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The Bum and the Khat Affect (Short Story)

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Hargeisa, 26 July 2009 (Somalilandpress) – In khat circles there is a well known argument that once a man finishes chewing he suddenly gets an uncontrollable urge to be with and around beautiful women (they call it the kac sii tuf theory). For most chewers, of course, this is a simple fantasy that is unlikely to ever be fulfilled. But for Ali BM things were different.

In Hargeisa, the capital city of Somaliland as in many other parts of Africa, men that drive their own cars and are known to have a bit of money are always popular with the ladies. Ali BM was such a man.

Today, like every day, he was chewing in his usual place. He looked at his bag of Khat and noticed that he was almost running out. He wanted to top up his khat and maybe stick around for an hour or two more. Alas he knew his reputation and good name would suffer if he were spotted still chewing at such a late time! After struggling with his thoughts and cravings for a few minutes he finally decided to give up and head home.

Once home, he had a quick bath, changed into his nicest pair of trousers, put on his best shirt then showered himself with his most expensive bottle of perfume. Ali was planning to go out to dinner with a beautiful lady. Initially, It was not clear if this was due to the K.S.T theory or if Ali had planned this dinner in advance! However, once he was in his car and started to drive aimlessly around the Hargeisa streets, it became obvious that Ali was planning to randomly pick his queen tonight.

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This was Ali’s lucky night. It was dark, cloudy and rainy. People were scampering along the sidewalks and trying to get to their destinations as quickly as possible. Ali, on the other hand, was cruising and looking out for suitable prey. Since all the people were walking ahead of him and he had no chance to check out their faces on such a dark night, Ali had to adjust his criteria for choosing his lady tonight. ‘They’ll all have to be judged on the state of their bottoms’, he said to himself and started chuckling.

The rain was a godsend and Ali had a perfect chance to assess all the candidates as they scurried to the nearest shelter. Some resembled flags fluttering in the wind. Others reminded him of wobbling jelly. Some bottoms looked like a couple of badminton shuttlecocks whilst others looked like a pair of satanic pumpkins!

Finally, as he scanned the roads ahead and considered the various bottoms ambling about, Ali noticed a beautiful pair of bottoms gliding around in unison. They were beautifully similar and they moved to the beat of the hip-hop song Ali had blaring from his car sound system. Left, right, left right left. Left, right, left right left. It was beautifully mesmerising and Ali wondered if he was still slightly intoxicated from his earlier khat session.

He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him and that he was suffering from some sort of optical illusion. Surely nothing could be so perfectly round, so symmetrical and move with such grace. What’s more, it was not just one bottom but TWO! The hallucination was still continuing and Ali thought he spotted beauty, wisdom, virtue and intelligence in the way those two bottoms were bouncing around in the air as their owners distantly walked to their destination.

Ali started to slow down as he drew parallel with the owners of the heavenly bottoms and shouted the words “inakeena aan roobka idinka sii qaadee”! One uttered an incomprehensible exclamation and, upon hearing her gruff voice, Ali got ready to hear some endless insults. Instead, she commenced to pray for him and praise him for being so kind and helpful. Ali was still uncomfortable with her husky voice and told her (and her friend) to hurry up and get in the car.

He was looking in his rear-view mirror as the car doors opened and the two new passengers got in. Ali almost chocked on his own saliva! The heavenly bottoms had beards and what he thought were dresses and hijabs turned out to be white robes and head coverings! Ali took a real good look at both men then commenced to slam his hands against the steering wheel and laugh at his own foolishness. ‘Take us to the mosque at the end of the road, brother’, said one of the heavenly bottoms. Ali nodded his head and started the car as he carried on loudly chuckling to himself.

This was a few years ago. Ali had proven that the K.S.T theory actually works but has not touched one stick of khat ever since.

By: Rooble Mohamed
Hargeisa, Somaliland

Ethiopia and Kuwait sign air transport accord

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Hargeisa, 26 July 2009 (Somalilandpress) – The Ethiopian and Kuwaiti governments signed on Tuesday a memorandum of understanding (MoU) which would enable the two countries to strengthen the air transport cooperation between the two countries.

According to the public relations department with the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the air transport agreement increase the twice-weekly flights between the two countries to seven flights per week. The existing agreement allows carriers of the two countries to operate two flights per week. Ethiopian Airlines operates two weekly flights to Kuwait. However, there is no Kuwaiti airline that flies to Ethiopia.

