Media Review for October 3, 2012

By Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Updated: 10/03/2012

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

Report: White House Mulling Possible Drone Strikes in North Africa
The White House has declined to confirm or deny a report that says it is considering whether to carry out drone strikes against al-Qaida’s branch in North Africa. The Washington Post reported Tuesday the White House has held secret meetings to consider unilateral action against al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM. VOA

U.S. Said to Be Preparing Potential Targets Tied to Libya Attack
The American military’s top-secret Joint Special Operations Command is preparing detailed information that could be used to kill or capture some of the militants suspected in the attack last month in Libya that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, senior military and counterterrorism officials said on Tuesday. Preparing the “target packages” is the first step in a process that the Pentagon and Central Intelligence Agency are taking in preparation for, and in advance of, any orders from President Obama and his top civilian and military advisers to carry out action against those determined complicit in the attack on the United States Mission in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi. The New York Times

No secret, U.S. wants in on North African counterterrorism
The Defense Department is determining how the U.S. military can get more involved in the fight against al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups spreading across North African countries. Actually, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said so openly, two months go. Exactly how the U.S. should get more involved in the region, though, reached new levels, according to a Washington Post story on Tuesday, which reports that the White House “has held a series of secret meetings in recent months” on the issue. Foreign Policy

White House widens covert war in North Africa, but task force too new to save US ambassador
Small teams of special operations forces arrived at American embassies throughout North Africa in the months before militants launched the fiery attack that killed the U.S. ambassador in Libya. The soldiers’ mission: Set up a network that could quickly strike a terrorist target or rescue a hostage. The Washington Post

Diplomats asked repeatedly for more security before Libya attack, lawmakers claim
U.S. diplomats in Libya repeatedly asked the Obama administration for more security in Benghazi in the run-up to the Sept. 11 attack on the consulate but were “denied these resources,” two congressional lawmakers said. House oversight committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, pressed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for more information on those requests and other concerns in a letter Tuesday. Fox News

Rise of kidnapping by terror groups is urgent threat, says US
Islamist militants are increasingly funding themselves through kidnapping, with al-Qaida’s north African wing likely to have brought in tens of millions of dollars in ransoms in the past few years, a US treasury official has said. The US estimated that militant groups including al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqim) received $120m (£75m) in ransoms over the past decade, said David Cohen, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. Kidnapping for ransom was an urgent threat, particularly in the Sahel, a belt of land spanning nearly a dozen of the world’s poorest nations on the Sahara’s southern rim, Cohen said in Berlin. The Guardian

Maghreb becoming a ‘terrorist’ hub: Tunisia president
Jihadists pose a “great danger” to the Maghreb region, which is turning into a “terrorist” hub, Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki warned in an interview with Arabic daily Al-Hayat published Tuesday. “We can say that the centre for a group of jihadists — the so-called terrorist movement — is moving right now from Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Arab Maghreb region and there is great danger on our doorstep,” Marzouki said. Al Arabiya

Libyans hand in thousands of weapons
Libyans on Saturday (September 29th) began handing over thousands of guns, mortars, rockets and even tanks at a weapons collection drive in Benghazi and Tripoli. In Benghazi, citizens turned out to celebrate the handover of weapons from revolutionaries to the national army at al-Tahrir Square. Magharebia

EU’s fine line to boost democracy in Arab world
The EU is still in the process of finding its role in promoting democracy in the Arab World. Experts say the EU can do more to support democratic change in the region but warn that Europe needs to tread carefully. Deutsche Welle

Plan to Downsize U.S. Army Ignores Expanding Threat from Islamic Terrorism and Failing States
In the months leading up to the attacks of September 11, the U.S. Department of Defense was working on a new defense strategy and associated force structure. Central to the new plan was a significant reduction in the size of the U.S. Army. The incoming Bush Administration had campaigned on a platform of reduced U.S. involvement in so-called overseas stability operations and greater reliance on air and naval power. Even as the Al Qaeda plot was progressing, the Pentagon was planning to cut two of the ten divisions in the Army’s Active Component along with a number of headquarters and support units. Defro

