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Somalia: Hope of New Era

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Brief History of Somalia

It is incredible, if l inform you this  proclamation, that Somalia tribes are not actuality, the way established, and arranging know, were as their olden times are very elongated, and the fathers that they originated from are very short occasion, my deem is Somali tribe are alliance, while brothers are perhaps, and save way for the side of wealthy keeping, and land demarcations, for examples, the previous  history life-size tribes was dominated to the undersized tribes, and took their camels and land,  that is rationale of small tribes to unite the big clans, thus  finally turn into their brothers. I have a lot of details & findings, but we shall split another special case will concern these area, l hope the best, let me say some thin about their written history. The land of the Somali people, much   of it arid and inhospitable, has for thousands of years been close to civilization and international trade. To the north, just across the Gulf of Aden, is Saba, the land of the legendary Queen of Sheba and the earliest part of Arabia to prosper. To the west is Ethiopia, where the kingdom of Askum is established by the 5th century BC.    

 In the event the year 1960 brings independence to both the British and Italian colonies, in June and July respectively. They decide to merge as the Somali Republic, more usually known as Somalia. The French colony has to wait until 1977 before becoming independent as Djibouti.
From the start a major political theme in independent Somalia is the need to reunite with three large Somali groups trapped in other states – in French Somalia, in Ethiopia (the annexed Ogaden and Haud regions) and in northern Kenya. 

Failure to make any progress on this issue is largely due to western support for Ethiopia and Kenya, which causes Somalia to look to the Soviet Union for military aid. Nevertheless the Somali government manages to maintain a fairly neutral stance in international affairs during the 1960s – a position which changes dramatically after 1969. 

The winning party in the first elections of the new republic is the SYL or Somali Youth League, formed originally to campaign for independence within British Somaliland. Elections in March 1969 bring the party a larger majority. It is becoming increasingly authoritarian in its rule until – in October of this same year – a policeman assassinates the president, Muhammad Egal.
A few days later, in a mounting political crisis, the commander of the army, Mohamed Siad Barre, seizes power, and he becomes the new president of Somalia.

After the collapsed of Somali Government

In the result of this disaster guerrilla groups, clan-based and local, are formed in and around Somalia with the intention of toppling Siad’s repressive and centralizing the Ziyad, Barreh. By 1988 the result is full-scale civil war, resulting in the overthrow of Siad in 1991.

The conflict destroys Somalia’s crops during 1992 and brings widespread famine. Food flown in by international agencies is looted by the warring militias. By December 1992 the situation is such that the UN actively intervenes, sending a force of 35,000 troops in Operation Restore Hope.
The UN briefly calms the situation, persuading fifteen warring groups to convene in Addis Ababa in January 1993 for peace and disarmament talks. These seem at first to make progress, but the situation on the ground continues to deteriorate. In March 1994 American and European units in the UN force withdraw, finding the level of casualties unacceptable. Troops from African countries and the Indian subcontinent remain in situ.

During the rest of the decade the situation gets worse rather than better. From late 1994 the capital, Mogadishu, is divided between the two most powerful of the warring factions. In each a leader declares he the president of the nation and organizes a supposedly national government. In March 1995 the remaining UN forces are evacuated from the coast under the protection of an international flotilla.

After the collapse the central government of Somalia, it faced a lot disaster between the Somalia societies and impacted of the neighboring countries, was as the citizens lost for their identity and spread the world, for the sake of saving, and survivors. Most of the movements filed, for their vision and mission to accepted for their goals, while the SNM declining independent of new state, after 30 years.

SNM, announced the last declaration after captured the tree regions, and watched what is going on the Somalia and the coming future, they took and do for the latest years, self-appointment government and still the world not recognized, who have not yet, expectation for the International society and hegemony powers, they respect for the last time the national asset, they will continue remaining days of their life.

Other hand there is a lot of states cracked in Somalia, after the cave in the central government in Somalia, like the Punt land, Galmudug, and new insights.

Somali faced a king organized cases during the warlords , started  after the Somalia filed and tribes treated together, faced more mortality and desolate of the life, Somalia have not yet well institutional building and dependence from the world, thus steel they are under the international keeping and recognitions targets .

Somalia New Foreign policy:

According to the rules and pillars of Somalia foreign policy, not fully  systematic way and fallows similar to standards in the world, we know every country have national interest,  and keep  continue for the aims of national assets  and deeply tooted what is the expectations , this is the one of the major disaster of Somalia foreign policy. novel era of Somali strategy are pending to the most horrible satiations, that give the humankind new signal and require more cautiously for the supporting of Somalia new army system, which is more than their needs, tribe arming, another un-relevant, so that there is new cooperation of outskirts tribes, towards the new hostility, like the talks. 

Somali country depends on the international community. Fallow up the international rules and regulation, while they add very nature points in the world, and realization of the bridging the De-factious and De-juries.

Somalia  needs the  institutional building, Islamic country whom well building and develop human resource and out-sourcing for the pillars of governments to care about Somalia, while the world  reached most  of other bounders, and gifted them self’s to practices political participation .

One of the most problems faced Somalia is luck of foreign policy strategic and formulation of new way according the new tap and talks between the Somalia other far states and entities.

