BAIDOA, Somalia, July 28, 2006 – Hundreds of people rioted Friday near the headquarters of Somalia's virtually powerless government, after a cabinet minister was fatally shot as he walked from morning prayers.
People began streaming into the streets and setting fires just hours after Abdallah Isaaq Deerow, Somalia's minister for constitutional and federal affairs, was shot in the chest.
TRIDENT RACING ANNOUNCES NEW PARTNERSHIP DEAL
Dubai, UAE, July 28, 2006 – Trident Racing S.p.A. is pleased to announce a multiyear partnership deal with Al Mufleh Group, one of the leading business company in UAE.
Washington , DC , July 28, 2006 – The United States and other western powers have cautioned outsiders against involvement in Somalia , which to date has no single ruling authority. However, rumors about Ethiopia’s movement of troops into Somali territory have caused concern in Washington. Speaking to reporters Tuesday in Washington, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer called on Ethiopia and other countries to exercise restraint. Simon Bereket is the advisor to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. VOA English to Africa reporter James Butty asked him to comment on Secretary Frazer’s remarks.
Call for Lifting of Ban On Horn Livestock
Addis Ababa, July 22, 2006 – Pastoralists from the Horn of Africa, who held a ten day meeting at Yabello in Southern Ethiopia, have called on Gulf countries to lift a livestock import ban that has been imposed for the past six years.
Livestock imports from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, and Sudan were banned in 2000 on grounds of an out break of the Rift Valley Fever (RVF).
Mogadishu, July 24, 2006 – Somali Islamists on Monday bristled with anger at the transitional government's decision to host a former powerful warlord, whom they ousted from the capital last month, as tension remained high in the shattered African nation, said officials.
A government spokesperson said warlord Mohamed Afrah Qanyare, who was the most powerful faction leader in the Mogadishu area for more than a decade, arrived at the temporary seat of the government in the southcentral township, Baidoa, on Sunday.
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SANA’A, July 26, 2006 — The Chief Commander of French Naval Forces in the Indian Ocean Hubert de Gaullier de Bordes declared that the purpose of his recent visit to Yemen and meeting top with Yemeni military officials was to enhance cooperation and relations between the two countries over maritime security, ensuring that these relations will make more progress in the future.
The talks between the two sides included discussions on fighting terrorism, marine piracy and smuggling.
Furthermore, they discussed forming a Yemeni-French-Djibouti force to secure the Indian Ocean and the Horn of Africa.
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Somalia War Threatens To Go Regional
Nairobi, Kenya, July 28, 2006 – Eastern Africa could be entering a period of new instability, sparked by a conflict in Somalia that has already drawn in Ethiopia and Eritrea, regional analysts warned.
Ethiopia is threatening to send troops across the border into Somalia to defend the country's transitional government from resurgent Islamist forces, The U.N. and others claim some Ethiopian troops have already entered Somalia, although Addis Ababa denies this.
CAIRO, Egypt, July 27, 2006 – Al-Qaeda's No. 2 leader issued a worldwide call Thursday for Muslims to rise up in a holy war against Israel and join the fighting in Lebanon and Gaza until Islam reigns from “Spain to Iraq.”
In the message broadcast by Al-Jazeera television, Ayman al-Zawahri, second in command to Osama bin Laden, said that al-Qaeda now views “all the world as a battlefield open in front of us.”
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Somalia: Islamists Refuse Talks, Acknowledge Eritrea
Mogadishu, Somalia, July 25, 2006 – Somalia's Islamists said on Tuesday they would not attend peace talks with the interim government until Ethiopian troops left their soil, and for the first time acknowledged Eritrean backing for their cause.
"As long as Ethiopia is in our country, talks with the government cannot go ahead," the Islamists' main leader, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, told foreign correspondents in Mogadishu.
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BEIRUT, July 29, 2006 – Israeli planes blasted south Lebanon for the 17th day yesterday as an unbowed Hezbollah launched a new type of missile at the Jewish state amid growing calls for a ceasefire in the escalating conflict. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will return to the Middle East today to discuss a United Nations resolution to end the war. US President George W Bush told a Washington news conference yesterday, after talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, that an international force should be sent quickly to southern Lebanon to secure shipments of humanitarian aid.
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6 Suspects Arrested In Connection With Deerow’s Murder Include 2 Somalilanders
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The late Abdulla Deerow Isaaq, the Somalia minister for Constitutional and Federal Affairs
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Baidoa, Somalia, July 29, 2006 (SL Times) – The police authorities in Baidoa have arrested 6 suspects in connection with yesterday’s murder of Abdulla Deerow Isaaq, the Somalia minister for Constitutional and Federal Affairs.
