Hargeysa, Somaliland, May 15, 2008 - The President of Somaliland, Mr Dahir Rayale Kahin, and the two leaders of Somaliland's opposition parties KULMIYE and UCID, Mr Ahmed Mohamed Mahamud and Mr Faisal Ali Warabe met on Thursday evening at the Presidency in Hargeysa.
The meeting took place in order to begin discussions on issues relating to Somaliland's political arena, including efforts to revive the failed mediation talks between all three Somaliland parties regarding the delay in the Presidential and local elections, the extension of the President's mandate by the Somaliland House of Elders and other areas of mutual interest.
15 May 2008
Few months after the former Union of Islamic Courts’ forces routed Mogadishu warlords in 2006, Kismayo, the port town and the administrative capital of Lower Jubba region, had become the main conquest target for the UIC. Although Barre Hiiraale, former member of Jubba Valley Alliance, tried to broker peace between the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia and the Union of Islamic Courts, he was against deployment of Foreign troops in Somalia.
An Ethiopian soldier watches displaced Somalis in southern Mogadishu |
MOGADISHU, Somalia, 18 May 2008 - Gunmen shot and killed a Somali humanitarian worker in the country's southern port town of Kismayo, elders and a colleague said on Sunday.
Ahmed Bariyow, the head of projects with Horn Relief, an African-led organisation that supports peace and development in Somalia, was killed overnight in Kismayo, about 500 kilometre (312 miles) south of the capital Mogadishu.
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Nairobi, Kenya, May 16, 2008 - The current regional food Crisis, Somali refugees, Eritrea-Djibouti border threats, Ethiopian invention into Somalia territories, Somaliland's strategy and the future of Babara Port threaten Yemen's Stability and it's future border security.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, May 9, 2008 — Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh said his army is in a dangerous border stand-off with neighbouring Eritrea's military, according to a release issued Friday.
"There is a hostile action which poses real problems because it is a blatant violation of our territorial integrity, of our borders," the president said in the statement.
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Islamic fighters in Kismayo region |
MOGADISHU, Somalia. 17 May 2008 - The leaders of Somalia's transitional government held a closed-door meeting Saturday at Villa Somalia, the heavily-guarded presidential compound in the capital Mogadishu.
President Abdullahi Yusuf, Prime Minister Nur "Adde" Hassan Hussein and parliament Speaker Sheikh Adan "Madobe" Mohamed were all present at Villa Somalia during the meeting, sources said.
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An armed suspected pirate looks over the edge of a skiff in international waters
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NAIROBI, Kenya, 17 May 2008 - Pirates on Saturday hijacked a Jordanian-flagged cargo ship off Somalia, the latest in a series of pirate attacks in the area this year, a Kenyan maritime official told AFP.
The vessel, Victoria, was seized about 40 nautical miles off the capital Mogadishu, said Andrew Mwangura of the Kenyan branch of the Seafarers' Assistance Programme.
Durbanville, South Africa, 17 May 2008 - A Somalian spaza shop owner has been shot and killed and another wounded in Durbanville in the Cape Peninsula. Police spokesperson, Bernadine Steyn says four men allegedly approached the shop and demanded money from 28 year old Gair Rashied.
He was shot in the side of the body and died on the scene. Steyn says his 30 year old brother sustained a gunshot wound to his stomach and is in a stable condition in hospital. A 19 year old suspect has been arrested and is expected to appear in court on Monday.
MOGADISHU, Somalia. 17 May 2008 - Islamic insurgents in Somalia seized a major agricultural center overnight, sending hundreds of people fleeing, a human rights leader said Saturday.
The attack underscored the government's vulnerabilities, as U.N.-sponsored peace talks stalled in neighboring Djibouti.
Editorial: Sunday Nation - 18 May 2008
President Mwai Kibaki, Prime Minister Raila Odinga and the parties they lead — Party of National Unity and the Orange Democratic Movement — have taken their eyes off the national dialogue ball. Consequently, they risk leading Kenya back to civil strife and political instability.
The political leadership has shifted its focus from the national dialogue and mediation efforts to official duties in the new government.
