Al-Qaeda claims abduction of two Canadian diplomats and four European tourists in Niger

Al-Qaeda's North Africa network claims responsibility for abduction of two Canadian diplomats. From Middle East Online 18 February 2009:

Qaeda claims abduction of diplomats, envoys

DUBAI - Al-Qaeda's North Africa network has claimed responsibility for the abduction of two Canadian diplomats, one of them a UN envoy, and four European tourists in Niger, Al-Jazeera television reported.

"We are happy to bring our Islamic nation the good news of the mujahideen's success in carrying out two quality operations in Niger," the group's spokesman Salah Abu Mohammed said in an audio tape aired on the Doha-based pan-Arab channel late Tuesday.

His announcement was also posted on Al-Jazeera's website.

Two Canadians, UN envoy to Niger Robert Fowler and his colleague Louis Guay went missing outside Niamey in mid-December along with their driver when returning from a visit to a gold mine operated by Canadian company Semafo.

Earlier this month, Malian sources close to the investigation into the abduction said they had seen an undated video showing the diplomats were still alive.

The sources said the video showed the two diplomats speaking with armed men behind them. The missing driver was not shown.

On January 22, a Swiss couple, an elderly German woman and a British man were returning from a Tuareg cultural festival in Mali when they were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen along the border of Mali and Niger.

Al-Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb claimed several suicide bombings in Algeria last year.

It says it intends to unify armed groups in Algeria and Morocco as well as emerging groups in countries bordering the Sahara including Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, and Eritrea.

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From AKI February 18, 2009 (Dubai):

Terrorism: Al-Qaeda video claims foreign abductions in Niger

A message allegedly from Al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of Canadian diplomats Robert Fowler and Louis Guay in Niger and the abduction of four European tourists in January on the border between Niger and Mali.

"We are happy to announce to the Islamic nation that our mujahadeen have managed to carry out two operations in Niger," said the audio message purportedly from Al-Qaeda's North African branch. It was broadcast on Wednesday by Dubai-based Arabic satellite news channel Al-Arabiya.

"The mujahadeen reserve the right to treat the hostages according to Islamic Sharia law," the audio message warned.

Fowler is a Canadian diplomat and United Nations special envoy to Niger and Guay is the deputy director of the Sudan task force in the Canadian capital,Ottawa. They were abducted with their driver outside Niamey on 14 December while returning from a visit to a gold mine operated by a Canadian company.

On 16 December a rebel group called the Front des Forces de Redressement claimed to have kidnapped Fowler, but a spokesperson later denied the claim.

An undated video showing the diplomats were still alive was sent to the Malian authorities earlier this month. Their missing driver was not shown in the video.

A Swiss couple, an elderly German woman and a British man were returning from a Tuareg cultural festival in Mali on 22 January when they were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen along the border of Mali and Niger.

Disappeared In Niger: UN envoy Robert Fowler, his assistant and driver may be held by rebels

Photo: Missing UN envoy Robert Fowler (Reuters) Source: report by Steven Edwards, Canwest News Service published Saturday, January 31, 2009. Copy:

Missing UN envoy likely alive: diplomat

Evidence has emerged suggesting Robert Fowler -- the Canadian United Nations envoy who disappeared last month in Niger with his Canadian assistant and locally hired driver-- is alive, a UN Security Council diplomat said yesterday.

Hope remains that Louis Guay, the Foreign Affairs official who accompanied Mr. Fowler to the west African country, and their driver Soumana Mounkaila of Niger are also alive, officials said.

The trio disappeared on Dec. 14 as they returned to the Niger capital of Niamey after visiting a Canadian-run gold mine in the western part of the country -- and no word has emerged publicly about their fate until now.

"There has been evidence some days ago that he was alive," the Security Council diplomat said of Mr. Fowler. "All these issues are very complicated." The diplomat did not want to be identified.

UN Secretary General Ban Kimoon spoke privately late last week with Mr. Fowler's wife, Mary, to update her on what was being done to locate the three men, said Farhan Haq, a UN spokesman.

Speculation has been increasingly focused on the possibility that operatives with -- or connected to -- the extremist group al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) had come to hold the trio.

The involvement of U.S. intelligence officials in the search also suggested that suspicion focused on an internationally active group such as AQIM. "I didn't know that people thought he wasn't alive," said one intelligence officer yesterday.

AQIM's involvement appeared increasingly likely following the abduction last week of four European tourists in the northeast part of Mali, close to the Niger border. Mali is where the extremist group last year held two Austrian tourists they had abducted in Tunisia in February before releasing them in October after demanding an $8-million ransom payment.

The kidnappers of the four Europeans did so in a manner that was similar to that suggested by evidence left at the scene where Mr. Fowler and his colleagues disappeared about 45 kilometres northeast of Niamey.

The kidnappers of the Europeans abandoned the tourists' two all-terrain vehicles and released one of their local tour-guide drivers after beating him. Similarly, the UNmarked vehicle carrying Messrs. Fowler, Guay and Mounkaila was abandoned with such personal effects as cellphones left inside.

Retired from the Canadian diplomatic corps, Mr. Fowler, a father of three, was the longest-serving Canadian ambassador to the UN, is a former deputy defence minister, and has advised several prime ministers. Mr. Guay, a father of five, had worked most recently on the Sudan desk at the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Jos, Nigeria: Hundreds of killings sparked by a rumour that Muslim ANPP lost election to Christian PDP? (Update 1)

UPDATE WED 17 DECEMBER 2008 - Here below is a copy of two interesting comments received in response to the Telegraph's article below, posted here at Niger Watch on 29 November 2008.

At least 200 people have been killed in fierce clashes between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria. Nov 29, 2008 Daily Telegraph report:

HUNDREDS KILLED IN NIGERIA CLASHES

Estimates of the dead in three days of sectarian fighting sparked by a disputed local election in the central city of Jos range from at least 200 to 400.

A senior Nigerian Red Cross official who asked not to be named said that 218 bodies were lying in the main mosque in Jos awaiting burial.

However, Khaled Abubakar, the imam of the central mosque, said: "So far about 400 bodies have been brought to the mosque following the outbreak of violence.