The Somaliland Times has learned that 2 of those arrested are originally from Somaliland. One of the two has been identified as Abdi Gheele who worked at one time in Saudi Arabia. The other Somalilander is believed to be a man in his late 30s who recently came from Mogadishu to Baidoa to look for a job with the government.
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Millions Of Dollars In Aid Money Pocketed By Top TFG Officials
Hargeysa, Somaliland, July 29, 2006 (SL Times) – Donor assistance for Somalia, estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars annually, has reportedly been abused by the top leaders of the Somali Transitional Government (TFG).
According to authenticated documents obtained by Somaliland Times, TFG president Abdillahi Yusuf Ahmed and Premier Ali Mohamed Geedi have used a significant portion of the financial aid given to Somalia in the last two years to promote their own personal political interests.
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Some of Amoud University students in their graduation rolls
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Borama, Somaliland, July 29, 2006 (SL Times) – 134 students were awarded BA degrees in education, management and administration during Amoud University’s annual graduation ceremony held on Thursday.
Somaliland’s minister of Education, Mr. Hassan Mohamud Warsame (Gadhweyne) and Amoud University’s president, Professor Suleiman Ahmed Gulaid, were the keynote speakers at the ceremony.
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London , July 29, 2006 (SL Times) A round table discussion on the prospects for peace in Somalia was held in one of the committee rooms in the UK House of Commons.
Organized by the London-based Foreign Policy Center, the meeting was addressed by a panel of experts as well as Bristolian MP Kerry McCarthy and Allun Micheal MP for Cardiff city. The audience included tens of Somalis from Somalia and Somaliland.
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BAIDOA, Somalia , July 28, 2006 – An unknown gunman shot dead a minister in Somalia 's interim government as he left a mosque after prayers on Friday in the provincial town of Baidoa , medical personnel and local reporters said.
Amid sketchy first reports, Somali journalist Mohamed Ibrahim told Reuters the slain official was Constitution and Federalism Minister Abdallah Deerow Isaq.
NAIROBI , July 28, 2006 - Ethiopia accused its neighbor and foe Eritrea on Friday of "actively supporting" al Qaeda, in its strongest attack yet on Asmara over the escalating crisis in neighboring Somalia .
Diplomats believe Ethiopia and Eritrea -- who went to war in 1998-2000 and still wrangle over their border -- are using the standoff between Somalia's interim government and newly powerful Islamists as a proxy conflict for their own feud.
Questions Raised Over Contents Of Newly Arrived Cargo Plane In Somali Capital
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A Ilyushin-76 plane lands at Mogadishu airport, Wednesday, July 26, 2006
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Mogadishu, July 28, 2006 – For the second time this week, a large plane arrived in the Islamists-controlled Somali capital of Mogadishu Friday, carrying an unknown cargo. But many people believe it contains weapons from Eritrea, which the Islamist leadership in Somalia denies. VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu in Mogadishu says, reports of military activity by rivals Eritrea and Ethiopia in Somalia are fueling fears of a proxy war.
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Nairobi, Kenya, July 24, 2006 – With telephone charges already started being reduced by some operators in Tanzania, the trend is expected to intensify after the East Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy) is launched.
The pioneer of telecommunication services in the country the Tanzania Telecommunications Company Ltd (TTCL) has embarked on a modernization drive that has seen it reduce tariffs for most of its services.
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Muhamad Noor Che Musa sits to his newly married 104-year-old wife Wook Kundor.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – A 33-year-old man in northern Malaysia has married a 104-year-old woman, saying mutual respect and friendship had turned to love, a news report said.
It was Muhamad Noor Che Musa's first marriage and his wife's 21st, according to The Star newspaper which cited a report in the Malay-language Harian Metro tabloid.
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International News
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LONDON, July 27, 2006 – It would be deeply worrying for Somalia if the country's most powerful Islamist leader, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, assumed a prominent role in the government, Britain's minister for Africa said on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters in London, Lord David Triesman said Aweys' Islamist fighters had broken promises since they took control of most of the capital Mogadishu on June 5.
"I think it would be profoundly damaging to the interests of the people of Somalia ... were he to be a leading member of government," Triesman said.
