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International News
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U.S. Embassy Press Release
Nairobi, February 26, 2009 – United States Ambassador
Michael Ranneberger today visited the fifteen Burundian
troops who were wounded in Sunday’s suicide bomb attack on
their base in Mogadishu, and subsequently evacuated to
Nairobi. The Ambassador was joined by counterparts from the
European Union, the Somali Embassy in Nairobi, AMISOM, and
senior staff from Nairobi Hospital.
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Hardline Somali Islamist fighters hold a position in
Mogadishu |
UNITED NATIONS,
February 26, 2009 — The United Nations Security Council
Wednesday condemned the latest violence in Somalia including
a weekend suicide attack that killed 11 African
peacekeepers, Japan's UN envoy said.
"The members of the Security Council condemn in the
strongest terms" the attacks and "reiterate their
condemnation of all acts of violence and incitement to
violence against AMISOM," the African Union Mission in
Somalia, said Ambassador Yukio Takasu of Japan, which holds
the council's rotating presidency.
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By Andrew Cawthorne
NAIROBI, February 24, 2009 – The new Somali government's
priorities are to stabilize Mogadishu, help the homeless,
and build on a lull in violence between local factions in
the Horn of Africa nation, the foreign minister said on
Tuesday.
In his first interview since being appointed, Mohamed
Abdillahi Omaar told Reuters an Islamist rebel attack at the
weekend killing 11 African peacekeepers should not distract
the world's attention from other encouraging progress for
Somalia.
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Eleven-month-old Nurdin, left, greets
9-month-old Zeke, as their mothers Asha Ahmed and
Susanna Decker look on. |
By
Laura Yuen
Minneapolis, February 26, 2009 – Over the
past few months, leaders of a Minneapolis mosque have
vigorously fought accusations linking them to a number of
missing Twin Cities men -- men that some believe have
returned to Somalia to fight in that country's civil war.
The mosque leaders have held news conferences and have
dismissed any suggestion that the young men were somehow
radicalized under their roof.
But last night, the managers at the
Abubakar As-Saddique Islamic Center took a different
approach.
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Nairobi, February 26, 2009 – UN Special Rapporteur Philip
Alston on Wednesday condemned Kenya for allowing police to
execute suspects and armed gangs to butcher the innocent.
Prof Alston asked President Mwai Kibaki to sack Police
Commissioner Major General Hussein Ali, during whose watch,
he said, special death squads were set up in the force.
He also called for the resignation of Attorney General Amos
Wako, whom he scathingly referred to as the “embodiment of
the phenomenon of impunity” in Kenya.
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Addis Ababa, February 22, 2009 – The African Union special
envoy to Somalia said Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh
Ahmed has assured him the national unity government now
being formed will be secular. The head of the AU
peacekeeping mission AMISOM is hailing Sheikh Sharif's rise
to power as a 'big chance' for halting the insurgency that
has made Somalia ungovernable for nearly two decades.
Special envoy Nicholas Bwakira is appealing to the
international community for sustained diplomatic and
political support for efforts to establish a stable
administration in Somalia. After briefing the AU Peace and
Security Council, Bwakira said he had been assured by Somali
President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a Somali cleric, that his
government would not be religious.
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Ahmed Mohamed Abdikarim (Cantar) reacts
at a Toronto court house after the acquittal of two
men charge with his son's murder, which was caught
on videotape. (Sun Media/Michael Peake) |
By
IAN ROBERTSON
TORONTO, February 27, 2009 -- Feeling
betrayed and sad after yesterday's release of two men
accused of killing his son, Ahmed Abdikarim Mohammed said he
will take his wife and their five children back to Africa
"this week."
"Canada is nothing ... the Canadian
government is nothing," he said at the front door of the
family's modest North York bungalow, in the Dufferin
St.-Lawrence Ave. W. area.
"I go," Mohammed, 58, told the Sun. "My
plan is this week to go, all together."
Charges were dropped yesterday against
Owen Anthony Smith and Wendell Damian Cuff, both 25, in the
March 14, 2008, shooting of 18-year-old Abdikarim Ahmed
Abdikarim in Lawrence Heights.
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A young family of mother and five
boys move into their new shelter. |
Hargeysa, February 26, 2009 – ShelterBox
Response Team member Mike Greenslade reported to Hargeisa,
Somaliland with 480 tents to be issued to families living in
and around the capital. ShelterBox Response Team members and
local volunteers had erected over 250 new Africa tents by
the end of January, at two campsites named "Kood-Buur" and
"26th June." Newly-trained teams of local volunteers
continued into February, building two further camps:
"Mohammed Haybe" and "Ahmed Dhagax."
