United States Africa Command Public Affairs Office 11 October 2011

USAFRICOM - related news stories

Good morning. Please find attached news clips related to U.S. Africa Command and Africa, along with upcoming events of interest for October 11, 2011. Of interest in todays clips: Libyas forces say they have cornered Qadhafi loyalists in Sirte, while other reports focus on the search for missing weapons in Libya. The NATO Secretary General declared Operation Unified Protector a success against the backdrop of the financial crisis, stating, We could not have carried out this operation without the unique and essential assets from the U.S. Two articles analyze the United States ongoing drone wars, with one focused on Somalia as the latest front. In the Horn of Africa, Kenya has established six patrol bases near the border with Somalia following the recent kidnapping of two tourists in Lamu, while the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) says it has driven Al-Shabaab out of its last stronghold in Mogadishu. In Central Africa, the American government is building up military and diplomatic pressure on the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and pin-pointed Central African Republic as the likely present location of Joseph Kony, citing senior Washington and AFRICOM officials as well as top UPDF generals attending counter-LRA discussions at the U.S. Mission in Kampala.

U.S. Africa Command Public Affairs Please send questions or comments to: africom-pao@africom.mil 421-2687 (+49-711-729-2687) -------------------------------------------Top News related to U.S. Africa Command and Africa Libya forces corner Gaddafi loyalists in Sirte (Reuters) http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/10/11/uk-libya-idUKTRE7962FQ20111011\ 11 October 2011 By Rania El Gamal and Tim Gaynor

SIRTE, Libya -- Libyan transitional government forces said they had cornered Muammar Gaddafi loyalists in the centre of the deposed leader's hometown on Monday, where desperate civilians were still trying to flee the fierce street fighting. The Promise of a Pro-American Libya (Wall Street Journal) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203388804576613293623346516.html? mod=googlenews_wsj 6 October 2011 By John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Mark Kirk, and Marco Rubio Last Thursday we arrived in Tripoli to the promise of a free Libya. We saw a city that is surprisingly secure and orderly. We visited al-Jdeida prison and spoke freely with detaineesa testament to the commitment of the Transitional National Council (TNC) to democracy, transparency and the rule of law. At the end of the day, we walked through Martyrs' Square, where Libyans cheered and thanked America and our NATO allies. U.S. Expands Search for Weapons in Libya (ABC News) http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/us-expands-search-weapons-libya/story?id=14704869 10 October 2011 By Brian Ross, Matthew Cole and Lee Ferran The U.S. government has expanded its search for thousands of dangerous, unaccounted for weapons in Libya to the tune of several million dollars and new search teams, a State Department spokesperson said. U.S. officials: Libya may have lost anti-aircraft missiles (USA Today) http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2011-10-09/libyan-portable-missilesmissing/50713752/1 10 October 2011 By Jim Michaels Portable anti-aircraft missiles may have already been smuggled outside Libya's borders even as the United States races to help account for thousands of the weapons stockpiled by the regime of Moammar Gadhafi, U.S. officials say. Libya operation success despite economic crisis: NATO chief (AFP) http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/10/10/171093.html By AFP BUCHAREST -- NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Monday said that the Alliances operation in Libya was a success despite the financial crisis forcing governments to reduce defense spending. Panetta Visits Military Bases in Italy (defense.gov) http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=65591 7 October 2011 By Cheryl Pellerin American Forces Press Service NAVAL AIR STATION SIGONELLA, Italy On his way home from a week-long trip to countries in the Middle East and NATO headquarters in Belgium, Defense Secretary

Leon E. Panetta made stops today at two military bases in Italy to thank U.S. and NATO troops for their service. Panetta spills a little on secret CIA drones (AP) http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/panetta-spills-_-a-1196326.html 7 October 2011 By Lolita Baldor The Associated Press NAVAL AIR STATION SIGONELLA, Italy There was a time when U.S. officials wouldn't breathe a word about the CIA's clandestine use of Predator drones. Drone Wars: Somalia becomes the latest front (GlobalPost) With rise of Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabaab, Somalia becomes sixth and newest theater in US drone war. http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/111007/drone-wars-somalia-alshabaab-cia 10 October 2011 By Tristan McConnell MOGADISHU A popular pastime among journalists visiting Mogadishu is to stare up into the inky, star-pricked sky at night to try to spot the surveillance drones that buzz overhead. Usually, they are pretty hard to see. A hint of deterrence in U.S. drone-war strategy (Washington Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-hint-of-deterrence-in-us-drone-warstrategy/2011/10/04/gIQAeg71LL_story.html By David Ignatius Heres the trickiest counterterrorism puzzle for U.S. policymakers: How do you stop alQaeda from attacking the American homeland without getting bogged down in protracted wars against insurgents? Kenya sets up bases to fight Somali raiders (Daily Nation) http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Kenya+sets+up+bases+to+fight+Somali+raiders+//1056/1252650/-/qms956/-/ 9 October 2011 By Galgalo Bocha Kenya has established six patrol bases near border with Somalia following the recent kidnapping of two tourists in Lamu. The bases at Manda, Shella, Kiwayu and Kipuni will comprise personnel from different security agencies in what analysts see as an attempt to assure of the governments ability to contain Somali raids at the Coast. Somalia: We have no better brother than Turkey (Suna Times) http://www.sunatimes.com/view.php?id=1415 10 October 2011 By Farah Ali MOGADISHU -- Over 300 Somali university and high school students accompanied by the minister of higher education of the Transitional Government of Somalia landed at

stanbul Atatrk Airport on Wednesday morning, flying on a Turkish airline, Atlasjet, after being awarded a scholarship to study in Turkey. Thank you Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There) for your scholarships awarded to Somali students and for welcoming them to Turkey. Somalia Islamists al-Shabab 'driven out of Mogadishu' (BBC) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15246093 By the BBC African Union (AU) troops say they have driven Islamist al-Shabab militants out of their last stronghold in the north of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. Al-Shabab and Somalia's 'far enemy' (Al-Jazeera) Al-Shabab has withdrawn from Mogadishu, but the country is shattered from years of civil war and US military actions. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2011/10/201110295152925137.html 9 October 2011 By Glen Johnson Abdullahi walks slowly past makeshift stalls in a crowded Mogadishu market, dragging his right leg as he does so. He is in his 50s and unemployed, reliant on overseas remittances sent by his daughter to survive. In 2007, he was shot by al-Shabab (Youth movement). The bullet blew a hole through his right leg, just below his groin. Uganda: U.S. Intensifies Search for Kony (All Africa) http://allafrica.com/stories/201110070105.html 7 October 2011 By Tabu Butagira, The Monitor (Uganda) KAMPALA The American government is building up military and diplomatic pressure on the LRA and pin-pointed Central African Republic as the likely present location of Joseph Kony, the rebels' elusive leader. Prize or Not, Liberian Faces Tough Race to Keep Office (NY Times) http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/08/world/africa/prize-or-not-liberian-faces-tough-raceto-keep-office.html?_r=1&ref=africa 8 October 2011 By Adam Nossiter MONROVIA, Liberia The day began in this battered seaside capital with shouts and drumming for a leading Liberian politician but not the one honored with a Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. Flying in Africa still pricey despite busier skies (AFP) http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iVSbgMB5dyM0xQ72qcZXlBO Sb6ww?docId=CNG.c38debb933cc768bc9730a901d9e5e4a.d1 By Justine Gerardy CAPE TOWN It has never been easier to fly to Ouagadougou, Juba or Maputo but Africa's increasingly busy skies are still among the most expensive in the world.

