18-12-2007
Bodies washed ashore - it seems to be a familiar picture along the coast of Yemen. Last weekend, another 200 or so migrants and refugees from the Horn of Africa drowned there. By chance, a few of the dead were spotted by a Spanish team from the organisation Doctors Without Borders, who immediately sounded the alarm.
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Nairobi, 17th December 2007 - The Italian government has pledged 450,000 euros to support UNHCR emergency activities in Somalia. The donation was done in close cooperation with the Department of Development Aid of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ambassador of Italy to the Transitional Federal Government based in Nairobi. It will help UNHCR to enhance operations aimed at improving the living conditions of internally displaced persons, who are the first victims of the current humanitarian emergency, as well as of refugees, who will be ensured better access to basic services such as shelter, food, water, health and education.
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Hargeysa, Somaliland, December 22, 2007 (SL Times) – The Somaliland minister of Agriculture, Aden Ahmed Elmi opened on Sunday in Hargeysa a training course for 50 candidates for the Somaliland Farmer Feeding schools. The training course which is being conducted jointly by the Somaliland ministry for Agriculture and the World Food Organisation, FAO, will last for five days.
The SOS Kinderhof Children's Hospital in Mogadishu is at epicenter of fighting between militias, and Ethiopian forces backed by Somalis loyal to transitional gov't.
December 18, 2007
Gunbattles continue also this morning in northern Mogadishu theatre since the weekend to a fierce confrontation between Ethiopian troops and Somali forces loyal to the transitional federal government, on one side, and the composite armed opposition.
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Hargeysa, December 19, 2007 – The president of Somalia's breakaway state of Somaliland pardoned three key political prisoners Tuesday after more than five months in prison.
Dr. Mohamed Abdi Gabose, the chairman of Somaliland's QARAN political party, and his two deputies Mohamed Hashi Elmi and Jamaal Aideed Ibrahim were released at 2am Tuesday from Mandhera Prison.
Jerrycans of petrol and motor oil on sale in Mogadishu |
Nairobi, 19 Dec 2007 - The Somali state of Puntland has created a new oil ministry, the government said Tuesday, after foreign companies clamoured to explore the resource in the region believed to sitting on hydrocarbons.
The president of semi-autonomous Puntland, Mohamud Musse Hersi, named Hassan Osman Mohamud as the new minister for oil and minerals when he appointed a new governnment on Sunday, Information Minister Abdirahman Mohamed Bankah said.
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MOGADISHU, 19 Dec. 2007--The UN children's fund has called for the creation of safe zones in Somalia for about 1.5m children whose lives have been affected by conflict.
Persistent battles in the capital between insurgents and Ethiopian-backed government forces have created Africa's worst humanitarian crisis, the UN says.
"We have reports of both parties recruiting child soldiers," Unicef's Christian Balslev-Olesen told the BBC.
NAIROBI , December 21, 2007 – Somali and Ethiopian migrants continue to set out to Yemen from Somalia's self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, despite the deadly risks and warnings from aid agencies, local sources told IRIN on 21 December.
"As we speak, there is a boat getting ready to depart for Yemen with about 200 migrants," said Abdirazaq Omar Osman, a journalist in Bosasso, the Puntland commercial capital. He said the boat would most likely leave on 21 December "if it has not already left." A week earlier at least 100 migrants died trying to reach Yemen.
December 17, 2007
Motivated by a climate of widespread environmental devastation, Africa has boldly moved to initiate a continent-wide ban on plastic bags in an effort to eliminate the billions of throwaway sacks that are marring its cities and landscapes (San Francisco, Melbourne, and other cities have already banned them altogether). It’s no surprise that what was once viewed as a step towards modernization has instead created far-reaching problems for rural and urban communities that initially embraced the cheaply manufactured plastic bag in lieu of totes made of indigenous materials and biodegradables.
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Djibouti, December 22, 2007 (Somaliland Times) – The government of Djibouti has been hosting around 1800 US Anti Terrorist task force since early 2002. As their name indicates, the purpose of the US forces based in Djibouti is to monitor and destroy terrorist cells in the region. But there has been some intriguing developments that have raised some questions about the seriousness of US counter terrorism policy in the region.
Foremost of these developments which has raised many eyebrows is that the tiny country of Djibouti which is where the American anti-terrorist forces are based, has substantial and undeniable links to radical Islamic groups. For instance, Ahmed Nur Jim’ale one the owners of Somalia’s al-Barakat Group which was branded by the US as a terrorist financial organization now lives in Djibouti.
