U.S. Army Africa sponsors security cooperation conference
Nearly 150 military and civilian personnel representing organizations from throughout Africa, Europe and the U.S. participated in U.S. Army Africa's Theater Army Security Cooperation Conference held Aug. 29 to Sept. 2. The Office of Security Cooperation, Defense Attach� Office and USARAF personnel working in more than 30 African nations took part in the conference. Additionally, U.S. Air Force, Army Reserve and National Guard staff took part in the conference along with Soldiers and civilians from several major U.S. military commands. US Army Africa

US pulls back from lead role in conflicts: IISS
A war-weary US will increasingly look for regional solutions to regional problems, playing a secondary "enabling" role in conflicts similar to the one it played in Libya, says an influential think-tank. Times Live

Security fears in troubled Sahel as Libya fighters return
The return of hundreds of armed, war-hardened fighters who backed ousted Libyan strongman Moamer Kadhafi has sparked security fears in the Sahel, which is already battling extremist violence. Observers fear the combatants could further destabilise the desert region plagued by Al-Qaeda violence, drug trafficking and a history of Tuareg uprisings. Haarevu

Special Report: Afghan heroin traffickers targeting Tanzania, East Africa
East African countries, particularly Tanzania, have been receiving more Afghan heroin flows, as the continent of Africa at large emerges as a conducive drugs trafficking route to Europe, North America and other parts of the world. The revelation has been made in a report released recently by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which says that drug traffickers, faced with tough restrictions to transit through Asia and Middle East, have turned Africa into their preferred station for heroin shipment to Europe and elsewhere. The Citizen

Libyan army convoys flee across Sahara carrying looted cash and gold
The hunt for Muammar Gaddafi has widened across Africa after Libyan army convoys crossed hundreds of miles of desert into neighbouring Niger, rumoured to be bound for Burkina Faso. Tantalising clues of a possible escape route for Gaddafi filled the void created by the disappearance of the ousted leader whose face was ubiquitous in Libya for more than 40 years. The Guardian

Libyan Convoy in Niger Where Gadhafi Has Tuareg Ties
A convoy of up to 200 vehicles carrying forces loyal to Libya's Moammar Gadhafi has crossed into Niger. Later Tuesday, senior officials in Niger denied that it was a large convoy, saying only a few Libyan vehicles entered the nation. The ousted Libyan leader has close ties to Tuareg nomads based in northern Niger who Colonel Gadhafi has supported in the past and who may support him now. VOA

Has Gaddafi arrived in Burkina Faso?
The arrival of a convoy of vehicles carrying someone resembling Mouammar Gaddafi has got tongues wagging in Ouagadougou. Radio Netherland

SA denies role in Gaddafi exit
South Africa has denied that it has paved the way for a deal for Muammar Gaddafi to be granted temporary asylum in Burkina Faso after he reportedly crossed into Niger in a convoy escorted by French jets. Times Live

CIA, MI6 under scrutiny after secret files reveal Gadhafi rendition deals
With the Gadhafi regime in tatters and the Libyan leader on the run, secret files in Tripoli have come to light which detail the depth of cooperation between the US and UK with Libya on the rendition of terror suspects. Deutsche Welle

The 'resource curse': An Alaskan solution for Libya?
In the aftermath of the 42-year rule of Moammar Gadhafi, the world is left wondering whether the bloodiest conflict in the popular unrest that has swept the Arab World will signal the rise of democracy in Libya or a descent into chaos. A group of economists is proposing one solution to help a strong Libya emerge from the smoldering ruins of civil war: Give all Libyans direct annual payments from oil revenue. CNN

Somalia: : Armed Militia Grab the Famine Business
rmed groups are withholding aid and preventing Somali famine refugees from leaving camps to ensure the continued supply of food by aid agencies that they are presently selling on the open market. Since Mohamed Elmi, 69, and his family arrived at a camp for famine refugees in Mogadishu they have barely had enough to eat. Armed gunmen running the camp steal their food and prevent them from leaving to search for aid elsewhere, he says. IPS

