Tag Archives: Sierra Leone

Yard marker: The Mano River runs through the Superdome

9th
Sep. × ’10
By Johnny

A brief check-in since I’ve got a book to finish. Enjoying the NFL opener tonight; anticipating the Saints will give Jared Allen the haircut he desperately needs. Couldn’t help but notice Favre drilling one to Visanthe Shiancoe, to put six on the board. It was a great catch that raised an interesting subtext to tonight’s [...]

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Broken news: Everybody run! Caucasian mercenaries in Guinea!

19th
Nov. × ’09
By Johnny

Take a deep breath. Is this that controversial? Allegedly Capt. Camara’s government has retained the services of “mercenaries”–one article identifies Dubai-based Omega Strategic Services as the provider–to train a “militia” outside the capital. There’s a bit of precedent here. Charles Taylor did this, somewhat scandalously, when he hired Fred Rindle to train the Anti-Terrorist Unit [...]

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Guinea: Thinking Out of the Bauxite

14th
Oct. × ’09
By Johnny

The junta government of Moussa Dadis Camara waved a big paycheck in front of the international community yesterday–a potential $9 billion payday from a Chinese company for the resource rich West African nation. At a moment when Western powers–and to a certain extent–Guinea’s neighbors would like to isolate the new government, the Chinese investment complicates [...]

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Redacted: Cartels and the New West African Connect

7th
Sep. × ’09
By Johnny

This took a few days. PACER was down for the Southern District of New York, so I had to wait to get the indictment of Jesus Eduardo Valencia-Arbelaez who was extradited to New York City last week. The thumbnail view is this: “the Organization” a Colombian-Venezuelan cocaine interest wanted to open a tran-shipment corridor to Europe [...]

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Justice: Playing the Clock at the Special Court for Sierra Leone

26th
Aug. × ’09
By Johnny

Stephen Rapp, the most recent prosecutor seeking to convict Charles Taylor before the Special Court for Sierra Leone at the Hague is leaving for a new job: “In July, I was nominated by President Barack Obama to be United States Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues.   The nomination has now been confirmed by the US [...]

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