Berbera, 10 November 2009 (Somalilandpress) — The port of Berbera welcomed the largest ship in its history on Sunday, using the opportunity to promote its 12-metre deep-water facility that was constructed in 1964 by Russian engineers at a cost of $5.6 million.
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The MV Anders, a 230-metre Saint Kitts and Nevis flagged ship was carrying some 20, 000 tons of food for Somaliland investors from the Gulf states.
Berbera port vice-director, Mr Bile Hersi Eid warmly welcomed the ship and its crew to the port and added they were expecting similar sized ship-liners in the coming days.
He said port of Berbera was capable of handling such sized ships and that the port authority are expanding the Port of Berbera container terminal and proceeding with development plans to modernize its deep-water facility to meet modern demands.
The deep-water facility was completed in 1969 and was the main commercial seaport for what was then the Somali Republic.
HARGEISA, 10 November 2009 (Somalilandpress) – Somali pirates have seized a United Arab Emirates-flagged cargo ship loaded with weapons bound for the anarchic Horn of Africa nation in contravention of a U.N. arms embargo, maritime experts said on Monday.
Also on Monday, the gunmen launched their longest range hijack attempt yet — opening fire on a giant Hong Kong-flagged crude oil tanker some 1,000 nautical miles east of Mogadishu.
Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers’ Assistance Programme told Reuters he believed the weapons ship was using the fake name Al Mizan. He said it was hijacked on Sunday and was now held near the northern Somali town of Garacad.
“She is one of the regular weapons carriers circumventing the U.N. arms embargo on Somalia,” Mwangura said. Maritime sources say the craft is believed to be carrying light arms and ammunition, as well as rockets and rocket-propelled grenades.
Somalia has been torn by 18 years of civil war and hardline Islamist insurgents linked to al Qaeda are fighting to topple President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed’s fragile U.N.-backed government.
Some 19,000 civilians have died since the start of 2007 and more than 1.5 million have been driven from their homes, triggering one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.
Somalia’s pirates have no overt links to the country’s hardline rebels but some southern pirate ports are in insurgent-held areas, and experts say there may be cooperation between some sea gangs and some rebels.
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In the latest pirate attack, the European Union naval force EU Navfor said gunmen opened fire on a Hong Kong-flagged, 330 metre (1,083 ft), 160,000 tonne crude oil tanker, the BW Lion.
The attempted hijacking took place about 400 nautical miles northeast of the Seychelles and 1,000 nautical miles east of the Somalia capital Mogadishu, EU Navfor said.
“This was the longest range of a pirate attack off the Somali coast ever,” it said in a statement.
Mwangura said the tanker had caught fire after being hit by automatic bullets and a rocket-propelled grenade, but there were no casualties and the captain had steered his ship to safety.
“There have been 12 pirate events in this area in the last 30 days. There is a high probability of attacks in this area for at least the next 24-48 hours. Weather conditions are expected to remain favourable for piracy…through this period,” he said.
DEAL TO FREE SPANIARDS?
Seasonal monsoon rains brought a lull in hijackings but the pirates have stepped up their attacks in recent weeks and now hold at least 11 vessels and more than 200 crew.
A deal to free the 36 crew members of Spanish fishing vessel Alkrana held hostage since October 2 could be on the cards, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said on Monday.
“The government thinks that the (hostage) situation could be on the road to a solution,” he said at a media conference in Poland.
Earlier on Monday, the first mate of the Basque tuna boat, speaking from on board the Alakrana, said that he understood Spain’s government had agreed to send two accused pirates back to Somalia in exchange for the crew’s release.
“It seems almost certain that they are going to send the (captured) pirates here,” Ricardo Blach told Spanish state radio.
“We want to believe it, good news, even if it’s clutching at straws, because of the tension we have here,” Blach said.
The Spanish navy captured the two Somalis soon after pirates overran the Alakrana on October 2 and took its crew hostage. They are set to face trial in Spain for kidnapping.
