Sister Publications

Haatuf News
Alhatif Alarabi
 

Home | Contact us | Links | Archives


Issue 263 / 3rd Febuary 2007
Issue 262 261 260 259 258 257 256 255
 
Index
Headlines

SNM Veterans Demand The Release Of Haatuf Journalists

Somaliland: A Pressing Need for Recognition

Amnesty International Declare Haatuf Journalists As “Prisoners Of Conscience”

'A strategy on Somalia' & Somaliland

West ‘backing the wrong horse’ in Mogadishu peace initiatives

Reporters Without Borders issues its 2007 annual press freedom survey

Somalia's parliament elects new speaker

Somali Islamists threaten AU peacekeepers

Somalia to Talk Peace

Regional Affairs

U.N. Pushes Africans To Send Peacekeepers To Somalia

Somaliland Seeks Recognition, Somali Pres Poses Unity Talks

Editorial
Special Report

International News

Somalia needs African solidarity
South Africa: Letter from the President

Somalia is important to America

Merkel, Mubarak address joint conference

Oil, Not Terrorists, The Reason For US Attack On Somalia

The Quiet War in the Horn of Africa

Discussion on changing political situation in Somalia held in London UK

Understanding 7/7: Al-Qaeda and the Real Trinity of Terror

FEATURES & COMMENTARY

Analysis: Ethiopian Intervention In Somalia In Context

A Strategy On Somalia

Rebuild Somalia To Undercut Warlords

Using Insult Laws is an Insult to the Somaliland Media and Public – the detention and trial of Haatuf Journalists

'A Condemned Woman'
Anna Politkovskaya

Meles Winds It Up in Somalia

Food for thought

Opinions

CIA Rendition Flights Are Currently Active In The Horn

The Neu-Siyadist's Attempt To Build Castle In The Air

The Mirage Victory and Euphoria of War Lord Abdillahi Yusuf and His Cohorts Will Be Short-Lived

The Staggering Failures And Arrogance Of The Current Administration & The Ruling Party

Don't Blame Somaliland, But Learn From It...

How Long The People Of Somaliland Be Hostage To Few People For Their Future

The Nonsense Demands Of The Somali Cabbies In Minneapolis

A road map to lasting peace and prosperity in Somalia


LOCAL & REGIONAL AFFAIRS

New York, February 3, 2007 – The Security Council urged the African Union on Friday to quickly send peacekeepers to Somalia so that Ethiopia could withdraw its forces and the government could lift its emergency security measures.

The 15-nation U.N. council, in a statement, also backed the rapid deployment of a U.N. technical assistance mission to Somalia to make recommendations on future security needs.


Somaliland Seeks Recognition, Somali Pres Calls For Talks

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia Jan 28, 2007 – Somaliland has sent a formal request to the African Union asking to be recognized as an independent African government, according to diplomatic sources in Addis Ababa.

Somaliland officials in the Ethiopian capital reportedly delivered the message to the AU.

The 8th AU Summit is scheduled to open in Addis Ababa Monday, with Somalia and the conflict-ridden Sudanese region of Darfur high on the summit agenda.


US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer

London, February 01, 2007 – The United States believes that Somali Islamists who had, until recently, been running parts of the country, are regrouping in Saudi Arabia and Eritrea, the US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs said in an interview with the Financial Times.

Jendayi Frazer also told the business daily that it was going to be a while before it could be confirmed who had survived the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia in December, and the subsequent US air strikes in the country, and who had not.

MOGADISHU , Somalia, February 2, 2007 – Two Americans were among at least 10 foreigners caught by Kenyan police at the Somali border after allegedly fighting with Somalia's ousted Islamic movement, an official said Friday.

One of the Americans is wanted in the U.S. for links to radical movements, the Kenyan police official said. Kenya was preparing to deport the foreigners, seized after escaping advancing Ethiopian troops who helped oust the Islamists, to their home countries.


Nairobi, February 02, 2007 – In Somalia, this week’s election in parliament of a new interim speaker, who is a pro-Ethiopian former factional leader closely allied to President Abdillahi Yusuf, has deepened suspicion among supporters of the country’s Islamist movement that Somali leaders are not serious about creating an inclusive government.   VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu has that story and more from our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi.     

