Shell, Iraq Gas Deal Progressing, Cabinet To OK Study.

by Hassan Hafidh
Dow Jones Newswires 7/7/2009
URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=77965

The multibillion dollar deal between Royal Dutch Shell PLC and the Iraqi government to jointly develop domestic gas infrastructure in Iraq's south is progressing and the oil ministry is submitting a feasibility study to the cabinet before concluding a final deal, Iraq's deputy oil minister said Monday.

"We are planning to submit a comprehensive feasibility study on the project to the cabinet by the end of this month," Ahmad al-Shammaa told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview. Both sides had held several meetings outlining details of the contract such as what to do with produced dry and liquefied gas, he said.

"The company is thinking of exporting extra gas after meeting domestic needs though setting up offshore installations."

Shell and Iraq's South Gas Co. last September reached in Baghdad a preliminary agreement to produce gas from key Iraqi oil fields in the southern Basra province. They agreed that they should sign the final deal in a year.

According to the agreement Iraq's South Gas Co. will control 51% while Shell will hold the remaining 49% of the venture.

The joint venture will exploit flared associated gas for domestic use and export the rest as liquefied natural gas via the Arabian Gulf using Iraq's southern ports or through pipelines. The agreement with Shell has drawn a lot of criticism from various Iraqi politicians and oil industry figures, who argue that Shell didn't compete with other international companies to get the deal.

The oil ministry, however, says Shell was chosen among other international companies invited to compete for the deal. Around 800 million cubic feet of natural gas is burned off each day from Basra oil fields because there is no infrastructure to utilize it. The government wants to use the gas for domestic electricity production and export the remainder.

Iraq, which has proven natural gas reserves of 3.15 trillion cubic meters, has a daily natural gas production of 1.64 billion cubic feet, 70% of which was flared. Two gas fields listed in Baghdad's first bid round concluded June 30 weren't awarded to international companies.

Nigerian Minister Backs Sudan's Admission into APPA.

BBC Monitoring via Comtex
7/7/2009
URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=77984

The formal admission of Sudan into the African Petroleum Producers Association (APPA) yesterday received the endorsement of the minister of petroleum resources, Dr. Rilwanu Lukman, as part of the body.

At the event which took place at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Towers in Abuja, the Minister of Energy and Mining of the Federal Republic of Sudan, Mr Ahzubair Ahmed Al-hassan signed on behalf of his country while Lukman signed on behalf of Nigeria.

"APPA was formed on January 27, 1987 in Lagos at the instance of Nigeria to promote cooperation among member countries in the diverse fields of hydrocarbons such as exploration, production, refining, petrochemicals, marketing and human resources," said Lukman.

He said APPA had created the much-needed platform for exchange of experiences and ideas amongst member countries.

According to him, the platform had been exemplified in the shared initiatives, especially in terms of policies and strategic management in all the sector of the oil industry which has enabled member countries to maximize their profits in the exploitation of their non-renewable resources in the face of dwindling crude oil prices and the concomitant global economic crisis.

The Nigerian minister stated that Sudan was admitted into APPA during the 26th Ordinary Session led in Brazzavile, Republic of Congo on March 28, 2009, adding "in furtherance of that admission that you today sign the statue of the Association thereby formalizing your membership."

Lukman stated that with the bilateral relations between the two countries, Sudan's admission into the association was welcome.

In his words, "I consider the membership of our long-time desire to foster stronger economic, social and political relationship between us."

Likman added that Nigeria was prepared to share its tremendous experience in exploration and management of hydrocarbon resources with the Sudanesse.

"It is my fervent hope therefore, that both countries will play very crucial roles in the advancement of the objectives of African Petroleum Producers Association for the improvement of the economic well-being of our peoples," Likman said. "I want to assure you of Nigeria's irrevocable commitment to this."

The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr. Mohanmmed Barkindo, noted that Sudan is the 15th member of APPA, from the original four.

In his response, Ahmed Alhassan thanked the Nigeian government for the role it has played in keeping peace in Sudan and reassured of his country's commitment to the objective of APPA.

Liberian TRC's 'Most Notorious' List.

New Democrat
6 July 2009

The Truth and Reconciliation (TRC) is still putting its final touches to its controversial report, but it has released a list of 98 individuals described as "most notorious perpetrators" of war crimes, with former President Charles Taylor conspicuously absent in this category. Heading the list of "most notorious" is the erstwhile Field Marshall of the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL), Gen. Prince Johnson, now Senator for Nimba County.

Reactions on the TRC report from some of the politicians on the list are still being considered, but former Senate President Isaac Nyenabo, banned from holding public office for his alleged role in the war, contacted, said he couldn't respond to "perceptions." He has however scheduled an official response for today.

Earlier, Mr. Saahr Gbollie, on the list of the "most notorious", vowed resistance, the same position that former Field Marshall Johnson has adopted.

A source close to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf says the President has not received the report, therefore ruling out comments.

The report, in its current form, indicted all warring factions for committing various crimes, along with key individuals in political circles and institutions for committing economic crimes.

The report traced the history of Liberia, with conclusions that inequalities were prevalent. This paper will periodically highlight key section of a rather voluminous report.

The report: "The relationship between IGNU and NPRAG was, as to be expected, tense. Liberia was effectively divided into greater Monrovia and Greater Liberia of Charles Taylor's NPRAG. This divide was re-enforced by the introduction of new bank notes (liberty) by IGNU to counter spiraling inflation resulting from the former bank notes (JJ) being looted from commercial banks and containers which were in the hands of warlords including, Prince Johnson who was bitter and angered when possession of large amounts of the JJ bank notes could not be justified for which exchange was often denied. Although Taylor countered this by forbidden anyone in greater Liberia to use the new currency, it was soon clear that this move was hopeless as the new currency indeed triumphed in parallel and black markets."

NO./NAME/VIOLATIONS

1 Prince Y. Johnson - Killing, extortion, massacre, destruction of property, force recruitment, assault, abduction, torture & force labor, rape

2 Moses Z. Blah - Torture, Abduction, Assault & Looting

3 William Sumo - Torture, Abduction, Assault & Looting

4 Mehnsayon Sayon - Torture, Abduction, Assault, Looting,force detention, force recruitment

5 John Gbeto - Torture, Abduction, Assault & Looting

6 Paulson Garteh alias Gen. Satan - Massacre, Torture & Extortion

7 Augustine Zor - Massacre, Arson & Torture

8 Joseph Kpeyon - Massacre

9 Mateus Paily - Massacre

10 Gen. Lawrence Guanuu - Force Labor & Massacre

11 Supt. Jonathan Banney - Torture

12 Albert Sumeh - Murder & Rape

13 Gen. Sampson - Murder

14 Christopher Vambo alias Gen. Mosquito - Murder & Torture

15 Col. Joloka - Rape, Torture & Murder

16 Prince Nagbe - Rape, Torture & Murder

17 Pat Ran Kennedy - Murder, Looting & Force Labor

18 Klehgbayee - Murder, Looting & Force Labor

19 Abel S. Gbalah - Torture, Rape & Murder

20 Gen. Nally - Rape, Force Labor & Murder

21 Macdonald Tarpeh - Rape, Mutilation & Murder

22 Anthony Ponnie - Rape, Mutilation & Murder

23 Alfred Payne - Rape, Mutilation & Murder

24 Gen. Greene - Conscription, Rape & Murder

25 Saywalaka - Conscription, Rape & Murder

26 Chris Davis - Murder, Conscriptoin, Torture & Rape

27 Col. Boy Tarley - Murder, Force Labor, Mutilation

28 John Guain alias Gen. Norriega - Massacre

29 Michael Davies alias Sundaygar Dear-boy - Looting, Torture, killing & Gang Rape

30 Peter Giah children father - Killing

31 Coco Dennis, Gen. Gonda, (NPFL) - Massacre, Killing, Force Labor, Canibalism

32 Carsacar Group (NPFL) Joseph (model) - Massacre, Forced Labor

33 (LPC) Blood Sucker war boss - Rape, Killing, Torture & Canibalism

34 Nuku Johnson - Gen. Nathan (LPC) - Massacre, Torture, Rape

35 (NPFL) Red Devil - Massacre

36 (LPC) Mohammeh Bah (Superman) - Killing, Rape

37 (LPC) Superman - Massacre

38 J.Y. NPFL (delta force) - Rape, Torture & Extortion

39 Chinese Jabber Philip Kamiongar (NPFL) - Killing, Rape, Torture, Forced Labor

40 LPC Debbah - Killing, Torture, Destruction

41 (NPFL Marine), Fasue, Gonkarnue - Torture, Detention

42 NPFL-Markdamie, Black Diamond - Massacre, Cannabalism

43 Gen. Freeman (NPFL) - Massacre

44 Sundaygar, young killer, skinny - Torture, Massacre

45 NPFL - Matthew gio - Killing, Massacre

46 (NPFL Gen. Gondah (Reginald Ballout) - Torture, Forced Labor, cannibalism or eating victim's human flesh

