United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

7 October 2010

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

Locklear assumed command of NATO operations in Naples (Stars and Stripes)

(Washington, D.C.) The reins of several top-level commands changed hands
Wednesday morning during a ceremony held at NATO’s Joint Force Command
headquarters.

Ruling in '98 East Africa embassy bombings case is setback for U.S. (Washington
Post)
(East Africa) A federal judge in New York has barred a key prosecution witness from
testifying in the trial of a suspect in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa after
ruling that the government learned of the man through coercive CIA interrogations at a
secret prison overseas.

U.S. Embassy, Entrepreneurs Meet On AGOA (The Daily Observer - Banjul)

(The Gambia) The United States Embassy in Banjul and the West Africa Trade Hub
(WATH) yesterday organised a one-day seminar on Africa Growth and Opportunity
Act (AGOA) for over 50 small business operators in the country on the opportunities
and procedures for exporting goods to the United States markets.

Murtala Mohamed appeals for RSLAF (Sierra Express News)

(Sierra Leone) Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Sierra Leone’s foremost
entertainment website www.salonejamboree.com has appealed to the United States
Government for more support for the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF).
Murtala Mohamed Kamara was part of a discussion which focuses on assessing
President Barack Obama’s policy towards Africa at the just concluded Africa Policy
Forum: A vision for the 21st Century

African Brand Is Sweet on Obama (Wall Street Journal)

(Pan Africa) The expansion of a small cookie factory on this city's outskirts offers a
glimpse of how Obamamania in Africa is developing from a fad into a lasting brand for
local companies across the continent, even as the U.S. president's popularity takes a hit
at home.
Hollywood star Clooney 'fears' a war in Sudan (AFP)
(Sudan) Hollywood star George Clooney is on a tour of south Sudan drawing attention
to his fears for war as the region builds up to a vote on whether to break away from
Africa's biggest nation.

Uganda offers more peacekeeping troops for Somalia (Associated Press)

(Uganda/Somalia) Uganda is willing to provide as many as 20,000 troops to restore
order in Somalia if enough money is provided for the mission, Uganda's president told
visiting members of the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday.

Eastern Africa security chiefs meet in Uganda over terrorism threats (Coastweek.com)
(East Africa) Security chiefs from 10 countries in Eastern Africa on Tuesday started a
two-day meeting that will assess terrorism threats the region faces and how those
threats can be combated.

Doctor, gang-raped in Sudan's Darfur, wins rights award (Reuters)

(Sudan) Halima Bashir, a doctor who says she was gang-raped by Sudanese soldiers
after speaking out about atrocities in Darfur, won the Anna Politkovskaya award for
women human rights defenders on Wednesday.

Senior Opposition Leader in Ethiopia Is Released From Prison (Associated Press)

(Ethiopia) Ethiopian officials on Wednesday released a senior opposition leader who
was sentenced to life in prison in 2008 after the government said she had violated a
pardon agreement.

C. African army retakes rebel-held town: military (AFP)

(Central African Republic) Central African Republic government troops regained
control of a town held by rebels since September 18, military and government sources
said on Wednesday.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
 Security Council mission visits UN facility in Uganda, confers with President
 DR Congo improves education, child survival but greater efforts needed – UN
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, October 12, 6:00 p.m.; Council on Foreign Relations

WHAT: A Trip Report: Sudan
WHO: John Predergast, Co-founder, The Enough Project; George Clooney, Co-founder,
Not On Our Watch
Info: http://www.cfr.org/
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FULL ARTICLE TEXT
Locklear assumed command of NATO operations in Naples (Stars and Stripes)

The reins of several top-level commands changed hands Wednesday morning during a
ceremony held at NATO’s Joint Force Command headquarters.

Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III relieved Adm. Mark Fitzgerald as head of Allied Joint
Force Command Naples, Naval Forces Europe and Naval Forces Africa.

A surface warfare officer by trade, Locklear has served in a wide range of assignments
to include U.S. 3rd Fleet commander. He comes to Naples from Washington, D.C.,
where he served as director of the Navy staff.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to serve with the NATO team, officers, enlisted
and civilians,” Locklear said at the ceremony. “You truly represent the cooperative and
collaborative spirit of NATO, furthering its standing as the most successful alliance in
our world’s history.”

