HARGEISA, February 14, 2008 - Authorities in the breakaway Somali republic of Somaliland arrested five gunmen in connection with this week's kidnapping of a German aid worker, officials said on Thursday.
Daniel Bronkal, who works for German Agro Action (GAA), was seized in an ambush on his car and held for several hours before being freed on Tuesday evening after local troops fought off the gunmen who had abducted him.
MOGADISHU, Somalia, February 16, 2008 - Nearly 300 Somalis were killed and hundreds more wounded in clashes in the Somali capital last month, a local human rights group said on Saturday.
The Elman Human Rights group said 292 people had been killed and a further 325 wounded in Mogadishu in January. Civilians are frequently caught in the crossfire between government troops and their Ethiopian allies and Eritrean-backed Islamic insurgents. The Islamists briefly seized control of parts of southern Somalia and the capital but were beaten back with Ethiopian aid more than a year ago.
ead full text...
Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf addresses a news conference at the Nairobi hospital, December 7, 2007 |
By Aweys Yusuf
Mogadishu, Somalia, February 16, 2008 - Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf escaped unhurt from a mortar attack by Islamist insurgents on his official residence in Mogadishu, his spokesman said.
The interim government and its Ethiopian allies are battling gunmen loyal to an Islamist movement that ruled Mogadishu and much of southern Somalia for six months in 2006 before being ousted by the allied forces.
Read full text...
Aboard Air Force One
En route Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
1:17 P.M. (Local)
16 Feb 2008
MS. PERINO: All right, we have now left Benin and we are on our way to Tanzania. And the President and President Yayi gave you great readout of their meeting, a very comprehensive readout of all the different aspects of what they talked about. And, actually, I don't think there was anything in there that they didn't mention.
So I think what I'd like to do, at the recommendation of Secretary Rice, I've invited Ambassador Jendayi Frazer to come back and to provide you a little context and texture for some of the questions regarding conflicts in Africa, both current and also ones that we have helped resolve in the last six-and-a-half, seven years.
Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys has managed to evade UN moving around countries
Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys |
Mugadisho, February 7, 2008 – According to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) quoted by UPI, the Al-Qaeda-linked Shabab al-Mujahedin in Somalia is renouncing the Islamic Courts Union. The group, dominated by non-Somalis, accused the ICU for changing its preference in favor of nationalist Somali groups instead of religious groups with “global aims of the jihadist movement.”
Read full text...
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 15 - Backed by the African Union, Somalia's government appealed to the United Nations on Friday to send a peacekeeping force there, but the Security Council delayed a response until next month, diplomats said.
They said the council is still awaiting a delayed report from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on peacekeeping prospects in the lawless Horn of Africa country, which currently has only a small AU force consisting mainly of Ugandans.
Read full text..
CARE Nederland and Nedsom are seeking
A Somali University Management Advisor (m/f)
As part of the Diaspora Partnership Programme
Duty station: Hargeisa, Somaliland
Bonn, February 13, 2008 – Daniel Bronkal, the member of Welthungerhilfe's staff who was taken hostage yesterday in Somaliland, has been freed after spending twelve hours in captivity.
Local security forces secured his release yesterday evening at 22:00 local time in the Al Mado mountain region. The rescue operation involved an exchange of gunfire, but Bronkal remained unharmed.
A Somali soldier stands guard in Mogadishu |
MOGADISHU, Somalia, 16 Feb 2008 - One person was wounded Saturday as mortar bombs fired by insurgents fell near the presidential palace in Mogadishu while President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed was inside, a security official said.
"The shelling started hours after the president's arrival in the capital but the closest shell landed on a house near the palace area and others passed (by)," the official told AFP.
13 Feb, 2008
After the African Union’s 10th Ordinary Summit here in Addis Ababa, the Sub-Saharan Informer’s Faysal Abdikerim (Gabanow) sat down with the Prime Minister of the Transitional Federal Government of the Republic of Somalia, Nur Hassan Hussein, and asked him about the summit’s outcomes on Somali issue, his meetings with African heads of state and the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, and his government’s move to the capital Mogadishu. Below are excerpts.
Read full text...
Mogadishu, Somalia, 15 February 2008 - Somali interim president Abdullahi Yusuf, has received an invitation from Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, to attend the upcoming Arab Summit, in Damascus, in March.Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, who is also known as Abu Mazen, received a similar letter from Mr. Assad, in which he was vigorously encouraged to participate in the upcoming summit.
Key representatives of Hamas, as well as of those of the ICU, are engaged in much counter-lobbying. As of late, western governments have largely ignored demographic trends and have sought to preclude so-called "Islamists" from anchoring any significant part of emerging global power structures.
Read full text...
