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Somaliland: Time Of Trial

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The Horn of Africa’s unsought status as one of the most volatile regions in the world is underlined by the deep-rooted conflict in Somalia and the endemic tension between Ethiopia and Eritrea. This makes even more impressive and welcome the progress of the self-declared independent state of Somaliland in creating a stable, rules-based government. However, an electoral crisis now threatens to derail this achievement. Somaliland’s political leadership has the main responsibility in solving it, but constructive support by the international community will be vital in ensuring that the territory continues to defy the trend of conflict that has damaged its neighbours.

Somaliland, a former British protectorate, declared its independence from the rest of the Republic of Somalia in May 1991, following the collapse of the military regime in Mogadishu. It remains unrecognised by any country in the world. Yet Somaliland has followed a very different trajectory from much of the rest of the “failed state” of Somalia.

A process of political, social and economic reconstruction has brought security and relative stability. Somaliland’s incipient democracy has drafted and approved a new permanent constitution; smoothly handed power from one president to another; and held three peaceful elections. Yet the democratic transformation is far from complete, and recent developments could see Somaliland slip back towards the kind of instability and lawlessness experienced in the rest of Somalia.

The immediate crisis stems from the failure to hold elections even with the expiry of President Dahir Rayale’s term in May 2008. The latest in a series of postponements came in September 2009, when the two opposition parties threatened a boycott over reported fraud that they charged made the official voter-registration list unusable. An escalation of the dispute was averted only by an agreement to delay the vote, revamp the discredited electoral commission and refine the list.

Behind these problems lies a persistent winner-takes-all political culture, in which wide-ranging attempts to manipulate the political process have corrupted governing institutions and undermined the rule of law. A failure to protect democratic institutions now could open the door to the remobilisation of militias and a violent conflict. This would be a tragedy for a polity that has done so much to avoid being drawn into the Horn of Africa’s maelstrom of war and destruction.

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There is a double challenge here for Somaliland’s political actors: in the short term to resolve the electoral crisis, and in the long term to improve the political culture. It will require Somaliland’s political parties to democratise, and open up political space for other organisations to contest local elections; and its electoral institutions to be professionalised and depoliticised.

A regional example

The international community should lend encouragement to the Somaliland government as these processes take place. The British government in particular should make close monitoring of Somaliland a regular part of its policy towards the Horn of Africa.

There are also three immediate steps that European Union member-states can take to support Somaliland’s democratic process and help it find a way out of its electoral crisis.

First, Somaliland’s international supporters should provide technical assistance, financial support and political cover to the new national electoral commission (NEC) – which, though crucial to the process, lacks experience. This would be invaluable in enabling the NEC to do its work effectively and resist political manipulation.

Second, the international community should dispatch international election monitors and help train additional local observers who can work in insecure rural areas, to ensure that the entire electoral process is free and fair.

Third, there is a profound lack of voter education and civic awareness, which highlights the importance of instilling democratic values in Somaliland’s younger generation. Here, international supporters can assist in the preparation of materials on democratic practices and election laws for schools and local communities.

In a violent region that has been the source of so much bad news Somaliland remains a place of exemplary if incomplete stability. It still has the potential to be a model for state reconstruction, and can play an important and progressive role in the fight against piracy and extremist Islamism. Somaliland must be given the help it needs to succeed.

Source: OpenDemocracy

SOMALILAND: Court Sentences Seven Yemenis For an Illegal Fishing

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Berbera (SomalilandPress) – The Sahil court in the port city of Berbera sentenced seven Yemeni fishermen each to four years prison for illegally fishing in the Somaliland waters.

The prosecutor brought evidences to the court proving that the fishermen had illegally and knowingly entered the Somaliland waters. He argued that these fishermen had no license to fish in the Somaliland waters. However the defendants said they have a license to fish but they did not show any papers to proof their allegation.

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The fishermen told the court that they received a fishing license from a man name Abdirisaaq Qayre who at that time was also present in the court. Mr. Qayre told the court that he has no relationship with these men and therefore did not sell them any license to fish in the Somaliland waters.

Somaliland and Somali coastal water is known to have huge numbers of commercial fish and specially the prized Yellowfin tuna which is one of the largest tuna species that can weight over 300 pounds (136kg).