Fitzgerald, who is retiring after 37 years in the Navy, called the alliance “the glue that
holds Europe together, the glue that holds that trans-Atlantic alliance together.”
--------------------
Ruling in '98 East Africa embassy bombings case is setback for U.S. (Washington
Post)

A federal judge in New York has barred a key prosecution witness from testifying in the
trial of a suspect in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa after ruling that the
government learned of the man through coercive CIA interrogations at a secret prison
overseas.

The ruling is a significant blow to prosecutors who had described the man as a "giant
witness" in the case against Ahmed Ghailani, a Tanzanian accused of obtaining bomb
material, scouting the U.S. Embassy in the Tanzanian capital and acting as guide for an
Egyptian suicide bomber. Nearly simultaneous bombings in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi
killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.

The decision by Judge Lewis A. Kaplan could complicate any effort by the Obama
administration to revive its plans to put major al-Qaeda figures held in Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba, on trial in civilian courts in the United States.

Ghailani is the only former high-value Guantanamo Bay detainee to have been
transferred to the United States for prosecution in federal court. The case has been
watched to see whether Ghailani's time in CIA custody will impede the prosecution and
bolster the case of those who say that high-value detainees should be tried by military
commissions, where the ability to introduce statements tainted by coercion appears to
be more elastic.

Hussein Abebe, a Tanzanian taxi driver, was expected to testify that he sold Ghailani
the TNT used in the bombing. But Kaplan essentially ruled that the coercion of Ghailani
led to the discovery of Abebe as a witness. He delayed the trial to allow the government
time to rethink its legal strategy.

Ghailani was seized by Pakistani authorities after a 10-hour shootout in July 2004 and
was turned over to the United States. He was taken to several secret CIA facilities
overseas before he and 13 other high-value detainees were transferred to Guantanamo
Bay in 2006.

"The court has not reached this conclusion lightly," Kaplan wrote in a three-page order
barring Abebe's testimony. "It is acutely aware of the perilous nature of the world we
live in. But the constitution is the rock upon which our nation rests. We must follow it
not only when it is convenient, but when fear and danger beckon in a different
direction."

The judge said that Ghailani could probably continue to be held as "something akin to a
prisoner of war" even if he were found not guilty.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said Wednesday that he was confident the Justice
Department can successfully prosecute the case despite the setback. But critics of
transferring Guantanamo detainees to federal court seized on the ruling.

"The decision of the judge to delay the Ghailani trial and dismiss a key government
witness is a clear indication of the problem when prosecuting war on terror detainees in
a federal court," said Kirk Lippold, a senior military fellow at Military Families United
and former commander officer of the USS Cole, which was attacked by al-Qaeda in 2000
in Yemen.

Some legal experts warned against reading too much into the decision.

"It would be dangerous to interpret this ruling as forever foreclosing or damaging the
possibility of other cases coming to federal court because each case is sui generis," said
Charles D. "Cully" Stimson, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee
affairs in the Bush administration and now a senior legal fellow at the Heritage
Foundation. "It's not clear the outcome would have been any different in a commission."

Military commission rules nonetheless appear to contemplate the admission of evidence

derived from statements obtained through torture or cruel treatment if a military judge
finds that the evidence "would have been obtained even if the statement had not been
made" or the "use of such evidence would otherwise be consistent with the interests of
justice."

But there has been no trial of a former CIA detainee at Guantanamo Bay, and it is
unclear how the judges there would act if asked to admit evidence obtained through
torture or coercion.

"It hasn't been tested, but it's shocking to us that the rules are constructed to even
consider that type of evidence," said Marine Col. Jeffrey Colwell, who leads military
defense lawyers at Guantanamo Bay.
--------------------
U.S. Embassy, Entrepreneurs Meet On AGOA (The Daily Observer - Banjul)

The United States Embassy in Banjul and the West Africa Trade Hub (WATH)
yesterday organised a one-day seminar on Africa Growth and Opportunity Act
(AGOA) for over 50 small business operators in the country on the opportunities and
procedures for exporting goods to the United States markets. The forum was held at the
Kairaba Beach Hotel in Kololi.

