|
Killers Without A
Country |
|
March 12, 2012: After give years of violence, al
Shabaab appears to be coming apart. In those five
years, al Shabaab has been responsible for over
20,000 deaths and much misery in central and
southern Somalia. Al Shabaab has antagonized many
local leaders with efforts to impose alien lifestyle
rules (based on the Saudi Wahhabi form of Islam).
Most Somalis reject Wahhabism and a growing number
have gotten organized and armed and fought back.
Some al Shabaab groups are moving north, seeking a
less hostile environment, but they meet armed
resistance wherever they go.
Read full text.
|
|
|
|
Washington, March 10, 2012 – A House of
Representatives panel is calling on all U.S.
lawmakers to remain focused on the continuing food,
refugee and humanitarian crisis in the Horn of
Africa.
At Thursday's hearing of the Tom Lantos Human
Rights Commission, held jointly with the House
Hunger Caucus, Obama administration officials
testified that the United States has made a
difference in the region, but that there still are
millions of people who urgently need assistance.
Read full text.
|
|
|
|
Detroit, USA, March 10, 2012 -- A Somali man was
arrested trying to take a taxi from Windsor, Canada,
to Detroit and charged with aggravated identity
theft and misuse of a visa, police said.
Red flags were raised Sunday when the man told U.S.
Customs and Border Protection officers he was taking
a taxi because he had too many drunken-driving
convictions and was unable to operate a motor
vehicle, the Detroit Free Press reported.
Read full text...
|
|
|
|
London, UK, March 10, 2012 – A former teaching
assistant has been jailed for five years and three
months for donating £9,000 to fund terrorism in
Somalia.
Shabaaz Hussein, 28, gave the money in 2010 to three
of his friends who left the UK to allegedly become
involved in terrorism in the east African country.
Extremist material was also found in his flat in
Stepney, east London.
Read full text...
|
|
|
|
London, UK, March 10, 2012 – Somalis living abroad
send home more than US$1 billion - perhaps even as
much as $2 billion - every year, and they have kept
on doing so, despite bureaucratic obstacles. Now a
report commissioned by the UN Development Programme
(UNDP) considers how the outside world can help
Somalis abroad contribute to the country’s
development.
Read full text...
|
|
|
|
Nairobi, Kenya,
March 10, 2012 – Kenyan troops in Somalia are set to
join the African Union (AU) force fighting militant
Islamist next week, military spokesman Major
Emmanuel Chirchir has revealed.
Maj Chirchir did not reveal the exact day when it
will happen but indicated the rehatting will take
place next week.
"Rehatting the much awaited green berets likely to
finally get to the ground/individual soldiers next
week.....we are firmly in AMISOM," he said in a
Twitter posting.
Read full text...
|
|
|
|
Nairobi, Kenya, March 10, 2012 – Regional military
forces battling al-Shabaab militants in Somalia are
leaving behind political vacuums in liberated
regions. The Transitional Federal Government (TFG)
and foreign powers say they want local
administrations to set up in these areas, but it is
hard to determine which of these will be reliable
and trustworthy.
Read full text...
|
|
|
|
Mogadishu, Somalia, March 10, 2012 — Witnesses say
that at least 23 people were killed when Somali
insurgents attacked Ethiopian troops near the two
countries' joint border.
Residents in Yurkud village say Saturday's battle
lasted several hours.
Read full text...
|
|
|
|
Al Qaeda-affiliated al Shabaab soldiers
patrol in formation along the streets of
Dayniile district in Southern Mogadishu,
March 5, 2012. In a Somali desert that’s
home to this Al-Qaeda-linked militia, Africa
Oil Corp. drills inside a fortress of
excavated earth dotted with lookout towers
and armed guards to satisfy a world
thirstier than ever for crude.
Photograph by: REUTERS/Feisal Omar , [PNG
Merlin Archive] |
Mogadishu, Somalia, March 10, 2012 – In a Somali
desert that’s home to al-Qaeda-linked militia,
Africa Oil Corp. drills inside a fortress of
excavated earth dotted with lookout towers and armed
guards to satisfy a world thirstier than ever for
crude.
The Canadian company is poised to complete the
nation’s first oil well in at least 20 years. The
prize is the more than 1 billion barrels of oil
resources Africa Oil estimates is in the Dharoor
Block in Puntland, a semi-autonomous northern region
where the central government is battling Islamic
extremists.
Read full text...
|
|
|
|
|
EEPCO Plans To Provide
Power To Somaliland |
|
EEPCO Headquarter in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia |
Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia,
March 10,
2012 –
Ethiopia’s
Electric
Power
Corporation
(EEPCO) says
that
Somaliland
will be the
next
beneficiary
of its
electricity
export
deals.
