Somalia: Heads of Govt to Debate Nation's Future
[African Arguments]
If I were a Somali I would thank Allah for the pirates. For more than 20 years the world has stood by while successive civil wars destroyed the country, killing hundreds of thousands of people by bullets, disease and starvation and reducing what was once a prosperous land to a war zone. But the seizure of more than 200 ships by kids with guns in small craft has changed all that.
Somalia: London Conference 'An Opportunity' for Somaliland
[IRIN]
Hargeisa -
More than two decades after it unilaterally asserted its independence from the rest of Somalia, Somaliland plans to lobby hard at a major conference in London in February for something it has sorely lacked since its inception: international recognition of its sovereignty.
Angola: News Group Launches Online Campaign Against CNN
[Maka]
Maka Angola has just launched an online campaign petitioning CNN International to stop accepting advertisement from the corrupt Angolan regime of President Dos Santos.
Africa: Global Leaders Promote Technology to Advance Sustainable Growth
[State Department]
Washington -
More than 400 global policymakers, development chiefs and technology leaders have gathered in California for a three-day conference to discuss using connection technologies, like the Web and mobile phones, to advance sustainable development in the fields of health, the environment, agriculture and economic growth.
Somalia: The State of an American Citizen Held in Somalia Is Worsening
[Shabelle]
Galka'yo -
The health situation of an American national who also held a German passport kidnapped recently in central Somalia by unknown gunmen is worsening day after day, a colleague said on Sunday.
Africa: Has the Nobel Peace Prize Lost Its Way?
[iMaverick]
Nominations for this year's Nobel Peace Prize closed last week. However, Nobel officials are facing an investigation into the view that their recent awards have lost sight of Alfred Nobel's original intentions.
Tanzania: Top U.S. Diplomat Leads Energy Investors' Visit to Dar
[East African]
Executives of some leading US energy companies are scheduled to arrive in Tanzania on February 8 to explore opportunities for investing in power-generation and fuel-supply projects, a State Department official said on Saturday.
Zimbabwe: Beware of Uncle Sam's Motive
[The Herald]
The US Ambassador's instalment in The Herald of 20 January, 2012 calling for Americans and Zimbabweans to dialogue or brainstorm on how to improve their relations raises interesting questions. As one carries out a critical analysis and evaluation of the article, it seems to portray the ambassador as a merchant of dialogue.
Cote d'Ivoire: Reinsertion of Internally Displaced People
[U.S. Embassy Abidjan]
A report in the weekend issue of Fraternite Matin (p. 5) said that the government has launched a vast program designed to help internally displaced persons return home. According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Daniel Kablan Duncan, the program will cost the government 67 billion FCFA (about US $135 million) that will be used for the reinsertion of the internally displaced persons by helping them set up small businesses.
Cote d'Ivoire: Pro-Gbagbo Supporter Calls for Dialogue With the New Government
[U.S. Embassy Abidjan]
"The opposition must accept the olive branch offered by the government," Fraternite Matin (p. 1) quotes Laurent Dona-Fologo, a leading member of the pro-Gbagbo CNRD coalition as saying in an interview. Dona-Fologo also called on the leadership of the CNRD "to establish relations" with the new government, adding that "one cannot stop loving one's country because one is no longer in power." Dona-Fologo, who is also the first vice-president of the CNRD, further said: "Being in the opposition does not mean tha
Cote d'Ivoire: The State of Security in the Nation
[U.S. Embassy Abidjan]
A report in the weekend issue of Fraternite Matin (p. 4) said that the army will dismantle militia groups that continue to operate in Tiassale and Sikensi. "We cannot authorize militia camps to be set up or people who are not allowed to hold guns to be moving freely on the national territory," the paper quotes Paul Koffi Koffi, the Minister in charge of Defense as saying during a visit to the two towns located north of Abidjan.
Cote d'Ivoire: UN to Certify December 11 Parliamentary Elections
[U.S. Embassy Abidjan]
"Koenders will certify the legislative elections," says an article in Fraternite Matin (p. 7). According to the paper, the head of the UN Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI), Bert Koenders, held a meeting Friday with the head of the Independent Electoral Commission, Youssouf Bakayoko and the President of the Constitutional Council, Francis Vangah Wodie.
Cote d'Ivoire: Speculation On Relations Between President Ouattara and His Prime Minister
[U.S. Embassy Abidjan]
Le Nouveau Reveil (p. 1) carries a picture of President Alassane Ouattara and Prime Minister Soro Guillaume with a prominent headline reading "Is there any problem between Ouattara and Soro?" The paper (p. 3) echoes rumors suggesting that "Soro might have sought refuge in the central city of Bouake or Yamoussoukro" in a bid "to escape a possible arrest and transfer to The Hague," where former president Laurent Gbagbo is facing trial in connection with crimes committed in Cote d'Ivoire during last year's po
Cote d'Ivoire: U.S. Extends Decision to Freeze Ivorian Stakeholders' Assets
[U.S. Embassy Abidjan]
Fraternite Matin (p. 4) reported that President Obama has extended the decision to freeze the assets of pro-Gbagbo youth leaders Charles Ble Goude and Eugene Djue and ex-New Forces warlord Martin Kouakou Fofie. According to the report, the three people have been accused of blocking the peace process in Cote d'Ivoire since 2006.
Zambia: Kabwe Floods Worry U.S. Embassy Chief
[Times of Zambia]
DEPUTY Chief of Mission at the United States of America (US) embassy Stephen Schwartz has expressed concern over continued floods being experienced in some parts of Kabwe.
