HARGEISA, Somaliland, June 1, 2007 – Abdillahi M. Dualeh, Somaliland’s minister of foreign affairs of the Republic of Somaliland has sent a message of condolence to his Ethiopian counterpart Seyum Mesfin, in relation to the terrorist attacks in Jigjiga and Dhahbour of the Ethiopian Somali region.
In it Dualeh expressed his concerns and condemned the terrorists acts calling it a ‘savage terrorist killings’. The minister also sent out condolences on behalf of the government of Somaliland to the Ethiopian government, the people of Ethiopia, friends and relatives of the deceased and injured.
FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT
May 30, 2007 – Saudi Arabia-based Al-Jabri Commercial Establishment has reached agreement with the government of Somaliland and the regional authority of Puntland to build livestock facilities in Berbera and Bossasso.
Abu Dhabi, May 27, 2007— Somaliland has found doors open for her in a number of African capitals after being isolated over the last 16 years.
Faisal Ali Waraabe, Chairman of Somaliland’s Justice and Welfare Party, known as UCID, made these remarks in a meeting here with members of the Somaliland Community in the United Arab Emirates.
Read full text...
Somaliland Forum Press Release:
London , May 28, 2007 – Yet another reconciliation conference, the 15 th, is called in Mogadishu, Somalia by the same warlords and the same cash-hungry opportunists. These self appointed leaders have become the true enemy of the people of Somalia. They have depleted Somalia of all optimism in the previous 14 “reconciliation” conferences. We urge the world not to allow these criminals to dissolve what’s left of the Somali nation in this charade known as the 15 th reconciliation conference.
Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin (R), Somali President Abdillahi Yusuf (C) and Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi (L), during the opening of the new Ethiopian embassy in Mogadishu |
MOGADISHU, May 27, 2007 – Ethiopia opened an embassy in the chaotic Somali capital next to the presidential palace on Sunday, the latest sign of the Horn of Africa military power's close ties with a Somali government it wants to sustain.
Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin, a key player Addis Ababa's efforts to bolster the government of Somali President Abdillahi Yusuf, opened the embassy on the third day of his latest visit to Mogadishu. Seyoum and Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi, whose appointment from obscurity to one of Somalia's top jobs came at Addis Ababa's behest in late 2004, jointly raised Ethiopia's green, yellow and red, flag at the opening ceremony.
ADDIS ABABA, May 28, 2007 – A grenade tossed into a crowd in Ethiopia's volatile Somali region on Monday wounded the local president and several other people celebrating a national holiday, officials said.
The government quickly blamed the attack on the Ogaden National Liberation Movement (ONLF), separatist rebels who have been increasingly active in the remote east and last month attacked a Chinese-run oil exploration field killing 74.
Mogadishu, Somalia, May 30, 2007 – “This situation is, in a sense, worse than the open fighting in the city," said Nor Farah, a Mogadishu resident, as he complained the deteriorating security situation in the Somali capital for the past two days.
"At that time, we knew where to run to and where to run from, but now we don't know when we will be get caught in a shootout or roadside bomb or grenade attack against government forces," Nor explained.
Race Is on to Lay Undersea Fiber-Optic Cable on Eastern Africa Coast, Link 22 Nations
NAIROBI, Kenya, June 01, 2007 – Plans to lay an undersea fiber-optic cable off eastern Africa could be the beginning of the end of crackling long-distance calls, slow dial-up Internet connections and universities without e-mail.
Four projects are in the works to link 22 eastern, central and southern African countries to the world's network of submarine cables and 21st century communications.
DJIBOUTI CITY, Djibouti, 30 May 2007 – Allow us to introduce you to Djibouti, the United States' new East African ally in its campaign against terrorists:
Its territory is slightly smaller than the state of New Hampshire. It is arid and torridly hot, 9,000 square miles of volcanic rock sticking out like a sore thumb on the Horn of Africa. It exports practically nothing that is locally produced and has almost no arable land. Once a French colony, its post-colonial trajectory has been wobbly and worse, including a civil war between ethnic groups that ended only five years ago.
ead full text...
NEKEMTE, ETHIOPIA May 29, 2007 - During the six months that 25-year-old Aman was detained in an Addis Ababa prison, he alleges, police kicked and punched him and kept him for weeks on end in a tiny cell with his hands bound as if always in prayer.
