| Index |
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President Riyale: “We & The Opposition Have Agreed To End The Political Deadlock”
KULMIYE Says Agreement Between Riyale And The Opposition Not Yet Finalized
US, EA Gunrunners Violating UN’s Somalia Arms Ban
Somaliland forces arrest two Westerners
Somali journalist killed in Kismayo
President Rayale receives a delegation from SOS Kinderdorf International
Foreign oil workers evacuated from Puntland exploration site
AU And IGAD Should Support Somaliland’s Homemade Democracy
Somali President and Ex-Capital Baidoa Surrounded by Trouble, UN Council Told at Djibouti Talks
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Regional Affairs |
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Udub, Kulmiye & Ucid conclude on election talks
Canadian held in Ethiopia could face death penalty
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| Editorial |
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Special Report
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International News |
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Arabs shocked by Obama speech
Revealed: Secret plan to keep Iraq under US control
Children at breaking point: Knives, guns, bullies...a shocking look at growing up in today's UK |
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FEATURES & COMMENTARY |
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THE LAND OF THE GODS - A Brief Study Of Somali Etymology And Its Historio-Lingui
History as tool in Somaliland bid
Perth office link to the tale of gold and guns
Our World: Sharing hope, not disdain
U.S. Engagement of Africa in the National Interest
Dispatches From The Horn: Somaliland
DISASTER CAPITALISM! NO - NOT REALLY, JUST GREED ...
Clinton And Obama Hold Secret Meeting |
| Food for thought |
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Opinions |
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Somaliland: Dynamic and Progressive
Badhan: Highway To Heaven Or A Prelude To Instability
Regionalization, Elections And Difficulties
Ethics, hard work & shared vision, the hallmark of excellence in old days Somaliland!
Comments On The Somaliland Budget 2008
Somaliland Political Stand off Resolved, what is next:
Is there shame in work or this is part of clan warfare?
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Hargeysa, Somaliland, 7 June , 2008 (SL Times) – Monday, Jun.2, Somaliland’s 3 national parties (Udub, Kulmiye and Ucid) issued a joint-press statement in which they declared that all obstructions and disagreements regarding the elections between the government and the opposition have been resolved.
The 3 parties agreed on the following (8) issues:
Toronto, Canada, June 06, 2008 - A Canadian citizen who has been imprisoned in Ethiopia for more than a year has been charged with terrorism-related activities and could face the death penalty, CBC News has learned.
The Ethiopian Embassy in Canada confirmed the charges against Bashir Ahmed Makhtal, a self-described used clothing dealer.
Hargeysa, Somaliland, June 7, 2008 (SL Times) – Five gunmen who kidnapped a German aid worker in Somaliland’s Sanag region earlier this year were given 11 year sentence each on Thursday by the Hargeysa regional court.
Abdirisak Abdillahi Ali, Abdirahman Mohamed Nur, Mohamed Yusuf Hersi, Abdirahman Warsame Hayd and Salad Farah were convicted of kidnapping Daniel Bronkal on February 12 while he traveled by car on a road between Erigavo and Maydh in the Sanag region.
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GAROWE, Somalia June 5, 2008 - Soldiers working with regional administration of Puntland, in Somalia’s northeast, have reportedly joined forces with pirates, a local mayor told Radio Garowe.
Abdullahi Said O’Nur, the mayor of Puntland’s coastal town of Eyl, said the security situation and the local economy have been adversely affected by the arrival of hundreds of soldiers.
The Mayor, who is currently in the Puntland capital of Garowe, told Radio Garowe during a Thursday interview that 400 soldiers backed by armored trucks had arrived in Eyl in recent days.
The vote means nations will be able to send warships to tackle pirates 
2 June 2008
The UN Security Council has unanimously voted to allow countries to send warships into Somalia's territorial waters to tackle pirates.
The resolution permits countries that have the agreement of Somalia's interim government to use any means to repress acts of piracy for the next six months.
Read full text...
DJIBOUTI, June 2, 2008 – The U.N. Security Council met key players in Somalia's conflict on Monday to try to persuade the disparate factions to help end fighting in the lawless Horn of Africa nation.
The Somali talks in Djibouti mark the start of a 10-day tour of regional hot-spots that will bring diplomats from the 15-nation council to Sudan's Darfur region, southern Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad and Ivory Coast.