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UK Hospitals Can Benefit From Partnerships With Developing World Hospitals
London, UK, Jul 22, 2006 –  Partnerships between UK hospitals and developing world hospitals can be mutually beneficial, according to an Public Health article published Online today by The Lancet. In the article, Andy Leather and colleagues from King's College Hospital and the Tropical Health and Education Trust (THET) in London, UK, describe the benefits of their partnership with hospitals in post-conflict Somaliland.
The civil war in Somaliland resulted in the destruction of most of the country's health care facilities and the mass migration or death of trained health workers. However, since the partnership with King's College Hospital/ THET was formed in 2000, health care in Somaliland has benefited in a number of ways. The country now has more trained nurses, physiotherapists, medical staff, and students, after King's doctors assisted with training. Poor patients now have improved access to drugs after the partnership established a drug fund in a hospital in Somaliland's capital.
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Farah - second only to David Moorcroft.
Heusden, Belgium, July 23, 2006 – Mo Farah has become the second fastest 5,000metres athlete in British history but is still pleading for patience from those expecting him to take European distance-running by storm.
Somalia-born, Hounslow-raised Farah clocked 13 minutes and 9.4seconds in Heusden, Belgium, on Saturday night - putting him behind only David Moorcroft as this country's all-time quickest.
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New Delhi, July 26, 2006 – A forum of India's leading Muslim organizations has protested the 'invasion' of Somalia by Ethiopia and urged the UN to intervene for restoring peace in the war-torn country.
'The All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat (AIMMM) has taken serious note of the invasion of Somalia by Ethiopia which is totally contrary to international law constitutes an act of unjustifiable aggression,' AIMMM president Syed Shahabuddin said in a statement.
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Talks In Khartoum Must Continue
Press Statement, Tom Casey,
Deputy Spokesman
Washington, DC July 25, 2006 – The United States calls on the Somalia Transitional Federal Institutions and the Islamic courts to recommit to a process of positive and peaceful dialogue, which began in Khartoum on June 22. The United States further calls on both parties to recommit to the seven principles of the June 22 agreement in light of recent provocations and military expansion.
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Editorial
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Ordinary Somalilanders have been following the recent developments in neighboring Somalia with deep interest and anxiety. The takeover of Mogadishu and the entire Banadir region by Hassan Dahir Aweys’ men in early June and the way the international community reacted to this event, have together put Somaliland’s security, stability and independence at dangerous risks.
Mr. Aweys, the overall leader of the so-called Islamic Courts, is the same man who has in the last 4 years commissioned a series of terrorist operations in Somaliland for the purpose of undermining this country’s hard-won peace and homegrown democracy.
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Special Report
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REPORT ON FAMILIARISATION TOUR TO SOMALILAND
In November 2005, the Centre for Human Rights began investigating the possibility of a third destination for the LLM field trip. The reasons for increasing the number of field trip destinations to include Somaliland include the following:
Somaliland is a state in the making; it would be ideal for students on the programme to have a first hand experience of this.
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Opinions
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What Can Be Dreamed, Can’t Be Lost
By Ahmed Bashe Abdi (ORSOD), Hargeysa
Dear Readers, Everybody knows that there is only one superpower, in the geographical land of the Americas today, but how many of us know that merely a few centuries ago, there was not only one but two empires (the Aztec and the Inca) that are credited today for the global rise of the greatest superpower in the 16 th century Spain!
Readers, I commit this following story of the rise and demise of an empire, to the fact that if a small band of red Indians, could create a nation within a quarter of a century and be known as the most beautiful civilization of the New world, then so can the people of Somaliland reach a status so high, the world will respect us for our dedication to achieve a dream, a dream in where we are known not as part of a Greater Somalia but as the Republic of Somaliland.
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By Hassan Farah
In recent years, Abdi Samatar has mastered marketable skills---- to entertain Southern Somalis to something that is music to their ears-----Somaliland bashing. It is unfortunate that our brothers and sisters in Somalia cannot differentiate their saviors from those who want to milk their misfortunes after almost 15 years of death and destruction. A vivid example of this interesting phenomenon is what we have all recently witnessed: the so-called leaders who adamantly opposed the presence of Ethiopian forces in Somalia only to seek refuge, after their defeat in Mogadishu, in Baidoa—the Ethiopian protected safe haven of the defunct TFG. How many times should the people of Somalia be misled by wannabe leaders before people wake up?