"Families are coming to identify and claim the bodies, while those that can not be identified or nobody claims them will be interred by the mosque."

Yakumu Pam, a Christian pastor, said: "Hundreds of people have been killed in the last two days since the riots started.

Remains of burned bodies litter some parts of the town. It is so terrible."

Thousands more people are reported to have fled their homes, while the governor of Plateau State, Jonah Jang, has placed four districts of Jos under a curfew and ordered police to fire on anyone who broke it following the worst of the clashes on Friday.

There was no official confirmation of the death toll.

Local residents said several churches and mosques were razed in the violence, which started with a rumour that the All
Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) had lost the local election to the federal ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP).

The ANPP is perceived in Jos to be a predominantly Muslim party, and the PDP to be mainly Christian.

Such outbreaks of violence are not uncommon in Nigeria. Jos was also the scene of a week of violence between Christians and Muslims in September 2001 that also left hundreds dead.

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CONTINUED - UPDATE WED 17 DECEMBER 2008:

Copy of two comments received here at Niger Watch in response to the Telegraph's article above.

On Monday, December 01, 2008
Anonymous said...

I am in London here who read a page of your recent posting on the recent religious riot in Jos.

As I am writing these statemnets to you. Two of my immediate family members houses have been burnt down into ashes by the muslims at the location of Nassarrawa Gwom. All narrowly escaped death.

Many churches have been burnt down at diffrent locations of Jos. One well Young coming up Evangelist by name Timothy Adetona was burnt alive. My immediate source expresses traumatic facts that Churches burnt down are in proportion of 7:1 to the mosques that were claimed burnt down by the muslims.

Right now the Christian death tolls has risen above 760 including pregnat women and children who could not escape in time before these Christian homes were set on fire. The muslims unaccounted for as there unconfirmed fact and truth about their reports.

This is a pure pre-meditated and organise killings by the Muslims in the wake of what suppose to be just a fair Chairmanship election in the Jos Plateau state.

God have mercy upon the land of Nigeria and particularly upon the bereaved families in Jos at this traumatic moment for all concerned.

BJ, Hounslow.

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On Monday, December 01, 2008
SOLOMONSYDELLE said...

If I may add a quick point of clarification - the PDP is not a 'Christian' party. Just as the ANPP is not a 'Muslim' party.

Nigeria's President, Umar Musa Yar'Adua, is a Muslim and he is a member of the PDP. Both parties have members of different faiths and tribes. The situation in Jos started as a political fight that soon escalated to unnecessary sectarian violence.

I hope this clarifies things. There is no need for further confusion or statements that could only fan the flames of religious an d ethnic tension between Nigeria's Muslims and Christians. Unfortunately, your post title could be problematic.

Thanks for sharing this post and that you for taking the time to write about Jonathan Elendu. We are all hoping he will be freed to return to his family in the US.

Take care.

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P.S. Niger Watch reply to both comments: Thanks for your interesting comments. Sorry for the delay in responding. I have only just realised that Blogger's notification of comments via email is not working so I wasn't aware of your comments until today. I'd be interested to learn more and will keep my eye out for further news to share here. Best wishes, Ingrid.

News blogger Jonathan Elendu of US-based Nigerian news website Elendureports.com detained in Nigeria

A US-based Nigerian news blogger is being held without charge by Nigeria's secret service.

Jonathan Elendu was taken into custody on Saturday when he arrived in the capital, Abuja, on a family visit.

International media rights groups Reporters Without Borders has called for Mr Elendu's release.

Two foreign journalists have been detained and deported by the SSS for reporting in the politically sensitive oil-rich Niger Delta region over the last few months.

In September, six local reporters and media executives were detained and questioned after a television channel reported, after receiving a hoax e-mail, that the president planned to resign. 



Photo: Jonathan Elendu runs a controversial Nigerian news blog Elendureports.com from Lansing in Michigan, USA. (BBC)

Source: BBC report Thursday, 23 October 2008 - News blogger detained in Nigeria. Further excerpt:

Another US-based Nigerian news website, Saharareporters.com, quotes anonymous sources as saying Mr Elendu may have been arrested because of photographs it published a few months ago showing President Umaru Yar'Adua's son.

The Saharareporters.com pictures, which caused a stir in the local media at the time, showed 13-year-old Musa Yar'Adua waving wads of money around and holding a policeman's gun.

Elendureports.com operates from Lansing in Michigan and publishes often controversial stories about Nigerian politicians, accusing some of them of corruption and other crimes. Their stories are often based on anonymous sources.

S.O.S. Please email Niger Watch - 2 years of emails lost

Here in England on Wednesday, 15 October 2008, two engineers from British Telecom IT Support were here for a specially ordered appointment to ensure a smooth changeover from my current ISP, Virgin Media, to BT Broadband.

Sadly, it turned into a 3-hour job. The engineer, after deleting the Virgin email address from my PowerBook G4 (Mac OS X 10.3.9) said it had never occurred to him that the contents of my AppleMac drafts email folder would also be deleted, along with the contents of my folders for sent and incoming emails. In their experience, such a thing had never happened before.

Groan. Over the past 3-4 weeks, on top of the 3 hours Wednesday, I've spent what seems like a total of 20 hours on the phone to BT, from here to Scotland and India, ever since initial call to BT's broadband sales office.

BT couldn't set me up for broadband for a few weeks resulting in connection to BT dial-up service in the interim - for which I almost got charged £18 for Day One if I hadn't checked tarriff for the 'Pay As You Go' option that BT signed me up to, instead of the 'Anytime' package costing £1 for first month.

Not to mention the ordeal I went though trying to obtain an internet cable for a few weeks of the dial up service. And then the service itself. By the end of Day One, BT dial up Tech Support told me the loss of connection every few minutes was nothing to do with them and blamed my internal modem as being corrupted and broken. Not true, I discovered next day.

Yesterday morning, I awoke feeling gutted, bereft and exhausted over the whole experience. More than one thousand draft items and scores of photos for future blogposts which, despite Apple's best efforts (a further 1-hour ordeak over phone) are no longer recoverable. All gone. Vanished. Forever. Nightmare.