A violent Islamist threat is far from over
Nairobi, Kenya, May 31 2007 – IN MARCH and April about 400,000 Somalis fled their capital, Mogadishu, as Ethiopian forces backing Somalia's transitional government razed whole districts in an attempt to destroy the country's remaining Islamist militants. That offensive came only months after the Ethiopians claimed to have defeated Somalia's ruling Union of Islamic Courts in a stunningly swift campaign at the end of last year. Despite Ethiopia's latest claims of success, the country is in as perilous a state as ever.
29 May 2007: Press Advisory by the UN, World Bank, Saferworld, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Norway, Sweden, UK and the European Commission
The United Nations, World Bank and European donors will be holding consultations with key Non-State Actors from southern and central Somalia on the identified priorities and content of the Somali Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) and the EU-Norway Country Strategy Paper (CSP) on 29-30 May 2007 in Kampala, Uganda.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, May 29, 2007 – Police have arrested five people in connection with attacks in eastern Ethiopia that killed at least 16 people and injured dozens, Ethiopian state media reported.
The Ethiopian News Agency said late Monday the five were arrested in the main eastern Ethiopia town of Jijiga, following a Monday grenade attack during a national day ceremony attended by 100,000 people.
A Yemeni man chews qat in the main qat market in Sanaa May 9, 2007. |
SANAA, May 28, 2007 - Lunchtime in Sanaa. Offices begin to close, the crowds disappear from the ancient souqs, restaurants hurry their last customers out: the qat is here.
The arrival of this mildly stimulant shrub by truck from the countryside heralds the end of the working day as Yemenis settle down to chew its leaves for the next four, six or even 10 hours.
NAIROBI, May 29, 2007 – An outbreak of cholera that left five people dead in two villages in the Tadjourah region of northwestern Djibouti has been contained, an official with the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on 29 May.
|
|
Headlines |
President Dahir Rayale Kahin (right), taking the guard of honour at Egal international Hargeysa airport with the Vice-president Ahmed Yussuf Yassin at his side. Photofile |
Hargeysa, June 2, 2007 (SL Times) - Chaos ensued at Egal international Hargeysa airport today, as President Dahir Rayale Kahin was about to leave the country for Europe [Norway and Sweden] on an Ethiopian airlines flight bound for Addis Ababa was delayed, when the airline's security staff at Hargeysa airport insisted on searching the president and his delegation travelling with him to Europe.
|
Togdheer junction; goats can be seen rummaging through the pile of rubbish, while a traffic police officer standing nearby directs the busy road traffic |
Hargeysa, June 2, 2007 (SL Times) - The city is chocked with uncollected refuse, potholed roads, roaming goats, cattle, stray dogs and donkey carts. This is Hargeysa, the capital city of the Republic of Somaliland. This is the city of Hussein Muhammud Ji'ir, the incumbent mayor of Hargeysa. The very first democratically elected mayor of Hargeysa since the late 1960's.
|
|
Hargeysa, June 2, 2007 (SL Times) – Somaliland Council of Ministers endorsed an agreement signed by the Somaliland Ministry of Water & Minerals with an oil exploration company called Prime Resource Limited which was given a concession to explore for oil and gas in Block 26 of Hargeysa region, while at same time the $1 million US dollar bonus payment for the concession was waived last Monday by the government's council of ministers [cabinet].
The agreement was put forward by the president to the cabinet in last Monday’s meeting. 57 ministers voted for endorsing the agreement and the decision to waive the $1 million bonus fee, only one minister disagreed.
|
Hargeysa, June 2, 2007 (SL. Times) – The Somaliland government on Wednesday issued a ban on celebrations of the June 3 human rights day in Somaliland.
The celebrations were called by the national umbrella for Somaliland human rights organizations Shuro-net, which recognizes June 3 rd of every year as the country's national human rights day.
|
|
Buhoodle, June 2, 2007 (SL Times) – At least 15 persons were killed in Buhoodle district of Togdheer region in Somaliland after a fire-fight erupted between two local Buhoodle clans yesterday.
The clash started early morning on Thursday, when a local Buhoodle man shot dead another man from another clan in a dispute over land in Buhoodle.
Read full text..
|
Ali Mohammed Ghedi, the Prime Minister of the Transitional Federal Government of Somali |
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, June 1, 2007 – The National Somali Reconciliation Congress would be a social gathering- not political one- where by exclusively clans and sub clans would convene to forgive each other; forget the past animosity and atrocities and restore properties confiscated illegally, said Ali Mohammed Ghedi, the Prime Minister of the Transitional Federal Government of Somali.
|
HARGEISA, Somalia, May 31, 2007 – The president of Somaliland on Thursday commuted death sentences against two men convicted of killing four foreign aid workers to life in jail after foreign appeals.