47 Citizens of Duo (single barrel) unit NPFL - Massacre

48 (NPFL) Mekarnu Goweh, Saye Boayou - Extortion, Torture

49 (LPC) George pee Solo Garsanoo - Killing, Destruction and Torture

50 Saah R. Gborllie - Murder, dismemberment of pregnant women

51 Richard Flomo - Torture and Killing

52 Jerry Risks - Massacre

53 John Garan (Junior Garan) - Torture, Killings & Massacre

54 Gen. Steven Wontoe - Torture, extortion & Killings

55 Gen. Joe Tuah - Torture, summary executions, conscription, forced labor and ritualistic killings

56 David Daniel - Torture, rape, summary executions, conscription, forced labor and ritualistic killings

57 Martina Johnson - Killings

58 Junior Mitchell - Torture, sexual slavery, forced labor & killings

59 Gen. Fasue - Rape, Massacre, looting & Summary killings

60 George Dweh - Murder, killing & torture

61 Gen. Charles Julu - Murder, killing, destruction of property & torture

62 Augustine Nagbe alian Gen. Power - Torture, looting & destruction of property

63 Marcus High Gray - Torture, killing & looting

64 J. Appollo Swen - Killing & extortion

65 Sando Johnson - Killing & force recruitment

66 Joseph Marzah alian Zigzag Marzarh - Murder

67 Kai Farley - Massacre & killing

68 Varmuyah - Rape, torture & force labor

69 Amos Barclay - Rape, torture & force labor

70 Larry Murphy - Killing & torture

71 Mike Tyson - Massacre, torture & arson

72 Gen. Ofori Diah, alias Iron Jacket - Force labor

73 George Warpo - Massacre, Arson & Torture

74 Co. Zero-Zero - Massacre, Arson & Torture

75 Peter Dahn - Massacre, Arson & Torture

76 Co. Kortor - Massacre, Arson & Torture

77 Tommy B. Wongba - Massacre, Arson & Torture

78 Peter Pewee, alias Gen. Katali - Killing & torture

79 Gen. Ericson Bardio - Rape, sexual slavery & force labor

80 Benjamin Yeaten - Murder, torture & abduction

81 Roland Duo - Murder, torture & abduction

82 Felix Washington - Murder

83 Senegalese - Murder, torture & force displacement

84 Moses Tarley alias Co. Crab - Torture & murder

85 Co David Torture & extortion

86 Siafa Norman - Abduction & arson

87 Sakou Donzo - Arson

88 Adolphus Dolo - Murder

89 Melvin Sogbandi - Killing, torture, massacre & looting

90 Mango Menlor - Murder, abduction & rape

91 Mark Guahn - Killing, genocide & murder

92 Moses Thomas- former - Torture, Murder

93 Maj. Jerry Gban - Torture, Murder, Looting

94 Waheeb Saab - Torture, Murder

95 Maj. Harry Johnson - Torture, Murder

96 Zico Nah Darliah - Murder, torture & force displacement, Rape, Genocide, Massacre

97 Lieutenant Andrew Gaye - Torture, Murder

98 Arthur Nyenabo - Torture, Murder

(More to follow)

Joint Statement by Dmitriy A. Medvedev, President of the Russian Federation, and Barack Obama, President of the United States of America.

Joint Statement by Dmitriy A. Medvedev, President of the Russian Federation, and Barack Obama, President of the United States of America, Regarding Negotiations on Further Reductions in Strategic Offensive Arms.

6 July 2009

The President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, and the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitriy A. Medvedev, noted that the Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START Treaty), which expires in December 2009, has completely fulfilled its intended purpose and that the maximum levels for strategic offensive arms recorded in the Treaty were reached long ago. They have therefore decided to move further along the path of reducing and limiting strategic offensive arms in accordance with U.S. and Russian obligations under Article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

The Presidents decided to begin bilateral intergovernmental negotiations to work out a new, comprehensive, legally binding agreement on reducing and limiting strategic offensive arms to replace the START Treaty. The United States and the Russian Federation intend to conclude this agreement before the Treaty expires in December. In this connection, they instructed their delegations at the negotiations to proceed on basis of the following:

- The subject of the new agreement will be the reduction and limitation of strategic offensive arms;

- In the future agreement the Parties will seek to record levels of reductions in strategic offensive arms that will be lower than those in the 2002 Moscow Treaty on Strategic Offensive Reductions, which is currently in effect;

- The new agreement will mutually enhance the security of the Parties and predictability and stability in strategic offensive forces, and will include effective verification measures drawn from the experience of the Parties in implementing the START Treaty.

They directed their negotiators to report on progress achieved in working out the new agreement by July 2009.

Joint Statement by President Dmitriy Medvedev of the Russian Federation and President Barack Obama of the United States of America.

6 July 2009

Reaffirming that the era when our countries viewed each other as enemies is long over, and recognizing our many common interests, we today established a substantive agenda for Russia and the United States to be developed over the coming months and years. We are resolved to work together to strengthen strategic stability, international security, and jointly meet contemporary global challenges, while also addressing disagreements openly and honestly in a spirit of mutual respect and acknowledgement of each other’s perspective.

We discussed measures to overcome the effects of the global economic crisis, strengthen the international monetary and financial system, restore economic growth, and advance regulatory efforts to ensure that such a crisis does not happen again.

We also discussed nuclear arms control and reduction. As leaders of the two largest nuclear weapons states, we agreed to work together to fulfill our obligations under Article VI of the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and demonstrate leadership in reducing the number of nuclear weapons in the world. We committed our two countries to achieving a nuclear free world, while recognizing that this long-term goal will require a new emphasis on arms control and conflict resolution measures, and their full implementation by all concerned nations. We agreed to pursue new and verifiable reductions in our strategic offensive arsenals in a step-by-step process, beginning by replacing the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with a new, legally-binding treaty. We are instructing our negotiators to start talks immediately on this new treaty and to report on results achieved in working out the new agreement by July.

While acknowledging that differences remain over the purposes of deployment of missile defense assets in Europe, we discussed new possibilities for mutual international cooperation in the field of missile defense, taking into account joint assessments of missile challenges and threats, aimed at enhancing the security of our countries, and that of our allies and partners.

The relationship between offensive and defensive arms will be discussed by the two governments.

We intend to carry out joint efforts to strengthen the international regime for nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery. In this regard we strongly support the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and are committed to its further strengthening. Together, we seek to secure nuclear weapons and materials, while promoting the safe use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. We support the activities of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and stress the importance of the IAEA Safeguards system. We seek universal adherence to IAEA comprehensive safeguards, as provided for in Article III of the NPT, and to the Additional Protocol and urge the ratification and implementation of these agreements. We will deepen cooperation to combat nuclear terrorism. We will seek to further promote the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, which now unites 75 countries. We also support international negotiations for a verifiable treaty to end the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons. As a key measure of nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament, we underscored the importance of the entering into force the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. In this respect, President Obama confirmed his commitment to work for American ratification of this Treaty. We applaud the achievements made through the Nuclear Security Initiative launched in Bratislava in 2005, including to minimize the civilian use of Highly Enriched Uranium, and we seek to continue bilateral collaboration to improve and sustain nuclear security. We agreed to examine possible new initiatives to promote international cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy while strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation regime. We welcome the work of the IAEA on multilateral approaches to the nuclear fuel cycle and encourage efforts to develop mutually beneficial approaches with states considering nuclear energy or considering expansion of existing nuclear energy programs in conformity with their rights and obligations under the NPT. To facilitate cooperation in the safe use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, both sides will work to bring into force the bilateral Agreement for Cooperation in the Field of Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy. To strengthen non-proliferation efforts, we also declare our intent to give new impetus to implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1540 on preventing non-state actors from obtaining WMD-related materials and technologies.