Years of hard work and precious energy wasted. I feel sad at losing so much, just when I was getting back into the swing of things after ten bereavements (including my mother and three longstanding friends) and the toll it took on my health.

Chin up. Worse things happen at sea. I'll endeavour to continue blogging while working on piecing together lost drafts, updating email address in my blogs. re-subscribing to news alerts, etc.

Right now, the thought of having to find all the pieces to put back together again, and recall people's latest email addresses that may or not be in my computer's address book, is too overwhelming.

If you have ever emailed me, no matter how long ago, please email me NOW with copy of last email or just a few words or, better still, photo of your pet, to enable me to save your address safely in a new folder for easy future reference.

My new BT email address is now in the sidebar here at Niger Watch.

I'm always here, with my cat Ophelia, happy to receive emails that are not spam. It still pains me to be so slow in replying. I fear that taking days, weeks, months, even years (!) to reply puts people off from staying in contact.

P.S.
Mostly I am sad at losing photos of pets belonging to some of my favourite bloggers. I adore cats and had collected some pretty special photos for a Cat Watch Blog that I'm creating as a place for me to visit when the going gets tough at my watch blogs and I feel disappointed in human beings.

If you know the personality of any cat (or dog, especially if it gets along with cats) and have a photo of the pet, please send it to me so I can create a little story for posting (with your permission and credit - with link to you if you have a blog or website) at the most suitable of my three new blogs (currently under construction) namely: Cat Watch Blog, Heavenly Cats, Pets in Heaven.

Here's looking forward to learning about cats living in different parts of the world. I'm curious to know if cats all over the world have same habits and act in same way, or behave differently from mine here in England. If anyone ever thinks of sending us a greetings, especially over Christmas and New Year, anything for my pet blogs would be cheerfully received and warmly appreciated. I promise to reply with some observations and questions about your pet's charm and character.

Having said all that, I'm bracing myself for the possibility that no-one will take notice of this post although, even during blogging breaks, my network of blogs continues to receive thousands of visitors and page views. I have no idea of how many people read my blogs via a news reader and never visit in person. I don't even know if the feed for my Sudan Watch blog still works. It no longer works in my newsreader, NetNewsWire.

Hey is anybody out there? Please say something!

With love from Ingrid and cat Ophelia, posted by the sea on south west coast of England, UK xx

An edited version of this post will appear in some of my network of blogs, ie: Sudan Watch, Congo Watch, Ethiopia Watch, Egypt Watch, Uganda Watch, Kenya Watch, China Tibet Watch, Tehran Watch, Syria Watch, ME/CFS Watch, ME AND OPHELIA.

Give free rice to hungry people by playing a simple game - Spread the word about hunger

This is my contribution to World Food Day today, October 16.

Top tips: Don't waste an inch of food or water. Cook fresh home made meals from scratch. Don't drink unnatural juice. Make and mend. Recycle food, water, paper, metal, glass. Adopt a rescue cat to ensure no mice. Adopt a rescue dog for self protection and healthy exercise. Respect the land, sea and air. Be kind and generous. Try to love all people, animals, insects, flowers, trees and plants. Care about what happens to the thirsty, hungry, homeless, sick, disabled, and elderly. Visit friends in person or write note instead of phoning. Cut down on petrol pollution and plastic waste. Don't drive a distance that you could easily walk, bus or cycle. Take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves. Tithe 10% of your income and see how much more you receive in return.
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Notable Quote

"The best things in life aren't things" - Art Buchwald (Credit: Bloomberg TV)
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On World Food Day - October 16, Spread the word about hunger

Give free rice to hungry people by playing a simple game that increases your knowledge.



Visit FreeRice, www.freerice.com, to translate your right answers into rice for the hungry.

147,750,140 grains of rice donated yesterday. Over 47 billion grains donated to date. Sponsors pay for the donated rice.

Click into www.freerice.com and give the right answer in the middle of the page.

I reached level 41 with a donation total of 3040 grains. Will do more later.

"Help us mark World Food Day this year as high food prices, dramatic increases in fuel costs, and profound changes in climate conditions have conspired to bring new dimensions of suffering and hardship to the poor, depriving almost one billion people of the food they need to live a healthy life."  - UN

Deployed peacekeeping veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) have significant impairments in health-related quality of life

Nine years ago today, I was struck down with a flu like viral illness from which I never recovered. After the initial six months, my profoundly disabling condition was diagnosed by a Consultant Psychiatrist as a severe form of Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome (PVFS), also known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME)/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS).

Still, to this day, there is no effective treatment or cure. In my experience, the condition is similar to Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Gulf War Syndrome (GWS).

Over the past nine years my energy level has increased from one half hour to two hours per day. I am still virtually housebound. Last March, I was able to attend my mother's funeral. Next month, I am scheduled to attend a long awaited appointment with a CFS Consultant. Several years ago, I was bedbound for two years.

The following definition of ME is from a paper I wrote with a very dear friend (recently departed, God rest his soul) in March 2003:

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis - ME

Evidenced by muscle pain, with inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, ME has been known for half a century as 'a-typical polio'. The symptoms of extreme lassitude, and the swift onset of exhaustion that characterise the disease, also caused it to be known for many years as 'chronic fatigue syndrome' or CFS. It was only classified by the World Health Organisation of the United Nations as a neurological disorder in 1969.

The disorder is triggered by a virus infection that occurs worldwide in epidemic and pandemic form: seasonally and in selected geographical areas. It affects about 1% of the British population and there is no known cure. While three-quarters of those who become infected do not present advanced symptoms, 25% of ME sufferers are chronically affected with severe illness and pain, causing them to become profoundly disabled and very largely housebound. The condition can last throughout life without remission of any kind.

Doctors and sufferers generally agree that the worst effects of the disease can be 'managed by strict adherence to conservation of energy, reduction of stress and simplification of work: augmented by education, with practical and economic support'.

