Mogadishu, November 3, 2006 – Gunmen have hijacked a vessel off the lawless coast of Somalia, the owner of the cargo on board said, raising fears of a resurgence in piracy in Somali waters after a several-month lull.
The United Arab Emirates-flagged MV Fishana and its crew of 12 were seized near Adale, 95km northeast of Mogadishu on Thursday, as it sailed to Dubai from the Somali port of El-Maan, he said.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is seen during an interview with The Associated Press in the capital Addis Ababa Wednesday Nov. 1, 2006. Meles said Wednesday that Islamic militants in Somalia represent a threat to the Horn of Africa and the entire international community and that more must be done to contain them. (AP Photo/Les Neuhaus)
Nairobi , November 01, 2006 – UNIFEM's interventions on women's rights and gender equality in Somalia and Uganda received a major boost this week with financial assistance from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and the Government of Norway. Key to women's rights protection and participation is leveraging the voice of women as change agents with influence on policy and peace efforts. Leveraging women's effective participation and contribution to real-time urgent actions for peace, recovery and healing remains at the core of activities by UNIFEM in the region.
Four of the ten Somalis found guilty of piracy in the Indian Ocean high seas stand in front of a court in Mombassa November 1, 2006. Ten Somalis detained by the United States Navy off the coast of Somalia were found guilty of piracy by a Kenyan court on Thursday. U.S. sailors boarded a ship in January in waters off the Somali capital Mogadishu that was carrying the 10 Somalis along with 16 Indians, believed to be hostages.
Mogadishu , Somalia, November 01, 2006 – Militias loyal to Somalia's powerful Islamic movement expanded their control by taking over a strategic coastal town as peace talks with the country's official government stalled.
The fighters peacefully seized Hobyo in the central Mudug region on Tuesday night, according to an official with Somalia's Council of Islamic Courts.
NAIROBI November 1, 2006-- Eritrea on Tuesday renewed its verbal assault on the United States for accusing it of opening a second front in its border dispute with arch-foe Ethiopia in Somalia.
A day after unleashing a blistering barrage of criticism at Ethiopia and the United States for allegedly opposing Somalia's powerful Islamist movement against the country's weak transitional government, Asmara repeated the charge.
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Somali politician says Islamic movement sweeping African nation poses worldwide threat
LONDON, 4 November 2006-- Failure to halt the advance of an Islamic movement sweeping through Somalia will allow al-Qaida to build a new safe haven and threatens violent repercussions across the world, Somalia's foreign minister warned.
Ismael Mohamoud Hurreh, a member of Somalia's transitional national government, said Friday that only the lifting of a U.N.-imposed arms embargo and the support of foreign troops would allow his country to stop the march of Islamic forces -- who captured the capital, Mogadishu, in June
Sydney , Australia, October 31, 2006 – SMALL groups of young Australian men are going to Yemen for jihadi training, according to law enforcement sources concerned the country has replaced Central Asia as a destination for Australian extremists.
A law enforcement source said Yemen was attracting radical local Islamists for religious and military training because of the counter-terrorist crackdowns in nations such as Afghanistan and Pakistan. " Yemen is the new wild west," the source said.
Eight Foreigners Arrested In Yemen On Suspicion Of Al-Qaeda Links
Sana'a, October 30, 2006 - Eight foreigners have been arrested in Yemen on suspicion of planning to smuggle weapons to Islamic militia in Somalia on behalf of the al-Qaeda terror network, Arab media reported Monday. A Somali national, three Australians, a German and three other Europeans of undisclosed nationality were arrested on October 16 and are being interrogated by police authorities prior to appearing in court, Yemen's interior ministry said.
Mogadishu, November 02 2006 – Somalia's powerful Islamists and weak government poured fighters and military hardware into front-line positions on Thursday, preparing for war after peace talks failed, witnesses said.
A day after negotiations in the Sudanese capital collapsed, both sides reinforced troops on land outside the government seat of Baidoa, where, for a second day running, they fired into the air in shows of force, they said.
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A thousand daily miracles are needed for commerce to get conducted in Africa. Somehow, Adenike Ogunlesi keeps her children's clothing line humming in Lagos, Nigeria. In Kampala, Uganda, Michael Kijjambu, who has a coffee shop, wonders why his countrymen won't put more faith in his brew.
