Re: Africa
Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2023 2:02 pm
Italy’s Fascist Government Accuses the Wagner Group in Libya of Waging Hybrid War, Flooding Europe with African Migrants
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on MARCH 18, 2023
Martin Jay
The duplicitous role of western media in assisting NATO in its dark endeavours is nothing new. But Reuters may well have broken a world record in partisan journalism with its latest efforts to implicate Russia in the Libyan immigrants crisis.
Reuters is not the news legend it used to be. Gone are the days when it had armies of clever young people fact checking polemic statements made by world leaders to be even faintly accurate. Case in point the recent incendiary claim by Italy’s defence minister that the “rising number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean is part of ‘hybrid warfare’ waged by Russia using mercenaries as proxies on countries supporting Ukraine”.
“I think it is now safe to say that the exponential increase in the migratory phenomenon departing from African shores is also, to a not insignificant extent, part of a clear strategy of hybrid warfare that the Wagner division is implementing, using its considerable weight in some African countries,” Crosetto said in a statement, dutifully republished verbatim by the great news legend itself.
Reuters itself then appears to cover itself by doing a frenzied back-peddle by not even substantiating that Wagner even has a presence in Africa.
“Wagner is believed to be operating in several African countries, including Libya, Mali, and the Central African Republic. The group has been heavily involved in Russian efforts to capture the city of Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine” the global news outlet adds. “Believed”? Hilarious.
The article, copy-pasted by third rate European news outlets like Deutsche Welle, goes on to quote the Italian minister with his rant.
“Just as the EU, NATO and the West have realised that cyber attacks were part of the global confrontation that the war in Ukraine opened up, they should now understand that the southern European front is also becoming more dangerous every day,” Crosetto said.
Reuters claims that some 20,000 people have reached Italy so far this year, compared to 6,100 in the same period of 2022, Italian interior ministry figures show. In the past weekend alone 1,200 people reached Italian shores which is a “problem for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government, which was elected on a staunchly anti-immigration platform” it explains.
But what it fails to explain is whether there is any truth whatsoever in the allegation.
In basic terms, the allegations made by the Italian minister are a gross misrepresentation of facts, based on one simple minutia of the overall story. While it is true that the migrants themselves are coming from some of the African countries which are now protected by Russian mercenaries it fails to mention or explain that this is not subsequent to those countries becoming controlled by the Russian group.
If anyone, or any entity which Reuters might have chosen to interview were asked simply “has there been a significant increase in migrants coming to Libya since these countries were taken over by Wagner?” the simple response would be “no”. Or even “impossible to say, probably not” at best.
But Reuters didn’t want to ask this question as facts standing in the way of a good story seems to be its mantra.
The entirely unpalatable truth about the migrants is that they come from African countries which for decades have regimes which were propped up by the EU in exchange for these despots flying the EU flag and playing the “fake hegemony” game when EU officials jet in and check themselves into the capital’s Hilton for the annual visit. To suggest, as Reuters has done in its piece, that the surge in migrants is as a direct result of some of these countries biting the hand that feeds them and abandoning the EU as big brother, is both disingenuous and quite wrong. Put bluntly it’s fake news. For at least a decade, Libya has been one of the locations for African migrants to travel to, with a view to getting to Europe. And Italy was always the preferred choice. For years, the EU pumped money into the bank accounts of these despots — in the case of Central African Republic an incredible 2 billion dollars in 2016 to “help” its government recover after the effects of a civil war — and in doing so signalled to them that the EU was happy to turn a blind eye on human rights. The result is that all of these countries today are now ruled by the most backward, brutal regimes who carry out atrocities on their own people on a genocidal scale just to retain power — with the immediate knock-on effect being the brain drain of the middle classes who leave by whatever means is at their disposal.
What the Reuters article also fails to mention, along with this EU hand, is that all of these migrants are middle class and have paid many thousands of dollars just to get to Libya. It also fails to mention that the estimated 400-700,000 or so who are stuck in camps in Libya arrived long before the Wagner group were even heard of in Mali, Burkina Faso or Chad. The truth is simply that it is the EU which produced these migrant roots in the first place and a wholesale failure of the EU to resolve the problem with Libya, before, during or after the Gaddafi regime. Interesting how the Meloni government refuses to point the finger at the EU in any way, preferring to appeal to NATO to intervene. What is behind this is simple. Meloni is looking to improve relations with the EU and to extract more money from its coffers and doesn’t want to ruin that possibility so she chooses another multiconfessional international body to do the tough job. But NATO cannot intervene so easily. And what is more, this idea that a multinational (western) taskforce could use force to stop these boats leaving in the first place was floated in 2015 by yet another Italian lightweight called Federica Mogherini who was the EU’s top diplomat at the time. The lawyers in Brussels blew this idea out of the water as the litigation potential from families or even the Libyan government were too huge, not to mention that it would require the agreement of both governments in Libya.
But this is not the first time that the new controversial Italian far-right leader has peddled complete bullshit just to stir up domestic support or international media coverage. After days of being in office an impassioned video clip of her running down the French and their hold over West African countries through repressive monetary control – even Paris keeping 50% of all gold they mine – turned out to be a tad controversial. It was all lies. The entire clips’ claims were proved to be all untrue as France had long ago stopped insisting on keeping the gold and no longer even holds the West African countries with stringent controls over their own currency which the French created for them. Facts are important. And it seems that the Meloni government isn’t too fond of them or, typically, the fourth estate which are supposed to check them before serving them to a gullible public.
The simple truth about the Italian story is that Meloni wants the EU itself to solve the African migrant problem and it is using the call to NATO to intervene to stir some measured hostility in the Belgian capital just to show that it too can play the fake news game to its advantage. It is not shocking that Italy’s far-right government have resorted to the “blame all on Putin” tactics as western journalists prefer not to fact check anything which holds Russia to account for the failings of western elites.
It is not shocking that, even if we are to humour the Italians for one moment and go along with their baloney about Russia being behind the migrant surge on the Italian shores, that no Italian nor international journalists have not risen to the claim and made the link to Rome supporting Ukraine in the war with Russia.
