Mogadishu, Somalia, December 10, 2011 – At the
beginning of the year, armed Islamic extremists held
sway over most of Mogadishu. Today, this war-scarred
capital is secure enough to host the first visit by
the U.N. secretary-general in nearly two decades.
Minneapolis, December 10, 2011 – A critical pipeline
that Somalis in America use to send money to
relatives in Africa faces disruption after a bank in
Minnesota announced it would no longer handle the
wire transfers.
London, UK, December 10, 2011 – A gang of Muslim
women who attacked a passer-by in a city center
walked free from court after a judge heard they
were ‘not used to being drunk’ because of their
religion.
The group – three sisters and a cousin – allegedly
screamed ‘kill the white slag’ as they set upon Rhea
Page as she waited for a taxi with her boyfriend.
By Mary Harper
Mogadishu, Somalia, December 10, 2011 – Somalia's
militant Islamist group al-Shabaab has launched an
account on the micro-blogging site Twitter.
The feed has attracted dozens of followers since it
was created on Wednesday.
Doug Benz for The New York Times
Mr. Mohamed at his cubicle in Buffalo last
month, working again for New York State
government.
Buffalo, December 10, 2011 — At his cubicle at the
State Transportation Department building here,
Mohamed Abdillahi Mohamed recounted what he did
during a recent leave of absence. He trimmed the
size of the federal government. He instituted
regular paychecks for the military. He campaigned
against corruption. And he avoided being shot.
London, UK, December 10, 2011 – Menaced by a gang of
fellow Somalis on a London bus, Adam Mataan took a
stand against the tribalism he fled in his homeland,
and emerged stronger for confronting what he and
like-minded Somalis see as deadly clan divisions.
The former refugee now wants millions of compatriots
to do the same.
Clans form the bedrock of Somali society and
identity, but political exploitation of their
rivalries has blocked every attempt at peace since
Somalia collapsed into war in 1991.
Cape Town, December 10, 2011 – Volvo Ocean Race
boats will be loaded onto a ship and protected by
armed guards when they pass through the
pirate-filled waters off the East African coast,
organizers said on Thursday. The yachts, worth millions of dollars, will
be picked up by a heavy lift ship in an undisclosed
"safe haven port" in the Indian Ocean during the
second leg, which starts on Sunday in Cape Town. Unveiling their "anti-piracy plan," race
officials said the yachts will be transported to a
second starting point near Sharjah for the leg's
final run to Abu Dhabi so crews are not exposed to
the dangerous channel off Somalia. The transport ship will be manned by armed
guards and feature "other security measures",
according to the organizers. Race crew members will
not travel on the ship.
Mogadishu, Somalia, December 10, 2011 – Fighter jets
bombed the southern Somali town of Baardheere
Thursday, killing at least one civilian, local
residents and the al Shabaab rebel group said.
Some locals believed the warplanes came from
neighboring Kenya, which is eight weeks into an
offensive inside Somalia aimed at crushing rebel
networks and has carried out numerous air strikes.
"Two fighter jets bombed the ADC stores in a suburb
of the town," resident Ali Mohamud Ali told Reuters
by telephone. "Al Shabaab were using these stores as
a military base for the last three years."
Seattle,
December 10, 2011 –
— Twenty-five former Hertz drivers at
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport have filed a
lawsuit claiming they were fired based on their
race, religion and nationality.
The former employees are Muslims who were born in
Somalia.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday in King County Superior
Court claims Hertz Corp. terminated them after they
refused to clock out for prayers. The lawsuit claims
they had not been required to clock out previously
and the rules were changed to target Somali Muslims. Read full text...
Phantom
States or as
they are
often known
De Facto
states exist
around the
world in a
limbo. Not
recognized
by the
international
community
yet in many
instance
possessing
the
characteristics
of full
states, they
serve as
home to
people who
in most
instances
desire
independence
and full
self-determination.
Today we
will look
first at
what it
means to be
a phantom or
defacto
state, then
at specific
cases in
Georgia,
Cyprus and
Somaliland,
and finally
at the
outlook for
these cases
and phantom
states in
general.
Whileyou
might find
the entire
program
interesting,
the
discussion
onSomaliland
starts just
before the
39:00 minute
mark on Hour
1.
-Jia
Xiudong,
Senior
Research
Fellow from
the China
Institute of
International
Studies. -Jan
Asmussen,
Senior
Research
Associate
with the
European
Centre for
Minority
Issues.