Most of the stake holders of Somalia foreign policy was not clear that, they were participated and did whole their suggestions was acceptable, otherwise this can be  wise case study in different sides

The enduring hostility between the Somalia and other states in the world is not an exceptional case in modern Somali diplomatic history. Contrary to other great neighboring countries in the 20th century, such as Ethiopia & Kenya, it seems to take the Somalia States much longer time to formally accept some of the more undesirable outcomes of history. In fact, during 20th century, the Somalia became involved in several bilateral relations characterized by protracted antagonism short of war. The Somalia was the last major disaster to establish diplomatic relations with the international community. The Somalia. I-Governments refused for 22 years to recognize the Somalia peace building from the international community on the grounds that the world lord routinely violated accepted norms of international behavior. The Somalia only very reluctantly came to terms with the de facto realities of the international supports, but knows whole things are very rational end different after the crisis reach the world

Somalia is  new theory,(constant failure theory) the only  governments have international recognition with luck of internal credit, that means still the Somali government have national inters keeping, but most of the leaders are direct from the international community,  the question is it suitable of local context, difference of the Somali former  leaders and  the newly elected president Hassan are the only is the applicability  of the time, so we need to  confide what is going on the world and internal realization .

Somalia have had belongings, access to control, keep policy formulation and do still observance their security, so that means Somali needed first to build the decision making institutions and, show national inters for the sake, of earnings Somalia is not still mature, not yet fully doing the plan to survive their capacity, firstly Somalia filed for the sake of luck respect national interest with showing power to the international community

Somalia Society selected to keep the relation of the international keeping again the international interest but the question is Somalia; is it possible to reach whole the Somalia with a troops, and international support.

One of the important things are the  Somali governments attract to the Somali society,  is new era of peace keeping and journeys of the world in largest way and keep the Somali relations. The purpose Somalia Foreign Policy is to secure the national interest in dealings with foreign nations, regional organizations and international bodies. This has been done through its three long-established pillars, namely: 1) promoting national security; 2) enhancing economic diplomacy; and 3) protecting the rights and welfare of Somalia overseas. In terms of a practical work program, this must mean advancing under these three pillars the national development and good government objectives of the administration of President.

Somalia program will follow from an assessment, where the country stands today the lowest consultative programs. What corresponding actions and must take in foreign affairs such as: What is the current international environment that Somalia must confront? What is the best way to engage in order to obtain the greatest advantages for the country and the people? How the sociality does mobilize international cooperation overseas to promote our primordial goal of nation-building at home?

The road maps of the talks another reconciliations in Somalia people,  did formally and started  before one year, were as the debate was very sensitive, l was at that time  Hargeisa, whole the people were looking the even protocol , that means Somaliland peoples respected the success for their vision and auxiliary thing form their initial points.

The Somalia government expecting to fallow their strategic plan and development of their countries, while Somalia Society seeking the unity of Somalia, one of the most things which can be seems very difficult and need more effort, are the way of sharing same resource, the government of Somalia selected the on tribe road map, there is two thing witch Somalia will table

The front of the mediators, and the establishments of the conferences 

1.      When the  Somalia search again the reconsolidations of the tribes in Somalia and be part the conferences, that means it is depend-on the way accept other countries whom believes, they are not  fraction of Somalia like the Djibouti, and others,  are the motors of the conflicts

2.      Somalia searches and requested the rebuild the offices, and develop the resource areas well building the tribe system and develops with connected for the world society, without recognition most from too local populations.

Somalia has no capacity for their internal satiations and security, at the same time, access to keep their role.

This small country in horn Africa is city with middle of seas, needs the realization of national keeping, and waiting the international community, running very hard, that means there is solutions but Mr., president there is a lot hostility in Somalia be care full to look back what is happened a year’s pasted, every tribe have interest, but your interest is to success (good governance).  Upholding in tribe system, It was very tiny things and bad culture

The Actors of the Somalia foreign policy 

Every country in the world determine their foreign policy a lot institutions who seems are applicable, then doing national interest and keep facts of their ground, but the actors are very important.

Somalia are not different the international standards, and the developed structure in the world, which is standard. But there is no well institutions can work functional con convince the structure of the international relations, in order to check the coming are the actors of foreign policy

1.      Ministry of forging policy: this is the bridge and the only actor which leads the international relations and keeps the strategic of foreign policy, most of them they do and implement realization of foreign policy.

2.      Intelligence institution: this sector most the time,  they do collect the data and gathering information in different sectors and collaborate , to analysis what is going g the national interest not only the security but they do anticipate  the coming factors, natural disasters, covert, and overt, predictions. While Somalia are still walking not running.

3.      Parliament committee: every country must be establish and specific committee, concerning and busy the actions of external environment, this committee are the art of decision making and improved the tactics of foreign policy while the most look the errors and facilitating the national inters, on behalf of their representatives

4.      Very wise groups: this is groups are the inters group, like the private sectors, because of foreign policy mostly reaches and impact the economic growth and diplomats, non-state actors like the civil society, as the international bodies be a  part of foreign policy theories

5.       Diplomatic engagements : political missions in foreign countries, diplomatic persons  are the wheels can bus and compress the ham some foreign and cam make the best regardless of your country in good conduct and newly relations, but the Somalia still zero truck of diplomat relations.

6.      Finally the head of state; president have the last decision and the monitor of foreign policy. He watches and build the formations of the foreign policy toward the external in terms of political, economical and military, while he charged the errors and other vital of the game gaining.

 

Somalia & New States (seems adversity   relations)  

 One of the most catastrophic will face the new government are the creating a lot of states with the hand of the  governments institutions, because Somalia have no a legs to condense many states but it is easy to the society to rise up and construct their states, in order to that let me to define what is the federal. Definitions of federal Pertaining to or of the nature of a union of states under a centre government distinct from the individual governments of the separate states, as in federal government; federal system.