What is shocking is that Reuters would help Meloni with this fake news.
https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/03/ ... -migrants/
The West’s Battle for African Hearts and Minds
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on MARCH 18, 2023
George Trenin
Protesters stand atop a Unitend Nation armored vehicle as they demonstrate carrying a Russian flag in Ouagadougou on October 2, 2022. © AFP
On Sunday, March 19, the 2nd International Parliamentary Conference “Russia – Africa” will start in Moscow. Over 40 official delegations from all over the continent will participate in the event, with discussions ranging from Russian-African cooperation to Western neocolonialism.
The forum is just one link in a long chain of recent contacts between officials in Moscow and their African counterparts that will culminate in the second Russia-Africa Summit, scheduled for July of this year in St. Petersburg. Moscow hopes that the event will elevate its relations with the countries involved to “a new level of cooperation”. Based on recent meetings between Russian diplomats and their African counterparts, it is clear that the new relations will be marked not only by economic, but also military partnership.
The US and its allies have expressed concern over the issue and, as the Russian Foreign Ministry warns, have attempted to disrupt the upcoming summit. But is this something the West can achieve, considering its slackening grip on the developing world?
A bet on the Global South
Moscow demonstrated its serious interest in the world’s fastest-growing region, Africa, at the end of the last decade. The first Russia–Africa Summit, held in Sochi in 2019, gathered representatives of all 54 African countries, with 43 states being represented at the highest level. Eight major integration associations and organizations also participated.
The event cost the Russian authorities 4.5 billion rubles ($69 million) and was one of the most expensive of its kind. However, the investments paid off a hundredfold – by the end of the summit, the sides signed contracts worth at least 800 billion rubles ($12 billion).
Following the military offensive in Ukraine and the rupture of relations between Russia and the West, contacts with the Global South have become even more valuable for Russia. This is evidenced by Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov’s recent activity.
In the first months of 2023, he has already toured Africa twice. At the end of January, he visited several sub-Saharan countries: South Africa, Eswatini (Swaziland), Angola, and Eritrea. In February, he traveled around North Africa to Mali, Mauritania, and Sudan. Lavrov’s previous large-scale tour of Africa was in July 2022 and included Egypt, Ethiopia, Uganda, and the Republic of the Congo.
Moreover, in the first months of 2023, his deputies held meetings with the ambassadors of African states in Moscow, while Russian ambassadors to African countries met with local authorities.
Military cooperation
In addition to discussions of the forthcoming Russia–Africa Summit, Lavrov’s recent encounters with African representatives focused on cooperation on food and energy security and military partnership.
In South Africa, the Minister discussed joint trilateral naval exercises with China, which took place in the Indian Ocean from February 17 to 27. For these exercises, a Russian Admiral Gorshkov-class frigate crossed the Atlantic.
In Angola, Lavrov recalled the successful launch of the Angosat-2 satellite by Roscosmos in October 2022. He assured the authorities of further high-tech cooperation, expressed happiness at the growing interest in the Russian language, and spoke about creating common currencies within the framework of institutions like BRICS.
In Eritrea, Lavrov stated that Moscow is ready to meet the country’s needs in the matter of “maintaining defense capabilities” and developing military-technical cooperation.
In Mali, the Russian Minister discussed the joint fight against terrorism in the Sahel-Saharan zone, the education of Malian students through the Russian Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the ongoing supply of weapons and military equipment.
In Mauritania, the parties discussed Russian tech transfers and cooperation in healthcare, including training Mauritanian students at Russian medical universities and the work of Russian doctors in the country.
With Sudanese leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, a preliminary agreement was made regarding the construction of a Russian naval base on the Red Sea coast in Port Sudan.
These events received broad coverage in Western media and apparently became a source of concern for the bloc’s politicians. Soon afterwards, the West embarked on its own series of contacts with African countries.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, and Eswatini’s Foreign Minister Thuli Dladla arrive for a meeting in Mbabane, Eswatini. © Sputnik / Russian Foreign Ministry
The West strikes back
In December 2022, at a press conference on the eve of a US-Africa Summit forum, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin claimed that the growing influence of Russia and China in Africa could destabilize the region. Backing loud statements with action, the United States promised to allocate $55 billion to African countries.
Indeed, at the beginning of 2023, the United States conducted joint military exercises with 32 African countries in the Atlantic Ocean. There were also reports of US plans for a military base in Morocco, which would be used to limit the influence of Russia and China in Africa.
In March, the United States openly called on African countries to limit partnership with Russia, tying this to the conflict in Ukraine. “Our goal, frankly, is to make very clear to these countries, from an economic standpoint, that your economic interests are aligned with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ending as soon as possible,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said. In March, Adeyemo is scheduled to pay an official visit to Ghana, Nigeria, and one other African country. In her turn, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen already traveled to Senegal, Zambia, and South Africa in January.
Washington’s contacts with Africa are not limited to officials from the Department of Treasury. In February, the First Lady Jill Biden herself paid a diplomatic visit to Namibia and Kenya. The series of US visits is scheduled to continue with the trip of Vice-President Kamala Harris who will visit Ghana, Tanzania, and Zambia from March 25 to April 2.
According to the Special Representative of the President of Russia for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, “the United States and its allies are waging an unprecedented campaign to politically and economically isolate Russia, and also disrupt the second Russia-Africa Summit in St. Petersburg this July.”
Incidentally, Bogdanov mentioned not just the US, but also its partners since another country has been very active (even if less successfully) in Africa lately – France.
US First Lady Jill Biden (R) meets with women from the Maasai community at Loseti village in Kajiado county, Kenya, on February 26, 2023. © Tony KARUMBA / AFP
In early March, French President Emmanuel Macron visited four Central African states during a week-long tour: Gabon, Angola, the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). During the trip, he stated that the “Françafrique” era, which supposed the informal guardianship of Paris over its former colonies, is now over and has given way to a new harmonious partnership.
