ABUJA (AFP) – A top US general
visited Nigeria on Tuesday after
recently warning that
collaboration between Islamist
extremist groups in the region
posed risks Africa-wide as well as to Europe and the United
States. General Carter Ham, head of US
Africa Command, met President
Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria,
where Islamist extremist group
Boko Haram has been carrying
out a deadly insurgency in the country’s north and centre. Ham recently spoke of concerns
over indications of collaboration
between Boko Haram and an Al-
Qaeda affiliate in northern
Africa, which he warned has
found a safehaven in northern Mali, where Islamists have taken
control. A statement from Nigeria’s
presidency said Jonathan
discussed issues including Boko
Haram and asked for US support
in resolving such problems. “President Jonathan also briefed
General Ham on his visit to Mali
and the efforts by ECOWAS to
resolve the conflict in that
country, adding that the
situation could still be contained if the right steps are taken
quickly,” it said. Jonathan attended an October
summit in Bamako to discuss
winning back northern Mali from
the Islamists. ECOWAS, a 15-nation regional
bloc, says it wants to deploy
3,300 troops to reclaim northern
Mali and is waiting for approval
from the UN. Meanwhile, Malian Prime Minister
Cheick Modibo Diarra quit
Tuesday under pressure from
influential former putschists who
are opposed to a military
intervention. Ham recently told an audience in
Washington that he was
concerned about indications of
growing links between African
extremist groups that could pose
a threat across the continent as well as to Europe and the United
States. “We have seen clear indications
of collaboration amongst the
organisations,” he said. “In one instance … we believe and
have seen reports that Boko
Haram is receiving financial
support, probably training,
probably some explosives, from
Al-Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb, and in a
relationship that goes both
ways.” There has long been intense
scrutiny over whether Boko
Haram is forming operational
ties with other extremist groups. Diplomats have said previously
that there has been evidence of
Boko Haram members seeking
training in northern Mali, but not
of operational links. The US has declared three
Nigerian extremists “global
terrorists,” but has declined to
label Boko Haram as a whole a
terrorist group due to its
nebulous nature and domestic focus, among other factors. It is believed to include various
factions with differing aims, in
addition to imitators and
criminal gangs that carry out
violence under the guise of the
group. Nigeria is Africa’s most populous
nation and largest oil producer.
Its 160 million population is
roughly divided between a mainly
Muslim north and predominantly
Christian sout
www.vanguardngr.com/2012/12/us-general-in-nigeria-after-warning-over-african-islamists/

Rename AU back to OAU and let us change the ideologies behind the organization!

AFRICOM IS ILLEGAL AND IT'S AN INSULT OF AFRICAN TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY!

OUR LEADERS ARE SELLING US OUT AGAIN!!


OAU can demand Africom to get out! and they will by law! Protecting American interest in Africa is illegal!

If the American interest in Africa conflicts with African interest, it only right for America to abandon it's interest in Africa not try to protect it with military on another man's soil!!

THIS IS OPPRESSION!!