One of the top advisors in the Somali government, Ali Abdillahi, tells VOA that Wednesday’s election of Sheik Adan Mohamed Nur Madobe as the third most powerful leader in the country should be viewed as a positive development.


A senior Islamist leader on Friday rejected the prospect of African peacekeepers for Somalia, as fresh violence in the capital killed five civilians and underscored the continued threat in the war-ravaged country.

Mogadishu, February 2, 2007- A senior Islamist leader on Friday rejected the prospect of African peacekeepers for Somalia, as fresh violence in the capital killed five civilians and underscored the continued threat in the war-ravaged country.

Resident Adey Malim Nur confirmed both his sons were killed in mortar attacks late on Thursday. Three others were previously known to have died from the attack near the presidential palace.


Nagaad Women Organizations umbrella held HIV/AIDS workshop

Hargeysa, Somaliland, February 3, 2007 (SL Times) – Nagaad Women Organizations umbrella held HIV/AIDS workshop for 75 persons in Hadhwanaag Restaurant Hargeysa on Saturday 27/01/2007.

The workshop was focused on the people’s ignorance toward the disease, specifically women.

Read full text...

DJIBOUTI CITY, Djibouti, January 1, 2007 – According to Mohamed Mahad, a Djibouti City business owner, the presence of Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa at Camp Lemonier, Djibouti, has had a positive impact on his and other businesses around the city. “I am touched by the impact the American citizens and members of Camp Lemonier have had on my business,” said Mohamed.


AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE

London, January 29, 2007 – Amnesty International today warned that the African Union (AU) would compromise its reputation if it elected Sudan as chair of the AU this week.

The AU Assembly will decide on its chair for 2007 during a summit in Addis Ababa on 29-30 January.


Pretoria, January 30, 2007 – South Africa will not be sending troops to Somalia, but is continuing to assess what type of assistance it can offer the conflict-ridden north African country.

Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad told reporters in Pretoria on Monday that South Africa would not be sending any soldiers to Somalia as its peacekeeping force was stretched in other missions on the continent.

Read full text...
 

Washington, D.C., January 26, 2007 – Starting February 12, the Voice of America (VOA) begins a new daily radio broadcast in the Somali language to the Horn of Africa.

A group of S omali broadcasters at VOA's headquarters in Washington, D.C. will team up with freelance reporters in Africa and elsewhere around the world to provide millions of Somali speakers with accurate, up-to-date news and information.

Read full text...

United Nations security guards prevent journalists from entering the plenary session during the opening of the 8th African Union summitin in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Monday, Jan. 29, 2007. An African Union summit opened in Ethiopia Monday, with Sudan coming under increasing international pressure to resolve the worsening violence in Darfur. (AP Photo / Karel Prinsloo)

Read full text...

Kampala, 31st January, 2007 - UGANDA is one of the countries poised to send troops to Somalia. It is, however, important to consider the following factors. All Somalis claim to have a common ancestor – the Arab Abu Taalib.

The Somali are basically divided into two main clan families: The Somaal, which is the largest group (75%) and the Saabare 25%. The Somaal are nomadic and are sub-divided into four sub-clans: the Darod, Isaaq, Hawiye and Dit. The Saab are sedentary farmers and are sub-divided into two sub-clans: The Rahanweyn and the Digil.

Read full text...

February 1, 2007

Under an ambitious pilot programme in the northern Somalian port city of Bosaso, United Nations agencies, a non-governmental organization (NGO) and local communities have joined forces to relocate 120 internally displaced families who have fled intense fighting as well as 30 local poor families.

Bosaso, located in the Galkayo area of Somalia's northern autonomous Puntland region, is currently home to 16 settlements of internally displaced persons (IDPs) housing up to 30,000 of those who have escaped fighting in southern and central Somalia.


By Aweys Osman Yusuf

Addis Ababa, February 2, 2007 - Unknown gunmen have fired a mortar which landed on a school Quran in south of the capital Mogadishu on Friday morning.