AGOA, according to officials, since the year 2000 has offered a competitive advantage
for African-made products to enter in the US markets and has also given trade
preference to countries that are making progress in economic, legal and human rights
reform. Under the AGOA, nearly 6, 400 products including apparel, footwear, nuts and
cut flowers can be exported from Africa to the US on duty free until 2015, thereby
helping to boost sub-Saharan African exports.

Speaking at the occasion, Zack Bailey, the political and economic officer at the US
Embassy, thanked the representatives from the Ministry of Trade, Employment and
Regional Integration, the Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Central
Bank of The Gambia for witnessing the forum. He then challenged participants to make
best use of the forum noting that it is among series of activities organised by the
Embassy in the past.

For his part, Makhtar Thiam, the director of WATH in Dakar, described the forum as
very interesting and practical for participants. According to him, the forum is aimed at
increasing exports in The Gambia to the US market under AGOA. He explained that the
forum will provide a platform for discussion on challenges faced by business operators,
thereby mapping out ways to address them.

Among the challenges, he went on, are how to improve the productivity capacity and
meeting quality requirement to enter the US market, particularly international norms
and diversification of products and markets. Thiam then expressed hope that at the end
of the forum, participants will be able to find the right way to success.
Officially declaring the forum open, Cindy Cregg, Charge de Affaires at the US
Embassy, said that the forum is part of her office's ongoing efforts to educate and
motivate the Gambian private sector to access the huge market opportunities that exist
in the United States. She reminded participants that AGOA was passed by the US
Congress in May 2000, as a new approach to US trade and investment policy towards
Africa.

She added that AGOA also promotes increased trade and economic cooperation
between the United States and eligible Sub-Saharan countries as well as political and
economic reform in the eligible African countries. "AGOA provides Sub-Saharan
countries the possibility of exporting a wide-range of products to America, both duty-
free and quota-free and it covers an expanded list of more than 6, 000 products from
Africa, including fish and fish products, textiles, apparel, handicrafts and footwear," she
stated.

"The Gambia, being eligible of AGOA since 2002, is also eligible for the Textile Visa,
which is an additional requirement governing the export of textile and apparel under
AGOA," she noted. She recalled that in May this year, Gambian small business
operators attended the Atlanta Textile and Sewn Products Show organised by the US
Embassy.She then expressed hope that by the end of the forum, participants will be able
to improve the quality of their products with sufficient values added in order to
penetrate the US market.
--------------------
Murtala Mohamed appeals for RSLAF (Sierra Express News)

Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Sierra Leone’s foremost entertainment website
www.salonejamboree.com has appealed to the United States Government for more
support for the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF).

Murtala Mohamed Kamara was part of a discussion which focuses on assessing

President Barack Obama’s policy towards Africa at the just concluded Africa Policy
Forum: A vision for the 21st Century at the Marquis Ballroom in Atlanta, Georgia. The
panel discussion was focused more on Obama policy towards Africa and his global
health care initiative plan.

Ms Susan Paige, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs (tentative) and
Gen. William Ward, Commander US Africa Command represented the US
administration at the two hour discussion. Ms Mbarka Bouaidi, the youngest Moroccan
Member of Parliament who is also the Chair of the Committee of Foreign Affairs and
National Defense and Religious Affairs was also part of the panel.

Making his presentation, Kamara appealed to Gen. Ward for his administration’s
support towards the RSLAF. He said the British Government through the International
Military Advisory Training Team (IMMAT) has been very supportive to the RSLAF
over the years. “This region used to be one of the most dangerous regions some twelve
to fifteen years ago… After the end of the civil war the British Government has been
very supportive to our army. Today we have one of the best armies in the region
providing training for even armed forces in the region but the RSLAF remains one of
the most ill equipped armed forces in the world. Just recently you (Gen Ward) went to
Sierra Leone to meet with our President. I don’t know what is Obama’s policy towards
providing support for security forces like RSLAF to sustain peace in that region,”
Kamara asked Gen Ward.

Gen. Ward in his response maintained that the US has been very supportive over the
years to the RSLAF. He said they have provided training and equipment for the Naval
division of the RSLAF and that they are more than willing to do more. He assured
Kamara during a private meeting that he will soon embark on another visit to Sierra
Leone.

