Media Review for February 16, 2012

By Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Updated: 02/16/2012

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

Tunisian defense minister calls for increased cooperation with US to guard borders
Tunisia’s defense minister has called for increased cooperation with the United States to help guard his country’s borders. Abdelkrim Zbidi spoke Wednesday following a meeting of a joint Tunisian-U.S. military commission that discussed increased training and logistics support for the North African country’s forces. The Washington Post

Africa on K Street: Lobbying Is Not Restricted to the Developed World
The aid community is well-accustomed to pushing for transparency in foreign aid transactions. But are we missing another key flow of money? A recent article by Geoffrey York, African bureau chief for the Globe and Mail, described a contract signed a few years ago by the Government of Rwanda with Racepoint Group, which was tasked with doing an image makeover for the Rwandan government for a monthly fee of over $50,000. The rationale was that public perceptions of Rwanda were dominated by the horrific genocide that occurred in the 1990s, along with accounts of human rights abuses and media censorship. The Huffington Post

Containing Mali’s Tuareg rebellion
[...] It is unlikely that the rebels would get support from Mali’s neighbours who are themselves grappling with their own internal challenges. For instance, the new regime in Tripoli is too preoccupied with trying to stabilise Libya to dabble into the affairs of Mali. Niger has its own Tuareg populations to contend with. They’ve also had a history of rebellion which the government in Niamey has so far been able to contain. Daily Trust

Sahel militaries launch terror awareness campaign
A recent joint information mission along the Mali-Mauritania border aimed to raise residents’ awareness about the dangers of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Military personnel from Mauritania, Algeria, Mali and Niger toured various villages and communities near the Wagadou Forest, a hotbed of al-Qaeda activity. Magharebia

President’s Car Attacked in Senegal
Protesters angered by Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade’s decision to run for a third term pelted his car with rocks Wednesday, forcing him to abandon the vehicle. Mr. Wade was campaigning in the town of Nguegnene. Witnesses tell VOA the president’s guards attacked some of the protesters. They reacted by throwing rocks at the president’s car, shattering its windows. VOA

Sudan Oil Talks End With Recriminations, Large Rift
South Sudan has threatened to keep the oil pipeline to the Red Sea shut permanently following a failed round of talks on sharing revenues with Sudan. The shutdown is costing the two countries hundreds of millions of dollars a month. Six days of African Union-mediated talks ended Wednesday, with the two sides seemingly farther apart than when they began. VOA

Sudan: Juba Accuses Khartoum of Using Militias to Sabotage Oil Fields
The Deputy Minister for Defense and Veteran Affairs, Majak Agoot accused Sudan Government of using militias at the borders of South Sudan with the intention to sabotage oil fields of Unity States. He said Khartoum continues to use proxy war at the border where it is practicing hostilities against South Sudan despite separation of the two States in July last year after a plebiscite that confirmed South Sudan’s secession. allAfrica

One Libyan in three wants return to authoritarian rule
Almost a year after the start of the Libyan uprising that led to the ousting and killing of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, new research suggests more than a third of its citizens would rather return to being ruled by a strongman than embrace democracy. The Independant

ECOWAS Meets on West Africa Issues
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) meets Wednesday and Thursday to discuss regional security and politics in its 15 member states. The 29th session of the ministerial level of ECOWAS takes place this week in Abuja. VOA

Nigerian troops, sect engages in fierce gun battle in northern state
Local police authorities said the Boko Haram sect engaged soldiers in a fierce gun battle on Wednesday evening in the Nigeria’s northeastern city of Maiduguri. Residents claimed a soldier was killed at Gwange, a suburb and one of the flash-points, at about 5 p.m. local time while some were injured in an attack launched against the soldiers by the sect members. The gun battle lasted for about two hour. Xinhua

Angola: Development leads to demands
The government is using its oil revenues to build new cities and hire more teachers, but hundreds of people are taking to the streets calling for political change. The Africa Report