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By Liban Ahmad, London
“When I say or write something, there are actually a whole lot of different things that I am communicating. The propositional content (the actual information I am trying to convey)is only one part of it. Another part is stuff about me, the communicator. Everyone knows this. It's a function of the fact that there are uncountably many well-formed ways to say the same basic thing, from e.g. "I was attacked by a bear!" to "Goddamn bear tried to kill me!”
David Foster Wallace, Consider the Lobster: Essays and Arguments,
Writing in a celebratory booklet for the 40th Anniversary of the BBC Somali Service, Mohamed Abdillahi, former head of the BBC Somali Service, recounted a story about a man who criticized a reportage the former head of the service made about a visit to Hargeysa, capital of ‘Somaliland’. The man argued that Mohamed Abdillahi exaggerated what he had seen in Hargeysa.
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Why Strong Domestic Policy Should Be Our Foreign Policy.
By Said Ahmed, Nairobi , Kenya
As Somalia ’s weak TFG and the UIC continue to get all the global attention, Somalilanders are asking where we have gone wrong. Whilst some Somalilanders blame the international community’s blind policy on Somalia , but the voices of those blaming Somaliland ’s foreign policy is getting louder and louder. It is this frustration that has led one Somaliland commentator to recently suggest a more radical foreign policy for Somaliland that entailed closer diplomatic ties with the state of Israel.
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Foundation of Adel Development Organization: The Marker Of An Exemplary Community Collaboration
Our diaspora community here in the Midwest of the United States , do hereby congratulate Ikram H. D. Warsame, and all the other prominent community members who contributed making the foundation of this organization possible. We urge you to collect all your efforts, in order to make this organization a viable organizations, that makes an impact on the development of our home state in particular and our beloved country-Somaliland in general.
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| FEATURES & COMMENTARY |
Editorial, Khaleej Times, 24 July 2006
SOMALIA continues to lurch from one crisis to another. As if the unfortunate people of the African country didn’t have enough problems of their own, Ethiopia has sent in its forces. Obviously, the big neighbor has been alarmed by the onward march of the Islamists.
The Union of the Islamic Courts has not only driven the many warring warlords from the capital Mogadishu and now controls much of the country, it has restored a working order and peace in the country.
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AS THE crisis in the Middle East dominates the headlines it is easy to forget there are other regions in the world where tensions are close to boiling point that could easily escalate into full-blown war.
With daily updates on the conflict between Israel and Lebanon on our TV screens, you could be forgiven for not knowing that Somalia, a country situated in the Horn of Africa with a long history of internal strife and instability, is on the brink of war with its neighbor Ethiopia.
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Islamic Courts militia fighter patrols Mogadishu streets
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Newsweek
Mogadishu , Somalia , July 31, 2006 issue – Finally the warlords of Mogadishu and southern Somalia have been subdued, bringing peace to the ravaged area for the first time in 15 years. The Islamic Courts Union, a popular uprising built around traditional Islamic Sharia courts and financed by fed-up businessmen, collected the warlords' guns and rounded up their battlewagons. "In 15 years, no one was able to do what they did in 15 days," says U.N. official Saverio Bertolino.
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Greg Mills
Sunday Independent, 23 July 2006
"Bet you've never been to dinner dressed like that," said the British army officer to me, kitted out in flak jacket and helmet, sitting inside the Swedish Army Patria six-wheeled armored personnel carrier.
I definitely had not. But it was not a normal sort of dinner party - at least of the sort that one is used to in suburban Johannesburg.
We were leaving the provincial reconstruction team base at Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan's northern Balkh province for dinner with the local governor, the mujahideen-turned-politician Mohammed Atta.
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By Sunguta West
Nairobi, Kenya. July 21, 2006 – On July 11, Somalia's Islamic Courts Union (ICU) established control over Mogadishu's sea port after a two day battle in which over 100 people died and 200 were wounded. With the capture of the port, the ICU now controls most of the city, which had been broken into fiefdoms under the control of warlords during the past 15 years. Yet, this state of affairs ended with the emergence of the Islamic courts and their victories in the city and the nearby towns.
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As more women get appointed into the foreign affairs portfolio, Foreign Affairs Editor, NKECHI NWOSU writes on the benefits of the emerging trend.
THE tide of women agitation for significant representation in politics is gradually simmering down as most of them are beginning to pick up plum jobs both on national and international scene.
It has been said that the emerging trend is not accidental. For instance, some people easily cite the campaign of the gender-friendly United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Since Annan assumed the revered position at the UN, he has never stopped pressing leaders of nations on the need to have significant representation of women in government as well as allow them a voice in politics. He has maintained that their involvement would promote peace and security.
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