The move came amid strenuous diplomatic efforts by the self-declared independent republic, in the north-west of Somalia in the Horn of Africa, to gain international recognition.
Oslo, Norway, June 2, 2007 (SL Times) – A very successful three day conference, arranged by Somaliland Women’s Solidarity Association, has taken place in Oslo, Norway on May 24-26.
Prominent representatives from three Norwegian government ministries took part, as well as other politicians, lawyers, NGOs (NRC, NPA,Amnesty) and women from other Somali organizations in Norway.
|
Somaliland President Dahir Rayale Kahin |
HARGEISA, May 27, 2007 - Somaliland President Dahir Rayale Kahin will visit Sweden and Norway early June and will meet with senior officials of these two Scandinavian countries.
Abdillahi Mohammed Duale, Somaliland’s Foreign Minister, who will accompany the President, said that the President would leave Hargeisa on Saturday, 2 June, for Addis Ababa where he would hold consultations with AU officials.
Read full text...
|
BRUSSELS, May 30, 2007 – NATO allies are studying a request from the African Union to provide air transport for its troops in Somalia, an alliance official said on Wednesday.
"We are seeking military advice on how to respond to the request. There is an intention among allies to help," said the official of an AU request he said NATO received in recent days.
The official said he understood the support would be similar to that provided to AU peacekeepers in Sudan's Darfur region, where NATO planes have since 2005 helped troop reinforcements and rotations.
|
Chande, Stoyed and Mazrui chat during the conference at Munyonyo |
Kampala, Uganda, May 27, 2007 – UGANDA should not have deployed in Somalia, renowned African scholar, Prof. Ali Mazrui, has said. “ Ethiopia made a mistake to interfere with the affairs in Somalia. It complicated the situation,” Mazrui told over 1,000 Rotarians during a conference at Speke Resort Munyonyo, Kampala last week.
Read full text...
|
ADDIS ABABA, May 31, 2007 – Five Ethiopian soldiers wounded in an attack on a truck in central Somalia have returned to their camp, the foreign ministry said Thursday, in a rare admission of Ethiopian casualties in Somalia.
The ministry said that Ethiopian troops had shot dead five people responsible for the attack immediately after it occurred on Wednesday near Beledweyne, around 300 kilometers (185 miles) north of the capital Mogadishu.
|
Tony and Cherie Blair board a plane as they begin a tour of Africa. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images |
May 29, 2007 - Tony Blair today kicked off his farewell tour of Africa by praising the Libyan dictator, Muammar Gadafy, as a man he found "very easy" to deal with and one who had always kept his word to him. Speaking to reporters on the plane en route to Libya, the prime minister said they spoke several times a year, and had a "relationship of trust" on first-name terms. |
|
Would-be immigrants sit on the deck of an Armed Forces of Malta ship after being transferred from a trawler around 80 nautical miles south of Malta, May 31, 2007. Twenty-seven would-be immigrants, believed to all be from Somalia, were rescued by the Sicilian trawler "Esaco" when their boat capsized as they attempted to reach European soil from Africa |
Malta, May 30, 2007 – An Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) patrol vessel is rescuing 25 Somali illegal immigrants 80 nautical miles south of Malta. The boat the illegal immigrants were on capsized, leaving them clinging onto a tuna pen towed by an Italian-registered fishing vessel, Esaco.
|
|
MOSCOW, May 29, 2007 – Russia intends to provide $500 million in aid to the world's poorest countries over the next few years, the Russian finance minister said Tuesday.
" Russia's aid within the multilateral and bilateral agreements on the development of poorest countries will increase up to $500 million," Alexei Kudrin said.
The minister also said that the next Cabinet meeting on Thursday will discuss financial aid to Nicaragua as part of the international community's debt relief effort, with Russia planning to write off $5 million.
|
|
In Potsdam this week, Rice challenged her Russian colleague to pronounce a difficult word. None of Kosovo's problems got solved. |
POTSDAM, May 31 2007 - During a news conference held in Potsdam, Germany, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice engaged in word play and challenged her Russian counterpart, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov, to pronounce a difficult English name.
She announced Wednesday that U.S. President George W. Bush will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Kennebunkport, Maine, on July 1-2, and then teasingly challenged Lavrov to pronounce " Kennebunkport."
|
|
By Bill Fletcher Jr.
