes breeding in 2012 after heavy rains and ooding in the region. A vaccination campaign began on November 20th in the 12 most affected areas of Darfur. The rst phase targeting 2.2m people is almost nished, and more than one million more doses were expected to arrive soon. There is no specic treatment for the illness found in tropical regions of Africa and the Americas but it can be contained through the use of bed nets, insect
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MEDIA
Africa China launches a weekly newspaper covering the continent.
A leading Chinese newspaper, the China Daily, on December 14th launched a weekly English language newspaper that will be published in Nairobi. China Dailys editor-in-chief Zhu Ling said the paper would seek to demystify the Sino-African relations that were growing in complexity. The link between China and the African continent is one of the most significant relationships in the world today. It is growing and complex and not always understood not just by those in other parts of the world but by Africans and Chinese, too, he said, adding that the launch of the English paper would help improve understanding of the two cultures. It will look at the nature of Chinese involvement in Africa and the prominent role many Africans are playing in China. According to a statement released by the publishers, the weekly will be circulated throughout the continent. It will also be available in digital format. It follows the opening earlier in 2012 of a production centre of China Central Television (CCTV) in Kenya, the rst outside of China. The state-run CCTV News centre broadcasts English-language African news. Nairobi is also home to the African ofce for Chinas state news agency Xinhua. (Daily Nation website, Nairobi 14/
12)
Guinea, Radio Programme Suspended: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) expressed disappointment on December 17th that the National Communication Council (CNC) had temporarily suspended a programme on privatelyC
Social and Cultural
Botswana Google Maps

Botswana is the second African country to be featured on Google Maps Street View, allowing users to explore landmarks such as the Okavango Delta. Whether you are planning a safari, doing a homework assignment on Botswana, or promoting your local business, Street View will allow you to experience a slice of the country, said Ory Okolloh, policy manager for Google Sub-Saharan Africa. Users will now be able to virtually explore the Okavango Delta as well as the Kalahari desert and Chobe National Park, home to the largest concentration of African elephants in the world. Street View is already available in more than 30 countries around the world. It was rst launched on the African continent in South Africa, just ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. ( AFP 3/12 2012)
the deadliest years since the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) began keeping detailed records in 1992. Worldwide, the vast majority of victims, 94%, were local journalists covering events in their own countries, a proportion roughly in line with historical gures. Murder accounted for all 12 deaths in Somalia in 2012, the deadliest year on record for a country that has a long
history of media killings. Not a single journalist murder has been prosecuted in Somalia over the past decade, CPJ research shows. Local journalists say this perfect record of impunity can be attributed to corrupt and weak institutions, a situation that encourages more killing. (CPJ press release, New York 18/
12)
South Africa, Tighter Controls: The introduction of greater editorial controls
Conservation Endangered Lions

The savannah habitat that sustains African lions has shrunk by 75% over the past 50 years, according to a study published in the journal Biodiversity and Conservation, a dramatic loss that could threaten the species survival. The analysis by American, African and British researchers which suggests the continents lion population has declined from 100,000 to roughly 32,000 provides a clear picture of where the animals live and how land-use changes and population growth have put them in jeopardy. The ndings come shortly after the US Fish and Wildlife Service announced it will study if African lions should be listed under the Endangered Species Act, a move that would end the importation of trophies into the United States. Several groups petitioned the agency in 2011 to list the species, though some conservationists argue that trophy hunting provides a source of revenue to local communities, which helps keep savannah habitat intact. Thomas Lovejoy, a science professor at George Mason University, Virginia, said the papers authors have made a historical contribution by showing how dramatically Africas viable terrain for lions has declined in recent decades. Lions used to roam much of Africa and Eurasia but are now limited to sub-Saharan Africa. Professor Lovejoy said the fact that savannah habitat loss is outpacing the decline of the worlds tropical rainforests is terrifying when combined with the prospects of population growth and land-use change in Africa. Part of the challenge lions face is that when they venture outside national parks, they may kill livestock and come into conict with humans. Professor Lovejoy said he was optimistic that public pressure will build for ofcials to take action. The ofcials will decide within a year whether to list African lions as endangered. (The Independent, London 9/12)
owned Planete FM in which journalists discuss news developments and has imposed a broadcasting ban on its host, Mandian Sidibe. The CNC, which is responsible for regulating Guineas broadcast media, also issued a warning to another station, Espace FM, about its popular phone-in programme, Les Grandes Gueules (Big Mouths). These new sanctions reect the CNCs continuing mistrust of discussion and phone-in broadcasts, RSF said. The Guinean authorities clearly have a problem with the outspoken nature of these programmes, which is part of the reason for their success. Nonetheless, gagging privately-owned radio stations is inappropriate and reactionary. We urge the CNC to lift these sanctions. The legitimacy of the CNCs decisions has been challenged by the Guinean Union of Free Radio and TV Broadcasters (Urtelgui), which said in a statement that the alleged defamation cited in these two decisions is a matter for the courts. Only a judge can decide whether defamation took place, not the CNC. Urging the CNC to rescind its decisions, the statement added that government ofcials and private individuals are hiding behind the CNC in order to protect themselves from media criticism, even when it is well-founded. (RSF press
release, Paris 17/12)
Zimbabwe Elephants Exported to China