Somali leaders agree to hold elections in a year
Leaders in Somalia signed a deal on Tuesday planning to hold elections within a year, aiming to end a string of ineffective transitional U.N.-backed administrations. AP

In Somalia, Where The Black Market Is The Only Source Of Stability
No central bank or state authority to manage the country's money supply, degenerating schools and universities, no way to know who owns land. Here's a look at how a stateless country manages to get from one day to the next. Worldcrunch - Le Monde

Gunfire erupts on Sudan's tense north-south border
Heavy gunfire erupted Tuesday in Sudan's Blue Nile frontier state in yet another sign that tension remains high along Sudan's border with the new state of South Sudan, despite official reassurances that the situation is calm. France 24

UN agencies dispatching aid as more Sudanese refugees flee to Ethiopia
United Nations agencies are mobilizing to assist at some 20,000 people who have fled the fighting in Sudan's Blue Nile state and arrived in neighbouring Ethiopia. An assessment team from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) found that the refugees arriving in the Assosa region of western Ethiopia appear in good physical condition but need food, water and shelter. UN

Rwanda refugees in Uganda 'want to stay on'
Rwandan refugees living in Uganda are facing the possibility of involuntarily returning home as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees begins the process of withdrawing their status. The UN agency had hoped to begin defining exemption categories for the refugees in August 201 as the first step in the road map to the withdrawal of their status, what is technically termed invoking the cessation clauses, to compel them to return to their country. The East African

Nigeria shifting currency reserves from dollars to Chinese yuan
Nigerian Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi said in Beijing today that Africa's top oil exporter will convert as much as 10 percent of its $33 billion in foreign reserves from US dollars into Chinese yuan. Central banks use foreign reserves to manage their own currency's value. CS Monitor

Ghanaian citizens develop 'social pact' on oil wealth ahead of elections
To prevent the misuse of newfound oil wealth, Ghana citizens groups are urging political parties to adopt a social pact into their manifestos in the leadup to 2012 elections, and to ensure that oil wealth is used for the greater good. CS Monitor

Ivory Coast reconciliation commission launched
Ivory Coast's Truth, Reconciliation and Dialogue Commission has launched, with its star member - footballer Didier Drogba - absent from its first meeting. Commission chairman Charles Konan Banny said the body would try to forge unity among bitterly divided Ivorians. About 3,000 people were killed and 500,000 displaced in violence after disputed elections last year. BBC

US urges Niger to detain Libyan officials in convoy, says Qaddafi 'on the run'
The US government on Tuesday urged Niger to detain senior officials from the Qaddafi government who it believes crossed into the country in a convoy from Libya, the US State Department said. Niger officials informed the US ambassador that the convoy carried "a dozen or more" senior members of Qaddafi's government, but gave no indication that Qaddafi himself was among them, State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said. Al Arabiya

South Africa: Another Political Challenge for Jacob Zuma
Zuma's decision not to meet with Democratic Alliance (DA) opposition leader Helen Zille about his already controversial nominee for the chief justice of the Supreme Court, Mogoeng Mogoeng, is likely to elicit further criticism. The Council on Foreign Relations

Why China's Quest For Superpower Status Must Include True Generosity Abroad
Op-Ed: China has helped fund a major new project to build schools in Africa, raising the ire of some Chinese for not first taking care of kids at home. The writer lays out the local benefits of helping globally. Worldcrunch - Economic Observer

Libya's Nightmare Factory: A visit to Qaddafi's scariest prison.
The cells are barely large enough for one person to lie down in. There is no water, no toilet. Light falls through a small hole in the ceiling. Most cells don't even have a mattress, just a strip of cloth on the floor, a cut-open plastic bottle, and the naked concrete walls, inscribed with memories of those once held here. Foreign Policy