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The new agreement also allows unlimited cargo flights between the two countries. Based on the new agreement, Ethiopian can increase its flight frequency to seven days a week.

CAA and the Kuwaiti civil aviation authority first signed an air transport agreement in October 1998. Last may, the authorities agreed to replace this air transport agreement with a new one. Accordingly, the authorities signed the new MoU at the Addis Ababa National Palace. The agreement was signed by Gobena Guangul, acting general director of CAA, and Mr. Sawaz A.Al-Farah, president of the Kuwaiti Civil Aviation Authority.

Source: The Reporter

Chinese hack film festival site

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Chinese hackers have attacked the website of Australia’s biggest film festival over a documentary about Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer.

Content on the Melbourne International Film Festival site was briefly replaced with the Chinese flag and anti-Kadeer slogans on Saturday, reports said.

In an earlier protest on Friday, Beijing withdrew four Chinese films.

Melbourne’s The Age newspaper says private security guards have been hired to protect Kadeer and other film-goers.

She is due to attend the screening of Ten Conditions of Love, by Australian documentary-maker Jeff Daniels, on 8 August.

‘Vile language’

Chinese authorities blame Kadeer, leader of the World Uighur Congress, for inciting ethnic unrest in Xinjiang – charges she denies.

Hey, we’re an independent arts organisation and it’s our programme!
Richard Moore
Head of the Melbourne International Film Festival

Earlier this month, around 200 people died and 1,600 were injured during fighting in the region between the mostly Muslim Uighurs and settlers from China’s Han majority.

Kadeer, 62, spent six years in a Chinese prison before she was released into exile in the US in 2005. In 2004, she won the Rafto Prize for human rights.

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Richard Moore, head of the Melbourne International Film Festival, told the BBC that he had come under pressure from Chinese officials to withdraw the film about Kadeer and cancel her invitation to the festival.

He said the attacks on the festival’s website began about 10 days ago.

“We’ve been subjected to a number of these attacks and we can see behind the scenes on our website that there are hundreds, well, if not thousands, of people from outside of Australia trying to get into our website and trying to damage us,” Mr Moore told the BBC’s World Today programme.

“This has been going on… since obviously the call from a Chinese consular official who told me in no uncertain terms that I was urged to withdraw this particular documentary from the film festival and that I had to justify my actions in including the film in our programme,” he went on.

“Hey, we’re an independent arts organisation and it’s our programme!”

He said police were investigating the website attacks, which appear to come from a Chinese internet address.

Source: BBC News

Malaysian oil and gas giant Petronas to drill in Ogaden

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Addis Ababa, 26 Jul 2009 (Somalilandpress) — The Malaysian oil and gas giant, Petronas, is to start drilling the first exploration well in the Ogaden basin.

Petronas will soon start drilling two wells in its concession area in the Genele block. The company has hired a Dubai based company, Weather Ford, which will conduct seismic survey and drill the exploration wells. Recently, Weather Ford started mobilizing its drilling crew, drilling rigs and machines for conducting seismic surveys in the region.

Reliable sources told The Reporter that Weather Ford has agreed to drill exploration wells in the Genale block, block 11 and 15. Sources said Weather Ford is mobilizing its crew and drilling rigs. Weather Ford is engaged in oil and gas exploration work in the Middle East. Petronas conducted various surveys in the Ogaden. However, it did not drill wells.

In 2004 Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau (ZPEB), a Chinese company, was contracted by Petronas to do seismic survey and drill exploration wells in the Gambella block owned by Petronas.

Petronas acquired the Gambella block, covering about 16,000 sq. km of land, in June 2003. ZPEB collected seismic data on 1500 km. Accordingly, in 2005 ZPEB drilled the first wild cat well in Jikaw locality, only 175 km from the Ethio-Sudan border. The company drilled the second well in Jakaranda locality in 2006. Both wells were dry. Petronas spent 32 million dollars for the drillings and testing. ZPEB withdrew from Gambella after it finalized its work in 2006.

However, the same year, Petronas hired ZPEB to conduct seismic survey in the Ogaden basin. In July 2005, Petronas acquired three blocks in the Ogaden basin – Genale block (24,420 Sq km, Kallafo 30,612 sq.km and Welwel-Warder 36,796 sq.km). In 2006, ZPEB started collecting seismic data in the three blocks.
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In October 2006 South West Energy hired ZPEB to do seismic survey in the Ogaden basin. In December 2005, South West Energy, a company owned by an Ethiopian businessman, acquired a Degehabur block covering 21,187 sq. km of land. In January 2007, ZPEB commenced collecting seismic data in the Degehabur block.