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PEACE AND SECURITY COUNCIL
104 th MEETING
20 December 2007
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
The Peace and Security Council, at its 104 th meeting held on 20 December 2007, was briefed on the evolution of the situation in Somalia by the Commission, as well as by representatives of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia, Kenya, as Chair of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and the United Nations.
Council stressed that the situation in Somalia represents one of the most serious peace and security challenges facing the continent. Council noted that both Somalis and the international community as a whole have not been able to seize the window of opportunity that arose in December last year when the TFG regained control of Mogadishu and other parts of the country, to decisively address the conflict in Somalia.
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Headlines |
QARAN chairman Dr. Mohamed Abdi Gabose (center) and his two deputies Mohamed Hashi Elmi (L) and Jamal Aideed Ibrahim (R), soon after their release in Hargeysa |
Hargeysa, Somaliland, December 22, 2007 (SL Times) – “The three top leaders of the QARAN political association will continue to be banned from politics despite their release from prison on Tuesday,” said Yusuf Tallabo, Somaliland's Deputy Minister of Justice.
QARAN chairman Dr. Mohamed Abdi Gabose and his two deputies Mohamed Hashi Elmi and Jamal Aideed Ibrahim were arrested on July 28 and sentenced on August 8, 2007 by a regional court to 3 years and nine months in prison. The court also banned the 3 leaders from politics for 5 years for founding an illegal organization and endangering public order through staging of political rallies.
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Buroa, Somaliland, December 22, 2007 (SL Times) – A seminar which went on for two days in Buroa, the administrative capital of Togdheer region, and brought together 30 women from the Sanag and Togdheer region to discuss the role of women in the political arena in Somaliland has concluded.
The seminar was conducted jointly by Negaad and HBF, the largest women's organisations in Somaliland, and provided a platform for prospective political candidates from the three Somaliland parties to discuss issues that they will face in the upcoming elections, issues which included but were not limited to gender under-representation, education and the role of women in Somaliland's political landscape.
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Hargeysa, Somaliland, December 22, 2007 (SL Times) – A press communiqué issued by the ministry of Water and Minerals on 16 Dec. 2007 stated that the ministry will soon publish the data of the survey carried out by the Norwegian seismic survey specialists ‘ TGS-NOPED’ early this year near eastern Berbera coastal area and parts of Sanag region as well as other data collected by TGS.
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Buroa city mayor, M. Hassan and Mr. Van Der Plas of Habitat opening the new market in Buroa |
Buroa, Somaliland, December 22, 2007 (SL Times) – The Mayor of Buroa, Mohamud Ahmed Hassan formally opened on Sunday the new Buroa Meat and Produce complex. The complex which as has been under construction in Buroa for the past year will provide facilities in two separate market halls for traders and their customers.
Addis Ababa, December 20, 2007 – Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has accused the UN of playing a damaging role in the Somali crisis. "The situation there - as hard as it is - it could do with less hype and exaggeration," he told the BBC.
It is nearly a year since Mr Meles sent troops to help Somalia's government oust Islamists from much of Somalia.
By John Carlin
"Not in this country! Not in this country!" An African National Congress man came up to me and uttered this cry as I was having a quiet glass of wine a couple of hours after Jacob Zuma's election victory.
A Zuma supporter, he was middle-aged, highly educated, well connected with the ANC's upper echelons, and sober.
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Hargeysa, Somaliland, December 22, 2007 (SL Times) – The Somaliland minister of Agriculture, Aden Ahmed Elmi opened on Sunday in Hargeysa a training course for 50 candidates for the Somaliland Farmer Feeding schools.
The training course which is being conducted jointly by the Somaliland ministry for Agriculture and the World Food Organisation, FAO, will last for five days.
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Half in Iraq; record number in Somalia
New York , December 18, 2007—Journalists were killed in unusually high numbers in 2007, making it the deadliest year for the press in more than a decade, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists’ end-of-year analysis. Worldwide, CPJ found 64 journalists were killed in direct connection to their work in 2007—up from 56 last year—and it is investigating another 22 deaths to determine whether they were work-related. CPJ has recorded only one year with a higher death toll: 1994, when 66 journalists were killed, many in conflicts in Algeria, Bosnia, and Rwanda.
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| HARGEYSA, Dec 21, 2007 - A group of Somali journalists who fled violence and death threats in the capital Mogadishu have once again fled another Somali region after local rulers demanded the journalists leave.
The group of thirteen journalists lived together in a temporary home in Hargeysa, capital of Somalia's separatist enclave of Somaliland.
Addis Ababa , December 21, 2007 – The African Union Peace and Security Council (PSC) warned Friday that the escalating crisis in war-torn Somalia represented one of the biggest peace and security challenges on the continent.