The fact that there is no government in Somalia and the growing numbers of pirates in the Somali waters are luring more illegal fishers into Somaliland waters which so far survived the piracy activities.



SomalilandPress, 13 April 2010

SOMALIA:Why drone attacks in Somalia is ill-advised

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According to recent media reports, the US administration of President Barack Obama is considering to use drone attacks as the least option to help the Transitional Government in Somalia to defeat the insurgency. However, attacking few foreign Jihadists is one thing but targeting a factional leader such as Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys will not help bring peace but make matters worse.

There is no doubt if drones are used to attack the insurgency in Somalia many innocent lives could be lost. Unlike ground operations, drone attacks cannot be too careful to limit the death of civilians.

The conflict in Somalia is different from the ones in Iraq and Afghanistan where drones have been deployed to target the insurgency or its leaders. Unlike in Pakistan and Afghanistan where drones scour the terrain to target individuals who may hold key to ending the conflict, in Somalia, there is no one or two individuals whose killing will end the insurgency or the insecurity in the country.

Somalia has many crises including insecurity in the country to tackle. Nevertheless, if the Transitional Government was not busy with matters unrelated to nation-building, it would have needed neither drones nor forces from other nations to help establish peace and security.

The Transitional Government does not seem to want to establish peace and security using the resources at its disposal and the funds it had received from around the world. Since its arrival at a time when global disgust with senseless fanaticism has been at its peek, the TG had never been lacking international support or funding which has been squandered. There are always things other countries can help a nation which has to rebuild itself from the calamity of civil war, but no government should look to other nations for everything.

Without doubt, a government’s affinity to its people is generated from its actions. Somalis everywhere are witnessing that the Transitional Government is adrift. It is manifesting greed, ineptness and increasingly inward looking. If the TG had sincerity or purposefulness it would have found the way out of its (the nation’s) crises. Other than its utter dependency on other nations, there were avenues open for the TG to pursue to establish peace and security.

The Somali people have ample reasons to be frustrated with the lack of progress and the ever deepening crises of our nation. Whatever transitional administration was the outcome of over a dozen peace meetings during the civil strife nothing is happening or improving for the nation and the politics had been same or similar.
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Somalis are from an open society where everything can be known sooner or later. For instance, within the TG, everybody knows who is doing what and who is pulling the strings. In the beginning many Somalis had high hopes that the Government of President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed could be different. They could not be more wrong. One year on the support of the TG has never been lower.

If the Transitional Government had endeavoured to gain the support of its people it would have needed neither drones nor forces of other nations to make or keep the peace and the TG has no one other than itself to blame. Not to mention, the contemplated use of drones to attack the insurgency is ill-advised. It may not help but damage the TG itself. It might precipitate its collapse.

Abdullahi Dool

Hornheritage@aol.com

Yoghurt war: Greek–Turkish relations retested

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HARGEISA (Somalilandpress) — Imagine your surprise when you walk down the dairy products aisle, you want to reduce your blood pressure or become thinner or do whatever else; you decide to pick up yohgurt (ah the healthy food that’s been with us forever) and then you get the biggest shocker of your life: your face is on the yoghurt cups.

It’s what happened to a Greek man who, contrary to his face on the yoghurt must have had a very irritable expression instead of a smiling one, found out through his friend Anthanasios Varzanakos in Stockholm, Sweden who phoned him telling him about his surprise when he saw someone he knew on a foods product.

The yoghurt is made by Lindahls Dairy in Jonkoping, Sweden based on a Turkish recipe.

The Greek man featured on the yoghurt containers (his name was not given) immediately handed in a 40-page legal complaint that accused the dairy of falsely using his image in a Turkish context, specifically displayed as a traditional Turkish farmer…and we all know from the history books the Greeks don’t like being put together with their longtime rivals the Turks.
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Naturally, the dairy’s chief executive Anders Lindahl was baffled and stated in an AFP interview that the dairy had “bought it from a photo agency, so we assumed that everything was in order.”

Well apparently not, the Greek man has sued Lindahl for approximately 6.9 million U.S dollars, an equivalent to 50 million Swedish kronors. This is either a very late April Fools or it’s simply one of those bizzare events that worms into our lives once in a while… Ah, life.

