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Bush-Whacking Obama With A Late-Breaking Military Operation In Africa?

16 years ago, less than two months before leaving the White House, then-President George H.W. Bush announced he was ordering US forces into strife-torn Somalia in "Operation Restore Hope".

Mr. Bush said the United States had no intention of getting involved in a long-term military action or to get embroiled in any effort to dictate Somalia's political future. He said US forces had one goal only and that was to ensure that starving Somalis were fed.

The President reached his decision while on his Thanksgiving break at his Kennebunkport, Maine retreat in November 1992 – shortly after he lost the Presidential election to Bill Clinton. I was among the small group of reporters in Maine covering Mr. Bush.

In Maine, then-Presidential spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said Mr. Clinton, in his words, was being very supportive. But another senior White House official also in Kennebunkport told reporters the planned US military action would be completed quickly because even though President-elect Clinton had endorsed the mission, it would not be fair to saddle the incoming administration with an nfinished operation.

Well, we know it didn’t end quickly and the Clinton administration was saddled with Somalia into 1995.

The current relevance of this flashback is a question triggered by a Nicholas Kristof column in last Sunday’s New York Times: could the current outgoing Bush administration saddle the incoming Obama administration with yet another military operation --- this time, an operation aimed against Sudan?

At this late date --- a full month later than the first President Bush acted --- it would seem highly unlikely, especially given the added complication of a military force already pushed to the limit by the US commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But according to Kristof, a top Bush administration official has been pushing for tough action against Sudan over Darfur.

Kristof reports Ambassador Richard Williamson, who is US Special Envoy to Sudan, wrote a tough memo to Mr. Bush this fall outlining three particular steps the United States could take.

These steps were:

--jamming all communications in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital. This would include all telephone calls, all cellular service, all Internet access. After two days, having demonstrated Sudan’s vulnerability, the United States could halt the jamming.

--apply progressive pressure to Port Sudan, from which Sudan exports oil and thus earns revenue. The first step would be to send naval vessels near the port. The next step would be to search or turn back some ships, and the final step would be to impose a quarantine and halt Sudan’s oil exports.

--The United States could target Sudanese military aircraft that defy a United Nations ban on offensive military flights in Darfur. The first step would be to destroy a helicopter gunship on the ground at night. A tougher approach would be to warn Sudan it will lose its air force — and then if it does not comply, to destroy all its military aircraft on the ground.

Kristof says officials frustrated by the administration’s passivity on the genocide in Darfur shared these possible steps with him, partly to make clear that President-elect Obama can do more if he has the political will.

Is Mr. Obama likely to do anything anytime soon? We’ll have to wait and see. But it seems his military priorities, like Mr. Bush’s, are more likely to be Iraq and Afghanistan. And don’t forget this: instead of Sudan, maybe the only late-breaking Bush operation or early Obama mission involving US forces could be once again in Somalia --- this time directed ostensibly at pirates.

Chinese Task Force Moving Closer to Somalia; Special Forces Practice Simulated Airdrops on Hijacked or Pirate Vessels

China’s official Xinhua news agency is reporting the Chinese naval task force en route to the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia for an escort mission against pirates will enter the Indian Ocean on Tuesday (12/30/08).

The fleet, two destroyers and one supply ship, on Monday passed through the Malacca Strait after a three-day voyage, which started from China's Hainan Province.

According to the Xinhua reporter aboard the Navy's flagship destroyer Wuhan, members of a special force unit aboard the warships carried out anti-piracy training with a ship-borne helicopter, from which they dropped by rope onto the deck to simulate landing on hijacked or pirate vessels.

Somali Pirates Deny Links to Islamist Radicals

VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu’s extraordinary trip to a Somali pirate haven has provided yet another important news lead: Somali pirates are denying reports they are sharing ransom payments with an al-Qaida-linked radical Islamist group called the Shabab. Correspondent Ryu just visited the pirate sanctuary of Hobyo in the Galmudug region of central Somalia. Despite the pirate’s denial, she reports some pirate money may be making its way indirectly to Islamist group:

Hobyo resident Ibaado Aden, 65, watched a shiny sport utility vehicle slowly approaching the main market area of the village.