In a statement from the headquarters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, the AU called for greater "political will and resources" to end the conflict, which has displaced more than half a million residents of the capital Mogadishu since February.
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Analysis
by Issa Shivji
December 19, 2007: Energy and militarisation under the aegis of globalisation is the agenda of US imperialism. Terrorism is a justifying ideology; a means to rally the American people on the one hand, and to demonise liberation struggles from imperialism by the peoples of the South, on the other.
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By Peter Krogh Andersen and Jakob Sorgenfri
15 December 2007
“The human face of globalization.” In these words the global flow of remittances is explained. According to the UN agency International Fund of Agricultural Development (IFAD), 300 billion US dollars were sent from migrants in western countries to their relatives in developing countries in 2006. This amount is three times bigger than the Official Development Aid. The outflows from Denmark amounted to 1.8 billion US dollars. Despite the large sums, there is barely any political focus or media attention on the phenomenon.
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Adde Muse, the Puntland leader |
BAIDOA, Somalia Dec 21 - Natural resources found in Somalia do not belong to any single clan but must be shared nation-wide, a Somali federal government official said today.
Mohamud "Bekos" Abdi, petroleum and energy vice minister, told the Voice of America's Somali-language radio program that a national petroleum law is up for debate in parliament.
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Hargeysa, Somaliland, December 22, 2007 (SL Times) – At least 1200 students study at Ahmed Dhagax Primary/Intermediate School in Hargeysa, Somaliland. The average of students in each class is 60 students per class. According to the head master of the school, Sa’id Jama, the students of two classes sit on the floor. These two classes are standard one.
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Washington, 21 December 2007 - The commander of U.S. forces in East Africa and the Middle East says he has ordered his naval commanders to take a tougher approach to pirates off the coast of Somalia, in an effort to help the region's economy and promote stability. VOA's Al Pessin reports from Washington.
In a year-end VOA interview, Admiral William Fallon said that, in recent months, pirates off the coast of East Africa have become bolder, attacking more and larger ships. So, he decided to do something about it.
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A familiar sight on Shelbyville's square lately has been an influx of refugees from the war-torn country of Somalia |
Shelbyville, USA, December 22, 2007 - For a rural Tennessee town like Shelbyville, the public square typically displays a cross-section of the entire community.
People are on their way to the county courthouse. Perhaps folks are there to shop or to drop by one of the banks to conduct important business.
Muslim pilgrims perform the ritual 'stoning of the devil' in Mina, in Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2007 |
MINA, December 18, 2007 - More than 2.5 million pilgrims are expected to converge today on Mount Arafat, about 15 km to the east of Makkah, at the climax of this year’s Haj after spending a night of meditation and introspection in the tent city of Mina yesterday.
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Haatuf Cartoon on 'New Press Law"
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The release of Qaran leaders Muhammad Abdi Gaboose, Muhammad Hashi Ilmi and Jamal Aidid was an excellent gift to the people of Somaliland on the occasion of the holy Muslim celebration of Eid. Like many Somalilanders we wish that they were released much earlier, or better yet, that they were never put behind bars in the first place, still, we commend the president for his bold, though belated action. Somaliland prides itself in not having any political prisoners and it should stay that way.
Now that Qaran leaders are out of jail, and with the municipal and presidential elections getting nearer and nearer, we urge Somaliland’s politicians, elders, religious leaders and civil society to engage in dialogue on how to navigate through the complex issues and difficult times ahead of us.
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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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By A/Nasir M Abdilleh (Six)
A true incident. It Happened this Year January, 2007.
I am hoping you are doing fine and wishing all Somalilanders the best. Allah ma'akum in the quest of searching recognition, for our beloved mother Somaliland. Let me tell you this is a true story that happened last week and it's a message from God to you all seeking recognition for Somaliland.
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By Yusuf Deyr, Hargeisa
History begins with writing a simple commenting note. Three things drive a man out of his country. Poverty, bad – ruler, and a broken – love. One generation plants the trees, other generation enjoys the fruit, and another sits under the shades of the trees with empty – stomach. Life is a theater where the worst people of the society sometimes get the best seats. We hang little thieves and take off our hats to greet big ones as a salute and respect.
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Colonel Yusuf And His Ultimatums: What Makes Him Blast?
