Dec 10, 2005 (INDIAN OCEAN NEWSLETTER) – Three candidates from two opposition parties (UCID and Kulmiye) were elected to the posts of Speaker and First and Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament in Hargeisa this week (ION 1154). The governing party, the UDUB, which has a minority in Parliament, finally accepted this vote, not without reluctance.
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Addis Ababa , Dec 17, 2005 (The Reporter) – Text of report in English by Ethiopian newspaper The Reporter website on 16 December
An Ethiopian delegation led by Girma Biru, the minister of trade and industry, this week visited Port Sudan .
Text of editorial entitled "War against terrorism needs concerted effort", published by Kenyan newspaper The People on 17 December
Nairobi , Dec 17, 2005 (The People) – The arrest of a suspected terrorist along the Kenya-Somalia border is proof that our security agents are alert. But it is also proof that international terrorist organization still maintain a presence in the region and we remain vulnerable to attacks.
Sana'a, Dec 18, 2005 (Yemen Times) – The United Nations High Commission for Refugees was mainly to blame for the death of a Somali refugee and injury of others, said a prominent local human rights organization yesterday.
Khalid Al-Anisi, the Executive Director of the National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms said by calling the security forces, UNHCR has indirectly resulted in the death of the Somali refugee killed yesterday by armed forces after force was used to detain refugees that have been in a sit-in in front of the UNHCR premises in Sana'a for more than a month.
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Nairobi, Dec 17, 2005 (Deutsche Presse-Agentur [DPA]) – Just before last December's tsunami hit the coast of Somalia, local fisherman thought their lucky day had arrived.
The preceding force of the wave drove lobsters from the seabed onto the shoreline. But as fishermen collected the valuable harvest the biggest wave they had ever seen came towards them.
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Nairobi , December 19, 2005 (Pravda.Ru) – Three and a half million people are at risk of starving to death in Somalia and Kenya
Two and a half million people have been left at risk of starvation in Kenya due to the non-appearance of rains while in the northern neighbor, Somalia , one million are in need of urgent aid, 350,000 of these in what the UNO describes as an "acute" crisis.
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MOGADISHU, Dec. 18, 2005 (Reuters) - At least seven people have died in gunfights between two sub-clans during a dispute over whether to burn trees for charcoal in the southwest of lawless Somalia, residents and hospital sources said on Sunday.
Nairobi , December 13, 2005 (The East African) – Britain is considering join-ing the United States , Sweden , Canada and Norway in banning the chewing of khat (miraa) in the country.
Large quantities of khat are imported into the UK from Kenya , Ethiopia and Yemen every month and a ban could have a considerable effect on this industry. The ban is being considered following a study that showed that half the large Somali community in the UK want the drug banned.
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United Nations & World Bank Coordination Secretariat Communiqué Somali Joint Needs Assessment Planning Workshop
Jowhar , Somalia , 12-15 December 2005
The Prime Minister of the Transitional Federal Government of the Somali Republic (TFG), Hon. Ali Mohamed Gedi, officially opened the four-day Joint Needs Assessment (JNA) Planning Workshop in Jowhar , Somalia . Hon. Gedi emphasized the importance of the workshop as a way forward for the people of Somalia . Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, Hon. Prof. Mohamed Omar Dalha, echoed these remarks.
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Hargeysa, Somaliland , Dec 24, 2005 (SL Times) – The Somaliland minister of Posts and Telecommunication, Hassan Abdi Khayre has accused local telephone companies of tax-evasion in the region of $177 million dollars.
“The amount represented income tax owed by local operators to government” the minister said during a Somaliland Times interview conducted with him last Wednesday. He however didn’t specify the period over which the tax had been accrued.
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Ismail Buubaa Uses Somaliland Enmity As Part Of His CV
ABU DHABI, Dec. 23, 2005 (ANN) – Somaliland's opposition leader Faisal Ali Waraabe today said that Somaliland was a sovereign country in 1960 when it gained its independence from Britain and would continue to consolidate its independence which it had reclaimed in 1991 after 30 years of unfruitful union with Somalia.
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LONDON , Dec 22, 2005 (The Associated Press) – Two British aid workers shot dead in Somaliland by a militant gang who believed they were Christian missionaries were killed unlawfully, an inquest in Britain ruled Thursday.
Dick Eyeington, 62, and his wife Enid, 60, were working as teachers in the breakaway African region when they were gunned down in 2003.
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December 22, 2005 : The efforts of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) to create a unified government for Somalia have been more or less fruitless. Not only are the various warlords who control much of the country unwilling to give up any power, but the northern break-away regions of Somaliland and Puntland, which have enjoyed relative stability for several years now, see no reason to become tied to a corpse.
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ICG Africa Report N°100
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Nairobi/Brussels, December 12, 2005 (ICG) – Somalia ’s long civil conflict and lack of central governing institutions present an international security challenge. Terrorists have taken advantage of the state’s collapse to attack neighboring countries and transit agents and materiel.
