africom related news clips 22 march, 2011

8/7/2019 AFRICOM Related News Clips 22 March, 2011

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United States Africa CommandPublic Affairs Office22 March 2011

USAFRICOM - related news stories

TOP NEWS RELATED TO U.S. AFRICA COMMAND AND AFRICA

U.S. Africa Command Seen Taking Key Role (New York Times)When the United States Africa Command was created four years ago, it was themilitarys first smart power command. It has no assigned troops and no headquartersin Africa itself, and one of its two top deputies is a seasoned American diplomat.

Gen. Ham: Air Strikes in Libya Continue, No-Fly Zone May Expand(PBS Newshour)Press Conference Video (no online article)

(Libya) U.S. Army Gen. Carter Ham, head of U.S. Africa command, held a pressconference via satellite on Monday from his office in Stuttgart, Germany to update theefforts of U.S. and European forces in Libya. His remarks came two days after the U.S.and European forces launched a military campaign to enforce a no-fly zone in Libya.

U.S. to Hand Allies Libya Air-Strike Command in Matter of Days (Bloomberg)(Libya) The United States will hand off command of military operations in Libya tocoalition leadership once the initial phase -- knocking out Muammar Qaddafis air

defenses -- is completed, President Barack Obama said.

No mission to back Libya ground offensive: US general(AFP)(Libya) A top US commander said Monday US forces would not offer military supportfor a ground offensive by Libyan opposition forces and that it was possible MoamerKadhafi would survive a coalition air campaign with his power intact.

Obama faces growing criticism for Libya campaign (LA Times)(Libya) President Obama is facing growing criticism at home and abroad over whetherthe military campaign in Libya is the wrong policy or the right policy at the wrong

time.

International alliance divided over Libya command (The Envoy)(Libya) President Barack Obama, speaking in Santiago, Chile on Monday, defended hisdecision to order U.S. strikes against Libyan military targets, and insisted that themission is clear.


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U.S., French, British forces expand Libya bombing campaign (LA Times)(Libya) U.S., French and British forces blasted Libyan air defenses and ground forces,drawing intense volleys of tracer and antiaircraft fire over Tripoli on Sunday on thesecond day of a military campaign that will severely test Moammar Kadafi's powers of

survival.

Libyan rebels launch offensive; coalition continues poundingGaddafis forces

(Washington Post)(Libya) Buoyed by U.S. and allied airstrikes that relieved a siege of Benghazi, Libyanrebels launched an offensive early Monday aimed at retaking the strategic city ofAjdabiya, as Western warplanes continued pounding forces loyal to longtime leaderMoammar Gaddafi.

Dislike for QaddafiGives Arabs a Point of Unity (NYT)

(Libya) With his brutal military assault on civilians, and his rantings about spikedNescaf, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi handed many leaders across the Arab world whathad otherwise eluded them: A chance to side with the people while deflecting attentionfrom their own citizens call for democracy, political analysts around the region said.And they really do not like him.

Medvedev, Putin Clash Over Libya (Wall Street Journal)(Libya) The Western-led military action in Libya provoked a rare public split in Russia'sruling tandem Monday, as President Dmitry Medvedev appeared to scold his patron,Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, for publicly criticizing the effort.

INTERVIEW-Liberia's Sirleaf warns on Ivory Coast (Reuters)(Ivory Coast) Ivory Coast's descent into violence risks wiping out hard-won securitygains in West Africa unless a post-election power struggle is resolved, LiberianPresident Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf told Reuters on Monday.

Security clampdown stifles Sudan protests (AFP)(Sudan) Security fears and a heavy deployment of riot police in Khartoum and othernorthern Sudan cities on Monday prevented planned anti-regime protests frommaterialising, activists and witnesses said.

Kisangani: Mwando Simba impressed with the Base Camp food project and theLukusa Camp rehabilitation (Radio Okapi) Translated from FrenchOn Saturday, The Defense Minister, Charles Mwando Simba, on a work mission inKisangani in Orientale Province, visited the training center at Camp Lukusa which is inrehabilitation and same citys Base Camp. He welcomed, in particular, the food projectin progress at Camp Base that he wants to see in other military camps in the country as


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part of the reform of the Congolese Army. Minister Mwando was accompanied byRoger Meece, the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the UN in the DRC.

Bangladeshi woman's pirate hijack ordeal(BBC)(Somalia) The Bangladeshi ship, the MV Jahan Moni, has returned home after being

hijacked by Somali pirates in early December. Rukhsana Gulzer, the only woman onboard, tells the BBC's Anbarasan Ethirajan about life under the pirates' harsh regime.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Websitey UN peace-building body seeks more backing from Member States, UN leadershipy Darfur: UN-backed mediation team reports progress on peace drafty In North Africa, Ban urges world community to speak with one voice on Libyay Africas urbanization outpaces capacity to provide water, sanitation UNy Security Council voices outrage at deadly shelling ofIvorian market

-------------------------------------------------------------------------UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, March 22, 2011; 4:30 am to 6:00 pm; The BrookingsInstitution, Falk Auditorium, 1775 Massachusetts Ave, NW, WDCWHAT: Ivory Coast on the BrinkWHO: Chaloka Beyani, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights ofIDPs; Margaret McKelvey, Director of Office of Assistance for Africa, Under Secretaryfor Democracy and Global Affairs, US Department of State; Sarah Margon, AssociateDirector for Sustainable Security, Center for American Progress; Ann Hollingsworth,

Senior Analyst, International Crisis Group.Info: https://www.cvent.com/events/ivory-coast-on-the-brink/registration-652bfc1260994399a90b1c6ffab4cd9d.aspx

WHEN/WHERE: Wednesday, March 23, 2011; 9:30 am to 11:00 am; Live Webcast bythe Woodrow Wilson CenterWHAT: The Future of Northern Sudan: An SPLM North SudanWHO: Steve McDonald, Consulting Director of the Africa Proram and the Project onLeadership and Building State Capacity; Alan Gouty, Senior Scholar, Woodrow WilsonCenter; Malik Agar Eyre, Governor of Blue Nile State; Abdel Aziz Adam el Hilu,Deputy Governor of Southern Kordofan; Yasir Said Arman, Secretary General of SPLM North SudanInfo:http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=events.event_summary&event_id=680563

WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, March 24, 2011; 9:30 am to 11:30am; Johns Hopkins SAISWHAT: Human Security in the DRC Seeking Solutions from the Ground Up


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WHO: Susan Braden, Senior Policy Advisor for the Office of Global Womens Issues atthe State Department; Nita Evele, Executive Board Member at Congo Global Action;Judithe Registere, Director of Policy & Outreach at Women for Women International;Sandra Melone, Executive Vice President, Search for Common Ground.Info:https://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/6060/p/salsa/event/common/public/?eve

nt_KEY=22075

WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, April 7, 2011; 9:30am; Dirksen Senate Office BuildingRoom SD-106WHAT: Armed Services: Testimony on AFRICOMWHO: Full Committee; General Carter F. Ham to testifyInfo: http://armed-services.senate.gov/e_witnesslist.cfm?id=5073----------------------------------------------------------------------------------FULL ARTICLE TEXT

U.S. Africa Command Seen Taking Key Role (NYT)By Eric SchmittMarch 21, 2011WASHINGTON - When the United States Africa Command was created four years ago,it was the militarys first smart power command. It has no assigned troops and noheadquarters in Africa itself, and one of its two top deputies is a seasoned Americandiplomat.

