Hargeysa, September 23, 2005 (BBC) – The authorities of Somaliland say they have arrested four militants, including an internationally known al-Qaeda member.
Interior Minister Ishmael Aden said the men were all Somalis from Mogadishu.
Horn of Africa Force Seeks to Win Friends, Prevent Terrorism
WASHINGTON, Sept 23, 2005 (American Forces Press Service) - U.S. military forces in the Horn of Africa are working to win the hearts and minds of the people and are preventing the spread of terrorism throughout the region, the area's U.S. commander said.
BEIRUT Sep 23, 2005 (Reuters) - Fourteen Arab countries meet in Beirut next week to introduce new checks to protect their financial systems from abuse in a region that has provided al Qaeda with most of its funds.
In its second plenary meeting on Sept 26-27, the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force will set up a system for member states to review each other's measures to fight money laundering and terrorism financing.
Washington, September 23, 2005 (Stars and Stripes) – In a move to free up the U.S. Marine Corps for missions elsewhere, the U.S. Navy will take control of Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa in the coming year.
“Basically, we’re looking for an opportunity for the Navy to contribute to the mission that would free up Marine resources, both for training and other missions,” said a task force spokesman, Air Force Maj. Ron Waltrous.
Khartoum, September 21, 2005 (VOA News) – A three-day conference on combating terrorism in East Africa is underway in Sudan, with delegates from several East African nations and U.S. observers attending. The meeting follows a similar conference last year in Kenya.
A conference on combating terrorism in East Africa has begun in Sudan. Delegates from several East African nations including Burundi, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Kenya met to discuss methods of combating terrorist activities and to pledge their support in the war on terror.
NAIROBI, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Somali pirates took a hijacked U.N. aid ship out to sea again on Thursday, dashing hopes for an end to the three-month saga and release of their ten hostages.
The gunmen have been holding the MV Semlow -- with 10 crew members from Kenya, Tanzania and Sri Lanka, plus 850 tonnes of food aid sent by the U.N. World Food Programme -- since June 27.
Mogadish, September 22, 2005 (Sapa-AP) – Four unidentified gunmen attacked a cafe in Somalia's capital, killing five people and wounding six others, witnesses said on Thursday.
Three of the wounded were in comas after being shot in the head, said Dr Abdi Ibrahim Jiya of the Madina Hospital, where the men were being treated.
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Abdillahi Yusuf Urges Lifting Of Arms Embargo
NAIROBI, 19 Sep 2005 (IRIN) - The President of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government, Abdillahi Yusuf Ahmed, has appealed for the lifting of the UN arms embargo against Somalia on the grounds that it is hampering his government's efforts to maintain law and order in the war-ravaged Horn of Africa state.
"The embargo directly undermines the government's inherent right and genuine effort of forming its national security force that would protect the public and keep the peace by enforcing the law and order throughout Somalia," Yusuf said on Saturday as he addressed the UN General Assembly in New York.
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Elusive Terrorist Abdirahman Indho-Ade Finally In Police Custody
At least 4 More Suspects Arrested After Thursday’s Gunbattle With Somaliland Security Forces
Hargeysa, Somaliland, September 24, 2005 (SL Times) – Abdirahman Indho-Ade, one of the most wanted terrorists in the Horn of Africa was arrested yesterday by the Somaliland security forces.
Indho-Ade was wounded in his right hand following a night raid by armed security police on a suspected terrorist hide-out in the most easterly part of Hargeysa city.
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150 Fake Ballots Seized By Police
Hargeysa, Somaliland, September 24, 2005 (SL Times) – Somaliland police seized a briefcase containing 150 fake ballot papers at Hargeysa airport on Thursday. The bag was brought by a woman passenger who claimed that she didn’t have the keys for opening it.
A suspicious policeman then told her that the briefcase will be kept in the customs stores at the airport.
At 3pm a man claiming to be the owner produced a key and was asked to open the briefcase. Police found faked ballot papers that had serial numbers bearing the region of Awdal and the symbol of candidate Moussa Mohamed Ismail from the Justice and Welfare party (UCID).