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My arrival at Robert's International Airport offered little hope: an angry, shoving series of queues dominated by aggressive ladies in bright dresses, posters declaring Liberia should be "gun free" - while UN helicopters cluttering the flight ramp reminded it was not - my passport being handed back and forth, more checks, stamps, forms handed over, filled in, handed back, over and back again, touts, baggage collection and customs check, baggage opening, baggage tag check, touts, exit, touts, and more touts.
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MOGADISHU, October 30, 2006 – After touring the bullet-scarred streets of Mogadishu for two weeks, Mahesh Ayra and Majdi Bashir said they were mesmerized by the business opportunities Somalia's shattered capital had to offer.
The investors have purchased scrap metals worth millions of dollars from a company in Mogadishu and have done so without the help of armed guards -- an unusual step in one of the world's most lawless cities, now enjoying a semblance of order after 15 years of anarchy.
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Seeds from egusi, a melonlike crop, are a component of many West African meals. High in oil and protein, the seed also contains big amounts of minerals and vitamins and thrives in dry, challenging climates. Egusi can supply food year-round.
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Islamist fighters man a checkpoint in Buur Hakaba, 30km (18 miles) from the government's base in Baidoa, October 30, 2006. REUTERS/Guled Mohamed |
MOGADISHU, Nov 3, 2006 – Somali Islamists on Friday dismissed a U.S. warning that "extremist elements" were plotting suicide attacks in neighboring countries, as Islamist fighters test-fired missiles and prepared for war with the government.
"We have no plans to attack Kenya and Ethiopia, neither are we known to blow ourselves up. Suicide bombing is not a Somali culture," Sheikh Yusuf Mohamed Siyad, the Islamists' defense chief, told Reuters.
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Sultan Mohamud Guleed Mire Meets With Islamic Courts’ Leaders In Mogadishu
Sultan Mahmud Guleed Mire during last Eid Al-Fatir prayers in Burao (23/10/06). |
Mogadishu, Somalia, November 4, 2006 (SL Times) – Sultan Mahmud Guleed Mire, one of eastern Buroa’s traditional leaders, met last night with leaders of the Islamic courts at Ramadan Hotel in Mogadishu.
The Sultan arrived in Mogadishu by air on Thursday from Somaliland.
The purpose of the Somaliland traditional leader’s visit to Mogadishu was still unknown. But it is worth recalling that the Sultan was among a number of personalities who have recently called for the application of the Islamic Sharia law in Somaliland.
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Increase In Ships Docking At Port Of Berbera
Berbera port (photo file) |
Berbera, Somaliland, November 4, 2006 (SL Times) – Lately, there has been a substantial increase in the number of ships docking at Somaliland’s port of Berbera.
As reported by Somaliland Times correspondent in Berbera, Ahmad Adan Dheere, most of the ships were carrying commercial goods (food products as well as durable goods). The mechanize belonged to both Somali and Ethiopian businessmen.
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Analysis
Although the Islamic Courts of Mogadishu like to portray themselves as pious Muslims who have come to the rescue of Somalis, the fact is, many members of these courts are the same criminals who, for a decade and half, inflicted unspeakable horrors on the people of Mogadishu and South Somalia. Many of the leaders of the Islamic Courts, such as Hasan Dahir Aweys, Yusuf Indh Adde, Yusuf Mire, Adan Hashi Ayro, Gobale and Hassan Turki are warlords with rivers of blood on their hands. Some of them (Aweys, Ayro and Turki) are wanted for international terrorism. Others, such as Yusuf Indha Adde, are drug traffickers, as confirmed by the UN.
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It is not clear whether the president backs the speaker's move |
NAIROBI , Kenya, November 3, 2006 – The leader of Somalia's parliament said Friday he planned to open peace talks with Islamic militants this weekend in Mogadishu, and the militia controlling much of the country said it welcomed the freelance initiative.
Earlier this week, peace talks collapsed between militants and the government, which was formed two years ago with the support of the United Nations but only controls one town. The Islamists, however, have seized control of the capital and much of the country's south since June.
