Emmerson Mnangagwa in Zimbabwe Gets 20,000 AKs from China

A huge arms shipment has arrived in Zimbabwe, courtesy of Beijing. Good news for one of the factions jostling to succeed Mugabe, but bad news for anyone who hoped Zimbabwe could peacefully negotiate the exceedingly difficult challenges facing it in the coming months. By SIMON ALLISON.


The Zimbabwean Defence Force has just taken delivery of 20,000 AK-47s, reports the Southern Africa Report. The arms were delivered from China via a circuitous route, avoiding countries such as Mozambique and South Africa where unions (not governments) have prevented arms shipments from reaching Zimbabwe before. But where and on who is the ZDF planning to use all these shiny new weapons?

The answer, it seems, is in the details. Along with the rifles came 21,000 pairs of handcuffs – not a traditional military accessory. But very useful when it comes to crowd control and making arrests (or illegal detentions).

The deal was reportedly arranged by defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa. This too is important. Mnangagwa is leader of one of the major factions jockeying for power in the post-Mugabe era. His is the hardline faction thought to include the top generals and security chiefs, and considered by some to be effectively running the country already.

• It’s a bad time for Zimbabwe to be flooded with new weapons (is there a good time?) in light of the country’s extremely uncertain political future. 
• There are worries over Mugabe’s health and who might succeed him, concerns over next year’s constitutional referendum and fears for citizens’ safety during the presidential election, also scheduled for next year some time. 
• It was during the last presidential election in 2008 that forces connected with Zanu-PF used widespread violence and intimidation on opposition supporters, eventually forcing opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to withdraw from the run-off election. 
• An influx of new weapons makes it even tougher to avoid a repeat of this violence.

The Rest @ The Daily Maverick

South Sudan Rebels Seem to Support Khartoum Interests

Khartoum may be creating a crisis in South Sudan to justify a future invasion to secure South Sudan's oil.

-Shimrom Issachar



April 22, 2011 (JUBA) – Northern Sudanese employees working at the oilfields of South Sudan’s Unity state have begun evacuating as fighting between the South Sudan army (SPLA) as rebel forces under the command of the renegade Peter Gatdet Yak, have intensified for the last four days in the state.

The rebel forces of Gatdet, known as the South Sudan Liberation Army (SSLA), launched a series of heavy attacks this week since April 19, against the SPLA forces of Division Four in Mayom County in the state, resulting to the South Sudan army losing at least one town to the rebel group.

The minister of information in Unity state, Gideon Gatpan Thoar, told Sudan Tribune on Friday from the state capital, Bentiu, that the northern oil company employees were evacuated to Higlig area near the North-South border where the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) have deployed.

He said the workers could return to their stations any time, explaining that the decision was based on ensuring their safety in response to anger expressed by the state citizens against northerners whom they accuse of supporting renegade Peter Gatdet.

On Thursday in Khartoum, the undersecretary of the Ministry of Petroleum, Omer Mohamed Khair, confirmed the evacuation saying the 150 oil workers from north Sudan are to resume their work in the Unity state within 24 hours after the end of fighting.

Chinese diplomats in Juba have expressed concern to the Southern Sudanese authorities about the insecurity caused by the fighting and its implications in the oilfields operated by the China National Petroleum Company (CNPC). The Chinese Consul General in Juba this week said more than 200 northern Sudanese drillers and other staff have been asked to evacuate the area for safety reasons by the Unity state government
.
Bol Gatkuoth, former member of the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly and the current spokesperson of Gatdets’s rebel group, claimed that the SSLA captured Guong on 19 April, and captured Mankien on 21 April, after two separate clashes with the SPLA forces in the state.

Officials of Unity state, including the commissioner of Mayom county, reportedly confirmed the capture of the two towns by the rebel group.

However, SPLA spokesman Colonel Philip Aguer, denied the claim that the second town, Mankien, fell to the rebels. No casualties were reported by both sides.

• The rebels claim to seek control of strategic locations in the state to establish a base in the renegade General’s home county, Mayom, from which to command his rebellion against Juba.


• South Sudan officials suspect that the militia group wants to create a corridor supply route and weapons and ammunitions from Khartoum to their base in Mayom from which to expand their targets into other areas in the region.


• The rebel force of Peter Gatdet is one among the seven other different rebel groups fighting against the government. They are based in Jonglei, Upper Nile, Unity and Northern Bahr el Ghazal states.


• They claim to be fighting for democracy and justice and against tribalism and corruption.


• Most groups began their rebellion due to grievances caused by elections last year but others who were not part of the SPLA in the past like the SSLA accused the South Sudan government of corruption and tribalism.


• The South Sudan government rejects the accusations and claim that Gatdet is being backed by Khartoum.

The United Nations Security Council briefing on Thursday on the situation in Sudan raised concern about the increasing violence in South Sudan ahead of formal independence on July 9.

In January the South voted to secede in a plebiscite agreed as part of a 2005 peace deal that ended over two decades of conflict.

The 15-member UN body was briefed by the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Atul Khare, who told the Council that a number of internal grievances which might have contributed to the rebellion needed to be addressed in South Sudan.

The UN official’s presentation further highlighted the need to address "ethnic tensions, mismanagement, political and social marginalization, economic development and governance, especially in rule of law institutions ".

The Rest @ The Sudan Tribune

What will Happen Next in Sudan

Sudan's Referendum will happen on January the 9th, 2011, as scheduled. If it is a clean election, the South will vote to become a separate country. Whether it is clean or not, the results will be challenged. During the challenge, the allies of each side will emerge.

Expect the usually Islamist suspects to rise up, namly, the Muslim Brotherhood, everywhere in the world. China is a major player, and since it has oil perchase contracts with the North, It is likely they will side with them. The south will ask for whatever help they can get, mostly western sources. The civli rights watchers who nmonitor the Darfur criminals will fall into the south's camp.