Luckily, this could not have come at a better time for the mysterious yoghurt man when Greece is going through all those riots over austerity measures.

Source: inewp, 12 April 2010

Diplomats For Hire

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BRUSSELS, 12 April 2010 (Somalilandpress) – Brussels has one of the biggest concentrations of diplomats on the planet. Many nations keep three embassies here dealing with the European Union and NATO as well as the Kingdom of Belgium.

Among the historic palaces, modernist landmarks or bland office blocks hosting national delegations around the EU headquarters, is a one-room office in that serves as a de facto legation for nations that don’t officially exist.

Independent Diplomat is a non-profit organization offering freelance diplomatic services to the breakaway regions, unrecognized states, governments-in-exile and island micro-nations that would otherwise struggle to make their voices heard in the corridors of power of Brussels, New York and Washington.

“We’re about trying to level the diplomatic playing field,” said Nicholas Whyte, Independent Diplomat’s Brussels representative. “We’re trying to help those groups and countries that are disadvantaged in international diplomacy so that they can engage with the outside world, so they can negotiate on a more even footing.”

Whyte is currently spending much of his time working with the authorities in southern Sudan, as they prepare for a referendum on independence in 2011. Other clients include the Polisario Front, which wants to lead Western Sahara to self-government after 35 years of Moroccan rule, and Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991 but remains unrecognized by any government despite its relative stability.

Independent Diplomat also works for the breakaway Turkish state in northern Cyprus as it works toward reconciliation with the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot government in the south; it helps the Burmese government-in-exile which is loyal to opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi; and offers advise to the Marshall Islands in international climate change talks. Clients include recognized nations, such as the Marshall Islands and Croatia, for which Independent Diplomat provides behind-the-scenes support in its membership talks with the European Union.

“Their support is very important, the diplomatic support, the political support,” said Mohamoud Daar, Somaliland’s representative in Brussels. “They help us a lot with the lobbying mechanism with the parliamentarians and government officials within the EU.”

Independent Diplomat is the brainchild of Carne Ross, who served as a British diplomat for 15 years before he resigned in 2004 over the Iraq War.

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Ross was Britain’s point man on Iraq at the United Nations in the years running up to the war, and says his access to intelligence convinced him that Tony Blair’s government grossly exaggerated the threat from Saddam Hussein in order to justify the invasion. After testifying to that effect at a British enquiry into the war, he quit the Foreign Office.

Ross’ last assignment had been in Kosovo, which was stuck in a legal limbo after the 1999 war over the territory when NATO’s bombing effectively ended Serbian rule but produced no international agreement on the aspirations of the Kosovo Albanian majority for an independent state.

“It was Kosovo that inspired me to set up Independent Diplomat,” Ross, the organization’s executive director, said from his office in New York. “Kosovo was required to engage in formidably complicated and obscure international diplomacy about its future … and yet they were expressly prohibited [by the U.N.] from having a foreign service.”

Independent Diplomat helped guide Kosovo towards its declaration of independence in February 2008, which has been recognized by 65 nations including the United States and 22 of the 27 EU members. After starting out with Kosovo, Ross explains the operation expanded to support more entities shut out from the mainstream of international diplomacy.

“There is definitely a huge appetite amongst countries and governments and other groups who feel excluded from the world diplomatic system,” he said.

Independent Diplomat does not lobby on behalf of its clients, Ross said, but rather works behind the scenes.

“We advise our clients on how best to represent themselves,” he said. “When I was a more orthodox diplomat, I was never very impressed when a sharp-suited Westerner would arrive to make arguments for their clients.”

Funded by private donations, government grants and contributions from clients, Independent Diplomat has a budget of about $1.8 million a year and runs bureaus in New York, Washington, Brussels and Addis Ababa.

Whyte, a former campaigner for cross-community understanding in his native Northern Ireland, stresses that Independent Diplomat does not seek to influence its clients’ policies, but instead provides advice and lobbying to help their them navigate the often murky waters of international politics.

