Democratic Republic of Congo - At the request of the UN Mission to the DRC, rebel forces have withdrawn from an army base in the eastern part of the country which they had seized on Thursday after fierce fighting.
The rebel group the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP) has stepped up its campaign against government forces in Nord-Kivu province over the past six weeks; the taking of the base prompted DRC President Joseph Kabila to make a nationwide televised appeal for a renewed campaign against the forces of rebel leader General Laurent Nkunda, who claims to be protecting members of his Tutsi ethnic group in the region.
Jean Ping, head of the African Union commission on the DRC, arrived in the capital city of Kinshasa on Friday as part of "efforts to restore peace and security in the eastern DRC and to promote stability in the region." It remains to be seen what, if anything, he can accomplish.
However, Nkunda's pullback may be a sign that even with the renewed fighting there is still a limit to just how far the government and the rebels are prepared to push things in a nation still reeling from the effects of the world's deadliest conflict since World War II. Stay tuned.
Somalia - The pirates engaged in a standoff with US warships off the coast of Somalia have issued an ultimatum: Pay a ransom, or we blow up the ship and everything on it - including the crew, the cargo, and us.
The pirates had said on Thursday they were willing to negotiate their ransom demand of $20-million, after nearly two weeks of insisting they would never lower the price. ...Ukranian officials are urging negotiation rather than force - not surprising, since most of the 20 remaining crew members are Ukranian. "What is most important is people," said Defense Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov.
Pirates have seized more than two dozen ships this year off the Horn of Africa, but the hijacking of the Faina has drawn the most international concern because of its dangerous cargo[ - 33 tanks, supposedly headed for Kenya but perhaps instead for Sudan].
Momentum has been growing for coordinated international action against the pirate menace.
Nato ministers agreed on Thursday that they would have seven ships in the area within two weeks. ...
Russia also announced it would cooperate with the West in the fight, and several European countries have said they would launch an anti-piracy patrol.
The United Nations Security Council this week called on countries to send naval ships and military aircraft, and US warships are being diverted from counterterrorism duties to respond to the sea bandits.
Somalia's government has given foreign powers the freedom to use force against the pirates.
Which, however, makes me wonder just who or what Yekhanurov thinks was to be on the other end of those tanks and why they were, it seems, unimportant.
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