AfricaDigest 9/24/10

[AfricaDigest Manager]

Barack Obama to push for fair Sudan referendum

US President Barack Obama is to attend a special UN meeting to exert
pressure on Sudanese officials to ensure January referendum is free
and fair.
Southern Sudanese are to vote on whether they want the semi-autonomous
region to become independent.
But preparations for the elections are behind schedule, with
authorities not even having decided who is to vote.
Southerners insist that the referendum be held on time, and not
postponed.

The referendum was part of a 2005 peace deal to end two decades of
conflict between the north and oil-rich south, but observers fear
delays or the lack of a credible vote could spark fresh conflict.

'Time bomb'
The BBC's James Copnall in Khartoum says that it will take a huge act
of political will, not to mention some logistic ingenuity, to hold the
referendum on time - but so far, both have been lacking.

This is a UN meeting, but there is no doubt Mr Obama's presence makes
the US the driving force, our correspondent says.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has repeatedly said the vote will be
free and fair, but critics are not convinced, and some accuse him of
deliberately dragging his heels.

Mr Bashir, who is wanted by the UN for alleged war crimes over the
separate conflict in Darfur, is being represented by his vice-
president Ali Osman Taha, while Southern Sudan will be represented by
its leader, Salva Kiir.

Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the 9
January vote a "ticking time bomb", saying that an outcome in favour
of succession was "inevitable".
She expressed concern that the north was unlikely to welcome the
prospect of losing its share of oil revenues and that the south should
make "some accommodations" for it, to prevent a return to conflict.
Southern Sudan, where most people are Christian or follow traditional
religions, is already semi-autonomous and is run by the SPLA former
rebels, who fought the Muslim-dominated, Arabic-speaking north until
the 2005 deal.
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Liberia ex-warlord Prince Johnson in leader race

Former Liberian warlord Prince Johnson has told the BBC there is no
reason he cannot stand in the country's presidential elections next
year.
Mr Johnson, now an elected senator, said military leaders been elected
in other countries.
His party was given the green light to compete in the polls earlier
this week.

He is notorious for a 1990 video, in which he was seen drinking beer
as his men cut off the ears of ex-President Samuel Doe, before killing
him.
There has been a mixed reaction to his bid for power, with critics
saying it could threaten the country's fragile peace.
Mr Johnson was a warlord during civil war between 1989 and 2003, in
which some 250,000 people died.

'No exception'
Mr Johnson told the BBC's World Today programme that Liberia was no
different to other countries that had fought war.

"We had a civil war like any other country, like America, like other
countries that fought war," Mr Johnson said.
"They emerged from the war and then they moved their nation forward.
"General de Gaulle was a general who was involved in warfare but he
became president who was elected by his people. You get Franklin D
Roosevelt, you get General Eisenhower... Liberia is no exception".

Mr Johnson added that he had fought "to liberate our people from an
oppressive regime" and apologised for any suffering caused during that
time.
However, Liberian journalist Nyekeh Forkpa said he did not think Mr
Johnson should stand in the elections, as the scars from the war
remained too fresh.

In 2005, the former warlord was overwhelmingly elected senator for
Nimba country.
He is set to run against Liberia's President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf,
Africa's first democratically elected female leader, and George Weah,
a former footballer, in polls scheduled for November 2011.
Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission has recommended that Mr
Johnson be banned from holding public office for his role in the war.

It has said the same about Ms Sirleaf, who has admitted to backing ex-
President Charles Taylor, who is currently on trial for war crimes at
The Hague.
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Air Zimbabwe staff back to work after two-week strike

Pilots at Zimbabwe's state-owned airline have agreed to end a two-week
strike.
The staff at Air Zimbabwe had been threatened with disciplinary action
after walking out in a dispute over cuts in their allowances.
But Transport Minister Patison Mbiriri said that all outstanding
allowances would now be paid and no action would be taken against
pilots.
The strike led to the national carrier cancelling all its flights.

The dispute began when pilots walked off two aircraft while still on
the runway at Harare International Airport.
Air Zimbabwe's 60 pilots and cabin crew were demanding payment of
allowances that were cut off in February.
Mr Mbiriri said in a statement: "All pilots have agreed to return to
work and subject to operational requirements being met, normal flights
are expected to resume on Friday."

Loss-making Air Zimbabwe has seen its passenger numbers fall more than
30% since 2000 due to a decline in tourist visitors and an economic
crisis blamed on President Robert Mugabe's policies.
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UN holds key meeting on food price concerns

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is holding an
extraordinary meeting in Rome sparked by global fears about high food
prices.
Friday's meeting will include Russian grain executives. Moscow banned
exports after its harvest was hit by drought.
Flooding in Pakistan and China has added to pressure on the market.
Price rises have already sparked riots in Mozambique and are prompting
fears of a massive price spike similar to that of 2007-8.
Volatile prices

The FAO is not calling this a crisis summit, eager to steady nerves
after the Russian grain export ban, says the BBC's international
development correspondent David Loyn.
The UN agency has stressed that the current situation is very
different to the food crisis two years ago. Prices are currently
lower, production levels higher and stocks more abundant than during
the 2007-8 period.
However, experts in Rome will try to find a way to restore stability
and head off another price spike, which caused riots across the world
two years ago.
Global grain prices remain at a two-year high and are still rising.
Rising incomes in developing countries have also boosted demands for
meat.