Main Developments
Targeting of humanitarian workers was a key concern this week in Somalia. The United Nations premises was a direct target of the continuing insecurity and violence in Mogadishu. On 8 and 9 February, four hand grenades were hurled in and around the United Nations Development Programme compound. No injuries occurred. Contrary to some media reports which stated, 'UN suspends operations in Somalia following attacks', there was no decision to suspend UN operations in Somalia.
Read full text...
|
Headlines |
The five young men involved in the kidnapping of German aid worker Daniel Bronkal following their arrest on Thursday |
Erigabo, Somaliland, February 16, 2008 (SL Times) – Five gunmen who were arrested in connection with last Tuesday’s kidnapping of a German aid worker in Somaliland’s Sanag region are now being investigated for possible links with the extremist Islamic group, Al-Shabab.
The five men have been accused of abducting Daniel Bronkal who worked for the NGO German Agro Action in an ambush against his car about 35km west of Erigabo.
|
German hostage, Daniel Bronkal |
Erigabo, Somaliland, February 16, 2008 (SL Times) – Following his release from captivity in a raid by Somaliland security forces on Tuesday evening, German aid worker Daniel Bronkal was given a hero’s welcome as he returned to Erigabo on Wednesday.
Bronkal who worked for the German Agro Action organization was kidnapped by 5 gunmen on last Tuesday morning while he traveled in the Sanag region.
|
Garowe, Somalia, 14 Feb 2008 - Sweden-based Lundin Petroleum has shown interest in exploring for oil and natural gas in Somalia's northern breakaway region of Somaliland, a local paper reported.
The Somaliland Times, an English-language weekly based in Hargeisa, quoted an official at the Ministry of Water and Minerals acknowledging that Lundin company representatives approached the Somaliland government.
Read full text...
|
Pro-Separatist ethnic Albanians to celebrate independence (gallo/getty) |
PRISTINA, Serbia, 16 February 2008 - Kosovo will declare independence on Sunday amid growing excitement among its ethnic Albanians, anger from its Serbs, and the launch of an EU mission to ease the birth of the world's newest state.
"Tomorrow will be a day of calm, of understanding and of state engagements for the implementation of the will of the citizens of Kosovo," Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said Saturday in reference to the breakaway ethnic Albanian majority.
Read full text...
|
President Bush poses with Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete during the arrival ceremony at the Julius Nyerere International Airport |
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 16 February 2008 -President Bush was greeted at the airport in Dar es Salaam by Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete and by groups dancing and drumming to traditional Tanzanian music.
President Kikwete is the new chairman of the African Union. So his Sunday meeting with President Bush at Dar es Salaam's State House is sure to focus on more than just Tanzania.
|
Chief mediator Kofi Annan addresses the media after meeting government and opposition negotiators in Nairobi Friday. |
Nairobi, Kenya, February 15, 2008 - Despite soothing words from Kofi Annan, the former United Nations secretary general who is trying to mediate a solution to the Kenyan political crisis, one thing seemed clear on Friday: Kenya is stuck.
The rival political parties, which have been bitterly at odds since a disputed election in December, have agreed on a few minor issues, but the big problems that were supposed to be solved by now seem as nettlesome - and as far from being solved - as ever.
Analysis
The Hague, 16 February 2008 - As Kosova is expected to declare its independence from Serbia within the nest few days, UNPO consultant Michael Gibb was invited by BBC News to participate in a ‘World Have Your Say’ radio program broadcast live on 15 February 2008. The theme of the evenings was ‘Who decides when a state is ready for independence?’
Although the United States and several European Union countries are likely to support Kosova’s move for independence, Russia and Serbia have said any such declaration would be illegitimate and have urged the United Nations Security Council to take swift action against it.
Djibouti faces significant challenges as it seeks to parlay short-term gains into long-term stability in a region wracked by conflict
President Ismail Omar Guelleh, 2007 (photo-file) |
15 Feb - Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Guelleh maintains a strong hold on the reins of power after supporting parties swept national legislative election last week.
The president, whose People's Rally for Progress (RPP) has held uninterrupted power since independence in 1977, faces little obvious pressure either domestically or from key allies the US and France, as the US seeks to cement its expanded military presence in the strategically important Horn of Africa state.
|
|
|
Puntland President Adde Muse |
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia February 15, 2008 – Ethiopian Foreign Ministry officials have blamed the leader of Somalia’s Puntland region for rising insecurity during a meeting with interim Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf, confidential sources told Garowe Online.
