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Somalia Plans To Create New
State To Keep Off Al Shabaab |
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By JOHN OYWA and PETER ORENGO
Nairobi, Kenya, April 2, 2011 - The war-torn Somalia could be
headed for deeper trouble if plans to create another autonomous
region along its borders with Kenya are carried through.
Although being billed as a good tactical move to help stabilize
the lawless country, some observers say it could spark fresh
rounds of civil war between regional authorities and the Al
Qaeda linked Al Shabaab militia that is causing grave security
concerns in the Horn of Africa.
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Written by United Nations
Hargeysa, Somaliland, April 2, 2011 – The head of the United
Nations maritime agency yesterday in the Kenyan port city of
Mombasa commissioned the first of three planned
information-sharing centers designed to help fight the
growing scourge of piracy in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf
of Aden, the UN says.
The center in Mombasa, which was opened by Efthimios E
Mitropoulos, the Secretary-General of the UN International
Maritime Organization (IMO), is co-housed with the Regional
Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), which operates
on a 24-hour basis and covers extensive areas of the western
Indian Ocean.
The centers are being established under the Djibouti Code of
Conduct on the Repression of Piracy and Armed Robbery
against Ships in the Western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of
Aden, the maritime regions most affected by pirates who set
off from Somalia.
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Guards
stand outside the new prison, Tuesday, March 29,
2011 in the breakaway northern republic of
Somaliland. The prison already has nearly 70 pirate
inmates and officials say they will take any
Somalilanders convicted of piracy in other
countries. (AP Photo/ Katharine Houreld)
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Hargeysa, Somaliland, April 2, 2011 — A new maximum-security
prison opened in Somaliland on Tuesday, raising hopes that
it can help relieve the burden on other nations affected by
piracy that are reluctant to imprison pirates.
Most suspected pirates captured by international warships
are released because other nations don't want to jail them,
and most Somali prisons and courts are not up to
international standards. Navies — who nickname the problem
"catch-and-release" — say it's one reason pirates continue
to threaten one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.
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Reporters Without Borders is baffled by the hostility that
the authorities are showing towards journalists. Two members
of privately-owned Radio Shabelle were arrested
yesterday in Mogadishu, while two other journalists have
been held in the northeastern region of Puntland and the
northwestern region of Somaliland for more than a week.The
press freedom organization calls for the immediately release
of all four journalists and a halt to their persecution.
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Photo:
Mohamed Amin Jibril/IRIN
"There is not a single region from the south to the
north that is not suffering [from drought],” Abdi
Haji Gobdon, spokesman for Somalia's Transitional
Federal Government (TFG), told IRIN
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Hargeysa/Nairobi, April 2, 2011 – With drought spreading to
almost all regions of Somalia, officials and aid workers
have expressed concern for those affected, saying drought
was now a major cause of displacement.
"Drought, not insecurity, is now the main reason for new
displacement in Somalia," the UN Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA Somalia) said in a March
update. "More than 52,000 people have been displaced due to
drought since 1 December 2010, many of them moving to urban
areas in search of assistance."
In particular, the capital, Mogadishu, had experienced an
increased influx of drought-affected pastoralists, said OCHA.
"Although migration of people and livestock is not unusual
during the dry season, this appears to be the first time
ever
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Washington, April 2, 2011 – The United States has no plans
to use ground forces to protect commercial shipping in
pirate-infested waters off the Somali coast, a senior U.S.
diplomat said.
Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs
Andrew Shapiro outlined on Wednesday new U.S. efforts to
combat piracy off the coast of Somalia in response to
increased attacks and violence.
"We have not endorsed to use any land base and ground forces
to combat the pirates. It's better to work with security
forces of Somalia," Shapiro said.
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Toronto, Canada, April 2, 2011 — Two women who allegedly
went door-to-door in Canadian Somali communities to raise
funds for Al-Shabaab are among 14 people charged with
providing material support to the al-Qaeda linked militant
group.
Top Al-Shabaab commander Omar Hammami, a U.S. citizen who
lived in Toronto for a short period of time five years ago
before relocating to Somalia, also faces several charges for
providing “services and personnel” to the terror group.
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By Barry Malone
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, April 2, 2011 — Ethiopia on Wednesday
said it planned to build a huge dam on the Nile despite a
long-running row with Egypt over use of the river and
concern the dispute may spark a war.
The nine countries through which the river passes have for
more than a decade been locked in often bitter talks to
renegotiate colonial-era treaties that gave Egypt and Sudan
the lion’s share of the river’s waters.
However, six of the nine upstream countries — Ethiopia,
Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Burundi — have signed a
new deal stripping Egypt of its veto and agreeing to
renegotiate how much water each country is entitled to.
“The Great Nile dam construction is scheduled to commence
presently near the Ethio-Sudan border,” Water and Energy
Minister Alemayehu Tegenu told a news conference. “From this
dam alone, Ethiopia expects to generate 5,250MW.”