WHEAT FUTURES US CENTS/BUSHEL
LAST UPDATED AT 24 SEP 2010, 10:32 ET
price change %
705.00 +
+7.75
+
+1.11

Top FAO officials describe prices as stubbornly high and say the
financial crisis is straining the ability of the poor to cope.
The agency also warns that prices in future are likely to be more
volatile.
Officials say governments should consider more regulation of food
markets and maintaining emergency stocks.

The FAO's own monthly index of food prices has risen by 25% since
early last year.
The UN said of the meeting: "Delegates will share information on
recent market instability and examine the role of market information
and transparency for crops such as grains and rice."
Rises will be felt more keenly in developing countries, where food
makes up a bigger proportion of household spending.
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Sailors call for urgent global action to halt piracy

More than 930,000 seafarers have signed a petition calling for
immediate global action to bring an end to piracy.
Twelve boxes containing the petition were handed to the UN
International Maritime Organisation at its London headquarters.
Shipping is under increasing threat around the world, with attacks off
the coast of West Africa and in the Far East.
Somali pirates alone are holding 354 sailors.

The petition was organised by a coalition of groups including unions,
ship operators and welfare organisations and presented on World
Maritime Day.
The BBC's Martin Plaut says the size of the petition reflects the real
anger of sailors around the world, who feel that their plight is
ignored by the international community.

Signatories want governments to take immediate steps to secure the
release of kidnapped seafarers. They are also calling for "significant
resources and concerted efforts to find real solutions to the growing
piracy problem".
An international task force was set up in January 2009 to combat
piracy in the Gulf of Aden and off the eastern coast of Somalia,
covering an area of approximately 1.1 million sq miles.
It's the huge distances which are the problem, according to James
Grady. He was an officer onboard the tanker Sirius Star when it was
hijacked off the coast of Kenya in November 2008.

"People who don't work at sea just can't imagine the distances that
are involved," he told the BBC. "It's millions of sq miles of ocean to
cover and you would need hundreds of thousands of warships to be truly
effective."
David Cockroft, general secretary of the International Transport
Workers Federation (ITF), which represents many sailors, hopes the
petition will help to draw attention to the dangers which seafarers
face.

But he also concedes that the long-term solution has to be political:
"Ultimately we also need to solve the political problems of Somalia to
ensure there is no impunity and that people cannot simply hijack ships
then when they are arrested be released and free to hijack another
ship again in two or three weeks' time."
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France asks al-Qaeda for demands over Niger hostages

France wants to contact an al-Qaeda group which seized five of its
citizens and two others at a uranium mine in Niger last week, a
minister has said.
"What we want is, firstly, for al-Qaeda at some point to at least put
some demands on the table," Defence Minister Herve Morin told French
radio.
A French military team is in Niger to help find the hostages who
include a Togolese and a Malagasy national.
The militants killed a French hostage after a failed rescue bid in
July.
France's foreign ministry has confirmed that a claim from al-Qaeda in
the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) that it took the latest hostages is
genuine.

A new statement attributed to the group appeared on Islamist forums on
Thursday, warning France against trying to rescue its citizens.
France's top police officer has warned that the country is facing a
"peak" terror threat, such as a conventional bomb attack on a crowded
target, and he named AQIM as a particular threat.

'No demands'
The seven hostages were seized on 16 September in raids targeting two
French firms employed at the uranium mine near Arlit, northern Niger.
Mr Morin said that, despite having seen no photographs, video or other
evidence to the contrary, he believed the seven hostages were still
alive.
"For the time being, our concern is to be able to enter into contact
with al-Qaeda, to have some demands... which we do not have," he told
France's privately-owned RTL radio station.
"Today we do not have the slightest demand, the only thing we have is
the text sent by al-Qaeda to al-Jazeera," he added, referring to the
group's initial statement to the Arabic satellite broadcaster.
In that statement, AQIM said it would reveal its demands at a later
date.
Mr Morin said the hostages were now "very probably" in northern Mali.

France has sent 80 military personnel to Niger's capital Niamey to
help search for the hostages.
They are backed by a long-range Breguet Atlantique aircraft and a
Mirage jet equipped with sophisticated monitoring equipment.
In July, AQIM announced it had killed a 78-year-old retired French
engineer being held hostage in Mali, after a raid by French and
Mauritanian forces failed to free him.
The following month, the Spanish government is believed to have paid
millions of euros to free two of its nationals seized by AQIM in
Mauritania.
'Retaliation'

The AQIM statement picked up by US-based monitoring group Site
describes the hostage-taking as part of "retaliation" against France
by AQIM leader Abdel Moussab Abdelwadoud.
AQIM warned France against attempting a rescue mission "like they had
done for Michel Germaneau", the engineer killed in July.
Six AQIM militants were killed in the operation to free Mr Germaneau.
France's national police chief, Frederic Pechenard, urged the public
to be more alert about terrorism.
"France is today under threat," he told Europe-1 radio on Wednesday.
"For that matter, French people need to get used to it. We're now
facing a peak threat that can't be doubted. There is a specific threat
against French interests."

AQIM was "targeting [France] in particular", he said.
"In order to do the maximum possible damage [an attack] would be
likely to happen in a place where there are lots of people, which
could be the public transit system, a department store or a
gathering," Mr Pechenard said.
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Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all
others because you were born in it. -George Bernard Shaw, writer,
Nobel laureate (1856-1950)
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