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Islamist militants have waged near-daily attacks in Mogadishu |
MOGADISHU, Somalia, 17 May 2008 - Islamist militants on Saturday seized a southern Somali town after clashes with government troops that claimed at least three lives, elders said.
Their fighters attacked Jilib township, some 400 kilometres (250 miles) south of the capital, touching off deadly clashes with government forces and allied militia.
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Research findings from collaborations have informed malaria control policies and helped develop new interventions |
African malaria research networks have helped scientists combat the disease, but they need more stable support and longer-term funding, says Thomas Egwang.
Successful South–South collaborations need long-term, substantial funding. If this is available, both strong and weak institutions can benefit: the weak from infrastructure development and human capacity building, and both weak and strong from the innovative ideas that drive the collaboration.
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By Greg Mills and James Kibera
Kenya now had a new cabinet. Will that solve the problems that gave rise to the contested election and the subsequent violence?
The actions that need to be taken now to ensure that the crisis is solved are primarily economic. While government has prevaricated over the cabinet, there has been a 100 percent increase in the cost of fresh agricultural produce with no corresponding changes in wages for the lower income groups. This environment is not conducive to socio-economic and political stability in the short-run.
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Headlines |
President Dahir Riyale Kahin |
Hargeysa, Somaliland, May 17, 2008 (SL Times) – A dangerous confrontation between the opposition and the Somaliland government was averted on Thursday thanks to a last minute initiative by the leaders of the opposition to invite the government for talks aimed at resolving Somaliland’s current political crisis which started unraveling when the Guurti unilaterally decided on April 10, 2008 to extend the tenure of the country’s president Dahir Riyale for one year.
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Conference participants from media are voting for BOD of the National Union of Somaliland Journalists on Tuesday 13/05/08 |
Hargeysa, Somaliland, May 17, 2008 (SL Times) – The National Union of Somaliland Journalists was proclaimed on Tuesday following a 2-day conference held in Hargeysa by over 40 Journalists. The constituent assembly of the union has elected a 13-member board of directors to govern the new organization.
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Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr Abdillahi M Duale |
Hargeysa, Somaliland, May 15, 2008 - The Somaliland Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr Abdillahi Mohamed Duale recently met with a delegation from the French embassy in Djibouti led by Monsieur Thiery Chornier, premier secretary at the embassy.
Monsieur Chornier and his delegation are on a short visit to Somaliland in order to strengthen the relationship between the two nations in terms of economic, planning, education and tourism assistance.
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Mohamoud A. Daar, Somaliland's representative to the EU |
BRUSSELS, Belgium, May 16, 2008 - It has a functioning parliament, its own currency and a viable economy boosted by hundreds of millions of euros (dollars) from a diaspora — yet international recognition remains a dream for Somaliland.
Representatives from the breakaway, self-declared republic in northern Somalia and some 40 other regions from western Africa to eastern Asia met in the European Parliament Friday to push for their cause. Some are asking to be recognized as independent states, others simply wanting to raise awareness of their nation's or tribe's difficulties under a government which they say oppresses them.
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Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys (photo-file) |
NAIROBI, Kenya, 16 May 2008 - Talks between Somalia's interim government and the opposition in Djibouti are a waste of time and no tangible outcome can be expected, Islamist leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys said on Thursday.
Speaking from Asmara, where he lives in exile, the former army colonel urged his allies from the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) attending the peace talks to walk out.
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15 May 2008
Requests Updated Version of Plan within 60 Days; Welcomes Recommendation to Move Political Office from Nairobi to Mogadishu
The Security Council this afternoon expressed its strong support for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's integrated strategy for building the foundations of peace and durable stability in Somalia, including plans for greater international presence on the ground in the troubled east African country.
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15 May 2008
Recognizing that beyond the confines of the world’s internationally recognized State borders exist entities without official recognition as States, yet who possess many or all of the traditional empirical criteria for statehood and sometimes even function as States in international fora.
Recognizing that these de facto states may have their own democratically elected government, political system, laws, judiciary, police force, defense force, currency, foreign representation, or all of the above, independent of any officially recognized State in whose (claimed or sovereign) territory they may lie.