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We're not lazy nor crazy, tiredness is the least of our problems

This post today, 10 October 2008, here at Niger Watch, is to help raise awareness of the plight of military personnel suffering from ghastly life-wrecking Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Below are some excerpts taken from Science Daily online. More on this topic at a later date.
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Peacekeepers are exposed to traumatic events which they are helpless to prevent under the United National rules of engagement

While the relationship among Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and physical and mental health impairment is well developed in combat veterans, it is less studied among the deployed peacekeeping veteran population.

Peacekeepers are exposed to traumatic events which they are helpless to prevent under the United National rules of engagement, which state soldiers must show restraint and neutrality. The feeling of being unable to control a situation at the time of trauma is an important risk factor for developing PTSD.

More from ScienceDaily.com (Dec. 15, 2007):

Canada’s peacekeepers suffer similar rates of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD) as combat, war-zone soldiers, according to a London, Ont. research team.

Psychiatrist J. Donald Richardson and his co-investigators also found that PTSD rates and severity were associated with younger age, single marital status and deployment frequency.

Vietnam Combat Linked To Many Diseases 20 Years Later

According to Boscarino, of the 1,399 Vietnam veterans studied, 24 percent (332) were diagnosed with PTSD sometime after military service, and nearly all cases of PTSD in the study resulted from exposure to heavy or very heavy combat in Vietnam.

He said his research and others' suggest that those with PTSD often have altered neuroendocrine and sympathetic nervous systems. Disturbances in these key body systems are the main reason for increases in a broad spectrum of diseases among combat veterans, he said. His research also uncovered abnormal immune functioning and clear medical evidence of coronary artery disease among the veterans studied. Read more at ScienceDaily (Nov. 26, 1997)

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder May Result In Heart Disease

Combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) appear to be at higher risk for coronary heart disease (CHD), according to a recent study of 4,462 male U.S. Army veterans.

"We believe that this research suggests a clear, definitive linkage between exposure to severe stress and the onset of coronary heart disease in humans," said Boscarino. Read more at ScienceDaily (Nov. 10, 1999)

PTSD Causes Early Death From Heart Disease, Study Suggests

A new study sheds light on the link between PTSD and heart disease. Vietnam veterans with PTSD suffered higher rates of heart disease death than veterans without PTSD.

The more severe the PTSD diagnosis, the greater the likelihood of death from heart disease, the study showed. Read more at ScienceDaily (July 8, 2008)

Whether combat or peacekeeping, PTSD impacts veterans' well-being

Deployed peacekeeping veterans with PTSD have significant impairments in health-related quality of life according to research by Dr. J. Donald Richardson of The University of Western Ontario and his co-investigators.

The research, published recently in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, found anxiety disorders such as PTSD are associated with impaired emotional well-being, and this applies just as much to peacekeeping veterans as to combat veterans. "This finding is important to clinicians working with the newer generation of veterans, as it stresses the importance of including measures of quality of life when evaluating veterans to better address their rehabilitation needs," says Dr. Richardson. "It is not enough to measure symptom changes with treatment; we need to objectively assess if treatment is improving their quality of life and how they are functioning in their community."

Richardson is a consultant psychiatrist with the Operational Stress Injury Clinic at Parkwood Hospital, part of St. Joseph's Health Care, London and a psychiatry professor with the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western. His team studied 125 male, deployed Canadian Forces peacekeeping veterans who were referred for a psychiatric assessment. The average age of these men was 41, and they averaged 16 years of military service. The most common military theatre in which they served were the Balkan states (Bosnia, Croatia, former Yugoslavia, and Kosovo), with 83 per cent having exposure to combat or a war zone. Read more at ScienceDaily (Oct. 3, 2008)

Post Traumatic Stress Has Tripled Among Combat-exposed Military Personnel

Concerns have been raised about the health impact of military deployment. Studies have estimated as many as 30% of Vietnam War veterans developed post-traumatic stress disorder at some point following the war and, among 1991 Gulf War veterans, as many as 10% were reported to have post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms years after returning from deployment. Read more at ScienceDaily (Jan. 17, 2008)

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Postscript

I would be interested to hear from anyone affected by above issues. Feel free to email me anytime and forgive me if I am slow to respond. Note, my current email address will cease on November 28, 2008 because I am switching my ISP to British Telecommunications (BT) Broadband.

With love from me and my cat Ophelia xx

[Afterthought: As my network of blogs receives thousands of regular visits from military, health orgs, unis, govts, etc., I have decided to cross post this whole entry at some of Sudan Watch's sister sites: Congo Watch, Uganda Watch, Ethiopia Watch, Niger Watch, Kenya Watch, Russia Watch.]

Major oil pipeline in Nigeria ruptured

A major oil pipeline ferrying crude oil to two of the country’s four refineries has been ruptured, amid fears that militants may have been responsible for the action.

The private Punch newspaper reported Thursday that the Chanomi Creek pipeline, which transports crude oil from Nigeria’s main oil city of port Harcourt to two refineries in Warri and the northern city of Kaduna, was ruptured in "unclear circumstances" (overnight Wednesday) in Delta state in the country’s oil producing Niger Delta region.

The development may lead to the shutdown of the refineries, which only resumed production in February 2008, two years after they were forced to shut down because militants blew up the same pipeline.

The Warri refinery has a capacity of 125,000 barrels per day while the Kaduna refinery has an installed capacity of 110,000bpd.

Though no group has claimed responsibility for the rupture of the pipeline, militants threatened in July to blow up, within 30 days, the Chanomi Creek pipeline and other pipelines close to it to demonstrate the seriousness of agitations for greater control of oil resources in the Niger Delta.

Source: en.afrik.com report Friday 03 October 2008 - Major oil pipeline in Nigeria ruptured in ’unclear circumstances’

French warship BAP Jules Verne is in Nigeria

The French warship BAP Jules Verne is in Nigeria to consolidate technical links rather than to protect French oil firms’ facilities in the African nation, according to the ship captain, Commodore Thierry Ruffier.

"We are in Nigeria in furtherance of the technical links France has with countries of the Gulf of Guinea, including Senegal, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana’’.

There have been speculations that the ship may have been sent to help protect the facilities of French oil companies operating in Nigeria, amid the recent escalation of violence in Nigeria’s Niger Delta oil region.