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| With charges of corruption in Iraq’s oil for food program hanging over its secretary general, sexual crimes committed by its peacekeepers in the Congo and Bosnia, its inability to stop the genocide in Rwanda, and President Bush’s visceral disdain for it, the United Nation’s reputation and clout has undergone steady and serious erosion. Powerful countries such as the United States may have less reason to worry about this as they could use their political and economic muscle to protect their interests within the UN, or, if necessary, without the UN. But for most countries, especially the poorer ones that make up the majority of the UN’s membership, the weakening of the UN would have much more serious consequences because it would rob them of a legal framework with which to protect themselves.
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London, September 24, 2005 (The Telegraph) – A petty thief and drug dealer who converted to Islam and became a "jihadi" holy warrior was jailed for 15 years at the Old Bailey yesterday for terrorist-related offences.
Andrew Rowe, 34, a father of four from west London, was found guilty of having two items - hand-written instructions on firing a mortar, and a "substitution code" enabling him to use the names of mobile phones and English counties to communicate about weapons and targets - for "terrorist purposes".
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'It's Just Not Fair,' I Feel Like Saying
Determined to help, FAHIMA OSMAN travels to her poverty-stricken ancestral homeland and finds signs of hope
By FAHIMA OSMAN
Two years ago, Fahima Osman was featured in The Globe and Mail's New Canadians series as the first Canadian of Somali descent to graduate from medical school here. Back then, she hoped to divide her time between Canada and her family's ancestral home, Somalia's former northern province which has declared its independence. As these notes from her recent trip to Somaliland demonstrate, she is more dedicated to that plan than ever.
On the plane, I am very excited. The purpose of my trip is to do some soul searching, find a research topic and get inspired. It has been five years since my last visit to Somaliland -- and it's what inspired me to become a physician, in the hope I could return one day and help.
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Hargeisa (20 September 2005) – The Civil Service Institute in Hargeisa, Somaliland was officially opened at the University of Hargeisa yesterday by HE Nuh Ahmed Osman, the Minister of the Presidency. The CSI is a public-private partnership between the Civil Service Commission and the University of Hargeisa, and focuses on developing the capacity of the civil service in such areas as management, planning, office skills and accounting. Private companies and NGOs will also be able to contract training services for their staff.
Currently around 150 civil servants are studying at CSI in its first round of job-related courses, which include Managing Meetings, Human Resource Management, Basic Accounting, Office Administration, Essential Management Skills and Strategic Planning. With a further eight courses scheduled to start in October 2005, the Institute expects to have provided over 400 course places to civil servants by the end of 2005. This will be achieved with a permanent staff of five, plus instructors on contract.
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NAIROBI, Sept 20, 2005 (Reuters) – Warlords opposed to Somali government leaders based in Jowhar met on Tuesday to debate whether to attack or reconcile, underscoring the deep stalemate and potential for war in Somalia's latest attempt to find peace.
The warlords, most of whom are cabinet ministers in the government and favour Mogadishu as the capital, see the president's base in provincial Jowhar and his massing of fighters there as a sign of imminent attack.
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The road linking Berbera with Wajale on the border with Ethiopia-the so- called Berbera Corridor-is due to benefit from an EU programme to rehabilitate roads and bridges in Somaliland.
Five months of reconstruction work on seven bridges along the road linking Berbera with Burao and Laascaanood was recently completed, a programme that-according to the minister of works-cost US$1.1m.
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International News
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Washington DC, September 22, 2005 (VOA News) – The head of U.S. troops in the Horn of Africa says terrorists and insurgents may begin leaving war zones in Afghanistan and Iraq and head for east Africa.
Major General Timothy Ghormley says officials are concerned that instability and weak governments in east Africa could draw international terrorist groups seeking to establish a base of operations.
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Failed Bomb Suspect Due In Court
London, September 23, 2005 (ITN) – Failed London suicide bomb suspect Hussain Osman is due in court charged with attempted murder murder.
Osman, 27, was extradited from Italy and arrested by counter-terrorism officers shortly after flying in to the RAF Northolt airbase in northwest London.
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| Winthrop, September 22, 2005 - Attorney General Tom Reilly's office is probing allegations that a Somali family was the target of vicious racist attacks by Winthrop High School students. And yesterday, the family of Mohamed Mohamed, 16, lodged two additional complaints of harassment at their home with Winthrop police, said a law enforcement source with knowledge of the probe. |
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Harare, September 21, 2005 (The Herald) – AT least 26 hunger-stricken Somali illegal immigrants handed themselves over at Harare Central Police Station on Monday, seeking asylum after sneaking into the country illegally following a gruelling trek from the north-east African state.