Indeed, the command, known as Africom, is intended largely to train and assist thearmed forces of 53 African nations and to work with the State Department and other

American agencies to strengthen social, political and economic programs in the region,including improving H.I.V. awareness in African militaries and removing land mines.

Now the young, untested command and its new boss, Gen. Carter F. Ham, findthemselves at their headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, setting aside public diplomacytalks and other civilian-military duties to lead the initial phase of a complex,multinational shooting war with Libya.

Are they up to the task? said Kenneth J. Menkhaus, an Africa specialist at DavidsonCollege in North Carolina. So far, Id say yes. Down the road, though, if it gets messier,itll test the capacity of Africom. This is certainly a baptism by fire.

The command has faced difficulties in its first few years. Initial statements about itsmission and scope of activity alarmed some African leaders and State Departmentofficials, who feared the Pentagon was trying to militarize diplomacy and developmenton the continent. These concerns led the command to set up its headquarters inGermany.


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Congressional critics have warned that the command is understaffed and poorlyresourced for challenges that include countering fighters with an affiliate of Al Qaeda inNorth Africa, Islamic extremists in Somalia, drug traffickers in West Africa and armedrebels in Congo. Other Congressional officials cast doubt on the commands ability togauge progress in its programs.

Africom is generally not measuring long-term effects of activities, concluded a reportissued last July by the Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm ofCongress. Without assessing activities, Africom lacks information to evaluate theireffectiveness, make informed future planning decisions and allocate resources.

Military officials say General Hams arrival three weeks ago to replace Gen. William E.Ward, who retired, will inject a new dynamic into the command and its 1,500-memberheadquarters staff. More than 1,000 other troops are conducting training, securityassistance or other temporary duties in Africa at any given time.

General Ham, 59, a native of Cleveland, is one of the Armys stars, having risen fromprivate to four-star commander in a 38-year career. He has commanded troops innorthern Iraq, overseen military operations at the Pentagons Joint Staff and helped leadreviews into the Defense Departments dont ask, dont tell policy and the fatalshootings at Fort Hood, Tex.

The son of a Navy PT boat officer in World War II, General Ham enlisted in the Army in1973 as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division. After earning his officercommission, he served as an adviser to a Saudi Arabian National Guard brigade,

commanded the Armys storied First Infantry Division and, until his currentassignment, led all Army forces in Europe, when he worked closely with many of thesame European allies now engaged in the Libya operation.

Hes inclusive and a great team builder, said Lt. Gen. Mark P. Hertling, who earlierthis month succeeded General Ham in the Armys European command. Hes not onlya great soldier who studies his profession, hes the kind of normal guy you can drink abeer with.

Perhaps General Hams most wrenching tour was commanding American forces innorthern Iraq as the insurgency was strengthening. On Dec. 21, 2004, a suicide bomberkilled 22 people, including 18 Americans, in a dining hall at a military base in Mosul.General Ham arrived on the scene shortly after the explosion.

When he returned to Fort Lewis, Wash., a few months later, he sought help forposttraumatic stress, received counseling from a chaplain and later publicly discussedhis treatment. You need somebody to assure you that its not abnormal, General Ham


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told USA Today. Its not abnormal to have difficulty sleeping. Its not abnormal to bejumpy at loud sounds.

General Hams willingness to speak openly about his personal combat stress sent shockwaves through a service in which seeking help has often been seen as a sign of

weakness.

That plain-spoken attitude has earned plaudits from top Defense Department officials.

During our dont ask, dont tell review, he was our conscience and our center ofgravity, said Jeh C. Johnson, the Pentagons general counsel and co-author withGeneral Ham of the departments report on the effects of allowing openly gay men andwomen to serve in the military. I always made sure never to get out ahead of him.

For the time being, General Ham will oversee the American side of the Libya

operations, briefing President Obama and his top security aides from Stuttgart, as hedid on Sunday, and providing broad guidance and direction to the missions tacticalcommander, Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, who is in the Mediterranean aboard acommand ship, the Mount Whitney.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said on Sunday that the United States would turncontrol of the Libya military operation over to a coalition probably led either by theFrench and British or by NATO in a matter of days. But the American militarywould continue to fly missions.

General Ham, in an e-mail message on Sunday, said plans for the change in commandwere already under way. Its fairly complex to do that while simultaneouslyconducting operations, he said. But well figure it out.----------------------Gen. Ham: Air Strikes in Libya Continue, No-Fly Zone May Expand (PBS Newshour)Press Conference Video (no online article)

March 21, 2011Stuttgart - U.S. Army Gen. Carter Ham, head of U.S. Africa command, held a pressconference via satellite on Monday from his office in Stuttgart, Germany to update theefforts of U.S. and European forces in Libya. His remarks came two days after the U.S.and European forces launched a military campaign to enforce a no-fly zone in Libya.----------------------U.S. to Hand Allies Libya Air-Strike Command in Matter of Days (Bloomberg)By Peter S. Green and Julianna GoldmanMar 21, 2011 5:17 PM ETThe United States will hand off command of military operations in Libya to coalitionleadership once the initial phase -- knocking out Muammar Qaddafis air defenses -- iscompleted, President Barack Obama said.


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One option, having the North Atlantic Treaty Organization take charge, may becomplicated by reservations from Turkey, a NATO member, reflected in remarks todayby Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman SelcukUnal said his country isnt blocking NATO command, the Associated Press reported.

Military commanders will make recommendations on when the transition takes place,Obama said at a news conference in Santiago, Chile, his second stop on a trip to LatinAmerica to promote trade. Obama said he expects that to happen in a matter of days,not a matter of weeks.

We are developing the process by which we will transition the lead from militaryoperations to a designated headquarters, U.S. Army General Carter Ham, who iscommanding the Libyan air strike mission, said today in a briefing from Stuttgart,Germany. This is a very complex task under the best of conditions, so my goal is to not

cause disruption to the ongoing operation while we effect the headquarters transition.

A spokesman for U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said today that NATO shouldtake control of the operation. Frances foreign minister, Alain Juppe, said today inBrussels that if, during the course of this operation, NATO were to be called in, yes, wewould support that.

NATO TensionsItalian foreign minister Franco Frattini said that unless NATO takes charge, Italy wouldreflect on its decision to let its bases be used for launching the attacks.

Arab League allies, who called for the no-fly zone, may not want to operate underNATOs leadership, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said at a news conferenceyesterday.

The question is if theres a way we can work out NATOs command-and-controlmachinery without it being a NATO mission and without a NATO flag, Gates said.

Turkeys Erdogan, in a speech today in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, said a NATO operation inLibya cannot turn into an occupation, and that NATO must have a clearly defined andlimited mission for any intervention there.

Limited MandateNATO involvement would have to be limited to providing Libyans with theopportunity to make their own decisions about their future, he said. Erdogan said onMarch 1 that NATO intervention in Libya would be unthinkable.


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The Western alliance requires unanimous approval from its 28 member countries tolaunch a military operation.

The NATO diplomats said the North Atlantic Council, NATOs top decision-makingbody, wasnt able to reach agreement today, and would take up the issue again

tomorrow for the fourth day in a row, according to the AP.

Six Norwegian fighter planes headed for Crete wont be immediately deployed untilcommand is resolved, that countrys defense minister, Grete Faremo, told Norwaysnews agency.

It is crucial that we get an effective chain of command sorted out that gives usadequate insight into the decision- making process, Faremo said.

Not So Simple

Ham said he would not put a date certain on the handover of command, and said anew headquarters and command institution have to be identified first. Its not sosimple as just having a handshake someplace and saying, OK, youre now in charge,said the general, who leads the U.S. Africa Command.

