The News Review:

- ‘Frontlines of lostness’ seen during summer in Senegal
- Hunt for Suspects in Mauritania Killing
- Killers of French tourists linked to al-Qaeda
- Student paints new picture of missions
- Sahara Press Service – Servicio de Prensa Saharaui – SPS RASD info
- Danger Is Part of Race’s Allure

‘Frontlines of lostness’ seen during summer in Senegal
BP News – Dec 27, 2007
It was just part of daily living for the missions volunteer from Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah Ga. He rose every morning from the foam mat on the floor where he slept and bathed using a bucket. He ate rice and fish with his hands out of a bowl on the floor along with his friends. He slipped on his flip-flops and trekked through thick sand to visit the homes of young believers who have never been to church in a building.

Hunt for Suspects in Mauritania Killing
New York Times – Dec 27, 2007
Still the objective of the attack in Mauritania was not immediately clear. Another man who is suspected of helping the attackers and has similar ties was arrested in Aleg along with a taxi driver who told the police that he took the men to the Senegalese border. The other suspects are believed to be in Senegal perhaps on their way to Mali according to Mauritanian officials and Western diplomats in the region. Mauritania at the western edge of Africa has a history of civil discord and dictatorial rule. But in the past two years the country has been undergoing a transformation. In 2005 the military overthrew the civilian government which was widely reviled for its repressive tactics. This year the country held its first wholly democratic presidential election since independence.

Killers of French tourists linked to al-Qaeda
NEWS.com.au – Dec 27, 2007
article-tools –> December 27 2007 09:00am A MANHUNT is under way in three west African states for three Mauritanians at least two suspected of links to al-Qaeda after the killing of four French tourists. Police and security forces in Mauritania Senegal and Mali set up roadblocks to try to halt the men two of whom were previously arrested in connection with the extremist Algeria-based Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC). A spokesman for Mauritania’s interior minister said "the attack had been led by extremists" with links to al-Qaeda and that the perpetrators "have been identified and are being pursued". The GSPC last January became the al-Qaeda Branch of the Islamic Maghreb. France opened its own probe on Wednesday also looking into possible terrorist links a judicial source said. The sole survivor from the French party who were on a driving trek ahead of next month’s Paris-Dakar rally that crosses Mauritania was flown home to Lyon in France and taken to hospital local officials said… "He told me himself when we met in hospital. He said those words that he very well remembered the face of the man who was holding the gun" livia Loze told Radio France Internationale. The fugitives last seen near the river frontier with Senegal late Monday are believed to have successfully crossed it the governor of Mauritania’s Brakna region Sidi Moloud uld Brahim told RFI. "The Senegalese authorities have swung into action" he said. "Everything we could need has been made available to aid the pursuit of these individuals in case they have crossed into Senegal" that country’s police communications chief Major Daouda Diop told AFP. Mali which shares a 2000km-long border with Mauritania has also placed security personnel on high alert. "In this vast desert we have to look in every direction" a Malian defence ministry spokesman said.

Student paints new picture of missions
BP News – Dec 27, 2007
With colored streaks in her hair and a tiny rhinestone stud in her nose she’s an artist confident that “the Lord can use that for His glory. “That’s why the student from Hannibal-LaGrange College in Missouri packed up her paintbrushes and trekked to sub-Saharan Africa to take her heart-changing art to a place where most have never heard — or seen — the truth of Christ. “I feel closest to God when I’m painting” Barker said. “It’s really worship for me and it’s amazing I can use it for His name and glory and purpose… “I feel closest to God when I’m painting” Barker said. “It’s really worship for me and it’s amazing I can use it for His name and glory and purpose. “For two months she painted and sketched in Senegal to reach out to the Lebou — a people group of 1. 5 million nearly all of whom follow an animistic version of Islam. Women in colorful African print dresses lounge on straw mats on a sandy porch in the hot afternoon sipping traditional hot tea. They’re listening intently to a 40-minute cassette of the Creation to Christ story in their own Wolof language but there are visuals too. Barker has created her own canvas.

Sahara Press Service – Servicio de Prensa Saharaui – SPS RASD info
Sahara Press Service – Dec 27, 2007
”I think that this is an act of disrespect from the Moroccan authorities if I can put it that way" he said in reference to the Morocco’s recall of its Ambassador for three days as declared by the Moroccan authorities. "I had only said that Senegal has never been against the creation of a Saharawi State" Jacques Baudin said adding that "there is a confusion that was created because of the privilege that was given to the Saharawi Republic namely the fact of giving it a seat in the African Union rganisation". "We Africans we must remember that we have all been colonised and that because of this we have the moral duty to support all peoples who struggle for their freedom" declared the Senegalese former Minister for Foreign Affairs in front of more than 1700 Saharawi delegates and more than 250 international guest who met in December the 14th in the liberated region of Tifariti. Baudin hailed the "wisdom and clear-sightedness" of Polisario Front all along the conflict that opposes it to Morocco estimating that "the definitive solution to the question of Western Sahara is very close". PLISARI was "not alone in its fight" Baudin said adding that his party would push the Western Sahara question in international forums.

Danger Is Part of Race’s Allure
New York Times – Dec 27, 2007
5 in Lisbon and cover more than 5700 miles over sometimes treacherous terrain. The route winds down the western coast of Africa with competitors finishing Jan. 20 in Dakar the capital of Senegal. Bailey expects to be there in the end. His company Vanguard Integrity Professionals counts United States government agencies and banks around the world among its clients. The firm has poured millions of sponsorship dollars into helping the.