The pirates holding the crew have said they would not negotiate a ransom for their release until Spanish authorities freed their two colleagues.
“In the morning (on Sunday), they were telling us in signs that they were going to cut our throats. Now the head of the pirates is smiling,” Blach said in the Spanish daily El Mundo.
Environment Minister Elena Espinosa told state TV the Spanish government was exploring various options. Judge Baltasar Garzon, who ordered the two suspects be brought to Spain, told Europa Press agency that Madrid should not cave into pressure.
“I believe there are legal ways to find a solution to this conflict and without a doubt that is going to happen,” he said.
The pirates said last week they had taken three men from the Alakrana ashore. But Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said he believed the whole crew remained on board.
09 November 2009 (Somalilandpress)-On 18 May 2009, the self-declared ‘Republic of Somaliland’ marked eighteen years since it proclaimed independence seceding from the rest of Somalia. Even after nearly two decades of self-rule, however, the international community remains hesitant to recognize the breakaway territory as a functioning sovereign state. Yet Somaliland leaders remain undiscouraged by the apparent lack of enthusiasm and inaction by the international community, including, most importantly, the African Union (AU). As a result, the messages coming out of Somaliland often refer to ‘the irreversible independence’ or almost of ‘no return to the union with Somalia’.
claim to statehood is being made on the basis that the territory has had historically separate status for a brief period following independence from Britain in June 1960. The next month, in July 1960, the former colonies of Italy and Britain voluntarily established a unitary nation-state known as Somalia. Almost immediately the leadership in Somaliland regretted this decision and begun to wage a secessionist struggle against Siad Barre’s misrule for two decades. Barre’s forces pursued Somaliland armed movements killing tens of thousands of people and destroying infrastructure in the region. This experience of brutal political repression and military atrocities fostered the emergence of the Somali National Movement (SNM) in 1981, which waged a secessionist struggle, leading to the collapse in 1991 of the Somalia state and the eventual declaration of independence by Somaliland.
Since then, the Somaliland government has been persistent in its pursuit of official recognition. It declared the territory a ‘Republic’ in 2002 and wrote to the AU asking it to send a fact-finding mission to see the viability of the de facto state. In response, the AU dispatched, between April 30 to May 4 2005, a mission led by its former Deputy Chairperson of the AU Commission Mr Patrick Mazimhaka. Later the same year, in December, Somaliland’s President Dahir Rayale Kahin submitted a formal application for admission to the AU, pleading for recognition as a fully active member of the continental body.
Despite the lack of international recognition, Somaliland has the primary constitutive components evident in most nation-states including: an internally accepted political system; institutions of governance; a police force; and its own currency. But the lack of recognition has significantly impeded the territory’s overall progress. In this regards, the AU observer mission report had noted that ‘the lack of recognition ties the hands of the authorities and people of Somaliland, as they cannot effectively and sustainably transact with the outside to pursue the reconstruction and development goals’. The AU fact-finding mission has also concluded that the situation was sufficiently ‘unique and self-justified in African political history’ and recommended that the AU ‘should find a special method of dealing with this outstanding case’.
Following the above rather sympathetic gesture, president Rayale, on 16 May 2006, met with the then AU Commission Chairperson, Alpha Oumar Konaré to discuss Somaliland’s application for membership. Somaliland authorities’ argue that their claim is consistent with article III of the OAU charter and article IV of the Constitutive Act of the AU, which states that the Union shall function in accordance with the principles of respect for the borders existing on achievement of independence. They also infer the experience of other states, including in Africa, acceptance of self-determination, such as recognition given to Bangladesh, Eritrea, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia.
