| Index |
| Headlines |
|
|
|
Regional Affairs |
|
|
| Editorial |
|
|
|
Special Report
|
|
|
|
International News |
|
|
|
FEATURES & COMMENTARY |
|
|
| Food for thought |
|
|
|
Opinions |
|
|
|
LOCAL AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS
|
GAROWE, Somalia, July 1, 2008 – A husband and his wife from Europe who were kidnapped by suspected pirates off of northern Somalia's Gulf of Aden coast last month are both "safe." A Garowe Online reporter who secretly visited the location where the couple in their 50s are being held hostage was granted an opportunity to speak with them and to take pictures. For security-related reasons, the 12-man team of kidnappers declined to have their pictures taken, but indicated that the European family wants their relatives to know that they are safe.
Nairobi , July 2, 2008 – Somali pirates who seized four cruising sailors on June 23 – a German couple, their son and a French Skipper – have now upped their demands to US$2 million. The four sailors, who had been sailing from Egypt to Thailand , are being held in a camp in the breakaway state of Somaliland . Unconfirmed reports from Africa identify the German yacht as the Rockall, the sailors as M. Sabine and K. Juergen. Sailors have no chance against speed boats in the Gulf of Aden , which is only 75nm wide at its narrowest point. When pirates discovered the German yacht Rockall off the coast of Somalia on 23 June, an uneven race started. Two speedboats captured the sailing boat. Read full text...
HARGEYSA, Somaliland, June 29, 2008 – The republic of Somaliland hopes next year's presidential elections will lead to international recognition of the northern Somali enclave as an independent country, officials said on Sunday. The polls are seen by many as an acid test for the former British protectorate which broke away from Somalia in 1991 when the ouster of former dictator Mohamed Siyad Barre plunged the Horn of Africa country into anarchy. Somaliland has enjoyed relative peace and prosperity and has held previous democratic elections, but analysts say it is not recognized globally because of concerns that rewriting colonial borders would open a Pandora's Box of other secession claims.
Read full text...
By Center for Constitutional Rights
Global Research , June 30, 2008 Center for Constitutional Rights Challenges Detention of Somali Refugee Mohammed Barre, Imprisoned for Nearly Seven Years Despite UNHCR Protected Status CONTACT: press@ccrjustice.org June 26, 2008, New York —Today, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed one of the first new habeas corpus petitions since the Supreme Court ruled on June 12 that the men at Guantánamo have the constitutional right to habeas corpus. The petition was filed on behalf of detainee Mohammed Sulaymon Barre, a UN mandate refugee from Somalia protected by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Monday, June 30, 2008 – Among its areas of operation, Lundin Petroleum counts Sudan , Ethiopia , and Somalia , countries whose displaced populations total some 7,200,000 persons, according to 2007 figures of the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center . These displaced populations face some of the greatest civilian-directed violence and food insecurity in the world (see food security maps for Darfur and Somalia ). This is neither incidental nor accidental. Conflict over areas of oil discovery are a proximate cause in further fueling many conflicts in the Horn.
by Emmanuel Goujon
SHARM EL-SHEIKH , Egypt , July 01, 2008 – The African Union announced on Tuesday that it was extending the mandate of its force in Somalia for another six months but urged the United Nations to take over the peacekeeping mission. The bloc's 15-member Peace and Security Council underlined the new opportunities for peace in the Horn of Africa country created by a June 9 agreement signed in Djibouti by the transitional government and the main opposition coalition.
Read full text..
American entertainer visits Somaliland and urges the world to remember Somali children Nairobi , Kenya , Tuesday 1 July 2008 – A five-day visit to Somaliland has UNICEF Ambassador, Clay Aiken, moved by the work that UNICEF is doing under challenging circumstances. ‘In a country that's better known for conflict, insecurity, drought and floods, it's truly remarkable that UNICEF is still able to make a difference to the health, education and well-being of Somali children' said Aiken.