### UN News Service Africa Briefs http://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICA (Full Articles on UN Website) Rwanda and UN refugee agency agree to step up repatriation efforts 7 October The United Nations refugee agency and Rwanda today announced steps to speed up a solution for tens of thousands of Rwandan refugees, one of the lasting legacies of the genocide in which extremist Hutus killed some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in the African country in 1994. Top UN officials praise gains of African development partnership 7 October The President of the General Assembly today praised the African initiative created to enhance the continents economic growth, development and participation in the global economy, saying it has contributed significantly towards the socio-economic progress achieved over the past decade. UN opens refugee camp in Ethiopia as violence continues in troubled Sudanese state 7 October The United Nations refugee agency has opened a new camp in western Ethiopia as hostilities in Sudans Blue Nile state continue to drive thousands to flee the country. Africas pace towards development slow and uneven, despite gains UN 6 October Africas overall progress towards achieving the internationally agreed targets to eradicate extreme poverty and accelerate social development has been slow and generally insufficient to meet the 2015 deadline, the United Nations says in a new report unveiled today, noting, however, that there have been small gains. Central African Republic: UNICEF responds to deadly cholera outbreak 6 October The United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) is distributing emergency supplies and has dispatched experts to the Central African Republic (CAR) to deal with an outbreak of cholera that has already claimed 14 lives. ### Upcoming Events of Interest: TOPIC: The Democratic Republic of Congos Pivotal 2011 National Elections WHAT: Much is at stake as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) prepares for a pivotal round of national elections on November 28. While violence and security issues have marred the countrys recent history, multi-party elections in 2006 produced democratic gains and this round of elections may push the DRC even closer to becoming a vibrant democracy. However, questions remain as to how the elections will affect the countrys major challenges, including a rapidly growing population, low job growth, and

the lingering threat of authoritarianism. PARTICIPANTS: Keynote Speaker Maria Otero, Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, U.S. Department of State; Panelists -- Mvemba P. Dizolele, Duignan Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Stanford Universitys Hoover Institution; Anthony W. Gambino, Independent Consultant and Former USAID Mission Director to the DRC; John Mukum Mbaku, Nonresident Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution WHEN: Friday, October 14, 2011, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM WHERE: Falk Auditorium, The Brookings Institution, 1775 Massachusetts Ave., NW Washington, DC MORE INFORMATION: http://www.brookings.edu/events/2011/1014_drc_elections.aspx TOPIC: Libya in Transition: The Significance of U.N. Resolution 1973 and Democracy in the Middle East and North Africa WHAT: The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) and the United Nations Association of the National Capital Area (UNA-NCA) invite you to an event to assess the effort to establish democratic rule in Libya, the role of the U.N. resolution in that effort, and the importance of the transition and resolution to democracy efforts throughout the region. PARTICIPANTS: Victoria K. Holt, panelist (invited), Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of International Organization Affairs; Laith Kubba, panelist, Senior Director, Middle East and North Africa, National Endowment for Democracy; Manal Omar, panelist, Director of Iraq, Iran, and North Africa Programs, United States Institute of Peace; Ted Piccone, panelist, Senior Fellow and Deputy Director, Foreign Policy The Brookings Institution. WHEN: October 19, 2011; 10:00-Noon WHERE: U. S. Institute of Peace, 2301 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20037 MORE INFORMATION: If you have any questions about this event, please contact Anil Varghese at avarghese@usip.org. http://www.usip.org/events/libya-in-transition-thesignificance-un-resolution-1973-and-democracy-in-the-middle-east-and-

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New on www.africom.mil AFRICOM Commander Highlights Priorities, Concerns at CSIS Strategy Talk http://www.africom.mil/getArticle.asp?art=7308&lang=0 6 October 2011 By Danielle Skinner U.S. AFRICOM Public Affairs WASHINGTON, D.C. During a military strategy forum October 4, 2011, General Carter F. Ham, commander of U.S. Africa Command, emphasized the importance of

strengthening African military capabilities to address some of Africa's current security challenges while preventing future ones. Read the entire transcript or watch the video on www.africom.mil. South African Army Soldiers visit U.S. Army Africa http://www.africom.mil/getArticle.asp?art=7310&lang=0 6 October 2011 By Rich Bartell U.S. Army Africa Public Affairs VICENZA, Italy, Oct 6, 2011 Chief Warrant Officer Charles Laubscher and Master Chief Warrant Officer Ketshwerebothata R. Boikanyo from the South African Army took part in a U.S. Army Africa command visit September 26-29, 2011. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------FULLTEXT Libya forces corner Gaddafi loyalists in Sirte (Reuters) http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/10/11/uk-libya-idUKTRE7962FQ20111011 11 October 2011 By Rania El Gamal and Tim Gaynor SIRTE, Libya -- Libyan transitional government forces said they had cornered Muammar Gaddafi loyalists in the centre of the deposed leader's hometown on Monday, where desperate civilians were still trying to flee the fierce street fighting. The protracted battle for Sirte has raised concerns that civilian casualties could breed long-term hostility and make it hard for the National Transitional Council (NTC) to unite the vast North African state once the fighting is over. "Gaddafi's forces are cornered in two neighbourhoods near the sea, an area of about 2-km square, but there is still resistance," Abdul Salam Javallah, commander of NTC units from eastern Libya, told Reuters on the front line of their attack. "We are dealing with them now with light weapons because there are still families inside," he said. Shortly after he spoke, a group of three women, three small children and two male civilians emerged from a house on the front line. They were searched by the rebels and hurriedly got into a car and drove off waving the V-for-victory sign. Another family of three women and one man, stopping at a checkpoint as they fled Sirte, said they had been trapped in their house by the fighting. "We didn't know where the strikes were coming from. Everyone is being hit all day and all night. There is no electricity and no water. There is nothing. There is not one

neighbourhood that hasn't been hit," said one of the women who gave her name as Umm Ismail. NTC commanders say they are using only light weapons, but government tanks have also moved into road intersections and pounded Gaddafi positions, while pick-up trucks mounted with heavy weapons as well as foot soldiers darted out of cover to fire wildly up ahead. At times, NTC units came under fire from their own side, a hazard becoming more acute as the poorly coordinated groups of government volunteers attacking from the east and west close in on one another. Most of the NTC forces attacking Sirte are from other towns and do not have much help from the inside as they did they when they captured the capital Tripoli on August 23 and ended 42 years of one-man rule by Gaddafi after six months of civil war. Gaddafi's men fight for their lives Many civilians from Sirte are also fighting alongside the remnants of Gaddafi's army in the belief the outsiders will commit atrocities once they capture the city of 75,000 people, which Gaddafi built into a lavish second capital. "Gaddafi's troops know their way around," said one government fighter in a brief lull in the fighting. "We don't know the city. We don't even know what's in the next street." Gaddafi is believed to be hiding in the desert to the south. NTC forces have struggled to take Sirte and a few other bastions of Gaddafi loyalists, which has impeded efforts to set up effective government nationwide and restart oil production, the lifeblood of the Libyan economy. Several Libyan analysts also say they are worried fault lines are opening up between the Islamist-run Tripoli Military Council, which has nominal control over the capital and is also believed to be backed by Qatar, and groups loyal to interim Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril, a Western-trained technocrat. The interim government sent out text messages on Monday urging their fighters to report to military bases and join the national army. Concern is rising in the capital about potential conflict among armed groups that converged on Tripoli in August and have stayed on to demand stakes in a future government. NTC forces in Sirte took three important landmark buildings on Sunday -- the main hospital, the university and the opulent Ouagadougou conference centre, built to host the summits of foreign dignitaries that Gaddafi was fond of staging.

"Eighty percent of Sirte is now under our control," said Omar Abu Lifa, a commander of government forces attacking Sirte from the west. NTC forces have repeatedly claimed to be on the point of victory in Sirte, only to suffer sudden reversals at the hands of tenacious enemies fighting for their lives, surrounded on three sides and with their backs to the sea. In just one field hospital to the east of the city, doctors said they had received 20 dead and 87 wounded over the last two days from fighting. There were many more casualties elsewhere. One man, a student, who had escaped from the centre of the city, said he had watched from a rooftop on Sunday as Gaddafi soldiers destroyed 10 government pick-up trucks. "Their morale is very high," said Salam Awad. "They are prepared to fight to the death." NTC chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil said his men had reached Sirte city centre, while the only other major town in the hands of Gaddafi loyalists, Bani Walid in the interior desert to the south, was also under siege from no fewer than five sides. "I think and I hope, with the help of God, the liberation of these two towns will be completed by the end of this week. God willing," he told a news conference in Tripoli on Sunday. Sirte holds symbolic significance because Gaddafi turned it from a fishing village into a second capital. He built opulent villas, hotels and conference halls to house the international summits he liked to stage there. ### The Promise of a Pro-American Libya (Wall Street Journal) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203388804576613293623346516.html? mod=googlenews_wsj 6 October 2011 By John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Mark Kirk, and Marco Rubio Last Thursday we arrived in Tripoli to the promise of a free Libya. We saw a city that is surprisingly secure and orderly. We visited al-Jdeida prison and spoke freely with detaineesa testament to the commitment of the Transitional National Council (TNC) to democracy, transparency and the rule of law. At the end of the day, we walked through Martyrs' Square, where Libyans cheered and thanked America and our NATO allies. We also observed many of the serious challenges that remain. We spoke with some of the 28 militias that are still deployed across Tripoli. We saw the enormous task of rebuilding a country after 42 years of tyranny and seven months of war. And we visited a hospital