According to Macron, this new partnership implies a “noticeable reduction” of French military personnel in Africa, the reorganization of military bases, and a new model of military cooperation. However, these statements look a lot more like the inevitable acceptance of reality than a gesture of free will.
In recent years, Paris has decided to withdraw troops from the Central African Republic (CAR), Mali, and Burkina Faso. The decision was preceded not only by mass anti-French demonstrations by the local population, but also by Russia’s growing ties with these states.
Paris backs off
The most striking example of French failure is the Central African Republic. France took home its troops only in December last year. For many years, Paris used various means, including military, to intervene in the country’s national politics by supporting or removing its presidents. When in 2012, civil war broke out between the government and insurgents, peacekeepers from France and other EU countries unsuccessfully tried to end the conflict. In 2018, CAR authorities turned to Russia for help and signed an agreement on military cooperation.
Moscow supplied the republic with ammunition, trained the local military, and gradually increased the number of military instructors in the country. Less than a year after Russia intervened, the authorities managed to negotiate a truce with several local groups. CAR authorities later expressed gratitude to Russia for its role in the peacemaking process.
The success of Russian weapons and diplomacy was converted into economic benefits. In 2020, Russian companies were given permission to mine gold and diamonds in the Central African Republic. Not long ago, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Central African Republic, Sylvie Baipo-Temon, openly stated that the “mistakes of France” cleared the path for Russia.
Ivorian environmental activist Andy Costa (L) speaks during a meeting of African youths with France’s President Emmanuel Macron (C) on the sideline of the COP27 climate summit. © Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP
Events in Mali played out in a similar manner. At the request of the local authorities, French troops had been fighting Muslim insurgents since 2013. But the situation only got worse over time. Finally, the leaders of the military junta requested Russian assistance in fighting the insurgents associated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. As a result, Russian military instructors trained the local army and helped fight the militants.
In general, France is losing its military and diplomatic presence in Africa. Mali expelled the French ambassador in early 2022, and by August, French troops were withdrawn to neighboring Niger.
In September 2022, a military coup occurred in Burkina Faso, and in January the new government demanded French troops leave the country.
Thousands of demonstrators gathered in the capital of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou, to support the new government just several days after Paris confirmed the withdrawal of its troops from the country. The protesters reportedly carried the flags of Burkina Faso and Russia.
The newspaper “Vzglyad” reports that the coup in Burkina Faso resulted in Niger’s first officially authorized protest in fifty years. The demonstrators shouted the slogans, “France – out!” and “Long live Putin and Russia!”
Tug of war
The French publication “Le Point” put a telling headline on its article summarizing the events in Africa: “France shown out the door, a red carpet spread before Russia.” The article notes that the situation was caused by public skepticism regarding the ability and willingness of the French troops to protect the people in Mali and Burkina Faso. According to French media sources, only 2,000 French military remained in Niger, 500 in Senegal, and another 900 on the Côte d’Ivoire.
During his speech in Benin immediately after Lavrov’s summer tour of Africa, Macron attempted to throw shade at Moscow by labeling it “one of the last imperial colonial powers.” The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, echoed him and voiced concerns about the demonstrations in Mali. “I saw on TV these young African people walking the streets of Bamako with posters saying ‘Putin, thank you! You saved Donbass and now you will save us!’. It’s shocking,” he said.
A supporter of Malian Interim President holds up a sign with the images of President of Russia Vladimir Putin kicking President of France Emmanuel Macron during a pro-Junta and pro-Russia rally in Bamako on May 13, 2022. © OUSMANE MAKAVELI / AFP
Former US Special Envoy J. Peter Pham told the FT that the collective West has lost its influence in certain African countries due to its unwillingness to cooperate in the military-technical field. In particular, he noted that the US State Department vetoed the sale of an Airbus transport aircraft equipped with an American-made transponder to Mali. The Malian Ministry of Foreign Affairs thus agreed to receive both equipment and military aid from Moscow.
According to The Times, the US and the former powers Britain and France have been losing their grip on Africa, while Moscow and Beijing are expanding their presence in the region.
“Russia’s growing influence highlights the evolving relationships on the world’s fastest-growing continent [Africa],” the newspaper reports. The authors claim that Moscow can count on Africa, which “has long been the playground of the great world powers,” to support it at the global level and particularly at the UN.
The Times added that the goal of the US–Africa Summit was to “lure African leaders” into joining the Western side. But the renewed fight for Africa “may already be lost considering the expanding presence of Russia and China in the region.”
Lowered expectations
Incidentally, compared to the West, Russia is a lot more restrained in assessing its prospects in Africa. A number of experts believe that Moscow’s increasing military presence there is not a solid enough foundation for successful Russian-African relations.
Anthropologist and host of the Telegram channel “African Behemoth” Artyom Rykov notes that in order to secure its influence and gain new allies on the continent, Russia needs more than just a military presence. It needs to establish large-scale joint cultural and economic projects with African countries, which, as of now, do not exist.
“It’s about informal ties. For example, understanding where local elites spend their free time and where they educate their children. It’s also about trade – finding a market for our goods in an African country. It’s also important to understand what kind of goods we’re talking about,” Rykov said.
Dirt road traffic scene with a lot of motorcycles in outskirts of Nigeria’s capital city. © Getty Images / peeterv
Grigory Lukyanov, a researcher at the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) is also confident about establishing cooperation between Russia and Africa in various fields in order to build partnerships. He believes that bilateral relations are currently in need of specific economic projects and a more systematic approach.
According to Lukyanov, Africa’s current sympathy for Russia is mainly rooted in anti-Western sentiments.
“The anti-French, anti-British, anti-colonial agenda is once again dominant in Africa. It has gained supporters who are ready, able, and willing to loudly discuss it and receive major political benefits from it. But does this really mean that the region has become more pro-Russian?” Lukyanov wonders.
The researcher believes that pro-Russian views based on anti-American, anti-European, anti-French, and anti-British sentiments cannot be considered a stable model.