Read full text...
|
|
Somaliland Ruling Party Chairman Meets Bristol
Supporters |
|
Bristol, UK, March 10, 2012 – The chairman of
Somaliland's ruling party has visited Bristol to
meet his supporters and the city's Somaliland
community as a whole.
Read full text...
|
|
President
Ahmed Sillanyo Returns Home |
Hargeysa, Somaliland, March 10, 2012 (SL Times) –
Somaliland President Ahmed Sillanyo returned home
from the London conference. He flew via Nairobi and
was accompanied by his wife, Amina Sheikh Muhammad
Jirde, and the foreign minister, Dr Muhammad
Abdillahi Omar. He was welcomed by vice President
Abdillahi Ismail (Zayla’i), ministers, legislators
and other officials, and received a military salute
at the airport.
Read full text...
|
|
Media Day
And UN Contributions To Somaliland
|
Hargeysa, Somaliland,
March 10, 2012 (SL
Times) – The role of the
UN in Somaliland and
Somaliland Media Day
were simultaneously
celebrated
Read full text...
|
|
Tourists Arrive In
Somaliland |
|
Hargeysa, Somaliland, March 10, 2012 (SL Times) – A
group of tourists arrived in Somaliland this week.
The tourists came to Somaliland on a truck and motor
cycles.
Read full text...
|
|
|
|
Hargeysa,
Somaliland, March 10, 2012 (SL Times) – Somaliland
vice President Abdirahman Abdillahi Ismail (Zayla'i)
launched a UN project for improving and enlarging
the capacity of Somaliland cities to deliver water
to residents.
Read full text....
|
|
|
|
Bur’o, Somaliland, March 10, 2012 (SL Times) – The
UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Somaliland and
Somalia, Mark Bowden, traveled to Bur'o this week.
Read full text...
|
|
|
|
New York, March 10, 2012 – The actor and
humanitarian told the story of Dr. Hawa Abdi, the
inspiring obstetrician whose medical camp in Somalia
has saved thousands—but is now being overrun by
militants.
Read full text....
|
|
|
|
London, UK, March 10, 2012 – Western companies
should guard against high risks involved in doing
business as usual with African countries that have
recently discovered offshore oil.
Read full text...
|
|
|
|
Presidential Hopeful
François Hollande Wants To Change France’s
Relationship With Africa |
|
Paris, France, March 10, 2012 – Socialist candidate
François Hollande says he intends to completely
re-shape France’s relationship with Africa, and
hopes France will engage more with the continent’s
democratic and French-speaking countries.
Read full text...
|
|
US Gives Up Control Of
Jail Where Quran Was Burned |
|
Kabul, Afghanistan, March 10, 2012 — The United
States and Afghanistan signed an agreement on Friday
to transfer control of a major U.S.-run detention
center to Afghan authorities, improving the
prospects of a deal allowing long-term American
involvement in the country.
The Strategic Partnership Agreement, which
Washington and Kabul have been discussing for over a
year, will be the framework for U.S. involvement in
Afghanistan beyond 2014, when the last foreign
combat troops are due to leave Afghanistan.
Read full text...
|
|
|
|
Vienna, Austria, March 10, 2012 — The U.N. nuclear
watchdog does not rule out that Iran may be trying
to remove evidence from a military site that
inspectors want to visit as part of an inquiry into
suspected research relevant to atomic bombs, the
agency's chief said on Friday.
Read full text...
|
|
|
|
|
|
By Sean
McLachlan
Will Somalia become
the next big adventure travel destination?
Short answer: Not anytime soon.
Long answer: For the first time in two decades, there's a ray
of hope shining across that chaotic land. The
Islamist terrorist group Al-Shabaab is on the
defensive as it gets pummeled by Kenyan, Ethiopian,
African Union, and Somali "government" forces.
They've fled Mogadishu and several other key areas.
The battered capital is beginning to enjoy something
resembling normal life, as a BBC
report shows. They even have traffic police!
Read full text...
|
|
|
|
International spotlight was focused on Somalia during the
recent London Conference of February 23 to find a
lasting solution to the problem of that war-torn
Horn of Africa nation. Convened to discuss
developments in Somalia and explore ways of carting
a new course for the country, it was attended by
fifty five delegations. Ideally, the African Union
should be in the forefront of finding a solution to
what is essentially an African problem. But given
the duration and apparent intractability of the
conflict, external assistance would be considered in
order as long as it would help in bringing about
peace.
Read full text...
|
|
|
|
By Abdullah Bozkurt
MOGADISHU - When I was invited to accompany Deputy
Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ on the Turkish Airlines
(THY) maiden journey from Istanbul to Mogadishu this
week, I did not hesitate to accept it.