where we met a few of the 60,000 Libyans who have been wounded in this conflict and will require significant future carea population that is still growing amid the ongoing fighting in Sirte and Bani Walid. In short, the Libyans we met want to build a secure, prosperous and democratic nation that rejects violent extremism, allies itself with America and our allies, and promotes the peaceful ideals of the Arab Spring. It is in our national interest for Libya to consolidate the gains of its revolution, and in the critical months ahead we must deepen our support for the Libyan people. People demonstrate in favor of the National Transitional Council in Tripoli earlier this month. The most meaningful support the U.S. could provide at this time is to help Libya care for its many wounded citizens. From our visit to the hospital, it is clear that Libya does not have the capacity to care for such a large number of wounded, many requiring advanced treatment and prosthetics. Indeed, this is such a priority that the TNC told us they would be willing to draw on the more than $150 billion in Libya's frozen assets to reimburse the U.S. for the costs of this humanitarian assistance. To this end, we should consider deploying a hospital ship, such as the USNS Comfort, to Libya or Malta. Another option could be to transport Libyans in need of advanced care to U.S. medical facilities in Europe. We can also help Libya lay the foundation for sustainable security. This requires safeguarding the immense stockpiles of weapons and dangerous materials that exist across the country. It also requires bringing Libya's many militias under the TNC's civilian authority, and working toward their demobilization, disarmament and reintegration into Libyan society. We and our allies should encourage this peaceful process as much as we can, and oppose external efforts to pick winners who would advance factional or ideological interests through force. Many Libyans recognize that they need a new civilian-led national army and police force. The TNC has asked the U.S., perhaps together with our Arab partners, to help train this new security force. American involvement in a small training mission could help Libya build a professional security force that contributes to national unity and forms the basis of our future security cooperation. Here, too, the TNC offered to reimburse the costs of our efforts. American support is also important for Libya's democratic transition. The TNC wants to cooperate with the U.S., especially with our nongovernmental organizations, in the monitoring of national elections (which could be held soon), the drafting of a constitution, and the development of civil society. Another area where we can play a vital role is in helping Libya reform its justice system. That the TNC invited us into al-Jdeida prison is evidence of its commitment to treating detainees humanely, with maximum transparency. Yet we continue to hear credible

reports that Libyan militias are mistreating and taking revenge against detainees, especially African migrants. American assistance could help Libyans achieve their goal of creating a transparent and accountable system to deliver equal justice. Finally, now is the time to expand our economic ties with Libya and help the Libyan people take part in a more open regional economic order. This could include reactivating and building upon our existing Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, working toward the goal of a bilateral free trade agreement, helping Libya meet the requirements for accession to the World Trade Organization, and gradually turning the "no-fly zone" over Libya into a "pro-fly zone" that fosters civilian air travel. Americans have had their disagreements over the U.S. intervention in Libya, but the sources of those disagreements are now fading into history. What remains is an enormous opportunity for the U.S. to build a partnership with a democratic and pro-American Libya that contributes to the expansion of security, prosperity and freedom across a pivotal region at a time of revolutionary change. This is a worthy goal that should unite Democrats and Republicans, Congress and the president, America and our allies. Libyans will build their own nation. But they desire and deserve our support. And it is in our interest to help them succeed. Mr. McCain is a Republican senator from Arizona. Mr. Graham is a Republican senator from South Carolina. Mr. Kirk is a Republican senator from Illinois. Mr. Rubio is a Republican senator from Florida. ### U.S. Expands Search for Weapons in Libya (ABC News) http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/us-expands-search-weapons-libya/story?id=14704869 10 October 2011 By Brian Ross, Matthew Cole and Lee Ferran The U.S. government has expanded its search for thousands of dangerous, unaccounted for weapons in Libya to the tune of several million dollars and new search teams, a State Department spokesperson said. "I'm frankly not in a position to speak to the sort of volume and scope of their success at the moment, but we are very, very committed to this effort," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters. Nuland said there are a total of nine Libyan search teams currently active in the war-torn nation, all with a single American representative. The U.S. government had initially put forward $3 million to assist in the effort to track down the weapons -- which could include thousands of shoulder-fired surface-to-air rocket launchers -- but has now increased its investment to $10 million. READ: Nightmare in Libya: Thousands of Surface-to-Air Missiles Unaccounted For

Last month, White House spokesperson Jay Carney told reporters the U.S. had a single government official, as well as five contractors, on the ground to deal with the weapons crisis. Though Libya had an estimated 20,000 man-portable surface-to-air missiles before the popular uprising began in February, Assistant Secretary of State Andrew Shapiro told ABC News in September the government does not have a clear picture of how many missiles they're trying to track down. U.S. government officials and security experts have for weeks been concerned some of the thousands of heat-seeking missiles, along with smaller arms, could easily end up in the hands of al Qaeda or other terror groups. "Matching up a terrorist with a shoulder-fired missile, that's our worst nightmare," Sen. Barbara Boxer, D.-California, a member of the Senate's Commerce, Energy and Transportation Committee, said in September. The missiles, four to six-feet long and Russian-made, can weigh just 55 pounds with launcher. They lock on to the heat generated by the engines of aircraft, can be fired from a vehicle or from a combatant's shoulder, and are accurate and deadly at a range of more than two miles. Peter Bouckaert of Human Rights Watch first warned about the problem after a trip to Libya more than six months ago. He took pictures of pickup truckloads of the missiles being carted off during another trip just a few weeks ago. "I myself could have removed several hundred if I wanted to, and people can literally drive up with pickup trucks or even 18 wheelers and take away whatever they want," said Bouckaert, HRW's emergencies director. "Every time I arrive at one of these weapons facilities, the first thing we notice going missing is the surface-to-air missiles." Nuland said Friday it's too early to tell if the U.S. will expand the search beyond the nine teams in the future. ### U.S. officials: Libya may have lost anti-aircraft missiles (USA Today) http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2011-10-09/libyan-portable-missilesmissing/50713752/1 10 October 2011 By Jim Michaels Portable anti-aircraft missiles may have already been smuggled outside Libya's borders even as the United States races to help account for thousands of the weapons stockpiled by the regime of Moammar Gadhafi, U.S. officials say.

"We have reports that they may have in fact crossed borders," Rep. Mike Rogers, RMich., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, told USA TODAY. Rogers says al-Qaeda would like to get its hands on the weapons, which fit in the trunk of a car and can take down a commercial jet. Missiles like those have been used in attacks on 40 aircraft, causing 28 crashes and more than 800 deaths since 1975. Under Gadhafi, Libya had stockpiled about 20,000 of the missiles, called Man Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS). Not all are missing, says the State Department, which is working with Libya's transitional government to account for the missiles. "We believe that thousands of MANPADS were destroyed during NATO operations because weapons bunkers were a major target," said Andrew Shapiro, assistant secretary of State for political-military affairs. Many missiles are also under the control of forces loyal to the transitional government there, and others are too old to work, the State Department said. The sale of MANPADS is tightly controlled, but they have sometimes wound up in the hands of terrorists who used them to take down airliners in Georgia and Sri Lanka. Most of Libya's stockpiles are SA-7s, a shoulder-fired missile that targets a heat source on an aircraft. "There are some worrying indicators that some MANPADS, type non-specific, have left the country," said Gen. Carter Ham, head of U.S. Africa Command. Shapiro cautioned the government doesn't have "firm reporting" that the missiles have crossed Libya's border but intends to "ramp up" the effort to account for the missiles. "It's certainly something that we're very concerned about," he said. Rogers said the administration's pledge to not deploy troops in Libya made the government hesitant to deploy Americans to track the missiles until recently. "I have some concerns that we may be a little bit late," he said. ### Libya operation success despite economic crisis: NATO chief (AFP) http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/10/10/171093.html By AFP BUCHAREST -- NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Monday said that the Alliances operation in Libya was a success despite the financial crisis forcing governments to reduce defense spending.