When the time of challenges is over, if the south has succeeded in the separation efforts, the North will act. They will act on three fronts, Political, Public Opinion, and Military.

Political.

• They will use what ever diplomatic relationships they have to try and delay implementation of the separation as long as possible.

Public Opinion

• Expect them to borrow a page from the Palestinian book. You will find a cadre of attractive, empassioned sudanese giving press conferences to the press all around the world talking about how the est is trying to pull their country apart.
• Expect al Aqaeda and other islamist groups to begin to recruit using Sudan as another front for the global jihad.

Military

• While using the actions of unsactioned "militia groups" to commit attrocities, The North created almost universal global condimnation in Darfur, a section of NOrth West Sudan, they were tactically very succesfull. The North is already planning series of attacks in the south by "unscantioned malitias.
• Look for Eritria, Somalia, and Ogaden islamist mujahadeen to participate
• Look for al Aqeda trainers and leaders to be active in the mix.

I don't know how the UN, the AU, and the west will respond, but it is likely the South Sudan has been preparing and arming for defense. I see that it is likely that the civil war will be reignighted.

-Shimron Issachar

France vs AQIM

AQIM in the Sahel war heats up.
************
France has seized upon reports of the execution of a French aid worker by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in July to escalate its military intervention in its former colonies in the strategic Sahel region of Western Africa.

French aid worker Michel Germaneau, 78, who was kidnapped in April while working for a children’s charity in Niger, was reportedly executed by AQIM in retaliation for a joint Franco-Mauritanian raid on July 22 on an AQIM camp in northern Mali.

The raid ostensibly was an attempt to liberate him. On July 25, in a recording broadcast by the Al Jazeera TV network, AQIM said Germaneau had been killed in “revenge” for the death of its members in the raid.

Having announced the death of Germaneau on July 26, the French government declared that it would wage war in the Sahel region, an area along the south of the Sahara desert, running through Mauritania, Mali, Niger and southern Algeria.

On July 27, French Prime Minister François Fillon declared, “France is at war with Al Qaeda… Combat against terrorism, and AQIM in particular, will intensify”. He added that “roughly 400 fighters are waging a merciless struggle against the countries of the region and against our interests”.

On August 16, the government set the “Vigipirate” anti-terrorist alert system to “red” status, the second highest possible alert level.

France will increase its own military activities and its collaboration with regimes in the Sahel. Axel Poniatowski, head of a parliamentary foreign affairs commission, said, “France will provide ‘logistical support’ for military actions by Mauritania, Mali, or Niger against AQIM”.

The BBC commented, “France, as well as other European nations and the United States, have been training soldiers here for many years. This is the first time, however, they have admitted to being involved in an operation against AQIM”.

On July 26 and 27, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner visited Mauritania, Mali and Niger. Speaking in Niamey, the capital of Niger, he said, “We will be alongside our Nigerien, Malian, Mauritanian friends”. Asked about the possibility of installing bases in the region, he said, “We are not going to install bases. We have very clear defence agreements”.

In fact, reports suggest French troops already treat bases in the region as their own. The news magazine Le Point writes, “France is, with the US and UK, one of the three countries with Special Forces that can carry out completely independent operations. The units, highly trained in desert warfare, have been in the Sahel for months, train regional armed forces, know the region well, and can even if needed operate clandestinely there. They have already done it, and more than once! French units know the Sahel, and the technical means at their disposal—reconnaissance satellites, planes to intercept communications, etc.—are perfectly adapted to this theatre of operations”.

Questions on the official story

Reports from Al Jazeera and British business intelligence firm Menas question the credibility of French official statements, including on how the raid took place, its location, and even whether Germaneau was in fact executed.

There is also evidence of an aerial raid launched from Tessalit—an old French colonial base in north-eastern Mali near the Algerian border, also used by US Special Forces—in which Algeria could have been involved. French officials denied that there were aerial operations, or that Tessalit or Algerian forces were involved.

On August 8, Al Jazeera published a report by Jeremy Keenan, an expert on the region at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies. He charged that “France, Mauritania and Algeria have gone to extreme lengths to cover up what actually happened”.

He noted a July 22 AFP dispatch that cited “a foreign military source in Bamako as saying that the raid on a suspected al Qaeda base (in north-west Mali) was just a smoke screen”.

He continued, “based on the reports received from well-placed regional sources shortly after midday on July 22, there had been intense air traffic around Tessalit during the night and early morning, and that Algerians, supported by French special forces, had led an assault into the adjoining Tigharghar Mountains in an attempt to rescue Germaneau”.

Keenan wrote that French President Nicolas Sarkozy was advised by his defence council at a July 19 meeting, “in which the prime minister, foreign and interior ministry, the head of the armed services, representatives of the foreign, interior and military intelligence services and [Sarkozy’s chief of staff] Claude Guéant participated”. He added, “[T]he decision to intervene in the Sahel was not taken lightly and would certainly have involved an appreciation of the views of Algeria’s DRS”, its military intelligence service.

Guéant reportedly met with DRS chief General Mohamed Mediène in Algiers on June 20.
Keenan questioned whether Germaneau was executed after the July 22 raid, or if he died before. He suffered from heart disease and had been denied access to critical medicine. Keenan writes, “[T]he last evidence that he was alive was received by the French authorities on May 14. Sources in the region believe that he may have died shortly after that time”.

He pointed out, “The only testimony of his execution has come from a local Kidal dignitary, who has been involved in previous hostage negotiations and is a thoroughly discredited source. Moreover, the very vague nature of the demands that accompanied the threat to execute Germaneau on July 26, combined with the fact that no negotiators appear to have been mobilised within Mali, as has been the pattern with previous hostage cases, must also have alerted the French authorities to question whether Germaneau was still alive”.