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Somalis
see Sharif Ahmed, the new president, as the man to
end the bloodshed |
By Mohammed Adow in Mogadishu
Recent developments in Somalia appear to suggest that the
country may be on the verge of reaching an end to two
decades of war, displacement and hunger.
Somalis were first given hope when Ethiopian forces, who
invaded Somalia in late 2006, began withdrawing in 2008.
This was quickly followed by the surprise resignation of
Abdillahi Yusuf Ahmed, the then president, who many had
considered an obstacle to peace.
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Headlines |
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Somaliland Marines Tackle Treacherous Seas |
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Marines
from the
Somaliland
territory patrol
the Gulf of
Aden. Somalia’s
coastguard has
arrested about
50 pirates in
the area in the
past two years.
Matt Brown |
By Matt Brown
BERBERA, Somaliland,
February 28, 2009 –
Before setting out into
the warm, azure waters
of the Gulf of Aden,
Ahmed Saleh, a colonel
in the coastguard here,
surveys his men. The 10
marines are well armed
with AK-47 rifles,
rocket-propelled grenade
launchers and an
imposing Russian-made
anti-aircraft gun
mounted on the bow of
their speedboat.
These men carry a small
arsenal for a reason.
They are tasked with
patrolling some of the
most dangerous waters on
Earth, the
pirate-infested sea off
the Somali coast.
“We do not fear because
we have arms,” Col Saleh
said aboard his patrol
boat in the open water
of the Gulf of Aden.
“The pirates have arms
too, but still we do not
fear. If we show fear,
they can do whatever
they want to us.”
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Somaliland Election Commission Postpones Election Date |
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NEC member questioned by Somaliland's Lower House |
Hargeysa,
Somaliland, February 28, 2009 – The election date in
Somaliland has been postponed by the election commission on
Monday.
Mr. Jama Mohamed "Sweden," the election commission chairman,
addressed Somaliland's lower house of parliament - the House
of Representatives - at parliament hall in Hargeysa.
The parliament meeting was chaired by Mr. Abdiaziz Mohamed
Samale, the deputy Speaker, and was attended by most members
of the 82-seat parliament.
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Thieves Use Cat To Trigger Somaliland Stampede |
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Hargeysa, Somaliland, Feb 28, 2009 –
Thieves caused chaos outside a Somaliland mosque late on
Thursday when they took advantage of a power cut to throw a
stray cat into the crowd, triggering a stampede so they could
rob worshippers.
Large screens had been set up outside Hargeysa’s packed Ali
Matan Mosque so thousands of people could watch a sermon by
Sheikh Moustafa Hagi Ismael Hassan, one of the Horn of Africa
country's most senior Muslim clerics.
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Setanta.com can exclusively confirm
that there is English interest in Juventus super-kid
Ayub Daud |
London, February 27, 2009 – The promising playmaker, who hails
from Somalia, impressed scouts at a recent youth tournament and
Italian newspaper Tuttosport claims Tottenham are leading the
chase for his services.
However, the 18-year-old's agent Ulisse Savini has denied the
suggestion that he has met with Spurs officials but revealed
West Ham have been alerted to his client's potential.
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WASHINGTON, February 27, 2009 — As people crowded into the
capital for Barack Obama's inaugural celebration, senior
counterterrorism officials huddled in the White House situation
room, frantically trying to unravel intelligence about a
possible attack on Washington.
By Tuesday afternoon, as Obama took the oath of office, the
threat of a terror plot by the Somalia-based al-Shabab
organization had been debunked, but the flurry of activity
underscored growing worries about this Islamic militant group.
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Mohamed Abdi
Guled, editor of Yool, a weekly Newspaper |
Paris February 27, 2009 - Reporters Without Borders today
condemned the arrest yesterday by police in Somaliland, of
Mohamed Abdi Guled, editor of the privately-owned weekly Yool
appearing in Hargeysa. The journalist is being held on the
premises of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID).
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FBI Director Robert Mueller speaks at the graduation
ceremony for Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Academy's New Agents' class of 2008-14 in Quantico,
Virginia on October 30, 2008 |
WASHINGTON, February 26, 2009 — The United States has reported
its first suicide bomber, a naturalized citizen who returned to
his native Somalia and blew himself up for an Al Qaida-aligned
group.