The warship, carrying 270 sailors, arrived in Nigeria 27 September and is scheduled to depart for Senegal Friday on its return journey.

Ruffier said members of the Nigerian Navy Engineering Corps would board the ship to share experiences on maintenance of ships for cross-pollination of ideas, adding "We have also come to learn from the Nigerian Navy being the largest in Africa. Our visit coinciding with the country’s independence anniversary celebration is fulfilling."

The maintenance vessel had also visited Nigeria three years ago.

Source: en.afrik.com - French military ship in Nigeria to ’consolidate technical links’ not to protect - Thursday 02 October 2008.

Nigerian militants halt 'oil war'

Nigeria's main militant group has declared a ceasefire, following a week of attacks on oil installations in the country's oil-rich Niger Delta.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) said it had taken the decision after appeals from tribal leaders in the region.

But it warned it would end the truce if attacked by the army again.



Mend declared "war" on Nigeria's oil industry last Sunday after a fierce military raid on one of its bases.

Groups such as Mend claim to be fighting for greater control over oil wealth in the impoverished Niger Delta, but they are accused of making money from criminal rackets and trade in stolen oil.

The militants say they are fighting to bring more money to the Niger Delta.

Source: BBC News report Nigerian militants halt 'oil war' September 22, 2008. Photo credit AFP/BBC

Third attack in 48 hours on a Shell installation in Nigeria

Armed group claims third attack in 48 hours on oil installations.

The claim came days after the group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend), declared an "oil war" on foreign companies working in the country.

"A very major trunk crude oil pipeline we believe may belong to both Agip and Shell has been blown up today," the group said in an emailed statement on Wednesday.

It is the third attack in 48 hours on a Shell installation.



Photo: A number of armed groups have attacked major oil pipelines in the Niger Delta (AFP/Al Jazeera)

Sarah Simpson, a journalist reporting from Lagos, told Al Jazeera: "Shell are still investigating into Mend's report, but they are not yet able to comment on the situation.

"If indeed there has been an attack, it could be a significant pipeline. Most likely a pipeline carrying crude oil, which could affect Nigeria's oil exports.

"Mend's reports have been quite accurate in the past," she said.



Photo: Mend uses gunboats in attacking pipelines in the region (AFP/Al Jazeera)

Mend said it had destroyed the Orubiri flow station on Tuesday with the help of another armed group, the Niger Delta Volunteer Force (NDVF).

A Nigerian military spokesman confirmed to Reuters news agency on Wednesday that there had been an attack on Royal Dutch Shell's oil flow station on Tuesday.

"It is feared the facility may have caught fire due to intense, sporadic gunshots and massive dynamite and bomb explosions," Lieutenant-Colonel Sagir Musa said.

Source: AL JAZEERA ENGLISH 17/9/08 - Shell facility attacked in Nigeria

Solar in Africa or falling back in love with oil? - Sharia courts operating in Britain

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have supported plans to build a 45 billion Euro ($64 billion) "super grid" that would connect renewable energy resources across Europe and Africa.

Read more in a report by Ben Block at World Changing, September 12, 2008 - African Renewable Energy Gains Attention. Excerpt:

The potential for renewable energy development in Africa is experiencing an increase in attention lately as investors and world leaders seek a new clean energy frontier.

The continent could become a gold mine for renewable energy due to abundant solar and wind resources. But roadblocks to clean energy worldwide are amplified throughout the troubled regions of Africa - financial resources are thin and infrastructure is often unreliable.



A researcher from the European Commission's Institute for Energy reported earlier this year that 0.3 percent of the sunlight that shines on the Sahara and Middle East deserts could supply all of Europe's energy needs. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have supported plans to build a 45 billion Euro ($64 billion) "super grid" that would connect renewable energy resources across Europe and Africa.

Along the Great Rift Valley - a 6,000 kilometer terrain stretching from Syria to Mozambique - a huge amount of untapped geothermal energy may soon be developed. In June, Kenya announced that it would install some 1,700 megawatts of geothermal capacity within the next 10 years - 150 percent of the country's total electricity generating capacity. Djibouti plans to supply nearly all of its electricity needs through geothermal energy, with the help of Reykjavik Energy Invest and the World Bank.

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FALLING BACK IN LOVE WITH OIL?

Here is an excerpt from today's Snowmail, just in - courtesy of UK Channel 4 News' Jon Snow - Wednesday 17 September 2008:

FALLING BACK IN LOVE WITH OIL?
One last thought: OIL. Have you noticed how it's crashed from $140 a barrel to around $90 in just three months? All those weeks ago, at the beginning of the hike in prices, I asked one of the foremost oilmen, Sir Mark Moody Stewart, formerly head of Shell, now on the board of the Saudi state oil company Aramco, what it was all about.

"Not the oil supply" he said. "There's plenty of it... not India or China either
they amount to 2 per cent of the market
this is about sentiment and speculation."

So there you have it. Having grown tired of the money markets and the rest, the hedge funds and private equity characters and the rest had bundled out of Wall Street into commodities, particularly oil. Now they are back with their first love, barracuda attacks on rivals in the markets, and - hey presto! - having left the oil speculation game, the price of oil falls.

Gotta run see you at seven, Best, Jon

BUSINESS
At the time of sending the FTSE-100 index was: 4956.70
The US Dollar to Sterling was: 1.79535
The Euro to Sterling was: 1.26780

Source: CHANNEL 4 NEWS SERVICES
RSS feeds and mobile phone bulletins
Online video reports

PS If you want to reply to Snowmail please email news@channel4.com and put Snowmail in the subject header.

PPS Sharia courts have been operating in Britain for over a year it has emerged.
Source: Telegraph News - Sharia courts operating in Britain September 14, 2008

[Cross posted to parent site Sudan Watch]

Map of attacks and LRA base - DR Congo's army has sent 200 troops to Dungu, DRC

Earlier this month, the Democratic Republic of Congo's army and the UN began a military operation to try to contain the activities of Ugandan LRA terrorist group leader Joseph Kony.