Mogadishu , July 03, 2008 – A former Toronto resident who joined an Islamic insurgency in Mogadishu has been killed this week during violent clashes in wartorn Somalia . Ethiopian troops killed Canadian Abdillahi Afrah, 56, late Tuesday during fighting in central Somalia , according to local media reports and various members of Toronto 's Somali community. Known widely as Asparo, he had left Toronto a decade ago to return to his birthplace in support of an Islamic group that fought to bring leadership to a country without a stable government since 1991.
NAIROBI , July 03, 2008 – The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said Thursday it has began relocation of refugees from the Dadaab refugee camp located in northeast Kenya to Kakuma refugee camp in the northwest. The refugee agency said in a statement that the first convoy of ten buses carrying 501 individuals arrived in Kakuma late Wednesday after three days of travel by road with two stopovers, the first at Thika in central Kenya and the second at Kitale in western Kenya on Tuesday.
By Abdiqani Hassan and Hussein Ali Nur BOSASSO/HARGEYSA, July 10, 2008 – Troops from Somaliland and Puntland were bracing for a possible showdown on Thursday as they compete to rescue four German tourists held hostage there by pirates. The Germans -- two men, a woman and a child -- were kidnapped in Yemen 17 days ago. They are now held in thickly wooded mountains near Las Qoray town, in a disputed region between Somaliland and Puntland. "We have surrounded the pirates," Gurey Osman Salah, the Somaliland commander in Las Qoray, told Reuters by telephone.
Read full text...
Somaliland is progressing towards achieving its economy goals on two key commitments including providing education for everyone in the country starting from primary school until university. This commitment is almost accomplished as the students start schooling and enroll the universities in their own hometowns in Somaliland .
The second key elements is providing suitable environment for foreign investors mainly from Middle East, Europe, America and Far East . The strong security, stability and democracy contribute in turning Somaliland into Commercial and Financial Hub of the region in the very near future.
Read full text...
Wednesday, 09 July 2008 Inspired by sermons of Wahabi clerics, student protesters challenge government sponsored World Music Day celebrations. Below is an article published by Free Muse : It was not until the last minute when the conference-hall was set for the event, as well as the local invitees, key-note speakers, folklore dancers, government officials, journalists, and foreign guests were soon to arrive there that the students unleashed a wave of protest. They violently emptied the conference-hall of all the chairs and tables for the invitees, and they removed from the walls all the slogans, pictures, and decorations for the event.
Read full text...
Joint Press Release
Nairobi, 2 July 2008 - Large areas of the Horn of Africa are facing - or rapidly sliding into - a state of humanitarian emergency with more than 14 million people requiring urgent food aid and other humanitarian assistance over the coming months. A combination of drought conditions and rising food prices is driving the crisis which is affecting populations already food insecure due to conflict, displacement and a drop in food production. The emergency is exacerbated by the erosion of livelihoods among the landless, pastoralists, internally displaced persons and the urban poor across the region.
Read full text...
|
Headlines |
Somaliland Parlimenterian Mr. Saeed Mohamed Elmi |
Hargeysa, Somaliland, July 5, 2008 (SL Times) – Somaliland Parliamentarian Saeed Mohamed Elmi has challenged the Norwegian oil service company TGS-NOPEC to become accountable and transparent in terms of its dealings with the Somaliland ministry of Water and Minerals. The Somaliland legislator who is a Chairman of the House of Representatives' Committee on Natural Resources told reporters on Monday that both the ministry and TGS have both refused to comply with the law by declining to submit a copy of an agreement that they had concluded to the parliament.
Read full text...
|
Abshir's wife and children damonstrating in front of the presidency Wednesday |
Hargeysa, Somaliland, July 12, 2008 (SL Times) – Muhubo Saleban Farah the wife of Somaliland's most famous political prisoner Abshir Hassan Hashi pleaded with the country's ruler Dahir Riyale to release her husband from prison where he is being kept since his arrest on May 1, 2008.
Read full text...
|
Hargeysa, Somaliland, July 12, 2008 (SL Times) – The Somaliland capital Hargeysa is calm again following last Monday's rioting which erupted in the southern part of the town.