The general director of Medina hospital, Sheik Salad Doon Elmi, has told Shabelle by the phone in Mogadishu today that seven people, most of them women and their male teacher were admitted to the hospital.


 
Headlines
SNM Veterans Demand The Release Of Haatuf Journalists
SNM veterans wearing 'Free Haatuf Journalists T-Shirts' during their meeting last Thursday in Hargeysa

Hargeysa, Somaliland, February 3, 2007 (SL Times) – SNM veterans called on the government to release the detained Haatuf journalists on Thursday. In a press statement issued by the veterans at a meeting held in SOOYAAL Veterans Association headquarters in Hargeysa said, ‘we strongly condemn the arrest and unlawful detention of Haatuf journalist by the government’.

The veterans said in the press conference that this type of action taken by the government brings shame to the country and people of Somaliland. They said, ‘we had fought a bloodily battle against a government which repressed and killed its people. Many lives were lost and properties destroyed in that war. Today, the government we brought into power and authority is doing the same thing as the one we had fought against and destroyed in 1991’.


Two Ex-Combatants Arrested For Attending Veterans Meeting

Hargeysa, Somaliland, February 3, 2007 (SL Times) – Two ex-combatants who fought for the Somali National Movement's liberation struggle against Somalia's late dictator Siyad Barre in the 1980s, were arrested in Hargeysa by the Somaliland police.

Mohamed Ahmed Gahnug (Ba'ood) and Ahmed Omar Abdillahi (Hamarji) were seized only a few hours after they had attended a veterans meeting that called on Somaliland President Dahir Rayale to immediately and unconditionally release from prison the three Haatuf journalists.

Read full text...

Despite its Relative Calm, Somaliland Risks being Drawn into the Somali Maelstrom

FIONA MANGAN

JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2007

THE INTERNATIONAL spotlight has returned to Somalia in recent months.

In the south, the Islamic Courts movement has rapidly overthrown the warlords and left the Transitional Federal Government cowering in Baidoa. Meanwhile, in the north of the country, democracy, stability and law-abiding calm have been quietly flourishing, despite being deprived of the world’s attention. This oasis of sanity — the self-proclaimed Republic of Somaliland — stands out in a region of Africa otherwise seemingly locked in a cycle of self-destruction.


London, February 2, 2007 – Three journalists employed by Somaliland's independent Haatuf Media Network have been arrested and charged as a result of their work. Amnesty International considers them to be prisoners of conscience, detained solely for exercising their right to peaceful freedom of expression. One man is being held incommunicado and may be at risk of ill-treatment; another is unwell and may not have access to necessary medical treatment.

Armed police raided the office of the Haatuf Media Network in Somaliland’s capital Hargeisa on 2 January 2007, ransacking the office and destroying property. Editor-in-chief Yusuf Abdi Gabobe and editor Ali Abdi Dini were arrested, even though police did not have a warrant. Hussein Khalif Abdillahi, the treasurer of the Haatuf Media Network, was also arrested and reportedly beaten by police, but was later released without charge.


29 January 2007

Since the routing this month of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) that ruled the country for six months, the main discussion has been about how the African Union can put together an African force to maintain peace in the Horn of Africa. Last week the AU's Peace and Security Council (PSC) approved a plan to send 8 000 African peacekeepers to Somalia on a six-month mission.

But the central challenge for the AU is to bring the focus back to where it belongs: finding a home-grown solution to the conflict.

Read full text..

Mogadishu, Somalia, January 29, 2007 – When military pressure was mounted on the Union of Islamic Counts (UIC) of Somalia towards the end of December 2006, the top leadership did not display cohesion and failed to step out together.

A good number of the men who led the movement had an easy excuse to leave the jihad to others by taking flights to Saudi Arabia. They simply joined thousands of Somalis and millions of Muslims from around the world performing the Hajj pilgrimage.

Sheikh Muqtar Robow Abu-Mansor, the deputy head of the UIC’s defence, followed in the footsteps of his boss, Sheikh Yusuf Mohamed Siyad Indhacadde. Sheikh Fuad Mohamed, the UIC’s youth and education executive and others in the leadership also headed for Mecca.