The two elected president in Jubba-Land are the images shows the scarcity of peace management and tribe classifications directing Somali government, while the leaders of small states visited to the neighboring countries , without pass through  the Somali government, over again it is new disorder of Somali foreign policy. Mechanism of new Somali mission in Mogadishu, from the UN assistance in to Somalia could care and take a alert step to the Somali mission, otherwise your hands will lead the new blood in Somalia society thus the this vibrant culture and against traditional that  you mentioned, needs more care about that, not only a words, but read and ride the car of road map in Somalia otherwise Somalia will acting  to the same satiations March 1994 American and European units in the UN force withdraw, finding the level of casualties unacceptable . The conflict between  other federal entities like the news system of jubba-land can be divert the new tribe system and classification among the government, while the Somali governments still building the national entities and well recognize the world it means the hope restoration of Somalia going on the romantic areas, but Somalia must carefully the coming steps and fallow up

1.      Somalia must focus on the institutional building and evolve

2.      Well connection al the enemy of Somalia and turn from the hostility to the peace

3.      Make and build the relations for the world with bases the historical background

4.      Somalia must respect the culture, slam system for the sake of the our society

5.      The new leaders of Somalia must be away the tribe system

6.      Recreation of the leader for their former bad input to the good output.

 I am not looking for an alternative; you can’t find the solution of a problem

In the solution of another problem rose at another moment by other people.

You see, what I want to do is not the history of solutions, and that’s the reason

Why I don’t accept the word alternative. My point is not that everything is

Bad, but that everything is dangerous, then we always have something to do. So that there is al lot of states in Somalia subsist as rank of states, like the Shebelle state, the governments was not talk about that, yet l cant understanding the reason, others are less than the stats, it means un constitutional, for Example (Galmudug state) it is remarkable, that the new state of jubba-Land, should be respect the new constitutions of Somalia, but the government are favor to look in healthy eyes! While every Somali are the anther rules and regulations, there for, the Somalia privileged are enough to him for the impartiality leading.   

Somalia know fallows the flat mode in the first airplanes of peace, while the leaders do not have still the good and suitable roads to drive an new car, rose up hope of local people, I am sure the Diaspora and other watchers from the world now seems well anticipation, the local context are not defends the road map, it is kind of feeling that they resourced what they are surveillance. They need new construct, fall down from the peace airplanes to the cross roads and turn from the airplane to a car.

What are the big Goals expecting as of Somalia New Government (the leaders)?

Many Somalis are believes that the country going on a lot of contradictions goals, while the most are believes  the tribe interest can easy rear, and other immersive sources, but it is different, let  them to check the best pillars that the Somalia native society waiting , are the following:

·         Well-functioning government

·         Sound business environment

·         Equitable distribution of resources

·         Acceptance of the rights of others

·         Good relations with neighbors

·         Free flow of information

·         High levels of education

·         Low levels of corruption

After four years this is the indictors whole the Somali society will measure for this and conduct what you was done Mr. President.

   SomaliaConstitution

  The national constitutions lays out the    basic way in which the government is to operate it was passed on June 23, 2012, after several days of deliberation between Somali federal and regional politicians. To come into effect, the constitution must be ratified by the new parliament. Under the new constitution, Somalia, now officially known as the Federal    Republic of Somalia, is a federation.

Who Is The Owner Of Somalia?

The youth, women’s and big segments of Somalia’s society (not tribes) are looking what is going on the world and the case of Somalia, were as they expecting for their national interest whom they decided before 40 years ago, most of the leadership was announced and give highly level of the society Expectation and meaning of the Somalia society are the independent form the colonial and past bad leaderships.

The hope of the Somalia population are deeply growing before years for the sake of in quest of  maturity and pace development, after a years and talks starts most of them they become very density.

According to the Somali society one of the greets and major problems faces in the last century was luck of leadership. That is not means the future will b e continue like that.

 

In conclusion

Somali people are extremely grown-up, while this argument most of the community in this global can be seems against the talks are similar that. Because the thousands of years that Somali society lives in this world have not had about big chart of conflicts, except for the last twenty years, and the reason can go different sides, not only the Somali society but the world was a part of it.

One of deepest things in Somali society impacted was the tribe system, and the satiation still running the same way awhile there is a small criticism that earnings it is hidden, we cannot say, that the government directed tribe conclusion and they sharing with awful background.

Leaders, society, businessmen, and other stake holders Somalia needs cooperation from the roots, and crash whole the sociality, but not the international community only, alliances of tribes, and disarmed of specific tribes, that is the new misleading for these weak Somali people again, it is the time to build Somali Governments, have same equity and equality, not only Somalia tribes but this I favor table whole the world. If Somali continue know the first-rate way, it is hope of restorations, and build the Somali of new renewable flag, with a   common government.

It is warning and alert that Somalia go back the new era of war, will reach again the lowest and baldest richest of poor, the new hope of Somalia cant seems easy, while this is the best opportunity in Somali population, and holy occasion, be concerned, Somalia not needs any classifications, play them again new games.! We trust that you realized these feeble populations; it is black era, that we can see and watched it. So, was remarkable & labeled  to the Somali leaders, not only the king maker, from the after colonial and the end of death,  the foot of destruction  are  the  open door, and possible any time to occur, can be operable unforgettable, not only the government, thus whole Somali cream of the crop.

Mr., President, the attentions of tribes are the toxin effects in your vision, and it is the possessions of the past, blacked the Somalia society. Attentive the Somali tribes cant dominates together, this is the things again misinform the earlier Somali governments.

Your government’s needs and fine to you, recognitions from the local context, not the international community simply, that you should act in justice way, recognize every segment, and keep same equality, forget about your tribes hostility to other tribes, and chasing the damnations, in concision of the success and other bad historical actions I hope so, we are not expecting you.