By Mohamed A. Awale
As you may well aware of it, Colonel bloody and the ailing warlord-trans-president of Somalia has spoken. He recently issued a chilling new ultimatum and empty threats against any one who dare to question and raise a finger about his endless murderous venture in Somalia including world bodies, NGOs, civil society and anyone or entity he perceives of undermining his aspiration of dictatorial power quest. With his usual stoic-faced, robotic-like stiff posturing and surrounded by an ever watchful eyes of the Tigrian security apparatus, on top of Hottentots of ragtag squads from hometown, he blasted before a bunch of cowardly subordinate warlords and failed politicians of the so-called tfg’s civil servant in a dusty warehouse of Baidoa city.
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Somaliland should be recognised
By HASSAN YUSSUF AHMED
Reports that the Bush administration is seriously considering recognising Somaliland are most welcome. Without a doubt, Somaliland is an oasis of stability in a sea of anarchic Somali politics.
Moreover, Somaliland is an important partner in the war on terror. Somaliland is a democracy and should be rewarded by being afforded international recognition.
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By Ahmed I. Hassan
Lately one is liable to find a barrage of unti-Somaliland articles in most Somali websites. In fact one of these websites namely wardheernews.com has become, despite its earlier claims of journalistic objectivity and fairness, nothing more than a mouthpiece of these Somaliland bashers.
The authors of these articles (Hirad, Mahad, Tani, A. H. Abdulla, Roble, Ali Geeleh, Gaildon, Gamal Hassan, so-called one-man NSPU, etc) naturally display diverse intellectual faculties and writing competences. However, they all show an intriguing pattern of commonality in their reasoning and themes.
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By Bashir Goth
Dear Somalis
In the diaspora
Dear sisters
Dear brothers
When celebrating Eid
When sauntering in Christmas
Spare a moment
When showering gifts
On your lucky children
Spare a moment
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By Abdifatah Mohamed Ahmed
Citizen’s of any country in the world can be categorized into three division’s , the first part is the junior citizen’s ,the next part is the middle class citizen’s and the last part is the senior citizen’s which are the aged and senile people. On the other hand also we can discriminate the aboriginal people of any country into two segments. Generation X that comprises (youth + middle class citizens) and generation Y that consists of geriatric and senile citizen’s
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A guide pricks the bark of a frankincense tree in Oman |
SALALAH, Oman – Laila al Nudbi's dark eyes smiled warmly through her veil. It was a very soft sell. "This is the best, sir. This is finest quality, sir. This will make you smell better. Life will also taste better."
The eyes laughed again, her hands holding a small pile of translucent pebbles of frankincense. An incense burner smoked on the counter beside her. The air was filled with the sweet smell of an ancient past.It's possible that the aromatic gift of frankincense carried to the newborn Jesus came from Oman, scholars say. The desert nation has exported the precious material for more than 2,000 years.
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“Nuclear, nuclear, nuclear. The word has been around for decades, and for the longest time, was at the center of American foreign policy and the deepest fears of the American people. Nuclear brinkmanship. Nuclear winter. Nuclear holocaust. Etc. It's a great, big, fat, important, and serious word. Its very existence has changed the face of the planet.” -William Rivers Pitt [truthout.com May 5/06]
By William Thomas
GOING NUCLEAR
Despite a just-released U.S. national intelligence consensus that Iran is not developing nuclear weapons, apocalyptic fundamentalists George Bush and Dick Cheney remain intent on ordering an all-out attack against one of the world's oldest (and best armed) civilizations. As governments and citizenry protest this folly, an overriding question torments many minds: Will the architects of more than one-million civilian corpses in Iraq choose to go “go nuclear” against Iran?
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Photo by J. Fennessey/WCS |
December 21, 2007
Genetic analysis shows that the world's tallest animal—the giraffe—may actually be several species, according to a study published in the open access journal BMC Biology. Existing taxonomy recognizes only one species of giraffe.
A man votes during a previous |
December 21, 2007
Martin Luther King Jr., in A Letter from Birmingham, contemplating the role of the clergy in the US Vietnam war, writes that “True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice.”
Elsewhere he reformulates philosopher Spinoza’s dictum -- “Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind; a disposition for benevolence, trust and justice,” thus indicating that peace cannot be defined by its opposite, but rather by what it contains: justice.
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Epidemic of brutal sexual violence plagues the region where women are being raped with impunity.
December 20, 2007
In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where thousands of rapes are committed each year and sexual violence is the norm, Marie Jeanne's story is all too familiar.
She was raped three weeks ago in the Rutshuru district of the eastern North Kivu province by four soldiers from the Congolese army.
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By Rooble Mohamed
Well the last discussion of the Pentagon about Somaliland was a positive move from the US. Some would say it is the best during the past 17 years. I think it is still hard for some people to believe that the US is finally in favor of Somaliland’s recognition. Why not? What is Somaliland differ from its own sister, Kosovo?
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