Click here to enlarge image
Women hold the meetings in places where they are comfortable, such as markets

NAIROBI, 1 Feb 2007 – Somali women are taking the initiative in the fight against AIDS with a programme to educate their peers in this conservative Muslim nation.

An extensive consultative process, conducted by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), led to the development of a women's training manual in the local Somali language, which trained women use to reach other women in their home towns.


Paris, France, February 1, 2007 – The survey, published on 1 February, reports on press freedom in 98 countries and includes the main violations of journalists’ rights in 2006 and regional aspects of media and Internet freedom.

The report (in English, French, Spanish and Arabic) can be read at www.rsf.org and downloaded in its entirety or by region.

Read full text...

Sheikh Adan Madoobe
Somalia's parliament new speaker Sheikh Adan Madobe

BAIDOA, Somalia, January 31, 2007 (Reuters) - Somalia's parliament elected a new speaker on Wednesday to replace one ousted over his overtures to Islamist rivals defeated by government and Ethiopian troops during a two-week war in December.

Members of parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of Sheikh Adan Madobe who takes over from Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan, voted out of office on January 17.

Read full text...
ADDIS ABABA, Jan 31, 2007 – A Somali Islamist group threatened on Tuesday to fight any peacekeeping troops sent to their country as African leaders struggled to put together an international force for the anarchic Horn of Africa nation.

The European Union released 15 million euros to finance peacekeeping operations, but leaders at an African Union summit were still seeking the 4,000 troops they need to bring the projected force up to strength.

A total of 8,000 troops are seen as necessary to fill a power vacuum when Ethiopian troops pull out after having backed the government in a brief war that defeated the Islamists who had run much of the country for the previous six months.

Read full text...

Addis Ababa, Jan 31, 2007 – Somalian President Abdillahi Yusuf took the first step toward a more stable and peaceful nation yesterday by consenting to a National Reconciliation Conference.

Somalia is a part of the Horn of Africa, sharing its borders with Ethiopia and Kenya, and has been unstable since 1991.

Somalia gained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1960, and in 1991, warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siyad Barre, leaving the nation unstable for years to come. That same year, the nation split into the northern Somaliland and the southern United Somali Congress, marking the beginning of a long-term civil war. The United Nations sent troops to help with the redevelopment of the conflicted country for three years.

Read full text...

International News

In June 1974, a few of us spent some days in Mogadishu, Somalia, as members of an ANC delegation. We had come to the capital of Somalia to attend the annual Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Assembly of Heads of State and Government. As was the practice then, the Assembly had elected the President of Somalia, Major General Siyad Barre, as its Chairperson and Chair of the OAU until the next Assembly. Siyad Barre therefore presided over the proceedings of the Mogadishu Summit.

African country reflects Iraq and Afghanistan
Jonathan Curiel, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, January 28, 2007

The parallels to Iraq and Afghanistan are so obvious, it's as if history has quickly repeated itself. There's the presence of American military in a Muslim country. There's the hunt for members of al Qaeda. There's the warning from the camp of Osama bin Laden that it will "break (the) back" of the United States and its allies. And there's the suspicion among critics that U.S. involvement is really about oil.

But instead of Baghdad and Kabul, the capital of this failed state is Mogadishu. And instead of the world holding its collective breath to see what happens, there's a din of silence. Or at least a muted response that surprises those who think the events in Somalia should make the East African country a priority for anyone concerned about the domino effect of global affairs.

CAIRO, Feb 3 - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday called for exerting international efforts to solve the Palestinian issue, which she said was the core of the Middle East conflict.

Addressing a joint news conference with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak here, the German Chancellor said Israeli-Palestinian confidence was required to solve the Palestinian problem. She expressed the readiness of the European Union to improve the economic conditions of the Palestinians providing that Israel's right to exist was endorsed.

Read full text...

JUST WHY DID THE US ATTACK Somalia? Of course, the answer given for the US military intervention and the generally accepted notion is the hunt for terrorists. But is it?

