Africa Center for Strategic Studies 

Media Review for July 7, 2011

Ambassador Rice leads U.S. group to South Sudan independence ceremony
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice is leading a U.S. delegation to Juba for Saturday's ceremonies marking the independence of South Sudan, the White House said Wednesday. CNN

 

Tribal, rebel violence kills 2,300 in South Sudan: UN
More than 2,300 south Sudanese have died in tribal and rebel violence this year, the United Nations said on Thursday, in an ominous reminder of the insecurity of the region in its final days before independence. Reuters

 

As It Emerges as a Nation, South Sudan Extends the Clout of Its Neighbor Uganda
South Sudan's independence celebrations on Saturday will not only usher in the world's newest country, they may also be a coronation of its southern neighbor, Uganda, as a cresting regional influence. In the last two decades, Uganda has helped bring three surrounding governments to power - here, in Rwanda and in Congo. In Somalia, it has dispatched thousands of troops to preserve another. And for southern Sudan, Uganda has been nothing short of a life-support system. The New York Times

 

North Sudan army completes dismissal of southern members
North Sudan army known as the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) will today finalize dismissal of its South Sudanese members as their region prepares to declare independence on Saturday. North Sudan has been phasing out southerners from public institutions since they voted almost unanimously to secede in a referendum held at the start of this year. The plebiscite was the climax of the 2005's Comprehensive Peace Agreement which ended more than two decades of north-south civil war. Sudan Tribune

 

Darfur peace agreement to be signed on 14 July
A peace agreement between the Sudanese government and the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) is to be signed on Thursday 14 July, Sudan Tribune has learnt. On the other hand, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) is expected to decide on its participation in the peace process after a meeting with the Joint Chief Mediator Djirbil Bassole on 10 July. Sudan Tribune

 

In Somali terror suspect's case, administration blends military, civilian systems
In transferring a Somali terrorism suspect to federal court after two months of interrogation aboard a U.S. Navy ship, the Obama administration is crafting a detention policy that blends civilian and military options for handling captured foreign militants. The Washington Post

 

GOP Leader Blasts Obama's Handling Of Somali Terror Suspect
The Senate Republican leader on Wednesday accused the Obama administration of undermining U.S. national security by bringing a Somali man facing terrorism charges to New York for trial. In a speech on the Senate floor, Sen. Mitch McConnell assailed the administration's decision, arguing that the Somali citizen - Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame - belongs at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he could be tried by a military tribunal. The Huffington Post

 

Libyan rebels launch dual offensive
Libyan rebels have launched an apparently co-ordinated two-pronged offensive against pro-Gaddafi forces, striking from bases in the western mountains south-west of Tripoli and from the besieged city of Misrata, 130 miles to the east. Fighters from Misrata began their biggest offensive in six weeks on Wednesday aimed at breaking the ring of government forces at the town of Zlitan, on the road to the Libyan capital. The Guardian

 

Libyan rebels seize key western town
Rebels in Libya's western mountains have advanced a dozen kilometres, seizing a town in another step towards securing a key north-south road that would open the way to the capital, Tripoli. The rebels wrested the town of al-Qawalish from forces loyal to leader Muammar Gaddafi after a a roughly six-hour battle on Wednesday. Al Jazeera

 

US Senate drops Libya resolution to focus on national debt
The US Senate hastily dropped plans to vote Tuesday on a symbolic resolution authorising the US role in Libya amid a Republican insurrection to demand action instead on the national debt. The Telegraph

 

Lord's Resistance Army killed dozens in DR Congo last month
The rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) killed 26 persons in 53 separate attacks on villages in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) last month, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported today. UN

 

Nigeria: Fayemi's thrust for transparency
Kayode Fayemi, Governor of Ekiti State, made history on July 4, when he signed into law a bill domesticating the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act in his state. And by domesticating the law, it became operational and effective in that state, and therefore an official instrument of the state's policy and its policy formulation. [...]The Ekiti governor is a Fellow of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Ibadan, Adjunct Professor of Security Studies at the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies. He was also a Visiting Professor in the African Studies Programme at Northwestern University, Evanston, USA in 2004. Daily Independant

 

Jonathan Chooses Continuity With New Nigerian Cabinet
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan's new government began work this week with many of the same ministers as his previous Cabinet. Jonathan said Nigerian Cabinet ministers come and go too quickly before some of them even learn how to do their job. So he is returning much of the Cabinet from his previous government. VOA

 

Technology, Social Media, and Nigeria's Elections
Judith Asuni of Academic Associates Peaceworks and Jacqueline Farris of the Shehu Musa Yar'Adua Foundation have recently released a comprehensive report, "Tracking Social Media: the Social Media Tracking Centre and the 2011 Nigerian Election," where they attempt to evaluate the impact of social media and information communication technologies such as mobile phones, SMS, Facebook, and Twitter on Nigeria's recent elections. The Council on Foreign Relations

 

Zimbabwe parties agree on path to new elections
Senators met with service chiefs in camera on Tuesday to discuss the Boko Haram onslaught claiming lives and property in the North, particularly in Kaduna, Maiduguri, Borno, and Bauchi, where the police have attacked the hideout of the jihadists. But Boko Haram piled on the terror on Tuesday in Maiduguri, killing seven persons, including two policemen, one soldier, one Customs officer, and three civilians. Times Live

 

Algeria says U.S. accusation of human trafficking "baseless"
Head of Algerian National Advisory Commission For Human Rights Protection And Promotion (CNCPPDH) Farouk Ksentini, described the U.S. report which put Algeria in the list of human trafficking violators, as "exaggerating," and a hassle to the North African's reputation. Xinhua

 

Morocco: Reforming the Constitution, Fragmenting Identities
Most Moroccans applaud-and rightly so-the bold decision of King Mohamed VI to include in the preamble of the newly proposed constitution the official recognition of Tamazight as a state language alongside Arabic, the first official acknowledgement of Amazigh (Berber) identity on a constitutional level in a North African country. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

 

Mauritanian army on alert after al-Qaeda attack
Mauritanian soldiers patrolled the town of Bassiknou on Wednesday after al-Qaeda-linked extremists attacked a nearby army base which houses an anti-terrorist unit, a military source said. Mail and Guardian

 

Rape: Silence and impunity persists in Africa
Close to 500,000 cases of rape are recorded each year in Cameroon. Like a number of countries on the African continent, the victims are forced into silence, while the perpetrators go free due to a lack of evidence. Radio Netherland

 

Franklin Graham on why Sudan unites evangelicals and Hollywood liberals
Before hopping a plane to Sudan tonight, the Christian leader and son of iconic Evangelical Billy Graham talked to Foreign Policy about his work in the African nation, why the American Evangelical community is so passionate about it, and what he plans to tell President Omar al-Bashir when he meets with him. Foreign Policy

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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.
 
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