-Scott
Pegg, Professor
at the
Indiana
University-Purdue
University
in
Indianapolis. Hour 1 Hour 2
Hargeysa,
Somaliland,
December 10,
2011 (SL
Times) –
Condemnation
of the three
murders in
Semaal
(between
Baki and
Gabiley) are
still
pouring into
Haatuf
Newspaper.
Most
Somalilanders
were
revolted by
the
cold-blooded
murders of a
man, his
son, and a
relative.
The murders
are also
seen by a
majority of
Somalilanders
as an
attempt to
destabilize
the country
and stir
inter-clan
conflicts.
APD’s
controversial coordinator Abdi Yusuf Dualleh
Hargeysa, Somaliland, December 10, 2011 (SL Times) –
The Academy for Peace and Development (APD) in
Hargeysa is in shambles. According to reliable
sources within the Academy, the institution is no
longer carrying out the functions it was mandated to
do: primarily to support local studies and
initiatives for peace, policy research and social
development.
A number of APD staff who pleaded for
confidentiality told the Somaliland Times that long
mismanagement and abuse of authority has rendered
the organization ineffective.
Hargeysa, Somaliland, December 10, 2011 (SL Times) –
A conference on Somaliland security took place in
Hargeysa’s Ambassador Hotel. The conference lasted
for two days and was attended by representatives
from IGAD, Ethiopia, the UN, and Somaliland
government. The conference had three aims:
Hargeysa, Somaliland, December 10, 2011 (SL
Times) – Somaliland Minister of Information,
Ahmed Abdi Habsade strongly defended Somaliland
government from charges that it suppresses the
media. Explaining his government’s policy, he
said they respect the freedom of the press, but
at the same time he also warned against the
media’s spreading of baseless news. He
particularly called on the media to show
restraint in times when incidents occur that
could lead to tribal conflict.
Hargeysa,
Somaliland, December 10, 2011 (SL Times) – Some
members of Somaliland Upper House charged the Peace
and Development Academy of taking over the role of
the legislature. Read full text...
Berbera, Somaliland, December 10, 2011 (SL Times) –
The regional court of Sahel sentenced Yemeni
fishermen to sentences that included fines as well
as jail time for illegally fishing in Somaliland
waters.
Mogadishu, Somalia, December 10, 2011 (SL Times) –
Close to 56 people were killed in suicide bombings
that took place in Mogadishu and Afghanistan.
Four people and the driver of the car bomb were
reported to have died in the Mogadishu explosion.
Buroa, Somaliland, December 3, 2011 (SL Times) –
Awdal region played against Sool in the second game
of Somaliland regional soccer competitions. Awdal
team spent most of the first half on the offense,
but things were reversed during the second half
where Sool outplayed Awdal.
Joseph
Kabila supporters on a street in Kinshasa,
Dec 9, 2011
Goma, DRC, December 10, 2011 – Within minutes after
the announcement that Congolese President Joseph
Kabila was re-elected, his supporters poured onto
the streets in celebration. Truckloads of soldiers
and police in riot gear also immediately fanned
across the eastern Congolese city of Goma.
A
thick plume of smoke rising above an oil
refinery (AFP/SANA/File)
London, December 10, 2011 — Britain called on Syria
on Friday to immediately withdraw its forces from
the city of Homs, once again demanding the
government in Damascus stop its "unacceptable"
crackdown on dissent.
Moscow, Russia, December 10, 2011 — Russian anger
over fraud allegations in last week’s elections may
swell a demonstration to the biggest in Moscow since
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin rose to power more
than a decade ago.
By
Elizabeth Royall – Part I
Establishing democratic governance in postconflict
countries is the trillion-dollar-challenge of the
twenty-first century. The international community
has no shortage of attempts at democratic governance
but few success stories.
Somaliland may be the most stable, tranquil, and
smoothest functioning democracy that officially does
not exist. Its 2010
presidential election saw the peaceful
replacement of the incumbent, Dahir Riyale Kahin,
with a member of one of the legislature’s two
effective opposition parties.
There was clearly something suspicious about the two
western-looking “civilians” and their interpreter
who the Ethiopian security forces were questioning.
Kenya’s decision in October to send thousands of
troops in to Somalia’s Jubba Valley to wage war on
Al-Shabaab is, without doubt, the biggest gamble the
country has taken since independence to advance its
security interests. Read full text...
In this year's transparency survey, Somalia tied
with North Korea as the world's most dishonest place
to do business -- so who's taking the chance anyway?