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Djibouti President, Ismail Omar Guelleh |
AMSTERDAM, June 4, 2008 – France was not obliged to hand over to Djibouti details of a probe into the death of a French judge in the Red Sea state and did not infringe immunities by pursuing its officials, the top U.N. court ruled on Wednesday.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague rejected a case brought by Djibouti against its former colonial ruler in connection with the death of Bernard Borrel, whose charred corpse was found in Djibouti in 1995.
Paris, June 4, 2008 – Canadian troops conducting anti-terrorism operations in the waters near Somalia appear to have scared off a pirate attack on a commercial vessel.
The Canadian Department of National Defence says HMCS Calgary was operating in the area Tuesday morning when a call for assistance was heard from a vessel apparently under attack by small arms fire.
A statement released by the Department of National Defence says the frigate, sailing about 120 kilometres off the coast of Somalia, changed course, got close to the scene of the attack and a Sea King helicopter flew near the vessel.
Mogadishu, Somalia, 8 June 2008 - At least 12 people are killed in deadly clashes between Islamist rebels and Somali forces backed by Ethiopian troops in Somalia's troubled capital city of Mogadishu, witnesses said.
In fresh heavy artillery clashes, the two sides battled with each other after the security forces launched raids in the city's southern Wardhigley district.
Djibouti, 7 June 2008 - Somali peace talks sponsored by the United Nations have hit a deadlock after both the government and its opposition refused to sign a document, sources said.
On Saturday, UN mediators completed a seminar on peace, reconciliation and justice for delegates representing the Somali government and an opposition group known as the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS).
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Mogadishu, Somalia, 8 June 2008 - Government soldiers' artillery fire has destroyed the largest telecommunications network in Somalia rendering all cellular phones useless.
The main market in the Somali capital Mogadishu, the Bakara market, came under the Ethiopian and Somali troops' artillery fire which killed 13 civilians and shattered the Hormut Telecom building in Somalia, Press TV correspondent reported.
The troops were said to have been stationed in the country's presidential palace from which they launched their attack. Read full text...
Asmara, Eritrea, 4 June 2008 - The Eritrea-based Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) has put condition on the continuation of talks between the Somali political divide in Djibouti.
ARS has ruled out direct talks with the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG) until a dead line is set for the pull out of Ethiopian troops from Somalia. The move comes after TFG's president, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmad, told the UN Security Council delegation in Djibouti that the Ethiopian troops which backs his government, were in Somalia legally, and would not withdraw until the fighting stops. He also said that the Ethiopian troops would withdraw after peace keepers to replace them are deployed in Somalia.
Mogadishu, Somalia, 6 June 2008 - Officials of the Hawiye Cultural and Unity Council have asked the UN to give additional information about international peacekeepers expected to be deployed in Somalia.
Speaking to Shabelle radio, the first assistant chairman of the Hawiye Cultural and Unity Council, Jim'ale Mahmud Nur, has asked the UN to give additional information about the UN peacekeepers expected to be deployed in Somalia, their functions, the countries they will be coming from and when they will eventually withdraw.
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Headlines |
President Riyale during Tuesday's press conference |
Hargeysa, Somaliland, 7 June , 2008 (SL Times) – On Tuesday (3 June), President Dahir Riyale Kahin announced, in a press conference held in his office, that his government and the opposition have agreed to end their political differences over the next presidential and local municipal elections scheduled at the end of 2008 and early 2009.
Speaking to reporters, Riyale expressed joyfully that his government and the opposition have agreed to settle their differences in order to end the political squabbling in the country and to ensure that the political parties are prepared to take part in a just and fair election.
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Hargeysa, Somaliland, June 7, 2008 (SL Times) – The leaders of Somaliland’s largest opposition party KULMIYE insist that the agreement they signed with the government on June 1, 2008 is of a preliminary nature.
According to this agreement which the two opposition parties KULMIYE and UCID signed with the government UDUB party, the presidential elections will be brought forward past the municipal elections. The new tripartite agreement says that the presidential elections should be held before April 6, 2009.
Read full text...
