From left Vice-President Ahmed Yusuf, the deputy chair of KULMIYE, Mr Muse Bihi and UCID party chairman, Mr Faisal Ali signing the accord on June 10 2008 at Maansoor Hotel, Hargeysa. |
Hargeysa, Somaliland, 10 June, 2008 – The Somaliland government and the opposition parties, KULMIYE and UCID have formally signed a new accord at a ceremony in Hargeisa.
At the ceremony held at the Maansor Hotel conference centre and attended by the Somaliland Vice-President Ahmed Yusuf Yasin, senior members of the Somaliland government, the chair of UCID party, Mr Faisal Ali Warabe, the deputy chair of KULMIYE, Mr Muse Bihi Abdi, religious scholars, members of the Somaliland parliament,
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.
Abdullahi Guled covers the body of his wife Fadumo Awil, after a mortar shell slammed into their house and killed her instantly in Mogadishu. |
Nairobi, 13 June 2008 - The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that at least 30 civilians were killed and nearly 100 wounded in Mogadishu alone this week.
Witnesses say Shabab fighters, armed with machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars, have ambushed government and Ethiopian troops in various parts of the capital, including a deadly attack on Thursday on forces patrolling a road near the presidential palace.
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Riyad, Saudi Arabia, June 10, 2008 - Saudi Arabia on Monday called for an emergency meeting including both oil producing and oil importing countries to discuss what was it called an “unjustifiable rise in oil prices,” the Saudi newspaper Arabnews reported.
According to the paper the decision was taken by the Council of Ministers, which is headed by King ‘Abdallah. The council claimed the current prices were unreasonably high in terms of market fundamentals.
New York , June 9, 2008 - CPJ calls for a thorough investigation into the June 7 killing of Somali journalist Nasteh Dahir Farah. Dahir, vice chairman of the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), was shot by two men while walking home from an Internet cafe at around 7 p.m. near his home in Kismayo, local journalists told CPJ.
Dahir was rushed to the local hospital, but died due to blood loss 10 minutes later, the NUSOJ reported. Prior to his death, Dahir had told the medical staff that two men had shot him with AK-47s, nurse Ahmed Said Ali told the AP. Gun cartridges and remnants of the drug qatwere found in the area where the murder took place, HornAfrik reported.
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Nairobi, Kenysa, 12 June 2008 - The accusations against the Ethiopian government and its military are contained in a 130-page report Human Rights Watch released in Nairobi.
In the first detailed study of what the group calls Ethiopia's year-long scorched-earth policy in the Ogaden, Human Rights Watch says it conducted interviews with more than 100 victims, eyewitnesses, business leaders and regional government officials in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somaliland.
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Mogadishu, Somalia, 13 June 2008 - Patients at a hospital in southern Somalia have begun leaving their beds after hospital workers went on strike three days ago.
Doctors and medical personnel at Jowhar Hospital, in Middle Shabelle region, went on strike on Wednesday after complaining of nonpayment in recent months.
Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed , Somali president |
DUBAI, UAE, 13 June 2008 - The main Islamist insurgent group in Somalia claimed an attack targeting President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed as he was preparing to fly out of the country, according to a Internet statement on Friday.
"The lions from the Young Mujahedeen Movement launched a surprise attack on Thursday against the convoy of the apostate Abdullahi Yusuf... as he was heading to Mogadishu airport," said the statement published on a website used by radical groups including Al-Qaeda.
Mogadishu, Somalia, 11 June 2008 - One of the Somalia's islamist leaders who leads hundreds/thousands of Islamic fighters in Somalia Sheikh Hassan Mohamed Mohamud Aka turkey has declared that the peace talks jointly signed by Somali government and the opposition groups ended in Djibouti was barren.
Speaking to Shabelle radio by telegram telecommunication from unknown location in Somalia Hassan turkey added that as far as the Ethiopian troops in Somalia talks with the government is unattainable.