Geo-strategic interests and France’s “war on terror”

The declaration of a new “war on terror” is an ominous, reactionary event, whose basic social content is now well known. Intelligence services and special forces will be given free rein to use massive violence against ex-colonial regions, while the population of their home country is to be terrorised by constant warnings from the political establishment of possible attacks.
The military escalation in the Sahel under the banner of a “war on terror” is aimed at pursuing France’s strategic and commercial interests. The 2008 French white paper on defence, which outlined France’s global geo-strategy, identified the Sahel as one of four critical regions for French imperialism. The region is a key supplier of oil, minerals, and uranium.

Uranium is one critical interest for French imperialism in the region. France’s nuclear industry—which supplies 78 percent of the country’s electricity generating capacity and makes €3 billion in yearly profits from energy exports alone—relies on Niger for 25 percent of the 12,400 tonnes of uranium oxide concentrate that it consumes yearly.

The world’s third-largest uranium producer, Niger is expected to increase its yearly uranium output from 3,500 to 10,500 metric tonnes. French state-owned nuclear company Areva has exploited these uranium reserves for 40 years. It mines the Arlit and Akouta deposits, which produced over 3,000 metric tonnes in 2008. Areva has invested €1.2 billion in the Imouraren deposit, which is expected to produce almost 5,000 metric tons per year for over 35 years.
French hegemony in the region is threatened by the growing influence of China. Beijing has emerged as a rival buyer of uranium in Niger, from the Azelik and Teguidda deposits. It has also paid $5 billion for the right to prospect for oil in the Agadem oilfield in eastern Niger.

Africa Confidential writes, “China’s relatively new involvement vastly strengthens Niger’s power to bargain with France”.

France’s military intervention has the backing of Washington. Last November, US Coordinator for Counterterrorism Daniel Benjamin told the US Senate, “French ties in this region remain pivotal, and France has expressed a sincere desire to cooperate with the United States in this area of the world. The Paris meeting in September was the first senior-level meeting that mapped out a way forward for such cooperation.

Our strategic counterterrorism priorities in this region are very similar, focusing as they do on building law enforcement, military capacity, and development”.

On July 30, the Wall Street Journal commented that “Paris’s plan to increase its involvement [in the Sahel], gives reason to hope that France is ready to retake the lead in this increasingly hot front”. It added that “predictably, not of all of France’s former colonies are welcoming the erstwhile colonial master’s return to assertiveness”.

In the face of growing competition for markets and natural resources, France’s raids in the Sahel set precedent for further military escalations. French media recently indicated that the ruling class is considering fighting major wars against Turkey, Egypt, or even China. (See: “Media demands France prepare for world war”)

A French “war on terror” in Africa will be used to legitimate France’s deeply unpopular participation in the US-led “war on terror” in Afghanistan and Pakistan, to which France is deploying the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. A recent poll found that 70 percent of the French population opposes the war in Afghanistan.

In an August 26 speech, however, Sarkozy said France would “remain engaged in Afghanistan, with its allies, as long as is necessary”.

The Rest @ World Socialist Website

Last Post for a While

I have been writing this blog since 2006. It began when I was doing business intelligence work, gathering information about one of the technical industries in some East Africa Countries. What I came across was information leading to a conclusion that I still hold, and that that al Qaeda has a clear and specific strategy targeting Africa.

It was not new. Bill Moyers sums it up as well as anyone:

"When the Soviets pulled out of Afghanistan in early 1989, bin Laden and Azzam decided that their new organization should not dissolve. They established what they called a base (al Qaeda) as a potential general headquarters for future jihad. However, bin Laden, now the clear emir of al Qaeda, and Azzam differed on where the organization's future objectives should lie. Azzam favored continued fighting in Afghanistan until there was a true Islamist government, while bin Laden wanted to prepare al Qaeda to fight anywhere in the world. When Azzam was killed in 1989, bin Laden assumed full charge of al Qaeda. " - Moyers Journal

What I am saying is that their was, and is, a specific Islamist plan for Africa, with the al Qaeda as the tip of the spear.

In 2006 no one was really looking at Africa and the Islamist Agenda, so I began to track the movement of key people and groups working this agenda. Frankly I was surprised at the transparency and sophistication of the plan, how open they were about their agenda, and how ignored by the Western World they were. Their moneymaking activities, their large business and in some cases Royal funding supporters were very obvious.

It is clear now that their are many, many western eyes on Africa and the Islamist agenda, both in Africa and around the world, and so I am no longer needed. I want to give one, mostly final, summary for the analysts out there.

First, I think the Long War is almost half over. The West currently has the upper hand as can be seen in Pakistan, but it will eventually move to Africa in less than a year.

Somalia is still in a stalemate. Somaliland will soon be recognized, and the corrupt TFG group will be abandoned, since they seem to be inherently incapable of caring for their own people in a peaceful without tribal lenses. This does not mean that war will stop in Somalia. The Middle East will continue to fund psalmist groups, who will tray and export the Islamist war into Ethiopia and Kenya. The West will continue to find ways to fight them.

The next place for the war to spring up will be in South Sudan, which will vote to secede in less than a year, and is preparing for the inevitable attack from the North when this happens. Both sides are even now arming for this war. This event will be the fulcrum that shifts the focus of the war from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq into Africa.


West Africa's local wars (Morroco, Algeria, Mauritania, etc) will continue to fight, and they will continue to take money from the al qaeda or whoever else will fund them. . AQIM's network of recruiters can be hunted down and stopped. However, the purchase (some call it recruitment) of suicide bomber children from poor west african families, will be attempted again.

The Islamist Agenda will ultimately fail in Africa, but not because of any Western power, but because African's will never fully accept the Salafiyya Dawa. The Sufi's will never submit, the Christians will continue to grow, since it's aims are clearly peacfull, but the Sunni missionary work, which sends islamist agents in to establish relationships with local Muslim leaders, are even now carefully watched by every African country's intelligence service.