Given the AU’s sensitivity about the maintenance of colonially inherited borders, the 2005 mission report could be seen as exceptionally sympathetic. But so far the organization has taken no further concrete action. Instead the AU’s current efforts are focused overwhelmingly on south/central Somalia. The organization in 2006 deployed a peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in support of the fragile Transitional Federal Government (TFG), that is presently battling with Islamist insurgents. In effect, since president Kahin had submitted an application for membership four years back, there is no breakthrough at the continental organization or at member states level.
Regardless of the lack of progress on formal recognition, Somaliland still attracts significant attention, as the region occupies a strategic position near the world’s major oil transport routes and major power wants to see it guarded carefully. Consequently the self-declared republic has established political contacts with a number of countries. Ethiopia and the UK insist that Somaliland deserves encouragement and support as the self-proclaimed state has provided an area of relative stability in the volatile Horn sub-region.
In a similar context, Somaliland has also established significant contacts with Belgium, Ghana, South Africa, Sweden, and Djibouti. Moreover, in early 2007, the European Union sent a delegation to discuss future cooperation; while President Kahin led his own delegation and attended the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kampala, Uganda. In December 2007 the Bush administration also considered whether to back the shaky transitional government in Somalia or to acknowledge the less volatile Somaliland secessionists. Recently the UN special envoy to Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, was quoted as saying: ‘We will open a new UN political affairs office in Hargeisa …[and] this office will further advance UN funding support to Somaliland in the fields of maritime security and counterterrorism.’
However, before Somaliland gets recognition by the rest of the international community, it needs full and formal legal recognition from the AU. Since President Kahin has submitted a formal application pleading for recognition four years back, there is no breakthrough at the AU or member state level. While it is normal to feel sympathetic to Somaliland’s agony in this process, it is equally understandable to see the rationale behind why the AU remains indecisive on the matter. There are indeed risks for the AU to say ‘yes’ to Somaliland’s request for recognition and set the ‘wrong precedent’. At least from the Union’s perspective, the principal objection against recognition is the strong reservation African governments have about revising borders inherited from colonial times. This is a legitimate concern that cannot be ignored, given the heterogeneity of the majority of African states and the possibility that many may face with the proliferation of similar ethnic and secessionist movements. Other potential risks relate also to the nature of the relationship that is going to be forged between Somaliland and Somalia. Central in this case is whether the two will create friendly relations, through which mutual recognition will be exchanged. Currently, there is a serious threat of Islamists controlling most of the territories of the South and central Somalia. Such elements could aim to infiltrate Somaliland, de-stabilise it and take it over with the support of local Islamists. Moreover, Somaliland is in dispute with the neighbouring autonomous Somali region of Puntland over the Sanaag and Sool areas, some of whose inhabitants owe their allegiance to Puntland and could lead to further destablisation of the sub-region.
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To conclude, Somaliland has persevered for 18 years as an independent state, hoping that it will one day get the attention of the international community, especially that of the AU. The debate whether the breakaway territory deserves recognition as well as the implications of it continues. Coupled with its electoral crisis, presently it has become clearer that without recognition, it remains hard to tell how long Somaliland’s relative peace and stability can last. It is critical, therefore, that the international community shows foresight. In particular, the AU has yet to act decisively on the matter. Meanwhile, the people of Somaliland still continue to live with the agony of waiting to hear from the decisionmakers whether they will be a recognised “Republic” or not.
Source: ISS Alemayehu Behabtu, Researcher, Peace and Security Council Report Programmee (PRP), ISS Addis Ababa Office
Cairo, 09 November 2009 (Somalilandpress) — The Chinese government has pledged to give African countries billions of dollars in cheap loans at a two-day Africa-China summit in Egypt.
Addressing hundreds of Chinese and African businessmen at the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on Sunday, Wen Jiabao, China’s premier, said he would also cancel debts of African countries.
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In video
China’s growing trade with the military-ruled west African nation of Guinea
“We will help Africa build up its financing capabilities … we will provide $10bn for Africa in concessional loans,” he said.
Wen insisted that his attempt to boost trade ties with Africa was not being pursued at the expense of the continent.