Three people were killed and 11 wounded after security forces fired live ammunition against hundreds of youths who went to the streets to protest against a government decision to remove a water drilling rig from a site near the Hargeysa airport to a new location in the western part of the country.
Read full text...
|
Nicole Stremlau, Yusuf Gabobe and Abdullah Ahmed
|
Hargeysa, Somaliland, July 12, 2008 (SL Times) – Through a live lecture delivered from Hargeysa, students at the Annenberg-Oxford Summer Institute were able on last Tuesday to discuss media issues in Somaliland and Ethiopia with Ms Nicole Stremlau, the head of the Africa Department in the London-based Stanhope Center for Communication Policy and Research and Mr. Yusuf Gabobe, chief editor of the Somali language newspaper Haatuf in Somaliland. The Annenberg-Oxford Summer Institute is annually hosted by the University of Oxford and offers high level study of law, policy and regulation in a range of communication sectors.
Read full text...
|
Buro, Somaliland, July 11, 2008 – Two people died and two others were wounded after a man armed with AK47 automatic assault rifle shot people in a café in the city of Buro of Togdher region of Somaliland on Thursday.
Read full text...
|
|
Dr. Gabose's Letter To Donor Nations
|
We can all appreciate that our previous elections may not having been perfect but it is worth noting that there was a large reservoir of good will among the electorate and the competing parties that facilitate glossing over the difference of opinion and the inevitable resentment generated by the close margin of victory for the current party.
I submit to you that this time the landscape is quite different, after five years of economic stagnation and display of abusive power reminiscent of the old Somali regime, this president and his administration managed to extinguish any hopeful sign for a better life and liberty for the individual to flourish.
Read full text...
|
|
|
 |
Iran launched a series of missile tests in the desert this week. London , July 11, 2008 – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said the results of Iran 's missile tests prove that US plans for a defence shield in Europe are unnecessary. Mr Lavrov said the tests confirmed Tehran had missiles with a limited range of up to 2,000km (1,240 miles).
Read full text...
|
UNITED NATIONS, July 12, 2008 — China and Russia on Friday blocked a US draft resolution in the UN Security Council that would have slapped sanctions on Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe over his disputed re-election.
Read full text...
|
The Current Discussion: The G-8 summit is Bush's last hurrah as a world leader. What's one thing he can do to strengthen his legacy?
If there is one thing that President Bush can achieve in the dying days of his presidency, it should involve Africa . Everything else seems to be complex and too messed up to even think of fixing in the time available. Regarding the Arab-Israeli issue, it is obvious that Bush cannot undo in six months a problem that is sixty years old. He must have encountered the insurmountable walls of the Middle East peace during his two-term presidency. His trusted State Secretary's frequent visits and proverbial skills couldn't put the Middle East 's Humpty Dumpty together again.
|
Khaddar Hanan
Every human being is subjected to have a prosperous or sustainable life on the bases of his/her activity and creativity or in other words (his/her prescribed portion in life). However, the chances of sustaining life are not always in the hands of the ordinary people in toto but relevant to the level of chances created by both public and private sectors together. One of the world's hottest current issues for to day is on the scarcity shadowed over the food and oil energy (primary goods) in the global markets; the prices of which have became more dearer than is expected yet on and on. Our people's life is mainly dependent on the outside world either in income and food.
|
To the Editor:
As a Djiboutian-American I couldn't help but take your editorial with a grain of salt. The people of Djibouti always had and will always have a great affinity for the people in northern Somalia . There is a historical tie that go back hundreds of generations between the people of the Republic of Djibouti and northern Somalia . That tie always binds us as "one" people. All we ask of our brethrens to the south is sort out your problems and become a nation of governance and transparency.
To the Editor;
I am writing regarding a television programme which was shown last week, called, "Holidays in Places that Don't Exist - Somaliland ".
I am always interested to read about other countries and their peoples, with the view that, perhaps, one day I would be lucky enough to visit them.