NNPA Columnist
Somalia is an orphan of the Cold War. A toy played with by the Soviet Union and the U.S., Somalia was invaluable during the heated contention between the two superpowers. Converting to an ally of the U.S. in the mid 1970s after years of proclaiming itself to be an example of "scientific socialism" on the East Coast of Africa, the regime of Siyad Barre was in actuality an authoritarian client state held together through repression and US support.
|
|
Abdi Hassan (1519) from Nathan Hale |
Seattle, May 12, 2007 – O'Dea's hammerlock on the Metro League boys track championship now has reached 10 years.
This time, the Irish retained the trophy with balance and depth. They won only three events -- Tony Melonson in the high jump at 6 feet 1, John Amundsen in the 300-meter hurdles in 41.79 seconds, Donald Lisowski in the 400 meters in 50.93 seconds -- but collected placement points like Easter eggs. They finished with 130 points. Seattle Prep was second with 88 points.
|
|
|
|
|
Unable or unwilling to deal with the countless severe problems facing them, Somalia’s politicians have resorted to creating a fictitious world arranged to their own liking. A good example is the oft-delayed so-called Somali reconciliation conference that is supposed to take place in Mogadishu in June. Instead of focusing on bringing together the real antagonists in Somalia’s conflict and helping them reach a workable solution to their problems, Abdillahi Yusuf, Ali Geedi and Ali Mahdi have opted to bring together carefully selected tribal elders who would rubber stamp their agenda. Things have already gotten so farcical that Ali Mahdi is talking about inviting elders and sultans from Somaliland to participate in his Mogadishu jamboree. What kind of insanity is this? Can anyone in his right mind believe that Abdillahi Yusuf, Ali Geedi and Ali Mahdi are going to do anything for Somaliland when they have failed so miserably in fixing their own problems. It is precisely this sort of foolhardy, the total lack of common sense, let alone a sense of realism that resulted in their cities, towns and villages being occupied and bombarded by foreign troops.
Read full text...
|
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.
|
|
By Jamal Madar
Lately, we have been hearing fascinating UFO-like stories about purported secret spy planes frequently scouring the length and breadth of Somaliland’s parched landscape and coastline. More intriguingly, however, the Nairobi-based International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) which controls Somaliland and Somalia’s air space said ‘they were not aware of any planes that were flying over Somaliland’, according to Somaliland’s Minister of Aviation, Ali Mohammed Waran Adde. But these planes were widely reported in the local media and witnessed by many people. They flew over villages, farms, major townships and cities throughout much of Somaliland territory.
Read full text...
|
|
Somaliland - Rising Fears And Frustration
By Ibrahim Adam Ghalib, Borama, Awdal
Democracy is the rule by the ruled. The central idea is that democracies place key political powers in the hands of the people. At minimum citizens in a democracy choose their leaders freely from among competing groups and individuals. In highly developed democracies of the world the rights of the people extend well beyond this simple act of choosing leaders. Voters in advanced democracies are free to propose a wide array of public policy options and join groups that promote those options. Voters may even directly determine through referendum proposed policy measures submitted for direct popular vote that will become the law of the country.
|
|
Somaliland: The Case For Recognition
Abdirahman Aw Ali presents the case for African Union acceptance of Somaliland into the union.
It was January 28, 2007 as I boarded my plane from New York to London on my way to South Africa. I was reading the Financial Times when I noticed in an article that Kosovo was to declare statehood, and how the European Union (EU) is setting the stage for Kosovo to be an internationally recognized state. I could not help myself asking why the African Union (AU) is not playing the same role with my birth place, Somaliland?
|
|
The Supreme Court Needs Our Urgent and Genuine Help
By Abdillahi Hussein Daud
In a democratic system of government, the Supreme Court is the final arbitrator of all disputes. It is, therefore, extremely important that citizens have faith in what some call the referee of the last resort---the Supreme Court. However, its recent decisions vis-à-vis “Election Commission” and “Security Committees” call into questions the apex court’s very ability to discharge the constitutional duty of rendering judgments independent of that of the executive branch of the government. Before the public’s trust in the court, as the dispenser of justice, finally fades away, judges in the apex court must rescue of what is left, if any, of their reputation in the eyes of increasingly impatient public.
|
|
By Kassahun Addis
It has been weeks since some semblance a peculiar form of stability prevailed over the vast territories of Somalia. And the whole world is talking about the Somali reconciliation process that is forthcoming assuming that it won’t be postponed for an indefinite period of time. It is good news for Somalians and the region, too. However, questions surround the reconciliation process. Who are the participants? On what basis is representation and participation possible? What is the jurisdiction of the reconciliation conference? What is the status and roles of moderates and extremists of the ousted Union of Islamic Courts leaderships in the process?