He rejected critics who say that resource-hungry China ignores the human-rights records of many of the continent’s nations.
“Our efforts are sincere and selfless, without political strings attached,” he said.
“China’s training of 15,000 African professionals has provided the continent with a human resource more valuable than gold.”
Investment push
The Asian giant is now Africa’s second-largest trade partner, with the average yearly growth rate of that trade at over 33 per cent.
China-Africa ties
Trade between China and Africa has ballooned by an average of 30 per cent a year over the past decade.
In 2008, total trade stood at $106.8bn, up 45.1 per cent on 2007. In 2000, trade was only $10.5 bn.
Africa’s combined GDP is worth approximately $1.2trn, equal to about one quarter of China’s $4.4trn economy.
China’s imports from Africa are dominated by oil and minerals to fuel its booming economy. Most come from Angola, Sudan, Nigeria, Zambia, the DR Congo and the Republic of the Congo.
Beijing hosted the first China-Africa summit in 2006, pledging to boost investment, trade and aid to the continent yet further.
Critics say China should use its clout to press African governments on cleaning up corruption and rights abuses.
China has also been urged to step up pressure on Sudan over the conflict in Darfur. China buys almost all of Sudan’s crude oil exports, spending $6.2bn in 2008.
The Sharm El-Sheikh meeting is a continuation of a push to boost investment policy that has led China to sign business deals around Africa.
In 2006, the Sino-African summit included $5bn in loans and a number of projects, including building hospitals, anti-malaria centres, schools and roads – which Chinese officials say have largely been met.
Direct investment hit $7.8bn in 2008, and total China-Africa trade grew to roughly $107bn by that year – a tenfold increase from the start of the decade.
However, critics say the inflow of cash has come at a price.
Western governments and some non-governmental agenices contend that China has paid money to governments with few strings attached and little concern for their human-rights record.
For years, Beijing has played a leading role in developing Sudan’s oil sector, even while the Khartoum government was being accused of atrocities in the conflict-ravaged Darfur region.
More recently, a little-known Chinese company signed a $7bn mining deal with Guinea’s military government.
The agreement was announced in September, just weeks after Guinean soldiers opened fire on demonstrators – allegedly killing more than 150 people.
Chinese response
Beijing, itself widely criticised in the West for its human-rights record, said it was not involved in that deal and rejects the criticism.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Huo Zhengde, China’s ambassador in Guinea, said that companies based in the US, the UK, Australia and Russia were all doing business in the country.
“Just because these companies are doing business here, does that mean they are supporting the military government?
“So why, when Chinese companies do business here, is China accused of supporting the government?” Huo asked.
Beijing says it is up to Africans to decide whether the relationship is good for them, and is sure they will say it is.
In video
Al Jazeera speaks to Frank Sieren, author and journalist, on China’s expanding role in Africa
“Practice proves that the China-Africa relationship is mutually beneficial, and co-operation is win-win, embodying the wishes of the people and the demands of the times,” Chen Deming, the Chinese commerce minister, said.
It is a theme that African businessmen working in China say they have heard echoed increasingly over the past couple of years by Chinese companies.
Some Africans welcome how China’s approach differs from that of Europe or the United States.
“China’s policy is based on mutual development. Few Western countries have a foreign policy like this – most are about telling Africans what to do,” Kwaku Atuahene-Gima, executive director of the Africa programme at the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai, said.
Craig Bond, the Beijing-based chief executive of the South Africa-based Standard Bank, the continent’s largest, told The Associated Press news agency: “The reality is that China’s come of age.
“They’ve actually begun to realise that if they want to be global citizens, they are going to have to start doing things in a sustainable way,” he said.
“They’re going to have to start worrying about all the issues that the West has been worrying about.”
Some Africa watchers argue that while some Western criticism is warranted, African nations must also shoulder a good share of the responsibility.