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Submitted by editor on Sun, 10/02/2005
There was something strange about the fire that our guide made while preparing tea in our camp 5 km north of Ceerigabo. While sipping our sweetened tea, the smell kept lingering in the air, it was sweet, as sweet as innocence. It was on a slightly chilly evening last November while we were waiting to enter the Surud Mountains in Somaliland , one of the last seemingly untouched places on this planet. We had actually left behind all fears in Cairo as we set off to Somaliland , following the footsteps of early explorers. We had decided to make the visit in search of a few elusive stapeliad species and also to view the majestic Aloe eminens in its habitat. The Surud Mountains are in the northern part of Somaliland , in the Saanag region. The highest peak is Mount Shimbiris , at 2416 m the highest mountain in all of Somaliland & Somalia .
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ADDIS ABABA , Ethiopia , Dec 17, 2005 (AP) – The United States and its NATO allies need to focus more on security threats in Africa to ensure regional conflicts and failed states do not become havens for terrorists, said the commander of U.S. and allied troops in Europe .
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Berlin, Dec 17, 2005 (IRNA) – German Defense Minister Franz-Josef Jung is to embark on Monday on a four-nation tour of the US, Djibouti, Afghanistan and Pakistan, a Defense Ministry press release said Saturday.
In the US , Jung is scheduled to meet with his American counterpart Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and national security advisor Stephen Hadley.
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BOOK REVIEW
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A MAP OF CONFUSION
Somaliland , Puntland and People of Sool Region in Somalia
Reviewd by Feysal Dubbad Haji Jama
Quarter century ago writing about Somalia and Somalis was seemingly an easy task because Somalis were predictable beings known for homogeneity, colourful literature and respect for authority. All a researcher or a doctoral candidate could do was to conduct a field work or peruse books and articles published in newspapers and academic journals.
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International News
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Terrorists Murdered Aid Workers
London , UK , December 22, 2005 (BBCNews) Two British aid workers were shot in Africa by Islamic terrorists, an inquest heard
Richard, 62, and Enid, 60, Eyeington were watching television at their home in Somaliland when shots were fired from an AK47 in October 2003.
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US National Security Concerns Cited Somali immigrants
Columbus, Ohio, December 22, 2005 (Union Tribune) – US authorities have charged a Somali immigrant with conspiring to help Al-Qaeda blow up a shopping center in the Midwestern United States, US Attorney General John Ashcroft said last year.
"The American heartland was targeted for death and destruction by an al-Qaeda cell, which allegedly included a Somali immigrant, who will now face justice," Ashcroft said last year ( Jun. 15, 2004 ).
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Big Lottery Fund (National)
INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY GRANTS MAKE WATER THE BIG ISSUE
London , December 20, 2005 (GNN) – Water is essential for life. Yet many desperately poor people living in impoverished countries face water shortages and lack access to clean water. UK based organizations committed to addressing these concerns will be among 27 groups to benefit from more than £12 million announced today by the Big Lottery Fund. . .
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Somali Leaders Question Teen's Arrest For School Bomb Threat
Portland, Dec.22, 2005 (MainToday.com/Portland Press Herald) – Leaders of Portland's Somali community said Wednesday that a 19-year-old immigrant and Portland High School graduate was wrongly charged with calling a bomb threat into the school.
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Somalis Bond With PVCC
Piedmont , Virginia , December 20, 2005 (Daily Progress) – The 10 year old shuffles toward Dylan Schepps, a Piedmont Virginia Community College student double his age.
The youth shyly shrinks into Schepps' shadow, as if it were a cloak of invincibility.
As they wait in line to check out movies, the boy, Mohammed Selassie, hovers so closely that one could almost mistake the pair for brothers.
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Suspect Arrested In Hit And Run Death Of Woman
Minneapolis , MN , December 16, 2005 (KARE11) – City Hall press conferences come and go, but rarely do reporters see what they saw Friday at the Minneapolis police department. Veteran homicide Lieutenant Lee Edwards greeted Somali civil rights advocate Omar Jamal with a bear hug.
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Editorial
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Rationalization Of The Telecoms Sector
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Like the rest of all other businesses established in this country since its liberation in 1991, the Somaliland telecoms sector was built from scratch with investment money secured by local entrepreneurs. The introduction of quick telecom service was welcomed with great relief and pride by Somalilanders who until then had to travel the long distance up to Mogadishu far making a simple international call or sending a telegram message.
Despite the progress made by the country's telecoms over the years, however the sector's potentiality for sustained growth and development has been hampered essentially by the local operators' failure to rationalize their operations.
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Somali Poetry
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Soo Haabo Hubbo Oo Kac
Translated and commented by Rhoda A. Rageh
In this song composed by the renowned Hassan Ganay and sung by the soft voice of Mohamed Ahmed and Harawo, the notion men are from Mars, women from Venus seems to be working in reverse. Whatever the plea of the man is, she dismisses it as lust. They totally misunderstand each other. She does not believe a word he says. Even a hint of her ticking biological clock is not enough to move her. One wonders how many times has this woman been deceived by men.
