In recent months, Mogadishu, Somalia has become a deadly battleground between militias loyal to Islamic courts and a newly formed anti-terror coalition that is believed to have the support of the United States.
Djibouti, May 9, 2006 – After the Southern Somali alliance was formed three months ago in Mogadishu, its secular fighters have fought pitched battles with militias belonging to Mogadishu's Islamic courts. Hospital workers there say more than 100 people, many of them civilians, have been killed in clashes so far
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BORAMA, May 9, 2006 – A two-member delegation from Kuwaiti Al Manhal Charity Organization has visited orphanages, hospitals and other centers earlier this week..
SOMALILAND FORUM PRESS RELEASE
Date: Thu 06 May, 2006
The election of the new Executive Committee of the Somaliland Forum for the year 2006 - 2007 has concluded on 2nd May, 2006. This is the 9th Forum executive committee that is officially elected by the members of the Forum since its inception.
Web Host Helps Third World Students
Chicago, IL, May 11, 2006 – Web hosting provider CHIhost ( chihost.com) announced this week that it has launched The Third World Student Hosting Sponsorship Program, providing less fortunate students in developing countries with Web hosting resources.
"We are hoping to learn Dreamweaver, flash, JavaScript and Fireworks," says Abdifitahaam Ahmed of the School of Computer Technology in Mogadishu, Somalia. "Our country is in a civil war and we don't have enough money for an account, we are very happy that CHIhost.com has given us this account and we will soon ftp our files up to our new Web site".
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GENEVA, Switzerland, May 11, 2006 -- The World Health Organization said Thursday that a baby in Djibouti has contracted the H5N1 virus, the country's first human case of bird flu.
"I believe the person is still alive. It's a 2-year-old girl," WHO spokesman Dick Thompson told The Associated Press in Geneva. He said the girl was confirmed as H5N1 positive by the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit 3 (NAMRU-3) in Cairo, but could not provide any further details.
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MOGADISHU, May 11, 2006 – The death toll in Somalia's worst fighting for a decade rose to more than 120 on Thursday, as militias battled for control of the capital with mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and anti-aircraft guns.
Hundreds of people were wounded as shells crashed into their homes in Mogadishu's overcrowded northern shanty town of Siisii. Many more fled to escape the fighting, which spread to neighboring heavily populated areas on Thursday.
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New York, May 10, 2006 – Reaffirming its previous resolutions and the statements of its President concerning the situation in Somalia, in particular resolution 733 (1992) of 23 January 1992, which established an embargo on all delivery of weapons and military equipment to Somalia (hereinafter referred to as the “arms embargo”), resolution 1519 (2003) of 16 December 2003, resolution 1558 (2004) of 17 August 2004, resolution 1587 (2005) of 15 March 2005 and resolution 1630 (2005) of 14 October 2005,
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UNITED NATIONS, May 11, 2006– The U.N. Security Council ignored recommendations for targeted sanctions and a tighter existing arms embargo in Somalia, despite a spike in violence and fears that Islamic fundamentalists have gained strength in the chaotic nation.
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Amnesty International Condemns Child Executing Father’s Killer
London, UK, May 11, 2006 – Amnesty International today condemned the public execution of Omar Hussein in Mogadishu on 2 May. He was tied to a stake, hooded and stabbed to death by the 16-year-old son of the man whom he admitted stabbing to death in February, an elderly Qur'anic school teacher. Omar Hussein had been sentenced to death hours earlier by an Islamic (Shari'a) court. Shari'a courts in Somalia do not allow the right to legal representation or appeal.
Mountaineer Cleans Africa
Pretoria, May 11, 2006 – A Colbyn resident recently picked up 38 bags of litter on Mount Kenya on one of the voluntary mountain clean-up trips she undertakes on a regular basis.
Karin Schooling (42), who is devoted to cleaning up mountains in Africa, says irresponsible campers leave behind empty food cans, papers and bottles.
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Mr. Mwaniki: Praised 'Going for Quality Growth' theme.
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Nairobi, May 8, 2006 – Cigarette manufacturer British American Tobacco Kenya is eyeing the export market as a future growth area in the wake of increased competition and proliferation of illicit cigarettes in the local market.
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Minerals Minister Never Been To Houston
Hargeysa, Somaliland, May 13, 2006 – On the occasion of his return to Hargeysa from a long trip abroad, the Somaliland minister of Minerals and Water, Qasim Sheikh Yusuf, told reporters on May 2, 2006 that he visited the United States, Britain and Norway to promote oil exploration in Somaliland. However prominent members of the Somaliland community have confirmed to the Somaliland Times that minister Qassim Sh. Yusuf has actually never been to the US.