Read full text...
|
|
By Abdirahman Ahmed Ali
The ubiquitous enemies of Somaliland had continuously conjured up all possible tools to disrupt the development and progress of the nation. All throughout Somaliland’s history, our foes bombed women and children in major cities resulting in the death of half million innocent civilians in 1988 and these unscrupulous individuals are still attempting to destabilize the nation’s diplomacy, security and treasury. In 2003, foreign aid workers were assassinated in Somaliland in an attempt to tarnish the image of Somaliland in the international community, which was followed by a bombing in Hargeysa last month.
Read full text...
|
|
By Mohamud Samatar
There is no doubt that the Imbhagati made government of Somalia is contemplating how to create chaos and unrest in Somaliland to bring it under it's control, but the irony is Somaliland has a democratly elected government , has declared that she is no longer part of Somalia, withdrew it's union with Somalia and declared it's independent in May 18 1991. Somaliland has been peaceful and has held free and fair presidential election and Parliament.
|
|
|
|
A Taiwanese medical mission to Somaliland allows Taiwan to show some of its "soft power."
Somalilanders need help in a wide variety of areas, from health and education to supplying clean water. |
By HO YI-CHING
The mission of the Taiwan Root Medical Peace Corps to Somaliland is an example of humanitarian co-operation between two countries seeking recognition in the international community.
Taipei, Taiwan, June 1, 2007 – One day in May 2005, Liu Chi-chun, founder of Taiwan Root Medical Peace Corps, received an email, saying, "We both are orphans in the international community. Nevertheless, you have 20 some friends and you are rich, we only have one friend and we are poor. And the things you do are what my people need. Can you come to help us?"
|
|
A US marshal escorts James Ford Seale, 71, from the federal courthouse in Jackson, Mississippi. Photograph: Rogelio V Solis/AP |
May 29, 2007 - Thomas Moore is looking forward to finally confronting face-to-face James Ford Seale, a Ku Klux Klansman who came back from the dead.
"I want to look at him," he said. "I want to tell him about the pain he caused me and my family.
|
|
By Medhane Tadesse
So far the stabilization mission for Somalia is being handled by Ethiopia. On behalf of whom? I would say on behalf of the African Union. The move also represents the interests of the regional grouping, the Intergovernmental Authority for Development/IGAD/. The UN also sanctioned the move; hence one could argue that Ethiopia acted on behalf of the whole world. The main fissures of the so-called the international community: the UN, the AU and IGAD or for that matter the US have supported Ethiopia’s move before and after the actual military operation. Thus how and why did the same members of the international community failed to commit themselves to the successful completion of the peace support operations?
|
|
Tony Blair reflects on the lessons of his decade as Britain's prime minister
May 31 2007 - TEN years ago, if you had told me I would spend a significant part of my premiership on foreign policy, I would have been surprised, a little shocked and probably, politically, somewhat alarmed. Even today, we all run for office concentrating on domestic issues. “Foreign” policy rarely wins votes, and can easily lose them. Yet nowadays the reality is increasingly that we are obliged as leaders to think, work and act internationally.
|
|
May 31, 2007
There are many deceptions in and about Africa. Some are created and sustained by external forces, while others have been created and sustained by Africans themselves. One of such deceptions created by Africans is that which holds that, Cameroon is a single country with two official languages: English and French. Officially it might be correct, but the reality is a completely different story. The lies about Cameroon have existed now for 47 years.
|
|
“Currently we are sitting in the Namib - most ancient desert in the world after having had a tough day of sliding overloaded Land Rovers down the slip faces of frightingly high sand dunes. Followin g Garmin helps fight killer disease.
The Cape Peninsula winter rains had come early but the miserable conditions failed to dampen the spirit of hundreds of Land Rover owners who now dressed in an array of bush jackets, balaclavas and gumboots, danced in the mud in a vast paddock at De Grendel wine estate near Milnerton. Adventurers had travelled all the way from Namibia, Gauteng, the Eastern Cape and Durbs.
|
|
|
|
By Kiflu Hussain
28 May 2007
Perhaps the best way to understand the present quagmire in Mogadishu, is by reading the titled Somalia; The problem child of Africa authored in 1977 by a venerable geography professor named Mesfin W/Mariam. In that book and numerous others he published afterwards, Mesfin predicted today’s events in the Horn of Africa.
|
|
|