We agreed to work on a bilateral basis and at international forums to resolve regional conflicts.

We agreed that al-Qaida and other terrorist and insurgent groups operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan pose a common threat to many nations, including the United States and Russia. We agreed to work toward and support a coordinated international response with the UN playing a key role. We also agreed that a similar coordinated and international approach should be applied to counter the flow of narcotics from Afghanistan, as well as illegal supplies of precursors to this country. Both sides agreed to work out new ways of cooperation to facilitate international efforts of stabilization, reconstruction and development in Afghanistan, including in the regional context.

We support the continuation of the Six-Party Talks at an early date and agreed to continue to pursue the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in accordance with purposes and principles of the September 19, 2005 Joint Statement and subsequent consensus documents. We also expressed concern that a North Korean ballistic missile launch would be damaging to peace and stability in the region and agreed to urge the DPRK to exercise restraint and observe relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

While we recognize that under the NPT Iran has the right to a civilian nuclear program, Iran needs to restore confidence in its exclusively peaceful nature. We underline that Iran, as any other Non-Nuclear Weapons State - Party to the NPT, has assumed the obligation under Article II of that Treaty in relation to its non-nuclear weapon status. We call on Iran to fully implement the relevant U.N. Security Council and the IAEA Board of Governors resolutions including provision of required cooperation with the IAEA. We reiterated their commitment to pursue a comprehensive diplomatic solution, including direct diplomacy and through P5+1 negotiations, and urged Iran to seize this opportunity to address the international community’s concerns.

We also started a dialogue on security and stability in Europe. Although we disagree about the causes and sequence of the military actions of last August, we agreed that we must continue efforts toward a peaceful and lasting solution to the unstable situation today. Bearing in mind that significant differences remain between us, we nonetheless stress the importance of last year’s six-point accord of August 12, the September 8 agreement, and other relevant agreements, and pursuing effective cooperation in the Geneva discussions to bring stability to the region.

We agreed that the resumption of activities of the NATO-Russia Council is a positive step. We welcomed the participation of an American delegation at the special Conference on Afghanistan convened under the auspices of Shanghai Cooperation Organization last month.

We discussed our interest in exploring a comprehensive dialogue on strengthening Euro-Atlantic and European security, including existing commitments and President Medvedev’s June 2008 proposals on these issues. The OSCE is one of the key multilateral venues for this dialogue, as is the NATO-Russia Council.

We also agreed that our future meetings must include discussions of transnational threats such as terrorism, organized crime, corruption and narcotics, with the aim of enhancing our cooperation in countering these threats and strengthening international efforts in these fields, including through joint actions and initiatives.

We will strive to give rise to a new dynamic in our economic links including the launch of an intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation and the intensification of our business dialogue. Especially during these difficult economic times, our business leaders must pursue all opportunities for generating economic activity. We both pledged to instruct our governments to make efforts to finalize as soon as possible Russia’s accession into the World Trade Organization and continue working towards the creation of favorable conditions for the development of Russia-U.S. economic ties.

We also pledge to promote cooperation in implementing Global Energy Security Principles, adopted at the G-8 summit in Saint Petersburg in 2006, including improving energy efficiency and the development of clean energy technologies.

Today we have outlined a comprehensive and ambitious work plan for our two governments. We both affirmed a mutual desire to organize contacts between our two governments in a more structured and regular way. Greater institutionalized interactions between our ministries and departments make success more likely in meeting the ambitious goals that we have established today.

At the same time, we also discussed the desire for greater cooperation not only between our governments, but also between our societies ‑‑ more scientific cooperation, more students studying in each other’s country, more cultural exchanges, and more cooperation between our nongovernmental organizations. In our relations with each other, we also seek to be guided by the rule of law, respect for fundamental freedoms and human rights, and tolerance for different views.

We, the leaders of Russia and the United States, are ready to move beyond Cold War mentalities and chart a fresh start in relations between our two countries. In just a few months we have worked hard to establish a new tone in our relations. Now it is time to get down to business and translate our warm words into actual achievements of benefit to Russia, the United States, and all those around the world interested in peace and prosperity.

President Sirleaf accused of role in civil war.

IOL News
6 July 2009

Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Monday recommended that President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf be banned from holding public office for 30 years because of her alleged role in a civil war.

In its final report, the panel investigating Liberia's 1989-2003 civil war included Sirleaf's name in a list of people it accused of being "the financiers and political leaders of the different warring factions".

Turkey Confirms Nabucco Pipeline Deal to Be Signed in July.

Dow Jones Newswires 7/3/2009
URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=77901

ANKARA (AFP), Jul. 3, 2009

Turkish officials confirmed Friday that a key intergovernmental agreement on the European Union's Nabucco gas pipeline will be signed July 13 in Ankara.

"I can confirm that we have sent invitations to the related parties for the signing of the agreement on July 13 in Ankara," Nabi Avci, an adviser to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, told AFP.

A government official said Erdogan was expected to host the ceremony.

Earlier, Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said that "the technical negotiations have come to an end," but would not give a date for the signing of the accord.

The 3,300-kilometer Nabucco pipeline is due to bring gas from the Caspian Sea to Austria via Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary, while bypassing Russia, in a bid to reduce Europe's energy dependence on Moscow.

The project, planned to become operational in 2014, will cost an estimated EUR7.9 billion.

It is in direct competition with Russia's South Stream project, developed by Russia's gas giant OAO Gazprom and Italy's Eni SpA, which will channel Russian gas through Bulgaria to Western Europe under the Black Sea.

Critics have questioned the adequacy of gas sources for Nabucco, and the project was cast into further doubt in May when key gas suppliers Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan held off their support at a meeting in Prague.

Angry Museveni overhauls UPDF’s Somalia command.

The Observer
Written by Edris Kiggundu
Sunday, 05 July 2009 17:26

President Museveni has expressed his displeasure with the performance of Uganda’s African Union contingent in Somalia by announcing changes in the leadership of the team.

The changes will see Brig. Nathan Mugisha become the Force Commander of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). Maj. Gen. Francis Okello has been recalled to the Army headquarters in Bombo. Mugisha has been promoted to Major General and will work with Col. Jack Bakasumba, Uganda’s contingent commander in Somalia.

Until June this year, Mugisha was Commandant of the Jinja-based Senior Command and Staff College Kimaka. He was replaced by Brig. Clovis Kalyebala, but in acting capacity. Kalyebala, once attached to the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, has now been confirmed as the deputy commandant of the Staff College although he will continue acting as the commandant.

We have been told that Maj. Gen. Levi Karuhanga, the first AMISOM commander, who was recalled to the headquarters some time last year, now becomes General Officer in charge of the Reserve Force. Another major appointment is that of Brig. Bernard Rwehururu as chairman of the General Court Martial. He replaces Lt. Gen. Ivan Koreta who will concentrate on his duties as deputy Chief of Defence Forces.

Since March 2008, Rwehururu has been Commandant of the Uganda Military Academy, Kabamba. Rwehururu will be replaced at Kabamba by Maj. Gen. Andrew Guti, a former army representative in Parliament.

Army Spokesman, Maj. Felix Kulayigye, said the changes were routine and that they are not related to the performance of the affected individuals.

“This is what we call ‘relief in line’. An officer serves, after some time another is called in, and it is normal,” he said. Nonetheless, the changes, especially in the peace-keeping contingent in Somalia, come amidst reports of growing attacks on Ugandan and other peace-keeping troops by insurgents in the lawless country.

There are also reports of Ugandan soldiers deserting the contingent. In fact, we have been told that Aronda Nyakairima, the Chief of Defence Forces, and some other Army officers, will travel to Somalia this week to make an on-spot evaluation of the situation.

Kulayigye confirmed this trip but was tightlipped about its details. Early last month, The Observer reported that five UPDF soldiers had been killed by insurgents linked to Al-Shabaab, a group that is fighting to depose the nascent government of Sheikh Sharif Ahmed––but the Army refuted the reports.

Uganda sent troops to Somalia in March 2007 to protect the transition government that replaced the Union of Islamic Courts who had been driven out of Mogadishu by US-backed Ethiopian troops.