“The absence of a constructive agenda will soon become apparent. If France or the United States leave a particular country, the pro-Russian views will lose their foundation. If you can’t hate someone together, why should you be friends? Why should you love or at least tolerate and understand each other?” he says.
Artyom Rykov believes that Western media and politicians are aware of this and discuss the threat posed by Russia in a preventive sort of manner. In reality, he notes, we cannot say that Russia has come to “replace” the West in Africa.
Representatives of the African elite aren’t quick to express such views either. In an interview with RT France, in response to the question “Does Burkina Faso want Russia to replace France?” the Prime Minister said, “Our goal is to have more opportunities. It’s not to have someone replace somebody else.”
It’s also worth noting that most African countries refrain from publicly taking sides in the conflict between Russia and the West. This is the true reason (and not Africa’s alleged sympathy toward Russia) why the region does not support anti-Russian sanctions, as noted by the Washington Post back in December.
However, Lukyanov says, “Russia does not need to win the favor of African countries. Russia needs partnerships with African countries.” He believes that Russia and Africa need mutually beneficial relations – not in order to extract resources or win votes in the UN, but to establish partnerships within a new and just world order – one that would replace the current crisis. Lukyanov is confident that the course of events in Russia, Africa, and the world – both in the coming decade and in the 21st century in general – will depend on effectively achieving this task.
According to many experts, we currently stand at the beginning of a long journey and may only anticipate the results of Russia’s activities in Africa. As Lukyanov emphasizes, a lot of work is still necessary – especially in the quad aspects of “church, society, state, and business” – before we are able to discuss major results in the long term.
https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/03/ ... and-minds/
******
Brutal military raid in Accra suburb spurs calls for accountability in Ghana
One person is reported to have died days after Ghanaian soldiers invaded Taifa, brutalizing residents and arresting 184 people. The military claimed that the raid was an “intelligence-led operation” in response to the alleged killing of a soldier in the area
March 18, 2023 by Peoples Dispatch
Armored military vehicles in Ashaiman during a brutal military operation on March 7. (Photo: via social media)
Calls for an independent investigation, accountability, and compensation have grown in Ghana following a violent military operation in Ashaiman-Taifa, an urban slum settlement located in the suburbs of the Greater Accra Region.
On March 7, the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), reportedly from the Burma and Michel military camps, stormed the area in armored vehicles, with helicopters flying overhead. In the ensuing raid, soldiers brutalized residents of Taifa, broke into homes, and detained 184 people.
On Thursday, March 16, Ghanaian media confirmed that one of the victims of the operation, a man identified as Alhaji Mohammed Musah, had died. Musah had allegedly collapsed after soldiers chased him into his house to beat him.
In a statement on March 8, GAF claimed that it had “conducted a swoop in Ashaiman and its environs in a manhunt for some criminals, who are suspected to have stabbed and killed a young soldier (identified as Trooper Imoro Sheriff who had himself grown up in Ashaiman) in the early hours of Saturday, March 4.”
It also confirmed that the operation had been sanctioned by higher-ups: “GAF wishes to state categorically that the military operation, which was sanctioned by the Military High Command, was NOT to avenge the killing of the soldier but rather to fish out the perpetrators of the heinous crime.”
“We knew instantly that this is not something that could have been done by rogue elements in the military,” Adib Saani, a security expert, said during a discussion hosted by Pan African Television on March 15. “The galvanization of military hardware made it almost look like we are at war, as if it was a major counterterrorism operation.”
While GAF claimed that the “swoop was not targeted at innocent civilians but was an intelligence-led operation conducted on suspected hideouts of criminals and crime-prone areas,” disturbing visuals from the raid circulated on social media show Taifa residents being forced to lie in the mud.
There are also reports of people being tortured and flogged, made to eat cow dung, and given bottles filled with water from the gutters to drink. GAF’s refusal to apologize for this violence, while acknowledging that there may have been “excesses,” has been widely condemned.
On March 12, the Ghana Police Service announced that it had arrested six people suspected to be involved in the killing of Sheriff after a week of a “sustained intelligence-led operation.” None of them, Saani pointed out, had been previously apprehended by the military, which meant that the 184 people detained were innocent.
The incident has raised questions about the military’s deployment and jurisdiction in matters of “internal security,” and why an “intelligence-led operation” saw this level of mass violence in the first place.
The classification of certain areas, especially areas housing urban poor communities, as “crime-prone” also raises concerns—and this is not specific to Ghana—given that such language is often used to justify state violence, including heavily militarized forms of policing, or, in the case of Ashaiman, direct military action.
“The use of military force against civilians is a clear violation of Ghana’s Constitution, which protects the right to life, freedom from torture, and the right to a fair trial. Military personnel are bound by these laws and must be held accountable for any violations they commit,” the Accra Collective of the Socialist Movement of Ghana (SMG) said in a statement.
Speaking to the government’s refusal to condemn the violence, SMG General Secretary Kwesi Pratt Junior added, “I heard a minister complaining that in the past we used to fear the soldiers and policemen and now we do not fear them anymore. And that this exercise should teach us important lessons so that we shall begin to fear the military uniforms.”
“I thought that was the most unfortunate statement, which betrays the colonial mentality of our leaders. It was during the colonial era that colonizers decided that if [they] are recruiting policemen, to not recruit them from the areas where they will be doing the policing because they will have family there and so they would not be able to be brutal enough. So they brought in policemen from Nigeria, who they thought had no relatives, here so they could brutalize us,” he said.
“If this is the mentality of those who govern us today, then we are in deep trouble. Why should we fear soldiers and policemen if they are there truly to protect us?”
Organizations including the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), have also condemned the operation: “Because of their (the military’s) personal interest they come [to Ashaiman], take over the law and do what they want… It is degrading and dehumanizing treatment to put such persons, who are going to their work, [to] arrest them, make them do press ups in mud, sitting down with all their clothing removed apart from some briefs… this is exacted by the army of Ghana? It’s completely unacceptable.”
Others have accused Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, of “tacit endorsement” of the military’s actions, given the government’s refusal to speak out against the incident, or to “condemn and sanction the military officers implicated in this barbaric episode.”