Edward Brown, director for policy services at the Africa Centre for Economic Transformation, a research and policy advisory organisation based in Ghana, said: “Africans need to up the ante to see how they can best leverage their potential and ensure that Chinese investments are channelled into those areas where they generate the most value.”
ERIGAVO, 09 November 2009 (Somalilandpress) — Two men believed to be linked to a recent attempt to hijack a Daallo airliner in the neighboring Somali port town of Bosaso were arrested by Somaliland state police in the town of Erigavo.
The men who have not yet been unidentified were arrested on Sunday morning as they entered Erigavo from Bosaso by car.
It is believed that Somaliland police were informed in advance of the men by Puntland authorities who want them to be extradited to Bosaso to face charges.
On Tuesday, two men armed with pistols boarded the plane bound for Djibouti at an airport in Bossaso in a bid to kidnap two German passengers. Half-way the flight the pilot outwitted the hijackers and returned the plane and its passengers back to Bosaso where they were met by police.
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The two hijackers were arrested but Puntland’s internal security minister said a number of others helped them.
This is the first of such collaboration between Somaliland and Puntland authorities.
HARGEISA, 08 November 2009 (Somalilandpress) — The Deputy Secretary General of Pakistan People’s Party (ruling party), Sheikh Mansoor Ahmed arrived in Somaliland on a fact-finding mission on Friday. Mr. Ahmed who was leading a delegation of two, was received at the Egal International airport by Somaliland’s finance minister, Foreign Minister and governor of the central bank.
Mr. Abdirasak, Somaliland’s newly appointed representative to Pakistan told local media that the two sides have discussed the opening of a Somaliland representation office in Pakistan, to strengthen bilateral relationship and requested Pakistan to throw its weight behind Somaliland’s bid for international recognition.
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Somaliland also appealed to Pakistan to help them gain membership in the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which is the second largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations with 57 member states spread over four continents.
Local media also reported that Pakistan would assist Somaliland to combat piracy in the region and train it’s small fleet of coastguards.
It is the first visit of such by Pakistani officials to Somaliland since restoring its nationhood in 1991. Many Somalilanders see the arrival of the Pakistani delegation as a firm step forward in a new relationship between the two nations that will open new doors for Somaliland in the Asian region.
The delegation also visited the coastal town of Berbera as part of their official visit to Somaliland, the port is currently busy with exporting livestock to Saudi Arabia during the Hajj period.
The delegation will also meet with the President and the other political leaders in the country in the coming days. Mr Ahmad, was accompanied by Pakistan’s Adviser on Consular Affairs between Foreign Affairs and Diplomatic Missions, Mr Shafiq Ahmed Qureshi.
HARGEISA, 8 November 2009 (Somalilandpress) – Youth is defined as a transitional phase from childhood to adulthood innovative by events such as completing schooling and further education, entering the world of work. Youth is also defined in terms of the duties a person takes on within a society; youth is seen as ending when the individual takes on adult jobs and responsibilities.
Youth have unique potential assets and resources to make their country into productive one and overcome his challenges. Youth in Somaliland organize themselves by established Youth forums, Youth organizations, Youth councils, Youth clubs and Youth alliances that are promoting youth rights, youth opinions and youth networks among different regions in Somaliland. The matters they deal with are as varied as the forms they take. Young people who join youth organizations have gain power and visibility through their involvement and want to bring about change. Thus, the role of youth can be depicted as harmonizing and essential to Somaliland’s development.
Today’s young Somali Landers need access to both decent formal education and opportunities to obtain a sort of life skills to actively participate of an increasingly knowledge-intensive society and become today’s young citizens and tomorrow as the country’s future leaders. Inspiring the young people to speak out by expressing their views and ideas feels he or she has some thing to offer in his society and also a sense of belongs. A major benefit of young people’s input in development process makes better the confidence, knowledge and motivates others to be apart of them. It is there fore important for every nation to ensure the wellbeing of its youth and Somaliland is not exceptional.