"A man from Minneapolis became what we believe to be the first
U.S. citizen to carry out a terrorist suicide bombing," FBI
director Robert Mueller said.
"The attack occurred last October in northern Somalia, but it
appears that this individual was radicalized in his hometown in
Minnesota."
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Chavez Indifferent About Meeting Obama |
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President Hugo Chavez |
Caracas, February 28, 2009 – President Hugo Chavez says that he
was totally indifferent about meeting US President Barack Obama
at a Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago.
"The reason I'm attending the summit is not that Obama's there.
I couldn't care less if he is there or not, if we see each other
or not," Chavez told reporters at a public event in Caracas.
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He ordered the case of enemy
combatant Ali Al-Marri, who has been held in solitary
confinement for five years without charges, to be moved to the
US criminal justice system.
By
Warren Richey
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Legal analysts are drawing parallels
between the Al-Marri case and that of Jose Padilla (c.),
who was held as an enemy combatant for three and a half
years in a different wing of the Charleston brig.
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Washington, February 28, 2009 – In a major shift
away from the controversial anti-terror policies of the Bush
administration, President Obama on Friday ordered the transfer
of a suspected Al Qaeda sleeper agent from a Navy brig into the
US criminal justice system.
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By Matthew Harwood
Washington, February 27, 2009 - The
administration of President Barack Obama should work more
closely with Muslim communities to counter homegrown
radicalization toward extremist forms of Islam represented by
al Qaeda and its allies,
according to a new report from the Washington Institute for Near
East Policy.
While the report makes clear that the United
States does not suffer the same alienation among its diverse
Muslim communities as Europe does, there have been some
disturbing trends.
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US president Barack
Hussein Obama |
By Carl Hulse and David
M. Herszenhorn
WASHINGTON, February 27, 2009 — For years, congressional
Democrats tried to avoid anything that would let Republicans
slap the tax-and-spend label on them. But on Friday, they
cautiously embraced President Barack Obama's budget, with its
ambitious blend of new spending and tax increases, calculating
that they can turn the old attack line to their benefit.
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Somaliland, a former
British territory, has been fairly stable since it declared
independence in 1991. If coming elections there go well, with
voters using biometric identity cards, it may slowly start to
win recognition from some African countries and others farther
afield.
From The Economist print
edition
Nairobi, Feb 26th 2009 – THE most smashed-up country in the
world has reached a crossroads. The recent election of a
moderate Islamist, Sharif Ahmed (pictured above), as Somalia’s
new president may offer the best chance of peace in the country
for more than a decade. As head of the Islamic Courts Union that
held sway over a chunk of Somalia in 2006, he was later driven
into exile by invading Ethiopian troops backed by America. So it
was quite a turnaround when, on his first day in office a few
weeks ago, this courteous former geography teacher went to
Ethiopia and got a standing ovation from heads of state in its
capital, Addis Ababa, at an African Union (AU) jamboree.
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“The
question could be raised regarding the recognition of Somaliland
as an independent state. Taking this initiative is not
preferable to Ethiopia”
The Federal Democratic
Republic of Ethiopia Foreign Affairs and National Security
Policy and Strategy
February 26th, 2009
a)
Historical background of relations
The relation between Ethiopia
and Somalia has not been a healthy one. In the recent historical
period, one major and one lesser war were fought between the two
countries. The empty dream of the so-called “Greater Somalia”,
an expansionist policy, had brought to Somalia nothing but
hostility and conflicts with all its neighbors, especially
Ethiopia.
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Catching up on news
in Addis Ababa. |
By Adelia Saunders
Paris, February 12, 2009 – The demise of the news industry
has been predicted with eerie frequency lately, and
journalists and editors in Europe and North America have
reason to be alarmed as news organizations trim budgets and
shed staff. But in contrast to the grim outlook of their
counterparts overseas, many African journalists are
optimistic about the future of the press.
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Historical Lecture To The American People |
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By Ivan Simic
Every day we have the opportunity to read the articles, opinions
and news analysis from one group of the American people, in
which they more or less express their will in sometimes, very
confusing way. Many of them do not know historical facts about
their own country, not to mention history of other countries.
Sometimes, they behave like the world did not existed before
formation of the US; like Americans felt out from the sky in
18th the century; and everything good that happened in the
world, happened because of the United States. Many of these
Americans publicly criticize other countries and nations,
accusing them of injustice, genocide, the devaluation of human
rights, racism, war crimes, among others.