People affected by drought carry sacks of maize received from the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) during a food distribution in Volayta region in southern Ethiopia, June 9, 2008. |
GENEVA, Sat Jun 14, 2008 - Drought in Ethiopia has caused food shortages, killed livestock and more than doubled the number of people needing urgent humanitarian aid to 5 million, the United Nations said on Friday. "Seasonal rains have been poor or have failed in many parts of Ethiopia with dramatic effects on harvests in crop-producing areas," said Elisabeth Byrs, a spokeswoman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
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GULF OF ADEN, Yemen — USS Russell (DDG 59) responded to a vessel in distress between Bossasso, Somalia and the Yemeni coast in the Gulf of Aden June 8. A Combined Task Force (CTF) 150 air asset notified Russell of the small boat's distress call. Russell, operating nearby, proceeded at maximum speed and arrived on-scene to assist the vessel. The 45-foot small boat experienced serious engine problems, leaving it unable to operate at sea, and had been adrift for two days. Read full text...
Mogadishu, Somalia, 13 June 2008 - The Ethiopian troops based in the areas on Jawil and Kalabeyrka of Hiran region central Somalia have withdrawn there to the inside Ethiopia following armed Alshabab fighters attacked town in Ethiopia on Wednesday residents said.
Some residents told Shabelle that they could see armed covered Ethiopian vehicles on boarded by hundreds of soldiers pulled out towards Ferfer town in Ethiopia where mortars attack carried out by Alshabab fighters happened on Wednesday morning.
Nairobi, Kenya, 14 June 2008 - Ethiopian government has denied involvement in "mock killings" against supporters of the rebel groups in its Somali region and the execution of more than 150 people to instill fear in villagers suspected of backing rebels.
Ethiopia's Information Ministry said Friday a report compiled by Human Rights Watch (HRW) alleging its military's involvement in human rights violations in the Ogaden region was a "fabricated and a slandering" campaign to satisfy a geo-political agenda.
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Headlines |
80 More Eritrean Soldiers Defect To Djibouti |
Gun-boat firing a missile in middle of the sea (photofile)
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Djibouti, June 14, 2008 (SL Times) – At least one gunboat belonging to Eritrea was sunk after being hit by a missile yesterday.
According to highly reliable sources the boat was blown to pieces after taking a direct hit.
All the crew members were believed to have been killed, the sources said.
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“From 2005 To This Year, Our Support To Somaliland Has Increased Four Times” Bruno Lemarquis UNDP Country Director
Hargeysa, Somaliland, June 14, 2008 (SL Times) – the United Nations Development Programme on Thursday handed-over a total of 19 brand new vehicles to the Somaliland government in Hargeysa.
The vehicles which will be used by the Somaliland police and courts departments, were meant to enable these two institutions improve their communication operations and effectiveness.
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British delegation pictured with Somaliland ministers at the presidency, Hargeysa. (Image courtersy of Qaran News). |
Hargeysa, Somaliland, June 14, 2008 (SL Times) – A large delegation of British diplomats from United Kingdom embassies in Kenya, Ethiopia and Yemen arrived on Sunday for a two day visit to Somaliland.
The delegation led by Mr.John Marshall, Deputy Ambassador at the British Embassy in Addis Ababa were met at Egal International Airport by the Somaliland Foreign Minister, Mr Abdillahi Mohamed Duale, the Minister of State, Mr Saeed Mohamed Nur and senior members from the ministry including the protocol department.
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President Riyale talking to Mr. Mark Bowden, coordinator for the UNDP Humanitarian office |
Hargeysa, Somaliland, 12 June 2008 - The President of the Republic of Somaliland, Dahir Riyale Kahin hosted an official reception for the delegation from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) last night at the presidency in Hargeysa.
The UNDP delegation included Mr. Abdoulaye Mar Dieye, Director for the UNDP office for the Arab region, Mr. Mark Bowden, coordinator for the UNDP Humanitarian office, Mr. Bruno Lemarquis, Somaliland and Somalia office coordinator and several other senior officers from the UNDP office in Hargeisa. The UNDP delegation is on a short visit to Somaliland to evaluate the current UNDP projects in the country.
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Hargeysa, Somaliland, June 14, 2008 (SL Times) – Sighting of satellite like debris falling out of the night sky over the capital was noticed on Wednesday evening by many city residents in Hargeysa.
A satellite like debris travelling at tremendous speed above Hargeysa’s night-sky was seen leaving a long trail of fire lit sparks (debris) heading in a westerly direction.
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Garowe, Somalia, 8 June 2008 - Clan elders who represent the dominant clan in Sool region, in northern Somalia, issued a document on Sunday stating that they have "given up" on the regional government of Puntland.