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Opinions
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By Farah Ali Jama, Ottawa , Canada .
First and foremost, it is essential to state here that the progressive and intrepid people of Somaliland had substantially contributed to the expeditions and personal security of the early European explorers in Africa such as Stanley, Count Teleki, Sir Richard Burton, Captain Lugard, J.W. Gregory, and others. In addition, Somalilanders have enormously contributed and positively served in both the King’s African Rifles of the British East Africa and the East Africa Constabularies in an unsurpassed loyalty and fought gallantly in East Africa and in Far off places such as in Burma and other places.
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By Ahmed H Nur, Oslo , Norway
I am not sure. Rumor has it and this is not the first time. We heard it before. We are by now used to broken promises, so no one will get hurt if nothing materializes out of it. But some rumors persist more than others, and this one seems to belong to this crowd. I believe most rumors of this sort are made up by no ill-meaning groups or individuals of our general public. It must be part of our wishful thinking. You may not get it, but dreaming about it is an affordable alternative.
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By Abdulkadir Idan, London , England
The Republic of Somaliland ’s affairs seem to be going into a never ending positive direction which can only be good in the eyes of its people. It’s managing to successfully operate its interior and economic policies and the success in these two fields have been shown time and time again. In the field of economics Somaliland has managed to sign a landmark trade pact with Ethiopia and has managed to acquire a contract of trade opening a market of 70 million people.
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By Abdirahman Adan Mohamoud, Borama, Somaliland
Ever since the former regime of Mohamed Siyad Bare was toppled, the country descended into anarchy, cataclysm and chaotic situations that followed one after another. Clan-based militiamen turned out to be the key players that run the country’s day-to-day affairs. As a result, all social and governmental institutions fell at the mercy of mayhem and lawlessness ravaging the country. Education became the first victim of this destruction as the physical buildings of schools were either destroyed or left in a state of no legitimate use.
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Somalia, A Hobbsean Jungle
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By Ahmed Sh. Farah
Somali warlords, creatures of myth and legend whose pent up anger against the civil society in Somalia has turned them into barbaric beasts bent on widespread destruction and looting of the country are hear to stay for the foreseeable future. As the Somali state crumbled under its own weight only the strongest, the most ruthless and powerful survived to pillage the country’s infra-structure, carving Somalia into sub-national territories for their own personal aggrandizement.
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Somaliland Stuck In A Familiar Comfort Zone
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By Dr Mohamed A Omar
As the recent political shock waves originating from the election of the parliamentary leadership have faded away, questions are being raised on Somaliland ’s growing tendency towards tradition as the guiding principle when it deals with national political conflicts. Is this a case of coincidence or a calculated choice?
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| FEATURES & COMMENTARY |
Somalis Cash In On Dubai Boom
By Daniel Dickinson
A modern city at an ancient trading crossroads
Dubai, December 19, 2005 (BBC) Skyscrapers reach high into the desert sky, while sailing dhows ply the Gulf trading with countries as they have for hundreds of years.
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The Democratic Process in Ethiopia
LESSONS YET TO BE LEARNED
In conclusion:
Pointing at government policy mistakes and its failures alone will not suffice for any party to takeover. A self-respecting party needs to come up with a clear vision, valid alternative policies, and the ways and means of achieving superb goals for Ethiopia . As the former US President, Lyndon B. Johnson, said, ?Any jackass can kick a barn down, but it takes a Master Craftsman to build it?
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The Isaq Somali Diaspora And
Poll-Tax Agitation In Kenya, 1936-41
(last & final part)
By E. R. Turton
University of Zambia
Source: WardheerNews
Kenya has always regarded the Somali as either an infernal nuisance or embarrassment’.
Glenday to Beckett, 21 June 1941
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The failure of the Poll Tax Movement
It was one of the main weaknesses of the Isaq movement that they failed to gain the support of two important groups of East African Somalis who could have contributed significantly towards the successful achievement of their goals; these were the Herti Darod and the NFD pastoralists.
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The 6th Annual Horn of Africa Fest of Music
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Djibouti , December 16, 2005 (HAN) – The Djibouti seem to take taste with the musical parade of Fest' Horn. The second of the kind had as a starting point the quay level behind the theatre of the Salt works. It y' takes place to stress that attroupement was formed there around two trailers on board of which the artists are perched. 9. 00 sounds the hour for the procession of the parade to take the road under the amused glances of the badauds.
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Rwanda: Gift for Life
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Washington, DC December 21, 2005 (AfricaFocus Bulletin) - In Rwanda, as around the African continent, people's lives depend not only on governments and on global policymaking, but most directly on their own efforts and those of countless small organizations that make it their business to provide help for survival and finding new ways to rebuild lives and communities. One such effort, focusing on genocide survivors in Rwanda living not only with the aftermath of rape but also with HIV/AIDS, is Gift for Life, a campaign initiated by African Rights in Rwanda.
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