We conducted the operation Unified Protector successfully against the backdrop of the global financial crisis, Rasmussen told legislators from NATOs 28 member states and partners gathered in Bucharest for the 57th Parliamentary Assembly. I am very satisfied with the way the operation has been conducted, it is an example of solidarity, he added. Rasmussen stressed that the air war in Libya has also taught members important lessons: First, that despite economic challenges, European allies with Canada and partners in the region provided the majority of assets and that is a clear response to an often heard American request for more European responsibility within NATO. But he stressed that the other lesson that needed to be learned was that allies need to invest more in critical fields such as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. That is what we have to focus on. We could not have carried out this operation without the unique and essential assets from the US. This is no breaking news that we need help from the U.S., that is the essence of the alliance and not a weakness," he insisted. NATOs chief pleaded in favor of the concept of smart defense, crucial according to him in this period of austerity. Smart defense can only work if it is done together, it is not an excuse to reduce budgets, he said, adding that the alternative would be less defense. On Saturday, NATO lawmakers urged governments not to cut defense spending, warning that this could damage security. NATOs Director of Force Planning Frank Boland warned that the Alliance was facing a serious situation in terms of burden sharing. He stressed that the U.S. share in NATOs defense spending had risen to 77 percent up from 61 percent a decade ago, while 18 of the 28 allies had cut defense spending since 2008. ### Panetta Visits Military Bases in Italy (defense.gov) http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=65591 7 October 2011 By Cheryl Pellerin American Forces Press Service NAVAL AIR STATION SIGONELLA, Italy On his way home from a week-long trip to countries in the Middle East and NATO headquarters in Belgium, Defense Secretary

Leon E. Panetta made stops today at two military bases in Italy to thank U.S. and NATO troops for their service. (See photo essay of his trip to Italy) At the Naval Support Activity in Naples, headquarters of the 6th Fleet, Panetta thanked an auditorium packed with sailors for the sacrifice they make by serving the nation away from their homes and families. This countrys strength is based on people like you who are willing to give something back to the country, willing to sacrifice, willing to put your lives on the line and willing to fight for your country, the secretary said. Thats what makes the United States of America one of the strongest countries in the world. After briefing the crowd on progress in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the NATO operation in Libya, Panetta described his meetings with defense officials in Israel and Egypt and his participation at the two-day defense ministers conference in Brussels. Panetta joked his new position as defense secretary. Having moved from CIA to the Pentagon, obviously I have a hell of a lot more weapons available to me in this job, he said. But for all the planes, ships, submarines and other sophisticated technology in use at the department, the secretary added, the most important weapons I have are the men and women who are willing to put on the uniform and serve their country. The secretarys next stop before heading home was here, where service members greeted Panetta outside on the tarmac near one of the Air Forces newest unmanned aerial systems, a Northrup Grumman RQ4B Global Hawk. Sigonella was extremely important to the mission that was conducted in Libya, and all of you know the tremendous role that each of you [played] in that mission, Panetta said. My understanding is that somewhere around 4,000 sorties were conducted out of Sigonella, and thats tremendous. Naval Air Station Sigonella is a support base for NATOs Operation Unified Protector, with service members from the military forces of Denmark, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, France, Turkey, Italy and the United States, Navy Lt. Tim Page said. These countries are operating from [Sigonella] in support of the Navy air operation, he added. U.S. service members here are from the Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force. Panetta stood in front of the Global Hawk to address them. At a time when all countries are facing budget constraints, the ability to have a strong NATO coalition that can share these capabilities is going to be very important to our ability to meet the threats of the future, he said.

So thank you very much for the service youve provided, thank you for this mission, the secretary added. All the countries of NATO owe all of you great thanks for your service. In some small way, you have contributed to keeping our country and our world safer and more secure for our children. ### Panetta spills a little on secret CIA drones (AP) http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/panetta-spills-_-a-1196326.html 7 October 2011 By Lolita Baldor The Associated Press NAVAL AIR STATION SIGONELLA, Italy There was a time when U.S. officials wouldn't breathe a word about the CIA's clandestine use of Predator drones. Now it seems that the veil is lifting, at least a bit. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta a former CIA director is occasionally weaving the CIA's unmanned aircraft into his remarks. On Friday, he joked to an auditorium full of troops at a base in Naples, Italy, that "obviously I have a helluva lot more weapons available to me in this job than I had at the CIA." Then he added, as an aside, "Although the Predators aren't that bad." And at a stop at Sigonella air station a short time later, he was ticking off the attributes of the coalition forces there who have been participating in the Libya operation. Standing in front of a Global Hawk surveillance drone, he observed that the troops have used the unarmed aircraft in missions over Libya, as well as the armed Predators. And then he added that the Predators were "something I was very familiar with in my last job." During Panetta's tenure at the CIA, the use of armed drones to target insurgents, particularly inside the borders of Pakistan, escalated and expanded. And just last week, a CIA Predator was used in a strike in Yemen to kill U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, a key al-Qaida figure in the Arabian Peninsula. The CIA's use of drones to strike militants in Pakistan largely those who are involved in launching attacks against U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan has drawn sharp criticism from Islamabad and cries that the missions violate the country's sovereignty. At no time did Panetta mention any of the countries or CIA operations where the drones were used saying only that he finds them to be a key weapon.

### Drone Wars: Somalia becomes the latest front (GlobalPost) With rise of Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabaab, Somalia becomes sixth and newest theater in US drone war. http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/111007/drone-wars-somalia-alshabaab-cia 10 October 2011 By Tristan McConnell MOGADISHU A popular pastime among journalists visiting Mogadishu is to stare up into the inky, star-pricked sky at night to try to spot the surveillance drones that buzz overhead. Usually, they are pretty hard to see. That is, until August, when the drones began to rain down from above literally. Eyewitnesses in the capital described at least one and maybe two observation drones crashing into the city in mid-August. The debris was swept up and whisked away by soldiers from the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), and no official comment was ever made. It is unclear who was operating the aircraft. But four small, hand-launched Raven drones were part of a recent $45 million package of U.S. military equipment earmarked for AMISOM, a delivery that also included body armor and night-vision equipment. Complete coverage: The Drone Wars Larger observation drones launched from the U.S. base at Camp Lemonier in Djibouti have been flying sorties over Somalia for years and, for a while, unarmed long-range Reaper surveillance drones were launched from the Seychelles to keep an eye on Somali pirates. Then, this summer, the armed drones arrived. Somalia, the most troubled country in the horn of Africa, has now become the sixth and newest theater in U.S. President Barack Obamas expanding drone war, which will be serviced by new U.S. bases in Ethiopia, which neighbors Somalia, and in the Seychelles. Leaked diplomatic cables and anonymous officials speaking to the Washington Post suggest the bases will be used to target Al Qaeda affiliates in both Yemen and Somalia. The first attack came on June 23, when a series of drone strikes, in quick succession, hit close to Kismayo in the far south of Somalia. The port city is a stronghold of Al Shabaab, the Al Qaeda-linked insurgent group that is based in

News agencies and Somali radio reported missiles striking a convoy of Shabaab fighters, a training camp a few miles south of Kismayo, and another target close to the airport. Local residents said that helicopters landed shortly afterward, to take away the bodies. Details are sketchy and hard to verify but a U.S. military official confirmed in the Washington Post that at least one drone struck the area, adding that two unnamed Shabaab leaders had been targeted. The target may have been Ibrahim al-Afghani, a senior Shabaab commander and head of the groups finances. He has not been heard from since the June strikes, and intelligence sources suspect he may have been wounded or even killed. Afghanis death, however, reported on local radio, has not been confirmed. In September, local residents reported several more strikes, again targeting areas close to Kismayo. They said the attacks hit a Shabaab training camp. A Shabaab fighter, meanwhile, claimed to have shot down one of the U.S. drones. As ever, there has been neither confirmation nor denial from the United States. The attacks are the latest in a series of setbacks al Shabaab has endured in recent months. Infighting and military losses have undermined the organizations effectiveness, as has Somalias ongoing famine, which some Somalis at least partly blame on the militant group. Its reputation took a major hit locally when it refused international aid agencies access to some famine-stricken regions. Several senior commanders, including Fazul Abdullah Mohamed, East Africas Al Qaeda chief, have been killed in recent months, and Shabaab withdrew from Mogadishu, Somalias capital, in early August. But the terrorist organization remains a threat. Most recently, it claimed responsibility for a massive truck bomb that exploded on Oct. 4 in Mogadishu, killing at least 65 people. The Somali government has limited abilities to battle the militants on its own. It has been quick to welcome U.S. drones as the newest weapon in the battle against Shabaab. Independent observers, however, are more cautious. It is a sign of things to come, said Stig Jarle Hansen, a Somalia researcher at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. Drones are a way for the Obama Administration to have a light footprint inside Somalia without committing any troops. But Im not sure they will be effective. Peter Pham, Africa director at the Atlantic Council in Washington, said that growing links between Somalias Shabaab and Yemens Al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP) were a factor behind the decision to use the drones.