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/03/18/ ... -in-ghana/
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on MARCH 18, 2023
Martin Jay
The duplicitous role of western media in assisting NATO in its dark endeavours is nothing new. But Reuters may well have broken a world record in partisan journalism with its latest efforts to implicate Russia in the Libyan immigrants crisis.
Reuters is not the news legend it used to be. Gone are the days when it had armies of clever young people fact checking polemic statements made by world leaders to be even faintly accurate. Case in point the recent incendiary claim by Italy’s defence minister that the “rising number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean is part of ‘hybrid warfare’ waged by Russia using mercenaries as proxies on countries supporting Ukraine”.
“I think it is now safe to say that the exponential increase in the migratory phenomenon departing from African shores is also, to a not insignificant extent, part of a clear strategy of hybrid warfare that the Wagner division is implementing, using its considerable weight in some African countries,” Crosetto said in a statement, dutifully republished verbatim by the great news legend itself.
Reuters itself then appears to cover itself by doing a frenzied back-peddle by not even substantiating that Wagner even has a presence in Africa.
“Wagner is believed to be operating in several African countries, including Libya, Mali, and the Central African Republic. The group has been heavily involved in Russian efforts to capture the city of Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine” the global news outlet adds. “Believed”? Hilarious.
The article, copy-pasted by third rate European news outlets like Deutsche Welle, goes on to quote the Italian minister with his rant.
“Just as the EU, NATO and the West have realised that cyber attacks were part of the global confrontation that the war in Ukraine opened up, they should now understand that the southern European front is also becoming more dangerous every day,” Crosetto said.
Reuters claims that some 20,000 people have reached Italy so far this year, compared to 6,100 in the same period of 2022, Italian interior ministry figures show. In the past weekend alone 1,200 people reached Italian shores which is a “problem for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government, which was elected on a staunchly anti-immigration platform” it explains.
But what it fails to explain is whether there is any truth whatsoever in the allegation.
In basic terms, the allegations made by the Italian minister are a gross misrepresentation of facts, based on one simple minutia of the overall story. While it is true that the migrants themselves are coming from some of the African countries which are now protected by Russian mercenaries it fails to mention or explain that this is not subsequent to those countries becoming controlled by the Russian group.
If anyone, or any entity which Reuters might have chosen to interview were asked simply “has there been a significant increase in migrants coming to Libya since these countries were taken over by Wagner?” the simple response would be “no”. Or even “impossible to say, probably not” at best.
But Reuters didn’t want to ask this question as facts standing in the way of a good story seems to be its mantra.
The entirely unpalatable truth about the migrants is that they come from African countries which for decades have regimes which were propped up by the EU in exchange for these despots flying the EU flag and playing the “fake hegemony” game when EU officials jet in and check themselves into the capital’s Hilton for the annual visit. To suggest, as Reuters has done in its piece, that the surge in migrants is as a direct result of some of these countries biting the hand that feeds them and abandoning the EU as big brother, is both disingenuous and quite wrong. Put bluntly it’s fake news. For at least a decade, Libya has been one of the locations for African migrants to travel to, with a view to getting to Europe. And Italy was always the preferred choice. For years, the EU pumped money into the bank accounts of these despots — in the case of Central African Republic an incredible 2 billion dollars in 2016 to “help” its government recover after the effects of a civil war — and in doing so signalled to them that the EU was happy to turn a blind eye on human rights. The result is that all of these countries today are now ruled by the most backward, brutal regimes who carry out atrocities on their own people on a genocidal scale just to retain power — with the immediate knock-on effect being the brain drain of the middle classes who leave by whatever means is at their disposal.
What the Reuters article also fails to mention, along with this EU hand, is that all of these migrants are middle class and have paid many thousands of dollars just to get to Libya. It also fails to mention that the estimated 400-700,000 or so who are stuck in camps in Libya arrived long before the Wagner group were even heard of in Mali, Burkina Faso or Chad. The truth is simply that it is the EU which produced these migrant roots in the first place and a wholesale failure of the EU to resolve the problem with Libya, before, during or after the Gaddafi regime. Interesting how the Meloni government refuses to point the finger at the EU in any way, preferring to appeal to NATO to intervene. What is behind this is simple. Meloni is looking to improve relations with the EU and to extract more money from its coffers and doesn’t want to ruin that possibility so she chooses another multiconfessional international body to do the tough job. But NATO cannot intervene so easily. And what is more, this idea that a multinational (western) taskforce could use force to stop these boats leaving in the first place was floated in 2015 by yet another Italian lightweight called Federica Mogherini who was the EU’s top diplomat at the time. The lawyers in Brussels blew this idea out of the water as the litigation potential from families or even the Libyan government were too huge, not to mention that it would require the agreement of both governments in Libya.
But this is not the first time that the new controversial Italian far-right leader has peddled complete bullshit just to stir up domestic support or international media coverage. After days of being in office an impassioned video clip of her running down the French and their hold over West African countries through repressive monetary control – even Paris keeping 50% of all gold they mine – turned out to be a tad controversial. It was all lies. The entire clips’ claims were proved to be all untrue as France had long ago stopped insisting on keeping the gold and no longer even holds the West African countries with stringent controls over their own currency which the French created for them. Facts are important. And it seems that the Meloni government isn’t too fond of them or, typically, the fourth estate which are supposed to check them before serving them to a gullible public.
The simple truth about the Italian story is that Meloni wants the EU itself to solve the African migrant problem and it is using the call to NATO to intervene to stir some measured hostility in the Belgian capital just to show that it too can play the fake news game to its advantage. It is not shocking that Italy’s far-right government have resorted to the “blame all on Putin” tactics as western journalists prefer not to fact check anything which holds Russia to account for the failings of western elites.
It is not shocking that, even if we are to humour the Italians for one moment and go along with their baloney about Russia being behind the migrant surge on the Italian shores, that no Italian nor international journalists have not risen to the claim and made the link to Rome supporting Ukraine in the war with Russia.