Ethiopian troops pulled out last year, leaving the few thousand Ugandan and Burundian soldiers a direct target of the insurgents.

Uganda army veterans threaten to sue President Kagame over Rwandan war.

The Observer
Written by TUGUMIZEMU VERNON
Sunday, 05 July 2009 17:20

Editor's Note: The 1990-1994 Rwandan War was not a civil war, yet the international and academic community remains silent about it. It was no accident that the Rwandan government decorated President Museveni, Ethiopian PM Zenawi, and the late President Mwalimu Julius Nyerere of Tanzania for their "contribution" during the war this year during the annual July 4th celebration of the RPF/A's taking of the country by force. Soldiers from each of these countries faught alongside the RPA, as revealed by testimony at the ICTR and former soldiers who faught in the war.

Uganda’s hitherto unclear role in the war that brought Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) to power in Kigali became clearer last week after 235 Ugandan retired soldiers claimed they were part of the military forces that helped to overthrow the Rwandan government in 1994.

The fighters are demanding their gratuity from the current Rwanda government, saying they have not been paid for the services rendered. They say they were demobilised in 1996, two years after helping RPF seize power.

The Observer has been told that the Ugandan fighters signed an agreement with the RPF in which they were promised between Shs 300,000 and 740,000 [depending on rank] as monthly salary for the duration of their services.

Col. Sam Kaka, the former Rwandese Army Chief of Staff, signed on behalf of the RPF. This payment was supposed to have been effected in September 1996 when the group was repatriated back to Uganda.

Some of the former combatants have told The Observer that they are considering legal action against the Rwandan Government to force it to pay up.

They include 60 former fighters who suffered injuries. Ten of them were seriously injured and move in wheel chairs, and on clutches. The group’s spokesman, Sgt. Aquino Matega, said they are demanding about 3billion Rwandese Francs.

“On August 28, 1996, we met with H.E. General Paul Kagame at Camp Kigali Army Barracks and [he] bid us farewell, he promised to speed up our package and told us to register our names with our respective DISOs and RDCs [in Uganda] as he would get in touch with the [Uganda] Government,” Matega said.

Matega, who now works with Masaka Municipality, claimed that they have petitioned several offices, including the Rwanda Embassy in Uganda, Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Sam Kutesa, and President Yoweri Museveni without success.

“In 2004 we went to Christine Umutoni, the Rwandese Ambassador to Uganda, she told us to go to our Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The chief of protocol told us that he would contact Rwanda to verify, but nothing happened,” he said.

Last week, about 70 members of the group met at Kasana football ground in Nyendo-Ssenyange Division, in Masaka town, and resolved to give Rwanda an ultimatum of two weeks to pay their claims or be dragged to court.

But Kutesa told The Observer on phone that the former fighters should remain calm because the two countries will discuss the matter. Matega, who is personally demanding Shs 17 million, however said his colleagues have been calm for 13 years. His leg was shattered by a landmine during the war.

Maj. Karangwa, an official in Rwanda’s Ministry of Defence, told this journalist by phone from Kigali that he was aware of the issue and his government was working with its embassy in Uganda to compensate these soldiers.

Another former fighter, Rubega Ibrahim, who claims that he nearly got killed during one of the major battles in Virunga Forest, said that he was disappointed that Rwanda had “let us down because we are the reason that peace was restored in Rwanda.” He says he is claiming about Shs 6 million.

Ex-PM Gedi condemns insurgents, praises Puntland.

Garowe Online
4 July 2009

Editor's Note: It was only a matter of time before Gedi publicly got back into Somali politics.

The former Prime Minister of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) has accused local insurgents of fighting alongside 'foreign fighters' while criticizing the government for weakness, Radio Garowe reports.

Prof. Ali Mohamed Gedi, a former Prime Minister who is a Member of the Somali Parliament, gave a long interview Saturday to Puntland-based Radio Garowe.

He appealed to the international community to provide military and financial support to the Somali government to fight against what he called "jihad seekers."

"Foreign fighters who are jihad seekers are pouring into Somalia," MP Gedi said, warning: "If they succeed [in overthrowing the government], then Somalia and the greater Horn of Africa region is in danger."

'Lost opportunity'

The former Prime Minister said the current TFG – which was established in Jan. 2009 and led by President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed – "lost an opportunity following the hope of the Djibouti Agreement."

He noted that the government was "wrong" for entering into an agreement with "a faction that could not deliver on promises."

As an example, MP Gedi pointed out that pro-government Islamic Courts Union (ICU) commanders in the central Hiran region had now joined the opposition faction, Hizbul Islam.

"These [opposition] groups use Islamic law as an excuse to wage war, but I always knew they would quit [the government]," MP Gedi added.

He said the government lost an opportunity to defend itself because the government inherited weapons and soldiers from the previous administration of President Abdullahi Yusuf, adding: "I don't know what happened to those weapons and soldiers."

Praise for Puntland

MP Gedi, who was then-President Yusuf's Prime Minister, said the Somali interim government (TFG) controlled most regions during his three years in office.

He noted that, as Prime Minister, the government had established regional administrations in some regions, adding that the insurgents did not have the power they have today to fight the interim government.

Lastly, ex-Prime Minister Gedi praised the people and government of Puntland, a self-governing stable region in northeastern Somalia.

"Protect the peace you have and protect your government," MP Gedi advised the people of Puntland, adding that peace in the Puntland regions has provided a safe haven for Somali civilians fleeing conflict in the south-central regions.

Gedi, who hails from President Sheikh Sharif's Abgal clan, now lives in Kenya. He survived three attempts on his life as Prime Minister.

Now 17 veterans with rare cancer or tumors with Camp Lejeune ties.

St. Petersburg Times
By William R. Levesque, Times Staff Writer
Published Friday, July 3, 2009

Scientists studying drinking water contamination at Camp Lejeune were startled when 11 men with breast cancer and ties to the North Carolina base were identified over the last two years.

Six more have been found in one week.

Five additional men with breast cancer and a sixth who had a double mastectomy after doctors found precancerous tumors contacted the St. Petersburg Times last week after reading a story about the 11 men with the rare disease.

"This male breast cancer cluster is a smoking gun," breast cancer survivor Mike Partain said on Friday. "You just can't ignore it. You don't need science to tell you something is wrong. It's common sense. It begs to be studied."

Partain, 41, of Tallahassee, was born at the Marine Corps base and diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007. He has worked for two years to find other men with breast cancer who lived at Camp Lejeune.

He found the first nine men before the Times profiled his search in a story on June 28, a story that noted the newspaper had found another man not on Partain's list.

In the days after that story, other male breast cancer survivors called or e-mailed the Times.

Scientists studying what some call the worst public-drinking water contamination in the nation's history said the numbers are unsettling.

"My gut tells me this is unusual and needs to be looked into," said Richard Clapp, a Boston University epidemiologist who has studied Camp Lejeune water. "I'm sure there are still more out there in other states."

Camp Lejeune's drinking water was contaminated for 30 years ending in 1987 with high levels of industrial degreasers called trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE). Clapp said both have been linked to other suspicious male breast cancer clusters elsewhere.

The chemicals were dumped there by the Marine Corps and a private dry-cleaning business, according to investigators.

Congress, which has dubbed ill Marines "poisoned patriots," ordered the Marines last year to notify those who might have been exposed. Some estimates put the number at up to 1 million people.

Many Marines, however, are still unaware.

One who didn't have a clue about the contamination is South Florida resident Jim Morris.

Morris said he was astonished when he was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000 at the age of 54. His family had no history of breast cancer. He didn't realize men could get the disease.

Few do.

Male breast cancer is exceedingly rare. Just 1,900 men are expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer this year compared with nearly 200,000 women, the American Cancer Society says.

A man has a 1-in-1,000 lifetime chance of getting the disease.

Men who get it are often over 70, though it is rare even in older males. Of the 17 men identified by Partain and the Times, just three are over 70 — the youngest was Partain at 39 — and many have no family history of breast cancer, male or female, according to interviews.

Morris said his sister lives in Pasco County and saw the Times article about Partain. She immediately called her brother.

"It was almost a relief to find out my cancer actually came from somewhere," said Morris, who has worked as a surveyor. "I'm not just some idiot who got breast cancer for no reason. I never expected to find out. It was going to be one of those lifetime puzzles you never figure out."