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Mogadishu , Somalia, November 03, 2006 – Many Somalis who depend on BBC's Somali service for their daily news dose were outraged when the service decided not to cover a recent massacre in a small town in southern Somalia. At least four wounded militia men were killed in their hospital beds by Islamic Courts' men. The courts apologized numerous times and promised a complete and impartial investigation. So far BBC Somali Service, the farthest reaching Somali language and publicly funded radio did not even mention this verified main event.
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Hargeysa, Somaliland, November 3, 2006 – In 2006 the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) celebrates its 50 years anniversary as a private, independent organization. It is DRC’s aim to protect refugees against persecution and to grant direct assistance to refugees and internally displaced persons in conflict areas and speaks their cause internationally and in Denmark.
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President Abdillahi Yusuf of Somalia arrived in Beijing on Thursday, before a forum aimed at fostering political and economic ties between China and Africa. |
BEIJING , November 2, 2006 – Billboards show elephants and giraffes stalking the savanna. Traffic has been curtailed, construction sites shut down and the sky rendered tantalizingly, if temporarily, blue.
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Nairobi, Kenya , November 2, 2006 – The Islamists say they cannot talk while Ethiopian troops are on Somali soil to help President Abdillahi Yusuf's government and have called for an international fact-finding mission.
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Former South African apartheid President P.W. Botha, addresses reporters in George Magistrate court in Cape Town, South Africa after refusing to appear to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in this April 14, 1998 file photo |
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, November 1, 2006 -- Former President Nelson Mandela said Wednesday the death of P.W. Botha, the apartheid-era leader who resisted pressure to release him from prison in the 1980s, should serve as a reminder of South Africa's "horribly divided past."
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Mogadishu , November 01 2006 - Islamist and Somali government forces girding for battle in central Somalia fired artillery and rockets into the air on Wednesday, sending hundreds of villagers fleeing for safety, witnesses said.
With peace talks in Khartoum on the verge of collapse and fears rising for an all-out war that could engulf the Horn of Africa, the two sides conducted live-fire exercises near the government seat of Baidoa, they said.
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International News
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Which world leader poses a danger to world peace? US allies think Washington threat to world peace Only Bin Laden feared more in United Kingdom
London, November 3, 2006 – America is now seen as a threat to world peace by its closest neighbors and allies, according to an international survey of public opinion published today that reveals just how far the country’s reputation has fallen among former supporters since the invasion of Iraq.
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Dad Convicted For Mutilating Girl's Genitals
Conviction Is First In United States
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. November 1, 2006-- A jury Wednesday found an Ethiopian immigrant guilty of the genital mutilation of his 2-year-old daughter.
Human rights observers said they believe this is the first criminal case in the United States involving the 5,000-year-old African tradition.
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| TWO of the Australian men arrested in Yemen on terrorism charges are the sons of Abdul Rahim Ayub, the man who set up a Jemaah Islamiah cell in Australia and fled after the Bali bombings.
The mother of the two brothers is Australian-born Rabiah Hutchison, who is regarded by security agencies as possibly more radical than her former husband. |
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WASHINGTON Oct 31, 2006 – Somalia must not become a proxy battleground for warring neighbors Ethiopia and Eritrea, a senior U.S. official said on Monday as he urged Islamists to join talks with Somalia's weak interim government.
Fears of a regional war are rising due to Ethiopia's support of Somalia's interim government and Eritrea's apparent backing of the Islamists, who control the capital Mogadishu and are gaining more ground in the lawless Horn of Africa state.
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Columbus, October 29, 2006 – Nearly two dozen contenders for federal, state and local offices turned out last night for the first candidates night sponsored by Columbus’ growing Somali community.
Democrats outnumbered Republicans as they spoke to a crowd of about 150 people at Mifflin Middle School in northeastern Columbus. The audience, about half women dressed in native Somali clothing, was large by candidates night standards, where politicians often outnumber the voters.
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NAIROBI , Kenya (AP) -- Thousands of Ethiopian and Eritrean troops are in Somalia, backing opposing sides in the struggle for control of the strategic country, according to a confidential UN briefing paper. The involvement of the two Horn of Africa rivals could set the stage for a regional war.
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Hugo Chavez chooses his authors, political and social thinkers well, and there's no one better than Noam Chomsky. In his dramatic and courageous speech yesterday to the 61st UN General Assembly, Chavez held up a copy of Chomsky's 2003 book Hegemony or Survival (which I've read and quoted from before).