On 24 Apil 2007 the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) attacked the Abole exploration site in the Degehabur zone of the Somali Regional State. Seventy-four civilians, including nine Chinese, were killed in the attack. Seven Chinese workers were abducted by ONLF fighters. However, they were released after two weeks. Following the attack in May 2007, ZPEB evacuated all its employees working in Ethiopia.

Although the Ethiopian government tried hard to convince officials of ZPEB and SINOPEC to resume operations the companies declined to send their technicians back to Ogaden. ZPEB had terminated all the projects in Ethiopia.

It is to be recalled that Petronas agreed to develop the Callub and Hillala gas fields and paid the Ethiopian government 80 million dollars. The agreement was signed in 2007. However, the company has not started work on the project. Sources told The Reporter that it was related to security issues.

Petronas had a plan to build a gas treatment plant. The company planned to construct a gas pipeline that stareches from the gas fields all the way to Djibouti. The total investment cost is estimated at 1.9 billion dollars.

A senior company official said the natural gas reserve in Calub and Hilala was estimated at 118 billion cu.m. adding that it was a small reserve compared to other reserves. It requires a lot of money to develop the natural gas. So the company is saying that it must discover additional reserves and build a gas treatment plant,” the official said.

In a related news, Pexco, a company based in Malaysia, started seismic survey in its concession in the Ogaden. White Nile, Lundin, South West Energy, and Afar Explorations are in the process of starting seismic survey in their concession areas. Pexco has conducted airborne magnetic and gravity survey in the Ogaden basin. The results of the magnetic and gravity survey were evaluated by the ministry.


Source: Ethiopian Reviews

New Book On Somaliland Hailed a Major Scholarly Success

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Hargeisa, 25 July 2009 (Somalilandpress) – The South African Institute of International Affairs (Wits University) and the Nelson Mandela-initiated Institute for Global Dialogue have co-published a new book entitled Somaliland: an African struggle for nationhood and international recognition.

Authored by Unisa’s Prof Iqbal Jhazbhay of the College of Human Sciences, this book has received a number of accolades.

Internationally-acclaimed father of African studies, Prof Ali Mazrui, in his foreword to the book, describes this newly-published book as “a major scholarly success”. Founding President of the Somali Studies International Association, Prof Hussein Adam, refers to this inter-disciplinary study as “the first substantial study covering both the domestic and international dimensions of Somaliland’s quest for nationhood and recognition … a timely and brilliant analysis.”

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This new published manuscript stands out as the first South African authored study of the Somali predicament. Prof Jhazbhay “contributes significantly to our understanding of the Horn of Africa in the context of wider international forces. It also contributes to a number of different theoretical concerns — ranging from the role of culture in nation-building to the emerging forces of radical Islam, and from the nature of post-war reconstruction to the dilemmas between self-determination and regional integration.”

Unisa’s Department of Religious Studies and Arabic is the only South African academic department which offers a graduate module and advanced research on Islam and politics in the Horn of Africa.

Click Here for more information on the book

Click Here to download the foreword to this book

UNISA

Rebels in Somalia to unite against 'enemies of Islam'

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Mogadishu, 25 July 2009 (Somalilandpress) — Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, the leader of Hizbul Islam [Islamic party], will be lobbying for his rebel organisation to forge ties with other Islamists groups in the country and to oust the government of Sheikh Sharif from power, he disclosed on Friday.

Aweys, who is said to have close links with Al-Qaeda, told a large crowd of worshippers in Aba Hureira Mosque that his rebel movement will unite with the notorious Al-shabab faction. He added that both rebels will be united bands under his leadership and that the ‘jihad against the enemies of Islam’ will continue.

He told his followers to be patient and that in his view, it was not right to stop the war after twenty years of anarchy, he felt the overall goal of  “to achieve victory over the enemies” was not accomplished.

Al shabab [the youth], founded in 2006, is headed by 32 year old Somaliland native, Ahmed Abdi Aw-Mohamed. He is also known as Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr or Godane.  Al shabab, often operate alongside another radical group, the Ras Kamboni Brigade, founded by Sheikh Hassan Turki, a native of Ogaden region of Ethiopia.
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Dahir Aweys created Hisbul Islam after his old alley; Sheikh Sharif was elected as the head of Somalia’s Transitional government in Djibouti in January. By late February, Hisbul Islam was waging war on the Transitional government forces and African Union troops in Mogadishu alongside Al-shabab.

