Africa

The president is urging Kenyans to “come together” and conduct a “free and fair” election next month. 

President Obama on Monday renewed sanctions on Ivory Coast for a year despite the inauguration of the U.S.-backed President Alassane Ouattara following a months-long military crisis.

Ouattara, the incumbent, lost the disputed 2010 election to another former president, Laurent Gbagbo. Gbagbo was arrested in April 2011 in the wake of international condemnation and an intervention by French special forces.

“The situation in or in relation to Côte d'Ivoire … has resulted in the massacre of large numbers of civilians, widespread human rights abuses, significant political violence and unrest, and fatal attacks against international peacekeeping forces,” Obama wrote to Congress. “Since the inauguration of President Alassane Ouattara in May 2011, the Government of Côte d'Ivoire has made progress in advancing democratic freedoms and economic development. 

“While the Government of Côte d'Ivoire and its people continue to make progress towards peace and prosperity, the situation in or in relation to Côte d'Ivoire continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States. For these reasons, I have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency and related measures blocking the property of certain persons contributing to the conflict in Côte d'Ivoire.”

The sanctions were first put in place by President George W. Bush in 2006.

U.S. military cargo aircraft have been steadily ferrying French troops and supplies into western Africa in support of the ongoing counterterrorism operations against al Qaeda-affiliated terror groups in the region, a DOD spokesman said on Tuesday. 

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday that the unfolding hostage crisis at a natural-gas facility in Algeria remains "very fluid."

For the first time in more than two decades, the State Department is poised to officially recognize the central government in Somalia as the legitimate ruling power in the East African nation, according to recent news reports. 

“When confronting a shared threat, we should have our ally’s back,” Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) said.

The Obama administration should give France whatever aid it needs to combat Islamist militants in Mali, the top Republican on foreign affairs issues said Tuesday. 

“I expect the Obama administration to honor appropriate requests for intelligence and logistics support from France,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.) said in a statement. “When confronting a shared threat, we should have our ally’s back.”

Royce's comments come amid reports that France is beefing up its intervention to roll back Islamists who have taken over the northern part of the desert country and are threatening the rest of the country. The French intervention was requested by the country's president, who took over following a military coup last year that has been denounced by the Obama administration.

Your morning global affairs speed-read

France's government is asking for support from Arab states to help fund its intervention in Mali as the Obama administration weighs whether to provide midflight refueling planes and air transport. Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, during a visit to the United Arab Emirates, announced that donors would meet later this month, probably in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to discuss financing an offensive against the rebels in Mali, Reuters reported.

A rift has opened between the U.S. and Afghanistan over training for local police, The Washington Post reports.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton holds a U.S.-Liberia Partnership Dialogue signing ceremony with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf at noon, following a bilateral meeting. Earlier in the morning, Clinton meets with Colombia Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar.

Robert Blake, the assistant secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, travels to Turkmenistan today for talks on regional security issues, international investment and human rights. Blake then goes on Wednesday to Kyrgyzstan, home to an air base used by U.S. forces to ship supplies into Afghanistan.

Also, Assistant Secretary of State for Conflict and Stabilization Operations Rick Barton travels today to Honduras to discuss bilateral cooperation on citizen security and to encourage Honduran officials to continue their support for public security reform efforts.

Washington's increasingly aggressive counterterrorism campaign to crack down on al Qaeda-affiliated terror cells in Africa may have set the stage for the group's resurgence in northern Mali, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta admitted on Monday. 

The White House and Pentagon have a "responsibility" to provide support to French forces looking to push out al Qaeda-linked militants out of northern Mali and ensure the terror group does not gain a foothold in western Africa, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Monday.