Make sure the foots you are fallowing are the belongings did Sharif’s Government, so it is very important to counsel with him, I am definite the road of your won from him, things you are doing are what he prepared, and inherent from that activity they done, thanks to him, he was not busty the Tribe invites, but he was build Somali alliances.

Somalia needs to erect the assets, and makes it very secure, free from corruptions, the aims contain to look very far regions before to get the near one, maybe it is certain issues, glad to see gradually intensification the government and systematic way. Thousands of Somali citizens, whom ready and offerings, are looking for you.

The end, Somalia needs, professionalization   of military, security, economic empowerment with making the source institutions, and the coordination maps of the government, by means of the running same distance the consultations of the rich mended people.

The thing seems very observant signals.On the one hand, Somalia there is the growing interest in popular culture and its international dimension.

  Hasaan

 

Hassan Abdi Shire

Shire202@gmail.com

Somalia:Can Britain Really Help Somalia or is there Too Much to be Learned?

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Britain has made a special effort to forge a close relationship with Somalia’s new government which came into power in September 2012. This year Britain has already pledged to donate $300 million in aid to assist with the development of infrastructure, justice and security and has also ensured that Somalia will be a keynote of discussion at the annual G8 summit that it is hosting in June.

The Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud plans to transform Somalia through harbouring a democratic federal government, an initiative which has been embraced by both Britain and by the wider international community. At the 2013 London Somali conference, the British Prime Minister David Cameron asserted his confidence in Somalia’s new federal government stating that “today we are seeing the beginnings of a new future for Somalia. Extremism is on the retreat”. As far as the British government is concerned, Somalia’s success is reliant on the triumph of good over evil or put in other words the triumph of Somalia’s federal government over the extremist Islamist organisation Al-Shabaab. The UK’s generous aid donation has been justified because it has been assumed that aid will be utilised by the British backed Somali government to secure stability and to ultimately oust Islamic extremism from the country.

Britain’s stance on assisting Somalia’s new government as it strives to regain control of the country is at best naive and severely lacks appreciation of the complexity of Somalia’s clan based political backdrop. By backing the new Somali government Britain has inadvertently become involved with Somali clan politics, aligning itself with Sheikh Mohamud’s Hawiye clan. In general, rival clans oppose the new government believing that Mohamud intends to prioritise the wishes of his own clan. Sahan Research, a Nairobi based think tank has backed this impression by conveying Mohamud’s reluctance to complete a new constitution that outlines how power would be shared and it has also been suspected that Mohamd’s Hawiye clan will dominate the country’s police and security forces.

During the London Somali conference, Britain continued to court its relationship with Mohamud’s government by spending over £50,000 in accommodating the Somali delegation in one of London’s top five star hotels. This was much to the disapproval of the British tabloids which reported the vast sums that were paid out by the British tax payer to fund the Somali politician’s luxury trip to London. Potential investment opportunities were presumably what motivated such lavish spending but the consequences are that Britain has now placed both of its feet firmly inside the Hawiye camp. This has the potential to cause rival clans to look for alternative ‘mascots’ by aligning with rebel militant groups, causing further civil unrest and instability.

Britain has embraced federalism without comprehending how a federal political system will work successfully in Somalia. A one size fits all solution is not compatible in a country divided by numerous self declared autonomous regions and rival clans, and recent events in Jubaland have indicated that Britian’s optimistic vision for Somalia is most probably unattainable. On 15thMay 2013, Sheikh Ahmed Madobe, leader of the Ras Kamboni militia was elected as president, only to be contested hours later by Barre Hirale, a warlord from the rival Marehan clan. Neither so called leader was recognised by the Somali federal government in Mogadishu, and in the days that followed numerous other clan leaders announced themselves as president, heightening tension in the Jubaland region. Trouble escalated on 8thJune when hundreds fled a deadly gun battle between the Ras Kamboni and rival militant groups in the city of Kismayu, which resulted in at least eighteen deaths.

British policy has assumed that the prominence of Al-Shabaab has been the main contributing cause of violence in Somalia since the end of the civil war in 1991 and has neglected to pay much attention to Somalia’s complex web of clan politics. The Ras Kamboni militia are responsible for the most recent acts of violence in Jubaland yet in September 2012, the Ras Kamboni fought alongside AMISOM and Somali national forces in a battle to rid Al-Shabaab from the Jubaland capital Kismayu. It is laughable that the British so haplessly views Somalia’s troubles as being rooted in the operations of Al-Shabaab, yet it is likewise not so simple as to label any other Somali rebel contingency as the downright enemy of Somalia.

The following case study briefly outlines the complexity of Somalia’s clan relations by examining the Ras Kamboni’s current status in Somalia;

The Ras Kamboni militia comprises of members from the Ogaden clan, which has roots in Kenya and is also supported by the Kenyan government. Kenya has praised Madobe’s claim to presidency because it hopes that the Ras Kamboni’s presence in southern Somalia will act as a buffer zone, preventing the spillover of Al-Shabaab activities from Somalia to Kenya. On the other side of the spectrum, Barre Hirale’s Marehan clan disapproves of the Ogeden clan’s ties with Kenya and has demanded that the Kenyan government stays clear of Somali politics. By comparison, in in the north of Somalia, the semi autonomous state of Puntland has shown its support for both rival clans. The Ogaden and Marehan clans are sub-clans of the larger Darod clan and Puntland is keen for the south of Somalia to be under Darod administration, meaning that it will support both rival contingencies as it fears that the Hawiye led Somali government intends to marginalise the Darod’s influence in Somalia.