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Despite these contributions, the lives of young people in Somaliland are subject to number of contradictions. Young people in Somaliland suffer from unemployment, Migration, growing consumption of Kat and tobacco, alcohol and drugs. Young people qualifying the institutions of learning are roaming the streets of Hargeisa with nothing to do, observing the country and waiting a chance of employment.
Youth Participation through Organizations
The participation of young people in youth organizations provides an important van for young people’s involvement in social, economic and political spheres. Youth led organizations work for the benefit of youth. They provide services for youth, such as job preparation (Shaqo Doon), counseling for youth not to migrate, recreation informal education and health. Apart from their youth services some youth organizations initiated information campaigns about irregular migration (Tahriib) which is one of the problems faced in our society. You can see the corner of the roads in Hargeisa a large bill boards transmitting a message that is indicating the consequences and risks of Tahriib. While migration to Europe is pushy act for young Somali Landers in search of job opportunity and better life, at the other side recent days some parents consent to their children to encourage them to involve an irregular migration by supporting financial wise. This shows how the disease (Tahriib) affected even the Somaliland parents.
Truly, it is a key challenge facing for Somaliland who already suffered of human resource shortages. The Somaliland human resource is steadily drained as the young skilled and non skilled prefers to emigrate and apply their skills and force abroad owing to the elfin support to their home land.
Youth to Decision-Making Structures
The voice of youth is a precious asset to the political parties. Justice and welfare party (UCID) is committed to advancing the active engagement of young people in decision making process in the country. Initiatives include youth participation in advisory bodies such as youth wings in the parties were a step took in the right direction. For example the justice and Welfare party has an institutionalized national youth wing that has an access to the party’s decision-taking arena. The wing has now its own working strategies including the constitution, policies and procedures by which it implements its duties and exercises its indisputable rights. These efforts and contributions of the youth groups of UCID have drawn the attention of the party’s members and as a result, the party decided to offer 60 % of its total membership to the youth society of Somaliland.
In spite of these positive trends, young people still face many challenges and problems which prevent them from displaying their full potential. Somaliland lack sound national youth policies that guides to the next generations for participating the decision making process in the country. It is, there fore crucial that youth receive the guidance and support they need in this challenging phase of life and sustaining them successful transition from youth to adult hood.
Zurich, 08 November 2009 (Somalilandpress) — Muslims in many parts of Switzerland have invited the public into mosques – three weeks before a vote on whether to ban the construction of minarets.
Muslim organisations say they hope their open day will counter what they say are fears and prejudices.
The conservative group that initiated the vote – the largest party in the Swiss parliament – says minarets are a symbol of Muslim political power.
Opinion polls suggest the proposed ban will be rejected by voters.
A Muslim community leader in Zurich, Tamir Hadjipolu, said the proposal – launched by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) – was “open discrimination”.
Preaching to the converted?
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Switzerland is home to 400,000 Muslims, who have about 200 places of worship. Only four have a minaret, local media say.
The open day was held on Saturday in 12 cantons, including Geneva, Vaud and Freiburg.
“We hope these meetings will build a dialogue and better understanding,” said Hisham Maizar, a senior Muslim representative in eastern Switzerland.
The BBC’s Imogen Foulkes, who visited a mosque in Zurich, says the many non-Muslims who came enjoyed themselves.
But the debate is raging outside the building, our correspondent says, and the Muslims inside were likely to be preaching to the converted.
HARGEISA, 8 November 2009 (Somalilandpress) – In last two decades, Somaliland politicians and people did not participate in the bloody politics in southern Somalia, where thousands of innocent were killed due to political disputes. Somaliland is home to thousands of refuges from the southern regions of Somalia due to unrest. Somaliland authority calls Somalis to settle their differences in a peaceful manner and learn from Somaliland.