There are some very complex technical things that have to occur, particularly in themanagement, command and control of the air campaign, to make sure that, one, wehave no disruption whatsoever in the ongoing operation, two, that we put none of ourair crews at risk as we go through this transition to whatever that follow-onheadquarters would be, he said.

We will accomplish that transition as expeditiously as we possibly can, Ham said.---------------------No mission to back Libya ground offensive: US general (AFP)By Unattributed AuthorMarch 21, 2011WASHINGTON A top US commander said Monday US forces would not offermilitary support for a ground offensive by Libyan opposition forces and that it waspossible Moamer Kadhafi would survive a coalition air campaign with his power intact.

Saying it would not be "ideal" for Kadhafi to remain in power, General Carter Ham saidhe could "envision that as a possible situation at least for the current (mission) that Ihave."

Ham said the mission of coalition forces was clearly focused on imposing a no-fly zoneover Libya and protecting civilians, as set forth in a UN Security Council resolution.


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But he said that US air and missile strikes that have pummeled Libyan air defenses andcommand sites since Saturday would not be used to support opposition forces if theygo on the offensive.

"We have no mission to support opposition forces if they should engage in offensive

operations operations," he told reporters in a video conference with reporters at thePentagon.

No coalition military are on the ground in Libya, and there has been been no official orformal communication with the opposition in Libya, he added.

"The military mission here is pretty clear. It's very clear, frankly, and what is expectedof us to do to establish this no-fly zone, to protect civilians," he said.

He acknowledged, however, that some would argue that the coalition would be obliged

to try to protect the opposition, if they came under attack by Kadhafi's forces.

Ham's comments came amid rising international criticism of the operation launched byFrance, the United States and Britain, and complaints at home that the US Congress hadnot been consulted.

The UN Security Council on Thursday authorized the use of force to impose a no flyzone and protect civilians as forces loyal to Kadhafi were on the verge of crushing amonth-old rebellion.

The coalition's aims came under question after a missile strike demolished a building inKadhafi's compound in Tripoli late Sunday. Libyan officials said hundreds of civilianswere in Kadhafi's residence about 400 meters away.

But coalition officials said the target was a "command and control capability," and Hamsaid Kadhafi was not being targeted.

"I don't know much about the location of the Libyan leader, nor have we expended anymilitary effort in that regard," he said.

"We have expended considerable effort to degrade the Libyan regime's militarycommand and control facility -- capability, and I think we've had some fairly significanteffect in that regard," he said.

But because he had a "discrete military mission," Ham said, "I could see accomplishingthe military mission which has been assigned to me and the currently leader wouldremain the current leader."


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Meanwhile, Kadhafi's forces in the vicinity of Benghazi show "little will or capability toresume offensive operations."

"Our actions today are focused on extending the no fly zone southward, then westwardfrom Benghazi," he said. "With the growing capabilities of the coalition, I anticipate the

no-fly zone will soon extend to eventually Tripoli."

Canadian and Belgian air forces joined in coalition operations on Monday, and Franceand Italy both had aircraft carriers in the area.

Ham said leadership of coalition military operations would be shifted to anotherheadquarters, but described it as a complex undertaking.---------------------Obama faces growing criticism for Libya campaign (LA Times)By Paul Richter and Christi Parsons

March 21, 2011, 6:48 p.m.Washington President Obama is facing growing criticism at home and abroad overwhether the military campaign in Libya is the wrong policy or the right policy at thewrong time.

Obama, on a five-day tour of Latin America, defended his administration's muscularapproach in Libya, saying it was "very easy to square our military actions and ourstated policies."

Speaking in Chile, Obama said U.S. military forces would focus on the goal approved

by the U.N. Security Council last week, preventing longtime leader Moammar Kadafi'sarmy from attacking Libyan civilians. But he also reiterated that Kadafi should beremoved.

He said the United States also would use nonmilitary means, including economicsanctions and an arms embargo, to try to end Kadafi's four-decade rule.

Obama sent a letter to congressional leaders Monday attempting to assure them that theadministration was seeking a "rapid but responsible transition" of military command toother members of the United Nations-backed coalition. The letter followed complaintsthat he had failed to consult Congress before launching military action.

Political analysts say Obama could benefit if Kadafi is quickly ousted, or if there isanother quick and relatively bloodless resolution. But if the conflict becomes astalemate, criticism is likely to mount.


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Complaints have already started to escalate. Some early advocates of militaryintervention, including Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), said Obama may have waited toolong to help the opposition in Libya.

A contingent of liberal Democrats, normally allied with the president, condemned the

use of military force. Some conservatives, as well as foreign policy experts, said Libya isnot a vital U.S. interest.

An antiwar group announced plans for protests in Los Angeles, Chicago and nine othercities this week.

"The president seems to have angered almost every major group: He's either done toomuch or too little or he's done it too slowly," said James Lindsay, a former official in theClinton White House who is now with the Council on Foreign Relations. "There's a veryreal political risk for Barack Obama in all of this."

Among the critics Monday was Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), ranking minoritymember of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a widely respected voice on foreignpolicy who has often sided with the administration.

"There needs to be a plan about what happens after Kadafi," Lugar said. "Who will be incharge then, and who pays for this all? President Obama, so far, has only expressedvague hopes."

A group of liberal Democrats, including Reps. Jerrold Nadler of New York, Donna

Edwards of Maryland, Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio and Maxine Waters and Barbara Leeof California, issued a statement over the weekend saying they "all strongly raisedobjections to the constitutionality of the president's actions."

Complaints also came from the Arab League, which initially called for imposing a no-fly zone in Libya, a decision that helped persuade the White House to join the fight.Russia's prime minister, Vladimir Putin, lashed out at Washington for launching whathe called "a crusade," saying it justified Russia's military buildup.

Administration officials acknowledged the political risk of involvement in Libya at atime when the U.S. is engaged militarily in Iraq and Afghanistan, and polls indicate thatAmericans want Obama to focus on the economy. But they say the president'sinsistence that he won't send ground troops, the involvement of other countries, and thepromise to hand off command should help bolster support for Obama.

Robert Danin, a former State Department official who is a Mideast specialist, said hecould not imagine how the mission could prove a political winner for Obama.


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Americans are likely to worry, he said, that the United States will be stuck with part ofthe bill for rebuilding Libya. And U.S. officials, he noted, are still unsure whether theanti-Kadafi forces are necessarily pro-America and pro-democracy.

"The politics of this are just bad," Danin said.

------------------------------International alliance divided over Libya command (The Envoy)By Laura RozenMarch 21, 2011President Barack Obama, speaking in Santiago, Chile on Monday, defended his decisionto order U.S. strikes against Libyan military targets, and insisted that the mission isclear.

And like a parade of Pentagon officials the past few days, Obama insisted that theUnited States' lead military role will be turned over"in days, not weeks"to an

international command of which the United States will be just one part.

The only problem: None of the countries in the international coalition can yet agree onto whom or how the United States should hand off responsibilities.

The sense of urgency among White House officials to resolve the command dispute isprofound: with each hour the U.S. remains in charge of yet another Middle East militaryintervention, Congress steps up criticism that Obama went to war in Libya without firstgetting its blessing, nor defining precisely what the end-game will be. (On Monday,Obama sent Congress official notification that he had ordered the U.S. military two

days earlier to commence operations "to prevent humanitarian catastrophe" in Libyaand support the international coalition implementing UN Security Council Resolution1973.)