Source: BBC News 'Rebel leader targeted in DR Congo' report dated Monday, 8 September 2008. Excerpts:

The campaign follows failed attempts to negotiate an end to the rebellion by his Lord's Resistance Army.

Congo's army has sent 200 troops to the northern town of Dungu, where hundreds have sought refuge from the LRA.

The LRA fought a 20-year war against the government in northern Uganda. Some two million people were displaced.

Note, the report says Mr Kony is thought to have been rebuilding his forces.

Also note, as stated at my sites Uganda Watch, Congo Watch and Sudan Watch many times before, the USA treats the LRA as a terrorist organisation and, in my view, rightly so.

One wonders about the financing and arming of the LRA over the past 20 years. How come, in this day age, the sources of funding, armaments and munitions for African rebel groups manage to remain such a secret over past twenty years? I wish professional journalists would tell us because it would help make sense of what is going on in and around Africa and why.

[Cross posted to parent site Sudan Watch and sister sites Uganda Watch, Congo Watch, Niger Watch]

Maps of Niger

Courtesy Google September 2008
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hat tip www.sas.upenn.edu/
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Courtesy Google September 2008

EU to help Africa expand energy sector

Report from the EU Observer September 9, 2008:

The EU is to help African countries expand their electricity networks and promote energy interconnections between Africa and the EU, such as a Trans-Saharan gas pipeline.

The EU aid will amount to €1 billion for a period of two years, the European Commission and the African Union announced in a joint statement on Monday (8 September).

The joint statement was signed on Monday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by EU Energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs, EU development commissioner Louis Michel and African Union (AU) commissioner for infrastructure and energy, Elham Mahmoud Ahmed Ibrahim of Egypt.

It is the first concrete step to implementing the Africa-EU partnership, which was agreed in December 2007, according to a commission statement, which stressed "the urgent need to promote Africa electrification."

The EU is to offer technical assistance worth €10 million to African utility regulators, the statement adds.

A further priority of the Africa-EU energy partnership is to be the development of oil and gas pipelines between African countries, but also between Africa and the EU, such as the €9 billion Trans-Sahara Gas Pipeline, planned to transport up to 30 billion cubic metres of gas per year to Europe via Nigeria, Niger and Algeria by 2015.

The EU and AU commissioners also agreed to increase transparency, elaborate a road map for the launch and implementation of a renewable energy co-operation programme and support for Africa's participation in the Global Gas Flaring Reduction partnership of oil and gas producing countries.

The joint statement calls upon the European countries and the private sector "to further mobilise resources for investment in energy sector" on both the supply and demand side.

The EU will also provide additional contributions to the EU-Africa Infrastructure Partnership and its Trust Fund, while the AU commission confirmed its "willingness" to further progress in the implementation of the €55 million European Commission support programme for the period 2007-2011 for the energy sector.

Despite the announcement, however, the International Energy Agency has earlier warned that Africa needs to spend an estimated €400 billion by 2030 to generate an additional 260,000 MW of power.

A next meeting on the Africa-EU energy partnership will take place on 1 October in Brussels.

Source: EU Observer

Nigeria militants warn of oil war

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) say they are fighting to bring more money to the Niger Delta.

Source: BBC report Sunday 14 September 2008 -

Nigeria militants warn of oil war

Militants in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta region say they have "declared war" on the government after battling security forces guarding facilities.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) said it was responding to attacks by the military.

The military said it had repelled several Mend attacks. Both sides say their opponents suffered heavy losses.

Mend's violent campaign for a bigger part of the area's oil wealth has cut Nigeria's oil output by more than 20%.

Mend militants are the largest of several armed groups operating in the impoverished delta region. They frequently kidnap foreign oil workers and sabotage oil installations and pipelines.

Nigerian President Umaru Yar'adua is under pressure to crack down on the militants and make the delta safer for international oil firms.

Lawless region

In an email released by Mend, the group said it had launched an "oil war" on the government in response to what it described as unprovoked aerial attacks on its bases in the Niger Delta.

The group said its heavily-armed fighters had fanned out in hundreds of boats to attack oil installations in Rivers state.

"The operation will continue until the government of Nigeria appreciates that the solution to peace in the Niger Delta is justice, respect and dialogue," the group said.

An oil platform at Kula, operated by oil giant Chevron, was among the facilities targeted, Mend said, adding that 22 Nigerian troops had been killed in the attack.

A Nigerian military spokesman said they had repelled an attack on an oil platform operated by the US company, Chevron. He said the militants had suffered heavy casualties.

The Niger Delta region is the source of most of the Nigerian government's income, yet it remains blighted by poverty and corruption.

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown offers military aid to oil rich Nigeria

From The Independent
Friday, 11 July 2008
By Daniel Howden, Kim Sengupta, Colin Brown and Claire Soares

Brown blunders in pledge to secure Nigeria oil



Photo: Militant groups in the Niger Delta have targeted multinational oil firms (AP)

PM's offer of military aid to Nigeria provokes collapse of ceasefire amid angry claims that UK has 'declared war' on rebel army

Gordon Brown is being accused of preparing for a military adventure in Africa after he pledged to provide backing to the Nigerian security forces. His announcement prompted the collapse of a ceasefire in the oil-rich Niger Delta and helped to drive up crude oil prices on world markets.

The Prime Minister's offer to help "tackle lawlessness" in the world's eighth largest oil producer was immediately condemned by the main militant group in the Delta, which abandoned a two-week-old ceasefire and accused Britain of backing what it calls Nigeria's "illegal government". The group issued a "stern warning" to Mr Brown in an emailed statement: "Should Gordon Brown make good his threat to support this criminality for the sake of oil, UK citizens and interests in Nigeria will suffer the consequences."

Speaking at the close on Wednesday of the meeting in Japan of the Group of Eight leading industrial nations, Mr Brown said that the UK was ready to offer the Nigerian military direct assistance to help return law and order to the southern region and to restore oil output.