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Traditional Leader Accuses The UN Of Conspiring Against Somaliland
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Berbera, Somaliland, May 13, 2006 – One of Somaliland’s leading traditional leaders has accused the United Nations organizations of weaving plots in order to undermine Somaliland’s independence.
Boqor Osman Mahmuud known as Buur-Madow claimed that the UN system was bent on building an army and military infrastructures for the Transitional Federal Government of warlord president Abdillahi Yusuf.
“UN chartered planes had been used for the transportation of Italian supplied weapons to the TFG in Galkayo and in Jowhar last year. The TFG is Somaliland’s enemy and we cannot pretend otherwise” said Boqor Osman Buur-Madow.
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Hargeysa, Somaliland, May 13, 2006 – A philanthropic organization carrying the name of Somaliland’s late president Mohamed Ibrahim Egal was launched on last Monday in Hargeysa.
Named ‘Egal Foundation’, the charity was founded by the late president’s widow, Kalthum Haji Dahir and some family friends. The Egal Foundation will primarily focus on social issues particularly education.
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A Term Extension Too far: Guurti Resolution is Unconstitutional and Unacceptable
Introduction
1. We, the Somaliland Forum, have been discussing the forthcoming end of the term of the House of Elders (Guurti) in October 2006 and the Guurti Indirect Elections Bill, which is currently being considered by the House of Representatives. We were therefore extremely surprised to learn that on Sunday 6 th May 2006, the Guurti considered a presidential decree extending their term of office for another 4 years up to October 2010 and promptly voted to endorse it. This is the third such extension of the Guurti’s original six year term of office which expired in 2003, and will, if unchallenged, mean that Guurti members will serve well over two full terms before they face any direct or indirect elections.
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Adv Gumbi listens attentively to Martin giving a presentation on the LLM (Human Rights and Democratization in Africa)
PRETORIA, May 6, 2006 – Advocate Mojanku Gumbi, who is the legal advisor to President Thabo Mbeki, visited the Centre for Human Rights on Thursday 4 May 2006. Advocate Gumbi had lunch with the students on the Master of Laws (LLM) programme in Human Rights and Democratization in Africa.
Facing Reality In Somalia And Somaliland
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By J. Peter Pham, Ph.D.
May 11, 2006 – Imagine a country within the greater Middle East ambit that has successfully made the transition to electoral democracy with multiparty municipal, presidential, and, most recently, parliamentary polls. Moreover, imagine that despite virtually all of its citizens being Sunni Muslims, the country's national elections commission designates a progressive, foreign-based Christian non-governmental organization to coordinate the international monitoring of its parliamentary elections. And imagine that the incumbent president's party takes a drubbing at the polls, winning barely a third of the seats. Most audiences, if I were to tell them that I was not conjuring up Utopia, but describing a real life country, would probably question whether I was hallucinating, perhaps under the influence of the ubiquitous qat leaf popular in southern Arabia and the Horn of Africa.
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MOGADISHU, Somalia, May 12, 2006 - A radical Islamic force and secular warlords battled with artillery and mortars Friday, pounding a northern neighborhood of the capital in the sixth day of fighting that has left 135 dead and forced residents to flee.
Most of the dead have been civilians caught in the crossfire, medical officials said. More than 280 people have been wounded in the fighting that Mogadishu residents have called the worst in more than a decade of lawlessness.
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A chicken vendor sit in front of his almost empty stand at the Treicheville market, in Abidjan, on May 4.
DJIBOUTI, May 11, 2006 – The tiny Red Sea state of Djibouti reported east Africa’s first human case of the deadly H5N1 deadly bird flu strain and said some chickens were also infected.
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International News
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Philadelphia, May 6, 2006 – As America debates immigration policy, it's instructive to observe the very different immigration debate going on in Europe.
One of the most articulate critics of Europe's immigration policy, especially toward Muslim immigrant communities, spoke this week in Philadelphia at a conference on Islam and the West sponsored by the World Affairs Council. Aayan Hirsi Ali is an elegant, Somalia-born member of the Dutch parliament who always travels with bodyguards because she is under constant death threat. The reason: her strong critique of radical Islam and the European policies that help it grow.
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Nairobi, Kenya, May 12, 2006 – The fighting in Mogadishu has been caused by Islamic courts, which were once divided along clan lines. The courts have formed a group called the Union of Islamic Courts, portrayed as an alternative to the warlords who control most of the country.
On their part, a coalition of Mogadishu warlords have formed the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counterterrorism to oppose the Islamic courts and to take control of all of Mogadishu.