US ( AFRICOM) UK, French and Russian agendas are already in play, but China will try their hand at mediation, since the buy the Majority of Sudan's oil exports.

China: the Great Asian Father

China 's investment in Africa has grown exponentially in the last four years. They are spending lots of money, but they are very new and still significantly imperialistic in their approach. They are simply buying as many raw materials as they can from Africa. They are soon to discover that Africans expect more than money for their resources, they see them as the new "White Father"

Human and Weapon's trafficking will continue until Africa, Unless Africa herself comes to believe she can stop it. Local wars, currently the Congo will continue to spring up. The UN now has more troops in Africa than they ever had, and I see no end in site.


Dough Farah, Creeping Sharia, the Long War Journal, Global Security,keep up the good work, I will keep reading your stuff. Also thanks to the brave journalists in Somalia who keep writing , and keep paying the price.





Shimron Issachar
On Twitter

AQIM Takes on the Chinese In Africa

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Mahgreb (AQIM) said it would target the 50,000 Chinese workers in Algeria and elsewhere in Northern Africa.

Two extremist web sites affiliated with al-Qaeda also made threats against the large numbers of Chinese people working in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.

"Chop off their heads at their workplaces or in their homes to tell them that the time of enslaving Muslims has gone," read one posting.

It is the first time that any al-Qaeda group has threatened China or its interests and illustrates the high price that Beijing may pay for the riots in Urumqi, in which at least 136 Han Chinese and 46 Uighurs died last week.

Beijing's nervousness over its vast interests in Africa and the Middle East was underlined by the Foreign ministry, which rushed to reassure Muslims that China was not oppressing the Uighurs in the desert province of Xinjiang.

"We hope that our Muslim brothers can realise the truth of the July 5 incident in Urumqi. Once they know the truth, they would support our ethnic and religious policies and the measures the Chinese government has taken to deal with the incident," said a spokesman.

The Foreign ministry was also quick to deny a charge of genocide against the Uighurs that has been levelled by Turkey, which, together with Iran, has emerged as one of Beijing's sternest critics over the events of the past week.

"In which country could this be called genocide?" said a spokesman. "In 1949, the population of Uighurs in Xinjiang was 3.29 million, at present the Uighur population there is nearly 10 million, or three times more than 60 years ago. What kind of ethnic genocide is this?" he said.
Justin Crump, the head of terrorism analysis at Stirling Assynt, a London-based risk analysis group, said his company had come across threats from AQIM in the course of its normal monitoring.

"China has been able to operate with impunity in Afghanistan and Pakistan. al-Qaeda and the Taliban have left Chinese well alone," he said.

But a report from his firm said: "There is an increased amount of 'chatter' on the internet among active Jihadists, who claim they want to see action to avenge the perceived injustices in Xinjiang.
"Some of these individuals have been actively seeking information on China's interests in the Muslim world which they could use for targeting purposes,"

Three weeks ago, AQIM ambushed an Algerian security team protecting a Chinese construction project and killed 24 guards.

"Future attacks of this kind are likely to target security forces and Chinese engineers alike," said Stirling Assynt's report. "They come across the Chinese a lot in the area and AQIM are likely to take the opportunity [when it presents itself]," said Mr Crump.

China's interests in Yemen could also be a target, since al-Qaeda is actively trying to topple President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

However, Mr Crump said the terrorist group's senior leadership was unlikely to endorse a full-scale jihad against China.

He also added that there is no significant link between Uighur separatist groups in Xinjiang and Osama bin Laden's network.

AQIM, which wants to impose an Islamic state in Algeria, was founded in the mid-1990s and pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden in 2003.

The huge oil and gas reserves in Xinjiang, as well as the web of pipelines that run through the province, funnelling energy from Kazakhstan and Russia all the way to Beijing and Shanghai, make the province vital to China's interests.

However, China's policy of total control has upset Islamic states, especially in the past week. Protesting Muslims in Indonesia called for a jihad against China on Monday, clashing with police outside the Chinese embassy in Jakarta.


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The Revolutionary Armed Forces of the Sahara (FARS) Threatens China Oil and Gas exploration and development Corporation (CNODC)

The MNJ (Niger Movement for Justice) websight has posted a threat from the The Revolutionary Armed Forces of the Sahara (FARS).

See the following English Translation of a 6 June Post in French.

-Shimron

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of the Sahara (FARS) have learnt with dismay the recent signing of the agreement, oil field exploitation of Agadem between Niger and the Chinese firm China Oil and Gas exploration and development Corporation (CNODC).

Also, we wish to warn the Chinese company against any exploitation in this period of insecurity, Agadem block.

In addition, we reject most vigorously installation of a refinery in Zinder instead localities as N'Guigmi and Diffa.

We hold the government of Niger and CNODC responsible for everything that happens after the non-compliance with this caveat.

Signed Bocar Mohamed SOUGOUMA President P / I of FARS

Niger has granted 7 More companies Uranium Exploration Rights

NIAMEY - Niger has granted seven more exploration licences of uranium to seven foreign companies, in the Agadez region (north), theatre for a year of a Tuareg rebel army, it was learned Saturday.

The authorities estimate that 32 million in investment and tax revenues that should generate work for three years.

Some 500 jobs and community infrastructure will also be created for the benefit of local people, the statement added.

Thanks to the recent rise in price of uranium, which had collapsed in 1980, especially in the wake of the decision of China to develop civil nuclear power, the Nigerian authorities have decided to diversify their partners in the 'mining of ore.

Thus, in August 2007, Niger had already issued 29 permits research and exploitation of uranium to new companies, ending 40 years of near monopoly of the french group Areva on the exploration, exploitation and sale of its uranium.