Below, an explainer on the military mission in Libya, the dispute over who shouldcommand it after its initial phase, and whether the military is concerned about missioncreep.

What is the U.S. military task in Libya?

The military mission in Libya is implementing U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973,which calls for Gadhafi's forces to pull back from rebel-held towns, and theestablishment of a no-fly zone to protect Libyan civilians from attack by Gadhafi, andfor civilians to be allowed access to food, water and other humanitarian supplies.

Is the U.S. military trying to kill Gadhafi?


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No, the U.S. military is not authorized to kill Gadhafi, said Gen. Carter Ham, thecommander of U.S. African Command at a press conference in Stuttgart, Germany,Monday. Ham's command is currently leading the first phase of the internationalcoalition effort to establish a no-fly zone in Libya, together with the United Kingdomand France. Nor is the U.S. military currently coordinating with anti-Gadhafi rebels or

authorized to provide them military support, Ham said.

The main objective, Ham stressed, is to protect civilians from attack. "The militarymission is very clear, frankly. What is expected of us to do is establish a no fly zone toprotect civilians, to get withdrawal of regime ground forces out of Benghazi," Ham said."What we look forward to is the transition to designating the headquarters" of thecommand of the next phase of operations.

How can the coalition reconcile a military mission that could leave Gadhafi in powerwith the many calls for his removal?

On Monday, Obama answered this by underlining the language of UN Security Councilresolution 1973, which calls for protecting civilians from attack. That narrow militarymission is distinct, Obama said, from the larger political goal of seeing Gadhafi stepdowna call that Obama himself has repeatedly echoed, along with other majorWestern diplomatic players such as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and FrenchPresident Nicolas Sarkozy. The international community has other non-military tools toachieve that goal, Obama said, such as economic sanctions, diplomatic isolation,international war crimes investigation, and cutting off the Gadhafi regime's access tofinancial assets abroad.

"First of all, I think it is very easy to square our military actions and our stated policies,"Obama said in Chile Monday. "Our military action is in support of an internationalmandate from the UN Security Council that specifically focuses on the humanitarianthreat posed by Gadhafi to his people."

Who is currently commanding the international military coalition?

U.S. African Command (AFRICOM), the U.S. regional military command dealing withthe continent of Africa, and its commander Gen. Carter Ham, are leading the first phaseof what the Pentagon has dubbed "Operation Odyssey Dawn" to suppress Libya's airdefenses to establish a no-fly zone over Libya.

Other early members of the international coalition imposing a no-fly zone over Libyainclude France and the United Kingdom, joined Monday by Belgium and Canada.


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Ham and other Pentagon officials have said the U.S. is eager to turn over the lead role inthe operation to international coalition partners, but as yet the command of the nextphase has not been agreed.

What's really at issue in the dispute over who should command the next phase of the

international mission over Libya?

Put simply, the members of the international coalition are at odds over whether theinternational coalition command should be led by NATO, or not.

The French, Turks, and Germans reportedly object to NATO running the operation, allfor their own reasons. The Italians, the UK, and the United States, among others, thinkthat NATO is best equipped to be able to take swift control of the mission.

"There is not only one problem. Each player has its own perspective, sensitivity,

priority," said one European defense official on condition of anonymity given thesensitivity of the dispute Monday. "You have the weak, the prudent, the strong, theopportunists."

"The problem is, the Italians are calling for it to be a NATO operation, but it's not clearall members of NATO support this," said Anthony Cordesman, a veteran defenseanalyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "It's also clear that theFrench initiated part of this operation. And behind it is the reality that it is only theUnited States that has the combination of satellite targeting and precision strikecapabilities in terms of cruise missiles that are critical to overall command and control

and situational awareness."

Why do the French and others object to a possible NATO command structure?

"There are technical considerations and political ones," said Justin Vaisse, of theBrookings Institution Center for the United States and Europe. Sarkozy has two basicobjection, Vaisse explains: "One, NATO is radioactive in the Arab world and seen as atool of US imperialism. And two, there's also the question of not having Turkey andGermany [who have expressed reservations about the Libya military mission], impede"the international mission in Libya, given that NATO is a consensus organization.

Turkey reportedly resents that French president Sarkozy did not invite Turkish primeminister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to his Paris summit on Libya Saturday with other worldleaders. (The perceived insult is "completely absurd," a French official said, explainingthat the summit was open to any country interested in implementing the Libya UNresolution, and France did not "send 200 invites to all members of the UN." A Turkishofficial said the Ankara would have gladly sent a representative had they been invited.)


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Germany reportedly is not interested in participating in a military mission in Libya, butcould opt-out but approve NATO being otherwise involved.

NATO ambassadors met in Brussels Monday to debate the issue.

When is the command issue likely to be resolved?

U.S. officials insist it has to be resolved soon--"days, not weeks," as Deputy NationalSecurity Advisor for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes said Sunday.

"I would not put a date certain on this," Gen. Carter Ham said Monday. "The first thingthat has got to happen is identification of what that organization is. We have been fromthe start planning how to effect this transition once that follow-on headquarters isestablished. It's not so simple as to have a handshake and say, 'you're now in charge.' "

Does the top U.S. commander worry about mission creep?

"No, I don't worry too much about mission creep," Ham said after a pause Monday. "Ithink the mission is clear, and moving forward and achieving the military objectivesconsistent with our mission."------------------------------U.S., French, British forces expand Libya bombing campaign (LA Times)By Borzou Daragahi, Brian Bennett and Garrett TherolfMarch 20, 2011U.S., French and British forces blasted Libyan air defenses and ground forces, drawing

intense volleys of tracer and antiaircraft fire over Tripoli on Sunday on the second dayof a military campaign that will severely test Moammar Kadafi's powers of survival.

Late Sunday, smoke billowed from Kadafi's massive Bab Azizia residential compoundshortly after an earth-shaking explosion. Rounds of antiaircraft and tracer fire lit up thenight for the third time in less than 24 hours.

Immediately afterward, the streets of the capital erupted with car horns and chantingand celebratory gunfire in a show of support for Kadafi, whose armed loyalists retain atight grip on the streets.

A Libyan military official announced a 9 p.m. cease-fire by the country's armed forces,but U.S. officials scoffed at the declaration.

"Our view at this point is that it isn't true or it's been immediately violated," saidnational security advisor Tom Donilon, briefing reporters in Rio de Janeiro on Sundaynight. "So we'll continue to monitor Kadafi's actions, not just his words."


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After focusing on air defenses in the first hours of the campaign, U.S. and coalitionforces expanded their strikes to include attacks on Libyan ground forces that threatencivilians or are able to shoot down planes enforcing a no-fly zone, a senior U.S. militaryofficial said.

The assault cheered the rebels, who had seized control of large areas of the country asthey sought to build on months of discontent across the Arab world but in recent daysfound themselves retreating in the face of Kadafi's superior firepower.

Kadafi declared he was willing to die defending Libya and, in a statement broadcasthours after the attacks began, condemned what he called "flagrant military aggression."He vowed to strike civilian and military targets in the Mediterranean.

On Sunday morning, Kadafi returned to state television airwaves, vowing, "We will winthe battle," and "oil will not be left to the USA, France and Britain."