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Politicians and media have turned a debate about integration into an ugly drumbeat of hysteria against British Muslims
I've been trying to imagine what it must be like to be a Muslim in Britain. I guess there's a sense of dread about switching on the radio or television, even about walking into a newsagents. What will they be saying about us today? Will we be under assault for the way we dress? Or the schools we go to, or the mosques we build? Who will be on the front page: a terror suspect, a woman in a veil or, the best of both worlds, a veiled terror suspect.
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Deploying the DNA Weapon
October 28, 2006: Pakistan confirmed, via DNA tests, that their warplanes killed al Qaeda leader Muhsin Musa Matwalli Atwah, when a compound near the Afghan border was bombed last April. Atwah was believed to be the organizer of the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The U.S. has offered a $5 million reward for information leading to Atwah's arrest. Atwah was an Egyptian who operated an al Qaeda cell in Somalia in the early 1990s, and later traveled to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sudan to receive training on bomb building.
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Editorial
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The international community can no longer delay the inevitable recognition of Somaliland
The collapse of the third round of the Khartoum talks between Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government and the Islamic Courts Union demonstrates beyond any doubt that neither the two Somali rival factions nor their regional mediators were prepared to make the necessary compromises for the scheduled peace negotiations to take place and to succeed.
In fact it has been evident from the begging that the only reason why each of the TFG and the ICU accepted attending the talks has been to avoid being blamed by the international community as the side undermining Somalia’s peace process. The ICU refused even to begin the talks, insisting that the Ethiopians withdrew their troops from Somalia’s territory and Kenya’s co-chairing of the meeting be replaced by Sudan before they could be able to attend. The TFG countered by making its own precondition: no talks unless Kenya is allowed to co-chair. The two delegations were so uninterested in the talks that each one avoided casually meeting members of the other side at the corridors of their Khartoum hotel. |
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Special Report |
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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Goth And Gabobe’s Unholy Alliance
By Mo Bashir, Abuja, Nigeria
“We applaud the courage of Haatuf newspapers and we remind them that as the ancient Jewish sage Ben Joseph AKIBA said: "The paper burns, but the words fly away." or as the Awdalian poet Caarre said when the enemy found him traveling alone and wanted to kill him: " Kill me but the news will fly away with the wind." Therefore, neither Haatuf nor any other responsible and courageous media outlet can afford to be intimidated to a dereliction of duty. You should continue serving the public by exposing the truth. The truth haters can only burn papers but the truth will fly away with the wind.” |
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By Abdalla Farah Sigad
A female friend of mine who grew up in an area of Somaliland where camels are still worth more than anything else, told me once, people who consumed too much Camel milk in the early years of their life, are more likely to develop clannish syndrome in their adulthood and she jokingly added it might be the reason why our men behave the way they do.
Coming back to the point I want to make, I think Mr. Mo who wrote (Goth and Gabble’s Unholy Alliance article), which was published on Somaliland.org website is essentially a tribalist jumping to hasty conclusions. He does this whenever he sees a debate about certain topics conducted by someone who belongs to another clan. |
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By Nasser A. Odowa, Hargeysa, Somaliland
Your letter in Somaliland Times Vol.5 issue 248 of October 21, 2006 should not be left unanswered. In your letter, you had launched your unbridled attack on Engineer Mohamed Hashi Elmi.
Before making such attack, you should have rallied the public beside you by winning their confidence by the proof of your accusation. |
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By Abdulkadir J. Dualeh
In 1938, Hitler insisted upon Anschulus of Austria into a greater German Third Reich. His simplistic justification for demanding such a merger was that Austria and Germany inhabitants had a common language (German) and a common religion (Christianity).
Austria was a democratic nation and Hitler’s third Reich was totalitarian, but according to Hitler and his gangsters, that consideration was irrelevant – they new what was best for German people everywhere. The people of Austria rejected voluntary union with Hitler, so he opted to the use of subversion and intimidation.
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By Abukar Sanei
Debate on veiling has recently been sparked by Jack Straw, the former Foreign Secretary, but now the Leader of the House of Commons, after he commented negatively on it. In addition, Tony Blair has followed Mr. Straw's comments and described veils as "a mark of separation." However, the leaders from the British Muslim community reacted against Mr. Straw's remarks, and issued a joint statement. The joint statement was published on the website of Muslim Council of Britain [MCB].
