Africa

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.

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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. 

The State Department on Monday renewed its travel warning for Kenya as the government cracks down on Somali refugees in the wake of violence linked to Kenya's intervention in neighboring Somalia.

Kenyan troops crossed into Somalia in 2011 to route the al-Shabaab Islamic militia and last year formally joined the African Union Mission in Somalia. The moves have sparked a campaign of retaliation inside Kenya, with some 30 attacks over the past year killing at least 76 people – most notably when a bomb killed 10 people on a Nairobi bus. 

“The Kenyan government is currently conducting sweeps at checkpoints and in predominantly Somali-inhabited areas of Kenya searching for proof of status in Kenya and sending those who are refugees to camps,” the travel warning states. 

Your morning global affairs speed-read

The Obama administration has agreed to help France's intervention in Mali by providing “logistics help, satellite intelligence and in-flight refueling for French warplanes” that are rolling back the Islamist militants who have taken over the northern part of the country, according to French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. France has also reportedly asked for help from U.S. drones.

Pay up: Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta left today for a farewell tour of Europe, where he's expected to press America's allies for more contributions to defense spending. Panetta will visit Portugal, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom.

New blood: President Obama receives the credentials of new foreign ambassadors at the White House this afternoon.