First in the roundup, there’s a lot of news coming out of Sudan and South Sudan now:
- President Omar al Bashir of Sudan and President Salva Kiir of South Sudan are set to meet tomorrow in Addis Ababa.
- Reuters: “Former civil war foes Sudan and South Sudan have told mediators that they are ready to end one of Africa’s longest conflicts this weekend, but behind the diplomacy their relationship is one of enduring mistrust and enmity. With an army of advisors and experts pressuring both sides, the leaders of the neighboring nations may feel compelled to reach a limited agreement in Addis Ababa to end hostilities, for now, after coming close to war in April.”
- The African Union is applying pressure on the two sides to reach an agreement, and the US, the UK, and Norway have issued a joint statement also calling for an agreement.
- Sudanese authorities denied protesters permission to stage another demonstration over an anti-Islamic film yesterday.
The Atlantic: “How Al Shabab Lost Control of Somalia”
The UN Security Council issued a press release yesterday on the situation in Mali.
The members of the Security Council take note of the Interim Malian Government’s request for assistance to ECOWAS. They further take note of the ongoing strategic planning efforts of ECOWAS and stress the need for ECOWAS to coordinate with the Interim Government of Mali, the African Union, other Sahel countries, bilateral partners and international organizations, including the European Union, with the support of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, in order to prepare detailed options regarding the objectives, means and modalities of the deployment of a regional force in Mali. They express their readiness to consider a feasible and actionable proposal from ECOWAS addressing such a request from the Interim Malian Government.
In Nigeria, state governors are taking the Federal Government to court over the country’s sovereign wealth fund. “The operation of the fund by the federal government violates a constitutional provision that all government revenue must be shared among that states and the center, the governors said in a joint statement.”
Reuters on Niger’s 2013 budget.
What else is happening?
Sahel Blog 
The state governors are taking Abuja to court because the SWF eats into their monthly allocations – hence less money to embezzle. Most Nigerians neither bother nor care about either the state governors or the Sovereign Wealth Fund.
The Atlantic article, “How Al Shabab Lost Control of Somalia” will be more realistic if it is written this way:
“How Al Shabab metamorphosed into effective Guerrilla in Somalia”
Events happening in the Somali capital during the last few days will be reciprocated throughout the ” liberated” south central areas, particularly in Mogadishu..
Dick Virden’s observation decades ago applies to Somalia. The time and location may vary, but the observation is right on the money.
‘ the key [ of countering insurgents], writes, Virdeen, ‘ will always be the strength of the local society and the ability of its national leaders to gain the respect of the governed.”
http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/item/2012/0712/fsl/virden_thai.html
Only when the new Somali leaders freely mingle with their population throughout the nation, honor their approved constitution to the letter, enlist realistic, disciplined, across clan lines security forces ( instead of the current rag-tag clan-based militias), devolve power away from suffocating centre…. The Shabab WILL win the war. They have TIME with them and willing youth to be motivated. On the other hand, we are afraid our politicians are still stuck in their old winner-take-all mentality. We need REAL grass-roots, round the clock reconciliation. The centre is already behaving as they WON the war. Big mistake. God Save Somalia.
Reblogged this on Human Rights & Politics.