United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

15 April 2010

USAFRICOM -related news stories

From and About Africa

Djibouti removes presidential term limits

Djibouti - Lawmakers in Djibouti on Wednesday approved an amendment to the
constitution that paves the way for the president of the Horn of Africa nation to run for
a third term. Djibouti's parliaments voted unanimously on the constitutional reforms
which remove term limits, cut the presidential mandate to five years from six, create a
senate and abolish capital punishment. President Ismail Omar Guelleh's second term
expires in 2011 and speculation has surrounded his plans for a third mandate.

Survey: A quarter of Africans worry about future religious conflict; Nigeria, Rwanda
top list
Lagos — More than a quarter of people in sub-Saharan Africa worry about future
conflict along religious lines, though concerns in Rwanda and Nigeria are even higher,
according to a new survey on religious attitudes released Thursday. The Pew Forum on
Religion and Public Life, which conducted the survey, however, found that
unemployment, crime and corruption are of greater concern to Africans than future
religious conflict. But the survey found that in Nigeria and Rwanda — countries that
have suffered from vicious sectarian conflict — 58 percent in each country fear future
bloodshed.The survey, which involved interviewing 25,000 people in 19 sub-Saharan
African countries, found that in many cases fear of religious conflict were tied to fears of
ethnic conflict.

Survey: Sub-Saharan Africa one of the world's most religious places

new massive survey, "Tolerance and Tension: Islam and Christianity in Sub-Saharan
Africa," released Thursday, charts how a region that gave birth to the term "global
South" is now in the driver's seat in terms of world religious practice. Twenty percent of
the world's Christians now live south of the Sahara Desert and 15 percent of the world's
Muslims live there. It's one of the world's most religious places, with at least 85 percent
of the population in most countries saying religion is very important to them.

Report shines light on rape as war weapon

A new report has shown the real extent of rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo -
with details published on 4000 rapes in the war-wracked east of the central African
country. The report found that more than half of the rapes committed in the east of the
DRC, largely ruled by militias and rebel movements, were by gangs of "armed men,"
Oxfam International said.
Egypt says no agreement on Nile sharing, urges greater cooperation instead
Cairo — Ugandan Minister of Water and Environment Maria Mutagamba, in her
opening speech at the meeting in the Sinai resort of Sharm al-Sheikh called on her
counterparts to sign the agreement without further delay.Egypt's state news agency
reported Tuesday that 10 African nations have failed to conclude a long delayed new
agreement for sharing water from the Nile and will call for closer cooperation instead.
The Nile basin nations have failed for years now to agree on the Nile River Cooperative
Framework Agreement to administer the longest river in the world, which would
reduce Egypt's share of the Nile water. Egypt has categorically refused to sign the
agreement.

SA, US to talk more

Washington - The United States and South Africa on Wednesday signed a deal to boost
diplomatic exchanges, a new sign of the importance the US administration accords
Pretoria's role in the region. The "strategic dialogue" set up by US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton and her South African counterpart Maite Nkoana-Mashabane seeks to
strengthen cooperation between the two nations on a wide range of issues.

AQN Iraq foils 9/11-style plot against Shiite shrine

Iraqi securtiy forces disrupted an attempt to bomb the Imam Ali shrine in the holy city
of Najaf, using an airplane in attacks planned to resemple the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in
the U.S., Al Arabiya reported on Wednesday. According to Al Arabiya reporter Zeinab
Bilal, members of al-Qaeda were planning to hijack an airplane after it took off from
Najaf airport and fly it into the dome of the Shiite shrine in a scenario similar to the
9/11 attacks.

Nigeria To Strengthen Watchdog To Step Up Anti-Corruption Fight

Nigeria is to review the structure of its anti-graft agency to strengthen its performance,
acting President Goodluck Jonathan said. A government statement quoted Jonathan as
saying Wednesday at a meeting in Washington that the focus of his administration is "to
build strong institutions that will last beyond the leadership and operators of such
institutions."

Nigeria Shell Suspends Oil Production at Nigeria’s

Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Nigerian unit suspended oil output at its offshore EA field to
enable repair works after a storm, the company said. Nigeria vies with Angola to be
Africa’s top oil producer, shipping about 40 percent of its crude exports to the U.S.

