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Chewing The Khat
In Ethiopia
By Stephen Jessel, BBC correspondent,
Khat sellers in a market in Harar:
Markets stay open into the night
Harar April 10, 2004 (BBC) – Even by the placid standards of its
species, it was a relaxed sheep. It made no attempt to move when I
tried to squeeze by in the narrow, stony lane.
And then I saw the reason. It was munching discarded khat leaves - and
why not?
It seemed most of the population of Harar that hot Sunday afternoon
was chewing khat, the mildly narcotic shrub, the leaves of which are
widely and legally consumed in Ethiopia, Yemen, Somalia and other
countries in the area.
Individually or in groups, men and women, sat or sprawled, have
bunches of young leaves to hand.
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Puntland Leader
Denied Entry To UK
ABU DHABI, 13 April 2004 (ANN) — The leader of Puntland, Abdillahi
Yussuf, who left the UAE Monday evening for London was denied entry to
the UK and returned to the UAE.
ANN learnt from informed sources in the UAE that Yusuf who was rushed
to the UAE early this week for medical treatment is now in Sharjah.
Meanwhile, Yusuf blasted Britain for
committing an act of enmity against the Somali people by receiving
Somaliland President who recently paid a visit to UK and addressed
members of the British parliament.
Talking to the UAE official daily Al Ittihad on Monday from Sharjah,
Yusuf said the British government’s receiving of Somaliland President
and its acceptance to open a British representative office in
Somaliland as well as allowing Somaliland to open a representative
office in London was tantamount to recognition of the breakaway state,
warning Britain that such action would make it an enemy of the Somali
people.
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| Headlines |
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Somaliland's Election Observers Meet
Mandela
Pretoria, April 17, 2004 (SL Times) – A delegation of Somalilanders
who are on a visit to South Africa to observe the election taking
place there, has met with South Africa's former President, Mr.
Mandela.
Similarly, members of the delegation also
met with South Africa's current President, Mr. Mbeki. Somaliland's
delegation to South Africa is composed of 16 people representing
Somaliland's political parties, the election commission, women's
groups and the press, which makes it the biggest African contingent of
election observers monitoring the elections in South Africa. The South
African election commission based in Pretoria issued cards identifying
the Somaliland delegation as observers as soon as they arrived in
their country, and right away the delegation started its duties. South
Africans were impressed with the discipline and hard work of the
monitors from Somaliland.
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Somaliland Delegates attend ANC Victory
Party In Johannesburg,
ANC Secretary Invited To Visit Somaliland By An UDUB Official
Johannesburg, April 17, 2004 (SL Times) – The 16 members of the
Somaliland delegation in South Africa were invited by the African
National Congress to attend the victory party held in Johannesburg.
The party started 4pm in the afternoon.
At 6 p.m, Tom Mbeki, the victorious president arrived and made a
speech. He congratulated the party activists. He also praised other
political parties for upholding the democratic process. After the
speech, the Somaliland delegation had a chance to shake hands with the
president and several key ministers of the South African government.An
UDUB official, Omer Jama, who was present during the elections,
invited the ANC Secretary General to visit Somaliland and he accepted
the invitation.
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The Speaker Briefs Somaliland's Parliament
Hargeisa, April 17, 2004 (SL Times) – The Speaker of Somaliland's
parliament, Mr. Qaybe, briefed parliamentarians about the president's
visit to the UK, in a closed-door session. The speaker emphasized the
success Somaliland's delegation achieved during that visit and the
warm welcome they received.
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Parliamentary Sub-Committee Report On
Hargeisa Water Crisis
Hargeisa, April 17, 2004 (SL Times) – A parliamentary Sub-Committee
called “Committee on People’s Affairs” made a presentation to the
general assembly on the 14th of April 2004.
The presentation included the following:
The Director General of the Hargeisa Water Agency to be fired.
The Chairman and Vice-Chairman for the “Agency of Government
Employees” to come in front of the House.
The president of the Supreme Court refused twice to answer the state
of the prisoners in Somaliland Jails.
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International
News |
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Attacks
Commission Links 'Black Hawk Down' To Bin Laden
Fraser Nelson, Political Editor
Washington, April 15, 2004 (The Scotsman) – OSAMA bin Laden was behind
the "Black Hawk Down" disaster in 1993 which triggered the United
States’ withdrawal from Somalia, according to the latest document from
the commission on the 11 September attacks.
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Djibouti Floods
Kill At Least 52 People
Djibouti, April 16, 2004 (Sapa-AFP) – Torrential rains that caused
flooding in the tiny north-east African state of Djibouti early in the
week are now known to have killed at least 52 people, but officials
warned that the final toll could be higher.