"You are transgressors, you are aggressors, you are beasts, you are criminals," Kadafisaid. "Your people are against you, there are demonstrations everywhere in Europe andthe U.S. against this aggression on the innocent Libyan people. The people are with us.Even your people are with us."----------------------------Libyan rebels launch offensive; coalition continues poundingGaddafis forces

(Washington Post)By Sudarsan Raghavan, Peter Finn and William BraniginMarch 21, 5:50 PM

NEAR AJDABIYA, Libya Buoyed by U.S. and allied airstrikes that relieved a siege ofBenghazi, Libyan rebels launched an offensive early Monday aimed at retaking thestrategic city of Ajdabiya, as Western warplanes continued pounding forces loyal tolongtime leader Moammar Gaddafi.

Speaking at a news conference Monday in Santiago, Chile, the latest stop on a Southand Central American trip, President Obama defended his decision to deploy the U.S.military in Libya, saying the international community couldnt simply stand by withempty words in the wake of continued attacks by the Libyan government on its rebels.

Despite the airstrikes, however, Gaddafis forces were digging in outside Ajdabiya,which straddles highways that go north to Benghazi and east across the desert toTobruk.

From a point about five miles from the northern entrance to Ajdabiya, rebels jumpedinto dozens of vehicles and made a massive push toward the city Monday when theyheard jets in the air and the sounds of bombardment. But after about half a mile, the


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rebels came under fire from loyalist tank and mortar shelling and promptly turnedback.

Afterward, rebel commanders said they plan to wait for more allied airstrikes againstGaddafis forces before pushing forward again.

Some Gaddafi opponents were concerned that the coalition has primarily focused onBenghazi even though rebels are holding out against the government in other areas,notably the western city of Misurata, Libyas third largest, where Gaddafis troopslaunched a major assault on the eve of the U.N. vote authorizing the use of force.

Gaddafi forces reportedly made further advances on Monday, with government tanksrolling into the city and attempting to fight their way to the symbolic central square. Atleast 14 people were killed and more than 100 were injured, said a doctor at the hospitalin Misurata who spoke on condition of anonymity because he fears the consequences of

being named.

He said rebel fighters managed to hold onto the square, but Libyan forces had securedcontrol of several neighborhoods, and had positioned snipers on buildings on a mainroad leading through the city, where they were shooting at anyone who moved. Tanksand artillery continued to pound rebel held neighborhoods throughout the day.Overnight, a helicopter attacked the antenna of the local radio station.

What no-fly zone? he asked. I am sure the U.N. has forgotten us.

Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said that Misurata had beenliberated, but that pockets of what he called Islamic extremists who are prepared todie for their cause are continuing to resist government forces.

He said coalition forces had struck a harbor 27 kilometers west of Tripoli on Monday,and the airports in Gaddafis hometown of Sirte and in the southern town of Sabha inearlier strikes. He claimed all these targets were civilian facilities and that manycivilians had been killed. But he had no update to the original number of 48 civilianskilled in the first night of bombing issued by the government.

The Al Jazeera network reported that the rebel-held town of Zintan southwest of Tripolihad also come under heavy bombardment on Monday.

In Stuttgart, Germany, the commander of coalition forces involved in the Libyacampaign, U.S. Army Gen. Carter F. Ham, said the aim now is to extend the U.N.-mandated no-fly zone southward and westward from Benghazi to cover other cities,including Misurata and Tripoli. In doing so, he said, it is likely we will encounter theregimes mobile air defense systems . . . and will certainly attack them.


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Ham said the allied mission was to protect civilians from attack by the regime groundforces and not to provide close air support for the rebels or support opposition forcesif they engage in offensive operations. Obama reiterated that administration positionduring his news conference in Chile.

In a news conference with Pentagon reporters by video hookup, Ham, who heads theU.S. Africa Command, also said the allies are not targeting Gaddafi personally orseeking to destroy the Libyan armed forces. He said the opposition consists of civilianswho are trying to protect their homes and families, as well as military forces with heavyweapons, and he acknowledged that it might be difficult to distinguish between the twoin deciding when civilians are being attacked and thus subject to allied protection.

On Sunday, coalition aircraft roughly half of them American flew about 60 sorties,and there have been 70 or 80 sorties Friday, well over half by planes from other

countries, Ham said. The result has been that Gaddafis forces now possess little willor capability to resume offensive military operations, he said.

Ham defended an attack on Gaddafis compound in Tripoli, saying the large complexincluded air-defense systems and a command-and-control facility, which was the maintarget of the strike. The attack degraded the regimes ability to control its militaryforces in the attack on civilians and thus had a very direct relationship with theallies mission, he said.

He added: I have no mission to attack [Gaddafi], and we are not doing so. We are not

seeking his whereabouts or anything like that.

In Benghazi, Libyas second-largest city, anti-Gaddafi spokesmen said the rebelsultimately still plan to march on Tripoli, the Libyan capital where the 68-year-oldstrongman remains ensconced. Opposition spokesman Ahmed al-Hasi said the rebelswould welcome more airstrikes but want to achieve their aims without the interventionof foreign ground troops, Reuters news agency reported.

New fighting also was reported Monday in the besieged city of Misurata, where rebelshave been battling to hold onto their westernmost stronghold, Arabic languagetelevision networks said. Rebels claimed that the Gaddafi government was bringingcivilians from nearby towns to serve as human shields for his forces laying siege toMisurata, Libyas third-largest city about 130 miles east of Tripoli.

Gaddafi has threatened the West with a long, drawn-out war, but his forces haveoffered no serious military challenge to the establishment of a no-fly zone over hiscountry.


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In remarks broadcast on state television, Gaddafi also denounced foreign forces asNazis and claimed that U.S. and European airstrikes have killed thousands ofcivilians. Allied officials denied that coalition strikes have caused significant civiliancasualties.

We judge these strikes to have been very effective in significantly degrading theregimes air defense capability, Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, director of thePentagons Joint Staff, said Sunday.

If the military gains were clear, the international and domestic political support for theU.N.-authorized campaign seemed to weaken. The Arab League voiced concern aboutcivilian deaths, and leading Republicans demanded clarity on the ultimate goals.

In Moscow, Russian Prime Minister Vladi-mir Putin on Monday condemned the U.N.Security Council resolution that authorized military intervention in Libya, calling it

defective and flawed and saying it resembles medieval calls for crusades. TheSecurity Council adopted the resolution by a 10-0 vote Thursday. Five membersabstained, including Russia and China, which have veto power.

China on Monday stepped up its criticism of the U.S.-led airstrikes against Libya, usingthe Communist Partys main media organs to say the military intervention underminesthe United Nations charter.

"The military attacks on Libya are, following on from the Afghan and Iraq wars, thethird time that some countries have launched armed action against sovereign

countries," said a commentary in the Communist Partys main newspaper, PeoplesDaily.

Obama has declared that Gaddafi must leave, but Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman ofthe Joint Chiefs of Staff and the administrations most visible spokesman Sunday,acknowledged that the outcome of the conflict remains uncertain.

Despite a plume of smoke around one of Gaddafis compounds in Tripoli, U.S. officialssaid that they were not aiming to kill the Libyan leader.

At this point I can guarantee he is not on the target list, Gortney told reporters at thePentagon. We are not targeting his residence.

Air Force B-2 stealth bombers as well as Marine Harrier jets flying from a ship in theMediterranean followed up on the dozens of Tomahawk cruise-missile strikes thatopened the assault on Libya, called Operation Odyssey Dawn. U.S. fighter jets mountedattacks on Libyan soldiers advancing on the rebel-held city of Benghazi as part of a


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broader mission to protect the besieged opposition forces from being overrun, said asenior U.S. military official.

The strikes, which were carried out by 15 U.S. fighter jets as well as French and Britishplanes, left a smoking graveyard of military vehicles outside Benghazi.