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A UK Royal Air Force military plane landed at Berbera in Somaliland
New York, June 1, 2008 – Some military officers assigned to the African Union’s peacekeeping force in the country are accused of selling weapons seized from Shabaab insurgents. KEVIN J KELLEY reports
The United States government as well as individual Ugandans and Kenyans are violating the United Nations ban on arms trading with Somalia, a UN monitoring group charges.
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HARGEISA, Somaliland, June 7, 2008 - Security forces in a breakaway northern Somali republic arrested two Westerners on Saturday thought to be surveyors working for a Canadian mining company, government officials said.
Somaliland's Defence Minister Abdillahi Ali Ebrahim said the two men had entered the country illegally and had been detained in Las Qorey district, Eastern Sanag region, with four Somalis.
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MOGADISHU, Somalia, 7 June 2008 - Gunmen in southern Somalia fatally shot a local journalist who had been a contributor to various news organizations including The Associated Press and the British Broadcasting Corp., his wife and a doctor said Saturday.
Nasteex Dahir Farah, 26, was shot several times in the chest in the southern port city of Kismayo, said Dr. Mohamed Aden Dheel of Kismayo Hospital. He died at the hospital, Dheel said.
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President Riyale with the SOS Kinderdorf International president Mr. Helmut Kutin |
Hargeysa, Somaliland, 7 June 20008 - The President of the Republic of Somaliland, Mr Dahir Rayale Kahin received a delegation from the Austrian SOS Kinderdorf International agency at the Presidency in Hargeysa The SOS delegation is led by Mr. Helmut Kutin, the delegation is on short visit to Somaliland to inspect various projects being implemented by the agency across Somaliland. Read full text...
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Gen. Adde Muse, Puntland leader |
BOSSASO, Somalia June 7, 2008 - A group of foreigners working in Somalia's Puntland regions have been evacuated from an oil exploration site set up last month, informed sources tell Garowe Online.
Six to eight foreign workers were secretly transported Friday night from the operations camp in Ufayn town, which is located 90km east of the port city of Bossaso, the northeastern region's economic hub.
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Commentary
By Abdulaziz Al-Mutairi
Somaliland is committed to uniting the political powers so we move forward stronger and more ready than ever to take back the lost integrity from Somalia. The government and Opposition Parties in Somaliland proved their compliance to protect the peace and stability in the country. They settled their differences over the timetable of the Presidential, Parliament and Municipal Council elections. Somaliland people said no to one party system that survives in many African and Muslim world; they established multiparty democracy with little support from outside world.
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President Yusuf in better times than now, with pirates as cousins and mortar attacks on planes |
By Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press in Africa: News Analysis
DJIBOUTI, June 2, 2008 - As UN Security Council members waited to meet Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf of the Transitional Federal Government, they received briefings in a luxury hotel about the identities and backgrounds of those meeting with the TFG, and the security situation in Puntland, Somaliland and the South and Central portions of the country. The press was allowed to listen, but not to attribute quotes to any participant. Questions arose about whether the armed opponents on the ground, who are said to already control Jowar and to be massing around Baidoa, are sufficiently represented in these talks. In response, it was pointed out that some of the non-attendees are subject to UN sanctions, but live in and travel through countries serving on the Security Council, some on a permanent basis.
Read full text...
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Analysis
Report Drafted By:
Dr. Michael A. Weinstein
28 May, 2008
During the second half of May, the balance of power in Somalia shifted decisively, as the armed insurgency against the forces of the Transitional Federal Government (T.F.G.) and the Ethiopian occupation has begun to seize and control territory in every region of the country. As the T.F.G.'s parliamentary speaker, Sheikh Adan Madobe, put it bluntly, "The situation in the country is very dangerous; the anti-government groups are capturing a new district every day."
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South Africa, Cape Town, 8 June 2008 - It is called fear - this emotion that has seized the country.
In the wake of xenophobic violence, fear stalks the temporary refugee shelter in Corlett Gardens as it stalks the current debate: repatriation or reintegration?
"I cannot go back to where I was living" - Kisto Mugova, a Zimbabwean, voices the feelings of all. "We're very scared, we don't know their faces."
Mogadishu, Somalia, 5 June 2008 - Speaking the parliament seat in Baidoa town knows as ADC The speaker of Somali parliament sheikh Aden Mohamed Nor Aka Madobe has declared that there is no available salary for the parliament members saying that donors didn't pay the money to the government through United Nations development programme (UNDP).