Somalia is moving up the priority list because of developments within Somalia and next door in Yemen. There are increasingly close ties, and therefore Somalias strategic importance has increased. With that has come the dedication of resources, Pham said. He doubted that the use of drones in Somalia would escalate as dramatically as they have in Pakistan, blaming a lack of good on-the-ground intelligence and the relatively small number of high value targets. David Shinn, a former U.S. ambassador in the Horn of Africa, was also skeptical. Theres a debate being had over the utility of drone attacks in Somalia, he said. They dont get you that far, and the targets are not as valuable as in other areas, such as Pakistan. While the drones are new to Somalia, targeted assassinations are not. In May 2008, Aden Hashi Ayro, then the head of al Shabaab, was killed in a U.S. missile strike in the central Somali town of Dusamareb. Then, in September 2009, U.S. Special Forces flying in on helicopter gunships killed Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a man wanted for his involvement in the 1998 embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. His body was picked up close to the town of Barawe and whisked away for DNA analysis. (Fazul Abdullah Mohameds death in June was more about luck than design. The al Qaeda terrorist took a wrong turn in Mogadishu and was shot dead by government troops manning a roadblock.) Success has not, however, been the norm. Locals resident have accused the United States of killing civilians in botched air strikes in 2006, 2007 and 2008. There is so far no evidence that the drone strikes in recent months have been effective in killing senior Shabaab leaders, and analysts warn of a blowback if civilians are wounded or killed in the attacks. Maybe the footprint is not as light as some people would like to make out, Jarle Hansen said. What the U.S. is doing with drones in Somalia and elsewhere is full of pitfalls, said Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, director of the Centre for the Study of Terrorist Radicalization at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank. In Somalia our intelligence on the ground isnt great, so youll end up killing not just Shabaab operatives but clan leaders, sub-clan leaders people who you dont want to kill as well as civilians, which creates the potential that the U.S. will be seen as an enemy by all sides, he warned.

In addition Shabaab, has shown a remarkable ability to regenerate when leaders are killed. Jarle Hansen points out that the killing of Ayro in 2008 was little more than a local setback. Another commander quickly replaced the Shabaab leader. The bigger problem is not simply how to defeat Shabaab, but how to rebuild Somalia as a functioning state. For that, the U.S. itself admits that it will need more than military hardware. Drone strikes can be a useful as a tactic but not in place of a strategy, and in Somalia we dont actually have a strategy, said Gartenstein-Ross. ### A hint of deterrence in U.S. drone-war strategy (Washington Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-hint-of-deterrence-in-us-drone-warstrategy/2011/10/04/gIQAeg71LL_story.html By David Ignatius Heres the trickiest counterterrorism puzzle for U.S. policymakers: How do you stop alQaeda from attacking the American homeland without getting bogged down in protracted wars against insurgents? One answer would be to establish deterrence in the long war against Islamic extremism, like the standoff that developed between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The Soviets were obviously a far bigger adversary, but the basic logic is the same: Both sides have deadly weapons, but if you dont shoot at us, we wont shoot at you. The Obama administration hasnt declared any such neo-deterrence strategy, but you can see the outlines of one emerging in the administrations unannounced targeting policy for armed Predator drones, which have been Americas deadliest weapon against al-Qaeda. The latest illustration of the drones precision power came in Fridays attack on Anwar al-Awlaki, a leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The strike over northern Yemen, which followed days of silent surveillance, killed Awlaki and Samir Khan, the editor of an al-Qaeda online magazine called Inspire. Both were U.S. citizens. But in recent weeks a subtle limit has emerged in drone policy: Despite calls by some U.S. officials for drone attacks against the training camps of AQAP and al-Shabab, the al-Qaeda affiliate in Somalia, neither has been targeted. Thats a deliberate policy decision aimed partly at preventing the spread of a Taliban-style insurgency to new theaters, such as Yemen and Somalia. The United States claims it has legal authority for such so-called signature strikes on training camps of al-Qaeda affiliates, under both the congressional Authorization for Use of Military Force passed in September 2001 and the international law of self-defense.

This broad legal authority for targeting was outlined by John Brennan, the White House counterterrorism chief, in a Sept. 16 speech at Harvard. But as a matter of policy, Brennan and other top officials have decided (for now) against such strikes in the new battlegrounds, in part to prevent an ever-widening war that fosters the very Islamic insurgency we want to contain. Indeed, officials say there havent been any signature strikes against camps (as opposed to individuals) outside Pakistans tribal areas, where al-Qaedas core leadership is based. A senior administration official explains the policy this way: If individuals target us, if they are in the chain of command for attacks against Americans, then the United States will authorize direct action putting such individuals on the capture or kill list that triggers a drone attack. But, the official cautions, We dont want to get involved in a domestic confrontation inside Yemen or Somalia, or increase anti-U.S. sentiment in those places. There is a deterrence formula implicit in this policy: So long as Somalias al-Shabab remains an insurgent movement fighting the Transitional Federal Government, the United States while supporting the Somali authorities wont use drones. That weapon is reserved for those who directly threaten the United States. Al-Shabab can increase the danger to themselves if they attack us, or engage in actions designed to hurt our people, says the official. We can act in self-defense, but also to send the message that if you threaten us, you do so at your own peril. This calibrated approach has reassured key U.S. allies, such as Britain, that have large Muslim immigrant populations and were worried about the blow-back from U.S. campaigns against al-Qaeda affiliates. There was concern that it was a blanket approach, concedes the U.S. official. I asked the Obama administration official about the due process problem. On what basis does the United States issue what amounts to a death warrant against an American citizen, such as Awlaki? The official answered that reviews are conducted by an interagency committee of lawyers, and also by a committee of deputies of all key departments and that strike orders require unanimous agreement. Thats only partly reassuring; a more rigorous legal process would be better, such as the secret court that rules on foreignintelligence requests for search warrants. Whats good about the evolving drone policy is that it recognizes the need for limits. We dont have enough drones to kill all the enemies we will make if we turn the world into a free-fire zone. And theres something important in the hint of a deterrence strategy: This is how wars end in the part of the world where al-Qaeda arose through a balance of mutual restraint that makes a de facto truce possible, even between the most bitter enemies. ###

Kenya sets up bases to fight Somali raiders (Daily Nation) http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Kenya+sets+up+bases+to+fight+Somali+raiders+//1056/1252650/-/qms956/-/ 9 October 2011 By Galgalo Bocha Kenya has established six patrol bases near border with Somalia following the recent kidnapping of two tourists in Lamu. The bases at Manda, Shella, Kiwayu and Kipuni will comprise personnel from different security agencies in what analysts see as an attempt to assure of the governments ability to contain Somali raids at the Coast. Lamu West district commissioner Stephen Ikua said on Sunday Kenya was stepping up sea patrols to guard our border territories and visitors and Kenyans should feel secure whenever they are around. Reports at the weekend said a speedboat suspected to be transporting pirates towards the Kenyan territory was bombed by foreign naval forces patrolling the Gulf of Aden. Abandoned firearms Local security sources said the attack was carried out near Ras Kamboni. The pirates were in shallow waters when they were spotted by foreign naval forces on patrol in the area. They sped off to the mainland and abandoned their firearms and the boat in waters, said the Kenyan security officer. A spokesman for the Department of Defence said the Kenyan military was not involved in the operation. There are many foreign forces patrolling the Somali coast as a result of an increase in piracy incidents maybe one of them was involved in the attack, a spokesman at DoD said. The government last week set up a central command to coordinate security operations on the Kenya-Somalia border. The control centre will link police and military operations in securing the border on land, sea and air. A senior security officer told the Nation the idea was mooted after it was realised that no single agency could detect and repel foreigners on its own.