What is shocking is that Reuters would help Meloni with this fake news.
https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/03/ ... -migrants/
The West’s Battle for African Hearts and Minds
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on MARCH 18, 2023
George Trenin
Protesters stand atop a Unitend Nation armored vehicle as they demonstrate carrying a Russian flag in Ouagadougou on October 2, 2022. © AFP
On Sunday, March 19, the 2nd International Parliamentary Conference “Russia – Africa” will start in Moscow. Over 40 official delegations from all over the continent will participate in the event, with discussions ranging from Russian-African cooperation to Western neocolonialism.
The forum is just one link in a long chain of recent contacts between officials in Moscow and their African counterparts that will culminate in the second Russia-Africa Summit, scheduled for July of this year in St. Petersburg. Moscow hopes that the event will elevate its relations with the countries involved to “a new level of cooperation”. Based on recent meetings between Russian diplomats and their African counterparts, it is clear that the new relations will be marked not only by economic, but also military partnership.
The US and its allies have expressed concern over the issue and, as the Russian Foreign Ministry warns, have attempted to disrupt the upcoming summit. But is this something the West can achieve, considering its slackening grip on the developing world?
A bet on the Global South
Moscow demonstrated its serious interest in the world’s fastest-growing region, Africa, at the end of the last decade. The first Russia–Africa Summit, held in Sochi in 2019, gathered representatives of all 54 African countries, with 43 states being represented at the highest level. Eight major integration associations and organizations also participated.
The event cost the Russian authorities 4.5 billion rubles ($69 million) and was one of the most expensive of its kind. However, the investments paid off a hundredfold – by the end of the summit, the sides signed contracts worth at least 800 billion rubles ($12 billion).
Following the military offensive in Ukraine and the rupture of relations between Russia and the West, contacts with the Global South have become even more valuable for Russia. This is evidenced by Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov’s recent activity.
In the first months of 2023, he has already toured Africa twice. At the end of January, he visited several sub-Saharan countries: South Africa, Eswatini (Swaziland), Angola, and Eritrea. In February, he traveled around North Africa to Mali, Mauritania, and Sudan. Lavrov’s previous large-scale tour of Africa was in July 2022 and included Egypt, Ethiopia, Uganda, and the Republic of the Congo.
Moreover, in the first months of 2023, his deputies held meetings with the ambassadors of African states in Moscow, while Russian ambassadors to African countries met with local authorities.
Military cooperation
In addition to discussions of the forthcoming Russia–Africa Summit, Lavrov’s recent encounters with African representatives focused on cooperation on food and energy security and military partnership.
In South Africa, the Minister discussed joint trilateral naval exercises with China, which took place in the Indian Ocean from February 17 to 27. For these exercises, a Russian Admiral Gorshkov-class frigate crossed the Atlantic.
In Angola, Lavrov recalled the successful launch of the Angosat-2 satellite by Roscosmos in October 2022. He assured the authorities of further high-tech cooperation, expressed happiness at the growing interest in the Russian language, and spoke about creating common currencies within the framework of institutions like BRICS.
In Eritrea, Lavrov stated that Moscow is ready to meet the country’s needs in the matter of “maintaining defense capabilities” and developing military-technical cooperation.
In Mali, the Russian Minister discussed the joint fight against terrorism in the Sahel-Saharan zone, the education of Malian students through the Russian Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the ongoing supply of weapons and military equipment.
In Mauritania, the parties discussed Russian tech transfers and cooperation in healthcare, including training Mauritanian students at Russian medical universities and the work of Russian doctors in the country.
With Sudanese leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, a preliminary agreement was made regarding the construction of a Russian naval base on the Red Sea coast in Port Sudan.
These events received broad coverage in Western media and apparently became a source of concern for the bloc’s politicians. Soon afterwards, the West embarked on its own series of contacts with African countries.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, and Eswatini’s Foreign Minister Thuli Dladla arrive for a meeting in Mbabane, Eswatini. © Sputnik / Russian Foreign Ministry
The West strikes back
In December 2022, at a press conference on the eve of a US-Africa Summit forum, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin claimed that the growing influence of Russia and China in Africa could destabilize the region. Backing loud statements with action, the United States promised to allocate $55 billion to African countries.
Indeed, at the beginning of 2023, the United States conducted joint military exercises with 32 African countries in the Atlantic Ocean. There were also reports of US plans for a military base in Morocco, which would be used to limit the influence of Russia and China in Africa.
In March, the United States openly called on African countries to limit partnership with Russia, tying this to the conflict in Ukraine. “Our goal, frankly, is to make very clear to these countries, from an economic standpoint, that your economic interests are aligned with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ending as soon as possible,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said. In March, Adeyemo is scheduled to pay an official visit to Ghana, Nigeria, and one other African country. In her turn, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen already traveled to Senegal, Zambia, and South Africa in January.
Washington’s contacts with Africa are not limited to officials from the Department of Treasury. In February, the First Lady Jill Biden herself paid a diplomatic visit to Namibia and Kenya. The series of US visits is scheduled to continue with the trip of Vice-President Kamala Harris who will visit Ghana, Tanzania, and Zambia from March 25 to April 2.
According to the Special Representative of the President of Russia for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, “the United States and its allies are waging an unprecedented campaign to politically and economically isolate Russia, and also disrupt the second Russia-Africa Summit in St. Petersburg this July.”
Incidentally, Bogdanov mentioned not just the US, but also its partners since another country has been very active (even if less successfully) in Africa lately – France.
US First Lady Jill Biden (R) meets with women from the Maasai community at Loseti village in Kajiado county, Kenya, on February 26, 2023. © Tony KARUMBA / AFP
In early March, French President Emmanuel Macron visited four Central African states during a week-long tour: Gabon, Angola, the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). During the trip, he stated that the “Françafrique” era, which supposed the informal guardianship of Paris over its former colonies, is now over and has given way to a new harmonious partnership.
According to Macron, this new partnership implies a “noticeable reduction” of French military personnel in Africa, the reorganization of military bases, and a new model of military cooperation. However, these statements look a lot more like the inevitable acceptance of reality than a gesture of free will.