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Religious Warlords |
Somalia’s association
with chaos, murder and lawlessness is now so well-established
that when Jeffrey Gettleman of the New York Times called it “The
most dangerous country in the world”, it hardly raised any
eyebrows. When it comes to how and why Somalia earned this
shameful status, the fingers are usually pointed at Somalia’s
warlords and rightly so. But lately, a new group of murderous
cut throats have joined in Somalia’s hellish nightmare.
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By: H. Farah
As the brave war worn soldiers of the SNM stood in the
crumbling reins of the city of Burco and reasserted
Somaliland’s independence on May 18th 1991, they knew the
tasks facing the new nation appeared to be almost
insurmountable. The entire country at that time had been
leveled to the ground by Siyad Barre’s constant bombardment,
many cities were still too dangerous to enter as landmines
littered their grounds, hundreds of thousands of lives were
lost, and the populous was gripped with a deep cynicism
brought on by a vile war, and decades of oppression and
brutality at the hands of a nefarious dictator.
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OPINION |
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Somaliland Should Wary Of The Enemy Within And Without |
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By Yusuf Miree, London
Since the inception of Somaliland as a separate state from
the chaotic South, hordes of Somalilanders have been rushing
to claim the craps from the high table of the warlords and
any outfit that styled itself as the government of Somalia.
Initially, this trend was largely restricted to those who
could not stand on their own in Somaliland politics, in
unkindly terms, the no-hope losers. They neither had any
following nor commanded any respect, neither tribal
allegiance nor professional recognition. They were just guys
who ran short of their chat and had no idea where to get a
wage other than sell the dignity of their own for peanuts.
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Giving Somaliland Its Over Due Recognition Is Key To Horn’s
Stability |
By Suleiman Egeh
Introduction: Again the IGAD despots made another blunder
and formed another fictitious government in exile. African
dictators never learn from their mistakes. They made career
out of the misery of the suffering people of Somalia. They
created another false hope for a people devastated by
successive warlords, brutal Ethiopian invasion they blessed
and now under the mercy of violent terrorists.
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Any Good Lawyer’s Around? The Case For Somaliland’s
Recognition |
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By:
Hayat Farah
As Somaliland’s 18th anniversary of independence approaches,
I marvel at the fact that the international community
remains reluctant to recognize Somaliland as a sovereign
nation. Here we are, a stable, democratic country, while the
country the world wants us to remain attached to has been
plunging deeper and deeper into anarchy these past 17 years.
I started to wonder, is the case against Somaliland
recognition truly that strong?
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Somaliland Election – Africa’s 3rd Finest Democracy |
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By Abdulazez Al-Motairi
In Somaliland, democracy means a form of popular government
in which the power is held directly or indirectly by the
citizens via a free election.
As first free and fair democracy in East Africa, Somaliland
has a tradition of promoting democracy, liberty, equality,
freedom of worship and expression. Somaliland held more than
one election starting with Referendum Election on the
Constitution of Somaliland, which defines the independence
and integrity of Somaliland Republic in its first
paragraphs. Somaliland received financial support from free
world in the process of organizing the elections, including
European Union that sponsors the expenses of 29th March 2009
Presidential Election.
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By Abdirisak Ismail Esse
Somaliland’s presidential election is just around the corner
as people are going to cast their votes to elect the
president of the next five years. They are going to the
polls to vote for a new president in less then 50 days
remaining. So, Who is expected to win?
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[This article is about Somaliland’s fanatical, hasty
unification with Somalia in 1960 and how Somalia doomed the
union with political deprivation (1960-1982) and atrocities
(1982-1990). It also states reasons of why the union is not
revivable. In this article, North is referred to Somaliland
and South is referred to Somalia as used in the three
decades of the union.]
A union, when it is about countries, is an act of uniting
two or more countries with the objective of enhancing
strength and advancing common interest. However, any union
succeeds only if its initiative is fully deliberated, its
constitution is well- thought of and defined and all sides
respect and abide by it with real commitment to put it
forward.
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Ten Commandments To Make Somaliland A Great Nation In 2009 |
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My dear brothers and
sisters of Somaliland,
The 2008 was one of the darkest in our history as we faced
highest numbers of blasts and Political Crisis in last 10
years. Let's practice following 10 commandments to make
Somaliland a great nation in 2009 and coming years.
Thou shall never forget- It took us 18 years to achieve
freedom. We should introspect as to why it took us so long.
It took us 10 years to achieve the level of Peace, economic
prosperity which other countries are enjoying for 100s of
years, why? We have been attacked by aggressors for
thousands of years, why?