Founded by Rev. H. Sullivan, the Africa Policy Forum has attracted thousands of
delegates from within and outside Africa. The forum aims to bridge the gap between
Africa and US through economic corporation among other things.

The next summit will be hosted in Morocco.

--------------------
African Brand Is Sweet on Obama (Wall Street Journal)

ACCRA, Ghana—The expansion of a small cookie factory on this city's outskirts offers a
glimpse of how Obamamania in Africa is developing from a fad into a lasting brand for
local companies across the continent, even as the U.S. president's popularity takes a hit
at home.

Marc Skaf, a portly man of Lebanese-French stock, is the managing director of United
Biscuit Ltd., maker of the "Obama biscuit." Mr. Skaf is overseeing the expansion of the
company's main factory, which during peak production churns out 2.8 million biscuits a
day. The Obama biscuit accounts for about 60% of current production. The round
cookie stamped with the company's logo comes in regular, ginger flavor and the latest,
ChocObama. Its package bears an image of Mr. Obama, and can be found in small
roadside shops across Ghana.

Many in Africa consider Mr. Obama, whose father was Kenyan, one of their own.
During his visit to Ghana in July 2009, thousands of spectators wearing T-shirts or
traditional fabric bearing the president's image lined the streets to catch a glimpse of his
motorcade.

That popularity inspired African entrepreneurs. In the months surrounding Mr.

Obama's Ghana visit, hundreds of shops, bars, restaurants and hotels across the
continent adopted the Obama name. Dozens of companies put Obama on their
products, including bottled water, bubble gum and beer.

A year later, many of these products are still selling well, highlighting an African
consumer trend that could be termed "brand Obama."

This summer, Mr. Skaf noticed that a Chinese company had begun exporting Obama
crackers to Ghana from China. Mr. Skaf says he has plans to release his own Obama
cracker soon.

Requests to the White House to comment on the proliferation of Obama products in

Africa went unanswered.

KenAfric Industries Ltd., one of the biggest confectionery makers in Kenya, sells Magic
Obama Bubblegum (strawberry and orange flavored). In Zambia you can buy Obama-
branded whiskey and brandy. And in several countries, including semi-autonomous
Somaliland, you can eat at the Obama Restaurant or the Obama Cafe.

"There was a definite increase in sales around the time Obama announced his
candidature," says John Mwongera, head of sales at KenAfric Industries. Now,
however, Mr. Mwongera says, sales of the Obama candies are "purely driven by the
usual market forces and branding activities."

The Obama brand may be most developed in Ghana. In Accra, the capital, there is the
Obama Hotel, where a portrait of the president hangs in the busy lobby; guests can stay
in the Joe Biden room. On the road to the United Biscuit factory, travelers pass roadside
artists; one is selling portraits of boxer Mike Tyson, an unidentified woman in a green
bikini, and Mr. Obama, depicted in traditional Ghanaian dress.

For five months after Mr. Obama's Ghana visit, the United Biscuit factory produced
only Obama biscuits. Demand eventually tapered off, and Obama biscuits now account
for just 60% of the factory's production.

Mr. Skaf, who has lived in West Africa for more than 20 years, still faces obstacles to
further growth. The price of flour—which makes up more than two-thirds of each
biscuit—went up 80% recently, without explanation from flour importers.

But Mr. Skaf has big plans for the Obama biscuit. Expansion work on his factory is now
almost complete. The company has hired additional staff to supplement the 250 he now
employs. In August, he rolled out the newest flavor: ChocObama. He is planning
another big push for the biscuits in November, as the holiday season rolls around,
including an ad campaign—the company's first.
"It's the best idea I've ever had," says Mr. Skaf. "In America he is not popular right now.
The war, the economy, the oil spill. But here he's still popular, and I don't think that will
be changing anytime soon."

While an August Gallup poll reported that a majority of Americans, 51%, disapproved
of Mr. Obama's performance as president, in Africa his name continues to be a good
way for businesses to attract attention and customers.

"Regardless of the status of President Obama's popularity in the U.S., he continues to be

enormously popular in Africa and his name and image are co-opted for many uses,"
says David Easterbrook, curator of the Herskovits Library of African Studies at
Northwestern University, which has been collecting publications and objects from
Africa that use Mr. Obama's name and image.