In recent years, Paris has decided to withdraw troops from the Central African Republic (CAR), Mali, and Burkina Faso. The decision was preceded not only by mass anti-French demonstrations by the local population, but also by Russia’s growing ties with these states.
Paris backs off
The most striking example of French failure is the Central African Republic. France took home its troops only in December last year. For many years, Paris used various means, including military, to intervene in the country’s national politics by supporting or removing its presidents. When in 2012, civil war broke out between the government and insurgents, peacekeepers from France and other EU countries unsuccessfully tried to end the conflict. In 2018, CAR authorities turned to Russia for help and signed an agreement on military cooperation.
Moscow supplied the republic with ammunition, trained the local military, and gradually increased the number of military instructors in the country. Less than a year after Russia intervened, the authorities managed to negotiate a truce with several local groups. CAR authorities later expressed gratitude to Russia for its role in the peacemaking process.
The success of Russian weapons and diplomacy was converted into economic benefits. In 2020, Russian companies were given permission to mine gold and diamonds in the Central African Republic. Not long ago, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Central African Republic, Sylvie Baipo-Temon, openly stated that the “mistakes of France” cleared the path for Russia.
Ivorian environmental activist Andy Costa (L) speaks during a meeting of African youths with France’s President Emmanuel Macron (C) on the sideline of the COP27 climate summit. © Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP
Events in Mali played out in a similar manner. At the request of the local authorities, French troops had been fighting Muslim insurgents since 2013. But the situation only got worse over time. Finally, the leaders of the military junta requested Russian assistance in fighting the insurgents associated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. As a result, Russian military instructors trained the local army and helped fight the militants.
In general, France is losing its military and diplomatic presence in Africa. Mali expelled the French ambassador in early 2022, and by August, French troops were withdrawn to neighboring Niger.
In September 2022, a military coup occurred in Burkina Faso, and in January the new government demanded French troops leave the country.
Thousands of demonstrators gathered in the capital of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou, to support the new government just several days after Paris confirmed the withdrawal of its troops from the country. The protesters reportedly carried the flags of Burkina Faso and Russia.
The newspaper “Vzglyad” reports that the coup in Burkina Faso resulted in Niger’s first officially authorized protest in fifty years. The demonstrators shouted the slogans, “France – out!” and “Long live Putin and Russia!”
Tug of war
The French publication “Le Point” put a telling headline on its article summarizing the events in Africa: “France shown out the door, a red carpet spread before Russia.” The article notes that the situation was caused by public skepticism regarding the ability and willingness of the French troops to protect the people in Mali and Burkina Faso. According to French media sources, only 2,000 French military remained in Niger, 500 in Senegal, and another 900 on the Côte d’Ivoire.
During his speech in Benin immediately after Lavrov’s summer tour of Africa, Macron attempted to throw shade at Moscow by labeling it “one of the last imperial colonial powers.” The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, echoed him and voiced concerns about the demonstrations in Mali. “I saw on TV these young African people walking the streets of Bamako with posters saying ‘Putin, thank you! You saved Donbass and now you will save us!’. It’s shocking,” he said.
A supporter of Malian Interim President holds up a sign with the images of President of Russia Vladimir Putin kicking President of France Emmanuel Macron during a pro-Junta and pro-Russia rally in Bamako on May 13, 2022. © OUSMANE MAKAVELI / AFP
Former US Special Envoy J. Peter Pham told the FT that the collective West has lost its influence in certain African countries due to its unwillingness to cooperate in the military-technical field. In particular, he noted that the US State Department vetoed the sale of an Airbus transport aircraft equipped with an American-made transponder to Mali. The Malian Ministry of Foreign Affairs thus agreed to receive both equipment and military aid from Moscow.
According to The Times, the US and the former powers Britain and France have been losing their grip on Africa, while Moscow and Beijing are expanding their presence in the region.
“Russia’s growing influence highlights the evolving relationships on the world’s fastest-growing continent [Africa],” the newspaper reports. The authors claim that Moscow can count on Africa, which “has long been the playground of the great world powers,” to support it at the global level and particularly at the UN.
The Times added that the goal of the US–Africa Summit was to “lure African leaders” into joining the Western side. But the renewed fight for Africa “may already be lost considering the expanding presence of Russia and China in the region.”
Lowered expectations
Incidentally, compared to the West, Russia is a lot more restrained in assessing its prospects in Africa. A number of experts believe that Moscow’s increasing military presence there is not a solid enough foundation for successful Russian-African relations.
Anthropologist and host of the Telegram channel “African Behemoth” Artyom Rykov notes that in order to secure its influence and gain new allies on the continent, Russia needs more than just a military presence. It needs to establish large-scale joint cultural and economic projects with African countries, which, as of now, do not exist.
“It’s about informal ties. For example, understanding where local elites spend their free time and where they educate their children. It’s also about trade – finding a market for our goods in an African country. It’s also important to understand what kind of goods we’re talking about,” Rykov said.
Dirt road traffic scene with a lot of motorcycles in outskirts of Nigeria’s capital city. © Getty Images / peeterv
Grigory Lukyanov, a researcher at the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) is also confident about establishing cooperation between Russia and Africa in various fields in order to build partnerships. He believes that bilateral relations are currently in need of specific economic projects and a more systematic approach.
According to Lukyanov, Africa’s current sympathy for Russia is mainly rooted in anti-Western sentiments.
“The anti-French, anti-British, anti-colonial agenda is once again dominant in Africa. It has gained supporters who are ready, able, and willing to loudly discuss it and receive major political benefits from it. But does this really mean that the region has become more pro-Russian?” Lukyanov wonders.
The researcher believes that pro-Russian views based on anti-American, anti-European, anti-French, and anti-British sentiments cannot be considered a stable model.
“The absence of a constructive agenda will soon become apparent. If France or the United States leave a particular country, the pro-Russian views will lose their foundation. If you can’t hate someone together, why should you be friends? Why should you love or at least tolerate and understand each other?” he says.