She said nothing. But it was clear from the look of concern on her face that the vehicle's occupants were pirates. They are the only people who can afford such luxury in this remote and dirt-poor fishing village, hundreds of kilometers from the nearest city.

Ibaado Aden abruptly ended our interview. She did not want to talk about pirates, especially about what they do with the ransom they receive.

She said the pirates give the people nothing, and she does not know where or how the pirates spend their money.

Somali pirate groups operating in Hobyo and Haradhere in central Somalia and in the northern town of Eyl in Puntland have hijacked more than 40 vessels this year. The unprecedented number of hijackings has prompted at least a dozen countries, including the United States, China and Russia, to send warships to the region to protect vulnerable shipping lanes. The pirates still hold at least 19 vessels and more than 350 crew members hostage.

The United Nations believes pirates may have earned as much as $120 million in ransom payments. And there has been rising concern among western diplomats and security analysts that a large chunk of the money is being funneled to the militant Shabab group.

It was the rise of the Shabab militia, which prompted the Ethiopian military, with U.S. support, to intervene in Somalia in late 2006 and end the six-month rule of the Islamic Courts Union.

Since then, the Shabab has led a two-year insurgency against the country's weak, Ethiopia-backed interim government. The group, which the United States has labeled a terrorist organization, has now regained control over most parts of southern and central Somalia.

In an alarming article published earlier this month in the U.S.-based Time magazine, one alleged pirate claimed that the Shabab and other Islamist insurgent groups have been extorting vast sums of money from pirates and using it to fund the insurgency.

Through intermediaries in Hobyo, VOA located a pirate who agreed to be interviewed. Introducing himself only as Kahiye, the 26-year-old pirate, whom residents confirm has been involved in numerous hijacking operations, scoffed at the Time magazine article.

Kahiye said pirate groups in Somalia only conduct business with people they refer to as investors. Investors, he said, are not factional leaders or politicians, but former Somali fishermen who made money from pirate activities in the past.

Kahiye would not say how many investors are involved in piracy in Somalia. But he said they are essential to hijacking operations because the investors usually pick the targets and provide all that is necessary for pirates on the ground to conduct successful operations and to hold the ships and crew for ransom.

When a ransom is paid, these investors receive as much as 50 percent of the ransom, pirates 30 to 40 percent, and the remaining amount is usually set aside to be used in the next hijacking venture.

Kahiye continued, insisting that no money is ever given to the Shabab. He said all of the money ends up being spent on recruiting new pirates and buying houses, cars, and huge quantities of a mildly narcotic leaf called khat, which is chewed by many Somali men.

Kahiye said he believes some investors pay bribes to local, regional, and government officials to look the other way. Kahiye acknowledged he does not fully know how investors spend their portion of the ransom payments.

Hobyo, like the village of Haradhere to the south, are currently under the control of Islamist fighters belonging to the Shabab and another rival group made up of more moderate Islamists. Both groups are firmly opposed to piracy, calling it an offense against Islam. In 2006, Islamic courts officials implemented strict Islamic laws, which briefly stopped piracy in Somalia.

Well-placed Somali sources told VOA that while it is unlikely that investors and pirates are willingly handing over millions of dollars to hard-line Islamist leaders who have vowed to stop piracy, it is possible that they do pay some protection money to local Shabab commanders and other low-level Islamist officials to keep them from interfering in piracy operations.

Pirate foot soldiers may also be contributing to Islamist groups without meaning to do so.

Some pirates, like Kahiye, were once poorly-paid clan militia fighters who were recently lured into the far more lucrative world of piracy. But pirates often have friends and family, who support the Islamist insurgency. It is likely, some sources said, that the money pirates are giving to family and clan members is also reaching the coffers of Islamist groups. <

No Pirate Hunting for AFRICOM: Confirmed!

The Pentagon said yesterday the new U.S. military command for Africa will not have responsibility for security in the Gulf of Aden, where pirates have been menacing merchant ships. We reported this back on October 14th but it is now confirmed in a new map published by the U.S. Defense Department which outlines the borders of the Africa Command's responsibilities.

