Africa News Digest
The Thatcher Coup: First Time Tragedy, Second Time Farce
Sir Mark Thatcher, son of former British Prime Minister Lady Margaret Thatcher, was arrested Aug. 25 in Cape Town, South Africa, because "credible evidence" indicated he helped finance the March coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea. The coup attempt was reported in EIW's Africa Digest, Volume 3, numbers 11-13. The best way to understand this case, is to see it as a covert replay of the "coalition of the willing" and the disastrous Iraq war. As the saying goes, "first time, tragedy; second time, farce." Putting aside obvious differences, the similarities to Iraq are striking:
1) Regime Change. The target of the coup was an oil-rich country headed by a dictator, but this time in West Africa's hot new oil El Dorado, the former Spanish colony, Equatorial Guinea, led by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema. Since oil was discovered in 1995, there have been four attempts to overthrow the Obiang regime.
2) Coalition of the Willing. The same powers that went to war in Iraq backed the coup, in one way or another. There was a Bush Administration interest because the main oil companies in the country include Exxon-Mobil, ChevronTexaco, Amerada Hess, and Marathon Oil. Dick Cheney's own Halliburton is involved in giving technical support to the petrochemical companies' operations in the country. Earlier this month, the Securities and Exchange Commission opened probes into these same oil companies (but not Halliburton) for making illegal payments to the President that eventually landed in Riggs Bank, in Washington. In June, the U.S. Navy held an exercise in the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea, as a "show of force," according to a U.S. diplomat quoted at the time.
Spain is involved, not only as the former "mother" country, but also because the would-be Ahmed Chalabi of Equatorial Guinea, Severo Moto Nsa, is living in exile in Madrid, ever since his coup attempt in 1999 ended in failure. Moto reportedly met then-Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar on at least three occasions. According to some press reports, Aznar gave his blessing to the coup. According to Africa Analysis, the coup was initially planned for February, when Spain sent its naval ships into the area for exercises. The coup was postponed when Obiang, thinking the obvious, refused to allow the ships to use the port of Malabo.
3) The UK supplied the muscle with Her Majesty's "dogs of war." This privatized regime change was to be carried out by the "rent a coup" operation of the notorious Simon Mann, the Eton-educated ex-SAS officer who founded Executive Outcomes and Sandline. His former partner, Col. Tim Spicer, just received a $300 million private security contract from Rumsfeld's Department of Defense for security operations in Iraq.
The coup was allegedly financed by Mark Thatcher, who in the early 1990s was his mother's bag man in collecting millions in "commissions" for Middle East arms deals.
The other financier was Eli Calil, a Nigerian-born Lebanese oil trader based in London. Calil changed his name from Elie Khalil after he was arrested in June 2002 (though later released in Paris under orders of Judge Renaud van Ruymbeke), for his involvement as middle man in payoffs worth $70 million to former Nigerian President Sani Abacha from the French oil company Elf Aquitaine, between 1989 and 1993. Some press reports indicate he might be involved in the "technip" bribery case, which involves Halliburton and Dick Cheney. Calil was also an adviser to disgraced Tory moneybags Lord Archer, who only recently was released from prison, after serving a sentence for perjury. Calil also once rented an apartment to Tony Blairs's "prince of darkness," Peter Mandelson.
The South African police say a third financier is involved, whom they described as a "former Thatcher cabinet minister," whose name they would not reveal.
Zimbabwe Court Finds Coup Plotter Simon Mann Guilty
A Zimbabwe court found British mercenary Simon Mann guilty of attempting to illegally purchase weapons in Zimbabwe, the Mail and Guardian reported Aug. 27. Mann was not charged with organizing the coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea, for lack of a law. Mann will be sentenced Sept. 10. The judge acquitted 66 others.
Washington Post: Overthrow Sudan Gov't 'By Whatever Means Necessary'
The government of Sudan should be 'removed by whatever means are necessary' says an op-ed in the Washington Post Aug. 23 by Eric Reeves, an English professor at Smith College and a poison pen for the Anglo-American powers against Sudan. The op-ed appeared on the day negotiations began between Khartoum and the rebels in Abuja, Nigeria.
How will the government be overthrown? Reeves asks, and answers, "One consequence of the Iraq war ... is that public discussion of regime change by the U.S. will resonate much more deeply in Khartoum's despotic thinking. If it is coupled with serious efforts to work with our European allies to squeeze Khartoum by means of comprehensive economic sanctions, ... we may first be able to secure a permissive environment for humanitarian intervention in Darfur" (emphasis added).
ICG Contempt for African Union's Sudan Talks
The Washington Post op-ed by Eric Reeves (see above) is in line with the agenda of the International Crisis Group (ICG), which showed contempt for the African Union's Sudan talks by dismissing them as they were just beginning on Aug. 23. The new ICG report, "Darfur Deadline: A New International Action Plan," says the international community has been "limp," and Khartoum has done nothing. The UN Security Council must, on Aug. 30, impose mandatory sanctions against individuals and key businesses of the ruling party, especially in the oil services sector; impose a mandatory, monitored arms embargo against the government (no mention of the insurrectionists); and authorize the African Union (AU) to deploy to Darfur at least 2,000 troops, "and preferably many more," to "provide civilian protection and use force as necessary." The AU must be prepared to ask the UN to impose a no-fly zone. The U.S., EU and others should provide the AU with funding, equipment, and transportation, and develop contingency plans "to provide appropriate military reinforcement to the AU-led mission if it encounters serious resistance."