In addition to the two deposits that operates in the North, Areva btained permission in January to invest more than 1 billion euros to operate a giant site Imouraren extraction.

With production of almost 5,000 tons of uranium per year, Imouraren, estimated at 200,000 tons, will place the Niger second in the world by 2011.

The Rest (in French) @ APA Agence de Presse Africaine

MNJ Threaten's to escalate attacks on Uranium Mines

NIAMEY, Jan 31 (Reuters) - A leader of Niger's Tuareg rebels promised on Thursday an all-out offensive against the uranium industry including attacks on foreign-run mines and mineral convoys.

Over the last 12 months, the Niger Justice Movement (MNJ) has attacked army convoys and bases, killing around 50 soldiers. This has forced Niger's government to impose a state of alert in the north of the Sahelian country, a major producer of uranium which is used to fuel nuclear reactors.

"We are going to attack the uranium mines, including those belonging to Areva, halt the operation of the plants or the opening up of new sites, and target the road shipments to the sea," Tuareg leader Rhissa Ag Boula told French newspaper Le Nouvel Observateur.

Last year MNJ fighters attacked a northern mine site operated by French nuclear group Areva and also briefly abducted a Chinese uranium executive.

The rebels are demanding more autonomy and a greater share of wealth in their uranium-rich northern region.

A Niger government spokesman rejected the threat in comments to Radio France International. President Mamadou Tandja's administration refuses to recognise the light-skinned nomadic desert rebels, dismissing them as "armed bandits".

Ag Boula criticised the Niger government for "handing out uranium concessions like buns" to companies from France, Canada, Australia, India, South Africa and China.

China had obtained a major part of the new concessions and the Chinese "build mining cities, bringing their own workers with them".

China was selling landmines, vehicles and tanks to the Niger government, Ag Boula said in the interview.

The Rest @ Reuters Africa

MNJ Threaten's to escalate attacks on Uranium Mines

NIAMEY, Jan 31 (Reuters) - A leader of Niger's Tuareg rebels promised on Thursday an all-out offensive against the uranium industry including attacks on foreign-run mines and mineral convoys.

Over the last 12 months, the Niger Justice Movement (MNJ) has attacked army convoys and bases, killing around 50 soldiers. This has forced Niger's government to impose a state of alert in the north of the Sahelian country, a major producer of uranium which is used to fuel nuclear reactors.

"We are going to attack the uranium mines, including those belonging to Areva, halt the operation of the plants or the opening up of new sites, and target the road shipments to the sea," Tuareg leader Rhissa Ag Boula told French newspaper Le Nouvel Observateur.

Last year MNJ fighters attacked a northern mine site operated by French nuclear group Areva and also briefly abducted a Chinese uranium executive.

The rebels are demanding more autonomy and a greater share of wealth in their uranium-rich northern region.

A Niger government spokesman rejected the threat in comments to Radio France International. President Mamadou Tandja's administration refuses to recognise the light-skinned nomadic desert rebels, dismissing them as "armed bandits".

Ag Boula criticised the Niger government for "handing out uranium concessions like buns" to companies from France, Canada, Australia, India, South Africa and China.

China had obtained a major part of the new concessions and the Chinese "build mining cities, bringing their own workers with them".

China was selling landmines, vehicles and tanks to the Niger government, Ag Boula said in the interview.

The Rest @ Reuters Africa

RIA Novosti Announces Russia is Trying to Return to Africa

I found this quaint commentary-propaganda piece by RIA Novosti commentator Dina Lyakhovich, dated the 8th of October, 2007. There are others like it out there too. All by the same commentator and agency, trying to convince African countries that AFRICOM is a bad idea (who knows what US intent is) but what I find most interesting is a comment late in the text, and I quote.....

.... "In fact, what the United States wants in Africa is oil, which will soon account for 25% of American oil imports. It needs to protect and guarantee future deliveries, because competition is growing in Africa at breakneck speed. Apart from traditional rivals - France and Britain - it may have to compete with Russia, which is trying to return to Africa."[emphasis added by Shimron]...........

RIA Novositi, the international propaganda news of Putin-controlled Russia, may have made an announcement here.

Look into

Gazprom - is the world's biggest gas exploration and production company Contact: , Phone: (+709) 57 19 30 01, Fax: (+709) 57 19 83 33Moscow, RUSSIA, Europe(North)www.gazprom.ru
Gazflot - russian exploration and ship owning company
Gazprombank - services to enterprises and employees of other sectors (chemical, engineering, defence, nuclear etc.)
Geobyte ltd - geological exploring of resources of potential regions of oil and gas resources and condensate
Lukoil - is Russia's leading oil company
MNP Group incorporates - engaged in shipbuilding, offshore units design and construction.
Morneftegazproekt - provide integrated development of project documentation for offshore field development
Murmansk Shipping Company - crude oil transshipment and icebreaking services in Russian frozen ports and along the Northern Sea Route in Arctic waters
Polar Marine Geosurvey Expedition - complex geological and geophysical research in Arctic, the world ocean and Antarctica, in inland reservoirs
Rosneft - russian oil and gas exploration company
Sakhalin Energy - commercially develop, operate and market the hydrocarbon resources
Sea Soft Packages and Tehcnologies Ltd - developing software for realtime video integration with heterogeneous digital data
Sevmorgeo - Marine geological, geophysical and geoecological research of Russian offshore and the world ocean
an
Russian oil expansion activities in Africa have exanded significantly last few years, showing that this announced policy is well under way. But make no mistake, it is Putin himself, not private companies that are directing the activites of these companies. The state has taken over enormous private companies, like Gazprom (oil) and Alrosa (diamonds) and wields them as Arms of Russian government policy. Russia is not alone. In fact China has done he same thing with its largest oil companies, like the Chinese National offshore Oil Company
and Chinese National Petroleum Corporation, but that is a story for another day.