“They come to us and they say ‘this is our decision, we want to know from you how we can better implement it on the international scene,'” he explained over tea in his map-lined office in Brussels’ International Press Center. “It would be utterly inappropriate for us to be pushing them to engage or not to engage in a particular process.”

The organization also insists that it won’t take on clients who are engaged in armed conflicts, are insufficiently committed to human rights, democracy and international law, or unwilling to commit to negotiated settlements to their problems.

“We are often approached by groups that we turn down,” Carne said. “We try in general to help the good guys.”

Written by: Paul Ames
Source: GlobalPost

Abaarso Tech Partners with Local Somali Artists to Present Evening of Entertainment

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ABAARSO, 12 April 2010 (Somalilandpress) – The students of Abaarso Tech are proud to announce their first annual performance. The evening will include acting, singing and poetry as well as displayed artwork by local Somaliland artists.

Abaarso Tech, which is a secondary boarding school striving to offer multiple creative opportunities to Somaliland’s brightest youth, will be partnering with local artists through Afrikanation to showcase local talent.

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The two organizations will be offering the performance and subsequent art display to members of the Somaliland community at 6:30 p.m. on April 15th at Abaarso Tech in Abaarso, officially known as Barwaaqo.

The event is being provided free of charge through both non-profits and the sponsorships of several local businesses including Maansoor Hotel and National Fuel Station.

Press Release by:
Teresa Krug
teresa.krug@gmail.com

Somali Gangs Building Crime Empires In The UK

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London, 12 April 2010 (Somalilandpress) – Violent Somali gangs are building crime empires in Britain through a brutal campaign of terror, the Daily Star reports.

The self-styled soldiers are raking in thousands of pounds a day through house raids and armed robberies. They are also committing savage acts of violence to protect their money-spinning businesses.

Drugs, guns and knives plague two Somali communities, in London and Liverpool.

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On the tough backstreets of Toxteth, Liverpool, kids were walking home from school as Somali dealers as young as 14 sold crack cocaine outside a grotty corner shop.

Some of the gangsters were born in Liverpool. Others had fled their war-ravaged nation at an early age.

The paper quoted a 24-year-old ex-gang member, who had served four years in jail for attempted murder, as saying: “When you grow up surrounded by rape and murder and violence and war, anything’s going to be a better life.

Source: OneIndia

SOMALILAND: Ghanaian electoral chairman arrives

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HARGEISA (Somalilandpress) — The chairman of Electoral Commission of Ghana, Dr. Kwadwo Afari-gyan, has arrived in Somaliland on Sunday for a five day trip.

Dr. Kwadwo was received by Somaliland’s National Electoral Commission’s chairman, Mr. Isse Yusuf in the Somaliland port town of Berbera.
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Dr. Kwadwo, a former university teacher of political science, who received his B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Ghana and his doctorate degree from the University of California (Santa Barbara) is considered to be one of the most experienced in electoral issues in Africa.

He occassionally conducts training and lectures on the topic in various African cities for various organisations, this week he will be training the Somaliland Electoral team in Hargeisa.

This is not the first time, Dr. Kwadwo has trained Somaliland staff, however he usually conducts the trainings in the neighbouring Ethiopia.

This is his first trip to Somaliland and he will be assessing the country’s infrastructure and facts on the ground.

Like the Ghanaian commission, the NEC consists of seven members who serve for a term of five years. The NEC was established on January 21, 2001, where as the Ghanaian commission was established in 1993.

Somalilandpress, 12 April 2010

SOMALIA: Isse Ahmed, "They tied me to a tree by my hands and left me hanging"

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Nairobi, 11 April 2010 (Somalilandpress) – Ahmed, a 35-year-old pastoralist, was watching over a herd of cows on the outskirts of Hagar town in Somalia’s southern Juba valley when militiamen from Al-Shabab, the Islamist insurgent group that controls the area, demanded a “zaka”, or tithe. His refusal led to a violent confrontation that left him crippled for life. Ahmed, now in a refugee camp in Kenya, recounted his ordeal by telephone, as his sister, who described him as depressed and traumatized, held the handset:

“It was in the morning and I was herding my cattle when a group of armed Al-Shabab men asked me to pay Zaka. I told them I only owned half the cattle and the rest belonged to orphans. What was mine [about 20] was not enough to pay Zaka. They did not listen and took 20 cows, leaving me with only 10.