It is essential that British policymakers understand Somalia’s political context in order to be of any help when assisting in the region. The British agenda to end Islamic radicalism is of little use in Somalia given that the current situation in the country is far too complex to be so crudely summarised under a one dimentional label like ‘extremism’. Britain’s lack of experience in dealing with security measures in post colonial Africa gives yet more reason to question its capability of aiding Somalia’s successful transition to stability. In the mid 1990s, John Major’s Conservative government paid little attention to the massacres in the Great Lakes in the Democratic Republic of Congo or to the mass genocide in Rwanda whilst the New Labour government under Tony Blair also deterred from sending its troops to Sudan’s Darfur when troubles broke out in in 2004. It seems that British involvement in Somalia is driven by its own national interests to invest in Somalia’s oil reserves rather than by a broader desire to play a role in peace and security issues on the African continent. If Britain is to be successful in Somalia, it must first look beyond its whitewashed impression of Islamic extremism and instead must judge the situation in Somalia on what is actually happening on the ground.

 By Beck Charlton

SomalilandPress.com

Somalia:Hundreds flee deadly gunbattles in Somalia

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At least 18 people have been killed in gunbattles in the disputed southern Somalian port city of Kismayu, residents have said.

Hundreds were fleeing the clashes on Saturday, the first since several former warlords staked rival claims on the lucrative port and fertile hinterlands in May.

Gunmen from the Ras Kamboni armed group of Ahmed Madobe, recently self-appointed “president” of the southern Jubaland region, battled against forces loyal to Iftin Hassan Basto, another leader claiming to be president.

“Fighting started when soldiers from Ras Kamboni attacked and tried to arrest me,” Basto said.

“But my men fought back and defended me.”

Several rival factions claim ownership of Kismayo, a former stronghold of the Al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab, where Kenyan troops in an African Union force are now based.

Kismayu residents counted at least 13 bodies, nearly all armed men, in the sandy streets of two neighbourhoods which witnessed the brunt of Saturday’s fighting. Five people were killed a day earlier when the clashes first broke out.

“The Ras Kamboni militia now controls this part of the city,” said Bile Nur, a resident of Kismayu’s Calanleey district.

Residents bury dead

“Residents are burying the dead of the militia driven out while Ras Kamboni are burying theirs.”

Residents hid indoors earlier as fighters riding in machine gun-mounted pick-up trucks battled for territorial control.

Businesses remained shut and the streets of Somalia’s second biggest city were empty of civilians as mortar blasts rang out.

Kismayu was controlled by al-Shabab until last September when the armed groups fled an offensive by Kenyan troops supported by Ras Kamboni, an armed group loyal to a former governor of Kismayu, Ahmed Madobe.

A local assembly last month declared Madobe president of the southern Jubaland region, handing him back control of Kismayu.

But Somalia’s central government, which does not view Madobe favourably, said his appointment was unconstitutional.

Within days three other men had pronounced themselves president, including Barre Hirale, a pro-Mogadishu former defence minister.

Fighting broke out when Madobe’s fighters stopped another of the claimants from visiting a hotel were Somalia’s defence minister and other officials were meeting.

Regional capitals and Western donors were nervous of any reversal of security gains made in Somalia by African Union peacekeepers in the fight against the al Qaeda-linked fighters, seen as a threat to stability in east Africa and beyond.

Mogadishu has said there is no going back to civil war, but government-led talks on Kismayu were being stymied by the divisive clan politics that dog Somalia.

Many residents weary of years of turmoil hold little hope for a negotiated end.

 Source: Al Jezeera

Blaze ‘may be Woolwich retaliation’

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A Somali cultural centre has been burnt to the ground amid fears it was targeted in retaliation for the Woolwich murder of Drummer Lee Rigby.

Counter-terror police launched an investigation into the blaze after the letters EDL – apparently referencing the English Defence League – were found scrawled on the wrecked building in Muswell Hill, north London.

The blaze came as a war memorial which was attacked by vandals in central London last week was defaced again, this time with the words “Lee Rigby’s killers should hang”. Scotland Yard said they were treating the fire as suspicious following the graffiti discovery.

The fire, which broke out shortly after 3am, ravaged the home of the Somali Bravanese Welfare Association – also known as the Al-Rahma Islamic Centre – described as a place for learning, cultural activities and prayer. People who attended the cultural centre spoke of their devastation and called the blaze an “appalling attack” on a peaceful community.

Lul Abukar, 31, whose cousin Abu Bakar Ali runs the Somali Bravanese Welfare Association, said the centre was largely attended by children and functioned as a place of learning and prayer. “It might have been attacked because of what happened with Woolwich, a kind of retaliation,” she added. “It is a shock for everyone but I guess you have to stay strong. We wouldn’t want this to bring the community down.”

Scotland Yard said specialist investigation teams, led by the Met’s counter-terrorism command, would conduct a “vigorous and thorough” investigation into the blaze which caused the building to partially collapse and saw one woman treated for shock at the scene. Officers will now examine any potential connection between the fire and the graffiti. Police have refused to be drawn on whether they are linking the blaze to a backlash against Drummer Rigby’s death, which sparked outrage last month.

The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) said Muslims were now living in fear of a “wave of attacks”. Massoud Shadjareh, chair of IHRC, said: “Muslims feel scared right now and it is completely understandable. Muslims have been physically attacked, mosques burnt down, cemeteries vandalised and social media is full of anti-Muslim hatred and violent threats towards Muslims. More needs to be done to protect the Muslim community.”