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By Dr. Mohamed A Omar, London, UK
The leaders of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) have stepped up their threats to Somaliland, accusing it of being politically un-Islamic. However, these threats lack substance, lean on weak assumptions and don’t take into account of the realities on the ground in Somaliland.
Here are some inescapable facts, which the UIC leaders and their supporters must face up to. Firstly, they will need to understand that Somaliland has peacefully reconciled religion with the state administration.
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| FEATURES & COMMENTARY |
Prize Offered To Africa's Leaders
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London , October 26, 2006 – A $5m prize for Africa's most effective head of state is being launched by one of the continent's top businessmen.
UK-based mobile phone entrepreneur Mo Ibrahim - who was born in Egypt - is behind the plan to rate governance in 53 African countries each year. |
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Jawaahir Sheikh Madar with the First President of Zambia : H.E. Dr. Kenneth Kaunda |
On 17th October 2006, I was invited as a Somaliland Representative to the Rwandese Community meeting with H. E. the President of Rwanda, Dr. Paul Kagami. It gave me an excellent opportunity to meet with the Rwandese Business Leaders, some of whom are keen to invest in Somaliland [a few of them will be visiting Somaliland in the very near future] as well as with H. E. President Kagami. I sought his support to our cause and he asked that we carry this forward in the near future. |
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Khartoum , Sudan, November 02, 2006 – Somalia's weak government and the powerful Islamists on Thursday traded barbs, escalating fears of a full-scale war, a day after peace talks aimed at easing tension in the Horn of Africa nation collapsed.
As threats of war mounted at home, neighboring Ethiopia warned that the Islamists were "making conflict inevitable" by refusing to meet the country's weak government for peace talks in Khartoum.
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BBC MONITORING INTERNATIONAL REPORTS – October 31, 2006
Somalia is now officially at the epicenter of a regional Great Game that threatens to unleash a devastating war that could draw in over 12 countries in Northeast Africa.
The Horn version of the Great Game is much more serious than the cloak-and-dagger stuff of imperial espionage and diplomacy that pitted Czarist Russia against the British Empire in the period between 1813-1907 in Central Asia. Rarely before in post-colonial Africa have we seen such an intense regional power struggle to shape the destiny of a country.
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"Saita" recovers after female genital mutilation ceremony |
Addis Ababa , November 02, 2006 – A recent survey reveals that a large majority of Ethiopian women believe that the harmful practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) should be discontinued. Data also shows they are getting it their way. While 80 percent of Ethiopia's women were circumcised in 2000, by now only 38 percent cut their daughters.
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Gobey Hassan, a member of Ilays, a multicultural group of artists from Somalia, dances with Granville High School students Elle VanWalsen, 18, center, and Claire Parsons, 15, on Monday morning at Granville High School. |
GRANVILL, October 31, 2006E -- It was a learning experience delivered from around the world.
Ilays, a group of Somali multicultural artists, shared native songs, dances and dress with the students of Granville High School and Granville Middle School on Monday. It was part of the Midwest World Fest, a cultural concert series that aims to foster an understanding of and appreciation for global uniqueness and differences.
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Ball games - Mr. Bisad holds a record for his hand span |
Cardiff , Wales, October 28, 2006 – Young footballers will have to reach a long way to receive their medals when they are being presented by one of the world's tallest men.
Cardiff , Wales, October 28, 2006 – Young footballers will have to reach a long way to receive their medals when they are being presented by one of the world's tallest men.
Hussein Bisad who stands at about 7ft 9in (2.36m) is making a special appearance at the Somali Integration Society event in Cardiff.
Mr. Bisad who is reported to weigh 33 stone (210kg) and wears size 26 shoes is from Somalia but lives in London.
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Race-based Discrimination as a Critical Contributor to Health Disparities in African Americans
The experience of racial discrimination may be a key factor in explaining why African Americans have higher rates of obesity and suffer at higher rates from such diseases as diabetes and cardiovascular disorders, according to UCLA researchers.
Repeated responses to such discrimination --- which include elevated blood pressure and heart rate --- can cause enormous stress on a person's mental and physical health, according to research scheduled to be published in Volume 58 of the Annual Review of Psychology.
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