Dr. Nicole Stremlau is Co-ordinator of the Programme in Comparative
Media Law and Policy and a Research Fellow in the Centre of
Socio-Legal Studies
A report examining
the role of the media in the upcoming Somaliland elections in the
light of lessons learned from Kenya, has been published in September
2009.
The British
government recently announced that it is going to hold a
conference on Feb. 23 to tackle Somalia’s problems. Based on
what is known, so far, about the conference, it will focus
on piracy, fighting al-Shabaab, and helping AMISOM. It is
also known that Somaliland was invited to the conference,
but it is not known whether Somaliland’s government has
decided to attend or not. This is going to be a tough
decision for Somaliland’s government because although
Somaliland usually does not attend conferences about
Somalia, the conference is being organized by the United
Kingdom, a country with whom Somaliland has historic
relations.
But as much as Somaliland cares about preserving its special
relations with the United Kingdom, it cannot abandon its own
interests. So the decision whether to attend or not should
be guided by whether doing so will help or hurt Somaliland’s
interests.
This week enemies of Somaliland has plotted an
attempt to disturb the security of Somaliland
western regions, where three people were murdered in
cold blood inside their homes of Saameel town of
Baki district in AWDAL Region of Somaliland.
The enemies who infiltrated the country across
Somaliland-Ethiopian border were members of armed
terrorist groups ONLF, Al-Shabaab and Itahad Al-Islamiya.
The killing aimed to put insult to an old injuries
between the tribes of the area. The tribesmen solved
old differences in brotherly manner with the support
of Somaliland government, where the Vice President
of Somaliland Abdurrahman Saylici was present at the
reconciliation meeting.
There are traditional links between the tribes of
the region, which is located between Gabiley and
AWDAL including widespread intermarriage.
All Somaliland communities were shocked by the
gruesome and cold-blooded murder of innocent people
sleeping peacefully in their own homes in Seemaal
area on December 5, 2011; a horrific reminder of the
slaughter of innocent travelers on the highway near
Kalabaydh area on July 11, 2009.
As a relative of the victims, I can understand that
the first thing that comes to the afflicted
community’s mind is to take things into their own
hand and revenge. In the absence of an effective
government, revenge and retaliation were once the
only nuclear deterrents that the Somalis knew. Not
to retaliate for your dead ones was and can still be
considered as a sign of weakness if not sheer
cowardice in the Somali context. Men of peace,
particularly at times of heightened tensions are
looked down as wimps, while belligerent men who
rally the clan behind the Tollaayeey and
Aabbahay Goblan banners are seen as heroes.
I would like to say few words about the article
below written by Qarannews.
A patriotic journalist is the one who protects his
nation and those our people have elected, while
writing the truth of the day-to-day events in the
country to show and disclose anything that may
hinder our endeavor to fully fledged Statehood. I
see Qarannews a website that digs the dirt and witch
hunt. My fellow citizen, please just sit back for
while and evaluate what this website writes everyday
since this government came to power. I would you to
digest and see in depth of the unstoppable vendetta
this website continue doing since.
What is wrong with the person who runs this website?
Why we do see an article against Dr.Mohamed
Abdillahi Omar everyday? What exactly the Minister
did to the guy who edits Qarannews? Was there a
conflict between them before the Minister got this
job in Somaliland? Why personal attack without
reservation?
Read full text......
H.E. Amb.
Augustine Philip Mahiga
is a Tanzanian veteran diplomat. He is the current
United Nations General Secretary Special
Representative and Head of the United Nations
Political Office for Somaliland and “Somalia”.
Mr. Mahiga is the only UN Representative to
Somaliland and “Somalia” who brought acceptable
results to the complicated problems in Mogadishu. In
his term, Transitional Government of “Somalia” (TGS)
liberated Mogadishu from the terrorist groups and
warlords in its history with support of UN and
African Union (AU) Forces. Al-Shabaab, terrorist
group, are on the move and unable to establish
save-heaven because of the combined efforts of the
UN, AU Forces and TGS under watchfulness of H.E. Amb.
Mahiga.
With his long experience in East African politics
and UN, the latter studied the current Somali
affairs and clinched that Somaliland is different
than terror feasted “Somalia” and must be recognized
internationally. This endorsement for Somaliland is
highest from UN and merges with the report of AU
fact-finding mission to Somaliland led by former His
Highness the Deputy Chairman of AU Patrick Mazimhakain 2005, who concluded that Somaliland must
be considered different than “Somalia”.