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The wreckage at the scene of the accident that killed 14 people including 5 MPs
Nairobi, May 12, 2006 – Major David Macharia, the pilot of the ill-fated military plane that killed 14 people in Marsabit two weeks ago, had been on an all-night drinking spree at a popular Nairobi bar before take off, the Sunday Standard can reveal.
He left the Baricho Road night spot three hours before the flight.
According to sources at the bar, a jolly Macharia arrived at the club at about 6pm, just minutes to the kick-off of the football game between Manchester United and Arsenal that was being broadcast live on the club’s wide screen televisions.
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ADRA Launches Drought Response Project In Somalia
Nairobi, Kenya, May 09, 2006 – The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) has launched a two-month project to improve water availability and accessibility for thousands of drought-affected people in the Tieglow district and Hudur town of Bakol Region, South Somalia.
The ADRA Bakol Water Drought Response (BWDR) project impacts areas severely hit by drought and where ADRA has previously implemented water projects. Due to changes in population, water use in overcrowded villages has increased dramatically. As a result, wells and boreholes have either dried up, or have reduced water levels, sometimes by up to 50 percent.
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39 Illegal Immigrants Drown
Sana'a, May 09, 2006 – At least 39 African illegal immigrants drowned and 212 others were missing after smugglers forced them to jump from a boat at gunpoint, off Yemen's southern coast, said a UN agency.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said the victims were part of a group of 349 Ethiopians and Somalis crossing from Somalia to Yemen on three boats.
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Coleman Introduces Sense Of Senate Resolution To Increase U.S. Involvement In Somalia
Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN), Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Mark Dayton (D-MN)
Washington, D.C. May 3, 2006 – Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN), along with Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Mark Dayton (D-MN), introduced a Sense of the Senate resolution yesterday calling on the United States to increase its support to the people of Somalia in their efforts to establish a stable democratic government. The resolution outlines U.S. priorities in Somalia and urges the federal government to take an active role in helping Somalia overcome decades of violence, neglect and civil strife.
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EU: Foreign Ministers Should Resolve Taylor Issue
Brussels, May 12, 2006 – When European Union foreign ministers meet in Brussels on May 15, an EU member state should offer to take former Liberian president Charles Taylor if he is convicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone, Human Rights Watch said today.
In the absence of a commitment from a specific state, the European Union should collectively agree that one of its member states will ultimately take Taylor if convicted. If no specific country has stepped forward by Monday, the Netherlands should accept a collective EU commitment as sufficient to move forward with transferring Taylor’s trial to The Hague.
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Editorial
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On the instigation of President Dahir Rayale, the Guurti (House of Elders) moved on last Sunday to vote itself in office for a 4-year term that is supposed to last till October 2010.
With the exception of the president and his closest cronies and the members of the Guurti as well as the Supreme Court, the decision of the Elders to extend their own term had apparently caught everyone else in Somaliland by a total surprise. But as there was neither precedence nor a constitutional provision to support it, the move is likely to plunge the country into a serious political crisis.
The majority of the Somaliland public reacted with shock, anger and disapproval of not only the Guurti’s action but also the obviously conspiratorial role played by the president and the Supreme Court in the whole affair of the extension.
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Special Report
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REPORT ON FAMILIARISATION TOUR TO SOMALILAND
In November 2005, the Centre for Human Rights began investigating the possibility of a third destination for the LLM field trip. The reasons for increasing the number of field trip destinations to include Somaliland include the following:
Somaliland is a state in the making; it would be ideal for students on the programme to have a first hand experience of this.
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Opinions
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Somalia’s Peace Processes:
What Went Wrong And What Is To Be Done?
By Adam M. Jibril
In his recent visit to Hargeisa, Professor Ali Mazuri asked a group of intellectuals as to why there is a gap between South and North of the ex-Somali Republic, the same people who share one language, religion and culture. Somaliland has been able to build peace and stability, restore state institutions and achieve democratization, while the south particularly the capital Mogadishu is in a civil since 1991?
This question was examined by the audience from different angles but was not entirely addressed. However, Mr. M. Said Gees, the Executive director of Somaliland Academy for peace and Development has duly underlined the roles played or not played by foreign actors from the cold war era to the present in Somali affairs and how such roles were determental for either the prolongation of conflict or restoration of peace.
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By Ibrahim Adam Ghalib Borama.
Before I start my topic today, I wish to take this opportunity to thank and praise the community elders of Somaliland who made possible the reconciliation possible .These men were the custodians to mend the differences and put the corner stone for the peace we are living in today. They have provided with ideas, inspiration and pressed us to think beyond what we have gone through in the past. Searching always for new and more effective ways to work toward our country’s goals. We have to follow their foot steps and guide the country down the road successfully. Success does not come easily and there is nothing impossible if we have the will and honestly work together depending on our resources and careful planning. Having said this I have to report the reality on the ground that there are few people who enriched themselves and eating camel meat and heaps of kat everyday while the majority of the people are starving.