Scientists, however, are careful to say that it is extremely difficult to prove a link between pollution and a disease. The Marine Corps declined to comment for this story.

Two federal studies are expected to be completed in coming years that will look at the incidence of all disease among those who lived at Camp Lejeune. The stakes are enormous, with potentially billions of dollars in health claims by more than 1,500 people who say the water made them ill.

University of Pittsburgh Cancer Center epidemiologist Devra Davis also is preparing a case report on the breast cancer cluster.

Partain is among those who believe Camp Lejeune's water may have caused a variety of cancers and other ailments. A growing community of Camp Lejeune veterans, including many who say they are ill, have connected on the Web, many at a popular Internet site called tftptf.com.

More than 10,000 Floridians with Lejeune ties have signed up for a health survey, the most from any state except North Carolina.

Joe Moser, 69, of Riverview was diagnosed with breast and thyroid cancer in February 2008. He was stationed at Camp Lejeune from 1957 to 1960. He said he didn't know about water problems at the base and was stunned to read about the breast cancer link.

"This is too weird," Moser said. "All these men with breast cancer? Come on. There's got to be a lot more of us out there. God, so many of the guys I served with were from Trenton or Philadelphia, all over the place. Who knows if they're sick, too."

William R. Levesque can be reached at levesque@sptimes.com or (813) 269-5306.


Fast Facts

Were you at Camp Lejeune?

If you or a family member lived at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and have been diagnosed with male breast cancer, the St. Petersburg Times is interested in talking to you. Please call reporter William R. Levesque at (813) 269-5306 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 5306.

Anyone who lived or worked at Camp Lejeune in 1987 or before can register with the Marine Corps for a health survey. To register or to get more information, visit https://clnr.hqi.usmc.mil/clwater/ or call (877) 261-9782.

US-backed Colombian soldiers execute innocent for cash.

The Raw Story
By Daniel Tencer
July 3, 2009

The Colombian government of President Alvaro Uribe is facing questions about its handling of the war against the country’s [1] FARC rebels following a UN report that accuses Colombian soldiers of systematically killing innocent people for a cash reward.

The United States is slated to hand over some $750 million in mostly military aid to Colombia this year. The potential contribution of US taxpayers’ money to fund the killing of innocent people — though likely inadvertent on the part of the Colombian government — will almost certainly raise eyebrows among human-rights activists and others who have long criticized the Colombian government’s actions in its war against cocaine and insurgents.

At the heart of the problem is the Colombian government’s practice of paying soldiers for dead bodies of FARC members. Predictably, the incentive has led some soldiers to kill innocent civilians, dress their bodies up as FARC rebels, and hand them in for cash.

The phenomenon has come to be known as “falsos positivos,” or “false positives.”

In April, seven Colombian soldiers were [2] sentenced to 30 years in prison for their involvement in the murder of a farmer who the soldiers had claimed was a FARC rebel.

In a [3] preliminary report, the UN’s rapporteur for extra-judicial executions, Philip Alston, stated that the term “false positives” is itself false, because it suggests that soldiers committing these killings are doing it accidentally — they aren’t.

The phenomenon is well known. The victim is lured under false pretenses by a “recruiter” to a remote location. There, the individual is killed soon after arrival by members of the military. The scene is then manipulated to make it appear as if the individual was legitimately killed in combat. The victim is commonly photographed wearing a guerrilla uniform, and holding a gun or grenade. Victims are often buried anonymously in communal graves, and the killers are rewarded for the results they have achieved in the fight against the guerillas.

The report also states that relatives of the murdered innocent who pursue justice face retribution:

A further problem concerns the systematic harassment of the survivors by the military. A woman from Soacha described how, in 2008, one of her sons disappeared and was reported killed in combat two days later. When another of her sons became active in pursuing the case, he received a series of threats. He was shot and killed earlier this year. Since then, the mother has also received death threats. This is part of a common pattern.

The report is careful to point out that there is no evidence that “false positives” are endorsed by the Uribe government or are a part of government policy.

All of this raises the question of how the U.S. should proceed with its long-standing policy of supporting the Uribe government in its fight against FARC rebels, who have been linked to Colombia’s lucrative underground cocaine exporting industry.

US financial aid to Colombia’s internecine war has [4] spiked from around $86 million per year in 1997 to more than $750 million in 2008, with much of the increase coming during the Bush administration era.

A free-trade agreement between the U.S. and Colombia, agreed to by the Bush administration in 2006, has had little luck getting passed in Congress. The Obama administration is currently investigating “[5] outstanding issues” relating to the deal.

URLs in this post:
[1] FARC rebels: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutionary_Armed_Forces_of_Colombia
[2] sentenced to 30 years: http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/3631-seven-soldiers-sentenced-to-30-years-in-jail-for-
falso-positivo.html
[3] preliminary report: http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/0/C6390E2F247BF1A7C12575D9007732FD?opendocument
[4] spiked: http://www.ciponline.org/colombia/aidtable.htm
[5] outstanding issues: http://www.ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/colombia-fta

ICC could probe Kenyan elections violence.

AP
3 July 2009

The International Criminal Court says Kenya will ask it to investigate violence that followed disputed 2007 elections if the country's Parliament cannot agree on how to prosecute perpetrators.

The world's first permanent war crimes court also says Kenya will turn over details of its investigation to prosecutors in The Hague to allow them to begin "preliminary examinations".

The statement was issued after Kenya's Justice Minister Mutula Kilonzo met the court's prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, on Friday.

Riots and politically-motivated ethnic fighting killed more than 1,000 people after Kenya's disputed presidential election.

A government commission recommended establishing a special tribunal, but Parliament rejected the proposal in February.

Sahara gas pipeline gets go-ahead.

BBC News
3 July 2009

Nigeria, Niger and Algeria have signed an agreement to build a multi-billion dollar pipeline to take Nigerian gas across the Sahara to the Mediterranean.

The giant project, which will cost an estimated $13bn (£8bn), aims to deliver up to 30 billion cubic metres of gas per year for the European market.

France's Total, Anglo-Dutch firm Shell, and Russia's Gazprom have all expressed an interest in investing in the scheme.

The pipeline will run for 2,580 miles (4,128km) through the three countries.

BBC Africa analyst Richard Hamilton says that when built, it will be one of the great feats of engineering in the world and dwarf several existing pipelines, such as the one beneath the North Sea.

He says one concern is security, as a pipeline could be a target for Tuareg rebels or al-Qaeda in North Africa, both of whom are active among the unpatrolled expanses and porous borders of the Sahara.

Russian concerns

Energy analysts say there has been interest in this project for many years, but lack of investment and an unclear regulatory environment in Nigeria meant that the plans stayed firmly on the drawing board.

European Union nations now hope it will enable them to diversify their gas supplies - and most pressingly, reduce their reliance upon Russian gas - but many analysts say Gazprom may have a head start in participating in the scheme.

This is because only last week, Gazprom signed a separate $2.5bn deal with Nigeria's state-owned gas firm NNPC to build new gas refineries, pipelines and power stations in Nigeria.

European Union states are keen to reduce their reliance upon Russian gas because of Gazprom's numerous price disputes in recent years with Ukraine.

These rows have seen Gazprom temporarily cut supplies to Ukraine, which in turn has reduced Russian gas deliveries to western Europe that are piped through Russia's neighbour.

"We have the expertise and I don't think there is a problem with finance in this project," said Algerian Energy Minister Chakib Khelil.

Nigeria has estimated natural gas reserves of 180 trillion cubic feet, the seventh-largest in the world.

Mercenaries plan Madagascar 'coup'

Mail & Guardian
3 July 2009
by STEFAANS BRüMMER

South African mercenaries have been recruited to reinstate deposed Malagasy president Marc Ravalomanana, security-sector sources have told the Mail & Guardian.

Ravalomanana has been based at a luxury Sandton hotel since fleeing Madagascar in March.

Central to the efforts allegedly are two security operatives who participated in the failed Equatorial Guinea coup attempt five years ago.

Regional bodies have condemned Ravalomanana's unconstitutional ouster and considered military action, but deferred to the Southern African Development Community.

The latter, chaired by President Jacob Zuma, said two weeks ago that it favoured negotiations and called on all parties to "desist from any violent solutions".