However, Somaliland is suffering from malicious diplomacy and the vitriolic tongues of members of the current Somali cabinet like Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Oomar and his successor Ali Ahmed Jangali. Both are natives of Somaliland but believe in the failed theory of united Somalia. They mislead the world that Somaliland is part of Somalia, and even President of Somalia Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Hassan does the same.
Sharif and southern Somalis failed to understand that such self-exiled individuals in their cabinet cannot set foot on Somaliland soil from Sool to Salal region. They don´t represent the people of Somaliland because if they do, they could have won their support. They are registered tyrants and infidels in Somaliland, and even Somalilanders call them homeless or self-exiled citizens. Many such self-exiled Somalilanders in Mogadishu are facing jail sentence, like the leader of Al-Shabab terrorist organization.
These self-exiled politicians failed to succeed in Somaliland politics and could not win the trust of the people, so to realize their political and leadership dream they immigrated to Mogadishu and became killing machines of innocent people.
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The questions are: Why does the Mogadishu government accept such fugitives in their cabinet and cities? If the matter deals with religious obligations, why don´t they establish Jihad in Somaliland? And if it is political, why don´t they join the democracy in Somaliland? The answer is: they are all after wealth and money.
The dramatic story is: these self-exiled Somalilanders use the Sharif government and its people to attack Somaliland. Last year, Al-Shabab sent suicide bombers to Hargiesa that killed more than 40 people. On the other hand, the ministers in the Sharif government use diplomatic ways to damage the Somaliland cause of independence; they use the Mogadishu government´s immunity to convince the world not to recognize Somaliland. It is unfortunate to see them using their energy against Somaliland while people die in the streets of Mogadishu.
Mr. Oomar, officially, asked the UN to stop all humanitarian aid to Somaliland. He planned to kill Somaliland economically, but failed.
Meanwhile, Mr. Jangali is arming and organizing the anti-Somaliland groups, who carried out bombing in eastern Somaliland city of Lasanod last month. Somaliland military officer lost his life along with other 20 citizens. The meeting was held in Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya, between such groups and Jangali. All these self-exiled Somalilanders are using Sharif’s government immunity against Somaliland.
First hand reports say that Jangali is organizing fundraises between anti-Somaliland minor tribes to finance such armed militia, who named “Darwish” and planning to kill government officers and innocent people in Sool region. Reports unveiled that fundraising take place in Middle East and North America. The collection is thousands of US dollars and saved in the personal accounts of Mr. Jangali and his insurrectionist followers.
On the other hand other hand, the world is donating millions of dollars in Sharif’s government to stabilize Mogadishu, Somalia! Somalia is demanding humanitarian aid, and in other hand thousands of dollars is been collected to create unrest in the peaceful Somaliland. Why not the world examines the need in Somalia, and whether the aid money goes to right hand?
Mr. Oomar, Mr. Ali Jangali and their self-exiled compatriots are attempting to terrorize the brave residents of Lasanod City during upcoming presidential elections in Taliban-style of killing and bombing. More than 150,000 citizens of Sool region registered for the next Somaliland Presidential and Parliament elections in Sool. However, such militia is taking lessons from Taliban to fight the growing democracy.
The term Darwish goes back to religious war during 20th Century led by pro-Arab Islamist nicknamed ‘The Mad Mullah’. Somaliland Scouts backed by Royal Air Force of Britain eliminated him and put the war to end.
The Somaliland natives in Sharif’s government don´t want security in southern Somalia particularly Mogadishu because if that happens they wont have place to hide from the their crimes and will face court in Somaliland. Somaliland will talk to Mogadishu administration to demand independence based on referendum held 2003 with 97% voted ‘YES’ in favor of independence from Somalia.
After Somaliland and Somalia settles the issue, the people like Oomar and Jangali will neither be ministers in Mogadishu nor will be able to come back home, because they are registered criminals and tyrants and will hang for treason.