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By Bashiir Goth
Come 15th of May and they have sworn on hell breaking lose; the naysayers. They trumpeted, with weird satisfaction, the imminent death of the Somaliland’s dream; the doom prophets. They misjudged our people’s wisdom, derided our nation’s resolve and underestimated their history; hired spin doctors. They used all kinds of scare tactics: tribal cards, myopic and jaundiced geopolitical theories, and marshaled all slander expletives in the book; the fifth columnists. They tried to rubbish our peace and stability and our homegrown democratic process as a child’s play before ensuing tantrums; blog pundits. They mistook our political debates as gathering death clouds over our skies; the hate mongers. They predicted doom, death and disarray; all Somaliland enemies.
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A Top Priority Is Recognition For Somaliland
Somalia has been in a state of hopeless conflict for many years (Somali refugees speak of horrific war crimes, May 7). The current US-led war on terror approach is creating a space in which extremist groups such as al-Shabab have become legitimate political actors, while policy failures have enabled the local insurgency to find support and develop recruitment bases. These include aerial bombings, support for the Ethiopian troop presence, and the badly timed terrorist designation of al-Shabab.
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Commentary
By Jerry Okungu
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
In Kenya you can be a Mungiki sect leader like Pastor Waruinge and preside over the deaths of hundreds of innocent Kenyans, extort cash from poor slum dwellers and matatu touts, however, if you are on the right side of the political class, you can be pardoned, join a pastoral college and graduate as a priest.
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Somali villagers with US missile debris |
By Margaret Kimberley
"The Muslim religion is used as a convenient scapegoat to further the aims of war."
What does the word "Islamist" mean? The millions of people around the globe who practice Islam are called Muslims, but this new term has crept into the language without question or investigation. It seems to apply to Muslims who fight against the occupation of Iraq, or Somalians who don't take kindly to the U.S.-backed Ethiopian government invading their country and killing their countrymen and women. In short, an Islamist seems to be any Muslim who has the nerve to act in opposition to the American government.
Book Review
By Izzy Birch
The world is starting to wake up to what has been happening in Somaliland and to what its people have achieved on their own terms.
'Why write a book about Somaliland, a lightly populated region on the edge of Africa which, if the international community had its wish, would be reincorporated into a federal Somali state?' The author, Mark Bradbury, answers his own question by filling an important gap in the literature on Somali studies. The book, written by someone who has been deeply engaged with the region for many years, provides a comprehensive and inspiring account of how people in Somaliland and its diaspora 'debated, defined and created a new polity' in the aftermath of war, and in so doing challenged normative assumptions about what states look like and how they are built.
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After three seasons of below-average rainfall, the people of central Somalia are beginning to fear the worst. Safia Ali, mother of five, has not eaten in seven days. Her 1-year old son, Farhan, has fallen ill |
DAGAARI, Somalia, May 17, 2008 — The global food crisis has arrived at Safia Ali’s hut.
She can’t afford rice or wheat or powdered milk anymore. At the same time, a drought has decimated her family’s herd of goats, turning their sole livelihood into a pile of bleached bones and papery skin.
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Ethiopia and Eritrea’s unregulated tensions
Simmering tensions on the border of Ethiopia and Eritrea are close to boiling point, following the withdrawal of UN troops from the buffer zone. However, Nicole Stremlau believes domestic pressures are forcing the governments to express their aggression in other arenas.
On 14 March 2008, a blast demolished a bus in northern Ethiopia killing eight people and wounding 26. The government was quick to blame Eritrea, a charge the Eritrean government denies. The explosion coincided with the withdrawal of more than 700 United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) troops from Eritrea in March after the government in Asmara cut off fuel supplies to the mission in December 2007.
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President George W. Bush speaks on Sunday in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East. |
SHARM EL SHEIK, Egypt, May 18, 2008 - After a showy celebration of America's close ties with Israel, President George W. Bush presented Arab leaders with a lengthy to-do list on Sunday, telling them that if Middle East peace is to become a reality, they must expand their economies, offer equal opportunity to women and embrace democracy.