Fiyaz Mughal, of Faith Matters, a group which monitors anti-Muslim hatred, added: “Bearing in mind this is close to Woolwich, bearing in mind that it houses Islamic activities, bearing in mind that they have found alleged EDL graffiti, there’s a strong likelihood that this could be an anti-Muslim incident. It is very concerning when we know that, online, there is a huge amount of anti-Muslim hate. When it moves into the physical world, it is extremely concerning.”

The latest graffiti attack was covered up this afternoon by an RAF Benevolent Fund banner. Beneath it were the words: “Lee Rigby’s killers should hang.” The memorial – and the Animals in War Memorial on Park Lane – were previously daubed with graffiti on May 27. It is thought ”Islam” was written on each of them.

Kevin Carroll, of the EDL, said: “The EDL do not approve of any religious buildings being attacked.” Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: “If this is confirmed as arson there must be robust action to bring the perpetrators to justice.”

 Source: Press Association

Somalia:Violence and threats drive out journalists

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CPJ to launch 2013 Exile Report

New York, June 5, 2013– More than fifty journalists from 21 different countries fled their homes in the past year, with many never practicing their profession again. A new report by the Committee to Protect Journalists, marking World Refugee Day, spotlights the violence, imprisonment, and threats of death which have forced journalists into exile from some of the world’s most repressive nations. In the past 12 months, journalists in Somalia, Syria, and Iran, among other countries, have been driven from their homes.

WHAT: Journalists in Exile 2013, a CPJ special report

 

WHEN: June 19, 2013,12:01 a.m. EDT / 04:01 a.m. GMT

WHERE: www.cpj.org

Advance copies of the report are available upon request and interviews may be arranged prior to launch date. The report will be published in Arabic, English, Farsi, French, and Spanish.

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CPJ is an independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide.

Media contact:

Magnus Ag

Advocacy and Communications Associate

Tel. +1.212.300.9007

E-mail: mag@cpj.org

Link: http://cpj.org/2013/06/violence-and-threats-drive-out-journalists.php

Somalia demands action over brutal killing

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Somalia’s president says he “wants answers” from South Africa after the brutal murder of a Somali man in Port Elizabeth, Al Jazeera has learned.

The Somali man, 25-year-old Abdi Nasir Mahmoud Good, was stoned to death on May 30 by a mob. The violence was captured on a mobile phone and shared on the internet.

Sheik Mohammed, Somalia’s president, called on his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma to “act immediately” to arrest those responsible.

Kamal Gutale, chief of staff in the Somali presidency, told Al Jazeera on Monday: “The president has asked Mr Zuma and his foreign minister to look into the matter and investigate the brutal killing and violence.”

The murder is the latest in a number of attacks on Somali immigrants in South Africa. Police are investigating the death but no one has been arrested yet.

Graphic footage

The Somali presidency said the issue was raised on the sidelines of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Tokyo on Sunday, after the Somali community was hit by a series of attacks in South Africa the past week.

The graphic footage shows the bare-chested Good lying in the middle of a street while a mob pelts him with rocks and boulders as pedestrians and vehicles pass by.

Local media said Good was attacked while trying to protect his shop from looters. He was also stabbed in the violence.

The Somali community in South Africa, which numbers a few hundred thousand, reacted with outrage.

The Somali Association of South Africa (SASA) told Al Jazeera that at least five other Somalis have been injured and about 40 shops have been looted in the four provinces across the country.

Government inaction

“At the time, President Zuma was not aware of the incident and expressed surprise,” Gutale said.

The South African president promised to look into the matter, he said.

But SASA said the South African government has repeatedly failed to act on this and previous attacks on foreigners.

“This is not the first time; this is happening over and over again. The South African government is not taking action, the community is angry and every time this happens, nothing is ever done,” said SASA spokesman Ismaeel Abdi Adan.

The South African presidency was unavailable to comment.

The African Centre for Migration and Society at Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg, said in a report released in 2012 that Somali-run businesses suffered disproportionately from crime, including attacks by competing South African traders.

The South African government has repeatedly claimed that the violence were acts of criminality and not xenophobic in nature.

In 2008, more than 50 foreign African nationals were killed in a spate of violence against foreign nationals across the country.

In Somalia, some parents say no to polio vaccine

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MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Islamic extremist rebels are fighting a campaign in Somalia to administer a polio vaccine, charging that it contains the virus that causes AIDS or could make children sterile, a battle of words that is frustrating health workers.

Al-Shabab, the rebels linked to al-Qaida, have discouraged many parents from getting their children inoculated against polio, a disease that is an incipient problem in this Horn of Africa nation long plagued by armed conflict and disease, according to health workers who spoke to The Associated Press.

The al-Shabab extremists have been pushed out of virtually all of Somalia’s cities and face continued military pressure from African Union and government troops. Health workers are gaining access to more children to give the life-saving polio vaccine. But some mothers and fathers are refusing the inoculation, apparently heeding the advice of the Islamic militants who warn that the vaccination exercise is part of a foreign conspiracy to kill or weakenSomali children.

Vaccination workers who walked door to door in the capital, Mogadishu, were turned away by some parents who often didn’t state why they objected to the vaccination. One man told the workers to leave immediately because they were carrying “toxic things.”

Al-Shabab militants are spreading rumors against the polio vaccine in communities where they still have some influence, alleging the vaccine can make girls barren and that it is manufactured in Christian countries, said a senior United Nations health worker in Somalia, who insisted on anonymity because he isn’t authorized to speak about the vaccination program.

Al-Shabab did not respond to questions about the allegations that they are spreading rumors against the vaccination campaign.

