Libya arrests 32 Qadhafi loyalists over twin car bombings

The Libyan authorities have arrested 32 members of a network loyal to former leader Mu'ammar Qadhafi in connection with Sunday's twin car bombings in Tripoli. According to a number of reports, two people were killed by bomb blasts near a former military academy for women and the interior ministry.

A security agency said the group had been linked to the bombings, the first of their kind since the overthrow of Qadhafi last year. The bomb attacks took place on the eve of the anniversary of the fall of Tripoli to rebel fighters last year. The attacks occurred at dawn, one of them close to the interior ministry's administrative offices, and the other near the military academy on Omar al-Mokhtar Avenue.

Tripoli's head of security Col Mahmoud Sherif said the blast outside the military academy left two people dead and four or five injured. No casualties were reported from the other explosion. Sherif said that Qadhafi supporters were responsible for the attacks. He also alleged they were receiving financial backing from contacts in neighbouring countries.

Another official speaking to Reuters news agency said that a connection between the group and the attacks had been established. The attacks took place as crowds prepared for mass morning prayers to mark Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim celebration at the end of the fasting month Ramadan.

Earlier this month, Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) handed over power to a newly elected assembly, in the first peaceful transition in the country's modern history. But outbreaks of violence remain a frequent occurrence, which the security forces are strugging to curtail.

Sources: BBC News, Reuters, Bloomberg
For more news and expert analysis about Libya, please see Libya Focus and Libya Politics & Security.

EU allocates €34 million for Algerian environmental programme

The European Commission announced this week that it will allocate €35 million for an Algerian environmental programme. The programme will focus on protecting the Algiers coastal region, and aims to put the environment and efforts to tackle the impact of climate change at the heart of the country's development policies.

According to the European Commission, support will be given, for example, to a national climate plan, an ecological monitoring system for the coast, management plans for protected areas and studies of public investment costs and recurrent costs, including maintenance. The private sector and civil society will be closely involved in the programme's implementation.

This co-operation programme supplements other EU programmes which have for many years funded environmental protection and measures to combat pollution in the Mediterranean.

For more news and expert analysis about Algeria, please see Algeria Focus and Algeria Politics & Security.
© 2012 Menas Associates

Nigeria: Arguments over appointment of new Minister of Defence

The State Security Service (SSS) has screened retired Brigadier General Bitrus Boka Ushe, who is being proposed as the new Minister of Defence. The proposed nomination of Ushe - who, unlike many former military officers, has not entered politics since he retired seven years ago – is, however, being opposed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in his own Kebbi State where he is viewed as not a “party man”.

Some who oppose Ushe's nomination are doing so on the basis of religion because his nomination and subsequent appointment as Defence Minister would result in the Defence Ministry being headed by two Christians. The Minister of State for Defence, Mrs Olusola Obada, is also a Christian.

The appointment of a Defence Minister is quite political and it is reported that the presidency is shopping around for an ideal candidate who is not merely suitably qualified to head the ministry but is also an indigene of Kebbi State. This is because the presidency has to fill the ministerial slot reserved for Kebbi State which has become vacant following the removal of the former defence minister Haliru Bello Mohammed.

Kebbi State's Governor Saidu Dakingari had reportedly forwarded three names to the president as ministerial nominees. They were: Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, a former gubernatorial candidate of the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) who has since defected

to the PDP; Isa Mohammed a former water resources minister and national chairman of the now defunct United Nigeria Congress Party; and Bello Usman Maitambari, a retired permanent secretary in the Federal Civil Service.

All three were rejected by President Goodluck Jonathan who stated that he wanted a suitable candidate who was not just from Kebbi State but who also had a relevant military background. Others being speculated as possible appointees - such as former National Security Adviser (NSA), retired Gen Aliyu Gusau and retired Colonel Dangiwar Umar - have not yet been screened. It is, therefore, very likely that barring any last minute unforeseen circumstances, the president will now forward Ushe's name as his nominee for Defence Minister.

For more news and expert analysis about Nigeria, please see Nigeria Focus and Nigeria Politics & Security.

© 2012 Menas Associates

Ghana: Electoral register ready for inspection on 1 September

Chairman of the electoral commission, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, has announced that updated biometric voters' register will be available for public display – and electronically – for voters and the political parties to check. It will be the first time that Ghana has made the electoral roll available with more than four months to go before the national elections on 7 December. All the 23,000 centres where prospective voters were registered during the registration period will be opened for anyone to cross-check their data, make corrections, and also ensure that their names are in the voter roll.

Huge hopes are pinned on the credibility of the new bio-metric system as a means of countering electoral fraud. Combined with the new census, which has cut significantly the number of people in the central Ashanti region which is a stronghold of the opposition NPP, the biometric register should introduce more accountability into the electoral process.

Afari-Gyan has unsurprisingly, however, come under increasing attack from opposition parties and civic society groups for acquiescing to the ruling NDC's proposals to create 45 new constituencies. This will only increase the number of parliamentary seats to 275 which is regarded by many Ghanaians as an intolerable burden on the public purse. Ghana's parliament and its MPs are widely derided as lazy and corrupt and have won little public respect during the multi-party era.