We thank the international community for their serious steps to kill this murderer,said an opposition fighter in the rebel capital who gave his name as Adam al-Libi. IfGod is willing, we will win.

The United States also mounted strikes with satellite-guided bombs on an airfieldoutside the coastal city of Misurata, where the Libyan air force maintained fighter jets inhardened shelters. Gaddafi continued to keep the Soviet-era fighters on the ground, andthe United States detected no radar emissions from any of the air defense sites that ithad targeted, military officials said.

The intensity of the attacks startled the 22-member Arab League, which had backed thecreation of a no-fly zone. Secretary General Amr Moussa called an emergency meetingof the organization in the wake of a bombardment that he said led to the deaths andinjuries of many Libyan civilians.

What is happening in Libya differs from the aim of imposing a no-fly zone, and whatwe want is the protection of civilians and not the bombardment of more civilians, saidMoussa, according to Egypts state news agency.

Mullen said he had seen no evidence that the attacks had caused civilian casualties butcharged that Gaddafi had created human shields around radar and missile sites.

The Libyan leader continued voicing defiance and vowed to conduct a long, drawn-out war.

We will not leave our land, and we will liberate it, he said on state television. Wewill remain alive, and you will all die.

Libyas armed forces issued a command to all units to observe an immediate cease-fire,a Libyan army spokesman said. An earlier announcement of a cease-fire proved short-lived.

Republican leaders, who had backed military action and have said they would like tosee Gaddafi fall, criticized the administration, saying the bombing campaign has noclearly defined goal.


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Before any further military commitments are made, the administration must do abetter job of communicating to the American people and to Congress about our missionin Libya and how it will be achieved, said House Speaker John A. Boehner (Ohio).

Asked on CBSs Face the Nation whether the campaign could lead to a stalemate,

Mullen left open the possibility that Gaddafi could remain in power.

Hes a thug. Hes a cagey guy. Hes a survivor. We know that, Mullen said. So itsdifficult to know exactly how it comes out.

Mullen said on NBCs Meet the Press that the campaign would not overtax themilitary, despite the challenges and stress that are presented broadly across the force.Even though the United States has nearly 100,000 ground troops in Afghanistan andclose to 50,000 soldiers in Iraq, the strain on the force in those conflicts has been bornedisproportionately by the Army and Marine Corps. The intervention in Libya has fallen

largely on the Navy and Air Force.

Democrats said Sunday the intervention was designed to be limited and focused onhumanitarian objectives.

The goal of this mission is not to get rid of Gaddafi, and that is not what the U.N.licensed. And I would not call it going to war, Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), chairmanof the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on Meet the Press. This is a verylimited operation that is geared to save lives, and it was specifically targeted on ahumanitarian basis.

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates said the United States would cede command ofthe military operation to allied countries as soon as possible. We expect in a matter ofdays to be able to turn over the primary responsibility to others, said Gates, who spoketo reporters on his military aircraft shortly after he departed Washington for Russia.We will continue to support the coalition, we will be a member of the coalition, we willhave a military role in the coalition, but we will not have the preeminent role.

The question of who would take over the lead responsibility from the United States,however, remained up in the air. Gates said one possibility would be to allow Britainand France to take leadership, while another would be to run the mission under theaegis of NATO, even though some NATO members, including Germany and Turkey,have expressed reservations.

Gates also cautioned that the military operation should not target Gaddafi personally orexceed the mandate approved by the U.N. Security Council. The council has not calledexplicitly for Gaddafis removal, and only France has given official recognition to the


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Libyan rebels. The key is, first of all, to establish the no-fly zone, to do what we can toprevent him from using his military forces to slaughter his own people, Gates said.

This is basically going to have to be resolved by the Libyans themselves, he added.------------------------------

Dislike for QaddafiGives Arabs a Point of Unity (NYT)By MICHAEL SLACKMANMarch 21, 2011CAIRO With his brutal military assault on civilians, and his rantings about spikedNescaf, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi handed many leaders across the Arab world whathad otherwise eluded them: A chance to side with the people while deflecting attentionfrom their own citizens call for democracy, political analysts around the region said.And they really do not like him.

Even Arab leaders most critical of the United States intervention in the Middle East

have reluctantly united behind the military intervention in Libya. That has given aboost to Arab leaders in places like Saudi Arabia who are at the same moment workingto silence political opposition in their backyards.

The Arab street reaction to the Western attacks on Libya has been warm, said HilalKhasan, chairman of the department of political studies at American University ofBeirut. This is not Iraq.

It is another disorienting twist in this season of upheaval in the Arab world. A fierceresentment about a legacy of Western intervention, fed by historical memories of

colonialism and present-day anger at the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, has givenway to a belief that the Libyan rebels desperately needed help that only the West couldfully provide. The apparent hypocrisy of repressive Arab leaders endorsing militaryaction against a repressive Qaddafi government did not escape many Arabs.

I see hypocrisy in everything the Arab leaders do, and Im talking as a person of theArab world, said Randa Habib, a political commentator in Jordan. I wanted them totake such a decision. There were too many people being killed in Libya. That man iscuckoo.

This new and unpredictable tone seemed to partly explain the flip-flopping of AmrMoussa, the longtime secretary general of the Arab League who plans to run for theEgyptian presidency. Last week, the Arab League asked the United Nations to impose ano-fly zone in Libya, largely on humanitarian grounds. On Sunday, Mr. Moussa saidmilitary action there had gone too far. But he repeated his contention that the no-flyzone could not have been imposed were it not for the Arab League.


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We respect the no-fly zone, and there is no conflict with it, he said, in a clarificationthat was seen in Egypt, given his political ambitions, as an overt acknowledgment of thepublic support for the actions in Libya. A day earlier Mr. Moussa had appeared to backaway from support for the military intervention.

In a way, the Arab League is trying to follow the sentiment of the Arab street, saidShafeeq Ghabra, a political science professor at Kuwait University. The street is nowmore in control. If we ever had an Arab street, this is the moment.

Many experts noted that that was itself a remarkable turn of events, given that theleague had long been a special-interest group for the very leaders who had beenpressed by their people to allow democratic change. At the very moment of the vote,some of those leaders were repressing their own citizens calls for that change,especially in the Persian Gulf, where Saudi troops rolled into Bahrain to help crush apopular uprising.

I dont think the Arab League has any kind of legitimacy, said Muhammad al-Masry,a researcher at the Center for Strategic Studies in Amman, Jordan. But, he added, Ithink the Arab leaders should have taken this decision through the Arab League.

In an article titled The Lesser of Two Evils, in the Egyptian daily newspaper Shorouk,the commentator Fahmy Howeidy said that the Western bombing runs on Libya wereshocking and agonizing for us. He added, We did not wish to stand and watchairstrikes being directed against any Arab country.

And yet, Mr. Masry wrote, the practices of the forces of Colonel Qaddafi have becomean aggression against the right to life itself, adding with a degree of resigned regret,We dream of the day where the Arab regime is able to defend the Arab people, butthat day remains elusive.

There is arguably no Arab leader besides Colonel Qaddafi who might have been able tounite much of the region against him all at once though Algeria and Syria did notagree with the no-fly zone and empower the much-maligned Arab League, which isan institution often mocked by Arab commentators for failing to carry out itspronouncements. It was clear that those backing the no-fly zone, the analysts said,especially the king of Saudi Arabia and the emir of Qatar, most likely drew personalsatisfaction from the effort to push Colonel Qaddafi from power, though they did notsay so.