“Al-Shabab are paranoid about potential infiltration by spy agencies disguised as humanitarian workers. That’s probably a principal reason for discouraging vaccination,” said Abdi Aynte, the director of the Somali-based think-tank Heritage Institute for Policy Studies.

Somali government officials say the numbers of parents who reject the immunization campaign are far fewer than those embracing it, but health workers don’t want to leave any unvaccinated. They warn that it is important for every child to get the polio vaccine in order to eradicate in Somalia the disease that causes limb paralysis and can be fatal.

“It’s a big challenge,” said Safiyo Mohamed, a vaccination worker in Mogadishu. She said in rejecting the vaccine some families had brought up the case in Libya where foreign health workers —including five Bulgarian nurses —faced charges of deliberately infecting Libyan children with HIV in 1990s.

The polio vaccine, which is administered orally, is recommended for children aged 10 and under, but some parents are questioning why a 10-year-old needs protection against polio, said Biyod Yasin, a vaccination worker at Mogadishu’s Hamarweyne Mother Child Centre.

At a world vaccine summit in Abu Dhabi last month, global health leaders and philanthropists presented a six-year, $5.5 billion plan that they hope will eradicate all types of polio disease.

The World Health Organization says Somalia is experiencing an outbreak of polio. WHO reported earlier this month that a 4-year-old Somali girl near the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya and two of her contacts tested positive for polio, the first confirmed cases in Kenya since July 2011. Four polio cases have been confirmed in Somalia so far this year, including two in Mogadishu. A vaccination campaign targeting 440,000 children began here on May 14, and a second round of the campaign that started Tuesday aim to vaccinate 644,000 children under the age of 10.

Health workers say they vaccinate hundreds each week despite the resistance. That the health workers can move around at all is a stunning turnaround in Somalia, which when al-Shabab radicals ran most of the country refused western medical care and food aid to desperate Somalis. The extremists imposed a strict form of Muslim Shariah law and carried out public whippings and beheadings.

With many regions of Somalia, including the capital, Mogadishu, under the rule of the moderate Muslim government and enjoying relative peace for the first time in 20 years, health care workers are expanding vaccination programs throughout the country. Health workers can now reach 40 percent of south-central Somalia, where the influence of the hardline Islamic insurgents is highest. Three years ago, health workers could access only 15 to 20 percent of that territory.

The years of conflict in Somalia has resulted in the country having child and maternal mortality rates that are among the highest in the world. One in every five Somali children dies before their fifth birthday, according to WHO, often for reasons including parental illiteracy and negligence.

“I don’t want any of my children injected with that thing which I don’t know what it is made of,” said Nurto Hussein, a mother of seven who lives in Mogadishu. “They make the children sick instead of curing them. I put my trust in Allah.”

 Source: AP

Somalia:Gunmen in Kismayo attack Somali reporter

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Nairobi, May 31 2013Authorities in the Jubbaland region of Somalia must apprehend the gunmen who attacked freelance journalist Abdulkadir Abdirisak in the southern port town of Kismayo on Wednesday evening, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

“If the Jubbaland administration claims to be a legitimate authority, then it must act like one and ensure the perpetrators of this crime are arrested,” CPJ East Africa Consultant Tom Rhodes said. “For too long Somali journalists, from the capital to Kismayo, have faced retribution from attackers who commit their crimes with total impunity.”

Abdulkadir, a freelance journalist who works for Mustaqbal Radio and London-based Royal TV, was walking home around 6 p.m. when two or three unidentified gunmen fired at him repeatedly, according to local journalists and news reports citing witness accounts.

The nature and extent of his injuries were not immediate clear. Accounts varied as to whether Abdulkadir was struck once or multiple times. Local journalists said Abdulkadir was admitted to Kismayo Hospital.

“Really I was shocked to hear he was attacked,” Royal TV producer Asad Abukar said. “We are told he is recovering, but we are still trying to investigate the reason why this happened.” Abdulkadir handled general assignments and did some economic reporting that focused on the charcoal trade, according to local journalists.

Intermittent attacks on the press have been reported in Kismayo, 500 kilometers south of the capital, even though Al-Shabaab insurgents were ousted by Kenyan and allied Somali forces last year.

Local journalists told CPJ that Kismayo-based reporters are compelled to self-censor to avoid problems with the local administration or with the rival clan militias that vie for control of the region. On January 21, the Raskamboni militia ordered local journalists not to report any news without its consent, according to the Jubbaland Independent Journalists Association and news reports.

 Contact:

Sue Valentine
Africa Program Coordinator
svalentine@cpj.org
+27 82.376.0960

Mohamed Keita
Africa Advocacy Coordinator
Tel. +1.212.465.1004 ext. 117
Email: mkeita@cpj.org

Tom Rhodes
East Africa Consultant
Email: trhodes@cpj.org

Somalia: Analysts warn effort to create Jubaland state within Somalia will test limits of federalism in that country.

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By Peter MARTELL – NAIROBI -After decades of war, Somalia is taking small steps toward recovery, but breakaway regions, rival clans and the competing interests of neighbouring nations are threatening its fragile progress, analysts warn.

In the past two years, African Union troops have wrested town after town from Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents, hauling down their black Islamist banners and raising Somalia’s flag.

But asserting the authority of the central government — which until recently controlled just a few blocks of the capital Mogadishu — is a far harder task.

“In Somalia today there is only one federal government that is wholly owned by the Somali people, widely represented by all Somalis, all regions,” Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud told reporters this week.

But others disagree, including powerful militia forces backed by foreign armies.

The worst flashpoint is the far southern region dubbed “Jubaland” bordering Kenya and Ethiopia.