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Editorial
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Somaliland has foiled yet another major terrorist attack. Obviously the operation was intended to create a situation of utmost havoc and despair in the lead up to two events both scheduled to take place in the last week of this month: the Sept 25 sentencing by Hargeysa regional court of 10 people suspected of killing aid workers between 2002 and 2004 as well as the Sept 29 parliamentary elections.
The terrorists’ dual target was of course to disrupt the country’s first legislative elections in over 35 years and blackmail the Somaliland government into freeing their comrades who could face the death penalty.
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Opinions
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A Little Message Of Appreciation
Dear Haatuf,
As Somaliland Britisher I would like to congratulate you on job well done. Keep up with the probing and investigate the seedy side and not so nice politicians and I use the word lightly here!. Where these shenanigans would lead us only God knows. Somalilands people are like passengers stranded in a ship with a drunken captain and inept crew for company with no clue where they are heading crew as well as passengers. |
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By Mohamed Mukhtar, London, UK
It was a longish wait at the bus stop and there was no sign of any bus coming along. I was in the middle of a long queue waiting to board a bus; as luck would have it, I was in no hurry to get home. Suddenly three buses appeared in procession as if though they just came out from a monotonous meeting. I hopped on the second bus and saw a familiar face behind the wheel, Mr Ali, an old friend of mine.
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Somaliland Is Always Held To A Higher Standard Than Somalia
By Mohamed Abdillahi
Let me tell you a few differences between Somaliland and Somalia:
1. Legality, Mandate and Democracy: Difference between Somaliland and Somalia
In the territorry called Somaliland every individual from the Somaliland border with Djibouti to Karin Tuurwaa in Sanaag and Adhicadeeye in Sool (92% of Somaliland territorry) accept that Daahir Riyaale Kaahin is the righfully and democratically elected president of Somaliland.
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By Yussuf Adan Kalib
It was on the other side of midnight, just days before the Somaliland presidential election of 2003 when I, unable to contain my anxiety, wrote a piece that started with the following words:
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Dr Mohamed Abdillahi Omar, University lecturer, London, UK
On the eve of the parliamentary election, Somaliland’s new democratic culture is being tested once again. The pressure, this time round, is on the new members of parliament due to be elected on 29 of September 2005. The task awaiting them is daunting and the wish list ranges from expecting an effective legislative body, introducing a culture of accountability and from promoting social and political development to attracting international recognition.
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By Faysal Diriye, Ottawa, Canada
Shortly after Somaliland troops receded from Lascanood two years ago, scores of opportunists led by the infamous Garaad Saleebaan set about establishing a longer-term political relationship with Majertenia. For them, collaboration with Majertenai was the means by which they could blackmail Somaliland and acquire few goodies for themselves.
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| FEATURES & COMMENTARY |
GUIDED BY GOD
Pair lead effort to help resettle refugees in North Dakota
Dakota, September 17, 2005 (Grand Forks Herald, ND ) – Faith has led to lots of good works done by two Christians involved in resettling people seeking refuge in the Red River Valley.
Sinisa Milovanovic took over this week in Fargo as director of the New American Services for Lutheran Social Services of North Dakota.
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NAIROBI, Sep 19, 2005 (Reuters) - A worsening political crisis threatens to plunge Somalia back into war and open a new era of humanitarian suffering, experts say.
Trust collapsed between the two opposing wings of its divided government many months ago, triggering a mainly rhetorical struggle for power as both sides squabbled over where in the failed state their administration should be based.
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Nairobi, September 22, 2005 (UN News Service) – Delegates from across east, central and southern Africa met at the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) headquarters today for two days of exchange and workshops on providing the poor with decent, liveable housing through the Cities Without Slums Programme.
“Your strategies may be slightly different, but your goal is the same: providing them with decent and well-serviced houses, but also, in the future, offering the poor alternatives to slums.
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SANAA, Sept 18 (Reuters) – Yemen has this year detained more than 10,000 illegal African immigrants mostly from Somalia, the SABA news agency said on Sunday, after over 100 migrants drowned this month trying to reach the country.
The official news agency said 10,750 people had been seized in Yemeni cities and on the coast, which faces the Horn of Africa, including over 10,000 Somalians and 350 Ethiopians.
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