African states oppose US presence

Simon Tisdall in Washington, Guardian Unlimited, June 25, 2007

The Pentagon's plans to create a new US military command based in Africa have hit a wall of hostility from governments in the region reluctant to associate themselves publicly with the US "global war on terror".

A US delegation led by Ryan Henry, the principal deputy undersecretary of defence for policy, returned to Washington last week with little to show from separate consultations with senior defence and foreign ministry officials in Algeria, Morocco, Libya, Egypt, Djibouti and with the African Union (AU).

An earlier round of consultations with sub-Saharan countries on providing secure facilities and local backup for the new command, to be known as Africom and due to be operational by September next year, was similarly inconclusive.

The Libyan and Algerian governments reportedly told Mr Henry this month that they would play no part in hosting Africom. Despite recently improved relations with the US, both said they would urge their neighbours not to do so, either, due to fears of future American intervention. Even Morocco, considered Washington's closest north African ally, indicated it did not welcome a permanent military presence on its soil.

"We've got a big image problem down there," a state department official admitted. "Public opinion is really against getting into bed with the US. They just don't trust the US."

Another African worry was that any US facilities could become targets for terrorists, the official said. Dangled US economic incentives, including the prospect of hundreds of local jobs, had not proven persuasive.

Mr Henry said African officials had agreed during the talks that counter-terrorism was "a top security concern". But he added: "The countries were committed to the African Union as the continent's common security structure. They advised us that Africom should be established in harmony with the AU."

The US talks with Libya appear to have been frank. "In the area of security, they are looking for Africa-only solutions... I wouldn't say we see eye to eye on every issue," Mr Henry said. "I wouldn't say we see eye to eye on every issue."

Mr Henry emphasised the US was not seeking to supplant or supersede African leadership but rather to reinforce it. He said the creation of Africom would not entail the permanent stationing of large numbers of US troops in Africa, as in Asia and Europe.

Its overall aim was to integrate and expand US security, diplomatic, developmental and humanitarian assistance in collaboration with regional allies, not increased interventionism, he said.

Unveiling the plan in February, president George Bush said Africom would advance "our common goals of peace, security, development, health, education, democracy and economic growth".

But African opposition appears to have modified Washington's approach. Mr Henry said the latest plans envisaged "a distributed command" that would be "networked" across several countries, rather than a single, large headquarters in one place.

"There will be a staff headquarters... with a four-star in-theatre commander," he said. "(But) information technology allows us to bring people at dispersed geographical locations together. We are investigating the possibility of having the command distributed in a number of different nodes around the continent."

Mr Henry said this approach matched that of Islamist terrorists. "Al-Qaida is working in a distributive structure itself. It's establishing nodes throughout the region and there's been an establishment of al-Qaida in the Maghreb."

The state department official said the US remained confident that partners for the Africom project would eventually be found, although concerns persisted about political stability, misgovernance and corruption issues in some potential sub-Saharan partner countries.

The official added that the command's security focus would include suspected terrorist training camps in Mali and southern Algeria, the spread of Islamic fundamentalist ideas and violence in the Maghreb, northern Nigeria and the Horn of Africa, suspected uranium smuggling in the Sahel region - and addressing the political instability and economic deprivation that fed extremism.

Energy supply is another factor sparking heightened US interest, notably in west Africa. Gulf of Guinea countries including Nigeria and Angola are projected to provide a quarter of US oil imports within a decade.

US aid and development projects in Africa are expanding rapidly. Mr Bush asked Congress this month to double to $30bn (£15bn) over the next five years US funding for Aids relief, plus $1.2bn to fight malaria. Washington has also broadened its involvement in efforts to end the Darfur crisis. Laura Bush, the First Lady, embarked on a five-day consciousness-raising tour today, to Senegal, Mozambique, Zambia and Mali.

Ortega latest leader to meet with Castro, denounces US backed terrorist

Ortega latest leader to meet with Castro
By WILL WEISSERT, Associated Press Writer, AP June 16 2007

HAVANA - Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega met with Fidel Castro for four hours Saturday, the third leftist head of state to visit Cuba's ailing "Maximum Leader" in little over a week.

The pair discussed Nicaragua's recent energy crunch, which has included blackouts and a shortage of basic materials, as well as a literacy drive in the Central American country and how the use of biofuels can combat global warming, according to a Cuban government statement.

Ortega was joined in the closed-door meeting by his wife and presidential spokeswoman, Rosario Murillo, the statement said.

"Fidel was very satisfied with the meeting with Daniel," the statement said, adding that Castro thanked Ortega for publicly denouncing Cuban militant Luis Posada Carriles, an anti-communist warrior and former CIA operative. Cuba accuses Posada Carriles of terrorism but he is free in the United States after a judge dismissed immigration fraud charges against him.

Ortega arrived Friday in Havana as part of a tour that has taken him to Venezuela, Algeria, Libya and Iran. The statement said that earlier Saturday, Ortega and Murillo met with Fidel's brother Raul, Cuba's acting president, to discuss the already friendly relationship between Nicaragua and Cuba.

Fidel Castro has not been seen in public since July 31, when he stunned Cubans by announcing he had undergone emergency intestinal surgery and was stepping down in favor of a provisional government headed by the 75-year-old Raul, the defense minister.

Life on the island has changed little under Raul Castro. Meanwhile, Fidel's condition and exact illness are state secrets, though in recent weeks he has penned a series of essays on international topics and has looked stronger and more lively in official photos and video clips meant to illustrate his recovery.

Castro appeared for nearly an hour in a previously recorded interview with state television which aired June 5, speaking slowly but clearly and apparently looking well enough for his friends in the region to begin accepting Cuban government invitations to visit.

Two days after the interview aired, Bolivian President Evo Morales made an unannounced visit to Havana, meeting with Castro for three hours and saying the convalescing leader looked well. On June 12, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez arrived and talked for six hours behind closed doors with Castro.

Chavez later referred to Castro as his "father" and said his friend and ally had "recovered his fastball of 90 miles an hour" but was still "warming up his arm" and was "not yet ready to take the diamond."

Ortega's visit was not formally announced beforehand, though Chavez had hinted the Nicaraguan president was on his way to Cuba.

It was Ortega's first trip to the island since retaking Nicaragua's presidency in January. He was still president-elect when he visited Havana in December, part of a contingent of leftists who attended a belated celebration marking Castro's 80th birthday.

A former Marxist who battled U.S.-backed Contra rebels in the 1980s, Ortega was defeated at the polls in 1990, but was elected anew in November.