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South Africa strike hits stadium work

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Durban, Jul 9, 2009  — Some 70,000 construction workers in South Africa have gone on strike, halting work on stadiums being built for the 2010 World Cup.

Unions are threatening to wreck the tournament if their demands for a 13% wage increase are not met.

Organizers say they are confident the grounds will still be ready unless the strike continues for months.

On Monday judges rejected a request from the employers to outlaw the strike, which unions say is indefinite.

The BBC’s Mpho Lakaje in Soweto says scores of workers are outside Soccer City stadium wearing blue overalls and brandishing sticks.

“We are struggling for our country,” they chanted after downing their tools at midday.

The government must help us, otherwise we are going to delay 2010
Union spokesman Lesiba Seshoka

Soccer City union organiser Patrick Geqeza blamed management inflexibility for precipitating the strike.

“We feel bad about going on strike. [But] they don’t want to meet us half way,” he told AP news agency.

At present most of the workers are being paid 2,500 rand ($310; £192) a month.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), whose members include construction workers, has rejected the 10% wage increase offer from employers.

One of the stadiums which will be used during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa

“The government must help us, otherwise we are going to delay 2010. We will strike until 2011,” AFP news agency quoted NUM spokesman Lesiba Seshoka as saying.

Protesters outside Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium were forced to disperse because their application to protest was turned down, the South African Press Association reported.

Before they left, the NUM’s Bhekani Ngcobo told workers the union would make sure that no temporary labourers were employed.

Six entirely new stadiums are being built for the World Cup, while four are being modernised.

Danny Jordaan, head of the World Cup organising committee, said he respected the right of the workers to strike but felt the dispute would be resolved without affecting the construction schedule.

“The construction workers have been the lifeblood of the 2010 Fifa World Cup project,” he said in a statement.

“Their hard work has ensured that we are on track to meet our deadlines and that our stadiums will be among the best in the world next year.”

Correspondents say if the strike continues projects such as the high-speed rail link between the airport and Johannesburg will be of greater concern than the stadiums.

The rail-link is scheduled to be operational just two weeks before the tournament starts.

The next World Cup will be the first to be hosted by an African country.

Map

Source: BBC NEWS

Somaliland: Police Beat, Briefly Detain Journalists without a cause.

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Hargeisa, 9 July 2009  – Somalilandpress reporter, Mr. Abdiqani Baynah along with another journalist from Qarannews Hasan Keefkeef have been beaten and briefly detained by the police in Hargeisa this evening. The two journalists were detained while preparing a program about the street children in Somaliland’s capital city Hargeisa.

The police assaulted the two reports while they were interviewing the homeless children next to the Hargeisa’s police headquarter. Police officers confiscated the reporter’s equipment and start beating them with the back of gun butts.

“They took us to the police station, we showed them our press cards but they did not care. They checked all the photos in the cameras and listened to the audio recorder” Said Abdiqani. “I feel pain all over my body because of the beating, I still don’t know why the police officers assaulted us” he concluded.

The two journalists were released after they spent two hours in police custody without any charges against them. This is not the first time the police assaulted reporter Mr. Abdiqani. Early this year he was also beaten by the police in Maansoor hotel when he was trying to cover the general assembly of the ruling party which was taking place in the hotel.

Record of Assaults on the press freedom.

  1. 13th of March, Nur Ahmed Gagab also from Somaliland Space Channel was beaten up by Presidential guards — he was attacked, kicked, and beaten with gun butts, and knocked to the ground, and left unconsciously. He was treated in a hospital.

  2. On the 28th of March, Mr. Ahmed Saleyban Dhuhul from Horyal radio station – was beaten up and arrested outside the parliament.

  3. 15th of May, Mr. Hadis Mohamed Hadis was arrested in Crown Hotel in Hargeisa and then released after few hours. The government said he was taking a photo of governmental offices and run away when the guards wanted to talk to him.

  4. 18th of May, Mustafa Mohamed Abdi, a journalist with HadhwanaagNews, also based in Somaliland’s capital Hargeisa was taken into custody without charges — released after few hours.

  5. 18th of May, Muna Asa’yr Jama was abused by the Presidential spokesman.