"The government has no money at the moment, the MPs have to know that" Madobe said.
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THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Jun 05, 2008 - A U.N. court on Wednesday upheld France's refusal to give Djibouti the records of an investigation into the 1995 death of a French judge, whose burned body was found in a ravine outside the capital of the former French territory.
The International Court of Justice rejected Djibouti's claim that France violated two bilateral cooperation accords and agreed with France that it had the right to withhold the file if it contained classified information.
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Ships that are understood to have held prisoners include the USS Bataan. ( Photo: US Navy) |
8 June 2008
The United States is operating "floating prisons" to house those arrested in its war on terror, according to human rights lawyers, who claim there has been an attempt to conceal the numbers and whereabouts of detainees.
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Barack Obama, the US Democratic presumptive presidential nominee (Photo-file). |
Doha, Qatar, 6 June 2008 - Arab leaders have reacted with anger and disbelief to an intensely pro-Israeli speech delivered by Barack Obama, the US Democratic presumptive presidential nominee.
Obama told the influential annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Council (AIPAC): "Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel and it must remain undivided."
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Bush wants 50 military bases, control of Iraqi airspace and legal immunity for all American soldiers and contractors
June 5th, 2008
A secret deal being negotiated in Baghdad would perpetuate the American military occupation of Iraq indefinitely, regardless of the outcome of the US presidential election in November.
The terms of the impending deal, details of which have been leaked to The Independent, are likely to have an explosive political effect in Iraq. Iraqi officials fear that the accord, under which US troops would occupy permanent bases, conduct military operations, arrest Iraqis and enjoy immunity from Iraqi law, will destabilize Iraq’s position in the Middle East and lay the basis for unending conflict in their country.
As a survey of 1,700 young people paints a damning picture of the way we treat the young, we ask our own panel - just how do they cope?
8 June 2008
The rights of a generation of children in Britain are being eroded by poverty, unhappiness and fear of crime, the largest report on the state of childhood in six years reveals.
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Recently, several prominent Somalilanders took Faysal Ali Warabe (the Chairman of UCID party) to task for criticizing Djibouti government’s policy toward Somaliland. We think it is healthy to debate issues and to correct politicians when they are wrong, but in this instance, Faysal Ali Warabe is right and his critics are plain wrong. This is very easy to see from the record of Djibouti’s government, a record of continuous attempts to subvert Somaliland, going all the way back to the 1988 mediation between Somalia and Ethiopia, one of whose main aims was to expel the SNM from Ethiopia, passing through the creation of a Djiboutian supported clan militia in Somaliland, the Arta Conference, the anti-Somaliland diplomatic activities, culminating in the unceremonious expulsion of Somaliland’s representative from Djibouti. This is Djibouti’s record, and by any criterion, it is a terrible and indefensible record.
Read full text...
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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 Ahmed Kheyre
Recently, the Somaliland House of Representatives approved the 2008 annual budget. A remarkable achievement for an unrecognised nation, this budget will see an increase of 27% from the 2007 budget. It would appear that the Somaliland Ministry of Finance is steadily increasing revenue whilst at the same increase spending on social, health and economic sectors.
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By Ali M. Ali, Erigavo, Sanag
Somaliland celebrated its 17th year and for the first time Badhan did that too.
It is not something that needs to be bragged about, for Badhan sounds in this context as the new kid in the block.
Read full text...
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By Abdulkadir Idan
Arguably this New Year has been distinctively unique and whether this distinction is positive or negative depends on the region you live in. We have witnessed within the past few months the creation of 6-7 new regions and although the government or its supporters would argue that the creation of these new regions is designed to “better” the nation, others doubt whether this is their overall objective.
Read full text...
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Ethics, hard work & shared vision, the hallmark of excellence in old days Somaliland!
By Noah Arre
The other day I had posted in our websites an article that detailed exciting incidents that took place when the first class of Dilla opened its doors in the late fifties in then British Somaliland Protectorate. But incidents like those were of course common all over the country. And I know for a fact that many friends have had experiences similar to those mentioned.
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By Yassin Abdillahi Ahmed
The lower house of parliament approved the Somaliland budget 2008 On 29 May, but many wondered why the lower house of parliament made such a blunder? As they say the devil is in detail.