Tunisia: Ambassador to Tour U.S. to Promote Investment
[Tunisia Live]
The Tunisian ambassador to the US, Mohamed Salah Tekaya, will be participating in a roadshow to promote investment in Tunisia from the 13th to the 17th of February in three different American cities: Chicago, Atlanta and Houston.
Liberia: VP Boakai - U.S. Remains Nation's Most Important Ally
[Heritage]
Vice President Joseph Nyuma Boakai says the United States of America (USA) remains Liberia's most important ally. According to a press statement issued in Monrovia Monday, February 6, 2012, VP Boakai said the Liberian government and people cherish the long standing ties and relationship between the two countries.
Africa: Time to Close Guantanamo Prison
[Daily Trust]
Camp Delta, the controversial military base operated by the United States military in Cuba's Guantanamo Bay, recently marked the tenth anniversary of its conversion to a detention centre for terrorism suspects.
Uganda: Kiwanuka Helps Giants Win Super Bowl Xlvi
[Monitor]
Kampala -
When things seem out of sorts, we always try to source for some inspiration elsewhere. And what a way to share in delight of one American's glory! And we are good at that - trying at all costs to identify with anyone with a slightest linkage to Uganda.
Cote d'Ivoire: State-Owned Paper Fraternite Matin Receives State-of-the-Art Equipment
[U.S. Embassy Abidjan]
According to Fraternite Matin (p. 16) President Alassane Ouattara recently offered state-of-the-art equipment to the pro-government daily. The press and printing machines were handed over recently. "This new equipment will increase our competitiveness in the sector," the paper reported Mrs. Zunon Kipre as saying during the site visit yesterday by Ivorian Minster of Communication Souleimane Diakite Coty.
Cote d'Ivoire: The World Bank to Support Youth Employment and the Country's Post-Crisis Reconstruction
[U.S. Embassy Abidjan]
The World Bank is committed to supporting youth employment and the Ivorian government in its efforts to rehabilitate the country's infrastructure. According to Le Patriote (p. 4), the announcement was made by World Bank official Emmanuel Noubisse in the course of an interview with the UN radio channel ONUCI FM. According to Mr. Noubissie, the rehabilitation of infrastructure, the health and education sectors, together with youth employment are the major areas the World Bank support will focus on. It is a t
Cote d'Ivoire: Hundreds of Former Combatants Surrender Weapons in Abobo
[U.S. Embassy Abidjan]
According to Le Nouveau Courrier (p. 3), an operation designed by the COMNAT-ALPC - an Ivorian civic group fighting the proliferation of small weapons - was recently organized in Abobo, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Abidjan where heavy fighting was reported during the political crisis. According the daily, a total of 231 people came in to surrender their weapons, a turnout the paper qualified as low in view of figures on arms proliferation in this area.
Cote d'Ivoire: Papers Say Individuals Recently Arrested By Liberian Police for Allegedly Plotting a Coup in Cote d'Ivoire Have Links With Pro-Gbagbo Groups
[U.S. Embassy Abidjan]
According to an article in L'Inter (p. 4), individuals recently arrested by Liberian law enforcement agents for allegedly recruiting mercenaries in a bid to destabilize Cote d'Ivoire have close links with pro-Gbagbo groups. Citing an insider recently interviewed by the French wire service RFI, the paper noted that some dignitaries of the former ruling regime currently in exile in neighboring Ghana have been engaged in the recruitment of armed bands in the sub-region to launch attacks in Cote d'Ivoire. Gbag
Cote d'Ivoire: Ivorian Political Class Divided Over the Constitutional Council's Decision to Overturn Results of Some Parliamentary Elections
[U.S. Embassy Abidjan]
The recent decision by the Constitutional Council to overturn results of the parliamentary elections in 11 constituencies continued to be reported on. An article in Fraternite Matin (p. 5) noted that the move has triggered mixed reactions among the Ivorian political class. Thus, according to the daily, Mr. Mabri Toikeuse, the leader of the UDPCI (Union pour la Democratie et la Paix en Cote d'Ivoire) and also Minister of Planning and Development, said he was upset by the Council's decision. "I am surprised
Egypt: Clinton Remarks On Syria, Egypt At Munich Security Conference
[State Department]
Munich -
At the Munich Security Conference
Somalia: Somali-American Admits in Minneapolis Federal Court to Sending Money, People
[Shabelle]
Minneapolis -
A Somali-American man admitted Monday that he helped raise money so others could travel from Minnesota to join the terror group al-Shabab in Somalia, and that he sent money to Somalia so one of those travelers could buy a firearm. Ahmed Hussein Mahamud, 27, of Westerville, Ohio, pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
Somalia: USAID Assistant Administrator Lindborg On Famine in Country
[State Department]
U.S. Agency for International Development
Africa: Amb. Milovanovic On Her New Role As Chair of Kimberley Process
[State Department]
ON-THE-RECORD BRIEFING
East Africa: Currencies Rally Against the Dollar - Tanzania Shilling Gaining Strength
[EA Business]
Dar es Salaam -
The shilling sustained its position relatively well against the US dollar in January as demand continued to be well supported by supply.
East Africa: Currencies Rally Against the Dollar - Kampala Bureaus in Low Forex Demand
[EA Business]
Kampala -
The US Dollar was by the close of last week on a downward trend as its demand dwindled among traders and importers.