The proposed command centre would operate round the clock, but no decision had been made whether it will be hosted by the Navy or Army. The Lamu tourist abductions have adversely affected tourism in Lamu, with hoteliers reporting massive cancellations. Britain and France have advised their citizens against travelling to the island after suspected Somali bandits abducted Frenchwoman Marie Dedieu, 66. Yet to demand ransom The Kiwayu raid led to the closure of the exclusive resort, rendering dozens of employees jobless. It is believed Ms Tebutt in being held in Somalia, though her captors are yet to demand any ransom. There are reports that French elite forces may be used to rescue Ms Dedieu, who was disabled and ailing. A source at Frances defence ministry told the Daily Telegraph of Britain that its forces based in Djibouti were involved in the search for Ms Dedieu. ### Somalia: We have no better brother than Turkey (Suna Times) http://www.sunatimes.com/view.php?id=1415 10 October 2011 By Farah Ali MOGADISHU -- Over 300 Somali university and high school students accompanied by the minister of higher education of the Transitional Government of Somalia landed at stanbul Atatrk Airport on Wednesday morning, flying on a Turkish airline, Atlasjet, after being awarded a scholarship to study in Turkey. Thank you Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There) for your scholarships awarded to Somali students and for welcoming them to Turkey. Families and parents are very happy that the Turkish government has provided such an opportunity to their children. Many Somalis in the country and the diaspora appreciate this and, in fact, everyone is happy to see such a large number of Somali students receiving a scholarship. One student said before his departure to Turkey: This is an unforgettable moment for me, my parents and every one of the students. I was hopeless before Turkey turned its attention to my country, but now Im so happy and my future is so bright.

On Sept. 2, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozda confirmed that 500 Somali students would study at universities in Turkey in the upcoming academic year. The number of scholarships offered by Turkey in Somalia is very large and one could only rarely come across such a high number of grants in award programs of other governments for students from other countries. All Turkish agencies and aid workers in Somalia are truly doing a magnificent job. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoan -- a pragmatic and true leader of Turkey, and a role model of the next generation -- landed in the worlds most dangerous airport and paid a visit to a country where famine and drought are killing its people. Mr. Erdoan, along with his wife and children, five Cabinet ministers, members of his Justice and Development Party (AK Party), doctors and aid workers, walked through the streets of the words most violent capital city and met with hundreds of thousands of people in need who lost everything in the ongoing drought and famine. Erdoan was the first head of state to officially visit the war-torn country since 1991. His historic visit was a glimmer of hope for the Somali people. In half of his speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York two weeks ago, Mr. Erdoan talked about Somalias problems and called on world leaders to help the Somali people. Extending our sincere gratitude to the people of Turkey for their helping hand, we believe there is no better brother than Turkey today. The Turkish government is providing more than TL 500 million in aid to Somalia. Thanks are due to the Prime Ministrys Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD) and other charity organizations for collecting this money from our brothers and sisters in Turkey. Somalia has for the past 20 years been neglected by the globe, but today we have a big brother (Turkey) who is ready to prove to us that everything is possible. This is not the first time Turkey is helping Somalia, as history tells us that this is the third major time Turkey has saved the Somali people. Thanks to Erdoan for having the courage to see with his own eyes the humanitarian crisis in Somalia and the words of encouragement. A picture of him, Emine Erdoan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutolu holding severely malnourished children in Somalia will be an unforgettable gesture. Remarkably, he said, Dont worry, the Turkish people are with you.

Mr. Erdoan appointed a Turkish ambassador to Somalia to reopen the Turkish Embassy in Mogadishu to coordinate and provide famine relief and help rebuild schools, roads, hospitals and water wells. The new Turkish ambassador to Somalia, Kani Torun, is a doctor and was the CEO of Doctors Worldwide. Somalis in the diaspora have also done the best they could to show their appreciation to Mr. Erdoan and the people of Turkey. They have contacted and met with Turkish ambassadors in Kenya, South Africa, Egypt, the UK, Denmark, the US, Canada, Australia, Qatar, Norway, Russia and Sweden. Turkish Ambassador to Kenya Tuncer Kayalar was the first to meet with members of the Somali community in Kenya, led by exiled Somali journalists, who expressed their appreciation for the Turkish aid for drought victims. To thank Mr. Erdoan, they also set up a Facebook titled Thank you PM Recep Tayyip Erdoan and Turkey for supporting Somalia. A friend of mine posted on his Facebook wall that his first newborn baby boy will be named Erdoan, while his first newborn baby girl will be named stanbul. stanbul is the capital city of Turkey [sic], which is also one of the most popular names in Somali culture, and Erdoan is the man who saved Somalia, so we dont want to forget his name, he said. Many Somalis, including me, have advised the Somali president to make Mr. Erdoan an honorary citizen of the Republic of Somalia, while others have advised the Mogadishu mayor to change one of the main roads that runs through the city center to Erdoan Road. ### Somalia Islamists al-Shabab 'driven out of Mogadishu' (BBC) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15246093 By the BBC African Union (AU) troops say they have driven Islamist al-Shabab militants out of their last stronghold in the north of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. "We control the whole of Mogadishu," AU Gen Fred Mugisha told the BBC. He said that Somali government forces also took part in the offensive. One African Union soldier and eight civilians were killed in the fighting, reports say. Al-Shabab still controls large swathes of south and central Somalia. 'Trap'

Gen Mugisha told the BBC: "[Transitional Federal Government of Somalia] forces, supported by Amisom (the African Union Mission in Somalia) - we have managed to push out al-Shabab from Mogadishu main city. As I am talking to you, we control the whole of Mogadishu main city, yes." Amisom spokesman Lt Col Paddy Ankunda said the objective had been to push the alShabab forces out of mortar range of civilians. "The outer north and eastern fringes of the city must still be cleared, but key ground and buildings are no longer under the control of the extremists," he said. A former pasta factory used by al-Shabab as an operations centre had been captured, he added. Al-Shabab still has a presence in the outlying district of Daynile, a BBC reporter in Mogadishu says. "It has been a big achievement to remove [al-Shabab] from the city, and put an end to the fighting that disrupted so many lives," said Lt Col Ankunda. "But the challenge is now to protect civilians from the sort of terror attack we saw last week." Al-Shabab said it carried out a bomb attack last week which killed more than 80 people. The al-Qaeda-linked group retreated from most of Mogadishu in August, following an offensive by Amisom, but analysts had predicted that without a front line, the organisation was likely to begin carrying out more bombings, including suicide attacks. Al-Shabab said both the August pullout and Monday's loss of ground were tactical moves. "Allowing the Amisom troops to come to the pasta factory was just a trap planned earlier so that they spread out their troops," an al-Shabab official told AFP news agency. Somalia has been without an effective central government since 1991 - the weak transitional government and Islamist militias are competing for control of the country. ### Al-Shabab and Somalia's 'far enemy' (Al-Jazeera) Al-Shabab has withdrawn from Mogadishu, but the country is shattered from years of civil war and US military actions. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2011/10/201110295152925137.html 9 October 2011 By Glen Johnson

Abdullahi walks slowly past makeshift stalls in a crowded Mogadishu market, dragging his right leg as he does so. He is in his 50s and unemployed, reliant on overseas remittances sent by his daughter to survive. In 2007, he was shot by al-Shabab (Youth movement). The bullet blew a hole through his right leg, just below his groin. Like many Somalis, Abdullahi is a casualty of the conflict between Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and al-Shabab. He says he supports the TFG but does not know whether it can succeed. "But it has to," he says. "Look at the roads, look at the rubbish: This is what 20 years of no government does. We cannot have another 20 years of war." An uneasy sense of peace has hung over Mogadishu since al-Shabab's withdrawal from the capital on August 6. Most analysts explain the withdrawal by pointing to rifts that emerged within the organisation when attempting to articulate who it should be fighting: Should it fight the 'near enemy' or the 'far enemy' - should it be national or international in its focus, part of the global jihad or not? Compounding the organisation's problems was pressure from other armed groups notably the Sufi-oriented Ahlu Sunna Wal Jamaa - and a drying up of remittances from the Somali diaspora. Nearby a man organises second-hand clothes into piles, laid out in heaps on the street. Men tinker away at old watches and clocks, while trying to sell parts from cellular phones. According to William Reno, of Northwestern University, al-Shabab placed emphasis on ideology at the expense of political pragmatism, while fighting on too many fronts at once. "They've overplayed the ideological hand and annoyed enough people so that, in the end, the communities they control turn against them and start to look to other people," Reno said. Reno, who has extensive experience throughout Africa, thinks that in some ways alShabab pursued the sensible alternative when trying to figure out how to unite communities, which was to use religion. "But", he adds, "in trying to articulate a religious idea they are too ideological. So they are insensitive to the political calculations and compromises they have to make." Al-Shabab's ideological persuasion is Takfiri: An ultra-conservative interpretation of scripture in which the killing of apostates or the Kafr (unbeliever) forms the core conceptual basis. Additionally, un-Islamic cultural practice is banned and a strict version of Sharia enforced.