Read full text...
|
Commentary
14 Feb 2008
By Jaalala
It is an understatement to say that what is happening to regular citizens of Somalia is shameful. As usual, African politicians and the elite are manipulating civilians to implement their destructive economic and political ambitions. The people of Somalia, (like those in Congo, Kenya and in volatile frontiers of Nigeria, Sudan and Ethiopia) are tired of endless civil wars, insurgency and counter insurgency.
|
By Tyler Stiem
February 14, 2008
Hargeysa — Abdillahi Abdi has stripped naked and set his clothes and bedding alight. His shouts ring out across the courtyard of Hargeysa Hospital’s mental health unit, where patients doze on foam mattresses in the afternoon sun. They barely stir as orderlies douse the flames. Abdi has learned there’s a doctor visiting the ward, and he wants him to know the CIA has bugged the place.
|
Taipei, Taiwan, Feb 04, 2008 - It was the Taiwan-Africa Progressive Partnership forum, held in Taipei on the 10th September 2007 which was the first ice breaking visit from Somaliland, delegates who has represented Somaliland at the forum.
The Somaliland representatives included King Osman Aw-Mohamed Mohamed (Buurmadow) and Dr Isman H Warsame and now further visits are planned to exclusively established a bilateral relations wit Taiwan
Ricky Martin makes global appeal: “I beg you to act now”
VIENNA, February 13 2008 – Policy makers and celebrities have today launched an unprecedented global appeal to both recognise the scale and prevalence of human trafficking, and for co-ordinated action to be taken to fight it. They were speaking at the opening session of the Vienna Forum, the first-ever global forum to fight human trafficking.
|
Feb 2008
The Imperial College organised a Conflict Study week where academics and regional experts debated on some of Africa. Dr Mohamed A Omar of IOE, University of London, spoke at the conference and delivered an analysis of the Horn of African conflict. A week earlier, Dr. Omar also addressed an audience of academics and students at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) on the question of Somaliland. Here is a summary of some of his views.
|
For Kosovo’ posters in Pristina yesterday, ahead of its independence day |
By Peter Popham
Pristina, February 16, 2008 – The red Albanian flags with their two-headed eagles are fluttering across Kosovo as the Serbian province edges closer to a historic declaration of independence, which is expected tomorrow.
The flags were draped yesterday from shops, homes, graveyards, hotels and petrol stations from the Serbian border down to Pristina, the capital. Kosovo's own flag will be unveiled along with other attributes of the world's newest nation state, which will also be one of the smallest, when the big day actually comes.
|
Newcastle, UK, 15 February 2008 - A 27-year-old Som alian man accused of the murder of Bradford PC Sharon Beshenivsky appeared before a crown court today.
Mustaf Abdullah Jama appeared at Newcastle Crown Court via a video link from prison, where he is in custody.
|
"My life has been blown apart after nine years in limbo"
London, Uk, 15 Feb 2008 - An online petition and a Facebook group have been set up to rescue “popular, kind, model citizen” Guy Njike, 41, who lives in Holloway Road, from being sent home.
When Mr Njike, who has lived in England for the past nine years, went out on his lunch break to make his monthly report to the Home Office on Monday, he expected to be back within the hour.
|
|
|
Motivational speakers often claim that the Chinese word for crisis is composed of two parts, one denoting danger, and the other opportunity. We know of at least one Sinologist who disagrees with this thesis. But whether this thesis is true or not, the observation that crises often bring with them opportunities is accurate. Last week’s kidnapping of Daniel Bronkal, a staff member of German Agro Action (a German NGO) in Erigabo, Sanag region, had the potential of turning into unmitigated disaster, but with Mr Bronkal’s speedy rescue, and the capture of all five kidnappers, that catastrophic prospect has turned into a moment of joy and celebration.
Some are probably wondering how was it done? As far as we can tell, three factors have helped in ensuring this positive result:
- The quick response of Somaliland’s security forces to the kidnapping
- The big role of the people of Sanag region
- Coordination between the police, the military and the civilian population
|
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 Mohammed Dahir Ahmed
United Nations and International NGOs doe’s sterling job in helping Somaliland people in areas such as health, education, agriculture, water, sanitation etc.
As a nation, we should maintain the good ways we welcome to our country any organization helping our people by easing rules for opening offices, tax exemption for charitable goods and by guaranting the security of foreign nationals.
Read full text...
|
Open Letter to UNHCR
Dear Commissioner Guterres,
I am writing you this letter to express our deep concern and dismay regarding the inhuman massacre of around 100 Oromo Refugees and wounding of more than 65 in Bosaso, breakaway region of Somalia, on February 5, 2008. The basic reason Oromos flee and take refuge in neighboring countries is protection from persecution due to their national identity and their political belief in Ethiopia.
|
|
By Zahed Matar
The Somaliland Special Police Unit (SPU) successfully released the German citizen, Daniel Bronkal who was held against his will for one day by unknown gunmen at Rugay 150 kilometer north of Erigavo on 12 th Feb 2008. This is sign of pride to every Somalilander living on earth. This is an excellent security operation to let the enemies know their fate if they try to play around in Somaliland.