Are terrorists the only bone of contention the US has with Somalia? When the US military devised “Operation Restore Hope” in 1993 which was short-lived after they were whipsawed by rag-tag militia in and around Mogadishu, were they fighting the “war on terror”?

They couldn’t have been because this war was to start much later, If anything it is a post-Sept 11 phenomenon. So then why did the US bomb ICU extremists in the name of Al Qaeda terrorists and not throughout last year when they occupied Mogadishu?

Air Force Col. Dan Shoor listens to a young Somali refugee’s cough at a Djiboutian clinic, stretched to its limits because of an influx of 5,000  refugees. Malnutrition is a widespread problem, as are sanitation woes and influenza. About five children in the community of 12,000 die each day, one Army sergeant  estimates.

Air Force Col. Dan Shoor listens to a young Somali refugee’s cough at a Djiboutian clinic, stretched to its limits because of an influx of 5,000 refugees. Malnutrition is a widespread problem, as are sanitation woes and influenza.CHRIS TYREE PHOTOS / THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT

ALI ADDÉ, Djibouti, January 28, 2007 — A curious crowd of women and men in billowing skirts streamed toward the landing zone as two U.S. Marine helicopters touched down on rocky African desert.

The Marines had pistols strapped to their legs, but the choppers from New River Marine Corps Air Station in North Carolina were doves, not hawks.

On 24th January, The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Department for International Development and Department for Communities and Local Government held a meeting with 15 members Somali community at Old Admiralty Building near Trafalgar squire to discuss the changing political situation on the ground in South Central Somalia.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office assured to the participant that the British Government was working with the international community to encourage the Transitional Federal Somali Government to be inclusive and promote harmony. The United Kingdom is also working in support of an African stabilization force to replace Ethiopian troops.

Read full text...

An unholy trinity: military intelligence factions from the US, Britain’s MI5 and MI6, and Israel's Mossad

Monday July 11th 2005

Regardless of what you may think of the medieval theocrats at the helm in Iran, they do have a point, one never heard in the “free press” (corporate media and propaganda service) in the United States: al-Qaeda is an intelligence operation cooked up long ago in the murky depths of the intelligence underworld. “Has the British prime minister forgotten who Al-Qaeda’s parents are? I remind him then that the United States is Al-Qaeda’s father and Israel is the mother of that illegitimate child,” Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani declared after the London bombings in response to Blair’s criticism of Islam.

Somaliland Map
Somaliland map
Hargeysa Bridge Committee web Link http://www.hargeysabiriij.com

Editorial

It is widely acknowledged that corruption is one of the biggest factors that contributes to underdevelopment. This can be deduced from the fact that corruption is a common factor for most impoverished countries. The debilitating effect of corruption is most clear in countries that are well endowed with natural resources but are characterized by extreme poverty. Take the example of African countries that have oil, gold, diamonds and other mineral resources but whose people live in dire poverty. Somaliland does not export oil or diamonds, so the dollar amount that is lost to corruption may be smaller than let us Nigeria, nevertheless, the principle is the same. If your economy is smaller but corruption is widespread, the impact is no less damaging.

Read full text...

Special Report

REPORT ON OIL & GAS POTENTIAL
IN SOMALILAND

By Prof. M. Y. Ali

In this paper, seismic, well, and outcrop data have been used to determine the petroleum systems of Somaliland. These data demonstrate that the country has favourable stratigraphy, structure, oil shows, and hydrocarbon source rocks.


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.

Read full text.
Opinions


By Mohamed H Roble, London, UK

There is no doubt that US Special Forces and its Intelligence Services are active in Somalia, particularly in the southern tip of Somalia, and they are working round the clock to dismantle what they call the remnant of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) and its affiliated al-Qaeda members, who are believed to be hiding near Kenyan border.

It’s appalling to hear, that Kenyan intelligence services together with its Ethiopian counterparts are working by the orders of their paymaster America to hand offer all detainees captured on the war of terror as they call it, while crossing to Kenyan border, to the un-democratically elected, brutal dictator they have created in Somalia, Warlord Abdillahi Yuusuf Ahmed, and the so called weak Transitional Federal Government (TFG) based in Mogadishu.