VOA Correspondent Al Pessin reports the official map shows Africa Command has responsibility for U.S. military activity throughout the continent except for Egypt, which remains part of Central Command's area.

But for the first time, this map indicates that Africa Command will not have responsibility for any of the waters off the continent's north shore on the Mediterranean, its northwestern shore on the Atlantic, and its northeastern shorelines on the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. It is that last area where pirates have attacked dozens of ships, and still hold hundreds of hostages.

The U.S. Navy and allied forces have been working to track and deter pirates in the area, with direction from Central Command's Naval headquarters in Bahrain, and that will continue. Africa Command's maritime responsibility will be only for the southern part of the continent, south from the Kenya-Somalia border in the east and from Mauritania-Western Sahara border in the west.

Much of that naval activity will involve training and mentoring for local navies, and humanitarian relief and military training in coastal countries. Africa Command does not have its own naval forces or naval base, but officials said U.S. Navy Ships based in other parts of the world will continue to make extended visits to the waters off the coasts of Africa, as they have in recent years.

Pentagon Spokesman Bryan Whitman said the updated Unified Command Plan also orders the seven top regional U.S. commanders, including the head of Africa Command, to increase their capabilities designed to promote stability and avoid conflicts.

"It also assigns all combatant commanders the responsibility for planning and conducting military support to stability, security, transition and reconstruction operations, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief," he said.

That order fits with recent directives ordering the U.S. military services to increase their ability to conduct stability operations and to build skills in a broad range of combat activities, from training and low-level conflict to major campaigns involving heavy weapons.

Whitman said Egypt was kept in Central Command because it is political and culturally linked more to the rest of the command's area in the Middle East. But Israel and the Palestinian Territories will remain part of European Command's responsibility.

Chinese Warships Ready to Set Sail for Somalia

VOA Correspondent Stephanie Ho reports from Beijing that preparations are almost complete for three Chinese navy ships to head out this Friday to help fight pirates off the coast of Somalia.

She quotes Rear Admiral Xiao Xinnian, deputy chief of staff of the People's Liberation Army Navy, as saying the mission demonstrates that the Chinese government is committed to its international obligations and that it is a responsible major country.

The Chinese grouping will include two destroyers, one supply ship, two helicopters and special operations forces. The ships will leave Friday from southern Hainan Province.

The ships are armed with missile cannon systems and the troops will carry light weapons.

Xiao says the Chinese ships are ready to work with the other international military ships in the region and learn from their experiences.

Report from a Somali Pirate Haven

Alisha Ryu, VOA's East Africa correspondent, has been in Somalia and has just filed this extraordinary report from the remote pirate stronghold of Hobyo in the Galmudug region of central Somalia. The growing strength of Islamist groups in the coastal area may be tied to local anger over piracy and deepening poverty.

Ryu's report: The sight of emerald-green waves breaking along Hobyo's shores is worthy of a postcard. The white sandy beach stretches endlessly onward and is broken up only by the outline of a quiet fishing village in the distance.

Walking into the village, several women cross our path, startled at the sight of a foreigner in Hobyo. They say nothing and move on quickly. We are later told that no foreigner has visited the village in more than a decade.

Despite its serene appearance, this tiny community, 260 kilometers south of the provincial capital Galkayo, has the dubious distinction of being one of the most dangerous places on earth. Along with the coastal towns of Eyl in northern Puntland and Haradhere to the south, Hobyo is a well-known sanctuary for pirates, who have operated along the Somali coast for the past several years.

The pirates made international headlines this year by seizing more than 40 vessels and earning an estimated $120 million in ransom.

At least a half a dozen U.S. warships are currently in the area keeping an eye on the MV Faina, an arms-laden Ukrainian freighter hijacked by pirates three months ago. The ship is anchored about 30 kilometers off the coast of Hobyo. Another hijacked ship, a Saudi supertanker carrying an oil cargo worth $100 million, is anchored between Hobyo and Haradhere.

Pirates are demanding multi-million dollar ransoms for both vessels.

Thirty-year-old Hobyo resident Sharif Wadad Ade speaks with bitterness about the pirates based here, describing them as outsiders who use the village only as a convenient hide-out.
Ade says if the pirates were from Hobyo, they would be spending their share of the ransom money to help the community. But he says the pirates come from different parts of Somalia, so they do nothing to help the people.

