Africa Center for Strategic Studies

Media Review for May 17, 2013

Please note: The following news items are presented here for informational purposes. The views expressed within them are those of the authors and/or individuals quoted, not those of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, the National Defense University, or the Department of Defense.

Today’s News

U.S. instructors to train African troops for Mali in Niger
U.S. military instructors in Niger will train African forces participating in a U.N.-backed offensive against al Qaeda-linked Islamist militants in neighboring Mali, senior military officers said on Thursday. The United States and several European nations have backed a French-led military intervention which since Jan. 11 has driven militant insurgents out of the towns of northern Mali. Pockets of Islamist resistance remain in Mali’s desert north. The U.S. military did not participate in the ground offensive but aided the operation by transporting troops and providing intelligence information from drones based in Niger. Reuters on Al Arabiya

Rebuilding of Mali Faces Daunting Obstacles, Despite Outside Aid
[...] Beyond the money, the United Nations plans to deploy 12,600 peacekeepers this summer to make sure the militants do not return, while a host of outside powers, with France and the United States in the lead, are keeping a watchful eye on preparations for elections the Malians have promised for July. What is unclear is whether these efforts will be enough to remake the nation, about the size of Texas and California combined, after its civilian and military institutions have fallen, leaving a vacuum for the militants to exploit. Skeptics question whether money and oversight will suffice in a country with an army in tatters, accused of serious and so far unpunished human rights violations, and a political class that is mostly discredited. The New York Times

With Billions of Euros Pledged, Mali Risks Aid Overflow
International donors pledged yesterday to mobilise 3.25 billion Euros to rebuild Mali, a figure that surpassed all expectations. But experts warn that the country does not have the absorption capacity for so much aid, while others say donors should pressure the Malian government to stop ongoing human rights abuses. In January of this year, a French-led intervention ended more than a year of sectarian violence in the north of Mali. The intervention managed to stall the conflict, but the situation in the region remains tense. IPS-Inter Press Service

France to keep 1,000 troops in Mali indefinitely
During an official visit to London, Jean-Yves Le Drian suggested that France had an open-endd commitment to defend Mali from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). A French expeditionary force deployed in the country in January to recapture Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal – the three main cities in northern Mali – from AQIM and its allies. At first, 2,500 soldiers were deployed on Operation Serval and Laurent Fabius, the foreign minister, promised on Jan 30 that they would leave “quickly”. The Telegraph

Official: Nigeria military shells suspected Islamic extremist camps in northeast, killing 21
A security official in northeast Nigeria says soldiers have shelled suspected camps of Islamic extremists fighting in the region, killing at least 21 people. The official said Friday that the fighting happened Thursday in the Sambisa Forest Reserve, just south of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state. The official said that soldiers would remain in the area to secure it. The official also said that Nigeria’s government shut off mobile phone service to parts of northeast Nigeria as soldiers moved in to enforce an emergency declaration by President Goodluck Jonathan over three states there. Phone service was restored Friday, but the official said the phones likely would be shut off again. AP on Fox News

Warplanes, troops in NE Nigeria; mobile phones cut
Mobile phone service was cut off Thursday in areas of northeast Nigeria as jet fighters streaked through the sky and more soldiers were deployed to fight Islamic extremists waging a brutal insurgency. Witnesses saw low-flying Nigerian jet fighters over Yola, the capital of Adamawa state, which President Goodluck Jonathan placed under emergency rule on Tuesday along with Borno and Yobe states. However, soldiers have met “no resistance” yet from extremists who have taken over villages and small towns in this region approaching the Sahara Desert, a military spokesman said. AP on Yahoo News

Chad jets targeted Darfur rebels
Chad’s air force targeted Sudanese rebels along the Darfur border after, a breakaway rebel leader reputedly backed by N’Djamena was killed, the insurgents charged on Thursday. Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) spokesperson Gibril Adam Bilal said Chad had bombed the frontier in North Darfur state’s Tina district on Monday. “So far no, there are not any casualties from our side,” he said. A regional expert, who asked to remain anonymous, also said a Chadian fighter jet bombed the Chad-Sudanese border area on Monday afternoon, targeting the JEM. News 24

UN envoy says CAR in ’state of anarchy’
The Central African Republic (CAR) has collapsed into “a state of anarchy” and the UN Security Council must impose sanctions and mandate a neutral security force to restore order, a UN envoy has said. Margaret Vogt, UN representative to the Central African Republic, painted a grim picture of the situation since rebels ousted President Francois Bozize on March 24. The country has “collapsed into a state of anarchy,” Vogt told the Security Council on Wednesday. Al Jazeera