The Prime Minister said: "We stand ready to give help to the Nigerians to deal with lawlessness that exists in this area and to achieve the levels of production that Nigeria is capable of, but because of the law and order problems has not been able to achieve." His comments came ahead of a visit to London by the Nigerian President, Umaru Yar'Adua, next week in which he is expected to appeal for military aid to put down militant groups who have attacked oil pipelines and platforms.

The Nigerian press received the British offer as a declaration of war against rebel groups. The Daily Champion newspaper ran the headline "Battle Line! UK to Declare War on Delta Militants".

Mr Brown is under immense pressure on the domestic front to ease the soaring fuel costs, driven by the global spike in oil prices. Major unrest in the impoverished Niger Delta region has cut the country's capacity to pump oil by one-quarter in recent months, helping to drive oil prices to the record high of $145 per barrel.

However, Mr Brown's initiative appeared to catch the Foreign Office unawares. A spokesman insisted yesterday that there had been "no change in policy" but that "options" were being considered. Senior military sources also said they had been caught by surprise by the decision to offer military aid. There are no contingency plans for intervention in Nigeria that can be activated, they said, and any operation would have to be organised from scratch.

President Yar'Adua came to power a year ago after a controversial election win that was challenged in Nigeria's High Court and contested by independent observers. Despite campaign pledges to tackle endemic corruption, which has raised the country to the top of the global graft index and enriched an elite with illegal oil revenues, the President has made little progress. He has also failed in his pledge to address local grievances in the Delta and restore peace to the region.

A series of attacks on installations and the kidnapping of oil workers by the main militant group, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend), has cut Nigerian oil production by one-quarter. The group is demanding a greater share of oil revenues be given to local people as the Niger Delta is among the poorest regions in Africa, despite the immense oil wealth it produces. A spokesman for Mend, Jomo Gbomo, told The Independent that the UK offer was tantamount to a return to colonial policies of divide and rule: "They ought to know better than any other country [not] to involve themselves in any other area aside from development. They [the British] are getting frustrated and we will continue frustrating the oil-dependent markets until justice is offered." Asked if he feared that Nigeria would become the next Iraq or Afghanistan, he replied: "It will not get to that point except if there is foreign interference."

Mend offered to enter peace talks last year but withdrew after the government launched a secret trial against one of its leaders. Attempts to convene a summit have been complicated by the withdrawal of the United Nations envoy who was asked to oversee it, as well as the refusal of Mend to take part.

Any action in Nigeria would further stretch British forces. Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, the Chief of Defence Staff, warned the Government last month: "We are not structured or resourced to do two of these things [Iraq and Afghanistan] on this scale on an enduring basis, but we have been doing it on an enduring basis for years. Until we get to the stage when one of them comes down to small-scale, we will be stretched beyond the capability we have."

Defence sources say the only realistic option would be to send special forces along with specialised hi-tech equipment to combat the guerrilla campaign. However, two squadrons out of the four in the SAS are currently deployed abroad, in Iraq and Afghanistan, and one is said to be on exercise. Units of the Special Boat Squadron are also busy in those countries with one contingent working alongside US forces in yet another hunt for Osama bin Laden.

The UK does, however, have special forces in Djibouti alongside other Nato countries in the American-run Horn of Africa task force involved in missions against Islamist militants; some of them can be switched from east to west Africa. It may also be possible to station a Royal Navy warship offshore.

Major General Julian Thompson, a former commander of the Royal Marines, said: "It would be utterly extraordinary to propose anything like a sizeable deployment of forces to Nigeria. Where are they going to come from? The MoD has not exactly got a box marked 'new troops' they can open up for something like this.

"It would be possible to send special forces in limited numbers to help the Nigerian military, but, with the current situation in Afghanistan they cannot be kept there for anything like a prolonged period."

Britain is one of the largest investors in Nigeria. About 4,000 Britons live in the west African country, many working for large companies, including the oil and gas companies Royal Dutch Shell and BG Group.



Photo: A Nigerian separatist rebel in the Niger Delta (independent.co.uk)



Graph credit: Independent Graphics/independent.co.uk

Source: The Independent - Browns African Misadventure

Hat tip peakoil.com
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UK offers Nigeria "military experts providing military advice"

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has offered Nigeria help to train security forces in its main oil producing region and promised to support the establishment of a maritime training centre for forces operating in the Niger Delta after meeting Umaru Yar’Adua, the president of Nigeria, in London.

Source: Financial Times report by Alex Barker in London, July 17 2008:
UK offers Nigeria help to train security forces
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UK seeks to deepen energy ties with Nigeria

Britain has offered to help Nigeria overhaul its energy sector as part of Gordon Brown’s attempts to encourage oil exporters to boost production to tame this year’s surge in oil prices.

Britain sees Nigeria, where attacks by militants and under-investment have cut production to 1.8m b/d from a capacity of roughly 2.5m b/d, as one of the few countries that could potentially provide a significant increase in output.

Source: Financial Times report by Matthew Green in Lagos, August 21 2008:
UK seeks to deepen energy ties with Nigeria

Libya sends relief load to Niger

May 27, 2008 Reuters report (via ReliefWeb) entitled 'Libya sends aid to drought-hit Niger':

TRIPOLI, May 27 (Reuters) - Libya on Tuesday sent 30 tonnes of humanitarian relief to drought-stricken Niger, one of several African states struggling to cope with a surge in global food prices, Libyan state media said on Tuesday.

Libya also sent a team of doctors and pharmacists to distribute the aid, which includes medicine, clothes and tents, and provide health care to the poor in the Sahelian country, one of the world's top producers of uranium.

Oil-exporting Libya is one of the main sources of aid to its neighbour Niger, an arid country on the southern fringe of the Sahara.

One in five children die before their fifth birthday in Niger, and aid agencies fear rising world prices for basic foods like rice could put decent nutrition beyond the reach of millions of people even if the next harvest is good.

The country suffered a humanitarian emergency in 2005 that threatened 3.5 million people with famine after drought and locusts the previous year wiped out crops in many villages.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi advocates solidarity among Africans in the fight against poverty to prevent what he sees as meddling in the continent by Western powers.