The merger will only mean more influence in the region; the rebels already control six provinces of the nine provinces in “southern” Somalia. The other three regions, Hiran, Middle Shabelle and Galgadud are considered disputed between Islamist groups allied with the government and Al Shabab wing. Sheikh Sharif’s administration has little control outside the presidential villa, analyst believe, it be gone too without the presence of AU forces.

Early last week, Hisbul Islam shared French hostages with Al shabab camp in a gesture of conciliation, it seems now they are ready to forge official brotherhood ties.

Source: Somalilandpress

East Africa gets high-speed web

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The first undersea cable to bring high-speed internet access to East Africa has gone live.

The fibre-optic cable, operated by African-owned firm Seacom, connects South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Mozambique to Europe and Asia.

The firm says the cable will help to boost the prospects of the region’s industry and commerce.

The cable – which is 17,000km long – took two years to lay and cost more than $650m.

Seacom said in a statement the launch of the cable marked the “dawn of a new era for communications” between Africa and the rest of the world.
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The services were unveiled in ceremonies in the Kenyan port of Mombasa and the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam.

School benefits

The cable was due to be launched in June but was delayed by pirate activity off the coast of Somalia.

It’s not good. It’s hanging and keeps wasting time and frustrating me
Kenyan internet user

The BBC’s Ben Mwangunda in Dar es Salaam says five institutions are already benefiting from the faster speeds – national electricity company Tanesco, communications company, TTCL, Tanzania Railways and the Universities of Dar es Salaam and Dodoma.

The BBC’s Will Ross in Nairobi says the internet revolution trumpeted by Seacom largely depends on how well the service is rolled out across the region.

To the disappointment of many consumers, our correspondent says some ISPs (internet service providers) are not planning to lower the cost of the internet, but instead will offer increased bandwidth.

But businesses, which have been paying around $3,000 a month for 1MB through a satellite link, will now pay considerably less – about $600 a month.

The Kenyan government has been laying a network of cables to all of the country’s major towns and says the fibre-optic links will also enable schools nationwide to link into high quality educational resources.

But our correspondent says it is not clear whether the internet revolution will reach the villages, many of which still struggle to access reliable electricity.

map showing Africa's new fibre-optic cables

Source: BBC News

China launches Arabic TV channel

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China is launching an Arabic-language TV channel to show the Middle East and North Africa the “real” China.

China Central Television’s station will broadcast news, entertainment and cultural programmes 24 hours a day.

It is part of the Chinese government’s plan to promote its own viewpoints by encouraging state-controlled media organisations to go global.
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Beijing, while saying that some foreign broadcasters misrepresent China, tightly restricts its own media.

‘Distorted views’

“It is imperative for us to be a multi-language, multi-faceted and multi-perspective broadcaster,” said Zhang Changming, vice-president of CCTV.

Speaking at a launch event, he added: “[We hope] the world can know China and China can know the rest of the world even better.”

CCTV already has four international channels that broadcast in English, French and Spanish, as well as Chinese.

The new Arabic channel will be accessible for nearly 300 million people in 22 Arabic-speaking countries from 25 July.

CCTV managers discuss the Arabic channel
CCTV will present the world with the real China
Zhang Changming
Vice-president, CCTV

The broadcaster declined to comment on how much the channel was costing and how many viewers it is hoping to attract.

It will have an initial staff of about 80 and is being fronted by Arabic-speaking Chinese presenters.

Mr Zhang made it clear that the aim was to counter some of the “distorted” views about China that are put out by a number of foreign broadcasters.

“Our principle is to be real, to be objective, to be accurate and transparent. CCTV will present the world with the real China,” he said.

He did not mention that Chinese media outlets are routinely censored by the government and face tight restrictions about what stories they can cover.

Expansion plans

CCTV also plans to launch a Russian-language channel in September and is not the only Chinese media organisation to have expanded.

In April the Chinese-language Global Times newspaper launched an English edition with the aim of promoting Chinese people’s views to foreigners.

China has long complained about what it says are biased and unfair reports about the country carried by foreign media outlets.

There was a government-backed campaign against the “prejudiced” foreign media last year following the unrest in Tibet, which led to death threats to some foreign correspondents based in China.