Darfur Four police advisors missing in Darfur

Four South African police advisors serving with the international peacekeeping force in
Darfur are missing, the force said late Wednesday.The unarmed advisors — two
women and two men — have not been heard from since 4 p.m. local time on Sunday
shortly after they left their team site outside Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, on a 4
mile (7 kilometer) trip back to their private quarters, the joint United Nations-African
Union force known as UNAMID said in a statement.

Piracy Suspected Somali pirates arrive in Netherlands

A group of 10 suspected Somali pirates facing trial in
Germany arrived in the Netherlands on a military transport
plane Wednesday and were shuttled off to prison pending
their extradition. An Associated Press photographer saw the
KDC-10 transport plane carrying the men land at a military
base in the southern city of Eindhoven. He could see the
suspects' faces in the windows of a covered stairwell before
they were loaded into police vans with blackened windows and driven away.

US Army doc says he wants to see Obama birth certificate before he'll deploy to
Afghanistan
Washington— An Army doctor is under investigation after questioning on YouTube
whether President Barack Obama is U.S.-born — then disobeying orders to report for
duty in Afghanistan. Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin failed to report to Fort Campbell, Ky., on
Monday, showing up instead at his old job in a clinic in the Pentagon, Lt. Col.
Christopher Garver, an Army spokesman, said Wednesday. Lakin was reassigned
immediately to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington while the
investigation is under way.

Sudan poll observers expelled

Khartoum - Sudanese election observers monitoring the country's first competitive polls
in more than two decades have been expelled from voting stations in south Sudan, they
said on Wednesday. On Tuesday, security forces expelled members of the Sudanese
Network for Democratic Elections (SUNDE) from several polling stations in Juba, the
capital of south Sudan, the group said, accusing authorities of "obstruction". "Nineteen
domestic observers were removed from three polling centres in Kator South
Constituency by unknown security personnel," SUNDE said.

Uganda President Museveni giving money to rebel leader Joseph Kony ????
Kampala - Uganda People's Congress leader Olara Otunnu will tomorrow appear before
detectives to explain comments he allegedly made about President Museveni giving money to
rebel leader Joseph Kony. The police yesterday announced that they had issued a summons for
Mr Otunnu, a former UN diplomat, to explain himself at the Criminal Investigations Directorate
in Kampala. Addressing a press conference yesterday in Kampala, Mr Otunnu said he would not
retract his words, adding that he has evidence to back his claims. Insisting he had no reason to
fear for what he said, Mr Otunnu stated, "The LRA war was a war of convenience. It was a war
that was sustained for political reasons. Somebody had interest in it and that person was Mr
Museveni and the NRM government. It wasn't the opposition parties, people in northern Uganda
or anyone else."

Nigeria police found guilty in Borno sect clashes case

Borno State - The family of a man who died in police custody in Nigeria during an Islamist
uprising last year has welcomed a court ruling against the police.The court in Borno State said
Baba Fugu Mohommed's killing was "brutal" and compared it to the Spanish Inquisition. The
judge said he had been killed simply because he was the father-in-law of Mohammed Yusuf, the
leader the Boko Haram sect behind the violence.

Sudan president asks opposition to join government

Khartoum - Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has asked opposition parties to join his
government if he wins landmark elections currently under way. With polling due to end on
Thursday, Mr Bashir has extended an offer to other parties to join his ruling National Congress
Party. Many of Sudan's opposition parties boycotted all or part of the poll, alleging fraud by Mr
Bashir's party.

Nigeria Ex-Nigerian military leader to seek presidency

Abuja - Former Nigerian military leader Ibrahim Babangida, who seized power in a bloodless
coup and annuled an election intended to hand over power to a civilian leader, wants to run for
president next year, his spokesman said Monday. Babangida's latest attempt at recapturing the
office he seized some 25 years ago is bound to generate controversy because as military ruler he
annulled the presidential poll of June 1993, which Nigerians and foreign observers considered to
be the country's freest and fairest. He was not a candidate in that election. He only explored
seeking a nomination in 2007.