Opinion: Libya needs greater aid, not a retreat, from the United States and its allies
While many Americans have been riveted by recent congressional testimony and debate about the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, this country has been caught in its own drama. In recent days, amid Libya’s worst political crisis since the 2011 revolution that toppled Moammar Gaddafi, the United States and other Western governments have evacuated their diplomatic staff. A Marine quick-response team and a Special Operations unit were placed on alert. But this is precisely the time for greater engagement, not retreat, not only with Libya’s beleaguered government but also with its increasingly assertive civil society. Engagement is crucial for securing Libya’s future and preventing its weakness from inflaming conflicts in North Africa and the Middle East. The Washington Post

Protesters Close Libyan Oil Terminal, Halt Exports
For the fourth time since November, protestors have forced the closure of the Zueitina oil terminal, in an enduring dispute over jobs for locals. The shutdown is affecting fully 20 percent of Libya’s oil exports. The terminal, 130 kilometres to the south of Benghazi, has a loading volume of some 214,000 bpd through five offshore crude loading berths. Lybya Herald

Africa’s Emerging Energy Landscape: Trends and Opportunities for U.S. Engagement [Audio/Video]
Africa’s energy landscape will change dramatically in the coming decade, as massive new gas finds off the coast of East Africa and a surge of oil exploration across the continent expand the ranks of potential energy producers. The impending energy boom offers major opportunities for investment, growth, and development on the continent. But there are uncertainties around the speed with which new resources can be brought to market and whether African government will avoid the “resource curse” and manage these resources to ensure broad-based, inclusive growth. Center for Strategic and International Studies

European Union Naval Force commander warns of continued pirate menace
Following the interception of suspected pirates off Somalia, the commander of the European Union Naval Force has warned that Somali pirates are still determined to get out to sea and, if presented with an easy target, will attack. Rear Admiral Bob Tarrant said that, “I am very concerned that seafarers and nations will lower their guard and support for counter piracy operations in the belief that the piracy threat is over. It is not; it is merely contained. We should remember that at its height in January 2011, 32 ships were pirated by Somali pirates and 736 hostages were held. It is crucial that we remain vigilant or the number of attacks will once again rise.” Defence Web

New Big Man, Old Politics: The Challenging Road Ahead for CAR’s Djotodia
Following months of fighting in the Central African Republic (CAR), President François Bozizé was overthrown on 24 March by the Seleka Coalition, a collective of foreign and northern-based militias. Soon after, the then-relatively unknown Michel Djotodia, one of Seleka’s leaders, declared himself president before being formally elected by the Supreme Council of Transition, CAR’s interim government until elections in 2014. This made Djotodia the country’s sixth head-of-state since independence in 1960. Ominously for him, four of the previous five have been victims of coups. And now, in order to survive his 18-month transitional reign until elections in 2014, Djotodia must confront the same range of complex political challenges that faced his predecessors. In fact, having traded military fatigues for slick suits and plush five-star hotel headquarters, the new strong-man of CAR may well look back at his ouster of Bozizé and his rise to the top of the political hierarchy as having been the easy part. Think Africa Press

Confucius and the Curate’s Egg: The Morality of China in Africa
[...] I do always worry when a book about Africa has in the title the words “Dark Continent”. It smacks of the sarcastic advice Binyavanga Wainaina gave to writers about Africa in his well-known Granta article in 2005 – darkness was a metaphor he clearly thought people should avoid. Stephen Chan, I’m sure, intends its use to highlight some of the less sophisticated Chinese views that persist about Africa. But it crops up in the book every now and again, as when one contributor, Jerru Liu, notes that “the behaviour of the descendants of Confucius in the Dark Continent is difficult for the West to understand”; one does wonder whether other constructions might have been better to get this across. It is one thing using the phrase to depict bluntly how many Chinese have preconceptions about Africans, as many Westerners also do, but another when trying to describe wider perceptions of Chinese behaviour in his own words. African Argument

Tunisia to review anti-terror laws
A recent call in Tunisia to repeal the Anti-Terrorism Law drew a barrage of comments ranging from supporters to opponents. Human Rights Minister Samir Dilou raised the contentious issue on Monday (May 13th) when he said his ministry was preparing an amendment to the 2003 counter-terror statute. “A commission has been working for months to revise the Anti-Terrorism Law so as to ensure good handling and dealing with issues of a special nature, and to ensure respect for human rights and compliance with international conventions ratified by Tunisia and guaranteeing fair trial,” the minister said. Magharebia

UN hands South Africa task to restore peace in DR Congo
Death and tensions in the Democratic Republic of Congo have triggered an intervention by a United Nations force, as the international body plans to deploy South African led forces to the country’s war torn provinces. More than 32 people have been killed in fighting between DRC forces and Mai Mai militiamen. The UN Security Council has authorised a new “intervention brigade” for Congo, with a mandate to take offensive military action against rebel groups to help bring peace to the eastern parts of the country. The Africa Report