The document was signed by seven elders representing the Dhulbahante clan that dominates the region of Sool, which has been a battleground area between Puntland and the breakaway republic of Somaliland since 2002.
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![[PHOTOGRAPH] Labigah, Ethiopia after destruction; 28 February 2008 [Images © 2008 DigitalGlobe]](050_clip_image004_0000.jpg)
Structures marked with red circles were likely removed or damaged prior to the collections of the February 2008 image, and the gray/white areas are possible evidence of burning |
PRESS RELEASE
12 June 2008
An analysis of high-resolution satellite imagery by AAAS has helped confirm evidence that the Ethiopian military has attacked civilians and burned towns and villages in eight locations across the remote Ogaden region of eastern Ethiopia.
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DJIBOUTI/ASMARA, 12 June 2008 - Border clashes between Eritrea and Djibouti killed nine Djiboutian soldiers and wounded 60 others in the first fighting in a decade between the Horn of Africa nations, a defence official said on Thursday.
Officials said the fighting between two of Africa's smallest states stopped late on Wednesday. Eritrean and Djiboutian troops had exchanged fire since Tuesday along a part of their border overlooking strategic shipping lanes in the Red Sea.
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Nairobi, May 17, 2008 – A former employee of the UNDP has reportedly accused the agency of involvement with and support to a remittance company linked to the ousted Union of Islamic Courts.
A former employee of the UNDP has reportedly accused the agency of involvement with and support to a remittance company linked to the ousted Union of Islamic Courts.
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Analysis
Report Drafted By:
Dr. Michael A. Weinstein
12 June 2008
On June 9, United Nations special representative to Somalia, Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, announced that the second round of peace talks in Djibouti between Somalia's internationally recognized Transitional Federal Government (T.F.G.) and a faction of the opposition Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (A.R.S.) had resulted in an unexpected agreement. Just a day earlier, Ould Abdallah had "suspended" the talks, saying that the international diplomats attending them could not be "held hostage" by "personality disputes," and that it was "impossible to prolong negotiations indefinitely because of budgetary constraints."
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By Jerry Okungu
International politics can be dirty and cheap at times. It even gets bizarre at times.
When it comes to Robert Mugabe and the West, humor sets in comfortably.
The other day the United Nations took the liberty to invite Robert Mugabe as the President of Zimbabwe to join other leaders in Rome at a meeting to resolve the world food crisis. As much as UN protocol was followed in extending this invitation to Uncle Bob, a few countries; notably Britain and Australia were not amused.
Nairobi/Asmara, 13 Jun 2008 - France is providing support to Djibouti during border clashes with neighbouring Eritrea that the Djiboutian president has described as war, reports said Friday. Fighting between Horn of Africa nations Eritrea and Djibouti this week left nine Djiboutians dead and around 60 wounded. It is unclear if any Eritrean forces died in the fighting.
"Since the beginning of hostilities, French soldiers stationed in Djibouti have been providing assistance in logistics, medical but also support in terms of intelligence service to the Djibouti army," French officer Colonel Ducret told Djibouti's state-owned news agency ADI, the BBC reported.
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Book explores "empirical statehood" in Somaliland vs. "juridical statehood" in Somalia
‘Why write a book about Somaliland, a lightly populated region on the edge of Africa which, if the international community had its wish, would be reincorporated into a federal Somali state?’ The author, Mark Bradbury, answers his own question by filling an important gap in the literature on Somali studies. The book, written by someone who has been deeply engaged with the region for many years, provides a comprehensive and inspiring account of how people in Somaliland and its diaspora ‘debated, defined and created a new polity’ in the aftermath of war, and in so doing challenged normative assumptions about what states look like and how they are built.
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14 June 2008 By George Galloway | A Government ready to rely on those friends of liberty, the Democratic Unionist party, to shred the liberties of our own people are almost by definition unembarrassable, but I hope this evening to add to the issues ventilated in a recent Channel 4 “Dispatches” programme to adumbrate the extent to which the tragedy in Somalia, which so many people are now becoming aware of, is another of our Government’s dirty little secrets.
We must start the story in Ethiopia, where 4 million people, according to the United Nations, are facing starvation and 120,000 Ethiopian children have just one month to live, according to last week’s media reports.