Local clan elder Saeed Aden adds that residents are also angry because they believe the threat of kidnappings posed by pirates is what is preventing western aid agencies from visiting the area and setting up offices.

Aden says Hobyo and other nearby coastal towns were nearly wiped out by the Asian tsunami, which hit the Somali coast four years ago. Aden says many Somalis living along the coast are in desperate need of direct humanitarian assistance.

He says the villagers do not support the pirates and just want the international community to come here and help.

Such anti-pirate sentiment contradicts recent media reports that suggest residents in Hobyo and other coastal towns have a close relationship with pirates. Those reports say pirate activities have provided much-needed jobs and the pirates contribute to local economies by spending lavishly.

But there is little in Hobyo to suggest that the residents are benefiting from the millions being paid to pirates. There are few goods on sale in the main market. The village has no running water or power. There is a pharmacy, but no doctors. There is a school house, but there are no teachers or students.

The village appears to exemplify all that has gone wrong in Somalia since 1991, when the country's last functioning government fell and factions fought to fill the vacuum.

In June 2006, an Islamist movement took power from a group of U.S.-supported factional leaders, restored law and order and ended piracy in many parts of Somalia through the institution of strict Islamic laws.

The Islamists were ousted six months later by Ethiopian forces, who intervened to prop up a secular, but unpopular, central government. Since then, Ethiopian and government troops have been fighting a losing battle to keep the Islamists, including a militant militia called the Shabab, from regaining power.

A pirate, who identifies himself only as Kahiye, says because Hobyo has been under the authority of local clans, it has been easy for pirates belonging to the same clan groups to use Hobyo as a haven.

But Kahiye says all pirates in central Somalia are under severe pressure from Islamists to disband.

He says in recent months, pirates trying to go ashore in any area controlled by the Islamists have been threatened and chased away.

Somali sources tell VOA that the Islamists' tough stance against piracy has prompted many poor people in coastal communities to quietly begin supporting the return of Islamist rule.

And that is what they say may have emboldened local Shabab fighters to seize Hobyo on Sunday. According to eyewitnesses, the Shabab launched a surprise attack against pirates in Hobyo and the two sides fought a ferocious battle in the village before the pirates retreated.

While the loss of Hobyo to the Shabab has dealt a clear blow to piracy, it raises another troubling question, especially for the United States and its western allies. They must now decide which, pirates or militant Islamists, pose a greater threat to global security and economy.

Iranian Warship Enters Somali Waters: Watch Out Pirates!

Iran's state-run Voice of the Islamic Republic radio reports that an Iranian warship has entered the Gulf of Aden to defend Iranian ships against pirates. The report says that after traveling 4,000 nautical miles, the warship has entered Somali waters, the center of pirate activity.

The radio report recalls that pirates have so far hijacked two Iranian ships. One of the ships, carrying wheat, is still under the control of the pirates.

The Iranian radio report notes that "Three days ago, China also announced that in order to fight against pirates, it will send warships to Somali waters. At present apart from the European Union which has sent six warships and three fighters to the Sea of Aden, other countries including America, Russia, India and Greece also have warships in the region."

Hollow Threats Will Embolden Somalia’s Pirates

If you haven’t already seen it, I would encourage you to read Doug Farah’s latest posting on the UN decision to authorize further action against Somali pirates.

The section that caught my eye and which largely corresponds to my own assessment is this:

The Rwandan genocide was predicated in part on the belief that the international community (meaning the UN or countries individually) would be too weak and indecisive to intervene. The token UN force sent, with no mandate to act and unwilling to protect civilians, became the catalyst for ever-greater violence against those they were in theory there to protect. They bet right.

The Somali pirate gangs, holding several ships and more than 100 hostages, are likely to wonder what the news means. When they figure out it means nothing, they will redouble their activities in an effort to show the world they can operate despite the public promises to stop them.

Until one is ready to act, it is far better to stay silent. Brandishing hollow threats only emboldens those, who, like the Somali pirates, continue to successfully bet that the outside world, for all its threats, has no real intention of doing anything significant.