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Transdniestria's Parliamentary Speaker Yevgeny Shevchuk |
BRUSSELS, May 15, 2008 - The Speakers of Moldova's and Transdniestria's Parliaments had to travel to Brussels, Belgium, for their first-ever personal face to face meeting.
On Wednesday, Moldova's Marian Lupu and Transdniestria's Yevgeny Shevchuk, a native born Transdniestrian of Ukrainian descent, sat down for meeting in Brussels to discuss issues dividing the two states.
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As news of talks between the government and the opposition parties became public, Somalilanders both inside and outside the country breathed a sigh of relief that the threat of violence and civil strife that hung over them was finally lifted. Particularly reassuring was the upbeat statement by the Chairman of UCID opposition party, Mr Faysal Ali Warabe, in which he emphasized that the opposition and the government were determined to reach an agreement over the issues in dispute. The vice-President’s statement reinforced this positive mood, although his reiteration that the government still views the extension of its term as legitimate raised the question of how a settlement is going to be reached if the government does not budge from its position?
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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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By M. Hashi, Saudi Arabia
A quick check at Puntland's Minister of Finance tells a different story as opposed to what some of my fellow Puntlanders like to hear. Gaagaab is not doctor as claimed. Neither his writing nor his actions indicate any sign of academic performance. Am not aware of any school that could have given a Gaagaab this title. Ahaa, may be he is one of the comrades sent to the Former Soviet Union (FSU) for orientation. Well, if he went to the FSU or attended the shoddy socialist schools of Somalia, then may be I stand for correction, a doctor a la Mogadishu.
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By Ahmed Abib Hayir
If you meet the time a day starts, it so happens that you first notice the sky reddening with the new sun rising in the heavens; Birds in the forest are fluttering round and chirping merrily. Dew drops are glistening in the grass. People are getting up with the new sun shining on the leaves of trees and the ripples on the surface of the lake. Mothers are drawing the curtains to let in the sun. It is now dawning! You may think that one can have a good chance to attend duties until the dusk approaches.
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By Jama Mohamed Ghalib
Reference is being made of Mr. Bashir Goth’s recently published OPEN LETTER.
Bashir deserves some degree of commendation for dwelling upon an important debate of immense public interest. He has proffered a great deal of both pertinent advices and warnings.
However, there are some undisguised ‘Udub’ biases quite perceivable in Bashir’s Dickensian like discourse. He has at best forgotten or at worst ignored to mention some current issues of serious dimensions and likely to undermine peace and stability that Bashir seems to hold dearly.
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Time Is Up Mister
By Ali Gulaid, San Jose, CA
Read carefully and follow the instructions. The game is over. Be gracious, don’t over stay and develop an Exit Strategy. At best, negotiate to remain as an interim care-taker and at worst as a member of a governing coalition. The people of Somaliland were, in the first place, too generous and too forgiving to elect you, as unfit and as unqualified as you are; too patient to put up with your autocratic inclinations and peccadillo. Too bad, if it felt too short. Nothing is for ever. All good things have to come to an end. In case you didn’t get it, your time is up Mister.
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By Sharmarke Ali , USA
Without resolute will of our political leaders to vanguard us to unity and better tomorrow, the temerity of our people to forgive and embrace each other but remain divided into faqash and Mujahid, our non-compliance to the guidance of our constitution, the dearth of genuine opposition leaders with accoutrements of an appropriate socio-political culture true to our aspirations and borrowing from the old tricks of crying foul when somebody steps on their toe, yet they themselves poking other people’s eyes, and a governing body out of sync, we will be stepping onto a very slippery slope, where one little “Slide” becomes a powerful downhill, impossible to stop without a spectacular crash.
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By Rhoda A. Rageh, USA
Every time a glimmer of hope shines and all agree on conflict resolution, it is Riyale who turns around and says no to it. So let the chips fall where they may. Let’s call a spade a spade. There is no problem in Somaliland except one: Riyale who refused to leave office at the end of his term. Who else except him is the problem? Opposition parties and the society do not want him to stay after May 15th simply because his term of office ends. This president is proving to be difficult for a) ignoring the constitution b) disregarding any form of conflict resolution and c) turning the blame elsewhere. Today he is bringing to court the driver of the young girl his police killed without cause. This tactic of beating the innocent is his way of diverting attention and blame.