For more news and expert analysis about Ghana, please see Ghana Politics & Security.

© 2012 Menas Associates

Feierstein on international community's role in Yemen

The leading role played by the international community was spelled out by US ambassador Gerald Feierstein in an interview with Al-Sharq al-Awsat:

“We hope that the dialogue will begin after the feast of Ramadan. The second point is to prepare for the national referendum and the elections. This consists of several steps. The Gulf initiative authorised the government to form a higher committee for the elections and the referendum. We are in contact with the government to encourage it to do so. We are also learning about the opinions of the political leaders on this subject. After that, we review and update the voters' register. The international group is ready to work closely with the higher elections and referendum committee to offer assistance in this regard. I hope we will begin this process in September so we will have enough time to prepare a credible voters' register.

“The constitutional amendments or drawing up a draft of the new constitution is another aspect of the second transitional phase. This will be the result of the national dialogue. I hope that the draft of the new constitution will be ready at the beginning of next year so it can be ratified in the general referendum. We also mention the work related to the restructuring of the armed forces and the security forces. We are working to finalise this with a number of institutions in the defence ministry and the interior ministry, and we are satisfied with what has been accomplished.

“Our impression regarding the articles of the Gulf initiative that have been accomplished is extremely positive. We are on the right road to accomplish many more of the resolutions of the initiative within the set deadlines until the end of the transitional phase by the beginning of February 2014.”

For more news and expert analysis about Yemen, please see Yemen Focus.

© 2012 Menas Associates

US accuses Algeria of hindering counter-terrorism

The US State Department's report on global terrorism, released earlier this month is being seen as a warning shot across the bows of the Algerian regime. The US Intelligence services are, as John Schindler's recent whistle-blowing article revealed well aware of how the DRS has created its own terrorists and that AQIM is very much a product of this practice.

In its latest report, however, the US State Department is saying that Algeria is an obstacle to efforts in combating terrorism in the region. This suggests that, at last, the US may be beginning to lose patience with the Algerian regime. The DRS' sponsorship of AQIM and other Islamists groups in Mali would seem to be the catalyst that has sparked the US State Department's response.

The report, not surprisingly, has been seized upon by Morocco. As Tajeddine El Houssaini, professor of international relations at Morocco's University Mohammed V-Agdal, said this week, the US State Department is accusing the regime of Abdelaziz Bouteflika over his role as an obstacle to efforts to eradicate extremist groups.

El Houssaini said there are many links between former members of the "Polisario" and terrorists operating in the Sahel and Sahara. Citing the US report, he linked Algeria's negative role in the fight against terrorism in the region with the lack of a final settlement of the Sahara issue. According to other sources at University Mohammed V, several studies have shown that there are many links between former members of the “Polisario” and terrorists operating in the Sahel and Sahara. According to these reports, which are supported by our own research in this field, there is cooperation between elements of the Polisario and 'terrorists' in both hostage-taking and drug smuggling.

Moroccan sources, we should stress, are careful not to publicly accuse the DRS of being the key agency linking Polisario with the AQIM 'terrorists', although we have increasing evidence of this and believe that the US State Department is also becoming increasingly aware of such relationships.

For more news and expert analysis about Algeria, please see Algeria Focus and Algeria Politics & Security.
© 2012 Menas Associates

Nigeria: James Ibori seeks PR firm to help launder his image

Sources have revealed that convicted former Governor of Delta State, James Ibori, who is serving a jail term in the United Kingdom for money laundering and fraud convictions has been trying to engage the services of UK public relations firms. Apparently he is seeking the services of a PR firm to help him launder his image in preparation for his release from jail and his eventual return to Nigeria.

Ibori apparently intends to continue in Nigerian politics after his prison stint. Sources have also revealed that, so far, most of the major PR firms contacted by Ibori's people have turned down the offer to work for Ibori. It would appear that Ibori is hoping to take a leaf from the book of former Bayelsa State Governor, Diepreye Alamieyesiegha, who was infamously arrested in the UK on money laundering charges but escaped, dressed as a woman and effectively evading trial.

Following his disgrace Alamieyesiegha was replaced as governor by Goodluck Jonathan who was then the deputy governor. Despite being perceived as something of a political pariah his people held a “welcome parade” for him which was severely criticised by pundits. Alamieyesiegha has, however, now made a successful return to political circles.

Ibori's family and associates in Nigeria recently planned a “grand celebration” in honour of his 54th birthday party and this was widely advertised in national dailies. This celebration, which was criticised as ill-advised by observers and political pundits had been scheduled for Saturday 4 August but it has now been cancelled. The cancellation announcement was made by the secretary of the James Ibori Political Associates, Jaro Egbo, which was organising the celebration. Egbo cited circumstances beyond their control - the death of Ibori's brother - as the reason for the cancellation.

For more news and expert analysis about Nigeria, please see Nigeria Focus and Nigeria Politics & Security.

© 2012 Menas Associates