Pirates Watch Out! Here Come The Chinese

China will send ships to help combat piracy off the coast of Somalia. VOA’s Stephanie Ho reports from Beijing the announcement comes one day after a senior Chinese official told the United Nations Security Council China is more than ready to help.

A front-page report in the official English-language China Daily newspaper quotes an unnamed source as saying, "There will be a significant peacekeeping operation" in Somalia.

The report says China is ready to send a naval mission to fight pirates in Somali waters. But it offers no details as to the scale of the Chinese mission or when it will be sent to Africa.

The Chinese ships would be joining an international flotilla, which includes vessels from the United States, Russia, Denmark and Italy.

Earlier, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei told the United Nations China is "seriously considering" the mission, which would be an unprecedented deployment of the country's navy.

The official Xinhua News Agency quotes Somali Foreign Minister Ali Ahmed Jama as welcoming China's participation in the fight against pirates. The Somali official is also reported as saying his country will do its best to secure the release of captured Chinese sailors and vessels.

Xinhua says Somali pirates are still holding captive one Chinese vessel and 17 Chinese nationals.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao says China supports international efforts to fight Somali piracy.

VOA Correspondent Ho reports China has traditionally kept its troops close to home, reflecting its consistent policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of another country. But, as China's economic clout has grown, it has become increasingly involved in peacekeeping operations around the world, including in Haiti and in Sudan's troubled Darfur region.

Russia Making a Move on Africa?

Foreign Policy magazine has published a list of what it calls the top 10 stories you have missed in 2008. One of them is about Russia’s “courting of Africa.”

According to FP, “Russia is moving into Africa in a big way, snatching up gas and oil deals, with an eye on winning even greater leverage over the global energy market.”

The article notes that in September, Russia’s state-controlled energy monopoly Gazprom obtained gas concessions in Nigeria, and it agreed to help the West African country fund a 2,700-mile trans-Saharan pipeline to Europe.

FP reports Gazprom, in a joint venture with Italy’s Eni, is also looking to finance a pipeline from Libya that would carry natural gas under the Mediterranean. Russia offered to buy all Libyan gas and some of its oil exports. If the deal goes through, it would give Russia complete control over supply to the European Union. Russia has additional deals in Algeria, Angola, Egypt, and the Ivory Coast worth $3.5 billion and expected to be operational by 2010.

FP goes on: “But it’s not just pipelines Russia wants—it’s also hearts and minds. Russia has canceled $20 billion in African debt and recently announced a $500 million aid package for African countries with no strings attached. Russia helped prevent sanctions on Zimbabwe from passing the U.N. Security Council a few months after Zimbabwe was opening a tourism office in Moscow.”

Interestingly, FP doesn’t assess the impact of this on Africa itself. Instead it says Russia’s Africa moves have “Europe very worried.” It says if Russia controls natural gas supplies from the east—through Gazprom’s holdings in Central Asia—as well as the south, that would leave Europe surrounded, with little room to find alternative energy supplies.

Why Somalia Hasn’t Had A Real Government Since 1991

The president of Somalia says he has dismissed the government of Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein.

Abdullahi Yusuf said at a press conference Sunday that he will nominate a new prime minister within days. According to Voice of America, Mr. Yusuf said he had dismissed the prime minister because his transitional government was unable to perform its duties.

Prime Minister Hussein says his dismissal is "illegal."

The president and the prime minister have been trying for weeks to form a new cabinet. But Mr. Yusuf has rejected all the candidates for ministry posts suggested by the prime minister.

A presidential adviser said the ministerial candidates failed to meet the president's standards.

Last month, the president said insurgents were in control of most of the country and warned that the government was close to collapse. His remarks followed the capture of several key towns by Islamist militant groups.

Somalia's government has been unable to assert control since its formation in 2004. Islamists took over much of the country in 2006 but were ousted by Ethiopian forces acting in support of the Somali government.

The Islamists began an insurgency in early 2007, sparking almost daily clashes with Ethiopian and government forces. The fighting has killed thousands of Somalis and displaced hundreds of thousands of others, aggravating the country's humanitarian crisis.

Somalia has not had a stable central government since 1991.

