Media Review for June 25, 2012

By Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Updated: 06/25/2012

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

Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi wins Egypt’s presidential race
The Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi has become Egypt’s first freely elected president after a delayed announcement of the results of last weekend’s runoff. He beat former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq by more than almost 900,000 votes. Morsi secured 51.7% of the vote, compared to 48% for Shafiq. The Guardian

Mohammed Morsi – a ‘pale figure’
Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi has won the presidential election in Egypt, marking a new age for the country. But some consider him a pale figure that represents continuity – not post-revolutionary Egypt. Deutsche Welle

U.S. Support Aids Hunt for Central African Rebel Group
The U.S. military is just one part of a larger, multinational effort to help four African partner nations bring rebel leader Joseph Kony and senior members of his brutal Lord’s Resistance Army to justice, said Army Gen. Carter F. Ham, the commander of U.S. Africa Command.

Activists Working to Reinvigorate Campaign Against LRA
Activists are aiming to renew the fight against the Lord’s Resistance Army, the Ugandan rebel group made infamous by its ruthless leader Joseph Kony, despite noticeably diminished concern for the issue just months after the release of a controversial yet viral video about the leader. IPS

Congo war risk as Kagame threatens to release Nkunda
President Paul Kagame’s threat that he will release General Laurent Nkunda should have regional leaders worried about the risk of an explosion of unrest in Democratic Republic of Congo that could spill over into the entire region. Rwanda is battling fresh accusations from the UN Stabilisation Mission in the DR Congo and the Congolese government, that it is backing Bosco Ntaganda, Nkunda’s former chief-of-staff and successor. The East African

Peacekeepers at War
In the eastern Congo, a onetime rebel leader charged with a range of war crimes lived in high style for three years, in full view of a large United Nations peacekeeping force. How did the U.N. find itself in the middle of one of the world’s bloodiest and most unmanageable conflicts? And why are its troops picking sides? The Wall Street Journal

US restores $350m Malawi aid programme
The United States has restored a $350 million aid programme to overhaul Malawi’s decrepit electricity grid in recognition of the “sound economic policy” introduced since the death of President Bingu wa Mutharika in April. The U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) froze the donor agreement in July last year after 20 anti-Mutharika protesters were killed in a police crackdown in the impoverished southern African nation. Africa News

Who will fill Al-Shabaab void after exit of Kenyan soldiers?
The Kenyan military appears well on its course to clearing Al-Shabaab from the strongholds near the border that the militants have held since 2006. But the question which hangs over the whole enterprise is: Who will fill the void left by Al-Shabaab? Are the administrations being installed in the areas liberated from the militants strong enough to resist the militants once Kenyans pull out? Daily Nation

Grenade attack hits Kenya’s Mombasa
One person has been killed and several others wounded in a hand grenade attack on a bar in the Kenyan tourist hub of Mombasa, police say. Sunday’s attack comes a day after the US embassy in Kenya issued a warning on the threat of an imminent attack in Mombasa, and Kenyan police arrested two Iranians on suspicion of planning bomb attacks. “The attack occurred at about 10pm. One person has died and we have several others injured,” a police officer in Mombasa said. Al Jazeera

Kenya protests to U.S. over terror warning
Kenya said on Sunday it has angrily protested at the decision by U.S. government to issue a travel alert which warned its citizens not to travel to the coastal city of Mombasa for fear of terror attack, terming it an act of economic sabotage. Acting Head of Public Service Francis Kimemia and Tourism Minister Dan Mwazo also confirmed the Kenyan government has written to the U.S. embassy in Nairobi over the matter demanding that the travel ban be lifted. Xinhua

Ransom payments fuel al-Qaeda expansion
The ascendancy of al-Qaeda in Mali five months ago prompted the UN to issue a counter-terrorism report that addresses Sahel abductions and ransom revenues. The Mali incursion, some analysts say, may actually lead to the group’s downfall. “Since the beginning of kidnappings in 2003, 53 people were kidnapped by the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, which later changed its name to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and the other armed terrorist groups that operate in the Sahel, such as MUJAO,” the UN said in January. Magharebia

In Northern Mali, Many Resent Islamist Restrictions
VOA reporter Idriss Fall is one of the first journalists to reach Gao, northern Mali’s largest city, since Islamists seized control of the region several months ago and began enforcing a strict form of Sharia law – banning alcohol and smoking and insisting that women wear veils, among other measures. VOA