Mali limbo holds up military action plan
Photographs of Captain Amadou Sanogo – the US-trained infantry officer who toppled Mali’s government in a March coup – are difficult to avoid in the capital Bamako, appearing in newspapers, on stickers plastered inside taxis, and on badges worn by his supporters. Five months after Sanogo officially ceded power to a transitional civilian government, confusion still reigns over who is really running the West African state, split in two by an Islamist rebel takeover of its mostly desert north. The Citizen

Dozens of students ’shot dead’ in Nigeria
Dozens of college students have been killed by attackers in Nigeria’s northeastern town of Mubi in Adamawa state, police say. The attack occurred between 10pm on Monday and 3am on Tuesday when assailants invaded student accommodations outside the campus of the Federal Polytechnic Mubi college, said one of its students, Danjuma Aiso. A senior police official told Al Jazeera that unknown gunmen went into the campus hostels and killed at least 25 people. Al Jazeera

Ivory Coast starts tribunal for post-vote violence
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) – Ivory Coast’s military tribunal has started the first trial stemming from last year’s postelection violence, a case that involves the March 2011 killing of a colonel. Proceedings began Tuesday against the five suspects, who are charged with kidnapping and murder. They include Bruno Dogbo Ble, the feared head of former President Laurent Gbagbo’s Republican Guard. AP on NBC29

Trade in smuggled fuel from Nigeria oils economies of west Africa
Pictures taken by the Canadian photographer Daniel Hayduk reveal an intriguing, but essential, aspect of the west African economy. Contraband fuel purchased legally in Nigeria, where subsidies keep prices much lower than in neighbouring countries, irrigates the economies of the whole region. The Guardian

Guinea’s Conde calls for unity, polls
Guinean President Alpha Conde urged the west African nation to unite and allow for long-delayed legislative polls in a speech marking the 54th anniversary of independence. “Guinea needs appeasement and consensus. We all belong to the same nation, no matter how old we are, what we believe in and where we live,” he said in a televised address late on Monday. News 24

Malawi leader to take border dispute with Tanzania to ICJ
 Malawian President Joyce Banda on Tuesday said her country will take a long-dormant border dispute with Tanzania to the International Court of Justice for arbitration. “The issue has gone too far and Malawi will seek international help to ensure that justice prevails,” Banda told a news conference. AFP

African troops face blast as they take Somali port
African Union troops and tanks entered the former al Shabaab stronghold of Kismayu on Tuesday, but a blast claimed by the al Qaeda-linked militants who have fled the Somali port signalled their intention to fight back. The government said the explosion caused no casualties, but the incident pointed to al Shabaab’s capacity to hit back with guerrilla strikes and bombings in both Kismayu and neighbouring Kenya, whose troops led the assault on the town. Reuters

Somalia incursion cuts flow of illicit money into Kenya
The amount of foreign money circulating in Kenya from unexplained sources fell drastically in the three months to June, reflecting the extent to which the military operation in Somalia has disrupted the networks that were suspected to be responsible for the flow. Unexplained foreign money in Kenya’s banking system fell to Sh6.5 billion ($76.5 million) in June from a high of Sh170 billion ($2 billion) at the beginning of last year, the lowest in five years. Africa Review

S. Africa Gold Fields strikers occupy hill near Jo’burg
Two thousand striking miners evicted from company housing at a Gold Fields mine in South Africa occupied a nearby hill on Tuesday in scenes disturbingly reminiscent of the build-up to a mass police shooting at a platinum mine in August. Reuters

African economies rising – but are they taking the people with them?
After 26 years of the most horrific war, Liberia seems to have settled down despite noisy disenchantment with the rule of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, now in her second term. I recently attended a conference on Liberia for some 300 investors and potential investors. During this, I heard very many positive statements from companies that have already invested in the country and praise for the remarkable recovery it has made since the war finally ended in 2006. African Argument

Concrete Jungles Growing in Senegal
In the midst of the building frenzy in Senegal, the construction of buildings that cost less than 60,000 dollars, and thus do not require a building permit, is going unchecked by authorities, resulting in the haphazard and unsafe construction of a majority of homes. IPS

1.9 million counterfeit mobile phones shut off in Kenya
The Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) said on Monday (October 1st) that 1.89 million mobile telephones have been shut off so far in a crackdown on the use of counterfeit devices, Kenya’s The Star reported. Sabahi
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This entry was written by Africa Center for Strategic Studies, posted on October 3, 2012 at 6:57 am, filed under Media Review and tagged . Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.