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Feds Questioning Supporters Of
Ohio-Based Leader Of Somali Group “SSC” |
SSC Leader, Saleban
Haglo-tosiye, speaking
to his militia in
Buhodle during his war
against Somaliland
By Andrew
Welsh-Huggins
COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 2,
2011 — Federal
authorities have been
questioning several
U.S.-based supporters of
an American citizen
originally from Somalia
who leads a group that
advocates for the rights
of people living in the
northern part of the
embattled African
country, The Associated
Press has learned.
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Somaliland To Participate In UK
Conference |
From left: Ministers of
Foreign Affairs, Dr.
Mohamed Abdillahi;
Aviation, Mohamud Hashi;
and Water and Mineral
Resources Hussein
Abdi Dualle (Photofile)
Hargeysa, Somaliland,
April 2, 2011 (SL Times)
– In an interview with
the BBC Somali service,
Somaliland Minister of
foreign affairs, Dr
Muhammad Abdillahi Omar
announced that a
Somaliland delegation
including himself, the
Minister of Aviation
Mohamoud Hashi, and the
Minister of Water and
Mineral Resources Mr
Hussein Abdi Duale, will
participate in a
conference in the UK
whose topic of
discussion will be
investing in Somaliland.
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President Ahmed
Sillanyo Meets With UN Delegation |
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Hargeysa,
Somaliland, April 2, 2011 (SL Times) – A UN delegation arrived
in Somaliland this week. The delegation was headed by Mr Yuri
Ferdov, the Director of UNODC in charge of drug control.
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Seychelles
Delegation Arrives In Somaliland |
Hargeysa, Somaliland, April 2, 2011 (SL Times) – A
Seychelles government delegation led by the Seychelles
ambassador to South Africa visited Somaliland this week.
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Somaliland Plans To Enforce
Compliance On Tax, Double Revenue |
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By Sarah McGregor
Hargeysa, Somaliland, April 2, 2011 –
Somaliland may double revenue collection this year as it
enforces tax compliance among the country’s 40 biggest
businesses and richest individuals, the Finance Ministry said.
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By Sarah McGregor
Hargeysa, Somaliland, April 2, 2011 – The central bank of
Somaliland expects lawmakers to enact a draft banking law by
June, enabling commercial lenders to extend credit to borrowers
for the first time.
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Nairobi, Kenya, April 2, 2011 – The United Nations Office on
Drugs and Crime (UNODC) will assist Somaliland to strengthen the
capacity of authorities to prosecute captured pirates who have
menaced maritime trade off the coast of Somalia over the past
decade.
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Two Berbera lion cubs were rescued from animal traffickers in
Mogadishu, Somalia.
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Two
Berbera lion cubs were rescued from animal traffickers
in Mogadishu, Somalia. |
Berbera, Somaliland, April 2, 2011 – Their mother was killed
and they were driven through a raging civil war, destined to
be pets in the Middle East - until Somali authorities
intervened to save two lion cubs smuggled aboard a ship.
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Hargeysa, Somaliland, April 2, 2011 —Somaliland on Tuesday
inaugurated a UN-funded prison aimed at holding pirates but also
warned it was not yet accepting those detained by foreign
powers.
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South Sudan Prints New Currency
Ahead Of Independence
Printing company in
Europe has begun printing South Sudan Pound, to be released on
Independence Day July 9th |
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South
Sudan Finance and Economic Minister David Deng
Athorbei |
“The design of the currency is this way; on one face is the
face of Dr. John [Garang]."
Juba, South Sudan, April 2, 2011 – The government of South
Sudan is already printing a new currency ahead of the
region’s official declaration of independence in July.
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Thousands Attend Rival Rallies In
Yemen |
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Yemen has
seen large anti-government protests after Friday
prayers for the last seven weeks [Reuters] |
Opposition claims protests are biggest so far but thousands
also rally in support of Yemen's president, Abdullah Saleh.
Sana’a, Yemen, April 2, 2011 – Tens of thousands of people
have gathered in Sanaa, the Yemeni capital, both for and
against president Ali Abdullah Saleh, raising fears fresh
confrontations between the two sides.
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Even as Qaddafi gains on the battlefield, Western officials
say his regime is "crumbling" from the inside.
By Scott
Peterson
Tripoli, Libya, April 2, 2011 –
Col. Muammar Qaddafi has gained the upper hand on the Libyan
battlefield, even as British and other Western officials
maintain that his regime is "crumbling" from the inside.
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It's twenty years since Somaliland declared itself
independent and since then it's not been recognized as a
nation state. But, as Mary Harper discovers in Assignment,
it's a country that's fairly comfortable with going it
alone.
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By Mark Seddon
While the attention of the
World continues to focus on North Africa and the Middle
East, other conflict stricken countries fall ever further
down the news agenda.