The UN and African Union support talk between Somaliland and Somalia over failed unity in 1960, but that can happen if security returns in Somalia.
Unfortunately, Sharif and his Prime Minister Sharmake failed to notice the hidden campaign of these ministers against Somaliland. They use Somali government´s immunity to downgrade and disturb Somaliland. For example Mr. Jangali visits Nairobi as Somali Minister and meets the Anti-Somaliland militia.
Jangali is currently busy with his evil plans to fail the upcoming presidential election of Somaliland particularly in eastern regions of Somaliland like Sool and Buuhoodle.
The most shocking are the recent statements by the chief tribes and elders of Lasanod and Buuhoodle towns, who distance themselves from the recent bombing in Lasanod city by Jangali and his militia, which killed the army officer and civilians. This illustrates the growing support of the residents to Somaliland administration and democracy.
By Abdulaziz Al-Mutairi
Email: az.almutairi@yahoo.com
HARGEISA, 8 November 2009 (Somalilandpress) – In ancient Greek mythology, the Sirens where half human creatures that could lure men to their destruction through the beautiful songs they sung. To protect themselves from the Sirens, men would plug their ears so they could not hear their lovely music.
My friend Khalid had the misfortune to fall in love with a modern day Siren. Ubah instead of tempting men with her voice, she caught her victims using her beauty. Her victims were always careful selected. She would hunt them for sport and not relent until they unconditionally surrendered their hearts. She could play with men’s hearts like the cords on a guitar string. Even the most determined man would find her charms hard to resist and so it was no surprise that before long Khalid, who was a very willing victim, to the great distress of his mother, had fallen madly in love with her. But, like a true siren Ubah had no warm loving human heart and therefore could feel nothing but cold contempt towards Khalid once he revealed his feelings. By this time she had already set her eyes on her next victim, one of Khalid’s closest friends, and the poor fool was left devastated. To add insult to injury Ubah soon afterwards married Khalid’s friend, giving Khalid the final deadly blow.
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Khalid’s mother seeing this as the answer to her prayers, decided to seize the opportunity and convince her son to enter into an arranged married. Khalid not caring what happened to him now that Ubah was out of his life, indifferently agreed to the marriage.
Khalid’s betrothed was nothing like Ubah. Many people had given up poor Leila, as a spinster by the time she was only eighteen. Unlike the other young ladies within the community that went to beauty salons on a religious basis, Leila could have cared less about how she looked like. She would often be seen wearing a pair of loose fitted jeans, and her oversized university sweater, carrying a heavy backpack full of text books. Her face was hidden behind her glasses and her hair behind a jibah. Most people thought she was very plain and others, the kinder ones, felt she could look pretty if she only tried. Besides her exterior features Leila was extremely shy and reserved, and because of this she could be easily over looked. She never went out to weddings or community parties…in fact she never went out at all!
With no beauty and such a personality it was a great shock to everyone when her parents finally did announce her marriage. How she ever managed to get married was a secret many young women within the community were dying to know but in truth Leila had done nothing.
When she was five years old, an old school friend of her father’s paid a visit to their home and while there, the old men was so charmed by the cute, sweet, affectionate daughter of his friend that he asked for her hand in marriage on behalf of his son, who at the time was only ten. Leila’s father believing his friend was not serious, jokingly agreed to the match.
Years passed and the matter was altogether forgotten about until twenty years later when the old men paid the family another visit. Leila had grown into a young woman, still sweet though more shy and reserved, and the old man more impressed with than ever, soon remained his friend of the promise he made long ago. Leila’s father was taken aback be the proposal but not being a man to go back on his word said he would agree to the marriage so long as his daughter agreed. was at first reluctant to accept but her mother, thrilled at the prospected of the match told her to she should, and her father wanting the union between the two families informed her he was very much in favour of the marriage. So, she accepted, knowing nothing more about her intended husband then what her family had told her.
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