The Neu-Siyadist's Attempt To Build Castle In The Air

By Ismail Ahmed  

Since mammoth demonstrations were held early in January in Somaliland's major cities in which Somalilanders in one voice appealed to their international community for the immediate reconfirmation of their independence that they achieved on June 26, 1960, while Somalia was still under colonial yoke, there has been a barge of undue condemnations by the newly formed Neu-Siyadist organization.

It has apparently became a customary habit for the Neu-Siyadist cliques, to spew all kinds of scathing condemnations against the people of Somaliland and their democratically elected leaders as fascists and nazistzs who deserve nothing less than annihilations from the surface of the earth.

The Mirage Victory and Euphoria of War Lord Abdillahi Yusuf and His Cohorts Will Be Short-Lived

Farah Ali Jama, Ottawa, Canada.

It has long been said that: Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. And in the words of John F. Kennedy, “A rising tide lifts all boats” says it all, and is meant for those who understand to take heed.

Therefore, those who think that the War Lord Abdillahi Yusuf, the “transitional president” of the so-called “Transitional Federal Government” (TFG), will pacify the entire country and bring reconciliation, peace, and tranquility to the failed and anarchic state of Somalia seem to have not learned from history and are doomed to repeat their past mistakes and failures all over again.

By Hassan A. Mohamud

For the past fifteen years, Somaliland has been under Udub’s firm political control. The party was lucky to be availed with the privilege to rule the country. Udub party administrations and its leadership have succeeded one another without interruption. Opposition parties have envied Udub’s grip on the powerhouse. The staggering failures and arrogance of the current administration and the ruling party, plunged the nation into morass of purposelessness and polarization. Long neglected domestic and foreign issues created a perception of ineptitude. A vast majority of the public have already lost faith in this government. None of the major critical issues facing the nation has been addressed. For the past two years, National crisis with profound political implications proliferated the landscape.

Read full text...

Ahmed Kheyre, London, UK

It is official, Somaliland's case has been put before the recent African Union summit. The African leaders are more interested in Somaliland's cause, its stability and development.

It has finally dawned on our African brothers and sisters that Somaliland is setting a fine example in the horn of Africa.

Inevitably, some pitiful parties have resorted to desperate measures to stop the African Union officially acknowledging and discussing Somaliland, they have failed. These sad souls have neglected to look toward Somaliland and learn from its experience in order to resolve the problems currently facing them. Instead what see is obfuscation and hysteria.

Read full text...

By Ibrahim Adam Ghalib, Borama, Awdal

After the collapse of the Somali state, the civic society groups in Somaliland organized meetings and conferences inside Somaliland. Clan elders, religious leaders, non governmental organizations volunteered their services without external support or assistance. They managed to achieve peace and stability in the country.

This demonstrates the possibility for the civic societies to overcome clan boundaries, and they do not operate on an imported ideology but are initiated locally for - the benefit of their people. The people who voted the parliament and the president to office are stronger than any other institution and if they fill their political space can pressure the government to make the required political socio-economic reforms. The restoration of peace in Somaliland was the outcome of Burao and Borama conferences in 1991 and 1993 respectively.

Read full text...

By Ali Deria, Doha, Qatar

The Somali cabbies in Minneapolis are demanding the "right to refuse service" to anyone carrying alcohol. As a Muslim, I'm amazed that many of those cabbies in the Twin Cities would refuse to pick up such passengers. Their justification is that the Muslim religion would not allow them to "carry alcohol."

First, we cannot force our values on to non-Muslims as they cannot force theirs on us. It is the Muslim religion that forbids us to transport alcohol, not theirs. So, it is not your business for what a passenger brings in to your cab as long as it is legal in that country.

By Ali Deria, Doha, Qatar

There are 192 member states of the United Nations, and Somaliland may soon join the group to become the 193 rd member. However, Somaliland has to overcome few obstacles to become the first country to join the UN since Montenegro has become the 192 nd member state in 2006.