Artyom Rykov believes that Western media and politicians are aware of this and discuss the threat posed by Russia in a preventive sort of manner. In reality, he notes, we cannot say that Russia has come to “replace” the West in Africa.
Representatives of the African elite aren’t quick to express such views either. In an interview with RT France, in response to the question “Does Burkina Faso want Russia to replace France?” the Prime Minister said, “Our goal is to have more opportunities. It’s not to have someone replace somebody else.”
It’s also worth noting that most African countries refrain from publicly taking sides in the conflict between Russia and the West. This is the true reason (and not Africa’s alleged sympathy toward Russia) why the region does not support anti-Russian sanctions, as noted by the Washington Post back in December.
However, Lukyanov says, “Russia does not need to win the favor of African countries. Russia needs partnerships with African countries.” He believes that Russia and Africa need mutually beneficial relations – not in order to extract resources or win votes in the UN, but to establish partnerships within a new and just world order – one that would replace the current crisis. Lukyanov is confident that the course of events in Russia, Africa, and the world – both in the coming decade and in the 21st century in general – will depend on effectively achieving this task.
According to many experts, we currently stand at the beginning of a long journey and may only anticipate the results of Russia’s activities in Africa. As Lukyanov emphasizes, a lot of work is still necessary – especially in the quad aspects of “church, society, state, and business” – before we are able to discuss major results in the long term.
https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/03/ ... and-minds/
******
Brutal military raid in Accra suburb spurs calls for accountability in Ghana
One person is reported to have died days after Ghanaian soldiers invaded Taifa, brutalizing residents and arresting 184 people. The military claimed that the raid was an “intelligence-led operation” in response to the alleged killing of a soldier in the area
March 18, 2023 by Peoples Dispatch
Armored military vehicles in Ashaiman during a brutal military operation on March 7. (Photo: via social media)
Calls for an independent investigation, accountability, and compensation have grown in Ghana following a violent military operation in Ashaiman-Taifa, an urban slum settlement located in the suburbs of the Greater Accra Region.
On March 7, the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), reportedly from the Burma and Michel military camps, stormed the area in armored vehicles, with helicopters flying overhead. In the ensuing raid, soldiers brutalized residents of Taifa, broke into homes, and detained 184 people.
On Thursday, March 16, Ghanaian media confirmed that one of the victims of the operation, a man identified as Alhaji Mohammed Musah, had died. Musah had allegedly collapsed after soldiers chased him into his house to beat him.
In a statement on March 8, GAF claimed that it had “conducted a swoop in Ashaiman and its environs in a manhunt for some criminals, who are suspected to have stabbed and killed a young soldier (identified as Trooper Imoro Sheriff who had himself grown up in Ashaiman) in the early hours of Saturday, March 4.”
It also confirmed that the operation had been sanctioned by higher-ups: “GAF wishes to state categorically that the military operation, which was sanctioned by the Military High Command, was NOT to avenge the killing of the soldier but rather to fish out the perpetrators of the heinous crime.”
“We knew instantly that this is not something that could have been done by rogue elements in the military,” Adib Saani, a security expert, said during a discussion hosted by Pan African Television on March 15. “The galvanization of military hardware made it almost look like we are at war, as if it was a major counterterrorism operation.”
While GAF claimed that the “swoop was not targeted at innocent civilians but was an intelligence-led operation conducted on suspected hideouts of criminals and crime-prone areas,” disturbing visuals from the raid circulated on social media show Taifa residents being forced to lie in the mud.
There are also reports of people being tortured and flogged, made to eat cow dung, and given bottles filled with water from the gutters to drink. GAF’s refusal to apologize for this violence, while acknowledging that there may have been “excesses,” has been widely condemned.
On March 12, the Ghana Police Service announced that it had arrested six people suspected to be involved in the killing of Sheriff after a week of a “sustained intelligence-led operation.” None of them, Saani pointed out, had been previously apprehended by the military, which meant that the 184 people detained were innocent.
The incident has raised questions about the military’s deployment and jurisdiction in matters of “internal security,” and why an “intelligence-led operation” saw this level of mass violence in the first place.
The classification of certain areas, especially areas housing urban poor communities, as “crime-prone” also raises concerns—and this is not specific to Ghana—given that such language is often used to justify state violence, including heavily militarized forms of policing, or, in the case of Ashaiman, direct military action.
“The use of military force against civilians is a clear violation of Ghana’s Constitution, which protects the right to life, freedom from torture, and the right to a fair trial. Military personnel are bound by these laws and must be held accountable for any violations they commit,” the Accra Collective of the Socialist Movement of Ghana (SMG) said in a statement.
Speaking to the government’s refusal to condemn the violence, SMG General Secretary Kwesi Pratt Junior added, “I heard a minister complaining that in the past we used to fear the soldiers and policemen and now we do not fear them anymore. And that this exercise should teach us important lessons so that we shall begin to fear the military uniforms.”
“I thought that was the most unfortunate statement, which betrays the colonial mentality of our leaders. It was during the colonial era that colonizers decided that if [they] are recruiting policemen, to not recruit them from the areas where they will be doing the policing because they will have family there and so they would not be able to be brutal enough. So they brought in policemen from Nigeria, who they thought had no relatives, here so they could brutalize us,” he said.
“If this is the mentality of those who govern us today, then we are in deep trouble. Why should we fear soldiers and policemen if they are there truly to protect us?”
Organizations including the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), have also condemned the operation: “Because of their (the military’s) personal interest they come [to Ashaiman], take over the law and do what they want… It is degrading and dehumanizing treatment to put such persons, who are going to their work, [to] arrest them, make them do press ups in mud, sitting down with all their clothing removed apart from some briefs… this is exacted by the army of Ghana? It’s completely unacceptable.”
Others have accused Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, of “tacit endorsement” of the military’s actions, given the government’s refusal to speak out against the incident, or to “condemn and sanction the military officers implicated in this barbaric episode.”
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/03/18/ ... -in-ghana/