Both nations have troops there after invading in late 2011, while this month several rival warlords declared themselves “president”, sparking anger in Mogadishu.

But the effective self-appointment of former Islamist chief Ahmed Madobe, one of the most powerful of the “presidents” due to Kenyan backing, risks opening a rift between Nairobi and Mogadishu.

“The effort to create a Jubaland state within Somalia will test the limits of federalism in that country, and threatens to touch off clan warfare not only within Somalia but also in its neighbours,” the International Crisis Group warned in a recent report.

Jubaland, which includes the key port city of Kismayo, has a lucrative charcoal industry, fertile farmland as well as potential off-shore oil and gas deposits.

Addis Ababa, long term experts in playing off powerful factions, is wary of Madobe, who hails from the same Ogadeni clan as rebels fighting inside Ethiopia.

Infighting benefits Islamist insurgents

However, Mogadishu’s government — selected last year by clan elders in a UN-backed process and the first to be recognised internationally in more than two decades — is full of confidence.

“Any one group within Somalia that just gets together sits there and says, we are ‘XYZ’, has no legitimacy and has no recognition at local level and at international level,” said Mohamud.

But international recognition counts for little within Somalia, and central rule is controversial.

The last to claim control was Siad Barre, toppled in 1991 after a rule marked by repression of opposition and a bloody civil war against Somaliland.

Years of anarchy meant Somalis reverted to age-old systems of autonomy and traditional semi-nomadic camel herding.

Somalia split into regions, from fiercely independent Somaliland along the Gulf of Aden, to Puntland in the northeast, which recognises a federal government but says that has no role in its internal affairs.

Analysts warn of tough political times ahead.

While AU troops backing Mogadishu have enjoyed territorial success, Roland Marchal, an analyst with French research institute CNRS, notes the fighting force lacks a “political strategy to go with the military strategy”.

Kenya’s army, which invaded in 2011 alongside Madobe’s allied troops, faces a particularly sticky predicament.

In 2012, its cash-strapped military joined the AU force — funded by the UN and European Union — leaving its soldiers backing a warlord opposing the central government it is mandated to support.

Mogadishu lawmakers have submitted a motion demanding Kenya leave Somalia, while Mohamud said Kenyan troops “misbehaved” when a top level government delegation went to Kismayo and “did not treat the committee well”.

Ambitions by central government have highlighted internal divisions within regions.

Tensions in Jubaland have raised concern in Puntland, which swiftly welcomed Madobe’s election by calling on other regions “to establish states in a similar consultative and open process”.

Puntland has been keen to stake out power boundaries, with its oil agency chief Issa Farah warning Mogadishu it alone is the “competent authority” to manage the region’s oil exploration.

Mogadishu’s inability to “exercise its authority over the Kismayo process is undermining its influence in the remaining regions of Somalia and the emerging arrangements towards federalism,” warned Andrews Atta-Asamoah of the Pretoria-based Institute of Security Studies (ISS) in a recent paper.

At present, the only thing all appear to agree on is that the rivalry benefits the Shebab, still in control of swathes of countryside.

East African heads of state last week urged Somalia hold a “reconciliation conference”, warning infighting could “threaten peace and stability”.

Yet many also eye the economic, strategic and political profits of the region.

Kenya wants a security buffer zone to protect its valuable tourism industry, a proposed major port and hopes of offshore oil and gas finds.

It also hopes stability would let it send back the half a million Somali refugees it hosts.

Landlocked Ethiopia has long played a powerful role in Somalia, with Kismayo offering another possible route to the sea.

Yet Mogadishu remains upbeat, mindful its position today was unthinkable a few years ago.

“Somalia is fragmented, it’s divided into regions, clans, groups,” Mohamud said. “The current Somali government is busy with rebuilding and organising to have one Somalia.”

 By Peter MARTELL

Somalia:Drone crashes in southern Somalia, may have been shot down

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MOGADISHU (Reuters) – A suspected U.S. reconnaissance drone crashed on Tuesday in southern Somalia, where African forces are fighting Islamist al Shabaab insurgents, the rebels and the provincial governor said.

Lower Shabelle region governor Abdikadir Mohamed Nur said that al Shabaab militants had shot at the aircraft over the town of Bulamareer for several hours before it crashed.

“Finally they hit it and the drone crashed,” Nur told Reuters.

The insurgents confirmed that a drone had crashed but did not say if they had downed it.

“A U.S. drone has just crashed near one of the towns under the administration of the Mujahideen in the Lower Shabelle region,” al Shabaab said on a social media account.

Although the United States does not report its activities in Somalia, drones have been used in recent years to kill Somali and foreign al Shabaab fighters.

Western nations are worried that Somalia will sink back into chaos and provide a launchpad for Islamist militancy despite a fragile recovery after two decades of war.

Last year, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Pentagon was seeking to send drones to Kenya as part of a $40 million-plus military aid package to help four African countries fighting al Qaeda and al Shabaab militants

Bulamareer residents said al Shabaab fighters had kept them away from the crash site.

“Al Shabaab fighters surrounded the scene. We are not allowed to go near it,” resident Aden Farah told Reuters.

Al Shabaab, which is affiliated with al Qaeda, said in January 2011 that a missile launched from a drone had killed Bilal el Berjawi, a Lebanese al Shabaab fighter who held a British passport.

Another missile killed four foreign militants south of the Somali capital Mogadishu in February 2012.

Al Shabaab were driven out of Mogadishu in late 2011 and are struggling to hold on to territory elsewhere in the face of attacks by Kenyan, Ethiopian and African Union forces trying to prevent Islamist militancy spreading out from Somalia.

Source:Reuters