Read full text...
|
|
Kulmiye High Command Should Rally Behind Dr. Ahmed Hussein's Candidature
By: Mukhtar Mohamed Abby
Revisiting the recent past elections, which successfully took place throughout the republic of Somaliland; each of those elections had been won by the ruling political party headed by the incumbent president of Somaliland H.E. Dahir Rayale Kahin. The said elections had been the first elections of their kind held in country, and had been described as a free and fair by the international observers. The main opposition party -
|
|
A number you see everywhere
By Omar Ibrahim Hussein (PhD).
In the West some numbers are considered unlucky. Number 13 is considered to be unlucky. For that reason, in high rising buildings, the number is skipped to avoid misfortune. The Chinese is said to skip 4 to 5 as they believe 4 is unlucky. For that reason if a number is say 84 it will be numbered 85 to avoid misfortune. That ignited my curiosity about the numbers. Are there some numbers that are really lucky or unlucky as some belief? I want to share with you the magic number that I see everywhere. The number is 5.
Read full text...
|
|
|
By Dr. Ali Abdi Mohamed, Hargeisa.
Five years elapsed from UDUB's Venue as a Ruling Party.
Instead of taking "quality" as their Motto, they opted to "Quantity”, instead of "qualifications”, they opted to "Political vanguardism" and "Yes Sir men!
Read full text...
|
|
|
U.S. President George W. Bush and Benin's President Thomas Boni Yayi take part in an arrival ceremony at Cadjehoun International Airport in Cotonou, Benin, Feb 16 |
By Xinhua News Agency Editor: An Lu
WASHINGTON, Feb. 16 2008 - U.S. President George W. Bush's current African tour may reveal Washington's calculations about its long-term strategic interests in the continent, analysts say.
|
|
By Abdirasak ismail qalinle
What is it and where did it come from?
Consider Valentine's Day, a day that after dying out a well deserved death in most of Europe (but surviving in Britain and United States) has suddenly started to emerge across a good swath of Muslim countries. Who was Valentine? Why is this day observed? Legends abound, as they do in all such cases, but this much is clear: Valentine's Day began as a pagan ritual started by Romans in the 4th century BCE to honor the god Lupercus.
Read full text...
London, 16 February 2008 (SL Times) - The world's oldest existing Somali society, The Anglo-Somali Society, founded in 1962, discussed on 15 February, Somaliland and the current regional situation. Guest speakers included Professor Iqbal Jhazbhay of the University of South Africa and University of London lecturer, Michael Walls.
Read full text...
Prince Tejowulan, right, is seen here meditating in the late evening with one of his aides. (Justin Mott) |
SOLO, Indonesia, February 15, 2008 - Pop quiz: How many kings are there now in the ancient sultanate of Surakarta?
Answer: There is no correct answer.
When King Pakubuwono XII died four years ago, he left six mistresses with 35 children, but no wife, no heir and no instructions about the succession.
"Yesterday’s press conference must have been a humiliating experience for Ayaan Hirsi Ali. The European politicians do not seem to realize that it is a humiliating experience for Europe as well"
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, left, with Bernard-Henri Levy, the French philosopher, at the meeting in Brussels [AFP] |
Brussels, Belgium, 12 Feb 2008 - Yesterday, the French press agency AFP ran a report about Ayaan Hirsi Ali under the above title. Ms. Hirsi Ali, a Somali-born former member of the Dutch Parliament, was in the European Parliament in Brussels trying to raise funds to protect her from Islamist death threats. “I don’t want to die, I want to live and I love life.
Read full text...
14 February 2008
Adventure tourism is all the rage, but good TV needs more than bravado alone.
I used to work with Simon Reeve, presenter of Tropic of Capricorn (Sundays, 8pm). No, that's not quite accurate. What I mean is that I used to work in the same building as him. Long, long ago, when Tony Blair was just another fragrant Labour backbencher and mobile telephones were still the size of car batteries, he and I were trainee reporters at the same broadsheet newspaper.
By Fiona Forde
The diplomatic chasm between Kenya and South Africa is as wide open today as it was a fortnight ago when the government of Mwai Kibaki said it would not trust Cyril Ramaphosa as an honest broker in the African Union-mandated peace talks.
|
Hussein at a press conference in Paris this week |
By Jason McLure | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Worse than Darfur. That was the assessment two weeks ago of the United Nations' top refugee official in Somalia, who called the country Africa's worst humanitarian crisis.
|
|
|
|
|
By Barry Moody
DAR ES SALAAM, 15 Feb 2008 - President George W. Bush's coming African tour will emphasise the caring side of U.S. policy but it is widely seen as being more about military interests, oil supplies and combating Chinese influence.
|
|
|
