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Pdf | 838.9 Kb CIVIL - MILITARY FUSION CENTRE Mediterranean Review December 4, 2012 INSIDE THIS ISSUE This document provides an overview of developments in the Mediterranean Basin and other regions of In Focus 1 North Africa 2 interest from 13 November—03 December, with hyperlinks to source material highlighted and under- Northeast Africa 4 lined in the text. For more information on the topics below or other issues pertaining to the region, please Horn of Africa 6 contact the members of the Med Basin Team, or visit our website at www.cimicweb.org. ABOUT THE CFC The Civil-Military Fusion Centre (CFC) is an information and knowledge management organisation focused on improving civil-military interaction, facilitating information sharing and enhancing situational awareness through the CimicWeb portal and our weekly and monthly publications. CFC products link to and are based on open-source information from a wide variety of organisations, research centres and media sources. However, the CFC does not endorse and cannot necessarily guarantee the accuracy or objectivity of these sources. Sudan and South Sudan: A Comprehensive Peace Agreement CFC publications are By Sasha Ernest independently produced After three weeks of negotiation in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, Sudanese President Omar by Desk Officers and do al-Bashir and South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit signed a comprehensive peace agree- not reflect NATO policies ment on 27 September 2012 that will pave the way for increased trade and cooperation between the or positions of any other two countries. Under the mediation of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel organisation. (AUHIP), this celebrated step forward comprises a general cooperation agreement and eight proto- cols on oil, security, citizenship, post service benefits, trade, banking, border issues and economic The CFC is part of NATO Allied matters. The peace summit was scheduled after the United Nations (UN) Security Council in May Command Operations. 2012 warned Sudan and South Sudan that if they did not cease all hostilities and reach agreements concerning oil, citizenship, border demarcation and other disputes, it would take appropriate addi- tional measures under Article 41 of the UN Charter. Although gains were made in Addis Ababa, the issues of border security and demarcation remain unresolved. Khartoum and Juba failed to reach an agreement on the disputed border region of Abyei, which is coveted for its oil fields and grazing lands. The lead South Sudanese negotiator in the Addis Ababa summit, Pagan Amum, stated that the CONTACT THE CFC cooperation agreement will be valid for only three and a half years in total and each state has the power to revoke or cancel it with sixty days’ notice. For further information, contact: Oil Agreement Med Basin Team Leader Trista Guertin When South Sudan seceded in July 2011 it took 75% of Sudan’s oil resources but remained reliant [email protected] on Sudan’s infrastructure to export the oil. Tensions rose when Sudan seized southern oil tankers in early January 2012 as recompense for unpaid transit fees. South Sudan accused Khartoum of confis- The Mediterranean Team cating USD 815 million worth of oil and summarily suspended all oil production until a comprehen- [email protected] Continued on page 8 CIVIL - MILITARY FUSION CENTRE PRESENTS North Africa Eray Basar › [email protected] Algeria Algeria repeated calls for a political solution to the crisis in Mali following a meeting of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on 11 November. During the meeting, West African heads of state agreed on a 3,300-strong international force to invade and regain control of northern Mali, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). Foreign Ministry spokesman Amar Belani said “[w]e have not stopped emphasising that a way out of the crisis, through dialogue between the Malian authorities and the rebel groups in the north, is completely possible” and added that the on-going discussions with the rebel groups will result in a viable political solution. Algerian Minister of Interior Daho Ould Kablia warned on 20 No- vember that military action in Mali is doomed to fail, and repeated that his country’s top priority is to bring togeth- er the armed groups in Mali, including the Tuareg rebels, Source: Morocco on the Move the al Qaeda-affiliated Ansar al Dine, and the Malian government to reach a solution for the reunification of the country, reports Reuters. He added that after such dialogue “the war against terrorist groups and drug traffickers, which is essential to expurgate the area of the whole threat, will be much easier”. Moreover, ECOWAS commission chief Kadré Désiré Ouedraogo, said that Algeria will close its southern border in case of a military intervention in northern Mali. This following a 13 November statement by spokesman Belani, stating: “Algeria will anticipate all possible developments in the Sahel region and will therefore