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PRESS RELEASE
12 June 2008
Washington, DC
The United States condemns Eritrea’s military aggression against Djibouti in the vicinity of the border between the two countries at Ras Doumeira. These hostilities represent an additional threat to peace and security in the already volatile Horn of Africa. We understand that at least nine Djiboutians have been killed and over 60 injured as a result of the Eritrean attacks.
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Members of French Air Force stand beside a Mirage 2000-D aircraft during an India-France joint air exercise about 135 kilometres west of Calcutta, India, in 2007. |
13 June 2008
Any sailor will tell you the Gulf of Aden off Somalia is a dangerous place. Enough that the United States, Canada, Britain, France and several other nations have dispatched warships to ward off Somali pirates and protect the strategic sea lanes.
Yet the ships were no deterrent to the fast-moving boats of well-armed sea robbers last April. The pirates seized the crew of a French-flagged luxury yacht, demanding millions of dollars in ransom for both people and vessel.
Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain speaks during a town hall meeting, while Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama answers questions from the audience |
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jun 13, 2008 – Barack Obama and John McCain, rivals for the White House, squabbled on Friday over terms for a series of face-to-face town hall meetings and each side blamed the other for an inability to reach an accord.
Democrat Obama and Republican McCain, opponents in the November election, also bickered over ways to salvage Social Security, the U.S. government retirement system for seniors that is at risk of going broke in the decades ahead.
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Upon hearing that war broke out between Eritrea and Djibouti, many people who are either from the Horn of Africa or are familiar with the Horn of Africa, are very likely to immediately think that Eritrea is to blame, and the reason is because Eritrea has a history of getting into wars with its neighbors. But while Eritrea’s record of being a bad neighbor is widely known and resulted in its international isolation, Djibouti’s record in this regard, though less widely publicized, and has not led to war until now, is troublesome, to say the least.
Let us look at the facts. Djibouti has borders with Somaliland, Eritrea and Ethiopia. Out of these three countries, Djibouti has lousy relations with the first (Somaliland), is at war with the second ( Eritrea), and has seesawing relations with the third ( Ethiopia).
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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 Mahdi Gabose Much has been said about what kind of an entity will emerge from the ashes of the Somali Republic when the dust finally settles down. Reconstituting Humpty-Dumpty back together has proven to be quite a task and remains elusive so far despite many attempts to recreate what once was and utterly failed us all.
Perhaps the reason why Somalia is so hard to reconstitute is because the premise and the approach taken to resolve the Somali political crisis is one based on old ideas and paradigms that no longer apply to realities on the ground today.
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By Abdirahim Ali Harbi
Canada, one of the Western World’s most successful multicultural and liberal countries has finally apologized for its shameful yet most horrendous mistake in its dealings with the countries First Nation Peoples. Hundreds of First Nation peoples had gathered inside and out side of the country’s Parliament in Ottawa as the Prime Minister gave heart felt apology to its Native People. This apology comes shortly after Canada is accused of and seen by many analysts abandoning its leadership role in tackling Global Warming and Native People’s issues under the minority conservative government.
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By Ali Gulaid
Over a month ago Saeed Meygag Samater has left us for a better world, ALLAH bless his soul but his Legacy remains with us and for that we are all better off. In a community that is rife with conflict, treachery and melancholy, Saeed was a vanguard and a bulwark for coalescing; managing conflicts; staying above the fray and petty squabbles but more importantly he was endowed with a sense of fairness and a disarming mildness. In his short years Saeed has touched my life and the lives of many and have consequently enriched my outlook of life in more ways than one.
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U.S. Wins Dividing the Islamic Court Union
By Dalmar Kaahin
From the start, as soon as it became clear that the deposed Islamic Court Union I.C.U of Somalia was unwilling to budge on the U.S. demands of giving up its [I.C.U] opposition to the foreign-imposed Somali regime, the U.S. rather than create peace in Somalia, it [U.S.] focused on only one thing: how to divide the I.C.U along “moderates” and “extremists”.
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By Ahmed Kheyre
Recently, the Somaliland House of Representatives approved the 2008 annual budget. A remarkable achievement for an unrecognized 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 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 Abdihakim Haji Saeed
With a great sense of loss we mourn the loss of Omar Jama Ismail..one that is tragic loss for all Somali Landers. Omar died at the hospital in Djibouti, I was deeply saddened to hear about the death of Mujahid Omar Jama Ismail, and a man I considered both a friend and Visionary. I know how this must be difficult for the family and I want to sincerely give my condolence to his family and all Somali Landers.
