Al-Obeidat pressurise Muslim Brotherhood

The July 2011 assassination of security chief Abdel Fatah Younis Al-Obeidi, believed to have been killed by an Islamist brigade with some kind of tacit agreement from some parts of the transitional ruling authorities, continues to preoccupy his tribe. Elders of the powerful Al-Obeidat tribe held a meeting in Derna this week with senior members of the Muslim Brotherhood and its Justice and Construction Party (JCP) to demand that the Islamist movement provide its own explanation into Younis’ death.

Specifically, the tribal elders wanted to know what the Brotherhood would do if two of those accused of the assassination - Salim Al-Sheiki and Fawzi Abu Ketif who are both strongly connected to the movement - are found guilty.

 

The seriousness of the matter was demonstrated by the fact that among those present from the Brotherhood were the movement’s General Guide Beshir Al-Kebti and the JCP’s head Mohamed Sawan. It is, therefore, clear that if the two individuals in question are proved guilty by the courts, the Al-Obeidat are not going to let the Brotherhood off the hook.

 

Meanwhile, a small group of protesters from Tobruk succeeded in closing down one of the city’s refineries on 22 November when they staged a protest demanding to know the truth about Younis’ murder. The protesters, mostly comprising members of his extended family, insisted that the head of the refinery refuse to accept any cargo until the government had met their demands.

 

Rawlings has finally abandoned her fight to contest the presidential election

 

Former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings has finally abandoned her fight to contest the presidential election.

She says that instead that she will put her energy into ensuring that the newly formed NDP, of which she was elected leader in October, wins as many parliamentary seats as possible.

She told the Daily Graphic newspaper in an interview that, although she was confident of winning her court case against the Electoral Commission (EC) - which last month disqualified her from the presidential race on the grounds that her nomination papers had not been completed correctly before the deadline - it was clear that she could not be included in the electoral process this time around.

She stressed, however, that the NDP's parliamentary candidates were still campaigning under the vision of the NDP's manifesto which, she said, seeks to ensure that corruption is a thing of the past, and to elevate the position of women and children in Ghanaian society.

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

© 2012 Menas Associates

Mauritania: AQIM reinforcements coming from Algeria

 

Timbuktu is now even more firmly in the control of the Islamists (mostly AQIM), as well as the entire region surrounding the town. Most of the Islamists' reinforcements have come from Algeria. Agence France Press (AFP), quoting Mali security sources, reported several dozen 'white-skinned' Algerians (i.e. Arabs) arriving in Timbuktu on the weekend of 24-25 November. Our own field contacts who gained access to AQIM camps confirmed that dozens had crossed over from Algeria and that French was being spoken, suggesting that some of them may have come from France (see below). As the Algerian border is heavily guarded and officially 'closed', this suggests that Algeria is lying to the outside world about its border security and/or sending its own Islamists to support AQIM.

Both are true. Algeria's DRS has been controlling the leadership and supporting AQIM since it was established in the Sahara-Sahel after the end of 2006. The AQIM leader, Abdelhamid Abou Zaid, is currently in command of the Islamist forces around Timbuktu. He is accompanied by Iyad ag Ghaly, leader of Ansar al-Din. Both men have long been associated with Algeria's DRS.

Although we have always known about the DRS links with and support for AQIM and Ansar al-Din, we did not know the strength of this support until we were able to access the camps and reconnoitre the Timbuktu region this week. This alters the military configuration of the whole region.

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

© 2012 Menas Associates

Suriname: Staatsolie testing E15 ethanol fuel for vehicles

 

Staatsolie will test 20 cars in December that will run on a mixture of ethanol and gasoline. The test programme will last five months and will be carried out by the Anton de Kom University. In the long run, the company is planning to introduce Suriname to green, environmentally-friendly and relatively more-sustainable fuel.

The 20 test cars are currently running on normal unleaded gasoline in order to gather the basic information of each vehicle. Starting in December, they will run solely on the E15 bio fuel for a period of four months, during which the effect of E15 on engine performance, fuel consumption and exhaust gases will be carefully logged. The E15 bio fuel is a mixture of 15% by volume ethanol and 85% by volume unleaded gasoline. This is a proven method - not least in neighbouring Brazil where most new cars run on so-called flex-fuel - that reduces costs and has a beneficial impact on the environment. The ethanol is produced from sugar cane, which grows very easily in Suriname, and decreases carbon monoxide emissions.