Zimbabwes government is facing serious criticism for allowing the export of live elephants to China, with accusations that entire families of elephant are being destroyed. According to the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF), four juvenile elephants were exported in November, in a journey that included a 12 hour drive in the back of a truck from Hwange to Harare, before being shipped by air for 10 hours to Dubai. From Dubai the animals were then own to Beijing. ZCTF chairman Johnny Rodrigues told SW Radio Africa that, the fact that these elephants are juveniles indicates that they are being taken away from their mothers, and family units are therefore being destroyed. He explained that the family links within elephant herds are very strong and removing the very young is devastating to a herd. Another 14 juvenile elephants are reportedly being held at Hwange, also awaiting exportation in January 2013. The ZCTF said in a report that the nal destinations of the elephants are two zoos in China. Some elephants do not survive the stress caused by such long trips, not to mention the fact that the ones that do survive will be subjected to a life of captivity in a habitat they are not born to live in, Rodrigues said. Rodrigues had strong words for the governments wildlife authorities, who he said are meant to be the guardians of our wildlife. We already have a poaching problem and we believe the authorities are now in business with the same poaching syndicates to export live animals. So the people who are meant to be protecting wildlife are the same perpetrators, Rodrigues said. He also dismissed the governments repeated arguments that Zimbabwe is overpopulated with elephants, explaining how no audits have been done in recent years to support this claim. Rodrigues argued that rampant poaching has decimated the elephant population and more should be done to protect the animals. (SW Radio Africa, London 19/12) C
Somalia, Journalist Deaths Up: With 67 journalists killed world-wide in direct relation to their work by mid-December, 2012 is on track to become one of
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by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) over its radio talk shows dealing with politics and governance was a disgrace to independent journalism, Highway Africa chair of Media and Information Society at Rhodes University Prof Jane Duncan said on December 12th. Acting SABC chief operations ofcer, Hlaudi Motsoeneng said the move would achieve centralisation in the way it dealt with issues in line with the broadcasters editorial policy. The broadcaster has been under the spotlight after allegations that management interfered in decisions over editorial content, particularly those involving the African National Congress (ANCs) elective conference in early December. Prof Duncan said the SABCs latest step blurred the line between management and editorial control of content, providing a direct line from content to the government. The move should therefore be seen as a mortal blow to the independence of
South Africas largest news outlines and would only further worsen the countrys decline in international measures of freedom - such as the downgrade of its media by New York based monitor Freedom House from free in 2011 to partly free in 2012. (Business Day website,
Johannesburg 13/12)
IN BRIEF
Archaeology, Egypt: Italian archaeologists have discovered two Greco-Roman statues carved from sandstone at an ancient temple. The two seated lions adorned water spouts used as part of the drainage system from the roof of the Ptolemaic-era temple in Egypts Fayyum region, south of Cairo. The statues are a metre high and almost a metre wide, and are complete, in a wellpreserved condition, with intricately carved faces. ( AFP 3/12 2012) Conservation, South Africa: The government has signed an agreement with Vietnam to try to halt the trade in horns taken from poached rhinos. The deal to increase law enforcement efforts comes amid a wholesale slaughter of rhinos in South Africa, which has the continents
Disclaimer: The Publisher and Editors cannot be held responsible for errors or any consequences arising from the use of information contained in this journal; the views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reect those of the Publisher and Editors, neither does the publication of advertisements constitute any endorsement by the Publisher and Editors of the products advertised.
biggest rhino population. Government statistics show at least 618 rhinos have been poached in 2012 alone. (The Independent, London 10/12) Gay Rights, Kenya: The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC) on December 15th launched the rst gay and lesbian awards, honouring lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transsexuals and intersex (LGBTI) individuals for their contributions to Kenyan society. The event also saw politicians, employers and journalists who are committed to advancing equality and social acceptance awarded. (The Standard website, Nairobi 14/12) Music, Mali: Keletigui Diabate, a master of the xylophone-like balafon instrument who played in several celebrated local bands, died on November 30th in Bamako aged 81. Diabate was born in 1931 and became the rst to popularise the balafon, a wooden-keyed percussion instrument from West Africa, in the west. He founded Formation A, one of Malis rst bands, in the 60s and also played with guitarist Salif Keita in the band Ambassadors. He has also performed with Malis Symmetric Orchestra. ( AFP 30/11 2012) Sport, Eritrea: Natnael Berhane was elected African Cyclist of the Year for 2012 on December 11th by a panel chaired by vetimes Tour de France champion Bernard Hinault. The 21-year-old Berhane, who is set to make his professional debut with French outt Europcar in 2013, nished ahead of South Africas Reinhardt Janse Van Rensburg, with Moroccan cyclist Adil Jelloul third in the voting. The trophy created in 2012 by the Gabonese (Tropicale Amassa Bongo race) organisers rewards the African cyclist who made the greatest impact during the season especially in events on the African continent, read a statement. Natnael Berhane left his mark on people for his consistency, it said, referring to his three titles at the African championships in November, his triumph at the Tour of Algeria and his victory at the Tour de Chablais, a French amateur classic. ( AFP 11/12 2012)
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Africa Research Bulletin January 2013