But China is not the only country broadcasting to the Middle East. Last year the UK’s BBC launched its own publicly funded Arabic TV channel.

By Michael Bristow
Source: BBC News, Beijing

Appeal for release of Radio Horyaal journalists

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Hargeisa, 24 Jul 2009 (Somalilandpress) — On 13 July, two broadcasters from independent radio, “Radio Horyaal” were detained by police on orders from the attorney general and were taken to the Criminal Investigation Department for questioning – they remain locked up without charges.

Radio director, Mr. Mohamed Mire (Sayid) and news editor, Ahmed Suleiman (Dhuhul) both work for Radio Horyaal, an independent radio station in the capital, Hargeisa. Despite the lack of concrete evidence, the government claims to arrest them for inciting clan violence in the Bardale farmlands.

The government, in its efforts, to stifle the free press and control the air waves has been actively weeding out all independent media organizations by harassing, beating and arresting them. The two highly respected reporters are the latest casualty of a campaign against media criticism by the government of Somaliland.
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We demand from the Government of Somaliland to immediately release these two journalists who have not committed any crime but were merely performing their duties as journalists when they were arrested.

We, also, appeal to all human right organizations that advocate for the protection of human rights, free press and freedom of expression to join us in condemning the government’s crack down on free press. We demand the release of the two reporters without any further delay from this unlawful detention.

Democracy cannot exist in Somaliland without free empowered media.

Sources: Medeshi Media Group + Somalilandpress

Approaching Somaliland Elections Signal Threats of a Media Clampdown

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Washington, 24 Jul 2009 (Somalilandpress) — Tensions have been rising in the self-declared Republic of Somaliland in the period leading up to an election campaign and a 27 September presidential vote. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is condemning recent media arrests and government banning orders on a radio and TV outlet.

CPJ warns that unless the courts dismiss the charges later this month and free two broadcast executives, a full-fledged crackdown by authorities may be gearing up in the breakaway territory.

“They see the independent press as being opposed to the president. And they’re afraid of any sort of criticism, so they’re trying to quash it down,” explained CPJ Africa program coordinator Tom Rhodes.

On 13 July, police in the capital Hargeisa arrested the director and news editor of private station Radio Horyaal on charges of inciting violence. The broadcasters continue to be held at the Criminal Investigation Department.

Clan violence broke out three days earlier after the station broadcast coverage of a land dispute between two clans, involving republic President Dahir Rayale Kahin and one of the republic’s two legislative bodies, a 25-member clan council known as the House of Elders. The CPJ’s Tom Rhodes claims the incitement charges, which try to connect the disturbances with sensationalized radio coverage lack substance.
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“I believe this is a directive made by one individual. I wouldn’t want to blame the entire Somaliland for this directive. But it does give you the impression of how they view Radio Horyaal as an opposition radio and an enemy to the government,” he observed.

Somaliland is an autonomous region of the Somali republic, which declared independence from the Somali republic in 1991 after the dissolution of Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre’s government. It has succeeded in establishing trade ties with neighboring Ethiopia, but Hargeisa’s sovereignty has not been recognized by any countries around the world.

“Somaliland is quite sensitive to international opinion, largely because they want that recognition of independence. They’ve come a long way compared to the rest of the country (the Mogadishu-ruled Somali Republic) in establishing a working government and a working, viable system. And so whenever there is criticism, it jeopardizes their chances of actually reaching their status of independence,” Rhodes explained.

He believes that domestic violence is a very sensitive issue for President Kahin since he represents one of the two clans in the current land dispute. The president was elected to his first five-year term in 2003, after assuming office the previous year on the death of Mohammad Hajj Ibrahim Egal. Presidential elections set for 31 August, 2008 had to be postponed until this September due to instability in Somaliland’s eastern regions.

CPJ is warning that as the elections approach, authorities are trying to silence critical reporting. Nine days ago, Judge Sheikh Hussein Warfa banned private radio and TV outlets HornCable in support of a petition by the country’s attorney general for reportedly inciting violence and spreading false information. The broadcaster has defied the ban and will attend a court hearing on July 28.

Meanwhile, Britain and Sweden reportedly have threatened to withhold funds for September’s vote if Hargeisa cannot resolve a corruption dispute within the territory’s electoral commission.

Audio:
[audio:http://somalilandpress.com/audio/press.mp3]

By Howard Lesser

Source: VOA News

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