Media Review for January 21, 2011

By Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Updated: 01/21/2011

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

Ward Charts Africa Command’s 2011 Course
The year ahead presents broad opportunities for U.S. Africa Command to contribute to stability in support of vital U.S. national interests in Africa, the organization’s commander said, Jan. 19, in a message to his staff. In his “Commander’s Intent 2011″ message, Army Gen. William E. “Kip” Ward noted the efforts African nations and regional organizations have made over the past year to address political and security challenges in Cote d’Ivoire, Sudan and Somalia. DVIDS

Tunisia Experts Call for US Transitional Help With Limits
A panel of Tunisia experts in Washington has called for urgently needed U.S. transitional help. But the experts also said the U.S. government should stop short of internal interference. The recommendations were made as demonstrations against a new government continued across Tunisia, just days after former 24-year President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled the north African country amid surging civilian protests. VOA

France pushes EU for Ben Ali assets freeze
The European Union says it is studying a possible freeze of assets belonging to deposed president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his relatives. France says it has asked the EU to adopt a list of names of Ben Ali allies who will be targeted by the assets freeze. RFI

Tunisians observe three-day mourning for protest victims
Tunisia began to hold three days of national mourning on Friday for the dozens of people killed during protests before and after the ouster of former president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, state television reported. France 24

Gbagbo orders search of UN vehicles
Ivory Coast’s incumbent leader who refuses to cede power nearly two months after the presidential election is stepping up pressure on the United Nations. Times Live

Liberians, once refugees themselves, aid those fleeing Ivory Coast
Fearing violence, more than 30,000 people have fled Ivory Coast for Liberia, which is scrambling to help them. Nearly two-thirds of the refugees are children and more than half are female. The Christian Science Monitor

Militaries ready to act in I.Coast standoff: general
West African armies are ready to intervene in the Ivory Coast, where Laurent Gbagbo has refused to give up the presidency, and only need the political nod to go ahead, a Nigerian general said Thursday. AFP

Africa Simmers In Violence
Violence continues to plague Africa, brutalizing, killing and displacing large numbers of people and creating a permanent state of crisis and anarchy in some of the poorest countries in the world. Aviation Week

Marines ‘land near Somali town’
Reports emanating from Central Somalia yesterday indicate that a unit of United States forces descended in an area called Gaan, 18 kilometres north of Haradhere, a former base of the notorious Somali pirates and a current stronghold of Al-Shabaab, the Somali Islamist movement opposing the government. Daily Nation

Blackwater Founder Said to Back African Mercenaries
Erik Prince, the founder of the international security giant Blackwater Worldwide, is backing an effort by a controversial South African mercenary firm to insert itself into Somalia’s bloody civil war by protecting government leaders, training Somali troops, and battling pirates and Islamic militants there, according to American and Western officials. The New York Times

Sudan referendum votes reveal landslide support for independence
In the time I’ve been reading about Sudan’s referendum on Southern secession, I have never seen anyone predict that the South would vote for continued unity with the North. In other words, it is no surprise that now the referendum has ended, polling and provisional results are showing a landslide vote for independence. Still, it is useful to look at the early figures: one thing they reveal is a relatively uniform distribution of support for independence across the South. The Christian Science Monitor

Zimbabwe: US ambassador urges ‘peaceful protest’ against injustice
The United States ambassador Charles Ray has urged Zimbabweans to use ‘peaceful protest’ against social and political injustices. Speaking at the Arrupe College in Harare on the occasion of Martin Luther King Day, Ray said: “the best weapon against hate and violence is non violence.” He also encouraged local clergy to emulate Dr King by becoming the voices of hope and freedom in society. SW Radio Africa

South Korean navy kills pirates
The South Korean navy on Friday stormed a ship hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean, rescuing all 21 crew members and killing eight pirates, military officials said. The rescue took place about 1,300 kilometres off northeast Somalia and was supported by an Oman naval vessel. RFI

France: Bin Laden links fate of hostages to Afghan pullout
Osama bin Laden said the release of two French hostages in Afghanistan depends on a pullout of their country’s soldiers and warned Paris of a “high price” for its policies, in a tape broadcast on Friday. AFP

Bouazizi: The Man Who Set Himself and Tunisia on Fire
He is now famous throughout Tunisia and the Arab world — a legend, in fact. But Mohammed Bouazizi never set out to be a byword. His aunt Radia Bouazizi says his dream was to save enough money to be able to rent or buy a pickup truck. “Not to cruise around in,” she says, “but for his work.” Her nephew was a vegetable seller. “He would come home tired after pushing the cart around all day. All he wanted was a pickup.” Instead, he started a revolution. Time

Congo’s Kabila revises Constitution: presidential candidates now only need a plurality
Congolese President Joseph Kabila altered Congo’s election laws, eliminating the run-off system and allowing the candidate with a plurality to claim the presidency. The Christian Science Monitor

EU foreign policy across Arab world faces upheaval
The European Union has long feared popular Islamist revolutions on the Mediterranean, preferring undemocratic stability. But Tunisia’s secular uprising has forced Europe to rethink its support for friendly dictators. Deutsche Welle

Malawi at a crossroads
Is Malawi on the verge of becoming Africa’s newest dictatorship? President Bingu wa Mutharika’s double-standard behaviour toward Joyce Banda, the country’s vice-president, has certainly moved the troubled country in this direction. Pambazuka News

Is Al Jazeera Fueling “Tunisteria”?
The remarkable events in Tunisia are proving irresistible to Al Jazeera’s editorial board who cannot avoid the temptation to equate the popular street uprising that swept the Tunisian dictator aside with the downfall of communist dictatorships in Eastern Europe.[...] The immediate question on the table for the U.S. is whether there is a danger that a valiant secular democratic transition could be hijacked by Islamists, or worse, elements of Al Qaeda in the Maghreb (AQIM). The Huffington Post

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This entry was written by Africa Center for Strategic Studies, posted on January 21, 2011 at 9:38 am, filed under Media Review. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.