Africa, understand this: when you read any propaganda - US, Russian, Chinese, or Arab states, understand it for what it is, and make the best decisions for all your people.....and make it together, or we will be divided...as we have in the past, by our own choices.

-Shimron Issachar

Gandlof- China is being Irresponsible in Africa

HELSINKI (Reuters) - China is behaving irresponsibly in its trade relations with Africa and should better adhere to international standards, rights activist and Irish rocker Bob Geldof said on Tuesday.

• The anti-poverty campaigner told a corporate aid event in Finland China's philosophy was mercantilist -- based entirely on money without regard for political stability or the welfare of African people.
• "They are everywhere, they invest huge amounts of money -- it's very positive for some of the countries, but negative for others," he said.
• "There is a danger because that's naive and it's disingenuous. They're now a major power and they must behave to international standards."
  China is Africa's third-largest trading partner, exporting $16.4 billion (8 billion pounds) worth of goods and services in the first six months of 2007, up 49 percent from a year earlier, China's Commerce Ministry said in August.
• China's direct outbound investment in Africa reached $480 million in the same period.
• Geldof said China was exacerbating some of the continent's most difficult problems, including Darfur and Zimbabwe.
• "The Chinese want the oil, they don't want anything interfering with the Khartoum government, so they give free guns to the Sudanese army," he said, adding 6 percent of Chinese oil was coming from Sudan, which makes up 60 percent of the country's production.
• Geldof said money and resources were also the driving force behind China's support of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, criticised by analysts for driving a once thriving economy into the ground and frightening off foreign investment.Deepali Khanna, East and Southern Africa regional director of grassroots organisation Plan International, said China could help stabilise the situation in Africa if it wanted to, especially in Sudan.
• "China could be playing a much more pivotal role -- China wants whatever is convenient for them and lets the rest of the world keep fighting over Darfur," she said.
• "But the investment that's coming from China -- they could pull that out; they could be getting the equilibrium right, but they are not. They're making the government much more arrogant in wanting to do things they have been doing so far."

Geldof and Khanna spoke at a seminar challenging the corporate sector to get more involved in the continent.

The Rest @ Reuters Africa

Lukoil and China National Petroleum Corp to Join in Developing 3rd World Oil Reserves

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - China National Petroleum Corp, the parent of PetroChina Co Ltd (HK 0857), has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Russia's biggest private oil company Lukoil with an emphasis on exploration and production, the two companies said.

Under the agreement, which was signed on Sept 8, the two companies plan to expand their co-operation in existing projects as well as work together on exploration, development and refining projects in third countries.

The two companies each hold a 20 pct stake in an international consortium carrying out geological exploration in Uzbekistan's part of the Aral Sea.

The Rest @ AFX News & ABC Money.uk

Investers Urged to Pull Out of PetroChina, Which funds Darfur Atrocities

Mutual-fund companies pressed to divest stakes in PetroChina / Activists target more US firms on Sudan investments

Two stories from over the past few days that are related to, most recently, yesterday's from the "Financial Times":
From Bloomberg...
Fidelity Investments, Vanguard Group, and American Funds, the three largest U.S. mutual-fund companies, on Wednesday came under increased pressure from activists to sell their holdings in PetroChina, the oil company that does business in war-ridden Sudan.

The Rest @ Sudan, The Passion and The Present

UN Appoints First Chinese Commander in Africa

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations announced Monday the appointment of its first Chinese force commander for a U.N. peacekeeping mission. He will serve in the disputed Western Sahara territory.

Maj. Gen. Zhao Jingmin will be force commander for what is termed the U.N. Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, known by its French acronym MINURSO. He replaces Danish Gen. Kurt Mosgaard, who ended his tour of duty Monday.

"This will be the first time that the U.N. has had a Chinese force commander heading one of its missions," U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas told a regular news briefing.

Western Sahara is a former Spanish colony on the northwest African coast. Morocco annexed the territory after Madrid pulled out in 1975 but clashed with Polisario Front guerrillas seeking independence. A cease-fire was declared in 1991.

Since then, just over 200 U.N. troops and military observers have been stationed in Sahara, where a 1,500-km (940-mile) wall of sand running through landmine-infested desert to the Atlantic divides Moroccan and Polisario forces.

Zhao, a career army officer, was born in 1954 and speaks French and English after being educated in both Beijing and Dakar, Senegal. He served briefly in MINURSO after it was first set up.

He was also chief liaison officer in the U.N. Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission from 1996-97, and from 1998-2001 was Chinese military attache in Tunisia. Since 2003 he has worked in the Chinese defense ministry's office of peacekeeping affairs.

The United Nations is currently mediating talks between Morocco, which has offered self-rule for the resource-rich Western Sahara, and Polisario, which seeks a referendum with full independence for the 260,000 inhabitants as one option.

The Rest @ Reuters Africa

Ghana Libya Arab Holding Company

June, 2007

The Ghana-Libya Arab Holding Company (GLAHCO) and the China State Hualong Construction (Gh) limited, on Sunday signed a 14.7 million-dollar agreement to rehabilitate the City Hotel in Kumasi into a four-star hotel.

Work is expected to begin from June 05 and end in October 2007. The hotel would be refurbished and provided with 112 rooms, apartments and executive suits.

Mr Kwadwo Baah Wiredu, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, signed for Ghana and Mr Su Yue-Hua, President Ghana Chinese Chamber of Commerce, signed for the Chinese company.