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Africa Research Bulletin

Political Social and Cultural Series

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

This issue pp. 1951146

19527 19528 19541

100 200 km 100 200 mi

Carnot Berbrati Nola

DEM. REP. OF THE CONGO

REP. OF THE 15CONGO

Published monthly since 1964

19512 Africa Research Bulletin

Social and Cultural

CAR Advance of the Seleka Coalition

December 1st31st 2012

Africa Research Bulletin 19513

Day 18/12; AFP, Bangui 14,20/12) Armed attack p. 19503

19514 Africa Research Bulletin

December 1st31st 2012

Africa Research Bulletin 19515

MADEIRA ISLANDS (PORT.)

The government list is now as follows:

(Ethiopian TV, Addis www.ethiopia.gov.et/)

December 1st31st 2012

Africa Research Bulletin 19517

(nyasatimes.com/ 7,19/12) UDF president p. 19484A

Mali Django Cissoko

19518 Africa Research Bulletin

was. (PANA, Bamako; AFP 11,12/12

( AFP 15,16/12 2012)

December 1st31st 2012

Africa Research Bulletin 19519

~  SAO TOME E PR INCIPE

( AFP, www.jornal.st 5,10/12 2012)

19520 Africa Research Bulletin

Egypt Constitution Main Provisions

December 1st31st 2012

Africa Research Bulletin 19521

19522 Africa Research Bulletin

GHANAS 2010 CENSUS AND 2012 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Mahama 58%, Afuko-Addo 41%.

Mahama 51%, Afuko-Addo 48%.

Mahama 28%, Afuko-Addo 71%.

Mahama 54%, Afuko-Addo 44%.

(Africa Confidential 14/12)

Main Presidential Candidates Ghana Presidential Election Results

December 1st31st 2012

Africa Research Bulletin 19523

19524 Africa Research Bulletin

PARTIES AND POLICIES

Mauritania Party Coalition

December 1st31st 2012

Africa Research Bulletin 19525

19526 Africa Research Bulletin

December 1st31st 2012

Africa Research Bulletin 19527

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

19528 Africa Research Bulletin

DR Congo Key Events in December

December 1st31st 2012

Africa Research Bulletin 19529

19530 Africa Research Bulletin

Libya Yunes Assassination Inquiry

December 1st31st 2012

Africa Research Bulletin 19531

~ SAO TOME E PR INCIPE