“I went after them hoping to reason with whoever was their leader. When I caught up with them, we argued for a while before they got hold of me and beat me up. They then tied me to a tree by my hands and left me hanging. I was in so much pain, I started yelling and asking for help but no one came. I was there for more than a day. By the time they [the militiamen] cut me down I had no feeling in my hands.

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“My relatives took me to a hospital but there was no doctor there and not much medicine; they could not save my hands.

“One day I am a man taking care of my family and the next I am an invalid being helped to put on clothes. I will never forget that day and what they did to me.

“There is no religion that allows them to treat people like that. I honestly don’t believe they are Muslims. They are criminals hiding behind religion. Normal thieves and robbers are better. At least when they take your things they either leave you alone or may even kill you but they don’t mutilate you.

“I am used to people being killed but I have never seen or heard anything like what they did to me.

“I suffered a lot because of them; I will never forgive them.

“A couple of months later, my relatives heard that they were coming to kill me because they did not want anyone to know what they had done to me. So I was taken from Hagar and brought here [Dadaab refugee camp] at the end of 2009.

“I feel safe here but I worry about my two children. Their mother is dead and I can’t take care of them. They are with relatives in Somalia.”

Source: IRIN

ETHIOPIA: British geologist shot dead

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ADDIS ABABA (Somalilandpress) — A British geologist working for an oil company who was shot dead in Ethiopia, has been named by the Foreign Office as Jason Read.

The 39-year-old, who was from the Portsmouth area, was killed during an ambush on Monday near Danot in the conflict-stricken Ogaden region.

He worked for IMC Geophysics International – which was subcontracted to Malaysian oil giant Petronas.

The company has said it was “shocked and saddened” by the killing.

Mr Read was accompanied by a driver and a military escort when they were ambushed.

The others were believed to be injured after returning fire.

‘Liked and respected’

In a statement, the company said the men had been victims of an “unprovoked attack”.

It said: “Jason was working on our crew 894 which was undertaking a seismic survey on behalf of Petronas Carigali when Jason, his driver and military escort came under unprovoked attack from armed persons unknown.

“We are deeply shocked and saddened by this tragedy and our sincere thoughts and sympathies are with Jason’s family.

“A full investigation is under way and all appropriate authorities have been informed.
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“He was liked and respected by all with whom he worked.”

Mr Read had worked for the company since 2004 and had also spent time in Uganda and Europe.

We understand that the act was not politically motivated
Bereket Simon

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: “We can confirm the death of a British national on 5 April near Danot town in the Warder zone of Ethiopia.

“Next of kin have been informed and we have offered the family full consular assistance.

“The Ethiopian authorities are carrying out a full inquiry and we are liaising closely with them.”

When news of the death first emerged, Bereket Simon, Ethiopia’s communications minister had said Mr Read had not taken the appropriate “security measures” and was driving alone.

He said: “We have reports that the incident has occurred and is an act of banditry.

“Following the act the local militia had confronted the perpetrators and had taken measures on them.

“We understand that the act was not politically motivated.”

Barbaric attack

Although Ethiopia does not currently produce oil, Chinese companies and Petronas have signed deals to explore the area.

The area has seen a great deal of bloodshed as the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), formed in 1984, has fought for the independence of ethnic Somalis in the oil-rich region for some time.

It says the Somali-speaking population has been marginalised by the capital Addis Ababa.

The fighting has escalated over the past two years following an ONLF attack on a Chinese-run oil exploration field.

More than 70 people died in the attack, including Ethiopian guards and Chinese workers.

Addis Ababa calls the rebels “terrorists” and has cut off all access to the region.

But Abdirahman Mahdi, spokesman for the Ogadeni rebels, told the Associated Press news agency that as far as they were aware, “our fighters are not involved in such barbaric attacks”.

“Our troops do not have permission to target foreign civilians. But we will investigate the circumstances that led to the man’s death.”

Meanwhile, the Ethiopian government has announced that a separate Ogadeni rebel group, United Western Somali Liberation Front, had agreed to surrender.

The group had tried to warn off companies from exploring the area for oil.

Source: BBC News, 11 April 2010