  6. 8th of July, Abdiqani Baynax and Qarannews reporter assaulted by police and detained for two hours without charges.

 

African Union Sending More Troops To Somalia

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Addis Ababa, Jul 8, 2009 — Somalia’s prime minister signaled his regime is expanding the 4, 300 strong African Union troops by several thousand as more are expected to arrive in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu.

Abdirashid Ali did not say where the troops will come from, but sources close to the Prime Minister’s office have indicated they might be from Nigeria, Djibouti, Rwanda, Malawi, Sierra Leone and Ghana.

There are currently 4, 300 African Union military troops from Uganda and Burundi in Mogadishu, however their mandate is limited only to peacekeeping.

The announcement comes one week after heavy fightings killed some 105 people and injured 382 — the conflict also left more than 204,000 people displaced.

Meanwhile, Somali President Sharif is in Addis Ababa for talks with Ethiopian leaders and AU ambassadors from the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. Before his arrival to the Ethiopian capital, Sheikh Sharif visited Uganda, Sudan, Kenya and Djibouti to request the full strength of 8,000 troops.

The troops are expected to arrive in Somalia soon to help with the war against Al Shabaab rebels who said to be just 2 kilometers from the Presidential Villa.

Source: Somalilandpress

Edna Adan appeals to the world to help Ayaan

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To help Ayaan, or see more details about her please visit: HELP AYAAN

Hargeisa, 8 July 2009 — I would like to speak to you about the case of Ayaan Osman, a child who was shot in the face when she was two years old during the Somali Civil War that Somaliland had with Somalia in 1988.

At the time of her injury, Ayaan was taken to a refugee camp where fortunately she was given the medical care that saved her life. Today, Ayaan is a young woman who has taught herself to read and write, not only in Somali but also in English. Unfortunately, Ayaan has a gap in her face. Ayaan has a hole on the side of her face, with a tooth sticking out here and a hole from where food and liquid, as she drinks, pours out from. Ayaan is from Burao and has come to our hospital in Hargeisa to seek help.

I was very touched by her case. We get many patients whom we can save. And we also have some patients that we cannot, and we move on. but the case of Ayaan has left a lot of pain in me because I often wonder where I would be if had been the one who had sustained those injuries that Ayaan did when she was two years old. I feel very touched when I see her eat and drink and have to deal with the liquid that is pouring out. I don’t know how she does it.

 

She has lived for 20 years with that condition. And because God has given me a voice and has given me the ability to reach out to the world, that is why I am appealing to the world out there for the medical assistance and the facial reconstruction that Ayaan needs in order to lead a normal life like everybody else does.

I appeal for plastic surgery. I appeal for facial reconstruction for Ayaan and I thank you all for your attention.

Sincerely

 

– Edna Adan Ismail

To help Ayaan, or see more details about her please visit: HELP AYAAN

Harvest concerns in parts of Somaliland

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HARGEISA, July 8 2009 — Authorities in Somalia’s self-declared republic of Somaliland are worried about a bad harvest and potential livelihood crisis for poor agro-pastoralists.
Abdikader Jibril Tukale, director-general of Somaliland’s Ministry of Agriculture, told IRIN: “We are very worried about low crop production, which can cause livelihood crises for poor agro-pastoralists in the main farmlands of Hargeisa, Togdher, Gabiley, Awdal, Salal and Sahil, caused by the failure of Gu’ [spring] rains and the desert locust outbreak.”

Tukale said at least 100T of seeds were distributed to agro-pastoralists in the western and mid-western regions of Somaliland, particularly Awdal, Salal, Gabiley, and Hargeisa.

“We provided seeds to at least 5,000 households in these regions, giving 20kg per household, selecting the poorest people to support them to [restore] their livelihoods,” he added.

However, most farmers failed to cultivate their land due to insufficient rainfall.

Omar Aw Aden Riirash, a farmer in Satile region, said: “I cultivated my 10ha farms in Satile and Idhanka Jufada twice this year but seeds germinated in only two qodis [44 sqm] in Satile; all others were lost seeds and I need to plant afresh during the next rainy season.