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By Omar H Hussain Omar Hashi, Hargeysa, Somaliland
Human resources management concerns a broad range of important company functions, including the recruitment, selection, training, development, compensation, retention, administration, time and labor management, and promotion of personnel within an organization.
Comparative advantage
Responsibilities have expanded, and greater prestige is associated with the leading HR positions. Majority of the top human resource management (HRM) executives now report directly to the CEO. More importantly, progressive HRM activities are now considered to be major sources of competitive advantages.
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The Whole World Shuns Us, But Sadly Our Exodus Continues
What Role Overseas Somalilanders Could Play To Stop This Tragedy?
By Noah Arre
The following story is not a fabricated one. It is a true story that took place in Somaliland and is in fact a reflection of the current situation prevalent in our country. So, this letter is an appeal to overseas Somaliland citizens. It emphasizes the need to re-evaluate ourselves, analyze realities and find a credible solution to this catastrophe! It also advocates the need to assess the problem, initiate sacrifices and take concrete steps to reverse the endless exodus of our country! We cannot remain apathetic, indifferent and hence continue to be the laughing stock of the West! Friends, let us stand shoulder to shoulder and sing Mr. Faisal's masterpiece "waxaad doonto lagama waayi jirinee wacanaa waddan aad u dhalata!" for united we can make a difference, but split we remain weak!
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By Farah Ali Jama, Ottawa, Canada.
The House of Representatives must take the leading position and assume the role of being the vanguard to defend and advance the cause, independence, and existence of Somaliland. In addition, it must be at the forefront to nurture and enhance our nascent democracy, to facilitate good governance and rule of law, to safeguard the civil liberties and Human Rights, and to spearhead the general political, economic, and social development of the citizenry and the state at all costs.
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Reply: Arab-African relationship
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I read the article regarding "Arab-African relationship, it is true that we African's particularly the people Of Somaliland have historical link with Arabic nations, however that cousinly relationship was terminated by most of Arab rulers , who decided to back the enemies of Somaliland. But there are other countries in the Middle East like the state of Israel, which I recently visited with friends from Canada where I live at moment.
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Your recent moves against the people of Somaliland Republic have been noted. Your earlier hostile subversive activities, which you have possibly master - minded against Somaliland Republic and to other Republics in the Horn of Africa region are well known and documented both locally and internationally.
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| FEATURES & COMMENTARY |
Travel Through Somaliland On A Harley-Davidson
This is part of the twelfth section of our around the world trip.
Waiting for two hours for the police in Berbera to allow us to leave
28/2/06 Somaliland officials also efficient. Customs was at lunch so after immigration the officers simply indicated we needn't wait. The next 20 km's also dirt and the last 70 good asphalt into Hargeysa, Somaliland's capital. Somaliland is a country within a country, Somalia, at present. After the fall of the central government in 1991 it formed its own government and later voted for complete independence. This has not been recognized by the international community which still considers Somalia a UN member despite it not having a central government since 1991.
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Two Presidents, Two Power Symbols And One Hopeful Man
Kenya’s first president Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, raises his flywhisk at a State function
Nairobi, May 6, 2006 – Three presidents, three leadership styles, one designer of their presidential power symbols. but not quite. Mzee Simon Muthoka Ngila’s record of having shaped and designed the presidential symbols of the three presidents will only come to pass if President Mwai Kibaki accepts a gift that the man from Mwala has already created.
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London, May 7, 2006 – By AN OFFICIAL FROM BRITAIN'S IMMIGRATION DIRECTORATE Arriving at the last known address, I knocked on the door.
An Arabic woman answered. I showed her my warrant card and said: 'I'm from Immigration, looking for Mr. Mohammed.' She shook her head and said: 'Sorry, he not here.' 'Do you know where he is?' She nodded. 'Oh yes. He is in Egypt.' 'But he claimed asylum because he was fleeing Egypt.' 'I know. But he went back for family wedding. He should be back next week,' she smiled.
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Illegal Arms Continue To Fuel Factional Fighting
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New York, May 12, 2006 – In its latest report to the UN Security Council, the Monitoring Group on Somalia, which was set up to investigate the UN arms embargo, blamed the flow of weapons on a "widening circle of states each with its own agenda - arms trading groups and economically powerful individuals, and the business elite."
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By Mohamud Tani
If we were to join Somalia again, something like this will happen to us in Somaliland.
• There would be a civil war in every region in Somaliland.
• My country would be ruled by ruthless war-lords.
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