take, in a sovereign manner, the appropriate steps to protect its interests and defend its borders to the fullest extent possible”. In addi- tion, Algeria raised the alert level in the south of the country; military vehicles and equipment were mobilised to the border areas of Adrar, Tamanrasset and Illizi provinces, informs Magharebia. The ruling National Liberation Front (FLN) party, along with National Rally for Democracy (RND), dominated local elections de- feating the Islamist parties, according to the results released on 30 November reports Magharebia. FLN had to form alliances with other parties in many communes in order to win the majority. Ould Kabila described the 44% turnout rate as “acceptable”. Opposi- tion parties argued that fraud was involved in the elections suggesting the country’s military forces were ordered to vote for the gov- ernment parties, reports Associated Press (AP). According to the report special voting stations were opened for security force mem- bers who received orders to vote in favour of the FLN. Kabila denied the allegations saying, “[t]hings went according to the rules. Soldiers voted either by proxy or in the communes where their barracks are located”, and added that “[i]n the latter case, they pre- sented certificates proving that they have been removed from the electoral rolls in their communes of origin”. The Algerian Ministry of Defence is seeking a budget increase for 2013 to upgrade military assets and augment its counterterrorism capabilities, reports Defence Web. The ministry requested USD 10.3 billion, which is 14.2% higher than the budget for 2012. The additional funds take into account the expansion of the ministry’s authority into areas previously administered by the Ministry of Interior. Algeria has the second largest military in North Africa after Egypt and is among the world’s largest weapon importers. Libya At the onset of the talks between the Libyan leaders and oil refining corporations, which will cover contracts worth USD fifty bil- lion, investors appear reluctant due to political instability in the country reports Christian Science Monitor. Despite the fact that oil production in Libya has returned to its pre-revolution levels, recent protests and strikes act as a deterrent for investors. Moreover, with the closures of several European plants that refined sweet crude, the popularity of high quality sweet Libyan crude oil populari- ty is waning in the market; refiners are moving towards cleaner sour crude produced elsewhere. In related news, wounded civil war veterans shut down the Zawiya oil refinery in Tripoli on 29 November in protest, demanding the government send them abroad for medical treatment, reports Reuters. Company spokesman Essam al-Muntasir announced that the refinery resumed its regular opera- tions the next day. A similar protest shut down operations at the refinery for two days in early November. The Authority of National Integrity, which leads investigations to ensure that new government officials have no links to the former regime of Moammar Gaddafi, approved Ali Suleiman Aujali as Foreign Minister, reports AP. Aujali must still receive a nod from 04 December 2012 Page 2 parliament. The Authority of National Integrity also announced the approvals of the ministers for agriculture and social affairs; how- ever, eight potential cabinet officials proposed by the Prime Minister Ali Zidan were not sworn in with the rest of the cabinet at the beginning of November. Libya’s national assembly ratified a new law on 13 November that governs the organisation of protests, reports AFP. The law re- quires organisers to provide 48 hours’ notice to authorities regarding the location and time of the protest. Offenders are punishable by up to six months in prison and fines up to 5,000 Libyan dinars (USD 4,000). General National Congress spokesmen Omar Hmei- dan said the law does not restrict the right to demonstrate; rather, it aims to prevent chaos. Morocco The Moroccan Ministry of Interior said on 24 November that security forces had dismantled a terror cell recruiting young people to fight for al-Qaeda affiliated groups in northern Mali. The young recruits are inculcated with the radical ideology and then smuggled to Mali via Morocco’s closed border with Algeria to fight with al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) or its offshoot MUJAO. Both groups are known to have large numbers of foreign fighters from North Africa and other Islamic countries. Moroccan King Mohammad VI ordered the establishment of a field hospital in Gaza in coordination with Palestinian authorities on 18 November, reports AFP. The hospital is treating Palestinians injured in Israeli air strikes. The staff comprises of the armed forces as well as Moroccan civilian doctors and paramedics. The Moroccan humanitarian aid effort to Gaza, which started with the King’s hospital establishment order, continued with the deployment of medical teams and the delivery of five planeloads of medical and food material.
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