Despite the challenges, the Obama Biscuits brand is well-established in Ghana. Mr. Skaf
introduces himself around town as the "guy who makes Obama biscuits." His factory
manager also has been given a nickname.

"Every day on my drive to work people point and yell at me, 'Obama!' " says United
Biscuits manager Elie Abou Jaoude. "They don't know my real name, so they call me
Obama."
--------------------
Hollywood star Clooney 'fears' a war in Sudan (AFP)

JUBA, Sudan – Hollywood star George Clooney is on a tour of south Sudan drawing
attention to his fears for war as the region builds up to a vote on whether to break away
from Africa's biggest nation.

Clooney is accompanied by a US television channel which has been giving details of his
visits to mass graves and conversations with tribal elders.

"If you knew a tsunami was coming ... what would you do do to save people?" Clooney
was quoted as saying by NBC journalist Ann Curry when he was asked about the
likelihood of conflict in south Sudan, which is scheduled to have a referendum on
January 9 on whether to remain part of Sudan.

She said in an earlier statement on her Twitter account that Clooney "fears a war is
coming here."

Curry said the Hollywood star had visited a mass grave and had spoken to local tribal
leaders. He is due to give an account of his visit next week in Washington.
--------------------
Uganda offers more peacekeeping troops for Somalia (Associated Press)
ENTEBBE, Uganda — Uganda is willing to provide as many as 20,000 troops to restore
order in Somalia if enough money is provided for the mission, Uganda's president told
visiting members of the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday.

President Yoweri Museveni suggested that anywhere from 12,000 to 20,000 troops could
be provided for a U.N.- or African Union-led mission in the anarchic Horn of Africa
nation. He said Uganda had the manpower, experience and training, but merely lacked
the funding.

"The number is not a big deal, we can provide any number," Museveni said at a news
conference in the State House on Wednesday. "What's the alternative? ... Somalia
should not be taken over by terrorists. That's the bottom line."

The comments followed a more than hour-long meeting between Museveni and the
Security Council, at which Somalia was a major topic of discussion.

Uganda's support of the AU-led mission in Somalia has drawn fierce criticism from an
al-Qaida-linked Somali militant group. Al-Shabab cited Uganda's participation in the
AU mission in claiming responsibility for July terror attacks in Uganda's capital that
killed 76 people

Earlier in the day, council members visited a major air base for United Nations
peacekeeping missions where a senior official told reporters that budget cuts have
forced the elimination of essential aircraft and hampered operations in Congo and
Sudan.

Paul Buades, the new director of support services for the U.N.'s peacekeeping mission
in Congo, told journalists that six more planes among the U.N.'s 68 aircraft may have to
be mothballed as well following $73 million in budget cuts.

"It reduces the capability of the forces," Buades said in answer to a question about how
fewer U.N. planes would affect peacekeeping efforts. "I feel sorry, as a manager
responsible for the support, that I cannot deliver up to the ambition" of U.N. Secretary-
General Ban Ki-moon's special representative in Congo.

Buades said India has pulled back eight helicopters and the U.N. has been left with no
attack helicopters and only non-military commercial helicopters.

The U.N. Security Council — including the top envoys from permanent council
members U.S., Russia, China and Britain — toured the Entebbe air base Wednesday and
met with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni ahead of a visit this week to Sudan.
The chief aim of the trip to Sudan is to prevent any obstruction of a referendum in early
January that could split Africa's largest nation in two, and to see what can be done
about a recent escalation in violence in the country's western Darfur region.

Southern Sudan, a semiautonomous region, is scheduled to vote on whether to secede

from the north. The oil-rich region of Abyei is due to hold a separate vote the same day,
deciding whether to be part of the north or the south.

Vote preparations are behind schedule, and Security Council diplomats say the votes
must proceed on time to avoid reigniting the catastrophic civil war that raged for
decades and ended in 2005.

"The principle purpose of the trip is to underscore the council's commitment to holding
the referenda on time, and that they be a credible representation of the people of
Southern Sudan and Abyei, and that the results be respected," the U.S. ambassador to
the U.N., Susan Rice, told The Associated Press.

U.S. President Barack Obama told a high-level meeting he convened last month to rally
international support for Sudan that the nation can choose peace or "slip backwards
into bloodshed."