“I am now an old man; when I was young, I witnessed my father cultivating the same quantity of land and producing about 100 sacks of crops per harvest, but in recent years, the situation has changed, our highest crop production is only 30 sacks during the good years; we just harvest enough for our subsistence during other years.”

He said the causes of the lower output included poor rainfall, soil degradation and farmers’ financial inability to cultivate more land.

Other farmers attribute the poor crop production to the quality of seeds.

“We seeded our farms using the imported sorghum and maize seeds; in the first two to three years, we harvested much more than before; unfortunately, later, the production decreased,” Hassan Haji Mohamed, a farmer who lives near Abarso, 21km northwest of Hargeisa, said.

 


Photo: Mohamed Amin Jibril/IRIN
Abdikader Jibril Tukale, director-general of the Ministry of Agriculture
However, the ministry maintains it distributed good quality seeds.
“We do not distribute imported seeds; we buy locally and supply poor farmers,” Tukale said. “We now expect to distribute new seeds and even help farmers to plough their farms during the next rainy season; this will be done with the support of international organizations that are working with us to help farmers.”

However, several farmers complained of seed shortages.

“In this area, this is the first time we are receiving these seeds, as far as I know; we have heard that some people who had received these seeds had better harvests than in previous years,” Omar Aw Aden, a farmer in Satile, said.

Riirash said: “We planted the seeds more than two times but produced nothing, now we are encountering a lack of seeds.”

 

 

Source: IRIN

Yemen Detains Five Somalilanders In A Tense Standoff

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A fisherman in Lughaya, Somaliland, looks out from the cold storage facility on the Gulf of Aden
A fisherman in Lughaya, Somaliland, looks out from the cold storage facility on the Gulf of Aden

Zeila, Jul 7, 2009 — Five Somaliland nationals have reportedly been detained by Yemeni forces on Monday in a serious standoff between Yemen and the Republic of Somaliland.

A source in Somaliland’s capital said that Yemeni forces took the five men into custody in the wake of strained relationships between the two states. The arrests come after Somaliland coastguards seized six Yemeni nationals along with two fishing boats; the Six Yemeni men were detained in the Somaliland coastal town of Zeila on 4th of July.

The Yemenis are accused of smuggling Ethiopians searching for work in the Gulf States from Somaliland to Yemen. The smugglers often dump their passengers far from shore and force them to swim the rest of the way to avoid coast patrols. The Gulf of Aden between Yemen and the Horn of Africa is notorious for smuggling and piracy but Somaliland has been safe until now. In recent weeks, pirates and smugglers are shifting their operations to new areas where there are less patrols by NATO and American warships.

It is believed that one of the five men taken into custody by Yemeni forces is the son of Somaliland’s Commander of Coastguard in Zeila; “he went to Aden to export livestock” the source stated. Yemen is demanding that Somaliland releases it’s citizens in exchange for the five Somaliland natives.

There was no official statement from either Yemen or Somaliland officials.

 

Egypt mourns ‘headscarf martyr’

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The body of a Muslim woman, killed in a German courtroom by a man convicted of insulting her religion, has been taken back to her native Egypt for burial.

Marwa Sherbini, 31, was stabbed 18 times by Axel W, who is now under arrest in Dresden for suspected murder.

Husband Elwi Okaz is also in a critical condition in hospital, after being injured as he tried to save his wife.

Ms Sherbini had sued her killer after he called her a “terrorist” because of her headscarf.

The case has attracted much attention in Egypt and the Muslim world.

German prosecutors have said the 28-year-old attacker, identified only as Axel W, was driven by a deep hatred of foreigners and Muslims.

‘Martyr’

Medics were unable to save Ms Sherbini who was three months pregnant with her second child. Her three-year-old son was with the family in court when she was killed.

Axel W and Ms Sherbini and family were in court for his appeal against a fine of 750 euros ($1,050) for insulting her in 2008, apparently because she was wearing the Muslim headscarf or Hijab.

Newspapers in Egypt have expressed outrage at the case, asking how it was allowed to happen and dubbing Ms Sherbini “the martyr of the Hijab”.