Before I look at the budget in detail, I must say a word or two about the definition of budget. Budget is a financial plan that articulates the objectives and goals of a government for a certain period of time usually a year; in other words, it is the government’s economic strategy for that period.
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By Ibrahim M Awad
At the outset, anyone who adores peace, stability and slow progress of Somaliland must be pleased with the conformity made by political party’s leaders relating to the president’s term extension: this is an example of Somaliland’s success; this example was pointed out by the UN mediators of Somalia rivalry functions conferencing in Djibouti. However, being an example for the other failed Somalis does not mean S/L is immune to failures.
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By Abdi Mohamed Ali
I see no shame in people, especially refugees working to eke a living. After all, there is no Somali who was born and brought up in a palace. Even the prophets used to chop wood or do other manual works to make a living. The questions arising from the documentary, Warlords next door are many and multi dimensional. In this article let us only deal with whether there is shame in work.
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| In all probability, the Red Sea Port city of Berbera was Barbara, the most important town in Barbaria. Perhaps it would be of interest to note here that the ancient Egyptian Hieroglyph was also called BARBA. Incidentally, BARBA in Somali meant ‘teach to write’ and was still in use in the old quarter of Mogadishu. 
HATSHEPSUT'S TEMPLE, LUXOR |
By Abubakar Ali. I. INTRODUCTION When the author first began the present study of Somali etymology way back in 1982, it was more in the form of a hobby than anything serious. As a matter of fact, the author had neither the academic training nor the resources to embark on the study of a subject as complex as Somali etymology without even the benefit of a precedent. However, his success with the first set of words was an inspiration and convinced him that Somali was an indeed antiquated medium with a rich potential for historio-linguistic study. |
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The Somali region argues that its history as a separate entity and peaceful existence make it a prime candidate for independence.
By Abdurrahman Warsameh
Mogadishu, Somalia, 4 June 2008 - The row over presidential and parliamentary elections in the as-yet unrecognized republic of Somaliland, in the northwest region of Somalia, was resolved Sunday after the three national parties held marathon talks in the presidential residence in Hargeysa, the capital.
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One company based there is Range Resources, the small-cap oil and mineral explorer that is drilling for oil in Puntland, Somalia.
By Mark Hawthorne
"LOCATION, location, location," is the mantra of property investors around the world. For West Australian mining hopefuls, you don't get a better real estate location than 34 Parliament Place, West Perth.
The building, once owned by the WA Government, is a stone's throw from Parliament House. It's a cosy and tangled little group that does business behind the high security walls at the property.
In Somalia, for example, she discovered that tremendous progress has been made in the region known as Somaliland
By Rufus Woods
June 06, 2008 - I'm increasingly convinced that the world needs more idealists — people who believe they can and will make a difference and that what people believe to be impossible is possible.
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By J. Peter Pham, Ph.D.
5 June 2008
Earlier this year, citing an array of new initiatives including the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), as well as the expansion of existing frameworks like the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), from I noted in this column space that "America's current engagement with Africa will likely go down as one of the most significant, if largely unheralded, legacies of the Bush presidency."
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"Good morning, this is the manager. Are you awake? Is the room OK? Is the water hot? Are you comfortable?"
"Yes, everything is fine.".
"Good, your driver is ready. Have you eaten breakfast?"
"No. I was just on my way down."
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June 06, 2008
Now working inside America's "shadow" spy industry, George Tenet, Richard Armitage, Cofer Black and others are cashing in big on Iraq and the war on terror.
Richard L. Armitage, who served from 2001 to 2005 as Deputy Secretary of State, was a rarity in the Bush administration: an official who delighted in talking to the press. Reporters loved him for his withering criticism of the neoconservative zealots around President George W. Bush and in part because he fed them tidbits about the White House they could obtain nowhere else.
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 Washington, June 6, 2008 – Hillary Rodham Clinton and likely Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama met privately Thursday night to talk about uniting the Democratic Party.
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By John Drysdale
The UN Security Council’s abortive try out to resolve Somalia’s helpless internal disputes, a week ago in Djibouti, was typical of this unimaginative council of learned, unspecialised ambassadors. The venue – Djibouti- with its hybrid of Cushitic clans was absurd. Why not straight forward Somaliland to which thousand of Somalia’s war torn refugees have fled to safety in the last few years? I will tell you why.
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