In 2008, for example, Asho Duhulow, a 13-year-old girl, was raped by three armed men. She took her case to a Kismayo court administered by al-Shabab and identified her assailants. The men were released but Asho charged with adultery. She was taken to a local sports ground, buried up to her neck and stoned to death. According to reports, al-Shabab armed men opened fire on persons who attempted to intervene, killing one. Everyday jihad? However, Somalia does not have a history dominated by Islamic extremism. Political Islam emerged in the 1960s as the Muslim Brotherhood ideology spread through the Horn of Africa, while Egypt's famous al-Azhar University funded religious schools in Mogadishu. In the mid-1970s, former President Siyad Barre introduced a new family law, ostensibly promoting gender equality as part of his agenda of 'Scientific Socialism' - through granting women equal rights in the area of inheritance. According to Abdurahman M Abdullahi, in an essay titled Women, Islamists and the Military Regime in Somalia, the law enraged Somalia's religious leaders who saw it as a secular assault on Islam at the level of the family. In 1984, al-Ittihad al-Islamiyya emerged as a composite of two other groups and morphed into a armed group in 1991, but suffered a series of stinging defeats in the mid-to-late 1990s. In the early 2000s, the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) formed - its basis being an ad hoc collection of Islamic courts that had administered justice in Somalia following the collapse of Siyad Barre's regime. By 2006, the UIC was seriously challenging Mogadishu's warlords and took control of the capital in June, bringing stability but enforcing a strict form of Sharia law. The UIC was unacceptable to both Ethiopia and the US. In December 2006, Ethiopia acting as a crude proxy for the US - formally launched strikes against the movement and quickly overwhelmed it. Al-Shabab, the UIC's youth wing emerged. Led by Sheikh Aden Hashi Ayro, the organisation began waging war against the TFG and soon controlled much of south and central Somalia. A shaky peace Some of the people perched behind temporary stalls are from Bakara market, which had been closed by the TFG as it sought to secure Mogadishu after al-Shabab's withdrawal.

One storekeeper says he feels like he is on holiday, but does not think the peace will last long. "Shabab was making problems for the people. It was better they leave us ... [but] these people are from Bakara. At day they come here and sell, at night they fight with the government." Others claim that al-Shabab cannot regroup, while expressing concerns about whether the TFG will act responsibly - the TFG is notoriously corrupt and there are doubts over whether a western-style centralised system of governance is relevant, or can be effective, in the context of a clan-based Somalia. Everyone agrees, however, that further US involvement in the country would shatter the temporary peace. As Abdullahi puts it: "We need help now, but then they [the international community] should leave." However, recent reports that the US is expanding its capabilities throughout the Horn of Africa, while unsurprising, do not bode well, and could threaten Mogadishu's shaky peace, while strengthening al-Shabab's international factions. It is clear that the US is at war in both Yemen and Somalia. How it manages those wars will determine the damage to the region. The US' Somalia and Yemen strategy seems similar to its Pakistan strategy: By targeting leadership figures, operational inefficiencies emerge over time and hinder the ability of jihad networks to carry out attacks. The networks then potentially fragment as disagreements over how to counter emerge, amid an overall environment of rotating leadership - probably characterised by competition between potential leadership figures. Efficacy is lowered and the threat becomes localised, rather than global. The thing about that is it really lacks an end game. As the civilian casualties mount - and they do - the likelihood of normal people aligning themselves with America's targets increase. And so in the end, expanded US engagement gives al-Shabab's international factions a propaganda boost and could swing the balance in its favour when healing basic rifts within the group. Because the proof is there for everyone to see: We should have focused on the 'far enemy'.

### Uganda: U.S. Intensifies Search for Kony (All Africa) http://allafrica.com/stories/201110070105.html 7 October 2011 By Tabu Butagira, The Monitor (Uganda) KAMPALA The American government is building up military and diplomatic pressure on the LRA and pin-pointed Central African Republic as the likely present location of Joseph Kony, the rebels' elusive leader. This newspaper has learnt of intensified US-led activities that peaked this week with AFRICOM head, Gen. Carter Ham, declaring in Washington on Tuesday they will "in the very near future" increase the number of American military advisers and trainers to help African countries combat the rebels. The US has already trained a battalion of Congolese government forces and is reported to be in talks with Kinshasa to offer military training to another. In Kampala, US Ambassador Jerry Lanier, for two days ending Wednesday, hosted envoys from Central African Republic and South Sudan in a closed-door meeting with Uganda's Chief of Defence Forces, Gen. Aronda Nyakairima, to hammer out what is believed to be a final push to eliminate LRA threat and its leaders. Uganda, DRC and South Sudan are the original tripartite partners that jointly launched the December 2008 military offensive, code-named Operation Lightning Thunder, which has significantly diminished the capability of LRA and resulted in the killing or capture of many of its top commanders. Kony and his band of mainly abducted fighters terrorised much of northern Uganda from 1987 until August 2005 when the UPDF flushed them out and they fled to eastern DRC, but spread out later to unleash mayhem across parts of South Sudan and Central African Republic. Invisible Children, an American NGO that works to highlight LRA atrocities and assist victims, says the rebels have this year alone killed around 140 civilians and abducted 600, justifying why immediate action is necessary to further disable the rampaging group and end its brutality against unarmed civilians. Senior Washington and AFRICOM officials as well as top UPDF generals Katumba Wamala (Land Forces Commander) and Jeje Odong (State Defence minister) attended the Tuesday and Wednesday secret counter-LRA discussions at the US Mission in Nsambya, a Kampala suburb. Others present included Ambassador Robert Loftis, the acting coordinator, Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilisation; Mr Lawrence Wohlers, who is the US

Ambassador to the Central African Republic, and America's Charge d'Affaires to South Sudan, Mr Christopher Datta. The US embassy in a statement noted that Amb. Lanier hosted the conference to, among other things; outline his government's support to the regional effort, reportedly spearheaded by the Ugandan military, to counter the LRA disturbances. It provided "valuable opportunity for participants to plan and coordinate US support across the region, as it relates to security partnerships, civilian protection, humanitarian assistance, and encouraging defections and reintegration of former fighters," according to the Wednesday press release sent by Information Assistant, Ms Dorothy Nanyonga. US aid The US government has to date provided $23 million (Shs64.4b) worth of non-lethal equipment and logistical support to Operation Lightning Thunder (OLT), renamed Rudia II since UPDF's partial withdrawal from eastern DRC. In a brief sent at this newspaper's request, the US, which has in the past offered military intelligence support as well as surplus Department of Defence equipment, including transport trucks, to the UPDF, announced its commitment to continue its logistical support to this operation. The UPDF remains the most effective national military pursuing the LRA, the US embassy concluded. It is understood the heightened US involvement is within a regional framework specified in the Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009, which President Obama signed into law in May last year, to, among other things, eliminate LRA threat, guarantee civilian protection and provide funding for reconstruction of northern Uganda. ### Prize or Not, Liberian Faces Tough Race to Keep Office (NY Times) http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/08/world/africa/prize-or-not-liberian-faces-tough-raceto-keep-office.html?_r=1&ref=africa 8 October 2011 By Adam Nossiter MONROVIA, Liberia The day began in this battered seaside capital with shouts and drumming for a leading Liberian politician but not the one honored with a Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the Nobel winner, is lionized by the outside world as the woman who calmed a country ravaged by years of brutal civil war. But she is viewed more skeptically at home by a population still mired in poverty and official corruption, and struggling with little electricity. Its attention is fixed on something much closer to