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By Yali Chen
A group of Taiwanese doctors, nurses, pharmacists, medical
students and volunteers spent their Lunar New Year holidays
in early February offering free health service for needy
people in Botswana.
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Remarks
Andrew J. Shapiro
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs
Remarks to International Institute for Strategic Studies
Washington, DC
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By
Sean McLachlan
As I mentioned yesterday, I've been exploring
Ethiopia's Somali region. While my quest for Ahmed
Guray's castle was a failure, I did see potential for
adventure travel in the region.
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Minneapolis, U.S.A, April 2, 2011—The Tol Leadership
Council, TLC, the premier TOL organization that took the
initiative of founding a competent, inclusive, and
civic-minded leadership for the Gadabursi Tol Community in
the Horn of Africa and around the world, announces that it
will hold its first Tol Grand Convention in DECEMBER 2011 in
the town of Borama.
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Revolt
Only For Some Arabs |
No doubt the
Wikileaks phenomenon has provided ordinary people around the
world with a window into how those with political power see
things and how power actually works in the world. International
conflicts in progress can sometimes do the same thing as
Wikileaks, strip away the charade that those in power put on,
and expose raw power in motion.
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1969 Military Coup In Somalia
Part LXX |
By Dr. Mohamed-Rashid Sh. Hassan, Hargeysa, Somaliland
This is the seventieth article of a series of articles that Dr.
Mohamed-Rashid analyses the military coup and its legacy
Independence and Union:
The Birth of the Somali State continued...
More than seventy years of British and Italian rule left
behind some distinctive characteristics, attitudes,
opportunities and way of life in each territory, although
the bulk of the pastoral population largely remained
unaffected by foreign influence. The Union of the North and
South was too rapid and prematurely planned so mistrust and
misunderstanding soon started to prevail.
In June 1961, a referendum on the new constitution was
carried out. The North (Somaliland) particularly the SNL
strongholds, rejected the constitution expressing their
dissatisfaction with the central government in Mogadishu.
This was followed in December of the same year by a coup
d'état carried out by some of the highest-ranking officials
from the north led by Lieut. -Col. Hassan Abdillahi, (Kayd),
a graduate from Sandhurst Military Academy in Britain, and
Lieut. -Col. Abdillahi Aden (Congo), who graduated from an
Egyptian Military academy in Cairo.
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Voices To Be Heard: Youth
Unemployment In Somaliland, Is There Any Government Policy
Intervention? |
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Written by:Mohamed O.Osman Guudle (B.A)
People are the true wealth of Nations, Development is
therefore only possible with the full participation of the
people using their experiences, skills and energies to every
extent possible. Furthermore, development is about expanding
the choices people have in order to lead lives that they
value. This process goes far beyond economic growth, which
is only a means of enlarging people’s choices. The youth of
any country especially in Somaliland play a vital role in
achieving the real goals of development. The concerns of a
population’s youth and their potential as development actors
have so far failed to attract the full attention of policy
makers and Development partners.
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Living Addresses And Postal
Services May Be Sooner To Modernize Somaliland
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By John Drysdale.
Things that May Come, like Industrialization, because
Somalis are Imaginative and Adaptive with an abundance of
energy. Living Addresses and Postal Services may be sooner
to Modernize Somaliland within its Own Means, and Other
Adaptations like industrialization.
Tens
of thousands of Living Address and Postal Services are
possible in Somaliland where there are none; they both rely
on each other. Addresses also will help people in the future
to find each other. Roads have no names and will not need
them as road maps and satellite charts would be more useful
than names for establishing direction.
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The Camel – The Pride Of The
Somalis |
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By
Mark T Jones
In
an unforgiving sun-seared landscape such as Somalia few creatures are as revered
as the camel. So integral has been to the lives of the people of the region that
the creature has been written and spoke of as one might of a wife, mother,
sister or daughter. Whilst essentially a beast of burden and a means of
transport down the ages during times of peace and war, the camel has been viewed
as a blessing – a veritable gift from Allah the Munificent. The Qu’ran invokes
the camel as an invitation to contemplate the wonders of the universe: Do they
not look at the camels? How were they formed? (Sura 88, Aya 17) The Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) gave a special status to the camel. He chose to deliver his
valedictory sermon from the back of a camel. His favorite camel was called Al-Khaswa
– She of the cut-ear-tips – the Mosque at Qoba’ covers .
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Jihadists And Terrorists Sail
To Somalia To Make A Battleground For Armageddon |
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By Abdirahman Mohamed Dirye
There are massive conversions underway from a certain sect
or denomination to another mostly for financial purposes in
Somalia. Al-tihad, an Islamic movement that originated from
Saudi Arabia has regular funding. Its members are married to
four women and usually divorce after one year. Generally,
the divorce rate is higher in militants.
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