Senior Egyptian officials and German diplomatic staff attended the funeral in Alexandria along with hundreds of mourners.

Media reports say Mr Okaz was injured both by the attacker and when a policeman opened fire in the courtroom.

Source:BBC

Open letter to the Emir of the State of Qatar

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Hargeisa, 6 July 2009  – I am a citizen of the country called “Somaliland” and I wish to communicate with you directly. My open letter to you, your highness, is a plea I wish to make and request your Government to engage my country. I have confidence in you and I know you are a unique to the Arab World. You are steadfast politician and someone who has charisma and far sighted.

My country needs your help at the International arena and at the same time from yourself as Emir of Qatar.

We [Somaliland] have achieved something alien to the African Continent. We have built our country from the grass root, after Siad Barre bombarded and leveled to the ground. We made piece with ourselves by negotiating even with those who were not with us, when we were fighting with the regime of Siad Barre.

Somaliland is proud of having produced a unique and workable democracy in Africa. It is unique because of its combination and modernity, in that, we have a House of Elders and a House of Representatives. It’s workable and unique, because, we put it to test, it gave us three free elections Municipal, Presidential & Legislative and the fourth “Presidential election is due 27th September, 2009.

What is more interesting about our democracy is that we have legislative elections that produced an opposition majority in parliament, and a minority that governs. It’s what the French call “la co-habitation”. Its remarkable achievement in the Horn of Africa, given that, the eventuality of such a process led to bloodshed at the time we did all these, in Ethiopia 2005, our next door neighbor, when Mr. Meles Zinawi smelled that he was going to loose the parliament to the opposition.

Somaliland has spent nearly two decades, trying to convince the international community, that it deserves recognition. Somaliland has overcome every internal and external political hurdle. We have confined ourselves and stayed within our colonial boundaries [recognized by 35 countries when we first got our independence from Britain in 1960]. Somaliland’s budget is minuscule [meager], yet my government manages to maintain peace, stability and progress. We have a Flag, Constitution, Currency, National Anthem, and Forces that are disciplined in every aspect, yet our brothers in Arab world are ignoring our achievements.

We have been subjected to wait Somalia, where there is no hope of stability in decades to come [I know you have tried to help them, but it takes a long way to achieve stability there]. Somaliland would like to live in peace with its neighbors in the region, including Somalia, but I hope that the international community does not expect us to throw everything away and re-enter the mayhem in Somalia.

Finally, I, would like to ask you as a citizen of Somaliland to engage my government, and break the artificial barrier between my people and of yours and the Arab world at large. I know you can do that without any reservations if you wish so. There are others who would like to keep us at bay, due to their hidden agenda, and need to keep us, the way they see & want Horn of Africa to burn. This is their interest it seems. Our people will cherish your wisdom, if you do engage us.

We [Somalilanders] have been and continue to be one of the first communities who came to Qatar in late 1940s and early 1950. Our people were the first you knew [I mean Qatari people], and we are a good part of the people who participated the development of Qatar. We contributed to raise the name of Qatar in different ways, yet we are not visible as we should have been!

I look forward to see and hear a positive gesture towards my country your Highness.

Sincerely,
Omer Hussein Dualeh
Doha-Qatar
5841743

140 killed in western China after Uighur riots and security crackdown – Video

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Urumqi, Jul 6, 2009 — One hundred and forty people have been killed and more than 800 wounded in riots that rocked western China at the weekend, the deadliest social unrest since the Tiananmen Square crackdown.

Running battles raged through the city of Urumqi throughout Sunday, pitting members of the Uighur minority against ethnic Han Chinese. Witnesses said that up to 3,000 rioters went on the rampage, smashing buses and overturning police barricades during several hours of violence.

State television showed cars in flames in the streets, and others being over-turned by rioters. Other footage showed a number of men attacking a man, apparently a Han Chinese, who lay on the street bleeding from the head and from injuries to other parts of his body.

Burnt-out buses lay scattered on the streets of Urumqi, the capital of China’s restive, westernmost region of Xinjiang.

The death toll from the day of violence was put at 140 by the Xinjiang police, who said 816 were injured. The numbers were announced by the state-run Xinhua news agency in an unusually swift revelation of the extent of the violence.