Staatsolie is currently researching the feasibility of producing ethanol from sugar cane at Wageningen in the Nickerie district in western Suriname. By the end of 2014, the company's new refinery will produce gasoline and it will most probably mix this with ethanol. By then, E15 should be readily available at the pumps throughout the country.

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

© 2012 Menas Associates

Nigeria: Angry protests in Bakassi

 

With the closure of Nigeria's window of opportunity to appeal the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) decision granting sovereignty of the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon, increasing tensions in the region have forced the UN team which is demarcating the maritime boundary to suspend their activities.

On 21 November, local people, angry about Abuja's failure to appeal the ICJ ruling, demonstrated in front of the building in Ikang where members of the demarcation team were meeting local officials. The crowd, composed mainly of youths holding placards condemning the UN's 'contempt' for self-determination of the Bakassi people, prevented the demarcation team from moving to the peninsula.

Their leader, Augustine Omini Iwara, said that it was surprising the demarcation was being undertaken despite the fact that local people had filed a case affirming their right to self-determination.

The crowd was already angered by the presence of three ships carrying Cameroonian gendarmes on to the beaches at Ikang. The ships were reportedly connected with the demarcation process but provoked a confrontation with around 300 local youths. The demarcation committee is now consulting with the Federal Government about its next step.

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

© 2012 Menas Associates

Nigeria: Army kills top Boko Haram commander

 

The Nigerian military has announced that it has killed a top Boko Haram commander in a gunfight in Maiduguri. According to spokesman Sagir Musa, a militant leader by the name of Ibn Saleh Ibrahim was killed alongside several other fighters in a military operation involving helicopters and armoured personnel carriers on 16 November. There were no military casualties.

Ibrahim was reportedly responsible for the assassination of Gen. Mamman Shuwa, a hero of the civil war who was gunned down at his house in Maiduguri on 2 November (Nigeria P&S – 09.11.12). The military operation against Ibrahim's Boko Haram fighters was reportedly continuing.

Meanwhile, the US government has expressed its concern over the alleged detentions, mistreatment and killings of Boko Haram suspects by the security forces. A senior State Department official expressed concern over the allegations, contained in a major Human Rights Watch report in October, in a meeting with Foreign Minister Olugbenga Ashiru.

Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour, Michael Posner, said that terrorism was a serious and complex challenge but that the struggle against Boko Haram could not be won by force alone.

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

© 2012 Menas Associates

Algeria warns against intervention

 

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's security advisor, Kalel Rezzag Bara, speaking on local national radio on 10 November, warned that military intervention in Mali was currently a useless step as it would only worsen the situation. He said that a peaceful settlement of the Malian crisis was still possible and that “It's necessary to reach an acceptable agreement to avoid the spill over of the Malian conflict into neighbouring nations."

Bara also said that the international community should distinguish between Tuareg rebels, the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), who carry political claims and terror groups belonging to al-Qa'ida organisation and drug trafficking gangs. Interestingly, as part of Algeria's attempt to muddy the waters Bara included the Islamist groups Ansar al-Din alongside the MNLA when the former is in fact largely a creation of the DRS. Its leader, Iyad ag Ghaly has been a close associated of the DRS since the 1980s and is even spoken of in some quarters as “Algeria's man in Mali”.

Ansar al-Din, created in December 2011, is playing the lead role amongst the Islamists. The key question is whether Algeria still has effective control over it and whether the international community will believe its recent more conciliatory remarks. Kamel Bara is doing his bit in trying to get the international community to see Ansar al-Din as more allied to the Tuareg rebels than AQIM which has not been the case. Ansar al-Din's more conciliatory moves are part of Algeria's desperate moves to achieve a peaceful settlement and so prevent military intervention.

We should add that Ansar al-Din - along with AQIM and the DRS – heads the list in the International Criminal Court's (ICC) preliminary investigations into war crimes in northern Mali.

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

© 2012 Menas Associates