Meanwhile, there are further indications the international community isn’t really interested in restoring order in Somalia.

The Pentagon has said it is looking into how it might act on a draft U.N. Security Council resolution, being circulated by the United States, that would, for the first time, authorize military action against pirate bases inside Somalia. But a senior American admiral has expressed skepticism about the plan.

The draft resolution calls on all countries to actively fight piracy off the Somali coast, as many countries including the United States have been doing. The U.S. draft also adds a 12-month authorization for foreign forces to enter Somali territory and airspace to "take all necessary measures" to find and stop pirates, if the transitional Somali government agrees.

But according to VOA’s Pentagon Correspondent Al Pessin, in Bahrain on Friday, Vice Admiral Bill Gortney, the commander of U.S. naval forces in the Middle East, told reporters it would be difficult to identify pirate bases in Somalia because they blend in with the local population, and he said any attacks would likely result in civilian casualties.

Admiral Gortney said piracy can not be ended through U.S. military action alone. He said to do more on piracy he needs better cooperation among all the world's navies, but also a bigger security effort by the shipping industry and improved stability, economic development and rule of law in Somalia in order to reduce the number of men who turn to a life of crime on the high seas. And the admiral says he needs one more thing.

"We need the international community to provide us a mechanism that when we capture pirates we have a process to hold them and then take them to a court of law and hold them accountable for their actions if they're found guilty," he said.

Admiral Gortney says his forces rescued some men on a small boat this week whose engine had gone out and who had no food or water left. The sailors found rifles and grenades in the boat and concluded the men were pirates, but because they had not been observed doing anything wrong the troops had to treat them as "mariners in distress." So they were rescued then set free in Yemen.

On Friday, Pentagon Spokesman Bryan Whitman said there are still a lot of details to work out before the U.S. military would be ready to more aggressive in dealing with pirates, or to take the fight onto land.

"I would tell you that there are many issues associated with this, and you've hit upon a lot of them. There are many challenges to this. There are legal issues out there. There are practical issues with respect to how you would go about doing this. And the United States government is trying to take a look at this in a broad way. And we, as part of that, are certainly going to look at what some of the military aspects would be. We are in the process of that. It's ongoing," he said.

Genocide: Never Again, Maybe…

President-elect Barack Obama is being urged to make the prevention of genocide and mass atrocities a top foreign policy priority. The appeal comes from a special task force headed by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Former Defense Secretary William Cohen. The panel also recommends establishing an early warning system to prevent genocide in the future. (See the VOA report on this here.)

Albright and Cohen both served in President Bill Clinton's cabinet. During Clinton's presidency, atrocities were committed in Bosnia and the genocide in Rwanda occurred.

The two former secretaries teamed up to work with other national leaders to draw up a blueprint to prevent genocide. Albright said the paradox is that the world agrees genocide is unacceptable, and yet mass killings and genocide continue.

"The central premise of our report is that genocide is unacceptable and that we can and should do more to prevent it. The United States does not bear this burden alone, but we have both a duty and a profound interest in helping to show the way," she said.

Cohen said "We can't sit on the sidelines while this is taking place. We have to develop, as Madeleine says, as Secretary Albright says, the leadership, from the president on down, through the Congress. We have to develop institutions."

The panel recommends creating an inter-agency early warning system to analyze threats of genocide, and investing $250 million in new funds for crisis prevention and response.

Note: My thinking on this was shaped by having been in Rwanda while the Clinton administration refused to acknowledge what was happening was genocide. Frankly, I don’t see the need for new institutions or additional budget outlays to assess whether genocide is occurring. What the United States and other countries need is the political courage to live up to their obligations as civilized nations to intervene and stop such killing wherever and whenever it takes place. But real action is much more difficult than gestures that convey the appearance that governments are doing something. I would have hoped for better.

Withdrawing from Somalia…Sort of… Maybe… Not

VOA’s Alisha Ryu in Nairobi is reporting that the Ethiopian army, which had announced it would pull out of Somalia by the end of the year, is establishing new bases in central Somalia and has yet to withdraw from key positions in the capital Mogadishu.