Three sources connected to the local security sector, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the M&G of the alleged mercenary effort. The M&G also obtained a weapons procurement list allegedly circulated on behalf of the Ravalomanana camp.

Information about the alleged recruitment echoes charges by the new Malagasy regime, headed by former disc jockey and Antananarivo mayor Andry Rajoelina.

Last week Rajoelina was quoted as saying: "There are people who are thirsty for power; there are people who are even willing to come back to power with mercenaries. Everyone is talking about it. And that is what Mr Ravalomanana is busy doing."

Already before Rajoelina's accession to power, his camp made accusations about South African mercenary support for Ravalomanana. The M&G has confirmed the presence of three South African "instructors" in Madagascar at the time.

On April 1, days after Ravalomanana's departure, police reportedly searched the compound of QMM, a Rio Tinto-Malagasy joint venture that mines mineral sands, for mercenaries and weapons caches from South Africa. There were no reports of an actual find.

The pro-Rajoelina press last month made detailed allegations about a mercenary force, supposedly numbering several hundred, being recruited under contract to Ravalomanana by a United States-based private military company and involving South Africans.

Malagasy security forces went on high alert before the country's Independence Day celebrations last Friday, when a mercenary strike was feared.

The claims include:

Two of the M&G's sources named two private security operatives -- arrested in Zimbabwe en route to the 2004 Equatorial Guinea coup attempt -- as central to the Malagasy recruitment effort. We have not published their names, as the claims are uncorroborated. One source claimed both had participated in a planning meeting at a lodge outside Pretoria some weeks ago. The other said he had information about both having been to see Ravalomanana at his Sandton hotel the week before last.

A third source spoke of people "trying to book an airlift for a collection of bouncers and thugs to recapture Antananarivo". He named a person with alleged knowledge of the operation. The M&G spoke to this person, who is politically well connected but whose name is withheld because the allegations are uncorroborated. He confirmed having introduced Ravalomanana to South African politicians but said he had no knowledge of recruitment other than that of personnel to protect Ravalomanana in South Africa.

A report by a private intelligence operative last month stated: "Rumours of possible military action are doing the rounds in South Africa … According to these reports Ravalomanana has, with some South African former military elements, been involved in planning a possible retake of the island using South Africa as a staging point."

A "weapons request" obtained by the M&G lists a requirement for hundreds of Raptor assault rifles, Truvelo sniper rifles, thousands of grenades and millions of rounds of ammunition. The list allegedly originated in Swaziland, where Ravalomanana met King Mswati III days after he was ousted. Raptor and Truvelo rifles are locally made.
The marked men
When the Malagasy media outed a group of South African "mercenaries" serving then-president Ravalomanana, they were marked men.

On March 12, with Ravalomanana's grip on power slipping, newspaper La Verité proclaimed: "The presence of foreign mercenaries on Malagasy soil is no longer false rumours circulated by the local press. They were at the Place du 13 Mai last Wednesday, March 4, giving orders to Malagasy officers."

The newspaper named five South Africans who had entered Madagascar as guests of Ravalomanana's presidency. The newspaper speculated that this constituted "high treason" on the president's part.

The South African embassy wrote to La Verité in response, defending two of the men, "diplomat" Mmatlou Moja and helicopter pilot Mathew Beresford-Carter, pointing out that the former was part of an official South African fact-finding mission and the latter was employed by a private company on long-term contract to the Malagasy government. It said it had no knowledge of the remaining three men. The M&G has established that Moja, the "diplomat", is in fact employed by the South African Secret Service, which would have had reason to participate in a fact-finding mission. Beresford-Carter told the M&G this week: "I was there purely to be a pilot for the president to fly him around … As far as I'm concerned I was never a mercenary."

He said that his helicopter was shot at when he was asked to fly an Israeli and a Russian who inspected incidents of unrest. After he was named in the media, he had to go into hiding in the South African embassy. He was "smuggled out" three weeks later, after Ravalomanana was toppled.

The M&G tracked down two of the other men named. Charles Skog, who recruits security operatives and other professionals to work internationally, confirmed taking a team of two to Madagascar, on what would have been a "big contract" to help in riot control and instruct the local military in handling such situations.

He left for South Africa after a week, after which things went "haywire" and he had to get his colleagues out. He denied he was a mercenary. "I have absolutely no interest in red zones."

Skog's colleague, Gerhard de Klerk, told the M&G that after being "branded" a mercenary, he and his remaining colleague, Werner Erasmus, were advised by Ravalomanana's government to "get out as a faction of the military was after us".

De Klerk described attempting to reinforce protection at Ravalomanana's palace in Antananarivo and private estate south of the capital and to instruct an "unreceptive" military in riot techniques.

President Meets Top U.S. Official.

The Herald
Caesar Zvayi
3 July 2009

Robert Mugabe yesterday met with United States Under-Secretary of State for African Affairs Mr Johnnie Carson and Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo on the sidelines of the 13th Ordinary Session of the African Union General Assembly here.

The meeting with Mr Carson was the first time in several years that a senior member of the US administration has met President Mugabe.

Sources who attended the meeting said the President had a frank discussion with Mr Carson, who requested the meeting, and was briefed on the process that led to the formation of the inclusive Government, its current state and the working relations between the three parties involved.

President Mugabe, the sources said, told Mr Carson that the Government was working well.

The meeting comes in the wake of recent attempts by some in the West to trash the inclusive Government by claiming that it was failing to meet set "benchmarks" even though all the parties that signed the Global Political Agreement have given the arrangement a clean bill of health and pledged their commitment to resolving any problems arising from the implementation of the agreement among themselves.

During Prime Minister Tsvangirai's recent tour of Western capitals, the "benchmarks" were cited as an excuse to maintain the illegal sanctions regime on Zimbabwe and to deny the country development support.

Mr Carson, a career African-American diplomat, served as US ambassador to Zimbabwe between 1995 and 1997, and ended his tenure just before the bilateral dispute over land with Britain flared up.

There were no details of the President's meeting with his Equatorial Guinea counterpart.

Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea enjoy cordial relations and Zimbabwe's security forces were instrumental in apprehending a planeload of mercenaries who were on their way to Malabo, the E. Guinea capital, to try to unseat Mr Nguema's government.

The summit, being held under the theme "Investing in Agriculture for Economic Growth and Food Security", enters its third and final day today with the leaders expected to come up with a common position on agriculture and a solid framework for food security.

AU Commissioner for Agricultural Development Ms Rhoda Peace has stressed the need to integrate the market for agricultural produce on the continent in light of unfair agricultural practices employed by Western nations that see African farmers failing to compete with their Western counterparts on the international market.

She also urged the leaders to work to convert the continent's annual US$33 billion food importation bill into investment in agriculture.

The leaders are also expected to pronounce themselves firmly on the fragile peace and security situation plaguing various African countries, among them Madagascar, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone and Somalia. Also expected in the final communiqué is a strong African rebuke of the ICC arrest warrant issued against Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir, who is in attendance here.

Ukraine to continue arms sales to Georgia, says government.

DPA
2 July 2009

Ukraine will continue arms deliveries to Georgia despite objections from Russia, a Ukrainian government official said Thursday.

'We have made deliveries (to Georgia) in the past, and we will continue as long as there are no bans (to the deliveries) from United Nations Security Council,' said Serghy Bondarchiuk, director of Ukraine's state-owned arms exporter Ukrspetsexport, in a Sehodnia newspaper interview.

'If there are further (legal) orders from Georgia, we will consider them as well,' he added.

Moscow was furious a year ago with Ukraine for selling Georgia anti-aircraft equipment, tanks, artillery, helicopters, small arms, and ammunition - all used against Russian forces during the 2008 war over the disputed South Ossetia.

The Ukrainian anti-aircraft kit in particular surprised Russian military planners, who had expected total air superiority over Georgia during the conflict, but in fact lost between 5 and 17 planes and helicopters to missiles guided by high-tech Georgian radars.

Ukraine had, prior to the war, sold Georgia at least one Kolchuga radar system described by its Donetsk manufacturers as a leading-edge technology capable of detecting even modern stealth aircraft.

The US considered sanctions against Ukraine in 2003 over suspicions it sold a similar Kolchuga system to then Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

The Russia-Georgia war provided 'excellent advertising' for Ukrainian anti-aircraft technologies, and the east Ukrainian Topaz plant manufacturing the Kolchuga radar 'has a long list of orders,' Bondarchiuk told the newspaper.