Read full text...
|
|
By Abdale Nur Abdale
‘This article is the outcome of my approved research on Somaliland detention centers and prisons.' Our detention centers and prisons here in Somaliland are all in poor conditions. These centers are devoid of any entertaining programs which may relieve the prisoners from the heavy burden of stress as their freedom is denied to that extent of confinement. And such these entertaining programs that the prisoners lack are the swimming training, computer courses, football matches and cinema performance. So not only, the prisoners will be able to break the daily routine in the prison but also they will create friendship among themselves while making use of these entertaining programs. But unfortunately, none of these programs are available in our jails.
Read full text...
|
By DANIELA KROSLAK*
Friday, July 11, 2008
Peace deals are always enthusiastically welcomed in war-ravaged countries. This has naturally been the case with the June agreement signed by the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia and the moderate minority from the rebel Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia.
But while this is a significant move for a country suffering nearly a generation of chaos and warlordism, we need to cool our optimism for its overall impact on the situation because it excludes those who have gained much ground in recent months, the Al-Shabaab militant group. This deal may be a first step, but it is only one step.
Read full text...
|
Germany Should Not Surrender To Pirate Demands
By Adan Moomin
The kidnapping of 3 civilian German tourists by pirates from port town of Lasqoray ( Somaliland ) should not be swapped for ransom. Instead, the German government should see the kidnapping for what it is – A scheme conceived, planned and executed from Lasqoray by some of its residents.
Read full text...
|
It is true that winds blow in response to natural atmospheric imbalances….. That is if the wind pressure of a locality is high and that of a nearly is low, then, there is a natural need to achieve balance or else a catastrophe would happen. It is also true that when it rains it may roar…. That is if and when neighboring cloud masses move violently in the skies, because of the frictions involved, some parts develop high positive charges as they are striped off their negative charges which accumulate at elsewhere in the cloud masses hence other nearby negative charges fly in to fill, again for nature to achieve balance … hence the thunder and fire! And it is true that trees shed their leaves in the dry or cold season.
|
|
It is true that winds blow in response to natural atmospheric imbalances….. That is if the wind pressure of a locality is high and that of a nearly is low, then, there is a natural need to achieve balance or else a catastrophe would happen. It is also true that when it rains it may roar…. That is if and when neighboring cloud masses move violently in the skies, because of the frictions involved, some parts develop high positive charges as they are striped off their negative charges which accumulate at elsewhere in the cloud masses hence other nearby negative charges fly in to fill, again for nature to achieve balance … hence the thunder and fire! And it is true that trees shed their leaves in the dry or cold season.
Read full text...
|
|
|
In the recent war between Djibouti and Eritrea , Somaliland 's government had three options: to stay out, to take a balanced position, or to take sides. Somaliland decided to take Djibouti 's side. Not only that, but Somaliland's government made it clear it was siding with Djibouti before its delegation even arrived in Djibouti . In other words, Somaliland took Djibouti 's side without any negotiations or preconditions, which means that by the time Somaliland's delegation got to Djibouti , it had already given away whatever leverage it had. The question then becomes why any government would weaken its bargaining position by giving away for free what the other side wants, and then expect that other side to reciprocate.
Read full text...
|
GAROWE, Somalia, July 1, 2008 – A husband and his wife from Europe who were kidnapped by suspected pirates off of northern Somalia's Gulf of Aden coast last month are both "safe." A Garowe Online reporter who secretly visited the location where the couple in their 50s are being held hostage was granted an opportunity to speak with them and to take pictures.
|
|
T.D. Kenyon
The recognition of the Republic of Somaliland has been pending for seventeen years. She is unique among all the territories, which are claiming recognition (e.g. Western Sahara, Northern Cyprus ) because she has already been a recognized independent sovereign state from the day (26 June 1960) that the British Protectorate of Somaliland ended. The state of Somaliland made a (sort of) union with the state of Somalia on 1 July 1960: there was no stipulation that the union was any more than a trial or experiment which might be ended at any time if it proved unsuccessful or ill-advised by either party; as happened with Egypt and Syria from 1959 to 1961.