The first step is to lobby to have a UN special envoy for Somaliland. If the UN could afford to provide four special envoys for the HIV/AIDS and one for the bird flu, then they can afford to have one for Somaliland.


FEATURES & COMMENTARY

Regional Coordinator Great Lakes Conflict Early Alert Report

Just one moth after the Ethiopian government officially recognized it had sent troops into Somalia, the first contingent of Ethiopian troops have started pulling out of Mogadishu. Although African Union (AU) troops are not expected to be deployed in Somalia for at least two weeks, the Ethiopian military look unwilling to stay in the country any longer.

Given the weakness of the official Transitional Federal Government (TFG) military forces, there are fears that the rapid withdrawal may create a power vacuum. However, this pullout may not announce a profound change in the Ethiopian strategy towards Somalia.

Read full text...
Ethiopian troops in Mogadishu. (Photograph: AP)

By Iqbal Jhazbhay and Zubeida Jaffer

Since the routing this month of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) that ruled the country for six months, the main discussion has been about how the African Union can put together an African force to maintain peace in the Horn of Africa. Last week the AU’s Peace and Security Council (PSC) approved a plan to send 8   000 African peacekeepers to Somalia on a six-month mission.

Ambassador David Shinn

Interview: David Shinn

David Shinn is a former U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia, and in his 37 years with the State Department, he also served as the director of East and Horn of African Affairs. He is now an adjunct professor in the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. He was interviewed by Lawrence Freeman on Jan. 4, 2007, at a Washington, D.C. forum on Somalia, sponsored by the Middle East Institute. This was before the U.S. attacks took place in southern Somalia.


Ibrahim Hashi Jama

20/01/2007

The raid of Haatuf newspaper premises

The Republic of Somaliland has a free and thriving press, but this is often marred by the occasional detention of journalists 1 on the orders of the government or its regional representatives. As nothing happens to the public officials who order these, often short, detentions, the impression has been given that the freedoms of the press guaranteed under the Somaliland Constitution are some what circumscribed by the whims of public officials. The latest detention, this time of the veteran journalist and Chairman of Haatuf Media Network, Mr Yusuf Abdi Gabobe, and, the editor of the Somali language Hargeisa daily, Haatuf, Mr Ali Abdi Dini, on 2 January 2007 raises considerable constitutional and legal issues, which are explored in this article.

The award-winning Russian journalist and author Anna Politkovskaya, a fearless reporter on the Chechen wars and critic of the Putin administration, was murdered in Moscow last October 2006. In a previously unpublished article, she explains why, despite death threats, she had to continue writing

I am a pariah. That is the main result of my journalism throughout the years of the second Chechen war, and of publishing abroad a number of books about life in Russia and the Chechen war. In Moscow I am not invited to press conferences or gatherings that officials of the Kremlin administration might attend, in case the organisers are suspected of harbouring sympathies towards me.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Mr. Mele Zenawi

If there was anything that emerged from the latest press conferences given by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on Somalia - the latest being on Wednesday morning, January 24th - it is that he strongly advises the United States and the European Union to drop their agenda of pushing the Transitional Federal Government to accept their demand in including political leaders that are now on the sideline.

Read full text...
Food for thought

January 23, 2007

Former US Ambassador to Ethiopia, Dr. David Shinn, says he’s not surprised the Ethiopians have begun to withdraw troops from Somalia. In an interview with VOA English to Africa Service reporter Joe De Capua, Shinn says, “In fact, I think the Ethiopians are interested in getting out of Somalia as soon as they can. They do face a dilemma however in terms of how fast and how many you pull out, while balancing that against a desire to maintain stability and security inside Somalia.

Read full text...

         

Somaliland Times Newspaper: Publisher Haatuf Media Network, Published in Hargeysa, Somaliland

        

  Editor in Chief: Yusuf Abdi Gabobe. Assoc-Editor: Rashid Mustafa X Noor

Assist-Editor: Abdifatah M Aideed


Somaliland Times Web Editor : Rashid Mustafa X Noor (2005)

Home | Contact us | Links | Archives

Hits since 25/02/2003