Weak Land Rights in Africa Make Way For A New Type of Colonialism
Earlier this month a Reuters article highlighted that lack of land rights on the Africa continent could lead to future conflicts. Prior to colonialism, land rights were dealt within tribes or ethnic groups throughout Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Land was often held communally and there was a verbal (not written) understanding that any outsider or even insider who infringed upon a particular individuals’ or group’s land rights would be dealt with accordingly. PolicyMic

Nigeria: Boko Haram’s Funding Sources Uncovered
This followed the recent arrest of key members of the sect and appointment of a new police chief in Nigeria. Nigerian agents appear to have made a major discovery in their investigations into the sources of funding of the Boko Haram Islamic sect. According to the Nigerian Tribune newspaper, the State Security Service (SSS) and its local and international counterparts have now traced the group’s sources of funding to some Al-Qaeda-linked organisations in the Middle East. allAfrica

The Kenyan Military Intervention in Somalia
The decision in October 2011 to deploy thousands of troops in Somalia’s Juba Valley to wage war on Al-Shabaab is the biggest security gamble Kenya has taken since independence, a radical departure for a country that has never sent its soldiers abroad to fight. Operation Linda Nchi (Protect the Country) was given the go-ahead with what has shown itself to be inadequate political, diplomatic and military preparation; the potential for getting bogged down is high; the risks of an Al-Shabaab retaliatory terror campaign are real; and the prospects for a viable, extremist-free and stable polity emerging in the Juba Valley are slim. International Crisis Group

Somalis rally against al-Qaeda allies
100s of Somalis have marched through the war-torn capital Mogadishu in a rare open protest against Islamist al-Shabab insurgents and their al-Qaeda allies. Herald Sun

UN aims to boost forces in Somalia
Sponsors of a United Nations resolution to boost by nearly half an African force trying to defeat Islamist militants in Somalia are seeking to have the Security Council pass it by the middle of next week, diplomats said on Wednesday. IOL News

Moroccan Protests One Year On
At least 600 Ugandan girls have been forced into Malaysia’s sex trade in what has become a human trafficking epidemic, a foreign diplomat has said. Hajah Noraihan, the Malaysian consul to Uganda, said despite an early warning to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2008 when the number of trafficked girls stood at 30, the constant flow of victims has not slowed. Daily Monitor

Africa Partnership Station 2012 Begins
NAPLES, Italy | Sailors and coast guardsmen from several African nations are gathered in Lagos, Nigeria, to participate in the start of Africa Partnership Station 2012 (APS), Feb. 14. APS is part of an ongoing international effort to assist African nations to improve maritime safety and security. The security cooperation initiative, now in its fifth year, is aimed at strengthening global maritime partnerships through training and collaborative activities in order to improve maritime safety and security in Africa. Defpro

Ogaden refugees’ legal claims may put SA on the spot
South Africa’s Ogaden refugees have requested the police, the prosecuting authority and the International Criminal Court to investigate damning allegations of human rights abuses against the Ethiopian government. The allegations are not new, but the legal action may force South African officials to take a more proactive stance against human rights abuses in Africa. Daily Maverick

State and USAID – FY 2013 Budget
The President’s FY 2013 Budget for the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) strengthens U.S. national security, advances America’s economic interests, and elevates America’s global leadership through diplomacy and development. It supports U.S. businesses, protects Americans at home and abroad, and stops the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. It supports our allies and partners, prevents conflict, promotes democracy, and reflects our core values. State.gov

China rail company inks $1.4 billion contracts in Africa
A subsidiary of China Railway Construction Corp Ltd has signed two projects in Africa with a total contract value of 9.1 billion yuan ($1.4 billion), the company said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The value of the projects, located in Nigeria and Djibouti, equates to just under 2 percent of China Railway’s 2010 operating income, the company said. Reuters

   
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This entry was written by Africa Center for Strategic Studies, posted on February 16, 2012 at 6:35 am, filed under Media Review and tagged . Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.