The SLA and JEM insurrectionists are told to implement all provisions of the April 8 ceasefire agreement, but no sanctions or other leverage is contemplated against them.
Obasanjo: Sanctions Against Sudan a Disaster for Africa
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, current AU Chairman, warned Aug. 24 that sanctions would be "a great disaster for Sudan, the government, the people, and indeed for Africa."
The government of Sudan will accept AU troops as peacekeepers if their work will include disarming the insurrectionary forces, Reuters reported Aug. 28 from the negotiations underway in Abuja, Nigeria. The two rebel movements, however, reject the proposal, saying they will only disarm after a comprehensive political settlement. Earlier disarmament would severely limit their leverage. Yet the current agenda puts disarming ahead of a political settlement.
Rwanda, Burundi in Provocations Against Congo
Congo brought home all of its diplomats from Bujumbura, Burundi, Aug. 20without breaking diplomatic relationsafter Congolese Tutsi held violent protests outside Congo's embassy there, breaking windows and tearing up its flag. Tutsi-controlled Burundi is a satellite of Rwanda.
In another provocation, Capt. Desire Ntumba, army chief of information, and his assistant were assassinated in Goma, stronghold of the Rwanda-run Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD) party, Aug. 19.
RCD Prepares War, Makes Demands Government Cannot Accept
The Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD), led by Azarias Ruberwa, announced Aug. 23 that it was suspending its participation in the transitional government at the cabinet and parliamentary levels, pending the acceptance of demands that include the removal of Gen. Mbuza Mabe from the command of the 10th Military Region (Bukavu), and a reduction in the number of government troops in the East. La Reference Plus comments, "All of these conditions, obviously unacceptable to the rest of the government, could give Ruberwa & Co. the necessary pretext for slamming the door of the institutions of transition." Congolese President Joseph Kabila told the press Aug. 24 that "the transition will not be renegotiated."
Demain le Congo Aug. 23 draws attention to concurrent developments that portend something uglier than political haggling:
* A gathering of Banyamulenge (Congolese Tutsi) from around the country and the world is taking place in Goma.
* For days, a quiet manhunt has been taking place in North Kivu for people from South Kivu, who are accused of hostility to Banyamulenge. Cases of summary execution are reported from Bunangana near the Rwanda border.
* Almost 2,000 local soldiers in Goma (not Banyamulenge) have left for Bukavu to join the 10th Military Region, having feared their isolation in Goma. This leaves the army in North Kivu entirely in the hands of Banyamulenge and their allies in the Rwandan army.
* Fifteen military trucks, contents unknown, came from Rwanda Aug. 17, and were headed for Minova where Gen. Nkunda and his troops are encamped.
ICG: 'Act Quickly' To Prevent 'Large-Scale War' in Congo
Gareth Evans, head of the International Crisis Group (ICG), sent a letter Aug. 24 to the Foreign Ministers of the U.S., UK, France, Belgium, and South Africa, as well as to UN Security Council permanent members, calling on them to act rapidly to prevent a "large-scale war" in Congo. Evans is a former Australian Foreign Minister.
Evans emphasized that the current level of international support for the Kabila transitional government is insufficient. The number of UN troops, he said, is insufficient, and many of them are poorly trained, equipped, and motivated. He urges the Security Council to implement Kofi Annan's recommendations of Aug. 16, including an additional 13,100 troops. France supports the plan, but the U.S. is resisting it. "The new force should include 100 NATO-trained staff officers to supervise the proposed creation of a Division HQ in eastern Congo," he said. Evans also supported the inclusion of a fast reaction force and a special forces component. He reproached Congo's neighbors for continuing to destabilize the country.
WHO: Resurgence of Epidemics in All Congo Provinces
There is a resurgence of epidemics in all Congo provinces, including measles, cholera, and meningitis in most of them, as a result of "the declining socio-economic situation" and "the deterioration of the health system," Florent Ekwanzala told Radio Okapi in Kinshasa. He is in charge of WHO's disease control unit there. He also reported 80 cases of plague in Ituri province (northeast).
South Africa To Transfer Farmland to Blacks
In South Africa, a plan for transfer of farmland from whites to blacks with compensation, is being drafted, the Independent of Johannesburg reported July 30. The plan, announced by Agriculture Minister Thoko Didiza toward the end of July, requires 35% black ownership of mainly white-owned agriculture-based companies by 2008. The policy requires 10% ownership by farmworkers of all farm-level enterprises by 2008, and that 50% of farm expenditure go to black-owned companies by 2010 and 70% by 2014. Legislation will follow.
Tourist Game Parks Replace Agriculture in South Africa
The lack of protection is killing South African mechanized agriculture. That message can be read between the lines of a New York Times article Aug. 20 celebrating the replacement of large farms by profitable private game parks for tourists. A ton of imported U.S. corn can be bought for $125, but can cost $180 to grow.
The phenomenon is countrywide, and very pronounced in Zululand, where "there are at least 140 private preserves in KwaZulu/Natal, covering a thousand square miles of mostly converted farmland," according to the Times.
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