Read full text...
|
By Noah Arre
The other day, our websites have reported that some 21 kids from the Awdal Region of Somaliland alone have died in the high seas of the Mediterranean Sea and an equal number was saved from imminent death but are now in jails for immigration breach! Unfortunately, this may be not be the first time that that happens. Rather, such tragedies may continue to happen unless drastic actions are taken to combat them. In fact, rumor has it that another boat with an equal number of kids had already discharged another human cargo on the shores of Italy.
Read full text...
|
|
Rashid Nur
Somaliland American Council The Somaliland Times editorial on June 21 st with the title “Somaliland Government & Opposition Parties Deserve Guelleh's Contempt” has strongly criticized Kulmiye Party and the government for supporting the people and government of Djibouti in its conflict with Eritrea. The editorial said “Somaliland's leaders have shown, yet again, that they are far from having learned their lesson, and are still in the habit of making serious decisions based on a confusing mix of emotionalism, clanism and narrow selfish interests”.
|
|
Hashim Goth
When 21 young men and women from Somaliland's Awdal Region recently perished in the Mediterranean Sea, I recalled the poem “Badda Weerar Lagu Qaad” (an onslaught on the sea) written by Bashir Sh. Omar Goth in 1980. The following verses have particularly struck me with their ominous prophesy: “…secondly, listen to my story It was just lies that they narrated to us For the affluence, I did not find Neither did I step into prosperity Nor did I take mouthful luscious fat morsels Indeed I am on the verge of fleeing Homebound I have departed from our country And the looting here, I see no more All doors are closed before me My luck has become like a feather Blown by the winds It flutters in the air Carried by the high seas I sleep not in peace…”
|
|
When the United Arab Emirates ' Red Crescent donated water drilling rigs to Somaliland , they almost certainly never taught one of those rigs would cause deaths and injuries. Unfortunately, that was exactly what happened in Monday's demonstration in Hargeisa where two demonstrators were killed and a score of demonstrators and police were injured.
Read full text...
|
|
By Patrick Naagbanton
July 10, 2008
A round mid 2004, my enterprising journalistic passion got stimulated dramatically. I had craved for some stint with some news media either local or foreign, to expend that energy. I could not find a “good” media house as an independent journalist, to sell my goods and services (newsgathering and reporting), in spite of the news worthiness of the happenings in the disturbed delta region of Nigeria during that period. I had also sent out some journalistic proposals around.
Read full text...
|
July 11, 2008
SHORTLY on his return from the just concluded summit of the African Union (AU) held in Sharm El- Sheikh, Egypt, Senegalese President, Abdoulaye Wade, announced that a union government of Africa would be established in January by countries“ that are ready to do so.” In an interview with a Dakar , Senegal , based radio, Wade said African leaders had, at the summit, directed African Union (AU) chairman, Jean Ping, to draw up a roadmap for the formation of a continental government. Ping's report is to be presented for consideration at the next summit in Addis Ababa , Ethiopia .
Read full text...
|
|
| |
Somaliland as it stands today |
"Somalilanders are caught in a vicious Catch-22 position. They are being told, “Destroy your nation by joining the destroyer in the south, and we will recognize you. Stay outside, with stability and democracy, and we will ignore you.”
AFRICAN CARBON ODYSSEY, JUNE 29, 2008 -- The revelries of 18th May 2008 as the Somalilanders rightly celebrated the seventeenth anniversary of their democratic republic fell upon deaf ears amongst the international community. Read full text...
|
|
By Jerry Okungu
Dar es Salaam , Tanzania July 2, 2008 Parliament has passed its verdict. It has found Amos Kimunya wanting. It has leveled several charges against Amos Kimunya the Finance Minister. It would appear, according to the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of the tenth Parliament, Amos Kimunya has been violating a series of regulations regarding privatization procedures in Kenya .
Read full text...