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A Sustainable Response To The Scourge Of Somali Piracy |
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J.Peter Pham, PhD
February 26, 2009
In
last week’s column I warned that the threat of Somali
piracy is “not just ongoing, but incidents of attempted
hijackings may actually increase, notwithstanding the
increased attention which the international has focused on
the phenomenon.” On Sunday, a Greek-owned,
Maltese-flagged 75,707-deadweight-ton container ship, the MV
Saldanha, bound for Slovenia with cargo from the Thai
port of Sriracha was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden and her 22
crew members taken prisoner. The BBC’s Jonah Fisher, on
board the Royal Navy’s Type 23-classfrigate HMS
Northumberland which was nearby at the time of the
attack,
reported that because a hostage situation had developed
by the time the warship came alongside the merchant vessel,
“there was little that Martin Simpson, captain of the
Northumberland, could do.”
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Dr.
Terry Lacey |
Dr. Terry Lacey
Development Economist
So Benjamin
Netanyahu may lead the next Israeli coalition. He says he
will not be tied by pledges by outgoing Prime Minister
Olmert to withdraw settlers from occupied Palestinian
territory. He is opposed to political progress on the twin
state solution, talks on borders or dividing (or sharing)
Jerusalem. (Patrick Moser, AFP, Jakarta Post
21.02.09).
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Bureau of
Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
February 25,
2009
Somalia* has an
estimated population of seven million. The territory, which
was recognized as the Somali state from 1960 to 1991, was
fragmented into regions led in whole or in part by three
distinct entities: the Transitional Federal Institutions,
with the Transitional Federal Parliament (TFP) in Baidoa,
and the presidency and most of the Transitional Federal
Government (TFG) in Mogadishu; the self-declared Republic of
Somaliland in the northwest; and the semi-autonomous region
of Puntland in the northeast. The TFG was formed in late
2004, with a five-year transitional mandate to establish
permanent, representative government institutions and
organize national elections.
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By
James Phillips
Backgrounder
The United
States has made considerable progress in its war against
international terrorism, but it still faces contingencies
that could complicate its goal of eradicating the scourge of
global terrorism. The United States has uprooted Osama bin
Laden's al-Qaeda ("the Base") terrorist group--and the
radical Islamic Taliban regime that protected it--from
Afghanistan. Although al-Qaeda and Taliban remnants seek to
regroup and challenge the authority of the U.S.-backed
Afghan government of Hamid Karzai, bin Laden has lost his
foremost safe haven and state sponsor.
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The men who
remain imprisoned at Guantanamo are there now more because
of nationality than because of any evaluation of their
actual danger to the United States. Citizens of powerful
European countries were released long ago.
By Gitanjali Gutierrez
After meeting many
men in Guantanamo, and breaking bread with my former clients
after their release, I remain baffled by the
Administration's continuing uncertainty about how to close
the notorious prison facility. Have we as a people still not
recognized in 2009 our gross mistakes at Guantanamo?
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Author:
Stephanie Hanson
February 27,
2009
Introduction
Al-Shabaab
(aka the Harakat Shabaab al-Mujahidin, al-Shabab, Shabaab,
the Youth, Mujahidin al-Shabaab Movement, Mujahideen Youth
Movement, Mujahidin Youth Movement), is an Islamic
organization that controls much of southern Somalia,
excluding the capital, Mogadishu. It has waged an insurgency
against Somalia's transitional government and its Ethiopian
supporters since 2006.
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A new
alignment of forces is a moment both of opportunity and
danger in the shattered east African country. Gérard Prunier
maps the political landscape and assesses what is likely to
- and should - happen.
The election
of the moderate Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed
as the new president of Somalia's Transitional Federal
Government (TFG) creates a window of opportunity for the
shattered east African country. But what
happened in Djibouti on 31 January 2009 must be followed
by constructive and creative political action if it is to
yield its potential benefits.
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No wonder no
one knows for certain what should be done
NAIROBI, Feb 26th
2009 – HOW many people still live in Somalia? No one knows.
The UN says around 10m. Just as Somalia’s problems of
jihadism and piracy have gone global, so have its people.
War has scattered Somalis across the world. But the diaspora
is probably at least 1m-strong—favorite outposts include
Cardiff, Dubai, Minneapolis and Stockholm—and plays a big
part in the country’s politics. These figures exclude the
6m-plus ethnic Somalis who live in neighboring Ethiopia,
Kenya, Djibouti and Yemen.
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