• Mr Baah Wiredu said Libya was providing 60 per cent of the amount while Ghana would provide 40 per cent.
• He said the project was the final of several projects GLAHCO is undertaking in the country.
• The other projects are the Golden Tulip Hotel that is to be expanded, Airport City project, some estates at Adjirigano at East Legon, Aluworks warehouse at Tema and the development of an 8,000-acre farm at Kodji near Sogakope in the Volta Region.
• He said 500 acres out of the 8000 acres had been developed with 475 used for the cultivation of mango and 25 acres for lime.
• Mr Ernest Asamoah, Executive Director of GLAHCO, said it has taken a long time to reach the agreement because of the quality of work expected.
• Mr Su Yue-Hua said the firm had carried out a lot of projects for the education sector and the presidential office and was confident that it would be able to carry out this assignment well and on time. He gave the assurance that from next week the team of workers would move to Kumasi to start the project.

Other GLAHCO Projects (from 2000)

The Rest @ the Golden Tulip

Joint Military Exercises in Mali

Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia are among 13 African and European countries along with the United States, which will carry out a joint military exercise in Mali in late August or early September, AFP and Algerian media reported Thursday (August 16th).

The drill has been dubbed "Flintlock 2007" and will also see the participation of Mali, Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Burkina Faso, France, the Netherlands, and Great Britain. "The key objective of this exercise is to assist partner countries to plan and execute command, control and communication systems in support of humanitarian operations, peacekeeping and disaster management," Ech Chourouk and El Watan quoted a report from the US embassy in Bamako as saying.

According to AFP, "Flintlock 2007" is the last in a series of exercises carried out jointly by the American military and African partner nations, as part of the Trans-Saharan Counter-Terrorism Partnership initiative.

The Rest @Magharebia

China's State Run Newspaper suggests that Flintlock is really about controling Natural Resources in Africa. I can understrand why China may not like the exercise, since China herself appears to be making a run on African Oil.

-Shimron

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - China is still giving Sudan financial and military aid that enables it to wage war in Darfur, but global pressure on Beijing has made a difference, a Small Arms Survey research paper said.

The Small Arms Survey said China's financial support to Sudan indirectly helped finance its wars, lifting Khartoum's income to at least $1.3 billion a year from oil revenues.

Chinese companies have controlling interests in Sudan's largest oil blocks and 50 percent of its largest refinery. But Chinese investment was larger than just oil, the report said.

"China is now northern Sudan's most important trade partner," the report said, adding investment was in construction, dams and railways as well as the energy sector.
On arms, the report said Chinese-Sudanese military relations strengthened from 2002 with high-level exchange visits.

While little information is available, it cited U.N. figures showing China as the largest military weapons and parts supplier to Sudan in 2004 and 2005, overtaking Iran. In 2005 it supplied almost $25 million worth.

The report said pressure from advocacy groups and negative media attention ahead of China hosting the 2008 Olympic Games had pushed Beijing to use its influence over Sudan more wisely.

China and Sudan to Build Railway to Mauritania

NOUAKCHOTT, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Sudan's Danfodio Holding and China's Transtech Engineering have signed an agreement to build a 460 million euro ($634 million) railway linking Mauritania's capital Nouakchott with southern phosphate deposits at Bofal.

The deal for the 430 km (290 mile) line, which will run close to the Islamic Republic's southern frontier with Senegal, was signed late on Friday in Nouakchott with private Mauritanian investors and Transport Minister Ahmed Ould Mohameden.

"This line will allow the exploitation of the Bofal deposits and open up isolated areas of Mauritania with considerable animal, agricultural and mineral resources," Mohameden said at the signing.

The Mauritanian government hopes the line can link Mauritania to an existing West African rail network covering Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso.
The proven reserves of phosphate, commonly used in fertilisers, at Bofal are around 165 million tonnes. The government forecasts an annual production of 2 million tonnes over 30 years.

Transtech and its parent company China Railway Engineering Corp., one of the world's largest railway builders, won a $1 billion contract earlier this year to build a 700-km railway in Sudan connecting the capital Khartoum with eastern Port Sudan

The Rest @ Reuters

This is a summarized version of a great PINR report (See below), that illustrates Chinas impact in Africa

-Shimron

The Financial Times reported on July 13 that the Chinese National Offshore Oil Corporation (C.N.O.O.C.) has signed a deal with Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf to explore the northern Puntland region for oil.