home than the Nobel committee in Olso: a closely contested presidential campaign involving a popular former soccer star. While Liberians widely acknowledge that peace and security have improved markedly during her tenure, Mrs. Johnson Sirleafs success in securing forgiveness for billions of dollars in Liberian debt and the transformation she has effected in the nations once infamous international image are often less appreciated here than abroad. Indeed, as the world absorbed the news of her prize, Monrovia was virtually shut down by a previously scheduled rally to energize the opposition before the presidential election on Tuesday. The early-morning shouting reverberating through the city was for the former sports hero, George Weah, one of Mrs. Johnson Sirleafs opponents. In Oslo, though, she was honored as a peacemaker, along with two women who share the prize with her this year, Leymah Gbowee of Liberia and Tawakkol Karman of Yemen. Three women receiving the Nobel Peace Prize is really overwhelming, Ms. Gbowee said. Its finally a recognition that we cant ignore the other half of the worlds population. Ms. Gbowee led a grass-roots womens protest movement credited with helping to end the 14-year war in Liberia in 2003. She was at the forefront of mass open-air demonstrations at a Monrovia fish market in defiance of the warlords who ruled the country, shaming them into heeding the womens demands. About 250,000 people were killed in the war, and the countrys infrastructure, institutions, and economy were ruined. With its accounts of mass killings, rape and cannibalism, Liberia the first independent republic in Africa had become a poster child for Africas ills. The country has been at peace since then, roads have been built, children in uniform again attend classes, the countrys $4.6 billion in foreign debt has been wiped out, and Mrs. Johnson Sirleaf is credited with presiding over the change. In 2005, she became the first woman elected as a head of state in Africa, and the Nobel committee, in highlighting the gender of this years recipients, acknowledged the central role that the Liberian wars most brutalized victims women have played in healing the country. We are now going into our ninth year of peace, and every Liberian has contributed to it, Mrs. Johnson Sirleaf said Friday in Monrovia after the Nobel announcement. We particularly give this credit to Liberian women, who have consistently led the struggle for peace, even under conditions of neglect. But peace may not be enough to guarantee re-election. The gap between expectation and accomplishment, like that between international perceptions of Mrs. Johnson Sirleaf and domestic ones, is wide, especially in a nation that ranked 162nd out of 169 countries on the United Nations Human Development Index in 2010.

The Nobel award was dropped into the midst of a heated re-election campaign in which Mrs. Johnson Sirleaf is given only an even chance. Her campaign billboards Monkey Still Working, Let Baboon Wait Small plead with voters in Liberian patois to let her finish the job. But a potent opposition slogan plastered through Monrovia Too old to hold sums up the counterview of the 72-year-old president: that she has not tackled the countrys myriad problems with sufficient energy. She gave out a lot of promises, that she would bring water and light, said Napoleon Bloe, an unemployed man in a shack-lined waterfront slum of dirt streets in the capital. The people are suffering. Mrs. Sirleaf Johnsons opponents dismissed the prize and its potential impact on the race. I dont think there are many Liberians who pay attention to the pronouncements of the Nobel committee, said Robert Tubman, a spokesman for the nominal head of Mr. Weahs ticket, Winston Tubman. The frenzy here all week has been for the former soccer star, and on Friday Monrovia was mobbed by supporters of the Weah-Tubman ticket. Traffic was paralyzed and streets were jammed in the final pre-election rally. Let the international community know that we are tired with this woman, said Nathaniel Eastman, an unemployed man. In fact, a woman cannot be the head. Man will always be the head. Mr. Weah, who lost to Mrs. Johnson Sirleaf in the 2005 election, brings traffic to a standstill wherever he appears, leaning out of his olive green Hummer. That man is my life, said Salia Konneh, a self-employed businessman, beaming as Mr. Weah passed this week. Hell electrify this country, because we live in darkness. At Mrs. Johnson Sirleafs residence on Friday, several hundred supporters showed up to celebrate, though the atmosphere was considerably more subdued than at the rally for Mr. Weah. Many on the streets here said they knew nothing of the announcement from Oslo, though some expressed obvious pride. Since she got in the chair, for me, we are experiencing peace; so I think she deserved it, said Emmanuel Ogbodu, a teacher. Through her, peace came. Before, we were in the chaos of fighting. Nobody disputes that the political atmosphere in Liberia, once a byword for repression, has lightened beyond recognition under Mrs. Johnson Sirleaf. A veteran of Liberian politics, she has a masters degree in public administration from Harvard, once served as minister of finance in a government overthrown in a bloody coup, and later spent years in political exile.

You hear that noise? said a doctor who lived here through the years of turmoil, Moses Massaquoi, gesturing out the window at the din from an opposition political rally. In America, people talk like that, too, he said, suggesting that Liberia had reached a level of democracy in which government opponents could campaign openly, even boisterously. But analysts say more tangible benefits are harder to pin down. Corruption remains pervasive at all levels amid widespread claims of malfeasance in government circles, a recent report on Liberia by the International Crisis Group noted. A leading anticorruption official was not reappointed, and Mrs. Johnson Sirleaf has ignored a report by a commission set up to investigate crimes committed during the war. It recommended that she be banned from office for 30 years because of her early involvement with the warlord Charles Taylor, which she later said she regretted. There have been no prosecutions, rankling many voters. If people are not penalized, other people might have similar mind to do the same thing, said Agrippe Nyanti, a pastor. This mixed picture dampened expressions of enthusiasm for the newest Nobel laureate. Progress, generally, yes were not at war, said John Kollie, head of Liberia Media Initiative, a good-governance organization. But he adds that Mr. Weahs camp have the people behind them, and it will be tough for the president. Those who support her insist that the scale of her task putting a country in ruins back together makes the yardstick unfair. No one ever lives up to expectations, said Christopher Blattman, a Liberia expert at Yale University. She doesnt seem to be an effective president in some ways. Shes very mired in the details. Still, Mr. Blattman added: I dont think theres a serious possibility of Liberia going back to war. Thats a big change. One of the biggest boons she has brought to this small coastal nation of just under four million people is invisible on the ground and appears to be largely a matter of indifference to the impoverished citizens here. Liberia was a fearful, frightful, violent place, said the American ambassador here, Linda Thomas-Greenfield. Shes changed that image. Shes made Liberia a country thats respected. ### Flying in Africa still pricey despite busier skies (AFP) http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iVSbgMB5dyM0xQ72qcZXlBO Sb6ww?docId=CNG.c38debb933cc768bc9730a901d9e5e4a.d1 By Justine Gerardy

CAPE TOWN It has never been easier to fly to Ouagadougou, Juba or Maputo but Africa's increasingly busy skies are still among the most expensive in the world. Budget carriers are cropping up in the bigger countries, with South African taxi operators last month becoming the latest to enter the market with the launch of a domestic low-cost carrier. But across the continent, airlines are dogged by airspace restrictions, high taxes, poor safety records and inadequate airports even as outside competitors muscle into a market to serve a growing middle class wanting to fly more often. "The biggest problem that Africa faces at the moment is the fact that some countries are deregulated and other ones are not," said Bert van der Linden, business director of Comair, which operates British Airways and no-frills kulula.com in South Africa. "The more frequencies that come about, the more opportunity one has of creating additional markets and increasing the demand." African carriers are tipped to break even this year but will suffer losses of $100 million in 2012, according to industry body the International Air Transport Association (IATA). At one end of the spectrum is bankrupt Air Zimbabwe; at the other, are ever-expanding carriers like Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways. Arik Air stepped into the Nigerian slump in 2006, introducing the country's first new airplanes in 20 years. It now flies to 29 domestic and international destinations and will open five new African routes by the end of the year. The market is not competitive enough, spokesman Keelan Morris told AFP. Flights within the continent can be much more expensive than longer flights to Europe. "Travel to Africa only accounts for less than five percent of global traffic but the fares are still some of the highest in the world. There is a lot of demand but not enough capacity," he said. Dubai-based Emirates, one of the most ambitious airlines in the world, will increase its network to 21 African cities next year, including Harare following the demise of Air Zimbabwe. "Emirates has long understood the enormous potential of Africa, which today is one of the fastest expanding economic regions of the world, benefiting from a combined market of over one billion people, rising consumer demand and an abundance of natural resources," chief executive Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum said. But not all carriers are happy at the opening up of local skies to foreign carriers while facing challenges of getting into markets elsewhere on the continent.

The 40-member African Airlines Association warns that regulations are needed to prevent predatory outside competition and urges governments to allow more flights by regional carriers. South African Airways (SAA) chief executive Siza Mzimela said one of the carrier's biggest threats was outsiders such as Emirates who are drawing passengers to their travel hubs. "Whilst other markets are opening up in the rest of the world, African markets are not opening as quickly as they should," Mzimela added. Despite the problems, the IATA predicts that Africa will see the world's second-highest growth in passengers by 2014. "Slowly but surely governments seem to be loosening up," predicts Comair's Van der Linden. "Slowly but surely things are starting to evolve."

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