Council members are scheduled to fly to Juba, the regional capital of Southern Sudan,
and then on to conflict-wracked western Darfur and Khartoum. They plan to skip any
contact with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, charged by the International Criminal
Court with war crimes and genocide.
--------------------
Eastern Africa security chiefs meet in Uganda over terrorism threats (Coastweek.com)

Security chiefs from 10 countries in Eastern Africa on Tuesday started a two-day

meeting that will assess terrorism threats the region faces and how those threats can be
combated.

Kale Kayihura, Uganda’s Inspector General of Police who opened the meeting dubbed
2010 Eastern Africa Counter-Terrorism Executive Meeting urged countries to
coordinate in combating terrorism.

"If we don’t coordinate as a matter of routine, we shall give opportunity to these

terrorists and we shall be in a reactive rather than a proactive posture," he told the
security experts from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia,
Rwanda, Seychelles, and Sudan.

Security officers from the American Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Africa
Command are attending the meeting organized by Interpol.
Citing the July 11 bombings in the Ugandan capital Kampala, Kayihura said that the
terrorist were well trained and well coordinated.

He said a similar mechanism is need by all the security operatives in order to neutralize
terrorists.

Laurent Moscatello, the Assistant Director of Interpol’s Public Safety and Terrorism
Sub-Directorate said that the major security challenges the region faces are the Somali
militant group Al Shabaab and maritime piracy.

Al Shabaab is an Islamic militant group which claimed responsibility of the July 11

bombings in Kampala that left 79 people killed and scores injured.

Moscatello said that these threats can only be combated through intelligence sharing
both internationally and locally.
--------------------
Doctor, gang-raped in Sudan's Darfur, wins rights award (Reuters)

LONDON – Halima Bashir, a doctor who says she was gang-raped by Sudanese
soldiers after speaking out about atrocities in Darfur, won the Anna Politkovskaya
award for women human rights defenders on Wednesday.

The prize, in memory of the campaigning Russian journalist murdered four years ago in
Moscow, is awarded annually by Reach All Women in War, a human rights group.

"What has happened to me and to many Darfuri women is something we cannot

forget ... The only thing that might let us sometimes forget about it ... is when we see
justice," Bashir, 30, who now lives in Britain, told Reuters in a telephone interview
shortly before the award ceremony.

There would be justice when criminals were punished, "when peace comes really to our
homeland and when all refugees and all the people who are displaced all over the
world go back home and live in peace," she said.

The United Nations estimates 300,000 people have died in a humanitarian crisis sparked
by a counter-insurgency campaign in Sudan's arid western region of Darfur.

The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President
Omar Hassan al-Bashir on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and
genocide in Darfur. He denies the charges.

Halima Bashir was working as a doctor at a remote village clinic in Darfur in 2004 when
she witnessed a militia attack on a school, where she said girls as young as eight were
beaten and raped while Sudanese soldiers stood guard.
She told United Nations' workers about the attack by the Janjaweed militia. The military
came after her. She was cut with knives, burned with cigarettes and gang-raped
repeatedly.

They let her live, taunting her with the words: "Now you can go and tell the world
about rape." She wrote about her experiences in her memoir, "Tears of the Desert."

She says the situation in Darfur "is going from bad to worse" while the rest of the world
"has turned its face away."

Bashir, who has testified against Sudan's president before the ICC, said she hoped one
day to see him brought before the Hague-based court.

Halima Bashir has drawn attention to the insecure situation of more than two million
Darfuri refugees who have taken shelter in camps where there are regular clashes and
killings.

Darfur's joint U.N./African Union (UNAMID) peacekeeping force should have more
troops and equipment, she said.
--------------------
Senior Opposition Leader in Ethiopia Is Released From Prison (Associated Press)

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Ethiopian officials on Wednesday released a senior

opposition leader who was sentenced to life in prison in 2008 after the government said
she had violated a pardon agreement.

Unusual Opposition to a Favorite for Nobel (October 7, 2010) The government said in a
statement that it had released the opposition leader, Birtukan Mideksa, because she had
requested a pardon last month. She had spent nearly two years in prison.