• The initial agreement was signed last May, and it was endorsed at the China-Africa summit held in Beijing last November. [See: "Upcoming Summit Highlights Africa's Importance to China"]
• A meeting between C.N.O.O.C. and Somali officials was held on June 24 to finalize the deal.
• The terms indicate that the Somali government would retain 51 percent of the oil revenues under a production-sharing arrangement.
• Further reporting from the Financial Times, however, revealed that Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi was not aware of the contract, suggesting that the oil deal remains vulnerable to political infighting.
• China's willingness to invest in Somalia -- before the Transitional Federal Government (T.F.G.) completes work on a national oil law and as the security situation continues to deteriorate -- shows that Beijing has not been deterred by the growing backlash across Africa at Chinese policies and remains willing to take on political risks that Western firms will not tolerate.
• Threats to China in Africa Chinese investments have come under attack in recent months, and a general wariness about closer ties with Beijing has become part of the political dialogue in most African countries where China does business.
• Days after the June meeting in Somalia, a Chinese mining executive was kidnapped in Niger.
• The incident followed the killing of nine Chinese workers in Ethiopia, near the border with Somalia, in April.
• Chinese workers have also come under attack in Nigeria in recent months.
• Politically, Chinese investments have become a touchy subject.
• Michael Sata's opposition campaign in Zambia received strong backing after he attacked Chinese investments and threatened to renew ties with Taiwan.
• He ultimately failed in his bid for the presidency, however, after China threatened retaliatory measures if he was elected.
• Similar complaints have been raised in Nigeria and South Africa.
• China began to address the growing unease in Africa toward its investments earlier this year.
• Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Zambia and South Africa in February where he pledged further investments and a greater focus on community development plans.
• China has also publicly used its leverage in Sudan to press Khartoum to accept the terms of last year's U.N. Security Council resolution on the Darfur crisis. [See: "China Adjusts its Approach in Africa" and "China Claims Success on Darfur"]
• Nevertheless, China's fundamental goals in Africa have not changed.
• In Africa, China is looking to secure access to the natural resources it needs to keep its economic expansion humming, as well as support for its policies at the United Nations.
• The C.N.O.O.C. deal in Somalia is evidence that China's risk appetite has not decreased as it pursues these goals in Africa.
• Somalia has no proven oil reserves, and only 200 billion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves.
• Companies including Agip, Shell (Pecten), Conoco and Phillips (now merged), and Amoco (now part of BP) spent over US$150 million on onshore exploration in the 1980s and early 1990s, but no oil reserves were discovered.
• Still Range Resources, a small Australian-based oil firm with close contacts to the government in Puntland, estimates that the region could hold 5 to 10 billion barrels of oil based on an analysis of the previous exploration reports.
• The Puntland province claims autonomy from the government in Mogadishu, but not independence like Somaliland.
• The region has been relatively calm compared to central and southern Somalia since 1991, but the political situation remains uncertain.
• President Yusuf was certainly involved in the negotiations with the Chinese firm, as he hails from the Puntland province and maintains close ties with the local leadership, but the prime minister of the T.F.G. was left out of the loop.
• The fact that Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi was kept out of the negotiations suggests that the terms of the deal are not beneficial to the T.F.G. or Somalia's other provinces.
• This could exacerbate already strained ties between the prime minister and the president. [See: "Somalia Continues its Political Collapse"]The prime minister appears to have led an effort within the T.F.G. to pass a national oil law that would allow Western firms to return to Somalia under production-sharing agreements, which require oil firms to share their production with the government after initial costs are covered.
• He told the Dow Jones Newswire in April that a national oil law would be passed within two months, a deadline that has slipped. The oil law in question seems to be similar to the one pushed in Iraq by the United States, which has also not been passed.
• China may have wished to sign the deal for exploration rights in Puntland before the law was passed, in order to avoid competition with Western majors, but the emergence of a national oil law could threaten the investment. [See: "Sectarian Fighting Overshadows Oil Law Debate in Iraq"]
• The fact that China would enter into an agreement in such an uncertain legal and political environment, to say nothing of the security concerns, shows that it is still willing to take on risks that the Western oil majors cannot tolerate.
• This remains the main competitive advantage for China in the race to secure natural resources around the world -- while Chinese firms do not have the technology to drill in some of the conditions that Western firms can, they do not have the same political and financial constraints that prevent them from investing in regions considered off limits to Western firms.
• Last month, for example, China National Petroleum Corporation (C.N.P.C.) signed a deal to co-develop an offshore block in Sudan, where China has been the dominant player in the oil sector after sanctions caused Western firms to suspend their operations or pull out completely.
• Sudan now supplies up to ten percent of China's oil imports.
• In Angola, China provided $2 billion in soft loans to the government that allowed it to avoid implementing reforms requested by Western donors. In return, Angola ensured that it would provide continuous oil supplies to Beijing. [See: "China and Angola Strengthen Bilateral Relationship"]
• C.N.O.O.C. said earlier this year that it would boost output to 78 million tons from 40.3 million tons last year. In order to maintain growth rates near this level, Beijing will need to continue to help its oil companies invest in regions where Western firms cannot.
• This means that China will fund infrastructure projects in countries under Western sanctions, such as Sudan, or where security concerns dissuade Western firms from investing more, such as Nigeria.
• The decision to invest in Somalia's Puntland region is part of this strategy.
• Only a small firm, such as Range Resources, would be able to take on a similar risk level, and that firm has spent several years courting the local government officials there.
• With the financial and political backing of the Chinese government, C.N.O.O.C. and C.N.P.C. have a distinct advantage over the smaller Western firms.

China's move into Somalia's oil industry is a further example of its strategy for securing access to natural resources around the world.

• Rather than purchasing oil on the global markets, as the United States does for the most part, China prefers to secure control of the resources it needs at the source.
• However, because China's oil firms lack the technical capabilities and political clout of the Western majors, Beijing prefers to deal with regions that are out of reach to the competition.
• This practice has sparked a growing backlash across Africa to China's policies.
• Many locals see Beijing's actions as protecting corrupt and often dictatorial leaders.
• Beijing has attempted to counter this perception recently by investing in infrastructure projects in regions where the backlash is strongest, leaking reports of its unhappiness with the most controversial leaders, and granting local businesses better access to China's markets in some industries.
• The investment in Somalia's Puntland province still looks risky, even by Chinese standards. The deal appears to have been struck with the local officials in the province that claims autonomy from the transitional, central government. However, the president of the T.F.G., who is from the region, was involved in the deal. The prime minister of the T.F.G. appears to prefer another model to attract investments, passing a national oil law that will clarify the legal questions that prevent Western firms from returning to Somalia.
• The Chinese deal may well fall victim to the political infighting that is likely to follow. Still, the T.F.G.'s claim to control Puntland appears to be weakening as the central government remains frozen in a state of political collapse.
• Two days after the Financial Times first reported about the Chinese oil deal, the much awaited national reconciliation conference had to be delayed because security for the meeting could not be guaranteed in Mogadishu. Given the T.F.G.'s uncertainty, Beijing's decision to work with the local representatives in Puntland may well prove to be enough, and China could soon be pumping Somali oil, if it even exists.

Adam Wolfe

The Power and Interest News Report (PINR) is an independent organization that utilizes open source intelligence to provide conflict analysis services in the context of international relations. PINR approaches a subject based upon the powers and interests involved, leaving the moral judgments to the reader. This report may not be reproduced, reprinted or broadcast without the written permission of enquiries@pinr.com. PINR reprints do not qualify under Fair-Use Statute Section 107 of the Copyright Act. All comments should be directed to comments@pinr.com.

The Rest @ PINR