This is not related actually to Qaddafis attitude to his people or the way he is rulingLibya, Mr. Masry said. It is related to his attitude. He was very unpredictable.


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Saudi animosity runs deep. In 2004, Colonel Qaddafi was accused of being directlyinvolved in a plot to assassinate King Abdullah, who was then the crown prince. Thenin 2009, Colonel Qaddafi embarrassed the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, and infuriated King Abdullah, during an Arab summit meeting in Doha, Qatar.

Colonel Qaddafi first denounced King Abdullah as a British product and Americanally, concluding by calling him a liar. When Sheikh Hamad tried to quiet him, hesaid, I am an international leader, the dean of Arab rulers, the king of kings of Africaand imam of Muslims, and my international status does not allow me to descend to alower level.

At that point the sound was cut on the television broadcast and Colonel Qaddafistormed out of the room, leaving a memory that surely made it easier for those leadersto endorse the no-fly zone, political analysts said.

Ms. Habib, the political commentator, said, He had no friends in the Arab world.--------------------------Medvedev, Putin Clash Over Libya (Wall Street Journal)By GREGORY L. WHITEMarch 22, 2011MOSCOW The Western-led military action in Libya provoked a rare public split inRussia's ruling tandem Monday, as President Dmitry Medvedev appeared to scold hispatron, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, for publicly criticizing the effort.

Dressed in a fur-trimmed leather bomber jacket embroidered with the words

"Commander in Chief" in Russian, Mr. Medvedev defended his decision not to veto theUnited Nations Security Council resolution authorizing the action and warned critics towatch their words.

"It's absolutely unacceptable to use phrases that in effect lead to conflict betweencivilizations, such as 'crusades,' and the like," he said.

He was speaking just hours after Mr. Putin, speaking to workers at a missile factory incentral Russia, criticized the U.N. resolution, saying, "the whole thing reminds me ofsome kind of medieval call to the crusades."

Officials denied any split between the two leaders.

"He was expressing his personal opinion," said a spokesman for Mr. Putin. "The onlypoint of view that matters for foreign policy is the president's."

In Russia, No Love


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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin: 'The Security Council resolution is flawed, itallows everything and is reminiscent of a medieval call for a crusade.In fact, it allowsintervention in a sovereign state.'

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev: 'It's absolutely unacceptable to use phrases that in

effect lead to conflict between civilizations, such as 'crusades,' and the like.'

A Kremlin official also played down any tensions. While the public airing of differencesis "unpleasant," he said, "the tandem is still solid."

Russia's main state television channels carried only Mr. Medvedev's comments in theirevening newscasts, including no mention of Mr. Putin's earlier words.

Still, politicians and analysts leapt on the comments as evidence of a split withinRussia's ruling tandem, where the more-popular Mr. Putin is widely viewed as the

stronger partner.

Fyodor Lukyanov, a prominent foreign-policy analyst, said the comments reflect"fundamentally different positions, expressed clearly without any effort to smooth theedges." Mr. Putin has been more skeptical of Western intentions generallyhe singledout the U.S. for criticism Monday for alleged interventionismwhile Mr. Medvedevhas sought to rebuild ties with Washington and Europe.

"Either they didn't consult Mr. Putin or his point of view wasn't taken into account," Mr.Lukyanov added.

Mark Urnov, dean of the political-science department at the Higher School ofEconomics in Moscow, told the Interfax news agency, "For Medvedev, the West is anally. For Putin, it's something alarming."

.Though the two rarely disagree publicly, Messrs. Putin and Medvedev have hadsimilar rhetorical clashes in the past. They have usually been smoothed over quickly.

"This is turning into a trend," said a senior legislator from the ruling party. "I'm not surethere are cracks in the tandem, but we knew there were differences."

The unusual public back-and-forth came as U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is inRussia for meetings with top Russian officials.

In a speech at a military academy in St. Petersburg early Tuesday, he encouragedofficers and Russian leaders to find ways for Moscow to cooperate in multilateralcoalitions, touting the benefits of international coalitions in the Balkans and now Libya.


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While Russia has ruled out participating in the Libya campaign, U.S. officials havehailed Moscow's decision not to use its veto power on the U.N. resolution last week butto abstain as a sign of improving relations.

U.S. officials said they were reassured when Mr. Medvedev seemed to disavow his

prime minister's critical comments. They said the difference in approach was morelikely to be driven by domestic politics in Russia than a sign of a significant splitbetween the two.--------------------------INTERVIEW-Liberia's Sirleaf warns on Ivory Coast (Reuters)By Simon AkamMarch 21, 2011 8:07pm GMTMONROVIA - Ivory Coast's descent into violence risks wiping out hard-won securitygains in West Africa unless a post-election power struggle is resolved, LiberianPresident Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf told Reuters on Monday.

"We're already at war. We hope there will not be an escalation of war," she said in aninterview in her office in Liberia's capital Monrovia.

"It's a serious threat to the stability of Liberia, and I might say to the stability of allneighbouring countries."

Liberia is recovering from years of civil war between 1998 and 2003 and is struggling tocope with some 90,000 Ivorian refugees who have poured across the border since adispute over a November presidential vote turned violent.

The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) appealed for $46 million in aid in mid-January butwith the focus of world attention on the conflict in Libya and the earthquake andtsunami disaster in Japan, said earlier this month barely $5 million had come.

"The U.N. has put out an appeal but the response has been very slow and inadequate,"Johnson-Sirleaf said."There was a lot of attention to the Ivory Coast before the situation in Libya and theMiddle East," she said. "The crisis in Ivory Coast slipped off the radar."

While Liberians initially strove to accommodate refugees, there are now too many ofthem, Johnson-Sirleaf said, warning local infrastructure and food supplies were strainedand fearing that arms could cross the border into her country.

"It could easily ignite tensions between the two that have been in conflict before," shesaid of refugee and host communities.

"BETTER THAN THEM"


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Around 400 Ivorians have died and hundreds of thousands have fled their homes in adispute over a Nov. 28 presidential vote which U.N.-certified results showed was wonby Alassane Ouattara, a rival to incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo.

Gbagbo, who has the backing of the army, says the results were rigged and has refusedto quit, pointing to a decision to reverse Ouattara's win by the country's ConstitutionalCouncil, headed by a long-standing Gbagbo ally.

Dressed in her trademark headwrap, Johnson-Sirleaf said a presidential electionscheduled in Liberia for later this year added another ingredient to a volatile politicalcocktail.

"We have our own political tensions escalated with the upcoming election, " she said."This could be used as an excuse by those who would like to see our country

destabilised."Citing the need for continuity, she defended her decision to run for another six-yearterm at the age of 72 against critics who suggest she is too old to stand.

"The task of rebuilding proved to be a bit more difficult that we had anticipated," shesaid. "(But) I work harder than they do; I do more than they do," she said. "I'm equal toor better than any of them."-----------------------Security clampdown stifles Sudan protests (AFP)By Unattributed Author

March 21, 2011KHARTOUM Security fears and a heavy deployment of riot police in Khartoum andother northern Sudan cities on Monday prevented planned anti-regime protests frommaterialising, activists and witnesses said.

Police trucks were positioned in city centres and around university campuses fromearly in the day, after Facebook group Youth for Change called for peaceful, nationwiderallies against the regime of President Omar al-Bashir.

The organisers, encouraged by events in Tunisia and Egypt and seeking to buildmomentum after thousands took to the streets of north Sudan on January 30, accuse thegovernment of a long list of failures.

These include rampant corruption, failing to prevent the secession of the south, risingprices and the eight-year conflict in Darfur, as well as 40 percent youth unemploymentand human rights abuses by the security forces.