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Somali And
Spanish-Speaking Immigrants Learn Lifesaving Skills
Columbia Heights Heart Safe Communities Offers Tri-Lingual CPR and
AED Training
COLUMBIA HEIGHTS, Minn., April 15 (PRNewswire) – In a first of its
kind class in Minnesota, Columbia Heights School District is hosting a
tri-lingual Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Automated
External Defibrillator (AED) training on April 17, 2004.
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Kenya To Deport Five Somalis For Alleged
Terrorism Links
NAIROBI, Apr 10, 2004 (Hi Pakistan) – Kenyan authorities will next
week deport five Somali nationals for alleged links to the al-Qaeda
terrorist network, a newspaper reported on Saturday.
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Cholera On The Rise In
Mogadishu
NAIROBI, 14 Apr 2004 (IRIN) - The number of suspected cholera cases has
increased in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, since the beginning of April,
according to a World Health Organization (WHO) medical officer.
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U.S. Judge In
Denver Overturns Terror Law In Somali's Cash Transfers To Middle East
Denver, April 10, 2004 (AP) – A federal judge in Denver has declared
an anti-terrorism law unconstitutional in the case of a Somali accused
of illegally sending thousands of dollars to the Middle East.
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Cold Welcome For
Anti-Terror Troops
'Bin Laden Is Not Here - Sorry'
By Katie Nguyen
Djibouti, April 13 2004 (Reuters) – Few cheered when United States
forces landed in Djibouti to hunt al-Qaeda in Africa, a continent
where poverty and war are bigger worries than attacks on Westerners.
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INDECENT INTERVAL
It won't be enough to declare victory and
pull out of Iraq
, and a solution to this crisis won't wait
for the U.S. elections. It's time for Kerry and Bush to talk
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| Editorial
& Opinions |
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President
Rayale’s UK visit
President Rayale’s visit to the UK is a turning point in Somaliland’s
quest for recognition. Although it did not result in attaining
recognition, it produced other substantial benefits, some of which
are:
- It has shown the world that the United Kingdom (a major world power)
is sympathetic to Somaliland’s cause and is seriously considering to
recognize it.
- It has elevated Somaliland’s international profile.
- It was a chance for Somaliland’s leaders to establish direct
contacts with British officials and to brief them on a host of issues
ranging from foreign aid to security.
- It chipped away at the international isolation which Somaliland’s
adversaries are trying to impose on it.
- It gave a chance for Somaliland’s leaders to meet and consult with
Somaliland’s large diaspora in the United Kingdom.
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Will The Three Wise Men Stay?
By Ahmed Hashi (Dhimbiil)
Somali Landers are watching a political opera un-fold as acts 1 of an
orchestrated political game of musical chairs begins in earnest in the
corridors of power in the capital of Somaliland, Hargeisa. Power, to
paraphrase none other than that erstwhile freedom lover Fredrick
Douglas never cedes anything without a demand. It has become clear to
the President that the large patronage cabinet that continuously
drains the meagre resources of the state of Somaliland cannot be
sustained given the underlying change in the political dispensation.
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My Hero – Hassan
Essa Jama
Ali Gulaid, San Jose, CA
Before the name Hassan Essa Jama became synonymous with the SNM
struggle more than any other Mujahid aside the Mujahidin who paid the
ultimate price (precious life), Hassan was already an accomplished
lawyer, broadcaster and a journalist for the BBC Somali section.
Despite these enviable credentials and prospects of no boundaries,
Hassan has traded his promising future for a struggle that the end
wasn’t on sight; that had the potential to endanger his life; that
lacked all the London amenities he has become accustomed to and he
risked it not to gain power, not to gain wealth but to regain the
dignity of his people.
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WHAT WE DID NOT
DO RIGHT
By Abubakr Karolia, South Africa (April 2004)
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Since the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center’s and the
Pentagon in America on September 11, 2001, the occupation of
Afghanistan by the American military in October 2001 and the
occupation of Iraq by the American and British military forces in
March 2003, Muslims worldwide are questioning why they are being
targeted by the modern super powers and what had happened to the
Islamic Empire that could have defended them and the reasons for its
decline?
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Entertainment |
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Taming Ethiopia's
Hyenas
Seyyid Abdishakur with the tame hawk:
The hawks are effective in fighting off destructive birds at the farm
Qabri Bayah, Ethiopia, 12 April, 2004 (BBC) – I Seyyid Abdiweli
Abdishakur, a traditional leader who also doubles up as a farmer and a
pastoralist, has made a mark within his community by achieving what
many men dread to even attempt.
He has trained a hyena to look after his livestock and four hawks to
guard his grain farms from destructive birds.
The Hyena and Hawk man lives in the small town of Qabri Bayah about 50
kilometers from Jigjiga town the headquarters of the Somali region in
eastern Ethiopia.
When I visited him in his house, he was busy tending crops at his
green garden - a rare sight in this arid neighborhood.
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