Ukraine is rated the world's 10th largest arms-exporter, having sold some 800 million dollars of weapons and military equipment to foreign customers in 2008, up 12 per cent from 2007, according to data provided by the state-run arms exporter Ukrspetsexport.

Ukraine's customers are most often are nations lacking strong defence ties to US and NATO nations, or Russia.

Buyers of Ukrainian weaponry in recent years aside from Georgia include Syria, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Chad, Sudan, Nigeria, Thailand and Myanmar.

ANC rejects call to nationalise South African mines.

Reuters
2 July 2009

South Africa's ruling ANC party dismissed a call from the party's youth wing on Thursday to nationalise the country's mining and manufacturing industries in the wake of the global financial crisis.

The African National Congress's Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe told Reuters nationalising mineral assets was not on the party's agenda, after its Youth League leader was quoted as pressing for state ownership.

Mantashe, a former mine workers leader who chairs the ANC's Communist Party ally, said nationalisation was not likely.

"There is no such plan," Mantashe told Reuters.

South Africa's new President Jacob Zuma has faced pressure from powerful trade union allies to introduce economic policy changes in the midst of a recession and widespread poverty.

The Sowetan newspaper quoted Julius Malema, president of the ANC's Youth League, as urging Zuma to fast-track implementation of the Freedom Charter agreed in 1955 by the ANC and its allies, comprising South Africans marginalised under apartheid.

The charter calls for equal rights and equal share of wealth with the country's white population.

Malema was quoted as saying the charter should be implemented even though this would be unpopular in the country.

"At this moment, when imperialist forces are accepting the failure of capitalism, we should ask whether the time has not arrived for the government to make sure that the state owns the mines and other means of production as called for in the freedom charter," the Sowetan quoted Malema as saying.

INTENSE SCRUTINY

South Africa is the world's top source of platinum and No. 3 gold producer after China and the U.S., and the mining sector is subject to intense scrutiny by big foreign groups such as Anglo American Plc, South Africa's biggest mining player.

Its industrial sector is well developed, making it the biggest economy in Africa.

But the global crisis has rattled South Africa's economy, and the mining and manufacturing sectors have announced thousands of job cuts, adding to its high employment rate and triggering strike warnings by the country's powerful unions.

"The position of the ANC has not changed. This position was arrived at as part of resolutions agreed at out last congress. The resolutions of congress cannot be changed as we wish," Mantashe said, referring to resolutions agreed by the party's decision-making body at its December 2007 national conference.

Mantashe said the set of resolutions agreed then governed the party's polices.

Mantashe has said the ANC does plan to set up a state mining firm to rival existing mining firms to help create jobs.

In recent months, South Africa's Communist Party has called for the nationalisation of Sasol, the world's biggest maker of motor fuel from coal, saying it is a national asset.

'War Crimes Court Should Try UPDF.'

Daily Monitor
Sam Lawino
24 June 2009

Gulu — Civil society groups on Monday made a call for the judiciary to extend the mandate of its recently established Special Division for War Crimes, to try all suspects including elements within the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF).

Resistance Army delegates provided for the creation of a special court as an alternative to the International Criminal Court (ICC), to try LRA fighters indicted for war crimes.

But human rights activists and local leaders are irked by the provision that denies the court mandate over some UPDF soldiers also accused of maiming and killing hapless people during the two-decade conflict in northern Uganda.

The executive director of one of the civil society groups, Human Rights Focus, Mr James Otto, said on Monday that the court would shoot itself in the foot should it deal only with one party in the conflict as far as accountability is concerned.

"I appreciate the ICC but it did injustice to itself when it considered looking at only one party in the war theatre," Mr Otto said at a meeting of stakeholders held at Gulu Local Government Council.

He added: "If the special court division wants duplication, then it will not deliver justice to complainants against UPDF."

But the head of the War Crimes Division, Justice Akiiki Kiiza, reiterated that they are committed to trying all individuals suspected to have committed heinous crimes.

"We are not working for the ICC or against it. According to clause 7 on accountability and reconciliation, we are not restricted to try only three LRA commanders," Justice Kiiza said on Monday.

"We agree it's beyond us as stated in the Juba Peace Agreement. You should have asked those who signed it to explain why they wanted UPDF tried in the Military Court Martial."

Justice Kiiza was supported by Justice Elizabeth Ibanda who said the UPDF has created a desk to handle human rights abuses that were committed by errant officers during the war and in line with the best practices as captured in the Geneva Convention.

Investors in Priority Sectors to Get Free Land.

The New Vision
David Muwanga
29 June 2009

There is free land at the industrial parks for investors who undertake projects in the priority sectors, a top official disclosed last week. The sectors are agriculture and agro-processing, information communication technology, mining and oil exploration, packaging, printing and publishing, finance, education, medical services and tourism.

"In the recent budget, the Government offered a number of incentives to investors in the priority sectors and is also planning to offer free plots of land to investors in the same sectors," said Aston Kajara, the state minister for investment.

The minister was commissioning the Margherita Industries factory at Najjera, a city suburb. The $2.5m factory manufactures candles, drinking straws, packaging and agricultural products. "This kind of investment is encouraged by the Government because it produces products that are used by our own people and reduces the outflow of foreign exchange," Kajara said.

Eng. Musiimenta Bakeine, the managing director, disclosed that the machinery was acquired through leasing. "However, our monthly instalments are being subjected to value added tax.

"This defeats the policy of industrialisation by punishing those who acquire machinery on lease," Bakeine complained. He said the tax increased the cost of acquiring machinery through lease by more than 18% compared to getting it via loans.

He said categorising lease as rental income to the banks was stifling industrialisation. "The interest on machinery is also at 22%, which is double the normal rate for machinery imports," Bakeine said.

Oil Refinery in Uganda Viable - Canadian Expert.

The New Vision
Ibrahim Kasita
26 June 2009

Refining oil in Uganda is economically viable, a Canadian expert has told President Yoweri Museveni.

Claude Landry, an engineer with OPTEC Refinery and Petro-Chemicals consultancy in Montreal, said at a rate of 100,000 barrels of oil per day, the refinery would have a life span of 33 years.

Meeting Museveni at State House on Thursday, Landry added that refining oil in Uganda would eliminate transportation costs and that there was a market available locally.

Landry, who has been in the petroleum consultancy industry for 50 years, explained that Uganda's oil is among the best in the world because it has very low contents of sulphur. Low-sulphur crude oil is cheaper to refine.

The Canadian expert was accompanied by Uganda's High Commissioner to Britain, Joan Rwabyomere, along with two legal advisors of the Commonwealth Secretariat, John Gara and Ekpon Omonbude.

According to a State House statement, Museveni expressed happiness at the reassurance that the economics of refining oil would be good for Uganda.

"You have immunised me against any confusion of the refinery issue," the President told Landry.

He added that the refinery would avoid the construction of a pipeline to Mombasa. The pipeline, he said, would get waxed up along the way, thereby attracting costs in unblocking it.

Landry's advice comes at a time when the Government and the two oil companies are locked in arguments over whether to refine the oil in Uganda or channel crude oil to a refinery in Mombasa. The companies say refining the oil in Mombasa makes more business sense because they can sell it to other countries. However, the Government wants them to refine it locally and satisfy the Ugandan market.

Makoni launches new party.

SAPA
1 July 2009

Zimbabwe's former finance minister Simba Makoni on Wednesday launched a new opposition party that promises to "clean up" the country's political landscape.

Mavambo Kusile Dawn (MKD), meaning "The Beginning of a New Dawn" in Shona, was launched at a low-key event in Mbare township southwest of Harare.

"We are launching this party on a mission to clean up the politics of Zimbabwe," Makoni, who is the party's interim leader, told a group of supporters.

"We will support and assist the inclusive government; we have resources at our disposal so that Zimbabwe can get working again," said Makoni.

Differences

Makoni in 2001 publicly admitted that Zimbabwe's economy was in a state of crisis as poverty was spreading at an alarming rate.

The following year he quit his position as finance minister, citing policy differences with President Robert Mugabe.

The 59-year-old Makoni has been denounced by Mugabe following his resignation from the Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) in 2008.