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In Wad Medani, a town 200 kilometres (125 miles) south of Khartoum, a group ofaround 200 students and civilians responded to the call, witnesses said, marchingthrough the centre shouting: "We want freedom," and "We want regime change."

But riot police fired tear gas to disperse the demonstrators and made a number of

arrests, the witnesses said.

Protesters chanting similar slogans at Khartoum's main bus station were also scatteredby riot police who used tear gas and beat them with sticks.

Earlier, police vehicles surrounded the Islamic University of Omdurman, while pro-government Islamist students at a rally at Khartoum University labelled those trying toorganise the demonstrations "atheists" and agents of the United States and Israel.

Witnesses also reported a large security deployment in the centre of El-Obeid, a city

around 600 kilometres (370 miles) west of Khartoum, with police trucks surroundingthe university.

Officials in the ruling National Congress Party said there were no demonstrations inKhartoum because the government had initiated dialogue with the opposition and wascommitted to implementing reforms.

"The situation in Sudan is different from Egypt and Tunisia," said NCP officialMandour al-Mahdi.

But activists said the protesters failed to mobilise because of security fears and themovement's lack of organisation.

"It is because of the police presence, and because people are afraid of the nationalsecurity attacking them," said Mohammed, 24, an activist who was arrested at one ofthe protests in January.

"Also there is no leadership. It is not an organised group," he added.

Human rights observers accuse Sudan's feared national security officials, who havearrested scores of demonstrators since January, of sexually abusing and torturingactivists detained in recent protests.--------------------------Kisangani: Mwando Simba impressed with the Base Camp food project and theLukusa Camp rehabilitation (Radio Okapi) Translated from FrenchBy Unattributed AuthorMarch 20, 2011


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On Saturday, The Defense Minister, Charles Mwando Simba, on a work mission inKisangani in Orientale Province, visited the training center at Camp Lukusa which is inrehabilitation and same citys Base Camp. He welcomed, in particular, the food projectin progress at Camp Base that he wants to see in other military camps in the country aspart of the reform of the Congolese Army. Minister Mwando was accompanied by

Roger Meece, the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the UN in the DRC.

The two officials visited Camp Lukusas training center which is being rehabilitatedwith funding from the Canadian and the British governments worth some 15 millionU.S. dollars.

They also visited the Camp Base where the dorms are also undergoing fullrehabilitation thanks to U.S. government funding.

Mwando Simba particularly welcomed Camp Bases food self-sufficiency project which

includes farm activities on tens of hectares cultivated by military trainees, fish farmingand animal husbandry.

"The reforms goal is food self-sufficiency. This is really the model that must befollowed in other camps. Here, it is already an advanced project, "said the CongoleseMinister of Defense.

According to the special representative of the Secretary General of the UN in the DRC,Roger Meece, the United Nations organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC(UNOSMDRC) reiterates its commitment to mobilizing the resources to support the

efforts of the Congolese government in reforming the army.

A few weeks ago, I stressed to the Security Council the importance of strengtheningthe efforts to help the Armed Forces of the DRC (AFDRC) to improve professionalismand to develop its infrastructure. We also continue to help mobilize the resources thatmay maintain and even increase the level of this activity, "said the UNOSMDRC Chief.--------------------Bangladeshi woman's pirate hijack ordeal (BBC)By Unattributed AuthorMarch 21, 2011Every day prior to the hijacking I took a nap after lunch. But on the fateful day - 6December - I could not sleep for some unknown reason.

Suddenly the fire alarm rang. It did so for a long time and nobody stopped it. Then fearran down my spine. I suspected something ominous was going to happen.

After a long while my husband, who is the ship's chief engineer, came from the engineroom and informed me that pirates had attacked us. He said that they were not


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successful in their first attempt and had left. But again the fire alarm started ringing anda ripple of fear ran through me.

My husband took me on the bridge of the six-decked ship. We saw six heavily-armedpirates with bandoliers [broad belts] climbed up to board it. We all lay down on the

deck. Later another boat of pirates came - around 15 to 16 of them took control of theship.

We spent much of the night on the floor. At midnight, the leader of the pirates gave mea pillow and a blanket from one of the cabins.

It was the month of December and it was severely cold at night. Everyone wasshivering but I could not really feel the cold because fear of losing my life gripped meand I was also afraid of being dishonoured.

When the crew members of our ship wanted to go to the toilet, they were all friskedbefore they were allowed to go. I thought that they would do the same to me.

They threatened to kill my husband on two occasions.

'Gun to the head'

When an Indian ship approached us, the pirates threatened all of us with death if wetried secretly to communicate with it. They ordered my husband to communicate withthe vessel and tell it to move back.

On another day they threatened to kill my husband because for some technical reasonthe ship was not moving fast enough. They held a gun to the back of his head andordered him to make it go faster.

They gave me a cabin seven days later. Twelve days later they gave us the opportunityto talk to our families. But I was so upset that I could not talk to my family at that time.

The couple were in captivity for months One month later, after I cried a lot, the leader ofthe pirates gave me a chance to talk to my family again.

Everyday we recited the Koran and prayed five times. Some of our captives showed alittle sympathy to us for being Muslims.

Sometimes they told us that we were going to be released soon. Sometimes they used tofire indiscriminately. They had huge amounts of ammunition. We had food for threemonths when we left Singapore.


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But it quickly ran out because they shared our food. Later they used to bring goats, rice,potatoes and pulses for us and for themselves.

I have sailed a lot in my life and never before had I experienced any difficulties. That iswhat made this trip quite unnatural.

I do not want to sail anymore. Now I am leading a free life. When my relatives came tomeet me, I could not hold back my tears for joy and happiness.

Over the last three months, I was beginning to think that I would never set foot on landagain, I thought that my body would be buried in the water. Always I was preoccupiedwith morbid thoughts.

Sometimes they talked about how they had hijacked another ship.

They took us to hide in four places in Somalia. In one place, we saw 10 ships hijackedby the Somali pirates. Sometimes we saw helicopters and naval ships but none of themwould come near us.------------------------------------UN News Service Africa BriefsFull Articles on UN Website

UN peace-building body seeks more backing from Member States, UN leadership21 March The General Assembly today discussed the United Nations PeacebuildingCommission, which seeks to prevent post-conflict countries from lapsing back into

bloodshed, with its outgoing chairman calling for greater support from the UNleadership and Member States.

Darfur: UN-backed mediation team reports progress on peace draft21 March The African Union-United Nations chief mediator for Darfur and his Qataripartner plan to call an all-party conference next month to launch a bid to achieve a finalpeace agreement for the Sudanese region, which has been torn by almost eight years ofdevastating civil war.

In North Africa, Ban urges world community to speak with one voice on Libya

21 March The international community must continue to speak with one voice on

the unfolding developments in Libya, or the humanitarian situation in the NorthAfrican country will only worsen, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned today duringhis visit to the region.

Africas urbanization outpaces capacity to provide water, sanitation UN

21 March The number of people without access to adequate water and sanitationfacilities in Africa has risen swiftly in recent decades as the continents rapid


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urbanization outpaced its capacity to provide the essential services, two United Nationsagencies said in report released today.

Security Council voices outrage at deadly shelling ofIvorian market21 March The Security Council has expressed its indignation at the deadly shelling of

a market in Cte dIvoires commercial capital and warned that it will punish anyonewho obstructs the resolution of the countrys prolonged post-election crisis.

africom related news clips 22 march, 2011

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