China defends growing links with Africa

US military may back Somali govt offensive: report
Washington (AFP) March 5, 2010 - US special operations forces could help the Somali government, which is preparing an offensive to dislodge Al-Qaeda militants from the capital Mogadishu, The New York Times reported late Friday. Citing an unnamed US official in Washington, the newspaper said the offensive could begin in a few weeks. "What you're likely to see is airstrikes and Special Ops moving in, hitting and getting out," the official is quoted in the report as saying. Over the past several months, American advisers have helped supervise the training of the Somali forces to be deployed in the offensive, the paper said. US officials said that this was part of a continuing program to "build the capacity" of the Somali military, and that there has been no increase in military aid for the coming operations, The Times noted.

Washington has provided covert training to Somali intelligence officers, logistical support to peacekeepers, fuel for the maneuvers, intelligence on insurgent positions and money for bullets and guns, said the Times. Washington is also using its clout as the biggest supplier of humanitarian aid to Somalia. It has encouraged private aid agencies to move quickly into "newly liberated areas" to help civilians in an effort to make the government more popular, The Times said. US military intervention in Somalia in the early 1990s, commanding a major international relief operation ended in disaster when the UN force became drawn into fighting with local warlords. During the so-called "Battle of Mogadishu" in October 1993, forces loyal to warlord Mohamed Farah Aidid killed a total of 18 US soldiers on a single day, dragging some of their bodies through the streets of the city Mogadishu.

by Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) March 7, 2010
China rejected foreign concerns over its growing energy links with Africa on Sunday, saying it benefits African nations by bringing badly needed trade and infrastructure development.

"I have noticed that in the international community there are some who do not want to see the development of Sino-African relations and always make an issue of China-Africa energy cooperation," Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said.

"The fact is that China's oil imports from Africa account for only 13 percent of Africa's total exports, while Europe and the United States account for more than 30 percent," he told reporters.

Speaking at a press briefing on the sidelines of China's annual parliament session, Yang added Chinese investment in the African petroleum industry was just one-sixteenth of the world total, behind US and European investment.

"We support other countries cooperating with Africa on the basis of equality and mutual benefit in the energy sector. There is no reason for them to oppose our equal and mutually beneficial cooperation with Africa," he said.

China has steadily built up trade and economic ties with Africa in recent years, prompting critics in the West to accuse it of taking a "neo-colonialist" attitude toward the continent.

Beijing also has been criticised for befriending pariah regimes such as those in Sudan and Zimbabwe in a cynical bid to lock up supplies of resources needed to fuel expansion of its economy, the world's third largest.

In November, at a meeting of China-Africa leaders in Egypt, Beijing pledged 10 billion dollars in concessional loans to African countries.

Yang, who travelled to Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Algeria and Morocco in January is what has become an annual New Year trip, said the freedom of African countries to choose their friends should not be interfered with.

"In our cooperation with the people of African countries, we jointly build railways, roads, bridges, and improve their infrastructure for the benefit of the people," he said.

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Nigerian army vows not to interfere in politics
Abuja (AFP) March 2, 2010
Nigeria's army chief vowed not to drag soldiers into politics Tuesday, as government tensions ran high from President Umaru Yar'Adua's continued public absence after a lengthy stay in a Saudi hospital. "We are military professionals and we are determined to remain so", Lieutenant General Abdulrahman Dambazau said during a meeting with retired military men. "Nobody, no matter what (...) will ... read more

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