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By Nur Hersi Bahal, Toronto , Canada
We stand today at a crossroads: One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other leads to total extinction. Let us hope we have the wisdom to make the right choice – Woody Allen
It was 17 years ago this coming 18 May that Somaliland announced secession from Somalia. Since that date, as the fate of the South sank deeper into the abyss of chaos filled with the blood and bones of forlorn citizens, Somaliland has been emphatically marketed as an “Oasis of Peace in the Horn of Africa”, and rightfully so! Of late, however, around the oasis, the conspicuous sprout of a thorny and poisonous acacia is spreading intense apprehension. For the few endowed with the requisite extra-sensory sleight and well-disposed socialite plugger inclined to symbiosis, the thorny oasis presents an unprecedented opportunity to plump out
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By Mark Bowden
17 May 2008
At the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport last week, I was emerging from a concourse when three electric carts driven by Somali airport workers whizzed past, startling me.
Many Somalis have a distinctive look - very dark skin, slender frames and broad, roundish foreheads - and, to those who know a little about Somalia, it should not be surprising to encounter them at the Minneapolis airport. Immigrants from that ravaged country have settled by the tens of thousands in the Twin Cities and surrounding area with a hustling, entrepreneurial passion.
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By Percy Zvomuya
Johannesburg, South Africa, May 16, 2008 – Football's calendar in the coming two months appears to be quite hectic. Next month, Europe's top countries will play in Euro 2008, which is being co-hosted by Austria and Switzerland, and in July there will be a football world cup -- yes, a world cup for "unrecognized nations".
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By Matt Bai
May 18, 2008
Whatever their disagreements on policy, U.S. senators, even in today's hyperpolitical climate, are reluctant to impugn one another's motives or integrity. That's doubly true among those who experienced combat in the Vietnam War, a group that now includes four sitting senators - the Republicans John McCain and Chuck Hagel and the Democrats John Kerry and Jim Webb - as well as former colleagues like Bob Kerrey, Max Cleland and Chuck Robb.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, May 11, 2008 - An American air strike killed Aden Hashi Ayro, the military commander of Al Shebab, a militant Somali Islamist organization. For any number of reasons, the world is better off without Mr. Aryo, who is known for his intolerance and brutality. In his campaign to establish a radical Islamic state in Somalia, he called for attacks on United Nations personnel who are trying to bring humanitarian relief to this devastated country. For anyone who is not associated with Mr. Aryo's jihad, it is difficult not to welcome his demise.
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By Abdulazez Al-Motairi
May 18, 2008
Congratulations to all Somalilanders on the occasion of 17th National Day. I wish all of you a very happy, prosperous and peaceful Somaliland.
Again, Somaliland´s power of negotiation shines over election dispute. The ruling and opposition parties agreed to reschedule the election calendar and avoid flux. Somaliland, as usual, solve their internal strive without support from outside world; they always implement homemade crisis management solution.
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Members of the con man's family insist he was just making a living
Cairo, May 16, 2008 – An Egyptian man has been sentenced to 1,000 years in prison for defrauding hundreds of people out of about $52m.
Abdullah Kamel Mohammed tricked people into giving him money which he promised to invest and split the profits with them. Mohammed would then disappear.
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Without universities of international standing countries will lose scientific talent to the brain drain. |
Developing-world scientists should make every effort to pursue careers at home – and their governments should help them, says Mohamed Hassan .
The world's least developed countries (LDCs) are also the world's least scientifically proficient. They could benefit greatly from South–South cooperation on research projects and, even more importantly, through educational and training programmes. This would provide the next generation of scientists with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed.
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By Ahmed Kheyre
Somaliland has nothing to fear from the pen. A nation based on democracy welcomes free speech and thought. However, the ramblings of a person who has never been there, without a relationship to Somaliland cannot damage its reputation as "Africa's best kept secret" with lies and fabrication. I strongly believe that if one is to make a sound criticism of an ideal or a position, it is imperative to remain objective. A mark of a good journalism is objectivity not fabrication.
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