Read full
text...
|
|
|
Mogadishu Monday, March 10, 2012. Analysts say
that the fight against Somalia’s al-Qaida linked
insurgency may be moving into the north of the
country, an area previously considered safer
than the war-ravaged south.
Read full text...
|
|
|
|
By Thomas
C. Mountain
In a worrying sign for the powers that be in the west the
Somali national resistance under the umbrella of Al
Shabaab has made its first major breakthrough in the
northern region of Somalia by bringing into its
folds the Islamic Resistance in Puntland.
Read full text...
|
|
|
|
Somaliland’s Coming Election |
As the date
for Somaliland’s election draws nearer there is
understandable concern among Somalilanders about it. As is
well known about Somalilanders, they look at most things
through the prism of peace and security. The elections are
no different. Somalilanders want to see elections that are
not only free and fair, but also peaceful. But it also given
that peaceful results usually require good preparation and
planning. People also know that neither the planning nor the
preparations for the coming election have been going well,
and that is one of the main reasons Somalilanders are
concerned. This has something to do with the election
commission as well as the registration body. But it also has
to do with the disorganization in the existing three
political parties and the proliferation of groups that are
aspiring to become political parties.
Read full text....
|
|
|
|
Somaliland Mourns The
Loss Of Donald Payne |
|
By Geleh Gulaid
Somaliland has lost a dear friend, with the passing of Donald
Payne from the great state of New Jersey. Donald
Payne’s unending diplomatic support and solidarity
with the Somaliland people transcended many things
will never be forgotten. Donald M. Payne has been a
well-respected congressman and a highly admired
individual. He proudly served his constituency for
12 terms in the House of Representatives.
Read full text...
|
|
I Dream Of An Africa
Which Is In Peace With Itself.-(NElson Mandela) |
|
By: Mohamed Said Abdilahi
If you ask a lot of people to define social justice you’re
going to get many different definitions which are
based on a variety of factors like religious and
nationality backgrounds or social/political
philosophy. One day as I was surfing the net looking
through different websites trying to update myself
on latest issues regarding our global village, as
usual, I’ve come across countless negative articles.
However, on this particular day, I was flabbergasted
to see a website that caught my attention which had
a poster that read– SORRY…I HATE SOMALIA….I’M A
SOMALILANDER, hence as a reporter had to comment.
Read full text....
|
|
Somalia: Between The
Clan And Nationhood |
|
By Dewaine
Farria
Somalia's coastline is beautiful, with long
stretches of unspoiled beach and sparkling waves. I
mention to a friend that while the city was hot,
there weren’t many mosquitoes. “You know a city has
issues when even the mosquitoes have bailed,” he
replies. When you hear the words “hopeful” and
“Somalia” in the same sentence it’s usually a
reference to Somaliland–an autonomous region in
Somalia’s northwest. The rest of the country is
largely viewed as an ungovernable basket case that
the international community attempts to keep an
unsteady lid on.
Read full text......
|
|
Somalia: Peace And
Stabilization In Native Government |
|
By Ibrahim Hassan Gagale
The procedural approach of selecting parliament and forming
government in Somalia plays an important, decisive
role in either prolonging or ending the civil strife
and political turmoil in the country. The agendas
for all the peace talks and national reconciliation
conferences held for Somalia since 2000 were all
based on non-exist Greater Somalia (Somaliwein)
approach where delegates coming from Somalia,
Somaliland, Ethiopian Somali Region, Kenyan Somali
Province, and even Djibouti had equal representation
and participation. To this date, no single genuine
national reconciliation conference was held for the
people of Somalia, where the problem exists, and no
government truly representing the interest of the
people of Somalia was formed yet.
Read full text......
|
|
Calling A Spade A
Spade |
|
By Ahmed I. Hassan – Part 2
Myths and Facts
Let me start by pointing out to some of the myths that the
Wailers routinely present as facts and then state
the real facts:
A Wailers-Propagated Myth: The Isaac is a
Somalidiid, i.e. rejectionists of Somali
nationhood
The Fact: Wrong.
The Isaac has always been at the forefront in
the quest for a Somali nation that encompassed all
the territories inhabited by the Somalis, the
concept known as Pan-Somalism.
In June 26, 1960, Somaliland became independent from Britain.
Five days later, Somaliland, under a leadership
whose top members were Isaacs, sacrificed
that independence and without conditions or
reservations delivered it to Mogadishu on a silver
platter. This was the act that created the Union of
the erstwhile Somali Republic.
Granted, the other tribes of Somaliland espoused similar
Pan-Somalism aspirations. However, no one can
deny that without the wholehearted wish, consent and
enthusiastic efforts of the Isaac, the union
with the South could not have taken place.
Read full text......
|
|
|