He then wanted to contest the controversial March 2008 presidential election as an independent candidate.

He came third behind Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai and Mugabe.

Former Guinea PM released.

AFP
1 July 2009

Former Guinean prime minister Ahmed Tidiane Souare was released on Wednesday after he was arrested the day before for failing to make a payment as required by coup leaders for alleged embezzlement.

"I have been released and I'm back home," he said by telephone.

"They continue to ask me to pay up. In two weeks, I'm supposed to make another payment," he said without specifying the amount.

Earlier, Souare said the charges were linked to $2.8m he had allegedly stolen while acting as the mining minister from 2004-2006.

Following the coup in the west African nation, led by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara in December last year, Souare and many members of his cabinet were immediately accused of corruption.

Souare, who denies the accusation, was ordered to repay the amount in quarterly installments.

He has said the money was used to equip the mining department with computers, air conditioners and about 60 staff vehicles.

Bangladesh Mulls Decision on Award of Offshore Gas Blocks.

BBC Monitoring via Comtex
7/1/2009
URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=77825

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina has directed the energy division to send a proposal to the cabinet committee on economic affairs to award nine offshore gas blocks to two international oil companies, said officials.

The energy division had earlier sent a proposal and asked Sheikh Hasina, also in charge of the power and energy ministry, whether the cabinet or the energy ministry would award the offshore blocks.

Sources in the energy division said Hasina had opted to send the proposal to the cabinet committee on economic affairs, headed by finance minister AMA Muhith, which would decide whether the offshore gas blocks would be awarded, and if so, how many of them.

The proposal to the prime minister contained a detailed account of the process adopted in selection of the US company, ConocoPhillips, for extraction of gas from eight deep-sea blocks and the Irish company, Tullow Oil, from one shallow-sea block.

The sources, however, said that all nine offshore gas blocks may not be awarded to the international oil companies.

The government may award only three to four blocks to the two oil companies as it does not want to take any decision right at this moment about the blocks that are in the offshore areas which have also been claimed by India and Myanmar, said an official of the energy division.

Furthermore, the government thinks that it will not be a strategically correct decision to award all eight gas blocks to just one international company, the ConocoPhillips, said the official.

The Fakhruddin-led interim government had sent back a proposal by the energy division for awarding the blocks to the two American and Irish companies which were selected through open bidding by Petrobangla as the regime felt that only an elected government should award of the blocks.

ConocoPhillips was selected for being awarded the deep sea blocks 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 20 and 21, and was supposed to sign four production sharing contracts, each for two blocks. Tullow Oil was selected for block 5 through the bidding in February-May 2008.

Energy experts and rights groups were protesting against the inclusion of a provision for export of gas in the form of liquefied natural gas in the model production sharing contract (PSC) that will be signed with the foreign companies.

The country's energy experts said the "dangerous part" of the model PSC was allowing the international oil companies to export up to 80 percent of the gas extracted from any block in the form of LNG.

An expert said that the government should withdraw the export provision from the PSC before awarding the blocks to the companies.

Oil Contract Rows Rock Uganda Ahead of Production.

by Nicholas Bariyo
Dow Jones Newswires 7/1/2009
URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=77817

The Ugandan government is embroiled in disputes with politicians and activists over its failure to reveal the contents of contracts with oil-exploration companies operating in the country ahead of the start of oil production on the Ugandan side of the Albertine Rift on the country's western border.

Uganda's largest opposition political party, the Forum for Democratic Change, said Wednesday that it would petition Transparency International to compel the government to reveal the oil production sharing agreements to the Uganda public.

Ugandan activists have also petitioned the Ugandan high court to compel the government to make public the contents of the agreements in line with the Ugandan constitution and laws regarding access to information.

According to Dickens Kamugisha, chief executive officer of the Kampala-based Africa Institute for Energy Governance, the failure of government to reveal the agreements and its reluctance to subscribe to the Oslo-based Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative could create trouble when production begins.

"Expectations are high among the locals about the impending proceeds from the sector once production starts. This is likely to breed chaos," he said.

Simon Dujuanga, Uganda's junior energy and minerals minister, said the government is bound by confidentiality clauses in the oil pacts but remains committed to using oil proceeds to fund development.

Stephen Birahwa, a lawmaker heading the national economy committee in the Ugandan parliament, told Dow Jones Newswires separately that the government had shown the contents of pacts to some lawmakers.

"I have personally looked at the oil contracts and they are in the best interests of the Ugandan people," he claimed. The Africa Institute for Energy Governance's Kamugisha dismissed Birahwa's statement as political rhetoric.

Uganda has oil production and sharing agreements with U.K.-based Tullow Oil PLC, Tower Resources PLC, Heritage Oil Ltd. and Dominum Uganda Ltd.

An official with Tower Resources told Dow Jones Newswires that the admission document for the company's London listing contains the basic terms of the contract with Uganda. However, activists insist that government has to disclose its copy of the deals.

Company officials said the Albertine Rift has the potential of becoming a multibillion-barrel oil region after recent oil discoveries. Confirmed oil reserves are estimated at 2 billion barrels with extensive exploration continuing.

The Albertine Rift stretches from the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo up to Rwanda, and is shared by Congo, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. Oil exploration and drilling are only in advanced stages on the Ugandan side of the rift.

Fury at Rwanda sterilisation bill.

BBC News
1 July 2009

Rwanda is being urged to drop a draft law which would forcibly sterilise people who are mentally disabled.

US-based campaign group Human Rights Watch said the proposed law was deeply flawed and violated the government's obligation to uphold human rights.

It also requires people to have an HIV test before getting married.

"Provisions in the current bill that increase stigma, rely on coercion and deny... reproductive rights should be removed," HRW's Joe Amon said.

Forced sterilisation is regarded as a crime against humanity by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Rwanda has successfully managed to lower the spread of AIDS (SIDA) in recent years thanks to its HIV campaign.

Figures from the World Bank in 2007 claim the prevalence of AIDS in the country is at about 3%, down from 11% in 2000.

"While Rwanda has made notable progress in fighting stigma and responding to the Aids epidemic, and has pledged to advance the rights of persons with disability, but forced sterilisation and mandatory HIV testing do not contribute to those goals," said Mr Amon, the health and human rights director at Human Rights Watch.

"These elements of the bill undermine reproductive health goals and undo decades of work to ensure respect for reproductive rights."

Chinese Burst Onto Mining Scene.

Mmegi
By Thato Moseki
29 June 2009

Statistics from the Department of Geological Services (DGS) indicate that 111 Chinese private entities currently hold exploration licences in Botswana, up from nearly zero four years ago.

In bursting onto the Botswana mining sector, Chinese companies are vying with traditional Oriental rival, Japan, whose companies have also increased their presence on the Botswana mining scene.

According to the Chief Geologist at DGS, Johannes Tsimako, Chinese companies are being drawn to Botswana by the need to source and develop raw materials for their own industries. Thus, the major minerals Chinese companies are exploring for are copper, nickel, uranium and coal, among others.

"The key attraction is the need for raw materials for their own industries," Tsimako says. "They need to increase their supplies of metals - lead, zinc and other minerals. The Chinese are venturing into areas which have huge potential for exploration and development of these resources." Data trends from the DGS show that while a few years ago Chinese companies were content with holding equity or being in joint ventures with exploration companies in Botswana, they now focus on full control of their exploration activities.

"They are after ownership of the company exploring, perhaps because of the challenges they have experienced in joint ventures," Tsimako points out. "The Chinese companies would prefer to hold 100 percent equity in the company holding ground and would rather own the exploration licence themselves. Even if they bought into an existing company, they would want to take it over."

It is understood the Chinese private companies are partly encouraged by government funding. These companies are being empowered to source and develop raw materials in response to demand in their home country which has declined marginally this year due to the global recession. Import demand in China has been driven by that government's multi-billion US dollar stimulus plan designed to maintain development growth despite the reduced export earnings due to weaker international markets. With Botswana fast emerging as the new uranium destination, Chinese companies are eager to move into this sector and satisfy the huge demand for energy in their country. It is reported that China has a state-approved plan to improve its power generation capacity, which will drive up demand for uranium for reactors. China currently has 12 nuclear reactors under construction, with another 33 planned and another 80 proposed. By January last year, the Oriental giant had 11 operating nuclear reactors.