Ms. Birtukan, a former judge and a single mother, was one of 100 opposition politicians
and activists who were charged with treason after an election in 2005 and imprisoned.
She was eventually pardoned after signing an agreement in 2007.

Government officials contended that she violated the first pardon agreement when she
said in a 2008 speech in Sweden that the accord had been politically engineered.

Ms. Birtukan’s release occurred days after Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was sworn in
for another five-year term. He seized control of Ethiopia in a 1991 coup.

The prime minister’s party won an overwhelming victory in parliamentary elections in

May, defeating many veteran legislators from Ms. Birtukan’s opposition party.
After her release on Wednesday, Ms. Birtukan traveled to her family’s home in Addis
Ababa, where residents welcomed her with flowers and jubilant singing.

She told reporters that she had sought her latest pardon, but she did not say whether
she would resume her political career or challenge the governing party.

“Those issues are for another time and place,” she said.

The United States and the European Union expressed concern about the fairness of the
election in May. Opposition leaders called for a rerun, saying that opposition election
monitors had been turned away from polling places and that voters and candidates had
been intimidated.

Ethiopian election officials said they had seen no irregularities during the voting. Since
the previous election in 2005, some critics have accused the government of
systematically stifling the opposition.

“It’s wonderful news that Birtukan has been released,” said Leslie Lefkow, one of the
authors of a Human Rights Watch report on Ethiopia that has not yet been released.
“The bad news is that she should never have been in prison in the first place.”

“We would strongly urge the government to release hundreds of other political
prisoners who’ve been arbitrarily arrested,” she said.

Ms. Birtukan’s release was also welcomed by Amnesty International, which described
her as a prisoner of conscience. “She was imprisoned solely for the peaceful exercise of
her right to freedom of expression and association,” said Michelle Kagari, the
organization’s deputy Africa director. “We are delighted that she has been able to go
home to her family.”

Ethiopia is frequently criticized for its human rights record, including by the State
Department, which released a report in March that cited evidence of “unlawful killings,
torture, beating, abuse and mistreatment of detainees and opposition supporters by
security forces, often acting with evident impunity.”

Still, the United States considers Ethiopia an ally and provides foreign aid. Both
countries want to curb Islamist extremism in Somalia, Ethiopia’s unstable neighbor to
the east.
--------------------
C. African army retakes rebel-held town: military (AFP)

BANGUI – Central African Republic government troops regained control of a town

held by rebels since September 18, military and government sources said on
Wednesday.
But a spokesman for the rebel group, the Convention of Patriots for Justice and Peace
(CPJP), claimed its fighters still held the town in the unstable east of the country.

"The Centrafrican army regained control of the town of Yalinga in the early hours of
Monday morning without resistance after rebel elements fled," a source close to the
military general staff told AFP.

Troops were preparing to launch an offensive to retake the town when CPJP rebels
slipped away, the source said.

An MP for the town, Justine-Veronique Abatchou, who is currently in capital Bangui,

said the departure of the rebels had been confirmed to her by residents.

"A number of residents told me about the liberation of my constituency by the army.
They confirmed that there was no fighting," she said.

France-based CPJP spokesman Bevarrah Lala denied that government troops had
retaken Yalinga.

"We continue to hold the town. The information given by the army is erroneous and
fallacious," he told AFP.

"Since last week, we have seen three vehicles belonging to the presidential guard, but
that's all," said Lala, who said he was in regular contact with forces on the ground.

Lala would not say how many CPJP troops were in Yalinga, which has a population of
about 10,000 people.

Yalinga is near the town of Ndele, the former base of the CPJP until they were driven
out by a government offensive in May and June this year.

The CPJP has refused to sign a peace agreement with Bangui aimed at bringing stability
to the country, and claims its leader, a former minister, was murdered while in
detention in January, which the government denies.
--------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

Security Council mission visits UN facility in Uganda, confers with President

6 October – A delegation from the Security Council today visited the United Nations
logistics support base in the Ugandan city of Entebbe, where they were briefed on the
facility’s activities, and met with the country’s President, Yoweri Museveni, before
heading to Sudan.
DR Congo improves education, child survival but greater efforts needed – UN
6 October – The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has made significant progress in
education and child survival in recent years, but much more needs to be done to
achieve the anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), according to a new
United Nations-backed study.