Police said the number of dead was expected to rise. State television said at least one member of the paramilitary People’s Armed Police had been killed.

Uighur exile groups said the violence started when Chinese security forces cracked down on the peaceful protest.

It was only after dark and following several hours of violence that the paramilitary police, equipped with tear gas and firing weapons, were able to restore order.

The violence flared days after reports of ethnic clashes between Han Chinese and Uighur workers at a toy factory in the southern Guangdong province in which two Uighurs were killed and 188 wounded.

It is uncertain what sparked the riots, but they may have broken out around the time of the popular Sunday bazaar when thousands of Uighurs converge in towns across the region to sell their sheep, goats and horses.

Police have arrested several hundred participants, including more than “10 key figures who fanned the unrest,” Xinhua said. The security bureau said police were still searching for 90 key figures suspected of being behind the single worst day of violence since troops crushed student demonstrations centred on Tiananmen Square in June 1989.

It gave no details as to whether those involved were members of the Uighur minority or whether the violence had been triggered by long-standing ethnic tensions in Xinjiang.

“We are extremely saddened by the heavy-handed use of force by the Chinese security forces against the peaceful demonstrators,” said Alim Seytoff, vice-president of the Washington-based Uighur American Association.

“We ask the international community to condemn China’s killing of innocent Uighurs. This is a very dark day in the history of the Uighur people,” he said.

Xinjiang has been shaken by several riots against Chinese rule over the last several decades, although the violence had appeared to abate since the late 1990s.

Control has been particularly tight in Urunqi where Han Chinese are now believed to outnumber the Uighurs.

Last year, just days before the Olympic Games opened in Beijing, two young Uighurs plowed a truck into a group of border police who were on a morning run near their barracks in the fabled Silk Road city of Kashgar, killing 17.

Those men were arrested and later executed.

State media said the latest riot was not a spontaneous outburst but was incited by a small group of people intent on stirring up trouble. It gave no other details.

Source: Times Online (UK)
Jane Macartney, China Correspondent

Silanyo: Somaliland’s Mandela

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By Hodan Keyse Hassan

On the 13th of June, Mr. Ahmed Mohamed Mohamud (Silanyo) arrived in Stockholm and right away gave an inspiring speech to hundreds of Somalilanders that were waiting for his arrival to Sweden.

Before he held his speech, there were some people in the audience that delivered some emotional and touching speeches in front of the chairman, Mr. Silyano.

The speech that touched my heart was when Amina Weris [wife of Silanyo] held a short speech about the status of women in Somaliland and how they struggle both outside and inside the home.

What she said was that they are the ones that providing the economy and nourishment for the children of the family, at the same time they are the backbone and the support and especially the assistance given by the Somaliland women in the diaspora. She added that their efforts and work are often underestimated and sometimes not appreciated.

Amina Weris’s speech almost made me fall in tears because it explains how strong were our mothers and sisters through all these difficulties and constraints and how they struggles to survive under these harsh conditions.

Thanks to Amina Weris for her great speech as many of us (women in the diaspora) are eager to hear more about plight and life conditions of women in Somaliland.

They were the audience who all of a sudden gathered in the hall and listened to the speech of the chairman of kulmiye party, Mr. Ahmed Mohamud Silanyo. He spoke about the struggle and history of liberating Somaliland as well as what it had achieved for the last 20 years without international assistance. It was a great speech. I tried to see and analyze the expressions of the people in the hall and how his speech touched them. Immediately I felt it had a great impact on them as everyone listened to him silently.

Mr. Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo explained in detail the problems facing the nation today; both economically as socially and how the current weak government functions today. The chairman emphasized how it is essential to make a change in Somaliland in order to build a bright future for younger generations.

I believe that we need a change for the sake of our needy people. We have to cooperate and unite our resources both inside and outside the country and I deeply believe a change of system is vital for us to move ahead.

Mr Silanyo’s leadership through negotiations, as well as his relationship with the people of Somaliland make him the Mandela of Mandeeq [Somaliland].
by: Hodan Keyse Hassan, stockholm

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