In recent days, Addis Ababa has hinted it would extend the deployment of its forces in response to intensified efforts by militant Islamists to take over key towns.

Ryu quotes Somali journalist Abdikarin Bulhan as saying Ethiopian troops on Monday took control of the border town of Balanbal in the northern Galgadud region and established a new base on the town's outskirts.

Bulhan says 10 truckloads of Ethiopian troops moved into Balanbal, about 15 kilometers away from the border, following reports that militant Shabab fighters had taken over Galgadud's provincial capital Dusamareb, the town of Mataban in the Hiran region, and the commercial city of Guri'el within in the past two days.

The journalist says the Ethiopians shut down businesses and cut communications in Balanbal after they took control of the town.

Further south in the Bay region, residents in the town of Burhakaba report that Ethiopian troops, armed with artillery and other heavy weapons, established a new military base there after forcing Islamist fighters to abandon the town on Sunday.

The Ethiopian foreign ministry said on Saturday that the government was willing to briefly delay troop withdrawal to allow some 3,000 African Union peacekeepers currently deployed in Somalia to take over security.

The African Union says it does not have enough troops on the ground to take over security from Ethiopia and has requested troops from the United Nations.

Meanwhile, a new report by the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch group, released on Monday, condemns all sides in the conflict for causing Somalia to descend into the worst chaos it has seen since the fall of the country's last government in 1991.

The report's author, Chris Albin-Lackey, says: "The bottom line is that Ethiopia, the transitional federal government, and insurgent forces have all managed to do more damage to the civilian population of Somalia than to one another." He goes on: "At the same time, the international community as a whole has completely failed to intervene effectively in Somalia and, in fact, a number of key international actors, including the United States, have in some cases actually made the situation worse through some of their actions. These past two years of violence and brutality are the primary reason why the extremist groups, including al-Shabab, have gained so much power."

Iran and Africa

You might recall back in September, we tried to cobble together information about Iranian interest in Africa, including the supply of military equipment to Sudan. We haven’t followed up since then but this week, there was an item on Iran’s Fars news agency which caught our attention.

It reported that Iran’s deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs said on Tuesday that the Islamic Republic was studying a long-term presence in the African continent.

Mohammad Reza Baqeri termed trade ties between Iran and African countries as growing. He added that Africa enjoys rich resources, adding this continent is a suitable hub for Iranian-made commodities.

Fars went on: “Referring to the recent meeting of Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki with his Sudanese counterpart Deng Alor in Tehran, he added, in the past three decades, Iranian officials have always emphasized expansion of mutual ties with African counters in all arenas. Baqeri also referred to the construction of a tractor manufacturing plant in Uganda, dispatch of Iranian physicians to South Africa and establishment of a Samand assembly line in Senegal, adding the ground is prepared for expansion of mutual ties between Iran and the African countries.”

Sudan, Uganda, South Africa and Senegal. Interesting choices.

Cruise Ship Outruns Pirates: Fun in the Sun (And Maybe We Should Arm Tourists?)

VOA is reporting today that A U.S. cruise line company said one of its ships outran pirates who tried to attack it in the Gulf of Aden.

Miami-based Oceania Cruises said the MS Nautica was sailing through the Gulf on Saturday when two small skiffs tried to intercept it.

The captain, Jurica Brajcic, increased the Nautica's speed and took evasive maneuvers. Oceania said one skiff closed to within 300 meters and fired eight rifle shots at the vessel before giving up the chase.

It said none of the ship's reported 680 passengers and 400 crew were injured.

Somalia-based pirates have hijacked several large ships in recent weeks despite increasing international patrols in the Gulf of Aden and off eastern Somalia.
Today, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said negotiations to release a cargo ship carrying 33 Russian-made tanks are nearly complete. But there was no word on when the ship may be released.

Ministry spokesman Vasyl Kyrylych said the crew of the MV Faina is in "satisfactory" condition. The pirates holding the ship initially demanded a $35 million ransom, but they later lowered their demand to a reported $3 million.

Somali pirates have hijacked some 40 ships this year, and are currently holding about 15 ships along with their crews, including a giant Saudi oil tanker.

Kenya plans to host a regional meeting on the pirate situation December 9 in Nairobi.