(Writing by Lamine Ghanmi; editing by William Maclean and Giles Elgood).
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May 28, 2008 BBC (News report 09:39 GMT 10:39 UK) entitled 'Libya sends relief load to Niger':

Niger is a vast, arid country often stricken by drought

Libya has sent 30 tons of aid to Niger, one of several African countries struggling to cope with the global rise in food prices.

The aid included medical supplies, clothes, shoes and tents, Libya's state news agency Jana reported.

Medical teams and pharmacists are accompanying the aid to provide medical services and distribute relief.

Last month, aid agencies said thousands of people had left their homes in the south-east due to food shortages.

Niger is one of the world's least-developed nations and more than two-thirds of its people live below the poverty line and 82% rely on agriculture, according to the UN.

Child mortality rates are high, with an estimated one in five children dying before their fifth birthday.

A report in April by international aid groups and the government of Niger said 14,000 people had been displaced in the region of Maradi.

Most of them have fled to cities, with others moving across the border to Nigeria.

The population of one village, Pardakoye, has shrunk from 800 people to 24.

More than three million people were affected by a famine in 2005.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7423134.stm

Niger rebels say French military helping government

Feb 19, 2008, 17:16 GMT Reuters.com report - by Abdoulaye Massalatchi - entitled 'Niger rebels say French military helping government:
'
NIAMEY, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Niger's Tuareg rebels accused France of giving military support to President Mamadou Tandja's army, but a senior army officer on Tuesday denied that French troops were playing any direct role in the conflict.

The rebel Niger Justice Movement (MNJ), which has killed 50 soldiers and raided army bases and convoys over the last year in the uranium-rich Agadez region of northern Niger, said French officer instructors were in Agadez to train Niger's forces.

The French military was also giving equipment to the army, the MNJ said in a Feb. 18 statement on its Website, without spelling out what this consisted of.

"We condemn all interference by France in a conflict which is the business of the people of Niger," said the statement posted on the rebel Website www.m-n-j.blogspot.com.

"Any French military presence is considered illegal by the MNJ," the rebels added.

A senior Niger armed forces officer, who asked not to be named, told Reuters the government army was receiving training, equipment and logistics support from France under a bilateral military cooperation agreement.

But he denied the French military had any direct role in fighting the light-skinned nomadic desert rebels, who are demanding more autonomy for their region and a greater share of the mineral wealth, especially uranium, that it produces.

Niger is a major exporter of uranium which is used to fuel nuclear reactors.

Tandja's government refuses to recognise the MNJ, dismissing its fighters as "bandits" who traffick in arms and drugs.

"Who has ever seen French troops fighting alongside Niger troops? ... the MNJ is nothing more than a group of armed bandits and should be treated as such. We don't need a foreign army to do that," the government officer said.

The MNJ, which last year raided a French-operated uranium mine and has threatened an offensive against uranium industry targets, said the French military role in Niger recalled the situation in neighbouring Chad, another French colony.

Chadian rebels say France has used its planes and troops stationed in the landlocked oil-producing country to prop up President Idriss Deby and helped him beat off a rebel attack on the capital N'Djamena earlier this month.

Paris denies any direct combat role by its forces in Chad and says it is supporting Deby's "legitimately elected" rule.

The MNJ said French President Nicolas Sarkozy had promised when he took office last year to dismantle France's cozy past relationship with often corrupt and dictatorial leaders in its former colonies in Africa.

"On the contrary, there's a return to the old order," the Niger rebel group said. (Editing by Pascal Fletcher)

Source: http://africa.reuters.com/country/TD/news/usnL19912644.html

Niger rebels vow offensive against uranium industry

Jan 31, 2008 11:39am EST Reuters report by Abdoulaye Massalatchi:

NIAMEY, Jan 31 (Reuters) - A leader of Niger's Tuareg rebels promised on Thursday an all-out offensive against the uranium industry including attacks on foreign-run mines and mineral convoys.

Over the last 12 months, the Niger Justice Movement (MNJ) has attacked army convoys and bases, killing around 50 soldiers.

This has forced Niger's government to impose a state of alert in the north of the Sahelian country, a major producer of uranium which is used to fuel nuclear reactors.

"We are going to attack the uranium mines, including those belonging to Areva, halt the operation of the plants or the opening up of new sites, and target the road shipments to the sea," Tuareg leader Rhissa Ag Boula told French newspaper Le Nouvel Observateur.

Last year MNJ fighters attacked a northern mine site operated by French nuclear group Areva and also briefly abducted a Chinese uranium executive.

The rebels are demanding more autonomy and a greater share of wealth in their uranium-rich northern region.

A Niger government spokesman rejected the threat in comments to Radio France International. President Mamadou Tandja's administration refuses to recognise the light-skinned nomadic desert rebels, dismissing them as "armed bandits".

Ag Boula criticised the Niger government for "handing out uranium concessions like buns" to companies from France, Canada, Australia, India, South Africa and China.

China had obtained a major part of the new concessions and the Chinese "build mining cities, bringing their own workers with them". China was selling landmines, vehicles and tanks to the Niger government, Ag Boula said in the interview.

NO DIALOGUE

Both the government and the rebels have accused each other of targeting civilians, particularly through laying land mines.

"The army refuses to confront the MNJ, but kills civilians," Ag Boula said. He accused government forces of persecuting Tuareg civilians suspected of sympathising with the rebellion.

Ag Boula was a ringleader of a previous northern Tuareg rebellion in the 1990s. After a peace deal, he served as tourism minister before being sacked in 2004 when he was briefly arrested in connection with the murder of a local politician.

He said army operations in the vast, rugged region around Agadez had driven hundreds of civilians from outlying oasis towns and destroyed the desert tourism industry.

Ag Boula criticised the government for refusing to negotiate with the MNJ. "The worst thing is that there are no signs of an opening or dialogue," he said.

He denied suggestions the Tuareg-led MNJ had connections with Algeria-based Islamic extremists allied to al Qaeda. "We have no connections with any foreign group," he said.

"Fifty years after Niger's independence, Tuaregs no longer accept others running their affairs for them. We've had enough of being dominated."

(Writing by Pascal Fletcher; editing by Robert Woodward)

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL31922133