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| Free and stable, self-declared republic chafes at lack of world recognition
By Paul Salopek
HARGEISA, Somaliland, June 8, 2008 — Somalia isn't supposed to be this normal.
Untroubled by petty crime, money changers in this quiet desert city leave their stacks of currency unattended—in piles the size of refrigerators — while they pray in mosques.
Earnest government officials, elected in what may be the cleanest voting in Africa, eagerly meet reporters in roadside cafes, a practice that would be suicidal in the violent south of the country, where occupying Ethiopian troops do battle with a ferocious Islamist insurgency. (Even more unusual, the officials insist on picking up the tab for camel-milk tea.)
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By Hussein Al-alak
So have you decided whose side your on, when asked in the article Action for Iraqi children if you are with us or against us? When in knowledge of the fact that 1.5 million children died under the US/UK backed UN Sanctions, the “cabinet of war criminals”, have further destroyed the lives of millions of Iraq’s young, through "the supreme international crime", which was and still remains the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
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Clementine Bazibagira, 35, with son Kayitare Derrick Shimwe, 7, in a cornfield on her two-acre plot in Nyamata, Rwanda. She has no money for fertilizer and her only tool is a wood-handled hoe. But experts say that with a small investment, subsistence farmers like her may find opportunity in the international food crisis. |
After decades of declining productivity and deep poverty, subsistence farmers might be able to make a little money. But they need some help
NYAMATA, RWANDA, June 14, 2008 - When he was a boy, Charles Munyawera's parents abandoned the Rwandan countryside in search of richer opportunities in Kigali, the capital city.
June 14, 2008
Last August the watchdog group, Military Religious Freedom Foundation, foiled a Pentagon plan that would have allowed the shipment of "freedom packages" to soldiers and Marines in Iraq. The parcels were put together by the fundamentalist Christian ministry, Straight Up, and contained Bibles, proselytizing tracts in English and Arabic, and the apocalyptic "Left Behind" computer game, in which Christian Tribulation forces convert or kill infidels—nonbelievers, Muslims and Jews.
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ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, June 11, 2008 - The U.N.'s most powerful body spent nine days visiting African hotspots trying to push solutions to the continent's worst conflicts and get a taste of the hardships faced by millions of civilians caught in fighting.
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By James P. DeHart
June 15, 2008
One of my U.S. Foreign Service colleagues has a great photo of himself from his time working with a Provincial Reconstruction Team in one of Afghanistan's livelier provinces. He's dressed in khaki, with an MP5 assault rifle slung over his shoulder. When I first saw it, I thought: There's a lot to say about service like that. It's adventurous. It's courageous. It's patriotic.
By Philip Emeagwali
I felt the hard, cold steel of a gun against the back of my head. I spun around and saw my assailant’s finger shaking on the trigger: “Don't run or I'll shoot you,” he said. I was just 14 years old, and death was a stranger to me.
It was 1969, and Nigeria was embroiled in civil war. As a teenage refugee conscripted into the Biafran Army, I was forced at gunpoint to carry weapons to the Oguta front. It was a 24-hour, march through mosquito-infested mangroves flooded by the River Niger.
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Questions that we would like your views on
1. Does international assistance help or hinder countries in conflict (like Somalia) to reach reconciliation or stability? How can any negative effects be overcome?
2. Somaliland receives a significant part of DFID’s Somali development funds (around 50%). Is this balance correct, given the likely competing demands from South/Central Somalia and Puntland?
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14 June 2008 - The United Nations World Food Programme has chalked out a strategic plan to solve the global good crisis. Under the plan, more than two billion dollars are going to be spent on food, transport and staff in the developing world.
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23 – 25 September 2008, Nairobi KICC, Kenya
Africa’s broadcast and film industry will be holding its first get-together in Nairobi in September as the industry enters a period of considerable change and growth. Oscar Beauttah, Conference Chairman, and Russell Southwood, Conference Programme Director, provide a preview of the themes to be covered in this exciting three-day industry event.
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PRESS RELEASE
9 June 2008
Washhington, DC
The United States welcomes the agreement between the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia and the opposition Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia. We appreciate the efforts of the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG), Somali civil society representatives, and members of the international community, in particular the Government of Djibouti as hosts of the talks, for their contributions to this agreement.
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