Nairobi , July 03, 2008 – AFRICANS buy 36 billion bottles of Coke a year. Because the price is set so low—around 20-30 American cents, less than the price of the average newspaper—and because sales are so minutely analyzed by Coca-Cola, the Coke bottle may be one of the continent's best trackers of stability and prosperity. “We see political instability first because we go down as far as we can into the market,” says Alexander Cummings, head of Coca-Cola's Africa division.
BY TAMARA SHEPHARD Ontario , July 02, 2008 – The Ontario Court of Appeal has upheld a jail sentence for an Etobicoke police officer convicted of assault on a Somali refugee caught on videotape. A 30-day sentence for Const. Roy Preston was "if anything, on the lenient side," as the officer "took part in a serious unprovoked assault on a civilian and then to cover up his involvement attempted to fabricate evidence that could have led to the conviction of an innocent man," the court said in a written judgment Monday, June 30.
Read full text...
By ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY NAIROBI , Kenya , July 03, 2008 (AP) — More than 20,000 Africans have crossed the Gulf of Aden to Yemen this year, paying brutal smugglers who cram them into boats and often throw the weakest overboard, an aid group said Thursday. The number of migrants who reached Yemen has doubled from the same period last year, according to Medicines Sans Frontiers, also known as Doctors Without Borders. About 400 migrants have been confirmed dead or missing through the end of May. "Smugglers operating in the Gulf of Aden are notorious for their brutality and take advantage of the extreme vulnerability of the refugees and migrants," the group said in a report. "Abuses are the rule, not the exception."
Read full text...
Makwaia wa Kuhenga Friday, July 11, 2008 “OURS is a sad tale. We are caught in the middle of powerful conflicting interests. It is hope against hope. Some powers are dangling our hope for national recognition like a sinker and bait into the sea but nothing happening!” Abdulkader Hashi Elmi, Somaliland Entrepreneur.
Read full text...
Awdalnews
President Dahir Rayale has a problem; he hates his home region. And anyone who thinks this is a wild claim should only look at his attitude toward the people of his hometown.
In January this year many people lost their lives and their livestock in the coastal areas of Awdal region. While Awdalians at home and in the diaspora poured out their hearts and their pockets to assist the hapless victims, Rayale remained unmoved. Even after he woke up when Awdalnews chastised him with its clarion call editorial (Wake up, Mr. President. Wake up!) http://www.awdalnews.com/wmview.php?ArtID=9850 ), he couldn't stomach a trip to Borama and had instead veered to Wajaale.
Read full text...
|
CAN you imagine a place swarming with beggars and jobless people yet just adjacent there are stalls and stalls of money in banknotes including American dollars, British pounds and so forth in the open with no policemen around to secure those stalls of money?
This is the market place in downtown Hargeysa, Somaliland , where I took a walk the other day. In fact, at several of them, the owners were not around -- they had slipped away to say their midday prayers (Dhuhur) -- leaving the stalls to themselves!
|
July 3rd, 2008
John Martin just got back from serving a tour with the Navy Reserves in Afghanistan . Entering his third year at St. John's Law School , this National Review reader, former Rush Limbaugh devotee and son of a cop has resumed his volunteer duties as the founder of RepublicansforObama.org.
|
Although Barre's regime has collapsed like a cardboard castle nearly two decades ago, there is a Somali clan in Eastern Ethiopia that has not yet laid down its arms. For the Ogaden clan, the war is not yet over. The Ogadeni's erroneous misconceptions that the war is not yet over for the them is akin to the Japanese soldiers of the Second World War, who refused to laid down their arms before they received orders from their superior officers. These Japanese soldiers were hiding in thick jungles in some of the Pacific islands for many years before they were traced out by fishermen who broke the news to their authorities. Although Ogadens are quite different in many aspects from the Second War Japanese soldiers, still the unwavering enmity they harbor against other fellow Somalis in Eastern Ethiopia and Somaliland Republic is something in public domain. They entertain a wrong conception that the non-Ogadens were largely responsible for bringing the Barre's regime to its knees - the regime that treated them as one of privileged clans in a country where they had no regions of their own.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