Defense official says U.S. has authority to target terrorists anywhere
A senior Pentagon official told a Senate committee Thursday that the U.S. would be at war with Al Qaeda for 15 to 20 more years and said the military could target terrorists anywhere under a law passed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Michael Sheehan, assistant secretary of Defense in charge of special operations, said America’s battle with terrorist groups spanned the globe “from Boston to the FATA,” meaning Pakistan’s tribal areas. He did not explain why he believes the effort could last another generation. During his State of the Union address in February, President Obama called Al Qaeda “a shadow of its former self.” Los Angeles Times

SA Army’s financial woes
Budgetary constraints have crippled the SA Army in its attempts to fulfil national and international obligations, army chief Lieutenant General Vusimuzi Masondo said on Thursday. With the increased demand for the army’s services, locally and on the African continent, the national force was under strain to meet its mandate, Masondo said. “Within a limited medium-term budget, we will have to find the means to not only regenerate ourselves, but also to position ourselves to comply with future demands on our resources,” he said. News 24

President at home, on trial abroad: How Kenya’s new leader is coping
Kenya, the International Criminal Court (ICC), and, by extension, the international community currently face the dilemma of dealing with a president and a deputy president, freely and fairly elected (more or less) that are charged with crimes against humanity associated with 2007 election bloodshed. Africa Confidential has an excellent review of the current state of play. On May 2, Kenya’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Kamau Macharia, sent a thirteen-page letter to the UN Security Council (UNSC) asking it to end the ICC cases against President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto. He argued that Mr. Kenyatta and Mr. Ruto were duly and democratically elected and could not perform their duties in the face of “an offshore trial that has no popular resonance and serves no national or international purpose.” The Christian Science Monitor

Egyptians Increasingly Glum
Two years after the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian public mood is increasingly negative. Month after month of political uncertainty, a weak economy and often violent street protests have taken their toll, and today a majority of Egyptians are dissatisfied with the way their new democracy is working. Only 30% of Egyptians think the country is headed in the right direction, down from 53% last year and 65% in 2011, in the days after the revolution. Roughly three-in-four say the economy is in bad shape, and optimism about the country’s economic situation has declined sharply. Pew Research Center

Egypt ’suffering worst economic crisis since 1930s’
Egypt is suffering its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, a former finance minister of the country and one of its leading economists have warned. In terms of its devastating effect on Egypt’s poorest, the country’s current economic predicament is at its most dire since the 1930s, Galal Amin, professor of economics at the American University in Cairo, and Samir Radwan, finance minister in the months after Egypt’s 2011 uprising, said in separate interviews with the Guardian. Since the fall of Hosni Mubarak in 2011, Egypt has experienced a drastic fall in both foreign investment and tourism revenues, followed by a 60% drop in foreign exchange reserves, a 3% drop in growth, and a rapid devaluation of the Egyptian pound. All this has led to mushrooming food prices, ballooning unemployment and a shortage of fuel and cooking gas – causing Egypt’s worst crisis, said Amin, “without fear of making a mistake, since the 30s”. The Guardian

Can Economics Save The African Rhino?
[...] A rhino’s horn is composed of the same protein as human fingernails. And, as with fingernails, if you cut off the horn, it grows back. So, Biggs , African farmers could raise rhinos on private farms, and periodically saw off the horns for sale overseas. “Essentially vets would go in, dart the animal and dehorn it,” Biggs tells me. “Thereafter the animal gets up again and runs around the bush and continues life as normal,” and the horn grows back. This idea for a legal rhino trade is in the South African government (South Africa has 85 percent of the world’s rhinos). There’s a push to submit the idea for international vote in 2016 at the triennial meeting of CITES, the international conference on endangered species that originally banned rhino horn sales in 1977. NPR

Bourdain: Morocco’s hashish
In a some what tongue-and-cheek segment chock full of denials, Anthony Bourdain highlights hashish in Moroccan culture. CNN

FOR THE RECORD – AFRICA – U.S. Government Events, Statements, and Articles.
A weekly compilation by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS)

U.S.-U.K.-French Statement on Situation in Libya

We call on all Libyans to refrain from armed protest and violence during this difficult time in the democratic transition. The Libyan people bravely fought and overthrew a dictator in order to ensure a stable, free, and prosperous future for themselves and their children in a country governed by the rule of law. As Libya manages this challenging transition, it is vital that the country’s institutions operate free from armed
intimidation. Peaceful deliberation of legislation and Government decisions was unheard of under the Qadhafi regime, and is part of the honorable struggle for building a better society. The democratically elected representatives and leaders of the Libyan people must be able to carry out their duties and move forward with the constitution motivated by their responsibility to the Libyans who elected them rather than by the threat of force.