Guinea-South Africa: A new battle to control the mines
The collapse of an opaque scheme to set up a multi-billion dollar national mining company prompts recriminations in Conakry and South Africa The Guinean government’s decision this week to shut down a bid by South African businessmen who wield high-level political connections, to run its national mining company follows growing pressure from international financial institutions and multinational mining companies. The scheme would have put the group in a privileged position to take a stake in some of the most valuable mining assets in the country and up to 50% of the equity in the planned national mining company. Africa Confidential

Protests continue in Sudan as the regime prepare to regain the street
Protesters continued to take the street in the Sudanese capital and different other towns for eighth day on Saturday as the police authorities warned they will be dealt with severely. Khartoum, witnessed on Saturday demonstrations organized by hundreds of protesters in different areas of the capital including Jabra, Alsahafa, Khartoum-3, Alabbassiya, Umbada, Nile City, Al-Ozuzab, Shambat, Khartoum North-Alamlak. Protests were also organised in Kosti of White Nile state, Port Sudan, Gedaref and Al-Obeiyed capital of North Kordofan. Sudan Tribune

United States Participates in International Mission to the Economic Community of West African States to Promote Cooperation on Counternarcotics Assistance
West Africa faces a growing danger from transnational criminal organizations, particularly narcotics traffickers, whose activities threaten the collective security and regional stability interests of the United States, our African partners, and the international community. Through the West Africa Cooperative Security Initiative (WACSI), a U.S. government approach to combating transnational organized crime in West Africa, the U.S. Department of State participated on June 21 in an international mission to promote cooperation with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). WACSI is premised on the concept that cooperation with international partners and donor coordination is essential to fight transnational crime. State.gov

Libya Democracy Clashes With Fervor for Jihad
Abdul-Hakim al-Hasadi first took up arms nearly 20 years ago to try to bring Islamic law to Libya. He studied under the Taliban in Afghanistan, and during last year’s uprising he led a local militia council here in a city famous as a cradle of Islamic jihad. But now Mr. Hasadi has refashioned himself as an eager politician running for local office, looking to the ballot box to promote his Islamic values. “There is no reason for weapons now,” he said. “Words are our weapons. Politics needs politics. It doesn’t need force.” The New York Times

Tunisia extradites Gaddafi’s prime minister to Libya for trial
Tunisia extradited former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s prime minister to Libya on Sunday, making him the first senior official to be returned for trial under the country’s transitional leadership. Defence ministry official Mohammed al-Ahwal said a helicopter had transferred Al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi to Tripoli. The Guardian

Angola: Military Police Arrests 51 War Veterans
Angolan military police have quietly detained 51 war veterans, following demonstrations on June 21. The detainees are in the Military Judicial Police (PJM) garrison in Luanda. Gonçalves Alberto, 46, told Maka Angola that the police had arrested the men at the Signals Regiment Headquarters, where they had gathered after being promised a solution to the problem of their unpaid pensions. Maka Angola on allAfrica

African migrants in Israel face angry backlash, deportations
Helen Barhat, a young woman from Eritrea, pointed to two bricks on the floor that she has saved since they were hurled into her small grocery shop by a mob that ransacked the premises last month after a raucous demonstration against African migrants. Crouching with her hands over her head, she showed how she had cowered in a back room as the rioters swept shelves clean, smashed bottles and emptied her cash register during a rampage against African-run stores in the neighborhood. The Washington Post

In the Ivory Coast, Science Endures In The Midst Of War
Should researchers and scientists leave a country when there is a war? Quite the opposite, say the Swiss researchers at CSRS. Worldcrunch – Le Temps

Life for Africans in France
For Louis-Georges Tin, president of the Conseil Représentatif des Associations Noires, the Sarkozy presidency created an intolerable atmosphere for Africans and other immigrants. This ranged from the succession of laws on immigration (five in total), to the debates on national identity that stigmatised swathes of the population. “Even the Pope had to intervene in 2010, so shocked was he at the violence of the attacks by French politicians on the Roma,” says Tin. The Africa Report

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This entry was written by Africa Center for Strategic Studies, posted on June 25, 2012 at 7:00 am, filed under Media Review and tagged . Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.